Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - 100th Show - Murray State University Athletics

It began with the simple idea of recording the history of Murray State Athletics in spoken word.

This week, the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast celebrates its 100^th episode. You can find it at GoRacers.com, iTunes and Soundcloud.

The 100^th edition of the program specifically focuses on the tremendous storytelling that has occurred since the program was first produced in late August 2018.

Here are some of the most memorable stories our guests have spoken of on the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast.

Dacia Brown – Volleyball
Episode 8
Oct. 17, 2018

Every once in a while, a moving and profound moment occurs after an emotional victory and this is what happened in October 2018 when the Racers won the OVC Women's Volleyball Tournament championship in Clarksville over Austin Peay. The victory over the regular season winners on their home court, was a fitting outcome after the Racers had split two games with the Govs during the regular season. The Racers were 13-3 and finished second place behind the Govs at 14-2.

We caught up with senior leader Dacia Brown as everything she and her team had worked four was realized in that moment of victory, which also meant a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

"I'm so happy. I was so scared coming into this, because I know the standard of Murray State Volleyball," said a joyful Brown who was also on MSU's championship teams from 2015 and 2016. "I know the people who came before me and how they impacted Murray State and I wanted to do that for my team this year. We grew a lot and had bumps in the road along the way; we matured and learned to trust each other. It paid off in the end."

"When I heard that part of the podcast (Dacia's audio) it brought tears to my eyes, because I've been with Dacia for five years," said MSU Coach Dave Schwepker. "Where she started and where she ended up is unbelievable and to see how she has grown as a human. That maturity helped her play tremendously."

In that moment, Brown's tears of joy was a mixture of relief, thankfulness, satisfaction and being proud of a hard-earned accomplishment.

It also shows how much Racer student-athletes care about their team and their sport.

Brown's clip originally posted to episode eight that featured Coach Frank Beamer. To hear more about the story of Dacia Brown, go to episode five from Sept. 26, 2018.

Coach Frank Beamer - Football
Episode 8
Oct. 17, 2018

Now to Coach Frank Beamer from the fall of 2018 when he visited MSU to be honored for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Coach Beamer was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 2004 and to the OVC Hall of Fame in 2016.

It all started for Beamer when friend and coaching colleague Ron Zook invited Beamer to Murray to visit and to watch film in the late 1970's. Beamer was an assistant coach at the time at The Citadel. However, even though he wasn't looking for a job change, he liked Murray State and ended up taking the job as defensive coordinator for head coach Mike Gottfried in 1978.

It's a story Beamer tells with a sparkle in his eye.

"Usually, when I was interested in a job, my wife Cheryl, came with me," Beamer remembered. "She didn't come this time because I wasn't looking for a job. I told Ron, OK, I'll come. However, when I got to MSU, and I saw the beautiful stadium, it was fantastic. I remember calling my wife and telling her, I was starting to like this place. Later, after I've taken the job, we're driving up through Tennessee to Murray and she's asking me 'where are you taking me?' So I tell people, she came into Murray kicking and screaming and we met so many great friends there and when we left, she was kicking and screaming (because she didn't want to leave)."

Under Beamer's direction as head coach (1981-86), the Racers enjoyed a two-year stint in which they were nationally ranked in NCAA 1-AA and won the 1986 OVC championship. Beamer became head coach at MSU when Gottfried left to take the job at Cincinnati. The opportunity set Beamer on a course that eventually led him back to his alma mater, Virginia Tech for 29 seasons and to great accomplishments.

Coach Mike Gottfried – Football
Episode 62
Oct. 29, 2019

Speaking of Mike Gottfried, he was our guest in the fall of 2019 in episode No. 62. He told the story about how he came to be the head coach at Murray State in 1978.

"I said coach, I'm going to Murray on Monday to interview for the job," Gottfried said.. "He said to me, 'you call them Monday and tell them you're not coming!' But I said, coach, I want to go and he said 'if I was your wife, I'd divorce you….going from Tucson to Murray?' However, when I got here, our offices were better, our team was better, so I got the better of the bargain! My wife, Mickey and I are a team and we had a great time in Murray and will always remember it."

Mike and his wife Mickey were back at MSU for homecoming in 2019 as many of his 1979 OVC championship team came back to campus to remember the good ol days.

