Andrew Slater joins us for the podcast today.  Andrew is the Head Baseball Coach at The Collegiate School.  Paul and Andrew have known each other since they were both at St. Christopher’s though Paul is a few years older.  Andrew attended St. Christopher’s through 6th grade and then went to Collegiate where he graduated in 1996.

Andrew talks about getting a football scholarship to the University of Richmond where he also played baseball.  He tells us how his life changed when he suffered a back injury at the end of his freshman year.  He left UofR and headed to Auburn University where his brother Tom was a baseball coach.  Andrew played baseball for two years at Auburn and spent a third year there as a student assistant coach and he said this is when he really developed a passion for coaching.  He then went onto coach baseball at VMI and then Western Kentucky.  In 2008, Andrew and his wife Samantha decided it was time to move back to Virginia and that’s when he started at Collegiate.

Paul and Andrew also discussed how Andrew believes it is important that kids play multiple sports when they are growing up.  They discussed his baseball journey as a player and a coach and how Collegiate won a State Championship in 2016.  Andrew talked about his other duties at Collegiate (he’s busy,) his dad’s work ethic and 1 on 1 basketball games with his big brother.  Andrew finished by talking about Samantha and their three boys … Will (16), Jake (13) and Sam (11.)

Trip Chalkley is the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Hanover County, Virginia.  Trip has known Paul since he was a kid through Paul’s dad Larry.  Both Larry and Trip went to the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond and worked together in Hanover County.

Trip talks about growing up in Richmond, attending John Marshall High School and how he almost didn’t go back for his second year of law school. Trip talks about his father and how he and his sister learned later in life that he was a WW2 hero.  Paul, guest host Kevin Flippen and Trip discussed Trip’s 45 year law career as both a defense attorney and as a prosecutor and the difference between the two.

Trip also talked about some memorable cases, playing billiards, his favorite meal and his love of reading and golf. Trip finishes the podcast by talking about his family and his future as the Hanover Commonwealth’s Attorney.

Lynne Hughes joins us this week.  Lynne , with the help of others, runs Comfort Zone Camps.  CZC is a camp for people who are grieving.  It started out for kids and has now expanded in many ways.

Lynne has personal experience with the grieving process.  Lynne, who has 3 brothers, lost her Mom when she was 9 and her dad when she was 12. She lived at various places until she graduated high school and then she attended Michigan State University.  Lynne discusses how a lot of different jobs and experiences set her on the path to finding Comfort Zone Camps.  Because she lost her parents at an early age, Lynne believed that God thought she was special.  She always wondered what his plans were for her and CZC became her purpose in life.  Lynne talks about the ups and downs before, during and after she founded CZC.

Lynne is married to Kelly and they have two kids.  Evan just graduated from Virginia Tech and their daughter Jaime just finished her freshman year at VA Tech.

On this episode, we have Kevin Flippen who is a previous guest (Episode 32 with Al Lester) and now doubles as an occasional guest host. Kevin aka Flip, and Paul have been friends for over 28 years.  Kevin talks about a myriad of subjects including being adopted by awesome parents and all things sports from being a long suffering Padres fan to wiffle golf.  Kevin also discusses the tragic death of his sister Denise and ends with a chat about his wife Angel and their three boys, Brody, Briggs and Beau.

This week we welcome Chase Miffleton.  Chase grew up in Powhatan and played baseball and also competed in cross country and track.  Chase gets his running genes from his grandma who has run quite a few marathons.  

After graduating high school, Chase attended Va Tech. Influenced by a family member, Chase applied for and got a unique job on campus as an equipment manager for the Hokie Football team.  After receiving partial scholarship money his first three years, he was selected by the program to receive a full scholarship his senior year.  Only one senior is selected each year to win this scholarship. During his time at Va Tech, Chase interned twice with the Washington Football Team at their training camp in Richmond.  This was special to Chase as he grew up a Washington fan.  

After graduation from Va Tech, Chase was hired as a full time equipment manager by the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Even though Washington is still his favorite team, Chase has nothing but high praise for the Steeler organization from Mr. Rooney to Coach Tomlin to the players.  Chase is engaged to his fiancé Stephanie and they are moving back to Virginia and getting married in 2022.  Pictured L-R is Chase with Alex Smith, the 2020 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

This week’s story is told by Ilona Levine.  Ilona was born and raised in the Moldovan part of the Soviet Union.  When Ilona was 13 years old, the Soviet Union collapsed and she witnessed her native Moldova begin its journey to becoming a sovereign nation.  Ilona grew up in an apartment and usually climbed the 15 flights of stairs rather than take the elevator due to the unreliable supply of electricity.  Ilona was a classical ballet dancer and was also a teacher during her teen years.  At times, she would teach as many as 150 students.  Ilona attended Moldovan Law School at the age of seventeen.  She essentially skipped the step of getting a bachelor’s degree because she tested so high on the law school entrance exam.  When Ilona immigrated to the U.S.A. at nineteen, she had not quite finished law school.  She was told that she would need a bachelor’s degree before she could finish law school in the U.S.  Ilona attained her undergrad degree in two and a half years.  Ilona is currently the General Counsel at Internet Society, a non-profit focused on growing and strengthening the internet across the globe.

Bobby Alirezai, AKA DJ Oso Fresh, fled his native Tehran as a child when the Shah of Iran was exiled in 1979. In this conversation, he tells us about his story of moving to America, having to learn English from scratch, and the passions he has found joy in, including breakdancing, graffiti art, and DJing. 

He is the brother in law of Tim Clark, whom we interviewed on this podcast in episode 69.

Lionel Bacon is our guest this week. He is a former VCU basketball player and the youngest of twelve children. Lionel discusses his childhood and growing up in the Beecher Terrace neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky. He told us how he got to VCU (an amazing mom, God and the ability to play basketball). 

Lionel talked about his journey and how it has led him to a life of helping others. From his 20 years at the YMCA to his current position at the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, Lionel is dedicated to helping people, especially kids. 

He told us about why he started competing in Spartan Races in 2018 and made it to the world championships the following year! We finished with Lionel telling us about his wife Christy and their three boys, as well as a very emotional chat about his dad.

Kevin T. Eastman is the former assistant coach and VP for Basketball Operations of the Los Angeles Clippers. He also served as head coach and assistant coach in the college ranks, and was on Doc Rivers' coaching staff with the Boston Celtics for over a decade. 

He is now a semi-retired motivational speaker for sports teams and businesses.

Pictured: Kevin Garnett, Kevin Eastman, Doc Rivers

Kenny Wingle is a stand-up comedian and producer of the upcoming ROFL Comedy Series in Richmond VA. Kenny is a Detroit native, born to a Native American mother and Polish father. He has been a stand up comedian for years, and has produced comedy shows featuring the likes of Whitney Cummings.

He is producing Richmond's Open For Laughs (ROFL) Comedy Series which you can enjoy at Atlas 42 (4032 Cox Rd Ste A, Glen Allen, VA) over the coming weeks and months (Apr 23, May 14, May 28, Jun 18 and Jul 30).

This conversation features guest host Kevin Flippen, friend of the podcast and youth baseball coaching partner to Kenny.

Pictured (left to right): Kevin, Kenny, Paul