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TTalk: Beyond the Field serves as a platform to showcase the incredible talent, dedication, and perseverance that our Tulane student-athletes possess. TTalk goes beyond the confines of conventional sports podcasts. Through the ancient are of storytelling, we are developing historical records of our experiences as student-athletes. We celebrate the achievements of our athletes, both on and off the field. Together, we uplift one another, inspire future generations, and create a legacy that transcends time. Join us, as we celebrate the indomitable spirit of New Orleans and the transformative power of Tulane University.
The TClub is an affinity group, of the Tulane Alumni Association, made up of alumni who are former student-athletes.
00:00 - Carmen Jones (Host)
We're here with Michael Christian, the All-American basketball player from Colorado Parade All-American.
00:10 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Smith and what is it, Smith and?
00:11 - Carmen Jones (Host)
what Street and Smith? Just all the All-American stuff. So what was it like growing up in Colorado?
00:22 - Michael Christian (Guest)
All your upbringing.
00:22 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Just tell me a little bit about your parents.
00:25 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm a product of an Air Force. My dad was in the Air Force, so we moved a lot. So I was born in Holland. It suits Holland and Amsterdam. So I didn't move back into the States until like 1972, 1973, 1972, 1973, something like that.
00:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Do you remember being in Holland at all? I know you were quite young.
00:51 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We moved back to Homestead, florida. He was stationed in Homestead, florida. Now my mother is from Denver, colorado. Okay, so while my father was stationed in Denver he met my mother. He met my mother. They flew to Amsterdam. I was born in Amsterdam. So on his journey back to getting back to the States, to get back to Colorado, we had one stop in Florida, which was Homestead, stayed there for a year. Then we ended up back in Colorado by 1972.
01:20
I was five. So my father was my coach. Well, my father coached my brother and myself. So I watched my father coach my brother growing up. My brother was everything in Colorado also. He was all state, all everything. He played four years at Air Force Academy.
01:42
I was a ball boy, you know. I watched everything going on, all the bad players I watched, all the good players I watched and I listened to my father because he was my coach. So all up until I got to high school, my ninth grade year, my father was my coach. So my first big experience like going to national basketball or anything like that, I was 12, which was uh, au back then, you know. And when we grew up he was really big and it was prominent. So I made all american and, uh, at 12 years old I played against bj armstrong and that really began to apply to me. Okay, you know, put my name out there and known. Back then the media wasn't like it is today where you know. Everybody knew it was more the eye test, so all you had to be in the right place at the right time, right.
02:35
So my word spread it good enough but I mean you know, that kind of solidified us back then, because everybody's word and name wasn't getting spreaded, because if they didn't see it you weren't getting talked about.
02:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Correct.
02:49 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So I came up in the area and I like that a lot and that's the way I do my thing also. But getting back to that, so that's 11 to 12. Yeah, about 11 to 12.
03:02 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So you're 12. You make all of America.
03:04 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I play an all-American game. I meet BJ Armstrong, so that's who was the point guard for us.
03:12 - Carmen Jones (Host)
And that's when you played for the Chicago.
03:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Bulls, so that was the first time meeting him. He's from Chicago, I'm from Denver, colorado. We're in Rensselaer, indiana, for an All-American game. So we met in the Midwest and I like traveling so I've seen early that when you travel you get to play against the better players. So when you travel back then they were good and I kind of took that to heat and I kind of ran with it. But my training up there, my training and my two weeks was up by my father.
03:53 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So my father coached me all the way until I was in the eighth grade. So what was that like playing for your father? Was it tougher? I mean his military.
03:59 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Everything kicked in. You know, I think I got. Some of my friends were here to tell you I got chastised a lot but I was held to a higher standard because I was a better player. But if you wanted to be the best, you had to do over and beyond what was expected of you. You know people don't understand that and when people weren't looking, that was my thing. I love playing basketball. You got to let you know.
04:28 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So how much time were you spending in the gym dribbling? How much time were you? I mean, you made All-American as a 12-year-old, so what type of things were you doing Every day? We?
04:36 - Michael Christian (Guest)
played every day and we shoveled the snow, we shoveled the corn, we had a basketball court in the alley. We played to all of the rec centers around our doors. We rode our bikes City on city, area on area, it didn't matter. Whenever there was a gym, you took your five friends, you took my five friends and we're going to go play. It was a never ending process for me. I just you know I also like football. I play football.
05:07 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So I played football. Did you play football in high school?
05:11 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I stopped when I got into ninth grade because a guy hit me in my knee and I couldn't play basketball, so I gave it up. But I was good when I was younger. Okay, and it was, I played tight end.
05:22 - Carmen Jones (Host)
What position were you playing?
05:23 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Tight end, tight end and defensive back.
05:28 - Carmen Jones (Host)
How tall were you at that time?
05:30 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I was tall. I'll send you some pictures if you want, but I'll send you some pictures.
05:36 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Send me some pictures.
05:39 - Michael Christian (Guest)
You know, back then you did a lot of things. I played golf, I ran track, right, you know. I played football. I played basketball, so ran track Right. You know I played football, I played basketball. So that's the only thing I didn't do really was play baseball. That wasn't one of the things in my area that was big. There were other kids playing it, but in my area it was football. You know basketball.
05:59 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, out there in that snow, nobody wanted to stand out.
06:05 - Michael Christian (Guest)
But we played in all these elements. So I understand what it is to get out there and grind on the gridiron, but it wasn't me. I like to be in the warm gym, so you know. But anyway, playing for my father like I said, I was held to a higher standard but also traveling with him, watching him coach my brother and all the other kids in the neighborhood, my understanding of the game and what was required of me was higher. You understand what I'm saying Because I knew more what was expected of me and if this is what I wanted, this is what I had to do, and I also had a lot of examples in front of me that I've seen what not to do and what to do. I was a real big believer on observing I didn't know for taking some things.
06:58
other people took it. I just watched because I've seen what happened with them in the long run. It didn't work out, even in college, doing everything wrong. I'm not to say I did everything right, but I knew what not to do, right, right. So that took me to high school, and it's just so funny, about two years, like my seventh grade year, the high school I went to, which is where my brother went they hired my father to coach the ninth grade team.
07:32 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So oh, wow.
07:34 - Michael Christian (Guest)
The coach, the head coach, who was the head of everything. His name was Bruce Live, who I talked to 11 to death. He moved my father up to JV him to death. He moved my father up to JV, and so when I got to school back then, my school went from ninth grade to twelfth grade.
07:53
Okay All boys private school Before ninth grade was high school. You know, ninth grade wasn't made high school until like the nineties, like the beginning of the nineties so. But my high school started in 9th grade. So it was all boys private Catholic school about an hour and a half away from my house, so my journey to school consisted of taking two to maybe three buses rain, snow, street or hell to get to school you didn't ride with your dad, he only came to coach, so he would be coming from work.
08:26
Oh, okay, he was coming to practice, I had to get up at sometimes 5.30 in the morning to get to school by 8.30, meaning I had to be up out the house, test the bus by 6,. Like that Snow that means you gotta leave at five. Blizzard you might get a day off, but regular snow you gotta catch the bus and go. So I did that for nine days to 12 days.
08:55 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yes indeed.
08:56 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So when I got to school, like I said, I knew I was better than everybody in the school. But my high school coach was like no, you're going to have to try to, I guess, test my pride and my spirit and make me play freshman ball. We didn't have no three-pointer back when I was in high school, as you know. So I was like. So I decided my boys were like you got to play freshman ball because I played up. So all my friends were like sophomores in high school, juniors in high school, and they were like you got to play freshman. So you know, I couldn't say nothing. So I average like 44 points a game. Right, I did dunking, dunking everything. I was doing everything because I could dunk. I started dunking in the seventh grade. I'm dunking everything, I was doing everything Because I could dunk. I started dunking in the second grade I'm dunking everything, I'm shooting, I'm dunking, I'm doing everything. So finally I knew it was coming.
09:52
After like the eighth game, they moved me up. I got to play JV for my father. So you know, back then you had to do quarters. You go up and I played a half. I played two quarters of JV with my daddy. I went seven for seven. I had two dunks and they took me out. Next two stories they took me out the game.
10:19
It was jam-packed At my freshman games. It was almost sold out. I almost fell in our freshman games. So everywhere I went it was almost sold out. I almost settled on freshman games. So everywhere I went it was sold out because they knew I was coming. So that same night I played varsity. He brought me off the bench because he couldn't start me, obviously. So I played the second quarter to the final buzzer At my first game as a ninth grader I had 12 points and nine rebounds and two dunks on varsity and from then on it was a wrap. So my spot, you know, mind you, my freshman year. So now that's the end of the season. We make it to state. We're number two in the state. We're number two in the state.
11:08 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what were they like before you arrived on campus? What?
