Courtesy Shore Line Times

(August 31, 2009) In 1994, instead of just going through the motions as a student at East Haven High School, Page joined the new public access television station "Yellow Jacket TV." Fifteen years later, Page is still in the media. And as the host of "The Back Page" sports talk show on ESPN Radio 1300 (New Haven) and ESPN Radio 1410 (Hartford), his career has taken off.

In addition, he'll be taping the first "Back Page TV" show this week in Hartford.

With his four-hour (3-7 p.m.) radio show fully entrenched; Page is expanding his "Back Page" format to a monthly show on the Connecticut Sports Network (Comcast Ch. 185 and 187). The pilot, which was taped Thursday (Aug. 27) at the Connecticut Public Television studios, will air in September. The initial show is scheduled to focus on the past, present and future of Yale football. Page's guests will be former Yale coach Jack Siedlecki and his successor, Tim Williams. Page was also hoping to book Yale coaching legend Carm Cozza.

"CTSN and I have been talking since last year about simulcasting my radio show on TV," said Page. "Because of the economy, the cost would be ridiculous, so that wasn't possible. So I had other ideas, such as a one hour in-studio show on local sports, and they loved it."

Page, who lives in Hartford, visits the East Haven area often to see his friends and family. It's where it all began.

"I went to Notre Dame in West Haven for my freshman and sophomore years, but I was a C student, and my parents said they could pay nothing for me to be a C student at East Haven High," Page said. "When I started at East Haven in my junior year, I got involved with the town's public access station. Then in my senior year, I worked for the public access station at the high school. I got the bug then and there."

With Yellow Jacket TV, Page did play-by-play sports for many of East Haven's athletic teams, along with hosting a weekly sports talk show.

After graduation, Page went off to college at Southern Connecticut State University. But after a few months, he found the college experience wasn't for him.

"I had no desire to go to college for four years," said Page. "It wasn't in my blood."

Realizing he wanted to work in the media, Page left SCSU and earned a certificate from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Stratford. Once he had that certificate in hand, Page spent the next four years with various radio stations around the country. He worked for three stations on the East Coast in Northampton (Mass.), Chestertown (Md.) and Keene (N.H.). He also worked in Rugby, North Dakota.

"I was 20 years old and it was the first time I lived outside my parents' house," Page said. "I don't think I could appreciate New York City without living in Rugby, and vice-versa. They are the complete antithesis of each other. I don't think you can appreciate East Haven fully without traveling around the rest of the country and seeing other lifestyles."

Page did play-by-play for Rugby's American Legion baseball team. He was also a sports anchor, news anchor and even a sales guy at other stops.

Finally in 2001, after almost a year of doing news at WLAD-AM in Danbury, he tried his hand at political communications.

"After six months, I knew it wasn't for me," Page said. "I had to get back into radio."

Page went to work in early 2003 for Sirius, then a fledgling satellite radio company. That meant he was back to doing sports on a full-time basis. It also meant he had to move to New York City. The news experience Page acquired along the way has helped him in doing sports talk shows.

"Having been a reporter and an anchor, I can put myself in the position of being a reporter on my show," Page said. "If I see a reporter do something I might be crazy about, I can call on my own experience and understand what they are doing."

Page stayed with Sirius for almost five years until he heard that WAVZ-AM 1300 in New Haven was changing its format to ESPN Radio 1300. Page contacted AVZ program director Jerry Kristafer in spring 2007 about doing a sports talk show on the station, but was told they would get back to him on it by the end of the year.

"Jerry told me he would see how the budgets worked out," said Page. "I figured I would never hear from him. I figured he was blowing smoke."

It didn't take long for Page to hear back.

In Oct. 2007, Kristafer called Page to see if he wanted to do a show in Hartford that would simulcast on both ESPN Radio 1410 and ESPN Radio 1300 in New Haven. It didn't take long for Page to accept the job. He started at ESPN Radio in Jan. 2008.

ESPN Radio had studios in both Hartford and New Haven and Page can choose which studio he broadcasts from.

Of course, Page's show will always be compared to that of WFAN-AM 660 in New York, which was the first all-sports talk station in the country and is considered the standard bearer in the industry. His show goes up against Mike Francesa, who's been on the air for more than 20 years.

"I grew up listening to WFAN, but we're so much different than Francesa," said Page. "If someone calls, I let them talk. I'm not a stat geek, but it doesn't matter what you're talking about. As long as you're entertaining, people won't change the dial."

Page is also willing to praise as much as criticize and he'll take on the seemingly untouchable University of Connecticut program if it's warranted.

"I'll praise UConn as much as I'll criticize UConn," said Page. "Find me someone else in this state that will do that."

As for the future, he'd like to do a national sports talk show down the line.

"When I was 19 or 20, I was doing it for the thrill of being in radio," said Page. "Now that I'm 32, the bottom line is that I want to make a living."

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