400 FALL SATURDAYS

sport for a long time. And Kirk and I have had a twenty five year partnership and friendship. First of my years on College Game Day which ended in two thousand fourteen, also in Thursday Night Football, and for the last seven years ABC Saturday Night Football, calling all the big games on ABC, including the Rose Bowl and the Championship.

For all those twenty five years, Chris Felika, a k a. The Bear has been alongside, first as a researcher and in recent years as a TV star, offering his opinions and his picks on games from his desk just off the corner of the game day set. Now the Bear was given his nickname by our beloved coach Lee Corso at a game day meeting a long time ago, in front of about twenty people, Lee looks over at Chris. It just says to him, look at you, Look at you over there. You're like a like a big bear.

All you do is eat, sleep, and ship. The whole room just fell over Chris included. It was said with great affection, and from that day on he was known as the Bear. The Bears also work with me as a researcher, by the way to everything from the World Cup in South Africa to the Final Four, a bunch of Triple Crown races, and the Summer and Winter X Games.

But those are stories for another day. Today we're telling tales mark quarter century in college football, and I hope you have half as much fun listening to these as we did telling him, all right, Kirk, that's gonna be fine. But if I threw you a number four hundred and then told you that four hundred was a number of false Saturdays that we've worked together on one platform another at ESP and like, what's what's your reaction of four

hundred false saturdays? Are you sure that's accurate? Did you you know right away you're checking my math, that's impressive. Four hundred twenty five years sometimes about fifteen or sixteen saturdays. That's not counting every single thing we've done. But that's just the Yeah, exactly I was gonna say, because I think it's even more than that. I don't. I just I'm one of those guys. It's like time just flies,

you know, Like I don't. I still feel like I'm seven years in, you know, like I don't feel like I'm twenty five years of doing this. But I think it's it's a reflection and we love what we do. You know, we love coming a sport, and I know you are able to to cover a lot of other sports over to your career and still do. But for me and and for Bear, people like that, I mean, this is what we do. This is it, you know year round? Really? But no, man, that that's that's weird.

You know when you're in the middle more year round than I am. I'll be honest with you, like I like to check out. I I know you and Bear and we'll get to that. Are you guys are like three sixty cf B. I I go away and come back. That's only way I can do it. Man, that's great. That's great. Everybody finds their little rhythm there, a little patterned,

you know, and it's cool. You got tennis and other things that that allow you to kind of recharge and then you come charging back in July August like ready to go, you know. But no, that's amazing to think four Saturdays you hit that point that you've been on the show well and in the sport plenty long enough that none of the players we talked about on Saturdays

were born when you jumped. And that when you hit that point when you realize, oh, ship, like, I've been doing this job longer than like Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence had been alive, and you realize what has changed in the sport, what has changed in the world, what has changed in our lives, you know since n That's

when it gets pretty freaky. Well. Yeah, Like for me, as you're sitting there saying that, I'm thinking back to the early years, you know, when I was I was twenty six, you know, and I remember doing the Home Depot Awards show. It was just a different kind of experience, you know, back in those days, like we would we would meet in Orlando and you know, a lot of these guys you'd covered. All of a sudden, they got a hall pass for forty eight hours in downtown Disney

and names. Yeah, I mean I was only a few years older than them, and and I remember you and I we used to go out and hang out with these guys, like when Sark was a player BYU and even Pat Fitzgerald I think they were in the same year Peyton was a player, you know, I mean that was that was like great times, you know, and and uh, you know, I think you reach a point where you know, you reached it before me because I used to like tug on your shirt, like come on, man, let's go,

let's go out, let's go do something. And you were like, you know a lot of much more mature at that point than I was, and you were already locked in. But yeah, those days are long. I think when they invented cameras on phones that became like that, we'll talk about that. That that's when doing the job changed a lot, when because he used to be like what in the world,

like the someone bring out a small camera. Then they would have those little box cameras that the little Kodak paper camera, and you're thinking like who brings a camera to a bar like that's weird? Did start taking pictures in a bar? And then of course, boom the explosion of smartphones, and all of a sudden, you couldn't you couldn't do nearly the stuff you used to be able to do. Yeah, that that changed the game, I think for all of us, for everybody you know at that point,

Let's bring in the bear. Chris Felika here joined Game Day the same season you did. Back in you had a question we were talking about. You had a question for Kirk. You're gonna right away, he's gonna test your memory. Hers. Oh my gosh. What was our first road show, the three of us together? It was Kirk, Kirk and I's first road show. What was was was the same one. Do you remember what it was? I do? I think because your cohorn youre asking Chris, you're asking me. I

know that I'm asking you. I'm asking you because our partner here, I didn't remember it before he thought I remember because I could not believe that the first time I really seen somewhere besides the big tent. So it stands out to me. And we went to Boulder, Colorado. It was it was a Michigan Colorado game after uh two years after the Cordell pass. Yeah, Chris, Chris actually thought it might have been that. Uh that was the that was the road show there with the they had

like the Ralphie the Buffalo statue. It wasn't what wasn't a huge crowd there and Boulder remember that. No, no, no, there was like there was like u thirty seven people, you know, and I'll never forget it. Lee Corso, you know, we did an hour show and Lee Corso at the end of the show, he you know, one of the stage managers, you know, is that he goes, heyy see that guy over there with that that hat right there.

It was just like it was like a ball cap with it and it might have had like, I don't know, horns coming out of it or something. He was go, go go grab the co see if I can get that hat. This is the segment right before the id no idea what he was doing. Go over there and see if I can either. And then the guy went over, hey, can uh, Coach Corso borrow your hat real quick? And we might have been into like twenty eight people, you know by that point. It was an hour later he

brings the hat up. And then I can't even remember if we picked all the games, and we might only picked that game, I'm not sure. And then he put it on this this ball cap and when he picked Colorado. Yeah, I do remember that that. That was one of those shows there we had a lightning alert. We're supposed to a post game show, and lightning all of those Rocky Mountain late afternoon thunderstorms like chased us off the set.

We had to go inside. We sat on a little on a card table in the lobby of the basketball arena to do a postgame show that day. I do remember that. But then that then there was I thought, Christen, I thought that the Ohio State show yet your homecoming game day show, your first year. I thought that was the first time you've been on the road. Because that that was a very memorable show. And then and the

Friday before the show was memorable too. It was as a Saturday morning was before the show was well, I gotta remember. Now, you gotta cut me some slack. I did Arena football. I don't whatever their season started, let's say March every weekend and I was twenty six. All my boys we lived at all on Tangi Commons were like three of us all living together. Weekends were gold.

