Playing The Field

In Episode #9 of "Playing The Field," Curt is joined by his best friend Abi Robinson. Abi details how eating a Keto diet, becoming a regular at the gym and running have completely changed her lifestyle over the past two years. (02:06 - 14:47) The two discuss how their friendship began and why high school sports weren't necessarily for Abi at the time. (14:47 - 1:02:44) Abi details how through the earlier years of college she began experimenting at the gym but a torn ACL put everything on hold. After rehabbing her knee and college graduation, Abi decided to begin a regimented gym schedule along with new eating habits including Keto. The two also discuss other various nutrition items like tracking your food, quick diets that might not help as much as you think and meal prepping. Abi ends this segment talking about her fitness journey where she discusses her plans to train for the 2021 Hartford Marathon. (1:02:44 - 1:26:23) Abi and Curt walk down memory lane to talk about how much Abi enjoyed becoming a football & basketball manager for their senior year of high school. Curt also brings up how Abi has become a fantastic lacrosse coach at Granby Memorial and how she's implemented workouts and quarantine zoom calls for the girls. (1:26:23 - 1:43:00) Curt quizzes Abi on NFL trivia (trust me, you're going to want to stick around for this part).

They'reeee backkkk! In Episode 8 of "Playing The Field," Mike and Wally return to debate a number of sports topics with Curt using a new "Buy or Sell" format. (02:18 - 17:10) BUY OR SELL: The MLB will have a season this year. (17:10 - 29:47) BUY OR SELL: Colin Kaepernick will be on an NFL roster this season this season. (29:47 - 38:17) BUY OR SELL: The NFL will be able to play an entire season. (38:17 - 46:05) BUY OR SELL: Multiple NBA superstars will sit out if the league comes back in a couple weeks. (46:05 - 1:06:13) BUY OR SELL: The 2018 Red Sox team was the best Sox team to win a World Series. (1:06:13 - 1:22:17) BUY OR SELL: Aaron Rodgers is a top five quarterback in NFL history. (1:22:17 - 1:27:20) BUY OR SELL: Eli Manning is a hall of fame quarterback. 

On Episode 7 of “Playing The Field,” Curt is joined by his good friend Shanell Starling to discuss how she has gotten to where she is today, specifically by pushing out more and more content. (02:59 – 12:38) Curt and Shanell recall how they met in high school thanks to basketball and how Shanell liked transitioning to a suburban school. (12:38 – 18:59) Shanell explains how she found out she got into Morgan State and how she transitioned from print journalism to broadcast. (18:59 -39:54) The two discuss the various careers that Shanell has had since graduation. They also discuss how she has used various social media skills to continually put out sports content. Shanell also explains in detail what her role currently is at ESPN. (39:54 -57:34) Curt brings up the WNBA and Shanell’s newfound special connection to the league. The two also talk about the massive disparity in salary compared to the NBA and how they would like to see the league grow. (57:34 - 1:14:26) Shanell and Curt enter their safe space and discuss the NFL. Curt talks some smack while Shanell discusses the outlook for the upcoming Steelers season. They also discuss the Antonio Brown saga since his departure from Pittsburgh. (1:14:26 – 1:26:45) The two wrap up the show by discussing the NBA’s new format for when they return in July. Shanell sheds some light on why she believes the NBA is pushing to get Lebron another ring. Curt and Shanell also share predictions for who they think walks away as a champion.

In Episode 6 of "Playing The Field," Curt has to fly solo once he got called back into work in Rhode Island. Instead of bringing on a guest, Curt decided to open the floor to his listeners to send in any sports related questions that they had for him. (03:50 - 34:29) Curt answers a bunch of questions pertaining to professional and collegiate sports. (34:29 - 47:56) Listeners get their answers to questions that they asked Curt regarding coaching. (47:56 - 1:03:44) Curt goes over some of the questions he got regarding his high school athletic career. (1:03:44 - 1:15:55) Curt goes over some questions that listeners had in regards to working in athletics and then he ends the show by going rapid fire with some of the listeners shorter questions. 

In Episode 5 of "Playing The Field," Curt is joined by a member of the Hartford Courant's sports department, Shawn McFarland. Shawn and Curt cover a variety of topics throughout this week's conversation talking about Shawn's path from Springfield College to where he is today. (03:28 - 09:45) Shawn discusses how he got his start in journalism freshman year of college and when he knew that sports journalism is what he wanted to do as a career moving forward. (09:45 - 15:37) Curt asks Shawn about some of his favorite internships throughout college including advice for students looking to land an internship. (15:37 - 20:12) The two discuss what it's like for Shawn being a younger guy in the journalism field and how he's been able to expand the Courant's social media pages. (20:12 - 54:33) Shawn talks about what it's been like working at the Hartford Courant including writing with deadlines, hardest parts of the profession, his favorite sport to cover, his favorite stories he's written over the last two years, what he's been up to since COVID-19 hit and what his dream job could potentially be in the future. (54:33 - 1:02:14) Curt shares his thoughts on everything that's happened in our country over the last week. 

