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Q & A with Jeff Rickard

Brian Noe

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Many mortals don’t want a heavy workload. Jeff Rickard doesn’t want any part of a light one. The ESPN and SiriusXM Radio host has basically experienced it all in sports broadcasting. On-air host, Program Director, play-by-play announcer — you name it. Jeff has done it while accumulating a wealth of knowledge.

When Jeff isn’t hosting shows, he works as the Program Director at 107.5/1070 The Fan in Indianapolis. We caught up to talk about his philosophies as a programmer, his career path, and the potent combination that is the foundation of a great sports talk host. Jeff also mentions what he considers to be the most interesting aspect of sports radio these days, and the most annoying. Enjoy.

BN: How’s the Program Director life treating you?

JR: I like it. I think it’s always been natural for me because radio is just in my blood. I’ve been doing radio since I was a teenager. I started out in small markets where you had to do everything. My first real job of consequences probably was as a Program Director in Tri Cities, WA. Later on being an Assistant Program Director in Denver — getting my first real big gig in Salt Lake City. Then, from Salt Lake City I was the Sports Format General for all of Citadel Communications.

I’ve always just loved radio and how things work and why they work. Where you put things on the air and why you put them there. There’s a really satisfying feeling of how to grade talent and then putting great promotional content around it — putting it all together in one package. Then, when you’re driving down the road listening to the great talent that you have surrounded by all the things that hopefully you put in place to support them, and it all sounds like one big symphony. If you’re doing it right, it sounds good. If you’re doing it wrong, it bugs you until you get back in the office and fix it the next morning. You know how that goes.

BN: Do you have any sort of hierarchy in terms of what you prefer doing more than others when it comes to programming and hosting shows?

JR: I personally like working with the talent. When you get guys in place that you respect and you like listening to — they’re different than you are and they have great ideas and they have their own way of doing things — I like being able to coach them and get the most out of them and what their talents are. Really try to help them find what’s best for them in their own voice and in their own way.

I think too many times talent coaches make the mistake of, “I’m going to go in and I’m going to make the guy sound this way.” You’ve got to work with the talent that you have, but there are talented guys out there. Everybody is just a little bit different so your job is to try and get the most out of them with their style and what they want to become and how they want to do it.

I’ve found in the past, if you want to fit a talent into a different way of doing things and they’re not buying it, it’s not going to work for anybody. Everybody is just going to be miserable. You take guys with their talent and what they do. You tell them the things that you expect and the things that you need formatically — how and why this might be a better way to do it — and you let them experiment. Just give them options and hopefully they can find their best voice through your lens.

BN: Are there ever times when you’re in a meeting with a talent and they say something where you’re like, “Wow, never thought of it that way,” or they teach you something with what they say?

JR: Absolutely. I’m not just saying this because it sounds like the cliché thing to say, but I think if you talk to people who’ve been doing this a long, part of the energy that you get back is what those people around you give. There’s something to learn from everybody every day. There may be a completely different style or way of thought — it’s not at all the way you would do it, or would’ve thought of — then you hear it come out of the radio and you go, “You know what, that worked pretty well for that guy.”

That’s the one thing I’ve learned over the years. It’s like a quarterback in the NFL. You’re gonna run an offense differently — if you’re an offensive coordinator or a head coach — if you have Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady than you are if you have Trevor Siemian or Brock Osweiler. There are certain things you can ask people to do and they’re going to be able to do it. You’re not going to tell Aaron Rodgers — you’re going to give him direction and guidance like, “Hey, Aaron. You missed this other guy open over here.” But those are guys that understand the philosophy of the game.

They have so much physical talent that you have to let them be themselves once the game starts. You give them a game plan. You tell them what you like to see. This is the philosophy of our offense. This is what we’re trying to accomplish and why, but there are some people that are so talented, you just almost have to get out of their way and let them run. There are other people that just need a lot more coaching whether it’s through inexperience or maybe they’re not quite as gifted as some of the other people, but your job is still to get the most out of them, just as it is to get the most out of the superstar so to speak.

BN: How often do you host shows right now?

JR: Between three and six times a week. Between Sirius and ESPN — I just filled in for Dan Dakich on my station today. I’ll fill in when needed here. I prefer that other people fill in here because I’ve got so much to do, but when needed I’ll fill in. Between all of the things combined, I’m still doing around 300 shows a year.

BN: 300 a year? That’s basically full-time on air.

JR: That’s why I said I’m busier than a three-legged cat on ice. I’m just trying to stay in my lane and not hurt anybody and make sure I get everything done that I need to do. I think because I’ve been doing it for so long, I’ve just learned what I need to do — what’s really important, what I can delegate, what other people can do for me because it helps them develop and grow.

I’ve always been a believer that you don’t just give assignments to people because, “Oh, I don’t have time for this. I’ll let them do that.” Hopefully, when you give assignments and you delegate to other people, you’re helping them grow in their career too. You’re showing them how to someday do your job.

