Greatest Mess-Ups with Shaker Samman

I know we're on the West Coast, but just having basketball kickoff at ten am, especially after not having it for months, has just been a true blessing. And yeah, it just has raised my mood over the last few weeks. Ten am is like we're up, but it is a little like shocking, and I guess it makes me also feel like you think the Pacers need to be on it tending, you know, like you get to watch the

Lakers private one p m. East Coast. You gotta remember that that's not prime basketball time, all right, easy, easy, Well, we'll get you riled up in other ways. Excuse me, No, I mean, I just you know, you're gonna roll me up. No, you don't gonna get rolled up by sports. My parents listen to that. I know, I know you're the one whose mind is in the gutter. But speaking of Jalen Rose, Detroit's own, we have a very special guest on today's episode,

shock or smon from the ringer. We're gonna say from the ringer, but we're gonna let you explain why that needs some clarification. Welcome to the show, and thank you an incredible segue. Yeah, I should also mention at the top, because you know, Pacers fan Pistons, I was at the mouth of the palace. That's right, bad blood off the top. No, let's I mean this is you know, we like to talk about these things, so I would love to hear about your experience there. So my confession is so I

was your Yeah, eight nine year old kids, don't incriminate yourself. No, no, no. I My dad at the time had work in the morning and we lived an hour from the stadium, and so he's like, you know, the Pistons, We're losing that game by like nine points or something late, and he's like, let's just let's just go home. Let's beat the trap and I was like, you know what, fine, Normally I would put up a fight. It wasn't a bad mood

to find. Let's go. And the second we walk out the front door, it's and Woolas shoves our test under the room. So you know how they have those like loud speakers outside the stadium so that you can hear for the parking lot, and so we're listening to this happened while we're in the parking lot. And then I go into we go into the car and we turn on the radio and it's like, well, ship, this is gonna be. That's gonna be. Why didn't we leave that game? Now? Is that a feeling of yeah? Is it a feeling

of regret? Like did you want to just be a witness to it or say you were there? Or so I'll say, like part of me is like, man, I wish it was there to be such a good story, and the other part remembers like like I was at the Kevin Ware game, Oh my gosh, and like seeing that in real time, just knowing like how that messed me up for like a month, having if I was like a nine year old or eight year old, how old I was at the bounce of the house and

I was there in the room. I think that certainly would ask some like long lasting effects that I yet, wow, that would be So we got to find a kid that was there and see how what they turned out to be. Right, Well, we'll find like whatever guy through a beer on our tests and like we'll find the guy Germaine O'Neil almost murdered. Well, yeah, so tell me because as a kid, obviously I was like, this is messed up. I hate run our test and all that, but you know, part of me is to look deeper in,

you know, to the motivation and all parties involved. I'm like, you know, I'm very sympathetic towards our test. The right, right, there's a lot. There was a lot going on. So like there was Ronald test files Ben Wallace hard I think a day or two after his brother dies. Ben's obviously like a tough guy and wanted to like push back in the emotional place. Ron art Test you know, went to the scores table after I forget who brought him there to like try to pull down absolutely fan

instigates it. Ron runs into the sands, everyone else runs and to try to get him back they start throwing punches at them, so punches back. Um, everyone, I'm gonna go out and say everyone was in the wrong. But also there are different degrees to how much you were in the wrong clue. I mean, yeah, the walking for the tunnel is like a haunting image of everything that was being thrown. You're just like, yeah, like just falling to the sky. Yeah, that's beyond mess stuff and there's

no justification for that whatsoever. Yeah, everything was a mess. Highly recommend the oral history from Grantlond. I believe it by Johnathan Aghbraham's shout out though to those Detroit Pistons who won the title of the year before because of you know, I hate that it's burned in my memory. It's funny. It's the second greatest block in NBA history.

Yeah it is. Uh, it is a beautiful block. And I when I was working the Pistons, I used to just walk around the building and yeah, the thing I also want to hear about, you know, your thoughts on the move down to Detroit, but are down to downtown. But the Palace just never like moved on from that era, which I think was cool. And I remember just like going up to the suits and there were I think, I don't know if you knew about this, but there was like Tasson's neighborhood and there was just a sweet

just decked out in Tasion stuff. And I know, Megan, this is before we started dating, but I always loved that sort of branding of Tashian's neighborhood and all like I have. I think I have like Tashon merch somewhere in a box in our garage. Well maybe it should stay there. But so, yes, I just watched a few weeks ago. The Palace was uh, they destroyed it, which yeah, I still don't know much of the reason behind going down. I think I peace rest in peace. But it was

a beautiful stadium. Yeah, so the Palace. When the Pistons were good, the Palace would sell out. I think they sold out every game for like nine was like incredible. The kind of fandom there. But the Palace, as you know, is like thirty thirty minutes outside of Metro Detroit. It's in Auburn Hills. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was right next to Bill Davidson's like company's campus, which is why it was built there. He owned the land. He built it himself until it made sense for that

kind of it just had the room for it. They moved downtown frankly because the team didn't. When they got worse, people were traveling to Auburn Hills. They needed to upgrade the stadium anyway, because it was like thirty years old

