Distant Replay

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were filled with highlights for the American contingent, but the record breaking performance by Michael Phelps stole the show.

Could Phelps surpass Mark Spitz and capture 8 gold medals in the games? This is what was at stake when Phelps and his teammates took to the pool for the 4X100 medley relay with the legend having already captured 7 golds. On this episode we discuss:

• Phelps' Olympic Games to that point
• The venue
• How big of a story this was at the time
• Us getting our races confused
• The summer of Dan Hicks continues
• Kobe Bryant and the men's basketball team in attendance
• Phelps' dominant butterfly leg of the race
• Much more…..

To watch the event for yourself as it aired in 2008, check out the video here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-84-2008-beijing-olympics-4-x-100-medley-relay/

As we get prepared for the Olympics this summer, we've been dedicating more episodes to events and stories around the games.

Today we're talking about the Netflix documentary called Athlete A, which is about the USA Gymnastics abuse scandal that came to light in 2016 thanks to survivors speaking out and the Indianapolis Star investigation.

It's a documentary that won't be comfortable to watch but it's a story that needs to be told. Details on Larry Nassar, the Karolyis, Steve Penny and other people in power at USA Gymnastics are very disturbing and you hear a lot of it first-hand from survivors.

For more, visit us online at http://distantreplaypodcast.com

Through the course of our research for True Crime episodes, we've come across a number of athlete prison sentences that completely surprised us.

On this episode of the podcast, we'll share 10 of the longest prison sentences ever handed out to athletes and we'll throw in a few that just missed the list but had very notable sentences.

If you have any thoughts on the show or have someone else you want us to add to the list, leave a comment or connect with us on Twitter.

For more episodes, check out http://distantreplaypodcast.com

Super Bowl XLIII between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers is widely considered one of the better Super Bowls of all-time. The game was so good that it might still be a little underrated.

The upstart Cardinals combined a high powered offense, a good playoff draw, and an opportunistic defense all the way to Tampa to square off against a Steelers team led by 2nd-year head coach Mike Tomlin, an offense led by Ben Roethlisberger, and a defense littered with stars like James Harrison and Troy Palomalu. In this episode we discuss:

• The hiring of Mike Tomlin and two other candidates across from him on the opposing sideline in Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm
• A career resurgence for Kurt Warner and his prolific receiving corps led by Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin
• Ben Roethlisberger looking to bounce back in his 2nd Super Bowl after a dreadful performance vs. the Seahawks
• Listening to John Madden on 1.5 speed
• The three plays that defined the game including the James Harrison 100 yard interception TD right before half
• Rod Tidwell sighting
• Some fun facts about Blu Ray and HD TV
• Is Bruce Springsteen overrated?
• Much more...

To watch this game in its entirety, visit our website here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-83-super-bowl-xliii-pittsburgh-steelers-vs-arizona-cardinals/

All Billy Corben does is pump out quality documentaries and Screwball is just the latest in a long line of bangers. You have surely seen some of his work: Cocaine Cowboys, Broke 30 for 30, and THE U Part 1 & 2 '30 for 30' just to name a few. This is the first of many Corben docs we plan on discussing here on the podcast, and it's one you can find on Netflix. Screwball, which covers the Biogenesis MLB PED scandal and the cast of characters involved, might be one of his lesser known docs, but may be his best. The doc tells the story of Biogenesis founder and sort of doctor Tony Bosch and the scandal that busted him, his associates, and big time major league players like Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez at the center of the fraud. Think you know how the dominoes started to fall in the Biogenesis scandal? This documentary will shock you as to how it all went down. On this show, we discuss: - How Tony Bosch became PED dealer to the sports and entertainment world - His bizarre relationship with Manny Ramirez - How a $4,000 loan went bad led to everything coming crashing down, yes a $4,000 loan! - The Rob Manfred led investigation and the seedy people MLB sought help from - If you think Alex Rodriguez is a phony that only begins to peel back the layers on him - Is Porter Fischer someone you feel bad for or is he just a loser? - much much more... For more, visit us online at http://distantreplaypodcast.com

This week's true crime edition of the podcast isn't focused on one individual. Instead, Mike pulls five athletes that he was surprised to find out were either in jail or facing jail time.

Everyone on our list today is a recent athlete that you've likely heard of, but did you realize they've had trouble with the law?

Join us as we tell you those five stories on the show. For more, visit us online at http://distantreplaypodcast.com

The 1992 Dream Team is considered the best team ever assembled and for good reason, take a look at the roster below. Their most important game was the gold medal game vs. Croatia in the 1992 Barcelona games.

Best team ever going for the gold? Yes, please as a podcast episode, and with the Tokyo games fast approaching we figured this was good from a timing standpoint. Croatia and their former country Yugosalvia's emergence on the world basketball stage was the reason USA Basketball decided to fill their roster with NBA players so it was fitting they played them for the gold. Croatia had NBA players in their own right in Tony Kukoc, Drazen Petrovic, and Dino Radja. We did a very in depth breakdown on this period in Croatian/Yugosalvian basketball during our "ONCE BROTHERS" documentary recap that you should check out. In this episode we discuss:

• Isiah Thomas' notable omission from the Dream Team, while Chuck Daly was head coach
• The influence the Dream Team had on international basketball for decades to come
• Michael Jordan's stardom at an all-time high
• Charles Barkley having a great Olympic games both on and off the court and how he parlayed that into a great 1993 nBA season for the Suns
• Watching dream team highlights was awesome
• Marv Albert and Mike Fratello doing nothing to keep viewers tuned in
• Larry Bird and Magic Johnson being elected captains
• John Stockton played with a cracked bone in his leg?
• Scottie Pippen's contract dispute and him taking it out on Toni Kukoc in the pool play round
• The Croatian's hanging in this game for a little bit
• much, much, more....

To watch this game as it aired, check out the video here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-82-1992-olympic-gold-medal-basketball-game-usa-vs-croatia/

A Football Life: Roger Staubach is one of the more interesting installments of the NFL Network series. To say Staubach has lived a full life would be an understatement. This makes this a natural fit to do for the podcast.

From attending the Naval Academy, to becoming the quarterback of Americas Team (Dallas Cowboys), to his lucrative business ventures post retirement a feature film could be done on the life of "Captain America" and you would have more than enough content. In this episode we discuss:

• his career at Navy and Staubach being the first player involved in a "Heisman campaign"
• Not becoming the starting QB of the Cowboys until age 29
• His unique and sometimes confusing relationship with Tom Landry
• The fight with Clint Longley
• The countless inspirational stories of Roger Staubach helping people
• Him coining the phrase "Hail Mary"
• Legendary interview with Phyllis George
• His post football life including his real estate business that he sold for a ton of money
• Much much more...

Make sure you visit us online at http://distantreplaypodcast.com

The true crime story of former Seahawks and Syracuse wide receiver Tommy Kane is one marked by an absolutely brutal crime that was so heinous it had people questioning his mental state in the aftermath.

Join us as we take a look at Kane's spiral down a dark path after getting released the Seahawks and his football career being over by the age of 30. New true crime stories every week! Be sure to subscribe and like! Find more at http://distantreplaypodcast.com

The 2008 U.S. Open championship held at Torrey Pines was one for the ages and culminated with a 18-hole playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. As we prepare for another major championship at this beautiful course, we knew the timing was perfect to look back for the podcast.

Tiger Woods the world's #1 player at the time and forced the playoff with a dramatic performance in Sunday's final round. It's no surprise that Tiger was a big favorite to defeat the 158th ranked player in the world in Mediate. But Rocco endeared himself all week to the casual golf fan who may not have known him as of the previous Thursday and when you combine that with peak Tiger Woods you have the potential for an instant classic, which is exactly what they delivered. In this episode we discuss:

• We all know a guy like Rocco Mediate
• Prime Tiger Woods
• The summer of Dan Hicks
• The history of majors at Torrey Pines that will surprise you
• Ben surprises Mike with a true crime nugget
• Golf guy Ben gives a pick for this years US Open
• The playoff round being much more competitive than we even remember
• Tiger and his family celebrating after
• The aftermath for Tiger and Rocco

If you want to go back and watch the ESPN/NBC production as it aired in 2008, we have the full 4-hour broadcast on our website here: https://distantreplaypodcast.com/ep-81-2008-u-s-open-playoff-tiger-woods-vs-rocco-mediate/