Ed Schultz

File:Schultz ed.jpg

Ed Schultz

Ed Schultz (born January 27, 1954) is the host of The Ed Schultz Show, a U.S. talk radio show promising "straight talk from the heartland" from a "gun-totin', red meat-eatin' lefty."

Early life

Football Career

Schultz was born in Virginia and moved to the state of Minnesota to play football on a scholarship from Moorhead State University, becoming the NCAA Division II passing leader in 1977. He played football for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for a half-season, but never adjusted to the league's rugby-shaped football.

Radio/TV Career

After his short football career ended, he went to work as a sportscaster in Fargo, North Dakota, a role he had for nearly fifteen years with two local stations, predominantly WDAY, the local ABC affiliate. Schultz anchored the nightly sports broadcasts for the station, and became well known across the state for his high-energy radio and TV play-by-play of North Dakota State University football and basketball games.

Schultz developed a reputation as a controversial figure with bold predictions and pointed commentaries. Schultz was also married to WDAY news co-anchor and producer Maureen Zimmerman during much of his on-air time with the station. The two later divorced.

In 1988, Schultz was involved in what has over time become known as the "Whiskey Bottle Incident" in Fargo. During North Dakota State University's 55-21 season-opening football victory over Northern Michigan University, an empty whiskey bottle thrown from the student section of fans shattered a window near Schultz, who was broadcasting the game on WDAY-AM radio, and struck color analyst Gary Barta in the stomach. Schultz, who often received taunting from the NDSU students, proceeded to blurt out several audible expletives over the air and left the broadcast booth to find the bottle thrower. He apologized later for his "colorful" language and actions. Later that week, Schultz was asked by WDAY management to take a few days off to clear the air--while not called a suspension, the vice president of WDAY indicated people could "draw their own conclusions" about Schultz's sudden removal from on-air broadcast duties.

Schultz, who was touted as the "Voice of the Bison" for many years at WDAY-AM, would leave in 1996 and began broadcasting for KFGO-AM in Fargo, now owned by Clear Channel. Interestingly, Schultz would begin doing play-by-play work on University of North Dakota football broadcasts in 1998. This angered many NDSU loyalists when Schultz began to disparage the Bison during Sioux broadcasts after his years of NDSU play by play. Schultz was also a finalist for the Minnesota Vikings radio play by play broadcast job in 2001, a job that eventually went to KFAN radio host Paul Allen.

However, Schultz's mouth got him again in trouble when during a substitute hosting stint on a Minneapolis-based sports show in January 2003, he called Sioux hockey coach Dean Blais a "jerk" and "bush-league." Blais called for Schultz's removal from UND athletic broadcasts. Interestingly, even after Schultz left as UND play by play man in 2003 to focus on his national radio show, his legacy as a controversial sports figure in North Dakota did not diminish. In a 2004 Sports Illustrated article on North Dakota, Schultz lost out to only Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre as North Dakota's #1 "Enemy of the State".

Schultz's "KFGO News and Views with Ed Schultz" radio show was very similar to his WDAY "Viewpoint" program and quickly grew into a regional broadcast dominating the North Dakota airwaves, with additional listeners in South Dakota, western Minnesota, Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Schultz's political views leaned towards the right during the early years — Schultz told the Los Angeles Times that he "lined up with the Republicans because they were anti-tax, and I wanted to make a lot of money..." —. Interestingly, Schultz pondered a run as a Republican for the U.S. House against Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy in 1994, but decided against it after visiting with state Republican leaders. Under the influence of his fiancee, Wendy, his views started changing in 1998, and he claims to have become a Democratic Party supporter in 2000. Schultz even pondered a Democratic-backed run at the North Dakota governorship against current officeholder John Hoeven (R) but decided against that as well.

Political Views

Schultz considers himself a "progressive liberal", though some could say bears some hallmarks of a typical US social conservative. Specifically, he is opposed to abortion, guest worker programs for undocumented immigrants, and some gay rights issues, including gay marriage. However, many if not most congressional Democrats are in favor of civil unions, and would not consider themselves in favor of abortion.

Schultz-Prager Exchange

Ed Schultz has engaged in a minor conflict with talk-show host Dennis Prager. Prager defended controversial comments made by William J. Bennett on the September 28, 2005 broadcast of his morning radio program, which Schultz characterized as being racist. Prager asserted that Schultz had quoted Bennett out of context and challenged Schultz to a debate about the issue. The debate has not yet been arranged.

Radio show

The Ed Schultz Show is broadcast from Fargo, North Dakota on a network of over 100 stations (as of October 2005), including eight of the 10 largest radio markets. He is also on XM and Sirius satellite radio; his show is often carried as part of a lineup that includes one or more Air America Radio shows.

Bibliography

• "Straight Talk From The Heartland: Tough Talk, Common Sense, and Hope from a Former Conservative", 2004 (ISBN 0060784571)

External links

• Official site, including "Ed in the News"
• The Ed Schultz Show on the Jones Radio Network
• IMDB entry
• Article about Ed Schultz in the April 2, 2004 issue of The Los Angeles Times
• Transcript of Ed Schultz appearance on Larry King Live