Around the Bases 2.16: Where Baseball Dreams and Game Shows Intersect

Join us for another exciting episode of #AroundTheBases as we spotlight #Baseball's unlikeliest success stories—namely the surging #ChicagoCubs and #NewYorkMets. With playoff-level intensity brewing early in the season, we break down the #CubsVsMets matchup, the breakout performance of #PeteCrowArmstrong, and the Mets' surprisingly effective pitching strategies. Shifting gears, we explore the world of #RealityTV with two innovative shows: #TheGeniusGame, the strategic sensation from South Korea now airing in the UK, and #DestinationX, an #NBCShows format turning Europe into a giant game board. We also celebrate a major personal win as Tim recounts his appearance on #KellyAndMark, where he nailed a #TravelTrivia question and won an #AntiguaVacation worth over $8,300. Whether you're a fan of #MLB2025, binge-worthy TV like #RealityCompetition, or inspiring #GameShowWin moments, this #PodcastEpisode delivers the goods. Tune in for #SportsAndTV talk, #UnderdogWins, and your #WeekendWatchlist picks!

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Transcript

Baseball's Surprise Contenders

Speaker 1 0:00

Welcome to Around the Bases , the pop culture and sports podcast , with your host , charlie Seymour , and I'm Tim Sternberg . Hit it , nick . We are back , do you notice every time ? Uh , charlie , I do the introduction I'm like welcome .

Speaker 2 0:32

I'm like what is this ? I like how you you especially get the hit it nick . Hit it nick . Yes , you're really good with those youtube compilation videos . You should make a compilation of you saying hit it , nick , hit it .

Speaker 1 0:43

Oh , can you imagine that would be hilarious .

Speaker 2 0:45

And that would be pretty funny .

Speaker 1 0:47

It's a good idea , buddy , how you doing , before we get into anything , oh I'm fine how are you doing ? I'm fine , I'm fine too , charlie . Uh , I'm pretty fine , dude . Um , I , you know , I'll go back to the old . I can't complain . I'm pretty , pretty happy . I'm not . Why are you so happy , tim ? Well , the freaking New York metropolitan Went in a lot of games , dude , right ? I mean come on . Uh , wait , wait , wait . What about those Chicago Cubs ?

Speaker 2 1:15

Exactly , went in a lot of games .

Speaker 1 1:18

Yeah , this podcast might start getting a little cocky folks . I don't know we deserve it though , Charlie Don't . We deserve it , we do . I mean , we're long-suffering baseball franchises . We deserve some love . We deserve our teams to be doing well . I mean , can we talk real quick , dude , about Pete Crow Armstrong ? Holy crap , that kid .

Speaker 1 1:44

The first name , pete , doing pretty well this year in the uh war columns yeah , oh my god , but you know it's quite a shame that you stole this pete from us for high v bias . I'm . I'm gonna say that every time we talk about him , because I don't know , stole is the right word .

Speaker 2 2:00

What do you mean ? I mean ? I mean at least , maybe better you gave us listen .

Speaker 1 2:09

Okay , all right , let me give you an example of what this was that the cubs did to the mess . You basically gave us a lamborghini . That's kind of broken .

Speaker 2 2:19

I'm being kind uh , with 200 000 miles on it for at the time a prius .

Speaker 1 2:26

I'll say at the time , I mean going back um and and you just happened , someone just happened to steal the lamborghini at the end of this year and then we lost the prius and now we don't have the lamborghini . What happened here ?

Speaker 2 2:41

and then the prius had a clause in it that once it reached 1 000 miles on the road , it became a brand new land freaking corvette , geez .

Speaker 1 2:52

Um , you know what I ? We've talked about this . Um , dude I , if there was one team that could have fleeced the mets for that , I'm glad it was the chicago cubs . Um , I think Pete Crow Armstrong fits in so well with your baseball team . It is like the chemistry that you have in your clubhouse is unbelievable , and I think Kyle Tucker has made a huge impact on the Cubs this year . I don't even think the Cubs themselves or their fans necessarily foresaw what kind of impact Kyle Tucker would have on the franchise . And you know , listen , I know you're a big stats guy , but at the end of the day , it's not just about stats . It's also about the clubhouse , as you know , and the chemistry . Yeah , fives are high in Wrigleyville .

Speaker 1 3:39

Even Happer . I mean Happer seems happy if that's a part of the term .

Speaker 2 3:44

But I don't know .

Speaker 1 3:45

I just you know it's just back downfield . Your team , like the Cubs social media team , which is fire , released a video like yesterday or the day before of Happer just walking and the dude I've never seen the dude with such confidence . He's like just swagger , just going .

Speaker 2 4:05

And I mean dude , your team is is , I'm happy for your Cubs ?

Speaker 1 4:06

I really am , Until they face the Mets you know , this coming weekend . I know you remember last year . So last year we split the series . I remember this cause , we talked about it and we're like oh , the Mets and the Cubs split the series and it wasn't . It didn't have the same urgency as it does now because both teams are that series is going to be fire dude , that's going to be like a playoff series this whole week .

