Talkback

On the finale of Talkback, host Cooper Boardman looks back at the five decades of WAER and Syracuse alumni who have been interviewed for this podcast. Since April, 52 play-by-play announcers, TV anchors and talk show hosts have explained what SU meant to them and the path they took after leaving the Hill. This episode, begins in 1968 with Len Berman and ends this past March with 2020 Sports Director Jack McMullen. Along the way, we look back at the common lessons learned during the pandemic and across generations who all came through WAER.

With the Big Ten and Pac-12's decisions to postpone fall sports—including college football—the ramifications of those choices are endless. This week on Talkback, host Cooper Boardman hears three different perspectives on the future of the sport: Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Matt Chazanow, voice of Washington State in the Pac-12, and Paul Peck, play-by-play for the University at Buffalo of the MAC.

With major sports leagues back in action, adaptation is at a premium. On this week’s episode of Talkback, host Cooper Boardman looks at the winding career paths of podcast pioneer Seth Everett and Phoenix Suns broadcaster Jon Bloom. The 90’s SU grads talk about making the most of opportunities and rolling with the punches.

Basketball comes back this week inside the bubbles in the NBA and WNBA. On this week’s episode of Talkback, Orlando and Bradenton take center stage. Minnesota Timberwolves play-by-play radio voice Alan Horton walks through the challenges ahead for the NBA’s Disney World reopening, and 2018 WAER Syracuse alum Sean Salisbury details calling the WNBA season from a studio.

With Major League Baseball’s return marking the end of this sports drought, host Cooper Boardman dives into the challenges ahead and what the return to baseball means with ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Boston Red Sox TV announcer Dave O’Brien and Houston Astros radio announcer Rob Ford.

The fifteenth episode of Talkback comes less than three weeks before the National Hockey League restarts its season. Two NHL voices—Jim Jackson of the Philadelphia Flyers and Steve Goldstein of the Florida Panthers—join the podcast to break down the sport's return in Canadian bubble cities.

The NBA was one of the first dominoes to fall on March 11, when Rudy Gobert's positive test halted the league's season, and ultimately, sports. Now, it plans its return in a Disney World bubble. This week on Talkback, Adam Schein, John Jastremski and Noah Eagle explain what that return looks like and what it means to those inside and outside the basketball world.

The college experience provides groundwork for the future, but this week on Talkback, a return to Syracuse means creating that future. Host Cooper Boardman talks with two SU professors, Matt Park and Rich Cimini, who work in the industry and return to teach and mentor students.

This week, Talkback hosts a reunion for the class of 2018. Host Cooper Boardman chats with three recent Syracuse and WAER alums about their last few years and what it's like to be two years out of school in the middle of a pandemic.

Times of crisis require voices people trust, both in the community and nationally. On this week's episode of Talkback, host Cooper Boardman talks to WAER alumni who have spent the past months covering their communities.