The Sports-Casters

Steve interviews Jane Leavy (00:31:45) the author of a new book about what is ailing baseball called, "Make Me Commissioner." The First Lady of The Sports-Casters returns with a new book detailing her plans to return baseball to its rightful place in the American experience. Jane and Steve talk about analytics and how it has helped and hurt baseball, the injuries crushing pitchers, and the discrep...

Steve interviews Stewart Mandel (00:22:54) from The Athletic. Stewart makes his annual visit to the podcast to preview the upcoming college football season. Stewart updates us on all of the changes to college football since the last season ended and schools us on what we need to know to enjoy the upcoming season. Stewart has thoughts on the changes to the College Football Playoff, the winners of t...

Steve interviews Aaron Schatz (00:30:10) FTN Fantasy's Chief Analytics Officer. Aaron joins us to discuss the 2025 Aaron Schatz's FTN Football Almanac. Aaron discusses settling in at FTN Fantasy, explains how charting DB's has become a larger part of his analysis, and helps to break down just some of the information from this year's almanac. Aaron and Steve talk about the fall of the New Orleans S...

Steve interviews Andy Greene (00:24:35) from Rolling Stone magazine. Andy joins us to talk about a busy few weeks in rock and a bad time to be in the "rock is dead," crowd. Andy talks about the return of Oasis, why he thinks the brothers decided to get back together, and gives his thoughts on what he has seen from the shows so far. Andy also talks about the reunions that still need to happen while...

Steve interviews Tim and Jeff Kurkjian (00:18:37) the hosts of the podcast, Is This A Great Game, Or What? Tim and Jeff join us to talk about the origin of their podcast, the joy they get doing the podcast together, and the unique approach they take to interviewing. Jeff talks about doing morning radio in Philadelphia and how he sees podcasting evolving in the next few years. Tim talks about writi...

Steve interviews Mark Kriegel (00:21:25) the author of a new book about Mike Tyson called, "Baddest Man." Mr. Kriegel returns for the first time since 2012. Mark explains why not wanting to "give the money back" resulted in a new book about Mike Tyson. Mike also talks about Tyson's appeal in the 80's, the revenue he generated, and the likely outcomes to living at the speed Tyson was back then. Mar...

Steve interviews Jay Mariotti (00:18:00) who returns to the podcast with a list of sports medias topics he needs to get off his chest. Jay talks about the end of Around the Horn. Jay remembers the good and bad times he spent on the show and explains why he thinks it was never the same after he left. Jay has thoughts on the Pablo Torre and Bill Simmons feud. Jay is tired of hearing about Jordan Hud...

Steve interviews Bob Costas (00:18:04) who returns to the podcast after making his debut at the start of season 14. Bob and Steve talk about the Atlanta Braves troubles, the Pittsburgh Pirates blowing their window with Paul Skenes, and Aaron Judge in the regular season vs. Aaron Judge in the post season. Bob recalls his time hosting the Cheers finale, explains what is left on his bucket list, and...

Steve interviews SL Price (00:21:50) the author of an upcoming book about lacrosse in the United States. Mr. Price returns for the first time since September of 2022. After spending eight years researching and writing, The American Game will be released on May 20, 2025. Mr. Price explains why he wanted to write the book, the stereotypes about the game and the people who play it that he found to be...

Steve interviews Field Yates (00:16:45) from ESPN. Field joins us shortly after returning home from Green Bay where he was covering the NFL Draft. Field talks about walking around Green Bay, the layout of the draft, and behind the scenes in the ESPN production meetings for the broadcast of the draft. Field also explains what was happening behind the scenes when the Browns traded the second pick to...

Steve interviews Adrian Dater (00:11:55) his old partner on The Lonely End of the Rink podcast. Adrian joins us from St. Louis where he is covering his first Frozen Four. Steve and Adrain talk Sabres playoff drought, the Avalanche's playoff hopes, and the return of Gabriel Landeskog. Adrain has opinions on Ovechkin breaking Gretzky's record, the best teams heading into the NHL Playoffs, and the su...

Steve interviews Kenny Albert (00:10:56) from TNT Sports. Kenny is less than 24 hours from calling one of the biggest goals in National Hockey League history. We ask Kenny about the atmosphere in the building, how the game ended up on TNT with him on the call, and what he was thinking watching Alexander Ovechkin come close to breaking the record on Friday. Kenny also talks about preparing for the...

