Connect with us
blank

Sports Radio News

Tom Nichols Waits 31 Years to Call First MLB Game

Brandon Contes

Published

on

A new voice was in the radio booth for the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night.  It was just one game, three innings to be exact, but for Tom Nichols it was a dream come true.

After 31 years in the minor leagues and broadcasting his 4,000th game earlier in August, the radio voice of Cincinnati’s Class A affiliate, the Dayton Dragons, got the call to the big leagues.

“Once you enter the business, you’re just looking for that opportunity to work in the big leagues,” Nichols told Ryan O’Gara of the Muncie Star Press.  “That ship has sailed.  I’m 54 years old now, so it’s unlikely I’ll get a full-time MLB job at this point based on that they are looking for younger guys now.

“The fact that it’s happening now might mean even more, because it’s happening at a time where it’s pretty clear the minor leagues are pretty much as far as I’ll go.”

Nichols joined Marty Brennaman and analyst Jeff Brantley on the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings on Tuesday.  For Nichols, who grew up listening to Brennaman, the voice of the Reds since 1974, it was important to finally get the opportunity to be heard in the Majors.

“It’s important to me because I’ve put so much of my life into this career,” Nichols said.  “I think it’s similar to Moonlight Graham, the character in (the movie) ‘Field of Dreams’ who played one inning but never got to bat.

“It’s only one game, but it will mean a lot to me.  I’ve ridden the buses and called the games.  Now I get to sit in an MLB broadcast booth.”

Unbeknownst to Nichols, after he called his 4,000th career minor league game, the Dragons and Reds were working on a plan for the broadcaster to get his big league opportunity.  Nichols fittingly joined the Reds Radio Network on an off-day for the Dragons.  Prior to missing 15 games with kidney stones last year, Nichols called 27 consecutive minor league seasons without missing a day of work.

Even though he’s working for his seventh team in the minors and has gone 31 years without getting a call to the big leagues, Nichols still never wavered on his career choice.

“It’s been the best career for me, honestly,” Nichols said. “People have asked me that lately, did you ever think about just quitting and getting a different job? For me, this was the right career, whether it was major league or minor league. It was the correct career path, whether I get to MLB or not, and it was worth it. It’s something I’ve enjoyed entire career, and that’s why I continue to do it after 31 years.”

Nichols first major league opportunity went in the books as a win as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7.

Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.

 

Sports Radio News

Doug Gottlieb Details Interviewing For College Basketball Head Coaching Vacancy

“I’ve told people that for the radio element to — for the right thing — I’d give it up. The (podcast), I’m not giving it up.”

blank

Published

on

blank

Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb recently interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Wisconsin-Green Bay and detailed the experience on his podcast.

“I got a chance to talk to (Wisconsin-Green Bay AD) Josh Moon several times during the year after they had made their coaching job available and my approach to how I’ve done these things — and this is not the first time I’ve gone down this path, but this was a different path,” Gottlieb said on his All Ball podcast.

“This is a low-major, mid-major job, and there’s no connection there. I’ve told people that for the radio element to — for the right thing — I’d give it up. The (podcast), I’m not giving it up. I love doing it and I think there’s a very smart world where if I’m coaching I can still do this podcast and still do it with basketball people all over the country and the world, and it’s kind of like a cheat code.”

He continued by saying that seeing Shaka Smart be successful at Marquette has motivated him to continue to search for the right fit as a college basketball coach.

“That’s what I want to do. And last year when I was coaching in Israel, that also continued to invigorate me…this is something that I would really like to do. It has to be the right thing. It has to be the right AD who hits the right message.”

He continued by saying that a sticking point of negotiations was he wasn’t willing to give up his nationally syndicated radio program for the job. He was willing to take less money for his assistants pool, but also to continue doing his radio show.

