The Halls of Mediocrity

Pete Rose participated in more wins than anyone who ever played Major League Baseball: 1,972. Kevin already knew that one. Jeff gave him nine minutes to name the other nine.The rule: everyday players only, no pitchers, minimum 3,000 games played.The list is not what most people would guess. Hank Aaron is #2 at 1,735 - surprising, because a lot of those Braves teams weren't great. Willie Mays is #6. Ty Cobb is #7, the only pre-1940 player besides Rose. Stan Musial is #5. Cal Ripken Jr. is #10 despite playing in 3,001 career games, because a lot of those Orioles teams were bad. Eddie Murray edges him at #8 with a much better winning percentage. Rickey Henderson is #9. Albert Pujols is #4 - not in the Hall of Fame yet, but he will be. And the last one Kevin gets, after a hint about a grandson currently playing in the majors, is Carl Yastrzemski at #3 with 1,718 wins.Every name on that list is either in the Hall of Fame or will be. Every name except Pete Rose.A second bonus quiz episode spinning directly out of HoM's Pete Rose episode.#peterose #mlbb #mlb #mlbbshorts #hankaaron #williemays #tycobb 

Tom Mazawey is back. Michigan is a mess. The NFL is kicking off. Lane Kiffin tried something insane. Let's do some picks.Kevin, Jeff, and Tom open with the Michigan football debrief — Hot Takes: Bryce Underwood hasn't shown him anything, Whittingham looked clueless, and if the Oklahoma game goes the way the Western Michigan game did, you're looking at Tommy Carr under center against UTEP. They also get into the Lane Kiffin story: Ole Miss was prepared to sign former NFL players to their college roster under a fifth-year eligibility loophole. The SEC threatened expulsion. Kiffin backed down. Kevin traces the whole NIL mess back to the O'Bannon lawsuit and the unintended consequences nobody saw coming — including Ed O'Bannon himself.Then: fifteen NFL Week 1 picks across the board.Kevin, Jeff, and Tom go game by game — New England at Seattle, the San Francisco-Rams game in Australia, Buffalo at Houston, Chicago at Carolina, Cleveland at Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Atlanta, the Jets in Tennessee, Baltimore at Indianapolis, Washington at Philadelphia, Green Bay at Minnesota, Miami in Las Vegas, Arizona at the Chargers, the Sunday night game in New Jersey, Denver in Kansas City, and the Lions hosting New Orleans.Lions fans will know where they land on that last one.A Tom Mazawey special edition of the Halls of Mediocrity.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay#michigan #michiganfootball #nfl #lsu #lanekiffin #bryceunderwood

Michigan barely beat Western Michigan on a Hail Mary with 0.4 seconds restored to the clock — and Kevin and Jeff are not celebrating.Bryce Underwood had a performance that raised more questions than answers: a fumble, a hideous interception right before halftime, a read-option decision that left the entire left side of the field open while he handed the ball off, and too many throws that looked like he was auditioning for an NFL scout instead of running a football team. Michigan paid $12 million to bring him in. Kevin's checking the return policy.Beyond Underwood — head coach Kyle Whittingham, in his debut at Michigan, coached a game that was flat, undisciplined, and somehow got worse in the second half against a MAC school. Offensive coordinator Jason Beck gets called out. The controversial clock ruling gets dissected. The students who stormed the field get the reading they deserve.Also: comparisons to App State 2007, the JT Barrett fourth-down controversy, Spartan Bob, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Sherrone Moore, Jim Harbaugh, and — if things continue down this road — what a Tommy Carr era might look like. Kevin says Bryce is done at Michigan if Oklahoma goes the way he thinks it will.A special Michigan football mini episode of the Halls of Mediocrity.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay#michiganfootball #michiganwolverines #bigtenfootball #ncaafootball

Mike Tyson says point blank: he was not the scariest fighter in the world. Sonny Liston in his heyday was. This is that story.Liston was born sometime around 1932 in rural Arkansas — no birth certificate was ever filed, so nobody, including Liston himself, ever knew his exact age. He was the 24th of 25 children. His father beat him so severely that scars were visible on his back when he fought. He never went to school. He ran away to St. Louis at 13, turned to armed robbery, and became known to police as the Yellow Shirt Bandit. He was arrested in 1950, sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary, and there, a prison chaplain told him to try boxing. He had never trained a day in his life. He destroyed a professional boxer his first time in the ring.He was paroled early because of his boxing potential. And almost immediately, the mob was waiting for him.John Vitale in St. Louis, then Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo in Philadelphia owned him — literally. A 1960 Senate investigation into organized crime revealed that Liston owned zero percent of his own boxing contract. The mob took everything. He received a weekly allowance while his managers pocketed the overwhelming majority of every purse.On September 25, 1962, he knocked out Floyd Patterson in 2 minutes and 6 seconds to become heavyweight champion — the first time a reigning champion had ever been counted out in the first round of a title fight. Floyd Patterson couldn't last a round the second time either.Then came Cassius Clay. Two fights, both of them controversial. In the first, a chemical substance on Liston's gloves got into Clay's eyes in round four — Clay's trainer Angelo Dundee told him just to run and survive. When it cleared, Clay destroyed him. Liston didn't answer the bell