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Blue Devil 360: March 2023 Transcript
3/23/2023 1:15:00 PM | Athletics
NINA KING: It's a huge deal. I'm just really excited to showcase Cameron in a different light by hosting the NCAA Fencing Championships. You know, the very best teams from all over the country here. Fencing, including ours, I mean, we are having a great year. It's been exciting to watch both our men and women battle and bring home some really great victories.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: It's obviously just a good time, like it's super intense on the strip and then off the strip even though it's like a long day with a lot of bouts. You know, everyone's super cordial. I wouldn't say we've had any aggressive rivalries or anything. I don't know if fencing is one of those sports, but it's definitely, you know, there are those people you want to beat. Maybe you come from Notre Dame, coming from Columbia that are super strong fencers and you just want to go in with as much drive and aggression as possible.
JIM SPANARKEL: You know, the fact that everybody comes into this knowing that it's a one and done atmosphere is absolutely fabulous because what happens there, it upticks this sense of urgency. I think it upticks the intensity, not to say that they don't play hard during the course of the year because they do. But, you know, I'm lucky where I get the best seat in the house. I'm sitting right at half court and watching these kids spill their guts really on the floor for every single play, knowing that I want to contribute on this play as much as I can mentality and I think nine other guys on the floor have the same mentality.
NARRATOR: This is Blue Double 360, the official podcast of Duke Athletics.
JOHN ROTH: Welcome to the March edition of Blue Devil 360. I'm John Roth, joining you during one of the most hectic periods of the college athletics calendar with spring sports in full swing and winter sports in the midst of NCAA championship season. We're going to focus on the latter this month, so my backdrop is a visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium as it's being transformed from a basketball gym that just hosted NCAA women's basketball opening weekend action into a fencing venue that is hosting the NCAA national championships March 23rd to 26th. Coach K Court has been covered with a protective surface and fencing strips are being installed for the arrival of 144 fencers from 28 schools to compete in one of the most unique NCAA events. First of all, the fencing championship features programs from all the NCAA divisions, one, two and three, competing against each other in one tournament. And second, the team championship is determined by combining the men's and women's results together. So, there'll be one team champion crowned and six individual champions awarded with men's and women's winners in the three weapons, foil, epee, and saber. Men's action takes place March 23rd and 24th, the women March 25th and 26th. Notre Dame comes in as the two-time defending champion and either Notre Dame or Columbia has won the last seven titles. Four of the six individual winners from last year are back to defend their titles and Duke will be well represented with eight athletes competing, including Terrence Lee who won the silver medal in men's saber last year. As a team, the Blue Devils are a prominent national fencing program annually finishing in the top 10 in this meet, which they're hosting for the first time. Now to give us more perspective on the event and what the experience is like for the student athletes, our first guest is a member of the Duke women's program who's in the NCAA field for the third straight year, junior Christina Ferrari. She earned All-America honors the last two years with fifth and 11th place showings in the women's foil. And she's one of the leaders of a women's roster that had a 21-4 record this year and defeated three top teams, including number one Notre Dame earlier this season.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: So, my freshman year, I was a little bit different just because of COVID. So, we had a bit like different teams were there. So, the last couple of years, like last year was super intense and definitely a different kind of feeling than the first year I had it because there wasn't really the regional qualifiers to get into the NCAA's freshman year. So, this one felt a lot more intense. And it's all people that I've been fencing since high school since middle school. So fencing is a pretty small community and you run into the same people pretty often. So, it's all people I know, but it's really cool to see them in a college setting in a different kind of organization about your fencing a lot, you're fencing all of these people over two days. And you're fencing five touch bouts which are super short, super intense. And not the traditional kind of layout of maybe a national tournament that you would fence in high school. So, it's a little bit different, but it's super fun because you're fencing like the top fencers in the country. And it's just a really good time to, you know, fence your hardest, try and win as many bouts as you can and be supportive of your teammates.
JOHN ROTH: Two things I want to follow up with what you just said. One, you mentioned a lot of bouts, so I think there are 24 people in each weapon that come to the event. And I think the first part of it is round robin, right? You basically fence everybody. That seems like a lot of fencing to set up the semifinals.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, for sure. So, the first day is I want to say 12 or 11 bouts. So, you do a couple pools of it's I think it's six or seven people. And then you fence everyone there and then you get a short break and then you go on to the next group of people. So, I think it's just a couple pools over the course of two days. And over that time, you'll be fencing everybody. So yeah, it's a lot of fencing, very similar to the regionals format, which is also just like a bunch of pools, which is like the small groups of people. And just trying to fence and win as many as you can. And it's you got to move on from your losses like really quickly because the turnaround is super-fast.
JOHN ROTH: Besides the fencing technique and all is there like any aspect of stamina involved with that with all those bouts in one day?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, absolutely. Personally, like I just try to maybe get some more conditioning in in the weeks leading up like run a lot. I'll go outside and try and go on runs with my teammates or just run in the gym if I have the time because it is a lot of fencing. And if you're not prepared for that, you can kind of burn out really quickly. And then no matter how good your mental game is, like if your body can't keep up, it's really tough.
JOHN ROTH: And the other thing you mentioned at the beginning was just that you seem to know almost everybody you're fencing against. It's kind of a small sport in that there's only 40 or so schools that have fencing. And at the NCAA's it's coed team championship and people that you've fenced all year with your schedule. You've fenced most of these people throughout college, not just in high school. What's that kind of like? Are there like certain rivalries that are developed? Is it like fencing all your friends? Like what's the interpersonal side of that like?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, it is super cool because you have people at different schools that you've, you're like, oh, like this so and so is going to the Ivy leagues or whatever. And then you just run into them at NCAAs. And a lot of these people are world champs, national champs, and they've just had a really good track record for their entire career. And so, it's great to run into them because you know, like they're great fencers that it's always going to be a good bout. And it's super fun because you kind of had that history of maybe back and forth bouts or like you go in, you're like, "Oh man, I really want to beat this person." And so, it's honestly just a good time. Like it's super intense on the strip and then off the strip, even though it's like a long day with a lot of bouts, you know, everyone's super cordial. And wouldn't say we've had any aggressive rivalries or anything. I don't know, fencing's one of those sports, but it's definitely, you know, there are those people you want to beat. Maybe they come from Notre Dame, come from Columbia that are super strong fencers and you just want to go in with as much drive and aggression as possible.
JOHN ROTH: You mentioned Notre Dame and Columbia. And I think those two teams have won the last seven championships and say one of the other those Notre Dame's won it two years in a row. Last year, the tournament was at Notre Dame. The year before was that Penn State. You guys get to host it this year. What do you think will be different about being in the host roles or any kind of home strip advantage or like what will be some things that you'll enjoy about having it on your home turf?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, I can't wait to see the turnout of just families and friends that come to come to watch because I know last year Notre Dame had a crazy amount of people just cheering for them on their side. And so, I'm really excited to have all my friends and family behind me really cheering for us because you know, like NCAA's it's like that sort of individual aspect, which is tough and different from the rest of the season because it's mostly team format, but when you get to NCAA's it's all of a sudden individual. So, it's kind of tough to get that same sort of energy. And I think having that crowd behind you, especially being home and being in Cameron is going to be super cool. And you're going to be able to invite all of your friends and make everyone come and yell as loud as they can and make signs and whatever. So, it's going to be super fun.
JOHN ROTH: Is there much of a closeness or rivalry with Duke and Notre Dame and fencing. I know earlier in the year you guys beat Notre Dame on the women's side and they beat you in the ACC's and they obviously as a team have won some NCAAs. What's it like between Duke and Notre Dame on the strip.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: I think we're always just pushing as hard as we can to you know fence them as well as we can. They do have a lot of fantastic fencers. They've got like I was saying like world champs on their team and just very experienced people. And so, we really just try and go and rally together as much as we can as a team, and you know give them the best fight we can because you know they're obviously they've got a huge track record of really great wins and a very strong coaching staff and very strong team. And so, you know we just try and give them our best fight and it's really fun every time. I think we're we always feel like we're edging a little bit closer every year.
JOHN ROTH: Mentioning just the fact that they've got a good track record. Duke fencing's got a pretty good track record and the especially the NCAA championships I think in the last 12 years you've been in the top 10 11 times including 10th last year. So maybe tell us a little bit about what the culture of Duke fencing is like and why it's so successful. What you guys enjoy most about your program.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah of course I first of all I love the team. I think that the people the coaches do a really great job at choosing the right people for the team and the right people for the school and the people who are really going to care about being at practice and working and looking out for their teammates. And so, I love that. I love just like being in the locker room being able to chat with whoever like no matter who you're with it's a good vibe. And so that's something that really means something to me, and I think maybe not something that other teams always have. And I feel like I've made a lot of super close like lifelong friends on this team and that's been especially most important coming from fencing as an individual sport. I feel like I haven't really been used to maybe that team setting. And so it's been really cool like having this new development at Duke and being around these people all the time and going to practice with them getting meals with them and just traveling with them you know bus rides just hanging out watching movies having a good time and just really learning a lot about the team. And I think that's the most important thing that I like I love I've loved about Duke fencing and our coaches are amazing. They're always super dedicated and happy to be there. And they're really looking out for us too.
