| Genre | Talk, Sports |
|---|---|
| Running time | Monday through Friday 5 am to 10 am |
| Country | United States |
| Home station | WJFK-FM |
| Starring | John Martin “Cakes” Auville Eric Carlton “E.B.” Bickel Jason William “Lurch” Bishop John-Paul “J.P.” Flaim |
| Producers | Bret Oliverio Matt Myers |
| Air dates | since 1996 |
| Website | Junks.TV |
| Podcast | Podcasts |
The Sports Junkies, also known as The Junkies, are the hosts of an eponymous morning drive time radio show aired in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The hosts are John Auville, Eric Bickel, Jason Bishop and John-Paul Flaim. Their show is heard on WJFK-FM, at 106.7 on the FM radio dial. Their show focuses on a mix of discussions about sports, women, popular culture, and the day-to-day lives of the Junkies.
The show debuted at #100 in the 2008 edition of Talkers Magazine Heavy 100, moved up to #84 in the 2009 edition[1] and most recently #75 in the 2010 edition.[2]
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Known as “Cakes,” Auville was born in 1970 and adopted by his parents at five weeks old.[3] He was raised in Bowie, Maryland alongside fellow Junkies Eric Bickel and John-Paul Flaim, and attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland. After high school, Auville studied communications at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, about which he is occasionally ridiculed for achieving a 1.5 GPA one semester;[3] he then managed a local Toys Я Us store until making radio his full-time occupation in 1996.[4] Auville's family currently lives in Olney, Maryland. He married his wife, Amy, in 1995. They have three children, Kurt Joseph (1997), Juliet (2002), and Brendan Craig (2004). After the birth of their third child, Auville had a vasectomy and has since been mocked with the name “Johnny Blanks.”[4]
Bickel was born in 1970 and grew up in Bowie, Maryland where he grew up across the street from fellow Junkie John-Paul Flaim and in the same neighborhood as John Auville. Bickel attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he befriended soon-to-be-Junkie Jason Bishop. He lettered in tennis. After high school, Bickel attended the University of Maryland, where he majored in psychology, worked as a study hall monitor, and received his master’s degree in school counseling before becoming a "Junkie" in 1997. Bickel married his wife, Dina, in 1996. They have three children, Stephen (2000), Megan (2002) and Katherine (2009).[3] Bickel's schtick includes a combustible personality, a hair-trigger temper a a penchant for botching clichés.
Nicknamed "Lurch" because of his 6'6" height (an allusion to the Frankenstein-like butler on the television show “The Addams Family”), Bishop grew up in Lanham, Maryland and befriended fellow Junkie Eric Bickel while attending DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he played basketball. Bishop went on to play basketball at the University of Richmond, where he received a scholarship but struggled to make his morning classes and after failing out, transferred to Salisbury State University the following year to pursue a degree in communications.[4] He currently lives in Ashburn, Virginia with his wife Teresa and their two daughters, and has a second home in Ocean City, MD where he enjoys body surfing, volleyball, watching Red Sox highlights, and angling.
Simply known as “J.P.,” Flaim was born in 1970 and grew up across the street from fellow Junkie Eric Bickel in Bowie, Maryland. Flaim attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, and then went on to major in international business at the University of Maryland, College Park before studying law at the Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] In 1997, Flaim failed the Maryland bar exam, reading his results publicly while on the air; however, he passed the exam the following year and can now legally practice law in Maryland.[4]
Flaim has also fought as a professional middleweight boxer. His record is 0-1, having lost his December 9, 2006 debut fight to Jay Watts by TKO in the first round, just days after the death of Flaim's father-in-law.[5] In 2007, he was ranked 991st out of the top 999 boxers in the light middleweight division.[6] J.P.'s performance in his professional debut earned him the nickname Glass Joe..
Flaim and his ex-wife (Carol) have two children together, a daughter Kelsie (2000),[3] and a son, Dylan Carlos (2007).. As of June 6, 2011, J.P. is engaged to his fiancee Jessica, a professional fitness model and former Washington Redskins' Cheerleader.
Auville, Bickel, and Flaim grew up as friends in Bowie, Maryland. Auville and Flaim attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School; at the same time, Bickel met Bishop at DeMatha Catholic High School. Bickel and Flaim also attended the University of Maryland together. After graduating from college, the foursome and other friends hung out and often shared living quarters. In 1995, the four began their broadcasting career as a hobby with a 30-minute Public-access television cable TV show in Bowie featuring sports chat and irreverent humor.
The show focused on the interplay of the foursome, featuring guests such as Playboy models, rock notables, and local sports celebrities such as University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams. Their high local ratings lead to their national debut on May 18, 1999, airing on about 50 affiliates of Westwood One's radio network.[8] That syndication was short-lived, however.
Through the show's history it occupied a night slot from 7-11 p.m. and 8-midnight from mid-2001 until early 2002. In October 2002, the show moved from WJFK to WHFS during the morning drive time slot.[4] When WHFS changed formats from alternative rock to Spanish-language, the show returned to WJFK-FM in a lunchtime spot. In 2006, the Junkies' show returned to the morning drive, replacing The Howard Stern Show when it ended its run on terrestrial radio.
The Junkies have sponsored a semi-annual "Junkie Poker Open" event at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Texas hold'em poker tournament has gained some notoriety as former World Series of Poker contestants (Lee Childs, among others) have participated in the events.
| Event | Location | Date | # of Players | Purse | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPO 1 | Borgata Hotel Casino | November 30, 2006 | 300 | ≈$28,000 | Derrick Childress |
| JPO 2 | Borgata Hotel Casino | May ??, 2007 | ≈420 | ≈$32,000 | Gary Heffner |
| JPO 3 | Borgata Hotel Casino | November 29, 2007 | 365 | ≈$28,000 | Andrew Phillips |
| JPO 4 | Borgata Hotel Casino | May 29, 2008 | 310 | $29,934 | Al from Brooklyn + 10 Player Chop |
| JPO 5 | Borgata Hotel Casino | November 13, 2008 | 535 | $39,000 | Scotty Baggs + Chop |
| JPO 6 | Borgata Hotel Casino | May 21, 2009 | |||
| JPO 7 | Borgata Hotel Casino | November 12, 2009 | 597 | ≈$23,000 | Matt Stohlman + 7 player Chop |
| JPO 8 | Borgata Hotel Casino | May 20, 2010 | ≈$25,000 | "O" | |
| JPO 9 | Borgata Hotel Casino | November 11, 2010 | 714 | $142,000 |
Since the 2004 season, the Junkies have hosted a two-hour pregame show prior to the kick-off of each Washington Redskins game. The show is broadcast live from a Washington area restaurant or bar and airs on WJFK-FM. The show is considered "unauthorized" because they have continued doing the program even though WJFK no longer holds the rights to broadcast the team's games.
The Junkies host a party for the NFL championship game at a Washington area restaurant or bar. The name is based on a Pig Latin version of the phrase "super bowl" due to the NFL's active pursuit of trademark issues with the Super Bowl name.
An annual spring break themed party held at the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia.
First held in 2008, the Junkies host an annual end-of-summer party at the Backyard Bar & Grille in Chantilly, Virginia. Women are encouraged to attend wearing a sundress. They also promote a "V.I.P. section" for women who do not wear underwear, but do not actively check to verify "V.I.P." eligibility.
As of 2011 the Junkies were forced to change the name of the part to "Summer Dress Party" due to trademark issues with an undisclosed company.
An interview with tennis player Justin Gimelstob made international headlines because of comments Gimelstob made about Anna Kournikova and other female tennis players. Gimelstob was reprimanded by his employer, Tennis Channel, and made a donation to the Women's Sports Foundation as a result of the incident.[9]