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Barrett Sports Media’s Top 20 Major Market Sports Radio Program Directors of 2021
Meet The Market Managers: Vinny DiMarco, Good Karma Brands New York
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Jason Barrett Podcast – Dave LaGreca
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Managing The Crisis – Mike Thomas, Good Karma Brands/ESPN 1000
Managing The Crisis – Jill Albert, Direct Results
Managing The Crisis – Mitch Rosen, 670 The Score and 105.7 The Fan
Managing The Crisis – Brandon Steiner, The Steiner Agency
Managing The Crisis – David Scott, HBO Real Sports
Seller to Seller Episode 5: Dr. Ed Cohen
Seller To Seller Episode 4: Mike Scott, Former iHeartMedia Mid South Region President
Seller to Seller: Sandy Cohen
Seller to Seller Episode Two: Bob Lynch
Seller To Seller Episode One: Alec Drake
Sports Talkers Podcast – Tim Kurkjian
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“I guess I found the media and the media found me where, after about a month, I got the itch right around the draft and around free agency.”
Back in the day, I used to love playing the Madden NFL and the NCAA Football franchise video games. They were so good because you could do everything. You could control action on the field and/or you could control action off the field with several different off-season modes.
Now, I always loved playing the actual games and maneuvering through seasons, but I had a friend who I could have sworn liked the recruiting part of the college game better than the actual playing and he liked the setting ticket prices part better than the actual playing of the pro game. I kind of feel that’s where we’re at with the NBA. For some people, the actual season and on-court play is the fun part, and for some people, the offseason drama and transactions is the fun part. To discuss that and more, including his rise in media, I caught up with ESPN NBA Front Office Insider and former Nets General Manager Bobby Marks. EDITOR’S NOTE: Some questions and answers have been shortened or edited for clarity.
BSM: When you got out of the NBA, you had been in it for 20 years. Why did you not want to stay in the NBA? Why did you want to transition into something else? Bobby Marks: When you have two young boys at home, you basically have to reinvent yourself. Your options are somewhat limited. I was under the impression that I would I’d take a year off because I still had some salary coming in and then I would kind of figure things out next offseason, in the offseason of 2016.
I guess I found the media and the media found me where, after about a month, I got the itch right around the draft and around free agency. I really just started going on social media and going on Twitter and just commenting on how free agency works and how contracts work and how it impacts teams when a trade happens and that’s really how the media part started for me. There was nothing beforehand. And I just built a following from there, in 180 characters or 240 or however many, and in however long I went from 250 followers to 10,000 to 20,000. And it just kind of built from there.
I had known Woj (Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN) for a while because when I worked in New Jersey, he worked for the Bergen Record. And I saw him on the concourse of NBA Summer League in Vegas and he was like, ‘Hey, I really like what you’re doing on Twitter and stuff. And we’re thinking of branching off at Yahoo (when Woj worked there) and starting a basketball division here. And we’ll have people with specialties, newsbreakers, people who do sneakers, and the draft and featured writers. We’re interested in someone doing a front office section.” He asked if I’d have interest and I said yeah… BSM: Considering you had a goal of getting back into the NBA, were you ever leery of saying too much or giving away secrets and how it might impact you? BM: I think I was warned about three times from the Nets when I got into the media part of it. They were like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to pull back a little bit here….’ And that’s the balancing act for me. I need to give the perspective of when a team like Minnesota trades four first-round picks and they’re getting crushed in the media, and I’ve been there. I was in Brooklyn, we did it with (Paul) Pierce and (Kevin) Garnett, I know the perspective here… I’ve followed Jon Gruden and Jeff Van Gundy, guys who have coached, and then were in the media, and I always wondered, ‘When would they ever go back?