Speaker 2 4:34

you've got the Mets playing the Diamondbacks , and then the Cubs , and the Cubs playing the Giants and then the Mets . I mean all four of those teams are very potentially playoff teams .

Speaker 1 4:44

I cannot wait to see the Cubs play the Mets . I just can't wait for that . Like that's going to be a good baseball .

Speaker 2 4:50

Did you see ? The Sunday game is the first Roku game of the season .

Speaker 1 4:56

Oh , what does that mean ?

Speaker 2 4:58

It means a couple things .

Speaker 1 4:59

I have to have Roku .

Speaker 2 5:01

Well , it's free .

Speaker 1 5:05

Okay .

Speaker 2 5:10

That works . Have roku um . Well , it's free . Okay , um , but the other thing that it means is it starts earlier than usual , the . So usually on sunday the first game is until 1205 or 1235 chicago time , 105 , 135 eastern . This is an 1105 am chicago time game .

Speaker 1 5:24

That's such a weird start .

Speaker 2 5:26

Yeah , noon Eastern in New York .

Speaker 1 5:29

Oh , they're playing at Citi Field . I thought they were at Wrigley . Oh interesting .

Speaker 2 5:34

Yeah , saturday night they're the Fox Game of the Week .

Speaker 1 5:38

Of course , they are Two of the best teams in baseball right now playing each other .

Speaker 2 5:44

Friday night MLB network as well , so you'll get a chance to watch them on all sorts of networks this weekend .

Speaker 1 5:50

Goosebumps dude , I'm so proud of our teams . Like I listen , I mean I , I think for the rest of the season I should use the background . You know where it's the Cubs on your side and the Mets on mine . I mean , you know , we just have to do that . But I'm , I'm proud man . I just , you know , I've always been proud to be a Mets fan . I know you've always been proud to be a Cubs fan . But it's just something about this season is special .

Speaker 2 6:12

I agree and you know , it's funny is I don't remember which one of the writers put . This is generally , and I think I've been able to admit many years when the AL has been superior , but this might be the first time in a while that the NL might be the superior league 100% .

Speaker 1 6:37

Yeah , look at the teams . I mean look the Padres , the Dodgers , the Diamondbacks , the Cubs , the Mets , the Phillies . I mean the Giants , the Tigers , the dodgers , the diamondbacks , the cubs , the mets um the phillies .

Speaker 2 6:46

I mean the giants , the tiger , the tigers even , even the braves , all of a sudden are 16 and 18 again . After what were they ? Oh , and seven ? I know you don't want to hear it , but they're . They're starting to win again too , and if they're like the eighth or ninth best team record wise right now , think about that what happened to the marlins . I thought the marlins were doing well they were a little , uh , nice little two and eight stretch for them and they're so my toast my neighbors , you know , in the beginning of this season they're like oh yeah , the marlins , marlin mars .

Speaker 1 7:18

I mean , look at the schedule , the marlins were playing . They were not playing high caliber teams , I mean yeah

Pete Crow Armstrong's Impact

Speaker 1 7:25

, now they have the Dodgers . But look at the Chicago Cubs . The Cubs have been playing high caliber teams . You guys started the season with the Dodgers in freaking Japan . You played the Diamondbacks , you played the Dodgers again , you played the Padres and now you're going to play the Mets .

Speaker 2 7:41

And then we played the Diamondbacks again , the Padres again .

Speaker 1 7:50

Your schedule is very top heavy . Yeah , you played a range . Your schedule is very top heavy this season . I mean , it's not necessarily designed that way , but it's wild . How about the athletics ?

Speaker 2 7:56

two . Two weeks ago they were the only team that was not above 500 , but that was only because the cubs swept them . They're 20 and 16 . Take Cubs swept them , they're 20 and 16 .

Speaker 1 8:06

Take away the Cubs sweep of them .

Speaker 2 8:07

They're 20 and 13 against everybody else .

Speaker 1 8:09

Let me ask you a question what is their home record versus their away record ? I wonder . They are 13 and 7 away .

Speaker 2 8:19

Oh really , and what are they ? Home Six and 11 at home , really .

Speaker 1 8:23

And that's including tonight's win .

Speaker 2 8:24

So they were five and 11 at home , really .

Speaker 1 8:26

And that's including tonight's win . So they were five and 11 originally . You know what that might be is just the other teams are taking advantage of being in that kind of park .

Speaker 2 8:31

Well , they also had three of those losses against the Cubs , so really there's six and eight against everybody else .

Speaker 1 8:37

We like that . We always root for the Cubs on this podcast , except for this week .

