Adam Cheek's Sports Week

After spending 2005-2011 in Major League Baseball, closer Chris Ray opened Center of the Universe Brewing near Ashland. I got the chance to visit COTU and sit down with the MLB veteran to talk about his career and post-baseball focus.

Chris became a World Series champion in 2010 with the San Francisco Giants, but spent most of his career with the Orioles; I talked with him about his path through baseball up to getting drafted by Baltimore, along with what his first times out on the field at Camden Yards were like, his path to recovery from Tommy...

The second of two "from the archives" episodes this summer -- a throwback interview I did back in 2022 with actor Forrest Vickery, who played Billy "Coma" Johnson in the 2016 Richard Linklater baseball film Everybody Wants Some!!.

This was part of a series I wanted to do with actors from the cast, sort of an oral history of the movie, but never got around to publishing. I also interviewed Temple Baker in 2022, which I posted last month; I also talked with Will Brittain more recently in the spring about making the film.

Forrest takes me behind...

NASCAR visited Richmond Raceway for its lone race weekend in 2026, and I was on the ground (42,000 steps' worth) covering all the Cup and Truck Series action for Richmond Magazine. My Frontstretch compatriot Michael Massie was there for the website, so we talk about everything that went down as the track celebrated its 80th anniversary.

Kaden Honeycutt dominated a truck race that featured seven Virginia drivers in the field, including veteran Elliott Sadler, trailblazer Dystany Spurlock and -- making his first-ever start -- Tristan McKee. On the Cup side, Joey Logano won and kept racking up points as...

With the VCU basketball season -- and Gold Rush auditions -- rapidly approaching, I sat down with Yvahn Karp, the new co-director of the dance team, to talk about everything that goes into a season for them and her new role coaching the entire squad.

Yvhan -- who is a VCU grad, Gold Rush alum, owner of Reya Beauty and former Richmond Roughriders dancer -- takes me through her time at VCU as a student/Gold Rush member and eventually an assistant coach with the team. We then talk about longtime coach Vicki Wells' retirement from the...

For the to-the-day 20th anniversary of the film, I sit down with my buddy Alex Soderstrom to reflect on Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The Will Ferrell comedy was part of a big summer for NASCAR on the big screen, along with Cars a couple months prior, in 2006.

We talk about how Talladega Nights approaches satirizing NASCAR and how it's aged over the two decades since its release, along with the racing action (including involvement from tons of actual drivers and people involved with the sport) and how it represents that 2000s era of NASCAR.<...

I caught up with one of my favorite recurring guests, Richmond Flying Squirrels manager Dennis Pelfrey, in the home dugout at CarMax Park this summer. Pelf led the Squirrels to a first-half championship in the Eastern League Southwest Division, clinching a playoff spot thanks to a 40-20 record (and a franchise-record 10-game win streak in April).

Pelf also talks about what it meant to be invited back as manager for another year, along with some of the biggest differences between managing at The Diamond and CarMax Park. He also talks about the team's "controllers of chaos" approach...

Jason Boleman returns for another edition of the Sports Movie Showcase, this time for another racing-themed feature: Ferrari, directed by Michael Mann and released in 2023. This comes on the heels of marathoning all of Mann's films this summer -- Ferrari is the most recent film from the director of Heat, Thief, Manhunter, Collateral and much more.

We talk about Mann's style of filming and how the film depicts both Enzo Ferrari's personal and professional lives, with the latter centered around the 1957 Mille Miglia and the horrific crash that ended the event as it existed around that time...

The first of two episodes "from the archives" this summer -- a throwback interview I did way back in 2022 with actor Temple Baker, who played Tyrone "Plum" Plummer in the 2016 Richard Linklater baseball film Everybody Wants Some!!.

This was part of a series I wanted to do with actors from the cast, sort of an oral history of the movie, but never got around to publishing. I also interviewed Forrest Vickery in 2022, which I'll post next month; I talked with Will Brittain more recently in the spring about making the film.

Temple talks about how...

I caught up with Sam Hunt, who runs the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series team Sam Hunt Racing, for the latest episode. Sam is a VCU graduate who raced in the K&N East Series before starting SHR in 2019, and the team has blossomed into a contender for wins and now fields two cars in NOAPS competition.

Sam breaks down his early interest in racing, how the VCU School of Business helped prepare him for this project, coming close to wins and expanding to two full-time cars in 2026 with Harrison Burton and Dean Thompson.

He...

Alex Soderstrom returns to the podcast for another sports movie episode, and this time we take on one of our favorite baseball movies with 1989's Major League since it's MLB All-Star Game month.

We dive into the well-rounded cast, ranging from Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes to Tom Berenger and the standout, James Gammon, as well as how the casting made a group of ragtag baseball players coming together feel genuine.

