Mike Behind the Mic

Mike Dubberly talks with pro golfer Billy Mayfair about his recent diagnosis on the autism spectrum in his 50's and why he decided to go public with it. Also, Billy talks about the time he beat Tiger Woods in a playoff, Tiger's only playoff in his storied career.

In this week's Mike Behind the Mic podcast, Mike Dubberly has a conversation with former Alabama running back, Ralph Stokes.  Ralph played for Coach Paul Bear Bryant in the early 1970's after being one of the first to integrate into Montgomery Lee High School. He was not the first to integrate the Alabama football  program, but was one of the first group of black players who followed Wilbur Jackson and John Mitchell. Ralph talks about what he learned from that experience and what he learned playing for Coach Bryant (although his career was limited because of injuries). Ralph eventually succeeded in the healthcare field and then transitioned into a prominent position in the golf world.  He's now the Director of Partnership Marketing for the PGA Tour Superstore. His new book is called One of the First, but we start the conversation talking some golf.

If you're into #FantasyFootball or maybe got talked into joining a league for your first time, we're On Your Side with a little Fantasy Football Draft 101. In this latest Mike Behind the Mic podcast, Mike Dubberly talks with longtime NFL reporter and Fantasy Football Insider Neil Greenberg from the Washington Post. With these tips, hopefully you'll dominate your draft and or least appear to be an All-Pro.

In this week's Mike Behind the Mic podcast, we talk to stand-up comedian, host, writer, and public speaker, Mickey Bell, who as of the release of this podcast on Tuesday August 24th, will be performing at Comedy Club Stardome in Hoover, Alabama. It's part of his One Pound At A Time comedy tour and it's being recorded for an upcoming live comedy TV special. Mickey's comedic career was born out of, by his own admission, some self-inflicted hard times. The former pastor doesn't hide from his sins that became public and resulted in him being removed from pastoral duties. But following that, he fell into a condition so many deal with, but not everyone talks about. Deep depression. Yet, out of that dark time, Mickey found a way to talk about his past and at the same time, make people laugh. As he took time to chat, the Alabama native openly shared his personal story of restoration and second chances, in hopes of encouraging others.

Before there was Tim Tebow, there was Danny Wuerffel. In the mid-90's, playing for Coach Steve Spurrier, it was Wuerffel who led the Florida Gators to their first college football National Championship in school history, while also leading the nation in TD passes two straight seasons. And oh by the way, he also won a Heisman Trophy. Similar to Tim Tebow, Wuerffel is a also devout Christian, but perhaps that's where the similarities end. Wuerffel was more low-key and his time in the limelight came before the explosion of social media. Meanwhile, before Wuerffel's journeyman pro career ended, he started working for a non-profit in New Orleans called Desire Street Ministries, which had several programs to help those in impoverished areas get more opportunities. As the organization was recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Wuerffel took over as executive director. He has since moved Desire Street Ministries to Atlanta and expanded its reach to help non-profits already trying to do good work in inner-cities. Despite a busy schedule, Wuerffel took some time out to talk about several subjects, including his time playing QB in the SEC under the old ball coach, that 1994 SEC Championship Game classic, why he thinks Tim Tebow has become such a polarizing figure and how handled being a successful QB in the high-profile Southeastern Conference.

Are there things you want to accomplish in life, but something is holding you back? In this week's episode of Mike Behind the Mic, we get some insight into how to overcome those roadblocks from one of the most sought after coaches to the executives, Kristoffer Carter. The author, speaker and consultant has worked with executives with top companies like AT&T, Amazon and Edward Jones and has a book due out this fall titled, Permission to Glow: A Spiritual Guide to Epic Leadership. But instead of yet another discussion on leadership skills, we focused more on people like you and me. Those of us just trying to tackle some challenges to move forward with our lives. Here's our conversation and I hope it helps someone on the fence between standing pat or moving forward.

Do you remember seeing the movie Jaws for the first time? For those old enough to remember, it was terrifying. It was not uncommon to hear people say they were traumatized to the point they were afraid, not only to go swim at the beach, but had irrational fears of swimming in lakes, even pools for fear a shark might bite them out of nowhere. In fact, before the sequel to Jaws was released to theaters, the movie's promotional campaign was designed to build suspense off those fears with the slogan --"just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water".... and then you hear that familiar movie theme song...duh duh duh duh. Well now years later, with computer generated special effects, the mechanical shark in Jaws seems almost laughable. But the fear was real and we certainly know there have been real-life, tragic events where people have died from shark bites. So it's understandable that people would have anxiety about what they can't see in the water. Joining us for this episode of Mike Behind the Mic, to perhaps provide a better picture of the reality of shark behavior, is Laura Garcia Barcia. She's an environmental biologist who specializes in marine life conservation. She is also part of the National Geographic Sharkfest series that airs on their various TV platforms and partners. Laura examines the Paige Winter story, a shark bite survivor, who lost a leg and a hand. Laura discusses what we can learn from Paige's story and others to avoid or survive a shark encounter, but she also dispels myths and affirms facts about sharks. Just as we wrap up Shark Week, here's our conversation.

In this episode, we get a chance to talk with rapper, producer, actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur, O'Shea Jackson. You probably know him better as Ice Cube. The founder of the Big3 Basketball League was busy getting ready for Season 4, which will be played primarily in Las Vegas, but also New Orleans and some sites to be determined. Sidenote to my local listeners, it won't be coming to Birmingham this season. Though his time was limited, Ice Cube not only discussed restarting the league after cancelling last season, but also his thoughts on the 2019 passing of actor comedian John Witherspoon from the Friday movie series, who he thinks is the greatest basketball player of all time and what does the N.W.A. artist like or dislike about hip-hop/rap music today? Here's our brief conversation with the one and only, Ice Cube.

I think you are really going to enjoy this episode of Mike Behind the Mic, and hopefully be inspired as we talk to nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Kelly Lang about her current standout single “I’m Not Going Anywhere.” It continues to encourage people in the U.S. and across the globe with its positive message. This song was actually written and recorded nearly two decades ago, but has resurfaced in commercials from Ascension Hospital’s national campaign. The commercial has touched people from every walk of life, especially during the pandemic, but also for those experiencing various challenges, either physically or emotionally. However, to paraphrase the closing line from the late syndicated radio host Paul Harvey, now you'll know the rest of the story. Some background on Kelly Lang: she has been writing for and performing with some of the biggest names in the music industry for years, and she will share some stories about working with some of those mega-stars. She also offers some advice for aspiring artists with big dreams of making it big in Nashville. But before all that, we sample part of her song, "I'm Not Going Anywhere," to set up our conversation, and we do want to warn you, grab your tissue.