The Beast : Happy Holidays from allCanes Radio

When we started doing allCanes Radio on a weekly basis back in August, we had no idea what kind of success we would have.

We were thinking big, no doubt about it, but when ever you start a new venture, you never expect to succeed right off the bat. We did pretty well from the start and have only gotten better. That’s not me putting a feather in my own cap – that’s me recognizing that the people behind the scenes, that you don’t hear on the show, have pulled together to become a fine oiled machine.

It all starts with everyone at allCanes. Most of you know Harry Rothwell. You see him every time you walk into allCanes looking for the latest and greatest Canes gear. I honestly can’t think of a better person and a more loyal Canes supporter than Harry. At the start, allCanes Radio had a team in place and unfortunately that team fell apart like Miami against South Florida. Harry picked up the slack – and then some – and I will be forever grateful for the amount of support he has given me through this endeavor. It’s no wonder he has allCanes kicking ass and taking names through good times and bad.

As well as Harry and I have known each other over the years, it wasn’t our relationship that fostered the idea of The Beast and allCanes hooking up. That, my friends, was the brainwork of one Neal Bendesky. I’ve known Neal forever and he’s one of those guys that has his hand in every big event in town, often behind the scenes and always pulling them off with ease. How much fun have you had at the allCanes parties on the road? Thank Neal.

We spoke about a year ago asking him if he had any ideas about how I could get back in the game. He told me he was going to talk to Harry and that he had an idea. Harry and myself furthered that idea in a meeting outside of a convenience store, but it that meeting doesn’t happen with out Neal. Thanks bud.

While Harry may be the face of allCanes, the guy that signs the checks is Bob Bello. Bob, his lovely wife Gigi and amazing family have been nothing but amazing. Chris Bello has a major role behind the scenes and has been a huge force in us making allCanes Radio what it is. Chris originally had the idea for me to blog for allCanes.com though I’m not quite sure he realized how bad my grammar and spelling was when he suggested that. The blogs you see on the site that have my name on it, are the finished product. The blogs I send Chris look nothing like that. Some where down the line I’m going to owe Chris hazzard pay for having to read my slop and making it into something readable. I’d send him a Canes shirt, but I’m pretty sure he’s got a pretty big wardrobe full.

There are two other people that really make the show go every week. The first is the guy that makes it all happen from a technical and inter-cyberweb stand point. Eric Harold is nothing short of a genius. No, that probably go far enough. He can do things with computers I thought only Matthew Broderick could do. Eric makes the live show, the archived shows and the iTunes podcasts happen. He also delivers the show to SiriusXM . He’s like Santa, Hanukkah Harry and Mr. Festivus all wrapped up in one.

Allyson Turner has been my partner in crime since she occupied the desk next to mine at QAM. Beyond a work buddy, she’s a great friend. Allyson is one of the most talented radio people in the country. She programmed 790 The Ticket, helped make QAM successful, co-hosted a morning show in Tampa, and most importantly listened to me vent during our daily phone calls. Allyson has really helped me in booking guests for the show. She has a knack for tracking down any one. Remember that span when we had Clinton Portis, Rocky McIntosh and Santana Moss on? Thank Ms. Turner.

I always thought that once I left QAM, getting interviews down at UM would be an uphill climb. When you’re the flagship station and you pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the broadcast rights, you basically get what you want. But here we are, little ol’ allCanes Radio, just trying to carve out our little niche and thankfully we’ve done pretty well for ourselves.

Also, none of this would be possible with out Associate Athletic Director for Communication Chris Freet and his awesome staff. Chris, Rob Dunning, Bryan Harvey, Margaret Belch, Scott Zavitz and now LaTonya Sadler, have never said no, as long as the request was in reason.

We’ve had Kirby Hocutt on the show. We had Randy Shannon on. We got a one on one with Al Golden. We’ve had on almost every other head coach at UM and more. Often times when you work in the SID office all you get is flack. They deserve a big thanks from us for helping bring the people and the stories of The U to the fans and we greatly appreciate it.

In October allCanes Radio was picked up by SiriusXM College Sports Nation. I want to thank them for recognizing the quality program that we try to do every week. They very easily could have grabbed Hurricane Hotline or some other Canes show. They took ours and we are beyond grateful.

At some point over the next week I’ll bust out some Sun Bowl preview stuff and talk more about this staff that Coach Golden is putting together, but as we wrap up 2010 I wanted to take a moment to thank the people that make allCanes Radio go.

I’d also be remissed if I didn’t mention my good buds Joe Castello and Gio Ochoa who really helped get the show off the ground in those early days. They volunteered to help and I couldn’t be more appreciative.

I also want to thank YOU – the listeners (and readers). The numbers for the show have gone through the roof. Listenership is up both during the show and from a download perspective. We are making huge strides and most of the thanks has to go to you, great Canes fans, who thirst for info and who listen to the show, knowing I do my best to bring it to you. If I could high five each and every one of you I would. Thanks so much. Have a joyous and safe holiday season. Don’t drink too much egg nog!

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