Podcasts by HKs Athletics Beyond Coronavirus
Journalist Hillel Kuttler hosts ABCs: Athletics Beyond Coronavirus. This podcast features discussions with people in the sports world about how they’re faring in these troubled times: athletes, coaches, executives, broadcasters and fans.
Further podcasts by Hillel Kuttler
Podcast on the topic Sport
All episodes
pandemic prompts a soccer ref to reassess from 2022-04-04T09:08:02
Katja Koroleva is a world-class referee -- so good that she officiated in the 2019 Women's World Cup and could be selected again in 2023. Professionally, Koroleva works as a physic...
Listen
remembering sportswriter JEFF SEIDEL from 2021-09-06T00:26:04
JEFF SEIDEL passed away from colon cancer on Aug. 28 at age 59. He was a sportswriter who made his living in journalism's tundra, as a freelancer. Seidel covered Baltimore's Orioles and Ravens a...
Listen
1996 Atlanta Olympics, 25 years later from 2021-07-23T19:38:36
As the Tokyo Olympics begin, take a journey back a quarter-century. MATT LeCROY discusses his experiences on the U.S. baseball team that took the bronze medal at the '96 Olympics, a club stacked wi...
Listen
MANNY UPTON, Father's Day for the dad of two veteran major leaguers from 2021-06-20T06:28:12
Virginia mortgage broker MANNY UPTON has spent parts of the past 18 baseball seasons flying across North America to watch his sons Justin (now with the Angels) and B.J. (now retired) play in the...
Listen
THE COOKIE LADY of the Texas Rangers from 2021-06-10T04:48:37
On May 13, coronavirus took Shirley Kost, 82, a Texas Rangers fan dubbed The Cookie Lady. For decades, Shirley also dispensed hugs and smiles and brought joy to the ballpark. She bonded with pla...
Listen
THE COOKIE LADY of the Texas Rangers, a pandemic fatality from 2021-06-10T04:48:37
On May 13, coronavirus took Shirley Kost, 82, a Texas Rangers fan dubbed The Cookie Lady. For decades, Shirley also dispensed hugs and smiles and brought joy to the ballpark. She bonded with pla...
Listen
lacrosse players go abroad, salvaging a pandemic-crossed year from 2021-05-30T07:02:58
Lacrosse athletes REESE GITTELMAN of Smith College and RYAN FITZPATRICK of UMass discuss their creative way to stay sharp during their teams' coronavirus shutdown: playing in a "bubble" and teachin...
Listen
MIKE "DOC" EMRICK sounds the horn from 2021-05-19T08:43:29
The NHL playoffs have begun, but without one of sports' greatest broadcasters. The wonderful MIKE "DOC" EMRICK retired last October. He joins me to discuss the latter stage of his career, like broa...
Listen
KELLY HRUDEY, on mental health from 2021-04-23T08:01:12
Retired NHL goaltender KELLY HRUDEY is up-front about mental-health challenges and how therapy helps him. The popular Calgary Flames broadcaster says he's inspired by his daughter Kaitlin's deal...
Listen
White Sox coach JERRY NARRON, on La Russa and getting vaccinated from 2021-04-16T07:01:14
JERRY NARRON coaches for the Chicago White Sox, his third team in the past three seasons -- and 11th team in a more-than-40-year baseball career as a player, coach and manager. He discusses gett...
Listen
Red Ruffing, a window into my late father from 2021-04-09T07:57:11
Norman Kuttler occasionally mentioned N.Y. Yankees pitcher Red Ruffing's being his favorite player. I didn't ask him why or whether he'd seen him play. Dad would've turned 90 today, April 9, so ...
Listen
hi-tech tour of stadium ghosts from 2021-04-07T06:21:23
Architect BRIAN POWERS has researched two long-razed fields, Chicago's Comiskey Park and Cleveland's League Park, and designed digital experiences for modern fans. QUINCY TROUPE discusses his late ...
Listen
teaching (and reciting) baseball from 2021-04-01T07:22:48
Happy Opening Day, everyone. Baseball is back. SOL GITTLEMAN and PHIL WOOD discuss teaching college courses on baseball and baseball history, two of 400 courses taught about the sport. Librarian TI...
