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Covino & Rich Are Here To Have Fun

“We’re not trying to out-knowledge each other. That’s what I feel sports radio and sports broadcasting has become. And to me that’s not fun.”

Brian Noe

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If you overheard a serious conversation while in the toy department, it would probably sound ridiculous. If you only heard serious conversations in the toy department of life — meaning sports — that would also be absurd. Steve Covino and Rich Davis are two radio veterans that believe sports discussions are supposed to be fun. It’s hard to argue with them. If it doesn’t make sense to be somber next to LEGO sets or action figures, why would it be a good idea to be joyless when discussing Aaron Rodgers or the AFC East?

Fun works. It’s a big reason why Inside the NBA keeps stacking Emmys. It’s partially why Peyton and Eli Manning received stellar reviews for their Monday Night Football telecast. It’s also why Covino & Rich continues to grow. You don’t end up on major platforms like SiriusXM, SNY, ESPN, and FOX Sports Radio just because you have good hair, although that doesn’t hurt. You end up in those places because you have a formula that works.

Covino & Rich - YouTube

Prioritizing fun has served Covino & Rich well. The duo has been hosting shows together for nearly 17 years. They now have a brand new show that airs Sunday evenings on FOX Sports Radio. The East Coasters — Covino is from Union, New Jersey and Rich is from Long Island — discuss how their friendship is rare in the industry. They also touch on cussing, Covino’s DJ skills, celebrity interviews, and Chubb touches. Enjoy!

Brian Noe: How far back do you guys go?

Rich Davis: We started doing our radio show together at SiriusXM at the very end of ’04. We debuted around Super Bowl ’05. That was the Super Bowl where Donovan McNabb ran out of steam versus the Patriots. That was sort of the beginning of Covino & Rich.

Steve Covino: We were friends before that. That’s how it sort of started. We both worked in terrestrial radio but at competing radio stations. I worked at K-Rock New York and Rich was the nighttime hottie at Z100. Then we became friends through mutual friends. We would hang out and go to the bars and talk sports.

Actually, that was the first thing we bonded over. ‘You like baseball? So do I.’ That sort of thing. He was a Mets guy. I was a Yankees guy. The yin to my yang in a lot of ways. We both ended up at SiriusXM. He was doing the pop radio stuff and I was doing the rock radio stuff. Then we just said yo, let’s do this talk show. We started doing this talk show together and here we are.

Rich: Hold on, backpedal for a second, Brian, because I have to tell you, when I first met Covino he was DJing part-time at a bar in Hoboken called O’Donoghue’s.

Covino: That was my side hustle.

Rich: I remember we’d go there and hang and drink on Thursday nights. I’m like who’s this DJ guy? He wouldn’t mix songs; in between the songs he would just play sound effects of like ‘El Covino.’ I’m like he’s playing radio drops at a bar? [Laughs]

Covino: I like to say I was ahead of the game, Brian; a shameless self-promoter from the start.

Rich: We had mutual friends and I remember Covino was going through a breakup; one of his girlfriends dumped him for an athlete actually.

Noe: Was it McNabb?

Covino: [Laughs] No, actually I was going through a really crappy streak. Rich was there at the perfect time to help me through it. I lost an ex-girlfriend to a New Jersey Net who shall not be named. And then my next girlfriend I lost to a New York Ranger who will not be named. And I was just some dude starting out in radio. I was so down in the dumps and that’s when I met Rich and he changed my life.

Noe: What led to you guys doing a show together?

Rich: We got together to do radio at SiriusXM because Sirius had a partnership with Maxim. They were like hey, we’re looking for shows to talk about sports, women, relationships, lifestyle, movies, TV. You know, just guy talk.

Covino: That was in our wheelhouse.

Rich: Covino and I said yo, this is what we do when we’re hanging out. We both know radio so we pitched it and that was almost 17 years ago now. They would send us out to Home Run Derbys, Super Bowls, All-Star Games. We were the guys that could cover sports but also the lifestyle side of it. Like hey guys, go to the EA Madden party and talk to a lot of these guys on the red carpet about their sneakers, their relationships, about the non-on-the-field stuff.

