House of Strauss

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comPuck News co-founder and The Town host Matthew Belloni is my go to on show business goings on. Nobody is better versed on this fast moving industry during a particularly turbulent epoch, and he conveys it all with panache. So, in this episode, I picked Belloni’s brain Timestamps provided by the astute Sam Schuette….Writers strike and the role of Twitter social pressure (1:40)How did Twitter facilitate the strike?Why is streaming such a bad business? (16:10)How the vanishing of windowing and bundling made revenue more difficultTaylor Swift and 4 Quadrant Marketing (22:05)Is Taylor Swift leveraging the NFL to get guys to see her movie?Barbenheimer Shattering Expectations (24:46)Why Barbie’s success was a triumph of the brand, not the genre of comedyThe difficulty of making “new” (30:00)The same people who run Hollywood now are the same people who ran Hollywood decades agoESPN vs. Fox – Who Fails First? (36:55)Why the stakes are higher for ESPNWill the Leagues get Saved by Big Tech? (40:45)ESPN’s problem with renting the leagues instead of owningNetflix dipping their toes into the sports worldIs Wrexham’s Popularity Real or Fake? (47:25)How it may set a trend for celebrities in sportsWinning Time’s Death (49:55)The expenses of getting non-sports fans to watch the showPeople not taking sports seriously (51:10)The complexities of covering sports that get ignored

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comNancy Rommelmann is one of my favorite journalists, so I looked to her on the question of whether there are any actual rules in journalism. She did not disappoint. In this pod, we discussed Portland expert Nancy’s live reaction to the Damian Lillard trade, her take on WaPo vs. Portnoy, and that “Has the Sexual Revolution Failed” debate down in Los Angeles. Topics in this podcast include by aren’t limited to….* Aforementioned Lillard live reax* What Emily Heil did wrong when confronted by Dave Portnoy* How you handle the subject of a “hit piece” * How Nancy was denied comment when she was the subject of a hit piece* LA Times vs Bari Weiss’ Sexual Revolution Debate* Nancy’s take on the “Has the Sexual Revolution Failed?” question* Is the trans kids in sports topic a real subject? Or a boogeyman subject? * What’s wrong with certain cities right now? And what’s with the denial?* Why don’t Portland men want to have sex?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comAdam Mares is the brilliant impresario behind the DNVR sports media empire, a local institution, rooted in a literal Denver bar, that he’s building out to new cities and ventures. While the Denver Nuggets have been central to Adam’s personal coverage and the rise of DNVR, the arrival of Deion Sanders as coach of Colorado has been entirely different sort of windfall. This episode is about how one captures the current Deion moment, Sanders’ brilliance as modern media strategist, and, as always, some gripes about the current NBA state. Topics include but aren’t limited to…* The idea behind creating a physical space for digital fans* The arrival of Coach Prime* The impact of Prime on the media landscape* Has Deion been good for college football? * How Deion Sanders is like Donald Trump* The sneaky success of Deion’s son as personal social media manager* Is Sanders’ success sustainable longterm?* Adam’s take on the internationalization of the NBA* The patriotic reason fro why Adam’s going to root against Team USA* Is nobody learning from Nikola Jokic?* How the NBA needs more leadership and fewer rules

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comBuyer beware, this might be the sports-iest HoS yet. Tim Kawakami, greatest Bay Area sports writer of the last two decades and my former boss, stops by to talk San Francisco 49ers. That’s right, I’m a football guy now, and I need TK to refine my takes. We also get into some Niners-Warriors parallels, Andre Iguodala’s new assessment of Jordan Poole, and where the San Francisco Chronicle erred in its Warriors coverage. Topics on this podcast include are not limited to…* Former Warriors GM Bob Myers is a Niners nut* What positions really matter in football? * Is Left Tackle or Pass Rusher more valuable?* The Brock Purdy Conversation: Why so continuously doubted?* What is Purdy good at? What is he not so good at? * What do we make of Purdy’s Thursday night football performance? * Andre Iguodala gave an interesting recent appraisal of Jordan Poole* Poole and TK had some friction* Why the San Francisco Chronicle messed up the Warriors’ rise