Listen
ALI-FRAZIER, 50 years later from 2021-03-08T06:27:38
JOE FRAZIER and MUHAMMAD ALI, two undefeated heavyweight champions, fought an epic championship bout at New York's Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971. Frazier won in a unanimous decision. Bo...
Listen
BOB CARPENTER, Nationals broadcaster (part 2 of 2) from 2021-03-04T05:26:54
Washington Nationals broadcaster BOB CARPENTER looks back at his start in the business, working with Jack Buck (r., shown with Carpenter), devising a scorebook now used throughout the industry, ...
Listen
BOB CARPENTER, Nationals broadcaster (part 1 of 2) from 2021-02-26T07:13:12
Veteran broadcaster BOB CARPENTER remains in Tulsa, unsure when/if the Washington Nationals will summon him to spring training. Much remains unclear about the 2021 regular season due to the cont...
Listen
stadiums host coronavirus vaccinations from 2021-02-19T08:14:14
Sports have become part of the solution to the U.S.' coronavirus-vaccination problems. NAOMI RODRIGUEZ (Dodgers), PETE NESBIT (Red Sox) and DR. DAVID HOLLAND (Fulton County, Ga.: Falcons) discuss t...
Listen
suicide fatality DYLAN BUCKNER, a h.s. quarterback from 2021-02-12T09:59:01
DYLAN BUCKNER, 18 -- a star athlete and a top student at his Chicago-area high school -- ended his life on Jan. 7. His parents attribute his suicide, indirectly, to coronavirus for ending in-per...
Listen
the late, great HANK AARON from 2021-02-05T06:53:30
Today would have been the 87th birthday of HANK AARON, a Hall of Fame outfielder who set the record for most career home runs. He died on Jan. 22. Atlanta Braves teammate RALPH GARR recalls a he...
Listen
coronavirus hits baseball, hockey ecosystems from 2021-01-27T07:49:39
A baseball team's security director and a hockey fan are as vital to the sports landscape as players and coaches. SEAN DEAN worked for the N.Y. Mets for 16 years, and TRACIE LEVY rooted for the N.Y...
Listen
coronavirus hits baseball and hockey ecosystems from 2021-01-27T07:49:39
A baseball team's security director and a hockey fan are as vital to the sports landscape as players and coaches. SEAN DEAN worked for the N.Y. Mets for 16 years, and TRACIE LEVY rooted for the N.Y...
Listen
coronavirus hits hockey, baseball ecosystems from 2021-01-27T07:49:39
A baseball team's security director and a hockey fan are as vital to the sports landscape as players and coaches. SEAN DEAN worked for the N.Y. Mets for 16 years, and TRACIE LEVY rooted for the N.Y...
Listen
football book (RON SNYDER, MIKE PRINGLE) and hockey film (LISA MELMED) from 2021-01-04T13:37:52
Unconventional sports stories told in 2020 are this episode's theme. LISA MELMED discusses "Little Rink," her short documentary about an annual table-hockey tournament and its passionate players. R...
Listen
HARVEY ARATON and FRED CLAIRE discuss their books from 2020-12-03T15:02:25
Ex-N.Y. Times writer HARVEY ARATON and ex-L.A. Dodgers general manager FRED CLAIRE discuss their meaningful stories that are related in books published in 2020. Araton's book is about a N.Y. Knicks...
Listen
HARVEY ARATON, FRED CLAIRE discuss their books from 2020-12-03T14:02:25
Ex-N.Y. Times writer HARVEY ARATON and ex-L.A. Dodgers general manager FRED CLAIRE discuss their meaningful stories that are related in books published in 2020. Araton's book is about a N.Y. Knicks...
Listen
BOB LILLY, on Thanksgiving and football from 2020-11-25T13:42:32
Hall of Fame defensive lineman BOB LILLY discusses his Dallas Cowboys playing nationally-televised games on Thanksgiving, celebrating the holiday as a child with his grandparents in rural Texas ...
Listen
STEVE LARGENT and TOM McMILLEN, on Election Day from 2020-11-01T07:12:31
Ahead of Election Day, two superb athletes discuss having served in Congress: NFL Hall of Famer STEVE LARGENT, a Republican from Oklahoma, and NBA veteran TOM McMILLEN, a Democrat from Maryland....
