Pete Franklin

Pete Franklin (September 22,1928 - November 23, 2004), nicknamed "The King", was an American sports talk radio host who worked in San Francisco, Cleveland and New York.

The zenith of Franklin's career came when he hosted "Sportsline" on 50,000-watt Cleveland AM station WWWE ("3WE") 1100-AM from 1972 to 1987. Arguably the most popular host on the station, Franklin was popular based on his extensive knowledge, his opinionated attitude, his gruff demeanor and his rude banter toward callers. Among his trademarks were playing the sound of a flushing toilet after hanging up on a caller, playing of funeral music when he deemed the Indians' season to be over (giving them a "proper burial", usually in mid-summer given the poor quality of the Indians' team during that time) and his running series of the winner and the loser of the day.

His caustic personality was a partial reason why WWWE lost its status as the flagship station of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers in 1981 when he developed a feud with Cavs' owner Ted Stepien. Franklin and Cavaliers' radio voice Joe Tait openly questioned Stepien's ability to operate the team due to poor trades, unwise free agent signings and a depletion of talent. Franklin went so far as to continually refer to Stepien by his initials, "T.S.", which Franklin said stood for "Too Stupid." (Ultimately, the NBA itself agreed with this assessment, seizing operational control of the franchise from Stepien on the grounds he was destroying its financial viability, and instituting what would be known as the "Stepien Rule".) Stepien retaliated both by canceling WWWE's radio contract and firing Tait.

Franklin stayed at WWWE until 1987, when he was hired by upstart all-sports station WFAN in New York to be their afternoon host. After much controversy, he was eventually fired in 1989, to be replaced by the Mike and the Mad Dog program. He later worked at KNBR in San Francisco, where he ended his career in 2000. He briefly worked again at WTAM in 1998, hosting "Sportsline" again, this time from a studio in his California home.

When Pete Franklin first joined KNBR, he hosted his own show. He put together bits such as "Winners and Losers of the Day" for daily sports happenings and "Pigskin Pete Predicts" during football season. He later joined Bob Fitzgerald on "The King and The Kid".

Franklin was the author of a 1988 book, "You Could Argue But You'd Be Wrong".

External links

* [http://www.starbeacon.com/index.asp?MC=SPORTS&NID=3&AID=6932 Pete was first, last word in sports]
* [http://www.knbr.com/peteFranklin.html Our Tribute to "The King," Pete Franklin]
* [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13530717&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6 Tributes are rolling in for Pete Franklin, the former Cleveland radio sports-talk show host who died Nov. 23 at his home near San Luis Obispo, Calif.]