The PXPU Podcast with Tony Castricone: from Play by Play University

Reminder: this month’s Office Hours Zoom call is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 23 from 3-4 pm Pacific Time/6-7 pm Eastern. If you’re interested in joining a small group of broadcasters, led by myself, to talk about the broadcasting industry, level up to the Office Hours subscription by clicking the button below. Today’s podcast guest has had a career that spans more than 15 years, and he’s literally...

Episode Overview Tony Castricone speaks with award-winning journalist Christian Caple about the fundamentals of covering a football team. They discuss practical strategies for observing practices effectively, building relationships with sources, and finding meaningful stories, especially when you're new to covering a program. Key Timestamps [03:22] Dealing with the overwhelm of first practices and...

Today’s guest on the PXPU Podcast is Danny Reed, the voice of the Georgia Southern Eagles who made his Westwood One debut this March. In this conversation, we discuss: * (01:26) The value of grinding for a decade: Danny's opportunity with Westwood One came after years of doing stats work * (04:06) Early passion matters: Danny was mimicking broadcasters as a child, showing how early interests can s...

Today’s guest on the PXPU Podcast is Elise Woodward. Elise has experience in all three major broadcasting roles - play-by-play, color analyst, and sideline reporting - across numerous sports. She shares insights on preparing for different sports, the mindset required for each broadcasting role, and how to conduct effective interviews. Timestamped Show Notes [02:26] Discussion about broadcasting mu...

This week’s episode of the PXPU Podcast is a little bit different. Today, we’ll take you inside the head of a radio broadcaster who nailed a big moment in a big game. Michigan men’s basketball voice Brian Boesch delivered a memorable call of the Wolverines’ last second win against Rutgers. You can listen to the final call here , where Brian hit pause and delivered a masterful final call, similar t...

We’ve talked extensively at Play By Play U about the importance of the mental side of performance and how underdiscussed it is when it comes to learning how to grow in your broadcasting career. Today, we interview Gibson Arnold, who serves as both Director of Mental Performance and General Manager for the Washington Huskies basketball team. Gibson shares his fascinating journey from college basket...

Today’s PXPU Podcast guest is Cory Provus of the Minnesota Twins, who started as the TV voice of the team, but has transitioned into the full-time TV call. Today’s show notes: 01:41-03:10 - Cory shares his background growing up in Highland Park, Illinois (Chicago area) and attending Syracuse University, plus a recent vacation to Banff 03:10-04:06 - Tony asks about Cory's early career at ISP Sports...

This week’s guest on the PXPU Podcast is Gary Hill, who was just awarded a promotion as the new, full-time No. 2 radio broadcaster for the Seattle Mariners . Gary has been with the Mariners for a while in a number of different capacities, and has worked in broadcasting in Seattle for basically his whole career. In this week’s episode, we discuss his journey, the versatility that led to his rise, t...

This week’s podcast guest is Tim Bickford. He’s a senior network manager at Learfield, and has called games on several Power 4 networks, including Michigan, Virginia Tech, the ACC and the SEC just to name a few. Tim, who has called the ACC men’s basketball championship game among other big time events, talks to us about his expectations about the play-by-play industry coming out of college versus...

Today’s Tell the Truth Tuesday is presented by Stand By Media , owned and operated by Howard Deneroff, the former executive vice president of Westwood One. If you’re looking for feedback or guidance on your play-by-play career, Deneroff’s experience serving as the executive producer of major worldwide broadcasts like the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Olympics and more will provide valuable insig...

A special note about this week’s podcast: typically, we post an audio-only podcast, but this week, I loaded the full video to this website because I think it’s important to see Alexis as he demonstrates some of these vocal exercises, and to understand the relationship the voice and the vocal cords have to the entire body. I hope you enjoy this episode, and I want to challenge you all to extract at...

Today’s Tell the Truth Tuesday is presented by Stand By Media , owned and operated by Howard Deneroff, the former executive vice president of Westwood One. If you’re looking for feedback or guidance on your play-by-play career, Deneroff’s experience serving as the executive producer of major worldwide broadcasts like the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Olympics and more will provide valuable insig...

