He says, "Yeah, Dave, I was out on my back porch by the pool drinking a beer and you flew by in Chopper 13. I was hoping you'd throw me a t-shirt." They end up going to the Super Bowl. You approached the [music] owner of the team on the sideline. "If you have space, can I hop on the plane?" She handed Kobe Bryant her phone to take a picture of she and I.
Those kind of stories. But has there ever been a time where you found yourself in a room? How in the heck did a kid from Ben [music] Davis end up here? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hooser State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. This summer, I'm [music] exploring Indiana from top to bottom in a Roman wrapped tundra.
Before I hit the road, I make sure my truck is ready, and you should, too. Rorman Auto Group [music] is making it easy right now. 50 bucks gets you a full synthetic oil and filter service, plus a complete multi-point inspection. [music] tires, brakes, battery, suspension, fluids. They check it all and your tech sends you a video walkthrough after. [music] If you're road tripping the summer or just want your car running, this is a nobrainer.
Find a participating Rorman location near you and book it today. Up to seven courts plus tax and shop supplies. Cannot be combined with other offers. See dealer for full details. Now, let's get into today's episode. My guest today needs no introduction in Indianapolis.
He is one of the most recognizable voices in Indiana sports. He spent nearly 40 years in local television, including more than three decades as sports director at WTR. He became a trusted storyteller for generations of Hoosiers, covering everything from high school Friday nights to the biggest moments in Indiana sports. Beyond television, Dave has been a consistent presence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As the PA announcer for over 40 years, and in retirement, he's getting back at it. He is the host of the Playmakers podcast on the IBJ Podcast Network.
I'm so excited to dive into how you became a staple of the indie sports community. Oh man, how about that intro? Hey, congratulations to you, man. This is pretty cool to be a part of your big show. You've got it going on, brother. This is kind of fun.
We're trying to catch up. I want to interview you, not me. Ah, well, well, first I think people are going to be more curious about the hard work that went in to go from Ben Davis to Butler to the face of Indianapolis sports. And I'm really excited to dive into that, man. The grind, man. Yeah.
Yeah. I went to Ben Davis, not to go way back in time, back in the stone ages in the 80s, and I fell in love with radio. I was a radio geek on WBDG, the voice of the Ben Davis Giants. So, I did I did everything Ben Davis. um you know, football games and baseball games and uh you name it, pep sessions, uh school functions, and this was a time where it it was a lot harder to get into radio than it is for us to start a podcast. Yeah.
You had to have an FCC license. You had to go get a federal license. You had to study for months and months and months and take classes and go down to the federal office with guys looking over your shoulder with the number two pencil and do a and pass this test. And you had to have be licensed to be able to talk on the radio. You had to be a licensed person or if you're going to be behind the scenes, you had to have a license to be an engineer. And the engineers was I think it was called Element 9, which was even more intense.
So again, that's like imagine today you if you're going to post on YouTube, you would have to be licensed to post on YouTube. How bizarre. Think about that. That is wild to think about. Okay, you end up graduating from Ben Davis and you decide to move just down the street from here where we are in the studio to be a Butler Bulldog. Man, I used to run around these streets as a Butler Bulldog, you know.
Yeah. So, I went to Butler radio program and TV. We had a little bit of TV going on there, but their radio program was huge. They had great networking with the local TV station. So, I worked overnights at WIBC and uh several radio stations in town. You were working overnights as a college student.
So, what was the shift from what time to what time? Oh, I worked all the crappy shifts, man. Hey, can you work midnight to 4:00 a. m.? So, yeah. So, I would DJ midnight to 4:00 a.
m. , go back and sleep for a New York minute, go to class, wink wink, and then rinse, repeat. I did that for a couple different years, and then I graduated to the Saturday morning uh shifts at other radio stations, which was 4:00 a. m. to noon, which was great in my social life, you know, hey, let's go on a date Friday night. I got to go to work at midnight.
So, uh did that for quite a while. And then I got a uh I bought a DJ business back in the day when we had albums. You know what an album is? Uh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It's like it's like a playlist on Spotify of one artist. There we go. And so I I had a DJ business carried around the big albums and went to IU Purdue wherever they would pay me. I did wedding receptions, sorority fes. You had to have discs to play music. You had to have a truck to carry these big crates of albums if you wanted to hear Michael Jackson.
This is Look behind you right there. You have the number one album of all. Come on. So, you know, if you want to hear the thriller cut, you got to got to have that album. So, I had, you know, they call crates of albums. You put them in a truck with your speakers, the sound system, the two turntables, the mixing board, microphones.
If it was a big event, you would have some lights that you would put up. Wow. Yeah. This was a lot harder of a DJ business than modern day. So different. I see these guys now.
I'm like, you this little they're right here, this contraption. Boom. Let's go play a club. Wow. So you were getting at fraternities, you're getting weddings, but in all that you were still doing radio for local stations. Yes, still doing radio.
What did the career path look like? Like when you thought about how do you become the most successful radio personality possible? Like was the idea you have to keep moving up in in market size and go to a big, you know, New York or wherever? It's kind of like playing sports. If you're going to be a basketball player, you want to be a good elementary player and then you make the junior high team. And this this is the same way.
So the whole idea was to keep working in the market and keep climbing to better stations. And then I got I interned at channel 6 under a guy by the name of Tom Carnegie who was a voice of the 500 for a million years. Um and when I was in high school I was also doing uh live reports from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after school. Then I met Tom Carnegie and yeah so uh I interned at channel 6. I've told this story a hundred times. He took me to the track one day while I was interning and he hand me the PA mic during a practice day.
