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On this special episode of Takeline, WNBA Champion Devereaux Peters explains how she got involved in preventing Gun Violence and what it means to #WearOrange (27:50). Jason and Renee discuss what’s surprised them most from hosting the podcast and what they hope to accomplish in future episodes (00:05). Plus, the official Takeline golf correspondent, Jason’s mom, breaks down the Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau beef (42:01) and a very special buzzer beater segment in which they answer a question from one of the Takeline fans (54:42)!

 

Don’t forget to smash the subscribe button at http://youtube.com/takelineshow for exclusive video clips and to watch ALL CAPS NBA. New episodes every Friday!

 

SHOW NOTES:

 

If you have questions or want to reach out, please email us takeline@crooked.com or follow us on twitter @Takelineshow

To learn more about the Wear Orange initiative and help stop Gun Violence got to https://wearorange.org/

 

Transcript

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, Renee, here we are at the Memorial Day episode that we are taping many days before Memorial Day so that we can get it out. What has surprised you? What are your thoughts on a Takeline at the Memorial Day break in its life cycle?

 

Renee Montgomery: I would say what surprised me is people’s interest in Take Survivor. It surprised me and it’s also made me so warm and fuzzy on the inside because I’m a competitive person—if you guys didn’t get that. And these are mind games, fun games. But I love how everybody’s responded to that game aspect, and the democracy of it, which we still don’t know if we’ve achieved yet but I, I digress. What about you, Jason?

 

Jason Concepcion: You know, I’m glad you brought that up. We’ve tweaked Take Survivor. We, of course, are always listening to audience concerns about whether or not Take Survivor is rigged, and how rigged it might be. There were absolutely some structural issues that we needed to work out. We’ve, we’ve increased the voting pool. The number of people that can vote is now increased by some 80%—I don’t know if that percentage is right, I’m just, I’m doing that off the—

 

Renee Montgomery: Fact checkers!

 

Jason Concepcion: But I think that it’s, I think that that’s helped or at least made it more unpredictable. Caroline, the other day was in the chat immediately after voting, saying, I, I lament my vote. She regretted the vote she made.

 

Renee Montgomery: Oh, my gosh.

 

Jason Concepcion: So, I mean.

 

Renee Montgomery: I still haven’t voted for a guest, by the way. So I just don’t know—I feel uncomfortable, the hospitality in me doesn’t feel right voting for a guest. I still haven’t yet.

 

Jason Concepcion: I know. I understand. I understand. I’m lucky that I don’t get to vote. I actually feel great about not voting because it’s some, and there are times when it’s not been easy. But it’s a fun game. I’m glad that people are enjoying it. The fact that people are even arguing about whether it’s rigged is a good sign.

 

Renee Montgomery: Exactly. It’s what I love the most. Like they’re investing a little bit. But speaking of our, our guest, who’s been your favorite interviewee so far? Like who’s came on and just, you know, you’ve really enjoyed the conversation.

 

Jason Concepcion: I mean Jeremy Lin was the first one so that’s an easy, but it was just the right time to have him with the violence against Asians that were going on in the country at that time—are still kind of bubbling around, it’s still, of course, an issue. But it was the perfect time to have him speaking on that issue, just talking about his career and the things he’s dealt with over the course of his career, the ways that the team around him has managed those issues. And it’s just, you know, he’s a person that I’ve really admired throughout his career. So it’s been, it was really great to talk to him. What about you?

 

Renee Montgomery: Yeah, no, I agree about Jeremy Lin. But I would say for me it was Kid Mero like I loved how just like content creators-wise typically, you know, you have a style and then if it blows up amazing and then you might go mainstream, you might change that style a little bit to fit mainstream. That’s just how it usually works. But I love how he’s maintained his same style, his same delivery. He even wrote a book and talked about, you know, like I wrote it in my voice, because that’s just how I do. But I love that aspect of he was a content creator that blew up on Showtime and he just remained him. So that was, that was one of the ones that I really enjoyed.

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah! I think that that is that’s such a great point, because it’s really the secret sauce of so much of this kind of like media entertainment content creation is can you harness a voice? I mean, there’s a, there’s a million steps along the way of Desus and Mero’s career, and their show where people could have been like, tone it down. And instead they, they just allowed them to be themselves. Like that is what makes their show successful. And it’s I, I think it’s good, it’s a good compass for philosophy on how to create stuff. You build the framework, right, around your, who your talent is. Around their interests and the things they like to do. You don’t take a person and put them into a frame that you’ve already created. You try to let them shine within a frame that’s designed to highlight their particular voice.

