As his 25-year run of hosting overnight, mid-day and afternoon drive shows on WFAN Radio in New York was winding down, Joe Benigno knew that what his future would include. It would include spending more time with his family, playing a lot of golf, watching his beloved sports teams and maybe, under the right circumstances, dipping his feet back into the sports radio waters from time to time.
But did he ever think about hosting a podcast?
“I never really did,” said Benigno who hosted his final show with sidekick Evan Roberts on November 6th, 2020.
But as Benigno settled into retirement, his daughter Erin put it in his brain that maybe he should do a podcast so that he could continue to share his thoughts and feelings about sports.
“My daughter told me that this was something I should do,” said Benigno. “Once football started, I said you know what maybe I should be doing this so at least I have my weekly say on the Jets.”
And that’s how the Oh The Pain podcast was born with the first episode dropping on Sunday September 12th, 2021, after the Jets’ season opening 19-14 loss in Carolina.
Like he always said on WFAN and the tradition carries on with his podcast…
“Oh the pain!!!”.
“I like doing it,” said Benigno. “It’s basically just giving me something to do and maybe make a little extra money and that’s pretty much what it’s all about. I like the fact that I’m not working for somebody. I like the fact that I don’t have to deal with any of the corporate garbage. You’re basically your own boss and you can say whatever you want.”
The podcast, which he does from home, drops every Monday and is available from Apple, Spotify and Amazon. So far, Benigno’s new venture has been a huge success recently surpassing 262,000 downloads. The Monday podcast is audio only and is all Joe with his thoughts and takes, but from time to time he’ll do a second podcast later in the week with an interview and that show is done with video via Zoom.
With the help of his wife Terry who handles a lot of the technical aspects of the podcast, Joe has spoken to a number of former Jets including Wesley Walker, Erik McMillan, Tony Richardson and Bruce Harper.
“I like the interviews,” said Benigno. “I’ve been able to do a lot of different people.”
Once in a while, Benigno takes the show on the road hosting “Oh The Pain” from local establishments like Hackensack Brewing Company and SideBar in Hackensack, New Jersey. There have been four remote podcasts so far with the episodes dropping either that night right after the show or the following morning. Benigno has hosted three of the podcasts with former WFAN host John Jastremski and one with current WFAN host Kim Jones.
For Benigno, it’s another way of staying connected with his fans.
“It’s been fun to do that,” said Benigno of the live shows. “It’s a great venue to do it. The turnout was good. People seem to be into and it’s a lot of fun.”
Life is good for Benigno these days.
He’s enjoying retirement and the podcast keeps him involved with sports. Schlepping from his New Jersey home into Lower Manhattan to go to work at WFAN every day became a bit tedious and tiresome for Benigno.
WFAN was a big part of his life for a long time, but now he certainly enjoys “working” from home or close to home.
“I don’t miss doing the (WFAN) show,” said Benigno. “I don’t miss working. I certainly don’t miss going into the city anymore and the commute after 25 years of that crap.”
Since his retirement, Benigno has popped up on WFAN a few times including some guest spots on Roberts’ Saturday solo show as well as on Tiki and Tierney. He’s also filled in a couple of days last summer for Craig Carton during afternoon drive creating a brief reunion of Joe and Evan. But aside from those few walks down memory lane, Benigno has kept his distance from WFAN.
Kind of like when he worked there.
“Do I listen to the station?” said Benigno. “I do not. Even when I was working there, I never listened. The only time I ever listened to the station was when they had the Mets. Occasionally, I’ll listen to a Yankees game, but I really don’t listen to it at all.”
But for 25 years, New York area sports fans tuned in every day (originally overnights) to hear what Benigno had to say about a game or a big story from local sports. An awful Jets loss made his solo monologues overnight and even his reaction when he moved to middays and afternoon drive must-listen radio.
So that begs the question…
Have there been days when something has happened and he wishes he had a radio show to do?
“Probably not,” admitted Benigno. “Maybe if the Jets ever got to a Super Bowl. I think that if that happened, there’s enough going on with me and I know enough people that I’m sure I would get my say.”
He may not be doing a weekday sports talk show anymore, but Benigno still has his thoughts and takes on his favorite teams.
Let’s start with the Mets who are in first place in the National League East…
“You gotta be thrilled,” said Benigno. “The fundamentals, running the bases, driving in runs with two out. Of all the moves they made, the number one move was hiring Buck Showalter as the manager.”
What about the Jets?
“I love what they did in the draft,” said Benigno. “All of the off-season moves have been terrific.”
Joe is thrilled about the Rangers getting to the Stanley Cup Playoffs…
“I like (Head Coach Gerard) Gallant,” said Benigno. “He’s a tough guy. (Goalie Igor Shesterkin may be the best goalie in the league. They got a lot of firepower.”
And finally…the Knicks…
“The Knicks are a disaster,” said Benigno. “How is it possible that Jim Dolan owns the Rangers and the Knicks and you got the Rangers who are run like a top-flight organization and you got the Knicks who are run like dog poop?”
While he’s enjoying retirement and not actually “working”, Benigno has not closed the door on a potential return to radio.
But if that should happen, it would have to be on his terms.
“I wouldn’t rule it completely out ever working again,” said Benigno. “I don’t see me ever working at the ‘FAN again but depending on the scenario, I guess it’s possible that I would do that again. If it was something where it was me and Evan doing something again and only if it involved Evan would I probably do something at the ‘FAN again.”
But right now, Oh The Pain is the focus for Benigno and that means connecting with his listeners in different ways like the podcast’s website (www.ohthepainpodcast.com) and social media accounts (Twitter @JoeBenigno_real and Instagram @the_real_JoeBenigno).
The industry is certainly changing and evolving.
“It seems that way,” said Benigno. “It’s not the same anymore.”
But Joe Benigno certainly hasn’t changed. He’s still the passionate sports fan who was a phone caller to WFAN as “Joe from Saddle River” who went to the Connecticut School of Broadcasting before getting hired at the ‘FAN. He had a long and amazing career at the first all-sports radio station in the country and now he’s having success with his very popular podcast.
One thing is for certain…if the Jets ever do get to a Super Bowl and dare, I say if they would actually win, the celebration wouldn’t be complete without a reaction from Joe Benigno!
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
