As baseball's regular season comes to a close this weekend, it seemed an appropriate time to talk to someone who knows a thing or two about visiting ballparks.

Erik Mertens aka "The Peanut Guy," has been a member of the Tri-City Dust Devils' staff since their introduction 25 years ago. Somewhere along the way, however, Erik decided to take his love of baseball on the road and began visiting ballparks.

Earlier this summer, he completed his longstanding goal of visiting ALL the ballparks. Well, at least all of the current affiliated Minor League parks (237 total). He's also been to 39 MLB parks, 14 college wood-bat summer league parks, nine Independent League stadiums, and five historic Negro League fields. That's over 300 ballparks total!

Erik shares reflections from his journey with his. From those early years attending Seattle Mariners' games as a family in the Kingdome to late July, when a visit to the Ontario Tower Buzzers ONT Field completed his quest.

As Erik said in his Instagram post commemorating his accomplishment: "There is no better way to see our country (and continent) than visiting Minor League ballparks!"

We could not agree more:-)

If you'd like to track Erik's future travels, follow him on Instagram @erikthepeanutguy.

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In this episode, we're joined by a professional world traveler (seriously, he's a commercial pilot!) and fan of major events, James Rowlands, who shares how a resident of Leeds, England, just recently watched a game in his 30th MLB ballpark. (He was even featured by ⁠MLB.com⁠!)

Oh yeah, he also shares stories of a Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup final, Rugby World Cup finals, Cricket World Cup finals, becoming a member of the ⁠92 Club⁠, attending eight F1 circuits, and witnessing all four of golf's major championships.

Plus more!

James is truly a remarkable individual with a knack for either being in the right place at the right time or putting himself in the right place at the right time. And he's a terrific storyteller to boot.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

We're joined in this episode by Dr. Aaron Mansfield, associate professor of sports management at Merrimack College.

A native of the Buffalo, NY, area, Aaron is unsurprisingly a big fan of the Bills and Sabres. We spend a fair amount of time learning about his early years of fandom and how the Music City Miracle brought his younger self to tears of anguish.

Today, Aaron lists his areas of expertise on Merrimack's website as "healthy fandom, sports consumer behavior, health and well-being, and sports marketing." He focuses much of his research on the relationship between sports fandom and well-being.

That, too, is a major component of our Conversation, discussing that relationship and how Aaron hopes fans can begin engaging in healthier spectating habits: from ensuring they get movement in during their viewing to making better food and beverage choices.

To keep tabs on Aaron's work and connect with him, he encourages listeners to find him here on LinkedIn.

A reminder to Conversations listeners: we are giving away an author-signed copy of last week's guest Danny Funt's debut book, Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling. To enter, email hilldouglast@gmail.com stating your interest by 11:59 p.m. ET, September 13.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

Our guest in this episode is writer and editor ⁠Danny Funt⁠. Earlier in 2026, Danny's debut book-length work was published.

⁠Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling⁠ builds on Funt's years of work exploring The Washington Post and The New Yorker.

In addition to sharing plenty of backstory about Everybody Loses, Danny also reflects on his life growing up a fan of the San Francisco Bay Area teams, including some discussion about a ⁠Steve Young⁠ poster in his room and recollections of such notables ⁠Barry Bonds ⁠and ⁠Jeff Garcia⁠.

Mainly, though, we discuss sports gambling and where the U.S. might be headed with this relatively new (and largely unregulated) phenomenon.

And - great news! - thanks to Danny's generosity, we have an author-signed copy of Everybody Loses to give away. To enter, please email your interest in the drawing to hilldouglast@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, September 13, 2026.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

Our guest this episode is Philip Hover-Smoot, the founder and chief executive officer of the Atlas Cup, which bills itself as the first professional orbital racing league.

Put another way: space racing.

The Atlas Cup remains in the building phase with a goal of providing racing fans with a uniquely different option in the latter half of 2028.

Philip, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area attending games at Candlestick Park, compares orbital racing to sail racing, only instead of buoys to navigate around, there will be specific points in space.

While there may not be racing on the immediate horizon, there is still plenty going on, and Philip shares loads of insights about what it's like to launch (pun fully intended!) a brand new sports entity.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

Our guest this week is Scott Michaels, a one-time broadcast journalist turned educator.

Michaels is originally from the greater New York City area, attended the University of Michigan for his undergrad work, and then went on a journey all too familiar to those in the broadcasting field. He bounced around from station to station in an effort to climb the ladder to larger media markets. The bouncing stopped in Raleigh, NC, at the NBC affiliate where he eventually became the Durham Bureau Chief.

Twenty-five years ago, a chance meeting at a sandwich shop led to a change in careers, and he became a teacher.

Scott's memories of attending his first major live sporting event are still pretty clear 50 years later. He was at Yankee Stadium for a Red Sox-Yankees game during our nation's bicentennial and remembers the air being thick with smoke (of all kinds!).

A year later, he remembers his dad, who was not a big sports fan, attending Game 6 of the 1977 World Series when Reggie Jackson became "Mr. October" following his three home run night.

Those Yankee Stadium memories also served as a backdrop for Scott and his family on the eve of celebrating his father's life when they attended a Yankees-Guardians' game at the new Yankee Stadium.

Scott also shares how he renounced his New York Jets' fandom in 1996 upon arrival in North Carolina.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

We're rejoined by Joe Flynn in this Conversation to discuss his updated Fantasy Football for Good Draft Guide.

Joe was previously with us to discuss his capstone project for his executive certificate through George Washington University's College of Business Sports Philanthropy program.

As someone who works in the philanthropic field, Joe focused that initial project on compiling a database of NFL players and the positive work they're doing in their communities.

His Fantasy Football for Good Draft Guide is free and sortable by position, statistics, and cause, allowing fantasy drafters to better align their team with causes that resonate with them.

Joe suggests choosing a player on your fantasy team from his compilation of over 200 in the FFFG Guide and then committing to make a donation of a certain amount per fantasy point scored this season.

As Joe said, "It can be a win-win-win. A win for your fantasy team thanks to the points they're scoring. A win for the player's charitable organization. And a win for those who benefit from your donation."

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

Carolina Sports Live's Joey Ellis joins us in this episode to discuss his life as a sports fan growing up in western Michigan, the moment he knew he wanted to work in sports media, and his journey through several sports markets on his way to Charlotte, NC.

Joey recalls his early childhood traveling across the state with his dad to attend University of Michigan football games. Despite that connection to UM, he ultimately chose to attend Michigan State University thanks in large part to its Communications School.

That's where his love of sports broadcasting blossomed and, ultimately, led him to Bristol, CT, to work at ESPN, to Marquette, MI, to get some anchor work, back to Lansing for a larger market, and, three years ago, to Charlotte, NC, where he's fully immersed in the local sports scene.

If you'd like to get to know Joey a bit better and follow his work, find him on the following social media platforms:

• Twitter/X - @jellis1016
• Instagram - @jellis_1016
• Facebook - Joey Ellis - Queen City News

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.