104.7 Sports Radio

[The Alabaster Yak]

Even 950 has hardly talked Buffs v Rams.

Whatever, Rams are irrelevant and the Buffs have sucked. You want radio conversation, then you have to win.

I still don't think an 8-4 CU team will generate conversation from local media. TBH, it's kind of the nature of college football, I guess, where even if a team goes 9-3 they are irrelevant because they are playing in the Holiday Bowl that doesn't mean ****. For the local media to talk about CU more than a few segments a year, I think they are going to have to be in the Playoff conversation.

 

[BuffaloSoldier76]

I still don't think an 8-4 CU team will generate conversation from local media. TBH, it's kind of the nature of college football, I guess, where even if a team goes 9-3 they are irrelevant because they are playing in the Holiday Bowl that doesn't mean ****. For the local media to talk about CU more than a few segments a year, I think they are going to have to be in the Playoff conversation.

I think that's more of an "NFL Market" problem than a "nature of college football" problem. In SEC land, they are going to be talking about Bama regardless of if they are in the playoff, or if they are headed to the Emerald Nut Bowl. In Nebraska, they are going to talk Fuskers year-round. In Denver, we have the Broncos and they get all the attention unless we **** up really bad or do something REALLY great. Bummer part about being the middle child, I guess?

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I think that's more of an "NFL Market" problem than a "nature of college football" problem. In SEC land, they are going to be talking about Bama regardless of if they are in the playoff, or if they are headed to the Emerald Nut Bowl. In Nebraska, they are going to talk Fuskers year-round. In Denver, we have the Broncos and they get all the attention unless we **** up really bad or do something REALLY great. Bummer part about being the middle child, I guess?

True, but a 4-12 Broncos season would still generate more radio discussion than an 8-4 Buffs season. I think it's actually a transplant issue as well. The state is becoming more and more non-natives that don't have ties to either program. They simply don't care.

 

[dio]

I still don't think an 8-4 CU team will generate conversation from local media. TBH, it's kind of the nature of college football, I guess, where even if a team goes 9-3 they are irrelevant because they are playing in the Holiday Bowl that doesn't mean ****. For the local media to talk about CU more than a few segments a year, I think they are going to have to be in the Playoff conversation.

I don't think that is true. If the team is winning big games and generating buzz and excitement, they will talk about it. Sure, it is never going to dominate sports talk here, but the only thing that does that is Broncos.

Buffs have been horrible for 10 years, and they haven't been relevant on the national stage in 15 years. It is going to take winning and time for them to get back into the local consciousness.

I remember the year that CU basketball turned it around, beating KSU those 3 times that year. I had a conversation with 102.3 at that time about getting some folks from Allbuffs on their radio station to talk CU basketball. I told them all about the successes from that season, the recruiting, the facilities that were coming, and that CU basketball was going to be a national player. I told them they could start getting a grasp on that early buzz.

They didn't care AT ALL. It took two more years after that before they started to talk CU Buffs basketball. Now during the season, you do hear some segments every week about the team, and about how great the Keg is for games.

CU only has themselves to blame for their media coverage.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

I don't think that is true. If the team is winning big games and generating buzz and excitement, they will talk about it. Sure, it is never going to dominate sports talk here, but the only thing that does that is Broncos.

Buffs have been horrible for 10 years, and they haven't been relevant on the national stage in 15 years. It is going to take winning and time for them to get back into the local consciousness.

I remember the year that CU basketball turned it around, beating KSU those 3 times that year. I had a conversation with 102.3 at that time about getting some folks from Allbuffs on their radio station to talk CU basketball. I told them all about the successes from that season, the recruiting, the facilities that were coming, and that CU basketball was going to be a national player. I told them they could start getting a grasp on that early buzz.

They didn't care AT ALL. It took two more years after that before they started to talk CU Buffs basketball. Now during the season, you do hear some segments every week about the team, and about how great the Keg is for games.

CU only has themselves to blame for their media coverage.

I hope you're right

 

[wsp4820]

TBH, I'm glad they're not paying much attention to the game. It wouldn't be any kind of reasoned, thoughtful, or even moderately interesting debate. It would be trolling one fan base or the other to generate a phone call or two from a whack job fan that the hosts could mock after they hang up on the call.

 

[Buffnik]

Where the NFL thing comes in is with it not being a football-crazed state.

Pennsylvania: Penn State has no problem with rabid support despite the rabid support for the Steelers and Eagles.
Ohio: Ohio State has no problem with rabid support despite the rabid support for the Browns and, somewhat, for the Bengals.
Texas: UT and others have no problem with rabid support despite the rabid support for the Cowboys and, somewhat, the Texans.

Those states also support the hell out of their high school teams. The Denver metro doesn't have that kind of football culture. It's more like New York, Chicago, San Francisco or Boston in that regard. But that can change and improve. I've seen it change in the past 18 years while I have lived here. With the population growth, the pie is a lot bigger but the capacity of Mile High stadium remains the same.

Where it also comes in is with winning. Everybody likes a winner. And I think there is a huge opportunity right now for CU to own the secondary football market which is large enough that Kroenke was actually considering the Denver Rams as a backup plan if Los Angeles fell through.

 

[onealcd]

Buffs get a good amount of press around march madness, I would imagine it would be a lot more if the football team was winning 8-9 games.

Honestly I don't want to hear analysis on college football from guys like Schlareth, DMac, and Evans who continually say they don't care about college football. Clough (Drotar was good before he was forced out) is the only opinion I would value on CU basketball or football.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

TBH, I'm glad they're not paying much attention to the game. It wouldn't be any kind of reasoned, thoughtful, or even moderately interesting debate. It would be trolling one fan base or the other to generate a phone call or two from a whack job fan that the hosts could mock after they hang up on the call.

Good point. I just wish half the amount of time and effort put into knowing every one of the 100 Broncos players names and numbers at the beginning of TC was put into at least knowing the major players, coaching additions, returning starters, difference makers, etc from the teams. The radio guys have one job and that's to be knowledgeable about local sports. Some research leading up to this game isn't unreasonable.

 

[onealcd]

Where the NFL thing comes in is with it not being a football-crazed state.

Pennsylvania: Penn State has no problem with rabid support despite the rabid support for the Steelers and Eagles.
Ohio: Ohio State has no problem with rabid support despite the rabid support for the Browns and, somewhat, for the Bengals.
Texas: UT and others have no problem with rabid support despite the rabid support for the Cowboys and, somewhat, the Texans.

Those states also support the hell out of their high school teams. The Denver metro doesn't have that kind of football culture. It's more like New York, Chicago, San Francisco or Boston in that regard. But that can change and improve. I've seen it change in the past 18 years while I have lived here. With the population growth, the pie is a lot bigger but the capacity of Mile High stadium remains the same.

Where it also comes in is with winning. Everybody likes a winner. And I think there is a huge opportunity right now for CU to own the secondary football market which is large enough that Kroenke was actually considering the Denver Rams as a backup plan if Los Angeles fell through.

I think the situation is just exagerated right now since the Broncos just won the Super Bowl and had a great four year stretch and the Buffs have been bad for a decade. It is hard to evaluate the state of sports media currently.

 

[Buffnik]

Buffs get a good amount of press around march madness, I would imagine it would be a lot more if the football team was winning 8-9 games.

Honestly I don't want to hear analysis on college football from guys like Schlareth, DMac, and Evans who continually say they don't care about college football. Clough (Drotar was good before he was forced out) is the only opinion I would value on CU basketball or football.

On basketball, I think it is absolutely wide open. I could see the Buffs being a bigger deal in hoops for this area than the Nuggets.

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

Clough (Drotar was good before he was forced out) is the only opinion I would value on CU basketball or football.

Yikes... Clough is a huge CSU guy and has been pretty biased toward them in the past. I remember his assertion that CSU was "dominating" CU in recruiting because CSU pulled in more CO kids one year. He might be better than the others and take more time to actually dig into stats, but he's still worthless when it comes to the local college programs, IMO.

 

[onealcd]

Yikes... Clough is a huge CSU guy and has been pretty biased toward them in the past. I remember his assertion that CSU was "dominating" CU in recruiting because CSU pulled in more CO kids one year. He might be better than the others and take more time to actually dig into stats, but he's still worthless when it comes to the local college programs, IMO.

I was listening to that too I am just saying he actually pays attention to college sports while the others don't care and complain about how it is basically slavery. Obviously you have to take what Clough says with a grain of salt about CU football but his basketball commentary on the Buffs is second to none.

 

[Scotch]

I think the situation is just exagerated right now since the Broncos just won the Super Bowl and had a great four year stretch and the Buffs have been bad for a decade. It is hard to evaluate the state of sports media currently.

This. 104.3 is just making a good business decision by being all Broncos all the time. I don't like it and don't listen much, but whatever. I listen to podcasts more than radio now.

 

[dio]

The only thing that annoys me is that the local media still love the underdog story for CSU. This morning on 950 the guys talked to Bob, and claimed the series was 'even' these days. It isn't even. Yes, CSU wins sometimes, but the win rate is still right around 66% for CU. Even at CU's worst, we still beat CSU 2 out of 3 times.

Would be nice if the media folks could get over whatever schadenfreud they had at CU's fall from the top, and instead start focusing on The Rise. A good, national BCS program in the state is good for everyone, and CSU just isn't going to deliver that.

