What do you get when you blend athletic skill with a love for weather? An elite ninja warrior, of course!
Joe Moravsky is a meteorologist and the manager of the Stamford Ninja Academy in Connecticut. He has appeared on multiple seasons of the hit NBC series "American Ninja Warrior" and is one of the show's most successful contestants.
Moravsky shares his unique story and discusses his background in weather and athletics on this week's episode.
Episode preview
We want to hear from you! Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! You can also email questions or comments to podcasts@lee.net. About the Across the Sky podcast The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.
We want to hear from you!
Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! You can also email questions or comments to podcasts@lee.net.
About the Across the Sky podcast
The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team:
Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.
More episodes about sports and leisure
The weather can make a difference in which players to start in fantasy sports. Learn how the meteorologist at RotoGrinders helps fans on the latest episode of Across the Sky!
Since 2000, there have been at least 136 wind-related bounce house incidents worldwide, resulting in 489 injuries and 28 deaths. Learn how to stay safe on Across the Sky.
Before cool fall days arrive, the first weeks of football practice and games come in the August heat. Dr. Douglas Casa from the Korey Stringer Institute explains how to stay safe.
Ocean and coastal safety expert Bruckner Chase talks about how to stay safe while swimming and the dangers of hypothermia.
How does the roll of the putt change when there is an early morning dew covering the greens? Learn more about how weather factors into golf on Across the Sky!
Whether you live near the coast or are traveling to visit an ocean this summer, it's always important to be safe and aware of your surroundings when swimming.
George Shea, the energetic public address announcer for the event, talks about how weather factors into the annual July 4 competition.
🎧 Weather can have a big impact on specific wagers for sports bettors. Learn how on the latest episode of Across the Sky.
Baseball is back with the return of spring training, and this week our hosts talk with Paul Gross, a meteorologist who is a weather consultant for the Detroit Tigers.
The NFL season just wrapped with Sunday's Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, and while the weather didn't come into play with the game played in a domed stadium, our guest this week talks about what it's like covering sporting events and the challenges of weather.
Episode transcript
Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:
Ninja Warrior Weatherman Forecasts His Future
Lee Enterprise National Weather podcast features Joe Moravsky from American Ninja Warrior
Joe Martucci: Welcome back to another episode of the across the Sky Podcast, our Lee Enterprise National Weather podcast. We are joined with you from our meteorologist across the country. With us, today, Matt Holiner in Chicagoland, Sean Sublette over in Richmond, Virginia. Kirsten could not be with us today, but he will be back soon enough, of course, as we, go through the months and the year ahead, guys. So we've done sports in weather before, but we've never actually interviewed somebody who does sports and is a meteorologist. And we're going to have that for the first time today, as we welcome on Joe Morvasky from American Ninja Warrior. They call him the Weatherman, not just because that's what they just decide to call him, but he is a meteorologist. He got a meteorology degree, and we're very happy to have him.
Matt Holiner: Yeah, there are not many meteorologists who are also athletes. We're kind of a nerdy bunch. And so, athletics is, for most of us. Most of us, it's, not our forte. We're more, into the books a little bit. The sciency nerds. Although I'd like to think we're the cool science nerds. We do focus on the cool part of science. Meteorology, I think, is the one that more people are like, oh, I like that kind of science. Maybe not so much the physics and chemistry. So I would say we were a cooler science, but, not too many of us athletically inclined. I'm certainly one. So it was really cool to chat with him about how he mixed these two worlds, how he kind of broke the mold of a meteorologist and really, got into the athletic side and how he got involved with American Ninja warrior, because that is very much a niche we're talking about in the sports world. That is a very big niche. So chatting with him about his interest in weather and also how he also has gone on this athletic path was really cool.
Sean Sublette: Yeah, it's nice to see that because so many times, as you mentioned, Matt, we kind of get pigeonholed, if you will, into this is what a meteorologist or weatherman or whoever is like. This is what they’re like for me, a little bit older. It was really kind of cool to see Cantore, the Weather Channel rise into popularity. Kind of gave our geekdom a little more street cred, if you will. So that's nice to see. And, of course, look, Jim is buff. I mean, dude is.
Matt Holiner: That's just the way of the world.
