News Clip 0:00

Have you seen anyone hit the ball as hard or as far as you hit? I think I've hit a I've hit a few that I've that I've never seen anybody else hit as far. You know, I've seen guys hit some long home minds, you know, that are better than most of mine. You know, but I think I've hit a few that I haven't seen anybody hit as far. You like that nickname? When I first got here, that's I mean I don't think anybody knew my name was Steve. It was just bye-bye, and well, I found out that it works. Bye-bye sounds good when I strike out. Um I do a lot of that. So do all those strikeouts, Bobby? They did last year, and I've been striking out a lot this year, but my average has improved a lot, so I'm not really worried about it. I think the biggest thing is with guys on base. I don't like striking out with guys on base, especially in scoring position.

Russell Ries 1:10

Good morning, afternoon, or evening to you, wherever you are listening from. It's Saturday, July 11th. I'm Russell Ries, and you are listening to the Nashville Sports Report. We started the show this week with a 1980s news clip about former Nashville Sounds player Steve Balboni. He came into the conversation with this week's guest, JJ Rosen, and it led me to find that clip. But more about Steve Balboni and my conversation with JJ later in the show. First, here is the week in Nashville Sports. Not much news from the Tennessee Titans organization this week as we inch closer to the start of training camp. Rookies will report on July 23rd with Vets joining them on July 28th. This coming week we'll see the release of season three of the Netflix show Quarterback, which will feature Cam Ward along with Joe Flacco, Jaden Daniels, and Baker Mayfield. That show will be available starting Tuesday, July 14th on Netflix. As expected, the Predators announced last Saturday afternoon that they have signed newly acquired forward Maverick Bork to a six-year, $33 million deal after trading for him with the Dallas Stars. For a player who is expected to play a top six role, $5.5 million a year is a bargain right from the beginning of the contract. And unless Bork dramatically fails to live up to expectations, the deal should only look better and better as the salary cap rises each year. Signing Bork to this deal after giving up very little to bring him over from Dallas is another feather in GM Chris McFarlane's cap. It really has been a great first month for McFarlane at the helm of the Predators organization, which bodes well for the future of the team. The Predators also announced this week that they have hired Vuki Mpofu as assistant general manager. While only 30 years old, Mpofu has spent the last three years as director of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Prior to that, he spent three years as the manager of hockey operations for the Los Angeles Kings, working under current Predators Executive Vice President Rob Blake. The Predators have said that Mpofu will work on, quote, player acquisition strategy, professional and amateur scouting, contract negotiations, salary cap and CBA compliance, roster and personnel decisions, and several other key areas of responsibility, end quote. GM Chris McFarlane appears to have added another impressive individual to the Pred's growing managerial brain trust. On now to the World Cup, where the United States men's national team crashed out of the tournament on Monday night following an uninspired round of 16 loss to Belgium, 4-1. Roughly 24 hours prior to the match, FIFA caused a stir when they announced that star U.S. striker Florian Balligan had had his red card suspension delayed, which would allow him to participate in the contest. Potential outside political pressures possibly played a role in the decision, which quickly saw the U.S. men's team become a global villain and appeared to drain them of the positive vibes that previously buffered the team. A record peak of 37 million viewers tuned in to see the U.S.'s abysmal showing, which made the uninspiring loss the most watched soccer telecast in U.S. history. Fortunately, brighter soccer days are just around the corner as league-leading Nashville SD returned to MLS action at home at Geodets Park this Friday. The Boys in Gold will look to build off their record best start and kick off the second half of the season as they take on a struggling Atlanta United squad. Coming off an almost two-month-long break, NSD should have their full roster available for selection to the matchday team. I expect they will want to send a message to themselves and the rest of the league in this first game back and believe Nashville SD will win 4-1 with two goals from Sam Sturridge, a goal from Hanny Mukhtar, and one from Ahmed Nasum. That game kicks off at 7.10 p.m. on Friday night and can be viewed on Apple TV. And speaking of Sam Sturge, it was announced this week that the English striker had been selected as a coach's selection for the MLS All-Star team, who will take on the Liga MX All-Star team in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 29th at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sturge joins Hani Mukhtar, Brian Schwacke, and Andy Nahar, who had all been voted to the All-Star team before the World Cup break. The four Nashville SD All-Stars are the most of any team in the league and a strong indication of the quality of our local soccer club. If you are a new soccer fan who is looking to stay connected to the sport after the World Cup ends, there has never been a better time to support Nashville SD. Finally, the Nashville Sounds are 52-39 and just two games back of the Memphis Redbirds for the division lead. They're currently in Charlotte in the middle of a six-game series with the Charlotte Knights. After winning last night 11-9, the series is tied at two games apiece, with games today and tomorrow remaining. Next week, they are off until Friday when they will return home for a short three-game series against the Norfolk Tides.

