September 10, 2025 • 46 mins
Ever wondered who orchestrates the complex symphony of college athletics? In this riveting conversation with TJ Shelton, Director of Athletics and Chair of the Physical Education Department at Case Western Reserve University, we pull back the curtain on collegiate sports administration and discover the invisible architecture that supports student-athletes.
TJ brings a wealth of experience to our discussion, having spent 15 years at Ohio State University before taking the helm at Case Western in 2022. What makes his perspective particularly valuable is his experience across both Division I and Division III athletics, highlighting the unique aspects of each environment. At Case Western, coaches don't just coach—they teach as faculty members, creating a seamless integration between academics and athletics that defines the Division III experience.
The conversation takes us through the daily challenges of athletic administration, from coordinating travel for multiple teams to ensuring proper medical support for student-athletes. "You're kind of like officials," TJ explains. "If you're part of the game, then something went wrong." This insight perfectly captures the essence of effective athletic leadership—creating environments where athletes can focus entirely on performance while administrators handle everything else. We explore how hosting NCAA championships requires meticulous planning, from managing team buses to coordinating facilities, all with the goal of allowing student-athletes to "sleep in their own beds" during important competitions.
Beyond the logistics, TJ shares heartfelt reflections on how sports build character and prepare young people for life's challenges. As both an administrator and a father, he's witnessed firsthand how athletics instill accountability, teamwork, and work ethic that translate directly to success in academics and careers. For listeners considering colleges for themselves or their children, TJ offers compelli
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bono.
I have a great guest for ustoday.
He's coming to us all the wayfrom Case Western Reserves
University.
He is the director of athleticsand the chair of the physical
education department, and thatis TJ Shelton.
(00:21):
Tj, thank you for joining.
Oh, thanks for having meAppreciate it.
Hey, not a problem at all.
So, like I said in the, youknow the intro there.
You know you're the director ofathletics and the chair of the
physical education departmentthere at Western Reserves.
So how long have you been inthat role at Case?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, I started January 2022.
And so kind of climbing throughas I joke with the student
athletes, I mean my senior yearas well with them.
So if you put it into academicterms, but yeah, it's been a fun
three plus years working hereand serving the Spartan
(01:04):
community.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, so what do those roles kind of entail?
Like they seem to kind ofcoincide a little bit with one
another, but I'm pretty surethere's some differences there.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, you know, I think when you look at you know
some of the differences inDivision I, ii and III.
Right, you know Division IIIinstitutions you're aligned with
the, you know under the student, uh, fairs, uh, division um,
you know you're, you haveoversight of, you know not only
athletics but um, intramuralsport clubs, um, as well as
(01:38):
campus recreation and wellness,and um and other component for
us is the physical educationcourses.
Our students have to takeactivity courses during their
four year career and our coachesserve our coaches or faculty
members and our coaches serve asthe PE teachers for those
courses.
(01:58):
So, you know, so that that kindof really gives a snapshot of
all those units under, you know,my, my title.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, I mean as a former D3 athlete myself at
Bethany College, so I definitelyunderstand how you know the
coaches are a part of theadministration there.
They are teachers that you willhave for class sometimes,
professors you will have forclass sometimes.
And you know I love thephysical education part of it
because part of one of myclasses was golf, so I got to
(02:29):
get up at eight in the morningand go to the golf course in the
morning.
So I don't really think youknow that that's a bad class,
you know and it counts as aphysical education credit.
So I like that, with the D3aspect of everything and having
that close-knit community, youknow where you see your coaches
(02:50):
every day on campus and you'renot just being summoned to their
office, you may be in one oftheir classes.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think for us it helps youalign with the university and
the academic mission.
You know our students are, youknow, high academics and you
know taking, you know toughcourse loads.
So it gives them an opportunityto make sure they're getting a
release right from a, you know,this perspective.
They get to pick their courseor you know some are.
(03:17):
You know love racquetball.
Never played it, you don't wantto join that.
You know some won't playbasketball or you know right now
popular is to join that.
You know someone will playbasketball or you know right now
popular is.
You know we kind of have agames type course where they go
out and do different games aswell as pickleball is really
taking up.
But we have spin class and youknow some wellness components,
(03:39):
yoga, you know, stretching formobility, those type of things.
So things that they can use intheir everyday life, you know,
while they're working on theirengineering degree or you know,
business degree or you knowwhatever.
So, and then I think, as youknow I mentioned I think I
really aligns our coaches, asyou mentioned.
You know they're across campusand the students see them not
(04:00):
only coaching their program butget to know them from their
class perspective, so it reallybuilds a community that is, you
know, I feel like, is unique forour coaching and our staff.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Absolutely.
And we had something at Bethanythat we would do.
I mean, every day was noonhoops.
You know we would.
A bunch of us would gettogether at the rec and we just
play a little pickup game ofbasketball and a lot of times
there were coaches, there wereprofessors and joining in and
you're getting to, you know,about an hour, hour and a half,
sometimes two hours depending onhow heated the games got.
(04:32):
You know that we, we were justhanging out and we were.
It was a normal person.
It wasn't coach, athlete orprofessor, student, it was
adults coming together to play apickup game of basketball and,
you know, really get to know oneanother and I like that,
especially at a smaller schoollike that.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, like you said, very unique.
You know, have an undergrad, agraduate student and, you know,
a faculty member.
That's the beauty of arecreation program at those type
of institutions.
I'll tell you a fun fact.
Many, many moons ago, when Iwas at Washington university,
we'd play pickup quite a bit andended up playing with some
faculty in the intramural leagueand we ended up winning the
(05:14):
championship and we had a coupleof faculty members that could,
you know, just light it up.
You know, and you know it wasjust a fun time.
So I always say I'd won aintramural t-shirt.
You know it was just a fun time, so I always say I'd want an
intramural T-shirt.
You know, even after Icompleted my undergrad and
graduate degrees.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean the one noon hoops game.
I really I don't want to sayregret playing in, but I regret
playing in.
You know you're up there withfaculty and students and you
know it's a sports event andyou're talking a little trash
and my swim coach walks in andkind of put the kibosh on me
(05:52):
playing because we were gettingclose to the midseason.
He was like you're one of mybest freestylers and backstrokes
.
I don't need you getting aninjury playing nude hoops, so
I'm going to have to shut youdown for the day.
I was like I get it, coach, Iget it.
We got a big meet coming up.
I'm just trying to stay looseis all I'm trying to do.
(06:12):
But you actually work withformer guests of the show here
and a women's soccer coach at KSWestern, alyssa Johnson.
How has Alyssa done as a coachfor the women's team and being
in your athletic department?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, I know Alyssa really came in, hit the ground
running.
You know, she really pridesherself through the interview
process really, of culture andthat kind of message and
philosophy of it wasn't justabout winning games but it was
(06:48):
really about creating asisterhood of, you know, young
women and really growing andconnecting.
And you know it's tough whenyou're a new coach and you know
it's not your recruiting classtwo or three years of students
and she really, you know, made agreat connection.
We were, you know, uh,previously, uh, with that
(07:09):
program and, you know, want tokeep things moving and and she,
you know they were able to, youknow, do well in the conference
and qualify for the ncaachampionship and uh tournament
and, uh, you know, I thinkthat's a testament to not only
her knowledge of the sport butbeing able to to really connect
and build, you know, immediatelywith that team and, you know,
(07:30):
provide her leadership as theymove forward.
You know, as you, you know youknow same thing, right, you're
almost a freshman, you're tryingto get to know the team, you
know, getting to know theupperclassmen, but also put
together a product where you canbe competitive in a strong
conference.
So we were really pleased withwhat she's done in her short
time on campus.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, I had no doubt Alyssa was going to go in there
and just build a culture thatwas about winning after sitting
and talking to her.
She's been on the show a coupleof times too Love Alyssa to
death.
She's probably a big supporterof the show and everything like
that.
So I always like to check in onformer guests when I can.
I know somebody that's beenworking with them in that and I
(08:13):
do follow them.
I have her on all social mediaso I've been following what Case
has been doing there in soccerand especially in women's, and
she's doing great things.
But you're right, it's tough asa new coach coming in.
You know it's not yourrecruiting class.
Yeah, you're building yourrecruiting class to build your
culture there and that's toughfor any new coach.
Um, and it's just.
(08:34):
You know it's.
it's great to see her havingsuccess, uh, while she's still
building her program absolutelyabsolutely so prior to you
working at case western, youworked worked at Ohio State for
about 15 years, I believe.
What did you do at OSU in yourtime there?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, so my main role was a sport administrator for
you know, we had 36 sports, sothere were kind of three primary
, you know, associate ADs forsport administration.
So we have sport oversight ofcertain programs.
So for me I had oversight ofour cross country track and
field programs, swimming anddiving or softball programs.
