Local Limelight with Joe Giglio of the "Ovies + Giglio Podcast"
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Over the course of nearly three decades, Joe Giglio built a loyal following for his coverage of college sports in the Triangle.
- But when his radio show with co-host Joe Ovies was canceled abruptly by WRAL in May, he found himself without a work home.
So he took a bet on himself and founded the "Ovies + Giglio Podcast" with Ovies this past summer — creating one of the few independent sports podcasts with a Triangle perspective.
Axios spoke with Giglio for our Local Limelight series. Answers have been edited for Smart Brevity and clarity.
🍕 Favorite place to eat: Three of my favorite places ended up being our sponsors: Raleigh Times in downtown, Oakwood Pizza Box (Anthony Guerra makes the best pizza in the state), and Wings Over Raleigh.
🚌 What he thinks the Triangle is missing: Better public transit connection between the Triangle's cities.
- I rarely go to a Duke basketball or football game because I don't want to drive but I would go if I had a way to get there and back, you know, from Garner.
🎓 What brought him to the Triangle: I grew up in New Jersey, and before my senior year in college I visited my dad's friend who lived in Cary. I visited N.C. State and decided to apply there and got in.
- My first semester, like anyone else, was a struggle, but I powered through it and enjoyed it. Pretty soon after, I started working at the student paper, and that really just kind of set me on my way.
🏈 First read in the morning: The ESPN Fantasy app. I enjoy starting my day, tweaking my lineups and checking who's in and who's out.
📖 Last great book he read: "A Drinking Life" by Pete Hamill.
🏖️ Favorite long weekend spot: Oak Island.
🏀 Favorite year covering sports in the Triangle: I mark 2019 as the last year of the ACC. We still had Coach K. We still had Roy Williams. Zion Williamson was larger than life and Coby White was interesting as hell. State was trying to make the tournament and kept coming very close.
- If you go back to the '07 football season, both N.C. State and UNC had new coaches, which made for an interesting fall.
- Those are two seasons that really stand out to me.
⛳ How he unwinds: My golf game doesn't always keep me sane, but I do particularly like to walk nine holes when I get home from work.
- My trick is I don't bring my phone, so I enjoy those two hours not having the phone and not paying attention to anything other than my terrible putting.
🎙️ What's next for Ovies + Giglio: We are moving to do one show a week "live," so we're workshopping the best way to do that and the best location for that.
🔮 One wild sports prediction for 2024: SMU wins the ACC football title its first year in the league.