It’s another podcast episode! Cal Poly basketball teams are at the Big West Tournament this week and Cal Poly football begins their season on Friday. Owen talks to Chris Sylvester and Brint Wahlberg about the upcoming football opener against Southern Utah in what will be Beau Baldwin’s first game as the Cal Poly head coach since he was hired nearly 15 months ago. 

One of my favorite authors, Jeff Pearlman joins this edition of the podcast. Pearlman has written a ton of awesome books and has one coming out this week called “Three Ring Circus” about the Kobe-and-Shaq-era Lakers. We talked about the buildup to a championship team, how he (an east-coast native) perceives the Lakers and their fans, and the value (or maybe lack thereof) of having a “calming influence” guy on the roster. 

Donovan Fields is one of the most joyous basketball players I’ve ever covered. His smile on the court was always infectious while at Cal Poly. Along with some friends from his hometown of Newburgh, NY, Fields has started a podcast. We talked about Donovan’s journey to Division I basketball and his impressions of Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo. 

Jeff Troesch is a mental coach for athletes. He works with lots of college programs, including at Cal Poly, and his career as a sports psychologist is super interesting. I have been wanting to have Jeff on the podcast for probably a few years, but had never made it happen. Our conversation was wide-ranging. We talked about how Jeff got into the business of helping players with the mental side of the game, what he sees more of nowadays, and how his job has changed a little with athletes working to cope with the issues surrounding COVID-19. 

Joe Tutino is the long-time play-by-play voice of the LA Galaxy. In this Going on Break edition, Joe talks about what life was like with the Galaxy as things were canceled just prior to a road trip, what he’s been up to during the stoppage, and a number of other things. 

Cal Poly’s football coach joins the podcast on this episode. We talked about what life is like for him in a quarantined world, how missing spring practice will effect the team moving forward, and what we can expect from the Mustangs in the Fall. 

Bud Norris was at spring training with the Phillies in Clearwater, Florida when the news came down that the sports world was on fairly immediate lockdown. The Cal Poly alum joined Chris Sylvester and Owen Main to talk about what it was like in the days leading up to the shutdown and what life has been like as things have progressed. 

Dave Joseph is the in-arena Public Address Announcer for the LA Kings, Ontario Reign, and other Los Angeles-area sports venues. As someone who was in the Staples Center on the night Rudy Gobert was confirmed to have Corona Virus and Tom Hanks announced he had it too, Joseph joins Owen Main and Chris Sylvester to describe what it was like from his perspective the night before the sports world stopped. 

As a photographer, Matt Brown has covered just about every major sporting event in this country, including the Big West Tournament for most of the past 2-3 decades. Matt was covering the women’s side of the bracket early last week and preparing for four games at the Honda Center last Thursday morning when the news came that the sports world was at a standstill. Matt talked to Owen Main and Chris Sylvester about the feeling inside the Walter Pyramid earlier in the week and what the scene was as the decision came down at the Honda Center on Thursday.

When I first started taking photos seriously, Quinton Adlesh was the best player on the team I covered the most. Following his career to Columbia and then back to USC as a grad transfer this year has been really fun. Chris Sylvester and I talked with the grad transfer senior on a team that was going to make the NCAA Tournament this season about what the past few weeks have been like for him.