Greatest Small Market Athletes with Ian Karmel

A special athlete can turn a small market team into an iconic franchise simply because of the mythology that develops around the player. After all, fans across the planet flock to stand behind a superstar who stays loyal to the underdog! Megan and C.J. welcome Ian Karmel (The Late Late Show and All Fantasy Everything Podcast) to the show this week to give some big-time love the the small-time markets. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Greatest, a production of I Heart Radio. Hi,
and welcome to another episode of The Greatest. I'm Megan Gaily,
joined by my husband and co host and fellow American.

(00:20):
Fellow American, finally, it feels good to say that, fellow
Filipino American, and I'm proud to the CJ's wife. Well,
I'm very proud to be your husband. Usually, and we
did this a little bit in the beginning here. We
usually like, man, the pandemic and everything has been so
bad that whenever we hop on a zoom before we

(00:40):
even officially start the show, we like recap what that
is happening in the world. And I was like, man,
we're not gonna We're not gonna have to do that.
This time. We did have a little bit, but you
do want to start celebratory here, but we did. We
did it in a sense of look at this bad ship,
even that can't ruin. Were just can't bring me down. Um,
And part of the good mood is our wonderful guest

(01:04):
that's here today. I mean in the sports world, a
podcasting legend, host of All Fantasy Everything, which has the
nicest fans, and also head writer of the Late Late
Show with James Cordon. Please welcome Ian Carmel. Hello, thank
you so much for having me. Thank you. How are

(01:27):
you doing. I'm I'm wonderful, man, I mean arrest in peace.
Alex Trebeck, Uh an absolute legend. Outside of that, though, man,
I'm in a great mood. I plucked some persimmons off
a tree in my backyard. I sucked him up with
some blue cheese this morning and like an amazing breakfast.
It's it's just it's beautiful. Joe Biden's president, which you know,

(01:47):
it's not all good news. My guy lost, but uh,
we're gonna I'm joking, I'm not. It's like, where is
this going? You never you never know. I guess you
never know. I guess you never know with people. That's
the whole thing. No, I despise his guts and I'm
so glad this whole thing has been. So it's been
just a lovely couple is and it rained in l
a I know. So it's um. Just so the listeners

(02:11):
have the temperature of the room. It's Sunday to fifteen
Pacific time. So we have all now had the news
of Joe Biden winning for over twenty four hours. C
J and I we were like it was, you know,
in the morning, we woke up, we saw the news
so exciting, and then you start seeing all this stuff

(02:32):
out of like New York can d C and gosh,
I mean, we've been trying to find the celebrations when
it was Dodgers Lakers and it felt like that. It
was like where we go? So we got in c
J's cube. Oh y g was blaring out of the
busted cube speakers, Fuck Donald Trump, and we made our
own little parade on the northeast side of l a.

(02:54):
Ian What did you do? Well? I I live in
at Water Village, so I woke up and like you
heard about these stories where like people were parting on
the streets of Silver Lake and West Hollywood. People are
like hanging out of buildings, and my neighborhood is like
full of kind of like old people who've lived in
l a for like a very long time. So it
was bit people were like smiling and waving to each
other on the parking lot, but it was not a

(03:16):
party atmosphere, not because they weren't happy, but just because
a party atmosphere. I think an atwaker village means like
in by It's like a farmer's market where all the
fruit looks good. Everything was so ripe. The bug and
valley bushes were in full blue. Uh yeah, it was
but like just just a beautiful day. I hung out

(03:38):
with my girlfriend and we just had like a beautiful
day and then had a couple of friends over in
the backyard for like a social distance champagne pop and
everything just like just a rare, just a lovely day
in a year that has not had enough lovely days.
It was very it was very nice listen, and I
didn't want to bring it up, but you know, Lakers
jump started for us and then now I just wanted

(04:00):
I wanted to give you this opportunity. But uh but yeah, no,
it's like the celebrating has been really weird, but it
is like it hopefully this is some momentum to get
out this year. You know, in Los Angeles especially it
was like I mean with the Lakers and the Dodgers
and then just like the progressive sweeps in the in
the not sweeps because there was a measures that absolutely
should have passed it then but like but like with

(04:23):
a lot of them, with Jackie Lazy Gonna voted out
and the Niffy rama getting like voted in like pretty
cool things happening in l A, like a local level,
in addition to the in addition to the national news.
So yeah, good good year for l A. You know,
happening despite everything terrible that's happening. Yeah. Well, and I
keep I guess it's not a warning because it's a

(04:44):
positive thing. I keep telling people, like the rest of
the country is having to go indoors at their own peril. Unfortunately,
we are happily outside. I mean I did a show
last night and it was sixty and there were heaters.
I mean, like, even if it's teetering on maybe this
is too cold, we will over dress, overheat ourselves. Like

(05:07):
we're not gonna have to go inside. And so I
keep trying to like make people come here, like I'm like,
come here, quarantine and then you can be in my backyard.
And they're like, I'm not going to do that. But
that's like that's what I'm trying to pitch to people.
So it would be how long did it take for
your cold resistance to wear off? Because mine is I
am such a little bit and like I'm disappointed in

(05:30):
myself because it did rain yesterday and rain I'm still
good with. Like the booker of the show was like, hey,
are you still good? I go? I know five people
whose houses were torn down by tornadoes, Like how good
to go if it's raining. But then I had a
winter hat on, and I'm like, my parents are from
Niagara Falls, New York, like they would be mortified by

(05:54):
my my just thin blood I have now. I used
to go to school in a shorts and T shirt
every single day no matter what was happening in Portland, Oregon.
It could be forty three and like torrential downpours, which
was like most of the winter, and I'd still be
like in a big dog T shirt, you know, dogs
behaving badly, sitcom like parody T shirt and bum equipment shorts,

(06:15):
having the time of my life. And last night I
slept in a sweater and a hoodie. It just is
And you're and you're the same as me, Like you're
like getting some fits off type of guy, you know,
sneakers and so like I have a whole arsenal jackets
to get out there, but it is strange of like
I can't there is no like thing to go to
to get those fits off in this, So I'm like

(06:36):
it's a little bit of a tempered down version of
like happiness for jacket. Whether it's back here in l A, No,
it's A. It's a. It's a. It's definitely a mixed blessing.
It's like that's the thing with sneakers right now. It's
like I have all these pairs that I want to
wear because like I've slowed down buying them a little bit,
but not as much as like I should have, given
that there's nowhere to wear them. But like I don't

(06:57):
want to wear like a like a grail pair of
sneakers to go to Gelson's for seven minutes. You know,
I have done that absolutely, you know, and I know,
and I'm not gonna shut Megan out of this, but
I real quickly, I just want to be like you're
you've been like an O G. Dunk guy, and like
now dunks are back and so in production. So I
have been thinking about you have like funck, I mean,

(07:18):
are you buying these and are you able to get
you know, go out and show them off. I I
still do buy like dunks every now and then, but
like I did pat, like I passed up on those
kind of like the knockoff Paris dunks almost but I
forget what they were called, but the ones that kind
of looked like that, and then, uh, they're hard to
get now. I used to love like snagging. I remember
I got like my black Pigeon dunks for like two

(07:39):
hundred bucks aftermarket, that's what you know, because they sell
for what like one twenty or whatever like when they
go on sale, so like not that much. But I
haven't really been wearing them now because they're so like
my purple lobsters are almost like like you guys are insane.
Now they're cute little lobsters. They're cute little shots with
little rubber bands you can put on. But they're so

(08:00):
expensive now that I'm like, I gotta really pick and
choose when and where I went. And then it's like,
are both of you just creating a separate Instagram account
that's just photos of your shoes? I mean, that's that's
the next rational safe step. I have a room that's
just shoes now, and an Instagram account is can't be fine.

