Bruce Wolf
Encyclopedia
Bruce Wolf is a veteran Chicago broadcaster and sports anchor who has been on both TV and radio for more than 20 years. He currently hosts a politics-themed talk show every weekday morning on WLS (AM)
radio in Chicago and also fills in as a sportscaster on WMAQ-TV
in Chicago. Wolf also works part-time as a divorce attorney.
neighborhood, Wolf grew up in Skokie, Illinois
.
Wolf, who also is an attorney, earned a degree in journalism at Northwestern University
in 1975 and also earned a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law
. At age 24, he decided to attend law school while working full-time as a newspaper reporter and also was doing play-by-play broadcasts on two small radio stations.
from 1972 to 1981 and also was doing play-by-play broadcasts on two small radio stations. He caught a break when WXRT
radio's owner Dan Lee walked into Wolf's father's hardware store and asked if Wolf would be interested in a vacant sportscasting position. Wolf began hosting Athletes' Feats on WXRT
from 1976 until 1982 (the show then was hosted by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Verdi from 1982 until the end of 2000). He also did morning sportscasts at WXRT. In 1982 he joined WLUP-FM Radio, also doing sportscasts.
While working for WLUP, Wolf created a character named "Chet Chitchat", a blended caricature of Chicago sportscasters Chet Coppock
and Chuck Swirsky
, his predecessor at WLUP, which became a weekly feature on the station's morning program.
FOX News Chicago, where he became the morning sports anchor. While working for FOX he received three local Emmy awards. "I had never been on TV before, other than in a crowd shot during a Cubs game," Wolf told the Chicago Tribune in 1991. "But I'd been on radio and when I heard about Fox opening (August 1987), I sent the news director a tape I made. They were looking for a local guy, someone with a Chicago flavor, but with a different take on sports."
From around 1990 until around 1991, Wolf co-hosted 9:30, an informal talk show on WFLD-TV airing right after the station's 9 p.m. newscast. The program fizzled, however. While hosting the show, Wolf created controversy one night when he displayed a photograph of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
and joked, "They never did assassinate that guy, did they?" "I was just being a smart aleck, but I guess I triggered-maybe that's a bad choice of verb-some bad feelings," Wolf told the Chicago Tribune in September 1991.
While at WFLD, Wolf famously once decided not to bother with a traditional sports report in June 1993 during the station's 9 p.m. newscast, since few sports fans would be watching an evening newscast during a Chicago Bulls
playoff game. As a result, Wolf delivered his June 2, 1993 sports report from the living room of his north suburban home, surrounded by his wife and five children, who chimed in on cue.
In September 1993, WFLD hired Chicago Bears
defensive tackle Steve McMichael
as a guest analysis on a new half-hour sports highlights show that Wolf was hosting. McMichael previously had worked as an analyst at WMAQ-TV
in Chicago, where he once had brandished a knife on the set. "I'm scared witless," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times about his pairing with McMichael.
In September 1994, Wolf was demoted from being the 9 p.m. sports anchor at WFLD but remained at the station as a morning sports anchor, telling a local newspaper that he was "the highest-paid fourth-string sportscaster in UHF
history." Also, referring to his own sarcastic bent and WFLD's parent network Fox Broadcasting Company
's coup that year in picking up National Football League
games, Wolf joked to the Sun-Times: "Well, maybe the NFL doesn't have room for a smirk." In that same interview, Wolf told the Sun-Times of his new predicament: "As (former Chicago Bears
coach) Mike Ditka
once said: "This too shall pass."
In 2003, Wolf publicly criticized a sportscasting rival at WMAQ-TV for wearing a Chicago Bears
logo shirt while covering Bears' pre-season games, suggesting that the move undermined the rival's credibility. A year later, however, Wolf himself wore a Chicago Cubs
hat and jacket, along with WFLD colleague Tamron Hall
, while covering the Cubs' opening day festivities. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Wolf labeled his Cubs-related action was "hypocrisy," and combined a line from the movie Caddyshack
with a quotation from the 17th-century French writer François de La Rochefoucauld
in elaborating further: "But as La Rochefoucauld said: 'Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue.' So I've got that going for me, which is nice."