I missed every weekend March, April, May, June, July, August covering Kurt Warner and the Iowa Barnstormers, and then I'd get Then in the middle of that, I I did an audition in the middle of that for Game Day Who We're Moe Davenport told me You're not gonna get it, but just come on out to be good for your experience at your career. So I did that in the

middle of my season and then got the job. And then as soon as you know, um, the Arena Bowl I think it's called the ArenaBowl ended the very next week. We were in Boulder, Colorado. So I've been on the road for like four months straight, so then it might have been Bear What was it week two weeks? Was it second or third show that we traveled? Where'd we

go before? After? After Boulder, we we were our first experienced SEC football Peyton versus Florida, the rain YEP, fourth and fourth down, Spurio Ridel Anthony Post and went from get to your Friday Night and Columbus get to that part. Yeah, So we had a state the week before in in South Bend as well. Okay beat South Bend loose team, Yeah Bend. Luke Fickle was a big part of that in Brabel. Then then then we went to Columbus and then we all went out and it was a mess.

The only memory I have is waking up Saturday morning, fourth week of my career, and being terrified that I had been out way too late and you made me have way too many drinks night. I couldn't really, I was just like, I don't even want to go. I'm good. I was not gonna go. Alice rescued you man. One of the great careers in sports broadcasting almost got like cut short in a week four of year one. Listen to this, I somehow bang I make it into the r O t C Building next to next to St.

John's arena. You guys have no idea. What's going on? My sunglasses on some idea. I had some idea, But you're going, you know, you and Becker are arguing about something and I'm my stomach is like not feeling good, and I'm trying to like keep it together, trying not to get fired just because of the way I am in the meeting so I'm just holding on for dear life, going through this little production meeting before our show starts

on Saturday. And in the middle of it, ran down the hallway and just got sick really bad for a long time, and I was pale white, like I was banged up. I had Bama Dave bring me. He brought me a Bama. Dave is one of the guys on our crew a game day. He was worried about me. He brought this trash can for me, and he put it just to the left of my seat during the show, So if I had to vomit during the show, at least I had a trash can to turn my head over to and and throw up during the show. Thank

god the show was an hour back then. Thank total pro, total pro that. Damma Dad helped us at a couple other times as well, but we will get into that. Remember remember the first time we swung the camera around and like, the bear is now an icon, but but he was a valuable part of the team, but not in front of the camera. Was it your idea? What we all of a sudden we're sitting over there and we're like, there's a lull or something. It was his calves. I wanted to shoot the calves like wait that that

that was the whole impetus for you. Let's let's show his calves not not his calves are like that big. And he had shorts on and I you know, that's when we used to just a lot of times with fitting in the chair, we get off the rails and he loved it. He encouraged it. So I hit talk back and I was like, you gotta you gotta get

the camera on bears calves. I'm gonna say something. He goes, oh, that's great, that's great, bring the camera over to his calves, and I just started talking about bears calves and I'm just like, look at this. No, I forgot about the calves part. Bear I knew, I knew he. I thought we were gonna talk to some football. But then think about from one calf cutaway comes the empire. That is the exactly. It's the former off supp lineman at me. It's funny you say that because I can remember do

you remember World Cup in South Africa? We were in that. I do remember the World Cup in South Africa. One of the first nights in in the bar. I came down in the lobby and shorts and you were there. I think rud was there and Maco was there, and I'm like walking and like macam made some comment about my cats too, and it's like, oh yeah, yeah, this is unbelievable. Like everybody just all these pro soccer players. Kirk admiring his caves soccer moment. They are shredded up

like big, thick, strong ass Caves. I mean like he looks like a road grader, like he's gonna move some people out of the way in the day. Yeah, I was telling him the Remember we used to swing the camera around like he wouldn't know it was coming. Nobody really knew it was coming. We was get the idea right now, we're gonna throw And remember he used to get so piste off when he wasn't ready, like if they didn't have the headset ready, he didn't know what

was going on. But that's great TV, Like that's what we want. I mean, we bear off the top of his head, his gold like if you ask him right like like I I was like, I don't forget what we did this year. I think I had a name stadiums, like like you know the guy, no medium you do too, but like I think we were like, uh, you know the game right in eastern Michigan, Yeah, stadium, And I was like, are you kidding me? Like, uh, you know Colorado State? You know he names that stadium. That's where

bears so much fun. You know, when he has no idea what you're coming at him with, what did you What did you guys make of when you come on board? Kirk, I mean of Courso is kind of becoming courseo. But it hadn't fully he he had a thing with Craig James, who was on the show before you or he He He was kind of making a name for himself before they had like hot take artists before that was like a gig on TV. Elci used to kind of do that. He used to throw some crazy stuff out there. I

did a studio show with him one time. Wisconsin had lost a game. Barry ovres had made a decision in the game. Of course it was very right about I was with you, and he said, he's got he's got a quick he's got to go into his team and apologize and resigned. Yep. I'm like, you're not serious, and he goes, nothing I say is serious. But he used to. He used to really go after coaches, and I think they and he he loved the profession. I think it kind of got back to him like, hey, listen, you're

one of us. You can't do that. And then he kind of backed away from that. But there's a dot dot dot to that story. I was sitting next to you. Yeah, I was on the set. It was the first people forget when game day didn't travel, like we would do all the rap stuff, you know, and we would do games, halftime shows and in between shows, you know, leading up to a seven o'clock game, and that was coming. It was an ESPN game Northwestern and Madison and they ran

the ball instead of taking a knee. And he was furious, just the ethics of football, one on one, coaching one on one, you take a knee there, and whether it was right or wrong, in his mind, it was right. And that's what he said all that about Barry Alvarez, and he you're right, Like it wasn't just least funny. Lee was like a lightning rod in those days, man,

And he said that. And I was with him in New York City and when you hosted a National Football Foundation and dinner at the end of the year and every coach in the countries and and this is really cool for me the first time I've been to this. Every coach in the country's here black tie event waldor Forstoria, New York City. I'm in like, Holy Cow, where am i? And here comes al Capone, long trench I'm like, oh

my gosh. And he's seen Lee and Lee's moving real quick in his talks, you know, and he seen him, and he goes right up to him, puts his finger in his chest and said, I did not appreciate what you had to say, and you know, like, hey, yeah, I forget about it's all, you know, Like Lee just kind of dodged it, and no, I understand, I understand. And then he just kind of moved on. But that was very very pre intimidating guy pinky ring to come at you that way. Yeah, exactly, That's what it felt like.

Al like to this day, I call alb I call him Capone because of that that day, you know, watching him come in, long trench coat, dark hair, still you know, he's balding. But he looked over at Lee like, don't you dare do that again? And Lee just kind of but Lee did not hold back. That's Lee. That's why Lee built his brand. In my mind, what you just said that that say he'll say anything and not worry about the consequences, way before people did that. Yeah, I

want to get back to some funny stuff. But I do think it's a really powerful moment. And we we we all have such you know, deep love and affection for him and respect for him. Learned so much from him when he had the stroke. I thought that was

one of the most courageous things that anybody's done. A guy who spoke so effortlessly he was it was so natural, and he was such a great ad lib and to be robbed at that And the first show back after his stroke and this wasn't that many months, and he had gone to speech therapy that he says is the hardest thing he's ever had to do to relearn how to speak. And we weren't sure if the gears were

gonna mesh when the light went on. And this season review of the show is in Atlanta, and we're outside and there's a big crowd around, and I think all of us were so anxious and holding our breath and how is this going to go? For him? Is he going to be uncomfortable? Is he going to be able to get the words out? And and that was I think a two hour show at that point, and the fact that he was able to to get through that and it got better and better from from that point on.