So I'm up there calling, there goes Mario Andretti, you know, AJ Foy's on track going 210 mph. I'm repping AJ today cuz you guys all wear retro stuff. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I had to do it. And that is a sick racing shirt. I know you like this is original, man.
This is what a crew shirt from ' 89. I think that's a long time ago. So he gives me the microphone. I'm on I'm talking about Hey, you know Mario's on the track. So I do it for like an hour. He's at lunch with his buddies.
He comes back. We get in the car to go back to channel 6. He says, "That sucked." No. And I'm like, "Okay, I'd flunked that little pop quiz about." So he called me a week later.
Hey, can you work uh during May the rest of the month? I need help. So clearly it didn't suck. Um and so I've been doing on the PA at the Speedway ever since. No. What?
As an intern? Yeah, I started as an intern at Channel 6. And as an intern, he hands you the mic so he can go to lunch and you just like, "All right, now we're doing I'm going for it. I'd been to all this radio and I've been out there so I knew kind of who was going, you know, I knew the business. But were you nervous? Absolutely.
It was like one of these once in a lifetime moments and I I was like a little kid up there going, "This is pretty cool." There goes AJ Floyd on the track. There's Mario. Rick Mirs is out there. Is this a cool moment? Yeah.
I mean, and did I mean, what year is this for you being the PA announcer? Oh, this is number 41. 41 years as a PA announcer. That's incredible. I mean, so fun, so rewarding. I'm I'm sure it's pretty cool.
Being a kid from the west side. Yeah, it's pretty. I mean, I grew up two miles from there, so I used to hang out in the infield and lots of malarkey there. As uh David Letterman said, I said, uh I I was a knucklehead, but I never got arrested. That would describe me. There you go.
Well, and for you, you know, being Are you PA during the race? I am. Like, you talk about not really being able to Thanks for listening, by the way. I mean, come on, man. Dude, I'm in turn three and it's pretty loud right there. Like, it's I'm the guy barking on the mic.
Uh I'm on all all day long doing the race. That's awesome. I I love it. something moving down to India. I'm originally from up in northern Indiana and it wasn't really a huge thing. I mean, it was huge, but not huge in our little neck of the woods.
Came to my first race in 2017 changed my life. I was this is so cool. There's something special about the Indy500 and the whole month of May and how our city comes together and what it means and so and to be a part of that, you know, 41 years on the mic is incredible. What's been your favorite announcement to make like over the PA at the Indy500? What one do you just punch through? So, the coolest thing I get to do is back home again in Indiana.
I introduce back home again in Indiana. I've been doing that for 41 years. Uh, that's pretty cool. I also time for the most famous words of motorsports. Here's the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you know, and then gentlemen, start your engines. That's pretty cool.
And the place roars. Um, after the race, I get to ride around with a winner and I have a wireless mic and I'm in the car with the winner and their family members as they take the victory lap and I I'm I'm the fly on the wall and I stick the mic in their face and you know, wait, what was the first time you smell like cuz they poured milk on themselves and they, you know, been sweating all day long and they smell disgusting and they're hugging their wives and moms and dads and I'm there, you know, it's me, it's Dave. Hey, it's me. The fifth wheel. That's why. What was the first year you got to ride with the winner?
I can't remember. I don't I'm not good at keeping track of things. I did it with Bill Elliot with a Brickyard million years ago. Was a crazy idea that I had that just to interact with the fans more. Um the coolest I wrote with Ton Tony Cananan was a good ride when he won. When Elio won his fourth, that was nuts.
Uh last year, Alex Pow was standing up on the truck. So I had a producer in my ear screaming at me, you know, to hold on to his leg [snorts] so he he wouldn't fall off the truck as we're coming down the main straightaway. if you check out the YouTube. Yeah, I' that's correct. Do not let him fall. Yeah, man.
So, I did that uh in college. I had the internship took and then I went to Dayton, Ohio to finish out the story and did television or I went to Fort Wayne first. Your first first gig after college was in Fort Wayne on TV. Yeah. The guy named Hillyard Gates hired me and he was tied up with this movie called Hooers. He was part of the movie Hooers, which was pretty cool.
So, my two mentors are both in the movie Hooers. You ever seen the movie Hoosiers? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of course.
Come on. So, what are their roles? Tom Carnegie was the PA announcer on the the actual announcer for that actual game when Milin won it. And Hillyard Gates was the radio guy. No way. Yeah.
So, those are my two guys. And they got cast as their as their roles. That's incredible. And those are my two mentors uh getting into the business. Electric. I worked in Fort Wayne for about a year and then I went to Dayton, Ohio.
What were you covering in Fort Wayne? I was a news reporter. Oh, very serious. Yes. Oh, yes. I hated it.
Okay. But but but again in this business you take what you can get. And at the time was sports like cast out into its own thing yet or Yeah. Oh, it was it was but you just take what you can get. Hey, I'm gonna go and I really thought I was going to be like a network news guy cuz I was I studied journalism and that's I was I'm going to be a serious journalist now. Yeah.
Yeah. You know, I'm going to that's what And so I did that for about three years. I did a couple years of reporting at Dayton, Ohio and then I'm like I can't cover this anymore. I can't do this. So they needed a weekend fill-in guy for sports one time and news director said, "Hey, your personality would be perfect for sports." So I I filled in and in Dayton did it for 38 years.
Yeah. You a a happened chance. Yeah. That you fill in for weekend sports. Yeah. And that's what you end up doing for the next 38 years.
