Faith, Friendship, and the Mic: The Dave Pasch Story

Sam Acho, Dave Pasch and Clif Marshall. Ep 21
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Speaker 7: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Sam Acho podcast featuring Cliff Marshall. And this is season two of the podcast, so we had to bring out the big guns, bring out some of our special, special friends. And today, cliff, we have one of the most special guests that I'm really excited to talk to.

Speaker 8: Absolutely, Sam. I am fired up as well.

Speaker 8: We have Dave pasch with us today. He's an American. Sports, uh, announcer known for his work with ESPN, covering college football, college basketball, the NBA, as well as serving as the radio play-by-play voice for the Arizona Cardinals. He is a man that is passionate about his faith. He is a husband, he is a father, and we are eager to talk faith, family, and [00:01:00] ball with him today.

Speaker 8: So Dave, thank you so much for being with us.

Speaker 9: It's my pleasure. It's great to be with you guys. Obviously I've known Sam for a while. We, we've become, uh, closer friends, uh, after working together during the preseason, but got to know Sam a little bit when he was playing for the Cardinals. So, uh, it's kind of funny thinking 10 years later here we are, uh, doing a podcast.

Speaker 9: Uh, I'm not even sure Sam, when you were playing at podcast a thing, but here we are.

Speaker 8: Oh

Speaker 9: my

Speaker 8: gosh. Dave, I want to jump right into it. I mean, just reading through your bio, you've been doing this 20 plus years. Again, you're calling weekly, right? Um, 12 months outta the year you're calling games, be it college football, college basketball, the NBA number one.

Speaker 8: I want to know how many delta sky miles do you have? And number two, I want to know what is your favorite sports season and why?

Speaker 9: Well, thankfully, first of all, cliff, and it's good to meet you that uh, thankfully it's only about [00:02:00] eight and a half, nine months. I get about three months off in the summer and those are precious.

Speaker 9: Although by the end of it, my wife is like, time to get back on the road, get back to work 'cause I'm sitting around the house looking for things to do. Um. And it's mostly American. I do fly Delta some as well, but uh, it's mostly American. Uh, we like to go overseas in the summer, so flying American's nice.

Speaker 9: You get enough miles to be able to go over there and, and take our trips, which we like. But look, I love it. All people ask me that all the time. Cliff. There's something unique about each sport that I cover. Obviously with the NFL and the radio side of it, I'm part of a team. I get to root. I've been doing the Cardinals for 24 years.

Speaker 9: I've watched a lot of bad, I've watched some good, the Super Bowl run, couple of other seasons where the Cardinals made the playoffs and made a run, and you feel part of it. You feel part of the organization, so that's special. And then college football, every week is an event. Every game feels like [00:03:00] it's do or die.

Speaker 9: A championship event a season could change. In a heartbeat. That's what's great about college football is there are so few games that every game you do feels enormous and the prep work and the buildup and the intensity, the butterflies you feel are unique to that sport because again, it's once a week.

Speaker 9: The NBA, your courtside watching the best players in the world. I've been doing it for 20 years and I think back to when I first started, you know, the first game I ever did was a Laker game with Kobe Bryant, and at that point Kobe was still relatively young. LeBron James had only been in the league for a couple years, and I think back to the first time I saw those guys up close and personal flying by you as you're sitting at the table with the best seat in the house.

Speaker 9: You're watching the best in the world and you're close to them and you get a chance to, to watch [00:04:00] them, uh, from, you know, you, you can't do that in football. You're up in a press box. You sometimes you feel like you're a mile away depending on how good or bad the press box is. The NBA, it's different college basketball.

Speaker 9: I don't enjoy college basketball as much as I used to because the game has changed a lot with the rules, the way they are in terms of the portal and that guys can. You show up play for a year and leave for the NBA. And I don't hold that against them, but it's hurt the game for sure. It's not as enjoyable.

Speaker 9: It's much harder. When I was growing up, I was a Syracuse fan. That's one of the reasons I went to Syracuse. The best player stayed three or four years. So as a broadcaster, you get a chance to get attached to, to those teams. You could humanize the players. Now you have to each year introduce the team to the fan because the team changes.

Speaker 9: So college football's different. It feels like you've got a lot of guys that stick around, you know, some of the big names change, but you're not always in a [00:05:00] position where you feel like you have to teach the fan about, okay, who this player is, who this team is, where in college basketball that feels like every year and every game.

Speaker 9: Um, and then all of a sudden, by the end of the season. You, you fans may have grown an attachment to a certain player or a team and then it's over and then it changes again. So I, I miss that and I obviously miss my partner, bill Walton, who passed away a year and a half ago, and we had a special relationship.

Speaker 9: And while I still enjoy calling some college basketball games and developed relationships with the people that I work with on that sport, obviously it's not the same

Speaker 7: Dave on this podcast, what we talk about is that we say we go first and we give space. And we grow hope. The next question I was gonna ask you was about Bill Walton, your partner, your late partner.

