We Are Unstoppable

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Sue Bird Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

Basketball superstar Sue Bird will come out of retirement to fight for her fifth Olympic gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics despite COVID-19 uncertainty. What makes Sue Bird push her way through obstacles when others would have given up? Bird (who, has won 3 WNBA championships with the Seattle Storm, 4 Olympic gold medals, 2 NCAA Championships with UConn, and 4 FIBA World Cups) is one of 11 women to attain all four accolades. Here, she reveals the name of the greatest point guard in basketball’s history, talks about body image and posing nude on the cover of ESPN, the magazine, alongside girlfriend, Megan Rapinoe. Fueled by her mantra of “living in the positive versus dwelling on negativity,” Bird faces adversity, blasting criticism, and multiple knee injuries with equal resolve. “No one wants adversity,” she says, “but it’s coming.” Unshakable to the core, Sue Bird approaches everything from Olympic uncertainty, to showing court-side emotion, to co-hosting the virtual ESPYS Awards June 21 alongside Rapinoe and NFL quarterback, Russell Wilson, with unstoppable determination: “all in, all the way!”

Jason Kipnis Jun 10, 2020

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How do you put on a smile when your heart is 95 percent broken? And what is it like to play against your friends and your all-time favorite team? Jason Kipnis, All-Star second baseman for the Chicago Cubs, opens up about risks and past mistakes with his trademark intensity. When he was starting out, after two years at the University of Kentucky, Kipnis transferred to Arizona State University. This turned out to be a major life upheaval that led him to almost quit baseball. Kipnis credits a coach who gave him a second chance and what led him to look in the mirror to ask: What kind of person do I want to be? Recovering after a serious injury and major surgery, Kipnis talks openly about the choices he’s made to stay in shape and to stay on top of a young-man’s game he knows he can’t play forever. On February 18, 2020, Kipnis signed as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs after playing the last nine years for the Cleveland Indians. After COVID-19, the invitation to the Cubs’ 2020 major league spring training camp is yet to be realized. Kipnis’ response to the irony of the setback is hardly a surprise for a relentless player who handles both fastballs and breaking stuff, makes adjustments, and handles left-handed pitching without a catch.

Dick Vitale Jun 03, 2020

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Bullied as a child after losing his sight to a sharp pencil, Dick Vitale turned his boyhood’s turmoil into “a ball and a dream” and eventually became the voice of ESPN college basketball — a job he’s enjoyed for 41 years. How did Vitale turn his lost sight into better prospects and overcome self-doubt after unsparing cruelty? “Bullying was a way of life,” he says. “After school I used to go into my room, look at my drifting eye in the mirror, and cry. But there’s one thing my parents taught me that changed my life.” Vitale is joined by Dr. Naresh Mandava, whose career and life’s mission is to make people see again. Dr. Mandava is Chair and Executive Director of the Sue Anschutz-Rogers Eye Centers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. “That happened 75 years ago,” Dr. Mandava explains of Vitale’s injury. “But nowadays we have procedures that can restore sight after a traumatic injury.”He and his team of eye doctors are working on a breakthrough procedure that uses a patient’s own stem cells to grow retina tissue that once transplanted, might restore sight. “There’s so much excitement around making someone see again,” says Dr. Mandava. In this touching episode Vitale opens up about the big moment that would change his life — the thunderbolt surprise when his wife finally found a doctor who could straighten his eye.

Annabel Bowlen May 27, 2020

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Memories in the making getting lost and no way to stop your loved ones from forgetting who you are: This is Alzheimer’s. Four years after former Denver Broncos’ owner, Pat Bowlen, went public with the disease that would later take his life, his wife Annabel, disclosed her own diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. The Bowlen family, just like the Broncos team they built, are made of grit. With unshakable strength, their daughter Annabel, talks about how we can choose to win or lose with dignity when faced with the worst odds life has dealt her family. She opens up about the shock, devastation and discouragement she felt on learning that her father had the incurable disease. She talks about the family’s painful decision to go public with his diagnosis, and offers advice and resources for anyone fighting Alzheimer’s. She also reveals how she discovered that her mother had the disease. She talks about how the family turned to the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association for support during those dark times, and how her family has helped raise more than $600,000 for the Denver Walk to End Alzheimer’s. In this episode, Annabel is joined by Dr. Huntington Potter, Professor of Neurology and Director of the CU Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and a member of Linda Crnic Center for Down Syndrome. Dr. Potter discusses why Alzheimer’s has become one of the world’s most deadly diseases, the early warning signs that you may have it, and what you can do to slow its onset. For the past seven years, Doctor Potter and his team at the Cognition Center have been working on new diagnoses and treatments for Alzheimer’s. They are hopeful that their soon-to-be released breakthrough research will bring a new treatment for Alzheimer’s. “We are one very dedicated group of people,” he says. “We will never give up.” Dr. Potter and Annabel Bowlen are united in their fight against Alzheimer’s. “The one memory I will take from my father’s legacy is do not back down,” she says. The best way to remain unstoppable is to keep fighting.

