Completely Conspicuous #571: Come On, Sporto

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about growing up as sports fans. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded on the way home from Tree House Brewing

- We still don't get esports

- Bands who sing songs about sports

- Weezer at the Winter Classic

- Short attention spans and sports

- Sports gambling is big business

- Super Bowl prop bets are popular

- Shohei Ohtani is the greatest baseball player we've seen in a long time

- Luck is a big factor in fantasy baseball

- The occasional Toronto championships

- Some people don't like sports

- Getting blown off by Rickey Henderson

- Jay: Both daughters played competitive sports

- Younger daughter is a Leafs fan

- Watching your team lose sucks, but it's not the end of the world

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 532: Life During Quarantine

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded last week via Skype
- Homeschooling is hard work
- A month in, the hoarding continues
- Brian's second-grader has a lot of schoolwork
- Brian was down in Florida to spend a few days at spring training
- Had planned to visit family in Arizona in March, but decided not to
- Virus moved quickly
- Brian saw Jonathan Richman concert in March
- Jay: Was supposed to fly to California for a conference in March, but it was canceled
- Had tickets to Archers of Loaf concert in mid-March that was canceled
- Jay: Working from home full-time
- Brian: Trying to find non-screen activities for the kids
- We're spending a lot of time with our families, which isn't a bad thing
- We've never had a situation like this where everything is shut down
- A lot of people are out of work or unable to work right now
- No sports to watch during one of the best times of year for sports
- Sports may come back without crowds in attendance
- When will things go back to normal?
- Kids' school sports, activities are on hold
- Touring musicians are losing a ton of money
- South Korea was able to shut everything down and come out on the other end
- One person can do a lot of damage
- Spring break idiots
- Adam Schlesinger, R.I.P. (this was recorded before he died)
- Washing our hands more than ever before
- Missing out on draft beer
- We're lucky to be able to work from home
- How will the economy bounce back?
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 529: Cheat to Win

I talk to Phil Stacey and Dave Olson about baseball's cheating scandal while we drive to a rock concert. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded on the way to see the Drive-By Truckers in Somerville, MA
- Not the first cheating scandal in MLB, but this has a different feel
- Houston Astros accused of stealing signs on the way to 2017 World Series
- Every team cheats in some way or another
- "If you're not cheating, you're not trying"
- Corked bats, scuffed pitches
- Baseballs were juiced last year to generate interest
- The sport is fading in popularity
- Too slow for short attention spans of today's society
- Steroids in the late '90s were ignored in favor of home run records
- Did the punishment fit the crime?
- Astros were fined and lost draft picks, but could have been worse
- MLB didn't expect this to blow up; former Astro revealed it in an interview
- Public reaction has been loud
- Two other teams have fired their managers who had connections to Astros that season
- Did MLB and the teams coordinate these actions?
- MLB wants this to go away and it's not
- Other teams and players are upset about it
- A pitcher sued because Astros lit him up and he was out of the majors
- Astros are going to be booed mercilessly all season on the road
- We don't know how much the sign stealing helped them
- Houston will get some big TV ratings this season
- Brought to you by Google Maps
- Altuve was a heroic figure, now tarnished
- MMA and pro wrestling are resonating with a younger generation
- A lot of baseball teams struggle to fill the seats
- Young kids would rather watch eSports, where other people play video games
- Easier to cheat in baseball or basketball
- Astros intern figured out how to steal signs and convinced management to adopt it
- Astros players should expect to get hit by a lot of pitches this season

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 438: Roll the Bones

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- No interest in daily fantasy sports
- Big ad blitz when daily fantasy leagues hit the scene
- The kids love the gambling
- Sports gambling is much easier now
- Vegas now has an NHL franchise
- The Super Bowl is more spectacle than game
- "I call him Gamblor"
- Senior citizens take buses to casinos
- Playing in multiple leagues is no guarantee of winning money
- When the commissioner is dishonest
- Like pickup sports, you want to have fun with friends in fantasy leagues
- The single worst pick in fantasy hockey history
- Let's hear it for Lichtenstein

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 437: The More You Know

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Jay: Renewed interest in baseball in the past year
- Watching sports without cable TV can be tricky
- Head-to-head format can be tough
- Paying attention to statistical details
- When fantasy leagues go bad
- Our fantasy hockey league fell apart because of money
- The problem with having people you don't know in the league
- We had our draft, started the season and then shut it down
- Hockey can be tough because it's harder to find people who really know the game
- Jay: Work football league got rid of kickers
- So many sources of draft information
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 436: Games of Chance

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss fantasy sports. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Fantasy sports is big business
- Rooting against your favorite team
- Phil: Got into fantasy baseball in early '90s
- Jay: Started a league in '91 with work friends
- Paid a service to compile stats reports
- So much more now to distract you from draft prep
- Started with AL-only league
- Early fantasy football league started decades earlier
- Jack Kerouac created his own fantasy baseball league with fictional players and teams
- Strat-O-Matic started in early '60s
- Cards and dice game, similar to D&D
- The joys of Mattel Intellivision
- Sports betting is popular
- Takes enjoyment out of the game
- The house always wins
- The fun of the fantasy draft
- Auction leagues require more involvement, longer draft
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 282: Lost Causes

