I'm going to take the initial post at face value.

It's not likely Detroit will support the number of sports stations it now has over the long term. But that doesn't prohibit someone starting a new one, and what they probably have in mind is to overtake one of the existing sports stations and force it out of that format.

If I open a pizzeria down the block from a pizzeria, my goal isn't peaceful coexistence; my goal is to be better [[or cheaper, or something) and force the other fellow off the block.

Now, I think Mr. Lane is an excellent radio host, and will be a formidable competitor in this niche. I would not be happy to be, right now, the owner of one of his competitors. The questions not yet answered are, first, will he pull listeners away from the existing sports stations, and second, will some former WRIF listeners tune in [[despite the change in formula - that is, no Mr. Clark).

WRIF, in the morning during the couple decades that Mr. Lane and Mr. Clark held court, was not a rock music program; it was talk, and a decent percentage of the time was spent on sports. This is not a huge format shift for Mr. Lane.

By the way, I've been asked about my peculiar habit of referring to well-known people almost exclusively by their last names. Your kindly old professor is, well, old-fashioned. In days past it was not common to refer to people whom one did not know personally by their first names. The prof is fighting a rear-guard [[and, likely, hopeless) action to preserve a quaint and polite tradition.

So, for example, I can refer to the untimely death of Shawn Burr [[I knew him), but when Mr. Yzerman passes, hopefully many years hence, if the Prof still lives and breathes [[unlikely) he will have to remain Mr. Yzerman. Unless, meantime, someone will be kind enough to make the introduction.