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.