From the Shore to the Studio: Keith McPherson's Rise in Sports Broadcasting

On our final episode of 2023, we welcome special guest Keith McPherson to Sky Llama Studios in Totowa, NJ. Keith, a Monmouth County native, takes us on a journey from his college football days at Monmouth University to his current role as late night host on WFAN Sports Radio in New York City. 

In this episode, Keith shares insights into his early experiences as a DJ and party promoter, emphasizing the power of perseverance despite facing challenges and job rejections. The conversation explores Keith's breakthrough with the MLB Fan Cave, a turning point that marked exposure and opportunities to connect with baseball players and celebrities.

The discussion then delves into Keith's transition from MTV to Fubo TV, Roc Nation, and finally becoming a digital marketing manager for Roc Nation Sports. Keith reflects on the sacrifices and challenges that shaped his career trajectory, showcasing the importance of gaining experience in various roles and adapting to the competitive fields of sports, media, and marketing.

The podcast unfolds Keith's journey to becoming a radio host on WFAN, highlighting the determination and self-belief that fueled his success. From his involvement in popular podcasts like "George's Box" and "Talking Nets" to landing a position on WFAN, Keith's story underscores the significance of networking, adaptation, and perseverance in the ever-evolving world of sports broadcasting.

Don't miss this episode full of compelling stories, sports insights, and the unwavering spirit of a Monmouth County native who conquered the competitive landscape of sports media. Tune in for a dose of inspiration, behind-the-scenes tales, and a deep dive into the world of sports with Keith McPherson.

Connect with Keith McPherson:

• Twitter/Instagram: @Keith_McPherson
• Listen on 101.9 WFAN weeknights from 7pm -12am and the Audacy app

Special Thanks:
A shoutout to SkyLlamas Studios in Totowa, NJ, for providing the perfect space for this engaging conversation. Explore their state-of-the-art facilities for your podcasting needs.
https://skyllamas.com/

Music: "Ride" by Jackson Pines
jacksonpines.com

Thank you to our sponsors:
New Jersey Lottery: njlottery.com

Helix NJ: helixnj.com

New Jersey Innovation Institute: njii.com

Make Cool Sh*t: makecoolshit.co

UCS Advisors: ucsgreatness.com

Albert & Whitney CPAs:  awcpasllc.com

Mayo Performing Arts Center: mayoarts.org/events-calendar

OMG Tarot: omgtarot.com

Contact the show: mike@greetingsfromthegardenstate.com

Transcript

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greatness hey

2:06

all right what's up everybody welcome back to another episode of greetings from the guarden state power by the New Jersey Lottery I'm your host Mike cam

2:11

we're here in tow New Jersey today at Sky Lama Studios thank you for them for the space this great setup with the

2:17

cameras the mics everything uh we got Keith mcferson very special guest here today from WFAN Keith welcome to the

2:23

show Mike thanks for having me Sky llamas this is awesome I love the space already I know it's brand new I look

2:29

forward to coming back and maybe renting some time let's have a good show today yeah for sure so uh normally my guests

2:38

are not like polished radio or podcast people just get like a lot of just very

2:43

average not that you know they're not special in their own way I'm above average exactly you are above average

2:48

when it comes to you know like a show so uh this is like it's almost kind of like Uncharted Territory for me uh in a

2:55

little bit but you know we'll be good so we're we met at uh the credential Center uh so you're like a big Devil's fan I

3:01

love that you came decked out in some Jersey stuff with the devil's headband and the shirt um so uh I want to like

3:08

learn a little bit about your jersey background because that's not something that I knew about you uh before we met at that tasting yeah so so you grew up

3:15

Mammoth County right so I grew up in Mammoth County uh born and raised born in Mammoth Medical Center graduated from

3:21

Mammoth University and uh you played football there right I played football at Mammoth University I originally took

3:28

my scholarship from James Madison University that's you know when I came out of Ocean Township High School I was

3:35

one of the top quarterbacks in the state I signed my letter of intent to play in Harrisonburg Virginia at James Madison

3:41

University at the time I was young and I wanted to get as far away as I could and that was the furthest scholarship offer

3:47

I had from home from New Jersey uh but then I was a fish out of water pretty quickly home sick wasn't really enjoying

3:55

it and uh I knew that Mammoth University was uh getting more scholarships and I

4:02

also knew that I needed to figure out what I wanted to do because playing two years of football down there um it's

4:09

funny college game day is going to Harrisonburg Virginia on

4:14

Saturday like the one of the first times that they've done that this is actually the the third time or fourth time but

4:21

it's rare to go there because they're a school that went from what used to be onea yeah FCS to FBS and they're still

4:29

fighting to be acknowledged as like a BigTime school um so when I went down there you know I I got a real good taste

4:36

of like high level football and I'm not the biggest guy not the fastest guy but

4:43

I knew then that I wasn't going to the NFL I'm like these guys that are here are you know bigger stronger faster than

4:49

me I got to figure it out and I went to school Undeclared so when I went to Mammoth or I transferred home to Mammoth

4:56

I I did get a scholarship to go play football at Mammoth but that that's when the gear started really turning to say

5:01

what do you want to do and Mammoth had and they still have uh the plan J

5:06

building for communication which has a FM radio station upstairs wmcx 88.9 FM

5:14

and then downstairs they have a real TV studio uh where we have Hawk TV and so I

5:20

knew right then and there I'm going to uh focus on communication radio and television and uh that's where I got my

5:27

degree I'm I'm I'm from the shore I'm born raised so uh because you like

5:32

you're on wfn right now which is the biggest New York sports station well I know it's the biggest New York sports

5:37

station it's the biggest sport it's since so it was the first 247 sports

5:42

station I mean I grew up listening to it you know we all kind of did I don't think you could avoid it or ignore it if

5:49

you were into sports in the area um I won't I won't say it's the biggest now

5:54

cuz I don't know the number I it's still the biggest it's New York yeah um it's Market 1 it's 247 it's been around since

6:01

1987 and uh yeah I I've found a way in the last couple years I'm coming up on

6:06

two years this month since my first show um I've had the nighttime slot since

6:13

November of 2021 and uh it's been great it's been a life-altering experience for sure yeah

6:19

so when you're so you're in college and you're deciding what you want to do and you we talked about how like it was almost impossible to avoid like Mike and

6:26

the Mad Dog and like all those other shows that that existed then and kind of like really changed kind of Sports Talk

6:31

Radio in a lot of ways um was that something that like you know before College you were kind of like oh this is

6:38

really cool like I wonder if this could be something that I kind of pursue or was it when you were at actually at school where you're like that's kind of

6:44

cool like I want to start chasing that a little bit so the first thing that I ever did on a microphone publicly um I

6:51

called the pop winner football games for Ocean Township I played pop witer football but when I was 16 years old I

6:58

was a High School quarterback and they needed someone to call the Junior peeee

7:03

peeeee and Football games on Sunday yeah they gave me 50 bucks to get on the loudspeaker at our high school

7:09

and say you know hey everybody Welcome to Carelli field um it's uh Ocean Township versus Mana Squan today and um

7:18

I remember a guy coming up to the top of the bleachers where I was in the booth and saying you you have a good voice and

7:25

I was so young I was so nervous and I was tripping over people's last names and most of the people were yelling up

7:31

like it's pronounced this or you said the name wrong but this guy came up and said you should major in communication

7:37

and I didn't know what that meant at 16 sure but I think we all kind of pretend

7:43

to be broadcasters if you're a sports fan you pretend to be a broadcaster at some point you pretend to call a game

7:50

with Mike and the Mad Dog I think we all have gotten into those debates with our friends over what players are better

7:55

what team is better and when I got to college is when it became real because I

8:01

could actually I I had a show 3 hours a day 5 days a week the summer of 200 and

8:07

11 where no one told me what to do similar to now now I have a show every night 3 hours sometimes 5 hours no one