I remember this clearly; we were at a Super Bowl and Tim Tebow was the hot shit at the moment. This is when everyone on Earth was talking about Tim Tebow. We got an interview with him. A guy named Brad Como at SNY in New York watched us interview Tebow. We just had a really fun interview with him. We got back to New York and Brad Como and Curt Gowdy Jr. at SNY were like yo, we like what you guys do. Let’s talk.

Covino: Sports should be fun. You guys make it fun. You’re covering something different. You’re not making it boring and X’s and O’s and stats. We’re getting to see a different side of these guys; can you do that here at SNY? We’re like hell yeah, we’d love to.

SNY launching 'Covino & Rich' to cover the world of sports from the fan's  point of view - New York Daily News
Courtesy: SNY



Noe: You guys obviously had chemistry for years before you were on the air. Where did you grow the most once you started doing a show together even though you had that off-the-air chemistry?

Covino: I think SNY was a big step for us, to be honest, because that took us from radio to television. And it was live in Times Square. We got the SNY opportunity in 2013. We were on there for two-plus years. I think the pressure, the excitement, going live from New York City in our home city, talking all things New York sports; I think that was a big growing moment for us. Dealing with teleprompters and just having to react live and deal with that every day was big for our growth.

Rich: Covino loves to point out a great thought, which is we were young guys at the time so we never even thought failing was an option. It’s probably a great way to go into things. Now as an adult you overanalyze shit all the time, but back then we didn’t even think that this could go wrong. 

Covino: We really didn’t.

Rich: We very quickly realized when they put together shows, we seemed to get along on and off the air like brothers. We’d fight and people were like are you guys mad at each other? No, it’s just what we do. We very quickly realized that we had chemistry while other people’s chemistry wasn’t developing.

Covino: It happened organically though because we were really friends. Other shows most of the time are just two random people that are put together. The chemistry is never going to be real. If someone is fighting, it’s kind of hard to move on from that the next day. We were in it from the start. This is what we do, this is how we fight, and this is how we get along at the same time. That’s sort of how it started.

Rich: And we always had the same goals. A lot of times people will link up and be made co-hosts in the sports world and the news world, and egos come into play. It’s like who gets the lead chair? Who opens the breaks? Whose name is first? These are things that we were like let’s just fuckin’ win. We weren’t like is it Covino & Rich or Rich & Covino? Who cares? All right fine, Covino & Rich. Who’s going to open the breaks? All right Rich, you come out of commercials. Fine, who cares? We kept that throughout our whole career so far and still to this day. Neither one of us will ever let those types of things get in the way. We have the same goals.

Noe: TV is quick; you’re moving, moving. Radio is kind of like living in the South; it’s just a slower pace. Do you ever feel like man, this radio segment is taking forever compared to doing TV?

Rich: No, but I feel that way when I hear other people’s radio shows. [Laughs] Sometimes I’ll hear other people and I’m like, damn they have zero excitement level. Covino and I, sometimes people say man, their energy is too high; I don’t feel like you can have enough energy. I really don’t. I feel like anytime I listen to radio, podcasts, or anything, the minute I hear some monotone shit, I’m checked out.

Covino: You’ve got three hours, or two hours with commercials to bring it. If you’re not bringing it, why am I listening? That’s how I feel.

Rich: Yeah, I feel like whether it’s a comedian’s podcast or a top-40 morning show, if they’re not having fun and laughing and busting chops, to me, that bores me.

Covino: And people that take sports too seriously; that bores me too. Sports are fun. Let’s have fun. Let’s have fun and share some laughs. It doesn’t have to be boring. It doesn’t have to be serious and that’s sort of our goal, the goofier the better sometimes. Just try to keep it lighthearted and remind ourselves, this is fun. It’s supposed to be fun.

Noe: How did the opportunity with FOX Sports Radio come about for you guys?

Rich: Our buddy, who became our super agent, Shaun Wyman, who works at Maxx Sports now was a listener of our radio show. Over a decade ago, we met Shaun at a Super Bowl party and he’s like “Covino and Rich, I listen to you guys. I work at ESPN. Here’s my card.”

