Mike, BATSU GAME!!!

Can't Mike catch a break already?!

We will publish the results of the guys' 2015-16 bowl game predictions after the Championship game on January 11 (or after the regular bowl games end on Saturday, depending on how those semifinals go), but we can declare a loser now.

With only 4 bowl games left in which Mike and Tim have differing picks, Mike is already behind by 6, making it impossible to catch up.

As of this posting, just in bowl games that the guys differ: Mike is a pathetic 1-7.

Mike, BATSU GAME!!!

Mike's batsu game will be announced next time the guys get together and do the podcast, most likely along with the batsu game for the 2015 NFL picks.  At the moment, Mike and Tim are tied with all batsu teams qualified for the playoffs and 1 week to go.

Live Long and Use the Force

Photos from Mike and Ray's attending the Missouri Mavericks game on Saturday night - which was Star Wars night.  Mike wore a Star Trek: The Next Generation communicator badge with his normal attire.

The Mavericks won the game 3-2 over Cincinnati.

"Evil Wil Wheaton" does Mike's batsu game

Mike will be doing a variation of his batsu game this evening: instead of standing in line for Star Wars, he will instead be going to a Missouri Mavericks hockey game with Ray - on Star Wars night.  His Trek outfit: a TNG-style communicator badge.

Meanwhile, on a very popular sitcom, someone else did Mike's batsu game:

2015-16 College Bowl Picks

Here are Mike and Tim's college bowl picks:

Bowl Game	Mike's Pick	Tim's Pick
New Orleans	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
Cure	Georgia State	San Jose State
Camellia	Appalachian State	Appalachian State
Royal Purple	BYU	Utah
New Mexico	New Mexico	Arizona
Miami Beach	Western Kentucky	South Florida
Boca Raton	Temple	Temple
Famous Idaho Potato	Akron	Akron
GoDaddy	Bowling Green	Bowling Green
Poinsettia	Boise State	Boise State
Hawaii	San Diego State	San Diego State
Bahamas	Middle Tennessee	Western Michigan
Foster Farms	UCLA	UCLA
Independence	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech
Pinstripe	Duke	Duke
Heart of Dallas	Southern Miss	Washington
Sun	Washington State	Washington State
St. Pete	Marshall	Marshall
Quick Lane	Central Michigan	Central Michigan
Military	Navy	Navy
Texas	LSU	LSU
Arizona	Colorado State	Nevada
Russell Athletic	Baylor	Baylor
Armed Forces	Air Force	California
Holiday	USC	USC
Music City	Louisville	Louisville
Belk	Mississippi State	Mississippi State
Birmingham	Memphis	Memphis
Citrus	Michigan	Florida
Outback	Northwestern	Northwestern
Cactus	Arizona State	West Virginia
Alamo	Oregon	TCU
Liberty	Arkansas	Arkansas
TaxSlayer	Georgia	Georgia
Peach	Florida State	Florida State
Fiesta	Notre Dame	Ohio State
Rose	Stanford	Stanford
Sugar	Ole Miss	Ole Miss
Cotton*	Alabama	Alabama
Orange*	Clemson	Clemson
Championship**	Clemson*	Clemson*

* indicates playoff semifinal
** will be affected by semifinals as noted above; adjustments not allowed

As always, loser gets a batsu game.

We will once again be on Yahoo! Sports for our bowl picks pool.  Click here if you would like to sign up and challenge us.

Episode 181 - UCL Batsu Game and College Bowl Picks

At the start of today's podcast, Mike and Tim quickly run down the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League group stage and Tim's surprise win.

Mike's batsu game: cosplay in Star Trek attire and stand in line to see the new Star Wars movie (with the option to not actually see the movie).

UCL play resumes in February with both batsu teams still alive: Real Madrid for Tim, Juventus for Mike.

The rest of the podcast is devoted to college bowl picks.  One adjustment from last year: if both playoff semifinal picks fail to get through, we cannot adjust our Championship picks.

The guys' picks will be published shortly.

Fair use: Because the final nail in the UCL coffin was hammered in by Roma knocking out Bayer Leverkusen, we felt it appropriate to replace our usual batsu game intro music with a rendition of one of Mike's favorite Arsenal chants, "One Man Went to Bed (with Ashley)" in dishonor of Ashley Cole, who most recently played for the Italian side (and a major reason Mike picked against them).



Click here to download.

2015-16 UEFA Champions League Prediction Check

How did the guys do with their picks for the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League?

Group	Mike's Order of Finish	Tim's Order of Finish	Actual Order of Finish
Group A	Real Madrid Shakhtar Donetsk Malmo PSG	Real Madrid Malmo PSG Shakhtar Donetsk	Real Madrid PSG Shakhtar Donetsk Malmo
Group B	PSV Eindhoven Wolfsburg Man United CSKA Moscow	Man United PSV Eindhoven CSKA Moscow Wolfsburg	Wolfsburg PSV Eindhoven Man United CSKA Moscow
Group C	Atletico Madrid Galatasaray Benfica Astana	Atletico Madrid Benfica Galatasaray Astana	Benfica Atletico Madrid Galatasaray Astana
Group D	Juventus Man City Sevilla Monchengladbach	Man City Sevilla Monchengladbach Juventus	Juventus Man City Sevilla Monchengladbach
Group E	Barcelona Bayer Leverkusen Roma BATE Borisov	Barcelona Roma Bayer Leverkusen BATE Borisov	Barcelona Roma Bayer Leverkusen BATE Borisov
Group F	Arsenal Bayern Munich Olympiacos Dinamo Zagreb	Bayern Munich Arsenal Olympiacos Dinamo Zagreb	Bayern Munich Arsenal Olympiacos Dinamo Zagreb
Group G	Porto Chelsea Dynamo Kiev Maccabi Tel Aviv	Chelsea Dynamo Kiev Porto Maccabi Tel Aviv	Chelsea Dynamo Kiev Porto Maccabi Tel Aviv
Group H	Zenit St. Petersburg Valencia Lyon Gent	Valencia Gent Zenit St. Petersburg Lyon	Zenit St. Petersburg Gent Valencia Lyon

Mike: 11/16 correct; 3/8 third place
Tim: 12/16 correct; 4/8 third place

Mike, BATSU GAME!!!

Reminder: Mike's champions are Juventus, and Tim's are Real Madrid

Episode 180 - 2015 NFL Midseason

We actually recorded this last week, which is why we talk about Denver still being undefeated.