or something. And yeah, I mean it's a bummer, but I'm assuming the slice, as I called all Caesar's Arena is uh, it's easier to like get foot traffic in in a non pandemic situation when it's just in the middle of the town and that anyway, and it's a it's a city who I don't think I'm like saying anything crazy here, who sort of needed a revitalization of downtown. And like the move we see so often is places stadiums are downtown and then they moved further away, and

this was a reverse of that. And so it's kind of hard to, like, as an outsider, be against it. It seems like like a feel good situation and it's not. So the two biggest benefactors in Measure Detroit are Dan Gilbert and Tom Ill before he died, I think combined in like the ten years before I let side, they spent a combined like five billion dollars investing or three billion or something investing in Meture Detroit UM. And part of that is in your selfless. They want to make

their time better. And part of it is you're they're buying dilapidated buildings and land for pennies on the dollar and they know that when the boom kicks that in, they're going to be super rich or even more super HSI than the already. But the benefit is still there, Like having an actual like teter and Sports district and Meture Detroit is really cool. There's a lot of interest with like gentrification of the area. But the point is

I agree having stuff in metric to chart to school. Yes, okay, yeah so you yeah, I left the ring Yeah, I do want to get into that. So last day at the Ringer, I guess, well, let's start back. Let's start back kind of how you you've got into sports? Is your fandom across all Detroit sports teams? Yeah, huge Detroit

sports fan. I grew up also like a Michigan basketball, Michigan football fan, um, because that was you know, growing up Michigan, you're either a state fan or of Michigan fan blue and Gold um or amazing Blue pardon um. But yeah, then ended up going to do for college. Began a young Duke fan. Naturally, I probably were my title as a duke bag, but yeah, you know, right after school, was lucky enough to get an internship with the Ringer and then a full time position. Been there

for about three years. Like I said, today is my last day. It's very sase. So if you're an editor looking for a researcher a fact checker, hit me, yeah, pretty good. Now I find YouTube be one of like the kindest people you could encounter in sports, and and you're part of the comedy community because you love going to shows and friends with comedians. Now, when you meet someone who doesn't know a lot about you but they find out that you're a Michigan fan and a Duke fan,

do they immediately try and fight you? So? I think they would, So like I should, I should prepas my two hometowns like I'm from porture On, Michigan, but like on a national scale, what I say, I'm from around Detroit because that's easier. My two hometowns that are Detroit, Michigan and Danascus, Syria. I should be much more intimidating than I am. Softest person ever with that background. So I think I say that and they just take pity because they're just like, oh, look at you, I don't

want this is your stuff. Okay, that's good then, And so you got the Ringer right out of college, Yeah it was. It was very lucky. I got right as I was in school and you know, looking for jobs, I applied for an internship. They're just unbelievably lucky that they decided I was worth the taking a flyer on and that they've been gave me a full time job and uh one that I kept for the last couple of years. And I loved my time there. I should

say Ringer Union forever. Support them. They're doing great work. But yeah, I loved Beside. I'm sad to go, but it was time for something. Well, give us your your your biggest takeaway, or like, your your best memory from the Ringer on your last day. Here my best memory from the Ringer. What is it? Sorry, she's launching the game. I'm a turnover. It's going to the second half. I'm

being terribly rude. I'm I can't even believe I'm embarrassed. Listen, we should point out it's not Megan's fault because t J Warren the greatest basketball players Florida. My eyes cannot look away from t J. But we can't do count. He was he was, I think a senior when I was a freshman. He was an m C State and I was a dude, and it was cool watching him. But at no point was I like, yeah, that guy is gonna just shut down every team in the league for like six nights and then go back to being fine.

It's going back to being fine and just you know, playoff. Jimmy Butler is a psycho. Um and but yeah, I think all Jimmy Butler is a psycho. I think I don't think we need that. Right. There's varying degrees of psycho Jimmy, but we're seeing a peak of it. Right. You heard that he brought some like incredible coffee machine and is charging his own teammates twenty dollars for a cup of coffee. He's a business now. He's like and he and there was no mention of him like donating it.

He's like, it's twenty dollars and that money is coming to me. Look Jimmy Butler might understand. I don't know if he does, but I hope he does. Capitalism is just a monster. But you know, good for him for taking advantage. Yeah, okay, now back to your favorite Ringer moment by moment, um, I'm gonna pause it. Two of them in that's for One of them was the story that still pends my Twitter page from the eve of the World Up Final. I've loved Entity's done my entire

life soccer team. I had a weird session with them, and being able to write at length about the kind of like multicultural background and the history of the team with French culture and the country's issue with racism, I think was really cool and I got I love to

be able to do that. Um. The other one is just being able to I made a lot of earlier friends there, like Zach Pram and hallelu Getty, Riley Maczie and all of these other incredible writers my boss correct games, who are just some of the best in the business and are frankly like incredible, And I was so lucky to be around them, let them hear my dumb jokes and then correct me when I was wrong. It's just like an incredible. My dog is stretching in the back. I love your dog. She's a good girl. I see