Covino: He handed me a business card and I was like you know what, I got to keep ahold of this one. This one looks important.

Rich: He’s like I work in the talent department. I used to be a producer. We became friends with Shaun. His whole thing was like, I’m going to get you guys on ESPN. I was like well that’s awfully ambitious, but I’m with it.

Covino: As he climbed the ranks, he got into more meetings, kept pushing us, and eventually that got us onto ESPN Radio.

ESPN Radio Adds New Weekend Show Covino & Rich - ESPN Press Room U.S.
Courtesy: ESPN Images



Rich: And all the people there, Shaun sold us to Rob Savinelli at the time, Amanda Gifford, all the folks at ESPN. 

Covino: They bought into it.

Rich: Traug [Keller] when he was there. There were people there that really felt what Shaun was pushing and really had our back. They said let’s do this. Shaun Wyman got us into ESPN, then because of budget and COVID and all that, our contract wasn’t renewed. We were waiting for our next opportunity and Scott Shapiro at FOX was well aware of what we did. I was not aware of how much he knew about us.

Covino: He gets it, which is awesome.

Rich: He gets our style of humor. He gets what we do. Our first phone call with Scott was super satisfying when you’re talking to someone that knows what you do where you don’t really have to sell as much. We said listen man, we’re going to deliver for you because more than anything, Covino and I want to win. We want to show you that you’re making a good decision.

Covino: People play harder with a chip on their shoulder and although we have a great time, we’re not doing it for the fun; we’re doing it to win. We have a chip on our shoulders.

Rich: And I like this opportunity because I like to think that this is step one in my mind.

Noe: You guys keep it organic and the conversation is going to go where it goes, but after a full day of ball on Sunday, does it feel weird at all to digress and talk about Jolly Ranchers or something random?

Rich: You know what, sometimes I feel like you need to break it up a little bit. I can sometimes get sports burnout, but on a Sunday night I’m still so in that zone that there really just isn’t enough football on Sunday. People want to keep talking about it. We will dive into those dumb things. If we had more time Sunday, Covino saw an empty Red Vines in the garbage can. We were going to have a Red Vines, Twizzlers argument. But we didn’t get to it because Aaron Rodgers provided too much.

Covino: Anytime we can be relatable and tie it into a real-life scenario and try to give personal examples, we’re going to jump at that opportunity. That’s where we shine the brightest.

Rich: Like how Sam Darnold’s full on shit. When Sam Darnold says he doesn’t care that he beat the Jets; that’s like showing up somewhere with your hot new girlfriend looking all slick in front of your ex. Oh, I don’t care; of course you care. Even Robby Anderson, you don’t think after the game they were like, that was f***ing awesome. You don’t think they loved that? The two former Jets connected for a 57-yard touchdown. Come on.

Covino: That’s like us saying we don’t want to beat ESPN and show them we told you so. Anytime we can make it relatable, that’s what we’re going to do.

Noe: Do you ever get confused between being on SiriusXM where it’s uncensored, and another platform where cussing isn’t allowed?

Covino: That’s so funny, man. We’re really, really good at that.

Rich: Well now you jinxed us.

Covino: I know, right? We’ve been pretty great at that because we’ve been uncensored for almost 17 years, saying whatever the hell we want, talking about whatever we want. No censorship whatsoever. But I think Rich and his background, I give him credit here, his background in pop radio keeps him on his toes all the time. He’s able to put a different hat on. And me honestly it’s just a matter of reminding myself where I am and wearing that different hat. Like alright, I’m not doing this satellite radio thing where I can say whatever, I’m on FOX Sports Radio now. Every once in a while, I think there are things you can play with. Some guy called our show on Sunday and said something about Nick Chubb and touches and he kept on talking about Chubb touches. You can’t help but at least acknowledge the Chubb touches.

Rich: I don’t know; how many Chubb touches do you think are appropriate?

Covino: There’s a nice way to dance around it and make it fun and acknowledge that I can’t ignore that he said Chubb touches 10 times. Like I said when you wear different hats, although we’re guys just hanging out talking sports, we’re also parents. We have to keep that in mind that there are kids in the car and there are families listening.

