House of Strauss

Tom Haberstroh is the new proprietor of The Finder, a Substack wherein he, well, finds things. He’s always been great at that by the way, dating back to when he joined the (then infamous) Heat Index at ESPN. As long as I’ve known him, Tom’s used research to uncover aspects that others either couldn’t find or didn’t even know to look for. In this episode we take a trip down memory lane, back to when Tom was a hot shot 24-year-old reporter, commissioned to cover the most controversial team in the world. Was Tom the object of some hatred, by proxy of LeBron James? Upon reflection, was a little of it perhaps justified? Then we fast forward to today and have Tom make sense of modern situations like James Harden vs. Daryl Morey. We also get a sense of why he thinks that sports gambling is a bigger problem for the NBA itself than I do. Enjoy! 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.comJay Caspian Kang of the New Yorker drops by and we revisit his tremendous Barstool Sports New York Times article from 2017. Jay was around the Barstool operation during the infamous blowup of what was to be a merger with ESPN/Disney. Now, there’s a new connection point between the companies as Barstool’s main gambling sponsor leaves to join ESPN. We look back on the article and ask the following: Did Barstool win in the end?But that’s merely a jumping off point. Many topics were covered in this pod, as outlined by the astute Sam Schuette. Those topics include but aren’t limited to…* Revisiting Kevin Durant’s exit from Golden State* Why Ethan has sympathy for Durant* The NBA Dark Web* The group of fans who love Monta Ellis and call Kevin Durant’s rings fraudulent* The race to be the most normie* The James Harden Daryl Morey Duel* Why Jay wanted Harden to be in the right* Harden’s Chinese wine selling* Barstool’s Big Move* Revisiting Jay’s Barstool article six years later* Why Barstool’s broad political reach worked in their favor* Why content doesn’t drive gambling as much as people think* Penn leveraging Barstool’s gambling-eager audience still couldn’t compete with the gambling titans* The importance of authenticity on betting apps* How BetMGM made bad PR because they didn’t want to pay a teacher $200k* The difficulty and ethicality of sports betting* Being good isn’t one big secret, it’s 1,000 little secrets* How many people actually win big?* Jay’s move to Berkeley* Why he enjoys it despite weird residents and stressed out students* Ethan thinks Berkeley is a “spiritually dark place.”* Self-segregation at UC Berkeley* The illusion of shared understandings* What drives people to choose who they hang out with?* The lack of interest surrounding Asian-Americans* Why do Asians get overlooked in cases like Affirmative Action which concern them?* The controversy surrounding Jay’s book* Understanding why people disliked it but not understanding why they didn’t * Getting less hostile on Twitter* Jay’s history of “bullying” on Twitter * How not being the underdog anymore makes him argue less* The “Redhead Beard Guy Song”* How the right uses music to own the libs* Why it’s effective because the left gives it attention

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comRyan Glasspiegel of the New York Post is here and we start by discussing the big sports business story of the day: PENN Entertainment’s exit from Barstool and its entry into ESPN. From there, we can’t resist the USWNT flameout discourse, discourse, discourse….

