Free Ira Brown! Bonus Video

Free Ira Brown is one of our favorite podcasts out there and something we are proud to announce will be joining the Gonzaga Nation family to make sure the voice of the fan is heard.

Once you check out their latest episode you can watch a bonus clip here on Gonzaga Nation.

Please make sure to hit the link subscribe to them wherever you get your podcasts.

http://freeirabrown.com/index.html

If you're new to these guys here is their story in their own words.

We’ve been doing this kind of thing since 2001. During college we would watch GU games in the stands or at 813 Augusta and scream, celebrate, whine at refs, and make fun of opposing players. After college we would watch GU games in different parts of the country, but thanks to cell phones, we’d still scream, celebrate, whine at refs, and make fun of opposing players together, via the magic of texting. We never thought people might want to actually listen to our babble.

In 2009, podcast popularity was growing (we didn’t have one yet) and Gonzaga lost to North Carolina in the Sweet 16. We discussed, screamed, and swore via text. All season we begged and beseeched Mark Few to free Ira Brown, GU’s 26 year-old human highlight reel, from the bench. And of course we never considered the possibility of starting our own podcast.

In 2014, there were about a billion podcasts out there (we didn’t have one of them) and Gonzaga had a healthy-looking recruiting class coming in, highlighted by a certain Lithuanian big man and a point guard from Colorado. And that’s where our origin story really begins…

Marty runs an NFL pick-em league. Among the many competitors in the league are Adam and Chris. As the league commissioner, Marty sends out a recap on Tuesday morning after the weekly NFL games have finished. As the excitement of the upcoming 2014 Gonzaga season drew near, he decided to take a minute and plug his favorite basketball team on his weekly pick’em league recap. It had nothing to do with the NFL, but Mard didn’t care. He went on and on about the team that year- Wiltjer, Karnowski, Pangos, Bell. We had veterans, we had transfers, we had freshmen, we had… Nunez? Sure, why not? In response to the recap, Chris and Adam chimed in with their own thoughts on that 2014 squad. Chris in particular was quick to point out how excited he was about our new freshman point guard, one Josh Perkins. Hmmmmmmm.

The day after the recap, Marty, Chris, and Adam received an email from Eric “Stoney” Stoneburner, one of the members of Marty’s pick’em league. It was Stoney who suggested we start our own podcast. He read our back-and-forth and said he’d tune in just to listen to us talk GU hoops. What’s more, Stoney thought others would too. It wasn’t long before Adam initiated an email (just to Marty and Chris). He agreed with Stoney and suggested we do this thing. After all, there are a billion podcasts out there (none of which are about Gonzaga). And even if nobody listened, it would be an excuse for the three of us to hang out on Skype and drink a beer together once a week. We were sooooooo in.

Stoney, or as we now call him, “The Podfather” planted the seed that would become our podcast. We were three buds who just wanted an excuse to hang out. We had enthusiasm, some meager knowledge of the game, and just enough gall to think that we might be entertaining. We only needed a name. That was easy. We just thought back to 2009 and that 26 year-old guard who seemed tied to the bench.

We are “Free Ira Brown: ¬THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. We’ve been doing this since 2001.

Adam, Chris, and Marty thank you for listening.

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