The Brian D. O'Leary Show

Tim introduces us to a new segment, tentatively called "Mystery Ballplayer." Tweet @thesportlanders for name suggestions for the segment.

The fellas dive into the scuttlebutt about the Blazers somehow being the favorites to win the West, even though it will be a slog to get into the playoffs. Unprecedented…we are in the world of the 'Rona, so go figure.

Brian gripes about the baseball season, but both guys are nevertheless excited to see it start and give the fans their predictions on how they think the season will ultimately shake out.

Show Notes:

Chet Lemon, backfield mates in high school football with former USC standout and 1976 Pac-8 Player of the Year, Ricky Bell.

Fremont High School, Los Angeles. Famous Alumni (does not include Eddie Murray or Ozzie Smith, who were teammates at Locke High School in LA):

The NBA Bubble Snitch line. Give it a watch.

Chris Haynes.

Channing Frye.

Tim is excited to talk Ducks recruiting. Brian is excited for football in general.

The guys try to make sense of what the covid stuff will actually do to sports in 2020.

Stout mentions he stumbled upon watching The Basketball Tournament, but had no idea what it was. O'Leary tries to explain some of the strange rules to him.

Will we watch sports in 2020? How interested are the guys after all? Also, a small debrief on the fall 2020 sports schedule.

Show Notes:

Dave Kaval's Tweet begging A's fans to buy their cutouts.

Follow The Sportlanders on Twitter!

Merchandise is available. Check with the Sportlanders. Limited run of t-shirts and stickers.

First, a debrief on the 60 game schedule that Major League Baseball scratched out. It is baffling in many ways and the guys attempt to make sense of it.

The Sportlanders also have a chat about the Trail Blazers broadcast crew after the recent news that radio play-by-play man, Kevin Calabro, is stepping down after a few years behind the mic at the Rose Garden.

Tim is under the weather, but you'd never know it because of his sheer professionalism.

Sportlanders merchandise is on the horizon. Contact the Sportlanders for more info, and more on that should come in the next few weeks.

Show notes and links:

NBA practice courts lined up in a ballroom in Orlando somewhere.

Diagram of the MLB travel situation in 2020.

The Wikipedia biography of The Schonz.

Tim wants to clarify his position on soccer, which leads to an interesting discussion and the conclusion that neither Sportlander is a hater of soccer as much as it may occasionally sound like.

We move on briefly to the only NFL news worth chatting about. Cam Newton signs in New England. The Sportlanders differ in their opinion about Cam and his prospects.

The Portland Trail Blazers look to finish strong, but has the NBA rigged the process? We're not saying yes, but there aren't a whole lot of no's out there either.

How is it looking for baseball's chances in 2020? Although Brian does not cry, he is sad. Tim tries to find the silver lining in all of it as always.

Brian and Tim try to figure out what big league baseball is going to look like. O'Leary is trending toward eternal frustration. Stout is a bit more optimistic.

Mentioned:

The original novel, Don Quixote

Don Quixote

Sancho Panza, the Don's "squire"

Big Mac crushes three dingers at Fenway with O'Leary sitting in the first base side box seats. Receives a standing ovation 6-11-95

Show Notes:

Mentioned:

Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky

Essentially, a history of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, using the Dominican Winter League team, the Eastern Stars (in English) as the catalyst for the story. San Pedro de Macoris is known also as the cradle of shortstops. Highly recommended reading.

Sammy Sosa's transformation: A bleaching cream? Who knows…

Baltimore Sun article on Sosa's transformation.

A tweet showing Sammy then and now.

Neymar, the Brazilian soccer player who appears to have done the Sosa/Michael Jackson treatment.

The top transformation in soccer history? A tweet from 2014.

Steve Sailer from 2014 on Michael Jackson, Sammy Sosa, and Neymar.

I don't know what to make of these transitions…Reading a lot more on Latin American history may help. I can only shoot it through the prism of the study I have done on Revolutionary Cuba in college and through reading about baseball in the Dominican Republic, of which Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky is a very good resource. I have limited knowledge or interest in soccer and I have limited knowledge but a keen interest in Brazil. I know next to nothing about Michael Jackson except what has been widely available in the pop culture during my lifetime. I am at a loss to come up with any semblance of a coherent theory about what all these guys have done. ~BO'L

Brian and Tim sort out the confusion between George Blanda and Slingin' Sammy Baugh from last week's episode. We touch on traditionalists vs. purists in sport. The NBA playoff picture is as clear as mud, as are the prospects for the Major League Baseball Season. Good news: If this fall has sports, it will be awesome!

Brian and Tim dive into the quarterback situation at U of Oregon, touch on the NBA's latest plan, and continue to try and make sense of what Major League Baseball is doing.

Brian and Tim set sail on their inaugural Sportlanders podcast, touching on Tiger vs. Phil and Manning vs. Brady, what a potential baseball season could look like for the major leagues, and the Blazers chances and the NBA in general if a postseason comes to fruition.