Welcome to The Bridge! My name is John Lund, the multi-media sports enthusiast featured on this website.
So, what is The Bridge Sports Podcast?
Well, The Bridge is a sports podcast hosted and produced by John Lund that revolves around discussing the current happenings in the sports world, as well as any other relevant sports topics applicable for comment or complaint. While the show originally began as a solo performance, The Bridge has made it a habit to bring on an array of sports media professionals or close friends privy to the topics being discussed.
The Bridge is now broadcast as a one hour radio show every Wednesday night at 7 ET on Sports Radio America. Once the dust settles from that live broadcast, the show is released as a podcast on iTunes and this website on Thursdays. You can listen to the live show every Wednesday on Sports Radio America here or through the TuneIn app.
Now, about me, I’m currently going on 4+ years working as a sports editor for a weekly newspaper, the Wyoming County Press Examiner, which primarily covers local high school and collegiate sports and other pertinent action. I’ve been lucky enough to tell the stories of an NFL assistant coach who was on the winning side of Super Bowl 48 with the Seattle Seahawks; a collegiate baseball player at the University of Virginia who finished runner-up in the College World Series and was drafted as the 38th pick in the MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians and now plays for their Class AA affiliate; and a high school swimmer who was named by USA TODAY as one of the Top 10 Most Influential High School Athletes of 2014.
Along with that, I also am a ‘graduate’ of Bleacher Report’s Advanced Program in Sports Media, a 12-week program that basically puts applicants through the ringer of all the different types of content offered on the site. It was certainly a lot of work, but provided a great opportunity to get a better grasp of that side of sports media with the help of some of the brilliant minds at B/R. In 37 stories, I was read 2,036,667 and averaged a little more than 55,000 reads per story. The largest? NFL Preseason: Teams That Are Already in Trouble. More than 900,000 people read that. People sure do love their football. I give you all that information not to brag. Believe me, there are far better writers at Bleacher Report that crush those numbers on a daily basis. But there’s a certain thrill that comes from watching the read numbers and comments pile up. et’s put it this way – you don’t get those numbers while writing at a weekly paper.
Growing up, I quickly fell in love with sports, specifically with baseball and the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers won the World Series the first year I really took notice of them in 1996, and I’ve been along for the ride ever since. I dabbled with baseball, basketball, bowling and soccer as a youth athlete, eventually dropping the latter two sports to focus on the formers, which I played through high school.
Though my playing days came to an end when I enrolled at the University of Scranton, my love for sports did not. I began covering collegiate sports for the university newspaper, The Aquinas, where I would write for four years and serve as co-sports editor for the final two as well. I also developed a voice for the radio (since I don’t have much of a face for TV). I started as alternative DJ under the alter-ego of Lundin’ Bridge and hosted several shows at almost every time slot you could imagine before serving as Station Manager for my final two years in college as well. I eventually added a sports talk radio show to my toolbox that was simulcast on the university radio station, 99.5 WUSR, and on the university television channel. I managed to only wear a tie once. I also took my voice to a bigger stage and served as the color commentary for the university’s women’s basketball team, the Lady Royals, for two seasons.
The inspiration for this podcast came from a couple of different things. While I do enjoy life as a sports journalist, I couldn’t help but miss the radio life. It wasn’t until I got SiriusXM radio in my car and made my first successful call into a radio show on Mad Dog Sports Radio (yes, Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo’s channel) that I realized how much I missed it. After developing a relationship with some of the broadcasters (at least one where they recognized who I was), I decided that I needed to get back into the swing of things. After copious amounts of research on microphones and mixers and hours of watching video tutorials (thanks, Pat), it was time to make The Bridge a reality.
I’d like to think the production and the content have certainly improved since Day 1, and I hope to keep that trend moving forward.
It’s been a fun ride so far, and each experience has provided its own opportunity for growth and development. If you’d like to hear more of my story, check out Episode 1 of The Bridge.
Cheers!