Sports With Friends

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487. Longtime WFAN Anchor Erica Herskowitz Jan 15, 2025

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Erica Herskowitz is known by many sports radio listeners from her days anchoring sports updates on New York's WFAN radio. She started in the late 1990s and has flourished in her career. She's worked for ESPN, NBA TV, Westwood One, and Bloomberg, among others. She also gave up her career trajectory when she made the choice to settle down and have a family. In this episode, Herskowitz discusses her start at WFAN while she was still a student at Rutgers University. She also talked about being one of the only females in a predominantly male-centric industry. She also opened up about her choices to have a family, foregoing potential opportunities. The wildfires in southern California have been devastating. To donate to the American Red Cross go to https://www.redcross.org/ or from your phone via text by messaging "REDCROSS" to 90999.

486. TV Writer, MLB Play-by-Play Announcer Ken Levine Jan 08, 2025

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This episode is a continuation from a conversation that took place on the Hall of Justice podcast episode 395. In that episode, Ken Levine detailed his illustrious TV writing career that included writing for MASH, Cheers, Frasier, the Simpsons, and countless others. In that episode, there was no discussion of what this episode is about. While he was writing Cheers and Frasier, Ken Levine was ALSO a Major League Baseball play-by-play announcer. Levine called games for the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and San Diego Padres. In this episode recounts in great detail how this successful television writer began calling games into a tape recorder at Dodgers Stadium. That activity morphed into a couple of minor league gigs, which in turn became opportunities in the big leagues. While the entire story is fascinating, this podcast also contains amazing stories about Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Cal Ripken, Jr. Still, the best stories involve Tom Hanks and Ted Danson, who played former Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone on Cheers.

485. 2 Jews Hanging Out on Christmas Day & Chanukah! (Vol. 7) Dec 25, 2024

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This episode continues the tradition of being the last episode of the calendar year 2024. Since 2017, Scott Seidenberg has joined this final episode. The title says it all. “2 Jews Hanging Out on Christmas Day” was born out of necessity when the show first started having sponsors. Now, Scott rejoins the show every year to lament the year and talk about the goings-on in the sports world. With his 7th appearance, Scott has supplanted LaTroy Hawkins as having been on the most of anyone in the nearly 500 episodes of this podcast. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from everyone involved in Sports w/Friends. See you in 2025!

484. Former Baseball OF Johnny Damon Dec 18, 2024

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Former MLB Outfielder Johnny Damon played in the big leagues from 1995-2012. He came up with the Kansas City Royals and after a short stint with the Oakland A's, Damon signed a four-year contract with the Boston Red Sox. During his Red Sox tenure, he participated in the iconic ALCS between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees in 2003 and 2004. He also was a part of the '04 World Series championship, erasing the team's 86-year-old “Curse of the Bambino.” In 2006, he signed a free-agent contract with the archrival Yankees, ultimately winning his second World Series championship in 2009. In this episode, Damon discusses a new venture he's involved in with a new sports drink entitled “A-Game.” He also explains the process of leaving Boston for New York and how the Red Sox didn't offer him a contract. He also explains in detail the impact of former teammate Cory Lidle's untimely death from a plane crash in 2006 had on his life and career. He also talked about the 2005 movie “Fever Pitch,” and the impact that had on the 2004 team, and the fandom that followed it. Finally, he discusses the changes he sees in baseball since his playing career, including the recent mega-contract that Juan Soto signed with the Mets. For more information about A-Game: https://drinkagame.com/

483. Adam Zucker, CBS Sports Dec 11, 2024

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Longtime CBS Sports football and basketball studio host Adam Zucker is also a Syracuse alum. Continuing the string of having Syracuse alums on this podcast, Zucker graduated in 1998. After doing local TV and radio, he began working for a fledgling upstart cable network called College Sports Television or CSTV. CSTV was eventually acquired by CBS and has morphed into what is now known as the CBS Sports Network. Zucker has been a part of CBS football and basketball broadcasts. In this episode, Adam discusses his career ascension. He also weighs in on the recently released bracket for the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. He also discusses the growth of the NCAA basketball tournament, and the impact conference realignment has had on that sport.

482. Hall-of-Fame Baseball Writer Claire Smith Dec 04, 2024

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Claire Smith is a pioneer in sports writing. She was the first ever female Major League Baseball beat writer, covering the New York Yankees for five seasons starting in 1982. She became a national columnist and worked at the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and later ESPN. In 2017, she was the first female to win the Baseball Hall of Fame's BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award. She is currently a professor at Temple University. In this episode, Smith tells stories from her illustrious career. She tells stories of both racism and sexism, including a 1984 incident where she was asked to leave the San Diego Padres clubhouse during the NLCS because she was a woman. She told stories about dear friends and allies Steve Garvey, Dave Winfield, Don Baylor, Dusty Baker, and countless others. She is an icon in her profession.

481. NBA Insider Brian Geltzeiler Nov 27, 2024

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Brian Geltzeiler is the founder of Hoopscritic, an NBA blog. He is a financial advisor who created a broadcasting career from that blog. Hoopscritic led to many radio appearances and eventually a job with Sirius/XM NBA Radio. He has also appeared on NBA TV. In this episode, Geltzeiler explains his fantastic origin story. He goes into great detail about how his blog led to his radio appearances. He also talks about the NBA's recent new national broadcasting contracts and the recent deal to move the award-winning TNT show “Inside the NBA” to ESPN next season. He also covers the story of Bronny James' rookie season playing with his father, LeBron James. Also discussed is the race in the NBA's Eastern Conference between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.

480. Dave Sims, New Radio Play-by-Play Voice of the NY Yankees Nov 20, 2024

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In November 2024, longtime baseball announcer Dave Sims was named the new radio play-by-play voice of the New York Yankees. Sims replaces John Sterling who held the position since 1989. Sims has been the TV/Radio voice of the Seattle Mariners from 2007-2024. Sims has an extensive career and is one of the first voices on WFAN radio, the flagship station of Yankee games. In this episode, Sims tells the story of leaving Seattle for New York, and how this is all full circle for him. He discusses all of his stops along the way, having grown up in Philadelphia, and worked primarily in New York. Dave has called NFL football and NCAA college basketball in addition to baseball. He's also one of the original voices of MLB Radio in 2000/2001 and was instrumental in helping Seth leave Seattle ironically, and head to MLB.

479. College Football Insider Brett McMurphy, Action Network Nov 13, 2024

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The southeast United States was impacted heavily by two hurricanes in October 2024. Hurricane Helene and Milton affected lives and property in many states, including Florida. On October 9th, Hurricane Milton destroyed the fiberglass roof of the ballpark this month, leaving it open to the elements. With the Rays set to open the season at home on March 27, there's unlikely time to put on a new roof. Adding to the issue is a plan for a new ballpark, tentatively scheduled to open in 2028. That begs the question, why repair the Trop just to tear it down? If the Rays cannot play there in 2025, where could they play? Tampa Bay Times reporter Marc Topkin joined the podcast to discuss the facts of the situation and present all the options for the baseball team. Topkin has covered the Rays for the Tampa Bay Times (formerly St. Petersburg Times) and http://tampabay.com since the very beginning. He offers a unique perspective on the problem facing the ballclub and has insight as to what options the team actually has and why. Disclaimer: This conversation is about a sports topic and it is not intended to put the needs of a baseball team ahead of the numerous people who have been impacted by both hurricanes. Donate to the American Red Cross here: https://www.redcross.org/

478. The Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field, and an Uncertain Future Oct 30, 2024

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