Rich Take On Sports

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Sports & Recreation
**Rich Take On Sports**

Host Richmond Weaver explores the influence and impact of sports through conversations with personalities and luminaries who have been impacted, built, and inspired by the role of sports in their lives as they share their personal stories.

Latest Episodes:

Rob Parker | Fox Sports and FS1 Contributor & Host May 31, 2019

Show notes

Episode 110: Rob Parker | Fox Sports and FS1 Contributor & Host

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Rob Parker
- Being full of energy and seemingly crazy is not an act but just him always looking out for Mr. Joe Fan by asking the tough questions
- Has always been that guy of pushing back and asking tough questions
- Got his dream job 5 months after graduating college with NY Daily News and went to grad school because he didn’t want to rest on his laurels
- Parents divorced at 12-years old and his mom was the rock of his family with 3 kids and he learned work ethic from her
- The TV show The Odd Couple influenced him to be a sportswriter
- Started a sports newspaper in high school named Sportsline
- Loved baseball more than anything and he wanted to cover baseball so he left NY to go to Cincinnati covering the Reds
- Always considers himself a writer at heart even though he’s been on TV for over 20-years
- Advice for aspiring journalists is that you’re working for the fans and be honest and accurate
- Sports is escapism and other countries have national sports pride but the US is much more individualized with regional teams
- Was able to remove himself as a fan because the Mets won the World Series his first year in the business and he doesn’t miss being a fan
- Words of Wisdom from Rob Parker:
  - Don’t be afraid to take risks and it doesn’t happen overnight

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Rob Parker on Twitter: @RobParkerFS1

To Follow Rob Parker on Instagram @robparkerfs1

To Learn More Information About The Shadow League: The Shadow League

Featured Image Photo Credit: Rob Parker | Instagram

Chad Steele | VP of Public Relations, Baltimore Ravens May 17, 2019

Show notes

Episode 109: Chad Steele | VP of Public Relations, Baltimore Ravens

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Chad Steele
- There’s really no off-season for the NFL and people want NFL 365 days-a-year
- Social media can be both a blessing and a curse
- Spent most of his life overseas and really enjoyed moving and getting to experience other places
- Sports was always big in his family with both parents being athletic and his dad, Gary Steele, was the first African-American football player at Army in 1966
- Sports helped him and his siblings make friends in new towns and become engrained into the communities where they moved
- Sports also helped instill discipline outside of his military home
- First love was soccer and football became his passion because he wanted to be like his dad but it was basketball where he excelled earning a scholarship to play at Winthrop University
- Work ethic came from his parents with his parents feeling that they were against the world as an interracial couple in 1971
- Part of the Army Cadet prayer turned into a family motto: Make us choose the harder right than the easier wrong and never be content with the half truth when the whole can be won
- Was given internship opportunities that he should have never gotten but people believed in him which led to a career in the NFL through Public Relations
- Relationships and the impact of those relationships are what stands out the most to him and the hardest part of his job is when players leave the organization
- Networking has a negative connotation because it isn’t personal and it’s only about what you can gain
- Words of Wisdom from Chad Steele:
  - Knowledge is power
  - Relationships and Reputation

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Chad Steele on Twitter: @CSteele32

To Follow the Baltimore Ravens: @Ravens

To Learn more information about Gary Steele: Gary Steele – ESPN Video

Featured Image Photo Credit: Richmond Weaver | Rich Take On Sports

Milt Lowder, Ph.D. | Clemson Athletics Sport Psychologist May 03, 2019

Show notes

Episode 108: Milt Lowder, Ph.D. | Clemson Athletics Sport Psychologist

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Milt Lowder
- Always tries to make people see him as just Milt and not to have people feel like they are being judged
- Knew three things growing up farming, medicine, and sports
- Was recruited by Wofford for baseball but only applied to one school (Clemson)
- Success is defined as a pursuit of a worthy goal
- Life threw several curve balls at him starting as a junior in high school being the first on the scene after his mom’s car wreck
- Wanted to be a college basketball coach but after not getting an opportunity under Rick Barnes he visited a psychologist through his mom and immediately knew that he wanted to be a psychologist
- Started the process of becoming a psychologist in 1997 and eventually started practicing in 2005 in Greenville, SC
- Starting working with Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Football team in 2009
- Hardest part of the job is that you can’t take away someone’s pain but you can be present
- F.R.E.E. is an acronym for Focus Relax Engage Enjoy and helps athletes understand that you play your best when you can play free
- Coach Swinney came up with the tagline “Moments with Milt”
- One of the biggest rewards is watching the players and coaches experience joy
- Words of Wisdom from Milt Lowder, Ph.D.:
  - Hebrews 11:1
  - James [1:12]

