Steve Sabol of NFL Films – one of the true innovators in professional sports – joins the show to talk about his career and company in the ever-changing sports landscape.

The one job I always wanted was to work at NFL Films so I ask if having a job there is as much fun as I’ve always imagined it to be.

We talk about how football has passed baseball as the national pastime and if there was one moment that helped that switch or it was just a natural progression. He talks about the importance of television in football and football in television.

We talk about the Ice Bowl, and we get the real story behind “The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field” which leads to a conversation about his favorite moment in the history of the NFL.

NFL Films has ‘100 million feet of unforgettable football moments’ so I ask how many of those film reels are now hard drives. We talk about the transformation to digital media and if the 24-hour news cycle and on-demand world we live in has changed the focus of the work NFL Films does. I also ask if with all the innovations he’s instituted in sports that are now being used by everyone (multiple camera angles on replays, microphones on players, etc) if he ever feels like he’s competing against himself.

We talk about the layoffs a few months ago, and yesterday by the NBA to ask if sports isn’t recession proof, what is?

Are fans being priced out of the market and in a few years sports as we know it will be watched at home on TV, produced by people like Sabol on an elaborate sound stage?

We close with a chat about Al Davis and if the Raiders are going through a tough time or Davis has totally lost it.  We also talk about the Broncos and why I’m a fan (it’s because of Sabol).

Last, I get the scoop on the old electric chair he had in his apartment (he called it a ‘Jesus Christ’ piece) and if the 1972 Dolphins football I have is real, or a bunch of his forgeries. It’s on the record.

This was our first show of year two, and one hell of a way to start it off.