News & Features
Hittin’ the Airwaves
By Nick DeRatto
Oct 1, 2008 - 11:41:30 AM

Virginia State University’s football coach Andrew Faison responds to a question while broadcasting live on camera during “Trojan Talk” before settling in to his live radio show on WVST 91.3 FM.

Missed the big game this weekend? No worries, Andrew Faison’s got you covered.
Want the lowdown on all Virginia State University sports? “Trojan Talk” will get you up to speed. With the start fall season, Faison, head football coach for VSU, has once again kicked off his radio show.

“Trojan Talk” and “The Andrew Faison Show” are broadcast every Monday night during the VSU football season.  After football, basketball is on schedule for a similar question-and-answer format like “The Andrew Faison Show.”

“Trojan Talk” features guest coaches recapping the past week’s games, interviewing players and coaches, talking to listeners, and previewing the upcoming sports showdowns. “The Andrew Faison Show” takes a similar approach but has a more sit-down radio talk show feel.  With the launching of the live web feed, the community has easier access for submitting questions.

“I like giving insight on the games and explaining things that fans may not understand when they watch the game,” says Faison. “It’s also nice being able to give kudos to the guys who have done well during the past week.”

No stranger to the airwaves, Faison had originally done a radio show while coaching at Winston-Salem University. After he came to VSU, the school approached him in 2002 about doing a radio show there.

“They asked if I wanted to do it and I jumped at the chance,” says Faison. “Since they didn’t have one here, we had to start from scratch.”

The brainchild of Peggy Davis, VSU’s athletic director, and Jim Junot,  the University’s sports information director, the live sports show, which made its web premier this week, is in its third week of production off campus. 

“We wanted to expand the appeal and reach out to the community,” says Junot.  “Make the community more aware that Virginia State is here and keep the community more in touch with the university.  We chose Ettrick Deli because the deli is a loyal supporter of the university.”

 “Doing this radio show was a great opportunity for Coach Faison to get out there and meet the longtime fans,” says Sean Robertson, former Sports Director for the VSU radio station and host of the show with Faison from its inception until the end of last season.

Taking over Robertson’s spot, new host and VSU play-by-play announcer John Emmit has settled easily into his new role. He’s the veteran sportscaster of the former Richmond Braves.

“It’s been fun so far, a pretty cool thing,” says Emmit. “I get to delve into Coach’s mind, give fans insight into the Trojan program, and anticipate their questions.”

Now in its sixth year, “The Andrew Faison Show” has moved once again, this time to the Ettrick Deli. Faison hopes the move will help give the show even more of a community feel.
“We used to be a call-in show, but now we want people to come out to see us,” says Faison. “We wanted to bring the show to the fans. The Ettrick Deli has been very supportive of us and our faculty and students often go there to eat. After some technical difficulties our first week, we had a decent-sized crowd last week and just hope to get bigger and bigger each week. We want people to come on in, grab a bite to eat, and visit us.”

Robertson, now the weekend sports anchor and reporter for CBS 6, sees the pros and cons in the move.

“Coaches tend to be a bit more comfortable in the studio and the time might be a bit tight for people to get out there,” says Robertson. “But he should get enough support and it should turn out all right. If he asks me to come back as a guest sometime, I wouldn’t turn it down. Coach is a real good guy and we had a real good relationship together.”

Though there may be some difficulties attached, Faison and Emmit are more than ready to take their show on the road.

“It’s a really cool idea. It’s neat to take the show out on the road and the atmosphere is probably a lot more fun than if were just in the studio,” says Emmit. “I just want to have some fun with the show, get to know Coach, and talk about football.”

“Trojan Talk” is live at 6 p.m. and “The Andrew Faison Show” can be heard every Monday night on WVST 91.3 FM from 7-8 p.m. The Ettrick Deli is located at 3608 E. River Rd. in Ettrick.

nderatto@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421



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