Two In The Think Tank - 238 - A Tale Of Two Dream Teams

Episode Date: May 13, 2020

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the only team anyone could talk about was the US men's basketball team, AKA 'The Dream Team'. It was the first time NBA players were allowed to compete at the Games and they were expected to dominate the tournament. At the same Olympics, Lithuania was competing for the first time since 1928, less than 18 months after declaring independence from the USSR. They had a lot of talent on their basketball team, but the country had no money to send their players. A story of revolution, a rock n' roll band and a whole load of tie dye. This is A Tale Of Two Dream Teams.Subscribe to Stupid Old Channel for our upcoming web series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2f_65yf2SCW4O7WKw1TsZQOur website: dogoonpod.comSupport the show and get rewards like bonus episodes: patreon.com/DoGoOnPod Submit a topic idea directly to the hat: dogoonpod.com/Submit-a-Topic Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Listen Now: https://play.acast.com/s/listen-now/Our awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader ThomasREFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:The Other Dream Team (2012)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606829/The Dream Team (2012)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2292576/https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/fall-of-soviet-unionhttps://www.gq.com/story/dream-team-20th-anniversary-1992-olympics-usa-basketballhttps://www.britannica.com/place/Lithuania/Settlement-patterns

Hey everybody, Jess and Dave, just jumping in really quickly at the top here to make sure that you are across all the details for our upcoming Christmas show. That's right, we are doing a live show in Melbourne Saturday December the 2nd, 2023, our final podcast of the year, our Christmas special. It's downstairs at Morris House, which usually be called the European beer cafe. On Saturday December the 2nd, 2023 at 4.30pm, come along, come one, come all, and get tickets at dogoonpod.com. Most weight loss programs are short-term fixes, but managing your weight needs a long-term solution,

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in months, not years. Take classes online or on campus, and financial aid is available to qualified students, including the GI Bill. Now is the time, mycomputercareer.edu. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mites. Hello and welcome to another episode of Doo Go On. My name is Dave Wonke and as always I'm here with Matt Stewart and Jess Perkins. Or as they call us in the biz. Oh, Seth Twin. Oh, Sass twin. Oh, yep, thank you. Oh, no, I wish you'd let her.

Jess, have a little bit more of a second than to think about what she was gonna say. No, I was gonna say. Hey, Sassie Jess. I was gonna improv and you know, that's never good. Hey, little Dave. How's it going, everybody? Hey, it's going.

Isn't it good to be alive? Yes, it's great. I'm ready to be sassed. Yep. Yep. Pay yourself. For you listeners, when Dave does report Jess and I combine to create the sast twins a very powerful duo who take Dave Dan with sast. I'm imagining like the Hulk, like we get quite big. We're also pink, so no copyright issues. Yeah. But we're

conjoined twins. I really hope someone out there is going, oh, actually, the whole con series, 32 balls pink, to a color-oign issue at the inking. So you are going to have a few copyright issues. You will also hope that's the thing. But you had no other objections to how I imagine the S-S wins. Now I love the rest of it. Wonderful. What's the way in loincloths? Yeah. And you can join, so you combine sort of power into style and become one. Yes. Love it.

Yeah. Hey Dave, people can watch a new Fantastic News web series neck. From next Friday, is that right? Yes, that is absolutely right. You look so confused. You told me to bring this up. Moments ago. Well, it looks like the sassar you're about to sassed

You're about to plug the West Wing or something. Yes Let me bring up the the date it is on Channel 9 here Oh, no, we are we have been working on for the last six months somewhat unsecretly I think I can't remember we've talked about it that much much, but the web series version of this show, which will be coming out, yeah, Australian time, Friday, May 22nd, which is next Friday, a little bit over a week away, and we are very excited. I'm excited to see it again, because we filmed it at the end of last year, so it's been a while, and I've forgotten it all. So I'm excited to watch it.

It'll be like, bro, new for me. I remember it was nine of the best ever topics we've ever done. Yes. And these are exclusive to the web series. And nine of the best ever outfits we've ever worn. Oh, we look so good. We look hot.

We got a set put together and everything. It's real cool. Yeah, we had a great time Well, it's weird me saying this is real cool. Okay, do you want me to say it? I really want to listen to say it to me Okay, what about it was fun. It was fun. I think I can say fun. Yeah, it was fun to make Hopefully it's fun to watch and it will be debuting because we made it with the good people at stupid Sorry, day booing On the stupid old channel on YouTube because we made it with the great people at stupid old studios Yes, so head over there and subscribe right now. Yes, so you don't miss a thing

There'll be a link I guess I'm showing. Oh, look at it If you just search stupid old channel, you should be able to find it. If people are looking at YouTube things, I'm doing some YouTube chats. I did one with Dave a few weeks ago. Hopefully they don't want me just soon. I'm talking to my people. They haven't got back to me yet. So you're not talking? The leading message is so important. Yeah, what's the one way combo? That's far. Call me back. But I've done one with Dave, one with Evermond Rasmuth one with cast page and you can see them at youtube.com slash Matt Stewart and There's some old stand-up socks on those own bits of pieces. So you're gonna be seeing a lot about mugs coming up Oh, yeah, we're gonna mug heavy. So we print mugs. Yes, okay. That's mug Our mugs on a mug that's good. That's good. That is good.

Anyway, the way this show works, Jess always explains it best. So, my name's Jess. That one over there is called Dave. The other guy is Matt. Hello. Together, we are Duga One. And what we do here at Duga One is that one of us does research on a topic brings it into the group Reports back to the others in this case the Sass twins annihilate Dave at any opportunity we can And hopefully we'll do a little bit of learning and a little bit of laughing the full name is savage Sass twins Yeah, the SST

Yeah, so yeah, that's how the show works. I think I was beautifully described. Thank you. Now it's safe. This point Dexter can come good with his part of the bargain. The other thing we should mention is, yeah, sometimes we do interrupt and it's annoying. Anyway, Dave, we normally start the report with a question. What's your question this week? All right, I got a question and then a follow-up question. start the report with a question. What's your question this week? All right, I got a question and then a follow-up question. Ooh, it's a question. So you can get a point each year.

Now the question is, first of all, which team was the talk of the 1992 Olympic Games? The dream team. It is the dream team, one point. But follow a question for you, Jess. A lot harder if you get it. I'll give you two it's not gonna be which other countries

1992 basketball team should we all know is it Croatia? it is not I mean they did well at the Olympics is it the boomers? it's not the boomers oh it's gonna be is it like the equivalent of Eric the eel sort of thing? Like they'd never seen a basketball court before? Well, almost.

Oh, who could it be? Iceland. I can't want to say China. I don't know why. It's not Iceland or China. It is Lithuania. Oh, it is Lithuania. Yes, and a different Lithuania, baby. Okay. So this report is about Lithuania. Oh, Lithuania. Yes, and a different Lithuania, baby.

Okay. Okay. So this report is about Lithuania. Well, it is about... So I've messaged you guys saying it's my longest report ever. Yes. That's because it is about not one, but two topics basically in one. Incredible.

We are going to be talking about the 1992 Dream Team and also the 1992 Lithuanian men's basketball team. Fantastic. We haven't done a sport something in a little while, I reckon. I kind of chose this one because the fact that there's no sport on at the moment, I figured, well, many people are looking for a sports story. Yeah, great.

And I've got one that I personally, especially the second half of the story, I'd never heard anything about before. Have you watched any of the Michael or the Chicago pool series, the last dance? I have watched a bit of it. I purposely skipped ahead to, so I watched the, there's an episode that mentions the dream team.

It doesn't cover it too much, but I was like, imagine if I hadn't watched that in two weeks when I get to that episode five, I'd be like, oh, God. Which I watched that. So yeah, you've been watching it, man? Yeah, I have, yeah. Well, I'm really good.

It's really good. I've also seen bits of it. Yeah, obviously you're the only basketballer in the trio. That went without saying. Yeah, you're a real people. A way where you were in 92. Were you on the dream team? Of course.

No. She was dribbling. That's for sure. Boi-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo. My brother used to have a poster of Michael Jordan and his bedroom when we were kids. I was cute. I think now that I think about it, I think he also had a Yahoo serious poster. Like, what was the, what was the Ned Kelly one?

Reckless Kelly. I think he had a reckless Kelly poster as well. I've just remembered that. Yeah. Not relevant. That sounds like an 80s or 90s basketball player to me, reckless Kelly. Yeah.

That's some wicked names, which we'll talk about a few of them. All right, so the 1988 Olympics were held in Seoul, and it was pivotal to both teams in this report. Going into the competition, the USA had only ever lost one match at the Olympics. Whoa. In 1972, they lost the gold medal match to bitter rivals, the Soviet Union.

Team USA won silver that year, but every other Olympics since 1936 the men's team walked away with gold. That's nine gold medals and one silver, so they had an incredible track record. Then in 1988 it was again the Soviet Union that had them unstuck. The Soviets beat them in the semifinal, then went on to win the gold medal over Yugoslavia. So the USA played off against Australia for the bronze medal, sadly Australia, including our great hero, Andrew Gays lost on the Americans got the bronze. Have I talked about how much I loved Andrew Gays as a child? Maybe.

I fucking love Andrew Gays. Who didn't? I mean I still loveandry Gays as a child? Maybe I fucking love Dandry guys who didn't I mean I still love it. Gaysie get a I name the goldfish guys. Yeah I bet he was probably the star of that pond big time. Yeah, I love Dandry guys Dandry guys for non-Australians. He's sort of like the Shakespeare of Australia. Yeah, but the Australian basketball court. Yeah, absolutely. He's the of like the Shakespeare of Australia. Of the Australian basketball court. Yeah, absolutely. He's the Michael Jordan of Australia.

He's, I think, maybe the second ever played a win in NBA championship ring when he was on maybe like, the second ever Australian player. Australian player, yes. I think Luke Longley was the first. Maybe he was the second, I don't know if he saw any court time, but I think you got a ring for sitting on the bench I will take that we'll take that and that is the sweetest way to win a ring fact check required I want to get it. I'm actually on that as well, please

I'm actually and now he commentates sometimes yeah, and he's great He's so fun to listen to because he just gets very into it. I love him. It's a fun guy. His dad was a champion. Lindsay. Yeah, I think we're between them. They did eight Olympics in a row or something absolutely incredible I have a signed copy of his autobiography, which I got when I was about 10. I was too young to read it But I have it. But did you get the signature? Did it come with a signature? Came with the signature nice So does Gaze come up much in this report? Sadly, Andrew Gaze does come up in this report. Oh, sadly he does.

Not a good way? Well, sadly it's never good news for Andrew Gaze and the Olympics. Let's just say that. That's true. Okay. But we're all gazing. So the 1988 America got the bronze. At the 88 Olympics and every other game to the fourth,

USA weren't allowed to send professional players that had played in the NBA. That's because traditionally the Olympics had been started for amateur athletes to compete. Of course. That's why you don't still, you still don't see pro boxes compete. Often they'll compete when they're young, like Muhammad Ali did, when a gold medal like he did. I think George formed it the same. And then afterwards they turn pro, you're not allowed to go to the Olympics anymore. It's a strange idea because it's not across the board.

Tennis and golf and you say some of the most. He's not professional. Yeah, some of the highest paid sports people in the world go to the Olympics. So it is strange that it's held up for boxing and for a long time for basketball. Yeah, so between 1936 and 1988 the US sent college athletes to compete on their behalf. Often these players would be future legends of the game, for example, Michael Jordan, who has done a fantastic report on, I mentioned him a couple,

there's a little bit of crossover here, but not too much. So he was part of the gold medal winning team in 1984, and then obviously went on to be a pro. Who was this? Andrew Gaze. E-Gaze. So the Andrew Gaze of the American called... Oh, cute.

Michael was... Yeah, they've got a lot of basketball scene over there as well. To the... Oh, that's nice. So Dave's mentioned the NBA a couple of times. That's their version of the NBA. Oh, the NBA. Oh, that's fun.

Why do they change L to a... I think we got in first and got NBA. And they're like, oh. shit, now what do we do? Associations sound stupid, but, you know, leagues taken. Yeah. Right, I guess I didn't know they had their whole thing over there. That's nice. They had their whole thing, but their whole thing wasn't allowed to go to the Olympics.

But by the late 80s, a double standard had emerged. The other countries started sending athletes that really stretched the meaning of the word amateur. The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia entered teams of athletes who were all for all intents and purposes state-sponsored, quite full-time amateur athletes. Gotcha. On paper there were students or soldiers or working in a profession, but all of whom were in reality paid by the state to play in well-developed leagues with modem facilities and they were training all year round. Yeah, right.

They never stopped. Oh yeah, my countenance. That's my accent. That's my non-descript accent. Right, was that you, Slavian? Oh, yeah. Slitholani. It was American.

That was my American accent. No, I'd no play basketball. I counted. I do taxes. That's good. I don't know what it is, but play basketball. I counted. I do taxes. That's good. I don't know what it is, but it sounds. So it can't be problematic if you're not entirely sure who you're impersonated. That's right. That's definitely true.

These plays were even allowed to play in pro-European leagues. Right. They could go off to Italy and play in Spain and all these different places against other pros, but the American people, they're only college people. Suddenly, these 19, 2021-year-old American college athletes were playing against grown men with serious talent and a lot of experience. Yeah, okay. So there's over Union 1 gold in 1988. The athletes who were awarded these medals were often referred to colloquialy as art, the Russians Russians, one of the Russians. But four of the five starting players weren't Russian at all. They were Lithuanian.

Oh! And four years, as I say, is a long time. And a lot changed between the Olympics and Seoul and its follow-up in Barcelona. The amateur rule would no longer be enforced and the Soviet Union would no longer exist. This left space for the emergence of two very different teams. One would be the greatest team ever assembled in the history of sports. The other one of the most inspiring you'll ever hear about. This is the tale of two dream teams. That's a good line, Dave. Thank you so much. Thought I'd call the episode the tale of two Dream Team.

Love it. Fantastic. Workshop here. Support that. No, no, no, no, you've nailed it in one. No need to workshop here. I'm bored. I'm on board.

Well, I was thinking the Dream Team and the Dreamer team. Nah, that sounds good. Nah, that sucks. I have to shout out to Rob from Perth who suggested the topic of the Dream Team. Thanks very much for that. And as for the other team of the story, Lithuania, I can't remember how, but recently I came across a fantastic documentary called The Other Dream Team,

which was released in 2012. I'll link to that in the notes of the episode because I use it as a big source for this report. And if you want to watch it, there's a, yeah, it's awesome. It's really good. Okay, so let's talk about Lithuania. Do you guys know anything about it? I could not find it on a map. I'm so sorry.

Well, I think it was part of the Soviet Union, which split up in between the soul and bustle and the fix. That's true. Was it kind of when the wall came down in 89 or? That was a big part of stepping away from the Union, yes. And with the Wainia. So I reckon it's somewhere in and around Russia. Probably south-west of Russia. God, he's good. It is a, it's found in North Eastern Europe. It's above Poland and Belarus and below Latvia. Yes, now I can reach it.

Now I can reach it. It is the southernmost and largest of the three Baltic states, but has a relatively small population of only 2.7 million people. Like a lot of other countries in the area, it had a tough time for most of the 20th century. And even before that, to be honest, from 1795, Lithuania had been annexed by the Russian Empire, where it was a part of that for a long time, it claimed independence at the end of World War

1 in 1918, and this freedom would last until 1940. During this decade's basketball emerged as the nation's favorite sport. Basketball was an obsession. A way of life. Kids played on the street, making hoops out of barrels and erecting courts wherever they could, dreaming of making the local team and beyond. And as a country, they got good. In 1937 and 1939, Lithuania won the European basketball championships, beating much larger teams or countries with much larger populations. Yeah, so their population's tiny. That's smaller than Melbourne's. Yeah, about half the size of Melbourne.