(08:22):
The thing about it is it seems like maybe it
could be a way to get free shoes if you
would get a popular enough like shoe Instagram account. Whenever
I try to apply any amount of just pressure to
see Jay's purchasing habits, he comes back at me with, yeah,
but this helps my career, And it's like, oh, I
don't know what. I don't even know if you were

(08:45):
to create the diagram, I would love to see that
it was a lie in the beginning, and then it
actually kind of help. It kind of worked, you know.
It all feeds into itself. Having the cool sneakers, feeds
into the sports stuff, feeds into the culture stuff into
the sneakers. It is weirdly like a bit like once
you become like, oh no, that guy's like a legit
sneaker head. It does like grant grant you entree into

(09:07):
certain like communities or at least an air of validation,
which is very silly, but it does happen. But in
l a is more valuable than currency in some ways. Yeah, well,
in a lot of ways it's more stable than currency.
Like if you just bought a pair of off Wise
two years ago, that thing has gone up like better
than it's not in America right now, what I'm trying
to say is we need to start coming out with
signature microphones for stand up. Yeah, Hattle show that we're like,

(09:31):
you know, we'll buy new microphones. I would never there's
there's not even anything in my life because like sometimes
I try to be like okay, well I love Bravo
or I like love the cults, but it doesn't even
come close to see Jay and sneakers. There's nothing. Maybe
my nieces, yeah, a new nieces like new those are

(09:57):
a limited drop, Yeah they are. They are dead stock ness.
I know it's it's sick for me too. There's not
a day that I don't like look at Goat like
the app just to like it soothes me. Now it's
very weird and I'll just go like, look at my
sneakers sometimes. Speaking of dunks, I bought like a pair.
It's crazy how valuable they've went. I bought a pair
of just like these Halloween trick or treat dunks. They

(10:20):
were ugly, and I was like the next Halloween, I
didn't because what I have warned them, And like now
those are like six hundred dollars. It's like it seems
like a weird complete but like I kind of wish
they would stop doing that. And I feel so bad
about wearing these shoes, you're not, and we'll never not
feel bad because we're like, you know, the thing is,
our income does come from comedy and like from the

(10:40):
years of like working on material and then you're like, yeah, no,
these shoes are an investment. But really we're like, we
like the way they look and we're going to wear them.
But you know, I did see sneaker head Will Miles um.
He said, if Biden wins, I'll give away how many pairs?
Was it? I gave away a bunch five? Wow? Where

(11:02):
do you give him away? Did you like donate them? Yeah?
Sometimes I will just straight up go to a good
will and just it really is just like I'll just
go I could put these on eBay and all this
other stuff, and it's just like just get you know,
to goodwill. And and there are some people who are
like specializing in taking like sneakers and distributing them to
like the youth and to like men's leagues before the

(11:22):
pandemic and all that stuff. So in touch with those people. Yeah,
because I got a bunch of thirteen I gotta get
rid of. Yeah, I mean we ordered so much food
last night. We got Taco Bell, McDonald's Pizza Hut and Dominoes.
We celebrated like Trump voters, um. But we got so
much food that we had to donate our food. CJ

(11:43):
had to like make a bag of a current track
supreme cheesey already to crunches, chicken McNuggets, like a bag
full of food and bring it up the street where
there's an encampment because I was like, we have to.
This is a beautiful night for them. We made everybody
to celebrate, you know, like I can't throw nuggets out
when Biden wins. You can't put those in the fridge.

(12:06):
You can't. And we have an air fryer, but there's
just some things that an air fryer can't fix. You know.
It's like a marriage. It's like it'll help, but it's
not going to fix it. Okay today, no, exactly before
we move on. I saw your tweet last night. You
were saying, because Biden, when you were gonna what a
spicy chicken. Finally there's something you tried for the first time.

(12:28):
I said, I was going to get a spicy chicken
and a cheesy already to crunch. Cheesey already to crunch
is like it used to be crunch Rep Supreme. Now
it's cheesy already to crunch. I'm actually transitioning into nutch
Um soft Taco Supremes. Oh my god, are so good.
So that's like my going waves the taco bell kind of.

(12:48):
But I guess they're not doing the spicy chicken. Nuggets
are spicy chickens anymore? The way they're not doing the
spicy chicken. I feel like that camera went like, yeah,
we're And the thing is they got us hooked and
then they took it away. They took it away. I know.
It's that always makes me feel like whatever ingredient they
were using with some sort of byproduct that they found
at the McDonald's, they were like, it turns out, but

(13:09):
if we had this to chicken and like makes it spicy,
but then we ran out, because so what happened? And
I have a weird theory at Popeyes. I've seen it
a little bit around, but like people are saying, you
know that early Popeyes drop obviously was very good in
our opinion, and then you know, people wanted it became
this hyped up thing and then it did come back
in mass quantities, and it's it's kind of like, you know,
it's just not as good like the first ones. And

(13:32):
you see this, like I love milk bar, and the
milk Bar used to just be in New York and
there were like two locations and now it's everywhere. You
can buy it a Whole Foods and it's like, okay, well,
the Whole Food's milk bar is not going to be
anywhere near as good as like the street original milk bar.
That ever, it just gets a little that like some

(13:52):
baker was actually like rolling out earlier that morning. The
crap pie is never gonna be as good as what
if you buy it, Yeah, like a whole food that's
been sitting there for a week. But but I guess
with McDonald's you're like y'all, y'all preconsistent. You know, the
whole thing. You could be in like in Kuala Lumpur
or Cleveland, and it's going to be the same spicy
make chicken. But like, that's so disappointing. I was on

(14:14):
my next cheat day, I was gonna go get a
spicy and mc chicken because, in my opinion, a top
three one of the greatest fast food sandwiches. Yeah, and
make sure because that might have just been like our
local McDonald's and it's funny our local McDonald's, UM, so
I would make sure we shop local at McDonald's. UM
c J and I did. We're not going to get

(14:35):
into it. We've moved passed it. We did get into
a bit of a lover's quarrel about how the chickens
were ordered last night. What was the what was these
you want? Because we got a bunch of ship so
I got play I eat plane and and I was like, yeah,
we could just add if there's any other additional stuff,
I said, you can just add, and then I go okay.

(14:56):
But the way that you like the warmth of the
anna's and the listness of the lettuce, you can't act
like that's part of it. That's a magician at McDonald's.
And he heard me out. We agreed to disagree. But
catch up. A mustard you can add, but war mayonnaise
you can't add. It's part, it's part of the terrible.
It's a specific manonnaise that is like continues cooking. I

(15:20):
understand I actually, but one angle of the conversation is
my white wife was mad that mayonnaise wasn't under sandwich.
And that's the one angle that I could win on
That's how I could win this argument. But yeah, I
guess it's all framing of the story. This I was

(15:40):
about to be like, I'm from a small market, and
now everybody knows um. So today I'm really excited for
this because this is near and dear to my heart.
I'm sure it's near and dear to Ian's maybe a
little less so Sieges because he picks teams again. Today
we are doing greatest Small Market Athletes and c J

(16:02):
and I were having a bit of a discussion, like
he'd be like, is this a small market? And so yeah, Ian,
what do you think constitutes a small market? That's a
that's a great question. I guess it's it's almost that old,
like that Supreme Court definition of art. I don't know
how to define it, but I know when I see it,
I know what a small market feels like because there
are like, for example, not to give anything away, but

(16:25):
like San Diego is not necessarily like a small city, right,
but I do think of it as a small market.
And maybe it's it's proximity to Los Angeles, which is
like like a you know, a massive metropolis. You know. Portland,
of course, is a small market. Seattle is not like
a big city. I think of it as a kind
of small you think a market I have. I have

(16:45):
a Seattle person on here, and I was like, do
you think of Seattle is? But this is also because
you were raised in the Pacific Northwest. I was raised
in the Midwest that I didn't know this person introduced
me to Seattle like exposed the great right, Yeah, absolutely,
I'm actually a picking Nile um but is that the

(17:07):
same Niles do? Um? But and so yeah, but like
it's also I Detroit is on the edge for me,
but I grew I grew up knowing what Detroit was.
But if you grew up not in the Midwest, you
may not know what Detroit is. You don't. But it's

