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PODCAST

Good Seats Still Available

"Good Seats Still Available" is a curious little podcast devoted to the exploration of what used-to-be in professional sports. Each week, host Tim Hanlon interviews former players, owners, broadcasters, beat reporters, and surprisingly famous "super fans" of teams and leagues that have come and gone - in an attempt to unearth some of the most wild and woolly moments in (often forgotten) sports history.

sports

All Episodes

01:36:34

381: "Selling Baseball" - With Jeff Orens

Good Seats Still Available ·

2025/02/10

We hearken back to baseball's humble beginnings this week, as author/historian Jeff Orens ("Selling Baseball: How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in America") takes us on a journey through the late 19th century, when the game was rapidly evolving from a casual pastime to America's national sport - with two larger-than-life figures at the center of its transformation. In Orens' telling, players-turned-sports-businessmen George Wright (Cincinnati Red Stockings, Boston

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01:33:12

379: Baseball's "Big Cat" - With Jerry Grillo

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2025/01/27

We throw another Duraflame into the hot stove this week for a look back at the sterling, but oddly overlooked career of one of baseball’s greatest "golden age" hitters. Biographer Jerry Grillo ("Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize") helps us sort out the intriguing story of batting titan Johnny Mize - whose 15-year major league journey playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York version of the Giants and five World Series-winning seasons (1949-53) with the New York

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01:13:38

372: "Banned" - With Michael Ray Richardson & Jake Uitti

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2024/12/02

Former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson and his co-author Jacob Uitti (Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption) join the show to discuss Richardson's riveting new memoir that chronicles his extraordinary journey on and off the basketball court. Hailed as “the next Walt Frazier” coming out of the University of Montana as a first-round pick (fourth overall) in the 1978 NBA Draft, "Sugar" was a force to be reckoned with, leading the league in both assists and

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01:18:28

371: The Cleveland Indians' Ray Chapman - With Scott...

Good Seats Still Available ·

2024/11/25

Baseball history writer Scott Longert ("Love and Loss: The Short Life of Ray Chapman"), joins the show for an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman (1891-1920) whose tragic story continues to resonate more than a century later. Chapman rose from humble beginnings to become one of the American League’s top shortstops of the 1910s. His exceptional talent on the field, coupled with his marriage to heiress Kathleen Daly, positioned him for a life of privilege

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01:07:24

370: Basketball Jump Shot Innovator Ken Sailors -...

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2024/11/18

Author/biographer Debbie Sorensen (Beyond the Jump Shot: The Elevated Life of Kenny Sailors) delves into the story of basketball pioneer Kenny Sailors (1921–2016), one of the most unheralded influencers in both the collegiate and pro game. Widely credited with popularizing the modern-day jump shot, Sailors first stunned audiences in the early 1940s when he elevated mid-air to shoot over taller defenders - a revolutionary move in an era dominated by set shots. His innovation not only expanded

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01:20:07

369: The AAGPBL's South Bend Blue Sox - With Jim Sargent

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2024/11/11

We gear up for the impending launch of the new six-team Women's Pro Baseball League (set to debut in summer of 2026) with another look back at the original All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-54) with sports history writer Jim Sargent. In "We Were the All-American Girls" (2013), Sargent culled insights from over three dozen interviews with former AAGPBL players, detailing the league’s evolution from underhand pitching with a 12-inch ball in 1943 to overhand pitching and a standard

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01:21:50

368: Soccer's "Tinpot" Cups - With Simon Turner

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2024/11/04

With apologies to ice hockey's legendary Lord Stanley, no sport is more synonymous with the awarding of championship cups than soccer. Long ingrained in the international culture of the sport, the hardware that overwhelmingly awaits the various victors of league titles (e.g., Italy's Serie A Coppa Campioni d'Italia or North America's MLS Cup); major club tournaments (like England's FA Cup or the US' Open Cup); and important international competitions (such as CONCACAF's gaudy Gold Cup and the

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01:13:05

367: Myron Cope: Voice of the Steelers - With Dan Joseph

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2024/10/28

Voice of America news editor and Pittsburgh native Dan Joseph ("Behind the Yoi: The Life of Myron Cope, Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers Broadcaster") joins the podcast this week for a deep dive into the legacy of one of pro football's most unique broadcast voices. Myron Cope (1929-2008) served as the radio color commentator for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970 to 2005, becoming an irreplaceable voice in NFL broadcasting. Known for his distinctive, gravelly tone and catchphrases like “Yoi!” and

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01:33:24

366: "Mornings With Madden" - With Stan Bunger

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2024/10/21

John Madden (1936-2021) was more than a football icon - he embodied the sport itself. As the unmistakable voice of the NFL for nearly 30 years, he brought America’s game into TV living rooms across the country. His name became synonymous with football, not just through his legendary broadcast career, but also as the face of his eponymous "Madden" video game franchise. On the field, he was a coaching mastermind, holding the highest career winning percentage of any NFL coach - achieved exclusively

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01:18:33

365: NBC Sports Broadcaster Tom Hammond

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2024/10/14

Legendary sports broadcaster Tom Hammond ("Races, Games, and Olympic Dreams: A Sportscaster's Life") joins host Tim Hanlon for a myriad of career memories from his nearly 35-year journey calling top-tier league packages and prime events for NBC Sports. Plucked from regional sportscasting obscurity in 1984 for a one-time stall reporting gig as part of the network's telecast of the inaugural Breeders' Cup, Hammond performed so well that an NBC executive offered him a chance to call Sunday

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01:12:33

364: The Original "Louisville Slugger" - With Tim Newby

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2024/10/07

Baltimore-based music historian and unwitting baseball biographer Tim Newby ("The Original Louisville Slugger: The Life and Times of Forgotten Baseball Legend Pete Browning") joins the show to delve deep into the story of one of the most formidable baseball players of the 19th century, whose mastery with a bat is still paying dividends today. Over his 13-year career (including now-defunct stops like the American Association's Louisville Eclipse/Colonels and the Players' League's Cleveland

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01:25:51

363: Sports Promotion Pioneer Abe Saperstein - With...

