Sports radio host C.J. Silas celebrates 2 SLO County milestones — and shares her dream job
A familiar Central Coast voice behind the sports radio, public address and play-by-play microphone is celebrating big milestones this year.
This season, C.J. Silas marks 20 years at Cal Poly as the baseball program’s public address announcer and 10 years as host of “The C.J. Silas Show” on ESPN Radio 1280.
As if that weren’t enough, Silas recently finished her 10th year as Allan Hancock College’s football play-by-play announcer, where she also is the public address announcer at baseball and softball games.
Silas’ all-things-considered sports talk radio program covers mostly national topics but also some local teams and players. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports during her sports media career, including Tiger Woods, John Daly, Michael Jordan and Danica Patrick.
She strives to promote positivity, thoughtfulness, intelligent conversation about issues of importance, social justice and inspiration — and to do things a little differently than other sportscasters.
“I’m really lucky,” Silas, 55, said in an interview with The Tribune. “It’s so much fun. I don’t do this for the money. I do it because I love it, and I really enjoy working with young people.”
She’s doing all of that as she continues to pursue her dream job: to be a public address announcer for a Major League Baseball team.
“Before the Chicago Cubs last year, I had already applied in the past to Tampa Bay and San Diego,” Silas said. “I will continue to search and never stop looking for an MLB job until I get one.”
The voice of Cal Poly baseball
Silas’ work announcing games at Cal Poly’s Baggett Stadium combines two of her biggest passions: baseball and working with young people.
Highlighting their accomplishments, she has interviewed all of the Cal Poly baseball players who have made the major leagues in recent years, including Mitch Haniger, Brent Morel, Logan Schafer, Bud Norris, Garrett Olson and Casey Fein.
Her job introducing their at-bats and pitching appearances allowed her to watch them develop as Mustangs and then achieve their dreams at the highest level of the sport.
Her upbeat voice is a staple for Mustang fans.
“Between the end of January and Memorial Day, you can’t see me unless you come to a game,” Silas said.
Her joy in working with young people extends to her interns, whom she mentors in the industry. They have fun during broadcasts and games.
Part of the message she shares to younger broadcasters is to stand up against discrimination in any form, whether racial or gender based.
“I often say, ‘If you see something, do something. If you hear something, say something,” Silas said. “Remove the person from the situation if you need to, and talk to them, or report them if you have to.”
10 years of ‘The C.J. Silas Show’
In the radio studio where she gets to be her own boss, Silas strives to connect with her guests in an informative way.
She wants avoid the “hot take” format of sports radio that tends to lean toward criticism and ad nauseam analysis of controversies and scandals.
“Sports radio has shifted,” Silas said. “Now, it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ ‘What’s wrong with them?’ ‘Who can do it better?” Silas said. “It’s constant criticism. ... That’s not my style. It was never my style when I was younger.”
Silas said in past jobs, she has been pushed to have strong opinions and to be more critical.
Instead of “controversial-critical, controversial-angry,” her priority is to be “interesting, provocative, warm, funny, thoughtful.”
“That’s much more important to me,” she said.
Her show, which airs Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1280 The Ticket, also has expanded her reach because it’s available live through the internet and later as a podcast on demand.
“The podcast site gives us all of our demographics, which is super cool,” Silas said. “I have more listeners outside of SLO and Santa Maria than here.”
When booking guests, she’ll connect through agents or take advantage of a personal relationship with the sports celebrity — always sending handwritten thank-you notes to those who come on her show.
“I started at Syracuse University in 1988, and all these years later, here I am,” Silas said.
Background in sports radio
Silas graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University in 1990, sometimes referred to as “Sportscaster U” because of alumni such as Dick Stockton, Bob Costas, Marv Albert, Mike Tirico, Nick Wright and others.
She has worked with or knows some of the biggest names in the sports media industry, including Dan Patrick, John Feinstein and Jim Rome.
Her guest interviews have included many current and former sports and broadcast stars, such as Maury Wills, the late Tommy Lasorda, Lane Kiffin, Dick Vitale, Jose Canseco and Jessica Mendoza, among others.
Her first paying job was as the public address announcer for a Triple A team, the Syracuse Chiefs, in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. She also worked for a Yankees minor league team with a roster that included two-sport star Deion Sanders.
Early in her career, Silas worked as a production assistant at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, and later on “Talk2” at ESPN2 with talk show host Jim Rome in Los Angeles. She was on the ESPN2 staff when former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jim Everett shoved Rome on camera amid a feud between the two — a memorable moment in sports broadcast history.
Talk2 was a television-only show and Silas did the voice-over work, the narration that accompanies a broadcast.
“I wasn’t in the studio that day,” Silas said of the infamous Everett incident.
Her sports media career has taken her across the country and to nearly every major championship sporting event — including the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, MLB All-Star Games, NCAA tournaments, the French Open, the U.S. Open, the Long Beach Grand Prix, the Doral Open, and more.
Her various jobs have blended her news and sports media skills.
She covered the O.J. Simpson trial and was on air during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, giving live updates.
“I’ve lived in every corner of the country — Miami, New York, Seattle and L.A. — and even Hastings, Nebraska,” Silas said.
Eventually, she arrived on the Central Coast, moving to SLO County from Seattle when she saw a job opening for a Cal Poly baseball announcer.
A career in sports
Looking back on her 34-year career in sports media and goals, Silas said she’s always sought to break barriers, while noting it wasn’t easy.
She faced hurdles as a woman in a male-dominated industry.
She experienced unfair treatment and heard insensitive comments early in her career. From that experience, she wrote the book “Only Girl in the Room: A Memoir.”
“I am living proof that we can have and do anything we’d like as long as we are given the tools, confidence and support to succeed,” Silas said. “I’d like people to understand what a woman goes through when she tackles a world that has been previously populated only by men. So far, the most comfortable place to put a female is on the sidelines. I wanted more than that. I wanted a chance to have an opinion and connect with radio listeners and/or viewers.”
Some uncomfortable workplace conditions that she faced in years past she’s not allowed to speak about, citing a nondisclosure disagreement at one company in particular.
As for her relationship with guests, “There haven’t been any that have made me nervous anticipating them because they’re a big name except Tiger Woods — that was scary — and Michael Jordan,” Silas said. “I interviewed both of them in 1998 in the Olympics. I don’t get uncomfortable and nervous, other than wanting to do the best I can.”
Her goals as an interviewer include “not asking (stars) the same questions everyone asks them” and getting them to feel comfortable and open up.
She recalled one memorable interview with former NBA player Alonzo Mourning early in his career when he was not talking to the media because “everybody was saying bad things about him,” she said.
“He was very shy and he gave me 20 minutes one on one,” Silas said. “I still have it on cassette tape.”
Years later, Silas said that her jobs remain fun. She solicits advertising herself that pays for her slot on ESPN 1280.
She added: “It wasn’t easy for me. It’s a miracle I’m still doing this today, given everything I’ve gone through.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 5:05 AM.
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