JOHN ROTH: Give us a sense of how you got into fencing to begin with and how you ended up at Duke to continue your fencing days.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, for sure. So, when I was eight I watched the Lindsay Lohan remake of the Parent Trap. Don't laugh it's serious and there's that super cheesy scene where she's at camp and she's got like all the gear and fencing her double and I was like wow like that's super cool I was doing I think like dance and gymnastics at the time. And so, my mom just found the club I'm from New York so we found one that was like 20 minutes away. Fencing is pretty popular in New York, and I just tried it out you know super intense Russian coaches and I guess I loved it so I kept going with it. And I didn't really have a sense that it would get me into college. I think nowadays there are a lot of kids whose parents are trying to push for these sports that they know are going to get them into college. But I kind of just went in you know being like wow this is this is a super fun sport. I really like the people I really like the coaches and I really like the like high level of intensity being able to travel and compete. So I stuck with it and got into sophomore year of high school started talking to some schools and Duke just seemed like the right fit and I'm really happy to be here.
JOHN ROTH: What's maybe the best fencing experience you've had whether it's before Duke or during Duke?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, I really loved this past Duke meet. I think that was just the most emotion I've felt at a meet in college at least. I know I had a couple of great performances in high school one for instance I think it was just a random direct elimination bout, but I had to fence like this very distinguished Olympian. She's a really great fencer and I have a lot of respect for her and it was a super close bout and I ended up winning like by one point and so I came off the strip and I was crying and my friends were like oh it's okay she's really good and I was like no like a one and so that was really fun but I think nothing can really compare to the amount of just like sheer emotion that the Duke meet had like with your whole team behind you and just scoring that final touch like to win the meet for Penn State was something that like just really made me happy like my heart basically exploded. It was awesome just like run off the strip into the arms of my teammates and really feel like I belong there and really fenced hard for my team and so it was awesome to also see like performances from the freshmen and how they were doing so well and that was just awesome like I had so much fun just screaming my lungs out for them and like watching them perform at their top.
JOHN ROTH: So you use the word emotion I'm wondering if emotion has been around the Duke program throughout this year I know your head coach Alex Beguinet lost his wife at the beginning of the season and she was obviously a big part of the team as well as one of the administrators and recruiting coordinators and how much has that influenced impacted your team and how the season has played out and the things you guys have done with in yourselves as a team?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Personally I put a lot of pressure on myself to kind of try and make this my best season as possible as I could for Elizabeth and really dedicate every bow to her name because you know like she did so much for us like she was behind the scenes and just I don't think anyone really knew how much heart she had for this team like she was always there when she could be she's going through treatments she was battling with cancer for so many years and yet she was still there still like setting up recruitment appointments like meeting with people checking in on us and seeing how we were doing setting up our food like for our meets and traveling as much as she could and it was crazy just like watching her like you couldn't even tell almost because she was she took it with so much grace and I think we've all just tried to try to be there for Alex even though it's like it's such an impossible time and no one can really know how he's feeling but we're just trying to you know keep our spirits up keep our fencing as tight as it can be and really dedicate this whole season to them and so I think that especially having the Duke meet here or the NCAA is here is going to be really exciting and hopefully a good finale for our Fence for the Fight campaign which we've been running for this entire semester and Elizabeth's honor to try and raise as much money for her and as much awareness for breast cancer as well.
JOHN ROTH: I hear that's been a very successful campaign too as well so far with over $70,000 dollars raised to this point that I know of so congrats on that it's so great that you guys could do that and I guess just to wrap this up what would be maybe upper most in your mind as far as goals for yourself or your team as you go into the national meet?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: I think as you were saying like going in with Elizabeth in mind and really having that campaign for her and having her in all of our hearts as we go in like there's eight of us for NCAAs, which is a really exciting number to qualify, and I think we're all just going to go in and try and fight as hard as we can and have as much fun as we can just make as much noise for Duke and Elizabeth and Alex as we possibly can.
JOHN ROTH: Alex Beguinet has been Duke's head coach for 38 years and he's guided fencers to NCAA qualifying nearly every year. He's had two national champions, Becca Ward three times for the women and Jeremy Kahn for the men and he's had three Olympians in his programs as well. Hosting the NCAA nationals at any sport is somewhat rare for Duke. Of course, the school has hosted countless NCAA postseason events from earlier rounds of play and numerous sports but for national finals the list of Duke hosted events includes two men's golf championships and two outdoor track and field championships. Director of Athletics, Nina King has pleased her department has a chance to provide a championship experience for top student athletes with this event.
NINA KING: It's a huge deal. We're really excited to showcase Cameron in a different light by hosting the NCAA Fencing Championships. The very best teams from all over the country here. Fencing including ours, we are having a great year and it's been exciting to watch both our men and women battle and bring home some really great victories. Last year we hosted the ACC Championship here in Cameron so it was kind of a dress rehearsal if you will for the NCAA Championships and Cameron looked amazing. Our team does such a good job of hosting all kinds of events, but you know fencing is a little bit unique all the equipment and strips that need to come out and all the pipe and drape and all of the different areas in the gym. It's just amazing what they are able to do, and you know hosting NCAA Championships just takes that to another level. So, it's a lot of work but we've got an incredible facilities and game operations team that really will spend countless hours putting it together and just ensuring that it is an elite experience as those student athletes competing deserve.
JOHN ROTH: Duke student athletes have had some successful experiences at other NCAA championships this month. One of our guests on the February podcast, runner Amina Maatoug had a strong showing at the NCAA indoor track and field meet taking 7th place in the mile to earn first team All-American honors. Then an hour later she placed 14th in the 3000 meters for second team All-America. That's after she came back from the ACC championship meet with a gold, silver, and bronze medal to earn ACC women's track MVP honors. Another guest last month senior wrestler Jonah Niesenbaum was the ACC heavyweight runner up and competed in nationals where he lost his opening bout then split two consolation round matches to finish the season with a 26-6 record. And in NCAA swimming and diving championships which are still underway as we record this, Duke has had a few noteworthy performances particularly freshman Kaelyn Gridley and junior Sarah Foley both of whom earned first team All-American honors in the same event the 200 breaststroke. Now each month we try to visit with the Duke alumnus and this time we have a former Blue Devil basketball captain who is deeply involved in the NCAA men's basketball tournament as a television analyst. Jim Spanarkel class of 1979 and a Duke athletics Hall of Famer led the Blue Devils to two NCAAs as a player including the 1978 Final Four. He played a few years in NBA and has been working as a broadcaster for about four decades now. He spent close to 30 years working on NBA broadcast for the Nets while also managing a college schedule each year. This is his 25th NCAA tournament on CBS with now 20 of those working alongside Ian Eagle. After spending the opening weekend of the tournament in Greensboro he and Eagle are in Louisville for the south region this week. We caught up with him via zoom during a stopover at home in New Jersey to talk about his career in analyzing March Madness.
JIM SPANARKEL: Well, first of all, I consider myself lucky to be able to be part of it. CBS has been very loyal in terms of having me do it for 25 years. I think we have a nice working relationship there so I've been fortunate to work for them and now obviously the TNT, TBS, and Tru TV partnership has been great. After I get past the fact that I'm lucky to be doing it, I just think overall that the way this thing has evolved over the last 10, 15, 20 years … I mean if you go back to when I was in the NCAA Tournament in 1978, we were lucky to get on national TV once during our regular season I think it was with the ACC tournament and now you fast forward 10 years decade by decade by decade and the amount of options that fans have to watch the games. I think the partnership of CBS and TNT and Tru TV was very, very smart in terms of almost putting the clicker back in the viewer's hand so they can go from station to station to station. I mean years ago … I mean it might be 12 years ago, that that didn't exist or whatever the partnership has been around but if you think back when they would go from game to game you might be leaning in and watching a game and you have to flip to another game because that game is coming to an end and maybe the viewer didn't want to by giving the viewer the option to be able to do that I thought that was genius in terms of figuring that out because quite candidly you know if you're a Duke fan you want to watch Duke but you know what you might have an interest in another ACC school that's playing right now and you want to flip back and forth and you can jump whatever you want. I think the fact that not only with the media has grown with it but all these different forms of both the iPhone and the access to making comments and social networking just to use you know can't you know use that as a phrase has magnified this to a degree that I don't think anybody would have predicted five years ago or seven years ago type of thing it's just and it seems to be catching more and more fire with the different ways that you can access the games and it's just I'm lucky to be a part of it and watch what's been going around from a technology standpoint to see the advancement of the tournament.
JOHN ROTH: What are some of the things that are that you find the most enjoyable alluring like what do you like most about doing the tournament?
JIM SPANARKEL: Clearly I like the fact that it's a one-and-done atmosphere you know during the regular season when I do games I mean if a team loses a game they don't want to lose a game team wins a game they don't get too high you lose you know okay it's the next game on the schedule we have to prepare for you know the fact that everybody comes into this knowing that it's a one and done atmosphere is absolutely fabulous because what happens there it upticks the sense of urgency I think it upticks the intensity not to say that they don't play hard during the course of the year because they do but you know we're unlucky where I get the best seat in the house I'm sitting right at half court and watching these kids spill their guts really on the floor for every single play knowing that I want to contribute on this play as much as I can mentality and I think nine other guys on the floor have the same mentality and that's the mentality you bring in trying to convey what they're doing to the audience as far as your role as the commentator analyst. My role is to you know fortunately working with Ian Eagle one of the best in the business as a play by play guy to play off him but I would I try to bring to the table from an analyst standpoint is not shtick it's just strategy and telling people and trying to you know educate those who don't watch it you know when you watch the NCAA Tournament games is a cross-section of people who are watching the games right there are some who are really astute basketball fans and affectionately called like junkies all the way across the board to people who are just tuning in because it's the NCAA Tournament it's March Madness and I want to follow my team for this one or there's a team in the state that I want to follow or whatever reason they like a story about a team so my job is in talking basketball is to make sure that I explain things what's going on and why it's going on really I focus on the why of why things are going on so an example of that would be a guy gets a layup okay we can all see that he gets a two point layup but why did he get that layup what caused that layup was there a screen that he do something before something happened before the actual shot so I spent pretty much all my time in the basketball analysis side trying to figure out what's going on the fly and try to bring it to the audience to try to explain that to him and maybe tell them a little bit more about basketball than they might not have known before this game.
