Warning: This is a recurring complaint

I've got to admit there have been some moments over the last couple of months where I really missed doing the show. (For those who don't know, some programming changes at WKCT removed the 5 p.m. sports programs, including The Right Call and the Friday Night Sports Page which I co-hosted).

With that said, there are certainly going to be moments this summer, which can be painstakingly slow on the local scene, where I don't.

I really missed talking about the Kentucky Derby with Steve because he is so passionate about it, and because the Thursday before was one of our favorite shows when people would just call in and take a horse (or a number) and discuss the derby.

It would have been nice to talk about Greenwood's state championship repeat and what an amazing story that was.

There were some great basketball games in March that I missed talking about. From the drama of Greenwood's Fourth Region Championship to Kansas' comeback in the national championship game. Oh, and Ty's shot to beat Drake and the Hilltoppers subsequent run to the Sweet 16.

So there's been a lot of stuff that I feel I've missed.

But nothing compares to the feeling I got this morning. And since I don't have the airwaves at my disposal, I'll use this outlet.

If you were a regular or not-so-regular listener to the show (as long as you listened during the end of June), then you've heard this one before.

I'm a tennis junkie. I have been since I was around 10. I still play pretty competitively and even got into coaching this spring. The eight weeks of the majors are like Christmas.

Instead of maybe seeing the semifinals or championship of a tournament, I can watch five or six hours of coverage. The fact that it is Wimbledon makes it even a bigger deal for me. Other than the fact that I've actually been there (and had to sit in a line at 2 a.m. to get tickets), Wimbledon is just special.

So I've really enjoyed the first week of the tournament, except for the fact that no American men or Maria Sharapova are left.

Then comes the weekend. I woke up this morning around 8:00 and, just like I have for the previous five days, watched some of ESPN2's coverage of Wimbledon. I watched Jankovic win in a third set despite hyperextending her knee. I watch Tipserovic follow-up his win over Roddick by advancing in four sets.

Then came 11:00. Time for NBC (who only covers the event on the weekends and the Monday of the second week) to take over. And when I say take over, I mean in the sense of holding us hostage -- hostage from watching a live match.

As Safina and Paer move into a third set (the match ESPN2 was showing), NBC takes the air and shows us Venus Williams match-- from FOUR hours earlier.

I get that you want to showcase the stars. It's all about ratings, all about money, etc. You mean to tell me that NBC can't use their weight to have Venus play the third match (which is currently a men's doubles mat) on Court 1 instead of the first and ensure that they get to show her match live at 11?

This isn't an isolated case. It happens every year. And it will get really bad on Monday. Why? Because NBC's coverage begins at 10:00 in all time zones. This is done so that the Today show can be seen in its entirety.

At 10:00 Eastern, NBC's live coverage will begin. They'll actually show the matches as they are happening. An hour later, at 10:00 Central, our coverage begins. Does NBC show the matches pick up the matches where they are? No, they show us what happened an hour ago, at 10:00 Eastern.

So you can literally go on the internet, find out what happens in a set, and then watch it happen before your eyes. Use this information to win bets with your friends.

In this day and age of instant access to everything, from streaming internet to mobile access, it just doesn't make sense to not show things as they occur when you have the capability.

So, until next year, enjoy the drama -- even if it unfolded a little earlier today.

I fail far too often...

Blogging is easy...blogging on a regular basis is hard. I promise I'll try to do better, but I can't promise I will. In the meantime, I'll take the easy way out and post my response to the ignorant column by the L.A. Times' T.J. Simers.

My first inclination was to fire a personal attack similar to the way you attacked my alma mater in your latest column. But I'm pretty sure that's what you'd want. It would bring me to your level, much like you say UCLA played to WKU's level in the second half last night. As someone with a degree in your field, it bothers me when columnists misrepresent facts for the sake of a joke, putdown, etc. WKU, along with its fans, does not promote itself as "The Big Red." We're Hilltoppers. Our mascot is Big Red. It's its name. Just like Uga, Albert E. Gator, or Brutus Buckeye. It's a little goofy looking and asexual. But it's ours. You also seemed to pick out the alumni of your choice to fit your agenda. If you're talking about famous alumni, I probably would have started with John Carpenter. Maybe you've seen some of his films? Or maybe a current NFL coach would suffice. I know it's been awhile since you folks have had a team, but you are familiar with the National Football League, right? There are others that you would have found if you did some adequate research. Finally, I find it amusing that you belittle the program's rich basketball tradition from the 1960's and 1970's. Ironically, that's the same time period that UCLA won 11 of its 12 national championships. I guess it must have been somewhat important back then, because you guys sure do talk about it a lot. It's a good thing UCLA employed a guy in the mid-90's with questionable ethics to maintain its relevance in today's game.

That should make it easy to find a team to root against in the Final Four this weekend...

Don't worry! We still cover sports...

Most of you are aware of our programming changes that went into effect Monday, February 25. WKCT has added the Sean Hannity Show, which airs live from 2 to 5 p.m., and pushed Drive Time back to 5 p.m. One of the unfortunate fallouts is that we had to do with our sports programs at 5 p.m.

Drive Time, along with Mornings with Darrell and Al, is a flagship local program for our station. It actually began as a two-hour version in 2000. In 2001, we were able to acquire Sportsline with Wes Strader that ran Tuesdays at 5 p.m. Later that year, Steve and I began The Right Call that aired on Mondays and Thursdays. Slowly but surely the sports programs started taking over that second hour of Drive Time, first with The Horsepower Racing Hour and then The Friday Night Sports Page.

Personally, hosting those two programs was a lot of fun. Steve and I developed a pretty good on-air chemistry and we had a number of "lively" discussions. The listener interaction was outstanding on those programs as well as on Sportsline and Horsepower. Dumping our sports programs was tough, but we felt like adding Sean Hannity to our powerful weekday lineup, along with D&A, Laura Ingraham and Rush, made too much sense. Moving Drive Time to 5:00, when most people are actually "driving home" made sense too. We appreciate the loyal listeners to these programs and hope you'll stick with us on your drive home. Drive Time has the flexibility to cover a number of topics, and sports will certainly be among them.

Nonetheless, the reason for this blog is to remind you that just because we've removed those programs doesn't mean we're not covering sports anymore. I think we'd all go through withdrawal. We'll still talk about WKU, minor league baseball in BG, and high school sports.

In fact, this is one of the craziest times of the year for the latter as the postseason starts this week. The boys' 14th District is as wide open as it has ever been. Six-time defending champ Warren Central looks vulnerable but will be tough to beat on their home court. Greenwood is the hottest team in the 4th Region. Bowling Green won the regular season by going 4-2 and Warren East should be the hungriest. It should be fun to say the least. We'll be carrying all of the tournament games, boys and girls. Here's the schedule:

Tuesday
Bowling Green vs Warren Central (Girls) - 6 p.m.
Bowling Green vs Warren Central (Boys) to follow

Wednesday
Warren East vs Greenwood (Girls) - 6 p.m.
Warren East vs Greenwood (Boys) - to follow

Friday
Girls Championship 7 p.m.

Saturday
Boys Championship 7 p.m.

It should also make for great turnouts with the boys and girls playing on the same days.

Hope you all enjoy the tournaments and the new weekday lineup. If you have any questions or comments, send them to chad@93wkct.com.

Chad Young
Program Director, WKCT-AM