An Interview With Blues' In-Game Host Angella

You have no idea the reach of St. Louis Game Time. Not only do players, front office members and broadcasters get asked about us in Sweden, we're read by Angella Sharpe, the in-arena host for St. Louis Blues home games. You know, the friendly woman who gives prizes for answering questions and finding hidden pucks, hosts the intermission games and who urge contestants to yell "Let's Go Blues!" instead of "Let's Trade Brewer!" She actually gets every issue of our fan-run paper we sell outside each home game, even the issues where we insert some jokes that might be at her expense.

She has a new gig that starts tonight, a new radio show that airs from 10 p.m. to midnight weeknights on 590 The Fan (KFNS). The show is actually owned by our friends at InsideSTL. And if you haven't heard, Blues broadcaster and retired tough guy Kelly Chase is one of the investors in the operations over there. So they're friends of the hockey community here in St. Louis.

We used the occasion of her radio debut to talk Angella into an interview for the site, something she's declined to do for multiple years before now. You can tune in either on 590 AM, online at KFNS or InsideSTL or you can watch inaugural show in person at Lucas Park Grille on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis. Our questions and her answers follow.

Game Time: Angella, first of all let's address an obvious issue here right at the start. In our paper that we sell outside Blues games, we tend to have some fun at your expense. In other words, we often makes jokes about you. Now we know you get every issue and obviously you see the jokes. Does that make us dicks? And what do you think of the jokes? Find any of them funny?

Angella Sharpe: I do in fact read a lot of issues, I get to games pretty early for meetings and whatnot and flipping through the paper is the only thing to do. I have never been one to take myself too seriously; I have mostly chuckled at them, but I have also thrown the paper down and stomped on it. There was a time when I boycotted your paper, something you wrote was not funny, just plain mean. Sadly my boycott went unnoticed, so back to reading the paper I went. No I will not mention what it was that I did not like, because I do not want to see it ALL THE TIME this season! (Editorial note: Sadly, there's probably a lot of truth to that last statement.)

GT: Since this is via email, I'll just assume you just talked about how witty and original we are. Thanks for that. Before we talk more about the Blues gig and other things, tell us about the new radio show. It's you and some other hot chicks on an all-sports radio station from 10 p.m. to midnight. What's the show really about? What can listeners expect as you get rolling?

AS: Oh, I was supposed to say you were witty? Shoot. The show is loosely based off of The Morning After, but instead of guys talking about sports, and other random topics, it's four chicks talking about similar stuff. I would assume the guys of St. Louis may take more heat than they do on Tim's show. Not that we expect them to change, because that would be no fun. We hope to have athletes stop by and chat with us too. With the four of us ladies, there are a lot of different personalities, so it should be fun. (Yes I know you are looking at a photo of five woman and are confused, its ok Brad, I'll explain it for you. There are four girls on the show all the time; Wendy, Kasey, Kelsey and myself. Stephanie will be filling in when one of us can not be there for any reason)

GT: Now I've heard that Kelly Chase actually came up with the idea for the show. Is he how you got involved? What are you hoping to get out of an opportunity like this and did you take much convincing?

Yes, Chaser is the one who originally talked to me about the show. I still had to pass the audition processes with everyone else at InsideSTL, but Chase was in my corner. When I was younger watching Chase play, I never thought one day he would help me land a job - it's pretty cool. I have pretty big goals as far as turning this funstuff into a career, so anytime I can take a risk and challenge myself I am up for it. I am not sure how much this show will help me land my dream job, but it has potential to be a lot of fun.

GT: I have heard that the show will have video streaming. First of all, do you feel like there's a difference between doing radio and hosting segments in front of a full audience of nearly 20,000 people at a hockey game? And when you and your co-hosts disagree, how quickly will it denigrate into a tickle fight? Because that could be kind of hot.

AS: I think it is going to be very different, especially for me. I tend to be shy in social situations, and chatting with three other woman I barley know is  much different than playing games on the ice during intermission or mocking people who don't know what type of hat a certain player wears. There are some feisty gals involved with this show. I cannot in envision a tickle fight, but I do worry about fisticuffs.

GT: The radio show will be on location. Where's the first place and what other spots are you going to?

We will be at Lucas Park (tonight) for the debut show. And hockey fans I am 96.7 percent sure Cam Janssen will be stopping by! (I am not guaranteeing this, just saying I am 96.7 percent sure). Friday we will be at the Dubliner and Wednesday we will be at Maggie O's. Feel free to stop by and watch us host The Late Night Score.

