Steve Czaban First Team Mon-Fri 6AM-9AM Email: czabe@fsr247.com

Steve Czaban presides over the quintessential morning show for the male sports fan. It is sports? Of course. But it's also a lot more. Things like female eye candy, gambling, electronics, office politics, random yada yada, pop culture, and "all the news that matters to Czabe." The First Team starts the day, going fearlessly into sports topics few shows dare to explore.

 

1. Why did you get into radio?

In college at UCSB, I started writing for the student newspaper, The Daily Nexus. Then one day, since the radio station KCSB was in the same building, I walked over and asked if they had any sports shows. Sure enough, they did. One hour a day. It was some god-awful radio. Thank god you needed a rooftop antenna and had to live on campus to hear it.

2. What is your favorite part of your job?

To be able to bring your passion for sports to a large audience. So many people are fans and can only share their passion with a small circle of friends. I feel like I have hundreds of thousands of "sports friends."

3. Who is your favorite athlete of all time?

Probably Walter Payton, even though I didn't grow up a Bears fan. He was the embodiment of class, talent, dedication, and teamwork. The fact that he died so soon after he retired is an enduring sports tragedy. He should have been able to enjoy a long and healthy post-retirement as an example of hard work and an embassador for the game and sports in general.

4. Which teams did you root for growing up?

All the local Washington, D.C., teams, with one exception. The San Diego Chargers were my sort of "NFL mistress" on the side. I loved watching the Air Coryell teams with Dan Fouts and all those weapons. Plus, the fact that the Chargers were on TV in the 4 p.m. NBC slot almost every Sunday didn't hurt.

 5. What is the biggest sports rivalry in the country and why?

If not Duke-Carolina in hoops, then Alabama-Auburn in football. I'm not sure which. I've seen a Duke-Carolina game in person at Cameron Indoor. Mind blowing. I need to go see Auburn-Alabama before I die.

6. What is the greatest athletic event you have ever seen?

UC Santa Barbara beat UNLV at home in 1990 just a day after my grandfather Nick O'Neill passed away. The win stopped UNLV's nation-best winning streak of like a year and a half, and it was my grandfather who encouraged my writing when I was just a little kid. I was writing for the student newspaper at the time, covering the game, so I really had an appreciation for what my grandfather had instilled in me as a sports fan, and as a writer.

7. What is a sport that you never thought you would like, but now have grown to enjoy?

NASCAR. It's pretty tedious to watch all the left turns in a row on Sunday, but I enjoy the week-to-week rumors and scuttlebutt, especially now with a lot of rivalries between drivers.

8. Favorite actor and actress of all time?

I'm not into actors or actresses. If the movie's good, I'm into it. Too many great actors have done a few clunker movies that you are embarrassed they even read the script.

9. Five favorite movies of all time?

Saving Private Ryan, Caddyshack, Terminator II, Spinal Tap, Jerry Maguire. No specific order. Nothing has come close since, although Wedding Crashers made a strong run.

10. If you were not working in radio, what would you be doing?

I think I would own a driving range somewhere. I'm not kidding. Nothing like hitting golf balls with nobody watching you. Total solitude.

11. Who has been the biggest influence in your career?

My own paranoia. Every time I hear somebody better than me, I think: "Why don't I do that as well? How does he do what he does?" It helps to constantly motivate.

12. Can you please rank your five favorite web sites?

They change all the time, but can I say my own Czabe.com? Shamless plug!

13. Can you please rank your five favorite television shows of all time?

Sopranos, Seinfeld, Simpsons, Battlestar Galactica, and E.R. before Clooney left.

14. What is the e-mail address that you want listeners to have?

czabe@fsr247.com. Go ahead, holla! I may not always respond, but I do read them all.

15. Favorite music album of all time?

My musical tastes are very eclectic, and ultra-private. I have a "self-destruct" program written into my iPod if it ever gets stolen. Suffice to say, I'd be pretty embarrassed by the crap that's on my iPod.

16. Personal Stuff

Birthplace: Alexandria, VA

Current Hometown: Sterling, VA

Married? YES

Children? Two daughters, 4 and 7.

17. Fill in the blank: I could not live without Pop-Tarts. Man's gift to quick, delicious, fake breakfast. Mmmmmmm. Pop taaarrrrttssss... argghlggllhglllll...