11:10 - Michael Christian (Guest)
was their basketball history. My brother was there and, like I said, they had, they had pretty good history. It was kind of on a down. It kind of went down a little bit because it was. You know, it's football, baseball, we all, all sports we were good at. But basketball was kind of on the decline because a lot of the kids weren't going out there because it was too far and the money was too high. If you went there on scholarship, you know how it went. If you went on a scholarship, tuition was too high. So a lot of it.
11:40
And public school was rocking back there in Colorado when I was growing up it was rocking. I'm mad I didn't go to public school because rocking back there in Colorado when I was growing up, it was rocking. I'm mad I didn't go to public school because it was my public school. I was supposed to go to one state. Two out of my four years I was there, but anyway. So my freshman year we played state, we go to state, we make it all the way to the quarterfinals. My freshman year I start after this first game. I played JV. I start from then on out. So now I'm starting as a freshman. We lose in the quarterfinals the next year. I'm the first person in Colorado history to make All-State as a sophomore, so I made first team All-State as a sophomore.
12:20 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Wow.
12:22 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We won, defeated all the way until we lost in the semis. Semifinals I got hurt and we lost. So that was a wrap. Now here's where everything gets interesting, because that summer I started traveling, so now I go. I started going to the Nike camps and I started going to the Superstar Camp, which was in California, I went to BC Camp, which was in Indiana, and I went to Nike Camp.
12:57 - Carmen Jones (Host)
You had to have invitations.
13:00 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Which meaning you couldn't pay your way in Right and also, once again, the eye test was what put everybody over. So when I was traveling and playing, I really played well, like when we went to Las Vegas Invitational, which is now a new, which is now the May Invitational, which is in Las Vegas, which is not EYDL, if they want to call it that. You know what I'm saying. It was called the Las Vegas Invitational back then. I'm skipping around, but this is all in the same area.
13:37
You play in the Las Vegas Invitational with your team from your city. We played Rod Strickland in them, which was the Gatos out of New York City. So I did really well. We got beat by 50, but I had 35. So you know, when you I'm like, literally we got beat by 50. I had 30. Oh, I know, I was like, okay, well, I knew what I had to do.
14:05
Watching Rob Strickland, who's my guy, I knew what I had to do to get my game right for real, for real. I knew I was good for Colorado basketball. Nobody could see me in my city, it was just how it was. But when I had a talent, I had a. There was a guy above me. It was him. So that was my measuring stick. Okay, going back to high school. So I'm in high school now. Now I'm traveling, now I know how to play when I go out of town. My mentality changed because of what I saw how he played Alone, even though we played differently. I liked his mentality Because we all know he wasn't going through the whole dunk and I was going through the whole trying to dunk on everybody. I didn't start shooting.
14:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what was the difference in his?
14:50 - Michael Christian (Guest)
game and your game. At that time that you recognized. He commanded the floor, he commanded the team. He's a true point guard.
14:59 - Carmen Jones (Host)
He's a true point guard. He's a true point guard.
15:02 - Michael Christian (Guest)
See, I was converted. Well, let me go on Now. Mind you, in high school I'm playing center now, first because I jumped the highest. We had a 6'8", right, we had a 6'6", but I played center. So obviously, watching him, I would snatch it, get the rebound and push it. So I was playing center, guard, center, guard, right. So eventually that's what happened, because I told him I couldn't play center and get to the next level. You know what I'm saying. I'm not dumping on that stick, you're right.
15:43 - Carmen Jones (Host)
But in the summers you were a two right.
15:47 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Yeah, I came out of school like the top point guard because I ran the team. That's what I was doing. I didn't start changing my game. So now I'm still in state right line. So my junior year comes around. I do well again. The first big camp of the year was at Nike in Western New Jersey. I broke my leg, so that's my junior summer before my senior year in high school, so I didn't even play my senior year in high school.
16:33 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay, so you don't play your senior year. How did you wind up at Georgia Tech?
16:40 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I still was very tired because at the end I guess they were like, well, he's going to come back and then keep on going. So up until that point, up until July, before my senior season, I was the number one point guard in the country, between me and Rex Chapman, but we made the same five, so they put him at two and put me at one, so that was the first team all-american right there. So I'm, I'm. My recruiting process still stayed the same, so I had uh, georgia tech, kansas, illinois, georgetown and north carolina state, georgetown and North Carolina State, all five of them schools so what made you choose Georgia Tech?
17:32
when I went on my visit, general Sally took me out, so I went to Freedman's. This is way before everybody was doing it. This is the funny thing about it. This is like in 85 or 86, before all these people were Everybody's talking about it. This is like in 85 or 86, before all these people were talking about it. So I go to Freemans in 85 or 86. I got me some gators, I got me some shoes. They took me to Magic City in 85. This is in 1986. How old were you.
18:04
It had just opened. It had just opened, opened. That's how long I've been going. It just opened carmen. I know the owner like that's my dog, that's my big homie, but anyway. So they took me there right. So we come out. I go to to school. I go visit the school the next night. We go to the Fox Theater. We go see Anita Baker. I'm sitting third row. They take me in back. I meet Anita Baker, come back out. The next day we go to Houston. We go to Coach's 6. We do everything I was done. I was sold. I said I'm gonna start on my visit.
18:43 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So you get on out there to. Georgia Tech. Well, what happened at Georgia Tech? You only stayed there a year, I got healthy what happened there? How were you?
18:52 - Michael Christian (Guest)
feeling I was starting the first six games. I started over a fifth-year senior. To pinpoint what happened would be ill of me or wrong, because I don't know what really happened. I know there was a change. Well, what were?
19:11 - Carmen Jones (Host)
you thinking, you know what happened.
19:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Well, it was going to be a conflict of interest, because there was another gentleman coming out of school by the name of Kenny Anderson and he probably didn't think we could have played together because we played the same position, and I don't know what approach he thought he was going to take and why he did that, but it didn't work out. So, instead of me belonging to the situation, I played six games and then I transferred.
19:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
This is your sophomore year.
19:51 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Oh, your freshman year, because I'm not done. I broke my leg, listen. Okay, so I broke my leg. I didn't play my senior year in high school. I go to school my senior year in high school. I get kind of healthy. I broke my leg again. You broken your leg twice in high school June 85.
20:10 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Is this the same leg? Is this the same leg?
20:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So now I don't play my freshman year in college either, so I haven't played ball in two years, almost Okay, two years total. Before I came back. I came back, I started over a fifth year senior, so I still have four years, so I transferred.
20:34
So now I transferred. So I was a real good friend with John Salek. So I moved to Michigan, which is where I was living anyway in the summer I would go to school and I would go to Michigan in the summer. So I'm working out, I'm working out, with Joe living anyway in the summer, I would go to school and I would go to Michigan in the summer. So I'm working out. I'm working out with Joe Dumars in the morning every morning, just me and him, getting my body right.
20:54
And when I leave Georgia Tech I go to Washtenaw Community College, which is in Ann Arbor, which is by Ann Arbor. I'm in transition, trying to find where I'm going to go. Terry Mills is a really good friend of mine who was a star at Michigan at the time, so it was in reaching me to go in there. You know I'm reaching still. So I'm going up there every day working out with them, with Mermel Robinson and Lloyd Vaught and Sean Higgins. So I'm like fitting in and I'm like, oh man, but they wanted Jimmy Jackson coming out of high school for four years.
21:40
So that didn't work out. So I called Well, actually, coach Mike Mims called me from Oklahoma because they were high on my list. You know I'm going to take a visit to Oklahoma. Okay, almost like, because they had Brent Price at the time and a couple other guys I knew about and played with, I almost went there and then, like like about a month before me making my decision, coach Clark left Georgia Tech and got the job at Tulane.
22:15 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Did Coach Clark recruit you at Georgia Tech, or you just met the relationship and went and once you got there, yeah. So I said, well.
22:21 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I didn't really want to start out with. It wasn't once you got there, it wasn't once you recruited me. Yeah, okay, so, yeah, so Okay. I said well, I didn't really want to start out with.
22:31 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what was that? What was that? So did he contact you, or you just noticed that he got the job? He contacted me. Where did the communication come from?
22:37 - Michael Christian (Guest)
And plus, he knew John because he recruited John Sally to go to Georgia Tech also. So everything is within the family or people knowing each other, so I'm not too far to reach out and talk to somebody.
22:48
Right right, he called John. What is Michael going to do? I want to go to Michigan, michigan, you ain't going to go to Michigan? Well then, I'm going to. Then Oklahoma was right there. So I said I don't want to sit out. So he said well, I'm gonna get the job here. Da, da, da, da da. There's a school down here called Delgado. They're pretty good, they're playing a nice decent conference, blah, blah, blah. They're a junior college and it's right in the city. You get to know New Orleans and you know I. Got family in New Orleans and it's right in this city. You get to know New Orleans and you know I got family in New Orleans frankly now.
23:30
So come on down, you'll be all right. So I get there, I get to school. First I go by my family's house and then they take me to the campus. Campus looks nice, you know. Then they take me to where we stand. I'm like, nah, this is not what's going on. I can't believe this is where y'all living. I can't do this.
23:56 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So I which dorm did they take you to?
24:02 - Michael Christian (Guest)
They had a cabinet and a house, right oh. You talking about Delgado. Which dorm did they take you to? They had a cabin in a one and a house, right oh you're talking about Delgado. Okay, okay, Delgado.
24:13
Yeah, you're right, you're right, it shouldn't have been even standing. I don't know how it was standing. So when I got there they were like, well, you can stay there, stay where. No, no, I ain't staying here. So I called coach, I'm going to leave. I'm not doing this. This is not what's going on. Long story short, I had a two-bedroom, right, okay, obviously, you know. Frank stayed in another room. He never left my house, so I'm going back and forth to Delgado. So then, okay, frank stayed in another room, he never left my house. I'm going back and forth to Delgado. The season starts. Actually, let's go back that summer. We go to Xavier and play at Xavier. I'm like I'm the new guy on the board. They had the boy that went to UNO, tony Harris. There, tony Harris, they had a couple other guys that were pretty good. Tony Harris jumped out the gym.
25:14
He could literally almost sit on the rim right they had a guy named Tank from California, so it was a. You remember Big Tank and Kaz obviously there was a bunch was a. It was a, you know the big tank, so there's a bunch of and cans obviously you know all them guys. So it was a bunch of guys and different personalities that I was watching and is watching. So we got some good running and when they seen what it was about I put my word down it was all. So we get to Delgado like the first we start out the season pretty good coach smith.
25:48
Coach tommy smith was a good coach. We had a good team. Um, yeah, yeah, um, we start the season. Calf won't give me the ball, so I'm having to like only like, um, like 15, 16 points a game.
26:04
Yeah, because I'm about to say what I ended up having. So that's what, like my, you know, that's from like October to like December, december to March or April. I averaged like 35, 40 points a game, and it all because we got on the same page and we started filling each other out, because we had another dude named chris singleton that could play too, but with the university of south alabama, okay. So almost our whole vibe went to school. It wasn't like we.
26:36 - Carmen Jones (Host)
You know, I went to a junior college where they could hoop and then comprehend like, yeah, delgado always put people was definitely one of the places that was putting people into college.
26:50 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Yeah, I'm glad that you know my experience there bus breaking down people throwing stuff at us I got the experience, but no, I have a lot of. I used to say I'm like you know, when you play a ball, you know you think you're better than people. You know what I'm saying.
27:08 - Carmen Jones (Host)
On an elite level.
27:10 - Michael Christian (Guest)
You get a shell sock from staying at the Marriott, flying, you know, and then going through the bus and then staying at Hotel 6, at Motel 6 and 4 in the room, you know, you get an eye-opener.
27:23 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Right.
27:26 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So my thing was do what you got to do to get back where you need to be. You know what I'm saying. Enjoy what you're doing. But this is not. This is not. So I hit the books. Make sure I graduated, got my books for step right. So I graduated from Delgado, made my credits easier to transfer over to Tulane Right. And then it was ended.
27:50 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So of course the coaches were keeping in touch with you from Tulane.
27:55 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Because what happened was you made me say you know, I want to say all that, All right, so I started playing pretty good. So December, like I go 48, 48, 50.
28:09 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, I know other schools were starting to look at you, oh crap.
28:15 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So the recruiting process started all over again.
28:20 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I went on a couple of visits Every day.
28:25 - Michael Christian (Guest)
How do you know that one? That's a good one. How do you know that one? That's a good one. How do you know that one? Oh man, yeah, the recruiting process started over. I was with the Syracuse. That was because, like I said, that Detroit Derek Coleman was my friend and we played some of these together and I was this far from going to Syracuse.
28:46 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay, so what swayed you to stay and go this far?
28:53 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I gave my word to Coach Clark that I was going to come there, and then my family there helped me out that I know it'd be all good. So other than that, I was gone, I was gone, and it wasn't because anything to do with new orleans, though. It was all. It was all basketball arena, right. I love new orleans so what?
29:17 - Carmen Jones (Host)
what was kind of the selling point with coach clark? So you know they don't have a basketball team? I don't know if you know the history behind it.
29:25 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Um, how much did you know?
29:27 - Carmen Jones (Host)
before you decided, and then what made you want to come and start like what was he telling you to make you want to come?
29:34 - Michael Christian (Guest)
and start from scratch. He wasn't telling me anything. It was coach bozeman and coach everhart. You know I knew coach park already, so he couldn't. I knew when he was telling me this stuff just to tell me you're not recruiting me again already. I'm not in high school, so that stuff is not going to go no more. So the people that were selling me on it were Coach Bozeman and Ronnie Everhart. Coach Everhart.
29:58 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what were they saying? What were they?
30:00 - Michael Christian (Guest)
saying you know you're in the Metro. First of all, we were in like the third best conference in the country. Let's not get that twisted. At that time it was the ACC, big East and Metro Conference. Any way you look at it, it could have been Big East Metro Conference or what have you, because champions were within that framework of NCAA from 86 with Louisville on down to the point where I'm in school, so everybody's winning in that area. I don't know. Moore was just a city. I don't know. It really wasn't much, he told me, because basketball we had some freshmen coming in. I didn't know.
30:44 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Were you part of the recruiting process? Was it like, okay, I'm coming?
30:48 - Michael Christian (Guest)
remember we already got there at the same time my class, yeah yeah, so who all was in your class.
31:00 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Who all was in your class.
31:02 - Michael Christian (Guest)
You're coming in as a junior with two years, so it's it's Bernard. Parks. It's Anthony Reed, it's Carlin Hartman, it's Kim Lewis.
31:22 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Kim was in the first class.
31:25 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Kim was in the second. Okay, number 40. Jerome, jerome Jerome. What was Jerome's last name? Number 40. Oh, jerome Jerome Conner, jerome Conner, was it Jerome Conner?
31:43 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, I think so.
31:44 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Jerome.
31:45 - Carmen Jones (Host)
We'll figure out the name, the last name and Matt Pop Right.
31:52 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Joe Patsy. You had Big Red. You had. I just told you he was at the football game. I just told you he was at the football game. Who was at the ball game? Pete Rassey. You had Pete Rassey and you had Carter Nichols.
32:17 - Carmen Jones (Host)
You had DJ Hunter and you had Stubbs, red Gary, that's it. Right, so y'all was coming in hot Coming in hot, y'all had a lot of good players coming in hot. Y'all had a lot of good players coming in. What, what? You looked at the mix. You looked at the mix and you were like I'm starting.
32:55 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I was going to start wherever I went. I wasn't worried about.
33:05 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Remember I got here first. Nobody did you see it. Did you see the fit? Did you see the fit? So you saying the fit? No, no, I'm just saying, did you see the? So as you. Okay, so you're right. You're on campus. Now y'all start practice. What was the first practice like? Like what were you thinking? This is gonna work or this is not gonna work? Campus, now y'all start practice. What was the first practice like? Like what were you thinking? This is going to work or this is not going to work?
33:24 - Michael Christian (Guest)
It's not going to work Because, remember, now I'm going from me passing the ball to Tom Hammonds I'm keeping 100.
33:36 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Right.
33:36 - Michael Christian (Guest)
And I know we're going to have to To this fresh group of kids.
33:39 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I'm keeping 100. Right, and I know we're going to have to.
33:40 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I know To this fresh group of kids the eventually learned how to catch, but couldn't catch. To read that couldn't catch, that eventually learned how to catch. You know what I'm saying. So so how did all of how, how? So y'all worked hard in a gym. What was the work ethic, like the talent that we all didn't maybe didn't have, even myself? We put the work here, so I had some country boys the work they asked on. You know what I'm saying.
34:18 - Carmen Jones (Host)
When it came to work ethic.
34:20 - Michael Christian (Guest)
we ain't getting old Jumping high up in jail. What year was David, because I feel like you and David were not rushing. David came in with me but he couldn't play because he had just left. He came in a year after me but he had to register. He registered my first year after me but he had a red shirt. He registered my first year. He was registered.
34:46 - Carmen Jones (Host)
And then everybody else was freshman four years eligible.
34:52 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Joe, patsy, greg, gary and myself, everybody else and David everybody else were freshmen so what year was Greg?
35:02 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Greg was a sophomore okay, I didn't realize that alright, that's good so alright, so y'all get in there. You're looking at it. You're going this is not going to work, what is happening, but y'all get in there. You're looking at it. You're going this is not going to work, what is happening, but y'all get in the gym. Right, we work hard.
35:25 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Offensively, I think, beginning of the year, out of game and games we're going. I think we struggle more offensively than we did defensively. As a matter of fact, I know we did. We would have, you know, just people not understanding the moment and where they were, because we were in a Metro conference and at that time people don't understand it was Florida State, south Carolina, memphis, cincinnati, southern Miss, who you want, they're upside your head, louisville, it was what you want. What's going to happen that night?
