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

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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."



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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. 



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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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