Sidetracked

Anthony Oppermann is the General Manager of the Richmond Flying Squirrels and he has been part of this organization since day one off and on. He joined Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 8 of Sidetracked near the close of the historic inaugural season at CarMax Park.Anthony was in the room for the Baseball is Back press conference on September 23, 2009. He was the GM who opened CarMax Park on April 7, 2026. That is 6,040 days from promise to reality — and he was present for both ends of it.We get into all of it — how a kid from La Grange, Texas who wanted to be a paleontologist and then a meteorologist ended up broadcasting minor league baseball for a decade, why he walked away from broadcasting, what the relationship between a minor league GM and the San Francisco Giants actually looks like, why the Flying Squirrels have never needed to lean on the Giants brand the way other teams lean on their major league affiliates, what the first season at CarMax Park has really looked like from the inside, the cat jersey story that raised awareness for the Richmond SPCA, and what happens at CarMax Park when baseball season ends.Plus The Three Questions — including a surprising answer about barrier islands, wild Spanish mustangs, and a very smart octopus.Follow the Richmond Flying Squirrels at squirrelsbaseball.com and @flyingsquirrels on social media. CarMax Park is located at 2705 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond VA.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listenCHAPTER MARKERS0:00 — Welcome & The Inaugural Season at CarMax Park2:27 — 6,040 Days From Press Conference to Opening Day3:27 — Paleontologist, Meteorologist, Broadcaster — The Origin5:45 — Growing Up Listening to Astros Games on the Radio7:18 — Why He Left Broadcasting8:25 — The Broadcaster's Perspective on Minor League Players11:19 — What a Minor League GM Actually Does14:30 — Minor League Baseball Road Trip & Learning From Other Teams15:22 — The Cat Jersey Story & Partnering with the Richmond SPCA19:04 — Waffle Jerseys & Getting Players to Play Along20:25 — Building a Full Time Alternate vs a One Off Jersey24:11 — Why the Giants Stay Affiliated With Richmond28:21 — Building the Flying Squirrels Brand Independent of San Francisco31:15 — Why Double-A is the Best Level of Minor League Baseball33:43 — Minor League Baseball Then vs Now — What Changed39:20 — What the First Season at CarMax Park Has Really Been Like44:28 — What He Is Most Proud Of From Year One48:11 — What's Coming to CarMax Park After Baseball Season52:37 — The First Rule of Operations — Never Say It's Going Quick54:54 — The Three Questions55:11 — Never Say the R Word59:52 — Favorite Richmond Experience — The Neighborhoods1:01:54 — What Would Surprise People — Barrier Islands & The Octopus#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #FlyingSquirrels #CarMaxPark #Richmond #RVA #ESPNRichmond #MinorLeagueBall #SFGiants #RichmondBaseball #MILB #RichmondSports #804 #BaseballIsBack

Dr. Tanner Dobrucky is a chiropractor and sports performance specialist based in Richmond, Virginia — and his path to get here is anything but conventional. He joins Jack Fitzpatrick for this week's episode of Sidetracked.Tanner grew up in Powhatan, transferred to Freeman High School his senior year, walked on at the University of Tennessee with no scholarship offer, made the team after a second tryout that almost didn't happen, played for three head coaches including Josh Heupel who put him on scholarship his fifth year, and then graduated and completely pivoted to chiropractic care after psoriasis led him to a chiropractor who told him to stop eating gluten — and it worked.We get into all of it — what chiropractic care actually is beyond cracking backs, how your nervous system controls your muscles and why that matters for athletes, the ATP and red blood cell conversation that will make you rethink how you fuel your body, what it was like being a walk-on at Neyland Stadium, his first ever game at Alabama, and why he and his wife — a Doctor of Physical Therapy — sometimes butt heads professionally.Plus The Three Questions — including a Zac Efron reveal that genuinely surprised us.Dr. Dobrucky practices in Richmond, VA. Follow him on Instagram @dr.tannerdobrucky📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listenCHAPTER MARKERS0:00 — Welcome & How He Became a Chiropractor2:30 — Chiropractic Care Is More Than Cracking Backs4:04 — Working With Athletes in the 8045:51 — Why Richmond? God's Timing7:23 — Richmond Then vs Now — Powhatan to Freeman9:09 — Growing Up Playing at Blessed Sacrament Huguenot10:17 — Walking On at Tennessee — The Full Story15:50 — Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt & Josh Heupel18:01 — First Game — Away at Number One Alabama19:45 — How a Powhatan Kid Becomes a Vols Fan22:10 — The Walk-On Experience vs The Star Quarterback26:20 — How Tennessee Prepared Him for Chiropractic28:43 — Worst Injury Stories30:38 — How He Prevents Athletic Injuries34:58 — The ATP Conversation40:00 — Life University & Getting Married in Atlanta40:46 — Atlanta vs Knoxville vs Richmond Food Scene43:52 — Building the Practice & Social Media in Richmond46:08 — Tennessee Football Now & Free Ticket Hacks48:49 — The Three Questions53:29 — Zac Efron Reveal#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #Chiropractic #SportsPerformance #Tennessee #VolNation #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #WalkOn #CollegeFootball #AthleteHealth #ChiropracticCare #RichmondSports #HolisticHealth

