Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain: A Sports Media Podcast

In episode 50 — yes, 5-0 — Kevin chats with Laurence Holmes, radio host at 104.3 The Score in Chicago, where he's worked for nearly 30 years. Holmes, whose own podcast, "House of L," helped inspire this one, also teaches aspiring journalists at DePaul University, giving him plenty of perspective on how to break in. You'll hear about what got Holmes into radio, how he got started at his high school in a south Chicago suburb, and the steps along the way that led to him having his own show in a market like Chicago. For Chicagoans, you'll appreciate hearing about all the people who Holmes worked with, and for everyone else, he provides some valuable insight into the industry. Hear how Laurence Holmes broke in.

In episode 49, Kevin chats with Dave Revsine, lead studio host and basketball play-by-play broadcaster at Big Ten Network. He is also the author of “The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation.” When BTN launched in 2007, it was Revsine who introduced the network to the masses, and he's been the voice of the channel's coverage ever since. Prior to that, Revsine spent 11 years at ESPN, and he'll describe the journey that got him to Bristol, one that began at Northwestern University, took him to Dublin, a one-year stint working in finance, before TV jobs in Texas and Iowa. Hear how Dave Revsine broke in.

In episode 48, Kevin chats with Eric Edholm, lead draft writer for NFL.com. Edholm has covered the NFL for more than two decades, including 11 years at Pro Football Weekly, where he overlapped with Kevin for the 2010-12 seasons. Edholm got his journalism start at his town’s local paper when he was still in high school, and had a unique Missouri journalism experience. He’ll also discuss how he got his first job at the Sporting News and some of his adventures reporting on the NFL. Hear how Eric Edholm broke in.  

In episode 47, Kevin chats with J.A. Adande, the director of sports journalism at Northwestern's Medill School of journalism. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024 as the Curt Gowdy Print Media Award winner, Adande spent several decades covering sports, most notably the NBA, for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and then ESPN, where he was a mainstay on "Around the Horn." Prior to that, Adande's professional career began at the Chicago Sun-Times. He'll reflect on how he got that job, being around Michael Jordan, his internships at the L.A. Times and Washington Post, writing for The Daily Northwestern, and how Magic Johnson got him into journalism. 

This episode is sponsored by Sports Broadcasting Play by Play camps. For more info, head to http://www.playbyplaycamps.com/. Hear how J.A. Adande broke in.

In episode 46, Kevin chats with Mike “Doc” Emrick, one of the most famous hockey play-by-play broadcasters of all-time. Emrick called 22 Stanley Cups and is in seven Halls of Fame. Emrick originally wanted to be a baseball announcer before he went to a Fort Wayne Komets hockey game in 1960, and everything changed. From that first game he went on to call Bowling Green hockey to Port Huron, Mich. to Portland, Maine before landing with the Philadelphia Flyers, beginning 40 years behind the mic in the NHL.

This episode is sponsored by Sports Broadcasting Play by Play camps. For more info, head to http://www.playbyplaycamps.com/. Hear how Doc Emrick broke in.  

In episode 45, Kevin chats with Peggy Kusinski and Dionne Miller, hosts of "Peggy and Dionne" on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. Kusinski has been on the air in Chicago since the early 90's including two decades at NBC-5. She discusses what it was like at Jerry Sloan's basketball camp, discovering — and then working at ESPN, how she got started in her hometown. Miller, a reporter and anchor for ABC-7, explains what drew her to TV when she originally went to college to be a teacher, and what she learned at jobs in Montana, San Diego and Sarasota. Then you'll hear how the "Peggy and Dionne" show came to be. 

This episode is sponsored by Sports Broadcasting Play by Play camps. For more info, head to http://www.playbyplaycamps.com/. Hear how Peggy Kusinski and Dionne Miller broke in.

In episode 44, Kevin chats with Mike Sando, senior NFL writer at The Athletic. Prior to joining The Athletic, Sando spent 12 years at ESPN. His first NFL beat was covering the Seahawks for the Tacoma News-Tribune, where he covered his first Super Bowl, 27 years ago. He's been at every one since (except the COVID year) and will reminisce about that first one, and offer tips to anyone covering the Big Game. Sando's career began in Spokane, and he'll detail his journalism start, from high school sports coverage to Ryan Leaf's Washington State Cougars. 

This episode is sponsored by Sports Broadcasting Play by Play camps. For more info, head to http://www.playbyplaycamps.com. Hear how Mike Sando broke in.

In episode 43, Kevin chats with James Brown, the host of "The NFL Today" on CBS. A three-time Emmy Award-winner, JB has been an NFL pregame host for more than 30 years, having done 11 Super Bowls. This episode dropped on the Sunday morning of the AFC Championship Game in Denver, where Brown will host "The NFL Today." Before he became a broadcaster, Brown was a star basketball player at Harvard, good enough to be drafted in the NBA and ABA. He'll discuss his basketball career and how he went from working at Xerox to getting a shot on the Washington Bullets telecasts, and then what led him to CBS. Hear how James Brown broke in. 

In episode 42, Kevin chats with Seth Wickersham, senior writer at ESPN and author of "American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback," a New York Times bestseller. Wickersham has won numerous awards for his writing and he's profiled the likes of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Jim Harbaugh. You'll hear about how Wickersham got into sportswriting while growing up in Alaska, interning at his hometown paper, and covering a Super Bowl as a college student with his classmate, Wright Thompson. As someone who has built a ton of trust among the NFL's biggest power brokers, Wickersham offers great advice to young writers. Hear how Seth Wickersham broke in.

In episode 41, Kevin chats with Chris "Bear" Fallica, wagering expert at Fox Sports and host of the podcast "Bear Bets." Fallica appears on Fox's "Big Noon Kickoff" college football pregame show, and helps set up Monday's College Football Playoff national championship, and next month's Super Bowl, from a betting perspective. Known for his time on ESPN's College Gameday, Fallica got his start at ESPN as a researcher. He tells the story about how he first got in the door at ESPN Radio, how he would do research in the 90's, why Lee Corso gave him the nickname "Bear," and what it's been like being recognized. Hear how Chris "Bear" Fallica broke in.