Sudbury Native Has Big Shoes to Fill in Replacing the Big 'O' at WEEI

Replacing an icon in any industry can be a daunting challenge, and that's exactly what Mike Salk is preparing for.

The Sudbury native was recently announced as the replacement for Glenn "The Big O" Ordway on WEEI's revamped afternoon drive program.

"For a kid who grew up rooting for Boston's sports teams, I can't wait to get behind that microphone and connect with the most avid sports fans in the country," Salk said in a release on WEEI.com. "From the best play-by-play in radio to their breakthrough work with the Jimmy Fund, WEEI is still the gold standard in sports talk radio."

Ordway was fired after two decades due to slumping ratings.

"It’s not about replacing Glenn Ordway,’’ Salk told the Boston Globe. “He’s a legend, he accomplished something enormously important for sports radio, especially for Boston sports radio. But it’s not about replacing him. It’s about working hard with Michael and developing a new show that I think will be incredibly successful as well.’’

He will be paired with current co-host and former Globe sports columnist Michael Holley.

Salk, 34, is no stranger to the Boston sports talk radio scene, having worked at 890 ESPN Radio Boston from 2005 until 2009. He primarily served as co-host of the station's midday show with Bob Halloran, and he also was the station's Red Sox beat reporter, covering every game of the team's run to the 2007 World Series.

He helped grow the "Brock and Salk Show" exponentially the last four years at 710 AM ESPN in Seattle. As of this past September, the show ranked No. 1 with the station's core demo of men 25-54.

“I look toward the future as opposed to the past, and I think this show (at WEEI) will provide listeners with a show that they really, really want to listen to every day," Salk told the Globe. “And [when] the comparisons come, the comparisons come. But I don’t worry about that. I just think about the future of this show.’’