Yeah. And they're smashing France and Germany and stuff. Sadly, in 1940 Lithuanian, a brief 20 years of freedom and time at the top of the basketball table stolen from them when they were invaded by the Soviet Union. The Soviets first made them sign mutual

packs that allowed them to build bases in Lithuania and the other Baltic states. Then they forced the local government to resign. So they were like, yeah, just let us build some bases there. No problem, no problem. And then once the bases there were like, yeah, we've got the army here now, you've got to go. Shit. And it was not good for the locals. Thousands of Lithuanians were then deported to labour camps and gulags in Siberia, where many Paris Jews are inhumane living conditions. Oh, is shit. And then things went from terrible to worse when the Nazis invaded in 1941,

and during the battle between its two occupiers, Lithuania was hit by unspeakable massacres. In 1941, 10% of the population of Lithuania was Jewish. This is unbelievably awful, but according to Britannicate, quote, by the end of the year, 1941, only 40,000 Jews of the original 250,000 or so remained alive. Oh my God. So in one year, they were absolutely decimated. Terrible stuff. And I'm afraid, after World War Things didn't, after World War Two, I should say things didn't get better for the country because in 1944 they were incorporated into the USSR which was of course under the tyrannical influence of Joseph Stalin at the time. And the deportations to the Gulag started up again. Who was Stalin, like he good guy?

Terrible guy. Huh. Huh. I believe it was once a time magazine person of the year so they yeah, they've had a few duds on that Yeah, I mean in their defense like the computer. Yeah, or you It's just a style was still a lot of people like and I got it again Two time and Hitly get it. Yeah, I think in again. I got it again. Two time. And, um, hitly get it.

Yeah, I think in their defense, it is often the most... It's a person, it's not the best person. Yeah, it's the most influential sort of person. And, you know, I think they probably were in those years. So you were, yep, sure. Yeah, I understand that, yes. And my eyes just rolled, didn't the back of my head. And my brain, which is the type of computer, I believe.

A super computer, if you will. Person of the year of computer I believe a super computer if you will Person of the year a computer crazy. What's next? For the woman of the year the horse yeah, that happened in Australia Sports woman the sports woman of the sports woman of the year was a horse the horse that I mean That was an impressive horse, but a little offensive. I wasn't a very impressive horse Which might we're talking black caviar or my kibble David like caviar Sportswoman of the sportswoman of the fantastic. Yeah One of the few things that offered Lithuanians freedom and enjoyment was basketball

It's popularity never waned in the fantastic documentary I talked about the other dream team, a survivor of a Siberian camp is interviewed and he speaks how basketball basically saved his life. At the camp, one of their only freedoms was playing basketball. They built a makeshift court in the camp and then the game gave him back his dignity, gave him a sense of purpose and allowed him to retain his sense of humanity. Oh wow. And this is the sort of passion associated with basketball in Lithuania. It's just a way of life. Cool.

Just like Aussie rules is here for the bottom corner of our country. Yeah, I think. Bottom corner. It's everywhere but the top corner. Top corner. Rugby legs, two states, the rest is Aussie rules. It's not this isn't like a split where Aussie rules is half and rugby legs the other half.

Dave, they don't make it, don't paint it like that. He's a fantastic. Tasmania, Aussie rules, Victoria, Aussie rules, South Australia, Aussie rules, Western Australia, Aussie rules. Northern Territory, you could make an argument that's a split there, but I'm going to call it Aussie rules. That leaves, I can't ever remember the names of the two. Other. Hicks and the rest. We were kicking the footy at the park the other day as we're a bunch of other people because

it is the natural pastime, and I may have accidentally kicked the footy into the river. So. Wow. And did you get for a swim? Did you wait in to get it? The other man. We followed it for a swim did you wait in to get it? Yeah, we've fallen it for a while We followed it down the room of her while and then it got stuck in like a catchment thing built for

Catching like rubbish and stuff and it was just out of arms rage. We couldn't get it So I have to go buy footy. So you left it. Well, yeah, we couldn't we couldn't get it So it became rubbish. Yeah, how offensive to the national past time? That is fucked I know Oh, yeah, but now the fish have a footy. Oh, that's true So I think about them fish. Yeah, I've kicked a few footies in the river. You're always good at them Although I don't live on one of the filthiest rivers in Australia Yeah, it's a gross river and it was getting dark and I And I was like, no, this is going to end badly. If one of us tries to get in, it's going to be one

of those horror stories where it's like, we were trying to get a footy on one of us dies, you know? Oh, that sounds like a boring horror film. Don't go in there. Why? You might drown. No, all right. Where do you come back as some sort of a football

ghost? Yeah I would assume so. Okay now I'm now I'm interested. Are you terrified? Mate is it for horror film based around an AFL footy isn't your dream movie? That sounds so good. I want to watch it. Anyway back to the dream team. Well so basketball it's a way of life. Yeah. Rather tragically, if they got good at the sport, Lithuanians were forced to compete for the USSR. And it was like that for over 50 years. And as a team, the USSR were very successful. At six of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympics,

the Soviet team ranked first in the total number of gold medals one. And it was second overall for the other three. Oh, wow. I knew they were dominant, but that was amazing. Yeah, Oh wow. I knew they were dominant but that's amazing. Yeah, very powerful. I guess they were a lot of countries. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, you got a bigger pool to pick from. Yeah, we're representing a third of all the countries in the world. Is that about right Dave? Yeah, it was not quite that many I think. But if you were these days, we were like, oh, we're the Southern hemisphere team. Would still maybe make the top five. Yeah. But if you were these days, we were like, oh, where the Southern Hemisphere team would still maybe make the top five. Yeah, well, the Southern Hemisphere isn't,

it isn't what it used to be. You know, back in the 90s, so the Southern Hemisphere used to kick ass. Yeah, we remember when the boomers played off in the bronze medal match. And lost? And lost? Oh, that's good shit.

It was pretty amazing. It's Australia came fourth in basketball one time Yeah, what I told you was not just one time. I was twice poor old gaysie as we'll talk about But I mean yeah, you're saying it's like a silver. Yeah, they were so close to winning it I Mean the Australian women's basketball is is seen as being like up right up there. Yeah. And the men's, but I mean the men's has been as well. And it sounds like the next men's team is going to be the best Aussie basketball team

ever put together. Andrew goes coming out of retirement. One last game. Give me in there. Andrew just like starts running and goes, oh I got one. I think this is a good idea. Oh my god. I me in there. He just like starts running and goes, oh I got one. I think this is a good idea. Oh my god. I'm so old. Oh, Gaysy. Lindsay's in there too. Gaysy's dad is in there. And 80 year old man. On the court. Yeah, they're coached by the ghost of Lindsay guys.

This is a dizzy movie ready to go. Ghost Dad Coach. Ghost Coach. Too much going on there. Ghost Coach Dad. Ghost Coach Dad. I reckon they've got to also have like a coach ghost. Oh yeah. So it was a good have like a pet or something that gets involved. Yeah. Like the cat makes the winning three-pointer or something. No it's not a big air bud. Yeah, of course a kangaroo yes. And then it would keep the ball in its patch. But it's not a big game, but it can't grow. Of course, it can grow, yes. And it would keep the ball in its patch. But it's not like in-card, too. It's a little goo in there. It can't keep the ball in its patch,

because it's traveling. You gotta bounce the ball. Oh, well. But they're bouncing. They're bouncing with the balls technically bouncing. OK. Is that double dribble? A lot of questions.

Yeah, there are. Look, there's some technicalities to figure out. But I think we're still going to be milliliters. Anyway, Dave. What's that, Skip? What's that? You need me to make a three-throw? Okay.

To tie the game, go it overtime. All right. That's Andrew Gays being asked by a kangaroo to come down for one last free through. It's space jam but Australian. Oh that's fun. Yeah I can't think of it name because we call jam jam you know. Well it could as a good big space fed you might. Perfect space fed you might. That's good. Alright so back to Lithuania so you got good've got to compete for the USSR. That would be a reward. I'm happy.

But obviously competing for the people that are one, are pressing you, occupying you, denying your countryman freedom, the people that sent your grandparents and uncles and aunts to four slave accounts, well, to put it extremely lightly, it wasn't great for the athletes themselves. Yeah. Who's still very much identified as Lithuanian. So when these guys won for the USSR and 88, people would start speaking to them in Russian

at the press conference and they'd say, oh, I don't speak Russian, I speak Lithuanian. And people would be surprised. Right. But you're often the USSR, but like you're saying about, there's so many countries that are all spread out. A lot of them have their own cultures, their own languages. Isn't it weird that it didn't work?

People try it a few times where one country just try and make other countries in their country. And they're like, oh, we don't really want this. And eventually, eventually. Eventually it all fell apart. Weird how they didn't just make, you couldn't just make them be part of you. It is weird.

It is. Yeah, crazy. Because you'd think on paper, fantastic idea. Very good. I mean, if everyone was one Olympic team, you'd never lose. Yeah. So on paper.

Very good idea. Well, until the monsters come down. No. Try and play. I forgot the one monster. Play against us for our vagimite. Yeah. No.

No, don't vagimite. Gaze is secret, water bottle, but it's just full of veggie. I need, and he licks it. I need to, I see you're creating this vitamin B12. Gives me me rosy cheeks. And my pretty reliable jump shot. Yeah, what a guy. So these Lithuanians, they dreamed of freedom and playing for their own nation, but most of them doubted it would ever happen

in their lifetime, especially. But back to the USA and the NBA. In 1989, a decision was to be made by FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, on whether NBA players should be allowed to compete the next Olympics. But not everyone in the NBA was keen. The association itself was lukewarm to the idea because they weren't sure if their players would be that interested anyway.

An associated survey, associated press survey of NBA players at the time found just 63% favored open eligibility and only 58% said that they'd actually want to play in the games. Why is that I wonder? Because they're making... They're already playing at the top level. So I'd be like going to a thing where you're already playing in a higher level. They talk about in the AFL as well,

like bring back state of origin, which I'd love for them to do. They're already playing at the highest level in the world. So going to the Olympics to play against teams that aren't as good as the Minnesota Timberwolves. But that's interesting, because I think, well, obviously not a professional sports person. What?

Yeah, yet working on it. She got a great jump shot. You would think that going to the Olympics would be exciting. Yeah. I don't want to do that. Well, I think I think I think this turns around and they get a pretty good team together but um well it's true and also the NBA they were worried that no one would want to go and

then it would be embarrassing for them because they are allowed to send the best and then the best didn't want to go and maybe they'd still lose. Yeah. So they were a bit like oh no don't worry about and maybe they'd still lose. Yeah. So they were a bit like, oh, no, don't worry about it. I don't know. Yeah. But it was decided in 1989 by fever that the NBA should be allowed to compete just to make it more of an open field.

Yeah, it's almost like saying, let's just let them drug cheat as well. You know, if you let, if some of them are drug-chating anyway, we're not figuring it out. Probably the bloody USSR. You know, they're bending the rules. Let's just go open up, so anything goes. NBA players can play. They can also be jacked off there. Yeah.

Let's make the Olympics truly the competition for the best. In fact, let's supply the cocaine. Yes, the cocaine, fantastic. Let's just see what happens, you know? I think that's a great idea, and I assume that's where the story is going, but I was pretty young at the time. My memory isn't that clear, but I think it was a big drug. Dream team.

Yeah. But, that's all the drugs you could dream of. Yeah, that's what I do. I do dream of a lot of drugs. Yeah Just piled in front of me. I don't take any of them, but I want to but I just they're just a big pile of them It's crazy So the decision was made that NBA play should be allowed to go so now the NBA were under pressure to put together a challenge a team To give to the to give to the Olympics. It would be embarrassing if they sent them and lost like I said.

And in that era, when you're building a team of the best basketball players, there's one name at the top of your list. Jess Perkins. Yeah. Really? No, Andrew. For a closely-by Shakilo. Yeah.

No, the face of the new generation of basketball. And by that time, already three time MVP, and 1984 Olympic gold medalist, it was of the new generation of basketball and by that time already three time MVP and 1984 Olympic gold medalist It was of course Michael Jordan of course who Matt did a full report on and also spoke in length about space jam What a journey and Larry bird stealing from his But Michael Jordan was hoping the USA weren't going to ask him to play on the national team to quote MJ Quote I was trying to figure out a way that I could graciously decline. I didn't want to do it. Yeah.

He was like, no, I don't want to. Interesting. It's also I wonder if some of them were like, it was, it's almost like a stepping stone. I got to do it as an amateur on the way up, you know, if we start doing an hour, takes away the chance. I don't know if he was thinking that selflessly about it. Yeah. I think it was a bit, I've been there done that, don't think.

Oh, what? I've been there done. You know, you've done one Olympics, that's enough. How lovely is that that you can make so you can work so consistently through the year that you don't have to take the like so many other sports people are working their asses off between Olympics just to get to the Olympics. Like that's the pinnacle of their sport. Yeah, I guess I think that's the difference.

That's the pinnacle of their sport and for him, it's not. He hasn't won an NBA championship yet. That's what really drives him. He's like, I've already won an Olympics. It was pretty fun. But I won a win. That is mental. Yeah.

Like you think of like track, like athletics and stuff like that. Like there's what's higher than the Olympics. And often it comes down to one, 15 second period every four weeks. Totally. Whether you make the final, with your medal. Yeah. Between the gun going up and up to 15, 20 seconds later,

you're like, oh, that was the worst run I've had in four years. And I didn't make the final. Oh, it's the jump. Yeah. I'm off to the airport. Crazy. I'm running to the airport. You're just getting running.

You're getting running to the taxi. Well, so the NBA, they wanted Michael. So they reached out to him and asked. And he wanted to know who else was playing. Basically, he didn't want to be the only superstar on the team. He was worried it would be him and then a bunch of college people and he's like, I'm not interested. I'm not carrying this team.

I already carried another team. So they made another call to three time MVP, five time NBA champion, 12 time all star and absolute legend of the sport, LLAK champion, 12 time old star, an absolute legend of the sport. Ella Laker, Magic Johnson. And he was in straightaway. No questions are really magic. Like, yeah, man, I'm for hanging a little bit. Check this.

Let me check the sketch. Yeah. Yeah, I'm free those dates. Well, he was because he was the first puzzle piece to fall into place. And it made the other sit up and notice because he was already, he's a legend of the sport. Yeah, Jordan looked up to him when he was younger. And yeah, because he was he was older at this time and it was seen for Magic himself as the last hurrah because he had announced it was HIV positive at the end of 91 where he

also announced that he would retire immediately because not a lot was known about HIV at the time. Right. He was like, he thought he'd never play basketball again. He played in the All-Stars game that year after being voted in by fans and many actually objected to his participation because again people were ignorant about HIV. They were thinking that they might get it if they played with him. But he did, and he played. And he wanted his career to go out with the

bank and he thought what better way to do it than getting a gold medal. So by the time the Olympics came around, there was a bit more age, like a bit more known that HIV wasn't. Yeah, and I also think that, yeah, there's a bit more education. He'd played and nothing had gone wrong. So it was a bit like, oh, okay, he probably didn't get this. It's quite a lot of blood or saliva, that has to be exchanged. And he didn't get this playing on the court, so.

Yeah. It's all good. And once Magic said yes, they had no trouble recruiting other players. And I'm going to list them now with some of their achievements. Let's see if we've heard of any of these names. It should be noted that these are their achievements at the end of their careers, which for most of them wasn't 92, but this is just to give you an idea of the talent in the team and the caliber of the players that they put together.

Can you give them all their nicknames if they don't have a nickname come up with a nickname? Okay. All right, we're starting with three-time league MVP, 12-time NBA All-Star, and the sandwich lover Larry Bird. Larry Bird. From the Boston Celtics. He was his nickname again, the Hick from St. Luke or something like that. Yeah, he was.

At 35, he was the oldest on the team and had back problems by the stage of his career But like magic he was keen to go out with a bang and he was such a legend at the sport No team would be complete without him oldest on the team at 35 Which at the like when you're a teenager you think 35 is so old But like I've had back problems since I was seven And he's like I'm 35, my back's gone. I haven't been allowed on a trampoline for like 27 years. Is that how you did it on the tramp?

Yes, jad it. And I fucking love trampolines. Every day. If you look at me, I'm the type of person who would like, I'd be on a trampoline. I'll give you, I think, tramp. You know what? Those bounce places became very popular, person who would like I'd be on a trampoline so I'll get you I think tramp. You know what those bounce places became very popular because

went what in the 90s? No like a few years ago. No under 10 years ago people would go to bounce it's indoor trampoline place. I remember when I was a kid. No. Oh yeah. And it was starting just these in-ground trampolines. So cool. Amazing. There was one in the small coastal town where used to go to, anyway, they became very cool again a few years ago and like friends were going and I was like, I'll sit this one out.

