Tom Green is joined by longtime Denver broadcaster Susie Wargin for a wide-ranging conversation on her career in radio and television, her role on the Broncos sideline, and the evolution of women in sports media. Susie shares stories from her early days in radio, working her way into sports coverage, and building relationships inside the Broncos organization. They also discuss the growth of women’s sports in Colorado, CSU athletics, and how Denver continues to emerge as a major sports market.
Tom Green welcomes Susie Wargin for an in-depth conversation on her journey through Denver media, her work with the Broncos, and the changing landscape of sports and broadcasting. From early radio days to becoming a trusted sideline reporter, Susie shares behind-the-scenes stories, career lessons, and her perspective on the growth of women’s sports and media in Colorado. The conversation also touches on CSU athletics, coaching influences, and the importance of relationships in sports broadcasting.
00:00 Denver’s women’s sports moment & NWSL/WNBA discussion
02:27 Susie Wargin’s Colorado Explosion story (ABL days)
04:28 Growth of women’s basketball & Becky Hammon impact
07:48 CSU football, Sonny Lubick & program legacy
11:24 Jim Mora & building CSU football culture
13:00 Susie’s path to CSU & early career aspirations
14:26 Discovering radio & early broadcasting passion
16:30 First radio job & learning on-air skills
18:30 Concerts, music scene & early DJ experiences
20:08 Transition to TV & returning to radio
21:07 “Say yes” mindset & career growth
26:30 Break into sports radio & Broncos/KOA opportunity
28:10 CSU sidelines & early TV career at 9News
29:09 Broncos radio crew chemistry & sideline role
31:01 Covering good vs. bad Broncos teams
32:04 Building relationships with players
33:17 TV career challenges & “anchor hair” era
35:45 Growth of women in sports media
37:16 Mentorship & supporting next generation
40:43 ‘Cut, Traded, Fired, Retired’ podcast origin story
00;00;01;25 - 00;00;19;25
Tom Green
Hi there. Welcome to another edition of the other Tom green show. This is going to be a big weekend here in Denver and throughout Colorado, because the Denver Summit is going to play their first home game at Empower Field. And when they do so, they're going to shatter records for the size of the crowd that they draw.
00;00;19;25 - 00;00;50;01
Tom Green
Well over 50,000 people will be on hand, making it the biggest crowd in NWSL history and one of the biggest crowds ever to see women's soccer, period. So it's an interesting time to reflect a little bit on where we are with women's sports. Sometimes I wonder why Denver has done so well when the Professional Women's Hockey League comes to town as far as filling the building, but it doesn't seem like the Pueblo or people here in Denver are all that excited about trying to get a franchise here as soon as possible.
00;00;50;04 - 00;01;12;24
Tom Green
The same could be said for the WNBA. You'd think of the WNBA certainly would fit very nicely into Denver, but, a lot of people say the building ball arena is too busy. And yet we see arenas like Crypto.com Arena in LA and in Washington, D.C. they're able to run different franchises through there. It seems like it could fit.
00;01;12;26 - 00;01;35;16
Tom Green
We'll see if the WNBA, the well, we'll notice the NWSL and the success the Denver summit have here and see if they become a little more interested in Denver. This while the NBA is expanding now at a price tag of 7 to $10 billion, a franchise in Seattle and Las Vegas. Now, if the WNBA were to come here.
00;01;35;19 - 00;01;56;10
Tom Green
Well, I wouldn't be the first professional women's basketball league to come to Denver. If you remember back in the mid to late 90s, the Colorado explosion of the ABL were in town. So when you would look at a newspaper kids, you're going to have to find one of these someday. There is that one page that has everything on it.
00;01;56;10 - 00;02;27;00
Tom Green
The agate. It's got box scores, it's got standings. It has odds. It has the race results, and it also has the transactions. And it was in 1998, in November, that one of my friends turned up in the transactions column, Susie Warden listed here as being named to the, to the team, as a, helper as part of how they how they work at the American Basketball League and the Colorado explosion.
00;02;27;03 - 00;02;52;00
Tom Green
Sadly, it only lasted about seven more weeks after that. But Susie's here today. We're going to talk about a lot of Denver sports, her great history with rock and roll and sports and the Colorado explosion experience. Susie Origins, our guest today on the other Tom green show.
00;02;52;03 - 00;02;55;18
Tom Green
Susie, I saw you on the transactions there.
00;02;55;21 - 00;02;57;08
Susie Wargin
I have never seen that, Tom.
00;02;57;09 - 00;02;58;22
Susie Wargin
Well, I was so cool.
00;02;58;22 - 00;03;12;12
Tom Green
I found that little listing, and it was you. And it really was 7 or 8 weeks before the explosion. And the whole league went under. That was 98. So what was that going to be? What? What were you going to be doing there? You're helping with game operations.
00;03;12;14 - 00;03;13;02
Susie Wargin
Announcer.
00;03;13;03 - 00;03;13;20
Tom Green
Oh, there.
00;03;13;20 - 00;03;31;13
Susie Wargin
Was the PA announcer. So I actually did, I think only a couple of games. And that Anderson, who another CSU grad was also in that I saw his name. Yeah, he was also helping out. And I can't remember what exactly Thad was doing because he was we were both on the announcing side was something, but I was the the PA announcer, which was great.
00;03;31;13 - 00;03;39;16
Susie Wargin
He may have been doing like play by play or something like that. So but and the one thing I have from there, because that was, I remember what time of year I.
00;03;39;16 - 00;03;40;14
Tom Green
Think it was November.
00;03;40;17 - 00;03;47;21
Susie Wargin
November. Right. So my husband surprised me and he had all the women and the staff sign a ball for me, and he gave it to me at Christmas. And that was.
00;03;47;21 - 00;03;48;24
Susie Wargin
Literally they folded.
00;03;49;00 - 00;03;56;07
Susie Wargin
Like right after that. So I had this super cool. He's like, we have a one of a kind ball signed by everybody on the explosion stuff, which is really cool.
00;03;56;08 - 00;03;58;10
Tom Green
Might have been the last piece of memorabilia.
00;03;58;11 - 00;03;59;08
Susie Wargin
That's what Mike claims.
00;03;59;08 - 00;03;59;24
Susie Wargin
It is a.
00;03;59;24 - 00;04;28;27
Tom Green
Pretty big explosion. So it's interesting. I remember the ABL playing and I remember Denver turned out there were pretty good crowds that would come out and watch watch the women's team and that league play. As that was happening, the WNBA was starting up and that eventually is what what crushed the ABL. But it's so interesting now to think of back then, the WNBA and the ABL both had very good players, players you'd seen play at the highest levels of college football on Olympic teams, things like that.
00;04;28;29 - 00;04;35;12
Tom Green
But, it was still such a small corner of the sports universe compared to where they are now.
00;04;35;13 - 00;04;56;23
Susie Wargin
Oh my gosh, if it was now, it would be off the charts as far as attendance and whatnot. They played games at the Coliseum and so it was really cool. And they did. They got great crowds because everybody was excited to see women's basketball on that level, which was really fun. But I think if we had something like that going now, a it wouldn't be at the Coliseum, you'd have it over at Ball Arena or someplace like that.
00;04;56;23 - 00;05;15;23
Susie Wargin
Magnus and have it on a bigger stage and you would get the crowds. I mean, you go to college games now. I just finished up going out to the first game of the CSU Rams. The women. Yeah, in Norman, Oklahoma. And there is a great crowd on hand. And then when you saw the the game that happened on Sunday with Michigan State and Oklahoma, I mean it's Oklahoma's home court and it was packed.
00;05;15;23 - 00;05;21;00
Susie Wargin
But there's people coming out to women's sports in droves right now, which is really fun.
