There are questions we as sports fans sometimes wonder about but never get around to getting the answer for. Sometimes, we don't even think about them unless someone points them out.
Questions like: Why is fighting allowed in hockey? What are college sports more popular in the U.S.? How do we become fans of the teams we love? What even counts as a sport?
At Sports IQ, we're here to answer these questions and more so tune into Sports IQ, a sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, sometimes when I just have the time to do it podcast.
If you have any questions that you want me to try to answer email: ciardellia@gmail.com
To anyone who is a Millennial or younger, the scorebug (the thing that tells you the score during a sports broadcast) has pretty much always been there. But in reality, it's only a few decades old. So where did it come from, and who created it? Anthony interviews Dennis Deninger, a former ESPN executive, and current author and professor emeritus at Syracuse University who explains the origin of the scorebug and how it's changed over the years.
18 Jul 2026
Why can't soccer players use their hands?
In this episode, we explore something we pretty much all know, but never really stop to think about. Why can't soccer players (except the goalkeeper) use their hands? With the 2026 World Cup about to wind down, Anthony explores the history of soccer and what led to the sport being played the way it is? Also, why do we call it soccer in the U.S.?! Tune in to find out!
19 Jun 2026
Is June 2026 the best sports month ever?
In this episode of Sports IQ, Anthony explains why he thinks this is the best month of sports we've ever had. Yeah, June 1994 was pretty good, but this is better and it has something for everyone. Softball, baseball, MLB, college, WNBA, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, French Open, Wimbledon, and....the World Cup. Check out this episode of Sports IQ!
5 Jun 2026
What determines handedness in Sports?
What determines which hands you use in sports? In this episode Anthony interviews Dr. Simon Grondin, a Professor at the School of Psychology at Laval University in Québec, Canada about what determines how you use your hands in sports. Anthony and Dr. Grondin specifically use the case of hockey and how players hold a hockey stick to discuss why we chose to use certain hands for certain sports activities and the potential implications.
22 Apr 2026
Where did Esports go?
In the mid-2010s, Esports began to explode. By 2020 and the Coronavirus pandemic, Esports were primed to become even more mainstream. Competitions were being broadcast on cable, tournament prize money was in the millions of dollars and investments were pouring into teams and leagues. Then it disappeared. So where did it go? Or did it go anywhere?
Anthony interviews Kevin Hitt an Esports journalist, to find out what is going on in the Esports world and what's next.
Disclaimer: The interview with Kevin was done in 2024, and we've done our best to update what has happened since.
8 Apr 2026
Sports and Music Part 2: From the organ to Jock Jams
What ever happened to Jock Jams? Find out in this episode of Sports IQ, where Anthony explores the history of music at sporting events. Starting with the ancient greeks and continuing until today, music has always been played at sports venues.
Where Jock Jams and Jock Rock game from? Who invented the walkup song? Do NHL players like goal songs? All of that and more in this episode of Sports IQ!
25 Mar 2026
Sports and Music Part 1: How does listening to music help our athletic performance?
Sports and music are two things that just go together. Sometimes an athlete is described as “dancing around a defender,” or a star quarterback as “conducting” his offense. But beyond these sayings, sports and music have a close relationship. You hear music at games, from youth sports to the pros, in stadiums and on park basketball courts, in the gym or even loudly in someone’s headphones as they jog past. In part 1 of this Sports IQ episode, we explore the performance benefits that listening to music can give you exercising and even potentially, competing in a sport. Anthony interviews Dr. Christopher Ballman, an Associate Professor of Kinesiology in the Department of Human Studies, Director of Resistance Exercise Physiology at the University of Alabama Birmingham.
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11 Mar 2026
Why don't we have relegation in U.S. pro sports.
In this episode, Sports IQ explores why relegation exists in professional sports leagues outside the United States, like soccer's Premier League in England and the Bundesliga in Germany and the Swedish Elite League in hockey among others.
Here in the U.S., we have closed professional sports leagues, requiring consent of the other team's owners, an expansion bid and a LOT of money for a new team to join.
Anthony interviews Dr. Stefan Szymanski, a professor of sport management at the University of Michigan. Dr. Szymanski is an expert in the economics of sports and promotion and relegation.
25 Feb 2026
How did fighting become a part of pro hockey?
In episode four of Sports IQ, we explore how fighting become such a normal part of the game of hockey and not other (non-combat) sports. What about the development of the sport made fighting common place and will it always be a part of the game?
Anthony interviews Michael Robidoux, a professor at the University of Ottawa, school of human kinetics, faculty of health sciences to learn more.
11 Feb 2026
How do we become sports fans?
How did you fall in love with your favorite team or teams? Are you a fan of multiple teams in the same league? Do you always root for the underdog? In episode three of Sports IQ, we aim to figure out the emotional and psychological reasons we chose to root for the teams we do. Anthony interviews his daughter Isla and Edward Hirt, who is a professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University, to find out some of the psychology behind sports fandom.
28 Jan 2026
How did college sports get so big in the U.S. and not other countries?
In episode two of Sports IQ, we try to answer why college sports are so popular here, but not in other countries? To find out, Anthony interviews Victoria Jackson, a professor and historian at Arizona State University.
Find out what the first EVER official college athletics contest in the U.S. was, what role college football played in the college sports industry as we know it today, and what president celebrated the broken nose his son received playing football.
14 Jan 2026
What is a sport?
We've all had that argument at the bar, or watching a game with a friend. What counts as a sport? In the premiere episode of the Sports IQ podcast, I've invited some guests to try to figure it out.
In this episode I interview Rachel Fletcher, a former editor of the Cambridge Dictionary, sports writer and producer John Walters, journalist Jas Kang, and former professional wakeboarder Ben Greenwood.
Disclaimer: This episode was recorded in 2024, so some references may have aged some.
7 Jan 2026
Sports IQ Teaser
Check out some highlights from Sports IQ. Premiering January 14th.
21 Dec 2025
Sports IQ Preview 2
This is a preview of my new Sports IQ podcast along with a call to action for True Stories from an Old Dirt Road fans.
17 Dec 2025
Sports IQ Preview
Check out this preview of Sports IQ, my new podcast coming January 14th.
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