Chattanooga Sports Media Simply the Best

Chattanooga, Tennessee is a unique sports town. Situated right in the middle of a tri-state area, our sports media coverage is tripled in every direction. Chattanooga sits just across the Tennessee state line. Seven miles to the south is Georgia, and 20 miles to the Southwest is Alabama.

Another aspect of that is three of the most rabid, passionate SEC fan bases converge in this area. As you can imagine this makes sports coverage interesting to say the least.

While I may be biased on this fact, I believe that these different characteristics of our fine town make ours the best midsize-market sports media in America.

With that said I’d like to share some of the best of the Chattanooga sports media market.

TV Division

Marvin “Stump” Martin

Stump Martin has been the greatest influence on our local sports scene. Stump created ‘Stump on Sports’ many years ago and has run his organization with the utmost professionalism. He spotlights local prep sports and has created prep All-Star games in every sport available in the Chattanooga area.

His local TV talk show brings the best guests and many great topics. Stump is simply the best Chattanooga has to offer in sports media.

Unfortunately he’s an avid Georgia Bulldogs fan, but we all can’t be perfect.

Check him out at http://www.myspace.com/stumponsports

Randy Smith

The longtime sports director at WRCB in Chattanooga was recently let go because of a budget shortfall. But for years Randy Smith embodied Chattanooga sports. His Friday night high school football coverage was second to none and one could tell he clearly loved this area.

A rabid UT Vols-homer, he can be heard as the play-by-play man on all of Tennessee’s pay-per-view games. He also man’s the Big Orange scoreboard on the Vol-Network when he’s not doing play-by-play.

He is definitely missed on our local sports news coverage, but I look forward to hearing him on the wall-to-wall Vols coverage we receive every year.

Darrell Patterson

The sports director at Newschannel 9 has been covering sports in Chattanooga for 35 years. His smooth persona and great "sports voice" is a staple of Chattanooga sports.

Whether it’s his coverage on the Friday Night Football show or his golf tournament for the Children’s Miracle Network he is the network face of Chattanooga sports.

Newspaper Division

David Paschall 

David is simply the best sports writer at the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. He is the Georgia Bulldogs beat writer, but he covers the entire SEC like no other writer in this region.

During football season we all look forward to his weekly Thursday column, dubbed “Pasquali’s Picks”, where he picks the 25 biggest games of the week. His overall record on those picks from year to year is close to 85 percent. The man knows what he’s talking about.

It’s not normal for a Tennessee fan to read every Georgia article that is printed in our paper, but when David Paschall is writing the story you have to read it.

David also covers baseball in the Scenic City.

Check out David’s writing at:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/may/04/downtown-diamond/?sports

Talk Radio Division

Scott “Quake” McMahon & Garry “Dr. Basketball” Haskew

The Sporttalk guys have been together for 16 years. Quake’s voice is unmistakable. With a fresh sound that resembles someone gargling with rocks he is firmly cemented in the local sports scene.

His take on everything from his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers to local favorite Tennessee Titans is relevant and informed. Quake is also the PA voice of the UTC Mocs.

Dr. B on the other hand is a diehard Vols fan, and an avid gambler. The thing with him is that you probably want to pick the opposite of what he tells you to pick.

He knows how to generate a phone call or two on their radio call-in show. Whether he’s saying “The Dogs are soft,” or “You Bama fans are stupid,” he’s sure to get an hour’s worth of response.  

His current claim to fame is the coining of the phrase “Get on the Lane Train!” Haskew apparently has a man-crush on the new Vols head coach.

These guys are simply the best talk radio duo in town.

There are many more names that could be added to this list. Past greats such as nationally respected former editor/writer Sam Woolwine; the longtime play-by-play voice of UTC Mocs athletics Jim Reynolds; and voice of the Chattanooga Lookouts and the finest minor league baseball voice around, Larry Ward.

Chattanooga has much to offer in the way of sports coverage and I consider myself extremely fortunate having listened to and read much of the tremendous work of these well-respected men.