Latest / The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast / Thursday Thunderdome with 76ers CEO Scott O'Neil

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Thursday Thunderdome with 76ers CEO Scott O'Neil · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Welcome to the favorite. It's from the Volume podcast Network
0:14
Speaker 1: Massive Massive Show. It's time to enter the Thursday Thunderdome.
0:23
Speaker 1: On today's show, our special guests will compete alongside my
0:27
Speaker 1: co host, my bff, my companion Professional Sports Better Simon Hunter,
0:32
Speaker 1: in an epic test of wagers and wits that's quickly
0:34
Speaker 1: made this show the most celebrated tangentially sports betting related
0:39
Speaker 1: audio program since the advent of the recorded voice, Simon,
0:45
Speaker 1: Before I get to our guests, how are you any
0:48
Speaker 1: burner cars that you're leaving in parking lots? And he
0:51
Speaker 1: bags of cash you're taken anywhere? What's going on? I
0:55
Speaker 1: could be Man, it's gonna be a weird chat in
0:57
Speaker 1: like a couple of years. You know. I'm gonna be
0:58
Speaker 1: talking to like future wife. Hopefully she's gonna say how
1:01
Speaker 1: do you make all your money? And it's not gonna
1:03
Speaker 1: because of the action networker sports betting. It's gonna because
1:06
Speaker 1: some meme stock and some meme crypto currency. Because I'm
1:10
Speaker 1: one of those people that bought AMC all the way
1:12
Speaker 1: back in January, and I bought BlackBerry back in January. Chad,
1:16
Speaker 1: I'm flushed. Your boy is flushed, right, now nothing makes sense.
1:21
Speaker 1: You know, my greatest wish for you is to find love.
1:24
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a huge fan of love and I
1:26
Speaker 1: want you to experience that. And if it happens from
1:29
Speaker 1: this podcast, all the better. Simon a man who needs
1:33
Speaker 1: no introduction, Your first challenger, a powerhouse in the sports
1:38
Speaker 1: world as the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, which
1:42
Speaker 1: owns and operates the Advancing Philadelphia seventy and the New
1:47
Speaker 1: Jersey Devils. Let me just say this. He's got a book,
1:50
Speaker 1: a new book called Be Where Your Feet Are. Seven
1:52
Speaker 1: Principles to keep you present, grounded, and thriving. It's got
1:56
Speaker 1: insights and lessons from millions of people, not millions, but many,
2:00
Speaker 1: many people that hear, millions of people, influential people in
2:04
Speaker 1: business and sports, personalities, athletes, multiple NBA commissioners, award winning filmmakers.
2:11
Speaker 1: Let me say this before we actually let Scott O'Neill
2:15
Speaker 1: speak after he's been spoken to, Because he is an
2:18
Speaker 1: incredibly admired executive in sports. I have had the pleasure
2:21
Speaker 1: of hearing him speak on panels and also moderating a
2:25
Speaker 1: panel that he's on. For anybody who aspires to go
2:28
Speaker 1: to any kind of panel who wants to be in
2:31
Speaker 1: the sports space, the sports business space. Like nobody says
2:35
Speaker 1: anything on these things except for one person, Scott O'Neill,
2:38
Speaker 1: who you will walk away from a panel after listening
2:42
Speaker 1: to him speak. I've heard him speak in massive rooms
2:44
Speaker 1: and on zooms and he will give you something to
2:47
Speaker 1: take away that feels real and authentic, and you're like,
2:50
Speaker 1: all right, that's a guy who gets it. Scott, Welcome
2:54
Speaker 1: to the Thunderdome. Thank you, it's good to be here.
2:57
Speaker 1: Big Mad Max fan forever it's worth loves thunder Dome
3:00
Speaker 1: back in the day. I appreciate those nice words. I
3:03
Speaker 1: think you guys feel this way too. I mean, we're
3:05
Speaker 1: the luckiest people in the world. I mean to get
3:07
Speaker 1: to do what we do every day and make a
3:10
Speaker 1: living doing this. It beats a stick in the eyes,
3:12
Speaker 1: I like to say, and it certainly beats working for
3:14
Speaker 1: a living. So the fact that I'm not savvy enough
3:18
Speaker 1: not to leave any real nuggets on the table, that's
3:20
Speaker 1: something I'm working on. I appreciate this platform and I'm
3:23
Speaker 1: I'm ready to go. Let's go. You are, no doubt
3:26
Speaker 1: a man, it was too big to be joining us
3:27
Speaker 1: for this, But We're happy to have you. Uh the
3:30
Speaker 1: second the second competitor today, not close to big enough
3:35
Speaker 1: to be on this podcast, but we're still in. Let's go, Uh,
3:39
Speaker 1: senior writer, one of the best connected journalists covering the
3:42
Speaker 1: NBA today, A kid because I care, A renowned gambler
3:46
Speaker 1: of second quarterlines, also loves to play team totals. Primary
3:51
Speaker 1: nemesis of Fred Van bleets Mr Matt Moore, How are you, buddy?
3:56
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me on me excited to be on
3:58
Speaker 1: with you guys. Even if I can only barely reach
4:01
Speaker 1: above the bar to get on this podcast, I appreciate that.
4:03
Speaker 1: Here's how we're going to play this game today, folks. Uh.
4:06
Speaker 1: Two kinds of questions will be answered. First, traditional trivia
4:11
Speaker 1: questions about sports, sports, betting, the world at large. Second,
4:16
Speaker 1: completely subjective and totally assinine, open ended questions that I
4:22
Speaker 1: alone will judge truth be told, I almost always root
4:26
Speaker 1: for Simon to intimate points. Uh. You must not only
4:29
Speaker 1: answer these trivia questions correctly, you also must convince me
4:32
Speaker 1: that your responses to these prompts are better than the
4:36
Speaker 1: responses from your opponents, specifically Simon Part one epic fails. Scott,
4:41
Speaker 1: You're a big time player in the sports business world,
4:44
Speaker 1: and The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about you. In
4:48
Speaker 1: their article about you, you are credited with the quote
4:52
Speaker 1: failure is the best teacher. It's just not a fun teacher.