I can't be on a trampoline, I'll hurt myself. Anyway, you got on your low, bird 35. An avetory. It's amazing, isn't it? But yeah, basically, he was passing his best just because of injuries, but they were like, we're not a player. We got a pay respect to this guy.

We got to get him in. Next player was Scotty Pippen. Yep. Pipp, or Robin, to Michael's Batman. People sometimes called him. Michael Jordan's teammate and fellow six-time championship winning player at the Chicago Bulls, seven-time monster. He later said he didn't think he deserved the call

up but didn't admit that to the selectors. He was just stoked to be asked. Oh, that's nice. And he's got a, which you will see in the Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson. Yeah, he's got the deepest voice. Yeah, that's awesome. I need the name, but I don't think I knew what Scotty Pippin looked like somehow. Oh, right. So I was like, that's good, but... When I was a kid, he was almost the cooler one to like, I think.

At primary school, I remember Scotty Pippin was like, I guess that just showed you had slightly more knowledge than the surface knowledge that everyone in Australia had when Michael Jordan was so big. But he, yeah, he, apparently, Yes, surface knowledge that everyone in Australia had when Michael Jordan was so big, but he Yeah, he he apparently is a learning this docker series that he signed a long-term contract early Would you you might have seen as well and he was one of the lowest paid players in the world or he was way down the list

It was one of the least paid players on his team because he signed a contract so early and they wouldn't really negotiate because he'd inked it up and he's like, I didn't want to take any chance, I just want to make sure my family was looked up. I could get injured next week if I hold out and sign a contract in a couple of years, so yeah, that was fascinating to learn. Yeah, wow. But yeah, he does the disappointing nickname, so he's saying Pip or Robin. I love pip. Yeah, Pip's okay Anyway, it's got a pip who else we got we got Clyde the glide Drexler. That's the best nickname Yeah, that's my name that's from the Portland trailblazers He would go on to be NBA champion in 95 and was a 10 time all star Wow

The center was David Robinson from the San Antonio sport spurs nicknamed the admiral Yeah, he was the best number five He was one of my favorite players when I was a kid the admiral he'd served in the Navy Oh, okay, only still to this day the only person that served in the Navy that's played in the NBA Yeah, right. It's interesting at seven foot one. He was the tallest player on the team. Whoa He was 1995 NBA and he's playing playing center. Yes, the some reason for a second there I was a Neville and I've never played Neville in my life. I'm funny

Of course he's put the seven foot guy at the center Dev Robinson was a wing attack. I was imagining him standing in the middle of the court Not being able to move. I'll zero set the sentiment would be one of the smaller Position on the field. But yeah, basketball centers. This is my sport. Pay attention, Jess. That's great. So he was MVP for the league in 95 and two

time NBA champion and 10 time all stars. So these guys are there a bit more normal. Patrick Ewing from the New York Knicks, AKA, Hoyer Destroyer. That's pretty good. I say he was from the Hoyers. It's the college. He put his Ares from the Hoiers. It's the college.

And he'd, George Town, I think. And he was, he was actually, he was born and Jamaican and moved to the USA at 12. He'd already won a gold medal in 1984 with Michael Jordan and he went on to be an 11 time NBA All-Star. And next up we have the mailman, Carmillain. Oh yeah. He always delivers from the Utah Jazz, secondelone. Oh yeah. With your always delivers. There we go.

From the Utah Jazz, second highest scoring player in the history of the NBA. He's a true. Wow. Behind on the Kareem Abdul Jibar. He was two time MVP, 14 time NBA All Star. Yeah, then I think Kareem Abdul Jibar has the best name of all time across everything.

A huge goal. And I agree. Thank you so much for having me back there. And I know you've got a bad one, so. I've got a bad back. Have for a long time. There is another US athlete. His name is Barcavius Mingo.

Oh my God, Matt, take back what you just said. Karim Abdul Jabbar. Barcavius. What was it? Fuck it. Maybe as Mingo who plays pretty good. Place for the in the NFL. That's incredible. Mingo.

Bahevious. I mean, that is fantastic. That is fantastic. I love that. And it sticks with me. It sticks with me that name. You know Maggie Simpson from The Simpsons. She was almost named Cool Mo D Simpson.

If Bart had his way. We're getting them. The male man Carmelone was joined by a long time teammate John Stockton. Oh, high shorts, John. Nickname? High shorts. Stock. Pretty good.

I love that. He was the only one who held out. We talked about the Michael Jordan episode. Michael Jordan changed the short's fashion for everyone basketball, but we're in a longer. And John Stockton never, he never followed that trend when the rest of the week, he was one of the only ones who held out on the short basketball shorts. Nate. At six foot one, he was the shortest player on the team.

Six one, the shortest player. Shortest player. Mugsy Berg is all going to be available. Mugsy said no. That's not true. Settley, Mugsy. I don't think he got the call. But John Stockton's team made the playoffs

in each of his 19 seasons at the jazz. Wow. 19 seasons. That's amazing. And you've got some players who will never play finals. Every year. Every year. What I'm the only one who you've ever win a championship, though. I don't think so. No. But he holds the end. They must have been close at some points. Him and Malone together. I know. We've got the highest score. But unfortunately they came up against

six years, where Jordan was unstoppable. I mean, it is obviously great. I'm a really cool, momentous thing in basketball, but also you do think about the people that never got there because they're blocked out in six years. John Stockton holds the NBA records for most career assists and steals by a wide margins to this day. Ten time ulster. And Chris Mallans from the Golden State Warriors also. Great shooter.

Also part of the 1984 Gold Medal winning team, Nickname. Big three. Yeah, I guess he's the three-point shooter. Also had a great flat top from memory. Oh. I support it. I jumped around different teams in the NBA when I was a kid and I went for the warriors for quite a while. Obviously jumped off them before they became a powerhouse. Of course. You were told in the back.

I don't feel comfortable going for a championship team. I'm just looking it up here because I didn't look up the nickname of him. But he was part of the high scoring trio of basketball teammates, Tim Hardway, Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullen, who together were called Run TMC. I think you'll have a trio of spree well played with them around that time as well. It's a pretty sick team. And finally, from the NBA, a man with a great stick name in the history of sport, in my opinion,

the round mound of rebound. It's a Charles. Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Sons. Oh, awesome. 1993 League MVP, 11-time Ulster. Charles Barkley was then still is famous for saying whatever he likes. He was a popular player, but also quite controversial at times.

His talent was obvious but the selectors were worried about him representing his country and courting controversy during the games. When he was told that they were considering him, he was so honored that they would even consider to put him on a team with these people, he convinced them that there'd be no problems from great. He was truly honored. He features a little bit in the docker because they're one year, they were pretty close. There was Bulls versus Sons in the final. And he went to Chicago when they just sat and needed to win Chicago wins. They win the series and driving into the stadium. All of Chicago has like basically, they're already

celebrating the championship. And then the sun's upset them that night and one to keep the series alive. And one of the reporters goes, is there any messages for the people of Chicago? I say, you can take all those posts and shit down for tonight. You don't need them tonight. It's good. It's so good. He's so good. He's so good.

There's a line in it where like this is he's talking about it sort of now. And he said something, I can't fully remember the context. We said something on lines of like, that was the first time in my life. I thought someone was better at basketball than me. That's right. Like first time in your life. Amazing. I had the thought that someone could be better

than you at this sport. Imagine the, wouldn't the NBA be full of those people? What amazing thing to be like every battle or on the bench, probably has played most of their life, been the best. Totally. There must be a strange feeling to, you know, every level you go, maybe I, you know,

I'm better at best at this level, go up one, still the best, still the best. And which is like, oh shit. Yeah, you hit a limit, but. But Jordan never hit that limit. Never hit the limit. But did you, you're a big fan of the Conan podcast, Matt, have you heard the one with Charles Barkley?

No. He taught, oh, it's really good, because he just says whatever he likes. And he talks about how hard it is. It actually made me appreciate how hard it is to make it as a professional athlete. You know, obviously I respect how hard they work on that sort of stuff, but you forget about how many talented people don't quite make it because he talks about all the

time people come up to him and say, oh, my son's Mr. Florida this year. He's going to make it and then Charles' response is, he always thinks himself, yeah, great, it's 50 of those this year. Every state's got him, Someone. Yeah. And they are the best in their state. But that doesn't mean yeah. Yeah. So and he says there's only 450 professional spots in the NBA at any one time. Maybe 40 jobs a year come up. So amazing. Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing. And it yeah. Um, yeah, that is crazy. And in American sport, it feels like more than over here, they, there's so much player movement during seasons. Players will rock up and hear that they've been traded to another team mid-year.

And they're always just being chopped around. I said, you make the cut. You're gone. What a full on time. In the NFL, you got your spot for at least two years. I think it's sort of the minimum contract but over there you might rock up for a few months and you're like you cut move your family's whole life yeah crazy.

And next Saints Play just got drafted into the NFL as a kicker or a punter. That's cool. Who was that? Aaron Sipos. I was such a I was so pumped about him when he was recruited at the Saints. Beautiful long kick, but you never quite made it. I was so big on him being a big star. Facebook memory came up recently where he got named in the team after playing the resource for for the first half of the year and I'm like finally, you finally made the right call and you know, for the first half of the year. And I'm like, finally, you finally made the right call. And you know, he'd got dropped a couple of weeks later

because he didn't quite make it. I named my, I used to do dream team, AFL dream team, you know, the fantasy football. Yep. And I called his name down in Cipos. I called my team the Cipossi. Oh. Very bullish about him being a big star.

And now? Well, look, he's probably one of the highest paid ever AFL players because he's got a short contract in the NFL. It's like a second string kicker or something. Yeah, that's kind of cool. He's paying for Detroit. I think he got picked up by Detroit Lions.

That's really cool. We've had a few Aussie people go over and beat a kicker. Is that right? Yeah, because I think in Australian rules, kicking is a big skill and most professional players can kick 50 plus metres with a much bigger ball. So it's just a skill you're born with. Is it a ball smaller?

I think it's a little bit smaller. It's a different shape, pointier, and I think it's a bit smaller, yeah. Yeah, cool. I didn't know that. They got a throw-em. Oh, yeah. We just throw the footie You throw yours in the river. Yeah Dig it. It was so far away from the river just get bouncing

Anyway, Dave you said this is your longest report ever. Well, please continue. I'm sorry Sorry, everybody listening who gives a fuck about Aussie rules Well these 10 man locked in do sorry just do appreciate It's an amazing line up. All those people are. Where's Isaiah Thomas? Well, we are gonna talk about them just a second. Well, these 10 man locked in,

they went back to Michael Jordan. He was keen to play with the guys he usually plays against. So he was in. He was offered the captain seat, but declined. And the two senior members of the team, Larry Burton, Magic Johnson, was selected as co-captains. That's nice, yep. I believe actually they said to Jordan, you can be a third captain.

It's about three out of a three out of a eleven with a captain. It's like, stop, I don't want to be captain. I barely want to be here. Now you can drive the bus if you want or you can have the biggest room. Yeah, they let the bus if you want, or you can have the biggest room. Yeah, man. They let you drop the bus. They're so slow. They're just trying to throw in any kind of perk they can.

I want to do less, not more. Okay, all right, yeah. We'll carry you. You don't have to walk, we'll carry you everywhere. We'll let you zoom in. You can just Skype in and play. If I Skype just will put someone out on the court and you say, which hand to touch the ball with,

we'll just do it that way, if you like. It's like, okay, that's not enough. We're trying to change the constitution to, so our country's now called Michael Jordan. What do you think? What do you think? Brooke, now I'm like, do you love us? Please love me.

September's been changed to Jordan. These 11 men, 10 of whom would be listed as part of the top 50 NBA players of all time in 1996. Sadly Chris Marlon's mistakes. Yeah, he does seem a bit like the old one out in that team. Sorry, Marlon's. And all of them, though, would go on to be Hall of Famers. And who were the most famous names in the world of basketball were joined by one more man. As an acknowledgment to the previous amateur system, the US Basketball Committee decided to include one college player on the team.

Shakyuloniyah was considered. He was to be the number one draft pick that year. But the player that was selected was Christian Latina. He was the star player on the Back to Back National Championship teams of 1991 and 1992. He would later go on to play in the NBA and be named an all-star in 1997. So there's no doubt that he's very talented. But imagine that he's 22 years old. Playing with your idols. He's playing with college people.

Now you're on the team, the same team as the best in the world. How would you keep up? Oh, that's crazy. Yeah, you wonder if that's good or bad for you long term. Well, he, I'm sorry, an interview with him and he said at the time, there were all the egos, everyone's sassin' each other on the court and he was like, I just stood back and I was just happy to be part of it. Of course, yeah, you'd be stoked. You wouldn't want to say anything wrong. You'd be like, you're tying around. Just like, please let me stay.

Magic, all right. Yes sir. Oh, you're crazy. Thank you, Mr. Bird, for passing to me. Yeah, in each time you like, if you fumbled over one of their passes, you'd be like, idiot, idiot. It'll be so intimidating. As Matt said, pretty controversially, Isaiah Thomas from the Detroit Pistons was left off the team. It was rumored that Michael Jordan had asked Isaiah Thomas be left out. Isaiah Thomas was seen as the ringleader of the so-called bad boys that had won championships

in 1989 and 1990 for the Detroit Pistons with some pretty physical tactics, often at the expense of Michael Jordan. So all-star, like, and he's like a 12-star or 12-time old star and so like insane. I think even Jordan called him the second best point guard of all time. Yeah, after magic? After magic. Yeah, pretty, pretty big praise, but he was not selected. And I think it was more than just Michael that didn't want to work with him. He had rubbed a few people the wrong way and he wasn't selected. I think a big part than just Michael that didn't want to work with him. He had rubbed a few people the wrong way. Right.

And he wasn't selected. I think a big part of it was that they wanted people that were talented, that also would mesh as a team. Totally, yeah. That makes sense. They are trying to please Michael. There's no doubt about that. But I think other people in the team were also like, Isaiah Thomas is a bit of a dirty

player. I don't want to be his friend. And if a team isn't meshing, if they're all out there playing as individuals, you're not going to get very far anyway. You know, you have to be able to work as a team. So he wasn't selected, but his coach was the dream team's cozy gaze. He's got the ghost that went through the air. I'm alive! I'm afraid we will have to kill you, and the prophecy will tell me.

My friend, we will have to kill you, the prophecy full-tilted. The train team was coached by Chuck Daly, coach of the bad boys at Detroit Pistons. That's me, I chucked Daly. Are you okay? No, I'm very sick. Help me. He was a seasoned veteran and he was known for handling the bad boys well. What a fucking dumb riff. I'm so sorry. He was known for keeping the bad boys. It was basically seen as if you keep the bad boys in control, you can deal with anyone. Yeah, right. Yeah, interesting. And yeah, I wanted to have that in effect his relationship with his star player Thomas as well going

Come back from a summer of coaching Michael Jordan and magic these people that don't like you and also they're like we don't like their dirty Playing it's like well the coach or I can add something to do with that as well somehow Yeah, people were worried that Michael wouldn't like him as well Because he was he'd coached the team that had been dirty to him, but they ended up getting on really well and played a lot of golf together. It makes sense that you had to have the champion, like, he's like raining two-time championship coach at that point, or who won a 91? You said they won an 89.

89 and 90, yep. Yeah, that makes sense. That's the coach of peer cuspose yeah and like because these are the biggest personalities in the world You want whoever can deal with them? Gordon does come off as a bit He holds a grudge as well. He's doesn't forgive and Thomas in this documentary that was filmed a guest last year so it's, yeah, it's pretty wild. I reckon that's a Michael thing.

Right. My brother holds, gradually. Okay. And any other Michael's listening? If you're a bit pissy over that, see if you're still pissy about it next week, it'd prove to me right. 91 was the bull's first win. All right, okay.

