November 1, 2024 • 17 mins
Sunil Dasgupta, the voice behind the popular podcast "I Hate Politics," takes us on his journey from a school board election defeat to finding his voice through podcasting. Encouraged by his wife and a friend, Sunil transformed his political frustrations into a powerful platform, launching his show in February 2021. Now with over 230 episodes and counting, he passionately discusses the necessity of politics in everyday life.
Switching gears, we explore the rising enthusiasm for ball hockey in Montgomery County. Ben Berger enthusiastically shares his passion for the sport, highlighting its accessibility and the growing community spirit it fosters. From the NBHL Maryland Tier 3 League to the DC Youth Ball Hockey League, learn about the affordable and inclusive opportunities these leagues offer for players of all ages. Whether you're a seasoned player or a curious newcomer, this segment reveals why ball hockey is capturing the hearts of many in the area.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo.
Today's episode.
We have the resident spotlightand today we're highlighting two
residents.
One, you're going to learnabout his podcast, I Hate
Politics.
The other we'll learn aboutball, hockey, ball hockey in
Montgomery County, maryland.
Up first we have Sunil and hehas a podcast called I Hate
Politics, very popular podcastthat focuses on local, very
(00:37):
hyper-local politics here inMontgomery County, maryland.
Here's Sunil.
We talked to him at the MAKOconference in Ocean City,
maryland this past August.
All right, good day and welcometo what's Happening, moco.
We are doing our residentspotlight, but this is not just
a regular spotlight.
This is a spotlight of a fellowpodcaster.
As you know, if you subscribeto the what's Happening MoCo
(00:59):
podcast, you get to hear uswhenever you'd like.
But also, if you know if you'vebeen listening, we also like to
highlight residents ofMontgomery County that are doing
great things.
We've talked to Jason McSteinwho has the Modernity MoCo
platform for news.
We've talked to Alex Aronis,who's the owner proprietor for
(01:20):
the MoCo show.
We talked to another younggentleman that has the PG MoCo
crime blotter.
But today we're with Sunil.
Sunil, how are you today, sir?
Tell me, tell the people outthere, tell me how people will
recognize who you are.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Well, my name is Sunil Dasgupta.
I live in Aspen Hill, abuttingthe city of Rothwell, just
outside the city.
I am in District 6 and District19.
In the Legislative District.
I am the host of I HatePolitics podcast, which I
(01:59):
produce from my basement.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Alright, alright.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Just by my washer and dryer, in fact, when right just
buy my uh washer and dryer infact.
So when I am working the washerand dryer does not work so.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So when he's, when he's sacrificing, when he's
working hard on his podcast,nothing, no clothes in the house
.
Get cleaned that's right.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
No laundry.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I'm sacrificing laundry for this well, I will
say this is not the first timeI've heard of uh samil in this
podcast.
I've known of it for quite sometime.
It's been around for what?
How long has it?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
been.
It's almost, uh, getting to befour years.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, four years four years and it's, it's, it's a a
passion project.
Would you say it is a passionproject?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
so would you say, it is a passion project.
So, you know, many things cametogether for me to do it.
The first was I had just lostan election in 2020.
I ran for the school board andI lost that election and so, you
know, I was moping aroundwondering what to do with my
(03:01):
life and my wife, after a point,was like do something.
And a friend of mine had calledsaying, know, you should do a
podcast.
And I didn't know anythingabout audio, audio engineering,
nothing, uh.
But I, you know, sat down andlearned.
And october, I beg your pardon,uh, february of 8, 2021,
february 8, 2021 I did my firstepisode on and the subject was
(03:26):
the interchange in Georgia and495.
And they were going to theplanning department had just won
a small grant to redesign that,and so that was the story and
we looked into what it why.
You know the advocacy around itand all of that, and from there
I have not stopped.
(03:47):
Every week since then I have,yes, every week since then I've
produced a show.
And not just that.
Since valentine's day in 2024,I've been producing two shows a
week.
Oh, wow wow.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So it's.
It's not just passion.
Now, this is what you do.
You are a podcast host.
You have a popular podcast,relatively for Montgomery County
, maryland.
And let's go back though.
You started in 2021, february.
You were inspired by your wife,which is wonderful.
That's where the greatinspirations come from for
action.
Why the name?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I hate politics okay, so it one of the.
So I, first of all, my day jobis as a professor of political
science at umbc.
Oh, okay, and I run.
I direct the political scienceprogram on behalf of umbc at the
universities of sherry grove.
That's my real job.
(04:41):
That's what pays for thelaundry machines, okay, and the
cleaning of the clothes and uh.
So um, when a lot of mystudents would say, why should I
do political science?
I hate politics.
On the campaign trail I heard alot of people say why should I
(05:02):
talk to you?
I hate politics.
And to me as a politicalscientist, that was a weird
thing to hear, right?
Because if you didn't havepolitics, you would have no tax
collection mechanism.
If you didn't have a taxcollection mechanism, you would
have no police, roads, schools,nothing right.
Civilization as we know itwould not exist without some
(05:22):
form of government.
And so if you want any form ofgovernment and you want that
government to be efficient,effective, however you want to
put it, you have to engage inpolitics.
The basis of politics isaggregating the preferences of
(05:44):
the public.
As soon as you speak ofaggregated preferences, you are
talking politics.
So even if you want to escapepolitics, you cannot, even when
you don't participate, you don'tescape politics.
That's the top of my show.
All right, all.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And I hate politics.
Well, soon he'll Soon he'll Allright.
So you now, how many episodeshave you had now?
230.
230 episodes, all right.
And what is your favoriteepisode so far and what are some
of the topics that you'vecovered?
What's your favorite?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
episode.
You know, favorite episode I'mnot going to say, because it's
like choosing a favorite child.
I'm not going to go there.
But I'm going to say one of thethings that we do that is, I
think, unique to our headpolitics is our candidate
interviews, and practicallyevery elected member, council
(06:39):
member, school board member inMontgomery County has been on
the show doing a candidateinterview.
And these candidate interviewsare the antithesis of the
candidate forums where mostpeople speak.
And what do I mean by that?
(07:02):
I'm the I I had politicscandidate interview are long.
They can sometimes go 40minutes, 50, 50 minutes
sometimes, but belatedly I'vetried to cut them shorter
because people don't likelistening to long.
But the interview itself islong.
So when I interviewed countyexecutive mark elridge, that
interview ran two hours.
Oh wow.
And then we, I edited it andthen I made it, you know, about
(07:23):
35 minutes, which is manageable.
So the candidate interviews,what they do is they focus on
one topic and I give thecandidate the choice of topic.
So they choose the topic.
I ask them questions, ok, right.
I want them to show their bestside, ok, so.
But.
And I ask them questions andthey answer, but I ask follow-up
(07:46):
questions.
I think that is the differenceand a candidate forum in
contrast.
You know you're asked aquestion and you're given two
minutes to answer.
Then you move on to the nextperson, right and the same.
You know the entire table isasked the same question over and
over again.
That is not what it is here.
You have to really prepareyourself to be able to speak.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Cool and you get what I like to call a deep dive.
Like podcast is great for adeep dive.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So you don't get the superficial on the record type
of thing.
You don't get the talkingpoints.
You get the real answers to thequestions in long form.
So if someone wants to know afollow-up to I support public
safety, why do you supportpublic safety?
What do you think about that?
(08:32):
What types of public safetyinitiatives would you institute
so you are able to kind ofmanage all those things or cover
all those things in yourlong-form podcast?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
That's correct and the thing is that it is
extraordinary.
So, coming for the November2024 election, all the six
candidates that are in therunning for the school board,
three school board seats I haveinterviewed them.
You can hear them in their ownvoice in the long form and make
(09:07):
up and help yourself make upyour mind.
Don't leave the school boardraces unfilled.
On your ballot Right, there isa.
That happens a lot.
We just call the down ballotdrop off where you know folks
will.
Voters will choose thepresidency, maybe the senator
and the governor, and thennothing else, right?
(09:28):
So this year there's presidency, there's a president race,
there is a.
There's a Senate importantSenate race, but there's no
governor race, right?
That happens in 2026.
But when you fill out yourballot right, make sure to go
all the way down to school boardand other races.
