Basketball

Simply Known as … The Rivalry

DouglasTHill1 Comment
Preparing for the playing of “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Growing up in Indiana it should come as no surprise that my formative years of fandom centered around two things: college athletics and basketball.

When I saw a gap in my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events calendar that would allow for a quick-hitter event, I remembered something my friend Todd had mentioned a few months earlier:

“If you have a chance to attend the Hope-Calvin Basketball Game you have to do it.”

Todd would know.

He’s a Hope College alum and his son was in his final year as a dual-sport Hope athlete (football and track and field).

I should know.

The Hope-Calvin rivalry, known simply as “The Rivalry,” has been well documented. ESPN has featured it on several occasions, including on its website, noting that it was “a great, under-the-radar college sports rivalry.” The network had cameras out to cover the series in 2005 and it was rated as the fourth-best rivalry in a vote of fans and “experts.” There was even a photo shoot from teh 2009 installment in its ESPN The Magazine. In lieu of New York Knicks’ coverage, The New York Times had a reporter out to cover the game during the 2014-15 season (read reporter Scott Cacciola’s story here).

I do recall seeing some highlights on my local television news in Detroit. The gyms are always packed and the games, from my memory, were usually closely contested.

What I was completely unaware of was how closely contested!?!

As I write this, the all-time series leans slightly toward Hope with 112 wins. Calvin has 107. The schools have won or shared the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular-season championship 34 times each.

In terms of total points scored? Calvin 14,876 to Hope’s 14,862.

To me, it’s absolutely nuts that after nearly 100 years and 219 total games played, the two schools are separated by a mere 14 points.

It was even closer, still, when I found my way to Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse for the January 24, 2026, matchup between the two schools. Just four – four! – points separated the schools at the time.

My Gracious Host and Sidekick

New Holland Brewpub
I met my friend Todd at the New Holland Brewpub in downtown Holland. Fun fact you might not have known, the sidewalks in Holland are heated for a (relatively) ice/snow-free winter experience. (Photo by Holland Chamber of Commerce)

Thanks to both of us working in education and with our local and regional union leadership, Todd and I have known each other for over a decade.

We both share an upbringing in small midwestern towns (he Illinois, me Indiana) and a love of basketball, so it was a fun hang with Todd in his old college stomping grounds. That he’s re-established his Hope bonafides thanks to his son’s athletic career certainly benefitted me on this night

We met at the New Holland Brewpub in downtown Holland.

It was a fitting locale as Todd, an original investor in New Holland Brewing Co., secured a pair of these hard-to-come-by tickets from one of his fellow investors, Brett, who now sits on the Hope College Board of Trustees.

We enjoyed catching up over some appetizers and a beverage (or two;-) before Todd took me on a swing through campus.

Hope is a small private college of under 3,500 students in Holland, MI (population of about 34,000). Founded in 1866 by members of the Reformed Church in America.

Similarly, Calvin University is a small private college of just over 3,500 students. Dissimilarly, Calvin is located in Michigan’s second-largest city, Grand Rapids (population 201,000). It was founded in 1876 by members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

The two schools are located just a 30-minute drive apart, recruit the same high schools, households, and even have staff with connections to both schools. (Hope’s athletic director, Tim Schoonveld, actually played basketball at both schools!)

The founders, both from Dutch-American Calvinist West Michigan immigrants, is the through-line for The Rivalry.

While it’s not exactly a holy war, it is quite the heated rivalry.

The Environment

Clockwise from upper left, a shot of the packed DeVos Fieldhouse; the Hope Cheer Team in action; MLB umpire D.J. Reyburn is a Hope product; Calvin goes to work on the offensive end during the second half; Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Kaat is also a Hope alum.

This is NCAA Division III basketball which means … junior varsity action!

Yes, there are still JVs at the collegiate level, and while there may have been fewer folks in the stands for this one, it was no less intense than the varsity matchup that followed. (Hope won, 68-61, by the way.)

It made for a nice distraction as I wandered about the elevated concourse to check out the historical showcases by sport. Imagine my surprise to see that that nearby Zeeland native and Baseball Hall of Famer, Jim Kaat, played baseball at Hope. He, in fact, is the last of three Hope products to reach the Major League. Also spotted in the Hope Baseball Showcase was MLB umpire, D.J. Reyburn, who played outfield for the Flying Dutchmen in the late 1990s.