Noe: Your background of interviewing celebrities is a little bit of a different world, but you can take that and apply it to the sports world. What has your music background helped you with as sports hosts?

Rich: It’s funny you would say that because I was just thinking about this recently. Everyone’s doing Zoom interviews. It’s the standard now. Howard Stern, Rogan, all these people, everyone’s doing Zoom interviews. I was like we’ve interviewed everyone I could possibly imagine and the relationships we’ve made over the years in mainstream music, television, actors, actresses; do we have that infiltrate FOX Sports Radio in a fun way? Would it be cool if we were like Guy Fieri, come hang with us Sunday night on FOX Sports Radio?

Covino: You know what’s cool about that and what we’ve learned through the years is even though Guy Fieri is known for FlavortownUSA and being on the Food Network, the guy loves sports. These guys love talking sports. Or they played sports growing up. It could be the most random people. We had Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins on our show. He wants to talk about baseball. He’s sick of talking about Siamese Dream. He wants to talk about the Cubs. You realize that there are a lot of people in the world of entertainment that are known for something, but deep down they like sports like anyone else and love to talk about it.

Rich: I remember Ty Burrell from Modern Family. Phil Dunphy, he was more excited to talk about the Mets with me than talk about Modern Family.

Covino: That’s when you really see these people open up because now they’re just being real about some stuff they’re really passionate about and you’re seeing a different side of them. You’re not getting that canned answer about their project coming up. When guests can enhance the conversation, we have a lot of fun talking to them. It’s just fan stuff. We’re not trying to out-knowledge each other. That’s what I feel sports radio and sports broadcasting has become. And to me that’s not fun.

Noe: For someone who’s new to Covino & Rich, if they wanted to check you out on FOX Sports Radio, what are they going to hear that will appeal to them?

Rich: We’re well aware that we’ve lived in a little bubble known as SiriusXM. That’s not a bad thing. SiriusXM is a great company; we still both work there, but we know that it’s a bubble. If they’ve got 30, 40 million subscribers, that’s still 10 percent of the population. There’s still 90 percent of people in America that don’t know of us because of the numbers. I think what we deliver that’s different; I guess you would say the fun conversation. If you want buddies talking about life and sports and entertainment in a fun way, check us out.

Covino: Fun is definitely the word. They were calling it Football Sunday, we’re like no, it’s Football Funday. We’re here to have fun. But from a fan perspective. Again, not claiming to be the expert. I’m just trying to relate and be as real as possible and call it as I see it. And I think we fit perfectly in the pocket where we can relate to the older sports fans with our old-school references, but still relate to a younger audience with social media. I feel we’re fluent in both languages being right there in the middle of both generations. We’re here to bring the fun and bring the laughs and bring the energy that so many people leave at home I guess, or just don’t have anymore.

Rich: Yeah, I think a couple of our takes on Sunday were so silly and stupid. I love that Covino’s take on Aaron Rodgers is that not dying his beard or hair just makes him look even worse. The fact that you came on and you’re like yo, dude’s got to use Just For Men. That was Covino’s big takeaway. If you can play like shit and look that bad on the field, it’s not helping you that you look like a washed out Negan from Walking Dead at the postgame.

Aaron Rodgers, Packers get blown out by Saints; Twitter reacts - Sports  Illustrated
Courtesy: Sports Illustrated

Covino: Yeah, in a young man’s game when you already talked about retirement, and you come in looking like that, it doesn’t help the case. So yeah, we’re coming from a fan perspective. There’s no filter. There’s ballbusting and we’re going to bring all that, everything we’ve been doing for the past 17 years to FOX Sports Radio every weekend. Just anything that we can do to make it relatable and fun, that’s what our goal is to do.

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Will Women Dominate March Madness in 2024?

“Recognizable names matter. They are what draw interest from casual fans and keep them coming back. It’s something the men’s game has been missing for a long time.”

Demetri Ravanos

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2024 womens ncaa tournament logo with star players and coaches

Fields for both the men and women are set. It’s time to go dancing in college basketball. The sport more defined by its postseason than any other in America steps into the spotlight this week.

