Soccer Fanatics Radio Show (Mondays at 6pm Eastern Time) "The Official Thread" The Soccer Fanatics Radio Show is (as far as we know) the only radio show in the country that covers EVERY level of American soccer (MLS, USL, WUSA, NCAA, National Teams, and we also cover the European game as well) We are based out of Lansing, Michigan at the studios of 89.7FM WLNZ. However, we don't broadcast on the FM airwaves, but worldwide on the WLNZ's internet station called "Channel Z." We have been on the air since August of 2001, and have attracted some of the biggest names in American soccer. We are on the air EVERY Monday (we have NEVER missed a Monday) from 6pm - 8pm EASTERN TIME (do the math, depending on where you live). To listen to the show go to our website at www.soccerfanaticsradio.com and click on the LISTEN link. It will open up the Channel Z window and you click on LISTEN NOW. We STRONGLY encourage you to contribute to the show with YOUR opinions/comments/questions. Our website has a handy EMAIL FORM, and we read every email we get. The email address for the show is soccerfanatics@wlnz.org We also have a chat room where you can chat with other listeners and the hosts of the show (Myself, and Scott Yoshonis) during the show. If you miss the live show, the full show archive will be available shortly after the live show is completed. And individual interview archives are available as well. We are planning several REMOTE broadcasts for 2003 as well. Last year, we made our first remote broadcast from Crew Stadium for the US OPEN CUP FINAL. Stay tuned for our plans for this coming year. And finally....this show is done (for free) on a public radio station, and we're always looking for sponsorship to help cover some of the costs of our remote broadcasts and the operating costs of the station. If anyone would like to sponsor the show, or can suggest any options that we could explore, email us. This thread is where we will have updates about the show, upcoming guests/events and also receive feedback as well. Anything about the show in general feel free to jump in.
December 23rd show.... We've got THREE guests lined up for the December 23rd show. Tom Fitzgerald (Head Coach of the UCLA Bruins Men's Soccer team) Tom led the Bruins to a National Championship this year and made a smooth transition from the Columbus Crew to one of the national powers in the NCAA. Aly Wagner (2002 Hermann Award winner from Santa Clara University) Aly led Santa Clara to a National Championship last year, and led them to a Championship game appearance this year. She capped off her amazing career by capturing the 2002 Hermann award Joe Giuliano (Host of "The Soccer Report", Color Commentator for the Rochester Rhinos) Joe will be on the show to talk about the Rhinos and their new stadium and some off season moves for the team. Any questions, feel free to email the show at soccerfanatics@wlnz.org
Another confirmation: Coach Laurie Calloway, former Head Coach of the Des Moines Menace, and NOW the new Head Coach of the new Syracuse A-League franchise will be on the show on 12/30. Any questions for Coach Calloway send them via our ONLINE EMAIL FORUM, or send an email to soccerfanatics@wlnz.org
Curious to get some feedback on how YOU think we should do our PREVIEW SHOWS.... We have an MLS preview show, but we also want to preview the USL and WUSA as well. We were thinking about doing a PREVIEW WEEK where we preview a different league each day of the week.... Let me know what you think....
The Tom Fitzgerald interview went VERY well and the archive is available on the website. However, we didn't get a hold of Aly Wagner (probably due to airport issues)....we're hoping to push her back for NEXT WEEK. Full show archive is available on the website.
This week, we've got another big list of guests on the Soccer Fanatics Radio Show: Laurie Calloway, the new Head Coach of the Syracuse A-League franchise... Curious to hear what exactly what goes into building a team from scratch, we'll find out what players he's brought in, and much more. If you have any questions for him (or any of our guests)....go to our website (www.soccerfanaticsradio.com) and use our EMAIL FORM. Other guests include: Aly Wagner (USWNT, Hermann Award winner) Doug Chapman (NE Revolution color commentator, Charlton Athletic shareholder) Graham Leggett (a friend of the show who flew all the way from England to see the MLS CUP FINAL in person. He'll be on to talk about HIS views of the MLS and his reflections on the trip.) Any "Soccer Fanatic New Years Resolutions" ....feel free to pass them along...
The show was great, interviews were even better....HOWEVER... Due to a computer issue....the computer didn't record the show, so we are left with no archives of this week's show... First time this has happened to us, and of course it happens when we had three great guests on the show.
01/06/03 SHOW THIS WEEK (1/6/03) 6-8pm Eastern Time: Peter Wilt - GM of the Chicago Fire. He will be on the show to talk about the Fire's busy off season, the upcoming SuperDraft, and will be answering YOUR questions about the 2003 Chicago Fire. Nelson Akwari - Metrostars / U23 defender. He will be on the show to talk about the changes in the Metrostars organization and his future with the US National Team. Graham Leggett - Soccer Fanatic from England who flew across the Atlantic to see this year's MLS CUP in Foxboro. Will be interesting to hear his perspective of the MLS from across the pond. Peter Wilt will be on the show LIVE Nelson and Graham will be pre-recorded Monday afternoon due to scheduling issues, so if you have any questions for them, email them in ASAP. And I promise that we have fixed the radio station's computer, and the show will be archived for those of you who miss the live show between 6-8pm Eastern Time. (www.soccerfanaticsradio.com)
MORE NEWS! And the news just keeps on rolling.... We already have our show set for JANUARY 13th: Our SuperDraft Preview Show will feature the following LIVE guests: Dwight Burgess (Voice of the Columbus Crew) - Dwight will be in Kansas City doing the webcast for the draft, and we'll be talking to him about the draft, and we might even sneak in some Columbus Crew questions. Mike Marshall (Draft guru from www.revsnet.com) - Mike will have his Mock Draft ready and will answer your questions about the draft.
