Podcasts about big time sports

As March Madness kicks off today, I thought I would post a podcast conversation with my friend Paul Putz. Paul is the author of "Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big Time Sports" and is the Director of the Faith and Sports Institute at Baylor University. In this podcast, we talk about Paul's high school coach, leadership lessons from the book, and make some picks for both Final Fours.

In this episode of the Just Schools Podcast, Jon Eckert interviews Paul Putz, director of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor University, where he helps to lead and develop online programming and curriculum as well as assisting with communications and strategic planning. They discuss his journey from high school teacher and coach to historian, diving into insights from his new book, The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports. Putz reflects on the role of sports in K-12 education and the importance of of resilience, collaboration, and integrating faith into leadership in both education and sports. The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work. The Center for School Leadership and Faith & Sports Institute are partnering together for a summer professional event! Join us for the FIT (faith-integration-transformation) Sports Leadership Summit! We will gather at Baylor to empower and equip Christian sports leaders in K-12 schools to lead, serve, and educate well as they pursue competitive excellence. Be encouraged. Mentioned: The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports by Paul Putz Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss. Faith & Sports Institute Youth Sports Summit  Connect with us: Baylor MA in School Leadership EdD in K-12 Educational Leadership Jon Eckert LinkedIn X: @eckertjon Center for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl   Jon Eckert: All right, so we've got Paul Putz here in the podcast studio and we get to talk about a new book. We get to talk about coaching, we get to talk about teaching. So Paul, it's a huge blessing to have you here today. Can you just give us a little bit of your background about how you got to this office today, where you came through as a student and professionally? Paul Putz: Yeah. Well, I started, we'll start with I'm a teacher at heart and was a teacher, a high school teacher. So I grew up in small town Nebraska and playing all the sports thinking that I'm going to become a coach. So I went off and played small college basketball and then wanted to hang around sports. And so I got my secondary ed degree, was a social studies teacher. And as I started teaching in Omaha, Nebraska, I had a sense of how important sports were to me in terms of forming me. I was a pretty good student too, but sports mattered to me on a deeper level. And so I was really intrigued about learning more about sports. As I'm teaching social studies classes, I'm thinking about, man, how historically did we get to a place where sports are part of a school curriculum where sports are actually seen as educational or sports are seen as formative? I was just so curious about that. So instead of becoming a coach as a high school teacher, I get my master's in history and I start exploring these questions about the history of sports and as connections with Christianity. So those sort of questions I was wrestling with as a high school teacher lead me to applying to Baylor, coming to Baylor to get a PhD teaching at Messiah University for a year, and then coming back to Truett Seminary where I lead the Faith & Sports Institute and have been involved with FSI for the past five years. Jon Eckert: So love the work you do. I also understand from guys who still are able to play basketball with you, I have not been able to, as my knee no longer allows it, but you have a nice mid-range game still. Paul Putz: Old school. We keep it old school. Yeah. Jon Eckert: That's great. That makes Nebraska and Indiana boys proud. So love that. And I love the journey that you took. You go into education thinking you're going to coach and you're going to teach, and then you go down this history path, which then leads you to leading a Faith & Sports Institute. So it's kind of funny the way the Lord weaves us through these paths. And then to this book that's been published by Oxford University Press, really nice book by the way. Paul Putz: Thank you. Jon Eckert: Much nicer production than I typically get in the books that I write. So I'm impressed with what Oxford's done with it. The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports. It says it's this fascinating look at the overlap and the way Christianity and major college sports and professional sports have been woven together starting in the 1920s. So tell us how you got to this book from that journey you just described. Paul Putz: Yeah, I think so many authors say their book is in some sense autobiographical. You have a question that you want to think about and in the process of exploring your own questions, you kind of realize, hey, other people might be asking these questions too. So that's how it started for me. I mentioned I'm growing up in Nebraska, I was a pastor's kid, I was also loving sports. And so this idea of being a Christian and being an athlete were so central to how I saw myself. And so when I did pursue the PhD and became a historian exploring sports in Christianity, it was my desire to figure out where did I come from? How was my high school basketball coach, Joel Heeser, who's a friend of mine now still coaching high school basketball? How did he learn what it means to be a Christian athlete, a Christian coach? And so out of that kind of sense of curiosity and a sense of where's my own place in this story, I went and do what historians do. So we go back to the archives and we try to look at the origins and we look at the cultural context and we try to figure out cause and change over time and how did this happen and how did it influence culture and how did culture influence what was going on? And so that's what I got to spend five years doing. It started as a PhD doctoral project. I'm going to archives across the US and I'm looking at memos and documents, and going to the libraries and just trying to tease out how this space to bring together sports and faith developed and then how it evolved and advanced to the place where it shaped my life and shaped the lives of so many others in America. Jon Eckert: That's well said and a great setup to the book. And one of the things that kind of blew my mind, and it's just in the introduction to your book, you have this comment here, "Compared with 100 years ago, there are far more athletes and coaches today willing to publicly champion Christianity as a formative influence in their lives." So I think sometimes in the US we feel like we're in this post-Christian world. And in some ways it's a very different world, especially when you hear athletes as soon as they're interviewed after a game, immediately giving credit to God and giving glory to God and the Steph Currys of the world and any number of football players. And you see this over and over and over again. And that wasn't the case a hundred years ago, probably because sports weren't as, they didn't have the platform that they do now. But as you've written the book, what do you attribute that to the most? I know that's the point of the whole book, but can you distill that down to two or three points for the people listening and why you think that's the case? Paul Putz: Yeah, what I try to suggest in the book is the blending of sports and Christianity kind of happens in two phases. And so I start in the 1920s, but there's this era before the 1920s, we'll say goes from after the Civil War until the 1920s. And it's during this era there's a movement called, muscular Christianity. And what muscular Christianity does is it helps Christians see the value of the body, the value of physical activity to moral formation. And it's out of muscular Christianity, which is a movement that starts in England and then it comes to the United States. It's out of muscular Christianity that a lot of these ideas about character formation in sports are developed. And it's why sports become connected to schools and education because people and