An ayoda on radio

I’m preparing today’s entry wearing my Dodgers 2020 World Series cap – my sons and I actually bought two hats, much to the chagrin of my wife (the phrase “much to the chagrin of my wife” appears a bit too often in my writings, now that I think of it). Worth noting, when the Dodgers finally claimed the World Series a few months ago, my boys and I were high-fiving each other, excited the 32-year championship drought was finally over. Of course, my wife was in another room, appearing about a half-hour later simply stating “all this ruckus.” If it isn’t already obvious, I’m a lifelong Dodger fan. Given my many long commutes over the years, I often listened to more games than I was able to view. Of course it was wonderful to hear the baseball poetry of Vin Scully , the detailed descriptions of Ross Porter , the insight of Don Drysdale , or the current back-and-forth (and frequently hilarious) banter of Charley Steiner and Rick Monday .   Prior to both pre-game and post-game Dodger ...

  Thanks to the start of the new semester, I'm a bit behind. For now, here's another edition of "short takes" : We’re working on a story about Eric Tracy, a long-time L.A. radio personality best known for his work covering the Dodgers. Tomorrow (Monday) he begins a regimen of both chemotherapy and radiation treatment for esophageal cancer. Keep him in your prayers and good thoughts. During my undergraduate days at UC Davis, many stations in the Sacramento area signed off at night, including all-news KFBK. Then they introduced this overnight program with someone with a New York sound syndicated via the Mutual Broadcasting System. That individual was Larry King. His interviews were great fun to listen to, also interesting was the two-hour “Open Phone America” segment that was live coast-to-coast, where King had a reputation for gruffly “cutting off the bores.” Talk about someone with nine lives (a heart attack, lung cancer, quadruple bypass, prostate cancer, Type II dia...

  Associated Press I didn't have the opportunity to meet Tommy Lasorda, though like many I heard many interviews he did on sports talk radio. Oh how I wish I could talk to the late Joe McDonnell, who I'm sure would have had all sorts of anecdotes about the manager who "bled Dodger blue." The former Dodger manager was always a popular interview on sports talk radio. Here are some memories from those who offered Tommy's voice on the local airwaves: Fred Roggin (AM 570 LA Sports):  In a city full or stars, Tommy Lasorda was one of the biggest.  He was able to capture the imagination of Los Angeles. John Ireland (710 / ESPN):  You never could have created a character that would have been better than Tommy Lasorda.  The personality, the stories, the success on and off the field--he was truly one-of-a-kind.  And he was so colorful, so quotable, that I almost think it distracted from how good of a manager he was.  He won two World Series, four National League...

  The top ten stories of 2020: 10.     Covid-19 9.       Covid-19 8.       Covid-19 7.       Covid-19 6.       Covid-19 5.       Covid-19 4.       Covid-19 3.       Covid-19 2.       Covid-19 1.       Covid-19 OK, now that we have the real top ten out of the way, let’s delve into what happened across the L.A. radio dial in 2020, or as they say "on with the countdown." bloomberg.com The 2020 election: On NPR’s All Things Considered , one of the experts hoped that whichever presidential candidate emerged victorious, that it would be a decisive win as anything less could result in chaos. Talk about prophetic words. As of this writing, all of the news and talk outlets continue t...