Yeah, right, 91, 92, 93. And they beat the Lakers. There you go. So that's the USA team, superstars in their own right, all of them. Over in Lithuania, they had some amazing talent of their own. Three players that I'll really focus on in this report, who all won gold medals for the Soviet Union in 1988 and were all with the wanyan and amazingly were all from the same city.

Oh wow. Canoas which is Lithuanian second largest city so it's not even like of course they're off from there. That's the biggest city. It's the second biggest and it's just a really big basketball city. The first one is Arvidus Sabonus. At 7 foot 3 he was the tallest man on the team. 7-3. 7-3. He's two inches tall than their tallest guy. So bonus at 7 foot 3 he was the tallest man on the team

73 Seven so easy. He's two inches taller than their tallest guy David Robinson As the teenager so bonus had grown four inches and one summers over 10 centimeters and Remember returning to class that year and not being able to see anyone's faces anymore Because he just he got facial blind He was so close to the sun. He wasn't wearing sunglasses. He was like, where'd everyone go? He was literally head and shoulders above everyone else in his school.

That's like the summer holidays I got braces, you know. Came back to school, couldn't see anyone's teeth. You know what I mean? It was a talk of the town. Where they go, you've just got gums. Why don't any of you have tea? Hello, yes. Stop gumming that sausage roll, it's disgusting.

Oh, you're just salivating on it. It's not going to break it down. You got a cake. Oh, yeah, would you be a Spanish filter? I reckon I'll be able to swallow it. Stop using tomato sources, Lou! You got a spike! Oh, good, yeah, would your parents punish you also, they're looking out for a spike, eh? Oh, no. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry.

Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry.

Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry.

Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. Stop using to punish me, I'm so sorry. I have to dislodge my job. And now I don't get for six to eight weeks. I'm just going with a lot of snakes. Let me tell you. You're school and mine, am I right? Couple of social climbers. I'm so subordinous. He was a big, big man, 7 foot 3, ridiculously tall. He was considered by many in the late 80s and 90s to be the best player outside of the United States NBA Hall of Famer and former NBA MVP Bill Walton

Bill Walton once describes the bonus as quote a 7 foot 3 Larry bird. Oh wow take that Larry bird. Yeah He was 35 get out of here little Larry He was a big bird. Meet big. It was an all-round player and a natural team leader. Then we have Val Demaris Hochimus, the six-foot three-point guard who was five years older than Sabonus and seen as an elder statesman of the game. Not as famous in the long run as the other two

I'd mentioned but still an integral part of the team. Ho-ho-ho-muchess. I had to look up the pronunciation of several of these times. And finally we have Sirunus, Marcel Onus. Oh, our sport was an obsession from a young age for Serenus muscle onus. Early on, he had played tennis, but he'd later changed to basketball. A firework had exploded in his face at the age of 13, and he was badly burnt. Metaphorically speaking. No, a real firework. No, apparently big in Lithuania. Yeah, right. Just over in New Year's Eve, that all set off their own fireworks, and he set one. He lit it, and then it didn't go off, so he and was like oh touch the fuse and as he did that it exploded He's done. He do here sometimes you hear like Successful people say it early in their life that a fire cracker lit under their ass and that really

Motivate I always thought I was a metaphor, but maybe that's just something that successful people do Yeah, get exploded early. Yeah, if you see of Dylan's ass, he was horrifically burnt. That's why he wears big shorts. Ah, that's why. It's painful to wear top. Yeah, the short shorts, they rubbed a little too much. He's the room to breathe. But Marcel Lennon said he'd been burnt and he prayed to make a full recovery, which

he did, and from then on he decided to apply himself to sport. Yeah. And he chose basketball. So he thought of out of fire, Crackle, and he knew he was in a way. But then it didn't go off. So we turned around to look at it and explore it in his face. Unlucky. Still worked out in the end.

He and some other friends, he and some friends that installed their own basketball court made from Pavingstone in front of their apartment building and then made a backboard from nailing together old planks of wood Oh wow and from there my parents just bought us one He got good. That's privilege. Yeah Oh Now I get it. Oh, and you'll see in this next sentence just because as a teenager He left his city to move to the capital of Vilnius to go to college and hopefully to try out for the Soviet national team When he left all his parents could afford to give him was one bag of clothes and one bag of apples and then there's

Sanny Monty's one whole bag of clothes. Oh, that's great a bag of clothes and what kind of apples we talking? Rotten Yeah, one of the worst guns still take them over red delicious, but Yeah, pretty bad rotten like second or third worst Red delicious, they don't rot they just become even more concrete Will not rot great building material red delicious Wow, so bag of clothes bag of apples off you go. It's a horse with a bank close Is a well-dressed horse a horse with a panache for fashion up a dash for fashion

What am I meant to wear the same outfit every day? Oh look terrible and in options with my winter wardrobe get therier back here, these shoes aren't doing it for me. I wanna wear heels. If you look down in the, he's wearing platforms shoes with goldfish in them. Discussed to, living and cluffin' along. Most weight loss programs are short-term fixes, but managing your weight needs a long-term solution, and that's what makes NUME different. NUME uses science and personalization to

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and a rewarding field with plenty of growth opportunities and often flexible work environments. Go to mycomputercareer.edu and take the free career evaluation. You could start your new career in months, not years. So the difference in lifestyle enjoyed by the Lithuanian styles when compared to the members of the Dream team is hard to overstate. First of all they didn't have multi multi million dollar sponsorships. At the top of the sport Michael Jordan had million dollar deals with Nike, Gatorade, Haynes underwear, Coca-Cola, the list goes on. Patrick Ewing's annual salary in 1991 was $4.2 million. The next year David Robinson was the highest paid player in the league was $4.2 million. The next year, David Robinson was the highest-paid player

on the league earning $5.7 million. And yet, it's true that salaries in the NBA would actually explode over the next few years. And Michael Jordan pulled in $30 million a season by 1996. Fuck. But still. They actually said that this dream team's got a bit

to do with that. The worldwide popularity exploded because of the dream team. Totally, I was just massive. So more money was injected in. See, it's amazing how important in that way this team was, whether or not that's a good thing, I don't know, because it feels like 5 million is too much. That should be enough. That should be enough.

It just creates, yeah, you wonder if it creates more issues when money gets so huge. Yeah. A lot I don't know. I'll never know. I'll never know. And I won't find out. No. But still, it's so that money would get even better, but still in the late 80s, early 90s, NBA stars still got paid a heap, especially when compared to the USSR counterparts. In the USA, they were sponsored by McDonald's, whereas in Lithuania, they didn't always have meat and sometimes people fought over bread. Cool. So a lot of the time, they went without. That was at the McDonald's.

They didn't always have meat and some sort of bread. Veggie burgers again. I just realized what we were saying, that you were saying we'll never know about money, millions making a difference. I just, I meant I'll never learn by reading about it, but you meant because we'll never earn that much money. Yeah, yeah. That didn't even come into my mind as a possibility. I'm like, I'm never going to read a book about rich people, but you were like, we'll never earn those.

It was like moments later like, oh, yeah, I guess. I guess we won do that. Ever make millions, I guess. Yeah, I mean, it felt obvious. No worries, yes, I got it. Yeah. All right, mate, you didn't know what a fucking sugar bowl was, don't you try to jump on

with intellectual whopper here? One week ago, you were confused for quite a while about a sugar bowl. All the info is that you need is in the name. It's self-explanatory. I'm like you guys, I do make $150 million. When you make that much money, you don't need to know what a sugar bowl is.

That's true. Someone gets it for you. I assume the sugar bowl man, one of my many servants has something to do with it. I just don't know what it is. And I frankly, I don't want to know. I'm above that. Yeah, you are above that.

I pay someone else to know what a Sugar Bowl is. Yeah. There's one guy who knows what a Sugar Bowl is and that's his only job. That's the only fact he's allowed to think about. How much do you pay him? $50,000 a year. Can I have that job? All right, we can have to forget everything else I've ever told you. Easy.

But I know what a sugar bowl is. You can find that man. I can have two. There's a backup now. Okay, great. Oh, you're back up sugar bowl, Purs. It used to be worried that what would happen if he died. Yeah.

Who would know what a sugar bowl is? I'd have to train someone and I don't know what a sugar bowl is. It's a very complicated system. Okay, great always have to For one inevitably don't study every role. You're the sugar bowl swing Love that sugar boss swing. That's my cool dance move. I'm famous on Tiktok So if any of that doesn't make sense this in the last week's episode The North pond stranger also known as the Sugar Bowl incident.

So, the players on the Dream Team could afford lambigannies and forrries, but in Lithuania you had to receive a permit from the government to buy a car and there was an up to ten-year wait on actually getting the car. Ten years. Yeah, you had to get a permit to buy one and then you'd have to wait 10 years to get it. To get the car and not many people could afford them. I don't know what I want to do next week. I couldn't jump to 10 years. I'll put in an order for that for 10 years. There's a famous joke that Ronald Reagan, the US president, at the time, who was obviously throwing shade

at the Soviet Union, he would bring out jokes that he was saying that, oh, this shows that the Soviet, the people there, they know how to have a laugh. And it also makes fun of the regime they're living under. And the joke is that a guy got told he was going to get a car in 10 years, and he said, oh, thanks. Is it in the morning or the he was going to get a car in 10 years and he said, oh thanks, is it in the morning or the afternoon I'll get the car and the guy says, well, why does it matter to you? And he says, well, the plum is coming in the morning.

I've seen a clip of Reagan telling this joke. Big love. Actually, it's in the other dream team for Tokyo Mitre, yeah. It's very. Kragas wild at this show. The plum is coming in the morning. Yeah but it was honestly that was part of their lives. I would have to wait to get the car. In the USA luxury cars were a luxury item. In Lithuania any car was a luxury item. Wow that's fascinating and awful. It's awful. Even as a team things were different for members of the Soviet basketball squad. Before the World Championships, they were taken to Soviet hero and former leader Vladimir Lenin's tomb in Moscow to see his dead body as a source of inspiration.

Let's go check out a body. The way they were going to dig up a body, hey. Was there coach also a ghost? That seems like he's trying to do some so is he trying to reunite himself with his own body? Yeah I think so. Reanimate. Coach is just like you guys want to see a dead body? It'll inspire you. Dave Lennon, good guy bad guy. Oh complicated. It's all black and white. Quick, give me an answer. He's more complicated than Stalin. He's yeah, well, because he started the revolution and was the early later, but then he got sick and died and then Stalin stepped up and then became very authoritarian.

The London's one of those people that I think has great principles, but I don't know. Then a lot of people say he laid the groundwork for the regime that would kill millions of its own citizens. So can he be that good a guy? Yeah, right. And I'm not educated enough to tell you one way or the other. I'm just saying some people really like him and some other people say he's a dog. OK. Well, that's my new knowledge on Lennon.

Can't wait to bust that out next time someone asks. Yeah, so some people? What a gray area on that one actually. I mean, he paved the way for Stalin who most people say is a bad guy. And I think he's still just a guy. Most people would argue, some could argue he was a bad man. And but at the same time, had pretty good principles. But I mean, what are principles when they just paved the road to Stalin killing a lot of people.

Somebody did it. Yeah. In summary, you got to say he might have been a dog. Okay. Might have been a dog. But this, so the Soviet players, they went round, they went around and saw the body as inspiration. The Lithuanian players apparently thought that this was a bit weird and inside were laughing. We're laughing outside. They're getting a lot of trouble with it. Like why are we seeing this dead guy? Why are we going to go check it out? A party. But their play, their lives were controlled by the Soviets.

Before they were allowed to go on tours, they had to undergo a character analysis that declared the morally sound enough to represent the USSR. Fuck. No. And once they passed that test, whenever they went abroad as a team, they always had a team manager assigned to them by Moscow, someone who was almost certainly a KGB operative.

Shit. Just keeping an eye on them. This person's job was to monitor their movements. Bell movements? Yeah. They go through with a little stick. Peace. We don't have peace. Before the tours, they were told told how to behave and where they were allowed to go and what

they would be allowed to say publicly. They'd be followed wherever they went, especially when they were playing games in the USA. Okay. Sorry, always someone watching over their shoulders. And the USA blew their minds when they played there. They had new and interesting foods like chicken, orange slices and banana. Oh, banana. Banana, blue their minds.

Blue their minds. Banana. Banana. I didn't have it. So when is this in the 80s? In the 80s, yeah. Imagine being blown away by banana. Oh, the first time I came across banana,

blew me away. I'm assuming. When do you remember that? Well, no, but I can't shoot. I can almost certainly show you it was a mash banana, am I right? Ah, yes. Mash banana, mash banana. Yeah, the wiggles delivered it to me.

But the first time you have spaghetti, you did not want it to be cold. I remember I think avocado, the first time I blew my mind. It looked gross to me and then when I finally had it, I was like, holy shit. I'm the same, I was a teenager as the first time, that blew my mind. I looked gross to me and then when I finally had it, I was like, holy shit. I mean, I'm the same, I was a teenager by the time I actually got a shot. Oh, I was late to have a cardo,

very late, early 20s, I reckon. I mean, I'd had it before, but I didn't like it. For big fans? I'm obsessed with it. I've had it every morning for the past week. Holy shit, you like doing work. I've found some has, avocados and supermarkets. Has, not even that shepherd's shit. Fuck off, shepherd, you've found some has avocados in the supermarket. Has not even that shepard shit.

Fuck off shepard. It's dying a whole shepard. Fuck you. That rubber avocado, more like it. Yeah, nothing complicated about that argument. You've been able to do it in a party. Has yes. Yes.

Shepard, fuck off. Fuck off. For a while only shepards in the supermarket and I said, well, I'm done with this life. But then has came back. Just in time. Just in time. I was nearly done. You walk back from the ledge.

I said, all right, then. I'll stick around. You followed a trail of half-savagados. Yes. But I thought you'd back to safety. I'm so glad. Kamala, you're eating. I have a car to every day.

I mean, they're like, you know, two for five and one had last me two days. It feels like I've oats and milk for breakfast I'm Lithuania and you are the dream team because I can afford avocado Wow, if you believe those boomers who draw cartoons and the newspapers Yeah, that's why you own several properties Boomers and reggae Gays he's writing this up in Columbia. No.

Okay, Bermus. Obviously, international listeners would be well aware of these Chinese basketball teams called the Bermus. Obviously, international listeners would be aware that Andrew Gays is kind of like the Albert Einstein of the Australian basketball court. Yes. Yes, thank you. He's the genius of the layup.

That's sort of what he's known as here. Oh, yeah, the genius of the layup. Well, he can what he's known as here. Oh, yeah, the genius of the layup. Well, he can't dunk, but man, he can push it in off the backboard. Oh, yeah, that little squares there for a reason. Yeah. But he used it. It is. He used to pass to a guy who could dunk for the Tigers. That's how cool it is to Copeland. I was a great guy. Yeah, I get every point that Copeland scored, technically she got a gaze, because without him, there's no Copeland with that gaze. That's teamwork, baby.

Gaze is number one in my opinion. Just like Scotty Pippen, Pastor Michael. Good work, good decision. Scotty Pippen, MVP. When Scotty was out, and they talk about the show, this and the docker a bit, he sat out for, I'll kind of, because he wasn't being treated super well. So he took a, he got surgery mid-season when maybe you could have got it out of season

as a bit of a quite protest or a loud protest. And the team really suffered without him and with Jordan still playing. It's interesting to see you can't even on a five-man team, you got to have pretty handy players with you can't put it all on one play to carry everything Just imagine if they'd kept Andrew guys. What could have been? Who? The NBA Yeah, well, yeah I'm pretty sure I'll look that up. I'm pretty sure you want to ring for the spurs

Dominic oh maybe we're even with David Robinson, the admiral. No, really? Oh, that is. That's impressive. If true. I mean, either way, it's impressive. It's impressive if I've been able to come up with that fake fact. That is impressive. Gaze is a bit like Steve Martin and that he's looked old from the other yeah, yeah, so the fox in his 30s. Yeah, just maintained it. Yeah. Oh, you better believe it. He won with the admiral in 1999. Well done, Maddie. Well done, Gaze. Look, I mean, I you can take credit for this. Well, yeah, I think it was a team. It was definitely a team effort. I did as much on court as Gaze in that win. But anyway Dave,

stocketing distracted. I'm sorry, we've got to go. So the Lithuanians and the USSR their players, they're always watched, but this didn't mean the young men didn't attempt to make the most of their situation. Did they, they were their main industry was making batteries? Is that right? And these basketball years? Is that a thing, Lithuanian batteries? No, no, no, no. Am I right? Saying that? Yeah, I thought so.