Dr. Alvin Parker is the head football coach and Associate Athletic Director at Virginia Union University — and he is quietly building one of the most consistent winning programs in all of college football. He joins Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 6 of Sidetracked.In nine years at his alma mater, Dr. Parker has won back-to-back CIAA Championships, made four consecutive NCAA Division II playoff appearances, reached the quarterfinals in 2024, and been named the Black College Football Hall of Fame National Coach of the Year. He lost 30 players to the transfer portal over the last two years and has kept winning anyway.We get into all of it — how PLAY411 was born from a number on a championship banner, why he turned down calls from other programs to stay at VUU, what he learned going 2-8 in his first year at Elizabeth City State after thinking he already knew everything, why copying the right cat is the key to sustained success, and what his pregame ritual involving Lionel Richie and the Commodores looks like on game day.Plus The Three Questions — including a Richmond experience that doesn't exist anymore but absolutely needs to come back.VUU opens the 2026 season against Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday August 28th. Follow the Panthers at vuusports.com and on the CIAA Sports Network.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listenCHAPTER MARKERS 0:00 — Welcome & Season Opener vs Lenoir-Rhyne1:13 — 30 Players Lost to the Transfer Portal2:03 — Recruiting in the 804 & High School Talent3:45 — Using VUU as a Developmental Pipeline4:44 — Year 9 — Eight Seasons With the Covid Year5:11 — Rematch vs Lenoir-Rhyne After 2024 Playoff Win6:22 — Building a Nationally Recognized Program7:54 — Studying Ferris State & The Two QB System9:58 — Running the Football & The Offensive Line11:47 — Who's the Next Curtis Allen12:36 — Preseason Awards & Team Culture14:17 — The Origin of PLAY41116:10 — Being the Hunted & How His Approach Has Changed17:58 — Why He Chose Virginia Union at 1719:20 — First Coaching Job Under Willard Bailey21:36 — The Journey From Player to Head Coach22:37 — Calls From Other Programs23:20 — How VUU Gets Back to the Mountaintop29:53 — The Three Questions31:07 — Work Life Balance31:15 — Fridays at Sunset & His Love of R&B32:34 — The Lionel Richie Pregame Ritual33:13 — What Would Surprise People Most#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #VUU #VirginiaUnion #HBCUFootball #CIAA #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #CollegeFootball #HBCU #PLAY411 #DivisionII #RichmondSports #VUUFootball

Kai Laird is a sports psychologist, Licensed Professional Counselor, and the founder of TeeBox Richmond — Virginia's first TeeBox location. He joins Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 5 of Sidetracked just one day before TeeBox's two month anniversary.Kai grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, moved to the United States for his undergrad, earned two master's degrees, built a sports psychology consulting practice called The Performance Pursuit that is now celebrating eleven years in business, and then completely changed course after a random franchise magazine showed up in his mailbox. That magazine led him to Salt Lake City, a Utah Jazz game, and ultimately a decision to sell his house in Williamsburg, move to Richmond, and open TeeBox at Regency Square.We get into all of it — what TeeBox actually is and how it's different from Top Golf and Drive Shack, why his grandmother flew in from England for grand opening and came back every day that week, how mental health in sports has changed since Covid, what makes Richmond's food scene so special, and why a man with multiple businesses and endless energy says his most surprising trait is that he loves doing absolutely nothing.Plus The Three Questions — including the world map game people play trying to guess where his accent is from.TeeBox Richmond is located at Regency Square, 1420 N Parham Rd, Henrico, VA. Visit teeboxgolf.com or follow @teeboxrva on Instagram.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listenChapter Markers0:00 — Welcome & TeeBox at Two Months1:17 — How a Junk Mail Magazine Changed Everything9:00 — Selling the House & Moving to Richmond10:56 — Trinidad to Sports Psychologist15:21 — Mental Health in Sports Since Covid17:45 — Why Golf & Sports Psychology Go Together18:53 — The Grandmother Who Flew From England20:06 — Favorite City — Chicago vs Richmond22:31 — What Makes TeeBox Different From Top Golf27:50 — Members Already Shaving Strokes29:14 — The Three QuestionsHashtags:#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #TeeBox #TeeBoxRichmond #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #IndoorGolf #SportsPsychology #GolfRichmond #TrackMan #RichmondFood #RVASports #GolfPodcast #TrinidadAndTobago

