Dishin & Swishin December 15, 2011 Podcast: Nneka & Chiney Ogwumike & Ros Gold-Onwude…on hoops, the Pink Room, and their Nigerian heritage

[display_podcast]

Let me start by saying I love doing these podcasts!

I never know in what direction the show is going to turn; I will start out with one thing in mind, and next thing you know the conversation has gone in a totally different direction.  In the December 8 podcast, for example, I started out previewing a mid-major battle between Green Bay and Toledo with the respective coaches, Matt Bollant and Tricia Cullop. However, one comment from Coach Cullop on why the two teams were playing each other twice in the same season turned the whole conversation to the difficulties high quality mid-majors face in trying to schedule games against teams from the so-called BCS conferences.

Well, it happened again this week!

I hope you all know by now that the Pink Room is a new women’s basketball videocast on Hoopfeed by former Stanford guard and current commentator Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and her friend, local broadcaster Kevin Danna. Ros and I started out discussing the Pink Room and had a lot of fun talking about the show, a great concept that is being raved about on message boards and twitter feeds everywhere. It was when we started discussing Ros’ experience from this past summer trying out for and becoming a part of the Nigerian national team, participating in Olympic qualifying, that we hit this wonderful tangent. Ros and I had a great conversation on the culture, the colors and pageantry, the excitement, sounds and sights of her Nigerian experience. When I mentioned my other guests for the show were going to be Stanford sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, Ros told me how much their Nigerian background and heritage meant to them.

So, the second part of today’s podcast isn’t just the usual basketball chat and interviews you may hear around the internet and on television. Sure, we discussed Stanford, this season, the pressures and expectations on the two of them, who is the better player among the Ogwumike sisters (all four), coach Tara Van Derveer’s Hall of Fame induction, the left side of the bus, and more, but we also had a fascinating conversation on the annual trip the Ogwumike family makes back to Nigeria each summer. We discussed how they relate their culture to their family history and present, and the role it plays in their lives.

We also talked about a great idea for Coach Tara to celebrate Nneka’s senior night. It was a really great, fascinating conversation that I was thrilled to be a part of! And Ros made a cameo to talk some more about it too (you know you can’t keep those broadcasters quiet!).

I hope you enjoy this very special podcast this week, be safe while holiday shopping and enjoying the festivities, and don’t forget you can follow us on twitter @DishNSwish and @hoopfeed.