What has 54 members, blankets New England, and always has its Sox on?

That would be the Boston Red Sox radio network, which began the 2002 season Monday afternoon.

Of the six New England states with Sox network stations in them, Maine has the most with 16.

Of those 16 stations, perhaps none got the regular season off to as festive a start as Bangor all-sports station WZON (620 AM), which had an opening day cookout on the station grounds at 861 Broadway Monday afternoon.

“It was unbelievable. It was almost pouring rain most of the time and we still went through about 25 pounds of hot dogs,” said WZON program director Dale Duff. “I’d say we must have had 150 people or so. They just kept streaming in.”

This is the ninth year the folks at WZON have carried the Red Sox and the third they’ve hosted an opening-day cookout.

“The first one we had a couple years ago was maybe the biggest. Last year it was snowing, so we didn’t have as many,” Duff said. “We thought we’d have a lower turnout this year, but we cooked every hot dog we had in two hours. I think that’s over 200 hot dogs… I think some people had more than one.”

The Sports Zone bought the hot dogs, buns and charcoal while Frito Lay provided chips along with a traditional baseball treat: Cracker Jacks. Two tents were set up to provide some cover from the rain.

WZON’s grillmaster was traffic guy Carey Haskell, who was dishing them out as quickly as he could.

“It is the truest form of Red Sox talk,” Duff said. “For the most part, it’s a bunch of people talking about the players and the team and how they think they’re going to do, hoping against hope this is the year.”

Other local stations carrying Boston’s 162 games include WBYA of Camden/Islesboro (105.5 FM), Rockland’s WRKD (1450 AM), Ellsworth’s WDEA (1370 AM), Houlton’s WHOU (100.1 FM), WSKW (1160 AM) of Skowhegan, WCTB (93.5 FM) of Fairfield, Calais’ WQDY (1230 AM), and Augusta’s WFAU (1280 AM).

NESN has golf to a tee

New England Sports Network will debut a one-hour special Sunday titled Profiles to a Tee – New England Golf Stars.

Several New England natives will be profiled on the show, which airs at 9 p.m., including Rhode Island golfers Brad Faxon of Barrington and Billy Andrade of Bristol; Massachusetts natives James Driscoll from Chestnut Hill, Allen Doyle of Norwood and Pat Bradley of Westford; and Patty Sheehan of Middlebury, Vt.; and Jane Blalock of Portsmouth, N.H.

NESN’s preview tape made no mention of any Mainers, but some may be mentioned in the show.

FSNNE gets a Beacon

Fox Sports Net New England has won a 2002 Beacon Award for excellence in public affairs throughout the cable industry in the category of customers, local programming/series. The award is presented by the Cable Television Public Affairs Association.

The award was won primarily for FSNNE’s on-air campaign called “We Remember the Moments.” The campaign featured New England sports fans recalling where they were during some of New England’s most dramatic sports moments from the last 20 years. Those moments include Doug Flutie’s “Hail Mary” completion to Gerard Phelan against Miami or Carlton Fisk’s game-winning home run in game six of the 1975 World Series. Also featured in the campaign were a mural depicting those moments and a special Boston Celtics halftime ceremony.

CONNECTICUT (4)

WTIC 1080 AM Hartford

WILI 1400 AM Willimantic

WINY 1350 AM Putnam

WSUB 980 AM New London

MAINE (16)

WZON 620 AM Bangor

WBYA 105.5 FM Camden

WRKD 1450 AM Rockland

WJAB 1440 AM Portland

WCLZ 95.5 FM Topsham

WDEA 1370 AM Ellsworth

WHOU 100.1 FM Houlton

WIDE 1400 AM Biddeford

WKTJ 99.3 FM Farmington

WSKW 1160 AM Skowhegan

WIGY 97.5 FM Madison

WCTB 93.5 FM Fairfield

WTBM 100.7 FM Mexico

WOXO 92.7 FM Norway

WQDY 1230 AM Calais

WFAU 1280 AM Augusta

MASSACHUSETTS (11)

WSAR 1480 AM Fall River

WBEC 1420 AM Pittsfield

WHMP 1400 AM North Hampton

WHMQ 1240 AM Greenfield

WNAW 1230 AM North Adams

WHYN 560 AM Springfield

WBSM 1420 AM New Bedford

WEIM 1280 AM Fitchburg

WMRC 1490 AM Milford

WTAG 580 AM Worcester

WXTK 95.1 FM West Yarmouth

NEW HAMPSHIRE (13)

WEMJ 1490 AM Laconia

WFTN 1240 AM Franklin

WPNH 1300 AM Plymouth

WGIN 930 AM Portsmouth

WGIP 1540 AM Portsmouth

WGIR 610 AM Manchester

WKNE 1290 AM Keene

WKXL 1450 AM Concord

WKXL 107.7 FM Hillsboro

WLTN 1400 AM Littleton

WMOU 1230 AM Berlin

WTSL 1400 AM Lebanon

WSMN 1590 AM Nashua

RHODE ISLAND (1)

WPRO 630 AM Providence

VERMONT (9)

WDEV 550 AM Waterbury

WDEV 96.1 FM Waterbury

WJOY 1230 AM Burlington

WKVT 1490 AM Brattleboro

WWSR 1420 AM St. Albans

WFAD 1490 AM Middlebury

WSTJ 1340 AM St. Johnsbury

WSYB 1380 AM Rutland

WIKE 1490 AM Newport

Andrew Neff’s On the Air column is published each Tuesday. He can be reached at 990-8205 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net.