The Flint Central Indian basketball team posted eye popping numbers between 1980 and 1983 with Coach Stan Gooch leading his squad to three straight Class A state titles, and a 100-9 record. Along with that were multiple all-star performances, including a parade of Division 1 talent. The 1983 team capped off that run with the 100th win coming against Detroit Southwestern in the state finals at Crisler Arena. 

Talent was ubiquitous in the halls of Flint Central during that period led by perhaps the greatest of all time in area high school hoops, Eric Turner. Alongside him was Mark Harris, possibly the best shooter in area hoops history. Then you had Marty Embry, who just might be the best rebounder in area hoops lore. Add to that Marvin Wells, Chris Williams, Chris Levels, Rod Milhouse, and you have the nucleus of the first two title teams. 
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The one consistent factor on all three title teams was Darryl “D.J.” Johnson. Called up from the J.V. for the title run in 81, he was a key player on the 82 squad, and the star of the ’83 title team. The only player in Michigan high school hoops history to play on three Class A state title teams. 

His senior year D.J. led a team that included Ervin Leavy, Ed Greer, Ken Bowie, rookie Terrence ‘T’ Greene, and Tyrone Williams. That squad wrapped up the last state title the Indians would ever record as the school would lose enrollment shortly thereafter and be closed down by 2009. Johnson would go on to a legendary career at Michigan State, and get a shot in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Leavy was part of the “Thunder and Lightning” duo with Dan Majerle at Central Michigan University, leading the Chippewas to the March Madness Tourney, Greene went on to star at Depaul and coach at Michigan briefly, while Greer remains one of the most underrated athletic talents in Flint history. He was part of a state title track and field team at Central, rushed for nearly 1200 yards in an All State senior football season, and played center on the 83 team – at only 6 foot tall. Together they formed the final capstone to the Flint Central champion triumvirate.

The foursome are all on hand in the Aquarium to tell the tale of that last title team, and the incredible Indian run are four of the starters: D.J., Erv, Ed Greer, and ‘T’. The stories, the camaraderie, the old school vibe, and four of the best to ever do it. It’s pure Flint and a hearty romp down memory lane with the champions of the state in 1983 The Flint Central Indians. 

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

When Flintstone Javale McGee won his first of three NBA World Championships one of his first acts was to bring the trophy home to Flint, the city in which he spent the first 13 years or so of his life growing up. With “Flint” tattooed on his torso this native son has proven his mettle as the most accomplished basketball player to ever hail from The Vehicle City.
 
He finished  second place in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was the first player to use three balls at one time in a dunk contest, which was later cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most basketballs dunked in a single jump. 
 
A sturdy 7 footer, Mcgee was a first round pick in the 2008 NBA draft, and in addition to his 3 NBA titles, he also won a Gold Medal in the 2021 Olympics. With the medal, he and his mother Flint lady hoops legend Pamela Mcgee became the first mother and son duo to win gold medals in Olympic history.
 
That’s a lot of hoops history to pack in to a session in The Aquarium! But Javale and Fish pull it off and it’s another superb Chronicles-Worthy tale to tell on this episode of “Fish and The Flint Chronicles”.

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

Without question one of the most interesting guests we have ever had in The Aquarium is Eddie Robinson. In a city with the athletic tradition of Flint, it’s hard to pinpoint who the best athletes were. There are just so many to pick from it often settles into people picking folks from their sport, generation, or neighborhood. Nothing particularly wrong with that except it usually negates a truly analytic dive into the details.
 
When it comes to basketball it’s even tougher. There have been some truly stellar stars to come out of Flint and Genesee County. But one name that is often left out of that conversation is Robinson.
 
That’s primarily because of the non-traditional route he took to the National Basketball Association. Robinson’s upbringing left much to be desired, and he essentially raised himself. Growing up in Flint’s north end he was exposed to every possible kind of trauma and opportunity to derail his life. He wasn’t much of a student. He never played organized ball, and at Flint Northern, when the Vikings won the state championship with Mateen Cleaves, and Antonio Smith, Robinson was nowhere to be found on the Northern roster. Cleaves once opinied that as good at that team was, the best player in the school wasn’t even on the roster. That player was Robinson. If he had played, we might be talking about that Viking team as the greatest in state history.
 