Steve interviews Neil Best (00:18:04) from Newsday. Neil is back and disappointed Cornell was one goal away from making the Frozen Four. Steve and Neil are all over the place discussing Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, morning radio in New York City, and the role of sports radio in 2025. Neil also discusses the ed of the road for Sam Rosen, a new era of broadcasters across all sports, and Joe Buck c...

Steve interviews Kostya Kennedy (00:22:02) the author of a new book about Paul Revere. Kennedy returns to the show to discuss his new book, The Ride. Kennedy explains the challenges of writing a book that takes place in the 18th century and why he wanted to write a book about someone from history instead of sports. Kennedy also talks about Revere's work as a dentist, his historic ride alerting peo...

Steve interviews Richard Deitsch (00:19:29) from The Athletic. Deitsch returns to talk about the long term impact of the 4 Nations for the NHL. Deitsch also talks about watching the game in Canada, the health of the USA vs Canada rivalry, and look ahead to hockey at the Olympics in 2026. Steve and Richard look back one last time at Tom Brady's first season as a broadcaster. Also, Steve and Richard...

Paula and Steve Bennett host a podcast made to accompany Paula's school project on Joe DiMaggio. Paula explains why she chose to do a project about Joe DiMaggio and goes over his many accomplishments on and off the baseball field. The podcast includes sound clips and quotes by Jeff Passan (ESPN), Kostya Kennedy (author, formerly of Sports Illustrated) and Bob Costas.

Steve interviews Jeff Passan (00:20:16) ESPN's Senior MLB Insider. Passan, most famous for being TSC's first guest, returns to talk about the upcoming baseball season. Of course, most of the conversation isn't about baseball. Steve and Jeff talk about the weather, being a man around the house, and Francesco Camarda. Eventually, the baseball discussion begins. Jeff spends most of the talk disagreei...

Steve interviews Andy Greene (00:19:43) a senior writer for Rolling Stone magazine and RollingStone.com. Andy returns to discuss the Super Bowl halftime show and its lack of crossover appeal. Andy also discusses Record Store Day, new rock bands, and why the lack of MTV has limited their ceiling. Andy talks about the summer concert tours that have been announced, another farewell for Ozzy Osbourne,...

Steve interviews Greg Wyshynski (00:16:21) the lead hockey writer for ESPN. Greg returns to the pod to give a brief outside perspective on what the hell is wrong with the Buffalo Sabres. Greg also discusses the upcoming 4 Nations tournament, Russia'a absence, and the heated rivalry between the USA and Canada. Greg and Steve also discuss the Hutson brothers, sports media, and Tom Brady's first seas...

Steve interviews Cole Hutson (00:18:50) from Boston University and USA Hockey. Cole debuts just like his brother Lane did after winning a gold medal for USA Hockey at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Cole talks about growing up being Lane and Quinn's younger brother, meeting expectations at BU, and his thoughts on the changing landscape of junior/college hockey. Cole and Steve also talk abou...

Steve interviews Andrew Marchand and Jon Meterparel (00:22:45) from AndrewMarchand.com. Andrew returns and Jon makes his debut despite being sick. The guys tell us about meeting at Ithaca College and how the new podcast partnership came to be. Meterparel explains how he developed his radio balls and talks about being critical of announcers despite being an announcer. Eventually Jon logs off to che...

On the 56th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 11), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the 1985 PPV event, The Wrestling Classic. On this night, Hulk Hogan defends the WWF Heavyweight Championship against Roddy Rowdy Piper. At the top, it's just Paula and Steve. Paula tells us that her Elf on the Shelf is currently training with Mr. T and Hulk Hogan to get revenge...

Steve interviews Joe Buck (00:08:16) from ESPN's Monday Night Football. Joe is back to talk about how his season is going and how working and traveling with his wife Michelle has impacted his routines and broadcasts. Joe also talks about how fast time moves as a father, tells us his favorite track on Pearl Jam's Dark Matter, and discusses Joe Davis' call of the Freddie Freeman home run in the Worl...

On the 55th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 10), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into Survivor Series 1991. On this night, Hulk Hogan wrestles the Undertaker for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. At the top, Paula, Dave and Steve are together for the first time in ages. After exchanging pleasantries, Steve challenges Dave and Paula to complete blind rankings...

Steve interviews Joe Davis (00:17:40) from Fox Sports. Joe is fresh off calling another World Series for Fox. Steve and Joe talk about Joe's memorable call of the Freddie Freeman home run in game one against the New York Yankees. Joe also talks about being the voice of the LA Dodgers and then having to call their games for the entire Nation. Joe also explains how he handles the criticism and his r...