That was the day sportstalk radio debuted in the Queen City. And the first local voice to be heard on Sports 610 WAQS was mine.
I had spent my first summer in the real world working for 95QQ (now Kiss 95.1). I started as an intern, even though I had already graduated from Appalachian State. They were kind enough to start paying me within a couple of weeks. By mid-summer, I had so many hours of overtime each week they decided to just make me a full-time employee.
But my goal was to work in sports, and I had scheduled an interview with a station in Roanoke Rapids, NC in August. It was a small market, but I would have been a one-man sports department and could begin my climb up the ladder in earnest. I really didn't want to go though.
Then one day in early August, a new guy who had been hanging out in the AM station (which was then satellite oldies except for the Channel 9 news and Charlotte Knights baseball) asked me to meet with him. His name was John Woodstock.
"Woody" had been brought in to jumpstart 610, and it was his idea to go all sports. Our meeting basically went like this: He asked if I was interested in sports. I said yes. He said good. I need you.
He told me I would anchor and run the board from 6 AM to 2PM and would also serve as his assistant program director. Cool. Woody had hired Gerry Vaillancourt, the Hornets broadcaster, to host an afternoon show which would start two weeks after we signed on. A lady named Barbara, who also worked at 95QQ, would anchor and run the board in the evenings. Woody would produce and run Gerry's show, with Bill McChain anchoring. That was the extent of our opening day roster- five people.
So August 31st came, and I was there bright and early to get things started. We carried Sports Entertainment Network (which after numerous changes is now known as Yahoo Sports Radio) programming all day. ESPN was still weekends only at that point, so were stuck with the gambler-friendly programming out of Vegas.
I had never been so nervous when the clock struck 6 and I delivered my first live "professional"sportscast and weather update. I don't remember any specifics, other than it was truly awful. I was honestly nowhere near good enough to be on the air in Charlotte (or probably Roanoke Rapids) at that point. I was very fortunate to be allowed to grow into the position. As Woody said repeatedly, "No one is listening yet. Have fun, find your groove and just get better." Which I eventually did over time.
But holy cow was that a fun day. I was hooked, and I knew that this was going to be one fun ride.
It was probably to my benefit that I was a naive kid, because the "grown ups" involved were concerned with building an audience, selling ads and whatnot. Plus our ownership situation was not exactly stable (the owners eventually went bankrupt and we went into receivership.) None of those things mattered to me. I was just doing sports in Charlotte and having the time of my life.
I have so many great memories from that first year. Working with Gerry V was a daily riot. Woody eventually left the station in '93 and I started producing V's show (and also became the program director.) Gerry was (and is) a gifted talk host. He makes it seem effortless, but he truly works hard. Later we added Michele Tafoya (aka Mickey Conley) to the mix and that show really took off.
That was also the year the Hornets made their first playoff appearance, stunning the Celtics in the first round. The love affair between the city and that team was just unbelievable. It still boggles my mind how it all deteriorated less than a decade later.
It was also the early stages of the development of the Carolina Panthers. I remember Mark Richardson and Mike McCormack stopping by the station often with updates on "Carolinas NFL Stadium" and Max Muhleman explaining the concept of PSLs.
There were a lot of silly moments, such as when an opposum accidentally fried himself in some wires and knocked us off the air for six hours. There were too many Duke-Carolina debates, especially when they took over our five hour show on a random day in June.
There were also definitely some days when we were all on pins and needles. I can recall at least five or six days when I was certain they were just going to shut us down and go dark. Thankfully, for whatever reason, that never happened.
There were also two or three days when I was fairly sure they were going to slide us over and put sports on 95.1. I remember hanging out with our engineer Mike one afternoon and he said he would put money on that happening that day. But that also never took place, and that would have been a gamechanger for a lot of folks.
But Sports 610 kept chugging along, even through receivership, and we were eventually sold to a group that owned WRFX in early 1994. The station changed to Fox 610 sports radio and continued to add talent such as Matt Pinto, Sam Smith and more. The best part of that experience for me was that it led to me being hired by the John Boy and Billy Big Show. Our studio also doubled as John Boy's dressing room and many times he would be in there changing t-shirts during one of my updates. John Boy liked my announcing, and when they needed a new sports voice I got the call. I'm still most grateful for that.
Fox 610 Sports Radio eventually became WFNZ, which it is still known as today.
I wound up being a part of WFNZ (either directly or indirectly via Metro Networks) for 15 years. The place still means a great deal to me, and I will always hope for its success. And I am very happy to see that Charlotte now has a second sports station as well. I promise you, no one would have predicted that when we signed on.
I wish had more mementos from the old station. I used to have the sign from our front lobby, and I lost a bunch of tapes when my car was stolen several years ago. I do still have this long-sleeve t-shirt.
And I will always treasure the memories of the days when a kid, without knowing any better, was a small part of the beginning of something that is still going strong today.
Happy anniversary.
