The Wiz of Odds

Wiz Podcast: Ben, the Soap-Eating Nebraska Fan

Meet Ben, a proud Cornhusker fan who grew up in Omaha. After studying industrial engineering at Nebraska, he ended up deep in the heart of Texas.

"I've been in Houston for the last 5 years and for the most part I really like it down here," he wrote in August on the blog No Option Tailgate. "The biggest headache about living in Texas is the amount of sh-t I take from Longhorn fans on a regular basis."

Living in enemy territory can test the best of us, and this past summer, Ben made a bet with one of his Longhorn buddies. The fan on the losing side of the Texas-Nebraska game would have to eat a bar of soap.

After the Longhorns' 20-13 victory, it was time to man up. Ben, with knife and fork in hand, went at it in a Houston bar on Sunday, taking about 20 minutes and several pitchers of beer to down the soap.

Now hear from the man himself. Ben is the guest on the Wiz podcast.

The length of our interview is 9:27 and you can listen by clicking here or on the audio link below.

Ben

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts on the site, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Wiz Podcast: Stewart Mandel of SI.com

Stewart Mandel's timing was impeccable. Northwestern was wandering in college football's wasteland when he stepped on campus in 1995. The team entered its first game against No. 9 Notre Dame as a 28-point underdog. Three hours later, the Wildcats had stunned the Fighting Irish, 17-15. By season's end, Northwestern was headed to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl, a dramatic turnaround for a program that had a string of losing seasons dating to 1972.

"The thrill of that '95 Rose Bowl season energized the entire campus, and I quickly became aware of how the national media covered that story," he said. "I knew right then that I wanted to be one of those people, covering those type of stories."

Mandel joined SI.com in 1999 and has been covering college football since. He is the guest on our podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here or on the audio link below. Runtime is 14:46.

Stewart Mandel

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Wiz Podcast: Desmond Howard

Desmond Howard, winner of the 1991 Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl XXXI most valuable player, is the guest on this edition of the podcast.

Howard, now an analyst for ESPN, discusses a number of topics, including Saturday's Michigan-Notre Dame game. What does Howard think about the possibility of the Heisman Trust stripping Reggie Bush of his 2005 trophy? You'll want to hear what he has to say.

Unfortunately, the interview becomes somewhat strained midway through after I ask Howard about his thoughts regarding the lawsuit filed by former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller against EA Sports and the NCAA. The suit contends the video-game maker and NCAA are illegally profiting from the images of college football and basketball players. Howard was on the cover of EA Sports NCAA 06 Football, striking his Heisman pose.

Length of the podcast is 15:48 and you can listen by clicking here or on the audio link below.

Desmond Howard

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts on the site, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Wiz Podcast: Doug Flutie

There's not a college football fan around who doesn't remember Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass into the Orange Bowl's night sky that landed into the arms of Gerard Phelan, giving Boston College a 47-45 victory over Miami on Nov. 23, 1984. Flutie not only went on to win the Heisman, but he put Boston College on the map. In the two years after Flutie's heroics, enrollment at Boston College jumped 30%.

It became known at the "Flutie Effect." The better a school's high-profile teams perform, the more enrollment will soar.

What does Doug think about this? Does he believe in the Flutie Effect? He joined us to answer that question and more in a podcast. Listen to what he has to say by clicking here or on the audio link below. Doug's an excellent guest and you'll want to give a listen. Length of the podcast is 15:35.

Doug Flutie

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts on the site, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Wiz Podcast: ESPN's Rece Davis

Rece Davis is a name familiar to every college football fan. As host of the network's Saturday studio coverage, he often has to quell disputes between colleagues Mark May and Lou Holtz.

Davis has taken on another role this fall as play-by-play voice of the network's Thursday night telecasts, starting with tomorrow night's Southern Mississippi-South Carolina game.

Davis has plenty to say about the current state of college football, ranging from Brigham Young's move to football independence to the future of the Big 12. He shared some of those opinions in our latest podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here or on the audio link below. Run time is 21:37. (The good stuff starts about 2 minutes in.)

Rece Davis

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts on the site, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Wiz Podcast: John Mackovic

John Mackovic was a quarterback at Wake Forest from 1962-64 and began a coaching career in 1965 as a graduate assistant at Miami (Ohio). He went on to become a head coach in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs (1983-86) and college with Illinois (1988-91), Texas (1992-97) and Arizona (2001-03). He currently resides in the Palm Springs area and writes a twice-weekly in-season column for the Desert Sun.

Mackovic is against a playoff in big-time college football, doesn't believe players should be paid and thinks the Big 12's future is cloudy at best.

"I don't see that conference, because of the way they have negotiated bigger payments to Texas and Oklahoma, surviving," he said.

The podcast runs 25:28 and you can listen by clicking here or on the audio link below.

John Mackovic

Wiz podcasts are also available on iTunes. Click here to go to our iTunes link or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds." For a list of past podcasts on the site, click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, send an email to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.