BN: When you’re doing the two-hat thing programming and hosting shows, you’re going to be stretched thin. When it comes to having your show set up the way you want it, how do you approach it if your time is more scarce than you’d like it to be?

JR: I have a studio in my home and I’m always up to date on stuff. Sirius knows that they can call me for breaking news or whatever and I can do a show on Jim Mora getting fired from UCLA or I can do a show on the NFL. Or somebody’s equipment is down and they’re stuck in travel and, “Hey, Jeff, we’re on the air in 30 minutes, can you fill in?”

What I’ve always done and this is kind of my daily routine — I get up early in the morning and the first thing I do is spend about an hour going over everything I can find on the internet that’s new, that’s different, what I didn’t know the night before. The last thing I do — my wife and I call it my evening sweeps — I spend another 30 to 45 minutes just scouring what happened during the day. Anything that seems interesting to me. I use that kind of as a general show prep. Now, if I know I have a show coming up I can be a little more focused. Just doing those two things, and then like everybody else constantly checking Twitter throughout the day when you have a minute here or there to make sure you’re not missing things.

I always call it kind of a river of information. We live in this information overload era, but it’s a river of information. I don’t know how you feel, but it seems to me that once you’re swimming in that river and you stay swimming in that river, you’re just kind of in it. You just know what’s going on day to day, moment to moment. That’s what’s helped me out a ton. The broadcasting experience I have, so I don’t worry about that. First thing in the morning and the last thing at night, I try to make sure I’m as up to date as possible in just about everything of major consequence in sports.

BN: You mention looking for stories that are new and different. If you apply that to talent, is there a host that you think has a style that’s just new, different, and something that most people haven’t heard before?

JR: Yeah, Dan Dakich, who happens to be on my radio station. One of the things that really attracted me to the station was Dan’s personality. He’s very abrasive. He’s definitely one of those hosts who you either love or hate. I get feedback from both sides all the time, but he’s unique and different. To me, that’s what makes him special.

First of all, you couldn’t go out and find another Dan Dakich. He was Bob Knight’s protégé for a long time. For whatever reason, which I still don’t know and I have never asked, he and Coach Knight had a falling out of some sort. He never specifies why or what happened. I don’t ask, but there’s a lot of Bob Knight in him.

Dan just says what’s on his mind. There’s very little filter. Sometimes, that can get him in trouble, but because he’s had so many unique experiences as both a head coach and an assistant coach under Bob Knight, and he’s got by nature just a very outspoken way of doing things — he tells you what he thinks and why he thinks it — doesn’t really care whether you agree with him or not — it’s new and it’s fresh.

I don’t know that we’ve had someone with that unique set of experience come to talk radio in sports. He knew what it was like to be with Bob Knight and there’s a lot of Bob Knight in him. A lot of that’s good too, it’s not necessarily all a bad thing. He’s been a head coach at a Division I program. Here in Indiana, for a short time he was the interim head coach for the Indiana Hoosiers, which is a pretty big deal in Indiana. He’s now also the Big Ten main analyst on ESPN. His national exposure has grown with his personality.

He’s a take-no-prisoners guy and sometimes he’ll go a little bit too far, but I’d rather have a guy that I have to pull back a little bit than a guy that I have to push toward that line. Dan’s just fearless in that way. He’s kind of damn the consequences. He says what he thinks. He’s got a very unique and entertaining style in which he delivers it. A lot of people get really upset and irritated by it, but the thing he does that we’re all looking for is that he makes people think — he makes them emote. That’s, to me, what I’m looking for in a good talk show host.

I wish I had more kind of nastiness in me like Dan has. However, Dan is not a nasty person at all, so that’s probably not the right word. There’s an edge to him. It’s edgier than what I have. I’ve had people tell me throughout the years that I respect a lot, “Man, if you were just a little more edgy, and a little more outspoken,” but that’s not who I am. You have to be true to who you are and Dan is certainly true to who he is. He doesn’t try to be anybody that he’s not. I’ve just really grown to respect the talent that he has.

BN: Some of those adjectives are interesting — abrasive, fearless, edgy. With young hosts — do you think that they’re less abrasive and more fearful that if they check their Twitter timeline and someone calls them out they’re going to be a basket case? Is there anything age-related with styles?

JR: I don’t think it’s so much age-related as it is self-confidence related. In a case like Dan’s, and I don’t mean to make this all about Dan but sinse we’re using him as an example, he has very clear opinions on what he thinks and why he thinks it. He’s lived it and he’s coached kids. He’s been a college athlete. He coached with Coach Knight. He travels to meet and talk to coaches all the time. When he says something, in his mind it’s been vetted. He’s lived it. He’s talked about it. He’s thrown it past other people. So, when he has that fearlessness about it, I don’t think there’s any hesitation from him because in his mind he is right.

