Sports Spectrum Podcast

Episode 273 Troy Hudson played 11 seasons in the NBA from 1998-2008 with the Jazz, Clippers, Magic, Timberwolves, and Warriors. He was undrafted after playing his college ball at Southern Illinois and made his NBA debut on October 31, 1997 with Utah.  His best season came in 2002-03 with Minnesota when he averaged 14.2 points and 5.7 assists for a 51 win Timberwolves team. In the playoffs that year against the Shaq and Kobe Lakers, Hudson averaged 23.5 points in the 6 game series. Today, Hudson is the team chaplain for the Timberwolves where he ministers to players before each game. He also is active in youth sports, coaching and training young athletes in the game of basketball. On this episode of the podcast we talk to Troy about his role as an NBA team chaplain, the state of faith in the NBA, the importance of guys like Stephen Curry to use their platform to be bold about Christ, his first NBA game and difference between believing in God and having a personal relationship with Jesus. 

Episode 272 Dave Jauss is the bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates and joined Manager Clint Hurdle's staff on October 31, 2012. Now in his 33rd season in professional baseball. In 2011, Jauss worked with the New York Mets as their Coordinator of Staff Development. He also served the Mets as their Major League Bench Coach in 2010 after working in the same capacity under manager Dave Trembley in Baltimore (2008-09) and under manager Grady Little with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-07). Prior to joining the Dodgers in 2006, Jauss spent 10 seasons working as a coach, scout and administrator in the Boston organization from 1996-2005. He spent the 1995 campaign as Baltimore's coordinator of instruction before being hired by the Red Sox, where he worked as the minor league field coordinator for two years (2000-2001). His last three seasons with Boston (2003-05) were spent in the role of a Major League Advance Scout. Jauss' start in professional baseball came in 1988 when he managed Montreal's Gulf Coast League team. Dave has been married to his wife Billie for 30 years and together they have three children. Billie is an author and recently released her first book "Making Room: Doing Less So God Can Do More." On this episode of the podcast, Dave and Billie share their baseball journey, what the life of a traveling baseball wife is like, how God restored their marriage after a separation, the impact Clint Hurdle has made on their lives, and why it is so important to make an impact on others through baseball. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

  Jarrett Payton is a Chicago broadcaster, former NFL running back and the son of legendary Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton. On this Throwback Thursday edition of the Sports Spectrum podcast from November 2017, Jarrett shares about his father's faith and what his walk with the Lord was like after finding out he had cancer.  You can listen to the entire interview, Episode 55 here.   