36:09 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, all of them were putting players in the NBA the roster of the guards, of people.
36:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I can go on down the line. It didn't make no sense where we had to look up every night. You understand what I'm saying, so I'm going into it like I ended up having to go. Either I got to score or I got to run the team. Help run the team with Greg. If I help run the team with Greg and just shut up, we won't score. It was one of them, things Right, and I was like you know, I didn't dare. At the end of the shot clock. Is it going to be a bad shot? Somebody passes it to somebody else, so they have to shoot it.
36:52 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Right.
36:53 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Get in position. Can't give it to him. He'll shoot it because they weren't going to shoot it. You know what I'm saying?
37:01 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I know. I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. So what? Your freshman year, your first year? What was that signature win or that signature moment that made you go? You know what this might work.
37:27 - Michael Christian (Guest)
My first year there. I didn't have one. Didn't y'all beat? Didn't you hit a shot and y'all beat Memphis. That wasn't your first year.
37:38 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay, listen, but y'all were in the. My point is y'all beat Memphis. That wasn't your first shoot, okay, listen, but y'all. My point is y'all were in the game.
37:43 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We were in all the games except a couple. Right, no real talk, but when you look at the scope of things and how we were going, we still had to get to that level. At that time you asked me. At that time, I didn't see us get to that level. And at that time, if you ask me, at that time, I didn't see us getting to that level because, offensively, we couldn't keep up. What I did see, though, and what I created was the posse. So now, when we're serving out.
38:17 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So how did that come about? How did that come about Coach Clark, coach Clark, the posse Give me the inside scoop on the posse.
38:27 - Michael Christian (Guest)
There was a way, like I said, defensively we were in the games and that was our offense, which went back to the old thing your defense will create your offense. You know, a lot of old things came back to me when I was playing at Tulane. So when Tim Lewis, colin Hartman checked in the game, reed, myself and McKeever, all we did was press and by us pressing and getting into it and getting involved, and then people said it gave us more opportunities to succeed. You know what I'm saying and it also came out during the time of the movie the Posse.
39:17
You know what I'm saying and it also came out. During the time of the movie the Posse I was. We had some burpees in practice one day and Coach Clark was talking stuff, what you think y'all, we the Posse, that's what we are. You know, as an Eagleman, I'm a coach, so I was a general of the posse and my man, kim lewis with me, and we rolled and defensively, so how did y'all stay in, how did y'all stay in shape to do that?
39:52 - Carmen Jones (Host)
because I mean that y'all would get at it one thing about it they were very athletic.
39:59 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We have some of the most athletic kids I've ever seen in my life. To this day, Like Jerome Conner could stand still, jump and almost touch the top of the backboard. Was Poyna on that first?
40:11 - Carmen Jones (Host)
team.
40:14 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Okay, as they read athletic jump out the gym hands long. I just when I was in and he was engaged, we were a much better team because he gave us that size and toughness in the middle and he could score when he was in the game. But when you get to that point, if you got to convince somebody to that, we need you and you need to do that. That I don't. You know, this might not be the situation for you, you know so all right, I was that type of guy I mean you used to.
40:51 - Carmen Jones (Host)
If you, if you cross the lines, it's a hundred percent you don't you want to dance without getting down?
40:57 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm talking about from everything A to Z, you know, as you know, coming home from one of the games, one of the games we practiced, okay, let me tell you what the season was for us. We lose a game. I think we lost to Florida State by like three or four. Coach made us practice after the game, right. So you know I ain't tripping, I'm going to work. I'm still going because I feel like me going from gym to gym. I'm cut different, so he ain't breaking me. So me and Joe Patsy walking home from the gym. Guy drives by us. You guys suck Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, I run down. He got caught at the light. He went past where we eat at right, at that willow. Right, he got caught at the light at willow that got.
41:58
He got caught up a lot of that's willow behind like three cars and you know that's only. You can't own it. It's a one lane like this, like this, so you can't get over and go right I chased them right I ran from. I ran from the student center. Is that? That was that? The student center, the center, the library, the UC.
42:17 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I ran from the UC to Willow the UC and caught him.
42:25 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I put the beats on him through the window. My joke just now is getting down. I put the beats on him through the window. I'm trying to get to the passenger, trying to pull him out of the window. That happened, yeah, that happened. Don't mess with the wave. Hold on. That's the first part. Are we going?
42:57 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I like that Joe joined you. Joe didn't leave you out there by yourself.
43:01 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Hey, you know, that's my dog, big Joe Amigo. Amigo, you all right, man, he gets to me, calls me Amigo, you all right. Okay, man, I never seen you run that fast. What was wrong? I mean, he was funny. So we go through the week. So, as you say, we win the game, we win a couple games. You know, mardi Gras game, we win. I hit the buzzer. Well, not the buzzer, but I hit the go ahead game winner against Memphis. I steal the ball.
43:33 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I mean, I was the great if it's under 10 seconds now it's considered a buzzer beater.
43:39 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Well, it was only two seconds left on the clock on that one, so I hit that and we win. So, yeah, that was the biggest win up until that point in the schools, you know, and Perry and his crew, like I said, every night in, night out, we had to play tough individuals because Florida State had George McCloud, brad Sir and Charlie Ward All three of them went to the NBA. Yeah, south Carolina had JoJo English Right. Southern Miss had Clarence Willis, right, I can go. And then, you know, the Blueyville had everybody, lebron for Smith and Felton Spencer, and this guy and this guy. You know what I'm saying.
44:22 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So Cincinnati is the system.
44:24 - Michael Christian (Guest)
And they all had and a lot of them had, like legendary coaches you just had people constantly coming through that At that time Florida State was like in basketball how Kentucky is. They just revolving door and everybody went to the league.
44:43 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah.
44:44 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Everybody went to the league, so it was. You know we learned a lot. We fought. You know we never gave up. That's one thing about them, dudes. I can honestly say we never give up, shit. Excuse me, we never give up. That's one thing about them, dudes, I can honestly say, we never give up shit.
45:01 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Excuse me, but we never defended anything. Yeah, one thing I one thing I noticed about y'all is that you guys were always playing. So even if you know y'all- weren't in practice off season y'all were running games. There was always games going on.
45:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I found out the kill out of, like carlin always told them, because I see Carl in a lot the kids, the guys took on my demeanor. My demeanor was different. I brought in them we don't keep getting beat, you know you're going to do something.
45:30
You know you're going to do something you're going to give 100% of you every time you cross the line even though I knew we were under man talent wise, because this is what it was, you know, but we're not going to get out played. So if you have to work harder on defense because you can't control defense, it has nothing to do with talent, it's effort. So I know we had the effort and once we started getting on defense, we were in the game more. Now that's where so I know we had to have right. And once we started getting on defense, we were in the games more. Now that's where I could say we can't win. You know, I did say that maybe we can or maybe we have a better chance, but we got to do this every night and you know how to do that every night. And 30 games and your freshman is buy into your system, your system, your thought, because they got three more years to go. You know what I'm saying.
46:30 - Carmen Jones (Host)
And they go into class, they adjust.
46:31 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Everything they don't hit the wall.
46:36 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So we brought some players in here next year. Like you can start seeing changes coming.
46:42 - Michael Christian (Guest)
People realize that it wasn't just going to be play. We had to play hard. The first person that came in was David.
46:50 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay.
46:51 - Michael Christian (Guest)
That's it.
46:52 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So David. Well, so Kim, was there? The original group.
46:57 - Michael Christian (Guest)
If I'm not mistaken, kim was there. I might be mistaken, okay.
47:02 - Carmen Jones (Host)
If he wasn't, he came in that second year.
47:07 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I can't explain. He played the first year.
47:12 - Carmen Jones (Host)
He may have. I'm just asking questions.
47:15 - Michael Christian (Guest)
No, the only person that came in was David.
47:28 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay, so were you there when kim broke his leg? That was after me. Okay, okay, okay, so y'all going to your second year, y'all working hard. What? What's the you know? So what again? What are the coaches telling you? Can you kind of explain a little bit about the relationship that you have with the coaches? Compared to, maybe, you played a lot of basketball. What was it like actually having Coach Clark, coach Bozeman, coach Smith?
47:55 - Michael Christian (Guest)
What was it?
47:55 - Carmen Jones (Host)
like you know as, a black man playing for a black coach.
48:03 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Now my second year. We had Coach Felton, dennis Felton, that came and took the place of Coach Bozeman. Okay, because Coach Bozeman went to the University of Cal Berkeley to coach.
48:15 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Jason Kinnett.
