For three hours every Sunday night, it was WFAN before WFAN.
WFUV, Fordham University’s radio station, aired a three-hour sports talk show — “One on One” — every Sunday from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Despite the late time slot, the show had surprising popularity and helped launch the careers of some of New York’s biggest sports voices.
“The key to it was WFUV, and the tradition that has been established,” Bob Papa, Giants play-by-play man and SiriusXM radio host, said. “And the fact that you have to think about time and place — it was before WFAN existed. The only sports show on when I was in school was Art Rust Jr. on WABC.”
It could help explain the unlikely success the tiny Bronx university has had in producing some of the most famous names in the sports broadcasting business — both nationally and locally — from a cramped studio inside Keating Hall. Although it’s a matter of some debate among the alumni of both schools, Fordham may have passed communications powerhouse Syracuse when it comes to developing on-air talent.
In addition to Papa, the Rams pipeline has produced MSG’s Knicks and ESPN’s lead NBA play-by-play man Mike Breen, Michael Kay, the voice of the Yankees on YES, Nets radio man Chris Carrino, WFAN baseball host Ed Randall, YES reporter Jack Curry, MSG Rangers reporter John Giannone, ESPN 1050 radio host Ryan Ruocco, ESPN’s “Around the Horn” host Tony Reali and the Knicks’ new radio play-by-play man Spero Dedes.
“Breen and I used to sit in the campus center like two goofballs and he’d talk about how he wanted to be the Knicks announcer and I talked about how I wanted to be the Yankees announcer,” Kay said. “It’s too corny to believe, but it actually happened.”
And those who have enjoyed broadcasting success at Fordham — with an undergraduate enrollment of around 8,000 — believe the reason that it happened is because of the hands-on approach the university took with the 50,000-watt station, which moved into a state-of-the-art facility in 2005.
“You were in charge as a student,” Breen said. “The students back then were in charge of running the radio station. You had a responsibility, so it wasn’t approached as a hobby or club. It was approached like a business, like you were running a business. And when you got there as a freshman and you saw how professional and how serious the upper classmen took everything, you saw a responsibility to keep that going. For me that was the initial thing.”
Kay and Breen were a part of the second wave of “One on One” hosts for a show that still exists (moved to Saturday afternoons) and, according to the school, is the longest-running talk show on New York radio after starting up in 1974. It was the idea of former New York Times and USA Today reporter Malcolm Moran. But Fordham’s success in churning out broadcasters goes back to the ’40s and the legendary Vin Scully.
“It’s really an honor for the school, an honor to be a part of the pipeline,” Kay said. “It’s hard to explain . . . except that WFUV was a phenomenal classroom atmosphere in the biggest city in the world, so you couldn’t be terrible. You had to learn on the fly and I think that kind of baptism under fire helps you get ready. . . . It really is amazing. There must be something in the water at Rose Hill.”
justin.terranova@nypost.com