Over the Edge + November 17, 2010 19 Sports Guys Do it the Best CFUR’s newest sport analysts discuss sports show with Over-The-Edge BROCK CAMPBELL SPORTS EDITOR ; af Paul Hayer and Justin Rodger of CFUR’s newest sports show | recently had the opportunity to sit down with Justin Rodger and Puneet Hayer, the voices of CFUR’s newest sports show, Sport Studio. Puneet is an experienced NFL analyst, Justin is the ‘Voice of Timberwolves Basketball,’ and by the sounds of it their passion for sports should culminate in an exciting new show. Check out what they had to say about Sport Studio and some of their thoughts on the T-Wolves upcoming basketball season: Over The Edge (OTE): When did you come up with the idea to do a sports show? Puneet Hayer (PH): Roughly in September when | found out CFUR was looking to diversify their rotation. Justin Rodger (JR): | had thought about starting one last year while | was at CFUR but it never really materialized. OTE: Is this something you’ve always been interested in doing? And is this a career path you have chosen? PH: Absolutely. | have worked as an NFL beat writer for four NFL related sites but have never had the opportunity to get involved in Radio until now. Sports radio is really big right now and hopefully we can get this region more acquainted and receptive to it. | have aspirations to excel in this field. This is the first step. JR: I’ve been thinking about it since last year, my second year at UNBC. | am seriously considering a career in radio or television broadcasting. OTE: Do you personally have any favourite sports talk shows? What particular sports sources do you follow? PH: Yes, | do, and I’m glad you asked. | am a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan, since birth in fact, and on their website they host two radio shows about the team each weekday during the NFL season and once a week during the off- season. One show is called The Lunch Break and the other is called Talkin Cowboys. | have listened to each episode of both of these shows since their premiere in 2005. | had the pleasure of meeting the hosts of each of those shows, columnist Mickey Spagnola and Cowboys Internet Director Derek Eagleton of Talkin Cowboys and the Lunch Break. Mr.Spagnola is a personal hero. | told him how much | love his show and that | plan on following in his footsteps. He told me “You are gonna be a great one, best of luck,” and then he patted me on the back. That is a conversation that | will always cherish. JR: As far as sports specific shows go I’d probably have to say PTI (Pardon the Interruption) is the best, but | listen to Jason Ellis’s talk show a lot on Sirius radio - mostly the score, nba.com, nfl.com, ESPN’s website, the basics, The Basketball Jones is a pretty good one, although | haven't listened to it in awhile. OTE: What has been the response from listeners so far? PH: From my perspective it has been amazing. Everywhere | go people ask me about the show. Plus we receive an abundance of e-mail questions each episode to be answered. As well, the show’s facebook page did very well in its first few weeks, hopefully that continues. JR: I'd say fantastic. Every week we answer questions sent in from listeners, and everyone that I’ve talked to says they like the show. OTE: What sports would you consider yourself a specialist in? PH: | have been given the title “UNBC’s official NFL prognosticator” by my peers because of my love of the NFL and the analysis | provide to students and staff alike. Again, | have worked for four NFL based websites as a beat writer. Therefore, | am considered to be an expert by many. JR: If | had to pick one I’d have to pick basketball. It’s my favourite sport and the one | follow the closest. After that most likely football and golf. OTE: Overall, what can listeners expect when tuning in to your show? PH: A comprehensive look at the world of sports in this region and abroad, with nightly NBA game picks and weekly NFL Predictions. JR: Listeners of our show can expect a few things. First, we provide an open forum for all of our listeners to have the issues in sports that they want to hear discussed. We will give our listeners clean programming conducted as professionals to bring sporting news from the mainstream to sporting news going on locally in PG. OTE: With the upcoming basketball season could you provide some insight into UNBC’s Basketball teams? PH: As for the Men’s team, it will be interesting to see how Coach Jordan does in his first year. Plus, | think it was a BROCK CAMPBELL significant loss to have lost their starting center. | really think Dennis Stark is a player to watch out for. He provides so much energy to the team and his work ethic is inspirational. His rebounding and defensive presence should help the team get up court and get some fast break points. | don’t think the team would be the same without him. Robert Rodriguez has developed into one of my personal favourite players on the team. He always provides quality minutes and his competitiveness sets a precedent for the rest of the team. Of course, | have to mention Francis Rowe. He can shoot the lights out, hence his performance in that inter-squad game. If this team ever gets in a deficit he can bail them out. As for the Women’s team, they lost a big presence on and off the court with Soli Smith. Look for 1st year player Jennifer Knibbs to emerge in Soli’s role, as she is the youngest and most athletic player on the team. JR: The basketball teams are definitely going to be strong this year. Both teams lost very few players and still contain the solid core of players that made them successful last year. The Men’s team has huge expectations coming off of UNBC’s first ever national championship. They will be expected to play at that level again this season and | think that the extra year of maturity will allow some of the players to step their game up and win. Make sure to pay attention to our newest import from the states, Rob Rodriguez, as he is an exciting player to watch. But honestly, the entire team is full of highlight material. The Women’s team is still going to be very strong and definitely will be hoping to make up for last year’s disappointing provincials. Look for Christine Kennedy running the point in her final year, and hope that Kady Dandeneau can stay injury free. OTE: For Justin, whose name do you most enjoy announcing at the b-ball games? JR: For the women it’s a tie between Mercedes Vankoughnett and Jen Bruce. For the guys, probably Matt Mills and Sam Raphael. Justin and Puneet want to remind listeners to tune in to Sport Studio Wednesdays at 6pm for Prince George’s best sports talk show. Visit their facebook page UNBC’s Sport Studio or send them questions at sportstudio@cfur.ca and download podcasts of the show for free on itunes or cfur.ca.