Take A 20

It's a first for Take A 20: a surprise ending! In this episode, we talk about Tom Brady’s very first Super Bowl in 2002. And his very first retirement -- and unretirement -- 20 years later. Boston Globe sport columnist Chris Gasper joins us to share his perspective on covering Brady and the Patriots' dynasty. When we began recording the episode Brady was no longer playing football. Now,...

Josh Green and Mark Davidson are rolling deep into Season 3 of Take A 20. And speaking of #3, we are “Talking About Practice.” That’s the phrase that Allen Iverson passionately repeated 22 times 20 years ago. It’s one of the most famous press conference moments in sports history, and like everything involving Iverson, there’s a lot more to the story than we realized at the time. We have lots of qu...

Welcome to Season 3 of Take A 20! All season long, Mark Davidson and Josh Green will take you back to 2002. And we begin by going for gold. It's the 2002 Olympic Men's Hockey Gold Medal Game between Team USA and those darn Canadians. It was a milestone moment in Salt Lake City, staged in a raucous atmosphere and played with teeth-gritting intensity. We’ll dig into it with special guest,...

In this episode, we celebrate some amazing "firsts" in the history of New York sports, beginning with Venus and Serena Williams facing-off in the 2001 U.S. Open Final, their first time meeting for a Grand Slam title. ESPN tennis analyst and Hall of Fame player, Pam Shriver, joins the pod to share her perspective of that magical night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Pam had a courtside view...

We miss stadiums! So much so that we dedicated an entire episode to them. The retro stadium boom was in full bloom in 2001, highlighted by the opening of PNC Park in Pittsburgh -- a really great place to watch really bad baseball. Journalist and author Neil deMause, one of the foremost experts on how stadiums get built, joins the podcast to shed new light on the dark side of public financing  for...

In this episode of Take A  20, we honor the Hall of Fame career of Ray Bourque, who finally hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, after spending 20 Cup-less years with the Boston Bruins. Our cups overfloweth with hockey experts, including Head Coach of the Saint Michael's College Men's Hockey team, Damian DiGiulian, as well as our long-time friend Steve Itzkowitz, who know...

In this episode of Take A 20, we confirm that defense does, indeed, win championships, as evidenced by the Baltimore Ravens’ dominating Super Bowl 35 victory. We celebrate the hard-hitting champs from Charm City, and ask the hard-hitting questions, such as who was the better boy band who performed during that game: The Backstreet Boys or NSYNC? Thankfully, we have one of the NFL’s best TV analysts...

It’s back, back, back to the Bay Area, as we make a splash landing in McCovey Cove to revisit the exploits of the Home Run King, Barry Bonds, who went deep a record-breaking 73 times in 2001. Longtime San Francisco Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming joins us for Take A 20 Questions to shed new light on the spectacular scope of Bonds’ career achievements. He also tells us what NOT to do when you’re a...

Fear the Deer! And the Thunder! On this episode of Take A 20, we blow the whistle on the whistleblowers of the 2001 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, who ripped the sausage-stuffed hearts out of Milwaukee sports fans. Wisconsin sports media mainstay, “Thunder” Mitch Nelles, joins the show to re-live the agony of the Bucks’ excruciating loss in that series, which led many people to question the integr...

It’s Daytona 500 week for NASCAR, and Take A 20 reflects on the moment when time stood still at the superspeedway. We revisit the surreal scenes of the crash that took the life of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. And we examine how two drivers continue to carry Dale’s legacy forward – his son, Dale Jr., and the man who replaced Earnhardt, Sr. in the driver’s seat, Kevi...

We're Going Streaking! Take a 20 is back! In our Season 2 debut, we have double the fun taking a look at two baseball legacies that intersected in 2001. We celebrate the man of the iron streak, Cal Ripken, whose Hall of Fame career came to a close that year, and Joe Mauer, who was selected #1 overall in the 2001 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins. Twins broadcaster Kris Atteberry joins the show...