After 18 years working for WFLD-TV, Wolf was terminated in February 2006. The reasons for his firing were never made entirely clear, but local media provided two explanations. One was that Wolf's contract was too rich for the station. The other reason involved a pair of incidents that had occurred over the previous six months. The first incident, in September 2005, involved WFLD suspending Wolf for three days after an awkward on-air appearance involving then-WGCI-FM radio personality "Crazy Howard" McGee, who apparently while appearing on WFLD had made a crude, below-the-waist gesture. Wolf turned around and denigrated the gesture during his sports segment, leading to an off-camera incident with a producer. The second incident, at the Chicago Auto Show
in February 2006, involving a taped off-beat segment (which never aired) involving Wolf interviewing a man standing outside of the Auto Show in front of his own car. Wolf apparently asked if he could "key" the car, and the man dared him to do so. When Wolf did so, the man became enraged.
In December 2006, an independent arbitrator ruled that WFLD had no reason to terminate Wolf, and awarded him full back pay and severance. "Vindication is a relief," Wolf told the Chicago Sun-Times at the time.
(NBC 5) as a traffic and sports reporter. "Traffic and sports? I'm not the first Channel 5 multitasker," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in August 2006. "(Legendary Chicago TV anchor) Floyd Kalber
once took it upon himself to do the news and weather. He was (nicknamed) 'The Big Tuna.' I'm just a little sardine." In January 2007, Wolf became the host of WMAQ-TV's Barely Today, a freewheeling news and talk show that aired at 4:30 a.m. and that involved him engaging in banter with news anchor Ellee Pai Hong and weatherman Andy Avalos. "I think 4:30 in the morning is a little too prime time-ish for me," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times upon being named the host of Barely Today. "What I was really looking for was a once-a-year show to be aired on the night that Daylight saving time
ends in that one extra hour that you get at 2 in the morning."
Barely Today wound up lasting just five months due to poor ratings, however, and was canceled in June 2007. "Not too many years from now, when I'm an old insomniac watching TV in the wee hours, I'll look at the screen and say, 'Did I actually do a TV show at 4:30 in the morning? No. It must have been a dream.' And I will wish that I could go back to sleep and start dreaming again," Wolf told the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal
at the time the show was canceled. Speaking seriously, Wolf had nothing but positive things to say about the show and his colleagues upon its cancellation, telling the Chicago Sun-Times in June 2007: "It was a very sweet show, especially so because Ellee Pai Hong is a wonderful partner."
After Barely Today was canceled, Wolf returned to sports anchoring and reporting duties at WMAQ-TV. He was let go from WMAQ-TV on a permanent basis when his contract expired in February 2008. "It was heartbreaking at times, but very rewarding too," Wolf told the Chicago Sun-Times in January 2008 about his full-time stint at WMAQ.
Since leaving WMAQ-TV on a full-time basis in February 2008, Wolf has continued to occasionally fill in at WMAQ-TV as a sports anchor.
) as an afternoon sports talk host. "From time to time, I get offers from stations. But I'm not going to say hello or goodbye to anybody in your (expletive) column," Wolf told the Sun-Times' Robert Feder. Ultimately, Wolf stayed at WLUP.
In February 1994, Wolf ceased working as a morning sports anchor for WLUP's Kevin Matthews to join WLUP's sister station, WMVP, as the morning sports anchor for Steve Dahl
. "I'm not the new Garry (referring to Dahl's longtime former radio partner Garry Meier
)," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in February 1994. "There never will be another Garry. Garry couldn't be Garry again. I'm not Steve's partner. I'm not even his senior associate. I'm merely keeping a seat warm for Tom Thayer
until he retires from the NFL."
In 1996, Dahl left WMVP. Nine weeks later, on May 8, 1996, Wolf's gig as fill-in morning host at WMVP ended as well, as the station decided to go with a variety of guest hosts.
Between May 1996 and 1998, Wolf largely was off Chicago's radio airwaves, although he performed occasional vacation fill-in work, most notably at WCKG-FM.
In January 1998, Wolf returned to Chicago's radio airwaves as the morning news and sports anchor for host Jonathon Brandmeier
on WCKG-FM. "I stand on the shoulders of the giants of news broadcasting-Edward R. Murrow
, Walter Cronkite
and (Chicago newsman and past Brandmeier sidekick) Buzz Kilman
," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in January 1998. By December 1998, Wolf's contract was not renewed at WCKG after Brandmeier brought back his old colleague, Buzz Kilman
. "Radio is a game of musical chairs. I almost worked with Buzz at the Loop last year. And I've known Buzz since he was middle-aged," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in December 1998.
Between 1998 and 2003, Wolf largely was off Chicago's radio airwaves, although he performed occasional vacation fill-in work and had his Chet Chitchat character contribute weekly segments on Friday mornings on Kevin Matthews' show on then-ABC Radio-owned WXCD-FM between 2000 and 2001. "I believe the (Monday Night Football
) hiring of Dennis Miller
was the cornerstone of an ABC plan to distinguish its sports presentation as the most pseudo-intellectual in broadcasting," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times at the time the Chet Chitchat deal was signed. "The hiring of Chet Chitchat is the masterstroke that completes that plan."
Wolf rejoined WLUP in November 2003. "It's good to be home again at the Loop," Wolf told the Chicago Sun-Times at the time. "Anybody who considers a radio station as his home is an idiot. I'm an idiot. As for doing the news, I stand on the shoulders of giants: Walter Cronkite
, John Chancellor
, (and the frequently mocked, short-lived Chicago news anchor) Ron Hunter. I do not take this responsibility lightly. In fact, I take no responsibility at all."
In December 2004 -- and while still on the air at WLUP -- Wolf auditioned for a job working alongside Roe Conn
at WLS (AM)
radio. The pairing didn't work out, however.
On March 5, 2009, WLUP fired Wolf from his role as a morning radio sidekick, as part of a cost cutting.
In May 2010, WLS
radio hired Wolf as a Saturday afternoon talk-show host, co-hosting a two-hour program with political commentator Dan Proft
.
In July 2011, WLS-AM announced that starting July 18, 2011, Wolf and Proft would begin airing their show five mornings a week, replacing the weekday morning show of host Cisco Cotto, who was fired.
blog written by former Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder
.
During the 1990s, Wolf lived in several homes in Riverwoods, Illinois
. Wolf moved to Deerfield, Illinois
in 2007 and then to his current home on a farm in Old Mill Creek, Illinois
in 2010. "I thought I married a North Shore
princess, but what I really married was a farm girl," Wolf quipped to the Tribune in June 2010. "I mow the lawn practically every day of the week, because it's like 20 lawns' worth."
Wolf also worked full-time as a lawyer for the Chicago law firm Holstein, Mack and Klein from 1982 until 1987. He decided to leave the law in 1987 to focus full-time on broadcasting. "When I was an attorney on the radio, that was crazy," he told the Chicago Tribune in 1991. "Trying to explain to a judge that you need a recess to do a sportscast...the two jobs didn't dovetail at all. It was difficult to do both jobs well. So when the TV opportunity opened up, I just seized it."
Currently, in addition to his broadcasting work, Wolf works part-time as a divorce attorney in Lake County, Illinois
.
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
radio in Chicago and also fills in as a sportscaster on WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
in Chicago. Wolf also works part-time as a divorce attorney.
Early life and education
The son of Ira Wolf, who owned a hardware store owner in Chicago's Lincoln ParkLincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
neighborhood, Wolf grew up in Skokie, Illinois
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
.
Wolf, who also is an attorney, earned a degree in journalism at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1975 and also earned a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law
Chicago-Kent College of Law
Chicago–Kent College of Law, the law school affiliated with Illinois Institute of Technology, is nationally recognized for the scholarship and accomplishments of its faculty and student body. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. Many of the applications of technology in the...
. At age 24, he decided to attend law school while working full-time as a newspaper reporter and also was doing play-by-play broadcasts on two small radio stations.
Early journalism career
Wolf first started working full-time for Lerner NewspapersLerner Newspapers
Lerner Newspapers was once the largest chain of weekly newspapers in the world. Founded by Leo Lerner, the chain was a force in community journalism in Chicago from 1926 to 2005....
from 1972 to 1981 and also was doing play-by-play broadcasts on two small radio stations. He caught a break when WXRT
WXRT
WXRT, also known as WXRT 93.1, XRT, and 93-XRT is a AAA radio station in Chicago, Illinois. For many years their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". WXRT is a primary sponsor of the Chicago nonprofit Rock For Kids.-History:...
radio's owner Dan Lee walked into Wolf's father's hardware store and asked if Wolf would be interested in a vacant sportscasting position. Wolf began hosting Athletes' Feats on WXRT
WXRT
WXRT, also known as WXRT 93.1, XRT, and 93-XRT is a AAA radio station in Chicago, Illinois. For many years their slogan has been "Chicago's Finest Rock". WXRT is a primary sponsor of the Chicago nonprofit Rock For Kids.-History:...
from 1976 until 1982 (the show then was hosted by Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Verdi from 1982 until the end of 2000). He also did morning sportscasts at WXRT. In 1982 he joined WLUP-FM Radio, also doing sportscasts.
While working for WLUP, Wolf created a character named "Chet Chitchat", a blended caricature of Chicago sportscasters Chet Coppock
Chet Coppock
Chet Coppock is an American Emmy award-winning radio broadcaster, television broadcaster and sports talk personality. Coppock publishes Daily Coppock videos and interviews on www.DailyCoppock.com, as well as an audio podcast called Coppock on Sports available on iTunes...
and Chuck Swirsky
Chuck Swirsky
Chuck Swirsky is the radio play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. He was formerly the longtime play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors....
, his predecessor at WLUP, which became a weekly feature on the station's morning program.
Work at WFLD-TV
In 1987, Wolf joined WFLDWFLD
WFLD, virtual channel 32 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station, based in Chicago, Illinois; through its parent company News Corporation, the station is owned in a duopoly with area MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV...
FOX News Chicago, where he became the morning sports anchor. While working for FOX he received three local Emmy awards. "I had never been on TV before, other than in a crowd shot during a Cubs game," Wolf told the Chicago Tribune in 1991. "But I'd been on radio and when I heard about Fox opening (August 1987), I sent the news director a tape I made. They were looking for a local guy, someone with a Chicago flavor, but with a different take on sports."
From around 1990 until around 1991, Wolf co-hosted 9:30, an informal talk show on WFLD-TV airing right after the station's 9 p.m. newscast. The program fizzled, however. While hosting the show, Wolf created controversy one night when he displayed a photograph of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and joked, "They never did assassinate that guy, did they?" "I was just being a smart aleck, but I guess I triggered-maybe that's a bad choice of verb-some bad feelings," Wolf told the Chicago Tribune in September 1991.
While at WFLD, Wolf famously once decided not to bother with a traditional sports report in June 1993 during the station's 9 p.m. newscast, since few sports fans would be watching an evening newscast during a Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
playoff game. As a result, Wolf delivered his June 2, 1993 sports report from the living room of his north suburban home, surrounded by his wife and five children, who chimed in on cue.
In September 1993, WFLD hired Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
defensive tackle Steve McMichael
Steve McMichael
-World Wrestling Federation :After the end of his NFL career, he appeared at ringside in the WWF for Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania XI on April 2, 1995 in Hartford, Connecticut. Taylor was wrestling Bam Bam Bigelow and there were several football players at ringside to keep wrestlers from...
as a guest analysis on a new half-hour sports highlights show that Wolf was hosting. McMichael previously had worked as an analyst at WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
in Chicago, where he once had brandished a knife on the set. "I'm scared witless," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times about his pairing with McMichael.
In September 1994, Wolf was demoted from being the 9 p.m. sports anchor at WFLD but remained at the station as a morning sports anchor, telling a local newspaper that he was "the highest-paid fourth-string sportscaster in UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
history." Also, referring to his own sarcastic bent and WFLD's parent network Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's coup that year in picking up National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
games, Wolf joked to the Sun-Times: "Well, maybe the NFL doesn't have room for a smirk." In that same interview, Wolf told the Sun-Times of his new predicament: "As (former Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
coach) Mike Ditka
Mike Ditka
Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head...
once said: "This too shall pass."
