When he was in elementary school, Adam Schein remembers sitting in front of the television with a game on.
In one hand, he had a microphone attached to an old cassette player. Sitting crossed leg in his family’s den, Schein would have the volume turned low or completely off and would announce the games.
Already at an age when boys were more interested in not getting cooties from the girls, Schein would show the foundation that now has elevated him smack dab in the middle of sports talk in this country.
The popular CBS Sports Network personality and Sirius XM host loved playing sports, yes, but watching sports and analyzing games was in his blood, even from a young age.
Those early days, he was announcing games before he knew how to tie his shoes. Now Schein, in both his television and satellite radio coverage, is carrying on a passion he’s had since almost birth.
Those afternoons and evenings spent in front of the television were instrumental in laying the groundwork for a man who today might be considered “The King of All Sports Media.” He’d bother his parents and brother to listen to the cassette tapes featuring what would now be considered his hot takes on the games he announced into his microphone at home.
Watching the games on television, Schein sounds a lot like the man he is today, someone simply “having an opinion and not being shy about it.”
“For a second-grader, I had a pretty amazing presence, let’s be honest,” Schein told Metro New York with a laugh. “It is funny, but my mother always said that I was the first kid to raise my hand and volunteer for the presentation in school, want to go first. I don’t think anyone was surprised by my career path.”
The days are long. He admits that 12-to-14 hours is the regular daily routine. But he still wakes up early to have breakfast with his kids before school and he makes all their games and plays and recitals on the weekends.
Schein grew up in New City in Rockland County, a kid who wanted to be a sports talk show announcer since he first heard WFAN in elementary school.
He would get that first chance in high school, calling the boys’ basketball games.
He played sports growing up — “I was obsessed with baseball” — but his heart was always in broadcasting. And while he loved playing sports and still does, he knew his calling was in the analyst’s chair.
From college at Syracuse’s famed journalism school, he would work in radio in the upstate market before transitioning back down to New York City and to WFAN as well as FoxSports Radio and then with Sirius prior to the merger that made them Sirius XM.
Now with CBS Sports Network, his national takes and opinions on “Schein on Sports” are the kind of points he honed in his parents living room three decades ago.
He never grows tired of talking sports, even if it isn’t in front of the camera.
Schein related a story from a couple weeks ago how a taxi driver recognized him and wanted to talk sports the whole trip. He didn’t roll his eyes and stare down at his cell phone or brush off the conversation.
Instead, he rolled up his sleeves like anyone from New York would do and started talking sports.
“I loved it,” Schein said. “I love talking sports. It doesn’t matter if it is one guy or a national audience on CBS Sports Network. I simply love talking sports.”
He loves it and he’s good at it.
His national platform has made him one of the most influential journalists in the field, his opinion is the fodder for blogs and podcasts who discuss his takes on topics.
But what is next for Schein as his brand continues to grow?
“What’s the next step? Look, I turn 40 [soon]. I have the jobs I want for the rest of my life. It’s a dream job. I have a national show where I’m obsessed with going over topics, how to make the donuts so to say. What are we going to talk about? What goes in the ‘A Block’? What goes in the ‘B Block’ and the ‘C Block’? That’s a dream job. I work for an amazing company with amazing people. On the radio side, it’s the same thing. I’ve worked there for 12 years, almost 13 years. It’s a wonderful company with a national platform. The reach is massive with millions upon millions of subscribers. What’s next? This. I want nothing else. I have my dream every day.”
