Awful Announcing Podcast

Host Brandon Contes interviews former "Mike and the Mad Dog" producer and current co-host of "Carlin vs. Joe," Chris Carlin. Brandon and Chris discuss a wide range of topics including trying to navigate Mike Francesa and Chris Russo during their blowup, the "challenge" of working with Don Imus, entering broadcasting due to somebody getting pantsed in a bar, and more.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:33: “Carlin vs. Joe”-2:04: Meeting Joe Fortenbaugh-2:46: National radio compared to local radio-4:44: Is one form of radio more creative than the other?-6:02: Is there a specific market to focus on when doing national?-7:10: Cowboys talk-7:49: Is there more an effort to have evergreen topics?-9:08: Is ESPN Radio still prestigious?-12:14: Connection with national audience-13:33: Engaging with callers-16:05: Going to school to be a lawyer-17:08: Switching to sports-21:06: Producing “Mike and the Mad Dog”-23:46: Producing when Mike and Chris had their blowup during the 2000 NBA Eastern Conference Finals-28:06: Producing when Mike and Chris weren’t talking with each other-31:02: Continuing to produce “Mike and the Mad Dog”-34:33: Most memorable moment from producing “Mike and the Mad Dog”-36:31: Most memorable off-air moment-38:38: Leaving “Mike and the Mad Dog”-40:08: Working with Don Imus-45:44: “Boomer and Carton”-46:56: Doing shows on SNY-49:21: WIP-51:59: Spike Eskin-53:44: Surprising Spike left WFAN for WIP?-55:22: Going back to WIP?-57:08: Not reaching out to Mike Francesa-1:01:02: Learning when Mike was coming back-1:01:59: Rebounding-1:04:30: Ryan Hurley-1:06:35: Relationship with Mad Dog-1:08:50: Mad Dog on “First Take”-1:10:32: How does Mike feel about Mad Dog on “First Take?”

Host Brandon Contes interviews "First Things First" co-host Nick Wright. Brandon and Nick discuss a wide range of topics including going to FS1 instead of ESPN, Chennedy Carter's foul on Caitlin Clark and the overall WNBA discussion, doing sports talk radio in Kansas City, and more.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:45: Who is the “face” of FS1?-2:07: Striving to be a valuable personality-5:07: Talking about the WNBA-13:36: Who benefits more? WNBA or sports media?-15:32: Racial aspect of Chennedy Carter’s foul on Caitlin Clark?-19:56: Making it about race-22:23: Being genuine in takes-24:10: Ability to be definitive-27:31: Would staying in KC be satisfying enough?-32:23: Houston-32:46: FS1-35:59: ESPN offer-40:18: Original Fox deal-42:40: Cris Carter-44:47: Kevin Wildes-51:16: Chris Broussard-52:45: Any talks on replacing Shannon Sharpe on “Undisputed?”-59:41: Jason Whitlock-1:00:25: Doing “First Things First” and Mad Dog Radio-1:04:23: Changing shifts-1:05:32: Sports/politics discussion-1:10:30: KC parade post-Super Bowl-1:12:15: Gambling-1:16:43: Shaving head-1:19:47: Career goals right now

Bill Walton died on May 27, 2024 at the age of 71. Bill meant a lot to us at Awful Announcing, so we wanted to do something special. We invited a few of Bill's many friends and broadcast partners to tell stories and memories of the Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary broadcaster. Sit back with host Brandon Contes and guests Jason Benetti, Roxy Bernstein, and Dave Pasch as we celebrate the life of Bill Walton.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:20: Welcome Jason Benetti to the Awful Announcing Podcast-:50: Bill making the most out of his life-2:57: Emotions this week-5:50: Creative freedom of working with Bill-7:37: Knowing Jason would like working with Bill at first-11:10: First broadcast with Bill-14:02: First conversation with Bill-14:15: Building chemistry with Bill-17:55: Shift in Bill’s broadcasting style from NBA to college-19:07: Pressure to need to entertain?-21:27: Was Bill seeking to be more entertaining or more insightful on broadcast?-22:43: Inserting non-sports topics in sports-25:23: Will we see another analyst like Bill?-27:31: Best piece of advice from Bill-29:39: Welcome Roxy Bernstein to the Awful Announcing Podcast-29:55: Reaction to the reaction to Bill’s passing-30:52: First broadcast with Bill-33:18: Comfort level working without pregame prep with the analyst-35:02: Challenge of letting Bill go on tangents-36:44: Notable tangents with Bill-37:46: Working relationship becoming a friendship-39:41: Being genuine/playing dumb-41:22: Favorite off-air moment with Bill-43:39: Going to a Grateful Dead concert with Bill-45:31: Closing Pac-12 Network and mentioning Bill-48:05: Welcome Dave Pasch to the Awful Announcing Podcast-48:25: Emotions this week-49:48: Catharsis of everyone sharing stories and showing love for Bill-51:06: Bill’s basketball career being secondary when describing his life-52:41: Bill resonating with so many people-54:29: Bill off-camera-55:59: Bill on college campus-58:41: Was there a pressure to be “on?”-59:39: First broadcast with Bill-1:00:51: Surprised by the amount of tangents-1:01:41: Was it a challenge to work alongside Bill?-1:03:20: Getting caught up in the banter-1:04:25: Will we see another analyst like Bill?-1:05:43: Favorite tangent/memorable on-air moment-1:08:00: Posting texts from Bill online-1:09:57: T-shirt for final broadcast-1:12:16: Favorite off-air moment with Bill