JOHN ROTH: Did you share with us just for a few moments how you got into the broadcasting side of it after you're playing at Duke playing in the NBA, I know you went to the Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor and you've been doing that for about 40 years now but also how did you get into the basketball TV side of the sport?
JIM SPANARKEL: Well, that's a funny story from what I began when I finished playing basketball way back in 1984, I wanted to try to get into broadcasting try a couple of outlets that didn't have any success for a year or two. I happened to notice in a local paper up here in New Jersey that the New Jersey Nets at the time had hired a radio broadcaster named Howard David and the very last line of that little article that was written in local papers said that they have not selected or hired an analyst at this point for the radio so I called up a gentleman named Bob Cassiolo who ironically was at Princeton at one time but he was the football coach but he was the CEO of the New Jersey Nets. I called him up I had met him once before and I said, "Hey Bob, I'd be and I noticed Howard David has been selected to do this I'd love to talk to you about being a color commentator for radio." I went down to his office we talked for a little while and he said, "You know if you and Howard go out to lunch if you get along the job is yours." We went out to lunch. I got the job. And what Bill Raftery was doing the Nets at the time as the number one guy, he was doing ESPN and they leave CBS at the time and when he had to go do an ESPN game there was a television opening for the Nets and they came to me … the company at the time came to me and said, "hey would you be interested in trying to do television?" I said absolutely, so I was lucky my first year to get I probably did about 40 or 45 radio games, but I also did 20 to 25 television games really with no experience. So it was kind of learning on the fly and just kind of gravitated towards it felt that, you know, I was lucky for my background of basketball the way I was taught how to play and how I guess I played as a player from a fundamental standpoint it never really was that difficult for me I mean in learning how to do with the mechanics of it the talking basketball was always fun and it's really just talking basketball but understanding the dynamics of the difference between doing radio and television.
JOHN ROTH: A moment ago you mentioned Ian Eagle, the play-by-play announcer you've been working with for most of your NCAA Tournament career, and I know you worked with him a lot with the Nets several years ago and you guys have been working together for a long time. What's it like to be working with him? He's like, I mean as you said before one of the best in the business. You can tell because next year after Jim Nance retired, he's moving up to the Final Four broadcasting team. What's it like working with him? Obviously, you guys have a lot of great chemistry together.
JIM SPANARKEL: Yeah, I mean I think the chemistry alone helps us so much. I mean we've never put a number to it, but we did so many … you know when you think about it, we've worked, oh I don't know about 20 plus years or CBS and March Madness. So, if you do the math and say we did six games a year with that you know and then we did hundreds and hundreds of games with the Nets as play-by-play and analyst. We've probably done anywhere from 300 to 400 games. So, we usually when people ask both of us that question, it's almost like we can answer one another's sentences and you just pick up a sixth sense for somebody. I mean I know pretty much when he's going to stop speaking. He knows when I'm stopping speaking. If a play occurs, for example, I can read his body language. You know if say an official or it's a foul in traffic and he can't see through the traffic and I can, I can sense that because we've done so many games together and I'll just point to a number on my roster sheet he'll know that that's the guy who was fouled and he'll just carry on. So, we've been lucky from that standpoint that we've built a lot of chemistry. We know one another. We're close friends. I think the fact that we kind of both know what we're doing in our own craft and the fact that we get along pretty well and very well I would say kind of meshes on the air and I think people generally say … oh you know if they say they enjoy our broadcast but I think that they're also saying they enjoy the way we kind of, you know, bounce one another around a little bit.
JOHN ROTH: You guys are doing the south regional in Louisville for the Sweet 16 and one of the teams there is the number 15 seed Princeton. I know last year you had a chance to do some games with the number 15 seed St. Peter's and they certainly energized the tournament. When you have one of these so-called Cinderella stories involved in your broadcast this late in the tournament how much is that energized and just affect the way you do the games?
JIM SPANARKEL: You try to do it, quite candid, try to do it the same way as you would in normal game but with the understanding of what you have on your plate you will in terms of being aware of that and being more keenly aware that if they're playing well that a lot of people are now using their clickers, if you will, to catch up on the story. You know Ian and I were just like ridiculously lucky last year to get St. Peter's run. I'm a Jersey City guy. St. Peter's, for people who may be listening and don't know, that St. Peter's University is in Jersey City. I grew up three blocks away from St. Peter's University, so I knew the place intimately. But when you're doing a game, I couldn't be rah rah for St. Peter's even though I knew the school that well. My wife went to school there. Two of my three brothers. So, you have to remove yourself from a lot of things when you're doing a game and just try to be as objective as you possibly can, so nobody tags you. And there are a lot of people listening and commenting these days, so nobody tags you with quote unquote being a homer or being subjective to one team. But when you have a team … like I'm looking forward to Princeton because they're an interesting team. I just ended up watching just about one of their games on video. I'll watch another one tonight probably. But you know they're just they're really sound. I mean people… I think people is a misnomer and I used to say this about 10 years ago when we had Princeton in the NCAA Tournament, people would say, "You know, oh well that's you know they're a slow methodical non-athletic team that just back doors you to death." And back then I sat with the coach and watched them, and I said, "You know, you're the furthest thing away from a slow non-athletic team you know." These kids that are playing for Princeton, and just watching them, are very athletic. They're smart. They have a good collective IQ for basketball. They have individual IQs for basketball. So, I think they'll play their game. They're gonna … yeah, they'll throw a back door in there if they have to but they're passing the basketball. They're attacking. The timing of their attacks are usually pretty good in what I've seen. They don't seem to get rattled too often in terms of the way they play. So probably be a good game, but then again, I stopped predicting these games a long time ago and you know you look at St. Peter's and what they did to be quite honest, I didn't have that one rolled up in a magic carpet and unveiled at the same here we go St. Peter's is gonna win three games. nobody did.
JOHN ROTH: Well in 25 years of doing the tournament is there one like game or team or event that kind of stands out to you that was really fun or surprising or amazing or that you'll never forget?
JIM SPANARKEL: You know, it's the one we've been talking about with St. Peter's. I mean it never happened. You have a 15 you know playing all those teams and you. think of who they played right they played Kentucky that was you know fairly decent SEC team last year. Murray State had a terrific season I think they went a little bit maybe 30 or 32 games. you get the big team from the big 10 in Purdue and just one by one by one they chopped, chopped, and chopped and ended up winning three games and then you know they run into Carolina who was just as we both know was playing the best basketball pretty much anybody obviously other than Kansas at that point. but and they ran into the buzz so with Carolina but those three games collectively will be the three games that I kind of merge into one event if you will that I'll remember and people around New Jersey and now you know with FDU doing what they just did and now Princeton and do what they're doing you know people are saying you know hey is FDU going to be the next and I know they've lost last night but hey is FDU going to be the next St. Peter's. well Prince would be the next St. Peter's you know who knows that's the beauty of this tournament.
JOHN ROTH: Well as we let you go; I just want to ask you one do question. I just wonder when you're doing all these games and seeing different things that unfold every year if you ever have a moment to reflect back on when you were in the NCAA Tournament. You kind of had both spectrums there. You were kind of one of the Cinderella teams that one year that got to the Final Four and then you're seeing you kind of had the very abrupt ending of one and done you ever think about and then you just spent this past weekend in Greensboro where you had some a lot some of your greatest moments as well as the player you ever personally think back to some of that when you're involved with this?
JIM SPANARKEL: Yeah, you know each year the NCAA Tournament in the finals bring back the memories of that team that as you touched on was a team that was kind of … you know we were a very good team but we weren't expected to do what we did. we became kind of a favorite if you will of the United States of people watching our team. So yeah, I think back at those days. And then you know the Greensboro Coliseum is different you know revamped and rebuilt and it looks great. But being there over the weekend, I had not a lot of people one or two people come up to me say, "Didn't you play in this in this arena back a hundred years ago?" and I said, "Yeah we had a good time." It was a lot of fun. And so I do think back about that and that team and the run we went on and the fact that I was in Greensboro kind of you know brought back a little you know different way of thinking about it in terms of how successful we were there.
JOHN ROTH: During his playing career in the 1970s, Spanarkel and the Blue Devils saw a lot of Greensboro Coliseum every year. There was the old Big Four tournament with Carolina, State and Wake early in the season and all four of his ACC Tournaments were in Greensboro. Two of those reached the championship game with Duke winning there in 1978 to start the postseason run to the Final Four. This month we have another alumnus as a special guest, and he certainly fits the championship theme earlier this winter. He helped the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl over the Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, I'm talking about former all-ACC Duke tight end Noah Gray who was in his second year with the Chiefs after being drafted in the fifth round. Playing on the same roster with all pro tight end Travis Kelsey Gray still started eight games and played 52% of his team's snaps this past season with 28 catches. He spent a weekend back on campus before launching his off season workouts and we had a chance to talk about how some of his football dreams have been coming true in the NFL.
NOAH GRAY: Oh, it's been a lot of fun. Kansas City has been a lot of fun since we won the Super Bowl. I mean we just got some amazing fans over there. Great people who just love football. So, the turnout all season long, they turn out. At the Super Bowl and then to follow that up with amazing per hate and some other fun festivities just been absolutely awesome and pretty surreal so I never imagined you could have this much fun playing football, but it's definitely exceeded all of my possible imaginations.
JOHN ROTH: Were these some of your dreams you had like maybe when you were younger getting into football of these kind of accomplishments?
