First week in the books

It's been an exhaustive process getting the two radio shows on the air this week. A lot of people have helped to make this happen, and I want to thank them for their support not just over the last few weeks, but in some cases over the last few years.

The members of our crew have been very influential in this process: Christopher Kerr has been invaluable providing technical assistance in setting up our equipment and providing transportation in those situations; Ray Manukay, Brittany Salsberry, and Amanda Salas have been very supportive and understanding of the many false-starts that we had; and everyone at the Sports Journey Broadcast Network, specifically Lake Lewis and Monica Lewis, have been very supportive as well.

Additionally, my friends and family have been very supportive of this effort as well, and I really appreciate their enthusiasm.

Our guests this first week have been outstanding. Guests such as Howard Schnellenberger, Charlie Weatherby, Ryan Herrington, and others. Jim Fox, Heidi Androl, and Daryl Evans have all appeared this week to help me talk-up the Kings Hockey Fest later this month, and they have been tremendous in those interviews. Special thanks to the Kings PR department for their incredible efforts in making these guests available. I hope in the next two weeks leading up to that big event that they will continue to make others available to us. Other guests next week include Ed Berliner and Dan Rosen.

We've also spent time this week attempting to 'brand' our correspondents. This week alone, we brought on-board AJ Smith (NBA), Courtney Ports (NHL), Bradley Weber (Auto Racing), Ivan Jones (boxing), and Chris Griffin (college football). Sunday morning on The Sunday Tailgate, you'll hear again from Christopher Kerr (NFL) and Ray Manukay (MLB) On Monday, we will introduce Jennifer Colli (college basketball) and Mario Melara (soccer).

Finally, a couple of people need special acknowledgement: Arny Schreer, a mentor at a young age who encouraged me to seek the morning announcements gig at Saddle River Day in the 8th grade; my three best friends growing up, Patrick & Brian D'Errico and Bob Larsen, for putting with my 'play-by-play' of all of our sporting events growing up; Jeff Shade, who was the production manager at WFAN when I interned there - he, and I remember John Minko as well, who both thought I had talent and encouraged me to pursue this as a profession - I'm not completely there yet, but I appreciate their part in that process; Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, along with Art Russ Jr, Dave Sims, and Howard Cosell, all of whom inspired me to want to host a sports radio show. I should also mention Charley Steiner, who once upon a time was Art Russ's fill-in on 'Sports Talk' on WABC radio back before there was even a WFAN.

And finally, my family has been most supportive of me my whole life, and have been extremely patient with me when I was 'struggling'. I especially want to acknowledge my father, for fostering a belief in me and my keeping my dreams alive. They haven't fully come true yet, but I'm standing on the stage of it and beginning what I hope is a long and glorious walk across the stage. None of this happens with you Dad.

I thank all of you for being so patient these three months while we were in 'pre-production', and for listening this week. I hope you enjoyed listening to it, because trust me when I tell you I enjoyed performing it.

Visit our blog sites for the two shows at these addresses:
Moncrief in the Morning:
http://moncriefinthemorning.blogspot.com
The Sunday Tailgate:
http://thesundaytailgate.blogspot.com

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http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Moncrief-in-the-Morning

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