The Outside Game Podcast

Hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch are joined this week by Arash Markazi, a veteran of some of the biggest sports media outlets out there, including SLAM, SI, ESPN, as well as the LA Times. Currently, Markazi is hosting a show The Mightier 1090 AM Radio, publishing The Morning Column on Substack, and serving as on-air talent for WWE NXT. Markazi discusses, among other things, the explosion of the LA-Vegas corridor as the epicenter of Sports, carving your own path to success in a modern media ecosystem, and whether or not he'll be taking bumps anytime soon from sports entertainers.

Hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch are joined this week by David Fucillo, Editor In Chief at DraftKings Nation. Previously, David founded Niners Nation and wore several hats at SB Nation including General Manager of SB Nation Bay Area, NFL Producer/Editor, and Gambling Editorial Manager. The crew talks about, among other things, covering Colin Kaepernick and the impact on athlete and journalist activism, the creation of Vox Union, both the Mandela Effect and the Barstool Effect, and more.

Hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch are joined this week by digital strategist Diana Klochkova, co-founder of, among other things, Rebel Ventures and Zaya, and part of the opps team that runs world-renowned Tweeter Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Star Talk Radio. Diana talks about women being pigeonholed in pro sports roles, the importance of understanding paid media, value in having diversity of experience, being the den mom of late 2000's bloggers at Yardbarker, and more.

Hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch are joined this week by Zach Harper, national NBA writer at the Athletic, SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio host, and co-founder/podcaster at Count the Dings. Harper and the guys talk fresh faces in the 2021 NBA playoffs as well as some hoops biz, and Harper's journey from moonlighting as a blogger at Talk Hoops Dot Net to hosting ESPN's Daily Dime Live web chat to becoming a multi-platform mainstream media personality (and a few things in between).

Hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch are joined this week by ESPN NBA editor and University of San Francisco Sports Business professor Ed "The Sports Fan" Maisonet. Maisonet shares a wealth of knowledge and experiences from not just his current positions, but his stops along the way including SB Nation, SLAM, Fox Sports/Yardbarker, Bleacher Report, and more.

Hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch are joined this week by former pro soccer player Joanna Lohman, author of "Raising Tomorrow's Champions," a collection of life lessons from nearly 100 USWNT players. The trio talk about the past, present, future of women's sports, how women athletes embracing social justice causes have changed sport and culture, the role of allies, global ambassadorship, and more.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by former college football All-American, 10-year NFL vet, and Roc Nation Sports agent John Thornton. Thornton, who created his own website and message board in 2005 and went on to mentor and work with players about developing their off-the-field marketability before most emphasized it, talks about how he's used his knowledge and unique experience to create his own second career. He talks about the evolution of digital and social media, the sports marketing industry and Roc's position in it, and more.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by the incomparable Spencer Hall, creator and longtime writer/editor of Every Day Should Be Saturday, podcaster at the Shutdown Fullcast, and former editorial director at SB Nation. The trio talks content, college football, Moon Crew and more.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by Director of Business Development & Account Management - Strategic Partnerships at Comscore, professor and sports biz connector T.K. Gore. Gore, who spent time at AOL and NBC/Comcast, talks in depth about the early days of the web and how they laid the groundwork for today's major online media publishers as well as how many social platforms facilitate online social engagement.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by Ian Sohn, president and Chief Client Officer at Publicis' Hawkeye. Sohn, who went viral about 2 years ago for a LinkedIn post telling employees to stop apologizing for "having lives," talks about, among other things, leadership and the evolution of a modern agency and its changing norms in the current state of the world.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by digital sports marketing veteran, former college basketball player and founder of Women Talk Sports, Megan Hueter. Megan talks about her professional journey from agency to cutting edge startup, the importance of representation she's come to recognize and appreciate as a gay female in a male-dominated industry, the potential, relatively untapped market for women's sports, and more.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by Cyd Zeigler, author, writer, husband, cat dad, advocate and co-founder and editor of Outsports. Cyd talks about pertinent issues that he has focused on during his 21 years with Outsports, the evolution of the site, the politicization of the trans athlete debate, the purpose he has found in helping LGBTQ athletes tell their stories, and more.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by columnist and editor-in-chief of The Athletic Jon Greenberg to talk about the return of sports in Chicago as well as the Athletic model, the void it works to fill in media landscape and how it looks to grow, evolve and diversify moving forward.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by marketing pro and The Sports Hernia alum Jaime Hamel to talk business, irreverent sports humor and Tom Brady's Uggs.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by Valli Hilaire who talks about her experience covering NASCAR at The Fast and The Fabulous - how she started in the sport; the hurdles trying to sell creative ideas to media, drivers, sponsors and PR reps alike; how she was received by both fans and media counterparts as a black, female "citizen journalist"; and her candid takes on issues facing the sport; and (hopefully) a jump back into the biz.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by former NFL, AAF, XFL running back Kenneth Farrow. Farrow talks about how his experiences in those leagues and how the lack of a collective/organized players' voice in the latter two lead to him and group fellow players creating the United Football Players Association (UFPA) to fight for minimum standards across spring leagues.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined this week by new Boston Sports Journal writer John Karalis, co-founder of RedsArmy.com. John talks about cutting his teeth blogging/podcasting independently in a major market while grinding at his day job in television to becoming a credentialed beat writer for one of American sports' most storied franchises. He also shares his thoughts on Brady taking his talents to Tampa, BWB memories, industry outlook and more.