her just in a little corner. Hell, well that's great. Okay. See here's an awesome another awesome segue. So you're a Michigan fan. Uh, and that kind of brings I'm sure it's gonna be brought up in today. Is topic greatest We're calling it greatest fun ups, which we can say, but for the sake of title and promotion, we're gonna call it greatest Sports mess Ups. Like that, and so we all have our three. And again, I don't want to tip the hat, but that was that was a

segue there. And this is something where it's like, you know, when Shaker and I were discussing the topic, we were both thinking like person based, Um, like who is an athlete or someone associated with sports who fucked up a lot. But it could also be interpreted as as an incident or as something going terribly wrong. I have a couple of incidents on my list. Yeah, me too, I have incidents, but there's some that incident is tied to a person, you know, so like an incident does not just happen

with no people involved. Um, so we'll tie those people to it. Okay, so Shocker, you are our guests. Lead us off with your third pick for greatest sports fuck ups. So this is the reverse orders. This is my I have to go with something. It's a little reason, um, but it's a personal favorite. My third is j R. Smith. In game one of the Lebron James has fifty one points. They have a chance to see what went on the road against the Warriors. Obviously everyone knows the Counts Warriors.

They're down one of seven, one oh six. Le Bron gets the ball on a switch, has Curry on him under the arm. He throws a pass to George Hill, whose fouled. It goes to the line. Will makes the first I don't one oh seven. Then he misses the second. Gr grabs the rebound right under the red five seconds left. He can either put it up, you can pass it out, you can do whatever. The Counts have a chance to win the game in regulations. Is crazy. He decided to

run up. Uh. There's a video of him saying, you know, I thought there was I thought we were ahead. I thought there was this Lebron if you watch it back, is like pointing at the him iconic and then you have the meme there's a fight between Tristan Thompson and Draymond. After that they lose an overtime. They missed their first five field goals. Asked about that video where he says, H on video, like, you know, I thought we were ahead. The next day he says, I might have said that.

It just needs so perfectly. J Jr. Is I think a man of true absolutes. In Jr's heights, he is unbelievably fun. He's shirtless on top of the car in a parade, He's dancing. Barack Obama's telling him where a shirt will come to the White House. I fully believe. I don't think you've been buying j R. Smith jersey. I think and you just go outside shirtless and drink Kinnessey like the Adams in the universe combined to make

a JR. Jersey. Um. I love him to death, but in that moment, that was the most j R j R. Yeah, And that's it's like he is so lovable, like he's someone if you're like a teacher, where he sucks up and you're like, come on, j R. Whereas like if someone else were to fuck like a trash can would be on fire. Hi doggy, she's so big now. I brought her onto the video because you know, uh, podcasting video format. Yeah, but you guys, I hope you can tell from my voice as a really sweet doggie here. Um.

I love JR. And I always like, I never want people to be mean to him. You know, like we make fun of him a lot, but it's like being nice to j R. He's got a sweet heart. I wish he was still going live from the Bubble. I obviously missed as we all miss it. It was perfect. He got reprimanded the first day was there. I mean, he just is He's a delight And this is a type of topic that could like get dark and sad, and j R Is someone where it's like, yeah he fox up, but he like means well and and is

just I have so much love for him. J R. Play is the kind of basketball I love. Like there's that boy gave once where He's like sometimes if I'm wide open, I wait for a defender to commy. It's more fun for me to take contested shots. It's like, who are you other than my favorite player? Yeah? I mean that that is I love that. I want to root for that, and it's more of like, uh, it's just like solid characteristics. Um and you you said you don't know if you can buy a Jarr Smith jersey.

You can't, but you can customize them. And so that's why I have a Lakers twenty one with swish on the back that Megan is like, yeah, so more money, well spec Now, I don't know if after game one of my wonderful oh my gosh, I can't wait to rent until I die and then I'll be a casket Listen. I've stopped with my jersey's. I've put them all away recently. Uh, and there will be no more. But j r Ja is a good pick, and it's funny that we're like, yeah,

game one of the two eighteen finals. But also he beat up a kid during the protest recently and the thing is not a funk up, not a funk up. But yeah, that's what's It's great that JR just like every story here about Jeremike, of course, yeah, I'm not surprised and we still love him. Great first pick. Happy, it's sort of like a happy note to keep it off off with. Although okay, so my number three is Plaxico Berris shooting himself in the leg in a nightclub.

I mean, so at the time Plaxico was on the Giants, he was in a nightclub and in New York having a concealed or unregistered or whatever it was weapon was a felony, and I think and the in the midst of him trying to do something, the gun fell and discharged and he shot himself in his own leg. So he was injured and then also in trouble with the law, and he was able to come back from the injury. But Plaxico was like incredible beforehand, and then he never

really was able to recapture what he was before. And whether that has to do with his leg having a bullet in it or or or like the mental embarrassment. I did see him on Celebrity Wife Swap and he and I don't years ago, and he does seem like a like I don't think Plexico is like bad or like shitty or a horrible person, but I do think it's kind of funny that he shot himself in his own leg. Yeah. So Katie Baker, who's a huge Giants fan and one of my favorite ringer writers, had a