Coach Gottfried had a tremendous second career in the bright lights of television. He worked for ESPN for 17 seasons (1990-2007) and for a long time, was ESPN's top expert analyst and you would see him working the best game of the week. Gottfried's autobiography "Coach's Challenge – Faith Football and Filling the Father Gap" was finished in 2007. His efforts in helping young men without a father figure has been successful through his foundation called Team Focus.

Coach Houston Nutt - Football
Episode 94
June 17, 2020

Rob Hart - Football
Episode 42
July 22, 2019

Episode 94 featured Coach Houston Nutt, who was the mastermind of the greatest period in Racer Football history with back-to-back OVC champions in 1995 and 1996 with a combined record of 16-0.

One interesting insight Coach Nutt told the podcast audience was from the 1996 season. The Racers were trying to win at Eastern Kentucky, historically the toughest place to win in the OVC. Coming into the game, Murray State only had two wins there in program history and hadn't won at Roy Kidd Stadium in 14 years.

On a snowy, cold and windy day in Richmond, Nutt's recollection is of the team bus ride to the stadium.

"As we were coming into Richmond on the bus, it starts snowing and I'll never forget what David McCann did," said Nutt, who was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2018. "He's in the back of the bus banging on the roof of the bus saying 'this is football weather right here fellas!' I was thinking, it is going to be cold and windy, I hope we can get out of the dressing room and we're playing in Roy Kidd Stadium (where it is difficult to win). However, when I heard David yelling in the back of the bus, I said to myself, our guys are coming to play today!"

The Racers won the game 17-14 after a late drive engineered by quarterback Mike Cherry and a crucial pass completion to Reggie Swinton. Kicker Rob Hart booted the winning field goal as time expired. Hart, a member of the 2019 MSU Hall of Fame class, says the influence Coach Nutt had on his players is still being felt today.

"I still carry around so many mantras Coach Nutt always said to us," Hart said from his home in Bath, England. "Like 'do the right thing, even when no one is looking'. I teach that to my kids now! When I played at Murray State, I learned certain things and learned how to conduct myself. There were so many life lessons I learned under Coach Nutt."

Coach Joe Pannunzio - Football
Episode 97
July 8, 2020

Shane Andrus - Football
Episode 93
June 10, 2020

In 2002, the Racers had another memorable field goal for an OVC championship when Shane Andrus kicked a 52-yarder on the final play for the Racers to beat Tony Romo and the Eastern Illinois Panthers to gain a share of the title. The 2002 title was the last time the Racers have won the OVC championship.

At Roy Stewart Stadium in the fourth quarter, the Racers only had 30 seconds remaining and needed to move the ball from their own 33 yard line to somewhere around the EIU 45. Using their final two timeouts, the Racers did just that to give Andrus a chance to win the game on the final play. His kick was true from 52 yards and the Racers celebrated a 37-35 win, while the student body tore down the goal post at the north end of the field.

From episode 97 of the podcast, Pannunzio recalled the conversation he had with Andrus during the frantic final 30 seconds of the game.

"I asked Shane, how many yards do you need?" Pannunzio recalled. "I'm looking at him thinking, man, you're smarter than me, you've got to figure out how many more yards you need. He told me, 'give me some yards and this baby is over. When he went on the field before the kick, he told me to go get a drink of water, you're OVC champs!"

Andrus maintained focus to match his confidence and recalls the kick sequence was perfect in every way in episode 93.

"I remember it all. The snap and hold was perfect and I step into it," Andrus said. "I remember (after the kick was away) just taking off to the other end zone to celebrate. Everyone piled on top of me, I thought I might die (laughs)!"

Making field goals is a three-man effort and this one was no different. So it should be duly noted, Will Raisnin was the snapper and Brian Bivens was the holder for Andrus' famous moment.

Coach Margaret Simmons – Track & Field
Episode 32
April 4, 2019

Murray State hall of famer Coach Margaret Simmons was our guest on episode 32.

Coach Simmons continues to be a big part of the MSU Athletics department long after her 23-year coaching career ended in 1991. She later served the department in a variety of roles including academic counseling. Margaret was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 1994 and is part of the only husband/wife duo in the hall after her husband, Tom 'Doc' Simmons was inducted in 1990, after a long career as head athletic trainer at MSU.

Known as the coach that started the women's track and field program at Murray State, Coach Simmons recalls how it all got started with a simple letter.

