I hope this is not it for Brian Jeffries

[Daryl Zero]

I missed the game because of work but tuned in just in time to hear Brian Jeffries sign off emotionally after his twenty two years of being the voice of the Wildcats. While I can deal with the BatCats losing in a season where they surpassed expectation, I cannot deal with losing one of the best local broadcasters around.

Please someone tell me that the U of A will require 1290 to use Brian Jeffries to do play by play. A broadcaster of this talent cannot be discarded.

[Ben Hansen]

From what I have been told, Jeffires is still under contract at KNST and they're playing games with him instead of just letting him out of it in order to be "The Voice" of the Wildcats next year when broadcast rights go to KCUB.

That said, please keep in mind that it is <I>Host Communications</I> which owns and pays everything UofA-related. Rich Herrera, the former program director at KCUB, is paid by Citadel and is NOT an employee of Fox Sports anything.

What Host Communications does is get stations to sign up as affiliates. Those affiliates then have absolutely no input on content matters pertaining to pre-, post- and regular game coverage. In fact, I've been told that no one from KCUB is allowed to broadcast one hour before or one hour after Arizona games.

In the rest of the time during a normal week, affiliates can pretend they're part of the deal but in reality they have nothing to do with it. KFFN here in Tucson is the Diamonbacks' affiliate but the official pre- and post-game shows are done by the Dbacks' people themselves. Any kind of Dback show we do is our own and has nothing official surrounding it. The KCUB guys can do the same with UA, they may do a pre-game show two hours before the game or a post-game show two hours afterwards but even so, there's nothing keeping KFFN or KNST from airing a competing show during the exact same time, which I'm sure is what will happen.

The problem is that there tends to be a lot of misrepresentation from certain people in the radio industry here. Some call guests and pawn themselves off as being part of a national network instead of being honest and saying "Hi, I'm Schmoe from XXX affiliate in Tucson, Arizona..."

It'd be like Storey and I saying we were really from ESPN Radio when all we are is employees from 1490 KFFN, ESPN's affiliate here in Tucson.

Host bought the rights to the Arizona games and then it hires a play by play (Jeffires) and color man (Les Josephson or Lamont Lovett) and probably an engineer, too.

The only way Jeffries has anything to do with KCUB next year is if they hire him as part of the station separately, which they would be very smart to do ASAP.

If KCUB was really smart, they would also hire Ryan Radtke from KNST immediately, too. He runs the best call-in sports talk show in the city and he's a true professional. He would do much, much better against the 20-somethings with zero radio experience in the afternoon drive time slot than the current KCUB guy.

[DAHTcom]

He would do much, much better against the 20-somethings with zero radio experience in the afternoon drive time slot than the current KCUB guy
Ben, arent you in your 20's?

[Josh Gershon]

He's referring to himself.

[bcrisp]

"Livengood said negotiations to ensure that announcer Brian Jefferies returns as the voice of the Wildcats are under way. Schools usually have the final say on broadcasters. "

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/wildcats/27153.php