Episode Overview A conversation with Bill Roth, Voice of the Virginia Tech Hokies, about his career journey, teaching broadcasting, and insights into the craft of sports play-by-play. Show Notes [01:00] Early career decisions and path to broadcasting * Discussion of athletic aspirations versus broadcasting career * Early exposure to high-level baseball and career direction [02:16] Virginia Tech's...

Today’s Tell the Truth Tuesday is presented by Stand By Media , owned and operated by Howard Deneroff, the former executive vice president of Westwood One. If you’re looking for feedback or guidance on your play-by-play career, Deneroff’s experience serving as the executive producer of major worldwide broadcasts like the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Olympics and more will provide valuable insig...

Episode Overview A conversation with Jeff Culhane, Voice of the Florida State Seminoles, about the unique challenges and opportunities of following a legendary broadcaster. Show Notes [02:12] Jeff's career journey * Previous roles at Nebraska, West Virginia, North Dakota State * Meeting his wife while at West Virginia * Decision to move to Fargo, North Dakota [04:25] North Dakota State experience...

Today’s Tell the Truth Tuesday is presented by Stand By Media , owned and operated by Howard Deneroff, the former executive vice president of Westwood One. If you’re looking for feedback or guidance on your play-by-play career, Deneroff’s experience serving as the executive producer of major worldwide broadcasts like the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the Olympics and more will provide valuable insig...

On today’s episode of the PXPU Podcast, Howard Deneroff joins the show to discuss his 35-year run as a producer at Westwood One, which saw him rise to the top chair hiring the broadcasters for the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, March Madness, the Olympics, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Monday Night Football and much more. Howard has started his own talent coaching company called Stand By Media, which...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit playbyplayu.substack.com Reminder: Our next Office Hours are this Thursday at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. I’ll be joined by a special guest who is the voice of a Power Four program, so make sure you join us to talk shop on Thursday night. To get an invitation to this exclusive Zoom call, subscribe at the Office Hours level. Also , we will not...

Aaron Goldsmith has called a decade of big league baseball with the Seattle Mariners. He was offered the job for his favorite team growing up , his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, and he was quickly climbing the ranks at FOX on their network broadcasts of NFL, MLB and major college sports. So, why is his scaling back and settling into Seattle? Because as Colin Cowherd once said, “don’t try to be hap...

Today’s tape comes in from Jonathon Langdon, an Office Hours-level subscriber who calls high school sports for the OH Report out of central Ohio. Give him a follow on X at @jdlangdon14 and leave a comment with your thoughts in the comments section! Some basic critique etiquette: * No fluffy false positives. When you say something positive, it must be sincere. Positive feedback implies that the ann...

Today’s tape comes in from Gabe Genovesi, a broadcaster and network coordinator at Learfield. Give him a follow on X at @GabeGeno13 and leave a comment with your thoughts in the comments section! Some basic critique etiquette: * No fluffy false positives. When you say something positive, it must be sincere. Positive feedback implies that the announcer would be well served to replicate that perform...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit playbyplayu.substack.com Reminder: our first Office Hours session of the year takes place on Monday, November 18 at 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET. If you’d like to join me for an intimate group Zoom call where we talk all things play-by-play, subscribe at the Office Hours level by clicking the Subscribe button below. You spend hours during the...

Note: this will be our final podcast guest interview until after the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a busy time of year for everyone, but especially so for those in the college sports space who have football and basketball crossing over at this time. We will resume with our normal podcast interviews in December. On today’s episode, we talk to Joey McMurry, voice of Oregon Ducks men’s basketball about...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit playbyplayu.substack.com Reminder: Our first Office Hours session is coming up on Monday, November 18 for 60 minutes starting at 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET. To be a part of our group Zoom calls for Office Hours, subscribe at the Office Hours level by clicking the button below. Making In-Person Professional Connections Let me continue our dis...

Reminder: our first Office Hours session of the year takes place on Monday, November 18 at 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET. If you’d like to join me for an intimate group Zoom call where we talk all things play-by-play, subscribe at the Office Hours level by clicking the Subscribe button below. Today’s tape comes in from Mick Tidrow, the voice of the Ball State Cardinals. Give him a follow on X at @MickTidr...