I believe we could see something extraordinary happen this year. While ratings for the women’s tournament climb each year, with last year’s title game setting a viewership record, the men have held on to the advantage. With the two trending in opposite directions though, I am ready to call my shot.

2024 will be the year the final of the NCAA Women’s Tournament overtakes the final for the NCAA Men’s Tournament.

There are bona fide stars in women’s basketball. You know all about Caitlin Clark at Iowa, but she isn’t alone. USC freshman Juju Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers stole their share of headlines too. Hell, LSU’s Angel Reese was in Sports Illustrated’s iconic Swimsuit Issuelast year. 

Everywhere you look, there’s celebrity in the women’s game. Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, and Roy Williams have retired. Dawn Staley and Kim Mulkey are better known than most men’s coaches now. Geno Auriemma may be the last true icon left coaching in college at all.

Recognizable names matter. They are what draw interest from casual fans and keep them coming back. It’s something the men’s game has been missing for a long time. The best men’s teams somehow seem extra anonymous this year. It’s not to say there aren’t good players. I just don’t really know their names or what they look like.

I’m not just touting star power here. There are trends that say this very well could be the year the women take over. Last year, while LSU and Iowa were setting the good kind of records, UConn and San Diego State were moving the men’s final in the opposite direction.

There were a lot of reasons for the ratings drop on the men’s side. That lack of star power is big, but so is the lack of brand power. San Diego State is a mid major program. UConn may be a blue blood, but it’s a blue blood from an area of the country that doesn’t dedicate a ton of time to college sports. Coming off of a 2022 final that featured Kansas and North Carolina, a ratings drop of only 15% should maybe be celebrated.

Right now, there are major brands in women’s college basketball that are doing a lot of winning. South Carolina is the overall top seed. Clark, a brand all her own, has lead Iowa to a number one seed. Last year’s champ LSU will be a high seed as will schools with big, nation-wide fan bases like Texas and Ohio State.

ESPN also creates a real advantage for the women. The network has devoted a lot of attention to Clark’s records and to South Carolina’s undefeated season. It’s all in service of synergy. Yes, other networks may have some games, but the biggest event in the sport is on ESPN and ABC, the networks that put its stars front and center.

Conversely, the men’s tournament is spread across four networks that don’t show very much regular season college basketball. CBS starts airing doubleheaders on Saturdays beginning in January. TBS, which will carry the Final Four, doesn’t show any college basketball. Neither do TruTV or TNT.

I like the way the quartet covers the men’s tournament. I think the broadcast crews (now that Jim Nantz is out of there) are great and I enjoy the energy Charles Barkley brings to the studio show. I do not think for a second that CBS or the WBD networks are doing anything to hold men’s college basketball back. What I think is that the game itself is in a stage where it could use a central network acting as hype machine and broadcaster.

Audiences have proven over and over again in the last 18 months that there is an appetite for women’s sports on television. ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro makes no secret of the fact that he believes it is the best opportunity for ESPN to find new audiences. 

It may only be for one year. It may not even be a huge lead. Everything just feels like it is moving in the right direction for it to happen though. That’s why I’m calling it now. The NCAA Tournament will be the crown jewel of what has already been an extraordinary season for women’s college basketball. 

This will be the year that the women’s final overtakes the men’s final in the ratings. If ESPN is lucky enough to get Dawn Staley and South Carolina against Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the championship game, we could see a number it takes years for either final to top.

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The NFL Leads the Way With the Most Stars Turned Television Analysts

This could become the new normal in these sports, we’ll see how sports executives adjust in this ever-changing media climate.

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Photos of various sports broadcasters who were former athletes

Last week the NFL league year began, thus free agency started around the sport. And with that we watched the reports on television as tons of years and millions of dollars were thrown around.

Andrew Brandt, former Green Bay Packers General Manager and current professor at Villanova Law, is a great follow on X. Brandt does a great job translating NFL contracts, and what they really mean.

