BBCollective

Welcome again to the Bill Bradley Collective, where this week we examine billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk move to acquire social media giant Twitter and the broader picture of billionaire influence over our news media and free speech. But first a rant or three, as Zak highlights the passage of a Connecticut bill aimed to protect abortion rights for recipients and providers against out-of-state legal backlash from the many other far more restrictive states; Ed spotlights the fallout from the watershed Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano unification bout from last weekend and the promising future of headline female prize-fighting; and finally Andrew decries the decision of the All England Club to ban competitors from Russia and Belarus amidst the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. This leads us to Musk, and his many peers among the billionaire class: Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos most notably, that control both news and social media as we know it. How we use and interact with Twitter, what to expect under Musk’s control and whether or not we continue to engage the platform going forward comprise the bulk of this conversation. But to comprehend and begin to understand Musk’s ascension to a controlling interest in Twitter, means also considering Zuckerberg and Facebook; Jeff Bezos’ ownership of the Washington Post, Peter Thiel’s funding of the destruction of independent Gawker Media, Sheldon Adleson, Ru0ert Murdoch, et al. What does free speech look like in the media: broadcast, news and social alike, when that speech is controlled by the world’s richest men? Your panel seeks seeks an answer to that question and others this week on the Bill Bradley Collective.

Welcome again to the Bill Bradley Collective, where this week your hosts deep dive the career and present legacy of collegiate and for the time-being NFL coach Urban Meyer. His tremendous on-field success at the reigns of Utah, Florida and Ohio State are perhaps only overshadowed by Meyer’s unseemly departures from the latter two programs. A tenure in Gainesville that yielded two national titles is blown up at the end by the toxic culture cultivated by Meyer’s lack of accountability or oversight for rampant off-field transgressions by his players. He later bolts Columbus following an explicit cover-up of domestic abuse by a prized assistant. This leads us to his maiden challenge in the pro’s as the current head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a tenure just months in that is in serious jeopardy on the heals of an 0-5 start and much worse a post-game interaction with a female patron in Meyer’s own restaurant that appeared to be no less than wildly inappropriate and perhaps bordering on predatory. The question of Meyer’s future is a question about the very soul of college football, the media and how accountable we hold so-called “leaders of men.” Will the heretofore failure, both on and more importantly off the field, of an NFL Meyer experiment coupled with disgraced exits from multiple college jobs expel he and his shamed legacy from the sideline and/or commentary table going forward? First we rant, as Zak continues his offensive on the billionaire ruling class with a look into the Panama Papers and the contemptible means being taken to hide and withhold wealth; Ed considers the perilous state of what it is to be female in Texas and the unconscionable evil of those behind the Texas Heartbeat Act; Andrew examines a racist faux pas committed on-air during a nationally televised postseason contest and how Major League Baseball has no one to blame but themselves.

Welcome back to the Bill Bradley Collective, where with the dog weeks of the sporting calendar upon us, your hosts dive back into time with an examination of perhaps the most impactful labor stoppage in history, the 1994-95 MLB players’ strike. Twenty-seven years ago to the month, the MLBPA, working amidst an expired collective bargaining agreement for the season’s first five months, walked on August 12, 1994 and were not to be seen in a competitive game until April 25, 1995. The first time a labor stoppage eliminated an entire postseason across all sports and the first and only season in the World Series-era without one since 1904, the players’ strike resonates to this day. Join us as we discuss the specific conditions that led to the strike in the early ‘90s, a history of labor/management relations in baseball leading up to 1994, the unique competitive and individual storylines that the strike sent to the wayside that season, and the ups-and-mostly downs Major League Baseball has experienced in the twenty-six years post-resolution. But first, another oppressive summer afternoon brings about a further round of hot Collective rants, as Ed lights a match under the ass of yet another GOP governor following his taking a particularly reprehensible position regarding COVID-19 protocols in our schools; Andrew examines a sordid political/social life intertwined with an historically accomplished pugilistic career on the day of what may be Manny Pacquaio’s boxing swan song; and finally Zak welcomes a certain SpaceX and Tesla CEO back to the Collective firing line with a critical appraisal of his latest bit of tech-porn while considering what drives public interest in his vanity endeavors.

Coming to you via remote from the back patio of New London’s own The Social Bar and Kitchen, we welcome you back to the Bill Bradley Collective. In the outdoor company of friends, listeners and a wonderful stewardess, this week your hosts empty out our mailbag full of questions and return correspondence with some of our most ardent listeners. The questions are great and they span the breadth of the Collective universe. Who is the sporting equivalent to the most noteworthy imbecile amongst Georgia’s elected officials? What would be the one change we’d make to the many archaic mandates that exist in our politics and government? Whom would each panelist surround themselves on a like-minded podcast assuming their other two co-hosts Marty McFly’d themselves before the Enchantment Under the Sea-dance climax of Back to the Future? That and much more, plus one reunion and one cameo appearance featuring the worst in New York and Boston media sports takes. First cometh some rants, where Andrew examines the bigger picture of the NHL’s bungling of the fallout of a heinous on-ice assault, Zak brings us up to speed on the estranged great grandmother of this podcast in the wake of her latest bit of octogenarian drivel, and Ed is forced to exhume old foil Avery Brundage in a critical takedown of the IOC’s move to ban Black Lives Matter apparel from the forthcoming Summer Olympic Games. To the Social for being such a terrific host and to all of you who came out and made your presence felt both as friends and as fans, the four of us express our deepest gratitude. We thank you for listening and engaging, and can’t wait to be with you again next week, here, on the Bill Bradley Collective.

Welcome back to the Bill Bradley Collective, where this week your hosts appraise the landscapes of both the fantasy sports and sports gambling industries in the U.S., and the ever-closing intersectionality between the two. No this is not a never-ending fable of bad beats and variance-induced injustices perpetrated at the expense of the members of this panel, but rather a discussion about the effects the increasing omnipresence of fantasy leagues across all sports and the inevitability of legalized and regulated sports betting nationwide has had and will continue to have on how we as fans consume the games we love. As the two biggest operators in fantasy sports have now become two of the most powerful in American sports wagering, the trio examine how the divide between the the two institutions has never been more confluent. Changes to certain fantasy norms and traditions and predictions for the landscape’s future are offered to round out the conversation. But first cometh the rants, where Ed welcomes back long-time guest and nemesis Roger Goodell with questions regarding both the newsworthiness and morality of his vaxxed-enabled ability to embrace unwilling members of the 2021 NFL Draft class, Andrew reflects on twenty years in the life of a Knicks’ fan with a toast to this season’s fruitful efforts; last and most certainly not least Zak segues into our main discussion this and next week as he laments he and super-producer Brandon’s ill-placed bets on this past week’s Ben Askren/Jake Paul foray with a critical dissection of boxing’s eco-system in the context of post-millennial social media.