When Best Of voting opened in late May, The Perimeter with Adam Morrison was barely a month old. When polls closed a few weeks later, the podcast had put out a grand total of just eight episodes. In less than two months time, this partnership between Spokane's Speak Studios and Gonzaga basketball legend Adam Morrison had gone from brand new to the best.
"It's unbelievable being voted as the Best Local Podcast after just two months since The Perimeter's premiere. It's been an incredible journey," says Brennon Poynor, the show's executive producer.
It really is quite remarkable how quickly the show's star has risen. Even the namesake talent behind the podcast couldn't see something like this coming.
"I didn't think there would be a following," Morrison told the Inlander during an early May interview. "Hopefully, it turns into something with a following, for people to enjoy, but if it doesn't, I'm still enjoying it and having fun."
Safe to say it's found a following of people who enjoy it, including Morrison himself.
Big-name guests — Gonzaga coach Mark Few, NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton, UFC fighter Julianna Peña and a handful of Gonzaga players past and present, among others — have helped buoy the show's popularity, no doubt. It's Morrison who puts it over the top, though. His personality shines through like never before. His skill as an interviewer opens up his guests to have flowing conversation and lets listeners act as a fly on the wall.
While it is a sports-themed podcast, and most episodes have had a connection to the Zags, it's far more storytelling than sports reporting.
In an episode with Tom Hudson, Gonzaga's radio play-by-play announcer, Morrison and Hudson discussed the things young people have to give up by working nights and weekends to break into broadcasting. In an episode with Gonzaga guard Joel Ayayi, the two spend much of their time comparing Ayayi's high school experience in the rigidly structured French National Institute of Sport with the relatively laid-back American system. It's a podcast that brings big names from the world of sport but shows the person you aren't able to see on the court or on the call.
"It's basically a show about things I'm interested in and people who have interesting stories," Morrison told the Inlander.
That's spot on. The only thing worth adding is that it's Morrison's presence behind the mic that brings the interesting stories out and to our ears.
2nd PLACE: Wayward Artists in a Wayward World with Sid Al-Thumali; 3rd PLACE: Trending Spokane with Melissa Berry and Erin Peterson
