Diary of a DJ: How Craig O'Neill went from being Little Rock's class clown to its Mister Rogers

[LiberalArkie]

In 1991, two days before the Arkansas Razorbacks played the Texas Longhorns in Little Rock, Craig O’Neill — then a morning disc jockey at KURB-FM, 98.5 — made perhaps his greatest prank call. Adding a little good ol’ boy charm to his baritone, O’Neill called the University of Texas athletic department pretending to be Gilbert McElroy, groundskeeper at War Memorial Stadium.

“We got a small problem up here, and I just wanted to know how to handle it. … Last night, our boy that marks the field on the AstroTurf, the sun was going down, and it was getting real dark and, naturally, we don’t want to have to turn the lights on to mark the field, and his deadline was last night. … he didn’t realize what he was doing, and he was puttin’ y’all’s name in our south end zone, and he added an extra S.”


“… How do you mean?” asked the Texas athletic department official.

“What I mean is, it’s T-E-X-A-S-S, and we don’t have enough time to take that off. …”

Snip

https://arktimes.com/news/cover-stories/2020/02/27/diary-of-a-dj-how-craig-oneill-went-from-being-little-rocks-class-clown-to-its-mister-rogers

[ret5hd]

1. And here's the recording:

[rsdsharp]

2. Good bit, but I have to question his sanity.

Anyone still wearing Koss Pro-4AA headphones on the radio n 1991 is crazy. They are hot, they are heavy, they distort at high volume, and, as you can see from the picture, the headpiece falls apart (the right end piece is starting to come out --it will only get worse).

[ret5hd]

3. Maybe he's wearing them ironically.

[rsdsharp]

4. Ar best, he should be wearing them

reluctantly.