Talking Buffalo

On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews ESPN college sports reporter Olivia Harlan on a wide variety of topics.

The two discuss Harlan’s career path — one that’s traveled amazingly far for Olivia only being in her mid-20s. Harlan (@Olivia_Harlan) talks about her childhood and why being the father of famous NFL broadcaster Kevin Harlan and granddaughter to former Green Bay Packers got her loving sports at such an early age.

Every great journey doesn’t always go as planned and for Olivia that included having to reshuffle the deck after failing to get into the college she long dreamed of attending, Northwestern.  The former Miss Kansas Teen USA bottled that disappointment and turned it into a life changing positive by going to the University of Georgia where more doors for her than she could’ve imagined, including a gig covering the Atlanta Hawks for three years at Fox Sports South.

Harlan also talks about how the opportunity to work at ESPN came about, reveals some of her memorable stories so far in the business, discusses her long term goals and shares details on how she met and fell in love with Los Angeles Clippers forward Sam Dekker, as the two prepared to get married in just a few weeks.

Immediately after that Moran is joined by Matt Warren of Buffalo Rumblings on the heels of Warren’s sensational story published Friday that took readers inside all of the happenings at The Buffalo News Sports department of late, including many of the writers talking on the record for the first time with Warren.

Warren (@MattRichWarren) breaks down his story from both sides and gives a few opinions on what he thinks went wrong at TBN and what the future of the sports department is.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews Western New York’s preeminent expert when it comes to hockey prospects and now a contributing writer for The Athletic’s brand new Buffalo division, Kris Baker.

The two discuss the formation of The Athletic’s Buffalo division, how the opportunity came about for Baker to join the staff, the other writers hired to represent Buffalo, what his vision is for the site and what this means in regards to competition alongside The Buffalo News directly for the eyes and dollars of sports fans.

Of course, the reason Baker was hired at The Athletic is his unrivaled analysis on Buffalo Sabres prospects and he provides listeners with a straight up education on soon-to-be first overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin.  From his  physical skill set to mental make-up and immediate role he’ll play in the Sabres rebuild, Baker tells you everything you need to know about the Swedish prodigy defenseman.

Baker (@sabresprospects)  also spends time discussing some of the other top prospects in the Buffalo pipeline and gives a honest assessment on the state of the Sabres roster and things he feels they need to be better at in order to legitimately compete with the rest of the league and move out of the NHL basement.

We also get a very rare glimpse into Baker’s personal life—where he grew up, his hobbies and what got  him into wanting to write about Sabres prospects in the first place.

Immediately after that it’s the debut of a brand new segment titled “The Run-In With Joe.”  Joe from Buffalo Wins (@buffalowins) joins the podcast to discuss the Buffalo sports media and more specifically, the budding feud between The Athletic and the Buffalo News.

How much have the recent departures at The Buffalo News hurt the sports department? Can they recover from what’s clearly a down time in the newspaper’s history?  Even with the exits of many older veteran writers does the sports section feel stale?  What will they do with The Athletic now serving as direct competition in the market?  What’s up with the beef between Mike Harrington and Tim Graham?

All that and much more.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews Yahoo Sports NBA insider/analyst and co-host of one of the most popular basketball podcasts in the world, Jordan Schultz.

Schultz talks about growing up in Seattle and being a basketball star in his own right as a kid, Schultz was a star player on his high school team that nearly won a state championship.

He talks about his college basketball career and what led him to pursue a career in sports writing. It was a journey paved with many stops, including a long stint at the Huffington Post before joining Yahoo Sports around a year ago.

The two also discuss Schultz’s gig as co-host of the “Pull Up with CJ McCollum” podcast, featuring Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum.

Of course, many NBA topics are also discussed, including where Lebron James may land this summer, CJ’s future with Portland, where Golden State ranks among the league’s all-time great teams and a look at the 2018 NBA draft that takes place on Thursday.

You can follow Jordan Schultz on Twitter @Schultz_report and check out the “Pull Up With CJ McCollum” podcast.

After that Patrick is joined by Tone Pucks (@tonepucks) for their weekly Pat with Pucks segment.  Among the topics discussed is the state of their hometown Buffalo News sports department after yet another huge staff departure, a complete lack of quality local high school and college coverage in Buffalo, reaction following the conclusion of Buffalo Bills minicamp, the U.S. Open and more.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews NFL.com writer and “Around the NFL” podcast co-host Marc Sessler.