NOAH GRAY: Oh yeah for sure, I mean I grew up in Massachusetts, so my dad and I watched all the Patriots' Super Bowls there's a lot of success up there. We were big into professional sports being up in New England college sports wasn't really as big of entertainment for a lot of folks up there so it was always something that we watched year in and year out and it's something that I had always dreamed about and talked about with my dad and then you know fortunately I was finally able to kind of get to that point and you know we just had a great team and you know I'm just trying to do my job and it was just so much fun being a part of such amazing teammates but a great coaching staff and everything that kind of went into that Super Bowl run.
JOHN ROTH: What's it actually like to play in that game? I mean some people talk about you got to treat it like just another game, but is that possible? Do you have to consciously think this is just another game or do you let all the hype and everything around help feel what you do?
NOAH GRAY: Yeah, I mean I think guys are different. You know and the crazy thing about the Super Bowl is just how different it is from a regular season and even a playoff game with the difference and how much time each timeout is during, you know, play timeouts. They'll add regular TV timeouts to get commercials in. Halftime's obviously longer with the whole halftime show and there's just a lot of glitz and glamour to it. And there's a lot of people who are there and you know it's definitely something when you first walk into the stadium it kind of catches you a little bit if you haven't been there before like I was. But eventually, you kind of just settle down and you start warming up and you start getting back into a normal routine. I thought our coaches and our staff and our analytics staff did a great job explaining what to expect in terms of what we should be doing during those longer breaks that we normally don't have. I think it really helped us with and it helped me being a first time in the Super Bowl with just understanding what I needed to do to be as successful as I could and help the team as much as I could as if it was a normal regular season or postseason game.
JOHN ROTH: Seems like the longest break was that halftime while most of us were watching Rihanna out there perform you guys were making some adjustments and came out with a great second half down by 10 at halftime and then you scored every time you had the ball in the second half to win the game what kind of things were you doing at halftime and kind of getting prepared for the second half run that you guys had?
NOAH GRAY: Well, we could hear Rihanna in the locker room, so that was pretty awesome. But no, I mean, I think our coaches did a great job just kind of settling us down. We got great leadership in that locker room with Pat and Travis and Chris and a whole lot of other guys. I mean it wasn't even just you know the top guys on our team. Like it was guys who may not have even spoken up all year long and that it was really cool to kind of hear kind of the energy and kind of the focus that everyone in that locker room had. Instead going out there into the second half and just playing the game that we know and we love you know and I thought everyone kind of settled down and we just kind of, you know, just went out there and executed the game plan that our coaches had given us. Not any more than that. Not any less than that. Just kind of doing our job and just enjoying being out there and playing football. At the end of the day, football is fun, and I think a lot of guys made it fun in that second half.
JOHN ROTH: How about for you overall this season your second year and the league second year with the Chiefs? How much fun was the year for you? Maybe tell us a bit about some of the ways that your game developed and grew in your second year.
NOAH GRAY: It was a lot of fun. And it was a blessing to, like I said, be a part of that team, part of the coaching staff there. I mean truly amazing guys there who have been able to help me develop throughout my past two years there and you know one thing that Kelce will even tell people is like he's still getting better every single year. Like he's not satisfied with what he's done and he's always looking for different ways to add on to his game and that's something that I've kind of tried to learn from him and that you know even when you're playing at the highest-level football that you can in the world that there's always room to improve. There's always room to get better and to never just be satisfied with where you are. I think a lot of our coaches and leaders in the team really embody that every day when they show up to practice and it's something that you know I think was even instilled when I was at Duke just because of how well you know Coach Cut really managed the team and made sure that we were taking practice and our practice habits to the next level. I'd really see that when you get to the professional level with a lot of guys that I played with, so I've just been fortunate enough to learn from some amazing teammates like Jody and Travis and Blake and all the other tight ends and even receivers. I mean, it all works together. It's not just the tight end room. The receivers are helping out. The quarterbacks are talking through some stuff. So, it really takes a whole team to work together and to get better and the harder you work as a team the better off you're going to be. You know it's not an individual thing and that's the biggest blessing about the sport of football.
JOHN ROTH: You've referenced Travis Kelce a couple of times here. I guess most people would consider him the best tight end in football and you're in the same room with him all the time. What do you think are some of the reasons that he is the best and besides what you just mentioned some other things you might have picked up from him being in the same room and at the same position with him? It seems like every time we watch the Chiefs game whenever it's like third and 10 or whatever he's always open. Why is he the guy that's always open?
NOAH GRAY: it's just years of preparation understanding of the game and he also works really hard with
Pat in the off season and he works hard with him in practice and making sure that he's out there for the reps that he needs to be out there and it's really just a credit to the work ethic that he puts in. Really just his understanding and his like need and want to understand more about what defenses are doing when you have a complete understanding of what's going on and what your coaches are asking you to do on certain plays and what you're able to see pre-snap and post snap from a defensive standpoint it helps you get open teams are running zone and you just have that natural feel for where you need to be on the field running your route and you're on the same page with the quarterback it's like night and day you know and sometimes it is hard watching Kelce and then trying to go out there and practice and you know doing that because it's just like it just comes so naturally to him because he spent so much time, effort, and energy into perfecting his craft of just understanding just the game football as a whole and he's really mastered that craft and it's something that's not easy to do and that's why he's going to go down is probably the best tight end to play the game.
JOHN ROTH: Do you like the seemingly multi-dimensional role that you have in the tight end position with that particular offense it seems like you can do a lot of different things and I know he's the starter and he plays most of the snaps but I saw that you played over 50% of the snaps this year and started half the game so you obviously have some things that you do in that role that you bring that you bring to the table as well. I saw you get a rushing touchdown against the Bucs this year just stepping up in front of your quarterback and taking a snap at the goal line so you do a lot of different things how do you like about that kind of role.
NOAH GRAY: Oh, I love it. I mean any chance I get to play football you know like I said before I just love the game and opportunities aren't given easy especially when you get to that level so I'm just grateful that you know coaches trust me to do things like that like to take a snap under center or to run some routes or to block some guys and you know I'm just grateful to be immersed in that and to have my coaches have that full trust and faith in me because at the end of the day you want to have that trust in your players but also back at your coaching staff and I think that's what makes the ship run so well.
JOHN ROTH: Now this is the off season for you after playing into February with the Super Bowl. What is your off season like over this kind of middle of the spring time is do you need some downtime just to recover from 20 NFL games and before you start launching into what you do to prepare for next year?
NOAH GRAY: Yeah man you got a party and have a little bit of fun you know I mean I mean it was a long season and you know fortunately for us we ended right where we wanted to on February 12th so I'm definitely going to take a little bit of time off and just have some fun. Just spend time with my friends and family maybe go relax down by the beach or something like that but yeah I really just kind of take it easy from here and then hopefully pick up some time in March and get back into it because at the end of the day we got another season coming up and we got a really good team and I'm really excited about kind of the direction that we can be going this year so yeah hopefully pick up back in the middle of March and then we'll get back with OTAs and keep this train rolling.
JOHN ROTH: What kind of things do you focus on or will you focus on when you get back into your personal training before you get back into the team concept like are there some certain things that have been identified for you that you need to that you want to work on to be better prepared for next year.
NOAH GRAY: I mean I think it's just every aspect of our game you know obviously I did a lot more blocking this year in line blocking as well so just making sure that I'm still getting right with my footwork making sure I'm still doing the things I need to do in terms of route running and evolving and that evolving my understanding of where I need to be in certain routes and just kind of putting myself in the right positions and you know putting that all together in the off season when I'm by myself or when I'm throwing with the quarterbacks is something that's huge so really just every aspect you know like I said before we always want to get better in everything that we do guys on defense and you know other positions out there always looking for ways to get an edge so making sure that you're always staying up to tune on that is super important to off season.
JOHN ROTH: What are maybe one or two of your more fond memories of playing football at Duke?
NOAH GRAY: Yeah, I mean the Virginia Tech game was fun just because they had been kicking our heads in since I started playing here and then junior year, we finally get them in Blacksburg in front of just jam-packed crowd out there. you know and a lot of the other memories really come from the hard work that we put in the Yoh building when we're working out or we're in the Pascal door and we're doing our conditioning stuff and some of the behind the scenes stuff in the locker room you know just that camaraderie with those guys I mean those guys that I committed to back in 2017 were guys who were in my wedding and you know guys that we just stay in touch with who I get to play against in the NFL and get to swap jerseys so just such an awesome culture that was built here and some great guys that I was fortunate enough to play with so all those memories of you know messing around with those guys and hanging out and doing different things that they'll always stick with me for the rest of my life.
JOHN ROTH: Thanks for spending some time I noticed you added a wedding ring before last season and you added a super boring after the season so pretty good year for you the last 12 months.
NOAH GRAY: I would just stack in rings man it's a good time and we're just enjoying life as it comes.
JOHN ROTH: While Noah has been stacking rings, he's also been impacting others he has over 30,000 followers on Instagram and when he posted a photo with his family from the field celebrating the Super Bowl victory many of the comments were from people inspired not just by his winning ways on the field but by his ability to manage a pro football career while living with type one diabetes.
For our closer this month we turn it over to Duke basketball coach John Scheyer who closed out his first season with a second-round exit from the NCAA tournament after becoming the first person ever to win the ACC tournament as both a player and a head coach. What will he remember most about his first season? Let's take a listen.
