Conversations with Sports Fans

Award-winning visual storyteller, Jean Fruth, rejoins us on this episode. Jean initially appeared, along with her Grassroots Baseball co-founder Jeff Idelson, on Season 2, Episode 50 . We catch up with Jean this time in order to get an update on her various projects, including Grassroots Baseball: Women . She updates us on her travels to Uganda, Cuba, and South Korea in search of women playing bas...

Our guest in this bonus Conversation is Mike McClary. Mike's no stranger to the show, having appeared in S:1, E:9 and again as the guest host in S:2, E:27 when he talked to our host, Doug Hill, on the show's first anniversary. This time we devote the entirety of our time with Mike to discussing he and wife Sheryl's recent trip to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledo...

We're joined in this episode by Carl Sterrett, an Alaskan for 51 years now. Like many Alaskans, Carl is a transplant. He's carried his fandom and passion for the Cincinnati Reds 4,000 miles north. Similary, he's still an ardent supporter of the Minnesota Vikings and, thanks to attending college in Fort Collins, he also has a soft spot for the Denver Broncos and the now Colorado Avalanc...

Tracey Martinson and Tim Parker, friends of Conversations as well as The Sports Fan Project , join us just a few hours after they witnessed the peloton zip by them on its way the Tour de France's Stage 5 finish in Saint-Vulbas. Tracey and Tim discuss what pulled them to taking the The Tour, the significance of Mark Cavendish 's record-setting 35th stage victory (breaking the mark he'd...

We're joined in this episode by Monsignor Thomas Machalski, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Bayside, NY. In addition to his full-time duties at Sacred Heart, Msgr. Thomas also serves as the New York Mets' Team Chaplain. This is actually his second tour with the Mets, he previously served from 2007-11 before he was re-assigned out of state, and resumed the role in 2023. I...

Our guest in this episode is Brooks Miller , head men's basketball coach of the reigning NCAA Division III National Champion Trine (IN) University . Himself a 3-sport star growing up in rural northwest Ohio, Brooks played collegiately first at the University of Toledo and later at Hillsdale College. He began his coaching at Hillsdale as an assistant to his coach, Ed Douma , before finding his...

Fresh off spending two days walking Pinehurst No. 2 during U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship week, we're joined once again by Jerry Hill ( ⁠ S:1, E:2 ⁠ & S:3, E:26 ), about what the experience of seeing the fabled Pinehurst course in person was like, how a modern U.S. Open compares to those he'd seen previously, and who he'd like to see winning on Sunday. If you're enjoying...

On the eve of this year's U.S. Open Men's Golf Championship, we spoke to Jerry Hill ( S:1, E:2 ), about why visiting Pinehurst No. 2 has been on his list of courses to see and what he's most looking forward to experiening during visits Wednesday and Thursday of Open Week along with host (and son), Doug Hill. We'll have a later-than-usual regular weekly episode release this week to...

In this special episode we're joined by Phil Werz, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pinehust, Southern Pines, and Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors' Bureau to discuss this week's Men's U.S. Open Golf Championship which will is being played at Pinehurst #2. Known as the Home of American Golf, PInehurst #2 is hosting the U.S. Open for the fourth time. It's inaugural Open occurred...

We're excited to be joined this week by singer/songwriter David Barrett . While David's name likely doesn't ring too many bells, his most recognizable piece, "One Shining Moment," is probably ingrained in college basketball fans' minds across the globe. Along with highlights from the 3-week NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, CBS/Turner has played "One S...

We ran into a rather significant technical issue with this week's scheduled episode so, in an effort to keep our Ironman streak alive, rather than Conversations with Sports Fans we present a Monologue with a Sports Fan (in this case, our host, Doug Hill). Doug reflects on his two encounters with Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton . The most-recent - a chance meeting at PHX Sky Harbo...

We're joined this week by Doug Pratt, Director of the Michigan Education Association's Communication and Public Engagement. Beyond having a fabulous first name, Doug is a native of Chicago, a big baseball fan (White Sox) thanks to his father and grandfather, an ardent Michigan State University supporter, and a former sports journalist who tells us the most unusual thing he discovered in a...