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2024/09/30

Despite their name, the Harlem Globetrotters weren’t originally from New York's Harlem neighborhood, nor did they start out as true world travellers. This all-Black basketball team, founded by Jewish immigrant Abe Saperstein, originated on Chicago’s South Side and began touring the Midwest rather humbly in Saperstein’s unheated Ford Model T. With his sharp promotional skills and the players’ incredible talent, the Globetrotters quickly grew into an international sensation. Author-brothers

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01:04:59

362: "Kiner's Korner" - With Mark Rosenman

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2024/09/23

With the Mets th-i-i-i-i-s close to a rare MLB playoff berth this season, we do our best not to jinx their chances with a look back at the local New York post-game TV show synonymous with the club's first 32 years in Gotham with sports reporter/author Mark Rosenman ("Down on the Korner: Ralph Kiner and Kiner's Korner"). "Kiner's Korner" was a beloved postgame interview show that became a staple of New York Mets broadcasts from the team's inception in 1962 through the 1990s. Hosted by Hall

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01:44:02

361: ABA Memories & Life Lessons - With George Tinsley

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2024/09/16

From the tough streets of Louisville's Smoketown to corporate success, former college hoops standout and American Basketball Association pro George Tinsley's life is a testament to resilience and opportunity. In his inspiring new memoir "Catch as Catch Can: Building a Legacy by Finding Opportunity in Every Obstacle," Tinsley shares his journey from poverty in the racially divided South to three-time (1966, '68 & '69) NCAA champion (Division II Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers), ABA player

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01:39:10

360: The NFL's 1952 Dallas Texans - With Mike Cobern

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2024/09/09

Metroplex restauranteur and armchair football historian Mike Cobern (Wards of the League: The Untold Story of the First NFL Team in Dallas) joins for a deep dive into the mostly forgotten saga of the 1952 Dallas Texans, the one-year wonder that has nearly vanished from the annals of National Football League history. Before the Cowboys became "America's Team," the NFL's Dallas Texans were nobody's team! + + + SUPPORT THE SHOW: Buy Us a Coffee:

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01:18:54

359: The Making of the Super Bowl - With Dennis Deninger

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2024/09/02

Syracuse University communications professor and former Emmy award-winning ESPN producer Dennis Deninger ("The Football Game That Changed America: How the NFL Created a National Holiday") joins the show to take us through the origin story and unlikely sociological trajectory of the Super Bowl - pro football's annual championship extravaganza that morphed from uncertain beginnings during the late 1960s AFL-NFL merger into one of America's dominant cultural touchstones. From the book's dust

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01:21:25

358: The Cleveland Indians' "Ten Cent Beer Night" -...

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2024/08/26

The date: June 14, 1974 The place: Cleveland's venerable Municipal Stadium The event: an evening regular-season game between MLB's Cleveland Indians & Texas Rangers The added attraction: "Ten Cent Beer Night" The result: one of baseball history's (and American sports') most notorious promotional fiascos Cleveland native Scott Jarrett ("Ten Cent Beer Night: The Complete Guide to the Riot That Helped Save Baseball in Cleveland") joins the show this week to go deep into the night that

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01:15:22

357: "The Stadium" - With Frank Guridy

Good Seats Still Available ·

2024/08/19

We raise our sports history IQ a few points this week with an enlightening conversation around the broader cultural importance and underlying social significance of the very venues in which our favorite games are played - with Columbia University professor Frank Guridy ("The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest, and Play"). The book's promotional intro sets it up best: "What comes to mind when we think of stadiums in the United States? For most of us, it’s entertainment:

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01:51:20

356: "Sex, Drugs, Pucks, and Souls" - With Bobby Robins

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2024/08/12

Buckle up for a wild ride through some of the most forgotten franchises in recent minor league hockey history - with a colorful lifer who literally fought his way to becoming the NHL's oldest (32) opening-day rookie (with the Boston Bruins), only to see it all fall apart to a concussion after just three games. This is the raw and savage story of Bobby Robins ("Sex, Drugs, Pucks, and Souls: A Savage Memoir"), whose decade-long odyssey across minor league outposts in places like Binghamton,

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01:16:31

355: Baseball's "Uncommon" Danny O'Connell - With...

Good Seats Still Available ·

2024/08/05

We head back to the diamond this week for a look into the "extraordinarily ordinary" baseball life of 1950s-era infielder Danny O'Connell with biographer Steve Wiegand ("The Uncommon Life of Danny O'Connell: A Tale of Baseball Cards, "Average Players," and the True Value of America's Game"). Wiegand's story is a rich exploration of a player often overlooked in history due to his status as a "common" card in the world of sports memorabilia. However, the book delves far deeper than his

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329 results

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