Persons of Interest

Paul Oren, of the Victory Bell, and lecturer at Valparaiso University shares his experiences and insights covering Valpo athletics and his journey in sports journalism. From starting at the Northwest Indiana Times to launching his own platform on Substack, Oren discusses the challenges and joys of covering high school and college sports, the impact of the pandemic on his career decisions, and his approach to balancing teaching with journalism. He delves into the dynamics of college sports, including the effects of transfers and the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) on the landscape of college basketball, highlighting the personal stories behind athletes and their injuries, particularly focusing on ACL recoveries among female soccer players. The conversation also touches on the evolution of social media and digital journalism and the future of sports reporting and storytelling. Follow Paul: Twitter/X: @TVBOren The Victory Bell: https://www.thevictorybell.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

Mike and Derrick discuss the challenges and rewards of working in college sports, balancing family life with professional commitments, and Mike's love for bobblehead collecting. Mike expresses his dedication to team sports, reflects on his 20-year career, and emphasizes the importance of relationships in shaping his journey in sports communication. Follow Mike on Twitter/X: @ISU_mcwilli Mike’s Bio via GoRedbirds.com After working as a student assistant, graduate assistant and the associate director of communications at Illinois State, Mike Williams assumed the role of Assistant Athletics Director for Communications in July of 2012 and was promoted to Associate Athletics Director for Communications in January of 2024. In that role, Williams oversees Illinois State's publicity, promotion and information support efforts for all of Illinois State's 19 sports. He is the primary media contact for the football, gymnastics and tennis programs and manages the athletics communications staff, which includes three other full-time staff members, three graduate assistants and several student interns. In addition to being a member of the department's senior staff and external teams, Williams serves as staff liaison between the athletics communication office and the athletics development office, the compliance office, and the ticket office. He has also served as media coordinator for several Missouri Valley Conference tournaments hosted by Illinois State including baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics and track and field in recent years. He currently serves as a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Advocacy Committe and was honored as the 2016 Bud Nangle Award recipient by the organization. Williams and his colleagues were also recognized as the 2018-19 and 2019-20 Missouri Valley Conference Sports Information Staff of the Year for their efforts in promoting Redbird Athletics and the league. In 2009, Williams returned to his alma mater as assistant director of athletics communications and served in that role for two years, before being promoted to the role of associate athletics communication director. While in those roles, Williams was tasked with supervising the student intern training and development program for the athletics communications office in addition to sport coverage responsibilities.  Before returning to Illinois State in 2009, Williams served as the assistant director of athletics media relations at Indiana State where he was the primary contact for Sycamore men's basketball and cross country for two years, and football for one year. In 2007 and 2008, Williams served as the media coordinator for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships held in Terre Haute, Ind. Prior to that, Williams worked three years in the Illinois State Athletics Communications office, including the last two as a graduate assistant. During his two years as a graduate assistant, Williams was the secondary football contact and the primary contact for the baseball program. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

Chris shares his unique journey from hosting a college radio show to starting his own podcast, originally called 'Offstage Radio,' later evolved into 'Mad Props.' He explains his shift from a rigid, question-answer format to a more conversational and organic approach to podcasting. Chris also talks about the importance of engaging social media platforms in promoting podcasts. Chris and Derrick also discuss their experiences and their favorite podcasts and share stories about their fitness journey. Mad Props on: Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/madprops/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzZgTD0glM082CA3nvS6g0VWsUcf3xX-e Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadPropsPod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/madpropspod/ 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast 00:17 Meeting Chris Schnabel: The Man Behind 'Mad Props' 00:54 Chris's Journey into Podcasting 01:21 The Evolution of 'Mad Props' 03:02 The Art of Interviewing and Uncovering Unique Stories 04:37 Promoting a Podcast in the Digital Age 08:02 Securing Big Names and Building Connections 14:19 Navigating the Podcast Landscape 22:22 Chris's Incredible Weight Loss Journey 26:15 The Power of YouTube Premium and Running 26:43 The Unconventional Running Playlist 27:10 The Journey of a Recreational Basketball Player to a Runner 29:10 The Evolution of a Runner's Goals 29:51 Podcasts Over Music: A Runner's Preference 31:09 The Power of Old Pop Music in Running 32:14 The Art of Solo Podcasting 33:01 The Unforgettable Experience of Working at the U.S. Open 39:13 The Art of Guest Acquisition for Podcasts 44:01 The Unexpected Rewards of Reaching Out 46:02 The Journey of a Podcast Host --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

