Austin Sports Radio

[Solid D]

While driving through Austin today, I tuned in to AM 1300 and then briefly another AM Sports talk radio station (570?). I was surprised to hear so much love for the Mavs and distaste for the Spurs. Nothing wrong with radio personalities having favorite teams and expressing their glee or disdain, mind you. I was just surprised at how San Antonio's neighbor 80 miles to the north seems to be annexed by Dallas.

I post this with all due respect to Mark in Austin, Travis, Marcus Bryant and our other Austin area Spurs fans who are certainly not party to this oddity.

I'm not sure how representative these stations' personalities are of the Austin community at large and it's listeners' preferences. I guess it seemed odd to hear that loyalty to one of the winningest sports franchises in pro sports history may end somewhere north of Buda.

BTW, their basketball knowledge and insight into what took place in the Mavs/Spurs series was somewhat novice and surface.

What's up in Southfork?

[word]

I lived in Austin for quite a while and still have many friends there. They hate San Antonio with a passion.

[leemajors]

1300 the zone is the fox affiliate, they are decent for local shows, and fairly unbiased for the most part between the two teams. but you really can't go 10 minutes without a mention of longhorn sports on that station, it's the primary focus. i don't listen to 1260 o 1530 much, they are the ESPN twins - i catch my espn radio on sirius. 1260 and/or 1530 play the spurs games locally, and 1300 plays the stros when they aren't interviewing mack brown for the 50th time in the day ;) not sure what station 570 would be

[Solid D]

The station I'm unsure about may have been 1530.

[ducks]

in az you jim rome
680 with laker homers on it
YECK

[Solid D]

Props to leemajors, SpursfaninAustin and J.T. who are Austinites, also.

[leemajors]

solid, i usually tune into 1200 for spurs pregame on the way home from work, none of the stations from here have that kinda thing going. i got sirius to catch nba games i couldn't see on tv, and because for some reason reception on 1200 sucks at my house and in my blazer, but works fine in my mazda 3. when i used to work at the alamo drafthouse the only am station we got in good was 1300 so i'm a little more familiar with their programming. the afternoon show on 1300 is really the only program they talk much nba, and they have a remarkably levelheaded mavs fan who cohosts it.

[LakerHater]

Did someone say Laker homers http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/images/smilies/smvomit.gif

[DuncanInYourFace]

I live in Austin and know quite a few spurs fans.

ppl that live in austin and are mavs fans are probably bandwagoners

[Nbadan]

It's cause Austin is SA's bitch.

[leemajors]

It's cause Austin is SA's bitch.

uhh, ok. what you said. i guess sa's zoo totally owns austin's.

[Solid D]

http://www.am1300thezone.com/timages/page/buckyerin240x300.jpg
Godboldt and Hogan

[DuncanInYourFace]

It's cause Austin is SA's bitch.


This is downright hilarious

[leemajors]

http://www.am1300thezone.com/timages/page/buckyerin240x300.jpg
Godboldt and Hogan

they are ok, but mostly talk ut sports. i think bucky godbolt was an assistant coach under mackovic. they are really out of step when they talk basketball.

[refhater]

As for radio, the only way to hear Spurs talk is a staticky 1200. So don't pay attention to the other talk radio, because the real Spurs fans aren't listening.

My beef is with television broadcasts. Austin is weird. I think about five years ago the Fox affiliate here had some sort of falling out with the Spurs. Since then we only get about 30 games televised on Fox. Channel twelve televises about 15 games when they're not showing re-runs of Will and Grace. TNT, ESPN, ABC, any of the national broadcasts pick up about 6-10. So that leaves about 25 games that are not televised if you have Time Warner Cable.

My brother and I have written letters and e-mails to NBA League Pass, The Spurs, ESPN, TNT, we've left messages for David Stern at the NBA league office. We've completely cussed out both Time Warner Cable and Fox Sports Southwest. We get the Fox Sports guys from Dallas. That Rick Buker, or whatever, must have a relative that owns the network. They act like they're covering the Spurs, but it's still from a Dallas perspective.

