St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page B002

Sports B2 1 FRIDAY JANUARY 2, 2009 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH STLTODAY.COM On STLtoday.com/sports WHAT OR WHO IS NO. 1 PRIORITY? The Birds sign a starting pitcher who signed for 1 year and $5 million. What do we want and are we willing to pay? STLtoday.com/sportsforums JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS Cardinals: Excuses for lack of offseason moves Blues: Will St. Louis be in the Winter Classic in the next decade? Rams: Who is the Rams best-ever head coach? Media: Mizzou Nation needs to say bye to fair-weather STLtoday.com/sportsforums JR LIVE TODAY AT 1 P.M.

Got Blues questions for Jeremy Rutherford? Post them now. STLtoday.com/blues REID LAYMANCE ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR SPORTS 314-340-8272 ROGER HENSLEY DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR PRO SPORTS 314-340-8301 DON REED NIGHT SPORTS EDITOR 314-340-8313 CAMERON HOLLWAY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR COLLEGES PREPS 314-340-8149 MIKE SMITH ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR ONLINE 314-340-8137 TALK TO US To e-mail editors, use the rst initial AND last For general information call 314-340-8222 HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER MAIL Sports Sound Off St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 North Tucker Boulevard St. Louis, MO 63101 FAX 314-340-3070 E-MAIL Must include name, address for cation. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

TENNIS Andy Murray defeated James Blake 6-2, 6-2 Thursday to set up a nal meeting with Roger Federer at the inaugural Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the other rst-round match, Nikolay Davydenko ousted Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-4 and will face Rafael Nadal in other nal. Nadal and Federer received rst-round byes in the exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour but features six of the top 10 players and offers a winner-take-all prize of $250,000. The top-ranked Nadal and No. 2 Federer will begin their 2009 ATP season by playing in the Qatar Open in Doha starting Monday.

Murray, the defending champion, and Roddick are also playing in the tournament. RUNNING Sean Quigley of Philadelphia won the title and Aziza Aliyu of Ethiopia took the in the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run through a frigid Central Park in New York City early Thursday. Quigley, a former All-American at La Salle, covered the four-mile course in 18 minutes, 45 seconds. Brian Olinger of Columbus, Ohio, was second in 18:53. Aliyu outkicked Emily Brown of Minneapolis by 1 second to nish in 21:21.

A eld of about 4,000 competed in the event. The temperature was 18 degrees when the race started, and a 16-mph wind made the wind chill just 3 degrees. HORSE RACING Big Brown, the thoroughbred that missed becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner when the colt pulled up in the Belmont Stakes, was the top money earner in 2008 with almost $3.6 million, said Equi- base the cial database for racing information. Following Big Brown were Pass, winner of the Cup Classic, with $2.7 million; and Zenyatta, winner of the Cup Classic, with $2.1 million. FROM NEWS SERVICES LOCAL ILLINOIS The Illinois basketball team fell to 0-3 in Big Ten play with a 53-38 loss to visiting Wisconsin.

Jenna Smith led the Illini (4-10 overall) with 21 points. Alyssa Karel scored 13 to lead the Badgers (12-2, 2-1). ON THE AIR THE POLL How would you rate the 2008 football season for the Missouri Tigers? Vote now at STLtoday.com/mizzou PREVIOUS POLL Do you think the Cardinals should have tried to keep Aaron Miles? Results: Yes: versatile, good in the clubhouse, and now, a .300 hitter 74 pct. No: 32 and his skills are limited 26 pct. TODAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL 1:05 p.m.

Cotton Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi, KTVI (2) 4:05 p.m. Liberty Bowl: Kentucky vs. East Carolina, ESPN 7:15 p.m. Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs.

Utah, KTVI (2) HOCKEY 6:05 p.m. NHL: Blues at Carolina, FSM, KMOX (1120 AM) COLLEGE BASKETBALL 7 p.m. Men: Georgia at Virginia, ESPNU 7:05 p.m. Men: North Carolina at St. Louis WXOS (101.1 FM) 7:35 p.m.

Men: Syracuse at South Florida, ESPN 9:35 p.m. Men: UCLA at Oregon State, FSM SATURDAY PRO PLAYOFFS 3:35 p.m. NFC rst round: Atlanta at Arizona, KSDK (5) 7:05 p.m. AFC rst round: Indianapolis at San Diego, KSDK (5) HOCKEY 7:35 p.m. NHL: Blues vs.