Speaker 2 8:43

Well , I don't you mean podcast , except for this week , um well , I don't you mean weekend this weekend , um , right now , against the giants , absolutely kick their butt pretty confidently . I mean , you never know , it could be wrong , but I think , regardless , each team is going to win at least one game oh , I think so I'd be surprised if , if either team swept no way , but it happen but . I'd say more likely than not , each team wins at least one , because both these teams are playing great ball right now .

Speaker 1 9:13

You know , I agree 100% . I was watching one of the Mets podcasts that I watch every week and they had Jeremy Hefner on today and Jeremy Hefner is their pitching coach for the mets . And they asked jeremy hefner the question about the pitching lab for the mets and what that consists of , etc . And um . The question also they asked was listen , you , you lost several key players , blackburn mania um , how , how is it that you know you're able to create such a magic with a staff that many people in the league have said won't amount to much , including me . I mean , I will be the first to admit . I mean I was not too you , and you will remind me , I know you will . That's what a good friend is , uh , but I , I , I too keen , I mean I'll admit that , and you know he said is .

Speaker 1 10:07

Like Miguel and Holmes and yeah Well , you know Miguel is my besties . I don't know what you're talking about , oh , yes , but you know . Seriously , though , like so . He says you know , they ask what's your philosophy ? And his philosophy is basically to have the pitchers be who they are and be the best that they can . He talks about the fact and this is good baseball advice , you know , I mean for the players especially you can only and it's good life advice too you can only control what you can control , right ? So you know , pitchers can't control the amount of runs the team scores . The pitchers can't control what happens in the outfield . Pitchers can't control the weather or anything like that . What pitch in the outfield ? Pitchers can't control the weather or anything like that .

Speaker 1 10:48

What pitchers can control is is the the mechanics , what they're choosing throwing strikes exactly right and in their sequence , and , and that's it , and and beyond that , it's whatever happens happens , and I think he has this way of instilling this confidence in this bullpen that is is , frankly , I think leadership does make a huge difference and I think he's really cracked the code . Um , and I think you know , like anything , if they build trust with that leader , you know they're going to want to perform and do well and do their best , and we're human beings , that's what we're programmed to do . So what about ? So the cubbies ? How do you feel like ? Where you see , where do you kind of see the team right now ? Besides , what's on paper ?

Speaker 2 11:31

um , well , I mean , obviously great start to the season , definitely considering they've played the most difficult schedule to date in the league . It's nice to be done with a lot of those teams for the season already , which is pretty crazy , for sure . Um , they , I , I feel better if the pitching staff is a little healthier , but I feel like that's a problem with most of the league , just kind of the nature of baseball so what happened to shoda ?

Speaker 1 11:57

I saw he went on eil .

Speaker 2 11:58

Yeah , he , he pulled his hammy . So two starts ago he left the game with cramps just one out short of a quality start , and then he did it again , this time when he was running over to cover first .

Speaker 1 12:11

So sounds like it's going to be maybe two weeks well , it's not too bad , it's not , yeah , it's not a crazy one , but they're going to be cautious with him obviously yeah , of course I mean , you know especially it's early enough in the season still and frankly you guys are in a position where you have a little bit of cushion that you know you can afford to take it , take it easy with the rehab a little bit , you know if it happens after the all-star break , that's another story .

Speaker 2 12:37

They don't need that fifth starter spot until this weekend against the Mets . So potentially , potentially , you could be seeing number one Cubs pitching prospect , cade Horton making his debut against the Mets . We'll see Could be Chris Flexen as well , who's already in the majors .

Speaker 1 12:56

Could it be against Blaytidwell for the Mets , prospects against prospects ? Blade pitched Sunday in the doubleheader right , yes , it could pitch , it's possible could is blade still gonna ? And it'll be the city field through the rotation .

Speaker 2 13:11

Oh wow , is blade gonna take another turn through the ?

Speaker 1 13:14

rotation .

Speaker 2 13:14

I think so , I think so I wasn't sure if he was just a double header call up or not , because you get the extra player for the double header no , I don't think so .

Speaker 1 13:22

They made it look like he was up okay um , I could be wrong no , yeah , I don't know .

Speaker 2 13:28

I was genuinely asking . I wasn't sure who was the extra man called up for the double header and who wasn't , because you do get an extra player for the double headers these days . Oh , that's interesting . He was the call up of the day , but if he was called up before that day , then you're probably right .

Speaker 1 13:45

I'm going to do after this podcast . I'll do some research and try to see if I can figure that out , but I mean I love it . You know , that's the one thing that is a real good , healthy sign of the ball club is when you have young pitching prospects that are able to kind of be brought up they already sent Tidwell back down .

Speaker 2 14:06

he was sent back down . He was sent back down on the 5th , so that could just be because they wanted to give him a cup of tea . But

Pitching Lab Philosophy

Speaker 2 14:14

did you also notice the Mets made another transaction today ? I'm sure you saw Winker went to the IL no oh , I thought you saw this . Yeah , winger went to the il with an oblique strain and did you see who called up , or I should say , brought back up ? Right baby right , baby's back .

Speaker 1 14:36

Baby , you just had to wait a little bit , he was getting wait but who's playing the outfield ?

Speaker 2 14:44

uh , probably the same , but as before , mcneil , um , let's see . Well , tonight , let's see who started tonight . I mean I assume you . I mean you still have soto and taylor , yeah , um , so it wasn't right . And nemo , he's the same three , okay , all right .

Speaker 1 15:00

So yeah , I mean , can you imagine what it must be like for baby though , boing , boing , boing , boing , boing , boing , boing . I feel bad for that type of .

Speaker 2 15:10

At least it was short-lived . He's right back , I understand , but he's part of a fun team .

Speaker 1 15:14

What does that do to the psyche , though ?

Speaker 2 15:18

He's tough . You know , it's not like it's the first time it's happened to him . Yeah , it'd be different if it was .

Speaker 1 15:29

This is probably like what six , seven , eight times , like it's happened a bunch of years over the years like timmy's a tough kid .

Speaker 2 15:33

Yeah , he is a tough kid , he's gonna he I .

Speaker 1 15:34

I still think that he can continue to contribute all right , yeah , and folks , in case you're a little wondering , just I want to mention this real quick uh , how we're talking about a game on monday night , for example , we're recording a little later than usual . Um , so , and which is kind of cool because we have a shift of kind of focus and we're able to kind of cover things a little further into the weekend . So , yeah , um , we , this podcast , this app week's episode is being recorded on monday . We'll probably have another one later this week , as usual , to kind of get back on track . But yeah , so , um , although we have not talked about that yet , but you know assumptions , you know aside , um , so that's baseball right now , because all we care about are the Cubs and Mets , quite frankly , um , but interesting , did you see that hot mic moment , by the way , real quick , uh , it's a little funny with the umpire With the home plate .

Speaker 2 16:29

umpire yeah .

Speaker 1 16:31

You shared that with me .

Speaker 2 16:32

He cares . It shows that he cares .

Speaker 1 16:36

At least there's some care . I mean , I don't think they all do , honestly , I mean from what I've seen , but at least he does you also had another umpire make in the viral video days .

Speaker 2 16:46

Do you see the ? Chris Guccione at first jumped over the runner posed and then made the call Really randomly . I actually caught a couple minutes this afternoon of Willie Adamas was being interviewed on a intentional talk from Wrigley and he was talking about that very play and he said that he told Guccione the that hey , we saw you're going around . He's like you know , umpire's job is just to ump . Stop making all these highlight reel plays , just just stop laughing about it baseball's a special game .

Speaker 1 17:21

I mean , where else do you have in Milwaukee a fan in the stands who isn't too pleased ?

Speaker 2 17:26

yeah , that was perfect .

Speaker 1 17:31

That that is that is a meme , that's a total meme , dude I don't know if you , if I know you have that saved already . I was gonna say I don't know if you got around to it or not yet , but that was one where I said right away yeah , that one we need in video .

Speaker 1 17:45

Yeah that would be the perfect one to share whenever anything bad happens to your team so , folks , whenever you're feeling sad , you're really upset or someone really upsets you , you might want to look like this insert video , I mean , and just for just for context , at that moment that was pete crowe Crow , Armstrong's second homer of the game , which the Brewers fan in the full Brewers attire caught and it made the score 10-0 Cubs .

Speaker 2 18:17

Apple TV caught it perfectly . He threw the ball in and he just let out the loudest F-bomb . It was perfect .

Speaker 1 18:24

But bro , why did the guy throw the ball back ? Why would you do that ?

Speaker 2 18:30

Wasn't his team's Homer at our regular , regularly honored tradition . But , yeah , I mean , I don't know how much of what I garnered , but at least a couple hundo .

Speaker 1 18:43

Let's , let's do last dance .

Speaker 2 18:45

Yeah .

Speaker 1 18:46

Oh well , that's fine . Last Dance , yeah . Oh well , that's fine by me , you know . Oh well , all right , so let's talk about previously on Survivor . We're getting there ,

Survivor Update

Speaker 1 19:05

will you agree , though ? This was the most predictable episode of the season so far yeah , they're , and this is .

Speaker 2 19:12

We pretty much have called this the last couple weeks in a row . They're just whittling down and they do seem to be sticking to what they said . We said at one point . They're gonna have to decide , are you gonna ? We did see some previews for potentially , this coming episode . This could be the week . Maybe they finally split it up . We'll see . But I wouldn't even be shocked again if they just chip away one or two more of the bloaters .

Speaker 1 19:37

If they don't get Joe out soon . Buddy Not looking good ? Yeah , we'll see . Listen , I don't understand it . If I was there , that would be my target . I can't live in the game with Joe . Yeah , we'll see . You're right , we'll 100% see . But yeah , I mean listen , there's not even a lot to talk about regarding this episode . It was kind of uneventful . I found it's like okay .

Speaker 1 20:06

Yeah , honestly , you're not wrong um , I don't even remember like so , this is monday , that was thursday . I don't remember half of it because it was so uneventful . It's like whatever , um anything you remember that stands out yeah , well , we , I mean we pretty much had they .

Speaker 2 20:24

They debated a couple names back and forth .

Speaker 1 20:27

Oh , there's one thing I want to mention that I do .

Speaker 2 20:28

Yeah , yeah , no , go ahead .

Speaker 1 20:30

No , I mean , can we talk about David's death ? Stare during .

Speaker 2 20:33

Tribal Council . Oh yeah , that was that , that was and that was at everybody .

Speaker 1 20:42

I've never seen a dude so unhappy to be on a television show Like really dude .

Speaker 2 20:49

That was his first time seeing the people that just voted him off .

Speaker 1 20:52

How much , charlie , how much did this man stew in the 24 hours between him being voted out and sitting there ? It's always interesting , like so you know , you see the new jurors come in and they're all fresh and showered , and all that interesting like so you know , you see the new jurors come in and they're all fresh and showered , and all that . And he was like literally walked in to tribal with the laser eyes right on the tribe mates . It was like , yeah , I mean clearly trying to be intimidating , but hardly being intimidating more amusing than anything else , in my opinion .

Speaker 2 21:31

Who do you think ? I know there's still a bunch of people left who do you think would get his vote . Let's say you don't even have to pick one , just like a couple people you think would be worthy of his vote Probably Cho .

Speaker 1 21:44

He's the type of dude that would you know big , you know big dude , big dude . You know kind of respect that strength and what do you think ?

Speaker 2 21:57

yeah , I was thinking that . Probably joe , or maybe yeah , because who ? Who were the ringleaders of spearheading ?

Speaker 1 22:06

that was it , kyle I think it might have been kyle and shaheen maybe yeah because kyle didn't want shaheen to go yeah , I don't know like can is .

Speaker 2 22:21

Has there ever been a time where a player's abstained from voting and said nobody , because maybe david will ? I don't remember that , I don't think . I'm sure that's not allowed . I'm sure they're forced to vote for .

Speaker 1 22:33

I think they have to . I think it's probably in their agreement . You know that they have to vote . Yeah , I do want to talk about this Like so the young lady again uneventful the young lady that was voted out , star , star star . I almost feel like I want to say this I didn't know she even existed this season until the last episode , when they actually started editing her and putting her in the show . Or is it just me ?

Speaker 2 23:02

um , I mean , there were a bunch of episodes where people were really annoyed by her . Okay , she was more of like uh , she was annoying people at camp okay , but yeah , she , you're right .

Speaker 1 23:15

I remember seeing on one of those that she didn't get a lot of the confessionals I mean , when she did appear in the last episode before she was voted out she's pretty much a student . I love it , superstar like she was rapping and she was actually entertaining , I was like who was this person ? Like where was this person ?

Speaker 1 23:34

I mean , I think she even rapped on her confession at the end I mean yeah , she did I I mean , that's pretty cool and I , I would have liked to see more of that star , um , you know , and again , I don't know if that's in her control or not , but you know , I , I , you know , it's the way things go . I , I just I would like to see it , um , but other , I just I would have liked to see it . But other than that , I don't really have much to say , do you ?

Speaker 2 23:58

Yeah , no , that's pretty much what covers it . I mean , you had a couple of people debating whether to make the move or not and they ultimately decided against it , it seemed . But that oh you know what it could be again . The idea , idea , it seems to happen often . The person they've ready , all right , we're finally gonna make a move , and then that person wins immunity that's exactly what happened yeah , very possible yeah , because that ?

Speaker 2 24:23

because they wanted joe . They were , they were thinking about joe this week , weren't they ? Yeah , but they want immunity , so yeah , maybe next week unless he wins immunity again . Right , exactly .

Speaker 1 24:36

That's the problem , you know , if you don't get someone out at some point , and then they start winning immunity after immunity I mean , look at Rachel , right , remember Rachel last year ? Yeah , I mean , you can't get them out at some point , it becomes very difficult . So , all right , that is Survivor . We are getting close to the end . I know you don't watch Amazing Race . That finale is coming up soon , you will watch next season .

Speaker 2 25:00

Have you been enjoying ?

Speaker 1 25:01

it . I love it . I've always loved Amazing Race . Something about that show . It kind of always reminds me of Erica and I traveling the world and you know it's a dream show of mine for sure . I would love to do that . I love going . I love shows that involve different locales and then different things . You know activities and stuff . It's a great show . Amazing Race is well-produced , great reality show . I will say this I'm excited for the next season . I think it's the next season because the Big Brother players are coming and playing on the amazing race with their family members . That should be pretty cool . Um , your favorite , and Angela's on the cast , apparently . Um , yes , um , all right .

Speaker 1 25:48

So we we're going to do a little segment this week uh , pop culture and sports in the news where we're going to do a little segment this week Pop Culture and Sports in the News where we're going to talk about some quick little tidbits of different

Live with Kelly and Mark Win

Speaker 1 25:56

things . One thing I want to bring up first that we didn't even talk about in our pre-show is , you know , mentioned that a week and a half ago I was lucky enough to get a call at about 8.30 in the morning from a New York number , and it's a producer on the phone saying , hi , I'm calling from live with kelly and mark . And I'm like , oh , and I had just to backtrack a little bit . For like three weeks I've been entering . I started in a buddy of mine .

Speaker 1 26:23

Alex shout out to alex said do you watch live with kelly and mark ? I'm like , well , yes , but uh , he's like you enter their travel trivia . I'm like I did that years ago but I never won . He's like , oh , you should do it . And so I . You know I'm , I'm game and I started entering it and I started taking notes on the show . And sure enough , you know that morning I get a call from a producer at Live with Kelly and Mark and as soon as I saw New York I was like , wait , is this them ? I pick it up and now he says , hi , I'm calling from the show . Would you like to play travel trivia ? I'm like , would I ?

Speaker 2 26:57

um , yes , and so and how long had you been entering ?

Speaker 1 27:01

three weeks okay just want to throw it out there , what ? Um ? So I'm like , yeah , he's like , all right , we're gonna go live at 10 to 8 and at 10 to 9 . I'm like great . And also he calls me back , he goes , the other person can't go at because they taped two shows that day . Can you go the second show ? I'm like sure , no problem . So they call me back , like at 11 something , and I I go on and uh , they have me play this game stump mark first , where I have to stump mark , and my two topics were I've been a contestant on five game shows , which is the truth .

Speaker 1 27:36

And the false statement was difficult for me . You know , I could say I've won trips all over the world , but that's actually a true statement . I could say I've won four cars , that's a true statement . So I had to come up with something . So I said I'm Pete Alonso's second cousin , which is not easy because I'm not Italian or Spanish . He's Spanish , his family's from Spain , I'm not Spanish . So I was thinking , I looked up to Pete Alonzo . I learned a lot about Pete Alonzo that day that I didn't know . I learned his biography and I basically went on and came up with him , giuseppe's , which doesn't exist in Port St Lucie . We go there for some more guests that of course I've been on a contestant on five game shows . You can literally hear when he watched a video , the audience gasp um , when he mentioned that , um , and I want to .

Speaker 2 28:21

he's like I've only heard a couple of those .

Speaker 1 28:24

That's right , so I named . So , yeah , that that's a good point . So I name off like who wants to be millionaire ? Wheel of fortune one versus 100 , we are family and trivial pursuit and he goes . Well , I only know a couple of those and then my mind immediately went to oh yeah , he's talking about wheel of fortune wants to be millionaire ?

Speaker 2 28:42

um , um , that's interesting , um so maybe trivial pursuit well yeah everyone knows , trivial pursuit um by the

Speaker 1 28:47

way , a little birdie tells me that trivial pursuit is casting right now . Let's go . If you're a listener right now and you need the link to apply for Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble , send me a PM on Instagram trivia chat and I will hook you up with that link , cause I it's too long to put here , but I'll share with you any casting information . I will always share with you , but , anyway , too long to put here , but I'll share with you any casting information I will always share with you .

Speaker 2 29:15

Uh , but anyway , I ended up winning a trip to the veranda and um in addition to the fact that I just want to point it out again for context you had applied applies , not the right word entered for less than three weeks . Got on . Then the question you got asked on air , you answered in less than one second flat . Did I , did I ? You were spitting out the answer before you could finish asking the question . It was was incredible .

Speaker 1 29:51

That's a true statement . Here's a clip of that . You have 20 seconds and only one guest . Good luck , Tim .

Speaker 2 29:56

All right , tim , here we go . Earlier this week we talked with Diego Luna . What country did Diego say he just flew in from ?

Speaker 1 30:04

Japan . Yes , so the question was Diego Luna was on the show recently , so they always ask trivia questions on , usually , celebrities that have been on the show and what they've said on the show . That's the key Cause you have to be watching , cause they want to encourage people who are watching . So , as Diego Luna was on the show recently and he just came back from a country , what country did he come back from ? And I remember because he talked about Japanese culture and everything , and I was like Japan , um , talked about japanese culture and everything , and I was like japan , um , but yeah , that wasn't something .

Speaker 2 30:35

You can google japan . You spit it out before they even finish reading the question .

Speaker 1 30:38

Basically , did you see the shock on their face ? Yeah , they're like that is right , that's right . And so I won a trip to antigua , to the veranda all-inclusive resort .

Speaker 2 30:48

Six days , seven , uh , seven days , six nights um , not bad for entering a contest for less than a couple weeks to win a trip for 8 300 bucks sure I'll take it I'll take it um .

Speaker 1 31:02

You know , erica and I need like everyone else needs a vacation , so I'm excited for that definitely yeah , that's awesome .

