We're joined this week by Dennis Harp, a native of tiny Wolcottville, IN, a small college basketball player at Dawson (MT) Community College and Marty (SD) College, and the 1-time youngest NCAA Division I head coach at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX. Today, Dennis is the Executive Director of the Dawson College Foundation.

During our discussion he retraces his fandom from his youth as a Mickey Mantle-led New York Yankees' fan, his first MLB game at Detroit's Briggs' Stadium to see Mantle and the Yankees play the Tigers, to his childhood in basketball-crazed Indiana where he discovered Purdue University's Rick Mount and, ultimately, LSU's Pete Maravich.

During our discussion Dennis shares stories about high school football in Texas and high school basketball in Indiana, what it was like being the parent of two all-state athletes (basketball playing son Ryan attended Southern Methodist University and volleyball playing daughter Ellie attended Grace College). He also chats about his confidants in the coaching fraternity, including longtime LSU coach Dale Brown and Indiana and Texas Tech University coach Bobby Knight.

Finally, Dennis discusses how, almost as suddenly as he became a Division I coach he was an NAIA coach when Hardin-Simmons dropped basketball from the highest to the lowest level of competition.

Check out author Marc David's biography about Dennis here, Dennis Harp: All the Hoopla.

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In this bonus episode we're joined by a husband and wife from the greater Seattle area: Frank Piwowar and Pam Kruse.

Frank's a Michigan native who, somewhat inexplicably, is a University of Michigan Wolverine fan though he's a graduate of Michigan State University. (He shares how it came to be:-)

Pam's a lifelong Washington resident and a product of Western Washington University who's been a supporter of the University of Washington Huskies for as long as she can remember.

The two of the enjoy some good-natured chatter about the upcoming College Football Playoff Championship between the Huskies and Wolverines.

We wonder what Monday's going to be like in their home?

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We're finishing up a 2-week break from work and also are regularly scheduled Thursday podcast drops. Today, host Doug Hill, takes a look back at a handful of his favorites from Season 2 and asks our listeners to provide any suggestions for future guests by emailing him at [email protected]

Links to previous episodes referenced by Doug:

Our annual Spotify Wrapped noted these other episodes as among the most widely streamed and/or shared from the past year:

Look for a special College Football Playoff Championship Game episode to drop on Sunday.

We are delighted to be joined in this episode by fans of each of the four schools competing in this year's NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Playoffs. We engage in an enjoyable and civil discussion with our four panelists about their earliest memories of being a fan of their schools, what gameday is like in Ann Arbor, Austin, Seattle, and Tuscaloosa, the current state of college football, and, of course, their thoughts on things will play out in the Rose and Sugar Bowls. Predictions are also made, but they are ... shall we say ... predictable.

The following guests proudly don the school colors and wave the school flag during this episode:

Fun Fact: By virtue of Washington joining the Big Ten next season and the Longhorns visiting Michigan for a non-league game on Week 2 in 2024, UM will - for sure - play all three 2023 CFP schools by October 5, 2024, when the Wolverines visit Husky Stadium.

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In this special holiday season episode, we're joined by Father Ron Victor, pastor at St. Isidore Church in Macomb, MI.

Fr. Ron reflects on that day in 1962 when he became a Norm Cash fan, how he became a Michigan State Spartans' fan, the importance of sports during his 17 years in the seminary, recollections of the 1957 Detroit Lions' NFL Championship, and how he was in the building in 1968 when the Tigers' walked off the Yankees to clinch the AL Pennant, and in 1984 when they beat San Diego, 8-4, to win the World Series.

We also find some time to discuss the intersection of sports and religion, Fr. Ron's appreciation of the Advent Season, and why his favorite holiday is, somewhat surprisingly, Halloween.

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In this episode we're joined by educator and sports fan Todd Bloch who lived a life of assimilation as the child of a cardiologist whos family did a fair amount of moving. Todd spent time during his formative years in Atlanta, Milwaukee, Quincy, IL, and Kent, CT.

Todd was a fan of the Atlanta Braves thanks in part because his father's office at Grady Memorial Hospital overlooked Fulton County Stadium and also because the family attended the same church as then-owner Ted Turner.

In Milwaukee, Todd transitioned to the Milwaukee Brewers and discovered the NBA's Bucks that featured players such as Junior Bridgeman, Marques Johnson, Bob Lanier, and Sidney Moncrief thanks to his school's "Books for Bucks" reading program.

