When the Centennial Conference announced that sports would be cancelled or postponed this fall 2020 semester, players were not the only ones missing their opportunity to shine. Without games to broadcast and in-person interviews to be held, students involved in Red Devil Sports Network (RDSN) had to improvise. Thus, “Speak of the Devils” podcast was born.

“This podcast is about essentially connecting Dickinson’s students to athletics during these hard times,” said president of RDSN Sam St. Jean ’22. St. Jean is also one of the hosts of “Speak of the Devils.” “We would all rather be on campus playing or going to watch our friends play, but this is our stand-in for not being able to [do] that,” he said.

St. Jean, along with two other student athletes, Sam Glavin ’22 and Dom Fusco ’21, have virtually teamed up to talk with Red Devils every week. They plan to interview current and former Dickinson student athletes, coaches, trainers, assistants, administrators and more.

“We thought it would be a good way to stay engaged in the community while also doing what we love,” said Glavin. “I’m always so fascinated with the people we interview. I won’t give any spoilers, but we have a bunch of very special interviews ahead.”

Glavin has been in the podcasting world for a while now; he started his own Philadelphia sports podcast called “The Wolves of Broad St.” with his cousin and another friend from high school.

“It was then that I knew I wanted to continue doing things like this on a regular basis,” said Glavin. “I joined RDSN and started broadcasting games and had a lot of fun with it.”

Dom Fusco has also been able to bring in some “podcasting expertise” from his personal podcast called “Days with Dom.”  However, he says the idea behind “Speak of the Devils” had been “in discussion for about two years, it just never got off the ground due to so many other things going on.”

“Justin [the faculty head of RDSN] came to me about a month or two ago and said he loved what I was doing with my personal podcast and if I would have time to be a part of this one for RDSN,” said Fusco. “While it is hard work and a lot of prep goes into it, I have loved being able to connect further with the entire Dickinson community and talk Red Devil sports for a few hours a week. We have all been involved with RDSN for the past few years and thought it would be a great way to keep fans engaged in Dickinson Athletics.”

St. Jean says the podcast is something he has “always wanted to do.”

“I think aside from being able to talk about Dickinson sports again, I am excited about our guests,” said St. Jean. “Getting to talk to student athletes like [Field Hockey Player] Phoebe Prettyman, coaches like [Basketball Coach] Alan Seretti, and alumni like [Former Basketball Player] Jimmy Martelli has been a pleasure. It has also been something that I have learned from as each of them has taught me something new. I cannot wait to meet and discuss further with people like that.”

In the first segment of “Speak of the Devils,” St. Jean, Glavin, and Fusco discuss current events in the sports world, the lingering COVID-19 issue each league faces, and playoffs.

“When we get back to campus [the topic] will probably shift more towards Dickinson and Centennial Conference sports,” said St. Jean.

The podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other podcast streaming services. Every episode’s Zoom recording will also be uploaded to Dickinson Athletic’s Youtube Channel.