Speaker 7: How has life been after building such a relationship with a guy who you're with for year after year after year [00:06:00] and he passes away?

Speaker 9: Well, first of all, the relationship that I had with Bill was, was very unique to our business because most of the time in our business. It, you at least attempt to develop relationships off the court or off the field with the person you're working with, and you spend time with that person.

Speaker 9: And that was true with Bill and I, but in a unique way, for example. Bill and I after games, would usually go out to dinner a lot of times with other people on our crew, or if Bill's wife, Lori was there. But the night before a game, an hour before the game, bill would not want to see me or talk to me. He wanted everything to be completely spontaneous as if we hadn't talked or seen one another since we put the headsets down after the last game.

Speaker 9: So I never knew what he was thinking going into a game. We didn't have production meetings. We didn't rehearse and open. [00:07:00] It was just completely spontaneous because he wanted to surprise me and challenge me, which is great because in our business we need to be curious as play by play announcers. If I'm working with you, Sam, on a game.

Speaker 9: I want the viewer to be curious too. What is Sam thinking in this moment here on third down? Well, with Bill at all, I didn't know what he was thinking about anything because he never would tell me before the game. So, but that was at first when we first started together and my first games with Bill were on the NBA 20 years ago, and I was just happy to be there and happy to be sitting next to Bill Walton.

Speaker 9: So I just let Bill do whatever he wanted. And again, there wasn't a lot of communication before we got on the air. And there was one game where something happened and Bill, I just let Bill go off and just kind of do his thing. And Mike Tico, uh, who was a friend of mine and a mentor, uh, called me and Bill worked with, uh, Mike that year.

Speaker 9: Mike called me and said, Hey, you [00:08:00] gotta stop him. That's your job. Cut 'em off. Stop 'em. So I kind of filed that away. And when ESPN got the PAC 12 contract. If they put Bill and I together, we both lived on the West coast. Bill lived in San Diego and me and Phoenix. We had worked together some, so we knew each other.

Speaker 9: Uh, and it was incredible. Incredibly awkward at first because he's so different. I'm so different. The game is called differently, and I think Bill, that first year, because Bill was unceremoniously, unfortunately, let go his first go around at ESPN. I think Bill was trying to say and do whatever he could to test ESPN to see how they would respond.

Speaker 9: So he would say and do things. That only Bill could get away with. Now he did that over the 12 years we were together anyway, but that first year it was on, he was testing ESPN to see how they would respond. And so a lot of times I was left thinking, okay, do I cut him off? Do I let him go? Do I just ignore him?

Speaker 9: Do I change [00:09:00] the subject? That was a feeling out process, and I think Bill knew that we had different worldviews as well, and I think at first. Bill in a loving way, in a locker room type way would challenge me to see how I would respond, uh, even on the air. And I never got upset. Um, I never got frustrated.

Speaker 9: I never fought back in a way that would be ungodly. And I think the respect grew there. I think he grew to respect that even though we had a different. Worldview that we could still be close and our friendship grew. And I'd invite Bill over to the house, uh, when he would come in town for an Arizona State game.

Speaker 9: And, you know, bill would invite me over to his house in San Diego and got to be close. And so when I think back to the fun we had, I don't remember a lot of. The games in terms of the score or how many points [00:10:00] a certain player had. But I remember something Wild Bill did, we did one thing in Seattle at Washington one time where um, our producer said, why don't you guys put on crew uniforms and go out and row with the crew team?

Speaker 9: He did it and Bill wore his outfit. It looks like a big onesie. He wore it during the game. So if you, like, I have a picture of it with Bill calling the game in his crew outfit. That was Bill. I mean, he, he's one of the greatest basketball players of all time. But his personality, his zest for life, uh, was off the charts.

Speaker 9: And then the last year that we were together. The last game we did was at the end of January, and this is when all heck was breaking loose with the conference and UCLA and USC and Oregon and Washington were going to leave for the Big 10, and we didn't know what was gonna happen with. PAC 12, and I remember it was a rare [00:11:00] time after a game at USC where it was just Bill and I talking and we were discussing the future, and Bill rarely did that.

Speaker 9: He rarely talked about once the game was over, we talked about life. He would tell great stories from playing in the NBA. We didn't talk a lot about our next assignment or what next year might look like. He just didn't do that. But we did that day. We talked a little bit about. What it might look like working together on a different network or for ESPN in a different conference.

Speaker 9: Bill used to say in the PAC 12, no truck stops here, but you know, he'd call the big 12 a truck stop conference. Well, we might be headed that way to truck stop places. And so we kinda laughed about that. But that was the last time I saw Bill, and I remember a few weeks after that I heard that he missed the game.

