PODCAST · sports
Bandwagon Beach
by John Gennaro
John Gennaro is a longtime San Diego sports fan who occasionally blogs and podcasts about his fandom, his family and his life. Occasionally, he's joined by friends! bandwagonbeach.com
Episodes
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The Padres are good! Winning is fun!
I went live on Substack earlier today and talked for a while about the San Diego Padres….and other things. Unfortunately, my internet died when I started talking about the other things, so this podcast is just the Padres portion of my ranting and raving. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you...
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PODCAST: Stammen's hope for the Padres
Bandwagon Beach is back! John Gennaro fires up the podcast machine for the first time in a very long time and talks through his own feelings regarding Craig Stammen’s streaking San Diego Padres, ideal matchups coming out of the NBA Play-In Tournament and San Diego FC navigating their way out of a...
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7 Padres known unknowns with Letters to A.J.
With so many known unknowns about the 2026 San Diego Padres, I thought now would be a perfect time to chat with Dylan from Letters to A.J. about all of them. We talked about Tatis hitting cleanup, faith in Nick Castellanos, Luis Campusano losing a major-league swing, the range of potential...
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A ex-ballplayer's perspective on the Padres
Nick Burke is friends with John Gennaro and a former baseball player at UCSD. As such, the two of them don't always agree when it comes to their favorite baseball team, the San Diego Padres. In this episode, John lays out all of the reasons he's worried about the 2026 Padres team before the…
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The 2026 Padres are betting on lottery tickets
Hey y’all! This morning I decided to go live over on YouTube to talk about the flurry of moves the San Diego Padres have made over the last few days. I talked about how there are now four players fighting for two starting jobs in the lineup (1B & DH) and as many as six pitchers fighting for the...
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Padres sale/ownership news & SDFC pummels Pumas
Earlier this morning, I went live on Substack to talk about how and why my San Diego Padres pessimism is maybe turning into some optimism after Sheel Seidler dropped her lawsuit against the other team owners. After that, I broke down last night’s impressive SDFC win over Pumas and wondered if the...
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Day 108 of waiting for A.J. Preller's extension
Happy Monday! Well, kinda. I did not like the tenor of…well, anything really….that was coming out of the San Diego Padres FanFest at Petco Park this weekend. From A.J. Preller’s contract extension to the plan at 1B (and backup catcher) to the superstars that couldn’t be bothered to show up to the...
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Yelling about Yu Darvish & the local media
I’ve been steaming ever since it turned out that Yu Darvish, who reportedly was planning to retire and void the remainder of his contract with the San Diego Padres, was in fact not planning on retiring and not voiding the remainder of his contract with the San Diego Padres (barring a buyout that...
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Padres offseason recap (so far) + other stuff
I’m still testing out a bunch of Substack features, including continuing to play with the live video. Today, following the news that the Mets had traded for Freddy Peralta, I flipped on the camera & microphone to talk about how bad things have gotten for the Padres this offseason before turning…
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LIVE Venting Session: Padres & the world
It had been long enough since I had yelled into a microphone and I missed doing it. So, I flipped on a live video (partially to test our the Substack system) this morning and loudly worried about the short-term and long-term future of the San Diego Padres for about a half-hour. Then, and with…
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Jim Russell says goodbye to San Diego radio
While John is still recovering from The Crud, Darren catches up with former colleague, Jim Russell, from the Jon & Jim Show on AM 760 and The Wrap Up Show on YouTube. The two friends talked about Jim’s recent announcement that he was leaving sports radio and San Diego and the heartbreaking...
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Padres SP Michael King is back! What comes next?
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's show talking about where they are in their Christmas shopping and how they're planning to tackle that in the five days between now and Christmas. They then move onto the big news of the day, which is the San Diego Padres re-signing SP Michael King to…
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Fancy dress & darts from Ally Pally
Darren Smith and John Gennaro don't know what to talk about today, which is how they end up spending a bunch of time talking about Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua, who (perhaps unknowingly) made an antisemitic gesture and said the NFL referees brag about missing calls while on a live stream with...
