Radio

I've been discussing basketball on sports radio shows in Houston since 1994; however, this past Friday, I was given the opportunity to host the first 30 minutes of Sports Rap on KCOH 1430 AM. The opportunity wasn't planned at all. Mr. Ralph Cooper called me roughly an hour before the regular 5 pm start of the show; and, he told me he would probably be late. Ralph asked me to host Sports Rap until he arrived at the station.

I told him "No problem".

Except for a minor glitch, I believe I did quite well. Many, many people called to discuss Thursday night's Game 1 match up between the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers; so, I was clearly in my element talking hoops. Heck, I even talked, intelligently, too, some Astros baseball with one caller -- see, I do know more than just basketball. (I know football, tennis, and hockey, too.)

I felt comfortable hosting the show. I let the listeners know they were listening to "KG -- filling in for Ralph for about 30 minutes and KCOH 1430 AM which is available on the Internet at www.kcohradio.com." Of course, I plugged the phone number to call in numerous times; and, the listeners were great and responsive.

The next day, Saturday, June 9, I finally stopped by Houston Sports Network's studio. "King" Arthur Prayther of "Prep Talk" and "King-Sized View" invited me to come by the studio two months ago; but, I kept putting off appearing on their Internet radio show. "Something" told me to get off my butt and drive to the studio yesterday. When I arrived, King was outside waiting on a guest; and, I know he was surprised to see me. I wasn't planning to talk on "Prep Talk"; but, King put me on the air along with himself, Charles White, Joseph Pickens, and host Terry Burdick. We talked about basketball and other topics from 11 am to 12:15pm.

Internet radio is different from "network" radio; but, I think I did well. The plan is for me to be a regular on Saturday's in the 9am to 10:30am slot to discuss the Houston area college teams as well as provide some guests for the show. Hopefully, I'll be able to provide another avenue to promote women's basketball.

"Prep Talk" airs live on the Internet each Saturday from 9am to 12pm. The show can be seen on the web, too. Check out www.HoustonSports.com and click on the "Prep Talk" links. Archived shows are also posted. Yesterday's show should be archived and posted tomorrow.

As a result, in the last few days, I've hosted 30 minutes of a radio show and been a guest on an Internet radio show. Maybe, I'll turn these opportunities into my own sports show. The sports radio landscape in Houston is currently undergoing changes; so, I'm curious to see how my future in radio unfolds.