Mike Steely listened every night; 6:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. Radio station KTOK had taken a flier on a sportstalk show. Al Eschbach, sports editor of the Oklahoma Journal and owner of a Jersey accent straight out of Central Casting, was on 1000-AM weeknights.
It was 1976. No ESPN. No Internet. Barely any cable television, and only in a few markets. One or two college football games televised per week. One or two college basketball games televised per week. One or two Major League baseball games televised per week. AM radio was starting to feel the squeeze of FM’s hold on music, and talk radio started to blossom.