You could argue that aside from the final two quarters, this weekend was perfect. At very least, people are asking. And while I know everyone wants to move on from this weekend, I don’t. Not yet. Because I have to shout some people out from what was a fun weekend. Again, until it wasn’t.

Let’s shout some folks out… in no particular order, of course.

Everyone who showed up to Frontier on Saturday Night

Thank you so much to every single one of you who showed up and/or helped spread word. It was an incredible night. Based off the number of raffle tickets we pulled, we had around 125 people show up. And all but about 4 or 5 of them were Titans fans. It was incredible. Even more so considering this is the first live event we’ve ever attempted. When I found out the Titans were coming to Chicago, I knew I had to do something. Especially when that game was announced as the Week 1 matchup. Vibes were high coming into this season (and for me, still are high based on what we saw Sunday and more so, what I saw in pressers after the game).

Jim Wyatt

If there’s any question as to who the O.G. greatest Titans beat writer of all time is (the GTBWOAT). Keep in mind, when beat writers go on the road, they have very busy, very short trips. Their evenings on the night before games are sacred. So for Uncle Jim to not only pop in, but also stay for a good chunk of time and yap it up with Titans fans was incredible. Love that man.

Nate Bain (and everyone at the Titans)

The boys (and ladies) from the Titans caught wind of our party and sent some goodies for us to giveaway. It made for an even better experience for us to reward more people for coming out. The Titans didn’t need to do that, but it’s clear, they’re in this for the right reasons: to build and strengthen this fan base. In the grand scheme of football, the Titans are still an adolescent franchise. They’re aware enough to recognize that and are doing all they can to build generational fandom. Not to mention, they care about the people in their base and it shows. Thank you, Titans. You make me even more proud to be a fan.

My guy Vincent

This is a dude I wanted to meet in person so bad this weekend. He’s a great follow on Twitter (which is the only way I’ve gotten to know him) and more so, he’s a great sports fan and advocate for all things Nashville. As a guy from Nashville who hasn’t had the luxury to live there in nearly a decade, that means a lot to me. A lot of things in that town have changed since I moved away, but one constant remains: V. He’s a real one, especially when it comes to his favorite sports teams (many of which happen to be my favorite teams), and a lot of fans could learn a thing or two from his unwavering support and enthusiasm. I’ve met him once, albeit only for a brief minute, but I already know he’s my guy for life.

My guys Jeff and Chris

Two of the three other guys in my Titans text group made the trip up. Jeff, my best friend from high school (#GodBlessAndGoBruins) and lifelong ride-or-die Titans fan, and Chris, also a ride-or-die Titans and Preds fan. Jeff and Chris are responsible for many of the amazing cinematic masterpieces that the Titans drop to get us hyped in stadiums or before the season. Jeff directs, and Chris is a director of photography. They’re both beyond talented at what they do. It’s unreal. And one of the reasons their videos for the Titans go so hard is because they’re actually loyal and deeply-rooted fans. There was a time when the Titans franchise did not make good content or hype videos, these guys helped change that for the Titans.

DHGate

For offering cheap jerseys for me to buy for the party. Yeah, I bought these things with my own money because I wanted to reward and thank Titans fans for coming out to our Korked Bats party on Saturday. DHGate allowed me to do that (after jumping through a ton of hoops).

DHGate (rescinded)

But then, I’d also like to rescind that shoutout for taking too long to ship said jersey over from China (or wherever it came from), causing me to get our jersey winner’s address to mail him the jersey. The winner, of course, being…

My guy Colin

Met Colin (pictured above in the last pic with me, Chris and Jeff) this weekend and realized I’ve been a fan of this guy’s work for years. Alongside his partner Skinny, they’ve brought us dub videos for years, most notably at times when they came way more frequently. Colin is cool as hell, loves his Tennessee Titans fully, and was responsible for leading the first down chant for all the Titans fans in the nosebleeds of section 446. Glad I met Colin. I’ll get your jersey in the mail as soon as it arrives from Jamaica.

The guy who asked me if my last name was ‘Bats’

The Bean

For just being the most iconic landmark on God’s green earth. YOU GOTTA SEE THE BEAN!

Two-Toned Blue Nation

This is the incredible Titans tailgating group. They roll deep and they roll strong. They helped a lot with getting the word out for our party and then showed up in big ways on Saturday night. Shoutout to the whole crew. Love you guys!