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Basking in the glow of the NBA Cup
The New York Knicks are 2025 NBA Cup Champions and Darren Smith traveled from San Diego to Las Vegas to watch it happen in person. He and John Gennaro discuss the game, if the NBA Cup means anything, and going out in Las Vegas (where are the crowds?). They also spent a while talking about the...
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Broke team behavior
As Darren Smith gets ready to jet off to Las Vegas to catch the Knicks in the NBA Cup final, he sat down with John Gennaro and talked about a whole host of issues. First, they talk about the trip and Darren's plans, as a Knicks fan. Later, the guys talk about Yu Darvish, who made a public...
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Weekend Recap: Padres rumors, NBA Cup travel plans & inspiration from Philip Rivers
Darren Smith and John Gennaro reconvene after the weekend to talk about the sports that they watched, including the semifinals of the NBA Cup (leading Darren to book a trip to Las Vegas), Philip Rivers' return to the NFL (leading John to be inspired) and a wild end to the Liga MX playoffs. They...
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Weekend Preview and the importance of sports journalism
Darren Smith and John Gennaro start off today's podcast with a conversation about sports journalism and sports media and the relationship between those two things, and how it all relates to Section 1904 (and the San Diego Padres). They divert from that for a while to talk about Cocaine…
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Eric Gomez on Chucky's future with SDFC & Mexico, Philip Rivers' return to the NFL & new potential Padres ownership
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's podcast episode with an NFL quiz and a conversation about Philip Rivers, who has unretired to join the Indianapolis Colts at 44-years old. When they welcome ESPN's Eric Gomez to the show, the three of them talk about what they miss about the San…
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A San Diego Padres exodus?
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's podcast by talking about the future of Section 1904 and announcing a survey that will be sent to everyone a little later today. When the guys finally get to the sports of it all, they talk about the trade rumors swirling around the San Diego Padres…
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Reckless Padres trade speculation & World Cup thoughts
Following a report from Kevin Acee in the San Diego Union-Tribune that A.J. Preller was working on a potentially "massive trade" that would be comparable, or maybe even dwarf, the deal that sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees, Darren Smith and John Gennaro try to figure out…
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Kevin Acee from the MLB Winter Meetings
It's Monday! That means that today's episode of the podcast is free for all subscribers (both paid and unpaid). And, lucky you, we have on the show today Kevin Acee, who covers the San Diego Padres for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He joined us from the MLB Winter Meetings to talk about the...
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Cesar Hernandez reacts to the World Cup draws for USA & Mexico
After today's 2026 FIFA World Cup draw, Darren Smith chatted with ESPN's Cesar Hernandez about the draws for the U.S. Men's National Team and the Mexico national football team. They also talked about San Diego FC's first season in MLS and what would be in the best interest of Hirving "Chucky"...
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Weekend Preview: All quiet on the San Diego front
Darren Smith and John Gennaro took a few minutes away from watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw to do a weekend preview. They'll be back with a reaction to the World Cup draw later today. As for this morning's podcast, the guys discussed accents, their weekend plans, how much has changed in...
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Mikey Varas reflects on the end of San Diego FC's season
Earlier this week, Darren Smith sat down with Mikey Varas, the head coach of San Diego FC, while the team was packing their bags and heading into the offseason. Darren and Mikey talked about what there is to be learned from the loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the Western Conference final of the...
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Preparing for a chaotic World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in Mexico, Canada and the United State of America, is set to have its draw tomorrow. The leaders of all three countries will be in attendance, as will The Village People. Darren Smith and John Gennaro talk for a few minutes about what they expect…
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Padres check-in & Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview
Darren Smith and John Gennaro respond to some recent video of Joe Musgrove, talking about what he wants to see in the next San Diego Padres owner, and Craig Stammen, who is visiting some of his Padres players in the Dominican Republic and has thoughts on the local cuisine. The guys then welcome...
