Lawrence Moten, the leading scorer in Syracuse basketball history, died unexpectedly on September 30, 2025. He was 53. This episode is a tribute to the legendary Syracuse basketball player.

Nicknamed “Poetry in Moten,” he who played for the Orange from 1991-95. Moten was born in Washington, D.C., helped Syracuse reach the NCAA Tournament in three of his four seasons, and was named a Second-Team All-American during his senior year. Moten later played two seasons with the Vancouver Grizzlies in the NBA before playing overseas in Spain and Venezuela, and several seasons in the Continental Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association. Moten finished his college career with 2,334 points, averaging 19.3 per game.

This episode begins with 6 minutes of audio when Lawrence Moten joined Sports with Friends in 2019 on Episode 224. Then, his former Syracuse teammate, Lazarus Sims, joins the show. Then, former Syracuse center Etan Thomas discussed Moten’s legacy. Finally, longtime Syracuse beat reporter Mike Waters of Syracuse.com joined to discuss what it was like to cover Moten both as a player and in the years following.

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The National Hockey League recently began its 2025-2026 regular season. Greg Wyshynski is an ESPN senior NHL writer, podcaster, and insider. He is also a New Jersey native and a New Jersey Devils fan. This is NOT a Devils podcast, but rather a look at the main issues facing the league.

Topics include: the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will involve NHL players; the competitive balance in the league; the recent income tax debate and its impact on teams; and where Quinn, Jack, and Luke Hughes will wind up. Not in that order.

Wyshynski first gained notoriety when he launched the Puck Daddy blog on Yahoo Sports. He has been with ESPN since October 2017.

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Longtime sportswriter Gary Myers has written his seventh book. “Brady vs. Belichick: The Dynasty Debate” raises one of the great NFL debates among fans of both the New England Patriots and the entire NFL. Who meant more to the Patriots’ nine Super Bowl appearances and six championships? Myers discusses the origin of both coach and player, and makes a strong argument for both with insight, interviews, and analysis.

In this episode, Myers discusses how this became an idea for a book. He discusses the current situations for both Brady as a FOX commentator and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Belichick, who is the new head coach at the University of North Carolina. He discusses controversies, Spygate, and Deflategate, and how they impact both Brady's and Belichick’s legacy.

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Art Shamsky is best known for being a member of the 1969 New York Mets, who won the World Series. Shamsky played Major League Baseball from 1965 to 1972 for the Cincinnati Reds, Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics. In 1969, he hit .300 with 14 home runs, the second-highest total on the team. In the post-season, Shamsky hit .538 in both the newly created National League Championship Series and World Series vs. the Baltimore Orioles.

He recently released his third book, “Mets Stories I Only Tell My Friends.” The book offers a behind-the-scenes and first-hand account of that miracle 1969 Mets season. He discusses the leadership of Tom Seaver, the steady hand of manager Gil Hodges, and what it was like to share right field with charismatic Ron Swoboda.

In this episode, Shamsky explains why he wrote this third book. He details how not a day goes by that he isn’t reminded of that championship season. At the end of the episode, he explains why he has known Seth Everett for over twenty years.

Get “Mets Stories I Only Tell My Friends” here: https://tinyurl.com/3puhkrhc

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The 2025 US Open tennis tournament once again had record crowds and is being recapped after the final victories by men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz and women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka. The singles tournament took place over 15 days and featured the world’s best tennis players. 

The men’s final was marred by the appearance of Donald Trump in the crowd. The added security led to thousands of fans missing the beginning of the final waiting on lines to get in. The USTA also censored broadcasters from saying much about the President’s presence at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Russ Thaler is a broadcaster for US Open Radio and TV and is a longtime sportscaster. In this episode, Thaler explains the plight of Americans at this tournament, including Amanda Anisimova of New Jersey reaching her second major final. Thaler also discusses the resurgence of Naomi Osaka and whether anyone can challenge Alcaraz or #1 seed Jannik Sinner for a major title.

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New York Times best-selling author Jane Leavy has written amazing biographies of some of baseball’s all-time iconic players. She’s written books about Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle, and the legendary Babe Ruth. When looking for a fourth biography, she found that the sport she had loved and covered for decades had undergone drastic changes. Rather than profile one particular subject, she interviewed countless baseball figures to get to the root of what’s gone wrong in baseball and offer solutions to restore its former glory.

“Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It” includes interviews with such baseball luminaries as Joe Torre, Dave Roberts, Jim Palmer, Dusty Baker, and Buck Showalter. She spends equal time discussing what’s right with baseball, and how it illuminates characters, tells stories, and fires up the imagination of those who love it and everyone who could discover it anew.

