Bandwagon Beach

Since Darren Smith and John Gennaro both recently wrapped up watching season 3 of Netflix's show The Diplomat (after they had both recently binge-watched the first two seasons of the show), it only made sense to have a special subscribers-only chat on a podcast with their review of the season. The guys go deep on their favorite characters, why they're attracted to the show, Kate being hilariously...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro talk about the nearly-seven hour long Game 3 of the World Series, eventually won by the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Toronto Blue Jays, and spend some time talking about the comparison between Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw. The guys go through what went right and what went wrong, everyone eventually losing their minds, why the ghost runner is sometimes good, and wh...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro recap the sports weekend that was in San Diego, starting with San Diego FC winning their first ever playoff game in front of the home fans at Snapdragon Stadium . The guys talk about Hirving "Chucky" Lozano's absence from the team before breaking down what went right in Game 1 and what the team might be looking to change before Game 2 on Saturday in Portland. The guys...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro preview what John calls "The Sports Equinox Weekend" and what Darren refers to as "The Cheesecake Factory menu of sports weekends". There is a lot to watch and enjoy for sports fans in San Diego this weekend, so much so that Darren and John each create Top 5 lists of what they're most excited to watch between San Diego FC's first MLS Cup Playoffs game, the most import...

Darren Smith chatted with San Diego FC winger Amahl Pellegrino this week and the two of them discussed Pellegrino's recent hot performance, his Scandanavian connection with other SDFC players, why San Diego FC was the only team in America that he wanted to play for, why he was happy to play out-of-position when asked to do so, and how he feels about the San Diego climate. Section 1904 is a communi...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro go through the news of the day, starting with the story about the FBI arresting Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier for chargers related to gambling. That eventually leads them to last night in the NBA and Victor Wembanyama playing one of the more dominant regular season games we've ever seen, and a conversation about w...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's show with some gratitude and appreciation for people in their lives that are going through some stuff before moving on to what they've head about the San Diego Padres managerial search. They also talked about Alvin Duran's exit from the Padres and if it means anything for A.J. Preller before giving their own takes about the 2025 World Series between t...

After talking a bit about the 2025 World Series matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Darren Smith and John Gennaro talk about Albert Pujols' prospects as an MLB manager (who will be interviewed by the San Diego Padres tomorrow) and Carlos Hernandez throwing his hat in the ring before John throws out an outside-the-box idea that hasn't yet been brought up for who could...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro spend the first half of the podcast reflecting on a dominant win for San Diego FC in Portland on MLS Decision Day. The guys talk about what a great expansion season this has been and the decision ahead for Mikey Varas between Chucky Lozano and Amahl Pellegrino, who has the hot hand right now. The second half of the podcast is a catch-up on the San Diego Padres, with C...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off the show by talking about Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal's article in The Athletic , which lays out a changing dynamic in the front office of the San Diego Padres, and wonder what will happen with A.J. Preller's contract situation this offseason. The guys then welcome Adam Susman, who covers the Portland Timbers, onto the show to talk about the season the Timbe...

There's no new news on the Padres front today, and the guys are against making stuff up, so they talk for a few minutes about the next shoe to drop (aka Preller Watch ) before putting the subject to bed to focus on today's guest: Darren Smith and John Gennaro haven't talked to F1 chief statistician Sean Kelly since the beginning of the Formula 1 season, so they chatted with him for a while ahead o...

Kevin Acee wrote a story with dozens of anonymous sources last night that detailed Mike Shildt's poor relationship with some of the San Diego Padres coaching staff and members of the front office, showing a penchant for snapping at people who dared question him. Darren Smith and John Gennaro go through the story and ask some questions about the journalism, the organization and the future of the fr...

