Thank you Baylor Nation and Central Texas!!!

A year ago this weekend, I began packing some of my things for my trip to Central Texas to begin work at what was AM1660 ESPN (KRZI).

A year later, we're ESPN Radio-Central Texas with four frequencies, AM1660, 106.9FM, 101.3FM, and 100.9FM.

I want to thank everyone for such a wonderful year. "Most" everyone has accepted me with open arms and I will always remember the hospitality.

I've had a blast and I love it here. While I do have some options in front of me, I plan on signing a contract extension with M&M Broadcasters this week.

I want to thank each of you for your support and it's truly blown me away. As I mentioned during my first appearance a year ago, the foundation was built, I just wanted to build on that and perhaps change the culture and personality of the radio station.

I hope we've done that to your satisfaction.

As I look back on our last 52-weeks, I hope you don't mind me listing some of our accomplishments, knowing we cannot and will not settle and we will only do everything possible to get better.

When I arrived, I told our staff, "We need to get bigger, better, faster and stronger." I hope you think we've done that, so far.

I know not everyone likes the faster paced talk show and some don't like me, but I'm okay with that too.

I don't expect to please everyone. But, for those who don't like the faster paced show or me, I ask that you give me another chance and know that I hear, listen and read everything and take it to heart.

If I offended anyone since my arrival or just flat angered you for whatever reason, programming decisions, coverage, or opinions, I sincerely apologize. But, please understand that I go full throttle because I am a workaholic, a Type-A, driven person and then there's the A-D-D or A-D-H-D thing that sometimes is a positive or negative :)

I have fallen in love with Central Texas and I'm very fortunate to be in the broadcast business, I absolutely love my job. And, it's been an absolute blast covering a Division I athletic program.

As I've said from the beginning, you can email me anytime to smoaky@1660espn.com and I will always, ALWAYS respond. We have a link on the homepage, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" which is here http://www.1660espn.com/includes/news_items/1/news_items_more.php?id=691&section_id=1.

As we approach my first year in Central Texas, here's a list of what we've done or tried to accomplish:

We've added the following broadcasts:

*2011 Midway Panther Football

*Dallas Cowboys Broadcasts

*Dallas Mavericks Broadcasts

*And, we actually host our talk show on Friday afternoon during football season. We that wasn't done before is beyond me, but we went 3pm-5pm last season, we're committed to 3pm-6pm this football season.

Interviews, Segments and Analysts:

*We interviewed 75 different Baylor athletes during the 2010-2011 school year.

*We interviewed 33 former Baylor athletes over the past twelve months.

*We also interviewed 18 current Baylor coaches during the 2010-2011 school year.

*We deleted the former website and added 1660espn.com. We added podcast links and streaming. Yes, I know we still haven't locked-in iTunes, but that will be available by the first week in August.

Our podcast link on 1660espn.com is here http://www.1660espn.com/podcasts/.

*I've tried to remain in touch with all of you on this website and three others who cover or discuss Baylor athletics.

*I've tried to promote each and every segment we do involving Baylor on Twitter and our guest lineup is always updated on the 1660espn.com homepage. http://www.1660espn.com/includes/news_items/1/news_items_more.php?id=585&section_id=1

Special Events and Appearances:

*Texas Bowl in Houston and Cotton Bowl in Arlington.

*American Football Coaches Association Convention in Dallas.

*Super Bowl XLV in Dallas/Arlington.

*Cowboys Training Camp in San Antonio.

*Rangers Training Camp in Surprise, Arizona.

*Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.

*We broadcast live from outside of the Ferrell Center and then spent the night in an RV in the parking lot to promote ESPN College Game-Day.

*NCAA Women's Regional Tournament in Dallas.

*NBA Finals, Games 3, 4, 5.

Segments and Analysis:

We've added the following analysts since June, 2010:

*Jennifer Floyd-Engel, Columnist, F.W. Star-Telegram (Monday, 3:25pm)

*Brad Sham, "Voice of the Cowboys" (Monday, 5:25pm during football season only)

*Tim MacMahon, ESPNDallas.com (Tuesday, 3:25pm)

*Ian McCaw, Baylor Director of Athletics (Tuesday, 4:10pm)

*Jay Ratliff, Cowboys Nose Tackle (Tuesday, 4:30pm during football season only)

*John McClain, Columnist, Houston Chronicle (Tuesday, 5:25pm)

*Central Texas Writer's Roundtable (Wednesday, 4:10pm). This went from one columnist from only the Waco Tribune-Herald to columnists and sportswriter's from the newspapers in Waco, Temple, and Killeen.

*"Where are they Now?" (Wednesday, 5:25pm during football season only)

*Mickey Spagnola, DallasCowboys.com (Thursday, 3:25pm)

*The Big 12 Hour (Thursday, 5:10pm during football season only)

*Art Briles, Baylor Football Coach (Monday, 4:10pm during football season only)

*We had almost weekly interviews with Scott Drew and Kim Mulkey and a handful with Steve Smith during their respective seasons.

*And, we plan on adding a Phil Bennett segment at a day and time to be announced sometime soon.

What's next for ESPN-Central Texas?

There are some plans I can't discuss at this time, but we are making more changes this coming football season, some subtle, some more obvious.