48:16 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Right, okay, so he's gone. My relationship with the coaches ran through Ronnie and Coach Bozeman, as I was telling you, and that was because I communicated easier. I knew Ronnie since Georgia Tech, because he was at Georgia Tech too, but I didn't know him, and then we could just easily communicate because even though they were older than me, I was on their level, thinking what they were thinking, I understood what they were saying. I could communicate with them better. I didn't really communicate with Coach Park too tough, because it was hard.
48:57 - Carmen Jones (Host)
He's the head coach. He's the head coach. A lot of his thinking was hard. He's the head coach. He's the head coach.
48:59 - Michael Christian (Guest)
A lot of his thinking was off. I didn't. He was old school. You know how Coach Clark was. We bumped heads at Georgia Tech too, but when you're not the head coach at Georgia Tech, when you're not the head coach, he couldn't do as much. You know what I'm saying. Now he's the head coach and he's trying to put his wrath on everything and it sometimes backfires. Some kids he got through to I can take it because my father coached me. There was no harder person coaching me than my daddy, so whatever he said to me was really really nothing as far as I was concerned.
49:43 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Was there thoughts of pressure and accountability?
49:46 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Well, there was always that.
49:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Were players held accountable.
49:50 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Yes, we were held accountable. I was held at a higher thing again, which I don't mind because they all followed my lead. So if I'm the oldest, if you're the oldest in anything, you got to set the tone. So I set the tone. I didn't care going into that second year that summer, before this school started, we all did workout. We had a strict conditioning. We stayed there. I didn't go back. I went to Detroit for like a month instead of going for the whole conditioning. We stayed there. I didn't go back to Detroit. I went to Detroit for like a month instead of going for the whole summer. I stayed with the team and we all bonded. As a matter of fact, we stayed in a house. So we got a house together and we bonded a little bit more and we played. Like you said, we always played ball and we traveled. The few of us that did travel, we traveled. You know, I didn't mind, I knew what it was. If I'm going to get to comp, you got to go get to comp. So we're playing in Foshay Park, we're playing over there on the distillery and then third ward, all the way down to playing outside. I didn't care. So the kids and we understood, we got stronger, we got faster and we got tougher. Stronger, we got faster and we got tougher.
50:59
So coming out the beginning of the second year it's a Sugar Bowl classic. And you know who was in that? Everybody, mama, from Georgia Tech on down to Auburn to everybody. So out the gate we played Georgia Tech. Obviously there's a little history there between Coach Clark, myself and David Whitmore, but David Whitmore went to Georgia Tech also, as I mentioned earlier. So we lose that game. It was a good game, tough game. I went up against Kenny Anderson. He had 21. I had 16. They were just better than us down low. One of the only times my boy, boy Reed, didn't show up. He didn't have a very good game against Georgia Tech. Reed didn't show up. He didn't have a very good game against Georgia Tech. That hurt him. The next game he came back out.
51:45 - Carmen Jones (Host)
How did he respond to that?
51:48 - Michael Christian (Guest)
He responded really well, matter of fact, the whole year, the next night we play Auburn. We lose to Auburn in the tough one, but we know we're playing against the big boys. So now when you tell me, do I think we can win? Yes, so that's about when I started saying, well, shit, we can compete with these guys, we can beat anybody, because at that time they were the top teams in the country. Because Auburn had Battle. I mean no, not Battle.
52:21
What's my man's? I can't remember his name. He went pro too. He played for the Miami Heat. He was Wesley Person's brother. He was named Wesley Person. They had Wesley Person and he could shoot that thing from everywhere. They had a very good team at Auburn. So we get back to the drawing board. The coach decides he wants to bring me off the bench, right. So that just cranked up the posse. So now I'm coming off the bench more and we'll be losing and we get in the game. We just take the lead and start blowing people out. So now everybody that beat us last year we're starting to get some get back and it's all because it ain't because of offense, it's because of when we come in with that defense. It was hard. It was hard. When the come in with that defense, it was hard. It was hard. When the posse got in the game, it was hard the whole. You start seeing.
53:28 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So by that time was it five on the posse. That second year was it five strong, or was it?
53:34 - Michael Christian (Guest)
still a mix. The people coming off the bench would be me, or me, mcke, me, makeba and then Kim was there on the court. Reed was there on the court. And who am I missing? Kim Carlin, reed, me and Makeba. No, that's five. Me and Kim played guard.
53:59 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Carlin played the three.
53:59 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Reed played the four. No, that's five. Me and Tim played guard, collin played the three, reed played the four, makeba played the five. That's how it went Every down in.
54:09 - Carmen Jones (Host)
And y'all just went at them, you know y'all were doing that, I feel like, was it? Illinois was doing something like that as well. They were playing all those, not the posse, but they were playing like a whole bunch of mid-sized players, long mid-sized players.
54:24 - Michael Christian (Guest)
No, illinois was big, that was kind of.
54:27 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Y'all were changing the game. Y'all were changing the game. Y'all were changing the game we started in 89. From a solid post player. Yeah, y'all were. To me, I feel like y'all were starting to change the game from okay, you have your starters, you're just going to play them, to actually committing having a commitment to that second group that's coming in.
54:51 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I remember, like I said, but it wasn't five on five off. Kim and Reed started, so Greg Gary came off the court, david Whitmore came off the court and whoever, and Matt Pop came off the court. All right, me McKeever and probably Car Pop came off the court Alright, me McKeever, and probably Carlin came in the game.
55:15 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So that's a more athletic group switching in and out.
55:19 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So we took out three for three years and we've gone. Gj Hunter played pretty good too. He was like if the team didn't have much quicker than us, we wouldn't bring the key win. We'd leave GJ in the game or Whitmore. Gj has some pretty good hands and he was fast right, yeah, has some pretty good hands and he was fast, right, yeah, so for the most part, um, yeah, me, reed and kim and collard, it was, we just put that heat on them straight heat.
55:58 - Carmen Jones (Host)
That's some heat, and it's funny.
56:00 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We, we never got tired, because see, that's what I'm saying. You know how it goes when you feed off of stuff, right, and your and your guys are right there in the bunker with you. My guys were in the bunker with me, my boys, we burned it and we played like that. So, like I said, they took on my mentality. We got tired of getting whooped. So something's going to have to give. You know we're going to have to. You know something's going to have to give. And they gave and we became successful at what we were doing, which gave us the opportunity to win.
56:32 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what were the crowds like? How did the students embrace?
56:36 - Michael Christian (Guest)
you guys. We had sold our crowds for almost all our games.
56:40
I came it was a hard ticket, it was pick and choose. I ain't going to lie. But the big game, the big game. Well, metro Conference was pretty packed, mostly all the games, because everybody had a good player on the other team and we weren't getting blew out. We weren't getting that's another. Like you said, we weren't getting blew out, so they weren't saying, well, they're going to get beat by 50. No, we're going to give them a run for their money, so you're going to come see a good game, at least you know. So we had good crowds. We had good crowds my second year. We sold out their. I think we sold out almost all the games Because obviously, when we won more and then once again, the opponents, we were playing everybody. We played at least my second year at least five or six ranked teams easy from UNO being ranked in the whole state. They were ranked and we beat them. You know how long that year, yeah. So, yeah, you know I'm home that year, yeah.
57:53 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So so I know we talk in basketball. What was it like in your classes? How did the students on campus? We had the one little incident, but how did the students on campus receive you in your classes? How did the teachers receive you?
58:09 - Michael Christian (Guest)
How did that go? Our eyes were on us because of what happened before us. So me coming from Georgia Tech and knowing how things were, I was already understanding. I knew what was expected. School was fine with me. I had a problem going to class and getting up. I had study time. Stay at home.
58:28 - Carmen Jones (Host)
And you've always been a good student, right? Yeah, I've been a good student.
58:31 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Not a great student, but a good student. Certain times I was great, and regular times I was just good. But, I didn't mind going to class and I wasn't in class with a bunch of athletes, so I didn't have no class with athletes.
58:44 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So me and what was your major?
58:50 - Michael Christian (Guest)
sociology and then Georgia Tech I had I changed it was computer science, but they didn't offer that at what I wanted at Tulane and I just decided to go sociology with a minor in business management. So I graduated in 91. I did graduate um and then um. That's that on that school. So school was, I liked it. You know, we had a farm campus. Our campus is live.
59:24
It's pretty too yeah we had a very nice campus by the nice. You were right next to the other school. What school was that? You seen different students come from over there. It was green, it was. You know it had like see, I've been to Princeton so it reminded me like an old Ivy League school. You know the way it's built. And prestigious. You know Tulane is a prestigious school. I was very happy to attend Tulane, you know, even though we might not have did as good athletically as I wanted to. But school-wise and my experience of college, it couldn't act for better. It was. You know I'm going out, I'm eating good, the best seafood they got in the world. They got the best restaurants. You know they got concerts, they got the festival. It was going on. You know it was something to do all the time. So you know, then it was something to do all the time.
01:00:27
So you know Then what.
