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Church Ball

Right now I'm putting together my closer look for Friday morning on church ball. Not the movie coming out tomorrow, but the real thing. Two Saturdays ago I went to a basketball game between two LDS Church wards. I've been logging my tape this morning and I just have to laugh. I picked up some funny things on the microphone. Namely myself, yelling "Cone on, red!" and my baby giggling and playing with his toys while his mother juggled her recording equipment and her urge to cheer for the red team. My husband was playing. They lost, and have had their tournament hopes dashed.

I interviewed a few members of the team and some wives about church ball. I didn't see any bloodshed, but I saw some tempers flare. It seems everyone has a funny story or memory about these games. Greg Thorton told me his bishop once announced over the pulpit that Greg had received a technical foul and so was out of the game. He also remembers a guy praying at the start the game and asking for the teams to fight clean. Michelle McFarland told me her mother would take her five little girls to go watch her father play, but when he would get too worked up the mom would gather up her girls and leave the game. My mother-in-law tells a funny story about watching her husband play when they were younger. She was sitting by another woman who kept talking about the "horse" out on the court. She finally turns to my mother-in-law and said, "So who is your husband?" My mother-in-law calmly replied, "The horse."

Posted by Mary Richards on March 16, 2006 at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dick Enberg Said It Best...Oh My

Dick Enberg, one of my favorite sports broadcasters, uses a phrase during his broadcasts that captures the essence of what goes on around here - "Oh my."  There's a reason why KSL.com has been awarded the Edward R. Murrow award for the past two years.  If you visit our site regularly, you've probably noticed the site has undergone tremendous changes over the past six months.

MAJOR FACELIFT  -  First and foremost, you've probably noticed that KSL.com has received a MAJOR facelift.  Kudos to the most talented web dudes and dudettes in the country.  Their work goes largely unnoticed by the public but I'm here to tell you that they are some of the hardest working and talented people you will find on this planet.  Giving the site a facelift was a tedious process at best.

COMMENTS  SECTION  -  When reading stories on the KSL website, have you wanted to give your opinion on a story?  Well, now you can with the new comments feature.  The comments section was well used on the "Super Dell" story that broke this weekend.  If you haven't read the story, click here.  Without a doubt, Dell creates some some pretty powerful emotions in people.  In fact, I would probably characterize him as a polarizing individual.  Love him, hate him, we've now given you the tool to express your opinion.  Based on the number of people who took the time to give their two cents, it's pretty obvious you like using this new feature.  It also makes for some pretty entertaining reading.

PODCASTING -  I love podcasting.  If you are new to podcasting, think of podcasting as the ability to listen to the shows you love when YOU want to listen.  Click here to get more information about podcasting.

KSL NEWS NOW  -  News on demand is really the best way to describe this new news idea.  Now you can get the latest news and information when you want it.  No station in this market offers news delivery like this.

NEWS STREAMING CHANNELS  -  Our X-Stream channel is unbelievably cool and most people don't  even know it exists.  The X-Stream channel offers programming not heard on our 50,000 watt signal and it's only offered on KSL.com.  For example, CougarRadio airs each Thursday afternoon from 1 - 2 in the mountain time zone.  This is a live local sports talk show with Andrew Adams and Scott Haws.  Anything having to do with the BYU Cougars, you'll find it here.  If you don't have time to listen to it live, you can even podcast the show.  Now that's power. 

CAR RADIO, the talk show I host each Saturday afternoon from 1 - 2, made history this past weekend because we broadcast a second hour of the show on KSL's X-Stream.  I was genuinely impressed with the response we received because we didn't promo the show leading into the second hour.  We took numerous phone calls and answered e-mail as it came it came in.      

STILL NOT IMPRESSED?  -  If this isn't enough to convince you that we're the news leader in Utah, we'll knock your socks off with what's coming NEXT.  Please write me and let me know what you think about the changes we've already made and tell me some of the changes you would like to see.

Posted by Patrick Wiscombe on March 7, 2006 at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)