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NHL | Both were teammates and rivals of Wayne Gretzky. Both played on each coast. Both played with one of the Original Six in the NHL: the New York Rangers. Both helped grow the game of hockey in the west with the Los Angeles Kings.The NHL PlayersLuc Robitaille retired from the NHL as the highest scoring left wing in the league’s history. He was voted as one of the top hundred greatest players in the history of the NHL.His name is on the Stanley Cup as a player with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and twice as a member of the Kings’ front office. He was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.Luc is now the President of the Kings after having played in their jersey for 14 of his 19 years in the NHL.Tony Granato was an all-rookie selection with the Rangers in 1989 when he set the Rangers’ rookie record for goals with 36. He played in the NHL from 1988-2001 with the Rangers, Kings and Sharks.Tony went on to be an assistant coach with Pittsburgh, Detroit and Colorado before becoming the Avalanche head coach. He is now in his 5th season as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, the home of his college hockey career.Luc and Tony have long known one another on ice sheets across North America as rivals, teammates and friends. Here they take you through their intertwined careers: five as teammates and nine as rivals. They also share their experiences playing for an Original Six team and describe hockey’s growth out west as led by #99, “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky.Let’s drop the puck!

ACC College Basketball | Would you really ask a college basketball player to throw up during a game if things were going bad, just to change the momentum? What do you do when the water main breaks on campus when there is a big game to be played that day? How about when the opposing coach has a suggestion of what to do and uses the water break as a rallying cry for his own team?Fictional questions? Well, no, they are part of what you are going to hear on this edition of The Sports Rivals.The CoachesGary Williams is a Hall Of Fame college hoops coach who coached at American University, Boston College, Ohio State and at his alma mater, Maryland. It was with the Terps that he won the 2002 NCAA Championship and where he spent 22 years on the bench in the conference which many consider to the best in college basketball year in and year out, the ACC.Seth Greenberg spent 34 years as a college coach, including 2003-2012 at Virginia Tech as a Gary Williams coaching rival in the ACC. He came through Long Beach Stateand the University of South Florida on his way to Virginia Tech. He would face Williams’ teams between 2003-2011.ACC College BasketballVirginia Tech was a late arrival to ACC College Basketball and Gary Williams was not all that excited about adding to the league, especially when Tech started winning games in the conference. He’ll tell you how the Tech addition just made the season that much tougher.  These two outstanding coaches give you an inside peak into the ACC and what it was like to face the best college teams in the country on a nightly basis.  They will take you through their own rivalry that is a history of intense games, overtimes and an “I can beat you” attitude that came from both coaches. Neither missed the opportunity to find a way to inspire their team by using actions or words coming from the other side. This was a rivalry of “whatever it takes.”Seth will take you through the impact Williams had on his coaching decisions in putting the Virginia Tech program together. Williams will tell you his thoughts as he prepared to take on a Greenberg team.  From two ends of the court, here is a coaching rivalry that had vivid games, great memories and the creation of a relationship of respect in the college coaching ranks

Arizona vs Stanford | When it comes to rivalries, those involved in college sports are often the most inspired.Richard Jefferson and Casey Jacobsen were (and still are) part of such a rivalry. Arizona vs Stanford | The PlayersJefferson played college hoops at the University of Arizona from 1998-2001 under the late Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson. Jacobsen played at Stanford from 1999-2001, for another Hall of Fame coach, Mike Montgomery.For those years they played against each other, both teams were among the elite in the nation, battling to get to the Final Four and to win a National Championship.Richard and Casey will let you in on their meeting at a Michael Jordan basketball camp and on how they might have been teammates in college but for Jacobsen’s final college decision. In addition, they discuss their feelings regarding their coaches and how each coach’s approach was so markedly different, yet effective.Jacobsen and Jefferson went on to extended professional basketball careers and careers in the broadcast booth. Through all of the years the memories of their college experiences ring fresh.Here now is the inside look at a rivalry on the hardwood from two who helped write its history.  

