Stories from the Center of the Universe

Episode 272: Lane Casadonte

Pictured - Ernie Johnson (left) and Lane (right) 

Lane Casadonte was born in upstate New York, but considers Richmond home. A lot of you know Lane by sight or voice as he has been reporting on Richmond area sports for thirty years. They discussed his last name, family history and growing up twenty minutes north of Cooperstown, N.Y., home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. They discussed him growing up and knowing at 7-8 years old that he wanted to be a sportscaster. He has been to Super Bowls, NASCAR races at Daytona, the World Series and many other major sporting events. He takes great pride in covering local college and high school sports and he and Paul talked about some of the best athletes he has seen from Virginia. Paul learned about what a “normal” day is for Lane, how he almost left RVA early in his career and what kept him here. They finished by talking about his wife Deborah and their kids Conner and Mary Catherine.

Episode 271: Brice Fritts

Brice Fritts is the Head Football Coach at J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico County, Virginia. Paul and Brice talked about growing up and playing several sports, but over the years he settled on three very physical sports … football, rugby and wrestling. He played high school football at Freeman High school and then went on to play football at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA. They discussed his time at Robert Morris and how much he enjoyed competing at the college level. He came back to the Richmond area and has previously coached high school football at four different schools which has led to the head job at Tucker. They finished by talking about his wife Alyssa and their three daughters as well as Brice coming on the Virginia is for Sports podcast when it gets closer to the start of football season.

Episode 270: Lyndsey Hodgkins

Lyndsey Hodgkins is from Redding, Pennsylvania, grew up with two brothers and a sister and had a childhood that included riding bikes and spending a lot of time outdoors. Lyndsey played a lot of team sports growing up, but soccer became the main focus and she played for a year in college. She transitioned to boxing her last two years where she learned resilience and that she could take a punch! Paul and Lyndsey discussed her time with two different Army National Guard units as well as being active duty in the United States Army. The talked about her career path, her three overseas deployments and retiring after twenty-three years of service. They talked about her fondest memory from her time serving and then they discussed what she is doing now in the logistics and operational field. They finished by Lyndsey talking about what she’s doing now to stay active including learning about and competing in weight lifting.

Episode 269: Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock, the former UFC Champion and #1 ranked pound for pound fighter in the world joins Paul on the podcast. Frank told Paul about his tumultuous upbringing regarding family, being in foster homes and spending time in juvenile detention. Things turned around when he was emancipated then married at 17 and when his son arrived. That fell apart and Frank fell backwards and ended up in Folsom Prison. He told Paul about his time in prison and Paul learned of two famous inmates who were in prison when Frank was there.  Frank has been a voracious reader from a young age and he has traveled the globe teaching and studying martial arts. Frank discussed training his body and mind, his fighting style and how he approached each opponent. They finished by talking about what the future may hold for Frank as well as talking about his son and daughter and a new addition to the family.

Episode 268: J. R. Wilburn

JR Wilburn is from Portsmouth, Virginia where his dad worked in the navy yards. He had a lot of friends in the neighborhood playing sports for much of his childhood. He started late with organized sports and football became his focus. He went on to play college football as a wide receiver at the University of South Carolina. JR talked about rivalries and how they both have some disdain for UNC. After college, JR was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills. He played for the Steelers from 1966-1970 with one of those years catching balls from Terry Bradshaw. He was coached by the legendary Chuck Noll. They talked about some Steeler greats like “Mean” Joe Greene, how great a place Pittsburgh was to play and their incredible fan base. Paul also learned a lot from JR about the Rooneys who own the Steelers. He told a couple really nice stories about them, one which involved his induction into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. They ended with JR talking about his family and his unique grand dad name!

Episode 267: Eddie Webb

Eddie Webb and Paul first met in September of 2023 when Eddie was inducted as part of the inaugural class of the Patrick Henry HS Hall of Fame. Eddie moved to Ashland when he was three because his Dad, Paul Webb got the head coaching job for basketball at Randolph Macon College. They discussed growing up in Ashland and how he played all sports, but how basketball became the focus for Eddie. He went on to play for four years for his Dad at RMC and then he started a twenty year college coaching career. Paul learned about some of the great players his Dad coached, that Eddie coached and how Eddie still keeps in touch with them today. After he stopped coaching in 1995, he became the Director of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame which was located in Portsmouth, VA. He guided that organization to national prominence until he retired from there in 2019. They spoke about the basketball camps that his dad started in 1965 and how Eddie is still running them today fifty-nine years later. They finished by talking about his family and how they are what he is most proud of in his life.

Episode 266: Carroll LaHaye

Carroll LaHaye is a legendary basketball coach amassing 647 wins during her coaching career at Randolph Macon College. Carroll was born in and mostly grew up in Maine where she was one of six kids. That led to lots of sports (basketball was her favorite) and competition growing up and she played three sports in high school and two in college. After college, she landed a job in Hanover, Virginia and after being a volunteer coach for RMC’s Women’s Basketball for a year, Carroll found herself in the right place at the right time. The head coach left the next year, she took over the program and Paul then discovered that the job had some extra responsibilities that Carroll had to take on as she started her time at RMC. They talked about their 2005 season when they finished 2nd in the nation and Carroll reminisced about her teams and the relationships she had with the players and their families.

Episode 265: Dustin Ingle

Dustin Ingle was born in Arkansas, but grew up in Texas. Dustin and Paul spoke about growing up in the Fort Worth area of Texas and playing all the sports growing up, but settling on soccer in high school. After a couple of jobs, Dustin decided to go into the U.S. Army. Paul and Dustin spoke about his early training and then his first three deployments to Iraq and Paul learned just how different those three deployments were for Dustin. They talked about his progression and attending a specialized school that led to an interesting first six months of his second deployment. They briefly touched on his family and the surprise he got when he came home between his first two deployments. Dustin will be back in the near future for part 2 where they will discuss his deployment to Afghanistan and further discuss his family.

Episode 264: Debra and Steve Hall

Debra & Steve Hall join Paul on the podcast because Bobby Malone (Episode 150) has the pleasure of being Debra’s brother! Steve and Debra talked to Paul about their first date, Debra not liking Steve, Steve being in love with Debra and how he finally won her over which has led to forty-six years of marriage. They talked about Steve’s time in the U.S. Army and how after getting out and a few jobs, he landed at Phillip Morris for thirty years. Debra was an educator in the Richmond School system and taught literacy and she told Paul how she still keeps in touch with some of her students. Paul also received a quick education from Steve on how to start a bourbon collection. They finished by talking about their home, their kids and grandkids and Paul learned about some uninvited guests that come visit Debra and Steve from time to time.

Episode 263: Wayne Elliott

Wayne Elliott joins the podcast via a connection with Bobby Malone (Episode 150). Wayne and Bobby knew each other from the time when they worked at Reynold’s Aluminum together. Wayne retired, moved to Kansas and they lost touch, but got reconnected about two years ago and have been talking ever since. He grew up in Essex County, VA and played a lot of baseball. He went on to play at both Ferrum and Randolph Macon. His love of baseball came from his Dad who he unfortunately lost when he was in eighth grade. They talked about his work, baseball, playing softball and golf and we learned about a unique backyard game he played growing up. They ended by talking about what keeps Wayne busy nowadays and vowed to meet each other if Wayne ever makes his way back to Virginia for a visit.