That’s what makes a really good talk show host. You can agree or disagree with him, but in his mind, he’s right and he’s not afraid to go toe to toe with you verbally. Whether people like that style or not, people do listen to it. It’s interesting, when you’re walking down the street and you hear two people kind of getting in each other’s business, you stop and you pay attention like, “What’s going on over there, man? What’s happenin’?” It doesn’t mean a fight is necessarily ready to break out, but those are the kind of things that cut through the clutter.

I don’t think it’s so much an age thing. I think it’s more a confidence, “This is who I am. This is what I think. This is where I’m going.” You look at some of the great talk show hosts and radio personalities — look at Howard Stern who is unbelievable, right? He’s always been fearless when he gets on the air. He’ll take whatever slings and arrows come his way because in his mind he knows what’s going to make people laugh, or make people talk about him. I think Dan has a lot of that gift inherently in him.

BN: So how exactly did you end up in Indianapolis?

JR: I was working in Bristol for ESPN, which I still do now. My wife, who is a very talented attorney, was offered a really great job out here. We looked at the cost of living. We looked at everything — the jobs and the schools and everything else. She said, “Well, what do you think? Could you live in Indianapolis?”

When I think of Indianapolis — they do Final Fours here. They do Super Bowls here. They do sports festivals here. There is something happening here — Big Ten Championship, football, basketball. There’s NCAA Regionals all the time. I mean there’s always something going on here.

I thought, “Man, if you can get a great job for yourself and advance your career” — she’s general counsel for an insurance company now — and I can be in the middle of a really great sports city — and in this day and age of technology still do all of my Sirius and ESPN stuff out of my house. That’s how we ended up here.

BN: That’s not a bad gig. Just curious, what ages are your kids and where are they at in their lives?

JR: I have two little guys. They are eight and nine. My eight-year-old is a really gifted student. I’m so proud — he’s just a smart little kid that loves sports. And my oldest, who’s nine, doesn’t really care about sports at all, but man, he will make you incredibly buildings, vehicles, whatever out of LEGO. He’s just a really creative little guy.

They’re both finding their niche, and it’s fun to watch them grow. They’re both doing really well in school and I just couldn’t be happier with where they are right now. When we moved to Indianapolis they were five and four. So, they knew Connecticut and their house there. They had a great little school there. One of the greatest schools I’ve ever come across. It was hard to leave that, but we found some good schools here too — some terrific teachers and things that we liked. I think in their minds — the oldest one has a little bit more memory of Connecticut than the youngest one, but for the most part this is really the home that they know. So far, so good.

BN: How did you arrive at ESPN in Bristol to host national shows?

JR: I had done a little bit of work for ESPN when the Olympics came to Salt Lake City. I was the Program Director and I was an on-air host in Salt Lake City back in 2002 when the Olympics came there. I sat in on a couple of shows with Trey Wingo and some other folks from ABC Sports. At the time they were all in town with ESPN. They let me do a couple of shows and then I did a couple of New Year’s Eve shows for them — the special holiday shows over a couple years.

A few years later I was speaking at a seminar for Jon Chelesnik. He and David Brody were hosting a seminar for STAA. Bruce Gilbert, who was running ESPN Radio at the time, and I were both speaking at it. We just started talking. My contract was coming up at Sporting News, which I left Salt Lake City to go to Sporting News.

I had been there for a couple of years and my contract was up. Just because it was coming up I kind of offhandedly sent an email to Bruce going, “Hey, you guys are probably full, but would you have anything open at ESPN Radio?” He literally emailed me back within like two minutes because that’s how Bruce is. He’s so good at stuff like that. He said, “Hey, we’re looking for a host on GameNight. Let me get you in touch with Justin Craig.” I talked to Justin over email. We talked over the phone. Then, they flew me out there. I did a show with Doug Gottlieb one night and I guess they liked it. They hired me and I’ve been doing stuff for them ever since.

BN: How did you initially get into the business?

JR: I was always an athlete, but I was a lot like my youngest son — I was smallish side. It was hard. I did walk on and play at an NAIA school in football (Colorado Mesa University), but I didn’t play a whole lot because I was small. I think I only weighed like 155 pounds or something like that. I was a good enough athlete that I could be on their scout team and play secondary. I was like the backup kicker because I could kick the ball a long way. I wasn’t always accurate, but I could kick it a mile.

I realized pretty quickly that I wasn’t going to have a big future as an athlete. Even though I was a good athlete for my size, it just wasn’t going to happen. I had always loved sports and I had always loved TV and radio. I used to do play-by-play of the old NBA Finals games into a tape recorder when I was in high school. I’d give the cassettes to my dad. He’d listen to them on the way to and from work and give me critiques.

Broadcasting was always something that interested me because at least you were involved in the game and that was always my big thing. I just wanted to be involved in the game and be around the game because I loved the game. I loved being an athlete and I knew I wasn’t going to be a professional athlete. I just wanted to be connected to sports. I just think it’s the greatest thing in the world.

I started working at the college radio station while I was still playing football. Then, I got a job at the 50,000 watt station that was the play-by-play home for the local college. Pretty soon I started being kind of an analyst for them and a sideline reporter for games that I didn’t play. By the time I got to be a senior, it was clear where my future was going to be so I didn’t play football anymore.

I just started broadcasting some of the games and I started working at the TV station there in Grand Junction, CO, which is also right near the college. It just kind of went from there. You know how the stepping stone goes. It went from Grand Junction to Billings, MT, then to Washington State and back home to Denver to start up The Fan, which is gosh all the way back to 1995. It makes me sound older than I am — I started when I was a teenager just so people know.

That’s where it really started to take off was when I started working at The Fan in the mid 90s and it was such a great time in Denver. The Broncos were winning Super Bowls. The Avalanche were brand new and they won a Stanley Cup. Colorado State I think one year finished with Sonny Lubick in the top 10. They were beating up on teams from the Pac-10 at the time, it’s the Pac-12 now. They were beating on teams in the bowl games. The University of Colorado was still decent. They had Rick Neuheisel as a coach one year and then Gary Barnett. The Rockies had just gotten there and just opened Coors Field.

I was in Denver and that really helped me because my role at the radio station — in addition to doing on-air shifts — I was the beat reporter for whatever was happening. I was the studio host for the Nuggets and Avalanche. During the summer, I was the beat reporter for the Rockies. I also covered the Broncos during the week during football season too. I was really busy but getting plugged in at that level to all four major sports has really helped me.

I couldn’t do the things I do at Sirius on a moment’s notice and talk about that river of information. It’s easy for me to do a show on MLB Network Radio because I’ve been covering baseball as a beat reporter since 1995. I’ve been covering the National Football League as a beat reporter since 1995. I’ve just kind of been lucky. I think I’ve worked real hard at everything and I think I’ve taken advantage of the opportunities that I’ve been given and that have been presented to me. Every time I saw an opportunity, I jumped on it and I’ve just been fortunate to get a lot of opportunities too.

BN: It sounds like you don’t know how to not be busy.

JR: I don’t think I would know what to do. The other thing is, I still somehow someway — and I tell my family this — I still need to spend time with my kids for a little while every night. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is I either go for a ride on my bike for an hour, or I ride indoors for an hour just to stay in shape. I’ll probably watch SportsCenter if I’m riding indoors or I’ll listen to sports radio or something like that while I’m on my bike.

It’s like killing two birds with one stone. I can get my workout in and still listen to what I need to. I think staying fit and healthy has really helped me do all of those things too. You gotta have a lot of energy for that. I think the fitter you are, the healthier you are, the more energy you have.

BN: What do you think is the most interesting aspect of sports talk radio right now, and what’s the most annoying?

JR: My favorite sports talk radio host is somebody who has real knowledge, but also has a fan’s passion for it. That’s a really rare thing to find.

Whether someone who has been a beat reporter or whether someone has been a lifelong, find out everything I could ever find out about my favorite team my whole life kind of fan. When you can combine somebody that’s got the professional knowledge, I mean real professional knowledge in sports, not just listening to people from watching TV and games but being at practices, talking to players, finding out why they did things, what were they thinking, how did they do this, why did they approach it this way.

When you do that for a good amount of time, you really start to understand truly the mindset and culture of the teams and the athletes. If you still retain that fan’s passion — that’s when you’re going to find gold because you gotta have that fan’s passion. If you take the passion of a fan and now you mix it with somebody who really truly knows what’s going on, man that’s a potent combination — a really potent combination.

One of the things I like about Sirius, and ESPN does a really good job of this too, they take these people that have lived this lifestyle. It doesn’t even have to be an athlete — it can be a coach, you could be the former general managers that ESPN uses a lot of the time — they take these people with real professional knowledge of what’s going on, but they have a fan’s passion. You can tell that they love what they’re talking about. That’s when you find gold.

What I can’t stand are the people that just want to be on radio and TV just to be on radio and TV. I cannot stand that personally. I can’t stand it because they’re not interested in what they’re really there for. They’re just interested in being on TV or being on the radio.

BN: Can you hear that right away when you listen to somebody?

JR: Yeah, listen to Colin or Doug Gottlieb and what they do, just to make it about different networks too. Colin paid his dues as a sports reporter on television and as an announcer with certain teams younger in his career before he found talk radio in Portland. Then, he really seized on that. He had a really solid foundation of knowing sports and knowing how and why teams do what they do.

What’s it like on a road trip? What’s it like for the average athlete when he’s away for a week and a half? Because you’re with them and you see what they do during the day when they’re not at practice and how they approach it. When they get bored and why they get bored. How they work out before practice starts. How they work out after practice is over. You talk to the coaches about the game because you develop a relationship with them. They’ll tell you, “We got our butts kicked and I’ll tell you why right here.”