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Waiting on everything
Darren Smith and John Gennaro talk about San Diego FC, and the situation with Hirving "Chucky" Lozano that will be hanging over the team this offseason. It seems like he's destined to play somewhere else next year, but it's certainly not guaranteed. We'll wait to find out. The guys then talk…
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The past & future of San Diego FC
The first ever season for San Diego Football Club came to an end on Saturday night, when they lost in the Western Conference final to Vancouver Whitecaps FC by a score of 3-1. It was not a particularly close game, despite its proximity to the MLS Cup itself. Darren Smith and John Gennaro talked…
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Giving thanks + Thanksgiving wine shopping guide
Darren Smith and John Gennaro check in on each other's Thanksgiving day plans and talk about the NFL's slate of games for the day before celebrating a win for San Diego State's men's basketball team over Oregon and talking about Mikey Varas and San Diego FC, who are tough MFers that understand…
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Snap(dragon) Reaction: SDFC advances to Western Conference final
After calling San Diego FC's thrilling 1-0 win over Minnesota United FC, punching SDFC's ticket to the Western Conference final of the MLS Cup Playoffs, Darren Smith and John Gennaro jumped on and recorded an instant reaction podcast episode. After getting a little bit of sleep, John woke up and...
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Weekend Recap & SDFC/Minnesota United preview
Darren Smith checks in on how John Gennaro's ribs went over the weekend before the guys explore their own excitement over tonight's playoff game between San Diego FC and Minnesota United FC at Snapdragon Stadium, and spend a minute discussing the potential scheduling conflicts ahead. They also…
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Weekend Preview: Can SDSU make the College Football Playoff?
Darren Smith and John Gennaro start the podcast by discussing the anxiety around smoking a rack of ribs but quickly get into a weekend preview by ranking their top 5 sporting events of the weekend. The guys then play the audio of San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen on Buster Olney's Baseball...
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Keith Costigan talks 2026 World Cup & 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs
Darren Smith and John Gennaro start today's podcast by trying to make sense of ESPN's new relationship with MLB teams and what it might mean for San Diego Padres fans going forward before welcoming to the show AppleTV MLS play-by-play announcer Keith Costigan for a preview of Monday's playoff…
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Remembering Randy Jones & talking MLS Cup Playoffs
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off the episode by remembering their former coworker, San Diego Padres legend Randy Jones, who passed away this morning. The guys spend some time telling personal stories and talking about Randy's place in Padres history. They then welcome onto the podcast Jeff...
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San Diego FC is a breath of fresh air
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's podcast by talking about some technical difficulties and jokingly being called out by a "rival" Padres podcast before getting into San Diego FC, who announced earlier today that they were exercising the permanent option on Luca Bombino's loan from...
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A very late Weekend Recap
Darren Smith and John Gennaro had conflicting schedules on Monday, so the usual early Monday weekend recap got moved to late afternoon. As such, the guys are a little loop as they discuss the very strange NFL season, SDSU fans getting angry after a win over Boise State, San Diego FC preparing for…
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Weekend Preview: Rain!
Darren Smith and John Gennaro preview the weekend ahead, starting with an explanation of what weep holes are and how to clean them ahead of this weekend's deluge of rain that is expected to soak San Diego county. We get a full report from the Section 1904 Weather Desk so that we know how to...
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REACTION: Seidler family exploring sale of Padres
News broke this morning that the Seidler family is looking for investors to take ownership of the San Diego Padres, marking the end of the Peter Seidler era for the team. Darren Smith and John Gennaro jumped on YouTube and reacted live to the news, being sad about Peter Seidler's legacy…
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Dennis Lin: "It's very Padres, if you think about it."