JON SCHEYER: I'll remember about this team how it started with you know the first half of the year where we got knocked back many times and they always responded you know we had besides one loss that we had we bounced back with a loss with a big win and the only loss that we had two in a row was at Virginia which we are right there in the final moments to have a chance to win and so I'm really proud of the response I'm proud of their resiliency and I'm proud look in college basketball in 2023 we don't have these teams for as long and so there's a lot of individual aspirations we have a group of freshmen who can be and will be NBA players so your mind can go other places and for our guys they stuck right in the moment they stayed together and that's what I'm most proud.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: It's obviously just a good time, like it's super intense on the strip and then off the strip even though it's like a long day with a lot of bouts. You know, everyone's super cordial. I wouldn't say we've had any aggressive rivalries or anything. I don't know if fencing is one of those sports, but it's definitely, you know, there are those people you want to beat. Maybe you come from Notre Dame, coming from Columbia that are super strong fencers and you just want to go in with as much drive and aggression as possible.
JIM SPANARKEL: You know, the fact that everybody comes into this knowing that it's a one and done atmosphere is absolutely fabulous because what happens there, it upticks this sense of urgency. I think it upticks the intensity, not to say that they don't play hard during the course of the year because they do. But, you know, I'm lucky where I get the best seat in the house. I'm sitting right at half court and watching these kids spill their guts really on the floor for every single play, knowing that I want to contribute on this play as much as I can mentality and I think nine other guys on the floor have the same mentality.
NARRATOR: This is Blue Double 360, the official podcast of Duke Athletics.
JOHN ROTH: Welcome to the March edition of Blue Devil 360. I'm John Roth, joining you during one of the most hectic periods of the college athletics calendar with spring sports in full swing and winter sports in the midst of NCAA championship season. We're going to focus on the latter this month, so my backdrop is a visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium as it's being transformed from a basketball gym that just hosted NCAA women's basketball opening weekend action into a fencing venue that is hosting the NCAA national championships March 23rd to 26th. Coach K Court has been covered with a protective surface and fencing strips are being installed for the arrival of 144 fencers from 28 schools to compete in one of the most unique NCAA events. First of all, the fencing championship features programs from all the NCAA divisions, one, two and three, competing against each other in one tournament. And second, the team championship is determined by combining the men's and women's results together. So, there'll be one team champion crowned and six individual champions awarded with men's and women's winners in the three weapons, foil, epee, and saber. Men's action takes place March 23rd and 24th, the women March 25th and 26th. Notre Dame comes in as the two-time defending champion and either Notre Dame or Columbia has won the last seven titles. Four of the six individual winners from last year are back to defend their titles and Duke will be well represented with eight athletes competing, including Terrence Lee who won the silver medal in men's saber last year. As a team, the Blue Devils are a prominent national fencing program annually finishing in the top 10 in this meet, which they're hosting for the first time. Now to give us more perspective on the event and what the experience is like for the student athletes, our first guest is a member of the Duke women's program who's in the NCAA field for the third straight year, junior Christina Ferrari. She earned All-America honors the last two years with fifth and 11th place showings in the women's foil. And she's one of the leaders of a women's roster that had a 21-4 record this year and defeated three top teams, including number one Notre Dame earlier this season.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: So, my freshman year, I was a little bit different just because of COVID. So, we had a bit like different teams were there. So, the last couple of years, like last year was super intense and definitely a different kind of feeling than the first year I had it because there wasn't really the regional qualifiers to get into the NCAA's freshman year. So, this one felt a lot more intense. And it's all people that I've been fencing since high school since middle school. So fencing is a pretty small community and you run into the same people pretty often. So, it's all people I know, but it's really cool to see them in a college setting in a different kind of organization about your fencing a lot, you're fencing all of these people over two days. And you're fencing five touch bouts which are super short, super intense. And not the traditional kind of layout of maybe a national tournament that you would fence in high school. So, it's a little bit different, but it's super fun because you're fencing like the top fencers in the country. And it's just a really good time to, you know, fence your hardest, try and win as many bouts as you can and be supportive of your teammates.
JOHN ROTH: Two things I want to follow up with what you just said. One, you mentioned a lot of bouts, so I think there are 24 people in each weapon that come to the event. And I think the first part of it is round robin, right? You basically fence everybody. That seems like a lot of fencing to set up the semifinals.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, for sure. So, the first day is I want to say 12 or 11 bouts. So, you do a couple pools of it's I think it's six or seven people. And then you fence everyone there and then you get a short break and then you go on to the next group of people. So, I think it's just a couple pools over the course of two days. And over that time, you'll be fencing everybody. So yeah, it's a lot of fencing, very similar to the regionals format, which is also just like a bunch of pools, which is like the small groups of people. And just trying to fence and win as many as you can. And it's you got to move on from your losses like really quickly because the turnaround is super-fast.
JOHN ROTH: Besides the fencing technique and all is there like any aspect of stamina involved with that with all those bouts in one day?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, absolutely. Personally, like I just try to maybe get some more conditioning in in the weeks leading up like run a lot. I'll go outside and try and go on runs with my teammates or just run in the gym if I have the time because it is a lot of fencing. And if you're not prepared for that, you can kind of burn out really quickly. And then no matter how good your mental game is, like if your body can't keep up, it's really tough.
JOHN ROTH: And the other thing you mentioned at the beginning was just that you seem to know almost everybody you're fencing against. It's kind of a small sport in that there's only 40 or so schools that have fencing. And at the NCAA's it's coed team championship and people that you've fenced all year with your schedule. You've fenced most of these people throughout college, not just in high school. What's that kind of like? Are there like certain rivalries that are developed? Is it like fencing all your friends? Like what's the interpersonal side of that like?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, it is super cool because you have people at different schools that you've, you're like, oh, like this so and so is going to the Ivy leagues or whatever. And then you just run into them at NCAAs. And a lot of these people are world champs, national champs, and they've just had a really good track record for their entire career. And so, it's great to run into them because you know, like they're great fencers that it's always going to be a good bout. And it's super fun because you kind of had that history of maybe back and forth bouts or like you go in, you're like, "Oh man, I really want to beat this person." And so, it's honestly just a good time. Like it's super intense on the strip and then off the strip, even though it's like a long day with a lot of bouts, you know, everyone's super cordial. And wouldn't say we've had any aggressive rivalries or anything. I don't know, fencing's one of those sports, but it's definitely, you know, there are those people you want to beat. Maybe they come from Notre Dame, come from Columbia that are super strong fencers and you just want to go in with as much drive and aggression as possible.
JOHN ROTH: You mentioned Notre Dame and Columbia. And I think those two teams have won the last seven championships and say one of the other those Notre Dame's won it two years in a row. Last year, the tournament was at Notre Dame. The year before was that Penn State. You guys get to host it this year. What do you think will be different about being in the host roles or any kind of home strip advantage or like what will be some things that you'll enjoy about having it on your home turf?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, I can't wait to see the turnout of just families and friends that come to come to watch because I know last year Notre Dame had a crazy amount of people just cheering for them on their side. And so, I'm really excited to have all my friends and family behind me really cheering for us because you know, like NCAA's it's like that sort of individual aspect, which is tough and different from the rest of the season because it's mostly team format, but when you get to NCAA's it's all of a sudden individual. So, it's kind of tough to get that same sort of energy. And I think having that crowd behind you, especially being home and being in Cameron is going to be super cool. And you're going to be able to invite all of your friends and make everyone come and yell as loud as they can and make signs and whatever. So, it's going to be super fun.
JOHN ROTH: Is there much of a closeness or rivalry with Duke and Notre Dame and fencing. I know earlier in the year you guys beat Notre Dame on the women's side and they beat you in the ACC's and they obviously as a team have won some NCAAs. What's it like between Duke and Notre Dame on the strip.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: I think we're always just pushing as hard as we can to you know fence them as well as we can. They do have a lot of fantastic fencers. They've got like I was saying like world champs on their team and just very experienced people. And so, we really just try and go and rally together as much as we can as a team, and you know give them the best fight we can because you know they're obviously they've got a huge track record of really great wins and a very strong coaching staff and very strong team. And so, you know we just try and give them our best fight and it's really fun every time. I think we're we always feel like we're edging a little bit closer every year.
JOHN ROTH: Mentioning just the fact that they've got a good track record. Duke fencing's got a pretty good track record and the especially the NCAA championships I think in the last 12 years you've been in the top 10 11 times including 10th last year. So maybe tell us a little bit about what the culture of Duke fencing is like and why it's so successful. What you guys enjoy most about your program.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah of course I first of all I love the team. I think that the people the coaches do a really great job at choosing the right people for the team and the right people for the school and the people who are really going to care about being at practice and working and looking out for their teammates. And so, I love that. I love just like being in the locker room being able to chat with whoever like no matter who you're with it's a good vibe. And so that's something that really means something to me, and I think maybe not something that other teams always have. And I feel like I've made a lot of super close like lifelong friends on this team and that's been especially most important coming from fencing as an individual sport. I feel like I haven't really been used to maybe that team setting. And so it's been really cool like having this new development at Duke and being around these people all the time and going to practice with them getting meals with them and just traveling with them you know bus rides just hanging out watching movies having a good time and just really learning a lot about the team. And I think that's the most important thing that I like I love I've loved about Duke fencing and our coaches are amazing. They're always super dedicated and happy to be there. And they're really looking out for us too.
JOHN ROTH: Give us a sense of how you got into fencing to begin with and how you ended up at Duke to continue your fencing days.
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, for sure. So, when I was eight I watched the Lindsay Lohan remake of the Parent Trap. Don't laugh it's serious and there's that super cheesy scene where she's at camp and she's got like all the gear and fencing her double and I was like wow like that's super cool I was doing I think like dance and gymnastics at the time. And so, my mom just found the club I'm from New York so we found one that was like 20 minutes away. Fencing is pretty popular in New York, and I just tried it out you know super intense Russian coaches and I guess I loved it so I kept going with it. And I didn't really have a sense that it would get me into college. I think nowadays there are a lot of kids whose parents are trying to push for these sports that they know are going to get them into college. But I kind of just went in you know being like wow this is this is a super fun sport. I really like the people I really like the coaches and I really like the like high level of intensity being able to travel and compete. So I stuck with it and got into sophomore year of high school started talking to some schools and Duke just seemed like the right fit and I'm really happy to be here.
