Champion Sports Radio Broadcasters:
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Ryan, without argument, is the biggest Cardinal baseball fan in the great state of Texas. In the winter of 1997, he moved to San Antonio and began attending Central Catholic High School. Graduating with a senior class of 98 students, Ryan opted for a drastic change in size attending The University of Texas at Austin where he earned his bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. Ryan's experience in sports broadcasting has been diverse including spending two years under the tutelage of Roger Wallace at KXAN-TV in Austin. Ryan's biggest highlight came when he called the final pitch of the Coppell Copperheads 2007 Texas Collegiate League Championship. He serves as color analyst for PISD football, play-by-play for various basketball and baseball programs and as the co-host for Champion Sports Saturday.
Bart enters into his third year with Champion Sports Radio after twelve years as a basketball official out of the Fort Worth Chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials. He officiated both boys and girls games, including playoff assignments (A-5A). He has also been a stringer for both the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram for high school football. In 2006 and 2007, Bart was the voice of the Euless/Colleyville Lone Stars of the Texas Collegiate League, and he called the TCL Championship Series here on Champion Sports Radio. Bart Castle is the principal of Sapio Group, LP, an organizational development and safety consulting firm. Bart has both a Bachelor's (Abilene Christian) and Master's degree (Texas Tech) in Communication. A native of Lubbock, he and his wife Kellie are the parents of Ashton, Alexys and Andrew.
Brad Denton
A former high school all-state football and baseball player in the state of Oklahoma, Brad Denton moved from Enid, Oklahoma to Denton, Texas, where he earned a B.A. from the University of North Texas in 1978. Shortly thereafter he began calling football games in addition to some basketball and baseball for the Plano ISD. Brad has worked countless semi-final and championship games in various sports for radio outlets throughout the state of Texas. In 1985, Brad was named the Texas Association of Broadcasters Play-by-Play Sportscaster of the Year and also was a finalist for the Dallas Press Club Katie Award for Radio Sportscasts, and in 1994, he was bestowed the honor of receiving the President's Award for Lifetime Dedication and Loyalty to the Plano Wildcat Football Program. Brad and his lovely wife Claudia have two sons, Cole (22) and Blake (16).
Robert Eggleston
Born in California, Robert is a true Texan. Robert was raised in Keller and is one of the few true life long Dallas Mavericks fans. He left Texas and moved to New York City to work in production for ABC Sports earning a spot as a production member on one of ABC's seven remote college football crews handling the computer interface system for in-game statistics. While with ABC Sports, Robert provided support for a variety of remotes, including figure skating, college basketball, NBA and college football, assisted in research for remote football crews and the studio show, compiled statistics, contacted school athletic departments and transcribed footage. After four years behind the scenes, Robert decided to pursue a career in broadcasting. This is Robert's first year with Champion Sports Radio after two years covering Collegiate level basketball and high school sports.
Gadi Elkon
Gadi, growing up in the sports filled streets of Richardson, decided to go to the University of North Texas training under sports broadcasting legend Bill Mercer. Following in the footsteps of radio icons Mark Followill and 1310AM the Ticket's George Dunham and Craig Miller, Gadi quickly became the color analyst for John Liddle's play-by-play broadcasts of Lewisville Fighting Farmers football. Gadi then provided the play-by-play call for the Denton Broncos on KNTU 88.1 FM. After Graduating in 2005 and entering the radio field for Clear Channel Radio Dallas, Gadi kept extra busy by working with Cary Lowery on Allen Eagle High School Football. For the past two seasons the Allen Eagles have been Gadi's life, and now he's looking to branch out and expand. Gadi happily roots for his beloved San Antonio Spurs in the comfy confines of Frisco, TX.
A military brat born in Abingdon, Va, while his parents were in the midst of relocating from Omaha, NE, to Pease AFB NH. Graduated from Southwest High School Macon, GA, in 1981. Upon graduation, Ron enlisted in the military for 11 years as a crew chief on the KC-135 tanker (refueler), and the E-3 AWACS (Early Warning Radar) aircrafts. He has traveled to most of the free world, from Japan to Turkey and everywhere in between. Moved to Dallas in 1995 from Santa Barbara, CA. Worked as a stringer for FC Dallas in 2005, and in 2006, he became one of the sideline reporters for FC Dallas radio. Long term goal is to become a color analyst for soccer or football. Ron has been married for the past ten years and has two daughters, nine and four years old.
Tim Howell
Tim, through thick and thin (mostly thin) is a life-long Texas Rangers fan. He has a real passion for baseball, but being a sports fan he generally enjoys broadcasting all sports and has a background in not just baseball, but basketball, football and softball. Tim grew up in Fort Worth, TX, attended Southwest High School and earned his BA in Radio, Television and Film at UNT with a minor in English Literature. Perhaps scared of the real world, he decided to go to graduate school at Texas State University in San Marcos and graduated with his M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication in December of 2005. On the side, Tim is a professional stand-up comedian with ten years experience touring all over the country, even Arkansas. An avid softball player, Tim plays in two leagues year-round. He resides in Denton with his girlfriend, Cheryl, their pug, Tex and two cats.