(17:29):
weird to think of a four team market as like
exactly right, is not a huge city in Michigan. But
wanted me to qualifies this as did the athlete ring
Chase you know, yeah yeah, and it's like stayed on
his one team that doesn't have a bunch of championships

(17:49):
from Super Team. So like I say, no real restrictions
are barriers on here, like part of the fun. And
you know on your show you probably you do this
a lot too. Is just like your reasoning behind your
pick will constitute whether that's you know, fits category. I think,
oh yeah, it's the mainnaise that you put on. Yes,
And it was very hard for me to not pick

(18:10):
three Indianapolis athletes, but I did not. But there's a
couple you come from a small markets, like some truly
legendary slutely and yeah, an Indie is like when you
know what you see, you go, oh, that's a small market,
but we do have two major teams and then this
massive race like it's but it's it's five people. You know,

(18:34):
it's not a big city. It's not, but the but
the athletes who played there stayed there, which is pretty amazing,
you know. Yeah, so that's gonna be fun. I'm very
excited in you lead us off with your number three
pick for greatest small market athlete. Al right, so my
number three pick for greatest small market athlete, and I
have to before I get into this, I have to

(18:54):
qualify just for all three of my picks. I went
with greatness at large rather than like proximity to my heart,
because if I went with my heart, I would pick
three Trailblazers and I can't. I can't do that. But
with my first pick, I'm gonna go about a hundred
miles to the south of where we are now. I'm
going down to San Diego, California, and I'm taking a

(19:17):
player who didn't spend his whole career there, but spend
enough of it in the city that I think he
definitely counts as a small market icon. Twelve time Pro bowler,
eight time All Pro First Team, twice second team NFL
Defensive Player of the Year. Few few, few, taking Philip Rivers,

(19:37):
what's happening, what's happening? This is what my punishment is.
USC legend, California legend. I'm taking Junior say wow, wow, yes, legend,
A person who defines San Diego, defined san Diego, defines
the San Diego Charges, played there, playing in San Diego.
Concurrently with another amazing small market athlete who I won't

(19:58):
mention right now. Okay, someone wants to take him, but like, yeah,
he was the definite in the NFL. Portland's never had
like an NFL football team, and I by default did
not like the Seahawks. There are some kids in Portland
who like love the Seahawks, especially now that they're kind
of cool. But like when I was growing up, it
was like, uh, who Curtis Who Curtis Martin? Was he

(20:19):
the running Yes, Curtis very expansion team, you know, like
a Raptors are like, yeah, I know what you mean.
I did not funk with the Seahawks when I was
growing up, so I like was I was a mercenary
and whatever team I like. The kid across the coul
Desac was a big Cowboys fans. When I rooted for
the Buffalo Bills than God, thank God, fat, I guess,

(20:40):
but they were really fun. But the person I always liked,
and especially when I started playing football and was like
always on the defensive side, never a linebacker, always a
defensive tackle. But I just fucking loved Julia Say. He
was so cool. He was such a good player. He
was like intimidating, but like everybody seemed to like him
and just like was an amazing football player for the

(21:00):
whole time I was there. And like, I mean, it
met such a tragic end with you know, with the
knowing something was wrong with his brain from the way
he played football and everything. But just in terms of
like even when he went to New England, was cool
because he was like this, like old dude and kind
of like an expendables like movie idea of football where

(21:21):
he went to the Patriots was all old but like,
h yeah in San Diego, just like dominant and cool
and classy and like defined the city. He and I
don't know much about NFL history or as much as
you know some of our listeners, but he to me
was kind of like those foundational Pacific islander like you know,

(21:43):
big guy linebacker like Paula Mally, like all those other
guys and so, and when you think eighties and nineties
NFL players, those are like he's like Connie and the
way he looked and the way he played and like
his like stats and all that. So he was like
a trailblazer for sure. It's also it's so interesting to
pick a defensive player because it's a lot harder as

(22:05):
a defensive player to make your mark on a team
or a city. I mean, especially in football. It's a
offense driven league, and so for someone to be I mean,
he's not on my list because I don't like him,
but ray Lewis, it's also like you were in Baltimore.
I don't even really I know the quarterbacks were mediocre,

(22:25):
but it was like he was the quarterback. Basically, he
was he was the quarter exactly. He was the face
of the franchise, which almost ties into what like how
small markets kind of feel about themselves oftentimes, even a
place like San Diego, which is actually very blue collar
and like you know, the military and everything, but like
that's kind of like the way small market like we're scrappy,

(22:47):
We're like underdogs, you know what I mean, We're succeeding
despite you know, the lack of our size, and like
that almost like a linebacker or something like that, that
kind of identity, you know, being being gritty. You know,
like that's like the identity of this small town and
it's kind the cool one of defensive player. Then like
encapsulates what that small town is about. Yeah you want,

(23:08):
I'll go, So I'm gonna go. I always I always
try not to go basketball in the beginning because everyone's
like only talks about basketball in his podcast, But I'm
gonna go. Vince Carter and again, it's like he in
the tail end of his career, he ended up playing
for a ton of small market teams, and you're like,
this is the guy who deserved to ring Chase a

(23:30):
little bit. And again why I think part of this
is like small market almost means kind of like loyal
for like kind of like wanting to be a part
of the underdog. And like Vince Carter from highlights, two
roles on teams he's played because he's he's played every role.
I feel like, you know, he's been the number one,
he's been you know, on the cold. Yeah. And so

(23:53):
in Vince Carter, I just in the way he went
out or like you know, because he had to play
his last game, unknowing, which is we're going to talk
about this for years, how we couldn't had to end
Vince Carter's career without a celebration. We have to give
him that like one last game, ten day contract comes back,

(24:17):
and like it's like a proper goodbye like kind of thing.
He anybody deserves that. It's Vince Carter. And when what
team would you do that with? You know, I don't know,
I don't know. They don't like him anymore. I don't
think they hate him anymore. Oh yeah, I know, I
think it's Toronto. I mean, basketball is going to cease

(24:37):
to have stars in small markets, and so that's something
like that makes me really sad because you want, in
ten years, oh, we picked the honest and he stayed
and it worked there. But I don't think that's what's
going to happen. And then the NFL and baseball, it's
just they just have less power and there's less flash.
I mean, it's just more team based, and so I

(24:58):
think it happens. But with basketball, you really you I
don't know if the Pacers will ever have a big superstar.
I know you mean, I mean as a as and
like perhaps we'll talk about him later, But like the Blazers,
we're like, it's it's absurd that Damian Lillard is still
a Blazer. It's crazy, you know what I mean, Like
they've been competitive this whole time, well not his whole time,

(25:19):
but most of the time he's been like in Portland,
but like it to go back to be honest, it's
I don't know many people who think that, he says,
even not on his whole career, but even this next contract,
it seems almost like like Fanta Company, that he's already gone,
like he's Miami, you know, like that kind of thing. Really,
the conversation is, yeah, where is he going Miami or Lakers,

(25:42):
yeah yeah, or the like Golden staying. Are they going
to get him to like bridge the gap? Yeah, nobody's
it's not. It's not. Yeah, it's not. Is he gonna stay?
It's worried. And like Oakland and San Francisco, they don't
have a lot of people, but I think of them
as big markets because they're in California and they attract
big talent. So it's like and the Bay is just huge.
The Bay is like the Stancisco. Oakland themselves may not

(26:05):
but like that's like the right. Yeah, Okay, don't talk
about Vince Carter. Vince just to frost the cake a
little bit more. I mean, like one of the not
the best basketball player of all time. Nobody thinks that,
but nobody's been more exciting in individual moments, Like there's

(26:25):
maybe they're like there's five players where when they're like
on a fast break with no defenders in front of them,
you instinctively stand up. Your your brain plays no part
of it, your body just like stands up. You know. Lebron.
Of course Joanese is one of them now, but like
Vince Carter on a breakaway, he's gonna do something fucking silly.
He's gonna do something stupid that you haven't seen before

(26:47):
in the game, maybe even a dunk contest, and like
the the what was it the two thousand two what
what was the dunk contest? Two thousand maybe two thousand, Yeah,
one of the greatest moments in NBA history, the dunk
over Friedrich Weiss where he didn't even come to the
NBA after. That's just like and that wasn't in his decision.

