Back when the Broncos were winning Super Bowls, the "50,000 Watt Blowtorch", 850 KOA paired Denver Sports stalwarts Dave Logan and Scott Hastings in the afternoons. The drive time sport / news call-in show was called 'the Zoo". Many folks in the Metro area still miss it. A case can be made that the Zoo is yet to be matched by any local station.
That was the first radio show Dario Correa called in to. And he called all the time. He was only a teenager then. Now he is in his middle thirties but his caller name, D in Denver, still rings out across the Denver air waves. No area sports radio host can avoid him - not that they would want to. Dario brings his strong opinions and a deep knowledge of sports.
In addition to phoning in to practically every show in town, D in Denver has been hosting his own nightly internet program on Blog Talk Radio for the past year and a half. Denver Sports Nation Radio
fires up five nights a week.
The start time varies. Some nights Dario and his co-hosts hop on as soon as the kids are tucked in bed - around 8pm. Other nights they wait until the Nuggets or Avalanche game wraps up so that they can offer instant reaction.
I recently called in and did 90 minutes with Dario after a particularly stinging Nuggets loss. Dario has also appeared with John Reidy and I on the South Stands Denver Fancast and with Cecil Lammey on 102.3 ESPN's "No BS Broncos post-game" show.
Lammey is one of Correa's heroes. He was thrilled to work with him.
Dario has spent half his life dreaming of working in radio. He asked Cecil for his advice on getting into the business. "Just keep grinding", Lammey told him.
Dario grinds, alright. Broadcasting nightly to a small handfull of regular listeners on a nightly basis isn't always easy and the rewards are anything but immediate. If you build it, Dario believes, it will come.
Soon he will be coming to 102.3 ESPN Sundays from 1-4. Starting on March 18, Denver Sport Nation will follow Ridin' Shotgun with Cecil Lammey.
Tim Spence, the station's program director, finally decided to give Dario his shot after witnessing his persistence. Dario will bring sponsors to the station. Johnson's Automotive Repair has signed on to support Denver Sports Nation and Dario is in negotiations with Blackjack Pizza.
His program will be "brokered". That means that Dario must generate enough in advertising revenue to compensate the station for the air time. If he wants to make a buck himself he will need additional advertisers to jump on board. We're sure they will.
Dario isn't the most polished radio personality in town but he definitely knows his stuff. He's an every day kind of dude listeners will easily relate to.
For a station that's taken a beating lately for kicking local programming to the curb in favor of synicated shows, bringing Denver Sports Nation to the airwaves is a great move. 102.3 will benefit from adding the show.
Dario's plan is to bring in rotating co-hosts to that he can add a different flavor to each broadcast. I hope to among them.
D in Denver, the 15 year kid who called in to talk to Dave and Scott is all grown up and soon he will be living his dream. Here at the South Stands we can't wait to tune in. We hope that Dario's new Sunday afternoon show is the start of something big for him.
