ITHACA - If you find yourself in the lobby of the Roy H.
Park School of Communications on a Wednesday afternoon, there is a good chance
that just a few feet away, in Room 218, you will hear what sounds like an
afternoon drive sports talk radio show.
But if you go into the room and ask for the volume to be
lowered, there will be no radio on. Instead you will find three sophomores
recording a weekly sport talk podcast, called “The Asman and Budick Show.”
After a few microphone checks, the show opens the same way
it does every week: a pre-recorded voice telling the listener “The Asman and
Budick podcast starts right now”, followed by the familiar guitar riff from The
Heavy’s 2009 hit song “How You Like Me Now?”
The roots of the podcast can be traced back before college.
Sophomore co-hosts Jake Asman and Daniel Budick went to high school together in
Syosset, New York and were able to host a sports-talk radio show at their
school every week, normally on Mondays. Each said they had been listening to
sports-talk radio for much of their lives, so they knew it was something they
would like to get involved in.
“We did a lot of local and national and New York sports
stuff,” Asman said. “It was pretty much just basic sports talk, similar to what
the podcast is. When we both came to Ithaca College it was something we wanted
to do.”
Asman said one factor in creating the podcast was being able
to do a show that focused on what the duo wanted to talk about and allowed them
to do it every week in order to enhance their skills in front of the
microphone. Budick also mentioned that doing a weekly podcast allowed them to
have the flexibility to tape the show whenever they were able to.
Getting the show the green light from Ithaca College
Televisions’ special productions department was the first hurdle they cleared,
so they went looking for a producer. That is where sophomore Jake Chernok came
into the picture. He did not know Asman or Budick before coming to Ithaca
College, but he ended up being a good fit for the podcast.
“These guys were looking for a producer and I volunteered,
and its worked out great so far,” said Chernok, who, much like Asman and
Budick, is an avid fan of sports-talk radio.
Chernok is the shows’ utility man. He not only plays the
role of producer, editing the show after taping is complete, but is also a part
of weekly segments, and books special guests for Asman and Budick to interview.
They have had numerous high profile guests on the show, from Sal Paolantonio of
ESPN, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, and TNT basketball broadcaster Kevin
Harlan to name a few. Part of their ability to book some the bigger names in
the sports industry was being approved for as media credential for the NBA, NFL
and MLB, allowing them access to the same contacts list ESPN reporters have.
When asked what each of their favorite interviews were, all
three agreed that their interview with Craig Sager Jr. in April 2014 was
special and emotional, talking about his father’s diagnosis
with leukemia and the powerful interview he conducted with San Antonio Spurs
coach Gregg Popovich.
“There’s
so much negativity surrounding sports all the time,” Chernok said of the
interview. “Every single story that comes out is so negative and to have
something good come out of that was really, really awesome.”
Budick
also mentioned the first interview they ever did on the podcast as being a
special moment for them.
“I
remember the first guest we had was John Yastrzemski of WFAN,” Budick said.
“Just us interviewing him I felt like it was really cool because I’ve been
listening to these guys for so long and it’s almost like, ‘Wow, they’re calling
into my show now’, and I think that was a big eye opening experience.”
Aside from Yastrzemski, the co-hosts draw inspiration from
current sports-talk personalities that they listen to on a daily basis. Budick
said he tries to model his interview style on WFAN’s Marc Malusis and Mike
Francesa, while Asman will routinely wake up an hour before his 8 a.m. class to
watch Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton’s television simulcast and take parts
from their show, as well as others, to create his own style.
Asman said that trio plan on continuing the podcast through
college, and he hopes it gives all three of them valuable experience in the
sports-radio business.