4:57
Speaker 1: As representatives of the sports betting community we here at
5:00
Speaker 1: the Favorites Podcast couldn't agree more. Enormous embarrassing failures are
5:04
Speaker 1: stitched into the very fabric of sports gambling. So let's
5:08
Speaker 1: take a look at some of the infamous failures a
5:12
Speaker 1: k A. Incredible teachable moments in sports history Simon Forty
5:16
Speaker 1: two years ago, the Chicago White Sox ran a promotion
5:19
Speaker 1: in which fans could purchase discounted tickets if they dropped
5:23
Speaker 1: off specific vinyl records. Eventually, crates of the collected vinyl
5:28
Speaker 1: were blown up between games of a doubleheader in July
5:30
Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy nine. The ensuing fire on field riot
5:34
Speaker 1: and game cancelation art was arguably the franchise's lowest moment
5:39
Speaker 1: since it intentionally lost a World Series six decades earlier.
5:44
Speaker 1: The entire disastrous stunt led Bay local rock dj began
5:49
Speaker 1: as an organized rebellion against this nineteen seventies music fad,
5:58
Speaker 1: and I was there at that game this go. You
6:01
Speaker 1: were not at that game, you weren't even alive, then
6:06
Speaker 1: you don't know what I've what I've done. It's famously
6:09
Speaker 1: documented in so many different places, but of course, I,
6:12
Speaker 1: being from Chicago and actually being alive for that, remember
6:15
Speaker 1: it very well. But what's also interesting is the Bags
6:18
Speaker 1: just had a documentary about them on on you know,
6:21
Speaker 1: one of the services, the streaming services, and I didn't
6:25
Speaker 1: realize how prolific they were, but they were on tour
6:28
Speaker 1: when this happened, and their tour basically collapsed after this night,
6:31
Speaker 1: like it became the backlash against disco, and what happened
6:35
Speaker 1: with the Bags became so relevant it ruined like what
6:38
Speaker 1: had been an amazing long career at the time for
6:41
Speaker 1: the Beach's Barry give reference. Early is always critical of
6:46
Speaker 1: the podcast. Listen. You're an esteemed author. I'm also an author,
6:51
Speaker 1: and now together as authors, we are recognizing greatness. Chad
6:55
Speaker 1: Milman wrote a book. It's sometimes difficult as authors to
6:59
Speaker 1: be on a podcast with non authors. I mean, have
7:01
Speaker 1: you noticed that, honestly, Scott, Sometimes it's difficult as an
7:04
Speaker 1: author to be talking to anybody who hasn't done anything
7:07
Speaker 1: of equal value as writing a book. Fine, I'm not
7:10
Speaker 1: I'm not hurt at all. It's fine, But you know what,
7:12
Speaker 1: I do what I can. I try to live sort
7:14
Speaker 1: of benevolently Matt. After in the New York Mets released
7:19
Speaker 1: this former star with five point nine million dollars remaining
7:22
Speaker 1: on his contract. Rather than buy him out, the team
7:25
Speaker 1: negotiated a financially ridiculous deferral schedule and now pay him
7:31
Speaker 1: one point two million dollars every year from two thousand
7:33
Speaker 1: eleven to two thirty five. The Blunder is commemorated with
7:37
Speaker 1: each annual installment, and July one has become an unofficial
7:41
Speaker 1: holiday that bears this player's name. You started me with baseball.
7:46
Speaker 1: Of all things, you started me with baseball. I come
7:49
Speaker 1: on this podcast for you. I've worked hard for you.
7:51
Speaker 1: I've been on Action Network things, and you start me
7:54
Speaker 1: with baseball. By the way, so wrong. I'm not even
8:00
Speaker 1: gonna throw Matt Mitchell under the bus for right. This
8:03
Speaker 1: might be the only one I get. I will let
8:05
Speaker 1: you answer this one and Matt can have the next
8:07
Speaker 1: one because it's an NBA question. Bobby Right, that's right,
8:18
Speaker 1: Matt Mitchell. I want you to give Scott an extra
8:20
Speaker 1: point for being a gracious, gracious guest. Not only does
8:24
Speaker 1: he write amazing, best selling books, but he also takes
8:28
Speaker 1: one on the chin for people he's competing against. He
8:32
Speaker 1: gets an extra point for that. Matt, here's your question.
8:37
Speaker 1: Just as Kevin Garnett was hitting his prime with the
8:39
Speaker 1: Timberwolves in the year two thousand, the NBA suspended both
8:42
Speaker 1: the Minnesota GM and owner and stripped the two Wolves
8:45
Speaker 1: of four first round draft picks after a top secret
8:49
Speaker 1: contract scheme was exposed centered around this player, the top
8:53
Speaker 1: pic in draft Joe Smith. Joe Smith. That one is
9:00
Speaker 1: up there, That one's up there for Whenever executives talk
9:04
Speaker 1: about that, uh, the the interesting like commentary on that
9:07
Speaker 1: is always pretty amazing. Whenever I talked to executives as
9:10
Speaker 1: an idea of like, oh, yeah, you should definitely try
9:12
Speaker 1: and get an edge in every conceivable way. Oh no,
9:15
Speaker 1: you've gone too far and now you've wrecked the franchise
9:18
Speaker 1: like that, that kind of commentary, I think it is
9:20
Speaker 1: always really interesting in terms of what that what that
9:23
Speaker 1: entire deal is like. Clearly it was a bone headed
9:25
Speaker 1: move that they got busted on, but at the same time,
9:28
Speaker 1: talking to executives about how you have to search for
9:30
Speaker 1: every edge, and how competitive pro sports is versus making
9:34
Speaker 1: those kind of mistakes and the consequences that they can
9:37
Speaker 1: lead to. I'm always fascinated to hear executive takes on
9:40
Speaker 1: that true story story. I wrote the very first story
9:44
Speaker 1: ever about Kevin Garnett. I was home in Chicago. I
9:48
Speaker 1: read a story about him in the Tribune. Transferring to
9:51
Speaker 1: Farragut High School, went down to Farrogate, interviewed him in
9:54
Speaker 1: his coach's office. I was working at Sports Illustrated at
9:57
Speaker 1: the time, went back to New York, wrote this where
10:00
Speaker 1: he filed it. Got a note from the managing editor
10:02
Speaker 1: at the time, said, this is an amazing story. Thank
10:05
Speaker 1: you for writing it. We're sending Jack McCallan to go
10:08
Speaker 1: write a cover story that I have. I have second
10:14
Speaker 1: hand Kevin Garnett story. So he gets to Brooklyn. You
10:17
Speaker 1: know that whole that trade was kind of funky at
10:19
Speaker 1: that time, and and Brookelyn was going for it. Boston
10:22
Speaker 1: was chuckling, and you know, the whole, the whole adventure.
