John Owens steps down as KKTV sports director
November 6th, 2009, 7:06 pm · 9 Comments · posted by Paul Kavanaugh
KKTV announced Friday night, that long-time sports director, John 
Owens, will end his role at the station in December.
“I don’t like to call it a retirement,” said Owens, who has been a fixture at the station since 1980. I’ll still be helping out the sports department from time to time, but on my own schedule, so I’ll still be on the air occasionally, he said.
“Big Daddy” as he is known to his colleagues and fans alike has covered a myriad of sports stories in his 29-year career at the station. His Oracles Corner, a Friday sports segment where he predicts the outcomes of the weekly NFL games is a favorite of many viewers. Owens plans to continue to do the Oracles Corner along with Bronco locker room interviews and possibly some fill in anchor work down the road.
His many career highlights include attending 4 Super Bowls with the 1997 Bronco/Green Bay game being his favorite. And the time he got to do some shadowboxing with Muhammad Ali. “I put my fist in his hand, which was as big as a ham,” he recalled. I told him to go easy on me, because I didn’t want my wife to collect on my insurance policy just yet, he laughed.
He got his start at KKTV in a rather unusual way. The station decided to hold live on-air auditions for its new sports anchor, featuring a different person each night for five nights in a row. The viewers voted and John was the winner.
In the many years that I worked with Owens at KKTV, he coined a name for some of the heaviest snow storms to hit Colorado Springs: a JOTB, a “John Owens tree bender.”
“John is a local legend,” said Liz Haltiwanger, news director. “It’s not going to be easy for any of us, but we have to respect what John knows is best for him and his family.”
Owens adds, “To everyone who has been watching me throughout the years, and I know a lot of you grew up with me, I will miss you. Whenever you see me on the street, please, let’s talk sports.”
His last regular night on the air will be December 11th.
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Wow, You have stayed with KKTV through a lot of growth. Nothing best best wishes for you.
Congratulations and best wishes to a Colorado Springs institution.
Not only was John Owens hired in1980 as described in the article, so was a weekend weatherman; Paul Pack was the one who got the job and was at KKTV for a number of years. Whatever happened to Mr. Pack, what (and where) is he up to now, and when did he leave the station?
Congrats to three decades at KKTV 11 News. You will be missed.
“Have Yourself a Sporting Day” Big Daddy.
Glad to see you step away. Long overdue. Could never figure out how this guy avoided the gutting over there a few years back. Get rid of all the talent, and leave the weakest link of the group who were fired.
It has to do with age and color discrimination. Its fact.
John’s always been a class act and a great guy. He deserves the best.
I wonder if he would be interested in taking on sports radio?
[...] Colorado Springs’ long-time sports director, John Owens, will end his role at the station in December, although he will keep contributing segments to the [...]