Old games, local memory, Irish lore.
Sports Yak treats sports history like something still being argued over at the table after the game. Recent episodes lean heavily into Irish Tales, where Notre Dame football, basketball, bowl history, backup quarterbacks, and two-sport athletes become long, conversational memory trails.
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Sports Yak is sports talk for people who remember that every program has a long shelf of stories behind the current season. Recent episodes are anchored by Irish Tales, a Notre Dame-focused strand with Chuck Friebe and Bob Nagel. The format is loose and lived-in. One week, the subject is Marcus Freeman's first year as head coach, and the conversation moves through Brian Kelly, Jerry Faust, Dan Devine, Jerome Heavens, and the different ways a new coach handles inherited players. Another week, a Gator Bowl assignment opens the door to Notre Dame's bowl history, Alabama, Bear Bryant, Mike Stock, Rich Wingo, John Morrow, and those tight postseason wins. The show likes a sidetrack when the sidetrack has a name attached. Backup quarterbacks become a way to talk about Blair Keel, Scott Grooms, Tim Cagle, Harry Oliver, and the uneasy politics of choosing one player over another. Notre Dame basketball gets similar treatment, from peach-basket origins to Austin Carr, Sid Catlett, Collis Jones, John Plec, Johnny Jordan, Johnny D., Gene Sullivan, Moose Krause, Ray Meyer, and Mike Bray. The pacing is generous. It gives space to memory, clarification, and the kind of small disagreement that makes old sports talk feel alive. Sports Yak also reaches beyond Notre Dame. Numbered episodes use athletes and coaches tied to the episode number as entry points, including Tom Seaver, Jim Valvano, and Ted Kluszewski. Local sports remain part of the texture too, with Bi-County tournament talk and mentions of schools such as New Prairie, Bremen, John Glenn, Triton, LaVille, and Andrean. The tone is knowledgeable without being stiff. It assumes the audience can follow the references, then circles back often enough to keep the thread from disappearing. Production can feel rough-edged, with ads and repeated segments sometimes showing through. That looseness is also part of the appeal. Sports Yak is less about hot takes than shared recall. It is built for fans who enjoy hearing a season, a roster, or a single player placed back into the wider story. The show makes sports history feel local, personal, and still open to argument.
Made for: Sports Yak is for Notre Dame fans, Michiana sports followers, and history-minded listeners who enjoy names, eras, anecdotes, and program memory. It especially suits people who prefer conversational recall over rapid debate.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by treating sports history as a living local memory bank rather than a clean chronology. Its Notre Dame talk connects major games and famous figures to campus lore, high-school ties, and small remembered details.
CHUCK FREEBY - Indiana’s 2017 Sportscaster of the Year, WHME Sports Director Chuck Freeby knows the complete Michiana sports scene as well as anyone…mainly because he’s been a part of it all his life. Born in South Bend, he is a 1982 graduate of Elkhart Central High School. In 1986, he received a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame. These days, he is well known for his love of area high school sports. His passion showed for 17 years at WNDU-TV, where Chuck pioneered expanded high school television coverage with “Friday Night Flights” during football season and “Roundball Roundup” for basketball. Now, Chuck has served for over 14 years as Sports Director at WHME-TV 46 w…
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Sports Yak connects tactical detail and local competition with the long memory of Notre Dame sports.
Sports Yak treats sports memory as a conversation rather than a record book. Chuck Friebe and Bob Nagel trace Notre Dame through coaching transitions, bowl games, basketball history and two-sport athletes, moving easily between program landmarks and the players whose names can…
A Notre Dame bowl game can send you chasing an Elkhart kid in Alabama colors.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A backup-quarterback discussion sends Chuck Friebe and Bob Nagel into Notre Dame's past.
Notre Dame's planned use of a backup quarterback against South Carolina in the Gator Bowl leads Chuck Friebe and Bob Nagel back through the program's quarterback history.
Notre Dame bowl history feels personal through Alabama upsets, regional ties, and remembered final scores.
Sports Yak treats Notre Dame bowl history less like a list of results than a set of memories shaped by Alabama games, the Gator Bowl, and players with Elkhart and Marion ties.
Marcus Freeman's 8-4 debut anchors a reflective walk through Notre Dame coaching history.
Marcus Freeman's first regular season at Notre Dame gives this review a clear path into the program's longer history of coaching change. It sets his 8-4 record beside the success he inherited from Brian Kelly, then looks back to Jerry Faust and Dan Devine for sharper contrasts…
A relaxed Notre Dame basketball history, from Frank Herring in 1898 to Austin Carr's work away from the ball.
Notre Dame basketball is framed as a family scrapbook with a deep first page, reaching back to the 1890s and Frank Herring, the Notre Dame football coach remembered as the program's first basketball coach in 1898.
Notre Dame's multi-sport history comes alive through remembered players, a depleted basketball roster and the warmly told story of Ron Reed.
Chuck Friebe and Bob Nagel trace Notre Dame's multi-sport tradition through athletes who refused to stay in one lane. Knute Rockne's football, track and theater days set the tone, while Cole Komet appears as both a left-handed pitcher and football player.
A loose sports episode where David Justice memories give way to a fuller Michigan-UCLA bracket pick.
Sports Yak's Episode 305 uses David Justice's 305 home runs as an easy doorway into a wider baseball detour, moving from his Atlanta Braves years to Moneyball and its 2002 Oakland setting.
A Ted Klozuski clue leads Sports Yak into local basketball, old sports memory, and a relaxed detour.
Sports Yak's 279th episode uses a Ted Klozuski clue as a springboard into sports memory with a local pulse. His 1945 senior year, Hoosiers tight end days, and cut-off sleeves give the opening texture and a clean punchline, before the conversation shifts toward Devine's torn left…
Big Cat and PFT Commenter cover the NFL, March Madness, and NHL for laughs.
Chuck Freeby hosts episode 279 of Sports Yak, starting with a personal story about his dog's dementia.
Chuck Freeby and Corey Mann discuss Indiana University hiring Mike Woodson as head basketball coach, analyzing his NBA background and recruiting challenges.
The episode discusses the career and legacy of baseball pitcher Tom Seaver, including his nickname, teams, and a memorable encounter with Hank Aaron.
The episode honors Jim Valvano, discussing his coaching career and famous ESPYs speech.
The episode discusses Tony Gwynn's baseball career and other sports news, hosted by a local sportscaster.
Sports Yak's Irish Tales traces Notre Dame backup quarterbacks from Frank Tripuka in the 1940s to Ian Book and the 2024 Gator Bowl.
Sports Yak's "Irish Tales" traces Notre Dame bowl history from the 1924 Rose Bowl against Stanford to the program's long refusal to play bowls until 1969.
Sports Yak's Irish Tales episode centers on Marcus Freeman's 8-4 first season at Notre Dame, with Chuck Friebe and Bob Nagel arguing that the record had a 10-2 ceiling.
Sports Yak's Irish Tales episode centers on Notre Dame basketball history, from Frank Herring coaching the first team in 1898 to Mike Bray's 23 years and 393 wins.
Sports Yak’s Irish Tales focuses on Notre Dame athletes who played more than one sport, with names ranging from Frank Alaco and Joe Montana to Pat Connaughton and Jeff Samardzija.
The episode discusses the career of baseball legend Tom Seaver, including his nickname, teams, and achievements.