Speaker 9: We were supposed to work together about a month later after this dinner. We had, it was already on the schedule, so it wasn't because of Bill's health, but then I heard that he missed a game, and I heard that it was because of a [00:12:00] health issue. That's, that's incredibly unusual. Bill doesn't miss games. I've worked with Bill when he hasn't felt well, um, when his body wasn't right when he was under the weather, but for Bill to miss a game, something was going on.

Speaker 9: And then he missed another game and another game. And then we were supposed to do the final UCLA Arizona game as PAC 12 members and, and Bill missed the game. And we did speak a little bit during that time. We did text a little bit during that time, but Bill is very private and did not want to discuss his health.

Speaker 9: So I would have to get updates through his wife Lori or Andy Hill, who's one of Bill's best friends. They played together at UCLA. And I never saw Bill again. Um, we would text occasionally. Obviously, I knew what was going on because I'd been given some information, uh, from people close to Bill, not through Bill.

Speaker 9: Um, but obviously couldn't say anything at that point publicly. [00:13:00] And then when Bill passed away in May, you know, I, I knew it was only a matter of time based on the information I had gathered. I did get a chance to text with Bill, uh, but we, you know, he, he just again, was very private. We didn't speak on the phone because he just didn't wanna share what was going on with him.

Speaker 9: Um, and so obviously when it happened, I kind of knew it was inevitable, but I was devastated. It was very surreal, uh, because this is somebody that I was very close to and worked with for 12 years on a weekly basis for three, four months a year, and all of a sudden he's gone. Um, so. It was really interesting guys.

Speaker 9: At the time I was asked to do a lot of different interviews, which was surprising to me. Like, why are people talking to me about Bill? But I guess because. We were on late at night and I think there was some entertainment value there most. I mean, it was from Bill. I just happened to be there. But I think, you [00:14:00] know, one of my goals was to always allow Bill to be Bill.

Speaker 9: And I think when that happened, people found joy in watching those games. And I just remember in the interviews like, tell me your best Bill Walton story. They would say, and I. Like 15 would come to mind. There's just too many. Um, because he did say things that were so unique and enjoyable to be around because he would test me, he would test the viewer, he would test his employer, you know, and it was different.

Speaker 9: You know, we see that some with, you know, pat McAfee or Stephen a, um, but you don't really see it on game broadcast very often. And that's what made Bill unique. The other la the last thing I'll say about Bill. And Sam, I mean you, you're a celebrity. You played with celebrities, you know celebrities that are some of the great all time NFL players.

Speaker 9: Bill was so kind to everybody. I've never seen a more diverse group of [00:15:00] fans that would come and ask for autographs and take pictures with Bill Young and old, different shapes and sizes, different backgrounds. Kids, people that were older than Bill and Bill was, you know, in his seventies when he passed, but he was always take time after the game, sometimes an hour there'd be a line.

Speaker 9: And Bill would sign every autograph. Take a picture. I'm not wearing my hat, because Bill would always say, take your hat off for a picture or for an interview. Some if a kid had a hat on, take your hat off. And Bill would always get his hair ready and smile for the picture. So that's a lasting memory I have of Bill is, um, is how much he loved people and how he always had time for people.

Speaker 8: Thank you for sharing that, Dave. So powerful. You guys made a great team. You really did. And I, I loved watching you guys. I also love watching you call college basketball games with Jay Billis, and I have been very fortunate the last few years. Um, I was the head strength and conditioning coach for the Indiana Hoosiers and Sam, I can tell [00:16:00] you this, if I walked in for game day shoot around and I saw Jay Billis there and Dave Pash, I knew it was gonna be a big game.

Speaker 8: It was a special occasion. And so Dave, I just wanted to ask you, of all the college basketball venues that you've been to. Where would you rank Assembly Hall?

Speaker 9: I have, I, you know, I have done some games with Jay. You might be thinking more of Dan Schulman. I know all handsome bald guys kinda look alike. Um, but, and that's funny because actually there are a lot of people on Twitter.

Speaker 9: Dan will be calling a game with Jay and somebody will send me a message like, I can't believe you just said that about. Indiana and I'll respond on Twitter. Uh, thanks for letting me know. I'll tell Dan, uh, because I think people sometimes get us confused. But I have done some games with Jay, but I, you know, we don't have the Big 10 anymore, and it's been a while since I've been to assembly Hall, but that is one of, you know, a handful of very special places.

Speaker 9: Uh, for college basketball. You know, I, I got to do some games with Coach Knight and I [00:17:00] remember, um, the first time I met him and I was in awe because I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. So I grew up in Big 10 Country. I grew up going to Badger Games when Bob Knight came to town, and when I did a game at Assembly Hall, you know, he wasn't the coach then, but you could still feel the presence of Bob Knight at Indiana even though he wasn't there.