JJ Rosen Intro

Russell Ries 6:30

My guest this week is J.J. Rosen. JJ is a lifelong Nashville with family ties to the area that go back at least two more generations, including his grandfather, Ralph Kornman, who is a sports writer for multiple local newspapers. JJ is also an accomplished tech entrepreneur, having founded Atiba, a tech company that offers IT services, software development, website design, and digital marketing, and also the place where I work, over 30 years ago. Additionally, JJ now has his own monthly business column, which appears in the Tennessean. Yesterday I got to speak with him about his grandfather's sports writing career and lifelong love of sports, plus JJ's experiences with sports while growing up in Nashville. And of course, as previously mentioned, bye-bye Steve Balbony. I hope you enjoy my discussion with JJ

JJ Rosen Interview

Russell Ries 7:21

Rosen. JJ, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show today. I I know you've been traveling and been pretty busy, but I really appreciate it.

JJ Rosen 7:29

No, thanks, Russell, for having me. Looking forward to talking.

Russell Ries 7:32

I will start you out the same way I start everyone out with my litany of questions, starting with what is your favorite sport to play?

JJ Rosen 7:39

So it's changed over the years. As a kid, I loved playing basketball. That was always super fun. This is like in the 70s and 80s, back in your driveway, and then at school. And so basketball was my favorite. And then as um sort of got older, I got real into oddly enough, racquetball. I did that for about 10 years throughout my probably like my mid-20s into my 30s. And then somehow that led to playing squash, which I'd never really heard of before. But a friend of mine was doing that at Vanderbilt Rec Center. And so I joined on with him and I did that for about 10 years, or maybe a little more. And then nowadays I'm just trying to keep moving any which way. But basketball as a kid was my definitely my favorite.

Russell Ries 8:29

Right on. And it sounds like with your racquetball and squash experience, you could potentially go out and dominate the pickleball courts these days.

JJ Rosen 8:36

I did uh pickleball with a friend, one of my best friends from growing up. We did pickleball over the pandemic. At some point, I guess when it was safe to sort of be outside, we deemed that as something we could try. And yeah, it was it was fun. It was horrible. It was it was just like all of them. It was it took a bit to kind of get it down.

Russell Ries 8:54

I talked to uh EMT one time who said that they see a lot of pickleball injuries because sort of the simplicity of it, people overestimate their abilities and really get into it. And yes. All right. Well, given that, what is your favorite sport to watch?

JJ Rosen 9:09

I would say basketball is still my favorite sport to watch. I especially like watching college basketball. I like watching the NBA, especially during the playoffs. Like it seems like they pick it up a lot, and that's always been fun for me. And then I'm not very good at tennis, but I've always liked watching tennis. I guess in a couple summers ago, I went to like I traveled actually to Montreal to see like pro tournament there, like, you know, and it was really cool seeing that up close uh in person. But you know, I'd say basketball is still my my main thing, college basketball, and then and then I like tennis whenever there's tournaments on.

Russell Ries 9:46

Do you have a uh a college team? Do you root for or just general college ball?

JJ Rosen 9:51

I've been on a unique path of you know being a college basketball and football fan. So growing up here in Nashville, I always loved Vanderbilt. So I was like all in as a little kid. And my grandfather, who was just a diehard sports fan, as well as a sports writer, actually, way, way back, he took me as a little kid to all kinds of sports, but definitely all the bandy basketball games and football games. So I grew up bandy fan doing all that, and then at some point, Vanderbolt and football was, you know, they would always lose so much. And I guess it was kind of okay. You just go to the game and have fun. But I decided this is like in my old age, like I was in like my 40s. I decided that I would just randomly choose another team for football. And so one of my really close friends, I was telling him this, like, I'm just gonna pick a team and just start over. He was a big Oklahoma Sooner fan. And so, like the next day he came by the house with like an Oklahoma Sooner sweatshirt and like t-shirt, and he's like, You want to just join on with me? And they're usually pretty good. So I was like, sure. So for I guess the past 15 years, football, I've mainly been following Oklahoma.

Russell Ries 11:05

You know, I I'm totally in favor of that. I don't think there should be any rhyme or reason. The heart follows what the heart follows, and I like that your friend took the initiative. That I appreciate that. I'm the same way. You give me a free t-shirt and I'm sold.

JJ Rosen 11:18

Yeah, that it didn't take much. Yeah, that was it. But now that Vanderbilt just this past year or so has improved so much, I'm torn a little bit. And I always still like Bandy, but it was fun kind of following a team, you know, with a bigger program.

Russell Ries 11:32

I am an advocate of support as many teams as you want. Vanderbilt, you're right, is on the rise here. And you know, I'm also becoming more and more a proponent of the Vanderbilt women's basketball team. I feel like they are the best ticket in town.

JJ Rosen 11:45

Yeah, I used to go to some games way back, but I think that's super exciting to watch in uh women's basketball in general. And so I I can see myself starting to go to those games too.

Russell Ries 11:56

It's crazy. Like they were a top five team in the country last year, and you could get in the door for a dollar, which I just don't think you can find anywhere else in Nashville.

JJ Rosen 12:03

So it's a great deal because it's expensive to go to a lot of these things.

Russell Ries 12:07

Yeah, when a bucket of popcorn costs eight times the uh ticket price, you know.

JJ Rosen 12:12

That's right. That's right.

Russell Ries 12:13

All right. Well, you mentioned your grandfather, and I do want to ask more about him in a little bit, but this kind of ties into my next question, which is what is your earliest sports memory?

JJ Rosen 12:21

That's a really good question. I think I remember, I definitely remember as a real little kid, the vanity basketball game. Like I said, that was like my favorite thing. And I would go with my grandfather, and then my parents, I think in the 70s, my dad, who was a uh a sound engineer, he actually put in the sound system for Memorial Gym at Vanderbilt, you know, at that time. And so I think they gave him or us some seats like right in the front row for Vanderbilt games. I remember that being like a big moment, getting to go sit right there in the front. And so definitely that's a memories that are kind of very good to think about back then. And then, and actually, I didn't really mention, I guess I'd sort of forgotten about this, but I liked basketball a lot, but I also played hockey when I was a real little kid. I played from when I was like four, and I think I stopped in ninth grade. And this is before hockey was at all popular in Nashville, before the Predators, way before that. It was a pretty small group of people that played. So I remember, you know, learning to skate and playing hockey at the Municipal Auditorium downtown. So that's another memory I have. I never watched hockey a lot, but I like playing it.

Russell Ries 13:32

Was it your family that sort of steered you towards hockey? Or how did you end up with Yeah?

JJ Rosen 13:37

Me and my sister also and my cousins, we all played. My dad was a coach, and my uncle, his brother, was a coach, and they sponsored a team. Again, this is like in the mid-70s into the 80s, called the Rosen's Rockets. So I still have my jersey when I was awesome. But they coached and sponsored a little team, and so played with my my cousins and my my sister too. And it was really a very different time. It was really fun. So I enjoyed that.

Russell Ries 14:06

I didn't realize that there were any youth hockey leagues in Nashville in the 70s. That's really cool.

JJ Rosen 14:12

Yeah, it was a relatively small group, and then now, of course, it's taken off with you know people of all ages playing, but not not as much back then.

Russell Ries 14:20

Did you guys play like the same three other teams over and over or something?

