Episode 61 — A Tale of Two Griffins

[admin 330]

Merriam-Webster defines griffin as a mythical animal typically having the head and wings of an eagle and the body and tail of a lion. If thats true, than our show has the wings of a glamorous diva superstar with the tail of an NBA legend-to-be. Kathy Griffin, fresh from the red carpet, brings a level of glitz and panache that is shockingly absent from most sports shows. Her tales of fancy parties, legendary Largo shows, and Hollywood rivalries (watch out Jon Hamm!) serve as the perfect foil to our call with Bruce Jenner who is having trouble keeping track of his own little divas. Plus, Blake Griffin FINALLY addresses the rumors of his move to the Harlem Globetrotters. Our apologies for the bad audio on the call, but Blake is a beast in the paint, and a beast on the phone. Throw your hands up for one of the best episodes hands down of Sklarbro Country!

[Julia 477]

If Blake Griffin drops "Henderson" as much as Allen Iverson drops "practice," this catchphrase will get an awful lot of play!

[LukeHENDERSON 3]

Maybe best episode ever. I love Blake saying 'I'm not taking any bullshit from the Globetrotters.' Best line in SBC history. Kathy was terrific, really great timing that worked well with the brothers. Wow. I think this was just an amazing episode.

[MikeLeeTurner 4]

What's a "Cher"?

[mickeyitaliano 2]

Guys...were you at Largo the night she stripped almost naked and showed her plastic surgery scars? Garofalo almost passed a stone. Let me say, she is one of the kindest people. I wanna know what her 'beef' is with Hamm. I hope it's not a Jen Westfeldt thing.
Take Care...Michael

[kingsley_zissou 2]

I second Mick's curiosity about the Hamm thing. I googled, but only found a blocked video about her "torturing Jon Hamm." Anyone know the details?

Like many people, I didn't understand Kathy at first. What really turned me around was her appearance in the Joan Rivers documentary, when Joan anointed/envied Kathy as her replacement. It all clicked; we need a sharp, abrasive, honest female voice in comedy, and Kathy is one of the strongest ones right now. But like Joan, she also seems like a sweetheart in a personal setting, so I loved getting to see that on the podcast. Keep bringing on the ladies.

On that note, bring in some more people of color, too. Baron, Aisha, and Kumail are a good start, but I think more black comedians would bring a great perspective to the Sklars' look at the sports world.

[rotabush 0]

Strictly out of curiosity, how many "fucks" can you have in a podcast and not have to put the "EXPLICIT" tag in iTunes?

[Carter Lee 26]

I thought it was quite cool how proud she seemed to be about her impersonator. Classy.

Did she get her shoes back from Natasha and Edward?

[VinsanityV22 500]

Amazing episode - and it's cool to see you guys play with the order with things. I second the issue about the placement of the emails; it's a lot better to shove it deeper into the episode than put 'em in the front. Kathy was fantastic (Deadliest Catch BLOWS!) and Blake Griffin is always cool when he collides with comedy (I remember him doing a bit for Tosh.0), and more fantastic music - this episode was great! Seriously; Kathy was really, really great considering how far "outside the wheelhouse" (as Matt Besser would say) all the sports talk seems to her on the outside. But she's just a plain quick-thinker, a really good comedian, and jumped in perfectly.

Keep it up, and keep the emails ....not in the front of the episodes, guys!

[Podricast 14]

Great episode, and GREAT SUGGESTION about the emails, the show flows much better now
.
Emails are one of the reasons i skip most of hollywood babble-on even though i really like ralph garmon (they do like a solid half hour of emails up top that i always skip, not to mention, babble-on listener mail is usually cringe worthy and they dont even hold a candle to sklarbro listener mail)
.
whats the GriffHamm beef?

[VinsanityV22 500]

Oh man! Thanks you guys for making me aware that the rAdical Outdoor Challenge was something that actually existed!

