Conversations with Sports Fans

Our guests in this episode are Jill Jaracz and Alison Brown, the founders of the website and podcast, "Keep the Flame Alive."

As the title alludes to, Jill and Alison aim to keep the Olympic spirit alive and well in as many people as possible between those pair of fortnights when the cauldron is lit during an Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Former co-workers who happened upon their mutual love for the Olympics a bit by happ...

We're joined in this bonus episode by North Dakota State University's Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations and Strategic Revenue, Troy Goergen.

We spoke with Troy in advance of Event No. 31 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project that took host Doug Hill to Fargo for a NDSU football game in the Fargodome against the University of Northern Iowa.

During this Conversation, Troy shares what ma...

With Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings in full swing, a new member of the Baseball Hall of Fame recently elected (Jeff Kent), and a fresh blanket of snow covering our front lawn here at Conversations HQ, it seemed a perfect time to talk baseball with Andrew Good, a 9-year professional and 3-year MLB veteran.

A native of Rochester Hills, MI, Andrew helped lead Rochester High School to the 1997 Class A State Championship his...

Our guest in this episode is Detroit-area broadcaster, Neal Ruhl.

A graduate of Oakland University, Neal got his start in broadcasting working as a student with then-lead play-by-play man, Mario Impemba. Since 2014, Neal's been the voice for all Golden Grizzlies' sports since 2014. A year later he picked up the television play-by-play responsibilities for Detroit City Football Club of the United Soccer League (USL).

He's...

Our guest for this episode is author Will Bardenwerper.

In the spring, Will's latest book-length work, Homestand: Smalltown Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, was published in March 2025.

In Homestand, Will examines the impact of Major League Baseball's decision to contract 25% of its affiliated Minor League franchises following the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, Will explores how elimination of the the Muckd...

What would you do if you happened upon a trading card collection that numbered in the tens of millions of items?

If you were Tim Banazek and the opportunity presented itself by sheer happenstance ... you'd buy it. And that's what he did over three years ago when he discovered a hobbyist's treasure trove of artifacts practically around the block from where he lived in Virginia thanks to a soccer mom.

And even now, three y...

It's not every episode we're joined by someone who's won over 600 college basketball games (or has their name on a Division I basketball court!), but that's what we have with our guest this episode, Ben Braun.

A men's head coach for 37 season (1977-2014), Braun compiled a 615-517 record during stints at Siena Heights University (nee College), Eastern Michigan University, University of California Berkeley, and Ric...

(Full Disclosure: This episode was supposed to be a Special Bonus Episode in conjunction with a visit to Toronto to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and Scotiabank Arena for the Maple Leafs-Canadiens NHL season-opener as part of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project. Then our Conversation with Liam Maguire began and it became apparent this was a special episode just not a Special Bonus Episode.)

Ottawa-area native, Liam M...

Did you ever wonder how those cleats worn by many NFL and MLB players get to look so snazzy?

Matt Speck, our guest in this episode, knows all about the process ... he does the cleat customizations for many players across the two leagues. You're able to see plenty of his handiwork at his website, Speckcustoms.com.

A muralist, Matt happened upon the craft of customizing footwear quite by accident. In the process of working on the ...

In advance of host Doug Hill's Around the World in 80 Sporting Events visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, his guest in this bonus episode is the Hall of Fame's Communications' Director, Craig Muder.

A Pittsburgh Pirates fan as a child, Muder briefly discusses what the 2025 induction of Pittsburgh legend Dave Parker (who died prior to enshrinement day) was like for him before sharing the story ...

Our guest in this episode is Benjamin Hill, a Philadelphia Phillies fan almost from birth and currently the go-to resource for just about anything relating to Minor League Baseball.

MiLB has been Benjamin's primary focus for 20 years, beginning with working the night shift writing recaps about games to the weekly newsletter he's now writing, The Baseball Traveler.

Along the way, he's written a detailed guide for all 120-...

Our guest in this episode is Tim Walker, a native of England, who's been living stateside for over 20 years now.

Along the way, Tim's experienced, well, a lot!

He's sort of like the character in the classic joke about the person who says he knows everyone and, when the bluff is called by a friend, he showcases those relationships by traveling around to meet all the people - including the Pope. The punchline finds a stranger asking ...

ESPN Senior Feature Producer Mike Farrell joins the Conversation in this episode to discuss his career in filmmaking, his sports documentary work in particular.

Most-recently, Mike directed the E:60 film, Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott. Other full-length features from E:60 that Mike's worked on include Unrivaled: Red Wings v. Avalanche and Fistful of Steel: The Rise of Bubba Wallace.

Mike shares how he got started i...

Believe it or not, we're just about five months away from the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina in northern Italy.

To help us get in the spirit and - perhaps - make some travel plans to attend the Games, we're rejoined by Olympic superfan, Ken Hanscom.

Ken, who's attended every Olympics allowing full fan participation since the 2012 London Games, first joined Conversations shortly after the conclusion of...

Our guests in this episode are two-thirds of a trio of midwestern friends who spent 44 hours in the Bethpage (NY) State Park earlier this summer for an opportunity to play its famed Bethpage Black Golf Course, site of the 2025 Ryder Cup.

We learn about how the trip came to be, the devastation when they realized what was supposed to be one night in the parking lot was going to be two, and what the feeling of finally playing the cours...

Tyler Leipprandt is the creative force behind Michigan Sky Media which utilizes drones and chartered aircraft to shoot images of iconic landmarks (both natural and manmade) from high above. Tyler's also recently published the stunning coffee table book MIconic: Stunning Photos and Stories from Iconic Michigan Landmarks.

During our dicsussion with Tyler we learn about how this former NAIA basketball player turned teacher happene...

Our guest this episode is septuagenarian John Yandle.

By day, John works in the commericial real estate business.

It's John's side-gig that we find way cool.

A 1-time Stanford Cardinal pitcher and minor league hurler, John's been serving as a San Francisco Giants' left-handed batting practice pitcher for 41-years.

Yes, you read that correctly.

John's been tossing BP to the Giants since the days of Candlestick Park, a...

Fresh off a nearly 2-plus mile walk back to their flat from the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying match between host Argentina and Venezuela, host Doug Hill and frequent Around the World in 80 Sporting Events traveling partner, Tim Parker, discuss what it was like to be at Estadio Mas Monumental on what might have been Lionel Messi's final competitive match for the national team on home soil.

The pair also compare and contrast the d...

We're joined this week by a fellow fan of sports fans, Matthew Barry.

Matthew hosts and produces the website, newsletter, and podcast entitled "Heart of the Fan."

An outgrowth of his graduate work at Northwestern University, Matthew's goal with Heart of the Fan is - as it states on the website is to "... spotlight the people who shape fan culture from the ground up - because the stories of sports fans deserve to be told, remembered,...