Darren Smith went off to SDFC training, where he bumped into San Diego Padres 3B Manny Machado, and John Gennaro went off to drink mimosas on a different podcast . But now the guys are back, and they're ready to talk about A.J. Preller's press conference (over Zoom) following Mike Shildt's sudden retirement yesterday. Section 1904 is a community-supported media company. If you like our content, co...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro had to put out some quick thoughts this morning on Mike Shildt's sudden retirement from the San Diego Padres. They mostly responded to the article that Dennis Lin put out at The Athletic, where he talked to Shildt and got deeper into the burnout reasoning, and some of the real life issues that Shildt was dealing with. The guys will be back later on this afternoon to r...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro did a livestream on X and YouTube after the news broke that (former) Padres manager Mike Shildt was retiring, leading to yet another manager search for A.J. Preller. The guys discuss what Shildt did well with the Padres, the rumors of him clashing with A.J. Preller, and some of the potential candidates that could come in to replace Shildt in the Padres dugout. Also, a...

Darren Smith took the red eye home from Hawaii and is very tired for today's podcast where he, along with John Gennaro, preview the upcoming weekend. The guys start by talking about the end of the Dodgers/Phillies game/series and all of the human elements that went into such a catastrophic sports moment before wondering if parity has watered down the NFL too much. It's set to be a great slate of g...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro break down what little Padres news there is and talk about Darren's time in Waikiki before welcome Scott Lewis from Voice of San Diego onto the show to talk about city, state and national politics, including the Midway Rising project to bring a new arena to the Point Loma area. Section 1904 is a community-supported media company. If you like our content, considering s...

The NFL has picked Bad Bunny to be the performer for the Super Bowl LX halftime in Santa Clara, California and many politicians, including the President of the United States, have a lot to say about the matter. Darren Smith (still in Waikiki) and John Gennaro talk about the choice, the response from the right, and why Bad Bunny was the best pick for this moment. Section 1904 is a community-support...

Darren Smith, from Waikiki, logs on to talk with John Gennaro about the letter that San Diego Padres chairman John Seidler sent to season ticket holders and what it might mean for the futures of A.J. Preller, Mike Shildt, Jake Peavy, Mark Loretta, Erik Greupner and others. Later, the guys try to make sense of the news that Giannis Antetokounmpo expressed interest in joining the New York Knicks thi...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro discuss their weekends, with John recapping a lovely getaway to Malibu and Ojai, before turning their attention to the San Diego Padres. Jake Peavy made an appearance on MLB Network where he second-guesses the decision to start Yu Darvish over Michael King in game 3 against the Cubs, opening up a Pandora's Box of who made that decision and why did they make it. The gu...

Darren Smith and John Gennaro spend some time with their emotions after the San Diego Padres' playoff hopes ended yesterday and talk about what comes next, Manny Machado getting defensive with reporters, and who was A.J. Preller talking to for hours after the game on the phone? Later, the guys preview the upcoming weekend, talking about San Diego State trying to turn every home game into a big dea...

After a pretty terrible performance from the San Diego Padres in an elimination game at Wrigley Field, Darren Smith and John Gennaro get emotional and talk about what they hated while occasionally trying to find something to compliment the Cubs about. Section 1904 is a community-supported media company. If you like our content, considering subscribing at Section1904.com to support our work for as...

Marty Caswell joins Darren Smith and John Gennaro from Chicago, where she has been covering every game of the NL Wild Card series between the Cubs and San Diego Padres, and talks about the difference in vibes after games 1 and 2 while answering questions about shadows, winds, weather and Manny Machado's sense of urgency. Follow all of Marty's coverage on X and YouTube . Section 1904 is a community...

With their backs against the wall, the San Diego Padres won game 2 of their Wild Card series with the Chicago Cubs by a score of 3-0 to tie the series at 1-1 and set up a win-or-go-home Game 3 tomorrow at Wrigley Field. Darren Smith and John Gennaro got together right after the final out to talk about everything that went right for the Padres and what they're expecting tomorrow. Section 1904 is a...

Since they missed each other on yesterday's post-game show, Darren Smith and John Gennaro get together to talk about what went wrong for the San Diego Padres in their 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs in game 1 of their Wild Card Round playoff series before looking forward to today's game 2 and trying to figure out why this team never seems to perform up to expectations. Section 1904 is a community-sup...