Host Brandon Contes interviews legendary Indianapolis 500 broadcaster Paul Page. Brandon and Paul discuss a wide range of topics including working the Indy 500 on radio and TV, being mentored by Sid Collins, working with Bobby Unser, and more.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:43: Working this year’s Indianapolis 500-1:29: Best place to watch the Indy 500-2:27: Getting into broadcasting-4:15: Growing up a racing fan-5:58: Broadcasting while in the Army-6:25: Surviving a helicopter crash-8:10: Memories of the crash-8:55: First ride back in a helicopter-9:18: Reporting from helicopter during crash-10:22: Friendship and mentorship with Sid Collins-12:13: Collins’ death and succeeding Collins to be “Voice of the 500” in 1977-14:25: Emotions of the 1977 broadcast as chief announcer-15:57: Difficulties of the 1977 broadcast-16:44: Feeling after the 1977 race-18:45: Differences in broadcasting compared to Collins-20:38: Preference in doing radio or TV?-22:08: Doing radio at Indy-23:22: TV producers-26:01: Ideas to ABC to improve broadcasts-26:59: Delta Force intros-29:14: Working with Bobby Unser and Sam Posey-30:42: Was Posey and Unser competitive with each other?-31:22: Playing peacemaker-32:18: Three person booth-34:27: Longest being on the air for a race-36:06: Most memorable finish for Paul-38:01: Favorite Indy 500 memory in general-39:28: Broadcasting Indy 500 during COVID-42:06: Calling Alex Zanardi crash in Germany days after 9/11-48:53: Favorite sport to call-49:25: Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest -51:45: Preparation for offbeat sports-52:18: Calling different forms of motorsports-53:22: 30th anniversary of the first Brickyard 400-54:56: What makes the Indy 500 special?-58:24: Al Michaels-1:00:45: Favorite part of Indy 500 weekend

Host Brandon Contes interviews executive producer and host of "SportScience," John Brenkus. Brandon and John discuss a wide range of topics including creating and hosting "SportScience," how the science community reacted to the show, creating and running Brinx. TV, and more.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:43: Legacy of “SportScience”-2:36: TV aspirations?-4:00: Start of “SportScience”-4:58: Building set and producing “SportScience”-6:50: Desire to find this info out-8:38: Did “SportScience” influence how teams measure players?-10:21: Reaction from Science community-11:45: Episode that stands out?-13:03: Experiments that went wrong?-14:13: Why pro athletes weren’t paid to participate?-15:40: Coming up with ideas-16:25: Format of the show-18:07: Not hosting “SportScience” segments-18:50: Brinx. TV-21:46: Content with Brinx Bux-24:08: Measuring viewership-26:00: Marcellus Wiley-26:38: “GOAT Code”-27:35: “The Perfection Point”-28:28: Most room for performance growth among the “big four” American sports-29:42: How much of a great athlete comes down to genetics and hard work/effort/training?-30:57: Any unfulfilled passion projects?

Host Brandon Contes interviews ESPN's Steve Levy. Brandon and Steve discuss a wide range of topics including being a Rangers fan and working with Mark Messier, working "Monday Night Football," his infamous "bulging disc" blooper, why Pat McAfee is a "genius," and more.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-1:00: Watching NHL games from the studio-2:01: Becoming a Rangers fan-3:00: ESPN’s near-“Heidi Bowl” moment Tuesday night-4:08: NHL on ESPN-5:30: Atmosphere at ESPN when the NHL left network in 2004?-7:39: Calling an NHL game in 2021 compared to 2003-8:49: Barry Melrose-10:31: Working with Mark Messier and P.K. Subban-13:06: Doing NHL in studio, “MNF,” and NHL games-14:29: Being versatile-17:37: Being the voice of “Monday Night Football”-19:19: Three person booths-20:43: “MNF” job being temporary?-24:49: Being replaced by Chris Fowler on the second “MNF” crew-27:20: Working with Pat McAfee-29:52: NHL talk on ESPN shows-31:08: NHL marketing its stars-33:39: Another NHL who can transcend the sport like Wayne Gretzky?-34:45: Working at MSG-36:54: Doing updates at WFAN-38:33: "SportsCenter"-39:41: The “bulging disc” blooper-43:41: Added pressure filling in for Dan or Keith on “The Big Show?”

