Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffery Fink.
Hi Jeffery, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I answered a Facebook ad looking for sportswriters in the southern US roughly four years ago. I was fortunate enough to get the nod and began my writing career covering the Allen Americans of the ECHL, a few college bowl games, and the XFL Dallas Renegades. I bounced around a few podcast ideas here and there and did something on my own for roughly 30 or so episodes but it never caught on and I put that idea to bed for the time being. Bouncing back to writing, the site I wrote for asked me to recruit a few additional writers in Texas and that is how Jason and Patrick came into the fold. Unfortunately, the site became a victim of the pandemic and went under leaving Jason, Patrick, and myself without a conduit to cover sports in DFW. That’s when I had an idea to start covering the Dallas Stars and hockey in north Texas as a community. I was fortunate enough to join another site as a blogger covering the Stars called The Morning Skate. The Morning Skate has a fantastic podcast and that’s when I knew what my next step would be. I called up Jason and Patrick just over a year ago now (November 2021) and asked if they wanted to start a podcast. The name, the logo, the topics all evolved into the Whatahockey we have today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s a daily grind but not in a way that feels like a struggle. I still work full time outside of media and podcasting but I have found a solid balance between work and Whatahockey. Having the opportunity to talk about the sport of hockey in North Texas is not something that many people are doing but we love every moment of it. We have been afforded some amazing opportunities and met some even more amazing people.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I guess you could say what we do is niche media. Every week for nearly a year straight we have taken a dive into all things hockey in Texas with the main focus on DFW. Hockey is admittedly the smallest of the major four sports and ever more so in Texas with football being compared to a religious experience. That being said, hockey is truly unlike any other sport. It is an almost instant family connection you build with other hockey fans. Each level of play has its passionate fanbases and that is the target audience for us. What set’s us aside from other outlets or podcasts is that you don’t necessarily need to know all the terminology or stats. All the numbers can become quite intimidating so we like to focus more on the stories behind the players and teams. We have had multiple pro players from all levels of play from around the world and are committed to opening the door to the other side of the sport that you don’t always see.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Our DMs are always open as we love hearing from people that have found our show or have a story they possibly would want to share. We have recently even started to include a side series called “Extra Sauce” with the hopes of focusing even more on the personalities in Texas hockey that you don’t usually see on the ice. As far as support goes, we appreciate each and every person that follows us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can find us @whatahockey on all social media outlets right now.
We also have a small merchandise store and all proceeds go back into making more merchandise and supporting the show.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/whatahockey
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatahockey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Whatahockey
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/whatahockey
- Other: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/whatahockeypodcast?selected=HOC2118266354