For me, this was always going to be a stepping stone and then I was going to be back in the league in a year. And I think as the years go by and you get a comfort level with what you’re doing here, it makes it more challenging to go back to the league, unless of course the perfect opportunity is going to be there. BSM: Did you ever realize how much of a grind the media circuit is? BM: No, I didn’t…it’s a different grind. Like it’s a different grind because I feel like I’m working for all 30 teams. I have no bias for the Lakers or the Nets or the Milwaukee Bucks, but it’s more staying on top of things, where as in Brooklyn and New Jersey, I was just focused on that team. I’m focused on 15 players. I’m focused on the employees within our department here. And certainly you’re still calling teams and you’re checking in on teams here, but for this, I feel like I’m working for all 30 teams and for all 30 teams fan bases, as far as giving that perspective. BSM: How do you simplify some of the front office stuff? Some of the contract stuff is like deciphering hieroglyphics. How do you simplify it for us? BM: I’m my own researcher. That’s how it is. I’m starting to work on things for next off season right now. So when I go on TV or I go on radio, or I write my own articles, it’s not like somebody’s feeding me the information and I’m just going off that. And for me, I have a knowledge of the CBA and how the rules work just by trial and error. I’ve lived through a lot of different experiences. When the Sixers are getting investigated by the league for salary cap circumvention, or tampering for James Harden, I can give my perspective because I’ve been there with Brooklyn when we did it with (Andrei) Kirilenko…
BSM: Like the video game analogy that I wrote above… do you think we’re at the point where for some people the NBA offseason is more interesting than the regular season? BM: …Yeah. I think what goes on in the court is extremely important, but there is that element to the transaction business. Whether it be the draft, whether it be trades, whether it be roster building — people crave that. People want to know how Kyrie Irving can make his way to the Lakers. Or, how does DeAndre Ayton get to Indiana with cap space? There’s a thirst for that… When I started with the Nets, we had a system called Lotus Notes. It was a computerized system that was located in an empty office. That was the transaction wire.
So every morning, you would go in there and it would be a spit out of like 10 different papers. ‘John Smith just signed in New Jersey, Joe Smith just signed in New York and Mike Smith was waived by the Knicks.’ That’s how you found out about transactions. It wasn’t Woj. It wasn’t (Brian) Windhorst. It wasn’t Zach Lowe. It was by a piece of paper that you would check in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon, and at night. And now, 27 years later, it’s incredible. BSM: I know that you are not, but how many times per day are you asked if you are related to Sean Marks, the current GM of the Nets? BM: So I’m in Hawaii a few weeks ago and a guy came up to me and says “Sean Marks!” And I looked at him and he says, “I’m sorry, Bobby Marks!” And I said, “Yeah, Bobby Marks.” And he says “When is Kyrie getting traded?” When Sean got hired in Brooklyn, I think it was in 2016, when the AP reported, it originally came down as Bobby Marks, so people were calling me like “are you back in?” And I was like “No, no, I’m not. Trust me. I’m not back in.” He’s tall. He’s from New Zealand. I’m 5’10 from Northern New Jersey.
Brady Farkas is a sports radio professional with 5+ years of experience as a Program Director, On-Air Personality, Assistant Program Director and Producer in Burlington, VT and Albany, NY. He’s well versed in content creation, developing ideas to generate ratings and revenue, working in a team environment, and improving and growing digital content thru the use of social media, audio/video, and station websites. His primary goal is to host a daily sports talk program for a company/station that is dedicated to serving sports fans. You can find him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady and reach him by email at bradyfarkas@gmail.com.
Adam Hawk Knew Life Outside Radio Was Possible
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Adam Hawk Knew Life Outside Radio Was Possible
Sports Talkers Podcast – Tim Kurkjian
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The funny thing about radio is you may leave it but it takes time for it to leave you. Meaning, your daily routines in the business don’t just go away the day after you walk out of the studio for the final time.
Waking up at a normal time the day after the Super Bowl was another pleasant reminder to Adam Hawk that his life wasn’t consumed by the grind of radio. For the previous 15 years, watching the Super Bowl meant the stress of constantly taking notes, and trying to create content for everything that was happening, all while facing the inevitability of waking up at 4 a.m. the next day to prep for the biggest The Jim Rome Show of the year.
But not this year. Instead, Hawk spent the night with family and friends and even indulged in a few drinks, all while watching a classic finish between the Rams and Bengals. It was his first Super Bowl in several years where he wasn’t an executive producer of a nationally syndicated radio show. And he loved the change of pace.
However, that feeling is in no way indicative of what his time on The Jim Rome Show was like. It’s just the opposite. Hawk left the show in late July of 2021 because he wanted a different lifestyle than what radio could offer. He was always passionate about creating the best show possible daily and doing it with a group of coworkers he calls close friends, but he wanted a less demanding lifestyle.
“I feel like I’ve lived a couple of lifetimes since leaving The Jim Rome Show and radio in general,” said Hawk. “It’s just been a completely different lifestyle. I’ve been super busy with my own business, working another job for a golf association, and then two kids. I filled up my schedule and I felt a sense of freedom that I hadn’t felt in a long time before. That’s not necessarily indicative of The Jim Rome Show, that’s just radio. You’re always chasing content and glued to your phone and TV. Just to have that away from me, it’s felt like five years, in a good way, not a bad way.”