JJ Rosen 14:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we just rotated around and and let's see. I think not until maybe seventh or eighth grade was there any checking allowed. And even that, it was like a very friendly, it was a very nice community of kids and parents, all kind of into it.

Russell Ries 14:40

That's really cool. Well, moving on to my next question, you've mentioned sort of deep roots here. How did you and your family end up in Nashville?

JJ Rosen 14:49

So I'm born and raised here. So I grew up in kind of like Bellevue kind of Westmead area. My mom is from here, and my grandfather, the one that I mentioned, is the sports writer, a big sports fan. He actually was born. I don't know that his parents were born in Nashville, but they they moved here, I think, pretty early on. And so my mom was here, and then my dad, his family moved here when he was maybe like six or seven years old. So, yeah, between that, like sort of um have kind of a little bit of a history in Nashville that has been kind of fun to be a part of, especially watching Nashville change and you know, just seeing kind of thinking back generations a little bit has been fun for me.

Russell Ries 15:31

That is really cool. Um, we my family moved here when I was two, but I I still act like I'm a you know native Nashville, you know, been here since that counts. I feel like it does. Honestly, I feel like anybody who's been here longer than 10 years can blame native sports.

JJ Rosen 15:44

Yeah, that's fair enough. Yes.

Russell Ries 15:46

Well, outside of the Rosen's Rockets, who would you say is your favorite Nashville sports team?

JJ Rosen 15:51

Let's see. My favorite right now is still Vanderbilt basketball. I'm really was always into that. I got very busy with work and all that, and it was hard to go to games. So I was still a fan, but I wasn't going. I didn't have season tickets. And then this past couple years, I went ahead and got season tickets again. It's been really fun watching them. It's been neat to see sort of their turnaround the past year or two. And and so that's been been cool. And then, you know, I I'm not as intimate as I used to be. I used to go to a lot of Nashville Sounds games also as a kid. I like that more when it was at the old Greer Stadium than the new fancier stadium. I think it's just nostalgia. But I I used to like that a lot. But but right now it's it's definitely vanity basketball.

Russell Ries 16:39

I got to go to see them play Alabama last season, and that kid Tyler Tanner, who is a Nashville native, he is so fast. He's an impressive ball player. They've got a pretty good squad. It seems like they're gonna be even better this year.

JJ Rosen 16:53

Yeah, no, it's really impressive what they've done, and that the the coaching, I think, has been a big part of that. And it's neat to see. Um, I like Tyler Tanner a lot as well, like a smaller kid who's like so torque smart and so fundamental. It's nice to root for those types of folks.

Russell Ries 17:12

Absolutely. All right. Well, you mentioned Greer Stadium and and some of the old Vanderbilt teams and whatnot. What would you say is your favorite Nashville sports memory or moment?

JJ Rosen 17:22

So I have a few, but one is actually just a personal moment for me. My favorite player back when I was a kid, Vandy, his name was Tommy Springer. And he was like this point guard. You know, he was like kind of you know famous to me as a little kid. And so this is not only one of my favorite sports moments, and probably one of the best moments of my life. I think when I was maybe eight or nine, somehow my parents got Tommy Springer to come to my birthday party. At the time in Nashville, there was not as many, you know, there's no pro sports and all that. So Vanavolt was big. Sure. And so I have a picture with him when I was a little kid, and he came to my birthday party and my friends and all that. And so that was a great moment for me in terms of uh works and just for me personally. You know, the other things that stick out is when Barry Goheen was playing, along with Will Perdue and Barry Booker, uh, and CM Newton was the coach. I don't know if you know about Barry Goheen, but he had like three or four last second shots to win games, like you know, like big games. Like he was just like the most clutch player ever. And the best one was in the NCAA tournament when Vanderbilt was playing Pittsburgh, and they had been behind the whole game, and he hit a three to put it into overtime and one. And you know, I was watching him on TV with my friends, and we just were like going crazy. And so that is that's definitely sticks out as uh those moments where there was a last second shot that uh you know turned out for the best.

Russell Ries 18:55

Yeah, I totally understand that vibe with Vanderbilt too, because for me it was the Eddie Fogler years, it was Ronnie McMahon, Billy McCaffrey, Kevin Anglin.

JJ Rosen 19:04

Yeah, they were great.

Russell Ries 19:05

That whole squad. So yeah, those guys were larger than life. If you asked me, I would say Ronnie McMahon is probably my favorite Vanderbilt player of all time.

JJ Rosen 19:13

Yeah, I remember when he was a freshman, you could just see the athletic ability. And one of the best teams I remember seeing was when Vandy played LSU at Vanderbilt when Shaq. Ronnie McMahon, I think he had a really good game. And so I remember that being super excited.

Russell Ries 19:31

Absolutely. That's so cool. Okay, given all that, who would you put on your Mount Rushmore of Nashville sports? And this is particular to you, it doesn't have to be what you think should be on there. Okay, what you want on there.

JJ Rosen 19:45

Okay, all right. This can be pretty good. I would say I would put probably two Vandable basketball players. I would put Tommy Springer, my favorite, and I put Goheen, very Goheen, just because the clutch performances were always so exciting to watch. I mean, this was going way, way back. So I know Russell, I'm like twice your age. So I mean it's just kind of embarrassing in some ways. Some of it going to be a good thing.

Russell Ries 20:10

Take us all the way back. Let's go.

JJ Rosen 20:13

My favorite Nashville Sounds player that some people might recognize was Steve Balboni was his name. And he was like big for the Nashville Sounds. This is when they, you know, they were like the same thing, a minor league team, but he like you know made it into the majors and all that. So he was he was real popular. And then the other one is not so much a sports thing, but I've gotten to know him a little bit over the years is Blaine Bishop, who played for the Titans. And I just think he's just a great person and a great guy. And it's he was a very good player, but it's been interesting to me to see what he's done after playing and the impact he's had, and also just to understand a little bit from him, you know, what life is like as a professional athlete. And so I like him a lot.

Russell Ries 20:59

Big Blaine Bishops fan myself, just given his story and sort of his role with the team early on in their time in town. I think that's an awesome answer. Okay, so going into the potentially scandalous question now, do you have any Nashville sports conspiracy theories or hot takes that you want to share?

JJ Rosen 21:17

Let's see. All right, I wouldn't say conspiracy, but I missed some of these things. So it used to be at the Van D basketball games when we would play Tennessee, right when the the tip-off happened, everyone would throw oranges onto the court. So it would just be like the whole crowd. They had to stop the game for a second, clean everything out. You know, I think that should become, you know, someone should bring that back as a tradition. That was always pretty crazy. Well, I don't think it was very safe, but you know, it was it was it was a different time. Let's see. The this can be maybe controversial, but I'm one I'm interested, you know, the Music City miracle, the home run throwback. There was always that analysis. Of was it for sure, you know, a ladder? And I remember at the time when that happened, I was like, yeah, it was. I I'm pretty sure that's the case, but I would love to see that studied more. And in some ways, I would not want to see it studied in case it was an illegal pass. But I I'm, you know, it'd be interesting to know. Yeah. That's as good as I can on any kind of uh that's totally cool.

Russell Ries 22:22

I think the city of Buffalo would love to see that studied more as well. But exactly, yeah. I will, to my dying day, tell you that if you look at where Frank Wycheck's arm was, he was two yards ahead of the five-yard marker or whatever, I think it was the 15 or the 20. And Dyson actually stepped backwards to catch it at the white line. So the body positioning made it look weird, but actually, if you just follow the ball, I think we're good here.

JJ Rosen 22:48

Yeah, hopefully that's the case. I mean, hopefully that's that's true.

Russell Ries 22:51

The good news is they won't overturn it if it's not. But I also want to say if we can throw a catfish on the ice at Predators Games, we can at least throw one orange on the court. Yeah, yeah. I feel like that somebody out there can be a hero. All right. Last of my questions for everyone before we get into a little bit more about your grandfather. What is your favorite restaurant in Nashville?

