Author: DouglasTHill

Conversations with Sports Fans – 2026 World Cup Special

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World Cup Champion Spain
Members of Spain’s World Cup-winning team celebrate with the trophy on Sunday. (Photo by Getty Images)

After 104 matches and more Timothee Chalamet, David Beckham, and Will Ferrell commercials than the world ever needed, the 2026 FIFA World Cup has come to a close.

Spain’s stifling defense and possession game proved too much for the sport’s GOAT – Lionel Messi – and his Argentinian teammates to overcome in Sunday’s 1-0 championship.

I knew of only one person to check in with after the finale to see how it went from their perspective: Stephen Miller.

Regular listeners of Conversations might remember Stephen because he first began talking about the 2026 World Cup on this show back in April 2025. He was so stoked for the event being in North America that he even planned his retirement from a career in K-12 education for June 2025 to ensure there would be no conflict for his attention during the past five weeks.

So, for your benefit and mine, I check in with Stephen again, and he surprises us with a pair of mini-Conversations of his own with longtime friends and fellow soccer fans who were at his Bellevue, WA, home yesterday for his final World Cup Watch Party. With that, I encourage you to listen to Stephen’s discussions with Dean Falvey and Dani Neal following my time with Stephen.

This special World Cup episode attempts to put a bow on the soccer tournament that took up residence in North America for the past five weeks. I figured only Stephen Miller, who claims to have watched all or part of 103 of the 104 matches, could do the job.

Fan Teaser Solution: Week 195

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One of these two was golden half a century ago at Royal Birkdale.
Who are they?

American Johnny Miller won two major golf championships during his Hall of Fame career. The second – the 105th Open Championship – came at Southport, England’s, Royal Birkdale Golf Club in 1976.

Fifty years later, The Open is once again at Birkdale.

Miller’s victory arrived in comeback fashion, overcoming a 2-shot, final-round deficit to 19-year-old Spaniard Seve Ballesteros.

Johnny Miller, left, and Seve Ballesteros
Johnny Miller, left, and Seve Ballesteros finished first and second at the 105th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. (Photo courtesy of the R&A)

Ballesteros was just in his second year as a professional but zoomed to the lead following the first, second, and third rounds. Alas, playing with Miller in the final round, Ballesteros was seven-over after his first 12 holes while Miller was on his way to a final-round 6-under-par 66 and a 6-shot victory over Ballesteros and a fella named Jack Nicklaus.

And for his victory, Miller earned a whopping 7,500 British Pounds Sterling. Quite a difference from this year, when the winner will take home 3.2 million U.S. Dollars.

The Royal & Ancient’s documentary on the 105th Open Championship from 1976 at Royal Birkdale.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

The Fan Teaser – Week 195

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One of these two was golden half a century ago at Royal Birkdale.
Who are they?

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

Conversations with Sports Fans – Rob LaCommare

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Rob LaCommare
The fella in the green shirt in mid-applause is this week’s guest, Rob LaCommare. Yes, he’s attending a Major League Pickleball match in Columbus. (Photo courtesy of Rob LaCommare)

I graduated from high school an unfathomable 41 years ago.

While I had a few good friends from the Class of 1985, I may have had more in the Class of 1986. One of those friends is this week’s guest, Rob LaCommare.

As will occur, time changes those friendships, folks enter and leave our lives, and Rob was – to some extent – one of those.

That said, in mid-June, we found ourselves at a high school graduation party for his niece (and my wife’s good friend’s daughter), and the stories, well, they flowed.

Eventually, an invitation to appear on Conversations was extended (and accepted), and we agreed upon a time to record.

So, in this episode, I invite you to eavesdrop on a pair of longtime acquaintances talking sports, life, and, um, pickleball?

Yes, in addition to discussing his opportunity to see Brazilian soccer club CR Flamengo play a home match, knock off countless arenas and stadiums thanks to his work travel, Rob sneaks in some pickleball talk, which just might be a first in Conversations’ 277 episodes!

I hope you enjoy!

My Conversation with Rob LaCommare.

Fan Teaser: Week 194 Solution

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We weren't aware that GOATs could ride bicycles, but this week's #FanTeaser might be the exception.
Steady as you go. This fella in the saddle was unparalleled.

The Tour de France first pushed off 123 years ago on July 1, 1903. Since then, 113 ridings have occurred (including the one that wraps a week from today along the Champs-Elysees).

In its storied history, only four cyclists have officially won five Le Tours (due to doping, Lance Armstrong’s seven are not being counted). Among those four is the solution to this week’s #FanTeaser: Belgian Eddy Merckx (1969-72 and 1974). The other three are Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil (1957 and 1961-64) and Bernard Hinault (1978-79, 1981-82, and 1985), and Spaniard Miguel Indurain (1991-95).

Should Slovenian Tadej Pogacar win this year’s Tour it would not only be his third straight but also his fifth in total, turning the quartet into a quintet.

Eddy Merckx
Belgian cyclict Eddy Merckx of Team Faema is seen riding during the 1969 Tour de France. (Photo by Jean-Yves Ruszn)

Merckx is widely regarded as one of the best riders in the sport’s history.

His 11 total Grand Tour victories (five French, five Italian, and one Spain) are the most all time. Additionally, he’s won all five Monuments which are generally considered to be the oldest, hardest, longest and most prestigious one-day events in men’s road cycling, with distances between 240 and 300 kilometers.

A look at the legend of Eddy Merckx.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

The Fan Teaser – Week 194

DouglasTHill2 Comments
We weren't aware that GOATs could ride bicycles, but this week's #FanTeaser might be the exception.
Steady as you go. This fella in the saddle was unparalleled.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

Conversations with Sports Fans – Dr. Trey Rogers

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The University of Tennessee’s Dr. John Sorochan, left, and Michigan State University’s
Dr. Trey Rogers, led a team from the two universities in developing the turf being used in all 16
2026 FIFA World Cup stadiums. (Photo courtesy of MSU)

Recently, I happened to read an article about a Michigan State University turf management professor who led a team of colleagues and graduate students in partnership with a similar team from the University of Tennessee.

Their mission: Identify the appropriate grass types, design a growth plan, and oversee the growth of the turf that comprises the 16 pitches (e.g. fields) being used for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

That MSU professor? Dr. Trey Rogers.

What’s even cooler, is that he was part of a similar team leading up to the last time the World Cup was contested in North America (USA 1994) to develop and execute a plan to grow grass in the Pontiac Silverdome (the only domed facility used for that World Cup). And his counterpart at Tennessee, Dr. John Sorochan, was a student member of that 1994 team.

Even more fortuitous for me – and you! – was the fact that MSU had a press kit on Dr. Rogers as well as a person to contact for media requests.

With that, in this episode, I go deep into turf talk (playing from the rough, so to speak😉) with Dr. Rogers, who nearly 20 years ago authored book on growing grass Lawn Geek: Tips and Tricks for the Ultimate Turf from the Guru of Grass.

I suspect you’ll find this Conversation as fascinating as I did as Dr. Rogers discusses both 1994’s successful endeavor as well as the current one which he watches play out – quite literally – on his television every day.

My Conversation with Dr. Trey Rogers from Michigan State University.