(09:16):
You know, throughout the yearsI had lacrosse and oversight of
field hockey, so our Olympicsports, wrestling as well.
So just an opportunity, youknow, with that large of a
program, really provide, youknow, really kind of day-to-day
access and work with our coachesand our support staff to ensure
, you know, our students aregetting the, you know, really
(09:38):
the same attention and support.
You know a football program orbasketball programs would
receive support.
You know a football program orbasketball programs would
receive.
So you know those, those are,you know, outstanding years and
we had a lot of success andreally, you know, provided
opportunity for me to grow, youknow professionally in my career
.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, it's great to hear about like the Olympic
sports getting a little bit oflove somewhere anywhere as
someone who was an Olympichopeful in swimming back in
2012,.
Coming from a little bit oflove somewhere anywhere.
As someone who was an Olympichopeful in swimming back in
2012,.
Coming from a little DivisionIII school with Bethany.
You know I always root forthose sports wrestling, swimming
(10:19):
.
You know I think some schoolshave like a fencing program
stuff like that that you onlysee once every four years where
people ask I, I got the questionall the time, uh, out of
bethany.
You know there's no chance oflike a quote-unquote pro career
like the nfl, the nba, the nhl,so why continue into into
college with a sport one?
I love the sport of swimming.
(10:39):
If it wasn't for an unfortunateinjury at 36 years old, I'd
probably still be swimming todayand it's not about a I don't
want to say career afterwards inlike the NFL and MLB and all
that.
I love what I do and if I cango out and have a chance to
(11:01):
represent my country every fouryears, that's what I'm going to
do, that's what I want to do andit really opened a lot of eyes
to a lot of people and, um,johnny uh Falcone was one of
them.
You know, good, manager of thefriend.
Good friend uh at Bethany youknow was.
You know he, he had a uh afound respect for swimmers
because he knew the toll ittakes on on a person's body and,
(11:23):
you know, being able to usemuscles that you don't even
really realize you have untilyou get into the pool when
you're doing a pool workout.
So I always love seeing peoplethat can support that.
Ohio State never offered me ascholarship back in the day and
you know that kind of stuck inmy craw a little bit.
But you know I lost a lot ofscholarships because of an
(11:45):
injury my senior year of highschool, so probably wouldn't
have stuck even if they did.
Uh, you get a shoulder injuryas a swimmer and that pretty
much puts a cut punch on yourcareer pretty quickly, oh,
absolutely.
But you know, uh, thankgoodness to bethany who kept
their scholarship for me so thatI could still continue at least
, albeit only for two yearsuntil the injury reflared itself
(12:07):
.
But you know, continue to do asport that I loved and it's
great to see that those sportsgetting attention other places
that you don't normally seeright, and you touched on, right
there, right, the commitmentand love of the sport.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
They've been doing it .
You know, whether you know awrestler or track athlete or
swimmer, um, you know, you know,since they're five, six years
old, so that you know I tellpeople, you know, that's the
beauty of sport, right is, um,you know, you can, you know,
participate in something at ahigh level, um, in a variety of
ways.
So, as you, you know you can,you know, participate in some at
a high level in a variety ofways.
So, as you mentioned, you knoweven a fencing program.
(12:44):
But you know, for us, we hadsuccess not only trying to chase
Big Ten championships and NCAAchampionships, but then also,
you know, so many athletesrepresenting their country,
including our coaches, isserving, you know, as Olympic
coaching on staff.
So, just, you know great, youknow recruiting tool, great
message and really put, you know, really, for us, broad-based
(13:08):
success across the board.
So not only competing, you know, for national championships in
football, but you know, one ofthe highlights is winning a
national championship inwrestling and having individual
national champions in swimming,as you mentioned, and also in
track and field.
So those are just, you know, acouple of examples of, you know,
(13:30):
high level committed athletes,you know, at the Division One
level.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Yeah, it's amazing to see.
Yeah, that it's it's amazing tosee.
Um, but to get back to casewestern, where you're currently
at what's a typical schedulelike, with everything that you
got going on there during theacademic year and then during
the summer, uh, considering yourposition and your roles there
at case western, yeah, that'salways, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I have students reach out to me and say, hey, you
know, tell me a typical day, youknow, and you're like man, you,
it just never is a typical one.
But you know I think for themost part you know you always
try to.
You know early in the week.
You know you kind of plan outto the week Right.
So you're looking for us tolook at our schedules.
We may have this time of yearwe'll have a midweek
non-conference soccer game,traditionally, or volleyball,
(14:19):
then coming up on the weekend.
Naturally you know football,whether it's home or away,
usually both.
You know the soccer is crosscountry.
You know everybody's kind ofgoing.
So you know planning that out.
You know what are the supportthe coaches need double checking
, ensuring if we've got travelarrangements made, that our
(14:43):
staff has everything set up,whether it's hotels, buses, even
flights for you know some ofour programs.
You know try to attend practicethroughout that week as well.
You know just touching base.
You know love to.
You know see how a teamperforms.
You know in practices, you knoweither prior to practice or
practices open over, you touchbase with the coaching staff.
You know and the issues there.
You know they have leg trainersout there.
(15:03):
You know how are we looking ininjuries.
You know are we getting anyback?
You know are we getting ourappointments in for rehab?
So you know, really just tryingto ensure that you know our
staff, you know our managementteam is providing the resources
necessary for our students toperform, obviously academically,
(15:25):
but then, you know, participatein the sport they love.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
So yeah, I always have a found respect for the
people behind the scenes ofthese sporting events and how
they go off without a hitch.
Worked closely at Bethany withthe radio station, which you
wouldn't think that wassomething that would have a lot
to do with how a game goes off.
(15:50):
But you know, as the sportsdirector there for a year I got
to announce every home football,basketball, baseball, uh game.
I loved radio.
I thought I was going to have auh career in broadcast.
Um, obviously I mean, but thepodcast kind of helps out a lot
with that a little bit now.
But, um, you know it, there's alot that goes into it with
(16:11):
setting up, making sure peoplewhere they need to be and, you
know, working with the athleticdirectors and the people that
are in your position in that.
Okay, where do we set up?
Where can I have my fieldreporters?
Where can I have this cameraset up?
Where can I have this set up sothat we can have this broadcast
to some of these students thatare coming from across the
(16:32):
country that their parents can'tmake it to every game, so they
rely on us to be able to watchtheir son or daughter, or
whatever, play the sport thatthey're in college, a lot of the
times to do, and you know it'sa lot of fun and obviously once
the game gets rolling there'snot much you can do.
But even the travel acrosscampus could be difficult
(16:55):
getting everything set up andeverything like that.
So kudos to you for being ableto do that with a lot of travel
and, you know, even directingflights and hotels and whatnot.
I even remember, um, you know my, my conference championships,
uh, in swimming, going from, uh,bethany, west Virginia, to
Grove city, and you know justthat, that bus ride, getting the
(17:16):
hotels, getting checked intothe hotels, and then your
schedule kind of starts fromthere.
Okay, well, it's a four-dayconference championships in
swimming.
It's not just a one-day event.
You're there for a weekbasically, and everything is
scripted, from breakfasts tolunches, to your proteins that
(17:37):
you get at the pool, theGatorades that are there to help
keep us hydrated and everythinglike that and keep us going
throughout a long, you know swimmeet, which a lot of people
don't know that's ours.
We're talking like a whole day.
Your day is shot if you have ameet and you know having these
(17:58):
go off without a hitch is isincredible and you know I have a
found respect for people inyour position.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
For that reason, yeah , yeah, we, you take pride in it
.
You know you're.
You know we always joke.
You're kind of like officials,right?
You don't?
If you're, if you're part ofthe game, then you know
something went wrong, right,whether it's a scoreboard goes
out and those things happen oryou know.
But you know, for us it'sensuring everything's set up, as
(18:23):
you mentioned in advance, andso the athlete, the coaches, can
walk to the competition andcompete and not have to worry
about those things and you knowit's from.
You know, fan and ticket salesto.
You know, ensuring concessionsis lined up, you know.
And getting, like you said,everyone into the right spot,
you know, when you host a swimmeet, right, you have multiple
(18:44):
teams.
A simple thing is you know sixto eight teams with you know
different buses, right Like.
You know where do they park,how do they, you know, do
drop-off smoothly to get andthen move the buses and bring
them back after the competition.
If it's not done well, thoughtout of, then it can kind of
spiral out of control.
(19:05):
So it's those little thingsthat you take pride in and we've
been able to.
You know, since my arrivalwe've hosted NCAA championships.
We've put bids in and our teamshave qualified.
And we've hosted basketballsoccer numerous times.
You know we've been able tohost softball, both tennis and
(19:25):
baseball, and, and you know my,my goal is always that you know
if we're good enough and ourfacilities are quality.
