I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best part about having a podcast – besides a fortnightly opportunity to howl into the digital void or occasionally having some B.O.-smelling guy in a metal T-shirt talk to you about birds after a comedy show – is that you get to reach out to people that you find interesting and pick their brain. Such is the case with this episode’s guest, Jonah Keri. I met Jonah at Don’s Mixed Drinks once – a storied Denver dive that used to let me drink there when I was 19 – but we didn’t really chat all that much then. There were a lot of people, it was super loud, and Jonah is pretty tall so it was hard for me to yell up to him, “I’m actually a huge fan of your work! Can I please talk to you about old Rockies players that came from the Expos?! And then debate which country yields the best Latin baseball players?!”
So I invited him onto my podcast instead.
Now I can hear a lot of you alt-comedy nerds shutting down as I write these words, folding down the screens on your laptop and walking out the front door into the blinding sunshine and immediately bursting into pixie-dust, but HEAR ME OUT. Yes, Jonah is a sports-guy. But Jonah is also a pop-culture guy, as at home talking about Billy Madison as he is talking about NFL training camp. And fortunately for us, he’s been able to meld the two to carve an amazing career as a sportswriter that seems to just get better all the time. He’s a writer for Grantland, a sports and pop-culture website that talks about romantic comedies as much as they do Lebron James (total lie, they talk about Lebron way more, but you get the point), and he’s also the author of two great books, one about the Tampa Bay Rays and one about his beloved Montreal Expos. Also, alt-comedy kids, he appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers and the Nerdist podcast. All in the last year.
So don’t doubt his chops.
Plus he lives in my beloved home of Denver, Colorado. Or orbits it, I should say. Dude travels a lot.
All in all, Jonah is an absolute delight and it was a joy to hear someone with as smart a sport’s brain as him rip into the Colorado Rockies, who continue to embarrass themselves and the city of Denver, with their AAA-quality baseball and their comic front-office ineptitude. Dear Colorado Rockies: Fire O’Dowd. Sell the franchise, Monforts. You fucking assholes. Really, Dick? You’re e-mailing fans now telling them not to come? What the fuck? Fuck you.
Sorry. Got side-tracked.
To top it all off, Jonah brought me a sandwich! From Snarf’s!
A guy that comes over to your house, talks pop culture and sports and brings you and a sandwich? Let’s just say it’s a good thing he’s married.
That sounded creepier than I meant it to.
Jonah wanted you to watch this music video. He didn’t even hesitate at all when I asked him what video you should watch. He just belched, “Killed by Death” by Motorhead” almost involuntarily. So here it is.
Check out the episode on iTunes here.