CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM D&B

Merry Christmas from the entire Dunaway and Brown family. We pray that God blesses your family not only during this holiday season, but that you let God lead your path in 2009.

Our poll question Tuesday on DandBradio.com asked what was the greatest Christmas song of all-time? My favorite was not an option.

Nothing gives me the feelings and emotions of Christmas like Go Tell It On The Mountain.

What better message:

While shepards kept their watch o'er silent flocks by night, beyond, throughout the heavens There shone a holy light.

Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.

The best part for me, the song is just as meaningful on July 25th as December 25th.

Embrace the message and then let's all Go deliver the message on the mountain and everywhere in 2009. That's our goal in the New Year.

God Bless You and Merry Christmas,

Jim Dunaway
Dunaway and Brown Co-Host

The Last Time Alabama was #1

Picture 1: Brownie with Sara Palin in studio Friday

Picture 2: Dunaway's son wanting to be Tyler Watts

Picture 3: New Orleans Newspaper the last time Alabama was ranked #1

GO CRAZY AUBURN, GO CRAZY

This 2008 Auburn football season has been one big dud. Over-hyped, under delivering Auburn did give us the 2003 Iron Bowl moment of Cadillac Williams taking the first play from scrimmage 80 yards to Rod Bramblett’s screaming punctuation of Go Crazy Cadillac, Go Crazy. What will 2008 leave us?

Exit polls from another SEC loss at Jordan-Hare Stadium seem to indicate 2008 will give us a new football coach on the plains. You should always think before you “go crazy”.

Six Straight Iron Bowl losses and four coaches ago, Alabama forced Gene Stallings into an early exit and made one horrible hire after another before Nick Saban wanted to leave the Miami Vice of the NFL for the teacher friendly college ranks. Remember that series of misfires?

With all do respect to Jimmy Stewart, let me show you Auburn’s Not So Wonderful Life if you decide to make Tommy Tuberville disappear.

Push Gene Stallings out… 1 National title, 1 SEC title but a lot of wins (Sound familiar Tuberville fans?)

Hire great defensive coach with no head coaching experience (Mike DuBose meet Will Muschamp)

Hire quirky outsider with moderate success on a much smaller stage (Dennis Franchione meet Boise State Cris Peterson or Wake Forest Jim Grobe)

Bring back a golden quarterback to stir up some good memories (Mike Shula meet Patrick Nix)

Throw in a drunken Mike Price episode (has anyone seen my pants, wallet and car keys) and you’ve got the stage set for one wild ride.

I can already see the 2014 halftime ceremony when you are honoring Tommy Tuberville and the 2004 unbeaten team and wondering why we ever got rid of that guy who beat our rivals 6 times in a row. The timing will be perfect. The revolving door in the football complex will have you looking at 6 straight losses.

I know 3 SEC losses and an offense that goes backwards just as much as it goes forward, makes you want to curse Doug Barfield. But if you decide to Go Crazy Auburn…make sure Jay Jacobs and the Jetson’s know what they are doing and are not just high on jet fumes.

INTERESTING BCS FACT

I found this today from Stewart Mandel on SI.com

It seems with the BCS, you learn something new every year -- and it just so happens that this past weekend in L.A., I found out about a complex, secret formula the BCS uses to determine this very thing. The most recent evaluation was based on a four-year period (2004-07) and consisted of the following three components:
• Average BCS ranking of each conference's highest ranked team.
• Average BCS ranking of each team in the conference.
• Number of teams from each conference in the BCS top 25.
I'm not privy to the actual data, but if the Mountain West or any other league had finished ahead of the Big East (the most obvious suspect for demotion), it would have gained an automatic berth for this season and next (the last two of the current cycle). Obviously, that didn't happen, and based on the data we do have, you can see why. Over the past four years, the Big East champion's average ranking was 11.75, while the Mountain West's was 14.25. The Big East placed 10 teams in the Top 25, the Mountain West four.
That doesn't mean this couldn't change in the future. The way things are shaping up this season, it's conceivable the Mountain West could finish with two or three Top 25 teams to the Big East's one, and it's possible a BYU or Utah will finish higher than any Big East team. But again, the league would need to demonstrate this over a longer period of time. According to the BCS' media guide, "It is anticipated that before the spring of 2009, the conferences will devise standards for automatic conference qualifications for after the 2010 regular season." I take this to mean they will run another four-year evaluation at some point and, if anything changes, it will go into effect when the new contract begins in two years.

I thought that was interesting- Dunaway Out

JOHN MARK STALLINGS DIES

Saturday brings those of us in the Alabama family really sad news. John Mark Stallings (pictured center with Hootie Ingram to his right and his father Gene Stallings to his left) passed away early today.

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John Mark was a living symbol of parental love. He was also more than that. He was a living breathing miracle. Even before his birth, the odds were against him medically and socially. God had a different plan.

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My faith is based on God placing us in situations and never giving us more than He knows we can handle. God placed John Mark in the Stallings home and for 46 years... Ruth Ann and Gene loved on him and made everyday one full of glory.

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I was a young, single sports reporter when I first met Gene Stallings and his son. I learned lessons watching their relationship that I still use with my 7 and 3 year old 15 years later. If God called my kids to heaven tomorrow, I hope all of you would instantly think about how much I love Harper and Carter.

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Today, when I heard the news, my first thought was what a great father, son relationship. There is a biblical lesson in Gene's and John Mark's relationship. To the world, John Mark had many shortcomings... but to his parents John Mark was pure and whole. We are just like John Mark in our Christian faith. In this world, we have many shortcomings, but in God's eyes we are pure and whole.

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When you watch a football game this fall... I hope you enjoy your teams touchdowns as much as John Mark enjoyed an Alabama touchdown. I hope you enjoy your teams victories the way John Mark enjoyed an Alabama win. I hope you have someone in your life that loves you as much and John Mark's family loved him.

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Here is the official release from The University of Alabama:

STATEMENT FROM ATHLETIC DIRECTOR MAL MOORE ON THE DEATH OF JOHN MARK STALLINGS

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – John Mark Stallings, son of former University of Alabama head football coach Gene Stallings, died early Saturday morning. John Mark, who was born with Down syndrome and suffered from health problems related to a congenital heart defect, was 46.

"I've known John Mark Stallings his entire life," said Mal Moore, Director of Athletics at the University of Alabama. "I want to extend my deepest sympathy to Coach Stallings, Ruth Ann and the entire Stallings family. For someone who never played or coached a game, I think John Mark may have touched more Alabama fans than any other person ever did. I would like to thank the Stallings family for sharing their love for John Mark with all of us."

John Mark's story, detailed by his father in the book, "Another Season", served as an inspiration to millions. The University of Alabama football equipment room was formally dedicated as the "John Mark Stallings Equipment Room" on December 8, 2005. John Mark's courage and attitude had a positive impact on all who knew him. He also deeply affected Coach Stallings' perception of football, and the coach's approach on the field.

"I had a whole lot less tolerance for the gifted and a whole lot more tolerance for the guy that wasn't quite as gifted," Gene Stallings told a reporter in January of 2008. "With Johnny, I saw him struggle to walk, struggle to kick a ball, struggle to do everything that he did. So, I had a little tolerance for the guys that had to struggle. If you had talent and didn't lay it on the line, I didn't have much tolerance for you. The less talented guy can't play on Saturdays. But he can get you ready to play on Saturdays. I wanted the guys who played on Saturday to have an appreciation for that guy who got them there."

Funeral arrangements for John Mark Stallings are pending.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO AM-1070

GREAT NEWS!!!

We are staying at AM-690.

There were 3 factors at work here and I want to thank those involved for this wonderful development.

• IT WAS A GOD THING: I want to Thank God for his blessings. Many of you have been praying about our move and our show. I know, because many of you have taken the time to write and let me know about your prayers. Our prayers were not to go to one station or another or to stay at AM-690... they were simple... "God, we put this in Your Hands and we want to land behind the microphone of your choosing". I found great comfort in this prayer. I was nervous about the unknown, but God kept sending one messenger after another, giving Brown and I signs that He was on the job and that he had many options. So Thanks be to God.

• THE PEOPLE STILL HAVE A VOICE: I also know that not only were many of you praying for us, but you were writing us and the managers here at Citadel Broadcasting. I'd love to thank every one of you personally (maybe we can do that as a slow show in June next year), but there were so many e-mails and phone calls to really do you justice. Just know that your voice was heard. THANK YOU every D&B Listener who said they were moving with us! THANK YOU every D&B Listener who called or sent an e-mail that said they were upset or sad that they would not get the show anymore in their area. AND THANK YOU SPONSORS! All of you expressed a true love of our show and that is so refreshing. Brown and I believe in your way of doing business, and we are blessed that you believe in us. We look forward to growing together.

• THANKS TO OUR BOSS: I have friends that work at every TV station and Radio Group in Birmingham. This city is blessed with so many good people who not only want to make a profit (who doesn't) but also desire to do the best job possible for the people of Alabama. My boss (Gigi) is no different. A few weeks ago, she had an exciting development on WAPI-AM 1070 and wanted to include us in it. We were excited. Now, another exciting twist has happened with WSPZ AM-690 and the first people she thought of was us. Again, we are excited. We trust her and are pumped to not have to leave our original home on AM-690.

That's it! Everything I know and think I know. Monday we will start our new time slot 2:00-6:00pm on our old home WSPZ AM-690.

It is the best place for The Dunaway and Brown Show at this time in our lives and we'll see if we can make it to the BCS National Championship Game without anymore BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS.

Let's enjoy another great football season together.

God Bless,
Jim

YES, WE ARE MOVING, BUT...

News reports are right, we are switching stations. Starting Monday July 28th, we will be on WAPI-AM 1070. (I love the picture... it was our first promo shoot together and the photographer had us posed like we were going to guard the gates to the castle) Here are some questions you may be asking... keep in mind... we do not have all the answers.

• So Why the Move? We work for a station group called Citadel Broadcasting. They have big plans for WJOX-FM. We are not part of those plans. With that said, they wanted to give us a different set of teammates where they felt we could continue to grow. Brown and I are committed to keeping the show in it's original playbook. The only place to do that at this time is WAPI-AM 1070. We like the name recognition of WAPI (it was hard for me to even remember WSPZ) and we agree with our bosses that this is a better home for us at this time.

• Is the DandB Show in trouble? No. The reason we are being moved is the strong ratings we have enjoyed in our first 18 months as an afternoon drive-time show. The ratings are not as great as we would like... but they have been growing since we started 18 months ago. We have a lot of committed sponsors who not only make our show profitable, but believe in what we are trying to do long term.

• Will I still be able to hear you? Good question. The AM-1070 signal is 50,000 watts just like the AM-690 signal. We cannot guarantee that your radio receives 1070 identical to what you hear currently on 690. Some of you may receive it better on 1070, unfortunately, some of you may not. We will learn as we go on this one. The one upside is a little stronger signal after sunset on AM-1070, something many of you had issues with last December.

• Why are you not on the FM? Another good question. We have had a chance on three occasions to join the FM staff, but did not feel like it was the right fit for us in the time slots that were available. Was that a good move on our part? Who knows? We pray a lot, and try to follow the path we think God wants us to be on. We still believe we are on that path.

• Will you guys be doing News? No. The Dunaway and Brown Show will not change. Blake is still with us and hopefully all of the great callers who have made this show so much fun over the last 3 years (18 months in the afternoon) will be with us as well. We will do news updates at the top and bottom of every hour (Blake will not do those, someone who can actually pronounce the political leaders from around the world will handle that). If there is breaking news, we will of course include that in the show (Elections, Hurricanes, Severe Weather, War ending, etc.) This is actually a format that works very well in a lot of larger markets (New Orleans, Cincinnati etc)

• Will your phone number for callers change? YES, YES, YES. The new number is 944-1070. Please mark that down and put it in your quick dial. Remember, that number isn't ours until July 28th.

• What about Hannity from 2-4pm on AM-1070? We are big fans of Hannity as well. He will be on right after us starting at 6pm. We will now get his entire show and we will finally get to listen to him again on our drive home.

• Will this disrupt Jim's return to television? I don't think so. CBS 42 was aware of the changes when they hired me and they seem to be happy with the sports product so far. We will continue to broadcast from the D&B Studio's every afternoon at 5pm and then do the 10pm sportscast from the CBS 42 studio.

• Bottom line it for us Jim... are you guys happy? Yes and No. Yes we are happy that we can continue to do the show that we think you guys have really grown to love. We do yearn for the day where we can have a stable, long running stint in one location on the dial. Again, Brown and I (and many of our friends) have had many prayerful hours about this move, just like all the others. We really believe that this is just another step on the journey God has in store for us and this show. We want to thank all of our friends who continue to pray for us. Don't stop. This is only a small step to a greater end.

Read Joshua 1:9

-Dunaway Out