S.A. radio will gain a new sports talk show Monday with a familiar – and once-controversial – local voice at its helm.
That’s Walter Pasacrita, former longtime air personality and salesman for Ticket 760 (KTKR-AM), who, back in 2007, was blasted by both the media and the Spurs after an offensive skit featuring a fake Allen Iverson aired on the talk show he co-hosted.
Starting next week, Pasacrita will talk Spurs, Cowboys, Texas Longhorns and more. “San Antonio Sports Talk” will air from 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on KONO-AM (860).
As sports fans likely already know, the AM side of KONO — which had been an S.A. destination for oldies for decades — switched formats more than a year ago.
Though KONO-FM continues as a top-rated popular hits station here, its AM sister now essentially belongs to CBS Sports Radio and its syndicated fare, such as “The Jim Rome Show.” The station also airs Missions games and UIW football.
Its latest venture is local talk, giving the two already existing afternoon drive sports hosts on Ticket 760 (Geoff Sheen) and ESPN 1250 (Jason Minnix and Dat Nguyen) some new competition.
To hear the not-exactly-humble Pasacrita talk, however, he has no competition — at least none of his caliber. What makes him different, he said in a phone chat Friday, “is I have more experience on the radio in San Antonio than the rest of those people, I’m more passionate about sports than the rest of those people. I don’t sugarcoat anything. . .and don’t let relationships get in the way of what should be stated. I tell it like it is.”
He does have many years of experience in this area – nearly 13, he said, having started on S.A. radio in 2000.
However, there are many here who, upon hearing his name, may still bristle from his part in an insensitive bit of radio that aired in spring of 2007 on the Ticket 760 show then co-hosted by Pasacrita and Jeff Vexler.
A recap: According to an Express-News story at the time, the locally produced skit, which included a fabricated interview with then-Denver Nuggets guard Iverson, contained references to Iverson and teammate Carmelo Anthony providing the Spurs drugs — something from their own “special stash” — before a game, implying that’s why Denver won.
The segment also included a mention of Iverson and other players cruising the River Walk looking for sex with “Mexican” women. In addition, the fake Iverson talked about firing a gun into the air with the bullet falling on a homeless person. That was OK, the impersonator said, because the man turned out to be an “illegal alien.”
Ouch. Deeming the skit highly inappropriate, the Spurs proceeded to sever ties with Pasacrita and Vexler.
“We don’t want them involved in any way, shape or form with Spurs programming,” was the way team spokesman Tom James put it.
However, Pasacrita said he’s long since made peace with the team.
“It wasn’t too long after that I apologized to Coach Popovich and R.C. Buford,” he said.
“I’ve mended the fence with the Spurs and have covered the Spurs since that time many, many times.”
However, he also pointed out — repeatedly — that he himself didn’t do anything wrong, “other than participating in that skit that we did.
“I never wrote it and I didn’t say anything controversial in it. The producer who put it together was fired at the time.”
As for making it up to offended listeners, the talk host stated he did apologize to the audience right after “the stupid skit” aired. “After it played out at 4:45 p.m., and we came back at the top of the hour at 5 p.m., I apologized to the listeners,” he recalled.
Now, he hopes to move on.
Pasacrita said he’s “thankful to the folks at Cox Media Group — owners of KONO — for wanting to do some live local sports,” adding the whole thing will be his baby. Not only will he host “San Antonio Sports Talk,” but he’ll executive produce it.
Come fall, he’ll also bring a Saturday morning show to the mix. Pasacrita will debut that at 10 a.m. Sept. 5 on KONO-AM.
Roger Allen, director of programming for KONO, said he’s thrilled to have Pasacrita. “We’re excited to have Walter on board” and that “his experience level and brand name in the market will be the first live local sports on CBS Sports 860.”
Credit to My San Antonio who originally published this article
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