Sean Sublette: But it's good to show that this community of people who geek out about weather, do have a broader focus to have other interests. And, I think that's very important in this day of age. And certainly the stuff Joe is doing and how long he's been doing it honestly surprised me. So really looking forward to this conversation.
Matt Holiner: Yeah.
Joe Martucci: Well, let's dive into it here, get you into the episode with Joe Moravsky from American Ninja Warrior on the across the Sky podcast.
American Ninja Warrior Joe Moravsky is the Weatherman
Joe Martucci: All right, and it is time for our interview here with a very special guest. Don't know if we've ever, had this segment of meteorology before. How about American Ninja Warrior in Weather? I don't know if we've had that combination our podcast before. It might be a first, but we are very pleased to welcome on Joe Moravsky to the podcast. He is an American Ninja warrior athlete known as the Weatherman. He has competed since season five of American Ninja Warrior and has twice been the last ninja standing, beating everybody in the country. He is also a husband and father of three and currently manager of Stanford Ninja Academy in Stanford, Connecticut. He also got his meteorology degree from Western Connecticut State University. Joe, I think I'm saying that right. welcome to the pod. We appreciate it.
Joe Morvasky: Thank you. Thank you guys for having me. It's funny, kind of breaking barriers, right? We got the sports world and the weather world, and we put them together with American, Ninja Warrior, the weatherman here. So, it's always, they're very unique conversations I end up having because, people are like, what is the weatherman? How does that have to do with Ninja? So I'm sure we're going to get into that today.
Joe Martucci: Yeah, definitely. Well, I'll tell You what, Joe. So when I do, talks at schools and it's about different careers in weather or just kind of talking about what I do as a meteorologist, one of the slides I have is different segments of meteorology. So I talk about working in the National Weather Service, working in media, and then I say, sometimes you get to become an American Ninja warrior. And I use a photo of you in my PowerPoint presentation. So thank you for helping me talk to kids, all across New Jersey here.
Joe Morvasky: No problem. We're on the same team, man.
Joe Martucci: We're on the same, you know, weather is a small field.
Joe Lacey says he always wanted to be a meteorologist
Joe Martucci: So, let me ask you about the weather part first. How did you get interested in weather? Was there something that just bit you? Ah, like a lot of people. Did you fall into it?
Joe Morvasky: How did it work out? I'm sure just like all of you here, would agree there are so many stories, right? So many stories that got us into weather. I would say the first memory I have of just recognizing, the wow factor of weather was when I was a kid, my mom was telling me, I remember driving. I remember this day so perfectly, or this moment so perfectly. It's such a simple moment, but it was so powerful to me. We're sitting in the car. I must have know, maybe I don't even know. Eight years old, nine years old. And I remember her driving, saying, Joe, look at those clouds. They were cumulus clouds. I didn't know that at the time, but nice big old cumulus clouds. And she was like, you see how that one looks like a shape that looks like this or whatever that was? And I was like, oh, yeah, that's really cool. She's like, yeah, those are my favorite. They're so cool. They look so big and powerful, and they take all these different types of shapes. And I don't know, I was so young and so out of touch because of that, that I didn't ever think of that. I never really looked up at the sky and said, wow, look at that. And that was the first moment that kind of, got me interested. And I remember in fifth grade, I'll never forget this, we went through, what do you want to be when you get older? To all my fifth grade teacher students. And I told her I wanted to be a meteorologist. And I said, one day I'm going to say, hey, Mrs. Lacey, I'm going to tell you the weather.
Matt Holiner: When you wake up in the morning.
Joe Morvasky: Before school, I'll make sure to shout you out. And she's like, I hope so, Joe. And, I was like, but wait, that's not all I want to do. She was like, oh, well, what else do you want to do? And I said, I want to be a professional athlete. She was like, and who doesn't have dreams and aspirations of being a professional athlete, right? Especially somebody like, guess. But I've always wanted to do it. I never thought doing both would be possible. But I guess I kind of.
Joe Martucci: Mean, I can think of a couple of athletes and meteorologists. Owen Daniels, who was a tight end for, Oh, geez, I think Minnesota Vikings. Texans. That’s the only one I can think of. I'm probably missing somebody you might know, Joe.