school leaders are trying to figure out how do we channel this interest that our students have in athletic activity into productive ways so we can use it to form and shape them as good citizens. So muscular Christianity is kind of the first stage, which again connects sports to Christian mission with this character building way. And it has a profound effect. I mean, some of the sports we play today are products of muscular Christianity. And the classic example is basketball, 1891, James Naismith enrolls at a Christian college in Springfield, part of the YMCA. And when he enrolls at the school, he said his desire was to win men for the master through the gym. So he has a Christian purpose, a Christian mission at a Christian school, and he creates basketball to advance these muscular Christian ideas. Jon Eckert: And I didn't realize this, but in the book you highlight, Naismith is the only coach in Kansas history that has a losing record. Paul Putz: Only coach with a losing record. Jon Eckert: Because he didn't care. Paul Putz: He didn't... And this is such an important point because in that first era there were some real idealistic people like Naysmith who thought sport legitimately as first and foremost for moral formation, it's about developing people. Win or lose doesn't matter. So that's the first era. 1920s comes along and it's pretty clear that sports has developed into something else. Sports is connected to commercialization, winning comes first. Even at colleges it was supposed to be educational, but it's clear that at the college level, if you're a coach, you might be a great molder of young men, but if you don't win games, you're getting fired. Jon Eckert: Right. Paul Putz: So there's this sense in the 1920s, this reality sets in that sport is now commercialized. It's big time. And even though it's still connected to say college, at the big time level, that muscular Christian mission isn't there. So what my book tries to do is say, okay, when muscular Christianity is sort of on the back burner because we now have this big time sports structure in the 1920s where it's all commercialized, it's all celebrity, how do Christians still engage in that? How do they wrestle with that tension of a, when at all cost atmosphere, a space where Christians don't determine the culture of sports they're guests in this culture and how do they create a space to still cultivate and nurture Christian athletes and coaches there? And that's where we see in the 1920s, very few Christians able to navigate that. There's just a handful of them who can be in major league baseball or can be in big time college athletics and still feel strong about their Christian commitments. But a hundred years later, we now see all sorts of Christian athletes and coaches who are comfortable in those spaces. And you kind of asked what drove that. What I would say drives that is the formation of a community that was embedded within sports institutions, that creates a sense of shared mission, shared purpose, and that over generations continue to invite more people in, continue to develop and just kind of under the radar, ministry of presence was just there and available to help athletes and coaches identify as Christians in that space. So it really comes down to the creation of these networks and organizations like the Fellowship of Christian athletes, like athletes in action, like Pro Athletes Outreach, like Baseball Chapel, people starting something new and then sustaining it over time and seeing the ripple effects years later. Jon Eckert: The beautiful example and what I had just finished this summer, this, Path Lit by Lightning, it's the Jim Thorpe book. Have you read this? Paul Putz: Yes, I have. Fantastic book. Jon Eckert: Such a fascinating read, because it's in this, leading up to the 1920s, his career is this amateur versus professional, which he gets caught and just treated so poorly and Pop Warner, the king of amateur child sports that we have Pop Warner leagues all over, kind of a horrific human being in the way they exploited people and they did it through sports. But he started his career at the Carlisle Indian School, which was one of the horrific experiments in US history when we took students off from their families off of reservations to try to quote, unquote civilize them into these things. And sports were a major part of it. So in our conversation, I'd love to pivot a little bit, well maybe not even pivot, but integrate sports into what K-12 education has been because still most places other than maybe Friday night lights in Texas football, most K-12 sports are not big time sports yet that most of the athletes playing sports there. You would make the case that the extracurricular there is to support the moral development. It's not a huge money sport until you get into the AAU stuff and some of those things where you have revenue, but K-12 systems, it's still more about that and it's been used for a lot of good things. And then in some cases, in Jim Thorpe's example, it was good kind of. So could you integrate those a little bit and how you see K-12 sports still having an influence and where Christian coaches and Christian athletes have a spot in that? Paul Putz: Yeah, yeah, you're right. There is a difference. And that muscular Christian ideal still continues in some ways, certainly even at the big time sports level. There's elements of it, but especially I think when we get into K-12 or if we get into division three small colleges. Jon Eckert: Yes. Paul Putz: There's a better chance to I think fully integrate the sports experience with the mission of the school. And at the same time, I would say the trends that we see at the highest levels of sports, your professional leagues, those do filter down because kids are looking to athletes as celebrities and heroes. So they're emulating them in some ways. So even though at the K-12 level and the small college level, there's a difference structurally and financially, you still have people who are formed and shaped by what they're seeing in these images in this culture. Now at the same time, I do think in terms of the growth of sports in what we've seen, I think we saw really a century from the 1920s until the last 10 years of continual development of sports as a central part of education in the United States. And this was done intentionally through organizations and networks like coaches associations, high school athletic associations. These develop in the 1920s and after the 1940s and 1950s, they sort of take on this professional identity. There was a period in time where to be a coach at a high school, you were seen as like, well, you're not really part of what's going on at the school. And so it took time for coaches to establish a professional identity linking it with education. And that evolved over the course of, again, a hundred years from the 1920s into the present. But these coaches and athletic directors, I have a quote in my book where I mentioned this, they intentionally had this vision for cultivating in young people a love of sports, because they thought through sports we can instill good values for American citizens or if you're at a Christian school you can instill Christian values. And so at the K-12 level, sports were always connected with some sort of vision beyond just the game. It was more than a game. It was about who you're becoming as a person. It was about learning life lessons and it sounds like a platitude. We've all heard this and we've also, I'm sure seen hypocrisy where we know of a coach who says this, but it doesn't seem like it plays out that way. But there's also some deep truth to that. I think anyone listening to this, if you've played a sport at the high school level that formed and shaped you, maybe in some bad ways, but in some good ways too. And so I think there is a power to sports that continues to have relevance and resonance today. I will say in more recent years we're seeing some really big shifts with K-12 school. With club sports, with travel sports. And there's some ways that that sense of community identity that was tied into the school level, it doesn't exist everywhere. There's pockets where it does. But in some places, some of the best athletes are now not connected to their school. And so for the future, I worry