Coping With Quarantine: Sports broadcaster Al Martin

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Coping With Quarantine is a recurring feature that examines how people across Greater Lansing are being affected by the coronavirus. City Pulse aims to interview a diverse cast of residents as they adjust to a new lifestyle under the measures taken in Michigan to curb the pandemic. If you are interested in being featured, please contact ashleycitypulse@gmail.com

FRIDAY, May 1 – Al Martin, 29, of East Lansing, is the host of Current Sports on WKAR FM, a daily radio program that recaps the week’s hottest sports stories. While Martin’s show is still being broadcast, all of his writing and recording duties are handled from his apartment. “It’s weird doing my show at my apartment; that was something I had to get used to. I’m in the groove now,” Martin said. “But it’s also weird to do a sports talk radio show when there are no sports.”

As the coronavirus escalated, sports were among the first things to be put on the chopping block. Martin, obviously a big-time sports enthusiast given his career path, struggled as he watched his passion get sidelined in real time.

Martin picked a watershed moment that taught many Americans to take the coronavirus seriously. Back in March, basketball player Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz jokingly touched reporter’s microphones at a press conference, with a goofy expression on his face, only to end up testing positive for the coronavirus a few days later.

“The day after they showed that footage, I went off on Current Sports,” Martin said. “It was a small window into how many people in our society weren’t taking the coronavirus seriously. When this thing first started to affect the United States, people were halfway joking about it. When I saw Rudy Gobert do what we did, I knew it was just plain ignorance.”

With all of the major sports canceling their seasons, Martin has to turn to topics such as college teams’ recruiting efforts to stay relevant. “Michigan State sports are our number one beat,” he said. “The football staff has really been putting an emphasis on recruiting.”

Many sports outlets are relying on reruns of classic games to sate the appetites of bored sports fans. “At Current Sports, we’ve gone into the vaults and looked at some of our most memorable guests,” Martin said. “We’re also talking about the new dynamic — what sports are going to look like once things open back up. That’s an ever-changing, fluid conversation.”

Martin is also an actor. He’s appeared in independent films produced by local director Kenneth Nelson Jr. Martin’s using some of his time at home to delve deeper into online acting classes. He rehearses monologues from films such as “Skyfall” and posts the results on his personal Facebook page. Martin is also deeply invested in books written by actors, such as “Blowing the Bloody Doors Off,” by Michael Caine.

“I’m going on four years in January. I’m in a virtual acting class right now. I’m constantly in touch with my acting coach; she has something new for me every week,” Martin said.

While some states are easing stay-at-home orders and contemplating reopening outright, Martin hopes that doesn’t jump start the dreaded second wave of infections.

“I know everybody wants to get back to work, but health is more important than all of that stuff. I hope we aren’t making the wrong decision here,” Martin said.

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