Steve's Bio from wwuowls.com: Steve Wilson joins WWU from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas, where he has led the athletic department since 2019. Under his leadership, the Coyotes twice won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup, in 2020 and 2021, and won seven KCAC championships. Kansas Wesleyan also grew its athletic department under Wilson's direction, adding several new coaches and two new sports in men's volleyball and flag football, while excelling in the classroom; 20 of the university's 25 athletic teams received NAIA Scholar Team status while posting a department-wide GPA of 3.01.   Prior to Kansas Wesleyan, Wilson served as Athletic Director at Park University-Gilbert, leading the school's 12-sport athletic department in its inaugural season of 2018-2019 while also coaching the Buccaneers' men's and women's golf teams. Prior experience also includes serving as Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations and Compliance, and Sports Information Director, at Park University's flagship campus from 2007-2018, and serving on the athletic department media relations staff at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. "Steve brings a wealth of knowledge having been with the NAIA as a coach, an SID, and athletics administrator; along with his experience working at the NAIA," said Tracy Gastineau, Interim Director of Athletics and a member of the athletic director search committee. "As an added bonus, he is familiar with William Woods and the AMC. His interactions with the athletics staff during the interview process was energetic and exciting and we look forward to working with him as our department continues to grow." A graduate of both Kansas St. University (bachelor's - 2004) and Park University (masters – 2013), Wilson is married to Juli Wilson and has one daughter. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

In this podcast, Martin talks about the Morning Grind and his radio experiences, the relationships he's developed with various coaches and athletes his own podcast projects and more. Martin's bio from Fox2Now.com: Martin Kilcoyne is the Sports Director at FOX-2,  a position he’s held since 2002.   He joined the station as a Sports Reporter in July, 1997. He is a 5-time Emmy Award winner, including twice as the Mid-America top Sports Anchor (2006, 2008).  At FOX-2, he’s covered the  Cardinals in the World Series four times, and two Super Bowls with the Rams.   The biggest event/party he says he’s ever covered was the Blues winning the 2019 Stanley Cup. Since 2007, he has provided nightly commentary with TKO: The Kilcoyne Opinion during the 10:00 pm newscast.   Martin has also been a fixture on local radio and is currently heard with daily segments on KTRS “The Big 550”.      Martin is a St. Louis native and graduated from CBC High School before going to college at Marquette University.    Previous tv stops were KNAZ-TV in Flagstaff, Arizona; WJFW-TV in Rhinelander, Wisconsin; and WISC-TV in Madison, Wisconsin. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

I didn't realize it until Shelby said it while we were recording, but I've known her for 10 years now. This episode is a little different because I'm having a conversation with someone that I know but we still discuss some things about each other that we didn't know. Shelby works at Baylor University in the athletic department, serving as director of communications. We spend some time catching up, talking about how and why she works in sports, her various career stops, and more. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

In this special episode, Derrick is joined by fellow Missouri State alums Kevin Agee, Kevin Grogan, and former Bears Basketball player Anthony Shavies. Their discussion focuses on the 2005-06 Missouri State Men's Basketball team that was left out of the NCAA tournament with a 21 RPI. This episode was inspired by Wyatt Wheeler's series about the 2005-06 Missouri State Basketball season. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

I think of Corey Riggs as a "swiss army knife" of sports broadcasting. He has experience on TV and radio, on and off the screen, in front of and behind the camera. From his own Twitter/X bio, he is a "Sports Announcer/Prod/Dir in SWMO. Proud Webb City native & Missouri State grad (SMSU on my diploma). Find me on ESPN3, MC22, MAVTV, Missouri State radio & more" In this episode, Corey talks about his experiences calling Missouri State football, basketball, soccer and more. We also take a brief look at the upcoming seasons for the football and basketball teams. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

