Kurt's Thoughts

Today, I received my copy of "Stadium Stories – UCLA Bruins" on tape.  "Stadium Stories" a collage of great stories from the early radio days of UCLA Football from 1981 to 2005.  I’ve been listening to UCLA Football on the radio for close to 18 years now and as any fan knows, listening to a game through Chris Roberts broadcast on AM570 is so much more fun and memorable than watching it on Fox Sports Net.

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In fact, with the recent introduction of Petros Papadakis – former USC Running Back & annoying loudmouth extraordinaire – as the color commentator for UCLA football, it has provided even more incentive for people to "stop watching" UCLA Football on FSN West in deference to AM570 on the radio.  (It’s a common practice for Bruin fans to watch the game, mute the television, and turn up the radio and watch the game to Chris Roberts & Matt Stevens intelligent & thoughtful commentary instead of Barry Tompkins along side Petros Papadakis’ inane & idiotic ramblings)
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I distinctly remember tenuous moments in UCLA Football history where I sat with baited breath on Chris Roberts confirmation over the radio that a game winning field goal had successfully parted the uprights.  I think it was 1990 vs Oregon, where I sat in the car with my little brother listening to the words, "With 2 seconds on the clock…SNAP.  The kick is up and… it is………………. GOOD!  <insert obligatory background whooping and hollaring in the pressbox>

Anyway, I purchased the 5 Audio CD set a week ago from Chris Robert’s web site at http://www.chrisrobertsonline.net/stadiumstories.htm.  I was surprised to discover that Chris Roberts himself not only created the content of the Audio CD set, he published it on his own, and handmailed the set to me with a note & his autograph on the front cover.

Just listening the the introduction made my face light up with delight.  There’s something eerily comforting about listening to Chris Roberts talk about UCLA football on CD.  I can see this being a staple in my car from here on out.

If you go to his web site, he even has a commentary area that I never noticed.  This might be a new thing but he writes his perspective of the Notre Dame loss on the web site, which frankly seems quite positive considering the outcome.  He even has a video clip posted (using Windows Media!) on the site.

If you’re a UCLA Bruin Football fan, and you’ve ever listened to a UCLA Radio broadcast, I’d highly recommend this 5 CD box set – you won’t be disappointed.  It’s only $19 for hours of commentary about our 1954 National Championship season, the 2005 season of sensational comebacks, the infamous 8 game winning streak against USC… and you can buy it completely online.