10:25
Speaker 1: And Kevin Gardner, as you know, it's very tense guy.
10:28
Speaker 1: And so first preseason game he's in Brooklyn, comes in
10:31
Speaker 1: the locker room and Darren Williams was on on his
10:33
Speaker 1: phone texting and he walks over, picks up the phone,
10:37
Speaker 1: grabs it, throws as hard as he can against the
10:39
Speaker 1: wall and smashes the pieces and he's like, get your
10:42
Speaker 1: head in the game, and then walks out. I gotta
10:47
Speaker 1: tell you he was always amazing. He was always an
10:50
Speaker 1: amazing guy to cover. He was playing for Minnesota and
10:53
Speaker 1: I was working at the time for c n N
10:55
Speaker 1: S I like this new fangled network, and we needed
10:58
Speaker 1: to interview him, and the t Wolves PR wouldn't let
11:01
Speaker 1: him be interviewed before the game. So we grabbed him
11:04
Speaker 1: coming off the court after the game, before going to
11:06
Speaker 1: the locker room, and we put him in a room
11:08
Speaker 1: and we interviewed him, and the Timberwolves PR guys are
11:11
Speaker 1: banging on the door, and Kevin Garnett where he keeps
11:14
Speaker 1: looking at the door as if he is so angry
11:17
Speaker 1: that he's being interrupted from an interview where we weren't
11:19
Speaker 1: even supposed to be interviewing him. Uh, the intensity levels
11:22
Speaker 1: were very high. His agent, Jim Smaller, is a good
11:25
Speaker 1: good friend of mine and she loves him, raves about
11:28
Speaker 1: him a human beings, so her words is good for me.
11:31
Speaker 1: I was going to joke that that when you did
11:33
Speaker 1: that storry on him in high school, and I was like,
11:35
Speaker 1: and that was the last time that Kevin Garnett ever
11:37
Speaker 1: willingly spoke to a journalist, that notorious Garnett. Yeah, I
11:43
Speaker 1: mean he was notoriously like. I would say that the
11:46
Speaker 1: guys that covered him loved covering him because the small
11:50
Speaker 1: interactions felt so big. It's just that they were so
11:53
Speaker 1: few and far between, which is honestly, if you're gonna
11:55
Speaker 1: be an NBA superstar, that's the way to do it.
11:58
Speaker 1: All Right, here we go Part one prompt. Now that
12:02
Speaker 1: we've waded into the chili waters of epic failures, I'll
12:04
Speaker 1: have you turn the lens to yourselves. Please give me
12:07
Speaker 1: a moment in your sports or sports betting career that
12:10
Speaker 1: resulted an abject failure. Then tell me the lesson you learned.
12:15
Speaker 1: The contestant whose lesson proves the most timeless and invaluable
12:21
Speaker 1: to our listeners will be declared the winner. I mean, Scott,
12:24
Speaker 1: this is right up the alley with your books. Simon response, First,
12:27
Speaker 1: what do you got? I always ate really healthy before
12:31
Speaker 1: football games, and when I was in high school, Chad
12:34
Speaker 1: Johnson became really famous and he ate McDonald's all the time,
12:40
Speaker 1: and that's what you eat before football games. So I ate,
12:43
Speaker 1: I mean ten dollars worth of McDonald's, which is like
12:46
Speaker 1: thirty pounds of food back then. Not that I like
12:48
Speaker 1: I cramped up, but I was getting cramps a little
12:50
Speaker 1: bit in the first quarter, and by the second quarter,
12:53
Speaker 1: I had, I am, how to say, without sunding super gross.
12:56
Speaker 1: I took a hit and I pretty much had the
12:58
Speaker 1: runs on the field. So I'm running off the field
13:02
Speaker 1: of my legs pinched Alex in a full sprint beeline
13:05
Speaker 1: to the bathrooms in the middle of the field. So
13:07
Speaker 1: that was definitely a lesson learned about eating habits before
13:10
Speaker 1: sporting events. Simon poops his pants. I mean, that's that's
13:14
Speaker 1: pretty good. I'm gonna categorize it as that one. Uh,
13:17
Speaker 1: Matt Moore, you're upe. Can you beat an embarrassing moment
13:20
Speaker 1: that teaches a lesson not to eat bad food before
13:23
Speaker 1: a sporting event? Otherwise you poop your pants? Simon Paul
13:26
Speaker 1: Pierce Hunter. So over Scott's left shoulder is a jersey
13:32
Speaker 1: of the great Moses Malone. I happened upon him in
13:35
Speaker 1: research like he was too young, Like he literally won
13:38
Speaker 1: m v P the year I was born and I
13:40
Speaker 1: missed out. And then I was doing an article when
13:42
Speaker 1: I was working at NBC. I was actually about yell ming,
13:44
Speaker 1: but I happened upon his numbers and I I was like,
13:46
Speaker 1: this is insane, Like these numbers are absolutely ridiculous. I
13:48
Speaker 1: was like, he couldn't have been this good. So I
13:50
Speaker 1: went like YouTube hunting and trapped and started like recording
13:54
Speaker 1: classic games on NBA TV, and I became like really
13:58
Speaker 1: infatuated and just like really thick stated on Moses because
14:01
Speaker 1: he's this forgotten m v P in the history of
14:03
Speaker 1: the league. He does not get the kind of respect,
14:05
Speaker 1: and his story is so incredible as one of the
14:08
Speaker 1: preps to pros guys that comes out of high school
14:10
Speaker 1: and dominates in his career in Houston and then going
14:13
Speaker 1: to Philly and being the missing link for them. I
14:16
Speaker 1: just think that Moses was such a fascinating story. And
14:18
Speaker 1: I decided at some point, after having written like four
14:21
Speaker 1: articles about him in the like in the off season,
14:24
Speaker 1: that there's no like news reason for it. I just
14:26
Speaker 1: loved writing about Moses. I was like, I really want
14:28
Speaker 1: to write a book about it, Like nobody's written the book,
14:30
Speaker 1: and I'm at an All Star game and I've like
14:33
Speaker 1: I thought about ideas and stuff like that and being
14:35
Speaker 1: an author like the two of you great authors, including
14:38
Speaker 1: seven time author Chad Milman, not that he will ever
14:41
Speaker 1: remind you of that. Like the career dream for me
14:44
Speaker 1: is like I I very much want my dad to
14:46
Speaker 1: be able to go to a bookstore and written a
14:49
Speaker 1: book with this answer, what's your answer? I saw Moses
14:53
Speaker 1: Malone in an All Star game, had an opportunity to
14:55
Speaker 1: go up to him and pitch him, met him, talked
14:57
Speaker 1: to him, got gunshy and missed the opportunity and at
15:01
Speaker 1: that point like since then, and he unfortunately passed away.