An example is completely renovating the 15-17 back-to-back high school football coaches segments on Friday afternoon. We'll not only have the 15-17 coaches interviews each week, but we're adding several coaches segments around Temple, Belton and Killeen. But, the biggest difference is spreading those segments throughout the week, not just one after another like they once did on Friday.

We're spreading those out throughout the week, probably 4-5 each day (Monday-Friday), much shorter interviews with Central Texas HS Football Coaches, but we hope more informative.

And, we're working on adding a brand-new Central Texas HS Football section on 1660espn.com. This section will include coaching staff information, program history (year-by-year results), and even all-time playoff appearances and state championship game appearances.

I mentioned the interest in adding a Phil Bennett segment this season, and we're also working a national college football writer or analyst sometime on Monday.

And, we began this last football season and we're going to do more Central Texas HS football player interviews this season.

We'll tighten things up a little bit during the show, but try and continue to keep you informed, entertained and involved.

Sponsorships or Sales:

Because of our great sponsors and our sales staff, ESPN Radio-Central Texas is up 69% in sales since July, 2010. But, we can always add new sponsors.

If you're interested in becoming involved as a sponsor with any our programming, segments or broadcasts, I will email you information upon request.

And, I'm still looking for a sponsor for our audio-streaming and podcast link.

We can customize a schedule to get you involved in our segments with Baylor coaches and athletes, our analyst segments, straight-up commercials, or "You Make The Call."

Thank you again for your time, interest and support and I hope to hear from you very soon, whether by email, in-person or by a call-in during our show.

David Smoak
Program Director
smoaky@1660espn.com

Happy Father's Day...

I am so fortunate to have the best father any man could ever want. My father, who is in his 80's and lives in Largo, Florida with our mother---has been the absolute best role model any son could ever hope for in his lifetime.

I've said this many times, but my father, not Richard Gere, should have starred in the movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman."

And, as a father of two, I'm blessed that my son (Craig) and daughter (Jennifer) are healthy and successful. I spoke with both of them today, and my wife of 29-years, Cindy and I'm very blessed.

I also called my father, mom and my oldest brother Robert, and I sure hope we can get down to Florida to see my side of the family very soon.

I called my father-in-law, Jim Jolly, who is up in Plano. He's been a great role model too and it was great to hear his voice. We used to spend Father's Day playing golf somewhere each year, but he's not quite able to get around like he used too. He keeps asking me for strokes when we play---I'm not that naive, he can still hit it well.

Two years ago, my Father's Day was not very good, in fact as I was trying to search for a few things in life, it was a miserable memory. Last year on Father's Day, I started packing up a U-Haul to bring a lot of my things to Waco to begin work here at ESPN Radio-Central Texas.

This year, I'm as happy as I've been as a husband, father, person and professional as I've been in a long, long time.

Life can take all of us through some difficult times, sometimes brutal times, and a lot of adversity, but in the end---you must fight through it and live and learn.

And, based on a conversation with our owner last week---we've truly only just begun at ESPN Radio-Central Texas.

Thank you to anyone and everyone who listens, even if for a second or two, or 5-10 minutes or all three hours (I wish), and send me your feedback, opinion(s), and suggestions.

David Smoak
smoaky@1660espn.com

Finishing up my first year in Central Texas

Wow, I just can't believe my first year in the Central Texas market is almost done. It was one year ago this week when I was offered a job as program director at AM1660 ESPN-Radio. I walked thru the doors at M&M Broadcasters in Waco on Tuesday, June 22nd.

So, next Wednesday, June 22nd will be one full year.

I have some decisions to make with over the next 2-3 months, but I have absolutely loved my time here in the Central Texas area.

I look back at what we've tried to accomplish from re-establishing audio-streaming to our website to attending and covering special events, most recently the NBA Finals (Games 3, 4, and 5).

We've been able to do a lot, but as I mentioned to my staff this morning, we've set a higher bar into the future. And, that includes programming, coverage and sales.

Our owner, Gary Moss of M&M Broadcasters, has set the table for us with all the bells and whistles, frequencies, translators, equipment and new building and studio(s).

And, based on what I know from my talks with Mr. Moss, we have more coming up and I can't wait to see it through.

Thank you to anyone who has listened to our show, thank you to anyone who has given me feedback on our show or what we're trying to do.

I hope we can meet our own expectations, but especially yours.

David Smoak
smoaky@1660espn.com

NBA Finals and Summertime...

Paul Catalina and I are at Game 4 tonight in American Airlines Center in Dallas, we also had the chance to cover Game 3 on Sunday and we'll be here on Thursday for Game 5.

Mavericks entered tonight down 2-games to one, and trail by four after 3-quarters tonight.

We'll see if they can close it out and even the series.

But, being here reminds me of something I was told about Central Texas that I didn't believe for one minute, "Central Texas doesn't care about the NBA."

Really?

We've had as many calls the past month about the NBA Finals than anything else, including the Rangers, NFL Lockout or anything-Baylor.

I hope our mixture of covering events and appearances is what you want---and believe me, as I've mentioned before, we're only getting started.

Thank you for listening when you do and our great sponsors for supporting our product.

David Smoak