2014 World Series won by Giants - Tim is SAFE

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants on winning the 2014 World Series.

How did Tim do with his World Series pick?

Game 1: Giants win 7-1
Game 2: Royals win 7-2
Game 3: Royals win 3-2
Game 4: Giants win 11-4
Game 5: Giants win 5-0
Game 6: Royals win 10-0
Game 7: Giants win 3-2

Tim is SAFE!  The Boston-themed batsu game threatened by Mike will have to wait another day.

Episode 113: Sayerville

Mike and Tim discuss the decision by a high school in Sayerville, New Jersey to cancel an entire football season.  Why did they do it?  Was bullying involved?  Listen to find out.



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Episode 112 (Where the Playas Dwell): Klinsmann v. Garber

It's Episode 112, "where the playas dwell."  As such, we open with a little bit from the 112 song "Only You (Bad Boy Remix)."

Today, we discuss the recent public spat between US men's national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann and MLS commissioner Don Garber.

Simply put, Klinsmann is spot on in his criticism of the way the US does "the beautiful game."  And he has the credentials to back it up:  While Garber is a career suit who's trying to fit soccer in the US into the NFL mold (which isn't working), Klinsmann is a former player for the West German/German national team; won the 1990 World Cup with the West German team; played his club football with Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham, and Bayern Munich; and has a winning record as a manager for Germany, Bayern Munich, and the US.

 
By the way, we briefly discuss the three players specifically called out in the Klinsmann-Garber back and forth.  Here are their respective club careers:

Landon Donovan: '99-'00 Bayer Leverkusen II; '00-'05 Bayer Leverkusen (loaned to San Jose Earthquakes '01-'04),  '05-'14 LA Galaxy (loan spells to Bayern Munich in '09, Everton in '10 and '12)

Clint Dempsey: '04-'06 New England Revolution; '07-'12 Fulham; '12-'13 Tottenham; '13-present Seattle Sounders (loaned to Fulham '14)

Michael Bradley: '04-'05 MetroStars (now NY Red Bulls); '06-'08 Heerenveen (a Dutch team); '08-'11 Borussia Monchengladbach (loaned to Aston Villa '11); '11-'12 Chievo (an Italian side); '12-'14 Roma; '14-present Toronto FC

Donovan spent most of his career in MLS, while Dempsey is mostly a product of the English game and Bradley has been truly nomadic as a pro.



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Episode 111: 2014-15 NBA Preview

Mike and Tim preview the upcoming NBA season and make their picks for division winners (practically meaningless except that we're also breaking down the teams in each division) and our NBA Finals champs.

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
Atlantic	Brooklyn	Brooklyn
Central	Cleveland	Cleveland
Southeast	Miami	Washington
Northwest	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma City
Pacific	LA Clippers	LA Clippers
Southwest	San Antonio	San Antonio

The only division of disagreement: the Southeast Division, with Mike picking the Miami Heat (until further notice) and Tim picking the Washington Wizards ("les Boulez").

Mike's Finals: Cleveland over LA Clippers
Tim's Finals: San Antonio over Cleveland

Picks are subject to batsu game.



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A Tour of Kansas City

Not sports related, but as a public service to all the baseball fans who will be enjoying the 2014 World Series, we present this very funny tour video. Our tour guide is KC actor and comedian Emerson Rapp (who is a friend of Mike's from the film community). Enjoy, and remember: This is where we podcast.

Episode 110 - WTF Is Wrong With The Blue And Gold?

Regular listeners to the podcast know that Mike is a diehard St. Louis Rams fan.

Having just about had it with all the losing the Blue and Gold have been doing this past decade, Mike felt it necessary to take a step back and discuss the problems that plague his team.  There are many, from the death of an owner to bad drafting, and from terrible head coaches to dumb stuff on the field and even undying relocation rumors (for the record, Mike is very much of the opinion that the Rams will not move back to LA).

Fair use: While Mike seems calm and collected during this discussion, make no mistake that he is not happy.  Today's episode opens with the infamous Bobby Knight halftime speech, which perfectly sums up how Mike is feeling.

Update: This episode was recorded prior to the Rams' 28-26 win over Seattle, but the issue is still valid and discussion worthy.



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Episode 109 - World Series Preview and Mike's Batsu Game

Mike and Tim preview the Royals-Giants World Series.  Tim has some choice words for Royals ownership, and Mike piles on.  Tim revels in the idea of his hometown Royals playing against his batsu pick Giants.  And Mike gets his batsu game for picking Washington to win the World Series: wearing a Royals necktie.  Mike also agrees to hold the next recording session (which will be sometime after the World Series is over) at Chappell's Restaurant and Sports Museum in North Kansas City (despite the bad parking situation).