It’s something that you as a layperson probably never would’ve seen. It teaches you to see a different game than you otherwise would’ve. Colin is also an entertainer. He knows the game and has never lost the passion of the fan. I think he brought that and that’s what he does as well as anybody.

Doug Gottlieb, obviously with his basketball career — people don’t realize it, but after college basketball at Notre Dame and Oklahoma State, he played overseas professionally for a couple of years. Here’s a guy again with real life experience that most of us don’t have. Doug is a little bit like Dan Dakich — he’s got very strong opinions. He says what he thinks. He very rarely puts a muzzle on himself. If he thinks it, he’s going to say it. He doesn’t put a lot of filter on it. Maybe it offends some people sometimes. Maybe it doesn’t, but he also understands humor and he mixes that in.

He’s got that passion for the games. I think you can hear with those guys is the great passion mixed with a really great amount of knowledge. Those things, once you combine them — I go back to it again — Brian, you just can’t find that everywhere, the people that have both of those things. Now, if you throw in the ability to entertain on top of that, now you’re talking about really special talent on that level.

BN: Is there anything that you haven’t accomplished yet that you’re really striving to achieve?

JR: Yeah (laughing), you know what’s funny, I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d end up being a talk show host. It’s what I’ve been doing now since 1995. All I ever wanted to do was pay bills by being a talk show host so I could do play-by-play.

I don’t think a lot of people realize that I’ve done well over 1,000 games in almost every sport you can imagine — college to professional. That’s my passion. That’s what I always wanted to do, but it just so happened that every time I turned around I kept getting bumped ahead and promoted in sports talk radio and so that’s just kind of what I followed. Unfortunately, I’m doing fewer and fewer play-by-play games, which is what I’d really like to be doing, but at the same time life’s been good to me. So, I keep riding the wave.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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Andrew Salciunas Aims to Thrive in Morning Drive on 97.5 The Fanatic

“We are two radio guys that kind of know what we’re doing.”

Derek Futterman

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Andrew Salciunas
Courtesy: Beasley Media Group

When 97.5 The Fanatic midday host Anthony Gargano agreed to a deal to contribute to PHLY Sports, a local digital venture within ALLCITY Network, he was promptly suspended by Beasley Media Group and subsequently sued for breach of contract. Although the two sides eventually reached a settlement and officially parted ways, the future of the daypart was still in question. In the interim time period, the station granted Andrew Salciunas the opportunity to lead a four-hour solo program with producer Ray Dunne. Salciunas had served as Gargano’s producer in the midday slot and still has a strong relationship with the sports media personality today despite no longer working together.

The onerous aspect of the situation, however, was in recognizing that Salciunas was being afforded a chance to prove himself as a host in the marketplace. In the past, he had filled in when Gargano took vacations, but it was not for an extended period of time. Although he was familiar with the flow of a midday program, achieving a successful, yet sudden assimilation into a regular timeslot without a partner was an invigorating circumstance.

“I knew that it was going to be a learning experience because it’s one thing to host a show on Saturday or it’s one thing to host a weekly podcast and you have a week’s worth of content at your disposal,” Salciunas said. “It’s another thing to [be] hosting every single day and needing to come up with new ideas and new angles and new twists on things, so it was a challenge knowing that I was going to have to do that for however long the process was going to be.”

Salciunas received help from program director Scott Masteller, a sports radio veteran who has helped elevate brands and nurture budding talent. Several months later, Masteller asked Salciunas how he would feel about working with morning program host John Kincade. Salciunas replied by saying that it was something he would be interested in doing, and he later added that he already wakes up early and could easily work in morning drive. Salciunas was somewhat nonplussed when he discovered that Masteller’s intention was to have him anchor the program rather than Kincade, who has been hosting in the daypart since January 2021.

In the weeks and months ensuing, Salciunas and Kincade were involved in meetings to plan the new program, which officially made its debut on 97.5 The Fanatic last week and is titled Kincade & Salciunas. Both hosts knew about the program for roughly two months, and Salciunas is surprised that it was kept a secret for as long as it was. Outside of their scheduled meetings, Salciunas was able to speak with Kincade between their shows since they occurred after the other as well. From the onset, he wanted to make his thoughts about the program clear to ensure a smooth transition amid a quest to inform and entertain the audience.

“The first thing I told John when they told us that this was the plan moving forward was that, ‘This is going to be our show,’” Salciunas recalled. “Yes, I might be the guy running the ins and outs out of commercial breaks. I’m the guy that brings on the guests; I’m the guy that brings on the callers, but this is our show. We both have ideas, we’re both passionate about Philadelphia sports teams, we’re both high-energy people, we’re both opinionated and we’re also respectful of each other.”

While there is natural disagreement between Salciunas and Kincade on a variety of sports topics, they make sure not to fabricate their discussions and engender debate for the sake of the show. Instead of feigning their contrarian discourse, there is a legitimate willingness to be genuine with their audience while continuing to put radio first. Salciunas, Kincade and show producer Connor Thomas all contribute ideas for the program to appeal to the audience and continue building the show as a whole. Thomas also had familiarity in working with Kincade since he served as an associate producer on his previous morning program.

