The Sporting Blog Podcast

Mystic Zach - We talk to Zach Hirsch about his meteoric rise and the future of the fight game

About Zach Hirsch

Zach Hirsch, 19, widely known as Mystic Zach, is the most popular and most accurate young sports analyst and handicapper in the world. At only seventeen years old, Zach picked over 90% of all football, basketball and combat sports correctly in 2019.

Amazingly he picked 21 straight college football games correctly including the SEC Championship, the College Semi-Finals and the National Championship Game. He has predicted hundreds of boxing, MMA and most recently BKFC Bareknuckle bouts correctly in addition to accurately calling the last four NFL Super Bowls. Zach, who has interviewed some of the top combat sports stars and influencers in the world including Floyd Mayweather, Sugar Rashad Evans, Shannon Briggs, Logan Paul, Jake Paul and more, has quickly become one of the hottest influencers in the sports analytics world.

He has 500,000 followers on his iPickWins Instagram account and thousands of visitors to his website www.ipickwins.com.

In Today’s Podcast, Oli and Zach talk about…

How Zach got into picking winners, and why he loves all sports

How studying lots and lots of games is key to his strategy

Appealing to the Gen Z fan

Boxing and the future of PPV

Some of his favourite interviews like Canelo, Fury and more

Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Uysk - The heavyweight merry go round

What he has coming up!

It was great talking to Zach, who amazingly makes all this happen whilst having just aced his first year at college as well. Incredible!

Be sure to check out our boxing content which is growing every week!

Her Game Too is the initiative of 12 like minded women, who are putting the message out there that football is not just a game to be enjoyed by men. Tackling sexist comments and online abuse is something that the social networks themselves seem uninterested in, so the #HerGameToo team are tackling it themselves.

Oli talks to Caitlin Bennet, Amy Clement and Eve Ralph from #HerGameToo about a variety of topics under the broad umbrella of sexism in Football.

In today’s podcast we talk about;

Team intro’s from Amy, Caitlin and Eve

Examples of sexist behaviour in football - In the workplace, in the pub and on the terraces?

Why women shouldn’t have to prove their interest in football

Educating young people about what is appropriate behaviour

What can the sport itself do

Responsibility of social platforms

Find out more about #HerGameToo at https://www.hergametoo.co.uk/

Follow Eve, Amy and Caitlin on social

Eve - https://twitter.com/everalphx

Amy - https://twitter.com/amyclement94

Caitlin - https://twitter.com/CaitBennett_

If you follow Football (or soccer) closely on Twitter, you are bound to have come across Harry Brooks. Well known for his genuine insight, and detail orientated analysis, he is the mould of what a football coach might look like over the next decade.

We had a chat with Harry to discuss, amongst other things, the following:

Coaching outside of a club structure

Individual assessment (as opposed to assessment under the framework of the whole)

Where younger players generally need that extra bit of help/guidance, which part of their games can truly be worked on in a way that a club coach or manager can see improvement

Learned techniques that probably need to be unlearned

Social channels and appetite for actually understanding the game

If you are interested in the role that coaches play in football, especially outside of the club structure, this one is for you.

Follow Harry on Twitter!

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Oli talks to the former softball star about a whole bunch of stuff which frankly could have gone on for hours!

On today’s podcast we discuss:

An intro from Hannah and how she got into her current role in the MLB

The mental side of sport for an individual as opposed to a team

Staying present - a key factor in baseball

Compartmentalisation as a learned skill

Assessing an athlete’s mental skills based on background, culture etc.

Normalising the person in the professional environment

Putting mental skills training into practice

How we can and should always be learning

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A fascinating guy, we spoke about;

Where Joe got his inspiration from - the scouts, his travels and the desire for a brighter future

If you want something, do something about it!

His focus on the USA as a market for Reebok in the early days and how he got there

The iconic Aztec running shoe

Growth into Aerobics and then Tennis - the tipping point of going from growing, to huge

Marketing and Influencers - why things haven’t really changed, and that moment in 1991 at the NBA Slam Dunk contest

What he would do to help make Badminton more popular (his playing passion)

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Rob Fahey MBE OAM won his first Real Tennis World Championship in 1994, and aside from a brief period between 2016-18 has been the World Champion ever since.

We had Rob on the podcast to talk about the early days in his career, what it was like turning pro and travelling the world, and what it has taken to stay at the top of the game for so long.

Broadly, we discuss :

How he started playing Real Tennis

The jump to being a professional player and aiming to be a tournament winner

What it took to break through to the elite level

Forms of practice and analysing losses

The rise of professionalism in all sports

How the frequency of competition fuels competitive desire

Playing without expectations

A truly great man to chat to for 45 mins or so, it’s worth a listen to no matter what sport you are into, or even if you aren’t! Listen below or anywhere you get your podcasts.

On today’s podcast, we talk to Peter about;

The history of Rugby Bricks

Comparing training in rugby with other sports

The role of detail when listening to professional athletes

How to present that detail in a way that engages the audience without putting them off

Social media and content strategy - how Peter sets up his content so it gets watched

Instagram as a platform - why it’s a winner for Rugby Bricks

Kicking tees - How that side of the business started and why they are made in New Zealand

Why it’s “Ok to be obsessed”

Favourite Dog - Golden Retriever

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Clive Russell talks to us about his work in MLB, fandom in 2020 and his experiences in live sport both as a professional and as a fan

On today’s podcast, Oli chews the fat with Clive Russell, former Head of MLB in the UK and Europe, and long time sports business professional.

Amongst many other things we talk about:

US sport and sporting brand presence in the UK

How fans consume content and what that might look like in the future

Storytelling as a medium for connecting fans to their teams

Sporting venues - how they stack up and what are fan expectations going forward?

Supporting Liverpool Home and Away

Hugo the dog (Border Terrier)

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On today’s Podcast we are joined by Tim Crow, a world leader in sports marketing

Tim Crow has been in the sports marketing game since the 1980s, and is still at the sharp end some 30 odd years later. Oli and Tim both love talking about sport, marketing and sponsorship, so sit back and relax as we take you through it all!

If you have any interest in sports marketing, sponsorship and that world, this is a must-listen.

On this week’s Podcast

Starting in cricket, moving into the agency world

Documentary making and sports marketing

Differences between the US and UK sports sponsorship

What’s changed in sports marketing over the years - where budgets are placed

Authenticity in the sports marketplace

Nostalgia marketing and looking back at things done well

Non-league football and ownership

Women in sport

How to listen

You can click above to listen and download or listen on the following platforms:

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British Esports Association Chairman Andy Payne is today’s guest on The Sporting Blog Podcast, and it’s a cracker

Andy Payne has been in the video game industry since the 1980s, and has seen this once niche world explode over the years into the gargantuan industry it is today. We sat down to discuss the world of gaming and esports from top to bottom.

On this week’s Podcast

This might well be known as the ‘Oli Rant edition’ as we get onto some fairly emotive points, but as always it is very easy and great chatting to Andy. Amongst many other things we cover;

The gaming industry in the 80s and the rise of the home computer & coding at schools

The tipping points that changed the way we approached video games in the UK

The huge amount of innovation in the UK, including the invention of some of the worlds most popular games such as GTA and Red Dead Redemption

The rise of esports and the professional era

Why South Korea is ahead of the curve in esports, and why the UK is not investing enough in infrastructure (Rant 1 from Oli)

Data gathering in esports and how it protects against third party actions that have affected other sports

Comparisons with football (Rant 2 from Oli)

We could have probably talked for hours as its a super interesting topic, and esports is still in its infancy, as is the gaming industry when compared to other forms of entertainment. But it’s only going to get bigger, which means there will always be something to talk about.