Holy cats, our podcast with Dave Berri returns. For those that don’t know, Wages of Wins founder David Berri writes regularly for Forbes now (forbes.com/sites/davidberri) and he comes on weekly to talk his recent pieces. Since we’re catching up, we cram a lot in.
Dave talks about the National Pro Fastpitch draft, both a preview and a review. As Dave notes, there are five teams, so they drafted pretty well.
Dave also tells an old story about the NFL draft, no one has any idea about how good any QB will be. As Dave notes, this has never been a popular story. People don’t like being told no one knows it seems.
We talk a fair bit about the NBA and NBA Playoffs. Dave put up his first round predictions and got 7 of 8 correctly. It turns out in the NBA picking the better team to win is often a good strategy. We may get a post out of his second round projections. Dave did post his projections for the series before they started:
https://t.co/CpDNHWAMQo
Forgot to note this before the game began tonight.
But I am taking Sixers in 6 games over the Celtics.
And before I forget…
Raptors over Cavaliers in 5 games.
We ask an important question: Has Carmelo Anthony read and used the Wages of Wins as a model for how to maximize his career earnings.
Fun Easter egg, our internet connection failed in the middle of the recording, so I had to cut out some dead space, see if you can find where! (It’s pretty obvious)
Penultimate Lakers fan Chris Yeh returns to discuss Lonzo Ball’s excellent rookie performance and why the Lakers are in a fantastic spot. We also randomly discuss NBA players out of time in their eras. Tune in!
Chris Yeh is an Angel Investor in Silicon Valley with years of experience in the tech scene. He’s co-author of the New York Times bestseller “The Alliance,” which I argue every NBA GM should have on their bookshelf. His new book “Blitzscaling” comes out in October, and you can already preorder it!
Ethan Strauss named the “Yay! Points!” thesis almost eight years ago. Donovan Mitchell is proof it’s alive and well. Chris elaborates that iso jump shooting is overrated as an NBA skill.
Donovan Mitchell is really good at taking a lot of shots. And people are impressed by this. He might have potential, he might be great one day. The idea he’s anywhere close to Ben Simmons right now is right out.
This may now be the most “popular” Tweet I’ve ever written that is liked by one of the athletes it is about.
Something we should stress: the goal of professional athletes is to make a living playing sport. As Jalen Rose noted: “give the people what they want!” (h/t Chris for that reference) Donovan Mitchell knows scoring will get him paid. So while we might be critical of his production, we can’t fault what he’s doing from an economic standpoint.
The NBA landscape is changing, with a premium being given for three-point shooters. We can’t help but think of players from other eras that would be completely different in the modern NBA. Chris brings up Drazen Petrovic. I’ve already talked the Dallas Mavericks with Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. And, of course, John Stockton could have been Curry but with better defense!
A sports metaphor that comes up on this show I love: Chris Paul is the Rickie Henderson of the NBA.
We talk how the Lakers have a fantastic young core (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma) ready for two max contract players, which they have space for this upcoming offseason. Our suggestion? LeBron James and DeAndre Jordan.
Remember when the Knicks signed Amare Stoudemire to try and entice LeBron James to join them? Here’s hoping the Lakers do better!
We talk Gasol vs. Gasol! Shockingly even at this age, Pau is still the better one.
Chris gives a fun tank throwback to Mark Madsen with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Tune in for all that and more! Chris is one of the most knowledgeable Lakers fans you’ll ever hear, so it’s worth your time.
Andres Alvarez (@nerdnumbers) and his brother Daniel are back to discuss a TV show from their childhood: WMAC Masters! The world’s best martial artists are all competing for the ultimate prize on a Saturday morning show that tries to blend wrestling, G.I. Joe, and Street Fighter. Did it work? Tune in to find out our thoughts.
Surprisingly a show cancelled in the mid-90s due to low ratings has never been released on DVD or blu-ray. You can find the entire show on YouTube(for now) here
I normally try and leave highlight of our train of thought on the show. We hop all over the place though. I say just enjoy the show. If you watch the video show, Daniel splices in lots of clips from the show to prove we didn’t just make all of this up. Don’t worry, I’ll add some random footnotes too.