Speaker 9: And then when I got to work with him, it was really cool because. For whatever reason he liked me. He was incredibly kind to me. Uh, I listened. The first time I went to dinner, I just listened. I barely said a word. And I remember there was one game. We come on camera and Coach Knight puts his arm around me and my phone starts blowing up.

Speaker 9: Like, were, you know, were you scared or you think he was gonna puts you in a headlock? Um, it was just, it was really cool. So when I think of Indiana, even though again, when I called games there, he wasn't there. I do think of, of Coach Knight.

Speaker 7: For sure. Well, Dave, you, you, you've talked about some of the people that you've worked with.

Speaker 7: I want to hear more about the [00:18:00] ministry side behind it. You said with you and Bill, you know, y'all had different worldviews and, and so share with our audience, what has your faith journey been like? Wow.

Speaker 9: Well, how long do you have? I mean, I, I've always looked, it's funny when I first, so I, I grew up Jewish. I am Jewish, a hundred percent Jewish, both parents Jewish.

Speaker 9: I'm Jewish, you can't change your ancestry. I know when some people hear, oh, you're Jewish and you're a Christian, they, I think in the year 2025, I think people sometimes struggle with, well, how does that work? And then obviously you think about history and biblically and most of the initial Jesus followers were all Jewish.

Speaker 9: And Jesus obviously as a, you know, in his incarnation, uh, is Jewish. So I, I had no. Christian upbringing or background? I never even honestly thought much about God. I think I wasn't an atheist. I was an agnostic, probably [00:19:00] borderline atheist. I just never thought about God. Um, I went to Temple. I got Bar mitzvah.

Speaker 9: I got confirmed, but I did it 'cause my parents wanted me to. There was no structure. I think if you would've asked me back then, you know who is. Who is the Jewish Messiah? I probably would've said Moses without even thinking about it. Just that was a name that I could recall from my upbringing as someone important to the Jewish faith.

Speaker 9: But I certainly never thought about Jesus. I just was told, um, at an early age that, well, that's something Christians believe in. Jews don't believe. Jesus. But obviously again, historically and biblically, that's not a hundred percent accurate, but that's just what you're taught. You're just taught well, this is the Jewish faith.

Speaker 9: The Christian faith is something completely different. So I didn't really know much about Jesus or ever hear really about Jesus. And I went to high school. [00:20:00] Uh, I went to Syracuse to study broadcasting. Um, kind of did my thing. Uh, certainly lived, uh, a, a life that you would not say was consistent with the Christian faith because I didn't think about it.

Speaker 9: I didn't care. And it, I left Syracuse thinking, you know, I can't wait to get into this business to do my thing to make money. To, um, pursue, uh, many women of the op, uh, many women and kind of do my thing. The first day at my first job outta college, I met the woman that I had been married to now for almost 30 years, and I, I, I remember walking up the stairs after I met her and said to my boss, I just met the hottest girl I have ever seen in my entire life.

Speaker 9: He kinda looked at me. I was in Morgantown, West Virginia, so not a lot of people [00:21:00] worked in this company, so there weren't many women to choose from here. So he is like, well, who is it? I said, this girl Heidi. And he goes like this. Well, her name wasn't Heidi, her name's Halle, but there was a woman in the building named Heidi, who was 75 years old and worked in accounting.

Speaker 9: So. When I said Heidi, he looked at me like, what is wrong with this guy? Now, believe it or not, I had floppy hair back then. I, I had like flip flops and shorts. I mean, I looked like a beach bum. Uh, so I wasn't exactly the most professional guy to begin with. And then here I am courting this 75-year-old woman, according to my boss.

Speaker 9: But anyway, she was very different for a lot of reasons. Her outer beauty, but her inner beauty was what got me. She was a Christian, and again, I had never really been around a lot of Christians. Um, and we started, we were friends at first, then we started to date and. She said, well, if we got married and you know, how would you wanna raise your kids?

Speaker 9: Would you, we be okay raising our kids, Christian? [00:22:00] I'm like, sure, yeah, whatever. Fine. You know, whatever. I, again, this was something I never thought of, but as our relationship grew, I said, you know, I probably need to pursue this Christian thing, at least understand what it is, because I knew there was something different about her.

Speaker 9: So I started to. Read the Bible, read books about the Bible, read other religious books. 'cause I'm very skeptical by nature. I still am. And that's helped me I think in my walk. It's helped me in understanding scripture, trying to help others understand scripture. And particularly the Old Testament. I've very skeptical by nature, so I had to really understand it and believe it fully before I went there with my heart.

Speaker 9: And along this journey there, God put people in my life. That helped me grow and helped me see where God was leading me. One person was Scott Hanson, who you guys may be familiar with. NFL, red Zone. Scott and I ran together in college. Um, I, I was the sports director of the [00:23:00] student station. Scott played at Syracuse.