for round seven. Second fight: Lewiston, Maine, 2,434 fans — the smallest crowd ever at a heavyweight championship. The Phantom Punch. First round. Liston goes down. Jersey Joe Walcott gives a slow count. Nat Fleischer shouts from ringside that the count was past ten. Fight's over. Two thousand people immediately scream that it was fixed.He moved to Las Vegas. Worked as mob muscle. Did security for mob-owned bars and strip clubs. On January 5, 1971, his wife Geraldine came home from a trip to find newspapers piled outside and spoiled milk in the kitchen. Sonny Liston was dead in his bedroom. He had been there for days.The official cause: lung congestion and heart failure. The coroner found only small traces of morphine and codeine — heroin byproducts — and said directly that the evidence did not indicate an overdose-type death. But there were needle marks on his arm. And Sonny Liston was terrified of needles. His trainer, his wife, his friends — all of them said the same thing. He would refuse injections from doctors. He would not get shots for anything.In 1982, a police informant alleged a former Las Vegas cop named Larry Gandy had killed Liston with a hot shot of heroin over a money dispute involving Ash Resnick. The informant was later found dead in his garage in 1987, car engine running.No charges. No conviction. Official record: natural causes. Almost nobody who knew him believes it.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay#SonnyListon #muhammadali  #cassiusclay #truecrimecommunity #true crime

Pete Rose's career WAR — Wins Above Replacement — is 79.6. That ranks him 67th all time in Major League Baseball history. Which means 66 players, across positions and eras, are ahead of him.Kevin and Jeff try to name them.The outfielders alone tell the story: Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Tris Speaker, Ted Williams, Stan Musial — and then Mike Trout, still active, already at 91.1. Rickey Henderson at 111.2. Al Kaline at 92.8. Mel Ott. Ken Griffey Jr. Carl Yastrzemski. Reggie Jackson.Then 26 pitchers. Walter Johnson leads at 164.8. Cy Young at 163.6. Roger Clemens at 139.2. Christy Mathewson, Warren Spahn, Greg Maddux, Tom Seaver, Bert Blyleven, Phil Niekro — and on down through Tom Glavine, Mike Mussina, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Nolan Ryan.Then the infielders: Rogers Hornsby, Alex Rodriguez, Lou Gehrig, Mike Schmidt, Joe Morgan, Cal Ripken Jr., Adrian Beltré, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Nap Lajoie, Albert Pujols, Eddie Mathews, Wade Boggs, and Jeff Bagwell — plus two names you almost certainly don't know: Roger Connor and Dan Brouthers, both born before 1860, both above Pete Rose by the numbers.One notable absence: Derek Jeter. Not on the list. His WAR is below Rose's. A one-off quiz episode spinning directly into out upcoming Pete Rose episode.Follow Halls of Mediocrity: wherever you get your podcasts | X | Facebook GroupIntro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Vince McMahon's handpicked world champion candidate murdered his girlfriend in an Allentown hotel room, and Vince walked into the DA's office and made it go away. This is the story of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.Before any of that: the career. Snuka debuted in Hawaii in 1969 under the name Jimmy Kaloha, part of the legendary Anoaʻi wrestling family that would produce The Rock, Roman Reigns, the Usos, Yokozuna, and more. He ran through the Portland territory, won the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight and tag titles a combined twelve times, and hit it big in Mid-Atlantic tagging with Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, Paul Orndorff, and Kevin Von Erich. By the summer of 1982, he was in the WWF, and he was the guy. His steel cage match against Bob Backlund at MSG — flying off the top of the cage — made the crowd go insane. Vince Jr. had found his man. The plan was to build around Snuka. When Vince started thinking about going national, there were three backup options after Snuka fell through: Hulk Hogan (who he ultimately went with), Kerry Von Erich, and Dusty Rhodes.He fell through because on May 10, 1983, Nancy Argentino — his girlfriend, his road companion, his de facto manager — was found dying in room 427 of the George Washington Motor Lodge in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. The Lehigh County coroner suspected foul play immediately. The autopsy found over two dozen cuts and bruises and injuries consistent with blunt force trauma; with evidence she'd been hurt 12 to 24 hours before help arrived — while Snuka was at a TV taping. This was not the first time. In January 1983, police had responded to a Howard Johnson's in New York state and found Snuka naked, screaming, and actively assaulting Nancy. It took several officers and a police dog to restrain him.On June 1, 1983, Jimmy Snuka walked into the Lehigh County DA's office. He did not walk in alone. Vince McMahon Jr. walked in with him, carrying a briefcase. McMahon did all the talking. No charges were filed. The case went cold.Snuka told at least six different versions of what happened that night. He told two of them in real time in the emergency room. He published a seventh in his 2012 autobiography — and it was that book that prompted the Morning Call of Allentown to run an investigative piece in 2013, which prompted Nancy Argentino's sisters to contact the DA, which prompted a grand jury, which in 2015 formally recommended charges. Snuka was indicted for third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. His defense argued CTE, substance abuse, and cognitive impairment made him incompetent to stand trial. A judge agreed. In January 2017, all charges were dismissed. Snuka died twelve days later in Pompano Beach, Florida. The Argentino family won a $500,000 civil judgment. They never collected a dollar.Kevin's verdict: Jimmy Snuka is a murderer, a complete piece of shit, and good riddance. Vince McMahon is complicit. And the Rock should have kept his mouth shut.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay#wwe #JimmySnuka #wwehalloffame #truecrimecommunity #true crime