The two talk about Sessler’s journey from childhood to writing for NFL.com, a process stretching from being born in Upstate New York to high school in Connecticut and bouncing around colleges before ultimately ending up at UCLA.

The two spend significant time talking sports media and Marc offers his takes on the newspaper business, his biggest influences, social media and the importance of aspiring sports journalists to be more diverse than ever.

Sessler also talks about his “Around the NFL” podcast, a show consistently ranked high on the Apple Podcast Sports & Rec charts. What goes into making a hit podcast and does he enjoy the process?

Of course, they also talk plenty of football, including the Cleveland Browns win ceiling for 2018 and Sessler’s thoughts on the Buffalo Bills drafting Josh Allen over Josh Rosen.

You can follow Marc Sessler (@marcsesslerNFL) on Twitter and check out his Around The NFL podcast.

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Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets and “like” the Moran-Alytics Facebook page.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran is joined by one of the all-time great NBA pure point guards.  Rod Strickland, 12th in NBA history in assists and 29th in steals joins the show to talk about a variety of topics.

Strickland discusses being born and growing up in New York City, a mecca for superstar point guards both on the basketball courts and in the playgrounds. He talks about winning a high school state championship and why he decided to pick DePaul for college over several other schools, including Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

We also talk about his entire 17-year career that began with the New York Knicks and go into specific detail about his time with San Antonio, Portland and Washington.  Strickland speaks on many of the trials and tribulations of his career and reveals some of his favorite players, teammates and guys he played against.

There’s also plenty of current NBA talk as well.  Of course, Strickland’s asked to weigh on the whole Lebron vs Michael Jordan debate that continues to dominate water coolers, and Strickland reveals there’s two other players that must always be in the greatest player ever conversation.   He also talks about where Lebron may land next, Kyrie Irving (his Godson) and Golden State’s place in NBA history after winning their third championship in four years.

You can follow Rod Strickland on Twitter (Rod_Strickland)

Also on the show is “Pat with Pucks’ featuring Tone Pucks.  Patrick and Tone debate if the Cleveland Browns may win more games than the Buffalo Bills in 2018, wonder if Jerry Hughes may be on his way out this summer and react to Jason LaCanfora calling A.J. McCarron one of the 10 QB’s under the most pressure for this season.

Tone (@tonepucks) also adds his thoughts on Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly trade rumors, the Washington Capitals winning the Stanley Cup, Jim Kelly being honored with the Jimmy V award and Terrell Owens’ decision to not attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony this August.

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Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets and “like” the Moran-Alytics Facebook page.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran is joined by long-time Cleveland Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot.

They talk about Cabot’s remarkable career covering the Browns for Cleveland.com with stories also appearing in The Plain Dealer.  Unlike many sports journalist who bounce around before finding their mainstay, Cabot’s has been a career spent covering one team for nearly 28 years.

It’s also a career built from timing and loyalty.  Cabot nearly moved to Florida after graduating college from Kent State, In fact she was literally packed to move to Florida before getting the call with a job offer to work at The Plain Dealer.  Along the way she’s had several opportunities to leave for what many perceive as greener pastures, including a job at ESPN but she ultimately decided to stay in Cleveland.

Cabot talks about being a female sports beat writer in a male dominated business, how social media can be an unfair and cruel place, the responsibility she carries being a NFL Hall of Fame voter, and what fans can expect when the Cleveland Browns star on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.

You can follow Mary Kay Cabot on Twitter (@MaryKayCabot)

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Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets and “like” the Moran-Alytics Facebook page.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews former Buffalo Bills cornerback Marlon Kerner.  A third-round pick out of Ohio State, Kerner played for the Bills for three full seasons in the mid-90’s before torn ACL injuries to each of his knees prematurely ended his playing career.

Kerner talks about growing up in Columbus, Ohio and wanting to go to Notre Dame but ultimately choosing to go Ohio State, a decision that paid off for him in a big way as he’d go on to become the Bills third-round pick in the 1995 draft despite Marlon never getting any indication he was on the Bills radar.

He speaks in-depth about the intimidation factor he felt when first coming to Buffalo, going to a team just one year removed from their fourth consecutive Super Bowl on a roster featuring future Hall of Famers in Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed.

Marlon (@marlonkerner46) speaks about growing into a NFL player and describes in detail how it would come to an end thanks to an unfortunate pair of ACL injuries.

He also spends a little time talking about potential future star cornerback Tre’Davius White and discusses his current role as the Bills Director of Player Engagement & Alumni.

