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David Glenn Is Watching Duke Make History

Tyler McComas

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Every sports radio host dreams of the opportunity to cover an historic team. One that becomes the biggest national headline en-route to a championship. It’s great for ratings, it’s great for a hosts own personal profile, plus it’s absolutely thrilling to be right in the middle of all the hype and excitement. Whether it was Jordan and the Bulls in the 90’s, the triplets in Dallas winning three Super Bowls, the Red Sox’ historic run in 2004 or even the Golden State Warriors teams of today, the desire to cover teams that will always be remembered is a dream that few hosts get the opportunity to do. 

David Glenn knew Duke would be good again this year, but he wasn’t sure just how dominate they would be. That was to be expected, as the entire nucleus of the team is built around four freshman starters and little help from any returning upperclassmen. But even though the hype was strong, seeing as Coach K was bringing in four 5-star talents, few expected what was to come in the season opener. 

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It was almost exactly one month ago on November 6th in Indianapolis inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It was Duke vs. Kentucky with the entire country watching. Sure, No. 1 Kansas had just looked impressive in the previous game beating Michigan State, but that story would be buried by the end of the night.

The first few minutes was close between the Blue Devils and Wildcats, but soon after, the lead kept growing and growing and growing for Coach K’s team. The heralded group of four freshmen, Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones, made a statement that the entire world of college basketball both heard and felt with a 118-84 win. Not only had Duke asserted itself as the best team in the country, but fans instantly realized this could be a team unlike anything Mike Krzyzewski had ever fielded before. 

For sports radio hosts in North Carolina such as Glenn, an opportunity to cover an historic team had just presented itself. Sure, it was just one game, but Duke caught the entire nation by storm that night and became one of the biggest, if not the biggest, story in all of sports. Since then, the hype around the Blue Devils has only grown. 

For sports radio hosts, you always want to cover a team that moves the dial. That can mean covering a team that wins a championship or even covering a team that’s historically bad and has fans up in arms and upset. Regardless, it’s all about fielding a reaction. Obviously, covering an historic team is more enjoyable for a multitude of reasons, but the thing you always hope to avoid is a team that’s mediocre and garners no strong reactions.

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Heard across the entire state of North Carolina, including over 250 towns and cities, the David Glenn Show is humming along nicely this time of the year with Duke basketball often as the lede story. But what’s it like when you’re covering a potential historic team in the middle of the year? Glenn shared some thoughts on the whirlwind of the past month as well as what’s to come.  

TM: At what point did you realize this was wasn’t just any ordinary Duke team?

DG: One of my first contributions to The Athletic was exactly on this topic. Basically, the word unique is often misused, but it means one of a kind. I believe, and I think history backs it up, nobody has tried to follow four freshman in an attempt to win championships. Coach K had the three in 2015, Kentucky head coach John Calipari had the three one-and-done players in 2012. It’s not the first of its kind, in terms of utilizing superstar one-and-done freshman, but it is one of a kind when your four best players are freshman. 

But as a writer and a radio host, I realize you better follow recruiting even if you don’t love it. I’m not that old, but there are people in my age bracket that roll their eyes at the idea of following recruiting. I’ll never forget when the famous Billy Packer used to say that he didn’t pay attention to that stuff and that he’d wait until they were in college to make his own judgment. Well, he had a fantastic career and more power to him, but in today’s day and age, if you don’t follow recruiting, you’re about a 1,000 miles behind the story. If you don’t pay attention to it, most of your readers and listeners will know more than you do, by the time they take the floor for the first time.

My background involves following recruiting, so I saw Zion Williamson in all-star games. I saw RJ Barrett in international play. I saw Cam Reddish as a star high school player. I think part of doing your job, especially nowadays, is following the recruiting trail so you’re up to speed when these guys get to their college campuses. 

TM: I agree with that and have always thought it with college football recruiting, but is it even more so with college hoops, considering the turnover is much higher for teams?

DG: Yes, I’ve always said you can be a college football fan without be a recruiting freak. Now, there’s going to be the occasional player where you better have your eyes wide open or you’re going to be behind the curve, but with so many freshman redshirting and even so many of the stars needed a year or two, college football remains a different animal.

In modern college basketball, we expect to see freshman on the first team All-America team, right? We expect to see freshman competing for ACC Player of the Year. The ACC was around for 60-plus years and had never had a freshman as its player of the year. Well, guess what, those days are over because Jahlil Okafor was the first in 2015, so there’s your symbolic proof. You go from 60-plus years where no freshman won it, to Okafor in ’15 and Marvin Bagley in ’18. Plus, you have Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett as the favorites to win this year. That says a lot about college basketball and how freshman can impact it so quickly. 

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TM: When you’re talking about Duke on your daily show, do you feel you’re judging them on a different scale than past teams, considering how historic they may be? Are listeners doing the same?

DG: Yes, there was a little momentum for that even before they played a game. But when they not only played Top 5 Kentucky, but ran the Wildcats out of the building in the season opener, that really ramped up the expectations. That changed the conversation. It went from a curiosity about how high the team’s ceiling was going to be, to some people suggesting that Duke was a favorite to go undefeated. The first since the 1976 Indiana team.