“I’m not a former journalist; he’s not a former professional athlete,” Salciunas said. “We are two radio guys that kind of know what we’re doing. Even though our opinions might differ on sports-related stuff, we see doing radio in a similar way.”

Upon Kincade officially joining 97.5 The Fanatic, he demonstrated his magnanimity and commitment to his colleagues by offering to take all of them out to lunch individually to learn more about them. It was a gesture that surprised Salciunas and something that stuck with him, ultimately helping familiarize themselves with one another and subsequently creating a viable on-air product.

“He’s one of those guys who likes getting to know people, and I think that’s helped a lot,” Salciunas said. “We already had that sort of knowledge of one another [and] we already had that relationship, and because we’re just both so bought in and both so hungry, that’s made it so much easier that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make the show work.”

Before arriving at 97.5 The Fanatic, Kincade had worked at sports radio both at the local and national levels while also hosting a podcast with Hall of Fame center and Inside the NBA studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal. Bringing him back to his home marketplace and realizing success in the morning daypart was valuable as the sports media ecosystem underwent stretches of change. Transitioning to the new morning show iteration without colleagues Bob Cooney and Pat Egan presented its challenges, but Salciunas has had no qualms that Kincade was invested to win. As a result, the transition has been relatively simple in terms of building palpable chemistry among the on-air team.

“He believes in anybody that he works with,” Salciunas said of Kincade, “and knowing that somebody has worked that long as long as he has in sports radio that he values the young person’s opinion, not just in sports but in terms of radio, that goes a long way.”

There is constant communication between the morning show team leading up to a program outside of typical pre-show meetings and twice-weekly conversations with their boss. Salciunas arrives at the station well before the start of the program and compiles ideas from the previous day into a document, along with ideas from others that come during their commutes. Additionally, they continuously monitor the news cycle and determine what to address on the air while also interviewing special guests throughout the week.

Effectuating a fully prepared show rundown by 6 a.m. EST has been marginally difficult, along with the fact that it can be difficult to book guests on short notice before sunrise. Because of this, the program frequently outlines its guests early in the week and makes adjustments as necessary while maintaining fealty towards conveying their true, authentic personalities.

“I’m a little bit more energetic on the radio because I understand the entertainment portion of doing what we do and having to properly express myself,” Salciunas said. “I’m probably not going to scream at a bar, but when I converse with callers; when I converse with John [or] producers… that’s who I am as a person. There’s just a microphone in front of me.”

When he first started working at 97.5 The Fanatic as an intern, Salciunas did not have a goal of eventually becoming an on-air talent. He was content with his role as a producer, which was borne out of an internship where he worked with Jon Marks and Steve Vassalotti. Both station members served as mentors that he utilized to gain information and advice, a fortuitous outcome after Salciunas impetuously applied for the opening.

While Salciunas was matriculating at Temple University, he needed at least three internship credits in order to qualify for graduation. Reflecting back on his education days, he does not regard himself as the best student and recognized that he needed to intern with the radio station to set himself apart. Honing his focus in sports media took time since he had varied interests in areas such as reporting, podcasting and play-by-play announcing, but he ultimately gravitated towards the sports radio format during his time in Philadelphia.

Salciunas made a favorable impression on those with 97.5 The Fanatic and ended up being hired as an associate producer where he learned more about the format and its programming. Eric Camille, a former executive producer at the station, is someone Salciunas regards as seminal to his professional development.

“He was the guy that hired me out of my internship, and then once I started working, he really helped me,” Salciunas said. “He kind of took me under his wing and helped me out a lot.”

Once Salciunas was hired as a full-time producer, he began to work with Mike Missanelli on his midday program, providing an invaluable learning experience to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the sports media industry. As a veteran host who has captivated Philadelphia sports fans and media consumers at large, Salciunas noticed that collaborating on Missanelli’s program was a different experience than the other shows he had done. Whereas a morning drive show is oftentimes one of the first points of reaction on a given day, Missanelli knew that he would need to approach his daypart differently and adopted a paradigmatic style implementing second-level topics.

“It’s not just going on the air and reacting to an Eagles loss,” Salciunas explained. “It’s reacting to a storyline within an Eagles loss or reacting to a storyline within an Eagles win that may generate conversation. Trying to figure out topics that generate conversation but are not just the, ‘Oh wow, I’m angry they lost today,’ and give out the phone number. It’s [trying] to find topics that make people think and make yourself think and make the audience think.”

When Missanelli left the station, Salciunas began his stint working with Anthony Gargano where he began occasionally hosting select programs. The rationale behind his decision to go behind the microphone was that when the Eagles won a Super Bowl championship, the station needed someone to host from 2 to 5 a.m. Salciunas decided to volunteer for the program, presuming that it sounded fun. From that shift on, he continued his work as a producer while also refining his craft behind the microphone in a major market. It deviated from a philosophy perpetuated by former program director Matt Nahigian of limiting the amount of time producers were on the air, assuming that consumers listened to hear the hosts.