JJ Rosen 23:16

That's an easy one for me. It might be the same for you. I'm not sure, but Satco is my favorite uh restaurant in Nashville. You know, Satco being right next to where both of us went to school. We were, I don't know if by your age it was the same, but we were allowed to go off campus, I guess in ninth grade. We could just leave the campus and go out to lunch. And so Satco kind of became really the cafeteria for my friends and I at the time. And so I still like love Satco. So I go to Satco once a week.

Russell Ries 23:49

I do love Satco. And yeah, we by the time I was in high school, towards the end of freshman year, we had to like earn it, but they would start letting us go off campus. And it was Satco and Guido's were the two, the little pizza places.

JJ Rosen 24:00

Yeah, yeah, Guido's is for sure.

Russell Ries 24:03

And I do admire the consistency. Satco to this day. You walk in, you know what you're getting for sure.

JJ Rosen 24:09

Yeah, yeah, it just feels comfortable. Yeah. And so I love going there, and like I'm you know, got no people working there a long time, and it's very it feels nice to go there for sure.

Russell Ries 24:20

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go back to Satco now. I'm Jonesin' and great answer. Yeah. Okay, so you mentioned earlier your grandfather was a sports writer here in town. What was his name to begin with? And and tell me a little bit more. Was he writing for the Tennessean?

JJ Rosen 24:37

So my grandfather, his name was Ralph Kornman, and this was before I was born when he was writing. He was just always, I guess as a kid, just a diehard sports fan. And so he also had an interest in in writing. And so he ended up working, I think, first for the Nashville banner, and then for the Tennessean, and maybe for both at the same time. I'm not exactly sure. But my my family, my my mom and and my aunt and uh and I have some too. We have a lot of clippings, you know, from all of his writing, from both the banner and the Tennessean. He got into that and just loved it. It was like just great. It's funny, I I am not a great writer, but I, you know, I've been writing this little column, kind of a biz tech column for the Tennessean the past 15 years, just almost as a side thing. And some of that, the reason I've enjoyed it is just a little bit the connection that you know that he was writing for the Tennessean. But he was much better writer and and you know, probably much more interesting to read.

Russell Ries 25:36

Well, I I love that connection. And I was thinking about that in advance of this interview. You know, I like those shows like Who Do You Think You Are and Finding Your Roots. Yeah. I remember one this guy was a the judge of a dancing show in England from Australia, said, I don't know anyone in my family connected to anything dancing. They end up going back to Australia and finding he had like a great grandfather who was the national clog champion or something.

JJ Rosen 25:59

Yeah, there's some like just maybe there's some kind of uh path, you know, or journey that kind of tile ties together.

Russell Ries 26:06

It is interesting that you found your way sort of back to that and and can get connection with your grandfather in that way. That's a really special thing, I think. Do you remember sort of what his beat was within sports? Was it just general sports?

JJ Rosen 26:18

Let's see, I know he covered I guess he covered college sports in Nashville at the time. I think for a while he also was high school during high school sports. And then yeah, at some point there he was it was college sports, and it was interesting. I remember he would kind of show me some articles, and it was very different than it is nowadays since not everything was on TV or even on radio. You know, a lot it was a lot more just descriptive of the game itself, like what happened in the game, not as much like opinion or whatever, more like just recapping what happened in the game. And so, but he had a blast doing that, and that was just really really fun for him.

Russell Ries 27:00

You know, I I recall sort of old old articles of game recaps like that, and it always struck me as strange. They would sort of start at the end and then sort of work their way back, like one of those freeze friends. Well, that's me, probably wondering how I got here, sort of, and then throw back to sort of this story as it progressed.

JJ Rosen 27:15

Yeah, yeah, like how did this uh how did the result happen? But yeah, he was really into that, and then I think the story goes that my grandmother eventually, I guess he was gone or you know, out a lot, like on the weekends and games and all that. And when they had kids, my grandmother really wanted him to change jobs, and so I guess at some point he did, and my grandparents they opened the first store in the original Green Hills Mall. So it was a candy store, which was pretty awesome for grandkids. Because, like, yeah, I think I might have just put them out of business almost because I mean I would just go and just grab you know piles of candy whenever you know I would go there, which was like you know, all the time. But he remained a diehard sports fan, and so every night I would say he was watching basketball, baseball, football, anything. And so he kept on going with that as a passion, but eventually he had a retail store, so it wasn't writing anymore.

