Lucas and Wood counties are not commonly seen as sports hubs; there are no NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL teams. However, we have two Division 1 universities that are only 30 minutes apart from each other, and that’s pretty rare.
This area loves their Toledo Rockets and BGSU Falcons and will defend each other when it comes to other MAC schools and beyond, but bad blood runs deep … in the best way. The Battle of I-75 holds the title as the best rivalry in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
Both schools have a large number of local students and know of the rivalry, and through field storming and band bannings, there is no love lost between the two.
When Max Alfonso and I started our spring internship last month, we wanted to put our stamp on the Toledo Free Press and to give ourselves a piece of content we can both be proud of for years to come.
When we first met last month, we went back and forth on BGSU and Toledo athletics. We each put in our two cents on the programs and decided it would make for good audio content. Despite neither of us ever creating our own podcast before, we both were able to learn and adapt to a new way of telling a story.
By creating The Flyby, we believe we found a great way to update Toledo and BGSU fans on moments they missed throughout the week, as well as give them a quick overview of how each program is doing.
Something I think listeners will love about this podcast is the true understanding of each sport we cover, and we cover them all. Max and I both have immersed ourselves into the culture of Toledo and BGSU athletics, and we work well together to explain our own cultures to each other.
This show truly is a love letter to Toledo and BGSU athletics, and we hope to provide a solid and evaluative insight into teams that have a massive amount of community support.
The Flyby is the first podcast produced by the Toledo Free Press and drops every Saturday, so give us a listen!
The second Toledo Free Press podcast, 411 in the 419 with Jaden Jefferson, is currently in development and will debut soon.
