The Champ is Here. Another poker victory for Portland media's premier hold em player
.
Mid Weight Loss Challenge, Zing chowing at Nick's. Does he have any chance at victory?
MSP Boyz and Carly from Nick's Coney Island.
The Young Champ.
The Champ as B-Walton. Halloween 08 .
Intern Jordon. D'bags cap. Stoked to survive the vote and is La Familia for Life.
Final poll results. 10-15-08. 8:58 A.M. Intern Jordon's job saved somehow. 30 seconds later it was back to 52%-48% to fire him. 
Zing on the field. Image from Oregonlive.com. He's the bum in the middle with the black jacket and shaved head.
Gavin's Lump
James Derby Sweating Boy Bander Nick Lachey at The Game suite at Autzen.
CIP burns the Lakers shirt!
The Snake Below rests the reptile that wreaked havoc on The Game studios July 3rd. Still working on getting the video up, but this pretty much gives you an idea of the monster we were dealing with. After negotiating the front door, this serpent fell asleep against the security door that leads to the main office area. When the People's Champ Gavin Dawson walked through the lobby, he thought for sure it was a fake because the snake was lying so still. Wrong. After convincing an intern to investigate, hijinx ensued. The first attempt to establish contact was interrupted by Gavin psyching out Intern Andrew by pinching him on the back. All the laughter and expletives did not awake the snake. Andrew's second attempt did. Holy S it's Alive!!!! The 18" terror then freaked out, flattened himself, and slid under the security door..successfully evading capture. Evil incarnated then made a b-line for a large stack of boxes and vanished. Dawson, understandably rattled, tried to compose himself for the final segment of the BFT and Overtime, but the damage had been done to his mental state. Paranoia became the norm at The Game. Would it be found over the long holiday weekend? Would the BFT boys be forced to live in fear for the foreseeable future? No. Jose, the best Custodial engineer ever, captured it 72 hours later.
mwuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
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Shaq Freestyle:
Check it you know how I be
Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me
Check it you know how I be,
Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me
I call myself Big
But I’m not as Big but I’m not as big as Biggie
I call myself Big cause I live next to Diddy
Excuse me, Diddy live next to me
So in the hood dawg, I feel like B-I-G
Cause if Biggie was still here, he would be right there
Or Star Island in a mansion somewhere; chillin’
Sitting on about half a billion
Cause me and Guns combined – shit that’s half a billion
For real dawg,
Now that’s B-I-G
Ain’t nobody in the world do it bigger than me
That’s like a white boy trying to be more n***** than me
That’s like a homeless cat having more figures than me
That’s like Patrick Ewing having more rings than me
That’s like rappers having car [mumble] things than me
That’s like YOU saying to yourself you’re better than me
That’s like Kareem saying to hisself he better than me
Now stop, think about that,
It ain’t about that
It’s about B-I-G aka Big Shaq
Now that’s the difference between first and last place
Kobe: Tell me how my ass tastes
Okay, Kobe: Tell me how my ass tastes
Okay everybody, Kobe: Tell me how my ass tastes
I’m a horse
Kobe ratted me out, that’s why I’m getting divorced
He say “Shaq gave a bitch a mil”
I don’t do that, cause my name’s Shaquille
I love ‘em, I don’t leave ‘em
I got a vasectomy, now I can’t breed ‘em
Kobe how my ass taste?
Everybody: Kobe how my ass taste
Yeah, you couldn’t do without me
Kobe: you couldn’t do without me
Everybody: Kobe, tell me how my ass taste
Yeah, you can’t do without me
Yeah, you can’t do without me
Everybody: Kobe, tell me how my ass taste!
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La Familia Ring of Honor .
Every great society needs a board of trustees. Therefore, the Family has established one. For the record, Canzano is not on here because he thinks it might be gang related. Clearly, it is not. Just look at me.
1-C.I.P., that's Chad in Portland. He feeds the family with the wit and smack that got him invited to the smack off.
2-Can't say his name. Used to work him at the other place. Tons of love for him, we'll just call him #2. I hope he lands on his feet.
3-Newbear. Enforcer of La Familia. Greatest SS cohost, except for when Gavin was the cohost.
4-Ozone. Unofficial Associate Producer/Ghost Writer/Bad Mofo. Never stops reppin the Fam.
5-A.C. Coleman. Portland Sports Media Hustler.
6-Nate Gorman. Didn't know a thing about the Blazers, but he was the King of Corvallis.