big story about ten years after. I think it was years after the flash going that, I highly recommend anyone who wants to learn more about it talk about Um. It is also wild to me that I believe you went to jail shooting himself. Yeah. Yeah, because it's like like there's you know, the victim has decided to not press charges, like he would face that that one, but it was Yeah, it was a concealed weapon that he

was not allowed to have. Yeah, and Plaxico is such a fun name, Like he just sound and he's sounds like a wide receiver. He also was just like such a fun player, like football was so fun. Um. I believe he went to Michigan State, So I guess we can claim another Midwestern action Megan. Yeah, listen, I'll take all the big ten boys we can. And if Flaxico is in there, let's see where he went he went. Oh yeah, he went to Michigan State. Wow. He was

the eighth pick in the two thousand draft. Michigan State has some incredible receivers between him and notable bust May rest in peace. Charles Rodgers m HM him and his wife Um that he was on wife swap with They're still married. That's wonderful. Yeah, so that's a fun up. He's on a fun we're trying to light and bright. Well, we'll see what c J does. No, I'm not gonna okay, what you got, what you got, I'm gonna go with an incident. But also kind of there's there's several incidents

of this guy. Nothing too crazy, but Ricky Davis two three against the Jazz. He was a rebound away from a triple double. So what he does. The ball gets inbounded to him and he goes to his own basket and throws the ball like in layup form off his own rim and miss it and grabs it to count as a rebound. They were up, the Cabs were up against the Jazz, and to then get the rebound and

get a triple double, and everyone was pissed. I can't remember what Jazz player fouled him and then send him the line and he got fouled by his own teammates. No, no no, no, no, he got fouled by the Jazz because it was just like they all realized what he was doing and they're just like we need to retaliate

or just like put him in his place. But there is also like a classic Jerry Sloan postgame interview or he's upset and yeah, this is like again how we say, j R. We were not surprised by this very much, Ricky Davis at the time, Yes, not surprised by this as this guy like on a fast break who would do like a three sixty dunk and miss it. I think that was like another blunder that he had. But yeah, total funk up or mess up, and it's just like, why would you do that? But did I hear that?

And I'm like, that's he has an entrepreneurial spirit. He's like, I'm gonna go get my own triple double. Like I like it actually, and maybe it does like fall in line with what's the name the baseball player the other night, Tatis right, Yeah, but yeah, it's what you think. Yeah, does basketball have unwritten rules? Are okay? Can you get can you You don't do that to get a I mean, you don't throw off your own basket for the rebound. You don't like go on, you don't like compete in

the last few seconds if you're up twenty five. But but yeah, so that's my pick, Ricky Davis. I like that one, especially because I feel like the most fun kind of picks that will have here are all about Supris And I feel like that that starts to tow that line. Yeah, it starts to the line and funk up if it isn't it funk up if it's intentional. You know, it's like he knew, he fully knew what he was doing. He made his choice. Is that tweet? It's like when I so I love it when I

read this is awful. Yeah, Ricky Davis, Okay, Regional Jr. Original the O G j R. Okay, let's take a quick back. What let's take a quick break and we will be right back to the rest of our picks. And we're back. And you know, two other people on the podcast your last day at the Ringer, so you've got Twitter mentions that you're waiting to see it. And Megan put out her bubble show, so she is now going through all of her Twitter mentions. Turned off the TV.

I turned off the TV. I mean, I'm now in trouble. I couldn't have the TV on. Uh so much. Thank you. Production looks a lot better than you know what because of that compliment. I'm gonna let you tell us your number two. I'm honored. Um, so it was. It was mentioned a little at the top. My number two pick is the MS Chris Webber tim in the National Champions Game. So you know, Michigan, the Fab five in the National Champion Game. They just got stumped by the Duke Blue Devils. Um.

They make it back April five, Um, they're playing North Carolina. Uh, they're down seventy three, seventy one with a few seconds left, Webber gets the ball. I should note that noted Lakers had Ancho rob Is on the floor as a Michigan basketball player. Webber first travels and it isn't called in the UNC bench is going crazy with eleven seconds leaps. He gets trapped at the sideline and of course he called the time out that Michigan doesn't have results in

the UNC free throws. They hit a couple more after that in Michigan loses the National Title Game seven seven seven. Now, is there any part of you where you're, like, you know, sympathize for Chris Webber. Yeah, certainly. I mean, like, I don't think he's a great announcer, but I liked I I think there's I definitely sympathize because like at the time, it was the biggest moment of his life. The National Championship game. It's everything. Everyone knew it was gonna be

his last season. He's gonna go throw. He's Chris Webber. This team is like this historic team, they of course to change basketball, but they never won it all. And yeah, he effectively, Well he sealed Michigan's lost. Yes, maybe he kicks the ball to Polinka or Howard or Jaylon or whoever, and they take the shot and they miss. Anyway in Michigan still lose it, but the outcome that ended up

happening was definitive. Chris Webber lost the Nationals. Well, my question is too, so he gets the rebound off that miss free throw, right, did he travel? And does he wish he would have been called for the traveler cent he travels? Um, Well, what's worse being called for a travel which is obviously a personal funk up forgot the

