Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain: A Sports Media Podcast

In episode 60, Kevin chats with Jon “Boog” Sciambi, television voice of the Chicago Cubs on Marquee and national radio voice of “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN Radio. Sciambi is also a play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN’s college basketball. His origin story begins as a high school baseball player who admired the Phillies’ Harry Kalas before he started doing sports radio at Boston College. Sciambi will detail a journey that goes to Bradford, Pennsylvania, including a one-night stint at a donut shop, and explain how he worked his way up in Miami from running the board to calling Marlins games. Hear how Jon “Boog” Sciambi broke in. 

In episode 59, Kevin chats with Danny Parkins, co-host on FS!'s "First Things First". He can also be seen on "The Herd". Parkins has been at Fox Sports since 2024 after he spent nearly a decade hosting afternoon drive in Chicago on 670 The Score. Parkins is returning to his hometown this week to host his annual "Radiothon," something he first did in 2005 as a high school student. The conversation begins there, where Parkins first found a microphone, which led him to Syracuse, and he'll tell the story of the time Jim Boeheim called into his radio show, why he spent his first year out of college playing poker, and what led him back to Syracuse to take a $9/hour job, which eventually led him to a full-time hosting role in Kansas City. Hear how Danny Parkins broke in.

In episode 58, Kevin chats with Cory Provus, lead television voice of the Minnesota Twins. It's his third year in the Twins' TV booth after spending 12 seasons as their lead radio play-by-play broadcaster. Provus also broadcasts college football and basketball for Big Ten Network. Prior to that, Provus spent three seasons doing play-by-play with the Brewers. From 2007-08, Provus was the pre- and post-game host for the Chicago Cubs. HE's a three-time winner of the Minnesota Sportscaster of the Year award voted on by the National Sports Media Association. Provus' journey began as a high schooler, and he did minor league baseball play-by-play at Syracuse before bouncing to Virginia Tech and UAB, including a side job of giving sports updates for four different stations in a ranch house. Hear how Cory Provus broke in.

In episode 57, Kevin chats with Nick Friedell, senior writer at The Athletic covering the Golden State Warriors and the NBA. Prior to joining The Athletic, Friedell spent 14 years at ESPN covering the NBA, including his time on the Chicago Bulls beat. Friedell's origin story begins with dreams of being the next Harry Caray and calling Cubs games, but it took a detour at Syracuse. You'll hear about life after college when Friedell was churning out bylines for the Orlando Sentinel but couldn't latch on full-time, and how his persistence in emailing an ESPN executive helped lead to a full-time job at ESPN Chicago. Did Friedell come up with the idea for ESPN local sites? Listen to find out. Hear how Nick Friedell broke in.

In episode 56, Kevin chats with Hannah Storm, legendary sports broadcaster. Storm has been at ESPN since 2008, where she's served as an anchor across SportsCenter, NFL Live, NBA Today, and WNBA and NBA Countdown. She's hosted everything from the Boston and New York City Marathons to the Rose Parade, while also appearing on Vibe Check on Disney+. Long before her time at ESPN, Storm got her start as a disc jockey in Corpus Christi, Texas. She'll explain how impossible it was at the time for a woman to get a TV job in sports, so she went the radio route, eventually becoming sports director at KSRR in Texas, where she had to interview athletes outside the locker room. She got her TV break in Charlotte, before landing a national job at CNN and then was discovered by Dick Ebersol, leading to a long stint at NBC where she's best known for her NBA coverage. Hear how Hannah Storm broke in.

In episode 55, Kevin chats with Dane Brugler, national NFL writer at The Athletic who produces "The Beast," an annual draft guide. This year's version includes 402 scouting reports and almost 300,000 words. How did Brugler become everyone's main resource for draft intel? It started with a fascination with the Cleveland Browns' draft in 1999, and then went to Brugler's dorm room at Mount Union, where he started making his own draft guide to send to NFL teams and set himself apart. He'll explain how being classmates with Pierre Garcon helped get him connected to NFL scouts, how he got his first job at CBS Sports, and he'll share his advice for aspiring draft analysts. Hear how Dane Brugler broke in.  

In episode 54, Kevin chats with Len Kasper, radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox on ESPN 1000. Kasper is in his fifth season calling White Sox baseball following 16 seasons as the television voie of the Chicago Cubs. He was the fourth full-time lead television voice in Cubs history. Prior to that, Kasper — the 2016 Illinois Sportscaster of the Year as voted on by the National Sports Media Association — was behind the mic for the Marlins and the Brewers. His origin story begins as a baseball fan in Michigan listening to Ernie Harwell call Tigers games. Kasper's route to the baseball booth took some generosity from a broadcaster in Beloit during his days as a radio host in Milwaukee just so Kasper could get some reps. Hear how Len Kasper broke in. 

In episode 53, Kevin chats with Pat Hughes, the legendary play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs. He's called Cubs games since 1996, first on WGN radio and now on The Score in Chicago. Prior to joining the Cubs broadcast, Pat was in the radio booths for the Brewers and Twins. The 2023 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for a baseball broadcaster, Hughes is a 10-time Illinois Sportscaster of the Year as voted on by the National Sports Media Association. His story begins with his own athletic career, playing basketball and baseball until he gravitated toward broadcasting at San Jose State. Hughes explains why he likes to make every broadcast "fun" and the people who were integral along his journey to being one of the best broadcasters in sports. Hear how Pat Hughes broke in.

In episode 52, Kevin chats with John Fanta, broadcaster at NBC sports where he does play-by-play for college basketball and the NBA, along with sideline reporting, in-studio hosting and podcasting. Fanta has been with NBC full-time since last summer, and has become one of the most beloved personalities when it comes to college basketball. Fanta grew up a sports-obsessed kid in Northeast Ohio watching all the Cleveland teams and took his broadcasting ambitions to high school, where you'll hear about all the work he put it in to broadcast high school sports, and what led him to Seton Hall, which opened more doors for him thanks to his willingness to take on every opportunity. That led to an internship at Fox Sports, and then a job with the Big East. Hear how John Fanta broke in.

In episode 51, Kevin chats with Jason Benetti, who was just named the lead play-by-play broadcaster for Sunday Night Baseball on NBC and Peacock. Benetti will remain the television voice of the Detroit Tigers, a role he has held since 2024. Prior to that, Benetti spent eight seasons as the voice of the Chicago White Sox and he was a national broadcaster for baseball, football and college basketball on Fox Sports. Long before that, Benetti was a high school student at Homewood-Flossmoor when his voice got recognized as he announced his marching band. He worked at the radio station there before heading to Syracuse and getting jobs calling Syracuse minor league baseball, High Point basketball while going to law school at Wake Forest, along with high school sports before he got his first big break with ESPN. Hear how Jason Benetti broke in.