From Chuck Thompson to Joe Angel, O’s fans have been treated to some of the best voices in the business when it comes to bringing us our Birds. Of course, listening during the games isn’t nearly enough for the most die-hard of orange and black fanatics. We want as much Orioles talk as we can get, even while the team rests or travels or does whatever else they do in the intervals between the 27th out one day and the first pitch the next.
In recent years, as podcasts have taken off, the number of options for lovers of everything from books to true crime to fairy tales have been able to quench their thirst for more via the radio waves of the internet. Baseball fans – and Orioles fans in particular – have been no exception. In addition to the traditional medium of sports-talk radio, which isn’t everybody’s cup o’ tea, Birds podcasts have popped up all over the place. Even better? They’re top notch programs.
Section 336. Bird’s Eye View. Perched at the Yard. Barstool DMV. Between 2 Birds.
These are just a few of the awesome O’s podcasts out there. Some have been around for years, while others are just getting their feet under them. No matter their age though, they have one thing in common: they provide intelligent, entertaining, and honest discussion about the Orioles, from – and this is the key – actual Orioles FANS. Not Yankee or Red Sox fans being paid by some broadcast company to talk about our team for four hours a day.
Like it or not, corporate overlords, that matters to us in Baltimore. We’re – as one Sox/Yankees fan who used to pollute the airwaves called us – parochial. We want O’s fans talking about the O’s, not some outsider. When another orange-clad maniac tells us the starting rotation is going to be awful, we tend to listen more closely to their reasons why than we do when we hear the same criticism lobbed with a New York accent.
That desire to hear from our own is, I think, what has helped make the Orioles Podcast-o-Sphere one of the best for any team in any sport. It’s a community. It’s not a bunch of shows that belittle each other and view themselves as competition; rather, it is a group of friends who all want the same thing – another Orioles World Series Trophy – who sit around enjoying an adult beverage or two while discussing the local baseball team, recording it, and sharing it with everyone who cares to don a cartoon bird cap.
As proof of the sense of community that exists among all of us, Section 336 this season has put together an incredible event: Birdland Radio.
This Sunday, April 3 (AKA O’pening Day Eve), Josh Sroka of 336 is hosting TWELVE CONSECUTIVE HOURS of O’s talk at 336 Studios (his house). Starting at 9 AM Sunday, you’ll be able to listen live as all of Baltimore’s best podcasters and bloggers gather to preview the upcoming season.
The schedule looks like this:
- 9 – Section 336 kicks off Birdland Radio
- 10 – Backwards K
- 11 – Perched at the Yard
- 12 – Barstool DMV
- 1 – Bert’s Game Time puts your favorite show hosts head to head
- 1:30 – Camden Chat
- 2:30 – Eutaw Street Report (I’ll be joined by Phil Backert and Tyler Lombardi)
- 3:30 – Bird’s Eye View
- 4:30 – O the Anthem
- 5:30 – Bert’s Game Time once again your favorite hosts go head to head
- 6 – Between Two Birds
- 7 – OBP Podcast
- 8 – Section 336 concludes our broadcast day
Looks like fun, right? The shows will be streaming live on BirdlandRadio.com, and listeners will be able to call in and chat with the hosts at 410-216-5600.
In addition to having a blast talking O’s, we’ll be helping a good cause. You can go to BirdlandRadio.com and donate to Helping Up Mission Baltimore. You can also enter to win four tickets to BMore Around Town’s Opening Weekend party (all proceeds go to Helping Up).
Twelve hours of O’s talk to get us ready for O’pening Day on Monday. What better to listen to as you lay out your wardrobe for the stadium or the office the next day?
Go check out the Birdland Radio website, follow @BirdlandRadio, plan your Sunday around which shows you know you don’t want to miss, maybe even save the phone number to talk to us, and let’s get this 2016 season started off right, Orioles fans.
