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"Once you get into radio, you never really get out."

A common mantra according to people in the business, but no truer words were ever spoken.

	Jason Smith

Almost like the mafia, once you get in, you're in. I began doing radio at Syracuse University as a freshman, and as a sophomore I hosted the morning show on the campus radio station. Getting up at 5:30 a.m. five days a week as a 17-year old wasn't the greatest thing in the world, but it was just so much fun I couldn't ever think of doing anything else. After I graduated I spent the summer applying for every radio job I saw, hired a headhunting agency and . . .

Nothing.

I couldn't get a job in Syracuse, Binghamton, Springfield, anywhere. So I interned in the marketing department of ESPN in New York City (my hometown) the summer after I graduated. When my internship was over, I was allowed to interview in Bristol, Conn. for a job as a production assistant for the TV network. Suffice it to say, I wasn't prepared for the in-depth sports grilling I got in my interview. ("Who was the best high school basketball player in the country last year?" "Who are your top five goalies in the NHL?" "Who is your least favorite ESPN SportsCenter anchor?") I mean, I was a huge sports fan but how was I supposed to know any of that? I spent the last four years without cable!

So suffice it to say they didn't call me for awhile.

After my internship ended in N.Y.C., and STILL couldn't get a radio job, I moved back to Syracuse looking for whatever you look for when you're 21 and have no idea what your life has in store for you. All I could get was a minimum-wage job as a clerk at Blockbuster Video, working 20 hours a week. But here's where karma intervened for me for the first time in my life. May 10th, 1993, was my one-year anniversary of graduating college. On that night, I found myself in the back of a guy's pickup truck (who just got out of jail), with a can of gasoline and my two best friends. My car had run out of fuel and we hiked to the gas station to fill up the can, and too tired to walk back to my car about two miles away, we flagged down this guy to give us a ride back to my car. I sat there in the back of the truck thinking that a year ago was one of the greatest days in my life, and here I am, one year later, getting driven to my no-gas-having-car by an ex-con. I vowed then I had to wind up doing something better with my life, and soon.

The next day, ESPN called to offer me a job as a production assistant. Swear to God.

	More about Jason Smith
	Top 5 Favorite Teams
	New York Jets
	New York Mets
	Syracuse Orange
	Hartford Whalers
	New York Jets
	Five Least Favorite Teams
	New England Patriots
	Miami Dolphins
	Buffalo Bills (sensing a theme here?)
	New York Yankees
	Minnesota Lynx
	Five Favorite Movies
	Caddyshack
	Office Space
	Midnight Run
	Slap Shot
	Yentl
	Five Favorite TV Shows
	Deadwood
	Entourage
	Arrested Development
	The Simpsons
	Lost
	Quick Hits
	Favorite Recipe: Ice
	Favorite Food: Ravioli
	Favorite Video Game: Robotron
	Favorite Beastie Boy: Mike Diamond
	Favorite 'West Wing' episode: Two Cathedrals
	Last time in church that didn't involve a wedding or christening: 1982
	Last time Jets won two playoff games in a season: 1982 (coincidence?)

So for the next three years I became immersed in the world of TV production, and didn't really think about radio at all. Craig Kilborn, back when he was a SportsCenter anchor, tried to hook me up with a friend of his doing radio in California, but after writing a skit or two for him I dropped it. In 1996 I moved to Los Angeles to be a producer for Fox Sports Net and continued on in TV through 1999 when I went back to the Disney corporation and became a sports producer for KABC-TV in Los Angeles. It was around this time I started thinking about radio and how much fun I had doing it and just how I got so far away from it. I never got further than fantasizing about it, because I was living in Los Angeles, and how do you break into radio, on-air no less, in the number two market in the country?

Enter: Karma, Part Two.

I was producing a sports/variety show for KABC at the time, and the co-host of the show was Ellen K, from 'Rick Dees in the Morning' and now 'On-Air with Ryan Seacrest'. For some reason she thought I would make a good sports-talk radio host. (Yeah, I know) I laughed and told her not to tease me. But she was serious, and said to me, "Jason, I'm married to the boss of three stations here in Los Angeles. You want me to get you a meeting, I'll get you a meeting. We'll go in through the back door, but I'll get you in." I couldn't believe it. Shortly after that, she pulled some strings and got me into the office of the Program Director at XTRA Sports 1150-AM, who, on Ellen's recommendation, allowed me to fill in with one of their hosts, Lee Klein (who is still on the air in Los Angeles). Lee and I got along well, and soon I was filling in on shows with him on a regular basis.

Thank you Ellen. Thank you Lee. I owe you both more than I could ever say. I've been in radio ever since, and have no plans to leave.

Coming 'home' again to ESPN is something I'm both fortunate for and proud of. I remember when I first started filling in for the network in late 2004, and talk about pressure, wow. If you do sports-talk radio, ESPN is the mecca. They're the Yankees, the Canadiens, they're USC. All the dynasties rolled into one. After meeting with mangement in October of last year, they gave me some fill-in days for Colin Cowherd in late December. Do you think I didn't spend every waking moment of every day thinking about that? (Talk about having bye weeks to prepare!) After I did the shows, I sat on pins and needles, waiting until after the holidays to catch up with management again to get feedback on how I did. Did they like it? Was I awful? Would they ever use me again? Yes, we radio folks are a paranoid and worrisome bunch. On vacation in Detroit (I know, 'Who goes to Detroit for vacation in December?') my girlfriend and I were shopping in Lowe's and my cell phone rang. It was an 860 area code which I know is Bristol, Connecticut. I got all tingly for five seconds and answered. It was operations manager Pete Gianesini who was wondering if I could fill in on 'SportsBash' for Eric Kuselias in early January. I knew right then good things were going to happen. Soon after I started hosting on the weekends with Mel Kiper, Jr., and continued subbing for Colin, The Bash, GameNight, Dan Patrick and of course, AllNight, which is now my home. I hope to stay a long, long time.

So that's my story (at least the first 30 or so years of it, you'll have to wait longer for the sequel). So why did I feel it necessary to tell you how I got to this point? Because I want you to know who I am, as that's the type of show you'll get from me every night. I'll always tell you what I think of the topics we talk about and how it affects me, and in turn how it affects you. I'll always be real, we'll always have fun and hopefully the time will pass by as quickly for you as it does for me. There's nothing I take more seriously than the responsibility I have to put on the best possible show for you, and you will get my best all night, every night.

Talk to you soon . . .

AllNight with Jason Smith is heard Sunday-Thursday nights from 1-6 a.m. ET on these ESPN Radio affiliates