JOHN ROTH: What's maybe the best fencing experience you've had whether it's before Duke or during Duke?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Yeah, I really loved this past Duke meet. I think that was just the most emotion I've felt at a meet in college at least. I know I had a couple of great performances in high school one for instance I think it was just a random direct elimination bout, but I had to fence like this very distinguished Olympian. She's a really great fencer and I have a lot of respect for her and it was a super close bout and I ended up winning like by one point and so I came off the strip and I was crying and my friends were like oh it's okay she's really good and I was like no like a one and so that was really fun but I think nothing can really compare to the amount of just like sheer emotion that the Duke meet had like with your whole team behind you and just scoring that final touch like to win the meet for Penn State was something that like just really made me happy like my heart basically exploded. It was awesome just like run off the strip into the arms of my teammates and really feel like I belong there and really fenced hard for my team and so it was awesome to also see like performances from the freshmen and how they were doing so well and that was just awesome like I had so much fun just screaming my lungs out for them and like watching them perform at their top.
JOHN ROTH: So you use the word emotion I'm wondering if emotion has been around the Duke program throughout this year I know your head coach Alex Beguinet lost his wife at the beginning of the season and she was obviously a big part of the team as well as one of the administrators and recruiting coordinators and how much has that influenced impacted your team and how the season has played out and the things you guys have done with in yourselves as a team?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: Personally I put a lot of pressure on myself to kind of try and make this my best season as possible as I could for Elizabeth and really dedicate every bow to her name because you know like she did so much for us like she was behind the scenes and just I don't think anyone really knew how much heart she had for this team like she was always there when she could be she's going through treatments she was battling with cancer for so many years and yet she was still there still like setting up recruitment appointments like meeting with people checking in on us and seeing how we were doing setting up our food like for our meets and traveling as much as she could and it was crazy just like watching her like you couldn't even tell almost because she was she took it with so much grace and I think we've all just tried to try to be there for Alex even though it's like it's such an impossible time and no one can really know how he's feeling but we're just trying to you know keep our spirits up keep our fencing as tight as it can be and really dedicate this whole season to them and so I think that especially having the Duke meet here or the NCAA is here is going to be really exciting and hopefully a good finale for our Fence for the Fight campaign which we've been running for this entire semester and Elizabeth's honor to try and raise as much money for her and as much awareness for breast cancer as well.
JOHN ROTH: I hear that's been a very successful campaign too as well so far with over $70,000 dollars raised to this point that I know of so congrats on that it's so great that you guys could do that and I guess just to wrap this up what would be maybe upper most in your mind as far as goals for yourself or your team as you go into the national meet?
CHRISTINA FERRARI: I think as you were saying like going in with Elizabeth in mind and really having that campaign for her and having her in all of our hearts as we go in like there's eight of us for NCAAs, which is a really exciting number to qualify, and I think we're all just going to go in and try and fight as hard as we can and have as much fun as we can just make as much noise for Duke and Elizabeth and Alex as we possibly can.
JOHN ROTH: Alex Beguinet has been Duke's head coach for 38 years and he's guided fencers to NCAA qualifying nearly every year. He's had two national champions, Becca Ward three times for the women and Jeremy Kahn for the men and he's had three Olympians in his programs as well. Hosting the NCAA nationals at any sport is somewhat rare for Duke. Of course, the school has hosted countless NCAA postseason events from earlier rounds of play and numerous sports but for national finals the list of Duke hosted events includes two men's golf championships and two outdoor track and field championships. Director of Athletics, Nina King has pleased her department has a chance to provide a championship experience for top student athletes with this event.
NINA KING: It's a huge deal. We're really excited to showcase Cameron in a different light by hosting the NCAA Fencing Championships. The very best teams from all over the country here. Fencing including ours, we are having a great year and it's been exciting to watch both our men and women battle and bring home some really great victories. Last year we hosted the ACC Championship here in Cameron so it was kind of a dress rehearsal if you will for the NCAA Championships and Cameron looked amazing. Our team does such a good job of hosting all kinds of events, but you know fencing is a little bit unique all the equipment and strips that need to come out and all the pipe and drape and all of the different areas in the gym. It's just amazing what they are able to do, and you know hosting NCAA Championships just takes that to another level. So, it's a lot of work but we've got an incredible facilities and game operations team that really will spend countless hours putting it together and just ensuring that it is an elite experience as those student athletes competing deserve.
JOHN ROTH: Duke student athletes have had some successful experiences at other NCAA championships this month. One of our guests on the February podcast, runner Amina Maatoug had a strong showing at the NCAA indoor track and field meet taking 7th place in the mile to earn first team All-American honors. Then an hour later she placed 14th in the 3000 meters for second team All-America. That's after she came back from the ACC championship meet with a gold, silver, and bronze medal to earn ACC women's track MVP honors. Another guest last month senior wrestler Jonah Niesenbaum was the ACC heavyweight runner up and competed in nationals where he lost his opening bout then split two consolation round matches to finish the season with a 26-6 record. And in NCAA swimming and diving championships which are still underway as we record this, Duke has had a few noteworthy performances particularly freshman Kaelyn Gridley and junior Sarah Foley both of whom earned first team All-American honors in the same event the 200 breaststroke. Now each month we try to visit with the Duke alumnus and this time we have a former Blue Devil basketball captain who is deeply involved in the NCAA men's basketball tournament as a television analyst. Jim Spanarkel class of 1979 and a Duke athletics Hall of Famer led the Blue Devils to two NCAAs as a player including the 1978 Final Four. He played a few years in NBA and has been working as a broadcaster for about four decades now. He spent close to 30 years working on NBA broadcast for the Nets while also managing a college schedule each year. This is his 25th NCAA tournament on CBS with now 20 of those working alongside Ian Eagle. After spending the opening weekend of the tournament in Greensboro he and Eagle are in Louisville for the south region this week. We caught up with him via zoom during a stopover at home in New Jersey to talk about his career in analyzing March Madness.
JIM SPANARKEL: Well, first of all, I consider myself lucky to be able to be part of it. CBS has been very loyal in terms of having me do it for 25 years. I think we have a nice working relationship there so I've been fortunate to work for them and now obviously the TNT, TBS, and Tru TV partnership has been great. After I get past the fact that I'm lucky to be doing it, I just think overall that the way this thing has evolved over the last 10, 15, 20 years … I mean if you go back to when I was in the NCAA Tournament in 1978, we were lucky to get on national TV once during our regular season I think it was with the ACC tournament and now you fast forward 10 years decade by decade by decade and the amount of options that fans have to watch the games. I think the partnership of CBS and TNT and Tru TV was very, very smart in terms of almost putting the clicker back in the viewer's hand so they can go from station to station to station. I mean years ago … I mean it might be 12 years ago, that that didn't exist or whatever the partnership has been around but if you think back when they would go from game to game you might be leaning in and watching a game and you have to flip to another game because that game is coming to an end and maybe the viewer didn't want to by giving the viewer the option to be able to do that I thought that was genius in terms of figuring that out because quite candidly you know if you're a Duke fan you want to watch Duke but you know what you might have an interest in another ACC school that's playing right now and you want to flip back and forth and you can jump whatever you want. I think the fact that not only with the media has grown with it but all these different forms of both the iPhone and the access to making comments and social networking just to use you know can't you know use that as a phrase has magnified this to a degree that I don't think anybody would have predicted five years ago or seven years ago type of thing it's just and it seems to be catching more and more fire with the different ways that you can access the games and it's just I'm lucky to be a part of it and watch what's been going around from a technology standpoint to see the advancement of the tournament.
JOHN ROTH: What are some of the things that are that you find the most enjoyable alluring like what do you like most about doing the tournament?
JIM SPANARKEL: Clearly I like the fact that it's a one-and-done atmosphere you know during the regular season when I do games I mean if a team loses a game they don't want to lose a game team wins a game they don't get too high you lose you know okay it's the next game on the schedule we have to prepare for you know the fact that everybody comes into this knowing that it's a one and done atmosphere is absolutely fabulous because what happens there it upticks the sense of urgency I think it upticks the intensity not to say that they don't play hard during the course of the year because they do but you know we're unlucky where I get the best seat in the house I'm sitting right at half court and watching these kids spill their guts really on the floor for every single play knowing that I want to contribute on this play as much as I can mentality and I think nine other guys on the floor have the same mentality and that's the mentality you bring in trying to convey what they're doing to the audience as far as your role as the commentator analyst. My role is to you know fortunately working with Ian Eagle one of the best in the business as a play by play guy to play off him but I would I try to bring to the table from an analyst standpoint is not shtick it's just strategy and telling people and trying to you know educate those who don't watch it you know when you watch the NCAA Tournament games is a cross-section of people who are watching the games right there are some who are really astute basketball fans and affectionately called like junkies all the way across the board to people who are just tuning in because it's the NCAA Tournament it's March Madness and I want to follow my team for this one or there's a team in the state that I want to follow or whatever reason they like a story about a team so my job is in talking basketball is to make sure that I explain things what's going on and why it's going on really I focus on the why of why things are going on so an example of that would be a guy gets a layup okay we can all see that he gets a two point layup but why did he get that layup what caused that layup was there a screen that he do something before something happened before the actual shot so I spent pretty much all my time in the basketball analysis side trying to figure out what's going on the fly and try to bring it to the audience to try to explain that to him and maybe tell them a little bit more about basketball than they might not have known before this game.
