Zoel Lopez in the Mornings

Hola! Como esta? Muy bien. Gracias Okay, that's about my extent of speaking Spanish. So let's get that out of the way. I'm assuming because you stopped here you actually want to know more about me, the Zoel-Man.

I grew up as an air force brat, living in Anchorage, AK for 13 years, Great Falls, MT for 3 years, and then finally settling in the four states in 2002. I have two younger brothers, who are taller than me sadly. I graduated from Labette County High School in 2004 (Go Grizzlies!), earned my Assoicate in Arts at Coffeyville Community College (Go Red Ravens!) in 2006, and graduated in May of 2009 with my Bachelor of Science degree in Communications with a minor in Marketing from Pittsburg State University (Go Gorillas!).

I like to spend what little time I have away from the radio station watching movies, playing some PS3 (I'm a Madden-holic), hanging out with my friends, snooping around the Internetz, visiting small towns in the area, and catching a Royals or Chiefs game in Kansas City.

I began broadcasting at the young age of 9 for Radio Aahs KYAK 650AM in Anchorage, AK. I contributed "Pet Reports" to the morning show every so often. It was there that I got my first taste of radio and knew what I wanted to be "when I grew up." When I moved to the Four States in 2002, one of the first jobs I took was board op'ing for Kansas City Royals and Chiefs games, as well as high school and college sports for a radio station in Coffeyville, KS. In 2006,

My goal is simple: to entertain you, the listener. With obscure facts, studies, up and coming internet trends, celebrity news, and our own personal brand of humor, we want to help you start your day off on the right foot. I love hearing from you, so don't be shy and drop me an e-mail or call week day mornings between 6 and 10.

Basketball Jones
Posted by: Zoel
February 7, 2012 - 10:10 AM

Doing Football, Basketball, and Baseball play-by-play...it always seemed to me that Basketball season was the most sluggish...high school basketball...20 games in almost 4 months time. It's hard to believe, though, we're in the final quarter of the season. Then it'll be sub-state tournaments, State tourneys, and then baseball.

Tonight the St. Paul Indians enter in to their final stretch with home games again Jayhawk-Linn, Southeast, Altoona-Midway, and Crest with road games against Oswego and Chetopa. 

Get ready, the end of the season is looming.

Munchies
Posted by: Zoel
January 31, 2012 - 10:21 AM

We're about 5 days away from the big game Sunday and for the last 5 years or so now I've always put together a party with a small group of friends. Maybe it's because I'm hungry now...or I really like junk food...I figured I'd put together a list of must have food items for the big game. (If my wife is reading this...this list is non-negotible...unless you're doing the shopping then get whatever you'd like dear!)

1. Chips and Dip (dip can be ranch, French Onion, salsa, 7 Layer Dip)
2. Hot Wings (Dear wife: I will compromise on mild wings if you're not eating them, otherwise bring the fire baby!)
3. Pizza (Roll form or in pizza slice, I don't care. Bring the greasy goodness

Making honorable mention is lil' smokies. Because let's admit it, when the bigger items come out, no body wants to mess around with little smokies. So what's on your must have food items list for the Big Game? Go to facebook and tell me today!

Radio Auction
Posted by: Zoel
January 17, 2012 - 7:58 AM

Coming up this Saturday morning ( Jan. 21st) is the Radio Auction on our family of stations. We have some terrific items lined up, so if you have some Christmas money still burining a hole in your pocket, this would be a perfect time to find great deals. Items include gift certificates to some of your favorite restaurants, big ticket items half off, and so much more. We'll have the numbers posted later this week, but if you want to listen but will be out of the listening area, you can follow along on our online stream by clicking on the upper right hand corner for the NCCC Listen Live button. 

Neosho County Basketball
Posted by: Zoel
January 13, 2012 - 10:56 AM

Hot 105 is your home for NCCC Panther athletics in 2012! That means every conference game home and away this basketball and baseball season will be heard on Hot 105 as well as on the stream in the upper right hand corner. This week, the Panthers knocked off their cross country rival, Allen County. Now they play host to Johnson County this weekend. Tip off is at 6PM, with the pregame show begining at 5:45. Be sure to come out and support the Panthers and if you can't make it you can always listen online or on the radio! 