There are about 5 or 6 bars around town that show the games when they're blacked out at the house. So we usually go around to each of those until we find one that's good luck. And invariably there are several dozen Spurs fans in there doing the same thing we are. I'm not sure if bars are able to get a different feed because of licensing, but it's not fair to have to go out to watch these games. We have been told over and over there is no way we can get those games televised at our house even though they're on just down the street. Seems to be another way Stern's keeping the Spurs down. Maybe it's a way to keep telling people that we're a small market team. Even if we want to branch out, he won't let us!

We tried to order the League Pass, but they blackout cities that are within 75 miles of the team's town. (The sign leaving Austin says 81mi) We used to be season ticket holders, until it just became ridiculous to drive down there 41+ games a year. Back then it didn't bother us if the home games weren't televised here, but we couldn't understand why a game in Seattle, WA. would be blacked out in Austin. We don't get San Antonio channels here. I don't get it. And we usually get the Spurs vs. the Bobcats, but we don't get vs. the Suns. Can anyone shed any light on this. How about some advice on a person to contact.

[leemajors]

i don't really think there is much you can do. i don't believe directv has the same regional restrictions as time warner cable because it doesn't count on a regional feed, but i may be wrong there. and i don't really have a good grasp of what austin thinks of the spurs because i don't get out too much - my daughter is 14 months old now and i prefer to stay home with her instead of going out. she plays and i watch/listen to the games.

[Vashner]

Yea when I worked at Motorola my boss told me that he heard San Antonio was a lot more "dirty" than Austin. I told him it depended on how much he liked white trash...


Somehow he didn't like that answer :)

[Budkin]

I'm in Austin as well and listen to both 1300 and 1260/1530 on my drive to and from work. It's really a mixed bag of team support, being as Austin is not a pro- town. Always lots of Mavs and Rockets love but they do seem kind of blah about the Spurs, which I just don't get.

The afternoon show on the ESPN affiliate barely even talks sports anymore... they just kind of blabber on about hot chicks and beer or something. Out of all of them I enjoy Chad Hastings and Kevin Dunn on 1300 in the afternoon. Yes, it is pretty Longhorn heavy but they get into all the nitty gritty details of whatever they are talking about.

Of course we also get the syndicated guys as well, 1300 has Jim Rome and JT the Brick. 1530 has Colin Cowherd and Dan Patrick. Unless the Spurs are in the Finals, you barely get a mention of them on the major shows. JT showed mad love for the Spurs last year during the Finals though. That was cool.

[shelshor]

That's weird--we live in north central Austin, have directv's edition of league pass, and have only had 1 or 2 games blacked out in 3 years

[infinite styles]

We tried to order the League Pass, but they blackout cities that are within 75 miles of the team's town. (The sign leaving Austin says 81mi) We used to be season ticket holders, until it just became ridiculous to drive down there 41+ games a year. Back then it didn't bother us if the home games weren't televised here, but we couldn't understand why a game in Seattle, WA. would be blacked out in Austin. We don't get San Antonio channels here. I don't get it. And we usually get the Spurs vs. the Bobcats, but we don't get vs. the Suns. Can anyone shed any light on this. How about some advice on a person to contact.


See this is the exact reason why I keep telling my wife that we should stay in SA instead of moving to Austin. She's from there and wants to move back but I'm like I need to be able to see the games. But I might lose in that battle and if League Pass starts blacking out the games then I'm gonna be screwed. She'll be happy though cause she hates when I watch the games. :madrun :depressed

[whottt]

Austin is not a Mavericks town...

It's a UT and Cowboys town...

I'd say it's more of a Spurstown than Mavs in basketball but those two douchebags you mentioned aren't good for anything excepting licking Mack Brown's nutsac.

And the one guy E Hogan definitely isn't a Spursfan...

That is an awful sports radio station when it's running local programming...locally it's a UT/Cowboys sports radio station and nothing else really.

Basically with the other Texas teams they bandwagon whichever one is having more success...a few years ago they covered the Rangers and broadcast theri games...now it's straight Astros.

