Parkins goes national with Chicago-based sports talk radio show
Danny ParkinsDanny Parkins loves talking sports.He did it on the radio in Kansas City for more than five years with an afternoon show about the Chiefs and Royals on 610 AM Sports Radio from 2011 to 2017. He returned to his native Chicago in January 2017 to take a midday sports talk job on WSCR The Score 670 AM, “Spiegel and Parkins,” weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Then, on the first Sunday in 2019, Parkins went national on CBS Sports Radio with “The Danny Parkins Show.” The show is broadcast on more than 200 stations (including Kansas City’s 1660 AM; Parkins hopes the show will also be added to the 610 AM lineup) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel 206, Sunday evenings from 9 p.m. to 1 p.m. Central time. The show can be heard at CBSsportsradio.com and on podcast. He also continues his weekday job hosting “McNeil and Parkins” from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on 670 AM in Chicago, which he started in March 2018.Parkins is 32 years old, Jewish and the grandson of longtime Kansas City-area residents Sunie and Lee Levin. Returning to Chicago in 2017 to host a radio show was the realization of his longtime goal.“I was excited,” he said. “My dream job has always been to host a radio show in Chicago, so I had my dream job. But the opportunity to do a show nationally is appealing to me. You never know who’s going to hear you and the opportunities that could lead to. … The possibilities just seemed endless and it only seemed upside, so I said yes right away.”Parkins is drawn to his work for a variety of reasons.“I just love that it allows me to be creative, talk about sports and get paid for it,” he said. “I can wear jeans and a T-shirt to work. I can connect to a city and a fan base. A lot of people hate their jobs, and I feel fortunate to be in the minority who don’t.”His national show is different than what he’s been doing because it’s a solo show, he said. He does a monologue and represents his views differently than when he works with a partner.“It’s definitely a different muscle than a partner show,” he said. “The majority of stuff is Chicago based, whereas you’ve got a bigger pool to choose from in the world of sports (with the national show). It’s usually football, basketball or baseball.”Parkins has looked up to several broadcasters over the years, including his current partner for the weekday show in Chicago, Dan McNeil — “my first favorite radio host”; Howard Stern; and Syracuse University classmate Nick Wright — “Early on, he taught me a lot about radio. He was a big deal in Kansas City for a while (and now hosts the “First Things First,” a morning show on Fox Sports 1 television). Parkins received a degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse.He lived in Westport while living in Kansas City. He didn’t belong to a synagogue, but he attended High Holiday services with his grandparents.He does 29 hours of live sports radio a week, more than anyone else he knows of, he said. And what is it that makes for a good sports radio broadcaster?“Basically, it’s to pass the time in traffic on a long drive, at work, working out — and if you can make people laugh and make their day go a little faster (then that makes for a good broadcaster and a good show). If you’re having fun, they’ll have fun. Don’t take it too seriously but be opinionated while keeping in mind that it’s sports and it should be fun.”