What does that have to do with sports media? Well, I was thinking how after a star or known NFL player or coach retires, the immediate thought is ‘what network could bid for his services?’ We saw that this off-season with Bill Belichick and Jason Kelce. I would not be surprised if the recently retired Aaron Donald gets mentioned.

However, this is not the same in the other major sports. Let’s take hockey out of it for a second, because there seems to be an established guard around the sport. Most of the same analysts that work for NHL Network and TSN also work for the national U.S based networks. As far as baseball and basketball, it’s rare to see legit first ballot Hall of Famers on the TV screen.

Studio Analysts on National TVMLBNBANFL
Players to Debut in 21st Century308
Players Who Won Championships628
Hall of Famers324

*MLB: ESPN, FOX, TBS

*NBA: ESPN/ABC, TNT

*NFL: CBS, ESPN/ABC (Sunday & Monday Countdown), FOX (NFL Sunday), NBC

Note this chart does not include JJ Watt and Rob Gronkowski who are both likely headed to Canton. Notably on that chart though, you see players from the 21st century are lagging.

Football has multiple advantages. For starters, playing careers are shorter, money is less guaranteed, so more players may look to television. Also, it is one day a week and that’s it. Even with ESPN, their Hall of Famer on their desk is Randy Moss. Moss does not get the same treatment as Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, Dan Orlovsky or others. The Hall of Fame receiver works only on Sunday NFL Countdown and maybe a feature here or there. The rest of ESPN’s NFL analysts are on multiple shows.

Basketball and baseball are multiple days a week. Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal works twice a week for TNT on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the regular season. Hall of Famer Charles Barkley works once a week during the regular season. If you look at ESPN’s desk for the NBA Finals and marquee games on ABC, there’s not one former player. Occasionally you will see Kendrick Perkins, but he is not a hall of famer.

For baseball, FOX’s desk is probably the most beefed up it has been in its 29 seasons. With Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter, plus segments with 2003 NL Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis, it is one of the most star-studded desks in sports.

However, for FOX we will see that desk twice during the regular season. Once in June during the Mets-Phillies London Series, and in July at the All-Star game. Turner’s desk features 3-time All-Star Curtis Granderson, 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins, Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, and last year they brought in future hall of famer and 3-time MVP Albert Pujols. But for Turner, having a non-exclusive game package, not many will tune in and see that crew until October.

These are not the days when you can get Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Bill Russell, and Magic Johnson to do games. I mentioned the NFL’s lack of guaranteed contracts and short playing careers, well the players in the MLB and NBA play more years and have guaranteed contracts, for a lot of money, especially if you’re a top echelon player. That is what makes Tom Brady’s move to the booth so unique, because he could’ve easily chosen the Peyton Manning route where he could pick and choose his opportunities.

The podcast boon in basketball has already seen hall of famers Dwayne Wade and Kevin Garnett leave their regular obligations with TNT to pursue podcasts. League-owned networks also make it much easier. MLB Network and NBA-TV have hall of famers on their roster, but with their networks on every day, they can work around their schedules to get a CC Sabathia or Chris Webber to work in their studios.

During the conference call held by ESPN last week surrounding this season’s upcoming baseball coverage, VP of Production Phil Orlins was asked about the ongoing process of looking at recently retired players and adding them to ESPN. Orlins said “I would say my own personal thing is just trying to figure out how progressive the person is thinking about the game and also how ready they are to work. A lot of times, I’d rather find a guy four years after he’s done playing when he’s figured out it’s really, really time to get to work and passionate about it, than in some cases the guy that walks right off the field.”

This could become the new normal in these sports, we’ll see how sports executives adjust in this ever-changing media climate. All things to keep in mind with Amazon and Apple looking to join the NBA fray soon.

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Nick Wilson is Enjoying Life Back Home at 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland

“It doesn’t mean that other sports towns don’t have this, but maybe the sports towns I’ve encountered don’t have it to this degree.  Clevelanders really take pride in their loyalty to the Cleveland sports teams.”

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Nick Wilson
Courtesy: Nick Wilson

It’s been almost two years since Nick Wilson left a successful run in Charlotte to return home to Cleveland to replace Adam “The Bull” in afternoon drive at 92.3 FM “The Fan.”  Wilson had some big shoes to fill and now the chemistry has been building with Dustin Fox to the point where it has been a seamless transition.