Instead, Robinson was playing rec ball at Berston Field House. From that position he managed to capture enough attention to land a spot on the roster at Trinity Valley Junior College, and then the Brown Mackie School of Business, a business owned by American Education Centers. Robinson remembers it as being barely recognizable as a real school, and in fact was shut down for committing consumer fraud.
 
Robinson eventually landed at Division 2 University of Central Oklahoma, in Edmond. Playing in the Lone Star League, Robinson’s skills were so obviously extraordinary he made the completely unlikely leap from D2 to NBA.  At 6-9, with speed, length, hops, and incredible energy and ball skills, Robinson was a freak on the court, and his potential seemed unlimited. The YouTube videos you can still see of him in action are eye-popping.
 
But much like the circuitous route Robinson followed to the world pinnacle of his profession, his time in the league would be equally non-conforming, just like Robinson himself. It’s our considered opinion that Robinson's personal theme song should be Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” because that is certainly how he lived his life.
 
It’s a one of a kind interview with a one of a kind individual.  This is an interview that could never be played on the radio in it’s NSFW, but it’s one you won’t want to miss if you have an interest in a helluva story, and the spectacularly circuitous tale of one of the greatest to ever come from the greatest sports town in American history per capita. That’s Eddie Robinson, and his story is unforgettable.

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

The annual conclave with the CANUSA team is as always a riotous good time! The CANUSA games pit Americans from Flint against Canadiens from Hamilton, Ontario Canada against each other in an international friendly Olympic style athletic competition. It's the 66th year the two cities have met and the fellas are all here to break it down!

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

Segment three of Fish's two hour show on Flint's music scene is an explosion of energy coming like a blow torch out of California in the persona of the legendary Peter C. Cavanaugh, Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame radio deejay. Cavanaugh's ebullient personality filled the airwaves of the Flint area for two decades.  Like a ringmaster, he hosted wild and infamous concerts held at local sites like Atwood Stadium, Sherwood Forest and Mt. Holly.  Acts that he worked with read like a who's who of rock 'n roll royalty included The Who, Grand Funk Railroad, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, KISS, and George Clinton with Parliament and the Funkadelics.  It's CRAZY.  His unbelievable and colorful stories keep you wanting more!  TIME IS WAAAAY TOO SHORT with Peter C.!

"In Flint it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission."  --Peter C. Cavanaugh

This episode is one of the show's earliest, recorded at WFNT radio station in Flint, Michigan.  Fish is joined by co-host, Jim Hargrove, "The Voice of Reason".   

Original air date March 13, 2019.

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

A product of Montrose, Michigan, Dan Severn was an absolute legend in the Flint area. Known as the “Baddest of The Bad Asses’ he stood as a man among boys in one of the toughest sports in the world.

His amateur wrestling career started in high school and according to many was an "absolute machine" at 191.5 pounds. Dan won both sports' national championships in 1976 and was named the "Outstanding High School Wrestler in the entire United States". Before his 18th birthday, he was already ranked top six in the nation in the open division and placed in the Olympic trials. He was also a two-time NCAA Division 1 All American, and Olympic alternate on the United States wrestling team in both  1984, and 1988. He won a gold medal at the 1985 National Sports Festival, and a berth on the U.S. World team.  He also held the US national record for victories by pin for an incredible 16 years,  from 1976 to 1992. Severn was inducted into Arizona State University's wrestling hall of fame at the end of his collegiate career.

His professional career took him to the Mixed Martial Arts where he found equal success. Severn is also a legend to to all fans of the fighting sports all around the world. He is a UFC Hall of Famer, the sports only Triple Crown Champion, and a 2 time NWA Champion.  He also pursued a career in the World Wrestling Federation, and ultimately he became an actor appearing in numerous feature films, and television programs.