We want our student athletes tosleep in their own bed and and
and their friends to be able tocome out and watch them compete.
And you know, as you know, youknow the NCAA championships tend
to be all over the country,even regionally, so you know if
(19:46):
you're on the road.
It is a true, there's noneutral site.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
You are at that venue .
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So so we, we want to host as much as we can, so we've
we've taken pride in that and,and you know, and not only
hosting conference championshipsand a couple of sports, but
we've hosted quite a bit of NCAA, most recently.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, that's awesome and being able to host something
like that.
I wish Bethany had the facilityto be able to host the
conference championships that weget to do.
But Grove City's facility andjust everything there was
top-notch, from the hotel wherewe were staying at, having a
sauna in it so that we couldloosen up after a long day of
(20:27):
competing to us having access tothat.
And even, like you said, it's,as you know, something that
people don't think about thebuses for six to eight teams
that are arriving essentially atthe same time and everything
going on without a hitch, nobodygetting in anybody's ways,
buses are going over and parkingwhere they're supposed to be
and and nobody sees who'sactually behind that.
(20:49):
And it's awesome, uh.
But I do want to switch gears alittle bit here.
Uh, kind of like me, you are aproud dad.
Uh, are your kids following intheir dad's administrative path
in their college ranks or arethey forging their own path?
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, my son has a little bit.
He graduated from Dayton.
He was a 3-4 sport athlete, asmost kids are growing up, so
really enjoyed his time and grewup in the shadows of Ohio
Stadium at Ohio State.
He's been able to participatein a lot of you know, attending
games with me over the years.
So he lives in Columbus, youknow, like I said, received his
(21:29):
bachelor's degree from DaytonUniversity and he's going to
start actually Monday workingfor the Columbus Sports
Commission role there.
So obviously a lot of eventscome through that region and
he's looking forward to kind of,you know, really launching his
career from that standpoint.
And Dotter just what a monthago almost to today just
(21:52):
graduated from Cincinnati.
So she was a volleyball playergrowing up predominantly and had
a good experience and enjoyedher time at Cincinnati.
She did work one year at theticket office and so she had a
little bit of sports in herworld.
But she's definitely more, alittle more artsy and in a
(22:14):
marketing desire, moving forward.
So so we'll see how it all endsup.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, I get it.
My son's 16, junior in highschool First year.
I'm not getting to watch himplay high school football.
He decided, now that he's 16,he wanted to enter into the
workforce too as well, whilegoing to school, which I wasn't
going to stop him at 16.
A 16 year old wanting to earnhis own wage and pay for his own
(22:42):
gas, and then how do you, howdo you say no to that as a dad?
Um, you know, as you know,growing up playing, you know
football and swimming andeverything like that, it it.
It hurt a little bit of the dadpride not getting Friday night
lights and going to watch my sonplay football, but I am happy
to say, you know.
(23:02):
You know, unfortunately, thisis the quietest my house has
been, because I am the onlyperson home, because both the
wife and the son are bothworking, and that's the, you
know.
Having a night off, uh, fromthat it it.
It's nice in a sense, but youknow he's always wanted to forge
his own path.
I never forced sports on him, asense, but you know he's always
wanted to forge his own path.
I I never forced sports on him,I just showed him the benefits
(23:23):
of sports.
Um, in that you'd learn to be ateam player, uh, you learn how
to work together and stuffyou're going to need in the
workforce.
Um and I think he's using thatnow um, albeit at a part-time,
seasonal help, um at a at alocal, uh, retail store here,
you know, just being able to tohelp them stock the shelves is,
(23:43):
you know.
You know, that's greatexperience for a 16 year old, I
mean no, absolutely.
It's.
He's always wanted to go to atrade school.
I'll be a wife and I kind ofreally realized that college
probably wasn't in the cards formy son.
Growing up in the country, he'shad a found respect for the
(24:05):
blue collar workers and that'swhat he wants to do, and I'm not
going to tell him no that.
And he's kicked around themilitary too as well.
So you know that those arethings that you know as as a dad
.
How do you, how do youdiscourage your child from doing
it for your own selfish reasons?
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Well, and those are character building roles, right,
you know he wanted to takeresponsibility and hold himself
accountable and you know, and heappreciated probably the money
that you tossed to him, but hewanted to kind of, you know, get
his own, so you know he's gotto get himself to work back and
forth.
Own, so you know he's got toget himself to work back and
forth.
And you know, if he putshimself in the schedule, if you,
if you need a sub, you get, youbetter call somebody else to
(24:45):
cover for you.
If not, you got to show up andgo to work.
So I applaud him for doing thatat 16.
So, yeah, some valuable lessons, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And freshly 16.
He turned 16 in May, so itwasn't like he's been 16 for a
while.
I know this is Septemberalready, but still, as soon as
he turned 16 and was able to gethis license he just got his
license about a month, month anda half ago and it's the first
(25:16):
thing he wanted to do.
He was like I love football, Ihave a God-given talent to play
football, as someone who hadlittle training and came in as a
starter in his first year ofplaying football and knowing not
much about the sport, and hewas like I get it, I'm really
good at football, but I want tostart working, all right.
(25:39):
All right, dude, I'm not.
I'm not going to tell you no,am.
I am I upset as a dad, that Idon't get to go and watch you
play football?
Absolutely, but am I proud ofyou as a dad for making that
decision on your own?
Yeah, absolutely.
This is, this is it's, it's.
It's not a win-win, but it'snot a lose I call it a draw, you
know, because I don't get towatch him play, but I get to.
(26:01):
I get to see him growing as aman too as well, already at 16,
so that that's, that's a proudmoment for me.
Do you have anything like thatwith your son or your daughter?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
yeah, no, it's.
I remember of both of them.
My daughter, uh, ended upworking for the club that she
played for, you know, volleyballclub, and so she started
coaching the younger teams, youknow, so the 10 and 10U, and so
that you know really just seeingher confidence grow.
(26:30):
You know being, you knowrunning practice and you know
being able to, you know calltimeout during a match and you
know change the lineup and haveall those fun things, things
happen.
And you know, and same thingwith my son, you know he, he
worked camps, you know, in thesummertime and was able to kind
of, you know, connect with somecoaches and support them.
(26:52):
Obviously, I think he had aretail job as well.
So, same type of thing, youknow wanted to.
You know him and his buddywanted to find a job.
And you know type of thing youknow wanted to, you know him and
his buddy wanted to find a job.
And you know stocking, like yousaid, you know stocking clothes
and putting things out, and youknow he was able to do that all
the way through before he wentto college.
And you know, once again, thoseare just, you know, getting
their workouts in and going topractice.
(27:14):
But also, you know working, youknow, 10 hours a week.
There's a lot to be said aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, I mean, he's coming home, he gets maybe an
hour, hour and a half to himselfand then it's off to work after
school.
It's like going to like afootball practice or anything
like that, instead of goingstraight from school to practice
and then home.
He's coming home, he gets anhour, maybe hour and a half to
himself, and then it's all right, dad, I'm going to work.
All right, bub Love, you See,you have a good day.
(27:42):
You know it's and that's.
That's great to see.
And I, you know, had a littleum, fender bender, uh, all beat
in my truck, um and um, withoutme even saying anything.
He's like I'm going to pick upextra shifts, I'm going to help
fix for the bumper.
Like, dude, I get it, ithappens, you're 16.
You're going to get in a littlefender bender.
(28:03):
It's not that bad Truck'sdrivable.
I'm not upset about it.
But that right there tells methat I didn't have to say
anything to him he's like don'tworry Absolutely, and I I I had
toned that to sports where therewas a, there was a repercussion
(28:25):
for your actions.
If you, if you screw it up inpractice, you were running laps
If you did this, you knowsomething happened and you know
it taught him already.
You know, and that's why Ialways, uh, I always push sports
.
I don't want to say push sports, sports, but you know.
(28:48):
As as for the youngergeneration, you know, get these
kids involved in something, um,and it'll teach them life
lessons down the road, um.
So, for that being said, whyshould a high school student
consider?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
case western university, yeah, you know, I
think you know one.
The academic standpoint and theprofile, um, you know just, you
know amazing professors,teachers and programs.
That provides an opportunity, Ithink, really to connect with.
You know, you know, like mindedstudents, faculty, that really
got to push you, you know, notjust with the textbook but but
(29:14):
those conversations that youknow you just learn.
You know it's a growthopportunity right from from 18
to 21.
You know, you just really youknow it's a growth opportunity
right from 18 to 21.
You know, you just reallyreally grow up into young adults
and so, you know, be able to dothat on a campus in a city that
provides a lot of opportunitiesis just outstanding, you know.
