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Los Angeles Chargers Announce Radio Plans

Jason Barrett

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When the 2017 NFL season begins, the Chargers will call a new city home for the first time since 1961. As they begin the next chapter of their franchise’s history, they’re preparing to build it with a brand new radio announcer.

The team has announced that Josh Lewin, who had called the team’s games for the past 12 seasons is being replaced by Matt “Money” Smith. Lewin confirmed his departure via Twitter adding “The Chargers have decided they want a full time LA announcer so a wonderful run ends today. I’ll happily continue with the Mets and UCLA and will cherish my memories of serving Chargers fans the last 12 years. Thank you for everything Bolts fans, you’re the best!”

Smith is a longtime fixture in the Los Angeles radio market, and hosts weekday afternoons with Petros Papadakis on AM570 LA Sports. In addition to hosting afternoons, he’s also built an impressive play-by-play resume. He’s spent the past seven years calling NFL and college games for Compass Media, and has called television games for the Pac-12 Network and Fox Sports.

Smith will be accompanied in the booth by former Chargers center Nick Hardwick. Hardwick is one half of the morning show for XTRA Sports 1360 in San Diego, the team’s former flagship radio station. Initially he was critical of the team’s decision to turn its back on San Diego and bolt for Los Angeles, but as they say, time heals all wounds.

“I’d never been broken up with and I was emotional,” Hardwick told ESPN.com. “And when I get emotional, I get angry and let my emotions come out. And they were authentic, genuine and in the moment.

“All of the anger was immediately directed at the Spanos family and the Chargers organization, but my emotions around that completely subsided and I’m glad to be back in the family. I’m glad to be back with a group that gave me my opportunity, gave me my life and stuck with me through bad times and bad injuries. They’ve done nothing but support me in my career.

“I care for this team. I literally broke my neck for this organization. I played 11 years for the franchise, was a team captain for five years and I want the best for them.”

But while Hardwick may have good intentions and personal reasons for reconnecting with the franchise, he understands that it may ruffle feathers of those who continue to call San Diego home and remain bitter about the team leaving the city.

“I don’t feel like in any way this is a slight to San Diegans who are little bit like Trump supporters,” said Hardwick. “They’re leaning into each other and saying, ‘Hey, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to follow this Chargers team.’ And then they keep it quiet, because the people who are mad are mad, and you don’t want to come out against those folks. So am I going to get backlash? Sure, 100 percent. I completely expect it, and I’m cool with it. For me, it’s not their life, it’s mine. And I have to follow my own passions and be honest with myself. I’m a football guy.”

The Chargers will air their games on radio in the Los Angeles market on KFI AM-640. They currently have no radio agreement to air games in San Diego. The team also says that Spero Dedes and Hall of Fame Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts will call the team’s three-game preseason schedule on ABC7 Los Angeles.

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Jay Williams: My ESPN Contract is Up in 3 Months

“It feels like media cannibalizing media right now, and I get how that game is played. But sometimes that game gets boring to me, dawg.”

Jordan Bondurant

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ESPN NBA analyst and ESPN Radio host Jay Williams may not be at The Worldwide Leader for too much longer.

Talking to Chicago Bulls guard Patrick Beverley on his Barstool Sports podcast, Williams revealed how much more time he has on his current deal with the network.

“My contract is up in three months, man,” Williams said on The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone.

Beverley seemed kind of surprised at how soon Williams could become a free agent. Jay joined ESPN in a full-time capacity in 2008. He’s hosted ESPN Radio’s weekday morning show alongside Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman since 2021. The show featured Zubin Mehenti for a year prior to that.

Williams implied that he’s looking to change things up away from the routine he’s got at the network.

“It feels like media cannibalizing media right now, and I get how that game is played,” Williams said. “But sometimes that game gets boring to me, dawg.”

Jay added that he’s intrigued by the laid-back nature of the podcast that Beverley has going. He said if he could have an ideal situation, that’s what he would strive for.

