Foster and Friends
Foster and Friends
Foster and Friends Vol 141 Chip Tarkenton
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With Bud on vacation, Mac sits down with a radio and television legend...Chip Tarkenton. Chip has worked in the sports broadcasting industry for years announcing football and basketball. Chip was also an award winning anchor for WRIC-TV, Channel 8, in Richmond for over 20 years.
Welcome to Foster and Friends. Send us a text message. Bud and I would love to hear from you.
Mr. In Friends is presented by Envision. Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision. By the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Vodka. It's a good day to enjoy a win. And buy Brick House Pizza. Visit our Radford location in the Brick House Garden featuring live music in the best in comfort food. Brick House Pizza means good times.
SPEAKER_06We're very proud of what we've been able to do with the Paradise Club in this community and connecting with the local community and growing our season ticket base and that this university and this athlete are pet.
SPEAKER_08Now, from the NSB Radio Network, Foster and Friends. Here's Bud and Mac.
SPEAKER_10Welcome in. It is Foster and Friends minus the Foster. Bud Foster and his wife. They are touring Ireland. And their first night, they stayed in a castle. And I don't want to tell you how much it cost for uh for Bud to do that. But it was a little expensive. That's all I know. And plus, they're they're seeing probably every pub there is in uh in Ireland. Can't wait to get a report uh next week. So, with all that, um a good friend of ours and a guy that's been around the state of Virginia for a long, long time, an Athens, Georgia native, uh a play-by-play guy, a TV guy, and an all-around good guy. Uh Chip Tarkington, uh, Chip Tarkington is going to join us coming up a little later on in the program. We're gonna pay tribute to also a longtime friend of mine, and and you know, you lose contact with people, and that's the sad part. Former voice of the Who's, former voice of the Oregon Ducks, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and a longtime sports director with a radio station in Iowa, Warren Swain at KMA Radio in Shenandoah, where I got my start in 1975. Warren and I were a team for five years. 1980, he took off for Oregon. Uh, he had applied at the University of Virginia. Virginia ends up calling Warren to find out about me. And then all of a sudden, at age 27, I wind up in uh Charlottesville with some guy named Ralph Sampson, Terry Holland, uh Jeff Lamp, and on and on and on. I think I am dating myself for sure, but uh two stints at the University of Virginia, and uh it was all because of uh of Warren. Warren was from a little town in Iowa called Pisgah. His uh mom and dad operated a Chevy dealership there. And uh I had known, as I said, I knew Warren for uh you know for a lot of years because when I stepped to Wake Forest and went to Winston-Salem, uh Warren Swain stepped in and uh he had left Oregon, went back to the Midwest, was working at Drake. He ended up uh going to uh coming to Charlottesville. Uh he did the, and I'll talk more about this uh with uh Chip, but he uh ended up doing the 1995 upset of uh Florida State by the University of Virginia, Mike Grown, Tiki Barber, and company. And anyway, uh Warren then left for a chance to go to Nebraska, and that was 1996 when Terry Holland called me and said, Hey, would you like to come back? And I was at um I was in Winston, Salem and having a great time with uh the likes of Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress and uh Jim Caldwell, and I mean the the names go on and on and on. But anyway, Terry Holland's pretty hard to say no to. And uh Terry was the athletic director at the time, and Terry Holland brought me back. I I wasn't gonna go into all that during the open, but I ended up doing that. So with that, I uh I apologize. But anyway, looking forward to talking to Chip and we'll catch up with him. So, what we'll do here, we'll go to break and come back because we're gonna dive into the Virginia Tech Athletic Director and Brian White. I mean, hit with Brian, how many years do you suppose? I I haven't added up the years. The White family, we're talking uh Duke, Tennessee, uh Georgia basketball. Brian White is the new athletic director at Virginia Tech, and we'll get into that and um and what he means. He from just down the road, well, just down the road for a couple hours, but uh Florida Atlantic made a lot of noise the last eight years that he was there. Chip Tarkington will uh will uh, as I said, stop by and we're gonna talk about college athletics and Soresby and just uh a lot of stuff to cover. So, anyway, it's uh it's a good day, even though Bud is I hope he's in 40 degrees in rain, you know, in Ireland. So anyway, uh the British Owen's right around the right right around the corner. So with that being said, this is Foster and Friends, and this is the NSB Radio Network, and I'll return with the Brian White story going to Blacksburg named this week. We'll talk about it when we come back. This is the NSB Radio Network.
SPEAKER_11Hi, this is Bud Foster for Envision. For over 30 years, my good friends, Dr. Scott and Becky Mann, have built a practice that truly cares about their patients.
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SPEAKER_07The technology is amazing. Uh we used to take pictures on literally Polaroids, and now we went to digital, now we have widescreens, and um, we can do things today that 10 years ago were only images you could only generate maybe at a teaching hospital. And now we can do those chair side when our patients come in.