00;05;21;00 - 00;05;43;14
Tom Green
So it's interesting to me because in 1998, Colorado had Caitlin Clark in Becky Hammon. Yeah, Becky Hammon was playing up at Fort Collins. And, you know, she still is the Mount Rushmore of maybe all women's sports, but certainly of basketball up in Fort Collins. She's in the Hall of Fame. And she went on to have her long career in the pros and now coaching in the pros.
00;05;43;14 - 00;06;01;00
Tom Green
But, I always think of your passion for CSU, your alma mater. But, when Becky was playing, had she played another ERA or two later, she had that Caitlin Clark Sizzle absence, and she she made plays that really nobody else could make. Yeah.
00;06;01;00 - 00;06;20;00
Susie Wargin
She was Becky was definitely ahead of her time and so special to watch. And I think you appreciate her more now. Now that we have seen more come through and seen the talent and and especially with what she's done with the Aces in Las Vegas, and just as a coach, she's unbelievable in that way too, which we and we've been around a lot of players.
00;06;20;00 - 00;06;35;14
Susie Wargin
And when you see players go on to be coaches, every player thinks he can be a coach or she can be a coach, and it's really difficult to make that transition. And the ones that really understand the game that are just very, very good at their craft are the ones that make typically the best coaches, which is what she's done.
00;06;35;14 - 00;06;41;23
Susie Wargin
But she was something else to watch, and there's a reason why she's in the rafters and why she is just so iconic up there.
00;06;41;23 - 00;06;57;00
Tom Green
Yeah, in the rafters. They're also in the Ring of Honor with the New York Liberty. Her number is retired. Bye bye San Antonio as well. So she she was everything when she played. I think she had a lot more fun than when she coaches. She's a hard case.
00;06;57;00 - 00;07;00;14
Susie Wargin
Gosh, isn't she though? She is. She's our Gary. Yeah. I would be.
00;07;00;18 - 00;07;05;08
Susie Wargin
Scared to death to be a player for her. So. Yeah. No she is a she's a tough one. Yeah.
00;07;05;09 - 00;07;17;07
Tom Green
She got some of that training because she did that that unique thing of coaching under Gregg Popovich and coaching an NBA team and being highly thought of by the guy who was considered the best coach in the league.
00;07;17;07 - 00;07;39;13
Susie Wargin
Yeah. When you come from the Gregg Popovich treat, you're going to be it's kind of like come from the Bill Parcells treat, which Sean Payton talks about all the time. You're old school coaches like that that have that that hard core mentality. And that's worked for them. Yeah. You got to change it up a little bit sometimes when as as our generations kind of change and get old, I don't want to say they get softer, but I think you have to be more gentle sometimes.
00;07;39;18 - 00;07;48;20
Susie Wargin
Our younger generation and coaches have to adapt a little bit to that, and some adapt more than others, but they can still be hard. And sometimes you have to do that. Tough love.
00;07;48;22 - 00;07;59;15
Tom Green
Okay, we're doing old school coaches. I can't imagine Sunny Lubeck has to be at the very top of any list you make. Yes, he's he's you're one of your favorites.
00;07;59;16 - 00;08;00;14
Susie Wargin
He absolutely.
00;08;00;14 - 00;08;02;16
Tom Green
He's one of many people's favorites, including mine.
00;08;02;16 - 00;08;22;26
Susie Wargin
Yeah I know and I was so, it was such an honor to be able to host his show on Nine News for a long time, which was great. And so. And it was funny because when sunny was let go from CSU and Steve Fairchild came in, who I also have a great relationship with. I was so used to Sonny, he's one of those guys in in our profession, you get used to how people answer questions.
00;08;22;26 - 00;08;38;25
Susie Wargin
When I would literally go into his show and I'd have five questions ready for him because I just knew Sonny, would he just pontificate? And then we could just, you know, talk about things and so I do. My first show is Steve Fairchild, and we literally go through the first five, you know, five plays in five minutes. And I'm like, oh my gosh, a.
00;08;38;25 - 00;08;39;10
Tom Green
Lot of show.
00;08;39;10 - 00;08;43;12
Susie Wargin
Left. That's a ton of show. And we go to a break. And and Coach Fairchild said.
00;08;43;12 - 00;08;59;21
Susie Wargin
You know, if you could if you wanted to talk a little bit more, Susie, that'd be great. And I'm like, it's not the Susie show, it's the Steve Fairchild. So you're supposed to talk more. It's okay if you talk, but Sonny just is one of those people that. I mean, he's just hard to explain. He's and he still is so compassionate towards everybody.
00;08;59;23 - 00;09;21;03
Susie Wargin
Every player that played for him talks to talks about him like he's a father figure, basically. And one of my favorite stories is, in 2002 or was it? No, it was actually in 1999. I was doing the sidelines for CSU then, and I was pregnant with our son, and we had just taken a beating in Fresno, and we're all getting ready to get back on the bus.
00;09;21;03 - 00;09;35;00
Susie Wargin
And Sonny offers to to carry my bag for me. And I thought, you know what? Here's a Division one football coach that just, you know, lost. He should be mad and offers to carry the pregnant sideline girls bags for her to the bus. And I'm like, that's what Sonny Lou because all about.
00;09;35;00 - 00;10;03;09
Tom Green
Yeah well it's it's interesting too because there's always that relationship. I mean you, you not only grew up here, I was reading you're a fourth generation Coloradan, so you get it as more than anyone but the c you CSU relationship is tricky. Especially with CSU people. Yeah. And so when Bill McCartney was going about his ascension at CU and winning championships, Sonny Lubeck brought the focus back, brought winning back.
00;10;03;12 - 00;10;23;03
Tom Green
Because when I first got here to Colorado was in the early 80s, both those programs were terrible. And I mean, like, miserable, terrible. Sonny Lubeck put them right in the meat of the mix, and it was fun to see them play. But I imagine for the CU, CSU people, the conversation was a lot more fun. With Sonny Lubeck in town.
00;10;23;04 - 00;10;27;23
Susie Wargin
Oh, absolutely. Especially when the showdown started to happen and we actually got some wins, right?
00;10;27;23 - 00;10;28;02
Tom Green
Right.
00;10;28;02 - 00;10;44;01
Susie Wargin
That's when we started to lose our minds a little bit because we thought, okay, finally we're back, we're on the map. We can beat CU. You know, we've always been the little brother. We don't have to always be. I mean, we're still, I think probably people think of us as the little brother sometimes, but I think it's starting to even out a little bit over the years.
00;10;44;01 - 00;11;05;24
Susie Wargin
And I'm super excited to see what Jim Mora brings in. He reminds me of kind of what Sonny did. Jim and Kathy Mora don't want to go anywhere. They wanted to be in Fort Collins. He had opportunities to go other places and really wanted to be there, and I think he'd be content from what it sounds like finishing out his career there, which is what you wanted a program like that you can't have Steppingstones there.
00;11;05;27 - 00;11;06;12
Susie Wargin
That's tough.
00;11;06;12 - 00;11;24;26
Tom Green
That was an absolute home run out of nowhere. Nowhere. I mean, because when you're on this little parade of, you know, some you know, not to single guys up at like a dojo and these guys who are not getting it done, not getting it done in a variety of ways, like selling the program as well as turning, turning wins.
00;11;24;28 - 00;11;40;23
Tom Green
They built a fabulous stadium up there, and they've yet to really put a magic team in there and magnetize it and make people go there. Jim Mora Jr seems like he was the right answer at the right time. And you've gotten to know him a little bit since he's taken the job?
00;11;40;23 - 00;11;58;20
Susie Wargin
Yeah, I've had a chance to talk with him a couple of times, and I have a couple of events coming up in April where I'm emceeing and he's the guest speaker, so I'm looking forward to that. And he's just he's I know he's around town. I work close with Ryan and Lindy. Ryan Williams, the head women's basketball coach, and Lindy and Lindy said, oh, yeah, we see him downtown all the time.
