Not that I'm complaining (at least about Dotseth), but just as the Sockers have returned in their newest incarnation, so, too has Dotseth come back to local radio. Again.

He was rehired last week by XTRA Sports 1360, the same Clear Channel-owned station where he worked for 14 months beginning in late 2007. Along with dozens of other local Clear Channel employees, Dotseth was laid off Jan. 20.

He's back in the afternoon time slot he shared for four months with Josh Rosenberg, who had been working with Brian Wilson since January on XTRA's only local show. Wilson remains the program director of a station that has increased its number of listeners in each of the past three months, according to Arbitron.

“It's pretty nice when you go to Day 1 of a job and you know everybody and don't feel like the new guy,” Dotseth said yesterday. “Unfortunately it's sad because a lot of guys I'm used to seeing aren't there. It reminds you pretty much every day, when you don't see (Chris) Ello, (Craig) Elsten, (Mike) Costa, that it's changed.

“It's different. A different vibe, but a good vibe. Everybody's been extra nice, and that's made the transition back easy. But it's definitely a little strange being in there and not seeing the faces I'm used to seeing.”

Dotseth, 41, said he did about 10 shows this spring at KLAA-AM (830) in Anaheim with old partner Dave Palet, but the Los Angeles Angels-owned station said it couldn't make a decision on adding the show full time until at least October.

“When Brian called me and I got the opportunity to come back and work with Josh, it was a no-brainer,” Dotseth said. “I told Palet and those guys (at KLAA), I want to get back to work so the first good opportunity I get full time, I'm going to take it.”

No hard feelings about going back to the place where he was shown the door?

“They could fire me at XTRA and I could go work somewhere else and they could fire me, and if somebody offered me a chance to get paid for . . . a job that I love, I'd go back every time,” Dotseth said.

“I think (ex-Chargers coach) Mike Riley and I talked one time when he was in San Diego and he said we're in a similar line of work — where you're hired to get fired. . . . It's what I love and, really, it's the only thing I know. I love what I'm doing. So I'll keep coming back. If they'll have me, I'll keep coming back.”

Wilson has been trying to rebuild the station for six months, and this is the first step. He's also changed the fourth hour of the 3-7 p.m. talk show into the “Chargers Power Hour,” which will be a year-round discussion of the Chargers. XTRA Sports 1360 also will carry a simulcast of Rock 105.3 FM's Chargers game and postgame coverage.

“We want to completely own the Chargers,” Wilson said.

The next step will be to find a live show, even if it's syndicated, to replace the taped program that airs between 9 a.m. and noon.

“We're doing everything in our power to address that situation,” Wilson said.