Best Mike Acquaviva Podcasts (2024)

1
CSR 290 Christopher Chen 36:18

1d ago36:18

36:18

He started into sports later in life, with basketball being his primary sport, including having attended a basketball training academy where he learned from NBA Skills Trainer Drew Hanlen. He also worked out with former NBA player and three-time dunk champion Nate Robinson. In addition, he played ball hockey, including winning four championships, a…

1
CSR 289 Lauren Hazbun 37:47

1d ago37:47

37:47

She is a current student-athlete, competing in the sport of volleyball. Away from the court, she brings her love of sports into her faith through a new non-profit that she is the founder and president of, called Field of Dreams Foundation: Catholic Sportsmanship in Action, Corp., which she talks about during this interview. She also shares strong f…

1
CSR 288 JJ Niekro 36:11

17d ago36:11

36:11

He is a pitcher for the Mississippi Braves, the Double A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, with whom he signed as a free agent in 2021 after having pitched in the MLB Draft League. He then proceeded to post a 2.76 earned run average over 16 ⅓ innings in rookie ball. He had played collegiately in Lakeland, Florida, and in high school as well. Fans of…

1
CSR 287 Mike Lynch 43:54

23d ago43:54

43:54

He is the head coach for women's soccer at Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic college in North Carolina. Having started there in 2011, he has a .633 winning percentage and has earned two conference regular season championships, two conference tournament championships, and competed in three NCAA postseason tournaments. Prior to Belmont Abbey, he also…

1
CSR 286 Dr. John Acquaviva 38:53

23d ago38:53

38:53

He played college baseball and then following his senior year took an offer to play professionally in Italy. He was educated in the field of fitness and exercise physiology and is a Catholic speaker, professor, and author, having written three books, the latest of which just came out in February and is called, "Improving Your Sportsmanship Through …

1
CSR 285 Brad Wilkerson 31:18

1M ago31:18

31:18

He served one year ago as Assistant Hitting Coach for Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. He played for eight seasons in MLB, having been drafted in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos and then going on to play for them and the Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays…

1
CSR 284 Thomas Morstead 40:59

1M ago40:59

40:59

He is the punter for the New York Jets, entering his 17th season in the NFL. He was chosen in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints and went on to play his first twelve seasons with them before playing for both the Jets and the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, then the Miami Dolphins in 2022, and back to the Jets last season. He i…

1
CSR 283 Fr Jason Nioka 27:35

2M ago27:35

27:35

A former judo champion who has walked the path from seminarian to the diaconate to – 48 HOURS BEFORE THIS INTERVIEW – ordination, while being in charge of the largest contingent of Olympic chaplains, about 40 Catholic priests, nuns, and lay faithful. This role of service to the world's elite athletes is under the banner of the Holy Games, a project…

1
CSR 282 Robbie Mouton 39:46

2M ago39:46

39:46

He was a pitcher on his high school baseball team, including being All-State AND having thrown a no-hitter at a tournament where he made the All-Tournament squad. He went on to college baseball at both Bradley University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He also played in the Northwoods League for the Alexandria Blue Anchors. Almost immediate…

1
CSR 281 Jared Veldheer 33:53

2M ago33:53

33:53

He is a veteran of 12 years in the NFL as an offensive tackle, including having come out of retirement three times - as recently as this past December! He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft and, in addition to that team, went on to also play for the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, and …

1
CSR 280 Larry Tucker 38:08

2M ago38:08

38:08

He was chosen by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the eighth round of the 1983 NBA Draft. He has been enshrined in both the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Valley Conference Hall of Fame. He is the Lewis University men's basketball all-time scoring leader and helped the program to its first conference championship…

1
CSR 279 Taylor Kemp 39:48

3M ago39:48

39:48

He is a former Major League Soccer player with over 100 MLS appearances throughout a six-year career that took him to four continents and more than ten countries. He spent ten years in locker rooms of the highest level, from the University of Maryland, to D.C. United, to the U.S. Men’s National team. On the faith side, after living a life apart fro…

1
CSR 278 Matt Hoven 41:12

3M ago41:12

41:12

This is something of a special edition. This guest was on the show before, more than a year-and-a-half ago, back on Episode 190 in September 2022. He is a professor and Kule Chair at St. Joseph’s College, a Catholic college at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. And since we met him then – and you can go back and hear his story on that …

