IRELAND:Former Sea King no paper boy

Q: You interviewed former Newport Harbor High pole vaulter Allison Stokke on your radio show. What were your impressions?

A: Couldn't have been nicer. I really liked her. I thought that she came across as somebody who's really excited to go to college [at Cal] and see what that's like. And good for her, she's not staying in her own backyard. She's going far enough away where she can be on her own but close enough to visit.

I think she's beginning to realize that she can bring some attention to her sport because she's attractive. I think she's OK with that, but at the same time, I think she's uncomfortable with all that attention. She's really one of the first people that's ever happened to. She's a high school kid who's just doing her sport, and then all of a sudden, she's in the Washington Post, the New York Times and on 250,000 websites.

But I was really impressed with her. I think it's never easy to be the first one to go through something. Allison was the victim of circumstances. But for someone who's been through as much as she's been through, I think she handled it really well.

Q: What are some of the differences between doing TV and radio?

A: Well, TV, you have to dress better. But probably the biggest difference is in television you've got to be quick. You have to decide what's really the most important thing; you've got 40 seconds to get that across. In radio, you have four hours. Television's a little bit harder, and radio's more fun.

Q: Do you have to prepare a lot for your radio show, because you know people are going to call in with random topics?

A: What's really helped with that is the Internet. I spend probably a couple of hours every morning, and then a couple of hours at night, on the Internet. It's a great information resource. But, for the most part, what makes good radio is opinions. What you want to come to the table with is opinions.

You can't really say, "Oh, it doesn't matter," or "I don't really care about that." You have to come up with an opinion.

Q: Do you still play basketball?

A: Yeah, I play a lot, actually. My ankles don't hold up as much as they used to, though. I play about once a week when I'm healthy. It's a great way to make friends; I still play with guys I've been playing with for 20 years. It's a great game, and I've never really stopped playing since I was at CdM.

Q: Is it tough on your family, the fact that you're gone for so much of the year?

A: I dated my wife for five years before we got married, so she knew what I was getting into. And she's pretty independent, she's got her own company. We have one child, he's 5, so he's starting to just realize that I'm gone a lot.

It's not the perfect situation, but I'll tell you what: anyone who complains about being a sportscaster is an idiot. It's the best job in the world. You get paid to go to games and talk about sports.

I don't want to come across as someone who would say, "Yeah, it's tough," because there's nothing tough about it. It's a really good gig.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.