The Sports Deli

As we continue our 50th Anniversary Celebration of Title IX SHEros, you don't want to miss today's legendary Sports Deli Podcast. Where can you find unparalleled SHEros, pioneers, influencers, Olympians, WBL AND WNBA legends and Champions, authors, coaches, educators, marketing geniuses, allies, breathtaking singers and some of the finest biceps in history? You got it, in The Sports Deli Podcast,...

Andrew Brandt joined Hoot in The Sports Deli for an incredible conversation about his upbringing, law school, working with Michael Jordan (ironically this was episode #23 of season 3), Patrick Ewing and David Falk, his time overseas, in Green Bay, at ESPN and Sports Illustrated, and now at Villanova. We finish by talking about white privilege, his family and his kids; his legacy.   With over...

Sarah Spain from ESPN took time out of her incredibly busy schedule to join Hoot for this incredibly powerful (Sports Deli) podcast. She realized early on in her professional career that she cared more about who came before her and ultimately who will come after her. This selflessness, courage and strength that she and her older sister navigate the world with is largely because of their incredible...

JJ Reddick - Former NBA Player Gets It While the NFL G.O.A.T. Tom Brady, and former NFLers Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Big Ben, Blonde, and Troy Aikman Do Not. The former is making a conscious and deliberate effort to be anti-racist while the latters are not. They care more about their own brands, shows, and selves than doing whatever they have to do to be public white voices and allies to fight...

Jeremy Burright, inspired by his late father, took the road less traveled in becoming a professional basketball player, and today, you will hear the rest of the story. Jeremy is incredibly polarizing and charismatic. He is smart, thoughtful, empathetic, and loving. But don't mistake any of those things as his weaknesses because they're a major reason along with his tireless work ethic as to why at...

Ahman Green joined Hoot in the Sport Deli Podcast. He credits his success in large part to his amazing parents in particular his mother who taught him to set goals which is a skill he has now passed on to his 5 incredible kids (4 girls and 1 boy). We talked about a number of things from how his time in Los Angeles prepared him for high school football after his parents made him move back to Nebras...

Tyrone Poole, an only child raised by his amazing parents in LaGrange, Georgia, discusses his journey from being too small and too inexperienced to becoming a two-time Super Bowl champion. He talks about the mistake he made in high school as a result of ignorance and arrogance and how that experience prepared him for his college football experience, namely when his head coach decided to move him f...

Pokey Chatman gets it. Not simply because she's played and coached for several decades, but because she cares about being the best version of herself every day while continuing to evolve, be a forwarding thinker, and pours into her players and fellow coaches.    I was so humbled and honored that she joined me today in The Sports Deli Podcast, to talk not just about basketball but about i...

Retired Professional Basketball Player and Professional Basketball Skills Trainer Brian Adams joined Hoot in #thesportsdelipodcast . He discusses why he chose an #hbcu instead of a Power 5 school and how much respect he has for his business partner, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf who was white-balled by the NBA. Mahmoud was Steph before Steph and Brian was "The Southern Truth" before "The Truth. You don't wan...

Christian Okoye, the "Nigerian Nightmare" joined Hoot in The Sports Deli Podcast for an incredible discussion on Nigeria, Ukraine, mental health, systemic racism in the NFL, Tom, Eli, Peyton, and Blonde as well as one of the most incredible coaching staffs in NFL history that he played for while in Kansas City. And you don't want to miss our very famous rapid fire, "This or That' segment of the po...

Dino Radja joined Hoot for an amazing interview from his home in Croatia. Radja, who played for the Boston Celtics, is also a 2x Euro League Champion, Olympian, a Top 50 FIBA Player of all time, and is in the Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Fame. When he got the call from the Celtics and Springfield, he thought both we're a joke. He shares what it was like being raised by his amazing parents to playin...

A phenomenal leader, father, husband and son, Drew Henson, former two-sport professional athlete joined Hoot for this amazing interview. But before that, he shared time at the quarterback position at the University of Michigan with the G.O.A.T., the greatest-of-all-time, Tom Brady. But, as you will hear during the conversation, Drew thinks my criticism of Tom is fair along with Eli, Peyton, and Bl...