In 2003, Wolf publicly criticized a sportscasting rival at WMAQ-TV for wearing a Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
logo shirt while covering Bears' pre-season games, suggesting that the move undermined the rival's credibility. A year later, however, Wolf himself wore a Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
hat and jacket, along with WFLD colleague Tamron Hall
Tamron Hall
Tamron Hall is a day-side anchor for MSNBC and host of the program NewsNation with Tamron Hall.-Early career:...
, while covering the Cubs' opening day festivities. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Wolf labeled his Cubs-related action was "hypocrisy," and combined a line from the movie Caddyshack
Caddyshack
Caddyshack is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis, and Douglas Kenney. It stars Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Michael O'Keefe, Cindy Morgan, and Bill Murray...
with a quotation from the 17th-century French writer François de La Rochefoucauld
François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)
François VI, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac was a noted French author of maxims and memoirs. The view of human conduct his writings describe has been summed up by the words "everything is reducible to the motive of self-interest", though the term "gently cynical" has also been applied...
in elaborating further: "But as La Rochefoucauld said: 'Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue.' So I've got that going for me, which is nice."
After 18 years working for WFLD-TV, Wolf was terminated in February 2006. The reasons for his firing were never made entirely clear, but local media provided two explanations. One was that Wolf's contract was too rich for the station. The other reason involved a pair of incidents that had occurred over the previous six months. The first incident, in September 2005, involved WFLD suspending Wolf for three days after an awkward on-air appearance involving then-WGCI-FM radio personality "Crazy Howard" McGee, who apparently while appearing on WFLD had made a crude, below-the-waist gesture. Wolf turned around and denigrated the gesture during his sports segment, leading to an off-camera incident with a producer. The second incident, at the Chicago Auto Show
Chicago Auto Show
The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Placeconvention complex. It is among the largest auto shows in North America....
in February 2006, involving a taped off-beat segment (which never aired) involving Wolf interviewing a man standing outside of the Auto Show in front of his own car. Wolf apparently asked if he could "key" the car, and the man dared him to do so. When Wolf did so, the man became enraged.
In December 2006, an independent arbitrator ruled that WFLD had no reason to terminate Wolf, and awarded him full back pay and severance. "Vindication is a relief," Wolf told the Chicago Sun-Times at the time.
Work at WMAQ-TV
In September 2006, Wolf joined WMAQ-TVWMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
(NBC 5) as a traffic and sports reporter. "Traffic and sports? I'm not the first Channel 5 multitasker," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in August 2006. "(Legendary Chicago TV anchor) Floyd Kalber
Floyd Kalber
Floyd Kalber was a noted American television journalist and anchorman, nicknamed "The Big Tuna."Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent two years in the army during World War II and began his television career as KMTV-Omaha's first newscaster...
once took it upon himself to do the news and weather. He was (nicknamed) 'The Big Tuna.' I'm just a little sardine." In January 2007, Wolf became the host of WMAQ-TV's Barely Today, a freewheeling news and talk show that aired at 4:30 a.m. and that involved him engaging in banter with news anchor Ellee Pai Hong and weatherman Andy Avalos. "I think 4:30 in the morning is a little too prime time-ish for me," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times upon being named the host of Barely Today. "What I was really looking for was a once-a-year show to be aired on the night that Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time
Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...
ends in that one extra hour that you get at 2 in the morning."
Barely Today wound up lasting just five months due to poor ratings, however, and was canceled in June 2007. "Not too many years from now, when I'm an old insomniac watching TV in the wee hours, I'll look at the screen and say, 'Did I actually do a TV show at 4:30 in the morning? No. It must have been a dream.' And I will wish that I could go back to sleep and start dreaming again," Wolf told the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rosenthal
Phil Rosenthal
Phil Rosenthal is the lead business columnist for the Chicago Tribune. He joined the newspaper as its media columnist in the spring of 2005, and was promoted in June 2011...
at the time the show was canceled. Speaking seriously, Wolf had nothing but positive things to say about the show and his colleagues upon its cancellation, telling the Chicago Sun-Times in June 2007: "It was a very sweet show, especially so because Ellee Pai Hong is a wonderful partner."