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comI needed a talking to by the HoS Podbudsman, otherwise known as Spike Eskin of Rights to Ricky Sanchez and WFAN fame. Boy, did I get one in an appearance where Spike explains how I’m being a whiner and what I must do to fix it. Despite whatever emotional injury I withstood, I always value Spike’s advice because he’s an astute radio/pod professional and well intentioned friend. Podcast discussions include but aren’t limited to the following topics…* The aftermath of Aaron Rodgers’ disaster on the New York talk radio scene* What it sounded like when a host was dangerously optimistic about the Jets* Why Spike thinks I’m being a “whiny baby” about Elon Musk suppressing links on X* What I must do stop being a whiner and thrive* Is Spike jealous that I got to (briefly) meet the ladies of Red Scare? * A beef that Spike has with a commentator of mine about politics* Deion Sanders’ popular college football ascent and its search for opposing forces* Adam Silver both sidesing players not honoring their contracts

Comedy writer and Internet prophet, Matt Klinman, joins the podcast to discuss the impending destruction of Funny or Die due to Mark Zuckerberg's strategy. They also touch on topics such as the consequences of Elon Musk and Substack's divorce, the live narration of 9/11 by Regis and Kelly, the writers/actors strike, the outcome of Charter vs. Disney dispute, and the existence of female degenerate sports gamblers. Matt also shares a story of saving the podcast host's life from a gang beating in Irvine, CA.

Investigative reporter Lee Fang discusses his experience getting stranded at Burning Man, the dehumanization on social media, the dislike of Burning Man by the left, the role of radical groups in the Bay Area, the fear of admitting when the bad guy is right, and what would happen if the left and right swapped places.

If you’re a baseball fan, you’ve probably heard of Driveline founder Kyle Boddy. If not, here’s your intro to one of the most revolutionary figures in sports, and a great podcast guest to boot. Kyle’s revolution is taking the Moneyball hunt for market inefficiency to the realm of improving players. After demonstrating an impressive proof of concept with pitching and hitting, he’s taking his storied abilities into the other major sports. Outline from the astute Sam Schuette… * Revolutionary changes in sports* Manu Ginobili’s Eurostep* How much is tradition worth following?* Can AI find new strategies that haven’t been tapped into?* Making sports less enjoyable by optimizing it* It pays for batters to play “boring”* How to look for the glitch and exploit it* What teams miss when they solely focus on big-name prospects and not undrafted players* If you’re great, throw it right down the middle* Why it’s un-American to ignore the under-the-radar players with untapped potential* What variables separate good organizations from bad organizations?* The importance of purpose and direction* Why Heat Culture is so prominent* How they hold their players accountable while other teams do not* Does the player-driven league limit accountability?* What constitutes good hitting?* Bat speed vs. smash factor vs. swing decision* What people misunderstand about the key to good hitting* Applying baseball sports science concepts to basketball* What Hawkeye player tracking can reveal that Second Spectrum cannot* Why basketball is harder to analyze than baseball and football* Secrets to pitching improvements* The role of overload-underload training in increasing pitch speed* Should you really keep your eye on the ball?* What recent research shows about how hitters make contact without looking at the ball* What kids’ love for video games reveals about players’ love for their sport* The importance of immediate feedback in video games and sports training* Making a player’s improvement into a quantifiable video game* Telling someone they’re getting better isn’t enough unless there’s data to support it* The importance of having a coach who wants it as bad as the player* Proving your worth through work ethic* What Kyle learned from Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

We had to have Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post on to discuss Disney/ESPN vs. Charter, the face off that might kill sports viewership as we know it. Or get resolved soon. Ryan has a take on his initial take and many other takes. We get into it. Topics include but aren’t limited to:* Why Charter has leverage over ESPN* Why Ryan thinks this gets resolved* Is there an ideological component to the position Disney finds itself in?* The re-bundle could be upon us. * What does it mean for the NBA? If cable dies, are they in trouble as an inventory sport?* Reader JF (JK!) is doing the Big Short on sports TV rights. Is he going to be correct?* Skip Bayless’ new Undisputed lineup vs. ESPN’s First Take* How streaming dilutes audience from an advertiser perspective This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.houseofstrauss.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comOur favorite guest is here (don’t tell the others), prompted by a certain Substacker’s contention that there’s negative demand for sports writers to engage in conventional political commentary. Wos is the ideal guy for this topic because he somehow does both sports and political talk while retaining the goodwill of most reasonable people. What’s his secret? Is there a secret? This podcast includes but is not limited to the following topics: * How Wos avoids the “sardine in the vending machine” issue* Is the problem talking politics when you’re in sports? Or is the problem that the sports talker adopts an annoyingly predictable politics? * The Trump-based litmus test for whether you’re too ideological* Can Wos become an NFL pundit? * Wos is fully in love with the New York Jets* Aaron Rodgers: Where’s the media at on this guy now?* The NFL’s comeback* Wos had takes on this controversial article about Obama’s past and present