Top 40 of 2011
Posted by: Zoel
December 28, 2011 - 9:43 AM

Hope everyone had a terrific Christmas...now on to the REAL party :) Be sure to wake up Friday morning as I recap the Top 40 songs of 2011 as voted on by YOU the listeners of Southeast Kansas. We're not looking at what Wichita, Kansas City, Tulsa, or Joplin played...nope this is what YOU wanted to hear all year long. Believe me...after counting all the requests on the phone, Twitter, and FB...I'm done with counting until next year. lol Be sure to wake up Friday morning starting at 6AM when we countdown the biggest hits of 2011! 

St. Paul Indian Basketball
Posted by: Zoel
November 28, 2011 - 6:29 AM

Can you believe it? High School basketball is just around the corner, and by around the corner I mean THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! The Indians take on the Frontenac Raiders at home. These two teams always meet up for some terrific games. It all begins this Friday night at 5:30 with the Derailed Commodity Pregame Show. You can listen online by clicking on the "Listen Live" link on the upper right hand corner. Get ready, basketball is back!...and I'm not talking about the NBA.

Time to give "Thanks!"
Posted by: Zoel
November 18, 2011 - 10:20 AM

Like you, next week is going to be crazy busy so I wanted to take this little bit of down time to tell you what I'm thankful for, because there's quite a bit. i'll try not to bore you with details. First of all, I'm thankful for my family and my healthy baby girl Kyndall. I've never known how much a little child could bring so much joy in this crazy world. I'm thankful to have a job that I love doing. Like all jobs, they come with their ups and downs but at the end of the day I go home and realize I still love what I do and it doesn't feel like an actual job to me. And I'm thankful for you, the listeners. I realize my show isn't always the best or the funniest, yet you tune in. Thank you for making me apart of your morning routine and listening to Hot 105. I know I joke in saying we have 5 listeners, but I know it's more like 7 and I appreciate that (ok...so it's probably a little more than 7). So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for listening and making Hot 105 one of the many stations I'm sure you flip throughout the day. Thank you :) 

Caney Valley @ Rock Creek
Posted by: Zoel
November 9, 2011 - 6:06 AM

 This Friday night, Hot 105 will broadcast the Caney Valley @ Rock Creek Class 3A playoff game. Pregame show begins at 6:30 with kick off at 7:00. You will be able to listen online by clicking on the listen live link in the upper right hand corner of the page. Be sure to tell everyone to tune in this Friday night to Caney Valley Bullpup football on Hot 105 and KKOY.com!

High School Football Playoffs
Posted by: Zoel
November 2, 2011 - 10:07 AM

Congrats going out to all of the area teams who have survived the first round of the playoffs. Last night, our two stations Hot 105 and Z95.3 were lucky enough to carry the ONLY two playoff games in the state of Kansas. Luckily both Chanute and Erie won.

On Saturday, the Erie Red Devils travel to Caney Valley to take on the Bullpups for round 2. Hot 105 will have the broadcast on Saturday. You can listen on the air as well as online with the NCCC Listen Live link at the upper right hand side of the page.

Good luck to all of the area teams this week in playoff action!

Halloween Costumes
Posted by: Zoel
October 21, 2011 - 8:29 AM

We're 10 days away from Halloween and I still haven't got my girls their costumes yet. Does that make me a bad parent? Don't answer that. Thinking about costumes though, it brought me back to some of my favorite...and least favorite costumes from when I was a kid. We all have those that we'd love to forget and some we would probably love to wear again even as an adult. My favorite costumes though now as an adult isn't the ones that were store bought, but the ones my mom and grandma put together.

I grew up in the Power Rangers era. I had the toys, raced home from school to watch the shows, you know what every kid does when they find their favorite show (oh wait...DVR has ruined that now). My favorite Ranger was the Green Ranger and one year I remember everybody dressing up as the Green Ranger for Halloween, but what made mine stand out was my mom sewing all of the wrist guards and boot designs. Not only that but she actually made the shield as well...not too many others had that. I always remember that Halloween as my favorite because of the attention to detail she had put into the costume, even though she HATED us boys watching the show.

