Sports With Friends

At the height of the newspaper era, the New York Daily News was an immensely popular New York tabloid. From 2015-2019, the Daily News underwent massive layoffs amidst an ownership change, and the paper changed many of its journalistic strategies. Andy Clayton built the digital sports team from the ground up as NYDN.com’s first full-time sports editor. Clayton directed digital coverage for the world’s biggest sporting events, including Super Bowls, World Series, NBA and NHL Finals, Olympics, World Cups, plus the daily coverage of the local franchises.In this episode, Clayton explains what it was like to see the sports section staff reduced due to layoffs. He discussed how they handled the journalism with a bare-bones staff, and what he hopes to see from the News going forward.Clayton is a native of Denver, Colorado, and began his career covering Denver sports. He compares the two sports markets and tells stories from his time in the Mile High City. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

94-year-old Stan Fischler began his Hall of Fame journalism career as a publicist for the New York Rangers starting in the 1954–55 NHL season. He is the author of over 100 books, including his most recent, Tales of Brooklyn. In 1973, he entered television broadcasting, serving as an analyst for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association beginning in the 1973–74 WHA season. After two years covering the Whalers, Fischler joined SportsChannel and covered both the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. After SportsChannel's fall, Fischler joined MSG Network and added the Rangers to his coverage. He covered all three teams until his retirement from on-air work after the 2017-2018 season.Stan has won seven Emmy awards over his illustrious career. In December 2021, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. On October 26, 2022, the New York Islanders unveiled The Stan Fischler Press Level, dedicating UBS Arena's press level to Fischler. Stan continues to write a daily Rangers feature for the Hockey News, and a weekly article for the Devils/NHL website.In this episode, Fischler demonstrates how, at 94, he is still sharp. He discussed the origins of his hockey fandom and his decision, after his wife Shirley’s passing, to move to Israel to live with his son and his family. Shirley Fischler is an accomplished hockey writer and broadcaster in her own right.For more info on Tales of Brooklyn, visit https://bit.ly/4eWbKzK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rick Rizzs recently ended his longtime role as the Seattle Mariners ' longest-tenured broadcaster. Rizzs began calling Mariners’ games in 1983. He left to work for the Detroit Tigers from 1992 to 1994, and returned to Seattle in that magical 1995 Mariners season. For decades, he worked alongside the Mariners' original voice, Dave Neihaus. His signature home run call, “Goodbye baseball!” is familiar to fans who listened for 41 years. The Mariners recently announced that Rick will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame next season.In this episode, Rick explains his decision to retire. He discusses his favorite 1995 season and its significance for the franchise's future. He also discussed all of the stars that he saw in a Seattle uniform, including Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, and Ichiro Suzuki. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tommy Hutton recently ended his longtime role as the Miami Marlins TV analyst. Hutton is the longest-tenured broadcaster in Marlins history. Hutton played baseball from 1966-1981 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and Montreal Expos. He was famous for hitting .320 against Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.Hutton joined the broadcast booth in 1982 with the Expos. He then went through the Yankees and Blue Jays booths through the 1980s and 1990s, working for ESPN, ABC, and NBC as well. All this before landing with the Florida Marlins in time for their inaugural television season in 1997.Hutton left the team in 2015 during an ownership change, only to return six years later.In this episode, Hutton discusses his decision to retire and what he will miss most about the Marlins and baseball. He also recounts the two championship Marlins clubs and the challenges the team faces in their ballpark in South Florida. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2026 College Football season is underway, and controversy between Louisiana State University and the Southeastern Conference came to a head when members of the conference were planning to vote the Tigers out of the SEC. It stems from LSU’s attempt to add two players, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris. These two players had signed NFL preseason contracts and were attempting to return to play college football at LSU.Amanda Christovich is a reporter for Front Office Sports and has been at the forefront of this case. Christovich covers the business of college sports after stints at USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.In this episode, Christovich explains how this case played out and what the future is for both LSU, the SEC, and all of College Football. She also talks about NIL money, the transfer portal, a potential super league, and what’s next for LSU coach Lane Kiffin.While Amanda is a great reporter, Syracuse fans must take heart that she is a Georgetown alum.Follow Amanda’s work at https://frontofficesports.com/author/amanda-christovich/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elise Woodward was named the new radio voice of Washington Huskies College Football in July 2026. She is believed to be the first full-time female radio play-by-play voice in FBS football, taking over after 23 years as a sideline reporter on the radio broadcasts. She replaces Tony Castricone, who called Husky games for nine seasons before leaving to join the NNFL'sTampa Bay Buccaneers. Castricone replaced legendary voice Bob Rondeau, who called games for 37 years until his retirement