Sports With Friends

Longtime New York Sportswriter Peter Botte has been a journalist in New York City for over 20 years. He joined the show to discuss his illustrious career and the current state of sports. Peter started with the NY Daily News, then on to the NY Post. He covered the Yankees for over a decade and has been a part of the entire New York sports scene. He's also the author of a new book, The Big 50: New York Yankees. During this episode, they talk about the return to sports. Peter also discusses his personal connections to COVID-19. The conversation then goes into the changes in baseball before the pandemic, and how social media and the internet makes it easy to root for any player and any team and how New York teams must learn to compete with that.

John Halama pitched for 8 big league seasons for seven big league teams. In 1998, he was part of a blockbuster trade between the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners involving ace Randy Johnson. He joined the Mariners in '98, when Seth joins KJR to cover that same team. They discuss their longtime friendship, and also stories about Alex Rodriguez and manager Lou Piniella. He also discusses his new job as a pitching instructor in the San Diego Padres organizations. This episode was recorded live on Twitch. For the video, visit www.twitch.tv/setheverett.

This week's episode stems from a column that longtime columnist Marcus Hayes wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News/Inquirer. That article is about Zack Wheeler and Mike Trout considering opting out of the shortened 60-game MLB season. The article was posted here: https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/phillies-mike-trout-zack-wheeler-mlb-coronavirus-20200707.html Hayes contends that the players should be able to play and protect themselves. Seth adamantly disagreed, suggesting that the irresponsibility of other players will make it unsafe and any player who wants to opt-out, should. This is a lively but very friendly debate.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the sports media industry in awful ways. There have been numerous layoffs, furloughs throughout the television, radio, and print media industries. In a stunning turn of events, Penske Media launched a new sports business website, Sportico. In this episode, Sportico CEO Dick Glover explains how the timeline allowed for them to launch amidst the pandemic, and what the new sports journalism site is all about. Glover has also worked for Funny or Die, NASCAR, and ESPN, and he discusses those experiences as well.

This is another episode focused on the amazing sport called Formula E. 'And We Go Green' is a feature-length sports documentary directed by Fisher Stevens and Malcolm Venville, and produced by environmentalist and Oscar-winning actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. Stevens and Venville join the podcast. They discuss the idea behind the documentary, and how they wove in the personal stories of the personalities behind the sport into the main thesis of this being a sport where technology is invented to win races, and how that technology can save the environment. The first few minutes of the episode revisits the 2018 Paris, France interview with Formula E founder Alejandro Agag. The doc follows the 4th season of Formula E and includes races where Episode 138 was recorded in Paris, France featuring Sir Richard Branson, Alejandro Agag, actor Idris Elba, and FIA President Jean Todt. Other Formula E-centric guests include Sam Bird (Ep. 185), Lucas di Grassi (Ep.194), a season 5 wrap-up (ep. 206), and play-by-play voice Jack Nicholls (Ep. 208), who coined the phrase, And we go green.

This is part 2 of a long conversation with the great radio engineer for the New York Mets, New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, St. John's Basketball, Westwood One, and more. Chris Majkowski is waiting like many in 2020 for sports to return. This conversation ranged from the lack of personalities in baseball and what has changed int the way we consume sports. The chat also was about the things in life Maj may have missed give his enormous work schedule. Plus, he talks about the creation of the popular Twitter account @metsbooth.

Chris Majkowski is the longtime onsite radio engineer for the New York Mets, New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Rangers, St. John's Basketball, and countless other sporting events. In normal times, "Maj" could work an average of 300 nights a year. Maj hasn't missed a Mets game since 1993, a streak of over 4,000 games. With that much experience, he has worked (literally) with everyone and has more stories than could fit in one episode. The conversation includes all the announcers, so many players, and occasional wrestler, and much more. He also explains the creation of his Twitter account, @Metsbooth.