 

Renee Montgomery: I mean, it’s crazy because you’re talking about content creation space, but in sports, it’s the same way. If you get a player like Trae Young, what are you going to do? You’re going to build a system around Trae Young or Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, and so if it should be the same and that same content creation world, because what makes them special is what you need to keep amplifying, spotlighting, highlighting. So, yeah, like I love all of that.

 

Jason Concepcion: You know, this is maybe feels like a swerve, but because you brought it up with Trey and like context and the framework that you put talent in, one of the things I’ve really been thinking about this basketball season with like the emergence of Julius Randle, Trey to a certain extent altering his game and taking a leap, is how much coaches, front office context can really make a difference. You know? It’s like sometimes you put a person in the right environment where all of a sudden they have that support and they, and they shine. It’s, it’s just so easy to be like: oh, this player sucks, they’re a bust, you know, they’re not, they’re not developing. Sometimes players need, need that extra, whatever it is, you know.

 

Renee Montgomery: Well, you see it sometimes when a player may not have been very good on one team, they get traded, go to another team with a whole new system, and what happens? That player thrives. That player excels because they needed certain things around them, certain skills around them that help bring out their skills. You know, if you’re a slasher and you’re on a team with no shooters, you’re not going to be able to slash very well because there’s not going to be no one helping off. They’re all going to be in—I mean, they’re all going to be helping off in the lane. So, yeah. No, it’s that does matter.

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah. It’s, it’s really important. And all of which is to say, you know, allow people to be themselves hopefully, and allow them to shine. Back to Take Survivor. What’s been your favorite Take Survivor answer, that you have given or that anybody has given?

 

Renee Montgomery: Oh, man, Take Survivor is my fave, as I’m sure everyone knows. Man, I think I’m going to actually do a category. When we did the one where it was: what’s the pep talk you would give to Alex Rodriguez, A-Rod, what was the pep talk you would have to A-Rod about J. Lo? I love the whole round. I love Caroline’s answers. I loved Kid Mero’s answers. Like I just loved the whole energy for that one all together so that, I would say that’s my favorite question. I know you asked what was the favorite answer, but that’s my favorite question. What is your favorite answer?

 

Jason Concepcion: I don’t know if I can pick a favorite answer, because when I’m hosting it, I’m just, I really love all the answers, and I’m just trying to think quickly on my feet about quips for each answer. So I’m going to say, I guess my favorite, I’m going to go with my favorite guest. Mera was good. Mera was a great guest. I’m going to say Adam McKay as a Take Survivor player, just because I didn’t expect—

 

Renee Montgomery: I’m so mad I missed Adam!

 

Jason Concepcion: I just didn’t expect him to want to play, and then he was so delightful in the, in how much energy he gave to the to the game. And then Mera was great. Mera was so funny. It’s like he’s just one of those—

 

Renee Montgomery: He was like the energy was there.

 

Jason Concepcion: The energy is there. You know, it’s like I have a lot of friends that are stand-up comics, and there’s like a, there’s a kind of comedian who before they even tell a joke, they come out and for whatever reason, people are just laughing, you know? It’s like they just do things with an energy that are funny. And Mero has whatever that version of that is. You know, that energy, before they even say anything that’s like a comment or anything about anything, you’re just leaning forward because you just want to—

 

Renee Montgomery: 100% You want the funny.

 

Jason Concepcion: You want it!

 

Renee Montgomery: It’s like, give me the funny.

 

Jason Concepcion: Give it to me.

 

Renee Montgomery: And just so people can get an idea of just some of the questions and answers that were given throughout time, so one of the questions was: what’s the most underrated sports injury? Gallagher said constipation. When we asked: give us your best Kentucky Derby horse name, Adam McKay said: I, your announcer, have a serious drinking problem and I need immediate help. When we asked: what is the worst D1 mascot,? I, you know what, I feel bad about this. I said the Delta State Fighting Okras, and those are very nice people. They sent me a t-shirt. They emailed me.

 

Jason Concepcion: They were great about it! That created, that created a whole conversation, that answer.

 

Renee Montgomery: It created a whole conversation, but I didn’t want them to be the punching bag. It was just okra, I just don’t see as intimidating in the sports world. That’s All. Give me your best name for the Washington football team and basically your best mascot name. Mero said packages. Hilarious. What can we do to fix baseball? Elijah said legalize LSD. There was just, it just went on and on. I mean, who was the best fictional basketball character? I said, Aaron Carter.

