We’ve started a new backup blog – one that will actually allow us to embed the individual episode players.

https://uncalledforpodcast.blogspot.com/

Mike had used BlogSpot for both of his previous podcasts, Sunflower Brew and Winning Side Coaches.

Episode 9 of This Podcast Is… Uncalled For.

Click here to listen or download.

Once in a while, a subject will come up that doesn’t fit the interview format well. Or, Mike just doesn’t have any interviews ready to publish.

When this happens, we will continue to provide content in the form of “Thoughts” episodes.

Today is the first of these, and it is a subject that has now been brought up three times so far on the podcast: the National Football League’s (mis)treatment of St. Louis.

You see, Mike was a lifelong St. Louis football fan – until the team was ripped from the city in January 2016 for no good reason. He has since found a new team to pull for – ironically, another team that once called St. Louis home – the Arizona Cardinals. Even then, he’s still angry with the team (specifically the owner and his lackey who lied the team out of a great sports town in favor of a city that, according to Episode 3 interviewee Adam McKeith, “doesn’t give a s@#$” about football).

Instead of rehashing the subject, Mike decided to go back to the well – in the form of the Winning Side Coaches podcast:

• Episode 183 – Mike and co-host (and Episode 4 interviewee Tim Crippen) talk about the move over the phone.
• Episode 231 – Mike, after two straight episodes reading the lawsuit St. Louis et al. filed against the NFL et al., gives his thoughts.

By the way, you can still read the initial legal brief at this St. Louis Post-Dispatch link.

“Stan/Con el corazon de perro/Señor Stan/El diablo con dinero”

Music:

• Intro music: “Iron Bacon” by Kevin MacLeod
• Transition music: “Morocco Sting” by Kevin MacLeod
• Outro music: “Noise Attack” by Kevin MacLeod

WHAT?! Ski dropping recipes?

Sure. Why not? True, it will not be an episode of the podcast, but it is worth noting in some medium related to the podcast.

One of my favorite dishes that’s super easy to make is chili mac.

I’ve recently perfected my recipe, and here it is:

1. Microwave 1 package of yakisoba noodles, chicken flavored and sans vegetables.
2. Mix the seasoning pack into the cooked yakisoba, and dump it into a large container.
3. Microwave some macaroni and cheese. You can do either 1 Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box or 2 microwave single-serving cups for this.
4. Mix the cooked macaroni and cheese well, and then dump it into the container, mixing it with the yakisoba.
5. Microwave 1 can of chili with no beans.
6. Dump the cooked chili into the container, and mix it well.
7. Add a dash of A1 steak sauce, some shredded cheese (Mexican blend preferably, or cheddar will do), and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Enjoy!

Goes great with saltine crackers.

As has already been brought up 3 times on This Podcast Is… Uncalled For, Mike was a lifelong St. Louis Rams fan (ironically, it did go back to when the team was in LA the first time around). That ended in early 2016, when the team was ripped out of STL to Los Angeles for no good reason.

The next episode of This Podcast Is… Uncalled For deals with the way the NFL treated St. Louis – by lying about St. Louisans being apathetic towards their NFL team and portraying the Gateway to the West as a post-apocalyptic Hell-scape.

If the Blues’ recent winning of the Stanley Cup taught us anything about St. Louis, it should be this: St. Louis is a great sports town provided you give them something to get excited about.

Apart from winning the Super Bowl at the end of the 1999 season – the only Super Bowl in that team’s history, by the way – there wasn’t much to brag about for Señor Stan’s Merry Band of Professional Liars. In fact, their last 12 years in St. Louis were losing years – including the worst five year stretch from 2007 to 2011, when they finished 15-65, a feat that required the Cleveland Browns to finish 0-16 in 2017 just to match it! For the non-sports-inclined, that’s 15 wins and 65 losses, or an average of 3 wins out of 16 games a year for 5 years.

On the flip side, the city that said team left for – Los Angeles – is notorious for (and still is) being largely apathetic towards football. To quote our Episode 3 guest Adam McKeith (who has spent time in LA as an actor), “a lot of people there kinda don’t give a shit.” The proof is in the pudding: the LA Coliseum is always half-empty.