School board is perhaps themost important Montgomery County
(09:50):
race this time and all theinterviews are available on.
I Hate Politics.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
All right, fantastic.
Now, speaking of the interviewsbeing available and a bunch of
podcasts, how can people listento your podcast?
If they have questions, how dothey reach you?
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Okay, so you can listen to the podcast on any
platform that you choose YouTube, apple Podcasts, spotify,
pandora, iheartradio whateverplatform you use If you want to
reach out to me email.
Producer at ihppodorg.
(10:25):
Producer at ihppodorg.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Fantastic, that's what's happening.
Moco, I hate politics.
Well, sunil, a county resident,and we're so proud of you,
thank you.
That's a resident doingsomething.
Resident Spotlight I hatepolitics.
You, we're so proud of you,thank you.
That's a resident doingsomething.
Resident Spotlight I hatepolitics.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You didn't know that it was made through MoCo there
you go.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Thank you, made in MoCo.
Thank you, derek.
All right, no-transcript, butnow you'll know him as the Wayne
Gretzky of ball hockey.
Good day, what's happening,moco.
This is Derek Kinney, and I'mhere live at Michael and Sons
Athletic Center.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Sports Arena.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Sports Arena in Rockville, Maryland.
I'm here with Jason McStein andthe Burger, the Burger man.
What's your first name?
Ben Burger?
Ben Burger and Jason McSteinthey are two local ball hockey
players.
What is ball hockey, Jason?
Speaker 5 (11:19):
So it's kind of like what you originally see played
in the streets, you know with astick and a ball, and we've got
a full arena now and play fouror five nights a week here.
It's a big part of my life.
I've been playing here for 14,15 years and I've been playing
ball hockey since I was six.
(11:41):
So 32 years Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
And this past season was significant for your team.
What's the name of your teamand why was this past season
significant for your team?
Speaker 5 (11:54):
So we're the Savage Ogopogos, our National Ball
Hockey League team.
We went from last to first wewere actually the first team to
do that to go from last to firstto win the local Maryland Tier
3 NBHL championship.
And then we went on to NewJersey to play in the Nationals
and had pretty good showingthere.
We got two wins, two losses andwe were the eighth seed out of
(12:17):
18 teams for the playoffs there.
So we were pretty happy withour performance.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Excellent, excellent.
And how many years have youbeen playing with this team?
So this is only the.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
this past season was the second year of the NBHL
Maryland Tier 3 League, so twoyears.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
All right, excellent, excellent.
And Ben Berger and Ben Berger.
Ben Berger, what is it aboutball hockey that you really
enjoy?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
so I grew up without playing ice hockey at all, but
loving the sport of hockeyitself, and it just is very easy
to get into really anybody.
All you need is a stick, pairof shoes, and I mean gloves,
shin guards, everything help,but the barrier to entry is just
so easy.
You can play anywhere, you canplay in your backyard.
Obviously, games need to bedone on a more focused arena,
(13:05):
but there's a.
The accessibility is the bigthing for me.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And what was it like when you first started here?
Did you start here in Rockville, maryland, first, or did you
start somewhere else?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I started here.
A couple of my friends aftercollege moved back with our
parents, saw this because weused to play soccer here growing
up and we're like whoa, this isso much better than soccer.
And yeah, we're I'm, I think,six years into it now and loving
it every day.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
All right, so six years into it.
So what do you, what do you sayto young people out there, and
are there opportunities outthere for young people to get
involved in this game of ballhockey?
Speaker 5 (13:40):
So we have our DC Youth Ball Hockey League, which
is about to actually start backup in October 15th I think and
you know it's a greatopportunity to play.
It's relatively cheap for theamount of indoor space.
The cost is very low.
There's a very low barrier toentry, as he said, and you know
(14:01):
it's one of those things whereyou can develop skills for all
different sports.
So you know, there are partsthat are similar to basketball,
there are parts that are similarto football, soccer, so all
these athletes that play othersports can easily come in and
play ball, hockey and have fun.
It's like low pressure becausewe don't have that college level
, professional level, so there'snot that kind of crazy parent
(14:23):
atmosphere in a lot of youthsports.
But we are working to build thesport to become bigger here.