Tony Pollard

For getting the scoring party started, keeping us hyped in section 446, and for allowing us to forget about any other running back in this franchise’s history.

This guy for rocking a Korked Bats t-shirt

People always ask me how they can support this dumb sports blog we’ve got. I always tell them the same thing: likes, reposts, engagement, but most of all, more than anything else, buying some merch, because that makes a direct impact on the growth of Korked Bats. I know that makes me sound like a used car salesman, but I can also get you into a like-new 2003 Buick La Sabre for low financing and 0% APR!

Jack Gentry

Despite ending our 4-year-old podcast ending this week, you know I still have love for my guy. Brothers for life. Even though this was only the second time we’ve been in the same room together.

My guy Riley for buying me a shot of Malort

If you came to Chicago this weekend and didn’t get a shot of Malort, then you technically didn’t come to Chicago this weekend. That sweet nectar made by Jepsen’s is the smoothest, most delicious shot that will ever tickle your throat. Just trust me. I live here. It definitely doesn’t taste like piss-colored windshield wiper fluid. Shoutout to my guy (and former serviceman for this beautiful country) Riley! Thank you for your service and the shot.

The 10 other people who bought me drinks this weekend

This actually tied into one of our DOING LINES bets this week.

The vibes at halftime

Man, nothing will compare to the feelings of walking around Soldier Field’s upper concourse shooting “Titan Up!”‘s to every single person in two-toned blue. To hitting up the bathroom and popcorn-ing of “Titan up!”‘s while we were all pissing. It was euphoric. If I could bottle that drug up, I would sell it harder than Walter White and Marty Byrd ever could.

My vocal chords

For holding on for dear life so I just enough of a voice to host my radio show Monday morning.

Thank you all for such an amazing weekend. Was it the greatest weekend ever (aside from the loss)? People are asking. And thanks for supporting this dumb sports blog. Let’s take it to outerspace!

The post A List of Shout-Outs From Our Titans-Bears Weekend in Chicago appeared first on Korked Bats.

If you’ve followed Korked Bats for a while or if this is the first blog you’ve ever stumbled upon, you should know we are a blog of the people. And the people? They do be askin’. In just about every piece of content we put out, we ask the questions that the people ask. And after many people asked, we decided to finally add a PEOPLE ARE ASKING shirt to our online store. So look, if people are asking, then people shall be receiving.

If you care to support this dumb sports blog, grab a shirt here:

Also, shout out to all of our friends who chipped in to make that launch video possible: Mike Keith (radio voice of the Tennessee Titans), Steve Gorman (The Black Crowes), Aaron Chewning (St. André Golf), Alyssa Bergamini (Bulls radio broadcaster, White Sox in-game host), Shane Riordan (670 The Score), Martha Gottwald (Neubyrne), Josh Holleman (WYCD – Detroit), and a ton more… including tweets, comments and posts from all of you.

The post Is Our Latest T-Shirt Drop The Greatest Fashion Statement of All-Time? PEOPLE ARE ASKING! appeared first on Korked Bats.

For all acquaintances be forgot or something like that. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty sure the only thing forgotten every new year is the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne. What kinda name is that anyway? Why is that the first thing we have to accomplish on our yearly to-do list? We should just all agree to sing Sisqo’s Thong Song, Hinder’s Lips of an Angel or Jumper by Third Eye Blind when the ball drops or something. “3… 2… 1… HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend!”

I digress.

It’s a new year, which means we have to take the advice of McConaughey selling Lincolns. Sometimes we gotta go back to actually move forward, which is why we like to look back on the year that was. Now, I know we say to never take us seriously because we don’t take ourselves seriously, but let me be serious real quick. I know, I know… laaaaame. But just roll with me here.

This dumb sports blog has meant a lot to me for a long time, especially since reviving it on this day in 2020. I, along with a few others, have put in countless hours into the daily grind of churning out – what we believe to be, at least – funny and entertaining sports and pop culture content. Over the last four years, we’ve been fortunate enough to grow steadily, and we’ve been lucky enough to have a few moments really pop off: from the Kim Mulkey jacket saga to the Jason Kidd collar photoshops to Billy Jeans merch drop and more. It’s been fun as hell watching this thing grow. I have extremely lofty goals for this blog (or brand? is it too douchey to use the word brand?) to grow, which is primarily what fuels me. So to any of you who have ever hit follow, retweet, share, or even just play on any of our videos, thank you. As much as I hate it, what we do is a numbers game. We put no money into marketing, so word of mouth and sharing is how we grow. So to every single one of you who have shared what we do or told a friend to follow… thank you. Honestly.

