SU students channel passion for NY Rangers into podcast

By: Kevin Baumer

Posted: 9/23/08

Broadcast journalism majors Steve Gelbs and Eric Rothman have taken their career paths into their own hands.

Gelbs, a senior, and Rothman, a junior, co-host a New York Rangers blog site - nyrangerscast.com - and a biweekly podcast of the same name.

The site began in the summer of 2006, when Gelbs got a call from one of his friends who had been hired by the New York Sportscast Network. Gelbs' friend was covering the New York Mets for the New York area network, but told Gelbs the company hadn't yet found anyone to cover the Rangers beat.

Gelbs, whose father was the Rangers' team physical therapist for nine years, is a lifelong Rangers fan and quickly jumped at the opportunity. He called his good friend Rothman, who was a relatively new fan. The two then set to work to record a sample tape, and soon after they were sent contracts.

The original contracts required them to produce eight podcasts and four blogs a month, but due to the growing demand for current content, they now blog almost every day.

Gelbs is the self-proclaimed "hockey guy" on the show. Of the two, he knows the game inside and out best.

"It's kind of sad but this team is my life," he said.

While Gelbs knows the history of the game and can provide more actual hockey knowledge, Rothman adds comic relief and generally lightens the mood of the show.

Rothman took a very different path on his way to becoming one of the show's hosts. In fact, he didn't even follow the team until Thanksgiving break in 2006, when Gelbs took him to a game.

"I'd be the first to admit I'm not the most knowledgeable hockey fan, but I'd say I'm better than your casual fan," he said.

Rothman and Gelbs do not use scripts, but they have no problem keeping the conversation moving.

"We have no problem with chemistry," Gelbs said.

Gelbs used any means he could to spread the show's name, posting repeated links on hockey message boards, sending emails to other Rangers bloggers and trying to contact anyone who might be able to help provide links to the site.

Through continued spamming of message boards and an increasing number on links on other sites, NYRangerscast.com quickly grew to 3,000 hits a week. Gelbs and Rothman were very surprised by their success, but weren't satisfied yet. Gelbs contacted John Dellapina, the Rangers beat writer for the New York Daily News and convinced him to make an appearance on the podcast.

"I think it was partially because there was really no other place to hear him," Gelbs said. "When he came on the show, it really gave us some credibility."

The site has grown to about 15,000 hits a week, with over 300,000 total hits during the 2007-08 season. The duo now boasts listeners from some less traditional Rangers fan pockets such as China, Italy, England, California, Virginia, Georgia and Maine.

As a result of the sudden success of the NYRangerscast, the parent company has now set a goal of attaining 100,000 hits a month by next year. It remains to be seen if there are enough passionate Rangers fans to account for continued growth of the site.

Dellapina, for one, disputes the notion that hockey is just a niche sport and that less coverage is necessary.

"I think the passion of hockey fans is underestimated," he said. "Newspapers and TV don't cover it adequately. If you look at the TV ratings, the Rangers this year are at least even with the Knicks and blow the Nets out of the water, but you don't see that. The Rangers sold out their season in an hour. If 18,000 people showed up anywhere in New York it's probably front page news, but hockey doesn't get that kind of coverage."

But it is this lack of coverage that enabled Gelbs and Rothman to corner the market. Fans of the show say there are few other places to get timely Rangers related content.

"They found a hole in the marketplace, and they're doing a professional job," Dellapina said.

"I want to do something with the Rangers," Gelbs said. "I think I can talk about it with the best of them. There's the Daily News, the Post, and the NYRangerscast. I mean why not?"

kebaumer@syr.edu