The Wikipedia entry on this show is quite comprehensive and worth checking out if you were a fan of the show.
A Trope I mention is called Stage Whisper, where characters discuss private and important information in a very obvious fashion.
A goal of this show was clearly to sell action figures. This failed spectacularly. A byproduct? The toys from the show are now rare and expensive.
Retail $129.99
We talk a bunch about season one’s feud between “Great Wolf” and “Tiger Claw”, which was the conversation we had that lead to us actually making this podcast episode.
Despite having a women’s division, WMAC Masters ignores their female characters (reminds me of the WWE) Out of twenty-six episodes, only seven feature womens’ fights. And many times these fights are shown in highlight flashbacks or even just characters telling each other what happened.
E.J. wraps up the conversation about “The New Mother.” We also get into tangent-land, including the Spurs, John Scalzi’s “Red Shirts”, and how Nintendo is a lot like professional wrestling.
If you can’t find Asimov’s April/May magazine at your local store, you can buy the back issue online here.
We start by talking more about “The New Mother”, warning, spoilers!
I talk some of the implications of E.J’s premise. Genetic algorithms, how evolution happens with cloning, and eugenics come up. E.J. spoils that eugenics will play a major part in his upcoming book.
It’s possible (and even necessary) to simultaneously enjoy a piece of media while also being critical of some of the more problematic aspects of that same media.
We talk a little about the book Red Shirts. E.J. and I may discuss it on a future podcast. Given our schedule and my overall busy-ness, expect that in a year or so!
E.J. is in the book as a character. Of course, E.J. stopped reading after his character died, so he doesn’t know how the book ends. I compare this to a Jim Gaffigan bit about owning a book you haven’t read.
I certainly can’t point fingers. This post is up about two weeks later than I hoped it would be. But E.J. was supposed to be mentioned in the author’s notes…
E.J. points out that there is a blanket thank you in the author’s note. So he did get his thanks in the sense we were all Time Magazine’s person of the year in 2008.
The Audible version of Red Shirts is great. Will Wheaton is the narrator, and he’s amazing.
E.J. mentions 100% of books that use him (or his namesake) as a character have won the Hugo award. Just food for thought.
We want to be 100% clear; there is no bad blood between E.J. and John Scalzi.
E.J. says he’ll get around to finishing Red Shirts, but wants to read John Scalzi’s “Lock-In” first.
E.J. has read Kelly Sue Deconick’s Bitch Planet as well as Sex Criminals by her husband Matt Fraction and illustrated by Chip Zdarsky. We have a weird genealogical discussion of works or something. Tune in!
E.J. is reading “Two Girls Fat and Thing” by Mary Gaitskill right now — or was when we recorded.
E.J. is also reading “Persona” by Genevieve Valentine. He really liked “The Girls at the Kingfisher Club“, also by Genevieve Valentine. He’s mentioned it on the podcast two times now.
E.J. also has “The Angel of Losses” by Stephanie Feldman on his radar. It won the Crawford Award, which is basically a “Fantasy Rookie of the Year Award.” Zen Cho tied for the award.
As you might be able to derive from the above list, E.J. is trying to hit two books a week. It’s an absurd schedule.
We briefly talk the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. When we recorded this, I hadn’t seen it. Next time.
Me and E.J. both loved 30 Rock.
We talk a little about House and Kal Penn leaving the show, in part because he had been on the Nerdist podcast right near the recording.
We talk a little about “Slacktivism” and the idea of how it’s hard to impact stuff. I think it’s a good thing actually.
We also talk a bit about fate vs. narrative fate.
E.J. brings up “Blame” by Michelle Huneven as an excellent book with themes of fate.
We talk a bit about how real life narrative is hardly structured and as cohesive as stories. In short, lay off the Lost finale!
In narratives, we get used to tropes and devices. This primes us for story types. This can be good and bad. For instance, I felt the New Mother was a horror after reading the intro.
I compare the narrative priming of “The New Mother” to Wrestlemania 31. I’m proud of this.
We bring up the famous Henry Ford “faster horse” quote in reference to why innovation is an excellent idea. Of course, he may not have said this.
We talk the Suns and Spurs rivalries in the NBA playoffs. E.J. still thinks the winningest team in recent NBA history should have won more.
