Free Ira Brown! - The Gonzaga Hoops Podcast
Three alumni/superfans, Marty, Chris and Adam discuss Gonzaga Basketball with previews, recaps and game analysis, all presented with good humour (spelled the English way because we're fancy).

Through all the frustration and pain and tears; through all the rage and alibi hours and beers, it’s important to keep perspective. It’s important to not let one game ruin the whole season.

Except, that’s what the NCAA Tournament does, right? It builds you up, it gives you hope, only to have your (and 66 other) seasons come to a sudden, crashing halt. The excitement and enthusiasm of a(nother) Sweet 16 appearance dissipates into regret and hand-wringing, students and alums alike becoming vessels of dull, empty fandom.

And yet…through the darkness, a light flickers. From deep in the void now within all our hearts, our heroes stir. There’s one final podcast left, one final time for us to rise above the heartache, soar past the missed free throws and open 3-pointers to bring to you, dear FIBbers, a season-ending podcast worthy of our highest of standards.

The loss to Florida State may be a few days old now, but the sting is still fresh and our heroes break everything down. From the unexpected absence of Killian Tillie (please don’t be his last appearance at GU, please don’t be his last appearance at GU, please don’t be his last…) to the size and length of the Seminoles (phrasing) to us struggling at everything from the free throw line in (and the free throw line out, for that matter), we examine it all.

Those stories, plus: Chris has a predictably weird beer, we look ahead to what’s next for the 2018-19 season, examine whether the Mountain West Conference makes sense for Gonzaga, Jill Barta surprises the women’s team and we throw around a few stats worth knowing.

And finally, the final Top 3 of the season has us looking ahead to the off-season. Reluctantly. Because baseball will surely fill the void in our hearts. Ugh.

Anyway, all that and more is on the season finale of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come have one last drink with us, won’t you?

Direct download: 4-22_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:09pm PDT
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There will come a time when your heroes, brave and mighty, will return from an in-person meetup with their bodies and brains fully intact. There will come a time when Free Ira Brown, borne of strength and purity, returns from its annual NCAA first-weekend meetup full of voice, vigor and vivacity.

This, dear FIBbers, is not one of those times.

And yet, despite being on limited sleep and voice quality, our heroes -- showing the type of intestinal fortitude, sheer force of will and cojones to rival one young Zach Norvell, Jr. -- somehow manage to muster up the energy and raw strength to take a deep and devoted dive into Gonzaga’s fourth straight Sweet 16 appearance (!). 

We celebrate the giant…basketballs owned by the aforementioned Mr. Norvell. We discuss the decided lack of quality free throw shooting (until the last 8 minutes against Ohio State, that is). We give props to Rui’s massive performance. And Chris fawns over his Baby Daddy, the good sir Josh Perkins himself.

Oh yeah, did we mention we hung out with Nigel Williams-Goss?

Those stories, plus we run through some of our favorite NCAA facts and stats, we turn a brief eye toward the news (Romar’s back!!) and we put a bow on the Gonzaga women’s season.

And finally, we finish with the Top 3 things that annoy us. No, not in general, though give us a second to write that idea down…OK, cool. We finish with the Top 3 things college fans do that annoy us. Aside from be younger than us. And be better looking. And be from Moraga.

 All that and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come and mock our voice quality, won’t you?

Direct download: 4-21_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:23pm PDT
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Free Ira Brown and special guests share some pints and relish in another Sweet Sixteen.

Regular Pod back this week. (If our voices recover).

Direct download: Bonus_pod_2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:25am PDT
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Gonzaga Moves on. For now, that's enough.

Direct download: 4-21_Bonus.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:40pm PDT
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How do we feel about Gonzaga’s draw (hint: we’re not upset)? Where can UNC-Greensboro cause us trouble? What concerns do we have? What’s our dream path to San Antonio? How is Saint Mary’s going to do? We’ve got it all covered.

Those stories, plus we take a quick look at the other regions and what intrigues us in each, we check in with the Gonzaga women (They got hosed! They were robbed!), we throw some (listener-fed) crazy statements at you and we share some of our favorite tournament facts.

And finally, we finish with the Top 3 matchups we hope to see this tournament.

All this and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come join the dance, won’t you?

Direct download: 4-20_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:23pm PDT
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It’s important to peak at the right time. College basketball seasons are marathons, not sprints, after all. What no one wants is to be the Champion of November (ahemsaintmarysahem). 

It’s with this in mind we here at Free Ira Brown, much like a certain set of basketball teams from Spokane, primed ourselves to be at our best when March rolls around. And in our latest episode, our heroes are in postseason (read: possibly beer-aided) form as we break down Gonzaga’s victories in the WCC Tournament.

After the slow start against LMU (blame Vegas, if you must) to the Killian Tillie hitting anything and everything (oui, oui!) to Saint Mary’s losing to BYU (hahahahahahaha) to those thoroughly enjoyable and dominating minutes on either side of halftime, we have it all covered.

Those stories, plus we check in on the Gonzaga women (congratulations, champs!), take a look at the WCC postseason awards as well as their all-Decade in the Desert Team and laugh (yet again) at the absurdity of the RPI.

And finally, in honor of the terrific showing of Saint Mary’s, our Top 3 honors some of sports biggest ninnies. 

All that and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do join the fun, won’t you?

Direct download: 4-19_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:24pm PDT
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