01:00:32 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Did y'all hang out together a lot as a group, or did you? You were a little older, but did you guys? What type of things did y'all do around campus and around?
01:00:41 - Michael Christian (Guest)
the city.
01:00:43
Now me and Reed went out. That was my dog. We went everywhere On the road. It was Joe Patsy. That was my roommate, because we were like Cisco or Ebert at the time. So we would get a road and you couldn't charge nothing to the road, so we would put our own money down so we could watch movies. So all we did was watch movies and give, because back then the movie that was playing and the movies was on your, you could buy it in your room, marriott, you know. So we watched all the movies.
01:01:19 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Y'all were just charging the school up.
01:01:21 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We had to pay. We had to pay for that. That's. One thing we did have to pay for is the movies, but we for. But everybody come to our room and watch the movie because they know that's what we did. We get in our room, we critique the movie like Hitchcock and Ebert. Joe was a character, but in the city it was always David. It was always read be with sometimes, but I read all the time on Friday night before after class got out and the season was over. Me and Greg Gary had a afternoon out. Every Friday afternoon we go get us some. We had a whiskey, we were getting a whiskey because the drinking age was 18 at the time and the season was over, so every Friday we would go get some whiskey.
01:02:17 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I like to include that.
01:02:18 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Whenever someone says you know anything about that? The drinking age was 18 at the time.
01:02:24 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Oh my goodness we had the rat on campus.
01:02:30 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Oh yeah.
01:02:34 - Carmen Jones (Host)
And the boot. Yeah, I had fun with you guys. So now you know you have your years. Did you play?
01:02:44 - Michael Christian (Guest)
three years or two.
01:02:46 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, what was it like your last game my senior? What was it like your last game, my senior year?
01:02:49 - Michael Christian (Guest)
was good. My last senior night was good. My mom came, they gave her some flowers and stuff. They gave her my jersey in the glass. We were playing the number 15 team in the country at the time I think it was Southern Mississippi and we won. It was jam, super jam packed. It was me and Joe Pathy senior night Joe Pathy and myself, and we won. Kept down the net, got carried off the court and we won. Though you know I didn't get a senior night in high school, so that meant even more to me because I didn't get one in high school. Like I said, I didn't play my whole senior year. I didn't play not one play in high school. My senior year.
01:03:40 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Not one play. That's cool.
01:03:44 - Michael Christian (Guest)
That made me real happy. I was really happy. That was a really happy time in my life, right there.
01:03:51 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what happened? Your eligibility is up now. What are you thinking? What's your?
01:03:56 - Michael Christian (Guest)
next steps Eligibility up. I got some looks at some calls and I wanted to keep playing. So at the time my brother was living in Sacramento and Sacramento Kings had a summer league and he had a team in the summer league because he was coaching. He had he was a coach at Air Force Academy Prep School and he was coaching out there. So I go out there, I'm averaging like twenty nine and eleven. I go out there, I'm averaging like 29 and 11, and they're bringing in people to play against me and I'm playing out of this world and I break my leg again.
01:04:39 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Is this the same leg?
01:04:43 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Oh, my goodness, the first time I broke my fifth-year tibia. The second time I broke it through a screw hole. So what happened after I broke it? The first time? They put a rod. They put a rod like this over my tibia with some screws in it. So they took the rod off. I broke it through a screw hole. Okay, Now I healed back. Then, when I got to camp, I don't know, I think it was through a screw hole again. But then they put a rod through my bone, through my knee, through my bone, through my tibia, and they put some screws in and out. So now I heal back again. So I don't play ball. Three. So I don't play ball for about another three, two years. I didn't even want to touch the ball.
01:05:44 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So I moved to Miami.
01:05:46 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Yeah, what were you doing? In the meantime I was doing stuff with John. We had a um, I had a club in detroit. So now I'll tell you, I was living in detroit in the summer, so now I'm back in detroit full time. So I had a club and, oh, you got a record company. So when I tell you who the people are, I I found on the single article is some. I found some pretty good people, so we had a studio okay um, I'm still working on with you what made you go into that?
01:06:16
you just wanted to be an entertainment business, like what we always like music, and between john and I had a cousin that was in the music industry and we just like music, you know, and he he played his music all over the place. So we decided, john decided to get a studio and I worked in the studio and then I'm just still working out, I'm playing in the summer, I'm just playing. Get my body back in shape.
01:06:42 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay.
01:06:44 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We opened a studio. It was called Hoopstown Studio Really nice. Tony Rich was the first artist I found. So yeah, I have a couple of platinum plaques in my house Nice and Slum Village, a group called Our.
01:07:05 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Family.
01:07:06 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Place I used to manage him and him as manager when he was All right, okay.
01:07:22 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Well see, now we're learning something new. That's what we're here for.
01:07:26 - Michael Christian (Guest)
But you know, who really knew was David Whitmore, because he used to see me out all the time and he used to know how I used to get out, because he's from the West Coast too, so he used to see a lot of them, some of my artists.
01:07:38
But I had a passion for that. But you know nothing better than basketball. It was just something to make some money and I was good at it and I had a good sound for it, for what I was listening to. You know we all like music Using the basketball team to go hand in hand, right? So I did that for about four or five years until I moved to Florida.
01:08:06 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So what'd you start doing in Florida? Selling cars for Kendall Toyota and still playing ball. So what'd you start doing in?
01:08:08 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Florida Selling cars for a Kindle Toyota and still playing ball.
01:08:12 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Okay.
01:08:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Because I got a chance to go overseas. So first I went to Venezuela right, I averaged about 25, 30 over there and then I went to Caracas and then I went over to Greece.
01:08:29 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Where is?
01:08:29 - Michael Christian (Guest)
that I went to a couple places in Venezuela. Okay, they wanted me to go to Mexico. This one, mexico City, was really big and summer ball where you just play three summers and get paid a super amount of money. So I did that for one summer. I got paid, but it was dangerous Because sometimes you know how it is Right and really don't want to pay you. You know that was up to the business and what kind of star you were or who you had back and who brought you over there, you know, because obviously the Americans were outnumbered. So I didn't want to go to that.
01:09:09 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Did they have a limit to how many Americans could be on the team at that time?
01:09:13 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Alright, and that meant really really one, because one was somebody who got cut last from the NBA, right, the other one was the big man. So there really't nobody for you, no place for you. So unless you were putting something like that, you know, it just so happened. I was scoring a lot still, so I played a little bit more and I just I stopped playing. I'm playing with my friends and a coach was watching me play and it had to be the coach for the Heat and he said you want to come play the tryout with the kids? And Eddie Jones was coming in to try out and a guy named Piotrkowski, out of I think he went to Nebraska and the Clippers was coming to tryout. So I went in there and I was, you know. So the first day Eddie Jones comes in and I'm giving it to him, but he don't know me, he don't know, you know Right. So come on back. The next week podcast. He covered it gave it to him. So I went to Miami Heat training camp yes indeed.
01:10:43
I did really well. I played about five games in the summer but they had drafted Kaleah Reeves so I knew I would have, even though I the people told me I should have made it, you know, but they didn't draft him and they didn't want to. I know they ain't going to waste no draft pick because he went bottom and people don't understand how that goes. They can't waste a pick like that on somebody that's a journeyman. And they didn't know if I was going to get hurt or nothing.
01:11:15
It was all good, the experience was great and in between all that I was always playing summer leagues and doing all that stuff. So, keeping my name relevant, I played every, every, every weekend. We all played at a university in Miami or Miami, miami Northwestern where Udonis went he's just been talking about them rooms he had in his school. But I always stayed relevant playing like that.
01:11:48 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So when did you get involved in doing the camps?
01:11:51 - Michael Christian (Guest)
and working with the kids that took me on too, but that's what happened. So that's we're taking, that's the we're like in 96, 97, 98, like that I'm. I'm coaching a little bit with my friend named Fred Battle in Fort Lauderdale at the time, just a little bit helping him. Let me rewind. My first coaching experience was that was in Detroit, michigan.
01:12:25
At a Persian high school Great Persian high school. Right at Persian High School great Persian High School, right we coached the number one player in the country at the time Winford Walton was his name. We won state championship. I was assistant coach for two years at Persian High School and that led to coaching in me. That's what led to coaching in me to show me that I could do it. So when I got to Miami, I didn't coach, I was still playing, because everybody down there was still playing and often still playing Do you want to play, do you want to play? And I got down there and I was still playing. And then fast forward. I get to Fort Lauderdale coaching with my boy. So I helped him out a little bit. We had Travis Daniels who went to LSU but he played football, but he could play basketball. He was a killer in basketball. So we had a good team. I helped him that.
01:13:26
Then I kind of fell back. I got back in the music industry and then finally, after 9-11, I'm going to get back in basketball. And I said the only way I'm going to do it is if I do it wholeheartedly and go full force ahead. So I did five starts and I did every session. They offered. So they offered five sessions. I did five sessions hit one, two, three, four, no, back to back to back to back to back to back to back, right, I didn't come home. I didn't come home.