15:04
Speaker 1: A few years ago. I had pitched the family and
15:06
Speaker 1: they politely declined. It's the answer is you need to
15:10
Speaker 1: take your shot when it was presented to you. You
15:12
Speaker 1: have to pursue these opportunities. If you care about something,
15:14
Speaker 1: do not let those things pass you by because you
15:16
Speaker 1: will not get another chance. I mean, it's a lovely sentiment,
15:19
Speaker 1: but it took you so long to get there. Scott
15:22
Speaker 1: Rick Moses story. I know, I know this is your show,
15:25
Speaker 1: but I have a quick story. I have to share
15:26
Speaker 1: it because the Moses shout out, I get to the sixers.
15:29
Speaker 1: We don't have relationship with any of our lums, none
15:31
Speaker 1: of them, okay. And so I called Bill Cunningham. I
15:34
Speaker 1: know he went by Billy, but he goes by Bill now.
15:36
Speaker 1: And I said, Bill, I need help. He's been a
15:37
Speaker 1: mentor of mine for a long time, wonderful guy. And
15:39
Speaker 1: I said, I need help with these seven guys. It's like, sure,
15:42
Speaker 1: I'll set up so you know, we cleaned up a
15:45
Speaker 1: lot of the past ills and the two guys that
15:48
Speaker 1: we couldn't get any trash with Moses and Andrew TONI
15:51
Speaker 1: ANDREWTONI still not come back into the family here and Um.
15:54
Speaker 1: And so I called my good friend Fred Whitfield. He
15:56
Speaker 1: runs the Hornets. He set me up with Moses Um
15:59
Speaker 1: as his who t is runs this charity event. And
16:02
Speaker 1: he sat me next to him for four hours. He's like, look,
16:04
Speaker 1: all I can do is I'll give you the entree
16:06
Speaker 1: and Um because we wanted to retire as Jersey and
16:08
Speaker 1: he's like no, And I said, I just don't understand
16:10
Speaker 1: why you won't have your tire Jersey chard. He said, well,
16:13
Speaker 1: it's not fair to all the people that worked with me.
16:17
Speaker 1: And so we came up with that night that we
16:19
Speaker 1: were gonna stitch every name of every player he ever
16:22
Speaker 1: played with on the outside of the of the banner.
16:26
Speaker 1: And then he died like four months later. Wow. And
16:29
Speaker 1: so then I was trapped, and my marketing guys like,
16:31
Speaker 1: we gotta do it. I'm like, no, no, no, no,
16:34
Speaker 1: no no. We we need some time to pass, and
16:37
Speaker 1: then we need to speak with the family. I would
16:39
Speaker 1: have killed to have read the book that you wrote
16:42
Speaker 1: on Moses, because he was wonderful and smart, had a
16:46
Speaker 1: great business mind and obviously when of great rebounders and
16:49
Speaker 1: dominant big men of all time. But great. I love
16:51
Speaker 1: you lesson. Even though Chad didn't like and I know
16:53
Speaker 1: he's a seven time author, I loved your lesson. Listen.
16:56
Speaker 1: I think that this is proving why you're so popular
16:59
Speaker 1: on panel. It's also proven why I'm not popular with
17:02
Speaker 1: the people on my team. I thought Matt's answer, I
17:05
Speaker 1: think you basically got the whole book. In Matt's answer,
17:08
Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything left to read. Scott. And
17:11
Speaker 1: while your story is lovely, give me your answer two
17:14
Speaker 1: quick stories, because I don't want to be worthy one
17:16
Speaker 1: and they're both related. And they both say the same thing. One.
17:19
Speaker 1: I was pretty good basketball player in high school. I
17:21
Speaker 1: went to Villanova. I worked out with the team and
17:24
Speaker 1: Robleig Massimino was the coach and they took walk ons
17:26
Speaker 1: at the time, and so they kept two of us
17:28
Speaker 1: to practice with the team. I getting cut another story
17:30
Speaker 1: for another day. But after the football season they brought
17:32
Speaker 1: up with us. Nonetheless, I am there and there's a drill.
17:35
Speaker 1: Raleigh would get mad. He was screamed plus screaming guy,
17:39
Speaker 1: and we had to stand there on the block while players,
17:43
Speaker 1: you know, ran actually take a charge. That was the drill.
17:46
Speaker 1: When things went bad, He's like, okay, on the block,
17:48
Speaker 1: you're taking a charge. That was the drill. Guys are
17:49
Speaker 1: on full speed at you and I'm little. I'm I'm
17:52
Speaker 1: like a hundred and eighty five pounds now. Then I
17:53
Speaker 1: was like a hundred pounds with thirty I'm little now.
