Katie Cressman (kacressman@ursinus.edu)
The Ursinus College Athletics Department is finally back in full swing this semester, and with that comes a new and exciting addition. ‘Sports On Main’ is offering students, faculty, parents, and the surrounding community an original sports broadcast. It recaps everything that happened in our sports world over the previous week and previews what is to come. The new program aired its first episode this past Monday evening at 10:30PM.
Justin Masiello, a student and producer of the show, played both football and basketball in high school and remains an avid sports fan. At Ursinus, he works alongside Andy Edwards, Director of Athletic Communications, keeping stats for all sports teams.
He doesn’t work alone on the new broadcast. Masiello explained that “Russell Gawlak is the amazing editor, who makes sure the whole show is edited perfectly so I myself do not have a heart attack, and Steve Weissman and James Schuld are the anchors on the show who, by the way, are absolutely amazing.”
The group of men work alongside two Ursinus staff members to create the ultimate sports broadcast, one that is fresh, but has been in the works for quite awhile. “The idea to create Ursinus College Sports Network (and ‘Sports on Main’) was an idea I had been working on for about two years. My father, who I keep in my heart and mind every day, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, called glioblastoma, two years ago and ended up lasting 15 months after being diagnosed. He passed away on May 8th of 2020. My father and I loved attending multiple sports games a year, especially for different Philly sports, and I promised him I would push myself as hard as I could to achieve working for one of those sports teams one day.” Masiello added that he “completely took off to spend my last few months with my father which allowed me to create and form more ideas for a broadcast pitch once I returned to campus. I ended up linking up with three great-minded people- James, Russell, and Steve. They all had a vision for something similar to mine, and we ended up just discussing how to make all this work. With the help and guidance of Dr. Edwards, a Media and Communications professor, and Andy Edwards, we were able to create this unique, new, first time ever platform to showcase our athletes and teams on a whole new level!”
‘Sports On Main’ is set to air every Monday and Friday at 8PM. When asked what viewers should expect, Masiello teased that they “are just going to have to tune in to find out.”
Be sure not to miss this Friday’s stream. Check your inboxes for a link to Monday evening’s episode. In the meantime, check out ‘Sports On Main’ on all of their social media handles including: Instagram (@sportsonmainuc), Twitter (@sportsonmainuc), and Facebook (UCSN: @sportsonmain). We wish Masiello and his team the Beary best!