The Bragman Breakdown

Welcome to the first edition of The Bragman Breakdown in almost two years! 

This week, Wayne State University English Professor Dr. Ken Jackson makes his fourth appearance on the show to talk about Chloé Zhao’s film adaptation of Hamnet, the evolution of the Late-Night Talk Show medium, why society today isn’t as sophisticated as we think, and more. 

Huge thanks to Dr. Jackson for joining us, huge thanks to each of you for listening along, and as always, enjoy! 

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Welcome to the final episode of NSL Talk! of the 2024 season. On June 22nd at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the New York City Knights were crowned as the first ever NSL Champions. Today, we have a recap and analysis of the match, followed by an exclusive interview with Knights star player and 2024 NSL MVP Sebastien Bonmalais and New York City Head Coach Sam Scherl to cap off an amazing first season of NSL Talk! 

Finals recap and analysis (0:28)

Final reflections on an amazing inaugural season of the National Squash League (25:54)

Exclusive interview with Sebastien Bonmalais and Sam Scher (30:18)

Thank you guys for listening, and  please... Enjoy!

 Stay informed! Check out the NSL website: https://nslsport.com/

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Welcome to episode 4 of NSL Talk! The regular season has just wrapped up and we’re less than 2 weeks away from the NSL Finals at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

We have 2 great interviews on today’s show, kicking things off with New York City Knights star Matias Knudsen. We talked about growing up playing squash in Bogota, Columbia, deciding to play college squash in the US, his viral trick shots that have taken social media by storm, his first year as a full time professional on the PSA World Tour (It really was a rollercoaster year for the Colombian) and more (4:41). 

We then welcomed TJ Dembinski of the Newport Dragons onto the show. A 2-time All American and former collegiate National Champion at Yale University, TJ was drafted by the Newport Dragons in the 4th round of this year’s NSL Draft. The former Yale Bulldog grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, just down the road from his alma mater. We talked about his longtime friend and teammate (In high school, college, and the National Squash League) Spencer Lovejoy, his National Championship winning season in 2016, his former coach, the legendary Dave Talbott, what it's meant to him to be apart of the NSL's inaugural season, and more (1:04:35). 

Enjoy!

 Stay informed! Check out the NSL website: https://nslsport.com/

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Jackson first met Fred Mirbach when he served as the long term substitute teacher for his radio class during his junior year of high school. Since, they’ve developed an unlikely friendship that’s now spanned almost three years, but Jackson realized that he didn't really know Fred’s life story. Bits and pieces, sure, but what was he like growing up? Where did his journey take him? How did he become the 74 year old husband, father, and grandfather that he is today? With Jackson being away at school this year, the two shared many phone calls featuring advice, counseling, and gossip, and finally, they were able to sit down in person to discuss the evolution of their relationship through the lens of Fred’s life story. Really cool episode, huge thanks to Fred for coming on and opening up the way he did. Enjoy!

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Welcome to episode 129 of The Bragman Breakdown and episode 3 of NSL Talk. Great show for the people today as we are halfway through the National Squash League regular season with 2 huge matches coming up this weekend as the 1-0 Nashville Crushers are set to take on the Derby City Colts this Friday, May 17th and the New York City Knights will do battle with the Chicago Grizzlies this Saturday, May 18th.

We have 3 interviews on today’s show beginning with 2 gentlemen who both play in the NSL for the Nashville Crushers and Newport Dragons respectively, league cofounders, my bosses, and most importantly, friends of the program Timmy Brownell and Spencer Lovejoy. The Crushers and Dragons are each 1-0 to kick off the season, Timmy and Spencer talked about that and their teams, a little behind the scenes from their opening weekends. They also reflected on how far the league has come from the first ever NSL rules exhibition match in Louisville, Kentucky in May 2023 to the first season of the NSL being so successful with bigger and better days on the horizon (5:59). 

Following that, the 22 year old from Leicester, England who’s seen a rapid rise up the PSA World Rankings Simon Herbet joined the show. We heard from Simon about joining the NSL, how it’s lived up to his expectations, as well as working with one of squash’s most polarizing coaches Rob Owen, who’s worked with the likes of former World #1 and current World #2 Paul Coll, current World #4 Nele Gillis, and British Junior Open finalist, the 18 year old phenom Jonah Bryant. The Englishman also told some funny stories of being on tour and answered some rapid fire questions (26:41). 

Finally, NSL commissioner Fernando Valdizan joined the show to talk about the NSL’s new partnership with US Squash, the early success of the league in its inaugural season, and the future of the NSL (1:09:28). 

Enjoy!

 Stay informed! Check out the NSL website: https://nslsport.com/ 

Subscribe to the NSL on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NationalSquashLeague

Follow the NSL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsl.sport?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

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For the last 14 years, alongside his cohost Dr. Trey Franklin, Jeff Peck has served as the host of the Still Real to Us Show and this week he returned to The Bragman Breakdown podcast. 

