From modest beginning, Al Coleman built a sports radio career
When it began, the going rate for 60 minutes of air time on WRNL-910 was $100 per hour, and Al Coleman leapt at the opportunity.
He was a stock broker by day, but he wanted to see if he could talk sports on the radio for an hour at a time. he wondered if he could make a living doing it every day.
He found he could. and 20 years later, he still is.
Coleman, host of Sports Phone with big Al on ESPN 950, WXGI, has become a Richmond institution. he is on the air each day from 8 to 10 a.m., and last Friday, he celebrated his 20th year on the radio.
You will be pressed to find a more irrepressible character than Coleman. he enjoys his radio work. he even used his acclaim to help realize another dream, opening big Al’s Sports Bar and Grill.
A disclaimer — I have been on Coleman’s radio show. he often gives guests gift certificates for his restaurant, and I have eaten there as well.
What stands out is that Coleman is the same in both locales. when you are on his show, you are his guest. he wants your opinion and expertise. he will not abide callers treating a guest rudely. at his restaurant, he works tirelessly to make sure customers are happy.
“When you have people in your home, you welcome them and treat them with respect,” Coleman said. “Why should it be any different on the radio? They’re kind enough to take time to be on your show.
“I’m not a screamer or a berater. Now, that doesn’t mean I won’t fly off the handle and get on my soap box from time to time about topics that bother me. That’s very cathartic. to be able to yell and scream in public and get away with it is great. it relieves pressure and you can laugh about it later.
“Richmond is not a town like that, anyway. Richmond’s not going to have any kind of a talk show host who is going to be abusive and rude and offensive and contrary and ornery. We’re not that kind of people.”
In his early years, Coleman talked and entertained callers four hours each morning, then spent the afternoons selling advertising to support his show. he sells less now, but he also has his restaurant to occupy his time.
“I’m a grinder,” Coleman said. “Someone has to push that rock up the hill every day.”
That’s a reference to Sisyphus, the figure from Greek mythology whose punishment in the afterlife was to push a boulder up a hill each day, only to see it roll down so he had to start over the next day.
“I’m living the dream,” Coleman said. “Even when it’s a slow season — I remember one summer show when we had four callers in four hours. I did some talking that day. But, I was talking sports. I’m not digging ditches. I’m not out breaking up concrete.
“I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had tremendous sponsors who have stuck with me. It’s never a one-man show. The callers and listeners make the show. The sponsors keep it on the air. I’m just a conduit.”
The argument can be made that Coleman proved daily sports talk radio would work in Richmond on multiple stations. his is one of four daily, local sports radio talk shows.
“If I hadn’t done it, somebody else might have,” he said.
Maybe. But nobody would have done it quite the same.
