In Conversation with Lesley Visser

In 1979, Jim Boeheim was one of the original Big East personalities, along with John Thompson, Lou Carnesecca and Bill Raftery. Jim and Lesley - who covered the Big East from the beginning - shared memories of the early days, including the time Rick Pitino and Rollie Massimino almost got into a fist-fight at the coach's seminar. Jim said the coaches fought all the time until Commissioner Dave Gavitt would tell them to "Stop, just Stop." Jim said Georgetown was the best defensive team he'd faced in 44 years of coaching, until battling Virginia in the ACC, and that Pearl Washington was the most electrifying college player he's ever seen. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jim talked about everything from his once-scratch golf game to the effects of Name-Image-Likeness on recruiting. Lesley's been around Jim for decades, including in 1994, when he courted his wife Juli at the Kentucky Derby party of a mutual friend. Lesley looked across the room and saw Jim and Juli on a beautiful chintz couch, playing backgammon! (yes, you read that right.) His focus now is on getting Syracuse back to the Sweet 16 while coaching his two sons, Buddy and Jimmy, starting with the -pre-season "Battle for Atlantis" in the Bahamas.

Kenny Mayne - ESPN Sportscenter, NBC Olympics, College Quarterback - also one of the worst contestants in the history of "Dancing With The Stars." Lesley and Kenny talk about his crazy career and share some of their strangest assignments, like Orienteering and golfing off the top of a 7200-foot tall mountain. They also discuss his charity, Run Freely, which provides devices to help veterans with injured limbs, a device that also helped Kenny after decades of his own pain.

Warren Moon and Lesley will always have a special bond. In 2006, he became the first black quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and she became the first woman. In this conversation, Warren talks about everything from his unusual throwing motion - developed by watching and reading about Nolan Ryan - to how he owes some of his success for 23 years to, of all things, a perfect manicure! He discusses the saga of still-unsigned QB Cam Newton, whom he mentored, but Warren is adamant in his disappointment with Cam, or anyone, remaining unvaccinated.

Lesley and David Duchovny got off to a bad start. She bought his book "Bucky F### Dent", thinking he was a Red Sox fan. But no, he's a crazy Yankee fan, having grown-up in the post-Mantle years where he "cried when Mel Stottlemyre lost" and "loved Bobby Mercer." Even though he actually met Ted Williams once, he still makes fun of Fenway Park. He has opinions on everything from palming the ball in the NBA to Kobe getting too many calls in a conference final. A summa cum laude graduate of Princeton, Duchovny studied Pete Carril's "offense that was their defense" and wants to develop a basketball show. He called the 1970 Knicks "the most beautiful basketball ever played until the Golden State Warriors." His favorite book as a child was "The Open Man" by Dave DeBusschere - this from a man who's a few credits shy of a doctoral degree in comparative literature from Yale. And, oh, he's also written four novels and recorded three albums. You'll enjoy the conversation.

Lesley first saw Billie Jean King play in a converted airplane hanger in Boston in 1973. Now old friends, Billie Jean joined Lesley for her first episode of "In Conversation." The iconic athlete and social justice advocate talked about growing up in Long Beach, California, where her brother, Randy Moffitt, went off to pitch in the Major Leagues while she went off to win Grand Slams and change society. Billie Jean shares how a childhood love of baseball and shortstop Maury Wills led her to buy a piece of the Dodgers, where she held "Pride Nights" during the World Series in 2019. They talk about why, at 77 years old, Billie decided to write her autobiography "All In," which was published in August. Billie Jean remembers her first flight, at 17, to Wimbledon, "I kept my racket with me at all times!" she said about not knowing what to expect, and recalls, 60 years later, how it felt to have President Barack Obama put the Presidential Medal of Freedom around her neck. A warrior for all women, Billie Jean shares her thoughts about the mental health issues concerning Naomi Osaka, but also notes the importance of the media in the success of all sports.

Hall of Fame sportscaster Lesley Visser welcomes you to her new podcast. Each week she'll be talking to with the people she's developed relationships throughout her 45 years of covering sports. Enjoy discussions with icons of their sport like Billie Jean King to passionate fans such as actor David Duchovny and Christian McBride, consider the best jazz bassist in the world and a crazy sports fan. Lesley's covered every major sporting event from the Kentucky Derby to Final Four and the Super Bowl, collecting a well of stories along the way that she's excited to share with you. Subscribe today wherever you stream your podcast to listen to this weekly show hosted by the first women enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame!