From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star Podcast

This week we have three guests for the "Not Just a Game" podcast: two high school stars who are waiting for their fall sports, and one who is already competing in hers. Boylan swimmer Nhia Caras is off and swimming, while North Boone QB Logan Emanuel and Lutheran volleyball star Lauren Spangler had their seasons pushed to the spring. Hear what they have to say about everything that has come down.

Dan and Dennis Scarpetta, owners and operators of Rockford Baseball Academy, talk about their baseball operations as well as all other levels during this coronavirus pandemic. Host Jay Taft is a sports reporter with the Rockford Register Star. This week's interview was recorded on July 23, 2020.

Four-time state champion head football coach from Lena-Winslow, Ric Arand, talks about the pandemic, and his hope for how the return to football will look.

Sophie Brunner just made the switch from star basketball player to coach, taking a job as an assistant at Rockford Lutheran. Listen to what she has to say about COVID-19, and her race back home when it hit in Italy, as well as her decision to change over to a coach.

With all the uncertainty in the world these days, Northern Illinois University athletic director Sean Frazier talks about the past, present and future as he attempts to maneuver the college sports world during a pandemic.

The public health administrator of the Winnebago County Health Department Sandra Martell has been on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic from the get-go.

Martell has utilized her over 30 years of experience in public health to help navigate our region through the most difficult health crisis of our time. This week she joined us as the guest of our weekly sports podcast, “Not Just a Game,” to discuss how the virus has affected the sports’ world, and how sports will begin to creep back into existence.

“We are learning as we go through this,” Martell said. “This has been, as we said, one for the books. But I think we did it with the support and the full intent that we would get as many people through this as we could.”

“Not Just a Game” can be found at rrstar.com/sports. Or you can get the latest episode by subscribing for free to “From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star” wherever you listen to podcasts.

These episodes were produced and edited by multimedia journalist Scott P. Yates.

Host: Jay Taft: [email protected]; Twitter @JayTaft

Dathan Wickson Jr. survived brain surgery back when he was first entering Boylan High School, and after a speedy and determined recovery, last year he became the lone Titans wrestler to qualify for state last winter.

Now Wickson Jr. is being named the Rockford Register Star’s Passion and Perseverance Award Winner, which will be announced during Thursday night’s virtual banquet on rrstar.com. On Thursday morning, he and his father and coach, Dathan Wickson Sr., will be on NBC’s the Today Show with Olympic gold-medal winning wrestler Jordan Burroughs to talk about the banquet, and the award.

“It’s all like a Walt Disney movie, you know,” Wickson Sr. said of all that his family has been through, and now for the opportunity to be on the Today Show with his son and Burroughs. “It was all unexpected... The Today Show, and Jordan Burroughs, who we really look up to, he’s like the Michael Jordan of wrestling. The way he carries himself with his character and the way he displays his morals, to be able to talk to him and have my son be able to express himself to him, and all this attention and recognition, it’s just unbelievable. We’re just grateful and happy.”

“Not Just a Game” can be found at rrstar.com/sports. Or you can get the latest episode by subscribing for free to “From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star” wherever you listen to podcasts.

Host: Jay Taft: [email protected]; Twitter: @JayTaft

Produced and edited by multimedia journalist Scott P. Yates.

The Rockford Rivets received approval from state and county health officials to go ahead with a plan to return to action with fans in the stands. Players will begin returning to Rivets Stadium next week in anticipation of a July 1 start to the season.

General manager Chad Bauer was instrumental in making this all happen for the Rivets, and is this week’s “Not Just a Game” podcast guest. Bauer discusses all that went in to getting it done, and what it’s going to take to make it work.

“We kind of hung in there, and said ’things are going to change over time,’ so let’s adapt as it comes,” Bauer said. “The response we got from the health department was really good. Then they said ’Let’s do this. We think you can do this right, so let’s do this.’”

“Not Just a Game” can be found at rrstar.com/sports. Or you can get the latest episode by subscribing for free to “From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star” wherever you listen to podcasts.

Host: Jay Taft: [email protected]; @JayTaft

These episodes were produced and edited by multimedia journalist Scott P. Yates.

Leslie Rolfe of Rockford Youth Activism, which has led multiple protests against racism and police violence, gives opening remarks on Saturday, June 6, 2020, at Saturn Park in Rockford.

Freeport head football and wrestling coach Anthony Dedmond, a respected leader in the city’s black community, sat down this week for a podcast discussion about issues that transcend athletics.

He offered thoughtful comments about national unrest following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and talked about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected his family and his teams.

“People have been trying to let their voices be heard for a long time now,” Dedmond said during the podcast. “And there are a lot of quality people in the world, and they’re listening. We’re talking, and they’re listening.”

Dedmond grew up in Freeport and played sports at the high school. He was a Stephenson County correctional officer from 2004 to 2010. As a coach at Freeport, he has provided a boost to the Pretzels’ football program since taking over three years ago. In his 15th year as head wrestling coach, he led the team to its first NIC-10 conference title this past winter.

“Not Just a Game” can be found at rrstar.com/sports. Or you can get the latest episode by subscribing for free to “From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star” wherever you listen to podcasts.

These episodes were produced and edited by multimedia journalist Scott P. Yates.

Jay Taft: @[email protected]; @JayTaft