Jim Stone will sign off sometime around 11:30 p.m. Friday night, and with it will come an end of an era in San Diego TV.

After 20 years at KNSD Channel 7/39, San Diego's NBC affiliate, Stone has been laid off. He'll work the 6 and 11 p.m. news shows Friday, as well as Chargers games in New York on Sunday and at home next week, and he'll be done at the station.

Hopefully, he's not riding off into the sunset. For 20 years, Stone has been the most visible of San Diego's TVs sportscasters. No one in town gets to more things, has helped more causes or been more classy than Stone.

Not unlike news outlets across the country, KNSD has cut about one-third of its workforce over the last year. Popular on-air personalities like Pat Brown and Ken Kramer were let go. Stone's dismissal is a continuation of that.

"I'm stunned and obviously emotional about this," Stone said. "I've known it was coming for a while, and I've worked through it the last few months.

"I'll miss the people here, but I'll most miss being in the press box for games, being in the locker rooms after games, talking to people, players and coaches.

"In this business, working at one place for 20 years is a long time."

As well as being a strong on-air presence, calling San Diego State and USD basketball on radio, Stone has been a visible face in the community. He has raised more than $1 million for the South Bay Family YMCA and Children's Hospital. He has been an active member of the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk.

"I think those things are what I'm most proud of," Stone said.

A 1974 graduate of the University of Missouri, Stone worked in Reno, Nev., Springfield, Ill., and Harrisburg, Pa., before coming to San Diego.

Both of his children, Mindy and Zach, graduated from Rancho Bernardo High. Like her father, Mindy also graduated from Missouri. She's working as the lead reporter at KKTV in Colorado Springs. Zach, the public address voice of RB baseball for several years, is on track to graduate from San Francisco State.

"I'm a San Diegan now," Jim Stone said. "I came here on three one-month contracts and have been here 20 years. I'd love to find a job in TV or radio here, but I think I have a communications skill set to help a team or company."

With Stone gone, Jim Laslavic and Derek Torgerson make up the sports department at KNSD. Laslavic is a respected professional. Torgerson, who is a respected producer, is a disaster on the air. He tries way too hard to be funny, and his segments turn clownish.

"How do those old sayings go?" Stone asked. "All good things must come to an end. When one door closes, another one opens.

"I'm proud of what I've accomplished here in 20 years. But I'm beyond proud of my children and the fact my wife (Jill) and I will celebrate out 35th anniversary in December.

"I have a lot of great memories at KNSD. Working at this station has had a big impact on my life. In the end, though, family is the thing that really matters."

Walton calls it quits

Bill Walton, an NBA analyst on ESPN since the network started coverage of the league in 2002-03, has decided not to return.

Walton ---- the former Helix High, UCLA and NBA standout ---- missed all of last season after major back surgery.

"As I return after a grueling multiyear, life-threatening, life-changing ordeal with back problems, it's time to dedicate the rest of my life to service," Walton said in an ESPN press release. "It's great to be back in the game. Thanks everybody for everything."

Norby Williamson, the executive vice president of production for ESPN, was sorry to see Walton go.

"Bill is a Hall of Fame talent, both as a player and broadcaster," Williamson said. "NBA fans will miss his distinct personality.

"We appreciate all of his contributions to ESPN and share best wishes toward continued health and happiness."

Walton turned 57 on Thursday.

Around the diamond

-- The World Series is over, but there is one live baseball telecast left. Saturday at 5 p.m., the MLB Network will have live coverage of the 2009 Rising Star Showcase, spotlighting the best players in the Arizona Fall League. Among those scheduled to play are former San Diego State ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg, former Fallbrook High and Arizona State ace Mike Leake and shortstop Lance Zawadzki, who played for Double-A San Antonio in the Padres' system last season.

-- ESPN News will announce the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners live at noon on Tuesday.

-- Just days after calling the World Series, Fox's Joe Buck will jump back into the NFL for Sunday's 10 a.m. game (Cardinals-Bears).

Horsing around

-- The 14-race, two-day Breeders' Cup from Santa Anita starts at 12:30 p.m. Friday with six races on ESPN2. Saturday's early races are on ABC and start at 10:30 a.m. The action switches to ESPN at 12:30 p.m. and includes the Cup's two big races: the $3 million Turf and the $5 million Classic. Joe Tessitore will host the telecasts with analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss. Kenny Mayne, handicapper Hank Goldberg, Jeannine Edwards, Jay Privman, Caton Bredar, Nick Luck, Tom Rinaldi, Bill Nack and Rick Reilly will also work the telecasts. Trevor Denman will call the races.

-- ESPN will have 40 cameras at the Breeders' Cup, including two on a crane, one in a helicopter, one inside the starting gate and one in the stewards' room. There will also be a slow-motion camera at the finish line.

-- Felix Taverna's "Race & Sports Radio" show will originate from Santa Anita on Saturday. The show, which can be heard on XX Sports Radio 1090, airs from 9-10 a.m. Taverna was instrumental in getting colored saddle towels on horses for better identification. This is the first time in the 26 years of the Breeders' Cup that horses will wear colored saddle towels.