Like so many people, I was shocked to see Disney separate Nate Silver from his famous website, 538. How could this happen? What’s next for Nate, post-538? We get into it. Our jumping off point is Nate’s new Substack, Silver Bulletin, which I thoroughly enjoy. That site covers topics ranging from poker to politics and, of course, pro sports. So we talk about that, plus discuss what the “Indigo Blob” is. This podcast outline, put together by the astute Sam Schuette, is of a conversation that includes but is not limited to the following:* Silver’s memorable Poker tournament experience* How he deduced people by observing their mannerisms* Famous YouTube video of winning a massive bluff* How sports parallel poker* Using stereotypes about yourself to your advantage* Why Ed Reed intercepting Peyton Manning is like a poker player predicting an opponent’s next move* Why shouldn’t there be an ideological purity test for pollsters?* Separate the art (polling) from the artist (political lean of pollster)* Activism as journalism and the PR-ification of everything* Writers using moral authority to tell audience what to think about Taylor Swift’s boyfriend* Has it been successful for the Democrats to make their journalism more progressive?* Advancing political arguments via buzzwords like “the science” and “misinformation”* The semantics and effects of wokeness* Has “woke” been overused? Is it time for a new name?* How wokeness created a conservative equilibrium (Bud Light boycotts)* Terrible Twitter before Elon vs terrible Twitter with Elon* The increased equilibrium of current Twitter* Which arguments are safe to make on Twitter when questioning institutional consensus gets framed as right wing?* The importance of political parties for normies* Why Nate hasn’t given up politics yet* Importance and uncertainty of the 2024 election* Aligning what he does with his interests* Reflecting on FiveThirtyEight* Its missed potential for a subscription opportunity* What ended his run there?* His issues and differences with the new guy running 538, G. Elliott Morris* Silver’s Sloan panel with Bill James* James’ talent for making crazy takes seem plausible* Why Bill James thinks the NBA has the worst athletes* The Pac-12’s dissolution to the Pac-4* Why sports are so much bigger in the Midwest and South 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.comIn a way it’s been too long because we should have had Kevin O'Connor on sooner. The man delivers coverage that’s both comprehensive and prolific, plus he amiably powers through any backlash. I’m curious about how he does his thing and so I asked. Oh, and we discussed Elon Musk too. The following outline comes courtesy of our resident intern, the astute Sam Schuette:* What’s the best way to watch games as an analyst?* Watching one by one in the morning vs watching five different monitors all at once* Clips vs full games* Reacting to draft hits and misses* Killian “The French Cam Payne” Hayes* How to react to a miss on a prediction/ranking* Going from covering one team to becoming the NBA generalist* The added pressure of knowing everything about all 30 teams* Getting thick skin by growing up on the internet* How arguments on online forums and comment sections can teach mental resilience* Yes, the goddamn Lillard trade standoff we can’t avoid in any pod* Similar situation to Durant in Brooklyn* Waiting it out is more appealing to Portland than it seems* Changing team allegiances as a journalist* Rooting for the Lakers and Heat as a Celtics fan?* The temptation to root based on how the outcome validates a take* Controversy over KOC’s Elon tweet* When Musk responded to a troll tweet about Kawhi Leonard’s trade destination* Separating what a person does from what they say* Liking someone’s actions more than their words* Kevin Garnett as a basketball muse* The power of the individual player in changing a team’s culture* J. Kyle Mann, Caitlin Cooper, and underrated NBA writers* KOC’s on-air partners* Big Wos the “takesman”* Chris Vernon’s Dolan-Putin analogy

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comI enjoy Freddie’s perspective, so when he reached out about appearing on this podcast to talk about, well, podcasting, I was delighted to take him up on it. The end result was a pod about podding, but also so much more regarding the modern content game. Turns out Freddie had some NBA culture angles too. The following outline comes courtesy of the astute Sam Schuette:* What makes an interesting podcast?* Why people with massive followings like Steph Curry and Obama aren’t popular podcasters*  The media’s role in creating storylines for players* What the NBA bubble lacked* The post LeBron “Decision”overcorrection of the media covering player mobility* How the media went from ridiculing a free agency decision to being content with mid-contract trade requests* What’s the NBA’s appeal to a fan of a small market team?* Smaller teams struggle to contend when their stars request trades* Bill Simmons* What’s his secret to podcast success? * What’s the Ringer’s method of creating successful podcasts* Variance and ephemerality in podcasting* The barrier to creating content is lower than ever* So many people have the resources to make content, regardless of their skill* Has it gone too far?* Creative jobs vs “boring” jobs* How long should you follow your dreams?* The 45-year old screenwriter who can’t sell a script vs the office drone* Max Read and Matt Ygelisias’s blogging success * Is success a product of being in the right place at the right time or sticking it out?* The disintegration of the ladder up the ranks* Can an aspiring sports writer still work their way up to ESPN or The Athletic?* DeBoer’s Pixar post* The convergence of adulthood and childhood

