On The 'Rocks Podcast

Greg Swiderski '72 recently celebrated a milestone of attending 6,000 high school basketball games! In this episode, Greg discusses his career as a referee, sportswriter, and fan. He talks about the best players and games he has seen, including Len Bertolini as well as the 73-74 game vs. Leyden. He also documents his travels to some of the state's greatest gyms. Please see Marty's arti...

Mike and Dan were joined by 2003 Saint Pats grad and Shamrock Hall of Famer Pat Gamboney. Coach Gamboney is in the school's Hall of Fame for both football and wrestling. He is also currently the offensive line coach for the football team. In this episode, he talks about his upbringing, choosing Saint Pats, his Saint Pats career, his college recruitment, and his coaching career. Not many people...

Coach Dave Craine started coaching and teaching at St. Pats the year before Coach Bailey started. He has the unique perspective of coaching under both Max Kurland and Mike Bailey. He joins the podcast to talk about St. Pats basketball history including the 1932 National Champion team. Coach also talks about the consistency of the program under Mike Bailey and shares memorable stories from his 30-p...

Continuing the Bailey Tree, Ridgewood Coach Chris Mroz joined the show. He talked about his upbringing, choosing St. Pats, the legendary 2000-01 Sectional Champion team, his playing days at Bradley and Missouri St. Louis, and his coaching career. Great listen for Shamrock fans!

Continuing the Bailey Tree Series, Fenton boys basketball coach Chaz Taft joined On the 'Rocks to discuss his career. Coach Taft was an assistant with Saint Pats from 2004-05. He has also been the head coach of Notre Dame for Girls, South Elgin, Waubonsie Valley, and his alma mater, Fenton. In this episode, coach talks about his career, coaching at his alma mater, memorable games, and coaching...

Coach Tim Trendel '94 joins Mike to talk about his experience as a student, teacher, administrator, and coach at St. Pats. Coach Trendel also shares his background story, along with discussing his head coaching career at Providence and Marist. We also discuss the merger of the ESCC and Catholic League, his baseball coaching career, and more! Thanks for listening.

In this episode, we speak with Coach Sergio Muro! Coach Muro was a former Maine East basketball player, and he's now coaching at his alma mater. He also talks about his unique background coming from an immigrant family in Chicago, his 11 years coaching at Saint Pats, and many more stories from his accomplish career! 0:30 - Summer coaching recap 3:45 - Coach Muro's background and upbringing...

Continuing the "Bailey Tree" series, we were fortunate enough to talk with Coach Ron Ashlaw from Waukegan basketball. Coach Ashlaw is a four-time IBCA Coach of the year and has led the Bulldogs to four Sweet 16s, a final four, and a state championship game. In this episode, Coach talks about his career prior to Waukegan, the history and tradition of Waukegan basketball, coaching in one o...

In the newest episode of "The Bailey Tree" series, Mike and Dan sit down with former St. Pats teacher and assistant basketball coach, Matt Monroe. Coach Monroe has been the head boys basketball coach at St. Ignatius since 2016, leading them to 2 Final Four appearances. In this podcast, he discusses his roots, all the various coaching positions he has held, his time at St. Pats, and his s...

Tom Zbikowski is the new head football coach at Saint Patrick High School! In this episode, Tom discusses his famous career, which includes playing safety at Notre Dame, playing in the NFL, his boxing career, time as a Chicago firefighter, and more.

Coach Heidkamp is a Saint Pats 1988 grad, as well as being a former teacher and coach. He has been the Head Boys Basketball coach at Benet since 2008, where he has helped lead the program to four state championship games, including being crowned 2024-25 Illinois 4a state champions. He was recently inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame. Join us for this awesome episode where we talk about his basketb...

Dan and Mike connect with Tom Shallcross, from the Saint Patrick class of 2002. Tom is the owner of Now Serving Properties, LLC, a company that specializes in flipping and managing properties. His properties are primarily on the Northwest Side of Chicago. He is also the host of the 'Straight Up Chicago Investor' podcast. This is an excellent show that can be found on Spotify. His podcast, which ju...

Tune in for a midseason recap and look ahead to the rest of the games!

Saint Patrick now has a lacrosse program! Hear from our first ever coach on what it has been like starting the inaugural season!

Assistant coach Dom Cannon sits down with Mike and Dan to preview the 2023-24 Saint Patrick basketball year!

Mike and Dan sat down with dean of students and assistant basketball coach at Saint Patrick High School, Al Biancalana, to discuss his upbringing and successful college and high school basketball coaching career. Al shares stories about college basketball recruiting, including the recruitment of star Bradley player Patrick O'Bryant, who helped lead the Braves to the 2006 Sweet 16. Al also dis...

Mike and Dan catch up with fellow Shamrock Jack Donovan. Jack is planning to run the six Abbot World Marathons for charity, including his most recent fundraising efforts for Saint Pats. This is an inspirational story for any Shamrock to listen to! 

We are back with Season 3! This month, we caught up with Frank Iozzo from the class of 2005! Frank is the Founder and Principal at FMI Financial. He specializes on helping successful people living life on their terms. Tune in to hear his story and how pursued his own venture after 10+ years of working  in private banking. 

During this episode of On The 'Rocks,  we take a moment to reflect on all the great Alumni we've had the opportunity to connect with over the past year. Jerome Robinson from the class of 2008 takes center court for this episode. During this half-hour, you will learn more about his journey at Pat's and the unique experiences he had post high-school. You don't want to miss this! 

During this episode, we caught up with Saint Patrick's new Head Football Coach, Luke Mertens '94. We spent some time learning about his experiences as a Shamrock and journey as an accomplished football coach in the State of Illinois. Listen to learn more about Coach Mertens and what he is looking to bring to Belmont & Austin.  Coach Luke Mertens is the 11th head football coach and th...

Mike and Dan caught up with Patrick Downey '09 to talk about his experiences as a Shamrock and how they prepared him for life and his professional career.  We also spent some time talking about his recognition as a Hometown Hero by the Chicago Wolves and the Windy City Bulls. Patrick Downey '09 is one of the countless heroes in the Shamrock community. He is proud to serve his community a...

Join Mike and Dan as they discuss the 2021-22 Shamrock basketball season. Coach Bailey discusses the current roster/state of the program, intriguing schedule matchups to look forward to, an ESCC preview, and NBA talk discussing the best players he’s coached against. 

From St. Pat's to Marquette to University of Illinois Law School, Scott Cruz from the class of 1995 sits down to talk to us about his time at Saint Patrick and journey to becoming an Attorney.  Growing up, Scott always knew that he wanted to be a lawyer. He worked hard and had fun along the way. Scott is one of the most successful Labor Law Attorney's in the Chicagoland area and his stor...

One word. HOMECOMING. On this Episode, Mike and Dan catch up with Dan Galante to talk about his return to St. Pat's and his new role at our Alma Mater. Coach Galante is known for impacting the lives of so many young men throughout the course of his career in football and academics. Coming back to Pat's was a no brainer for him. Listen to learn about why he came back and what he has plann...

Dan and Mike talk with their former Saint Pats history teacher, Coach Kevin Golden. In this alumni feature, Kevin discusses his path to choosing Saint Pats and his time as a Shamrock. He also talks about his college career at Holy Cross, both on and off the football field. Kevin also discusses his impactful professional journey. A must listen for any Shamrock graduate!