about what will it look like in 40, 50, 60 years where sports could be such an important part of a community and neighborhood identity at a school level. Will that go away as more and more athletes maybe turn to different models to pursue their dreams and goals? Some people in education might say that's healthy. They might say we need to separate education from sports. For me, and maybe I'm naive, but I think there's something important and beautiful about linking sports to education. But we do have to have guard rails and we do have to have people fighting to do it the right way. Jon Eckert: I completely agree. I want to see sports, I want to see all extracurriculars integrated well into what's going on in the classroom. I think that provides more holistic place for kids to learn is where kids can be more engaged and kids can flourish in areas where they may not flourish in one classroom, but they might flourish with an instrument they might flourish in a club or with sports. And I think sports are a powerful place for that. I do know with some states moving to NIL deals for high school athletes, that completely changes the dynamic and is really disconcerting for me because in that case, unlike colleges where that athlete is generating revenue for the school, it's hard to argue that the gate attendance at the high school game is really that much impacted by an individual athlete. But that's coming and that is the world we're living in. And that's some of that trickle-down effect that you described. I never want to be the sky is falling person. I'm thrilled that we have a 12 team playoff system in college football. I'm also not ignorant of the fact that, that completely changes the dynamics of the economics of the sport. So what I'd like to say is Christian leaders, because our set in the Interfaith Sports Institute and the Center, we overlap in some really good ways. What I'd like to see is what you described about the athletes in the twenties and thirties, creating these associations and these communities that fly under the radar of just inviting people in because I think that's what as Christians we should be doing in whatever we're called to. So do you see overlap for Christian administrators and teachers for how we can represent Christ well in the platforms big or small that we have? Do you see any lessons that we can take away as educators from what you found from your athletes in the book? Paul Putz: I think so. I think probably one of the most important, or I guess if I were to highlight two things. One is I would say there's lots of different ways to do it. Jon Eckert: Yes. Paul Putz: I think sometimes a certain person or a certain organization, they come up with a way that works really well for them and then they hold fast to that as if this is the way, this is the biblical way, this is the Christian way. And what I would want to say is it's a part of a conversation. Different contexts need different resources, different methods. And the way God made us as a community talks about the diversity of strengths we have in giftings and callings. And so I think one thing to learn is you can learn from other people who have methods and approaches when it comes to integrating faith in sports. And you probably also have something to offer to that conversation too. So if we can hold what we do loosely, but also not in a way that shies away from the calling to step up as Christian leaders and to say there is a way to engage in sports that reflects my convictions, but then also in a way where there's a sense of humility that I can learn from others. I don't have it all figured out. A bunch of Christians before me have messed up as they're trying to do this, but they've also done some good stuff along the way. And I think that can give us freedom to try, probably to fail, but to maybe advance the conversation forward. So that's one piece. And the other piece is I think it's simply expect tension, expect that there's not an easy overlap between the culture of sports and Christianity. I think there are certain elements to sports that I'm really drawn to. I'm competitive. I love the competitiveness of sports. I want to have the winner. For me, there's a drive for all of that. Jon Eckert: You're not James Naismith, is that what you're saying? Paul Putz: I'm not. I love James Naismith, but for me, boy, I want to, I'm kind of like, I want to win. Jon Eckert: You can be John Wooden. He wanted win too. Paul Putz: There you go. That's right. He did it. The quiet winner. But biblically, there are all sorts of messages, passages, commands from Jesus that tell us that his kingdom is upside down. It's different than the way the world works. And sports culture so often has a certain way where we prioritize the winner. We maybe give our attention to the star athlete. And that type of culture, it's really difficult to fully, fully integrate that into this full-fledged view of Christian faith. And especially because sports is also a pluralistic space where you're going to have people of all different faith, traditions, race, ethnicity, backgrounds, which is beautiful. But it also means let's just have some realistic expectations for what we can accomplish in sports, realizing tension's going to exist. It's the already not yet tension. We live after Jesus's life, death and resurrection before he comes to make it fully complete. And so in the midst of that, we can witness to Christ's way right now and point to glimpses of his coming kingdom. But let's not have this sense of maybe an idealistic perfectionist bent that insists or expects that we're going to round out all the sharp edges of sports. There's going to be tension there. Jon Eckert: And so as educators, the beautiful thing, I got to teach coach for years and what I loved about it was I love basketball, but it wasn't going over the same play for the fourth year in a row. And the 50th practice that I've done it was seeing how individuals came to that and what skills you had and how you could put them in place to be successful. And so when I taught a science lab the 16th time I taught the science lab, I knew what was going to happen with the chemical reaction, but it was fun to see through the eyes of the kids that were there. So the more diverse and pluralistic the classroom of the team is, the more interesting it is to see that through all those different perspectives. And I think that's really how God sees us anyway. And so there's beauty in that and it's not a challenge to be overcome. It's the beauty of being in the world that every person is made in the image of God, whether they're the guy on the end of the bench or the best player on the team, or the kid that struggles in the science lab and flourishes in the art classroom. That kid is fascinating. And then you can't give up on that kid. And so the great coaches don't give up on players. It's why I'm super curious to see how Bill Belichick does at University of North Carolina, having been a pro coach for so many years where it is like, yeah, you've got to recruit well, but you also have to build a culture where your team, and that's harder to do now than ever because of what's going on in the transfer portal. And I don't like this, so I'm going to leave. And at least in the classroom, for the most part, we get a kid for the year and we get to be with them. We get to walk alongside them for a time and help them become more of who they're created to be and then pass them off to the next person. So I know in the Faith and Sports Institute, this is a lot of what you're trying to do through sports and how you integrate faith well. So talk a little bit about any events you have coming up or what you hope to do through that. Paul Putz: Yeah, well one thing we are excited about is the stuff we get to do with you, the Center for School Leadership. I think just over the past couple of years we've connected and collaborated. We've hung out and [inaudible 00:22:43] Jon Eckert: Board, you're on our advisory board board. Paul Putz: I often tell people, CSL think is one of the best things Baylor has going for it. And that's because I was a high school teacher and I see the sort of leaders that are developed through CSL. And so I immediately wanted to get connected and to see some overlap. I also knew sports is so central