00;11;58;20 - 00;12;18;19
Susie Wargin
They're going out to dinner. And so I thought, you know what? That's really cool. They're already immersing themselves in the city. You know, seeing people, people know who they are and they're not afraid to to get out and hang out and figure out the town. So I think he's and he's got a great approach. I mean, they went to recruiting Colorado hard and great job on social showing all the high schools they were going to.
00;12;18;21 - 00;12;33;19
Susie Wargin
I mean, he called Dave Logan very quickly after he got to town. And, you know, just contacting those high school coaches saying, hey, I'm here. We really want to have a presence in Colorado, so let's get to know each other, which I think is fantastic because people want that. They want their kids to stay in-state.
00;12;33;22 - 00;12;38;20
Tom Green
You went to Broomfield High School? I did, and then you were also heavily recruited by CSU.
00;12;38;21 - 00;12;43;02
Susie Wargin
Very heavily recruited. Yeah. I had opportunities to go to other schools, made those visits.
00;12;43;04 - 00;12;44;27
Susie Wargin
I'm just getting, you know.
00;12;45;00 - 00;13;00;18
Tom Green
Were you always going to go to CSU because you ended up there and you've become one of the biggest CSU boosters I know. Benjamin would be another one. People who love the Rams, you know, through and through. But but did you was there another place you considered going?
00;13;00;22 - 00;13;12;17
Susie Wargin
Not really. I think I had, I did not want to go to see you because of Broomfield being so close. And at that time, Crossroads Mall was the mall to go to. Something like that is way too convenient for my mom to stop by anytime she'd.
00;13;12;17 - 00;13;13;20
Susie Wargin
Like to, because she loved.
00;13;13;20 - 00;13;33;12
Susie Wargin
Crossroads. And so I thought, you know what? I see you off the map. I had a lot of friends that went there, obviously, because it was so close to to Broomfield, and I went up to CSU. I was a trainer all throughout high school football, basketball and track, and I was an all state trainer. Not did not get recruited for training, by the way, but so but for the All-State games they were up at in Fort Collins at CSU.
00;13;33;12 - 00;13;49;09
Susie Wargin
And so I went up there my in between my junior and senior year, and I was like, oh wow, this place is awesome. And, just fell in love with it and really, really liked the idea of, okay, I'm not super far away, I can drive home in an hour if I need to. And it was just it fit.
00;13;49;09 - 00;14;08;19
Susie Wargin
Yeah. And it just so good and and I loved it. Had I not and I wanted to go into radio and TV had I not that not worked out. I wanted to be the the next Steve in Annapolis because I really did love training. Yeah. And I was like, I'm going to be the first female NFL trainer. And I took classes from Steve when I was in high school, which he hates me mentioning, because then that makes him feel older.
00;14;08;19 - 00;14;10;04
Tom Green
But the pride of you go.
00;14;10;05 - 00;14;11;09
Susie Wargin
Oh, I know.
00;14;11;11 - 00;14;19;24
Susie Wargin
Yeah, I love Greek, but so it was fun. But, you know, the radio TV thing kind of took its course and thank God, because I don't know if I could have gotten through all those classes.
00;14;19;24 - 00;14;26;28
Tom Green
So when did you when did that bug hit you? The radio. TV that I want to be heard. I want to be seen. I have things to say.
00;14;26;29 - 00;14;46;03
Susie Wargin
It wasn't so much the TV thing as it was the radio thing. And that was in probably junior high or high school when I was so into music and I loved Steve Cooper was my idol who was on CBbC, right? And I used to tape his show at night. I would play back his top eight at eight and I would pretend I was him, I would do the deejaying and then you're.
00;14;46;03 - 00;14;47;13
Tom Green
15 years old forward.
00;14;47;14 - 00;15;07;00
Susie Wargin
Oh yeah, 1314. So and I had, you know, a, dual cassette player and I would make my own Little Mix tapes and things like that. So I've just a radio was my thing growing up, and I loved KP. I was thinking about this, I, I sold as a fundraiser in high school. KBI gave you gave you the opportunity to sell T-shirts, sweatshirts and right in high school.
00;15;07;00 - 00;15;14;09
Susie Wargin
So I did this fundraiser for our home EC class. And because people when I got the job at KBI, they're like, well, of course you did, because you sold their sweatshirts in high school.
00;15;14;09 - 00;15;16;02
Susie Wargin
I'm like, oh gosh, I did, didn't I?
00;15;16;05 - 00;15;30;25
Susie Wargin
So it was just that was my station. And then to be able to work there, you know, years later in 1995, was when I got my job there, and I actually took over Steve Cooper's midday spot because they moved him over to the Fox, because when you get old, you go to classic rock, which is what I'm doing now.
00;15;30;25 - 00;15;32;03
Susie Wargin
So that's why I'm on classic rocks.
00;15;32;03 - 00;15;35;01
Tom Green
I'm old. Are we allowed to call it that classic rock, or does that make it?
00;15;35;05 - 00;15;38;25
Susie Wargin
That makes you sound old. So we were just Colorado's rock station.
00;15;38;27 - 00;15;43;09
Tom Green
At the Fox now. Okay, I don't want to say a broader a broader umbrella.
00;15;43;12 - 00;15;43;29
Susie Wargin
Yeah, yeah.
00;15;44;00 - 00;15;45;08
Susie Wargin
Classic rock means you're old.
00;15;45;08 - 00;15;51;00
Tom Green
So don't do that. So you finally get the chance to get your own microphone while at Colorado State.
00;15;51;00 - 00;15;56;02
Susie Wargin
Yes. Yeah. So I did an internship at KCL. And at that time which is channel 93 three, they were.
00;15;56;03 - 00;16;00;09
Tom Green
One good rock station up north. Yeah. There was alternatives. Yes. They were progressive.
00;16;00;09 - 00;16;12;23
Susie Wargin
Yeah. Because out so we're talking early 90s. This is when Pearl jam Nirvana all the bands are coming on the scene. So they went to that route, competed kind of directly with Koko and also the peak. If you remember the.
00;16;12;25 - 00;16;15;02
Tom Green
Time came and went or maybe it was renamed or.
00;16;15;04 - 00;16;30;11
Susie Wargin
Yeah, they did, but they were I mean, they came on the market when all of that was going on. So it was like the three stations. I was an intern my junior and senior year of college at CSU. And then when I graduated, I got a job pushing some buttons for 600 Kix, which was an affiliate of the Broncos.
00;16;30;17 - 00;16;48;23
Susie Wargin
And so they, you know, did the CSU games and whatnot. So I kind of got the sports background. But behind the scenes, I'm just doing in the control room, doing all the button pushing and everything. And finally, a Christmas Day 1992. So I had graduated about six months prior. They needed a shift field on CXL and I was like, yep.
00;16;49;00 - 00;16;58;14
Tom Green
So when I was doing radio in college and then my college stay was a brief one, but when I was there, I mean, we had turntables.
00;16;58;16 - 00;17;00;03
Susie Wargin
We had yeah, we had turntables and yeah.
00;17;00;03 - 00;17;05;13
Tom Green
So I was going to say I was thinking of you as an intern filing the CDs, but there was vinyl. You were some.
00;17;05;13 - 00;17;09;23
Susie Wargin
Vinyl, mostly CDs. Yeah, but some things were not on CD. So we still played them on vinyl.
00;17;09;23 - 00;17;11;09
Tom Green
Still played them on vinyl there.
00;17;11;09 - 00;17;14;10
Susie Wargin
And it was, you know, mix and match and and push and pop up and.
00;17;14;11 - 00;17;32;01
Tom Green
Having to think, think the clock. I always thought, oh yeah, you had to figure out that song. 623 okay. So yeah, that leaves me 28 seconds. And it was it was a great experience. Did you, how much did you grow there? I mean, because you think of from you're going from 0 to 60 when you get on the air.
