RADIO GA-GA VII: GREAT GET FOR TEAM 1260

I’m not sure exactly how he pulled it off, but Jason Gregor copped quite the coup with his sit-down interview with Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers on TEAM 1260 Friday, a gab session that lasted almost two hours.

Gregor wheeled Hall for Friday’s live show from The Pint on Whyte Avenue and by the time he and co-host Jason Strudwick were done, Hall had touched on just about everything a hardcore Oiler fan could hope for. The bit even included a phone-in gag from Jordan Eberle. Absolutely classic.

Knowing how difficult it can be to book players for on-air interviews during the off-season, particularly high-profile guys like Hall, who are always in demand, makes it all the more impressive.

While that might sound like some blatant bum-kissing from one of Gregor’s co-hosts — I should get more than two days a week, but I digress — it’s more about being impressed by his access than about puckering up. If guys as busy as Hall don’t want to talk to you for two minutes, let alone two hours, they don’t.

Who says guys who wear bowling shoes and glasses bought at a Liberace estate sale don’t have clout?

I couldn’t help but wonder as Hall stuck around segment after segment chatting with Gregor and Strudwick how the lengthy interview was going over across town at the competition, 630 CHED, the station that paid a big stack of dough to retain the Oilers radio rights.

Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t remember Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now or anybody at 630 CHED having that length of sit-down interview with an Oilers player, coach or manager this season. It certainly hasn’t happened so far this off-season. In a competitive sense, it seems to me Gregor’s exclusive amounted to a wireless kick in the nuts. CHED’S got to be pissed, falsetto and all.

Seeing as Gregor lets me pretend to be a radio guy two days a week and has even paid me to do it at TEAM 1260 since taking over the primetime drive slot from Stauffer, I can’t say I’m going to lose sleep over any consternation at the big station. Score one for the little guys and healthy competition, as I see it.

Apparently I didn’t screw it up that badly last time, so I’ll be filling in for Allan Mitchell as host of Nation Radio this coming Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. I’ll write something next week outlining how the show is shaping up. If you’ve got anybody you think would make a kicker of a guest, leave your suggestions.