Transcribed with AI with Human Review:
Jeff Williams:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host Jeff Williams. In the studio with me today, Randy Brackensick. Randy, how's it going?
Randy Brackensick:
Very good.
Jeff Williams:
Jennifer's in here too. Just going to let her not mic it, at least for now. We'll see how that goes. But Randy is in here. You're here to talk about a new book you have? That's right. on. Well, let's hear a little bit about this book.
Randy Brackensick:
Sure. The name of the book is An American Sports Fan. My teams, my memories. It kind of speaks to my memories about sporting events, playoff series, NCAA tournament games. More specifically, most of the teams I've mentioned are the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals, the Fighting Illini basketball team, the St. Louis slash Arizona Cardinals.
Jeff Williams:
Oh yeah.
Randy Brackensick:
But there are some other teams mentioned in the book.
Jeff Williams:
Well, Randy has a Cardinals baseball T-shirt on, so I had a feeling he was not going to be a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan, for those in the AL, so.
Randy Brackensick:
No, there's a few references to the, a couple of references to the Cubs when they won the World Series. Oh yeah, And there, you know, there's references to other teams, although the not in the majority. And I can identify with Cubs fans because being a St. Louis, Arizona football fan, they haven't had winning tradition there over the years. It was great when we got to the Super Bowl, you finally in 2008 and narrowly lost to the Steelers. So I can identify with Cub fans. I always say I understand what you're going through because You always hope that time comes, and it did for the Cubs, kind of did for the Cardinals. I tried to root for the Rams, and I really tried to become a fan, but it was just hard to get my heart into it.
Jeff Williams:
Was sort of different. It wasn't, you know, I mean, they were a transplant team. They weren't really originally from St. Louis, so.
Randy Brackensick:
It was great, though, to be able to go down to see Arizona play every year. You'd know they have a game there. Yeah, because they were in the same division.
Jeff Williams:
So yeah, so you've got your book out. First off, is it your first book?
Randy Brackensick:
It's my first book, yes.
Jeff Williams:
So how did that spark happen where you started thinking?
Randy Brackensick:
Well, the spark, we're going back to the Cardinals now, Arizona Cardinals. That's all right. That's all right. 2021 playoffs. They had a, the year started out really great. They went 7-0, lost a tough game with the Green Bay Packers. And then things kind of went downhill late in the season. They kind of limped into the playoffs and they lost in a game that wasn't close. And so I thought, I ought to write a book about being a Cardinal fan and how tough it is to be a Cardinal fan, but I'm loyal to it in any event. But then I decided, well, why don't I write about all the sports teams I follow? And there's a lot more winning when you start throwing in the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jeff Williams:
Baseball team.
Randy Brackensick:
And the Illinois basketball.
Jeff Williams:
Did you go to U of I?
Randy Brackensick:
No, I didn't attend U of I. I went to grad school at Western Illinois University.
Jeff Williams:
No, Macomb, yeah.
Randy Brackensick:
But my brother was a big Illinois fan back back in the mid-60s. And I was more into high school basketball at that time. And there's some mention early in the book about Illinois high school basketball because I really looked forward to that state tournament every year.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, yes, that's a great tournament.
Randy Brackensick:
I become more of an Illinois fan in 79, they beat Michigan State and Magic Johnson when they were number one in the country. ESPN was there in Champaign that day, and it was such a big game. And I really started to become more of a fan after that event took place. And then I worked as a hall director at Eastern Illinois University and I was pretty close to Champaign and being a fan of Illinois basketball ramped up at that time.
Jeff Williams:
And let me ask this, pardon to interrupt here, was that, so that year, when Illinois beat Michigan State, Magic Johnson's Michigan State team, that later went on that. Also, they played Indiana State, correct, for the national championship.
Randy Brackensick:
That's true.
Jeff Williams:
Yes, in 79. In 79. So was that Michigan State's, was that their only loss that year?
Randy Brackensick:
I don't believe it was their only loss.
