Ron Cameron

[Momo]

As always, well done, Bobbert! And move over, Ted Kulfan, we now have a new biographer once Ron decides to pen his tome.

A few thoughts:

1. "WXYZ cancelled Cameron's sports talk show in September 1981 because of poor ratings with women and listeners 35 and older." I see Ron has corrected this problem, what with his now-majority female AND exclusive 35 & over-listening audience.

2. "In his sometimes bellicose discussions with fans and athletes, Cameron's sincerity and his affection for Detroit sports comes through," wrote LaPointe." Now it seems that, unless management plays ball with him, Ron reflexively opposes local sports teams, even disparaging the success of individual players.

3. "Many of these sports figures were interviewed a few years before they died. These interviewees included Bob Wolff, Tommy Lasorda, Jud Heathcote, Bob Miller, Jim Bunning, Phil Regan, and Charlie Maxwell." Regan & Maxwell are still among the living, although Regan's MIA status has given Ron great concern for his well-being.

Also, I think his exclusive motel living (& corresponding long-running war with maids) merits recognition. As does his cult-like following here, which would lead an alien reading this Board to conclude that Ron was a sports media impresario who owned this town lock, stock, & barrel.

[Bobbert]

As always, well done, Bobbert! And move over, Ted Kulfan, we now have a new biographer once Ron decides to pen his tome.

A few thoughts:

1. "WXYZ cancelled Cameron's sports talk show in September 1981 because of poor ratings with women and listeners 35 and older." I see Ron has corrected this problem, what with his now-majority female AND exclusive 35 & over-listening audience.

2. "In his sometimes bellicose discussions with fans and athletes, Cameron's sincerity and his affection for Detroit sports comes through," wrote LaPointe." Now it seems that, unless management plays ball with him, Ron reflexively opposes local sports teams, even disparaging the success of individual players.

3. "Many of these sports figures were interviewed a few years before they died. These interviewees included Bob Wolff, Tommy Lasorda, Jud Heathcote, Bob Miller, Jim Bunning, Phil Regan, and Charlie Maxwell." Regan & Maxwell are still among the living, although Regan's MIA status has given Ron great concern for his well-being.

Also, I think his exclusive motel living (& corresponding long-running war with maids) merits recognition. As does his cult-like following here, which would lead an alien reading this Board to conclude that Ron was a sports media impresario who owned this town lock, stock, & barrel.

Thanks. Those are all good suggestions. I'll see what I can do later today.

Also, after I published it in early November, I e-mailed Ron about it, as a courtesy, and suggested that people like Ted Kulfan or George Eichorn could fill in any gaps. I didn't get any response from Ron.

[Momo]

Also, after I published it in early November, I e-mailed Ron about it, as a courtesy, and suggested that people like Ted Kulfan or George Eichorn could fill in any gaps. I didn't get any response from Ron.

No surprise there. We can add Wikipedia to the list of 21st century developments of which Ron is clueless. I’ll be interested to see what his take on all this will be.

[sparty89]

Ron now has an entry in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Camer ... rtscaster)

who would put in the effort to research and post that?

I was wondering when someone would discover it. I'll take the blame and/or credit.

Hopefully, it will help with two things:

• Introducing thread newcomers to Ron.

• Corrections to Ron's always faulty memory.

I still have a lot more source material, so I'll put some more work in on it after the New Year's. If anyone has any good Internet source material, feel free to pass it on.

Very impressive. I figured it might be someone on here. I was blown away when I saw the footnotes.

[Mr.Transistor]

Very impressive Bobbert. I do take issue with this statement and I'm sure Ron would as well. "But in 1990, he incorrectly reported that the Detroit Tigers would move its playing location from Detroit to suburban Dearborn"

In fact, Ron was correct that the Tigers did indeed have the wheels in motion for a move to that area of land on Ford Rd. in Dearborn. When this became public, thanks to Ron, the city of Dearborn got so much flack from their residents that the city nixed any kind of a deal and it never materialized.

[Bobbert]

Very impressive Bobbert. I do take issue with this statement and I'm sure Ron would as well. "But in 1990, he incorrectly reported that the Detroit Tigers would move its playing location from Detroit to suburban Dearborn"

In fact, Ron was correct that the Tigers did indeed have the wheels in motion for a move to that area of land on Ford Rd. in Dearborn. When this became public, thanks to Ron, the city of Dearborn got so much flack from their residents that the city nixed any kind of a deal and it never materialized.

Thanks for the clarification. I'll go back through my source material and see what I can do. He had some credibility at that time because of the Schembechler prediction. Also, Joe Falls took Cameron's prediction seriously.

[Bobbert]

As always, well done, Bobbert! And move over, Ted Kulfan, we now have a new biographer once Ron decides to pen his tome.

A few thoughts:

1. "WXYZ cancelled Cameron's sports talk show in September 1981 because of poor ratings with women and listeners 35 and older." I see Ron has corrected this problem, what with his now-majority female AND exclusive 35 & over-listening audience.

2. "In his sometimes bellicose discussions with fans and athletes, Cameron's sincerity and his affection for Detroit sports comes through," wrote LaPointe." Now it seems that, unless management plays ball with him, Ron reflexively opposes local sports teams, even disparaging the success of individual players.

