The City: Off Campus

On Episode 23, Sam and Jack are joined by EVP and CCO of the NHL Steve Mayer to discuss this past summer's Stanley Cup Playoff Bubble as well as his role in the grand scheme of the NHL. We take a deep dive into the bubble and what worked for the league including things fans may not have realized or thought about, different broadcast strategies that presented themselves with no fans present, and how to keep those at-home fans engaged through the broadcasts. We talk about how Steve see's content transitioning in this pandemic-era and how he has seen change already through players increased involvement. We touch on how critical it was to reengage the fans at home after the pandemic lull and how the league has grown and transitioned to better cater to an exclusively at-home audience. We lastly touch on other events Steve has had the honor of producing and take a deeper look at how producing a marathon is one of the most difficult and amazing processes in television production.

On Episode 48, Sam and Jack discuss the overrated Final Four (before the Final Four games), preview the seasons for their respective MLB teams and Jack describes the ongoing beef between the podcast and Mediacom. Jack asks Sam for his opinions on the Rizzo extension news that has been leaked, the state of the Cubs and how they compare to their innercity counterparts. At the end, Sam gets Jack rolling about his closet Cyclone fandom and the podcast goes off the rails from then on.

On Episode 25, Sam and Jack are joined by ESPN Producer for "Get Up", Paul Hembedikes. We discuss how Hembo finds his statistics and analytics for his graphics and support of on-air personalities, including his trivia battles with professional athletes. We dive into his introduction to ESPN, his start at "Mike&Mike" and how those experiences have impacted his work today. We get Hembo's opinion on the current Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears quarterback situations, how his numbers and statistics are "weapons", and he shares some entertaining 1880's baseball player names that you wouldn't imagine are real.

On Episode 32, Sam and Jack are joined by former Iowa QB and current Minnesota Vikings QB Nate Stanley to talk about his Iowa career, some highlights from that career, and how he even got to Iowa being from Wisconsin. We talk about his goals coming in to Iowa, what it's like to play in the Cy-Hawk game & the significance that comes with it, as well as detailing his preparation from a collegiate level to the pro level. We talk about his pregame routine including "Lose Yourself" by Eminem (every football players pregame song), how Iowa takes pride in being #QBSneakU, some stories from the Outback Bowl vs. Mississippi St. and Manning Camp, why he never wore sleeves and why he wore a visor. Keep your eyes peeled for Nate doing "The Griddy" in the next preseason.

On Episode 37, Sam and Jack are joined by Women's soccer team defender Sam Cary to talk about her journey to Iowa from the St. Louis area, including what St. Louis pizza actually is. We talk about her development in soccer from a young age and how her involvement with reffing has helped her diversify her skill set and preception of soccer. She describes how being a left-footed defender is unorthodox but effective, how soccer playstyles vary by region and gender and how she needed to workout in a cemetary during quarantine. She tells the story of how the derecho affected her ability to hear that their season was cancelled. She explains why she is more than just an athlete and what she plans on doing post-soccer.