Columbus, KPLR (11), KMOX (1120 AM) COLLEGE FOOTBALL 11 a.m. International Bowl: Buffalo vs. Connecticut, ESPN2 COLLEGE BASKETBALL 11 a.m. Men: Pittsburgh at Georgetown, ESPN 11 a.m. Women: Minnesota at Illinois, KMOV (4) 11 a.m.

Men: Ohio State at Minnesota, Big Ten Network Noon Men: Missouri at Georgia, FSM, KMOX (1120 AM), KJFF (1400 AM) 1 p.m. Women: Tennessee at Rutgers, KMOV (4) 1 p.m. Men: Tennessee at Kansas, ESPN, KFNS (590 AM) 1 p.m. Men: Penn State at Wisconsin, Big Ten Network 3 p.m. Men: North Carolina State at Florida, KMOV (4) 3 p.m.

Women: Washington State at Washington, FSM 3:30 p.m. Men: Indiana at Iowa, Big Ten Network 6 p.m. Men: Michigan State at Northwestern, Big Ten Network 7 p.m. Men: Creighton at Illinois State, FSM 7 p.m. Men: SIU-Edwardsville at Iowa State, WSIE (88.7 FM), KFNS (590 AM) 7:05 p.m.

Men: Bradley at Missouri State, WFFX (1490 AM) 7:30 p.m. Men: Southeast Missouri at Tennessee Tech, KSLG (1380 AM) PRO BASKETBALL 7:35 p.m. NBA: Minnesota at Chicago, WGN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Noon All-American Bowl, KSDK (5) SUNDAY PRO PLAYOFFS Noon AFC rst round: Baltimore at Miami, KMOV (4), KMOX (1120 AM) 3:35 p.m. NFC rst round: Philadelphia at Minnesota, KTVI (2), KMOX (1120 AM) COLLEGE BASKETBALL 11 a.m. Men: Illinois at Michigan, Big Ten Network 12:30 p.m.

Men: Evansville at Indiana State, FSM 2:30 p.m. Men: UCLA at Oregon, FSM 3:30 p.m. Men: Kentucky at Louisville, KMOV (4) 4:30 p.m. Men: Boston College at North Carolina, FSN 6 p.m. Men: Drake at Southern Illinois, ESPNU, KSLG (1380 AM) 6:45 p.m.

Men: Virginia Tech at Duke, FSM 9 p.m. Men: Arizona at Stanford, FSM HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL 7 p.m. All-America game, ESPN Starting times are subject to change. CALENDAR ROAD BLUES blues.nhl.com 314-622-2500 Today at Hurricanes 6:05 p.m. FSM Sat.

vs.Blue Jackets 7:35 p.m. KPLR (Ch. 11) Fri. at Canucks 9:05 p.m. FSM Sun.

at Oilers 7:05 p.m. KPLR (Ch. 11) Tue. at Flames 8:35 p.m. FSM MIZZOU mutigers.com 800-228-7297 BASKETBALL Sat.

at Georgia 12 p.m. FSM Tue. vs. Coppin State, 8 p.m. FSM Sat.

at Nebraska 1 p.m. Sat. at Duquesne Noon Tue. vs. Chicago State 5 p.m.

ILLINI ghtingillini.com 217-333-3170 BASKETBALL Sun. at Michigan 11 a.m. Big Ten Network Sat. vs. Indiana 2 p.m.

Big Ten Network Wed. vs. Michigan 7:30 p.m. Big Ten Network Sat. vs Minnesota 11 a.m.

Big Ten Network Thu. at Michigan 6 p.m. ST. LOUIS U. slubillikens.com 314-977-4758 BASKETBALL Today vs.

North Carolina 7 p.m. Thu. at Xavier 7 p.m. CBS College Sports Wed. vs.

Massachusetts 7 p.m. Sun. vs. Ball State 2 p.m. Tue.

at Hampton 6 p.m. OTHER EVENTS FAIRMOUNT PARK Simulcasting: Year round, 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m. DIGEST DAN CAESAR MEDIA VIEWS Sports radio grows today, but who will survive? The move is on. WMVN (101.1 FM) has changed its call letters to WXOS (for the and in sports strategy) and joins the already-crowded eld of jock- talk radio today, with a gala kickoff planned that begins at 6 a.m. with Joe Buck hosting a countdown of the top 20 athletic events in St.