17:56
Speaker 1: That was small, And I remember Doug West came and
17:59
Speaker 1: ran to me, and I felt like I was gonna
18:01
Speaker 1: die six six big guy, and then Gary Massey came
18:04
Speaker 1: and jumped over me okay and just kicked me in
18:06
Speaker 1: the face and dumped. And my big lesson was is
18:09
Speaker 1: that you need to find out what your lane is
18:12
Speaker 1: and what you can be world class in, and you
18:14
Speaker 1: just spend their time there and not where you're not
18:16
Speaker 1: the second basketball story and I'm gonna use another one,
18:18
Speaker 1: and I may not win, but I'm gonna win the
18:20
Speaker 1: I'm gonna win the points. We were playing pick up
18:23
Speaker 1: at the Knick's training training center when I was the
18:25
Speaker 1: president there and we happen to play with Patrick Ewing Jr.
18:28
Speaker 1: Who was rehabbing his ankle, and we conned Alan Houston
18:31
Speaker 1: into plane just because I was talking so much ship
18:33
Speaker 1: in the office and Alan Houston could barely move. And
18:36
Speaker 1: I told him that like fifteen times when we were playing,
18:39
Speaker 1: like and I kept saying because Pal starring, and I'm like, yeah,
18:41
Speaker 1: I'll just get he can't go by you. He can't
18:44
Speaker 1: even move. And Alan didn't say a word because he's
18:47
Speaker 1: the nicest man in the world, and he proceived to
18:49
Speaker 1: just keep moving back. It was like, just kept moving
18:52
Speaker 1: back and shooting jumpers. And I was very humbling once again,
18:55
Speaker 1: and my lesson there was keep your mouth shut and
18:59
Speaker 1: you're playing with extraordinary people. Look, Simon reminded everybody that
19:05
Speaker 1: they shouldn't poop their pants and that's imports. You guys
19:09
Speaker 1: gave life lessons. Scott, You've got a whole book about
19:13
Speaker 1: life lessons, and Matt basically gave us a whole book
19:17
Speaker 1: in his life lesson. This is so hard. I think
19:22
Speaker 1: I'm going to give it to Scott because he gave
19:24
Speaker 1: us two guesses. Well that everyone was a guest, and
19:27
Speaker 1: I usually were for Simon. But but but you you
19:31
Speaker 1: did two things. One Alan Houston is the only Nick
19:34
Speaker 1: I ever liked, because I hate the next being from
19:36
Speaker 1: Chicago too. You had Moses Malone, who my favorite my
19:40
Speaker 1: favorite basketball team, my favorite sports team of all time
19:43
Speaker 1: are the three Sixers. I love Villanova and Roley Massimino
19:47
Speaker 1: because I love that eight team. So I'm giving it
19:49
Speaker 1: to you. Let's go. There you go, All right, let's
19:52
Speaker 1: go to the next. Here we go. The devil is
19:55
Speaker 1: in the details are esteemed guest. Scott o'neo is the
19:59
Speaker 1: CEO of the New Jersey Devils. So in this podcast
20:02
Speaker 1: time on tradition of pandering, I will now test your
20:05
Speaker 1: knowledge of all things devils. Here we go. Scott in Ridley.
20:10
Speaker 1: Scott directed a dark fantasy adventure film entitled Legend. Actor
20:14
Speaker 1: Tim Curry received raved reviews for his portrayal of the
20:18
Speaker 1: Lord of Darkness, and the film's makeup work was Oscar nominated. Unfortunately,
20:22
Speaker 1: the film was a financial flop, which was crazy considering
20:25
Speaker 1: the film started this legendary leading man two years after
20:29
Speaker 1: he started the football movie All the Right Moves, and
20:32
Speaker 1: five years before he be named People Magazines Sexiest Man
20:37
Speaker 1: Alive All the Right Moves, which, by the way, takes
20:39
Speaker 1: place in the state of Pennsylvania. It is Rob Low,
20:44
Speaker 1: Tom Cruise, Close Close, Matt. Among college football's Power Five conferences,
20:52
Speaker 1: there are two programs with the word devil's in their
20:57
Speaker 1: name for one point. Each named them Duke Blue Devils
21:03
Speaker 1: Demon Deacons. Wait, Forest Demon Deacons. That doesn't quite have
21:09
Speaker 1: the phrase devil in it. We were looking for the
21:12
Speaker 1: literal use of the phrase Arizona State. Scott's not getting credit, Matt.
21:19
Speaker 1: I was hoping it was you. If that counts for anything, signon.
21:21
Speaker 1: This Looney Tunes character was a staple of Tackies sports apparel.
21:27
Speaker 1: Oh is that the whole question? You say it again.
21:31
Speaker 1: This Loony Tunes character was a staple of Tackies sports apparel.
21:39
Speaker 1: Tasmanian Devil Scott the standard center of A deviled egg
21:46
Speaker 1: is egg yoke mixed with mayonnaise, pickle, relish, vinegar, and
21:51
Speaker 1: this condiment pre Dijon mustard. Man, you are falling apart.
22:00
Speaker 1: Matt Moore. This up tempo bluegrass song Pete number three
22:06
Speaker 1: on the Billboard Charts in ninety nine. This doesn't seem
22:09
Speaker 1: fair the highest in history for a song about a
22:13
Speaker 1: high stakes fiddle contest. The Devil went down to Georgia,
22:16
Speaker 1: Down to Georgia. The Devil went down to Georgia. He
22:20
Speaker 1: was looking for a soul to steal. He was in
22:22
Speaker 1: a band because he was way behind, and he was
22:23
Speaker 1: willing to make a deal. Wow, let's go, come on,
22:27
Speaker 1: come on. I heard that song all the time growing up.