Jeff Williams:
They had a couple of losses. Okay, I couldn't remember that.
Randy Brackensick:
I couldn't say that with all certainty.
Jeff Williams:
I just wanted to ask that because I couldn't remember. But yeah, Illinois was pretty strong that year also.
Randy Brackensick:
Yeah, and then Lou Henson, of course, came in and he started recruiting out of the Chicago area. And that's when Illinois started to be competitive every year. And they made eight NCAA tournament appearances in the 80s. And it was interesting enough, I grew up north of Quincy, and they recruited and got Bruce Douglas to come there, an elite defender.
Jeff Williams:
The Douglas brothers were crazy, yeah.
Randy Brackensick:
So that made me into more of being an Illinois fan.
Jeff Williams:
There were a few Douglas brothers that were really good, right?
Randy Brackensick:
Yes, that's right.
Jeff Williams:
Quincy, yeah, Quincy Senior High School.
Randy Brackensick:
There was always a Douglas playing.
Jeff Williams:
Always a Douglas, yes.
Randy Brackensick:
Yeah, Bruce did, and he's probably the most talented of all the Douglases from Quincy. They went to the Elite Eight in '84 and got beat by Kentucky. That was quite a year in '84.
Jeff Williams:
Was that also the year was that the Marcus Liberty was on that team also? That was the '89, '89 was Marcus Liberty.
Randy Brackensick:
The final flying Illinois, Kendall Gill, Steven Bardo, Nick Anderson was on that team.
Jeff Williams:
So yeah, that was a good, that's right. That was a good team. So I'm not a huge, huge sport, but I kind of got, I got it a little bit. Yeah, I see that. That's great. Very, very cool. I love it. I love it. So as far as then when you were like, you know, when I really think I've got some stuff together where I want to turn this into a book, what was the steps you had to do there?
Randy Brackensick:
Well, the first thing I kind of did was look at the different I went back to the 60s and I just started to jot down things that I remembered and memories that I had. Then I had to delve a little bit more into the research part and find out a little more detail. In the book I detailed playoff series as it took place and NCAA tournaments that Illinois was in and you know who they played and how some of those games went. That took some research.
Jeff Williams:
You then got a fact-checked all that to make sure that you got all of it, like who they played and what the final scores were and stuff like that, maybe.
Randy Brackensick:
And then I looked at, well, who did they? They recruit? Who did they bring in certain years? What players left early and went to the pros? That sort of thing.
Jeff Williams:
There was a couple of guys that I went to like high school with Kevin Gamble and Ed Horton both went to Lanfear. I went to Lanfear, you know. So I was like, I was hoping they'd go to, they first went to Lincoln College and they played two years there. or at least Kevin Gamble did for sure, and I was hoping they'd go to Illinois, but they all went over to Iowa, and also then they went to Iowa, both of them, which made a, made Iowa a strong team.
Randy Brackensick:
I was very good then.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, so I was hoping they'd go to Illinois, but now they didn't did not do that.
Randy Brackensick:
And speaking of Lanphere and players from Springfield, Richard McBride was a part of the 05 Illinois team that went to the national championship game.
Jeff Williams:
That's right, that's right.
Randy Brackensick:
He came in the 03-04 season. He had led Lanphere to 2nd place in the state.
Jeff Williams:
They had a good team then. And so it was also, from Andre Iguodala, well, he went to Arizona.
Randy Brackensick:
He went to Arizona.
Jeff Williams:
Which is a little bit of a tie-in with what we're talking about here.
Randy Brackensick:
It's a tie-in.
Jeff Williams:
It's a little bit of a tie-in there. And so how online, do you have an online presence where people can find the book?