Speaker 2 31:09

So also another win in the in the real that's it also in the news .

Speaker 1 31:14

By the way , buddy , I don't . I know you saw the link I sent you . Uh , a new reality show started in the united kingdom , in england oh yes , perfect

New Reality TV Shows

Speaker 1 31:25

.

Speaker 2 31:25

I'm glad you brought this up , because I want to know more about this game let me tell you something first of all .

Speaker 1 31:31

it's not often that I have friends on this side of the pond super excited about a show that's not even on american tv yet , and I say yet because they were casting it . Apparently casting got put on hold , but it's coming . The game is called the Genius Game . It's hosted by David Tennant Don't know a lot about him because he's a British TV host but I'll explain what the show is all about . First of all , the cast includes a crime writer , a forensic scientist , two doctors and a PhD student . So that tells you kind of the caliber of contestants . I will tell you straight up my initial view of the show is like a mix between big brother , the mole , the 1% club kind of there . Think of that .

Speaker 2 32:26

That's an interesting combination of games .

Speaker 1 32:29

Yes , and the reason why it's a big brother is because it's a social game . The reason why it's the mole is because within the games sometimes there are mollish people that are out to like episode episode , without spoiling , because , yeah , no one's seen it really . Episode two is about zombies and humans , and if you're a zombie , turn other humans into zombies . If you're a human , if you touch hands with another human which is this round ball thing then you get points , and so the object of the game is for the humans to just be humans at the end and get points , and the one with the most points gets . I'll explain the process . And so zombies' idea is to turn everyone into zombies , and if everyone's turned into zombies , then they get points . Let me explain how it works .

Speaker 1 33:20

No , so the show originated in korea , south korea , um , and the games are all based on strategy and social manipulation , which which , again , strategy , is like the mole , cause you know big brother . I would call big brother a hugely strategic game . I think the big brother's biggest strength , if you can agree with me is is is the fact that it's highly social . Like , if you don't have good social gameplay , you're not going to do well on big brother period , right , speaking of which , by by the way , real quick side note I'm hearing big brother might start in june . Just just saying , okay , interesting , um , all right .

Speaker 1 34:01

So the players will play a total of 12 rounds of games with one player eliminated each round . Each round consists I'm reading a little because I want to get it right each round consists of a main match and they receive a token of life , which they call a ? Um . They're almost like pilot wings , but a large version of a pilot wing , okay , and their token of life grants them immunity from the death match . So they're going to have a main match where they go and win a token of life , and sometimes they win garnets , which is a little cube . Each garn garnet is worth 1,000 pounds , which is like the equivalent I don't know exactly about 750 bucks US . That's about the trade . You were in England more recently than I was .

Speaker 2 34:44

Yeah , that sounds about right .

Speaker 1 34:45

It's like three quarters . It used to be half of it , which was crazy . Okay , anyway , sorry . The player who plays last in the main match then chooses another player to face in the death match , which determines who will be eliminated . So the loser of the death match , those two games , every episode the main match and the death match . Whoever loses the death match is eliminated . Um , the player who wins is then given the garnets from the person who's eliminated . So the spoils to the victor wins the spoils yes , okay , so whatever they have becomes theirs exactly um .

Speaker 1 35:21

it's airing on itv um one and itv x in england and hopefully um . We will have an American version soon . I will tell you it's not often I say this 10 out of 10 . It's such a perfect show . It is really , really good . It's engaging . I actually care and there's I mean not that it matters , but there's an American on the cast , which is kind of cool .

Speaker 2 35:49

Oh .

Speaker 1 35:50

And I don't know , I just like it .

Speaker 2 35:51

Just a normal person .

Speaker 1 35:53

No , he's not normal . Um I forget what his special .

Speaker 2 35:57

I met when I met by that with non-celebrity no .

Speaker 1 35:59

I know , I know what you mean . No celebrities on this show at all , okay , not nice . I mean , I think the closest celebrity they have is a wouldn't know it all , um , but I I think that's pretty cool . I I'm going to try to watch it every week , um , if you do get into it , we maybe we can report on it .

Speaker 2 36:17

But yeah either way , I also want to hear speaking of of new shows . I also wanted you to tell a little bit about uh destination x oh yes , thank you for mentioning that .

Speaker 1 36:29

So destination x is a new show on nbc . It's currently in preview on peacock , which which means that you can go and wash wash , don't wash it , you can go and watch the show on peacock well , like half of one episode is available , right ?

Speaker 2 36:45

something like that yeah , and you .

Speaker 1 36:48

They did the similar thing , if you remember , for a deal on the deal island . Yeah , yeah , um , I personally I don't know about you , like erica told me . Oh , it's on peacock . I'm like I don't want to watch , just the first 20 minutes and then I know I'm the same .

Speaker 2 37:03

I did not watch it last time me neither I I'm not if it's just going to be the same thing . What's the point ?