"I typed this letter, and the keys were jumping up and down on the page, it looked terrible," said Simmons, who was inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame in 2014. "But I wrote the letter and sent it to Dr. Ralph Woods in 1967. The response came back that he was going to support it and he would tell Charles Outland to put a line in the budget for women's track & field. We had a $1,000 budget and bing! We go from no budget to up a thousand percent!"

Coach Cal Luther – Basketball
Episode 24
Feb. 6, 2019

Another memorable moment in the history of the podcast was catching up with Coach Cal Luther, who guided men's basketball at Murray State from 1967-78. He was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 1986 and into the OVC hall in 2000. Luther was the first coach to get the Racers to the NCAA Tournament in 1964 and oversaw the program as it raised its level of expectation in NCAA D-I.

However, Luther also held the important job of being athletics director for eight years starting in 1967.

On podcast No. 24, Luther had some great insight into the planning and construction of Roy Stewart Stadium, as it eventually opened in 1973. While he was AD, Luther remembered his interest in the idea of a domed stadium.

"I had the thought that we had made a mistake, after I had gone out west to an athletic director's conference," Luther recalled. "One of the schools in the far west was building the first domed stadium that had room for all of the other sports to practice. The dome idea had so much going for it and it was less expensive. We got input from several schools all over the country (in planning and building the stadium)."

Stewart Stadium is ready to host its 48^th season of Racer Football in 2020.

Kirk Rueter – Baseball
Episode 84
April 6, 2020

Murray State's Kirk Rueter played baseball for Coach Johnny Reagan, where he was the 1991 OVC Pitcher of the Year.

Rueter enjoyed a Major League Baseball career of 13 seasons playing for the Montreal Expos and the San Francisco Giants.

On episode 84 of the podcast, Kirk talked about the excitement of getting the call from the big leagues, but having to tell Coach Reagan he was going pro and leaving MSU after his junior season.

"The phone call to Coach Reagan was one the hardest calls I made in my life, but my family and I talked and figured if I was going to play pro eventually, we might as well get it going. Looking back, it turned out alright." said Rueter who made his MLB debut in 1993 in Montreal. "Telling Coach that I was not coming back for my senior year was hard to do, because he was like a second father to me. Actually later, the Giants organization surprised me on my retirement day in 2005, by bringing in Johnny and his wife, Carolyn, to San Francisco. I still get choked up thinking about it. I didn't know he was there until we all got on a bus with my group to go to the stadium. For him to make the effort to come all the way out there, is still very special to me."

Rueter played 10 seasons in San Francisco, which meant pitching in six postseason games including the 2002 world series. When he retired in 2005, he was the winningest lefty in Giants franchise history.

Coach Tevester Anderson – Basketball
Episode 24
Feb. 6, 2019

Coach Tevester Anderson who coached MSU men's basketball for five seasons starting in 1998, racked up 103 wins and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Go back to podcast 24 and there is a funny story about the first time Coach T and Charles Barkley had an early morning workout because Barkley had skipping class at Auburn.

In 1999, Coach T was part of one of the most amazing wins in Racer history when Aubrey Reese went the length of the floor to beat SEMO at the buzzer of the OVC Tournament and send the Racers to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year. Voice of the Racers, Neal Bradley, had the famous call of the play.

"Duane Virgil gets it in to Reese and he brings it up the floor. Two seconds, one second, he shoots," The Voice of the Racers called it. "Reese shoots at the buzzer, it's good, it's good! He did it again, he did it again! Reese does it again and hits it at the buzzer! The Racers are going dancing for the third time in a row! It's 62-61, what a miracle!"

Coach Anderson recalled what happened in the huddle when he called timeout with 5.1 seconds left and the Racers needing to go the length of the floor just hoping to get a decent shot at the basket.

"I was going to draw up a play and Aubrey got real close to me and gave me a look like 'Are you crazy? Just give me the ball!' Anderson laughed as he recalled the moment in 1999. "I thought to myself, OK, I know. We're going to get the ball to Aubrey, he's going to go down the floor and make the basket, and he did that! It was amazing! He wanted the ball so badly. When he let the shot go over SEMO's Bud Eley, he never looked back. He took off to the other end of the floor because he knew he had made the shot."