The funny thing about radio is you may leave it but it takes time for it to leave you. Your daily routines in the business don’t just go away the day after you walk out of the studio for the final time. If you’re used to waking up at 4 a.m. like Hawk was every weekday, you’re bound to find yourself waking up at the same time for several days after.
“The two things I couldn’t shake right away were, my body clock was still waking me up at 4 in the morning,” laughed Hawk. “The show started at 9 a.m. but we were showing up at 5 a.m. I also couldn’t shake the feeling of whenever I would see sports on television, the idea that I needed to form an opinion about what I’m seeing and then turn it into content. When it sunk in that I didn’t have to do that anymore, it was a massive relief.”
Deleting Twitter has also been a massive relief for Hawk. Like so many others in radio, it used to consume his everyday life. It never allowed him to leave work at his actual workplace. Work was always on the screen of his iPhone even at home. So when he decided to leave radio, he couldn’t wait to delete Twitter. Sure, it was odd at first, but he swears by a lifestyle that isn’t controlled by an app.
July 25th marked one year since leaving the radio business. On that day, some reflection likely happened with Hawk on his decision. Though he’s still happy with the way he decided to take his professional career, you can bet there was a moment when he looked back at the great times he had on The Jim Rome Show. Those good memories that popped into his mind were the camaraderie he had with the rest of the staff. The days were everyone pulled together to accomplish something great. That happened a lot as an executive producer and those are the days he looks most fondly at over his 15-year career.
“I’ve also missed the invitation to be creative every day,” Hawk said. “Radio affords you the opportunity to be creative because every day you have to build a sandcastle, a wave is going to knock it down and you start all over again. The content changes and you have to start over every single day. There aren’t a lot of jobs where you start from zero every day.”
Hawk will always have a special legacy with The Jim Rome Show, seeing as he was the executive producer at the time Rome was elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 2019. Not only was he there at the time of the highest honor in show history, but he pushed to make it happen. Hawk was even mentioned in Rome’s speech, which was one of the most surreal moments of his entire career.
“Jim had to stump for votes, which was kind of demeaning for a guy of his skill set, talent, and importance to the industry,” said Hawk. “But I can see how the Hall of Fame, in order to get some buzz going, would want to have these hosts ask their listeners to vote for them because at the very least it gets the hosts talking about it. We had to ask our listeners to vote and find a way to entice them to do so. We created this thing called The Box of Chaos, where we threw a bunch of things into this box, like, we’re going to do these things if we beat the hosts we were up against.”
“We were up against some conservative talk radio guys, where we had no shot, because they had this built-in fan base that’s so much bigger than even Jim Rome’s, but we ended up thanking the listeners and pulling some of that stuff out because they went so hard for us. The box of chaos was super, super fun and it ended with my good friend James Kelly, who works on the show, reading mean tweets about the size of his forehead and it was one of the funniest payoffs and one of the most fun couple of weeks. I got to work really hard on something I really believed in, which was Jim getting into The Hall of Fame. Ultimately it didn’t work, but he got in the next year on his own merit. I got name-checked by Jim Rome in his hall of fame speech which, as a kid, that’s something I would have never imagined. Radio was some of the best times of my life.”
There’s also the thrill and excitement of producing Smack-Off which is one of the most well-known sports radio features the business has ever seen. It’s a huge time for the show and likely a stressful time, as well.
“Every Smack-Off was a proud moment because there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes in terms of producing that show,” said Hawk. “That show, in my opinion, is still the most important radio show of the year for our genre, because it’s been around for 30 years and it trends on Twitter and people take it very seriously. It was always a proud moment to produce those.”
Those memories were undoubtedly on Hawk’s mind when he started to consider leaving radio in 2020. He didn’t leave the business until 2021, but the pandemic contributed heavily to his decision. Hawk watched as so many people around him transitioned into a work life from home, where they could set their hours. He was envious of their ability to work remotely and reconnect with family and friends on a different level.
“I know people have Comrex setups and things like that, but you can’t do The Jim Rome Show from home,” Hawk said. “That’s not possible. I realized that I was in this business where it’s incredibly hard to get time off because content never stops. I think anyone in radio can attest to this. It’s stressful around Thanksgiving and Christmas to think about taking time off because everyone wants it but someone has to be on the air. There’s a lot of games during the holidays. It’s not a normal life. After 15 years of this, I finally thought, I want to trade this in for a normal life. Everyone is thinking, with us, this is the greatest gig in the world. And in some respects it is, but it’s not what the general public thinks. It’s not sitting courtside at Laker games. It’s not flying on private jets to the Super Bowl or being best friends with Odell Beckham Jr. it’s a lot of work and that content doesn’t produce itself.”