 

Jason Concepcion: I love that.

 

Renee Montgomery: Because I swear that he’s telling you the facts!

 

Jason Concepcion: I love that. [laughs] Let me just quickly read the lyrics to Aaron Carter’s classic “That’s How I Beat Shaq.”

 

Renee Montgomery: Yeah. Let’s go!

 

Jason Concepcion: “You guys check it out. Guess what happened to me? Another crazy story. Come on, A.C. I was hanging out at the court just playing some ball, working on my game. Yeah, we heard it all. I heard the fans scream. I thought it was for me. But then I saw a shadow. It was twelve foot three. It was Shaquille O’Neal. What what did he say? How about some one on one, you want to play? I told him why not? I got some time. But when I beat you real bad, try not to cry. Please Aaron, are you for real? One on one with Shaquille O’Neal. Yeah. Thirty four center for the L.A. Lakers, you must have been nervous. I knew I could take ’em. Scared of Shaq? Psych him out. I said, O’Neal, you’re in my house now. Start the game. The whistle blows. Pay attention close guys. The story goes.” And then he proceeds to tell us the exact story about how Aaron Carter beat Shaquille O’Neal. An absolute classic.

 

Renee Montgomery: “I swear that I’m telling you the facts! Because this is how I beat Shaq.” Yeah. So we had some the moments there. Who should form a new super league? Women. Hello. No brainer. Easy choice. Yeah, we had some fun times on Take Survivor. And I will say, because you mentioned it, you do an amazing job hosting, throwing in little tidbits and little pieces there, put it together, things I might not have known because ya’ll go Marvel DC on sometimes though. So yes, love your hosting.

 

Jason Concepcion: I appreciate that. Let me ask you, what is your, what is your relationship with How I beat Shaq, That’s How I Beat Shaq, the song. What made you think about it?

 

Renee Montgomery: You know, I had to think of like, how do you determine who’s the best? And I’m like, all right, who did they be in the movie? You know, even in Space Jam. I almost was thinking like, Mon -Stars for a second because they beat that group? But then at the end, you know, but I’m like, no, I don’t really want the villains. And then I’m like, oh, snap. Aaron Carter beat Shaq! And I knew that was the answer because no one can argue about his G6 classification. Shaquille O’Neal. So listen, I knew it was a winner when I thought of it!

 

Jason Concepcion: Oh, that’s fantastic. Back to the kind of like the philosophy behind the podcast, as we go forward what are you, what are you hoping to cover? And like, why is, why is Takeline, why is it the right podcast for people right now? Let’s just sell ourselves to people?

 

Renee Montgomery: Yeah, so I think the interesting part about this podcast is that we tackle serious conversations, but it doesn’t feel heavy. You know, as we go through these topics, as we talk about these things, we find a way to bring a lightness to it, even though the topic isn’t light, we find ways to deliver, you know, news that needs to be heard but not that it’s, we’re not condemning other groups. We’re not, we’re just bring in news and sports right here, you know, at the forefront. So even the Jeremy Lin conversation, you know, it was that—you talked about it—the right time. So we had the right conversation at the right time, but it didn’t feel as if we were attacking anyone or we were trying to make anyone feel bad. We just wanted people to understand this is a reality. You know, it may not be your reality, but it’s a reality. What about you?

 

Jason Concepcion: It’s just fun to talk about sports and I think it’s important to talk about all the things that play into it. Sports is a reflection of society. Society is not perfect. Society is extremely messed up and unequal and unjust sometimes, and sports are as well. And, you know, sports is a microcosm of all those different issues. And I just love being able to talk about the games, talk about who won and lost. Talk about why they won and lost. Get razzed on for being a Knick’s fan, celebrate when they win, and then, but also talk about all these other issues that are that are really important, I think, and that are, that are part of this, part of this broader conversation. They should be part of like the core conversation, not just the broader conversation.

 

Renee Montgomery: I love that. And so speaking of conversations, who’s someone that you would want on the show, like if you had a wish list of someone to be on the show, who would it be?

 

Jason Concepcion: Since I’m in a Knicks state of mind, let’s get Spike Lee. I’d love to talk to Spike Lee.

 

Renee Montgomery: Oooh.