That year, Uh god, I just remember the tension, Kirk, you know, just loving this guy so much and just hoping things are gonna go okay. Yeah, totally. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I mean really to me, when he had his stroke and he was determined, Nobody was like, are you sure you're okay? And he wasn't letting anybody stop him from getting back to that show. And his motivation was his love for that job, his love for that show, his love for the sport and

what he had become, you know, within the sport. And he was not going to be slowed down. And and you're right, whether you have a family member or you know somebody that's that's suffered a stroke, and you know it's it's sometimes the side of your body can be paralyzed. You know, his right side was in his hand was paralyzed, right side of his mouth kind of droops a bit, and the speech was this cognitive thinking was fine. That's I think the frustrating thing for stroke victims is your

cognitive thinking is fine. You just can't get the words out. And the herder you try, and the faster you try, the worst it gets. And he had to learn how to do that all over again. We did Thursday night games, so the l s to Kirk remember like most animals that have a chart like you do, and they got every the players are written out there with the stats that LC would bring in the post it notes. I don't even know if that. He might not even had

a chart with him. I don't you tell me. But he would go into the booth and there'd be like a hundred little post it notes on the wall of the boot. Stuff he wanted to say, like tidbits. I mean, no one has done a game like that. No he uh, Mike, Mikey Tarico spoiled all of us because we didn't really know what a board or it was. And when we started to do the Thursday nights, Mike was so far ahead of the curve with technology and he would go

to think about this. He would have his computer, he would print, he would go to Kinko's Kinko's and print out the sheets the boards for us and Lee and I are just we're trying to figure out our rental car and what we're doing. And then he would he would, he would every week provide us both with our our board, and um, we just kind of thought that's what happened, you know, because that's all would lose his and throw it away. I didn't even use it. I mean the

post that carried over to when I did. I replaced Mike, and I go, what the hell is you get like little like words on a post it note on the booth all over the wall. The weeks Tarko went there, he didn't have his board, you know how, he's a system guy, so he probably just come in, would come up with a new way with his post it's and and everything else. But he he was so much fun

to do games with. I remember, of course, you remember the b y U game when something that happened with lavell ed words and you and you said something the and he was I think I think Lee used the expression shot his wad and was day. I'm talking about the game we did. Oh smy little bit might a run up the score? Oh yes, I do remember that now, Yeah, and you threw out one of your wise guy lines

about something and it just made back. He certainly, yeah, something like that, and then he almost said bullsh like that's b You know how when he gets going, he doesn't care. He was going there on you and were you too, were sitting there having like an argument over the over the game. Do you better remember that at all? Obviously I wasn't there, but I remember, yeah, I was making light of something was deadly serious and the coaches Ethics book that that had been violated there and he

was he was not having it. Not having probo was the side of a couple of actually that it might not have in pro but but b y U get correctly. I don't know what was the better part of the show, Uh Lee Lee with the shot shot as you know what Aura or Christ's neighborite mask out their cosmo. Well, that's when the that's when the b y U cougar that does set to my right and I see over the side that the cougar is trying to get it.

By the way, this was built way off there. This is like a ten foot thing we bab over time. It came from being a stage on the ground where anybody could step over to be and stuff. You had to kind of scale scaffolding to get up to the set. And I see this cougar's head coming over the railing and what the hell get get down? So he goes down.

I think, okay, emergency is not gonna happen. Then he comes back up, jumps over the railing, comes around in my left which is between me and Corso, jumps up on the on the table right, have my notes, kicks over my coffee. My phone's right there now. The rest of the show is got covered covered in coffee. He's standing there like making a whole scene. Picks up which, by the way, I did for the next shot sheet

rips it in half. Cosmo the cougar okay, okay, I fella got fired, like got down off the stage, boom fired on the spot. I don't know he was kicked out of school, but he was fired from his job. God, that's the same show that Lee said, no forget about them.

They blew their wad last week. Yeah, I mean, yeah, some stuff happened to y u. I mean you know, I mean, there were there's so many like funny moments where this happens in the booth with us too, Kirk, where you just you almost can't look at the other guy because if you do, it's over. Like you like you gotta just keep your eye away and you any sort of like eye contact, and we're on the brink. We're on the brink. A lot of completely losing it.

I think, especially on game day, Oh my god, there when you would get me going and I can't control it, and it was like having church giggles. You know, you just mom's telling you not to laugh and you just can't stop laughing. Usually it was something like Lee saying Marcus tu yasa sopo or you know some name the wrong way. No, he called Tom Rinaldi timmy dead serious, and people Aaron Andrews still calls Ronaldi timmy. He called Desmond Howard Dennists. I think that's when we that's when

either we lost it. Dennis on the air, he said, Dennis, let me tell you. And the only thing I could think of was, um, he coached against Dennis Franklin at Michigan. I think right like back in that air was a Dennis Franklin, who's the Michigan quarterback that they had early seventies right before Rick Leach. I think you're trying to crawl inside his head and figure out what he called. I'm trying to like, I'm trying to put it all together, you know, like, oh no, it was just moments like that,

are I mean, are just priced? I want I was thinking about something, Chris, did you leave me alone? Still Water, Oklahoma. We used to always do the Bedlam series in game day and it was always frigid. It was always like thirty mile winds ten below zero. And we were in Oklahoma City for one or Oklahoma State for one Bedlam game and it was so cold that all you guys

left the set, everybody. I had to do a lead in to a tear jerking piece about the anniversary of JFK's assassination and Army Navy in the wake of that, and it was it was just one of those like heart rendering pieces, and and you guys all went back to the bus. I'm out there doing doing the lead in the loan and Lea you might I don't know if you left the set or not. You remember being out there. You know where I'm going with this? Yeah, So so I tell the crowd, like when we have

a sensitive piece. Sometimes I would inform the crowd, hey, listen, just you know, pay attention to the screen, react accordingly, react with class. It's a sensitive kind of piece, So come out and go. I'm talking about President getting assassin it. So they get it. So we're all set. So Lee fitting who you talked about earlier, is counting me down. In my ear it's quiet, they're respectful. This is gonna go well. All of a sudden, the Oklahoma state mascot,

like everybody's got in the Big twelve. He's got firearms, and I'm getting counted out of this piece. On JFK Assassination, the crowd is quiet. Over on the demo set, like a short distance away, bing bing bing. I hear this gunfire, like there's gun he's got. Dude is shooting his gun in the air, just happening for him. It was too quiet. He didn't know what was going I didn't get the memo. He starts shooting like his little mock guns in the

air were like three two. I'm the look in my face like I'm panicked that we're gonna come out of this piece and we're gonna hear like gunshots in the air. I think I think on one he stopped shooting. Yeah, you guys were in the bus. You're like, you're like, I'm getting warm, I'm out of here. I'm like, I had no idea that happened, No idea, I don't. I don't see that. That's probably true. We probably did bail because I think at the time we're like batting a

thousand for bad weather and still Water. Whenever the show went there that I remember that that that Bedlam game in still Water. Once they moved into November, was always always talking about the game in Big twelve, the Big twelve Championship, That's what I was gonna say that were The one that I definitely thought you were gonna go with was the the Oklahoma Kansas Stay Big twelve title game in two thousand, where I mean it was cold, windy, snow.