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SPEAKER_06Um, you know, our mission is to create a brighter future for FAU through student athlete success, and that success is something we take very seriously.
SPEAKER_08Foster and Friends is brought to you in part by Envision with locations in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care, it's Envision.
SPEAKER_10Welcome back. It's Foster and Friends. Mine is Bud Foster, who is on vacation in uh Ireland. And uh you just heard the bump of uh the uh Brian White, who is the new athletic director at Virginia Tech, was named this past week. Talk about that in just a second. Chip Tarkington will be uh right around the corner. We're gonna share some moments with him. And uh uh it just I I haven't done enough with Chip. And uh we uh we talk all the time. He's one of the just one of the great guys. Anyway, he's gonna join the show in uh just a little bit. Wanted to spend a few minutes in talking about the hire of Brian White. And when you look at what Brian White did at Florida Atlantic, I mean, he he comes to the Commonwealth with over two decades of high-level collegiate athletics experience. This guy is an athletic director from you know, from head to toe, okay. Um, tech went to South Florida to get him, Boca Ratone. Okay, he's leaving Florida Atlantic. He has a resume that is a mile long with uh on you know on and off the field with the success that he's had. As I mentioned in the open, he is the son of former Duke Athletic Director Kevin White, the brother of Tennessee athletic director Danny White, and the brother of Georgia Man's basketball coach, Mike White. Now, he he built his reputation as a fundraiser with a true vision from everybody in the department, too. He he knows how to hire coaches. Uh they had a transition to the American Athletic Conference. Uh, when you consider the final four run in basketball uh three years ago, the conference titles in football, men's soccer, men's swimming and diving, back-to-back NCAA tournaments in softball, women's tennis uh was undefeated. And but when you're an athletic director now, you have to be a fundraiser. You have to be able to dip into the pockets of the donors. He took Florida Atlantic from $2 million a year to $26.5 million. This guy knows what he's doing. And he, you know, they they marketed it, they came up with a mantra winning in paradise.
SPEAKER_06Brian White. The the academic components, the 20 straight semesters, the three-point hour higher GPA. Of course, we have the flashy tagline winning in paradise, but there's a lot of meaning there, and it's not just winning competitively, but it's winning in the classroom and it's winning in life. And um, you know, our mission is to create a brighter future for FAU through student athlete success. And that success is something we take very seriously.
SPEAKER_10And so when an athletic director speaks and people follow, he was able to retain. Uh, I wrote a line this week uh for uh our local station, WTON and Joe Thomas. Uh, we work together every morning, uh, Joe being uh located in Stanton, but uh we have a radio network, and I talked about responsibility, retention, and and being able to be responsible to the donors, okay? So in total, under Brian White, the OWL teams at Florida Atlantic combined for 26 NCAA postseason bowl appearances, 11 conference titles, championships, as I said, men's soccer, softball, beach volleyball. When you will have to have a college sport beach volleyball, high profile coaching hires Dusty May, Zach Kidley, Jordan Clark, and just you know, three seasons. And of course, where's Dusty May going? Going to the Mavs, right after his uh stint in at uh Michigan. But the thing about when you hire an athletic director like this who knows how to fundraise and knows how to retain coaches and knows how to how to keep things going, you are getting a jewel. And you don't have to tell Brian White about fundraising and the key that you know it it's the key to running the department for sure.
SPEAKER_06This past year we finished at $26.4 million on the fundraising side. So we're very proud of what we've been able to do with the Paradise Club in this community and connecting with the local community and growing our season ticket base and that this university and this athletic park has.