Isn't that crazy? That is crazy. A a career change. Yeah. You went from being a news guy, news anchor. I was the morning I was the morning guy.
Good morning. You know, three people were killed in an overnight fire on the east side of Indiana. I did that um for a couple years and I after doing that for about two years, I'm like, I can't do this. No. And then you get the weekend and you're like, you know, the Flyers just make a deep run in the March Madness tournament. Exactly.
And then we got into the Bengals. I went to the owner of the B I've always had this crazy personality trait where I'm like, what if I asked people, hey, what if we did this? Could you do this? What if I came along? So, I went to Paul Brown, who owned the Cincinnati Bengals, and he also invented the the Cleveland Browns. You probably know Paul Brown, the the guy, the old guy.
I went up to him on the sidelines at practice, said, "Hey, I'm Dave, the new guy in Dayton, Ohio. I just started doing sports. You guys don't have any Bengals coverage much in Dayton. Um, if you have any room on the team playing, you know, we'll pay our flight. Myself and a photographer, we could." So, I traveled with the Bengals start to finish the year they went to the Super Bowl, 1988.
That was my first year of covering the NFL. Wait, before the season, they end up going to the Super Bowl. You go you approach the owner of the team on the sideline. I did at a at a spring practice. Yes. And you say, "Hey, if you have space, can I can I hop on the plane?"
Yep. I did that. Yeah. No. Next thing I know, I'm sitting icky Woods, icky shuffles behind me and Boomer Siasin and all those guys. I was on the team playing start to finish to the Super Bowl.
We they lost. I say we because I you know back then by then you they'd know who you are. It'd be like that's Dave like you have relationships and you're just a young a young pup at that point. 23 four. Okay. What kind of confidence after riding along pitching the idea getting to ride along with the Bengals all the way to the Super Bowl.
You have to be you know strutting back into Dayton with some confidence. Well I was never that way man. I have two older brothers who kept me in my place. My oldest brother's an NBA announcer for a million years. Um, and so that was never my I never was that way. I I had You have to have swag to be in this business, the confidence to to do these things.
But I didn't try to be But it can never be about you cuz the people that are listening to you don't care about Dave. They care about the message and the the access that you get. I'm happy to hear you say that as a young broadcaster because that's lost these days. Normally what happens now is this is what's going on. You and I have been talking for what 8 minutes. by now someone of art and the current generation.
Oh my gosh, I gotta get the selfie here. You You know what I mean? Yeah, man. When I was a young broadcaster, you would get called on the carpet. What is that? Wait, called on the carpet.
Yeah. When the boss calls you and goes, "Hey, come here. I need to talk to you because you're not the story, dude. Boomeras the story. Don't grandstand." Wow.
You know, like guys ask questions and you know, you're clearly on microphone right now and you just keep talking and talking and you're going to you have a just ask the question. Yeah. You know, ask the question. And from a podcast perspective, it is hard because one, people are listening to this episode because they care about you. They want to know the story of Dave. They want to know about you.
But then the other piece is you want to build this sticky relationship with. They're just coming alongside. They're like, I like Nate because he's I listen to his podcast, but they don't want to hear me pontificate the whole time. and they want to hear about Dave's story. Well, I think what works for you, I watch some of your stuff is that you're just you. And that's what I always tried to be.
Just be me. This is how God made me. He made me different than you. You know what I mean? We're all different human beings. So, just be you.
And some people are going to like you, some aren't. I had a guy blow me up on Twitter cuz I didn't know enough about uh was it the St. Pete race? I hadn't, you know, I'm like, dude, get over it. Relax. Uh are you are you a genuinely curious individual?
I am. I think that's the secret. People people that chase their c curiosity are the best kind of journalists, content creators, podcast hosts, whatever you want to call it. If you're just innately curious, I have a million stories of stupid things I've done just be that I've accomplished only because I had the thought to go, what if, hey, so I had a buddy call me. He said, hey, uh, there's a girl named Danica. She's a race car driver.
She's 14 years old, but she's at this women's and racing thing downtown. You probably should, you might want to meet her because someday she's going to race in the Indy500. I'm like, "Okay." So, I went down to this event. I went backstage. Lynn St.
James was there, former driver. I said, "Hey, Lynn, introduce me to Danica. Hey, Danica. This is Dave. He does announcing the track." I I talked to Danica for 10 minutes.
Gave her my business card. said, "If you ever need anything, you're in Indianapolis, you need, you know, connections with somebody at the track, need an interview, call me." So, one Saturday, I get a phone call two years later and, "Hey, Dave, this is Danica Patrick. Do you remember me?" "Yeah, I'm in town. Would you mind giving me a tour of the museum?"
"Sure." So, I take over to the Annapolis Museum. She's not racing at Indie. So, then she tells me, "I think I'm going to race next year in the 500." So, I say, "Hm, this is kind of cool." So, I'm with my son who who's like, "Wow, Danica Patrick."
He kind of knew about her already. So, she comes to Indianapolis and I said, "Why don't you be on channel 13 with us?" And she says, "I I'll make you our driver expert." And I said, "We'll pay you five grand a month." She goes, "I don't need the money. I just want the experience."
So Danica Patrick was on channel 13 for five, six years every night with me doing trackside reports when her, you know, she was the biggest thing in town and in the business for free because I asked her long before all the other guys were going, "Hey, you're a big deal now. Now we want to be with you." I already had a relationship with her before she even walked in the door. That's why just because you said yes to your friend who's like, "Hey, one day you're going to need to know who Danica Patrick is." Yeah. Just And it's just a, you know, making contacts with people.