Clint Hurdle May 20, 2020

Show notes

Clint Hurdle, former MLB outfielder and manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies, talks about what happens when you are labeled at a young age. Tagged as a “phenom” by Sports Illustrated at the age of twenty changed Hurdle’s life in unexpected ways — few of them good. On the 21-year road to sobriety, Hurdle has suffered multiple blows. “I’m a flawed man,” he says, talking openly about how to show up the day after losing a game — once the alcohol has worn off. Whom do you listen to, and what to do when after failing twice, you marry for the third time and your daughter is born with Prader-Willi syndrome, a complex genetic disorder. “It’s a kick in the gut,” says Hurdle. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to carry a child inside your body after you find out she’s going to be born with a birth defect for which there is no known cure.” Blunt and wrenching, Hurdle answers the hard questions about his fight with alcoholism and cancer. He talks about the difference between guilt and shame, how to become a free spirit and how to create a blueprint for your own life. “Our daughter is doing things we never thought she could do. She’s in the photography club, she’s into swimming and chorus. She’s 17, but parts of her will always be 12. She has taught us what it means to love with all your guts.”

Matt Iseman May 13, 2020

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“This is the first time in history when the whole world is focused on a single problem,” says Matt Iseman, the comedian who gave up being a doctor because he believes that being a doctor is more than a job. Find out what turned Iseman unstoppable after beating the death sentence that is kidney cancer, living with rheumatoid arthritis, and how he is surviving the pandemic’s uncertainty. His talk of silver linings will delight you. His take on what courage is and isn’t will surprise you. Iseman speaks openly about how the pandemic has made him slow down, reevaluate his priorities and realize the fragility of life and health. A regular contributor to the Today Show, Iseman is co-host of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” and host of the new podcast “Factorius: A Trivia Game Show.” #UnstoppablePodcasts

Adam Schefter May 05, 2020

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After experiencing the devastation of 9/11, ESPN sportscaster, writer and analyst Adam Schefter talks about coping with being at the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City. With his characteristic humility, Schefter praises first responders, the medical community, and his wife, Sharri Maio whose first husband, Joe Maio, was killed in the World Trade Center in the 9/11 attacks. Schefter's book about Joe Maio, entitled The Man I Never Met, is a powerful true story of loss and hope by one of the biggest names in sports media. Wondering what might happen to the media and the NFL, Schefter’s main sports beat, Schefter speaks about what has kept him going in his career, and what makes him unstoppable, despite a grueling schedule and competing demands as the world battles “the invisible enemy.” #UnstoppablePodcasts

Missy Franklin May 05, 2020

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What happens when you put on a game face and the effort leaves you depleted, depressed and desperate for answers? That’s what happened to Missy Franklin, the world’s sweetheart in the swimming pool with five Olympic gold medals to her name. Being unstoppable isn’t about winning all the time. In this emotional podcast, Franklin opens up about her early years as a competitive swimmer, her devastating shoulder injury prior to the 2016 Olympics and how she rose from the depths of depression to fight her way back to the surface. In her journey to push through her fear of not being good enough, Franklin talks about the first time she spoke openly about depression and the healing power of talking about this taboo subject. With the worst now behind her, Franklin reveals her game plan for pushing through the feeling that the world is going on without you. Recently retired from competitive swimming, and married to the love of her life, Franklin talks about her number one priority in life and how to be unstoppable for the rest of your life. Missy is joined later in the show by Dr. Neill Epperson, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Epperson speaks about the stigma pro athletes face when talking about mental health, the difference between men and women in their susceptibility to mental health issues, the warning signs when someone may be slipping into depression, and why we are mentally unprepared for the unpredictable stress from the coronavirus pandemic. #UnstoppablePodcasts

Les Shapiro & Vic Lombardi May 05, 2020

Show notes

No one is ready to hear the words: “It’s cancer.” In this candid, emotional and sometimes humorous episode, WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE hosts and sportscasters Les Shapiro and Vic Lombardi interview each other about how they discovered they had cancer — Les with stage four lung cancer and Vic with stage 3 prostate cancer. As they share the treatments they’ve been through, their fears, the ups and downs, they also reveal the unstoppable coping skills they’ve developed to keep battling a disease that may never leave you even after the treatment ends. Les and Vic also speak openly with their doctors Ross Camidge and Paul Maroni from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus about life after a cancer diagnosis, breakthrough treatments, how to ride the roller-coaster that is the cancer continuum — and what makes patients and doctors unstoppable when fighting disease. Les Shapiro has done it all in sports broadcasting -- TV play-by-play for Denver Broncos games, University of Colorado football games, high school championship games and Triple A baseball. Vic Lombardi has more than 25 years of experience in the sports industry and is a 32-time Emmy award winner. Receiving a cancer diagnosis can make you feel like you’ve been given a death-sentence, but Vic and Les are here to remind you that after a diagnosis, comes hope, and in their cases, survival. #UnstoppablePodcasts

Welcome to We Are Unstoppable Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

Do you have what it takes to become unstoppable? Welcome to the WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE podcast, sponsored by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Twice a month, we’ll share inspirational stories from great athletes, celebrities, and the most brilliant minds in medicine on how to beat adversity to win in life. Hosted by sportscasters-turned-podcasters Les Shapiro and Vic Lombardi, each episode brings you one step closer to becoming your best unstoppable self.

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