Connect with us
Jim Cutler Demos

Sports Radio News

Sham Won’t Call Cowboys Opener

Jason Barrett

Published

on

We learned this week that Dez Bryant indeed will be on the job at AT&T Stadium on the opening Sunday night of the Cowboys season. Brad Sham, however, will not.

Instead of opening his 37th season in the Cowboys broadcast booth, Sham will be celebrating the first night of the Jewish New Year on Sept. 13.

It will be only the second game Sham has missed in two tours with the Cowboys, interrupted by a three-year hiatus in the mid-1990s when he worked Rangers radio.

Replacing Sham in the Cowboys’ opening night booth will be a familiar voice. Verne Lundquist, who retired as the play-by-play voice of the Cowboys at the end of the 1983 season, will fill in alongside Babe Laufenberg. The last time Lundquist called Cowboys play-by-play, they lost a playoff game at Texas Stadium to the Rams, who then were still anchored in Los Angeles.

The very next day was Lundquist’s last as the lead sports anchor at WFAA-TV (Channel 8) as he prepared to set off for a network television career. That prompted Sham’s switch from the Cowboys analyst seat to play-by-play.

Sham had been prepared to miss a game in order to observe a religious holiday in each of his first 36 seasons on the job. But that never proved an issue until the 2015 schedule was released in April.

Although you may recall that in September 2009, after he was honored with an afternoon reading at Temple Emanu-El on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish Year, Sham flew via private jet from Love Field to Arlington Municipal Airport and was given a police escort to AT&T Stadium so he could be on time to work the Carolina Panthers-Cowboys game on Monday Night Football.

“It’s always the first thing I look for when the schedule comes out,” Sham said Friday. “I don’t look for opponents, whether games are home or away, or anything like that. I look to see if there will be a conflict with the Jewish High Holidays.”

Sham knew the Cowboys’ 2015 season probably would be opening on Sept. 13. He hoped they would be slotted into a day game that would have ended before the holiday arrived at sundown.

As soon as he saw it would be a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against the New York Giants, Sham knew his iron-voice streak that dated to the final game of the 1982 season at the Minnesota Vikings was over. That, too, was a night game. On Monday Night Football, Tony Dorsett set an NFL record with a 99-yard touchdown run. Lundquist called it alongside guest analyst Charlie Waters while Sham was battling an upset stomach at the hotel.

Sham said he would like to take the credit for coming up with the idea of inviting Lundquist to be his substitute. But that should go to Douglas Barricklow, a producer on the Cowboys’ broadcast. He suggested it to Scott Purcel, the Cowboys director of broadcasting. Everyone at the Cowboys loved the idea.

It was left to Sham to ask his friend, Lundquist.

Keep in mind that Lundquist has a job calling football. He is the voice of CBS’ Saturday afternoon Southeastern Conference games.

It wasn’t until the end of June when Sham finally was able to broach the subject with Lundquist over the phone.

“I was hopeful,” Sham said.

Lundquist listened.

“It took me about 10 seconds to say yes,’’ Lundquist said in an interview.

Lundquist, who celebrated his 75th birthday Friday, will work the Georgia-Vanderbilt game Sept. 12. He’ll fly to Dallas-Fort Worth on Sunday morning and arrive in plenty of time for the game.

He has a date later in the week to participate in a banquet for prominent University of Texas booster Joe Jamail in Houston, and then he’ll be back at CBS to work the Auburn-LSU game in Baton Rouge.

“This will be a pleasure,” said Lundquist, who has one AT&T Stadium game on his résumé. He worked last season’s Texas A&M-Arkansas game.

“I am really pumped,” he said. “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be that day.”

Credit to the Dallas News who originally published this article

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Sports Radio News

Compass Media Networks Promotes Three Members to Oversee Play-by-Play Sports Platform

“It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

Published

on

Logo for Compass Media Networks

Compass Media Networks has announced the promotions of three long-standing executives, Robert Blum, Tyler Brewer, and Chris Kleiber, who will collectively oversee the content creation, production, and distribution of the company’s play-by-play sports platform.

