Regular Segments Starting on "The Sports Buffet Podcast"

I have really felt energized since I have been able to restart "The Sports Buffet Podcast". But, I decided on one thing that I thought would be better, and even make me more accountable (and Lord knows I need that). Starting in January, "The Sports Buffet Podcast" will start having certain segments that will either air weekly, every other week or once a month. Now, some interviews will still be done on a regular basis (like game recaps, previews, interviews that a team's coach is just being interviewed to talk about current things going on with the team), but there will be some segments that will follow a pattern (weekly, every other week, or monthly).

Here is the schedule of planned segments for "The Sports Buffet Podcast" beginning in January.
WEEKLY
* "Chew on This" is a segment that will feature four people (counting yours truly as the moderator) in a weekly discussion about sports. Not only, will there be talk about the current events in the sports world, but also some debatable topics in sports such as "Top 10 NFL quarterbacks of all time" or "Biggest chokes of all time". If you would like to be a panelist (or suggest some topics) on "Chew on This" at some point, contact me through Facebook (You can join "The Sports Buffet Podcast" facebook page by clicking here, or you can e-mail me at TheSportsBuffet@verizon.net.

* "Bob and Dad" is a segment that features my dad and I just arguing about sports. You can ask my mom or my wife, nobody can argue about sports like me and my dad. We will not only debate current topics, but like in "Chew on This", we may discuss debatable sports topics as well that aren't currently relevant in the news. Check out "Bob and Dad" by clicking here.

* "Teammates" is a segment that will test how well two teammates know each other. Each teammate will be given five questions, with the other teammate having to guess the answer that the teammate gave (think of the Newlywed Game). Most likely this will be a contest between teams (i.e. three sets of teammates from the Brookville football team will participate against each other). Check out an episode of "Teammates" with former Amherst Golfers Marshall Tinsley & Robert Martin.

* "Know Your Coach" is a segment that is similar to "Teammates", where a player instead of being matched up with a teammate will either be matched up with a coach or this will be a competition between 3 teammates to see which one knows their coach the best. Stay tuned to see how the segment develops.

* "One On One with Bob Alvis" is an interview with someone to where they are asked 11 questions that have absolutely nothing at all to do with their sport. This segment is designed to get to know the athletes (media members, officials or whomever) better away from their sport. Check out this episode of "One On One with Bob Alvis" where my guest was E.C. Glass Girls Soccer Head Coach, Darien McClurg. Sometmes I even do "One On One with Bob Alvis" with more then one person as in this case when I took on a trio of William Campbell football players, Antwain Hubbard, Drew Davis and K.B. Younger

* "Inside the Game" will be a segment of quick hit soundbites and such that will encompass multiple sports into one segment (if you ever heard "Quick Hits" back in the day on
"Talking High School Sports", that is how the segment is being designed. Here is an example of Quick Hits featuring Jefferson Forest Volleyball & Cross Country, as well as former Nelson County football coach Tim Crawford.

* "The Sports Buffet Profiles....." will be a segment to where we will profile someone who is currently involved in the sports world, and will just let you learn a little bit more about the individual. It will be similar to "Checking In" and "Where are They Now" which will be heard every other week.

The daily debut schedule for "The Sports Buffet Podcast" is as follows (new segments will debut on the listed day at 10 A.M.)
Monday-One On One with Bob Alvis
Tuesday-Teammates
Wednesday-Know Your Coach
Thursday-The Sports Buffet Profiles...
Friday-Chew on This
Saturday-Bob and Dad
Sunday-Inside the Game

EVERY OTHER WEEK
* "Checking In" is a segment that catches up with an athlete from the area who is now continuing their career in college. Not only will you hear from the athlete, but also from their high school coach, college coach and others from their past team and their current team. Here is an episode of "Checking In" from 2006 with Chris Rocco, former football player (and other sports) at LCA.

* "Where Are They Now" will feature a person from the high school (or maybe college or pro or media member, the possibilities are endless) sports world and will examine, where they are now. Like "Checking In", it will feature people from their past when they were coaching or playing in the sports world. Here is an example of "Where Are They Now" with Mark Hanks, former head boys basketball coach at Liberty, and at the time of the interview, Pulaski County head coach.

* "Coach's Corner" is a segment where a coach will talk about a nuisance of their game. It can be simple as something of proper free throw shooting to something as complex as when to execute a suicide squeeze. Here is an example of Coach's Corner featuring E.C. Glass Head Coach, Roy Roberson talking about use of a full court press.