As the later-arriving fans continued to filter in, I found myself in a corner of the Fieldhouse absorbing the scene.

The fact that this wasn’t Michigan-Michigan State or Kentucky-Louisville or Indiana-Purdue didn’t much matter to the 3,400 who eventually filled DeVos. These are two long-standing rivals who, apparently, play nothing but competitive games, and the fans appreciate this brand of competitive basketball.

One other thing I noted that would never happen at one of the aforementioned big school rivalries: A section in the DeVos Fieldhouse was set aside for what appeared to be Calvin students, which I found to be simultaneously mind-boggling and one of the coolest things I’d witnessed during my journey.

Presuming there is reciprocity when the Flying Dutchmen visit Calvin’s Van Noord Arena, I say kudos to both schools for allowing (some) students to enjoy the rivalry in both locations.

The Game

From left, some second-half action from The Rivalry; plenty of banners adorn DeVos Fieldhouse; Hope Coach Greg Mitchell works the sideline; Flying Dutchmen player, Parker Hovey, went down with an apparent knee injury early in the second half.

As expected, it was a back-and-forth affair … until the second half, at least.

Calvin scored the game’s first eight points, before Hope responded with nine straight of its own. From there, it was back-and-forth for much of the half.

The host Flying Dutchmen opened a 12-point lead with just over six minutes remaining in half before the Knights closed with a 16-6 to finish the half with Hope leading 36-34.

From there, it was all Calvin in the second half, outscoring their hosts 46-29.

The difference was 6-foot-10 Calvin center, Jalen Overway, who finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds. In all, the Knights’ outscored Hope, 42-26, in the paint.

The final score was Calvin 80, Hope 65.

Calvin also won the rematch a month later in Grand Rapids, 96-88, but Hope extracted a bit of revenge in the MIAA Tournament Semifinal at Olivet College, 73-63, en route to the MIAA Tournament Championship.

Fans at The Rivalry
Mad respect to this fan who was keeping score from his seat.

Hoop There It Is! Visiting the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

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The exterior of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as seen from our room in the Hampton Inn.

Since it seemed a waste to fly to the northeast for one night and not try to sneak in two events, my traveling partner, Fran, and I made the hour trek north from Storrs, CT, to Springfield, MA, for the night with plans to tour the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame early the next day before flying back to Detroit in the evening.

But first … football!

Before the 2025 NCAA Football Season, the last time the Indiana Hoosiers played a meaningful college football game after New Year’s Eve was against the USC Trojans at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1968 (when I was six months old!).

So, yeah, I was gonna figure out a way to watch Indiana University – yes, that Indiana University – play for the stinkin’ National Championship.

After securing our room in the Hampton Inn directly across I-91 from the Hall, we made a beeline for the Rumbleseat Bar & Grill in Chicopee, which promised us sustenance, cooling beverages, and televisions to watch the game.

Check, check, and check!

The pizza was delicious, as was the local cider I selected, and there were plenty of televisions to choose from, though we had to deal with Detroit Pistons-Boston Celtics for screen time.

We lasted at the Rumbleseat until close to halftime when we made our way back to the hotel for the second half.

Even now, eight months later, it’s still hard to believe that the Indiana Hoosiers won the FBS National Championship. What did Verne Lundquist say when Tiger Woods chipped in on the 16th during the final round of the 2005 Masters?

“In your life have you seen anything like that!?!”

No, Verne, no, I have not.

Now, back to Event No. 40 of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project: a visit to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

A Mountain of Memorabilia

Clockwise from upper top, this mural of basketball legends (and period baskets) greets visitors to the Court of Dreams; Hollywood’s Penny Marshall was one of the first fans honored in the SuperFan Gallery; a look to the top of the sphere; Marshall’s ring; my friend Fran showing off his form from the elbow; the namesake for the James F. Goldstein SuperFan Gallery.

This may be unfair, but as this is the final of the four major North American sports halls of fame that I’ve visited, I couldn’t help but compare basketball to baseball, football, and hockey.

To be sure, all the halls have a tremendous number of artifacts and memorabilia on display, but it really seemed like basketball had more than the others. You couldn’t swing an elbow (appropriately, of course;-) without spotting something behind glass that was intriguing and warranted your attention. It may be recency bias, but the number of images on my phone tell adifferent story.

