A Brief History of Triangle Sports

Oh, what a difference a year makes! One year after the surprise failure in the House, sports gambling passes both chambers of the NC Legislature. W hat happens next? It takes another nine months be fore anyone can legally bet on sports. Brian Murphy from WRAL News and Tim Donnelly from 99.9 The Fan look at where the tax money goes, who stands to gain and what this means for the future of sports an...

The votes on legal sports betting in NC did not happen like most things in the legislature. There aren’t usually surprises by the time a bill reaches a vote in the Senate or the House. Brian Murphy from WRAL News and Tim Donnelly from 99.9 The Fan take us back to June 2022 when nothing was certain about legal sports gambling in North Carolina.     For more coverage from WRAL News o...

In May 2018 , a US Supreme Court ruling o pened the flood gates for all states to move forward with legal sports betting. But being “allowed” to move forward and convincing the NC legislature to move forward are two very different things. In episode two, Brian Murphy from WRAL News and Tim Donnelly from 99.9 The Fan talk to the major players working for and against legal sports betting...

From the scandal of the Dixie Classic in the early 60’s to the “ s enate shenanigans ” of the l ottery vote in 2006, North Carolina’s history with gambling has been contentious. The state has had a n anti-gambling law on the books since 1764. So , how on earth did we get to a point where mobile sports betting is legal? In episode one, Brian Murphy from WRAL News and Tim Don...

Starting March 11, sports betting will be legal in North Carolina, but getting to this point was not an easy path. From the scandal of the Dixie Classic in the early 60's to the controversial vote for the NC Lottery, the state has a contentious history with gambling.  Brian Murphy from WRAL News and Tim Donnelly from 99.9 The Fan explore the history of sports betting in North Carolina. What d...

The Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks only lasted one season, but the World League of American Football carried on until 2007. At the end, it was known as NFL Europa. Though newly elected NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was quick to shut it down, the European league was a great incubator for football coaches and talent. In this episode we hear from former Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme and forme...

Michael Kennedy was the equipment manager for the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks. Not a glamourous role, but  there wasn't much that was glamourous about the World League of American Football. Kennedy, like the players and head coach Roman Gabriel, simply wanted to be part of this sports world. He had a front row seat for the one and only season of the Skyhawks. He shares what it was like to travel...

Until a few years ago, alcohol at college sporting events was a delicate dance in hypocrisy. Back in 1991 without a special exemption, the sale of alcohol was not allowed at public university facilities. You could always tailgate with your own booze before the game and universities would hold private events where alcohol was available, but there was no public sale. The Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks play...

Losing ain't easy. Losing for a whole season, well that's another level of pain. It wasn't just hard on players and coaches. As a broadcaster, Tony Haynes had a front row seat to the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks' losing season. Tony talks with Joe Ovies about the challenge of covering a team with an 0-10 record, and the toll of the season on everyone involved.

For one disappointing season, the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks didn't give fans much to cheer for. But the team did give hope to the men on the field. For Wilson Hoyle (former kicker from Wake Forest) and Mark Maye (former UNC QB), being part of the Skyhawks gave them the chance to keep their football careers alive for one more season. Hoyle and Maye look back on their experience as Skyhawks, and despi...

The Carolina Panthers played their first game in 1995. Behind the scenes, there had been years of negotiations over whether or not North Carolina--or the "Carolinas" collectively--could support an NFL team, and exactly where that team should be located. Of course Charlotte is the home of the Panthers today, but it wasn't the only city in contention. How close did Raleigh come to having an NFL team...

The Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks. For some of you, that team will ring a bell. But for most sports fans in the Triangle, they're probably wondering why Joe Ovies is going to devote a few podcast episodes about the defunct World League of American Football franchise that never won a game in their lone season played in 1991. The goal? To highlight how, despite the massive misstep in thinking a minor leag...

The World League of American Football wasn't supposed to be a minor league for the NFL. Owners truly believed it could be an independent product that would stand alongside the NFL…but you can't fool American football fans. The league began in 1991 In its inaugural season it consisted of ten teams, including the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, a team that played exactly ONE season and won exactly Z...

