The Sports-Casters

Steve interviews John Feinstein (00:16:59) author and columnist from the Washington Post. John joins us to promote not one but two new books. First, The Ancient Eight, is a look at football played in the Ivy League. Next, Five Banners, is a deep dive into the five National Championship victories by Coach K and Duke basketball. Steve and John talk about things unique to sports in the Ivy League, Ch...

Steve interviews Sean McDonough (00:32:03) from ESPN. Sean joins us to talk about his difficult journey through last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sean also talks about criticism of announcers on twitter, the problem baseball has with its broadcasts, and the low energy vs. high energy debate. Sean also talks about his call during of the Atlanta Braves walk-off hit to win game seven of the 1992 NLCS...

On the 54th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 9), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the house show from Madison Square Garden on 02-23-1992. On this night, Hulk Hogan wrestles in a 20-man over the top battle royal against 19 of the biggest wrestlers in the world. At the top, it's just Paula and Steve. We learned Paula has many boyfriends, won a cheerleading compe...

Steve interviews Chad Finn (00:17:29) from the Boston Globe. Chad makes his debut and kicks it off by telling stories about covering the 1992-93 Maine hockey team that featured Paul Kariya and ended with a National Championship. Chad talks about his journey to achieving his dream of becoming a columnist for the Boston Globe. Chad also discusses announcers during the baseball playoffs, the 2004 Bos...

Steve interviews Joe Posnanski (00:14:54) from joeblogs.joeposnanski.com. Joe is back to promote his sixth book to be featured in The Sports-Casters book club. Why We Love Football is the next in a line of books Joe has written dating back to the Baseball 100. Joe talks about making the list, leaving out Tracy Porter's pick-six, Steve Gleason's punt block, and Joe Theismann's leg running into Lawr...

Steve interviews Jay Mariotti (00:16:12) from jaymariotti.substack.com. Jay is back on the podcast and of fire after having just returned from a trip to Chicago to watch the pathetic White Sox. Jay goes off on poor ownership in baseball, the Chicago Bears, and the first few weeks of the NFL season. After Steve is fooled by a pinned article, Jay does speak on a column he wrote two years ago about l...

On the 53rd episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 8), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the season premier of Saturday Night's Main Event on 10-29-1988. On this night, Hulk Hogan wrestles Haku with the lovely Miss Elizabeth at his side. At the top, it's just Paula and Steve. We learned Paula has started third grade, a new season of cheerleading, and went to see the n...

Steve interviews Carson Breber and Logan Camden (00:15:02) from Nerd Sesh. The boys join us to talk about meeting at Arizona St, creating content for YouTube, and sports in the 21st century. The guys also explain their love for sports history, appreciating players from all eras, and Carson explains how he became a Bills fan. There is some sports trivia, talk about chicken wings, and Steve even wor...

Steve interviews Stewart Mandel (00:13:10) from The Athletic. Stewart joins us to preview the 2024 College Football season. Stewart explains what teams are in what conferences, how the new playoff is going to work, and other changes new to college football this season. Mandel also talks about that snake Lincoln Riley and tells us if USC will (they should) fire him if they have another bad season....

Steve interviews Kostya Kennedy (00:22:32) former senior writer for Sports Illustrated. Kostya joins us to talk about his book, 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports. Kostya makes his debut to talk about Joe DiMaggio, the Italian-American experience, DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak and his life after baseball. Kostya explains his attitude later in his like and the impact his divor...

On the 52nd episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 7), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the WWF house show at the Boston Garden from 08-09-1986. On this night, Hulk Hogan tags with George "the Animal" Steele to take on the Macho Man Randy Savage and Adrian Adonis. At the top, Dave, Paula and Steve are all together for the first time in a while. The gang talks about D...

Steve interviews Andy Martino (00:12:40) from SNY. Andy joins us to talk about his new book, The Yankee Way. Andy explains why he wrote the book, answers if he thinks it's a Brian Cashman book, and discusses the long history of Yankee superstars. Andy also talks about the future for Aaron Boone and Cashman, explains why he thinks they haven't won since 2009, and discusses the Juan Soto contract si...

On the 51st episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 6), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the WWF house show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia from 08-04-1984. On this night, Hulk Hogan defends the WWF title against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. At the top, Paula joins us to get the show moving. Paula discusses her upcoming birthday, the end of school and he upcoming danc...