Detroit sports radio legend Tom Mazaway is back — and this time it's all Lions. Kevin, Jeff, and Tom go week by week through the entire 2026 Detroit Lions schedule, call every game, and land on two very different records. Tom and Jeff have them at 12-5. Kevin is the Debbie Downer at 10-7, and he's calling that the ceiling. Before the schedule: the injury report from training camp. Cade Mays — the center they went out and signed — breaks his wrist and is out until Week 10. Derek Moore and the third-round pick both go down in Week 1 of camp. Kerby Joseph is out with what's being called a personal issue and a degenerative injury, posting workout videos while Campbell and Holmes give non-answers. And Rakestraw — another defensive back — is banged up. Kevin's assessment: it's a literal curse. The schedule breakdown covers every game: Saints opener (W, all agree), Thursday night in Buffalo (L, all agree), Aaron Glenn's return with the Jets (W), the Panthers, Cardinals, both Packers games, both Bears games including Thanksgiving, the Germany trip against New England, Miami, Minnesota, Atlanta, Tennessee, the Giants, and the finale in Green Bay. The debates: Jordan Love vs. Jared Goff (Tom takes Love; Kevin agrees; Jeff is less sure). Caleb Williams as a head case. Frank Ragnow's toe, his number retirement, and whether he's a Hall of Famer. Matt Stafford's legacy and the Matt Millen quagmire. Ben Johnson's fourth-down call in the Washington playoff game. And whether, at some point, the football gods have to smile on Detroit.They all agree: if the Lions are healthy, they can win the division and make noise in the playoffs. LA is the only team that scares them. You only have to beat them once.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

He hired a hitman hours after his team was knocked out of the playoffs. Who he hired the hitman to kill is still disputed 20 years later. Mike Danton, born Mike Jefferson, was a hard-nosed center for the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues. On April 16, 2004, hours after San Jose eliminated the Blues, the FBI arrested him for conspiracy to commit murder. The alleged target: his agent, mentor, and former coach David Frost. Danton's version: the hit was on his biological father, Steve Jefferson, the man he says abused him daily until he left home at 14 to play junior hockey and move in with Frost. The plea deal he signed in July 2004 didn't require him to name the target on the record. He didn't say a word publicly until 2009. David Frost is the linchpin. By most accounts a controlling, cult-like figure who had been in Danton's life since he was a teenager, Frost was arrested in 2006 on 12 counts of sexual exploitation involving players he coached — including, allegedly, players from the same junior team Danton played on. He was acquitted of all charges in 2008. He later moved to California and changed his name. Danton served roughly five and a half years. In prison, he earned a psychology degree and became a certified first aid responder — a credential he used in his first game back in Sweden, when he dropped to the ice and saved a teammate's life during a seizure. He is now married, has three kids, and coaches' junior hockey. Next episode: The Superfly, Jimmy Snuka.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Tiger Williams. 3,971 penalty minutes. The all-time NHL leader. Jeff needed a hint to get him. A bonus companion to the Mike Danton episode. Kevin brings the top 10 NHL career penalty minute leaders (1980 to present), Jeff tries to name them, and neither of them fully remembers who Craig Berube is. The list: Tiger Williams at #1, Dale Hunter, Tie Domi, Marty McSorley, Bob Probert (Kevin's surprised he's only #5), Rob Ray, Craig Berube, Tim Hunter, Chris Nilan, and Rick Tocchet. Jeff is also wearing his Van Halen World Tour '79 shirt, because it is Kevin's birthday. He was born August 9, 1979 — which, as it turns out, is also the anniversary of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium in 1980. From there: the 1979 champions across all four major sports (Pirates, Steelers, Sonics, Canadiens), a trip through the 1979 Detroit sports wasteland (Lions going 2-14 to draft Billy Sims), and why Billy Sims' knee injury at the Metrodome in 1984 is the reason Barry Sanders ever put on a Lions uniform.Next episode: The Superfly, Jimmy Snuka.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Detroit sports radio legend Tom Mazaway joins the Hall Boys — and takes on the top 10 TV sports broadcasters of all time.The list: Al Michaels at #1 (Jeff disagrees immediately), Vin Scully at #2, Howard Cosell at #3, Keith Jackson at #4, Bob Costas at #5, John Madden at #6, Jim McKay at #7, Dick Enberg at #8, Marv Albert at #9, and Pat Summerall at #10. Tom gets eight of ten — he misses Bob Costas and Jim McKay. Tom's own top three: Pat Summerall, Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell. His biggest complaint about the list: Jack Buck isn't on it.Along the way: Jeff's Howard Cosell story from 1982 Monday Night Baseball — calling Richie Hebner "the grave digger" during the Tigers game. The Randall Tex Cobb fight that made Cosell quit boxing commentary. How Kevin and Jeff's Uncle Don got Marv Albert his first job with the New York Knicks. Dick Enberg's childhood best friend from Marysville. The Monday Night Football booth that had Gifford, Meredith, and Cosell — must-see TV you could not miss. And Chris Berman's mysterious disappearing rear end.