New segments will debut every other week at 10 A.M.
Where Are They Now-Monday
Coach's Corner-Wednesday
Checking In-Friday

MONTHLY
* "The Roundtable" will be designed to feature 3 coaches (or maybe players) but the segment will feature more on philosophies or issues in the sport as opposed to current events. Here is an example of The Roundtable with three football coaches, Don Rice (Jefferson Forest), Jeff Woody (Brookville) and former Amherst head coach, Scott Abell.

* "Bumps and Bruises" will feature an athletic trainer discussing something that will either maybe prevent an injury, how to rehab an injury, or something related to the athletic training field. On this edition, Tony Tucker (Athletic Trainer at Heritage High School) talked about heat illnesses.

* "Away from the Game" is designed to tell you about an athlete (or other figure) and what they are contributing away from their sport of play. Whether it be involvement in a church or community endeavor, you will hear about an athlete's contribution away from the game.

* "Rules of the Game" will be an official from a certain sport describing a rule of the game. For those fans back in the '80s of college basketball, I believe Hank Nichols used to have a segment that would air (I think it was sponsored by State Farm" and it was called "Rules of the Game"). We may not have Hank Nichols but we will have one of our officials in sports in the area explaining a rule of the game.

* "The Sports Buffet Feature" will be a feature that we do each month. It will be a 4 part series where each week a new segment will debut. For example, Febuary is Valentine's Day, so we may do a feature on being the spouse of a coach. How tough is it? How much understanding involved? Then one month, we may take a look at something serious such as leadership. How do you develop leadership amongst your team? It promises to be interesting, informative and entertaining.

Here is the debut schedule for the monthly features.
Bumps and Bruises will air the 1st week of each month
Rules of the Game will air the 2nd week of each month
Away from the Game will air the 3rd week of each month
The Roundtable will air the 4th week of each month

The Sports Buffet Feature is to be determined on debut dates.

I for one am looking forward to all these segments. Tell your friends and neighbors about our Facebook page and more. "The Sports Buffet Podcast" is always looking for active participation from our fans (or even our non fans) so let us hear your suggestions by e-mailing TheSportsBuffet@verizon.net or become a fan of "The Sports Buffet Podcast" on Facebook. You can also check us out on Twitter.

Important Information about "The Sports Buffet Podcast"

For those of you diligent followers of "The Sports Buffet Podcast", you may have seen this on my other blog that is dedicated to High School Sports. Check out the announcement and information by going to that post by clicking here.

The Sports Buffet Podcast....One More Try

Okay, "The Sports Buffet Podcast" is going to make one last try of it. Basically, when I was doing "Talking High School Sports", that was in my BK (Before Kids) era, and I had tons of time to dedicate. Now, I have two kids and a full time job that has me working abnormal hours, so basically I don't have the time that I'd like to dedicate to my podcast. So, I am going to bring back the 'Buffet. The interviews/segments may not be as plentiful as they once were, but it's a labor of love, and I need my hobby back, so the 'Buffet is back in town!

More updates and developments hopefully to come. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, please don't hesitate to e-mail them to me at TheSportsBuffet@verizon.net

Where, oh where will Lebron (and the others) end up?

I think in today's day and age, more people enjoy off season's as much as they do season's. I think people crave hot stove talk and player movement more now then they have in the past (although, I do think most people like superstars to stay in one place, but I'll address that in a future blog). So, I will address the top free agents, and where I think they will end up.

Lebron James
Named Possible Suitors: Bulls, Cavaliers, Clippers, Heat, Knicks, Nets
My Pick: Cleveland Cavaliers
I have debated this with friends, and I think Lebron comes back to Cleveland in part to his Ohio roots. Tom Penn, on ESPN's NBA Fastbreak, brought up some good points. If you go to Chicago, you have to win 7 NBA titles, because Michael has 6. If you go to Miami, you need to win 2 without Dwayne Wade to top Wade's solo title. Now, Penn was making the case for Lebron going to New York, stating if you win just one title in New York, then you are immortalized forever. I just see Lebron returning to Cleveland, as a situation where the NBA can market a star as bringing a championship to his hometown. Does Lebron need some pieces around him in Cleveland? Sure, but I think Lebron needs some complimentary pieces not superstars. I think superstars at their superstar levels rarely co-exist and are able to win titles. I know there are examples you can point to, and say I am wrong, but I don't think it has happened lately. Even when the Celtics won their title over the Lakers, I don't think Kevin Garnett was still a superstar at this point, I think he had settled into becoming a complimentary player. I think Lebron stays in Cleveland though. But, if I had to rank them in order of where I'd see him going, I'd say Cleveland, then New York, then New Jersey, then Chicago, then Miami and I think that hell has to get a little chilly before he plays for the Clippers.

