College football talk making comeback on Denver radio
By Bruce Plasket 
| August 7, 2009 | 8:56 PM
Sports talk radio is a lot like Peeps, those sugar-covered marshmallow things that appear on the shelves each Easter.
You start eating them, realize they are disgusting and then eat some more.
I love-hate the yellow ones.
Although talk radio is often maddening, there never seems to be enough of it, especially when it comes to college football in the Denver market. The Broncos are and always will be the leading topic of conversation, and the Rockies have taken their place at the table since Clint Hurdle’s Fluketober run of 2007.
Hard economic times and good old competition have given the smaller stations a chance to take a chunk out of 104.3 The Fan, which has the best signal and the best sound since its switch to FM. The Fan, apparently in reaction to a decline in advertising revenue, has slowly shrunk its local broadcasts in favor of national programming. The upstart Mile High Sports Radio (1510 AM) has jumped in with all-day local programming.
The Fan features a delayed broadcast of ESPN radio’s Mike and Mike Show from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and has the Jim Rome Show, the most popular syndicated sports show in the country, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Local programming begins with Scott Hastings and Alfred Williams from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and the Sports Guys — Sandy Clough and Mike Evans — from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The station stays live and local from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with D-Mac and Oren, who have probably the most entertaining show in town and one which should be moved to a better time slot.
While the Fan is live and local for eight hours, from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., two-year-old Mile High Sports Radio is local for 11 hours, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Mile High starts each weekday with Denver Post writer Jim Armstrong and formerly employed TV guy Les Shapiro from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and has already carved out a big piece of college football — one The Fan fan has increasingly ignored. In recent weeks the two have had several CU players, as well as current coach Dan Hawkins and former coach Gary Barnett as guests. Barnett also will be featured on the show every Thursday during the football season.
The station features Aric Goodman and Renaud Notaro from 10 a.m. to noon, and from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. brings back Andy Devine-sound-alike Gil Whitely and Denver Post columnist Woody Paige. Paige is much more interesting — and better looking — on the radio.
College football is also prominent in the station’s 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. slot, with Doogs and The Franchise as the Couch Potatoes. Good show, really bad made-up nicknames. Former CU quarterback Joel Klatt, who actually knows a lot about football, joins Nate Kreckman, a veteran broadcaster, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. For those who want to understand the terms journalists toss around like they know what they are talking about will enjoy Klatt’s perspective.
The Fan’s sister station, ESPN Radio 1600 AM, is mostly network-based, but has local programming seven hours per day. CBS4 sportscasters Gary Miller and Vic Lombardi are on from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and Irv Brown and Joe Williams, the deans of Denver sports talk radio, are on from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Irv and Joe are sometimes called old and out of touch, but they know this town better than any of the others. It’s a shame they have been put on an AM station with shaky-in-the-suburbs signal. Plus, those of us who are also old and out-of-touch need someone to listen to. Irv and Joe always have given college football its due and their Hour of Power pick-’em show on Fridays is must-listen radio in the fall.
After years of declining local sports talk programming, the pendulum seems to be swinging the other way. There are lots of choices.
I love-hate all of them.
104.3 The Fan, colorado rockies, Couch Potatoes, D-Mac and Oren, Dan Hawkins, denver broncos, ESPN Radio 1600, Mike Evans, Mile High Sports Radio, sports talk radio
