Inside Sports with Al Eschbach

Al Eschbach is the pioneer of sports talk in Oklahoma. He is widely known and respected by his peers for his work in Oklahoma. His career in the great state of Oklahoma is extensive and has helped mold Oklahoma sports into what it is today. Al’s journey into the depths of Oklahoma sports media began in 1966. He started in print, working for the Norman Transcript part-time. From there, Al would write for a variety of publications including the Oklahoma Journal, the Edmond Evening Sun, Sooners Illustrated, the Big Eight Magazine, Blue Chips Magazine, and Super Prep. His radio career would begin in 1976. He worked for the station KTOK, hosting a daily sports talk show. Al also spent time on the television set, co-hosting the Dave Bliss show in 1978. He also hosted the Al Eschbach show and has co-hosted the Oklahoma Football Preview show on Cox Communications. Al’s work with the University of Oklahoma began in 1978. He was a radio analyst for the basketball games. Furthermore, Al hosted weekly coaches shows featuring top Oklahoma names such as Barry Switzer, Gary Gibbs, Howard Schellenberger, John Blake, Dave Bliss, Billy Tubbs Kelvin Sampson, and women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale. In 2003, Al’s career would reach another milestone, as he would begin teaching Intro to Sports Journalism at the University Of Oklahoma Al’s career with WWLS would be an interesting one. First, beginning in Norman in 1985. Al would host an afternoon drive sports talk show. However, in 1993, Al would spend nine months in Kansas City working for KCMO. Following his stint in Kansas City, Al’s home has since been the Sports Animal. In 2019, Al was inducted into the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters Hall Of Fame as well as the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. He also has won a slew of awards including the Bob Hersom Award for journalistic excellence in 2016, the University of Oklahoma Distinguished Alumni in the school of Journalism and Mass Communications, and was awarded Al Eschbach day by the Governor Of Oklahoma on May 18th, 2017. Al’s career is indeed filled with a laundry list of accomplishments. However, it has never strayed him away from his humbleness. Weekdays at six, you can always hear him ask the good people of Oklahoma “How ya doing?” and he’ll always tell them “See-Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa”.