Listeners Weren’t Only Ones Interested in Radio Caller’s Whereabouts

With sports radio XTRA-AM (570, 1150) switching formats next month, former programming exec Howard Freedman paid tribute to one listener who stuck to his guns, in more ways than one.

A guy named Drew was a constant caller to an early 1990s show hosted by Steve Mason and Rick Schwartz and “always delivered some kind of Top 10 list,” Freedman told laradio.com.

“He was a main feature on the show until one day he disappeared.

“Shortly thereafter, Drew called, saying he had been arrested for bank robbery and was calling from the prison phone for his ‘one call’ to deliver his Top 10 list.”

It turned out that Drew had been on someone else’s Top 10 list: the FBI’s.

“I was immediately contacted by the FBI, who said they wanted tapes of the show,” Freedman added, “and one of the agents was humiliated to admit he had been a fan of XTRA and heard Drew call night after night.”

Guide to Dining Adventurously: The specials du column today (see accompanying) include:

* A barbecue joint that seems to specialize in feet rather than ribs (photo by Robert Sharp)

* A tortilla that may or may not come off smelling like a rose (Ruth Clark)

* A “Duh!” award-winner on the label of a salmon package (Cal Porter)

* And, finally, a fast-food eatery that Verizon views as a practitioner of the culinary arts (Bill Kennedy).

Long ago: A TV ad for the new ‘90s Trivial Pursuit board game shows a kid opening a buried time capsule only to have characters from that decade crawl out. Who would you have included?

Time’s up. The first to appear was ex-Newport Beach party host Dennis Rodman (once a professional basketball player, as well).

Then came the world’s most famous house guest, Kato Kaelin. I had trouble recognizing some of the others.

Pardon my French: I wrote that the city of Buffalo derived its name from a mispronunciation of the French words for beautiful river: belle fleuve.

Richard Harris replied that I should have said beau fleuve, since river is masculine in French. “ ‘Beau fleuve’ sounds more like buffalo,” he added.

After that booboo, I’m just glad I don’t have to face my junior high French teacher, Miss Valenzuela.

miscelLAny: There’s just no escaping them. At the pool where I swim, I spotted a guy yakking on a cellphone in the water. Luckily, he wasn’t in my lane.