Joe Morvasky: So there's one person in particular that, from what I understand, never became a meteorologist, but was always fascinated with the weather. I remember I heard this on some interview somewhere once, and I was like, wow, I like this guy even more. You probably won't even believe it. Michael Jordan, really? Michael Jordan. Now we're going to need some fact checkers on that, but I'm almost positive that that's what I heard him say from his mouth, that he loved the weather and he always wanted to be a meteorologist. And I was like, whoa, that's so cool, Michael Jordan himself.
Joe Martucci: Yeah, I know. Mike Trout is a big weather guy too.
Joe Morvasky: I didn't know. This is good.
Joe Martucci: He's been on the Weather Channel a couple of times with Jim Cantore, talking during snowstorms and stuff, of course. Okay, so you got a nice little fraternity there, you and Michael Jordan right there.
Joe Morvasky: Yeah, right. Jim Cantori is the one guy, I met Reed Timmer a couple, many years ago. Now, at this point, he was a big idol of mine. But Jim Cantore, I mean, come on, who doesn't want to meet that know out in the snow waiting for.
Joe Martucci: The thunder or even some thunder. Snow.
Growing up in Connecticut, it's all about the Nor’easters
Joe Martucci: And that leads me into my next question here. Growing up in Connecticut, it's all about the Nor’easters and the snowstorms, baby. So are you a big snow guy and do you have any memories growing up of some big snow events?
Joe Morvasky: Absolutely. I didn't even know about thunder snow until older, my older years, I don't know exactly when, but I remember being outside during a big storm and a big snowstorm and I remember exactly where I was. Just one of those moments, I remember the snow coming down so hard, this sky had this almost like a pinkish hue to it, which was interesting. And all of a sudden I heard a rumble of thunder and I was like, what is that? Like, I didn't know that was a thing at the time. I must have know middle school at that point. And sure enough, I come to find out, I think I saw Brad Field on NBC Connecticut, one of my big role models, of the NBC Connecticut World. And I sure enough, I think he spoke on NBC that evening. He was like, we had some reports of Thunderstorm. I was like, thunder snow, my world has been changed. I didn't know that was a thing. And so those of course are such incredible moments to hear thunder within a snowstorm. It's really cool and pretty unique. I'm sure you guys have heard it, although maybe not because some of you are not from the Northeast, but either way, it's pretty cool.
Joe Martucci: I've heard it and it is very cool.
Matt Holiner: on Halloween day, I was in Chicago and I experienced Thunder Graupel for the first time, it was not snow, almost snow, but it was actually graupel. And that was a unique experience. I feel like I'm one of the few that have had that experience.
Joe Morvasky: That's cool. I actually had somebody at my job yesterday. He was like, it was hailing this morning. I was like, it wasn't to break it to you. He was like, what do you mean?
Matt Holiner: There is a know.
Joe Morvasky: It's our job. We got to explain it. But, yeah, it was not common.
Matt Holiner: But, yeah, Graupel is a thing. You can Google it and learn all about it.
How did you get involved in American ninja Warrior after graduating from college
Matt Holiner: But, Joe, what I want to walk through is, let's go after you've got your meteorology degree, how things played out. So what did you do right after college? What was your meteorology experience? And then how did you get involved in American ninja Warrior?
Joe Morvasky: Yeah, it's very interesting. So the condensed version of the story is, when I graduated college, I had this opportunity. I had watched American Ninja Warrior on TV, and it just so happened that somebody that I knew, knew a guy that was on the show. And this was before it was really big. It was really before it grew into the NBC giant that it is today, or at least it used to be. The ratings on TV are going down across the board. But back five years ago, six years ago, was really millions and millions of people who were watching. But before it got to that point, there was somebody on the show that I ended up meeting with, and, I asked him all about it. How can I get on the show? This is something I've loved to do. When do they film? And, I asked him everything, and he said, we usually film the spring. And I was like, okay, well, I'm graduating a semester next only because, or a semester late because I ended up switching majors. Not a lot of people know this. I switched from meteorology to secondary education. I really wanted to be a coach. I wanted to stay in that sport world, even though I was sacrificing it to be a meteorologist. And so I was like, you know what? I'm going to transition. I'm going to stick to science and math. I'm going to teach that in high school, and I'll be a coach. It'll be awesome. I'll be able to stay, in the athletic world for the rest of my life if I want to. And it was something that really got me excited. And then I had a moment where I was like, you know what? Something's not right. And I switched back. I switched back a semester later. And, ended up graduating a, semester late, and because of that, graduated in December. The filming of the show was in March, and I was lucky enough to know about it and start training for it in the summer before, just in case. And, here I am today. They love the idea of a weatherman coming in and they wanted to tease me. I know they did. Everyone had like a shtick back then and it was like, the frog man is coming out and look, he's got a silly costume. And then Captain NBC was dressed up as at the time, Captain G Four, I think it was on G Four network. And, he had a thing and other people had a thing, and the fireman and the police officer and the teacher. So they wanted a weatherman. They thought that'd be great. They thought it was going to be a novelty act. They thought they were going to just tease me and so be it. But they found out that I was a real athlete and it kind of took off from there. That was the condensed version. That's surprisingly, but that's how it all started.
