Pat Casey, a communications and media major from Burlington, Massachusetts, currently has an internship with the radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub, or WBZ-FM. The Sports Hub is the #1 sports station in Boston, with over one million weekly listeners, and is the fifth biggest radio station in the US, with over $32 million in total revenue.
Pat commutes to their headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts three days a week. He works the show with Mike Fegler and Tony Massarotti, also known as Felger and Mazz. One of his main tasks throughout the show is to answer the phone, as people call in to talk to the hosts. He screens the caller, asking what they want to talk about, where they’re from, and their name before putting them on-air.
His other task is to write descriptions of each segment during the show’s runtime and post the segment to their website in podcast format.
“If it’s like two to three o’clock [for example], after that’s over…there’s four segments. It’s…one segment, commercial, another segment, commercial, etc.,” he said. “I write descriptions of every segment in that hour, and then I use a title of the three main points they were talking about…and then I post that to the 98.5 The Sports Hub website as a podcast form.”
Pat’s journey of working with the Sports Hub goes back to a reply on the social media platform X. His story is a lesson that any interaction with a company can lead to an opportunity.
“One of [their] producers, Kev Maggiore, who’s now my supervisor, posted something…funny on Twitter [X]. I don’t [remember] what he was talking about, but I responded to it…[with] a joke. [I] thought nothing of it,” he said. “Then…I looked at my phone [and] he replied to me. I was like, I should try to take advantage of this. I messaged him again, I was like, I’m a big fan of the show…and I’ve been…wanting to get an internship with you guys for a while, is there any possibilities?”
He was able to connect as Kevin messaged him privately and told him where to submit his resume and cover letter to potentially earn an internship.
After a month of waiting, he got an email from the head producer of Felger and Mazz, and they wanted to interview him.
“They actually wanted to hire me for…the fall semester. [But] my schedule was already made for the fall season [at Merrimack], so I couldn’t get any…classes moved,” he said. “I [told them] I was thinking of doing it in [the] spring, and they [said]…that’s fine too.”
As a communications major, Pat has taken advantage of the clubs on campus, which helped him prepare for this internship. He’s part of Merrimack’s radio station, WMCK, and he used to write articles about Merrimack’s hockey team for the Beacon. Last year, he took an introduction to communication course and recalled a class where they talked about radio.
“[There] was a segment on radio, which I found fascinating, so I’ve been…gathering all the information I could [and] practicing at our own station. The studies have been awesome.”
Growing up as a hardcore Boston sports fan, Pat always found a way to listen to the Felger and Mazz show and fell in love with the unfiltered aspect of radio.
“Felger and Mazz is on NBC Sports Boston, so it’s… on TV as well. So I’d watch…the Patriots on Sunday, and then I’d go to school, but when I get home…[they] would be on,” he said, “It was on TV…but it was…a raw type of [media], it wasn’t a TV show, and I thought [that] was fascinating.”
Pat hopes to stay with the Sports Hub long-term as he continues to learn the lifestyle of a radio professional.
“I’ve always thought it was the coolest job in the world. You can…sit there for four hours and talk about really [anything], like you don’t have to talk about sports if you don’t want to,” he said. “I [wanted] to do that, and I…just started working at it and…I’m here now.”
