Tom Leach is reviving a Lexington sports talk show killed by corporate downsizing
Quick hitters from the Super Bowl halftime show:
21. Tom Leach. On Sunday mornings, after getting home from an early church service, the University of Kentucky football and men’s basketball radio play-by-play announcer had a routine. While he planned his week in his home office, Leach liked to listen “Sunday Morning Sports Talk” on WLAP-AM 630.
20. A disappointed listener. Leach was among the displeased when “Sunday Morning Sports Talk” and its three hosts, Mark Buerger, Larry Vaught and Anthony White, were among the casualties of the recent nationwide job reductions by iHeart Media, owner of WLAP.
19. “Caught up in a business decision.” Said Leach: “They had a good show that was doing well that just kind of got caught up in a bigger business decision. It wasn’t a reflection of the show.”
18. Back to life. Leach took matters into his own hands. He bought the three-hour morning time block in which “Sunday Morning Sports Talk” used to air. That’s why, after a two-week hiatus, the show returned this past Sunday.
17. A matter of revenue. Now, Leach is attempting to replicate the same financial model that supports the UK announcer’s syndicated Monday-through-Friday morning show “The Leach Report” to make “Sunday Morning Sports Talk” viable long-term.
16. Two sponsors so far. Kentucky Branded and Country Boy Brewing have signed on to sponsor “Sunday Morning Sports Talk.”
15. “Thrilled at response.” With the unexpected return of the show to the airwaves, Leach said he is “thrilled at the response from listeners. It makes me optimistic we can make a go of it.”
14. A lineup change. In the two weeks “Sunday Morning Sports Talk” was off the air, Buerger found he enjoyed his new-found free time. So he announced Sunday he was leaving the program. Replacing him will be the show’s former producer, Curtis Burch.
13. Eleven was enough. After 11 years hosting the show, Buerger said, “I hadn’t gotten to hang out with my wife on a Sunday morning in a really long time. And it was pretty nice. … So when it became apparent that Curtis was going to be available and the continuity of the show wasn’t going to be affected, it was a lot easier to (leave).”
12. Kelly Wells. There are not an abundance of basketball head coaches in the commonwealth who have won a Boys’ Sweet Sixteen title and a college national championship. That’s why it was a big deal last week when one who has done so, Wells, announced this season would be his last as University of Pikeville men’s coach after 14 years.
11. Two full-time jobs. This school year is the second in which Wells has also served as UPike athletics director. “In the big picture of things, having two full-time jobs and a family makes it pretty difficult to try to be good at all three of those things,” Wells said.
10. A championship coach at two levels. Wells coached Mason County, led by Chris Lofton, to the 2003 Sweet Sixteen title. He directed UPike to the 2011 NAIA Division I national championship.
9. Window of good health. Wells, 49, suffers from Berger’s disease (aka IgA nephropathy), a kidney condition. As a result, he has had two kidney transplants. “I’m as healthy as I have been in a long time,” Wells said. “But, it would be a lie to say my health isn’t always something I consider. While I am feeling good, I want to take advantage of that window.”
8. Time to be a Dad. Wells and his wife, Shawne, have two children, daughter Kaylee, a high school junior, and son Mason, a seventh-grader. “They are only going to be in the house so long,” Wells said of his children. “I think it is appropriate for me, instead of only giving them what I have left, to try to give them my best.”
7. Succession plan. Wells, as AD, said there is one in place to install a new men’s hoops coach at Pikeville. “We’ll have that (announcement) out soon,” Wells said.
6. Tennessee hex. UK ‘s difficulty registering football victories vs. Tennessee has been well chronicled. But UT basketball coaches, current and past, have put some recent hurt on Wildcats men’s basketball, too.
5. Bruce Pearl. As Auburn coach, the former UT head man has now won four of the past seven against Kentucky.
4. Rick Barnes. The current Tennessee coach is 6-4 vs. the Cats at UT.
3. UK football Super Bowl commercial. I thought this year’s was easily the best of the eight such ads UK has produced.
2. Deon Yelder. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, a product of Louisville’s Southern High School and Western Kentucky University, is now a Super Bowl champion.
1. Phil Simms. The MVP of Super Bowl XXI, New York Giants quarterback Simms, is also a Southern graduate.
