He's known as Senior John, for the years he has on Greens' assistant director of scouting and player development and WMOL play-by-play man John Dark. His illegal immigrant cleaning women, Dolores, from Panama, knows him as Se�or Juan. And he's John the Red, for the rouge roots that steadily retreat from his forehead. And sometimes, in private or with long-time friends, he's just Gumby, in honor of his extensive collection of Gumby souvenirs.

At WMOL, John B. Stephens is known as the boss, the program director of one of smaller players in the Quad Cities media market. Although he came to radio via an abiding love of music, especially the Delta Blues, Stephens admits that his work is essentially management. "It's politics much of the time, I'm afraid. Keeping the staff happy, keeping the listeners around, placating the advertisers, keeping everything on schedule," which Stephens pronounces as "shedule." A master of diplomacy at the station, Stephens relishes conflict, rather its successful negotiation. "Sometimes I'll be in the stands at Moline Park, and there'll be a fight. I'm there to intervene often before the ushers. We have a good family here at the station. Conflicts will happen, but the key is communication. I could tell you about Rolf and mediation in London, but it's a messy story best forgotten."

A longtime Cubs fan, Stephens still roots for the hapless Northsiders, even if in the presence of the dominant boys in Green. Of his attachment to the Cubs, Stephens explains, "It's not a choice you make, really. It's a connection. I appreciate the Greens, certainly, and their success helps our revenues at the station. But I will die a Cubs fan, even if they never reach the postseason again in my lifetime. That's just how it is."