Posted by Casey Keirnan

So I'm standing in my living room talking to my roommate one afternoon after school when my phone rings. It is a 323 number that I don't recognize and I say to my friend, "Who is this?" He doesn't know and neither do I and I don't usually answer calls from strange numbers but for some reason I had a funny feeling about the call so I took a chance and answered it. "Hello?" I said into the phone and out the other end came a very familiar voice, "Hello Casey?!" I absolutely couldn't believe it, it was Steven Cohen from World Football Daily. He was calling to tell me that I "got the job" and to get my ass down there on Monday of the following week! I was so excited I could barely contain myself. I literally called everyone who was close to me - relatives, girlfriend, friends - to tell them that a literal dream had come true and I was going to be interning at the radio show that I spent EVERY day of my life listening to and obsessing over. The previous day Steven and Kenny had mentioned that their producer Rafael Gonzales was becoming a bit spread thin and that he needed help behind the glass. So, when I got home the FIRST thing I did was jump on the computer and email Steven - now the very next day I am a part of the WFD crew! Hold on, hold on...let me back up a second and tell you how I got into this whole soccer thing to begin with. I moved to California from where my heart still resides (Texas) to attend film school at one of the fine universities they have. Growing up I had had a few friends who were obsessed with soccer and who tried to get me into the whole thing but it just never stuck. Then when I moved to California (with nothing to do) I bought the FIFA 07 video game and to be honest, THAT is what got me into the sport. I know, I know, it is a bit embarrassing but if I'm to be honest, a video game introduced this all American boy to the world's sport. From there I caught a few games on the TV, started attending Galaxy matches and the rest is history.

My induction to soccer began in 2007 and by the beginning of 2008 it had become a full on obsession. With my television constantly tuned to Fox Soccer Channel I invariably stumbled upon Fox Football Fone-in. Now there was what I had been looking for! FFF was a smart show with some personality that delved into football on a deeper level than Sky Sports or FSR. What really kept me watching though was the pundit on the left - Steven Cohen. I would tune in every Monday to hear what he and Webster had to say about the past week's action and was gutted when I found out that they went off the air every summer! With NO WHERE to turn to I begrudgingly checked out the radio show/podcast that Steven was always promoting on FFF called World Soccer Daily. I was DEFINITELY not a podcaster or even a casual radio talk show person at the time and was understandably apprehensive about what I would find. What I found, however, was a show that was infinitely better than what I was getting over on Fox AND it was 5 days a week! WSD was a show where I could hear Steven speak his mind without the censorship of FSC and some random Scotsman named Kenny Hassan replaced Nicky Webster. Soon, World Soccer Daily became an integral part of my daily life and my enjoyment and fandom of listening to the thoughts of Steven Cohen was quickly being rivaled and almost equaled by Kenny Hassan. I could not wait to hear the boys every day in my car and soon I came to know and love the personalities of Steven, Kenny and their producer Rafael.

Then came that dreaded day on August 21st 2009 when - unexpectedly for the listeners - World Soccer Daily announced it was no more. I was completely gutted. My car (not to mention my days) felt totally empty without the show and I could not understand for the life of me why it HAD to go. I sent many futile emails across the net and chatted on many message boards but to no avail. Of course, as we all know World Football Daily was announced just 10 days later and when it went on the air I was one of the first 20 people to subscribe. So, needless to say, when I got hired on as an intern it was unequivocally a dream come true. Sure it was radio and not TV or film but it was still a dream come true. My first days at the show were surreal and it took - no joke - about 3 months for me to get over the "star-struckness" of hanging out with Steven and Kenny. During the first time we all went out for lunch (sort of my get-to-know-you lunch) I remember thinking that just a week prior I had to call in the show, possibly try over and over because of busy lines and wait on hold just to get the boys' opinion on a footballing matter and now all I had to do was turn my head and say, "Hey, what do you think about blah, blah, blah", completely surreal.

Almost immediately after starting work behind the glass and began learning the ropes at WFD I had to leave for a dream vacation in England during which I would be attending 2 Premier League matches and seeing the sights. It suddenly occurred to me that if I brought my camera and microphone and produced some sort of a story - like an NPR or Sky Sports reporter - while I was over there then maybe the guys would put it on the site. This was my big chance to integrate my video skills/interest into my work at WFD! What I brought back home with me was "Casey In England" (which you can still see in the Featured Highlights tab) and my status as official camera/video person of World Football Daily was born. Since those days in mid December, my time at World Football Daily has been unforgettable. My time spent carpooling with Kenny, learning from Rafa, having lunch with Steven and forming a close bond with James while sharing the role as the "new guys" has become a chapter in my life that I will never forget. Over the past six months we have accomplished a lot with the show (supporters groups segments and MLS 2010) and we have SO many projects that are in the works - not to mention that I have enough candid footage from behind the scenes to make a hilarious blooper-reel. I am truly grateful for my time spent so far at World Football Daily and I look forward to whatever lies ahead.