The oddest of these events were two phone calls received by the station in the days leading up to "The Man Cave's" planned debut by a man representing himself as Skipper. In one of the calls, the imposter threatened legal trouble for the station and possible financial penalties if it bumped "Mike and Mike" for "The Man Cave," according to three people with knowledge of the calls.
While it seemed odd that someone as high-profile as Skipper would meddle with programming at a local affiliate, the imposter was apparently convincing to [Red Zebra Broadcasting chief executive Rick] Carmean, who took the calls. In addition to mimicking Skipper's accent (Skipper is a native of North Carolina), the caller also knew details about the station's inner workings and called from a number with an 860 area code — in Connecticut, where ESPN is headquartered.
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