However, we have indeed reached the midway point of the NFL season.  With that, Mike and Tim made their midseason NFL adjustments:

Division	Mike's Original Picks	Mike's Adjusted Picks	Tim's Original Picks	Tim's Adjusted Picks
NFC North	Green Bay	Green Bay	Green Bay	Green Bay
NFC South	New Orleans	Atlanta	Carolina	Carolina
NFC East	Philadelphia	Philadelphia	Dallas	NY Giants
NFC West	Seattle	Arizona	Seattle	Arizona
NFC Wild Cards	Arizona St. Louis	St. Louis NY Giants	Philadelphia NY Giants	Atlanta St. Louis
AFC North	Pittsburgh	Cincinnati	Baltimore	Cincinnati
AFC South	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
AFC East	New England	New England	New England	New England
AFC West	Denver	Denver	Denver	Denver
AFC Wild Cards	Cincinnati Houston	Pittsburgh Oakland	Pittsburgh Miami	Pittsburgh Oakland

Mike's Original Super Bowl Champs: Green Bay
Mike's Adjusted Super Bowl Champs: New England
Tim's Original and Adjusted Super Bowl Champs: Green Bay

We also touch on some NFL non-LA topics, specifically replacing a preseason week with a regular season game, and regular season games on foreign soil (read: London, Mexico City, and Toronto).

And what do you think of Tottenham (hosting NFL regular season games)?!



Click here to download.

Episode 179 - November Potpourri

Less than 24 hours after the Royals win the 2015 World Series, Mike and Tim got together to podcast about that victory, Tim's accompanying safety, and how he came very close to batsu during the Royals' ALDS with Houston.

We then transition from baseball to NFL relocation talks, and Mike's defense of the much maligned Joe Buck (mostly for Buck's defense of St. Louis as a football city).  We briefly talk about the hearings from last week.  For more info, we refer you to our previous episode with Mike's emotional - and strongly worded - review of the hearings.

We also touch on the NCAA proposal to push college basketball season back a month, and the semi-related prostitution scandal at Louisville (which touched Mike's alma mater, UMKC, by virtue of a now-former assistant coach who was involved in said scandal as a player for the Cardinals).

Fair use: We open with Lorde's "Royals" in honor of the aforementioned team's World Series win.



Click here to download.

Royals Win World Series - and Tim Wins Safety

30 years after winning their first World Series title, the Kansas City Royals win their second, 4 games to 1 over the New York Mets.

(As I'm typing this, fireworks and loud cheering can be heard from my house.)

And for the second year in a row, Tim correctly predicted the World Series champions.  Therefore, he is SAFE!

Episode 178 - NFL LA Relocation Hearings

This week saw the NFL hold public hearings in each of the cities whose teams have threatened a move to Los Angeles.

This was of particular interest to Mike, a lifelong St. Louis Rams fan (whose fandom started when the team was in LA).  If you're a regular listener to the podcast, you know that Mike is adamantly opposed to the idea of his favorite team moving back to LA.

That said, Mike's Rams, along with the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, are among the teams threatening a move to LA, a city that once housed all three of these teams - and all fled for the same reason, and the reason the city has now gone two decades without NFL football: it's a terrible football city.

Per NFL bylaws, public hearings were held in all three cities this past week.  Mike watched all of the St. Louis and San Diego hearings and part of the Oakland hearing.

Mike gives a brief summary of each hearing, as well as his thoughts on the LA situation in general, and issues a strong warning to the NFL.

WARNING: This is the first episode of the WSC podcast to carry an "Explicit" label for very strong language.

This episode includes audio from the St. Louis meeting, courtesy of 101 Sports in St. Louis.  And Ned Beatty returns to warn the NFL owners - and especially the Rams' owner - that they are "meddling with the primal forces of nature."

You can watch the three hearings here:
- St. Louis hearing (October 27)
- San Diego hearing (October 28)
- Oakland hearing (October 29)



Click here to download.

This is why Mike hates a certain Dodgers pitcher.

Photo credit to Michael Rinke on Facebook.

World Series 2015 is set.

For the first time ever, the World Series will feature two expansion teams.

Also, Back to the Future Part II was dead wrong.

The 2015 World Series will feature the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals.

A friendly reminder: Tim's adjusted pick to win the World Series (Kansas City) is still alive and well.

The Royals go into this World Series 1-2 all-time, winning in 1985 (over St. Louis) and losing in 1980 (Philadelphia) and last year (San Francisco).

The Mets are 2-2 in the Series all-time, winning in 1969 (over Baltimore) and 1986 (over Boston).  Their loses were in 1973 (Oakland) and 2000 (Yankees).

This is indeed the first time two expansion teams have met in the Fall Classic. 

The Mets started play in 1962 (same year as the then Houston Colt .45's [today's Houston Astros]), effectively replacing the California-bound Giants and Dodgers (which explains their blue and orange color scheme) and when they finished with 120 losses, still the mark of single-season baseball futility. 

The Royals started in 1969 (along with the San Diego Padres, the then-Seattle Pilots [now Milwaukee Brewers], and the then-Montreal Expos [now Washington Nationals]) as a replacement for another Cali-bound team, the A's.

Episode 177 - MLB 2015 Batsu Games

Mike and Tim discuss their 2015 MLB picks and issue their batsu games.

For the Washington team batsu game, Mike decided (by coin flip) to have the guys do karaoke.

Other possibilities included: doing background voice work for Mike's in-production web series or playing a game of Twilight Imperium (a sci-fi board game notorious for taking 6-8 hours to play a single game).

For Mike's bad picks: he's simply getting a pie in the face.

Tim still has Kansas City alive in the playoffs.  Good luck to the Royals this postseason.

Mike also announced that for their NBA picks, because picking division winners has proven pointless and tedious, will now be handled similar to NHL: at the start of the postseason.

Lastly, we talk at length about the NFL LA situation, the league's owners' meetings happening this week in New York, and what the likely outcome will be for LA.  Simply put, the very influential six-owner panel on all things LA seems to be siding with us: Chargers (and possibly Raiders) in LA.  Let's hope that does wind up being the case.



Click here to download.

2015 MLB Prediction Check

How are the guys doing with their 2015 MLB picks?

Division	Mike's Original	Tim's Original	Mike's Adjustments	Tim's Adjustments	Actual
AL East	Baltimore	Boston	Tampa Bay	NY Yankees	Toronto
AL Central	Detroit	Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City
AL West	LA Angels	LA Angels	Houston	LA Angels	Texas
AL Wild Cards	Kansas City Toronto	Seattle Toronto	Minnesota LA Angels	Minnesota Houston	NY Yankees Houston
NL East	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	NY Mets
NL Central	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis
NL West	San Francisco	LA Dodgers	San Francisco	LA Dodgers	LA Dodgers
NL Wild Cards	Pittsburgh San Diego	Miami Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs	Pittsburgh NY Mets	Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs

Mike's Original: 4/10
Tim's Original: 5/10
Mike's Adjusted: 5/10
Tim's Adjusted: 7/10

Mike gets the batsu game for his original set of picks.