 

[Buffnik]

The only thing that annoys me is that the local media still love the underdog story for CSU. This morning on 950 the guys talked to Bob, and claimed the series was 'even' these days. It isn't even. Yes, CSU wins sometimes, but the win rate is still right around 66% for CU. Even at CU's worst, we still beat CSU 2 out of 3 times.

Would be nice if the media folks could get over whatever schadenfreud they had at CU's fall from the top, and instead start focusing on The Rise. A good, national BCS program in the state is good for everyone, and CSU just isn't going to deliver that.

Exactly. And I'll take it a step further. Air Force gets ignored despite its consistent success. That's been the best college program in the state for the past decade.

What percentage of Denver media do you think would know that Air Force won the MWC Mountain Division last season and played in the conference title game?

 

[patebuff]

The only thing that annoys me is that the local media still love the underdog story for CSU. This morning on 950 the guys talked to Bob, and claimed the series was 'even' these days. It isn't even. Yes, CSU wins sometimes, but the win rate is still right around 66% for CU. Even at CU's worst, we still beat CSU 2 out of 3 times.

Would be nice if the media folks could get over whatever schadenfreud they had at CU's fall from the top, and instead start focusing on The Rise. A good, national BCS program in the state is good for everyone, and CSU just isn't going to deliver that.

I think you nailed it on the head here. Pretty simple. People like the underdog and therefore will hate everything about the perceived bully (CU). I know people who aren't from this state and don't like CU just based off of what CSU fans say.

If CU makes it to the Rose Bowl (one day), I have no doubt we see this whole narrative change. CU's product is very low right now, due to scandals, poor performance, bad leadership, etc. I truly think it is a sleeping giant waiting to be woken the **** up.

 

[BUFFSROCKS]

His kid goes to Chatfield. The chat rats will never amount to anything anyways.

WOAH WOAH WOAH, I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT I'M A CHATFIELD ALUM!!!

 

[dio]

So, here is where I get frustrated with the media.

Listening to AM 950, and Helmer starts going on about how the series has been equal over the last 10 years (It isn't, it has been 6 - 4 over the past 10, and if you go back to 2001, it is 10 - 5 Buffs).

Then you get them talking about beer in the stadiums for some reason, and Hastings starts talking about how only the 'Boulder Elite' can get beer at Folsom.... and his voice was just dripping with contempt (Hastings is very conservative and mostly can't keep his politics from entering his sports commentary). He then proceeds to laud CSU for serving beer to everyone.

This is the type of mentality that CU football is up against.

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

So, here is where I get frustrated with the media.

Listening to AM 950, and Helmer starts going on about how the series has been equal over the last 10 years (It isn't, it has been 6 - 4 over the past 10, and if you go back to 2001, it is 10 - 5 Buffs).

Then you get them talking about beer in the stadiums for some reason, and Hastings starts talking about how only the 'Boulder Elite' can get beer at Folsom.... and his voice was just dripping with contempt (Hastings is very conservative and mostly can't keep his politics from entering his sports commentary). He then proceeds to laud CSU for serving beer to everyone.

This is the type of mentality that CU football is up against.

Boulder is viewed as elitist (probably deservedly so) and CU is viewed as a bully. CSU is the poor little orphan that belongs on the playground with the big boys but just can't get a fair shot.

Until CU starts winning more often then losing, that type of mentality will persist. Have to get these media types to actually visit Boulder for a game in order to change their minds.

In fact that might not be a bad idea. RG should have a local media "appreciation" day, and get all those radio guys and the local sports guys up to Folsom for a game. Let them experience actually experience CU football.

 

[dio]

Boulder is viewed as elitist (probably deservedly so) and CU is viewed as a bully. CSU is the poor little orphan that belongs on the playground with the big boys but just can't get a fair shot.

Until CU starts winning more often then losing, that type of mentality will persist. Have to get these media types to actually visit Boulder for a game in order to change their minds.

In fact that might not be a bad idea. RG should have a local media "appreciation" day, and get all those radio guys and the local sports guys up to Folsom for a game. Let them experience actually experience CU football.

So, that's my issue. I understand why CU doesn't get air-time, but CU also can't get a fair shake, for a variety of reasons. That is why I generally prefer that they don't talk about CU at all

 

[Burrito]

Boulder is viewed as elitist (probably deservedly so) and CU is viewed as a bully. CSU is the poor little orphan that belongs on the playground with the big boys but just can't get a fair shot.

Until CU starts winning more often then losing, that type of mentality will persist. Have to get these media types to actually visit Boulder for a game in order to change their minds.

In fact that might not be a bad idea. RG should have a local media "appreciation" day, and get all those radio guys and the local sports guys up to Folsom for a game. Let them experience actually experience CU football.