(27:08):
That was the basketball God's going. You know, you're not
allowed to move up another level. Just be French and
seven top in Europe. That's a good life. You're gonna
have a good life over here. Don't go to and
this is that's a whole another episode. It's like, yeah,
when you talk about types of dunkers, there's power and
there's like creativity. Again, he had both. It was like
to do a windmill and double pump and all that,

(27:29):
and it was still like the dunk was always going
to be a hard finish. He was. He was a
comics comic of basketball, like because when you and but
like but also like a crowd favorite who you see
him with those dunk contests and you see Shack in
a jacket that must have required the sacrifice of seven
to eight cows, like standing up and like he can't
believe it, and he's seen and he's Shack's fall on

(27:52):
top of him, and even he can't believe what, like
he's seeing Fince Carter Great, I love, Yeah, absolutely, Okay,
So my number three, I've gone back and forth back
and forth between two baseball players, so one will be
in my honorable mention. So my number three is Ken
Griffy Jr. Yeah. I just he almost like as a kid,

(28:15):
we didn't have baseball in Indie and so people would
be Cubs fans or Reds fans, but then you would
see people in Griffy stuff everywhere, and it was Seattle.
I've never even been to Seattle still and I would
love to go. But he defined that whole city to me.
So he was on the he was on the Mariners
for ten years, and then after that he went to

(28:37):
the Cincinnati Reds. I mean that's the because I didn't
want to pick a bunch of people that like like Lebron.
To me, it's like, yes, he's from Akron, gave it
to them, but then left. So I don't think of
him a small market, but Ken Griffy, it's like he
was in a small market and then he went to
an even smaller market that's even less desirable and has
worse weather. And that was I mean, he played twenty

(29:00):
two seasons and only like one of them was in
Chicago and the rest of it was, yeah, in in
places whose population wouldn't even add up to equal Chicago
from Cincinnati, right, yeah he's from Yeah, he's from Pennsylvania. Okay, okay,
but yeah, he he just was a star. It seems

(29:21):
like he put the Mariners on the map. I don't
know if I could name another Mariner um and he Yeah,
he just kind of put baseball and like really like talent,
like black guys playing baseball. I feel like that's like lesson,
like you see that less and less now. And he
was a like black baseball superstar. Yeah he real, he

(29:44):
really was. And even my hating heart, hating everything about
Seattle could not resist the lure of those Kangriff junior teams. Yeah.
They were the nineties of baseball, or he was the
nineties Bowls of Baseball where you're you know nothing about
like you know, need to know anything other than that
he's fucking cool and winning, you know, and they're like
so good necklace out hat backwards, chewing gum, the most

(30:09):
aesthetically pleasing swing all time, and like hot and cool,
thirteen time All Star, six and thirty home runs, which
is seventh in MLB history, and then also attend time
Gold Globe winner for center. I mean, he you know,
he's got a Mookie. It's like I'm gonna hit and
I'm gonna play incredible defense and that's just what I'm about.

(30:31):
And I'm gonna have a cool last gold chain, coolass
gold chain cool. I think like one earring some of
the time, just like he was just so fucking cool
they were, and like baseball was cool because he was
playing it like Mookie. Mookie is cool, you know what
I mean, And like baseball the Lake, the Dodgers are cool,
but baseball doesn't feel cool. But baseball felt cool. And

(30:52):
like those black superstars, it was a good hear because
you had like Darry Larkin. You had other people who
I won't mention because they're different kinds of black superstars
tool but like we were a lot of small market
ones in the nineties, but fuck, Griffy was so rad.
Those teams were cool too, and his dad was on
that with his dad, that's like amazing. And you have

(31:13):
liked some of those like j Buer, you had, like
Joey Cora. They were just like Radman and his teams. Man,
they were so fun and they were turquoise back when
turquoise were popping, like in a big way in those
early nineties when sports teams started going with all those
alt colors and they switched from that like hard blue
to turqoise and everything. The vest, the baseball uniforms they had,
like the vest and everything too. He was he was

(31:35):
just so cool Ian. You are right. He was born
in Pennsylvania, but then he moved to Cincinnati when he
was six because his dad was on his right and
he went to high school there. And yeah, it's so
funny that you might like the uniforms. And again to
bring it back to sneakers is like we have issues
with big men, like having a signature shoe. Imagine being
so good and so cool that you can make a

(31:57):
baseball signature she work and work and that like that's
still popping, Like you can still get swing man is
a swing man? Yeah, I have I have a para Griffy's.
Did he like his shoes were rad when we did
when we did an a f the sneaker one David
Bori took. That's one of his five favorite shoes, like
all like that's how like iconic they are. Can you

(32:19):
imagine a baseball player having a sneaker right now? That people?
I mean, like it's like Mookie might have a chance,
but still, I just he would have to do even
so much more well. And we hear so much about
Mike Trout. It's like, for a second, I thought about
putting Mike Trout on here, but it's like he's not
a superstar when he has a shoe, he has a trainer.
I mean, he's the best. Said and Anaheim is obviously

(32:40):
a small market, um, but it's you know, I think
of it's sort of as like a Los Angeles distant suburb.
But it's like you have to you have to be
real star power to be famous in the country when
you are in a tiny place. Yeah. Absolutely, And it's
not like Ken griff Jr. Was like a big personality.

(33:01):
He's not Dion Sanders. He's like a pretty quiet dude. Like,
but the way he played baseball was just so cool
and his swing is so iconic that it fucking transcended.
He was so cool. What a great pick. That'shay, I
got a baseball player on the people will be happy. Okay,
let's take a quick break and then we'll be back
with our number two picks. All right, And now we're

(33:33):
back and we're onto our second picks. I what do
you got? I'm gonna go to baseball now. And this
is somebody I never watched play. They lived their entire
lives before my time, but it's someone growing up as
a baseball fan, like someone who I always had, like
was taught by, like my dad. They have like massive
respect for even my dad was like a Yankee fan,
which obviously the least of the small market things growing up.

(33:55):
But this guy was not a Yankee player. He was
a Pittsburgh Pirate. Fifteen time All Star, two time World
Series Champion, one time m v P, one time World
Series MVP, twelve time Gold Glove Award winner, played his
entire career in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is
a small market. Just one of the greatest baseball players

(34:17):
of all time and then also just like one of
I mean two amazing things charged the mound in a
fun like like an absolute hot ahead on the field.
But then also just like one of the best dudes
to ever play baseball died doing charity work I think
in Nicaragua, uh in a plane crash at the age
of thirty eight, thirty eight years old. Plane crash. There

(34:38):
had been a massive earthquake in Nicaragua, and his plane
was like flying there delivering aid, food, medical supplies, all
that stuff to Nicaragua. And he was on the plane
like flying the stuff there when it went down. And
that's how his life was cut short. And up until
Roberto Clemente the Hall of Fame, you had to have
a five year gap between when you stopped playing baseball

(35:00):
and when you got into the Hall of Fame. And
when he died, they were just like, now, next year
he's in the Hall of Fame. They put him in there.
And just like one of the greatest small market athletes
of all time won the World Series twice in the
city of Pittsburgh, you know, which has is this city
that's definitely used to winning championships and stuff like that,
and I didn't like I guess I don't think of

(35:21):
the Steelers as a small market team. But I definitely
think of the Pirates as a small market there for sure. Yeah,
And and and just the way again, I think he
was just from what I've heard, it was like he's
good enough to where he could have gone somewhere else.
It wasn't like you know, and being a pro athlete
in in Pittsburgh, it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough,
you know. And you won, you won there, and you