8:15

tells me what to do it's my creativity my eye my mind of what I want it to

8:20

sound like be like and I mean back then I was a DJ as well so my show was always

8:26

like I would bring my mixer my turntables in DJ some music for 30 minutes then I would read the scores the

8:32

baseball scores the news topics give my takes and thoughts there and I was a solo guy I never really had anybody to

8:38

go back and forth with but yeah that's where it all really started yeah that's cool it's just so funny too because like

8:44

like I grew up like that's how I grew up listening to you know wfn and like that's like all me and my dad would listen to in the car driving back and

8:51

forth baseball games like all that kind of stuff and then I played baseball in college and I was a college baseball

8:57

coach for like five years after college and the last school that I worked at I was a grad assistant and every now and then they needed somebody to do like PA

9:03

for the basketball games so I'd be in there like for three and I was like this is so cool like it's fun it's awesome

9:10

yeah it's great um and then you know eventually kind of got into like the podcasting world but uh before we kind of get into like the career path I do

9:16

want to learn a little bit because we were talking off mic before we got started about you know growing up as like a Shore kid basically and kind of

9:23

spending time in like Asbury Park and like all those other places it's like what cuz like I'm a North Jersey guy

9:28

basically like my whole life like now for the last couple years doing this show I've obviously like expanded my

9:34

scope of like what all of Jersey has to offer uh but even like growing up I mean we would go to Kate May for vacations

9:40

and some other places down the shore um it take me through like like Mammoth County like growing up in that area uh

9:45

when you were kind of coming up before high school and stuff 07712 732 I went to Ocean High School I

9:52

lived in Ocean from I I think when we moved around I think it was four or five

9:58

years years old when we moved to Ocean Township and I'm blessed like I got to stay in the same town from kindergarten

10:06

all the way through 12th grade senior year I know a lot of people don't do that my wife she you know she moved

10:11

around a bunch of places different states different towns and uh growing up you know my mom just wanted us in a a

10:18

good school system and Ocean Township had has a good school system and for the most part it's a pretty safe

10:24

neighborhood and and town area obviously little things go on here and there with with kids being kids but you know now I

10:31

live in Hudson County I live in Jersey City because I work in New York City and you know the last few years I've lived

10:38

in Carteret Bon wehawken North Bergen

10:44

Jersey C so I got a good feel of North Jersey over the last let's say seven

10:49

years that I've been you know Chasing the Dream in New York City but man growing up in the Shore area I you don't

10:55

I didn't really appreciate it until I left I didn't really appreciate appre it until I where you know people ask where

11:01

are you from and I say the sure now I hated saying that for a while like when I went to Virginia because the first

11:07

thing they would say is oh do you know Paulie D yeah that was the same thing for me and it's like you know no I don't

11:12

know Paulie d i I used to never watch the Jersey Shore I've seen some episodes now but back then I never tuned into

11:18

that it's funny I end up working at MTV and running into like Snookie and jayw and those people but the Jersey Shore

11:24

was labeled like that show for so long and those people were from like Staten Island and North Jersey and other places

11:31

from Rhode Island it's like not even but the Jersey shoreman is such a nice place

11:36

to grow up to raise a family I I kind of dream now of uh owning a a home in the

11:42

in the Shore area Mammoth County uh I know everywhere around there Asbury Park Long Branch tinon Falls eaten town like

11:49

that's the area I pretty much grew up in and being about like a favorite spot now like cuz like you're living in Jersey

11:55

City fulltime now and like getting down the shore over the summer which I'm sure is with you know just kind of like schedules and all that kind of stuff but

12:01

Long Branch Pier Village and then of course Asbury Park and you know we were talking off off air about like you know

12:08

how Asbury evolved yeah you know when I was a kid about 8 years old um in the

12:14

mid90s late 90s I used to go with my brother on Saturday morning to get our haircut on cook manav there was an all

12:21

black barber shop on cook manav Asbury was run down desolate

12:26

abandoned uh I think it was only I told you the black community still there and the gay community still there in the

12:33

'90s and obviously there was a lot of like crime and Corruption and some things that went on with the mayor and

12:38

the police department and they changed all of that they cleaned all that up and the place has evolved now it's a real

12:45

attraction it's a city by the Sea and I'm I'm proud to see it I I love to go back because my mind's eye has what it

12:52

used to be when nobody used to be on those beaches uh when nobody used to be in restaurants on hookman a and now it's

13:00

like really nice it's you sometimes have a hard time getting on the beach or like getting a a reservation crd it's

13:06

expensive they've built up brand new apartments we were talking about the asbery Ocean Club that's like a Miami

13:12

Hotel dropped in Asbury Park that I would have never imagined I remember going to see Testo play at the uh

13:20

theater um in like 2009 2010 and that

13:26

was huge that testa would even come and and play there but now it's like you

13:31

know they have the city by the Sea um SE here now Festival Stone ponies summer

13:37

stage like it's a it's a attraction for people from all over every summer and all year round now yeah no absolutely I

13:44

did my so I've been to this uh the pony a couple times in the past but like this summer was the first time that I did a

13:49

summer stage show yeah crazy like such a cool experience and just you know I know they had were you on the stage no no no

13:56

like when you look out from that stage and see all the people then see the boardwalk and then the sand and the

14:02

water it's a movie yeah it's really it's the whole thing is really incredible and I love kind of uh how it's still kept

14:09

kind of like the coolness factor that it has of like you know having place like a historic place with like all like the

14:15

old architecture and all that kind of stuff there's a lot of we've had on the show a bunch of uh musicians that live down there that are like super talented

14:22

they just Indie musicians that play like the Wonder Bar and like all these other spots down there um but still it's kind

14:28

of like taking a lot of steps into like present day you know what I mean it's

14:34

ionic putting it all together it's always going to be attached to Bruce Springsteen I did a show that there was

14:40

no music involved I hosted uh Paul O'Neal and we just did a Q&A with Paul

14:45

O'Neal at The Stone Pony and like 200 people showed up and people just wanted to see the The Stone Pony for the first

14:52

time yeah even Paul O'Neal that was his first time coming down there and for me I'm just like this is nuts man I grew up

14:58

around here yeah and now I'm on stage at the pony hosting a you know a Yankee

15:04

Legend down the shore yeah as and that's well I do want to get more into the uh

15:10

into your career too so like you finished up at Mammoth and then now you're ready to kind of start getting

15:16

like the first couple jobs as a as a Communications major um so like what were some of the first couple jobs that

15:22

you were getting oh nothing it was quiet for me it sucked yeah I struck out a lot

15:28

uh but you learn that like you're going to strike out if you don't have connections if you don't have family if

15:34

you don't have someone to put your resume on top uh your resume may never be seen I've sent hundreds of cover

15:40

letters and resumés that never were seen or responded to so what I think I

15:45

mentioned I was a DJ that was the only thing that kept me alive kept me afloat so I djed U my house when I played

15:52

football I had a basement in my house I was I was a DJ of the football house and I was also that that year the only won

15:58

21 so I was able to go get two three kegs and set up my my DJ equipment and

16:06

uh yeah there would be about 100 to 150 people showing up to my my house um

16:12

which was as far away from campus as I could get it I lived in Allenhurst right before you get to deal Lake into Asbury

16:20

which was like more than a mile away from campus on purpose because the shenanigans that we had going on but

16:26

then that got me into the bar scene um in Long Branch West End bright and a uh

16:32

we used to have a bar called Draft House Jax is still there there was a bar called Stingers there um I even got into

16:40

a place uh in eaten toown and did like an 18 and overnight where I I turned

16:45

into like a football player party promoter DJ uh while I was in school and

16:51

once I graduated that still existed so people didn't know like you know oh Keith is um not going to class I'm still

16:59

like I'm still like a student DJ so when I graduated I'm applying all these jobs I'm trying to do things and uh I'm

