March 21, 2005

Joe: The Block says...
Jason Block: Thank goodness.
Chico: Heh... We're back, and it's time for the 20 Questions portion of the show. In the hot seat this week: Curt Spear, the season 1 champ of... (earmuffs Gordon)... Stump the Schwab.
Curt: Greetings.
Joe: !SALUTE!
Jason B: Good morning sir.
Chico: Simple concept, Curt, we ask 20 Questions. That's pretty much it. :-)
Joe: And you answer 'em.
Curt: How many questions is that, again?
James: 20...give or take 20 :-)
Chico: And James'll be helping you this time, because he's going on the show for season 2, right?
James: I tried out...I should find out next week.
Chico: Alrighty. Good luck, man.
Mike: Lucky you. I'd love to be on that show. Alas, I live nowhere near NYC.
James: I don't anymore, but I have frequent-flier miles to burn.
Chico: Better than having gas to burn. Anyway, who wants to start the party?
Jason B: I will.
Chico: Rock me, Amadeus.

Jason B: 1) What made you audition for "Schwab"?

Curt: Well, there aren't many opportunities in life where you're rewarded for knowing the most inane sports trivia, so when this one came along, I had to take a shot at it.

Joe: 2) How do you think you would do on 2 Minute Drill?

Curt: Pretty well. I never auditioned for the show, but I have done a couple of the mock touring versions that ESPN and Cox Cable did in 2002 and 2003. I won one in Virginia Beach (won a trip to the ESPYs), and was runner-up in N.Va.
Gordon: nice
Joe: Not bad.
James: Probably would have got farther than I did (third tourney, lost in second round).

Mike: 3) How was The Schwab off-camera? His on-camera persona makes him appear like a cocky know-it-all. No offense to Mr. Schwab if he happens to see this since he does know just about all in the world of sports.

Curt: He wasn't as "in your face" as he was coached up to be on camera, but he was a bit socially awkward. Friendly, but socially awkward. As if sports is really the only language he speaks.
James: (Note to self: if I get on show, don't ask Schwab about North Korean disarmament :-) )

Curt: Good instincts, James.
Gordon: As someone who does work in that environment, I can tell you first-hand that when people are immersed in sports, that the social aspects are..to be desirable. But that can be in any environment when you are immersed in something and don't come up to breather for air. Even.... game show fanatics (gasp!)
Chico: Hey... I breathe, alright? Just ask the GF =p
James: Agreed as well...having been in sports "media rooms" to cover boxing and soccer games, any non-sports media type that shows us is instantly overwhelmed by what s/he hears and sees around them.
Jason B: I have another question if you don't mind?
Curt: Shoot.
Chico: No problem.

Jason B: 4) Stuart Scott--how was he?

Curt: I get asked this a lot, and I have to tell you - he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Went out of his way to make everybody on stage feel comfortable. And what's more, his wife, sister-in-law and daughter befriended my wife on the set, because she didn't know anybody else there. Talked to her, kept her loose - really nice folks.
James: Very nice.
Curt: Just what you would expect from good southerners.
Chico: Carolina alum, I might add :-)

Gordon: 5) How appealing was the idea of working for ESPN? Did that attitude change when you saw who you may be working for?

Curt: I knew before I ever auditioned that there was no chance I would ever work in Bristol, CT. Aside from being an armpit, my wife and I both have too many roots in Virginia to go that far north.
James: Remember what Sal Marchiano said...Happiness is getting away from Bristol.
Chico: I remember what Keith Olbermann once said: "Most godforsaken place on earth."
Curt: Now, if I could have had Tony Reali's (read: statboy's) job in DC, that might be another matter.
Mike: I'd start watching Around the Horn again if that happened.
Joe: Hey, I LIKE Reali.

Jason B: 6) So what would have done if you would have won the job? Was there a provision for you?

Curt: Not sure what I would have done. They were not forthcoming with ANY details about the job. I don't think they wanted anyone to win it, and frankly, I don't think they thought anyone could.

