It’s not that uncommon for a large group of people to gather in the backyard of a Long Island home in suburban New York. Those gatherings could be for any number of reasons like a birthday party, a just-like-this thrown together barbeque for family and friends, or even just to have folks come over to watch a sporting event if that said backyard was equipped with a bar and a television.
But what about a national sports radio show doing a remote from a backyard bar in someone’s home?
Well, that, in a nutshell, is what The D.A. Show on CBS Sports Radio is all about weekday mornings from 6 to 10 eastern time.
“We just held that “Bob’s Bar” show two weeks ago and strategically that was about connecting with an audience that felt isolated over the last two and a half years,” said host Damon Amendolara.
Bob’s Bar is the West Babylon, New York childhood home of D.A. Show producer/co-host/instigator Shaun Morash whose parents Bob and Nancy welcomed the show’s staff to their home for the second straight year. But, for this year for the first time, there was also some of the show’s most passionate listeners onto the premises for a morning, afternoon, and, believe it or not, evening full of fun watching the New York Rangers playoff game on the television screen at Bob’s Bar.
The local and national sports radio landscape is filled with remote broadcasts from sporting events and some in areas filled with fans.
But not like this one.
“We’ll do a show from one of our parents’ houses and invite an audience of just the most hardcore listeners,” said Amendolara. “If they want to make the drive, come and we’ll spend all day with you. I want them to feel like they’re one with all of us and if that means showing up at Mraz’s childhood home to have a burger and a few beers and hang out with us then that’s a really deep connection that I care tremendously about.”
The D.A. Show is one of only two remaining full-time shows from day one of CBS Sports Radio. When the network launched on January 2nd, 2012, Amendolara guided his listeners through the overnights and eventually the show “graduated” to early evenings, late mornings and then eventually to where it is now in morning drive.
Why has the show been so successful?
Because it’s unlike any other sports talk show in the industry because the host and the staff don’t really take themselves too seriously.
Sports is supposed to be fun and that’s what The D.A. Show is all about.
“I’m really happy with that part of it,” said Amendolara. “The sports media landscape and specifically sports talk is kind of littered with debate and arguing, winning arguments and I’ve never, ever related to that.”
Make no mistake about it… The D.A. Show covers all of the bases when it comes to national sports news and even at times sports items that pertain to the New York based crew. But the discussion is always organic and never has any manufactured animosity. It’s a show that truly is all about appealing to an audience of sports fans who want to be entertained but also to hear voices that they can relate to.
“I never followed sports so I could win an argument,” said Amendolara. “I feel like in today’s day and age where the media, both sports and otherwise, are all lecturing or arguing or pointing fingers at the other side or people that disagree that an audience really doesn’t necessarily always want that…that there’s an exhaustion to that. So, the fact that we have a lot of fun on a morning-to-morning basis is really important to me and it’s really important for my crew to wake up and want to come to work.”
Let’s talk about that crew.
Shaun “Mraz” Morash has been The D.A. Show producer/sidekick from day one on the overnights and he has blossomed into one of the most intriguing personalities in sports talk radio. As Amendolara was getting set to move his show from local radio in Boston to a national stage based in New York, he needed to find a producer. One of the candidates was Morash, already an employee of the company working part-time for WFAN Radio in New York.
“We started out as complete strangers,” said Amendolara. “The bosses asked me to interview him and there was something about him. I said boy this guy is interesting. He’s just an interesting guy to talk to. Look where that’s gone nearly a decade later. I really believe that Mraz is one of the most interesting personalities in sports radio. He just is all emotion. He’s completely transparent, honest to a fault, flawed as well, sometimes completely relatable and sometimes completely insane but he’s always compelling. It’s been a huge part of the show.”
I’m honored to have been part of that first crew overnights as the update anchor. Kenny Brock was the board operator/technical magician but he departed before the show moved to the evenings.
It was, without question, some of the best times that I’ve ever had in this business.
Now in morning drive, Amendolara and Morash are joined by social media and digital guru Andrew Caplan, producer Pete Bellotti, and update anchor Andrew Bogusch.
“I feel really lucky that we have the guys that we do on the show,” said Amendolara.
“I think Andrew Bogusch is the best update guy doing this in the country. He’s got a really clever wit and he gets the sense of humor that I go for, a little off-beat.”
“Pete ‘The Body’ is so good on the board. He’s the best guy in terms of drops in the country.”
“Andrew Caplan is the best digital guy in the country doing our stream and doing our social clips.”
“I’ve just been blessed with a lot of really talented people. You need everybody. Great shows…you need more than one voice and more than one opinion and more than one person with the control over everything and I’m really lucky that I have this incredibly talented crew.”
Amendolara, a New York native, has enjoyed a sports talk radio journey that has taken him to Fort Meyers and Miami in Florida, Kansas City, Boston and now home to New York for his national show. Sometimes, a national radio show can have a bit of a bias towards the city it originates from, but not The D.A. Show. Sure, Morash cries about his beloved Yankees, Giants, and Rangers and that can be very entertaining, but the show is designed to appeal to sports fans in all parts of the country.
Having worked in several markets, Amendolara knew exactly what he wanted this show to be all about.
“We do a show from New York and I’m from New York but I desperately want this show to be for everyone and I think that comes from dotting the map in my career,” said Amendolara. “I care that somebody in Omaha or somebody in Little Rock or somebody in Columbus listens and gets the show as well. I’ve always felt like that has to be a priority that you don’t alienate anybody by talking about just the things you want to talk about. You care that they want to listen because they relate to it.”
Not only have the listeners related to the show but a good chunk of them have been able to follow D.A. and the crew through all of the moves through the dayparts. Thanks to technology, including podcasts, the Audacy app and YouTube, fans can follow the show even if they can’t listen live. That has allowed the show to grow into the masterpiece that it is today.
“That’s been really cool and that can’t happen without technology today,” said Amendolara. My career can’t be tracked by listeners in all of those dayparts or listeners that used to listen to me in Kansas City or Boston or Miami if we don’t have modern technology where you can stream the show every day on the website or you can listen to the podcasts.”
There’s a part of sports that we all take seriously because we want our teams to win, but there’s also a lighter side of sports and considering the world we live in now, having a platform like The D.A. Show is something that’s very important to the sports world.
“Sports has become so super important to people’s lives,” said Amendolara. “We heard this so much during the pandemic…normalcy…return to normalcy. You see with television ratings going up, interest in all of these sports skyrocketing…people need sports more than ever and that’s why I want to provide a space for people to really joyously love sports and have fun.”
The D.A. Show is truly a show for the people because it’s a place where fans can go to think, for information, a little comedy and to feel like they are really part of the show. Damon Amendolara and his staff are committed to making sure that’s on the menu every day.
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.