We're joined in this episode by the Artistic Director of the Dayton Philharmonic, Neal Gittleman . Neal is the son of a former baseball who played catcher on his Navy base while serving. Born in Brooklyn in 1955, Neal recalls accompanying his father to a trio of New York Mets ' games in their 1962 debut season in the Polo Grounds. And, miracle of miracles, Neal saw three of the team's...

Our guest in this episode, Scott Heller, is an old church nursery school mate of the host. Saying the two go way back is, in fact, quite accurate. Scott takes us on a journey from his early years as a baseball fan when he chose the Pittsburgh Pirates to be a bit contrarian with the rest of his Cincinnati Reds -loving family. Scott also has a heartwarming recollection of how his NFL football allegi...

In this episode we're joined by Detroit-based journalist Tom Stanton . Tom's been a lifelong fan of the Detroit Tigers as well as history which led him to author five works of historical sports (primarily baseball) non-fiction: Terror in the City of Champions : The true story of the Black Legion , a terrorist organization that flourished in Detroit as the city experienced unparalleled spor...

We're joined this week by Michael O'Connell Jr., a math teacher from Loudoun County, VA, who also does a bit of blogging, podcasting, authoring, and parenting to his 9-year-old son. (All but the parenting are linked at the bottom;-) Michael's also an avid sports fan. So much so that he regularly embeds as much sports as he can in his math instruction which is music to this educator&#39...

Our guest this week, high schooler Jane Meinecke, is the daughter of previous guest, Derek Meinecke (heard in S:2, E:37 ). She clearly comes about her fandom honestly, but she split from her father's love of Manchester City and instead chose upstart, Brentford , as her EPL club of choice. Both Jane and Derek share a love of the Detroit Lions and she credits her father's hunch to by season...

This week's guest is Larry Lester , a co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and one of America's foremost historians on all things Negro Leagues. A native of Kansas City, we learn about Larry's youth and his early interest in the hometown Athletics and the heartache when they moved west following the 1967 season. Larry notes his interest in the Negro Leagues was borne out of...

Before 2024 March Madness fades to black Monday night, we catch up with Evan Blanchard , a student manager of Oakland (MI) University's men's basketball team, who was seated courtside for the 14th-seeded Golden Grizzlies' first-round upset of third-seed, Kentucky. And, as we all prepare to watch upstart North Carolina State University in the Men's Final Four, Evan had a front row s...

In this episode we're joined by Mike Veeck , a member of one of baseball's most notable families. His grandfather Bill Veeck Sr. was President of the Chicago Cubs, his father Bill Jr. was an owner of the Milwaukee Brewers (then a Triple A team), the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Browns, and the Chicago White Sox (twice) and was immortalized in bronze in the National Baseball Hall of Fam...

In this episode we're delighted to be rejoined by Craig Caswell ( S:2, E:16 ). When we last spoke to Craig he'd recently finished his quest to see every NCAA Division I men's basketball team play in person. Well, LeMoyne College joined the ranks this season and Craig took a trip to Syracuse, NY, to see it beat Long Island, 87-74 , in late January to remain up-to-date. Beyond that, we t...

We're joined this week by a trio of friends. Individually, they are James "Wik" Wikman, John "JR" Ries, and Tom "Opie" Bowen. Collectively, they go by "The Basketball Mavens." They come about the name honestly. For nearly 40 years, this threesome puts in the miles (air and land) every March by attending as many NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games...

In this episode, we're joined by Detroit Public School Basketball League historian, Bill Hoover. Bill, a semi-retired educator and basketball coach, has spent decades researching the thousands of players who've passed through the Detroit PSL over the past century. He helped found the website detroitpslbasketball.com that is working on a refresh but still contains a plethora of content. A t...

We're delighted to be joined in this episode by Dick Mackey , one of the founders of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which pushes off this weekend in Anchorage, AK, this weekend for the 52nd time. Mackey, who is joined in this episode by his biographer Lew Freedman (a third-time guest on Conversations), shares the story of how he and Joe Redington Sr. created the 1,000-mile race across Alaska over...

In this week's episode we're joined by David Joest, a retired Dreyer's Ice Cream employee and a big sports fan. An Indiana native, David has plenty of tales to tell about - shockingly! - basketball of various varieties: high school and college, primarily, and even a nod to the "Hoosiers" gym in Knightstown, IN. Growing up in northcentral Indiana, David had his pick of MLB tea...