00;17;32;03 - 00;17;41;12
Susie Wargin
Yeah. A lot. I mean, I didn't know what I was doing. I used every single break. I would say my name, the time and the temperature retakes what crutches were early on.
00;17;41;15 - 00;17;42;06
Susie Wargin
And I started by.
00;17;42;06 - 00;17;49;12
Susie Wargin
Going by Suzanne. I didn't want to use my name. I always wanted to be have my name, have a Z in it because I wasn't a I was a Susan, which is you, Susie.
00;17;49;12 - 00;17;50;10
Tom Green
With the Z ever.
00;17;50;10 - 00;17;55;06
Susie Wargin
No, because that Suzanne. Suzanne can use the Z. I mean, you could do whatever you wanted to, but that was.
00;17;55;06 - 00;17;56;00
Susie Wargin
What it was.
00;17;56;03 - 00;18;10;10
Susie Wargin
And a Susan uses two S's, and I always wanted a Z because I had a Susie in, you know, growing up. And she had a Z. And I just always thought that was cool. And she got all the guys and I'm like, man, if I just had that Z in my name, I could be popular. But anyway. So I called myself Suzanne.
00;18;10;13 - 00;18;21;11
Susie Wargin
Time and temperature weather, you know, all that stuff. And then started to get better. More about music, you know? And then eventually I started using my name too, because I was like, well, you know, and this is before days of internet and things like that.
00;18;21;15 - 00;18;32;05
Tom Green
I always thought FM rock radio was cool because you got to go to shows to. Oh yeah, like like who do you who were some of the first like you had the pass to go see.
00;18;32;05 - 00;18;48;21
Susie Wargin
Went to a lot of shows. I mean I've seen tons of different bands throughout the years, but some of the early ones were the fun ones that were small then and then got bigger, like I used to DJ Thursday nights at the Armory in Greeley, which is a sister to The Dark Horse, which just closed in.
00;18;48;23 - 00;18;51;14
Tom Green
I go to the armory during when we were when the Broncos training.
00;18;51;14 - 00;18;52;09
Susie Wargin
Oh, yeah. And the.
00;18;52;11 - 00;18;53;02
Tom Green
Training camp.
00;18;53;02 - 00;18;53;14
Susie Wargin
You go.
00;18;53;14 - 00;18;54;02
Tom Green
Over there?
00;18;54;02 - 00;19;12;08
Susie Wargin
Yeah. Between the smiling moose in the armory, those are the places to go. Yes. And so I would deejay there on Thursday nights. And one night we had 311 there, which is now a huge band. But this is when they were just little. So I'm like, I got to see one of those bands with 150, 200 people at the State Armory in Greeley, you know, so just little things like that.
00;19;12;08 - 00;19;18;20
Susie Wargin
Those are the ones that stick out to me. Went and saw Rage Against the Machine when they were very small. My brother and I went to that show and we walked out. We were like.
00;19;18;20 - 00;19;19;24
Susie Wargin
Whoa, that.
00;19;19;24 - 00;19;39;20
Susie Wargin
Band is a I blew our minds because they were just so political and so just out and crazy. And then they blew up. And then Katie had some concerts called The Big Adventure, where they were these big festivals at Fiddler's Green and one year sublime was the headliner, and their lead singer died of an overdose two weeks after he was at that.
00;19;39;20 - 00;19;54;12
Susie Wargin
I mean, so it was like things like that where you got to see these bands in their infancy and then, you know, what happened over the years with them was was pretty cool. But then I've seen all the big ones, you know, the Def Leppard and Metallica and I've never seen AC, DC. So I'm hoping to see them this summer.
00;19;54;13 - 00;20;05;04
Tom Green
So you've been playing rock music of some sort. It's hard to do it for a long time because the industry and or the music and or the customer will pass you by.
00;20;05;08 - 00;20;06;06
Susie Wargin
Absolutely. Yeah.
00;20;06;07 - 00;20;08;13
Tom Green
But you stayed. You stayed in the movie, stayed.
00;20;08;13 - 00;20;24;21
Susie Wargin
Relevant in 95. I mean, I didn't do any music, any deejaying when I was at Nine News. So there was a stint of time when I was just doing TV. But then when I left Nine news and iHeart called me and said, hey, would you come back to radio? I did sports radio for a couple of years and then started back at the Fox.
00;20;24;21 - 00;20;38;16
Tom Green
Yeah, well, it seems like you plugged in, you know, really you it the versatility and the ability to plug in and, when, when I had Romi being on, she said, you know, I'm saying yes is one of the most important things you can do when you're trying to fashion a career.
00;20;38;21 - 00;20;39;14
Susie Wargin
Absolutely.
00;20;39;15 - 00;20;40;20
Tom Green
Say, I'll try, I'll do it.
00;20;40;26 - 00;21;07;27
Susie Wargin
No. And and she's such a great example of that, of, you know, she was a cheerleader, but then she got the opportunity with Andy Lindahl to start coming into iHeart and just coming in and and that's what I did at the beginning to were just like, yeah, what do you need me to do? I'll push buttons. I'll sit there during a Broncos game and do the network breaks or whatever, because that then also gives you an appreciation for what everybody else does in the industry, and then helps you just, you know, gain your footwork and get your foot in the door and meet people and network.
00;21;07;29 - 00;21;18;23
Tom Green
I just remembered some of those, campaigns that just resonate and last, like Rock the Rockies. Oh, yeah. I mean, you you rocks Iraqis for how long? Nine KP yeah.
00;21;18;25 - 00;21;36;08
Susie Wargin
Nine years I was there. And what's funny, when I first started, the reason I got that job in part was because KP did a format change to alternative music beer called the New Music Revolution for a little while. So they blew out Rocks the Rockies for about two years and then realized, you know what? That's our identity is rocks.
00;21;36;08 - 00;21;56;02
Susie Wargin
The Rockies went back like we didn't play Metallica for two years on KP. We just were Nirvana, Pearl jam, Soundgarden, all of those, which was big at that time. People were like, where's our rock music? It was just and there was nowhere for it. Nobody was really playing it. So I went back to a Rock's The Rockies, which was so fun for me to be able to finally say rocks the Rockies, because we couldn't say it.
00;21;56;07 - 00;21;57;11
Susie Wargin
And I'm like, I've been wanting.
00;21;57;11 - 00;22;01;22
Susie Wargin
To do this my whole entire life. Yeah. So it was cool.
00;22;01;24 - 00;22;12;25
Susie Wargin
And we brought back the iconic, you know, blond woman with the rocks, the Rockies lips and the I mean, it was we did commercials and we were back and it was cool. That's really fun to be able to go back to that.
00;22;12;28 - 00;22;26;02
Tom Green
And you must I mean, it's funny to hear you talk about the music because some people become a little disaffected by it. They just you know, the industry starts to bore them, or the people aren't what they're cracked up to be. And you seem like you just love the music I do. Yeah, I.
00;22;26;02 - 00;22;46;23
Susie Wargin
Love the music. And it's fun because even though, I mean, I, we still play a lot of the same stuff every day. It's they're they're the hits and they're the ones that you once you start listening, you're like, oh man, this is great. And you sing along and you just it just makes you feel good. And I, I, you know, I think one of the reasons we like doing sports and music is we live in a fantasy world a little bit.
00;22;46;23 - 00;23;05;02
Susie Wargin
This is where people go to escape. It's where they go to feel good. And I like being a part of those two industries because our world is crazy and we don't. But, I would rather live in this side of it. I know it's happening and it's going on, but I really like this. The music and the and the sports that makes you feel good.
