Update (01-10-2008) from Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star Small world
New KCSP (610 AM) morning host Roger Twibell�s partner is Jeff McCarragher, who worked recently at Topeka television station KTKA with Nick Griffith, who is about to begin work at Channel 9.
Roger Twibell
Summary: As expected, Kansas City Star columnist Jeffrey Flanagan has the scoop on the departure of Damon Amendolara at KCSP and his replacement by 58-year-old Roger Twibell. Twibell started 1-04-2008. (Below is DA's final blog note to fans.) 610 Sports making changes; DA out at station By JEFFREY FLANAGAN, 12/18/07 When Entercom and KCSP (610 AM) acquired the Royals� radio rights last August, radio insiders suspected it wouldn�t be long before KCSP also tried to create some sort of splash with its talk-show lineup. Well, the shake-up has officially started at KCSP. Early-morning host Damon Amendolara is out as the 6 a.m.-to-9 a.m. host. Longtime ABC and ESPN sportscaster Roger Twibell is in. Twibell�s show is expected to begin Jan. 4. �We think Roger�s show will be the premier show in Kansas City,� said Dave Alpert, vice president/market manager for Entercom Kansas City. �We feel very lucky to get him.� Amendolara, better known in radio circles as �DA,� has been with KCSP for five years and moved to the morning slot in the summer of 2004. His last show was Friday. �It�s disappointing, to say the least,� Amendolara said. �My contract came up Dec. 1, and when we didn�t have any meaningful discussions about renewing it, I knew where I stood. �Then they pretty much let me know (Dec. 10) that they were going to go another direction. The only thing is, I wish I could have said good-bye to the listeners. I thought I had until this Friday, but after last Friday�s show, they told me that I had done my last show. �There were some real loyal listeners to the show, and I wish I could have said some kind of farewell to them on the air.� Amendolara scored a ratings victory in the fall of 2004 � as did most of KCSP at the time � but like the rest of the station, the ratings for his show never consistently threatened the competition at WHB. �I�m not upset at 610 at all,� Amendolara said. �I understand the business, and if they felt like they needed to go another direction, then I�m not going to trash them. But I was willing to try anything they wanted to do, whether it was to have a co-host or whatever.� Amendolara said he wasn�t sure what his next move would be. �I�ve got some feelers out,� he said. �I�d love to stay in Kansas City. I feel like I have some roots here, but I really don�t know what will happen.� Chris Hamblin and Cory Anderson, who have been doing nights at KCSP, will fill in for DA�s show temporarily. The station also probably will have a co-host with Twibell. Other changes? Former Chief Tim Grunhard�s status in the midmornings on KCSP seems uncertain. Grunhard said he isn�t sure what his future holds at the station, though he said it appeared to him he wouldn�t be host of a talk show there at the start of the new year. �We are in ongoing discussions with Tim right now,� Alpert said. �We would love to keep Tim at the station in some capacity, perhaps as a football analyst.� It�s possible Hamblin and Anderson could take over the midmorning slot. And don�t be surprised, either, if Grunhard winds up back at WHB (810 AM). As for the afternoon shows, Marty Wall�s and Neal Jones� show appears to be safe, as does the syndicated Jim Rome show. �We like Marty and Neal,� Alpert said. �We feel they have a good chemistry going.�
Damon Amendolara
Summary: Folks tuning in to the DA Show on KCSP-610 Monday morning learned that host Damon Amendolara's show had been abruptly cancelled. In the most recent sports talk radio ratings WHB-810's Steven St. John and Nate Bukaty beat Amendolara, 5.9 to 3.2. Below is DA's final post on the 610 Web site. He is a Syracuse broadcasting graduate and will land on his feet. We wish him well. 12-17-2007
610, The End. Sound funny in the morning? None of the usual DA musings with your Corn Pops and screaming kids? Understood. The DA Show had over four years, 1,000 episodes, three Hall of Fame ceremonies, almost $10,000 raised for Kansas City charities and one Crazy Ray. Unfortunately, management at 610 Sports has decided to make wholesale changes to the radio station and this is one of them. Honestly, I did not see it coming and it pains me to think there was never a proper good bye or a chance to say thanks. Like the final episode of The Sopranos, it was a sudden cut to black. If I would have known Friday was my last show, I would have spent the better part of three hours sending along a big fat thanks to the good people and great sports fans of the Mighty Midwest. While other cities might be bigger or louder or brasher, no sports town does it like K.C. and Im proud to have called it home for five years. There was never a day on the show when it didn't feel important to be there. Why? Because of the passion and knowledge of the sports fans here. Feel the rush at Arrowhead on a fall Sunday (you know, when they havent lost seven straight). Let the excitement soak in on Opening Day at The K (you know, when they haven't yet gone oh-for-June). Notice the awesome fragments of history littered all over the Phog, like the upper windows painted shut in 1958. Tailgate and swing the tiger tail on a gorgeous Missouri Saturday at Faurot Field. Laugh it up when the chicken gets loose at Bramlage during another bitter feud with the Jaybirds. Sit in the Cauldron for just fifteen minutes and try to remember the last time anyone used THOSE expletives in THAT order. Go check out the Friday Night Lights at Rockhurst and realize that half these kids are gonna play and play well at the next level. There is a paranoia that St. Louis gets more attention and Denver has more rings and Dallas has more glitz, that we are one Sprint Center away from Omaha. Nah. Nobody does sports and family and charity like K.C. That award has been locked down for forty years. Hopefully, the DA Show will get a second-chance to be revived in Kansas City (like Sopranos: The Movie!). Anybody need to fill overnights on a 100-watt A.M. signal out of Paola? Because it has been a treat every morning to flick on the mic and roll through three hours like it was three minutes. The good people at 610 Sports believed in the show for a very long time (even during the Stormbot years!) and supported the intern spelling bees and two-hour Ramen takes. Now, they have made some changes. I have a feeling there are plenty more. I wish them nothing but the best. Some of my best friends in the world remain there. They have, and always will, kick major ass. Yep, if I had known Friday was my last show, I would have tried to say all that. To paraphrase a DA Show legend, Paul in Olathe: Later, 610 Sports!
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