Kevin Long
Kevin Long grew up on Long Island, New York, where he played football, basketball and baseball at Seton Hall High and was one of the Three Wise Men in the school Christmas pageant. He received a journalism degree from West Texas State University and has worked as a sports journalist in many parts of the country. He worked as a sportswriter at The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, Long Island NEWSDAY and Texas Sports Magazine in Houston. He also worked as a TV sportscaster in Amarillo, Lubbock and Montgomery, Alabama before moving to Dallas. Since arriving in the Metroplex, Kevin has worked as a radio talk show host in addition to doing play by play for Champion Sports Radio.
Pete Nielsen
An adopted Texan, Pete has called the Dallas area home since 1988. Pete has worked in the Telecommunication Field 22 years and deals mostly with the design and installation of fiber optic networks. A certified sports nut, Pete spent many years coaching his two boys Matt (22) and Andrew (17) in youth baseball and football, and Pete's stepson Josh is currently on a Full Football Scholarship at TCU. His broadcasting career started 8 years ago when he joined the Plano ISD broadcasts, and this will Pete's second season working for Champion Sports Radio. This year, Pete will work primarily as the color analyst on Hebron football broadcasts as well as statistician for selected Plano and Keller ISD games. Pete and his wife Cathy where married this past May on the beach in Mexico and currently live in Irving with their two miniature douchhound puppies, Gracie and Gabbie.
Growing up outside of Philadelphia, Scarlet has been a huge sports fan, especially football (GO EAGLES!!) since she was 8. After leaving Philly and its cheesesteaks, she attended Dartmouth College earning a degree in Economics with a minor in History. After college, she finally made her way to the great State of Texas, where she went to the University of Texas School of Law. Being a sideline reporter for Champion Sports Radio is like a dream come true for her. She is currently the sideline reporter for Hebron and Flower Mound football games. She aspires to be the next Pam Oliver or Suzy Kolber. In between football games, she bides her time as an attorney in Dallas. Scarlet is clearly committed to her sideline reporting career as evidenced by the shift of her Dallas night life from Fridays to Saturday nights during football season.
Mike Peasley
Mike begins his second year with Champion Sports Radio after serving nearly nine years as Sports Director at KICD Radio in Spencer, Iowa. During his time there, Mike won the Best Play by Play Award from the Iowa Broadcast News Association four times and also took home honors for his play by play work from the Iowa Associated Press two times. Mike graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa in 1996 and for two years worked as a general assignments reporter for KCAU-TV in Sioux City, Iowa. Mike is a huge Chicago Cubs and Iowa Hawkeyes fan. Mike and his wife Kelly live in Cedar Hill along with their dog, Casey.
Francois Ransom
A native of North Texas, Francois was born at Baylor Hospital in Dallas and is a proud graduate of Lincoln HS. A four sport athlete for the Tigers, Francois then attended Prairie View A&M where he played both football and baseball. He has been involved in sports talk radio for 18 years, most notably co-hosting a show with former Dallas Cowboys running back Preston Pearson and also working with Bill Stinneford during Mavs Talk on ESPN 103.3 FM. Francois and his lovely wife Lorrie have been married for 14 years and have one son, Riley (13), who plays inside receiver for Arbor Creek Middle School. Francois also coaches youth football and currently runs his own organization called the Carrollton Colts. The Ransoms are members of The Greenville Avenue Church of Christ, and when not talking about or coaching sports, he enjoys spending quality time with his family.
Neal Raphael
A native of Wharton, Texas, Neal is entering his second year with Champion Sports Radio. A veteran high school coach, Raphael will be starting his 16th season as a Head High School Basketball Coach with stops at Wharton, Athens, Lakeview Centennial and Odessa Permian. Most recently, Neal has served as the Color Analyst for the University of Houston Women's Basketball Road Games, Color Analyst for Time Warner Cable Television and Color Analyst on Fox Sports Net Southwest for the 2008 State Boys Basketball Championship Highlight Show. Raphael also served as the Play by Play and Color Analyst for the University of Texas of the Permian Basin Men and Womens Basketball Teams. Neal earned his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Houston and Master's Degree from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin with Principal Certification.
Steve Strain
Steve comes to Champion Sports Radio after two years as the Voice Of Abilene Christian University athletics handling play-by-play for 6 different sports including football, where he was able to describe some of the most memorable games in school history. Prior to working at ACU, Steve spent almost his entire career on the television side, reporting and anchoring sports in Abilene, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Colorado Springs, Co. He twice won Best Sports Story for small markets in Texas while reporting in Abilene. While Sports Director at KRBC TV, Steve provided color commentary for Hardin-Simmons University football on the radio from 1995-'97. Steve has strong Metroplex ties as well, attending The University of North Texas after graduating from South Grand Prairie High School in 1988. He has one child, Roberta Marquette-Strain who was born in Abilene in 1997.