00;23;05;09 - 00;23;26;02
Tom Green
So, I'm going to get Bret Saunders in here someday. But I've known Brett for a long time, and he. I think he told me once he's live all the time, but most deejays now end up taping segments of their show chunks of time and you don't handle any music at all anymore. It's all lives in a keyboard now.
00;23;26;09 - 00;23;46;21
Tom Green
And that adaptation probably was somewhat technically interesting for a couple of weeks. And then you get it. But do you miss the feel, the I mean, even just the artwork on it, on an album, things like that, that you used to like, you'd sit there and open the album and read about it or something, and now it's just, yes, like cut seven.
00;23;46;25 - 00;24;10;01
Susie Wargin
Yeah. No, it's a really good question. So I mean, it is cool to see it, feel it, touch it. The automation has brought some positives, like in fact the automation came about with iHeart, which back then was clear channel, right when I had our first child and we'd moved from our downtown office to the tech. Yeah. And so I was able to come back and I had also started working at Koa at that time.
00;24;10;01 - 00;24;31;01
Susie Wargin
So I was able to come back and tape my show work at Koa, and not have to work as long of a day, which was helpful as a new mom, right? Because I could record my breaks and, and you're still able to go in there and, you know, I can still say what I want to say or, you know, breaks are in certain spots, but I if I move them around, I look at what's happening, you know, what's happened today in music history.
00;24;31;01 - 00;24;46;18
Susie Wargin
And I'll move some things around so I can be topical, talk about events of the past or whatnot. So you still have that freedom, but we can't pick our music. But if something comes up, like there's a certain album that came out today, I'll say, hey, can I swap out this AcDc song for one off that album?
00;24;46;18 - 00;24;52;18
Susie Wargin
Sure. No problem. And you know, my PD's good about it. He trust that I've got judgment that I'm not going to throw in, you know, something that's.
00;24;52;19 - 00;24;53;08
Tom Green
A clunker.
00;24;53;10 - 00;24;56;27
Susie Wargin
Right? Clunker that I'll just boom, somebody switches the channel.
00;24;56;28 - 00;25;11;07
Tom Green
But that that's the thing now because it used to be when you were doing your show, you did your show and you had some guidelines. Are those guidelines this wide now? I mean, do you really have to play wide? I mean, you play what you're told.
00;25;11;08 - 00;25;30;11
Susie Wargin
Yeah, they're they're pretty specific, Tom. It's and it's and that's what not for me. I think it gets very frustrating for the old school people that really wish that they had that freedom. And I think that has caused some people to get out of the industry because they just they miss all of that so much. Whereas I've been on one that's like, this is what it is.
00;25;30;11 - 00;25;47;10
Susie Wargin
You know, you go with technology or you're gone. And if you don't want to go with it, you know that that's your choice. But to me, I'm like, I like having a job and I like doing what I do. So I think I'll work with the technology and then find workarounds, you know, find ways to kind of have a little creativity and some fun in there.
00;25;47;10 - 00;25;50;13
Susie Wargin
And you can do that. I think there's still opportunities out there.
00;25;50;15 - 00;25;54;22
Tom Green
So it sounds like your musical goal this year is AcDc. See them?
00;25;54;22 - 00;26;00;06
Susie Wargin
Yes. To see them. I got to go see Def Leppard in February at the Coliseum in Las Vegas.
00;26;00;11 - 00;26;01;18
Susie Wargin
It was so much fun.
00;26;01;18 - 00;26;04;22
Susie Wargin
That was just it was like a I took a flier. I was like, you know what.
00;26;04;24 - 00;26;06;12
Susie Wargin
Let's just go do it. Let's go.
00;26;06;13 - 00;26;13;11
Susie Wargin
Yeah. And, and we had such a great time. It was really cool. But, yeah. AC, DC and power field at the end of July during training camp.
00;26;13;12 - 00;26;30;08
Tom Green
Not a bucket bucket. Yeah. So so let's talk about the sports because obviously I've known you for a long time and you have a great passion for knowledge of sports. But when did you get trusted with sports on the air? Who who's the first person who said, oh Susie, do it.
00;26;30;15 - 00;26;49;17
Susie Wargin
Yeah. Well, that would be Don Martin when Don Martin was the program director at CoA. So I was working at KBI. Sorry. And I really wanted to get back in the the sports realm, because I had done sports all through high school with the training and been around football and basketball, and I just really loved it. So I called him.
00;26;49;17 - 00;27;03;18
Susie Wargin
He was CoA was up above us, when we were down on Lawrence Street downtown and left a message and just said, hey, you know, we're down at KBI wondering if I can go help you out with some Rockies games, go get some sound. You know, this and that. Next thing I know, the next day he didn't call me back.
00;27;03;18 - 00;27;14;25
Susie Wargin
So the next day I walk upstairs to the 13th floor and I was like, hey, Don, I'm Suzy Worden. He goes, oh yeah. He goes, hey, we're going to put you on the zoo in the afternoons with Dave and Scott. And I was like, oh, wait a minute. No, I was just going to go cover some Rockies games for you.
00;27;14;25 - 00;27;15;12
Susie Wargin
I'm like, you.
00;27;15;12 - 00;27;17;07
Susie Wargin
Mean like the zoo? Are you kidding me?
00;27;17;07 - 00;27;19;02
Tom Green
There's a reason they call it the zoo.
00;27;19;05 - 00;27;19;20
Susie Wargin
Yeah.
00;27;19;23 - 00;27;33;09
Susie Wargin
He goes, I want to know. It'll be great. Also, if you do some Rockies games. But yeah, we think you'd be great with them. I'm like, okay, I've never met them. You know, I don't really I mean, I've seen him in the hallway, but right now I listen to their show all the time, which was hilarious. And I'm like, I want to be on that show.
00;27;33;11 - 00;27;51;14
Susie Wargin
And I hadn't even told my boss at KBI that I'd called him to go get some other, you know, hours. And I like, let me talk to my other boss and make sure it's okay that I'm doing both of these. So they within a week, I'm suddenly Suzy, the sports chick on the afternoons doing updates on the sports zoo and then also going out to Rockies games and doing.
00;27;51;14 - 00;28;10;27
Susie Wargin
And I mean, it just snowballed and and the chemistry was there. We had a great time. It was it was a lot of fun. And that's what really catapulted me. And then so that was right after Super Bowl 32. So right after we'd won the first one. Right. And then so everybody was absolutely bonkers and K charts with ratings and things like that.
00;28;10;27 - 00;28;28;12
Susie Wargin
And then CSU needed a sideline person. And so, then I got to do sidelines for CSU for a couple years on the radio at the same time of doing all of this. And then I decided, like an idiot, I'm going to get an internship at Nine News and start doing prep sports. And so I was doing all these things, at the same time.
00;28;28;12 - 00;28;35;22
Susie Wargin
And really, I mean, so. And then Patty Dennis trusted me to be on TV when I had zero experience being on TV. She was our news director at night.
00;28;35;22 - 00;28;37;25
Tom Green
Yeah, the legendary news director at Nine News.
00;28;37;25 - 00;28;57;15
Susie Wargin
Yeah. So, I mean, between Don Martin and her really saying, hey, okay, you know, let's go. And and it wasn't even a, it wasn't a woman thing. I mean, granted, they probably wouldn't have put a guy on with Dave and Scott in the afternoons on CoA. It would help to have a female voice. Sure. But I mean, I didn't I couldn't pronounce any of the hockey names when they came out for the all star game and things like that.
00;28;57;15 - 00;29;09;04
Susie Wargin
Like Dave, Dave really helped me through a lot of stuff, which I really appreciate. They were super patient with me. I thought I knew sports, but I didn't know what I needed to know, and so I really learned it, you know, by the seat of my pants.
00;29;09;05 - 00;29;28;10
Tom Green
I want to talk about TV with you in a bit, but that that relationship with Dave Logan, because it continues now on the radio broadcast of the games with Rick Lewis and, it seems as though you guys have a family. I've known Alan Jackson since he was a kid, and he produces the games for you. And you guys have just a great crew.