17:05

striking out I remember the one gig that I thought I was going to get was a 92.3 NOW which is it's funny cuz I work

17:12

in the same building I I um I interviewed for a street team position

17:18

and was sure that I was getting it I came back and told everybody like this is my big like I I was in there man I

17:23

had my suit on and you know they love me and this is this is how I'm getting in it was 92.3 now which turned into like

17:30

92.3 amp and now 1010 WINS radio is on 92.3 Now um but yeah long story short I

17:37

didn't get that gig but the DJing kept me alive mcing in bars and clubs doing

17:43

uh private parties uh even rocking the strip club Centerfolds on um the Asbury

17:48

Circle I was in there uh a good amount of times making Straight Cash that was

17:54

my job until about 2 years after I graduated I got a job at Guitar Center

18:00

the first Guitar Center that they opened in Ocean Township and um that was Guitar

18:05

Center 829 I know we were talking about the one right here in towa I used to be on the phone checking towa's inventory

18:11

like hey do you have this Pioneer CDJ I'm trying to make a sale and um I

18:17

worked there for not even a year and then I got my actual Big Break which was the MLB Fan Cave yeah so um while you're

18:25

doing this stuff and like you know the 923 and like all other things that you're doing obviously like right now

18:31

you talk about sports so like as you're doing this kind of after your uh playing careers over are you like doing other

18:38

stuff maybe not in I don't mean to see like in sports but uh trying to like

18:44

maintain that connection or just like being a sports fan at that point I'm in the bar watching sports talking to complete strangers I'm going to any

18:50

games I can get a free ticket or a $10 ticket for back then the internet was

18:56

not what what we have now like you know there was a little bit of Twitter

19:02

talking about sports posting about sports on your personal Instagram but

19:07

the you know now like I always tell these young kids I'm like there's no Gatekeepers you can start your own show on Tik Tok you can make your own YouTube

19:14

channel like I wasn't doing all of that back then I was really just you know into the music DJ party promoter bars

19:22

clubs private events strip club but everybody knew me as a football player

19:29

and I just always had Sports Knowledge from watching I my my wife it's funny

19:34

cuz I told my wife my wife and I met in college you know I used to wake up and watch 6 a.m. Sports Center and it was

19:40

appointment television for me to watch the 6 p.m. Sports Center she's like why are you always watching sports center

19:46

she's like you watch it on Loop you've watched the same Sports Center over and over again I'm like one day this

19:52

knowledge is going to pay off I'm like one day all of this that I'm soaking in about these different players and

19:57

coaches and teams and leagues I'm like it's going to it's going to come back and and it has but in the beginning like

20:04

getting out of college I I got no love like I could not get a job I could not I got one interview at 9.2.3 got ghosted

20:11

there yeah um tell tell me about the MLB Fan Cave job so that was more of an

20:17

audition okay thank God I went to JMU like I mentioned uh this girl Victoria

20:23

Rich shout out to Victoria we're still friends she went to JMU with me and stayed in touch on Facebook and when I

20:30

went to Mom the university anyone that went to Mom the university saw me with a blue Yankee cap on over my face all day

20:36

every day I did presentations in front of the class with the Yankee fitted on it was just it was part of my my look I

20:42

remember I used to say I'm a cartoon character I wear Yankee hat white tea blue jeans and Converse every day yeah

20:48

not really trying to impress anybody just being my regular self so she would see me in in these pictures on Facebook

20:54

and she's like you always wear a Yankee hat are you a big Yankee fan I'm like of course I like almost used to get

20:59

insulted when people would be like you a Yankee fan or you just wearing the Hat yeah I'm like what do you want to talk about the rotation the bullpen the

21:05

lineup like the mining system yeah like I this isn't for style you see how dirty

21:11

this hat is like I get a new hat on opening day I wear that till the season end so she pitched to me the MLB Fan

21:17

Cave because she was working in casting for MTV okay uh The Fan Cave had been going for three years and the fourth

21:23

year they said that they wanted to have a TV show and they were looking for

21:29

uh you know MTV to cast the right people that could like be sports fans Baseball fans specifically but also play well on

21:36

TV and she pitched this to me and I had no idea she's like you need to send a two-minute video talking about yourself

21:42

who you are what you do and submit it to us we'll get it in front of Major League Baseball I did that she got back to me

21:48

right away and she's like they like you you're definitely in the running like hang tight that was in November of 2013

21:56

I'm working at Guitar Center I'm not really thinking too much of it fast forward to

22:01

January I'm in the running I'm in the like 18 people February they fly us out

22:07

to Arizona for spring training it's a casting call audition and there's 18 different fans from different cities

22:14

some double like there was a girl from New York that was a Yankee fan but she didn't stand a chance against me speaking of like rotation B she she

22:21

didn't know which pctures were in our rotation or in our Bullpen at the time I couldn't I stopped talking to her like

22:28

yeah you can't yeah cuz then she's gonna start picking up stuff from you what are we talking about and exactly why am I giving you game we're auditioning

22:33

technically we're competing and you don't know the difference between a reliever and a starter but yeah I I went out and crushed the um audition and got

22:42

into the MLB Fan Cave which was like a a real world style thing yeah uh eight

22:48

fans from around the country are chosen to watch 2,430 regular season major league

22:54

baseball games from the MLB Fan Cave live in New York City it was like a fishbowl like floor to ceiling Windows

23:02

people watching us all day we're in there watching Baseball playing pingpong drinking beers um playing Fantasy

23:08

Baseball making content and and that will always be where I like consider that my my big break yeah for sure

23:15

that's that's must be such like a for the entire season doing something like that that's got to be like such a crazy

23:21

experience for sure I would never do it again but it was a sacrifice I gave up a

23:26

young summer of my life where those were 14-hour days you're in there from first

23:31

pitch to last out and you can't leave like I don't order GrubHub anymore

23:36

because I ordered all my meals off of GrubHub in there like every like like even a snack like I need a snack thank

23:43

God for I mean that was like that was early on in the grub that was when GrubHub like first started um I don't

23:48

even think it was it was like seamless it was called seamless and then turn in GrubHub but yeah uh you know first pitch

23:55

could be at 10:5 first pitch could be at 1235 you got to be in that fan cave ready to

24:00

go um to watch the game and we used to play games in there like Home Run Derby we called it we pick a player every day

24:07

that we thought was home going to Homer and tally up our homers at the end of the week and we did interviews with

24:12

players gave tours uh shot a lot of content for mlb.com The Fan Cave had

24:18

their own handles yeah it was it was crazy it was a wild experience um it was it was like a social experiment we were

24:25

actually the last class of it um Bud cigs last year as commissioner okay I

24:30

think Rob Manfred came in looked at the books said you guys are paying these kids $6,000 to sit there and watch

24:37

baseball all day $6,000 a month um $6,000 would not have been fair for the

24:44

whole thing uh but no they actually took care of us I had an apartment in SoHo I just went by with my wife this past

24:50

weekend 90 Thompson Street uh apartment D5 they put us up in in a nice apartment

24:57

uh I got to meet a a lot of baseball players celebrities and that was the first thing I actually put on my resume

25:03

right it was like Mammoth University Guitar Center boom MLB Fan Cave yeah and

25:08

then from there like what we were talking about before like obviously that's like a big like who you know almost type of thing cuz like having

25:14

that relationship so kind of at least greases the wheels a little bit for kind of like hey put this uh intro video in

25:20

like an audition video um but then from there are you like okay this is like

25:26

being like a personality like honest personality type of thing like this is what we're going to chase I remember

25:31

being in there and uh I met Mark malusis okay who was at the fan the moose and Joe Cy who was on CBS

25:38

radio and they gave out WF keychains and I took that keychain and I put that

25:45

keychain on my key it's still on my key it's been on there for nine years and I remember just being you know when you're

25:51

young and you're trying to shoot your shot like I'll do anything I'll intern like I I I'll bring you coffee like you