22:29
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know what. I want to give
22:31
Speaker 1: you two points for that, Matt Mitchell. Give him two
22:33
Speaker 1: points for that, because it was a bad clue and
22:34
Speaker 1: he still got it. Simon arguably the most famous daredevil
22:39
Speaker 1: of all time. This man unsuccessfully attempted a mile long
22:43
Speaker 1: jump of Idaho Snake River Canyon in evil Evil, very nice,
22:51
Speaker 1: well on the speed round. Here we go. This is
22:54
Speaker 1: the prompt. We're getting back to creativity. In popular culture,
22:59
Speaker 1: the devil is often portrayed as a deft but ruthless
23:02
Speaker 1: negotiator and deal maker, but the same can be said
23:06
Speaker 1: for some of the top front office executives and pro sports.
23:11
Speaker 1: If you had to bet oh God on one current
23:15
Speaker 1: pro sports executive to get the better of the devil
23:18
Speaker 1: himself in a negotiation, who would you choose? Scott, You
23:22
Speaker 1: cannot choose yourself. Matt you are up first. You want pander,
23:26
Speaker 1: I'm going to pander. But it's actually also my answer.
23:29
Speaker 1: It's Daryl Morey. It's absolutely Darrell Morey. The deal that
23:31
Speaker 1: he pulled with Tracy McGrady to the Knicks, getting James Harden,
23:35
Speaker 1: then getting value in every deal that he made throughout
23:38
Speaker 1: that time, the the level, and also just having talked
23:41
Speaker 1: to Darryl about his approach to negotiating, like there were
23:44
Speaker 1: players that played great, and so many executives make the
23:47
Speaker 1: mistake of getting emotionally attached to their players, which there's
23:51
Speaker 1: ups and downs to both sides of that equation. But
23:53
Speaker 1: he did such a good job of never overpaying for
23:56
Speaker 1: players that were role players and then committing to the
23:58
Speaker 1: players that were really worth it. Darryll got leverage on
24:01
Speaker 1: every talking to other NBA sections stole him like like,
24:06
Speaker 1: I mean, it's easy to get up here. Everybody knows
24:08
Speaker 1: where the real town is. But when you bring t. J.
24:10
Speaker 1: McConnell in to this league, don't get me a little
24:13
Speaker 1: Robert Covington, little sprinkle a little cub cub on you,
24:16
Speaker 1: you know, or find it Isaiah Cannon to drop a
24:18
Speaker 1: cannonball on you. You know. My money's on Sam Hickey.
24:20
Speaker 1: I don't feel like you are answering the spirit of
24:25
Speaker 1: the question, which is was he a great negotiator? Is
24:28
Speaker 1: he who would get on a on a four year
24:32
Speaker 1: man deal? Yeah? He invented the four year Mindy Okay, alright, Simon.
24:37
Speaker 1: So I feel like this guy is the least talked
24:40
Speaker 1: about GM ever and he's by far the greatest GM ever.
24:43
Speaker 1: And that's the Epstein. The guy literally turned Boston into winners,
24:47
Speaker 1: and then with the Chicago the Cubs. The Cubs won
24:51
Speaker 1: a World Serious people forget the Cubs actually won a
24:54
Speaker 1: World Series. So if I was gonna send if the Devil,
24:57
Speaker 1: I didn't negotiate with someone, I'd sent THEO because you'll
24:59
Speaker 1: have of all the numbers and everything he needs to
25:01
Speaker 1: get the best deal out of the Devil. Holy crap.
25:04
Speaker 1: I think. I think there's three grade which I think
25:06
Speaker 1: Matt hit it on the nail on the head when
25:08
Speaker 1: he said, like, all three of these guys are emotionless.
25:12
Speaker 1: All three of these guys like discount relationships and that's hard.
25:17
Speaker 1: I think that's the hardest thing. I think all three
25:19
Speaker 1: of these guys have in common. I think I hit
25:21
Speaker 1: the ball, hit the nail on the head. Listen. Thanks.
25:24
Speaker 1: I love Darryl Morey. I think he's a total genius.
25:27
Speaker 1: And I think the way he won in Houston and
25:31
Speaker 1: now the way this Sixers team is advancing, which is
25:33
Speaker 1: an entirely different style of play, a style of play
25:36
Speaker 1: that Darryl will you know, you could argue when he
25:39
Speaker 1: was in Houston was pioneering sort of the the idea
25:43
Speaker 1: of efficiency around three pointers and having a different style
25:46
Speaker 1: of play in Philly. Love him great, Sam Hanky, huge fan.
25:50
Speaker 1: Feel like he does not get nearly enough credit. Obviously,
25:54
Speaker 1: it becomes sort of mocked for the process um and
25:57
Speaker 1: not getting to sort of see how that team develops
26:01
Speaker 1: over time. But come on, guys, Simon wins this round
26:05
Speaker 1: like theo Epstein, what he did in Boston, what he
26:09
Speaker 1: did in Chicago, as a Cubs fan, as a guy
26:12
Speaker 1: who across from my current view, I'm looking at a
26:16
Speaker 1: W flag and my ticket from the World Series in
26:19
Speaker 1: two thousands sixteen. He fought ace, he found a way
26:23
Speaker 1: to pander and gameless. Simon shameless, shameless, totally shameless. Matt Mitchell,
26:28
Speaker 1: what is our score right now? Right now, Matt Moore
26:32
Speaker 1: has three points, Scott on Nils two. It's it possible
26:36
Speaker 1: that Simon has four, Scott has two and Matt has three.
26:39
Speaker 1: This is amazing. I'm still gonna lose though. That's the
26:43
Speaker 1: worst part. You know, like I'm in last, but have
26:46
Speaker 1: a lot of momentum. You do, You have a lot
26:48
Speaker 1: of momentum. I feel like you have a lot of
26:50
Speaker 1: goodwill more than anything. All Right, here we go Part three.
26:53
Speaker 1: Philly's Finest. The city of Philadelphia has long been known
26:56
Speaker 1: for its diehard sports fans and is now becoming a
26:58
Speaker 1: booming market for had sports gamblers as well. So let's
27:02
Speaker 1: check your knowledge regarding the city of brotherly love, Scott,
27:06
Speaker 1: whether you choose to see it as sad or beautiful.