1
CSR 277 Krista Steinbeiser 43:52

3M ago43:52

43:52

She has coached for FC Dallas Juniors and for TOCA -- which is an official soccer training partner of MLS -- in addition to being a private trainer / entrepreneur for soccer skills, camps, and events. She has six years of training in Krav Maga, Karate, Jiu-jitsu, and other forms of self-defense and now teaches private lessons to individuals, groups…

1
CSR 276 Brett Milazzo 37:15

3M ago37:15

37:15

He is an outfielder with the Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League, which is a Professional Partner League of Major League Baseball. Last year in 78 games played he batted .300 and had a .995 fielding percentage. After playing collegiately at the University of Minnesota-Duluth he went on to play double A ball with the Chicago Dogs of the Americ…

1
CSR 275 Colleen Scariano 33:11

4M ago33:11

33:11

She grew up playing a wide array of sports, from softball, basketball, volleyball, and track, to swimming and volleyball. She has also played golf and in tennis leagues, plus she has run a half-marathon AND a triathlon. Present day her focus, fitness-wise, is on stretching, strength, and restorative movement, adding that she loves a good hike. She …

1
CSR 274 Fr Steve Kim 35:33

4M ago35:33

35:33

He has been the Catholic chaplain for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers for the last eight years, which have included two trips to the Super Bowl. He was a competitive golfer, to the point of having considered going pro at one point, AND he did a 53-mile walk from East San Jose to East San Francisco as part of a fundraiser. He is the founder and presid…

1
CSR 273 Ciaran Clarke 31:53

4M ago31:53

31:53

He is an undefeated professional MMA fighter, currently boasting a 9-0 won-lost record, with his most recent victory having come on March 22nd, winning by way of a third-round submission in a featherweight match, after which he said, "I feel really great in this weight class and please with the help of God we can keep this streak going." He hails f…

1
CSR 272 Anna Zschuppe 40:56

4M ago40:56

40:56

She grew up playing soccer from the age of 9 and played goalkeeper and striker for AC Premier, Croatia Cleveland, and Kirtland High School and was trained under some notable former U.S. national team players. She also has received her youth futsal/indoor referee license from the U.S. Soccer Federation, and she served as the girls’ head soccer coach…

1
CSR 271 Claudio Reilsono 39:25

5M ago39:25

39:25

He has had a long career in baseball, including being the all-time leader in wins as coach of the Carnegie Mellon University baseball team, which he guided to consecutive conference championships in 2015 and 2016. As a professional scout, he has assisted in professional player signings all over the world and in 2002 was named General Manager of the…

1
CSR 270 Mark Aylward 32:50

5M ago32:50

32:50

He has played sports his whole life. He was captain, All-Star, and MVP of his high school baseball team and a starter on their varsity basketball team. Collegiately he attended Notre Dame and played in the Bookstore Basketball Tournament all four years that he was in college. After high school he had continued to play in a variety of sports into hi…

1
CSR 269 Paul Joel 29:41

5M ago29:41

29:41

He has a miraculous health-related story. On the sports side, he played football in high school and college, including in the Glenwood Football League and training camp with the New York Jets’ farm team. During his first two years he became the best table tennis player in college. As a Pulmonary Fellow at Mass General Hospital, he worked with some …

1
CSR 268 Terry Tucker 32:10

5M ago32:10

32:10

He attended The Citadel on an athletic scholarship, going on to co-captain the men's basketball team in his senior year and then receiving the Senior Class Sportsmanship Award at graduation. He had played for Marist High School in Chicago and was co-captain and MVP of his team in his senior year and was All-State Honorable Mention. He had also play…

1
CSR 267 Dave Schultz 29:46

5M ago29:46

29:46

He was active playing baseball as a youngster, and then added swimming to his list of sports when he got to junior high. As he got into high school, he stuck with swimming but dropped baseball, only to find out in the future that he was being scouted at the time. Later in life he taught at a Catholic school where he was also the softball coach and …

1
CSR 266 Bonnie-Jill Laflin 30:34

6M ago30:34

30:34

She is a trailblazing sports broadcaster, TV personality, author, and philanthropist. She is the first and only female NBA scout, holding the front office executive position with the Los Angeles Lakers. A former ballet dancer, she is the first woman to dance at a professional level for three teams in two sports: the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and …

