Johnnie Walker's Blog

SportsTalk in Las Vegas Day 3: The Fight

dgarcia@krod.com — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:48:00 GMT

This wasn't a celebrity event, there wasn't an Angelina, or Gavin, or Sylvester...this fight was for boxing fans. Good undercard fights, Mike Alvarado dominated El Paso's Cesar Bazan for a 4th round knockout...and Cesar Canchila came back from a second round knockdown to outfight Giovani Segura to a unanimous decision.

This led to the event we were all waiting for...Cotto v Margarito.

The fight started out looking completely one-sided, as Cotto seemed faster and able to outwork the machine that is Margarito. But in round 6, Margarito began to keep Cotto against the ropes and really work his power punches. Cotto couldn't seem to slow him down, and Margarito kept coming forward the whole fight, finally dropping Cotto in round 11. Cotto took more punishment, until he took a knee and his corner threw in the towel.

Everyone got the fight that was promised, and if you didn't see it, tune in next week to HBO for the replay.

Final punchstat numbers:
Cotto: 655/280/43%
Margarito: 987/267/27%

This is where it gets good:
Power punches:
Cotto: 395/179/45%
Margarito: 647/237/37%
Margarito 134-70 edge in power connects over last 5 rounds

SportsTalk in Vegas Day Teo: Part Three

dgarcia@krod.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:22:00 GMT

After Max Kellerman stopped by, we got Jim Lampley to slow down for a couple minutes to chat with Steve about the fight. Jim has some great views on this and other fights. His views often differ from the other boxing experts, and he's very vocal about his arguments with them. He argues with the people who claim the sport is dying...he argues the sports drawing ability, the nature of the sport in the rest of the world...it's a great interview...don't miss it during the 5pm hour!

Some of the spanish radio networks here have some phenominally attractive women working with them...bringing up the quality of the Media Center considerably from the last times we've been here...just my opinion. :)

Schedule for today's show:
4p - Jay Rood - MGM SportsBook Director
4:30p - Max Kellerman
5p - Jim Lampley
5:30p - Jeff Flynt
6p - actors from The Beatles Love
6:30p - Bob Arum

SportsTalk in Vegas Day One: Bert Suger Video

dgarcia@krod.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:04:00 GMT

SportsTalk in Vegas Day Two: Max Kellerman

dgarcia@krod.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:04:00 GMT

SportsTalk in Vegas Day Two:Bob Arum Video

dgarcia@krod.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:02:00 GMT

SportsTalk in Vegas Day Two: Part Two

dgarcia@krod.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:13:00 GMT

Running back to my room to get the camera I forgot, I was stopped by two very beautiful girls...but not for any reason I would hope. They showed me a picture of them with Miguel Cotto and asked me to tell them who the guy was. They had seen tons of people getting pictures with him, and they didn't want to be left out, so they got some. I told them who he was, and what he was doing here this weekend. They left happily.

I guess Cotto was wandering the casino getting ready for the weigh-in this afternoon.

The interviews have really begun...1:30p, Bob Arum stopped by to talk about his views on the fight, the state of boxing as he sees it today, and expresses his feelings about Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Max Kellerman also came over to give his expert analysis on the fight, the future of boxing, and boxing in America. So far, all the people we're talking to have the same opinion...this is the best fight you're going to see all year, probably this decade, and since this is the first decade of the century, of the century!

More pictures are up in the Gallery, and videos of some more interviews to come.

Bert Sugar brought us a funny article about how he bought truckloads of Yankee stadium stuff back in '73 when they did the renovation, and kind of started the whole memorabilia thing, while still missing out on most of the money from it...Bert is hysterical!

SportsTalk in Vegas, Day Two

dgarcia@krod.com — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:41:00 GMT

10:00am - I'm down in the Media Center, checking email, getting some work done, and sorting through some photos from my phone, waiting for all the stuff to really begin...there are a few radio shows on live right now, a few journalists typing up things, Bert Sugar is drinking coffee and throwing out quips...I think I even saw Harold Lederman wander in and then back out. Journalists continue to file in, I guess waiting for the same things I am...some celebrities to come in to talk about the fight...this should be a good day, and the weigh-in happens about 2:30p...I hope to get in there to maybe get some photos or something for the blog, while Steve starts the show...

