When Justin Kinner sits in the host seat today for his daily show at ESPN WING 1410 in Dayton, he’ll be approximately 79 miles from Ohio Stadium in Columbus, the home of the Buckeyes, and 57 miles from Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, the home of the Bengals. Literally, he’s smack dab in the middle of one of the most popular college football programs in the country, as well as an NFL franchise with a large following.
In many ways, Dayton is a melting pot for various sports fans throughout the state of Ohio. The Buckeyes will always be the biggest news in the state, but the Browns, Bengals, Reds, Indians, Cavs and even Steelers all have a loyal following where Kinner calls home. Sure, that’s a blessing when considering you’re never short of topics, but also a challenge for a host, seeing as you have to be knowledgeable on several teams across the state.
Not only has Kinner accepted that challenge, he relishes the opportunity to do so. The once shy and quiet kid in high school that wasn’t outgoing, has now blossomed into an afternoon drive host, as well as the program director for ESPN WING 1410. The funny thing, is none of Kinner’s high school classmates foresaw him becoming a sports radio personality. At the time, it was a fair assumption, seeing as the business is normally reserved for more outgoing personalities. Kinner was anything but. But as a student at Wright State, he caught the sports radio fever while doing a show with the student radio station. It didn’t take him long to realize this was the career path he wanted to choose.
Anyone that’s ever went to college has skipped at least one class. We’re all human, right? Some of us did it because Thirsty Thursday at the local bar was too great of a time to reach that 8 a.m. class the next day. Some of us overslept from time to time, while others just woke up and realized they had better options that day than to attend class.
Whatever and how many of those excuses you used, skipping class one day ended up being one of the most important days of Kinner’s life. A big final was approaching and Kinner felt he needed more time to study for an exam in another class. So, he skipped one class to study for another. A really responsible excuse for not going, if you ask me. However, while sitting in his student radio office, an employee of the local ESPN radio affiliate in town walked in and asked if anyone was interested in doing fill in work for the station. Like a miracle happening right before his eyes, this was the opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Without any hesitation, Kinner jumped at the opportunity.
If it wasn’t for skipping class, Kinner would have never been in the situation to accept an offer from ESPN WING 1410. Conversely, he admits that he probably wouldn’t be in sports radio if that situation didn’t occur. Anyone believe things happen for a reason?
Shortly after, Kinner’s radio career began by doing part-time work at the station, which got him into sales. His workload consisted of hosting a Sunday morning show, high school football games and being the No. 1 fill-in for shows during the week. He was doing it all at the station and proving his worth as a valuable commodity to the company. His first break had already come, the second, was to come shortly after.
As such things happen in the business, the PD job at ESPN 1410 came open right when Kinner was starting to make a name for himself at the station. Maybe it was because he was already doing on-air work, maybe it was because he proved his worth early on. Maybe it was several reasons, regardless, Kinner was ultimately named program director at ESPN 1410. The once shy kid in high school had shocked everyone. Not only was he doing on-air work, he was now also making major decisions that influenced a radio station.
Today, you can hear Kinner on his show ‘Kinner and Schlemmer’ from 3-6 p.m. on ESPN 1410. The balance of covering several teams in the area is a challenge, but Kinner discusses how to appease the masses and still stay relevant, when you’re jammed in between two larger markets.
TM: How does the dynamic of being smack in the middle of Columbus and Cincinnati work? Do the Buckeyes or Bengals get more of your attention?
JK: Let’s not forget the Browns, because somehow, the Browns sneaked their way into this conversation. The one thing I love about doing a show in Dayton is the fact we’re Cincinnati Reds affiliate, we’re a Buckeye affiliate, so we get to talk about more than just one city full of teams.
But Ohio State rules everything around here. We’re in the heart of Buckeye Country. But with that being said, it’s the flavor of the day, whatever the big topic is, obviously with the Ohio State and Urban Meyer investigation, that’s just dominated sports talk around here. But on Monday, we did a show that the Browns and Bengals carried for three hours.
TM: I think most people recognize the Dayton Flyers as a good hoops program that are always in the mix for the NCAA Tournament. Is their football team though ever a big topic of conversation, seeing as you have the NFL and a major college football program so close?