Ashton Creek Vineyard Director of Wine Alan Thibault joins Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 4 of Sidetracked. Alan is a first generation winemaker running a family vineyard and restaurant just 20 minutes south of Richmond in Chester, Virginia — and he is quietly making some of the best wine in the region.We get into all of it — how a Virginia Tech engineering student ended up becoming a winemaker, why his family planted vines on a Chesterfield property in 2006 when nobody believed Central Virginia could produce great wine, the sheep that changed everything, how one Paul Giamatti movie destroyed Merlot sales across the country, what it actually means to be Virginia's first Certified Regenified vineyard, and why he plants grape varieties that almost nobody has heard of.Plus Alan shares why a winemaker's drink of choice at the end of a long day is almost never wine. And we close with The Three Questions — his hill to die on might change how you think about Merlot forever.Ashton Creek Vineyard is located at 14501 Route 1, Chester, VA. Visit them at ashtoncreekvineyard.com.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listen#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #AshtonCreek #VirginiaWine #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #Winemaker #RegenerativeFarming #VirginiaWinery #ChesterVirginia #RichmondFood #LocalRichmond #WinePodcast

Former JMU quarterback Justin Thorpe sits down with Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 3 of Sidetracked. Justin played six years at James Madison University — CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year, a devastating knee injury, a suspension that changed everything, and a career that ended on his own terms at Virginia State. He's been a firefighter, a professional Madden gamer flown out by EA Sports, a content creator with over 150 million views across platforms, a personal trainer, and a high school football coach at his alma mater Varina — where he helped build a state championship program before stepping away this offseason.We get into all of it — the two quarterback system under Mickey Matthews, reading the message boards and what it did to him mentally, the knee injury at Bridgeforth Stadium that doctors said would end his career, why he left JMU on his own terms, what coaching at Varina taught him about the game, and the Virginia football talent debate nobody is having loudly enough.Plus The Three Questions. His hill to die on might be the most Richmond answer we've gotten yet.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen

VCU Men's Basketball Head Coach Phil Martelli Jr. sits down with Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 2 of Sidetracked. In his first year at VCU, Martelli went 28-8, won the A-10 Tournament, and pulled off one of the greatest NCAA Tournament comebacks in recent memory — down BIG at halftime against a ranked North Carolina squad, the Rams pulled out a 82-78 win in overtime.We get into all of it — the halftime locker room speech, what it was like getting fired at Delaware and ending up with the Delaware 87ers, Nate Robinson asking HIM for coaching advice, why he signed the extension at VCU, his 35-year dream of becoming a Division I head coach, and what Richmond means to him and his family.Plus The Three Questions — including a very spicy NBA hot take about his hometown Philadelphia 76ers.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill, Hour 2 — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN RichmondCHAPTER MARKERS0:00 — Welcome & The Siegel Center1:45 — Scheduling as a Mid-Major7:30 — The VCU Return Clause & Ryan Odom12:00 — Virginia College Basketball Showcase16:30 — The Philadelphia 87ers & Getting Fired at Delaware25:00 — What the G League Taught Him About the Transfer Portal Era30:30 — Inside the UNC Locker Room Down 19 at Halftime35:00 — Why He Signed the Extension & The 35-Year Dream39:30 — Post-Game Routine & Film Philosophy41:00 — The Three Questions#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #VCU #VCUBasketball #PhilMartelliJr #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #CollegeBasketball #Atlantic10 #NCAA #MarchMadness #RichmondVA #VCURams

Welcome to the first ever episode of Sidetracked, a long-form conversation series on Fitz the Bill where we sit down with athletes, coaches, business leaders and community members from the 804 and beyond to talk sports, life and everything in between.For Episode 1, we're joined by Lori Waran, President of Richmond Raceway and the first female president in the track's nearly 80-year history. We talk about how a career in DC hospitality and Richmond media led her to running one of NASCAR's most iconic short tracks, what the sellout culture at Richmond Raceway actually looks like from the inside, her take on the "great" NASCAR turns debate, the best places to eat and drink in Richmond, and what would genuinely surprise people about her.Plus — The Three Questions. Same three questions, every guest, every week. You'll want to stick around for her answer to the last one.🏁 Richmond Raceway Race Weekend — August 14 & 15Friday: NASCAR Craftsman Truck SeriesSaturday: Cook Out 400 Cup Series Night RaceTickets: www.richmondraceway.com📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill, Hour 2 — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond📲 Apple Podcasts | Spotify | ESPN Richmond App📸 Instagram: @FitztheBillESPNRVAGot someone you want to see on Sidetracked? Text us: 804-327-0888 or DM us on Instagram.#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #RichmondRaceway #NASCAR #NASCARRichmond #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #RVASports #CookOut400 #VirginiaRacing #RichmondVA #SportsTalk #LongFormPodcast