Good sports: Rowan students land prestigious radio internships

Avid fans well know sports radio stars like Colin Cowherd, Angelo Cataldi and Stephen A. Smith.

While no one can predict who the radio stars of tomorrow will be, two Rowan students stepped into the proverbial batter’s box this summer to take their best swing.

On recommendations from Rowan Interim Athletic Director John Giannini this summer, Hunter Brody and Al Petit, students in the College of Communication & Creative Arts, landed prestigious sports radio internships – Brody with ESPN radio, which carries the Stephen A. Smith Show – and Petit with 94 WIP, to work on the Angelo Cataldi and the Morning Show program.

Brody, who works out of the 97.3 ESPN offices in Northfield, is a longtime hockey player who practically sweats Philly sports. A certified “big four” fanatic – he loves the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers and Eagles – Brody, in addition to his daily interning duties, produces a regular Phillies recap video that he posts on YouTube and on the 97.3 web site.

Communicating on camera almost as much with his gestures and mannerisms as his impassioned delivery, Brody’s post-game video recaps have garnered an astounding 1.6 million views to date and attracted 8,200 regular subscribers.

“I’m extremely passionate, and I think that comes through,” said Brody (at right), a rising junior from Washington Township in Rowan’s popular Sports Communication & Media program.

Typically garbed during recap videos in Philly team gear, Brody, whose on-air moniker is “Brodes,” said every game is a thrill.

“I ride the highs and the lows,” he said. “Doing recaps on every game, I do get emotionally attached.”

At 97.3, he interns with The Mayes and Eytan Show, which is broadcast across South Jersey and is also available via the show’s app. The program airs weekdays from noon until 2 p.m., but between pre- and post-show duties, Brody is generally in the station four hours per day.

“While they’re doing the show I’m recording audio, cutting clips and putting it up on social media,” he said. “I’ll take the audio cut and put up a picture of Harry Mayes (or Eytan Shander) with an audio clip on social media. After the show is over, I’ll put it on the podcast app.”

Petit, a senior from East Orange who will graduate in December with a degree in Communication Studies, said his internship at WIP with legendary Philadelphia sports broadcaster Cataldi began with an on-air interview for the position.

“Of course, I knew who Angelo was but he didn’t know me,” Petit recalled. “So I walked in, he introduced me on-air, and it was like a 15-minute segment.”

Petit said Cataldi often pulls him into the broadcast for off-the-cuff conversations that can roam far beyond the playing field, from the topical to the mundane, and listeners love it.

“I’m on the air a lot with smaller segments,” he said. “Sometimes he’ll pull me in just to talk about the latest sneakers, or what Lebron James did on Instagram.”

Though some on-air bits and antics may sound light, Petit (second from the right with Cataldi in red) said the entire show is well researched, a master class in preparation, and it’s not only taught him the mechanics of professional broadcasting but inspired him for a career in it.

“I want to work in radio as my own show host and I’m learning the keys to make that happen,” Petit said. “I’ve learned how to work behind the scenes on stuff people don’t see like podcasts and production, and I’ve learned it’s not just about the host, it’s everyone pulling together that makes the show great.”

Since starting the internship, he said Cataldi has become a mentor to him and treats him as he does the other professionals on the show.

“I would love to one day have a show like his,” Petit said. “Even though his is a sports radio show, he’ll talk about politics or news, women’s rights, kids in harm, whatever is on his mind. I feel he’s recognized something in me and it makes me feel great knowing that someone who’s really made it sees the potential in me.”