On this episode of Take A 20, we thank our lucky stars for the statutes of limitations that apply to any music we may or may not have downloaded via Napster in the year 2000, and we celebrate the creator of “Lucky Star,” Madonna. It’s a deep dive into the world of disruption in the music industry, beginning with the meteoric rise and fall of Napster. Top music executive Andrew Gould joins the show...

The votes have been counted, and it’s another winning episode of Take A 20! In keeping with the election theme, we dissect the demise of a controversial leader, Bob Knight, who was ousted as Indiana University’s head basketball coach in 2000. A lot went right, and a whole lot went wrong during Coach Knight’s incendiary time at the top. Top sports agent and Indiana native, Todd Sermersheim, sheds l...

It's a Take A 20 hat trick! On this episode, we discuss diversity in the NHL through the lens of two ice-breaking stars whose careers collided in 2000: Grant Fuhr and Scott Gomez. We also go toe-to-toe with our favorite tough guy, two-time Stanley Cup Champion and SVP of the Florida Panthers, Shawn Thornton, who tells us how his team is navigating through the pandemic, while advancing its own...

In this episode of “Take A 20,” Mark Davidson and Josh Green take a break from apple picking to put the Big Apple in the spotlight. It’s an extended discussion about the 2000 World Series, better known as the Subway Series, between the Yankees and Mets. The Evil Empire had reached its zenith of evilness, while the Mets found themselves experiencing a whole lot of Met-ness. Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com...

Jews! Sports! Fun! In this episode of Take A 20, Mark Davidson and Josh Green tip their yarmulkes to two Jewish athletes, Shawn Green and Tamir Goodman, who were at the top of their games in 2000. In a fitting display of Jewish journalistic heroics, we tracked down Goodman in Israel, and he joins us for a revealing conversation about the pressures of living up to the “Jewish Jordan” nickname and h...

Happy convention week! Whether you prefer your conventions in-person, online or in podcast form, Take A 20 has you covered. In this week’s episode, we look back at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, which took place in Los Angeles and got really weird, really fast. Mark Davidson and Josh Green are joined by Staff Director of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Jeff Carroll, who expla...

In this episode of "Take A 20," Josh Green and Mark Davidson celebrate the return of sports by talking about things that make us feel happy, like Kurt Warner's ultimate Cinderella story, which culminated in the St. Louis Rams' Super Bowl Victory over the Tennessee Titans. That game featured a dramatic finish, an epic halftime performance from Phil Collins and way too many comme...

The competition level is at an all-time high on this episode of "Take A 20," as co-hosts Josh Green and Mark Davidson engage in a heated (but friendly) battle to discuss Season 1 of "Survivor," one of the most transformational TV programs of all-time. A topic this big deserves a big guest, and Mark and Josh go straight to the source for an extended conversation with Emmy Award-...

G'Day, Mates! In this episode of Take A 20, Mark Davidson and Josh Green continue their Australian expedition for Part 2 of their discussion about the 2000 Summer Olympics from Sydney. The co-hosts revisit Cathy Freeman's historic run for gold in the 400M, as well as Rulon Gardner's stunning victory over "the meanest man on the planet," Alexander Karelin. Mark and Josh are...

In this episode of "Take a 20," Mark Davidson and Josh Green look back at the 2000 Summer Olympics from Sydney, Australia, while offering thoughts on the current state of the Olympic Games. The co-hosts dissect "The Dunk" and its long-term impact on Vince Carter, Frederic Weis and the woeful New York Knicks. They also pay tribute to the greatest Australian export of all-time, O...

In this week's episode of Take A 20, Mark Davidson and Josh Green look back at Tiger Woods' epic summer of 2000, which included victories at the US Open, British Open and PGA Championship. They also spend way too much time paying homage to Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 and re-live Mark's own nationwide music tour from the summer of 2000, which included a surprise visit to Josh's ap...

Introducing Take A 20: Cultural Conversations 20 Years in the Making! In this inaugural episode of the Take A 20 podcast, hosts Josh Green and Mark Davidson lay the foundation for what's to come in future shows, as they share details about their 30+ year friendship and how sports and music shaped their own professional lives in the year 2000. Josh and Mark re-examine the 2000 NBA Playoffs thr...