Speaker 9: People look at Scott and like he was an offensive lineman. If you look at Scott Hans, he doesn't look like an offensive lineman. He was an offensive lineman at Syracuse and a long snapper, and he was done playing and he wanted to get into broadcasting. So we actually had him do like, he was like the sideline analyst on the student broadcast.

Speaker 9: Um, and he would do the interviews after the game because he had a relationship with a coach. So Scott and I got close and we'd run together on the road. We'd party together. Well, I saw Scott about a year after college. We had moved from Morgantown to Detroit. Scott was from Detroit, and at that point he was not working.

Speaker 9: But something had changed with Scott. He had become a believer, and he knew in our conversations that now my wife was a believer, and I was like, okay, what does this all mean? So I saw a great change in him. He started to kind of share things with me, and so now my, the wheels are turning. Well, again, I've taken it up enough of your time and hopefully not [00:24:00] boring the, the listeners and the viewers, but eventually I became a Christian, but I became a Christian probably in, in name.

Speaker 9: I don't think my life changed much. Um, I went to church. I said the right things. I read my Bible occasionally, but I still think I was living mostly as. Any other person in the world. Then in around 2000, so 25 years ago, um, in my mid late twenties, um, we had a child, uh, and it became more serious to me like, man, I really need to probably make a decision here.

Speaker 9: And I read a book, and it's a book I wouldn't recommend to anybody because it was a, an end times book that I really don't agree with its theology. But at the time it scared me. I remember being in a hotel room on the road, I think it was in Oklahoma, uh, and I got on my knees and I, I said, all right, I'm done playing games.

Speaker 9: Uh, I'm all in. Obviously, you know, it was not, um, [00:25:00] an overnight complete transformation, but, you know, when I gave my life to Christ and fully committed, I, I saw God start to change my heart and things that I used to hate, I loved, and things that I used to love, I hated. Um, so. As I grew in my faith, started really going to church, got baptized, started really to understand God's word and be changed and transformed.

Speaker 9: I thought, well, I need to be a pastor. Well, I need to be a Bible teacher. That's how you serve God. And at that time I was working for the Cardinals and just had started for ESPN and realized in a short amount of time, guy was saying not, that's not for everybody. I've got you where I've got you. And. You need to see your job, your vocation as a ministry, and whether that's on a platform like this, sharing your faith or building relationships with the [00:26:00] people you work with.

Speaker 9: That's why I have you where I have you, and so I've really leaned into that not all the time. I wish I could say, uh uh. It's perfect. I've always looked at, you know, I'm, I'm here to build relationships with the people I work with to show the love of Christ to them and have conversations. And sometimes I've worked with people for years and we don't have conversations, but I would hope they know that I love them and I'm trying to be real with them.

Speaker 9: Not force my faith down their throat initially, as a believer I did. And that's, you know, beating people over the head with the Bible. Um, you're, you're never, it's not biblical. You're not gonna see God change someone's heart when you beat 'em over the head and try to tell 'em they're wrong. And you're right.

Speaker 9: So over the years I've grown and matured in that and just, here I am, I'm, I'm, if you wanna have a conversation, great. If you just want to come talk to me about life, um, or what you're struggling with or if. I tell them too, Hey, [00:27:00] here's what I'm dealing with. Here's what I'm struggling with. Uh, so I can be real and, and build that relationship.

Speaker 9: Uh, and my prayer is obviously to eventually have those spiritual conversations, but you can't force 'em. God will open those doors and you just gotta be present and ready to have those conversations. So it's probably a 15 minute answer, Sam, to your question about how I view my ministry, but I do, I view work and our position that we have at ESPN and Syracuse or, and, and the Cardinals.

Speaker 9: As a mission, it's, it's my ministry. Uh, but obviously my, it it's about being faithful to your employer. It's about being a good employee, working hard, honoring your employer, um, serving the viewers, serving the fans, serving the, the people you work with. That's all part of it. That's all how we can witness, not just with our words, but how we handle ourselves in a work environment.

Speaker 8: Good. Well, Dave, that's so powerful, so encouraging. You know, I've had similar thoughts about going into ministry and God has spoken to my heart over the years [00:28:00] as well, and basically I hear him saying, cliff, you're doing ministry. You're just doing it in a weight room. You're leading athletes, not only physically.

Speaker 8: But most importantly, spiritually. And that's the reason Sam Macho came to train with me for the NFL combine, you know, and um, that's so encouraging. And I think I cliff note Sam for this Yeah. Uh, episode. I have a Cliff note Ev Dave, every episode. And I think the cliff note I have for this show is that you can make your workplace your worship space.

Speaker 8: Dave, that's what you're doing. And Sam, that's what you're doing and I respect it, uh, so greatly, Dave. So thank you for sharing that. I did want to ask you with a busy work week, looking at your calendar, what spiritual habits. Help you stay grounded in your faith wall?