SPEAKER_10Okay, so that was an interview done, you know, naturally before he got to Blacksburg. I bring it to the table because of the success that he had at Florida Atlantic. And it has been a very, very important part to what um you know he wanted to do, what he's tried to do. And uh it's just it's a great it's a great hire. So Virginia Tech, the last couple of months, and and I'm not just saying this because Bud is gone, or uh, but when you go back to last fall, and and the way Bud uh, you know, he served on the committee, he directed the committee, he told the committee, he said, Look, here's what we have to do to get James Franklin. The committee was trying to push the Franklin hire through rapidly. And and and Bud said, wait a minute, no, no, no, no, stop. He goes, let's slow down because James Franklin had started the the chain of of conversation with Bud long before he took the job. And Franklin, which you know, is the splash hire that Virginia Tech needed. And people can say that, what, a month ago when it was announced that they were getting the 75 million from the anonymous donor, it was you know, James Franklin primarily was the reason. And also Franklin cultivated it. So not only athletic directors have to cultivate money, football coaches have to do, you know, the same thing. So getting back to so when Bud served on that committee, and I and as I said, Bud and I are in our fourth year of doing this show, and I can say all these things because I won't embarrass him since he's in Ireland. Now he may listen on his way back when uh you know to the show and he finds it somewhere. But anyway, Bud said, you know, he told the committee, and he flies up and they have the conversation with James Franklin, and Bud basically closed it and shook the hand and said, Are you sure you're coming now? Is there anything you need before you get is there anything else that I any T other T I can cross here before you come to Blacksburg? So what happens with when when you start a role like this? Here's my point that I'm trying to make. When you start a role in the athletic department with um a splash football hire, then your president leaves and your your athletic director uh finds another job and he transitions, whether the internal whatever happened internally, maybe it was the Whit Babcock decision, maybe it wasn't, but that's not for me to say because I'm not that kind of reporter anymore. But what happens is when you have the not the turmoil, but the turnover. That's the word I'll use. The turnover in an athletic department like that. All of a sudden you've gotta, you've gotta continue the momentum or you're gonna start to drop, you're gonna start start to fade. So what has happened? Well, it's perfect. Because what Virginia Tech did is they landed Franklin, then he started to fundraise. He started if you heard our show the last couple of weeks, Bud had an outing in Richmond. Took James Franklin, private plane, of course. They went to Richmond, you know, uh the the the circuit, the fundraising circuit where people sit around and have a couple of cocktails giving tickets to the bartender with you know, cash bar, and then James Franklin, 600 people. Six hundred people Virginia showed up for that event with with uh James Franklin. Okay. Football coaches start to fundraise, the athletic department starts to get fired up. So here here's I'm taking a long time to make my point, but here's the deal you you start this momentum of, well, when Babcock started it, they launched the what was it, $233 million capital campaign for Virginia Tech Athletics because they were training as far as, and we all know the college athletics now is who can outspend who, okay? And that's when when you go when you look at what Brian White was doing in Florida Atlantic, 2 million to 26 and a half million. He knew that in Boca Raton, Florida, one of the wealthiest parts of the country, he knew that he had to start getting those people excited about Florida, and then you know, and then started winning championships and they got in the conference, and I just mentioned that. Okay, I'm repeating myself. But here's the point I want to make. When you start now with Franklin, well, capital campaign, Franklin, the dominoes, James Franklin hire, uh an athletic director and a president leaving, a $75 million anonymous donation, and now you get a guy like Brian White, all of a sudden you are you are starting to score in the in the third and fourth quarter. And you're starting to do it with, you know, just the way it should be done. And so, with all that being said, Virginia Tech is moving in the right direction. All right, I'm gonna go to break and come back. This is Foster and Friends, NSB Radio Network, and Chip Tarkington joins us when we come back. Stay with us.
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SPEAKER_12Now up here, now don't jump then. I didn't push the button yet. This you ever wonder why weather people have this button? This goes to the next map. Don't don't move it yet. See, this is the lure of they're moving the they're moving the things on me here. That's the uh jet stream there. I have no idea why it's doing that. Can we go back to that first map?
SPEAKER_08Foster and Friends is brought to you by Brickhouse Pizza in Radford, Virginia. Brickhouse means great times.
SPEAKER_10Welcome in, it's Foster and Friends. And uh, as I told you during the opening, you just heard uh some of the great work from Chip Tarkington. And uh I'm not gonna let you hear it, Chip, until you have to go back and listen to the episode to see what I pulled. For you know, I I'm a big uh believer in production and bumps and stuff. So anyway, yeah, the work you did in Richmond speaks for itself. You are an icon anyway. Chip Tarkington, our guest, filling in a little bit for while uh while Bud enjoys the the pubs and the castles of uh Ireland. How you doing, big guy? How you doing?
SPEAKER_13I'm great, but I can't be Bud Foster. I promise you that. Who can? Nobody can. Nobody can beat Bud.
SPEAKER_10That's for sure. Now it's great to see you. How's uh how's the summer?
SPEAKER_03It's you know, the summer's been great, and I've been able to do some traveling. In fact, when we're taping this today, I'm I'm in Athens, Georgia with my mom, who's 88 years old, and it's good to have some time with her. And I'm seeing a bunch of folks, and including the guy that really got me in television years and years ago. And so we're gonna have lunch today, and it can't be much better than that. And he's teaching, he's always been one of my heroes. So well, you know, I think that's connected, it's really cool.
SPEAKER_10I was wondering, I was gonna ask you. Sorry to interrupt, I was going to ask you if you if you, because since you went to school there, if you go and if you tour, if you go like a walk down memory lane, you know.
SPEAKER_03Um, what what's happened this time? Uh, because my wife is not with me, she is with a bunch of ladies in France. So you know, her life is pretty good right now. No, it confuse me. So uh this trip, besides seeing my mom, I'm getting to see some folks. The guy that I first started doing radio with high school football, I had lunch with him yesterday.
