The Press Box, presented by the Genesee Brew House, airing September 1/2, 2018. Hosted by Bill Pucko, with guests Mike Catalana (13 WHAM Sports), Pat Duffy (WCMF Breakroom) and Kevin Oklobzija (Rochester Business Journal).
Kevin is one of our regulars, usually showing up once a month as a panelist. Kevin covered the Amerks and Red Wings for the D&C for a long time, and is considered one of the best in Rochester for his team coverage. Kevin’s first appearance on the Press Box was October 21, 2012 – our 7th episode. The topics that day included the NHL Lockout, Lance Armstrong and Syracuse moving to the ACC. Time flies… Here’s Kevin addressing Lance’s departure from the Live Strong Foundation…
Our opening topic this week involves Politics and Sports Media. Jemele Hill’s departure from ESPN, stems largely from her including political views into her sports coverage – and ESPN attempting to silence those views. Michele Beadle is leaving the ESPN morning show “Get Up!” in large part of her protest against the way the NFL is responding to the players protesting during the anthem. This is a tailor-made topic for the Press Box, a show where members of the media discuss sports, and what role the media plays, and needs to play.
A great discussion that went way long… We could probably do a whole show on the topic, there’s still plenty to cover – we didn’t even touch the Bob Costas leaving NBC aspect.
Next up, we talk the Bills. Since we tape on Wednesdays, this discussion takes place before the Bills-Bears matchup. In the game versus the Bengals, the Bills did not look good. And rookie Josh Allen struggled with the 1st team. Heading into the Bengals game, it sure looked like Allen might have a chance to unseat Nate Peterman, as the presumed starter. We say ‘presumed’ because Head Coach Sean McDermott is incredibly tight-lipped on the subject.
With all the talk of Nathan Peterman and Josh Allen, the third man in the QB equation, AJ McCarron, got left out. So, an audible gets called to address his future with the Bills as the lone Like it or Not topic. Again, this is prior to AJ ‘pulling a Reich’ and leading the Bills to an improbable comeback win against the Bears.
With the show running long, the scheduled topics for this week’s Like it or Not were dropped. One topic was the Yankees gaining 4 games in the standings in their chase of the Boston Red Sox. Another topic was the kickoff of the college football season. A third topic, it was decided,would be addressed directly by Kevin in his Unfinished Business segment. Look for more on the Yanks as the baseball season/playoff races heat up.
Unfinished Business kicks off with Pat Duffy. This week, an article appeared about the growth in popularity of ice hockey in Arizona. It made Pat think. Reflect. and Postulate. Hockey means a lot to Duffy, and his family, and Rochester is a great area to live in, if you want to get on the ice.
Up next, Kevin Oklobzija. The third topic from Like it or Not, that we didn’t get to? It was the announcement that the Dworkins – owners of the Rochester Rhinos – were looking to build a new soccer stadium in Rochester, and abandon Marina Auto Stadium. There’s more to the story – and Kevin has something to say about it.
Finally, Mike Catalana addresses the NY Giants and Odell Beckham Jr. A mega contract for OBJ, in Mike’s mind, is really a vote of confidence in Eli Manning. It wasn’t that long ago that it looked like Eli’s days with the Giants were coming to an end.
That’s the show for the week, as well as a wrap on the Sixth Season. The changing of the seasons isn’t as big a deal with The Press Box, since we air 52 weeks a year. Nonetheless, next week brings a 7th Season Premiere, on location from the Genny Brew House.
Here’s a link to this week’s full episode – check it out, and leave us a comment or follow @TheRocPressBox on twitter to send a comment.
Tune in to the Press Box every Sunday – we are moving to the CW Rochester for the fall, same day- Sunday, and time- 10:30am, and check local listings for other airings – the new fall season means some scheduling changes that are out of our control. You can always catch the latest episodes on the Classy Wolf Media youtube page, which you should definitely subscribe to.
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