As KSIQ Q96.1 FM heads to the San Diego market, Ronco finds himself without a radio home.

“It started when I was coaching basketball at Brawley Union High and of all things had an undefeated freshman team and Tom DuBose had the morning local sports and I was his guest,” Ronco said. “Then I started doing football with Tom and eventually took over the morning show, not sure of what day it was but I’m pretty sure it was 1976. I never thought it was last more than a year or two.”

It was former Imperial Valley Press sports editor Don Knight who shared scores with Ronco, helping him get the show going in the 1970s.

“We shared scores; he got me involved in doing stories and it has resulted in some great friendships over the years,” Ronco said.

Ronco had a live five- to 10-minute sports show every morning beginning in 1979 on KROP.

He also broadcast the Brawley Union High football team games, four basketball games a week, two high school games from each Valley school and two Imperial Valley College men’s basketball games — all live, including the Central Union High CIF softball championship game played in 1978.

“The late Jack Stodelle was from live radio and loved it when we did things that way. ... I had a Saturday morning football show for an hour. This is when the I.V. Press did not have a Saturday edition, and coaches would call in or come by the station and we’d talk about the games and Jack would let it go as long as we had things to discuss,” Ronco said.

Ronco moved to FM 99 in 1979 and was there until 1989.

“When Elmo Richards started the station I moved over with him and did three shows a day that played in the morning and again in the afternoon,” Ronco said. “During football season I’d cover a game for the Press and then at midnight go live and report all the scores.”

Ronco even broadcast Central football games.

“About 1987, I started doing Spartan football with Carroll Buckley and John Driffel, and it was the Cal Jones era and it was exciting,” Ronco said. “It was a little weird though, teaching at Brawley and doing Central but it was just a job to me.”

In 2001, KROP went to ESPN and Tony Driskill and Steve Stodelle approached Ronco about returning to KSSC.

“I thought that local sports fit that format well and it let me join Tony on Wildcat football when Max Fields retired,” Ronco said.

Finally, in 2009, Ronco moved to Q96.

“Cherry Creek Comm. decided that ESPN wasn’t working and went automated with KROP, but Tony believed in local sports and incorporated it into the morning show,” Ronco said. “In all the years, perhaps my best moment was on New Year’s Eve on the last morning show when Tony and I did the show live; that’s the way it should have ended.”

Now, with 2010 brings a mystery of whether Ronco’s show will find a new home.

“I’m not sure it was my last show or just the last one on the Q,” Ronco said. “There are some options that I’ll explore, I believe in local sports and I think the community does, too.”