“Now that we’re almost two years in, okay now we can push that throttle a little bit more,” said Fox.  “Now we can see we’ve built the trust and laid the foundation.  Now let’s go ahead and really examine everything we do and see what’s working for us and what isn’t.  It’s been a really fun journey and I really like where we are.”

The scenario that Wilson returned home for was unchartered waters for him during his radio career.  When he moved to Charlotte, he was new but so was his co-host.  When he was paired with a new co-host, he was the established host.  And now after returning to Cleveland, Wilson was the new guy.

It would not have been appropriate to step into the huddle like a quarterback and bark out the signals.

“I couldn’t just come in and be like we’re doing these five things differently and this sucks and this doesn’t work,” said Wilson. “That show had been the backbone of the station for 11 years.  Adam and Dustin did a good show so I didn’t want to disrupt that rhythm for the audience.”

Much like the Cleveland sports fans and the teams they root for, Wilson brings a lunchpail type of work ethic to his show each and every day.  Like an athlete who doesn’t take a play off, a game off or a season off, Wilson goes into each and every show with the same intensity and the end goal to win each day.

And that’s his objective every day when he comes to work. 

“I look at every show as a living breathing entity,” said Wilson.  “You have to treat it with that kind of reverence.  I am in the business of making things as fun as they possibly can be.”

A native of the Cleveland area in Ohio, Wilson was working for his hometown sports station when he made the quantum leap to go to Charlotte for a new and wonderful opportunity to take his sports radio game to another level.  He loved working in Charlotte, but when the chance to come home came about, he jumped at the opportunity.

For Wilson, that opportunity was there because, to steal a line from “The Who”, the new boss was the same as the old boss.

“Andy Roth has been the brand manager since day one,” said Wilson.  “He was the guy who hired me.  He’s the guy who hired me again.  He’s the guy who was very cool in letting me explore the Charlotte option when he didn’t have to.”

Charlotte was good to Wilson, but there’s no place like home so he clicked his heels and came back to Cleveland to talk to his hometown listeners.

“With all due love and respect to the good people in Charlotte, it is much easier,” said Wilson.  “I’m speaking to myself when I’m talking to the audience.”

But coming home still came with an adjustment period of getting used to a new co-host, to make sure the show continued to produce good ratings and to make sure his work life was in concert with his family life.

“It took a hell of lot more energy than I remember it taking either time in Charlotte simply because it was a completely different approach,” said Wilson.  “It was probably at some point in this second football season that I looked around my work and my life mirrored each other.”

And Wilson, being an Ohio native, certainly was aware of the audience he was coming home to talk to.  Cleveland is a very unique and special sports town.  The fans rally around the Browns, Guardians and Cavaliers to the point where it’s more than just fans rooting for a team and sports radio hosts talking to the fans about those teams.

It’s a community effort.

“It’s family,” said Wilson.  “It doesn’t mean that other sports towns don’t have this, but maybe the sports towns I’ve encountered don’t have it to this degree.  Clevelanders really take pride in their loyalty to the Cleveland sports teams.  It’s like your family.  I can bitch about them so you better not say it if you’re not from here.  If you have not lived these wars, I don’t want to hear you talk about it.”

Wilson’s approach each and every day he hosts the show with Fox is to make sure that the audience buys into what they’re talking about.  It’s sports radio but it has to be both entertaining and informative.  You can’t fool Cleveland sports fans so the content has to jive with what the listeners expect.

And that’s what Wilson and Fox deliver on a daily basis.

“My North Star is pretty much I just want to walk out of that studio feeling like I just delivered something that nobody else can but is something that is up to a standard that people can trust and respect,” said Wilson.  “To me, that begins with having fun and being energetic and being on point with what people are talking about at a bar with their buddies.”

And now that Nick Wilson has established that chemistry with Dustin Fox and afternoon drive continues to be the anchor of “The Fan,” there is a buzz as to what lies ahead.

“I’m really excited to see how the next 18 months evolve,” said Wilson.

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