Gottlieb did not get the position with the Phoenix, noting that he was a finalist but was never offered the job. The position ultimately went to Wyoming assistant coach Sundance Wicks. Wicks had previous head coaching experience and had worked with Green Bay athletic director Josh Moon at Division II Northern State. He admitted he wasn’t necessarily “all-in” on the job due to the current ages of his children and whether the timing was right to uproot his family to move to Northeastern Wisconsin.

The Fox Sports Radio host does have coaching experience. He has worked as a coach for the U.S. men’s basketball team at the Maccabiah Games, sometimes referred to as the Jewish Olympics.

Gottlieb’s father — Bob — was the head men’s basketball coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1975-1980, compiling a 97-91 record.

Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Waddle & Silvy: Scott Hanson Told Us to Lose His Number

“We didn’t call him back, so he set out what he wanted to do.”

blank

Published

on

blank

Aaron Rodgers took immense pride in the fact that he told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter to “lose his number” while discussing his future earlier this week on The Pat McAfee Show. ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy said they’ve experienced similar treatment from guests on their radio show.

While discussing the Rodgers interview with McAfee, the pair admitted that NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson once told their producer to stop trying to book him for interviews on the program.

“I believe the presentation was ‘Do me a favor: lose my number after this interview’,” Tom Waddle said. “So he tried to do it politely. Scott Hanson did. Get out of here. That concept is foreign to me. How about ‘Hey, next time you text me, my schedule is full. I can’t do it, but thanks for thinking of me’. ‘Lose my number?’ You ain’t the President, for Christ’s sake. I’m saying that to anyone who would say that. ‘Lose my number?’ We’re all in the communication business. I just don’t know — why be rude like that to people? What does that accomplish? You know what it accomplished? We didn’t call him back, so he set out what he wanted to do.”

Co-host Mark Silverman then mentioned that the show once tried to book Hansen and NFL Red Zone host Andrew Siciliano together in the same block, with the idea of doing a trivia game to see who the supreme Red Zone host was. Siciliano agreed, but Hansen declined.

The pair also confirmed that an NFL Network personality had told them to lose their number, but couldn’t remember if it was Rich Eisen or not.

Silverman later joked that maybe Hanson was getting a new phone with a new number, and was politely sharing with the producer that he could lose the current phone number because he would share his new number in short order.

Continue Reading

Sports Radio News

Seth Payne: Aaron Rodgers ‘Makes Gross Inaccuracies’ When Calling Out Media

“This is where Rodgers does this thing where he, in calling out reporters for their inaccuracies, makes gross inaccuracies in his accusations.”

blank

Published

on

Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers is always mad at the media for the inaccurate things he says they report, but according to Sports Radio 610 morning man Seth Payne, no one is more inaccurate than the quarterback himself.

Friday morning, Payne and his partner Sean Pendergast played audio of Aaron Rodgers responding to a question about a list of players he provided to the Jets demanding they sign. Rodgers called the idea that he would make demands “so stupid” and chastised ESPN reporter Dianna Russini, who was the first to report it.

“Now to be clear, Dianna Russini didn’t say demands in her tweet. She said wishlist,” Pendergast clarified.

They also played a clip of Russini responding to Rodgers on NFL Live saying that she stands by her reporting and it is her job to reach out to confirm that it is true.

“This is where Rodgers does this thing where he, in calling out reporters for their inaccuracies, makes gross inaccuracies in his accusations,” Seth Payne said.

He added that if Rodgers is being serious, he is doing some serious nitpicking. He claims that he didn’t give the Jets a list, but that he spoke glowingly about former teammates and told the Jets executives that he met with who he enjoyed playing with during his career.

Payne joked that maybe he wrote down the names in a circle pattern so that it was not a list. Pendergast added that he could have had Fat Head stickers on his wall that he pointed to instead of writing anything at all.

In Payne’s mind, this is a case of Russini catching stray frustration. Neither in her initial tweet nor in any subsequent media appearance did she use the phrase “demands”.

“What he’s actually responding to in that instance is Pat McAfee is the one that described it as a list of demands,” Seth Payne said.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

blank

Barrett Media Writers

Copyright © 2023 Barrett Media.