Bradley (left) and Mark, sporting their home team colors.
To be sure, Denison’s student-run radio station, WDUBFM, airs some of the most unique sounds in central Ohio, which is one reason why 91.1 holds the top spot on this music lover’s dial. But for three mornings a week last semester, it wasn’t the Doobie’s tunes that got my drive-time attention. Rather, it was the remarkably insightful and tastefully humorous banter of self-proclaimed sports junkies Ben Bradley ’07 and Ben Mark ’09. Be the topic college or pro football, basketball, or baseball, or any of Denison’s athletics, Ben & Ben deliver the goods (along with the occasional caffeination of rock & roll), and in a fashion noticeably devoid of the egoinflated, saber-mouthed racket so common among many “professional” sports-talkers today. The partnership began last year when the witty Mark, then an eager first-year history/communication major from Boston, served his Doobie apprenticeship under Bradley, a cross country runner and Spanish/communication major from Indianapolis who serves as “the voice of Denison” for athletic event broadcasts. Bradley may hold the title as the biggest Big Red fan, because if he’s not in the booth or on the cross country course, he’s likely to be in the stands for just about any competition.
They hit it off right away, assuming a feisty kind of ease in their give-and-take (particularly when discussion turns to the Indy Colts and New England Patriots), and sharing what might be considered an addiction to watching, thinking about, and talking about sports. “There’s probably nothing else that would get me to walk over from the East Quad at 7 a.m. three times a week,” quips Mark. Ben & Ben are teaming up again on Wednesday and Friday mornings this spring, during Bradley’s last semester before he heads off to the sports world beyond College Hill. As with any Doobie broadcast, Denisonians everywhere can tune in at www.wdub.org.