first rule of basketball? Or is it something that almost feels a little more like j R. Which is like, like, I think even flight be less at fault than JR issue because not knowing the score, I think is more blat than not remembering how many times out you have You should of course remember that, especially in that situation, right, Yeah, yeah, I assume, and we a lot of like the grades you talked about in those moments, just like the press,

just presence of mind, knowing the score, knowing how much time left, knowing how many fouls to give or time outs left, and yeah, I guess he didn't know, but yeah, I always got to remember him like he almost traveled there. That would have been worse or just definitely yeah. Yeah. Now when Duke and Michigan play, who do you root for? I root for do? Wow? Okay, oh, but my freshman year because I do. There's no tickets for basketal games, students, it's all three and it's all first you have to

we've seen we've seen the dorks outside. I'm kidding. I know, I'm totally crying. I know people, but yeah, so I slept out for a week for the Michigan game a week and watch. Oh yeah, so for the UNC game you sleep out for two months? No what tent? Yeah? So it's a twelve person tent. They're like the very structured things, one person tent. It's first come, first served

in the beginning. There's different sections at the Beginning the first two weeks of the hearts right, you have to have ten people out of the twelve every night, two people at all times during the day. The next six weeks or four weeks or however long it is, depending on the year, it's six people every night and one person at all times during the day, and then the last week is two people every night and one person

at all times. Do you like you have spreadsheets and schedules and making sure because they do random checks, you know, you'll get a a two am uh, someone with a bullhorn to make sure you're in your tent. Uh. It's it's wild, but it contributes to the absolute mania of being a well and also, Duke is a very very good school, so you're getting type A overachievers. You know, like,

this is not no offense to work. Got some dumb dumbs that perdue, okay, and we would not be able to figure out a spreadsheet of where we need to be at any certain time. You know, we could barely make its class. But Duke, it's like, yeah, these are all val victorians that you've given one goal to try

and be as close to the basketball. That's that's this is like the Gladiator oh yeah, and so it's it's really funny, like the one of the big selling points when I was freshman and they told me, oh, it's okay, you contend and still do your homework. They set up WiFi on the grass like but yeah, no, of course that would have mattered to me if I went to class, but that's another story. Um. But anyway, I attended out

for the Michigan game. I watched mis McGarry, who previously almost committed to do and on his recruiting visit from what I've been told, I wasn't there at the time, went to shoot her as the student bar, took his shirt off, stood on the top of the bar so swinging it over his head and yelled, I love this and I'm never leaving, and then committed to Michigan. Well that's why I want to know what the stories at

Michigan and were then in his recruiting visit there. Look, having spent uh plenty of nights at both schools, Michigan's more fun, you probably made wow good. I mean, I both of my uncles went to Duke, and I went there on like a college visit when I was in

cal Or. When I was in high school and I had gotten inadvertently food poisoning the night before, and I puked all over the student union and then my uncle was like showing me around after I puked, and he looked at me, he goes, you don't want to go here, and then we just left. I was like, Okay, I guess, I guess I'm not going to duke Um. You had more fun. I had a lot of fun at Perdue,

and it was a lot cheaper. And I always say like, if I had gone to a school that was any more expensive than Perdue, I don't think I would have been able to do stand up afterwards because I would have been so afraid of like my crippling dead. I mean, I graduated at the Peak. I graduated at the peaksion. Right when I graduated, it was the total bill was a quarter million dollars. That's colleges, Fuck you, that's crazy.

I can't wait for them to burst. It's going to happen. Okay, Sally May, sure, honey, Okay, Henney, all right, Okay, So my number two pick, we're staying on a college campus. At one point it was gonna be Lance Armstrong. I think we know he fucked up. So I went back in my catalog of people I've laughed at, and an image of Bobby Petrino in a neck brace popped in my head. And I don't know if you guys remember this story. It's so it's like they could make like

a lifetime movie about this. Okay. So Bobby Petrino is that name? Even ringing a bell to you, the man the football coach in a neck brace at practice. Okay. So Bobby Petrino was the Arkansas head coach and he hired a former Arkansas volleyball player, Jessica Dorrel, to be something called a student Athlete Development coordinator. Now, when you hear a title like that, it is a fine question to go you fucking the coach? Okay? So she was, in fact having an affair with the coach. Bobby Petrino

gets in like a very scary motorcycle accident. It's reported all over the news, and then a few days later it comes out that he was not alone on the motorcycle. This married. You know, we're in Arkansas. I'm sure Jesus is floating around a lot. He um was actually with this new woman he hired for a kind of like odd position. Um, Jessica was on the motorcycle with him. Then at that point that is like major, major news

that he had his mistress on the motorcycle with him. Um, he is suspended by the University of Arkansas and then people start protesting for him, Like the story just kept getting bigger and bigger. He's to practice in this hilarious like when you see someone in a neck brace, their neck is hurt and it is sad, but in like movies and comedies, we've been programmed to be like that's funny, they're lying, you know, they like snap them off and

ambulance chasers and all that. So, Um, he eventually admits that he had an inappropriate relationship and I mean in her twenties, she was younger. She's an older guy and she was younger. Yeah, yeah, she was young And then the like board of directors at Arkansas unanimously voted to

fire him. Wow, yeah, that is a fun up. I need I need to mention my favorite part of this, which is so there's a famous press confer the image of him in the neck brace from a press conference where he's wearing a sugar bowl hat as if to say, you're not going to fire me, I took you to the So did he end up ward king after this? Yeah? Yeah, he's that old miss I think still there is a Western Kentucky for a year. I think it's hired to Louisball.