27:09
Speaker 1: One of Philadelphia's most beloved icons is Rocky Balboa, the
27:13
Speaker 1: entirely fictional boxer portrayed by Sylvester Saloon. The original Rocky
27:18
Speaker 1: and its many sequels are ingrained in pop culture, including
27:21
Speaker 1: the popularization of this nickname Rockies Equestrian inspired ringside moniker
27:30
Speaker 1: Italian style. Very nice. I mean, look, this is well.
27:36
Speaker 1: You need a little help. You're in the last place
27:38
Speaker 1: right now, Simon. This franchise boasts two championships and the
27:45
Speaker 1: longest tenure in all of professional athletics. They've sported the
27:49
Speaker 1: same name in the same city since the late eighteen hundreds.
27:54
Speaker 1: The Phillies Boom matt In the two thousand one NBA Finals,
27:59
Speaker 1: two teams met unexpectedly. While this Western Conference team was
28:03
Speaker 1: plus one eighty to win it all that season, the
28:06
Speaker 1: underdog opponent was nine to one just to win the
28:11
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference name the combatants in the two thousand one
28:16
Speaker 1: NBA Finals Lakers sixers. Nice. As someone whose son will
28:23
Speaker 1: soon be living in the fighting city of Philadelphia, I'm
28:26
Speaker 1: a huge, huge fan of the city. Great, great, great chat.
28:31
Speaker 1: Here here's the well bought out. But I was I
28:38
Speaker 1: just need the second part to really engage. I didn't
28:41
Speaker 1: have anything else there, and my kids going to Drexel
28:42
Speaker 1: in the fall. That's kind of it. I'm just congrats
28:47
Speaker 1: on raising a child. Here we go. With enough this
28:50
Speaker 1: is the prompt. With enough drama, a team can win
28:53
Speaker 1: a championship and watch its players elevate from beloved athletes
28:58
Speaker 1: to long term municipal heroes. Oh this is good. Imagine
29:01
Speaker 1: you could dramatically win a championship for any team, and
29:05
Speaker 1: assume your goal is to become a city's beloved, adopted son,
29:09
Speaker 1: held in the highest esteem for generations to come. What
29:14
Speaker 1: team would you select, in what dramatic way would you
29:18
Speaker 1: win a championship? And in what way would you take advantage?
29:21
Speaker 1: For example, to clear it all up, Matt Mitchell, our producer,
29:25
Speaker 1: uh he scores all five of the Buffalo Bills touchdowns
29:28
Speaker 1: in a Super Bowl victory, plus the sixty yard game
29:31
Speaker 1: winning field goal of time expires. He take advantage of
29:33
Speaker 1: this by having the American side of Niagara Falls renamed
29:37
Speaker 1: in his honor, So at least it's nothing too grandiose.
29:41
Speaker 1: Matt Moore, Detroit Lions overtime kickoff return. They name a
29:46
Speaker 1: truck after me, a Matt Truck. Today. Dan Campbell, new
29:53
Speaker 1: coach of the Detroit Lions, showed up to his press
29:55
Speaker 1: conference wearing an f one helmet because he is the
29:58
Speaker 1: Grand Marshal of Detroit Grand Prix Scott. Your answer, I
30:02
Speaker 1: am the goalie for the Leafs. Uh we go four
30:06
Speaker 1: four four, just like Moses predicted. But in Toronto they
30:11
Speaker 1: renamed Scotia Bank Arena the Scotts Bank Arena. Yeah that
30:18
Speaker 1: is great. Well, those are two loser franchises and you
30:20
Speaker 1: guys are coming through in a big, big way. Simon,
30:23
Speaker 1: you're up. Can't compete. Yeah, they're too good. I was
30:26
Speaker 1: just gonna go with like the Jets, and I basically
30:29
Speaker 1: was gonna go a quarterback. Can Now the more I
30:30
Speaker 1: think about I think I would go d ND the quarterback,
30:33
Speaker 1: and the other team would in the Super Bowl be
30:34
Speaker 1: running the ball, running the offensive lineman's but and they'll fumble.
30:38
Speaker 1: I'll scoop it up. I'll running for a touchdown and
30:40
Speaker 1: it'll be the reverse of the butt fumble. I'll save
30:42
Speaker 1: the Jets history. I think it's funny that very inadvertently
30:46
Speaker 1: you pooped in your pants playing football in the first round,
30:49
Speaker 1: and in the third round you're winning a game involving
30:54
Speaker 1: the tushy. The buff bubo. Man, it's all I when
30:56
Speaker 1: I think of the Jets now I don't think a
30:58
Speaker 1: name of anymore. All I think of is the bubb fumble.
31:00
Speaker 1: It's it's a it's a dark days for the Jets.
31:02
Speaker 1: Let me tell you something. Scott's gonna win this round.
31:04
Speaker 1: The idea of getting an arena, the being in goal,
31:07
Speaker 1: which is the most exciting position to play in the
31:09
Speaker 1: most exciting playoffs in all the sports. Uh, and it
31:12
Speaker 1: being the Leafs, which their tragedy for the playoffs is
31:16
Speaker 1: becoming comical and also a meme of international proportions because
31:20
Speaker 1: it's spreading from Canada to the U S. Here we
31:24
Speaker 1: go into the final round. The score, Matt Moore, you
31:28
Speaker 1: have four, Scott O'Neil u f four. Simon Hunter you
31:33
Speaker 1: have five. I know exactly how this is gonna go. Okay, okay.
31:42
Speaker 1: The topic in the grand finale is NBA anthems. First,
31:46
Speaker 1: close your eyes, close your eyes, very high tech. Hold
31:49
Speaker 1: up your fingers with your wager amounts. So Scott and
31:52
Speaker 1: Matt you can each wager up to four points. Simon
31:55
Speaker 1: you will wager up to five points. Here we go,
31:58
Speaker 1: all right. In then seventies, the Philadelphia seventies Sixers commissioned
32:03
Speaker 1: a theme song entitled here Come the Sixers, which became
32:08
Speaker 1: a favorite in the city and was played frequently enough
32:12
Speaker 1: through their run to the NBA Championship in The song
32:18
Speaker 1: fell out of favor for decades, but was recently resuscitated,
32:22
Speaker 1: thanks in part to our guests and author of Be
32:26
Speaker 1: Where Your Feet Are seventy s CEO Scott O'Neill, and
32:30
Speaker 1: can now be heard in the arena after home victories.