I I tell young broadcasters all the time just or in any business, make contacts with what you're interested. Call the person and go, "Hey, I'm curious about, you know, accounting. Who's the top accountant in town? I'm going to have lunch with them or go get coffee." Just get that get in that game. How did you end up coming back to Indianapolis from Dayton?
Uh, so Channel 8 in Indianapolis had an opening uh for sports and I applied and they told me I wasn't good enough and not ready. And [laughter] and then two weeks later, channel 13 had an opening and channel 13 was last. And so I applied for that job. And Tom Carnegie said to me, "You should go to channel 13. It's in last place. You work your butt off and you can develop something for yourself here."
And lo and behold, I came back and I always remembered how channel 8 didn't want me. And uh we had this we were number one on channel 13 for I don't know 25 30 years. No way. Yeah. We built we built a really cool thing. How does that work?
When you talk about rankings and ratings and what are what are you because I do feel like everyone says we're the best channel in the market and it's like how do you really determine who's best? Well, back in the day we had Neielson ratings. There was actual hard ratings and facts and figures and you know there was just one rating source. So um and so there was an uh Neielson said that hey you guys are last and then how many years later did you become first? Uh, I think it was about four, it took about 5 years before we made the climb. We were really aggressive, owned by aggressive um owners.
Um, when we did things differently, we always did like when the Colts were playing in Kansas City back in the glory days, we would do special shows um, pre and post. Back then, nobody was really doing that. My second year I was at Channel 13, I I came up with this idea for Operation Football and we started flying the helicopter around. I had done it in Dayton, Ohio, uh, with Operation Football, but I pitched them about, hey, football, Friday Night Football is more than just the guys playing football. All these communities rally around this pre-imp, you know, I mean, it's a it's a Oh, yeah. You know, and so we started loving on Operation Football.
We did the band of the week. We did cheerleaders of the week. We I can't tell you how many bands uh I stood in front of every Friday night at 6 p. m. It's, you know, the Operation Football Band of the Week. So all those kids that watched, you know, their moms and dads wanted to see their kids on TV and this was before you had this deal.
So people were watching Friday Night Operation Football. They was like, "Oh, it's kind like mustwatch TV." Well, and the fact that the average, you know, this is a very broad stereotype, but like the band crew might not have a reason to watch Operation Football. Bam. But it's like, okay, now you're getting the band kids, the cheerleader parents, and the football fans, and you're uniting everyone around the spectacle that is high school sports. That's exactly what the game plan was.
Yeah. And the first year I pitched it, they looked at me and like, "This is stupid. This won't work." So then we ended up doing it for Well, we did it for 30 years. I think last year was the 30th. It's still going, but not quite like it used to be cuz you don't fly helicopters around.
And wait, like, how did you get them to say yes to the helicopter? Well, I think they saw the they figured out the marketing value of me channel 13 landing a helicopter in Zensville and then an hour later I'm in Alexandria. and oh by the way, hey Pendleton Heights, we're going to come visit you. All those people, you know, we put out, you know, it was wild that we would show up and the kids and the parents and they greet you with pies and we'd stay at the football game for 20 minutes, half hour, but it's kind of like what you're doing with this will you go to small towns. It's the same concept. Yeah.
And people love it. So when I go to Alexandria, nine times out of 10, I got Bill comes up to me. Hey Dave, good to see you partner. I uh was on Operation Football back in 19, you know, 91. I'm like, dude, I'm not that old. Come on.
[laughter] You know what I mean? That's so wild. So, how many years did you have the helicopter? I flew in Chopper 13 uh 28 years. No way. Every Friday.
Yeah. Whoa. Okay, so you're there and you become the sports guy at the worst rated show in Indianapolis. Yeah, man. What does it take to climb the rankings and become number one? dig work.
Be different. Be different. Be different. Uh but like sometimes different can fall flat on its face. It can. But again, my whole thing was like, let's try new things.
Let's try Operation Football. Let's Sunday Night Sports Jam. Let's get Reggie. Hey, can Reggie Wayne come in and be on the show? Let's get Gary Brackett. Let's Hey, Pton Manning, would you do a deal with me?
I went to Pton Manning his rookie year. Um same kind of deal. And I hooked up a deal with um I think it was Riley. Yeah, Riley Hospital and we got them as a sponsor. So I went to Peyton and said he doesn't need money. I said we'll get sponsors every time you're on channel 13 a,000 I don't know $2,000 goes to Raleigh Hospital in your name cuz now it's some means something to him.
Yeah. So I every Sunday I got an exclusive with Payton Manning and I would meet him outside the locker room and we'd do five minutes and air it on the sports jam and Riley Hospital would get three grand. It was great. How much of like the heyday of television was like paid appearances like that? Oh my gosh. It was more about relationships.
Um and then it got kind of crazy like Reggie Miller was a big deal. Remember Reggie Miller? Yeah. Yeah. So 31 we did a show with Reggie on channel 13 and that was the first time someone actually paid to have him. And we did a weekly show with him.
Every Monday we'd have a live audience and he'd bring in like who was in town. Hey Dennis Robin's here tonight. Hey Charles Barkley's here. Jordan. We did all kind. It was awesome.
We did all kinds of crazy stuff with the names. Where along your journey in Indianapolis did you feel like you were famous? I'm not sure I ever felt that way really. Like where there was I think you you're just so busy doing your gig. Yeah. You know what I mean?