In Episode 4 of "Playing The Field," listeners are introduced to Ben "Bruno" Briskin who will be a recurring guest on the show during the NFL season. (02:27 - 27:25) Curt and Bruno discuss their respective paths through higher education, specifically how they got into the sports management field. Bruno talks about his career at UConn from an undergraduate, to graduating with his master, to currently pursuing his PHD. (27:25 - 50:27) The two talk about what it was like working together in athletics at UConn for five years including how they started, the best aspects of the job and reliving some of their favorite and least favorite memories from events. (50:27 - 1:30:03) Bruno and Curt begrudgingly discuss Tom Brady's exit from the Patriots this offseason. Throughout the segment they talk about their initial reactions to the news, their appreciation for Brady, if they will root for TB12 and the Buccaneers and if Brady will succeed in a new offense. (1:30:03 - 1:44:47) The two wrap up the podcast by going through the Patriots schedule and predicting wins and losses for the 2020-21 season. 

On Episode 3 of "Playing The Field," Curt is joined by Granby seniors Dylan Disabella, Rowan Heinze and Sam Attianese to discuss what it was like for each of them to have the end of the high school playing careers derailed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Later, Curt sits down to talk to Division II Lacrosse player, Samantha Bates, about what it was like to have her last season at SNHU canceled. 

(04:15 - 21:51) Curt sits down with the Granby boy's basketball co-captains from the 2019-20 season to talk about the hardships of having their state tournament canceled after making it through the grind of the season. The three break down their initial reactions compared to how they feel now about the cancelation, not getting the chance to finish what they started and some of their fondest basketball memories.(22:04 - 36:00) Sam Attianese joins the show to talk about not having the chance to take the field once for his senior baseball season. The two discuss if Sam thought that initially the season would just be pushed back a couple weeks, how he was preparing for the season if in fact it there was going to be a shortened schedule and talk about his plans for what's next in his athletic career. (36:11 - 58:26) The show wraps up with Samantha Bates who discusses her high school playing career and how she ultimately overcame a major health scare senior year. The two talk about how she decided on lacrosse as the sport she wanted to play in college and how she landed at SNHU where she ultimately became a two time captain. Samantha details what it was like to have the last couple months of her playing career wiped out due to COVID-19 and what the next chapter of her life looks like after college.

On Episode Two of "Playing The Field", Curt is joined by former teammate Jake Largay to discuss his football journey from being a pee wee player growing up, all the way to landing an NFL tryout in 2019. (02:48 - 07:45) Jake talks about how he got into football as a kid in Massachusetts. (07:45 - 20:14) Jake and Curt talk about what it was like for Jake to move from a powerhouse high school like Longmeadow to a brand new program in Granby after his freshman year of high school. The two also go through some of their most profound memories playing together for three years. (20:14 - 36:14) Jake talks about what it was like to be heavily recruited out of high school and ultimately how he landed at UMass. The two also discuss the importance of camps, highlight tapes and reaching out to coaches. (36:14 - 53:35) Jake talks about being redshirted his freshman year playing for the Minutemen as well as the challenges that were presented during his first training camp. Jake also tells Curt about the rest of his college experience including what a day in the life of a Division I football player is like. (53:35 - 1:03:03) The two talk about what Jake went through after his college playing days were over which ultimately ended with an invite to the Atlanta Falcons rookie minicamp. (1:03:03 - 1:09:05) Curt asks Jake what he thought about moving from a player to a coach and what it was like being an assistant at his old high school. The two talk about how cool it was to help build the Granby Football program from the ground up and how rewarding it is to see the program currently flourishing after all these years. (1:09:05 - 1:13:58) Jake and Curt go through life lessons that football taught them. (1:13:58 - 1:17:51) Curt asks Jake if he has a son one day, would he let him play football? (1:17:51 - 1:21:35) The two wrap up the discussion by ending the interview with advice for current high school players.

On episode one of “Playing The Field,” Curt explains how he got his start in sports. He goes into detail regarding his high school playing days, the start of his coaching career and how different career opportunities in the sports industry have landed him in an ideal spot. Later in the show he is joined by two of his colleagues and friends, Wally Hansen and Mike Dombrowski. The three discuss their coaching careers up to this point including some of their fondest memories and toughest hardships through the years. Later, the three discuss the new Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance,” and their thoughts on the first six episodes. Wally, Mike and Curt close out the show by debating who the best commissioner is in all of sports.

(0:45 – 29:54) – Curt explains how he decided to get into coaching and how he realized the sports industry was for him. (30:02 – 1:03:15) Curt is joined by fellow coaches, Wally Hansen and Mike Dombrowski. The three go into detail on their own coaching careers and discuss what it is like to coach together. (1:03:16 – 1:31:19) Wally, Mike and Curt explain their thoughts on the first six episodes of the ten-part Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance.” (1:31:20 – 1:51:04) Curt and his two guests have a debate about who the best commissioner in all of sports is and why.