BRAND NEW ... The Furness-Cam (every weekday 1-3pm)
Ian Furness OnDemand!
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2008 Seattle Storm Flyaway to L.A. Sweepstakes!
Win a trip for two to Los Angeles for the Storm's regular season finale! Help the Storm BEAT L.A. when Sue and teammates close out the regular season against Candace Parker and the Sparks on Sunday, September 14th.
Enter Now through September 9th for the chance to win two tickets for Fan Appreciation Night versus Atlanta on Friday, September 12 and a trip for two to L.A., including roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets to see the Storm face off against the Sparks in a nationally televised game on September 14th Good Luck!
Ian Furness is the "new guy" at 950 KJR coming to the station in September of 2006.
Since returning to his hometown, Furness has co-hosted The E&I Show with Elise Woodward, weeknights 7-10 PM on KJR, along with anchoring the station’s Seahawk’s coverage and 12th Man Postgame Show.
In addition to his duties at KJR, Furness was also a regular contributor on Q13's Seahawks Gameday coverage and has worked the past year for Comcast Sports Net in Oregon doing play by play for hockey and mixed martial arts.
Prior to coming to Seattle, Furness spent four years in Portland’s at Sports Radio 1080 The Fan as the lead host for the afternoon drive show from 3-7 PM.
Before coming back "home" to the Northwest, Ian was a host and the first program director at 1280 The Sports Zone in Salt Lake City, Utah. While in Salt Lake City, he also worked as a freelance sports reporter at Fox 13 News (KSTU-TV), did IHL/AHL hockey play by play on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, and was a regular member of the popular Sunday night sports show "Talkin Sports" on the CBS affiliate KUTV.
Ian did hockey play by play on both radio and television for 10 years in the Western Hockey League (WHL), the International Hockey League (IHL), and the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Tri-City Americans and the Utah Grizzlies. His play by play experience is extensive and includes not only hockey, but the Utah High School State Basketball Championships, Arena Football League, boxing, numerous mixed martial arts cards, PCL and WBL baseball, and both high school and college football.
Ian started working in sports radio at 1320 KFAN in Salt Lake City as a fill-in host and worked on the Utah Jazz Radio Network broadcasts.
During his time in Salt Lake, Ian was honored by his peers by being named the Utah State Sportscaster of the Year, an award that was voted on by the other broadcast and print media members in the state.
Nationally, his credits include the play by play of the LeBron James’ ad campaign "The LeBrons," along with the "voice" of the Lance Armstrong/Michael Vick/Brian Urlacher segments in Nike’s popular "What If" international ad campaign in 2004. Ian was also one of the three play by play voices, along with Peter Young of OLN and Todd Harris of ABC Sports, selected for the first-ever national television broadcast the Paralympics. Those games in 2002 were broadcast on the A&E Network and hosted by Harry Smith of CBS’ The Early Show and former Good Morning America anchor Joan Lunden.
In August of 2005, Ian served as the play by play voice for the first "Hockey Gladiators" event which was broadcast across Canada on pay per view.
The native of Seattle has also worked in Seattle at KVI Radio and KOMO Television. During his five years at KOMO-4 News, he was a producer for the 5, 6:30 and 11:00 PM sportscasts and won numerous awards for his writing and producing from the Washington Press Association, Associated Press and was one of just three people nominated by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Seattle Chapter) for outstanding sports reporting in 1989-1990.
His work in the community includes The Caddies 4 Cure (http://www.caddies4cure.com/) golf tournament which benefits both children’s hospitals and The MS Society.
Ian and his wife, along with their two children, reside in beautiful Southeast King County.
BEER, PIZZA and SEAHAWK FOOTBALL.... sounds like a solid Sunday to me
Wednesday 09-03-2008 9:25pm PT
A couple of people e-mailed me to point out that the location for Sunday's Seahawk viewing party, and the live "12th Man Postgame Show" is not listed anywhere on the KJR website. There is a reason for that: management doesn't like me!
But never fear, I will take matters into my own hands. Here is the link to The Ballroom in Fremont. www.ballroomfremont.com.
I spoke about it on the air today, but you honestly can't believe how big, and how good the pizza is. That pizza, along with a frosty brew, will make Sunday spectacular. They have the NFL Ticket there as well, so once we get bored with watching the Hawks destroy Buffalo, we can check out the other games and our fantasy teams.
See you there! Ian
If you are a Husky football fan, you LOVE this guy!
Tuesday 08-26-2008 2:28pm PT
Joe Giglio covers the ACC for the Raleigh News and Observer. He was ALSO the only voter in the AP Pre-season Poll to vote the Huskies #25!
Check out this old footage from Seahawks Training Camp back in 1981 courtesy of KXLY! Nice shorts guys!
LLWS and Seahawks make for a HOT weekend!
Friday 08-15-2008 8:42pm PT
Nothing like throwing a firecracker in a hornets nest filled with Little League parents to kick off the weekend. Before we move on to something a little more important, such as the battle for the seventh linebacker on the Seahawks' roster, let me clarify the discussion and my opinions on the Little League World Series.
