8 — Thursday, September 28, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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Students, sports and 
success on ‘The Spew’ 

COURTESY OF THE SPEW

Just a bunch of dudes, talkin’ bought sports ‘n’ stuff

Undergraduates who have found a way to bridge a seemingly 
impossible divide between the students and student athletes 

It’s Sunday night at 5:00 

p.m. For some, this means 
heading to the library to 
catch up on procrastinated 

homework. Others eat dinner 
with friends or family. Many 
rush to club meetings and 
group 
projects. 
For 
U-M 

EMILY BICE
Daily Arts Writer

School of Kinesiology juniors 
J.J. Wachler and Ben Meyers, 
however, Sunday night means 
one thing: time for “The Spew.”

“The 
Spew” 
is 
a 
five-

minute Facebook TV show 
that focuses on the University 
of Michigan athletics and its 
athletes. In the short time 
span, host Ben Meyers “spews” 
statistics, stories and theories 
about sports. They often have 
athletic guests to share their 
opinions, 
such 
as 
football 

running 
back 
and 
School 

of 
Kinesiology 
sophomore 

Chris Evans. At face value, 
it sounds similar to a show 
on SportsCenter or Big Ten 
Network. What makes “The 
Spew” different, however, is 
Wachler and Meyer’s approach 
to telling these sports stories. 

Meyers 
explained 
how 

their platform is unique to the 
University student experience: 
“We wanted to build a bridge 
between the students and the 
athletes on campus.”

Recognizing a major issue 

with athletics on campus — that 
the athletes are untouchable, 
so to speak — the pair set out 
to connect “regular” students 
to athletes. The decision to 
report on sports from a student 
perspective is what makes 
the show so relatable to their 
peers.

“Athletes are constantly in 

rooms where adults are asking 
them questions. They’re just 
being hammered about their 
statistics, scores and stats. It’s 
refreshing for them to have 
questions about their Yeezys, 
their recruiting stories … the 
student side of things.”

The approach is working for 

them. Launched last February, 
the show now averages 5,000 
views per episode. Loyal fans 
tune in each week to watch 
and ask questions. A unique 

element of the show is the live-
stream function, which allows 
viewers 
to 
pose 
questions 

and react to the athletes and 
Meyers in real time. Some 
of the comments are silly, 
but others spark interesting 
conversations.

Meyers and Wachler are 

ahead 
of 
the 
curve 
when 

it 
comes 
to 
streaming 
on 

Facebook 
Live. 
Just 
last 

month, Facebook introduced 
their “watch” feature, which 
includes original content that 
viewers can comment on, share 
and interact with. It is one of 
the most accessible ways to 
watch media content.

“They [the viewers] could sit 

down for five minutes on the 
platform they’re already on, 
Facebook, and watch our show 
and then be done for the day — 
it’s a nice little break,” Meyers 
added.

Their innovative approach 

to sports reporting hasn’t gone 
unnoticed. Wachler and Meyers 
recently won the Michigan 
Sports Business Conference 
“Sports Startup Competition.” 
As 
winners, 
the 
duo 
will 

present “The Spew” to sports 
business professionals and get 
feedback on their platform. 
With aspirations to create a 
format that can be replicated 
and rolled out at other colleges, 
this opportunity is pivotal. 
On a more local scale, they’ve 
found sponsors eager to join 
in: Salads Up, Campus Laundry 
and Valiant Clothing have all 
signed on.

What started as two friends 

talking sports in an apartment 
living room has evolved into 
a six-person operation with 
corporate sponsors and big 
plans. Wachler and Meyers 
are hungry to make waves in 
the sports media sector, and 
have taken it upon themselves 
to do so. Using Facebook Live 
to innovate, they’ve created a 
unique sports experience that 
isn’t Sunday night football. 
They’ve created Sunday night 
“Spew.”

The Spew airs live Sundays 

at 5:00 p.m. You can stream it 
on Facebook.

Recognizing 
a major issue 

with athletics on 
campus the pair 
set out to connect 
“regular” students 

to athletes

What started 
as two friends 
talking sports 
in an apartment 
living room has 
evolved into a six-
person operation 

TV

