WYO’s Field Notes #5: Podcasting is For Everyone

I get a chuckle out of the sourpusses on social media complaining about how “everyone is doing a podcast”, and that there are “too many Buffalo Bills related podcasts” out there. Maybe it doesn’t bother me because I came from a generation who used to get Shout! magazine a week late in the mail. It was the ONLY Bills related material one could find if you lived out of state. Let’s just say we knew Chris Brown when he had hair :)

Now we have so much Bills related content to choose from we can’t possibly digest it all. There are fan blogs like ours, traditional media outlets, radio, podcasts and television shows and message boards all devoted to the Buffalo Bills. But podcasting in particular seems to irk the sourpusses more than most media modalities for some reason.

It’s as if @Cover1 or @BruceExclusive are the only folks having analytics expertise to be worthy of a podcast. While these guys are no doubt experts in the field of football analytics (and fabulous human beings), the game of football is no longer just about what analytic experts think.

It’s also about what us plain old fans think.

And since fans come in all size and shapes, and from all around the world, it’s often different aspects of the game these fans may find just as intriguing as 40 times.

So… I have four words for sourpusses when they start their sourpussing about too many podcasts.

Podcasting is for everyone.

For example, I’ve been honored to be a guest on several different podcasts over the years. Any of you who know me reading this know I am largely focused on the mental aspect of the game, something only recently being recognized as important as a specialty area of its own. I wrote passionately about the need for it 20 years ago on the (RIP) Buffalo Bills Message Board. People thought I was crazy. They may be right about me, but they weren’t about how important mental health is for optimal performance on the field.

So when my podcast partner in crime, Tiffany Estell (@teestell_BIB) reached out about doing a podcast going on three years ago (what?), I jumped at the chance to get the word out about looking at the Bills from a different perspective. One of my personal goals has always been to tweak my comfort level with being a public speaker. Tee’s been an enormous help mentoring me along. She is like a sister to me.

Now my good friend Robby Snyder is starting to do podcasts from his own perspective. His latest edition with Rob Crippen (also someone I dearly love) from @NickelCityCrew (with DT!!!) is terrific. Robby asks Rob about his thoughts about various topics relating to the upcoming season.

I believe Robby has also done a couple of shows with Sal Capaccio @SalSports.

Welcome to the podcast world, Robby. It’s great to have you aboard and part of the BuffaloFAMbase Podcast Network! Hope to see you on more podcasts soon!

Editor’s babble: I’m from the era of Larry Felser, the ‘Walter Cronkite’ of Western New York sports media for decades so the world of podcasting today fascinates me. Many thanks to Robby Snyder and Rob from Nickel City Crew for the great podcast. Here’s to many more. Find me on Xwitter @RobynMundyWYO.