[yaicu2]

Used to live in SA, loved it. I lived in Austin, and Round Rock for the last 11 years, and both towns are great to live in. That said, screw the mavs. Just my 2 pennies.

[Ninja-Defense]

E Hogan's also a Texans fan so he must like pulling for real "winners" too.

[DubMcDub]

Yeah, there's so many more Mavs fans than Spurs fans that they won't even show Mavs games on TV, but show every Spurs games on FSN :lol.

[ponky]

I'm an Austin native and went to U.T. but I have never liked the Spurs. I rooted for the Knicks in 1999 (let's not talk about that) and the Mavericks...I also like the Rockets. You have to consider that so many U.T. students come from Houston (largest contingent) and then Dallas. They will of course bring their team allegiances with them. I would say it's only been the last 3-4 years though that places like The Finish Line have carried Mavericks gear in addition to Spurs gear. Despite the influx of Mavs fans, most Austinites root for the Spurs.

[TonyC]

Yeah, there's so many more Mavs fans than Spurs fans that they won't even show Mavs games on TV, but show every Spurs games on FSN :lol.


No shit...tell me about it. I can't stand that!!

[austinfan]

I don't listen to sports talk radio except when the Spurs are in the playoffs and then only for snatches, and I haven't found any program where they talk knowledgeably about...well...pretty much anything except the UT athletics program. I get the impression that most Spurs fans in Austin tune into WOAI for their Spurs coverage, so the ratings are probably just not there for that kind of coverage in Austin. Also, like the poster above said, there are thousands of UT students from Dallas and Houston living in the area during the basketball season and that may skew the perspective.

I've lived in Austin all my life, and the city is more oriented toward San Antonio in general than toward Dallas, in part because so many people who work in Austin live in the communities in between (San Marcos, Buda, New Braunfels, etc.), and in part because quite a few people commute to work between the two cities. Or at least from AUS to SA.

[Solid D]

That's some very good information and that matches up with some of the other things I've heard from friends and business associates. The high-tech community also gives the Austin area a more dynamic mix of backgrounds and sports interests.

[leemajors]

No shit...tell me about it. I can't stand that!!

austin is way too far away from dallas to be showing mavs games, and i'm glad.

[Lebowski Brickowski]

The bottom line here is that Austin sports radio all sucks. Erin Hogan (1300 morning show) is the most boring pile of sound to ever come over the airwaves. Chad and Kevin (1300) in the afternoon are headache-inducing fratboy wannabes (wasn't Kevin even on some real world season? lame) and the"Happy Fun Ball Show" on 1530 in the afternoon is only sometimes funny.

The ONE show I think with any merit is The Morning Brew (1530) with Chip Brown (Dallas Homer -- beat writer for Dallas Morning News) and AJ (Hoffman?) AJ is a Spurs fan. AJ knows sports pretty well and Chip has a lot of connections which = good guests.

[sickdsm]

I don't listen to sports talk radio except when the Spurs are in the playoffs and then only for snatches, and I haven't found any program where they talk knowledgeably about...well...pretty much anything except the UT athletics program. I get the impression that most Spurs fans in Austin tune into WOAI for their Spurs coverage, so the ratings are probably just not there for that kind of coverage in Austin. Also, like the poster above said, there are thousands of UT students from Dallas and Houston living in the area during the basketball season and that may skew the perspective.

I've lived in Austin all my life, and the city is more oriented toward San Antonio in general than toward Dallas, in part because so many people who work in Austin live in the communities in between (San Marcos, Buda, New Braunfels, etc.), and in part because quite a few people commute to work between the two cities. Or at least from AUS to SA.


Bullshit: Everyone here knows that its only UT fans there.


Hell, i think there's more TrailBlazer fans in Austin than spurs fans.




:rolleyes

[Tigole Bitties]

Chad and Kevin probably have the best chemistry among all the AM1300 talkshow hosts, but they are bigtime Dallas homers. It was quite funny hearing them so upset over Jason Terry's one-game suspension, and kept trying to argue against the suspension.

