The Professor – The host of Sportzfan Radio (@SportzProfessor) – you name a sport, the Professor has probably at least watched it.  Has a lengthy background in sports management and marketing which is how he got to know Sean Callanan, Marie Baker and Dan Butterly.

Fanatical about his support of the Melbourne Demons, Green Bay Packers, New York Mets, New York Knicks, Vancouver Canucks, Air Force Academy, Arsenal, Rangers, Hamilton Tigercats, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Traralgon Maroons, Morwell East Hawks,…get the drift?  One observer believes the Professor has a team in every League!

The driving force and glue that holds the show together, he has helped shape the show into the sports fan discussion fest that it has become and is always happy to tackle the tough issues as well as see the lighter side of sports

The Gelding – gives us the latest from the world of racing (@thegelding) – Greg was born into racing with his father being a jockey by trade.  From an early age the Gelding was an avid race track fan and it is suggested that he introduced the Professor to this form of gambling when they were at Secondary College together.

Greg was a fine footballer with both McKinnon and Bentleigh and played district cricket for St Kilda as a batsman rubbing shoulders with the likes of former England spinner John Emburey.

As a tragic Richmond Tigers supporter, it is lucky he has such a keen interest in racing that gives him something to enjoy on Saturdays as he certainly hadn’t had much joy with his football team over the last 25 years although since 2017 the Tigers fortunes have changed with 3 premierships.

The Gelding has been with Sportzfan Radio since Day 1 and has picked many, many winners during that time.  Just ask “the ladies from the Tennis club”.  He has developed quite a following in that time and his selections are keenly awaited each Saturday and Sunday.

Not content with just picking winners, in later years the Gelding has taken to owning race horses and has a part interest in both Queen Asa, Danish Rock, Del Rios, Atlantic Rose and Drop the Mic.

Paul Dalligan – One-liners a specialty and gives the show the latest from Rugby League (@pauldalligan) – A former resident of Sydney, Paul has brought his passion for “the most watched 
sport in Australia” (he will argue that until he is blue in the face) down South. His one true love is the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Paul is also an American sports fanatic with a particular focus on Major League Baseball and NFL where he follows the Kansas City Royals (it is a long story) and the Denver Broncos.

Paul is excited about the new baseball season in Australia, actually if you meet him you will see that Paul is excited about anything in the world of sports. Just don’t mention those dreaded words “salary cap scandal” or “off field indiscretions”.

The Judge –

Dan Butterly – US Sports, Dan has it covered (@danbutterly) – when the Professor asked Dan to be our US correspondent he said “No”.  However, given Dan’s breadth of knowledge of Pro and College sports in the United States, the Professor persisted over several months and finally wore Dan down on the agreement that he would only need to do one show a month.  Of course that has now become every other week and he is our “go to’ man on all the big stories.

In professional life, Dan is the Commissioner for the Big West Conference which puts him at the forefront of College sports in the US.

Much to his distress, he is a long suffering Chicago Cubs fan who, whilst he did see a World Series win, is eagerly awaiting the next one!

David Coutts (aka Coutta) –

Sarah Radlow –

FORMER CAST MEMBERS

Sean Callanan – known on Twitter as @seancallanan from @SportsGeekHQ.  Sean brings the Sports Geek to @SportzfanRadio as he signed us all up on Twitter, built the Southern FM website that our international audience listens to as well as the revamped and Twitter friendly SportzfanRadio.com (this would be why Sean has a picture & video included 😉 ).  No wonder he was voted the world’s most popular person on the Internet (according to Daniel), but it was just Melbourne.  At Sports Geek he is assisting some of Australia’s biggest online fan bases with clients including Collingwood, Manly Sea Eagles, West Coast Eagles and Cricket NSW.  Despite this online success it seems Sean will best be known for the #callananshimmy at the AFL Grand Final Replay, enjoy.

Daniel Eade – (@danieleade) – Daniel claims that he has never been wrong.  Covering the NBL & NBA since 2004, Eade is a die-hard Melbourne Tigers fan and also one of the select few who openly admits to being an LA Clippers fan….I guess that says something in itself!  But nothing gets him more excited than the Collingwood Magpies cakewalking to another premiership. “Hot Pies!!”

With an opinion on everything, from sports to music to movies, Eade isn’t afraid to call for the sacking of anyone who attempts to ruin a sport with stupid rule changes and was recently heard to ask the Gelding if a last finish in a horse race was a “good last”.

Sportzfan Stan – (@sportzfanstan) – was the World’s Oldest Radio Apprentice – He first appeared on Sportzfan Radio on 18 January 2009 (show #64) and
his last show was on 9 September 2012 (show #263) just three weeks before he passed away. After turning 88 years of age in 2009, Stan decided he had something to offer radio….himself.  Being an ex VFL player for his beloved Fitzroy, Stan’s general sporting knowledge was accrued over a lengthy period as a player and coach in many sports and seemed a sound basis for a radio career (in his opinion anyway).  Sportzfan Radio thought so too and called upon him to provide some historical sporting perspective to the younger members of the Panel.

