FINALLY GETTING SOME AIR KXTA'S DAVE SMITH PREPARED FOR SUCCESS.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

Probably a good thing for Dave Smith that this mid-day sports-talk radio thing has been working out.

``Every 9-to-5 job I've ever had, I was incompetent,'' said Smith, once a JV basketball coach at Canoga Park High. ``This seems like it's the thing I'm best at.''

After bouncing around KXTA-AM's offices in Glendale with a half-dozen partners in almost every time shift there can be since the station launched in the spring of 1997, it's about time Smith has landed right-side up.

Somehow, he has endured at a station that has unnecessarily struggled to maintain a credible lineup because of constant name changes and program- director switches, that has managed to drive out many of its better talk- show hosts and has hired out of market in an attempt to put a jolt in the lineup.

Even more, he's been able to carve out an identity since the end of November when he was joined by Tomm Looney in the noon-to-3 p.m., post-Jim Rome spot.

In the last few weeks, Smith has been a step ahead in the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal situation, the NCAA's investigation of USC basketball player Jeff Trepagnier and the Rick Pitino-to-UCLA rumors. Which makes any opinions he has about the subject matter that much more pertinent.

``I've always had 100-percent confidence in my abilities,'' said Smith, a San Fernando Valley native who graduated from Village Christian and lives in Chatsworth. ``I've never quit working hard because I've always believed if you work hard and have fun, you'll eventually be appreciated.''

It didn't take long for Looney to figure that out.

``He's amazing,'' said Looney, who worked in the station's update booth for a few years before jumping in with Smith when Jeff Biggs was put back on the Lakers beat. ``I imagine the reason why I enjoy working with him is the same reason people enjoy listening to him: The guy is a virtual encyclopedia of sports.

``Dave has become the Matt Drudge of sports talk-show hosts. If Dave is talking about it on Monday, you'll see it on TV or read about it in the newspaper on Tuesday or Wednesday. He has weaved a web of connections that gives the `Looney & Dave Show' a real `Drudge Report of Sports' kind of feel, where you never know if what you hear today will be the big story several days from now.

``It has happened dozens of times since I've worked with him. It's also happened hundreds of times over the years with the handful of other co- hosts he's had.

``I'm there to serve him coffee. He likes it with fake cream and fake sugar.''

With all the time Smith puts in prepping for the show, it's no wonder he needs the coffee. But there's nothing fake about his approach.

Inspired to start a TV sports-talk show in the early '90s, Smith, a journalism major at Cal State Northridge, took lifelong friend Jim Wakefield and became ``The Sports Gods'' for two years on a public-access show on United Cable in Van Nuys. They would book the time and then send the tapes of the shows to other cable systems across L.A.

The two then brokered time on then KIEV-AM in Glendale. For $20,000, they had a 10 p.m.-to-midnight show on Monday nights, selling advertisements during the day to keep their weekly spot every six months.

Eventually, Wakefield wanted to keep his real job as an architect, so Smith persuaded Joey Haim, a friend he met at gym, to be his partner.

For two years, they worked at then all-sports KMAX-FM - again, buying the time for a weekend late-night show. Eventually, they were put in a salary position for the 8-to-midnight weeknight shift and, for the time, Smith was actually getting paid for his career.

After a brief stint at KWNK, Smith and Haim were part of the 1150-AM startup, but again, they were bounced around for a year as the station lineup tried to take shape. Since they weren't on salary, they wondered each week whether it would be their last.

``I always thought I'd be the next guy fired,'' said Smith of the job security. ``According to the rumors, I was always the next to go.''

In January of '98, Haim went. Smith was paired with Ben Maller for a run at a weekly late-night slot, then volleyed into the mid-day when Terry Bradshaw came by for a short stint in the afternoons.

That seemed to be working fine until last summer, a station-hired consultant decided he didn't like the way the Smith-Maller team sounded, so both were terminated.

Smith didn't sulk. A month later, he was back as a fill-in to work with Biggs in the afternoons. More program-director changes happened and David Hall created the latest Smith partnership with Looney.