SportsTalk in Las Vegas July 2008: Day 1

dgarcia@krod.com — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:22:00 GMT

Getting into the airport with all the gear is always fun...as we have to carry on the broadcast equipment so it won't get thrown around. Several years ago, on a station trip, Duke had checked our ISDN gear, still in it's cheap cardboard box. Upon his return to El Paso, needless to say, it was in pieces. Our engineer was less than happy.

So now we carry on.

Going through, we had to repack Steve's carryon and move around some of his stuff...including his 2 dolls that he brought on the trip.

Yes, I said dolls.

Steve calls them 'action figures'.

What kind of 'action' are Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley dolls good for? The real people aren't known for 'action' as much as 'sitting'.

Steve vows that if they come out of his bag even slightly scuffed, he's throwing them away.

Neither of us feel very safe on the plane, after TSA freaked out over the power adapter for my laptop, but seemed unconcerned with the big steel box labeled 'Matrix'.

10:00am - We're now in the Media Room at the MGM, waiting on our rooms, and talking with Mary, the nice lady who brings us out to these great events...and setting up interviews for later in the day...

Some photos are in the Gallery...more to come...

12:30pm - Did a quick satellite phone interview with Miguel Cotto, but his phone was so quiet, you couldn't hear him at all...Steve couldn't even hear him answering his questions! Apparently, this happened to several stations...

2:00pm - Heavyweight John Ruiz stopped by to talk about his upcoming fight with a giant, happening in Germany in August or September...we'll air it this afternoon, and we even got some video of the interview...there's more to it, but here's a couple minutes of it...there are also a couple of photos in the KROD Photo Gallery

4:15pm - Started off the show with Harold Lederman...HBO's boxing specialist...and he's always a ton of fun, with so much boxing expertise...he really knows boxing. Got a little video I'll put up in a bit, and a photo has been added to the Photo Gallery...

6:30pm - We surprised Andy (Adam Sandler) with the first on-air appearance from his mom...sparking some funny conversation, and probably turing him beet red.

After Show - It was finally time to head up to our rooms and unpack...they weren't ready when we arrived before 10a, so we got our room numbers while in the media center, and went to unpack. Then, of course, it was time for dinner! We grabbed a quick small lunch, and were both starving for some great Vegas food...so naturally we hit a buffet. And Steve, the buffet king, aimed us right at the Bellagio buffet. This thing is amazing! I always make sure to find foods I don't normally have access to in El Paso, so I can try new things, and find out what's going on in food-land...I was not disappointed. The braised short ribs were fantastic, the roasted free range turkey amazing, the fish was great...the only thing I've found that I like better other places was the Gyro meat...everything else was great!

Then, after a bit of walking to burn off the bulging stomachs, it was time to head to the Mirage for The Beatles Love show. There's a really cool perk to being in the media...if you are broadcasting from Vegas, you can contact some of the shows and get free tickets to see them, as long as you interview people from the show on-air to promote them. No problem. The show is great, the visuals are really crazy, and there's a lot of wire-work and acrobatics during the performance. And, of course, the Beatles music that guides everything. Steve will have on some performers tomorrow afternoon to talk about the show...so make sure to tune in.

Welcome to the new KROD.com!

dgarcia@krod.com — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:36:00 GMT

Thanks for stopping by the all-new KROD.com!

W've got lots of stuff up for you so far, including details on the upcoming KROD Inside the Issues Debate and Forum on February 27th, pictures from the first ever KROD Inside the Issues Debate and Forum we held on Monday, February 18th at Incredible Pizza on Lee Trevino, pictures from the KROD SuperBowl Party we had at King's X when the Giants upset the favored Patriots, and more!

Keep checking back as we add more to the page...and feel free to join the KROD NewsJunkie club, as we'll be sending out event information on the upcoming KROD Sports and Health Expo, the El Paso International Balloon Festival, the El Paso Street Festival, other fun events, and great KROD contests you can register for and win!

Ask the Candidates a question!

dgarcia@krod.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:21:00 GMT

Want to ask the candidates a question at the KROD Inside the Issues Debate on February 27th?

It's easy! Simply post a comment on this blog with your name and question, and on the day, join us at Incredible Pizza on February 27th from 5-7PM, at 1430 N. Lee Trevino. You could get the mic and get the answer from the candidates yourself! (Or if you're shy, we'll ask it for you...)

Get the answers you want, so you can make the choices you want, with AM 600, KROD!