September 4, 2024 • 8 mins
With the UC football season underway, a loaded Hall of Fame class set to be inducted, the fall sports season underway, and the men's basketball team set to play a charity exhibition with Ohio State, UC's Athletics Director John Cunningham has a lot going on. He joined us on ESPN1530.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, we'll jump back to the Bengals here in
(00:02):
a bit. You see football a home game on Saturday.
The River City rivalry returns to a Knippert Stadium. You
see beat pitt last year. Pittsburgh terrific. In their first
game this season against Kent State, Bearcat's trying to build
upon how they played against Towson. That is a noon kickoff.
I love it when Cincinnati and Pittsburgh play against each other.
(00:23):
We also have the return of many players from the
twenty eighteen That team will be recognized won the Big
East title, played in a BCS Bowl. The u SE
Hall of Fame class of twenty twenty four, which is
absolutely loaded, is going to be inducted into the Schools
Athletics Hall of Fame in just about two and a
half weeks. The fall sports season is off to a
(00:44):
great start, and you see men's basketball is going to
host Ohio State in a charity exhibition game. There's only
a little bit going on at U. See the director
of Athletics at the University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham, is
with us. I can't believe you even have time for us.
It's good to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
What's going on it's always good to be on with
Kim Moo. I think you got it all. Yeah, we
always have a lot going on, but exciting time of
year obviously, And like you said, it just feels right
when Cincinnati's playing pit. We're so similar in so many
ways in terms of our city makeup and the history
that we have, and so it's gonna be a lot
of fun hosting on on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
It is, and I think you know it's appropriate that
the twenty eighteen is gonna be there, or a lot
of guys from the twenty eighteen because when I when
I think of when I think of signature victories during
that stretch of time, everybody remembers the O nine game
where they go to Hines Field, but them beating Pittsburgh
in two thousand and eight was such a landmark signature event.
I can still remember the fans storming the field. I
(01:42):
can still remember them having to wrap things up the
following week against Syracuse. It's only appropriate that you bring
so many of those players back for the pit game
on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, it's gonna be a blast. We're still hearing about
who all is going to make it back. We know,
we know a few names, and so we're gonna have
a autimum. It's been surprising how many are going to
be making their way back to Cincinnati. And obviously Tony
Pike was such an important part of that. So he'll
be prominently, prominently displayed throughout the throughout the game, and
(02:13):
we have a tailgate before the game, and we'll have
him there and ask him a few questions about what
he remembers about that game in that season.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
And you know, Marty Gilliard on that team you've got
and you know, I don't have in front of me
every James P. Kelly Hall of Fame class that the
University of Cincinnati has ever had. I would I would
challenge any to find one that is more loaded with
the caliber of athletes, the accomplishment that athletes can can
be proud of both for their time at U SEE
(02:42):
but also in some cases international competition at the professional level.
And so, and the cool thing about this for me
is you're opening this year's Hall of Fame induction to
the public. So roll through for me, maybe for folks
who have never been to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
What's going to happen on the night of September the twentieth.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, well it's something new. We're doing it a little
different because of this class. We haven't really opened it
to the public this way before, so we're gonna host
it in fifth third on September twentieth. We have seven inductees.
One that has passed away that we will we will
recognize as well. But it's an incredible class. Number one,
I mean Marty Gilliard and Shaun Kilpatrick obviously huge names
(03:23):
that Bearkatz remember, but three Olympians as well to that
won silver mederals just this past Olympics. Jordan Thompson coming
back from volleyball. It's an incredible class, really, something that
we wanted to highlight. So we will invite people to
buy tickets twenty five dollars tickets. They get a chance
to be a part of the ceremony, hear the speeches,
(03:44):
see all the teammates of these athletes that are there
as well and former coaches that are coming back. So
it's gonna be a great night.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, it's it's gonna be a lot of fun. And
you know it's it's always you mentioned something that I
think is important. It's it's a great night for those
individual athletes. It is also so much fun to watch
their teammates, their coaches, whether they're still at UC or not,
be a part of it because the ceremony means a
lot to them as well.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, I love it. I mean it's great for our
current athletes too. We'll get a lot of them out
there to check it out because it's it's a reminder
that you know, time goes by really quickly and before
you know it, you might be coming back to, you know,
highlight one of your former teammates and remember those those moments.