SPEAKER_10Wow.
SPEAKER_03Um, Bill Hartman is the guy that got me into television. I used to go watch Bill when he was with Channel 5 in Atlanta, and I'd go watch his shows. And there was a guy named Forrest Sawyer that was an anchor there. You might have heard that name before me. There were big names that were there that weren't in the network.
SPEAKER_13Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I Bill was was was my hero, and he would let me go watch. And so he kept saying, All right, you're gonna get through college, you're gonna get through all your radio stuff, you go come over here, we're gonna make an audition tape. And sure enough, that's what I did. He set it all up. We did it right there at Channel Five. Man, it looked like a million dollars, and I had no clue what was going on. And I it was about six weeks later that I was hired by a great human being named Randy Smith, who was on the ball radio network forever. Yeah, CBS affiliate in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And boy, it was just the miracle like you wouldn't believe. So Bill is he he's just he's my hero.
SPEAKER_10You want to talk, you want to you want to reveal what year that was? I can if you want me to. Yeah, because I'm the old guy here 1985, uh youngster. No, that's uh that's that's great stuff. Well, you're because the migration, what so were you interested right away and was part of it because of your uncle, which you know we all know, and this is not about your uncle because I know you get a million questions about a friend, but did he because of what he was doing and you were growing up and watching that, did that turn you on to sports and radio TV?
SPEAKER_03You know, um my dad owned radio stations as I was growing up, and I worked at a lot of those radio stations, so I I was really gifted with a great background in radio, yeah, but I always wanted to do television and being around Bill Hartman, he's like, you know, you can do TV. He said, you know, then why not? And I thought, boy, that would be really neat, and it would be not many people get a chance to do that. So I was hoping that that would happen. Uh I was fine with radio, I loved radio, but I think there came a point in time where I thought, you know, I need to at least try this. You know, I spent time in newspaper when I was in the University of Georgia too, and and I didn't think I could write a lick in fact. I took English 101, I had to take it three times because they flunked me on the first two and the last, the last English 101 class I took. I walked up to the lady with the exam, and she was not that old. She may have been 30. And I I I said, ma'am, I have taken this class three times. You had to have a D. I had made two D's. And I had a copy of the morning paper, and I was on the top fold of the sports section. And I said, You may not think I can write. I may not think I can write. People think I can write, and I dropped it and I said, I just need a C. So lo and behold, she gave me a C. I didn't think I was gonna get it. It was unbelievable.
SPEAKER_10I never thought I'd hear chip talking to talking about begging for a grade. Well, I just what do you do? Yeah, no, same thing, same thing. You and I have something in common because, and this isn't about me, but I couldn't get any past a D in English because I couldn't understand the note cards and how to verify whatever they used to call it when you're writing a theme page, all that stuff. You know, I couldn't I couldn't do that, couldn't figure it out. So anyway, I plagiarized probably everything I wrote because I I didn't know the difference.
SPEAKER_03But I mean at ABC or what she wanted was not writing sports at the Athens Daily News, Athens Banner Herald. That was a good paper. I mean, it wasn't.
SPEAKER_10Did Georgia does Georgia and I'm sure they do, so stupid question. Does did Georgia at that time and do they have or did they have a student operated radio station that could do sports and yeah, they did, and and I don't know if it's still active, but they did.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and um, you know, then you have to tell people, well, what was your degree in journalism? And I went, no, I couldn't get into journalism school. My grades were not good because I was working in the radio station all the time. I was taking night classes, that's how I stayed afloat, was going to night school. And so it took me a long time. And the head of the journalism department, uh, a guy named Joe Dominic, who was a wonderful mentor for me, he said, uh, you don't need to get a journalism degree. You're already, you know, on the radio, you're doing the newspaper. He said, You know, you you've got more background than some of the great assistants that we have teaching. And he said, Go get a speech communication degree. His wife was in the speech communication department, and it was the absolute best thing I ever did. Wow. Because it helped me to get up when I had to speak. It helped me with, even though I've got a southern accent.
SPEAKER_10I'm gonna get into that, by the way.
SPEAKER_03But it but it but it gave me a way to understand how to connect with people and how to speak. So it was by far, by far the best thing that ever happened to him. I called that professor every one of the jobs that I got in television and local TV. I let him know where I was going, and all I ever got was just him being probably more excited than I was.
SPEAKER_10How good was that?
