Every Thursday, the voices and editors behind SUU News’ sports podcast, The Thundercast, release a new episode of the sporting events surrounding Southern Utah University. The podcast has been around for a couple of years, but this version features Brig Pyfer and Kale Nelson as the lead voices and has been active for the past five weeks. They try to highlight each and every sport in order to give all of the hard-working college athletes recognition.
According to both Pyfer and Nelson, Pyfer is the ring leader on the Thundercast. He’s energetic, fast talking, and loves to research and prepare for each podcast episode. He’s majoring in media coverage and sports communication. He’s interested in all sports but has also played a variety of them in his lifetime including basketball, a little soccer, lacrosse, and ran cross-country and track as well.
Nelson, on the other hand, was never truly interested in sports when he was younger but he did enjoy being on a team. He wanted to find a way to stay involved in sports without being great at them so he joined the cross country team where he worked his way up to varsity and learned the value of sports on individual mental health and on society as well. He’s also majoring in sports communication and wants to be able to show that value to other people, which is one of the reasons why he is involved in the Thundercast.
Each episode follows the same outline. Nelson and Pyfer head over to KSUU’s podcast station, located in the Sharwan Smith Student Center. The most recent episode aired on October 19th and featured recaps of cross country and soccer, as well as previewed the football game for October 21st. But it was definitely more of a football episode as they discussed the upcoming Oregon v.s. Washington game and how other college teams were ranked before moving on to talk about professional football teams; powerhouse ones such as the 49ers and the Eagles, and the surprising wins that came around. Continuing with the football theme, the two spotlighted SUU athletes this week were quarterback Justin Miller and defensive tackle Robert Horsey.
“It’s a way for people to learn more about SUU sports, to get analysis on things that are happening, to know how to go to games and also to get commentary,” said Pyfer, “And Nelson does a really great job of adding commentary and motivations behind the sport.”
Even if the listeners aren’t sports fanatics, there is still value in listening to the Thundercast. The episodes show different aspects of the guest athletes on the show, getting to know them on a more personal note, how they came to play sports, how they came to play at SUU, and even their views on life.
“At the end of the day, it’s really about who our school has to offer,” said Pyfer, “It can help people learn about people in this school; how cool they are and their stories. I think that’s the most important part.”
Pyfer and Nelson try to connect to their audience by showing them the value of being on a team. Then they dive deeper and take a look at the individuals that make up that team. Showing their listeners that these people are a part of something bigger, and that they can be too.
Author: Kaylee Condie
Editor: Audrey Gee
life@suunews.net