25:56

know and moose was kind of just like like nice nice to meet you kid like good luck with everything even Joe Cy like

26:01

yeah send me your resume but like you know I wasn't thinking that I could be a radio host on the radio I was dreaming

26:08

it but I wasn't thinking it was a path um I just was hoping to get any opportunity and the opportunity that

26:15

came was through MTV because MTV 2 did a show called off the bat it was Tuesdays

26:22

they would come to the fan cave and they would film the hosts were sway Melanie glaciate

26:28

Christ stano and Fat Joe wow and every week a different baseball player would come in like David Ortiz came in that

26:35

was a biggest one uh CC Sabathia uh Joey bats um Adam Jones uh

26:42

there was a Dexter fower there was a bunch of baseball players that came through David Robertson was one of my favorite guys because he came to visit

26:49

me a couple times when it wasn't TV related but that show went on and uh I

26:54

actually got sent home from The Fan Cave um early I got sent home October 7th just

27:00

because we had like a a wine party we were all partying and drinking and a little bit of a argument happened

27:06

between like I don't know some stupid guy that was in there like disrespecting the cave dwellers like he got drunk and

27:11

was like making fun of us for some reason like what do you guys do here and I like stood up to him like bro shut the

27:16

shut up like like you're a grown man like making fun of kids and I guess someone didn't like that and they're you

27:22

know I actually was standing up for my guy Dan shout out to Dan if Dan sees this cuz Dan now works at Major League

27:28

Baseball since then oh yeah he went on to do just fine and I was taking up for him and they you know they sent us home

27:34

but we realized uh this was the key thing every year before it was like Survivor style in The Fan Cave they sent

27:41

someone home every month or so okay they didn't do that with our group they kept our group together for TV and and

27:46

internet purposes but then when it got to October uh the Yankee season was was

27:51

over anyway uh we were kind of just hanging around waiting for the postseason to end and they sent us two

27:57

home Dan is from masaa so all they had to do was get him in a car service I'm from Mammoth County all they had to do

28:03

was get me in a car service send us home yeah and then they only had uh I think like four people left in the fan cave to

28:10

send to the uh World Series which happened to be in Kansas City and San

28:15

Francisco They you know took care of their flights and and all of that but um I went home from October to March

28:22

applying to jobs for about 5 months and the only job that you know got was mtv2

28:29

because a lady named Britney Travis remembered seeing me in the fan cave identified that on my resume that one

28:35

little thing on my resume brought me in for a social media coordinator position at mtv2 and I was probably a week away

28:43

from taking a job at Home Depot in Neptune sure um literally was like going to because I couldn't go another month I

28:50

I think I had ran ran out of the money that I saved from the fan cave was living with my mom and Home Depot was

28:56

walking distance from my mom mom's house if if she did not come come come calling in the beginning of March for me to

29:02

interview and and get that job I would have worked at Home Depot for sure

29:07

yeah the male Performing Art Center is the heart of arts and entertainment in Morristown New Jersey empac presents

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Unforgettable to learn more visit OMG tarot.com hey folks I want to tell you

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about the crew over at make cool these are The Magicians who recently gave our podcast a jaw-dropping makeover

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ideas into mind-blowing realities then it's time to connect with make cool can check them out on Instagram at weake

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coolshit or visit their website we makecool shit.com remember that's Co not com so you get the MTV uh 2 job and

30:31

you're working there and you know kind of doing your thing as like a social media uh coordinator you said So like um

30:37

while you're there like obviously like you're I would imagine you're still trying to like Chase like an onair thing

30:43

or is it uh like at what point do you kind of have like that first break where it's like now I'm like a radio host

30:49

because I feel like a lot of the stuff that you've been doing like while you're making content and doing stuff like that and I you know I don't do a five hour

30:55

show we do like 45 minutes or something but I would imagine like that's like a whole other level of kind of like you

31:00

know uh organization coordination and kind of logistically prep all that kind of stuff so you know uh the journey and

31:09

the path to things it's you I just was posting this thing about um you know how God has

31:16

plans for us and we all have this dream of a destination but if God shows you

31:21

the plan right and shows you what you're going to have to do and go through to get to that destination you might say

31:26

forget that destination forget that dream yeah it was always my dream it was always my destination cuz I went to school for it I'm a sports fan I I knew

31:34

that I wasn't going to make it pro in sports but I can make it pro talking about sports so when I got the job at

31:41

MTV I remember the biggest things for me were that it was a New York City job I

31:46

wanted to go back to New York I contemplated getting an apartment in New York out of the fan cave and not going

31:52

home but I knew that was going to burn the like $112,000 I had saved real quick yeah super fast um so it was a New York

31:59

job where I literally had to commute two hours to every day like that was a sacrifice that was tough from exit 109

32:05

taking the bus from Red Bank to Port Authority every day so it was a New York job but then also I love the Yankees and

32:13

living down the shore that's a long trip to Yankee Stadium uh I knew working at MTV I was cutting that trip more in half

32:20

where I could get on the train in 30 40 minutes from MTV and be at the stadium yeah so um I took that job and I'm I'm

32:27

still kind of now that I have the fan cave image right now that I have some followers from being in the fan cave and

32:34

and being on what wasn't even called Yankees Twitter yet I'm still keeping up with like you know breaking news and

32:41

things about the Yankees giving my takes online doing little Snapchat videos or Instagram stuff um but I'm I'm also

32:49

behind the scenes at MTV too as a social media coordinator learning how to edit videos learning how they go about

32:56

attacking uh you know scheduling and gaming the algorithm and the

33:01

system uh two and a half years goes by there and now I had experience I

33:07

remember applying to jobs and it was always like you needed three to five years of experience and I'm like how am I going to get three to five yeah for

33:13

like an entry level job like I don't have like you don't get out of college with that experience like like I'm disqualified right off the rip because I

33:20

was young but once I had the fan cave with MTV now I have over three years of

33:25

experience that two pred good spots at at two pretty like Marquee spots on my

33:31

resume and I just quit MTV I remember I quit they just kind of like disrespected

33:37

me they put somebody they put somebody in over me as my manager um they

33:43

upgraded me to social media manager from coordinator but they like gave me a boss that was younger than me from like a

33:50

different department that I was like this girl doesn't know our processes she doesn't know what I do every day like

33:55

now I got to answer to her I'm like I'm I'm not feeling this I'm out and my true north was always Sports yeah so when I

34:01

quit I drove lift Uber for about a month month and a half and I had a routine of

34:07

like getting up and driving the morning commute taking people to school taking people to work taking people to the

34:12

train and then I would come home shoot off emails apply to jobs and then you

34:17

know eat lunch and then get back in the car to pick people up from school from work whatever and come home and do that

34:24

again and go to sleep unemployed right um Here Comes fubo TV which now is so much

34:30

bigger than it was when they got in touch with me but they had their startup they had their first big office in New

34:36

York City and they were looking for a social media manager that new sports specifically American Sports because

34:44

fubo the base word from football football soccer their platform came to

34:50

America to stream European soccer to Americans interesting Champions League bundes Lia um all types of um you know

34:58

European soccer so when they interviewed me they had told me they had interviewed like seven people and I know how I won

35:05

the interview is because I was such a social media guy I went and comb through all their social media and I had a list of things that they did wrong um players

35:12

names that they put wrong stats that they had wrong information that they had wrong and I'm like who is doing this and

35:17

they told me that they had two remote guys from Romania running

35:23

there5 vas yeah might have been doing it for have a free seriously rvon and EV ju

35:30

shout out to those guys they ended up working for me so I I get that job in

35:35

August of 2018 after working at MTV 2015 16 17 um I get that job August of 2017

35:46

and I work there until the summer of 2018 and I'm their first social media manager I'm working with their marketing

35:52

team now I'm learning more marketing stuff yeah um and now I'm really working

35:57

in sports and I help build their brand with my sports knowledge because I'm behind their brand every day tweeting about sports I'm putting out uh prizes

