Columnist Tim Graham: Plenty of football available on local radio

Tim Graham

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1998 | 10:18 a.m.

TIM GRAHAM is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. His media column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached on the Internet at tim@lasvegassun.com

No one's even going to ask if you're ready for some football.

You have no choice.

Whether you like it or not, prepare to get bombarded with college football radio waves. Eight local stations will feature 11 teams from Hawaii to Michigan this season in addition to four separate network games of the week.

Listeners wanting to hear football from the time they roll out of bed Saturday morning until they hit the sheets that night won't encounter much trouble attaining that goal.

Leading the way in college coverage is KSHP 1400-AM. The station offers five teams on its menu, including Arizona State, Brigham Young, Hawaii, Washington and Washington State. KSHP also will carry the Radio Sports Creations' game of the week, a version of a select ESPN game.

"We're going ape," said Alex Shelton of Elmore Sports, which handles KSHP's sports programming.

Others in the business agree, claiming KSHP is watering down the market and spreading thin potential sponsors. One radio executive likened the practice to when Nazi Germany flooded its economy with marks. The coins became worthless, and citizens practically needed a wheelbarrow full of them to buy a loaf of bread.

"The market has not reached a saturation point in the sense people want to hear games with more regional and betting interest," Shelton countered. "So the demand is there.

"We believe people would rather hear wall-to-wall game programming than sports talk."

UNLV broadcast manager Tony Cordasco is not concerned with KSHP's presence, even though many of the station's games will go head-to-head with the Rebels on KXNT 840-AM.

"Yes, the market is watered down," Cordasco said. "But I don't believe it affects UNLV because we're the hometown team."

While being the home school has a natural attraction for listeners, the other colleges maintain their own allure because their games can be wagered upon.

Hawaii, because it plays its home games late Saturday night local time, receives heavy action in sports books as bettors try either to hit it big or break even for the day.

But BYU may be the biggest coup for KSHP. The Cougars boast ardent supporters around the world, and Shelton was shocked when he realized how easy it was to generate advertising sales for those games.

"They're our No. 1 property with our Pac-10 schools running close behind," Shelton said. "BYU's been awesome all the way around."

Also found on the dial this year will be UCLA on KDWN 720-AM, Michigan on KENO 1460-AM, Nebraska on KLAV 1230-AM, Arizona on KRLV 1340-AM and Notre Dame on KSFN 1140-AM.

KENO and sister station KBAD 920-AM will share the CBS Radio, Westwood One and Host Communications games of the week with one every Thursday night and two every Saturday.

Rebel TV

UNLV on Tuesday announced its football television schedule for this season. KFBT Channel 33 will carry three road games.

The Rebels' Sept. 5 season opener at Northwestern will air at 9:30 a.m. Their Sept. 26 game against reigning Western Athletic Conference champ Colorado State will air at 12:30 p.m.

KFBT also will show the Oct. 10 contest at Brigham Young, picking up the feed from the Cougars' Blue & White Network. Former Rebel play-by-play voice and KLAS Channel 8 sports director Dave McCann happens to be Blue & White's play-play man this year.

All games carried by KFBT will be rebroadcast at 1 a.m. the following morning. ...

UNLV's season will be previewed with a half-hour special on KFBT this weekend. "Rebel Football Preview '98" debuts Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and will air again Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

The program is hosted by Rebel announcers Tony Cordasco, Steve Stallworth and new sideline reporter Julie Range. It will review the team's preseason camp in Mesquite and include features on quarterback Kevin Crook and defensive lineman Talance Sawyer.

Turning pro

Four NFL teams will have local radio affiliates this year. The Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers will be on KBAD 920-AM; the Oakland Raiders will be on KSFN 1140-AM' and the Denver Broncos will be on KSHP 1400-AM.

Legion replay

Tuesday night's American Legion World Series championship game at Cashman Field will be aired Thursday morning at 10 on ESPN. Edwardsville, Ill., defeated Cherryville, N.C., 9-4.

Former Las Vegas Stars announcer Rich Waltz called play-by-play, while former major-league pitcher Rob Dibble added color commentary.