By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Apr 06, 2017 at 2:13 PM

Once again, Madison-based sports radio personality Mike Heller is getting called up to the big leagues, as he’ll guest host "The Dan Patrick Show," with its large and loyal national audience, all of next week.

Heller, host of the eponymous "Mike Heller Show," will fill in for Patrick and his producers, the Danettes, who are on vacation. The syndicated "Dan Patrick Show" broadcasts to 305 affiliate stations nationwide and is one of the most popular radio programs in the country.

Heller has guest hosted more than 30 times since 2014 – he also has sat in on "The Rich Eisen Show" – and his co-host will be Jonas Knox of FOX Sports Radio Los Angeles. The veteran local radio personality said "The Dan Patrick Show" is all national interest topics and the focus will be fluid. Heller, a former PGA golf professional, is planning on conversation and guests revolving around the Master’s Tournament and NBA Playoffs, but also indicated that the daily news and events will heavily dictate subjects and direction.

"The Dan Patrick Show" airs from 8-11 a.m. CT, Monday through Friday, and next week it will not be televised. Heller will continue to host his regular state sports program, weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on iHeartMedia stations The Big 920-Milwaukee and The Big 1070-Madison. OnMilwaukee is a presenting sponsor of "The Drew Olson Show," weekdays from 1 to 3 p.m. on The Big 920.

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.