 

Jason Concepcion: Pioneering filmmaker, one of the most important filmmakers of the last 40 years, easily. A huge Knicks fan, obviously, I get so mad at—nobody, Spike has made me so mad over the years with all his Knicks stuff.

 

Renee Montgomery: Why?

 

Jason Concepcion: Because when I was a little kid and he and he fired up Reggie Miller and then Reggie Miller scored eight points in nine seconds, like, whatever it was, I legitimately blamed Spike. I mean, like the media, the media blamed him, too. Like he was on the back page of all the papers being like Spike Lee, talked to Reggie Miller. That’s how it is. You know how it is.

 

Renee Montgomery: How do you blame a fan for going off on a start of the opposite, the opposing team, and if the star goes off, you all blame the fan?

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, I think, you know what the thing is like, at that time, there was no template for this kind of, that kind of celebrity fan, that’s kind of a super fan, you know? Because it’s like Jack Nicholson was the Lakers, but he just sat there and clapped, and he’d stand up sometimes, but it was, it was nothing. Spike was like jawing at people. He was like a foot on the court, jawing at Michael Jordan with a towel around a, with a Knicks towel around his neck, jawing at people. And it was just different. And I remember just being like, oh, my God, this is why Reggie Miller did this. And so when I saw him dap up Trae Young, it brought all those feelings immediately back to the, to the stars. I was like, here it’s going to happen again, you just know Trae’s going to kill us and then, and the garden is going crazy, and Trae Young is that exact type of player who is going to get amped up by it. And here we go again. And it’s not fair. And I joke about it now, but—

 

Renee Montgomery: I feel a little hurt inside of Knicks fans. I don’t know. It’s just like that sounded like how PTSD works, where one event makes you flashback to a time you didn’t enjoy. So Knicks fans, I hope you all get better, you know, get well soon. Goodness!

 

Jason Concepcion: Um, yeah that was, that was fun. Here’s a question I always wanted to ask you: when in your basketball career, when do you know you were good? When did you know you were like, when you know you were good enough to play at elite levels.

 

Renee Montgomery: I would say those a AAU days, around ’12 or ’13. I would, like by ’14, we had a lot of college coaches sitting at our game. You know? It was like the who’s who of college basketball. They were at our games. You know, I had a teammate who was really good, she was the number one player at a certain time. Candace Parker was my teammate in AAU at a certain point, so we had a pretty, we had a pretty solid team. And so you can imagine that college coaches were just showing up to our games. They wanted to see what we could do. They went there to see Candace. They went there to see Alexis. And sometimes they accidentally saw me. But I just, I knew at that point, like there, like that we could, we could do something, and not, and not just me. I mean at that point none of us had a college scholarship, and we kind of all knew we were on our way to get one.

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, that’s so cool. Is there like a, like a moment where just against people like that, we’re in your peer group where you’re like: oh, I’m just like better than everybody, I’m better than the people that are around me right now. Like . . .

 

Renee Montgomery: It’s crazy, because I never really cared about being better than the people that were around me because I felt like I was in West Virginia and that people didn’t respect it. So I could score like a hundred, and I don’t think people would have cared but I scored one hundred and I was playing in New York or I was playing in California? I think it would have been a different hundred. So I used to always, like I never really cared if I was like the best in my area because it was just like I don’t think people respected West Virginia enough to be like: oh, she’s killing it in West Virginia! You know, like, no one’s saying that. So to me, it was more so about like, I got to get a lot better because I don’t know what it’s like in New York. I don’t know what kind of competition they have in New York.

 

Jason Concepcion: When you started to get recruited, when you start to see those coaches, when Geno came around, like, what was that like? What was that feeling?

 

Renee Montgomery: That was crazy? Because you got to think it’s like you’re young and there’s these grown adults that are like: hey, we want you to come to our school. You don’t know anything about their school. You don’t know anything about them. You know? You don’t know anything about the area. You know, these are schools all over the nation and so it’s like: okay, what’s going on? Like, you know, but you’re excited because that’s what I worked for. So it was crazy, though, for coach Auriemma to be in West Virginia because, you know, he flew in, I’m pretty sure he flew in on his private jet, of course. And we have like four whole terminals at Yeager Airport. It’s like A1, B1 A2, B2. That’s it! So when you think about these celebrities and these big name coaches that have jets coming into West Virginia, that’s when, that’s when it was like a whoa moment. And when he was sitting on our couch, like in West Virginia, I was going to snooka a booka and then he like, this is crazy to have coached Auriemma in here. So it’s, it’s kind of an unreal experience. But you had an unreal experience as well. You’ve won an Emmy. You know, you’ve reached that level of success that most people will never reach. What was that like, for something that you just created out of your brain?