Eric's bio via NABC.com Eric Wieberg joined the NABC staff in May 2016. As Director of Communications and Digital Media and as the primary NABC spokesman, Eric leads all public and media relations efforts for the NABC including strategic messaging, press releases, media appearances, member communication, and event media operations. He also oversees the NABC’s digital, content creation, and brand marketing initiatives. Eric supports the NABC’s advocacy work alongside various NABC committees in developing legislative proposals and policy positions for the NCAA and other governing bodies. Additionally, he manages the NABC’s awards program and oversees the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Regional Advisory Committee. Eric assists with the NABC’s sponsorship activation efforts and is a member of operational teams for various events including the Hall of Fame Classic and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. Before coming to the NABC, Eric spent two years leading football communications and digital media as an Assistant Commissioner at the Colonial Athletic Association, and three years managing communications, marketing and digital as an Assistant Commissioner at the South Atlantic Conference. Prior to those positions, he was an intern with the NCAA Division I men’s basketball staff, primarily serving media operations roles for the 2010 and 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. Eric holds a master’s degree from the University of Texas and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas. He resides in Olathe, Kan. with his wife Katie and two daughters. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

About Jeff Bidwell (via RacerBasketball.com) "I started covering the Murray State basketball programs in 2002. After 20 years of following the Racers around, I retired from my television career. Now I’m back and ready to pick right up where I left off — and hopefully be better than ever. My greatest athletic achievement is being accused by a viewer of jumping on the dog pile at the NCAA Tournament after Danero Thomas’ game-winning shot to beat Vanderbilt in 2010. I love the Philadelphia Eagles. Steve Prohm despises them. Upon further review, this entire project could be an uphill battle." In this episode, Jeff discusses his time working in TV, when he knew it was time to move on, covering Murray State Basketball and his new project, RacerBasketball.com. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @AKAJeffBidwell --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

Jim Benson recently wrapped up a 42-year career as a sports writer. He spent all of his years writing for the Bloomington Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal, Illinois). In this podcast, Jim discusses a few moments and people from his time as a writer, including covering the University of Illinois men's basketball team making two Final Four runs, getting to interview Michael Jordan, covering Illinois State men's basketball and the Missouri Valley Conference and prep sports in central Illinois. Follow Jim Benson on Twitter: @Pg_Benson --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/personsofinterest/message