Host Brandon Contes interviews co-host of "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz," Jon "Stugotz" Weiner. Brandon and Stugotz discuss a wide range of topics including being interested in being program director at WFAN, working with Dan Le Batard for nearly 20 years, the importance of being on ESPN and being jealous of Pat McAfee, and more.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:36: How close was Stugotz to being program director at WFAN?-2:50: Process of program director discussion-4:08: Being a full-time host while being program director?-6:14: Sal Licata-8:19: Ryan Hurley-10:06: Mark Chernoff/Spike Eskin handling WFAN program director role-12:48: Talking to Spike Eskin about the program director job-14:24: Talking to Chris Oliviero about before the program director job opened up?-16:04: Wanting a full-time WFAN show before retirement?-17:31: Letting Dan Le Batard know about talks with WFAN-18:39: Le Batard understanding what WFAN means to Stugotz-19:59: Any talks about doing WFAN and Le Batard?-25:55: Mike Francesa or Chris “Mad Dog” Russo?-29:34: Mad Dog on “First Take”-33:24: Does it feel like it’s been 20 years with Le Batard?-35:31: Francesa doing a podcast-37:34: Le Batard being a perfectionist-39:00: Size of the cast on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz”-41:17: Convincing Le Batard to be a sports radio host-44:12: Chemistry between Stugotz and Le Batard at first-46:15: Importance of being at ESPN-48:09: Podcast audience growth-51:05: Decision to leave ESPN-52:15: Comfortable with leaving ESPN-53:38: Did Stugotz consider leaving the show due to leaving ESPN?-54:59: Being jealous of Pat McAfee-55:45: Did ESPN give “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” the freedom they wanted?-57:32: Pat McAfee level of freedom?-1:00:36: Stugotz’s book

Host Brandon Contes interviews broadcasting legend Eli Gold. Brandon and Bob discuss a wide range of topics including being the voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Alabama not retaining him for 2024, telling a white lie to start broadcasting in NASCAR, Nick Saban retiring from coaching, and more.NOTE: We apologize for some audio and visual issues during the episode.For even more discussion, head over to awfulannouncing.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok, Bluesky, and YouTube: @awfulannouncing.-:40: Eli’s health-1:11: Returning to broadcast booth post-cancer-1:57: Were there retirement thoughts when Eli sat out?-2:54: Being out of work for two hours-4:02: Calling home games only at Alabama-4:56: Was the cutback a warning sign that Alabama wasn’t going to retain Eli?-6:00: Alabama’s reason for not retaining Eli-7:47: Response from Alabama fans-8:46: Being the voice of the Nick Saban era [NOTE] Eli’s audio cuts out from 9:10 to 9:15. For full context, Eli is talking about not being at Alabama’s 2024 Spring Game which honored Nick Saban and the 2023 team.-11:00: Not being welcomed by Alabama fans when Eli joined in 1988-12:24: Considering leaving Alabama during that time?-14:49: Getting to Alabama-16:12: Goal as aspiring sportscaster in NYC-18:01: Broadcasters Eli looked up to growing up-19:25: Crafting your own style-21:45: Verne Lundquist’s last Masters-22:43: Jacksonville State University-23:32: Nashville Kats-26:30: Preparing for opposing team-27:25: Commute to Nashville-28:01: Were there other job opportunities while Eli was at Alabama?-28:59: Reaction to Nick Saban retiring-30:20: Any solace in that Eli’s Alabama tenure ended when Saban’s did?-31:15: Can Alabama succeed without Saban?-32:21: How will Saban do at ESPN?-33:49: Most memorable and favorite moments/games at Alabama-35:46: Favorite sport to broadcast-37:24: Getting involved in NASCAR-40:51: Working the 1979 Daytona 500 on MRN and importance of that race to NASCAR-42:00: Being too close to Dale Earnhardt’s 1982 Pocono crash-44:45: Being on the call for Earnhardt’s fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500-46:24: Which sport changed the most throughout Eli’s career? NASCAR or college football?