THE SHOW
"The Sports Blast is a reincarnation of the long time running radio show "The PressBox with Brett and the Bad Boy". Airing on Monday nights since May 5th, 2001 on WFNC 640AM, "The PressBox" became the sports talk radio show of record in the Cape Fear region. Hosted by Allen Smothers and Brett Friedlander, the program's main goal was to be a guest oriented show interviewing personalities from the region from high school all the way to the professional and sometimes national stage. In June of 2006, Bill Priestley started to fill in (when needed) for Allen who was also doing a daily version of "The Pressbox" originating in Florence, SC. In December of 2009, Allen left the North Carolina show - though he still appears on it every so often - to concentrate on his South Carolina show. Bill Priestley came in and took over for Allen and Brett took ownership of the show, renaming it "The Sports Blast" which began airing in 2010.
The show has consistently been on for over nine years and serves as the region's longest continuously running sports talk radio show. Guests that have appeared on the show include Gary Hahn, Woody Durham, Mick Mixon, Dick Vitale, John Fienstien, countless area coaches from high school and college levels, local professional and college league teams and many legends that have roots in the Cape Fear region.

BRETT FRIEDLANDER
Freelance sports columnist, Brett Friedlander, has been the Cape Fear region's sports conscience for much of the past two decades. He is currently the ACC Beat reporter for the Wilmington Star-News and can also be found regularly in the "ACC Sports Journal," ACCSports.com, "In the Crease" magazine, and dozens of other sports periodicals. Brett has written a book on the life of Fayetteville-native "Moonlight" Graham entitled "Chasing Moonlight." Graham's story was made famous in the hit-movie "Field of Dreams." Brett is a University of South Carolina alumnus and has been the leader in investigative reporting throughout the region.. He has covered the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes, NFC Champion Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Orioles, Maryland Terrapins, Washington Capitols, and the 1983 World Series. Friedlander has garnered dozens of sportswriting awards, including consideration for the Pulitzer Prize for his work at The Capitol Newspaper in Annapolis, MD. Brett and his wife, Karen, have two children, Erika, a recent graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design, and Paul, a freshman at NC State University.

BILL PRIESTLEY
Bill Priestley is a 15-year veteran of the sports radio business, the last three of which have been in Fayetteville. Most recently, he has been involved with "The Pressbox" radio show as a fill-in host. He can also be heard on the airwaves on WAZZ AM 1490 as the voice of the Terry Sanford Bulldog football broadcasts. He has also served as the halftime and postgame scoreboard producer and announcer for UNC-Pembroke Braves football broadcasts and the DK Sports Media High School Football Game of the Week on WCLN. Prior to coming to Fayetteville, Bill has been involved in play-by-play in South Carolina, Indiana and his home state of Tennessee. While in the Volunteer state, Bill worked with the Tennessee Titans Radio Network and then became the Sports Director of WFTZ-FM in Manchester, TN. There, he won five Tennessee AP Broadcaster Association awards including 2 second place awards for Best Play-by-Play and one first place award for Best Overall Sports Coverage. He is a graduate of Furman University in Greenville, SC where he was Sports Director of the campus radio station and covered the Carolina Panthers for WORD-AM in Greenville. Bill currently lives in Fayetteville with his wife Dawn.