EPISODE 400: Hall of Fame Broadcaster Steve Albert

It's our 400th, so we’re going big with a guest who’s called it all, seen it all, and somehow lived to laugh about it.

Steve Albert ("A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth") -- Hall of Fame broadcaster and proud member of the legendary Albert sportscasting family (including nephew/Episode 320 guest Kenny) -- joins us for a deep dive into his one-of-a-kind, 45-year ride through the wilds of professional sports. From vanished leagues to unforgettable fights, from Brooklyn bedrooms-turned-broadcast-booths to center stage at Showtime Championship Boxing, Albert's stories are equal parts history and hilarity.

In this special milestone episode, we retrace Albert’s journey through memorable stops like:

  • The WHA’s Cleveland Crusaders, where his broadcast partner was the coach’s elbow-needling wife;

  • The MISL’s New York Arrows, where goal-scoring was nonstop and whiplash an occupational hazard;

  • The final ABA game ever played, which he and his older brother Al called from opposing sides;

  • 30+ years across the NBA, including 20 seasons with the New York and New Jersey versions of the Nets, and a career-capping, Emmy-winning turn with the Phoenix Suns;

  • Local New York TV sports anchor stints, where juggling 6 o’clock newscasts and rush-hour traffic to call evening games became an art;

  • And, of course, his nearly quarter-century ringside seat with Showtime Championship Boxing -- including the infamous Tyson–Holyfield (II) “Bite Fight”

We also talk about growing up in a house where three brothers fought over the mic instead of the remote, how a botched bathroom door nearly derailed a broadcast, and why the strangest moments in sports often happen outside the lines of the game.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth - Buy Book Here

EPISODE 225: The Cleveland Barons - With Gary Webster

We close the gap between our previous explorations of the National Hockey League's former California Golden Seals and Minnesota North Stars with a deep dive into the two-year curiosity that bridged between them - the unforgettably forgettable Cleveland Barons.

Episode 111 guest and WKKY-FM/Geneva (OH) radio jock Gary Webster ("The NHL's Mistake By the Lake: A History of the Cleveland Barons") returns the 'cast - this time to go deep into the baffling prelude, chaotic operations, and historically debatable termination/relocation of a franchise that was seemingly snake bitten even before its hasty arrival in Northeastern Ohio in the summer of 1976.

Named for a decades-old, nine-time minor league AHL championship-winning team that preceded it until 1973 - which itself had been replaced by the struggling "major league" Crusaders of the wobbly World Hockey Association - the Barons came close to folding in both of its two NHL seasons, despite the frantic efforts of two separate ownership groups, a brand-new state-of-the-art arena, and at least one league bailout.

Along the way, attendance was meager, media coverage was scant, and on-ice play was woeful - the perfect ingredients for an episode sure to please!

The NHL’s Mistake By the Lake: A History of the Cleveland Barons - buy book here