7-JT. Former official promotions person of SS.
8-The Lil Homie Stephen J. Smith. If you haven't heard him yet, stay tuned.
9-Uncle John Strong. Everybody needs a secretary.
10-James Derby. Down with the team. Most gangster PD I've ever worked for. Seriously thouigh, awesome guy to work for.
11-Ryan Wenzinger. Producer of the Morning Sportspage on 955 The Game. Has a sportsbar in his basement.
12-Casey Holdahl. Trailblazers.com. No explanation needed.
13-Buddy Jay. Representing the listeners for 6 years and running.
14-John Canzano. He was a sure fire first ballot top fiver, but tecnhnical difficulties prevented it.
15-Kenny Vance. My main man. K.V. all day. Respected from the hood and what's good to the hicks in the sticks. He probably don't wanna hear it but he's a mentor and role model.
16-Ada McCormack-The first and hopefully last posthumous induction into the R.O.H. I had just met her at the new job and I regret I didn't have a chance to get to know her more. The reaction around the office to her unexpected passing was incredible. She is no doubt one of the most respected and adored people I have ever had the pleasure to work with.
This guy Arnie right here came on the BFT Friday. If you like to gamble, you should read it...Arnie Wexler’s Story
I am a recovering Compulsive Gambler who placed my last bet April 10,1968.
I started gambling at about age 7 or 8 as a kid in Brooklyn, NY. It started with flipping baseball cards, pitching pennies, shooting marbles and playing pinball machines. That kind of gambling continued until about age 14. At that point I started to bet on sporting events with a bookmaker and I got into the stock market.
As a young kid, growing up, I always felt that everyone was better than me. The only time I felt okay about myself was after I had a win, whether it was marbles or baseball cards or pennies. Then at 14 I went to the racetrack for the first time (that was Memorial Day, 1951 Roosevelt Raceway). At that time in my life I was making $.50 an hour after school, working about 15-20 hours a week. That night at Roosevelt Raceway I had my first big win and walked out of the track with $54. Looking back today, I think it was that night that changed my life. Even though it was only $54, it was about 5 weeks salary to me at that time. That night gave me the belief that I could be a winner from gambling and eventually become a millionaire. I can still recall that high feeling walking out of the racetrack that night.
By 17, I was already stealing to support my gambling. It started with stealing comic books to play cards with from the local candy store. Before long it was stealing money from my family to pay for gambling. By then I was taking the bus to the racetrack, a few nights a week on a regular basis. In those days they closed the track in the winter months, in New York so on weekends, I would take the bus or the train to Maryland to gamble. I was betting sporting events and horses with the bookmaker on a daily basis. In those days each sport had its own season. I remember calling the bookmaker one day and the only thing that was available to gamble on was hockey. I had never seen a hockey game, but bet on it anyway. It wasn't until months later when I did see my first hockey game, that I realized that hockey was played on ice.
Somewhere between age 17 and 20 I went to the racetrack one night and won $6000. Wow! Another big win. It was the equivalent of 2 years salary. This reinforced my belief that I could be a winner at gambling.
By my early 20's I was betting big amounts on lots of games that I didn't really know much about and probably couldn't name more than a handful of players who played in these events. In some of the college games I bet on, I couldn't name one player or even tell you where the college was located, but I needed to be in action. By then I was a regular at the old Madison Square Garden, every week. I was watching and betting on college and professional basketball on a regular basis. At this point in my life I was working full time in a shipping department in the garment center and every Tuesday when we got paid there was a regular crap game out in the hallway. Almost every week I would lose my pay in this game. I began stealing supplies and merchandise on a daily basis to pay for my gambling. By then, I had a bank loan and a loan with a finance company loan. I was also borrowing from coworkers.
At 21 I met my future wife. Our first date was to the movies and most of the rest of our dating was at the racetrack. We had a joint checking account saving for our wedding. She would put money in and I wouldn't. I needed to use my money for gambling. I was still looking for another big win. I thought the perfect place for our honeymoon would be Las Vegas or Puerto Rico since I knew both places had casinos. My wife to be didn't think that was a good idea. I guess she understood enough about my gambling already. At 23 we got married and I wanted to stop gambling at that point. I thought that I could. Within a short time I was already back to gambling. Even though I wanted to stop, I realize today that I couldn't. I needed to gamble like any drug addict needed to stick that needle in their arm, or any alcoholic needed to have that drink.