to education, and I know you have many coaches and athletic directors who come through your degree programs. And so it's been fun just to explore together some of the ways we can partner. So we do have, in June, we're actually going to be putting on at Baylor in conjunction with Baylor Athletics Center for School Leadership, faith and Sports Institute. We're going to have a little Christian Leadership Summit event. We're going to gather people together who are interested in these questions of faith and sport integration and how do you compete with excellence, but with Christian values and perspective. And so we're real excited about that. We have other events that we're doing in February, we're hosting a youth sports event, thinking about how the church navigates youth sports issues. And that's going to be February 7th and eighth here at Truett Seminary in Waco. And then in next summer, July, late July, we're hosting the Global Congress on Sport and Christianity. This is more of an academic gathering. We're bringing in scholars who do research on sports and Christianity, but we're also bringing in some thoughtful practitioners, some chaplains, some coaches, some athletic directors, people who have thought deeply about sports and faith. And it's a shared conversation. So a lot of what we try to do with the Faith and Sports Institute, convene people, have conversations, collaborate, bring people together. And we do have some grad programs and online certificate programs. So we have some educational pieces that are foundational to what we do, but also we have these just public facing programs and collaboration opportunities that I'm real excited about. Jon Eckert: Love that. And I love being at a place like Baylor where there's so many good things going on. As a center, we get to partner with you, we get to partner with Baylor Athletics. Anything Coach Drew does, I will happily support. Paul Putz: 100%. Jon Eckert: So we have so many great people like that. So that's a blessing. And I know we're almost out of time, so I'm going to do our lightning round because we really need to do the lightning round. But I want to start with this. What's the biggest challenge you see facing Christian coaches and educators right now? Paul Putz: I think it's margin and time, and the demands of the job. It seems there's more and more responsibility, and for good reasons. It's because there's these issues. It's mental health. We want to care for the kids. And there's all these challenges kids face now you need to figure that out, because if you're going to teach the kid, you better know what you're doing. And it just seems like I was last a high school teacher 11 years ago. I don't know that that world exists now 10 years later. It's totally different when I hear what educators are going through. I think for coaches as well, you've talked about it with NIL, it feels so new. I would just say some margin, some grace, some space, some sense of community. And then through that, maybe we can figure out some healthier rhythms because it's unsustainable with the way it is now. So that's one thing I see just with the people I've been around, and I know we've talked a little bit about this too, it's something... We need each other. At the end of the day, we need each other for this. Jon Eckert: Yeah. Best advice you've ever received? Paul Putz: I would say, I'm going to, boy, here's what I'll go with. John Wilson said this, "Let a thousand flowers bloom," was what he said. And he was talking about in the context of academics who kind of try to claim their territory, their space, and kind of own it. And his perspective was, let's encourage it all. Let's let it all grow. Don't try to cultivate your little space, a little thousand flowers bloom. It's going to look more beautiful and let's encourage one another along the way. And so that's the first thing that to mind. If I were to think more, I might have something else, but that's something I've been continually reminded of is how much we need each other and how much we need to encourage one another. And how much there is when we look out from ourselves and see the other work that's being accomplished. There's so much to support and encourage. Jon Eckert: That's good. I always like what comes to mind first. So that's good. Worst advice you've ever received? Paul Putz: Worst advice... Jon Eckert: Or given? Paul Putz: Or given? I've probably given some bad advice. I cannot think of... There's nothing specific that's coming to mind. That's for worst advice probably because sort of just went in one ear and out the other. Jon Eckert: That's good. Paul Putz: Gosh, I've run a total blank. You stumped me. [inaudible 00:27:39] Yeah. I'll circle back. I'm going to email you, if I can think of one after. Jon Eckert: You have to have gotten bad advice from a coach or from about coaching. That's where some of the worst advice I've ever received about coaching. Paul Putz: Well, I'll tell you. So this isn't necessarily advice, but I have heard a coach say, and this is about being a Christian, basically it was, "Hey, when you're a Christian, when you step onto that field, you're someone else. You're totally someone else. You can become whatever you want to be there." So there you go. That's some bad advice. Jon Eckert: Yeah. That's good. Paul Putz: As Christians, sports are part of life. So we don't separate who we are as Christians, we don't compartmentalize. So there you go. Worst advice is that you can separate who you are in the field to play. Jon Eckert: So if you had to distill down into a sentence your one takeaway piece of advice for somebody who wants to write a book, I talk to a lot of educators who run to write a book, you've now written a book. Any nugget that as an encouragement or as a discouragement, like, "Hey, think about this." What would you say? Paul Putz: I would say you got to write it for yourself. You got to care about it. And it's got to be important for you that you put this out because there's a ton of great books out there. You're not going to get rich off writing books. It's got to be because you're passionate about it. For yourself, not in the sense of to glorify yourself, for yourself in the sense that I have these words that I think could be helpful if I get it out. And the other thing is resilience. You got to be willing to sit down in that chair and write when you don't feel like it. Get that draft out, edit, revise. So it's resilience. And it's also a real calling that these words need to be out there. Jon Eckert: Yeah. Well, you said you were not going to make money on this. I've heard you refer to yourself as the John Grisham of sports historians. Paul Putz: There's only... Yeah, of sports and Christianity in America. Historians. There's like two of us. Jon Eckert: That's good. No, no, that's good. It's so true about the books and not getting rich, and you do have to have something that you feel so deeply that you need to get out there that it's going to drive you on those days you don't want to do it. So that's good advice. Last question, what makes you most hopeful as you look ahead, as an educator, as somebody who's interested in sports, what makes you most encouraged? Paul Putz: I think it's being around people who we're in this with, it's about the people we're in it with. There's a lot that I can get discouraged about when I see the news and it feels like there's so much that's changing. But then I'm around people who are saying, "You know what? This is a time we lived in. We didn't choose this time, but here we are, and what are we going to give up? We're going to say, oh, it's hopeless." No, it's the people. It's looking for people who want to find solutions and who realize young people are growing up. They're being shaped and formed right now. And if we're not in that work, what are we doing to shape the future? So that's more than anything. It's just being around people who are willing to put in the work, even in the face of the struggles. Jon Eckert: Well, until wrap up, I'm grateful that you decided not to take your talents to the NBA, but you brought them into academia and you brought those loves together. So I really appreciate your partnership and you being here today. Paul Putz: Thanks so much. Really appreciate you and the work you do.