Speaker 9: Well, there's no question. The first thing that comes to mind [00:29:00] is that quiet time and making sure that I'm in the word, that I'm having prayer time.

Speaker 9: And I would say that's the thing I struggle with most is prayer time. Because when I'm awake, my mind's going a thousand miles an hour. I'm not. I'm not a person that relaxes easily. I'm a person who is thinking about all these things going on. So for me to sit still and and pray it's effort, it takes effort.

Speaker 9: And that's still an area that even after, you know, 25 years of being a Christian. I struggle with reading the Bible. I can sit there and do that for hours, uh, because it challenges my mind. My mind is, is moving. Um, even though in those moments I still might be praying or worshiping as I'm reading scripture.

Speaker 9: Um, but the quiet time actually setting aside the phone, turning the computer off, and just being still, that's an area I still struggle with. So making sure that I at least have time in the morning reading the Bible. [00:30:00] Praying for others, praying for myself, um, that that's something I have to have, that I, if I'm not in the word, if I'm not having that quiet time, I get off track so easily and when I get off track, it's easier to stay off track.

Speaker 9: So recentering by getting back in the word daily, that, that's first and foremost. And then I do enjoy, you know, the relationship side of it with other people and. You know, building, uh, um, a foundation with somebody you work with, and then the trust that's there. And again, even if spiritual conversations don't arise, just being there for someone else and having that relationship and being a good teammate and a good friend.

Speaker 9: I think that's what God wants from us. So, and that, that's a form, as you said, cliff of, of worship. Um, honoring your employer is a, is a form of worship and serving the viewer is a form of worship. Um, and so I do try to focus on those things. Like I'm not just here to [00:31:00] call a game, although it's great. Like I'm doing the Warriors Nuggets opening night, can't wait.

Speaker 9: Great game. So excited. Steph Yoic. Fantastic. Love it. But I also have to remind myself that when I'm. At my best that I'm serving God and serving others. Um, and I can do that on the air. I can do that off the air. So I think reminding myself of those things, cliff, but starting this morning by making sure I'm in the word, um, so that I can lock in with God and being communion with him and, and just remember

Speaker 7: him throughout the day.

Speaker 7: Dave, in our relationship, as I've gotten a chance to know you, I've seen that. You are a professional, but you're more than just a professional. You are good at your job, but you're more than just good at your job. You do live out your faith, but you do more than that. There's a family aspect to you as well.

Speaker 7: How do you balance the work that you do on the road? [00:32:00] Eight and a half, nine months outta the year? With

Speaker 9: family. It's really challenging. It's the, it's the hardest thing in our business. I remember somebody said to me early on, when my wife and I were engaged, somebody that I respect in the business asked my wife, are you ready for this?

Speaker 9: Like, are you ready for what this business may hold for you? Because I wanted to be a play-by-play announcer. And if you're a play-by-play announcer, you're traveling, you're doing games on the road, it's rare that all your games are gonna be in your backyard, even if you're doing. Games locally, which at the time I, I was pursuing and I started out, I went back to Syracuse to be their play by play announcer and then eventually the Cardinals and ESPN and watching my kids grow up with me being gone as much as I'm gone.

Speaker 9: I do think back and, and sometimes you wonder, you know, has it all been worth it? You know, I miss so much. I do have strong relationships with my spouse [00:33:00] and my kids, but it's taken work, it's taken effort, and we all know guys as married men, that a marriage is, is a lot of work, um, in a good way. You've gotta put that in.

Speaker 9: Um, and that's the, that's a biblical principle, right? That, you know, love is something in a relationship that you choose and you work at. With your wife. And thankfully she's supportive of what I do, but I don't just do it in a vacuum like, okay honey here, oh, I've got this job opportunity, I'm gonna take it.

Speaker 9: No, you share it with your wife, you pray about it, you talk about it, you discuss it. And I remember when I started really traveling, that was, you know, conversation we had. And my wife was like, you know, this is, seems where God is leading you and if he's leading you there. If everything else is gonna fall into place, he'll take care of the rest.

Speaker 9: And he has, I mean, again, I have a great relationship. We're almost on 30 years of being married. We have a 27-year-old, [00:34:00] a 24-year-old, and a and a 19-year-old. Our 24-year-old got married last December. You know, they have relationships with the Lord and we have a strong relationship. So I do look back and at times when I question, you know, is this where I'm supposed to be?

Speaker 9: I see how God was faithful. Um, but it has taken work, it's taken effort. It's not like, okay, God's just gonna take care of it. Sit back. Let go and let God, as people say, no, it's, it's a lot of work. You trust God, but he expects you to put forth the effort to, to build relationships with your, your family.

Speaker 8: That's great. Dave. You know, coaching is similar. Uh, I had a mentor when I was 24 years old. Uh, tell me before I proposed to my wife for engagement, you need to go to her and explain to her what being a strength and conditioning coach in college or. You know, professionally, what that would look like, what that requires, what the sacrifice is.