Four weeks after we got married I went away to the Army Reserves at Fort Dix, NJ for 6 months. During those 6 months, I gambled every day, fast and furious, from placing bets by phone with the bookmaker to shooting crap and playing cards, every waking minute. When I came home in December of 1961, I owed $4000 and didn't even have a job.
I got a job, eventually, working in the garment center In the showroom that I worked in there were a few compulsive gamblers who I quickly got friendly with. They became my buddies. We would play cards during the day, and go to the racetrack at night and on weekends, together. My wife thought I was at business meetings some of these nights and all of us would lie for each other.
In 1963 my first daughter was born. My wife was in labor 37 hours. During that period I went to the racetrack twice. When the Doctor finally came out and told me that we had a baby, the only question I really was concerned about was "how much did she weigh". He told me 7lbs.1 oz. You would think that the concern should have been "how is my wife" or "how is the baby". The first call I made was to the bookmaker. I bet 71 in the daily double. The next day when I picked up the newspaper, the daily double hit. I was convinced that day that God was sending me a message that I was now going to be a winner.
One year later my boss gave me an option to buy 500 shares of stock in the company for $7500. Within a year that stock was worth $38,000. In those days you could buy a car for $2000 and a house for about $10,000. Within 3 years this money would be gone due to my gambling. By now I was a plant supervisor for a Fortune 500 company. My gambling was already so out of control that I was stealing everything I could to stay in action. I set up a room in the factory that we used for playing cards (all day long). I was starting to do illegal acts (manipulating stocks) in the stock market.
Our home life was deteriorating. Gambling was more important than anything else that was going on at home. I was lying about almost everything and I would come home and pick a fight so I could go out to gamble. Nothing else at that point in my life was more important than gambling; not my family or my job. Gambling came first. At this point even though I was doing illegal acts, I was still borrowing money from only legal sources.
My gambling continued to get progressively worse. I was now a plant manager, supervising 300-400 people. My boss worked in New York, and I was in the factory in NJ. Most of the time he didn't know what I was doing. Besides stealing and borrowing money from coworkers, I now had 3 bank loans and 3 loans to finance companies; I owed a loan shark an amount of money equal to one years salary. I was involved with 3 bookmakers, both working for them and betting with them. I directed a lot of people who gambled in my company, to my bookmaker and got a piece of the action. I even got involved in a numbers operation. Between this and stealing, I was supporting my gambling. There were times I would bet 40 or 50 games on a weekend, and believe I could win them all. One weekend, just before I hit my bottom, I called a bookmaker and took a shot by betting a round robin which amounted to about 2 years annual salary. At that moment if I lost that bet, there was no way I could pay it. Things were getting so bad, I remember calling a bookmaker one day and being told that if I didn't bring him the money I owed him he would not take my bet for that night. I went home and sold our car to a neighbor.
By now, I wasn't going home to pick a fight with my wife. I was doing it over the phone so I wouldn't waste the trip home. Most of the time I was out gambling, but when I was home we were constantly fighting. We had sex very rarely. When I won I was so high I didn't need it and if I lost I didn't want it. But there were times we had sex and my wife would say to me "do you hear a radio". Of course I would tell her she was crazy, but I had a radio on under the pillow so I could listen to a game. We were trying to have another child, but couldn't. My wife came to me with the idea of adoption. I didn't like that idea especially when I was told it would cost money. I needed that money for gambling. After 3 months of her bothering me, I finally went along with the idea of adoption, as I thought she would be so busy with the 2 kids that she would leave me alone. I borrowed the money we needed from my boss and relatives. On the day we were bringing our son home on a plane, it was the 7th game of the 1967 World Series. My wife was busy looking at this beautiful new baby. I had no interest in him. I had a large bet on the game. The pilot was announcing the score every 15 minutes, or so. I was so upset that we were on this plane. I wished and prayed that the plane would get to the ground so that I could see or hear every minute of this game.
