Stories from the Center of the Universe

David Chappell knows Paul’s parents Brenda (Ep. #46) and Larry (Ep. #9) and he joins Paul for this episode. David moved around a bit due to his Dad’s job as a Methodist minister, but his family settled in Ashland and that is where he grew up. David told Paul that he was just an okay student and about a series of events that changed his attitude towards school … which in turn changed his life. Afte...

National Champion and National Player of the Year Buzz Anthony joins Paul on the podcast. Paul first told Buzz a story about when he attended the NCAA Elite 8 game this year and Buzz in turn told Paul what his given name is and why he is called Buzz. Buzz is from Annapolis, Md., his parents (Belinda and Don - they have other names as well) were both athletes and his two main sports growing up were...

Josh Merkel is the head coach of the Men’s RMC Basketball team who are the current Division III National Champions. We connected with Josh through Pedro Arruza (Episode 99) and he joins us to talk about his journey and RMC basketball. Josh is from Walkersville, MD, is the oldest of nine kids and he grew up on a farm. He spoke about his mom and dad and learning about having a passion for life from...

Ellen Zavian joins the podcast because she knows and works with Andrew Ting (Episode 40). Ellen is from Maywood, NJ and spent her summers at the Jersey Shore. Ellen went to the University of Maryland and then to American University where she earned her law degree. She was friends with several UMD football players and interned at the NFL Player’s Association while studying at American. She had inte...

Paul has Matt Williams on this episode due to a connection Matt has with Boomer Muth (Episode 77). Matt and Boomer are in a band together (Acoustic Underground) and Paul and Matt talked about music and Matt being a bass guitarist. Matt was born in Delaware and grew up in Wilmington and Cincinnati, Ohio. He played baseball growing up, was a baseball fan and he got to attend many Phillies and Reds g...

Chris Rutherford is a friend of occasional co-host Kevin and joins Paul and Kevin for this episode. Chris was born in Richmond, moved to Philadelphia with his mom when he was one and then came back to Richmond in 5th grade. Chris has fond memories of Philly because of sports, the snow, the community pool and mainly because of family. They discussed Chris’ favorite pro sports teams and there is one...

Paul takes the podcast mobile for Episode 150 and interviewed Bobby Malone at the Rivah. Bobby grew up in Chesterfield and rode motorbikes and played sports growing up. He said he wasn’t big on school, but it allowed him to play sports and he explained why football was his favorite. Bobby also told Paul about a crazy injury he suffered playing baseball. After high school, Bobby had a successful ca...

Andy Smith was Paul’s 8th grade English teacher and basketball coach. Andy grew up in the lower east side of Manhattan, but came south for his education at Johns Hopkins, UNC and VCU. He played soccer all four years at JHU and also played a less well known sport his first year. That move south eventually led him to settle in the Richmond area and start a forty-eight year career in education as a t...

Jock Jones joins the podcast through a friendship with Tim Sutton (Episode #130). Jock is from Hanover County and is a well known athlete in Hanover from his days playing at Mechanicsville High School. Jock told Paul about a very rough beginning to his life and how he got his unique first name and why. Jock talked to Paul about growing up playing sports, riding his bike quite a ways to school and...

Colin Thompson is a professional football player and plays Tight End for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. He comes to the podcast via Mike DiMaggio who is a friend of Colin’s and a relative of Paul’s. Paul and Colin discussed playing football in college where he played for Florida one year and then finished @ Temple. Colin said the best thing that came from his time at Florida was his then girlfriend,...

Bill Coffin and Paul served together in the Army National Guard. Bill is from Boston area and one of the first things they discussed was how big a fan Bill is of the Boston professional teams. They agreed that after some lean years, Bill and other Boston fans have had a great run the last twenty years! Bill and Paul talked about his Army journey which started when he enlisted right out of high sch...

Jeff Uerz comes to the podcast via Paul’s father-in-law Al Draper. Jeff is from upstate New York and grew up hunting, fishing and trapping. Jeff told Paul that this led him to having a particular type of transportation before he even had a car. He also told Paul about a particular skill that he and his high school classmates were required to have before they were allowed to graduate. Jeff knew pre...