Speaker 8: And I, along [00:35:00] with Sam, you know, we are away from our families, right. Uh, doing work. And I have two kids. I have a 10-year-old and a 14-year-old. And sometimes I've struggled with that as well because I've been out traveling quite a bit. Um. But there's something special about a coach's wife. And I would say there's something that's special as well about a, a, a broadcaster's wife because you guys are out and about and you're doing work.

Speaker 8: Um, I did want to ask you one more question about football as I'm on this. When I was 24 years old, I was coaching a University of Louisville football player by the name of Jonathan Gannon. And I've watched Jonathan Gannon grow from being a football player. To a great leader of man and a great football coach.

Speaker 8: I would tell you, Dave, that I follow the Arizona Cardinals probably closer than any other football team in the NFL, and I know the last four weeks have been very difficult because they're right [00:36:00] there on the brink of breaking through and winning a big game. I wanted to ask you kind of what are your thoughts on the team and do you see that breakthrough coming soon,

Speaker 9: man, I hope so.

Speaker 9: It's been hard to watch. It's been frustrating. The fact, the point differential, I believe is minus one, and they've lost five in a row. I don't know how many times that's happened. They were actually plus three going into the last game. They had lost four in a row with a positive point differential. So it's quite surprising that, uh, they've struggled, uh, to close out games.

Speaker 9: Um, and it's, you know, I know injuries have been a big part of it. Um, and I do think j G's a really good coach. Uh, but it, it's been hard to watch and, you know, it's kind of at a crossroads right now for the team. Uh, they've gotta make a decision. When Kyler Murray's healthy, do they continue to go with Kyler?

Speaker 9: Do they go to Jacobi Brissett? He's played well the last two weeks, but they've lost. I think it's easier to make a quarterback change when the quarterback plays well and you win. He played [00:37:00] well, but it wasn't enough. So I don't know how that's gonna play out. I don't, I don't know that anybody does. I think there's an assumption that it's an automatic.

Speaker 9: That they go back to Murray. I'm, I'm not sure. Um, he's gotta get healthy first. And when he does, I think that will be an organizational decision. Wouldn't be surprise me either way. I could see them going back to Murray for the rest of the year. I could see them going to Brissette the way the team responded to him.

Speaker 9: Um, so they've gotta figure that out. And then Walter Nolan, their first round pick, hopefully is back for. Dallas game, the Cardinals have a bye this week, then a Monday night game at Dallas. Hopefully he's back. They need, I mean, Sam, you played on the D line. The D line has a ton of injuries and they, they need reinforcements, uh, on that side of the ball because that's what's hurt them in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 9: They have not been able to stop the runner, get pressure on the quarterback. Leading games to close out games, and so they're gonna need that. Um, but it's, uh, it's been tough to [00:38:00] watch. Most games in the NFL are close, so you can't say, well, if a play here or there and we're seven or Oh, well yeah, play here and there, and they could be oh seven too.

Speaker 9: Um, but it's been, this is going into the year. Based on the expectations for the team. This was not how it was supposed to go. The assumption was the Cardinals were gonna be five and two at this point in the mix for the NFC West, there are 10 games left, so we got a long season, but, uh, that, that Monday night game off the buy at that point, if you lose that game and you're two and six, I mean, for all intents and purposes you're.

Speaker 9: The season's over. I mean, you, you gotta win that game to at least try to inch closer to 500. The division's too good. You can't get four or five games behind first place with only nine games left.

Speaker 8: Well, Dave, as you mentioned it, Dave, you know, you, you, oh, sorry Sam, as you mentioned it, Dave, um, you know, the, the D line is beat up.

Speaker 8: Uh, I do know for a fact that Sam Macho still has his Arizona Cardinals helmet. [00:39:00] His shoulder pads, his jersey, so I may have to call JG out there and let him know. We got a, we got a street free agent by the name of Sam Macho,

Speaker 7: and I'm supposed to be at that game too, but not in a playing capacity. The gate, they're playing the Cowboys.

Speaker 7: I live in Dallas, right. So like, so, so Dave, you and I connect may connect, but not on the field as a player with a helmet. Um, man. Well, Dave. I am gonna ask you one more question before we let you go. We talk a lot on this podcast about what it means to win without losing it all, to gain the world and still keep your soul.

Speaker 7: We got a chance to work together in the broadcast booth for the Cardinals preseason, and we've texted and talked on the phone time and time again. What advice do you have for our listeners on how to win without losing at all?

Speaker 9: Believer? Is that what Yeah. As a believer, um, how to win without losing? Well, I, I think the greatest [00:40:00] advice that I can give anybody, and it's something I'm have to give myself.