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Milt Lowder, Ph.D. on Twitter: @miltlowder

To Follow Synergy Performance on Twitter: @SynPerformance

To Learn more information about Synergy Performance: Synergy Performance

Featured Image Photo Credit: Matt Fortuna | The Athletic

Bill Hancock | College Football Playoff Executive Director Apr 19, 2019

Show notes

Episode 107: Bill Hancock | College Football Playoff Executive Director

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Bill Hancock
- Passion for the College Football Playoff is extremely high and fans want to have input and fans have a sense of ownership with college sports and especially football which causes such high passion
- Love baseball first and then came college football and his favorite memories were of baseball with the local semi-pro team in Hobart, OK
- Started at Dartmouth and then finished school at Oklahoma marrying his childhood sweetheart and they have been married for 50 years
- Even though he had a paper route as a kid and started being a writer in high school he wanted to be the next great American Classical pianist
- Doesn’t play much anymore and developed a phobia of playing in front of people
- Fell into the Sports Information department his senior year and worked full time at Oklahoma in 1971
- Barry Switzer was the best people person that he ever met
- John MacLeod was the basketball coach at the time and convinced him to start running
- After his dad died he helped his brother take over the newspaper business
- Has run 15 marathons and endurance sports was a way to get back to normal after his son’s death who died when the Oklahoma St. University men’s basketball team planes crashed in eastern Colorado
- He had a premonition that his son would die which gave him proof of the eternal truth of God and his son’s death gave him a gift of understanding how precious life is
- Rode his bike across the country from Los Angeles to Savannah 7-months after the death of his son and eventually wrote a book about that journey, “Riding With The Blue Moth”
- He feels that he’s the luckiest person to be involved with March Madness and CFP
- Words of Wisdom from Bill Hancock:
  - “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”

Social Media:

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Bill Hancock on Twitter: @BHancockCFP

To Follow Bill Hancock on Instagram: @bhancockcfp

To Follow College Football Playoff on Twitter: @CFBPlayoff

To Follow College Football Playoff on Instagram: @cfbplayoff

To learn more information about CFP: College Football Playoff

Featured Image Photo Credit: USA Today Sports

John Harkes | Greenville Triumph SC Head Coach Apr 05, 2019

Show notes

Episode 106: John Harkes | Greenville Triumph SC Head Coach & National Soccer Hall of Fame Member

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: John Harkes
- Very fortunate to have such a long playing career with great accomplishments being on the first team to qualify for 1990 World Cup and then in the inaugural season of the MLS in 1996
- Loved building a club in Cincinnati and loves the challenge in Greenville with building the Greenville Triumph SC in it’s the inaugural season in 2019
- He has always been an optimistic guy even with coaching
- Played all the other sports but gravitated to soccer immediately growing up in Kearny, NJ (Soccertown USA)
- Competing against the older guys was the biggest thing that helped them
- Academics were the biggest challenge once he got to UVA and it was a tough decision to forego his senior season to play on the US Men’s National Team
- Motivation comes more from having a chip on his shoulder and proving people wrong
- Was accepted in Europe after scoring the “Goal of the Year” against Peter Schilling
- Best players he faced were Romario, Roberto Baggio, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Bryan Robson (Captian Marvel), and Mark Hughes
- TV broadcasting was fun but Coaching is rewarding
- Loves being in Greenville and the genuine warmness of people and clubs like Reedy River Riot are helping educate fans
- Some of his favorite music on his playlist consists of AC/DC, U2, and soulful Blues
- Words of Wisdom from John Harkes:
  - “You’re never bigger than the club.”
  - “You’re only as good as the next game.”
  - “You can’t expect other people to believe in you unless you believe in yourself first.”

Social Media:

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow John Harkes on Twitter: @johnharkes6