Andre Buckner, a.k.a. Buck, is from and grew up in the historic Berkeley town area of Ashland, Virginia. Buck played all the sports growing up and he and Paul reminisced about playing Little League basketball together. They talked about their great coach who has been on the podcast as well (Episode 9). After high school, Buck enlisted and spent six years of active duty in the United States Navy. A...

Matt Pulisic grew up in Long Island, NY and had a great time growing up in a small neighborhood playing all the sports. Matt’s father immigrated to the United States from Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and met his mom at a dance in NY City. Family was a very important part of Matt’s life growing up - large family gatherings and lots of good food, mostly from his Italian mother’s side! Matt’s best sport...

Matt Goff joins the podcast courtesy of Paul working with his sister. Matt is from northern Virginia and played all sports growing up and then mainly focused on football, wrestling and soccer in high school.  He faced another podcast guest several times during their high school careers (hint - episode #133.) Matt went to JMU where he played football and majored in Sports Management.  This led to i...

Robert Pratt was born in NY, but moved to Richmond at a very young age. Robert played all sports growing up and he particularly loved baseball as a kid.  He even had a future Supreme Court Justice as his little league baseball coach one year. He went to St. Christopher’s for high school where he excelled in football and went on to play college football at UNC. Paul and Robert reminisced about St....

Luqman Jabber is a former college basketball player, coach and National Champion. Luqman played at Virginia State, but transferred to Virginia Union where he played for Hall of Fame coach Dave Robbins and won a national championship his senior year.  He played professionally overseas, coached in the ABA and also returned to his alma mater to coach.  Luqman now runs his own player development busin...

Jack Luck is an Ashland icon and he joins Paul along with his oldest son, Ross. Jack talked about growing up on a farm in Ashland which is now part of the I-95 interchange. Jack told Paul about how he and his brother went to Randolph-Macon Academy and how he got a nickname that even Ross had never heard before. They discussed his time at Randolph-Macon College where he played football, was inducte...

Paul and Rob have known Donnie Morris since the early 1980’s. Donnie is a former Virginia State Football Player of the Year and he tells Paul and Kevin about his football journey with some great stories along the way. Paul told a story about an encounter he had with Donnie on the middle school football field and will be the first to admit that Donnie won the day. The three of them talked about Don...

Louise Keeton joined us to talk about her non-profit, The Whistle Stop Theatre Company. Along with their educational goals, they also produce family entertainment by local artists of all genres. Check them out at https://whistlestoptheatre.weebly.com  to learn more.

Marcus Williams joins the podcast mainly via Kevin, but Marcus, Paul and Kevin have all worked at the same RVA based company. Marcus’ parents were both born in Indiana, but he grew up in Glasgow, KY.  His dad wanted a better place to raise his family and his dad was a benefactor of affirmative action and got a job in Glasgow. Marcus talked about his big brother being his best friend and their adve...

Liz Phillips is a former colleague of Paul’s. Liz and Paul talked about her early years in South Bend, Indiana and Liz gave some insight into what South Bend is famous for besides Notre Dame. She talked about her big family, a move to Florida in the middle of high school and how she had to become an adult when she was a teenager due to her Mom getting sick. Liz and Paul had a great chat about her...

Duke, Rob and Paul have known each other almost 50 years. On this unique episode, we discussed growing up in Ashland in the 1970s and 80s. We had fun reminiscing and recording stories from our childhood. We hope you will enjoy it as well.

Nick Shedd is the head of Strength and Conditioning for the Houston Astros and comes to the podcast via a connection through Kevin Flippen. Paul, Kevin and Nick discussed him growing up in Northern Virginia, playing football in college and his education including currently pursuing his PhD. Nick’s career has taken him many different places and has allowed him to work with military personnel and at...

Ali Gustavson and Sidney Campbell join the podcast via Paul knowing Ali’s dad, Gary. Ali and Sidney both work for the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines, Alaska. They discussed each of their backgrounds and how they found their way to the ABEF. Paul talked to Sidney and Ali about their roles at the ABEF and what a normal work day looks like for the two of them. They talked about the mission...