The first time we had Jeff on was a year and a half ago to talk about CM Punk’s now infamous media scrum following AEW All Out 2022, so this time Jackson had to ask him his thoughts on Punk’s, more recent, explosive shoot interview on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani in the leadup to WrestleMania a few weeks ago. Before that, however, the gents recapped WrestleMania 40 from Philadelphia and discussed the current state of WWE creative with Vince Macmahon out of the company and the dawn of the Paul Levesque era in WWE. Great show today, huge thanks to Jeff for making time for us. Make sure to catch him and Dr. Trey every Thursday on the Still Real to Us Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy!

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Dr. Ken Jackson is an English Professor at Wayne State University specializing in Shakespeare, religion, continental philosophy and literary theory and this week he's back on The Bragman Breakdown for the third time. Dr. Jackson shares his thoughts on parenting and early childhood development in 2024, and what the future holds for Gen Z.

Huge thanks to Dr. Jackson for making time for us and we hope to have him on many more times in the future. Enjoy!

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Welcome to episode 2 of NSL Talk! We have a stacked show for the people today, as Jackson Bragman and Sean Choi are back to chronicle an eventful draft weekend in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jackson and Sean kickoff the show by recapping their truip to Nashville and analyzing the brand new NSL rosters by power ranking all 6 teams (13:23). 

Next, they chat with New York City Knights 4th round pick and college squash legend Sam Scherl on how his minimalistic warmup gives him a leg up in the NSL format, beating Moustafa Asal in juniors, and his excitement to be back playing competitive squash (53:52).

Finally, the gents interview the first pick in the history of the NSL Draft, the Atlanta Tornado's Youssef Ibrahim about what it means to be the first draft selection in NSL history, his fandom for American sports, and how his team stacks up to the competition across the league (1:11:41).

Enjoy! 

Stay informed! Check out the NSL website: https://nslsport.com/

Subscribe to the NSL on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NationalSquashLeague

Follow the NSL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsl.sport?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

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Attention!!! Squash University is now streaming on its own podcast page, wherever you. Click here to subscribe to Squash U on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4vYwalf9Kmufl4peQUKw8V?si=5abd04192139455b 

Or go to the explore page and search "Squash University" wherever you get your podcasts! 

The University of Pennsylvania Quakers are your 2024 CSA Men's National Champions! After an amazing season full of talking about teams across college squash, this episode is all about our guy Gilly and his boys hoisting the Potter Cup for the first time in school history, and what better way to do it than live, in person, at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in the heart of Philadelphia, PA, the site of Penn's National Title win less than a week prior. 

Gilly tells Jackson how it feels to finally win a National Championship for the school he played for almost 2 decades ago and what it means for the Penn Squash program before the gents welcome on Penn team captain Roger Alber Baddour to recount the team's trials and tribulations throughout the year and how they were able to avenge their 2 regular season losses, to Princeton and Trinity, in the National semifinals and finals. 

It was so cool to record live from the Specter Center during last week's CSA Individual Championships. Huge congrats to our brand new CSA Women's Individual National Champion, Harvard's Saran Nghiem and the men's champion, Trinity's Mohamed Sharaf. 

Huge thanks to Roger for joining us and congrats for helping lead his team to its first ever National Championship. Enjoy! 

The CSA National Team Championships are in the books and the women of Trinity College, and Gilly's men of the University of Pennsylvania each hoisted their respective trophies this Sunday at the home of this years competition, the Arlen Specter Center. Gilly and Jackson will breakdown the exciting National Championship weekend next week live in person when the gents are back at Specter for the Individual National Championship competition, but, in the meantime, congrats to Gilly and his boys, as well as Wendy Bartlett and the Trinity women on amazing seasons.

This week's show features 2 amazing interviews conducted last week that we haven't been able to upload until now, but still think are enthralling and wanted to share with all of you.

First, the guys were joined by CSA All-American and University of Rochester #1, from India, Yash Fadte. Yash joined us days after his team won the Hoehn Cup, the second division in men’s college squash, to finish 13th in the country. Yash was fantastic and extremely candid about the roller-coaster of a season he's had with U of R this season, which ultimately ended on a high note and Hoehn Cup victory.

Next was Columbia head men's and women's coach Chris Sachvie. Gilly and Chris reminisced about their first ever match, Gilly a senior for Penn at the time, playing Chris, a freshman at Cornell, and the, perhaps overly lively home crowd in attendance in Philly. Chris also spoke about his men’s and women’s teams, their seasons thus far, and preparing for the Nationals competition last weekend.

Fun episode this week. Huge thanks to Yash and Chris and, once again, huge congrats to Trinity and Penn, our brand new CSA National Champions. Enjoy!

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