I don't And I don't think I don't think of myself as f. I don't I just This is what I do for I did for a living. We're deep into the summer stretch now. And if your calendar looks anything like mine, it's packed with county fairs, rodeos, livestock shows, concerts, and every excuse to be outside. When you're living at that pace, there's a store worth knowing about. Cowpokes work in Western.
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Easy. That's a pretty good one. Isn't that funny? Uh so you know that that having relationships with those kind of people and that's why I started this playmakers podcast to kind of do the stories behind the stories um with different athletes and it's people are so curious about like a little bit more of a deep dive cuz let's say you're flying the helicopter around. You might be in Alexandria for 20 30 minutes at that point but you're not getting 20 or 30 minutes of coverage. No, it's like you're getting you're [clears throat] putting all that investment, all that time.
The physical experience of when you show up there is great, but it's probably 15 seconds or 25 seconds that makes it to air. So, being able to take people inside all these interesting stories and, you know, all the fun stuff that you've done. That's that's incredible. I'm excited to talk about Playmakers. I do want to know what was the room you found yourself in that just blew your mind? Whether you talk about Super Bowls, you talk about all the the Indy500, you know, post post race with the winners, but has there ever been a time where you found yourself in a room and you look around, you're like, "How in the heck did a kid from Ben Davis end up here?"
When I was working at Dayton, Ohio, a guy by the name of Paul Warfield, who was a Hall of Fame football player, he and I did a show together. He called me. I was at the Super Bowl for the Bengals, 1988. He called me. He goes, "Come to the Derell Country Club tomorrow morning at 8." I'm like 23 years old.
I don't want to go to some country club. Then I go. It's the Miller Lightite Hall of Fame breakfast. So I walk up and he says, "Sit down." I sit down and there's Joe Deaggio, um, Stan Musel, Whitey Ford, um, Havlichek, Dan Marino, and Paul Warfield and Ben Davis Dave at this table. What?
And there's no cell phones back then. There's payoneses. And my dad played semi-pro baseball and was, you know, and so I'm sitting next to Joe Deaggio, you know, you you know baseball, right? Yeah. Yeah. You know who Joe Deaggio is.
And so I uh same kind of deal. I got to the pay phone. I had to call my dad. I don't rarely do that, but I had to call my old man and say, "Hey, Jack, you won't believe this." So that was a cool moment. I was in Phoenix one time uh having breakfast in Pinsky's motor coach before a race and um and under the the tent, you know, they do the big area there and I'm having breakfast.
My buddy says, "Hey, that's George Harrison of the Beatles sitting next on the next table over." I'm like, and there's like eight people in there. I'm like, "George Harrison the that's him and the Beatles." Yeah. So Emerson Fidality comes out, race car driver. And I've known Emo.
I said, "Mmo, is that Harrison?" He goes, "Yeah." He goes, "He's a friend of mine." He goes, "He doesn't know anybody here. Let me introduce." So he introduces me to George Harrison.
Hey, this is Dave, the announcer at the 500. So I'm And so George is sitting by himself. He says, "Can I sit with you?" And so I'm sitting with breakfast with George Harrison. So So which was cool in itself. So So Mo wins the race.
So these guy after the race, they're partying and and so I'm doing my live sports and so I go to Emmo and I'm like, "Can I interviewed you guys?" So I did this interview with Emmo and George Harrison and and I don't ever ask for autographs. Twice in my life I've asked for an autograph. That night when we got done, I I said to George Harrison, "Now, buddy, my a guy, there was a photographer from the Speedway there and he said, "I got a great picture with you and George Harrison." And I'm like, "I got to get it." So So I looked at Emmo, I go, "Emmo, can I get his autograph?"
So I got George Harrison's autograph. So yeah, that's a pretty cool m Wait, what was the second one? Two autographs in your life. Oh. Uh, one George from the Beatles. AJ AJ having AJ Foy that I asked for.
Yeah, I have a picture of he and I when I was in high school, stone ages. Really cool. That's That's special cuz he was u the intimidator. You didn't Well, I do. I mean, Bob Knight was here and AJ was like a notch above him. No way.
Oh, yeah. You didn't Wow. You was walking in the lion's den there. Do you have advice for individuals that might find themselves in rooms that they're not used to being in or that that feel like the celebrity type rooms? Just act like you're, you know, be gracious. Yeah.
Um, act like you've been there. Um, don't don't uh fanboy, as I call it. I watch a lot of fanboy go on, especially at the racetrack. My I'm on the second floor of the pagota and I can kind of see the the game and it's kind of fun to watch the fan. I think that's the biggest uh thing these days is is, you know, just be you. Yeah.
And and you'll find we're all people. Again, we're all, you know, Yes. Someone is famous. Um, I interviewed both the pre both Bushes, the presidents, you know, they were just human beings. How does a sports cer in Indianapolis end up interviewing two presidents? Well, one was um at the track.
It was set up. It was part of my gig for my work. Um, he was a guest there, George Bush. George Senior. I should know my numbers, but I don't. 41.
Look at you go. It's 41 and 43. Good job, young man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I just had uh Tom Kelly on and he is buddies. I That's Yes. So it was Tom Kelly's race team. Yeah. He's buddies with 41. He tells the story of being his caddy.
Yeah. So he was there at the race. So I went in Kelly's garage. Scott Sharp I think was the driver and uh they said they introduced me and I got to do five minutes on the video boards. And you want to talk? I was back in the garage here and you could just hear the place roaring.
Oh yeah. 300,000 people. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States. That's pretty cool. That's pretty fun. Okay.
