In light of Pope Leo XIV's canonization of the Catholic Church's two newest saints last week Sunday and due to other timely and relevant reasons you'll hear cited at the very start, this is a reissue of what was Episode 188, exactly three years ago this month. The now departed George Rose was the Executive Advisor of Pacific Rim Operations with the New York Yankees, which included having served as a Japanese translator for the likes of Hideki Irabu, Masahiro Tanaka, and Hideki Matsui, among others. He also served as an advisor for Japan's Yomiuri Giants baseball team. He was a board member of "Catholic Men for Jesus Christ," a more than 25-year old organization. He also had a radio show called, "Brothers in Arms," which he talked about here. And, he was a cancer survivor who by far was not only the first person to come on this show with a story about a miracle that would help confirm a saint, but probably the ONLY person who will be a guest and have that kind of witness to share -- the closest that any of us will come to hearing something like this firsthand.

A super special edition to celebrate the one thousandth episode hosted of Bruce Wawrzyniak's podcasting career. In this special release, there are excerpts from all of the shows he has hosted over the years: Now Hear This Entertainment, Catholic Sports Radio, TASCAM Talkback, Capture Your Art, and the PBLA Podcast. Below are links for easy access to go hear any one or more of either the specific interviews featured here or just the podcast(s) in general. It took over eleven-and-a-half years to get to this point, but this is indeed a truly special milestone worth commemorating in this way.

NHTE 283 Eva Gardner (bass player for P!NK) https://www.now-hear-this.net/content/nhte-283-eva-gardner

NHTE 308 Death Angel (GRAMMY nominees) https://www.now-hear-this.net/content/nhte-308-death-angel

NHTE 360 Dom Morley (GRAMMY-winning producer) https://www.now-hear-this.net/content/nhte-360-dom-morley

NHTE 540 Mark Parfitt (recording & mix engineer) https://www.now-hear-this.net/content/nhte-540-mark-parfitt

Capture Your Art 4 Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein (Misfits guitarist) https://captureyourart.libsyn.com/doyle-wolfgang-von-frankenstein

TASCAM Talkback https://tascamtalkback.libsyn.com/

CSR 2 Kyle Schmidt (hockey player) https://catholicsportsradio.net/episode/csr-2-kyle-schmidt/

CSR 80 Fr. Michael Lightner https://catholicsportsradio.net/episode/csr-80-fr-michael-lightner/

PBLA 1 John Livsey https://open.spotify.com/episode/0eDWGymkEDWweiB9vn8Szl?si=940c0851585047a9

In light of his passing just under two weeks ago, a reissue of his December 2019 "Catholic Sports Radio" interview. (Later this year he is going to posthumously receive the Sam Bailey Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Tampa, which will enshrine him in their Athletics Hall of Fame.) Every year since 1981 a tournament has taken place to promote high school baseball in Hillsborough County, which has Tampa, Florida, as its seat. It was first established as a memorial for Tony Saladino, Sr. and, as of December 2019, had grown from eleven public schools to a 32-team event, with 38 players that have participated in the tournament having gone on to play in the Major Leagues, 12 of which were first round draft picks. He had been at the heart of all of this for all those years.

He has played competitive basketball his entire life, saying that his team always won first place in league, and during his senior year at Mark Keppel High School his team made it to the California Interscholastic Federation semi-finals with only one player over six feet. He was featured in his local newspaper twice as part of their basketball coverage. Plus, he ran track in high school as well, having gotten his mile down to four minutes eleven seconds. On the faith side, he works at Virgin Most Powerful Radio where he hosts two shows: "Through His Wounds" and "Thunderous Theological Thursdays."

He played football during all four of his high school years but also spent some time in swimming and tennis. Later he would go on to coach gymnastics, and present day he is active in pickleball and weightlifting. He says that, "Sports taught me discipline and perseverance, which carry into the way I lead and serve today." Approximately five years ago he even started getting into ultra marathons, including running a 50-miler as well as a marathon and half-marathon. On the faith side, he leads Livin U, a nonprofit helping teens grow mentally, physically, and spiritually through retreats, leadership formation, and mission trips. He is also a Knight of Columbus.

She has served as the Program Director for Play Like a Champion Today since its inception. Since 2006 the program has served over 160 thousand coaches and parents through a network of 280-plus partners across the United States and Canada. As a student-athlete she was a gymnast from youth through high school, and then, attending the University of Notre Dame as a Theology major, she was a varsity athlete on the cheerleading team, and now is a certified yoga instructor. On the faith side, she has worked with the Archdiocese of Detroit and has attended both the 2015 and 2022 Vatican Conference, including leading a panel at the latter.

In 2010 he was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame -- one of only three high school coaches ever to receive that honor. He began coaching at St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City in 1972 and his teams won 28 state high school championships, had 18 undefeated seasons, won nine consecutive championships, were four-time USA Today national champions, and he was a three-time USA Today National Coach of the Year. He finished with an amazing won-lost record of 1,185 victories and just 125 defeats and produced over 150 players to Division I basketball programs and coached six first-round NBA draft picks. He is the President of the People's Park Foundation, focused on regulation-sized athletic fields and a true community park for Jersey City, plus, in 2017 he founded the Hurley Family Foundation to continue his mission of developing children's potential in life through the game of basketball.

She played basketball and softball in high school and also participated in archery. Present day, she serves in a role at Alvernia University - a private Franciscan university in Reading, Pennsylvania - where she works with the 38 varsity teams, including activities ranging from attending coaches meetings to praying with teams before practices and games, and joining the bus with teams to offer support and prayer. On behalf of Alvernia athletics she also serves on the Thoughtful Assessment Group, and her goal is to continue to expand her work with student-athletes and across campus in order to support and minister to as many students as possible.