It's Game one of the nineteen ninety three NBA Finals, Chicago Bulls versus Phoenix Suns. The Bulls are at the height of their powers and they're going for their third championship in a row.
The Sons have had a.
Dominant season, but overcoming the Bulls and their star player, Michael Jordan that's going to take something special. Fortunately, they've got a secret weapon something, or rather some one to throw Jordan off his game. Look, it's not cheating, but I don't know if it's honorable. Hey, welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers, and the weird stuff between.
I'm Tony Armstrong and this one is all about the fans.
Three enthusiasts who took their sports fans them to the extreme. Basketball fan Robin Thicket is as loyal as they come. He went to every Washington Bullets home game for twelve years, and in that time he was always in the same seat, right behind the opposition bench. Any team knows the pressure of facing an opposing crowd, but contending with Robin that's
a whole different thing Entirely. Even though he was just one voice and a noisy crowd, he earned a reputation for being one of the most irritating and disruptive fans in the NBA. Robin had a knack of getting under the skin of players with relentless taunting. It's probably not surprising that he has a way with words. Though Robin's day job was a defense attorney checks out his antics earned him the title of the league's most notorious heckler.
Mostly he was ignored, but sometimes players and coaches snapped. Robin had water dumped on him and even had shoes chucked at him, but that didn't stop him from shouting insults. For him, no one was off limits, not even the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan. Robin Ficker made many enemies, but one man on the court thought he was all right.
Phoenix Sons legend Charles Barkley.
See Barkley cottoned on to how much Robin annoyed other players and was like, I'm going to give this guy a job annoying Michael Jordan so much that he bungles the game. The Sons were set to play the Chicago Bulls led by mj in the upcoming finals. Barkley paid Robin to fly to Arizona for game one of the series, courtside seats behind the players bench included.
Robin came prepared.
He chose to hit Michael Jordan about his much publicized gambling habit, saying things like, Hey.
Michael, how much did you bet on the game? He even brought props.
At one point, he brought out playing cards to wave in Jordan's face.
Did it work well?
No, Robin was kicked out from the arena before the first quarter had even ended. The Balls went on to win the game and the championship for Robin Ficker. It turned out the NBA had had enough. The following season, the league introduced a new regulation dubbed the Figger Rule.
It forbids fans.
From abusing players and coaches, and anyone who breaks it is booted from the arena. Robin's favorite team, the Washington Bullets, they was sick of him too. When the team moved to a new stadium in nineteen ninety seven, they stopped Robin from purchasing season tickets anywhere close to the court. In response, he decided to abandon his team and boycott their games altogether. From the basketball arenas of the USA to the cricket ovals of Australia, This next story centers
around a beloved sports fanatic of our very own. The Sydney Cricket Ground is one of Australia's most iconic stadiums, but one of its more unique features is a bronze statue nestled among the seats in the front row of the grandstand. Monuments to sporting legends are commonly found outside the grounds, but this particular statue it's.
A little different.
In the early twentieth century, before cricket matches were full of rowdy fans, they were quiet, much like a tennis match, so much so that if a member of the crowd was to raise their voice, their words would easily carry to the players in the middle of the oval. And Stephen Gascoyne was the sword of cricket fan who loved to make himself heard. Affectionately known as Yaba, his witty one liners would echo around the scg.
He'd shout, bowl the bastard a grand piano, see if he can play that.
No matter the situation, Yaba always had something to say. For money, Yaba sold rabbits, but for fun he'd take up his favorite spot on the grass with his lunch and a bottle of beer and enjoy the cricket. You see, Yaba loved the game. He was deeply passionate and knowledgeable about the game. He never drank too much, and his heckles were always in good fun. In fact, the players quite enjoyed his comedic remarks leave those flies alone, that your only friends here, He'd cry. I wish you were
a statue and I have a pigeon. If only Yaba knew how that particular taunt would come back to haunt him, Yaba's reputation grew among visiting teams at the SCG. Tales of his playful jibs spread from Sydney to London, and soon Yaba was featuring in advertising campaigns for the Ashes series. His name was cemented into cricket history, and eventually.
His likeness too.
In two thousand and eight, a bronze statue was erected in the stands of the SCG, depicting Yaba in his typical pose, a hand raised to his mouth, shouting one of his iconic remarks. On match days, fans sitting next to the statue have been known to hold up their umbrellas to protect Yaba from the sun and the rain, and maybe from the pigeons too. Sports fans are a dedicated bunch. Some folks will go to great links in
support of their chosen team. But this next door, he might just take the cake to Jim Becker, the Green Bay Packers are everything. For more than fifty years, he rarely missed a home game through rain, hail, and snow. Jim was there. We ll lose season after season. To call him devoted is an understatement, but it's not just his attendance record that makes Jim Becker a true fanatic. The NFL's Green Bay Packers are unique in American sports.
The football team is largely owned by its fans. The weightlist for season tickets is so long that some people could live to one hundred and never receive them. So if you have season tickets, hold on them. If you give them up, you name goes straight down to the bottom of the waitlist. And as a huge Packers fan, Jim Becker was determined to never let this happen to him.
But as a father of eleven kids, money was tight.
He needed an additional stream of income to help pay for his season tickets.
His solution selling his own blood.
That's right, A few times a year, Jim would roll up his sleeve and give blood to pocket the cash fifteen bucks a pint. He didn't think much of it as long as he got to see his beloved packers play, but a routine health checkup changed his whole perspective. Jim's doctor told him that his blood contained high levels of iron. After looking into his family history, Jim learned that his father had died from hemochromatosis. It's a genetic condition that
causes too much iron to stay in the blood. Jim had inherited the condition, and if it was left untreated for too long, his life would be at serious risk.
He's the kicker. He'd been unknowingly treating himself for years.
It turns out the only way to manage the condition is through blood letting, which helps to remove the excess iron. Of course, Jim was no stranger to the process. By the time he'd been diagnosed, he'd sold a total of one hundred and forty five pints of his own blood after years of giving blood to help cover the cost of his packers tickets. The ritual had undoubtedly saved his life. The Green Bay Packers have a special way of honoring the most passionate among them the Fans Hall of Fame.
In twenty ten, Jim Becker was inducted as recognition for the unwavering support and utmost dedication he showed to his team.
Thanks for listening to the pool room. I'm Tony Armstrong and this has been an iHeart production. Catch you next time. For more weird and wonderful stories from the world of sports, Say up.