36:05

I'm putting out contests um so people could win prizes I'm really like getting up I'm going to all of the spots like

36:12

ESPN Bleacher Report uh bar stool and I'm commenting and I'm kind of gaming the system to make fubo pop up there and

36:18

people are like right I'll take a 7-Day free trial and they put their credit card in and now they they're fubo

36:24

customers um I do that for not even a year some August to like June and Rock

36:31

Nation comes calling and a girl messages me on LinkedIn saying Rock Nation is looking for a digital marketing manager

36:38

I'm a DJ I'm a music guy yeah I love Jay-Z I love hip hop I'm a former

36:44

football player I'm a sports guy they want me to work for Rock Nation sports agency so I leave fubo and I take that

36:52

job it was a higher paying job higher profile job and I only worked there for

36:57

three months just wasn't wasn't for me at all the culture wasn't for me at all no knock to them because I thought I had

37:04

made it I I'm like this is the dream there's no better place in New York to work yeah but the culture was very much

37:10

like Old School record label culture hustle and bustle you're at the bottom of the totem pole you do everything

37:15

that's asked to you you work your way up and they also had an LA office the biggest thing I used to hate was that

37:20

like social media they don't turn off so uh there's a three-hour difference between here and LA

37:27

and I might be getting calls to do something for social media for somebody like Todd Gurley who's playing for the

37:33

LA Rams and it's 2: a.m. yeah I'm like I I don't I can't do this so I ended up

37:39

having some back and forth with them and they kind of gave me an ultimatum and I showed up after like the 4th of July and

37:46

I was like I'm out and that is what pushed me into okay you're unemployed

37:51

again the lift Uber thing I didn't do again then I ended up picking it up a little a little bit but then I like

37:57

collected unemployment but that's when I said I'm buying a camera I went and bought like a Canon little PowerShot g7x

38:03

to Vlog I bought a new Macbook now from doing social media I learned how to edit

38:09

videos I learned a lot about marketing I learned about how to schedule I learned about how to like so now I just had to

38:14

tap back into what I did in school being on a microphone and camera right and piece it all together yeah you know I

38:19

think it's like so interesting about kind of like what you're talking about and your your path because like like I listen to the fan every day m like

38:27

literally from and I drive all over the state almost every day and so I'm literally listening to like Boomer and

38:33

Geo in the morning all the way through you in the evenings so it's like when I see stuff that's like uh like whether

38:39

it's WF that's posting it or like the individual show accounts and stuff like that what I think is super interesting about kind of your story is the other

38:46

shows it's kind of just like here's the WF kind of clip from today of you know

38:52

Gio yelling about Carl Banks or something you know so but then it's like good ref good see I'm I'm listening uh

38:59

but then like with a lot of your stuff just like following your own account like you're doing a lot of that stuff in studio on your own for your like your

39:05

own purposes which I think is like really interesting and like really cool and kind of shows like almost like a different approach almost to kind of the

39:12

kind of pull the way that it's been done yeah it's a little under the hood you know like you see what actually goes into like you know coming back other

39:20

host but but that's because I'm true to myself I've always done that I've always shown people right like I've always just

39:27

picked up the phone wherever I was that's the vlogging aspect of it that's just the like you know what are people

39:33

following you for they want to see that type of stuff everybody can listen to the radio everybody can turn you know on

39:40

the Odyssey app but like you have to specifically be following me to see like we're in here when this is done I'm

39:45

going to show people what this looks like I'm going to tag you I'm going to you know cuz I just know to to to do all

39:51

that from my experience being the guy uh behind the scenes for Charlamagne show

39:56

or Nick Cannon show where I'm filming them and they're telling me hey get this make sure you're showing people like I

40:02

just kind of you know picked up so many things along the way uh where I've become like a One-Stop shop and I I just

40:08

know what to do yeah so uh I want to just skip ahead a little bit because I

40:14

think we're close to it getting the WF uh WFAN job uh like how did that happen

40:20

and then was that kind of like your first like I mean it's a 5 hour show normally is that like kind of your first

40:26

foray into like being a radio host or did you do something like right before that podcast podcast so um 2018 happens

40:35

and I mean that summer man I the the greatest battle is Man versus himself

40:41

you are going to look in the mirror some days and say you're not good enough you suck you're you're going to lose you're

40:48

you're you're you're failing yeah you made a mistake you should have stayed at that job you shouldn't have done like

40:54

you know I had a lot of those days but then I had other days where I was like man F that I'm going to win like I like

41:01

I I can't lose I'm going to leave no stone unturned I'm going to do everything grind like figure everything

41:07

out and I did I took a lot of freelance opportunities doing photography editing videos for other people helping other

41:13

people out doing promo for other people for free just to like sharpen my sword so that summer of

41:19

2018 um and shout out to my wife cuz I wouldn't have made it without my wife believing in me and she believed in

41:25

me from being in in class with me at mom of the University yeah like this guy's talented I'm sitting here watching like

41:31

you know she always talks about how she's like you always got better grades than me in any radio television stuff

41:37

and she's like all those professors liked you I guess they knew I'm like yeah guess they saw something they had a little bit of an inkling but yeah shout

41:42

out to my wife because like you know imagine your significant other comes home is like I don't have a job anymore I'm collecting unemployment I'm driving

41:49

lift Uber I haven't worked at a restaurant for a very little bit of time two months because I was loading man and

41:56

I knew that I could not I just knew that I could not um take a full-time job 40

42:03

hours a week in an office which required really like 50 60 hours with the commute and everything else even stuff you do at

42:09

home because I'm like I'm building I'm building my own personal brand yeah right now that I'm out here uh 2018 that

42:16

summer I went to as many Yankee games as I could get to whether I had a free ticket a $5 ticket because I knew I have

42:23

Yankee fans from 2014 me the last four years that want to see Yankee Stadium

42:29

want to see how we party in billies want to see what the bodega is like want to see what the Dugout is like want to see

42:35

what the bleacher creatures are like and want to see what Legends is like and I I can show you that if you live in Kansas

42:41

and you're following me you can see what the Bronx is like on game day you can be watching live as um you know Aaron judge

42:48

hits a home run and I got it all on camera and like um that led me into and

42:55

I was doing some of that with with a group called Bronx Pinstripes I actually invited them to the fan cave in 2014 and

43:01

I stayed in touch with them so they saw me building and they're like hey do some digital stuff for us I would take over

43:07

their Snapchat I would take over their Instagram they had a bigger following than me but help build my brand yeah

43:12

2019 comes and they have a podcast that they've been doing since the 2017 season where the Yankees got to game seven of

43:19

the ALCS and they're saying you know we've got a lot of listeners we want to Branch off and build another pod that's

43:24

like a a sister pod a brother pod or a counter pod to us and they pair me with

43:30

um JJ from bar stool who had success with bar stool but left bar stool and then rebranded himself as JJ from the

43:37

Bronx but he had a bunch of Twitter followers in the Yankee Universe as well they put us together we do a podcast

43:43

called George's box um it was basically ripping off of Susan waldman's goodness

43:49

gracious Roger Clemens Roger Clemens is in George's box so that name of the podcast got

43:57

people's attention and it was just real like Yankee fans talking about their perspective and real life stuff and it

44:04

blew up fast and um I didn't get paid a dollar for that uh but they made money

44:10

off of the ads and some other things and the brand I I made videos and help build the brand accounts and I realized at the

44:16

end of the season that was the 2019 season uh I wasn't really I didn't really have a seat at the table with the

44:23

business and the things that were happening so I just realized that I needed to walk

44:28

away and keep focusing on Keith mcferson brand and I was a fan of everybody else

44:35

doing Yankee podcast and I was listening to talking Yanks every day John Boy and

44:40

Jake John Boy was doing talking Yanks John booy I remember watching John Boy come up when he was out west and his his