(35:42):
still stayed and stayed there for his entire career until
he was thirty eight, and his career and life were
cut short. Like and to be I mean this was
he played he I mean his last game was the
nineteen seventy two, his first All Star Game was in
nineteen sixty. And to be a very dark skinned, like
Latin American athlete, you know what i mean, in like
in a small town like that in Pittsburgh, Like couldn't

(36:04):
it couldn't have been easy, you know. So he did
all that, you know, despite that pressure and everything. And
like this made the city fall in love with him
and the league fall in love with him and were
now like if you win a Roberto Clemente Award, that's
like the man of the Year, the Walter Payton It's
the Walter Payton Award, right exactly. Um, so I just

(36:24):
had to had to tip the capp intended to Roberto
Clemente and one of the and one of the great
baseball replete with amazing small market players k Jr. Of
course maybe the greatest, but like Roberto Clemente definitely on
that Maunt Rushmore, Yeah, that's a great pick, all right. Um.
I was like, well no, because I had someone on

(36:47):
my list who I will honorable mention, but um, they
have their personal life is so bad that I was
like they were one and then I took of all.
But I was like, you are the greatest, but like
you really fucked up a lot of things. We could
have a round of of just like yeah, sure, so okay,

(37:14):
I'm gonna do a football player. Um, and this is
probably the most iconic running back. The sad thing about
this guy is like whenever we talked about him, like, man,
they his franchise really robbed him of Um, none other
than Barry Sanders of the Detroit Boyons. Yeah, just he

(37:35):
He probably is one of the most iconic running backs.
A guy who in in and we talked about the
difficulty of like why the NFL and baseball on some
of these other sports don't really pop on social is
because all the highlights sort of look the same, Like
you can be an incredible player, but what is that individual?
What is that like incredible thing the youy can show

(37:56):
in a single clip. Barry Sanders was that in the
eighties and nineties, And yeah, it's like as as when
I was a young kid, it was like I didn't
watch full football games, but I did watch Barry Sanders
like I was like, you know, it was it was
like watching a superhuman play sports like a video game.

(38:20):
He moved sideways just as well as he moved forwards,
and he moved backwards even better than those two. He
was like he was insane to watch play football. And
he retired earlier than people thought. Well so like what
he played nine years or something like that. But for
a running back, now you look at Todd Gurley, he's gone.

(38:41):
I mean running backs have Sadly, it's not fair. I
don't like it. They they're they have four years max
kind of because of the beating they take. And you
also get slower as you get older, and you can
only bulk up and keep your speed for so it's
just it's probably the most turnover of any position in

(39:02):
sports because it's just so hard. That seems so short
to us now. But that's how good he was that
even at year ten he would have been good. He
was still good. Running Backs played longer in those days,
and I don't and I think it's maybe because you're
every defensive end wasn't three fourth thing like but him,

(39:24):
you have Jerome Bettis played like a long time you
all both of those guys also you had who played
in a unique way like you had now. I mean,
I'm not saying that's not true. Now, there's definitely a
diversity of running backs, you know what I mean. When
Levian Bell was popping, he played different than like then
a Todd Gurley played and everything. But like Barry Sanders
was like a water bug and was like darting all

(39:46):
over the field and like you would see him, he'd
be here, and then all of a sudden he's behind
the left tackle and then all of a sudden he's
up here, like joking the you know, the inside linebacker.
And then you have Jerome Battis who was just like
like that, just like such different people who played football
in such different ways, and that like amount of personality
on the field was so intoxicating and alluring and everything

(40:08):
and made people start. He was you just worked for
house to highlights. He would turn any house into it.
Like we had VHS tapes at my house with me
and like my older brother that you would pop in
and it was just like here is literally thirty minutes
of just Barry Sanders's best runs and you would just
sit there and watch all of them. You don't need
any context, like they could have lost those games by
forty beer. Like Barry Sanders is my favorite football player

(40:30):
and often did. Why does the Lions play on Thanksgiving?
I know it's history, but is it because they're but
like the Bears don't. Yeah, that's a great because you know,
you hear talk especially around this time of year, like
you know, like the Knick's got Christmas games for way
too long and the Cowboys are quote unquote America's team.

(40:52):
But it's like I would prefer for someone who would
like to get drunk and I'll talk to my family
a ton to just put the game on of whatever
that week is. And thanks Giving is going to be
so depressing. This here for football. Yeah, it's going to
be Detroit and it's going to be Dallas. They had
to give us a third game because I mean they
started that like ten years ago because they were like

(41:13):
maybe even longer because they were like, Okay, well the
Lions are never gonna live up to this prime time
the Cowboys seem you know, and so they were just like, listen,
we'll give you a good third game, but we're going
to keep these stinkers here. I don't think Detroit has
ever been, like in an amazing football team either. It's
not like they like I don't think like in the

(41:35):
sixties they were something like that, is it because they
gave us cars? Like is that the deal? Trying to
think of the American city? Yeah? Yeah, I mean that's
what I was gonna say too, is like you think
they would have learned the lesson with Barry Sanders, like
you know, you have a guy like that, let's surround,
let's go out of our way, let's spend all the

(41:56):
money we have. Then they did it again with Calvin
Joe did it again. They in it again. I think
there's people that would say they kind of did it
to Matt Stafford to like that he is better than
the team around him. Is he's got a cannon. Absolutely God.
That was always the talk back like in the nineties
when it was like Emmtt Smith or Barry Sanders, those

(42:16):
were the two running backs in the end of the
two best running backs in the NFL. And Emmett Smith
had Larry Allen and this like iconic offensive line in Dallas,
and like, you know, he was a good running back,
but he was also I'm never gonna not get four
yards of rush because I'm running behind three Hall of Famers,
you know what i mean. Like, and Barry Sanders his
offensive line was just like five dudes named Mike, you

(42:37):
know what I mean. It was just like it was never.
It was never. And the argument was like what if
you put Barry Sanders behind like Dallas's offensive line and
we never got to see it. The guy just took
a lick and he's one of those dudes like hopefully
not to like be a downer, but like you don't
see Barry Sanders a lot anymore, and like hopefully he
can walk, okay, you know, like hopefully it's not one
of those Earl Campbell situations. Yeah, you also probably living

(43:03):
a happy life. He was ahead of his time. Okay,
Mike turn Okay, this is my baseball or this is
my basketball pick um a white man, li boy, John
stocked it. He was all the whole time. He said,
I'll post up with these Mormons. I don't care. The

(43:25):
the antithesis of ring chasing, I mean because he I
think he was like, we can get a ring here,
but yeah he is. He also like defied what a
basketball player should look like to me, Like it's like
the reverse of what's happening with Kamala. Now you like
see John Stockton and you're like, I guess my brother
can be in the NBA. Anything possible. Um, But yeah,

(43:51):
I mean, how many nineteen seasons in Utah never won
at all, was on the Dream Team, did get a
gold medal, was named one of the fifty best NBA
players of all time, considered one of the greatest point guards.
Is high up on the list, and assists steals. I
think maybe you know he loves the record. Yeah, by

(44:13):
a wide margin. And assists and steals and yeah, I
mean his friend who was on the team, who I'm
not going to mention, I'm I am disappointed. Yeah, he's
in that round for sure. I am disappointed for John.
And then who was the other white guy I saw?
I saw him in an elevator once and I was

(44:35):
and he just looked so regular. I loved it. Um.
I am sad for them that they that they did
never win at all. That was a fun team. They
were like cool. I liked them. They had fun uniforms. Utah,
just it doesn't it's like an you don't take them
on as an enemy because you're like, Okay, like I
saw book a Mormon, I'm good. Um, but yeah, just

(44:57):
like I mean he did his pick. Sure, this is
so wild. It looks like your friend's dad. Yeah, so much.
He looked like he looked like your friend's dad from
the second he started playing basketball to like even young,
even like early nineties, John Stockton looked like a thirty
eight year old branch manager of a of a U
S bank. Like he never he never didn't look like that.