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Jayson Williams grew up watching his father shoot people. His dad knew it, too — when Williams got drafted, his father reportedly told the team: keep that kid busy, because if he's not busy, he's going to get in trouble. He was born in 1968 in South Carolina to a mixed-race family in the deep south, starred at Christ the King High School in Queens, and went to St. John's. He was the 21st overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft, selected by the Phoenix Suns and immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. His first three seasons were largely invisible. The Nets got him in 1992 expecting maybe eight to ten minutes a game. That's not what happened. Jayson Williams worked his way into the starting lineup and then into something nobody expected: legitimacy. In the 1997–98 season, he led the NBA in offensive rebounds and offensive rebound percentage, finished top five in total rebounds per game, made his one and only All-Star team, and set a Nets franchise record with 17 offensive rebounds and 20 total in a single game. He was the face of that franchise. He earned a six-year, $86 million contract in 1999. Then, on April 1, 1999 — April Fool's Day — he collided with Stephon Marbury, shattered his right leg, and never played meaningfully again. He tried to come back. He broke his left foot in practice. He retired in June 2000, age 32, and collected nearly the entirety of the $86 million having played only 30 games on that deal. A man with no job, no structure, $86 million, and a history of poor decisions around alcohol and firearms. His father knew what that formula produced. On February 14, 2002 — Valentine's Day — Williams had hired Costas "Gus" Christofi, a 55-year-old limo driver beloved by athletes across the league, to drive him and a group of friends home from a Harlem Globetrotters charity game. Back at his 65-acre New Jersey estate, drunk, Williams was showing off a Browning 12-gauge shotgun. He snapped the barrel shut with one hand. The gun discharged. Christofi was shot in the chest and killed. The accident was awful. What followed was worse. Williams organized a cover-up. He wiped his fingerprints off the gun, placed it in Christofi's dead hands, jumped into his indoor pool to change his clothes, and coached everyone present — including four former Harlem Globetrotters who had been Nets teammates — to tell investigators that Gus had gone upstairs and shot himself. He reportedly made clear that sticking to the story was not optional. The 911 call and early witness statements followed the script exactly. Nine days later, the charges were amended after investigators saw through it. The forensics made the suicide story impossible — Christofi had been shot from several feet away and had no gunshot residue. Once investigators separated the witnesses, the accounts fell apart immediately. In April 2004, a jury acquitted Williams of aggravated manslaughter, deadlocked on reckless manslaughter, and convicted him on all four cover-up counts. His sentencing was deferred pending a retrial. The case dragged on for years while he spiraled — tasered by the NYPD after a suicidal episode in a hotel room, arrested outside a Raleigh nightclub, arrested for DWI after crashing into a tree in Manhattan just a week before his plea deal. In January 2010, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. In February 2010, he was sentenced to five years in a New Jersey state prison, paroled in August 2011, transferred to Rikers Island for the DWI, and released entirely in April 2012 — approximately 26 months in total. This is the second HoM episode that ends with something like hope. Jayson Williams has spoken openly about severe alcoholism, described sobriety as his only job, and dedicated his post-release life to addiction recovery work. He co-founded the Rebound Institute, a holistic recovery program built around physical fitness. He launched Rebound on the Road with Nassau County and Nassau Community College — a free eight-week CDL training program for people with criminal records, homelessness, or substance abuse histories. Kevin and Jeff's honest assessment: he always knew right from wrong. He didn't always live it. But he got there. Gus Christofi was beloved by the athletes he drove. He didn't make it home that night. That doesn't change.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Marv Marinovich had one goal: build the perfect athlete. He started before Todd was even born. Todd's mother was placed on a strict diet during pregnancy — no processed food, no white sugar, no artificial ingredients. When Todd was an infant, his crib was equipped with physical coordination toys. By the time he could walk, he was lifting weights, stretching, and running drills. He may be the first human being who could bear crawl forty yards before he could walk. Marv tracked every nap, every meal, every rep. The nickname "Robo QB" wasn't a compliment. It was a description. And on paper, it worked. Todd Marinovich broke high school records, transferred schools — his parents legally separated to claim a new address — and arrived at USC as one of the top recruits in the nation. He led the Trojans to a Rose Bowl win over Michigan. He was selected 24th overall in the 1991 NFL Draft by the LA Raiders, drafted ahead of Brett Favre. Al Davis said, until the day he died, that the Raiders picked the more talented quarterback. But Todd also never ate a Big Mac. Never tasted an Oreo. Never had birthday cake at his own birthday parties. He had no coping mechanisms, no room to fail, no framework for anything outside the rigid structure Marv had built around him. By high school, he was smoking marijuana daily and drinking at postgame parties. He left USC