Both before and after the Kerner interview Moran is joined by his Monday “Pat with Pucks” partner Tone Pucks (@tonepucks).  The two have very opinionated takes on what is going on with the Buffalo News sports department, why cuts have rained down on established journalists there and examine the public reaction on social media.

They also go over some notes from Buffalo Bills OTA’s last week and run down their least favorite athlete ever in several sports.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews ESPN.com Buffalo Bills beat reporter Mike Rodak.

A native of Massachusetts, Rodak (@mikerodak) talks about growing up a fan of nearby Boston sports teams and moving on to Providence for college because his older brother went there.  Partially due to being unsure of what exactly he wanted to do with his life and also because Providence didn’t have a major journalism program, Rodak majored in finance and management.

While still in school he caught a break in 2010 and got a gig helping to cover the New England Patriots as ESPNBoston.com. He would go on to be part of the Patriots coverage team for three years there and covered his first (and to date only) Super Bowl when the New York Giants defeated the Patriots, 21017 at Super Bowl XLVI (46).

Rodak talks about that experience as well as moving on to Buffalo in the summer of 2013 to take over as Bills beat reporter for ESPN.com.  Naturally because of his ties to New England both as a native and covering the Patriots, Rodak almost immediately drew the ire of many Bills fans who regarded him as a Patriots fan providing biased coverage against the Bills.  Mike shares his feelings on that then and now.

They spend considerable time talking about the sports media life —from personal friendships to direct competition and Mike has a strong take on the recent Buffalo News “buyout’ of longtime columnist and friend of his, Jerry Sullivan.

Of course, they do talk a little about the Bills, including Rodak’s thoughts on why the organization may have passed on Josh Rosen in favor of Josh Allen, the wide receiver position and the big differences between the Sean McDermott and Rex Ryan regimes.

They wrap up a mini-lightning round of random questions, something that’s become a ritual with each guest on the podcast, including revealing Rodak’s favorite sports movie, city to visit,  the one person he’d follow on Twitter if only allowed one follow, three dinner guests and more.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast Patrick Moran is joined by Sports Illustrated and MMQB senior writer Jenny Vrentas.

One of the best sports writers in the business today male or female, Jenny takes us through her journey, one that actually began as a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major at Penn State College before deciding she wanted to venture into sports writing and ultimately going to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

She went on to land a job at the Newark Star Ledger in 2007, a position she’d hold for six years as she eventually became a beat writer for the New York Jets and Giants.

Her career shifted in 2013 when Peter King essentially handpicked her to join the MMQB writing team at Sports Illustrated.  Vrentas talks in detail about that process and gets emotional when discussing King’s upcoming departure after 29-years at Sports Illustrated.

She also gives her opinion on the life of a reporter in the New York city market, goes into the unfair disadvantages women often have in the sports journalism workplace and discusses a few of the incredible stories she’s written in recent years.

All that and much more with one of the best and most likable sports writers in the business!

Follow Jenny Vrentas on Twitter at @JennyVrentas and check out her work at Sports Illustrated.

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Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets and “like” the Moran-Alytics Facebook page.

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On this breakthrough episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews one of the most recognizable people in the world of sports, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter joins the show for an extended interview.

Their talk reveals Schefter’s legendary career actually stems from a series of unplanned circumstances.  While it appears Schefter was a prodigy destined to be arguably the most recognizable football media face on earth, that’s hardly the case.  The truth is Schefter was rejected by at least two colleges before getting into Michigan.  He also didn’t go to school with designs of becoming a journalist and only multiple rejections led to him joining the college newspaper. After school he applied to over a hundred jobs without getting a response, and incredibly he joined ESPN only after the NFL Network wouldn’t budge on a mediocre re-signing offer when his contract there expired.

Essentially, Schefter’s success is a story of perseverance and he runs through it all in an interview laced with topics you don’t hear him talk about often.

He also talks about respect and competition among his peers, what it’s like working for ESPN and a bunch of random human interest questions.

And yes, he does answer a couple of Buffalo Bills questions while learning himself that he was indirectly the genesis for the #BillsMafia movement.

Speaking of the Bills, Ryan Talbot (@ryantalbot) of newyorkupstate.com joins the podcast following Schefter for a conversation about the Bills.  He talks about Richie Incognito un-retiring and things for fans to look forward to as  OTA’s get going.

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Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @patmorantweets and “like” the Moran-Alytics Facebook page.

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