You know, develop travel teams,like some other bigger East
Coast areas have, and stuff likethat, so that we can advance
the sport here.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
All right, Ben Berger , putting you in the spot here.
Give me the top three reasonswhy people should start playing
ball hockey.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I would say health-wise it's a great run.
I personally hate running justby myself, but if there's a ball
to chase I'm down every day.
It's a great camaraderie aspect, like I've been to weddings
that are based on ball hockeyfriend groups, I've been hanging
out with people that I've metthrough here pretty much every
night of the week.
And also, like affordabilityIce hockey is one of the most
(15:09):
expensive sports out there.
Ball hockey is a fraction ofthe cost.
You're still.
A lot of people do itoff-season.
I was good enough to go to ourworld championships as a staff
member and most of the men'steam for that played college ice
hockey or higher, currentlyplaying professional some of
them.
So it's a great like complimentto ice hockey Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Now, what do you guys want to say?
Because you're on rival teamsand you compete, why should
someone cheer for your team asopposed to his team?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Well, we're the two-time champions.
We got that.
Nobody else can say that in twoyears.
And you know, I think really wejust want people to cheer for
the sport, you know, and to comeout, have fun, check out the
games.
All of our National Ball HockeyLeague games are on YouTube so
you can check out the lastseason or whatever, and see what
(16:03):
it's like.
So, yeah, how about you?
Speaker 4 (16:08):
The Blazers.
We're the young guns, we liketo have a lot more fun out there
.
High risk, high reward.
So we have some highlight reelgoals, but man do reward.
Or high yeah.
So we we have some highlightreal goals, but man do we let in
some goals, as the goaliedefense is not our number one
strength, but having fun is thenumber one goal, all right and
having fun.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And that's what's happening.
Moco, here, with Jason McSteinand, of course, ben Berger ball
hockey, rockville, maryland,montgomery County, maryland.
And that's what's happening,moco.
Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you.
Rockville, maryland, montgomeryCounty, maryland.
And that's what's happening inMoCo.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
So that's our resident spotlight episode of
what's Happening, moco, if youare a resident of Montgomery
County, maryland, and you havesomething interesting to share
on our podcast, feel free toconnect with me via email
derrickkenney atmontgomerycountyndgov.
That's D-E-R-R dot K E N N Y atMontgomery County MD dot gov.
(17:02):
Or connect with us via socialmedia at County cable.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Thanks for listening to what's happening, please
subscribe.
And follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,facebook, instagram or YouTube
(17:28):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo.
Today's episode.
We have the resident spotlightand today we're highlighting two
residents.
One, you're going to learnabout his podcast, I Hate
Politics.
The other we'll learn aboutball, hockey, ball hockey in
Montgomery County, maryland.
Up first we have Sunil and hehas a podcast called I Hate
Politics, very popular podcastthat focuses on local, very
(00:37):
hyper-local politics here inMontgomery County, maryland.
Here's Sunil.
We talked to him at the MAKOconference in Ocean City,
maryland this past August.
All right, good day and welcometo what's Happening, moco.
We are doing our residentspotlight, but this is not just
a regular spotlight.
This is a spotlight of a fellowpodcaster.
As you know, if you subscribeto the what's Happening MoCo
(00:59):
podcast, you get to hear uswhenever you'd like.
But also, if you know if you'vebeen listening, we also like to
highlight residents ofMontgomery County that are doing
great things.
We've talked to Jason McSteinwho has the Modernity MoCo
platform for news.
We've talked to Alex Aronis,who's the owner proprietor for
(01:20):
the MoCo show.
We talked to another younggentleman that has the PG MoCo
crime blotter.
But today we're with Sunil.
Sunil, how are you today, sir?
Tell me, tell the people outthere, tell me how people will
recognize who you are.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Well, my name is Sunil Dasgupta.
I live in Aspen Hill, abuttingthe city of Rothwell, just
outside the city.
I am in District 6 and District19.
In the Legislative District.
I am the host of I HatePolitics podcast, which I
(01:59):
produce from my basement.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Alright, alright.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Just by my washer and dryer, in fact, when right just
buy my uh washer and dryer infact.
So when I am working the washerand dryer does not work so.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So when he's, when he's sacrificing, when he's
working hard on his podcast,nothing, no clothes in the house
.
Get cleaned that's right.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
No laundry.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I'm sacrificing laundry for this well, I will
say this is not the first timeI've heard of uh samil in this
podcast.
I've known of it for quite sometime.
It's been around for what?
How long has it?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
been.
It's almost, uh, getting to befour years.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, four years four years and it's, it's, it's a a
passion project.
Would you say it is a passionproject?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
so would you say, it is a passion project.
So, you know, many things cametogether for me to do it.
The first was I had just lostan election in 2020.
I ran for the school board andI lost that election and so, you
know, I was moping aroundwondering what to do with my
(03:01):
life and my wife, after a point,was like do something.
And a friend of mine had calledsaying, know, you should do a
podcast.
And I didn't know anythingabout audio, audio engineering,
nothing, uh.
But I, you know, sat down andlearned.
And october, I beg your pardon,uh, february of 8, 2021,
february 8, 2021 I did my firstepisode on and the subject was
(03:26):
the interchange in Georgia and495.
And they were going to theplanning department had just won
a small grant to redesign that,and so that was the story and
we looked into what it why.
You know the advocacy around itand all of that, and from there
I have not stopped.
(03:47):
Every week since then I have,yes, every week since then I've
produced a show.
And not just that.
Since valentine's day in 2024,I've been producing two shows a
week.
Oh, wow wow.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So it's.
It's not just passion.
Now, this is what you do.
You are a podcast host.
You have a popular podcast,relatively for Montgomery County
, maryland.
And let's go back though.
You started in 2021, february.
You were inspired by your wife,which is wonderful.
That's where the greatinspirations come from for
action.
Why the name?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
I hate politics okay, so it one of the.
So I, first of all, my day jobis as a professor of political
science at umbc.
Oh, okay, and I run.
I direct the political scienceprogram on behalf of umbc at the
universities of sherry grove.
That's my real job.
(04:41):
That's what pays for thelaundry machines, okay, and the
cleaning of the clothes and uh.
So um, when a lot of mystudents would say, why should I
do political science?
I hate politics.
On the campaign trail I heard alot of people say why should I
(05:02):
talk to you?
I hate politics.
And to me as a politicalscientist, that was a weird
thing to hear, right?
Because if you didn't havepolitics, you would have no tax
collection mechanism.
If you didn't have a taxcollection mechanism, you would
have no police, roads, schools,nothing right.
Civilization as we know itwould not exist without some
(05:22):
form of government.
And so if you want any form ofgovernment and you want that
government to be efficient,effective, however you want to
put it, you have to engage inpolitics.
The basis of politics isaggregating the preferences of
(05:44):
the public.
As soon as you speak ofaggregated preferences, you are
talking politics.
So even if you want to escapepolitics, you cannot, even when
you don't participate, you don'tescape politics.
That's the top of my show.
All right, all.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And I hate politics.
Well, soon he'll Soon he'll Allright.
So you now, how many episodeshave you had now?
230.
230 episodes, all right.
And what is your favoriteepisode so far and what are some
of the topics that you'vecovered?
What's your favorite?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
episode.
You know, favorite episode I'mnot going to say, because it's
like choosing a favorite child.
I'm not going to go there.
But I'm going to say one of thethings that we do that is, I
think, unique to our headpolitics is our candidate
interviews, and practicallyevery elected member, council
(06:39):
member, school board member inMontgomery County has been on
the show doing a candidateinterview.
And these candidate interviewsare the antithesis of the
candidate forums where mostpeople speak.
And what do I mean by that?
(07:02):
I'm the I I had politicscandidate interview are long.
They can sometimes go 40minutes, 50, 50 minutes
sometimes, but belatedly I'vetried to cut them shorter
because people don't likelistening to long.
But the interview itself islong.
So when I interviewed countyexecutive mark elridge, that
interview ran two hours.
Oh wow.
And then we, I edited it andthen I made it, you know, about
(07:23):
35 minutes, which is manageable.
So the candidate interviews,what they do is they focus on
one topic and I give thecandidate the choice of topic.
So they choose the topic.