If Hawk was going to leave sports radio, he wanted to chase something he was passionate about. He found that in 2020 with a company that specializes in preserving the swanky style of a well-dressed golfer. Nation Golf is a clothing brand for golfers and a style that Hawk believes in wholeheartedly. He was immediately drawn to the business and knew it was a venture he wanted to chase.
“I’ve always been drawn to the timeless, aesthetic of yesteryear,” said Hawk. “You look at these old timers that are wearing these clean pressed shirts and slacks, you’re just like wow, they look as good today, as they did 50 or 60 years ago. It’s the pure definition of timeless. You turn on TV and watch the PGA Tour, nobody is dressing like that, they’re like NASCAR drivers covered in logos or clowns like Ricky Fowler in his bright Orange. There’s no style, charisma, or charm and I think when those guys see photos of themselves in 10 years they’re going to be embarrassed.
“I started looking immediately for vintage golf clothes and Zuckerberg is listening to everything you’re thinking so he put Nation Golf in front of me. I was like, holy s***, I can’t believe someone is doing this and I can buy it new, I don’t have to go to a thrift store. I can buy it new. I just got immediately sucked into it.”
Hawk noticed the Instagram following for Nation Golf was much lower than he thought it should be for a brand so cool. Something clicked for him at that moment. As the executive producer of a Hall of Fame radio show, he had confidence in his abilities to operate promotions and social media on a big-time level. He was curious if he could apply those skills and apply it to the business. He was out to see if he could do just that with Nation Golf so he reached out to founder and CEO Ryan Engle.
“I loved the logo, I loved the name, I loved the clothes and I ended up loving the guy,” Hawk said. “He told me he had taken it as far as it could possibly go on his own and it was the perfect time for me to come down and pitch him. He said, hey, Let’s play 18 holes together, if you’re not a serial killer, we can do this. And we did.”
Business for Nation Golf has gotten progressively better to the point it’s grown exponentially. But he never wanted to rely on The Jim Rome Show to help with the growth of the company, even when he was balancing both jobs daily. Rome was fully supportive of Hawk’s side hustle and only reminded him to ‘keep the main thing, the main thing.’
“I take a lot of pride in the fact I never used Jim’s platform to sell the company,” said Hawk. “I didn’t feed callers to him that were going to talk about it. I didn’t put emails in front of him that were going to talk about it. I tried to keep it as separate as possible. Even on my last day when Jim asked me on the air what was next, I did say ‘Hey, I don’t want to turn this into a commercial for what I’m doing next, but I am going to run my own business’. Didn’t even mention Nation Golf by name, because I felt like he had been sailing that giant yacht of a radio show for 30 years and I didn’t want to be the clown who’s about to jump off and pulling the parachute that has a giant logo of the company on it. That just wasn’t my thing.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
Fresh off of his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tim Kurkjian joins Stephen Strom to talk about his love for the sport and his appreciation of his place in it.
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sports-talkers-podcast/id1630977774
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GNnMUIOvkvweJgeKo5hAH?si=b456453c9756482b
iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-sports-talkers-podcast-98564776/
Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ibHVicnJ5LmNvbS9mZWVkcy9zcG9ydHN0YWxrZXJzLnhtbA
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8770fe3f-91ba-4926-8620-cabe84b7ad7f/the-sports-talkers-podcast
Stephen Strom can be heard hosting ‘The Sports Talkers Podcast’ for Barrett Sports Media. In addition to hosting here, Stephen works as a broadcasting assistant for the Miami Heat and color analyst for Nova Southeastern. Additional career experiences include working for SiriusXM, performing analyst duties for Princeton basketball, and hosting shows for TalkNorth.com. You can find him on Twitter @SStrom_.
Baseball has lent itself to some of the greatest ‘catchphrases’ to ever grace radio and television.
Baseball has lent itself to some of the greatest ‘catchphrases’ to ever grace radio and television. Some are clever and some are excellent. A few have been made into t-shirts. Many of those phrases are delivered back to the announcers when fans see them in public. These catchphrases can be for any play during a game. A great defensive play, a walk-off win, but mainly you hear them during a home run call. That’s where a lot of the ones used today are featured.
