[bucslover68]

Here's the media deal in a nutshell. Why should a local paper be getting info from other sources instead of being there in person? Why don't they get their butts in a car and travel to the playoff game being played by a Pike County team or hire some playoff "help" to get it covered! Rick Bentley, used to do that, so did Terry Spears, David Mulliken, John Bastolla, Brad Lockard and yes even Tom Kopacz. They made sure someone was there to get it and get it right. The problem is the paper doesn't value the sports programs in the county enough anymore to cover them effectively. Sadly, our communities have laid back and let it happen. When we stop buying that cheap excuse for a "day old news" newspaper then things could change. Probably why their paper is sinking and revenue is down.
As for radio, here's my take. EKB has more stations than there are high schools in Pike County. You are telling me that EKB can't sell spots for a team on each station. That's bull. EKB doesn't put an emphasis on sports as they did in the past. That's not a sports directors fault. It starts at the top or near the top (i.e. used to be on SportsOvertime) 10 years ago Brian Crager had a team at every playoff game and mainly because he was allowed to do soand it was important to do that for the kids. Okay, if more teams are making the playoffs then grow the radio teams. The money is no good but people would do it. And quit harping on Chapman not talking or giving interviews. What coach ever says anything other than "We just try to get better each week".... anyway. Maybe some coaches could take a lesson and talk lesson and let their players performance do the talking on the field. Is it about the coaches or the players? And as far as player stats, that wouldn't be a problem at this point in the season if a radio station covered every game or the newspaper covered every game in person. It could all change if the paper and radio wanted it to change and maybe people are starting to get fed up with it. I hope so.

Let's focus on the actual facts. I have worked for EKB for a long time. I am starting my 18th sports season. Bryan Crager is one of my best friends. I started working for him in August of 1992. We did many fewer games back then than we do now. Pikeville was the only team who got all their games covered when I started. They were on 103.1 or AM 1240.The only other high school games we did for many years was a "county" game of the week on 93.1. Many times these games involved Belfry, because they had some high profile matchups. During the other weeks we would cover the other county schools. The year that Dusty Hall and SV started 9-0, we covered a lot of their games. I remember they beat Pburg that year, but they closed out the season with losses to Belfry and Leslie County in the playoffs. Only until Belfry went on their championship run did they get all their games broadcast. I doubt if anyone would argue that they have been the premier program in the county and should have all of their games broadcast. I personally have broadcast 63 straight Belfry games and 67 out of their last 69. So, until this year, you basically had 3 EKB crews out on Friday nights You had the Pikeville crew, our Belfry crew, and a "county" crew that rotated between SV, PC, ER, and Phelps. In the old days you would have Pikeville's crew and the county crew. Crager use to definitely try to get the playoff games on, but many times you wouldn't cover SV or PC because they were a 4 seed and would get blasted in the first round. One year, Phillip Birchfield and myself left Pikeville late and went down to Williamsburg to cover Elkhorn City. We arrived as they were singing the national anthem. This year EKB has consistently covered 4 games a week. Belfry on 96.5, Pikeville on The Oldies Network, SV on 103.1, and the Floyd County Game of the Week on the Talk Radio Network. This leaves 93.1 which has been the flagship host of the "Red Zone", and ZRock 107.5. 4 crews is very hard to fill with at least two announcers and Pikeville has 3 announcers. EKB covers more sports than any other small-town network, imo. UK football and basketball, local high school sports, Pikeville College football and basketball, NASCAR, the REDS, and Marshall University football and basketball. I may have missed a couple of things, but this does not include the stand alone games like the Pike County Middle School Championship. Plus we have the Sports Guys show. This has only been on a few years. We did use to do a recap show on Saturday mornings down at Lowe's Sporting Goods when Paul Blackburn ran the place. EKB does not have to apologize for any coverage it gives.