Louis history. WXOS general manager John Kijowski entering the fray with the idea of carving out a niche, he even in it to become the No. 1 sports-talk station. His goal is much loftier a year from now he wants to be a ve rated radio station in the male 25-54 age demographic among outlets in all formats, something no all-sports station locally has come close to accomplishing. rare when even one of their individual shows reaches that status.

know it been done before, but was that because of signal strength, content or the combination of elsewhere? Kijowski asked. nd He comes in with a booming signal that reaches farther and is much crisper than that of his competitors. And much competition. KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) has been in the format for a decade and a half and KSLG (1380), which has been in the business for four years, nally passed KFNS last summer in the ratings. Toss in the cant amount of local sports talk on KTRS (550 AM) and KMOX (1120 AM), as well as syndicated fare on KRFT (1190 AM) and WFFX (1490 AM), and the genre is jammed.

The big ght will be between 101.1, 590 and 1380, and execs with all three are brimming with dence as the battle lines are drawn. The consensus is that not all will survive. think it will be us and the FM, I think 1380 is on their last KFNS co-owner Stephen Shapiro said. think (1380) competes once everything ushes Balderdash, said 1380 general manager John Helmkamp. will be one of the two of them (101.1 or 590 that go), because pretty he said, has fallen and is grasping for its last Newcomer Kijowski also predicts one of the stations will die.

see all three being around in a he said, adding he is dent his station will soar. have the talent, the signal and the nancial backing (of parent company Bonneville International) to CHANGING MARKET WXOS enters the fray at a time when listenership for the format is down. Last summer KFNS lost half its rating in the audience the stations chase men ages 25-54 while KSLG was unchanged. Nonetheless, the eld expands. proves what been saying for 15 years, that sports radio is very relevant and much bigger in St.

Louis, than any (ratings) numbers would ever new KFNS general manager Dave Greene said. is just another step in that direction. Our philosophy change. going to be live and local as we have for the last 15 and might go local 24 hours a day in 2009. While WXOS was putting its lineup to- gether, many in the business said 101.1 needed a big-name hire to gain an instant pop.

But national heavy hitters with St. Louis roots such as Bob Costas, Buck and Dan Dierdorf doing local daily radio shows, and two of the top local guys Bernie Miklasz and Frank Cusumano are under contract elsewhere. A MORNING GAMBLE WXOS comes on with several veterans of local jock-talk plus newcomer Farr (see accompanying chart). There are no rabble rousers in the group, as Kijowski had pledged before he and program director Jason Barrett assembled the lineup. competitors are on blogs saying going to be Kijowski said.

going to give the listeners the best in local, regional and national sports. Our goal is to be credible, give listeners the inside scoop and have people tune to us when something big is going on in sports, like people tune to when news is breaking. There also is criticism that WXOS is making a huge mistake by not airing a local show in morning drive-time. going with ESPN and program, in large part because ESPN is requiring 101.1 to carry ve hours of its shows daily in order to be an liate. WXOS wants play- by-play package as well as its night and weekend shows, and agreed to the ve-hour stipulation in order to take the network away from KFNS owner Big League Broadcasting, which carried ESPN primarily on KRFT (1190 AM).

That station now has Sporting News Radio. KSLG has the popular morning show featuring Tim McKernan, Jim Hayes and Doug Vaughn, and KFNS is retooling its a.m. program. It now features Rich Gould and Maurice Drummond, with Martin Kilcoyne scheduled to join next spring. Greene said 590 has a big advantage in that time block.

a Monday morning when St. Louisans want to talk about St. Louis sports, we are the only station where they will be able to hear St. Louis sports talk throughout the entire he said, referring to signal problems and syndicated fare. Kijowski counters that he did much research and the Mike Greenberg-Mike Golic ESPN offering at the top, No.

among listener preferences. questioned it he said. was overwhelmed that they were very high by a considerable He points to the success of the syndicated and show on KSHE (95 FM) and show on television. do better than local (morning) he said. is a KILCOYNE FACTOR Kilcoyne, who left KFNS in 2006 and was at 1380 for a little over a year, returns to 590 in April.

