Being a die-hard South Sydney Rabbitohs fan from New York in Sydney, I am indeed a rare sight to behold. Whenever I walk the streets in Australia’s largest city, I definitely turn heads. But I would I perk up their ears? Being on the radio works!
On a partly sunny day in Chatswood, a lovely suburb of North Sydney, a pair of lifelong Rabbitohs fans, Brad Ryder and Michael Curin, invited me to be a guest on a local radio show, 99.3 Beatz FM. I was expecting a small skyscraper with a tall radio antenna tower on the roof overlooking the Sydney skyline. Instead, it was a little house with a satellite dish in the neighborhood. This made it for a more unique experience, and it was also a relief since I was quite nervous about going on the air before hundreds of thousands of listeners. I was escorted into a small room with the classic “On The Air” lit-up sign over the door. My head was swimming; thoughts were racing through my head faster and faster. I had never, ever been on the radio before. This was my chance to tell the world (or at least a large sum of the population of Sydney, Australia) about my unique love for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, not to mention the perfect opportunity to plug my Rabbitohs memoir Roos, Rabbits, and Rugby League. On the other hand, this gig involved speaking for nearly two hours and I was a casual stutterer. It has been something that I have had since I was a child and it made for public speaking an uneasy thing. In my adult years, however, it had been less frequent but working at a call center with anxious customers had made it resurface. If ever there was a test to see how well I could talk under pressure, this was definitely it. Oh, and one more thing: I am somewhat vocal-shy. I’m one of those people who can’t stand to hear my own voice on tape; whenever I do karaoke, I am stunned to hear that I sound nothing like I do whenever I sing in the car.
The most important thing I learned from my host DJ, Mr. Stephen Sim, was a technique called “the fist” which referred to making a fist and holding it in front of my mouth; it was the correct distance from my lips to the microphone head. At precisely 2 pm on August 31st, 2018, it was showtime! For the next two hours, we segued back and forth from footy to pop music, the cultural nuances between American football fans and Australian rugby fans, politics (but doing my best to avoid anything too controversial), retelling how I became a Souths fan, reasons why I love Australia and even recapping the recent Rabbitohs game against the Wests Tigers. Now, I was no sportscaster, but I feel as if I gave good insight into the one-sided 51-10 victory over the Tigers at ANZ Stadium.
I don’t know if I came out of that interview as a professional, but my friend Brad Ryder insisted that I was perfect. Even though I stuttered a bit throughout my performance, Brad insisted that it made me more real as if I went on unrehearsed as an everyday man of the street. DJ Stephen said I was one of the most interesting guests that he has ever had and not just because I was the first Yank in the studio. My love for the red & green combined with my fondness for Aussie culture made for a fun back and forth with the Sydney populi. In fact, one of my favorite moments during the interview was when Stephen and I discussed the differences between American politics and Australian politics. Knowing I didn’t want to do any hot-button topics that might cause controversy, I nonetheless talked about the political landscape in Australia and revealed plenty of curiosity about a country that Stephen said was full of interest and yearning to learn more. That, plus how in spite of the occasional turmoil in parliament, Australians have done great things that American politicians seem to keep avoiding like gun control and healthcare.
Here’s to coming back on the air next time I’m in Sydney! Oh, and instead “Boy from New York City”, I’d much prefer “New York Groove” as my lead in song. Just saying.
