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.