Beast gearing up for allCanes Radio debut

It’s finally here, the debut of allCanes Radio is here and in a word, I’m stoked.

Before we kick things off Wednesday evening, I wanted to take a few moments to share some thoughts on the show, my passion for this program and where the concept of allCanes Radio came from.

From 1999 to 2008 I absolutely lived, breathed, ate, drank and did everything “U” related as part of the Hurricanes Broadcast Crew. Safe to say, it was a dream job.

That’s not to say is wasn’t a grind. I missed just about every holiday and some quality family time. The Labor Day showdowns had me bogged down as the Canes were playing, or gearing up to play. Thanksgiving was always a wash, too, getting a four-hour pre-game show ready.

Christmas / Chanukah were usually spent traveling to a bowl game, dealing with the festivities and I’d miss New Years for the same reason.

Valentine’s Day? Basketball season. St. Patty’s Day, Mother’s Day, my birthday and Father’s Day? All lost due to baseball.

You get the point.

Bottom line, I was spent at the end of that run as as much as I miss it (trust me, I do), it took an amazing toll on so many aspects of my life.

Over the last year I hosted a daily, non-sports talk show for SoFloRadio.com. Running “The Beast Show” gave me a chance to get away from all sports and non-stop Cane talk 24/7. There was an upside, though. Not being part of the broadcast crew gave me the chance to simply be a fan again. I literally got to tailgate for the first time (quickly learning that shots of Jack are never a good morning ritual before a noon kickoff.)

As least season came to a close, I felt that pull again, realizing that my heart will always be with “The U”. I didn’t need to be fully immersed, as I once was. But I knew that I needed to be around UM to be content in my career.

On a cold day last November (seriously, it was cold down here), I took a trip over to my surrogate big brother Don Bailey Jr.’s house. DBJ has been there for me like no other since I graduated. He played for the Canes, has been part of the broadcast crew for over two decades and has a tremendous sense of life.

I went over to his house, say by the pool and talked Miami Football. The decision; I needed to find a way to get back into the act of “talking Canes”.

I went back to the drawing board, reaching out to my friend Phil de Montmollin, who’d worked back at UM in the 90s and had been working with us at SoFlo. We had some ambitious aspirations, but quickly realized this is one of the worst times to be starting from scratch.

allCanes GM and friend Harry Rothwell suggesting I started writing for this very website, so I teamed up with Chris Bello (Canes305) and with some direction, he welcomed me on board a few months back.

Blogging has been great. I love to write and enjoy expressing myself … but it’s not radio. As much as I love sitting with my laptop and pecking away, I prefer to be in front of a microphone. It’s much more natural for me.

While blogging away, Phil and I continued brainstorming and looking for a way to get back on the air. Meeting after meeting after meeting. We had some ideas, but couldn’t get over the hurdles. Then one day it all clicked.

A few months back, while at allCanes, Harry showed me the beta version of the then yet-to-be-released allCanes iPhone app. Being an Apple guy (and having wasted my share of money on weak apps), I was absolutely astonished with what the allCanes and Phunware team had come up with — and it wasn’t even done yet.

A few weeks later I’m at the app launch party (at Smoket) and I just sort of blurted out that I’d love to do a weekly show from here. Harry was fully on board and the concept became a reality from there.

We basically beta tested the show from the app launch party and it was a success. To date it’s still one of the most popular and downloaded shows we’ve ever aired on SoFloRadio.com.

The next morning I rang Phil and shared the vision; a weekly Canes-themed radio show from Smoket. He was all in, with one caveat; it had to be different than anything else out there.

WQAM already has two Canes shows. Tuesday night is CaneSport radio with Gary Ferman and on Thursday, “Hurricane Hotline”. I didn’t want to compete with either, so made Wednesday our night – giving UM fans more daily Canes talk on the airways.

Different path. Different subject matter. Phil and I had often spoke of the void in Canes coverage. Sure there are articles, message boards and people with opinions – but where was the story behind the story? No one was focusing on personalities and the players as people – characters from yesterday and today. Everything out there seems to be Xs and Os or recruiting-based, which to me gets monotonous after a while. We want to focus on the stories that weren’t being told.

Everyone knows what Ray Lewis is up to – playing on Sundays and always popping up on ESPN for one thing or another. But what has former cornerback Nate Brooks been up to? (Hint, you’ll find out Wednesday night!) We want to do more than scratch the surface. We want you up close and personal with all different types of Hurricane greats.

We’re going to hit you with Podcasts, Vodcasts, flash reports, YouTube clips and all other wonders of the new media world, making sure all you diehards don’t miss a beat.

We’ll keep you informed regarding those much-loved Xs and Os, news / notes, nuts and bolts. Of course. However, we’re going to take this show places that no one else has gone, or is willing to go.

I can’t express my gratitude of the allCanes Family – Harry, the Bello family, everyone. They’ve been wonderful to work with and a huge part in all of this finally coming together.

It starts tonight and our goal is that allCanes Radio delivers, outlasting all the others. We want to start a new tradition, while keeping it old school.

To date, I still get people who talk to me about “Hurricane Hotline” back at Tony Roma’s, Cami’s Seafood or Dave & Busters, back in the day. Hopefully twenty years from now people will be in my son’s ear about his dad’s allCanes Radio show at Smoket, back in ‘their’ day.

Come on down Wednesday night and have a few drinks with us as we talk UM and more importantly, join some fellow members of Hurricane Nation, celebrating the Orange and Green the eve before fall ball is underway.

For those who can’t make it, click here to listen live from 7pm to 9pm ET on Wednesday August 4th! Streaming is available via Flash, Windows Media Player, Real Player or through your iPhone and other mobile devices.

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