But the stories that people tell and the funny, the
funny behind the scene things that you didn't know about
(04:32):
to come out at Hall of Fame inductions are always
fun to be a part of. So I'm sure we'll
hear some of that.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
The fall sports season is off to a great start.
Soccer off to a good so. We had Erica Demurz
on the show last week. It feels like big things
are expected for her program in year two of her
tenure at UC, and obviously also the Big twelve.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, I appreciate you having Erica on and she's doing
a great job obviously in her second year. A couple
star freshmen this year, one to scoring a whole bunch
of goals for us, which is faun At, a starting
defender as a freshman, and then a few of our
seniors and juniors that are really stepping up too, so
we expect big things from that program. I was out
(05:13):
there this time. They had a really nice crowd, So
come on out to Getler and check out our women's
soccer team this fall.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Got a bark in the Park event tomorrow night as
you see host Butler and then the news that came
down maybe maybe twenty five thirty minutes ago. Men's basketball
Cincinnati Ohio State at fifth third a charity exhibition game.
These are allowed now and you're seeing more and more
of them. I think this is great from a few
(05:40):
different standpoints. Obviously, when there's the charity component, which is
very very important. I think it's also really cool that
fans get a chance to watch an exhibition game, a scrimmage,
if you will, see what the team might have in
store while they're still a work in progress. But it's
against a peer. It's not against the Division III school
or an NIA school or a traveling group of barnstormers. Uh,
(06:01):
it's gonna look and feel like a regular season college
basketball game with a greater purpose sort of looming over it.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, these these popped up a few years ago and
we didn't partake in one before this, but this is
a great opportunity for us. Obviously, there's so much excitement
around our program. Uh season tickets are sold out. Everybody
wants to see get that first look at this team
under West Miller and see all the new guys. And
so the nice thing is in an exhibition game, you
get to play everybody you know, not necessarily the starting
(06:31):
lineup that you would usually have, and get get deep
into your bitch. So I know Wes is excited about that.
You get to, you know, test out what you have
a little bit. But then the playo Hot State. I mean,
that's that's that's something that's really important to us. Anytime
we have a chance to play Ohio State, we're gonna
take that chance. And so we expect we're gonna get
a full crowd. Bear with us on on detailed. We're
we're still kind of pulling that together. There's a third
(06:53):
party that runs these charity games, and we're working with
them on the details of what that will look like
From a ticketing standpoint, but should be a great game.
Uh you know that first look at the men's basketball
team at Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Sling it back to football with me here for a second,
because you know, we we were talking in the run
up to the Towson game about Knippert Stadium and the
wide out and some of the things that make a
Nipper unique this season as opposed to previous years. And
the feedback that I got was was pretty good. You know, look,
the weather was warm, it wasn't oppressively hot, which certainly helped.
(07:28):
The game was entertaining, It felt like everybody had a
good time.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, I mean I was really happy with the crowd.
It felt right, It felt like it was time to
start the season, and so you know, the students were incredible.
Packed the house there with the students and and you know,
just a few hundred tickets short, I think of a sellout.
So really good, good way to start the season. Great
energy and new concessioneer a lot of new things around
(07:56):
the stadium that we are trying and we'll continue to
tweak those to make those even better. But I think overall,
it was a very successful game all.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
The way around, and there was a shade for us
in the home broadcast booth to protect us from the sun.
You probably had no idea that even happened, but that
is the improvement we cared about the most.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You got to do these little things. I didn't know
that happened, but I'm glad we got that done for it,
so we'll keep working on that. I just know that
when Gus Johnson was here a while back, he said
our TV booth was too small, so that was a
little bit more difficult to change. But we got the
shade for you for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
That's all we really cared about. Other than that we
had we had a blast. I know you have a
lot going on. I do appreciate the time, John, thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Always good to talk to you, though. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Awesome to have you. The director of athletics at the
University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham. And again, that uc Ohio
State thing is going to be at fifth third on
the eighteenth, which is a Friday, if you're wondering. The
football team is home the next day.