32:33
Speaker 1: One of the songs writers drew inspiration for the songs
32:37
Speaker 1: catchy rhythm and simple lyrics from this classic children's show
32:42
Speaker 1: after watching an episode with his daughter on the local
32:46
Speaker 1: public broadcasting station. What is the classic children's show that
32:54
Speaker 1: inspired the songs? Rhythm and lyrics? Back Everybody, Welco seventy
33:07
Speaker 1: six Stop everybody, Pladelphia secondy sixes, Ada on the right
33:24
Speaker 1: stand the bench number one Pelphia team by one five
33:38
Speaker 1: sixers eight seventy sixes one to five sixes. Scott O'Neil,
33:50
Speaker 1: author sports executive. You were up first. Okay, I'm not
33:55
Speaker 1: too sure of this, but my my instincts are telling
33:57
Speaker 1: my good is time. It's sesme Street. How which did
34:00
Speaker 1: you wager? Four? He went all in? He is correct.
34:06
Speaker 1: O'Neil now has eight points. Wow. Matt Moore. Matt Moore,
34:14
Speaker 1: what is your answer? I said, reading Rainbow. Oh no,
34:21
Speaker 1: what how many points did you wager Matt Moore? Oh no,
34:28
Speaker 1: Now Matt has zero points. That pushed them all in,
34:33
Speaker 1: which I appreciate. You followed your own advice after whizzing
34:37
Speaker 1: on Moses Malone. You went all in. You shot your
34:39
Speaker 1: shot like Moses Malone. It didn't work out. Simon Hunter,
34:43
Speaker 1: you are up next. This is stressing me out, and
34:47
Speaker 1: I'm not sure why. I'm feeling like competitive are flowing.
34:51
Speaker 1: I'll tell you right now. It's a chance to be
34:53
Speaker 1: the champion of the Thunderdome. Let me break it on
34:56
Speaker 1: the fourth wall here, Chad says he's trying to help me.
34:59
Speaker 1: I have yet to in this show. We've been doing
35:01
Speaker 1: it now for about four months. I have yet to win.
35:04
Speaker 1: I come in here every Thursday and I lose. And man,
35:08
Speaker 1: it feels good because this question, like you said, what
35:10
Speaker 1: was it nineteen seventy nine, so it's twenty one years
35:13
Speaker 1: before I was born. That's me Street. I got it.
35:17
Speaker 1: I released all five points. I finally won all. I
35:21
Speaker 1: want to welcome to the thunder Dome, dude, Simon Hunter,
35:27
Speaker 1: I'm blast in Tupac as we speak, California. Oh my god,
35:34
Speaker 1: I am so excited for you. I'm sad for Scott
35:37
Speaker 1: because I feel like he he really played well and
35:41
Speaker 1: all are learning though happens when we fail, that's true,
35:45
Speaker 1: and you know what, at the top of the show,
35:47
Speaker 1: failure is not always a fun, teacher, but in this case,
35:49
Speaker 1: I think you can argue it was. It was very
35:52
Speaker 1: fun teacher, Simon Hunter. Congratulations on your first win in
35:55
Speaker 1: the thunder Dome. The book is be where your Feet
36:00
Speaker 1: our seven principles to keep you present, grounded, and thriving.
36:04
Speaker 1: Congrats on the book. That's super exciting to write a book.
36:06
Speaker 1: It is super exciting to have it published. You are
36:09
Speaker 1: now a author, unparalleled and executive unparalleled. Well done. I appreciate.
36:15
Speaker 1: I'd love to have and you guy all want to
36:16
Speaker 1: come down to a game. Let me know. Matt Moore,
36:20
Speaker 1: Action Network Senior Writer Analyst extraordinariy. You are on everything
36:26
Speaker 1: we do and you are so appreciated and valued by
36:29
Speaker 1: me and everybody in the Action Network universe. I'm sorry
36:34
Speaker 1: this one didn't work out, but you will have other
36:36
Speaker 1: chances again next time. Scott, listen, I gotta take my
36:40
Speaker 1: kid to Drexel. I'll come down, We'll go to Vettery.
36:42
Speaker 1: We'll see I would it. Simon, you can come to
36:46
Speaker 1: you're in the area. Thank you. Uh. This has been
36:50
Speaker 1: the favorites from the Volume Podcast Network. Downloaded on Apple Podcasts,
36:57
Speaker 1: from Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. Before we sign off,
37:02
Speaker 1: here's a word from our fearless leader, Action Networks CEO,
37:05
Speaker 1: Philadelphia native Patrick Key. They say I'm an American dream waitment.
37:11
Speaker 1: I'd like to explain something, you know. I ain't punch you.
37:14
Speaker 1: I got what you call like, I don't know, relaxed brain.
37:17
Speaker 1: But I ain't punch you. You know, it's just the
37:19
Speaker 1: way I talk here. All right Again, this has been
37:22
Speaker 1: the favorites from the Volume Podcast Network. My thanks to
37:24
Speaker 1: our guest Scott O'Neil, Matt Moore, Simon Hunter. Be sure
37:27
Speaker 1: to check out Scott O'Neil's new book, Be Where Your
37:30
Speaker 1: Feet Our seven Principles to keep you present, grounded and
37:32
Speaker 1: thriving again. It's available now. As a reminder, the Volume
37:36
Speaker 1: is now on YouTube. We've got new clips and interviews
37:39
Speaker 1: from all the networks shows. Subscribe to the Volume YouTube
37:43
Speaker 1: channel at YouTube dot com. Backslash The Volume Please rate
37:47
Speaker 1: and review the show on Apple Podcasts and download and
37:50
Speaker 1: listen on Spotify. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next Tuesday.
37:55
Speaker 1: I'm the Favorites. Love you,