A third pod this week and a good one I might add.John Middlekauff, former NFL scout and recreational golf nut, podcasts on both football and golf. In this episode, we draw on that combined expertise to get into whether there’s an overlap between these two worlds. Additionally, we discuss Colin Cowherd’s take on Tony Romo’s golf addiction, get an informed opinion on whether Steph Curry could really go pro on the links, and talk about whether running backs are actually getting screwed salary-wise (John has a contrarian take here). This was a more sportsy podcast than usually happens on HoS, and there’s nothing wrong with that…House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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.comBeyond being a noted animal lover, Spike Eskin is one of our favorite guests. As co-host of the successful Rights to Ricky Sanchez podcast and Vice President of Programming at storied WFAN, he’s always got great insights on the world of sports content. This podcast was no exception and I found myself having too good a time to end it on schedule. Topics include, but aren’t limited to: * Politics in sports and audience expectations* What Spike learned from a brief time in con radio world* Following Nate Silver’s theories on why many predictions are wrong* Is Harden constantly requesting trades really player empowerment?* Jeff Teague and the power of honesty in player podcasts* The decline of consensus opinions on TV shows* Spike has issues with The Bear* Did it matter if Mad Men wasn’t a completely accurate portrayal of the past?* Every TV show has its version of Dorne in Game of Thrones* How liking Oppenheimer can get you accused of being a communist* AI Music Covers* Things you would say with friends at a barbecue that would start a Twitter war

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comBomani Jones is here and suddenly without constraints. We had a great conversation on sports industry topics, many of which we were able to get to by using the Damian Lillard/Le Batard/Woj situation as a jumping off point. Oh, and below we’re testing out a more complete podcast outline, put together by Sam Schuette. Pod subjects include but aren’t limited to:* Individual branding* After leaving ESPN, becoming your own brand as a journalist* ESPN equity stakes to NBA and NFL* Desperation? Inability to compete with big tech* Chess move? Leagues could be going for established networks after failed NBA TV* NFL has leverage over ESPN, no need to make deal* NFL’s popularity over other leagues* Good balance of variance and predictability in the NFL makes it exciting* Regular season matters more in NFL which piques interest all year long* Lillard trade/Woj drama* How did Woj’s relationship with Lillard’s agent influence his reports?* Lillard’s situation reflective of shift in players’ status in how they get to pick their next destination even when under contract* Different types of journalism (Windy vs Woj)* Windhorst: brings fans behind the scenes* Woj: more focused on breaking the big news first* White guys in the NBA* Tyler Herro undervalued because he’s white?* Whiteness can be a detriment to how a player’s perceived when he’s below average, but an asset when he’s good (x-cubed analogy)* White Americans vs white Europeans (guys who connect with media vs foreigners perceived as outsiders)* Many white Americans grow up in predominately white areas (where it’s more socially acceptable for a white guy to aim for the NBA)* Taylor Swift male audience* Recent influx of male audience members at Swift concerts, particularly among Gen-Z* Do guys actually care about her music or is it just a way for them to get a date?* Jonathan Ogden story (some guys simply enjoy the music, even those you’d least expect)* Messi in Miami* Miami is an ideal location because of Argentine population* It’s an “events” city* Will be tough to because few fans care about the team, only Messi himself* Running back salary* Running backs supposedly underpaid* Complicated by the fact that RB’s often leave their primes when they’re up for free agency* In multiple sports, CBA’s complicate players salaries and create disconnect between max contract players versus role players* Bomani addressing naysayers* TV show ratings* Unpredictable takes (sometimes traditionally left-wing, sometimes not)* What’s it like to have your career discussed as a proxy for wokeness

Jonathan Rosen, author of 'The Best Minds', discusses his memoir and horror story about his childhood best friend, Michael Laudor. Topics include Laudor's journey from boy genius to killer, the book as a mirror for an era, the influence of media on decision making and generational dreams, exploring Jewish culture and illness, contrasting personalities and envy in upbringing, the tragic nature of mental illness, and understanding schizophrenia and its connection to drug use.