HOW IT ALL STARTED
THE PRESSBOX WITH BRETT AND THE BAD BOY
In May of 2002, Allen Smothers and Brett Friedlander started a weekly radio show called "The Pressbox with Brett and the Bad Boy." It would be staged at It'z Entertainment City in Fayetteville, NC and the two had a deal that the show would last three weeks. Being fiercely local, the show catered to the Fayetteville community and the Cape Fear region while also covering the ACC, keeping an especially close eye on the NC State Wolfpack. In 2006, Bill Priestley joined the show as a fill-in host and anchored the last segment of the show known as The Pressbox. THE SPORTS BLAST
Eight years later, the show was going strong, but a weekly 4-hour commute for Smothers was getting cumbersome and he decided to leave the program. Brett Friedlander and Bill Priestley continued with the show and renamed it "The Sports Blast," holding true to all of the things that made The Pressbox successful. Hal Nunn also came on the show as a marketing specialist and offered his unique perspective on local sports and especially comments on the Hoke County Bucks and the NC State Wolfpack. In August of 2013, The Sports Blast signed a new deal to be on AM1490 WAZZ a Beasley Broadcasting station. Bill had to step away because he got a real job and Brett and Hal invited Chris Hughes onto the show. Chris runs www.carolinapreps.com a high school football web site and blog that covers ALL of North Carolina and soon to be South Carolina. In its 12th year the weekly program on Monday afternoons produced over 500 shows and was one of the longest running sports radio programs in the state. In 2017, The Sports Blast went to Facebook only operated by Hal Nunn and Ed Clement. In May 2021, Jessy Brown Joined Hal, Replacing Ed Clemente. In December of 2022, the Sports Blast welcomed Antonio Smith to the team. May 2023, we welcomed PJ Wardbrown, Photographer to the team! In June 2024 we welcomed Jason Jackson, Photographer to the team! August 2025, Hal Nunn and Jessy Brown will resume the Sports Blast Football Coverage at Hoke High as well as other sports moving forward. If you would like to SPONSOR the Sports Blast or a season, Contact Hal Nunn.