Literally we're getting ready to do the truck and there's nobody there, zero zero fans around the secause the weather is just brutal. And then like a couple of minutes before the show, this one random dude just like straggles around and it's like a like a barrel there. He puts the barrel on fire to keep warm. So we can watch the show before that. Oklahoma can to stay big twelve title games. I was pissed, not because I just didn't want I wanted us a perfect but I

don't wanted zero fans. Wanted to see the show in front of zero fans, and he came and ruined the record. You guys remember those NFL stadium shows. How much we used to dread those just because you know, it was either really hot or really cold, and we just want to be on a campus so bad. I think that game you're talking about, we were way in the corner. We could almost see Arrowhead. We're way way way. It was like by an overpass, like by a parking in

the corner of a parking lot. Yeah, that's the show where it was so cold. I wasn't wearing a tie. It was refusing to wear a tie because I was wearing six layers under a shirt, and I was gonna wear a giant scar because I gonna see a tie. I had the scarf up to my chin and a top coat, and the producer executive producer at the time, charges out of the truck and demands that I moved my scarf to see that I had a tie on

underneath it for the show? Was I was I complying with the dress code or was I not wearing a tie? This is like we're right before air flick. Remember this not not pissing off the host of rattling the host is pretty good. That's a good policy. I've I've never asked you about this, but Baron I's first year or so, like, we didn't know who Steve Becky one who was but

it was pretty quick and clear. I knew who you were, but it was pretty quick that you could see that there was some editorial exchanges that would go on, whether it was a Friday meeting or maybe something else. But that was an interesting dynamic. I think just just to come into TV for the first time doing TV and having that there was some volatility going on. I'm sorr. I apologize, no, no, I mean listen. I it was

not always kumbaya on the show. That there were times when I hate to say it, but people would never know it from watching on Saturday morning. But like you showed up on a Friday afternoon and you were not exactly eager to be at this party right like you? It was it was tense. The show would go on the air, be fine that those are the days we didn't have a screen behind us, and the producer sort

of fought putting a screen behind us. And remember the Michigan stake and you almost got decapitated by a beer can comes curling through the air, pin wheeling through the air, almost almost takes the back of your head off. Golf ball, the golf ball and l s U two golf ball. But that's when that's when Corso taught me again brand new to the party, a lot of Friday energy. And then I just would sit next to him and then

he would say say nothing. That's what he would tell me, meaning what like like don't talk in the meeting, say yeah, say nothing, say I go. I would like elbow him like maybe whisper something to him and be like just sergeant Shultz and he say nothing, say nothing. Say nothing. Became like a catchphrase, you guys that have for all of the whole team. Yeaheah. Became the thing like say say nothing, I say nothing. But he was saying in Friday meetings, say nothing, say nothing, say nothing, And I

like you better that way. Like that, that's that's the other one. Things are things are going wrong yeah, miss your miss your connection in Atlanta. It's better that way. It's not a bit of that way. But at least when you guys were on the show, there was no fist fights in the production the I think the year before you get there, Kirk Craig James leapt across the table and we we almost almost we almost had a

fist fight, he and the producer at the time. So that kind of stuff happens in TV and even happened in Game Day, and thankfully we worked through that where it became well, we went. We went from that energy to I think the next chapter was Stu Barbara, which was completely calmer, very very different. Uh energy. But yeah, I didn't know if you wanted to get into that or not, but I was just telling you that that that that was our first year and it was our

first like, wow, this is crazy got into it. So we did. I'm I mean, listen to your credit, dude, like you you looked at Game Day and still probably do to a certain extime. Mean that was like that was still the beginning of it was like a child, like you were raising a child. I mean you took you know, there was producers and directors and whatever else.

But it was very clear that you were kind of either producer or co producer of the show, and if something didn't align with what you thought, it was not good for you, but good for the show that you you would fight for it. So it was all good. It was all done with good intentions. But it was spirited, you know, for a guy to ben like, you know, I'm a guy that likes peace. I come into here, I'm like, WHOA, what's going on in here? You came to the wrong place at the wrong time. I learned, well,

I thank you. You. You were always a very chilled energy, which is important because you don't need more volatility later on. You you listen, I mean, don't act like you didn't have strong opinions later on, obviously you're pretty stronger, cared deeply about the show, and you would throw more than your two cents in there, and we would have to earn my respect to I could be invited into that,

but I did not walk in. It took me five years or longer maybe to feel that I put the sweat equity into it, to feel like I could, you know, all for some insight. But and now these days you're shut up and listen, this is what we're doing rightfully. Now he goes in, it's a very different kirk when he goes to the me. All you guys, shut up. I'm telling you how it's gonna I'm kidding. Yeah, that's hilarious.

You can tell the story about good there is a producer now, I mean bear all these years and when you and Fitting left, I mean, I think Bar and I really took on a different role together. Um, because that's a significant get loss. But that's the thing, though, that the sport is the sport of opinions. You need a lot of people with a lot of different sensibilities and background. It should be like a bunch. There should

be a bunch of cooks in the kitchen. And I think for game day, you know there for the most part, there were, and there are and that that's what makes it. That's what makes it still great. Chris, tell the story you're telling me earlier, which no, Jennifer, my wife does not know the story. But it's okay. But but the time that I had a near near disaster the day

before game day, that was one and only trip to Purdue. Right, it's cold, and it's raw and windy and for some reason, We're all out on this big open field, screwing around, throwing a football around, and somehow you lose and notice that your wedding ring has suddenly fallen off in this huge,

wide open field. And it was it was dark, and I was gonna say, maybe say it was like I don't know if a time change had happened yet, but it was late afternoon, so yeah, we we were up against the up against some light and we're all on our hands and knees looking around. It's huge, Like you have no idea when you lost it, but all we know is that there's nothing on your left hand anymore. And I think right before like the sun went there, wasn't it Roman that ultimately saved your marriage. Yes, he's

saved a big fight anyway. Yeah, No, that was like that. Anybody that has a wedding ring, eventually you're gonna it's gonna fall off at some point. But that was like a moment of sheer terror because it was pretty early in the game there, and I did not want to return home with the like the wedding ring gone two thousand four, so you were three years in? Yeah, yeah, four years, but yeah, almost over four years. But that that was like he found was what was the search?