Sean Sublette: Yeah. So when did you actually begin to train for that, and how long did you train in anticipation? I mean, did you still have to try out and then qualify? How many hoops did you have to ultimately jump through to compete on the program?
Joe Morvasky: I started training the summer before. It was probably August of, 2012. I got on the show in the spring of 2013. And honestly, it wasn't a ton of training to get where I got to because I was already a serious athlete. I had played, baseball and basketball. I tried out for the baseball team in college, and it was on the bubble to make the team. And then I realized, you know what? I have a job. I have this career that I'm really aiming for, and I'm pegging my way through college. So how am I going to do this? And so, unfortunately, I gave in to the walking away from sports. But I was always an athlete, always. Growing up. I played varsity sports in high school and like I said, college baseball for a short time and then rec sports in college. So it was really just fine tuning my athleticism to be a ninja. So I did a lot more upper body work. Like I was doing pull ups every other day in the weight in the gym. I was rock climbing a little bit. I was just trying to fine tune myself to be ready, and I did a pretty good job. It worked out. So, that's kind of how it all started there.
American Ninja warrior is a sport that takes getting used to
Joe Martucci: Let's talk about a little bit about how the sausage is being made during these episodes. I have watched American Ninja warrior before, but I will say I know a lot of kids are interested in American Ninja warrior, at least with the kids that I've spoken to. So when you're there, what's it like? How long are you actually there competing? Because I know it looks like a lot of different cuts on television. So what is a day of competition like?
Joe Morvasky: Oh, it's rough, I'll tell you that. It's rough. It's something that really takes getting used to, and it's definitely a younger person's sport, I'll tell you that. Because the older, you know, like me, you get married, you have kids. It’s a lot harder to change your sleep schedule because we film this overnight. We usually get there depending on where the location is. Let's take the Vegas finals, for example. Vegas finals. They want us there early to make sure there's no hiccups. We go over rules of the course at 07:00 p.m. Right around 07:00 p.m. Local time in Vegas, and we end up getting there. About 530 in the evening. So it's 530 until seven. We're sitting around in a tent doing nothing. From seven to eight, it's rules. And about 830 to 09:00, the competition starts at about that time. We run through the night, and we don't finish filming until about 05:00 a.m. So it's a very long 12 hours of just sitting around trying to deal with the anxiety and the stress of, having to give it your all in that one shot that you have. And it's hard also, because sometimes there are hiccups along the way where the course will malfunction, and then there's even more of a delay. And this has happened two years in a row for me, where I'm supposed to run one night, there's a course malfunction. I have to run now the next night, and the next night is reserved for stage two of the Vegas finals, and the next night after that is sometimes stage three and four, which is the final stage. So it really depends on the year. But if I get bumped from one night to the next, sometimes relief, sometimes I'm like, oh, I'm ready. I want to go know. So it's frustrating, and you kind of have to be okay. Know, changing things on the fly. And as a meteorologist, this is what I love so much, because people don't understand that you'll have your producer, in your ear saying, hey, Joe, we need 30 more seconds. And you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm on the seven day already. What am I going to do? So you just slow it down and you start to talk a little bit like this. And maybe there's a chance for some rain overnight, but we're going to have to keep an eye on the computer models, of course, because I don't know what I'm saying. I'm just filling time. And so you have to be able to adapt to anything that comes your way. And so that parallel between meteorology and sports, it's actually pretty amazing. And not to mention all the physics that I've taken and the understanding of how obstacles should work and how my body should move through the air to be able to beat these obstacles, I mean, it's all a huge advantage, and, people wouldn't normally think that.