44:47

Twitter Avatar used to just be a picture and it was the picture from Snapchat where we used to be able to make our own Snapchat like emojis or something like

44:55

that so I end up linking with johnboy at the stadium we exchange numbers and then

45:00

the winter comes and I'm still unemployed but I had worked at this barbecue restaurant for two months I I

45:07

sold some of my old Jordans some of my old Yankee memorabilia just to like stay

45:12

alive and be able to keep play paying my bills and my rent but John booy lets me know hey man we're like we're getting

45:17

funding like we're actually building a company yeah and I just saw your resume

45:23

you're saying you're looking for a job you've done social media work video editing social media managing like we

45:28

could use a guy and you already have a name in the Yankee space you're right here we can hire you as like an intern

45:35

right now as we go through our first round of funding $15 an hour I'll take it and then they launched an office in

45:41

the Bronx and I started doing a another podcast with the Yankee about the

45:46

Yankees called pinstripe strong I did that with Joe McFly who was under John Boy still is shout out to Joe's shout

45:52

out to pinstrip strong pinstrip strong Army um that podcast grew and then John boy says

46:00

Okay Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are in New York now we need a vertical for the Brooklyn Nets and Brooklyn Nets fans

46:07

I'm from New Jersey I'm a Nets fan yeah I'm like I guess that's me and I build

46:12

talking Nets out to the point where Kevin Durant follows it and the Yes Network now gets a low to me the yes

46:19

network runs two Yankee commercials with me called fandom acts of kindness and then they do a special on me about

46:25

talking Nets so now I'm starting to buzz now I'm starting to build now I'm starting to be on TV I'm starting to be

46:31

seen I don't have a full-time job sure yet but I have like the johnboy media money and then you know 2020 hits and

46:39

johnboy does bring me on fulltime and then we fall into the pandemic and at

46:45

the time I'm like what are we going to do there's no sports like yeah we're doing sports podcast but in a weird way

46:50

we had a captive audience where like we we all grew and built because everybody

46:55

is at home everybody's listening to podcast watching YouTube on their phones and I kept building and growing through

47:01

2020 when they put us back outside in 2021 now I'm back doing what I was doing

47:07

with the Vlogs I'm at the stadium like now I'm outside people can walk up yo Keith can I get a selfie like people can

47:12

see me again yeah John Boy and Jake get an opportunity to take over moose and

47:18

Maggie on WFAN okay cuz moose and Maggie were fans of them yeah they take over

47:23

the midday and it sounds like episode of talking Yanks it sounds like John Boy and Jake radio it sounds like and I'm

47:29

working for them I'm working with them I'm proud of them I'm happy for them and I remember posting I'm like I'm a radio

47:35

TV major I love this stuff I'm like the fact that we made it from social media Yankees Twitter Youtube podcast to WF

47:43

New York radio this is amazing they they're one and done that was August 6th of 2021 they're one and

47:50

done with that they don't do that again a week goes by and Spike esin the new program man manager at WF I guess he

47:58

looked through the catalog of johnboy media talent and he saw me who did a

48:03

Nets podcast the Nets games air on WFAN yeah and I also have two Yankee podcasts

48:08

under my belt the Yankees air on WFAN and then he looks on my LinkedIn and I have a radio television degree he

48:15

reaches out and says would you like to audition would you like a chance to be on WFAN I'm like hell yeah like like

48:23

this is this is for Real yeah who is this again you know and I went and checked his credentials and everything

48:28

I'm like okay and like his dad Howard esin is huge in Philadelphia like started WIP and and that down there I'm

48:34

like this is legit I'm like wow this is actually happened I didn't tell a soul right and can't touch the money just yet

48:40

nope I I learned that because I talked about 92.3 Now I went on that interview came home telling everybody yeah I'm

48:46

going to be working at the radio station in the city didn't get it and you know that was a terrible feeling so I learned not to touch the money and then one day

48:53

I wake up to tweet Boomer and Gio are talking about how you

48:59

know auditions are going on things are happening here new program director we're trying to bring some new blood in the WFAN and they're like someone named

49:06

Keith mcferson is on next Wednesday night they're like Keith mcferson who the hell is that the joke was like oh

49:12

that's probably one of those guys that sleeps in the chase vestibule downstairs and there's literally like

49:19

next to wfn I go into that chase all the time they have Security in there now because there's homeless people that

49:25

sleep out that used to sneak into the ATM and and like act like they were using ATM and sleep in there for the

49:30

warmth overnight so they they liken me to one of those guys sure yeah but Yankees Twitter who's had my back they

49:37

start chirping off at Keith mcferson I'm sleeping yo Keith is this true yo Keith

49:43

are you going to be on wfn next week Boomer and goo just said your name on The Morning Show so I'm like cats out of

49:49

the bag next Wednesday night let's do it yeah and the rest is history I Crush my audition and uh I I'll fill in some I'll

49:55

let you ask questions yeah so like what I think is like it's just so cool to kind of see like this whole path and

50:02

honestly like you know my story especially like the last couple months is like honestly very similar in a lot

50:07

of ways just with like like unemployment and like getting laid off and like then kind of chasing like the brand thing and

50:13

building different things so I think it's just like all super interesting to kind of see like where you work and kind of the path to this CU like I feel like

50:20

a lot of people like when they if they're like uneducated about like the industry or maybe just your personal backgr they're like oh he must have been

50:27

cuz like a lot of the guys on the fan right now I know we're like working in different markets and kind of like work their way

50:32

radioed or worked in that building for 10 years and worked their way up to get to the mic yeah and it's just so

50:37

interesting kind of see like how your path is just so unique compared to like everybody else which I think is you know

50:43

I'm different than anybody in there it's good and sometimes it's not not great sure like when I came in I felt like

50:48

there was a little bit of animosity because I jumped the line yeah but you

50:54

know I'm I'm a good guy and I think the guys inside there learn that I'm a good guy I'm a team guy I'm a hard worker I

51:01

carry the banner for WF and I earned it too I just earned it outside the building I've been working for a long

51:07

time to get to where I am I just didn't do it by going to get Mike Francesa Diet Coke sure yeah exactly um so uh you get

51:16

the job you're doing the show what I also think is really interesting about your show is that um like obviously

51:22

there's like the stuff that everyone at the at the station needss to talk about Jets Giants you know Mets Yankees like

51:28

all that kind of stuff um but like you're like the only one that talks about the Devils or like talks about the

51:33

WNBA which I think is like really interesting so how are you like like because obviously you need to balance it almost with like stuff you know is going

51:39

to like work in that market but then also like you know talk about stuff that people are maybe like a little bit less

51:46

educated about I I want my show to be different yeah and I also want to share the light and I know that with a 5H hour

51:55

show I can't talk about Zack Wilson for five hours I can't talk about Aaron Rogers I

52:00

could we do that every day but I want to be able to break through I want somebody to turn on the radio and be like he's

52:06

talking about Sabrina yonescu and the New York Liberty well yeah because all day we talk about who's going to end the

52:12

drought in New York what team's going to bring us a championship it's been too long since we have a parade well the

52:17

Liberty are in the finals if you didn't notice even I mentioned Gotham FC the other night I'm like they just won the

52:22

National Women's Soccer League Championship while you were not paying attention at all they count as champions

52:28

from New York these women live here work here like they they rep New York city so with the Devils man the devil's story

52:35

was awesome because um I wasn't a hockey fan and I was when I was young but when

52:40

I was young I was like a let's play uh roller hockey outside collect the trading cards play NHL 9697 on Super

52:49

Nintendo like I liked hockey but like I was a Rangers Fan and Devils fan when as

52:55

a kid because you're allowed to do that and because they won Stanley Cups right next to each other yeah so like I had

53:00

Devil's Gear I had Rangers gear and I didn't have a hard like affiliation or or fandom or loyalty but I feel like I

