Launching a Father-Son Sports Podcast at 43: My Creative Pivot
From diapers and dissertation deadlines to dunk stats and dad jokes—how mid-life creative chaos led me to launch a father-son sports-book podcast.
I want to make stuff—videos, posts, maybe a show—but I keep tripping over the same question: what, exactly, should I make? I’m 43, months away from finishing a PhD, juggling parenting, marriage, and the occasional jazz piano riff. I love sports, history, fiction, and learning weird facts just for the fun of it. On paper that sounds like a gold mine. In practice, it feels more like “choose-your-own-adventure… with no map.”
What’s my “unfair advantage,” anyway?
Relationships? Twenty-plus years of dating mistakes before I married my wife gave me a PhD-level education in what works and what absolutely does not. I could share those lessons, but relationship advice by itself doesn’t light me up.
Fitness and health? I care a lot about staying healthy, but I’m not exactly a shredded influencer. My angle would be the regular-guy version: how to stay fit when you’re closer to dad bod than six-pack.
Sports? There’s promise here. I love trivia, I’ve fallen hard for Formula 1, and I’ve renewed my baseball fandom—probably because the game’s slower pace matches my own mid-forties metabolism.
Academia? Sure, I’m finishing a PhD in religious studies, but I’m not eager to jump into public debates about “religion.” Too many conversations default to Protestant theology and personal belief. That’s cool, but not really my lane.
Teaching basic critical-thinking skills? I could break down cognitive biases or teach people to read like a professor. I’ve done it. But, it feels like writing lesson plans, and lesson plans make my soul itch.
Parenting? Now we’re getting somewhere. I’m deep in the trenches: potty training, bedtime negotiations, and the ever-mystifying operation of loading two kids into a car. Dad guilt? Sometimes, yes. Keeping a marriage sane while parenting? There’s meat on that bone.
Music? I’ve played piano my whole life, studied jazz, and sometimes post goofy one-take tunes on TikTok. The internet shrugs.
Overwhelm and the lure of format
With all these options swirling, I realized the problem isn’t topic—it’s structure. I need a repeatable format that keeps things fun. Podcasts check that box.
(Even though everyone on planet earth has a podcast)
I love shows where the hosts sound polished yet relaxed, and I want that vibe: intentional, professional, but not stiff.
Yesterday, sweating on the elliptical, I asked myself what would be genuinely fun to learn and try. The answer: a sports podcast with my dad.
The sports-book podcast idea
My dad and I already share decades of fandom—think Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the ’90s. We’re both voracious readers and trivia nerds. So, what if each episode focused on a single sports book? We’d break down what we loved (or hated), connect it to wider sports history, swap family memories, and toss in a trivia round my dad would crush.
Quick teaser: Did you know Michael Jordan is the only NBA player to record 100-plus blocks and 250-plus steals in a single season? That was 1987–88.
Why this feels right
Built-in chemistry: father-son banter is already there.
Clear structure: one book per episode keeps us on task.
Room to grow: history segments, guest authors, listener trivia, you name it.
Fun first: if the format isn’t fun for us, it won’t be fun for listeners.
I haven’t floated the idea to my dad yet—my brother’s wedding this weekend seems like the perfect time to pitch it. Worst-case scenario, we get a good laugh. Best case, we launch a show that blends sports history, family stories, and the world’s greatest trivia tangents.
Stay tuned. Or better yet, drop a comment: what’s the sports book you’d want us to cover first?