SPEAKER_03I mean, and yeah, that's what I'm saying. When you feel fortunate when you get that, and but I worked hard at meeting people and getting to know them and finding folks who I knew you know I could believe in and they could believe in me. It's like our relationship. I mean, you and I are great friends, people. It probably takes them two minutes to figure that out. Yeah, but it's because we stay in touch.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, yeah, and you're you're one of the first to remember birthdays and uh when my daughter pass, I mean, you're just you're ridiculous how good you're Chip Tarkington is our guest, by the way, Bud Foster on vacation. So so Chip, I do want to talk about because if I close my eyes, you and Marty Smith are almost the same. I mean, you know, for me for me, SPN, and that's not a knock. My mom was born in Tennessee. My mom was born in Tennessee. She more or less lost the accent. But at the time, when you're becoming a broadcaster, I'm curious since I teach a vocal class, did you were you told, look, Chip, you got to lose that accent if you're gonna get into this business?
SPEAKER_03A little bit with the network. When I was doing the ABDC stuff, a couple of folks said that to me. And and I said, Well, you know, this is kind of who I am. I'll I'll do the best I can, but remember, you hired me to be me. Good point. That's a great you know, and and it may have had an impact. Um, I don't know, but you know, Fran has a has a little bit of a southern draw as well. And like you said, now it's changed to where, like you're right, Damarty Smith, and there's plenty of folks who have who have some kind of accent. And to me, it it it it made you different.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I you know, I didn't I didn't need to have uh the deep powerful voice or whatever it was. Um because this this this is what I do and this is who I am. And I I think that's the best way for folks to get to know you.
SPEAKER_10That's right. Well, you're talking then, was it your mom and dad then that said because it just sounded we uh our our paths are so parallel because my dad never saw color. He always told me never make fun of somebody for something they can't control, like skin color and affliction, whatever it might be. And so that stuck with me for a long, long time. Did your mom and dad then lead you down this path of look, people are people can be really good, you know? Not everybody's a jerk, and you could be, so why why not be a good guy, which you certainly have become and are, and that's why you're such a success in the business.
SPEAKER_03Well, I you know, I think some of it is inborn with you too. Uh, I mean, both of my grandparents on both sides were really good people. My dad's dad was a minister, and uh he had so much influence on me as a young person, and he passed right before I turned 16. I was sitting right next to him, and Uncle Fran was playing the Minnesota Vikings were playing against the Dallas Cowboys, and they lost. That was a Hail Mary that saw back through. Yeah, and uh he was right beside me when he passed, had a heart attack and was gone. Wow, and um his impact on on me was just um well, it's still the same today as it was back in 1975.
SPEAKER_05Sure.
SPEAKER_03And um I I don't know. I think I've just been really blessed. And when you're blessed, you know, you want to pass it on to other folks. And you know, the old the old adage, nobody cares what you know till they know you care. Um if you don't care about people, they're not gonna care about you. And and I just felt like there are a lot of people that don't have that. So you should try to love everybody. I mean, and and you know, you hear that phrase and oh yeah, sure, sure. Well, when you show it, I think people will respond to that because we all need more friends and we all need more people who could who can help us because you you never know when somebody can help you, yeah. Or you can help somebody, that's even the bigger thing. Yeah, but the birthday thing I started years ago, and you know, I've I've got I don't know how many, but it it pops up for me every day because I've set it up like that, and it's just something I think's important because I know there's some people that may not get a happy birthday, and it's a great way to stay connected.
SPEAKER_10Well, yeah, it's just a number. Uh, Chip Tarkington, our guest. We'll go to break here. I'm not even done with this part of the segment, but we're also gonna get into the the world of college athletics. A good friend of ours is retiring from Old Dominion, of which Chip has been a big, big part of uh Old Dominion Athletics too. So we'll go to break here. This is Foster and Friends and the NSB Radio Network. Chip Tarkington comes back right after this. Stay with us. When you walk into a restaurant, say your favorite pizza place, what's the first thing you notice? The way it smells, the vibe, maybe the party atmosphere. If you're traveling in Southwest Virginia or lucky enough to live in the Radford area, hopefully you have visited Brickhouse Pizza, a staple since 1972. Brickhouse Pizza has become a legendary stop. Jeff and Diane's Main Street attraction features artisanal wood-fired pizza with fresh ingredients prepped every day. Brickhouse's pizzas are made with flour imported from Italy. Throw in the recipe for their homemade brew, and you have the recipe for fun. Brickhouse Pizza is open Tuesday through Friday at 3 30, Saturdays at 11:30, and the Sunday brunch begins at 10. Fresh food, cold beer, great times. That's Brickhouse Pizza, 311 West Main Street in Radford.
SPEAKER_12This is playball. Gosh, it hit the camera. I can't believe that. It didn't break anything, though. It is playball. Let's move quickly. Honor Grades not only did not win the preakness, he finishes last. There's a lesson to be learned here. To be good in sports, you gotta be a good sport.
SPEAKER_08Foster and Friends is presented by the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Vodka in Gentleman's Journey Bourbon. Once again, here's Button Mac.
SPEAKER_10Welcome back, it's Foster and Friends. That was another Chip Tarkington bump that you just heard uh coming in where he's hitting baseballs on set. And um you had a you had a bet with a a camera guy and you put him on set.