Now I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t been extremely challenging. Especially lately. I now have two little girls under two and a wife who I love with all of my heart. I have a day job that I love as well that gets bigger by the week. And this brand (still feels douchey) has very little capital to work with, which makes me even more grateful for those of you who have bought our merch. All of the money made from that goes directly back into the site to help us grow. So thank you. This site also runs from the help of others. My guy Kenny from The Cineboiz Podcast absolutely crushes it regularly. If you’re a fan of movies, video games, and any other form of entertainment, you need to check out his blogs, his movie reviews, and his SXSW recaps. He does incredible work. You also should check out the work of our other guys. From comedian Kyle Ayers (my co-host on DOING LINES, our ridiculously fun fake sports betting podcast) to MOB (who is hilarious on Twitter and is worthy of your follow) to Kevin to Tom to the occasional hits from Adam and even the work we got this past summer from Intern Will. There are so many folks who regularly contribute to this site for the sole purpose of making people laugh, and I’m so grateful for every single one of them.

I also know we make a lot of Titans content, as a majority of our following comes from Titans fans, but to those of you who follow despite our influx of two-toned blue content, thank you. I plan to expand our reach in 2024, by tapping into Chicago sports a little more and anywhere else we can attract content creators, while still appeasing our Titans fan followers because Lord knows we need something exciting to cling on to right now.

I think this might be the first time I’ve ever pulled back the curtain on our operation, but I wanted to do so as a sign of appreciation. I’m so grateful for each of you who support, defend, and help this blog/brand (Ew.) grow. So I feel like you’re due the transparency. I wanted you to know how much work goes into running this site and the socials so you realize how necessary your support is as it’s what fuels us. Thank you. Hopefully, we can make you laugh or keep you entertained a little more in 2024. The year of Griffey. So in the words of Jay-Z’s Encore, “thank you, thank you, thank you, you’re far too kind.”

Maybe that’s the song we should sing on New Year’s?

The post Just A Quick Thank You To The Cool Kids appeared first on Korked Bats.

We all know the SEC just means more. But maybe sometimes it means too much? Especially when one of their own is taking the first step of legal action against a comedic sports blog. The Arkansas Razorbacks are coming after this dumb blog for a post from over 10 years ago.

We got an email the other day from a law firm presenting a cease and desist for a blog we wrote in 2012.

2012! TWENTY-TWELVE! This blog was written in a time when we were all whoopin’ it Gangnam Style while we watched Jeremy Lin dominate the NBA in between watching the last Christopher Nolan Batman movie and the first Avengers movie, Disney was buying LucasFilm, Fifty Shades of Grey had all the suburban moms hot and bothered, and the world was supposed to end because the Mayan calendars ran out.

And oh yeah, Bobby Petrino had just been fired for the first time in Fayetteville.

What a time to (barely) be alive! So after Bob was fired by the university for *allegedly* (in case any lawyers are reading) wrecking a motorcycle with one of his employees and former Razorbacks volleyball player on the back of his hog (pun only slightly intended), there was a collection of the Razorbacks fan base that was upset. And by collection, we mean only about 200 people, less than a Chick-fil-A drive-thru.

See? It just means more. So we saw this and obviously -like the rest of the entire Internet- had to make jokes. So we posted the following blog.

If you notice, there is not a single Razorback logo or any wordmark that this law firm linked in their cease and desist. In fact, there isn’t a single mention of Arkansas Razorbacks on the very obviously fake t-shirt that we never sold, printed, or did anything more than just make the dumb joke. Now look, I don’t know if you picked up on this fact from reading this blog, but I’m no lawyer. I run a dumb sports blog on the internet in between the hours of my radio job. So I guess my question is: do we have any lawyer cool kids able to help us out here? Do we have any ground to stand on here? I don’t plan on taking it down unless they want to go to court. Which, in my opinion, would be the funniest legal case since Aunt Becky’s daughter got into USC.

(Please don’t send me a cease and desist for that joke, USC.)

The post Woo Pig Sue Me! Did Arkansas Send Us A Cease And Desist For A Fake Shirt We Made 12 Years Ago? YESSIRRR! appeared first on Korked Bats.