I want to talk about loyalty. How long did you stay with WTHR? 32 years. 32 years on one station. Yes. Was there ever a time where you were like, "Hey, I got to move to a bigger market.
I need more opportunity like where there are times where you were stressed." Yeah. Yeah. Oh, for sure. Um, I had a my job was amazing and I worked for a great company. Um, yes, I had a couple opportunities to with ABC and ESPN to do some things back in the day.
I went to I went to New York and got whined and dined by ABC and went through the whole interview process and you know got you know had had a nice offer brewing and I had two sons um and and a wife and still do and and they were in those very young precious years. Yeah. And I'm like okay this job they want me to do is to go I would be on the road be in New York. I'd be bouncing around the country. I'd be flying into Indianapolis to see the kids and you know, are we going to move to Bristol, Connecticut for the ESPN thing? And so, you know, I prayed about it, talked about it with my my family and my wife and I.
And I'm like, this this is not the right fit for me. Yeah. And, you know, does my ego want to be on ESPN? And do I want to be doing bigger things? Yeah. It'd be kind of cool, but I also wanted my kids to have a normal upbringing.
I wanted to be a part of their lives. I didn't want them to hate me when they're 30. Yeah. because my ego needed to be stroked. And that's a lot. You know, that happens a lot in our business is, you know, you you fall in love with the attention of what you're doing.
I I I told people all the time, I got over the whole idea of being class president a long time ago. It was cool being class president. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, it had had its benefits, but but you get to the point where you're like, okay, there's more to life than me being a broadcaster. Yeah.
But you think about the opportunities you've had as a journalist, as a broadcaster. You've interviewed presidents, famous people know your like famous athletes know your name and like would call you out of a room. Yeah. And it's like I think people think you have to go to the biggest markets or the biggest cities or the biggest states to make this global impact and you know rub shoulders with the who's who, but you showed you can do that from right here in Indianapolis. Absolutely. I mean you know when you've got such great sporting events that blow through this town and you know there's there's a lot of opportunity in this town.
I mean, you know, Caitlyn Clark and go down the list of, you know, Tyrese, there's there's big athletes here and stars that are on the rise. And you talk about Pat McAfee, he has really been this like uh, you know, vigilante of the broadcast era. It's like non-traditional, do your own thing, start a podcast, sell those rights, and like just keep climbing up the ladder. Now he's everywhere you look. He is amaz Well, so I covered Pat and we would u go to his locker every Wednesday because I knew I could get something out of him. Hey Pat, I literally walk up Pat, what do we got going on?
And he just, you know, he always gave me something great for television and we formed a relationship and he did a little um show on Indie Star like on their website. People forget his first show was like underwritten and like produced through Indie Star at like Kilroy or Brothers Downtown. Yeah. So he did that for a while and it was kind of like whatever. So then we went to him, channel 13, and we hired him to to do a half hour show and it was hilarious because his he is so creative and one of the most creative people I've ever been around and fast thinking, just brilliant. And he would we would pre-produce these shows, right?
Yeah. Like on Thursday and then Monday he'd come in and you could just see the brain. He like, "Hey Clab, bro, let's do this. Let's do this." And like Pat, it's a half hour show. We have commercial breaks we got to get in.
It's like we have 23 minutes of content. Well, his brain was like, I don't I need an hour and a half content. I don't need So, it was wild to watch him start to churn on this whole idea. That's awesome. Yeah. And then to watch his rise, you know, we did the whole he did the comedy tour and I did a bunch of those shows with him around the state, which was fun to see.
And then he uh called a couple of us. He's like, "Hey, I think I'm going to retire from uh football." I'm like, "Dude, why are you going to retire from football?" because I want to chase my dreams of being I I want to do a show. I want to be Jay Leno or I want to do a Tonight Show. I I want to be a I want to get in the media.
And I'm like, dude, that's a really bad idea. [laughter] I'm like, you're making like $3 million punting a ball. Punt the ball as long as they'll let you punt the ball. Put the money in the bank. Raise your kids. It's all good.
Do not get into this. This is a you know, you'll get eaten alive. This business will eat you alive, this media thing. And he's like, I'm going to go. So anyway, here we are. Charlie's.
So, I love it that he's exploded. Well, I mean, how go Patrick? I mean, that's crazy. You're like, "Don't do it. Whatever you do, just keep punching the football." And he said, "Hold my beer.
Let's go rip this thing." That's our boy. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. He's a rock star.
Well, you talk about being in the industry for so long. Yeah. Today, you're running a podcast. I want to see I want to know about the shift in the media landscape that you've seen over the last four decades and what got you so excited to ho to host a podcast now. Yeah. I mean, used to be, you know, years ago you had broadcast at 6 and 11 p.
m. You know, that's how long, you know, you needed your information 6:00 and 11:00 p. m. and on a noon show as well or the morning show there was some stuff. that's where you got your your information. And then, you know, next thing you know, you got these phones and then that starts changing the landscape.
And I remember a guy in the office coming up to me go, "Hey, there's this thing called YouTube on your computer." I said, "What's YouTube?" U as in the letter U in tube. No, you know, yo, you Oh, okay. So, and then you had this video on YouTube and people were starting to post things and it changed the whole dynamic of what we were doing. So broadcasting today is light years different from what I was doing uh back in the ' 80s, 90s and 2000s.