Just as someone who’s been around for 31 years, I told them they weren’t crazy to see the high level talent, but to please pump the brakes. Every other college basketball team of all sorts of fantastic vintages has fallen short of running the table and winning a national title without a single blemish since 1976. Yes, this team is viewed differently by many Duke fans. You probably saw Coach K call out his own fan base last week, asking them to not contribute to the hype machine, unnecessarily. In Coach K’s eyes the media does enough of that.

I share his view and think he was right on point, just like he usually is. He could sense that his own fan base had such extraordinary expectations that they were becoming unrealistic. 

TM: Whether it’s talking about them more, leading off with them more, guests, have you conducted your show any differently since Duke could be historically good?

DG: I would say that I’ve tweaked my show, but I have not turned it upside down. Our show is syndicated state-wide, so I can’t cater just to The Triangle. I’m not talking to the entire nation either, but I am talking to the entire state of North Carolina. I have to blend national headlines with in-state headlines. Whenever anything is happening in North Carolina that reaches national or international headlines, it’s my sweet spot as I’m coming to almost 300 different cities and towns in the state.

Like when the Panthers went 15-1 in the NFL and made that run to the Super Bowl. That’s not just a North Carolina story, that’s a national story if not international. We were pounding that drum all the time. Similarly, the hype surrounding these Duke freshman, combined with the hype that Coach K teams usually get, combined with Zion Williamson as the YouTube sensation, combined with NBA scouts and the possibility of these guys going 1, 2 and 3 in next year’s draft. Every one of those facts just contributes to a perfect storm, where I’d be crazy not to tweak my show with that in mind.

When I’m talking college basketball in November and December, which are, for the most part, football months on the calendar, I’m not forcing college basketball down people’s throats when I’m grabbing national and international headlines and huge names like Coach K, Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett. If it was just another Duke team, there’d be some college basketball talk in November and December, but because it’s this Duke team it’s a no-brainer regular topic.

TM: Are you to the point where you’re having off-the-wall topics and conversations, such as how many of these freshman would start on an all-time Duke starting 5, or where this team ranks against the greatest ever? Are you there yet?

DG: Yeah, we had the conversation on if they’d go undefeated. We’ve had the discussion on if this is the best team I’ve seen in my 31 years of covering the ACC. We’ve had people asking me to do the research on if any team has ever had three Top 10 picks in the same draft. The answer is yes and it’s only happened one time. Florida’s national title team in 2007 did it. So I did that research and that’s another example of my audience asking me to treat this differently and do that research. I’ve even been portrayed as the bad guy for suggesting, at this point in the season, Virginia is just as good as Duke if not better. I feel like I’m wearing a villain’s black hat by not jumping on the superlative bandwagon, if you will. I’m just being candid, that’s my style.

I don’t play to a fan base and if I’m hyping something, it’s because I believe what I’m saying. There’s some radio hosts out there that do play to a fan base, but that’s just never been my style. I think we even saw against Gonzaga that these freshman have a lot to learn as college basketball players. At their worst, they’re a Top 10 team, but if they want to truly be the best come March Madness, they need to keep learning from Coach K. 

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TM: With that being said, you’re not outwardly rooting for Duke on press row or cheering for them at home in a blue sweatshirt, but at the same time I’m sure you see an opportunity if they keep winning games. Is there any part of you that is rooting for them because it would help ratings?

DG: I tell fans all the time, and as anybody in our industry knows, many fans believe media members are rooting for this or against that in all sorts of context. I try to tell them all the time, what we root for are compelling stories.

Duke, with these freshman and that legendary coach, is already a compelling story. If they continue to blossom it only gets that more compelling. They are, in at least one category, nobody has ever followed four star freshman, without any accomplished veterans providing the supporting cast. It’s never been done before. It’s good for our show when there are fun, interesting, compelling, success stories to follow. Many fans will think that you’re rooting for or against a certain school. Whatever. I wasn’t born or raised in North Carolina. I didn’t get here until I was 20. I don’t have a rooting interest when it comes to college sports.

Unapologetically, I root for good stories because it’s good for the show and our audience. That means it’s also good for our sponsors and affiliates. 

TM: When you’re covering a team of this magnitude, does your national presence get a bump, considering you’re probably being asked to be on more radio and TV shows than normal?

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DG: There’s no doubt that the phone rings more often and you get more radio and TV appearances. There’s no doubt about it. When I was in my 20’s, a story like this would take a small set of invitations and maybe make it grow exponentially. Now, it’s just sort of a tweaking of my normal schedule.

I’ve always done more shows as a guest than I do as a host. In other words, I have a noon to 3 p.m. show here. Five shows times 52 shows a week, let’s just say roughly 250 shows a year as a host. I’ve always done more than that as a phone guest. When Duke plays like this or when Carolina had three different national title teams under Roy Williams, or when the Panthers are chasing a Super Bowl, it all matters.

The bigger the platform, the bigger the story, and the bigger the name, the more the phone rings. There is absolutely no doubt that this Duke team is good for my career and my profile. Even more importantly, it’s great for the radio show because it offers so much compelling content on a regular basis. 

 

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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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