GT: Now the show starts at 10 p.m. When Blues season starts in October, are you going to have a tough time doing both gigs? And you've been a part of some line dancing show and I think an entertainment thing. What else do you do?

The Blues are my No. 1 priority. I worked it out so I could do both, and hopefully after games Blues fans will come hang out with The Late Night Score as we talk about the game, and other fun things that have happened that day.  And really? Did you just bring up St. Louis Country (Editorial note: St. Louis Country is a show taped at a local country bar that shows people line dancing and two stepping to today's country hits that my father may watch every Saturday night. Allegedly.)? Ha! I have been involved in a few different things. In addition to the Blues. I sometimes appear on St. Louis Country, Show Me Nights and STL TV. This summer I will be over at Gateway International Raceway interviewing drivers for the Nationwide race too.

GT: What does the giant blue bear's head smell like?

AS: I do not smell the heads of my co-workers. Maybe this is why so many of your employees file restraining orders against you....stop smelling their heads!

GT: Personally I enjoy when you pick a moron out of the crowd to answer a question like the vision test trivia thing. The crowd yells out the answer right behind him or her and the moron says, "I think the answer is Ray McClements." Do you pick people on purpose that you think will screw up and provide some comedic relief? And should I take it as a compliment or an insult that I've never been picked for a bit?

AS: I hate to admit this in print, because all the people who talk to me, thinking I can help them play a game, will no longer speak to me. I usually have no part in picking contestants for games. The "Blue Crew" members pick contestants. They are the group of people in blue outfits that say "Blue Crew" on their backs (that description was for you Bradley). They usually look for fun, spirited Blues fans. You are probably never picked because you are still outside begging people to buy your silly little newspaper.

GT: You had a part on a local sports Sunday night show called The Fan Show (and if you click that link, you'll see the late Mickey Carroll often sitting in the front row, the guy who claimed to be the last living munchkin from The Wizard of Oz). It was probably one of the weirdest shows on television. Discuss.

AS: I LOVED the Fan Show - It was great fun, other than a general gist of an idea, I am not sure anyone on that show knew what was going to happen at any given time. That was the best part of the show. During one show an intoxicated lady wandered over and started talking to host Rich Gould while we were live. That is the type of TV magic people strive for, and it just happened on The Fan Show. In reality The Late Night Score, is modeled a lot like The Fan Show, I am pretty sure no one knows what is going to happen. There is no outline or plan. Sink or swim.... 

GT: So for a couple of years in the paper version of Game Time, we ran the secret to the Lucky Puck shuffle where they hid a puck in one of three cartoon skates and then mixed them up. One of our readers pointed out that if you subtracted one spot from where the puck started, it would always end there. ALWAYS. But then all of a sudden they changed it. It's random. We even tracked it in the paper and I think someone was checking because there is no trend now. What role did you have in that?

AS: HA! Yes you guys were killing me! Before the skates would even move people would yell the answer - very deflating to say the least! I did point it out to the powers that be. They did all the work to switch it up. Lucky for me they did that work fast! I remember the first game we had it "fixed," there were all the Game Time readers yelling the answer, and I smirked knowing it was no longer one spot away from where it started.

GT: What's your favorite experience with the Blues so far? 

AS: It has to be last year for Brett Hulls Hall of Fame night. He was ALWAYS my favorite Blues player. I had the opportunity to meet him when I was about 10 or 11, and last year I got to talk with him in a room filled with some awesome players! Being the huge nerd I am, I brought along the photo from when I met him as a kid. Brett made fun of how silly he and I looked. To have a player you LOVED as a kid be so nice and funny and talk to you, like a real-life person, was pretty stellar for me. But really every Blues game is fun for me. I can be in a really bad mood, but once I get to the Scottrade Center, my mood picks up. I am very blessed to have such a fun job with such great people. (Editorial note: We don't know the last time a story on this site used the building's actual name. Mark it down.)

GT: And finally, can you explain the extra consonant in your name? In the paper we often write it as Angellllla.We should probably apologize about that one too.

AS: Oh man....I thought we were going to get through the whole interview without this question. Game Time sure has a lot of fun with the extra L in Angella. There really is no story there, my momma just thought it was prettier that way.