 

Jason Concepcion: It was, it was, it’s actually surreal when I let myself think about it. I try not to think about it too much. Winning the Emmy was crazy because it was like you’re just doing what you do. It was unclear to me that people were paying attention to it, and so at the time when it happened, it felt really good, but it didn’t feel like anything had changed. But people within the industry, Eric Rydholm, who’s the producer of a bunch of shows at ESPN, including Around the Horn, High Noon, Pardon the Interruption, he was like: oh, this is great for you guys because—I’m speaking of myself and co-creator Jason Gallagher of the show we created—this is great because people will take you seriously. Which I didn’t quite understand at the time. But then then you realized, it’s like you walk into rooms and people are like, oh, Emmy winner, blah, blah, blah. You don’t feel any—

 

Renee Montgomery: That’s a flex Jason. Yeah, you walk in a room and they’re like: Emmy winner Jason . . .

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, you don’t feel and different.

 

Renee Montgomery: That’s Emmy winner Jason?

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, it’s like, you know, you don’t feel any different. But people look at you different because they think: oh, this is a person who is legitimized in this industry. You know, and sometimes it just takes that.

 

Renee Montgomery: So do you feel like, is it a validation there? Like, you know, like you don’t feel any different, you know, like I’m sure you knew the work that you were putting out, the content you were putting out when you were put it out, you knew it was good. Like, you know, I think you knew in your heart of hearts that was good. But when you get an Emmy, when you get that type of recognition, does that give you validation?

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah, for sure. It feels good. You know, it’s like I feel like for me, the way I’ve always approached everything is I try to make everything that I do, the best that it can be. I put as much work into it and thought into it as I can, as much creativity as I can. But if people are going to like it or not like it, it’s basically, that’s out of my hands. Like I make it and I let it go and then hopefully, like the people that I’m working with whose job it is to promote it, know how to promote it, and hopefully you know that all the machinery works. But I can’t control if people like it or don’t like it. So I just try to . . .

 

Renee Montgomery: But that’s what makes this industry so tricky. That’s what I mean by, well, because even if you hear artists, sometimes when they put out their music, they’re like content with whatever happens. It’s like if I win, if I win an award for it or not, if it goes platinum or not, like I know this is a good album. Like, you know, they start having that energy. So, you know, you’re in that creative artist space. So I always, it’s interesting because sports is different. We have measurable stats and statistics. And if you’re good, you’re good. You’re not you’re not. So, you know, this is that’s a different type of world.

 

Jason Concepcion: We have, I mean we have you know, we have measurable too. It’s like I’ll never forget Eric Rydholm told me something that I think is really important, he’s like, I was like, you know, how do you produce your show? I, I like to pick his brain whenever he has time. And he told me, you know, before creativity, before you’re trying to mold something around the talent, before any of that, he’s like, I got to be successful because nothing else happens unless all the other, unless that happens. And that was, so that’s a big marker. You know, it’s like I want people to hear this stuff. But I also know, like, I can’t there’s, there’s, I have to just make it and hope that all the other pieces fall in place. Like I’ll promote on my social, et cetera, et cetera, but at the end of the day, the one thing that I can 100% control is making the stuff as good as I can. And after that, you know, it’s . . .

 

Renee Montgomery: That’s what I say about me. I can control my energy. I can control, you know, what I give to a project. We can never control if you like it. But we hope you like us! [laughs]

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, Renee, it’s been a great run. We’ll continue running. It’s been so fun and we’ll continue doing it. Stick around, because we’re also going to talk to WNBA champion Devereaux Peters, who’s involved in stopping gun violence. Don’t miss that conversation.

 

[ad break]

 

Renee Montgomery: OK, so, Jason and I both have been saying many times on this podcast that we started this podcast to talk about issues both in and out of sports arenas. And so I’m super proud to have this guest on because she’s used her platform to promote positive social change. And we won a chip together in 2015 for the Lynx! Devereaux Peters, what up with you!

 

Devereaux Peters: What’s up?

 

Renee Montgomery: OK, so listen in the intro, I mentioned the positive social change that you’re trying to make because you’re here to talk about National Gun Violence Awareness Day. So tell our listeners, basically, how did you get involved?