On the 50th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 5), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into Saturday Night's Main Event from 11-28-1986. On this night, Hulk Hogan defends the WWF title against Hercules. At the top, Paula is back. Paula explains why she missed the last show, talks about her dance recital, and has a few emails she would like to read (one is just her trying...

Steve interviews Field Yates (00:11:52) from ESPN. Field is fresh off covering the draft in Detroit and has opinions on the Atlanta Falcons strange pick, the Buffalo Bills trading with the Kansas City Chiefs, and the New Orleans Saints pick of Spencer Rattler. Also, Field talks about how the first round of the draft was chalky and void of surprises and how the first round of rookie drafts might pl...

Steve interviews Brad Balukjian (00:16:38) the author of a new book called, The Six Pack. Brad joins us and talks about the origins of his new book and his time working with The Iron Sheik. Brad talks about the Sheik on Howard Stern, discusses his demons, and explains why his book with Sheik was never finished. Brad also talks about his life as a wrestling fan, discusses the challenges of writing...

On the 49th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 4), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into WrestleMania VII. On this night, Hulk Hogan challenges SGT. Slaughter for the WWF Heavyweight Championship. At the top, Steve explains he was sick and is late putting this up. After the break, Steve brings on Dave and welcomes him to the show. Dave, like usual, has mayhem to repor...

Steve interviews Stephen J. Nesbitt (00:11:48) from The Athletic. Stephen is making his debut on the podcast, joining us to preview the Major League Baseball Season. Stephen explains his recent column that ranks all of the baseball teams from 1995-2023 and his column that details each fan base's optimism for the upcoming season. Stephen also talks about Ohtani (before the scandal), makes his pick...

On the 48th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 3), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the Madison Square Garden house show from 6-21-1985. On this night, Hulk Hogan wrestles Don Muraco for the WWF Heavyweight Championship. At the top, Steve and Paula are together to kick off the episode but are derailed by technical issues thanks to Mom's dusting. After the break,...

Steve interviews Andrew Marchand (00:03:58) from The Athletic. Andrew returns to the podcast as an employee of The Athletic. Andrew explains why he left the New York Post and what attracted him most about The Athletic. Marchand also talks about his future in podcasting and looks back on what made the Marchand and Ourand Podcast so special. Andrew and Steve also talk about Pat McAfee and his relati...

Steve interviews Jeff Passan (00:07:20) from ESPN. Jeff is driving from one spring training location to another and has plenty of time to chat with Steve about their long history, going to the Super Bowl, nonsense, and of course, baseball. Jeff talks about going to the Super Bowl with his son, explains how being Jeff Passan was crucial to the experience, and details the drama of the final seconds...

On the 47th episode of the 24 Inch Podcast (Season 4 Episode 2), Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the Boston Garden house show from 9-12-1987. On this night, Hulk Hogan wrestles Killer Khan for the WWF Heavyweight Championship. At the top, Steve and Paula are together to kick off the episode with some small talk about Paula's long awaited trip to NY/NJ. After the break, Steve...

Steve interviews Neil Best (00:07:57) from New York Newsday to talk about sports media. Neil and Steve talk about some of the many sports media news stories that have broke in the last few weeks. Neil gives his thoughts on Pat McAfee and ESPN, Dave Portnoy and Barstool, and the WWE and Netflix. Neil also explains the changing landscape of sports media in New York City, updates us on Mike Francesa,...

Steve interviews Aaron Schatz (00:15:00) formerly of Football Outsiders and currently with FTN Fantasy. Aaron joins us to go over each of the controversial decisions made by the Detroit Lions during the second half of the NFC Championship Game. Aaron gives his view on each decision and tries to clarify the analytics that may have helped make those decisions. Aaron also takes an early look at the S...

On the 46th episode and season four premiere of the 24 Inch Podcast, Steve Bennett and Dave Rowlands take a deep dive into the Saturday Night's Main Event from 1-02-1988. On this episode of SNME, Hulk Hogan wrestles King Kong Bundy for the WWF Heavyweight Championship. At the top, Steve and Paula are together to kick off the season with some talk about snow storms, snow days, and a the start of 20...