Quadruple Dare
WASHINGTONIAN MAGAZINE -- Chris Baker - Wednesday, September 1
In a way, the gang owes it all to Eric Bickel's mother-in-law. After Alicia Chin watched a cheaply produced cable-access show in 1995, she dared her son-in-law and his buddies to do better. Bickel and his pals -- John Auville, Jason Bishop and John-Paul Flaim -- accepted the challenge, marching down to Bowie City Hall and signing up for a twice-monthly time slot.
The Sports Junkies was born.
The show gave the four friends -- three of them grew up within a block of one another in Bowie -- a chance to mouth off in front of the camera about their shared passion for sports.
The cable show soon morphed into a radio program on WJFK-FM (106.7), DC's powerhouse talk station. Eventually, each Junkie gave up his day job -- Auville, for example, managed a Toys "R" Us -- to focus on broadcasting.
"I was the only one who wasn't worried," Bickel says. "I knew it was going to be a home run."
The Junkies now air during morning drive time -- 5:30 to 10 AM -- on WJFK sister station WHFS-FM (99.1), where they are giving archrival Elliot Segal of WWDC-FM (101.1) a run for his money in the ratings race.
The freewheeling program, now called The Junkies, is basically another example of beer-and-babes radio but with a lot of heart.
The rapport among the hosts -- they all turn 34 this year -- comes easy. They spend much of the time ribing each other and trotting out the lingo they used in the old neighborhood. Anyone who says something foolish is deemed a "donkey." All things cool are referred to as "money."
"It's like eavesdropping on a group of buddies shooting the breeze at a bar," Flaim says.
Bob Ehrlich, Maryland's frat-boy-in-chief, is a Junkies fan. He had the boys and their wives over to the governor's mansion for dinner last year.
The guys aren't taking their celebrity for granted. Radio is a fickle business, and they know the ride someday might end.
"Still," Bickel says, "this experience has taught me that you have to love what you do for a living. I'll never again take a job just for the money."
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