History of Sports Talk Radio: XTRA 690, Mighty 1090, Jim Rome, Chet Forte, Steve Hartman

[@lotharvonrichthofen4474]

Listened to “The Saw” for years on XTRA 690…always enjoyed his show and commentary…met “Hacksaw” at a sports memorabilia show in Long Beach 20+ years ago…a real gentleman Thank You Saw for the great memories and continued presence

[@cepolt]

I grew up listening to Lee Hacksaw back when he was the voice of the Chargers. The best 15 minutes in sports WAS INDEED the internet before the internet! Then I began listening to everyone on that station. Hacksaw is the reason I still listen to sports talk radio going on 30 years now. And that's right, the DIVERSITY of each show on the station! I had forgotten how great it was! Everyone was so different, talking about each other and talking crap/ jokes. It was gold! No current national show or station has anything on Hacksaw and 690!

[@cepolt]

I'll always remember during the Ryan Leaf era, Hacksaw had called in anonymously ( obviously him)to the Loose Cannons , speaking of how that Chargers QB was a stud and was going to lead the team to a glorious 1-15 record etc 😂 . The Cannons couldn't stop laughing for a good minute!

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Gold standard for sports talk radio We never realized it because we were working so hard daily It was Golden Era for sports-talk on the West Coast

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Everybody believed Leaf would save the franchise He sank the franchise and his life What a shame..what a waste

[@Ktaurus26]

@@LeeHacksawHamiltonSportsbig fan hacksaw. I grew up in LA and when I was a teenager listened to you since the signal of the mighty 690 was so strong.

[@annonymous_hendik]

I … wanna …. talk sports with you!! Love you Hacksaw. I was listening to you out in LA in the 90’s. You were my favorite! I remember you and Jim didnt like each other lol

[@forceghostfabio3288]

I listened to 690 out in campo when I did homework back in 89.

[@SacCity]

Enjoyed recalling the memories. Probably learned a lot about San Diego and Riverside County geography with all the cities that Hacksaw called out in his opener.

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

..Get off your ass and get on the phone...ha-ha 1st time caller-long time listener Raiders nation..out of jail..on bail...call now Raiders..Silver & Bleak

[@mangadolo]

Thank you Lee and John!!! I discovered the Mighty 690 back in summer ‘91 as an incoming 8th grader. I had moved with family from the Bay Area down to San Diego (UTC) and was having trouble adjusting at first. My allergies turned into bad asthma and I spent some time at the Balboa Kaiser. It was a bit depressing and I remember listening to XTRA sports 690 for hours on end. It brought me so much joy! I loved listening to Steve and Chet, Hacksaw, Romie and eventually Coach Kentera. I remember the Crusher John Monty doing traffic… it was great. Finally I grew stronger and began to adjust and love San Diego. My father and I even got Chet to do a motivational speech a Standley Middle School! It’s so heart-warming to still have Lee and Coach and Hartman and Mason and Ireland still around. I even hear Philly Billy call into Coach Kentera’s show from time to time… Thank you Lee and John for being so dedicated to this because you help a lot of people whether you know it or not! God bless!!!

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

That's why we are all in it..entertain and inform Not everyone agreed with us

[@onyoutuberightnow]

Awesome show and XTRA Sports 690 is thoroughly missed. Such a great era.

[@redivider6430]

Excellent interview. I can't believe it took me this long to find it. When you were broadcasting somewhere around 2009 or so, I had you on and you started off with your trademark "...AND LET ME PUT THEEEEEEESE TOPICS ON THE TABLE...". A faint, female toddler's voice in my back seat parroted you by saying/asking: "topics on the table?" That voice was my daughter after I picked her up from preschool. She's 17 now and still drops that line on occasion. Thanks for the memories Lee. We need you back on drive time.

[@lowepanamaadventure272]

"Everyone into the Pattern'!. Lee was the best Charger Play by Play guy ever. I also always loved the Best 15 Minutes!

