Listeners Need To Get Their A's In Gear

As if there aren't enough challenges for sports fans in Oakland, such as losing the Raiders again, A's fans are close to another blast from the past because, as of press time, there is no local radio deal in place. The A's opening exhibition game is two weeks away. Long time fans go back more than 30 years to the time that KALX, a station with a signal so poor that fans at the stadium couldn't always hear I, was the only station which would air the games.

The A's and their fans were not happy with the overall coverage of the team when their games aired on 95.7 KGMZ The Game for the previous eight seasons, ending their agreement at the conclusion of the A's 2018 season.

The broadcast team of Ken Korach and Vince Cotroneo as returning. The club has announced that pre and post-game voice Chris Townsend has been promoted to Senior Broadcast Producer with expanded duties.

However, there is no station arrangement in place. The team is reportedly arranging for free streaming of the game broadcasts via one or more commonly available apps.

Not that the team needs any more pressure to announce a deal with at least one "real" local station, but the A's will be the first to open the 2019 regular season. They face the Mariners at the Tokyo Dome on March 20th, eight days sooner than the scheduled openers for all remaining clubs.


Over at KGMZ-FM The Game, the morning show's Lorenzo Neal, who has been with the station for nearly five years, has signed a contract extension. The former Raider (along with several other teams) remains a key part of the morning drive "Joe, Lo, & Dibs" show. The station continues to finally build up respectable ratings, helped by now being the flagship station of the Warriors.


DENVER: The city lost one of its sports pioneers with the passing of Irv Brown last weekend at the age of 83. Brown spent parts of four decades on the air with sports talk, many with partner Joe Williams. On the national level, Brown was also a part of history. He was part of the broadcast team in 1979 when ESPN televised the college football game between Colorado and Oregon. That was the very first college football telecast ever on ESPN.

Around the country, Brown is remembered for having been a basketball official and for coaching baseball. Fans were and are amazed to find out that he was an official during four of the NCAA Final Four appearances by the Johnny Wooden led UCLA Bruins during the late 60's and 70's. He went on to coach the Colorado University baseball team, which has been discontinued since 1980. His comment that "I made Colorado baseball what it is today" may stand as our most fond memory of him.


NEW ORLEANS: Sorry to also learn of the passing of Chuck Edwards, the voice of New Orleans sports. Edwards had been PA announcer for both the Saints and Pelicans. He was only 49. He had been a key part of the morning show on WXYK Gulfport.


CHICAGO: The hot potato known as the University of Illinois football and basketball broadcasts has now been caught by WLS 890, which has a new 5 year deal starting with the coming football season. After dumping White Sox and Bulls broadcasts in 2017, the station had been without live play-by-play. The games move over from WSCR 670, which picked up Bulls broadcasts which added even more schedule conflicts.

The Bulls are having another awful season, but WLS-TV Channel 7 added to the misery last weekend (2/2). On its early evening sportscast, Dionne Miller, who has been at the station for more than four years, reported that the Bulls were set to take on New Orleans. The problem was that New Orleans was the next opponent. The Bulls were playing in Charlotte 40 minutes later. No correction was made on that newscast, nor on the station's late news, when Miller had them correctly playing Charlotte during the highlight segment.


SOUTH JERSEY: Former Philadelphia 97.5 The Fanatic hosts Harry Mayes and Eytan Shander will begin hosting from Noon to 2 PM on weekdays on WENJ 97.3 ESPN in Millville. The pair is doing a daily podcast for the station until they begin on April 1st. The station will continue to carry Mike Gill from 2 to 6 PM, which leaves open the possibility of Mayes and Shander being able to expand to more afternoon hours.


CHARLOTTE: WBCN 1660 and 94.7 is now carrying Fox Sports Radio. As of now, there are no plans to originate any local programming. For those wondering, WBCN is re-assigned call letters and has no affiliation with the former Boston rock station which made those call letters famous.