Boise State history, family legacy, and a local sports story with steady momentum.
This episode turns the Sparks family story into a compact Boise State portrait, starting with a stretch of local lore that still lands with real force.

Cumulus Media Boise
316 episodes listed below
Boise sports talk with Bronco muscle.
Prater & The Ballgame turns Boise State athletics into a local conversation, mixing spring-practice notes, NFL Draft chatter, and Bronco what-if arguments. The show is casual, quick-moving, and rooted in the local sports room.
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Prater & The Ballgame is Boise sports talk with a strong Bronco spine and a casual local pulse. The show sounds most at home when it is arguing through Boise State football in public, with enough numbers to make the debate useful and enough banter to keep it from turning into a spreadsheet. A quarterback what-if can become a full segment, especially when Taylen Green, Ashton Jeanty, sacks, interceptions, and offensive shape are all on the table. Spring football gets the same treatment. Tackling drills, defensive back openings, hype circles, center communication, and breakout defensive linemen all become part of the running conversation. The show likes names before they are obvious. Stewart Taufa and Roman Kaywood are treated as players listeners should learn now, not later. Bob Buehler brings a Boise State Athletics voice into Bronco Focus segments, adding practice detail and player context. The voices can move from a wrong button on the board to a discussion of Terrence Brown’s secondary without losing the room. That looseness is central to the show. It feels like local radio that trusts the listener to keep up. Boise itself is never far away. Weather swings, Treasure Valley geography, live chat, contests, Burger & Brew events, the Taco Bell hotline, and KTIK station rhythms all shape the atmosphere. The sports menu is wider than football, with Boise State basketball, the NFL Draft, AC Boise soccer, Steelheads hockey, Washington State football, and NBA postseason talk appearing in the mix. Still, the Broncos are the home base. The show also finds room for human-interest sports stories, including Nate Sparks, Debbie Sparks, Tyus, and Chiari Sparks as an athletic family with Boise State roots and national-stage momentum. Its best moments come when the local and the analytical overlap. A stat matters more when it changes how Bronco Nation remembers a season. A practice note lands harder when it points to a player the audience may soon be watching closely. Prater & The Ballgame is not polished into blandness. It repeats, jokes, pivots, and occasionally wanders. For Boise-area fans, that is the point: the show treats sports news like something already being argued about in the next room.
Made for: For Boise State fans, Treasure Valley sports regulars, and listeners who want local radio texture with real football detail. It especially suits people who follow spring camp, roster movement, and Bronco what-if debates closely.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its Boise-specific fluency: local banter, KTIK call-in energy, and granular Boise State analysis share the same lane. It does not separate community chatter from sports detail; it lets one feed the other.
Mike Prater and Johnny "Ballgame'' Mallory host Idaho Sports Talk - the longest-running sports talk show in Idaho.
Boise's sports pulse comes with draft-board detail and enough studio mischief to keep you from checking scores.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Boise State history, family legacy, and a local sports story with steady momentum.
This episode turns the Sparks family story into a compact Boise State portrait, starting with a stretch of local lore that still lands with real force.
Loose Boise sports-radio banter with grounded NFL draft cornerback talk and local hooks.
The segment stays rooted in Boise sports-radio banter and NFL draft talk, with Prater and Johnny Ballgame keeping the tone loose and local. It moves from station chatter and food jokes to listener reminders, then settles into corners, where the focus shifts to why the position…
A CBS cameraman at hole 12 brings sharp Masters detail on traditions, player habits, and shots that linger.
Mark Bowden gives this Masters episode a grounded vantage point from hole 12, where tournament week comes through in fried-chicken traditions, Waffle House mornings, and the small visual cues that suggest a player is settled.
A hometown pro-soccer debut with real stakes and Boise texture.
This segment gives Boise a clear local sports-radio angle on AC Boise's first home game, the new stadium, and Brad Stith's role in getting the project across the finish line.

SMU roster talk from the Hilltop edge.





Hokies talk with memory and bite.
Boise State beat Washington State 31–10 in Pullman after the teams were tied 10–10 late in the third quarter.
Greg Woods of the Spokesman-Review joins Prater & The Ballgame to assess Washington State’s 1–6 start and its quarterback change.
Steve Young went 10-0 on ESPN’s GameDay picks as top-ranked teams fell across a chaotic college-football weekend.
John Canzano joins Idaho Sports Talk with Prater and the Ballgame to introduce The Bald-Faced Truth Unfiltered, a weekday noon program airing on KTIK in Boise.
Prater and the Ballgame spend the show on the Sparks family and the Boise State roots that hold it all together.
This episode explores how Boise State's football program might have differed if quarterback Taylen Green had stayed instead of transferring, analyzing impacts on bowl games, recruiting, and the team's 2024 College Football Playoff chances.
A sports talk radio show discussing Idaho sports topics including Boise State football, the NFL Draft, and local teams, with casual banter about weather.
This episode features an interview with Boise State's new defensive backs coach Terrence Brown, focusing on his efforts to improve tackling through live drills and the challenges of rebuilding the secondary for the upcoming Spring Game.
Bob Beeler discusses Boise State football player Roman Kaywood, a redshirt sophomore defensive end who had a breakout performance last season and is poised for a bright future.
This episode features an interview with Greg Woods, who covers Washington State Cougars football, discussing Kirby Moore's new role as head coach and key observations from spring camp, including defensive disruptions and position battles.
They come out hungry.
This episode is a sports talk radio show discussing the Masters golf tournament, NFL Draft preparations, Boise State spring camp updates, and local sports events in Idaho.
Bob Beeler previews Boise State's private Saturday scrimmage, discussing what to watch for, including insights on freshman quarterbacks from coach Zach Hill's comments.
Idaho Sports Talk interviews Mark Bowden, a Treasure Valley resident and CBS cameraman covering his 38th consecutive Masters from the green tower at Augusta National’s 12th hole.
This episode discusses Boise State basketball news about Andrew Meadow entering the transfer portal and highlights a dramatic last-second goal by Jack Adams of the Idaho Steelheads in a hockey game against Kansas City.
Prater and The Ballgame center the segment on AC Boise's first home game.
Boise State basketball coach Leon Rice discusses the team's disappointing season missing the NCAA tournament and reflects on March Madness.