1
CSR 265 Bill Bommarito 36:41

6M ago36:41

36:41

He has written a book on coaching youth sports, which just came out at the start of this month and is titled, "Beyond the Skills and Drills: The Keys to Successfully Coaching Youth Sports." He has been involved with both high school and youth sports for 47 years. In addition, his nationwide coaching and parenting seminars have been attended or watc…

1
CSR 264 Joseph M Lenard 34:10

6M ago34:10

34:10

He played hockey from a very early age, starting off as a center before switching to goaltender, playing for his high school, and then going on to become a goalie coach and ultimately head coach. He then spent approximately two decades as a referee for the Michigan Hockey Association of United States. He has also written multiple books, including, …

1
CSR 263 Faust Ruggiero 30:38

6M ago30:38

30:38

He played baseball in college and has coached over thirty youth sports teams across baseball, soccer, and basketball. In addition, back in 1994 he started Phillies Fan Central, bringing fans of the MLB team together toward a common goal of enhanced communication with the organization. This will mark thirty years of providing services to Phillies fa…

1
CSR 262 Annie Agar 32:08

7M ago32:08

32:08

She is a sports content creator who has more than 1.6 million followers between TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter combined. She is also an NFL and college football correspondent, and has extensive sports broadcasting experience, including having been a sports reporter at the local news station in her hometown and having done sideline reporting for the…

1
CSR 261 Erin Yenney 32:17

7M ago32:17

32:17

She just retired a year-and-a-half ago after having been a pro soccer player, although she has now started a new semi-pro women's indoor soccer team. Her pro playing career had seen her with a team in Turkey, which was preceded by playing for a team in Finland. Before that she played for two different teams here in the States in the National Women'…

1
CSR 260 Jimmy Coleman 36:57

7M ago36:57

36:57

He is in the middle of completing three ultramarathons in 30 days. The last one will be at the end of this month and is being called an Adoration Ultra, which will start in Mass, then Adoration, and then running to other Catholic churches and spending time in Adoration at those. He currently owns one course record for most miles ran in 24 hours (10…

1
CSR 259 Fr Don Calloway 29:14

7M ago29:14

29:14

He is closing in on 21 years since his ordination to the priesthood. He is Vicar Provincial and Vocation Director for the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. He is also a well-known conference speaker AND leads pilgrimages to Catholic shrines around the world. He is the author of 18 books and…

1
CSR 258 Dan Torpey 42:34

8M ago42:34

42:34

He is a competitive Masters Athlete for Olympic weightlifting and strongman competitions, AND he works as a referee, plus he is on the Board for USA Olympic Weightlifting. He has won bronze and gold medals at local and Texas state meets and even did a strongman competition in late 2019 and finished in third place for the master’s group and qualifie…

1
CSR 257 Jay Romig 31:57

8M ago31:57

31:57

He is the Team Administrative Director for the National Football League's New Orleans Saints and has the distinction of being the organization's longest serving employee, having started with the team in 1977 as an assistant athletic trainer. In 2017 the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame presented him with the Joe Gemelli "Fleur-De-Lis" Award, and he …

1
CSR 256 Bennett Lee 30:19

8M ago30:19

30:19

A catcher who this past June was chosen by the Detroit Tigers in the sixth round of the 2023 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft after having played collegiately, first at Tulane University and then at Wake Forest. Prior to that, he was a four-year letterwinner on the baseball team at Jesuit High School in Tampa, having been part of the team that r…

1
CSR 255 Dr Dobie Moser 39:12

8M ago39:12

39:12

A special episode, of sorts, he returns after having previously been on this show way back on Episode 120, more than two-and-a-half years ago. He is the Senior Director of Mission Integration, CYO, and Social Action for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Cleveland. Earlier this year he was awarded St. Ambrose parish's Servant Leader Award. Over t…

1
CSR 254 David Belfield 31:48

9M ago31:48

31:48

He is the head men's basketball coach at Belmont Abbey College -- a Catholic institution. Previously he had been an assistant coach at the United States Military Academy (Army West Point). As a student-athlete he had played collegiately for two seasons at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, before moving into a student-assistant coaching role. …

1
CSR 253 Rick Eckstein 44:22

9M ago44:22

44:22

He has been working in baseball for parts of four decades now, including having been the hitting coach for the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as the player information coach for the Los Angeles Angels AND the minor league hitting coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. He was also on the coaching staff of the 2008 Team USA Oly…