Where was the moment that you saw like independent media outlets like similar to what we're doing really become a a player in the space? Well, so I just had a note from a buddy of mine, Mario and had this horrific car flip at during a test session that we captured on channel 13 with Chopper 13. I think it was 28 years ago and that's right when YouTube came out and we had the rights to the video and we posted it and it went pretty big and then next thing you know it blew up worldwide which was unheard of back then. We're like oh my gosh some people in Bangladesh are talking about Mario's car flip and Mario was telling me about traveling the globe and running into people in airports in the middle of nowhere going you're the guy that flipped through the air and survived the crash. So that's when I first remember it starting to change. Um, and now the whole landscape's to like this is the way people's attention spans now or give me 20 minutes, you know?
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? They've got to really like you to give you a long and and it's got to be little hits of it. You know, you have to be able to cook. So, thank you for sticking with us for 25 minutes or whatever. Yeah, absolutely.
We are 36 minutes into our recording. We're probably we're running low on time of people. No, just kidding. Yes, we are. Uh, well, what I want to know is what can we expect from the Playmakers podcast and what got you excited to retire from traditional broadcast and go all in on this podcast? Yeah.
So, traditional broadcasting is 247. It's non-stop. Oh my gosh, the Pacers didn't get the lottery pick and tomorrow the track opens and is Caitlyn Clark's back. Okay. It's non-stop information gathering. You're in in that game.
And like I said, I did that for 40 years and I got burned out. I tell people it's like eating ice cream. I was I you you've been hearing my stories. I've been eating ice cream my entire life. I've had every flavor of ice cream whether it's the World Series, Super Bowls, uh go down Olympics, name it. Um so I've had all this ice cream and I was like I I've had enough ice cream.
I just want to retire now. So So now I'm like I still want to scratch that what if creative, you know? Yeah. You know that itch that you have. So, I went to the IBJ, Indiana Business Journal, which I respect big time, um, and and said, and Feltman is putting a ton into podcast network and modern media and events and like they're not the I think some people hear Indianapolis Business Journal and they think it's a newspaper and it's so much more than that. This is not your mom and dad's business paper.
That's not what this is anymore. That's why I jumped on board. They have this whole media digital department which is massive. Um, and so I pitched them this idea of doing playmakers, stories behind the stories. So, like I said, I've had Gary Bracket on and he and I were talking about, you know, stories that involve the Super Bowl that have never been heard before. And Tamika Catching, she was on I've known Tama for a thousand years and we had conversations about being in London at the Olympics and how she handed Kobe Bryant her phone to take a picture of she and I.
[laughter] You know, those kind of stories. That's crazy. Yeah. Stories that we haven't had a chance to talk about. So, just going down the list of people to have on Adam Beniterry and I did something uh race-wise, Elio Castra Neves, he and I go way back. Um, and we have some great stories about the, you know, everybody knows about his highs, but he's had some lows that will rock your world.
So, I'm going to talk to him about those. Um, so it's it's a lot of fun. Yeah. I mean, and talk about Yeah. Again, fun. It is legitimately fun.
Yeah. Like Andrew Luck, I've known him, you know, I met him at Stanford when they were thinking about drafting him and he was riding his bike around campus and wanted to ride his bike over to the li. He wanted me to interview him in the library. Dude, why are we going to the library? Cuz I love the library. That's where I hang out.
Like, oh, okay. So, he rode his bike over to the library, met us, you know, that's crazy. So, just those kind of behind the scenes stories that'll be fun to tell, you know, and I'm doing two a month. It's called Playmakers with Dave Calabro. So, hope you'll check it out wherever you get your Wherever you get. Yeah.
Remember to like and subscribe. Leave five stars. That is your reminder for this show. Leave us a fivestar rating. Yes, dude. This guy's awesome, man.
Dude, Dave, where are we going to go get a tenderloin next? You've been traveling Indiana, man. We got to go. I got some new spots for you. I Yeah. Wait, wait, I'm here.
Where where are your go-to tenderloin spots? Well, I know you've been to Wagner's chicken place. Dude, see Wagner's That's not tenderloin. That's just fried chicken. It is phenomenal. Have you been to Pearl Street right around the corner?
It's a place called the Pearl Street Pub down in Oldenberg. It's around the corner. The pub. Yeah. You've been there? Uh I haven't gone yet.
My girlfriend's from Batesville. They got the best cold beer there and tenderloins. Per the pub. Pearl Street Pub. Pearl Street Pub, man. Wow.
Don't go there Monday, Tuesday. They're closed. I know too much. Wow. That's impressive. Okay.
I love that. Is there another spot? Where are you? Are you I mean, there has got to be a Westside spot that you're getting a tender line. Well, I you know, Mug and Bun. You got to go to mugging bun every May because it's traditional and you got to go there and have glory.
That was a glory day spot for us Ben Davis sketch. I love it. Well, I do want to talk as we're kind of wrapping up here. I want to know what's your favorite Indy500 memory. Personally, it's probably 1977, my buddy Marty Warel and Tom Stricker hanging in turn two. I jumped the fence after the race and I high-fived AJ and Tony Hullman on the victory lap.
I should have been arrested. Sorry, I did it. I'm one of those guys in cut off jeans if you watched the video back in the day. Um, and full circle, here I am. Wait, this was riding on the victory. This was when you were a fan.
Yes. Don't tell anyone. I don't want anybody to hear this. I need [laughter] Yes, it was when I was a fan. No way. I know.
I told you that I was a knucklehead that I But I didn't get arrested. But almost you towed the line. That is a heck of a memory. That's a good memory. That's a great one. Okay, this next question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart.