Russell Ries 28:17

Man, talk about hitting the grandpa sweet spot there with sports in a candy store.

JJ Rosen 28:23

No pun intended, yes, it was perfect.

Russell Ries 28:26

Yeah, that's fantastic. Did he have favorite teams or was he just any sport anytime kind of guy?

JJ Rosen 28:32

Interesting. He liked you know, anything local. I mean, like when the Titans came here and the Predators, he was super excited about that. But he was someone who could watch a game, really not care who won. He generally would be very even killed, and like he'd watch any game and just it wouldn't matter that much who won. Like he would get over it if it wasn't he who wanted to pretty quickly. And then, you know, a lot of teams he had no one he was even pulling for. So that was kind of unique. Because even when I watch a random game, I start kind of like finding myself, oh, I want them to win. And so, but he he never had that.

Russell Ries 29:06

That's interesting. I wonder if that came out of his work as a sports journalist where he learned to keep that sort of in partiality.

JJ Rosen 29:13

Yeah, yeah, be a little bit neutral.

Russell Ries 29:15

Yeah, yeah. I remember as a kid, you know, watching college football. I'm exactly like you. One player, one uniform, something sticks out, and you're like, yeah, okay, like uh let's let's go for the purple team, like whatever.

JJ Rosen 29:26

Yeah, exactly.

Russell Ries 29:26

That was that's so fun.

JJ Rosen 29:29

Yeah, so so yeah, yeah, he was he was pretty easy going with that stuff, but that was kind of cool because it gave him a great hobby. And I remember when he, you know, when he got into his late 80s and he was, you know, not in not in as good of hell, he would basically say, Hey, I'm totally fine as long as I can just watch basketball, baseball, football, like you know, I'm I'm fine.

Russell Ries 29:48

And do you think that informed sort of your father and mother and then you as well, like getting into hockey in the 70s? Do you think that came out of your grandfather's sort of just general love for sports?

JJ Rosen 29:59

Yeah, yeah. I think my mom liked sports a lot and still does. And so I think there was a little bit of that general theme that kind of got established in our family, and nothing, you know, real serious or you know, trying to become the very best player or you know, always win, but just kind of a joyous kind of hobby, both playing and watching.

Russell Ries 30:20

Personally, uh that appeals more to me as a sports fan and sort of kind of the thought process behind the whole podcast, which is just yeah, the winning and the losing and the tactics, and that's all cool, but there's so much more in and around sports that I think is worth celebrating, and I really appreciate that sort of mentality. One of the things that I really cherish, a memory I cherish, was a day I went to multiple games with my father. We went and saw the Titans play at Vanderbilt, and then we went and saw the Predators that night. Do you have any specific memories of going to sporting events with your grandfather, any games, anything that stick out as things that you'll hold dear?

JJ Rosen 30:59

Yeah, yeah. So I don't remember what year this was. I could probably look it up, but it was, I guess for the first time, National hosted maybe the first couple rounds of the NCAA tournament at Vanderbilt at Memorial Gym. This is maybe uh early 80s or something, or you know, you we had tickets, we could go to a bunch of games. So we just went to every we were there the whole time, you know, to see every every game. And that was really fun. We would have a nice kind of even as a little kid, a little bit of a banter. So he always liked Bobby Knight and Indiana was playing at the time at in the tournament. And I just did not, I hated him. And so we had a nice kind of discussion. I'm like, uh, he's overrated. I don't know why you like him. He's terrible. And so uh he's like, oh, Bobby's not so bad. And so we got to, I guess, see them twice playing. He liked Bobby Knight a lot. I I did not, but it was a fun, like kind of humorous thing we had. And so that that was a definitely a great that few days was a great memory for me. And you know, that also was a different time, like it was before ESPN and cable, so there was only a few networks on. And so to see these players you heard about up close, or that was that was totally awesome to see. So that's one of my favorite kind of events with well, with like you had you know, a bunch of games going on on the same day.