From my observations, I would say there are more Spurs fans in Austin than Mavs or Rockets fans. Like the previous posters said, it's a college sports town (although there is a weak arena football, semi-pro hockey, and minor league baseball following).

[fyatuk]

Chad and Kevin probably have the best chemistry among all the AM1300 talkshow hosts, but they are bigtime Dallas homers. It was quite funny hearing them so upset over Jason Terry's one-game suspension, and kept trying to argue against the suspension.

From my observations, I would say there are more Spurs fans in Austin than Mavs or Rockets fans. Like the previous posters said, it's a college sports town (although there is a weak arena football, semi-pro hockey, and minor league baseball following).

I'm not sure how the following for the Wranglers or Ice Bats is, but the attendence for the Express games has been awesome. I think they were 3rd of all minor league baseball teams last year. Good chance they can outdraw the Marlins this year.

[Ballcox]

I've also grown up in Austin and now live just south of town in Kyle (between Buda and San Marcos). Agree with other posters on 1300 concerning the main focus of that radio station, which is to cover every aspect of Longhorn athletics until they're blue in the face. Being a bigtime Longhorn homer, this doesn't bother me that much. BUT, when it comes time to discuss other sports (such as the NBA playoffs), 1300 is for the most part pathetic. Buckey does the morning show with E. Hogan, and all he does is flip flop back and forth agreeing with whatever Hogan says, it's amazing how much that guy contradicts himself every morning! Hogan has gotten better over the years, tries to be objective, but still comes off sounding somewhat snobish and know-it-all. My favorite is Kevin and Chad in the afternoon, they seem to be pretty objective and actually take the time to talk with callers on topics that have come up during the day. Just my two cents.

[leemajors]

what really pissed me off was the mack brown interview crap last fall. the stros were in the playoffs and contending, and they would bump it for some retarded interview with mack brown, who continuously regurgitates the same crap every damn week. missing the first couple innings of a NL championship series, and evern a world series game sucked. (i was at work and TV was not an option)

[SpurYank]

The Spurs are hated up here. But then, they have the Wizards here as their team. New Yorkers abound here, like Tony Kornheiser, so next in popularity are the knicks and the Nets.

The true basketball people have nthing but respect for the Spurs, even if they prefer a local team. Most say they are a class organization. Plus, they win all the time.

Jordan, the Wizards coach, says he dreams of winning the NBA championship someday, by beating the Spurs in the finals.

Screw Austin and Dallas.

[whottt]

That's some very good information and that matches up with some of the other things I've heard from friends and business associates. The high-tech community also gives the Austin area a more dynamic mix of backgrounds and sports interests.


Right...there are a bunch of Yankee Aholes here.

[redskinfan]

Here is my take ,Last year I worked for a company delivering goods from SA to Austin so I heard Bucky and E Hogan pretty much everyday until Stern came on and I remember they were talking about the Arena team maybe relocating to SA and that bucky dude ripped SA by saying to Austin fans that they could lose their team and the mexicans in SA would be enjoying their Arena team,after that I never listened to that fuck again

[Mark in Austin]

Here is my take ,Last year I worked for a company delivering goods from SA to Austin so I heard Bucky and E Hogan pretty much everyday until Stern came on and I remember they were talking about the Arena team maybe relocating to SA and that bucky dude ripped SA by saying to Austin fans that they could lose their team and the mexicans in SA would be enjoying their Arena team,after that I never listened to that fuck again

Last I checked there are more than a handfull of Mexicans in SA, and quite a few of them like football. I didn't hear the comment though, so maybe it sounded more offensive than it reads. Especially when it's said by somebody who's very articulate, you know, for a black guy.*


Un-PC cracks aside, I primarily listen to 1300 when I'm in the mood for sportstalk. I enjoy listening to Bucky and Erin in the mornings - they have pretty good chemistry, plus they are the only gotdamn show in town that has the balls to criticize Mack Brown. I really don't expect them to talk much NBA, and they stay at the shallow end of the discussion pool when they do. Bucky can sometimes be a blowhard and wax Walton-esque on a topic or two though. I generally listen to Rome when I'm out in the afternoons, and switch over to Dan Patrick after that on the twins. I'm not really a fan of any of the evening drive local sportstalk programming, and usually just tune into the Thompson Brothers on WOAI instead. Three sportstalk stations in Austin and during the summer there's baseball on every one some nights (Astros, Rangers, Express). It drives me crazy.