Meantime, Smith kept doing Dodger pre- and postgame talk shows and presently does the same for UCLA football and basketball. In addition, Smith has volunteered to keep a Saturday morning 8-to-10 a.m. shift during he flies solo and actually has a chance to do some extended commentary that he'd otherwise not get to do.

Without becoming a house man for the Dodgers, Clippers or UCLA - all tenants of the station - Smith's credibility has also landed him as a frequent guest on Fox Sports Net 2's ``Sports Roundtable'' show.

With syndicated sports-talk channels KSPN-AM (1110) and KMPC-AM (1540) surrounding AM-1150 on the dial, the format has never been hotter in L.A. But it's L.A. knowledge and a feel for what works here that Smith says will keep a show like the one he and Looney do a viable product in the marketplace and give them an edge.

``It can work here as long as the lineup is credible and stable and they stop making changes by bringing in quick fixes,'' Smith said. ``The key isn't if you're right or wrong with your opinions. I'm wrong all the time and people call to tell me and Tomm that. That's fine. Call me an idiot.

``But if someone says I'm wrong because I'm unprepared, that would kill me.''

He isn't. So he doesn't have to worry.

THE RANKINGS: L.A. RADIO SPORTS-TALK HOSTS

THE TOP 10

--1. Dave Smith, AM-1150 mid-days: One more prop from partner Tomm Looney: ``I know Dave reads the newspaper at home and surfs the Internet like Marco Polo. When he comes into work, though, he has few actual notes on paper. They're almost all in his head. When you hear him on the air spouting off facts, statistics, observations and opinions - 99 percent of it is off the top of his head.''

--2. Joe McDonnell, KSPN 1110 afternoon drive: The perennial champ in this category will get his talk-show legs soon. He has the backing of a known commodity and the freedom to let it rip.

--3. Steve Hartman, XTRA 690 weekdays: His TV work on KCBS has helped give him an L.A. presence, which makes you feel he's not that far away in San Diego.

--4. Tomm Looney, AM-1150 mid-days: Not just a complement to Smith but a wrecking ball himself. If his job is to keep Smith from talking over listeners heads, Looney has enough knowledge and humor on his own to make it work, too.

--5. Larry Burnett, KRLA 570 Lakers talk: The William Schattner of L.A. sportscasters manages to make the show topical without sounding like Jerry Buss' personal butler.

--6. You know, Brian Golden would be a perfect fit in the 1-to-3 slot that they're trying to fill on KSPN.

--7. Ross Porter, AM-1150 Dodger talk: An outlet for him to take those stats and use 'em all over again.

--8. Chick Hearn, KRLA 570 Lakers talk: Could you image Scully doing this with the Dodgers?

--9. Irv Kaze, KRLA 870 Saturday nights: A magazine-style feature presentation consistently has top-notch guests talking about timely subject matter. Maybe the key is not having callers.

--10. Lee Klein, AM-1150 weeknights: Lately, we've become inclined to listen. And we're not even bored.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

--1. Arnie Spanier, AM-1150 afternoon drive: The McRib sandwich of radio: An overhyped, undigestible piece of fatty, oversauced pork. Louie Anderson has his eye on you.

--2. Lee ``Hacksaw'' Hamilton, XTRA-AM 690 afternoon drive: Like the beeping you hear when a truck is backing up.

--3. Bill Werndl, XTRA-AM 690 weekdays: Fits with Steve Hartman like a pair of white athletic socks does with black dress shoes. As fun to listen to as a stomach gurgling after eating a mayonnaise sandwich.

--4. Doug Krikorian, KSPN-AM 1110 afternoon drive: Nice to have you back on the radio, Doug, but get back to writing.

--5. ``The Third String,'' AM-1150 late nights: Actually makes us wistful for Dave Denholm.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: (color) Like a guy you'd meet at a bar, Dave Smith enjoys a good beer and talking sports. Unlike the Average Joe, however, Smith knows what he's talking about.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box: THE RANKINGS: L.A. RADIO SPORTS-TALK HOSTS (see text)