So, see how quickly you hated yourself there? Well, I'm just starting to doubt it. Dave looked at me like that might not be right, so I'm not sure. But you're confusing the witt lithium with Lithuanian. I'm here and you said the same thing twice. So they tried to make the most of the situation. Most of the countrymen win a land to travel outside the USSR at all. Remember I've got to, you know, enjoy it. I mean eat the chicken, the orange slices, the banana, am I right? Try banana, you'll love it.

Do you remember that tiny, tiny banana you had in Thailand? It was so small. It was so tiny. It was so small. It was crazy, so it looked like fake banana. That's a real banana. Do you remember that? What a country.

So exciting. After we talked about oranges last week, I bought a couple of oranges. I'm gonna get Adam. Well, he should be responsible for the fruit council. Ooh. Does that exist? I take fruit free fruit for life.

I reckon. What is this becoming my other podcast getting free with Matt and the boys? Sorry, sorry. Sorry. Sorry, I know you. I know you too. We have a patent on that idea. Remember I said David Robinson salary at the time

was $5.7 million a year. That is over $100,000 a week. Well, a Soviet athlete salary at the time was $5.7 million a year. That is over $100,000 a week. Well, a Soviet athlete salary at the time was $100 a month. Oh my God. David Robinson would earn their yearly salary every two hours. Oh. Their yearly salary. yearly salary every two hours.

Two hours. Oh my God. But the cost of living in America at that point was a lot higher. Didn't Lithuania? Yeah, they got such cheap power because of all the batteries. Yeah, I stored it up. Yeah. So the Soviet athletes weren't well off by any stretch. So they make even more money on their tours. They would go shopping and fill their suitcases with as much as they could. They illegally take the purchases back to Lithuania and sell the items on the black market. Oh my god.

They risked jail time doing this, because it was smuggling, but they went for it nonetheless. It became a competition as to who could pack the most in their suitcase. Wow, that's a fun competition. That is sad that they have to do that. I bet Jordan would have put money on it though. Yeah.

I bet Jordan packed more in mine. He loves a game. Michael, stop put money on it though. Yeah. Bet you I can pack more in mine. He loves a game. Michael, stop taking money off us. You have so much money. I bet you own more money than you. No, I'm not taking that bet. Oh, where they went would depend what they would buy in Italy. They'd buy jeans, in Spain, shoes, in Japan, electronics and TVs.

And America, well they had everything. They buy food. Well they allowed to bring it back. Yeah, secretly, they'd smuggle it back. Once computers became popular, that was the must smuggle item. Once it became the person of the year. Time really influenced the world with that. Oh, you simply must smuggle the computer.

And the athletes could triple their money if they brought home a computer. Wow. But you bought for five of itself a 15 or a book when seroonus was selected as the Soviets number one athlete in all of The USSR he was asked to make a speech. This is the basketball player Serunas Marcelinas They handed him the speech and he was told he had to read it word for word

He disagreed with what it said because it had lots of praise for the USSR and their way of life and how free they are. He refused to speak. He was told, your wife is about to graduate university. If you don't do this for us, we'll make life very difficult for you and your family. So he had to speak. So a high point in his career being named the best athlete in the land quickly became a low point because he had to spout all his bullshit. Oh, wow, that's sad. And he was ashamed of himself for a long time after that. That's awful.

I would have just read it kind of sarcastically, you know? They didn't say anything about what tone and how to be in it. I would have been like, oh, the USSR is so good. I would have just done, I would have done question, like, fuck what am I trying to do? Thank you It's okay I love it. I love the US love it

I love the US SR You pretend to turn the page US all turn the page. Yeah. Like that dark girl. US, or turn the page. SR. Basketball sometimes got political. So bonus, one of the other great players, is part of a club called Zell Giris,

where Lithuanian's best players played. They played a match against the Central Red Army Sports Club, a club that was made up of players from all over the Soviet Union except Lithuania. Zell Giris was seen as a team representing a political movement, a movement that wanted freedom for all of Lithuania. Celgierus was expected to lose. After all, Lithuania had 3 million people and the rest of the Soviet Union had over 200

million. Okay. Celgierus fans packed the stadium and watched them defeat the Red Army. Wow. It was massive. Wow. It was massive. Whoa. And which was bad news to the red army team because they were told, under no circumstance, can you lose to these guys?

And then they did. Oh. They all went, did they all get it? Oh. No, it wasn't quite that bad, but it was, it was, yeah, they were pretty upset with it. They all got spanked and not in a sexy way, like an alleyway. Oh, no. You know, it's a fine line. And now we were between

an owl. Too much. It was owl. Oh, yeah, no fun spanking. It was a massive slap in the face of the Union and a huge Moral bus for the Lithuanian team and its supporters. It was actually seen as a big step forward for the country. That's how big basketball was in Lithuania. Yeah, I would never have thought. Because they were thinking there was no chance of them actually beating the Red Army, but we just beat their basketball team. So fuck you. Yeah. Our subbonus also made history in 1985 when he was selected by the Atlanta Hawks as the 77th pick for the NBA draft. That year Patrick Ewing, future dream team member,

was the top pick. Unfortunately for Zabona's, he was disqualified for not being 21 as the rules were quiet at the time. I was so young. He was only 20 and a few months. So the next year he was selected in the first round with a 24th pick by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was now old enough to play,

but the Soviet Union wouldn't let him leave to play for an American team, so he missed out. No. So did the Hawks not know his age? Yeah, I think there was some confusion over that because he was, you know, so far away. And then the next year... Trial blows his front to pick him. And he didn't know that he was going to be allowed up.

No, he knew. He was like, people told me, you just been off in a contract and he was he was like that means nothing to me because I know they're never gonna let me play Oh, but won't let me leave and you know that would have been a million dollar contract I think he yeah, I wonder if that's why the KGB doesn't let him out of his side in America in case he Yeah, it just makes off the effects and runs away But also in 1985 during a game in Vilnius Lithuania the other absolute gun player Marcelona struck a friendship with one of the opponent players, a guy named Donnie Nelson. Donnie Nelson was an American player participating in the friendly match, and Marceloanus absolutely smashed him that night, scored 40 points. He was supposed to be manning up on Marceloanus and he just dominated him.

But he was super impressed by the talent of his opponent, and as he's often the way, it's not what you know, but who you know. And Donnie Nelson's dad was Don Nelson. Yeah. And he got him a six record recording contract. Crazy. Never picked up an instrument in his life. But it was a ticket out of there. Straight to the top of the country. Can believe it. Now, his father was Don Nelson, who a couple of years later became the head coach of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. Donnie told his dad, Don, you got to check out this Lithuanian guy called Marcelinus, he's awesome. It was a complicated process, but the Golden State offered Marcelinus a contract.

He was told he couldn't go, just like he's made survivors, but he consulted lots of lawyers and he decided to sign the contract and risk being thrown in prison Sort of hoping we became a media story and he hoped that the media hype would keep him safe. Yeah Golden State coach Johnny Nelson was able to secure the contract. This is over several years and in 1989 Marceloenas became the first Soviet player to be allowed to play in the NBA Masterliners became the first Soviet player to be allowed to play in the NBA. Oh, no. Oh, no. It was a three-year contract worth $3.8 million. Oh, my God.

That's insane. More money than he could. He was making $100 a month previously. This is more money than you could ever dream of. What? And it was a culture shock for him and his family when he got to America. He couldn't believe that he could just buy a car on the spot. And perhaps even more amazingly, on his first trip to the supermarket, when he noticed that there was no rationing on fruit and vegetables he started crying

You mean I can buy all of this you can have anything you want Amazing Far out he was making a hundred bucks a month. I make more than that a week What Did I get a hundred bucks a month? I make more than that a week. What? Holy shit. I wouldn't look like that out loud. The tax people are gonna come for you. I make more than a hundred bucks a week. Is that true?

I don't even care who knows it. I bet you get mugged on the way home. Yeah. I'm driving my Maserati home. Thanks very much. There, I'm muggable. 100 dollars for that Maserati. Thank you. I paid $100, I paid a week's wage for that.

Week's wage, wow. So, 1989 is a big year. You became the first player to make the transition and not get punished. It was also a big year in world politics. The Tiananmen Square massacre took place in China, the Berlin Warfell in Germany. Romania and Dictator Nikolau Chao Chescu was executed by his people, and Lithuania really began to push for independence from the Soviet Union. I think a few of those things have never been said so cheerfully.

Or brushed over so quickly. Well, I mean, it's just amazing that it was a… Fast wins. There they are. So quickly well, I mean it's just amazing that it was a fast wins Well, there you go. Andrew goes just set one up Copeland, Caitlin came in and laid it up. Thank you very much. No Australian is ever dunked in there Well, no, that's not true. No, no, it's not true. I think I think Bucket. I think Copeland might have been born elsewhere. I don't think so. That's why guys are Australian born. He alley-ooped it to someone.

I don't know. I feel like Copeland might have even been American born. Yeah, Copeland's American. So that's... Do you think that there's a country out there where no one has ever done a slam dunk? And you could theoretically become the first person in your country in 2020 And it and it makes you like you're instantly the president Say that Ricky Javais film the invention of lying even the invention of dunking

How they don't what was that even possible I might more remembering correctly, but I think Lee's Cambridge was the first woman to dunk at the Olympics. Oh, yeah, maybe. Is that like in 2000 or something? Yeah, no, not in 2000, that's too long ago. More recently. I don't know, that feels believable. Dave keep going and I'll look it up.

I'm pretty sure that's right. All right, that's cool. So Lithuania, the takeaway from that paragraph that I really brushed over was, they began to push for independence from the Soviet Union. And all these other places were also pushing for independence and more rights.

A movement headed by Vitaltus, Landsbergus. Incredible name. So many of the names sound like like Roman Empire-ish. Yeah, totally. Landsbergus Vitaltus, Landsbergus. Totally. He declared Lithuania's independence. Did he have the ability to do that? No. But he went for it. I love it. And on August 23, 1989 approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 675 kilometers, 420 miles across the three Baltic states, Est Estonia Latvia and Lithuania

two million people joined hands what well this is pre-COVID-19 yeah I'm never shaking hands again no let alone holding hands oh I'm looking for a shaking hands no you can't be hug again one day. Absolutely not. In a year. Okay. We can hug in a year. 10 years, morning or afternoon. Because the plumbers come out in the morning. I'm hugging him. I'm hugging him.

Lithuania officially declared independence on March 11th, 1990, but it wasn't strictly that easy. The USSR weren't going to let them go without a fight. First, they put in an economic blockade and just tried to make life difficult for the independent seekers. Yerekin, you've already done a bit of that with the gulags? But then now they're like, no, I'm not gonna give you anything. So absolutely cut them off from the rest of the world. Inflation sword and it was very difficult

time to be in Lithuania. Hoping to capitalize on the unrest caused by the inflation, the USSR sent in the tanks. Send in the tanks. Oh, my God. I'm honestly a son of quite dislike the USSR. Oh. Here we go. Crazy opinion alert.

Here it is. What's the upside? And what about Lenin? When you think dog or not dog? Well, it's tricky. You know, there's a lot of gray area there. You had a lot of good principles, but he paved the way for these tanks

that ended up going in Elitha, Wania in 1990. I reckon a good school principal will set anyone right. So I'm glad he had a few ones. I'll say. The punking's back in town. You got pond. You got pond. the The fungings back in fan You got pond you got pond. I looked it up at least Cambridge made a Olympic history By being the first one to dunk at the Olympics in 2012 not 2000 she was nine years old in 2000

That was why I'm present impressive. That would have been awesome. I was dunking by ten Also in the 2000s was the first first time they allowed ladders at the Olympics so it wasn't that impressive that was children the Harlem Glove Trotters won every medal sure that was amazing so the hoping to capitalize on the unrest caused by the inflation the USSR sent in the tanks they thought they'd be welcomed but they totally misjudged it Lithuanians flooded the city to defend their independence. Then what tanks ever be welcomed? They thought they've already told them to fuck off. They thought they'd... Well, they thought they'd make the inflation so unbearable that they'd be welcomed.

Thank you. Your system actually wasn't that bad. Our new system. I can't even afford bread before there was some bread but they would also probably be aware that it's only that die because of those that yeah the powers of those tanks represent they did not do well and Soviet soldiers unleashed violence across the city and shot and ran over hundreds of people oh my god 14 of whom died that night oh my god this was under the cover of nightfall, but the atrocities were well documented. There's a lot of video footage out there. Shit. The leader of the land of the of the of the land's burgers called for his people to occupy the

city the next day. And following the attacks, large crowds of more than 50,000 people supporting independence gathered around the Supreme Court building. People started building anti-tank barricades and setting up defences inside surrounding buildings. The Soviets realized that they'd lost, they left for good, and independence was recognized by other countries on that day. Lithuania became the first country to leave the USSR and Landsburgers became chairman of the country, basically their new leader. They were finally free. What a... Wow, such an inspiring and brutal story.

It's crazy, and they were the first of many to regain their independence. In fact, by the end of 1991, so not that long later, the entire Soviet Union was no more. Yeah. That was the first domino to full kind of. Yeah, and it had been sort of fracturing for a long time and that's what Lithuania sort of sense there. This is out. If we're going to go for it, this is it. When did Turkmenistan and the Turkmenbashi, it wasn't too long after that, I think, that they... I guess it was a mid-90s account. I feel like 92s, a number in my head, but I don't know, as

a while ago we talked about him. fascinating story though. Yeah, it's just you can't imagine you go any of those sort of stories just like what a what a wake up call to how lucky we are. Totally. And a lot of people live here and now. A lot of the basketball players in the story, they had to watch on TV because, you know, they're either in the NBA or a few of them had moved to different USS R nations to play for their, in their basketball squads, in their leagues,

and watched their country, and they were kind of like, oh, we're gonna win this? So, are my family gonna be in trouble? Yeah. Yes, that's full on. Back over in the USA, the Dream team got together for the first time for a training camp in California.

It was time to see how the best players in the world would actually play together as a team. There was a whole lot of talent and a whole lot of egos. They practiced together, and everyone played like they had something to prove. A few days later, they had their first time of playing at taste of playing on the same side when they played a closed exhibition match against some college players Who were of course stoked to be playing against these legends of the game? I'd be terrified These college players in Spain. This is all in Spain or is this in America?

I this is in California. California. Yeah This is all in Spain or is this still in America? This is in California. California. The dream team coach was Chuck Daly, who I mentioned Daly had been hired for his talent at handling and managing large personalities and egos. And this was his first chance to see how his players would go together as a team. It was expected that they'd all go for the ball and basically hug it as they showed off to sort of impress

each other. But the actual, actually the opposite happened. They all passed a lot. No one wanted to be the first one to go for it in front of the other legends and they played sort of like sheepishly. Oh wow. That's interesting. I would have thought it would be definitely.

Yeah. They were like, oh, if Mark was not going to go for it then I'm not going to go for it. I would have come alone, not going to go for a three hour or. Maybe I won. The dream team didn't know how to play together. And at half time they were getting trounced by these young kids. Holy shit. That's fascinating. Anything crazy.

The assistant coach Mike Krasuski asked head coach Chuck Staley what they should do. And he said, we're all right. Don't worry about it. I suppose this is just a practice match. You would kind of let that happen. You wouldn't be like, don't get the shite of all of you.

You'd be like, oh, I don't know. Let's keep these eggos in. Yeah, well, the game went on and by the end of it, the college team had smashed the dream team. Wow. The best players in the world were beaten by a bunch of college kids. What a great story for those college kids. Yes.

They still dine out on that story. I watched a video. The media were led in after the game, but they tried to keep the fact that they lost a secret. They made sure to clear the scoreboard. Yeah. Because it would be a huge embarrassment to the league, but I've just picked 11 of their best and they got beaten by some college kids.