“Now you have to be a producer,” Salciunas affirmed. “You look at both radio stations in Philadelphia – a lot of the hosts now were former producers, and so you learn so much of the craft and then you figure out your own role. You figure out how you handle yourself as a host, so I think producing first before becoming a talk show host should be the way to go moving forward.”

Beasley Media Group’s 97.5 The Fanatic shares the Philadelphia marketplace with Audacy-owned SportsRadio 94WIP, and both stations have had intense battles in the ratings over the years. Salciunas shared that most people between the two stations have worked with their competitors at some point in their careers, and there is an evident respect that exists between the two entities. With both outlets introducing new morning shows within the last two years though, Salciunas understands there is a chance to gain ground on the WIP Morning Show, which finished ahead in the four Nielsen XTrends quarterly ratings books last year.

“Clearly if somebody’s behind a microphone in Philadelphia, everybody’s talented, and we’re going to do whatever we can to try to bridge that gap a little bit, and we’re seeing some good strides already,” Salciunas said. “I think having a new show is a big part of that trying to grab that initial audience, but then it’s holding on to that initial audience.”

Being able to achieve this outcome, however, requires a commitment to showcasing talent and different personalities. Salciunas referenced how there was a point in John Kincade’s stint hosting mornings in the daypart’s previous iteration where he gained ground on his crosstown competitor Angelo Cataldi with WIP. Kincade, of course, used to work with Cataldi’s show as a contributor and received a chance to take the air while with the outlet.

“I’ve seen the turn of tides of ratings over the years for every show [and] every time slot, so there’s always an opportunity, but that means we always have to be on our game; that means we always have to be doing the best show possible,” Salciunas said. “We can’t go in the next day and say, ‘Wow, that show was really good yesterday. Let’s have some fun today; let’s make this a lighthearted show.’ No, we always have to be thinking about, ‘Alright, what can we do next to put on another great entertaining four-hour radio show?’”

Over the last several years, there have been several leadership changes at 97.5 The Fanatic responsible for overseeing the slate of programming and station operations. Scott Masteller currently leads the outlet, someone in whom Salciunas has confidence that he can continue to elevate the standing of the station. In his earlier years working with 97.5 The Fanatic, Salciunas had an innovative spirit but was discouraged from taking steps to align with the multimedia evolution. For example, when he offered to do a podcast several years ago, someone at the station questioned his judgment and the reasoning behind the idea.

“I was told by someone, ‘What’s the point in doing that? We’re a radio station,’ and I knew back then that that was a mistake to say,” Salciunas explained. “You shouldn’t say, ‘We’re a radio station;’ that was years ago, so seeing that bosses and market managers and hosts and producers all realizing, ‘Alright, we have to adapt,’ that excites me.”

Possessing the background as a producer lends shrewd and calculated judgment on how to include members of the audience into the program. While there are still open phone lines for callers to chime in, the program has introduced a text line and also engages with the audience through the live chat functionality of YouTube. Having Thomas as a producer of the show has helped in this area as well, with Salciunas sharing that he has a strong understanding of how to create and optimize content for various platforms of dissemination.

“We have a great YouTube audience where they basically have their own community all of a sudden,” Salciunas said. “They’re constantly talking about the show, and sometimes we grab what they’re saying on that YouTube feed because that’s another area of today’s new media where you have another avenue to communicate with people.”

As Salciunas grows accustomed to the early start on 97.5 The Fanatic and his new colleagues in morning drive, he is filled with enthusiasm and the prospect of possibility. The radio station has been the only outlet by which he has been employed since the start of his media career, and he hopes to work there for as long as possible. National radio and television intrigue him going forward, but his priority centers on thriving in the new role.

“I want to try to get 97.5 The Fanatic – because it starts in the morning – back up in the map; back in the top five of the ratings books – and that’s going to take some time,” Salciunas said. “We’re a new show – we’re going to have to figure each other out.”

Salciunas expressed that the last year-and-a-half has been “hectic” in the midday daypart, but there has also been excitement surrounding the ephemerality as well. Taking the microphone in a major market with a dedicated sports fanbase such as Philadelphia is a privilege he does not take for granted, and he aspires to continue excelling in the marketplace for years to come.

“I just started, so I’m not thinking about the next step just yet,” Salciunas said. “I want this to last for a long time – for a very long time. If I never have to leave, that would be great.”

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An Ode to the Heart and Soul of Barstool Sports — Frank The Tank

If you can simultaneously be the angriest person on the planet, and also be viewed as completely wholesome, you’re doing something right.