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

That phrase is like empty the backfield...all 5-in the pattern...that's why I used it

[@RetroJR3379]

Sep 18 1994. The Tony Martin play I remember seeing it on KNSD 39

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Touchdown Tony Martin..that Super Bowl year Stan Humphries-Mad Bomber What a season to see a team come together See a team galvanize our community

[@JoelMSimental]

690....What an education to somebody who never heard sports talk like that! Lee "The franchise" Hamilton, Lee and Rome were my favorites at work. Classic sports radio in San Diego! God bless you Lee, it would be awesome to see him in the big time again.

[@RetroJR3379]

In 1994 I was working as a Custodian Assistance in Chula Vista as a summer job in while we were cleaning a classroom the janitor put on Hacksaw Hamilton and the rest is history from this day at 4pm whether I came home from school or had a radio I put it on XTRA 690 ⚾️ 🏈 🏀 🏒

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

We did it first..we did it well

[@brettshepherd5240]

I found Xtra in 1987 by mistake. I was sick in the bed and so I turned on my radio to find something to listen to. That night I found a chargers pre season game vs Frisco and I heard hacksaw and he was great as the pbp guy. I was hooked on Xtra 690 . I miss it

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

We had a great run We were different Our Chargers game day was exceptional Disappointed forever over Clear Channel destroying 690 Chargers leaving our station after the platform we created My biggest disappointment... Management never said thank you Chargers never said thank you Never once said thank you..it was a shame

[@gem11822]

SHOW ME YOUR LIGHTNING BOLT!!!

[@markocoady4212]

so many great memories - thank you

[@RetroJR3379]

I first watched Lee Hamilton back in 1989 when he did Sportswrap on KNSD when they had MLB.

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Very unique Saturday show..but will tell you it was a ton of work to pull off each weekend on top of all the other things I did

[@trentk268]

There were so many topics on the table back then and you always had someone to share them with on your ride home. Believe it or not there were guys listening to your show up in El Porto and Manhattan Beach.

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Try from Baja to Canadian Rockies Listeners included Padres owner Peter Seidler from the O'Malley family tree at Dodgers Stadium

[@RetroJR3379]

97.3 The Fan currently is close to being XTRA 690 and same with San Diego Sports 760. I enjoyed Kaplan on Mightier 1090 but other than that new 1090 is pretty much ESPN syndicated show

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Fan doing well during Padres season... Not well in off season We never had Padres-went against baseball Posted monster ratings in the process

[@FatSal619]

Loose cannons !!! forte and hartman Was tha bomb 💣

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

The uniqueness of pairing Hartman with East Coast guys and older guys was magic Young guy-West Coast guy-loudmouth guy Chet Forte-Bill Werndl polar opposites of Homer-Loud-East Coast It was great radio

[@SacCity]

Came over when KMPC changed formats. Kept me company in grad school.

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

We invented it at XTRA 690.. Everyone else tried to copy it

[@FredGarcia-to7ji]

I WANT TO TALK SPORTS WITH YOU! Hacksaw was the best.

[@RetroJR3379]

XTRA 690 was such a iconic station it a shame that in 2006 XTRA switched to Spanish station as 690 W and currently its a Japanese station

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

Clear Channel gave up on a 77,000 watt signal and a station that was billing 11M dollars to keep two inferior signals in San Diego cluster They did not want to do business with Mexican Radio What they put on in LA failed badly... Sadly they cost a lot of people jobs

[@RetroJR3379]

Big mistake on the Chargers leaving XTRA 690. They ended up of all station Star 100.7

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

All about the greed of Spanos family Broke out heart at 690 Just like the greed of 2017-Spanos leaving San Diego Root for Justin Herbert to go 17-0..Spanos to go 0-17

[@Thetreeistall]

“Jumbo package”

[@LeeHacksawHamiltonSports]

"Everybody into the pattern..."

[@Boogenhagen100]

REACTION!!