JOHN ROTH: Did you share with us just for a few moments how you got into the broadcasting side of it after you're playing at Duke playing in the NBA, I know you went to the Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor and you've been doing that for about 40 years now but also how did you get into the basketball TV side of the sport?
JIM SPANARKEL: Well, that's a funny story from what I began when I finished playing basketball way back in 1984, I wanted to try to get into broadcasting try a couple of outlets that didn't have any success for a year or two. I happened to notice in a local paper up here in New Jersey that the New Jersey Nets at the time had hired a radio broadcaster named Howard David and the very last line of that little article that was written in local papers said that they have not selected or hired an analyst at this point for the radio so I called up a gentleman named Bob Cassiolo who ironically was at Princeton at one time but he was the football coach but he was the CEO of the New Jersey Nets. I called him up I had met him once before and I said, "Hey Bob, I'd be and I noticed Howard David has been selected to do this I'd love to talk to you about being a color commentator for radio." I went down to his office we talked for a little while and he said, "You know if you and Howard go out to lunch if you get along the job is yours." We went out to lunch. I got the job. And what Bill Raftery was doing the Nets at the time as the number one guy, he was doing ESPN and they leave CBS at the time and when he had to go do an ESPN game there was a television opening for the Nets and they came to me … the company at the time came to me and said, "hey would you be interested in trying to do television?" I said absolutely, so I was lucky my first year to get I probably did about 40 or 45 radio games, but I also did 20 to 25 television games really with no experience. So it was kind of learning on the fly and just kind of gravitated towards it felt that, you know, I was lucky for my background of basketball the way I was taught how to play and how I guess I played as a player from a fundamental standpoint it never really was that difficult for me I mean in learning how to do with the mechanics of it the talking basketball was always fun and it's really just talking basketball but understanding the dynamics of the difference between doing radio and television.
JOHN ROTH: A moment ago you mentioned Ian Eagle, the play-by-play announcer you've been working with for most of your NCAA Tournament career, and I know you worked with him a lot with the Nets several years ago and you guys have been working together for a long time. What's it like to be working with him? He's like, I mean as you said before one of the best in the business. You can tell because next year after Jim Nance retired, he's moving up to the Final Four broadcasting team. What's it like working with him? Obviously, you guys have a lot of great chemistry together.
JIM SPANARKEL: Yeah, I mean I think the chemistry alone helps us so much. I mean we've never put a number to it, but we did so many … you know when you think about it, we've worked, oh I don't know about 20 plus years or CBS and March Madness. So, if you do the math and say we did six games a year with that you know and then we did hundreds and hundreds of games with the Nets as play-by-play and analyst. We've probably done anywhere from 300 to 400 games. So, we usually when people ask both of us that question, it's almost like we can answer one another's sentences and you just pick up a sixth sense for somebody. I mean I know pretty much when he's going to stop speaking. He knows when I'm stopping speaking. If a play occurs, for example, I can read his body language. You know if say an official or it's a foul in traffic and he can't see through the traffic and I can, I can sense that because we've done so many games together and I'll just point to a number on my roster sheet he'll know that that's the guy who was fouled and he'll just carry on. So, we've been lucky from that standpoint that we've built a lot of chemistry. We know one another. We're close friends. I think the fact that we kind of both know what we're doing in our own craft and the fact that we get along pretty well and very well I would say kind of meshes on the air and I think people generally say … oh you know if they say they enjoy our broadcast but I think that they're also saying they enjoy the way we kind of, you know, bounce one another around a little bit.
JOHN ROTH: You guys are doing the south regional in Louisville for the Sweet 16 and one of the teams there is the number 15 seed Princeton. I know last year you had a chance to do some games with the number 15 seed St. Peter's and they certainly energized the tournament. When you have one of these so-called Cinderella stories involved in your broadcast this late in the tournament how much is that energized and just affect the way you do the games?
JIM SPANARKEL: You try to do it, quite candid, try to do it the same way as you would in normal game but with the understanding of what you have on your plate you will in terms of being aware of that and being more keenly aware that if they're playing well that a lot of people are now using their clickers, if you will, to catch up on the story. You know Ian and I were just like ridiculously lucky last year to get St. Peter's run. I'm a Jersey City guy. St. Peter's, for people who may be listening and don't know, that St. Peter's University is in Jersey City. I grew up three blocks away from St. Peter's University, so I knew the place intimately. But when you're doing a game, I couldn't be rah rah for St. Peter's even though I knew the school that well. My wife went to school there. Two of my three brothers. So, you have to remove yourself from a lot of things when you're doing a game and just try to be as objective as you possibly can, so nobody tags you. And there are a lot of people listening and commenting these days, so nobody tags you with quote unquote being a homer or being subjective to one team. But when you have a team … like I'm looking forward to Princeton because they're an interesting team. I just ended up watching just about one of their games on video. I'll watch another one tonight probably. But you know they're just they're really sound. I mean people… I think people is a misnomer and I used to say this about 10 years ago when we had Princeton in the NCAA Tournament, people would say, "You know, oh well that's you know they're a slow methodical non-athletic team that just back doors you to death." And back then I sat with the coach and watched them, and I said, "You know, you're the furthest thing away from a slow non-athletic team you know." These kids that are playing for Princeton, and just watching them, are very athletic. They're smart. They have a good collective IQ for basketball. They have individual IQs for basketball. So, I think they'll play their game. They're gonna … yeah, they'll throw a back door in there if they have to but they're passing the basketball. They're attacking. The timing of their attacks are usually pretty good in what I've seen. They don't seem to get rattled too often in terms of the way they play. So probably be a good game, but then again, I stopped predicting these games a long time ago and you know you look at St. Peter's and what they did to be quite honest, I didn't have that one rolled up in a magic carpet and unveiled at the same here we go St. Peter's is gonna win three games. nobody did.
JOHN ROTH: Well in 25 years of doing the tournament is there one like game or team or event that kind of stands out to you that was really fun or surprising or amazing or that you'll never forget?
JIM SPANARKEL: You know, it's the one we've been talking about with St. Peter's. I mean it never happened. You have a 15 you know playing all those teams and you. think of who they played right they played Kentucky that was you know fairly decent SEC team last year. Murray State had a terrific season I think they went a little bit maybe 30 or 32 games. you get the big team from the big 10 in Purdue and just one by one by one they chopped, chopped, and chopped and ended up winning three games and then you know they run into Carolina who was just as we both know was playing the best basketball pretty much anybody obviously other than Kansas at that point. but and they ran into the buzz so with Carolina but those three games collectively will be the three games that I kind of merge into one event if you will that I'll remember and people around New Jersey and now you know with FDU doing what they just did and now Princeton and do what they're doing you know people are saying you know hey is FDU going to be the next and I know they've lost last night but hey is FDU going to be the next St. Peter's. well Prince would be the next St. Peter's you know who knows that's the beauty of this tournament.
JOHN ROTH: Well as we let you go; I just want to ask you one do question. I just wonder when you're doing all these games and seeing different things that unfold every year if you ever have a moment to reflect back on when you were in the NCAA Tournament. You kind of had both spectrums there. You were kind of one of the Cinderella teams that one year that got to the Final Four and then you're seeing you kind of had the very abrupt ending of one and done you ever think about and then you just spent this past weekend in Greensboro where you had some a lot some of your greatest moments as well as the player you ever personally think back to some of that when you're involved with this?
JIM SPANARKEL: Yeah, you know each year the NCAA Tournament in the finals bring back the memories of that team that as you touched on was a team that was kind of … you know we were a very good team but we weren't expected to do what we did. we became kind of a favorite if you will of the United States of people watching our team. So yeah, I think back at those days. And then you know the Greensboro Coliseum is different you know revamped and rebuilt and it looks great. But being there over the weekend, I had not a lot of people one or two people come up to me say, "Didn't you play in this in this arena back a hundred years ago?" and I said, "Yeah we had a good time." It was a lot of fun. And so I do think back about that and that team and the run we went on and the fact that I was in Greensboro kind of you know brought back a little you know different way of thinking about it in terms of how successful we were there.
JOHN ROTH: During his playing career in the 1970s, Spanarkel and the Blue Devils saw a lot of Greensboro Coliseum every year. There was the old Big Four tournament with Carolina, State and Wake early in the season and all four of his ACC Tournaments were in Greensboro. Two of those reached the championship game with Duke winning there in 1978 to start the postseason run to the Final Four. This month we have another alumnus as a special guest, and he certainly fits the championship theme earlier this winter. He helped the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl over the Philadelphia Eagles. Of course, I'm talking about former all-ACC Duke tight end Noah Gray who was in his second year with the Chiefs after being drafted in the fifth round. Playing on the same roster with all pro tight end Travis Kelsey Gray still started eight games and played 52% of his team's snaps this past season with 28 catches. He spent a weekend back on campus before launching his off season workouts and we had a chance to talk about how some of his football dreams have been coming true in the NFL.
NOAH GRAY: Oh, it's been a lot of fun. Kansas City has been a lot of fun since we won the Super Bowl. I mean we just got some amazing fans over there. Great people who just love football. So, the turnout all season long, they turn out. At the Super Bowl and then to follow that up with amazing per hate and some other fun festivities just been absolutely awesome and pretty surreal so I never imagined you could have this much fun playing football, but it's definitely exceeded all of my possible imaginations.
JOHN ROTH: Were these some of your dreams you had like maybe when you were younger getting into football of these kind of accomplishments?
