Hearne: Former KMBZ Talk Show Host Tom Becka Weighs in from Fargo. You Betcha!

It could have been worse, like Siberia maybe…

But if many, you’ve been pining away for some halfway decent local talk radio and happen to be in either Omaha or North Dakota, be sure and pay your respects to former KC radio personality Tom Becka.

"I’m up here in Fargo now," Becka says. "I’m the program director of an AM/FM talk station, 101.9 Talk FM."

Becka in management? Wearing a suit to work? No way!

"I’m also doing the morning show here," he says. "And a week from Monday I’ll be doing afternoon drive in Omaha again on KKAR 1290 AM. So instead of playing golf, I’ll be doing talk radio."

The two towns are a five and a half hour drive apart but, "My home base is going to be Fargo right now," Becka says. "And Fargo is just booming. It has the lowest unemployment rate of any city in the country."

Hmmmmm….

So is it like, you know, the movie?

"It’s not like that at all," Becka backpedals. "They have a very good arts community here and the people here are incredible. It’s a great eperience. The only thing I am concerned about are the winters – the weather here can be brutal. There can easily be four or five feet of snow and temperatures have gotten down to 40 degrees below."

How about the accents- are they even like in the movie?

"There’s a bit of a Northern Minnesota accent, yes," Becka says.

And what do the locals think of Becka’s accent?

"They think the same as everybody else thinks, that I talk funny," Becka says. "The same as people in Kansas City think."

So how’s the love life up north, has Becka dated any strippers yet? "No, I have not," he says.

Why, too cold? "It’s never too cold for strippers," Becka quips.

As a Chiefs, Royals and Nebraska fan, who’s Becka rooting for these days?

"Right now, the North Dakota State Bisons," he says. "They were the National Champions last year in basketball. And they’re in the same league as UMKC, so we’ll be playing you guys."