Katie Nolan, a popular figure in sports commentary, shared her thoughts on the inevitable rise of robot umpires in baseball in a recent YouTube video.
She remarked, “But I’m telling you right now: you’re going to miss having a human whose face you can scream into.”
Nolan, now the host of Casuals on SiriusXM, is known for her sharp humor and comedic take on sports news.
She rose to prominence in the mid-2010s as part of a group of online personalities nurtured by the blogosphere and platforms like YouTube.
Between 2015 and 2021, she made a name for herself as a sports television host and panelist at notable networks including Fox Sports and ESPN.
In an insightful conversation with WBUR, Nolan discussed how her Massachusetts upbringing has influenced her career trajectory.
When asked about her often snarky persona on the show, Nolan credited her Framingham roots.
“I would say roughly 100%.
“Us gals from the Boston area, from Massachusetts, we’re a particular brand of sass, which isn’t for everybody,” she explained.
Nolan’s relationship with her family also played a significant role in shaping her outlook.
Her mother, a bartender at Owen O’Leary’s in Southborough, introduced her to the world of sports through engaging with patrons at the bar.
She said, “That’s so funny. This is probably the first time I’ve done an interview where anybody knows what Owen O’Leary’s in Southborough is. This is so close to home.”
Describing her mother as sociable and a talented bartender, Nolan acknowledged how this environment allowed her to be introduced to sports radio.
“My mom would listen to WEEI so that she would have stuff to talk to her patrons about at the bar at night.
In Massachusetts, if you’re born here, you have to kind of know what you’re talking about when it comes to sports, just in general,” she said.
Nolan recounted the challenges of growing up in a bar environment, where traditional ‘Bring Your Daughter To Work Day’ was a misfit due to her mother’s night shifts.
She later began working alongside her mother and humorously noted how they maintained their professional boundaries by calling each other by their first names.
“They took a chance on me and since then I’ve just been sort of trying to not get kicked out of this wonderful home I’ve been invited into of sports media.”
As her career progressed, Nolan transitioned from Southborough to Allston, bartending while cultivating her budding career through blogging.
She explained how she started her blog in the early 2010s, inspired by seeing others do the same.
“I mean, I had no idea. I started a blog because I saw other people doing it and it seemed like something I could do.
And this was, you know, 2011 or 2012, and it felt like, ‘just go make one and then maybe if you post on it enough, people will take it seriously and think you’re an actual blog,’” she recalled.
Much to her surprise, her efforts paid off, leading to opportunities in digital media.
A sports network recognized her potential and offered her a chance to create video content.
For a year and a half, she juggled bartending at the White Horse Tavern in Allston, alongside producing daily YouTube videos.
Reflecting on her journey, Nolan emphasized both the importance of hard work and the role of luck and timing in her success.
“Things just sort of happened. It was a lot of luck, a lot of hard work, but a lot of luck and timing.”
Her passion for sports and unique take on commentary eventually led to her current position in media, where she continues to entertain and engage viewers with her distinctive wit.
image source from：https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/05/30/katie-nolan-framingham-sports-blog-casuals