To Follow John Harkes on Instagram: @jharkesy6

To Follow Greenville Triumph on Twitter: @GVLTriumph

To Follow Greenville Triumph on Instagram: gvltriumph

To learn more information about Greenville Triumph: Greenville Triumph

To learn more information about Reedy River Riot: Reedy River Riot

Featured Image Photo Credit: Steve Wallace | Creative Concepts

Brooke Weisbrod | ESPN College Basketball Analyst Mar 29, 2019

Show notes

Episode 105: Brooke Weisbrod | ESPN College Basketball Analyst

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Brooke Weisbrod
- Her job inherently consists of hurry up and wait but it’s also a symphony of organized chaos
- She really enjoys things not on camera that you get to experience during practices, pre-game, and post-game and gets energized more from those things behind the scenes than being in front of the camera
- Thoughts of one day doing play-by-play but it’s the most challenging position in the industry other than sideline reporting for football
- Nick Saban is the toughest coach to track down and she was intimidated the first times she had to grab a coach going into halftime and Charlie Strong when he was at Louisville was someone she really enjoyed
- Her family is super athletic and that was just part of her family so she was born into sports and a competitive family
- Became obsessive with Tennis because of an Andre Agassi ad which showed a larger than life athlete in a conservative sport
- She’s always liked to challenge the norm and to even create new norms and credits ESPN for pushing the boundaries
- Had an opportunity to play basketball overseas in Germany but fell waterskiing two-weeks before she left and injured her back which ultimately forced her to retire from playing after a short stint in Germany
- She was in Germany when 9/11 occurred and information was very difficult to obtain until the following day but the Germans were very empathetic
- A chance opportunity doing an in-game interview with Matt Hogue, Coastal Carolina basketball announcer and current AD led her to understand that being a sportscaster was what she wanted to do in her career
- She thinks LeBron will have more rings than Michael Jordan
- Sports in her life has given her a sense of purpose on a team, confidence, learning from failure and being in a gym was therapeutic – went to practice after her young brother died after being born with a congenital heart defect
- Her dream is to redesign the women’s basketball uniforms
- Diana Taurasi is the GOAT in women’s basketball
- Words of Wisdom from Brooke Weisbrod:
  - Best advice for her industry: “Have a take and don’t suck.”

Social Media:

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Brooke Weisbrod on Twitter: @BrookeWeisbrod

To Follow Brooke Weisbrod On Instagram: @brooke.weisbrod

To Find out more information about Brooke: Brooke Weisbrod

Featured Image Photo Credit: Brooke Weisbrod – Instagram

Bradley Pinion | Tampa Bay Buccaneers & Former Clemson Punter Mar 15, 2019

Show notes

Episode 104: Bradley Pinion | Tampa Bay Buccaneers & Former Clemson Punter

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Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Bradley Pinion
- In today’s NFL, there’s really no off-season anymore as you will workout throughout the year
- Loves binge-watching on Hulu, Netflix and recently watched “Legion” and one of his favorites is “Suits”
- First love was soccer and started playing at 4 and has a brother that is 4 years older but didn’t start playing football until 7th or 8th grade
- His grandfather played football and was a punter for a season with the Dallas Cowboys and his grandfather always pushed him to be a punter
- First time he ever tried to kick a football was a 35-yard FG with his dad and he made it
- He used to hate punting because punting is very hard
- Played varsity football as a freshman and eventually had offers from 33 schools but his top-3 were UNC, Georgia and Clemson
- Firmly believes that if the high school punter Jeremy Cannon doesn’t get hurt his freshman year then he wouldn’t have been a punter
- Mike Dooley from Clemson called him to invite him to Junior Day at Clemson because he knew he was at Georgia’s Junior Day
- Got to run down the hill and he fell in love immediately with Clemson but had to wait for an offer from Clemson
- Bradley asked God for help deciding where he should commit and eventually, he had an encounter with a man wearing a bright orange shirt without a Tiger Paw who Bradley believed was an angel and from that moment he felt it in his heart that he should commit to Clemson
- Parents got divorced when he was in 7th & 8th grade and had a profound effect and football was his release and his escape
- Strategic move to come out early because no other punters in the class and he had broken up with his girlfriend and now wife
- Feels very blessed to be around players like Eric Reid, Darnell Dockett, Colin Kaepernick while also learning from Phil Dawson from Robbie Gould
- Now looking back, he’s glad that he was part of the events during the National Anthem saga in San Francisco
- As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7
- Words of Wisdom from Bradley Pinion:
  - Proverbs 23:7 – “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

Social Media:

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Bradley Pinion on Twitter: @bpinion05

To Follow Bradley Pinion On Instagram: @bpinion05

Featured Image Photo Credit: Carmen Vitali – buccaneers.com

Jason Barrett | President of Barrett Sports Media and Sports Radio Consultant Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

Episode 103: Jason Barrett | President of Barrett Sports Media and Sports Radio Consultant

Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Play | Stitcher

Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Jason Barrett
- Making people Laugh, allowing listeners to Learn, and being Likable are the 3 qualities of successful sports talk radio hosts
- Never felt that he a great host but was a good producer
- Always loved sports and reading about NY sports and WFAN was his first experience to sports talk radio (Mike and the Mad Dog)
- Was a musician (drummer) before moving into a sports talk radio career
- Found a small station in upstate NY and did everything… writing, clips, producing, selling and learned the business from the inside
- Did a wrestling show once a week (Sunday night 9-11 PM)
- Worked at ESPN for 2 years with hosts like Doug Gottlieb, Dan Patrick, John Seibel, Freddie Coleman
- Eventually started building stations and 101 ESPN in St. Louis is one of the stations he built and now celebrates 10-years
- Didn’t want to be in a situation where he missed his son’s high school career because he was chasing ratings so he moved back to NY from San Francisco
- Turned down opportunities to be a producer again in order to found Barrett Sports Media (BSM) and create sportsradiopd.com
- Words of Wisdom from Jason Barrett: “Adversity causes some to break and others to break records.”

Social Media:

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Jason Barrett on Twitter: @sportsradiopd

To Learn more information about Barrett Sports Media: Barrett Sports Media

Featured Image Photo Credit: Barrett Sports Media

Patrick Sapp | NFL Veteran and “ONE Clemson” Founding Member Feb 22, 2019

Show notes

Episode 102: Patrick Sapp | Former NFL & Clemson Football Player and “ONE Clemson” Founding Member

Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Play | Stitcher

Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Patrick Sapp
- Has always been intrigued by fashion that comes from his parents
- Owned a clothing store “Coast2Coast” in Jacksonville, FL but was too difficult to manage while living on the west coast playing in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers
- Grew up in Jacksonville, FL the youngest of six kids (3 boys/3 girls)
- Every day was competition in the Sapp household but filled with love
- Around a lot of devastation growing up in Jacksonville and his own sister was addicted to crack but she has been clean for 15-years now
- Had guys that didn’t allow him to do things that he shouldn’t do because they knew he had the athletic ability that could carry him out of the tough neighborhood
- Football was his first love because his brothers played and that’s just what you did
- The challenge today for getting kids outside to play in the neighborhood is because there aren’t as many kids playing today and the sense of community is gone
- Recruited for both basketball and football and his plan was to play both sports
- Clemson, Syracuse, FSU were the 3 main schools and Syracuse recruited him hard but the weather and distance were the biggest factors
- Made the decision himself to move from QB to LB his senior season and the Clemson coaches didn’t think he could make the move at first
- Drafted in the 2nd round of 1996 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers and even knew on draft night that he would be more than just a football player
- Junior Seau was a mentor to him while in San Diego
- Eddie George was one of the toughest running backs in the NFL and Larry Allen was the hardest person to play against
- Words of Wisdom from Patrick Sapp:
  - “Belief that you can do anything.”
  - “God challenges us in life purposefully.”

Social Media:

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Twitter: @richtakesports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Twitter: @richmondweaver

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Instagram: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Richmond Weaver on Instagram: @richmondweaver93

To Follow Rich Take On Sports on Facebook: @richtakeonsports

To Follow Patrick Sapp on Twitter: @PZSapp

To Follow Patrick Sapp on Instagram: @thepatricksapp

To Learn more information about ONE Clemson: ONE Clemson

Featured Image Photo Credit: 96.3 The Block

Ivan Maisel | ESPN Sr. Writer & “College Football 150” Editor-At-Large Feb 15, 2019

Show notes

Episode 101: Ivan Maisel | ESPN Senior Writer & “College Football 150” Editor-At-Large

Subscribe on Apple Podcast | Google Play | Stitcher

Rich Take On Sports

Show Notes:

Rich Spotlight: Ivan Maisel
- Met his wife Meg in NY while he was a fact checker for Sports Illustrated and when they moved to Dallas she eventually said that she wanted to move back to the northeast
- Learned how to read by reading the Sporting News
- Dad was a high school basketball coach and sports was always big in his family because of Alabama football and Bear Bryant
- Wanted to be the Atlanta Braves play-by-play announcer
- Loved college football and baseball but like college sports so much better than MLB and learned that when was a fact checker for SI
- Went to Stanford because it was at the same level of Ivy league schools but had football and it was in the Pac-8
- English teacher in high school encourage him to be a writer and chooses stories based on does it interest him and what are some of the main points that he would tell his brother
- Was hired by Dallas Morning News in 1987 and coaches always called him back because the Morning News covered more college football than any other paper in the country
- Thinks in words, not in pictures and connections are emotional with college sports especially football
- Words of Wisdom from Ivan Maisel: “Regarding mental health, don’t be scared to reach out to someone either if someone is struggling or you’re struggling yourself.”