I ask them questions, ok, right.
I want them to show their bestside, ok, so.
But.
And I ask them questions andthey answer, but I ask follow-up
(07:46):
questions.
I think that is the differenceand a candidate forum in
contrast.
You know you're asked aquestion and you're given two
minutes to answer.
Then you move on to the nextperson, right and the same.
You know the entire table isasked the same question over and
over again.
That is not what it is here.
You have to really prepareyourself to be able to speak.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Cool and you get what I like to call a deep dive.
Like podcast is great for adeep dive.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
That's correct.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
So you don't get the superficial on the record type
of thing.
You don't get the talkingpoints.
You get the real answers to thequestions in long form.
So if someone wants to know afollow-up to I support public
safety, why do you supportpublic safety?
What do you think about that?
(08:32):
What types of public safetyinitiatives would you institute
so you are able to kind ofmanage all those things or cover
all those things in yourlong-form podcast?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
That's correct and the thing is that it is
extraordinary.
So, coming for the November2024 election, all the six
candidates that are in therunning for the school board,
three school board seats I haveinterviewed them.
You can hear them in their ownvoice in the long form and make
(09:07):
up and help yourself make upyour mind.
Don't leave the school boardraces unfilled.
On your ballot Right, there isa.
That happens a lot.
We just call the down ballotdrop off where you know folks
will.
Voters will choose thepresidency, maybe the senator
and the governor, and thennothing else, right?
(09:28):
So this year there's presidency, there's a president race,
there is a.
There's a Senate importantSenate race, but there's no
governor race, right?
That happens in 2026.
But when you fill out yourballot right, make sure to go
all the way down to school boardand other races.
School board is perhaps themost important Montgomery County
(09:50):
race this time and all theinterviews are available on.
I Hate Politics.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
All right, fantastic.
Now, speaking of the interviewsbeing available and a bunch of
podcasts, how can people listento your podcast?
If they have questions, how dothey reach you?
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Okay, so you can listen to the podcast on any
platform that you choose YouTube, apple Podcasts, spotify,
pandora, iheartradio whateverplatform you use If you want to
reach out to me email.
Producer at ihppodorg.
(10:25):
Producer at ihppodorg.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Fantastic, that's what's happening.
Moco, I hate politics.
Well, sunil, a county resident,and we're so proud of you,
thank you.
That's a resident doingsomething.
Resident Spotlight I hatepolitics.
You, we're so proud of you,thank you.
That's a resident doingsomething.
Resident Spotlight I hatepolitics.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
You didn't know that it was made through MoCo there
you go.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Thank you, made in MoCo.
Thank you, derek.
All right, no-transcript, butnow you'll know him as the Wayne
Gretzky of ball hockey.
Good day, what's happening,moco.
This is Derek Kinney, and I'mhere live at Michael and Sons
Athletic Center.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
Sports Arena.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Sports Arena in Rockville, Maryland.
I'm here with Jason McStein andthe Burger, the Burger man.
What's your first name?
Ben Burger?
Ben Burger and Jason McSteinthey are two local ball hockey
players.
What is ball hockey, Jason?
Speaker 5 (11:19):
So it's kind of like what you originally see played
in the streets, you know with astick and a ball, and we've got
a full arena now and play fouror five nights a week here.
It's a big part of my life.
I've been playing here for 14,15 years and I've been playing
ball hockey since I was six.
(11:41):
So 32 years Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
And this past season was significant for your team.
What's the name of your teamand why was this past season
significant for your team?
Speaker 5 (11:54):
So we're the Savage Ogopogos, our National Ball
Hockey League team.
We went from last to first wewere actually the first team to
do that to go from last to firstto win the local Maryland Tier
3 NBHL championship.
And then we went on to NewJersey to play in the Nationals
and had pretty good showingthere.
We got two wins, two losses andwe were the eighth seed out of
(12:17):
18 teams for the playoffs there.
So we were pretty happy withour performance.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Excellent, excellent.
And how many years have youbeen playing with this team?
So this is only the.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
this past season was the second year of the NBHL
Maryland Tier 3 League, so twoyears.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
All right, excellent, excellent.
And Ben Berger and Ben Berger.