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From 2019 - Professor Charles T. Clotfelter talks about his book "Big-Time Sports in American Universities," which examines the place of high profile athletic teams at our major universities. Although Professor Clotfelter raises concerns, he comes to this as a sports fan and his approach to the topic is nuanced and thoughtful.

Scott Mitchell and Jake Hatch talk about how Salt Lake City is becoming a big time sports town. Follow UnRivaled on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason Siegel of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission joins the show to talk about the NCAA Tournament coming to town this spring along with the She Believes Cup and so much more.

EPISODE 99 - Clark, Hyung and John talk about their initial thoughts on the newly released 2022 Topps Chrome Sapphire Baseball Set and the fact it doesn't come with an autograph hit this year. Then the guys discuss some recent sales of big time sports cards, how much it's dropped since the peak of the hobby hype, but also how much it's increased if you had bought the card pre-hobby boom, and deciding what they would do with the card if they still owned one. For example, the Tom Brady 2000 Playoff Contenders rookie autograph card (BGS 8.5) sold for $6,500 in January 2018, sold for $84,000 during the hobby peak in January 2022, but came back down in December 2022 for $25,100 (a nice 4X if you bought pre-hobby hype, but a major loss if you bought at the 2022 peak). -------------------------------- CONNECT WITH US! Instagram: @cardstothemoon | @fivecardguys (Clark) | @yntegritysportscards (Hyung) | @tradeyouatrecess (John) Website: https://fivecardguys.com/podcast Daily Auctions: https://fivecardguys.com/dailyauctions If you have any questions about the hobby that you would like addressed, email us at hello@fivecardguys.com or DM us on Instagram at @cardstothemoon or @fivecardguys.

Major-league sports and premier events like the Olympics have long been an American obsession, but so far, Gen Z seems to be sitting out—unless, say, our hometown Cincinnati Bengals happen to make it to the Super Bowl, but even then we'll probably be scrolling something else on the side, because football takes forever. Other than turning their entire product into a video game—one youth-outreach strategy described in a recent New York Times article—what can the NFL, the NBA, and other legacy leagues do to win us over? For starters: try being less racist*, less sexist, less exploitative, and more diverse, inclusive, and sustainable. More than a better game, we want a better world, and we think sports can help us get there. But the industry needs a new game plan. The podcasters: Alberto C. Jones (host)Nico Luginbill, Walnut Hills H.S.Joyeuse Muhorakeye, Aiken New Tech H.S.Pawan Rai, Aiken New Tech H.S. Conversation recorded on Zoom Feb. 13, 2022 (Super Bowl Sunday) * Recommended listening: Here's an NPR interview with former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who's filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, alleging racial discrimination in hiring.