In this 2-part season finale to "Brief History of Triangle Sports", Joe Ovies revisits what it was to be part of an online community at the turn of the century and how message boards provided a runway for some websites to become legit coverage outlets for NC State and North Carolina. Part 2 focuses on the Tar Heels' online culture, featuring conversations with the founder of Tar Heel Blog and a cu...

In this 2-part season finale to "Brief History of Triangle Sports", Joe Ovies revisits what it was to be part of an online community at the turn of the century and how message boards provided a runway for some websites to become legit coverage outlets for NC State and North Carolina. Part 1 focuses on the Wolfpack's online culture, featuring conversations with the remaining caretaker of The Wolf W...

The Raleigh IceCaps played in Dorton Arena from 1991 until 1998. They didn't win any division titles or ECHL championships, but they won the attention of sports fans in the Triangle and helped build inroads for the eventual arrival of the Carolina Hurricanes. Former IceCaps captain Jim Powers and winger Paul Strand joined 99.9FM The Fan's Joe Ovies to discuss their experience playing for a minor l...

To channel the premise of ESPN's "30 For 30" documentaries, "what if we told you" some of the most anticipated matchups between North Carolina, NC State, and Duke players didn't happen during the ACC basketball season, but in the summer on NC Central's campus? That's exactly what happened at the height of the Greater North Carolina Pro-Am, a summer basketball league with a brief history itself. Th...

The world of Triangle sports is filled with personalities. Iconic players, legendary coaches, must-read columnists, and local sports anchors who brought highlights directly into your living room. There are so many front facing people in this business, it's easy to forget there are exponentially more people behind the scenes who are important and keep this whole thing running. You might not know Ru...

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, it's pretty easy to be a touring musician who wants to keep up with their favorite sports. Scores, highlights, social media and the ability to watch a game live is all right there on your phone. That wasn't the case in 1989, when Mac McCaughan cofounded the band Superchunk and independent music label Merge Records. While McCaughan and his bandmates were...

The Global Basketball Association had big plans. It was right there in the name, but the GBA would never achieve their goal of becoming a worldwide professional basketball league. Lasting one full season with 11 teams scattered throughout the south and midwest beginning in 1991, the Global Basketball Association had issues from the jump. Most of the GBA's problems were financial, but some of it al...

To say the recruitments of Raleigh's own John Wall and Harrison Barnes out of Ames, Iowa in 2009 had massive ripple effects for Duke, North Carolina, NC State and other college basketball programs would be an understatement. Bomani Jones, who was hosting a local radio show in the Triangle before going national with ESPN and HBO, found himself in the middle of it all. He essentially became a one-ma...

Jeff Gravley covered 31 ACC Tournaments, 20 Final Fours, two Super Bowls and the 2016 Rio Olympics during his career with WRAL. Not bad for a kid out of Oxford who turned his dreams of playing professional sports into a career that put him in the middle of it all. Along the way he developed relationships with other personalities that came through the area, including the late Stuart Scott, who help...

Former Carolina Hurricanes TV play-by-play John Forslund joined the Hartford Whalers organization shortly before the franchise moved to North Carolina. A commitment from former GM Jim Rutherford allowed Forslund to grow his career at the same time as the Hurricanes were growing their fanbase. Through several highs such as the Stanley Cup and lows that included a decade of missing the playoffs, For...

Mick Mixon called his last Carolina Panthers game on January 9th, 2022 after 17 years of play-by-play for the NFL franchise. But calling Mixon a play-by-play guy is selling him short. He was a storyteller more than a sportscaster, and helped paint the picture for some of the biggest moments in North Carolina sports history. Mixon grew up in Chapel Hill and eventually came back home to be part of t...

David Glenn, former editor of the ACC Sports Journal, took a recruiting newsletter into full blown print product and eventually on to online platforms. Recruiting coverage opened doors into Triangle college programs that would eventually help him provide incredible insight into some of the biggest stories of the 90s and 00s. From Matt Doherty's exit at North Carolina to NC State's wild coaching se...