Joe Moravsky says there have been a few memorable weather moments during competitions
Matt Holiner: And Joe, how many cities have you traveled to to do the show? And I'm also curious along the way, in all these travels and all these competitions, has weather ever been an issue? Has there been weather that has occurred during the course of the event that maybe had a little bit of an impact?
Joe Morvasky: Absolutely. There’s a few really cool moments in the St. Louis. Oh, no, it was in Colorado. I wasn't there for that one. But we actually had some snow on that course, and so they built a snowman at the top of the warp wall. That one was cool. In St. Louis for one year, we had severe thunderstorms to where we canceled the entire night. Another year in St. Louis, we, got snow, but it was like the back end of the front, so the rain had gone through, and then there was some flakes behind it, and it got bitterly cold and windy. It was terrible. But I think the most memorable was in the Vegas finals, a couple of years ago. We got rain right before we started running, and it was summertime in Vegas. You're not really getting rain. So that was kind of cool and unique. But, aside from that, there was one time Minneapolis, the Minneapolis, city qualifiers and finals. I just landed at the airport right when I landed, I got alerts on my phone for, a severe thunderstorm warning. I was like, everywhere I go, everywhere I go. And people, they look at me because I got some ninjas coming off the plane with me and like, Joe, you're supposed to be in control of. Come on. Yeah, yeah. So it is funny. Yeah. There's definitely been quite a few moments where weather, has impacted the. Absolutely.
Joe Martucci: And do they ask you, has anyone said, ask you what the weather is going to be like? Who's actually making that decision to tell me about it?
Joe Morvasky: You would think, right? They have their own in house meteorologist, apparently. And I've offered my advice. I've been like, hey, we got about 30 minutes, producers. Let’s go. I'm up in three runners. Let's go. And sure enough, that year in Philadelphia, I got rained out. I was the next to run and there was eleven of us left, in Philadelphia, and we got rained out for the rest of the night. It was going to be three days of rain, so they canceled the shoot. The next eleven runners, the final eleven runners got sent to Minneapolis, which is where that, severe thunderstorm warning hit me right when I got off the plane. So that was a year. That was a year.
Joe Martucci: Interesting. All right, well, we're going to take a break. We'll have more with Joe Moravsky on the other side of the across the sky podcast.
Joe Moravsky is the Weatherman on American Ninja Warrior
Joe Martucci: Welcome back, everybody, to the across the sky podcast. Hey, new episodes come out every Monday, wherever you get your podcast and on your favorite local news website. We are back with Joe Morovsky, famously, known as the Weatherman on American Ninja Warrior. We are talking all about weather, American Ninja warrior, athletes and beyond. Joe, let me ask you, know, what is your involvement with meteorology?
Joe Morvasky: Know, it's really kind of sad, you know, I, we just had our first snow here in Connecticut. Was it yesterday, I think? Yeah, it was yesterday. Yeah. So you know better than I do, and I was here. But that's the point. You know what I mean? I'm very much still in love with it. But the conclusion I've come to is I'm 34 years old. I can be in my fifty s or sixty s or even 70s if I want to be a meteorologist, I can't be in my fifty s, sixty s, seventy s, competing at this level on Ninja Warrior. And so I have put everything on halt. I'm focusing on my career with Ninja, managing the gym and hopefully franchises soon. So there's a lot that I'm working on. But, yeah, meteorology is not one of them. So it is always nice and refreshing to do this, you know what I mean? To kind of get the weather weenies together. I know the general public is like, what is that? But that's what we call ourselves.
Joe Martucci: No, we understand. So you're still getting excited when the snow is coming in?
Joe Morvasky: Oh, absolutely. You should have seen me. I was like a kid on Christmas yesterday, I was like, it's snowing out. I made sure everyone knew I was texting everybody the best part, though, and this is always fun, me and a small group of my friends. Every so often, I'll say, snow is coming on Wednesday. For example, I said this last week. I was like, snow is coming on Wednesday. You heard it here first. And I sent it to them. And, sure enough, Wednesday morning, I got a text from them. They're like, you son of a. You were right. I was like, you better believe it. So not always right, as we know, but I nailed that one. And, I think it was a week out, so I was happy about have. I have nobody checking up on me, so it's not a big deal. I can make big claims.