Tariq Ahmad has been on the forefront of all things sports marketing and sports management. He has been hands-on working in social media for several companies in addition to serving as an adjunct instructor in sports management. Recently, Tariq has turned his attention to the world of Name, Image and Likeness and educating others about the topic in addition to student-athlete representation. In this episode, Tariq and Derrick reconnect with each other to catch up on the latest and also dive into Tariq's NIL work and an upcoming NIL webinar hosted by Tariq. Follow Tariq: Twitter: @tariq_ahmad Twitter: @_sportscourt Instagram: https://instagram.com/_sportscourt LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariqahmad1/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sports.court NIL Fundamentals Webinar registration (Thursday, March 30. 2023, 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT) NIL Newsletter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Ben Fredrickson is a sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He also contributes on the radio for The Big 550 KTRS. He grew up in Sedalia, Missouri and attended college at the University of Missouri. In this podcast, Ben shares the story of his career path, writing opinion articles, working in the digital media age and more. Read his work at STL Today Follow Ben on Twitter: @Ben_Fred Ben Fredrickson on Facebook (BenFredPD) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Bio courtesy of CampusSonar.com Founder and CEO Liz specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education and has a passion for empowering others, which she brings to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonar. Liz is an award-winning speaker, author, and strategist who was named a 2018 Mover and Shaker by Social Shake-Up Show and a finalist on GreenBook’s 2019 GRIT Future List. She has delivered top-rated talks at SXSW, SXSW EDU, the American Marketing Association Symposium, the Carnegie Conference, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and others; and is the author of two indispensable guides for higher ed: The Higher Ed Social Listening Handbook and Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy: A Guide for College Campuses. Liz has more than 15 years’ experience in higher education, spanning the private and public sector (including the University of Wisconsin campuses in Milwaukee and Waukesha). Since 2013, she’s focused on driving social listening forward as a source of business intelligence in higher education. She received a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Follow/Connect with Liz: Twitter (@lizgross144) LinkedIn Follow Campus Sonar: Twitter (@campussonar) Facebook Instagram LinkedIn --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Wyatt Wheeler returns for his fourth appearance on the podcast. In this episode, Derrick and Wyatt discuss the upcoming 2022-2023 Missouri State Men's and Women's Basketball Seasons and also touch on Art Hains, Wyatt's co-host on Sports Talk who is battling West Nile Virus. LINK: Support Art Hains as he battles to recover from West Nile Follow Wyatt on Twitter Read The Springfield News-Leader Springfield News-Leader Sports --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Follow Joe on Twitter: @Joe_Pott Joe Pott's Bio, courtesy, SIUE Athletics: Joe Pott has been the "Voice of the Cougars" since 2008. The native of St. Louis, Missouri, oversees all communications and broadcasting operations for SIUE athletics. He is the radio voice of Cougar men's basketball and baseball on 88.7 the Sound, all home broadcasts on ESPN+ and also has appeared on FOX Sports Midwest as part of the Cougars' basketball television coverage. He has called nearly 400 SIUE men's basketball games and more than 400 Cougar baseball games in addition to several hundred more soccer, volleyball, softball, and women's basketball games, while also serving as the host and emcee at many Cougar athletics special events throughout the year. Pott also manages the student video crew responsible for the live production of SIUE Athletics events online. He recently oversaw the transition of Cougars broadcasts from the OVC Digital Network to ESPN+. Off the air, he heads the Athletic Communications Department and is the primary media contact for men's basketball, baseball, men's soccer and golf. Away from SIUE, Pott joined the sports staff at KMOX Radio and serves as a host on the station as well as the St. Louis Cardinals Radio Network. Prior to coming to SIUE, Pott served as the radio play-by-play voice for the Gateway Grizzlies, a member of the Frontier League of professional baseball in Sauget, Illinois, from 2001-2010. The three-time Frontier League Broadcaster of the Year also served as a guest speaker and emcee at a number of public events promoting the baseball Grizzlies. He was a play-by-play voice for the game of the week for football and basketball for Team 1380 and FOX Sports Radio 1490 in St. Louis from September 2007 to March 2008. He worked as the voice of the Edwardsville Tigers during the 2003-2004 boys’ basketball season on WAOX radio. Pott earned a bachelor of arts in communication in 2000 from the University of Dayton, where he worked as an Athletics Communication Assistant, called many sports on radio, and served as a play-by-play voice for local telecasts of Flyer volleyball and soccer. He remains a tried and true Flyer basketball fan. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Matt Chittim is the host of the Rambling Runner Podcast, which is for amateur runners who are working hard to get better and achieving inspirational results while balancing running with the rest of their lives. In this episode, Matt shares how he got started with podcasting, how running plays a role in his life and he shares some running tips with Derrick. Matt also shares a brand new project he is launching called Relay. Relay is a group of elite runners and running content creators publishing the most creative and collaborative running content on the internet. Follow Matt and his podcast: Website: theramblingrunner.com Apple Podcasts Spotify Twitter: @rambling_runner Instagram: @rambling_runner YouTube Rambling Runner on YouTube Strava: Matt Chittim Follow Relay: Twitter: @Relay_site Instagram: @relay_site Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/relay --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Kevin Agee returns for another episode. This time, we talk about his career change, leaving his content strategist position at Missouri State University to begin a new role at an agency. Kevin discusses his time at Missouri State, what he learned on the job and what he's looking forward to in his new position. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri, co-hosts The Sports Reporters on Jock 96.9 FM, 99.9 FM and 1060 AM on Monday mornings with Ned Reynolds and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast.  Follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message

Anthony Shavies currently serves as a Mortgage Loan Officer at Central Bank of the Ozarks. His professional experience in helping others repair their credit led to a personal goal to help clients reach homeownership. He is a former Missouri State basketball player and earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Missouri State University. He returned to Springfield, MO after playing professional ball overseas. In this episode, he discusses how he landed at Missouri State, the current Bears Basketball team, and his current role with Central Bank. Follow Anthony on Twitter: @AnthonyShavies --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/personsofinterest/message