In this special Bonus Episode of Conversations we go on campus to Ann Arbor with University of Michigan senior, Andrew Livingston, to get the vibe of what's happening in town in advance of this week's UM-MSU game. Livingston, a molecular biology major (yes, you read that right!), carved a bit of time out of his busy schedule to share how he found his way onto the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing for his first two years of undergraduate studies before transferring to UM. The son of Jim Livingston (heard here in Episode 10), Andrew has been a sports fan for years. His entree was the 2006 Detroit Tigers and a weekly trip to 7-11 with his dad and older brother for a newspaper, player pin, and doughnut. In addition to Major League Baseball, Andrew's favorite sports are college football and basketball. In this episode he provides his take on who's got the inside track for the college football playoff as well as how he sees the B1G men's basketball season unfolding. A perennial contender in his Fantasy Football League he's hopeful Josh Jacobs and Jalen Hurts can help overcome the recent injury to Ja'marr Chase. 

Because of scheduling quirks and the pandemic, this will be Andrew's first UM-MSU game on either campus. He provides a bit of insight into what the college student tailgate looks like. (Hint: The food is not likely to be grilled.) His wish list of stadiums to visit include the MLB classics (Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, and Dodger Stadium) and B1G road games at Camp Randall Stadium (Wisconsin), Beaver Stadium (Penn State), and the Rose Bowl (UCLA). 

In today's episode we try to dispel the myth that we have some sort of Midwest bias here at Conversations by speaking with longtime friend and native New Yorker, Martin Frank. Martin currently serves as the Philadelphia Eagles' beat writer for Delaware Online and, before that, worked at newspapers in Waterbury, CT, and Bradenton, FL.  We cover everything from Martin's long-standing love of New York's Mets, Jets, and Rangers to his ambivalence toward the Knicks but affinity for Julius Erving to his rationale for choosing the University of Michigan (Hint: It had something to do with football.) We hope you enjoy our conversation.

Events and people referenced in this episode:

As the NBA season gets underway we're delighted to be joined in this episode by 15-year NBA player and current Bally Sports Detroit's Pistons' and NBA analyst, Grant Long, who spoke to us from the Little Caesars Arena's Champions Lounge during a recent preseason game. Your host and Grant go back 35 years, but it's been nearly that long since we last caught up so this episode features plenty of reminscing and some revelations, such as the fact Long - despite being the nephew of NBA player John Long - was never much of a sports fan until a certain magical evening in March of 1979. We also learn that he's a huge baseball fan (especially of the New York Yankees) and we we work to get the bottom of his infatuation with Tom Brady. Grant also provides his thoughts on the 2022/23 NBA season. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode.

Fellow athletes referenced in this episode:

Just in time for the start of the NHL season we're joined in this episode by the radio voice of the Detroit Red Wings, Ken Kal. Ken's been doing Red Wings' play-by-play since succeeding Bruce Martyn to begin the 1995-96 season. During his 27 seasons on the microphone, Ken's called four Detroit Stanley Cup Championships and a veritable who's who of Hockey Hall of Famers. 

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In this episode we're joined by an Indiana Sportswriters' and Sportcasters' Association Hall of Famer, Fred Inniger. A retired math teacher and school guidance counselor, Fred has been calling East Noble High School football games for 53 years and hosts a weekly sports show on Kendallville, IN, WAWK 95.5 FM. A native of Berne, IN, Fred was also a classmate of our first-ever guest here at "Conversations," Jerry Hill. 

Individuals and events referenced in today's episode:

In recognition of today being National Daughter's Day we've changed the title for today's bonus episode with my daughter, Helena Hill. We're calling today's "Conversation with the Daughter of a Sports Fan." 

We discuss some of Helena's memories of various events we've attended as a family (including a chance encounter with her favorite Detroit Tiger, Magglio Ordonez, at a Baltimore Cheesecake Factory) as well as some fo the events she's attended with others.

This special episode concludes with a 5-question quiz for each other: She's formulated pop-culture questions for me and I have some general sports knowledge questions for her. (Spoiler Alert: It goes right down to the wire before the outcome is determined.)

Other items referenced in this episode:

Thanks to some wonky connectivity issues during the recording of this episode, we have an amouse-bouche with longtime Detroit Free Press writer, Mick McCabe. Mick has been covering high school sports for the Free Press since 1970 save a 40-week retirement try out back in 2016. (As noted, we experienced some tempermental Internet issues on our end and, thus, a much-abbreviated episode with Mick. We're working on rebooking him for a future episode.) 

Items referenced in this episode:

In this week's conversation we speak with, quite likely, our only guest whose name adorns a college arena, Garth Pleasant. Garth has been a member of the faculty at Rochester (MI) University for 51 years, spent 38 years as the program's head basketball coach, and now - against his wishes - has an arena bearing his name. During his coaching career he amassed 772 wins without a home gym, is a member of five different halls of fame, and was named the national small college coach of the year four times. Also an ordained minister, Garth served the Lake Orion Church of Christ as its pulpit minister for 30 years.

He took us to church, school, and practice during our hour together and left listeners of younger athletes with some salient advice, noting the first (and really, only) five words an adult should utter to a child following a competition are: "I enjoy watching you play." 

Garth also had plenty of stories to share and along the way we learn of how he went from the 'C' Team at Ainsworth HS to the varsity in the same season, the importance of Historically Black Colleges & Universities, his general disdain for the Southeastern Conference, how the 1969 UM-OSU football game turned him into a Michigan (and Bo Schembechler) fan, his thoughts about the impact of money in college athletics, and how one of his former bench warmers, John Horst, went onto be the GM of the 2021 NBA World Champion Milwaukee Bucks. Oh yeah, he also casually drops a lot of names of coaching peers, many of whom he has a deep reverence for. We list as many of the names as we can below. 

We remain in Washtenaw County, MI, for a second consecutive week as we're joined by Ann Arbor native, Geoff Larcom. Now retired, Geoff spent the largest portion of his professional life working in newspapers in Florida, Detroit, and, utlimately, Ann Arbor. While at the now-shuttered Ann Arbor News, Geoff spent over a decade as the Sports Editor and shares many terrific stories about being at the helm during some major University of Michigan athletic events. We also discuss the evolution of college athletics as his final professional post was serving at a decidedly smaller NCAA Division I institution, Eastern Michigan University, as its Executive Director of Media Relations.

Items referenced during this episode:

In this episode we enjoy a conversation with Kelly Sippell a Saline, MI, native, who's spent 36 years working in the publishing industry; including over two decades at the University of Michigan Press. During our time together we touch on plenty of University of Michigan football, women in sports and their impact (on Kelly and other girls) during the era of Title IX, her love of watching tennis (including a certain Spaniard), and a special seat neighbor on a flight from New York City to Detroit. 

Events referenced in this episode:

Other female athletes from the 1970s: 

University of Michigan football:

A serendipitous seat partner on plane ride from New York:

All things tennis:

Detroit Tigers' broadcast duo Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey.