This is the Bonus Post promised as the read-along for the Ty Gephardt episode.

Mike is a practicing naturist!

As Ty mentioned in his interview, naturism is “a way of life in harmony with nature characterised by the practice of communal nudity with the intention of encouraging self-respect, respect for others and for the environment.”

Below is perhaps the best video on YouTube on the subject – and highly recommended:

(Sorry, there will be no nekkid photos posted on this blog.)

This calls back to our Smash Up Playthrough episode, and the fact that Mike did complete a 100 game challenge with this very game.

Thanks to the Smash Up Reddit community, combined with a really cool website and Mike’s game data, we have Mike’s definitive rankings of the Smash Up factions.

Factions are sorted by the following rating system: number of games each faction was featured in the challenge divided by number of wins said faction had in the challenge, regardless of pairing. The lower the number, the better.

Please note that this only accounts for factions used in the 100 game challenge – which is pretty much the first 50 factions. Everything that was released after What Were We Thinking? did not make the cut – something that can be remedied by adding games to the challenge. This also means that the factions that retroactively received Titans were played without said Titans as they were not available at the time.

Also note that most of the factions not ranked are factions Mike helped playtest.

• Tier S (less than 2.00): Explorers*, Steampunk
• Tier A (2.00-2.99): Mythic Horses, Zombies, Teddy Bears, Aliens, Mages, Fairies*, Elves, Vampires*, Dwarves, Thieves, Robots, Sharks
• Tier B (3.00-3.99): Halflings, Ghosts*, Dragons, Changerbots*, Giant Ants*, Grannies, Werewolves*, Superheroes, Kitty Cats, Bear Cavalry*, Geeks, Tornadoes, Miskatonic University, Minions of Cthulhu*, Rock Stars, Astroknights, Killer Plants
• Tier C (4.00-7.99): Dinosaurs, Pirates*, Cyborg Apes, Clerics, Mythic Greeks, Elder Things, Mad Scientists, Tricksters*, Orcs, Princesses, Ignobles*, Ninja
• Tier D (8.00-9.99): Innsmouth*, Warriors, Shapeshifters
• Tier F (10.00 and above): Super Spies*, Star Roamers, Time Travelers*, Wizards*
• Unrated (did not feature in the challenge): Smash Up All-Stars, Itty Critters, Kaiju, Magical Girls, Mega Troopers, Sheep, Disco Dancers, Kung Fu Fighters, Truckers, Vigilantes, Ancient Egyptians, Cowboys, Samurai, Vikings, Luchadores, Mounties, Musketeers, Sumo Wrestlers, Penguins#, Anansi Tales#, Ancient Incas#, Grimms’ Fairy Tales#, Polynesian Voyagers#, Russian Fairy Tales#

Notes: * indicates factions that retroactively received Titans, and # indicates factions not yet available for purchase at the time of this post.

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.