It's also one of the better-acted movies when it comes to actual baseball being played, and comes from a time when there were tons...

VCU baseball legend Tyler Locklear is back on the podcast! I got to sit down with the now-MLB veteran to talk about the trade that sent him to the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Seattle Mariners last summer, what that process was like and playing with guys like Corbin Carroll, Zac Gallen and Ketel Marte in the desert.

Tyler suffered an injury late last season that he's been rehabbing in Reno this year with the Aces. I also talked with him about that whole process, what he's had to do to get back to 100% and about platooning with...

WVCW Sports' Ben Rekosh returns to the podcast to talk VCU baseball on the heels of the Rams' incredible 2026 postseason run, winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament and making an NCAA Regional appearance while beating #23 Tennessee in a headline-making upset.

We talk about the prowess of head coach Sean Thompson in just his second year, along with sophomore catcher Jacob Lee's record-tying homers and possible Black and Gold draft prospects. We also talk about the Rams' potential final games at the Diamond to end the regular season, our memories of the ballpark, the outlook for 2027 and more.

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My friend Ed Coombs joins me for a World Cup-themed episode of the Sports Movie Showcase as we tackle Kicking & Screaming, the 2005 Will Ferrell soccer comedy. This is kind of the forgotten Ferrell sports film in a run that spanned Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro, but we check out how it's held up.

I'd never seen it and had a great time with it, so we discuss how it's held up and where it stands in the Will Ferrell lexicon, as well as how it portrays the sport it's centered around (as always). Ed and...

In a reversal of the usual podcast format, my friend Alex Soderstrom interviews *me* -- I designed, wrote and planned out a NASCAR exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture that debuted on First Fridays in early June.

The exhibit is a celebration of Richmond Raceway's 80th anniversary, chronicling the track's history in Virginia, memorable moments, local drivers, ties to the community and much more. Alex asks me about all this, as well as what it was like to see my work on display and my process of working on the exhibit.

Go...

Richard Linklater's 2016 film "Everybody Wants Some!!" is one of my favorite sports movies and comedies. I embarked on a project to create a sort of oral history of the film, its creation behind the scenes and its lasting legacy by talking with those involved -- the actors, crew and more.

In this first installment, I interview actor Will Brittain, who portrayed Billy Autrey (dubbed Beuter Perkins by his teammates) in the film. Will has appeared in other films like Kong: Skull Island and The Forever Purge, but he takes me through his career up until he was...

While Monaco is no longer on the docket for Memorial Day Weekend's Greatest Day in Motorsports, we still have the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 to look forward to.

Two of my Frontstretch compatriots, Alex Gintz and Michael Massie, join to discuss both marquee events. Alex, on the way home from Indy 500 qualifying weekend, breaks down the front row of Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi and David Malukas, Palou's domination of the sport the last few years and if he can defend the title, and which dark horse he sees charging through the field during the event.

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On the heels (hoofs?) of the Kentucky Derby, Jason Boleman returns to the podcast for the first time since last fall to talk about Secretariat, spotlighting the Virginia horse that won the Triple Crown in 1973.

We get sidetracked a lot, but we do talk about when Virginia is mentioned in the movie, how the horse-racing scenes are put together, the performances by stars like John Malkovich and Diane Lane, and more.

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Original intro/outro music created by Christina von Claparede-Crola and Justin Paciocco 

Got to head out to CarMax Park for Banana Ball to kick off May! Got to chat with four players this time around, starting with Richmond's own Jackie Bradley Jr., the everyday outfielder for the Boston Red Sox through much of the 2010s (plus a 2016 All-Star and a Gold Glove winner, World Series champion and ALCS MVP in 2018). He became the first full-time former MLB player in Banana Ball when the Indianapolis Clowns took him in this year's draft.

Then, I chatted with VCU alums and current Firefighter pitchers Ben Dum and Bradford Webb, both of whom...

Justin Fensterman returns to the podcast to talk all things NBA playoffs at the start of Round 2!

We break down the first round first, starting with the absolute barnburner of a series the Timberwolves and Nuggets put on. We touch on the three Game 7s, two blown 3-1 leads by the Magic and Celtics, the Thunder sweeping and LeBron still doing it with the Lakers.

Then, we take a look at the conference semifinals -- if the Thunder can keep rolling on their way to a potential repeat, if the injured Timberwolves can hang with...

On the latest Sports Movie Showcase, I'm joined by my friend Meghan Baker to talk about one of our favorites, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some!! from 2016. It was released in a stacked year and flew under the radar, but it's an incredibly fun hangout movie centered around college baseball and never gets old.