THIS WEEK'S SHOW: SuperDraft Preview (1/13) Dwight Burgess and Mike Marshall will both be on the show LIVE....so if you have any questions for them visit the website (www.soccerfanaticsradio.com) and use our handy email form.
Thanks for the love... We've got a few "server issues" right now, but it SHOULD be all set by showtime... Get your questions in EARLY....they're already starting to come in...
Well, between the server going down 2 hours before the show, and Scott's van catching fire (I'm not kidding) on the way to the station....we managed to pull off a good show tonight... If you want to get your SuperDraft fix, this is certainly the show to listen to...the archives are up on the website, enjoy! www.soccerfanaticsradio.com
1/20 SHOW CONFIRMED GUEST FOR NEXT WEEK (1/20/03): One of the USA's premier soccer writers, Michael Lewis from the NY DAILY NEWS will join us on this week's show to talk about the MLS SuperDraft weekend and what's new with the MLS. We're chasing a few more guests....so stay tuned. If you have any questions for Michael Lewis, the earlier you email us the better....just so we don't get bombarded right when we go on the air.... We're banking on the fact that Scott's van doesn't blow up and the server doesn't crash on us....but even if either of those happen, we've shown we can survive....
Another guest confirmation for the 1/27 show: Jeff Bradley from ESPN the Magazine is schedule to be on the show NEXT WEEK (1/27) Stay tuned....
GUEST CONFIRMATION (1/20) LAST MINUTE CONFIRMATION FOR THIS WEEK'S SHOW: (1/20) Frank Dell'Apa from the Boston Globe will join us to talk about the MLS SuperDraft, his thoughts on the Revolution and much more.... We will also be speaking with Robert Ziegler, who attended the MLS Combine, and just launched his new website: www.topdrawersoccer.com
Next Week's Show (1/27) Joining us on the show next week (1/27): JEFF BRADLEY from ESPN the Magazine & MLSNET and ROBERT ZIEGLER from www.topdrawersoccer.com We're also chasing another guest as well....stay tuned
We have a late addition to THIS WEEK'S SHOW (1/27): Jim Harwood, GM of the A-League's Milwaukee Rampage, who recently folded, only to be reborn as "Milwaukee Wave United" will join us on the show tonight to talk about the franchise and the changes that they have undergone in the past few weeks. Once again, that's tonight's show from 6pm - 8pm EASTERN time. (That's 5pm - 7pm Central Time)
THIS WEEK (2/3/03) Joining us on the show THIS WEEK (2/3) will be: Jack Huckel - Director of Museum Services at the National Soccer Hall of Fame. and Jeff Bradley (we mean it this time) from ESPN the magazine. We're chasing a guest from the WUSA to talk about this past weekend's draft....stay tuned....
Dean Linke - the Voice of the Carolina Courage will be on the show to review the 2003 WUSA Draft. He was the host of the webcast that was LIVE at the Draft. He was the WUSA guest I was chasing... All guests are scheduled to be on the show LIVE, so feel free to send in questions.
NEXT WEEK'S SHOW is already set (we might add another WUSA draft pick if we can) MISSY GREGG from Christian Brothers University, and a recent draft pick of the Washington Freedom. She will be on the show to set the record straight about the controversy surrounding her decision to opt out of the draft. DOMINIC MILITELLO GM of the Utah Salt Ratz in the new Men's Premier Soccer League that just started out on the west side of the country. A different business model, and a different outlook on how soccer should be run in this country. Apparently, the ONLY league to ever borrow a business model from a women's league. (interesting story...) YAN SKWARA the producer of "90 minutes" soccer magazine, based out of San Diego, CA. Missy's interview might have to be pre-recorded, so if you have questions for her, get them in early....
Of the guests you've had on recently, I've especially enjoyed listening to Dean Linke and Robert Ziegler. Although I'm mostly an MLS (and Premier League) fan, I also like to keep up with all facets of U.S. soccer, and it was neat to hear from some experts on women's soccer and junior soccer.
Thanks for the kind words... Our target audience is the "well-rounded" soccer fan in the USA. Each week, I basically sit down and think, "ok, what is going on right now that if I was a well-rounded soccer fan I would want to know about." I've been very curious about this new Men's league that's started out West, so I got someone on the show to talk about it. People have been wondering what the deal is with Missy Gregg, so I got her on the show. But in the past few days, there have been some VERY interesting stories that have broken. Nowak back to the Fire, Expansion: Toronto, NY Cosmos. So we're going to try to satisfy your curiousity on this week's show. thanks again....