early after a cocaine arrest. The night before the 1991 NFL Draft, he was using heroin. His Raiders career lasted eight regular season games and one playoff game. He failed three drug tests. He used a teammate's urine to beat one of them — the teammate had been drinking heavily. He was cut. He bounced to the CFL, the Arena Football League, a 2017 semi-pro comeback game where he went 19-for-28 with seven touchdowns at age 46. He was arrested roughly nine times by Orange County authorities alone — cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana — over thirty years. And yet. This is the first episode of the Halls of Mediocrity that ends better than it started. Because Todd Marinovich did eventually mature. He and Marv fully reconciled and became best friends in the last two decades of Marv's life. When Marv developed Alzheimer's, Todd became his primary caregiver. He handled the facility moves, managed the medical decisions, showed up every visit. Marv frequently forgot Todd's name toward the end — but Todd says he always knew. Marv Marinovich died in December 2020. Todd Marinovich is now living in Hawaii, painting, coaching young quarterbacks — this time with an emphasis on emotional development, not just physical optimization. In August 2025, he released a memoir: *Marinovich: Outside the Lines in Football, Art and Addiction*. In it, he pushes back on the idea that Marv ruined him, saying the addiction is his own responsibility. Kevin and Jeff are candid about Marv's failures. But they're also honest about the historian's fallacy — measuring people from the past by the moral standards of today. Marv was a pioneer by any training standard. He trained Troy Polamalu. He trained B.J. Penn. What he never figured out how to do was be a father. He got there eventually. So did Todd. This is Robo QB.Follow Halls of Mediocrity: wherever you get your podcasts | X | Facebook GroupIntro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

In honor of the Sunny episode dropping tonight, Kevin and Jeff take a detour into WWE and WWF history — specifically, ChatGPT's definitive ranking of the greatest wrestlers who never won a world title in the WWE or WWF. There are a few problems with the list. First: it only has nine names. ChatGPT was asked for ten and delivered nine. Second: Roddy Piper — Hot Rod, the man who was number one on every other version of this list Kevin and Jeff have seen — is nowhere on it. Third: Sting, who wrestled approximately two matches in the WWE, is ranked number one. Terry Funk isn't there. The Funk Brothers aren't there. Ravishing Rick Rude isn't there. Paul Orndorff isn't there. Kevin and Jeff work through the list anyway. Sting at #1 (debatable, given his WWE career lasted roughly one WrestleMania). Dusty Rhodes at #2 — the American Dream, Sweet Sapphire, and a Vince McMahon booking relationship that people still argue about. Mr. Perfect at #3. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at #4, who put on arguably one of the greatest WrestleMania matches ever against Randy Savage at WrestleMania III. Owen Hart at #5. The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase — a technicality, given he purchased a title that was immediately vacated. Big Van Vader, who had an NFL career with the LA Rams before wrestling, whose WWE run got derailed by a certain someone complaining backstage. Goldust. And Jerry "The King" Lawler, known considerably more for his commentary than any realistic world title run. They fix the list at the end. Roddy Piper goes in at #10. ChatGPT gets a note in the feedback box. A bonus episode, a bad AI list, and two guys who clearly watched too much wrestling growing up. This is the Halls of Mediocrity.Intro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Tammy Sytch was a pre-med student at the University of Tennessee. She was smart, driven, and by all early accounts headed toward a career that would help people. Then she started dating a professional wrestler named Chris Candido, and the trajectory of her entire life changed.She became Sunny: the most downloaded woman on the internet in 1996, the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Manager of the Year, and the woman Jim Cornette said was better on the microphone than any of the men he had. When the WWF came calling in 1995, Vince McMahon reportedly didn't want Chris Candido without her. She was the act. He came with her.Kevin argues she was the beta test for the Attitude Era - the experiment that proved to Vince McMahon he could push the envelope, because audiences didn't flinch when he hypersexualized her. She became AOL's most downloaded woman. She refused a Playboy offer. And for a brief window, she was the most recognizable woman in sports entertainment.Then it all came apart.The painkiller addiction. The nine-month affair with Shawn Michaels while committed to Candido, which nearly everyone knew about except Candido himself. The backstage war with Sable, who took the Playboy cover Sunny had turned down. The July 1998 release from WWE. ECW - what Kevin calls "the trailer park version of both WWF and WCW" - and an arrest for violating a restraining order filed by her own mother. WCW, where Eric Bischoff later said the drug use was so bad that people had to sweep the locker room for used needles before events.Chris Candido broke both bones in his leg at TNA Lockdown on April 24th, 2005. Four days later, he was gone. He was 33. The one stable relationship she had in her adult life, the man who stayed with her through every collapse, was suddenly not there.She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 and appeared to have finally turned a corner. Two years later, she publicly trashed the WWE wellness program that had funded her rehabilitation multiple times and became the first and only talent