Here’s some videos and audio to help you out with the coming episode.

First, a video that was done earlier this year exploring the unfortunate set of circumstances which leaves this team with practically no fans – either they’re angry or they think they’re the Lakers.

One last bit of activism I encourage all of you to participate in: stop shopping at Wal-Mart! Profits there ultimately wind up in Señor Stan’s pockets.

This week we welcome one of Mike’s fellow chess instructors to the podcast.

In preparation for this, let’s look at a game Mike recently played with an unnamed Boy Scout for the Chess Merit Badge (one of six Merit Badges Mike is a registered counselor for). Mike is playing White (which always goes first).

Here is the notation:

1. d4 c6
2. Nf3 Qa5+
3. Qd2 Qxd2+
4. Bxd2 g6
5. e3 Na6
6. Bd3 Nc7
7. 0-0 Ne6
8. Nb3 Bh6
9. h3 b6
10. d5 Bb7
11. dxe6 dxe6
12. Ne5 Rd8
13. Nxc6 Bxc6
14. Ne4 Nf6
15. Nxf6+ exf6
16. Rae1 Kf8
17. Bb4+

Game ends on time. White wins 1-0.

Key takeaways from this game:

• A good opening should include: getting both knights out, getting both bishops out, and castling in the first 10 moves (it takes a minimum of 7 moves to do). No where in this description does it say take the queen out on the second turn of the game. In fact, taking a queen out early blatantly violates Wheaton’s Law!
• The primary purpose of getting these pieces out early is what we call “development” in chess. The notation clearly proves Black has poor development – not only in taking his queen out early, but also moving the same knight 3 straight turns. If the piece were properly developed, the knight would only need to move once in the opening moves.
• Black also failed to castle.
• Somehow both sides have equal strength at the end of the game.

This week’s episode is the first to not feature an interview.

Instead, we get to hear a playthrough of Mike’s favorite board/card game, Smash Up by Paul Peterson and published by AEG.

Smash Up is a card game where players take two faction decks (20 cards each), shuffle them together to form a 40 card deck, and fight each other over a number of base cards. The first player to get to 15 victory points wins.

How big of a fan of this game is Mike? Well, he successfully completed a 100 game challenge with this game, and followed that up by becoming a playtester for upcoming expansions. (Sorry, no spoilers here because Mike and all other playtesters signed non-disclosure agreements.)

Mike actually recently updated his Top 10 factions list:

1. Geeks (Big(ger) Geeki(er) Box)
2. Ninja (Base game)
3. Minions of Cthulhu (Obligatory Cthulhu Set; Titan in Titans Event Kit)
4. Teddy Bears (What Were We Thinking?)
5. Kung Fu Fighters (That 70’s Expansion – the first expansion Mike playtested)
6. Samurai (Oops, You Did It Again – another expansion Mike playtested)
7. Aliens (Base game)
8. Truckers (That 70’s Expansion)
9. Orcs (Smash Up: Munchkin)
10. (tie) Fairies (Pretty Pretty Smash Up) and Wizards (Base game) – both factions having Titans from the Titans Event Kit

Honorable mentions:

• Bear Cavalry (Awesome Level 9000; Titan in Titans Event Kit)
• Elder Things (Obligatory Cthulhu Set)
• Giant Ants (Monster Smash; Titan in Titans Event Kit)
• Mythic Greeks (It’s Your Fault)
• Shapeshifters (Science Fiction Double Feature)
• Star Roamers (Cease and Desist)

Just for fun: if we were to put together a faction based entirely on Mike’s favorite cards in the game, it would look something like this. Call this Ski’s All-Stars:

