As the manic NBA free agency festival draws ever near, there is speculation aplenty about landing spots for superstars and how a certain non-functional Achilles tendon could change everything. 

And Badder Beats unveils Part I of an informative and entertaining interview surrounding the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Black Sox scandal with Jacob Pomrenke, chairman of the Society for American Baseball Research’s committee on the topic. 

EPISODE 33 TIME STAMPS 

Legal Sports Betting Legislative Update 

 1:40 – Sports betting updates in New England. 

2:15 – Welcome to the legal sports betting family, Maine and New Hampshire. 

2:33 – Funner. 

2:36 – Funner? 

2:56 – How New Hampshire got the cider made. 

4:52 – The New England plot to siphon cash out of Massachusetts. 

6:01 – On New England sportsbooks and rooting for or against the Boston dynasties to relent. 

Black Sox Scandal 100th Anniversary 

10:00 – Part I of our interview with Jacob Pomrenke, chairman of the Black Sox Scandal Research Committee for the Society for American Baseball Research. Pomrenke debunks several lingering myths surrounding the successful plot by the Chicago White Sox to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. 

12:20 – What did “Eight Men Out” get right and get wrong? 

14:32 – Did eight White Sox players actually conspire with gamblers to fix the World Series? 

18:50 – How the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs helped lead to the career demise of the Black Sox. 

20:28 – The Black Sox didn’t start or stop throwing games with the 1919 World Series. 

22:39 – Why did Major League Baseball suddenly care about cleaning up its integrity problem? 

23:59 – Myth debunked: the Black Sox were not rubes lured into disrepute. 

25:49 – Who were the Clean Sox and how did they co-exist with the Black Sox? 

29:01: Joe Jackson: guilty. 

Where Will Durant, Leonard, Butler Land in NBA Free Agency? 

30:21 – NBA free agency commences on Sunday. Coffee up! 

32:17 – Where did those NBA free agency odds go? 

33:00 – Why are the Lakers odds to win the championship so low? 

34:01 – Lakers season wins over/under speculation. 

35:05 – How many games will the Milwaukee Bucks win? 

37:05 – How many games will the Golden State Warriors win? 

37:26 – Ryan Butler says Kevin Durant will stay with the Warriors. 

37:36 – Brant James is aghast that no one seems to acknowledge how devastating a ruptured Achilles tendon injury is for an NBA player. 

39:47 – Klay Thompson stays with Warriors. 

40:05 – On the 76ers free agent situation. 

42:43 – Ryan Butler thinks Kawhi Leonard is signing with the Clippers. 

44:17 – Brant James disagrees. 

44:25 – Poutine talk. 

Odd Bet

49:27 - #OddBet 

50:01 – College World Series correctness and wrong-ness. 

51:05 – Who will be next manager of Newcastle United?