At least he was Lamar Jackson's coach. Wow. And then and then he like just lands at Missouri State after Louisville. So we got fired Louis and then uh yeah, it's just it's truly amazing. So it's not failing up, but it's like failing and still having a job. Well. I don't know what kind of privilege it is, but the chances you get after some of these like straight up

crimes you're committing. Sometimes as he didn't committing, you just got in a motorcycle accident where he wasn't wearing a helmet and his mistress was on and he's a public figure, so it's like dog, come on. Yeah, I think had just been like a regular old mistress that he had it hired. I don't think he'd be fired. You know, it's when you start like they may have would wait

for him to like lose a few games. I am thinking of a person in particular in my brain who I will not mention had a mistress with also working within an athletic department, still has his job. Why won't you say the name, oh still has the job, still has j and I was not the mistress. Reply to our tweet promoting this podcast. If you have any guesses and Megan will I, I would say the fact that I'm not saying what it is is like a very

big hint. Does that makes sense? Okay? So C j um So that's Bobby Petrino, Thank you, Thank you for your service, Bobby, um C you give us your number two. Okay. Cool. I'm not a big baseball fan, as you guys know, but this is what I always think about baseball since I was a kid. Bill Buckner, Game six, Uh, missed grounder. I mean that is when people talk about not just fucking up in sports, but just like, man, you you

ruined it for everybody, Bill Buckner just missing that grounder. Again, Like I played baseball a little bit and a grounder was pretty easy, and it's like, yes, I'm gonna make a play here, and um yeah, they lost Game six, and they ended up losing in Game seven. But the thing is, this incident has been dissected so much. And I'm guessing, do you have another baseball pick coming? No, because again because we can talk about it, there is another baseball funk up um that was more fan related.

But these are not in deciding game, you know, Like but they talk about momentum ships. It's like JR. You know, but that's something that's it's also important. I think that both happened for and I don't really ruin the other one. In case I'm gonna pick, it happened for cursed teams. Yes, so there was a lot more pressure. Yeah, you're like, no, we we were about to do it, but then you

fucked it up. But it's like, but you guys also lost Game seven, which I think when you are a cursed team, you have this sort of you kind of act like a victim because like, oh, the actual it's not us doing this. It's like the world, the world, there is some higher power that's against us. And it's like, no, you just sucking sucked for a long time, Like you think a goat really did this to you. I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think a goat has

that power. I think you just were a shitty organization for a while so I just feel so bad for Bill Buckner. Um, and he's gone on to have like a fine life, and it's it's like handsome and kind of looks like he's passed away. Oh ship, he passed away a couple of years ago. No, oh my god. But you know what, I think he had some depressed woman's but and then you know, because pop culture. He again, the reason why I knew him was that was the name, and they made fun of him in every show, movie

or whatever. But I think then he he like came back from it and was able to make fun of himself. It certainly seems like yeah, which is yeah, I mean yeah, I would if I was him, I would just be like, Okay, well we lost Game seven, and did I do that? Did I do that too? My dad says, you got to get your glove dirty. That's what you always say. Get your glove dirty, Meg, get your glove on the ground. Yes, get your glove on the ground, because your dad. Get

your glove dirty. Girls. Um, okay, let's take a quick break and then we'll be back with our number one picks and we are back in Shocker. How we usually do it is since you are a guest. You're gonna be the big Grand Finale. So Megan and I will pick and you'll bring us home. Okay, So I don't think I feel like No, I do have um two

other honorable mentions. They are coaching related. I just really like, I was like, coaches buck things up all the time and are bad people, and I want to make sure we drag them to So my coaching funk ups are Lane Kiffin. The name itself makes me just like smack my forehead, like he's just such a dumbass goober. And then Rick Pettino. Rick Pettino just can't he can't win.

I mean, I mean he can't win. But he just extorted by a woman, he impregnated, constant n C Double A violations, went to the NBA, was a disaster back at the n C double A more violations. Like he just really he like makes me laugh too. He's kind of like a fun, devilish character. So those are my honorable mentions. And then my number one pick is Johnny Manzell, right, because I really was like, who is someone that I didn't ever like that I would feel fine giving this

title too. And you know when you're Wikipedia page has an entire section devoted to controversies. It's probably a pretty safe bet he was just some He truly could not get out of his own way everywhere he went. And they weren't massive fun ups, but they were just like constant, tiny ones. Like he got arrested before he ever played a down of college football. He overslept and then was like tweeting mean ship about the Manning passing camp. He

got pulled over. He was always having like issues fighting with girlfriends. I mean, for you to get benched by the Browns, you like really have to have funked up, which they have a lot of those, I know, And and that's why I was like, when you're when you when you're trying to find funk ups, just go to the Browns organization and like close your eyes and put