in company history to be formally cut off from it.On March 25th, 2022, Tammy Sytch drove through the Ormond Beach area of Florida with a blood alcohol content roughly four times the legal limit and ran into a car stopped at a traffic light. She killed 75-year-old Julian Lassiter. There was an open vodka bottle in the car.In November 2023, she was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison and 8 years of probation. She will be in her sixties before she sees the outside.Jim Cornette, the man who discovered her, said he didn't want to pile on. He wanted to remember her when she wasn't a complete disaster. But then she killed a man sitting at a traffic light. He couldn't defend her anymore.Kevin and Jeff cover the full arc: Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the Body Donnas, WrestleMania, the Shawn Michaels affair, ECW, Chris Candido's death, the Hall of Fame, and five arrests in 32 days, and what the culture of professional wrestling did to people who had no business being in it.Follow Halls of Mediocrity: wherever you get your podcasts | X | Facebook GroupIntro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Chad Curtis was the 1,155th player chosen in the 1989 MLB Draft. Forty-fifth round. Three colleges. By any conventional measure, he had no business playing in the major leagues. He played for ten years. He won two World Series rings with the New York Yankees. He hit a walk-off home run in the 1999 World Series.He also told Rod Carew, Hall of Famer, career .328 hitter, one of the most respected men in baseball, that he wasn't going to listen to him. He said the entire team had decided not to speak to Jim Gray after the Pete Rose interview, a claim every other Yankee immediately denied. He picked a fight in the Texas Rangers' weight room over a teammate's music. He used a Derek Jeter bench-clearing brawl as an opportunity to publicly lecture about teammate conduct. Every team he played for found the same thing: once Curtis got comfortable, the preaching started, the moral superiority came out, and his act wore out its welcome. He played for six teams in ten years.After retiring in 2001, Curtis returned to West Michigan and began volunteering at Lakewood High School in Barry County, Michigan as a strength and conditioning trainer — with direct, unsupervised access to student athletes.Between 2011 and 2012, prosecutors alleged Curtis used that access to sexually abuse multiple underage female students. He was arraigned in Barry County District Court on five counts of criminal sexual conduct. A sixth count was added in August 2012. At trial in August 2013, three of his victims testified. The jury convicted him on all six counts.At sentencing, Curtis used his statement to blame his victims, profess his Christian faith, and suggest he and one of the victims could write a book together. Barry County Circuit Court Judge Amy McDowell sentenced him and stated from the bench that he was "a threat to any community you get into." Prosecutor Julie Pratt called his statement "the most selfish, self-serving, victim-blaming statement I've heard in my entire career as a prosecutor."Curtis was sentenced to seven to fifteen years. He served the minimum, released September 22, 2020 at age 52. In the civil litigation that followed, four victims sued Lakewood Public Schools and settled for $575,000. A federal judge ordered Curtis to pay one victim $1.8 million in damages, a judgment he and his ex-wife Candace immediately began working to evade by transferring assets and filing for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was denied.Kevin and Jeff cover the full arc - the 45th round, the World Series rings, the clubhouse feuds, and everything that followed, and what the pattern running through all of it says about who Chad Curtis really was.Note: The specific details of the crimes are a matter of public record but are not described in this episode out of respect for the victims, who were minors.Follow Halls of Mediocrity: wherever you get your podcasts | X | Facebook GroupIntro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Terrion Arnold was the 24th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was supposed to anchor the Detroit Lions' secondary. Instead, he walked into the Orient Road Jail in Tampa to surrender on eight felony counts - including armed robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy charges that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.It started in early February: over $250,000 in cash and personal belongings stolen from an Airbnb Arnold was renting in Largo, Florida. Instead of letting law enforcement handle it, prosecutors allege Arnold decided to become the general manager of his own vigilante justice operation.The problem: the men he targeted were later confirmed by police to be completely innocent. They had nothing to do with the original theft.That didn't stop what prosecutors describe as a highly calculated honeypot scheme. Two women were allegedly directed by Arnold to lure the targets to a Tampa apartment. When three teenagers arrived, they weren't met with a party. They were met by multiple armed associates. They were trapped, held at gunpoint, beaten, pistol whipped, and had a firearm shoved in their mouth. Their jewelry and electronics were stolen.Then the modern twist: prosecutors allege the entire assault was live streamed via FaceTime directly to Arnold while he was driving to the location.The defense - the "general manager defense" - is that Arnold was never physically inside the apartment. Detectives admit they can't place him at the immediate scene. But Florida's principal theory of law states that if you plan, direct, or facilitate a crime, you are as legally guilty as the person pulling the trigger. Prosecutor Kevin Riley told the court: it doesn't get off the ground without Terrion Arnold.Two co-defendants, Jasmine Randazzo and Ariana Delval, have already flipped, providing sworn testimony that Arnold was the mastermind, gave the orders, and drove the getaway vehicle.On June 29th, Arnold appeared in Hillsborough County in a red jumpsuit. Judge Christopher Sabella set bond at $1 million, no ankle monitor, with a note that sports media would serve as his paparazzi monitor. Nick Saban sent a formal character reference. Arnold posted $100,000 and was out by Tuesday morning. Hours later, the Detroit Lions released him.Dead cap hit: $8.475 million. The forfeitable breach clause. The NFLPA fight. What the FaceTime evidence likely means. Kevin and Jeff break down everything that's known so far - as Lions fans who watched this unfold in real time.Follow Halls of Mediocrity: wherever you get your podcasts | X | Facebook GroupIntro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Thirty active Minnesota Vikings players. Two luxury houseboats on Lake Minnetonka. Eighty to a hundred sex workers flown in from Atlanta and Florida. High school and college kids working the charter crew. A woman named Kathy Howe whose lawn got used as a restroom on the way to the dock. Forty-five minutes on the water before the captains turned around. And when the boats came back in, the police were already waiting, because Kathy Howe had already called them.Total fines from Hennepin County: $5,000. Daunte Culpepper paid zero. The head coach was fined more for scalping his Super Bowl tickets the year before than the players were fined for any of this.Kevin and Jeff cover the full story of the 2005 Minnesota Vikings Love Boat Scandal - from the rookie money that bankrolled it, to the attorney's courtroom description of what happened on those boats, to the fines, to Fred Smoot asking, "why was that ever a story?" on Reddit ten years later.The organization: Fred Smoot and Bryant McKinney didn't want "local talent" because local talent would start rumors. So, they brought in workers from out of state, which nearly added a trafficking charge on top of everything else.The execution: Al and Alma's Charter Cruises. Two boats. The captains turned around after 45 minutes. Some of the crew were high school kids. The attorney's description of what occurred in the common areas is entered into the record.The legal aftermath: Smoot and McKinney each fined $1,000 by Hennepin County. Culpepper's charges dismissed entirely, a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence crew members were directly offended by his specific actions. NFL fines were higher, but Mike Tice was still fined more for scalping Super Bowl tickets than any of his players were fined for this.The quotes: Mewelde Moore's "Sex? Come on, I'm engaged" defense. Fred Smoot's "please don't turn on the black light." Smoot on Roger Goodell: "I'd have been banished from the league."The footnotes: Darren Sharper - free safety on that 2005 roster, later agreed to an 18-year federal sentence for rape and sex trafficking across multiple states. Zygi Wilf bought the team instead of Vince McMahon. Brock Lesnar tried out for the Vikings the year before. And one of the boats was eventually sold, refurbished, and operated as a tour boat — complete with framed Culpepper and McKinney jerseys on the walls.Follow Halls of Mediocrity: wherever you get your podcasts | X | Facebook GroupIntro Music:Music by Marching Music -Guide Right -By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - PixabayOutro Music:Music by Marching Music -The Thunderer By John Philip Sousa | Royalty-free Music - Pixabay

Darko Miličić was number one. Everyone gets that. But can you name the pitcher drafted third overall who never threw a single inning in the majors? The closer drafted first overall with a 100 mph fastball who threw an octopus? The Heisman winner Joe Theismann said the Lions would be committing a travesty if they passed on — who still couldn't survive the NFL?Welcome to training camp. Kevin and Jeff work through the top ten Detroit sports busts of all time — all sports, all eras, and a few honorable mentions that will genuinely hurt if you lived through them.The list covers: Darko Miličić: The #2 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, selected one spot after LeBron James. The most famous bust in modern draft history, and somehow not even the most painful entry on this list.Charles Rogers: Detroit Lions receiver. Three seasons. Broken collarbone twice. Off-field problems. Gone before 25.Jeff Okudah: #3 overall to the Detroit Lions out of Ohio State. Injury-shortened tenure. Kevin doesn't think he belongs this high.Matt Anderson: A rare #1 overall pick in MLB — a closer with a legendary 100 mph fastball. The arm didn't hold.Kyle Sleeth: #3 overall in the 2003 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest. Projected to anchor Detroit's rotation. Underwent Tommy John surgery. Never pitched a single inning in the majors.Andre Ware: The Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Houston. Joe Theismann said it would be a travesty if the Lions passed on him. They didn't. It was anyway.Reggie Rogers: #7 overall to the Detroit Lions in 1987. Two sacks in 11 games. Convicted of negligent homicide after a motor vehicle accident at the end of his rookie year.Filip Zadina: Detroit Red Wings. #6 overall in 2018. Never became what he was supposed to be.Mike Williams: Detroit Lions receiver. Kevin thinks he should be higher.Honorable mentions: Eric Ebron (the tight end Detroit could have used on Aaron Donald or Mike Evans), Chuck Long (the Iowa quarterback who never translated), Jahvid Best (injuries, not failure — Kevin pushes back on this one), and Terrion Arnold, who didn't make this list yet — but give it a year.Four episodes in the can. July 14th is coming.Opening Theme:Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Pixabay</a>Closing Theme:Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95380">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95380">Pixabay</a>

