Sports Spectrum Podcast

Today we look back to our interview from July of 2017 with Ted Barrett, Major League Baseball Umpire on the podcast.  Ted has been umpiring Major League Baseball Games since 1994. He became a full-time MLB umpire in 1999. Ted is the only umpire to ever be behind the plate for TWO perfect games. (David Cone in 1999 and Matt Cain in 2012) He has umpired in 4 World Series including the Red Sox Championship in 2007, the Cardinals title in 2011, the Giants beating the Royals to win it all in 2014 and the Red Sox beating the Dodgers in 2018.  Barrett is an ordained minister and recently completed his doctorate in theology. He is the co-founder of CALLING FOR CHRIST, a ministry serving professional baseball umpires. Listen to the entire interview with Ted from Episode 21 here. 

Episode 306   Trent Shelton is a former NFL wide receiver who is now considered one of the most impactful speakers of this generation. He reaches more than 50 million people weekly through his various social media outlets and non-profit organization, RehabTime. Shelton travels the world sharing his message of creating lasting change in life. After playing college football at Baylor, Shelton went undrafted in 2007 but eventually signed with the Indianapolis Colts. After stints with the Seattle Seahawks in 2008, Washington Redskins in 2009 and the Tulsa Talons of the Arena Football League in 2011, Shelton’s football career came to an end. Shelton’s first book, “The Greatest You,” was released May 7. On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Shelton about his football journey from Baylor to the NFL, growing up the son of a pastor, hitting rock bottom, losing his college roommate to suicide, fathering a son out of wedlock, and how God took him from a life of pain to a life of forgiveness and purpose. For more info, check us out on the web -- http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 305 Nick Ahmed is a shortstop with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2011, he was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft, and he was traded after the 2012 season to Arizona in a seven-player deal. He made his MLB debut on June 29, 2014. The University of Connecticut alum became the regular shortstop for the Diamondbacks in 2015, and in 2018 he won his first Gold Glove Award. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Ahmed about life on the road during a long 2019 MLB season, winning a Gold Glove last year, being a believer in the big leagues, and how he remains grounded in his walk with the Lord. We also hear the powerful story of how he came to Christ on a baseball field in Mobile, Ala., in 2013. You can help Ahmed raise money to serve the homeless and hungry, and provide life-saving and life-transforming resources, with his HITS campaign by clicking on his website - https://pledgeit.org/ahmed2019. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com   

Episode 304 Jeremiah Sirles plays offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL. He played his college football at the University of Nebraska, where he earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as a senior and second-team All-Big Ten as a junior, along with Academic All-Big Ten honors his senior year. After going undrafted in 2014, he signed with the Chargers where he would make his NFL debut on December 20, 2014 against the 49ers. In September of 2015, Sirles was traded to the Vikings where he would play the next two seasons. In 2017, he signed a contract with the Carolina Panthers before being released in September. A few weeks later, Buffalo signed him and after completing the 2018 season with the Bills, he would sign a new 1-year contract this past January to continue playing for Bills Mafia. On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Jeremiah about life as an undrafted player and the less than glamorous journey he's taken to achieve his goal of playing in the NFL. We also hear from Sirles about his faith journey and living that out everyday as a professional football player. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 303 Clay Martin is entering his fifth season as an NFL official, and his second as a referee. The former college point guard at Oklahoma Baptist University, is also a high school basketball coach at Jenks High School in Oklahoma.  Martin bias also a former NCAA Division 1 assistant basketball coach with Texas Pan-American under Bob Hoffman. His football officiating career began in 2005. He began his college career in 2007 with Conference USA as a line judge where he worked the 2011 Conference USA championship, the 2011 Outback Bowl, the 2012 Holiday Bowl, the 2014 Conference USA championship and the 2015 East-West Shrine Game.    During his time as a college basketball player with OBU, his team reach the NAIA championship game in 1997 and the quarterfinals in 1999. He was a third-team All-American in 1999 and an honorable mention All-American in 1998. Martin holds the OBU records for career assists and steals and scored 1,126 points in 122 games.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Clay about life as an NFL referee, how he became a football official after playing college basketball, what it looks like to incorporate his faith into his job, and his awesome story of coming to know Jesus as Lord. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Lee Strobel joins us on this THROWBACK edition of the podcast. Lee is the former award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and best-selling author of more than 20 books. His classic, The Case for Christ, is a perennial favorite which details his conversion to Christianity. For the last 25 years, his life’s work has been to share the evidence that supports the truth and claims of Christianity, and to equip believers to share their faith with the people they know and love. Strobel’s life story is depicted in the recent release from Pure Flix: “The Case for Christ” and is available now on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. On this episode from September 2017, Lee shares his connection to sports and wonderful stories on Cubs legend Ernie Banks and Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabaar.  Listen to the entire interview with Lee from Episode 36 here. 

Episode 302 Rob Likens is the offensive coordinator and QB coach at Arizona State. During his 25 year coaching career, Likens has made stops at Kansas, Cal, Louisiana Tech, Central Connecticut State, Temple and North Alabama. He joined Arizona State as their Wide Receivers coach in 2016 before taking over the offensive reigns in 2017. Likens currently has seven former players in the NFL at the wide receiver position, including Bryce Treggs (Philadelphia Eagles/California), Kenny Lawler (Seattle Seahawks/California), Chris Harper (San Francisco 49ers/California), Maurice Harris (Washington Redskins/California), Trevor Davis (Green Bay Packers/California), Quinton Patton (San Francisco 49ers/Louisiana Tech) and Myles White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Louisiana Tech). On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Coach Likens about working for Herm Edwards, living the life of a college coach, staying grounded in his faith, and why Jeremiah 17:5-8 is listed in his Twitter bio. For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 301 Bruce Pearl is the head men's basketball coach for the Auburn Tigers. His coaching career has spanned over 30 years and has included stops at Stanford, Iowa, Southern Indiana, Milwaukee, Tennessee and now Auburn.  In 1995, he was named Division II Coach of the Year at Southern Indiana and in 2006, during his time at Tennessee, was named Sporting News Coach of the Year.  In 2019, he led the Tigers to their first ever appearance at the NCAA Final Four before losing to eventual champion Virginia in the National Semi-Finals.  On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Coach Pearl about that Final Four appearance, why he was able to keep his poise and integrity after their difficult loss to Virginia, how his faith has evolved and transformed in his life over the past few years and why he's become more open about his relationship with God. 

Episode 300 Tony Trent is our guest on the podcast today. He's the Dad to Purdue super-fanTyler Trent. And today on the show, we talk to Tony about Tyler's courageous battle with cancer, Tyler's new book "The Upset," and how the strong faith that the entire Trent family has in Jesus Christ has helped them during this difficult season of life and the loss of their beloved son Tyler back in January of 2019.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com 

Episode 299 Patty Gasso is the head softball coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. In a word, she's a legend. Gasso came to the Sooners in 1995 and since then, has led her clubs to 12 Women's College World Series and is a 4-time WCWS champion.  She was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a 12-time Big 12 Coach of the Year. In 2019, the Sooners have won an NCAA record 39 consecutive games and entering the NCAA Division 1 Softball Championship, they are the number one seed after winning an incredible 49 of 51 games.  Gasso was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame in 2012. On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Patty about the Sooners' success achieved thus far in 2019, dealing with adversity in the midst of winning, her awesome testimony of coming to faith in the Lord on a softball field in Long Beach, California, being open about her faith as a coach, and why her husband is her spiritual leader.  For more, log on to http://SportsSpectrum.com