after the 2017 season.Woodward is a veteran broadcaster with more than thirty years of experience. She is currently the Voice of the WWNBA's Portland Fire and has served as Washington football's sideline reporter for over two decades. In addition, Woodward has been a local broadcaster for the Seattle Storm and Seattle SuperSonics – hosting pregame, halftime, and postgame radio shows. She has been one of the play-by-play voices for ESPN's coverage of the NCAA® Women's Basketball Tournament for over a decade. Woodward has called games on FOX, Big Ten Network and Pac-12 Network for a wide range of sports, including football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, gymnastics, track and field and lacrosse. She has also called basketball conference championship games for the WCC, WAC, Ivy League and American Conference. Woodward is a two-time Emmy nominee and hosted her own sports talk show on Sports Radio KJR in Seattle for more than a decade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hall of Famer Dan Issel is the all-time leading scorer at the University of Kentucky, the second-leading scorer of all time for the NBA's Denver Nuggets, and the second-leading scorer of all time for the ABA. Issel played for the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA and later played for the Nuggets. Recently, Issel was featured in an Amazon Prime Video documentary entitled "Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association."In 1997, Issel began hosting a radio show on a then-fledgling radio station, "AM 950 The FAN" KKFN in Denver, Colorado, where he worked with a young Seth Everett. This episode ends with stories from that time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On May 19, 2026, Arsenal were crowned the 2025-2026 Premier League champions. It was Arsenal's first league title since the 2003–04 season. They held a parade in North London, celebrating their title. Mikel Arteta coaches them.Journalist Natasha Henry has worked in sports media for years, based in England. She has been an Arsenal supporter her whole life, and brings that enthusiasm to the podcast.In this episode, they discuss the unique relationship that exists between the fans and the club, and how that has evolved over the years. They also talk about the Louis Dunford song “Th' Angel (North London Forever)” becoming an Arsenal anthem after Arteta introduced it to the players. They discuss the stardom of Bukayo Saka, and the chances of repeating as Premier League champions, as well as trying once again to win their first-ever Champions League. They discuss how Arsenal's social media global following is six times that of the most popular USA team, the Kansas City Chiefs.Don't forget on [@ultrapouches]. New customers get 15% off with code SWF at takeultra.com! #UltraPouches #ad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On June 13, 2026, the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4 games to 1 to claim their first title since the 1972-1973 season. The championship captivated New York, a city that was starved for a major pro championship.Game 4 saw the Spurs take the largest halftime lead of any visiting team in Finals history, then the Knicks overcame the largest deficit in Finals history to win. It was the first Finals series since 1975 in which a single point won multiple games. It was the first Finals ever in which the teams were within five points of each other in the final five minutes of each game. The average margin of victory was just four points. The Spurs built double-digit leads in all these games, but lost four of them.It was the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, with an average of 20.6 million viewers per game. Alan Hahn is a broadcaster during Knicks broadcasts on MSG Network and a radio host on ESPN New York. He has covered the Knicks for twenty years. Hahn spent 16 years as a writer at Newsday, where he covered every major professional sports team in the New York area, including five seasons as the Knicks beat reporter. He also previously served as an Islanders reporter and NHL writer.In this episode, Hahn recounts the historic Knicks run. He also addresses some of the storylines and controversies over the season, including that historic Game 4 comeback and President Donald Trump attending Game 3. He also paid tribute to two historic broadcasters, Al Trautwig and John Andreise. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Longtime ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas has been with the network since 1995. He is featured on ESPN’s game and studio coverage and calls the top men’s college basketball games involving the nation’s marquee teams and conferences every week throughout the season. In 2024, he joined ESPN’s NBA commentator team as a game analyst. Bilas is a nine-time Emmy nominee: Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst (2007, 2008, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and Outstanding Sports Personality – Event Analyst (2016, 2017, 2019). In 2016, Bilas received the prestigious Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2022, Bilas was selected for induction into the Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame.Bilas is participating in Lake Tahoe’s American Century Championship. The American Century Championship is a made-for-TV event owned and broadcast by NBC Sports. The premier celebrity golf tournament, which also raises funds for local and national charities, awards a $750,000 purse. The tournament is a 54-hole modified Stableford format that features some of sports and entertainment’s greatest celebrities.In this episode, Bilas speaks about the current landscape of college basketball and how it differs from that of college football. He also addresses the incredible talent in the NBA and how he cherishes covering that league as well.Fans can get involved and play Fantasy Golf with the participants in Lake Tahoe. This year’s tournament is July 8-12, 2026. For more info, https://www.accfantasygolf.com/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.