1
CSR 252 Joe Wieland 34:16

9M ago34:16

34:16

He has been playing professional baseball since being selected in the fourth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers. He is a pitcher who has played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners, plus he has earned numerous honors while pitching at the minor league level, and he even spent a c…

1
CSR 251 Bear Woznick 43:37

9M ago43:37

43:37

He returns after having first been on this show way back in October of 2019 (Episode 38). He is a TV and radio host, author, speaker, and world surfing champion. He operates Deep Adventure Ministries and his new book -- his third book -- is called, "12 Rules for Manliness: Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"…

1
CSR 250 Dr Brian Duncan 36:02

9M ago36:02

36:02

He owns and coaches at a mixed martial arts gym and runs an acupuncture sports medicine clinic. He has been training in martial arts for 30 years, having started in karate and gotten his black belt in Koei Kan Karate at just 14 years old. He eventually trained in Wing Chun and practiced and taught it for ten years and got a black belt in it as well…

1
CSR 249 Brooks Bollinger 41:02

10M ago41:02

41:02

He was chosen by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft and spent time with four different organizations between then and 2009, to also include the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and Detroit Lions. He went on to play for the United Football League's Florida Tuskers, leading them to a perfect regular season won-lost record an…

1
CSR 248 Marty Langlois 32:07

10M ago32:07

32:07

She runs Rebuild the Body -- Catholic-based coaching integrated with fitness -- and she also runs Catholic Body Image, which uses a Theology of the Body approach. She is also a fitness instructor and is in the early stages of starting a podcast. As a student-athlete she had played basketball in high school and then in college worked the women's bas…

1
CSR 247 Nick Schneigert 36:29

10M ago36:29

36:29

The Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach at the University of Dallas, which is a Catholic institution. Prior to his current position he had spent a year-and-a-half working as the Program and Events Manager with Chicago Area Runners Association. He has a wealth of coaching experience that includes collegiate, high school, youth club, and adult…

1
CSR 246 Talmadge Nunnari 51:58

10M ago51:58

51:58

He played for Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos after having been chosen by them in the ninth round of the 1997 MLB Amateur Draft out of Jacksonville University. At that school he hit better than .330 each season with the Dolphins, including a school record .450 batting average in 1997, when he earned multiple honors. As a student-athlete he h…

1
CSR 245 Bill Lazor 43:24

11M ago43:24

43:24

He is a Senior Offensive Assistant with the NFL's Houston Texans. He has 15 years of NFL experience, including serving as Offensive Coordinator with the Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, and Chicago Bears. He was also the Quarterbacks Coach for Cincinnati, a role that he'd held with Philadelphia, Washington, and Seattle as well. He had gotten his…

1
CSR 244 Julia Webb 44:56

11M ago44:56

44:56

(PARENTS MIGHT SCREEN THIS EPISODE BEFORE LISTENING WITH MINORS.) With two very powerful stories that she shares here (and a borderline third at the end), she is in her second season as an assistant coach with the Ave Maria University cross country and track programs. Previously she'd been an assistant coach for the cross country and track programs…

1
CSR 243 Ray McKenna 29:45

11M ago29:45

29:45

A Washington, D.C.-based attorney and former general counsel of the General Services Administration. He served as a lay baseball chaplain for eight years and is the president and founder of Catholic Athletes for Christ. He has served in sports-related ministry for close to 30 years including ministries associated with Major League Baseball, the NFL…

1
CSR 242 Chris McManes 38:37

11M ago38:37

38:37

He is entering his eighth year as Assistant Baseball Coach at DeMatha Catholic High School near Washington, DC, having been the freshman head coach for two of his years there. He has also worked as Sports Information Director at Catholic University, which is also near our nation's capital. His career in sports has also included work as a journalist…

1
CSR 241 Mick Souza 42:13

12M ago42:13

42:13

He is a former World Bodybuilding Champion, including having won Mr. Universe in 1992. All told he competed in AAU Mr. East Coast, AAU Mr. USA, AAU Mr. America, and NABBA Mr. Universe -- some of those more than once and earning three first place finishes and two second place. He also competed in the 1991 Tokyo Sumo Wrestling Premier Event, winning …

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