WWDTM: Carissa Moore, Bob Costas, and Jim Rice

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• Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas shared that his high school baseball coach encouraged him to pursue broadcasting after noting his superior knowledge of the game.  Copied to clipboard!
• Olympic gold medalist surfer Carissa Moore admitted that despite her achievements, she struggles with confidence and uses random dance parties to get into the right headspace before competing.  Copied to clipboard!
• Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice revealed that he prioritized watching his favorite soap opera, *The Young and the Restless*, over receiving the call confirming his induction into the Hall of Fame.  Copied to clipboard!

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NPR Funding Appeal

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(00:00:15)

• Key Takeaway: NPR and local stations rely on listener support to continue reporting news and providing entertainment despite federal funding losses and press attacks.
• Summary: Host Peter Sagal appealed for listener support via NPR Plus before the end of the year to ensure public media continues operating. Support unlocks perks like bonus episodes across NPR’s podcasts. Listeners are directed to plus.npr.org to join the public radio supporter community.

Bob Costas Early Career

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(00:02:09)

• Key Takeaway: Bob Costas’s high school baseball coach suggested he pursue broadcasting after observing his superior knowledge of the sport compared to the players.
• Summary: Costas was cut from his high school baseball team, with the coach noting his lack of hitting ability but extensive baseball knowledge. The coach directly suggested broadcasting as a viable career path, which Costas pursued at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. Costas emphasized that broadcasting skills are learned by doing, not just in a classroom.

Costas’s Broadcasting Blunder

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(00:05:03)

• Key Takeaway: Bob Costas once accidentally used the word ‘flow’ when describing a team repeating a previous game’s collapse, nearly costing him his job.
• Summary: Early in his career broadcasting for the Spirits of St. Louis ABA team, Costas told his analyst they wanted to avoid a repeat of Friday night’s ‘flow’ after blowing a lead. The analyst reacted with shock, and Costas feared immediate termination. However, listeners called in requesting more of the ‘Bob Costas guy,’ saving his job.

Costas on Sports Changes

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(00:07:07)

• Key Takeaway: Bob Costas views the introduction of the baseball wild card and the designated hitter rule as indicators of the ‘general decline of Western civilization.’
• Summary: Costas expressed his long-standing opposition to the baseball wild card and the designated hitter rule. He also cited Olympic race walking as one of the most unusual sports he has had to commentate on, comparing its required gait to someone desperately needing a restroom.

Game: And the Emmy Goes To?

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(00:09:08)

• Key Takeaway: The Emmy award is named after the Image Orthicon Tube, an early piece of television technology.
• Summary: Bob Costas correctly answered three questions about the Emmy Awards, achieving a ‘Costy’ (a term coined for a perfect score). He knew the award name derived from the Image Orthicon Tube, not initials or panelist Emmy Blotten. He also correctly recalled that Andy Samberg gave out his HBO login during the 2015 Emmys.

Hawaii Show Recap

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(00:15:09)

• Key Takeaway: The show is revisiting a previously unaired second performance from their October trip to Honolulu, Hawaii.
• Summary: The hosts expressed nostalgia for their recent trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they performed two shows. This segment features the never-before-broadcast second show from that trip. The upcoming segment includes a Bluff the Listener game and an interview with Carissa Moore.

Game: Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)

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(00:16:41)

• Key Takeaway: A woman in Wisconsin attempted to schedule 180 speed dates in one 18-hour day to find a date for an ex-boyfriend’s wedding.
• Summary: The listener contestant, Rich from Kailua, Oahu, correctly identified the true story among three options related to seizing the day. The true story involved a busy ER resident scheduling 18 hours of mini-dates, tracking them on a spreadsheet. The other options involved a retired teacher planning a tour of all US cities named Cleveland and a woman setting a world record for sprinting barefoot on Lego bricks.

Interview with Carissa Moore

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(00:23:11)

• Key Takeaway: Carissa Moore, despite being an Olympic gold medalist, struggles with self-doubt and uses FaceTime dance parties with her husband to manage pre-competition anxiety.
• Summary: Carissa Moore discussed the surreal experience of seeing her mural painted next to surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku in Honolulu. She confirmed her childhood belief that surfing’s appeal lies in its daily variability. Moore revealed that she was 10 weeks pregnant during her last competition and that her daughter is now seven months old.

Game: Shortboard Meet Really Bored

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(00:29:08)

• Key Takeaway: Fred Rogers would intentionally pass gas at dull adult gatherings to liven up the mood, often raising one cheek and smiling at his wife.
• Summary: Carissa Moore correctly answered all three questions about boredom, achieving a perfect score. She correctly identified that BuzzFeed suggested making dolls from cat hair and that Fred Rogers would fart to break up boring adult parties. The third correct answer confirmed that Oscar the Grouch’s trash can canonically contains 17 elephants, a bowling alley, a skating rink, and a swimming pool.

Interview with Jim Rice

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(00:43:12)

• Key Takeaway: Jim Rice struggled to adjust to Boston’s reserved culture after growing up in the South, where people were accustomed to greeting strangers on the street.
• Summary: Jim Rice explained that Bostonians told him his Southern habit of speaking to everyone on the street was not done there. He noted that playing in front of the Green Monster at Fenway Park was advantageous because opposing players didn’t know how far the ball would travel off the wall. Rice admitted he was extremely nervous during the interview, preferring the pressure of playing baseball to public speaking.

Game: Watch Out For These Green Monsters

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(00:48:53)

• Key Takeaway: The Incredible Hulk fought Marvel’s quarterly financial report, which was printed as a comic book detailing publishing revenues.
• Summary: Jim Rice correctly answered two out of three questions about green monsters to win the game. He correctly identified that the Hulk fought Marvel’s financial report, which was presented as a comic book. He missed the fact that the Grinch’s green color in the animated special came from the color of Chuck Jones’s rental car.