House of Strauss

HoS pod is quite happy to welcome Blocked and Reported co-host Katie Herzog. I’m a big BAR fan and believe it to be somewhat misunderstood, especially at this juncture. We get into how the podcast has evolved into a more journalistic and narrative driven product, plus touch on the ways an Old Public Radio golden age fell apart. This discussion touches on, but is not limited to: * Katie allegedly knows nothing about sports but somehow knows the relevant details of Meyers Leonard saying “kike” while gaming. * Shouldn’t the dumb jock defense help Leonard here? * White American NBA player politics * How Prestige 2000s Radio fell apart and why those carrying its torch are the people public radio hates * When you realize that the truth won’t set you free, what happens next?* Katie’s lost friends over what she’s written but I, oddly, don’t seem to have?* The challenge of sports with a lot of homophobia among players trying to advance Pride Nights* The Bon Appetit vs. Reply All Latinx Standoff Ouroboros* The Great Katie vs. Jesse debate about his leaving Twitter 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

Rob Perez, otherwise known as World Wide Wob, has a million Twitter followers based on his ability to share viral content fast. That means always being on the job, including the segment we’d blocked out to record this podcast. In this case we were delayed because, stop me if you’ve heard this excuse before, Rob had to Twitch stream a car chase involving a stolen police vehicle. Coming off the high of that police chase wrapping up, we got into how Rob does what he does and why. Discussion on this pod includes, but is not limited to:* What’s a “fur missile”?* Moral issues in doing play by play of car chases* Rob regularly watches up to nine NBA games simultaneously, at full volume. How?* Why the International NBA fans are getting burnt out on the sport’s controversies* What the hell was NBA Top Shot? * What specific NBA stories did Rob turn viral? * Is Rob the pig, or is he Gwyneth Paltrow? 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

Damon Bruce and Ray Ratto were delivering great ratings in drive time at 95.7 The Game when, boom, they were fired out of nowhere. Nobody seemed to see this coming and it speaks to an overall instability in the radio industry. I had Damon on to discuss this shocker, look at his career in the Bay, talk about the radio industry and give us an indication of how he’s going to move forward. Discussion includes, but is not limited to:* What’s with the surprise firing? * Does Damon miss solo hosting?* Going toe-to-toe with Steve Kerr on James Wiseman* Damon vs. Gary Radnich, what happened there?* Talking about the long arc of Warriors success* How did having a stroke save Damon’s life?* Would Damon ever go back to KNBR? 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.comWe welcome back Big Wos and Nate Jones, two of my favorites in the NBA business/culture space. Today we discuss a range of hot button issues, including this forbidden zone that is the Andrew Wiggins situation. * Air fryers? A perfect life hack or a monstrosity? * Wos “Žižek” Lambre on why sports ceasing to care about fans is, indeed, capitalism* Wos with a take on the cringe/fake way LeBron becoming an owner would be advertised as representationism * Nate speaks on how the surrounding NBA organizational pressure is why players miss games that fans want them in * We get into the Andrew Wiggins situation with the Warriors. What expectations are fair and under what circumstances? * Are the NCAA women’s players more famous now than the men’s players? * Nate with a theory on how the NCAA women overtook the men* We get into how NIL changed the women’s game* Is the selling of sex appeal a problem for the NCAA? Or a benefit to those sports?* The “hoop dollar” vs. the “horny dollar”* Nate talks about what recruiting athletes for NIL is like.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comI once worked with expert NBA writer Rob Mahoney in what felt like impossible circumstances. Looking back, I want to know: Did he really handle it as easily as it looked from the outside? We get into that, take a look back on the industry and discuss his burgeoning podcast power. The episode touches on but is not limited to:* How did NBA writing become Rob’s life?* Why does he still do it?* Our insane experience of working at Bleacher Report in 2012* When the robots demanded that we say LeBron and D-Wade “choke because they’re mentally weak”* Did we experience the Chat GPT future in 2012?* How Sports Illustrated fumbled the bag* Who is the new Al Horford?* Can Rob explain Denver Nuggets title contention to a normie?* Rob’s Top 3 TV shows* Is Rob a nerd or a cowboy?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.comMy old friend Tom Haberstroh stops by to break an NBA omerta or two. We get into his viral thread on how he ranked NBA referees and get deeper into one of the more protected subjects in sports. Podcast discussion includes, but is not limited to:* I saved my dog’s life, right before we started recording* Clearly I’m a hero* How did Tom figure out which referees the NBA favors most? * The NBA says they want half the refs to be female, but doesn’t appear to trust anyone in this cohort with big games* What’s up with players going after the refs in public?* Why did the refs submit a cringe apology to LeBron?* A lot more is known about the the Tim Donaghy scandal than is typically discussed* How Donaghy fixed games and how he helped the NBA by being an unreliable narrator* The scale of all the money that was chasing Donaghy’s picks around the world

Nick stops by for another round of unvarnished opinions about the industry and yes, on sports. This one went in many different directions and I enjoyed all of them. The podcast includes mention of, but is not limited to:* “Nick Wright has a shockingly attractive wife”* Why is local media now softer than ever on the teams it covers?* Should there be public funding of the media? * Are former athletes over indexed on sports television?* Nick takes issue with JJ Redick’s approach in his argument with Kendrick Perkins* Is there racial bias in MVP voting?* The original sin of Russell Westbrook winning MVP* With voting public, do NBA awards voters tail Zach Lowe’s opinions?* Nick and Ethan argue LeBron vs. Michael Jordan 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.comBig Wos is back and he did not disappoint. We spent a good deal on Ja Morant aspects that have been undercovered and we riffed on a variety of topics that include, but aren’t limited to: * A check in on Wos’ popularity + ability to polarize * Has the money gotten too big in the NBA? * On why it’s impossible for Ja Morant to fumble the bag* A civilian vs. soldier dichotomy that isn’t related to the military * On the perils of Morant renouncing life as a “civilian” * NBA commissioner Adam Silver is only about business, and why that’s suboptimal* Adam Silver forces teams be the bad guy with punishments, which they resent * Has American basketball lost a step? * The NBA’s challenge in marketing the Europeans* Takes on Jon Stewart’s new gambit of interrogating extremely small time, small state politicians

I’ve long admired Adam Mares, a force behind DNVR Sports. What is DNVR, you ask? I’d say it’s a local sports site empire that’s spun its popularity off into, among other things, a Sports Bar. Not many in media have the vision or hustle to pull off what Adam’s done, let alone in a smaller market, replete with transplants. The guy just manifests. Among other big projects, Adam recently trekked out to Serbia to film an excellent documentary on the complicated origins of Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic. We discuss all this and much more. The pod talk includes, but is not limited to:* How did Adam find this burgeoning niche? * What was it like to discover that you’re a bigger deal in Serbia than in Denver? * There’s a Serbian word that’s difficult to translate and it’s the skeleton key to understanding Jokic and their sports culture in general* What’s going on with all the allegations of racial bias within the critique of Jokic’s third straight bid for MVP?* Is the media biased towards Jokic? If not, was it biased towards Steve Nash for a different reason?* Did the media apply a different standard to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s bid for a 3rd MVP? Is that wrong? 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

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