Monday, March 22, 1999
SPORTS ON TV-RADIO
Furman stops talking long enough to listen
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's hard to stay mad at Andy Furman. Ask Xavier coach Skip Prosser.
Prosser was upset about something Furman, the host of WLW-AM's SportsTalk, said on the air in January.
Someone had broken into the Xavier locker room. Furman mentioned the incident, and in the course of discussing it, said it could have been “an inside job.”
One of the listeners happened to be Prosser.
When Furman saw Prosser the night of the Crosstown Shootout, he let Furman know he was not happy.
“He said, "I've got a problem with you,'” Furman said. “I said, "Let's not handle it here. We'll talk about it later.'”
Things were finally resolved last week when Prosser went on Furman's show for the first time since the incident.
“We straightened it out,” Furman said. “I've listened to the tape. He thought it was an attack on the program. I was just saying that things like that can happen anywhere.”
Furman admits it's easy to lose sight of how many people are listening.
“You're in the studio alone,” he said. “You don't realize how big the audience is.”
Furman has the biggest audience of any sports talker in town. The Xavier incident probably would not have come up had Prosser not heard it.
If coaches and players monitored all that's said on local talk radio, more hosts than Furman would have people mad at them.
The reason it's hard to stay mad at Furman? He'll also go out of his way to help a person.
To wit: One of his long-time callers, Jimmy, is an avid Xavier fan. Furman said if the Musketeers made the NIT Final Four, he would send Jimmy to New York for the games. Furman will keep his promise.
“I've had to turn money away,” he said. “We raised $1,800 and AAA Travel is picking up the airfare.”
Jimmy is James Slatton, a 19-old-year resident of Batavia who suffers from cerebral palsy.
“He was in tears,” Furman said. “This is the thrill of lifetime for him.”
ANDY II: Furman can't accompany Slatton to New York because he is in Sarasota with the Reds. He'll do SportsTalk from spring training camp to day and Tuesday. Chris Welsh will sub for Furman Wednesday and do the show from Sarasota.
PICK ON REDS: Look for Jeff Piecoro of WBOB-AM (1160) to host a magazine-style show about the Reds on Fox Sports Ohio. Details will be released this week.
DRESS BLUES: Nice work by CBS to give an isolation shot of how John Chaney's look changed during Temple's loss to Duke. In the first shot from the beginning of the game, Chaney had his tie snug abound his neck, his shirt pressed, and his coat on.
In the second shot, Chaney's tie was loosened, his shirt was wrinkled and his coat was gone.
RATINGS GAME: The Miami-Kentucky game, which went to 87 percent of the country Friday night, drew a 6.3 rating and 12 share for CBS. That's down 15 percent from last year.
John Fay covers TV/radio sports for the Enquirer. He can be reached at 768-8445.
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