Hoop scoop

The college basketball season tips off with three games from the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer on Monday on ESPNU.

Florida International plays North Carolina at 4 p.m., with Albany-Syracuse at 6 p.m. and Murray State-Cal at 8 p.m.

The college basketball season starts in full next week.

Local notes

-- San Diego State will host unbeaten and No. 6-ranked Texas Christian at 1 p.m. Saturday at Qualcomm Stadium, the sixth different starting time this season for an SDSU football game. TCU is one of three Mountain West Conference teams in the Associated Press poll, joining No. 17 Utah and No. 25 Brigham Young. TCU is also No. 6 in the BCS standings. The game will air live on Versus, with Tim Neverett and Glenn Parker calling the action. Lindsay Soto will patrol the sidelines.

-- Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will call the Chargers-Giants game at 1 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

-- ESPN 800 AM is now ESPN Deportes. ESPN Radio in San Diego has shifted to 98.9 FM.

Thursday night football

The NFL Network's eight-week schedule kicks off next Thursday with the Bears-49ers at 5:20 p.m. Bob Papa and former Lions general manager Matt Millen are the play-by-play team.

The schedule includes six Thursday games, including the Giants-Broncos on Thanksgiving night. There is a Saturday game on Dec. 19, featuring the Cowboys and Saints.

The Chargers will meet the Titans in Tennessee at 4 p.m. on Christmas Day.

Saluting the military

With Veterans Day on Wednesday, TV networks are trying to draw attention to our men and women in uniform.

-- Saturday, ESPN's "College GameDay" will originate from Colorado Springs, where Army takes on Air Force. CBS College Sports has the game at 12:30 p.m.

-- Sunday, ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" will air the first TV interview with Marie Tillman, the widow of former NFL player Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan. Marie Tillman will also appear on ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown" as will former Steelers running back Rocky Bleier, who was injured in Vietnam.

-- Also Sunday, "Outside the Lines" will broadcast live from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

-- Tuesday, "Mike and Mike in the Morning" will broadcast from the newly commissioned USS New York. The ship and its motto ("Never Forget") honors the victims and first responders of the Sept. 11 attacks.

-- Fox Sports, in conjunction with Armed Forces Entertainment, will present at two-hour special "Fox NFL Sunday" from Afghanistan. Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson will do their show among the troops in the Middle East.

Ratings game

-- The World Series averaged an 11.9 rating with a 19 share of the audience over six games for Fox. The average audience was 19.4 million viewers. Those numbers are up 39 percent over last year. This was the most-watched World Series since 2004.

-- Over a 20-day period, Fox aired 12 postseason baseball games and five NFL games, with a total viewing audience of 290 million.

-- Last Sunday's Raiders-Chargers game on CBS drew a 29.6 rating in San Diego with a 56 share of the audience.

-- Last Sunday's NFL doubleheader on Fox ---- fueled by the Vikings-Packers game ---- pulled in 29.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched program on TV since the Feb. 22 Academy Awards. In Minneapolis, the game did a staggering 47 rating with a 76 share of the audience. In Milwaukee, the game did a 45.7 rating with a 70 share. The game also was the most-watched program last Sunday in seven of the NFL's 24 markets.

-- Last Monday's Saints-Falcons game did an 8.9 rating with 12.374 million viewers, winning the night for ESPN.

-- Notre Dame's rout of Washington State last Saturday did a 1.4 rating for NBC, the lowest-rated show of any of the four major networks last week.

Around the dial

-- ESPN's college football coverage this weekend includes four of the remaining seven unbeaten teams. Coverage kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday on ESPN2 with No. 5 Boise State (8-0) at Louisiana Tech. Saturday starts with Northwestern at No. 8 Iowa (9-0) at 9 a.m. on ESPN. At 4 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2, Vanderbilt will meet No. 1-ranked Florida (8-0). Saturday's late regional game at 5 p.m. on ABC is Connecticut at No. 4 Cincinnati (8-0). West Coast viewers will get the USC-Arizona State game instead of Cincinnati.

-- ESPN's "Monday Night Football" game pits the Steelers against the Broncos, which should be of interest to Chargers fans.

-- ESPN2 has live coverage of the MLS playoff match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA. Kickoff is 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

-- Tennis great Andre Agassi will appear on "60 Minutes" Sunday, discussing his drug use in 1997.

-- USA Hockey, in cooperation with NBC Sports and the NHL, will announce the 23-man U.S. men's hockey roster for the 2010 Olympics during NBC's broadcast of the NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1. That game features the Bruins and Flyers playing at Boston's historic Fenway Park. Team USA is scheduled to play its first Olympic game on Feb. 16 in Vancouver.

-- Brent Barry, a 14-year NBA veteran, has joined NBA-TV as a studio analyst.

John Maffei's TV/Radio column appears every Friday. He can be reached at 760-740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.