It's since been speculated upon by Mike Krasuzki, the deputy coach that Chuck Daly could see that this would happen and basically through the game by not subbing in players or making any tactical adjustment, adjustments in order to get his players egos and checkers, you just said yes. And also to realize that despite the hype, they weren't invincible. Yes. The players did start listening to him more after this. And the next day they played a rematch with the college kids and the dream team beat them by nearly 100 points. So it was all, and from that time on they had the mentality of we've got to play with our hearts and properly because we could lose.

And imagine how embarrassing that would be. One of the main changes they made was a bunch of the players, Jordan Organizist, they got a VHS type of Andrew Gays' famous layup. And they used, they brought that in as a tactic the following day and they laid their way up to victory. Yeah, they do. Actually, believe that Nike slogan is just a shortening of what they would say, they would say, just do it like Gaysie does.

Yeah, that's right. That's what they all say. Yeah, come alone like just to remember to do it like Gaysie does. Like Gaysie. Charles Barkley, I'm doing it That's what they all said. Yeah, come alone. Yeah, just just remember do it like as you does like as Charles Barclay I'm doing it like gazing. Yeah, yeah Like gazing. I want it if I could be like gazing One of the one of the team tattoos They've all got on the left but yeah, yeah, yeah, what would gazing do?

Win with a that's it says on the right budget yeah win win in Braggers and case it wasn't clear guys he won a lot of NBL championships the original NBA I mean like do you want NBL? Do you want NBL? NBL? So I mean what is it so I guess all the country on the world have NB something so you know Spain's NBD theball District, that sort of thing. Is that true? Yeah, they're whole country's one district. Yeah.

Wow, that is fascinating. Let's stumble across that fact. Right. You really, the more you know, you really set me up, Andrew Ghostar. Yeah. You coping me. What a sweet dunk that was. Well, not a dunk.

The Kantunk District. Layout. You set me up for that, why? dunk. District. Layout. You set me out for that. Yeah. No Australian player has ever done. Even though he's not really. Still, no Australian players have ever done. He was living in Australia for quite a while, but at the point lost the ability to dunk. Once you enter a country, you have to leave your dunking abilities at the door. Yeah, you're a link wish You'll be fine. Yeah, we cut your Achilles tendons so you can't jump anymore

It's a brutal country, but we got lovely beaches. Yeah, beautiful wonderful cafe culture That water will sting your Achilles if you don't let a heel for it Maybe wait, it's beautiful With dominant performance Performances in the Olympic qualifying tournament of Americas, the dream team was ready to play. But they couldn't have been as keen to represent their country as the Lithuanians. Now the country was free, Lithuanian basketballers who were playing around the world were determined to represent their country at their first Olympic since 1928. Wow, that's epic.

I'm so shocked that basketball was in the Olympics for that long. When did you know when it came in? Oh, so it came in in 1936, but Lithuania hasn't been at the Olympics. Has their own nation since 1928? Even 36 is surprising. Yeah, awesome.

But there was one big problem. The country had no money. So often, yeah, these things come about, like, you know, they change leaders or whatever. And it's like, yeah, freedom. But it takes a while to actually get things going. So they didn't have money to send a basketball team over to Barcelona. Now playing at the Golden State Warriors, Serunas, one of the star players, reached out to Donnie Nelson, the guy that discovered him and his father was Golden State coach. And they started running some fundraiser speaking at events

and basically going door to door to raise money for the Lithuanian team. Every dollar they got they sent it back to Lithuania. Imagine that a multi-millionaire coming on your door. Do you mind if you give us some money to send over some of my mates? Mate, you earned multi-millions of dollars! He's earning three points something which is insane I'm guessing they probably need a little more than that To bring everyone over but that's fucking crazy. So they're fundraising. Yeah, they're fun They're raising money to send there. They're brand new country

But they're you're allowed to be sponsored in the Olympics so that they couldn't get like a Nike or someone on board Well Looking back it would have been a great move by them, but they did not. They did it the hard way. One of the local writers of the Bay Area, George Shirk, wrote about the Lithuanians plight in a local newspaper. The headline was, for a real dream team, take a look at Lithuania. The article was read by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, who were all

huge basketball fans, but also members of the rock band The Grateful Dead. Soon after Serunas was playing basketball in Detroit, the same night The Grateful Dead were playing, sorry, the night before The Grateful Dead were playing the same stadium. Oh shit. So Serunas and Donnie Nelson, they went a little bit early and they went to the gig. Serunas was fascinated by the smell of the smoke and the arena and wondered how he'd be able to play there the next night.

People lighting up a few doobies in the crowd. Oh, you did hit. Oh yeah. I didn't realize, you know, I knew they were a big band, but I didn't know they were like a stadium. Yeah, big time over there, big time. They're one of those bands bands is way bigger in America than they are here, right?

Yeah, cause a few of those kind of bands, rushes and other bands, apparently real big in America and, at least bands that I'm like, I know they are, but I couldn't name the songs on their greatest hits. Yeah. But yeah, they were big time, and they were playing at the same stadium

that the NBA players played at. After we went to the concert, Sauruna smelt the band who were again smoking something backstage. I see. Nice. They moved onto something a little heavier. The band was sympathetic to Lithuania's plight and agreed to sponsor the team and pay for

their transportation costs. No, why? To the acting. The grateful dead sponsors. The Lithuanian basketball team. They wear grateful dead logos on there. and pay for their transportation costs. No, why? To the acting, I think, grateful debt sponsored. The Lithuanian basketball team. They wear grateful debt. What?

Because of an article they read. Yeah, and there were big basketball fans, and they were like, oh, yeah, we'll help you out. Far out. So that was a huge gift. They offered to pay to get them over to the Olympics. But that was not the only thing they gave the team. They also had some t-shirts and shorts designed

as an eye-catching uniform. They're sent over a box of tie-died shirts designed by New York artist Greg Spears. The shirts feature a skeleton slam dunking a ball. And the rest of the shirt is this amazing tie-dye. Not a typical Olympic uniform, but the Lithuanians, who under the Soviets were used to gray and dreary colors for absolutely everything, they were stoked to wear them. good and they wore them everywhere to the games to the press conferences around the city Oh, you got to share photos of that oh Good you can still get a really want one It meant that they were visible at the Olympics so they'd go everywhere they go and obviously most of them are very very tall men

7 foot 3 And they were in these really really bright shirts that everywhere people went they go and obviously most of them are very, very tall men. Seven foot three or one in clown out. And they're wearing these really, really bright shirts that everywhere people went and they're like, oh, that's the Lithuanian team. They sort of got a rep that way. So it became branding for them. And I created a lot of buzz around the team because people would look into and be like, oh, I haven't played at the Olympics since 1928. That's amazing.

And it became like the must have souvenir at that Olympics was one of these, one of these Starler shirts. So yeah, it really helped put them on the basketball mat. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, 12 teams qualified for men's basketball and there were split into two groups. Groups. The top four of Group A were USA, Brazil, Germany and Croatia. It was a had a quite a story having declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. So they were also a brand new country. Yeah, right. Yeah. Group B included Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Australia, and the CIS, also known as the unified team,

which was a team made up of the countries of the former Soviet Union, except the Baltic states like Lithuania. So they were a group, they were in a group with their former peers, including Russia, which they saw as their former oppressors. Right, damn. I think because everything had happened so fast, rather than those other countries that had just declared independence, they were allowed to, for one last Olympics, compete under one banner. And the players were like like I don't want to miss the Olympics

Yeah, all right cool. Yep, and there was still seen as a big dominant force because there's still 190 million odd people that they're drawing from Just not the Luther way needs to map up the majority of their team. Yeah, that's right And they're like we don't want to lose to these guys because they're our oppressors In group A the dream team lived up to their hype. Matt mentioned this on the Smuggle Jordan report, but they won their games by an average of 44 points. The hype that followed them was unbelievable.

Everywhere they went, they were treated like rock stars. That's ikonson recalls it, because he's such a fun, smiley guy. Everywhere he's like, we'd get on the bus yeah we Way from the bus yeah we'd leave yeah Everywhere they move move a little bit yeah The round-mound of rebound Charles Barkley also lived up to his reputation of saying and doing whatever he liked despite his He's promised Before that I'll be a good boy to his reputation of saying and doing whatever he liked, despite his, his, his, promised before the, I'll be a good boy.

Before the team's first match against Angola, he said to the media, I don't know anything about Angola, but Angola's in trouble. Okay, that's not that bad, I guess. And he, and he was right, they smashed Angola both on the scoreboard and on the court.

This is the controversial bit. At one stage, the score was 46 to one. Okay, messy rule. Barkley caught a huge controversy for violently elbowing an opponent who he claims to this day had been elbowing him throughout the match. He said he elbowed me three times. Let it go twice. He did it again so I cracked him. It was portrayed in the media as a superstar lashing out as an amateur from Angola. Barkley later said, somebody hits me, I'm going to hit him back.

Even if it doesn't look like he hasn't eaten in a while. Oh, Charles. Michael Jordan recalled the incident, said, that's the same guy who just asked you for an autograph, Charles. You think he's not intimidated by you? Yeah. Because that's a thing. Before the match, the other players would want their autograph. No. They'd get photos with them after the match. And Charles even said about this. He's like, I'm about

to whip your ass. Why? Why do you want a photo with me? Thank you. But they were just, they were like, you know, the biggest thing in the world. Whoa. And despite the controversy, Charles Barkley gained legions of fans during the Olympics. And he became one of the most memorable personalities of the entire games, because mostly because of his press conferences. And he would travel around Spain, Barcelona, and people just loved him wherever he went.

So his profile was really raised during the games. And the scores were amazing. They beat Angola 116 to 48, down Germany 111 to 68, smashed Croatia 103 to 70, took care of Brazil 127 to 83, and out Sean host nation's Spain 122 to 81. Long story short, the USA smashed everyone and easily made the semifinals. Lithuania on the other hand were a required achiever but they had a great start to their games. They beat China, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, no worries. Their fourth game was against the unified team made up of the Soviet players. It was a lot more personal. Sadly they

lost against their old rivals, 92 to 80, but they went on to beat Australia, so they made it to the semi-finals, but it was a real dash to the pride of the country. Did they make it past them though? Yes, so it was... The CIS were eliminated, but... No, so the CIS, Australia and Lithuania all progressed to the semis. So there was six in each group each, it's group and the top four after playing everyone, playing the other five went through to the semifinals. Yeah, I'm a

semis. I'm picturing two versus two in the semis. How many games in the semis? I said semifinals, I meant quarter finals, gotcha. And then the winners of that go become the final four for the semis and then that goes onto the gold medal match and the bronze medal match. Yeah, cool. Who's the unlucky sucker who drew the dream team and the and the quarters? Sometimes in these kind of tournaments you're like, if we win this game we have to play the dream team. So it must be strange sometimes or you know that that kind of thing. You want to know who the unlucky suckers were? Oh, was it us?

No, we got through to the... It was Paul Rod Lithuania. Oh! When he made it about us. He's been talking about Lithuania for a while now. Just a while now, I thought I was going to be asked even though I knew that they ended up... No, was this the year they...

No, I'm confusing a different year anyway. So was the dream team versus Lithuania? The winner would go into the gold medal match and the loser would play off for the bronze medal. All right, so this is the same thing. So they made it through to the semi-sale. So they won their, they both won their quarters obviously. Yep.

The Lithuanians knew the talent of the Americans and had seen what they'd done, do it, done to every other team and basically had no fantasies about beating them. But they did wanted to put on a respectable showing and they did. They were distoked to be playing against such amazing talent. Only mass aloneness who played in the NBA had ever played against anyone that good. One of the younger Lithuanian players, Arthur Ruskasa Novus even started taking pictures with a camera from the side of the court. He's now like a high up NBA

exec but he said at the time he was like no one else has taken photos so I figured I'd try and they all turned out terrible. That's awesome. The Dream Team did smash them 127 to 76 but it wasn't embarrassing. The dream team was smashing everyone. Yeah, it sounds like a pretty similar skull on all the other games. Yeah, so they did pretty good. That meant that the USA went on to the gold medal match against Croatia. Croatia put up a big fight and got closer than any other team, but the margin was still 31 points with the USA triumphant 117 to 85. Wow, triumphant. 31 points with the USA tri-unfing 117 to 85. Wow.

Tri-unfing. They lived up to their reputation and put their country back on top of the basketball world. The team had averaged 117.3 points per game. Chuck Daley hadn't called a single timeout throughout the entire tournament. What? He didn't wipe the floor in the room. He didn't need to.

Amazing. Michael Jordan was the only player to start on court in all eight games. They let everyone else cycle through and they all started a part of the starting five, but he was the only one that was always part of the starting five. But he was the second highest scorer. Charles Barkley was the team's highest scorer with an average of 18 points per game. 18 points a game. Scotty Pippin led in assists and

Karl Malone and Patrick Ewing tied with the most rebound. The round man got out rebound. But what about Lithuania? Yeah what happened to them? Well they played off for the bronze medal and fate would have it. They had to rematch the only team that had beaten them. Their former country, the United Team. Oh, damn. Oh, that's perfect. I know. They were told they had to win at all costs.

He's saying a show I didn't even make the top four this time. I thought that was our spot. No, this time. Sorry, Gaze. Poor Gaze. Poor Gaze. He deserved better. He deserved a gold. Better average more than 18 points a game. Croatian, knock them out, I'm afraid.

Oh, yeah. Betten by a pretty decent team. So they were told they had to win at all costs. For the pride of the new nation. Their first matches as a proper country, not just some Soviet colony. That's how people used to view them. And they're like, no, we're our own team now. Yeah. We're big boys. They couldn't be beaten again. Their head coach told them, men, you're playing for the people of Lithuania, people are watching

you, losing sleep over you. They were told the whole country was either watching them on TV or listening to the game on the radio. Think about that pressure. Even making the top four is so impressive. Where that to fundraise just to get there. It's an amazing story. It's wild. I had no idea. No. It's amazing. It was a close game the whole way through just before half time. The United team were up by four points, but the Lithuanians clawed it back to be up by six points when the buzzer went.

Final buzzer, half time. Half time buzzer. Oh, wow. So they called it on. Up by six. Valder Maris Hochimus had been struck in the head during the first half, and he was bleeding quite badly. He had injuries bleeding.

That's fine. The leader of their country was there, Chairman Landsbergers. The man who'd started the revolution that got them free from 50 years of Soviet domination. What a funny change he's gone through. He's leading a revolution and soon after, just sitting on the side of a court. Which is a basketball.

And then it would, like, he'd be on TV and it would come up with Chairman of Lithuania. So what? He went up to a Hoatumus and asked him if the injury hurt and hoatumus replied, I can't see anything through the blood. Chairman Landsberg has told him, don't worry about it. You're spilling blood for Lithuania. Bad ass. Somebody help him.

Bad ass. What a fucking bandage on him. Genuinely, a little cart on your head will bleed like a motherfucker. Just wipe it up, find the source of the blood, whack a bandage on it. For Lithuania. For Lithuania! Do it for the country. You're bandaging your head for Lithuania.

You're creating trip hazards for everyone else for Lithuania. Your blood's clotting for Lithuania. Your blood isn't clotting. Where should get you tested? To your bleeding area. For Lithuania. The man hit the core for the second half. And the second half overall went to the United team. But would it be enough overall? With six minutes to go, there was only one point in it. The United team outscored Lithuania in the second half, 45 to 43, but it wasn't enough

to overtake. Lithuania won the bronze medal by four points. So good. Yes. The bronze would look good with their tie-dies. Yeah, it looks good. The Lithuanian stars really shown that match with Marcelo and his scoring 29 and Sabona's contributing 27.

Whoa. It was the proudest moment in the country's athletic history. There were huge celebrations in Lithuania and in the locker room. The chairman came in and sprayed Marcellona's with champagne and then they all started singing the anthem. It sounded terrible. But they did it with pride. So good. It's one of the weird quirks of these kind of team tournaments that bronze you get to win We're silver you lose gold. Yeah, so it'd be more satisfying to win the bronze medal That lose because you got yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, funny funny thing. So it's almost perfect for them Yeah, yeah, it worked out really well. I can I remember

We've been have time for another tangent, but I'll tell it anyway, because I've started. Going, like what is a teenager going into a grand final game, and I got there as the game before us was finishing, and they were doing like a medal's presentation, and I was like, wait, if you come second, you still get a medal, and they're like, yeah, it's like, and I was so relaxed at that that whole game because I knew either way

we were getting a trophy as I was like this is gonna be all right the other team were like making mistakes because they were really nervous and I was just like fuck yeah go on home with the trophy and we won you won a silver medal got it though so pretty sick I just think, yeah, that's such a good point. Are you wind, bronze, or are you? I would go into a gold medal match like, well, I'm getting the medal out of the way. You know, I'd be stoked, I don't care. I want a medal, and that's why I'll never be a professional athlete.