Chico: 7) Okay. Something I always wondered.... the nickname C-Money..... You had that going in or is that something Stuart Scott made up for the show?

Curt: On the contestant application, it had a spot for nickname. I wrote, "I don't really have one, but I think it would be pretty cool if people started calling me C-Money." Stu took it from there.
Chico: Honest answer...
Curt: Besides, you can't be from Hampton and not have a hip-hop nickname.

Joe: 8) Curt, have you been following The Contender, and if so, what do you make of it?

Curt: I have not. Boxing is among the sports I know the least about. All I've read is the headlines.
Joe: I recommend it. The fights aren't quite realistic, but otherwise, it's a nifty show.
Chico: It's not really that bad a few shows in.
Curt: Went to a couple of Sweetpea Whitaker fights in the 90s. There's no crowd like a boxing crowd, I'll say that. Presumably because everybody has their mortgage riding on the outcome.
Joe: Sure feels like it sometimes, I'm sure. One thing I would like to do before I die is go to a title fight in person.

Mike: 9) If you could go back in time to watch a single sporting event or historic moment in sports, which one would you attend and why?

Curt: Wow. That's a tough one. Probably Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run in 1951. That has to be among the single most famous moments in sports history.

Gordon: Next one is mine. 10) If the job that you had was the producer of Season #2, what changes would you make on the show?

Curt: The first thing I'd do is try to change Schwab's persona. I don't think the trash-talking bully image is a good one for the show. A harmless know-it-all, a la Cliff Claven, is probably a better angle. I don't think it helps the show when most viewers dislike the main figure.
Chico: Most?! Heh.
Jason B: Sounds about right. Nobody likes a smartass.
Curt: I'd also try and standardize the rounds, so the format is consistent from show-to-show.
Mike: Good answer.
Chico: I like it.
Gordon: Hear here.
Curt: I think that will happen this season - the five episode first season
may have been testing options for each round.

Chico: 11) You knew a lot of things going in, but where do you think your weakness is?

Curt: My biggest weaknesses is probably contemporary NBA. That's a league that just isn't much fun to watch anymore. Sure enough, it hurt me in the final round of my first show. Fortunately, I overcame it.
Chico: I think I see where you're coming from. I was spoiled by his Airness myself.. Then there are the "I want more money" and the NBDL and all that. Why (Old Man Periwinkle) Back in my day, the NBDL was called COLLEGE! (OMP off).
Curt: Primarily, I blame the Pistons of the early 90s and the Pat Riley Knicks.
Chico: Understandable.
Curt: Bore-and-gore basketball. Blech.

Jason B: 12) We all had the big baseball congressional hearings this week. Dog and Pony show...or constructive political policy?

Curt: I was watching NCAA's, so I've only read about them. But I strongly suspect it's more of a Dog and Pony show. I understand the serious nature of the issues, but I can't believe it was worth as much time and effort as the committee put into it. There are bigger fish that need to be fried. Very disillusioning for a St. Louis Cardinal fan to hear McGwire's answers, though.
Gordon: I lose a lot of respect for McGwire with those answers as well.
Joe: Ring the dinner for me, why don't ya?

Joe: 13) Curt: the NCAA's...Who ya got?

Curt: My wife is an Illinois grad, so "Oskee-Wow-Wow", whatever that means. I'd have to take the Illini over the field, but in the current era of college basketball, you just never know. Everybody is beatable.
Jason B: My bracket got hosed last night.
Curt: I love Dee Brown.
Chico: As was proven this weekend. I don't think anyone had Kansas out in the first round.
Joe: My associates here were whining about last night's upsets before we started.
Curt: The most fun team to watch is Washington - how can you not love Nate Robinson?

Mike: 14) I'll make mine real simple. Who is your favorite athlete ever?

Curt: Walter Payton. A lot of people can give there all when they're competing for titles, but Payton busted his hump in many a lost cause long before the Bears were playoff regulars.

Gordon: I hear 15) The tapings for Season 2 have begun. Have you heard any scuttlebutt on the show and how it's going?

