 Well, welcome to another edition of Yes, We're Here, Ian Joy, and today joined by a gem of a man, Jim Spinarco. Jim, first and foremost, how are you doing, and how have you been coping through this difficult time? Well, Ian, thanks for having me. It's good to hear your voice, and I hope you're doing well. And we're doing well here in New Jersey. My wife and I are four kids living in the state, you know, three in our town and one not too far away. So, so far so good. Everybody is healthy. Thank God. And it's just just trying to get through the days, just like everybody else. The last time we connected, you worked my butt on the golf course. Do you remember that? I do remember that because that doesn't happen very often from me. It's usually the other way around. So I'm sorry to remember that, yes, I had a little success with you, but very limited on the golf course. I look forward to the next time we can actually get out on the golf course. And maybe I can make amends for my performance that day. Let's get into the business. It's been a very difficult time for sports in general. I want to ask you about the NBA. I mean, what is the possible outcome for the season between now and how it finishes? Does it even get to the point where there's a thought of canceling the whole season altogether? You know, I think everything is up in the air right now in terms of all the different decisions that are probably being talked about. I'm sure they've been talked about by Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA and everybody else that's involved with that decision making process. I know Adam with, you know, listening to him with some of his interviews. I know that listening to them that they have some some steps that they play in games without fans. The one that they start, what's the timeline? And I think that, you know, it's obviously if you if you just watching the different news outlets now and watching what's happening with the coronavirus is that everything just seems to be continually being pushed back. I mean, the state of New Jersey and New York metropolitan area, everybody just got pushed back for the month of April. So obviously that what is that due to sports that continues to take the timeline and pushes it back and forth. So quite, you know, honestly, right now I wouldn't be surprised. I'm hopeful. I'm optimistic. I want to be realistic in terms of how long this thing looks like it's going to last. But I know no better than anybody else, the medical people that are out there saying it. So I think with that, I think if you keep an eye on the NBA, you keep an eye on Major League Baseball and NHL and watch what NFL football is thinking about, the sports will probably be an indicator in terms of what's happening with the virus going forward and how it's affecting everybody. But right now I just think they they're probably juggling multiple balls in terms of what they're thinking of, what they're going to possibly do. And it's just the timeline that nobody has an answer to because of the unknown. Yeah, it's almost as if we're sitting in like a holding pattern just waiting for good news to eventually arrive to us. It has been difficult. But why we do this is because we want to try and pick up the spirits of a lot of people. And I want to talk about a positive in your career and go back to where all began at Duke for you and talk about the rivalry a little bit, playing as a college basketball player. I mean, that to me is a bucket list. I want to go to one of those games. I want to be in person. I want to be chugging a beer in the supporters grip beforehand and get into the stadium and just watch the game with enthusiasm and energy. What was it like as a player going through that rivalry? Well, one of the best parts about the Carolina and Duke rivalry is that it's so consistent. I mean, even this year, there was one good game, a great game. Obviously, Carolina has had a bad year this year overall, relatively speaking. But going back, I mean, back to when I was there, which was 100 years ago, the the rivalry was just as intense back then as it is right now. You know, depending on how you drive between North Carolina and Duke, it's either eight miles from campus to campus, maybe 11 miles, depending on which way you go. So the rivalry there, they're so close, the proximity is so close, and it's just, it's so heated. There's no other way of saying it. I've been fortunate enough to, to play in that, you know, in that game a bunch of times and watch it multiple times since, and it's never really lets you down in terms of a great game. I mean, people talk about, you know, the Yankees up here in the Boston Red Sox, and yes, that's a terrific rivalry and a rivalry that's never going to go away. But I just think from a college standpoint, you know, there are good rivalries in football and there are good rivalries in basketball. I just, I just can't see where any of them are any better than the Duke Carolina one, and especially being selfishly here now with the Duke Cameron indoor stadium, one of the best places to watch a game. I used to tell people I still do, if you can get in, if you, if you can get into the building for two hours prior to the tip-off, and then they ask you to leave a tip-off, still go because the two hours prior, you'll get your money's worth walking in the door and having some fun with that. I think that's actually why it's on my bucket list just so I can go and enjoy the two hours before the game more than anything else. Yeah, the Cameron Crazies are great during the game, but I used to, I remember, you know, as a player, that game and other big games in the ACC, I used to get there an hour or two before the game just to kind of get over there and loosen up before the formal warm-ups would begin. And part of my nuttiness was to watch what's going on in the stands and getting a feel for what the with the shenanigans were going to be for that given day. I made that same mistake. Obviously, I played in Germany soccer for five years and I played for both rivals. I played for Hamburg and I played for St. Pauli. St. Pauli was my love. I used to secretly go watch St. Pauli play soccer on a Friday night and then play for Hamburg the following day. Nobody knew I went. I wore baseball cap when I went to the games and I secretly planned my way to try and get to St. Pauli because it was just my club. It was my feeling. Very similar rivalry, big city in Germany. And I actually remember when I made the transfer over from Hamburg, I gave one of the old-time supporters, you used to come watch every training session, one of my old jerseys. And, you know, I thanked them for their support for like the 18 months, 18 months I was there and, you know, they were very grateful that I got the jersey. I didn't tell them where I was going. Then signed for the rival. So when we went back to play the game, it was like 50,000 people in the stadium and it was just meh-hem. It was incredible. It was almost very difficult to concentrate as I'm sure you know. But for me, I remember doing exactly what you did do. I went out just a little bit earlier to soak up the atmosphere and it was a big mistake because I went out and the whole stadium booed first and foremost when I walked out onto the field. And I remember somebody had pointed it out to me. I was doing a stretch and one of the guys pointed out to me, this same old guy was standing there with my jersey. He had it on a stick, on a pole and he set it on fire right on the warmer. And I was like, I was like, that got me just ready for this game. Did you have that like type of nastiness yourself? Like when you're playing, was it competitive on the field? But also like there was that little bit of hatred in between the two? Well, keep it, keep in mind, I didn't say that when I went to Carolina to play, that I went out two hours early. So to antagonize them. But so I only did that at home games really. But yeah, there were venues throughout the ACC and going back when I was playing, there were only seven teams in the ACC. So we were playing places like Ad Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, NC State, Clemson with Tree Rollins when he was down there. So there were great rivalries in a sense from the ACC standpoint because the ACC basketball was great. And every different place had a different kind of style of being able to get in your head and try to distract you from a player's perspective. But, you know, most of the memories were pretty clean. Most of the memories were fun. But they were competitive and the play on the floor, because the fans were so into it and the fans were so enthusiastic, I think there was a carryover effect both ways. I mean, it was competitive basketball. If we played in a gym with nobody in the gym, it would have been competitive. But having people in the gym and being fiery at the same time just lifted the competition up a little bit more. Jim, thanks so much for your time. I could sit here and talk with you for another 60 minutes easily just about your basketball career. We'll have to save that for another day. But once again, stay safe, stay healthy. And to everybody out there who's watching on, thank you so much for joining us. Make sure you're making those smart decisions and staying in isolation. We'll see you next time.