 

Devereaux Peters: So in 2013, my second year with the Lynx, my cousin was murdered in Baltimore, Maryland. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ended up being killed. And at the time, it was something I kind of dealt with on my own. I had to figure out, obviously I was still playing, so I was in the midst of that. But I left and went to his funeral and stayed out there for, like, I believe like a week or so, spent time with my family. But when I came back, I went back in kind of like basketball mode and kind of just put it away and didn’t really deal with it. So flash forward a couple of years later, you know, we’re  starting to see a lot more discussions about gun violence and how we can change things. And I really got to a point where I got tired of watching things transpire on TV, and seeing all these things happening and not really feeling like I was doing anything about it. And so I decided I wanted to get more involved and ended up getting connected with Every Town for Gun Safety. And the kind of the rest is history. Been able to do a ton of work with them about making people more aware about gun violence, how we can prevent it, the steps that you can take to get the legislation that we need in place, and all, and in the process, learning on my own and figuring all of that out, as well as really being able to help me deal with my own trauma and the stuff that I hadn’t really dealt with at the time. So that’s kind of how I got started in it.

 

Jason Concepcion: Gun violence is such an intractable problem seemingly in our country, and and yet it’s something that is so obviously broken and wrong. What are, what are some of those things that we could put in place via legislation or otherwise to help stem the tide of this terrible violence?

 

Devereaux Peters: Yeah, so, you know, like you said, gun violence is something that we see every day. You can read off the stats. There’s like a hundred people being killed, Americans being killed, every day. And that’s not including those that are just shot and wounded. There’s, this is affecting the Black communities and the brown communities even more, to the point where, you know, Black people are 3x more likely to be shot by police. Or, you know, 68% of Black and brown people have been affected by gun violence in some way, whether it’s them themselves or somebody they care about. So we see it constantly. And sometimes it gets pushed off. Especially I’m from Chicago, so especially here. A lot of people like to view it as gang violence and that’s it. And they don’t want to, so, you know, that’s just gang violence, that’s not something we need to worry about because they need to figure that out on their own. But it’s so much deeper than that. There is gang violence, but there are a lot of systemic issues that gang violence stemmed from: lack of opportunities, lack of good housing—there is a lot of stuff that goes into why there are gangs and their feel the need to go there. Right? But then there’s also domestic violence. There’s also, there’s also accidental shootings where, you know, your gun wasn’t being stored properly. Suicides are [unclear]. There is going to be suicide. So these are all things that we’re addressing when we’re talking about gun violence, right? So the policy that we really are pushing right now that are most important is going to be, number one, background checks on all gun sales. That means that right now, if you’re selling privately, you don’t have to do a background check. That means that people are able to buy guns from private sellers and not have any check done on who they are, why they’re buying for it, it they had any issues in the past. And that’s a problem. That’s a major problem. So number one, background checks on, on all gun sales. But then also we’re really pushing right now the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. That’s something we’re pushing very strongly that’s effectively going to put a ban on chokeholds. There are other provisions that are going to address a ban on no-knock warrants for drug charges. And a lot of the things that we’ve been seeing in a lot of these causes that we’re pushing as of late. So that’s definitely something that we’re pushing legislation on. There’s something you should definitely contact your senators about. There’s something easy, easy call, or letter that you can make if you really want to contribute in that way.

 

Renee Montgomery: Absolutely. Contact your senators. Now, what’s the meaning of ‘wear orange’ and how is the WNBPA involved? Because as I know you know, I’ve been wearing orange. Every time you tell me to tell me to wear orange, I’m wearing orange!

 

Devereaux Peters: So wear orange actually started in Chicago. It was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton who was shot and killed. She was 15-years old in 2013. She had just performed at Obama’s second inauguration, and a couple of weeks later, she was killed. And then a group of her friends, wanting to honor her, and really start the process of bringing more awareness, decided to come together and they chose orange because that’s the color that hunters wear when they’re out hunting to show that they’re not the target. And so they use that as a connection and started that movement, and it’s really just blown up. At the time, you know, they kind of went viral and went worldwide, and they’ve just been able to hang on to it from there. Everytown has been able to push it even more into the sports world, entertainment industry, and really reach a larger audience. And then we started about a year or two ago the Everytown for Gun Safety Athletic Council, which I was one of the founding members of. And we have a bunch of different athletes that are looking to do more to teach about gun violence prevention, and gun violence awareness. And so when I joined, obviously, we wanted to get connected to the W, obviously with all the W has done thus far, and even before it was really talked about, we understood that that was just a natural connection to make there, and got connected with the WNBPA and it’s been up from there. Definitely excited for this year’s, it’s going to fall on June 4th weekend, so definitely everybody if you want tp be involved, put on your orange, post about it. Hashtag wearorange. You can tag Everytown, you can tag me in it. I’m excited to see everybody get involved. And also one thing that I’m really excited for this year. So last year when we did it, obviously we got the players out the shirts, and they were able to make that push on social media, and a lot of other people and fans wanted to be involved. So this year we got it, we’re able to partner with Dick’s Sporting Goods. So the—

