Off the Record with Jimmy Gillispie

In this week's episode, Baker University Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee Liesel Kirk-Fink joins the podcast to talk a lot about running. Jimmy and Liesel were former teammates at Baker University, and she is now the proud parents of 2 collegiate runners and 2 younger children who run and compete in dance. She talked about letting her children create their own path but guiding them when they want or need help. She also talked about how to help them choose a college. It was an episode about parenting and running.

In this week's episode, Jimmy Gillispie and Matt Noonan break down the blockbuster movie "Project Hail Mary" and why it's crushing at the box office. They discuss what they loved about movie. Matt also talks about changes from the book to the movie. It's a full spoiler discussion about movie.

On this week's episode, friend and fellow Baker University alum Kelly Braud joined the podcast. She talked about living on the Gulf Coast the past four years and what it's been like to move back to the South. We also talked about our glory days of bar trivia, and what books she's been reading for some local book clubs. One of those was Project Hail Mary, and now she's excited to see the movie. We also talked about our love of movies in this episode.

Due to a busy schedule, there was no guest this week but I wanted to publish an episode. After a busy 3-day weekend out of town, I sat down and talked about the Easter Weekend and the KC Parade of Hearts kickoff event, along with my excitement for this year's event. Also, I briefly talked on Project Hail Mary. I also recapped my guests and talked about future guests.

On episode 12 of the podcast, fellow Baker University alum Lindsay Sakamoto talks about her experience of moving from small town Kansas to Japan to begin a career at Tokyo Disneyland right after college. She talked about her career with Disney that spanned several parks and several character roles. Lindasy also discussed living in Japan for the better part of almost 20 years, which included the tragic 2011 tsunami. She also talked about moving back to the United States and what that's been like the past few years. It was a great conversation with a friend I hadn’t seen in more than 20 years.

This week's guest was a special one. My daughter joined me to talk about the Harry Potter movies, after I finished watching the series with her. We talked about her love of all things Harry Potter, and hopefully one day a trip to Universal Theme Parks. We also determined her favorite local restaurant as she was given a winner-take-all 1v1 restaurant challenge that left me speechless.

In this week's episode, a hometown friend of mine, Brett Pittenger, talk a lot of sports – ranging from high school basketball to the March Madness bracket to NFL offseason news. Brett is a long-time Baltimore Ravens fan so we had to discuss the Maxx Crosby trade from the Las Vegas Raiders that was coincidentally turned down by Baltimore. We also discussed the Kansas Jayhawks and their March Madness chances after the bracket was released. We started out the episode talking about our alma mater winning its first-ever high school boys state basketball championship – a game that both of us drove hours to attend Saturday.

On this week's episode, Tim Ahrens joins me to talk about giant physical movie collection that continues to grow as physical media production declines. He also breaks down several major categories for the upcoming Academy Awards, and he gives his opinions on what will win and what he thinks might pull an upset, based on the high number of movies he's seen.

Baker University women's wrestling coach Kit Harris joins the podcast this week to talk about his coaching career, which spans more than 30 years in Kansas. He shared stories about his 20-plus years as the Baldwin High School wresting coach before opting to take the job at Baker University. He also talked about his team and the upcoming HAAC Championships, which is coming up this weekend.

Matt Noonan is back with Jimmy Gillispie and they talk about the greatness that is the Mario Kart video game franchise. Jimmy tries to convince Matt that the Super Nintendo version isn't the only one to play. They do this while playing the original SNES game.

In this week's episode, Brian Ebbitts shares stories about his high school and college tennis career, in addition to becoming an ultimate frisbee player in Kansas City. Brian and Jimmy also talked about their roadtrip to Utah in July 2024 where they visited four national parks.

Big 5 Trivia Founder Kevin Krumrey shares stories on how and why he left his full-time job as a teacher to create and run a trivia company in Kansas City. He also talks about the format he's created, which includes a copyrighted puzzle game in the first four rounds.

Rachel Gillispie talks about the current winter weather before discussing her childhood and living with her family as missionaries in Ecuador for 3 years. She talks about how it sparked her love of Spanish and the culture, living in a third-world country as a child and how it impacted her family.

Archie High School football coach Drew Smith talks about his love of football and why he grew up a fan of the St. Louis Rams before they moved to Los Angeles. He also talked about his 2 state championship teams and the tragedy after the 2024 title, in addition to his talent of gleeking.

Baldwin High School and Mizzou graduate Matt Noonan talks about his high school running days and choosing to go across the state line to go to college. He also talks about the hardships and joy of getting back into shape in his 40s. Jimmy and Matt also talk about video games and their competitive battles.

Pleasant Hill High School graduate Brooke Beck takes time during her break between semesters to talk about joining the Cowgirls XC and Track and Field team. She also talked about her first semester of college.