And then the other thing too,like you said, the
(29:36):
extracurricular aspect, whetheryou're an athlete or you're in a
play or a musical or all thosethings research, the exposure
that that, you know, caseWestern Reserve provides, you
know, to those type of functions.
It's just a tremendousopportunity for, once again,
young people to develop and grow, people to develop and grow.
(30:01):
And then you have, you know,great alumni who you know if
they're looking, you know, hey,you know I'm going to call the
institution.
You know I need an intern inNew York or DC or even abroad.
You know, those opportunitiesof utilizing the network of
alumni is what it's all aboutand Bethany does it and no
different than Case WesternReserve is individuals that
understand you know the academicrigors that you went through,
(30:26):
understand the character and youknow things that you
accomplished during thatfour-year period and here's an
opportunity to you know eitheryou know, do an internship or
begin your career with thoseindividuals.
So tremendous opportunityreally for for young growth and
(30:46):
that's, you know I'm partial to,you know kind of the college
four years and I think it's a,it's a tremendous opportunity
for young people to grow.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, as someone who gottheir four-year degree in
communications, sportsbroadcasting and a minor in
accounting, you know it's thefour-year degree can be super
beneficial.
But at the same sense not totake anything away from what you
just said I know it's not foreverybody.
You know it's not for everybody, so you kind of got to make
(31:16):
that decision on yourself andit's part of the growing process
.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
As you know, high school students- right, well,
and yeah, I think you touched onearlier talking to your son,
right, is it's what's your planright?
If it's not, that, you knowwhat is the plan right?
So you need to do something.
You know same thing as youmentioned.
After school I said you know, Ialways told my kids well, if
you don't play sport, what otheractivity you're doing?
Because, right, you know, Iknow I would have gotten in
(31:39):
trouble from three o'clock tofive o'clock before my parents
got home.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Right, so it's it's you.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
You know you need to find a club or some activity to
participate in, you know, or ajob, as you mentioned.
So I, I think you know the, theyounger, young students, right,
young high school students, theones that do that or set
themselves up for success asthey move forward, because they
have those habits of beingaccountable.
(32:05):
You know having to show up,having to provide service,
communicating and, depending onthe role, and sometimes just
flat out hard work.
You know they're, you knowwhether they're on a farm or
working in a factory, and youknow they're pulling up their
bootstraps and working hard andthey appreciate the money well
(32:26):
earned.
So I think that's the beauty ofyou know, kind of what is
afforded to you if you takeadvantage of it.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Absolutely, and I couldn't have said that better
myself.
So we're just going to move onto the next thing and you know,
kind of one of the last things Iwant to touch on here.
So what is the hardest sportsseason to manage?
That fall, winter or spring?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
You know I'd say the crossover, which is both Right,
because you know the fall.
You know you're wrapping upsoccers and football.
But swimming starts in October,right, basketball's going, and
so you know we've had successand we've played pretty late
with volleyball and soccers inNCAA tournaments.
(33:11):
So you love that.
But you're running back andforth and you know those fall
championships are right aroundThanksgiving, you know.
So you're already knee deepinto, you know, the first few
games of basketball On thebackside.
Same thing you know the wintersports can bleed into.
You know spring break and youknow your winter.
You know your spring sports arealready geared up.
(33:34):
You know both baseball andsoftball go south.
You know tennis teams go southbecause of the weather and so
they're playing.
So you want to give them allthe love and be accessible and
attend everything.
So you're running in and outfrom, hopefully, an NCAA soccer
match and you run to the gym tocatch the end of a basketball
(33:55):
game.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, I was going to say I know a lot of these sports
kind of bleed over into oneanother.
A couple of buddies that playedfootball and also played
basketball at Bethany Two sportathletes in college is almost
unheard of and we had a guy thatdid it and he would be coming
right from football practice andbasketball practice would be
(34:16):
kicking off and he would go tothe coach like is there anything
I can do?
He's like you can finish yourseason.
You made a commitment to thefootball.
I appreciate you wanting tocome in and get some work with
the team, but finish your seasonand then we'll get you caught
up.
You know, and that bleed over isa lot because you know there's
a lot of teams going into onearea.
(34:37):
Fall, spring, winter are allkind of combining into one place
there, especially for us atBethany.
You know the rec center was it.
You know we had basketball andswimmers and some football
players all conjugating into onearea and you know it was a lot
to see.
(34:58):
You know three different sportsteams trying to coincide and to
one locker room and everyonehad their own spaces.
But still there was a littlebit of bleed over.
And well, swim practice isgoing on, and there's some
football players that need, youknow, aerobic therapy.
You know what I mean.
They need the water to be ableto loosen up some joints, too,
(35:19):
as well.
So you know you have to beaccommodating to that and but we
, the every everybody makes itwork and it's and it's awesome
to see.
But, tj, we are running downnear the end of the episode here
and I do have to get this lastsegment in here.
Otherwise, the wonderfulmanager of the podcast, johnny
(35:44):
fitty, falconi, and tj thesehave nothing to do with what
we've been talking about for thebetter part of 45 minutes here.
Um, and you know it, they'rethey're super random, they're
kind of rapid fire, but you canelaborate if you need to, and we
think it's a fun way to end theepisode.
So, if you're ready, we'll goahead and get started with the
Fast 55.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Let's do it.
I'm ready for the pressure.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
No.
Question number one what wouldyou say is the better flavor for
flavored water?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Ooh, for me, I gotta go strawberry.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
That's a strong choice.
That's a strong choice.
That's a strong choice.
Strawberry I'm more of a grapeguy, but strawberry will do in a
pinch.
Question number two are bakedor sweet potatoes better?
Speaker 2 (36:33):
This is my choice, right, your choice.
This is all you.
Oh man, sweet potatoes arebetter for you, but, man,
there's nothing like a greatbaked potato.
I always make that choice.
When I get the steak, I'm likeshould I get the sweet potato?
And all right, one of thesebaked potatoes won't kill me.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
So yeah, absolutely uh, for sure.
Question number three oh man,uh who wins the?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
super bowl this year oh man, kansas, kansas City.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Chiefs Chance.
That's an easy choice.
I mean, they're in it everyyear almost.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
it seems like I'm a diehard being from Kansas.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Okay, that makes that decision a little easier to
forget that, I guess.
Question number four which carwould you rather have?
A Dodge Charger or a ChevyTahoe?
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Oh Dodge Charger.
Or a Chevy Tahoe, oh DodgeCharger.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
I mean, you know, large SUV versus a sports car.
It's kind of, you know, andit's going with the sports car
Right.
And last question here isskateboarding exercise.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Oh, absolutely Kick push, kick push they made a song
about it.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
They did make a song about that, that I forgot all
about that.
Holy hell, but that that was afast.
But I feel like he took it easyon you.
These ones the Superbowlquestion was probably, I'd say,
the hardest one, give or take.
You know, you, I'm a I'm adiehard Buccaneers fan.
So I mean, I'm always, you know, rooting for the Buccaneers and
(38:00):
Steelers.
You know, I grew up an houroutside of Pittsburgh, in West
Virginia.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
I was going to say you probably got to be loyal to
the Steelers right.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Oh, loyal to the Steelers, pirates, penguins,
growing up that close to thestadium and getting to see all
those games there, you know myallegiance always lies with the
Steelers, unless they're playingthe Buccaneers, and then I'm
just rooting for offense at thatpoint in time.
(38:27):
I don't want to see you justrooting for a high-score game
and it coming down to the wire.
But, tj, I do give every guest.
Like I said, we are runningdown near the end of the episode
here.
I do give every guest thisopportunity at the end of every
show.
I'm going to give you about aminute.
If there's anything you want toget out there, whether it's
about case Western there, oreven if it's just a good message
, I'm going to give you about aminute and the floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Oh, great, great, Appreciate that Well one, I
think it's appreciate whatyou're doing and kind of your
your sports communicationbackground.
You got the voice for radioright and announcing, so you
know I think you know providingexposure for individuals in the
industry to kind of share theirmessage.
You know, I think you know wehave a great conference and a
(39:10):
PAC and Bethany and participatein them, obviously in football.
But also you know a lot of our,our programs.
So you know they're, you knowfriends of the program and the
university and a chance to tocompete.
So you know thanks for forhaving you know a rival on, you
know right, an opportunity toshare the message.
But you know I think one isjust to continue to enhance
(39:34):
opportunities for for studentsto experience success.
You know that's excellence inthe classroom, excellence
through research and communityservice.
And then we always say we don'twant to shy away from winning
championships as well.
So you might as well do allthree of them at the highest
levels.
So go, spartans.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Absolutely.
I do appreciate the shout outsaying I saying you know I have
the good voice for radio.
I was used to say I had a greatface for radio.
It's all about the voice, right, it's all about that voice.
My wife hates my radio voice,she says as she calls it.
