Conversations with Clayton: The Broad Street Dummies

In the latest edition of “Conversations with Clayton,” I am continuing my series of interviews with bloggers from other American Athletic Conference program.

Today’s interviewees are Mike Rumbaugh and Nick Jajko, the Broad Street Dummies, who cover Temple Owls athletics on their always entertaining podcast. In addition to Temple athletics, we also discuss roast pork, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Grace Kelly.

Clayton Trutor (CT): How did you get involved in covering Temple Athletics?

Nick Jajko (NJ): Mike forced me to do this dumb podcast.

Mike Rumbaugh (MR): The Philadelphia sports media is incredibly frustrating. Ninety-five percent of the talk is on NFL (Eagles), one percent each is on the Sixers, Flyers and Phillies and the other two percent is on the Wing Bowl. Save for a few guys in the city, college athletics doesn't get near enough play in the town. Moreover, anytime there was mainstream coverage it was usually fluff without any real analysis or critique of the programs. There is so much to cover with major college football and basketball so Nick and I started covering Temple because we didn't think there was anyone else doing it from the fans perspective at the time. I loved podcasts as they are a great way to take in information on demand so launching our own podcast was a natural choice for us.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

CT: Three things people don't know about Temple:

NJ: Temple has a) a short history of famous football coaches including Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner and Wayne Hardin (RIP). b) Once had a running back named Paul Palmer who finished runner-up in 1986 Heisman Trophy voting to Vinny Testaverde. c) Famous dropout alumni include Anchorman writer/director Adam McKay and Diplo.

MR: 1 - A lot of people think Temple is a small school, its not. All together its 40,000 students including almost 30,000 undergrad. 2 - Temple has one of the most diverse student bodies in the world and this feeds into what makes the place special. 3 - Campus is ENTIRELY different than what it was 20, 10 or even five years ago. The University (and the city) is pumping a TONs of money into infrastructure, the arts, recreation, campus housing, etc. etc. and the entire feel is different from what it was.

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

CT: Three things people don't know about Philadelphia:

NJ: a) Philly boasts the most outdoor murals in the United States. b) Grace Kelly, a Hollywood actress in the 50s who married Prince Ranier and became the Princess of Monaco, was from Philadelphia c) The New Years Day tradition of the Mummers Parade.

MR: 1 - That you should skip the Cheesesteak and go for the Roast Pork. 2 - That summer weekends are a great time to visit. Traffic will be light as all the locals are "down the shore." 3 - That you should read A Prayer for the City by Buzz Bissinger to fall in love with the place.

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

CT: Three favorite things about Fran Dunphy:

NJ: a) He knows how to manage a 40 minute college basketball game. I'm convinced most of his regular season wins are mostly a result of a pattern of defensive timeouts and smart substitutions. The more frenetic pace of an NCAA tournament game might explain why his tournament record doesn't match his regular season success. b) He game plans for one decent upset per year, no matter how bad his team is. c) Majority of his players improve over their careers under his tutelage

MR: 1 - He is a world class talent developer. Kids get a lot better under him. 2 - Many times it's to a fault, but the man is highly loyal. 3 - His contract has an end date.

CT: Geoff Collins: Yay or Nay. Why?

NJ: Yay until he proves himself as a crummy offensive coach. Florida's offenses sucked last few years, any success their teams had were result of defense. Also put a lot of defensive backs into the pros. Temple has a nice dline tradition already, hopefully the combination will pay dividends for recruiting.

MR: HOLD - Loved the hire, the attitude/energy he is bringing to North Broad, and the additions to his coaching staff/team but the man hasn't coached a game yet. I need to see performance on the field before I "Yay" or "Nay."

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

CT: What is the greatest victory in Temple athletics that you have each witnessed?

NJ: Recently, it’s a tie between beating Penn State for the first time in 1,000 years and beating Syracuse at a sold out Madison Square Garden because Khalif Wyatt was fun to watch and it was a fun atmosphere.

MR: PSU at Temple, Sept 5, 2015 - Temple Wins 27-10 for first W against PSU in 74 years.

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

CT: What other teams do you guys follow?

NJ: Sixers, Phillies, Eagles, Arsenal.

MR: Besides everyone in the American Conference, I'm a closet University of Georgia and University of Texas football guy. I also keep tabs on the Big 5 and the other Mid East/Atlantic schools (PSU, Rutgers, Maryland, Pitt) for recruiting sake. Other than that I roll with the Sixers (Trust the Process), the Phillies and the USMNT.

CT: When you hear "Cincinnati," you think __________

NJ: The 2000 game when Temple beat Kenyon Martin and No. 1 Cincinnati; Also Eagles players like Brent Celek, Connor Barwin (<3) and J. Kelce. Maybe also Barry Larkin because I was a big baseball fan as a kid.

MR: Chili - Is that a thing?

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Nintendo of America

CT: Describe your greatest respective victories in a sports video game.

NJ: I beat Mike in the Super Bowl of our one and only joint Madden season in college. I think I drew the Bengals when we randomized at the beginning of the season oddly enough. Otherwise my recollection is that we both were competitive in Tiger Woods and I was really really bad at Halo. In my defense I really only ever played sports video games as a kid.

MR: Can't remember any specific wins (there's just been so much winning these days) but I can Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Mario Kart and NBA Jam with the best of em.

CT: Predictions for Temple football in 2017:

NJ: At worst 6-6? I dunno kind of a cop-out but new coach and new QB. I do think that could include a road win over Cincinnati.

MR: We go bowling with a 7-5 (4-4 in the American) record and finish the season on a high note winning 31-17 in one of the Florida bowl games.

Listen to the Broad Street Dummies on Soundcloud. Follow Dummy Mike and Dummy Nick on Twitter: @BroadStDummies @BSDNick

For more of the same, follow me on Twitter: @ClaytonTrutor