3. "Many of these sports figures were interviewed a few years before they died. These interviewees included Bob Wolff, Tommy Lasorda, Jud Heathcote, Bob Miller, Jim Bunning, Phil Regan, and Charlie Maxwell." Regan & Maxwell are still among the living, although Regan's MIA status has given Ron great concern for his well-being.

Also, I think his exclusive motel living (& corresponding long-running war with maids) merits recognition. As does his cult-like following here, which would lead an alien reading this Board to conclude that Ron was a sports media impresario who owned this town lock, stock, & barrel.

I've updated the Wikipedia page from Momo's suggestions, with this tip of the hat to the Buzzboard:

Cameron has developed a cult-like following in one of the most active discussion threads on the Michigan Radio and TV Buzzboard. Thread participants have expressed themselves through critical analysis, fact checking, satirical fiction, and song parodies.

[Momo]

Thanks, Bobbert!

"This is the kind of publicity, your name in print, that makes people."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJLGXuXwWoc

[radiofan1974]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to the Sunday night listening crew! who would have ever thought my Sunday night appointment radio would be Sportstalk

We are a interesting bunch, in a crazy way I look forward to Sunday nights for the fun we have posting our various thoughts throughout the show.

[Bobbert]

Very impressive Bobbert. I do take issue with this statement and I'm sure Ron would as well. "But in 1990, he incorrectly reported that the Detroit Tigers would move its playing location from Detroit to suburban Dearborn"

In fact, Ron was correct that the Tigers did indeed have the wheels in motion for a move to that area of land on Ford Rd. in Dearborn. When this became public, thanks to Ron, the city of Dearborn got so much flack from their residents that the city nixed any kind of a deal and it never materialized.

I revised that section. I softened the tone a little and found a great quote from a Dearborn council member that proved that Ron wasn't imagining things. I'm surprised I didn't remember all this. I was living at Ford and Greenfield at the time, and watched the development of that proposed site into a big commercial space that was probably much more welcome.

[Bobbert]

Also, after I published it in early November, I e-mailed Ron about it, as a courtesy, and suggested that people like Ted Kulfan or George Eichorn could fill in any gaps. I didn't get any response from Ron.

No surprise there. We can add Wikipedia to the list of 21st century developments of which Ron is clueless. I’ll be interested to see what his take on all this will be.

Maybe we could get Alex to tell him the next time he's on.

[Bobbert]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to the Sunday night listening crew! who would have ever thought my Sunday night appointment radio would be Sportstalk

We are a interesting bunch, in a crazy way I look forward to Sunday nights for the fun we have posting our various thoughts throughout the show.

Merry Christmas.

One year when Ron was broadcasting on Christmas Day, he played a bunch of Christmas music, including this cute song:

[Momo]

Best of the holidays to all.

For me, Christmas will always be the day I learned there were no "insurance" callers. 

A(n Oft-Told) Christmas Story: 

Ron would regularly tell his WPON Friday morning audience that his never-ending rotation of callers (each week they had different names/cities of residence) from the "insurance company" - who, to my mind, only seemed to exist during the pendency of the show - weren't allowed to call during his 9-11 time slot (although, somehow, they broke free en masse from their master to call (whom???) before the show began), so, absent games to call, many callers and/or a producer to feed him emails, Ron would routinely resort to asking the most softball questions "they" had posed before the show began. When the questions duplicated ones he had already addressed, Ron would apologize, reiterating they had landed before they had already been fielded on-air (no explanation was given why he felt it was necessary, then, to even address the "question"). 

So when Christmas Day one year fell on a day that Ron was broadcasting - apparently WPON doesn't have the same holiday rules as WDTK - I wondered whether he was well-aware or savvy enough to hold off on these questions from callers his audience would have to know were not at work that morning. For the last time, I actually bet in favor of Ron. But Ron being Ron, he couldn't restrain himself. With even fewer of his regulars calling in, Ron turned to his ever-ready crop of "callers". With that, I called in, telling Ron that I now knew the name of the insurance company. It was, I said, the Scrooge Insurance Company. Not only did it make its employees work on this day, but even enforced its no-call (after 9) policy. An uncomfortable Ron quickly changed the subject.

[ShempLives]

Kudos to the effort involved in creating the Wikipedia entry on Ron. Concise and non-judgmental, this is just what a broadcast historian would want and need with the amply documented footnotes. Also in fairness to Ron regarding the story of the Detroit Tigers contemplating moving to Dearborn in late 80's/early 90's: Other media followed Ron's lead and discovered that both Tom Monahan and Glenn "Bo" Schembechler had purchased condominiums close to the prospective sight.

[uncleb67]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to the Sunday night listening crew! who would have ever thought my Sunday night appointment radio would be Sportstalk

We are a interesting bunch, in a crazy way I look forward to Sunday nights for the fun we have posting our various thoughts throughout the show.

I fall into the “listen to the podcast a few days later” crew, though I do enjoy the “advance scouting” of the Buzzboard during the live program on Sunday nights. It kinda gives me some insight for what is ahead of me when I finally get around to listening.

That being said, I wish the podcasts would post a little earlier in the following week (they’ve gone up on Thursday nights a couple times in recent weeks). Ron’s shows get a little moldy after a few days obviously, but what’s forty years or so between host, guests and listeners!