your finger out. Um. But Johnny, Johnny Manzel, it's just it's a punchline name a little bit at this point and just a tiny white boy with the biggest chip on his shoulder, and he just I wish he had been able to to do it, but he You almost look at Baker and you're like, are you the more grounded? Not much more, but are you the more grounded version of Johnny and I think that's still sort of like

remains to be seen. Yeah, well, I mean we make fun of our Cleveland sports fan friends when we like, they get excited over a Baker this year, this year, it's like, this could be But the thing is, you don't know, this could be our year. And it's like, Okay,

that seems like a really fun delusion. But then you have to realize what they've had to suffer through in witness You're like, okay, yeah, for your sanity, be hopeful, be hopeful, but also just keep it at a level of that as a Lions fan, which I think is the closest you can get to being a Browns fan either, it's um hope is poison. Hope is absolutely okay. Every single year I come into the season and say this might be it. We might do something. Every single year

I've been wrong. The last time the Lions when a playoff game was before I was born. Jeez, I didn't realize that. Yeah, I want to. I mean, we wasted the careers of two of the best skilled position players at all the time. You see um Bills fans go through it too. I mean, to lose four super Bowls in a row, and then my my dad, he was like, I have to find I'm gonna. They had just moved to Indianapolis, and he goes, this team is terrible and I know that and I like them. Like he was like,

I have to I cannot with the Bills anymore. But there's so many people that are able to just ride it through, So can I can? I ask a kind of thought extreme question. Would you rather be a Bills fan where you come so close so many times you've never gotten it, or be like a Lions fan where you never had the faintest chance of I don't know, because it's kind of like that love law, like is it better to love than I don't even remember what

it is? Um? But because like losing in the Super Bowl, that makes you like the cold when the cold slaws Saints in the Super Well, I cried, and I know that's embarrassing, but I was strunk too, but I cried, um, And then it was like so depressed And if they had just gone like four and twelve, that would have been I don't think I would have cried. I I think the pain in the moment is worse, but the sustained pain of your team. Just being bad probably is

overall worse. It definitely worked me. Like there's not a single Lions game I go into thinking we're gonna win this game. It's always well, I hope we don't blow this. Yeah yeah, but who yeah, who knows? Just having your your hopes up so high and then just defeat it every year four times in a row like the Bills. Is oh that documentary four falls? Yeah? So good? So we chucker. What sport? Is your your funk up? Then mine? Okay, I'm not going to have that. Do you have any

honorable mentions? So I guess I'll say, I'll say Bartman. But um, yeah, I'm sympathetic. In Chicago sports fans are crazy, and I feel bad for the guy that's not I I don't blame like Martman. I'm with Ron oor Test. I'm with that you are in my Hall of Fame of this is not your fault. I wish there was like a sports psychology, like sports science, but for psychology, where you hit like an almost home run and see

how many fans reach their hand out. Well in the about him is entirely vindicating um because they interview all these people around him that were like, yeah, I was also trying to catch it, and I was also and again not the deciding game. So I mean, yeah, I would love to hear what people think about that. My my number one funk up is kind of just a

Tina's Dinner twice. But it's a Portland Trailblazers drafting Sam Bowie and Greg odin Um when they were clearly there was Michael Jordan's, there was a h and there was a Kevin Durant that existed in the dress. Okay, well the Greg odin won. I don't think of Greg oden as a bust Um because not as clearly as a bus that everyone thinks he is. But I don't know that there were safer stars available. Yeah. I actually pushed back on that because that the time Gregor I mean

something completely different. Yeah, but uh, he made the National Champions Game. He It was also at a time in the league where like big men were, if you had a dominant big Matt, you had a safe team for it. And he was the best big man prospect we've seen probably Chef KG actually. But also you know there's the whole uh not being very good after his injuries. Yeah,

I just it's it is sad um mainly. I mean, I feel like this pick could have just been on drafting Sam Bowie um over Jordan over and then who did was it a came? No, A came two nights. I actually don't even know who Sam Bowie is exactly, which is tough. It was two was the key so draft, Yeah, I guess. So that's what makes it a funk up to me is that you drafted sand but over a chem and Jordan's if you're looking for a center a

chemo and I believe Booie has some injury issues in college. Yeah, yeah, there's a little bit more telling um and there there's a doc out there that I yeah, I gotta rewatch, but it just it almost bums me out. So I am somebothing nothing else. It makes me happy to know that all three of us could have been professional basketball scouts in the eighties and we worked on just as good of a job. Yeah. Now, do you think maybe you're picking a Trailblazers as your number one because of

what's currently going on between them and the Lakers? But I can't, you know, I don't get involved in the Twitter battles because that's almost embarrassing, like, oh my god, these Lakers fans, they're gonna be talking a lot of ship when the Clippers one. I'm like, that's you, number one ship talker. I see is the call is coming from within your own brain? Um, all of that is is Lebron motivated inspired, So okay, so then you you're a Lebron ship talker. All right, shocker, bring us home

with your number one pick. I'm so glad I got to do this. I should imagine my honorable mentions. I have, um a couple that you guys have drafted. I also have the Harden trade was not just a real They had three uh three NBA m v P s and future Hall of famers and they have the wrong one. But no, So my number one pick, I want to take us back to Italy in two thousand six. I want to take us to the women's snowboard cross finals. I want to take us to Lindsay Jacobells Linda jacobellas