Shapiro said arrival will be a key element in rebuilding the station, which has been in turmoil since the controversial ring of Kevin Slaten in April. got the big gun in (retaining mid-morning host) Cusumano, and the other big gun, Martin, will create the show he Shapiro said, hinting at another lineup move in 2009. coming back Helmkamp said that while he wanted to keep Kilcoyne, his exit a big loss. disappointing, but he was fourth of our four he said. we had to lose one, it was the one that performing as well as the Slaten went to 1380 last fall and is starting earlier than before, at 10 a.m., to ll the slot Kilcoyne and Drummond had.

KSLG now airs three shows McKernan and company in the morning, Slaten at midday and Miklasz in the afternoon. DOWN THE LINE Kijowski preaches patience, saying the product on today is merely a starting point. And WXOS already has made two moves that show it is serious. Before its rst talk show even aired, it gained the broadcast rights to the Rams for the next two years and whisked St. Louis University basketball away from KFNS.

in great shape coming Kijowski said. Neither KFNS nor KSLG has had the rights to a local pro team. know John Kijowski well; a tremendous Greene said. will be successful. The more success sports radio has in this market, I wholeheartedly believe the more success KFNS will Perhaps Helmkamp sums it up best: has strengths and also a weakness.

It will be very interesting to see how it all plays E-mail: Phone: 314-340-8175 LINEUP CARD The weekday daytime rosters for the ve St. Louis sports-intensive radio stations: KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) (Local programming) 7-9 a.m. Rich Gould, Marice Drummond 9 a.m-noon Frank Cusumano Noon-2 p.m Jeff Gordon, Jeff Vernetti 2-3 p.m. Mondays: Rick Edlund, Dr. Rick Lehman Tuesdays: Howard Balzer Wednesdays: Jay Randolph Rick Hummel Thursdays: Jeremy Rutherford, Kurt LaBelle Fridays: Rick Edlund, Dr.

Rick Lehman 3-6 p.m. Bob Fescoe, Jay Randolph Joe DeNiro KSLG (1380 AM (Local programming) 7-10 a.m. Tim McKernan, Jim Hayes, Doug Vaughn 10 a.m-2 p.m. Kevin Slaten 2-6 p.m. Bernie Miklasz WXOS (101.1 FM) (Syndicated and local programming) 5-10 a.m.

Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic (ESPN radio) 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Bryan Burwell, Pat Parris (local) 2 p.m-6 p.m. Bob Ramsey, Randy Karraker, Farr (local) KRFT (1190 AM) (Syndicated programming) 5-9 a.m. Jerome Jurenovich 9 a.m.-noon Tim Brando Noon-3 p.m. Doug Stewart, Ryan Stewart 3-6 p.m.

Tim Montemayor WFFX (1490 AM) (Syndicated programming) 5-8 a.m. Steve Czaban 8-11 a.m. Dan Patrick 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Jim Rome 2-6 p.m. Chris Myers RAMS REPORT The Rams had their worst record on the eld and the second-worst TV rating since arriving in town in 1995.

Four telecasts fell below the previously lowest-rated game, a 13 gure. The numbers: GAME OPPONENT RATING 1. at Philadelphia 12.0 2. NY Giants 19.2 3. at Seattle 12.9 4.

Buffalo 15.6 5. at Washington 20.0 6. Dallas 18.2 7. at New England 19.0 8. Arizona 17.2 9.

at NY Jets 13.6 10. at San Francisco 11.6 11. Chicago 12.8 12. Miami 18.4 13. at Arizona 20.6 14.

Seattle blackout 15. San Francisco blackout 16. at Atlanta 16.9 Average 16.3 YEAR-BY-YEAR FIGURES Year Record Rating 1995 (7-9) 22.9 1996 (6-10) 18.3 1997 (5-11) 20.8 1998 (4-12) 15.8 1999 (13-3) 27.4 2000 (10-6) 32.2 2001 (14-2) 33.4 2002 (7-9) 30.7 2003 (12-4) 33.0 2004 (8-8) 25.7 2005 (6-10) 23.4 2006 (8-8) 22.6 2007 (3-13) 19.8 2008 (2-14) 16.3 Note: Each ratings point represents approximately 12,500 homes. Jason Barrett, WXOS programing director. John Kijowski, WXOS general manager.

The Red Sox reached a preliminary agreement with Brad Penny on a one- year, $5 million contract..