During the 2022-2023 NHL Regular Season, all 30 Teams held a Pride Night, during which players wear jerseys celebrating the LGBTQ+ community either during warmups or games -- or both. This season, various players and a few teams objected to the activity and refused to participate for a variety of reasons.

Tara Slone recently completed her first full season as a content contributor for the San Jose Sharks and has also joined NBC Sports Bay Area on their Sharks broadcasts. She has been outspoken about the controversy on her social media.  Sharks Goalie James Reimer was one of the players who refused to participate and said it was due to his religious beliefs.

Before the Slone interview, this episode aired a small portion of an interview that former Pittsburgh Penguins President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke did on Sportsnet in Canada on March 25th, 2023 regarding the controversy.

Follow Tara Slone on social media @TaraSlone.

399. The NHL Pride Night Controversy

Every guest is a friend. Or a friend of a friend.  (We play Jewish Geography)

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Legendary basketball player and broadcaster Bill Walton died on May 27, 2024.  The iconic player starred at UCLA and then played for the Portland Trail-Blazers, San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.  He then embarked on a second career as a basketball analyst for both ESPN and the Pac-12 Network. He was 71.

Also, that same week, the Pac-12 Network went off the air after the breakup of the Pac-12 conference that took place after this past season.  Roxy Bernstein was on the air after the last live event and was a frequent partner of Bill Walton’s. Roxy joined the show to discuss both of those and his rise in the sports media business.

Bernstein is a play-by-play broadcaster of college basketball, NHL, and football for ESPN, the Pac-12 Network, and the Oakland Athletics. Twenty years ago, he was a regular contributor to Seth’s MLB Radio show in the mid-2000s.

458. Roxy Bernstein on Bill Walton, Pac-12 Network

Front Office Sports is a leading multi-platform media and news organization covering the intersection of sports, business, and culture. It was listed on Inc. 5000 in 2023 recognizing the fastest-growing private companies in America. Owen Poindexter is a senior writer for Front Office Sports and host of the daily podcast/video FOS Today. That podcast can be found at https://frontofficesports.com/podcast/.  

Poindexter has written for The Athletic, Forbes, Wired, Slate, Marie Claire, Commonwealth, Alternet, Salon, The Hardball Times, and others. This episode covers the NBA TV rights negotiations, the NFL/Netflix Christmas Day games, the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the Comcast/Xfinity dispute with Bally's Sports Networks.

457. Owen Poindexter, Front Office Sports (FOS Today)

Glen Macnow has been on WIP since 1993. He is known as a hard-nosed reporter and author of regional best-sellers. He also hosts the Philadelphia Eagles official radio pre-game show and has been a commentator on Phillies and Flyers broadcasts. He has hosted more than 7,000 shows on Philadelphia radio.  Nicknamed “The Professor, ” Macnow has been an integral observer of this city's unique sports scene.  He recently announced that he will be retiring from the radio station this summer. 

Before coming to WIP, Macnow was a newspaper reporter in Florida, Michigan, and ultimately the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Macnow is also an accomplished author.  He has written five books for adults and 15 for children. He is part-owner of the Conshohocken Brewing Co.

In this episode, Macnow discusses the evolution of his career., and the current state of radio vs. the spoken word in audio.  He also shares some incredible memories from his time at WIP.

456. Glen Macnow

Before there were podcasts, iPhones, or even sports radio, there was Sports Phone.  Originally based in New York, Sports Phone was a phone number someone could call and hear an announcer give what is commonly known as a sports update.  Many of those anchors went on to have incredible broadcasting careers and got their start working for Sports Phone.

Media veterans Scott Orgera and Sports Phone alum Howie Karpin joined the show to discuss the story behind Sports Phone.  Their book,  976-1313. : How Sports Phone Launched Careers and Broke New Ground features never-before-told tales of triumph and tragedy, a mix of hilarity, inspiration, and regret from the broadcasting hopefuls and sports junkies that comprised the brains and voices behind the pioneering operation.

In this episode, they talk about the many anchors who worked for Sports Phone and the countless number of callers who would call in to get the scores.  They also discussed how gambling enhanced the volume of callers, despite it not being legal as it is now.

For more information on the book, visit https://9761313.com/ and get the book here: https://a.co/d/hJKgYJ6

455. Remembering Sports Phone (976-1313)

The American Association is one of the great names in the history of professional baseball leagues in the United States. The first American Association was formed in 1902 as an independent minor league for the larger cities in the midwestern area of the U.S. Joshua Schaub was appointed Commissioner of the current iteration entitled the American Association of Professional Baseball on March 1, 2019. Schaub is the chief executive for the American Association and oversees the American Association's operations, media, expansion, revenue initiatives, technology enhancements and emergence, public relations, and relationships in professional baseball.

Schaub is the former CEO and co-owner of the Joliet Slammers baseball club of the Frontier League, a board member of the Frontier League and Prospect Leagues, and has previously worked in the Milwaukee Brewers scouting department as an intern and associate scout.

In this episode, he explains what the difference between an Independent League and the recently former MLB Partner League. He also explains the inner workings of the Association and answers many questions about how to measure its success.

This episode is sponsored by/brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/SWF and get on your way to being your best self.

399. The NHL Pride Night Controversy

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