00;29;28;14 - 00;29;42;01
Tom Green
Yeah. And it seems like no matter, like, you know, obviously Dave's going a million miles an hour coaching football and all that stuff all the time, but it seems like, you guys have tremendous chemistry, enjoy working together and do a heck of a job.
00;29;42;01 - 00;29;59;27
Susie Wargin
We do. We are so lucky, Tom. I mean, I look at we spend a lot of time together during the football season and it's it's AJ, our producer Jesse, our engineer, Rick Lewis, Dave and myself are really the main five that that travel and hang out the most. And I'm kind of team mom, you know, I'm always the one.
00;29;59;27 - 00;30;14;20
Susie Wargin
Well, when you have Dave on, I think about this, you text me, you're like, hey, since you're the unofficial photographer of the radio broadcast group, you sent me some photos. I'm like, yep, got a lot of them. And I'm always one that says, hey, let's get a picture. And they go, yeah. And then as soon as we take it, Dave goes, can you send that to me?
00;30;14;20 - 00;30;31;27
Susie Wargin
Yeah. Oh, but you didn't want to get a picture, but now you want it. Okay, I gotcha, but it's just really fun. We have such a great time. We care so much for each other. We're very supportive of each other. I mean, I couldn't be more uplifted as a, you know, female between with four guys, it is always, hey, great job.
00;30;31;27 - 00;30;46;00
Susie Wargin
You know, this, that and the other thing. And it's just a really, really cool, very good positive energy to be around. And it would be miserable to do all that traveling and be with people if you didn't like them that much. So I feel really, really fortunate because we don't get to pick each.
00;30;46;00 - 00;31;01;11
Tom Green
Other, but you still ride the highs and lows a little bit. You get a bad football team having a bad year, and the job isn't as compelling, if you will, and you get a great team. You look at this year's Bronco team. That was a fun ride. That was fun to to broadcast.
00;31;01;11 - 00;31;16;26
Susie Wargin
Because we had some other years that were not so fun, some other games that weren't fun, and what we'd always walk away with was we did the best we could do on the broadcast. You know, we would walk away going, you know, we did everything we could. We had great reports. Everybody was was on their job and had good interviews afterwards.
00;31;16;28 - 00;31;30;23
Susie Wargin
We can't help it if the team doesn't win, but this year was so much fun. We really had a good time and I just, you know, I'm happy with the way free agency has gone because I didn't want to see a lot of those guys go away. I was like, oh man, they're bringing back all my favorites.
00;31;30;23 - 00;31;31;28
Susie Wargin
This is great. Nice.
00;31;31;29 - 00;31;37;00
Susie Wargin
Yeah. And then adding in Jaylen Waddle and I'm like, okay, you know, this this could be this could be really good.
00;31;37;01 - 00;31;49;02
Tom Green
Your relationship with those players is important. And your role on the field, not only in what you say to them with your microphone, but also just being around them. You can learn a lot and convey a lot of information.
00;31;49;02 - 00;32;04;12
Susie Wargin
Yeah, I really have, much more. So the last couple of years taken to going to every time there's an open locker room. So I get out there 2 to 3 times a week while they have open locker room. And that has helped a lot with just. And a lot of times I don't even I'm not doing any of my pregame pieces.
00;32;04;12 - 00;32;16;12
Susie Wargin
I get those done and then I just sit and chat with guys and we talk kids, we talk wives, we talk all kinds of things. Malcolm Roach told me one time. He goes, you're my mom's favorite. And I was like, all right, if I can get the moms, if I got Mom or Roach.
00;32;16;12 - 00;32;18;03
Susie Wargin
Liking me, okay, we're good.
00;32;18;05 - 00;32;33;11
Susie Wargin
And, you know, they just. They're so good with me. And then when something comes up, they know that I'm not throwing them under the bus. I'm going to ask good questions, but I'm not going to, you know, do anything that catches them off guard. And I mc a lot of their charity events, Pat's or Tans event every year.
00;32;33;14 - 00;32;34;28
Susie Wargin
Garrett Boles, I just started doing.
00;32;34;29 - 00;32;36;13
Tom Green
UMC everything, by the way.
00;32;36;13 - 00;32;37;14
Susie Wargin
Well, no, you between you.
00;32;37;14 - 00;32;37;24
Susie Wargin
And I.
00;32;37;25 - 00;32;39;13
Susie Wargin
Well, maybe we do a lot.
00;32;39;13 - 00;32;40;25
Susie Wargin
But I do MC quite a bit, which I.
00;32;40;26 - 00;32;59;22
Tom Green
Love you. You always do the Sports Hall of Fame. You hear the the women, the sports women of Colorado. You're a big part of all those. It's a lot of fun though, going back to always saying yes. You're always there for people. Yeah. When you went to television, I noticed. Have you ever noticed your hair is kind of curly?
00;32;59;25 - 00;33;06;28
Susie Wargin
No. Is it really? It's a it's a little curly. I mean, how people find me on the sidelines are like, I can't miss your hair.
00;33;07;01 - 00;33;17;01
Tom Green
But I know, I know from years in TV that that was not going to fly when you arrived and they told you you're going to have to iron that. Yeah.
00;33;17;03 - 00;33;34;25
Susie Wargin
And that meant. Yeah. And and it was even more of a mess. It looked like a helmet sometimes. Tom. Yeah. And I get it. This was I got the preps job at 9 in 2001. And at that time everybody had what I called anchor hair. It was the Rachel from friends, you know, and Cheryl Prime worked perfectly, but Cheryl's got great straight hair.
00;33;34;25 - 00;33;40;23
Susie Wargin
Kim's always had great hair. And so there were these model haircuts there like look like that. And I'm like, yeah.
00;33;40;23 - 00;33;45;05
Susie Wargin
But but there's a lot of this and it's really hard to get it to.
00;33;45;11 - 00;33;49;00
Susie Wargin
So I'd straighten it on the weekends. And my, my husband would look at me like.
00;33;49;02 - 00;33;50;22
Susie Wargin
Who are you?
00;33;50;24 - 00;33;52;04
Tom Green
I've never met you.
00;33;52;09 - 00;33;53;17
Susie Wargin
Never met you before. Yeah.
00;33;53;24 - 00;34;05;00
Susie Wargin
And if there's any kind of humidity, it would literally cruise up and it would be a total helmet. So that was fine. I was like, okay, I will do my thing so I can do my TV thing. But then once I got the morning show job.
00;34;05;02 - 00;34;10;14
Tom Green
You were doing every morning, every morning, that was I think it was only starting at six then or five. No, no, still.
00;34;10;17 - 00;34;11;10
Susie Wargin
Still at five.
00;34;11;13 - 00;34;25;16
Susie Wargin
But then we went to 430. We started at 430. So I was up at 130 in the morning, had to be in at three and people would be like, oh, so who does your hair when you get there? Oh, nobody or my makeup, you do it on your own. Yeah. So that was getting up every day, washing it every day, straightening it every day.
00;34;25;19 - 00;34;31;19
Susie Wargin
And I said, listen, you got to let me try and wear it curly because I just can't take that extra time. I can't lose that much sleep. And I had little.
00;34;31;19 - 00;34;33;28
Tom Green
Kids and you'd think they'd go, okay. Yeah.
00;34;33;28 - 00;34;34;07
Susie Wargin
And it.
00;34;34;07 - 00;34;34;21
Tom Green
Didn't go.
00;34;34;21 - 00;34;35;05
Susie Wargin
Okay.
00;34;35;06 - 00;34;39;10
Susie Wargin
Well they did. They went, we'll try it. We'll see how it goes.
