Slow news day in Norwich?

If you watch Gary Radnich’s interview with Darren Huckerby, conducted the same day the new Quake was presented to the press last week, there’s not much to it. It’s pretty typical stuff from Radnich — he clowns around with Huckerby, his staff at KRON, and pretty much anyone else he can think of. He keeps it light and playful, which is the style he brings to everything. He’s not particularly well informed about soccer, the geography of England, or the pronunciation of “Ronaldinho,” but that’s not exactly atypical among local TV hosts. Radnich is essentially the Huell Howser of Bay Area sports — you can laugh at him if you like, but he’s really all about getting you to laugh along with him.

The interview is apparently big news back in Norwich, however, where two newspaper articles have focused on it in recent days, driving the traffic to the YouTube clip linked above to over 60,000 views. First, the Norwich Evening News ran a story Monday focusing on the interview and the reaction of Quakes fans over on BigSoccer. (It’s never a good sign when reporters resort to posting reactions from Internet message boards, particularly if they use people’s screen names. If you’re ever reading a news story and see a quote like, “‘In my professional opinion, Dr. Montgomery’s behavior was innappropriate,’ writes poster BigStudWithTheLadies2007,” run the other way as quickly as possible.)

Today, the Evening News‘ story is followed up by another, this one in a competing publication, The Advertiser. The new article essentially repackages the points made in the Evening News story but skips the BigSoccer commentary. Wow — there really must not be much happening in Norwich right now.

Kudos to Huckerby, by the way, for playing along with Radnich in the interview. Here’s our favorite part of the exchange:

Radnich: Are you a married man? Do you have a famous girlfriend that we can help promote?

Huckerby: Not really, no. I’m married but she’s not a pop singer, so — it’s too late for her, she’s too old. 

That little bit cracked them both up, and we’re impressed that Huckerby is witty enough to ad lib something like that, and humble enough to poke a little fun at himself and his spouse. The ability to crack up your teammates can be a great trick for improving team chemistry, so it may be a good sign for the Quakes, too.

The most important part of the interview, though, as wife of blog just mentioned here in blog headquarters, is that Radnich said at the end that Huckerby “seems like a nice guy.” Mainstream Bay Area sports fans like Radnich, so getting the Radnich seal of approval is a good first step towards being accepted by mainstream Bay Area sports fans. When you’re trying to grow a franchise, that’s not a bad thing at all.