• Minions (11)
  • Shinobi (Ninja – Base game, power 3) – A very sneaky Ninja that shows up as a base scores and can help you steal some victory points.
  • Elder Thing (Elder Things – Obligatory Cthulhu Set, power 10) – The most powerful minion in the game.
  • Topper Chopper (Orcs – Smash Up: Munchkin, power 5) – Has the funniest ability in the entire game: “Talent: Do nothing.”
  • Imperial Dragon (Dragons – It’s Your Fault; also appears in Smash Up All-Stars – Big(ger) Geeki(er) Box, power 3) – How can I, an Asian culture enthusiast, not include this Asian dragon?
  • Aunt of Drakes (Ignobles – Cease and Desist, power 5) – One word: Khaleesi!
  • Lovey Bear (Teddy Bears – What Were We Thinking?, power 3) – This cute little guy is all about copying the highest minion power in play. Imagine if this guy was in play with the Elder Thing.
  • Rick Roll (Rock Stars – What Were We Thinking?, power 3) – “We’re no strangers to love/You know the rules and so do I…”
  • “Skinny Minnie” (Truckers – That 70’s Expansion, power 3) – Known by Mike as “Mister Honky-Mofo” due to the art used in the earliest drafts of this faction.
  • Wil Wheaton (Geeks – Big(ger) Geeki(er) Box, power 4) – The best card in the entire game. You can play him to cancel another player’s action – and he stays on the base. Quite the contradiction from Wheaton’s Law – “Don’t be a dick” – and also a reminder that we should all be nicer to Hwil Hwheaton.
  • Felicia Day (Geeks – Big(ger) Geeki(er) Box, power 4) – Felicia moves all minions in play to one base, usually causing it to break. The power of Anuss compels you!
  • Bushi (Samurai – Oops You Did It Again, power 4) – Potential for extra victory points with this minion.
• Actions (9)
  • Probe (Aliens – Base game) – This card immediately makes me think of what the Aliens did to Cartman in the very first South Park, which is never not funny.
  • Seeing Stars (Ninja – Base game; also appears in Smash Up All-Stars – Big(ger) Geeki(er) Box) – A simple and effective way to make murder-death happen on a weak minion.
  • You’re Screwed (Bear Cavalry – Awesome Level 9000) – The name says it all.
  • Favor of Athena (Mythic Greeks – It’s Your Fault) – I like this card’s ability.
  • Freakin’ Laser Beam (Sharks – It’s Your Fault) – “Could you remind me what I pay you people for?”
  • Hyperspeed 10 (Star Roamers – Cease and Desist) – Are they wanting us to have lizard babies?
  • Wood For Sheep (Sheep – Promo faction) – The funniest card in the entire game. Not only does it pay homage to Settlers of Catan, it features a drawing of a shepherd making the titular trade – and a sheep with a funny expression on its face, looking like he is clearly being violated.
  • Power Poutine (Mounties – World Tour: International Incident) – Mmm, fries and cheese curds in gravy. Aaaagh!!
  • Chikara-Mizu (Sumo Wrestlers – World Tour: International Incident) – The fact I can correctly pronounce this action is a good enough reason to include it. By the way, it translates as “strength (chikara) water (mizu).”
• Titan
  • Cthulhu (Minions of Cthulhu – Obligatory Cthulhu Set/Titans Event Kit) – Spreads Madness to other players and gives the player license to quote Cartman’s “Hey Cthulhu! ‘Sup?”

Serious question:

How the hell does STOCK music get flagged for a copyright claim?

The entire point of stock music – and, for that matter, stock footage and stock photos – is you should be free to use them in a creative medium as you see fit.

I should point out that ALL of the music that has been used on this podcast is stock music and/or available for use under a Creative Commons license. I also make it a point to tell you where we got the music at the end of every episode of the podcast.

Despite this, our most recently published episode got flagged on YouTube for a copyright claim on a piece of music that I procured from a free stock music site.

I have filed a dispute to the copyright claim and hope it will be resolved soon.

UPDATE (7/8/19): Apparently the dispute worked and the episode in question has had its copyright claim repealed. Still, to be safe, best to avoid using music from that particular site for a while.

In our next episode, we will have Tim Crippen on.

Tim was Mike’s primary co-host on the Winning Side Coaches podcast, which ran from 2013 to 2018.