00;34;39;12 - 00;34;41;08
Susie Wargin
Like, okay. Thank you. And,
00;34;41;11 - 00;35;01;22
Susie Wargin
And then it wasn't probably too much longer, were there? Like, it's your signature. We love it. People are getting emails and you know, and I feel like I liberated all these curly girls all of a sudden. And so. And it kind of became my thing. And I was like, thank goodness, because it was just so hard. And and even I look back then and I had to wear it pretty short and sometimes it made it a little inside to the curly hair.
00;35;01;22 - 00;35;14;24
Susie Wargin
If it's too short, you know, you can't get your curls to kind of go the right way. So you still get a little flyaway sometimes, but it's, yeah, it's kind of my thing. And what's funny, if you look at pictures of me as a kid, I had stick straight hair. It did not get curly till I got pregnant with our first kid.
00;35;14;24 - 00;35;16;09
Susie Wargin
Oh, so it was a hormone thing?
00;35;16;09 - 00;35;18;11
Tom Green
Well, I was going to talk about that because I.
00;35;18;12 - 00;35;18;26
Susie Wargin
Hormones.
00;35;19;04 - 00;35;20;10
Tom Green
Well.
00;35;20;12 - 00;35;22;21
Susie Wargin
You about menopause.
00;35;22;23 - 00;35;24;23
Tom Green
I don't right.
00;35;24;23 - 00;35;27;24
Susie Wargin
Now. I'm on time now. Right now. Okay.
00;35;27;24 - 00;35;28;19
Susie Wargin
That's on the next episode.
00;35;28;19 - 00;35;28;27
Susie Wargin
No, but.
00;35;28;27 - 00;35;45;12
Tom Green
Men and women and on television, men have always had far more little attitude. Nobody. Nobody yells at us about this or that. And if your hair's a little long, someone might say, cut it. Or, you know, but it's never as radical as what they were putting you through. And other women as well that found their way through that.
00;35;45;15 - 00;36;06;19
Tom Green
And that's why I loved when I saw, you came on our set one time at Nine News with Taylor McGregor and Ariel or pseudo was there, and we were talking about this growth of women in sportscasting and broadcasting. And then I saw another picture you posted with even more women yet, Romi and Rachel V Hill. And there's the picture right there.
00;36;06;21 - 00;36;23;16
Tom Green
Yes. And Lindsay Jones, of course, have who's been on the show? Kim Becker is now at Utah. And just all these ladies, you had some sports women on television and radio ahead of you, but few and far between. Like a Marcia. Just Marcia. Yeah.
00;36;23;16 - 00;36;40;10
Susie Wargin
And then. Well, and I should say also, Carol McKinley did the prep sports before I did at nine. So really, they were the only two in our market. Tom. So there wasn't a except for National, you know, Cohn and Susie Colburn when you had the some of the ESPN gals. But here locally it was really just Marcia and then Carol.
00;36;40;10 - 00;36;41;02
Susie Wargin
And now you.
00;36;41;09 - 00;36;57;29
Tom Green
You have that role a bit. I mean, you do and you seem to embrace it because when I see you in that photograph with, with those women, they're thrilled that you were there to help Pierce some of the, the stuff out of the way and probably going to hear less and less about your hair being too curly and all that.
00;36;57;29 - 00;36;59;11
Tom Green
And let's just just do the job.
00;36;59;12 - 00;36;59;23
Susie Wargin
Just do the.
00;36;59;23 - 00;37;16;01
Susie Wargin
Job. No. Exactly. Right. And it's been cool. I think as I've gotten older, I look back and I'm like, okay, how can I now, you know, help out? I'm I'm so happy where I'm at. I have no aspirations to go do anything more nationally, things like that. I really like everything that I do. So how can I help?
00;37;16;01 - 00;37;33;15
Susie Wargin
Some of these women make connections so they can grow their careers and go from whatever they might be doing in their 20s to 30s? And I didn't get the sideline gig till I was 49, you know. And so there's there's going to always be opportunities. So how do you connect with people and, and get to those places. And so I got that group that you just showed the picture of.
00;37;33;15 - 00;37;47;26
Susie Wargin
We got together. It would be two years ago, a little over two years ago. And and it was really cool. And since then I've done a few little smaller groups. We were not very good about it last year, so I need to get them going again. This year and just try and do some more kind of almost not workshops.
00;37;47;26 - 00;37;51;08
Susie Wargin
But when somebody comes to town like a Tracy Wolfson. Yeah. And she has time and.
00;37;51;10 - 00;37;52;20
Tom Green
You've become friends with her and.
00;37;52;20 - 00;37;53;07
Susie Wargin
She's friends with.
00;37;53;07 - 00;37;54;12
Tom Green
Tracy over a lot of games.
00;37;54;12 - 00;38;00;27
Susie Wargin
Oh, my gosh. And they're wonderful. And they and they love doing it. And they're like, man, this is great. You're doing this in Denver. I wish they were doing it in more cities.
00;38;00;27 - 00;38;05;19
Tom Green
Your original contact with Suzy Kolber came as a young Suzy, though. Just Suzy. Gorgeous.
00;38;05;19 - 00;38;12;24
Susie Wargin
Yeah, yeah. I called her out of the blue when I was at Koa to see because she was coming in for, I don't know if it was a Monday night game or ESPN.
00;38;12;24 - 00;38;13;06
Tom Green
At the time.
00;38;13;06 - 00;38;26;13
Susie Wargin
She was ESPN then and I was like, hey, is there any way I could have coffee with you? And she's like, I'm not going to have time, but happy to sit here and have a conversation with you. So we had like a 30 minute phone conversation, which was just a she told me all the things she had done where she had come from, and it was really cool.
00;38;26;13 - 00;38;29;08
Susie Wargin
And I was like, oh my God. I just talked to Suzy Kolber for a half.
00;38;29;08 - 00;38;31;05
Susie Wargin
Hour on the phone. This is awesome. And then when.
00;38;31;05 - 00;38;52;07
Susie Wargin
I saw her, she was here for a game. I think it was last year. And I said, hey, I will never forget you taking 30 minutes to talk with me. I know you've talked to a million people since then and will never remember that because this was late 90s when we chatted early 2000. And so we took that picture and just, you know, she just is still so nice and grounded and, just a super cool person.
00;38;52;07 - 00;39;07;18
Susie Wargin
And I think that's the thing that if we can bring that to where I always say we're better together, you know, help each other out, how can I help you and introduce each other? And what's cool now is that I love seeing the women all supporting each other, and I feel like it's more so now than it was when somebody puts a picture up on Instagram.
00;39;07;25 - 00;39;27;12
Susie Wargin
I see all our women commenting and being super supportive, right? And even the gals that are in the Springs and Fort Collins now, when I come to Denver, I don't feel so intimidated because I know everybody and that's what I love too. It's like they we broke down these kind of little barriers of, you know, just because we're in Denver doesn't mean we can't hang out with the girls in the Springs and vice versa.
00;39;27;14 - 00;39;37;07
Tom Green
And yeah, I just think there are more 12, 13, 14 year old girls who now have more role models to see and go, I can do that. Yeah. Why can't I do that?
00;39;37;09 - 00;39;53;07
Susie Wargin
You know, here's a cool one, I'll tell you. So we did a little segment one time on Nine News in the mornings called Mini Mes. And so we had people send in applications to like hang out. You know, Gary and Kyle and me and and so my mini me, her name was Finley. And, she was gosh, she's probably only ten years old at the time.
00;39;53;09 - 00;40;08;25
Susie Wargin
And she had a cute she, her mom's like, what are you going to wear? And so I wore, like, a pink sweater. And so she wore a pink sweater. So we literally looked like twins. She now works up at CSU in the sports department. And she saw me, and I was like, oh, my gosh, Finley, you know? And so it was just it was that she really wanted to be in sports.