It was one of the early roles for cast members Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell and Wyatt Russell, and takes place on a Texas college campus around 1980 -- sort of a spiritual sequel to Linklater's 1990s classic Dazed and Confused. While there isn't a ton...

My friend Ryan Quigley joins the podcast for the first time to preview the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs! Ryan's a Flyers fan, so we start off by talking about how Philadelphia turned things around this season, their first-round matchup with the Penguins and if they can make a run.

On the Eastern Conference side, we also discuss whether the Hurricanes can finally get over the hump and make the Stanley Cup Final, how the Sabres put together such a stellar season and how the Lightning-Canadiens series might shake out.

On the Western Conference side, Ryan and...

Got to sit down again with VCU basketball head coach Phil Martelli Jr. a few weeks after the Rams played in the NCAA tournament! Martelli is coming off a 28-8 debut season with the Black and Gold, leading the Rams to an A-10 Tournament championship and Round of 32 appearance in March Madness.

Coach and I look back at his first season -- from the way the team came together and the run VCU made in the tournament to his first experience with the Siegel Center atmosphere and some of his most memorable moments. We also talk about...

VCU's Jacob Lee, ranked the preseason No. 7 catcher in Division I baseball, sat down with me in late February to talk about his second season on the Rams.

The backstop batted .288 with 59 hits, 17 homers and 65 RBI last season, along with 333 putouts behind the plate. We discussed what brought him to VCU in the first place, working with head coach Sean Thompson -- they both began their respective roles at the same time last season -- and what he learned most from his freshman year, along with what he worked on most in the offseason.

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I sat down with Reese Ahalt, who was a member of the VCU Gold Rush dance team before joining the ROAR of the Jacksonville Jaguars on the NFL sidelines. We caught up just ahead of the team's Alumni Weekend performance at VCU's homecoming game against Fordham.

Reese talks about some of the similarities and differences between dancing for VCU and cheerleading for the Jaguars, along with what brought her to VCU and then to Florida. We also discuss her career with the Rams, where she was a part of the Gold Rush for all four years at...

I sit down with WVCW Sports' Ben Rekosh to talk about VCU's trip to the NCAA Tournament, huge upset win over North Carolina in Greenville, Phil Martelli Jr.'s extension and the offseason ahead for the Rams. As a VCU and WVCW alum myself, it was awesome to see Ben and company spotlighted by Martelli in his postgame presser, and we talk about what it meant to the radio crew.

We cover a ton of ground in this episode -- first, Ben discusses Greenville, the lead-up to the Round of 64 game and VCU's incredible 19-point comeback over...

GalaxyCon Richmond is back! I covered the event for the fourth year straight and caught up with some recurring podcast guests, along with a couple celebrities at the ribbon-cutting to open the weekend.

First, Brian O'Halloran talked about his love for the Richmond restaurant scene and how he caught VCU-UNC at Penny Lane Pub on Thursday, along with appearing with fellow View Askewniverse-ers Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson at a convention for the first time in years.

At the ribbon-cutting, I got the chance to walk with Lou Ferrigno -- the OG Incredible...

VCU is headed to March Madness! After running the table in the A-10 tournament, the Rams are on their way to a first-round matchup with North Carolina as an 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

I sit down once again with Ben Rekosh, co-sports director at WVCW at VCU, to talk about his time in Pittsburgh watching VCU get crowned conference champions and what he expects from the Rams in Greenville. We talk about the matchup with UNC, Coach Martelli's first season at the helm, players like Nyk Lewis and Terrence Hill Jr. who came up big in...

My buddy Alex Soderstrom is back on the podcast for his fourth Sports Movie Showcase -- this time his first non-football movie with Hoosiers. The film turns 40 this year, but we thought we'd tackle it with March Madness just around the corner -- though this is my first time watching it.

We talk about Gene Hackman's leading role as head coach Norman Dale and Dennis Hopper's Oscar-nominated supporting role (in the same year he was in Blue Velvet, no less), how the basketball scenes are put together and how it's an early example of typical sports-movie and...

Ben Rekosh, the current co-sports director of WVCW Radio at VCU, jumps back on the podcast to talk about the Rams' men's basketball season at length and preview the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

We talk about what head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said in his press conference just before Ben and I recorded at the Siegel Center, as well as our takeaways from his first season at the helm of the team. Ben and I also break down the roster -- how the starting five has remained consistent over the course of the year and some of the standouts...

I caught up with Sean Thompson a few games into the VCU Rams' 2026 baseball season. The former VCU pitcher, who spent some time in the White Sox organization, was named as the Rams' head baseball coach last season.

We talk about the roster turnover in the offseason and what Sean learned the most from his first year at the helm of the Black and Gold. Thompson also discusses what he and the team worked on most heading into 2026 and what he learned about coaching during his playing time at VCU.