The Phoenix Suns are an example of a team that tried something new but didn’t get the success people wanted. We question why more teams didn’t try to emulate it.
E.J. uses the Spurs as an example of a team that “couldn’t win” until they did…
We wrap up comparing the Spurs to Apple.
Phew! Lots of notes. Hope you enjoyed the discussions. We’ll see you next time!
E.J. has now been on 100% of the NerdCasts, including the Nerdcast Reboot
I briefly thought I would be starting up my own podcast. Of course, I haven’t had the time as you can find me weekly on the Boxscore Geeks Show.
E.J’s novella “The New Mother” appeared as the title story in Asimov’s Magazine. Here’s where you can pick it up. Some of these are out of date. That’s on me, sorry!
While E.J’s biology knowledge is stellar, he says a lot of his research for his novella had to do with social aspects. For instance, the reaction to the A.I.D.S epidemic in the 80s and 90s.
We recorded this during March Madness. During that time, Indiana passed a religious freedom law, which essentially was anti-gay-marriage. Even the NCAA was against it.
This is E.J’s “one” writer writing about a writer. I’d be fine with more, see Stephen King!
This book hits on the implication of women gaining more control in a patriarchal society. Books like “Lean In” – and “The End of Men” (by Hannah Roslin, I forget her name in the show) have pointed out some of the demographic shifts.
We talk a bit about being a biased news source near minute twenty-two. It’s a fun listen.
The specific trope I mention for Winston in the Ghostbusters is Audience Surrogate. If E.J. was a lazy writer, his main character Tess could have been this. Luckily, E.J. makes sure to develop her as a fully fleshed out character with agency, motivation, and a story arc.
E.J. went to graduate school at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. It was actually featured on Girls. He did a lot of the New Mother as part of his M.F.A
E.J. points out his story does not pass the “Reverse Bechdel Test” — no two men speak to one another.
We’ve discussed how Star Trek — the original series – was progressive for the time. It’s not the same in today’s era.
We talk a bit about how a work can be feminist while having “non-feminist” characters. Part of making females a bigger part of pop-culture is allowing them to have agency in stories. This means letting them screw up!
I talk a bit about how just having a minority character can be huge for representation. E.J’s main character is a bi-racial. The movie Chef intentionally includes Hispanic characters.
E.J. has an exclusive reveal about Judy in this podcast. You’ll have to listen to hear it though!
E.J. ends part one with a reading of the ending of “The New Mother”, obviously I should state, spoilers.
And guess what? That’s only part one! Part two will be up Wednesday. Or, if you’re reading this in the future, it’s already up, lucky you!
I had started up the NerdNumbers podcast a while back, before I ended up doing the Boxscore Geeks show weekly. Well, the NerdNumbers show is coming back. Who better to have on than E.J. Fischer, star of the infamous “lost episode”.
This Week’s Show
The NerdNumbers show is back! We have a special guest, who’s on to discuss Batman vs. Superman and everything else.
We discuss the depressing nature of DC comics. Also in a weird turn we actually suggest taking Orson Scott Card and Frank Miller off your reading lists!
We end up discussing Big Hero 6, which is amazing! Seriously, check it out! Although, as E.J. says, you could rename the movie: “Hardware solutions to software problems.”
Damon Wayans Jr. from Happy Endings and Scott Adsit from 30 Rock are in Big Hero 6 if you needed more convincing.
Whitewashing the Mandarin in Ironman 3 may have been justified given the character’s racist origins. However, replacing Ricardo Montalbán with Benedict Cumberbatch though? Unacceptable.
Superman is Moses. I’m dumbfounded I never realized this. Also, we talk a lot about how Superman should be an interesting character. Sadly Zach Snyder doesn’t get this.
We originally decided to talk Exterminite, a new series by Mikey Neumann, Len Peralta, and Kris Straub. Check out the first issue here! Only the “pilot” episode is out. We agreed we liked it, but that didn’t make for compelling podcasting. We’ll talk more as the series unfolds.
E.J. has a short story coming out in the April-May issue of Asimov’s magazine. I’ve committed to reading it and having E.J. back on the show to talk about it.