“Everybody can just be themselves authentically and not feel like you have to give a take on something,” he said. “Not everything requires some kind of polarizing POV.”

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Mike Felger: LIV/PGA Merger ‘Brought Me a Little Bit Back to Golf’

“I’m not here to save the world. I’m just here to watch a little golf.”

Jordan Bondurant

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While many golf fans might be completely turned off to the sport after the announcement of the PGA Tour/DP World Tour/LIV Golf merger on Tuesday, 98.5 The Sports Hub host Mike Felger is going to be more inclined to tune in more regularly.

On Felger & Mazz on Wednesday, Felger felt like bringing unique personalities like PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau back into the fray after they defected last year to join LIV will be more of an incentive to watch.

“I’ve got to tell you, this has brought me a little back to golf,” Felger said. “At least there’s something here. And as opposed to these milquetoast, lily white, ‘Iron Byron’ – that’s what I call them, all these country club kids with the exact same swing who never say anything or give me any sort of edge. You know, Jordan Spieth and who’s the latest? Mark Scheffler? What’s his name?”

“Oh, Scottie Scheffler,” co-host Tony Massarotti responded.

“Like one cardboard cutout after the next,” Felger said. “Like, oh, my God. I have found the PGA Tour so flippin boring for so long.”

Koepka, DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and others have sort of embraced being a heel among PGA Tour fans. Felger said having guys who can show some emotion and personality on the course is refreshing in a sport where a certain spirit of decorum is expected.

“There’s depth to what he is,” Felger said of Koepka. “And maybe he’s a bad guy. Whatever. Golf needs that. Golf needs it. It needs personality. It needs good guys, bad guys. Guys to root for, guys to root against.”

The discussion circled back to the merger having serious financial backing by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which got LIV Golf off the ground and lured some big names away from the PGA Tour with massive signing bonuses.

Felger said he gets that people will have certain feelings towards the Saudi royal family and the government, and those feelings are justified. But at the end of the day if he wants to turn on the TV and catch a golf tournament, he’s going to do that. By being interested in watching this new iteration of professional golf, it’s not an endorsement of the Saudi government’s role in 9/11 or other atrocities.

“I’m not here to save the world,” he said. “I’m just here to watch a little golf.”

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Scott Van Pelt: LIV/PGA Merger ‘Changes Everything From a TV Perspective’

“You need to have a television partner where you have eyeballs. They didn’t have that.”

Jordan Bondurant

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One of the big questions moving forward with the LIV/PGA merger is what will happen with the media coverage and distribution of tournaments. SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt told Dan Patrick that he’s not sure.

SVP was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, and he told Dan that he thought the announcement of the merger was fake initially. But now that it’s real, and details on the TV rights side are scarce, it’s hard for Van Pelt to speculate on what golf on television will look like a year or two from now.

“I don’t know what I don’t know in terms of the contracts. How long do they run?” he asked. “This changes everything from a TV perspective I would think. If you’re CBS or NBC or whomever has paid for one thing, well now it’s going to be a different entity – which I think this new entity is going to sit down and say, ‘Alright let’s talk about what it’s going to cost to have us on your air.'”

LIV Golf made waves and drew the ire of PGA Tour officials, players and fans with each new announcement of a superstar player signing. Often when a big name got announced as a new addition to the league, details of a signing bonus worth tens or hundreds of millions of dollars followed.

SVP said where LIV will benefit is in the potential with a new rights deal.

“You bought players, but on LIV you just didn’t have the distribution where you were being consumed as a product,” he said. “You need to have a television partner where you have eyeballs. They didn’t have that.”

LIV Golf went the entire 2022 season without a TV broadcast partner in the United States. Just ahead of the start of the 2023 season, the league announced an agreement to carry the final two rounds of tournaments live on The CW. And not all CW affiliates across the country even opted to air coverage, thus drastically impacting viewership.

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