The team batsu game for Mike and Tim as a result of picking Washington to win the World Series has already been announced.

Natinals are done. Team batsu game!!

The good news: the National League is almost set for playoff baseball.

The bad news: one team that will not be participating is the Washington Nationals.  The Natinals were eliminated from division title contention this afternoon by the New York Mets, and from wild card contention by both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs.

Tim's initial pick to win the World Series: Washington
Mike's pick throughout the season to win the World Series: Washington

Therefore, Mike and Tim will be issued a team batsu game.  This will happen next time the guys get together to podcast, likely after the baseball regular season (where, by the way, Mike's original picks are severely hurting).

Episode 176 - Ray's Summer of Minor League Adventure

Ray has had a great summer, including some trips to minor league baseball games in Buffalo and Lansing, Michigan.  Ray and Mike discuss this adventure, as well as updates on MLB and NHL seasons.

When discussing the New York Islanders' move this season to Brooklyn's Barclays Center, which Mike has described as "weird" and Ray hasn't seen photos of, it occurred to us that maybe we should show photos of the Islanders' new shared home with the NBA's Brooklyn Nets:

Click here to download.

Episode 175 - September Potpourri

Mike and Tim are back on BlogTalkRadio for today's episode.  We talk about a bunch of current events topics:

• Tim opens with his thoughts on the NLRB denying Northwestern University football players the right to unionize.  Forgotten in the conversation is that the real issue is getting college athletes - especially revenue-generating DI football and basketball players - a small stipend, as has been suggested, including on Mike's former Sunflower Brew podcast.
• Mike talks about the NASL bringing an antitrust lawsuit against USSF and MLS (made all the more relevant since the recording in light of Don Garber's idiotic statements on the subject of pro/rel before an international audience that knows better).
• Tom Brady's "vacation" being rescinded (BTW, Brady's lawyer is the same lawyer representing NASL in their antitrust case).
• On the subject of the Patriots, was Deflategate meant to make up for Spygate?  Turns out Bill BEE-lee-check taped up to 40 different games from 2000 to 2007, including the Rams' pre-SB36 practices.
• We briefly touch on Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season, during which Mike further rips Art Modell Kroenke (as he will be known from now on - at least on this podcast).  This devolves into more talk about the LA situation.  (And Mike misspoke on the Edward Jones Dome - it's not Top 25, it's Top 25%.)
• We touched on college football, including K-State's marching band's unintentional violation of Wheaton's Law.   Ironically, William Shatner came to the band's defense.

 


Click here to download.

Episode 174 - 2015-16 UEFA Champions League Picks

One thing is for certain with this year's UEFA Champions League: Tim will not be picking Liverpool.

Recently, the Champions League group stage draw was announced.  Here are the guys' orders of finish (remember, top 2 per group advance to knockout phase, 3rd place team goes to Europa League):

Group	Mike's Order of Finish	Tim's Order of Finish
Group A	Real Madrid Shakhtar Donetsk Malmo PSG	Real Madrid Malmo PSG Shakhtar Donetsk
Group B	PSV Eindhoven Wolfsburg Man United CSKA Moscow	Man United PSV Eindhoven CSKA Moscow Wolfsburg
Group C	Atletico Madrid Galatasaray Benfica Astana	Atletico Madrid Benfica Galatasaray Astana
Group D	Juventus Man City Sevilla Borussia Monchengladbach	Man City Sevilla Borussia Monchengladbach Juventus
Group E	Barcelona Bayer Leverkusen Roma BATE Borisov	Barcelona Roma Bayer Leverkusen BATE Borisov
Group F	Arsenal Bayern Munich Olympiacos Dinamo Zagreb	Bayern Munich Arsenal Olympiacos Dinamo Zagreb
Group G	Porto Chelsea Dynamo Kiev Maccabi Tel Aviv	Chelsea Dynamo Kiev Porto Maccabi Tel Aviv
Group H	Zenit St. Petersburg Valencia Lyon Gent	Valencia Gent Zenit St. Petersburg Lyon

Champions League winner:
Mike: Juventus
Tim: Real Madrid

The picks are set.  Who gets the batsu game?



Click here to download.

Episode 173 - 2015 NFL Picks (AFC)

Today, we do our AFC picks:

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
AFC North	Pittsburgh	Baltimore
AFC South	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
AFC East	New England	New England
AFC West	Denver	Denver
Wild Cards	Cincinnati Houston	Pittsburgh Miami

AFC champions:
Mike: Indianapolis
Tim: New England

Super Bowl champions (and batsu game teams):
Mike: Green Bay over Indianapolis
Tim: Green Bay over New England



Click here to download.

Episode 172 - 2015 NFL Picks (NFC)

We're now in Year 3 of the podcast!!

It's time for our NFL picks.  As always, we start with the NFC:

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks
NFC North	Green Bay	Green Bay
NFC South	New Orleans	Carolina
NFC East	Philadelphia	Dallas
NFC West	Seattle	Seattle
Wild Cards	Arizona St. Louis	Philadelphia NY Giants

NFC champions:
Mike: Green Bay
Tim: Green Bay

Next time: AFC.



Click here to download.

The Open Pyramid Project: Open Pyramid Project Collaboration With the USFA

The Open Pyramid Project: Open Pyramid Project Collaboration With the USFA

Exciting news today about the Open Pyramid Project, the special soccer standings that Mike has been working on this year in an attempt to introduce promotion and relegation to American soccer.

The OPP system is being adopted by the United States Football Association (USFA), which is a non-profit startup for an alternative to the US Soccer Federation (USSF).  Additionally, Mike has officially been named Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the USFA.

We encourage you to follow the USFA on Twitter (@the_USFA) and the hashtag #AFedForAllClubs.

English Football is Back!

English football season starts this weekend, and Mike will be making some predictions.  Here they are (minus the cups), and keep in mind that this is part serious, part what Mike would like to see:

Premier League
EPL Champions: Arsenal
EPL top 4: Man City, Man United, Liverpool

Dream relegation from EPL: Chelsea, Man United, Tottenham
Actual relegation from EPL: Sunderland, Watford, Leicester

FL Championship
Promoted to EPL: Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers
Relegated to FL1: Birmingham City, MK Dons, Charlton Athletic

League 1
Promoted to Championship: Wigan, Bradford City, Peterborough
Relegated to League 2: Blackpool, Shrewsbury, Millwall, Scunthorpe

League 2
Promoted to League 1: Notts County, Luton, AFC Wimbledon, Carlisle
Relegated to National League: Hartlepool, Barnet

National League
Promoted to League 2: Cheltenham, Gateshead

Episode 171 - Early August Potpourri

We are once again recording using BlogTalkRadio.  Today's topics of conversation:

• Tim wanted to discuss the Milwaukee arena situation, which is directly related to...
• An update on the St. Louis stadium situation as well as the LA NFL situation (there will be NFL football in Los Angeles in 2016, and it will be the Raiders and Chargers returning to the city which hasn't had football in over two decades).
• Tim talks about some baseball trades that took place.
• Mike gives a brief update on the Open Pyramid standings (hint: Sporting KC are at the head of the table).
• Tim mentions the death of a certain pro wrestler.
• Mike updates us on Ichiro's quest to 3,000 hits.

We also renew our call for a permanent primary co-host.  It's a non-paying job, and the requirements are as follows:

• Must live in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
• Must have a working knowledge of sports, including football (NFL and some college), baseball, basketball (NBA and college), hockey, and soccer (especially English football and UEFA Champions League).  Knowledge must go beyond local teams.
• Must be available to meet up for recording sessions at least twice a month (during which we record multiple episodes of the podcast).
• Must be willing to accept light punishment (for batsu games) in the event they lose a prediction.

If you are interested, contact Mike.  The best way is via Facebook, but he will also accept email and tweets (@skidawgkc22).

Fair use: in honor of their 15 years of bungling of the Chargers' stadium needs and the populace stating they would rather keep the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con over the NFL team, we close with "San Diego" from South Park, followed by Ichiro telling Bob Costas about "August in Kansas City."



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Episode 170 - All-Star Break Adjustments

Today's episode is the first time we've done the WSC podcast using BlogTalkRadio.  This was necessary as Mike and Tim are now two counties away from one another.

Mike's BTR account is listed under "skidawgspound."

Today is our All-Star Break review and adjustments.  Here they are:

Division	Mike's Original	Tim's Original	Mike's Adjustments	Tim's Adjustments	Actual (as of 7/13/15)
AL East	Baltimore	Boston	Tampa Bay	NY Yankees	NY Yankees
AL Central	Detroit	Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City	Kansas City
AL West	LA Angels	LA Angels	Houston	LA Angels	LA Angels
AL Wild Cards	Kansas City Toronto	Seattle Toronto	Minnesota LA Angels	Minnesota Houston	Minnesota Houston
NL East	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington
NL Central	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis
NL West	San Francisco	LA Dodgers	San Francisco	LA Dodgers	LA Dodgers
NL Wild Cards	Pittsburgh San Diego	Miami Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs	Pittsburgh NY Mets	Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs

Mike and Tim's original World Series prediction: Washington over LA Angels
Mike's adjusted World Series: Washington over Kansas City
Tim's adjusted World Series: Kansas City over Washington

Batsu teams are set: Royals for Tim, Nationals for both Mike and Tim (team batsu situation)

Also on today's podcast: Tim was recently in the Bay Area on vacation, where he took in an A's game.  Tim provided us with photographic proof:

This led to a discussion on how good public transit and pro sports mix well together.

We end with some brief discussion on the All-Star voting and Tim's prediction that Toronto's Josh Donaldson will win the Home Run Derby.



Click here to download.

MLB Projections at the All-Star Break

We have reached the All-Star Break.  So, how are the guys doing with their 2015 MLB picks?

Division	Mike's Picks	Tim's Picks	Actual
AL East	Baltimore	Boston	NY Yankees
AL Central	Detroit	Kansas City	Kansas City
AL West	LA Angels	LA Angels	LA Angels
AL Wild Cards	Kansas City Toronto	Seattle Toronto	Minnesota Houston
NL East	Washington	Washington	Washington
NL Central	St. Louis	St. Louis	St. Louis
NL West	San Francisco	LA Dodgers	LA Dodgers
NL Wild Cards	Pittsburgh San Diego	Miami Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs

Mike: 5/10
Tim: 6/10

If the baseball season were to end right now, Mike would get the batsu game.

We will soon be making our All-Star Break adjustments.  Stay tuned for that.

2015 All-Star Starters Announced

We previously touched on MLB All-Star voting and the prospect of the AL fielding a lineup featuring Mike Trout and eight Kansas City Royals.

The All-Star lineups were announced today.  Here are the results:

American League:
C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City
1B: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
2B: Jose Altuve, Houston
3B: Josh Donaldson, Toronto
SS: Alcides Escobar, Kansas City
OF: Mike Trout, LA Angels; Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City; Alex Gordon, Kansas City
DH: Nelson Cruz, Seattle

Cabrera is injured and will not be playing.

That's 4 Royals, 1 Tiger, 1 Astro, 1 Blue Jay and 1 Mariner.

National League:
C: Buster Posey, San Francisco
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona
2B: Dee Gordon, Miami
3B: Todd Frazier, Cincinnati
SS: Jhonny Peralta, St. Louis
OF: Bryce Harper, Washington; Matt Holliday, St. Louis; Giancarlo Stanton, Miami

Stanton is injured and will not be playing.  Holliday (who, for eight years and counting, STILL hasn't touched home plate) is injured and might not play.

That's 2 Cardinals, 2 Marlins, 1 Giant, 1 Diamondback, 1 Red and 1 National.

Episode 169 - Ryland's Memorial Episode

It took a few days to put this together.

This is our tribute to our former co-host Ryland Lundy, who passed away on Wednesday.  This takes the form of a best moments clip show and contains the following segments:

1. Ryland's picks for the 2014 NFL season (his first episode)
2. How Ryland essentially nicknamed English football club Preston North End "everyone's favorite high school team"
3. Mike and Ryland discuss scheduling in college football
4. Mike and Ryland make their 2014-15 FA Cup picks and the subsequent batsu game (Ryland's last episode - of course, that batsu game now only applies to Mike)
5. The List done in honor of Robin Williams

Fair use: Somnia Memorias - the de facto farewell song of this podcast - makes a comeback, as does the aforementioned Robin Williams in "The Survivors" and Jack Wilshere.

We'll miss you, Ryland.



Click here to download.

In Memoriam: Ryland Lundy

We have some sad news to report within the WSC family.

Ryland Lundy, the most recent addition to our family, has sadly passed away this morning.

A friend of Mike from the Kansas City Young Democrats, Ryland was brought onto the podcast in August 2014, in time for the 2014 NFL preview segment, as a way to try to keep busy as he searched for work.

