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NC Governor Roy Cooper Fills Out Tournament Bracket For 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh

“Cooper isn’t doing this as some sort of stunt He legit watches the local teams and he listens to the shows and podcasts.”

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When Barack Obama was in the White House, a visit from Andy Katz was an annual tradition ahead of the NCAA Tournament. The 44th President of the United States of America filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket for ESPN all eight years he was in office. It was a unique spin on the celebrity bracket bit that could only be pulled off by a national network taking advantage of the right politician.

That doesn’t mean that sports stations across the country couldn’t find a local spin to put on it. Since 2018, 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh has made a tradition of its own out of visiting the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion ahead of March Madness each year and 2023 is no exception as the hosts of The OG brought a camera, blank bracket, and marker to Governor Roy Cooper.

“I’m so sad about my Tar Heels that you’ve gotta pour your soul into what’s left,” the governor, an alum of the University of North Carolina and a diehard college basketball fan, said.

The Tar Heels started the season as the number one team in the country but missed out on an invite to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Hubert Davis also declined an invitation for his team to play in the NIT.

Host Joe Ovies asked Governor Cooper if he would have had to bring a blank NIT bracket if Davis had a change of heart.

“Oh, absolutely we would have!” Cooper answered. “Sure, yeah. It would have been maybe the most important tournament going on.”

The governor did give the ACC teams from his state some love even if they are the two most-hated rivals of UNC. He had North Carolina State making it to the Sweet 16 and Duke returning to the Final Four alongside Arizona, Houston and UConn. He picked Houston to win the national championship. Ovies warned him against the pick as co-host Joe Giglio made the same prediction.

“In 2021, we did a zoom version of the bracket where Giglio roasted Cooper’s picks,” Ovies told Barrett Sports Media. “Turns out Cooper was right with Baylor, so Giglio drew up a certificate that said ‘You were right, Cooper’ and we presented it last year. So that’s what sort of started the running gag between him and Giglio.”

While Roy Cooper did make a point to say that he was rooting for Houston because head coach Kalvin Sampson is a North Carolina native, he gave solid basketball reasons for his selection.

“Even though they are not Phi Slamma Jamma, they are a smothering defensive team. They are a balanced offense. That have it all cooking,” he said. “If they can put it together, Houston can be the national champion. We can actually have number one seed do it.”

Joe Ovies was not surprised by how much thought Roy Cooper put into his NCAA Tournament bracket. The governor has a reputation in North Carolina for being passionate about all of his favorite teams, including the Carolina Hurricanes, who play in Raleigh.

“Cooper isn’t doing this as some sort of stunt He legit watches the local teams and he listens to the shows and podcasts,” Ovies said. “Especially Canes Corner. So when the Tar Heels didn’t make it, he felt it deep. He made it to the Final Four last year and sat in UNC’s section.”

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Sports Radio News

Doug Gottlieb Details Interviewing For College Basketball Head Coaching Vacancy

“I’ve told people that for the radio element to — for the right thing — I’d give it up. The (podcast), I’m not giving it up.”

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Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb recently interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Wisconsin-Green Bay and detailed the experience on his podcast.

“I got a chance to talk to (Wisconsin-Green Bay AD) Josh Moon several times during the year after they had made their coaching job available and my approach to how I’ve done these things — and this is not the first time I’ve gone down this path, but this was a different path,” Gottlieb said on his All Ball podcast.

“This is a low-major, mid-major job, and there’s no connection there. I’ve told people that for the radio element to — for the right thing — I’d give it up. The (podcast), I’m not giving it up. I love doing it and I think there’s a very smart world where if I’m coaching I can still do this podcast and still do it with basketball people all over the country and the world, and it’s kind of like a cheat code.”

He continued by saying that seeing Shaka Smart be successful at Marquette has motivated him to continue to search for the right fit as a college basketball coach.

“That’s what I want to do. And last year when I was coaching in Israel, that also continued to invigorate me…this is something that I would really like to do. It has to be the right thing. It has to be the right AD who hits the right message.”