All right, we'll jump back to the Bengals here in
(00:02):
a bit. You see football a home game on Saturday.
The River City rivalry returns to a Knippert Stadium. You
see beat pitt last year. Pittsburgh terrific. In their first
game this season against Kent State, Bearcat's trying to build
upon how they played against Towson. That is a noon kickoff.
I love it when Cincinnati and Pittsburgh play against each other.
(00:23):
We also have the return of many players from the
twenty eighteen That team will be recognized won the Big
East title, played in a BCS Bowl. The u SE
Hall of Fame class of twenty twenty four, which is
absolutely loaded, is going to be inducted into the Schools
Athletics Hall of Fame in just about two and a
half weeks. The fall sports season is off to a
(00:44):
great start, and you see men's basketball is going to
host Ohio State in a charity exhibition game. There's only
a little bit going on at U. See the director
of Athletics at the University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham, is
with us. I can't believe you even have time for us.
It's good to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
What's going on it's always good to be on with
Kim Moo. I think you got it all. Yeah, we
always have a lot going on, but exciting time of
year obviously, And like you said, it just feels right
when Cincinnati's playing pit. We're so similar in so many
ways in terms of our city makeup and the history
that we have, and so it's gonna be a lot
of fun hosting on on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
It is, and I think you know it's appropriate that
the twenty eighteen is gonna be there, or a lot
of guys from the twenty eighteen because when I when
I think of when I think of signature victories during
that stretch of time, everybody remembers the O nine game
where they go to Hines Field, but them beating Pittsburgh
in two thousand and eight was such a landmark signature event.
I can still remember the fans storming the field. I
(01:42):
can still remember them having to wrap things up the
following week against Syracuse. It's only appropriate that you bring
so many of those players back for the pit game
on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, it's gonna be a blast. We're still hearing about
who all is going to make it back. We know,
we know a few names, and so we're gonna have
a autimum. It's been surprising how many are going to
be making their way back to Cincinnati. And obviously Tony
Pike was such an important part of that. So he'll
be prominently, prominently displayed throughout the throughout the game, and
(02:13):
we have a tailgate before the game, and we'll have
him there and ask him a few questions about what
he remembers about that game in that season.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
And you know, Marty Gilliard on that team you've got
and you know, I don't have in front of me
every James P. Kelly Hall of Fame class that the
University of Cincinnati has ever had. I would I would
challenge any to find one that is more loaded with
the caliber of athletes, the accomplishment that athletes can can
be proud of both for their time at U SEE
(02:42):
but also in some cases international competition at the professional level.
And so, and the cool thing about this for me
is you're opening this year's Hall of Fame induction to
the public. So roll through for me, maybe for folks
who have never been to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
What's going to happen on the night of September the twentieth.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, well it's something new. We're doing it a little
different because of this class. We haven't really opened it
to the public this way before, so we're gonna host
it in fifth third on September twentieth. We have seven inductees.
One that has passed away that we will we will
recognize as well. But it's an incredible class. Number one,
I mean Marty Gilliard and Shaun Kilpatrick obviously huge names
(03:23):
that Bearkatz remember, but three Olympians as well to that
won silver mederals just this past Olympics. Jordan Thompson coming
back from volleyball. It's an incredible class, really, something that
we wanted to highlight. So we will invite people to
buy tickets twenty five dollars tickets. They get a chance
to be a part of the ceremony, hear the speeches,
(03:44):
see all the teammates of these athletes that are there
as well and former coaches that are coming back. So
it's gonna be a great night.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, it's it's gonna be a lot of fun. And
you know it's it's always you mentioned something that I
think is important. It's it's a great night for those
individual athletes. It is also so much fun to watch
their teammates, their coaches, whether they're still at UC or not,
be a part of it because the ceremony means a
lot to them as well.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, I love it. I mean it's great for our
current athletes too. We'll get a lot of them out
there to check it out because it's it's a reminder
that you know, time goes by really quickly and before
you know it, you might be coming back to, you know,
highlight one of your former teammates and remember those those moments.
