In this trailer for Season 2, Doug shares his thanks for helping get "Conversations with Sports Fans" launched and into the podcasting orbit. He also reflects on the incredible events and memorable performances we learned about from our guests during the 2022 Season and provides some hints about the first three episodes of the 2023 Season. If you missed any previous episodes we now have links to all of them housed on our website found here. Should you have any comments or referrals please send them along to host Doug Hill at [email protected]. 

In this episode we're joined by one-time Major League Baseball pitcher and the person charged with starting the Indiana University Purdue University Columbus athletics program from scratch, Zach McClellan. McClellan was hired by IUPUC less-than-a-year ago to begin this herculean task. To date, his accomplishments include finalizing admittance into the NAIA, fielding men's and women's cross country teams this fall, building a schedule for baseball and softball teams this spring, acceptance into the River States Conference beginning in 2022-23, and the addition of men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball teams next season.

Prior to hiring in as AD of the Crimson Pride, McClellan started a pair of youth athletics-focused business in the Columbus area: Demand Command and CG Velocity.

McClellan's interest in athletics comes from his upbringing as part of a sports-centric family in Toledo, OH. His father, Dave, played college basketball at the University of Michigan and scored the first points in Crisler Center history on December 2, 1967 against Kentucky; his mother Diane was a high jumper at Bowling Green State University pre-Title IX and was intrumental in starting up girls' sports programs at Toledo Start HS post-Title IX; his oldest brother Jeff played college baseball at Ohio Northern University; and his older brother Matt was a 2-sport star (baseball and basketball) at Oakland (MI) University before being drafted in the seventh round of the 1997 MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. All five McClellan family members are enshrined in the Toledo City Athletic League Hall of Fame.

For this part, Zach McClellan played baseball at Indiana University before becoming a fifth round selection of the Kansas City Royals in the 2000 MLB Draft. All totaled, McClellan spent 10 seasons in professional baseball (from Independent Leagues to the Majors) including the 2006-07 season with Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific Winter League where he was teammates with then-45-year-old Fernando Valenzuela. The 2007 season was when McClellan got the call to join the Colorado Rockies for 12 games late that spring before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season. 

Along the way, McClellan had an up close seat to view some incredible athletes. He tells us the best of the group was, hands down, former Indiana University quarterback Antwaan Randle El who also played part of one season with the Hoosier basketball team and part of another season with the IU baseball team. 

Our guest this episode is former Ann Arbor News co-worker, Dave Holzman. A Michigan resident the vast majority of his life, Holzman is a Michigan State University graduate, a big Spartans fan, as well as a supporter of the Detroit Tigers and Lions. Our conversation takes us from his poor timing arriving on campus (a year after the Spartans won Big 10 football, basketball, and baseball championships as well as the NCAA baketball title) to his time as a journalist, first in Chillicothe, OH, and then in Ann Arbor where he worked the sports and news desks on some of the most significant events in thorugh the 1990s and 2000s (including the Fab Five era and Bo Schembechler's death). We also touch on how important high school sports have become to Holzman as time's moved on.  

Athletes and events referenced in this episode:

In today's episode we leave the North American Continent for Melbourne, Australia, and speak to Sam, a 14-year-old Aussie futbol fan who recently had the experience of a lifetime, attending five Men's World Cup group stage matches in Qatar over a 4-day period. 

Sam shares the improbable story of how the experience even came to be and how he knew nothing about it until it was pretty well set (Spoiler: It involves his father's willingness to check all of his email folders and a proclivity for poetry, apparently), what the 15-hour plane journey was like, the hunt for resale tickets, an inordinate amount of walking, and the opportunity to see some of the world's best players in person. 

Fixtures Witnessed

Other items referenced in this episode:

In this week's episode we're excited to be joined by an Indiana University and American Basketball Association alum and North Dakota State University's all-time winningest men's basketball coach, Erv Inniger. Inniger played collegiately at IU from 1964-67 for both Branch McCracken and Lou Watson before spending two seasons in the ABA for the Minnesota Muskies and the Miami Floridians.

Our conversation covers a lot of territory from his time leading tiny Berne (IN) High School to the final eight of the state's single class state basketball playoffs to his time as a 2-sport athlete at IU (baseball was the other) to the opportunity (and financial rewards) availed to him by the inception of the ABA to his many years on the sidelines coaching. Along the way, Erv reflects on a lifetime in athletics, the benefits and blessings thereof, and importance of his family - especially his wife of 54 years, Linda. 

His recollections include Roger Maris, Maury Wills, Tony Olivia, Harmon Killebrew, Bob Knight, Tony Hinkle, fellow Berne HS and IU product Bob Dro,  Mel Daniels, and Dick and Tom Van Arsdale.

We're delighted to be joined in this episode by Steve Book, one of four 2008 Coke Zero Dream Job Biggest College Hoops Fans in the Nation winners. We wouldn't be able to do it justice trying to describe what it exactly that experience was or how it came to be. You have to listen. Suffice to say it includes references to the IZZOne, the band The All-American Rejects, actor Tim Robbins, and a then-19-year-old newcomer Taylor Swift.

We covered a lot of territory with Book who is both a product of and currently a teacher in Rochester (MI) Community Schools. He discusses how he chose Michigan State University (Hint: Getting an up close look at the marching band entering the field.), how and why much of his childhood in the early-to-mid-1990s was spent in the old Tiger Stadium along the thirdbase line, attending the final game at the Stadium, Cecil Fielder, attending three consecutive Final Fours (2008-2010), his role as an IZZOne section leader, and the 2014 Rose Bowl against Stanford. 

We even learn how one of his three children came to be named after a certain arena on the MSU campus. 

In today's episode we talk being a sports fan with Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Lee Conklin evening co-anchor at Toledo's Channel 13. A St. Clair Shores, MI, native, Conklin shares his earliest memories of being a sports fan and how it continues to this day. 

In today's episode we pay a visit to that hub of sports (and other) conversations ... the barbershop. In this case, it's a conversation with the owner of Coach's Cutz in Columbus, IN, "Coach" Ray Gipson. Born Hayward Raymond Gipson III in Princeton, NJ, Coach's father, Hayward Jr., was the first African-American football player at Princeton University in 1964 (the last Ivy League football team to integrate). You're able to read a bit about the elder Gipson here. 

The Gipson family is an athletic one, featuring Coach's son, Keenan Noel, who played at Ball State as did Jahwan Edwards (BSU's all-time leading rusher) the father of Coach's grandson, who also plays football as well as a pretty good game of baseball. 

As though we were seated in Coach's chair at the shop, our conversation covered plenty of ground: We discussed being a campus baby at Princeton and hanging out as a toddler with future NBA Hall of Famer and U.S. Senator, Bill Bradley, and former Heisman Trophy-winner, Dick Kazmaier; the impact out-of-the-blue Indianapolis Colts' hire, Jeff Saturday, might have; his time in the Navy aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Independence; attending a Ball State road game at Texas A&M to watch his son play the Aggies which featured freshmen backup QB Kyler Murray and sophomore defensive lineman Myles Garrett; the impact of the NCAA's Name, Image, and Likeness policy; Coach's philosophies on how important participating in athletics are to a successful life; and how grateful he is to the Columbus community for becoming his home and giving him the opportunity to become Coach. 

(Note: The Jim and Nora Coach referenced are mutual friends and longtime Columbus residents, Jim and Nora Coleman.)

Other people referenced in this epsiode:

In today's episode I’m delighted to be joined by a former co-worker of mine at both the Michigan and National Education Associations, Maury Koffman. Born and raised in Michigan, Maury's been a sports fan from early on, watching the Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys and listening to Ernie Harwell call Detroit Tigers' games. After matriculating to Michigan State University for higher education, Maury's enjoyment of sports only grew. Blessed with jobs that have both required and allowed for travel, Maury's completed seeing 75% of the tennis grand slam (the Australian, the French, and the U.S. Open). Maury's also been to NFL playoff games, NCAA Men's Final Fours, World Series games, and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Heck, Maury's even attended the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden.

Other items referenced in this episode:

In today's episode we speak with an instructional coach and education union leader, Sara Earleywine, from Des Moines, IA. Sara's been a sports fan for nearly as long as she can remember when her mom signed her up softball. A devout Chicago Cubs fan, Sara makes at least one trip to Chicago each summer to not only visit her sister but also see her beloved Cubs. Like most, though, Sara was priced out of the opportunity to see the Cubs-Reds Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, IA. 

People and places referenced during this episode: