College Football '11: The More Things Change . . .

Image via WikipediaAs the new college football season opens, it should surprise no one that the game is no longer played with leather helmets in front of spectators wearing raccoon coats and waving pennants, just like in those old Hollywood movies (The Marx Brothers in "Horse Feathers" comes to mind).

Even Knute Rockne, George Gipp and Bernie Bierman wouldn't recognize the massive stadiums, media coverage, and big budgets that makes the game such a lucrative proposition today.  The only ones not in on the windfall are the players who train year-round to star on Saturdays.  It's a wonder they're getting much studying done, let alone graduating with honors.

But there's always more money to be made.  That's why schools with football pedigrees jump conferences and sign lucrative TV deals to stay competitive.  Never mind that the nearest opponent in your new league might be half a continent away, or that the name of your new conference no longer reflects the number of teams in it.

• The Big Ten now has 12 schools, with the addition of the University of Nebraska.  They've also split into two divisions, inexplicably known as "Legends" and "Leaders".  And for the first time, they will play a championship game in Indianapolis in December.
• The Pac 10 has become the Pac 12, with Colorado and Utah coming in from other conferences.
• The Big 12 is down to ten schools with the departure of Colorado and Nebraska.  They were able to persuade the University of Texas to stay, but Texas A&M has announced its intention to leave, probably for the Southeastern Conference.
• Boise State and Texas Christian are also changing conferences, while Brigham Young is going the Notre Dame route as an independent.

Another thing Amos Alonzo Stagg might not recognize about college football today is how many programs have been embroiled in scandal, and only now is the NCAA getting around to punishing those schools for their alleged misdeeds.  They have resulted in Southern California giving up its 2004 national championship and Reggie Bush's Heisman trophy, North Carolina and Ohio State forfeiting games and losing coaches, and Miami of Florida possibly sinking its football program.

But there's one thing coaches like Bear Bryant, Bud Wilkinson and Darrel Royal might appreciate.  For the past six years, a team from the Sun Belt has won the BCS national championship, and the team defending it this time is Auburn.  Look for another school from the SEC to win it all this year.

So while such things as drop kicks, Minnesota Golden Gophers championships and Ronald Reagan announcing games on the radio are no longer part of college football, it's nice to know that some things never change.

When Is "The Fan" Not "The Fan"? An Update.

The flip-flopping of two of Clear Channel's Twin Cities radio stations has created an identity crisis of sorts.  The sports format, which had been on AM 1130, has moved to 100.3 FM, where the conservative talk format had been.

The station at 100.3 is officially known as KFXN, but on the air (and strictly for branding purposes) it is called "100.3 FM KFAN:  The Fan".  Apparently, Clear Channel couldn't persuade the owners of KFAN-FM in Johnson City, Texas to part with their call letters.

KFXN is also used on AM 690, a tiny 500-watter during the day that has to cut back its power to a whopping four watts at night (according to Wikipedia), carries mainly syndicated sports talk shows that "The Fan" won't sacrifice its local programming on.  "The Score 690" has been sold to a minority partnership, but will keep the sports format for now.

AM 1130 still has the KFAN call letters for now, but they will be changed to KTCN once the FCC gives its approval to reflect its branding as "Twin Cities News Talk".   True, the format is more news than talk, and the network they use is Fox News Radio.  But that's a subject for another time on another blog.

Honesty Bites

You may have heard about the 11-year old twins from Owatonna, MN named Nick and Nate Smith.  At a charity hockey event in nearby Faribault recently, Nate shot a puck from center ice 90 feet into a tiny hole where the goal usually is to win a $50,000 raffle.  Except it was Nick who was supposed to take the shot, and he wasn't anywhere near the building at the time.

Apparently, according to news reports, nobody in the family was comfortable with the situation, so the boys' father Pat confessed to the organizers the following day.

While an insurance company in Nevada determines whether or not the Smiths deserve the money (which probably would have been earmarked for college), the boys and their parents are enjoying their 15 minutes of fame making appearances on the networks' morning news shows, answering the same old questions.

Do the Smith boys get to keep the money?  No.  Mr. Smith was sneaky enough to substitute a twin brother to take the shot.  Would this be an issue if Nate had missed the shot?  Probably not.  But major props to the Smiths for having a conscience, even if this is the wrong era to give up that kind of money.

The moral of our story:  Honesty may be the best policy, but it can cost you an awful lot of money.

UPDATE  As expected, the Smith boys do not get to keep the money.  The Nevada-based insurance company decided to spend $20,000 on youth hockey programs in the boys' names, which would certainly deepen the tax burden on their father.  What happens to the rest of the money is unknown.  File this under "no good deed goes unpunished".