Ben Berger, what is it aboutball hockey that you really
enjoy?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
so I grew up without playing ice hockey at all, but
loving the sport of hockeyitself, and it just is very easy
to get into really anybody.
All you need is a stick, pairof shoes, and I mean gloves,
shin guards, everything help,but the barrier to entry is just
so easy.
You can play anywhere, you canplay in your backyard.
Obviously, games need to bedone on a more focused arena,
(13:05):
but there's a.
The accessibility is the bigthing for me.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And what was it like when you first started here?
Did you start here in Rockville, maryland, first, or did you
start somewhere else?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I started here.
A couple of my friends aftercollege moved back with our
parents, saw this because weused to play soccer here growing
up and we're like whoa, this isso much better than soccer.
And yeah, we're I'm, I think,six years into it now and loving
it every day.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
All right, so six years into it.
So what do you, what do you sayto young people out there, and
are there opportunities outthere for young people to get
involved in this game of ballhockey?
Speaker 5 (13:40):
So we have our DC Youth Ball Hockey League, which
is about to actually start backup in October 15th I think and
you know it's a greatopportunity to play.
It's relatively cheap for theamount of indoor space.
The cost is very low.
There's a very low barrier toentry, as he said, and you know
(14:01):
it's one of those things whereyou can develop skills for all
different sports.
So you know, there are partsthat are similar to basketball,
there are parts that are similarto football, soccer, so all
these athletes that play othersports can easily come in and
play ball, hockey and have fun.
It's like low pressure becausewe don't have that college level
, professional level, so there'snot that kind of crazy parent
(14:23):
atmosphere in a lot of youthsports.
But we are working to build thesport to become bigger here.
You know, develop travel teams,like some other bigger East
Coast areas have, and stuff likethat, so that we can advance
the sport here.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
All right, Ben Berger , putting you in the spot here.
Give me the top three reasonswhy people should start playing
ball hockey.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I would say health-wise it's a great run.
I personally hate running justby myself, but if there's a ball
to chase I'm down every day.
It's a great camaraderie aspect, like I've been to weddings
that are based on ball hockeyfriend groups, I've been hanging
out with people that I've metthrough here pretty much every
night of the week.
And also, like affordabilityIce hockey is one of the most
(15:09):
expensive sports out there.
Ball hockey is a fraction ofthe cost.
You're still.
A lot of people do itoff-season.
I was good enough to go to ourworld championships as a staff
member and most of the men'steam for that played college ice
hockey or higher, currentlyplaying professional some of
them.
So it's a great like complimentto ice hockey Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Now, what do you guys want to say?
Because you're on rival teamsand you compete, why should
someone cheer for your team asopposed to his team?
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Well, we're the two-time champions.
We got that.
Nobody else can say that in twoyears.
And you know, I think really wejust want people to cheer for
the sport, you know, and to comeout, have fun, check out the
games.
All of our National Ball HockeyLeague games are on YouTube so
you can check out the lastseason or whatever, and see what
(16:03):
it's like.
So, yeah, how about you?
Speaker 4 (16:08):
The Blazers.
We're the young guns, we liketo have a lot more fun out there
.
High risk, high reward.
So we have some highlight reelgoals, but man do reward.
Or high yeah.
So we we have some highlightreal goals, but man do we let in
some goals, as the goaliedefense is not our number one
strength, but having fun is thenumber one goal, all right and
having fun.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And that's what's happening.
Moco, here, with Jason McSteinand, of course, ben Berger ball
hockey, rockville, maryland,montgomery County, maryland.
And that's what's happening,moco.
Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you.
Rockville, maryland, montgomeryCounty, maryland.
And that's what's happening inMoCo.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Thanks a lot, guys.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
So that's our resident spotlight episode of
what's Happening, moco, if youare a resident of Montgomery
County, maryland, and you havesomething interesting to share
on our podcast, feel free toconnect with me via email
derrickkenney atmontgomerycountyndgov.
That's D-E-R-R dot K E N N Y atMontgomery County MD dot gov.
(17:02):
Or connect with us via socialmedia at County cable.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Thanks for listening to what's happening, please
subscribe.
And follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,facebook, instagram or YouTube
(17:28):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
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