Ryland was a passionate sports fan and counted among his favorite teams the Washington NFL team and the Duke Blue Devils.

In his memory, we will be putting together a very special episode documenting his brief time with us.  It will be released later today.

We also act - if you are able to - that you click here and make a small donation to the Ryland Lundy Memorial Fund.  Or, if you're not able to, please share this with your friends.

Thank you, Ryland, for your contribution to the Winning Side Coaches.  You will be missed.

The photo is of Ryland's one completed batsu game with us: as a result of losing his picks for the 2014 NFL season (he had picked San Francisco to win the Super Bowl), Ryland had to wear Mike's St. Louis Rams #28 Marshall Faulk jersey.

He was also due to do the team Kiki Beer batsu game with Mike, but obviously that is now a solo batsu game for Mike.

Ryland Lundy
1982-2015

Video of Mike's Target Practice Batsu Game

Did you have difficulty watching Tim's video of Mike taking target practice?

Mike has it all taken care of now. Thanks to some technical ingenuity, it is now available here - and only here - for you to see:

Episode 168 - KYFC: Netherlands

We haven't done KYFC for a while, so here is our latest installment.

Today's country: the Netherlands, a country Tim made fun of during our 2014 FIFA World Cup discussion - despite their well-documented history of great club football.

The clubs appearing in today's discussion:

Ajax	AZ (Alkmaar Zaanstreek)	PSV Eindhoven
FC Twente	FC Utrecht	Feyenoord
Go Ahead Eagles	Koninklijke HFC	Sparta Rotterdam

Click here to download.

Episode 167 - Baseball Potpourri

We're nearing the All-Star Break in MLB, so we thought we'd talk about some baseball happenings:

• St. Louis Cardinals being accused of hacking into Houston Astros' databases. 
• All-Star balloting - at the time of this podcast recording:
• NL: 3 Cardinals, 2 Marlins, 1 Diamondback, 1 Giant, 1 National
• AL: 7 Royals, 1 Tiger, 1 Angel
• Pete Rose found to have gambled as a player, thus destroying any remote possibility of inclusion into Cooperstown.
• Alex Rodriguez joins the 3,000 hit club - and we briefly discuss the next closest guy, Ichiro Suzuki.
• Baseball returning to Montreal?

Fair use: we end with a clip from The Simpsons where Mr. Burns tells Don Mattingly to "get rid of those sideburns."



Click here to download.

Episode 166 - Mike, Batsu Game!

Tim's back (briefly) to give Mike his batsu game for picking Cleveland to win the NBA Finals.

Step one: Mike had to produce the logos of teams he hates, whether it was a print-out or a drawing.  Mike went for the latter of not one, but two teams he famously hates:

The Great Satans of English Football, Chelsea and Manchester United

Here are the drawings (Mike admits, very bad drawings):

Step two: Mike and Tim were to go to the Bullet Hole, a local gun store and indoor shooting range, and Mike was to shoot these logos for target practice using Tim's .22 caliber handgun.

Tim actually shot video of the target practice, but due to privacy settings we cannot embed it here.  Here is the link to the video.  If you're unable to view it due to the privacy settings, you're kinda SOL.

Here is the final result of the target practice:

Special thanks to the Bullet Hole for helping to make this batsu game possible. 



Click here to download.

Episode 165 - College Football Realignment Winners and Losers

Who are the winners and losers in college realignment (which, you may recall, was sparked by the major conferences wanting to expand their football profile)?

Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports recently tackled this subject, and came up with this list:

Winners:

1. Rutgers
2. TCU
3. Utah
4. Texas A&M and Missouri
5. Louisville

Losers:

1. Cincinnati and Connecticut
2. BYU
3. West Virginia
4. Idaho and New Mexico State
5. Boise State

Mike elaborates in a way only he can.



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A-Rod Joins 3,000 Hit Club

Last night Alex Rodriguez (and this is following one year of steroid-related "vacation") joined the 3,000 hit club.

A-Rod becomes only the 29th player all-time to reach this milestone.

In chronological order, here is that exclusive list:

1. Cap Anson - July 18. 1897 (Cubs)
2. Honus Wagner - June 9, 1914 (Pirates)
3. Nap Lajoie - September 27, 1914 (Indians)
4. Ty Cobb - August 19, 1921 (Tigers)
5. Tris Speaker - May 17, 1925 (Indians)
6. Eddie Collins - June 3, 1925 (White Sox)
7. Paul Waner - June 19, 1942 (Braves)
8. Stan Musial - May 13, 1958 (Cardinals)
9. Hank Aaron - May 17, 1970 (Braves)
10. Willie Mays - July 18, 1970 (Giants)
11. Roberto Clemente - September 30, 1972 (Pirates)
12. Al Kaline - September 24, 1974 (Tigers)
13. Pete Rose - May 5, 1978 (Reds)
14. Lou Brock - August 13, 1979 (Cardinals)
15. Carl Yastrzemski - September 12, 1979 (Red Sox)
16. Rod Carew - August 4, 1985 (Angels)
17. Robin Yount - September 9, 1992 (Brewers)
18. George Brett - September 30, 1992 (Royals)
19. Dave Winfield - September 16, 1993 (Twins)
20. Eddie Murray - June 30, 1995 (Indians)
21. Paul Molitor - September 16, 1996 (Twins)
22. Tony Gwynn - August 6, 1999 (Padres)
23. Wade Boggs - August 7, 1999 (Rays)
24. Cal Ripken Jr. - April 15, 2000 (Orioles)
25. Rickey Henderson - October 7, 2001 (Padres)
26. Rafael Palmeiro - July 15, 2005 (Orioles)
27. Craig Biggio - June 28, 2007 (Astros)
28. Derek Jeter - July 9, 2011 (Yankees)
29. Alex Rodriguez - June 19, 2015 (Yankees)

Breakdown by team:
1 - Cubs, White Sox, Giants, Reds, Red Sox, Angels, Brewers, Royals, Rays, Astros (10 teams)
2 - Braves, Pirates, Tigers, Cardinals, Twins, Padres, Orioles, Yankees (8 teams)
3 - Indians

All of these men are in Cooperstown with four exceptions: Rose (banned from baseball for life for gambling), Palmeiro (lied to Congress about taking steroids, and failed to receive enough votes to stay on the HOF ballot), Jeter (retired too recently for HOF consideration), and Rodriguez (active player).

Next closest active player to 3,000: Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, at 2,886 - just 114 shy.  Only MLB stats count here.  Otherwise, Ichiro would also be in this club: he has 1,278 hits from his days in Japan.  The next closest active players following Ichiro are Adrian Beltre (2,657), Albert Pujols (2,585), and Torii Hunter (2,386).