Listen
TOOTIE ROBBINS, coronavirus victim mourned by his teammates from 2020-10-16T07:45:55
TOOTIE ROBBINS played 12 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman, almost all with the Cardinals. He died of coronavirus on Aug. 2 at age 62. Fellow lineman LUIS SHARPE and wide receiver KENNY T...
Listen
50 years since CONNIE MACK STADIUM's closing from 2020-10-01T04:49:40
BYRON BROWNE played centerfield on Oct. 1, 1970, in the Philadelphia Phillies' last game at Connie Mack Stadium. History professor BRUCE KUKLICK wrote a book about the ballpark (it opened in 190...
Listen
BRIAN TAYLOR, ex-ABA/NBA player and educator, on schools' reopening from 2020-09-22T12:20:27
Not many star athletes work in education. BRIAN TAYLOR did, as a teacher, principal and administrator, before retiring recently. We discuss how he'd have prepared for the new school term to keep...
Listen
TOM SEAVER's legacy, deep in his admirerers' souls from 2020-09-10T08:23
Fans mourning TOM SEAVER's death last week at age 75 don't tout his glowing statistics, big games won or record Hall of Fame vote count. Rather: his consistent excellence, leadership of the rags...
Listen
referee/umpire KENNY DICKERSON, on amateur sports' reopening under coronavirus guidelines from 2020-09-02T12:18:27
North Carolina high school terms have begun. The schools' sports are back, too, under new restrictions. KENNY DICKERSON (in photo) discusses working his first event, a volleyball match, while tw...
Listen
cancer, hernia, a wedding, coronavirus and baseball: father-in-law TOM GAMBOA and son-in-law TODD ZEILE from 2020-08-31T13:51:41
What a year 2020 has been for retired baseball coach TOM GAMBOA. He underwent a hernia operation in February while recovering from cancer. In June, he married off his daughter, Kristin, to ex-ma...
Listen
Toronto Blue Jays’ CEO/president MARK SHAPIRO, on his vagabond club from 2020-08-14T08:58:45
The Toronto Blue Jays are playing all of their home games in this abridged baseball season 100 miles and one country away: in Buffalo, N.Y. The franchise’s top executive, MARK SHAPIRO, discusses...
Listen
my first game 50 years ago, and a guy who played that day: Cubs pitcher PHIL REGAN from 2020-08-04T14:01:14
Today marks 50 years since my father's ideal birthday present: my first baseball game. Gift No. 2 was the N.Y. Mets' 4-0 win. PHIL REGAN, who pitched the last two innings for the Chicago Cubs, t...
Listen
2020 HALL OF FAMERS' inductions delayed by the coronavirus crisis: BARBARA STEVENS, DONNIE SHELL and KEVIN LOWE from 2020-07-31T09:23:18
Before and during the coronavirus crisis, sports halls of fame announced their Class of 2020 honorees. The shutdown has delayed their induction ceremonies by up to a year, however. KEVIN LOWE (h...
Listen
L.A. CLIPPERS: a view from inside the NBA's Orlando bubble from 2020-07-22T20:37:45
The coronavirus pandemic is worsening, even as the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball are poised to reopen. Three members of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers (guard RODNEY McGRUDER, head trainer J...
Listen
RON ROSS, boxing chronicler and coronavirus fatality from 2020-07-15T07:10:11
RON ROSS, a boxing author and authority, died of coronavirus in March at age 87. Four people close to Ross discuss his life: his daughter, LISA ROSS; boxing promoter LOU DiBELLA; retired boxer DMIT...
Listen
RON ROSS, chronicler of boxing and coronavirus fatality from 2020-07-15T07:10:11
RON ROSS, a boxing author and authority, died of coronavirus in March at age 87. Four people close to Ross discuss his life: his daughter, LISA ROSS; boxing promoter LOU DiBELLA; retired boxer D...