‘Tis the season, right? Traditionally, this time of year celebrates spirituality and festivities – including Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. In modern day America, however, the Winter Solstice signals the faithful to gather from afar in monumental temples to worship our nation's supreme secular deity: Big Time Sports! Get ready for a non-stop frenzy of football, basketball, soccer, and more – with devout fans making tribal pilgrimages to their sacred stadiums and arenas. But whatever the sport, the name of the game these days is the same: M-O-N-E-Y, for the people's sport franchises are firmly in the grip of a self-regulating handful of secretive, überrich, autocratic, corporate owners. We might worship the team that actually plays the sport, but our money mostly goes to this ruling clique of billionaire barons. Consider those gargantuan houses of worship where the games are played. We The People (including non-worshipers) paid for nearly all of them with tax dollars, usually with no chance to vote on the giveaway. Yet, a few dozen profiteering team owners are given control of the venues. They set and collect the outrageous ticket prices and are even allowed to gouge the faithful by charging $15 for one small beer! Most insulting, these rich public welfare moochers pocket millions of extra dollars a year by turning these huge edifices (even those built with the people's money) into private billboards by selling off the so-called “naming rights” to the highest corporate bidders. Thus, dozens of our major sports facilities don't honor the cities they're in, the citizenry, or even the team. Instead they're gaudily plastered with brand names like FedEx Field, Minute Maid Park, RCA Dome, and Toyota Center – as though they're corporate owned. The money game is yet another corporate swindle, made even more corrupt by its expropriation of America's sporting spirit for private greed.

Why now is the time to expand the Supreme Court. And Bill Press with a report card on the nation's economy.   Sarah Lipton-Lubet on how to break the conservative stranglehold on the Supreme Court. Plus Bill Press with former Amalgamated Bank CEO  Keith Mestrich on the direction of our economic recovery.  Sarah Lipton Lubet With a conservative 6-to-3 majority, the Supreme Court in its current composition has already shown what they are willing to sacrifice to a political agenda. Sarah Lipton Lubet advocates for restoring balance and integrity to the Court, and she says expanding the court is the way to do that. Jim Hightower  “Team Greed” plays big-time sports!   ‘Tis the season, right? Traditionally, this time of year celebrates spirituality and festivities – including Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.   In modern-day America, however, the Winter Solstice signals the faithful to gather from afar in monumental temples to worship our nation's supreme secular deity: Big Time Sports!  Keith Mestrich  Bill Press talks with former Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich on why he still believes the economy in on track to a full recovery. If you'd like to hear the entire episode, visit BillPressPods.com.  

Doug thinks two big things happened last night, and it had nothing to do with the way the Raiders or Ravens played. Las Vegas became a legitimate sports city and the Raiders finally found a home. Doug gives his thoughts on the Peyton & Eli megacast, and it's a thumbs up. FOX Sports college football analyst Petros Papadakis joins Doug to talk about the end of Clay Helton at USC and potential replacements. Plus, Dan Beyer takes Doug through a game of Rank 'Em. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Scott O'Neil is one of the top sports and entertainment CEO's in the world. In this episode of CXOTalk, he shares practical and personal lessons on how to lead and grow a team. Scott's new book is called Be Where Your Feet Are.The conversation covers these topics:-- About Scott O'Neil and the book: “Be Where Your Feet Are”-- The struggle for authenticity-- Lessons from a sports and entertainment CEO-- Managing high-performing talent-- Impact of negative social media on high performers-- “My true love is building teams and developing talent”-- How to manage psychological well-being for high-performance and professional athletes?-- What is a purpose-driven enterprise?-- Scott O'Neil on blockchain-- How does a company develop its ethics and corporate culture?Scott O'Neil is the former Chief Executive Officer of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. A decade-long Alternate Governor for the NBA and NHL, O'Neil was acting CEO over all properties in HBSE's dynamic, global portfolio, including marquee teams, the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils. He is also the Co-Managing Partner and Founding Board Member of Elevate Sports Ventures, a best-in-class sports and entertainment consultancy founded in partnership between HBSE, the San Francisco 49ers, Live Nation, Ticketmaster and Oak View Group. A former President of Madison Square Garden Sports, O'Neil was the key architect in some of the largest venue sponsorship deals in history, while overseeing the iconic New York Knicks (NBA) and New York Rangers (NHL).

This week we speak to Dr. David Canton, the new head of the African-American studies department at the University of Florida about how he intends to teach about sports, racism and politics given the recent legislation against reaching any kind of antiracism by Florida governor Ron DeSantis.We also have “Choice Words” about the NFL and it's racist practice called race-norming. In addition, we have “Just Stand Up” and “Just Sit Down” awards to Australian swimmer Maddie Groves who has chosen to withdraw from the Olympics as a message to sexist perverts and everyone who added to the hype machine leading ip to the fight between Floyd Mayweather and  Logan Paul. All this and more on this week's show!David Cantonhttps://news.clas.ufl.edu/dr-david-a-canton-named-director-of-african-american-studies-at-uf/Zirin, The Tokyo Olympics Are In Perilhttps://www.thenation.com/article/society/tokyo-olympics-cancel/— http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)

Welcome to the first ever episode of BIG TIME SPORTS. Jacob Rush, Branson McGee and Brandon Hamilton discuss topis such as NFL Free Agency, MLB's condensed 60 game season, the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and your weekly edition of the Rush Report covering NASCAR. Give us a listen and let us know what you think.