First, good for Mill Creek. Good for ALL of the teams in Williamsport. Watching your kids have success (sports or anything they participate in) is far more satisfying than anything else in the world. I hope they win. I also hope the team of 13 year olds from Thurston County wins their big tourney in New York.
But for me, and this is just one man's opinion, I just don't get the excitement of watching the kids play baseball. If it is my kid, ok. Someone else's kid, unless they are a relative of close friend, not so much.
I think what has taken some of the fun away is seeing so much Little League on television. When Kirkland won it, there was a certain novelty to their success. They came out of nowhere and we saw one, maybe two games at the most when they won the title on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Now, we have Little League Softball and Baseball, down to the regional level, on televison. Why?
Personally, I would rather see the PCL Game of the Week and some young MLB talent on ESPN at the AAA or AA level. The College World Series is outstanding and fun to watch. Maybe the American Legion championships-at least those young men are close to being drafted or playing in college.
Don't get me wrong here though. I love youth sports. The fact of the matter is far too few kids are participating in youth sports these days. I blame the parents. The aptly named "little league parent." You know that parent. The one who is looking for that elusive college scholarship. That in turn results in the specialization of kids in just one sport at an early age (before they turn 10 sometimes). It also means the end of participation for many who get cut from the travel teams and select squads before they even reach puberty. Let the kids play. More importantly, let them play and enjoy and sample as many sports as possible.
This is and should be a healthy debate. It should be especially so between parents. It was interesting on the radio, because the phone calls were all of the other opinion than me. But my e-mail box was filled with people who agreed with me. I would say it is a 50/50 split on the LLWS and people's desire to watch it on television.
But this issue is far bigger than watching this tourney with a local team on televison. It is about youth sports, and what their purpose is and what the goals of the parents, coaches and participants should be.
By the way, as I write this, I will be heading to Snohomish for a youth soccer tourney this weekend, with a Seahawk preseason game squeezed in. I will resist the temptation to tell you about how the mighty Maple Valley teams have done in the first two days of the BigFoot Soccer tournament. Why? Because why would you care? But it was fun today to see hundreds of kids running around a soccer field and hot as it may be, it will be fun to watch the same Saturday and Sunday. And ESPN doesn't need to be there for it to be a great experience.
Have a good weekend and stay cooll....... Thank you and goodbye. Ian ian@950kjr.com
Most OVERRATED
Monday 08-11-2008 3:01pm PT
Here is Ian's list of things he considers to be overrated:
5. Bob Costas 4. Desperate Housewives 3. Tony Romo 2. Miley Cyrus 1. In N Out Burger
Submit YOUR list to Ian via the link on the left of the page!
The Sea Galley!
Monday 08-11-2008 2:22pm PT
A week ago we had a conversation about what foods are "Unique to the Northwest". A listener mentioned the old "Sea Galley" resturant, and we were not sure if they existed anymore. Thanks to longtime listener Kai Kubota, we know the Sea Galley isnt in the same category as the sasquatch, but can be found in YAKIMA!
The results are in.....
Sunday 07-27-2008 3:35pm PT
The Pac-10 media poll for the upcoming football season looks quite a bit like the one our listeners put together. 39 media members, including Softy and me, voted in the 2008 Pac-10 Media Poll, and once again USC is the pick to win the conference. Not since 2002 has the media covering the conference picked a team other than USC to win the championship. Interesting note is that the last three teams to be picked to win other than the Trojans were all from the Northwest.
UW was picked in 2000, Oregon in 2001 and Washington State in 2002. All three NW teams did indeed win that year. But my how things have changed for the two schools from this state.
In all, the media has picked the Pac-10 Champion correctly every year since 2000 when the Huskies won.
Nevertheless, it is always fun to see who finishes where. It may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but college football is built on the very subjective ranking system so looking at different opinions and predictions is entertaining.
This year, I asked our listeners to make their picks. We counted them BEFORE the media poll came out, but suprisingly, our listener picks were almost identical to the actual media poll.
I have included the media poll, the listener poll, and my "ballot" in terms of how I voted.
Here you go:
2008 Pac-10 Media Poll 1. USC 2. ASU 3. Oregon 4. California 5. UCLA 6. Oregon State 7. Arizona 8. Washington 9. Stanford 10. WSU
2008 Ian Furness Show Listener Poll 1. USC 2. ASU 3. Oregon 4. California 5. UCLA 6. Oregon State 7. Arizona 8. Washington 9. WSU 10. Stanford
My 2008 Ballot 1. USC 2. ASU 3. Oregon 4. Arizona 5. California 6. Oregon State 7. WSU 8. UW 9. UCLA 10. Stanford
So... there you go. Feedback and thoughts are welcome. Let the debates begin and I am sure you are like me and can't wait for the season to begin.
Links: E-mails and feedback are always welcome at ian@950kjr.com.
Jason Gesser stopped by last week and he has a fun football camp coming up for kids next weekend. For more information check out www.uedgesports.com.
© 2008