“The Sports Shop Show”: Making History As Only All-Black National Urban Sports Talk Show Team

RALEIGH – On the morning of February 8, I had the pleasure of meeting Erroll Reese, Pam Thompson-Smith, and Kevin McClendon – the hosts of The Sports Shop Show.  This trio is making history as the only all-Black national urban sports talk show team. The Sports Shop Show is broadcast directly from the 99.9 The Fan radio studios in Raleigh and airs live on WRAL’s new multi-platform 24/7 sports channel, WRAL Sports+, weekdays 7 am – 9 am. WRAL Sports+ can be found over-the-air on 34.1 in the Raleigh-Durham area and the WRAL app.

Representing the fan’s perspective, The Sports Shop Show is just like men having conversations at the barbershop or women at the salon where according to their website, “they talk about what unites us—a love of sports—rather than what divides us.”  They also crack jokes, talk smack, and discuss everyday life on the show, as well.

After they got off the air, we sat down to talk. Below is my interview with the hosts of The Sports Shop Show:

Q:  Tell me about yourself and your background?

Thompson-Smith: I have been an event planner and had a career in non-profit planning and development in Raleigh for a long time. I have a marketing and radio promotions background, which I have also done for a long time.

McLendon: I am known as K-Mac on the show. I am an IT Executive by trade and a serial entrepreneur.

Reese: Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, I moved here for work. I worked at IBM for 14 years before I started my own company. Then, I had my own software consulting and marketing company. Now, I am doing radio, yet still doing IT stuff.

Q.  What made you become interested in sports?
Thompson-Smith: I have always loved sports since I was about seven years old. I love all sports. I’ve played some sports – I am even a Hall-of-Famer in my High School. I went to UNC to work in sports. I have a degree in Radio and TV and Motion Picture.

McLendon: I have always been interested in sports since I have been three. It’s always been a big part of my life – elementary, middle, high school, college, and in the military.

Reese: Like the rest of them, sports have always been a big part of my life. Football has been a big part of my life and my skills allowed me to get a scholarship to college (Alabama A&M), where I am in the school’s Hall-of-Fame. Also, meeting different people around the sports world is the reason why I am involved.

Q.  Who are your favorite athletes of all time and why?

Thompson-Smith: I love Michael Jordan. He’s a Tar Heel and the GREATEST OF ALL-TIME.
McLendon: Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson – the significance they’ve made in their own individual sports and in life.
Reese: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is my favorite one. I also like Michael Jordan and Julius Erving. My favorite of all time is John Stallworth because he made me feel proud of me being associated with an HBCU. He is the one who excelled at a high level in the NFL and also excelled in the business world.

Q.  How is your experience working with The Sports Shop Show on WRAL Sports+?
Thompson-Smith: It’s a wonderful experience!
McLendon: It’s been pretty good and it’s great doing what we do. I’m proud of what we do and our accomplishments, being that we’re African-Americans on this platforms building what we built since we started.
Reese: My experience has been great. We started The Sports Shop and we had the opportunity to pitch it to the small station in Durham. We later set it up to make it our own show, then pitched it to WRAL to take it to Capitol Broadcasting and we’ve gone up from there. Our experience has been great and it has given us an opportunity to be ourselves, delivering sports radio. We are happy and proud to be a part of Capitol Broadcasting Company. We view ourselves as ourselves and that’s important.

Q.  What advice do you have for individuals who want to be involved with sports media?

Thompson-Smith: Internships are very important, making relationships and finding a mentor are the big keys.
McLendon: Just understand your craft and be authentic. One of the things I’ve talked to future sports journalists and entrepreneurs about is to just be authentic because when you’re that way, people will always support you and understand what you’re doing.
Reese: You have to be diverse and well-rounded. You have to talk about different sports and be diverse and flexible, which will allow you to be open to different markets. Also, work hard and take constructive criticism – also be open to criticism, because it will help you to improve.

Q.  Before we finish, I must ask you, what is your Super Bowl prediction?
Thompson-Smith: “Cool Joe”  [Burron] is going to lead the Bengals to success. I like the underdog. I always go for the underdog.
McLendon: I would like to see Joe Burrow win, but my actual prediction is that the Rams are going to prevail and going to win by a touchdown or two.
Reese: I’m going with the Rams. It’s Stafford’s year and the Rams are going to do it. They also brought in Odell Beckham. So, they have the pieces to succeed.

This show is informative, fun, and filled with personality.  The hosts are a great group of people who truly love sports and work well together. The sports topics and the mega sports star connections they have are unreal. 

Check out The Sports Shop Show! You won’t be disappointed! And if you miss the live show, you can catch their podcast,  The Best of the Sports Shop, wherever you normally listen to podcasts.

Photos: Lawrence Davis III