When rising sophomore communication studies major Brian Mermelstein and rising senior journalism major Ben Medland found themselves with extra time on their hands due to the pandemic, they knew the time was finally right to start their podcast. Having worked together closely at Temple Athletics for the past six months, the two had thrown the idea around before. But with their present lack of entertainment as well as sudden decline in opportunities to practice their broadcast and production skills, they knew they needed this time to “Stay Sharp,”—and felt inspired to name their podcast accordingly.

From the outset, neither Mermelstein nor Medland wanted their show to be a generic Philadelphia sports podcast —something they feel would continue to saturate the local market. Instead, they were fascinated by the idea of sports reporting in the age of COVID-19, and saw an opportunity to focus on the sector of the sports industry that they are a bit more familiar with: sports media. 

“I feel like we wanted to do something a little bit different, and what better way than to capitalize on what quarantine has done to the world of sports?” says Medland. “We wanted to see the full scope of how people were sort of staying sharp with their [production] tools.”

Since releasing their first episode on April 22, they have welcomed guests such as Syracuse basketball and football graphic designer Noah Hammerman, Phillies intern Graham Foley KLN ‘20 and our own Dean David Boardman. According to Mermelstein, simply reaching out to these people and making connections has also been valuable in building their professional skills and networks.

“It’s been really fun reaching out to these people and learning more about them,” he says.

Through working on this podcast, Mermelstein and Medland are also learning quite a bit about themselves, and where they would like their professional careers to take them. For instance, while Medland is not opposed to staying in broadcast, he says he would like to move into more technical behind-the-scenes roles in production, design and photography. On the other hand, Mermelstein is grateful for the opportunities the podcast has given him to sharpen his on-air speaking and presence, as he would like to continue working in broadcast.

By their side since the start has been Richie Raspa, a video production manager at Temple Athletics. For the past academic year, Raspa has overseen Mermelstein and Medland as they have honed their crafts and built their team dynamic, and says he was not at all surprised when he heard the two were producing their own sports podcast.

“Their podcast is yet another way for them to express their creativity and versatility in content creation,” Raspa says. “[The guests] all cover different aspects of the industry, and [Mermelstein and Medland] focus on that with each episode. Learning about the personal experiences of each guest can go a long way in helping the listeners find their niche in the sport industry.”

Though this project was simply meant to serve the creators as well as their listeners during their downtime in quarantine, even with restrictions being lifted across Pennsylvania, the two said that they are not ready to close the lid on “Staying Sharp” just yet. Mermelstein says that they will likely take a break in production when on-campus instruction resumes, but that the next season will be produced on-the-fly, even when quarantine is a distant memory.

“The next few episodes are gonna be the end of season one, and the ‘pure’ quarantine podcast,” he says. “It’s been a grind to crank one out every week, but it’s been a nice challenge.” 
 

Check out Staying Sharp on Spotify, Google Podcasts and more.