For the love of the game |The legend of golf, Ben Hogan, once said, “As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.” Our guests today have taken time to smell the roses and their walk down the fairway has been filled with life: a life in sports where each day was to be treasured.The Major LeaguersSteve Lyons spent nine seasons in MLB, playing for four teams in an 852-game career. He played every position, doing so once in the same game. He said, “I was never a great athlete or a great hitter. I was never supposed to make it to the big leagues.” He did and made the most of every moment.Rex Hudler played 14 seasons in the majors for six teams. His 774 games played required the grit and no quit attitude just as was true for Lyons.For the Love of the GameThere is a sheer joy that radiates from Hudler and Lyons as they relate their experiences as rivals and survivors in the majors. Around the game, one is known as “Psycho” and the other as “Bug Eater.” They earned the monikers and will tell you why.They were referred to as “utility players.” What did that mean then and now to each of them?There is much to smile about here, and much to admire.They would both move on to share their joy of the game as broadcasters, but first they shared that joy with teammates and fans while in uniform. Here is their story.

Placekickers | They both could kick a ball, but it was round, not oval. Before their careers were over, it was the oval football they kicked that made all the difference.What a treat to listen to two of the NFL’s all-time great placekickers relate the unlikely roads they both took to become legends in the game.The PlacekickersJan Stenerud was on the field for the Chiefs, Packers and Vikings during a career that covered 1967-1985. He is the first pure placekicker to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along with a Super Bowl win with the Chiefs and 4 Pro Bowls, he also transformed the placekicking game for all of football.All of this coming almost by accident to a man who came from Norway to Montana State on a ski jumping scholarship.Rolf Benirschke was a placekicker for the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He retired as the all-time leader in points for the Chargers, an NFL Man of the Year Award winner and a fan of Stenerud.Listen to his story of the inadvertent chance to kick a football that leads to his time in the NFL.They watched each other kick, they learned from each other and they competed at the highest level with a talent that brought with it real sport’s pressure.Two exuberant men, two unlikely careers, and two joyful stories told in their own words.

Originally recorded on April 21, 2020 |1988 NLCS The 1988 NLCS was a tumultuous series between the LA Dodgers and NY Mets. It went 7 games in the rain, sleet and hail and featured the likes of KIRK GIBSON, STEVE SAX, DOC GOODEN AND GARY CARTER. This series also pitted the to be 1988 Cy Young Award winner, NLCS MVP and […] The post 1988 NLCS | Dodgers vs Mets | Ep 10 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

1984 College World Series | In all of baseball, the College World Series, which began in 1947, is one of the pinnacle events for the sport.  Only eight Division 1 teams survive a grueling playoff process to make it to Omaha to crown a national champion.The PlayersJose Mota and Louie Medina made that journey in 1984, among a star-studded cast of players from around the country.  Mota played for Cal State Fullerton and would leave Omaha as part of a national championship team.Louie Medina played for Arizona State, a highly favored team, with the likes of Barry Bondsand Oddibe McDowell as teammates.1984 College World Series | The Semi Final Match UpThese two players faced each other in a semifinal game that saw Cal State Fullerton eliminate Arizona State 6-1. Fullerton would then go on to beat Texas for the title. What was the experience for Mota and Medina in Omaha? How did Cal State Fullerton prepare itself in a tournament where they were not favored to win? There were two different mental states for these teams entering the semifinal game and Mota and Medina lay that out for you.Both players would go on to play professional baseball and stay involved in the game after their playing days: Mota in the broadcast booth and Medina in the front office of the KC Royals. Both are forever conscious of the impact that 1984 College World Series had on their lives and they share those feelings here. The game may have been played in 1984, but the memories are vivid and emotionally charged. 

London Marathon | One minute you are strangers on the streets of London and the next you are united in sports forever and friends for a lifetime.That is what happened for American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen at the 1981 London Marathon.These two marathoners had never met when the gun went off to start the first ever London Marathon. They ran together near the head of the pack for miles, neither able to gain distance on the other.In the final stages of the race, a moment in sports’ history began when Beardsley turned to Simonsen and asked, “should we go in together.”Not knowing if Simonsen had agreed to that, they raced on, stride for stride, towards the finish line where the answer became apparent. Hand in hand, they crossed the finish line as co-winners of London’s first marathon.Never before, and most likely never again, will a marathon finish this way.Here are Dick and Inge with the story of that race, in their own words. Why would two such competitive athletes who had trained so hard to win the marathon agree to do this while running the race?What effect did this race have on their lives? Would they do it differently in hindsight?Listen and enjoy.