Patrick Kane punched a cab driver over 20 cents. Pat McAfee was arrested shirtless and soaking wet at 2am trying to break into the wrong car. One guy was arrested over 100 times. Another had no pants, no underwear, nothing. Five clues. Five athletes. Can you name them?The Halls of Mediocrity launches July 14th, the second show from the Archive Podcast Network. In this preview clip, Kevin and his brother Jeff run a training camp drill: five clues, a running clock, and Jeff doing his best to identify the perp before time runs out.Clue #1 - NFL Running Back: A career backup who never started more than four games in a season, arrested at Barry University for breaking into a dorm room and using a woman's laundry basket as a toilet.Clue #2 - NHL, Three-Time Stanley Cup Champion: One of the most recognizable names in the sport, arrested in Buffalo at 5am for punching a cab driver in the face over a 20-cent fare dispute.Clue #3 - MLB Gold Glove Second Baseman: A .254 career hitter pulled over in Tampa with seven cans of beer, a gram of cocaine, and leaving the scene of an accident. Police could not administer a field sobriety test at the side of the road. You'll understand why when you hear the clue.Clue #4 - NBA Backup Point Guard: Played for six teams in ten years. Never averaged more than eight points a game. Arrested over one hundred times in his life. Best known as a Phoenix Sun.Clue #5 - NFL Punter: Found shirtless, soaking wet, at 2am, trying to break into a car that wasn't his. Told police he thought it was. Now one of the most prominent media personalities in sports.Jeff gets four out of five. Kevin gives him a solid B. July 14th is coming.THE HALLS OF MEDIOCRITY - LAUNCHING JULY 14THSports. True crime. Athletes who had everything and threw it away.Find it wherever you get your podcasts.ECHO 1953 - THE HOLLIS FILES, BOOK ONELaunching July 27, 2026. Pre-order on Amazon now.SUPPORT MIDNIGHT MYSTERY ARCHIVE ON PATREONEarly access to episodes, case notes, and behind-the-scenes content. Three tiers starting at $5/month.patreon.com/midnightmysteryarchiveFollow: midnightmysteryarchive.com | X | Facebook GroupOpening Theme:Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Pixabay</a>Closing Theme:Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95380">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95380">Pixabay</a>

OJ Simpson is number one. Lance Armstrong is number four. And somehow Aaron Hernandez didn't make the top ten. The Halls of Mediocrity launches July 14th — and this is how we do research.The Halls of Mediocrity is a new show from the Archive Podcast Network covering the athletes whose careers ranged from average to genuinely great — and whose lives off the field ranged from embarrassing to criminal to legitimately unforgivable. Hosted by brothers Kevin and Jeff Hall, the show takes a hard look at the falls from grace that sports fans never quite got over, and some they probably forgot about entirely.In this trailer, Kevin and Jeff work through a quiz: the top 10 falls from grace in professional sports history, according to one article they found on the internet. A few are obvious. A few are genuinely surprising. And at least two of them belong higher on the list. The conversation covers OJ Simpson (#1), Joe Paterno (#2), Pete Rose (#3), Lance Armstrong (#4), Ben Johnson (#5), Marion Jones (#6), Tiger Woods (#7), Tonya Harding (#8), Michael Vick (#9), and Roger Clemens (#10) — plus a dishonorable mentions list featuring Aaron Hernandez, Oscar Pistorius, Chris Benoit, Jerry Sandusky, Gilbert Arenas, Lenny Dykstra, Ben Roethlisberger, and a notable omission that both of them find genuinely baffling.(How is Mike Tyson not in the top ten?)This is the show. Sports, crime, and the athletes who had everything and lit it ablaze!The Halls of Mediocrity — part of the Archive Podcast Network Midnight Mystery ArchiveOpening Theme:Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Pixabay</a>Closing Theme:Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95380">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95380">Pixabay</a>

Welcome to The Halls of Mediocrity! The podcast that finally gives the backup quarterbacks, the .248 hitters, and the can't-miss prospects who missed their moment in the spotlight.Brothers Kevin and Jeff Hall launch the newest show on the Archive Podcast Network with a conversation that goes exactly where you'd expect. From the 1984 Detroit Tigers' unsung heroes to the Bad Boy Pistons, from Dennis Rodman's loaded shotguns in the Palace parking lot to the traveling circus of 1980s professional wrestling, this trailer is a taste of what's coming.The Hall brothers aren't just here to talk stats. A .252 average isn't going to blow anybody's socks off — but a couple of DUIs and a crack cocaine conviction? Now you've got a show.Every episode profiles a professional athlete whose career, post-career, or both went spectacularly sideways. The mediocre, the overhyped, the forgotten, and the ones who somehow found their way back. It's going to be fun. It's going to be serious. And some of it is going to be genuinely hard to hear.But rest assured — it will never be boring.Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Archive Podcast Network.Opening Music: Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=95348">Pixabay</a>Closing Music: Music by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nesrality-22721863/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=99086">Trygve Larsen</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=99086">Pixabay</a>