Το cmdOS υποδέχεται το νέο έτος σαν να μην άλλαξε τίποτα. Ο Λεωνίδας τα βάζει με την τύχη του ενώ πάλι αγοράζει το «λάθος» πράγμα. Ο Μάνος θα τα έβαζε με την τύχη του αν την έβρισκε. Οπότε απλά αποχαιρετά το Setapp. Η Apple μιλά ακόμη περισσότερο για τις υπηρεσίες της, οπότε αυτές είναι το βασικό θέμα του επεισοδίου. Επικοινωνία με την εκπομπή: Email | Facebook Group | Twitter Λεωνίδας Μαστέλλος: Facebook | Twitter | Spotify Μάνος Βέζος: The Vez | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Apple Music Apple rings in new era of Services following landmark year Apple TV app coming to 2018, 2019 and 2020 LG TVs Apple TV App Coming to Select Sony and Vizio Smart TVs Later This Year Apple Deal Returns Former HBO Boss Richard Plepler to Spotlight cmdOS 50: Βροχή τα bugs και τα εκατομμύρια Sayonara Wild Hearts Guildlings Sociable Soccer Pilgrims Big Time Sports Cat Quest II Grindstone Jenny LeClue - Detectivu Patterned Word Laces Tangle Tower No Way Home Setapp Downie Permute TripMode CleanMyMac X

Το cmdOS υποδέχεται το νέο έτος σαν να μην άλλαξε τίποτα. Ο Λεωνίδας τα βάζει με την τύχη του ενώ πάλι αγοράζει το «λάθος» πράγμα. Ο Μάνος θα τα έβαζε με την τύχη του αν την έβρισκε. Οπότε απλά αποχαιρετά το Setapp. Η Apple μιλά ακόμη περισσότερο για τις υπηρεσίες της, οπότε αυτές είναι το βασικό θέμα του επεισοδίου. Επικοινωνία με την εκπομπή: Email | Facebook Group | TwitterΛεωνίδας Μαστέλλος – Facebook | Twitter | SpotifyΜάνος Βέζος – The Vez | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Apple Music Apple rings in new era of Services following landmark yearApple TV app coming to 2018, 2019 and 2020 LG TVsApple TV App Coming to Select Sony and Vizio Smart TVs Later This YearApple Deal Returns Former HBO Boss Richard Plepler to SpotlightcmdOS 50: Βροχή τα bugs και τα εκατομμύρια Sayonara Wild HeartsGuildlingsSociable SoccerPilgrimsBig Time SportsCat Quest IIGrindstoneJenny LeClue – DetectivuPatternedWord LacesTangle TowerNo Way Home SetappDowniePermuteTripModeCleanMyMac X

In this episode Chris & Steven share some thoughts about Game Centre and then we jump into this episode's club games. Club games discussed this week - [Big Time Sports](https://apps.apple.com/au/app/big-time-sports/id1455785964) - [Bleak Sword](https://apps.apple.com/au/app/bleak-sword/id1403554793) - [Tangle Tower](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tangle-tower/id1437742603) Games to play for next week - [Outlanders](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/outlanders/id1463407936) - [Guildlings](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/guildlings/id1114224350) You can follow the hosts on Twitter if you'd like - [Steven - @Steven Impson](www.twitter.com/StevenImpson) - [Chris - @BibbyBhoy](www.twitter.com/BibbyBhoy) - [Mobile Arcade Club](www.twitter.com/MArcadeClub)

Kansas City is becoming big event central! In the summer of 2019 alone, KC will host the Men's National Soccer team in the Gold Cup, top tier European Soccer and the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. We sit down with the CEO of the KC Sports Commission to talk about how Kansas City now has a seat at the table and is in play for even more big events down the road. And we go behind the scenes of when they landed one of the biggest of all, the 2023 NFL Draft. Sign the petition to bring the 2026 World Cup to Kansas City! https://kc2026.com/

With college basketball season in full swing and March Madness close approaching, the attention of the sports world is centered around student athletes. Yet despite the press brought to universities by these sports, they are rarely mentioned in the mission statement or acknowledged to be as influential as they are. On this episode of Policy 360, Charles Clotfelter discusses the tremendous impact college athletics has on students, alumni, and beyond, for better or for worse, as well as what can be done to reform how schools treat the business of sports as a core part of their identity. Charles Clotfelter is a professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy and author of the book Big-Time Sports in American Universities. (Cambridge University Press).

If they cheated, should you tell on them? Tristan Thompson‘s been caught slipping on camera ‘allegedly’ cheating on Khloè Kardashian. There’s no doubt somebody knew what was up beforehand. Myron Gholson joins us from Big Time Sports with Myron to discuss. Is it a good idea to tell your friend or family their bae is... The post If They Cheated, Should You Tell On Them? #74 appeared first on Bandedbox.

This week, we speak to author Sean Deveney about his new book Fun City, which chronicles New York City in the 1960's -- an era of Broadway Joe Namath, the Amazin' Mets and some very interesting politics.Also, we have some choice words about the morality of watching professional football.  We've got a classroom-warming Just Stand Up Award for former NFL linebacker, Aaron Maybin, and USA Gymnastics...please Just Sit Down. As always, we give you a Kaepernick Watch and so much more!Sean Deveney, AuthorFollow on Twitter @SeanDeveney—http://www.edgeofsportspodcast.com/ | http://twitter.com/EdgeOfSportsPod | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@gmail.com | Edge of Sports hotline: 401-426-3343 (EDGE)—Music: Eye Examination - Del the Funky Homosapien | Welcome to New York City -Cam'ron | Orinoco Flow - Enya | Make the Money - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis | Man in the Box - Alice In Chains | Concrete Schoolyard - Jurassic 5 | Wake Me Up - Remy Ma Ft. Lil' Kim | Lose Yourself - Eminem | The Wire Theme