Listen
GERALD BOSTOCK: victor in a landmark Supreme Court case for LGBTQ rights, softball player and sports fan from 2020-07-03T05:07:05
On June 15, the Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, that social worker GERALD BOSTOCK was wrongly fired for being gay. His employer had learned of Bostock's sexual orientation because he played in an LGBT...
Listen
PHIL CHENIER, on the late WES UNSELD, his Bullets teammate and an NBA Hall of Famer from 2020-06-30T20:09:07
PHIL CHENIER and WES UNSELD were teammates and friends for nearly a half-century until Unseld's death on June 2 at age 74. Chenier shares his unique perspective on Unseld, calling him a leader, ...
Listen
Pirates pitcher STEVE BLASS, on a half-century since Pittsburgh's Forbes Field closed from 2020-06-28T05:41:51
STEVE BLASS pitched 10 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was there for Forbes Field's last game, on June 28, 1970. "It was my first major-league ballpark, and you never forget your first lo...
Listen
Reds pitcher WAYNE GRANGER, who 50 years ago threw the final pitch at Cincinnati's Crosley Field from 2020-06-24T05:15:02
Fifty years ago today, the Reds played their last game ever at Crosley Field. WAYNE GRANGER discusses the experience of being on the mound at the end; even a half-century later, it "brings tears...
Listen
JOHN BROCKINGTON, Green Bay Packers runner and transplant recipient from 2020-06-15T10:25:32
JOHN BROCKINGTON's greatest feat might not be setting an NFL record with three straight 1,000-yard seasons to start his career. How about living 18+ years after receiving a kidney transplant -- ...
Listen
1918 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL PHOTO, starkly relevant to today's pandemic from 2020-06-12T07:32:09
Atlanta lawyer ANDY McNEIL and Athens, Ga., broadcaster JEFF DANTZLER discuss a photograph that McNeil's great-grandfather, Thomas Carter, snapped in 1918. The image shows fans at a Georgia Tech fo...
Listen
SHAUN CLANCY, forced by coronavirus to close Foley's, his baseball pub from 2020-06-10T06:33:36
SHAUN CLANCY conceded to the coronavirus's devastation and closed Foley's on May 29. We speak about the pub's popularity among baseball-industry folks and fans, and also its fall, joined by...
Listen
sports artist JEROME WHITE from 2020-06-08T10:47:54
The ongoing marches haven’t yet inspired JEROME WHITE on how best to memorialize George Floyd, but some White-designed coronavirus face masks, showing Muhammad Ali and ex-President Obama, were w...
Listen
OAKWOOD H.S. ATHLETES: making face masks ... and making a difference from 2020-05-31T14:58:38
LILY McCLOSKEY (tennis and lacrosse) and BECKER KASH and CALEB DUNN (both cross-country) compete on their Ohio school's teams. This spring, they and several classmates were winners. Using 3-D pr...
Listen
GARY THORNE, baseball/hockey broadcaster from 2020-05-28T07:08:08
The renowned broadcaster discusses the coronavirus shutdown, how baseball might return ... and much more: the influence of his Mets broadcasting partner, the late Bob Murphy; his late father Gerald...
Listen
GARY THORNE, baseball and hockey broadcaster from 2020-05-28T07:08:08
The renowned broadcaster discusses the coronavirus shutdown, how baseball might return ... and much more: the influence of his Mets broadcasting partner, the late Bob Murphy; his late father Ger...
Listen
CHRIS EPTING and TERRY CANNON, attuned to baseball's past from 2020-05-26T17:47:08
CHRIS EPTING writes books on baseball history. TERRY CANNON runs two organizations devoted to preserving baseball’s characters and quirks. These Southern Californians relate stories about themselve...
Listen
BOBBY NYSTROM, N.Y. Islanders' Stanley Cup hero from 2020-05-24T04:54:12
BOBBY NYSTROM relives what he calls the "magical moment" on May 24, 1980, when his goal in overtime won the Stanley Cup for his Islanders, the first of their four consecutive championships. On t...
Listen
U. of Vermont's CLODAGH FERRY and DADI HALLDORSSON from 2020-05-20T13:13:34
CLODAGH FERRY, an Irish field hockey player, and DADI HALLDORSSON, an Icelandic soccer player, speak with me from Dublin and Rekjavik, respectively, about being far from the Burlington campus durin...
