If you Google OW class of 2010 alumnus Shaun Morash, a wide range of results will pop up. He gained notoriety and a huge Twitter following after getting choked up live on the air while talking about Derek Jeter’s retirement. He was caught silently doing the whip and the nae nae from across the office at his desk. On two separate occasions he was filmed attempting a sit up… and then a push up. He was also given a very tight jersey to put on and the challenge of getting it off. He has a hashtag, #chubbonation. Suffice to say, Morash provides constant entertainment for his coworkers at CBS Sports Radio, where he works as a producer and on-air presence for The DA Show. “I’m the guy who picks everyone up and makes everyone laugh,” Morash told me in the studio where The Boomer & Carton show is taped. Before I met with him, Professor Manfredi, station manager of Old Westbury Web Radio and former mentor of Morash’s described him as a “big mush” and a “teddy bear.” He was right about that.
DB: So let’s start with some fun facts about yourself. What was your first sports love?
SM: Hockey, actually. It was June 1994 that the Rangers won the Stanley Cup… were you even born in ’94? I was 7 and my dad took me to a bunch of games that year and I have memories of watching them with him on the couch. They were doing so well and it was the first sport where the team my dad and I were rooting for was winning, in my lifetime…. Also I was born into being a Giants fan; my middle name is Taylor for linebacker Lawrence Taylor and Shaun for Sean Landeta who was the punter of the Giants the year I was born.
DB: Favorite athlete?
SM: I’d have to say Derek Jeter! Also I’ll always have that connection with Jeter because he gave me that jolt into people knowing my name nationally [referring to the tears shed for his retirement]. It was everywhere, the Red Socks played it on their pre-game show! *laughs*
DB: If you had to be one team mascot, what would it be?
SM: Hmmm, team mascot. I think I have one… The Phoenix Suns Gorilla. He’s always jumping on trampolines, he looks like he has a blast.
DB: Good one! No cultural appropriation or anything like that…
SM: No! *laughs* And it’s not Harambe, don’t worry.
DB: What’s your dream sporting event?
SM: What would I love to be at… I’ve been to a bunch of big playoff games already… You know what? Just for the party atmosphere, the Kentucky Derby. I’m not the biggest horse races person but it just looks like a giant party.
DB: Who’s your favorite cheerleading squad?
SM: It’s gotta be the Cowboy’s! I don’t even like Dallas. I went last year though and they were awesome, they’re like the Rockettes. They’re legitimately talented and do a lot of awesome stuff.
DB: Describe your dream Super Bowl halftime act.
SM: You know what… it would have to be some combination of genres. Bruce Springsteen for some old school rock into some Kenny Chesney… and then lets top it off with some Kanye West! The ultimate clash of pleasing everyone! If they collaborated on something, that would be awesome.
DB: So to transition to your college experience, tell me about your past with Professor Manfredi and how building such relationships helped with your career.
SM: Well I liked the Media & Communications program at Old Westbury because it had tracks in print, media, radio, and TV but it was in the radio classes that I had Professor Manfredi for where he worked with me and suggested I take it more seriously. He gave me my own show at OWWR and let me take the sports department wherever it was that I wanted to take it. He led a lot of us in the directions where he felt were our strengths. He gave a lot of people connections towards internships, too. I was able to get an internship at WFAN because he pushed me to do that and because of it, I have a job today.
DB: So you were a pioneer of sorts for the Old Westbury radio program?
SM: Not to sound arrogant but yeah, with two other guys, we started broadcasting the basketball and baseball games remotely and it became a really cool thing to do. Anybody at the basketball games would see us sitting there with the headsets on and it actually helped recruit people to the station. People thought it was awesome, seeing us out at the games instead of locked away in the OWWR closets where it was kind of its own clique. It was good for the radio station at the time.
DB: What advice would you give to college students seeking a career in the media industry?
SM: Don’t laugh it off when professors tell you to get an internship because you have no chance of getting a job without one. Anybody you talk to here at CBS had an internship first. If your local news channel gives you an internship, don’t laugh that off either. I never liked the idea of working for no money and getting coffee and all of that but finally I woke up. Within your internship, be observant. It’s not necessarily what you’re doing; it’s watching and seeing what people are doing, people watching. Take it in and understand the experience; ask questions. Those are the real life experiences that will propel your career even faster.