(45:19):
That Carl Blone John Stockton pick and rolls was insane, deadly.
They just dominated, and I mean not dominated, but like
we're one of the best teams in the West for
more than a decade. Just doin that, just doing that
the whole time. Also, by the I mean speaking of
like like the white privilege of being an NBA players,
Like everybody was like John Stockton did it the right way,
you know, like when you shake his hand, it stay shook.

(45:44):
And by all accounts, like when you when you talk
to people who played with him, one of the dirtiest players,
like of all time, like grown little elbows trying to
trip people, like was out there, like was the player
Bruce what people think Bruce Bowen was. John Stockton really
was just like filthy, you know what I mean, And
nobody talks about him like that, which is you know,

(46:04):
but in his Wikipedia it is noted that he is
a devout Roman Catholic. Oh yeah, well Gonzaga, Yeah, I see,
like the first I mean, because we think of Gonzaga
is such a like powerhouse now, but I can't imagine
in like the eighties it was. I don't think it was.

(46:25):
I think he was maybe one of the first dudes
to really like from Spokene, from that area, so that
makes sense for him. So I mean, yeah, he'll put
like a whole basketball powerhouse on the map in some
ways to I wish for Adam Day and Adam Yeah,

(46:46):
I was just our excuse to start naming those guys. Um, yeah,
I mean another thing too, have Like it's so funny
because John Stockton, You're like you see a lot of
those like evolution of players. So it's like you see
the fashion sort of evolution from like shorts short. It
was the same. The only thing that changed was that
those last few years where they went to like the
the Mountain the Mountain uniforms. But yeah, it's like same shoes.

(47:10):
He was still wearing like a six or new balances,
like thick white socks and shorts and same haircut, like timeless,
same dude, same old gay. I think I feel like
you could drop John stock into into this NBA and
he'd still be like he'd figured out him and Hero
would be like, you want a room together? Here will

(47:33):
be like this white guys into his eyebrows. Okay, let's
take a quick break and then we'll be back with
our number one pick. Okay, we are back, Ian, you
are our guest of honor, still be going last, and

(47:54):
then oh yeah, I guess Okay, so my mine's actually
kind of boring, but it's just me know everything about
Tim Duncan san Antonio shit. Okay, well then so I
mean Tim Dungan, five time NBA champion, uh And I
think like his playing style and his demeanor is actually
very like small market in a way. That's why he's

(48:15):
like number one to me, just like low key understated.
Let his game speak for himself, let his work ethics
speak for itself. And just the loyalty there is, like,
yeah he could have I think they've talked about him
maybe going out of places, but just stayed there and
one these championships with a few different iterations of the team,

(48:35):
which again just I just want to speak to his
loyalty was like it'll come around, like we're the Spurs,
this is what we are, and yeah, won it with
a few different superstars in in his time, there was
a time when he was rumored to be going to Orlando.
I think it was no, couldn't have been ninety He
came into League of ninety eight, but there was a rumor,
Who's going to Orlando? Never happened. Fifteen All Star Game

(48:57):
teams all from San Antonio and like you said, just
the definitely you acted small market. His game was small market.
It was barring five times NBA champion, ten time anime champion,
the dude's life just like didn't like, didn't give a
funk man, just love winning at basketball. Like his picture

(49:17):
accepting the the m v P Trophy is so funny.
H He's dressed in everything. It's almost interesting to imagine
him in a Chicago, New York even Houston, like San Antonio,
small market Houston is not just because of the size
of you know, it's the fourth largest city in the country,
but like, yeah, would he have been as successful there

(49:39):
or would he have Like it's almost because that whole team.
I mean, I think of Robinson as pretty quiet too, yeah,
or not at least not flashy, just kind of like
that's what's so perfect. It was like the Spurs were
waiting for the player to really like cement that that's
what their persona is for years to come. Yeah he

(50:00):
I mean a team that like, who's David Robinson's probably
the second best player, but they're third best players George
Gerbin of all time maybe unless you want to throw
like Manu in there, which is very well could I think,
but you know, snippet. But but it's a team. It's
a team who's like identity was started by one of
the flashiest players in the history of the NBA, you know,

(50:20):
like the iceman, but like he's the he's that team,
he will they will forever be. It would be weird
if they ever had a flash flashy player because like
that identity is so locked into who like Kim Duncan
was and is that like yeah, he his his personality
defined like a city. If I meet someone from San Antonio,

(50:42):
I expect for him to be like laid back just
because of this dude from the Virgin Islands, and they're not.
They're not sometimes, you know, because like they get mad.
I think of Pop as like, you know, a coach
who started let's being outspoken on behalf of our players,
and there's Spurs fans that are like fuck Pop. I
love him as a coach, by him as a person,

(51:02):
I'm like, oh, I think, and as a person is
like only what extends his status. He's one of the
great you could pick him in the He's like just
such an interesting dude. Yeah. Do you have any honorable mentions?
I don't want to take any. Okay, I have a
lot of honorable mentions, but I do think there are
ones that no one else would pick. Larry Larry Fitzgerald

(51:22):
mean still doing it. I love him, I just like I.
I just think he's the best, and I think he
like exemplifies athletes and what it means has been at
the same place, has not chased to ring. Just awesome.
So this was who was players, which is like a
small market collogy. Yeah, and then does University of Phoenix commercials,

(51:46):
you know, so still get hit it back. This was
my person who was going to be on the list,
but then for his um just issues off the field.
Is not Jim Brown, um Albert Poojo's am. I I'm
saying it wrong, but he just is St. Louis to me.
Reggie is not on my list, but is here. I
love him. Um Edrin James, I think belongs on that list.

(52:08):
He is the opposite of what Indianapolis would have ever wanted.
And then he made the city love him like we're
people mad? What was the story? Never never mad? They
were never mad. It wasn't like but it was just like,
oh oh okay that that sort of felt the vibe.
I mean, he had gold teeth and that was like

(52:30):
Indie wanted the Pacers to draft Steve Alford. Okay, so
it's like not it's not it's corn fed. You know
hillbillies that see University of Miami gold teeth dreadlocked running
back and are clutching their pearls a bit. But he
was the fucking best gold teeth, the gold jacket. I
love him, um. And then Marshall Falcon Kurt Warner. Marshall

(52:52):
played in Indianapolis, then went to St. Louis. Kurt Warner
is St. Louis. So my number one pick is Peyton Manning.
It has to be listen. I mean, I know, I
know what I know what Indie was like before Peyton,
and I know what it was like during Peyton, and
I know what it's been like after Peyton, and the
city completely changed. We don't get that new stadium, which

(53:16):
means we don't host a super Bowl, which is billions
of dollars of like economic windfall to a city that
would not have that otherwise. He built there's a children's
hospital in his name. He really put Indianapolis and the
Colts on the map. And then when he left, he
went to another small market and won them a championship there.

(53:39):
So he's one of championships in two small markets in
two different times. And I can't even and I feel
this way with Lebron in Cleveland. I can't imagine the
economic issues Indie would have if they had not had
Peyton for those thirteen years. Earnestly like an economy unto him,
almost like a big market unto himself. You know, like, yeah,

(54:03):
he's the most famous player ever in Indy. Ever, Yeah,
great SNL host, great sports center commercials, great host. Like
he is a celebrity. I did, yeah, David boy and
I did, he is. He's a celebrity. And we just
like in Indy, Reggie was so beloved and he was notorious.