Dennis Lin from The Athletic joins Darren Smith and John Gennaro from the MLB GM meetings in Las Vegas to talk about the San Diego Padres hiring Craig Stammen, what we should expect in Year 1 and the challenges that the new manager faces, as well as all of the other big decisions that face the…
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REACTION: "A.J.'s decision" to hire Craig Stammen as Padres manager
John's back from his trip to New Orleans and, after the guys talk a bit about what makes New Orleans so special and John talks about the World War II Museum, the guys bounce around to some of the reactions to the San Diego Padres hiring Craig Stammen as their new manager and yesterday's press...
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Weekend Recap: Craig Stammen introduced & SDFC Advances
It’s Monday! That means it’s the Weekend Recap episode, which is always unlocked for everyone whether you’re a paid subscriber or just checking out Section 1904 for the first time. With John Gennaro enjoying beignets and Hurricanes on Bourbon Street, Darren Smith sucked down a few double…
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Andy Green talks about new Padres manager Craig Stammen
With John out of town, Darren talks with former San Diego Padres manager Andy Green about new San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen, who had Andy Green as his manager when he first joined the Padres as a free agent in 2017. Section 1904 is a community-supported media company. If you like our...
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Padres (finally) hire a manager while SDSU tries to keep Sean Lewis
Jon Schaeffer from Jon & Jim on San Diego Sports 760am joined Darren Smith and John Gennaro today and we promise that there is plenty of San Diego State Aztecs talk, both about the football team and men's basketball team, but first... The San Diego Padres finally announced a new manager hire and...
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Game Preview: San Diego FC vs. Portland Timbers (Game 3)
Darren Smith and John Gennaro start off today's episode with a conversation about Tom Brady (and Paris Hilton) cloning dogs and how this is all exactly the same as Jurassic Park before switching to the San Diego Padres, who have lost Yu Darvish for next season and Victor Rodriguez for the...
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Why can't the 7-1 SDSU Aztecs fill up Snapdragon Stadium?
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's podcast by highlighting the criticism of San Diego State's attendance by the head football coach of the University of Wyoming. Was it over the line? Was it correct? Is it going to end up hurting Sean Lewis' recruiting efforts? Is there anything that...
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Weekend Recap: Padres & SDFC are driving us crazy
Darren Smith and John Gennaro battled some internet issues while recapping a wild weekend that included the Los Angeles Dodgers winning games 6 & 7 in Toronto to take the World Series away from the Toronto Blue Jays, Fernando Tatis Jr. winning a Gold Glove in right field, San Diego FC letting the...
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Let's raise money for Rady Children's Hospital
We are lucky that the children of San Diego have a place like Rady Children's Hospital in town when the worst happens. Not just because of their expertise in care, but because how much thought has been put into child-sizing medical care and making the experience one that is a lot less scary than…
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Weekend Preview & the shifting power dynamics of players & coaches
In this extra long episode to get you ready for the weekend, Darren Smith and John Gennaro discuss the San Diego Padres' search for a new manager and wonder which journalist will break the news when it happens. The guys then talk about the World Series, starting with how they're going to watch...
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The real "San Diego discount"
Darren Smith and John Gennaro start off the podcast talking about mischief they have gotten into, and avoided, when they were much younger. They then dive into the San Diego Padres managerial search, which is down to three (?) finalists, discussing how A.J. Preller might be factoring his own…
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Halloween candy, Padres manager search update & data (or data)
Darren Smith and John Gennaro kick off today's podcast with a conversation about their preferred Halloween candy and their process for handing out candy each year, as well as the proper pronunciation of the word "data". The guys then reflect on last night's World Series Game 4, which felt like a...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Bandwagon Beach have?
Bandwagon Beach currently has 233 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Bandwagon Beach about?
John Gennaro is a longtime San Diego sports fan who occasionally blogs and podcasts about his fandom, his family and his life. Occasionally, he's joined by friends! bandwagonbeach.com
How often does Bandwagon Beach release new episodes?
Bandwagon Beach publishes regularly with 233 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Bandwagon Beach?
You can listen to Bandwagon Beach on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Bandwagon Beach?
Bandwagon Beach is created and hosted by John Gennaro.
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