Costumes...companies can't make them like momma used to.

Just Win Baby
Posted by: Zoel
October 11, 2011 - 6:55 AM

This past weekend, as probably most know by now, Al Davis passed away. When you think of Kansas City Chiefs football, you can't help but think of the rivalry between them and Al Davis' Raiders. Even though the Raiders have had a few down seasons (by a few I mean 10) it seemed like anytime it was Raider week, it was the Chiefs v. Al Davis. It didn't matter what their record was, just beat Oakland. Now that he's gone, the rivalry just doesn't feel the same. It probably will this year, with the importance of his passing and winning for him, but next season and seasons after I can't help but wonder without Davis' presence on the TV and sideline, will the rivalry lose it's appeal?

I miss the rains in Africa
Posted by: Zoel
October 5, 2011 - 6:18 AM

Ok so that's probably not how the song by Toto goes, but that's what I keep thinking they say so I'll live in my little bilssful ignorant world. ANYWHO, so this morning on the show I talked about discontinued food items that we miss. It got me thinking about how I go to Toys R Us with the little ones. Maybe it's just because I'm grown up now or toys aren't what they used to be (YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT), but going through the Toy aisle isn't nearly as fun as I remember it being. It's not that I don't enjoy reliving the little kid side of me from time to time, but it just seems like going through the toy aisle is more of a "meh" experience.

You would you probably be inclined to think "Oh...well it's because you're grown up"...HA! I'm usually the one running to the toy aisle first and not my 6 year old daughter. Seriously though, when I was little I would always tug on my parents shirt and ask them to go to the Toys or electrontics. My 6 year old...not so much. So it makes me wonder, what's wrong with the Toy aisle these days? Is it because of electronics/computers/internet/video games that the toy aisle isn't what it used to be? Of course...that won't be the case here in a few months when the Holiday Shopping Season begins and I may be eating my own words...

My First Kiss Went A Little Like This
Posted by: Zoel
September 21, 2011 - 10:57 AM

This morning, I talked about the 6 worst types of kisses. After going through the list, a thought popped in to my head: why aren't first time kisses the worst? Think about it, unless you're a 40 year old virgin (which there's nothing wrong with BTW), most of our first "kisses" are probably when we were younger. You know, the kindergarten through 5th grade I did it because it was a dare kind of kiss. Thanks to the wonderful world of Disney, we've probably seen kissing at some young age.

I can remember my first kiss. It was awkwardly bad as much as it was quick. But if you thik I'm kissing and telling, go read a romance novel. However, I do have to ask do you remember your first kiss?

Meet The Panthers!
Posted by: Zoel
September 13, 2011 - 6:09 AM

No it's not a sequal to the Dinero / Stiller movie series; it's a family friendly event going on at NCCC Gymnasium. Be sure to bring your kids ages 2 - 12 to get them signed up to be "Panther Pals". They get a free T-Shirt and will get into all home NCCC Basketball games for free. Just another way to save money and do family events :)

Riverside Park
Posted by: Zoel
September 6, 2011 - 7:00 AM

There's not too much from my early childhood I remember. There is one early memory that I do have and that's coming down for the summer from Alaska and visiting my family here in Kansas. I always remember going to Riverside Park in Independence. I remember when they actually had the fighter jets you could get in and "pilot" and the carousel that always seemed like it was too short. However, my favorite thing to do at Riverside Park is ride the mini-train. This weekend, I took my baby to have her first "train ride". Even as an adult now, I still get that same feeling as a child riding that train. Now sharing it with my daughter makes it even more special for me. I honestly hope the city of Independence appreciates how great of a facility they have with Riverside Park and the fun, inexpensive actvities a family of 4 or 5 can do without breaking the bank. I'm sure I'm not the only one with plenty of memories there. It makes me appreciate some of the little fun things I did as a kid here in Southeast Kansas that I can now share with my kiddo. :)