Fair use: since this is a baseball related batsu game, we open with Keith Olbermann chastising baseball fans for violating the whole "expressed written consent" deal slapped on all MLB games.

Fair use: since we're once again talking about the Kansas City Royals, we close by revisiting Lorde's song "Royals."  Again, the song was inspired by a photo of Royals HOF'er George Brett.



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2014 World Series is Set

If these two cities met in the Super Bowl, Mike would have to leave the country.  But, this is baseball we're talking about, so...

The 2014 World Series has been set: Royals-Giants.

That's right: the hometown Kansas City Royals - who bookend 29 years of futility with World Series appearances - are playing Tim's pick to win it all, the San Francisco Giants - who just won their third NL pennant in 5 years.

For KC, this is their third World Series appearance: the Royals famously won in 1985 over the St. Louis Cardinals (a Series that St. Louisans are still upset about, in particular Game 6) and lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980.

For the Giants, it's Series appearance number 20 (6th since moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958).

Series wins (7) came in:

• 1905 (Philadelphia A's)
• 1921 (New York Yankees)
• 1922 (Yankees)
• 1933 (Washington Senators)
• 1954 (Cleveland Indians)
• 2010 (Texas Rangers)
• 2012 (Detroit Tigers)

Series losses (12) for the Giants came in:

• 1911 (Philadelphia A's)
• 1912 (Boston Red Sox)
• 1913 (A's)
• 1917 (Chicago White Sox)
• 1923 (New York Yankees)
• 1924 (Washington Senators)
• 1936 (Yankees)
• 1937 (Yankees)
• 1951 (Yankees)
• 1962 (Yankees)
• 1989 (Oakland A's - a Bay Area Series interrupted by an earthquake)
• 2002 (Anaheim Angels)

We're looking for a good Series.

Episode 108 - The List: Hockey Players and Bad Movies

Today, Mike, Tim and Ray do a couple of more editions of "The List."  We start with a short list of hockey players, followed by a longer list of bad movies.  Mike takes a chance on the latter list to call himself out on making an admittedly bad movie (his first attempt at feature filmmaking).



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MLS vs. International Football [Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga…]

We haven't shared a whole lot of video here on the WSC Blogspot, but this one is a must-see. It goes hand-in-hand with a topic that has been brought up often on our podcast: instituting promotion and relegation in North American soccer (MLS, NASL, etc.). It's especially relevant today with news that US men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann outright stated that the North American system needs to adopt pro/rel.

Episode 107 - Where Are They Now? 8

Today's episode is another edition of Where Are They Now?

Today's athletes of discussion:

• John Rocker
• Ickey Woods
• Yao Ming
• Eric Lindros

In honor of Yao being one of our athletes, we end with a bit from the famous "Yo.  Yao." Visa commercial.



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Batsu Series Goes to...

In the "Batsu Series" - Washington (Mike's adjusted World Series pick) vs. San Francisco (Tim's consistent World Series pick) - the Giants beat the Nationals 3 games to 1.  Tim's team is still alive; however...

MIKE, BATSU GAME!!!

The batsu game will be announced during our next recording session.

Episode 106 - Derek Jeter Tribute

Tim does a tribute episode to retiring New York Yankees shortstop and future HOF'er Derek Jeter.

Jeter's career stats: .310 batting average; 3,465 hits; 260 HR; 1,311 RBI; 14 time All-Star; 5-time World Series champion; 2000 World Series MVP; 5 Gold Gloves; 5 Silver Sluggers - and a one-team player (entirely with the Yankees).  Not to mention he was the perfect example of a consummate professional.

In five years, we will see him in Cooperstown.

RE2PECT!

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Episode 105 - NFL Abuse Controversy and South Park

The NFL has opened itself to criticism in recent weeks due to the joint controversies involving the Ray Rice domestic abuse situation (caught on tape!) and the Adrian Peterson child abuse situation.

How bad has it got for the NFL?  The Washington team's nickname controversy - which has been talked about ad nauseum on this podcast - got the South Park treatment.

As Cartman may say, sit back and listen to our authoritah.

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Episode 104 - NHL Preview, Hockey News, and More Thoughts on Baseball

Hockey season is upon us.

Ray gives us a preview of the 2014-15 NHL season.  He tells us that at least one expert is picking the Chicago Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup, while noted LA Kings fan Mike is hoping for a repeat performance.

We also learn what's going on elsewhere in the hockey world, including with Independence's minor league Missouri Mavericks.

Ray closes with some thoughts on baseball.

This is all a prelude to the guys going to a NHL exhibition game at the Sprint Center: Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues.  Dallas won the game 4-2.

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