Rich Take On Sports

Episode 118: Drew Butler | Former NFL Punter and Punt & Pass Podcast Host Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Drew Butler Born in Chicago with his 2 sisters as his dad Kevin Butler played in the NFL for 13 years (11 with Chicago and 2 with Cardinals) Moved to Georgia in 1999 and has loved football his whole life but never played until high school His nickname was Little Butthead because his dad’s nickname with the Chicago Bears was Butthead Started the Punt & Pass Podcast with Aaron Murray as he saw that no former recent football players were doing something like his idea His goal was to be a PGA Tour player but eventually starting playing football at Peachtree Ridge High School and was a better punter than a kicker Almost went to Duke but decided to attend Georgia like his father after they offered him a scholarship instead of being a preferred wal

Episode 117: Dalen Cuff | ESPN ACC Network Studio Host and Analyst Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Dalen Cuff Recently made the move from Florida to Connecticut to help launch ACC Network with ESPN as a studio host & analyst Up until about 12-14 years old he thought that he would in the NBA and then have a career in broadcasting and then realized that there are some better players out there Moved to Florida before high school and it was a tough transition however playing sports helped him connect and make friends Dad played basketball at Duquesne and was drafted by the US Army and the New York Knicks at the same time (October 1967) Columbia University called in December of his senior season but didn’t visit until April so getting an offer was late but thoroughly enjoyed his time at Columbia even though they only won 2 games his Freshman year Learned

Episode 116: Retin Obasohan | NBA G-League Guard & 2016 First Team All-SEC Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Retin Obasohan Two older brothers and one younger and they all are very competitive while always pushing each other Parents emigrated from Nigeria to Belgium to provide a better future and parents didn’t allow him and his brothers to see negatives Soccer and tennis were the first 2 sports he gravitated towards because his dad played soccer but his love of basketball began while watching his brother play First experience with American basketball was at a Kobe Bryant basketball camp Learned English at an early age but spoke Dutch and French Transition to Alabama was eye-opening and it was the little details like food, weather, southern hospitality and segregation Baron Davis, Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Deron Williams were players that he tried to emu

Episode 115: Maxx Lepselter | MAXX Management President and Founder Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Maxx Lepselter Played all different sports growing up like most kids Grew up in the sports representation agency through his dad (Mark Lepselter) which started as an organic opportunity of managing Lawrence Taylor’s restaurant Has always been a fan of all the NY sports teams but now it’s harder to be a fan of a team with clients on different teams and he knew that he would eventually become a general fan His dad has been a great mentor but not having him as a boss has been a good situation and environment for him to grow Maxx now has the ability to assist his dad because of how the industry has changed and how he can bring a different perspective His goal when starting MAXX Management in 2018 was to offer other services more than just marketing endo

Episode 114: Michael Serazio | Award-Winning Author & Boston College Associate Professor Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Michael Serazio Grew up in San Diego, CA and some of his fondest childhood memories are cheering for the hometown beloved Padres and Chargers Sports was always a way to connect with family and especially his grandfather Has always been intrigued by the power of sports and its magnetic properties of pulling people together from all types of different backgrounds Michael has been drawn to journalism from an early age Spent countless hours conducting research for the book “The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture” and conducted interviews with dozens of high-profile leaders and professionals in sports media and journalism The Power of Sports is his second book Authored “Your Ad Here: The Cool Sell of

Episode 113: Blake Wynn | B Wynn Sports CEO & Entrepreneur Influencer Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Blake Wynn First sign of be an entrepreneur was when he was 10 and wanted an Ipad and started a car wash with friends which he earned $1,000 Wants to be able to choose what he wants to do and enjoys the process of making money but not enjoying the dollar Has a passion for business – plays business like a video game – get the next high score Grew up as an only child and has always had a very close circle of friends Could not work for someone else and wants to build his own dream and legacy and would rather fail at something that he’s passion about Became a San Diego Chargers fan in 2007 watching AFC Championship game vs. the New England Patriots and became a fan of LaDainian Tomlinson Had to eventually give up playing most sports in high school because he

Episode 112: Kelsey Plum | WNBA Las Vegas Aces Guard Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Kelsey Plum Comes from a big sports family who are very competitive and everyone played Division I sports Kelsey told her mom when she was 10-year old that she was going to play in the WNBA Has always viewed herself as an underdog her entire life and her rise to a star came very quickly which has been a challenge to adjust Her family still keeps her humble at times and faith has been very important in her life especially now after leaving college and believes that “at every step of my life God has directed my steps” So grateful that her parents never pushed her into anything but you could never quit anything even though there were times that she wanted to quit and even basketball Biggest challenge at the University of Washington was changing the culture and it sti

Episode 111: Dave Dameshek | NFL Network Host and Contributor Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Dave Dameshek Has finally made the transition of living in California His childhood memories growing up in Pittsburgh, PA are dominated by sports Inspiration for his comedy came from watching David Letterman Feels that his journey to LA and career is a product of dumb luck Bobby Knight agreed to allow him to interview him in Assembly Hall while he was a student at Indiana and Coach Knight swore at him His first comedy writing job was on the show Sports Geniuses which is where he was ultimately connected with Kevin Hench and then would meet Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla Words of Wisdom from Dave Dameshek: Be Nice The mark of a good person is how or she treats those who can do nothing for him To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rich

Episode 110: Rob Parker | Fox Sports and FS1 Contributor & Host Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Rob Parker Being full of energy and seemingly crazy is not an act but just him always looking out for Mr. Joe Fan by asking the tough questions Has always been that guy of pushing back and asking tough questions Got his dream job 5 months after graduating college with NY Daily News and went to grad school because he didn’t want to rest on his laurels Parents divorced at 12-years old and his mom was the rock of his family with 3 kids and he learned work ethic from her The TV show The Odd Couple influenced him to be a sportswriter Started a sports newspaper in high school named Sportsline Loved baseball more than anything and he wanted to cover baseball so he left NY to go to Cincinnati covering the Reds Always considers himself a writer at heart even though he

Episode 109: Chad Steele | VP of Public Relations, Baltimore Ravens Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Chad Steele There’s really no off-season for the NFL and people want NFL 365 days-a-year Social media can be both a blessing and a curse Spent most of his life overseas and really enjoyed moving and getting to experience other places Sports was always big in his family with both parents being athletic and his dad, Gary Steele, was the first African-American football player at Army in 1966 Sports helped him and his siblings make friends in new towns and become engrained into the communities where they moved Sports also helped instill discipline outside of his military home First love was soccer and football became his passion because he wanted to be like his dad but it was basketball where he excelled earning a scholarship to play at Winthrop University Work e

Episode 108: Milt Lowder, Ph.D. | Clemson Athletics Sport Psychologist Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Milt Lowder Always tries to make people see him as just Milt and not to have people feel like they are being judged Knew three things growing up farming, medicine, and sports Was recruited by Wofford for baseball but only applied to one school (Clemson) Success is defined as a pursuit of a worthy goal Life threw several curve balls at him starting as a junior in high school being the first on the scene after his mom’s car wreck Wanted to be a college basketball coach but after not getting an opportunity under Rick Barnes he visited a psychologist through his mom and immediately knew that he wanted to be a psychologist Started the process of becoming a psychologist in 1997 and eventually started practicing in 2005 in Greenville, SC Starting working wi

Episode 107: Bill Hancock | College Football Playoff Executive Director Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Bill Hancock Passion for the College Football Playoff is extremely high and fans want to have input and fans have a sense of ownership with college sports and especially football which causes such high passion Love baseball first and then came college football and his favorite memories were of baseball with the local semi-pro team in Hobart, OK Started at Dartmouth and then finished school at Oklahoma marrying his childhood sweetheart and they have been married for 50 years Even though he had a paper route as a kid and started being a writer in high school he wanted to be the next great American Classical pianist Doesn’t play much anymore and developed a phobia of playing in front of people Fell into the Sports Information department his senior year and wor

Episode 106: John Harkes | Greenville Triumph SC Head Coach & National Soccer Hall of Fame Member Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: John Harkes Very fortunate to have such a long playing career with great accomplishments being on the first team to qualify for 1990 World Cup and then in the inaugural season of the MLS in 1996 Loved building a club in Cincinnati and loves the challenge in Greenville with building the Greenville Triumph SC in it’s the inaugural season in 2019 He has always been an optimistic guy even with coaching Played all the other sports but gravitated to soccer immediately growing up in Kearny, NJ (Soccertown USA) Competing against the older guys was the biggest thing that helped them Academics were the biggest challenge once he got to UVA and it was a tough decision to forego his senior season to play on the US Men’s National

Episode 105: Brooke Weisbrod | ESPN College Basketball Analyst Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Brooke Weisbrod Her job inherently consists of hurry up and wait but it’s also a symphony of organized chaos She really enjoys things not on camera that you get to experience during practices, pre-game, and post-game and gets energized more from those things behind the scenes than being in front of the camera Thoughts of one day doing play-by-play but it’s the most challenging position in the industry other than sideline reporting for football Nick Saban is the toughest coach to track down and she was intimidated the first times she had to grab a coach going into halftime and Charlie Strong when he was at Louisville was someone she really enjoyed Her family is super athletic and that was just part of her family so she was born into sports and a competitiv

Episode 104: Bradley Pinion | Tampa Bay Buccaneers & Former Clemson Punter Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Bradley Pinion In today’s NFL, there’s really no off-season anymore as you will workout throughout the year Loves binge-watching on Hulu, Netflix and recently watched “Legion” and one of his favorites is “Suits” First love was soccer and started playing at 4 and has a brother that is 4 years older but didn’t start playing football until 7th or 8th grade His grandfather played football and was a punter for a season with the Dallas Cowboys and his grandfather always pushed him to be a punter First time he ever tried to kick a football was a 35-yard FG with his dad and he made it He used to hate punting because punting is very hard Played varsity football as a freshman and eventually had offers from 33 schools

Episode 103: Jason Barrett | President of Barrett Sports Media and Sports Radio Consultant Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Jason Barrett Making people Laugh, allowing listeners to Learn, and being Likable are the 3 qualities of successful sports talk radio hosts Never felt that he a great host but was a good producer Always loved sports and reading about NY sports and WFAN was his first experience to sports talk radio (Mike and the Mad Dog) Was a musician (drummer) before moving into a sports talk radio career Found a small station in upstate NY  and did everything… writing, clips, producing, selling and learned the business from the inside Did a wrestling show once a week (Sunday night 9-11 PM) Worked at ESPN for 2 years with hosts like Doug Gottlieb, Dan Patrick, John Seibel, Freddie Coleman Eventually started building stations and 101 ESPN in St. Louis i

Episode 102: Patrick Sapp | Former NFL & Clemson Football Player and “ONE Clemson” Founding Member Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Patrick Sapp Has always been intrigued by fashion that comes from his parents Owned a clothing store “Coast2Coast” in Jacksonville, FL but was too difficult to manage while living on the west coast playing in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers Grew up in Jacksonville, FL the youngest of six kids (3 boys/3 girls) Every day was competition in the Sapp household but filled with love Around a lot of devastation growing up in Jacksonville and his own sister was addicted to crack but she has been clean for 15-years now Had guys that didn’t allow him to do things that he shouldn’t do because they knew he had the athletic ability that could carry him out of the tough neighborhood Football was his first love be

Episode 101: Ivan Maisel | ESPN Senior Writer & “College Football 150” Editor-At-Large Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Ivan Maisel Met his wife Meg in NY while he was a fact checker for Sports Illustrated and when they moved to Dallas she eventually said that she wanted to move back to the northeast Learned how to read by  reading the Sporting News Dad was a high school basketball coach and sports was always big in his family because of Alabama football and Bear Bryant Wanted to be the Atlanta Braves play-by-play announcer Loved college football and baseball but like college sports so much better than MLB and learned that when was a fact checker for SI Went to Stanford because it was at the same level of Ivy league schools but had football and it was in the Pac-8 English teacher in high school encourage him to be a writer and chooses stories

Episode 100: Dawn Staley | South Carolina Head Women’s Basketball Coach Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Dawn Staley Sports was a neighborhood function growing up and she was always competitive and had to be competitive in her household being the youngest of 5 Always been attracted to basketball and became better at earlier and could play year round and wanted to get on the big boy court Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble played in her neighborhood and once she got on the big boy court she stuck because of her passing game. Could see the game differently at an earlier age Has always been viewed as Tomboy but any type of verbal abuse strengthened her Debbie Ryan at the University of Virginia starting recruiting her in the 9th grade Still guarded and hard to earn her trust but once you’re in then you’re in for life Trust is a huge factor and she needs the relationsh

Episode 99: Bill Curry | 2x Super Bowl Champion, Coach, Speaker, & Author Subscribe on http://apple.co/2qdc4AB (Apple Podcast) | http://bit.ly/2r8lKvs (Google Play) | http://bit.ly/2qnGiRP (Stitcher) Rich Take On Sports Show Notes: Rich Spotlight: Bill Curry Continues to focus on working out each day even after 5 shoulder surgeries through his career Hated football and went out for football only because that’s how you got a date and was scared of football and wanted to quit Had 2 goals in life at 12-years old: Marry Carolyn Newton Pitch for the NY Yankees Fell in love with football while playing for Don Shula at the age of 25 Became to obsessive about football and it impacted his personal life Every QB that he ever played with required the snap a different way Selfishly enjoyed playing more than coaching but loved all of the players he coached and still hears from players today Regrets not spending enough time with his family during his playing and coaching days 11 years with ESPN – 20