This episode is Going Deep's 50th show! Well...at least this version of the show. John and Marcia started Going Deep when they were in West Lafayette, Indiana. In this episode, we trace how they made their way to Asheville, and look back at the guests and issues that have really stuck with them since Going Deep started coming out of Blue Ridge Public Radio's studios. (Music featured includes P Flunked Fun by Podington Bear)

The 2019 NFL season starts without one of the league's star players. Two weeks before the season was set to begin, Andrew Luck announced his retirement from the game after just seven seasons. The 29-year-old Indianapolis Colts quarterback's decision stunned the sport and fans. This episode sifts through the reaction - including booing from fans - to look at the physical and mental toll the sport takes on NFL players, before concluding with a beatifully thought-provoking response from Marcia to the question 'What is a fan owed?" (Music featured includes In Pursuit Of Silence by Daniel Birch)

In this episode, our hosts continue their conversation with Dr. Joseph Cooper, author of the book From Exploitation Back To Empowerment: Black Male Holistic (Under)Development Through Sport And (Mis)Education. They focus on 'special admissions' that universities use to admit athletes - and how that really hurts and not helps the people who get them. (Music featured includes Broken Soul Blues by Squire Tuck)

The Shoops welcome Dr. Joseph Cooper to the show in this episode, which focuses on his book From Exploitation Back To Empowerment: Black Male Holistic (Under)Development Through Sport And (Mis)Education. Their conversation is so in-depth and engrossing that we've split it into two episodes. In the first, Dr. Cooper talks about his upbringing and how it led him to write a book about how major revenue college sports exploit African-American males in particular. (Music featured includes Aim by Nctrnm)

On July 7th, 2019, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team won its second consecutive World Cup title. Their dominant run in the tournament sparked some controversy, but even that only underscored what a cultural force the team has become, not just in the U.S. but globally. In this episode we examine how that came be, and how a very well-known law helped women's soccer in the U.S. (Music featured includes Skip Street by Chad Crouch)

John Beilein is the latest big name college coach to jump from the NCAA to the NBA, moving from the University of Michigan to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The college to pros pipeline has always seen a lot of action for the NFL and NBA. But which level is more challenging to coach at - college or the pros? One of our hosts has done both, and he shares his answer. (Music featured includes You Wasted My Time When I Was Timewasting by Podington Bear)

With the month of June over, that means all four major North American sports leagues have conducted their annual player drafts. With that fresh in our minds, John & Marcia sat down with BPR's Matt Bush to figure which of the four drafts is most fair to players, and which one they would want to enter if they had the choice. (Music featured includes Vienna Jazz by Dee Yan-Key)

The 2019 NFL Draft takes place from April 25th to the 27th. This episode doesn't focus on who's going to get picked and where. Instead, it examines the language used to evaluate players - and John's chilling realization about one aspect of the draft combine process that resembles the darkest chapters of American history. (Music featured includes Light Blue by Alan Spiljak)

Where does all the revenue go? Marcia asked that at the end of our previous episode , and we start our second annual Final Four show by answering that question. Later on we get Machiavellian, and ask whether the end justified the means about the head coaches of two schools appearing in the 2019 men's Final Four. (Music featured includes No Noise Nose by Macchiato Funky)

The 2019 NCAA Men's basketball tournament will undoubtedly be remembered for many things. One of them happened early on the first full day of the tournament. As Michigan State struggled to put away underdog Bradley, Spartans head coach Tom Izzo started yelling at freshman star Aaron Henry as he approached the bench during a timeout. Izzo became so heated as he yelled that Spartan players had to restrain him. The controversy it sparked may have been predictable, bouncing between those who felt it was just old-fashioned hard coaching, and others who saw it as bullying. Our hosts at the start of this episode seek to put the incident in a greater context and perspective - not just in coaching and college athletics, but our society as a whole. (Music featured includes Safe As Houses by Daniel Birch)