In this episode, Leavy explains how the genesis of this book came about and who she considered writing a biography on. She also debates the challenges baseball is facing, and offers hope on why the game is still special.

Get Make Me Commissioner here: https://tinyurl.com/mrynz3cw

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This week marks week one in the 2025 college football season. The NFL season is a week away. As football takes center stage, Yahoo Sports senior writer Jay Busbee previews both seasons and tells us the teams to watch in 2025.

Busbee is an accomplished author. His latest book, “Iron in the Blood: How the Alabama vs. Auburn Rivalry Shaped the Soul of the South,” was released the week this podcast comes out.  

The book is a behind-the-scenes account of the Alabama vs. Auburn rivalry, one of the fiercest in American sports, detailing its rich history, celebrating the triumphs of both teams, and showcasing the larger-than-life power of football to break down barriers and shape an entire culture. Busbee traces the perpetual impact of football in Alabama, from the days of Reconstruction, through the Civil Rights era, to the hyper-partisan climate of the 2020s.

In this episode, Busbee explains Auburn’s place in the state of Alabama and how it competes with the University of Alabama. He also discusses the changing landscape of college football and how that will impact the games on the field. The episode concludes with a preview of the upcoming NFL season, including a focus on the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions.

Order “Iron in the Blood” here: https://tinyurl.com/fn9e8v28

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The week of this episode’s release is the same week that ESPN is launching its long-awaited streaming app, which is a direct-to-consumer product that does not require a cable subscription. Still, how many customers will pay for ESPN without bundling it with other streaming service options? On August 5th, 2025, ESPN acquired the NFL Network and other NFL media assets, including the linear rights to the league's popular RedZone channel, in a deal that will see the NFL get a 10% equity stake in the all-sports network.

Those titanic stories are the backdrop for Michael McCarthy’s return to the show. McCarthy is an award-winning Senior Writer for Front Office Sports.

McCarthy has won both Best News Story and Best Project reporting from the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE). His stories have appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, USA TODAY, Sporting News, Newsday, and Adweek. He’s also written for the official publications of the NFL and Major League Baseball. McCarthy has appeared on everything from CBS This Morning, NBC’s Today show, Fox & Friends, and Access Hollywood to CNBC, CNN, NPR, and the BBC. McCarthy has also served as a journalism professor at Rutgers University since 2015. He’s based in New Jersey.

In this episode, McCarthy discusses the ESPN NFL deal, the streaming app, and the network’s dropping of Major League Baseball. He also covers the NBA, NHL, and NCAA in this episode.

Front Office Sports is having its 2nd annual “Tuned In” seminar in Midtown Manhattan. On September 16th, 2025, leaders within the sports media space—ranging from athletes and on-air talent to media moguls and league executives who are instrumental in shaping the future of how fans view sports. Registration includes a full day of programming with leading names in sports media.

For more information: https://events.frontofficesports.com/tunedin2025.

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Hall of Fame baseball writer Bill Madden has covered the Yankees and Major League Baseball for over 50 years, including more than four decades with the New York Daily News. He is a bestselling author and the 2010 recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s BBWAA Career Excellence Award. His new memoir is entitled Yankees, Typewriters, Scandals, and Cooperstown: A Baseball Memoir. Tracing through the timeline of Madden’s exceptional career, this book tells amazing stories of some wild times in the history of the New York Yankees and their bombastic owner, George Steinbrenner.

In this episode, Madden discusses the origin of the book idea. He tells incredible stories about covering the Yankees, specifically in the early 1980s at the height of the Steinbrenner circus. He comments on what newspapers were like in the past compared to online journalism today. He talked about the inner workings of the Yankees and the differences in player relationships today vs. when he traveled on team charters with the team.

Check out Yankees, Typewriters, Scandals, and Cooperstown: A Baseball Memoir by Bill Madden here: https://bit.ly/4lntjsY

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Longtime ESPN New York host Don La Greca is making his second appearance on the podcast. His first, Episode 336, came when he had two totally different jobs. In July 2025, La Greca was named the new television voice of the New Jersey Devils on MSG Network. He is also currently the host of afternoon drive on ESPN New York with Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg. In his first appearance, Don was a co-host on the Michael Kay Show on the YES Network and ESPN New York, and a backup radio play-by-play announcer for the New York Rangers.

La Greca has been a mainstay in New York sports for nearly two decades. He has always publicly revealed that he is a longtime fan of the Devils and that this is a dream job for him.

In this episode, La Greca tells the story of how this new Devils job came to be. He explains his lifelong fandom of the franchise and discusses the reactions he received from many broadcasting and sports dignitaries since the announcement was made. He also commented on the Devils' chances in 2025-2026, and what it means for him to have this opportunity.

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