I think there were a couple things other posters pointed out already that are true:

There are more Spurs fans than Dallas fans in Austin. Otherwise, Fox Sports Net would be broadcasting a ton of Mavericks games instead of the 25 or so Spurs games they show each season.

Most Spurs fans tune into WOAI for Spurs coverage on the radio. The blowtorch comes in pretty well for most people I know Austin.


*don't get your panties in a twist. This is an ongoing, on-air joke between Bucky (who is black) and Erin (who is white).

[atxrocker]

i live in austin and personally know plenty of spurs fans.. to many if you ask me

[whottt]

I think this point has been discussed before...but the Spurs are guilty of taking the Austin market for granted pretty much since Pop became the GM. If you want Austin you are going to have to market here...even the Cowboys do more promoting here than the Spurs.

Back in the Gervin days the Spurs did have a pretty strong presence in the area and this continued up until the early 90 when they used to have an occasional scrimage at the Frank Irwin Center...but since about 93 or so they have had little or no presence in this area other than broadcasts.

I notice that many San Antonians tend to take the Austin market for granted on things like Football support as well...

If San Antonio wants this market locked up they need to do more than just assume it's their market. It's not like Austin sits there waiting to follow SA's lead...Austin is pretty much wrapped up in it's own little world and doesn't care too much about what's going on outside of Austin.

[Solid D]

Excellent point, whottt.

[trevcourt]

As a lifelong Austinite I will say that Spurs fans drastically outnumber mavericks fans in this town. Go to any sports bar during the playoffs and you saw it - some mavs, but overwhelmingly SPURS.

I have no idea about the local radio. Most of what I hear from the local guys is either SPURS favorable or neutral. The syndicated stuff, that's another story.

And if there is any Austin hate for SA (and I don't know how much there is) there is EXTREME hate for all things dallas.

[fyatuk]

As a lifelong Austinite I will say that Spurs fans drastically outnumber mavericks fans in this town. Go to any sports bar during the playoffs and you saw it - some mavs, but overwhelmingly SPURS.

I have no idea about the local radio. Most of what I hear from the local guys is either SPURS favorable or neutral. The syndicated stuff, that's another story.

And if there is any Austin hate for SA (and I don't know how much there is) there is EXTREME hate for all things dallas.

It would certainly make more sense for Austin to have a problem with Dallas more than SA. Austin and Dallas are cut in the same mold, so they are in direct competition with each other in many things. SA is completely different, and really is only compared to Austin because of its proximity.

I could never understand why people would talk about hate between Austin and SA. Makes no sense. Between the two of them (personally, I like calling the Austin-SA area the "biplex"), they cover just about every possible interest. With a little more cooperation between the comunities it really could become the perfect place to be.

[NoMoneyDown]

When living in SA, I always heard that (rich) people worked in Austin and went to SA to "play". Of course, this was right when the dot-com craze was starting and Austin was considered the Silicon Valley of Texas.

[austinfan]

It would certainly make more sense for Austin to have a problem with Dallas more than SA. Austin and Dallas are cut in the same mold, so they are in direct competition with each other in many things.

As another lifelong Austinite, I can assure you that we in no way, shape or form aspire to be like Dallas or consider ourselves to be in competition with them. Dallas is the anti-Austin and Austin is the anti-Dallas--in politics, in lifestyle, in the look and feel of the city, in pretty much every category I can think of.

Austin and San Antonio aren't exactly alike either, but we're closer in identity because we're both smaller cities that have traditionally been passed over attention-wise in favor of Houston or Dallas.

I completely agree with whottt that the Spurs have done a lousy job of marketing the team to Austinites, and I don't really understand why that's the case. Maybe because SA is so completely supportive of the Spurs, the front office doesn't feel like it needs to grow any additional fanbase? I don't know. But Austin is a relatively wealthy market without a pro sports franchise, so there's always that gap waiting to be filled.

It would be really nice if the Spurs would do a scrimmage or two here every once in a while. Maybe do some interacting with the UT basketball squad--that kind of thing. Have Tim Duncan come up here, or Ginobili or Parker, to do a clinic for at-risk kids. Something like that.

[leemajors]

they did bring the championship trophy up to austin for a toros game. i think we will see a bit more marketing of the spurs here as the nba tries to grow grassroots support for the nbdl. austin is definitely in no way like dallas - austin being the most liberal city in texas - dallas is the polar opposite. although i really hate all the additional development here in town - the triangle project at the guadalupe/lamar intersection makes me want to vomit, as well as the new row of stores at mopac/183. they are slowly trying to fill in all the gaps and taking away what i really liked about this town - that there were spaces between developments and mini-fields with grass and trees. i wax about this and sound like a damn hippy, sorry.

[fyatuk]

As another lifelong Austinite, I can assure you that we in no way, shape or form aspire to be like Dallas or consider ourselves to be in competition with them. Dallas is the anti-Austin and Austin is the anti-Dallas--in politics, in lifestyle, in the look and feel of the city, in pretty much every category I can think of.


Having lived in both Austin and Dallas areas, I think they are very similar. They both crave to be busy, corporate, metropolitan cities and actually have fairly similar night life, etc. Austin is far superior in most things though, in my opinion.

And I definitely agree with you about the Spurs neglecting Austin. I always thought they should try to at least do part of camp/preseason in Austin and participate in some of the same community service things they do down here, up there. And pro team should cross promote like that. If an NFL team came here, they should do training camp up in Austin, etc.

It's absurd to not put forth a strong effort to draw from another large metro area less than 100 miles away that is growing FASTER than your home market (MSA growth, not city growth).

[Tigole Bitties]

And I definitely agree with you about the Spurs neglecting Austin. I always thought they should try to at least do part of camp/preseason in Austin and participate in some of the same community service things they do down here, up there.

I recall that the Spurs did play a few preseason games with the Houston Rockets at the Frank Erwin Center several years back.

[redskinfan]

Last I checked there are more than a handfull of Mexicans in SA, and quite a few of them like football. I didn't hear the comment though, so maybe it sounded more offensive than it reads. Especially when it's said by somebody who's very articulate, you know, for a black guy.*


Un-PC cracks aside, I primarily listen to 1300 when I'm in the mood for sportstalk. I enjoy listening to Bucky and Erin in the mornings - they have pretty good chemistry, plus they are the only gotdamn show in town that has the balls to criticize Mack Brown. I really don't expect them to talk much NBA, and they stay at the shallow end of the discussion pool when they do. Bucky can sometimes be a blowhard and wax Walton-esque on a topic or two though. I generally listen to Rome when I'm out in the afternoons, and switch over to Dan Patrick after that on the twins. I'm not really a fan of any of the evening drive local sportstalk programming, and usually just tune into the Thompson Brothers on WOAI instead. Three sportstalk stations in Austin and during the summer there's baseball on every one some nights (Astros, Rangers, Express). It drives me crazy.

I think there were a couple things other posters pointed out already that are true:

There are more Spurs fans than Dallas fans in Austin. Otherwise, Fox Sports Net would be broadcasting a ton of Mavericks games instead of the 25 or so Spurs games they show each season.

Most Spurs fans tune into WOAI for Spurs coverage on the radio. The blowtorch comes in pretty well for most people I know Austin.


*don't get your panties in a twist. This is an ongoing, on-air joke between Bucky (who is black) and Erin (who is white).


I know that SA is at least half hispanic but the perception of this idiot is thats all there is in SA I just got the feeling of being degraded maybe I am just too insecure or something.