Anthony Cloud
Staff Writer
Middlesboro native Matt Jones returned home on Thursday and brought his sports radio show with him. Jones, along side co-host Ryan Lemond, hosted Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) live from Cracker Barrel. Many showed up at the restaurant wearing Kentucky blue to listen to the show, including his parents Karen and Larry Blondell.
“It’s great to get a chance to come back to my hometown,” said Jones. “Even though when we scheduled this we weren’t on the radio here, I just wanted to come back and do something in my hometown.”
Middlesboro was the 13 stop on the KSR tour across the state.
“I love Middlesboro, I love the mountains and I’m glad to be back,” said Jones.
The KSR show talks about everything dealing with UK sports. That includes football, basketball and recruiting. During the show on Thursday, Jones and Lemond discussed the future of Josh Harrellson, the UK/Louisville rivalry and many other things.
It was also announced that Middlesboro will be the 17 affiliate for KSR. Brian O’Brien said the show will air on 106.3 “The Big One”. During the first month, the show will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday. The show will be on a taped delay because other programs are scheduled during the live show.
After the first month, there are plans to expand to more nights throughout the week.
KSR next stop in the tour is West Libirty. During the show, they will be raising money for relief efforts in the town, which was destroyed by a tornado in March. Donations will be accepted by phone and Internet.
There will be some well-known UK staff at the show as well. John Calipari will appear in person at the show and Joker Phillips will be interviewed. KSR does not have an affiliate at the location but wanted to assist in the cleanup efforts.
Jones got started in sports radio while he was a lawyer. He started a blog to write about UK sports in the beginning. He was then contacted a few years ago to do a radio show.
When the radio show first began it was only broadcast in Louisville.
Anthony Cloud is a staff writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted via email at acloud@heartlandpublications.com.
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