SPEAKER_03I thought that was pretty good because you lost a horse bet or something, and then you uh we picked the winner of the Kentucky Derby, and this guy had done a lot of stuff for us. He was in master control and he ran camera too, and we called him the fight intern. He would always pick fights and stuff, and he was great to be around. And the idea was to pick a horse I didn't think had a prayer of winning, and luckily he finished dead last. That was the best thing to ever happen. And so we had set it up, you know, before, and then we went into because local TV, you gotta have some entertainment in the sports segment. Not everybody at that time wanted to see sports, so do it a little bit. Wasn't a long part of the sports cast, but it was pretty funny.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, very good. Chip Tarkington is with us, and uh, you know, just a legend in the in the state of Virginia and in TV and uh doing all kinds of things, and and still, you know, doing it too. One more, one more industry question before we get into the college side. You certainly saw, and probably you you didn't have to copy because you were your own guy, Glenn Brenner, who died. You know, Glenn was in Washington, D.C. Yes, truly one of the guys that said, I'm gonna do it my way. And he was I I couldn't wait to get home when I moved to Virginia. I couldn't wait to get home to see him.
SPEAKER_03He I started watching him. My wife, after she graduated college and I was starting the TV thing, she was working in Washington, D.C. at the sergeant at arms office. So anytime I went to see her, I wanted to see Glenn Brennan. He was the greatest. I mean he was just sensational, hilarious. So, yes, some of the things that that he did, I tried to maybe pick it a little bit and use it in a different way. Because uh, you know, you you go from the best, and he was. He was sensational.
SPEAKER_10Why um, all right, let's let's get into it, you know, she's still doing a lot of play-by-play and and whatever. Has it has the with everything that's happened in college athletics, has the shine of that position and you still doing TV and the games and stuff, has has that taken some of the shine off of what you're doing?
SPEAKER_03You know, I I gotta be honest, I I knew years ago that the internet was gonna be the ticket. I mean, years and years ago, and back in 99, 2000, 2001, maybe around those three years, ESPN was already uh uh diving in a little bit. Um for those during those three years, we did some really internet games, Maryland, Virginia, Wake Forest, a bunch of different schools for them to see what it was gonna be like and how it would work. And I had no doubt in my mind that it was all gonna be internet before it's over with, and really pretty much every broadcast is because you don't need the 80 million people that you would have to have for a regular broadcast on television. And so I love the fact that when the ESPN 3 started and the ESPN Plus started, especially the Plus, because it allowed everybody to get an opportunity to have their school on the ESPN platform. I mean, that's a great place to be, especially if you're like Old Dominion. You're you're on every single week. That's a good problem to have. So that has exploded it. And the fun thing for me is, you know, a lot of these places that I've gone have been to VMI forever and do stuff with Bob Black at Richmond and then at Old Dominion, because I I like to keep my drive inside of three hours now. If I'm gonna drive three hours to a game and do the game and then come back, I don't want it to be a whole lot more than that. And I didn't want to do the flying around all over the place anymore where you got to be gone two nights sometimes. So um I I think it's wonderful. And then it's a football, it's a basketball, it's everywhere. The baseball has been great, and and I think it continues to support and lift up a lot of these schools and a lot of these athletes who people may not know about.
SPEAKER_10I know you remember days like this too. You would do a football game, four o'clock, four thirty, get in the car, and now you're heading home. Oh, I want to see what Maryland's doing. I want to see what Virginia's doing, you know, and you couldn't get the score. You couldn't even get the score. We didn't have a phone, we didn't have, you know, and we were so, and I remember saying at the time to somebody, this isn't about me, and I apologize, but I remember saying to somebody, wouldn't it be neat if we had some kind of satellite system in our car? I I remember making that comment, and of course, you know, it did, you know, it exploded later. And um, and I'm glad, you know, working with the stations that we do in Virginia and everything, they just tape uh that that things have stayed fairly good for uh what they call terrestrial radio, you know, and that's you know, carrying gang, because it's you know it's important, they got to be innovative, and you know, um, so anyway, all right. So back to you, our good friend Wood Seely, who you worked with. And uh, and are you still doing the old Dominion Women? Is that still part of your minion women?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I've been doing that. This this was year four. I did three years with the football and and had a great time, and then they moved Scott Jackson into that position. And Scott, of course, is an ODU alum and a great, great guy. And then he and Andy Michal do a really good job. And you know, when Wood Sealing and I talked about it, I said, you know, I'll come down and do whatever you want to for as long as you want to do it if it stays working with my schedule. And uh it's it's been a blast. I have absolutely loved every single moment. One of the things, though, that is hard for me is my buddy Harry Minium just retired and he's gonna be moving to Germany. And Harry has just been a just a gem of a human being to be around. So I will miss him uh not being around, and he's where he leaves next week. And uh, but that's the kind of thing that's been a lot of fun to be back around. A lot of folks that you didn't have all the time because I didn't I didn't travel as much in that direction for some reason. And you know, the plus uh has has opened that door for me.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, and and people are on the state who are listening to this may not know the name Wood Seeley, who's now the AD at uh old Dominion. He was at Virginia, that's where I met him, got his doctorate degree. Have you talked to him about his retirement and why?