Russell Ries 32:22

Yeah, that sounds like a really special memory, and I appreciate the point that you make too about not being able to really be connected in the same way and and having these larger than life kind of figures come into town. I I feel like we're kind of seeing that right now with the World Cup. I think there are a lot of US soccer fans who follow these players from afar, and all of a sudden you have well, Messi's here, but Mbappe and Holland and all these players who Yeah, yes. It's kind of cool that to remember some of the, for lack of a better term, like the humanity and the reality of these people as individuals who are just struggling and trying to do their best.

JJ Rosen 32:59

Yeah, it's cool. I mean, there's like a um you know, watching sports, it's like, you know, part talent, and then there's a lot of personality and decision making and the way you carry yourself. You know, it becomes interesting, you know, to watch and to to see uh see uh especially in person. Yeah.

Russell Ries 33:15

Well, that is really neat, and it's so cool to hear about your grandfather. Tell me again his name.

JJ Rosen 33:20

Uh his name was Ralph Corman.

Russell Ries 33:23

Ralph Corman. Okay, I'm gonna try and look up, find some clippings or something online, see if I can't link them.

JJ Rosen 33:29

Yeah, really nice, great guy, so definitely very influential in my life. And as a side note, I'm really into sports, but so when he and my grandmother had this store, this candy store, he got really into doing the bookkeeping and accounting. And so when they sold that and he was kind of retired, when I first started getting into our company, Ativa, that you and I are working at together, but he ended up doing all of our accounting. He did that after probably the first 17 years of doing this. So that was really awesome too. So we worked together.

Russell Ries 34:05

That's so cool. And what was the name of the candy store? I imagine we'll at least have a few listeners who will be like, oh yeah, I remember that.

JJ Rosen 34:14

It was called Open House Candy and Party Store, and it was right next to the game store, the old Green Hills Mall. Let's see, the Kroger, the Green Hills Kroger was in the mall, actually. There was Burris hardware was there, and it was just like uh for the most part, it was all mom and pop stores, just like you'd imagine a mall like in the 70s.

Russell Ries 34:36

Yes, it was great. Long before Green Hills became what it is today, a place to be avoided when driving.

JJ Rosen 34:43

Yeah, it was really fun. But yeah, I do feel bad because I think I would not only would I take like just grab candy, but I bring like my friend, you know, and they would grab candy. So I'm a little worried that I I maybe almost put them out of business completely.

Russell Ries 34:57

Having a a young child and watching him engage with his grandparents now, I can tell you with pretty much absolute certainty, nothing made him happier than being able to spoil you and treat you to candy. So I I hope that I can absolve you of some of that concern. Well, JJ, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to come speak with me and come on the show. Any final thoughts, any closing messages to the world, anything else you want to share?

JJ Rosen 35:25

Well, I think it's it's really cool you're doing this. I know you got you're juggling a lot between work and family, and uh doing this podcast seems both like a you know a fun and and viable you know endeavor. And so uh I appreciate you thinking to even ask me to be on it. But I think it's it's cool that you're you're doing something kind of different and putting this out there.

Russell Ries 35:45

Well, thanks. I'm glad to hear you say that. And honestly, I feel kind of a connection to your grandfather in that my wife was like, you need an outlet, do a sports podcast, stop talking to me about this. Yeah, I can totally understand that. All right, well, thanks again. I really uh enjoyed talking about this and and hearing some of your memories and hearing about your grandfather. He sounds like a really, really interesting person, and uh I can't wait to find some of his his articles.

JJ Rosen 36:10

Very cool, very cool. Russell, yeah, no, thanks for doing this. It's really fun.

Russell Ries 36:15

All right, thank

Outro

Russell Ries 36:16

you. All right, well, that's our show for this week. My thanks again to JJ Rosen for coming on. A reminder, as always, you can reach out to us on Twitter and Blue Sky at NSH Sports Report. There's also a link in the description where you can reach out. We'd love to hear from you. I'd love to have you on the show. If there are any topics you'd like to hear covered, please let us know. Want to wish a happy anniversary to Elle and hope everyone has a great weekend. Happy birthday, Galen.