Randy Brackensick:
The book's available on Amazon. You can just go in and search an American sports fan. My team's my memory. Or you can search by Randy Brackensick, author, and it would also come up. Type in keyword, an American sports fan. My team's my memories, and it'll lead them to sample pages. It'll show the cover of the book, and it'll show the dedication and the preface to the book and the first, I think, 7 pages of the book so they can get a flavor of what the book's like. Interestingly enough, in 1964, when I was 8 years old, I made a program for the World Series. And it's actually an eight-page program, and it listed the rosters for the Yankees and the Cardinals. And it showed the starting lineups. It even went in to talk about the the home run leaders, RBI leaders, average leaders of both teams. I had the box scores from a couple of the games.
Jeff Williams:
You had it ready to go.
Randy Brackensick:
I didn't finish, apparently.
Jeff Williams:
Well, you know, you had it started, though. You got it. That's pretty extensive for back then.
Randy Brackensick:
My mother found this at home and gave it to me. I'm glad she did. She knew I was writing the book.
Jeff Williams:
I love it.
Randy Brackensick:
I also have a copy of the 2005 NCAA brackets when Illinois lost to North Carolina in a championship game. And this is really special to me. The last game, my father died of cancer in 05. The last time our family was together was the big comeback game when we beat Arizona to go to the Final Four. And we were down, I can't remember the exact total, but about 12 points with less than two minutes to go. And we rallied and won that game. And she found this bracket and I thought I got to put that in the book. There's A scorecard from the first Cardinal game I went to when Ken Boyer hit a home run in the second inning.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, nice.
Randy Brackensick:
And there's a couple pictures that show my family. Jennifer's in here, my fiance.
Jeff Williams:
Okay.
Randy Brackensick:
And my brothers and my mother. We were out in front of the Ozzie Smith statue at Busch Stadium.
Jeff Williams:
Oh, yep, right.
Randy Brackensick:
So that picture's in the book as well.
Jeff Williams:
Very cool. This is quite a while ago. They've tore down the old Busch Stadium. And then put the new Busch Stadium in.
Randy Brackensick:
Right.
Jeff Williams:
When Busch Stadium, the current Busch Stadium, it feels kind of more intimate, that old-timey feel where you don't feel that far away. I think it's really nice, like on one of the newer batch of stadiums.
Randy Brackensick:
Yes, you're right. It's a more intimate place to watch a ball game, even though I have fond memories of the Busch Memorial Stadium. Busch 3 is a nice stadium.
Jeff Williams:
It is a nice stadium.
Randy Brackensick:
And the interesting thing about the new stadium is they, right when that stadium opened, they actually won the World Series in 2006.
Jeff Williams:
Right off the bat.
Randy Brackensick:
And I was down there with my brother and nephew late in the season. We were really struggling and we went in as a wild card, but won the World Series that year. We were really struggling. We'd lost, I don't know, six or seven games in a row. And that night we were down there, Pujols hit a big home run, Albert Pujols, late in the game too. And after that, we started playing good baseball. And so it was really cool to be down there that night when things kind of turned around late in the season.
Jeff Williams:
Sure, yeah, definitely. And it is, the Cardinals have the, I mean, the Yankees have won the most World Series overall. Cardinals are, is it the Cardinals or the Dodgers who are in second, who won the second most World Series?
Randy Brackensick:
I'm sorry, I don't think I can answer that. I know they've won. They've won five World, they've been to the World Series 10 times in my lifetime and won five World Series starting in 64. in my lifetime. And I wish I could tell you how many total World Series titles they've had. I can't remember, but I think it's like 10 or 11 or something like that.
Jeff Williams:
I mean, it's up there. I thought it's like, I think the like last few years the Dodgers have then re-caught back up or they're close, but I know that I mean the Cardinals have a legacy over the whole course of time that they've won a lot of World Series.
Randy Brackensick:
Back in the old days, they had a group called the Gas House Gang.
Jeff Williams:
Oh yeah.
Randy Brackensick:
And they were, they had some really good ball players in.