Todd's family then moved to Quincy, IL, which is across the Mississippi River from Mark Twain's 1-time home of Hannibal, MO. While there, Todd's family discovered high school basketball at an elite level with an ardent fan base. (Check out the pregame Blue Devil mascot entrance here.) Todd was able to see future Big Ten players Bruce Douglas (Illinois) and Michael Payne (Iowa) play at Quincy.

Todd then attended high school at the Kent School (a boarding school in Connecticut) where he was introduced to the Boston-New York rivalry the fall he arrived on campus when the Red Sox and Mets squared off in the 1986 World Series.

It was during his time in high school that Todd's life was touched by tragedy, which might help explain why he embraces the opportunity to attend just about any sporting event. He's as comfortable at the NCAA Division III Calvin College-Hope College basketball rivalry - it received a special feature on State Champs! show found here - as he is attending the Indianapolis 500.

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Kevin Beers, the voice of the Oakland (MI) University Golden Grizzlies, joins us in this episode. Kevin has been the O'rena's public address announcer since 2004.

His roots in the Detroit-area - and fandom of the home teams - goes back even further. A graduate of Walled Lake Central HS, Kevin recalls early trips to Detroit's Tiger Stadium with his father to Kevin's favorite Tiger, Aurelio Rodriquez.

Beyond watching Rodriguez pick it at the hot corner in Detroit, Kevin's love of sports began thanks to being neighbors of high school star and future Michigan State University defensive back, Mike Imhoff, who was later tragically killed in an after school shooting in Hernando, FL, where he coached.

Kevin also recalls plenty of trips to the Pontiac Silverdome to see the Detroit Lions and Hall of Famer, Barry Sanders, as well as the Detroit Pistons of the early-to-mid-1980s when a buddy would get Kevin and his friends into courtside seats after halftime.

We also touch on his time at Central Michigan University during the Coach Jay Smith-era, his introduction to broadcasting, and how he came to be the voice of the O'rena. Kevin even gives us a sample of one of his signature calls when OU's Travis Bader was lighting up the scoreboard from deep in the early 2010s.

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We're joined in this episode by Connor Ryan, a twentysomething from suburban Detroit who played quite a lot of hockey growing up. Unsurprisingly, then, we learn that one of his earliest memories of being a sports fan involve the Detroit Red Wings-Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup Final Game 7 (won by Pittsburgh, 2-1) at a block party at his friend's house.

We also hear tell of a chance meeting Connor had with Nicklas Lidstrom at a Barnes & Noble as well as how he feels about the progress of the current Red Wings' squad.

And, not to bury the lead, as we learned when we spoke with Connor's mother, Kathy in our "Mother's Day Special" episode, the two of them attended Super Bowl LVI as a guest of his brother, Brendan, who is a member of the Los Angeles Rams Cheer team. Connor recalls his late-night run-in with the Vince Lombardi Trophy during the post-game celebration.

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In this episode we're joined by Mark Shirk, a former political science professor who's an avid baseball fan. You're able to find Mark on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, "Exploring Baseball History" under the handle of @bballhist where he regularly posts baseball content.

During our time with Mark we learn about his contrarian nature as a youngster, choosing to support the Don Mattingly-led New York Yankees rather than the more geographically appropriate Philadelphia Phillies. Mark notes that during his formative years his parents noticed his interest in baseball and began feeding him books on baseball history along with baseball cards and, thus, began his lifelong fascination with the history of the American Pastime.

We also discover that Mark is a proponent of a "Big Hall" (e.g. including more indcutees in the National Baseball Hall of Fame), has ideas about what the future of baseball might look like (hint: he favors agressive expansion), his evolution as a sports fan, and a long-term baseball book project he continues to mull that focuses on ex-Negro League players who came along at the wrong time following integration and didn't really get a good shot playing in the Major Leagues. Players like Buster Clarkson, Marvin Williams, Sam Jethroe, and Luke Easter.

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In this episode we're joined by Ron Teasley, one of three surviving members of baseball's Negro Major Leagues. At 96-years-old, Teasley is easily our most seasoned guest and we're incredibly grateful for his gift of time, recollections, and insights into a very different era of athletics and being a sports fan.

Some useful links that are referenced during our time with Teasley: