As the second full day of NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament (and the first full day of the Women’s Tournament action) prepares to tip off, I thought it might be nice to post the links to a few of the episodes from our podcast, “Conversations with Sports Fans” that had a certain lean toward college hoops. (BTW: My bracket is shot after Day 1 thanks to the Paladins and Tigers.)
- Season 1, Episode 17 Garth Pleasant – Coach Pleasant served as the head basketball coach at Rochetser (MI) University (formerly Rochester College and Michigan Christian College) for 38 seasons where he amassed 720 wins, was named a national coach of the year four times, and state coach of the year once more. He’s also in a few halls of fame but who’s counting?
- Season 1, Episode 29 Steve Book – Steve is a high school history and theater teacher, but before that he was a member of the Michigan State University marching band and of MSU’s famed Izzone student section; including serving as a section leader. Back in 2008 he also won a contest by a soft drink purveyor and was named one of “College Basketball’s Fan’s of the Year” which found him holed up in San Antonio (site of that year’s Final Four) for the entirety of the tournament where he blogged about it and soaked in the atmosphere – and was publicly rejected by Taylor Swift;-)
- Season 1, Episode 30 Erv Inniger – Irv played college basketball at Indiana University in the late 1960s and eventually played professionally in the American Basketball Association before transitioning into coaching. He coached at Golden Valley Lutheran College and Augsburg College before taking the reins at North Dakota State University for 14 seasons, where he is still the Bison’s all-time winningest coach.
- Season 2, Episode 2 Chuck Crabb – Chuck served as the public address announcer at Indiana University’s Assembly Hall for a remarkable 45 years dating back to the mid-1970s. The stories – not just about basketball – are amazing!
- Season 2, Episode 5 Kevin Marvin – A Chick Evans Caddy Scholarship recipient at Michigan State University, Kevin was a member of the Izzone during its early years, but for the past 25-plus years he’s seen live NCAA Tournament action every year spectators have been allowed. This year he’s in Columbus, OH, where his Spartans play in the early Friday game against USC.