It's Super Bowl Week, and hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia talk big game, the weirdness of the 2020 season, Brady, Mahomes, Cam, Josh Allen, #BillsMafia and more with Buffalo LB AJ Klein.

This week, OG hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by host of The Brawl 22 and Director of Operations for the Brawl Network, Michael Schottey. Schottey, among the first paid writers ever at Bleacher Report and its one-time NFL National Lead writer, talks about his new role at Brawl and the vision he has for the network based on his history in the industry. He spent the last few weeks traveling and covering college football all-star events including the Senior Bowl, and talks about the pros and cons of remotely covering the sport and its major events, including the Super Bowl, in 2021.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by sports and social commentator Michael Tillery of The Starting Five along with stops at RAPStation Radio, The Undefeated, SLAM, NY Times, among others. Tillery discusses his approach to cultural dialogue and the stories he seeks to tell, ongoing frustrations with the lack of minority head coaches and ownership in the NFL, his evolution from player to coach to writer, the value of social media in empowering voices, and more.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia return to recap 2020, talk about Keith's entrepreneurial endeavors, opine on the state of college football in regards to the pandemic and the effect on players, touch on NFL Championship Weekend and more.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by Corey Wilson. Wilson worked with Conde Nast in various PR capacities and with various publications over the past 14 years and was instrumental in facilitating a partnership between GQ and BWB that spanned several years and events. Wilson talks about the mindset the industry was in as print began migrating to digital, the evolution of PR and the magazine world, parallels between genres including sports, style and tech, and more.

This week, hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by Lang Whitaker, an author, host, and editor who now serves as GM of Grizz Gaming and contributes with Grind City Media with the Memphis Grizzlies. Lang talks about forgoing college to pursue a professional career when the opportunity arose; how maintaining connections and hustle lead to a spot at SLAM, launching their digital platform, and the creative freedom that came with the opportunity; transitioning from that culture-based environment to more structured ones like GQ and NBA.com; and how he's made the leap to esports in Memphis, working with a team and applying lessons learned throughout his career; and more.

This week, hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by writer, editor, host Maggie Hendricks. Hendricks discusses, among other things, the joy and caveats of being a WNBA beat writer, the vitriol, threats and insanity that come with the audacity(!) of being a female voice in sports, the bond among female sports journalists, the impact of industry cuts and a pandemic on her career, bursting her way into Yahoo! Sports, and more.

This week, hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by Patrick Wixted, co-leader at Ketchum Sports and a former WFT comms director. Patrick talks about the past, present and future of sports PR and digital, and of the value of relationships in the industry.

This week, hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by Matt Cerrone, creator of SNY's The Mets Blog. Matt opens up to the guys about his personal and professional struggles that accompanied his success, and his search for the purity and happiness that once came with simply writing about a team and sport he loved.

This week, hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia talk with nationally syndicated CBS Sports Radio host and NBA TV personality JR Jackson of JR Sport Brief about his experience being an early YouTube adopter and leveraging his massive vlog platform into a bonafide multimedia career, as well as the importance of recognizing personal talents, constant preparation, and having a plan.

Hosts Kyle Bunch and Don Povia are joined by MLS expansion St. Louis City's CXO (the first person to hold such a position in pro sports) Matt Sebek, a tech entrepreneur who was part of the old sports humor blog Joe Sports Fan and is founder of, among other things, Rookies App. Sebek extolls the value of a passion of his, the marriage of data and sports, and the importance of that union for creating a modern franchise.

For the past 20 years, Breaking T President Jamie Mottram has arguably been one of the most influential architects in sports digital media. In this week's episode, hosts Don Povia and Kyle Bunch talk with Mottram about his transition from media to merchandising and the parallels between them. He offers insight about the origins of and his involvement with AOL Fanhouse, Yahoo Sports Blogs, and USA Today's FTW; the personalities that drove them; growth and change in the industry; and some of his favorite BWB memories.

Kicking off a retrospect focused around the culture, people and industry that fueled BWB since 2009. BWB co-founders and hosts Don Povia, Kyle Bunch and Chris Lucas talk about the shift in how sports was consumed and discussed online and beyond.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by social media guru and workaholic Tyler Brosious. In his short professional career, Brosious has already made an impact at a number of spots including Barstool, NLL, WNBA and most recently the XFL. 24 years old with 9 years of real experience, he shares his wit and wisdom including how he connected with the hosts and became one of their valued friends and colleagues, being the whitest guy in the South Bronx, getting yelled at by Fat Joe, and more. Beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia play catch up and talk about binging on TV and games during the continued quarantine. They touch on Nashville opening back up for business, which will include KB's new cafe in Franklin, TN come late June; and Don talk about their company's acquisition of SporTech Ventures and new partnership with The Players Impact. Beats by Donquel.