JK: Rick Chamberlain is the Flyers’ head football coach, we have him on every Tuesday. He comes on, but it’s not like it’s a hot button topic. We just like to make sure we massage a lot of the local teams, whether they have a big following or not. But as far as college basketball, UD is as big in this town, basketball wise, as Ohio State football. The Buckeyes still get the nod, but UD basketball is a very close second.
TM: How much does your show change from football to basketball season? Are you full tilt UD hoops as well as everyone else in the conference?
JK: Oh yeah. There’s two D1 teams here in the city. It’s the greatest rivalry never played, at least here for a local topic, Wright State and UD. It’s the biggest rivalry that never comes to fruition on the court, because the argument of, oh, UD is too good to play Wright State, what would be the advantage of even playing them?
We do talk a lot of college basketball, just about how UD is doing, we look at the Atlantic 10, we look at Wright State, but a lot of times, we’re still talking heavy NFL during that time.
TM: What makes the Dayton market unique and something other sports talk radio personalities would be surprised to find out?
JK: To start, the most unique thing about the Dayton market is the fact that we have a lot of strong fan bases from various teams. You could even argue there’s a heavy Steelers fan base in this area, which is crazy. It’s just cool to not be handicapped on talking about one city full of teams. To me, I think that’s helped me as a host, because I’ve been able to rub by elbows with a lot of various topics and different teams. Whereas, if I just had a show in Cincinnati, it would just be about the Reds and Bengals.
Most people would look at a city with no pro sports team or high level power 5 program and think, wow, how boring is that? Dayton does not fit that narrative. I would put Dayton’s basketball fans up against any basketball (Pro or college) fan base in the country. Dayton is the host city for the NCAA First Four tournament, the host city for the ‘Flyin’ To The Hoop’ HS basketball showcase (2nd largest National HS Basketball showcase in the country), & two D1 college basketball programs. Dayton is a very passionate sports city.
TM: If you ever were to leave Dayton, how much do you think it would help you down the road having worked in a city where you’ve had to talk just about every single sport?
JK: I’m not going to say it’s hard to do a show here, it’s definitely not. I think the more topics you have make it easier. But, at the same time, I can’t be a pretend Browns analyst, because if I don’t know my stuff, there’s a heavy fan base that’s listening and going to call me out.
The main teams we talk about are the Bengals, Reds and Buckeyes, but there’s a lot of other fans that trickle in with other teams. If you try to pretend you know the other teams when you don’t, you don’t come across as credible to your listeners. But it does help me. If I sit down in an interview in another city or market, I can say I was able to balance a lot of teams in other various cities, as well as being able to deliver the local teams in the market. I think it’s definitely prepared me for whatever my next job would be.
TM: What do game day weekends look like for your station, seeing as you’re so keyed in on the Buckeyes and Bengals? Do you go to either of the two cities to do pregame shows?
JK: In my mind, just because we talk Buckeyes, Reds and Bengals, that doesn’t mean we have to go to Cincinnati, Columbus or Cleveland for the Browns to make it happen. As many that are in our city, that’s very important to me, in realizing that, okay, they’re not the Dayton Browns or the Dayton Buckeyes but there’s a ton of Ohio State and NFL fans here.
A lot of people that live in Dayton, rather than them having to go to Columbus or Cincinnati to enjoy those experiences, I make sure we do local Buckeye pregame shows at a sports bar. We do watch parties. Former Ohio State Buckeye Keith Byars, who nearly won a Heisman in the 80’s, he does a show with us and we do watch parties with him. The diehard Ohio State fan that lives in Dayton can now experience the thrill of game day, right here.
TM: Tell me about your show.
JK: My co-host has been called an ancient curmudgeon and I’ve been called a clueless millennial. The gap in age has brought two different generations of sports fans together and it definitely provides you with a very entertaining 3 hour show with screaming, laughter, happiness and at times anger.
As a member of the local media always says when calling into the show. “The Knuckle Head factor has just got taken to another level.” It’s a very interactive call in show. Some of our callers have been tagged with nicknames over the years. You will hear names such as “Back Porch”, “Porkchop”, “The Comrade”, “Wrestling Guru”, “The SEC Commissioner” & so on. At times, they are almost like part time characters that add to the fun of the show.
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