Episode 164 - Know Your Mid-Majors: NJIT (Finally) Has a Conference!

First off, we can confirm that University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (formerly Texas-Pan American) is indeed going with the nickname Vaqueros.

Secondly, on the University of North Dakota new nickname front, they have narrowed the list down to 15 potential nicknames (including the present no nickname) and are holding a public vote on the matter.

But the most important news has to do with realignment:

• Northern Kentucky is leaving the Atlantic Sun to join the Horizon League, putting them at the mercy of Valparaiso, Oakland and the like.
• Replacing Northern Kentucky in the otherwise all-Southern Atlantic Sun: New Jersey Institute of Technology, D-I's last remaining basketball independent.

Congratulations to NJIT on finally finding a conference home.



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Warriors win NBA Finals. Mike, BATSU GAME!!!

Congratulations to the Golden State Warriors on winning the 2014-15 NBA Finals.  The Oakland-based team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 4 games to 2.

This is the Warriors' fourth NBA championship, and their first since 1975.  That's forty years between titles!  The other two came in 1947 and 1956, when the team was still based in Philadelphia.

Mike picked the Cavaliers to win it - making this the second year in a row that Mike incorrectly picked LeBron James to add another ring to his two from Miami, this time ending a 51-year championship drought for Cleveland, whose last championship remains the 1964 Browns (pre-Super Bowl).

Mike, BATSU GAME!!!!

Blackhawks win!! Tim is SAFE!!

Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, who won the 2014-15 Stanley Cup over the Tampa Bay Lightning 4 games to 2.

This is Stanley Cup number 6 for the Original Six team, their second in three years, and their third in six years.  This ties the Blackhawks with another Original Six team, the Boston Bruins, for fourth-most Stanley Cups all-time (behind three more Original Six teams, Montreal (24), Toronto (13) and Detroit (11)).

Tim had picked Chicago to win the Stanley Cup.  They did so, so Tim is SAFE!!!

Next batsu game challenge is the NBA Finals.  Right now, Golden State leads Cleveland (Mike's pick) 3 games to 2 in the best-of-seven series.

June 6 - a day of historic championships

No podcast associated with this post, and none are needed.

As previously stated, Barcelona join exclusive company by winning their 5th European Cup, becoming just the sixth team to be eligible to wear the UEFA Champions League multiple winners badge.

In the past, clubs that won their 5th European Cup overall or third in a row would be allowed to keep the trophy.  Instituted in 2009, they now wear this badge.

Including Barca, here are the six clubs that wear this badge:

Real Madrid	AC Milan	Bayern Munich
Barcelona	Liverpool	Ajax

The next clubs in line to join this prestigious group: Inter Milan and Manchester United (3 European Cups each).  Of the two, the Great Satans of English Football did qualify for the 2015-16 Champions League; Inter failed to qualify for UEFA play.

On the same day, something happened for the first time since 1978: a horse won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.

The Triple Crown simply refers to the horse winning the following races: Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.

American Pharoah (bad spelling, by the way) became the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 (just months before Mike was born) to achieve this feat, and the 12th horse overall to do so.

The full list of Triple Crown winning horses is as follows:

1. Sir Barton - 1919
2. Gallant Fox - 1930
3. Omaha - 1935
4. War Admiral - 1937
5. Whirlaway - 1941
6. Count Fleet - 1943
7. Assault - 1946
8. Citation - 1948
9. Secretariat - 1973
10. Seattle Slew - 1977
11. Affirmed - 1978
12. American Pharoah - 2015

Also, we have the two Finals series going on.  More to come.

UEFA Champions League: Mike is SAFE!!

The final score in the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League Final:

Barcelona 3-1 Juventus

Barcelona wins, and Mike, who picked Barcelona to win this year, is SAFE!!!

This is the fifth European Cup victory for Barca, allowing them to wear the multiple-winner badge.  This badge is awarded to any club that has one the European Cup (a) three consecutive times or (b) five times total.  The other clubs to wear this badge: Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Liverpool.

Episode 163 - Thoughts on FIFA Corruption Story

Mike shares his thoughts on the current FIFA corruption story - which has already resulted in 18 arrests, mostly of CONCACAF (the North American version of UEFA) and CONMEBOL (the South American equivalent) officials, as well as the resignation of FIFA President Sepp Blatter days following his re-election.

How the investigation, which has taken down a marketing firm that played a major role in the creation of the NASL (which has, five years on, proven to be quite stable compared to other 2nd division attempts, most notably by the inept USL organization), has not implicated USSF or MLS is baffling.  Mike especially makes his opinions known here.

Remember: the poster child for how bad our football system is is NOT New York City FC, it's Orlando City.

This podcast episode is explicitly NSFW.  And fair use: Ned Beatty is back.



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Episode 162 - FA Cup Team Batsu Game

As previously stated, Mike and Ryland did get a team batsu game for picking Aston Villa to win the 2014-15 FA Cup.

Their team batsu will indeed be Kiki Beer, which will happen in a future podcast session.

They also summarize the upcoming potential batsu games involving UEFA Champions League, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals.

Special open and close courtesy of Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere during the Gunners' victory rally after winning the FA Cup.



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Finals (and potential batsu games) in the coming weeks

There are three finals in the coming weeks that have potential batsu game implications.

First off, UEFA Champions League Final will be played this Saturday between Barcelona and Juventus.  Mike has the Spanish side winning.

Next up: NBA Finals, best of seven series between Cleveland and Golden State.  Mike has the Cavaliers winning.

Lastly: Stanley Cup Finals, best of seven series between Chicago and Tampa Bay.  Tim has the Blackhawks winning.

Will all three of these scenarios work themselves out, or will there be more batsu?  We will see as events unfold.

FA Cup Final: Arsenal wins; Team batsu

Congratulations to Arsenal FC on winning the FA Cup in back-to-back seasons, besting Aston Villa 4-0.

This is the Gunners' 12th FA Cup title (best of any club in England), and second straight.

Unfortunately, stateside, both Mike and Ryland picked the Villa to win what would have been their first FA Cup since 1957 and their 8th overall.

Mike and Ryland get a BATSU GAME!!

This would be our first team batsu, which Mike has consistently said will be Kiki Beer.

For those of you unfamiliar with Kiki Beer, here it is (in its native Japanese):


Basically, it's a blind taste testing challenge.  You are given a blindfolded taste test of one particular beer - and, just based on that taste test, you have to find your beer among a wide assortment of beers.  The goal: get it right.

