Here’s some great news for Air Force fans and the Colorado Springs sports scene in general.
Tony Desiere is broadcasting once again – now on the internet.
For four years, Desiere – better know as “Tony D” – hosted a popular afternoon radio show in Colorado Springs. But he lost his job in June when his sports-talk station KKML (1300 AM, also know as “The Sports Animal”) changed its format to classic country.
(Like we needed another country station – but that’s a subject for a different blog).
Anyway, the format switch left Colorado Springs without a sports-talk station, which is ridiculous for a city the size of The Springs, one that has several prominent college programs (Colorado College hockey and Air Force football and men’s basketball).
The change especially hurt local teams as Desiere took an active interest in the academy and CC hockey. Sure, he talked Broncos, Nuggets and Avs, but he made an effort to talk about the local guys too. You don’t find that too much on Denver stations – and those stations are tough to hear in The Springs as it is.
Well, Max Performance, a sponsor of Tony D’s show when it was on the radio, heard he was let go by the station. It knew that the numbers for people listening to his show on the web had been high, so it put together an internet studio and hired Tony D to do his show on the web.
Tony D has been back for a few days and told me in an e-mail that things are going well so far. He wrote that he plans to do “the same show that I did on ESPN 1300,” which means Air Force athletics will get more publicity.
You can find the show at www.tonydradioshow.com, and you can contact Tony D at tonyd@tonydradioshow.com.
While listening on the internet might be a shock to the not-so-technologically inclined (and I include myself in that group, by the way), it does offer some benefits. Not only will you be able to listen to the show live (from 2-5 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday), but each hour can be downloaded (so you can listen to the entire show later). Plus he’s planning to separate interviews with different guests so people can pick and choose what they want to hear.
(Quick programming note: I’ll be on Tony D’s show tomorrow afternoon at 4).
In addition, there’s a forum and chat room on the site, and the chat room will allow people to send in questions to guests as they are on the air.
Congrats and best of luck to Tony D, who I know for a fact – from talking to people at Air Force practices – has been missed.
Hopefully Jim Arthur of KVOR will have you on a pregame. Arthur does a fantastic job on AFA basketball. Speaking of which – is it time for a B-Ball article? I have a feeling the preseason B-Ball Schedule will be disappointing – again. There is no reason why AFA should not be able to construct a schedule equal CSU or WYO’s. The training wheels need to come off for the program to reach the next level.
Thanks for the link to the Tony D radio show. I look forward to hearing your comments tomorrow afternoon. I don’t live in the Springs, but I can’t believe that there is no sports talk station. In the DFW area where I live there is ESPN Radio, The Ticket, and Fox Sports radio, and all are sports talk stations. Sounds like a good opportunity for some Academy grad!
afafan -
You’re right, Jim Arthur does a great job on hoops games. And football games. But it’s amazing watching him during hoops games because he’s by himself. So he’s the play-by-play guy and the color guy combined.
And, yes, an AF hoops article will be coming soon. The schedule should be released any day now. It will be interesting to see who’s on the docket.
Falcon-
Yes, it’s ridiculous The Springs doesn’t have a sports radio station. I love music, but sometimes on my nearly 2-hour round-trip commute to AFA (I live in Denver) I need to get my sports radio fix.
thank god tony d is on again!… i tried to listen every day..and then one day he was just gone.. i know Kip left.. but there was like zero warning that i heard about tony leaving.. what happened? anyone know?
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