(54:26):
But Peyton, it's like that is that that he was
the most famous quarterback at a time. I was always
a Peyton guy over Brady. I never I never really
liked the pay I like the Patriots the one time
that first Super Bowl when they beat like the Rams
and they all came out of the team because how
can you did not resist that? But like I was
when there was the quarterback wars, I was always a
Peyton guy. There was just something about him that I

(54:48):
just like, I feel so lucky that because like with Eli,
he went to a small market and then his dad
said no, and then he went to the biggest market.
And I'm like, I'm glad that our she let Peyton
stay in Indie and wasn't like, no, you have you're
going to go to the forty niners. You know, trust
the organization. Yeah, he I think he trusted the Earth

(55:13):
says and the head coach at the time was Gosh,
I can't remember, but I think he just was like,
this is a solid organization, and he saw the Chargers
as having lots of issues and yeah, yeah, I mean
I do think he put Eli in a much tougher situation,

(55:35):
even though trying to save him. It's like, yes, send
them to the most evil fucking market. I mean, just
the media wise, the scrutiny that you come under as
as a giant. Yeah. Yeah, it was like I'd be
pissed if that was my dad. He's already the younger
brother of like who's Peyton was like, you know, he

(55:56):
threw a lot of picks that first season, but firmly
established as like, oh he's got next this is the
thirt But it was it was like a belief of
like we're lucky, We're lucky when he even came here
to give us that. It's the Justin Herbert Energy Times
ten right now, like but then then like Eli had
to come in as the younger brother, and it's like, oh,

(56:16):
by the way, now you play in New York City
and the team that's on the team that's been good
in New York City. It's not like you're going to
the Jets where it's like if you win eight games
the same best quarterback they've never He's yeah, one of
the greatest small market athletes ever. Absolutely, thank you. All right,
so number one pick Peyton Manning from Megan um alright,

(56:38):
Ian bring us home? What is your number one pick
for the greatest small market athletes? So we're gonna do,
if we're gonna do, I'm going to mention my uh
my would have picked him, but not for recent events
and his personality also not so recent events as the
personality bred far Yeah, yeah, I see it. C J
wrote him down but did not say I listen. The

(57:00):
Trump thing was it was awful. The behavior with gen
Sturgeon is absolutely inexplicable, and I'm excusable and just like awful.
She's a lovely person and that was so unfair that
he did that. But all that aside, and not all
the side, all that and then the text under that
is just the most exciting football player to watch in

(57:22):
the nineties, just like, oh my god, the way he
played football was ridiculous. But the smallest market too. It
is the actual population just to everything. It's the smallest,
the smallest market. It's insane that they have a football
team and part of the reason they still I mean,
I don't think they would have left if Farb wasn't there,
but like, just I mean the stadium, that's it, right.

(57:47):
I was like, in my head, I would love to
It's like a it's up there with like going to
a World Series game, Like I just want to go
to Lambo. I think it's so. I worked with James Jones,
who is a wide receiver, and I would just ask
him questions all the time, and he was like, the
thing you don't know about the Lamba leap is people
don't beer on you, and then you're just drenched in

(58:09):
beer for two more hours. I'm like, yeah, I guess
that does suck, but yeah, I mean they all the
riding the bikes to the training camp. My sister in
laws a Packers fan, and they're a very easy organization
and team to root for. Absolutely, even to this day,
I always like, if the Packers are playing a team
I don't care about, I'm gonna root for the package.

(58:31):
And you can also put Aaron Rodgers, but you know,
Aaron Rodgers seems like a great dude, bred fire, kind
of a schmack. I have to, and this was always coming.
I couldn't let this podcast go by without picking a
man who has been small market his entire life played.
I mean, he wears the number OH, he wears the

(58:51):
letter OH on his jersey. He played basketball in Oakland,
Land of the point Guards, and then ignored by major
college scouts, took his talents to Weaver Stay because in Utah,
which is very which is a small market state, played
there for four years, entered the NBA Draft, where he
promptly made Rookie All Rookie First Team while winning Rookie

(59:12):
of the Year for the Portland Trailblazers. A five time
All Star, a man who has been an All NBA
second and third team and first team once eighteen, A
man who, in my opinion, the Portland Trailblazers are a
true small market team up until we got the Timbers,
the only game in town, and like it's kind of

(59:33):
I mean, like listen no events to the Timbers. It's
a different Absolutely fucking loves the Timbers, but it's kind
of different. Nobody in like and no casual sports fans
are checking for Timber scores. The Blazers are like a true, true, true,
one horse town, small market like team, and in my opinion,
in the last year he has become even though he's

(59:54):
never taken us to the finals or won a championship.
And Bill Walton want us the championship. Klyddrexler took us
of the finals. Brandon Roy was electric before his knees
gave out. But I think Damian Lillard is the greatest
Portland's trail Blazer of all time because I really think
that because he has given us more moments. Winning the
championship in seventies seven fucking amazing, you know what I mean?

(01:00:16):
And I hope we get to like, uh, I hope
I get to experience that one day. But like, no
one has given Blazers fans more moments, Like when you're
a fan of a small market team and you're like
a die hard like that, you have to like have
your own little championships in moments you have to let
you have to let him hitting that dagger over Paul

(01:00:37):
George waving bye bye and then like me and mugging
the camera. You have to let that be a championship
for you, even if you know in your heart you're
about to go to the next round to get like
knocked out of the playoffs. You have to let Damian
Lillard scoring sixty one points or winning that game, that
first game against the Lakers in the bubble, you have
to start like you have to get all like the

(01:00:58):
food is going bad, You're a Durador is unplugged, the
power is out. You gotta fucking eat all that ship
or it's gonna go bad. You have to let that
be like a little championship. You have to let that
shot over Chandler Parsons arm lacrosse deck arm be your
championship when he did when he beat Houston with point
nine seconds left on the clock, Like you have to
soak all that up. And Damian Lillard has given us

(01:01:20):
more of those many moments of ecstasy and joy. I
was in the arena when that when he hit that
shot over Houston, and it was louder in the concourse
than I have ever heard it be in the arena
any other time I've watched basketball and let and how
a lot it was in the arena, I can't even
remember because I was like in a state of ecstasy

(01:01:40):
and bliss that entire time. And like for someone who's
like so fucking loyal to Portland, like I think, you
know what, he might finish his career somewhere else. He might,
and I don't. I like, I would never hold it
against him, like at this point, even if he comes
to l A and finishes his career like with the Lakers,
I would never hold it against him, because like he
has given us every fucking like he's given us like

(01:02:04):
everything he's got, he stayed. He loves Portland's he loves c. J. McCullum,
their great friends. Nerk is like his baby's godfather, Like
they're like he loves that team, and he's like embraced
the city. I remember there's a story from one of
the Bridge towns um so that I mean it must
have been four or five years ago, but like they

(01:02:24):
were some of the volunteers had like bought a bunch
of pizzas that they were gonna bring to an after party,
and so it was a ton of them, you know what,
I mean several trips and that somebody was they they
heard a voice that was like, hey, let me help
you out with that, and then like they followed them
to the car with pizzas and they turned around. It
was Damian Lillard with like holding like fifteen pizza boxes

(01:02:45):
that he helped him into the car with, and then
he like took off if he was shopping at this
like menswear store that's like next to one. Why wasn't
I at that bridge Town like I wish I was at.
I can't believe I wasn't at that pizza place, to
be honest. Uh, Like he's that dude and like he
means and everyone who plays with him comes away like
a better basketball player and a better person. He like

(01:03:08):
will still congratulate Meyers Leonard on Twitter and show like
that that you know what I mean, like the guy
who came in to the league with him, like just
a great dude. And I feel so truly fortunate to
have been able to like I've I've like I mean
I've had I've been able to root for Brandon Roy,
Rashid Wallace and growing up Clyde Drexeler like and I

(01:03:29):
can't believe my luck that I now get to root
for damiel Load and he's my favorite small market athlete.
That's great, No, I mean as a person who I
love the Lakers now and it's merely because of Lebron.
And yet the rumor keeps coming up where it's like, yeah,
maybe they can convince Dame to come California connection all that,
And to me, I don't even know if I'd celebrate that,
like you know, it would be sad. It just is

(01:03:50):
like a mythology that he has built that it Damian
Lillard not Blazer's jersey would fucking make my brain. Both
because we want him. You've made a very strong case
that you want him to win one, and if he's
gonna win one, you want it to be in Portland,
because I mean, it's Lebron and the Calves. It's the