We should also point out that Ryland still has his free pass.  If he chooses to use it, then no team batsu and Mike (who already used his free pass for this year) will receive a solo batsu of Ryland's choice, provided it isn't a repeat of last time.

WSC Terminology

We use some pretty unique terminology on the Winning Side Coaches podcast.  Here's a brief glossary of the terms we use on the show, their meanings, and their origins:

• "Arlington Penitentiary" or "Prison of Arlington" - the Texas Rangers' ballpark in Arlington, Texas, which on the outside more closely resembles a maximum security prison than it does a ballpark
• "The Baltimore Ravens of English Football" - Milton Keynes Dons FC, so nicknamed because of the parallels between this English team's history and that of the Ravens (replace "old" Browns, Ravens, and "new" Browns with Wimbledon FC, MK Dons, and AFC Wimbledon, respectively)
• "Cade McNown" - veteran NFL quarterback Josh McCown, whom Tim once confused with former NFL quarterback McNown
• "Everyone's Favorite High School Team" - Preston North End FC, so nicknamed because Ryland thought the name of this founding member and first champion of the English Football League sounded more like the name of a high school
• "Great Satans of English Football" - a title co-owned by Chelsea FC ("Great Satans of West London") and Manchester United FC
• "Handling and Internally Squad" - Sunderland AFC, so nicknamed for their "Worst Persons in the World" nomination (when Keith Olbermann was still on MSNBC); during a sex scandal involving a few of their players, Sunderland officials said in a statement that they would be "handling the matter internally," and Olbermann's response: "You couldn't have skipped those words 'handling' and 'internally'?!"
• "Shite Half of North London" - Tottenham Hotspur FC 
• "Spanish Tottenham" - Real Madrid, due largely to the fact they have a lot of former Tottenham players on their roster
• "THAT Other Team" - Kansas City Chiefs, another team Mike really hates to the point that he can't call them by name (and Chefs is too obvious)
• "THAT Team" - San Francisco 49'ers, a team Mike really hates to the point that he can't call them by name (and Whiners is too obvious)
• "Vacation" - a lengthy suspension, actually coined by Tony Kornheiser and borrowed by the WSC
• "Washington NFL Team" - used primarily by Mike, and self-explanatory

Episode 161 - Tim's Farewell Episode

Tim is moving to Topeka for his work and stepping down as the primary co-host of the Winning Side Coaches podcast.  Tim's been part of the podcast since the very first episode - a preview of the 2013 NFL season.

Of the four co-hosts in WSC history, Tim's the one Mike had known the longest, dating back to 2007 when they started working together at Silpada Designs.

We have to stress that Tim may come back for occasional episodes in the future, but in terms of being a full-time co-host, that ends today.

In recognition of his leaving the show, Tim came up with a Top 5 list of things he'll miss doing on the podcast:

5. Venues - As stated in the most recent blog post, we record the WSC podcast at a variety of different locations throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.

4. Batsu games - We open with Tim's favorite issuing of a batsu game (Mike's bad 2014 MLB picks and the resulting KC Royals tattoos) and Mike shares his (Tim's Liverpool pick in 2014-15 UEFA Champions League and the resulting karaoke singing of New Kids on the Block - he sang "Hangin' Tough").

3. Topic selection - We end with Tim's favorite topic, his tribute to Baseball Hall of Famer and 3,000 hit guy Tony Gwynn.  For the record, all of the hosts contribute to topic selection on this podcast.

2. Silliness and craziness

1. Feeding off of the other hosts and their contributions to the WSC

We close with the song Mike would like to close the final WSC episode with, "Somnia Memorias," which video game aficionados will recognize as the song playing over the closing credits of the PS1 game Parasite Eve.

If you are interested in replacing Tim on the WSC:

• You must live in the Kansas City area.
• You must be knowledgeable about sports - we cover primarily NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, soccer (especially English), college football, and college basketball.
• You must be available for recording sessions (we record multiple episodes in one session) at least 2 or 3 times a month.
• Please email Mike here.  Include "Winning Side Coaches" in the email subject.

Thanks for the help, Tim.  You will be missed.



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In Preparation for Tim's Farewell Episode

On his final episode as a full-time co-host on the podcast, Tim will give a Top 5 list of what he'll miss most from the podcast.  One of these is the variety of venues we've recorded this podcast at throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Here's the full list of venues in order of first "appearance":

• Green Room Burgers and Beer, Kansas City (Westport)
• Lucky Brewgrille, Mission, KS
• Mike's house (solo only)
• Black Dog Coffeehouse, Lenexa, KS
• Wendy's near Independence Events Center, Independence, MO
• Johnny's Tavern, South Overland Park, KS (119th and Metcalf)
• Open Fire Pizza, Kansas City (Westport) (now closed)
• Buffalo Wild Wings, Overland Park, KS
• Johnny's Tavern, North Overland Park, KS (95th and Antioch)
• Green Mill in the Holiday Inn, North Overland Park
• Crown Center, Kansas City (Crown Center)
• Chappell's Restaurant and Sports Museum, North Kansas City, MO
• Barnes and Nobel, Kansas City (Plaza)
• 12 Baltimore in the Hotel Phillips, Kansas City (Downtown)

Quick thank you to these 14 venues for allowing us to do our thing.  Don't worry, we won't be going anywhere.

As for batsu games, we still keep a running track of them on the right side of the screen of the WSC Blogspot page.  You can also search the archives for our many discussions (you will need to contact Mike to get access to the recording if it's been cycled out to keep our podcast hosting free of charge).

And a friendly reminder of themes that are now banned from batsu game consideration: the Kansas City Royals and celebrity autographs.

Episode 160 - Patriotism and Sports

In terms of patriotic displays at sporting events, how much is too much?

And how much is too little?

Tim's upset because certain baseball players don't line up for the National Anthem.  Mike's upset because the military is paying the NFL to turn pregame festivities into recruitment tools.

We discuss.



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Open Pyramid Project: Same Site, New Address

The Open Pyramid Project just got a new web address.

www.openpyramid.com

Please check it out.  To check out the current OPP standings (which Mike is in charge of keeping updated), click on "2015 Standings."

Also new today, if you click on "Who We Are," you will see the full list of everyone currently on the OPP committee, including our own Mike Czerniewski, whose OPP job title is "Statistics, Technical, Makes-the-thing-work Person."

Episode 159 - Royals Hit by Pitches and Other Baseball Happenings

Tim wants to know something:

Why the hate for the Kansas City Royals?

KC leads MLB in terms of HBP (hit by pitch).  What gives?  Is it because of their sudden success after years of suckage, or their attitude, or the fact the team opened the season against teams that may have beef with them (Oakland, Angels, White Sox, Cleveland), or a bit of everything?  We discuss.