His claims to fame were that he went to school with Lou Richards, fought in WW 2, played basketball against Lindsay Gaze and had a memory of most of the important sporting events over the last 80 years.  He presented his weekly “editorial” on a sports story that had caught his eye during the week. That rant usually called for the sacking of some coach, player or official…..most times his opinion was usually right.

He could often be heard critically questioning Daniel Eade about the Melbourne Tigers and the NBL.

He is sadly missed.

Sydney Colt – he and the Gelding are the Sportzfan turf experts (@sydneycolt) – At the age of 7 the Sydney Colt began an inauspicious multi featured sporting career by playing rugby league in the St George juniors and representing the boys of De La Salle against heathen schools in tennis. This coexisted with attending every Saturday race meeting with a father (or is that sire) who was the first punt drunk in the family’s history. Unfortunately injuries in 1991 and 1994 saw the end of all weekly physical sporting activities such as golf and tennis.

For 6 years the Colt operated as an on course bookie at Trot and Greyhound meetings held at Harold and Wentworth Parks. Having made a modest profit the Colt jumped the fence and rejoined the family as an undisputed punt drunk. With the boom in Texas Holdem Poker, the Colt now spends his weekends by sitting at his computer and TV screen on Saturdays while on the Sabbath he can be found at Star City enjoying the ‘sport’ of poker. The Colt lives by the punters creed – money lost, nothing lost. Confidence lost, everything lost

Mark Fiorenti – The ‘F’ Word looking at soccer – Is a passionate supporter and follower of the World Game or as he likes to put it “The Beautiful Game” (one look at the terraces at the last World Cup will confirm as much!).

According to his junior coaches, the ‘F’ Word had a promising and glittering career as a junior footballer and would almost certainly be lining up alongside Lionel Messi in Barcelona’s formidable attack today had his dreams not been crushed at the tender age of five when he was diagnosed with asthma.  Since then he has taken up the most important of positions in the football world – the armchair (critic).  The panel at Sportzfan Radio (rightly) argue his true and most influential position however, is the fence, or more particularly sitting on it – the ‘F’ Word simply cannot commit to a result.  But when he does (as rare as Haley’s Comet), the ‘F’ Word gets it right!….the ‘F’ Word is still chuffed at predicting the finalists of this year’s World Cup – weeks before a ball was even kicked in anger!

Whilst of Italian extraction (it wasn’t a dive!), the ‘F’ Word’s blood type is “green and gold”.  He is well informed, committed and passionate about “Australian” football issues – on and off the field.  Closer to home (and much to the chagrin of his fellow hosts who have recently labelled him a “fence jumper”), the ‘F’ Word supports Melbourne Heart and according to Paul Dalligan, will one day run the club!  For the time being however, he is keen for his suntan to look as impressive as that of the Heart’s coach, John Van Schip.

The ‘F’ Word is also an avid tennis fan, particularly the Russian women’s variety and likes nothing more than seeing Rafa beating Roger, on and off clay.

Nick Tedeschi – fought with Dalligan over who is the NRL expert! (@nicktedeschi) – he had dreams of wearing the Baggy Green as a child after taking to cricket as a promising batsman and capable medium-paced bowler but those dreams were crushed by former Australian opening bat Dirk Wellham who insisted Nick stay in school and study hard, telling him “you have no future at any level of cricket, anywhere.” After such a dramatic and crushing end to his cricket dream, Nick took to rugby like a turtle to the sky. Nick is generally regarded as the slowest winger ever fielded by Orange City and rode the flank before moving to five-eighth, where Nick managed to avoid making a single tackle in two seasons controlling the play. He once scored three tries in a match, a feat which left his career try tally at four.

Nick has tried his hand at most sports and while he has scored tries, kicked goals, hit the winning runs, held aloft trophies and reveled in the glory of victory, he considers his greatest sporting achievement backing a winning parlay that included 33-1 shot Stella Maree during his first week of university, earning him the nickname “Punter” and funding trips to the local Workers Club for the next year.

Nick these days writes sports for Punting Ace, Backpagelead and Crikey.

Marie Baker – provided our US sport updates on occasions (@livnthecurrent) – Marie may have more knowledge about getting a crew together with some beers to WATCH sports than she does actual knowledge of sport but, she has miraculously won money from her fantasy football league every season, so maybe she knows a little bit. Sports have been a part of Marie’s life since she was wee little, growing up in Indiana…a state known for its basketball tradition (currently more well-known for its basketball troubles, unfortunately). In her younger years, she played softball, volleyball, and ran cross-country and track, but her biggest passion was always basketball. Choosing a large university over playing basketball at a smaller school.

Marie has continued competing and has completed a Half Ironman race (1.9 km swim, 90.1 km bike, 21.1 km run), several shorter sprint triathlons, a marathon and half-marathon, and quite a few 5K road races.  Her @Sportzfanradio connection began when she met The Professor in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA at a basketball conference tournament meeting.  She has also worked in sports marketing for six years and athletics fundraising/development for three years and is a die-hard sports fan (rather than employee). Her faves include Indiana University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (where she has worked for 8 years), the Chicago Cubs (she named her golden retriever Wrigley after their stadium), the Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis Colts, and all teams who play dook (or Duke University). Marie is still looking forward to her first trip to Australia where she longs to try a vegemite sandwich on air with the @sportzfanradio panel.