Curt: No, I haven't. I have talked to a few people who have auditioned, but none of them have been selected yet. I've heard some rumblings that the format will be different, including a modified final round. But I don't know any details. I guess with no NHL playoffs, ESPN has a lot of programming hours to fill. I wonder if they'll go to 2.5 hours per episode, LOL.
Chico: Don't encourage them :-)
Joe: Don't say that. Gordon might go into seizures.
Curt: Hey, it's that or more Poker re-runs. Take your pick.
Chico: Poker reruns!
Gordon: As long as they bring back celebrity bowling I'm happy. 2.5 hours of Schwab! ACK!
Joe: WHOO POKER RE-RUNS!
Curt: Poker will probably get better Nielsen numbers than the NHL anyway.
Joe: I think you're right, Curt.
Gordon: Actually, I think I'll Do Anything and Bowling will get better numbers than the NHL.
Chico: Well, at least there's video games. And there's even an ESPN NHL to recreate the experience. So with that we go to... the questions we ask everyone! Actually, only three of them.

Chico: 16) Past or present, your favorite game show emcee...

Curt: Probably Gene Rayburn. He had to deal with some, uh, interesting personalities from day-to-day.
Jason B: Very good choice.
Joe: WHOO GENE RAYBURN!
Chico: You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees.
Joe: They'd have to be a Match Game hater.
Curt: Who could possibly be a Match Game hata?
Gordon: What's Match Game?
Chico: Gordon, hush.
Joe: ROFL

Chico: 17) Let's say you're an EP. What game do you bring back and why?

Curt: Uh, maybe "Card Sharks." With the whole poker/card table craze going on, there has to be a way to tinker with that one to cash in.
Chico: They tried. Big mistake. Heh.
Joe: They tried that in 2001. If they did it old-school style, it would work, but...
Curt: Had the card thing really taken off four years ago?
Joe: No. But that's not why it choked.
Chico: It choked because ain't no one approved of it. No one really liked the whole hidden camera aspect.
Joe: And the card game mechanics stunk.
Chico: And after seeing a few eps... Who could blame'em?
Joe: The hidden camera aspect was tolerable, but not great.

Chico: Anywho... 18) Right now, what are you watching gamewise?

Curt: Probably the only one I watch on a semi-regular basis these days is Jeopardy!, and I'll probably watch Stump the Schwab when it re-airs. Occasionally, I'll catch American Idol. Nikko Smith rules!
Chico: Okay. And in a turnaround, I defer 19 to Joe and 20 to Mike.

Joe: 19) Who ya got for the Jeopardy tourney?

Curt: I'll take a stab and say Pam Mueller. But I haven't seen enough of the current tourney to know.
Chico: Pretty good stab. Okay, Mikey. You've got the last one.

Mike: Last question! It's time to play Stump the Spear. This question is likely a layup for you. What current Major League Baseball player was born with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot?

Gordon: Did he drink a lot of water in Cleveland?
Mike: Enough with the Cleveland cracks from you.
Curt: Is that Alfonseca?
Mike: He's good. Antonio Alfonseca.
Joe: WOW
Chico: Whoa.
Gordon: He didn't win the whole thing for nothing.
Joe: That's a bad mofo.
Mike: As Joe would say, he's got mad skills.
Curt: Must have picked that up on one of Howie's "Did You Know"'s.
Gordon: That's our 20 questions with Curt Spear. Thank you very much, Curt.
Curt: My pleasure.
Gordon: You are more than welcome to join us on our final segment of the show
Chico: Remember; Stump the Schwab returns with new episodes April 11.
Curt: OK, I'll hang around.
Chico: Cool. What've we got next, G?
Gordon: Coming up - We get to eliminate people - but unlike the Schwab, we send them away to an island. That comes after...this.

(Brought to you by DigiSchwab. It's the new role-playing craze across the nation as you raise your pet electronic Schwab and give him a personality - cause goodness knows, he needs one.)

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