Episode 271 Prince Amukamara plays cornerback for the Chicago Bears. He was selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the New York Giants and in his first season, earned a ring when his club defeated the Patriots 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI.  After spending five seasons with the Giants, Prince went to Jacksonville for a season before arriving in Chicago in 2017.  He played his college ball at the University of Nebraska and was named the 2010 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.  Born to Romans and Christy Amukamara, both natives of Nigeria, Prince has five sisters named Princess, Promise, Peace, Precious, and Passionate. Prince is of royal Igbo Nigerian descent and his grandfather was the chief Awo-Omamma in the Imo State of Nigeria. Prince is currently next in line to be the chief. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Prince Amukamara about the 2018 Chicago Bears season, the bond of faith that was cultivated in the locker room, orchestrated on-field celebrations, where his relationship with the Lord took shape, and his love for the game MAFIA.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 270 Joe Champion is the founder and pastor of Celebration Church in Austin, Texas. Champion grew up in a football family with his Dad Jim coaching in both the NFL and CFL. While a football player at Louisiana State University, Joe considered following in his father’s footsteps with a career in the National Football League, but entered full-time ministry in 1989 after a life-transforming experience with Christ.  Joe's son Connor has continued the football coaching legacy as an assistant at Arizona State under Herm Edwards. A husband and father of four, Pastor Joe is a globally recognized leader and speaker who serves on the boards of One Hope and Oral Roberts University. He is also part of the Lead Team of the Association of Related Churches (ARC), an international church planting organization. By example, Pastor Joe equips and empowers ministry leaders to take hold of God’s calling on their lives with an emphasis on the importance of maintaining Christ-like integrity and character. On this episode of the podcast, we learn the story of Joe Champion coming to faith in Christ at the Atlanta Falcons training camp, how playing football at LSU shaped his faith and the powerful story of the best day and worst day of his life being the same day.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Andrew McCutchen is starting his 11th season of Major League Baseball. He began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates making his big league debut in June of 2009. After 9 seasons with the Bucs, he was traded in January 2018 to the San Francisco Giants. In August of 2018, he was again traded to the Yankees and 4 months later, signed a 3-year deal in December of 2018 with the Philadelphia Phillies.  Cutch is a 5-time All-Star and 4-time Silver Slugger Award Winner. He won a Gold Glove in 2012 and was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 2013. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Andrew about the excitement surrounding his new team, his crazy 2018 that saw him change teams three times in a calendar year, why accountability is important to him in his walk with the Lord, the one piece of advice he'd give to a young player coming up, and his memories of his first major league game.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 268 Jayson Gee just completed his first year as associate head coach of the Eagle basketball program. Gee has spent 29 years coaching collegiate basketball. Previously, he was the head coach at Longwood from 2013-2018.  In addition to his time at Longwood, Gee was also a head coach at the University of Charleston (1996-2003) in West Virginia and combined has a 202-175 record in his head coaching career. That is just the tip of the iceberg for his experience as an assistant or associate head coach at Youngstown State (1989-93), Ohio University (1993-96), St. Bonaventure (2003-06) and Cleveland State (2006-13). The veteran hoops coach is also the author of The Battle for Brandon, a book that is a dramatic and compelling story about Jayson Gee and his wife Lynette and their son Brandon's courageous fight against child onset paranoid schizophrenia. The Gee family also worked with mass media veteran Chad Bonham to transform the book into a documentary that has received endorsements from Emmy Nominated and Golden Globe Award winning actress Jennifer Garner, WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings, former Pittsburgh Steeler Antwaan Randle El, and many more. The 2015 recipient of the prestigious John Lotz Barnabas Award, Gee was also named one of the nation's top 10 assistant coaches by BleacherReport.com while at Cleveland State. The John Lotz Barnabas Award is presented annually to honor a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ, integrity and encouragement of others, and lives a balanced life. Gee took over at Longwood in 2013 to lead the program into its second season as a member of the Big South Conference. He produced the program's first All-Big South first and second team selections (five total) and sent four players on to play professionally. On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Jayson about his journey to coaching, why we're so caught up in March Madness, where his faith foundation was born, his prescription to the supernatural and the powerful story of his son Brandon.   For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

James Brown is the host of CBS Sports' NFL Today show and joined us on Episode 17 of the podcast back in June of 2017.  Since February 2006, JB has served as host for the CBS Television Network’s NFL pre-game show, THE NFL TODAY. He has also hosted the Network’s Super Bowl pre-game show for its coverage of Super Bowl LIII in February 2019.  On this Throwback Thursday edition of the show, we bring back JB's story of his faith journey.  You can listen to the entire interview of Episode 17 of the podcast here.  For more, log on to SportsSpectrum.com 

Chris Low is a senior writer covering college sports for ESPN.com. A graduate of Tennessee, he grew up in South Carolina.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Chris about covering football everyday for ESPN, telling uplifting positive stories, his faith testimony, how his mom's passing encouraged him in his walk with the Lord and why he wants to live a sermon rather than preaching a sermon. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 267 Seth Morrison is the lead guitarist for the band Skillet. He joined the group in 2011 and has shared the stage with many well-known artists such as Disciple, Kutless, Sanctus Real, Tait, Audio Adrenaline, Relient K, TobyMac, Kirk Franklin and many more.  A die-hard sports fan, Seth pledges his allegiances to the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds and the Ohio State Buckeyes.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Seth about his devotion to the Cincinnati Bengals, staying the course as a sports fan, following his call to be a musician, how he came to be a part of the band Skillet, what life on the road is like and reaching music fans in both the Christian and mainstream genres. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com