How much longer do you think you'll stay with America Ninja Warrior
Sean Sublette: Well, Joe, back to your role right now. What is your relationship with America Ninja Warrior? I mean, are you still doing competitions? ARe you kind of advising what is your role and influence with them right now?
Joe Morvasky: So we just filmed season 15. I had a really good season. Didn't hit a lot of buzzers, but felt really good. Made, it to the Vegas finals, got to our head to head showdown, which is on stage two in Vegas. It's a brand new format where we actually race somebody, and the winner goes to stage three. And in the history of American Ninja Warrior, I'm still the only person with the most amount of stage three visits. So I've been there the most out of everyone in history, which is really cool. And it helps with the confidence trying to get back there. I'm like, all right, come on. Come on, Joe. You've been there before. Let's do it again. And, it does, you know, I ended up losing my race. I ended up misplacing a bar. The bar had to go into these bear traps that were inverted, and you had to push the bar through the bear trap, and it locked in place on its way out. And I only got one side in because I'm mid race. I'm trying to really focus at a high speed, and I just missed. I'm talking by an inch. And so my season was over. But the good news is they brought me back for season 16. We filmed back to back seasons.
Joe Martucci: we think it had to do.
Joe Morvasky: With the writer strike. So they were getting ahead of it. So from what I'm hearing, the rumor is, and this is just a rumor, it's not confirmed that early 2024, January, February, season 16 will air, which is something we've already filmed. I can't tell you how it did. But let's just say ninja. Ah, warriors should want to keep having me back for years to come. Let's hope. It’s always good, though, when I step out on the course. So, in all seriousness, they've always loved taking the weatherman back on the show, for whatever reason. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up on TV, right? I started as a 23 year old, just with a girlfriend and no kids. And ten years later, I have a new house, three, kids, a wife, a new job, and I've grown up on TV. And it's really relatable to a lot of people watching, especially the people that started watching what, you know, they get to see the guy from Connecticut that turned, into, a ninja superstar. So it's really cool.
Matt Holiner: And going off of that, how much longer do you think you're going to keep competing and keep at it before you make that career transition back to meteorology, maybe. How much longer do you think you're going to stay with Ninja Warrior?
Joe Morvasky: That's the question, man. If you asked me that two years ago, I'd say this is it. Because the COVID season was really hard on me, I got disqualified, because my wife caught COVID while we were at the Vegas finals. I can relive that, man. I can't tell you how awful that felt. Like I was ready to run. I was 19 people away from stepping on the stage. One course in Vegas, which, by the way, is outdoors and we're vaccinated, and blah, blah, blah, blah. I can go on. And. But. And we got tested, and I was negative that night for COVID. But because my wife is a close contact, I got disqualified from the competition, and I did mentally retire that year. I retired that night. I made the decision. I was like, this is how it's going to end. This is how it was meant to end. And, the more I sat on that thought, the more okay I became with never winning, because I hadn't ever won at this point and still haven't. Maybe season 16, but we don't know yet. And so I had let it go. I let the dream go. I was like, it's okay. It's okay to not achieve your dreams. You did so much, and it's okay. But just something came across me in that time of reflection, the months later, and I just realized, you know what? I can't. How often do people walk away at their peak? I can't. I still have more to give. And there's so many people that rely on seeing me out there, rely on me for motivation, inspiration, never giving up. Right? And I've touched too many people's lives, and I've heard too many people's stories about how I have to walk away. And I've learned that it's not just about me at this point anymore. I do it for people that look up to me and want to see me back, for whatever their reason is. And so that's powerful enough to keep me going, among all the other things. So I'll be back. And I continue to take, it one year at a time, but I don't see myself walking away in the next two or three years. I got time left, and I'm ready to commit to it.
Joe Martucci: Joe, kind of following up on that.
Do you hear from aspiring meteorologists on American Ninja warrior
Joe Martucci: do you hear from aspiring meteorologists throughout your years on American Ninja warrior?
Matt Holiner: Do you do school visits?
Joe Martucci: What's your relationship like with younger people who are interested in whether as a career, but are still in school?