Listen
GEORGE McPHEE, Vegas Golden Knights president from 2020-05-17T13:35
Saying, "I miss our team, I miss our guys, I miss the game," GEORGE McPHEE tells me how his team and the NHL are preparing for an eventual resumption. He also discusses the club's stunning run t...
Listen
TIM MEAD, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's president from 2020-05-13T05:42:40
TIM MEAD tells me that cancelling this summer's induction weekend was difficult but sensible, and promises to host "a very special ceremony" in 2021. He speaks of attending the 2019 ceremony, hi...
Listen
BOB KENDRICK, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum's president from 2020-05-11T09:18:17
BOB KENDRICK's enthusiasm for the Negro Leagues' history will leap through your speakers and into your soul. Our conversation covers this year's centennial of the leagues, their founding by Rube...
Listen
Minnesota Vikings owner MARK WILF from 2020-05-09T17:32:13
MARK WILF discusses the NFL draft, conducted virtually; checking in on players and other employees during the shutdown ("It's like an extended family," he said); his and players' charitable effo...
Listen
broadcaster BOB COSTAS from 2020-05-07T08:20:05
On the 89th birthday (May 6) of the great Willie Mays, BOB COSTAS tells me why he considers Mays "the greatest all-around baseball player I've ever seen" and about having interviewed Mays and Ha...
Listen
pitching coach SAM NARRON in Washington Nationals system from 2020-05-01T12:06:59
SAM NARRON, of the Washington Nationals' AA Harrisburg Senators farm club, is enjoying cooking dinners and being with his wife and young children during the coronavirus-caused shutdown. Even if ...
Listen
Boston Red Sox bench coach JERRY NARRON from 2020-04-29T11:34:07
JERRY NARRON discusses how he and his colleagues are preparing for a hoped-for 2020 season; his family's deep roots in baseball; twice falling excruciatingly short of the World Series; and memor...
Listen
Boston Red Sox coach JERRY NARRON from 2020-04-29T09:34:07
JERRY NARRON, Boston's bench coach, discusses how he and his colleagues are preparing for a hoped-for 2020 season; his family's deep roots in baseball; twice falling excruciatingly short of the ...
Listen
musician and sports fanatic LENNY SOLOMON from 2020-04-27T08:58:32
Singer-keyboardist LENNY SOLOMON attends sports events wherever he performs worldwide, including in all 50 U.S. states. Australian rules football? South African rugby? British soccer? Israeli ba...
Listen
musician/fan LENNY SOLOMON from 2020-04-27T06:58:32
Singer-keyboardist LENNY SOLOMON attends sports events wherever he performs worldwide, including in all 50 U.S. states. Australian rules football? South African rugby? British soccer? Israeli ba...
Listen
hockey broadcaster and raconteur STAN FISCHLER from 2020-04-23T06:03:55
STAN FISCHLER discusses the NHL's suspended season, his date with Suzanne Pleshette, watching his grandchildren play hockey in Israel pre-lockdown, his late wife Shirley's being a sports pioneer...
Listen
baseball journalist MEL ANTONEN, recovering from coronavirus from 2020-04-21T19:33:42
MEL ANTONEN is a noted baseball reporter and analyst. He recently came down with coronavirus and is recovering well at home in Washington, D.C. Mel and I discuss his health, whether the Major Le...
Listen
CARL ERSKINE (part 2), on Jackie Robinson from 2020-04-18T17:46:57
In Part 2, CARL ERSKINE discusses Robinson, their great teams, how Erskine came to sign with the Dodgers -- twice, and his in-season neighbors in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. He speaks ins...
Listen
CARL ERSKINE (part 1), on Jackie Robinson from 2020-04-16T20:18:37
In Part 1, CARL ERSKINE, 93, discusses Robinson’s support for him; his childhood exposure to racial tolerance; his son, born with Down syndrome, who’s just turned 60; and how he and his wife, in...
Listen
Olympics historian and physician BILL MALLON from 2020-04-13T08:56:27
BILL MALLON places the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the historical context of three cancelled Olympics. He also weighs in on whether he’d attend sports events once the coronavirus ...
Listen