Following a very full first day of 2025 out and about in Pasadena, CA, as part of Event No. 11 of Around the World in 80 Sporting Events, host Doug Hill caught up with traveling partner Tim Parker (previously heard S:1, E:3 and S:3, E:30) to reflect on all that they experienced.

• Run with the Roses 5K
• Tournament of Roses Parade
• Rose Bowl Game

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We're joined in this episode with Rose Bowl (and all things Rose Bowl) super fan, Brent Myers.

Brent, a native of Burton, MI, attended his first Rose Bowl in 1986 and has returned several times since, including every Rose Bowl since 2014 (save the COVID year).

Also an avid collector of sports memorabilia (with, of course, a heavy focus on Rose Bowl paraphernalia) Brent counts among one of his most cherished possessions the high school basketball scorebook of Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Krause's 78-point performance. Krause is also a Burton native.

Among his most memorable Rose Bowls:

• His first in 1986 whe he saw UCLA beat Iowa, 45-28;

• The first with his future wife in 1988 (MSU 20, USC 17);
• The first with his entire family in 2004 (USC 28, Michigan 14⁠⁠);
• And the start of his current streak in 2014, which was also the 100th (MSU 24, Stanford 20),

Other links to items referenced in this episode:

• Greensboro War Memorial Stadium
• Los Angeles Dodgers circa 1981
• The Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation

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As we're now inside a week from the playing of the 2025 Rose Bowl between Oregon and Ohio State, we're delighted to be joined in this episode by ⁠Brian Brantley⁠, the Vice-President for Advancement at the ⁠Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation⁠.

A native of the Philadelphia area, Brian has spent the better part of his working life with either professional sports franchises or college athletic programs ranging from the Baltimore Orioles to the Memphis University to the Harlem Globetrotters. He's been with the Rose Bowl's Legacy Foundation for eight years.

During our time with Brian we discuss some of the challenges and triumphs he's faced working in athletics as well as the Foundation's latest goal, it's ⁠Lasting Legacy Campaign⁠, and how fans of the iconic stadium can lend their support.

We also learn about the five statues that now adorn various places around the exterior of the Rose Bowl as well as its unique place in American history. Do you know which four U.S. football stadiums have (and continue to retain) National Historic Landmark status by the National Park Service? If you don't Brian will clue you in.

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We're delighted to be joined in this episode by Savannah Bananas co-founder and co-owner, Emily Cole.

The sibling of three athletic brothers in a sports-minded family during her childhood in upstate New York, Emily's involvement in professional sports entertainment seemed destined. Accept, she says, it wasn't until working her first "big girl job" in the corporate world that she realized what she didn't want to do.

During our time with Emily she shares tales of working for several Minor League Baseball franchises, how she and Jesse Cole (her husband and Bananas co-founder) first met, and how a trip to Savannah, GA, and a visit to its historic Grayson Stadium during their wedding celebration planted a seed that's since blossomed into what the Bananas have become.

The Bananas mantra - "Fans First, Entertain Always" - plays out in whatever venue one of the now four barnstorming squads (the Bananas, the Party Animals, the Firefighters, and the Texas Tailgaters [new for 2025]) plays in - including a recently completed "Bananaland at Sea" cruise.

Emily also discusses the Savannah Bananas 501(c)(3) non-profit, Bananas Foster, which aims to celebrate the foster care community, while simultaneously educating and inspiring others to get involved and make a difference in the lives of children and their families.

You're able to keep tabs on all things Bananas via their various social media channels:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Threads
• TikTok
• X/Twitter
• YouTube
• BlueSky

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We're joined in this episode by former Miami Marlins VP of Ticket Sales, Ryan Bertschman.

Ryan spent over two decades working for professional sports teams (primarily in the ticket sales area) including the Indianapolis Colts, the Indiana Pacers and Fever, the Detroit Pistons and Shock, the Florida Panthers, and the Marlins.

During our fascinating discussion, we learn about the different marketing tactics needed for franchises without much history (the Colts, the Panthers, and the Marlins) juxtaposed with a more storied franchise such as the Pistons.

We also discover how Ryan became drawn to working in sports (he credits a then-Cleveland Lumberjacks employee named Manny Rodriguez for sparking his interest) to what it was like to have a boss named Derek Jeter.

An Ohioan by birth, there's also a nod or two to Ryan's love of the Buckeyes.