Joe Morvasky: Yeah. So I definitely had a lot of people reach out to me. Twitter, Instagram. Twitter is a really great place where people have reached out, especially meteorologists. I don't know what it is about, us meteorologists and Twitter, but, yeah, a lot of people have reached out there. I think, on that last, podcast, that I was on, I think they found me through, Twitter, as, I mean, I've. I've done school visits and know slideshows and wife school at other schools. And, I've even had the really cool opportunity to meet Al Roker a few times on the Today show and be on his morning show there. So that was fun. That was a lot of fun. It's been a few years since that, but I told Al was like, hey, we got to get you on the course. He was like, okay, no way. But, yeah, it comes with a job. I'm always going to have people reaching out, whether they're meteorologists, meteorology wannabes, or actual, ah, meteorologists, or just kids interested in the weather. I've had them all reach out, and it's really cool. It's really cool to be able to reach, so many people.
Joe Martucci: I did a little Facebook sleuthing on your public page here. I saw you went to Long Beach Island, over the summer.
Joe Morvasky: Yes.
Joe Martucci: What'd you?
Joe Morvasky: It. You know, it just so happened Taylor Swift was there at the same.
Joe Martucci: Time.
Joe Morvasky: Guess who got to meet her? Not me. Not me.
Joe Martucci: I was going to say she got to meet you, right?
Matt Holiner: It'd be the other.
Joe Morvasky: Oh, please. I wish, man. What? It's her. And, Kelsey.
Joe Martucci: Yes. Travis Kelsey.
Joe Morvasky: Yeah, Travis Kelsey. They're together now. The whole world knows that. But yeah, Taylor Swift was down there. But beside from that, Long Beach Island is beautiful. I mean, it's close enough to Connecticut where it's not like driving. We went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina a couple of years ago. That was a drive, let me. But it was beautiful. Yeah, Long Beach Island, we loved it. And we'll probably go back. I know my dad is already interested, so maybe we'll see you out there.
Joe Martucci: let me know. We’ll get you in the studio. We can do a live weather video for you. Yeah, we can go live, do whatever you want.
We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. Maybe after Season 16 airs
Joe Martucci: Joe, anything else you want to end with here before we wrap it up? This has been a great, half hour with you.
Joe Morvasky: Yeah, I mean, I'm just so thankful for these opportunities and, to keep my foot in the meteorology door. It's always been a passion of mine to just be in the weather community and to be involved in weather in some way. And whether I'm doing it all the time or not doesn't mean I don't love it. So this means a lot to me. It's fun to meet other fellow meteorologists. And, I'll see you on the next podcast.
Joe Martucci: Absolutely, yeah. We'd love to have you back. Maybe after Season 16 airs.
Joe Morvasky: Let's hope it's a good one.
Joe Martucci: Well, we're rooting for you, Joe. We really appreciate you taking your time to chat with us and, we'd love to have you again soon, but thanks again for the time.
Joe Morvasky: Thank you, Joe. Thanks, Matt. Thanks, Sean.
Sean Sublette: Thanks for repping so well, man.
Joe Morvasky: Appreciate it.
Matt says weather plays a big role in American Ninja Warrior competitions
Joe Martucci: And we are back here. So, guys, as I'm listening to this, I hear him talking about those storms in Connecticut, talking about fronts. He's just like one of us. It's just you see him on, know, a couple times a year competing on American Ninja warrior. It's, just really cool to have him on it is really.
Sean Sublette: Go ahead, go ahead.
Matt Holiner: No, I was going to say, I. Also like how he can't escape the weather. He had the rain delay in Philadelphia, then he said, oh. So then they decide to move it to Minneapolis and got the severe thunderstorm warning there. So it's hard for him to escape the weather in these events because they do occur outside. So there is an element, the weather does impact him in his game. Even when he's not actively working as a meteorologist. The weather is having an impact and people are teasing about it and asking him questions about it. So, the weather continues to follow him and knows he's a meteorologist.
Sean Sublette: Yeah. And to that end, almost all of their competitions are recorded at night, which I think is also important. If you're training, you're going to be training a different way if you have to perform outside in the daylight, especially in spring, summer, fall, the sun is up and it's different than if you're out there at nighttime. And to say nothing of they record well into the night. Not like, oh, we're done at 930 or ten. They go well past midnight recording some of this stuff. So that's an additional stress on the body, just being up when it is not accustomed to being up. And the fact that he is still doing this. Very impressive.