A staple of that podcast was batsu games – punishments dulled out as a result of bad picks, and themselves a staple of Japanese comedy (of which Mike is a fan, specifically Gaki no Tsukai – in fact, the word “batsu” is Japanese for “punishment”). How popular are batsu games? Dan Patrick and his crew do them on his radio show (usually dodgeballs are involved).

How have these guys been punished during the course of the podcast?

Mike’s batsu games:

• Wearing a Pittsburg State hooded sweatshirt and singing the Pitt State alma mater (Mike still owns that sweatshirt)
• Five Words: Bamboo, Banana, Gateau, Heykel, Zhiraf
• Get an autograph from John Ratzenberger (Cliff from Cheers)
• Wearing Tim’s Chicago Bears #54 Brian Urlacher jersey
• Ned Yost drinking game
• Four Words: Cuatro, Escuchar, Hasta, Mayo
• Drinking a chocolate-jalapeño milkshake (it was either this or go on a waterslide later responsible for a child’s death)
• Posing with a photo of Jerry Rice
• Wearing Kansas City Royals temporary tattoos (Tim’s favorite batsu game, and one you will see photos of when the episode releases)
• Wearing a Royals necktie
• Wearing apparel of any team he hates (hence the infamous KU hat we posted in the first Bonus Post)
• Target practice (yes, with real guns)
• Karaoke (shared with Tim)
• Pie in the face
• Star Trek “cosplay” at Star Wars Night at the Missouri Mavericks hockey game
• Re-enacting the fax machine demolition scene in Office Space
• Four Words: Southeast, Kansas, Democrats, Barbecue (shared with Tim)
• Recite New England Patriots fight song (yes, this is a thing)
• Root for the Yankees on April 15 (shared with Tim)
• Eating chili-flavored M&M’s
• Have a caricature done by our mutual friend Lucas Stoneking (whom as of this post we are trying to get on this podcast)
• Play Cards Against Humanity (shared with Tim)
• Re-enacting the “f@#$ing car rental” scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles (shared with Tim)
• Karaoke to Billy Joel (I forget the song)

Tim’s batsu games:

• Wearing a UMKC T-shirt
• Four Words: Mount, Fuji, Jet, Pack (Mike’s favorite batsu game)
• Wearing Mike’s Washington NFL team #40 Adam Archuleta jersey (because Adam Archuleta is to be blamed for everything)
• Singing karaoke to New Kids on the Block (the song was “Hangin’ Tough”)
• Four Words: Football, Sword, Puck, Outrageous
• (2 batsu games in one) Getting autographs at Planet Comicon from Erin Gray and Cary Elwes
• Four Words: Tiny, Hot, Middle, Nowhere
• Karaoke (shared with Mike)
• Wearing a T-shirt representing all of Houston’s pro sports teams
• Four Words: Southeast, Kansas, Democrats, Barbecue (shared with Mike)
• Root for the Yankees on April 15 (shared with Mike)
• Play Cards Against Humanity (shared with Mike)
• Re-enacting the “f@#$ing car rental” scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles (shared with Mike)
• Shoot a campaign ad for Mike’s campaign for Kansas Senate

In preparation for tomorrow’s episode, our guest referred attending a college basketball game featuring “a team in blue that isn’t Duke blue.”

That team in blue was explicitly referenced in the Facebook post chain that inspired the name of this podcast: the University of Kansas (KU) Jayhawks (or, as detractors like Mike would call them, the “Chickenhawks”).

Mike had famously said in that chain that he would have to be dead to wear any KU apparel on his person.

Fast forward to 2015 and a bad set of picks on the Winning Side Coaches podcast – which led to a batsu game (for those of you who don’t know Japanese comedy, a batsu game – with batsu being the Japanese word for punishment – is a penalty for losing a bet). The result of that batsu game:

By the way, the pick that resulted in this cringe-worthy photo: Mike picked the Vancouver Canucks to win the 2015 Stanley Cup.

We have started recording interviews for our podcast.

Given the overall nature of the podcast – that being an examination of life and having friends help out along the way – practically no topic is off limits.