01:14:03 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So, um, I met some people so what was that like for you working with the kids?
01:14:10 - Michael Christian (Guest)
it just put me in a place where I knew that I could do it. I know how to communicate with people. I knew what I was doing. I know how to lead. I know how to follow. It was easy for me to do. I just had to learn how to communicate it to other people. You know, you can think that in your head, but if you can't instill it in others and then follow you, it does no good. And I was. I was able to follow. I won the championship and almost every one of them I went to, and then I'm watching players and so I get back. I still sit out. I don't coach. I, um, I still sit out. I don't coach. I was hanging out, I was hanging out.
01:14:57 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Just hanging out.
01:15:00 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I was always doing something with somebody in the industry. Come up here. Come here, I have some really good friends. I go visit Mike Tyson. He's a really good friend of mine, so I was with him. I went to fights. I would go to England all this is documented. I'm always traveling all-star games here there. So in order for me to do that, I had to leave Miami. And because that's like how to get out of the woman, too much going on in miami all the time in miami every night.
01:15:34
I'm single. I'm going on every night so I come to visit my brother, who lives in plain old texas. This is 14 years ago. That's why I know the date, because it was his anniversary 14 years ago. Coming back from Fort Visiting, and while I'm visiting, a friend of his was playing in a basketball organization that same weekend I go with him and see what he's doing. He had about one or two coaches there. I liked the style, what he was doing. I asked him could I get down? So I moved to Texas. Now I'm coaching with this organization called Baseline Basketball Academy. At the time we're just doing skills. We don't have no team, really we're just doing skills.
01:16:28
And it got really big have we're just doing skills and uh right, it got really big. So we're getting bigger. We're getting kids and kids are learning and coming to find out because it's like three of us have played division one basketball at a high level and they're we're teaching it, teaching what we're doing, which, in turn, I got a team. Now we get a team. So we go on the road in the state of Texas and we do really well.
01:16:59
And my first tournament, big tournament, was in New Orleans during All-Star weekend 10 years ago, so in 2014, I think. If I'm not mistaken, that's when the All-Star game was in New Orleans. John Lucas had a John Lucas Invitational in New Orleans and I took my team down there and we won the whole thing. So we beat everybody, we all can go and I took my team out of there and we won the whole thing. So we beat everybody, we all can go. We beat Florida Blue Chips, we beat ARC out of LA, we beat Baltimore Spiders. We beat everybody with somebody that we can and we went undefeated and won the championship. So what age group was that? With somebody?
01:17:50 - Carmen Jones (Host)
that we can, and we went undefeated and won the championship.
01:17:52 - Michael Christian (Guest)
So what age group was that? Great, great, and that started me going on a coaching path. So we go from DBA, which was Baseline Basketball Academy, to D1 Basketball, which is where I'm at now.
01:18:13 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Is it the same group?
01:18:14 - Michael Christian (Guest)
It's the same group of people that started basically with us Brian Lloyd and myself and a guy named Matt Steffi. Okay, so off that team that I started with Kaysen Wallace, who plays for the Oklahoma Thunder. He was on the team I got a kid that was at Ohio State and now he's at SMU. Now I got two kids at Ole Miss, so that whole team went Division. I almost the last one team was yeah.
01:18:51 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Nice.
01:18:53 - Michael Christian (Guest)
They're sophomores now. The year after that I had kids at Kansas State. I got kids at North Texas. I got kids at Florida State. So I'm putting some kids out. Kids are coming through the organization. Um, I enjoy what I'm doing. I work with young ladies also. You know, um put some girls in college also. I got a kid I'm working with now she's just starting with, uh, oklahoma State. Okay, so we got kids young ladies at Clemsmson now. So I've touched a lot of people. I've touched a lot of people excellent, excellent and still going strong.
01:19:42
With that. I just started over. So I got a new fourth grade group this year. Got some talent, talent, so I'm going to see.
01:19:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
How far do you take them up to like 16, 17?
01:19:54 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I try to take them like 15, 16.
01:19:58 - Carmen Jones (Host)
To high school.
01:19:59 - Michael Christian (Guest)
But I still work them out, I'll still train them. They'll still do what they do with their coaching, but I'll train them.
01:20:14 - Carmen Jones (Host)
That's good, that's good, that's good. So, mr Christian, we made it through high school, we made it through college. We've taken our life one step at a time. What are some things that you would um one step at a time? What are some things that you would um give? What sort of advice would you give to student athletes today? You're totally involved with everything that's going on. What sort of advice would you give to student athletes today? Um, in terms of, I mean as nil out, what do you think about nil?
01:20:45 - Michael Christian (Guest)
and and what's going on with that? Now? It was always something like that going on, even when you know, to a certain degree some got it more than some got it less. Even you know, but uh, it's, it's it made, it's made it worse. It was already bad, now it's gotten worse so can you explain that?
01:21:07
now that you've given kids money before they've even done anything, they think they made it, so now they don't work. And now, as a result of that, you see bad basketball. I'm getting paid. You can't tell me nothing. I'm getting this, I'm making more money than you, but you're not the coach, so it it's um, I'm now another here.
01:21:37 - Carmen Jones (Host)
More power to them right so it does have an impact on the game and how that goes out, but at the same time, the money is there. They made it, so why shouldn't they get a piece?
01:21:51 - Michael Christian (Guest)
of it. You know. But you know that's what happens when you, when you mess with the devil. You know that you dangling it's dangerous now because the kids are not developing social skills already. They don't know how to talk to people. You know they use vices to get them between things Facial expressions. They don't know how to communicate. I can go on down the line, but what I tell my kids? When you talk to people, you have to look them in the eye. You have to be honest with yourself. If you don't put the work in, there's somebody down the street that's going to put the work in before you and then nowadays it's the next person up. And if you don't have an understanding of how that goes, wait until you get in that situation when it's your turn and they just pass you by all over because you're.
01:22:48
I'm going to tell you something right now being a senior, right now, going to college, means nothing, unless you're a star, because I'm getting people out the portal. I don't care about you. Everybody's thinking they're saving scholarships for people trying to leave the portal, the scholarships that shouldn't be going to the kids coming out of high school. They're not getting them because they're saving them for the kids coming out of the portal. So now you're getting pushed even further back. Now you got prep schools getting popular. Now, because you're going to have to do another year, you're better off going to prep school, doing work in prep school and then going to college, because coming out of high school, if you ain't that man or that girl, you're going to get overlooked by people coming out the portal. This is how it is right now.
01:23:43 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So there's a lot of deterioration of the game going on.
01:23:48 - Michael Christian (Guest)
It's bad. I'm a stickler for fundamentals so that's what I thrive on when I teach my kids. Like my teams, we run the flex in the fourth grade, so you know how intricate that is and I teach that to them and I put a pass limit on them or a pass minimum so they understand how to be patient.
01:24:10 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Right.
01:24:10 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Because running and screening and running in the circle and not shooting the ball gets somebody upset. So if you're getting upset on offense, what do you think the defender's doing? You know what I'm saying? He's getting hit with the ball. Exactly One side is still there. It makes sense. It makes sense. It makes sense, it's easy. It's easy. It's easy and me it's easy. I know it's funny, but I relate to kids. It's easy for me because I've been where you want to go and I know what you want to do. Right, so there is no shortcut and I'm very vocal about what I do and the kids respond. You know, like I said, I coach four teams right now in the league. I got third grade, second grade, and I do that to learn how to keep my communication skills good, because you can't always say what you want to say to little kids, so you have to learn how to coach. You just can't yell at little kids, because that's not acceptable.
01:25:20 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Can't yell at the kids anymore.
01:25:22 - Michael Christian (Guest)
You got to learn how to communicate and get them to do what you want them to do without yelling.
01:25:28 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So have you seen any changes in like mental health? I know that's always a buzzword. People talk about that a lot. Do you notice any change or more anxiety in the kids nowadays than at the time you were growing up, or even over the last little time? I see it in the time.
01:25:45 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Okay, the kids that are better. No, the kids that think they're good or told they're good, that really aren't that good. Yes, Now, parents are probably due to that because they're they're putting unnecessary pressures on the kid right or they're trying to live through the child, as we already see on various YouTube clips.
01:26:18 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Right, you couldn't do it.
01:26:20 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm going to make my kid do it, but who are they going to talk to? Everything got nothing to do with this right here. Who are they going to talk to if everything got nothing to do with this right here?
01:26:33 - Carmen Jones (Host)
and they're not talking to the phone they have no outlet.
01:26:36 - Michael Christian (Guest)
At least when we were growing up we could go talk to somebody we spent time together like we actually spent time with each other. You know it wasn't the phone. Yeah, we spent time with each other, you know it wasn't the phone.
01:26:50 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, we spent time together.