Matt Holiner: Yeah, I didn't realize that either that I figured. You do see that it's filmed at night, but I kind of said, oh, just during the evening hours. I wasn't thinking, in my mind for some of those people. Yes, some of them, they start in the evening, but they're going all night. So some of them are doing this. Three in the morning, four in the morning, which just makes it even harder again, especially if you're trying to live a normal life most of the time. But when you do the competition, to be up at those hours. Yeah. It just makes it more difficult. So it makes it more impressive that he's done as well as he has.
Joe Martucci: I like what you said earlier, Matt, about breaking the mold. Right. Not too many athletes that are meteorologists. I was going to ask you guys, did you guys do sports in high school or college?
Matt Holiner: Oh, definitely not college.
Joe Martucci: Everybody's.
Matt Holiner: I did middle school golf team. But then again, my talent level wasn't good enough for the high school golf team, so I switched over to band. Another nerdy thing.
Sean Sublette: Just a bunch of pickup soccer and intramural softball. That's about as exciting as it got for me.
Joe Martucci: But I think, aren't you a.
Sean Sublette: Disc golf guy, Sean, my son, is really the big disc golf guy, and he's got me into doing it and he's had to show me how to hold the discs the right way. The right way to kind of move your body so you have control of the discs. But that's fun. But I wouldn't call that high stress exercise.
Joe Martucci: It's a lot of walking.
Sean Sublette: It is a lot of walking.
Joe Martucci: Got to walk around walking. That ain't nothing.
Next week, we're going to do Bob Dylan in the weather
Joe Martucci: All right, so we have plenty of more episodes coming up. Of course. Coming up next week, we're going to do Bob Dylan in the weather. Now, Bob Dylan was not a meteorologist, but he did write a lot of songs about the weather. And we actually have, Dr. Alan Roebach, who was one of my professors at Rutgers, come on the podcast. Because, guys, he actually did his thesis about Bob Dylan and the weather, which, when we were in school, we used to just kind of be like, that's pretty incredible. Maybe a little different. But it's going to come to be a real surprise when he talks about this, because he has a lot to say about this. He might be Bob Dylan's biggest fan.
Sean Sublette: Well, I think. Wasn't Bob Dylan the guy who wrote, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing? Wasn't that Dylan?
Joe Martucci: I'm not sure.
Sean Sublette: I think it was Dylan. I'd have to go Google it. But, I mean, Dylan has written a lot of stuff with these weather undertones, so, I'm not surprised. But I'm looking forward to hearing what, Alan has to say and a.
Matt Holiner: Quick shout out, like, the reason we actually came up with this idea. Gosh, I think it's now coming up on almost a year when we did our top ten weather songs.
Sean Sublette: Has it been a year now?
Matt Holiner: I think it's almost been. You're going to have to go back in our podcast history. Scroll back. But we did an episode, the top ten weather songs, and we talked about Bob Dylan on there. And then Joe said, oh, my professor did his whole thesis on Bob Dylan and the weather. And it's like, you know what? He might be a good one to bring on. And so we're finally getting around to it.
Joe Martucci: That was our November 28, 2022 episode.
Group: Wow, almost a year. Yeah.
Joe Martucci: top ten weather songs we, did. That was with Terry Lipshetz, who's our, producer here, our podcast producer for not just us, but all of our Lee Enterprises Weather, podcasts that we do. We're, also going to do ten things to know about weather that's coming up the 18 December. And then at the end, we will do our year in review. So we do have, course, more things coming up. And, we'll make it even better as we go into the new year, which is rapidly approaching. Believe, it or not. I can't believe.
Sean Sublette: And I did just Google it. Yes. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. That's Dylan.
Joe Martucci: That is true. But if you need to forecast which way the wind blows, well, I mean.
Sean Sublette: A compass to know which way the wind blows. That's all you need. You don't need me. Just need a compass.
Joe Martucci: Well, I'm, trying to give us some credit here. I'm trying to give us some credit. I'm saying, if you need a wind forecast, that's where you come with us. We got it there. If, you have a question, you can leave one for us at 609-272-7099 609-272-7099 you can also email podcasts@lee.net so for Matt Holiner in Chicagoland, Sean Sublette in Richmond, and Kirsten, who couldn't be with us, but she is saying hello from Tulsa, Oklahoma, I'm meteorologist Joe Martucci, and we'll see you next Monday on the across the Sky Podcast.