In the next few months the bottom fell out of my world even though I still had my job and still looked okay. There were no track marks on my arm, I wasn't smelling from my gambling. No one could really tell what was going on. I would come home from gambling and see my wife crying all the time, depressed, sick. Our daughter was 4 years old and I don't remember her walking or talking. I either wasn't home or when I was my head was consumed with the gambling. At that point in my life, I owed 32 people, 3 years annual salary. I had a life insurance policy and constantly thought about killing myself and leaving my wife and 2 kids that money. I would do anything to keep gambling. As long as I could get my hands on some more money to stay in action, I still thought that the big win was just around the corner. I was trying to find out where I could get drugs to sell and looking around at gas stations to rob. I was asking people about making counterfeit money. I was running out of options. My boss came to me one day and told me that a detective was following me and he had a report on my gambling. He knew I was betting more money than I earned and he was sure that I was stealing from the company and that if he found out he would have me arrested. Three hours later I was stealing from the company again. I needed to go to the racetrack that night. On February 2, 1968 my wife was having a miscarriage and I was taking her to the hospital. I was wishing and praying all the way that she would die. I thought that would solve all my problems (I wouldn't have to tell her how bad things were). That morning I called my mother to watch my kids, I called my boss and told him I couldn't come to work because my wife was in the hospital. That afternoon I went to the racetrack. After the track I went to see how my wife was. When I got to the hospital the doctor told me that my wife was in shock and had almost died. I was so deep into my addiction that I really didn't care about her, the 2 kids or myself. The only important thing was making a bet.
I thought that I was the only one living the way I was living and doing the things that I was doing. I found out that I was not alone and that I could stop gambling with the help of the other people. I had hope for the first time. It's been almost 40 years since I last gambled. Today I have everything I dreamed about getting from gambling and then some. I have a wonderful family that is still intact and even have been blessed with 4 grandchildren who I love very much. In the last 30 years I have been able to devote my working life to helping others who have this problem and educating people on the disease of Compulsive Gambling. This has been a dream come true.
MSP Vernacular. La Familia Glossary of Terms.
Body. Chad’s original nickname, stemming from his days as an amateur body builder. He competed in the division that emphasized thin physiques with little to no muscle.
Cereeeeeeeebral. One day, a fan said Justin Roper is going to be good because he’s cerebral. Sorta grew from there.
Champ ass. Thanks to Petros for this one. Perfect backside.
Check mark. What happens on the grease board when an MSP Boy messes up. Chad usually has the most.
C.I.P. Chad in Portland. Doing’s alternate nickname. Originated by going on the Rome show and coming on as Chad in Portland. We shortened it.
Constituent. A listener of the program. One who is represented by The Champ.
Dbag. Douche bag.
Delish. Something that’s cool or hot.
Dime. Female-perfect 10.
Domesticated. State one is in after drinking a sufficient number of light and domestics (American light beers).
Fanmanship. Qualities that reflect somebody’s status as a fan.
Fellowship. Communicating and hanging out with friends.
Jobber. A guy with nothing special about him. Punches the clock, gets paid, goes home. Not a difference maker.
Knowledge bomb. A blast of profound information expressed on The MSP.
K bomb. Knowledge bomb. Originated by Rick “k-bomb” Kamla of NBA TV.
La Familia. Derivative of the Sports Saturday Family which became the Portland Sports Family.
Light and Domestics. American light beer.
Meat & Greet. Example..."just going out with the fellas tonight, try to meet some ladies, maybe have a little meat & greet".
Msp Boyz. Dawson, Zing, Doing. Derivative of the D Boyz at UO.
Newbear. Former La Familia cohost. Now lives in So-cal, writes for sportingnews.com, and joins the show sometimes.
Nate-king of Corvallis-Gorman. Former Sports Saturday cohost. Now lives in Houston and works for the man.
People’s Champ. Name Gavin Dawson was given for being down with the home teams, unlike the jobber media members.
Phone Screena. Former hot intern of La Familia.
Por Vida. For life, as in La Familia for Life.
Richard. Dick.
Ring of honor. La Familia’s Hall of Fame.
Roach. Loser.
Shell casing. Empty Coors Light can.
Situation. A person’s genital region.
Socializing. Intimate relations.
Square-alatin. Suburban neighborhoods in Tualatin, Oregon. Temp home of the Champ.
Stuffer. Originates from a bad car one would acquire for temporary purposes. Is now applied to most things that are substandard.
Timmy “the man” Mones. Original Producer during genesis of La Familia.
Trickin off. Thanks to Ray Buchanan. Not in context of prostitution, more like messing up, slippin, being faulty.
V. Our way of calling a player soft…or a *ussy if you will.
Zing. Producer of the MSP and originator of jobber, roach, and stuffer.
Zanger. Original member of the Sports Saturday Family a.k.a. La Familia. Dawson, Newbear, Doing, Zanger.