Whenever I get to talking tosomebody and I'm passionate
about something, she says myradio voice comes out and I
(40:18):
don't care, I like it something,she says my radio voice comes
out and, uh, I don't care, Ilike it, it's, it's helped me
grow this podcast?
uh, for sure.
Yeah, I use it on her every nowand again when I need something
.
You know great, you're having13 years sales experience.
It comes out every now andagain, you know.
But, uh, tj, thank you forcoming on.
I really appreciate you comingon and getting able to being
able to talk, uh, everythingabout Case Western Reserved
(40:40):
University there and what you do.
And, as always, if you enjoyedthe show, be a friend, tell a
friend.
If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just
because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I will see y'all next week.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is, as always, your host,mike Bono.
I have a great guest for ustoday.
He's coming to us all the wayfrom Case Western Reserves
University.
He is the director of athleticsand the chair of the physical
education department, and thatis TJ Shelton.
(00:21):
Tj, thank you for joining.
Oh, thanks for having meAppreciate it.
Hey, not a problem at all.
So, like I said in the, youknow the intro there.
You know you're the director ofathletics and the chair of the
physical education departmentthere at Western Reserves.
So how long have you been inthat role at Case?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, I started January 2022.
And so kind of climbing throughas I joke with the student
athletes, I mean my senior yearas well with them.
So if you put it into academicterms, but yeah, it's been a fun
three plus years working hereand serving the Spartan
(01:04):
community.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, so what do those roles kind of entail?
Like they seem to kind ofcoincide a little bit with one
another, but I'm pretty surethere's some differences there.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, you know, I think when you look at you know
some of the differences inDivision I, ii and III.
Right, you know Division IIIinstitutions you're aligned with
the, you know under the student, uh, fairs, uh, division um,
you know you're, you haveoversight of, you know not only
athletics but um, intramuralsport clubs, um, as well as
(01:38):
campus recreation and wellness,and um and other component for
us is the physical educationcourses.
Our students have to takeactivity courses during their
four year career and our coachesserve our coaches or faculty
members and our coaches serve asthe PE teachers for those
courses.
(01:58):
So, you know, so that that kindof really gives a snapshot of
all those units under, you know,my, my title.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, I mean as a former D3 athlete myself at
Bethany College, so I definitelyunderstand how you know the
coaches are a part of theadministration there.
They are teachers that you willhave for class sometimes,
professors you will have forclass sometimes.
And you know I love thephysical education part of it
because part of one of myclasses was golf, so I got to
(02:29):
get up at eight in the morningand go to the golf course in the
morning.
So I don't really think youknow that that's a bad class,
you know and it counts as aphysical education credit.
So I like that, with the D3aspect of everything and having
that close-knit community, youknow where you see your coaches
(02:50):
every day on campus and you'renot just being summoned to their
office, you may be in one oftheir classes.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think for us it helps youalign with the university and
the academic mission.
You know our students are, youknow, high academics and you
know taking, you know toughcourse loads.
So it gives them an opportunityto make sure they're getting a
release right from a, you know,this perspective.
They get to pick their courseor you know some are.
(03:17):
You know love racquetball.
Never played it, you don't wantto join that.
You know some won't playbasketball or you know right now
popular is to join that.
You know someone will playbasketball or you know right now
popular is.
You know we kind of have agames type course where they go
out and do different games aswell as pickleball is really
taking up.
But we have spin class and youknow some wellness components,
(03:39):
yoga, you know, stretching formobility, those type of things.
So things that they can use intheir everyday life, you know,
while they're working on theirengineering degree or you know,
business degree or you knowwhatever.
So, and then I think, as youknow I mentioned I think I
really aligns our coaches, asyou mentioned.
You know they're across campusand the students see them not
(04:00):
only coaching their program butget to know them from their
class perspective, so it reallybuilds a community that is, you
know, I feel like, is unique forour coaching and our staff.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Absolutely.
And we had something at Bethanythat we would do.
I mean, every day was noonhoops.
You know we would.
A bunch of us would gettogether at the rec and we just
play a little pickup game ofbasketball and a lot of times
there were coaches, there wereprofessors and joining in and
you're getting to, you know,about an hour, hour and a half,
sometimes two hours depending onhow heated the games got.
(04:32):
You know that we, we were justhanging out and we were.
It was a normal person.
It wasn't coach, athlete orprofessor, student, it was
adults coming together to play apickup game of basketball and,
you know, really get to know oneanother and I like that,
especially at a smaller schoollike that.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, like you said, very unique.
You know, have an undergrad, agraduate student and, you know,
a faculty member.
That's the beauty of arecreation program at those type
of institutions.
I'll tell you a fun fact.
Many, many moons ago, when Iwas at Washington university,
we'd play pickup quite a bit andended up playing with some
faculty in the intramural leagueand we ended up winning the
(05:14):
championship and we had a coupleof faculty members that could,
you know, just light it up.
You know, and you know it wasjust a fun time.
So I always say I'd won aintramural t-shirt.
You know it was just a fun time, so I always say I'd want an
intramural T-shirt.
You know, even after Icompleted my undergrad and
graduate degrees.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Oh, absolutely.
I mean the one noon hoops game.
I really I don't want to sayregret playing in, but I regret
playing in.
You know you're up there withfaculty and students and you
know it's a sports event andyou're talking a little trash
and my swim coach walks in andkind of put the kibosh on me
(05:52):
playing because we were gettingclose to the midseason.
He was like you're one of mybest freestylers and backstrokes
.
I don't need you getting aninjury playing nude hoops, so
I'm going to have to shut youdown for the day.
I was like I get it, coach, Iget it.
We got a big meet coming up.
I'm just trying to stay looseis all I'm trying to do.
(06:12):
But you actually work withformer guests of the show here
and a women's soccer coach at KSWestern, alyssa Johnson.
How has Alyssa done as a coachfor the women's team and being
in your athletic department?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, I know Alyssa really came in, hit the ground
running.
You know, she really pridesherself through the interview
process really, of culture andthat kind of message and
philosophy of it wasn't justabout winning games but it was
(06:48):
really about creating asisterhood of, you know, young
women and really growing andconnecting.
And you know it's tough whenyou're a new coach and you know
it's not your recruiting classtwo or three years of students
and she really, you know, made agreat connection.
We were, you know, uh,previously, uh, with that
(07:09):
program and, you know, want tokeep things moving and and she,
you know they were able to, youknow, do well in the conference
and qualify for the ncaachampionship and uh tournament
and, uh, you know, I thinkthat's a testament to not only
her knowledge of the sport butbeing able to to really connect
and build, you know, immediatelywith that team and, you know,
(07:30):
provide her leadership as theymove forward.
You know, as you, you know youknow same thing, right, you're
almost a freshman, you're tryingto get to know the team, you
know, getting to know theupperclassmen, but also put
together a product where you canbe competitive in a strong
conference.
So we were really pleased withwhat she's done in her short
time on campus.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, I had no doubt Alyssa was going to go in there
and just build a culture thatwas about winning after sitting
and talking to her.
She's been on the show a coupleof times too Love Alyssa to
death.
She's probably a big supporterof the show and everything like
that.
So I always like to check in onformer guests when I can.
I know somebody that's beenworking with them in that and I
(08:13):
do follow them.
I have her on all social mediaso I've been following what Case
has been doing there in soccerand especially in women's, and
she's doing great things.
But you're right, it's tough asa new coach coming in.
You know it's not yourrecruiting class.
Yeah, you're building yourrecruiting class to build your
culture there and that's toughfor any new coach.
Um, and it's just.
(08:34):
You know it's.
it's great to see her havingsuccess, uh, while she's still
building her program absolutelyabsolutely so prior to you
working at case western, youworked worked at Ohio State for
about 15 years, I believe.
What did you do at OSU in yourtime there?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, so my main role was a sport administrator for
you know, we had 36 sports, sothere were kind of three primary
, you know, associate ADs forsport administration.
So we have sport oversight ofcertain programs.
So for me I had oversight ofour cross country track and
field programs, swimming anddiving or softball programs.
(09:16):
You know, throughout the yearsI had lacrosse and oversight of
field hockey, so our Olympicsports, wrestling as well.
So just an opportunity, youknow, with that large of a
program, really provide, youknow, really kind of day-to-day
access and work with our coachesand our support staff to ensure
, you know, our students aregetting the, you know, really
(09:38):
the same attention and support.
You know a football program orbasketball programs would
receive support.
You know a football program orbasketball programs would
receive.
So you know those, those are,you know, outstanding years and
we had a lot of success andreally, you know, provided
opportunity for me to grow, youknow professionally in my career
.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, it's great to hear about like the Olympic
sports getting a little bit oflove somewhere anywhere as
someone who was an Olympichopeful in swimming back in
2012,.
Coming from a little bit oflove somewhere anywhere.