We all have those evil little fears that roll around in our heads and try to get us to give up, or worse, not even try in the first place. These gremlins of doubt and uncertainty will keep us from achieving or even reaching for some of our biggest goals and dreams, often things we know we have the talent to achieve. Well in today’s podcast we explore these fears and get actionable steps to conquer them. Amy Johnson is an Emmy winning filmmaker who specializes in both weddings with One Fine Day Productions and big sporting & corporate events including a ton of work with Fox Sports, the Milwaukee Brewers and others with Captivate Film Company. She was highly requested by our Studio Sherpas community, and we are so excited that she was able to sit down and talk to us. Amy is super honest about her journey, and we dig deep into how building your team with subcontractors according to each job’s needs can open up your business to big jobs you might never have considered, why checking your ego can help you maintain healthy relationships with your clients, and why her favorite celebrity moments included Martha Stewart. If you want real insights into the world of filmmaking and sports, then this is the podcast for you! What fears have you allowed to hold you back? What fears have you conquered and kicked to the curb? Leave a comment below!   In this episode: Tips & tricks on taking risks and getting over fears How making an investment in one job can lead to a ton of future opportunities How the competition mindset can destroy your momentum, and some of the practical reasons to consider other film companies as your allies How the heck you’re supposed to budget for a job like working with Fox Sports. Amy breaks it down!   Quotes: “You try to do everything and you can’t. There is no physical way you can, and if that was all I was doing, I would never have any time to do anything else.” [8:38] “It’s the challenge of I am going to figure out how to do this and not be scared.” [18:45] “It’s okay to hire someone who is smarter than you that knows something more about this, and that’s the only way you are going to be able to grow. Otherwise, you just limit yourself to what your capabilities are. There is so much more you can do if you can get past that.” [26:41] “It’s okay to get rejected, sometimes it [doesn’t feel] the best, but you never know until you try.” [40:08]   Links: Captivate Film CoFollow Captivate Film Co on Facebook  Milwaukee Brewers Game Day Experience Video One Fine Day ProductionsFollow One Fine Day Productions on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Vimeo Check out episode 37 with Raj Dhillon and on how to break into the commercial advertising video world Check out episode 22 with Lighthouse Films for another strategy to get into the commercial world 

Economist, Andy Schwarz, is the go-to guy on anti-trust and price-fixing issues in big-time sports. His fascinating and penetrating analysis of the economics of collegiate sports can be found everywhere from ESPN to Deadspin to a chapter forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Sports Economics. He is also the author of two important appendices in Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA by Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss. Andy has been a litigation economist since 1997 and has testified in and consulted on several landmark cases in the sports world including L.A. Raiders v. NFL, White v. NCAA , and O’Bannon v. NCAA. The post Episode Nine: Going Deep on Anti-Trust and Price-Fixing in Big Time-Sports Part 2 appeared first on Going Deep: Sports in the 21st Century.

Economist, Andy Schwarz, is the go-to guy on anti-trust and price-fixing issues in big-time sports. His fascinating and penetrating analysis of the economics of collegiate sports can be found everywhere from ESPN to Deadspin to a chapter forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Sports Economics. He is also the author of two important appendices in Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA by Joe Nocera and Ben Strauss. Andy has been a litigation economist since 1997 and has testified in and consulted on several landmark cases in the sports world including L.A. Raiders v. NFL, White v. NCAA , and O’Bannon v. NCAA. The post Episode Eight: Going Deep on Anti-Trust and Price-Fixing in Big Time-Sports Part 1 appeared first on Going Deep: Sports in the 21st Century.

As you watch the Super Bowl this weekend, tons of data -- and millions of dollars -- will be zipping around. Jim Glanz of the New York Times discusses his reporting.

Corruption in big-time college sports recently claimed another victim: Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel. Once regarded as a paragon of integrity, Tressel is now seen as one more example of a coach who recruited star players and built a successful program with the benefit of illegal gifts from boosters. Whether the result of Tressel’s deliberate disregard of rules or his neglect as coach, the scandal at Ohio State reminds us again that big-time college sports is deeply flawed. Big-time college sports, meaning major-conference football and men’s basketball, has its defenders and opponents. Some insist that it benefits both student athletes and the universities for which they play. Others mock the idea of the amateur “student-athletes” and view the programs themselves as for-profit enterprises that rake in tens of millions of dollars in television, ticket, and merchandise revenue. Both sides in the debate, and anyone who has a serious interest in college sports, will find much that is revealing and startling in Charles Clotfelter‘s book Big-Time Sports in American Universities (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics and Law at Duke University, Charlie easily combines the rigorous approach of a respected scholar with a knack for easy-to-understand explanation. Both experts and sports fans (and expert sports fans) will learn a lot about the economics of big-time college athletics from this book. Charlie investigates some of the basic justifications for multi-million-dollar programs–for example, that they pay for non-revenue-generating college sports, or that they increase student enrollments–to see if they bring the benefits their supporters claim. He also exposes the troubled finances at the foundation of most major programs, and the networks of influence that university leaders cultivate through access to luxury boxes and prime seats. And he offers an economic rationale for why coaches like Jim Tressel are led to break the rules. As he says in the interview, Charlie remains a fan of college sports. But he also calls for an honest acknowledgement of what big-time college sports really is: a lucrative entertainment business that is connected with higher education in a distant, but mutually dependent, relationship. That, he says, is the first step toward any reform. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The economics and ethics of college sports was the topic of a Duke Magazine-Office Hours conversation April 8, 2011, in Duke's Card Gym. Addressing the issue were Charles Clotfelter ('69), Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy Studies, and author of the new book "Big-Time Sports in American Universities"; Alan Fishel (J.D. '86), lead counsel on Bowl Championship Series issues; Chris Kennedy (Ph.D. '79), Duke's deputy director of athletics; and Nancy Hogshead-Makar ('86), Olympic gold-medal winner and professor at Florida Coastal School of Law. James E. Coleman Jr., the John S. Bradway Professor of Law at Duke Law School, moderated the panel.