“The Greatest Race Ever Run.” “Iron War.”Those are two of the descriptions of the 1989 Ironman World Championship, a race that changed the face of Ironman Triathlons from being not only an endurance test, but also a true race.The men who created this historical moment are Dave Scott and Mark Allen.  1989 Ironman World ChampionshipThese two triathletes entered the 1989 event well aware of one another’s abilities, but could not possibly have foreseen that this race would pit them literally side by side for over 8 hours.  On this podcast, Dave and Mark share with each other and you the physical strains, the mental emotions and the mind-boggling journey of two rivals through a triathlon that made history.  It would be 15 subsequent years before the two could talk with one another about this race. If you think the competitiveness dissipates with time, listen closely.This is the story of two of the world’s finest athletes ever, in a race you could not script. Most importantly, this is their story as personally related by the two who ARE the story and the rivals.  

Ah, the joy of it all, listening to this conversation between two of MLB’s most renowned HOF pitchers, former rivals and good friends: Jim Palmer and Dennis Eckersley. These two-faced one another in opposing uniforms between 1975 and 1984. Both would enter Baseball’s Hall of Fame and the competitiveness that got them there can be […] The post HOF Pitchers | Palmer vs Eckersley | Ep 20 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast...

Breaking records and boundaries has been the lifelong work of today’s guests, Olympic diving legends Cynthia Potter and Micki King. One of the ironies in sports is that athletes often compete against one another for a lifetime, yet during that time they become teammates on occasions such as the Olympics. Cynthia and Micki are two […] The post Olympic Diving | Potter vs King | Ep 19 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

OSU vs Oregon | Some team rivalries go to the soul of players and fans.  They are the rivalries that have not only stood the test of time but also made even more intense with times’ passage. Such is the basketball rivalry between Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. OSU vs Oregon Rivalry […] The post OSU vs Oregon | NCAA Basketball | Ep 18 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

1983 Sugar Bowl | Seasons in sports are played to lead up to a moment of finality – the World Series, NBA Finals, etc. College football is no different as teams play for a national championship game and a number 1 ranking to end a season. In January of 1983, that moment was the Sugar […] The post 1983 Sugar Bowl | PSU vs GA | Ep 17 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

USA vs East Germany |Everyone in the pool!  Just don’t challenge our guests to a race.   Most rivalries end with the competitive years of those involved having concluded.  The rivalry stories we hear today ended when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. For U.S. swim teams, the East Germans posed a particularly tough rivalry […] The post Swimming | USA vs East Germany | Ep 16 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

All sports public relations departments take great pride in their work and are forever comparing their efforts with their counterparts.  That rivalry is supplemented with an understanding that PR departments often need the assistance of one another for information gathering purposes and interview arrangements.   Our two guests today are as good as it gets in […] The post Public Relations | Horwitz vs Swanson | Ep 15 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

Shoes on fire!! So begins a romp through pitchers’ territory with two pitching personalities who let it fly. The Pitchers Bert Blyleven is a Hall of Fame right-hander who came to the majors at age 19 with a curveball that HOF member Brooks Robinson described as “nasty…enough to make your knees buckle…a dominating pitcher.” Bert […] The post Pitchers | Blyleven vs Langston | Ep 14 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

If you derive a headache from constantly smiling widely or laughing uncontrollably, you better have a bottle of aspirin at hand for this matchup of coaches. Bill Raftery and P.J. Carlesimo have run the gamut of basketball coaching and broadcasting, from college to the NBA, from regional networks to the Final Four. They were direct […] The post Coaches | Raftery vs Carlesimo | Ep 13 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

As sports reporters, it is all about getting the story.  That is no easy task when you are surrounded by others who want the same thing from the same people and want it now. You are about to hear from two women who took on the rivalries not only for the stories, but also for […] The post Reporters | Adamson vs Coakley | Ep 12 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

In The Press Box READ ALL ABOUT IT!!   GET YOUR PAPER HERE! Ah, exclamations from the days when newspapers were plentiful, many cities had both a morning and an evening paper and all journalists, including sportswriters in the press box, were looking for the big scoop of the day. From those times came a […] The post In The Press Box | Nightengale vs Miller | Ep 11 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.

1988 NLCS The 1988 NLCS was a tumultuous series between the LA Dodgers and NY Mets. It went 7 games in the rain, sleet and hail and featured the likes of KIRK GIBSON, STEVE SAX, DOC GOODEN AND GARY CARTER. This series also pitted the to be 1988 Cy Young Award winner, NLCS MVP and […] The post 1988 NLCS | Dodgers vs Mets | Ep 10 appeared first on the Sports Rivals podcast.