Speaker 1 37:10

this show seems very interesting to me . Um , jeffrey d morgan is the host , of course . We know him from walking dead . Um , we talked about that last time . We were uh talking about this a little bit . Um , so I'm gonna just again read it , because I don't want to get it right . A new epic time travel adventure , not time travel .

Speaker 2 37:32

That would be interesting no , that would be something yes , uh , I'm going back to 1942 send um .

Speaker 1 37:40

A new epic travel adventure series is on the horizon for nbc the reality competition series destination x , already a hit in belgium . That's interesting , because that's kind of where the mall started . Interesting , uh , is getting a us version hosted by none other than the great Jeffrey Dean Morgan . In a bold travel competition series , destination X , europe is turned into a real life game board , as complete strangers are invited to participate in a trip of a lifetime . In the ultimate geo guessing contest , the adventurous players will traverse each country on a blacked out Destination X bus with the goal of figuring out where the X they are . Each week , in each episode , the players disembark the bus to visit unique and unfamiliar tourist attractions that have been gamified into experimental challenges . They will need to rely on their knowledge of pop culture , history , geography and observational skills to win clues to their current location and earn an all-important advantage . Contestants must tap into their own personal expertise , identify hidden clues that are disguised as artifacts , and discern intentional misdirects from competitors to ultimately determine their whereabouts . This is a quote here . Determine their whereabouts , um . This is a quote here .

Speaker 1 38:55

Destination x has already captivated audiences around the world and now we're bringing a fresh , uniquely mbc twist to it , led by the endlessly charismatic jeffrey d morgan . Um , this series is the ultimate high stakes guessing game , inviting viewers to embark on a thrilling journey across europe's most iconic landscapes and landmarks , all while playing along with our adventurous , dynamic cast . I will say this um ? So the end game each week is there's a giant map and it's almost like pin the tail on the donkey . The contestants have to put on the map where they are .

Speaker 2 39:26

The contestant , that's furthest away , bye-bye that part sounds honestly pretty interesting to me .

Speaker 1 39:32

That you're explaining that part sounds cool yeah , I think I think both of us , I think this is right up our wheelhouse . I really do . I think , uh , I think we'll both enjoy this show . Um , I don't know yet because I refuse to watch a 20 minute preview that you're going to do . That's like giving someone I'm going to make a charlie reference that's like giving someone a whole pizza and then taking seven slices away . Who does that ? Who does that like ? Like giving someone a whole pizza and then taking seven slices away . Who does that ? Who does that like ?

Speaker 2 39:55

that it's a me reference simply because it's pizza , I know anything for you , man .

Speaker 1 40:02

Um , appreciate it , I do . I do want to mention this now . I haven't been told this it's not a spoiler , because I haven't really been told this but I read , I read context clues and so I'll share this . I think a mutual friend of yours and I's is going to be a contestant on Price is Right next week .

Speaker 2 40:24

Oh , I know , I already know who it is and I know it yeah .

Speaker 1 40:28

He's very bad at hiding . Oh , he posted it .

Speaker 2 40:33

Yeah , literally

Destination X Preview

Speaker 2 40:34

literally .

Speaker 1 40:35

Well , no , he .

Speaker 2 40:35

He posted going to the taping , but I think he's gonna get called on down I saw another post where there were , like with him and like six or seven people that one of the eight of them were gonna be on it I .

Speaker 1 40:49

I will not mention his name because I won't do that , but retroactive Good luck to you , buddy . This is actually , ironically , a mutual that both of us had before we even knew each other .

Speaker 2 41:01

So yes , I know I also won't mention his name , but I will say he's an HQ legend .

Speaker 1 41:07

Yes , he is yes .

Speaker 2 41:11

Yes .

Speaker 1 41:11

After that airs we will circle back and bring that oh , we have to good shout out good , good memory there I will say of this , this , this , this guy , he's just a good dude , he's like a genuinely cool nice , he's a nice dude . I'm the spirit he's such a you know , listen , I mean , yeah , I I'm a , I'm a fan , um anything else we need to talk about . No , I think we covered it . We did . Wow , how about that ? We're awesome , we're awesome .

Speaker 2 41:43

All right , buddy , it's good to see you , man , good to see you keep up the winning . And then this weekend , this weekend hopefully we split right Two out of three for one of the teams . I would be fine with that . Someone's going to win the series , but I'd be fine with that .

Speaker 1 42:00

I didn't want to see some good ball . I just want to see our team shine , as they have been . I don't want to see a runaway game on either side . I want to see competitive baseball .

Speaker 2 42:09

I think , I think we'll get that , I think so'll get that .

Speaker 1 42:12

I think so too . This has been Around the Bases the pop

Final Thoughts and Series Preview

Speaker 1 42:14

culture and sports podcast , with your host , charlie Seymour , and I'm Tim Sternberg . Let's go Mets and let's go Cubs this weekend at Citi Field . Have a great week , everybody . Bye , thank you .