Other baseball news of note:

• Ridiculously early check on division leaders and wild cards (Houston Astros leading the AL West.  HOUSTON!!)
• Next members of the 3,000 hit club?  (We're looking at Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro Suzuki this year, and eventually Albert Pujols.)
• Thoughts on the new baseball commissioner.  Speed of game, MLB-wide DH, and Pete Rose are also brought up.

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Episode 158 - Mr. Brady "Vacation"

By now you've heard about New England Patriots quarterback and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady receiving a four-game "vacation" (if you're curious, "vacation" is Tony Kornheiser speak for lengthy suspension) for playing with underinflated footballs.  Mike and Tim discuss their thoughts on the subject.

Shameless plugs:

• Check out yourteamcheats.com to find out more on how every NFL team, not just the Patriots, has been caught up in cheating.
• Check out the take of Mike's friend and fellow podcaster Justin Pemberton here.  There should be a warning to any Patriots fan who chooses to listen.

Quick correction: Tim erroneously states that the Indianapolis Colts had not won a Super Bowl in recent years.  The Colts beat Tim's Bears in Super Bowl 41 in 2007, before losing to the Saints in Super Bowl 44 in 2010.

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Episode 157 - Quick Football Update

Since Tim is on Four Words for this episode, Mike decided to do a quick football (soccer) update:

• UEFA Champions League Final is set: Barcelona - Juventus
• Burnley and Queens Park Rangers were officially relegated from the Premier League.  In fact, QPR could have potentially been relegated down to the fifth division (which, as of this posting, has been averted, and QPR will only drop one level to the Championship).
• Congratulations to FC United of Manchester on their promotion to the English sixth division.
• Spanish football being suspended due to a combined strike and lockout over equitable distribution of TV money (crisis also averted following this recording).
• First round of US Open Cup and updated OPP standings.

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Batsu Games Paid Off

During today's podcast recording session, both Mike and Tim paid off their most recent batsu games.

Mike first.  On the fly, the batsu game - to wear the jersey or shirt of a team Mike hates - was changed to any apparel from such a team.  The result is this:

By the way, this is the first, last and only time you will ever see Mike wearing any KU apparel.

As for Tim, we will hear his Four Words on the next episode of the podcast.

Episode 156 - 2015 FA Cup Final

On today's episode, Mike and Ryland make their picks for the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Aston Villa.

Mike prefaces his pick by expressing his thoughts on the NFL Los Angeles situation - and how it relates to the FA Cup Final.

The picks:

Mike - Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa
Ryland - Arsenal 2-3 Aston Villa

Like all picks, these picks are subject to batsu game.  Since both Mike and Ryland picked Villa, this would be a group batsu situation.

Mike also updates the promotion/relegation situation throughout the top tiers of English football:

Premier League: Bournemouth and Watford promoted; Burnley and QPR relegated
FL Championship: Bristol City and MK Dons ("the Baltimore Ravens of English football") promoted; Millwall, Wigan and Blackpool relegated
FL1: Burton Albion, Shrewsbury Town and Bury promoted; Notts County, Crawley Town, Leyton Orient and Yeovil Town relegated
FL2: Barnet promoted; Cheltenham Town and Tranmere Rovers relegated

We close today with an Aston Villa fan song called "Aston Villa Lion Hearts Anthem."  You can find the song at this link.



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Episode 155 - 2015 NFL Draft Review

On today's episode, Mike and Ryland discuss the 2015 NFL Draft.



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Help Mike pick his batsu game uni!

You can help Mike pick the team's jersey that he will have to wear for his most recent batsu game.



Click on the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V6N7BLP

Episode 154 - NHL and NBA Batsu Games

Mike and Ryland discussed how Mike and Tim will be punished for their NHL and NBA playoff picks, respectively.

For Mike's Vancouver pick: he will have to wear a jersey of any team... that he hates.

For Tim's San Antonio pick: he will be placed on a San Antonio-themed Four Words: Tiny, Hot, Middle, and Nowhere.



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Spurs Out! Tim, Batsu Game!

The San Antonio Spurs' defense of the NBA championship has come to an end.

San Antonio lost their first round matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers 4 games to 3.

Tim, of course, picked the Spurs to repeat.

Tim, BATSU GAME!

Tim's punishment will be announced during our next podcasting session, along with Mike's Vancouver NHL batsu.

Canucks Out! Mike, Batsu Game!!

The first round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs is winding down, but not before we can issue the first hockey-related batsu game of the podcast.

Mike, of course, picked the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup.

Here's how their first-round series with Calgary went:

Flames 4 games to Canucks 2.

Mike, BATSU GAME!!!

Tim's streak of batsu games comes to a grinding halt.  Mike will be punished during the next podcasting session.

Episode 153 - The List: Coaches

Mike and Tim do another edition of The List.  Today's edition: coaches.

This list includes championship winning coaches in football (pro and college), baseball, basketball (pro and college), hockey and soccer.

The winners - for the first time in our history of doing The List, a tie - are Phil Jackson and Mike Krzyzewski.




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Episode 152 - Open Pyramid Project

Mike takes a podcast episode to explain in more detail the Open Pyramid Project, the Twitter-based promotion and relegation group that he is involved with.

Here are the formulas that Mike helped develop for the OPP:

PR (promotion and relegation) Points = League points + Cups points + CONCACAF Champions League points

League points = (W*2*LM*(SLM/SLA)) + (T*1*LM*(SLM/SLA)) - (L*1*LM*(SLM/SLA))

W - Wins
T - Ties/Draws
L - Losses

LM - League Multiplier (a fixed number based on which league a certain team plays in - 3 for MLS teams, 2 for NASL, and 1 for USL)
SLM - Season Length Maximum (the maximum number of games played during the league season, equal to the longest league season length, usually MLS)
SLA - Season Length Actual (the number of league games actually played by a team)

Cups points = (W*2*CM*(CGM/CGA)) - (L*1*CM*(CGM/CGA))

CM - Cup Multiplier (LM from above times 3)
CGM - Cup Games Maximum (which will be different for US teams (US Open Cup) and Canadian teams (Canadian Championship))
CGA - Cup Games Actual (number of cup games played by a team)

CCL points = (W*9) + (T*4.5)

Side note: Cups and international play (i.e. Champions League) are an integral part of soccer and not "extras."  In fact, it can be argued that cups (especially the FA Cup) and international play are MORE important than league play.

You can learn more about the OPP at the following:

openpyramidproject.blogspot.com
Twitter: @OpenPyramid



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