Jeff Williams:
Right, Well, yeah, once again, we are in the studio with Randy Brackensick. Jennifer is also in here, but she's not, she's not talking so far. She still isn't, she's not giving that up. She's not even looking this way right now. She's like, no, you're not going to get me on the mic. But yeah, Randy's in here talking about his new book, An American Sports Fan, World Series Champions, 1964, 67, 82, 2006, 2011. Yeah, in the memories of, so along with the Cardinals, with EU of I. Mostly basketball team, is that correct? With EU of I basketball team. Football team hasn't had a lot of success over.
Randy Brackensick:
The I think things are looking up for them.
Jeff Williams:
It is. It looks like they're looking, they're looking strong. It's been stronger for sure than it had been in over the history.
Randy Brackensick:
And then the other team, the Cardinals, they got Kurt Warner after he had gone to the Super Bowl with the Rams. And that's kind of what propelled us. So we had great receivers in Anquan Bolden and Larry Fitzgerald made it to the Super Bowl and came with an eyelash of winning a late pass to Santonio Holmes in the end zone.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, well, yeah.
Randy Brackensick:
Little time left sealed our faith there. Otherwise, we'd have had a Super Bowl championship for the Arizona Cardinals. Talk about the futility of the St. Louis, Arizona Football Cardinals. They didn't win a playoff game until 1998. And I was already 43 years old by then before they beat the Dallas Cowboys in 98 in the playoffs with Jake Plummer as a quarterback.
Jeff Williams:
Right, and Jake the Snake.
Randy Brackensick:
Jake the Snake, that's right. And so We made, we had some really good teams with Don Coryell as coach in the 70s.
Jeff Williams:
He would get fired.
Randy Brackensick:
Up when they had Jim Hart and Roy Green and Terry Metcalf, and they had like all four offensive linemen were all pro. They had Conrad Dobler, Dan Deardorff, Tom Banks, and there was a guy by the name of Young also. And that was one of the big things. And of course, Coryell, He focused on the passing game and thought offense is going to win games and he had the horses to do it. And then unfortunately, he and the owner didn't really see eye to eye. And unfortunately, he left.
Jeff Williams:
He went to San Diego, right?
Randy Brackensick:
Went to San Diego.
Jeff Williams:
Dan Fouts.
Randy Brackensick:
And took them to the playoffs quite a few times. And it's unfortunate that he left St. Louis because we kind of went downhill after that.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, he seemed like a good coach for them. But yeah, that's too bad. They did part and tie in with the, well, Air Corriel, as they called it, down in the Chargers, San Diego Chargers, one of their key components, I think it was, there was a receiver called a Joiner and Jefferson were two of their receivers, but then they also had a tight end, Kellen Winslow, who was from East St. Louis, actually. He played at East, I think he was East St. Louis senior, and when they had a lot of really strong high school football teams over over the years back then I didn't.
Randy Brackensick:
Realize he played there.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, he was from East St. Louis. Yeah, so it's kind of had a lot of overlap tie-ins, you know, it's kind of crazy like that. Very, very cool.
Randy Brackensick:
So now they call the Cardinals the cardiac Cardinals in the 70s because they'd always have a propensity to come back in games pretty tight.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, definitely.
Randy Brackensick:
So and the other only other thing to mention is right about the time I was publishing the book, Illinois made it another Final Four.
Jeff Williams:
Yeah, they did.
Randy Brackensick:
So Jennifer always tells me, now there's room for a sequel, maybe there'll be something to write about there in the next few years and maybe there'll be another book.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, very, very nice. Well, yeah, Randy Brackensick, new book, an American sports fan, World Series champions, talking about the St. Louis Cardinals, also about the St. Louis slash Arizona Cardinals football team. Also, basketball team, U of I's basketball team. Well, Randy, once again, thanks a ton for stopping in.
Randy Brackensick:
I appreciate you having me, Jeff. I enjoyed it.
Jeff Williams:
Right on, thanks.
Randy Brackensick:
When you said you, I was worried when I'd come here, someone wouldn't really be able to.
Jeff Williams:
Relate to the sports part, but you did. I'm going to give you this book. Oh, awesome. Well, thank you very much. That's great. Thank you for sure. Community Voices is a production of NPR Illinois