It's hard not to feel that way when you are clearly their betters. I struggle every day not to remind them of their lowly status. It's just not nice.

 

[TDforTD]

Jotting down the names of the non-believers in the rise like

 

[NWD Buff]

Talk radio is dying, so we all should just help the process by getting off of it. Seriously, I have no idea why anyone subjects themselves to asinine local sports talk, when there are podcasts of every stripe talking about exactly what you are interested in. I listen to stuff for a at least couple of hours a day and I can't even get through my weekly list.

By the way, you should all queue up the new Freeballin podcast before tomorrow night. Lots of good stuff on there to get you fired up, or at least have a chuckle.

 

[Buffenuf]

Heh. I am extremely glad to be away from the Littleton bubble.

You can take the boy out of Littleton, but you can't take the "Littleton" out of the boy!

 

[Buffenuf]

I am not sure what is worse. Lamme having a kid, or him thinking CU should offer him a football scholarship.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

 

[Buffenuf]

True, but a 4-12 Broncos season would still generate more radio discussion than an 8-4 Buffs season. I think it's actually a transplant issue as well. The state is becoming more and more non-natives that don't have ties to either program. They simply don't care.

It is a "BINGO!"
CU has to more strongly pitch the whole "College Game Day" experience in Boulder to all those out-of-staters who may want to re-live their college days, starting with letting all low-info casual fans know you can now breeze up to Boulder on a totally re-furbed 36!
Next start a strong conversation about "family-friendly"! Do parents really want their families exposed to all those foul-mouthed, drunken, low class fans at Donkies' games?

 

[The Alabaster Yak]

It is a "BINGO!"
CU has to more strongly pitch the whole "College Game Day" experience in Boulder to all those out-of-staters who may want to re-live their college days, starting with letting all low-info casual fans know you can now breeze up to Boulder on a totally re-furbed 36!
Next start a strong conversation about "family-friendly"! Do parents really want their families exposed to all those foul-mouthed, drunken, low class fans at Donkies' games?

First bold - IMO, the game day experience in Boulder the past 4 years has been pretty piss poor, with the exception of a few marquee, prime time games. On multiple occasions, I remember walking through The Hill, going to Half Fast for a Strong Island and then walking to the game and it being completely dead 30-45 minutes prior to kick off. The product on the field is obviously the main issue, but even during the Hawkins era, we partied our faces off every game day... then we'd go watch us lose. The game day atmosphere needs to get much better and I think it will, starting this season.

Second Bold - Do parents really want their families exposed to all those foul-mouthed, drunken, low class fans at Buffs games??

 

[DBT]

Exactly. And I'll take it a step further. Air Force gets ignored despite its consistent success. That's been the best college program in the state for the past decade.

What percentage of Denver media do you think would know that Air Force won the MWC Mountain Division last season and played in the conference title game?

Listening to Joe Williams at lunch yesterday and his sidekick, whoever that guy is, said, "right now, Air Force is the best college team in Colorado." They went on to say AF would be a 3 to 4 point favorite if they played CU. That pissed me off. But, frankly, I probably would have a hard time arguing otherwise. CU needs to get this thing turned around and regain the respect they should be getting!!!

By the way, Andy Lindahl, the guy on 760 with Steady Eddie, along with Romie Bean, is a CU guy. Romie also went to CU. So, Lindahl does do a bit more CU stuff than most. But it is frustrating turning to any of the 4 sports talk shows and getting nothing but Bronco talk less than two days before the game. This game should be a big deal in the local media, as it would be in just about any other market where interstate rivals played.

 

[HighlandsBuff]

Most of the Pac-12 teams suffer from the same problem.

Only three of the teams play in a state without a NFL team (U of U, OSU, UO).

Two more teams play in areas that aren't shared expressly with an NFL team (U of A, Wazzu), but have their fan bases primarily in major markets (Phx and Seattle).

I honestly couldn't tell you how much the Portland radio talks about the Ducks, but I know from living in the Bay Area for a time that KNBR doesn't touch the Card or Bears really at all. Giants, Warriors, Niners dominate airtime, and Stanford has been elite for more than half a decade (and generally respectable or better for a century). They mention the time and opponent in the games of the weekend, but that's about it.

Denver, San Francisco, LA, Seattle share the issue touched on above- they're full of people who didn't grow up there, probably didn't go to school there, and even if the first two are true, don't care about CFB as much as the NFL. Denver is full of transplanted midwesterners with CFB loyalties, just not to the Buffs.

That said, once the power balance evens back out from the current lopsided position- the Broncos just won the Superbowl and the Buffs were god-awful and have been generally for a decade)- there's no reason why the Buffs can't have more airtime.