That's why you made it at the top. That's sort of ruthlessness, you have. You know how competitive I am. Yeah, Michael Jordan was, he was stoked at the times. He came running around. I mean, I get a participation award. I love that. Well, in 18 months, the small nation of just 3 million

had gone on from declaring independence to winning on the world stage. Wow. A team sponsored by a rock band from a place many had previously never heard of run the bronze medal for their people. Lithuania added a gold medal also that tournament by when discus throw a Romas Ubatis one gold.

Yes, Romas. They're all such Roman names. He sounds like the seizes off. For Romas Ubatis. That's right. I feel like this is a win-win for both Dreamtames. I'm glad the American Dreamtame won and I'm glad Lithuania got the... They needed it, the US Dreamteams. They needed it. I bet they had a, you know,

that would have been good for their egos, because they needed a boost. Well, it actually meant the Lithuania stood on the podium next to the world famous members of the Dreamteam. Of course. And you better believe they proudly wore their Grateful Dead tied-eyed t-shirts. Yes. Serena's Master Loner said, the Grateful Dead believed in us when we were nobody and we're

going to pay tribute to them. Oh. When you start telling this story, I thought it was just going to be they made it and they played in the Olympics. I didn't realize it was going to be them winning a bronze. Sick. So 12 men received bronze medals. Three of them already had gold medals from

the previous Olympics. But they'd won that for the USSR. This time they'd won bronze for Lithuania and it meant a lot more. Wow, that's nice. Yeah, I forgot they'd been in the Olympics for the USSR. So that part isn't so new for them, but playing for Lithuania would be too special. Yeah, I'm sure we should. And they had to beat Andrew Gays' boomers to get there. That would have, I imagine, I mean, you'd breezed over it, but I imagine that would have probably been the biggest moment for a lot of... A very tough game. Yeah, beating a hero like that?

Well, my God. I've got a photo with Gaysie after that. He had been very ablodging. Yeah, he would have... Unlike Charles Barclay, he would have asked... He asked Gays I got a photo with Gaze after that. He would have been very ablodging. Yeah, he would have- Unlike Charles Barca, he would have been the ass- He was the ass-Gaze-er for a photo. Yeah, of course he did his Gaze-er. I reckon, yeah.

I imagine that Gaze-er would have made a funny little quip as well. Oh, I would assume so, yeah. He said he does sports news on Channel 10, and then he do his 40 tips, he does tips to the the I fell and then shoot a basketball over his head or something. Do you have a good? Oh probably every time three out of five times he got it. It's gazing.

It's crazy. I reckon he probably did okay. I see got an order of Australia yet. I assume so. So Andrew, go see you please. Just to wrap it up here, after the Olympics, all the members of the Dream Team, except for Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, returned to the NBA. The Dream Team had taken the NBA to a whole new level and interest in basketball

exploded around the world. So, as Matt was saying, it really did put it on a new stage. Since 1992, the USA has won gold at every Olympics, except in 2004 when Argentina won gold, and the USA won bronze that year. Bronze, that's a big, a big drop. Because like, this would, they still think of this as the full dream team because after this, they did find it hard to get the best of the best to play in there. And this was already a golden age in the NBA as well. But I think usually they wouldn't be able to get the, I'm pretty sure at least I like the bronze won a gold

medal. Right. Lithuania won bronze again in 1996 and 2000. Well, both times beating Australia and poor old Andrew Gays. Gaysie competed in five Olympics and came fourth three times. I'm, I knew I remember a couple, but yeah, to me, that's pretty cool that Gaze went top four at the Olympics three times at sick. And as for our Lithuanian guys, Veldomaris Hochemus, the man who bled for Lithuania, went on to be an assistant coach on the Lithuanian national team and still coaches the top team in the top Lithuanian league. Serunas Marcel Onas, he ended up playing eight seasons in the NBA, scoring 4,631 points. He later founded the Northern European basketball league after being president of the Lithuanian

basketball league for 10 years. He's an inductee of both the Nasmith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and became a member of the Feeber Hall of Fame. So he's really well respected. And then there's Arvita Sabonas. Arvita Sabonas finally debuted in the NBA. This is the guy that got picked in 1985. He finally debuted in 1995. 10 years later. See, that was some quick math. So wait, as a 30 year old, he was a rookie at 31. That's so good. He had injuries in his knees and he was well past his prime.

One of the doctors that gave him a medical before the signing said, Arvitus could qualify for a handicap parking spot based on this X-ray alone. Oh my god. But they still signed him. Despite this, he played seven years in the NBA and scored 5,629 points spot based on this x-ray alone. Oh my god. But they still signed him. Despite this, he played seven years in the NBA and scored 5,629 points, and his team made the playoffs every year. Seven years till he was 38. Yeah, and he was already shot.

His legs were already shot at 31. He's in multiple Hall of Fame's and in 2011, Sabonus was voted as the next president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. And just finally, current basketball fans might know the name Sabonis because his son, Demantis Sabonis, was born in Portland while his father was playing for the trailblazers. Well, his son, Demantis, currently plays in the NBA for the Indiana Paces and was named an All-Star this year in 2020. Oh, cool!

So the future is very bright for basketball in Lithuania. That's awesome. So it lives on. Oh, that is the end of my longest report ever. Thanks for sticking with me. What a great report. Did it go that long? A breeze by to me. I think we're sitting at a nearly a couple of hours here. So I felt like that won't absolutely flew by. Yeah, that was great. Hey, can I give you a couple of quick Andrew Gays stats? Yes, please. Yes, no better way for his life. Oh, wise.

Because I just quickly looked these up and some of these blew my mind. If you could just text me some random Andrew Gays facts of the next few days, I would love it. Yeah, we should make a website called random Andrew Gays, fact-generated book. Well, we were joking about how good he was, but he dominated the

NBL. It is wild. Yeah. Which obviously is the original NBA. Yes. The NBA won. Yeah, exactly. He averaged 44.1 points in 1987. He averaged 44 points a game. Yeah. Fuck me. That's the highest ever single season points per game average. That's the record season. Eight time NBL 3 point field goal leader. Ten times NBL free throw percentage leader. Obviously NBA champion 99 who cares. He was the NBA MVP between 91 and 98 every year

apart from 93. Five. Say again. 91 92 95 4 95 96 97 98. And the NBA. MVP. Wow.

15 times all NBA L first team. 14 times NBA L scoring champion 14 times NBL scoring champion. 14 times. It was the NBL rookie of the year in 84. I love this, maybe my favorite. Eight times NBL most efficient player. Oh yes. What does that mean? He uses energy well. Did people even bother going to the awards? It says up to 97. The award was discontinued because Andrew goes with the only player winning. I just stopped giving it out because he was the only one. Six times, Gays medalists.

Which, you know, at the time was a named after him, but now is named after him. And that's the best international Australian player of the year. Yeah. Far out. Yeah. I mean, yeah, an incredible player. That's wild. What a freak. Could never dunk. He said. Yeah, so he average over 30 points, like for the first 15 years of his career almost 29 is first. So then from 85

all the way through to 2000 he averaged over 30 points a game. That's fucking it over 40 in 87. That is bat. That is so much. Yeah, wild. And then obviously yeah NBA champion in 98, 99 anyway, he should have had his own bloody Report, but that's a mini gazey report little bonus report there at the end. So worth it The lab brings us to everyone's favorite section of the show the Andrew Gay stats section Yeah, that's done every week. We have to do it But we also have a fact quote or question section of the show And I has a little jingle I a fact quote or question section of the show. And I have a little jingle, I think fact code or question.

You never forget the ding. Nobody ever forgets the ding. So in this section of the show, if you support us at Patreon, at patreon.com slash do go on pod on the Sydney Shamburg Deluxe Memorial edition level, you get to give us a factor quote or a question. I'd read out two a week. I don't read them to a reading. You also get to give yourself a title. This week Larry First is the first one we're going to do and he's given himself the great name by the way. Yeah, on your Larry. First, I love all of that. He's given himself the title director of four skin tabulation and wedding planning. Okay. Well Well let's see if this quote is given us,

gives us a small context there. Look at the for skin tabulator. Don't ask questions. I'm gonna say that one. I mean it's quotes from the Bible, so maybe this will help us out here. From the Bible, one Samuel 18 to 27, quote, David took his men with him and went out

and killed 200 Philistines and brought back their four skins They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king son-in-law Then Saul gave him his daughter Michael or Marshall in marriage Bible's got a lot of stuff in there You go out you bring back a whole bunch of four skins. You count them out in front of this man and then he says, all right, you can have my daughter.

In exchange for two hundred four skins. That tradition has evolved over time to the wedding ring, but it used to be two hundred human skin wedding rings. Is there a chance that if it was 190 he would have said not enough? I'd love to go back at 10 more. I was certain that story was going to go. He said these are 204 skins. He'd say thank you and it turned out that the men were still alive. They just chopped off their foretelling. And that started circumcision. Yeah, that was like the way that they survived or something. Because obviously 204 skins that doesn't mean the men are necessarily dead.

You haven't chopped off their hair. They're in pain though. Yeah. You better believe they're limping for two weeks. No, I'm pretty sure in Biblical times there was great anaesthetics. Yeah. What do I mean for? Well, Larry first.

Fantastic quote. Thank you for that. A memorable one, an inspirational quote. First quote. I think we're all taking something different. First quote from the Bible and first foreskin quote. So thank you. Yeah, one an inspirational quote first first taken something different and first quote from the Bible and first for skin quote so thank you yeah you're not the first there uh... secondly stephen headly uh... given himself the title of do go on brewer

extraordinaire well that was kind of this got a question the question is if you were to make your own do go on beer what kind of beer would be and how would it taste? Well, I think Jess and I will handle this one if you don't mind. Yeah, of course. Take it back, see it. I think you can.

We'll go with a West Coast IPA, I believe. Oh, great. Because the East Coast is a little bit too hoppy for me, is that one? It's like a cloudier. Thank you. Yeah, I think they're both quite hoppy, but um, the East Coast or the NEPA, the new England

RPA, is the, is the cloudier one? Matt, what's that one I like from Brisbane? Oh, you like the passion fruit goes up. Yeah, goes depending on who you thought was the first time we've all three of us have had a beer and said, yum. Yeah, is that, does that mean we should make that come maybe we should make some yeah maybe we maybe we shouldn't have our own take on it another fruit what kind of fruit would you do passion fruit passion fruit so we do we're just gonna re badge yeah seven bells from green bacon brewery yeah that sounds now what how it's now. Okay, what about dragon fruit? No.

Passion fruit. I'm looking at it. I do like, I love passion fruit, and I do like that beer. Okay, it could be apple, a weight, that's cider. No, I don't like apple. Let's stick to the question. I like apple to eat, I don't like apple to drink.

Okay, interesting. Here you go, I love learning about you. I like to. I like to open up the oven. I eat bananas, but I don't like banana flavored things. Oh, okay. I think I do bananas. You don't like banana smoothies, so to think.

Oh, banana bread. I'm not that big on. Yeah, I don't like banana milk. I'll take banana in all its forms. Banana beer. So we get, yeah. So, where's your no-go beer? All beer.

I don't all beer. I don't like beer. For me, I really don't like really bittersduff like VB. Yeah. Two, two bitters for me. Okay. For you.

For you, the food you want. Yeah, so maybe that's maybe that sort of sour-ish. I could not have made it any clearer. It's like, it's like passion. Where? Steffen? Well, I don't know, because he is the Dugan bro extraordinaire. Maybe he's gonna brew this beer Okay, so just getting in contact with the people who make the passion fruit one that I like and just say hey

There's nothing you would do to change it. No, it's perfect It is a very nice beer. What about it came in a bigger can to get more? Well, you can just get a pint of it. Or, it's... When Matt and I did Razzle Dazzle in Brisbane, my cousin who I hadn't seen very easily 10 years came to the show, and it was an average show that he came to as well. When we walked out of our room, he was standing there applauding, and then he bought us pints of that beer.

Is that the third show? The first two were fun, from memory. First two were great, third one, weird. It's funny when your family come. They ruin it. And it's the dud show. They ruin it with their support. Yeah. And then he was so happy for us. It was great. We had a few beers after that. And I forgot about the show being a bit. Yeah, it doesn't matter anymore. A bit less fun than normal. Thank you so much, Stefan, for letting us talk about beer for a bit. Thank you, Stefan. Yeah. I feel like Jess is not given us any room to explore there at all.

What about just a high alcohol content? There's like a 10% beer or something. Oh, like an Imperial. Let's call it. You know, like they do Imperial stats or double IPAs. They're sort of almost fortified beers where they normally five or six percent those ones go up to nine or ten or eleven. Maybe we do an imperial passion fruit goza.

That, there we go, put our own brand under there, like it own spin. Yeah, what do we add a little bit of raspberry? Yeah, great. Passion fruit and raspberry. That's what I think we're going to be doing a bit of some other flavor in there. Yeah, that's some sort of how do you say it? Can we make it like a neapol, neopol, what's that? What's that, I think?

Neopolitan. Neopolitan. We make it like a neopolitan, right? So we have three. Yes. So at least one, the bobbin drink. Yes. And that one's the passion fruit one, Dave.

You want to do the vanilla, you want all the chocolate you want. Vanilla, I think. Okay, what do you want to do? Do you have another thing that we can do? So we've got one that's a sour and that's sort of the strawberry fruit you own, which is passion fruit and raspberry. I think vanilla's got to be like a plain one, doesn't it? Like something like something that you can drink

heaps of in summer. Oh yeah. Like a very light sort of, it's like a taste. Like a taste. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Or like a session, pale ale or something yeah yeah okay or like a session parallel or something yeah something that basically you need to add lime to get a bit of flavor you know yeah okay it's like a suck it back like a corona or

something yes I mean something that goes well in humid weather right okay yeah so yeah some of my real low on flavor. Water, soda water. Yes, yes, yes, that's the dream beer. Oh my god. Soda water, with a bit of lime in it. Either that or chocolate beer milk. I think there are more and more of these beers that are like milky beers, and they actually add lactose into it.

That sounds, I mean, is it awful? I've had some that are really nice. Yeah, and then you're like, oh my God, this is a milky beer, but it tastes good. Yeah, it's well, what they've been doing. And then I guess we finish, because then that's a fun idea you have this and you buy it in a three pack.

Yeah, that's cool. And it's like the do go on pack, the Pashford ones got bobs face on it The soda water's good days, or the you know the pills nor whatever it is the lot of flavor. Oh my god It's a shandy. That's what Dave wants. It's a beer with a bit lemonade No hand shandy is like euphemism for a hand job a hand shandy. Have you heard of that? No, I haven't I've heard the hand Shandy out the back of the shandy. I might have made that up then No, I've heard that before hand shandy what it's like complicating a thing without really hiding it at all and also

It's hard it's much harder to say absolutely say handy say RISTI RISTI say hand job. It's all easy I think my B is called the is called say hand job It's all easy. I think my B is called the is called say hand job Instead of say it's a sazon style, but it's called say hand job They're does it there you go put me down for a sazon and then I guess and I with chocolate you got to go But it has to be some sort of a I'll maybe even a chocolate star. Oh, yeah And then we yeah, we have the three pack. You can have them all. You can have them all. We can have one.

It's a three course meal. Exactly. I love this idea. Stefan, if you can make it in your, in your, I assume if you're a brewer extraordinaire, you've got the skills. At the time. At the time. Yes.

No doubt about that. Thank you for that question, Stefan, and that foreskin quote Larry. Thank you. That's what we'll call him now. For-squint, foreskin. For-squint Larry. I like foreskin. I like foreskin. I like foreskin.

