Centralight

Swapping embarrassing college stories on the air "Free Beer," "Hot Wings" and their pal Zane have CMU spirit all wrapped up. Literally. The three Central pals with colorful monikers who host the popular "Free Beer and Hot Wings" radio talk show based in Grand Rapids, Mich., are wrapped up in a giant Central flag in their studio at WGRD. "Free Beer" crafted the flag himself. "The C might be a little crooked," he points out from behind the maroon and gold. But nobody notices, because of the weird faces they're all making. These guys will do anything for a laugh. "Free Beer" is Gregg Neuenfeldt, '96 (when he says his name on the air, he calls himself Gregg Daniels). "Hot Wings" is Chris Michels, '95, and the guy who goes by "Zane" on the air is really Eric Zeitunian, '95. Neuenfeldt and Michels were CMU roommates who lived in Concord Apartments and got their start in radio together at WCEN in Mount Pleasant doing a top 10 country hits countdown show. "We didn't know what we were doing," Michels says. They do now. The popular syndicated "Free Beer and Hot Wings" program will be on 40 stations nationwide by the end of this year. The two met up with Zeitunian in 2001 when all three worked in Knoxville, Tenn. Bill Cosby sweater," Zeitunian says), be interviewed and perform a choreographed dance. And there were lots of muscleman poses in very tiny underwear. It was called the Mr. Ten Contest. Years later, the three friends were chatting about CMU on the air, and Zeitunian let it slip that he competed in Mr. Ten. His friends are still laughing. "Of course they described it in gory detail to the audience, then posted the video of the pageant online," Zeitunian says. Pretty embarrassing. But they turned it into something good. They challenged their listeners to donate $70,000 to Johns Hopkins University for research into the rare childhood genetic disease, Ataxia-telangiectasia, or A-T. If their listeners succeeded, Zeitunian would get a tattoo of himself in a dance pose from Mr. Ten. Zeitunian pushes up his sleeve and flexes. Yup. There he is. "It seemed like the most embarrassing image he could get," Neuenfeldt explains cheerfully. "Him in a onesie." The video, Michels says, "is one of the funniest things I've ever seen." All joking aside (but not for long) the trio say CMU gave them the tools for their radio success. The trio's fun radio talk show covers everything from sports to current events to their family lives. And, of course, their alma mater. "It's cool to be able to talk about CMU on the air," Michels says. These guys talk for a living. And it seems to spill over into their home lives, too. One time in particular has become legendary. Back in 1990 at CMU, Zeitunian entered a contest. Free beer today. Eric Zeitunian, '95, els, Gregg Neuenfeldt, '96, and Chris Mich io share a laugh in the WGRD radio stud '95, they broadcast in Grand Rapids, where their syndicated radio show, "Free Beer n and Hot Wings." The CMU grads ofte about their alma mater on the air. talk "CMU has such a reputable broadcasting program," Neuenfeldt says. "It seems every TV station I've watched, I've seen people I knew from CMU, looking way more professional than when they were in college." "I was really into weight lifting, and the Panhellenic Council had a bodybuilding contest," he begins. "My wife has heard so many CMU stories, she finally said, 'OK, I get it – you loved college,'" Neuenfeldt says. "When we drive by campus on the way to my parents' house, I'm always saying, 'Oh, see that building? That's where this or that happened.'" "Bodybuilding? No, dude – it was a full-on man pageant," Michels interjects. "'This is where Zane used to shoplift'," Zeitunian quips. In addition to the bodybuilding, contestants had to demonstrate fashion sense ("I had a He's kidding, of course. Right? > centralight winter '13 11

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