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A photo of Frank the Tank
(Photo: Barstool Sports)

I’ve written in this space in the past that Barstool Sports is often an enigma to me. Outside of some of the brand’s major stars — like Dave Portnoy, Big Cat, PFT, and Kevin Clancy — I struggle to figure out just who does what at the outlet. But there’s one role I don’t question, and that’s the role of Frank The Tank.

I’m a true believer in the “personality hire” theory. If you’re unaware, it’s the idea that, sometimes, you simply hire a high-energy, positive, great-personality employee who might be underqualified for a job, but will keep morale high inside the office.

And while Frank The Tank doesn’t exactly exude positivity — quite the contrary, most often — you can tell that he’s the heart and soul of the company.

If you’re uninitiated, Frank Fleming — obviously known as Frank The Tank — is an often-viral sensation that pulls off one of the most incredible feats you’ll ever see in modern-day sports media.

If you can simultaneously be the angriest person on the planet, and also be viewed as completely wholesome, you’re doing something right. And that, in a nutshell, is Frank The Tank.

Tank makes no bones about his feelings. Ever. If you ask a question, he’s got an answer, a strong take, and generally a well-thought-out one at that.

In fact, he was discovered by Barstool Sports for his now-infamous rant about the New Jersey Transit Commission and its “incompetence.” He shouted in anger inside a transit hub about the public transportation’s inability to properly inform passengers about updates, resulting in him missing a New York Mets game.

And yet, despite his unbridled anger, you can’t help but sympathize and relate to the man.

Maybe Frank’s most endearing quality is his complete and utter lack of what anyone thinks about him. To sound a bit country for a moment, Frank The Tank’s give a damn is busted. He says what he thinks, when he thinks it, and doesn’t care what you think about it. But it’s never intentionally malicious. It might be harsh, but it always comes with an air of honesty rather than venom. He’s never trying to harm whoever he’s criticizing, but just believes in the age-old “Honesty is the best policy” thought process.

I’ve long enjoyed the clips of Frank, whether it was future NFL Hall of Famer J.J. Watt sharing his admiration for the digital star, or the times he’s often ambushed in the office by the outlet’s digital team to ask questions like “Who are the five most overrated athletes of all-time?”, which results in him rattling off a list you can’t believe was concocted on the spot.

Others are hopping on the bandwagon, too. Late last year, Mike Francesa was introduced to The Tank, and you could instantly see the chemistry and connection between the two. (As a side note, I can’t tell you how invested I’d be in a Mike and The Tank sports show. It’d have to be about half an hour because any longer and Francesa might strangle Frank, but it sure would make for great radio.)

Frank Fleming has turned into a content machine at Barstool Sports. The consummate underdog, Frank The Tank really burst onto the scene with his acceptance speech at the company’s award show, shouting “Never give up your dream!” and sharing the story of his previous life as a court clerk before joining the digital outlet.

But his latest content endeavor might be one of the biggest in Barstool history. Frank Fleming used to weigh over 500 pounds. But now after a walking schedule, he has dropped more than 160 pounds.

The company has turned his walks into a content series, where he converses with sports and media stars, with sponsor attachments throughout the videos. Recent walks include Mike Francesa, Scott Van Pelt, and an upcoming episode with former New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley.

I began to realize what Frank The Tank meant to Barstool Sports after one recent walk with the outlet’s founder, Dave Portnoy, who admitted he had pegged the digital star all wrong.

“It’s probably one of the most wrong things that I’ve (said). When we hired you, I put you on an innings count,” Portnoy said, inferring he didn’t want Fleming included in much visual content. “I was dead-ass wrong on that one. Gladly wrong.”

You see, Dave Portnoy admitting he’s wrong about something is about as jarring as hearing a kangaroo order an Oreo McFlurry. It just doesn’t happen. And yet, there was, admitting that even he underestimated one of his biggest stars.

And in his response to that, Fleming shared an optimism and a belief in himself.

“I just wanted to go there, get involved, and show what I can do,” Frank The Tank responded to the company’s founder.

In addition to his walks, Frank The Tank also shares videos of his culinary exploits on his personal YouTube page, which now features nearly 50,000 subscribers. Even my wife enjoys sitting down and seeing what The Tank is going to whip up on each edition of Tank Cooks.

There’s a sense of protection around Fleming from other Barstool personalities. In a company that is often maligned for how it treats each other and those who criticize the outlet, you can tell those at the digital juggernaut look out for Frank.

When his personal phone number was leaked on the internet in 2022, most other employees inside the company would have been inundated with calls and messages because others at the outlet had encouraged the harassment as a practical joke.

But when it happened to Frank, a complete onslaught of messages from bloggers and video and podcast hosts begging those to stop messaging the digital star.

And that, to me, shows the role of Frank The Tank at the often-controversial outlet. He’s rarely, if ever, controversial. He’s humble, he’s honest, he’s angry, and he’s wholesome. Frank The Tank is a virtual walking conundrum, and that alone shows why he’s the heart and soul of Barstool Sports.

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