One of our old favorite catchphrases. Well, and the other thing we'd like to do is think a few of our other patrons, and you can support us as well at patreon.com slash 2 go on pod on the, I forget what level, but maybe DB Cooper level. It's all clear if you go to the site and it says what all of them get, some levels get bonus episodes. This month we're doing three bonus episodes, including our first episode of phrasing the bar, the podcast that celebrates the movie's and life of actor extraordinaire, Brendan Fraser. So excited.

Dave's also coming up with some sort of a game. Yes, I'll be coming out very soon. And a mini report, which I'm fingers crossed, hoping it's gonna be that Andrew Gays. Oh, we've did so much tonight. You could do a trip ditch of bonus reports about famous Aussie sports people. Oh, we've did so much tonight. You could do a tripditch of bonus reports about famous Aussie sports people. Oh, yeah. So we've done Greg Norman.

Yeah. Andrew Gays, who else we got? Thorpe? Thorpe. Yeah, obviously not Bradman. Thorpe, gotta be Thorpe. Dawn Fraser. Dawn Fraser would be good.

Yeah, don't Fraser. It's been amazing last. Interesting. Well, I thought about. Ivan Gulagong. Yeah. One multiple Grand Slam in the tennis world. What about the first

woman to dunk at the Olympics? Yeah, non-assisted bilateral though. Who's that? So yeah, that's okay. You got me on technicality. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no's not your own. Not your own. Listed it. Uh, okay. So what kind of game we got to thank some of these other supporters. I was thinking of giving them like their on court nickname. Okay. Love it. That's good stuff.

I know. We've had the male man. We've had Clyde the Glide. I think Clyde the Glide's my favorite. It's really good. Jordan's not super kind to him in the in the docker. He says something like, um, or people. He sucks. People were saying it's, it's a real match up between the two and he hated

Being talked about in the media is his equal. He's like He's a pretty good player, but he is not in the same conversation basically But he doesn't consider anyone else in the conversation, does he? Yeah, I guess not. Well, yeah, I guess not. Depending on what it was, I think after Magic had retired and stuff. Cloud the Cloud, what a name. Okay, so firstly, I'd love to thank Drew Pysner. Drew, I mean, Pysner feels like a pretty good... Dave, you're being the pie man.

You've probably... Yeah, something pie related? Call him Shepherd. Oh, yeah, true Shepherd Pysner. That's good. And I mean, Drew's been a long-term supporter, obviously that's what we thank him. He's one of the ones that slipped through as well,

so he's been waiting for a good year and a half for that shout out Hopefully I'm saying your name right and I'm sure you people correct me all the time after I miss pronounced their names But in a way that I'm like I'm not gonna remember this by the time Unfortunately, but I love you name anyway, but I mean you figured out that it was you So Drupal is not and it's great because it also works on the court. He shepherds the ball.

Yeah, drew the shepherd's ball. I love that as a nickname. Shepherds it to Andrew Gays. Bang. Who then gives it to? Copeland. I should of course say that he is from West Hills in California.

Oh. In. Christ was California. Shepherds Pazer playing basketball Thanks true. I'd also love to thank from Location unknown will Ross will will Ross. He's from the center of the earth. Is he some sort of mole person? No Dave And you can't accuse someone of being a mole person. What about he could just be private. What about

Rachel and as the nicoot. Yes. Will Rachel and Ross Will we were on a break Ross The breaker the breaker will a breaker Ross. That's good. I love that You do this Bob. This is your fourth game. I'm great at nicknames. I came up with Bob. That's true, actually. They came up with Kuga or something. Kobra.

Kuga. Kuga, that's better. We'll call him the Kuga. Dave Kuga. Love it, Melon Camp. Sounds great. You just want anything, do you? Thank you so much, Will Ross.

Will Ross. He would have got the boss his whole life. So I think he's pretty stoked to mix it up with the breaker. And may I thank some people as well, please? I would love to thank from Willard in Western Australia. In Western Australia. Born in race. On the...

I think it's not in Western Australia. Soplanes, no. On the San Jones, where Western Australia. Soplanes. No on the sand dunes where she's been most per day We are of course wanting to thank Kate McGill Ray Kate McGill Ray In there Kate McGill Ray The stinger

I was gonna say? What are you gonna say? I was gonna say, uh, old Gil. Oh, that's Sucks. The stick is way better. Old Gil. What are the famous question characters on the Sims? You could have said anything there, and I already had that Sucks.

That's twin. That's twin. But that was pretty good. Old Gil. Old Gil is good. Old Gil. I need this. Is that friend? I don't put him on

Okay, Kate you can choose between old girl or the stinger. The stinger rules. That's a absolute cracker The Stinger rules rules fuck yeah, they've just did it I did a shock yeah, I shock I shock and I had a shock Thank you so much Kate the Stinger. That was also... The Stinger. The most painted boxing moves. The Bob Y.

The most popular boxing move. You just called that the Stinger. Stinger. Oh. I would also love to thank, from a little closer to home, in Yareville, here in Victoria, I would love to thank Paul Flea Paul Flea what a man. Have you do you remember the show? I think you're even on it one year 40 40 foot. Yes Paul made the letters for the front of the desk

Wow a great man Paul flea. What are we calling him David Letterman? Oh? David Letterman sort of like the male man always delivers the letterman. He's the letterman. He always pens the goodness. That's great, the letterman. Letterman also always delivers. He does. Top 10's really well.

Yeah. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam Dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan dan as well. What a man. You might know I'm a little bit of a litoman. Beautiful. A gentle energy. Just on this pole. Yeah. You know? I know I'm a pole. I just know I'm a litoman. I just know I'm a litoman.

Yeah. Always delivers. I'm a litoman. Sorry Paul. Sorry I didn't immediately reckon. I mean, I bumped into you in the street one time and I recognized you immediately. I feel like that's more important. I never recognized people outside of context.

You probably didn't know we listened to the show. I forget. I don't remember now. He doesn't just listen, he supports the show. What a legend. He's a cool legend. I love you, I love you, I love you. I'm a legend.

I mean, everyone we've mentioned is a goddamn legend. Can I thank two more legends? Please. I would like to welcome into this exclusive club, all the way from Austin, Texas. Oh, stay weird. Is that a thing? That's it, Austin, stay weird. It's a Willie Nelson, Texas. Oh, stay weird. Is that a thing? Yeah, Austin's so weird.

That's a Willie Nelson's tan. Oh, fantastic. He actually adopted a little Thwanyan player. Yeah. And he became a contest sensation. Oh, I'd like to thank Tim Lefwente. Oh, my God. Holy shit.

Oh, my God. Sorry, it's keep Austin weird not stay weird They wouldn't could put could Tim's nickname be the stay up weird. Oh weird. Oh This is rostin tibla fwentay what a name Shit, that's I feel I feel a little bit higher that name was given pleasure right into my head It's really some chemicals. Oh, are you happy for the first time in 30 years? Yeah, I'm like, what is this?

Tim LaFontay. Holy shit. That is great. You're a quite a guy, weird. Weirdy, weirdo. Come on, I'm good at nicknames. Jeez. It's crazy how good I am. Weirdo. Oh, good enough. Okay, Austin. I'm weird. I'm good. Oh, good. K. Austin Tim La Fuente. Weird.

And finally, I'd love to thank, and I'm sure you guys have left this for me. Do you do this on purpose from Wiles in a place called Abitredware. Oh, my God. It will be pronounced completely differently. It ends in a DWR. Yeah Fantastic, I mean I have ultimate respect for the name, but I don't know how to say it. Avertred where I would like to thank Robert Smith

Robert Smith the least well-shounding name I've ever heard He would get it all the time the queue up, but that is a great nickname. Maybe you are oh He would get it all the time the queue up. That is a great nickname. MoeBD. The queueer. Oh. Because there's a whale. Yes.

He's for whales. OK. So he's nickned it. It's MoeBD. Well, there was a Welsh player in the NBA. They'd probably make a big deal out of it. So they would probably get something like that. Yeah.

OK, you're saying that like it's not a fucking genius nickname. MoeBD is great. Robert. It's a fucking whale. Name another whale. Gone. What about just the Dixie really? Robert the Dixie what does Moe be Robert Moe Smith? Oh, that's good. That's good. Moe is good. Well again you got options there. Robert the Cua Smith, Robert the Dix Smith, Robert

Moe be Smith or Robert Moe be Dix Smith. What about Robert Tom, Robert Moby Smith, or Robert Moby Dick Smith. What about Robert Tom? Robert Moby Dick Smith is probably the best one. Robert Tom Jones Smith? Robert, it's not unusual Smith. Robert Pussycat Smith. Robert Sexbaum Smith. Robert Catertonia Smith.

You know Catertonia? You know Catertonia? They had two big songs, well, like Triple J big in the late 90s. So huge. So huge. Yeah, that were big when I was delivering papers. I remember hearing them a lot. Listening to Triple J as I wrote my background, the neighborhood.

And one of their songs was called Mulder and Scully. Oh, OK. And Dave's a big ex-files fan, so I thought you might have known that. Right, that's it. Your nickname is Scully. Oh, my God. Robert Scully. Oh, okay. And Dave's a big ex-files fan. So I thought you might have known that right. That's it. Your nickname is Scully. Robert Scully Smith. That's not bad at all. Yeah, you got a lot of options there Robert. I mean, I'm a man of many names. Maybe too many. I'm so sorry. What if he stoked to go with the surname Smith? I got all these options. I'd been getting smithy my whole life. The chip The The big dipper. Double dip. Robert double dip smith. Oh my god. Can't double dip the chip

smith. Too many good nicknames. How will he choose? He's gonna have a different nickname every day for the rest of his life. If you really want to, he'd go with the ultimate nickname, which is of course old Gale. Yes, the ultimate nickname. Someone use it please. So good. Oh, Gale. Don't put him on. Oh, that brings, thank you so much all those supporters, but that brings us to an even

more exclusive club, the Triptage Club. Oh, Dave, you want to explain it? Well, people that have been supporting us at the shout out level on Patreon for three consecutive years, 36 more short months or above. And if you've been doing that for three years, when you get to your third anniversary, we will give you a shout out, induct you into the club. Just will come up with a little old herb, a little cocktail, something that will be serving that week. We might talk about the live band that you'll be witnessing. We often get some of the world's greatest musical out of dropping by our exclusive club.

And we'll of course thank you for your fantastic support. That's right Dave, and this week in the TripTitch Club, we're serving Herban Garlic Peaches. Whoa! And escargot. Whoa, I was with you early. and garlic pizzas. Whoa! And escargot. Whoa, that was with you early. Has in like the chocolate ones

or is in the snaily ones. Chocolate? Okay, I'm back on board. Fantastic. There's little pastries that people call escargot. Oh yeah, that's it. Yep. I did.

Cause that's what the round, they're like swirled around. Yeah, they're like a chocolate, are they like raisins or something in it? No, I'm back out. I think it's off chocolate or sometimes it is hazelnutty. I'm back in. Oh god, this is a rollercoaster with dimethy.

That's where they call me Matt the Floppa Stuart. Oh, that's not what they call you Matt the Floppa Stuart. And you know it. You know what I call you the Floppa. Check your criminal record, mate. You know. That'll remind you ofper. Check your criminal record, mate. You know. Reminds of Chop Flopper. Always inappropriate scenarios.

All right, so, oh, dearie me. You know, some futorials, it's weird. It keeps doing it. It's what they would have wanted. It's open cask and you just go up and flash them. They're writing letters before. One last time. I'm a flashmash flopper.

Hey, it was what they wanted. They said it was how they wanted to be sent off. Okay, moving on. So coming into the tripditch club, getting in behind the velvety rope and in this beautiful swanky area, did you say who's playing music this week, Dave? Oh, no, actually, I think we're gonna have some music

from Roy Orbison. Wow, the big O. But an unusual DJ set. Oh, cool. Roy Orbison's DJ. Is he the first... All techno. Is he the first deceased artist we've had playing in the club?

No, I think we've had Louis Armstrong doing a bit of backup before. Right, OK. So the president's been set. Well, there's three. And Dusty Springfield was singing it well, a couple of appropriately three inductees into the TripDitch Club this week from Shropshire in Great Britain,

Telford to be precise, Thomas Price. Thomas Price. Thomas the Mars Price. From Portland, Oregon, where the trailblazer from, on Rhee or Henry, probably T. Wilhoet, Henry the trailblazer, Wilhoet, or Henry the glide Wilhoid, Henry the Trial Blazer, Wilhoid. Or Henry the Glide Wilhoid. And from Texas, in Dallas, Texas,

Matt, the Black Panther, Alexander. I'm taking Dallas's where Panthers from, Panthers, Spanish for Panther. I can see we go in with our luck. Love it. So there are the three inductees, grab yourself an escargo. Yes.

And there's a range of flavours, including hazelnut, raisins or chocolate. And also snail in a pastry. Yeah, it's a bit gross. So the digital is a bit of a joke and it was not good. Because I didn't want it there to go away. The joke was not well received. No.

So welcome in all of you. Dave, I believe is working on some page on our website to have you all. Yes. I definitely am. I've just got on to the Microsoft team. Bill Gates has not getting back to me though. Well, I think he's laying low

since the protest in Melbourne last week where they were calling for the death of Bill Gates Because the coronavirus because it doesn't exist and it's It's come about because of 5G. Yeah, remember it doesn't exist But if it did it was because of 5G Okay, so I'm not a scientist, but that checks out to me. Yeah, so that brings us pretty much the end of the episode I think Dave anything we need to say no just yes We do have to tell people they got to wash their butts wash your butts and hands, right? Oh, yes

Yeah, and be careful. I'm gonna ask this to pass that on Be careful around fireworks. Yeah. Yeah, especially your butts. Mm-hmm. All your hands and Yes always remember Do what guys did and does. What would guys do? Win. All guys do win. Have you want to get in contact with us? We got a website at is do go on pod.com.

I mean, it's not as flash as we'd like it because Bill Gates won't return my emails, but you can go on there to get links to our merchandise. You can go on there to get links to our merchandise. You can go on there to get links to our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We should get mugs. Yeah. I think mugs are great, O'Dear.

Mm. I want a mug. I love mugs. I love mugs so much. I have too many mugs. I want more. I want one more mug. One more.

That's what you always say. I want to say one more. I want our mugs on a mug. I'm so keen on that. I love a mug. Drinking an ill-gray out of my own face. Then I will have arrived. I'm hoping that'll show Mrs. Xavier.

Yeah, he's gonna be a nobody, is he? Oh my God, sorry about that. Oh wow, you okay? No, she was very supportive to me. So that's like a bitch. No, well, she was a good teacher, but she did, she was one of revealed Santa isn't real to me. Oh, of course. Which I know if kids are listening isn't true. I found that out since.

Santa is of course real. But yeah, for a little while there I thought Mrs. Xavier you broke my heart. Why would she say that? A weird lie like that. That psycho. Yeah. Yeah. Imagine, I mean, if parents are letting kids listen to this, and that's the thing that they get annoyed with. We say words like, well, that doesn't have time to blame. Yeah, this is no time. No, just imagine that. Began imagine. Beap.

The word that our Prime Minister says, but it fends Americans. Universal healthcare. What I do that. Yeah, so getting contact with us if you'd like to suggest a topic. There's also that's what I was going to say. You can link to the tab or the Google form that you can tell us what topic you'd like us to do on the show through the website as well as our Patreon Patreon.com. So let's do go on part, but I as well as our Patreon, patreon.com slash do go on pod.

But I believe that is the end of us for this week. We will be back. We will return in gold finger. For your ears only, James Bond will return and often it says, Dave, Dave, for your ears only, it's good stuff. Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave, validate me ears only, it's good stuff. Dave, Dave, Dave. Dave, validate me. Dave, my name's GoOn. Do GoOn.

Is that any? Yeah, it is. There are all references I get. I'm Dr. E. Roll. We gotta go. It's so late here. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll be right next week with another episode. But until then we'll say thanks for listening and what would Gaze do?

Good work! Later! Bye! And win. What's your butt? This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mites. I mean, if you want, it's up to you. Holiday gatherings are happening. Stack on the sparkle this season with unforgettable jewelry from Blue Nile.

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