By Rick Kaempfer
THE ACTIONS OF BRUCE WOLF
W
hen Bruce Wolf took over the
morning show at WLS-AM, he
knew he had big shoes to fill.
Bruce says now that he couldn't have done it
without the support of his predecessors, Don
& Roma (Wade).
"Don heard me doing a weekend show
with Dan, and liked what we did, and recommended us to fill in for them when they
went on vacation, and that was before he
was ill. So, when he got sick it just seemed
like a good idea to keep on doing it."
Wolf still holds both Don and Roma in
high esteem. "I don't like to keep anything
on my desk, because I've always believed
that you should be able to clear out in thirty
minutes when that inevitable broadcasting
day comes (laughs), but all I have on my
desk is a card from Roma that she sent me a
not me?"
For the past few years Bruce has been
partnered with Dan Proft. "I can't recall our
first show together," he admits, "or why we
were thrown together, although I remember
it was Drew Hayes who put us on the air
together. I think the reason we clicked is that
we both basically believe in the same core
principles, we have the same core beliefs.
That first year together it wasn't really something we thought about. The show was constantly moving – do an interview here, talk to
Dan here, do the news here. Take a call here.
Do a promo here. It was always moving. "
Although Bruce and Dan mainly talk
about politics, Bruce hasn't completely left
the sports world behind. During Bears
games, following Bruce's Twitter feed can be
amusing "I usually accumulate those Twitter
Bruce Wolf (left) and Dan Proft
few years ago, a very nice Christmas card,
and also a silhouette of a target that had been
shot out by her. She sent it to me along with
a note saying – 'Bruce, give me your lunch
money.'"
Wolf's path to conservative talk show
host wasn't that different than Wade's. Both
men were known more for their comedy
than their political beliefs.
"That's true," Bruce agrees. "Don was like
a DJ at one point, doing shtick, and I was
doing shtick about sports. But like Don, I
didn't need to become this—I've always been
this. It would be pretty hard to be genuine if
I didn't really mean the things I was saying.
I'm not that good of an actor. It was an interesting transition because I don't think I ever
dreamed of being in this kind of a job. This is
the best thing I've ever done. "
Among the other things he lists as his
greatest accomplishments is the time he
spent working alongside his newest colleague, Steve Dahl. "That was a great two
years," he recalls. "Everything else I did in
my career, I was on the periphery – whether
it was as a sportscaster on Brandmeier or
Steve & Garry or television news. That time
with Steve prepared me for this more than
anything."
Although Bruce does admit there are
some major differences between those days
and his current gig. "When I was partnered
with Steve there were times when we would
just sit there and talk. Just talk. No calls. No
interviews. No commercials. Just talk…forever. This is not that. It's kind of interesting,
I guess, to fit my freewheeling style into a
tight format like this, but you simply hit your
marks. I can freelance a little, but I know
when it's time to go to a commercial or a call
or whatever. You still have to make the trains
run on time. If Mussolini could do it, why
20 illinoisentertainer.com november 2014
lines and turn them into a Chet Chit Chat,"
he says of his famous long-running sports bit
that parodies both Chet Coppock and Chuck
Swirsky, and is still a regular feature on
Bruce & Dan's show. "I do love talking about
sports, but I've never been into the nitty gritty of schemes, and systems, and whatever
the linebacker is supposed to be doing."
Bruce has always been more into the oneliners, and the Twitter world is perfect for
that. On the other hand, even though his
show has embraced social media, Bruce
insists that he should get no credit for that.
"(Show producer) Pete (Zimmerman)
handles all the social media stuff about our
show. He's the one that videotapes our interviews, and turns them around, and puts
them on Facebook or Twitter, or whatever.
That's his domain and he does a great job of
it."
If you watch those videos, it appears
Bruce is the man running the controls. That's
another misnomer he insisted on correcting.
"We have an engineer running the main controls in another room," he says. "This is the
extent of my technical prowess: I can punch
up the phone calls, and I can adjust the volume on my own headphones."
And if you ever run into Bruce Wolf on
the streets of Chicago, there's one more thing
he wants you to know. "I am not Rich Koz,"
he jokes, pointing out the similar physical
features of the two men. "He's apparently my
doppelganger. People come up to me all the
time thinking I'm Rich. 'Hey Svengoolie!
What's Up!' I don't bother to disabuse them
of the notion." Koz may want to keep that in
mind if he ever runs into any legal troubles.
"Your honor, clearly these must be the actions
of Bruce Wolf."
Heck, he can even hire Bruce to represent
him. Bruce Wolf is also an attorney.