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My 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

HoS: Tom Haberstroh Divulges NBA Ref Secrets

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Our resident announcer Guy Haberman is back, and sounding much better since the last time we chatted. We went as deep as we could go on the profession of sports broadcasting. What’s the greatest call of all time? What’s Joe Buck’s style, distilled?  Also discussed: Guy’s time with the great Bill Walton, my thoughts on how writing is different from podcasting, and how you should prepare for anything you do. Oh, and some 49ers stuff at the end, of course.  House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 

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

HoS: Guy Haberman

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

A hearty welcome to American Soccer Man Alexi Lalas. He’s sometimes discussed as “controversial” in sports media, but is he? We get into how and why he expresses his views, how the culture is shifting, and how athletes are different from us. We also look back at his and Carli Lloyd’s viral 2023 World Cup commentary. Enjoy topics that include but are not limited to… * How does Alexi feel now about suddenly becoming a famous Gen Xer in 1994? * Alexi’s problem with soccer fans who “gate keep” soccer fandom * America’s the only nation where soccer fan can be coded as “well educated snob” * Why Lalas posted a 1993 photo of himself with the caption:  Yup, in 1993 you would have seen this dude was flying down the 5 freeway into the warm golden California sun, with the windows down cranking Rush Limbaugh....and Ratt * Are athletes, including soccer players, more small “c” conservative than media?  * How the NBA (cynically) stopped involving itself in politics * That time Alexi tweeted, “'Don’t kill the messenger. This #USWNT is polarizing” * Looking back on Bill Walton * Alexi thinks society would heal if all group chats were made public  * His view on Megan Rapinoe * “Not everyone is wired like Carli Lloyd” 

HoS: Alexi Lalas

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

Wosny Lambre wears many hats and today we accidentally went heavy on politics. For that I apologize, given that sports > politics, but I did throughly enjoy the conversation (which even included some spirited arguing). The caveat is this is just two guys shooting from the hip on controversial matters. We are not experts. To quote Charles Barkley, “God’s the only expert.”  Topics include but aren’t limited to… * This bizarre Isaac Chotiner interview with Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg where the latter tries to flee midway through.  * Why is Joe Biden struggling in the polls relative to the Democratic Party? * Why has a slice of the public forgiven Trump relative to 2022, when Dems performed above expectations? * Do people now overwhelmingly vote for cultural reasons over economic reasons?  * Wos is fascinated by how Bill Maher is regarded on the left * Stan Van Gundy accuses Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker of “cloaking bigotry under religious beliefs.” I’ll admit that I discussed this part before knowing the full context of SVG’s religion-critical commentary.  * Is religion on a textual level compatible with modern culture? 

HoS: Wosny Lambre

Nate Jones is one of the most thoughtful commentators on all things NBA. For some insane reason, he still tweets his honest thoughts. We get into those, starting with the end of Turner’s Inside the NBA, transitioning to ESPN’s recent NBA issues and fanning out to Jones’ perspective on sharing normie political tendencies on Twitter/X.  House of Strauss is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.  

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

HoS: Nate Jones Talking End of NBA on TNT

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.houseofstrauss.com

We are joined by Mike Pesca, host of The Gist, and (much to his great shame), House of Strauss super fan. On today’s pod we unpack the various overlapping dramas surrounding Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech. The NFL has disavowed Butker’s words. But has “the NFL” really disavowed his words? Topics include but aren’t limited to… * Mike and I like a good hypocrite * Is there any throughline to the social justice causes (Why is Greta Thunberg now protesting an Israeli singer’s inclusion on Eurovision?) * The Harrison Butker media freakout * Can fervently followed religion co-exist with the secular ideology of institutions? * The modern issue with telling women to “be a homemaker” * Bill Simmons succeeds because he still has takes (and others don’t) * A take or two on Glenn Greenwald * Mike questions me on my NBA takes over the years

HoS: Tom Haberstroh Divulges NBA Ref Secrets

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