Thank you Central Texas...

I'd like to thank everyone who has contacted me by email or in person since I arrived on June 22nd.

I've tried to do everything possible to listen and read the suggestions and opinions.

I'd been to Waco and the Central Texas area many times, but never more than a day or two for a football game or basketball tournament. I cannot believe how much I didn't know about Waco/Temple/Killeen/Fort Hood and Belton. I've mentioned on several occasions how many great local restaurants they have here---and how giving the people are---and I see something every day that makes me realize how special this area really is...and the hospitality has been overwhelming.

I know some of my programming decisions or show formatting ideas have not always been met with approval...but other than one or two who get really frustrated and angry, others have approached our changes with an "open-mind."

Thank you again to those who've welcomed me with open arms, and even to those who haven't.

Earlier this week, I received some negative feedback from an anonymous blogger and anyone who says criticism doesn't bother them is lying. I didn't like a couple of comments about a member of our staff and responded by protecting one of my own (Paul Catalina). Well, I over-reacted, and after thinking it through, pulled all of my comments and his/hers. I asked for their real name and an email address so I could contact them, I tried to send an email but it was kicked-back. Oh well, maybe I'll get a real email address to communicate with him/her sometime soon. I won't apologize for protecting Paul...I've got his back.

I'd like to stop for a few minutes and mention a lot of people behind our success throughout our company.

We have such a great group of people at our radio stations, Dustin Drew, Beth Richards and Jessica Goodlett at Mix92.9FM. Dustin has been supportive in every way, and remains patient every time I ask him to show me "again" how to use the printer, issues with the Internet and even a few technical tips. I honestly don't think there's anything within the walls of the station that Dustin can't fix or solve, and although this is a volatile profession, he just ticks along. He's also a darn good cook and is always working up something in our kitchen at the station.

Beth has gone overboard on helping us with 1660espn.com and does a lot of the work outside of her normal hours. Of course, in our business, what is "normal?" It doesn't matter when I text or email her something about our website, she's on it. Like Dustin, she has to be up very early for their morning drive shift--but somehow, Beth gets it done, updating the website's homepage, our podcast link and more than you can imagine.

Jessica hosts Mix's afternoon/evening drive and we've added her to the mix on 1660ESPN, she's doing some morning Sportscenter updates and she's a nice addition to what we're doing. I'll never forget the look on her face when I handed her season credentials to Baylor athletics, it was something she wanted, but wasn't expecting. She deserves them and as the season progresses, she'll add quite a bit to our show.

I've mentioned our sales staff on multiple occasions including an entry earlier today but Bill, Becky, Terry, Rich, Linda and Kisha are busting their tails---and I mean every-single-day...but I'd like to focus on the others this time around.

Butch Henry, when I first spoke with John McClain, Steve Fallon and others about the opportunity at 1660ESPN Radio, they immediately mentioned Butch Henry. He's been covering and coaching sports and entertaining people in Central Texas for decades. I've heard all about his Little League coaching success, including the team back in the 70's that came so close to Williamsport, Pa...but fell a game short. What a thrill that must have been for "Coach Henry" and the team. He knows everyone, knows everything about Central Texas, and knows the family tree of basically every local player, coach, program, athlete and fan. I've tried to suck out everything from his library of knowledge, while also soaking in his wisdom. We have changed some things up within the show, and although Butch and I have talked about some of them, I appreciate his support throughout these first 2 1/2 months. Butch and I had a really good talk on Wednesday afternoon and I tried to soak in every minute.

Paul Catalina, a huge Red Sox and FSU fan has helped me in more ways than I can imagine, he's involved in our programming, a lot of technical work especially on appearances and game broadcasts. The first week I was here, he did some stand up comedy at a local club--he was funny and I know he's looking for his next opportunity. There is no way I could have helped institute some of our goals without Paul taking on more and more responsibilities. He's been a God-send.

Then there's Zach Burke, a 22-year old who is ready to spread his wings. He's brilliant with his production of commercials, billboards and open and close productions. Like Paul, he's a huge sports fan and I think can recite every NFL team's starting lineup and even the backups. I used to be able to do that, but I've lost too many brain cells to keep up. Zach is also on the air as a producer for our 2pm-3pm show with host John Morris, "Voice of the Bears." He's co-hosting our Friday night scoreboard show and also voices some Sportscenter updates. Zach's confidence continues to rise every day---it's fun to see him develop a swagger. Now, if he'll just learn to close his office/production room door so he can get more work done. Everyone loves to hang around Zach's door asking for this and that and then this and that again.

Jason Barringer is a young man who is all-Texas A&M...and he's willing and able to learn everything-radio. I heard some of his work with A&M baseball as a student. I can see him one day being a play-by-play broadcaster for a minor or major league team. I've tried to spend some additional time with Jason, he's fearless and one night when I asked Zach and Jason not to close out our scoreboard blog until we dug for every score (there are about 100+ scores), I felt terrible when I received an email from him at 3:00am on a Saturday telling me he'd scoured everything but couldn't find a few scores.

I sent him an email and asked him why he was up so late. I think his response must have been, "You're apparently doing the same thing, why are you up this late?"

Tony Loomer is our Utility Infielder for everything-M&M Broadcasting. He answers the phone, fixed the copy machine, knows everyone's extension, does all the handy work around the office and does a nice job producing a lot of our shows. Tony is old school, and this week when I asked him for some upbeat music for some bumps...he responded, "Oh, don't worry I've got a lot of music to choose from..." I think he's dug deep into the great late-60's and 70's for some good stuff.

Edward Graham (along with Dustin Drew) were the first one's to take me to dinner when I arrived in Waco. "Graham-Man" is full of energy and he's brought a ton of it to our stations and building. He's always on the go, thinking about promotions and he's done a tremendous job with 104.9The Beat. Today, before our appearance at Cricket's, Graham-Man, voice-tracked some of his afternoon shift and walked over to Cricket's to help us setup the remote, table, banners, speakers and everything else. It didn't go unnoticed, he's contagious and has given me an energy boost with his personality.

We just hired two Interns, Regan and Jordan, both are students at Baylor University and they also bring a tremendous amount of energy to all three stations. They are fearless and wanting to learn everything-radio. Just last week at Cricket's, both grabbed our wireless microphone and went up to some of the patrons and customers and asked questions about Baylor football...they are our "Fountain of Youth." Regan is from Austin Westlake, Jordan from Highland Park...and they are going to be future leaders of our great country.

And, there's Casey, she started as our promotions director two weeks ago. She'd never been in radio and she's learning something new everyday. She's also fearless, gathering goodies, and freebies for our appearances on Mix, The Beat and 1660ESPN.

Like Regan and Jordan, Casey comes ready to work, and leaves tired because she's always moving around helping promote our stations.

And, finally...there's our owner, Gary Moss. I know, you're rolling your eyes...here's the suck-up time. Nope, not with Gary...he doesn't want that or expect it. He is involved in so many things technical I can't name them all. He's always working on improving our towers, signals and frequencies. He's told me of some near future goals and they are exciting and will take what we do to another level and then some. He's tough, demands a lot, but nothing that's not unfair or unexpected.

We have a chance to do some great things and Gary is always thinking of something else that will make us sound better and reach more people.

David Smoak
smoaky@1660espn.com