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss our status as outsider sports fans in the Boston area. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded on a sweaty night in Beverly, Mass.
- Boston went from Loserville to Titletown
- The legend of Wayne Gretzky started when he was a kid
- Jay: Rooted for the Patriots when they were horrible
- Supporting our teams has been a mostly futile endeavor
- Jay: Reliving the Leafs' horrible choke against Boston
- Big sporting events somehow lead to idiots rioting
- NFL games are much more fun when you watch at home
- Jay: Still go to college hockey games
- Brian wept when his team won college lacrosse championship
- Jay: I want to see the Leafs win the Stanley Cup before I die
- Brian roots for New England Revolution
- Jay: Watching the Leafs in the playoffs is a tense, miserable experience
- Brian: Still hoping Sabres and Bills will win it all
- More "pink hat" fans in Boston
- Jay: I watch every Leafs game no matter how much they suck
- Find Brian's comedy dates and fun stuff at his website
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
David Byrne and St. Vincent - Cissus
Overseas - Old Love
John Vanderslice - Raw Wood
Stephen Malkmus - The Hook

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The David Byrne and St. Vincent song is on the EP Brass Tactics. Download the song from Stereogum.
The Overseas song is on the band's self-titled album on Undertow Music Collective. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.
The John Vanderslice song is on the album Dagger Beach on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.
The Stephen Malkmus song is on his self-titled album on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 281: The Outsiders

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss our status as outsider sports fans in the Boston area. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Recorded on a sweaty night in Beverly, Mass.
- Brian changed his standup name to Brian Gerard
- Experimented with different names
- We both grew up elsewhere and moved to New England
- Rooting for non-Boston teams
- Brian grew up in Buffalo, is a big Sabres and Bills fan
- We're used to our teams losing
- Buffalo also had an NBA team in the '70s
- Brian moved to Kentucky as a kid
- Jay moved to southeastern Washington state
- Nobody there knew what hockey was at the time
- Jay: Right after we moved away, a junior hockey team moved to the area
- Jay: Never a fan of the Montreal Canadiens
- The magic of Don Cherry
- Cherry was played by Jared Keeso in a couple of Canadian miniseries
- Brian roots for the Atlanta Braves because he lived there for a while
- Jay: Rooted for Red Sox to win World Series in '04
- Brian's not a fan of the Blue Jays' stadium
- Jay: Grew up going to Blue Jays games when they were a new expansion team
- Jays' farm team is now in Buffalo
- Remembering the Hartford Whalers
- Sabres lost in Stanley Cup finals to Philadelphia in 1975
- Jay: One of my favorite players was Buffalo star Gilbert Perreault
- Big heartbreak for Sabres fans was in '99
- Brett Hull scored Cup-winning goal for Dallas with his skate in the goal crease
- Against the rules but officials didn't overturn it
- Atlanta's attendance problem
- The Bills had four straight Super Bowl losses
- Lamenting lost Super Bowl bets
- Jay: Still stinging from Leafs' game 7 loss to Bruins last month
- Leafs' loss to LA in 1993 also a painful memory
- Blue Jays had some horrible chokes in '85 and '87
- Jay: Joe Carter's World Series-winning homer in '93 was probably my last great sports moment
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Fidlar - Cheap Beer
Eddie Spaghetti - The Value of Nothing
TV on the Radio - Will Do
Archers of Loaf - What Did You Expect?

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Fidlar song is on the band's self-titled album on Mom & Pop Music. Download the song from Chromewaves.
The Eddie Spaghetti song is the track track of his new album The Value of Nothing on Bloodshot Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The TV on the Radio song is on the album Nine Types of Light on Interscope. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Archers of Loaf song is a bonus track on the reissue of Icky Mettle on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 275: Picking Up the Pieces

Part 2 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- NHL surprises this season include talented teams struggling: Detroit, Philly, Nashville, Tampa
- Philadelphia's long stretch of bad goaltending
- Gotta love Ilya Bryzgalov
- Toronto-Detroit will be in Winter Classic next year
- Chicago's been the best team in the league by far
- The long, strange journey of Ray Emery
- Jay: Making the case for the Leafs
- Pittsburgh messes with success, keeps winning
- Realignment kicks in next season
- Playoff hockey is the best
- James picks a team to root for when the Avs don't make it
- Jay: Just happy to see Leafs in playoffs
- Players rarely stay on same team for entire career
- Rooting for dirty teams
- NHL has come back strong from lockout
- Fighting in hockey at most levels
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
The Hush Now - Marathon Monday
Guided By Voices - Flunky Minnows
Iceage - Morals
Game Theory - Erica's Word

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Hush Now song is available for free download at Clicky Clicky.
The Guided By Voices song is on the album English Little League on GBV Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Iceage song is on the album You're Nothing on Matador. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.
The Game Theory song is on the album The Big Shot Chronicles. In memory of late Game Theory frontman Scott Miller, you can find all the now out-of-print Game Theory albums available for free download at LoudFamily.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 274: Business as Usual

Part 1 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded last weekend via Skype
- Last spoke in October before NHL lockout began
- Season relaunched in mid-January and is wrapping up in next few weeks
- Definitely some bitterness when the NHL came back
- James' many online efforts include The Avs Hockey Podcast and Jerseys and Hockey Love
- JG: Playing hockey has deepened my appreciation for the sport
- NHL teams sign plenty of undrafted college players
- Georges Vezina was known as the Chicoutimi Cucumber
- Jack Falla wrote some great hockey books
- JK: I was mad at both sides after the lockout
- Ended up getting satellite package and following the Leafs anyway
- Greed is a given in pro sports
- The Leafs fired their GM right before season started
- Now they're on the verge of making playoffs for first time in 9 years
- JK remembers the Leafs' 1993 playoff run
- JK: Not a fan of the shootout
- Rough year for James' favorite team, Colorado
- JG: The Avs need to clean house
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Beck - Halo of Gold
Buffalo Tom - Mineral
Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene
Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus Forever

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Beck song is the B-side to the single "Tropicalia" from the album Mutations. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Buffalo Tom song is on the album Let Me Come Over on Beggars Banquet. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Dinosaur Jr. song is on the album Bug on SST. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Titus Andronicus song is on the album The Monitor on XL Recordings. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. 

Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his blog PodGeek.