Courtside Chat – Ickow & Layman

Courtside Chat #6

(St. Louis, MO) – Two Big Ten refugees with very active ‘side-hustles’ joined Courtside Chat this week. Valparaiso announcer Todd Ickow and Belmont broadcaster Steve Layman were our guests in week six of our weekly edition of Voices of the Valley.

Ickow has been announcing Valpo games for 30 years and Layman is working his second season behind the Bruin microphone. While Layman (@SteveLayman) is also a sports anchor for Nashville’s CBS affiliate (channel 5), Ickow is a professional poker player.

Layman grew up in Champaign, Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois and Ickow, a Chicago native, picked up his degree from the University of Indiana. At the age of 16, Layman was working at a radio station and Ickow (@ToddIckow) was selling hotdogs at Major League baseball games.

These two love sports, know how to work hard at it and represent their programs well.

Courtside Chat – How Did it Start?

Both Ickow and Layman knew at an early age they wanted to go into sports broadcasting. Layman got an early start at a local radio station. Doing odd jobs for the station opened the door for him to work a ‘little league’ basebeall game, and now he’s ‘the voice of the Belmont Bruins’.

 

 

Ickow studied broadcasting in college and thought he was making real progress in his collegiate career until he compared notes with one of his classmates named Joe. Joe Buck.

 

 

What About their ‘Side-Hustles’?

Layman’s is a bit more traditional. As a matter of fact, announcing the Bruins’ games is his side hustle. His job at News Channel 5 is actually his main job. After the previous two Belmont announcers moved to other collegiate programs over the last two years, Layman was recruited to his current role, the day before the 2021-22 season started.

 

 

Ickow received some sage advice early in life. A former broadcasting mentor told him to find something else to do to make money. While always a player of poker, Ickow decided to do it professionally. He plays constantly and has participated in the World Series of Poker.

 

 

Layman tells us the Belmont program entered the season with a little ‘chip on their shoulder’. He says there is something special about Belmont athletics.

 

 

Click here to see our entire Courtside Chat. We dive into the current teams and places to eat when you visit the Beacons or Bruins.

For more video content watch ‘Wednesdays in the Valley’ and our late night live streams.

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