For example. “See. You. Later!” from Nationals television voice Bob Carpenter. When a Washington player hits one out, Carpenter gets very deliberate and articulate with the three-word phrase.
Hall of Famer Eric Nadel in Texas exclaims, “That ball is history!” when a Rangers player goes yard.
Michael Kay on the YES Network says, “Going back, at the track, at the wall… SSSEEYA!”, really drawing out the “s” sound.
A jubilant Tom Hamilton on Guardians radio, belts out, “Swing and a drive, deep to left, a “waaaaaay” back and it is gone!”, and the fans eat it up.
Pat Hughes on Cubs’ radio, “that ball has a chaaaance gone!”, building in an ‘out’ if you will incase the ball falls short of the fence. One of the more unique ones these days is from Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown, “Clear the deck! Cannonball coming (to the Allegheny)”, a very team centric phrase. Also, after a win, he “raises the Jolly Rodger!”
There are others, but it would take several columns to go through all of them. Growing up in Chicago, I was treated to many great announcers calling games. I remember some of their better home run calls. For Jack Brickhouse it was punctuated with a “HEY HEY!” on a Cubs home run. Harry Caray said, “it might be, it could be, it is! A home run! Holy Cow!”.
One of my favorite announcers as a kid was Vince Lloyd who paired with Lou Boudreau in the Cubs radio booth. Lloyd was known for “Holy mackerel!” He morphed into adding “It’s a bell-ringer!” after a fan sent the guys a cowbell to ring when a Cubs’ player hit a home run. That might have been a bit excessive, but I was a kid and loved it.
Fans throughout the years have been treated to some great phrases by equally great announcers. Here are a few of them, again knowing I left many of out. Many.
Dave Niehaus, Seattle Mariners – “Get out the rye bread and mustard, grandma, it is grand salami time!”, that was his signature call for a Mariners’ grand slam. His normal home run call was pretty good as well. “That ball is belted, deep to left field…and it will fly away!”, a great visual aid for those at home picturing the ball leaving the park.
Ernie Harwell, Detroit Tigers – “Called out for excessive window shopping.”, that was one of his calls for a strikeout. I like this one better though, “He stood there like a house on the side of the road.” How Midwest is that? Iconic.
Mel Allen, New York Yankees – “How about that!”, pretty simple, but relatable. That legend lived on thanks to “This Week in Baseball” back in the day.
Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, Chicago White Sox – “You can put it on the booooooard…. Yes.”
There was no greater “homer” as in hometown guy, than the Hawk. That was just his home run call. There was also “Can of Corn” for a routine catch, “Duck Snort” for a bloop hit and a long drive that went foul, “Right size, wrong shape”. Throw in “stretch!” and “Mercy!” Pretty good and natural sounding stuff.
Red Barber, Brooklyn Dodgers – His signature was just “Oh, doctor!” Simple yet effective.
Vin Scully, Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers – Vin didn’t have a catchphrase. He didn’t need one. Vin was the quintessential wordsmith and his use of the English language was better than any catchy saying. Setting the mood, the drama and the moment was what Vin did best. An amazingly talented broadcaster that was able to span generations and the country.
That’s a good spot to pick up. One of the best broadcasters in any sport anywhere, really didn’t have a catchphrase. There are many big-league announcers that don’t have one either. It’s not something to me, that’s a mandatory thing. I remember one well known announcer asking me when I first started with the Padres if I had a catchphrase. My answer was no. I thought he would tell me how important it was, but instead he said ‘good’. I asked why? He said a couple of things to me that I haven’t forgotten.
First this very talented announcer said something to the effect, it’s more important for you to establish yourself as a great game caller. He stressed this a couple of times. The meaning behind it, be good at what you were hired to do and worry about the rest of the flare later.
He also said if you have a signature home run call, it’s strange sometimes, because a homer in the first inning is different than a meaningful homer late in the game. I think the first point holds more water than the second. I mean if you’re not a good game caller, what’s the point of even having a catchphrase, right?
Like I said at the beginning, I don’t begrudge those that have their own phrases. Those that have made it to the upper echelons of the profession are already excellent game callers, so why not have one to use. I’ve got nothing against them, in fact, I got jealous of a few, wishing I was the one that came up with it!
I don’t think it’s imperative for up-and-coming broadcasters to have one just yet either. Instead, I would advise them to concentrate on doing a good broadcast first and foremost. That’s how you get noticed for the right reasons.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
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