NOAH GRAY: Oh yeah for sure, I mean I grew up in Massachusetts, so my dad and I watched all the Patriots' Super Bowls there's a lot of success up there. We were big into professional sports being up in New England college sports wasn't really as big of entertainment for a lot of folks up there so it was always something that we watched year in and year out and it's something that I had always dreamed about and talked about with my dad and then you know fortunately I was finally able to kind of get to that point and you know we just had a great team and you know I'm just trying to do my job and it was just so much fun being a part of such amazing teammates but a great coaching staff and everything that kind of went into that Super Bowl run.
JOHN ROTH: What's it actually like to play in that game? I mean some people talk about you got to treat it like just another game, but is that possible? Do you have to consciously think this is just another game or do you let all the hype and everything around help feel what you do?
NOAH GRAY: Yeah, I mean I think guys are different. You know and the crazy thing about the Super Bowl is just how different it is from a regular season and even a playoff game with the difference and how much time each timeout is during, you know, play timeouts. They'll add regular TV timeouts to get commercials in. Halftime's obviously longer with the whole halftime show and there's just a lot of glitz and glamour to it. And there's a lot of people who are there and you know it's definitely something when you first walk into the stadium it kind of catches you a little bit if you haven't been there before like I was. But eventually, you kind of just settle down and you start warming up and you start getting back into a normal routine. I thought our coaches and our staff and our analytics staff did a great job explaining what to expect in terms of what we should be doing during those longer breaks that we normally don't have. I think it really helped us with and it helped me being a first time in the Super Bowl with just understanding what I needed to do to be as successful as I could and help the team as much as I could as if it was a normal regular season or postseason game.
JOHN ROTH: Seems like the longest break was that halftime while most of us were watching Rihanna out there perform you guys were making some adjustments and came out with a great second half down by 10 at halftime and then you scored every time you had the ball in the second half to win the game what kind of things were you doing at halftime and kind of getting prepared for the second half run that you guys had?
NOAH GRAY: Well, we could hear Rihanna in the locker room, so that was pretty awesome. But no, I mean, I think our coaches did a great job just kind of settling us down. We got great leadership in that locker room with Pat and Travis and Chris and a whole lot of other guys. I mean it wasn't even just you know the top guys on our team. Like it was guys who may not have even spoken up all year long and that it was really cool to kind of hear kind of the energy and kind of the focus that everyone in that locker room had. Instead going out there into the second half and just playing the game that we know and we love you know and I thought everyone kind of settled down and we just kind of, you know, just went out there and executed the game plan that our coaches had given us. Not any more than that. Not any less than that. Just kind of doing our job and just enjoying being out there and playing football. At the end of the day, football is fun, and I think a lot of guys made it fun in that second half.
JOHN ROTH: How about for you overall this season your second year and the league second year with the Chiefs? How much fun was the year for you? Maybe tell us a bit about some of the ways that your game developed and grew in your second year.
NOAH GRAY: It was a lot of fun. And it was a blessing to, like I said, be a part of that team, part of the coaching staff there. I mean truly amazing guys there who have been able to help me develop throughout my past two years there and you know one thing that Kelce will even tell people is like he's still getting better every single year. Like he's not satisfied with what he's done and he's always looking for different ways to add on to his game and that's something that I've kind of tried to learn from him and that you know even when you're playing at the highest-level football that you can in the world that there's always room to improve. There's always room to get better and to never just be satisfied with where you are. I think a lot of our coaches and leaders in the team really embody that every day when they show up to practice and it's something that you know I think was even instilled when I was at Duke just because of how well you know Coach Cut really managed the team and made sure that we were taking practice and our practice habits to the next level. I'd really see that when you get to the professional level with a lot of guys that I played with, so I've just been fortunate enough to learn from some amazing teammates like Jody and Travis and Blake and all the other tight ends and even receivers. I mean, it all works together. It's not just the tight end room. The receivers are helping out. The quarterbacks are talking through some stuff. So, it really takes a whole team to work together and to get better and the harder you work as a team the better off you're going to be. You know it's not an individual thing and that's the biggest blessing about the sport of football.
JOHN ROTH: You've referenced Travis Kelce a couple of times here. I guess most people would consider him the best tight end in football and you're in the same room with him all the time. What do you think are some of the reasons that he is the best and besides what you just mentioned some other things you might have picked up from him being in the same room and at the same position with him? It seems like every time we watch the Chiefs game whenever it's like third and 10 or whatever he's always open. Why is he the guy that's always open?
NOAH GRAY: it's just years of preparation understanding of the game and he also works really hard with
Pat in the off season and he works hard with him in practice and making sure that he's out there for the reps that he needs to be out there and it's really just a credit to the work ethic that he puts in. Really just his understanding and his like need and want to understand more about what defenses are doing when you have a complete understanding of what's going on and what your coaches are asking you to do on certain plays and what you're able to see pre-snap and post snap from a defensive standpoint it helps you get open teams are running zone and you just have that natural feel for where you need to be on the field running your route and you're on the same page with the quarterback it's like night and day you know and sometimes it is hard watching Kelce and then trying to go out there and practice and you know doing that because it's just like it just comes so naturally to him because he spent so much time, effort, and energy into perfecting his craft of just understanding just the game football as a whole and he's really mastered that craft and it's something that's not easy to do and that's why he's going to go down is probably the best tight end to play the game.
JOHN ROTH: Do you like the seemingly multi-dimensional role that you have in the tight end position with that particular offense it seems like you can do a lot of different things and I know he's the starter and he plays most of the snaps but I saw that you played over 50% of the snaps this year and started half the game so you obviously have some things that you do in that role that you bring that you bring to the table as well. I saw you get a rushing touchdown against the Bucs this year just stepping up in front of your quarterback and taking a snap at the goal line so you do a lot of different things how do you like about that kind of role.
NOAH GRAY: Oh, I love it. I mean any chance I get to play football you know like I said before I just love the game and opportunities aren't given easy especially when you get to that level so I'm just grateful that you know coaches trust me to do things like that like to take a snap under center or to run some routes or to block some guys and you know I'm just grateful to be immersed in that and to have my coaches have that full trust and faith in me because at the end of the day you want to have that trust in your players but also back at your coaching staff and I think that's what makes the ship run so well.
JOHN ROTH: Now this is the off season for you after playing into February with the Super Bowl. What is your off season like over this kind of middle of the spring time is do you need some downtime just to recover from 20 NFL games and before you start launching into what you do to prepare for next year?
NOAH GRAY: Yeah man you got a party and have a little bit of fun you know I mean I mean it was a long season and you know fortunately for us we ended right where we wanted to on February 12th so I'm definitely going to take a little bit of time off and just have some fun. Just spend time with my friends and family maybe go relax down by the beach or something like that but yeah I really just kind of take it easy from here and then hopefully pick up some time in March and get back into it because at the end of the day we got another season coming up and we got a really good team and I'm really excited about kind of the direction that we can be going this year so yeah hopefully pick up back in the middle of March and then we'll get back with OTAs and keep this train rolling.
JOHN ROTH: What kind of things do you focus on or will you focus on when you get back into your personal training before you get back into the team concept like are there some certain things that have been identified for you that you need to that you want to work on to be better prepared for next year.
NOAH GRAY: I mean I think it's just every aspect of our game you know obviously I did a lot more blocking this year in line blocking as well so just making sure that I'm still getting right with my footwork making sure I'm still doing the things I need to do in terms of route running and evolving and that evolving my understanding of where I need to be in certain routes and just kind of putting myself in the right positions and you know putting that all together in the off season when I'm by myself or when I'm throwing with the quarterbacks is something that's huge so really just every aspect you know like I said before we always want to get better in everything that we do guys on defense and you know other positions out there always looking for ways to get an edge so making sure that you're always staying up to tune on that is super important to off season.
JOHN ROTH: What are maybe one or two of your more fond memories of playing football at Duke?
NOAH GRAY: Yeah, I mean the Virginia Tech game was fun just because they had been kicking our heads in since I started playing here and then junior year, we finally get them in Blacksburg in front of just jam-packed crowd out there. you know and a lot of the other memories really come from the hard work that we put in the Yoh building when we're working out or we're in the Pascal door and we're doing our conditioning stuff and some of the behind the scenes stuff in the locker room you know just that camaraderie with those guys I mean those guys that I committed to back in 2017 were guys who were in my wedding and you know guys that we just stay in touch with who I get to play against in the NFL and get to swap jerseys so just such an awesome culture that was built here and some great guys that I was fortunate enough to play with so all those memories of you know messing around with those guys and hanging out and doing different things that they'll always stick with me for the rest of my life.
JOHN ROTH: Thanks for spending some time I noticed you added a wedding ring before last season and you added a super boring after the season so pretty good year for you the last 12 months.
NOAH GRAY: I would just stack in rings man it's a good time and we're just enjoying life as it comes.
JOHN ROTH: While Noah has been stacking rings, he's also been impacting others he has over 30,000 followers on Instagram and when he posted a photo with his family from the field celebrating the Super Bowl victory many of the comments were from people inspired not just by his winning ways on the field but by his ability to manage a pro football career while living with type one diabetes.
For our closer this month we turn it over to Duke basketball coach John Scheyer who closed out his first season with a second-round exit from the NCAA tournament after becoming the first person ever to win the ACC tournament as both a player and a head coach. What will he remember most about his first season? Let's take a listen.
JON SCHEYER: I'll remember about this team how it started with you know the first half of the year where we got knocked back many times and they always responded you know we had besides one loss that we had we bounced back with a loss with a big win and the only loss that we had two in a row was at Virginia which we are right there in the final moments to have a chance to win and so I'm really proud of the response I'm proud of their resiliency and I'm proud look in college basketball in 2023 we don't have these teams for as long and so there's a lot of individual aspirations we have a group of freshmen who can be and will be NBA players so your mind can go other places and for our guys they stuck right in the moment they stayed together and that's what I'm most proud.
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