He continued by saying that a sticking point of negotiations was he wasn’t willing to give up his nationally syndicated radio program for the job. He was willing to take less money for his assistants pool, but also to continue doing his radio show.

Gottlieb did not get the position with the Phoenix, noting that he was a finalist but was never offered the job. The position ultimately went to Wyoming assistant coach Sundance Wicks. Wicks had previous head coaching experience and had worked with Green Bay athletic director Josh Moon at Division II Northern State. He admitted he wasn’t necessarily “all-in” on the job due to the current ages of his children and whether the timing was right to uproot his family to move to Northeastern Wisconsin.

The Fox Sports Radio host does have coaching experience. He has worked as a coach for the U.S. men’s basketball team at the Maccabiah Games, sometimes referred to as the Jewish Olympics.

Gottlieb’s father — Bob — was the head men’s basketball coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1975-1980, compiling a 97-91 record.

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Waddle & Silvy: Scott Hanson Told Us to Lose His Number

“We didn’t call him back, so he set out what he wanted to do.”

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Aaron Rodgers took immense pride in the fact that he told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter to “lose his number” while discussing his future earlier this week on The Pat McAfee Show. ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy said they’ve experienced similar treatment from guests on their radio show.

While discussing the Rodgers interview with McAfee, the pair admitted that NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson once told their producer to stop trying to book him for interviews on the program.

“I believe the presentation was ‘Do me a favor: lose my number after this interview’,” Tom Waddle said. “So he tried to do it politely. Scott Hanson did. Get out of here. That concept is foreign to me. How about ‘Hey, next time you text me, my schedule is full. I can’t do it, but thanks for thinking of me’. ‘Lose my number?’ You ain’t the President, for Christ’s sake. I’m saying that to anyone who would say that. ‘Lose my number?’ We’re all in the communication business. I just don’t know — why be rude like that to people? What does that accomplish? You know what it accomplished? We didn’t call him back, so he set out what he wanted to do.”

Co-host Mark Silverman then mentioned that the show once tried to book Hansen and NFL Red Zone host Andrew Siciliano together in the same block, with the idea of doing a trivia game to see who the supreme Red Zone host was. Siciliano agreed, but Hansen declined.

The pair also confirmed that an NFL Network personality had told them to lose their number, but couldn’t remember if it was Rich Eisen or not.

Silverman later joked that maybe Hanson was getting a new phone with a new number, and was politely sharing with the producer that he could lose the current phone number because he would share his new number in short order.

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Seth Payne: Aaron Rodgers ‘Makes Gross Inaccuracies’ When Calling Out Media

“This is where Rodgers does this thing where he, in calling out reporters for their inaccuracies, makes gross inaccuracies in his accusations.”

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Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers is always mad at the media for the inaccurate things he says they report, but according to Sports Radio 610 morning man Seth Payne, no one is more inaccurate than the quarterback himself.

Friday morning, Payne and his partner Sean Pendergast played audio of Aaron Rodgers responding to a question about a list of players he provided to the Jets demanding they sign. Rodgers called the idea that he would make demands “so stupid” and chastised ESPN reporter Dianna Russini, who was the first to report it.

“Now to be clear, Dianna Russini didn’t say demands in her tweet. She said wishlist,” Pendergast clarified.

They also played a clip of Russini responding to Rodgers on NFL Live saying that she stands by her reporting and it is her job to reach out to confirm that it is true.

“This is where Rodgers does this thing where he, in calling out reporters for their inaccuracies, makes gross inaccuracies in his accusations,” Seth Payne said.

He added that if Rodgers is being serious, he is doing some serious nitpicking. He claims that he didn’t give the Jets a list, but that he spoke glowingly about former teammates and told the Jets executives that he met with who he enjoyed playing with during his career.

Payne joked that maybe he wrote down the names in a circle pattern so that it was not a list. Pendergast added that he could have had Fat Head stickers on his wall that he pointed to instead of writing anything at all.

In Payne’s mind, this is a case of Russini catching stray frustration. Neither in her initial tweet nor in any subsequent media appearance did she use the phrase “demands”.

“What he’s actually responding to in that instance is Pat McAfee is the one that described it as a list of demands,” Seth Payne said.

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