Trump Wins, Strahan Controversy and Starbucks BOYCOTT | Ep. 21

What happens when a silent protest changes the course of a sports career, or a minor patriotic misstep ignites a media storm? Join me, Norman Chad, as I humorously navigate the cultural minefield between Colin Kaepernick's career-ending anthem protest and Michael Strahan's patriotic faux pas. We'll explore hyper-patriotism in America, chuckle through a satirical take on possible Trump appointees, and debate the likely outcome of a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. And if you think that's all, stay tuned for my NFL picks, where I promise a sprinkle of gambling wisdom and a showdown between the Jaguars and Lions.

But wait, there's more! Ever wondered why I boycotted Starbucks over a cappuccino? Or why betting on the Titans has me contemplating a move to Norway? Let’s wander through NFL matchups with comparisons so curious you'll wonder if you’ve stumbled into a Brazilian first date or a Keanu Reeves movie. We’ll also toe-tap between country music blues and mall life’s suburban charm, while critiquing political figures with a satirical twist. Pack your sense of humor and remember, always gamble with loaded dice.

Chapters

• 0:00 America's Cultural Controversies and NFL Picks
• 5:51 Starbucks Boycott and NFL Picks
• 17:44 Country Music Blues Backlash

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I am embarrassed for America. I am embarrassed by America, but we march on Norman Chad, norman Chad, and welcome to Gambling Mad with Norman Chad. I remain Norman Chad, coming up today on the show. Just say no to Starbucks, just say no to country music and just say yes to the Titans. Again Gambling Mad, as always brought to you by Fritos. As always brought to you by Fritos, picked fresh off of Central California trees every morning, delivered directly to your retailer every afternoon, and by Fresca, refreshing, remarkable. It's Fresca Fritos and Fresca it's a meal. But first, you know, it's not enough to be an American these days. You've got to be the right kind of American.

Speaker 1: 1:08

Let's take a look at Colin Kaepernick and Michael Strahan. Kaepernick, as you may recall, took a knee during the national anthem before NFL games in 2016 to silently protest racial injustice and police brutality After 2016,. He never played another game in the NFL. He took a knee and he lost his livelihood. This scared me so much. When I'm watching games at home now I stand up for the national anthem. Usually I'm sitting on my couch. This brings us to Michael Strahan. Strahan, formerly with the New York Giants, is one of America's most beloved ex-jocks. He co-hosted Live with Kelly and Michael for several years. He was part of Good Morning America also for a number of years and he's been on the Fox NFL Sunday studio show since 2008.

Speaker 1: 2:07

This past Veteran Day weekend, fox NFL Sunday did a special broadcast from the Navy base in San Diego. During the playing of the national anthem, strahan was seen standing with his six Fox on-air colleagues. All of his colleagues had their hands over their hearts. Strahan had his hands folded in front of him. All hell broke loose on social media. He was standing at attention during the Star Spangled Banner. Not good enough. Strahan's father served in the Army for 23 years. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. Strahan has publicly cited his appreciation for all veterans and active service members a number of times. Strahan has donated to veteran causes repeatedly, but, but, but he did not hold his hand over his heart during the playing of the national anthem.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Them, you can't be too careful these days. Usa, usa, usa. God bless North America. Oh, no, it's just God bless America. You know, hey, perhaps if we had God blessing the entire continent, huh, we'd have less problems with Canada and Mexico. But no, it's only about America. Screw Canada and Mexico. Time for Trump.

Speaker 1: 3:38

Tidbits the latest developments on the incoming 47th president of these United States. Marco Rubio, reportedly, will be named Secretary of State. Apparently, hannibal Lecter was unavailable. Stephen Miller will become White House Deputy Chief of Staff. Apparently, beelzebub was unavailable. Donald Trump Jr will not be part of the administration. He is joining a venture capital firm, 1789 Capital. Unlike the Trump Organization, their checks always clear. Eric Trump will work for the White House, briefing his father daily on what they talked about on the View. Elsewhere, mike Tyson and Jake Paul will fight this weekend in Dallas. The winner might earn as much as $40 million. The loser is expected to be named Secretary of Defense.

Speaker 1: 4:29

Time for our NFL picks. Oh my goodness, take a look at this. Huh, 21-17-2 for the season. Did you expect? Did you expect anything less? Okay, you know I walk into bars and restaurants across this nation and people say to me are you the guy who gets most of his NFL picks correct almost every year? Yes, I am. Can we talk to you? No, you can't. I do not interface with the gambling public, even with the most beautiful women. I go alone and I am a mystery even to myself.

Speaker 1: 5:11

Let's get to the picks. Start out with the Jaguars at the Lions. This is the worst team in the AFC against the best team in the NFC. Let me tell you why I like the Jaguars here. The Lions should have a letdown after their fabulous comeback Sunday night against the Texans, and the Jaguars are due for a letup. Can you have a letup? Yes, you can have a letup. The Jaguars are 0-5 on the road, but they're only being outscored by six points a game this season. So I will close my eyes Actually, I'm just going to close one eye and I will take these 13 points.

Speaker 1: 5:51

Vikings at Titans the Vikings are the much, much better team than the Titans. On paper, that again, the US has always looked like the much, much better nation than Norway. On paper, things change. I am now addicted to picking the Titans. I somehow have a fatal attraction to bad teams and I have no choice but to continue to pick the Titans until I get one right. Will Levis will have his best game yet as Titans quarterback. If the Titans don't cover the spread in this one, I will move to Norway, probably somewhere near the water. I'm going to take the Titans plus six points.

Speaker 1: 6:34

Falcons at Broncos these are two teams that are tough to figure, sort of like Brazilian women on a first date. Yeah, yeah, I've been there. The Broncos lost last week on a blocked field goal on the game's last play. You don't recover from that easily. It's like when Cheetos introduced Cheetos lip balm. Yes, I'm not making it up. Cheetos brought out a new product, cheetos lip balm. They have never fully bounced back as a company. Meanwhile, every time you don't expect it, falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins will surprise you Pretty much, like, as you may recall, keanu Reeves in my Own Private Idaho in 1991. Uh-huh, go find it somewhere. It's a pretty interesting independent film. You'll see what I'm talking about. I am taking the Falcons and the points in this one. It is time for our Colander Pick of the Week. We don't give you the Colander Pick record this year because it is pretty shitty.

Speaker 1: 7:34

Bengals at Chargers Bengals at Chargers. The Bengals' Jamar Chase had 11 catches for 264 yards last week. That was last week. This is this week. Chase won't even notice the ankle bracelet that Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh will have attached to him. The Chargers, the only team in the NFL this season that have not allowed more than 20 points in any one game this year. And nobody, nobody, walks into SoFi Stadium and takes away the Chargers' home field advantage. Actually, to be honest with you, nobody in Los Angeles even knows the Chargers are playing this weekend, but I am not a fact-driven handicapper.

Speaker 1: 8:17

We are going to take the Chargers as a one-and-a-half-point favorite Texans at Cowboys. How can the Cowboys be a seven-point underdog at home? Well, believe it or not, they are 0-4 at home this season, with three of the losses by scores of 44-19, 47-9, and 34-6. Nobody's been this bad at home since Ben Affleck in the final weeks of his J-Lo marriage. The Cowboys' Mike McCarthy is expected to coach this one with a blindfold and a cigarette. And, fyi, as many of you know, when the NFL's two Texas teams meet each other, all players are allowed to take advantage of the state's open carry law, so this one should be a shootout. Okay, we're going to go with the big favorite in this one Texans minus seven and a half.

Speaker 1: 9:19

Let's talk about Starbucks, which I have boycotted for a quarter century. When Starbucks expanded, as we all know, it changed the coffee culture. Everything was different about coffee. You expected a higher quality coffee. It changed the coffee culture, though in many ways that I didn't like. You know, we had the old diners and coffee shops that that had gave you refills. You know really nice refills at Starbucks. That that business model is. You get one cup of coffee in a paper cup or whatever and then you're done and we're going to charge you a lot for it. So I wasn't too happy about that. Then I was really happy when they came into my neighborhood for the first time In Los Angeles. I lived near the original farmer's market probably my favorite place in all of Los Angeles a great fruit and produce market with restaurants and bars outdoors and they have two or three coffee shops in there. They sell one of them, bob's Coffee and Donuts it's great donuts. They still serve your coffee in a china cup and they'll give you a refill. Of course Starbucks doesn't do this and they run out these coffee shops. They ran them out of business.

Speaker 1: 10:27

Then, right after they opened there, a woman came from Australia. She was actually the sister-in-law of my fiancé at the time probably marriage number two, yeah, yeah, number two. So she came and she wanted to go to Starbucks. So we went to Starbucks. We went to that Starbucks in the original farmer's market. I ordered a couple of coffees. She told me what she wanted. I told you know she wanted to sit down outside near the place.

Speaker 1: 10:52

I ordered the two, brought them over at the tray, took my coffee out, gave her a cappuccino and then she looked really odd for a few moments and I said what's the matter? And she was very sheepish. She said there's really no coffee in my cappuccino. There's no cappuccino here. She slid it over to me, I picked it up and it was really light. I said, oh okay, I'm sorry, let me go back to the counter. I went back to the counter. There was nobody there. The same young little gun little 20-year-old was serving me with a little ponytail. Ponytail's okay, ponytail's okay, but keep it under a hairnet. I said, hey, I'm sorry. My friend ordered this cappuccino and she's just like there's no cappuccino at the cappuccino. I felt kind of embarrassed saying it.

Speaker 1: 11:35

Okay, he had several options right there. He could have said he just apologized. He could have said, uh, can I get you something else, something she might like? Otherwise he could have said I can get, offer you a refund. He did none of that. He took his right hand. He picked up the cup, like that. He put it back down like that. He said no, that's right. I said, okay, uh, I didn't know what to do. I said well, could you make her another one? He looked pretty disgusted. He took the cup, he threw the coffee out of the cappuccino and, using that cup, he made another one. He brought it back to me. I took it, I said thank you, I picked it up. It felt pretty light. I brought it back to her and I said I'm sorry, that's all you get home. I thought about it for about 60 seconds and I started my just say no to Starbucks campaign. Okay, I started it then. Okay, now, how effective has this campaign been? I'll tell you how effective it's been.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Starbucks started expanding outside of Seattle in the mid 1980s. My boycott began in 1999. Currently, starbucks has nearly 38,600 outlets worldwide. Without my boycott, they might have more than 38,600 outlets. Huh, huh, you don't mess with me. Okay, it hasn't been as effective as I would like. Stop going to Starbucks. Just say no to Starbucks. Starbucks is doing so well without me.

Speaker 1: 12:58

This year they moved into the number two spot worldwide as the second largest restaurant chain. Number one is McDonald's, with more than 41,000 locations worldwide. Starbucks now number two at 38,587. They went past Subway 36,516. Mcdonald's, the global leader, then Starbucks and then Subway. That's a lot of bad hamburgers, a lot of bad subs and a lot of. They say it's good coffee, but whatever coffee way overpriced.

Speaker 1: 13:33

One more Starbucks note before I leave you. Earlier this year, starbucks was sued for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by charging customers with lactose allergies extra for ordering non-dairy milk alternatives. That suit has not been settled yet. However. Starbucks just announced that it will no longer charge anything extra for non-dairy milk that includes oat, coconut, almond, soy Effective this month. My dream is to walk into Starbucks with a jar of Nescafe Taster's Choice House Blend Instant Coffee. Ask them for a cup of hot water and see how much they charge me. I will cause a stink.

Speaker 1: 14:20

Donald Trump vows to execute a mass deportation of undocumented illegal immigrants during his second term in the White House, and I believe there's a good chance that he will achieve this to some degree before he is impeached for a third time. But it is more than human migrants who are on full-blown alert these days. Mixed-breed dogs are also very, very worried. Take my four-year-old Blue and her four-year-old best friend Nikki. They are both mixed-breed, or mutts as haters like to call them. Nikki is part Labrador retriever, part husky Yep, siberian husky, as in Siberia, russia, a poodin' pup. Blue is mostly American pit bull terrier, american bulldog and American Eskimo, but she also has some chihuahua in her. Chihuahuas are native to Mexico Yep, that Mexico south of that border. In addition, neither Nikki nor Blue has been registered with the American Kennel Club. They are undocumented, admittedly living tax-free here in America.

Speaker 1: 15:37

If I can speak for Blue right now and we will pause if I get too emotional she's lived her entire life in the United States. First three months in Las Vegas, the rest of the time in Los Angeles. Her poop is always picked up. She has never barked at anyone. She would not hurt a flea, even if she had fleas. If Trump or his border czar or ICE want to come after Blue, they'll have to come through me first, and I just hope they don't come before, say, one o'clock in the afternoon, because me and Blue usually sleep in.

Speaker 1: 16:14

Let's stay with the immigrant storyline for just a moment. If you have come recently to the United States, hey welcome. If you have come recently to the United States, hey welcome. If you have come recently to the US, or, frankly, if you've been here for quite a while, you are at the risk of being deported. I am here to help today and let's head over to our national map to show you your best options. Escuchen, muchachos y muchachas. Stay away from the southern border, don't be stupid. That's where they will look for you first. Okay, where won't they look for you? The heartland, yeah, the heartland. Any TGI Fridays or Applebee's in Nebraska or Kansas is a safe place. But just to be extra safe, stay out of the kitchen if you know what I'm talking about. Meanwhile, let's update all the climate change deniers in the incoming Trump administration.

Speaker 1: 17:13

This Sunday in Phoenix, arizona, at 2 pm it will be 212 degrees Fahrenheit 212. You'll be able to boil water anywhere outdoors in Phoenix so you can cook your pasta in a pot right on your front sidewalk. Dine al fresco About eight minutes for al dente Ten minutes if you want to overcook it. Like Olive Garden Traffic and weather on the fives all weekend. Let's get back to the desk.

Speaker 1: 17:44

Before we wrap up, I'm going to say this one time, and one time only I am not listening to any more country music if they are going to be singing the blues. I can't take it anymore. I live the blues. I don't have to hear it. By the way, if I can't take it anymore, I live the blues. I don't have to hear it. By the way, if I can interrupt myself, and I'm sure I can, this is my own podcast. Beyonce is absolutely fabulous. She does her first country album this year. She gets zero nominations from the Country Music Association Awards and 11 nominations from the Grammys. Nice job, cma. Heck.

Speaker 1: 18:33

Country music, particularly country blues, has black roots. Why do you think it's sometimes called the white man's blues? But enough of it all. I'm tired of hearing about broken hearts and shattered souls. I'm tired of hearing about winding roads and crickets in the summer. Hey, I grew up in the suburbs. When we write music, we talk about the mall. Okay, see, hank Williams says oh, I'm so lonesome I could cry. I say the mall puts a smile on my face. Love soft, serve ice cream from the mall. That'll do it for another edition of Gambling Mad with Norm and Chad. Hope to see you again next time and remember, if you're going to roll the dice, make sure they are loaded. Norman, chad.

Speaker 1: 19:23

If a guy is a racist and a sexual predator, I can live with that. If a guy doesn't pay any of his taxes, I can live with that. If a guy steals from his own charity, I can live with that. If a guy takes businesses into bankruptcy six times, I can live with that. If a guy defrauds 5,000 people with a fake university, I can live with that. If a guy wants to arrest political opponents, I can live with that.

Speaker 1: 19:47

If a guy is treasonous and tries to trample on the Constitution, I can live with that. If a guy is twice impeached from the White House, I can live with that. If a guy steals classified documents, I can live with that. If a guy is convicted on 34 felony counts, I can live with that. If a guy tries to overturn an election and incites an insurrection, I can live with that. If a guy wants to grab women by the pussy, I can even live with that. But if a guy is a racist, sexist, bigoted, tax-avoidant, adulterous, business-cheating, lying charity-pilfering, fraudulent, twice-impeached, treasonous, classified document-stealing, felonious, criminal, con man who incites an insurrection while grabbing women by the pussy, I just don't think he should be the leader of the free world and it's making me gambling mad.

Speaker 2: 20:38

Gambling Mad with Norm Chad is written by Norm Chad and ghostwritten by Norm Chad, executive producer John Scheinberg, rick Barrio-Dill, and. Written by Norm Chad and ghostwritten by Norm Chad, executive producer John Scheinberg, rick Barriodil, and produced by Norm Chad and Rick Barriodil, associate producer is Bree Coore and on editing Asher Friedman. Audio, video engineering and studio facilities provided by 360 Pod Studios Beverly Hills and Slap Studios LA. If you want to complain to Norm about anything, make sure to reach out at Gambling Mad Show, anywhere you get your socials, and at Gambling Mad with Norm Chad on YouTube, and if you really want to get at them, send a message to info at slapstudioslacom.