That that was a team effort though it was about thirty people on their hands and knees crawling around this disgusting like feel with thick grass like trying to find this. It was like it was it was Herb Street's favorite like light brown, midwest fall color where perfect sun sunset at three thirty type of day. Yes, that was was was Wisconsin? Were they the one? What was that was? That was? That was? That was Kyle Rton fullbole. You banged Ulsie on the head with the flush time where

you gave him a cut. That's funny because that was like that is the one and done. People ask where have you not been? In Gandhi? Almost every power of five school, but but Purdue is one of the one and duns and hey, Kirk, tell tell the story because it's been There's been so much that's happened, like in our lives that coincides. Are doing these shows, will you tell the story of like we're in New Orleans and the millennium is about to change over, let me tell

most of it? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, that was that was a crazy Were you just married? You were just married? We were engaged, not yet married now o at um. Well, there was as obviously people forget, especially younger people don't really realize. But getting ready for the millennium, it was a lot of what's what's gonnappen to the computers? And what's gonna happen to this? And what's gonna happen to that?

It was a lot of Yeah, we were in New Orleans and I've been married for a couple of years of my wife came down and we you and I and Jen, we and Ali. We all went out and had a couple of dinners and you know, not that we're partying hard, but we we'd have a cocktail at dinner, and my wife didn't have a cocktail, so I didn't really think. I don't know, I didn't really cross my mind. And then we were, um, we did a segment might

have been a bowl game that night. We were the French quarter where our set was, and we did a segment or a show and we were I can't get remember, we were in tuxedos or we had something going on. We were like BoA's. We had feather boas on. Yes, we're having fun and and uh and New Orleans is one of the sites where ABC throws it around all over the country for for the ball to drop. And so there's a ball right there, and it's we're getting

under a minute. Everyone's getting excited and here comes the ball. Everyone's like, what's gonna happen? Here we are, we're going into two thousand and ten, nine eight, and you know, we're all kind of standing together six five and Allison turned to me and she said, I'm pregnant. And it was like it was like next thing I know to wand that and and I was just like, holy cow. We didn't know she was pregnant with twins at the time, but she she was pregnant. That's how she broke the

news to me. LC was there with his bomber jacket and his jeans and yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right. We're all there together. But yeah, that was quite a quite a memory. And good thing you didn't have to go right in the air after that announcement, right, well, I think we were done for the night. Could you imagine, like, oh my gosh, how about her holding off for three days?

She was in New Orleans, didn't tell me anything. How do you not notice she's not drinking for three days and she's the only one in New Orleans not drinking for three days. And I'm not even thinking anything about it. And then right right as the balls drop and she, uh, she broke the news. You know what else that was? That was when Michael Vick and the Hokeys were taken on the seminoles. Remember what else happened that New Year's Eve? Filiki?

Remember who broke curfew? We see Sash Janikowski and Bobby A. Bowden kind of had a curfew. But if fans remember, they had all kinds of problems kicking, and kicking had cost him a lot of big games. Now they had Janikowski did the stud kicker, and he kind of knew that no matter what he did, he wasn't gonna get disciplined by Bowden. He it's it's strictly prohibited after midnight out in Bourbon Street in the French quarter. Uh, breaking curfew.

The game as the next night and there's Janetkowski out there. Can you imagine now with social media, everybody would have been all over like in a Gosh, they didn't really need him, did they in that game? I mean, the the Hokey has led going to the fourth was going to the fourth quarter, and all you know, we were in the rooster. Marcus outs in fourth and fourth, they get that stop, they get that stop right there, they

weren't stopping Virginia Tech. Yeah, that's when that's when everybody looked at Michael Vick from It was almost like the Lamar Jackson against Florida State moment. People looked at uh and Michael Vick like he was a great player, but when he did what he was doing athletically running around at Florida State defense that night, everyone was like, whoa,

this dude is different. Different people ask how did game they become Game Day in terms of the road shows in Virginia, Texan answer and Frank Biemer saw early on that this was like an infomercial for their program, and the people didn't know about Blacksburg, Virginia. We're gonna find out if they tuned into Game Day and he would just put like fifteen thousand people behind us in the stands of Lane Stadium. We had a good relationship with

Virginia Tech. And that's sort of the act drop for the story I wanted to tell, because you know, some of these shows we tend to remember the ones were, oh, the guest pickers crazy. Of course, it was something nutty. Some of the some of the most powerful memories I have Kurk and Chris are are the ones that are different. The shows had a totally different texture. And we were at Virginia Tech for the first football game after the tragic shootings that previous spring. And it wasn't a big game.

The opponent didn't matter. It was about the occasion and sort of marking their return. It's coming together for something that was positive and not to grieve and mourn. And I know we felt a huge responsibility to sort of document that event and strike the same tone because you don't want to be, you know, morose for like the entire length of the show. You had to kind of go back and forth cover football. Uh, the game was

was part of our discussion. But but the energy they are just kind of captivating that And remember we we had a camera walking through that long tunnel. It goes from the locker room outside and then back in the lanes stadium. People know it. That's where they come running out to enter sandmenment. We had the camera kind of walking through this dark tunnel and then coming out into the light at the end of it to sort of

symbolize what was going on on that campus. And I know we all felt like a responsibility to sort of document that, to get that right, to make them proud and have them approve of how we handled that. What do you remember about that that day? I really feel like you're really describing that perfectly, because you're right about Frank Beamer. He was the first guy to to look at game day, not necessarily as a nuisance, but because of the distraction it could become. Um but more of

we've arrived game days putting the stamp. Not that we try to do that, but that's how he viewed it. We're the game of the week, They're coming to Blacksburg, Virginia, And he had worked so hard to build his brand up and he challenged the Hokey Nation to fill up Lane Stadium. And I think they had like eighteen or twenty tho people on that lower side of the home side of that Lane Stadium. And we did the show from the corner of that end zone, um, right where

they come out. And I could not believe, you know, when you look over your shoulder to see that. And the game was at night first time we ever did a game. They were there that many people and Lee put this crazy mascot head on at the end of the show. And then of course Lee's car. I don't know if it was that game, but at some point Lee had his car hit by lightning. And I don't know what a hokey is, but God's one of them.

I'm going with the hokeys. I mean, it almost was like the team they became Game Day's team and Lee Corso's team, and there was there was a lot of you know, not just familiarity, but there was it was just like we we cared about their program and we loved their program. We really appreciated and valued what Frank Biemer really did for Game Day because it changed Game

Day from that point on. And so when that happened, I remember all of us when that when that shooting happened on that campus, it was almost like I told my wife, I was like, I've been a lot of campuses, like the last one, the last campus that I would tell you that you would think that that could happen is Virginia Tech. It's like hidden up in these mountains, in these trees, and it's like a fort it's just

nobody knows about it unless you're a hokey. And I was like, I cannot believe that that happened, and I think it shocked all of us who cover college football. And then you're right whatever it was. Five six, seven months later, we're on their campus. They're playing e c U ended up, I think, being a competitive game. But we're there and Chris, you did an amazing job. We're talking about the tone of you know, it's you gotta

set the day up. It's a start of college football, so you want to be celebrating but at the same time appreciating what they had been through as a campus and a community, and uh, you know, as you always have done. You you captured that balance. I think we remember we moved inside yeah um for the last maybe half hour of the show, and there's a very touching tribute, you know, on their video board, and that's a memorable

show for me without it. I think we when when the show had a responsibility to document something and be a little bit more than just funning games and picks and opinions. I think that those are those are what stood out to me. I mean I was talking to Chris earlier It wasn't a regular game day, but after September eleventh happened. Um there was a studio only show where the games were canceled. I had to drive in a rental car from Colorado back to Bristol, Connecticut to

to do the show. I was thinking, maybe there wasn't going to be a show. Now guess what there is? And so I had to get back from Colorado, where I happened to be when when the attacks took place, and drove across the country the eeriest time. The skies are empty, no planes flying, no jet streams above. Nothing on the road, empty highways for three days to get to Bristol. Do the show, chriss, you were in the studio, right, I was in there. Kirky must have been at home.