They're a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at home isjart. com. So Dave, you you get to talk a lot about, you know, the opportunities with ESPN, the opportunities with ABC. You could have left Indiana. You could have gone out, done this, that been a global phenomenon, but you chose to stay here and build a life in in Indiana.
Why do you call Indiana home? back [snorts] home again in Indiana. Uh, I call it Indiana home because I I love the people here. I love this mentality of being a Hooer. I like the fact that when you're walking down the street, somebody goes, "Hey, how you doing?" They don't even know who the hell you are.
Good to see you. How you doing? When you travel elsewhere around the world, you can pick Hoosiers out. We're gracious. We take care of one another. We look out for each other.
Um, it's a great place to raise a family. Uh, and I I can't brag enough about Indiana. I I will say, you know, February, March, become [clears throat] kind of a struggle. It makes you appreciate the spring though. Makes you appreciate the spring. I love all things Indiana.
I love Hinklefield House. I I love all things Indiana. I love it, man. Okay. Uh I do have to ask, if you were talking about the Dave Calabro blooper reel, what would be the three moments that are on your biggest blooper reel? That's pretty funny.
Well, I got a brand new sports coat one time and I wore it on the morning show and I was anchoring the news all morning long and at the end of the segment the uh weather guy said, you know, the closing shot, "Hey Dave, you get a new coat?" I said, "I did. My parents gave me this for Christmas." He goes, "I know. The price tag's hanging off the I freaking did the whole morning." [laughter] Yeah.
Okay, that's that's a good blooper. I had a uh I had a monkey I was doing a live shot somewhere and somebody handed me a monkey and he peed like literally on my neck down and then we were talking about Jim Harbaugh had an issue with his back. He had a he had a slip slipped disc in his back, but it came out slipped dick in his back. [laughter] So that that was kind of that's that's a blooper real. He's probably like that damn Dave Calabro. He even said it, too.
Uh Harro did Jimmy Harro. Hilarious. Oh wow, man. So many great stories. Uh I will subtly plug Keep Your Eyes Open the Playmakers podcast. You're going to see Dave Calabro.
When has it already started being released? Yeah, we're out and about. We probably are five or six into it. So we're going to be all summer long. We'll be cranking having new content for you. Hope you'll check it out.
Yeah, absolutely. On the IBJ Podcast Network. Finally, we have the same three questions that we ask every guest who comes on the show all about the state of Indiana. This is your opportunity to shed the light on a part of the state that more people need to be talking about. I want to know, Dave, what is a hidden gem in Indiana? I like to take the top off the Jeep and go to the Park County covered bridge festival, but don't hit the highlights.
I go to the bridges out in the middle of nowhere. Perfect fall day. Take your girl with you. Have a little picnic if you know what I'm saying. Just go cruising on. That's a pretty fun thing to do.
There the hidden gem. The h That's my hidden gem. So, you need both the Jeep and you need it to be what is it? Is it October? It's in October. The the Covered Bridge Festival.
That's great. That thing rocks. They I mean, it's a 10day [clears throat] 10day festival. Yeah, it's huge. There's a lot of people, but if you time it right, get there early and like I said, I just go to the Yeah. Out in the way spots.
I love it. I love to fish. I'm a creek stomper. So, I go all these small little towns and um and go fishing. That's how I know about places like the Pearl Street Pub in Oldenberg. I love that.
That is a that's an electric pull and my girlfriend's family is going to be very pumped that you said that. Okay, this is your opportunity where to give us guest recommendations or other people that have ties to the Hooser State that are doing incredible things. Who's a Hooser we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. Well, since I'm in race mode and a guy who's definitely a Hooser now is PO A Ward. You want to talk about a star that's from Indianapolis that's on the verge of he's already big in Mexico, but he his star is about to explode worldwide even more if he were to win the 500 and he's knocking on the door.
He is. It's like Ben Brutal. He's going to get the job done though. Yeah. But I He's the first name that comes to mind. I love that one.
Finally, as you think back four decades plus on the air in media in the state of Indiana, I have to know overarching if there was only one, what is your favorite Indiana memory? I mean, I could easily say this, you know, being with the Colts when they won the Super Bowl, being in the locker room, that probably would be the thing that'll stick in my head that uh, you know, being in that locker room when Tony Dunie says, "Hey, let's all take a knee in prayer and and seeing all these guys after they won the Super Bowl having a prayer and, you know, then and then the party was on and uh that and watching how Indianapolis grew from sleepy old Indianapolis that I as a kid witnessed to, wow, this is is a pretty cool place. And we're hosting the Super Bowl, you know, all that was based on uh Pton Manning and the fellas winning those that title. Yeah. Wow. Incredible.
Dave, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. I mean, it's it's wild. from a licensed FCC radio broadcaster at Ben Davis High School to interviewing presidents, Super Bowl champions, MVP, NBA players, like the list goes on and on and on. Your commitment, your dedication to not just sports, not just teams, but the city of Indianapolis and Indiana as a whole is incredible. To the Indianapolis 500, 40 plus years as a PA announcer, boys, let's go racing. Uh, we appreciate you coming on.
If people want to find you, if they want to find Playmakers, if they want to listen to your content, where can they do that at? Yeah. Playmakers with Dave Calabro. Anywhere you get your podcast. It's pretty simple. It's It's a big deal now.
Heck yeah. All right, man. I'd appreciate you checking it out. Yeah, we'll talk to you soon. All right. Thank you for the time.
I've enjoyed it. Congratulations on your success and keep rocking. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate [music] Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hooer State great.
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