Raider Nation Radio is all about giving Las Vegas extensive coverage of its local NFL team. On Friday though, it became about something more. Host and programmer Q Myers used his show to pay tribute to everyone that served the country heading into the Memorial Day weekend.

Friday’s edition of Unnecessary Roughness featured guests with military backgrounds and ties. All of the guests will offer insight and opinions on the Raiders and the NFL, but also share their experience in the military and serving veterans.

Among the guests are three former players. Nate Boyer was a long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks as well as a former Green Beret. He joins Myers at 2:10 PT. Former Raiders quarterback Jay Schroeder was the team’s 2022 Salute to Service nominee for his work with veterans and advocacy for issues affecting them. He will be on at 3:15 PT. Finally, former Raiders running back Napolean McCallum, who played his college football for the US Naval Academy, will be in the studio at 4:30 PT.

Before taking over Lotus’s stations in Las Vegas, Q Myers was in Waco, Texas. It also has a large military community. Myers told BSM that is where he first learned the importance of acknowledging those listeners’ experiences.

“I came to realize how important we were to the Military community and the fact that there are so many people from many different parts of the country and different walks of life in our community. It was always important to take a few moments a segment or two, incorporate guests with military backgrounds or even former athletes that have that military background and acknowledge them and appreciate them,” he said.

Myers says he has been making similar efforts ever since arriving in Las Vegas, which is home to Nellis Air Force Base.

“One of my most satisfying moments is when I get a text or a tweet from a veteran or an active military member that thanks us for recognizing them and how essential and important they are in our local community,” he said. “It’s one of the things I take a lot of pride in and make sure I always reiterate to my staff not to forget.”

In addition to former players, fans and analysts that served in the military will also call in.

We talk a lot about the changing consumption patterns for our listeners, but according to Edison research, radio is still the most popular way to consume radio. The latest “Share of Ear” study asked respondents how they listen to their favorite radio stations. The terrestrial signal won by a large margin.

Among people 13 and older, 86% preferred to listen to their favorite station via the over-the-air signal. When it comes to adults between 18 and 49, that number drops slightly to 80%. That is clearly still an overwhelming favorite.

More overall listening is done via streaming, with the phone being the most popular option. When it comes to listening to the radio though, only 8% of people 13 and up said it was their top choice.

Computers and smart speakers represented the next two most popular means of listening to the radio. Internet-connected smart televisions showed up at number four. Those devices are becoming an increasingly more popular means of consuming radio content.

“Late last year we reported that for total audio listening, the phone surpassed the radio set for the first time,” a statement from Edison reads. “While it is always risky to predict the future, it seems reasonably safe to bet that the phone will be the primary battle zone for consumers’ time spent listening going forward. As of today, only a relatively small portion of time spent listening to audio on the smartphone goes to ‘radio.’ As radio charts a future that is less dependent on the single-function ‘radio set,’ success on the phone, as well as other internet-enabled devices, is imperative.”

Earlier this week, Molly Qerim got to do something she says she has wanted to do forever. Chris Russo gave her permission to share a picture of his First Take notes on Twitter.

The only way to describe the notes is to call them pure chaos. The photo elicited all kinds of disbelief as people noticed that most of Mad Dog’s notes are just names, circles and numbers with no context for why they are important. 

“It’s the anxiety-filled, chaotic, chaotic scribbling of a madman,” Matt Spiegel said Thursday on 670 The Score as he and Danny Parkins marveled at the picture.

The Chicago duo theorized these are more likely doodles than notes. Parkins noted that one of the bubbles Russo drew contained the names Molly Qerim and Dan Orlovsky.

“When Stephen A is talking, or when Molly is talking, or Orlovsky is talking, he is circling numbers on a piece of paper waiting for his own turn to talk,” Parkins said. “And if it’s not Stephen A, who he knows, he writes ‘Dan Orlovsky’ down there so he can go ‘DAN! DAN! DAN!.’ He reminds himself what the subject is because he’s not listening to other people.”

Chris Russo spent 19 years working alongside Mike Francesa on WFAN in New York. The two were notorious for talking over each other. 

Spiegel theorized that means there are probably thousands of pages of notes just like the one Qerim tweeted out in Russo’s home. He suggested that Russo publish them.

“I would buy it,” Parkins said. “I’d buy it for $19.95. 100 percent. He could have my $20.”