After Barely Today was canceled, Wolf returned to sports anchoring and reporting duties at WMAQ-TV. He was let go from WMAQ-TV on a permanent basis when his contract expired in February 2008. "It was heartbreaking at times, but very rewarding too," Wolf told the Chicago Sun-Times in January 2008 about his full-time stint at WMAQ.
Since leaving WMAQ-TV on a full-time basis in February 2008, Wolf has continued to occasionally fill in at WMAQ-TV as a sports anchor.
Career at major radio stations, including current work
As noted above, Wolf joined WLUP in 1982. In September 1991, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Wolf was set to join a new all-sports talk radio station (which would eventually become WSCRWSCR
WSCR is a sports radio station in the Chicago, Illinois radio market. The station is owned by CBS Radio and transmits on 670 kHz on the AM dial. Its transmitter is located just off Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale, which is a western suburb of Chicago. It is known as "The Score," and has been on...
) as an afternoon sports talk host. "From time to time, I get offers from stations. But I'm not going to say hello or goodbye to anybody in your (expletive) column," Wolf told the Sun-Times' Robert Feder. Ultimately, Wolf stayed at WLUP.
In February 1994, Wolf ceased working as a morning sports anchor for WLUP's Kevin Matthews to join WLUP's sister station, WMVP, as the morning sports anchor for Steve Dahl
Steve Dahl
Steven Robert Dahl has been an American radio personality and humorist for more than thirty years. He is currently podcasting, and releases the podcasts for download daily from his own website as well as the iTunes store...
. "I'm not the new Garry (referring to Dahl's longtime former radio partner Garry Meier
Garry Meier
Garry Meier is a Chicago-based radio personality and is currently the afternoon host on WGN-AM 720 in Chicago, heard weekdays 3-7 PM CT.- Beginnings :...
)," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in February 1994. "There never will be another Garry. Garry couldn't be Garry again. I'm not Steve's partner. I'm not even his senior associate. I'm merely keeping a seat warm for Tom Thayer
Tom Thayer
Thomas "Tom" Allen Thayer is a former American-football center/guard. He played in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins. He won a Super Bowl as a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears...
until he retires from the NFL."
In 1996, Dahl left WMVP. Nine weeks later, on May 8, 1996, Wolf's gig as fill-in morning host at WMVP ended as well, as the station decided to go with a variety of guest hosts.
Between May 1996 and 1998, Wolf largely was off Chicago's radio airwaves, although he performed occasional vacation fill-in work, most notably at WCKG-FM.
In January 1998, Wolf returned to Chicago's radio airwaves as the morning news and sports anchor for host Jonathon Brandmeier
Jonathon Brandmeier
-Career:Born John Francis Brandmeier to a German father and a Lebanese mother, Brandmeier started his radio career in 1973 at WFON in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
on WCKG-FM. "I stand on the shoulders of the giants of news broadcasting-Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
, Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
and (Chicago newsman and past Brandmeier sidekick) Buzz Kilman
Buzz Kilman
-Radio career:He started in radio as the public service director for WBUS-FM, "The Magic Bus" in Miami Beach, Florida. Kilman remained there until station management discovered many of his late night interviews were spoofs. In 1974, he was at WSHE-FM in Ft...
," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in January 1998. By December 1998, Wolf's contract was not renewed at WCKG after Brandmeier brought back his old colleague, Buzz Kilman
Buzz Kilman
-Radio career:He started in radio as the public service director for WBUS-FM, "The Magic Bus" in Miami Beach, Florida. Kilman remained there until station management discovered many of his late night interviews were spoofs. In 1974, he was at WSHE-FM in Ft...
. "Radio is a game of musical chairs. I almost worked with Buzz at the Loop last year. And I've known Buzz since he was middle-aged," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times in December 1998.
