STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Eric DiCrescenzo intended to intern this summer at WBCB, a Levittown, Pa.-based AM radio station that covers his beloved Philadelphia sports scene, in a role that likely would have included on-air opportunities.

Instead, the coronavirus pandemic forced the station to suspend its internship program.

So DiCresenzo, a journalism major from Westmont, N.J., and a redshirt junior long snapper on the Stony Brook football team, pivoted and created his own website in order to get reps this summer creating sports articles.

Inspired by growing up listening to the late Harry Kalas, the legendary voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, DiCrescenzo's passion very much remains to work on-air in the Philly market after graduation.

"I thought the internship was the perfect situation, because a lot of bigger names in Philly sports media work there," DiCrescenzo said. "I want to get into mainly color commentary or play-by-play. When they told me the internship wasn't going to happen, in late March or early April —  because of COVID they really didn't want a lot of people going in and out of the station — that was a big disappointment to me. But that's when I figured I'd do something else. So I purchased the domain, made a logo and started my own website."

DiCrescenzo notes that the website is just an academic exercise, to have a platform to display his articles and videos as he aims to improve his skill. He has shared the space with other journalism majors to publish their works, including Janelle Pottinger from the track and field team.

"It's the same thing as football," he said. "Even though I can't play football right now, I can still go out and practice and get as many reps as possible. Even if no one is going to see it, I'll still get the work and the practice." (DiCrescenzo, incidentally, was just working out at a local high school near his New Jersey home when he stumbled upon Eagles kicker Jake Elliott, snapper Rick Lovato and punter Cameron Johnston all using the same field. "I'm seeing the ball have 6½ seconds of hang time and thinking, 'Who are the heck are these guys?' And then I finally realize Jake Elliott is standing there.")

DiCrescenzo has possessed a broadcasting passion as long as he can remember. As an 8-year-old in his grandparents' backyard, he would narrate his own wiffleball games, or paint the lines of a football field and narrate his own pigskin feats. He also read a biography of Kalas.

"I would be throwing the ball up, catching it myself, and being like, 'Touchdown Eagles!'" he said.

DiCrescenzo's passion for broadcasting further grew because his AAU basketball coach was ex-NBA player Tim Legler, whose post-playing days included on-air commentary.

"I would see him on TV the day after a basketball practice," DiCrescenzo said. "I would say, 'This is so cool. I would love to do this for a living.'"

Last semester, DiCrescenzo took Journalism 336, a sports-reporting class at Stony Brook taught by veteran New York sports journalist Wally Matthews.

"It was more than I even imagined," DiCrescenzo said. "Not only did I learn how to refine my writing, to learn from his experience — and for him to tell us stories of what he has gone through — was unbelievable. When I knew he was teaching the class, I looked him up to see what he had done in his career. And I was like, 'Oh, wow, this is going to be really cool.' After about two weeks of taking the class, as much as being a professor, he became a friend, where you could go in and talk. I would go in early and he, one-on-one, would critique my writing. To learn from someone who has been in the business that long was one of those dream-come-true things."
 
Matthews also brought in guests speakers, including WFAN's Yankees beat reporter Sweeny Murti and ESPN's Jets reporter Rich Cimini.

"Eric has both great enthusiasm for writing about sports and an insider's knowledge of them since he's a Division I athlete," Matthews said. "The things he still needs to learn can be taught. The things he already knows cannot. Plus, he has an outgoing personality that makes him a natural for sports broadcasting. I cannot imagine him not being successful in the sports media business, however he chooses to pursue it."