There is just way too much to list about this man's list of accomplishments, so you’ll have to listen to the episode where Dan and Fish throw down in the Aquarium (figuratively-- not literally--luckily for Fish!!)

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

Tredale Kennedy has been on “Fish and The Flint Chronicles” several times, and each time it’s a different topic. But in fairness, he’s never been on board to participate in a story quite like this one. It’s close to home too, because it involves a close friend, fellow North Ender, and Flint Central Indian Michael Gatewood. In fact Gatewood and Fish go back almost as far, from their early days as 12 and 13 year olds at Whittier Junior High (where Gatewood challenged Fish to a daily wrestling match in gym class). But there was a big interlude after high school when everyone went their separate ways, and during that time Gatewood found himself making some very bad decisions, landing himself in a federal penitentiary.

What transpired there led to his transformation in to a cross country community leader in both Denver, Colorado and his hometown Flint, as well as being a highly acclaimed pastor and member of the T.D. Jakes national ministry and organization. His literal ‘Come to Jesus’ moment in the penitentiary would be an incredible story on its own merits if it only involved a seismic personal change. But the fact that it involved two of the leading members of American organized crime with the last names of Gotti and Gambino take the story to an entirely different level.

It’s another day of incredible storytelling in The Aquarium of “Fish and The Flint Chronicles.” Believe us when we tell you that you will not want to miss this one!

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

Growing up in Flint, Kevin Conroy was offered the opportunity to experience diversity on a scale most kids in America never get to know. That was all an elemental part of his early years at Civic Park Elementary, and exploring the neighborhoods of the city. Not only did he get the chance to participate in sports at a high level, he met kids from backgrounds as wide as the city limits and beyond.

This exploration informed forays in to the competitive landscape of Flint in the late 1970’s. And that ultimately led him to compete in athletics with and against some of the city's very best in a variety of endeavors. This included the ultra competitive Flint youth soccer leagues alongside Fish while a member of the Flint Heddy Decorators Soccer Club, and then on to his high school career at Flint Carman High School. 

From there, he took his estimable academic talents on to Michigan State University, and prepared to take on the world in the same manner he took on and embraced his own youth growing up in Flint and Genesee County.

To say he did so with tremendous success would be to understate the reality by magnitudes of order. Conroy is now the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Exact Sciences. You might not recognize that name, but you will likely recognize the product that his team developed: Cologuard. You've probably seen the walking, talking box on the ubiquitous TV commercials. 

If you’re of a certain age you most assuredly have some familiarity with the product. And if you don’t know, understand that it is a vanguard product that is the very first medical device or diagnostic to receive simultaneous FDA approval and national Medicare coverage. Since that approval in 2014, millions of Americans have used Cologuard to screen for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of death in the United States.

That’s an incredible achievement and  legacy, and one that was propelled forward with maximum velocity when Conroy became CEO in 2009. His tight knit team transformed Exact Science in to the premier world class cancer diagnostic company it is now, with more than 6500 employees worldwide.

The early detection of cancer has been a major driving force and passion in Conroy’s executive and leadership career.  Before taking over at Exact Sciences he was CEO and President of Third Wave Technologies, a molecular diagnostics company that developed a breakthrough cervical cancer screening test before being acquired by Hologic in 2008.

In many ways Conroy is like several super successful business stars from Flint. He’s surely reminiscent of William C. “Billy” Durant who saw a problem with transportation and created a solution first with carriages and then with automobiles by creating General Motors, Chevrolet, and reinventing Buick. Durant then did the same thing with keeping food fresh and healthy when he created Frigidaire. Durant was laser-focused on making average people’s lives much better. In many ways large and small, so is Kevin Conroy.

Like a true Flintstone he is doing it with focus and grit, and like so many of our cities favorite sons, he remembers where is from and the city and community that helped craft him in to the kind of a man that can leverage his unique gifts and talents to improve our world. 

Today he is telling that fascinating and dramatic story with Fish in the Aquarium on “Fish and The Flint Chronicles!”

Originally aired on 6/15/2022

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

A real live Motown-to-Flint connection visits the studio! Flint's very own Norma Fairhurst, of the Velvelettes, dishes with Fish about Motown "in the day", Little Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, Berry Gordy, and more, and how the Velvelettes got their start, and kept Motown in business early on.

Norma went to both Flint Central and Southwestern, graduating from Southwestern.

This is one of our earliest shows recorded at WFNT radio in Flint.  Fish is joined by co-host, Jim Hargrove, and a guy drilling on the roof.  Audio quality is a little suspect...

This episode originally aired on January 16, 2018.

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/

It’s a truly epic day in the Aquarium!  Flint has produced so many incredible athletes in virtually every sport, and we’ve had a ton of them on “Fish and The Flint Chronicles” over the years. However, we rarely have more than one at a time, and only occasionally two. But today we have a truly special moment. We’ve brought four of the GOAT’s together for one show today. This is pure Flint sports history at its finest!
 
Jo Lake – Arguably the greatest ladies high school coach in Michigan high school history.  A genuine ground breaker, pre Title 9 pioneer, she led teams at both Flint Kearsley and Flint Holy Rosary to multiple state titles in three sports (Basketball, Volleyball, and Softball). The story of Jo Lake’s life is the stuff great screenplays are made of though. Her journey from mom and housewife, to nursing school, to becoming one of the most prolific coaches in Michigan High School athletics is one that can only be labeled as unlikely and amazing.  Her stat line includes leading Holy Rosary and Kearsley to eight state high school championships. In the 1975-76 school year, her Holy Rosary teams incredibly won state Class D titles in basketball, volleyball and softball. She also had two more state titles in each of those sports at Holy Rosary and two state Class A volleyball titles at Kearsley. In 1979, Lake was named National High School Volleyball Coach Of The Year.

Sue Novara Reber - One of America’s greatest female cyclists, she was Senior Woman’s National Sprint Champion in 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.  In 1982 she won the Senior Women’s Road National Championship. She also won three silver and four bronze medals in the Senior Women’s National Championships. She won seven Amateur Woman’s Sprint Championship medals: two gold, four silver, one bronze. She also served as coach of the USA Women’s National Team from 1986 to 1988. She was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1991.
 
Pam Stockton Brady - She is a member of the United States Badminton Hall of Fame, elected in 1981.Brilliant in every aspect of the game, she won twenty United States National Championships  between 1972 and 1985; four in singles, eleven in women's doubles, and five in mixed doubles.  She represented the USA in team matches including Uber Cup which was the women's world team in '71-'72, '77-'78, and '80-'81.  In 1981 and 1982 she teamed with husband Danny Brady, to win The United States national mixed doubles titles in 1981 and 1982. She only failed to win a National Championship once between 1965 and 1983 and that was 1975 when her daughter was born. It’s a run that has included dominating performances around the world in addition to the states, Canada, and South Africa including England, Germany, France, Denmark, Peru, Bermuda, Japan, New Zealand and many others.

Linnell Jones McKenney- Flint’s first female professional basketball player, Senior Olympic Champion, local legend, and Italian athletic folk hero for scoring 84 points in a game in Italy, Jones-McKenney is a ground breaking, barrier shattering, positive force of pure energy. In 1980, Jones-McKenney qualified for the U.S. Olympics, but it was boycotted that year so she couldn’t compete. After college, she was drafted fourth overall in 1980 by the St. Louis Streaks of the Women’s Basketball League. She was named the Italian league’s Most Valuable Player three times, earned five All-Star nods, and scored 84 points in a single game.

Although each has been on the show individually the synergy of all four in the same room, at the same time is nothing short of magic. It’s another one of those incredible moments that only happen in the Effervescent Aquarium of “Fish and The Flint Chronicles”!

8/31/22

You can also visit this episode at Fish's website: https://www.flintchronicles.com/