Courtesy Duluth News Tribune

(December 20, 2010) Minnesota Duluth was driving into Delta State territory late in Saturday’s NCAA Division II championship game when the KQDS-AM 1490 radio feed suddenly cut out with about 15 seconds left in the game.

Veteran play-by-play man Jeff Papas scrambled to call the station on his cell phone, but by the time he got through and was back on the air, via his phone, the game was already over and the Bulldogs were celebrating their second national championship in the past three years. In all, about two minutes of real time expired.

“I’ve been doing this on and off since 1988, and I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Papas said. “We’ve got a really loyal base of listeners, and we appreciate them tuning in each week, and all we can say is ‘sorry.’ There was nothing we could do.”

Papas said he did a routine line check on Friday and had trouble with his primary feed, so he used his secondary line on Saturday. The reason for the interruption isn’t yet known, but Papas said it could likely be a problem with the lines at Braly Municipal Stadium, and that the University of North Alabama would be advised to look into it.

“It worked like a prince the entire game, and then that happens at the worst time,” Papas said. “It’s just too bad. We have backup equipment, but it takes time to set up, and by that time it would have been too late. We did the best we could under the circumstances, so all we can do is apologize and hope it never happens again.”

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