But the stories that people tell and the funny, the
funny behind the scene things that you didn't know about
(04:32):
to come out at Hall of Fame inductions are always
fun to be a part of. So I'm sure we'll
hear some of that.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
The fall sports season is off to a great start.
Soccer off to a good so. We had Erica Demurz
on the show last week. It feels like big things
are expected for her program in year two of her
tenure at UC, and obviously also the Big twelve.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, I appreciate you having Erica on and she's doing
a great job obviously in her second year. A couple
star freshmen this year, one to scoring a whole bunch
of goals for us, which is faun At, a starting
defender as a freshman, and then a few of our
seniors and juniors that are really stepping up too, so
we expect big things from that program. I was out
(05:13):
there this time. They had a really nice crowd, So
come on out to Getler and check out our women's
soccer team this fall.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Got a bark in the Park event tomorrow night as
you see host Butler and then the news that came
down maybe maybe twenty five thirty minutes ago. Men's basketball
Cincinnati Ohio State at fifth third a charity exhibition game.
These are allowed now and you're seeing more and more
of them. I think this is great from a few
(05:40):
different standpoints. Obviously, when there's the charity component, which is
very very important. I think it's also really cool that
fans get a chance to watch an exhibition game, a scrimmage,
if you will, see what the team might have in
store while they're still a work in progress. But it's
against a peer. It's not against the Division III school
or an NIA school or a traveling group of barnstormers. Uh,
(06:01):
it's gonna look and feel like a regular season college
basketball game with a greater purpose sort of looming over it.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, these these popped up a few years ago and
we didn't partake in one before this, but this is
a great opportunity for us. Obviously, there's so much excitement
around our program. Uh season tickets are sold out. Everybody
wants to see get that first look at this team
under West Miller and see all the new guys. And
so the nice thing is in an exhibition game, you
get to play everybody you know, not necessarily the starting
(06:31):
lineup that you would usually have, and get get deep
into your bitch. So I know Wes is excited about that.
You get to, you know, test out what you have
a little bit. But then the playo Hot State. I mean,
that's that's that's something that's really important to us. Anytime
we have a chance to play Ohio State, we're gonna
take that chance. And so we expect we're gonna get
a full crowd. Bear with us on on detailed. We're
we're still kind of pulling that together. There's a third
(06:53):
party that runs these charity games, and we're working with
them on the details of what that will look like
From a ticketing standpoint, but should be a great game.
Uh you know that first look at the men's basketball
team at Cincinnati.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Sling it back to football with me here for a second,
because you know, we we were talking in the run
up to the Towson game about Knippert Stadium and the
wide out and some of the things that make a
Nipper unique this season as opposed to previous years. And
the feedback that I got was was pretty good. You know, look,
the weather was warm, it wasn't oppressively hot, which certainly helped.
(07:28):
The game was entertaining, It felt like everybody had a
good time.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, I mean I was really happy with the crowd.
It felt right, It felt like it was time to
start the season, and so you know, the students were incredible.
Packed the house there with the students and and you know,
just a few hundred tickets short, I think of a sellout.
So really good, good way to start the season. Great
energy and new concessioneer a lot of new things around
(07:56):
the stadium that we are trying and we'll continue to
tweak those to make those even better. But I think overall,
it was a very successful game all.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
The way around, and there was a shade for us
in the home broadcast booth to protect us from the sun.
You probably had no idea that even happened, but that
is the improvement we cared about the most.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You got to do these little things. I didn't know
that happened, but I'm glad we got that done for it,
so we'll keep working on that. I just know that
when Gus Johnson was here a while back, he said
our TV booth was too small, so that was a
little bit more difficult to change. But we got the
shade for you for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
That's all we really cared about. Other than that we
had we had a blast. I know you have a
lot going on. I do appreciate the time, John, thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Always good to talk to you, though. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Awesome to have you. The director of athletics at the
University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham. And again, that uc Ohio
State thing is going to be at fifth third on
the eighteenth, which is a Friday, if you're wondering. The
football team is home the next day.
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