As he prepares to step into a new role hosting his own show at WCCO Radio, taking the 9 pm to 1 am slot starting March 11, veteran sports radio jock Henry Lake has a few things he wants people to know. You could even call it a mixed message.
He says that on his new show, “Lake Night,” he’s not going to just talk about sports, but when he does, it's going to be with the same authentic, sometimes combative style listeners have gotten to know over the years during his stints at KFAN. He's also generally feeling pretty optimistic about Minnesota sports at the moment, and thinks more fans should feel the same way, even if that takes some adjustment. He notes that besides the Lynx, local teams haven’t exactly been holding many victory parades, so fans have learned to temper their expectations.
"We have been conditioned to be beaten down mentally by the lack of success... I'm talking about championship success, that a lot of our teams have had,” he said.
So why his optimism? Lake points to the youth and talent of the Timberwolves and the Twins, two teams he considered to be on the rise.
"I think about a day in which we're not going to be a team that that's going to be the brunt of so many jokes or memes and all that stuff that has happened in years past. I look forward to the day of rooting for organizations and teams here that I've grown up watching for so many years and having so much success... As a sports fan, you always think about what lies ahead. And I think that we here in Minnesota, we have to get back to that."
Lake can be a voracious defender of local teams when the situation calls for it. His most well-known moment at KFAN came in 2007, when a regular caller, "Warren in St. Paul," tried to make a case that a draft pick on the Chicago Bears, Garrett Wolf, would have more impact on the league that the Viking's new rookie running back, Adrian Peterson.
History and statistics show that Warren was a little off. While Wolf seems like a nice guy (here he is volunteering to clean a park in Austin a few years ago) his NFL career didn't quite pan out, as he ended up with 282 total career yards. Adrian Peterson won rookie of the year in 2007 and has amassed 13,318 yards to date.
There is another reason why it’s important that Lake is becoming a fulltime host at WCCO Radio. He’s African-American, and will bring more diversity to one of the state’s oldest stations, with a reach across Greater Minnesota and into Wisconsin. He sees that as part of larger picture.
“When it comes to media… A lot of times when you have cities in which minorities and women specifically don't get a massive opportunity to showcase their talents or get an opportunity to share their ideas and perspectives. I think that’s something that hurts us all,” he said.
Lake isn’t shy about sharing his point of view, but he tried to make a point of having one that’s original, even in the take saturated world of talk radio.
“I think that oftentimes, one of the things that I think a lot listeners get frustrated with is that the message is so homogenous. I hope that I'm bringing something fresh and something unique.”
He’ll get his chance to do just that at WCCO Radio starting March 11.