Speaker 9: So when I say this, I'm preaching to myself as well as anybody else. And that's trying to be all in, right? Trying to be all in for Christ. And what does that look like? Well, there are many aspects of that. Um, we have to do that in our. We have to do that with our finances. I'll start there. Um, you know, I remember when I started right before ESPN, um, started with the Cardinals and someone, again, I was a new believer, told me about tithing and I thought, what tithing?

Speaker 9: Why would I do that? I worked hard to earn this money. Well, then you start to realize, no, it's God's money. And really all he's asking is for us to show our faith and trust in him by giving back. And so tithing was a discipline early on in our, uh, marriage that my wife and I put into [00:41:00] practice. And I cannot tell you the blessings that we have seen 30 years later, 25 years later from, from doing that.

Speaker 9: And, you know, going beyond that just to as a active worship, uh. Making sure financially that first and foremost we are giving back to the one who gives all to us. And so I think financially as a believer, um, practicing that discipline of hilarious giving, uh, tithing and going beyond the tithe, welcoming people into your home, which sometime is outta my comfort zone.

Speaker 9: But we've done that. My wife, I think if it were to my wife, we'd have 50 people living in our house. We've had people over, over the years stay with us. And that's, again, an act of worship. So I think, um, first and foremost, it's understanding why we have income, why we have money, and how to use it for God's glory.

Speaker 9: Second, I think that [00:42:00] wherever you are, whether you are working free SPN playing in the NFL, um, working the night shift at, at a 24 hour. Seven day a week cafe. It's that God's got you there for a purpose and that purpose is to to honor him, um, in your work. So what does that look like? It's being as good as you can be at what you do.

Speaker 9: Um, it's serving the people you work with. It's honoring the people you work for. It's all those things. And then I think in our personal lives, it's being. A great husband, being a great father, being a great coworker, a teammate, building relationships with the people you work with, um, investing in people that you work with, um, being real with the people you work with.

Speaker 9: I think sometimes as believers we think, well, I have to act a certain way [00:43:00] because I'm a Christian, so, well, yes we do, but. It doesn't mean we can't be real. Being real doesn't mean that all of a sudden you are dishonoring God, being real. That's who we are. And if we have flaws, if we struggle with things, it's good for other people to see that because it makes you real.

Speaker 9: I mean, we read the Bible and page after page, we see the failure of even the people that were the closest to Jesus, right? Uh, the people that. Not only walked with him, but the people that were witnesses of the resurrection, they continue to struggle with being human. And I think people need to see that from us because it makes us real.

Speaker 9: And then they say, well, okay, this person may see the world differently. He may have a faith that I don't share, but man, I can. He's, he's a real person. I can talk to him. Um, he doesn't think he's greater than me. He doesn't think he's holier than me. I think that's [00:44:00] really important for us. And one more thing, as believers, I'm talking to believers now and again, I'm preaching to myself biblical literacy.

Speaker 9: We are in a time where in, in America especially, and I don't think this is the case in a lot of other countries, but I think in America. There are a lot of incredibly bad theologies out there that have infected the church, and we need to be able to have answers for people because what's happened is bad theology in the church leads to people outside the church not knowing like what we believe.

Speaker 9: There's a muddy mixture of what Christianity is because we have not done a good job. The church of being biblically literate to be able to see things that are looming on the horizon, that are unbiblical or questionable. Um, and we've done a really [00:45:00] poor job. We've done a poor job at loving people that see things differently than us.

Speaker 9: Really poor job of loving people that see things differently than us. But we've also done a poor job of having good answers, uh, to people who have questions about what we believe. We need to do a better job of understanding the word and how to communicate the word to people, uh, who don't believe the same things that we do.

Speaker 9: I know that's a little bit of a hard right turn there, uh, to your question, but I do think it's really important. Um, and we have not done a good job of that, uh, in, in the church of really understanding scripture and be able to communicate scripture, um, because as Peter tells us, we are always. Supposed to be ready to have an answer, uh, for people to have questions about the hope that lies within us.

Speaker 9: But we're also supposed to do it with gentleness and respect. And a lot of times we don't do [00:46:00] either. We don't know the truth. We don't do a good job of communicating the truth, but we also do a, a bad job sometimes of doing it in a loving way. I think if we can get back to. Biblical literacy, communicating scripture with love, grace, illness, and kindness.

Speaker 9: Uh, we can see God move

Speaker 7: in a really cool way. Praise God. Praise God. Dave, I'm so grateful for your friendship, for your leadership, for your kindness, for your candor, for your care, for your courage, and for the man that you are both in the broadcast booth. Up in the press box, down on the court, on the field, in the locker room, at your home, over the phone, and on podcasts.

Speaker 7: We are so grateful for you, Dave Pash. For anyone listening, thank y'all for joining the Sam Acho podcast. [00:47:00] Number one, follow Dave p asch. Listen to Dave Pash, um, and also listen to this episode and so many more@sammacho.com. We'll see you soon.

Speaker 8: Yes.

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