(01:04:13):
same way of like that. And then he left. In
every Calves fan, I know, I felt very differently about
him going to the Lakers than they did about him
going to the Heat. It's like you gave it to us,
Thank you so much. And I also think you made
a strong case too, And I'm biased, but I think
being a small market fan is more fun because you
do end up celebrating those tiny victories, Like I think

(01:04:38):
about the eight points all the time. We didn't win,
but it's they made a documentary about it and and
I watched that and the cold ston't always win. But
there I miss Andrew Luck. But I love that we
had Andrew Luck. And I love that. When I meet people,
they go, You're the first Colts fan I've ever met,

(01:04:59):
And I'm like, yeah, because we don't leave. But now
I'm out here and I'll tell you everything you never
even wanted to know. Like our passion, we're less cynical
and we're less pessimistic because we're just happy to be
in the game at all. Yeah, it's a true there's
a there's a there's a true joy. There's a like
true joy to it that I wouldn't I wouldn't trade
for the world. Like I love it so am I

(01:05:21):
don't it unites that being from it's the thing that
makes Portland Portland, and which is a city that like
is stratified in big ways, you know what I mean.
Like they're like there's the Portlandia portrayal of Portland, which
is true, which is true, But in addition to that,
it's like a very real city, you know what I mean.
It's also the places where there's like radio shacks and
there's like areas, you know what I mean, they're like

(01:05:42):
super poor and that you can't get brunch and all
that ship and like and there's like super conservative parts,
you know what I mean, and stuff like that. And
the one thing that everyone has in common is like
when the Blazers are playing, We're watching the Blazers, you know,
and that's just like a really beautiful feeling. It makes me,
especially having left, Like when I get to go to
the Stable Center to play, to watch the Blazers play,

(01:06:04):
the Clippers or the Lakers, you know what I mean,
I'm immediately best friends with anyone who's wearing it at
the PA, you know, like immediately, and that's like it's
a it's a real special feeling. It's kind of the
beautiful thing. Yeah. No, I mean, like the Blazers fan community,
Like I've I've been recently accepted by the Lakers fan community,

(01:06:25):
and I when people are like Lakers fans are pretty awful,
I'm like, no way. And then I'll have read Twitter
a little bit and be like, oh, yeah, that person
is pretty rough. But I have zero issues with with
Blazers fans, and I'm like, so like, shout out Portland's
and and and the Blazers. Yeah, I mean, I mean
like people. I remember on Twitter a few months ago,
right before the Lakers Blazers series, people were trying to

(01:06:46):
pick you and I against it. Try I'm like, first
of all, know we're like friends in real life, but
it's like why why, Like this is great that we
get to watch this, and and I would be dumb
for me to be like, no, I love the Lakers
so much so Blazers sucking Davis was like I'm robbing
myself as a basketball fan to deny Dame Leeward. I
even found myself like even like I love Lebron so much,

(01:07:08):
like up until he became a Laker, I was like
a hard Lebron like, stand you know what, I fucking
love the dude. I love those Miami teams, even when
people hated him and we went to Cleveland forget about it. Uh,
even on the Lakers though, even on the Lakers a team,
I was a sports hate, which of course is not right,
but it's fun. It's like puppies fighting, but like a team,

(01:07:30):
I sports hate with such a deep, deep burning fire
watching Shack's face and his two outstretched arms and fingers
after that fucking alley from Kobe after we gave up
a sixteen or fourteen point eve in the fourth courter,
Like I sports hath them so much, but even that,

(01:07:50):
I'm gonna let myself enjoy watching Lebron James run down
before and catch a lob. You know what I mean,
you can not. It's like it's fucking crazy. Also, let
me say this about Lakers fans. Let's of course, because
they are truly a global team, like a global team,
like only maybe the Yankees and maybe the Cowboys aren't
like America. Like, of course they're gonna have a lot
of scumbag fans and like ship heads, especially on Twitter,

(01:08:11):
which is like, let me amplify these ship heads. But
like also like the Twitter community of like Lakers fans
of like uh Darius Oriano and like is that this person? Right?
But yeah, and like and like h Kendrew, what's his
I'm gonna yeah and like and like you and like
and like, uh, there's a lot of comparison. Yeah, there's

(01:08:35):
like so many like truly amazing Laker fans. And this
is not. This isn't the first time this has been said.
I'm parting something someone else says. They're like, those are
real basketball fans. They're the stereotype of like the l
A sports fans showing up halfway into the first quarter
and leaving halfway into the fourth quarters. That's not true
and I don't I don't think it's true of Dodgers

(01:08:55):
fans are fans yet. But there's also Dodgers fans that
are like five person family that brought in a cooler
and it's like that's a way more intense fan than
I've ever seen out of culture Pacers game. Those fans
they're fucking for this generation, you know, And like Lakers
fans are fucking they know this ship because they've gotten
to watch really good basketball. They got they got like

(01:09:19):
people grew up watching magic. Of course, they have an
appreciation for the sport of basketball, you know what, Like
they got they grew up watching Kobe Bryant play basketball.
They like have seen good ship. They're like, they're like
they're like families who grew up getting taken the museums
and ship like that, you know what I mean. But
like with basketball, they have like a higher appreciation for
this sport like and as a Blazer fan, I know

(01:09:39):
that's controversial, but they are good fans. Laker fans are
good fucking fans. Clipper fans can take a fucking height.
All right, Well, thank you so much. And I'm only
that part and posted on Twitter. But except Paul Sheer
and uh Payman bands is awesome. Yeah, but dude, no,

(01:10:03):
thank you so much for doing the show. We know. Yeah,
we're like, yeah, we wanted to celebrate all day, like
to do any of our duties, especially on a weekend.
We really appreciate your time absolutely. I mean this with
this is just a continuation of the celebration. It was
such a great time. Thank you for having me and
I think what we learned today. Please don't let the
small market die, especially based especially basketball. We will, we

(01:10:25):
will reward you, we will love you. Just give us
a shot, Okay, we need it. Hopefully the Timberwolves will
draft so not that Minneapolis is a small market, but
for basketball it feels like it. Maybe we think simple
will take Anthony Edwards. Let's let's be a ten time
All Star. Yeah, I haven't loved that Ian. Where can
people find you? Oh, I'm at Ian Carmel across platform Instagram, Twitter, Uh,

(01:10:47):
watch The Late Late Show with James Cordon, where I
am like a less funny Andy Richter on our show now,
which is a lot of fun. And listen to All
Fantasy Everything, where we take a different topic every week
and fan to say drafted as a flimsy excuse for
us to tell stories about when we were drunk and embarrassing. Perfect.
I love that. The latest All Fantasy Everything I was

(01:11:09):
on was movie Houses. I loved it. And that was
actually that was the week that we were talking about this.
Before I was having a very bad tough mentally, not
good things happening, and I was like, no, I'm going
to do the podcast anyways in it and it was
a bright spot in a tough week for me. So
it's so nice to you were you were. It's always

(01:11:30):
a bright spot whenever you come by. And for God's sake,
we have to get you on. I know I couldn't
do it the one time. Yes, so yeah, we're gonna
figure that out. We'll do it. We'll do it very
soon and it's gonna be a lot of fun. And God,
this was such a blast. Thank you so much. You
can find me at Megan Gaily on Twitter, c J
at c J to Loodono rate review, be kind, to

(01:11:51):
take care of yourself. Still wear a mask, and you
get out there and vote. No listen Georgia. If you're
in Georgia line, get out there and vote. I told
I tell my parents today. I don't want any presents,
c J. I you already told me you got present.
I don't want any more presents. You just give all
that money to Georgia and Black votes Matter and Stacy Abrahams,

(01:12:14):
and I trust her to do with it what she will.
You know, present we cannot be returned, all right, Ian,
Thank you so much. Bye, guys, Let's see you next week.
The Greatest is a production of I Heart Radio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I heart

(01:12:35):
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
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