He counts among his in-person sports viewing highlights:

• The 2004 Pistons NBA Championship
• The 2017 MLB All-Star Game in Miami
• The Colts' January 21, 2007, 38-34, AFC Championship victory over the New England Patriots
• Being in AT&T Stadium on January 12, 2015 to see OSU beat Oregon, 42-20, for the CFP Championship.

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We're joined in this episode by longtime Lansing Public Schools educator and activist, Alfonso Salais Jr. The son of Mexican immigrants, Alfonso shares his journey as a sports fan growing up in Michigan's capital city. Listening to the Detroit Tigers on the radio was a common practice as was pulling for the nearby Michigan State Spartans. It was not until much later in life that he attended his first MSU at Spartan Stadium when MSU hosted Alfonso's alma mater, Central Michigan University (in either 1991 or 1992), and the Chippewas upset the Spartans.

Alfonso is also a big fan of his children's athletic pursuits: Daughter Gabi played soccer and volleyball as a youngster; son Alejandro played baseball and ran cross country; and son Laz is currently a goalkeeper at the University of Findlay (OH).

On Alfonso's sports bucket list is getting to Houston in 2026 to visit his sister and see some FIFA Men's World Cup action.

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The LPGA concluded its season last weekend in Naples, FL, with its CME Group Tour Championship. Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul finished eagle-birdie to win by a single stroke and claim a record, $4 million winner's purse.

There to help relay the action to viewers was Golf Channel's Amy Rogers. A contributor to Golf Channel, ESPN+, the LPGA, and BBC, Rogers is our guest in this episode of Conversations.

A product of Syracuse University's famed S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications shares her journey as a golf fan from that first moment her father took her 6-year-old self out to play a par-3 course.

During our time with Amy, she shares some of her life's seminal moments: Attending the Monday practice round at the 1999 Masters during her high school spring break; her meeting with Scott VanPelt (then at the Golf Channel) during the Memorial Tournament that led to an internship at Golf Channel; working as part of NBC's 2024 Paris Olympics Team covering women's golf.

She counts as her three most memorable moments as a professional journalist:

Amy may be found on X/Twitter @theamyrogers and on Instagram @the_amy_rogers.

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In advance of Event No. 10 of ⁠Around the World in 80 Sporting Events⁠ (SEC Football Rivalry Weekend), we're joined by Robins Bonner, Senior Sport Sales and Event Development Manager at Visit Tuscaloosa.

Tuscaloosa is home to the University of Alabama which hosts in-state rival, Auburn University, in the annual Iron Bowl on Saturday, November 30.

A native of Mobile and graduate of Alabama, Bonner is uniquely qualified to give us the 4-1-1 on what there is to see and do in Tuscaloosa.

Among the highlights he provides:

For more information about Tuscaloosa, please follow this link: visittuscaloosa.com

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In advance of Event No. 10 of Around the World in 80 Sporting Events (SEC Football Rivalry Weekend), we're joined by Nadia Thornton, Director of Sales and Marketing at Visit Oxford (MS).

Oxford is home to the University of Mississippi (aka Ole Miss) which hosts its in-state rival, Mississippi State, in the annual Egg Bowl on Friday, November 29.

Thornton, a graduate of Ole Miss, provides us the inside scoop on all things Oxford, including its place in literary history (authors William Faulkner and John Grisham have both called it home), nods to its namesake Oxford, England (Wonderbird Distillery, British phone booths, and the Double Decker Arts Festival ), and a James Beard-awarded chef John Currence and his City Grocery Restaurant Group.

For all the details on Oxford, we invite you to follow this link: https://visitoxfordms.com/

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In this episode we're joined by Joe Hilliard, assistant football coach at Odessa (TX) Permian High School.

If that high school name sounds familiar, it might be because Permian was the location of both the best-selling book and movie, "Friday Night Lights" and the basis for the successful television program of the same name.

Joe is actually a transplanted Texan. He was born and raised in the northern suburbs of Detroit and answered a LinkedIn posting on a whim to wind up in Texas.

During our discussion, Joe shares how he was a reluctant athlete and sports fan until one of his middle school coaches persuaded him to come to a football meeting. The rest, as they say, is history that's still being written near the oil fields of the Permian Basin.

Joe also pulls the curtain back on what high school football is like in Texas, where Permian (8-3) will visit second-ranked North Crowley (11-0) in the second round of the state's 6A Division I football playoffs this Friday.

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