Monday marked a new beginning for Damon Amendolara as it was the first day he co-hosted his new show with Mike Babchik on the Mad Dog Sports Radio channel on SiriusXM, The D.A.Show with Babchik. Amendolara has worked both in local and national radio up until this opportunity and every step along the way has helped him learn something different.
Amendolara was a guest with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on the Mad Dog’s Daily Bite podcast this week and Russo had him take a walk down memory lane of his career heading into this new spot.
When Damon Amendolara got to come back to New York in 2013 to be a part of CBS Sports Radio, he mentioned how it was a dream come true because he got to connect with all different markets and fanbases.
“All of these stops taught me something different. When I was in Kansas City or Boston, I had to totally immerse myself in the local sports scene, or else I would be a fraud, or else I would be exposed. It was a crash course, it was a test every single day because I passed the exam. It honed me and sharpened me. When I got to CBS Sports Radio, it was a dream come true.”
“I got to come back to New York where my friends and family are from. I got to come back home to the city I know and love, but I also got to talk to all these different markets and all these different fanbases, which I truly loved.”
While Amendolara enjoyed getting the chance to talk to local markets on a daily basis, being at CBS Sports Radio allowed him to pick and choose topics nationally and make every day different as opposed to having to talk about one specific topic locally for multiple days.
“It’s a wonderful thing to connect with a local community, but you have to talk about the same thing every single day. I’m talking about if the Patriots need a second cornerback four hours a day for the sixth straight day.
“When I went to CBS Sports Radio, I got to pick and choose a different story for every segment and every day was different. That gave me the juice and electricity I had never felt before.”
As for the current partnership he has with Babchik, Damon Amendolara said that the two of them unite on a common goal for the show which is to talk sports, but also find other ways to connect with a morning audience.
“All these stops, I had to also kind of pull some tricks out of the bag. I had to be a little quirky, I had to be a little fun, and I had to be off-center because I was never the local guy in town that had been there forever. I had to kind of be a little different to catch attention. I think that’s what makes it cool for the morning show.”
“He and I felt the same way. You have to have sports, but you have something else to connect with an audience, especially in the morning.”