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I sat down with Michael Belle, one of the longest-tenured VCU Rams men's basketball members, ahead of the team's final two home games of the 2025-26 season. The junior guard/forward is in his third season with the team and has found success from beyond the arc, making twice as many threes this year as his first two seasons combined.

Mike talked about the differences between Coach Odom and Coach Martelli's leadership styles and his own expanding role within the team, especially as a leader with all the turnover last offseason. He also talks about his path...

I sat down with VCU Gold Rush dance team captain Ryane Jones and lieutenant Zeariah Reeves to talk about their roles with the team -- from being leaders on the sidelines during the game to being the team's senior leadership outside the game.

We talk about what goes into their on-court performance -- auditions, practices, gameday prep -- and how they balance the dance team with classes. I also ask them about how they got into the art form and what the Siegel Center atmosphere is like from their vantage point, along with and how they manage...

My buddy Jackson Hardy joins the podcast this week to talk about Hustle, the 2022 basketball movie starring Adam Sandler! This completes a sort of Sandler / Safdies arc on the podcast, which started with The Smashing Machine, then went to Uncut Gems and Marty Supreme, and concluded with the (other) Sandler basketball film.

Jackson and I talk about how well-crafted the movie is and how it has such a pure love for the game of basketball. We talk about its setting -- Philadelphia -- and how that plays into the 76ers being the film's central team; Anthony Edwards' actin...

After a quick Seahawks-themed introduction, I sit down with VCU freshman guard Nyk Lewis to talk about his 2025-26 season and joining Phil Martelli Jr.'s squad to begin his college career (listen for us cracking up when some of his teammates stopped to offer him food during the interview).

He also talked about his thoughts on the Siegel Center's iconic atmosphere, starting a majority of the Rams' games this year and winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week award multiple times early on in the season.

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SB Nation's Mark Schofield is back! We vowed that if my Seahawks and his Patriots won their respective conference title games, we'd do another podcast previewing them facing off in the Super Bowl.

We break down offense and defense for both Seattle and New England. For the Seahawks, we talk about if Sam Darnold can avoid seeing ghosts; how receiving weapons like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp can factor in; if Kenneth Walker III can carry the ground game; and how their "terrifying" defense will play a role with Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence and DROTY contender Nick...

My friend Brandon Shillingford is back on the podcast for the Sports Movie Showcase's third straight Safdie spotlight!

This time, we look at Josh Safdie's solo directorial venture from 2025 Marty Supreme, which scored nine Oscar nominations. We talk about Timothée Chalamet's lead performance and if it can land him the Oscar, Safdie's trademark anxiety-inducing direction, the table tennis scenes and the Safides as sports-movie directors.

We also talk the Oscar nominations at large, get sidetracked a bunch and a lot more.

Stay tuned for Brandon's work with Exposure Cinema and showings at St...

One of my favorite and most recurring guests is SB Nation's Mark Schofield, who is back on the podcast ahead of conference championship weekend in the NFL!

As he's a Patriots fan and I'm a Seahawks fan, we give our predictions for how our teams will do this weekend, and look ahead to Super Bowl LX. We talk about whether the Seahawks can keep their best-team-in-the-NFL status and the domination going; if Matthew Stafford's veteran status can help the Rams win out; if the Patriots can avoid a massive upset in Denver; and if Jarrett Stidham and...

I sat down with my friend Christina von Claparede-Crola -- aka Christina Louise in the Richmond music scene -- to talk about her upcoming single, "Half-Smoked Cigarettes," her Jan. 19 release show at Révéler in Carytown and being a part of the Richmond music scene since 2018.

This is in collaboration with Richmond Magazine; I wrote about Christina's new song and show for the magazine's January issue (pick up a copy or read the article below!) and they allowed me to publish the full interview as part of the podcast.

We also discuss Christina's songwriting pr...

Join me as I ramble about 100 episodes of Adam Cheek's Sports Week! I talked to some friends about how they've seen me change over the past couple years that I've been doing this podcast -- as a person, professionally, everything -- and that kind of serves as the basis for this episode.

I talk about finding the balance between work and then doing this podcast in my free time while still making time for my personal life. I also had zero clue what I was doing when I started this podcast, and I still don't, but that's...

My buddy Alex Soderstrom is back on the podcast and back for another College Football Playoff preview for the second straight year! This time, Indiana unseated Ohio State for the top seed heading into the postseason, and we've got some fun underdog teams like JMU and Tulane in the mix.

Alex and I break down the first-round matchups and the teams with byes the winners will face heading into the second round. And since he's a Georgia alum, he also details what he's seen from the Bulldogs this season and how Kirby Smart's coaching style has evolved...