It was no one, no one else. You couldn't fly, so no one else could get to Bristol. We did this crazy. I don't even this. The show is such a blur because just getting there was so like with such a powerful experience. We should pull that one back, because if you're right, the show is a blur. Were you in studio? Oh yeah, I was. I was definitely in studio. I wonder if I have a d V DVD at that show, but yeah, I can't remember. It was just it was just kind of weird because we

just had you were on satellite coaches. Everyone was kind of separated and we just had guests throughout the the show talking about whatever was going on, like now, yeah, and it's interesting. And then I can't remember moving it forward a couple of weeks and just getting back on

the road for the first time. I think actually our first show was in Norman for a really good Kansas State Oklahoma game, and I just remember how everything was different from from flying to stadium purity and and every it was just like kind of like your your realization, like Okay, this is a what you thought was a a complete culture changing experience of life changing experience and in moment, really is gonna be with us for a

long long time. We were We did a show at the Air Force Academy open and we also did a post September eleven show there too, were only military personnel

where were allowed on it. Then there was the show that was the weekend after there had been a fatal shooting at Ford Hood in Texas and Army Base, and Army was playing Air Force so they had the Army cadets who are there for the exchange along with the Air Force, and they were standing side by side, and we had a flyover scheduled to sort of bring us

on the air as one of those powerful shows. It was not going to be a regular game day show, clearly, and I remember wanting to lay out as the planes flew over, but you know, never being sure how long it was gonna take. And I stopped talking in these planes where they were a long way away, like you think they're gonna get here. It just it took forever.

It took forever this flyover. But once you kind of lay out and we're gonna be respectful and you're gonna you can't really come back in and say, hey, there's nothing else to say. I remember just sitting in silence for about a minute as these planes came by. Yeah, but I think, um, you bring up Air Force, And I think one of my like one of the stories for the road is a hard, hard segue right there.

No go ahead and make it. But you before you go to that bear, you want to talk about me throwing up in a in an F fifteen for for an hour, and I'll let you talk about that if you want, dude, that you're so lucky to throw up. I mean one of the experiences that I couldn't have because I was doing Thursday night games that that year. You and Dez got to do back seat rides in these planes. Man, And they've been always offered to us. You get great opportunities, but ned never worked out. Never

were finance gonna work out. I can't get there in time. You guys get to go up and have the fun. And I, you know, I'm a I'm a thrill seeker to a degree like I I I've always grown up love roller coasters. The only thing I don't like is going in circles fast. That gets me nauseous. But I thought this would be, like you said, once in a lifetime experience. And they were nice enough to offer it up and Des and I took him up on it. Dez has a brother near force. He was all about it.

And we probably went through three hours of prep. I mean they went through everything we put on, the uniform, we put on, you know, the You cannot imagine how much information we were able to process there before they would let us get into plane. And I mean they went through the parachute, sequence of the of the of

the explanation. We really need to They were so thorough on the parish shot that I thought it was part like like, it's not like you know when you stand and you're in a plane and there's the stories is going over. You know, hey, if you know the oxygen wal dropped down, you're kind of listening kind of not. These guys were really thorough and needed you to understand about the parachute. And I turned the death I was like like, is this happening? Is the parachute happy? We're

really covering this and um. But then they went through, you know, because we had four or five pilots, and they went through the entire you know, mission of what we were going to accomplish for the next hour and forty five minutes. And these guys were using this even though we were riding along. They were using it is you know, like a practice session. And they went through all their their terms and everything they were gonna do. And then we finally got our jute g suit on.

I mean just trying to helmet and the oxygen mask on. I was like getting claustrophobic because they got to connect your oxygen mask to the tube to an oxygen little tank to test it to make sure it works. So when they put that on, it's like suction to your face, and you need to get that thing plugged in fast into an to test it. And I'm just sweating already, getting a little bit uncomfortable. You thinking about maybe I should bail at this point. Huh. You're thinking maybe I

should bail at this point, are you? Yeah? Yeah. But I'm excited too. And so the pilots a couple of more former Air Force players, you know from earlier back when I had played. They were really good guys. I mean, obviously they're so excited to have Dez and I going along with them, and they're like, you're gonna be fine, you know, we'll ease into it. As we're walking out

of the plane. You get into the plane and you know, you there's instruments everywhere you get you get locked in, I mean, and again you know you're locked in, which is again a thing that doesn't go well for me. I need a little bit of like, I mean, I just don't want I don't want so much pressed down on my chest where I can't breathe real good. So it's all locked in, and I'm like it's worth it. This is gonna be worth it. You got this, you got this, And here we go. We start the taxi.

We go. First guy takes off. We're like third or fourth in line. First guy goes and you just see him just gone. Next guy and then he's like you hear all the you know the radio talk. He's like, here we go. You know, boom takes off, you know, you go back like this, takes off, goes straight He didn't ease uh, he goes down. He goes straight up. And then I think he went like back that way, like he like back that way, and I blacked out, like I was gone. So he's not letting you get

used to this. It's like right, we're going right to the hard speak. He was gonna ease me into it and then back that way. And then from that point on, any time he would pull a g my suit would tighten, and every time it would tighten, I would throw up. So they I had these bags to throw up in, and after like two or three different times of pulling geez, I I ran out a puke. So I just would every time you would do it, I would just dry heave. Every time he did it, I dry heath and that

went on. I'm not exaggerating. He we gotta like a forty five minutes in. I'm sweating. He's like, take your mask off, blow the air conditioning on you. I'm trying everything I can to try to like get my breath. He even let me, I don't know, he let me like take the whatever what is that called the stick just he said sometimes that can kind of like allow you to kind of like not I feel like you're in the back seat of a car kind of. So

like he let me do that a little bit. But any time he would pull a g it would where do you five minutes I thought that was that. Do you get the feel of it? Five minutes later, you're back on the ground. And he told me, he's like, do you want to go back? We can go back, And I was like, no, no, no, I don't want to. I don't want to do that because they're they're they're

like practicing the Taliban, you know. I I see a guy down here we needed you know, they're they're talking all the lingo, and I didn't want to take away from their practice. So we just I just endured and then we got down. The plane came down, and I'd like, meanwhile, Dez perfect loved it. Could have gone next time. You know, he had no issue. His pilot was disappointed. The first thing they ask each other when they get back in the ground, did you make him sick? Do you get

do you get him sick? Like that's that's what they want to want to know. So your guy at least get the big was was perfect. He had a ball. He's laughing him. You know, you imagine Das laughing at me. I mean, I mean I'm talking hard, laugh at me because I am just I'm a mess man. I'm a good sport. Though. I think you got you show a little highlight there in game day, a little that not full of the tail. That's you just wit into way

more detail. But I mean recovered that. And then Bear wants to tell a story about after the next night, well and when it was not it was Notre Dame. Remember it was willing Ham's first year like you know or whatever. Notre Dame was great year night game at air Force And did you did you call the game? Can't what what did you call the game? Or not? So I mean we have game day so we're a

couple of hours back. So game day is on it like seven am mountain time, I think it was, And this game was like eight o'clock mountain time, seven thirty mountain times. So we're like long, long, long day. So we're talking probably I don't even know the game ends. And this is the time when we would still do like post game hits or so we do a little hitting and Kirk and I head out to out to the car. Remember this is so this is like what