This episode is dedicated to George Floyd. Rest in Peace. In this episode, former NBA player and current social activist Etan Thomas returns to the show to discuss the killing of George Floyd and subsequent protests and riots that have followed. Then, longtime NBA Insider David Aldridge joins the show to discuss Michael Jordan's recent statement on the issues, and how the NBA deals with social activism. They also discuss the NBA's plan to return to play and the potential pitfalls it faces. Then, Emerald Garner joins the show. She is the daughter of Eric Garner, a black man who in Staten Island, NY was killed in 2014 by police officers in an all-too-similar fashion.

Continuing a trend of having top-flight play-by-play announcers who under normal circumstances are too busy traveling around the country to do the podcast, this episode features 3rd-year radio voice of the New York Knicks, Ed Cohen. Ed recently became a father and is in the midst of his 3rd season calling Knicks games. He talked about TV vs. radio, what being with the Knicks and Madison Square Garden means to him, and his thoughts on the current state of the NBA. Plus, they go over the various plans on how sports can and should be returning.

In the 250th episode of Sports with Friends, longtime play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle joins the show. Ian currently calls play-by-play for the NFL on CBS, the NBA on TNT, and the Brooklyn Nets on the YES Network. He also calls NFL games for Westwood One and also calls matches for the Tennis Channel. In 1994, Seth interned for Ian at WFAN. In this episode, they discuss those times together. Eagle clears up a discrepancy in the history between the two. He also discusses his busy play-by-play schedule, his time at Syracuse University, and his start at WFAN. His son, Noah Eagle, is the radio voice of the Los Angeles Clippers and came on this show back on Episode 217.

One of the busiest broadcasters in sports today, Kenny Albert is stuck at home during the COVID-19 quarantine, so he had time to join the show. The conversation started with the state of the sports world, but the majority of the chat was about his busy life. Albert is a play-by-play announcer for the NFL on FOX, the Rangers and Knicks on MSG Network (radio and television), and the NHL on NBC. Albert discusses his amazing schedule, how he manages to maintain his preparation, and how he followed in his iconic father Marv Albert's footsteps. They also get into all the story parallels between their lives and basically play Jewish Geography. Follow Kenny @KennyAlbert

2 longtime Major League Baseball veterans reunited for a show on Seth's new Twitch channel. The original plan was for Jones to hang out on Twitch and then welcomed in his longtime Minnesota Twins teammate. The conversation turned into an in-depth open conversation about the possibility of having an MLB in the time of COVID-19. The chat evolved into an honest chat about the Astros cheating scandal, the proliferation of Home Runs and Strikeouts in MLB, and how the game has changed since their playing days. Hunter played for the Twins, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Detroit Tigers from 1997-2015. He was a five-time All-Star and won nine consecutive gold gloves. Jones played for the Twins, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, and Cincinnati Reds from 1999-2008.

In the time of COVID-19, the impact on Minor League Baseball has been felt as much as any small business. MiLB owner and native New Yorker Gary Green is the owner of the Montgomery Biscuits, Omaha Storm Chasers, and Richmond Flying Squirrels. He's also Baseball America Managing Partner, and USL Soccer team owner, Gary has donated 45,000 masks to medical facilities in the Omaha-area. In this episode, Green addresses the threat of both the Coronavirus and MLB in trying to contract up to 40 Minor League teams and how the shutdown of MLB has impacted that activity. Follow Gary on Twitter @UnionChasersCEO

In this time of quarantine, the sports world has stopped. What about the new media? What about the viewers? What happens when sports come back? With the viewing habits constantly changing, what will the halt in entertainment mean for the sports fan? Will digital streaming services make sports a priority upon its eventual return? All these questions were posed to Media and Technology Analyst Rich Greenfield of Lightshed Partners. Greenfield recently took part in an NYVC Sports event and has been covering media for years. Follow Rich on Twitter @RichLightShed.

On March 12, 2020, after a player in the NBA tested positive for COVID-19, the league suspended operations. The Denver Nuggets were playing the Dallas Mavericks on ESPN that night and were live when the historical announcement was made, changing the entire sports landscape. Ryan Ruocco and Doris Burke were calling that game. Ruocco is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and the YES Network calling NBA, WNBA, Brooklyn Nets, and New York Yankees. He goes back with Seth for over a decade from their days at 1050am ESPN New York together. Follow Ryan on Twitter @RyanRuocco