“For over 16 years, Compass Media Networks has set a standard of excellence for national play-by-play sports with Chris, Rob, and Tyler playing a vital part in our success,” said Peter Kosann, CEO/Founder of Compass Media Networks. “It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

Robet Blum has been appointed Vice President & General Manager of Sports and will also continue to serve as Vice President of Affiliate Sales for News-Talk and Sports. Tyler Brewer has been appointed Executive Producer – Sports Programming. And Chris Kleiber has been appointed Senior Producer – Sports Programming.

Compass Media Networks broadcasts annually over 100 play-by-play sporting events involving college men’s basketball and football (including the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Ten Championship Game), NFL 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday Doubleheaders, and complete coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. The broadcasts are distributed across hundreds of terrestrial sports, news-talk and music stations as well as digital distribution platforms such as SiriusXM, Verizon Mobile, and the Varsity App.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Charley Steiner Injured; Tim Neverett to Handle Dodgers Radio Play-by-Play

“This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

Published

on

photo of Charley Steiner
Courtesy: Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in their first home game on Thursday, team play-by-play voice Charley Steiner has revealed he will not be doing games at the beginning of the season due to a severe back injury.

Through the Dodgers, Steiner posted a statement which said, “Over the winter, I landed on the Injured List with three compound fractures in my back. (I don’t recommend it.) With the start of the baseball season upon us, the Dodgers are ready to go – but I’m not. This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I look forward to returning to the mic later this season. In the meantime, go Dodgers!”

TrueBlueLA.com reports Tim Neverett will handle play-by-play duties while Steiner recovers. Neverett called the first two regular season games with Rick Monday as the Dodgers started the season in South Korea. Neverett and Monday did not travel with the team, however, they called those games in a studio back home.

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi Put a Bow on The Ronnie & TKras Show After Nearly 10 Years

“Finally, Tampa Bay can sleep easy knowing this hideous show is finally over.”

Published

on

Photo of Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi
Courtesy: iHeartMedia

After nearly 10 years, The Ronnie & TKras Show with Ronnie Lane and Tom Krasniqi came to an end today as the duo broadcast their final show on remote with many listeners, friends and co-workers on hand. Earlier this month, WDAE announced changes to its programming lineup which will take place starting tomorrow. Ronnie Lane will take on a new role as host of the Tampa Bay Rays pre-game show The Inside Pitch. Tom Krasniqi will continue on in afternoon drive with producer Chris Mathis for The Drive.

Their final show kicked off with station voice Jim Cutler saying, “…Finally, Tampa Bay can sleep easy knowing this hideous show is finally over.”

And with that went three very fast hours of looking back on a nearly decade-long run for Lane and Krasniqi. “It seems kind of surreal, doesn’t it?” said Lane.

Mathis had several special guests lined up for the final show and many others left voice messages which were played coming out of breaks. Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht and Chief Operating Officer Brian Ford took part in the final show. Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks also called in and, at first, identified himself as “Pete from St. Louis” before asking what the hosts thought of the Rays bullpen.

“I’m telling you man, when I hear all of these tributes it really brings a tear to my eye, Ronnie,” said Krasniqi. “It’s a surreal moment…It makes me feel so fortunate and blessed to be in this position sitting next to you all these years. This is one of those moments where I am almost speechless and just so incredibly overwhelmed by the support and the love that everyone has shown here today.”

Lane responded, “…Our time together is really coming to an end. I might get a little emotional before this show is over, but we have had a great time and been through many ups and downs…This business is crazy and for us to be able to do what we are doing and doing it on our terms…And for a company that believes in both of us to give us this opportunity to go in different directions with the same company is truly amazing…It doesn’t happen like this always in this business, usually it’s an ugly goodbye.”

As the show came to an end, Lane reminded everyone, “It has been a blast, but we’re not freakin’ leaving!”

“We’re not leaving folks,” ‘TKras’ said. “Thanks very much for being a part of our lives and thanks for having us as part of yours. Onward and upward. You are dismissed.”

Sign up for the BSM 8@8

The Top 8 Sports Media Stories of the Day, sent directly to your inbox, every morning at 8am ET.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Advertisement

Upcoming Events

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2024 Barrett Media.