I said two thousands two. This is before a game day had the the operations crew on the road and the opposite that would arrange escorts out park our cars and spots. This is like the days before Patrick. So Kirk and I are like on our own here, like we gotta drive to Denver to get a flight the next morning or whatever. So and it's old out you every you know, you know, the academy and the entrance there at the State it's like one road in, one

road out because you have to for security stakes. So Sir Kirk and I make our way that wherever the hell we're parked mile walk from the stadium where the game BaseT was, and late at night it was gonna say it had to be ten thirty eleven, eleven o'clock at least eleven o'clock. So so we've been up. We've been up a good eighteen hours or so, nineteen hours or so, and uh, I get in, Kirk getts in and it's just tail lights everywhere in the parking lot, like no one is moving. So he's got the cars on.

We were all a said, we're talking, blah blah blah, and all of a sudden, it's just silence. My head goes back. I'm snoring. I like, I like, look and he sound asleep with walk Carr running probably in gear sleep sound asleep as well. I'm like, and I think we didn't move. And however long we were asleep, we didn't move. And I think it probably took us like two and a half hours to get to that park a lot, and I think we probably went like straight to the straight to the airport. That was not the

car wasn't drive. I just put my head and thirty seconds and he's out, and I'm just like, in a long day, a long couple of days, I just closed my eye for a second, fell asleep. Yeah, that's a good thing. Yet you're footing the brake if the car isn't drive I say that I saw one look at that traffic. I wasn't driving to the airport. I was

staying in town. I took one look at that line of cars, that single file line of cars, and just pulled the car over and went out and drank some beers, tailgated with some random strangers who are like disappointed the Air Force lost, but still partying there. I was, I want to know part of of getting in that traffic. Yeah,

that was tough. It's funny to circle back to up in years we were talking about the beginning with with Lee and and and Barry Alvarez and like realizing like people and what you say on the air and how people watch and listen and pay attention. One of my favorite moments still was the the pregame show prior to Florida State North Carolina on that that night in nine seven, where where you picked North Carolina to be Florida State.

And then we're up above the Florida State locker room going into in Kennan Stadium, but before the expansion, and this is back when Florida State meant something like Florida State was still Florida State and walking off bands playing helmets up and they get to it about the probably the ten fifteen yard lander so and all of a sudden, Chevin Smith starts yelling Herb Street, Herb Street. He gives

the old throat slash. So obviously Florida State with with what And the look and the look on Kirk's face was like, oh my god, I'm dead in North Carolina is dead because it was like it was it was back with Florida State still had the catch a and like like okay, they watched. He knew the pick was dead. You knew your pick had no chance, and you saw that.

I hear because we back then we wore headphones, and I hear Herb Street and I'm just like I'm looking around, I keep and Herb Streight and I think I look over like that and I just happened to look down and it was number thirty Florida State, Chevin Smith. They just went like that, like not not today. I think. I was like, can I change my pick? The Noles are gonna shown up to play tonight North Carolina. Did

they cross Midfield that night? I don't. I still don't think they know they had two they had two quarterbacks knocked out of the game, injured Chris. It was not two quarterbacks out. Chris calder Freo later who played played that game, was one of the quarterbacks that was knocked out in that game. Who he wound up coming up to ESPN and working on college football for a while. You would tell us like he still, however, many years later, had nightmares about Andre Wadsworth and that game, just to

how how scary that Florida State defense was. Oh my gosh, speaking to fixed, people asked the time, I'll tell the story about else and Houston and the f bomb. At this point, it's well established he's gonna put the headgear on and picked the team. And at this point, Kirk he had already was he had already perfected the fake left go right things. So he was gonna build up one team and then picked the other team. SMU has got no chance in this. I mean, there's no way

they're gonna win in Houston. That Cougar has had a great team. They're scoring fifty points a game, uh and and they're working to stop him. But he tried to build up s m U and he was looking look at that red, white and blue. Look at that sm you look at what a team? What? And he was trying to kind of take the audience in one direction. The director wasn't getting it, and he was a great director, but he wasn't cutting all the things that Lee was talking.

He wasn't building up SMU. So there was that, and that's what kind of frustrated to him. And he finally figured enough of this ruse and that's when he just said, fuck it, give me that Houston and he put on the Houston hat. And Carl Lewis was the guest picker. They're kind of falling over and um, I put my head down. You shoved your chair away. You you you instinctively you had to distance yourself. I didn't even know what. I think I threw a pen in the air. I

remember Carl Lewis going. He leaned over in the midst of that chaos and he goes to me. He's like, he looked at me. He's like, a good thing we're on delay was enough? Yeah, you looked, you looked at the mascot. You look, you looked, you opened the cougar's mouth and like looked in there. I mean, it was very I mean all of us that you know, something like that is like possible on live television, but that had never happened before, so I was kind of the funnier. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

that's the best part of it. When we were we had about a seven hour flight to Eugene for USC Oregon that night. That that's the best part of the story. When we get to Eugene. Yeah, we we land in Eugene. Well, first of all, ESPN makes him, uh issue an apology. How he he Fitting comes out. Everyone's high. You know, at the end of the game day, we're always like, good show, that was fun, that was fine, good job, And then Fitting comes out. He's like, coach, good job,

that was great. Listen real quick, hey, he kind of said, He goes, what what what what? What you you said the f ford He goes, so what he Well, I can't really say that with TV. So we've written out this three sentences just saying your apology and let's look into the camera. Goes okay, no problem. He looks into

the camera. He's like, earlier today on college game day, I said something I shouldn't have for that reason, I'm very very sorry doing like we're doing a coke commercial like he does like his home home depot, you know. And well he's just so innocent with this. We're like, coach, I was that was great, good, good good on the back end this time, how about we just don't smile. How about we just kind of look, you know, just look at the camera. He's like, okay, good good. So

he does that, or we get through that. By now all of America's you know, googling Lee Corso, F bomb and all this, and we flo We fly all the way out to Eugene. We land as soon as our plan to us see a good USC Pete Carroll team against Oregon and Chip Kelly. We get out of the plane, go into the FBO, stop in and use a quick bathroom. And as we're coming out, this guy looks like he's driving like a driver, says, hey, um, you do you mind if Phil Knights says hello real quick. He's he's