As someone who was an Olympichopeful in swimming back in
2012,.
Coming from a little DivisionIII school with Bethany.
You know I always root forthose sports wrestling, swimming
(10:19):
.
You know I think some schoolshave like a fencing program
stuff like that that you onlysee once every four years where
people ask I, I got the questionall the time, uh, out of
bethany.
You know there's no chance oflike a quote-unquote pro career
like the nfl, the nba, the nhl,so why continue into into
college with a sport one?
I love the sport of swimming.
(10:39):
If it wasn't for an unfortunateinjury at 36 years old, I'd
probably still be swimming todayand it's not about a I don't
want to say career afterwards inlike the NFL and MLB and all
that.
I love what I do and if I cango out and have a chance to
(11:01):
represent my country every fouryears, that's what I'm going to
do, that's what I want to do andit really opened a lot of eyes
to a lot of people and, um,johnny uh Falcone was one of
them.
You know, good, manager of thefriend.
Good friend uh at Bethany youknow was.
You know he, he had a uh afound respect for swimmers
because he knew the toll ittakes on on a person's body and,
(11:23):
you know, being able to usemuscles that you don't even
really realize you have untilyou get into the pool when
you're doing a pool workout.
So I always love seeing peoplethat can support that.
Ohio State never offered me ascholarship back in the day and
you know that kind of stuck inmy craw a little bit.
But you know I lost a lot ofscholarships because of an
(11:45):
injury my senior year of highschool, so probably wouldn't
have stuck even if they did.
Uh, you get a shoulder injuryas a swimmer and that pretty
much puts a cut punch on yourcareer pretty quickly, oh,
absolutely.
But you know, uh, thankgoodness to bethany who kept
their scholarship for me so thatI could still continue at least
, albeit only for two yearsuntil the injury reflared itself
(12:07):
.
But you know, continue to do asport that I loved and it's
great to see that those sportsgetting attention other places
that you don't normally seeright, and you touched on, right
there, right, the commitmentand love of the sport.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
They've been doing it .
You know, whether you know awrestler or track athlete or
swimmer, um, you know, you know,since they're five, six years
old, so that you know I tellpeople, you know, that's the
beauty of sport, right is, um,you know, you can, you know,
participate in something at ahigh level, um, in a variety of
ways.
So, as you, you know you can,you know, participate in some at
a high level in a variety ofways.
So, as you mentioned, you knoweven a fencing program.
(12:44):
But you know, for us, we hadsuccess not only trying to chase
Big Ten championships and NCAAchampionships, but then also,
you know, so many athletesrepresenting their country,
including our coaches, isserving, you know, as Olympic
coaching on staff.
So, just, you know great, youknow recruiting tool, great
message and really put, you know, really, for us, broad-based
(13:08):
success across the board.
So not only competing, you know, for national championships in
football, but you know, one ofthe highlights is winning a
national championship inwrestling and having individual
national champions in swimming,as you mentioned, and also in
track and field.
So those are just, you know, acouple of examples of, you know,
(13:30):
high level committed athletes,you know, at the Division One
level.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Yeah, it's amazing to see.
Yeah, that it's it's amazing tosee.
Um, but to get back to casewestern, where you're currently
at what's a typical schedulelike, with everything that you
got going on there during theacademic year and then during
the summer, uh, considering yourposition and your roles there
at case western, yeah, that'salways, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
I have students reach out to me and say, hey, you
know, tell me a typical day, youknow, and you're like man, you,
it just never is a typical one.
But you know I think for themost part you know you always
try to.
You know early in the week.
You know you kind of plan outto the week Right.
So you're looking for us tolook at our schedules.
We may have this time of yearwe'll have a midweek
non-conference soccer game,traditionally, or volleyball,
(14:19):
then coming up on the weekend.
Naturally you know football,whether it's home or away,
usually both.
You know the soccer is crosscountry.
You know everybody's kind ofgoing.
So you know planning that out.
You know what are the supportthe coaches need double checking
, ensuring if we've got travelarrangements made, that our
(14:43):
staff has everything set up,whether it's hotels, buses, even
flights for you know some ofour programs.
You know try to attend practicethroughout that week as well.
You know just touching base.
You know love to.
You know see how a teamperforms.
You know in practices, you knoweither prior to practice or
practices open over, you touchbase with the coaching staff.
You know and the issues there.
You know they have leg trainersout there.
(15:03):
You know how are we looking ininjuries.
You know are we getting anyback?
You know are we getting ourappointments in for rehab?
So you know, really just tryingto ensure that you know our
staff, you know our managementteam is providing the resources
necessary for our students toperform, obviously academically,
(15:25):
but then, you know, participatein the sport they love.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
So yeah, I always have a found respect for the
people behind the scenes ofthese sporting events and how
they go off without a hitch.
Worked closely at Bethany withthe radio station, which you
wouldn't think that wassomething that would have a lot
to do with how a game goes off.
(15:50):
But you know, as the sportsdirector there for a year I got
to announce every home football,basketball, baseball, uh game.
I loved radio.
I thought I was going to have auh career in broadcast.
Um, obviously I mean, but thepodcast kind of helps out a lot
with that a little bit now.
But, um, you know it, there's alot that goes into it with
(16:11):
setting up, making sure peoplewhere they need to be and, you
know, working with the athleticdirectors and the people that
are in your position in that.
Okay, where do we set up?
Where can I have my fieldreporters?
Where can I have this cameraset up?
Where can I have this set up sothat we can have this broadcast
to some of these students thatare coming from across the
(16:32):
country that their parents can'tmake it to every game, so they
rely on us to be able to watchtheir son or daughter, or
whatever, play the sport thatthey're in college, a lot of the
times to do, and you know it'sa lot of fun and obviously once
the game gets rolling there'snot much you can do.
But even the travel acrosscampus could be difficult
(16:55):
getting everything set up andeverything like that.
So kudos to you for being ableto do that with a lot of travel
and, you know, even directingflights and hotels and whatnot.
I even remember, um, you know my, my conference championships,
uh, in swimming, going from, uh,bethany, west Virginia, to
Grove city, and you know justthat, that bus ride, getting the
(17:16):
hotels, getting checked intothe hotels, and then your
schedule kind of starts fromthere.
Okay, well, it's a four-dayconference championships in
swimming.
It's not just a one-day event.
You're there for a weekbasically, and everything is
scripted, from breakfasts tolunches, to your proteins that
(17:37):
you get at the pool, theGatorades that are there to help
keep us hydrated and everythinglike that and keep us going
throughout a long, you know swimmeet, which a lot of people
don't know that's ours.
We're talking like a whole day.
Your day is shot if you have ameet and you know having these
(17:58):
go off without a hitch is isincredible and you know I have a
found respect for people inyour position.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
For that reason, yeah , yeah, we, you take pride in it
.
You know you're.
You know we always joke.
You're kind of like officials,right?
You don't?
If you're, if you're part ofthe game, then you know
something went wrong, right,whether it's a scoreboard goes
out and those things happen oryou know.
But you know, for us it'sensuring everything's set up, as
(18:23):
you mentioned in advance, andso the athlete, the coaches, can
walk to the competition andcompete and not have to worry
about those things and you knowit's from.
You know, fan and ticket salesto.
You know, ensuring concessionsis lined up, you know.
And getting, like you said,everyone into the right spot,
you know, when you host a swimmeet, right, you have multiple
(18:44):
teams.
A simple thing is you know sixto eight teams with you know
different buses, right Like.
You know where do they park,how do they, you know, do
drop-off smoothly to get andthen move the buses and bring
them back after the competition.
If it's not done well, thoughtout of, then it can kind of
spiral out of control.
(19:05):
So it's those little thingsthat you take pride in and we've
been able to.
You know, since my arrivalwe've hosted NCAA championships.
We've put bids in and our teamshave qualified.
And we've hosted basketballsoccer numerous times.
You know we've been able tohost softball, both tennis and
(19:25):
baseball, and, and you know my,my goal is always that you know
if we're good enough and ourfacilities are quality.
We want our student athletes tosleep in their own bed and and
and their friends to be able tocome out and watch them compete.
And you know, as you know, youknow the NCAA championships tend
to be all over the country,even regionally, so you know if
(19:46):
you're on the road.
It is a true, there's noneutral site.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
You are at that venue .
Speaker 2 (19:51):
So so we, we want to host as much as we can, so we've
we've taken pride in that and,and you know, and not only
hosting conference championshipsand a couple of sports, but
we've hosted quite a bit of NCAA, most recently.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, that's awesome and being able to host something
like that.
I wish Bethany had the facilityto be able to host the
conference championships that weget to do.
But Grove City's facility andjust everything there was
top-notch, from the hotel wherewe were staying at, having a
sauna in it so that we couldloosen up after a long day of
(20:27):
competing to us having access tothat.
And even, like you said, it's,as you know, something that
people don't think about thebuses for six to eight teams
that are arriving essentially atthe same time and everything
going on without a hitch, nobodygetting in anybody's ways,
buses are going over and parkingwhere they're supposed to be
and and nobody sees who'sactually behind that.
(20:49):
And it's awesome, uh.
But I do want to switch gears alittle bit here.
Uh, kind of like me, you are aproud dad.
Uh, are your kids following intheir dad's administrative path
in their college ranks or arethey forging their own path?
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, my son has a little bit.
He graduated from Dayton.
He was a 3-4 sport athlete, asmost kids are growing up, so
really enjoyed his time and grewup in the shadows of Ohio
Stadium at Ohio State.
He's been able to participatein a lot of you know, attending
games with me over the years.
So he lives in Columbus, youknow, like I said, received his
(21:29):
bachelor's degree from DaytonUniversity and he's going to
start actually Monday workingfor the Columbus Sports
Commission role there.
So obviously a lot of eventscome through that region and
he's looking forward to kind of,you know, really launching his
career from that standpoint.
And Dotter just what a monthago almost to today just
(21:52):
graduated from Cincinnati.
So she was a volleyball playergrowing up predominantly and had
a good experience and enjoyedher time at Cincinnati.
She did work one year at theticket office and so she had a
little bit of sports in herworld.
But she's definitely more, alittle more artsy and in a
(22:14):
marketing desire, moving forward.
So so we'll see how it all endsup.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, I get it.
My son's 16, junior in highschool First year.
I'm not getting to watch himplay high school football.
He decided, now that he's 16,he wanted to enter into the
workforce too as well, whilegoing to school, which I wasn't
going to stop him at 16.
A 16 year old wanting to earnhis own wage and pay for his own
(22:42):
gas, and then how do you, howdo you say no to that as a dad?
Um, you know, as you know,growing up playing, you know
football and swimming andeverything like that, it it.
It hurt a little bit of the dadpride not getting Friday night
lights and going to watch my sonplay football, but I am happy
to say, you know.
(23:02):
You know, unfortunately, thisis the quietest my house has
been, because I am the onlyperson home, because both the
wife and the son are bothworking, and that's the, you
know.
Having a night off, uh, fromthat it it.
It's nice in a sense, but youknow he's always wanted to forge
his own path.
I never forced sports on him, asense, but you know he's always
wanted to forge his own path.
I I never forced sports on him,I just showed him the benefits
(23:23):
of sports.
Um, in that you'd learn to be ateam player, uh, you learn how
to work together and stuffyou're going to need in the
workforce.
Um and I think he's using thatnow um, albeit at a part-time,
seasonal help, um at a at alocal, uh, retail store here,
you know, just being able to tohelp them stock the shelves is,
(23:43):
you know.
You know, that's greatexperience for a 16 year old, I
mean no, absolutely.
It's.
He's always wanted to go to atrade school.
I'll be a wife and I kind ofreally realized that college
probably wasn't in the cards formy son.
Growing up in the country, he'shad a found respect for the
(24:05):
blue collar workers and that'swhat he wants to do, and I'm not
going to tell him no that.
And he's kicked around themilitary too as well.
So you know that those arethings that you know as as a dad
.
How do you, how do youdiscourage your child from doing
it for your own selfish reasons?
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Well, and those are character building roles, right,
you know he wanted to takeresponsibility and hold himself
accountable and you know, and heappreciated probably the money
that you tossed to him, but hewanted to kind of, you know, get
his own, so you know he's gotto get himself to work back and
forth.
Own, so you know he's got toget himself to work back and
forth.
And you know, if he putshimself in the schedule, if you,
if you need a sub, you get, youbetter call somebody else to
(24:45):
cover for you.
If not, you got to show up andgo to work.
So I applaud him for doing thatat 16.
So, yeah, some valuable lessons, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And freshly 16.
He turned 16 in May, so itwasn't like he's been 16 for a
while.
I know this is Septemberalready, but still, as soon as
he turned 16 and was able to gethis license he just got his
license about a month, month anda half ago and it's the first
(25:16):
thing he wanted to do.
He was like I love football, Ihave a God-given talent to play
football, as someone who hadlittle training and came in as a
starter in his first year ofplaying football and knowing not
much about the sport, and hewas like I get it, I'm really
good at football, but I want tostart working, all right.
(25:39):
All right, dude, I'm not.
I'm not going to tell you no,am.
I am I upset as a dad, that Idon't get to go and watch you
play football?
Absolutely, but am I proud ofyou as a dad for making that
decision on your own?
Yeah, absolutely.
This is, this is it's, it's.
It's not a win-win, but it'snot a lose I call it a draw, you
know, because I don't get towatch him play, but I get to.
(26:01):
I get to see him growing as aman too as well, already at 16,
so that that's, that's a proudmoment for me.
Do you have anything like thatwith your son or your daughter?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
yeah, no, it's.
I remember of both of them.
My daughter, uh, ended upworking for the club that she
played for, you know, volleyballclub, and so she started
coaching the younger teams, youknow, so the 10 and 10U, and so
that you know really just seeingher confidence grow.
(26:30):
You know being, you knowrunning practice and you know
being able to, you know calltimeout during a match and you
know change the lineup and haveall those fun things, things
happen.
And you know, and same thingwith my son, you know he, he
worked camps, you know, in thesummertime and was able to kind
of, you know, connect with somecoaches and support them.
(26:52):
Obviously, I think he had aretail job as well.
So, same type of thing, youknow wanted to.
You know him and his buddywanted to find a job.
And you know type of thing youknow wanted to, you know him and
his buddy wanted to find a job.
And you know stocking, like yousaid, you know stocking clothes
and putting things out, and youknow he was able to do that all
the way through before he wentto college.
And you know, once again, thoseare just, you know, getting
their workouts in and going topractice.
(27:14):
But also, you know working, youknow, 10 hours a week.
There's a lot to be said aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, I mean, he's coming home, he gets maybe an
hour, hour and a half to himselfand then it's off to work after
school.
It's like going to like afootball practice or anything
like that, instead of goingstraight from school to practice
and then home.
He's coming home, he gets anhour, maybe hour and a half to
himself, and then it's all right, dad, I'm going to work.
All right, bub Love, you See,you have a good day.
(27:42):
You know it's and that's.
That's great to see.
And I, you know, had a littleum, fender bender, uh, all beat
in my truck, um and um, withoutme even saying anything.
He's like I'm going to pick upextra shifts, I'm going to help
fix for the bumper.
Like, dude, I get it, ithappens, you're 16.
You're going to get in a littlefender bender.
(28:03):
It's not that bad Truck'sdrivable.
I'm not upset about it.
But that right there tells methat I didn't have to say
anything to him he's like don'tworry Absolutely, and I I I had
toned that to sports where therewas a, there was a repercussion
(28:25):
for your actions.
If you, if you screw it up inpractice, you were running laps
If you did this, you knowsomething happened and you know
it taught him already.
You know, and that's why Ialways, uh, I always push sports
.
I don't want to say push sports, sports, but you know.
(28:48):
As as for the youngergeneration, you know, get these
kids involved in something, um,and it'll teach them life
lessons down the road, um.
So, for that being said, whyshould a high school student
consider?
Speaker 2 (28:52):
case western university, yeah, you know, I
think you know one.
The academic standpoint and theprofile, um, you know just, you
know amazing professors,teachers and programs.
That provides an opportunity, Ithink, really to connect with.
You know, you know, like mindedstudents, faculty, that really
got to push you, you know, notjust with the textbook but but
(29:14):
those conversations that youknow you just learn.
You know it's a growthopportunity right from from 18
to 21.
You know, you just really youknow it's a growth opportunity
right from 18 to 21.
You know, you just reallyreally grow up into young adults
and so, you know, be able to dothat on a campus in a city that
provides a lot of opportunitiesis just outstanding, you know.
And then the other thing too,like you said, the
(29:36):
extracurricular aspect, whetheryou're an athlete or you're in a
play or a musical or all thosethings research, the exposure
that that, you know, caseWestern Reserve provides, you
know, to those type of functions.
It's just a tremendousopportunity for, once again,
young people to develop and grow, people to develop and grow.
(30:01):
And then you have, you know,great alumni who you know if
they're looking, you know, hey,you know I'm going to call the
institution.
You know I need an intern inNew York or DC or even abroad.
You know, those opportunitiesof utilizing the network of
alumni is what it's all aboutand Bethany does it and no
different than Case WesternReserve is individuals that
understand you know the academicrigors that you went through,
(30:26):
understand the character and youknow things that you
accomplished during thatfour-year period and here's an
opportunity to you know eitheryou know, do an internship or
begin your career with thoseindividuals.