The morning after the NBA Draft, I tweeted the above. Sound familiar?

It’s because I’ve already done this shtick before. Which is why I did it again. Because I thought most of you would be in on the joke. Someone wears a ridiculous jacket that goes viral, and I tweet “the thing” to reminisce about how funny it was last time. Ha ha! Right? Well, never underestimate the internet, because apparently some of you monsters actually want to see this be run back.

Guys, I was just making a joke, an homage to last time. I was not actually looking to go through all the logistics as I did last time to find the jacket and wear it to a game. I mean, if I was actually looking to run it back, I’d jack up the number of likes by a bunch, because last time, I got over 3x as many likes. I wouldn’t AGAIN set it at 5,000. But roughly 1.3 thousand of you monsters don’t care. You don’t care that the sequel is NEVER as good as the original. You just want more. You people are exactly why there are so many Fast & Furious movies. You don’t care that it’s no longer abour street racing. You just want fast cars and explosions. And here, you only want dumb sports blogger in a funny jacket in a very public place. Would I go through with it if 5k likes were met on this tweet? *sigh* Yes. But it’s definitely not happening this time. The original phase of likes has died down. But not without out some of you monsters really trying.

Look, respect to those who tried. But let’s leave the Kim Mulkey jacket RIP in peace.

(Mainly because I have no idea how I’d get Gradey Dick’s ruby red slipper jacket. And because it will be so much hotter at a Cubs game this much deeper into the summer.)

The post You People Are Monsters. appeared first on Korked Bats.

Korked Bats now has an intern. Is he getting paid? Of course not. Is he earning college credit? Nope. Do we even have an intern program? Not at all. So why is he doing it? We don’t know. But we’re not asking any questions, we’re just rolling with it. The only problem is we have no idea what to do with him. He’s proficient in Microsoft Office programs, but we never use any Office programs. We make dumb videos about Derrick Henry and going to Cubs games in outrageous jackets.

And can you believe he goes to Stanford?! So naturally, he’s a good kid and a go-getter, for sure. We just need ideas as to what we make this kid do? When I initially asked on social, some people suggested making him get one of every item off the McDonald’s menu and make him eat it. We’d make him get us coffee, but he’s in Birmingham, and the rest of us are in Chicago, Austin, Nashville, etc. Pretty sure the coffee would be cold by the time it arrived. Since he loves to put the ball in the hoop, some suggested we make him film himself playing basketball, so we can see for ourselves and/or laugh at his white boy jump shot. Who knows? We just want you to help us come up with something for him to do. We don’t want him sitting around all summer twiddling his thumbs. We already know how lazy this next generation already is (as a member of the generation before his, I have to be critical of his generation’s laziness whether there be actual truth to it or not).

The post We Have An Intern Now… What Should We Make Him Do? appeared first on Korked Bats.

When it comes to the ven diagram of fashion enthusiasts and fans of dumb sports blogs, I have to assume there’s not much overlap if any at all. They very well could be two separate circles. But sometimes, those two worlds combine. And not just when Russell Westbrook or Kyle Kuzma walk into an NBA arena, or when Jason Kidd rocks an oversized collar. Sometimes you tweet something dumb, get sent a $4,000 jacket, and wear it to a Cubs game. And when you do, sometimes the designer of that jacket decides to fly in for the game. In which case, you have to interview her, which is exactly what I did.

Meet Martha Gottwald, the creative director of NEUBYRNE and arguably the coolest person I’ve ever met. She was so much fun from start to finish through this entire process and even more fun and enthusiastic in person. If have even the smallest taste for fashion and/or design, I suggest throwing her a follow on Instagram here.

The post An Interview with The Designer of Kim Mulkey’s Pink Ostrich Feather Trimmed Jacket appeared first on Korked Bats.

There’s Holly Rowe, Erin Andrews, and Shane freaking Riordan from 670 The Score. The legend himself stopped by Murphy’s Bleachers in the calm before the pink-ostrich feather storm and interviewed me leading up to the day.

The post VIDEO: A Pregame Interview for My Day With Kim Mulkey’s Jacket appeared first on Korked Bats.

This week continues to get more and more amaze.