In the call by Neal Bradley, when he said, "he did it again" you might be wondering what that means. About a month prior in Cape Girardeau, Mo., Reese did the same thing at SEMO with a full court drive and score for a win with 5.1 seconds remaining

Marcus Brown – Basketball
Episode 44
June 25, 2019

One of only nine Murray State players to be All-Ohio Valley Conference three times, Marcus Brown was twice named the OVC Player of the Year in his great career from 1992-96. He is third all-time on the career points scored list at MSU with 2,236 points and the program's all-time steals leader.

Brown was drafted into the NBA by the Portland Trailblazers in 1996 and recalled one of the first times he was tasked with guarding the great Michael Jordan.

"We were in Chicago and Jordan hits me for 35 points (17 in the fourth quarter)," Brown said about Jordan's greatness. "I'm trying to guard him straight up because we're not double teaming him. I looked over to our bench (late in the game) and said (with a laugh) just take me out of the game! After the game, we meet in the hallway at the arena as everyone was leaving and he said 'great game rookie, way to fight. Don't feel bad. You're not the first guy to give up 35 points (to me) and you won't be the last.' That was M.J., but he recognized that I wasn't going to back down."

Brown, inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2010, when his No. 5 was retired, ended up playing 14 seasons for teams in France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lithuanian and Russia. Brown retired as the all-time scorer in the 24-team Euroleague that was started in 2000 with 2,715 points.

Jeff Martin – Basketball
Episode 89
Feb. 6, 2019

Murray State's all-time men's basketball leading scorer was our guest episode 89. Jeff Martin's 2,484 points still makes him the top scorer at MSU and first among all NCAA D-I teams in Kentucky. Out of Cherry Valley, Ark., Jeff was a star for the Racers from 1985-89.

One story Jeff told the podcast illustrates how much the NCAA Tournament has changed since 1988. In that year, the Racers were huge underdogs against NC State and yet they pulled the upset in Lincoln. MSU was a 14 seed in 1988, stayed in the dormitory at the University of Nebraska, and took their meals in the campus cafeteria as Martin recalls.

"Yes, they put us in the dormitory," Martin said. "But, after we beat NC State, they bumped us up to the Sheraton! It was interesting, we were in the dorm and had bunk beds and we ate at the campus cafeteria. After we won, I guess we earned a little credit. We had a lot of fun in Lincoln and there were many Murray State fans there. At that time, there was no social media, so we didn't have anybody telling us how great we were. It was just a win and then we got ready for Kansas. But when we got back to Murray and saw all of the support, it sunk in on what we had accomplished, that's when you realized that we did something big."

The 1988 victory over NC State was MSU's first in the NCAA Tournament. Since then, the Racers have won three more times including games in 2010, 2012 and 2019.

Martin's No. 15 is retired at MSU.

Popeye Jones – Basketball
Episode 13
Nov. 21, 2018

Now to a great story from Popeye Jones, who came to Murray State from Dresden, Tennessee in 1989 and left as MSU's all-time rebounder. He was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 2007 his No. 54 is retired at MSU.

And proving what a great guy Popeye has always been, he's never been afraid to poke a little fun at himself. So, let's go back to his freshman season of 1988-89. The Racers were on the road at Lamar when Popeye had a freshman moment he still talks about today.

"To tell this story, I have to start with the fact that this was the first time I had ever been on an airplane," Popeye said from his home in Indianapolis. "So as a freshman, I was already scared to death and playing in my first college game. We flew to Texas to play Lamar and Coach Newton called my name to check into the game. You've got to understand that growing up in Dresden, Tenn., we had a warm up jacket and pants, so when you went into the game, you took those off. But at Murray State, we also had a shooting shirt. I go out on the court and I am ready to go, but I noticed the student section was laughing at me! I'm thinking, well I'm 285 pounds and they're probably thinking that I can't play this game. The great Jeff Martin, with that intensity he had, had already noticed. He runs out to me and says 'take your shooting shirt off, you big dummy!'"

Enjoy the Runnin' with the Racers Podcast!

About Runnin' With The Racers Podcast
Murray State Basketball great Jonathan Stark was the first guest when the pilot episode posted Aug. 29, 2018, The podcast is produced weekly and usually is available by Wednesday. The Runnin' with the Racers Podcast is mainly guest driven with news and notes of the week from the Racers. Dave Winder, MSU Athletics Associate AD for Media Relations is the host. The podcast is available on GoRacers.com, ITunes and Soundcloud.

Murray State University Athletics

Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - 100th Show

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