Three weeks into quarantined homeschooling, hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined author, a-hole, and cougar-bait, Chris Illuminati. Chris is a noted dad blogger stemming from his role at stay-at-home dad and his ability to shed light on how he dealt with it. He, Keith and Don share stories of dealing with work, kids, and sanity in the household in the midst of Covid-19. Beats by Donquel.

In the wake of the global health crisis, Don Povia is joined on National Cheesesteak Day by guest Tony Luke Jr., Philly restauranteur, entertainer, and host who talks about the perfect sandwich and dispels the perceived Philadelphia cheesesteak war. Tony opens up about how music, art, creativity and music have helped him deal with personal tragedy, and how he uses them to push conversation on addiction and mental health through the Sound Mind Network. They touch on a number of other topics including Tony's new Amazon Prime show/podcast Comedy Kitchen with Craig Shoemaker. Follow Tony @tonylukejr.

With Keith out of pocket, Don Povia is joined by guest co-host Chordale Booker, and the two talk with 20-0 heavyweight Adam "Babyface" Kownacki, the pride of Brooklyn and Loma, Poland, ahead of his March 7 PBC bout against Robert Helenius at the Barclay's Center airing on Fox. Babyface talks about his love of the sport, his fan base, red meat, and Polish rapper Kizo. Beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia talk with Tom Schoenfelder of Caliper. Caliper specializes in assessing personality characteristics and motivations to help predict on-the-job behavior and long-term, high-ceiling potential. With the NFL draft on the horizon, sports in particular, pro teams hire them to profile a number of college players on their draft board, and Caliper can use the data to create a recommendation on which one has the idea mental makeup for a professional level athlete. Beats by Donquel.

Brian Doyle talks with Greg Mescall during Super Bowl LIV week in Miami about parallels between rugby and other sports, as well as the lessons and mentality he incorporated to be successful in launching a business post-career.

Former New Orleans Saints and New York Giants LB (and our old OG friend) Jonathan Casillas talks with Greg Mescall during Super Bowl LIV week in Miami about mentality on and off the field, family, entrepreneurship and more.

Ronnie Brown talks with Greg Mescall during Super Bowl LIV week in Miami about the influence of coaches and teachers on his success on the field, the importance of self-discovery off the field, giving back and educating younger players as a financial advisor in his second career, and more.

While Don and Keith hosted the Outside Game Sunset Cigar Lounge in Miami during Super Bowl LIV week, our friend Greg Mescall pitched in talking with several of the athletes in attendance. First up, Greg talks with NASCAR's #10 Aric Almirola about HIS "Super Bowl" (the Daytona 500), misconceptions about racing and racers, and how a football connection -- Joe Gibbs and Reggie White -- got him into the sport through their efforts to bring it diversity.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia talk NFL playoffs on the heels of the NFL Divisional Round games, and touch on the College Football National Championship. The guys talk about the matchups, the playoffs to date, Titans, Rooney Rule, the piss poor NFC East, and Keith even does an impression of former Syracuse Defensive Line coach, Coach Orgeron. Beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by friend of the OG, commentator, journalist, and host of the NBA2K League, Jeff Eisenband. Jeff schools Keith and Don on the rapidly growing and ever-evolving Esports space, and talks about his professional journey, before offering KB up tips for his new Twitch page (go follow @ogtitan53) Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia talk with USA Water Polo's Kayleigh Gilchrist & Paige Hauschild about smack talk in international competition, the Olympic Experience, the South Korea Incident, leadership, surfing, curling, and more. Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia wrap up the year talking about a few of their favorite holiday things including Jackson 5 Christmas , Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, Jack Skelton, Black Jesus and more. Beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia look talk about the end of year holiday hustle -- both as a player and a family man, as well as touching on charities and causes they align with, including Keith's experience as a foster child, Don's recent Players for the Planet trip, and KB's investment in Nashville-based Just Love Coffee Rosters. Beats by Donquel.

Hosts Kieth Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by XFL NY Guardians' team President Janet Duch to talk about the team and league's efforts to launch, expectations for the first year, her career, and more. Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by Zack Hample - a guy who's parlayed his unique (and admittedly somewhat obsessive) hobby into a profession, garnering admiration and infamy along the way. Hample talks baseball and clears the air about some misconceptions people have about him in a very entertaining interview. Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by former NBA/basketball journeyman Smush Parker to talk about his rise from the cages on West 4th to Hollywood and around the world, and the hiccups and pitfalls along the way as he looks to rewrite his legacy in the age of social media. Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Hosts Keith Bulluck and Don Povia are joined by former Real Housewives star, podcaster and entrepreneur Albie Manzo about fame, fortune, and family. Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Hosts former 3x NFL All Pro Keith Bulluck and Don Povia kickoff by talking sports business, college football, fatherhood and more. Produced by Nando DiFino; beats by Donquel.

Two-time Super Bowl winner and entrepreneur Jonathan Casillas discusses pain management, substances and CBD in the league with Culta president Mackie Barch and broadcaster Greg Mescall at The Outside Game 2019 in New York City September 5, 2019.