Free Ira Brown! - The Gonzaga Hoops Podcast

*Scrolls through old posts* ”Good God, That’s Free Ira Brown’s music!” No, no, we did that one already. *Scrolls further* “From the depths of the darkness of despair rises a podcast…” Nope, did that one already, too. *Looks closer* “We’re baaaaaccck!” Did that one, as well (note to self: Still use the Randy Quaid GIF from Independence Day on Twitter). Maybe just go back to basics: Hey, everybody! Free Ira Brown is back! That’s right, as the calendar switches into God’s season (college basketball season, of course), our heroes are back for another season of podcasting (our fifth!). With Kraziness in the Kennel in the books, it’s time for the first of our two-part season preview. In this episode, we'll discuss Larsen leaving, Geno joining and a bevy Bulldogs on preseason award lists. Those stories, plus, we take a quick look back at Kraziness, breakdown the individual players and our expectations for them and opine for more Rem/Dakich twitter beefs. All this and more on the season-opening episode of Free Ira Br

OK, just hear us out. It’s late-August. We know. Lots of things happened since we last podded. We know. We’re sorry. We were trying to find a Chik-Fil-A. But. Much like that one terrifying week after that foam party you don’t like to talk about, we’re late…but we’re finally here! That’s right, Free Ira Brown is back with a mid- … er … late-summer night’s pod! In our offseason recap, our heroes … well, it’s fair to say our heroes are a little rusty. We’ve got premature beer openings, computer/audio issues and a tease in the open we never bothered to revisit. Those stories, plus we’ve got incomings (like Geno) and outgoings (like Jesse), surgeries (get well soon, Baby Daddy!) and scheduling (Maui!). We take a look at the NCAA’s new metric for evaluating Saint Mary’s crappy schedule and make a quick hop across the Atlantic to check in on FIBA’s Under-18 European Championships. Oh yeah, one more thing: Courtney Vandersloot? Still a badass. All that and more on the summer episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoo

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

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

Free Ira Brown and special guests share some pints and relish in another Sweet Sixteen. Regular Pod back this week. (If our voices recover).

Gonzaga Moves on. For now, that's enough.

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?

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 t

Complacency in fandom can be tough. When the exceptional becomes routine fans run the risk of being spoiled. That’s why, here at Free Ira Brown, we take care to point out: winning the WCC regular season title never gets old! And in our latest episode, our heroes break down the wins over San Diego and BYU that secured Gonzaga’s 17th regular season title in the last 18 years. From the late-game heroics we’ve come to expect this season (We have a Rui!) in Southern California to the outstanding play of Josh Perkins (Baby Daddy!) in the domination of the Cougars in the mountains of Utah, we’ve got it all covered. Those stories, plus we take a look ahead to the WCC Tournament, who we might play and how much easier the one seed is. Wait, who’s the one seed again? Oh yeah, we are.   All that and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come join in the fun, won’t you?

These kinds of podcasts are always bittersweet. First, the sweet: A pair of conference wins (one comfortable, one relatively so), Saint Mary’s losing and Gonzaga where it belongs, alone atop the WCC standings. Then, the bitter: beginning to say goodbye to seniors who have meant so much to the Gonzaga program. And so, in the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, our heroes begin that process, recapping the wins over LMU and Pepperdine (hey, we actually won on Senior Night!) while taking a look back at the careers of Jonathan Williams III, Silas Melson and yes, even Brian Pete. Those stories, plus we check in with the WCC Champion Gonzaga women, we take a look at the latest bracketology projections, Chris has a belated Valentine’s Day present for everyone and Marty’s preview of BYU is something to behold. We also check in to see if people are going to get a little crazy and give you a couple bits of information we think you should know before finishing with a Top 3 sure to make you even more appreciative of Gonzaga

Sometimes, when you break into the world of predictions, you’re made to look crazy. Other times, you’re David Jenne.  On the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, our heroes are rejoined by David Jenne so he can gloat and reign supreme before we kick him to the curb. And then the real fun begins as we break down every aspect of that delicious, delightful, defensive masterpiece on Landale and the rest of the pretenders from down south(ish).  From Rui’s dominance to JW3 anchoring the defense to the double-teaming to Perk (Baby Daddy!) setting things right, we’ve got it all covered. Those stories, plus we break down the NCAA Selection Committee’s first Top 16 and what it means for GU (#deathtotherpi), check in briefly with Heister, provide a David Stockton(!) update and take a look at the weekend’s games.

It’s getting toward the time of year where you need to execute down the stretch. Can you perform in the clutch moments? Can you hit the big shot? So just to make sure your friends at Free Ira Brown didn’t choke in the important moments, we brought in Patreon patron extraordinaire David Jenne to dish out some assists and make sure we have you, dear FIBber, covered properly. That’s right, Free Ira Brown is back with some help! And in our latest episode our heroes (and our +1) go over Gonzaga’s ability to come up big late in games in a pair of wins over San Diego and BYU (finally!). Defensive intensity, offensive execution, Zach Norvell auditioning for Daredevil (The Man Without Fear…of taking big shots down the stretch no matter how you’ve been shooting before hand); we break it all down. And finally, we finish with a Top 3 that had Hollywood executives kicking themselves.

As we speed past the halfway point of the West Coast Conference season (where has the time gone?) a thought occurred to us here at Free Ira Brown: It’s about time to give a State of the Team address. It is, after all, about that time of year. And so in our latest episode, our heroes give their thoughts on where we are as a team. Are we more or less optimistic than when we started conference play? In what areas are we doing well and where are we struggling? Why can we not guard the bloody 3-point line? All that and more in the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do join in wrestle away some time for us, won’t you?

They say misery loves company. And, man, do we hate to suffer alone. With that in mind, we here at Free Ira Brown decided we needed to bring in some help.  And so, joining our heroes on our latest episode, from about a mile on the dark side of 395, is guest host Lissa Tripp — Spokanite, FIBber supreme and patreon patron.  With our powers combined — and maybe a touch of alcohol — Lissa (don’t you dare call her Lisa. Trust us. Don’t do it.) helps the guys break down Gonzaga’s first loss of 2018. Where did it go wrong (spoiler: the last 10 minutes), what didn’t we do well (spoiler: shoot 3s) and why couldn’t we just give it to Rui every time (spoiler: uh…um…er…). All this and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come share in our misery, won’t you?

Can you feel it? There’s an electricity in the air. An extra crackle. An energy. There’s something about this week; it just gets the juices flowing. And finally, after what feels like such a long while, it’s here. That’s right: it’s Santa Clara Week, baby!!! And in the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, our heroes have it covered top to bottom! Enough about the so-called big names, who on the Broncos do we really need to worry about? What’s Coach Sendek done to really get this team humming along? SCU’s strength is turnovers – both causing and not committing – so how is Gonzaga going to cope? Those stories, plus we take a look back at the survival that was the win over USF and the rout over Portland, we introduce a new segment that may or may not be crazy, we take our normal stroll around the various polls and rankings and touch upon some other game happening a few nights before the big one against Santa Clara. And finally, we finish with a Top 3 sure to make you go, “What?! Are you serious?! How is this possib

Yes, dear FIBbers, in our latest episode, our heroes are joined by our hero: Bulldog legend Dan Dickau. The man with the best hair in Gonzaga history joins the pod for a wide-ranging interview covering basketball (What does he like about this year’s team? What are his concerns?) to sort of basketball (Who did you get in a fight with on the court?) to not basketball (Dogs or cats?) and back to basketball again (Why is Brian Michaelson such a grump?). And finally we end on a Top 3 which had us doing whatever the opposite of singing along is. All that and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come listen to a legend (and Dan Dickau!), won’t you?

You guys hungry? Don’t know about you, but after the distasteful display in San Diego, we here at Free Ira Brown were in need of some good home cooking.  Thankfully, Gonzaga provided a pair of performances that could fill any king’s table. And in our latest episode, our heroes break down that appetizing performance against Pacific and the sumptuous spectacle that was Santa Clara. A cutdown in fatty turnovers? That’s on the menu. An uptick in defense? Already ordered. And the FIB crew scarfs it all down.   All this and more in the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come eat with us, won’t you?

  In our latest episode, our heroes turn over every stone in dissecting the loss to San Diego State (see, because of all the turnovers in the game. There were lots of turnovers by Gonzaga … yeah, sorry). Frustrations about our offense, our defense, our rotations…all are drilled down. Those stories, plus with the holidays come the end of the semester. And with the end of the semester comes grades! Grades for players, grades for coaches, grades for the non-conference schedule. We’ve got ‘em all! All this and more in the latest episode of Free Ira Brown, THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. Do come sing Auld Lang Syne with us, won’t you?

Gonzaga Basketball narrowly avoids its worst home loss in 20 years to North Dakota, but returns to form against an equally over matched IUPUI team. What exactly happened? Who is to blame? Does anybody really know what time it is? We have questions, and answers, and more questions. . . All that and our top three Christmas movies! Listen! @freeirabrown freeirabrown@gmail.com Patreon.com/freeirabrown

Gonzaga lost to Villanova at MSG in a poor showing, but returned to the Northwest as strong as ever, proving once again who is tops in Washington State. We examine the highs and lows from the previous week and complain about some announcers! All this and more on the latest episode of Free Ira Brown! THE Gonzaga Hoops Podcast. @freeirabrown freeirabrown@gmail.com patreon.com/freeirabrown