Youtube:

lol. "C'mon brother....Stop being so saddical and start being RADICAL!!". You guys should bring that guy onto Sklarbro Country sometime. Couldn't hurt to make the podcast more radical

[Ghost of HST 71]

Great, great show as always. I think the Kathy Griffin and Jon Hamm "beef" was just a joke...
I was just reading a chat with author Joe McGinniss who just published a book on Palin:
I don’t present the Glen Rice story as something shocking. I was told by numerous sources that after her experience of having sex with a “black athlete” Sarah freaked out in horror and guilt. That she felt she’d done something shameful. And that she was traumatized to such a degree that more than twenty years later, when she became governor, she ordered the firing of two dozen lower level state workers because their presence in the state office building made her “uncomfortable.”

I didn’t feel that the stories I’d been told met the burden of proof I personally require for inclusion in a book with my name on the cover. And so I pursued the story for months. Eventually, I learned that the “black athlete” in question was Glen Rice–who, by the way, is an immensely classy and gracious man. I’ve had a number of cordial phone conversations with him, and after reading THE ROGUE last week he left me a terrific voice mail message.

The point is that Glen said, “No, no, no: she didn’t freak out. It was all great. In fact, we stayed in touch by phone for months after that, right up until the time she got married.”

His account disproves any linkage between Sarah’s later discomfort and this event.

Asked if he is scared of confrontation with Todd Palin:
Maybe my first controversy came in 1966 when I was a sportswriter for the Philadelphia Bulletin and reported that Wilt Chamberlain had refused to attend a special foul shooting practice called by his coach during a playoff series against the Celtics. In the sixth game, Wilt went 6 for 28 from the foul line and the 76ers were eliminated. If he’d shot even fifty percent, they would have won. In the locker room afterward, someone asked him if it was true that he’d refused to attend the special practice. He spotted me, the source of that story, and ordered me to leave the locker room. I refused. He lost his temper, jumped up and took a swing at me. Wilt was 7-3, 320 pounds. Five guys jumped on him and restrained him.

So, you know, I don’t exactly quiver when confronted by Tiny Todd Palin.

[Mar6647 0]

Now I'm no fan of Justin Beiber, but I didn't know that abrasive gossip was a favored pastime in Sklarbro country. I would have figured the calming shores as a more live-and-let-live kind of place.
I love the show, but really. Don't hate.

[Mitch From Sask 0]

I bet B. Gumble's stand up routine is funnier than John Mayer's. One thing you can definitely say about Mayer is that by no way does he bring the Raw Bone. Hearing a John Mayer song on a commercial airline's overhead speakers during boarding is enough to make a guy fly private.

I would love to see Blake Griffin play for the Generals - just as long as the Globetrotters don't pull down his basketball shorts in the middle of the game to reveal that he's wearing really embarrassing boxer shorts with hearts & cupids all over them. How could he ever show his face in public again?

[buoy 0]

WATCH OUT FOR THE BUCKET OF CONFETTI!

NEXT TIME, IT'LL BE WATER? WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?

HILARITY ENSUES?

[Cixelsyd23 0]

Let me start by saying I'm a big fan of this show and have been since about episode 10. I even bought the signed numbered CD of Hendersons and Daughters - probably the first physical CD I've purchased in 10 years.

That said, I HATED this episode. So much so that I felt compelled to register an account here to comment on it.

Some of the criticism of the Sklars for sucking up to their guests is justified and some is unjustified. This episode that criticism was warranted. The Sklars reverence for Kathy Griffin was only eclipsed by her own delusional sense of self-importance. It was nauseating to hear her namedrop whoever was on her cell phone and to dismiss most of the world as 'the straights who don't know anything.' I don't know much, but isn't Kathy Griffin straight?

What was worse was her destroying the rhythm of quick hits by interrupting everything Randy and Jason said with her own incoherent, self-centered blather. Why is this person famous again? This episode was unlistenable.

[TheSean 2]

Went out on a limb hoping this was "Kathy Griffin" but no... it was Kathy Griffin.