Lyncha Jacobellis has had one the previous World championship. At this game, she'd won like two or three x games in this event. She has a two or three second lead on the snow crossed field to win the gold medal. On the second to last jump, she attempts she just watched the show them right, she's she has such a huge lead, she show, She tries to trick, she balls, she tries to recover, she ends up getting silver, and her quote afterwards was I was having fun. Snowboarding is fun,

and I wanted to share my enthusiasm only times. It was the only time she metal the Olympics. When she got there, she failed to make the metal round because in her semifinal race she landed a jump. Then she was arguably the best athlete at her events in the world from the time she started competing, and she blew up on the biggest stage because she wanted to show. I mean, I do like her quote though, of like, snowboarding is fun and I just wanted to have fun.

But is that the best and had Here's the thing, how she landed it. I would have remembered it as that was fucking Linda Jagabels trying to trick, as she's just destroying the field. But she fell and she lost. Yeah, and that's again the argument we talked about the hubris of like and one of my honorable mentions I've got to say, was DeShawn Jackson, you know, like he would have been. I mean he is one of the most electric places, but a lot of those highlight plays were

ruined by his celebration. You know, do you remember that? Oh yeah, I mean yeah, him celebrating before he gets into the that's why. That's why when he said crazy stuff, it's like, we don't really need to but yeah, the revisionist history of it. Had he done that one yard later, Wow, great at one of the best players of that season, you know, yeah, yeah, I'm surprised we didn't have any

football guys celebrating pre God in the Olympics. And like there's so many of just like dropping the ball was in a college game like a year or two ago, somebody.

It was a kick six or something like that, return all the way back, he drops the ball, shine the one and then it's returned all the other well, and and and the Olympics is like the reason it's it's the most emotional sports to why because they do human intrat stories so well, and it is only every other four years, and for an athlete, four years is an eternity.

I mean, your entire body can change you can then be like Okay, I mean for gymnasts, it's like a lot of times they get one shot their fifteen and then by the time they're nineteen, it's like, no, you're too old now to be a gymnast. So it's really so cut throat and gosh, you hear heartbringing stories of people barely missing the team, and those are so sad. But I do feel like, at least for the level headedness and like the I'm doing this what is this

called what they do in Hawaii? T hang ten? I feel like, h a female snowboarder is mentally able to bounce back from that by being like, live on right, I don't get hot pass that half. This is the best excuse just to like kind of describe my passion. But yeah, probably wouldn't do that again. Um yeah. And the four years thing, it just is like, could you imagine you only you only get one shot really good two shots for something like that before the next generation

comes in. Goddamn it tough, but that was that was my number one time. It's just nothing great sums it up better than that. Yeah, I mean I feel like if we went back and looked through because that's what I always overlook is the Olympics and this, and there's got to be a lot of stories of just like I regretted that and the train for four years and then just never having that opportunity again, which she got and yeah, it just wasn't close to herself at that

point for sure. Um, all right, well shocker, give us some parting words. Uh. Here, it's your last day of the Ringer. We're so fortunate to have you here. What are you excited about coming up? Sports wise and just in your personal journey sports wise? Obviously, the NBA Playoffs are back, HIGs basketball fan can't wait for that. I hope that the n c Double AF for both college school and college basketball can't figure out a way to

actually classify their students as athletes not student athletes. Nonsign pay them and then play the have them play in a secure bubble if they want to and if the school needs them too, because whatever they're doing now is just absolute poor ship. Yeah, Champions League Final is either going on now or we'll start soon, big sary fan. Uh. And in my personal life, I'm gonna I think I'm gonna take a week off. I've taken four or five

days off in three years of the Ringer. I'm gonna take a couple of days off, try to reset, take a week off, take a nice drive. I passed Pyramid late the other day, was beautiful. Or you could go up and down the pc H on Saturday. I think my girlfriend and I are gonna go drive down to a friend of the friend of the podcast, Michael Lloyd, where and where they're staying in Arizona, to take a nice six hour drive to the middle of the desert. Yeah, totally logical choice. Yeah. I don't know you had a

girlfriend though. This is so exciting. Yeah, she's wonderful. You'd like I'm sure, I can't. I can't wait till we can all socialize in person again. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. US Higher Shocker the resume and speaks for itself. What is your social so we can I am at Shaker Salon across lat Okay awesome. Um. I am at Megan Gailey on Twitter at better Megan

Gailey on Instagram. C J is at c J Toldano. Um. Please rate listen well you're listening, Um rate, subscribe, comment, review, review, wear a mask, Be safe, be kind, Black Lives Matter, arrest the cops that killed Brianna Taylor and Go Pacers pass. Thanks all right, Thanks Shaker the Greatest is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from i Heeart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.