WLFM sports new play-by-play program

Chelsea Olson

This coming Saturday, October 5, WLFM will broaden its programming with the Lawrence Sports Play-by-Play, which is restarting after a five-year hiatus. The program will start out the year with the Viking game against Beloit at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, and continue throughout the football season.

Andy York, host of the play-by-play program, hopes to extend the show’s programming to other seasons, particularly basketball and hockey. “You choose what sports to broadcast based on the action level. There’s enough action to keep the broadcast exciting,” he says.

The show will cover both men’s and women’s sports. Listeners can tune in on the radio station’s frequency of 91.1 or they can listen to the siultaneous web cast.

Lawrence has had the equipment for 10-15 years, according to York, if not longer. Some of the equipment required repair, which delayed the program from beginning until this year.

Also in the possible future are interviews with coaches and players. During the football season, when their equipment limits them to the press box, there will be no on-the-field interviews. “Hopefully, during basketball season, since we’ll be courtside, we’ll be able to get immediate interviews after the game.” This option would remain open depending on the sport.

Lawrentians, being as busy as they are, haven’t always had the best record of attendance at sporting events, but according to York, “If they can’t make it to the Banta Bowl, at least they can tune in on the radio.”

If a student can’t make the game or the listen to the broadcast, then at the moment they are out of luck. The radio station does not currently have the technology to record and archive the broadcasts. They could tape the shows off the radio, but the four-hour length of the broadcasts poses a problem.

York’s goal for the program is to have fun, and “hopefully, by the end of the year, people will be listening.