Media outlets in the Raleigh area have a so to speak lockdown on Wolfpack sports. But one component that no one else offers is a podcast specifically targeted towards the University’s athletics programs.

Thanks to James Curle , now there is.

Curle , a former Technician Photo Editor and graduate of N.C . State, started a blog website, www.RiddickandReynolds.com , four years ago and recently began a podcast that runs weekly call the “R&R Podcast.”

Each night, Curle , along with former sports editor Austin Johnson and former managing editor Derek Medlin and Steven Muma , started the show back in May and have already recorded 15 episodes talking about topics that occurred over the summer in men’s basketball and football.

Curle said the idea was more based on noticing a lack of podcasts in the local market talking about State athletics.

“I’ve been doing a blog for about four years now, and I knew that I wanted to do something a little different,” Curle said. “I’ve started listening to podcasts not too long ago and thought this would be a way to corner the N.C . State market in a way that it hasn’t been cornered yet.”

While Curle has been blogging about the Pack for the past four years, he said that he wanted to add the other three co-hosts to add even more knowledge that they may bring to the table.

“The guys that work with me on the show do such a great job of keeping up with their blogs that I don’t have the time or the resources to keep up,” Curle said. “So this seemed like a great way to get everyone together and do something a little different that no one else is doing for the Wolfpack .”

Medlin , who has worked for Pack Pride and WRAL , said he joined the podcast for the same reason that Curle created it – no one else on the market has one.

“This is really a chance to get to be a part of something that nobody else is doing,” Medlin said. “We try to do as good of a job as we can. This is James’ baby, so we want to as good of a job as we can not only for ourselves, but for James as well.”

The four men who participate in the show are all graduates of State, but Muma was not a member of Technician during his tenure at the University.  Johnson said the opportunities he was offered after leaving the University, which eventually led to being a co-host on the podcast.

“I would never be here, doing what I’m doing with this, without Technician,” Johnson said. “Being a part of the student newspaper opened a ton of doors for me. It’s basically provided me front row seats for basketball games over the past few years, which some might view as a perk.”

Curle said writing for the school newspaper prepared him for interviewing athletes that the normal sports reporter might be nervous about when first starting out.

“Being a sports writer can be an intimidating thing,” Curle said. “But having the background that we have with Technician has demystified a lot of those things for us.

“We’re not afraid to call up someone like [former football coach] Chuck Amato and get him on our show, whereas a civilian might be more intimidated by that concept.”

During the 12th podcast, Curle introduced Amato as a guest on the show, which surprised several of his listeners. Since that episode, Amato has participated in each of the podcasts as a call-in guest.

While the presence of Amato on the show adds another element that the four hosts did not previously have, Curle said the addition would not be possible without moving the show to Amedeo’s and meeting Dave Parker, a minority shareholder of the restaurant.

“He’s been a big addition to the program,” Curle said. “And having him on the show wouldn’t have been possible without Dave [Parker]. Dave knows Chuck very well and said he could probably get him on the podcast, so of course I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’

For the last three weeks, the show has had a major overhaul with the move and addition of Amato , but Curle said the relationship with Parker is what has brought the show to new places.

“Dave’s connections have allowed us to have access to some other folks that normally we wouldn’t have access to,” Curle said. “We’ve talked about getting Ernie Myers, Dereck Whittenburg and Chris Corchiani on the show during basketball season.

“Dave has really been the one who has dreamed big for us. That’s something back in May, when we started the podcast, that I would have never imagined would be possible.”