53:08

forget and I always like I got to go back and look at the history I think the NHL locked out for a brief amount of time while I was a kid yeah in the '90s

53:15

at some point yeah in the '90s at some point they locked out and I didn't understand it yeah and I just remember

53:20

being like disappointed and mad when I'm like I don't I don't like hockey anymore and at the

53:27

time here comes Michael Jordan like Mike I like to be like so I

53:32

got like infatuated with Michael Jordan and the Bulls and then really got into the NBA and I always say on air it's

53:38

hard to be an NBA fan and NHL fan as a die hard because they overlap the season

53:43

overlap the games overlap it's hard to follow both but when I got to WFAN I'll always remember shout out to this old

53:49

lady that wrote on like Reddit or Facebook like people were hating on me as soon as it got announced who's this

53:55

guy guy a podcaster especially taking over for Steve Summers who shout out to Steve Summers Legend icon gracefully

54:02

like bowed out retired and has been nothing but kind and helpful to me and

54:08

said no put him in this spot I will retire we need to get younger but I saw

54:13

this lady write a comment and you know I came in I was telling everybody the same story I told you about how I made it

54:18

here and I said you know I'm a I'm a Brooklyn Nets fan I'm a Yankees fan I'm

54:24

a Cowboys fan but that's not going to dominate my show my fanom is not going to dominate my show I'm not a hockey fan

54:30

but I'm not opposed to it I'm not like I'm not opposed now to like watching and learning and being able to speak about

54:36

hockey on WFAN yeah internally a lot of people said I I don't worry about hockey it just doesn't move the needle we don't

54:41

have to talk about hockey but I kind of came up with an idea to say hey my

54:46

fandom is open we have three hockey teams in this area you have a new a brand new host on WFAN that you can

54:53

bring in whichever team invites me to a game shows me around can lure me into

54:59

their fandom and then I'll bring that fandom to the air the devils are right away first off uh shout out to Glenn

55:05

Blackman who works in credential Center um he reached out on Twitter offering me

55:10

his tickets as an employee at the devil's game yeah and then once the devil's like front office got wind of it

55:18

they're like oh no no no no no we're making this a thing so they're like how many tickets you need I brought six

55:23

friends they brought me in through VIP red carpet they put me on the zambon put

55:30

me on the big screen treating me like a celebrity like a king I'm not even a year in on WFAN yet yeah and I'm like

55:37

wow you now have my fandom for life because my first time entering your Arena my first time they gave me a a

55:44

mcferson jersey and it was the the black sweater with Jersey across yeah I'm like

55:50

you guys have sold me because you rolled out the red carpet treated me like a King and I'll never have that experience

55:56

with the other teams I root for right I'll like I'll never be treated like that there even if I do get to the level

56:02

where I'm super famous and they want to it's not my entry so like I'm like now I'm riding for you guys so I did this

56:08

whole thing on WFAN because you have to pitch things and play games and like you know have people wanting to listen and

56:14

tease things so I'm like went to the devil's game did a whole YouTube Vlog on it put it on social media and then

56:21

national Signing Day came February of 2022 and I did a video in Boomer and Geo

56:29

Studio where I just had no idea I was supposed to get Craig's Rangers hat and

56:34

toss it you know how the kids national Signing Day they have hats yeah I had a devil's hat the hat hat I had an

56:40

Islanders hat but I didn't have the Rangers hat cuz I think Craig that day like put it on and wore at home yeah so

56:46

the only Rangers memorabilia in WF was uh the the rajil bear Jersey that

56:53

Boomer has hanging up in the studio Studio didn't know anything about him didn't know anything about Mr Ranger didn't know anything about Boomer's

56:59

connection with him so I'm just playing around in a video and I I have on my um

57:04

I have on a the devil's Jersey underneath and I choose the devils and before I choose the Devils I throw the

57:10

Islanders hat out of the frame and I take the Rangers jersey and I kind of look at it and I throw it I throw it on

57:16

a chair it doesn't hit the ground but Tom ISO our our video editing digitals guy he he makes like a like a crashing

57:23

sound it's like I don't so that video goes on WFA and YouTube Boomer sees it

57:28

and Boomer is hot about it and I have no idea yeah I'm sleeping the next day Al

57:34

Dukes calls me I'd been on the radio till like 2 the morning before Al Dukes calls me I'm like I'm like yo he's like

57:40

Boomer wants to talk to you so like I don't know it became this whole thing where like I disrespected Boomer I

57:46

disrespected Mr Ranger the Rangers fan base Devil's fans ate it up Devil's fans loved it they're like yeah that's our

57:53

guy that's thr that Jersey that's how you get started but then you know Boomer called me off air we talked for like 20

57:59

minutes he educated me on everything I apologize and I'm just like I literally didn't know I was so naive but like I'm

58:05

like now you're not the only one talking hockey on the fan Boomer and now Devil's fans listen after games now Devil's fans

58:11

see me at the arena now Devil's fans feel like they have a voice on the fan in New York yeah that's so cool I I mean

58:19

not the fact that you got you know a 20 minute chew out session about like an education an education session Boomer

58:25

Boomer Boomer is an interesting guy I have a ton of respect for him and I I

58:30

had more respect for him after that manto man conversation yeah yeah yeah for sure um so we're getting close to

58:37

the end of this and I don't want to keep you longer you know take up too much of the Sky lamaas Guys time but I told you

58:43

in an email earlier this week that we were going to yell about the Yankees for five minutes necessary let's do that

58:49

like have to what's going on like it's such like this whole week has been or I guess the last two two weeks now man the

58:56

last eight months nine months the season was terrible yeah well you were talking about like the 2017 Yankees and it was

59:02

like that to me is like the last time that I had fun watching a Yankee season real Joy real like interest an exciting

59:09

like we're going back to the World Series this is a run that I could get behind excited to go to the stadium

59:14

excited to sit down and watch those games um man that's where this all really started because they fired that

59:20

manager yeah and that was Brian Cashman firing that manager saying I want to bring in my own guy that'll do my

59:25

bidding and now we're in the Aaron Boon era and I don't have a problem with Aaron Boon I'm indifferent on him and

59:30

that's not great you should feel some kind of way about your manager but man the Yankees have underperformed and

59:36

they've just made a ton of mistakes with uh the trades that they've made the free

59:41

agents they've passed on and just not managing injuries correctly yeah that is

59:47

those three things that is why they failed these last few years since 2017

59:52

and haven't been able to get back to a game game seven they got back to the ALCS twice right 2019 2022 but they were

1:00:00

defeated by the Astros and this last year this year pisses people off myself

1:00:05

included so much because you have the reigning Al MVP you did win 99 games you did win the division you you were one of

1:00:12

the final four teams you can't just fall off a clip you can't have that much of a drop off and then we just celebrated

1:00:18

garri Cole as the AL sa young last night so you have the best hitter and the best pitcher in the American League but you

1:00:25

won 82 games and it was a struggle to get to 82 and 80 you know what I think is interesting too it's like also I feel

1:00:32

like the Yankees the way that they were constructed especially this year with the uh the pitch clock and like the

1:00:37

Banning of the shift and like all that kind of stuff and like all the teams that performed really well were predom I mean maybe not predominantly but like

1:00:44

the younger faster more athletic teams and that is not the Yankees they were ready for that right the bigger bases

1:00:51

right steals were up who's who's stealing bases for the Yankees really one guy and he didn't get on base enough

1:00:57

Anthony vulpi right um Banning the shift we thought all of a sudden like Rizzo was going to benefit from that well they

1:01:03

mismanaged his injury they had him run out there after he was concussed for two months that's negligent that's

1:01:09

irresponsible um Aaron judge as much as I love judge I think he's going to change the way he plays we all wowed at

1:01:16

him running through that wall in Dodger Stadium he even after the game said oh the wall took the worst of it no it

