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THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Time to make a little podcast magic

| March 19, 2021 1:20 AM

Hear ye! Hear ye!

We have some news just in time for March Madness.

You'll find people chatting about it on street corners, in diners and office hallways.

You'll walk past any little group today, with the same phrases being repeated…

“Wow! Cameron’s finally doing a podcast.” “Yeah, I heard that at a saloon downtown.” “I wonder if he’s as goofy on air as he is doing the columns.” “He’s gonna have guests from all over the place, right?” “That’ll be good. Maybe he can start with Sister Jean.” “Oh, I’d love that. The NCAA wasn’t going to let her in to Loyola’s game. And she’s 101 years old. What were they thinking?" “It’s the NCAA. They’re never thinking.” “At least Sister Jean broke their will. She’ll be there in Indy.” “Yep, and I know Cameron is gonna be all over the bracket that Sister Jean filled out. He’ll have fun with that.” “Why? What about her bracket? Did she enter one of the official national things?” “Oh, yeah. She picked Loyola to make the Elite Eight, too.”

“And…”

PAUSE.

Everyone leans forward.

“Sister Jean picked Gonzaga to win the whole thing.”

Laughter.

“So did Barack Obama. And plenty of Republicans to balance the support.” “No surprises picking the Zags, gang. But I do want to hear Cameron doing podcasts during March Madness.” “It’s no surprise Cameron’s finally doing this thing, either. I mean, like, every columnist in the world has a podcast. But I think it’s neat that we have our OWN sports podcast.”

More chuckling, but you hear agreement that it’s good to have somebody right here in North Idaho doing a pod for sports fans.

Local hero, you know.

Sometimes.

More opinions in every conversation.

Just listen.

“Man, it won’t be boring. There’s no doubt Cameron is a first-class bullsh…uh, I mean, he’s more than half crazy.” “No kidding. He actually said he liked the Mariners pitching staff. I could never get that far, even with a few beers.” “And he’s down on Russell Wilson for ripping his own teammates.” “Never mind that. I want to hear his take on whether the Zags can really do this thing. He knows those guys pretty well.” “OK, enough! When and where is this cool new podcast?”

AH, WELL…

You came to the right place.

This is Steve back to you.

I’ve got most of the information you need -- and we really do want conversation right now, with Gonzaga the biggest name in the NCAA tournament.

So here are the basics…

The podcast will be on North Idaho Now, which carries news, features and conversation with guests from all over the panhandle.

Chanse Watson, managing editor of the Shoshone News-Press, has done some interesting stuff on the site, and he’s partnered occasionally with Madison Hardy, a sharp reporter from the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press.

By the way, just forget those rumors that I turned down ESPN and a few other national podcast sites to stay home.

I’d never stray, ladies and gentlemen of glorious North Idaho.

So, the facts…

YOU CAN find North Idaho Now on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. It's also on the menu at cdapress.com.

As for the time, well, I’ll definitely be starting this afternoon to talk about the Zags, but…

My partner on the debut show is Mike Patrick, our editor and my pal for about a million years – and together we have a spectacularly awful record when fiddling with technology.

We actually put our lives in danger on one occasion, so setting an absolute, no-possible-changes starting time for this first pod, um…

Let’s just say I don’t know exactly when or how often I’ll be doing these things beyond today, but they WILL happen and they’ll be fun.

We’ll have a schedule, too — honestly.

Plus, what a week to start, with the Zags sitting at No. 1 in the nation and everyone’s favorite to make history by winning this championship with an unbeaten record.

You DO want to join us, I promise.

And, yes, we’re definitely starting today, kids.

Get to North Idaho Now, like…

Now.

Or…

Soon.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday. Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball which will be published each Thursday during the NCAA tournament.