Dwayne Wade
Suitors: Heat
I think there are other suitors for Dwayne Wade, but just none that are really named. I think Wade probably stays, but what if he went to his hometown team, the Bulls. Imagine the Bulls with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Dwayne Wade, Joakim Noah and the Bulls would probably add another max player in the front court. With that being said, I think more often then not top tier superstars are better off staying put, so I think he stays in Miami.

Chris Bosh
Suitors: Chicago, Miami, NY Knicks
I am very unsure to where I see Bosh headed. I think he would like to play with Lebron James, but I don't see him traveling to Cleveland to do so. Plus, I see him going in a sign and trade wherever he goes. I am going to say he goes to Miami, and I see the Heat sending Michael Beasley, Quentin Richardson and Dorrell Wright back to Toronto. But, with Bosh I really have no solid inclination, if I had to throw down money, I'd just assume as to throw down on Pick 3 or Pick 4.

Joe Johnson
Suitors: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, LA Clippers, NY Knicks
I saw on ESPN's Bottom Line, where Johnson says he wants to stay in Atlanta. If that's the case, then he stays in Atlanta. They can offer him the most money. The only other strong contender I see is New York. Johnson played for Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix, so there is familiarity with the system. Plus, I think Johnson would put up just as big of numbers in New York, as he would in Atlanta. Now, the thing is would Johnson want to play in a big city? Some people just aren't big city guys. I definitely see Johnson playing in the Big Apple or back to Hot 'Lanta.

Dirk Nowitzki
Suitors: Dallas
I see Nowitzki playing for the German National soccer team before he leaves Dallas. I just don't see him playing for anyone other then the Mavericks. I think addressing this topic more is just a waste of finger movement.

Paul Pierce
Suitors: Boston, LA Clippers, New Jersey
I see Pierce probably staying in Boston, but I would not be 100 % (probably 88 %) shocked if he went to play for his hometown Clippers. Pierce is from So Cal, but I am a big advocate (again something that will be discussed in a future blog) of superstars leaving a place that they have had great success damages their legacy. I think Pierce is just looking to cash in a little more with a better contract, as the collective bargaining is expiring pretty soon.

Amare Stoudemire
Suitors: Miami, New Jersey, NY Knicks, Phoenix
Alright, well I got Bosh going to Miami, which means I can't have Amare to the Heat as well, but I also don't see Amare going back to Phoenix even though I have heard he doesn't want to sign with the Knicks. What about Chicago? I don't know that he would fit in with the Bulls. I think Amare is a good player in a run and gun system. Could Golden State land him in some type of trade? Maybe Dan Gadzuric, Vlaidmir Radmanovic, Charlie Bell and a 1st round pick? Now, in no way am I saying, I think that is value for Amare, but it is salary matchup.

Carlos Boozer
Suitors: Chicago, Miami, New Jersey, NY Knicks
Again, I can't place him in Miami, if I have Bosh in Miami, so under that scenario I have Boozer headed to the Bulls. I see Chicago or Miami as the likely destinations for Boozer. I think if he heads to Chicago, the Bulls become a very dangerous team. I see Boozer in Chicago as a good fit, but he's had his eye on Miami for a long time. With that being said, I am going to say Boozer ends up in Chicago.

David Lee
Suitors: New Jeresey, NY Knicks, Toronto, Utah
Put seven or eight teams on a dart board and throw a dart and you hit a team and you have David Lee's destination. ESPN pundits all have mentioned the four teams I have listed above. This one is kind of hard for me to pick, I don't know that I see Lee headed back to the Knicks, but at the same time, I don't know what new team I would see Lee headed to either. I am going to go with the Knicks, but I honestly don't know, but think he would be a good player for many teams.

Rudy Gay
Suitors: LA Clippers, Memphis, Minnesota, New Jersey, NY Knicks
I think all the suitors are strong (maybe with the exception of Minnesota), but what about Phoenix? I don't think they could do a Stoudemire swap, but I think Gay would work well in Phoenix. When it comes down to it, I see him signing with the Clippers or remaining in Memphis, but I would list New Jersey as the most likely dark horse.

Guys I look for to be traded before the seasons starts includes Al Jefferson (Minnesota). He might be some good help in Cleveland for Lebron (if he stays). I don't think Chris Paul leaves New Orleans. Carmelo Anthony is rumored to be on the block if he turns down an extension from Denver. I think Melo will go to the Northeast somewhere. I could see New Jersey or the Knicks. Also, I would put Baron Davis and Gilbert Arenas in the trade possibilities, but I think you would just need to find someone to take on those contracts, because they are owed a ton of money.

NBA free agency season, it's fantastic!