Sports Talk Radio: My Friends, My Addiction

I began calling into local programs in the Houston area in 1995. At times, I would phone from my desk on the 37th floor of an infamous building on Smith St. Of course, during this period of time, I would ask the producer to leave me on hold at the end so I could listen to the responses at the end of my call. I also remember 8-track tape players as well, for those who are interested. My moniker changed over the years. I began as Tony in Downtown. When I moved to Kingwood, I was then known as, wait for it, Tony in Kingwood. Eventually, I moved to The Woodlands, and low and behold, I was Tony in The Woodlands. My how Twitter has morphed handles, monikers, and namesakes. Today, I am known at Tony_Five_O when I have the privilege and time to phone my friends, who happen to talk about sports for a living.

In 1997, I was working for Enron Capital and Trade Resources. Yes, that Enron. It was a tumultuous time in my life. I hated my job and I had gone through some serious personal challenges. For the record, I left Enron in 1999 and sold every option I had at $63 per share. That, my friends, is what I call living right and winning. Sports talk radio was my daily escape from my reality. One day I drove up to the studios of 700AM, KSEV to surprise Matt Thomas and Jim Kozimor, or "MT and the Koz" as their show was known. I arrived with food in tow (a sure fire way to gain access prior to 9/11) just as a nice gesture as I merely wanted to say hello and introduce myself to them. The previous year I had won an impersonation contest on KSEV by doing Calvin Murphy. This current year, I went back-to-back by adding Charles Barkley into the "script" with he and Calvin bantering back and forth. MT and the Koz let me on the air with them and I did a few segments. I thought to myself, how freaking cool of these guys. Needless to say, I had been a regular participant on their show. This day was my first appearance "behind the mike." Matt and I became friends and are still friends to this day. He is a "pro's pro" and has never wavered from his own style to "become something that he is not." This approach has served him well over the years. Matt also had the glorious distinction of giving us Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon. If you attended a Rockets home game in the championship years, MT was the voice you heard during the intros. Now, that is a story to tell your grandkids about if you are one Matt Thomas.

Regarding sports talk radio, I love various points of view, thus I am a dial flipper. I would tune into John Granato and Lance Zierlein regularly as they were part of the repertoire. In the early days of 610AM, I recall a lunch time gathering at Brew U on the Southwest Freeway. In a mad dash, I bolted out of the "Speed Stick" building, as we local employees referred to it as, and hopped into my rig and made the short trip to the Greenway Plaza area. It is here where Sean Pendergast and I met for the first time. We actually were simply standing next to one another while John and Lance were at a table promoting their show. Sean and I were chatting and the next thing you know, an impersonation opportunity presented itself. Sean was doing Lou Holtz, I was doing Barkley, and LZ was doing a number of voices, as one would imagine. We were all rolling and really enjoying the camaraderie which results from moments like these. This was truly the beginning of my absolute love of sports talk radio. A few weeks later, Sean called me and asked if I wanted to be in his fantasy football league. An emphatic "yes" was delivered. This league has a few Houston sports radio personalities as participants and owners. I think we have only turned over ownership in three teams in 15 years. Needless to say, I look forward to our annual auction the Wednesday after Labor Day each and every year. It is literally Christmas and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. One of "the best" days of the year, every year.

You will recall about this time that Sean began gaining notoriety on the Jim Rome Show. His calls were what I would refer to as "cerebral humor." We went to tour stops together along with many other Houstonians and Los Angelenos. I was on the bus that transported about 40-50 of us to San Antonio for a Tour Stop in the Alamo City, if memory serves me correctly. That bus trip was legendary and there was this unmistakable bond between Houston and Los Angeles. Many of the old school clones were on this bus as well: Trapper, Silk Brah, Jay from LA, Sam the 18-Wheeler Man, and Pat the CEO just to name a few. An instant camaraderie was born and fostered between the two listenerships. Jim even recapped the event the following Monday and spent a good amount of time going over the relationship between SoCal and H-Town. For some reason, everyone just clicked. It was cool and it remained that way for as long as the Jungle was part of our daily routine. Sadly, The Jungle has changed immensely. More on that later.

As Sean's journey into Jungle lore began, little did I know that I would be the Stevie Williams to his Tiger Woods. Didn't you hear? I have won five of these things, for those keeping count. It all started the first year Sean was invited to the Smack Off, 1998 I believe. By the way, did you know that this was Travis Rodgers' brainchild? No really. It was. Just ask Jim errrrr Trav, for the real scoop. Anyhow, I digress. Sean phoned me prior to calling in on the day of the event and "read me his script." I would surmise that over the years, I may have added a total of three entire lines to his award winning repertoire. One contribution I recall was Bill Conlin and how his chin was in a "dogfight with gravity." I smiled greatly when I heard that go across the airwaves. It was like I said to Sean "hit the 7 iron" and he flushed it to three feet from the pin with a stiff cross-wind and the title on the line. Ok, it was not quite that dramatic. But, this is my blog and in my Stevie Williams persona, that is how it went down. Trust me. You may have seen me refer to myself as "Stretch Suba" occasionally. Suba is the legendary bullpen catcher and coach for the Astros for as long as I can remember. Thus, I warmed up Seanny for the big game. Every year he participated, I warmed him up. This became a bit of a superstitious ritual for "us." I would shoot Sean a message indicating that I was expecting a phone call. We'd only talk a few times per year on the phone. But, around Easter, we knew it to be necessary. Sometimes the scripts were a bit long. I'd time him and "we" always shot for under five minutes as it was deemed the safe zone. Beyond that, you'd better be damn good in order to receive "more room." This pattern continued until 2008 when I sent Sean a text and indicated that I was expecting to hear from him. He said, "you didn't hear? I am banned from the Smack Off." The three time defending champion would not be able to lap the field once again. It reeked of corporate garbagio spewing forth from 610AM and Premier Radio Networks due to Sean working for the competition. That was the end of an era. Actually two eras:

A). With Tiger out of the field, finally someone else would have an opportunity to parlay their Smack Off  fame into a radio career. And...
2). Travis Rodgers, the obvious brains of the outfit, would leave the XR4Ti shortly thereafter and this would be the end of good, entertaining radio coming through the mike at 570AM KLAC.

With the birth of 1560AM, a different brand of radio was born. Enter a fraternity of sorts into the Houston sports radio scene. They did it differently featuring an eclectic mix of sophomoric humor combined with top notch sports analysis. It was fun and entertaining, but I am sure it was not for everyone. And that is a good thing as ESPN (TV) is for everyone and their generic analysis flat out bores me to tears. I would be remiss if I did not share that I loathe the fact that they are the de facto  option for college football. Aside from College Game Day, the balance of their football coverage is beyond annoying. Where was I? Oh yeah, good football coverage at 1560AM. Apparently many of you agree with me as well. For this post, I asked many of you to forward me your thoughts and feelings about the past decade and a half in Houston sports radio. Like me, many of you have very fond memories over this time period. I did not ask for the submissions so I could regurgitate what you forwarded to me on this post. I understand and appreciate that many took a good amount of time to submit to me their feelings and I am very grateful. It was inspiring for me to see the passion so many of you have for our friends on the dial as their journey took them from 610AM to 1560AM. Rest assured I share so many of the same memories with you all pre 2006. That year, I moved to California and began working on the Hawaiian Islands as well as the west coast. I was rarely in Houston on a regular basis. But, I listened intently and considered myself a part of the "Secret Society" complete with the "Double Rods" mantra. I still love Lance's story about how the Double Rods came about. Check out his blog The Z Report if you have not heard this story before.

In an ironic twist, I learned today that my good friend, Lance Zierlein, will no longer be partnering with John Granato in the morning drive time slot on 1560AM. I'm saddened by this, but I understand that change is inevitable. Six years ago the Astros were in the World Series and Roger Clemens was a hometown hero. For the record, I do not care that Roger took PED's and believe the government was given a good old dose of karma for their incessant waste in this ridiculous witch hunt. $55 million down the drain on Clemens and Bonds. Whatever. Wait, where was I again? Oh yes, change, the necessary evil. While I am certain we all want the very best for LZ, Houston sports radio is forever changed. LZ and Grant were part of my mornings for 10 years until I moved. In the rare instance that I was on the west coast and up early with time to spare, I would always tune in and let LZ know that I was doing so. I wanted him to know that I was listening. That is how John and Lance made you feel: like you were a part of something special. Right now, I am feeling a bit of a loss. For, if this was not something special, I would not have these emotions. With every closed door, another opens. LZ: I am eagerly anticipating your next foray into the Houston sports news and entertainment arena. Without question, you are one of the very best in this industry and I am proud to call you my friend.

See you in three weeks, Houston.