So tremendous opportunityreally for for young growth and
(30:46):
that's, you know I'm partial to,you know kind of the college
four years and I think it's a,it's a tremendous opportunity
for young people to grow.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
You know, as someone who gottheir four-year degree in
communications, sportsbroadcasting and a minor in
accounting, you know it's thefour-year degree can be super
beneficial.
But at the same sense not totake anything away from what you
just said I know it's not foreverybody.
You know it's not for everybody, so you kind of got to make
(31:16):
that decision on yourself andit's part of the growing process
.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
As you know, high school students- right, well,
and yeah, I think you touched onearlier talking to your son,
right, is it's what's your planright?
If it's not, that, you knowwhat is the plan right?
So you need to do something.
You know same thing as youmentioned.
After school I said you know, Ialways told my kids well, if
you don't play sport, what otheractivity you're doing?
Because, right, you know, Iknow I would have gotten in
(31:39):
trouble from three o'clock tofive o'clock before my parents
got home.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Right, so it's it's you.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
You know you need to find a club or some activity to
participate in, you know, or ajob, as you mentioned.
So I, I think you know the, theyounger, young students, right,
young high school students, theones that do that or set
themselves up for success asthey move forward, because they
have those habits of beingaccountable.
(32:05):
You know having to show up,having to provide service,
communicating and, depending onthe role, and sometimes just
flat out hard work.
You know they're, you knowwhether they're on a farm or
working in a factory, and youknow they're pulling up their
bootstraps and working hard andthey appreciate the money well
(32:26):
earned.
So I think that's the beauty ofyou know, kind of what is
afforded to you if you takeadvantage of it.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Absolutely, and I couldn't have said that better
myself.
So we're just going to move onto the next thing and you know,
kind of one of the last things Iwant to touch on here.
So what is the hardest sportsseason to manage?
That fall, winter or spring?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
You know I'd say the crossover, which is both Right,
because you know the fall.
You know you're wrapping upsoccers and football.
But swimming starts in October,right, basketball's going, and
so you know we've had successand we've played pretty late
with volleyball and soccers inNCAA tournaments.
(33:11):
So you love that.
But you're running back andforth and you know those fall
championships are right aroundThanksgiving, you know.
So you're already knee deepinto, you know, the first few
games of basketball On thebackside.
Same thing you know the wintersports can bleed into.
You know spring break and youknow your winter.
You know your spring sports arealready geared up.
(33:34):
You know both baseball andsoftball go south.
You know tennis teams go southbecause of the weather and so
they're playing.
So you want to give them allthe love and be accessible and
attend everything.
So you're running in and outfrom, hopefully, an NCAA soccer
match and you run to the gym tocatch the end of a basketball
(33:55):
game.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, I was going to say I know a lot of these sports
kind of bleed over into oneanother.
A couple of buddies that playedfootball and also played
basketball at Bethany Two sportathletes in college is almost
unheard of and we had a guy thatdid it and he would be coming
right from football practice andbasketball practice would be
(34:16):
kicking off and he would go tothe coach like is there anything
I can do?
He's like you can finish yourseason.
You made a commitment to thefootball.
I appreciate you wanting tocome in and get some work with
the team, but finish your seasonand then we'll get you caught
up.
You know, and that bleed over isa lot because you know there's
a lot of teams going into onearea.
(34:37):
Fall, spring, winter are allkind of combining into one place
there, especially for us atBethany.
You know the rec center was it.
You know we had basketball andswimmers and some football
players all conjugating into onearea and you know it was a lot
to see.
(34:58):
You know three different sportsteams trying to coincide and to
one locker room and everyonehad their own spaces.
But still there was a littlebit of bleed over.
And well, swim practice isgoing on, and there's some
football players that need, youknow, aerobic therapy.
You know what I mean.
They need the water to be ableto loosen up some joints, too,
(35:19):
as well.
So you know you have to beaccommodating to that and but we
, the every everybody makes itwork and it's and it's awesome
to see.
But, tj, we are running downnear the end of the episode here
and I do have to get this lastsegment in here.
Otherwise, the wonderfulmanager of the podcast, johnny
(35:44):
fitty, falconi, and tj thesehave nothing to do with what
we've been talking about for thebetter part of 45 minutes here.
Um, and you know it, they'rethey're super random, they're
kind of rapid fire, but you canelaborate if you need to, and we
think it's a fun way to end theepisode.
So, if you're ready, we'll goahead and get started with the
Fast 55.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Let's do it.
I'm ready for the pressure.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
No.
Question number one what wouldyou say is the better flavor for
flavored water?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Ooh, for me, I gotta go strawberry.
Speaker 1 (36:21):
That's a strong choice.
That's a strong choice.
That's a strong choice.
Strawberry I'm more of a grapeguy, but strawberry will do in a
pinch.
Question number two are bakedor sweet potatoes better?
Speaker 2 (36:33):
This is my choice, right, your choice.
This is all you.
Oh man, sweet potatoes arebetter for you, but, man,
there's nothing like a greatbaked potato.
I always make that choice.
When I get the steak, I'm likeshould I get the sweet potato?
And all right, one of thesebaked potatoes won't kill me.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
So yeah, absolutely uh, for sure.
Question number three oh man,uh who wins the?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
super bowl this year oh man, kansas, kansas City.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Chiefs Chance.
That's an easy choice.
I mean, they're in it everyyear almost.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
it seems like I'm a diehard being from Kansas.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Okay, that makes that decision a little easier to
forget that, I guess.
Question number four which carwould you rather have?
A Dodge Charger or a ChevyTahoe?
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Oh Dodge Charger.
Or a Chevy Tahoe, oh DodgeCharger.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
I mean, you know, large SUV versus a sports car.
It's kind of, you know, andit's going with the sports car
Right.
And last question here isskateboarding exercise.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Oh, absolutely Kick push, kick push they made a song
about it.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
They did make a song about that, that I forgot all
about that.
Holy hell, but that that was afast.
But I feel like he took it easyon you.
These ones the Superbowlquestion was probably, I'd say,
the hardest one, give or take.
You know, you, I'm a I'm adiehard Buccaneers fan.
So I mean, I'm always, you know, rooting for the Buccaneers and
(38:00):
Steelers.
You know, I grew up an houroutside of Pittsburgh, in West
Virginia.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
I was going to say you probably got to be loyal to
the Steelers right.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Oh, loyal to the Steelers, pirates, penguins,
growing up that close to thestadium and getting to see all
those games there, you know myallegiance always lies with the
Steelers, unless they're playingthe Buccaneers, and then I'm
just rooting for offense at thatpoint in time.
(38:27):
I don't want to see you justrooting for a high-score game
and it coming down to the wire.
But, tj, I do give every guest.
Like I said, we are runningdown near the end of the episode
here.
I do give every guest thisopportunity at the end of every
show.
I'm going to give you about aminute.
If there's anything you want toget out there, whether it's
about case Western there, oreven if it's just a good message
, I'm going to give you about aminute and the floor is yours.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Oh, great, great, Appreciate that Well one, I
think it's appreciate whatyou're doing and kind of your
your sports communicationbackground.
You got the voice for radioright and announcing, so you
know I think you know providingexposure for individuals in the
industry to kind of share theirmessage.
You know, I think you know wehave a great conference and a
(39:10):
PAC and Bethany and participatein them, obviously in football.
But also you know a lot of our,our programs.
So you know they're, you knowfriends of the program and the
university and a chance to tocompete.
So you know thanks for forhaving you know a rival on, you
know right, an opportunity toshare the message.
But you know I think one isjust to continue to enhance
(39:34):
opportunities for for studentsto experience success.
You know that's excellence inthe classroom, excellence
through research and communityservice.
And then we always say we don'twant to shy away from winning
championships as well.
So you might as well do allthree of them at the highest
levels.
So go, spartans.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
Absolutely.
I do appreciate the shout outsaying I saying you know I have
the good voice for radio.
I was used to say I had a greatface for radio.
It's all about the voice, right, it's all about that voice.
My wife hates my radio voice,she says as she calls it.
Whenever I get to talking tosomebody and I'm passionate
about something, she says myradio voice comes out and I
(40:18):
don't care, I like it something,she says my radio voice comes
out and, uh, I don't care, Ilike it, it's, it's helped me
grow this podcast?
uh, for sure.
Yeah, I use it on her every nowand again when I need something
.
You know great, you're having13 years sales experience.
It comes out every now andagain, you know.
But, uh, tj, thank you forcoming on.
I really appreciate you comingon and getting able to being
able to talk, uh, everythingabout Case Western Reserved
(40:40):
University there and what you do.
And, as always, if you enjoyedthe show, be a friend, tell a
friend.
If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just
because you didn't.
That's going to do it for meand I will see y'all next week.
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