Recalls Schultz: “He brought Bob in and said, ‘This is Bob Ahrens. This is the man who’s going to take this department to the next level.’ It didn’t take too long before we realized that Bob was bringing our standards to a level that they had never been at.”

A High Standard for Success

Indeed, over the next two decades, Ahrens ran a sports department that’s been widely praised for training future broadcasters in a professional environment.

He insisted that the staff operate to pro standards, he says, not only because it’s good training but also because WFUV reporters are credentialed to cover the local pro teams alongside the rest of the city’s sports media. That mindset has paid off: During Ahrens’s tenure, WFUV produced the likes of ESPN host Tony Reali, FCRH ’00; CBS Sports’ Spero Dedes, FCRH ’01; and Ryan Ruocco, FCRH ’08, of ESPN and the YES Network, continuing Fordham’s long tradition of launching the careers of sports broadcasters.

In 2014, the station paid tribute to Ahrens by establishing the Bob Ahrens Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism. The award is given annually to a member of the WFUV sports staff who has excelled on and off the air and demonstrated strong leadership ability.

Ahrens retired earlier this year as the station’s executive sports producer, and now, as WFUV transitions to its next chapter, he is passing the torch to a familiar face: Schultz.

A Return to Rose Hill

Schultz says when he first heard about the opening at WFUV, he didn’t imagine himself as a candidate. “The first thing that popped into my head was, ‘They have to do it right, because he’s built such a legacy here that has to be protected and built upon.’”

But as he began to think about what he believed the ideal candidate would look like—an on-air background, teaching experience, and a connection to WFUV—he realized he had all three. His broadcasting career included stints with Army athletics, two minor-league baseball teams, and an ESPN Radio affiliate, and he’d taught at Marist College and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.

He threw his hat into the ring and got the job, and since this summer he’s been working with Ahrens, who’s staying on through the end of the year as a consultant, to ensure a smooth transition.

“It’s always gratifying to see one of your former students get the job,” Ahrens says. “Rick was basically in my first group. It’s sort of like bookends.”

Schultz says that working with Ahrens has been helpful in ways both big and small, from learning how the station operations have changed since his own Fordham days to quickly tracking down a phone number he may need.

“It’s very important to me for the students to understand that I was in their position 20 years ago, and I know what it’s like to be sitting there and have someone new come in,” Schultz says.

“My message to the students over the past few months has been, ‘The great thing about WFUV is that this is your station.’” In other words, he’s there to help guide the students, not drastically change things. “I think when something’s working, you try as best as you can not to mess it up,” he says.

But Schultz says he’s also learning how to develop his own style and priorities. He says there’s room for growth in social media and video, and that he’d like to collaborate more with the news side of WFUV.

A “Perfect Fit” to Carry on the Tradition

Mike Breen, FCRH ‘83, the play-by-play announcer for the New York Knicks on MSG as well as the NBA on ESPN, says that Ahrens has been a “magnificent” mentor to members of the FUV sports department.

“He’s as dedicated to his job and to the students that he helped as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Breen says. “And because Rick came up through the system, and knows what the system’s about, it seems like the perfect fit for him to follow in Bob’s footsteps.”

More than 20 years ago, Schultz followed in Breen’s footsteps. As a high school student, he reached out to Breen to discuss the broadcasting business, and Breen told him about his experiences at WFUV and about Fordham’s strong tradition. Schultz says Fordham was the only school he applied to, and now, as he returns to Rose Hill, he’s reflecting on the icons who came before him at the station.

“It’s still kind of surreal for me to be sitting in this office looking at the portrait of Marty Glickman on the wall and the Bob Ahrens Award on the other side of the wall, and to be sitting here taking that next chapter of WFUV Sports,” he says. “It’s still something that really strikes you every day.”

—Joe DeLessio, FCLC ’06

As one of the Mets beat reporters for WFUV, Fordham’s public media service, Furlong spent the day at Citi Field. He watched from the press level as the Nationals beat the Mets, 3-2, then rushed down to the interview room for Mets manager Terry Collins’ postgame press conference, and headed to the Mets clubhouse to collect audio from players Jacob deGrom and Seth Lugo before choosing the best sound bites for FUV’s Monday morning sportscast.

In the past few years, Furlong has taken on myriad roles at WFUV, and on Nov. 1, at the station’s annual On the Record fundraiser, he’ll receive the Bob Ahrens Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism.

The award, given annually to a member of the WFUV sports staff who’s excelled on and off the air and demonstrated strong leadership ability, bears the name of the station’s longtime executive sports producer. Ahrens, who retired earlier this year after two decades at WFUV, currently serves as a consultant during the transition to his successor, Rick Schultz, FCRH ’98.

Furlong says he’s honored to be chosen, and that it’s especially meaningful because of the award’s namesake. “Bob Ahrens has been a second father to me at Fordham,” he says. “He’s been a mentor to me, in and out of the studio.”

Preparing to Work Alongside the Pros 

Furlong initially chose Fordham for its swimming team, and he competed for two years, but he knew he ultimately wanted to go into journalism. During his sophomore year, he came across WFUV’s table at a club fair. Impressed by the professional nature of the station, he signed up.

Like all members of the WFUV sports department, Furlong learned the ropes during an intensive year-long training program. In one semester, students learn the basics of radio production, like how to use the station’s recorders and computers. In the other, they rotate through various roles in a mock talk show, getting experience as a host, update anchor, producer, and engineer. And that’s all on top of workshops and informal conversations that teach students how to conduct themselves with professionalism in the press box.

“The standards we’re teaching are not college standards,” Ahrens says. “They’re professional standards. Because those are the standards by which they’re going to get judged when they get out of here.”

Reporting and Producing

By the end of his training, Furlong began to get involved in actual WFUV broadcasts, both as a producer and in an on-air role. He also landed his first internship, with CBS New York. During his junior year, he started working on Fordham football broadcasts, then landed another internship, this time with SNY.

As the year went on, his role continued to expand at FUV: He traveled with the men’s and women’s basketball teams and served as the field engineer on those broadcasts. He did play-by-play for Fordham’s baseball, soccer, and water polo teams. And at the start of the 2017 baseball season, he was named one of the station’s two Mets beat reporters, covering roughly half the team’s home games as well as events like this summer’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction and the 2017 MLB All-Star Game. 

Leading Younger Students, Looking Ahead 

As summer turned to fall, Furlong was preparing to switch to sharing the Islanders beat at FUV, while also working as a field producer and color commentator on Rams basketball games. He’ll have a hand in FUV’s One on One sports talk show, which airs on Saturday afternoons and Wednesday evenings, alternating between hosting and working on the production side. He’s also helping lead this year’s training program for the next group of WFUV staffers.

“John assumes a lot of the coaching and teaching roles with the younger students coming into the sports department, because I think he felt that that’s what was done for him,” says Schultz.

This winter will bring another golden opportunity: Furlong will travel to South Korea to work as a production assistant for NBC Sports during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

“Every door that has opened to me in my career has been opened by WFUV,” says Furlong, who wants to work on the production side of broadcasting when he graduates. Looking ahead, he says the training and experience he’s received at WFUV have given him confidence that he’ll thrive in the industry.

“Whenever they show a shot of the control room during an ESPN radio broadcast, [I see that] we have the same equipment as they do. Literally. It’s like, ‘I could run that board right now. I could probably go produce that show if I wanted to,’ which is really cool to think about.”

—Joe DeLessio, FCLC ’06