That said, this post will lean heavily into images, but before I get to them, two more things I really appreciated about Naismith:

  • First, there are occasional SuperFan inductees who are honored in the James F. Goldstein SuperFan Gallery. This year’s honoree was Matt Asen who supports the Indiana Pacers as “The Pacer Guy.” They get their own ring and everything which, as someone who curates a website called The Sports Fan Project, is pretty cool.
  • Second, the Jerry Colangelo Court of Dreams is wonderful. It’s a full basketball court under the giant sphere seen in the exterior photo at the top and allows visitors to shoot, play some 1-on-1, or, if the mood struck and space was available, get a run in with nine of your friends. None of the other halls of fame have anything quite like it.

Some of my Favorite Finds

Clockwise from upper left, Julius Erving and Brittney Griner jerseys and shoes; a cap tip to my Indiana roots, this jacket commeorates the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons won three straight World Professional Basketball Tournaments (1944-46); Pete Maravich’s LSU jersey; a piece of wood flooring from the original Springfield YMCA basketball floor (circa 1890s); Diana Taurasi’s UConn jersey; the list of Hall of Fame inductees by year; I get the concept, but this Jerry Lucas jersey seems, um, uncomfortable; jerseys from Bill Walton and Wilt Chamberlain, balls from Walt Bellamy, John Stockton, and Robert Parrish, and Shaquille O’Neal sneakers; a lifesize cutout of Mugsy Bogues; Fran and I joined the “Inside the NBA” team on a fishing charter; Nolan Richardson gear from his days coaching the Arkansas Razorbacks; Kobe Bryant celebrates a championship; and, as far as I know, the only player from my alma mater (Eastern Michigan University) enshrined in the Naismith Hall.

Bright Lights, Big City

I tried to earn my keep on the set of “Inside the NBA” with Kenny, Shaq, Charles, and Ernie.

Speaking of Lights

Our capper to the overnight trip to the northeast featured a breathtaking glimpes at the aurora borealis (aka Northern Lights) outside right side of the Jet Blue flight. Many thanks to the crew for pointing it out and for fellow passengers for letting some of us get to a window to snap a photo.

UConn’t Stop Them, UConn Only Hope to Contain Them

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Doug and Fran at Gampel Pavilion
My traveling partner, Fran, and I in UConn’s Gampel Pavilion.

First, a mea culpa.

As I set out on this journey Around the World in 80 Sporting Events, I had, I believe, the best intentions to try and get to more women’s athletic events. As I compose this post, I’ve been to exactly two women’s events:-(

The 2024 Solheim Cup in Gainesville, VA, and the Wisconsin Badgers’ Round of 32 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament match against North Carolina in Madison. (A third if you count the Milano Cortina Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Semifinal between the USA and Sweden.)

That’s it.

And that’s, well, disappointing.

Women’s sports, you might have noticed, are having a moment. Business in the WNBA is booming (and expanding), there are women’s sports bars popping up across the U.S. (I even had the owner of Austin’s 1972 Women’s Sports Pub on Conversations with Sports Fans), there’s now a Women’s Pro Baseball League, the Professional Women’s Hockey League is expanding, and the women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament continues to attract a wider audience.

A few paragraphs below, I’m going to write about my third dedicated women’s event, seeing a University of Connecticut women’s basketball game at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT, and it was glorious for all the reasons you’d expect. I have two more women’s events scheduled: the 2027 Women’s NCAA Final Four in Columbus, OH, and the 2027 Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, OK, and maybe a third as another mulligan in the event I get priced out of the Super Bowl, as one of those PWHL teams is coming to Detroit.

Maybe, just maybe, if I decide another 80 are in order or some fraction thereof, I’ll craft a list of events that include a majority of women’s events to absolve myself of this guilt I’m feeling.

Storrs is UConn and UConn is Storrs

At left, the exterior of Huskies, remnants of an ice storm that hit the area a couple of days earlier, the menu at Huskies, and part of the 1999 NCAA Championship floor from Tropicana Stadium in which the UConn men won their first championship.

Admittedly, I knew nothing about Storrs before I began planning this trip. Well, aside from the fact that an absurd number of college basketball championship trophies were housed there (12 by the women and six by the men)!

What I discovered is the reason I didn’t know a lot about Storrs is that there’s not a lot to know.

It’s classified as a village, comprises just 5.7 square miles, and received its name back in 1881 when brothers Charles and Augustus Storrs (founders of UConn, then known as Storrs Agricultural College) donated 170 acres and $6,000 to develop the community.

I also learned that as of the 2020 Census, there are just under 16,000 residents, and the median age was a mere 20.6-years-old. With 21,000 undergraduate students, it certainly seems plausible that many of them are full-time residents who help drive that median age down.

That all said, my traveling partner on this trip, Fran, and I did manage to find ourselves a spot for a pregame bite to eat: Huskies Restaurant & Bar. And after flying into Boston from Detroit and then driving the hour-and-a-half to Storrs, this spot featured all the pub fare we could ever hope for and UConn memorabilia aplenty for us to admire.

That Championship Feeling

Clockwise from upper left, the 12 UConn Women’s National Championship banners hang in Gampel Pavilion’s rafters; longtime men’s coach Jim Calhoun has his Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction honored; Fran and I with a championship trophy; the six men’s banners hang on the opposite side of center court; the amount of success the women’s program has enjoyed is astounding; fortunately there’s a bit more room to add to this display; women’s coach Geno Auriemma’s Hall of Fame banner flies next to the names of the UConn alumni who are in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

I’d really hoped there might be some UConn Hall of Fame or Legends Concourse or even a Trophy Case around that highlighted the many notable accomplishments by the men’s and women’s teams.

Alas, Gampel Pavilion is not such a place for that. The concourses are tight, and there’s not a lot of surplus space to be lauding the school’s oodles of hardwood championships (one need only look to the rafters for that, I suppose).

That said, an NCAA Women’s Championship Trophy was on display and welcoming photo opportunities, and Fran and I were sure to grab a moment with the hardware.

Beyond that, Gampel was a bit of a throwback. That is, a place that hosts sporting events and not much more.

While the other major college basketball gyms I’d visited before, Butler’s Hinkle Field House and Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse, and shortly thereafter, UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, all leaned into the building’s history with expansive displays of artifacts and highlights of past accomplishments.

Shortly after the 2025-26 season, it was announced that a nearly $100 million improvement to Gampel would begin. I hoped maybe something similar to what I experienced in the other college basketball shrines might be part of those plans … nope:-(

UConn was Good … Scary Good!

Notre Dame vs. UConn Women's Basketball
The Irish offense goes to work during its first possession of the game.

When I first identified this game as an event, Notre Dame was coming off a 28-6 overall record and won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title with a 16-2 record. Of course, that team featured the double-barrelled attack of Olivia Miles (currently tearing up the WNBA) and Hannah Hidalgo. That team handed UConn just one of its three defeats during the 2025 NCAA Championship season when the Irish won, 79-68, at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

What a difference a year makes.

Miles spent her final year of college at Texas Christian, and Hidalgo was pretty much left to her own devices against a Husky team that was determined to not let her beat them. Notre Dame had lost three of its previous five games and had fallen completely out of the national rankings when it arrived for the MLK Day showdown in Storrs.

In addition to tormenting Hidalgo all game (she finished with just 16 points, nearly 10 off her season average), UConn featured a balanced attack led by All-Americans Azzi Fudd (15 points) and Sarah Strong (18 points [including the 1,000th of her career], 11 rebounds, three blocks, and three steals) and raced to a 16-7 lead following the first quarter and then used a 27-12 third quarter to leave no doubt en route to an 85-47 shellacking. If UConn had shot even moderately well from 3-point range (just 6-for-24), it could have been far worse.

Fran, who is an inductee in the Michigan Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame for his decades leading the Rochester Adams Highlanders girls’ team (including former Irish player Jeannine Augustin, who played with current Notre Dame coach Nielle Ivey for one season), walked out of Gampel impressed by the relentless defensive pressure and physicality of the Huskies.

I think he and I were in lockstep that it would be a tough team to beat in the NCAA Tournament.

We wound up being wrong.

The Gampel Vibe

From left, UConn’s Ashlynn Shade rises for a jumper; the Huskies lean into their wealth of basketball titles; the exterior of Gampel Pavilion; and Sarah Strong is recognized for her 1,000th career point.

This was my first major women’s college basketball game … ever.

I had zero preconceptions walking in. Having said that, the environment exceeded anything I could have imagined.

First, there was a full house of 10,244 crammed into the place! And the fans get extra credit for arriving early.

Second, this was every bit the equal of my time at Kansas or UCLA or Butler for men’s games. There was a full pep band, cheer squad, dance team, and sizable student section. And the crowd was – at least before it got out of reach – into the game and responding to the cues from the band and the cheer team.

Finally, this was truly a women’s basketball experience. And by that I don’t simply mean the product on the floor and fans in the stands, but even the television screens near the concession stands aired other women’s games in the lead up to tip-off. Fran and I were part of a small group who cared not at all about the popcorn and hot dogs but rather the final moments of the 7th-ranked University of Michigan versus 10th-ranked Vanderbilt University game from Newark, NJ. The Wolverines trailed by 17 at the half, but had opportunities to tie or take the lead down the stretch before falling, 72-69.

Fan Teaser: Week 192 Solution

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We went multiple choice for you this week in recognition of the recently completed NBA Draft. Your mission, should you accept it, was to pair the following NBA Draftees with their Draft Night Ensemble.

  • LeBron James
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
  • Jalen Rose
  • Bol Bol
Player A
Player B
Player C
Player D

Here’s who wore what:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the 11th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets but was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Miles Bridges and draft capital. SGA, as he’s known, wore this floral suit by Los Angeles designer Jhoanna Alba.
Bol Bol, the son of the late Manute Bol, was the 44th overall selection of the Miami Heat during the 2019 NBA Draft but was later traded to Denver Nuggets for future draft capital and cash considerations. Here he’s wearing a suit from hip-hop artist Young Thug‘s brand, Spider.
LeBron James was the first-overall selection by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft. Just 18-years-old on Draft Night, he chose all-white, slightly oversized fit that has been credited to Elevee Lifestyle stylist, Sami Jenks.
Jalen Rose was the 13th selection by the Denver Nuggets in the 1995 NBA Draft. Rose’s look was created by fellow Detroiter Ed Lews who owned Custom Clothing by Ed Lewis. The red was Rose’s nod to the Los Angeles Clippers whom he believed were going to draft him. Alas, the best-laid plans.

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 No. 2 Episode of Conversations – Basketball Mavens

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The Basketball Mavens book cover
Some might say The Basketball Mavens wrote the book on March madness.

(Editor’s Note: As we close in on the fourth anniversary of the launch of Conversations with Sports Fans [June 9th] we’re counting down the top four most-listened-to episodes in the show’s history. This is the second most-listened-to episode.)

During the early days of hosting Conversations with Sports Fans I did most of the inviting for guests to join me. It was a rare occasion when a potential guest would reach out to me inquiring about appearing.

Such was the case in the late winter of 2024 when I received an email from an address that began “thebasketballmavens.” I’m not saying my Spam Filter flagged it, but I was certainly a little suspicious when I clicked the <Read> button.

Within, I found a lovely email from a fella named James Wikman aka “Wik” who was the spokesperson for a trio of friends who collectively were known as “The Basketball Mavens.” The Mavens, it turns out, have been attending NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games together for close to 40 years. And by attending I mean attending!

The norm for Wikman, John Ries (aka “J.R.”) and Tom Bowen (aka “Opie”) was to attend all first weekend games in two host sites. That meant they’d scope out the Round of 64 sites that were close enough to easily travel between on Thursday and Friday and they’d do just that, ping-ponging back and fourth to watch a total of 12 games from Thursday-Sunday. They’d then head to a Regional site to see all three games there for the Rounds of 16 and 8 before attending the Final Four annually for three more games.

That’s 18 games each spring if you lost count.

Wash, rinse, and repeat every year! Around the time we initially spoke they’d recently topped 500 total tournament games witnessed. They’re now into the 600s and even wrote a book about their experiences.

Haven’t listened to The Basketball Mavens’ episode yet? Check it out below.

Similar episodes to The Basketball Mavens:

  • Season 2, Episode 14 Craig Caswell – Like The Mavens, Caswell is a college basketball junkie. His fix, it turns out, was to try and see every NCAA Division I Men’s program play in person. It took him 12 years, but he accomplished just that in February 2023 when he saw Lehigh play at American, to conclude his quest to see all 373 (at the time) Division I programs in person.
  • Season 5, Episode 26 Brian Fowler – A longtime fan of the Raiders (Oakland, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas), Fowler set out to eclipse two Guiness World Records prior to the 2025 NFL Season. Most regular-season games attended and fastest to see a game in all 32 NFL stadiums. He accomplished both and then made the rounds during the Playoffs and the Super Bowl. A year filled with gridiron travel excitement.
The Basketball Mavens’ Conversation from middle of the madness back in 2024.

The No. 3 Episode of Conversations – Don Drooker

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Don Drooker from 2015 with many of his baseball cards. (Photo by Dave Martinez/Daily News-Sun)

(Editor’s Note: As we close in on the fourth anniversary of the launch of Conversations with Sports Fans [June 9th] we’re counting down the top four most-listened-to episodes in the show’s history. This is the third most-listened to episode.)

My wife’s cousin, John Gola III, owns a wildly popular and successful sports card and collectible shop in Phoenix, AZ, aptly named, AZ Sports Cards. I thought John would make a fantastic Conversations’ guest as someone working in the ever-changing and growing sports collectible industry.

John was squeamish about joining me, but offered up a worthy substitute in one of his store’s employees: Don Drooker.

In parlance Don (and many others) will understand, as a guest he was a Gem Mint.

To that moment, his was the longest episode I’d done. It clocked in just under 90 minutes and I was worried how it would be received.

Turns out, it was received very well!

Don shared stories of his fandom dating back to the time he saw Hall of Famer Ted Williams make his triumphant return from service during the Korean War. Yes, you read that correctly, Don was in Fenway Park that day in 1953 and witnessed Williams receive a standing ovation for simply appearing as a pinch hitter and then again after popping out.

From there, the recollections continued to flow, including those of Bill Russell in Boston Garden, Lew Alcindor in Pauley Pavilion, Vin Scully calling Dodger Baseball, George Brett‘s 3,000th hit, and seeing the California Angels play in Wrigley Field … Los Angeles’ Wrigley Field!

No wonder this episode’s had so many listens!

Haven’t listened to the Don Drooker episode yet? Check it out below.

Similar episodes to Don Drooker:

  • Season 2, Episode 18 Dennis Hafeli – One of my former high school English teachers, Dennis Hafeli was heavily into sports collectibles (especially cards and autographs) and during our Conversation he shares tales from his 25 years attending the card show in Cooperstown, NY, each Hall of Fame Induction Weekend; being present for Hank Aaron‘s record-breaking 715th home run; popping in to visit Mark Fidrych when he and his family happened to be in Northborough, MA, on a vacation; and serving as entertainment for the Detroit Lions’ 1980 training camp.
  • Season 5, Episode 22 Conversations Live at AZ Sports Cards – This one actually features more Don Drooker and an assortment of other hobby heads when I took the show to a remote location for the first time.
My Conversation with Don Drooker.

The No. 4 Episode of Conversations – Dennis Harp

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Dennis Harp in his Dawson College Letter Jacket.
Dennis Harp donning his old letterman’s jacket from Montana’s Dawson college.

(Editor’s Note: As we close in on the fourth anniversary of the launch of Conversations with Sports Fans [June 9th] we’re counting down the top four most-listened-to episodes in the show’s history. This is the fourth most-listened-to episode.)

Dennis Harp happened upon my show thanks to a referral from Fred Inniger, himself a one-time guest (S:1, E:20) and a member of the $80 for 80 Circle of Champions.

Fred suggested Dennis because he knew him to be a terrific storyteller from Dennis’ times appearing on the sports radio show Fred then-hosted on WAWK 99.5 FM in northeastern Indiana.

Fred did not exaggerate!

Dennis, who grew up in tiny Wolcottville, IN, wound up becoming the youngest NCAA Division I men’s basketball coach in the country when he ascended to the lead chair at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX. It was short-lived, however, as two years later the university reclassified as a NAIA school.

Dennis discussed all of it. From the joys of achieving his lifelong dream to the disappointment of leaving Division I to his decision to continue coaching at HSU following the move to NAIA. And, as Fred noted when he referred Dennis to me, his circle of acquaintances is sizable. During our time together he shared stories of being the father of a pair of college athletes as well as his relationships with a pair of coaching royals in Dale Brown and Bob Knight.

The ease with which Dennis spoke and the number of stories he shared in our hour together, it’s no wonder why this episode is among the top four most-listened-to at the moment.

Haven’t listened to the Dennis Harp episode yet? Check it out below.

Similar episodes to Dennis Harp:

My Conversation with Dennis Harp early in Season 3 is presently the fourth most-listened-to in Conversations’ history.

Fan Teaser – Week 188 Solution

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The last time the New York Knickerbockers won an
NBA Championship this fella was in the regular rotation.

Most modern-day NBA fans will know this week’s #FanTeaser solution – Phil Jackson – not from his playing days but from his stellar work on the sidelines coaching some of the game’s most successful franchises.

But before Jackson was the Zen Master helping guide the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to a total of 11 NBA Championships, he was a 12-year player in the league, including the first 10 with the New York Knicks.

Phil Jackson during his playing days with the New York Knicks
Before becoming known as an 11-time NBA Champion coach, Phil Jackson
won two rings as member of the New York Knicks (1971 and 1973).
(New York Daily News Photo)

It was there that he tasted his first professional success, winning an NBA title in 1973.

Jackson played his college ball at the University of North Dakota for a future Hall of Fame coach, Bill Fitch. He became a second-round pick of the Knicks in the 1967 NBA Draft. He immediately became a rotational player with the Knicks, averaging nearly 15 minutes a game as a rookie. And that, in a nutshell, was what Jackson was during the majority of his time in New York. Only once did he start more than 25 games in a season (1974-75) and he never averaged more than 30 minutes per game.

He did, however, nab a ring with the 1973 Knicks’ team when he chipped in an average of eight points per game over 17 minutes per contest during the Knicks’ 4-1 Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. (New York also won it all in 1970, but Jackson missed the season while recovering from spinal fusion surgery.)

Not a shabby top 12 for the 1972-73 Knicks.

As a coach, Jackson won three consecutive NBA titles three times! The 1991-93 Bulls, the 1996-98 Bulls, and the 2000-02 Lakers. He added a back-to-back with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010. Oh yeah, he also took two other Lakers’ teams to the Finals but wound up falling short (2004 and 2008).

One final amazing statistics. At the moment, there have been 80 NBA Championships. If you include Jackson’s two as a player (he was on that Knicks roster while recovering from surgery) that means he’s won 16.25% of those!

This video examines Jackson’s playing career.

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.

Fan Teaser: Week 185 Solution

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We’re no longer on track for a repeat of this masterpiece but the image was too good not to use!

In 2019 the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers met in an Eastern Conference Semifinal and it went the distance to a deciding seventh game in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

And, befitting a seventh game, it went down to the wire.

With two minutes remaining, the game was tied at 85. The Raptors scored four straight points before Philly countered with three free throws of its own to make it 89-88 with 12 seconds left.

Kawhi Leonard made just one of two free throws with 10 seconds left before 76er Jimmy Butler’s jumper knotted the game at 90 with four seconds left.

The final moments of the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
The final moments of the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals are captured in Toronto. Note the 0.0 remaining on the clock. The emotion visible on all the faces each tell a story do they not? With his right foot on the ‘R’ is Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid. Squatting next to Embiid is the shot’s shooter, Kawhi Leonard. Raptors Fred VanVleet (23) seems to be willing the ball into the basket as be steps off the bench. Philly’s Ben Simmons (25) appears resigned to fact that his season is over. 76er Jimmy Butler (only his head visible) can only watch. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NBA Entertainment via Getty Images)

With that as the backdrop, Leonard played the role of hero, nailing a fadeaway baseline jumper as the clock expired to not only give the Raptors the 92-90 victory (they went onto win the franchise’s only NBA Title), but also yielded this week’s epic #FanTeaser image.

Shot by NBA Entertainment’s Mark Blinch, it was described by The Guardian as a “Flemish masterpiece” (whatever that might mean) thanks to all of motion, emotion, and lighting found in the shot.

It went on to win a World Press Photo Sports Singles 2020 Award and, I must say, it seems for good reason.

The video of Leonard’s buzzer-beater from the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals.

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.