WHAT’S IN YOUR OFFICE?

CHIP HOWARD Radio host, KZNE (1150 AM, 93.7 FM)

Chip Howard’s o ce in the Bryan Broadcasting area of Crystal Park Plaza looks a lot like his radio show sounds. ere’s a stack of new books on his desk, pictures of shing conquests, a photo of a bloodied Nolan Ryan on the mound and a wall of Willie Nelson images.

Howard points to a shelf of family photos and says, “Family means the most to me by far.”

But he also points to Nelson: “He’s right behind the family. My wife might argue otherwise, but he’s second.”

Howard’s local media career began in 1979 and his long-running SportsTalk show airs on KZNE weekdays from 4 to 6 p.m. He notes that he’s not the longest-serving local radio host, not with WTAW’s Scott DeLucia in the building.

“You know he’s a lot older than I am,” he says with a laugh. ere’s a thick dangling pile of press passes from the many sporting events he’s covered, including from World Series, Final Four and Stanley Cup games. A cardboard cutout of a glaring Homer Simpson stands behind Howard’s desk, like an incompetent-but-hilarious bodyguard. And there’s a photo of a sail sh he nabbed in Miami.

“My wife says at my funeral she’s not going to have any pictures of anything but sh,” he says.

Howard calls his o ce messy and unorganized, but laughs when he’s reminded that the writer and photographer in the room also work with Robert Cessna at e Eagle, another of his longtime media pals, who is not known for the tidiest of desks.

“It’s organized for me,” Howard says of his o ce. “I know where everything is.”

Story ROB CLARK | Photos CASSIE STRICKER

These are my girls [Lindsey and Lesley] at Yellowstone, and Old Faithful. They were 5 and 2 at the time. That was our fi rst trip to Yellowstone. I love Yellowstone Park. I think that’s my favorite place to go. We went last winter, we did a winter visit. That was phenomenal. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures. They’re very embarrassed that I have this picture with their headdresses on.

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That’s my dad, Charles. I’m a third. He died eight years ago. He had pictures of me literally in diapers, taking me fi shing when I was younger than 2. He instilled that in me for sure. We take the grandkids fi shing, and I’m trying to do the same with them to bring them up right.

That’s the only autograph that I have. Jack Nicklaus. That I found, I think when I changed offi ces, so maybe fi ve or six years ago. I’m cleaning out stuff and I found this picture. That’s when he came and announced the Traditions Club project. We’re just standing out in the middle of a fi eld. I saw this and I mailed it to him with a story, I said, ‘This is when you came and did the Traditions.’ I sent it off to him, and I’m telling you two weeks later he came back with it signed. That was pretty cool. I really enjoy that picture. And we didn’t talk about golf, we talked about fi shing. He’s a big fi sherman.

The Nolan picture is pretty cool. I grew up in North Dallas and Richardson, and I’m a lifelong Rangers fan, which is very painful. … I actually covered him [at KENR in Houston] when he was with the Astros. Nolan was the only thing they had going for them that year. I’ve been around him a lot, I’ve talked to him a lot. I was at his 5,000-career-strikeout game at the old, old ballpark, the Turnpike Stadium in Arlington before they moved. I saw him pitch his fi fth no-hitter in Houston.

This one I took. This was at a concert, down at the Smart Centre in Sugar Land. I took those pictures, so my wife had them blown up. [I’ve seen Willie Nelson in concert] between 25 and 30 times. We’ve missed out the last year and a half. In fact, we saw him in Key West in February before everything went crazy last year. That was one of his last concerts.

I’m very proud of this one. That’s the biggest rainbow trout I’ve ever caught. It’s the biggest rainbow that the guides in Taos, New Mexico, have ever guided to catch. That was about 10 years ago. I was with a guide, and he had spotted the fi sh behind this boulder in the middle of a river. I dropped a fl y, like a grasshopper, which is a top dry fl y, over the boulder, and he took it. I was over here and the guide went over there and the guide netted it. And if he hadn’t done that I wouldn’t have landed a fi sh like that in a river that size with the water. There’s no way, I don’t think, I could’ve landed that fi sh if you had to fi ght him for 10 minutes or whatever. I’ve lost smaller fi sh than that before. Homer’s a big part of what I do. My family, whenever there’s a scenario that will fi t with a Simpsons episode, we have Simpsons quotes by the barrelful. I don’t know if it’s good or bad that my grown daughters still quote The Simpsons. I’ve been a fan since they came on the air. I’ve seen every episode more than once. I still watch them. I still watch reruns. I fi nd the pop culture just fascinating. I try to keep up a little bit with pop culture. It’s just so expertly written. Conan O’Brien wrote one of the best episodes, one of the most famous episodes, “The Monorail.” … I’ve had Harry Shearer on the show. I’ve had Nancy Cartwright on the show, the voice of Bart. So that was pretty cool. I need to get Homer on, get Dan [Castellaneta] on.

That is Lord Howard’s Cup, from our “Friday Fearless Football Forecast.” That is honestly the most popular thing that I do. It’s amazing how serious people are about wanting to compete. We have hundreds of people signed up to pick games every year. ... As we dub it, America’s most loved football pick ’em contest. I guess around 2000 was the fi rst year we started getting the trophy out. We do it like the Stanley Cup. Everyone who wins the trophy gets to take it for 24 hours anywhere they want, as long as they promise to bring it back. I’m not sure what all has been done with the trophy.

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