SPEAKER_03You know, we we talked um a year or so ago, and I didn't know when he was gonna retire. I I knew he was thinking about it. We had a breakfast together before one of the women's games on a on a Saturday or a Sunday, whichever one it was. And I knew from the first time I met him in '88 when he was at VCU before he went to uh UVA that he he is a brilliant man. And if you go back and look at all that he has been involved with, it is staggering to see what he's done. So I figured inside that he had a plan all along of maybe the age he wanted to hit or the number of years or whatever it might be. And I think what has happened at Old Dominion is he is the football stadium is sensational, the finishing of the baseball stadium is going to be sensational. So they're in, they're in a great position to continue moving forward. And I think he wants to leave it better than it was when he got there. And uh he he will be missed in a lot of ways. I will I will miss not seeing him. I'm sure he'll be around some, but I will miss not seeing him.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, he'll he'll probably wind up in a consultant's role, I would think. So he will.
SPEAKER_03Um quick story about him and how much I think I mean, and this will be a quick one. But when my oldest son wanted to swim in college, he was a pretty good swimmer in high school, and so I took him uh to Old Dominion to Wood, and I said, Wood, and I told him what I wanted you to do, but kind of let Dallas know what it took to be a Division I athlete. And he spent an hour with us.
SPEAKER_10Wow, how about that?
SPEAKER_03An hour with us. And I, you know, I I appreciated that so much, but what it did for Dallas helped him figure it out a lot better. But he was the guy you go to. Yeah, Wood was that kind of guy. No, he is that kind of guy.
SPEAKER_10Innovative, and you know, we used to talk radio TV, the network, Mac. What are we gonna do? We need a station and you know, XYZ. Yes, that was a big part of it. All right, before I let you go, uh the day and age now, where we are, you you're not the codger that I am, okay? But but but where where we are, uh uh are we headed towards a good place? And I you can I'll let you can cover the playoff to football rosters being 40 million dollars. What are we in a good place, Chip?
SPEAKER_03If you're talking about Division I football, yeah. No, I don't think we are.
SPEAKER_10Right.
SPEAKER_03Uh it's it's amazing if you could make more money to play college football than playing the pros. Think about that for a second.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, oh no, exactly.
SPEAKER_03Um, it's it's I I I I just don't I don't know how long it can continue before it crashes because I don't know where the universities are gonna get the money to pay NIL. I I I really don't. Um I and I know some schools that are struggling selling season tickets because they have exploded in pricing.
SPEAKER_10Sure.
SPEAKER_03And um I I just I don't know. Uh that that one you know, that one is tough, which is which is another reason. Yeah, I didn't get into it just to be as the top tier of who's playing. I just love college athletics. Sure. I love college football, I love college basketball. Uh, you know, we everybody was watching the baseball series. My goodness, those were sensational games. Absolutely. And and that's that's the thrill for me. Uh you know, I used to tell folks if it's 11 on 11 or 5 on five, it's a great game for me. And because those those young folks, it is. Every game matters to them. And and I just hope it gets back to that. That's why I've always loved Division III. Uh NIL's Division III. You play to put the name on the chest and the go-team go, and you know, University of Mary Washington winning that national basketball championship. I was screaming like a you know, like a three-year-old. I you know, jumping up.
SPEAKER_10Well, and you when you look at when you look at Tech's new hire Brian White, who took Florida Atlantic, which I just talked about uh a few minutes ago, from two million to 26 and a half million in Boca Ratan, of course, there's a lot of you know, there's a lot of money down there, but uh we are in a we're in a strange world for sure. I love catching up with you. I could do always, you know, just so good to see, and uh all the best to the family. And uh, you know, I hope your mom lives another 12, 14, 15 years, and uh everything goes well. And so when you uh when's your first broadcast then in August?
SPEAKER_03I I guess it's August or September. I really hadn't started looking at it today. You know, when it comes, it comes. You know, it's kind of like the thing with the VMI. You love this. You know, Wade Brenner was the sports information guy forever. He and I have been doing these games together for 12, 13 years, whatever it's been. But it's like you your relationship with me. You know, I'll come over with you anytime. I love you like a brother. It's great to always hear your voice and to get any kind of text from you. And I'm on the team, buddy, and you know that.