The Governor Of Florida is a Bully and If You Have A Blind Spot, You Will End Up On The Wrong Side of History

Susan Summons joined Hoot for an incredible conversation that took us back in time to 1957 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, to present day Miami, Florida. And during these 65 years, Susan has exemplified extraordinary in every endeavor she has ever partaken in from the time she was playing against the boys on the streets in Boston to her military days in the United States Army to her playing days at Rox...

Joanne P. McCallie, (CoachP4Life.org) is one of the most inspiring and incredible people I've ever met on this show or in real life. She joined Coach Val (Whiting) and I for this polarizing and powerful episode to discuss her journey from when she was a young brat cussing up a storm when she would miss jump shots while her dad, a navy pilot would rebound for her while in Coach K's gym, illegally....

Rosie Walker, from Emerson, Arkansas, shares her incredible journey as  the 11th of 12 children from her early years when she wasn't allowed to  play with the boys on their homemade basketball hoop made from a bicycle  tire to her journey to playing professional basketball as a pioneer to  her time as a teacher and coach to life after her devastating injury  trying to brea...

The Legends of the Ball and Judy Sweet joined Hoot for this historic podcast dedicated to the passing of Lucy Harris, the Queen of Basketball, the 50th anniversary of Title IX, and the amazingly courageous women of the Women's Basketball League, the original W, the WBL. We talked about the "Know Their Names...Speak Their Names" campaign to raise awareness about the history of professional women's...

Kenny Lofton, future Hall-of-Famer joined Hoot in the Sports Deli for this incredible interview. It all started with his incredibly inspiring grandmother who blind, raised him. It was because of her that Kenny had a unique understanding of being organized, detail-oriented and trusting your sixth sense. A teammate of Steve Kerr in college at Arizona, he always knew Steve would be a phenomenal NBA p...

Tadd Fujikawa has always shown himself to be a resilient spirit. From the time he was born (1 pound 15 ounces) - yes you read that correctly (3 months prematurely) to qualifying for the 2006 U.S. Open , the youngest golfer ever to do so at aged 15 to announcing in 2018 that he was gay, the first male professional golfer to do so to his activism to now reinventing himself as a pickleballer and prof...

The legendary Rick Barry, NBA Hall-of-Famer, NBA Champion, and a member of the 75th Anniversary team, joined Hoot and former Eastern Michigan and Cal Coach, Ben Braun for this polarizing discussion that goes far beyond the hardwood and his unorthodox underhand free-throw shooting. We discuss a wide range of topics as Rick was so incredibly generous with his time. It was incredibly refreshing to he...

Hall-of-Fame Coach, Howard Golding joins Hoot, some 40 years after being his 7th grade Social Studies teacher to discuss his incredible life story. I wasn't the only smart-ass little kid who Coach Golding helped (you'll have to listen or watch the entire podcast to understand this reference). There we're hundreds that he built a bridge for and as a result, helped generations of individuals and fam...

Let me first say that Coach Dan Hughes is one of the most kind, humble, giving, and thoughtful leaders I've ever encountered. He's a true ally. And an incredible coach, mentor, friend, father, husband, and grandfather. And he's had a lot of coaching jobs over the years. He's been a high school coach, college coach, WNBA coach (and Champion twice in 2018 and 2020), and Olympic Coach (and Golf Medal...

Yolanda Moore, retired WNBA star, motivational speaker, and international author joined us to share her amazing journey from Port Gibson, Mississippi to Ole Miss to the WNBA to coaching to Amazon. She went from having to navigate growing up with a different father than the rest of her siblings to gaining validation through sports to being a pioneer in the WNBA. She courageously talks about her tim...

To say I was humbled and honored to host these pioneers is an understatement. To be in the presence of history was incredible. And the stories that these courageous women shared during their respective journeys to become the first ever professional women's basketball players in the history of the United States was unparalleled. We hope you enjoy this First Episode of Season 3 as I was joined by fo...

Former NCAA Champion and WNBA star, Sylvia Crawley, chronicles in detail her and her teammates National Championship run in 1994 in Part 1 of this 2-Part Podcast.  In part 2, Sylvia and Hoot discuss her childhood and how she learned to be tough and never quit from her parents, in particular her father, who worked for the Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Mill. You don't want to miss our very famous r...