Between 1998 and 2003, Wolf largely was off Chicago's radio airwaves, although he performed occasional vacation fill-in work and had his Chet Chitchat character contribute weekly segments on Friday mornings on Kevin Matthews' show on then-ABC Radio-owned WXCD-FM between 2000 and 2001. "I believe the (Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
) hiring of Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller
Dennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
was the cornerstone of an ABC plan to distinguish its sports presentation as the most pseudo-intellectual in broadcasting," Wolf joked to the Chicago Sun-Times at the time the Chet Chitchat deal was signed. "The hiring of Chet Chitchat is the masterstroke that completes that plan."
Wolf rejoined WLUP in November 2003. "It's good to be home again at the Loop," Wolf told the Chicago Sun-Times at the time. "Anybody who considers a radio station as his home is an idiot. I'm an idiot. As for doing the news, I stand on the shoulders of giants: Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, John Chancellor
John Chancellor
John William Chancellor was a well-known American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News...
, (and the frequently mocked, short-lived Chicago news anchor) Ron Hunter. I do not take this responsibility lightly. In fact, I take no responsibility at all."
In December 2004 -- and while still on the air at WLUP -- Wolf auditioned for a job working alongside Roe Conn
Roe Conn
Roe B. Conn is an American talk radio host of The Roe Conn Show with Richard Roeper, which airs on WLS-AM 890 in Chicago live from 2 to 6 p.m. , Monday through Friday. Three hours of the radio show are also simulcast on NBC Chicago Digital 5.2 television between 3 and 6 p.m. weekdays...
at WLS (AM)
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
radio. The pairing didn't work out, however.
On March 5, 2009, WLUP fired Wolf from his role as a morning radio sidekick, as part of a cost cutting.
In May 2010, WLS
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
radio hired Wolf as a Saturday afternoon talk-show host, co-hosting a two-hour program with political commentator Dan Proft
Dan Proft
Daniel K. Proft is political commentator, entrepreneur, and a Republican candidate for Illinois Governor in the 2010 election.-Early life:...
.
In July 2011, WLS-AM announced that starting July 18, 2011, Wolf and Proft would begin airing their show five mornings a week, replacing the weekday morning show of host Cisco Cotto, who was fired.
Blogging
For many months, Wolf was blogging in a now-neglected blog at ChicagoNow.com. and also was a frequent commenter on the Chicago broadcasting-themed Vocalo.orgVocalo.org
WBEW is a non-commercial educational public radio station on 89.5 MHz at Chesterton in Northwest Indiana. Since June 2007, the station has been the broadcast element of Vocalo, broadcasting primarily uploaded or e-mailed user-generated content; other Vocalo content is on the web but not...
blog written by former Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder
Robert Feder
Robert Feder is a noted Chicago media blogger who was the TV and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1980 until 2008 and a blogger for Vocalo.org from 2009 until 2010...
.
Personal
Wolf and his wife Caryn have been married since about 1975. They have five children.During the 1990s, Wolf lived in several homes in Riverwoods, Illinois
Riverwoods, Illinois
Riverwoods is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Riverwoods was established on the banks of the Des Plaines River in 1949 by local steel magnate Edward L. Ryerson. The population was 3,843 at the 2000 census...
. Wolf moved to Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
in 2007 and then to his current home on a farm in Old Mill Creek, Illinois
Old Mill Creek, Illinois
Old Mill Creek is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 251 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Old Mill Creek is located at ....
in 2010. "I thought I married a North Shore
North Shore (Chicago)
The North Shore is a term that refers to the generally affluent suburbs north of Chicago, Illinois bordering the shore of Lake Michigan.- History :Europeans settled the area sparsely after an 1833 treaty with local Native Americans...
princess, but what I really married was a farm girl," Wolf quipped to the Tribune in June 2010. "I mow the lawn practically every day of the week, because it's like 20 lawns' worth."
Wolf also worked full-time as a lawyer for the Chicago law firm Holstein, Mack and Klein from 1982 until 1987. He decided to leave the law in 1987 to focus full-time on broadcasting. "When I was an attorney on the radio, that was crazy," he told the Chicago Tribune in 1991. "Trying to explain to a judge that you need a recess to do a sportscast...the two jobs didn't dovetail at all. It was difficult to do both jobs well. So when the TV opportunity opened up, I just seized it."
Currently, in addition to his broadcasting work, Wolf works part-time as a divorce attorney in Lake County, Illinois
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
.