on his way over. He just landed. He's on his way because we saw his plane we landed, but we didn't realize he was there. So yeah, he wants to say hello real quick. Yeah, because we met him a few times on game day, no problem. So as we're walking out to get to our car. Phil Knight's big r V. He comes jogging down the stairs. You could see him, comes jogging over to us, and he's like he high fives me and he's like manly Corso, I can't believe that s sob He's my hero. I can't, Man,

what was what happened? Tell me? I mean he want to sit there and hear all about it. He was so like fired up, you know. And then I'm like, man, you know, everyone's like, because before we got to there, everyone's like he might be is he gonna get suspended? You know? Would they fire him? All? You know, that's the all the talk. Then we then we drive the stadium. We get in there, Lane killing it was Lane Kiffin. Actually he hes over. He says something to me about

man of course, so I can't believe it. And then Chip Kelly literally is at the other into the stadium. He seed's me at the other twenty walking towards the fifty. I'm talking white visor all black outfit full sprint over to me and Darren to like high five us and tackle us, and he wants to hear about it. I'm just like, lead course is the only guy that can see the F bomb and his his Q rating goes up. You know, you say, it's like a huge game. It's

a huge game. They're playing. Both coaches. All they want to talk about is like what else said at the end of game day? You know, Oh, it's so true. I don't want to leave with this. I want to do a footnote. But Kirk, just this season that just got done with in college football and like anything else, I mean, so weird and challenging and difficult for so

many people for so many reasons. I mean, obviously we're both really grateful to be able to have the gigs that we have and be able to call games for the most part in person. But now that you've got a little bit of distance since the championship game down here in Miami, what other than like thinking like what was that for the last few months, Like what do you what do you think you're gonna be remembering from this past year in another years? Uh? Just just how

unusual that everything was. And I think probably always go back to what the players and the coaches had to go through in order for us to to be able to watch football and debate teams and topics like we

normally do. I think you and I probably have. Uh In anybody who called games has an appreciation a little bit more for but just because we're exposed to so much being around on zoom, not around but on zoom, but every week talking to coordinators and head coaches and players, and you do that, you know, early September, and then it just keeps going on and everybody's on pins and needles and really learning. It's unchartered waters. You're learning as

you go. We were learning, you know, we're doing tests every week ourselves and hoping to get a negative test and just hoping to be able to do the games. Then you know, you have family members, whether it's your wife or my case wife and kids. I mean someone gets positive. Now you got one time I got dgging for the Florida State Miami game for contact tracing. So you know, now I'm in my bay calling the Florida State Miami game and you're a Miami you know, calling

the game. Um So just just the EBB and flow, the the improvise and adjust approach that that we all had. I think that the thing that I'm going to be most proud of for us is that we provided a few hours for for people to be able to watch a sport that they love and and get away from from the world that maybe they were in with with COVID and all the all the issues at that time that we're going on in the country. I mean, it

wasn't just a a COVID issue. This country has never been in my life, never been more divided, and never had such poor leadership, and so I think there was a lot of angst and frustration and people feeling hopeless. And I think, you know, to be able for us in our little community to come together and be able to provide games was was great, but always just appreciate. Without those coaches and players making the sacrifice we would

we wouldn't have had a season. So just so much, man, there's a lot there that you know, I'm gonna think back and then to get COVID late um and just deal with some of those you know, symptoms and still dealing with a little bit just just a year. Put a star and asterisk next to You're never gonna forget it, you know, none of us will. Chris, what are you going to take away from this year and your experiences because you were on on the road with game day, Uh,

in this kind of disjointed season every every week. Similar to what Kirk said, everyone had their own personal challenges this year, whether it was being stuck at home or in your home, or not really leaving your immediate area

for nine, eight, nine, ten months, whatever it was. And I had people had anxiety and issues surrounding that, and people wanting to get out and do some things, and and and here I will is kind of on the opposite end where Okay, you have to travel, so you have to deal with kind of like the anxiety get over is it safe to travel? Should I be traveling at the same time, Like, okay, no, you know what. The first time I got on a plane, it was weird,

but there really was. It was a lot less stressful and anxiety related as I thought it would be because the airline had had their they had their act together,

and people seem to get it. And then when I got to that set for that Weak Forest show, I was like, you know what, we have a great opportunity here to really provide a little bit of normalcy in a in a year where there is no normalcy whatsoever, Like even if it's for for three hours of us doing whatever it is, we normally do on a Saturday morning, Like, ultimately, did I what I have loved to like all my

stupid picks? Yeah, but you know who really cares? It was like we're out there, we're doing something, We're giving people a little bit of a window as to something that they actually remember, and they're they're part of their routine on Saturday morning. So I think it was just kind of like the battle between like people stuck at home and here we are with this great opportunity to

be able to help them out a little bit. I think you find out and feels simultaneously that what we do, you know, it feels kind of silly compared to the serious work that is being done out there to try to keep people healthy. But you also hear from so many people how important it is for for the reasons that you said, Kirk, I won't I won't go on this too long, but I do want to add that what I learned is never to take for granted all the stuff that we love about the sport that we love,

you know, and I can't wait to get back. I got to hope it's this coming season with full stadiums and the bands like You're You're more of a band guy than I am. Kick, but I've how much how much I miss like the band, the mascots. You know, it's about the game, but it's about so much else

in this sport. And I think, when we're never going to take that stuff for granted again, when we get back to have football as we've known it for the last twenty five years and all that stuff him play, and you realize this was all part of what goes

into making the sport great. You know, the traditions. Um, you know, the fans, the tailgating, You pull up to a stadium and smell the smokers and yeah, the people that are just you know, they stuffed me so much to them fifty two weeks out of the year and they only get six home games, and man, they are just and they some of them travel on the road with their team and just just the energy at the hotels, at the restaurants, the buzz in the air, the anticipation

of what's coming tomorrow, and then you get into that stadium and it's just I'm a big band guy because I think that's part of the tradition of it. I yeah, I you know, hopefully in twenty one, right, hopefully we'll get them back. Can't wait, you guys. It's been fun, there's been generous, and knew the time we go fast. But yeah, let's leave it in that hopeful note like looking forward, and we can all that together and and and experience the sporp we love, and then we'll have

some more stories to tell. Appreciate you guys, yep, you gott buddy man. I enjoyed that. I am so grateful to those guys for their friendship and for their professional excellence all these years. And we could have done about four or five episodes of that length and still not scratched the surface of all the stories we've got. So maybe I'll have Kirk and Chris back on sometime down

the line. You can follow them both on Twitter and Instagram pretty simple at Kirk Curb Street and at Chris Felika f A L l I c A is how Chris spells his last name. Grateful for your your time. Know that Season two of this podcast is now up and running and we have some very cool guests coming up in future episodes. Keep an eye out for that. Thanks to my co executive producer Jennifer Dempster and producer

Jason and Whiteheld. Please leave any feedback you'd like on my Instagram d m me at Chris Fowler and I'll talk to you sooner one