"The Fan" Hits FM Radio

Image via WikipediaKFAN radio has become rather aggressive since they got a competitor in the Twin Cities sports talk competition, having lost the ESPN Radio affiliation to KSTP-AM (1500) last year.  Besides being the home of Minnesota Vikings football, KFAN has also acquired the rights to Wild hockey and University of Minnesota football.  Now, after two decades at AM 1130, KFAN is moving to the FM band.

Owner Clear Channel is switching KFAN to 100.3 FM and its 100,000-watt signal, where news-talk KTLK used to reside.  Which means that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their conservative pals have been banished to AM 1130 and its 50,000-watt signal, which the FCC mandates that the power be cut in half at night.  (They'll still be heard on 102.5 FM through a low-power signal Clear Channel just purchased from a religious broadcaster.)

This is a risky move.  Both stations had been doing well ratings-wise.  Apparently, Clear Channel thinks a sports format with a younger demographic would do better on FM than conservative talk would with an older one.  It remains to be seen if sports talk can work on FM, given that some of the biggest markets like New York and Los Angeles don't have such a station.  This could be a case of fixing what isn't broken.

The two stations might be forced to change their call letters.  There is already a KFAN-FM in Texas, and that one has a rock format instead of sports.  And Clear Channel has a KTLK-AM, which is a progressive talk station in Los Angeles.  For that reason, the new AM 1130 will be billed as "Twin Cities News Talk".

It's going to be a real interesting time in Twin Cities radio, which hasn't seen this much potential for upheaval in years.  Here are the players:

• WCCO-AM (830), its sports portfolio reduced to Timberwolves basketball (if the NBA lockout ends) and University of St. Thomas football, may be considering its own move to FM.  Much speculation centers on owner CBS Radio, which could decide to change formats on either WLTE (102.9 FM) or KZJK (104.1 FM).  Really, why would they want to waste an AM signal that can be heard across North America, with far more listeners than FM could ever have?
• KSTP-AM, which is getting ripped from all sides (especially Minnesota Twins fans) about its signal limitations, might be forced to move its sports format to FM.  But Hubbard Broadcasting doesn't want to sacrifice its successful KS95 (94.5 FM) or struggling women-focused talker KTMY (107.1 FM) to do that.  They might, however, be able to persuade the Pohlad family (which owns the Twins) to sell them 96.3 Now, a contemporary hits station that's barely making a dent against KDWB (101.3 FM), and turn it into a sports station.
• The merger of broadcasting companies Citadel and Cumulus is scheduled to be finalized in the next few weeks, which could mean big changes for KQRS (92.5 FM), 93X (93.7 FM) and the Love 105 stations (105.1, 105.3 and 105.7 FM).  Or maybe not.

So enjoy listening to "jock around the clock" in crystal-clear FM.  As for us, we'll stick to public radio unless there's a game on.

UPDATE:  The new AM 1130 will become KTCN (what, WTCN wasn't available?), and it won't be simulcast on 102.5 FM, pending FCC approval.  For now, it'll be heard on 103.5 FM.

No Longer The Weakest Lynx

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Lynx are off to their best season in their history.  After defeating the San Antonio Silver Stars 63-60 at Target Center Thursday on a game-winning shot by Taj McWilliams-Franklin with 1.3 seconds remaining, the Lynx have won eight consecutive games (a team record), and lead the WNBA's West division with a 15-4 record.  They are on track to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

For most of their history, the Lynx have been lost in the shuffle of the other Minnesota pro sports teams, mainly because they've been pretty mediocre on the court.  Thanks to last-place finishes, they've been able to land the number-one pick in the WNBA draft, which they've used to choose Seimone Augustus, Candice Wiggins and Maya Moore in consecutive years.  They also were able to acquire veterans McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen, who helped put the University of Minnesota women's basketball program on the map by leading them to a Women's Final Four appearance.

The Lynx are also overlooked because, among other things, they play in a struggling women's pro basketball league (now in its 15th season) that owes its existence to the NBA and plays indoors during the summer.  Today the WNBA has 12 franchises, and almost as many have come and gone before them (Detroit Shock, Cleveland Rockers, etc.).  Unless you're a diehard WNBA fan, you've probably missed out on seeing past stars such as Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper.  They've paved the way for current stars such as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Candace Parker.

Considering how the other pro sports teams in Minnesota have been faring this year, the Lynx have finally made women's pro basketball worth watching.  Now if they can only get past the first round . . .