SPEAKER_10Tell Wade, Wade Brander, who I met when I was 28, 29 years old, whatever it was, uh, when I first got there, he could do the best Keith Jackson there was ever. He could he you close his eyes. He was Keith Jackson. Tell Wade I said hello and tell him you give him your phone. He's got to do a voicemail to me where he's doing Keith Jackson. Okay, he's got to do a ringtone for me or something.
SPEAKER_02We're up in the press box, the two of us. It's a pretty funny experience. Some things that are going on that we talked about. Hey, just brave people.
SPEAKER_10Always, always good. Congratulations on a job well done and continued, a continued job well done. You're you're never gonna age either. So 29 this year. We'll talk, we'll talk very soon, and I'll tell Bud he's got some competition. So uh Chip Tarkington, one of the greats fostering friends. This is the NSB Radio Network. We'll close up shop when we come back.
SPEAKER_11Hi, this is Bud Foster for Envision. For over 30 years, my good friends, Dr. Scott and Becky Mann, have built a practice that truly cares about their patients.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, we just try to do everything with the patients in mind. Everything we do is from the patient's point of view, and we try to put them first and really have state-of-the-art equipment and technology and then old-fashioned personal care and attention.
SPEAKER_00Oh, well, I think it's mainly about the relationship and that we care. We care for them and they become family. Women we've been in that office now for over 30 years, so it's it's more like a family environment and that we do care about providing the best vision care available.
SPEAKER_07Over 30 years ago, we started with one office, one staff member, one doctor, and we've just kind of grown from there. The community's been great in supporting us, and now we have two locations. Uh, we're getting ready to add our six and seventh doctors and about 25 staff.
SPEAKER_11Go see your award winning Envision team. They have two locations Salem and Christiansburg. They will meet all your eye care needs.
SPEAKER_10Welcome back. It is Foster and Friends. Many thanks to Chip Tarkington who uh joined us while Bud enjoys his vacation in uh in Ireland. Before I go, I've never really been a soccer guy. Bruce Arena, who was at the University of Virginia, made me appreciate it more than probably anybody uh at the time. And yes, for the ACC, I uh broadcasted soccer championships and um learned I was I was more about lacrosse, I guess, as far as the Olympic sports uh, you know, than I was soccer. But the World Cup, because my wife is a nurse and she is from Belgium, she loves, loves, loves the Belgian national team. And uh they're in the thick of trying to get out of their group, and of course, what Messi did, uh, you heard the if you heard the open, what Messi did, Ronaldo, and and you know, so I'm I'm caught up a little bit in um in what's happening, and I think that when they get to the FIFO World Cup championship in Jersey with the halftime show, I think Shakira's gonna be with the halftime show and everything. I think it's gonna be uh something special and really uh something to see. Also, I mentioned in the open, and uh I just want to pay tribute to Warren Swain. He was the voice of the University of Virginia. He went to Nebraska in 1996, and that's when I came back to the university. He worked at Nebraska until 02. Uh he passed away in Sarasota, Florida at the age of 79. Uh Jerry Ratcliffe, who longtime writer, Hall of Famer from the state of Virginia, first reported it. That's why I heard it um this past week. Uh in fact, I put a call in to Jerry uh to see. And you know, it's it is sad when you do work with people and you see people and you don't spend enough time trying to contact them. You know, that's why Chip and I, it's so important, and it's important to Chip Tarkington to reach out to me. And it's the same, you know, there are people in your life that, for lack of a better word, maybe your inner circle, right, that you reach out to. Okay. 1995. This is part of the documentary from Tiki Barber and Mike Growe and Virginia's upset over Florida State in 1995 when uh Warren called it, at least tried to call it, Frank Quayle was in the booth.
SPEAKER_09With Florida State on the Virginia's six-yard line, this game would also be decided on the final play.
SPEAKER_04Back to Danny Canal. Take a drink out, take it in the train go!
SPEAKER_10I think the documentary is actually called they're gonna say no, right? Uh uh just uh a memorable, memorable uh game in University of Virginia football history, and Warren was part of it. Uh right after that '95 season, Warren ended up going to Nebraska, and Terry Holland said, Matt, get your butt back to Charlottesville. And uh I returned for a second stint, which I absolutely love, because then I worked with Tiki Barber, Ronde Barber, Micro, and uh yeah, just had a great time. Hey, I hope uh Bud and Jess fly home safely. That is Foster and Friends for this week. This is the NSB Radio Network.
SPEAKER_08Foster and Friends is presented by Envision. Locations are in Christiansburg in Salem, Virginia. For the best in eye care and fashion, it's Envision. By the River City Distillery in Radford, makers of Win Vodka. It's a good day to enjoy a win. And by Brick House Pizza. Brickhouse Pizza means good times. Foster and Friends is a presentation of the NSB Radio Network and Mac McDonald Media.