00;40;08;25 - 00;40;13;26
Susie Wargin
And she knew it at ten. And it's just this kind of full circle moment and like. And you became a ram.
00;40;13;28 - 00;40;16;10
Susie Wargin
Oh my God, this is great.
00;40;16;13 - 00;40;23;09
Tom Green
What? Since I've just started taking up the podcast thing, you've been doing it for a little while now. Years has a great title.
00;40;23;16 - 00;40;27;22
Susie Wargin
It's. Yeah. Cut, traded, fired, retired. Everything that can happen to an athlete or coach.
00;40;27;24 - 00;40;29;05
Tom Green
Or that is going to have something or.
00;40;29;05 - 00;40;30;03
Susie Wargin
It's going to happen. Yeah.
00;40;30;03 - 00;40;43;05
Tom Green
It's it's waiting for a very few. Don't don't check one of those boxes and that is that more or less the name and you discuss life or is this is it about what you do after you're cut traded, fired, retired bolt.
00;40;43;05 - 00;40;56;10
Susie Wargin
So originally I did it and I was just going to call it cut traded because, Dmcc actually gave me the idea for it. He was on when back when he was on the fan, I heard him talking about how he he's a man. I'd be a great book, how I got cut. And I was like, oh my gosh, there's my podcast.
00;40;56;10 - 00;41;10;05
Susie Wargin
So I get I have to give him credit. And so I'm just going to do cut traded. And then one of my bosses said, well you should include, you know, fired because a lot of coaches get fired. Yeah. And so then I went to Carl Mecklenburg at one of the Sports Hall of Fame dinners, and I said, hey, I'm going to start this podcast.
00;41;10;05 - 00;41;13;15
Susie Wargin
I want to have you on. It's called cut, traded, fired. He's like, never happened to me.
00;41;13;17 - 00;41;14;09
Susie Wargin
I was like.
00;41;14;12 - 00;41;16;01
Susie Wargin
He goes, I'm retired though. And I was like.
00;41;16;01 - 00;41;17;17
Susie Wargin
Boom, okay, check.
00;41;17;17 - 00;41;20;12
Tom Green
Mark got a got to make it. So you fit in here I'm.
00;41;20;12 - 00;41;23;10
Susie Wargin
Sorry Carl, you never been cut, traded or fired?
00;41;23;12 - 00;41;36;26
Tom Green
Well, you mentioned a couple of guys I've had on here. Carl Mecklenburg, a special guy. But dmcc I think of as a guy, another survivor of the radio business because he's been through the mill, you know, and he's been cut, traded, fired, retired.
00;41;36;26 - 00;41;48;11
Susie Wargin
He's been. Has been. Yeah. When he got fired from the fan. And it was funny. Brandon Crystal, who I know you know as well. He texted me that morning. He goes you should get team back on your show. And I'm like, oh, a little too soon, I think, but I'll try.
00;41;48;11 - 00;41;49;00
Susie Wargin
Good idea.
00;41;49;00 - 00;42;03;25
Susie Wargin
So I texted back and I was like, too soon for my podcast. He goes, no, you want to go and let's do it tomorrow? And I was like, okay. And literally it was the first time he had talked to anybody. And so it's kind of I'd usually it's all athletes and coaches. But because he's so involved with sports, it worked out well.
00;42;03;25 - 00;42;22;13
Susie Wargin
And he just kind of I mean, he didn't air out the dirty laundry, which was totally fine. You know, you don't want to say everything, but just it's more about the stories. Where was your life? How did you get into your sport or your profession? And then all the ups and downs that they go through to humanize the athlete in the coach, because we think about him as these high paid people, they have no problems.
00;42;22;13 - 00;42;26;28
Susie Wargin
They've got money to solve all problems. Well, money does not solve all problems. Sometimes makes it worse.
00;42;26;29 - 00;42;31;04
Tom Green
Oh no, I was hoping it was going to solve every story.
00;42;31;06 - 00;42;32;26
Susie Wargin
Yeah, no it doesn't.
00;42;32;28 - 00;42;54;20
Susie Wargin
It just makes bigger problems that need more money to solve them. And some people, I mean, some guys have gone through some really rough times. Tyrone Braxton Monte Ball and they've all been very open about what has happened to them and how they've gotten their life back on track, how they're now helping other people. And so that's the cool part of it, of just like showing that it's not all, you know, great.
00;42;54;20 - 00;42;59;14
Susie Wargin
And you guys pay money to go watch and play. But man, there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes.
00;42;59;20 - 00;43;06;28
Tom Green
So two plugs one would be for your podcast. That's you can get it where you get podcasts, but that's via iHeart is.
00;43;07;01 - 00;43;12;14
Susie Wargin
It goes through in my heart channel. Yeah through Spreaker. But you can get it on anything. Your phone. Yeah, you can get Spotify and Apple pie.
00;43;12;19 - 00;43;17;19
Tom Green
And the other plug is you left all of it for a while and you still are involved in real estate.
00;43;17;20 - 00;43;19;10
Susie Wargin
Yes I am. Oh thank you for plugging that.
00;43;19;10 - 00;43;20;09
Susie Wargin
Well, just.
00;43;20;12 - 00;43;23;10
Tom Green
Just just in case anybody's out there looking to buy or sell, right.
00;43;23;14 - 00;43;39;07
Susie Wargin
Yeah. No. Then that keeps me very busy. So my mom was in real estate for 46 some years. I grew up the kid of a realtor. She got in in 1976, when women were just pretty much serving coffee at real estate offices. That, and so she became an agent and not to break down barriers, but she loved it and wanted to do something.
00;43;39;07 - 00;43;54;14
Susie Wargin
When my brother and I went into school. So, I've been licensed since 2013, have a really robust business. It's really all referral based, and I love doing it. People think that I sell athletes their homes, and I have yet to do that, which is fine. I don't want to. That's a weird barrier.
00;43;54;15 - 00;43;56;23
Tom Green
You could be crossing a stream or two there.
00;43;56;23 - 00;44;05;17
Susie Wargin
Yeah, it would just be weird. I don't need to be involved in their financial stuff. And, I would rather keep that separate. So I just, I work with regular people all the time, and it's fun.
00;44;05;17 - 00;44;13;21
Tom Green
Well, it keeps you very, very, very busy. And if people want to listen to you now, it is every, every afternoon, mid midday, midday.
00;44;13;21 - 00;44;19;10
Susie Wargin
So 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 1 or 3 five. The Fox, Colorado's rock station. Not the classic.
00;44;19;10 - 00;44;21;04
Tom Green
Rock. Not classic rock.
00;44;21;06 - 00;44;25;22
Susie Wargin
Because we're not old time. We're just we're maturing as well.
00;44;25;25 - 00;44;29;19
Tom Green
We've been doing that for a while now. See how long that lasts? Susie? Thanks a million.
00;44;29;19 - 00;44;30;23
Susie Wargin
Hey, thanks for having me.
00;44;30;23 - 00;44;37;29
Tom Green
I really do appreciate it. Yeah, yeah. Been nice to sit down and chat with you and share some of, what I think is an amazing story with a lot of people. Thanks, Susie.
00;44;38;00 - 00;44;41;03
Susie Wargin
Thank you.
00;44;41;05 - 00;45;02;00
Tom Green
So great to have Susie Warden stopped by today for the other Tom green show. And as we talked about at the top, I think it's really a big weekend here in Colorado. And of course, in Colorado these days, it's always 85 degrees no matter what month it is. But it will be a beautiful Saturday as all these people gather to see the Denver summit make their home debut at an Empower field.
00;45;02;02 - 00;45;20;01
Tom Green
And like I said, I think it sends a message, around the country as far as Denver, as a community that really does embrace women's sports. And Susie certainly knows a lot about that. Appreciate your time today. Thanks for joining us. Hope to see you back here again next week for another edition of the other Tom Green Show.