I feel like this entire blog has become just updates on this Kim Mulkey jacket situation and movie reviews from Kenny. (Shout out, Kenny!) But a lot has happened in the past week, and I haven’t had a ton of time between editing, blogging, and – oh yeah – my actual job to update with other stuff. So just bear with us here, because we’re only a few days away from Saturday (April 22), when I will be wearing Kim Mulkey’s jacket to Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Dodgers game. It’s absolutely ridiculous how big this has grown. From the reverse of that Garth Brooks song with Baton Rouge calling me…

It’s a good question if you think about it.

From then hopping on 670 The Score in Chicago with the legends Laurence Holmes and Leila Rahimi.

To the @Cubs following Korked Bats on Twitter…

To finding out that Martha Gottwald of Neu Byrne, the designer of the jacket, and LSU Women’s Basketball assistant coach Jennifer Roberts are both flying in for the game. WHAT. IS. HAPPENING? All from that stupid tweet from me just sitting on my couch laughing at that jacket.

As for the jacket itself, it’s hanging in the bag in my kitchen just staring at me every single day. Waiting until Saturday. And so am I.

The post VIDEO: An Unboxing of The Kim Mulkey Jacket & Other Updates To This ‘Amaze’ Saga appeared first on Korked Bats.

Imagine the “OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING!” GIF from The Office, but in real life. Because that’s what’s going on in my brain right now.

I don’t know if you’ve been following this incredibly dumb saga or not, but if not, feel free to catch yourself up here:

Or here:

Or even here:

But for those who are caught up to speed. The jacket, Kim Mulkey’s jacket that looks like if Animal from The Muppets worked at Bath & Body Works, is en route to me in Chicago as you read this. I’m sure you’re wondering where I found one. Allow me to correct you real quick. Not just one, but THE one. As in the only one of these jackets that exist. The one Kim Mulkey wore in the women’s Elite Eight. The one photographed in my tweet above. According to the jacket’s designer, Martha Gottwald – who is so damn cool, by the way – this jacket was originally for a couture runway show and is the only one in existence.

Initially, Martha wanted me to do something epic in it like, in her words, “a keg stand or something.” But apparently, the jacket is needed after I’m done (more on that below), so I gotta take care of it and keep it in pristine condition. I mean, it is retailed at over $4,000 by the way. Side note: I should’ve gotten into fashion design instead of sports blogging and radio.

Here are a few of the most common questions I’ve gotten so far:

When is it arriving?

This Saturday before 7 p.m. according to the tracking number I have for UPS. Yes, I’ll be upset if Martha (we’re on a first-name basis now – I don’t know if she knows that) is just mailing be a giant box of dog poo as a goof. I’ll admit it’s a well-played goof, but I will be pissed.

Will it even fit?

That we don’t know. I did some at-home measurements before we shipped it out and it’s going to be close, but Martha said it should be good. So fingers crossed there.

Have you picked a game to attend?

Short answer: yes. The Cubs kick off a quick California road trip on Friday and aren’t back to the Confines until next Friday, so we have to wait a week, but as of right now (barring rain), we’re looking at Saturday, April 22nd against the Dodgers, which should be nice, because, with out-of-town Dodgers fans in attendance, I probably won’t be the most flamboyantly dressed person in Wrigley. FOLKS!

Where are you sitting?

I was hoping to score some behind-home plate seats just so that jacket could be in the line of sight for TV cameras, but have had no luck so far. So as of right now, I’ve got some seats in the bleachers, which I think is the next best place to sit at Wrigley. Especially in high-end designer fashion.

Anything else planned?

I still have a few things I’m working on to make the day pretty cool. We’ll obviously be updating you as we learn more. But for right now, this is everything. If you have any ideas or wanna help in any way, please reach out.

But one thing is for sure, I’m definitely getting a Beer Bat.

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Is that $4,000 jacket just yours now?

You kidding? I wish. Unfortunately, no. While it would look good with the rest of my wardrobe, I do have to send it back the next day. There are murmurs that this jacket could be displayed in a hall of fame, so Martha asked that I take good care of it and ship it back in one piece. So I will protect this jacket with my life.

So hey Chicago, whaddaya say?! If you’re going to be at Cubs-Dodgers next Saturday, please find me. I’ll be the guy in the pink ostrich feather-trimmed floral jacket.

The post UPDATE: Kim Mulkey’s Jacket Is En Route To Chicago, Will Be Worn At An Upcoming Cubs Game appeared first on Korked Bats.