1:01:21

didn't he might have been fine up top but that little that little that big toe uh that that derailed the season for two

1:01:28

months and the Yankees did not have the depth we had to watch Willie Calhoun DH

1:01:33

yeah we had to watch franie Cordo run out there ikf had to play six different positions Oswaldo Cabrera was called on

1:01:39

way too much Jake Bowers is an infielder playing in the Outfield second tours from Greg Allen and Billy McKenna it's

1:01:46

not good enough I go to the stadium and there's people in the stadium like who the hell are some of these guys the

1:01:51

Yankees are supposed to be so famous that they don't need name on the back of their jerse but when you're looking at

1:01:56

the Yankees this year you're trying to figure out about three or four of the guys out there never seen them before

1:02:01

right yeah and it's like crazy too especially like the last couple weeks and like like listening to the fan like listening to the stuff that that's

1:02:07

coming out like you know Hal talking to the media and Brian Cashman talking to the media and then it's like the stuff that they're saying is like are you

1:02:13

serious like is this like the stuff that you're saying like do you actually believe that this is with the Sleep

1:02:18

and the bunting stuff and like all the other things you're like like why are why are these words coming out of your

1:02:24

mouth simple we couldn't hit they had the lowest batting average they've had in years they're the Yankees and you're

1:02:30

the New York Yankees Bron bombers and that's why the Mets fans oh the Bronx bunters we got to put an emphasis on

1:02:36

Bunting more the disconnect is amazing right because they sit up there in their offices looking down upon Yankee Stadium

1:02:44

and the Yankee fans and the fans that are in the grand stand and the bleachers are like this is not what we signed up

1:02:49

for this is not what we're used to we weren't expecting this at all we need hitters we need consistent hitters in

1:02:56

the lineup we need athletic players that can make plays that can steal bases that can make the plays in the Outfield in

1:03:02

the infield yeah um the disconnect is crazy to me because you have you have how talking about Bunting and like going

1:03:09

on yeah he's you he he thought he was doing something he's like you know here's here's a nugget here's something we talk take this one home yeah this's

1:03:15

something we talked about in August bunting Aaron Boon Aaron Boon said bunting is coming back into the game

1:03:21

we're going to put more of an emphasis on Bunting no waste outs you're going to BN did you watch

1:03:28

who won the World Series they mashed their way to the World Series Cory Seager adise Garcia Garcia Marcus Simeon

1:03:35

Evan Carter uh like they they didn't bunt their way there they hit home runs timely home runs when they needed so you

1:03:41

need to have better hitters it can't all be on Aaron judge Aaron judge's year was

1:03:46

a year that I think fooled them cuz Aaron judge had a year that we've never ever seen in baseball 62 home runs 131

1:03:54

RBI ridiculous Ops and he did that to spite them he did that to say no you're going to pay me top money 40 million a

1:04:01

year and they got comfortable thinking they could roll out there with Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks and um DJ lemu

1:04:07

not being himself and they got got this year so now they absolutely have to have a great off season because what Cashman

1:04:14

did in the media yelling and cursing at the media I think I think we're pretty effing good that's that's that's

1:04:19

you know like he now those videos live on the internet forever now

1:04:25

those quotes are in articles forever and they will not age well if he doesn't do his job and he's uncomfortable right now

1:04:31

because there was a fire Cashman night at the stadium bald Vinnie sold hundreds of fire Cashman shirts he never thought

1:04:37

he'd see the day yeah it's crazy and it's just like it just to me it's like

1:04:42

uh it's one of those things where I I don't know who uh posted it but it was like something talking about how it's

1:04:48

like he knows that he is like so safe that he can do whatever he wants really

1:04:55

the greatest job security in the world the Eternal GM of the New York Yankees and he's wind up being like a Hall of Fame executive most likely yeah he's got

1:05:02

a Hall of Fame resume but what have you done for us lately exactly but like someone I remember this is like maybe at

1:05:08

the beginning of the year or halfway through the year when things were starting to go off the rails and somebody called into to one of the shows and the fan and they were like well who

1:05:14

has more experience than him like wouldn't you want the most experienced guy to run the run the ship and you're like yeah he has the most experience

1:05:19

like the longest probably 10e GM in baseball but like also it's nice to cuz doesn't know how stuff's done any other

1:05:26

place you know and that's like a big important thing course I always use the phrase evolve or dissolve like you had

1:05:33

to evolve as a content creator you had to evolve as a professional you had to evolve as a man to build what we're

1:05:39

physically doing right now you couldn't stay the same for year after year and say I'm really good yeah know this is

1:05:46

working no you had to figure it out yeah I feel like Cashman has done some of his same things over and over again and I'll

1:05:51

give the example of Bernie Williams Derek Jeter Aaron judge they all asked for their uh contract negotiations to be

1:05:58

private and he used the media and the public against them as a tactic to say

1:06:03

look what look at how much money we offered them yeah we offer him a fortune you don't want to take this and they all

1:06:09

like come on like these are those are arguably my three favorite Yankees beloved Yankees you treated them like

1:06:15

assets you treated them like any other guys and they have way more value than that so you know some of his old school

1:06:21

tactics have blown up in his face he could have judge in my opinion for 300 million saved himself 60 million which

1:06:28

could have gone to better hitters better players on the team yeah um you know thinking that he was getting something

1:06:34

with an ikf Donaldson rvet trade to get Gary Sanchez and Gio orella out of here

1:06:39

Gary Sanchez and Gio or Gio got hurt but they Blake Snell just got the Sai Young last night and said Gary Sanchez was was

1:06:47

really good for me behind the plate it was it was a really good year he he helped me a lot yeah so crazy yeah but

1:06:54

uh and I'm sure we can we could clearly go on this for all five hours yeah yeah

1:06:59

five hours exactly um but uh so I do want to wrap us up uh and I really appreciate you jumping on on the show

1:07:05

with us and talking we covered a lot of stuff like your whole career Jersey Devils Yankees other sports all that

1:07:12

kind of stuff so I really appreciate you jumping on with us and and doing this with us today so if people are listening to this and they don't follow you or

1:07:18

they're not you know like they're not sure who you are but they want to learn more like what are places you would send them to learn more about Keith mcferson

1:07:25

the biggest platform is WFAN the fan in New York I'm the nighttime host usually I'm on after the games um so like Monday

1:07:33

Night Football right now Thursday Night Football tonight I'll be on after till 2: a.m. but U when there's no game I'm

1:07:39

on 7 to 12 and that's where I really get to talk about all sports uh tell stories

1:07:45

take calls connect with fans uh the internet that's where they found me right so Keith mcferson on any platform

1:07:51

that you follow people uh Twitter Instagram Tik Tok uh YouTube I don't

1:07:56

have the time to service all of them the way I'd like to I have a seven-month-old son but I'm I'm pretty available online

1:08:02

I try to connect with people and respond to people engage with people um The Odyssey app is is the way that you

1:08:08

listen to WF uh on your phone outside of the car and yeah sometimes I pop up on

1:08:14

MLB Network I had a TV show on MLB Network last year called off Bas I've done some commercials with the Yes

1:08:20

Network and I I plan to get back on television too but for the most part WFAN at night on the Odyssey app

1:08:26

streaming and then on the internet wherever you follow people at Keith mcferson first name last name awesome

1:08:33

and uh also shout out to Sky llamas for letting us use this space today we talked about it at the top and you know

1:08:38

great camera setup great mic setup so if you are a podcaster particularly here in the state of New Jersey this is a great

1:08:44

spot to come down and uh you know check it out use their stuff they got you know Slavic and Nick are awesome uh so uh

1:08:52

this has been the greetings from the guarden state podcast powered by the New Jersey Lottery on my cam thank you to Keith mcferson the sky

1:08:58

llamas guys thank you everybody else for listening and we will catch you next

1:09:09

time baby do you all right tell me before you

1:09:17

go do you want

1:09:22

r