Category: Interviews

Interview – This Might Be A Podcast Crossover

Guys, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a bit of nerd. Unashamed of nerdish ways, I made a guest appearance on one of my favorite podcasts, This Might Be A Podcast hosted by Greg Simpson, which is about one of my favorite bands – They Might Be Giants.

Live look at my wife’s reaction when I told her I was going to be on a TMBG podcast.

Older readers may recall the band’s big hit “Birdhouse In Your Soul” which got them on The Tonight Show back in the day. Over the course of their long career, TMBG did the themes for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Malcolm in the Middle and, for those of you with kids, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (both the opening and closing tunes). If you aren’t familiar with TMBG, they have been described as “alternative” (whatever the heck that means these days), indie rock, experimental rock, art rock, avant-pop (huh?), power pop, art punk and geek rock. And they’ve done a few children’s albums, too. Whatever label you want to put on the band, TMBG is nerd rock.

This Might Be A Podcast is a song-by-song podcast about TMBG. Each episode discusses a different TMBG song. The podcast is up to about 175 episodes so far with only another 700 plus songs to go. TMBG has been at it for 40 years and won’t stop making new music. Not even father time can keep TMBG down, nor does the fact that they’re older than they’ve ever been and now they’re even older. Greg’s efforts to chronicle each song makes him a modern-day Atlas.

Greg drops a new episode about once a week and this week I stopped by to talk about a great TMBG song, Yeh Yeh. (As a result of choosing to talk about the song, I learned the TMBG version is a cover of the Georgie Fame version, which is a cover of a cover of the original. Talk about spiraling shapes of confusion here.)

As you’ve noticed with my own podcast, I don’t let myself get constrained by the purported subject matter. Greg and I discuss a lot of things including the full story of my daughter’s appendectomy and bowel obstruction surgery (the episode was recorded the night before she came home). I appreciate everyone who reached out and helped our family during that time. A lot of you who have never met me were kind enough to pray for my daughter and that means a lot to us.

Greg and I also broke whatever record existed on his show for references to The Simpsons. We made a lot of them. A. Lot. We also talked about one of the greatest kids’ books in the history of ever – I Want My Hat Back. This. Book. Is. Perfect. And we do give away the ending. Consider yourself warned.

I hope you enjoy the episode. Listen here.

Interview – Eli Pancol

Listen here.

Eli Pancol took some time out of a Sunday to give us an update on what to expect from Duke heading into the upcoming football season. This was a great talk about the mood of the Blue Devils, how NIL helps student-athletes and Eli’s tattoos. That last topic took us down a discussion about his family’s history which is pretty interesting.

Eli celebrates a big play.

During the interview, Eli discusses his clothing line which you can find here. He’s got some cool stuff – check it out! If you do get some of his merch, post a video of you dancing in it and see how your moves compare to Eli’s moves.

Go Duke!

Interview – George Pearkes

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George Pearkes, a walk-on tight end at Duke from 2008-11, stopped by for one heck of a talk. We discuss economics, market trends, the economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and we learn why gas prices have been so high. Oh, and we talk Blue Devils football, too. This was an informative discussion with a very knowledgeable guy.

George getting ready for a game.

If you want to learn more about the economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, read this article by George. We hope you enjoy the interview.

Go Duke!

Interview – Tre Hornbuckle

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We all remember Tre Hornbuckle from his time destroying the opposing team’s offensive line. Tre took time out of his busy schedule to talk about playing football at Duke, how COVID-19 impacted the NFL Class of 2020, his time as a GA in Durham and his professional career which has him in the CFL.

Tre before he literally blows up the opposition.

Tre gave an excellent talk about leadership, staying positive and overcoming adversity. This was a fun talk with an all-time great.

Go Duke!

Interview – Perry Simmons

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To say Perry Simmons was a rock during his time at Duke would be an understatement of epic proportions. Perry started fifty, count them FIFTY, straight games before an injury kept him out of the Peach Bowl in 2013. Perry was kind of enough to stop by for a great talk about what it takes to make a team relevant after years of irrelevance.

Perry on Senior Day (I think that’s Senior Day).

During our hour plus conversation, we covered a lot of interesting topics including the importance of redshirting, Coaches Luke and Latina, how injuries can derail an offensive line and the great seasons that were 2012 and 2013. This interview will bring back some good memories for all you Blue Devil fans. Until we get to Miami in 2015. Um, yeah. Ugh.

Go Duke!

Bonus Episode – A Basketball Duke v. Syracuse Jam Session

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After watching Duke handle Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, we recorded a bonus jam session for all you Blue Devil fans. I’m on rhythm guitar and Tim is on mandolin. The tracks are:

North Carolina Breakdown or A Mark Williams Dunk Fest

Roscoe or Griffin and Roach from Deep

Big Scioty or Duke G.R.I.N.D. (we’ve recorded this before, but it’s one of our favorites)

Temperance Reel or Elko Reel

Go Duke!

Interview – Clarkston Hines (A true GOAT)

Listen to the interview here.

While it is hard to compare wide receivers from different eras of football, no one can dispute that Clarkston Hines is one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play at Duke. He has an unbelievable list of records and accomplishments as a Blue Devil that includes an ACC Championship in 1989. If you haven’t seen him play, pull up some old games on YouTube and you’ll see that he was a true playmaker.

Hines Added To College Football Hall Of Fame Ballot - Duke University
Clarkston celebrates after one of many big plays.

Clarkston is a member of the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and was a member of the ACC 50th Anniversary Team. And his teams went 4-1 against Carolina. Not too shabby!

And here is one of his most memorable catches to help turn the tide against Clemson and spark the Blue Devils to a conference title.

We covered a lot of topics including the current real estate market, the 1990 Bills team, Clarkston’s former OC Tommy Bowden, Coaches Sloan and Spurrier, the 1989 ACC Championship season and two scoreboard pictures taken that year – one against Maryland and one against UNC.

Enjoy!

Interview – Dave Brown (one of the Duke GOATs)

Put simply, Dave Brown is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play at Duke. While he only started for about two full seasons, Dave made an impact on the field and in the record books. He stepped in during a crucial stretch of the 1989 season and made the most of the opportunity. Dave had a 10 year NFL career with the Giants and Cardinals after his time in Durham and is now in private equity. Dave was kind enough to take some time out of a Saturday to talk about his time as a Blue Devil, the 1989 season, Coaches Spurrier and Wilson, his NFL career, including a very interesting story about how he got drafted, and his son who is a great lacrosse player who committed to Maryland.

We definitely talked about this.
I think Dave played great in this game.

We hope you enjoy this talk – it was a good time. Go Duke!

Listen here.

Interview – Anthony Nash

We all remember Anthony Nash from the big plays he made as a wide receiver at Duke. Anthony was kind enough to stop by and talk about playing football in Durham, his time in the NFL and his work as a physical therapist. We talked a lot of “What If” moments such as the entire 2016 season and, of course, Miami.

Anthony takes it to the house in South Bend.

As promised, here’s Anthony making a big play against the Irish.

Listen here.