01:26:52 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We sat next to each other, you got experiences to go back to real experiences, to go back to that you experienced together because you were there together.
01:27:03 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, none of that. That ain't going on right now, right.
01:27:05 - Michael Christian (Guest)
That ain't.
01:27:07 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So my job is.
01:27:10 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm a realist with the kids because I always where I live is in Fresco. I always look at more upgraded up here, how you want to put it upscale.
01:27:21 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Upscale, upscale. It's a pro football family time.
01:27:29 - Michael Christian (Guest)
They're spoon fed. But when it comes to dealing with me, you got to get out the mud. So just because your mom and daddy got money, that doesn't mean you get top billing in the basketball court. You're going to have to prove it, because in basketball you get exposed. See, that's one thing I love about basketball. No matter how much your mama talk, your daddy talk or you talk when they roll the ball out there, you're going to get exposed, and I love it. Right, that's one thing I love about basketball. That shuts everything down because the ball don't lie, it doesn't. That's the realistic part of it.
01:28:08
But no, it's just about who's teaching the kids and, like I said, I try to teach the right way. The one thing I pride myself on I don't rob the kid of their experience of what they should be learning. Now, if you don't want to learn, you won't be around me. That's one thing I'm full of. I don't take on people. I don't want people around me that are distracting. I'm not a babysitter. I don't mind watching your child, because you have to trust me with your child, you know.
01:28:36
But I'm not a babysitter, don't bring your kid to drop him off to get disciplined. Because I'm a disciplinarian too, I don't play that they have other places for that, so that's known out the gate.
01:28:48
If your kid can't dribble with his left hand, I'm going to let it be known, because I have second and third graders that can dribble with their left hand. So how are you going to be in the fourth grade and you can't dribble with your left hand and think you're better than somebody? It's not going to work. That's not how it works. So you got to put that work in. So my kids put the work in, they put the work in. So I have skills, like I say, like on Wednesday nights, I have skills for third to fifth grade. I got about 15 kids that come to get individual skills. Like I said, I coach four teams and summertime hasn't even started yet and I'll get an elite team because I'm going to travel this year again. I'm gonna start traveling this summer again, right? So I gotta offer the job for puma to go to puma team. So I don't know what I'm gonna do you know?
01:29:43
you don't know, huh it's a good thing though so you're, though.
01:29:49 - Carmen Jones (Host)
So you're doing all this work. What is your work-life balance? Are we still balancing? Did we Okay?
01:29:57 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm just making sure we're having our work-life balance. I'm 6'3" 200. I was 6'3" 195 in college. I could shoot from the half mark. I'd shoot when I crossed that court. I still take on the challenges with the kids. I can't run no more.
01:30:17 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I hope you're not running up and down the floor.
01:30:20 - Michael Christian (Guest)
That's a dumb dollar, okay.
01:30:24 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Yeah, we don't need to do that.
01:30:26 - Michael Christian (Guest)
If it ain't two step, I'm not involved is your bracket busted? You know what? Yes, I did, I was good Kentucky, I did pick you had Kentucky going all the way I had them getting beat, but not that early. Yeah, I got UConn and North Carolina.
01:30:58 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Still in? Yeah, okay, and have you paid any attention to Tulane? What do you think about the state of the basketball program right now?
01:31:09 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I thought you was going to skip that.
01:31:12 - Carmen Jones (Host)
No, I thought you were, I got to wait, I'll just let you say do you think it's really good, it can use some improvement, or you know it's in the house.
01:31:24 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We were just talking about that. What do you think? First of, all.
01:31:31 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Well, let me put it like this is there. Do you feel like there's a way that you guys can be more involved in what's going on and in terms of resources and support? Because so, for us, this what we're doing as far as T club, which is the athletic alumni, and we're just trying to figure out ways to get people back involved, and the first way to get involved is just to show up. You know. So, showing up not necessarily. You know there's other ways to do other things, but I think one thing that we miss out on is having our network. So it sounds like you guys are still pretty tight, but it's not like that for everybody. So being able to have a space where student athletes know I can check in here and maybe I can talk to somebody that can give me some advice or, you know, tell me where resources are that may get me where.
01:32:33 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm trying to go.
01:32:34 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I don't feel like we've done a good job with that.
01:32:37 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Like you said, we have a stream, we have a tech stream between former players and we express a lot of things on there.
01:32:50 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I'm not gonna go to a death, but they're no, no no, yeah, you don't need to go on that, but this is good that you guys I mean, it's a lot of us on there yes, and we're all.
01:33:00 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We all are on it when we talk, and the thing about it is, a lot of people are not happy because they don't like the situations going on there now. They don't like the situation, who's there, how he got there and him not involving anybody with what he's doing. But in my eyes, like I told him, I watched him do that at Georgia State, so what do you expect was going to happen? That's that. Now the players I've seen them play. They came here.
01:33:36
I've seen them play against Memphis State, memphis last year when they came out here for the tournament. I haven't seen them play since then. So and I watch basketball every night I just haven't had the urge to watch them because I don't like the way he coaches and I know the kids are not Okay. The kids are not doing what they're supposed to do. You know they still Right, they're like the way things are. Now. They should have a coach in there that can bring in the players that need to be brought in, which means you have to have your alumni base set up to do what they got to do. Because you ain't got no song alumni base, you're not gonna win.
01:34:21 - Carmen Jones (Host)
But on the other hand, and that that's kind, that's kind of my point, like it. It would definitely be an asset if they dug a little bit more into their alumni base, and that's the university as a whole.
01:34:36 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I think they dug in for more for us coming back to get the arena, to get this, to get that, to get this to the side. You know what I'm saying, right?
01:34:48 - Carmen Jones (Host)
the optics to get this, to get that, to get this to decide.
01:34:52 - Michael Christian (Guest)
You know what I'm saying Right and Right, the optics, the way we improved our food, yeah, the this, the that the want to eat over here, but you guys, your human resources are extraordinary and that's the part that I feel like you know they drop the ball on a lot of times. I got my tickets for the Tulane game through Coach at SMU yeah. So hey, it's just.
01:35:20 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Well, that kind of explains it.
01:35:22 - Michael Christian (Guest)
You know what I'm saying. I'm like, wow, okay, d Witt lives here. Like I said, d Witt lives here, I live here, I go. Whit lives here. Like I said, d Whit lives here, I live, here, I go, I'll go. But I don't know, I ain't. I never liked that dude at all.
01:35:36 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Well, I can't say. I can't say. Lisa Stockton was a lot more receptive to alumni in terms of, you know, I could always call and get some tickets to the game, so, and I think it's partly because she had been there for so long, so she's always been, you know, really cool about doing that. That's never really been an issue. So she just resigned.
01:36:03 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We are grateful for that.
01:36:04 - Carmen Jones (Host)
But you know also and I mean we're grateful that she's always been had an open office to alumni. She would always talk, she had a mentor program in place that people could be involved in. So she did actually do some things to try to keep the alumni involved. We definitely appreciated that.
01:36:29 - Michael Christian (Guest)
We've had how many different men's basketball coaches since I left?
01:36:34 - Carmen Jones (Host)
Exactly, exactly, too many to count.
01:36:39 - Michael Christian (Guest)
What was the guy's name? Oh my God, you're doing good.
01:36:46 - Carmen Jones (Host)
I know you got to go. Let me ask you this last question and then we can get back at it. We can go back at it if you want to. Last question I want to ask you today is what do you feel your legacy at Tulane is? And your legacy is so far. So speak a little bit about your legacy and how you want to be, how you feel you should be remembered.
01:37:16 - Michael Christian (Guest)
Well, I can honestly say that my legacy at Tulane was, when we got there, nobody expected us to do anything. All the teams and the Metro Conference expected us to be a practice game. Nobody gave us a chance. So I went from being pretty much thinking we're going to lose every game to thinking we're going to win, to lose every game the thing we're going to win. And I have changed the perception of Tulane basketball that they weren't thinking about the scandal anymore. Nobody even talked about it anymore. They went from the big shot against Memphis State, us beating a couple of good teams, us beating a couple good teams, us beating some more good teams, senior night. The next year they go to Sweet 16. You understand what I'm saying, right? So I got cut a year short of experiencing that. But it's just about being like. It is probably going to get the place. Ask for another year. You know what I'm saying, but anyway, right.
01:38:32
Everything is real, different now I probably could have got the place, but, like I said, I was a part of something in a three-year span, four-year span Well, three-year span, four-year span, however you want to put it that it had to start from somewhere. So I laid the foundation, so well, good that that sounds good and hey, you were great you.
01:38:57 - Carmen Jones (Host)
You've been great all your life. You're still doing great things, which is super cool and awesome. I'm glad I had the chance to talk to you and we could share share the story with everybody. We're going to have to get together soon.
01:39:12 - Michael Christian (Guest)
I'm due to come into all of us. I need to get out. I've been