 

Renee Montgomery: Nice.

 

Devereaux Peters: Wear Orange shirt will be sold, if you want the ones that specifically the players have been wearing, those will be sold on the Dick’s Sporting Goods site and you can purchase those to wear. So I’m really excited for this year. That’s a dope partnership. You know, Dick’s has been doing a whole lot as of late. So really appreciate that.

 

Renee Montgomery: Dick’s Sporting Goods: we love to see it! We really do. And we love to see the support. Hashtag wearorange, everyone. And you talked about things looking up this year. And how have you seen, like what surprised you the most about since the WNBA, where we came in, and where it is now? Because there’s been some large growth over the years now?

 

Devereaux Peters: Yeah, I mean, I think especially with this last CBA, it’s been huge strides. I mean, for me I think what’s been most important is the involvement from the players, because we know like going through a lot of those [unclear]. What’d we have? Like two or three since, I mean, I even I have been in the league, we had two or three in that short span. And it wasn’t a lot of engagement. And I think that’s why we weren’t able to push the envelope that far. But this last round, everybody was involved. Everybody was speaking out. I felt there was a lot more connectivity in their organization there. And the players really are involved and they want to see change and they’re making it. And I mean, outside of just the money itself, you see it. You’re seeing the push, you’re seeing people, the fans want more, the players are pushing for more—and they’re starting to get it. You know, we’re starting to get put in, on a regular normal channels. And not just—

 

Renee Montgomery: I literally turn on a game every night on TV! That is great.

 

Devereaux Peters: It’s awesome. And then you see the growth in the numbers as well. And it’s like, wow, imagine that, if you put us somewhere where people can view us, the numbers will grow.

 

Renee Montgomery: Imagine. If you put the sport on TV, people will watch it. What a concept. OK, so before we let you go, I have to ask you something. Maybe we have to reveal something. So we played together on that 2015 championship team for the Minnesota Lynx. Now, I know that there was no competition, but let’s reveal who was the best dancer on that roster, who [laughs].

 

Devereaux Peters: Oh my . . .

 

Renee Montgomery: Who was the best dancer, Dev?

 

Devereaux Peters: Wow. Oh, OK. That’s really hard.

 

Renee Montgomery: Oh my gosh. How is this hard?

 

Devereaux Peters: I feel like is going to be, because between you, it’s going to be between you and Mone.

 

Renee Montgomery: Oh wow! So wait a minute [laughs].

 

Devereaux Peters: Come one like, you know. Like Mone, pregame.

 

Renee Montgomery: I was thinking it was no question, it was Simone. [laughs]

 

Devereaux Peters: Yeah but I mean I really enjoyed your, obviously we have Simone’s pre-game but I really enjoyed your bench dances too.

 

Renee Montgomery: Ok. Listen, see I didn’t know that was going to be the answer.

 

Devereaux Peters: I’m going to say a tie.

 

Renee Montgomery: I was going to say people don’t know that Mone can really cut a rug.

 

Devereaux Peters: Oh yeah, throw down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.

 

Renee Montgomery: I just thought we would reveal that. But again, for our listeners, National Gun Violence Awareness Day is June 5th. So if you want to get involved, use the hashtag wearorange, or purchase the ‘W Wears Orange’ T-shirts available at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Devereaux! Thank you for coming in and joining us on Takeline, and also what you’re doing to try to change things.

 

Devereaux Peters: Thank you Renee. Really excited to have you, but it is fun to be on the other side of this, this time.

 

[ad break]

 

Jason Concepcion: OK, so for those of you who don’t follow golf on here—that would include myself—this past week, there was a feud that bubbled into the sports consciousness between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau. Brooks was being interviewed. Bryson walked through the background. Brooks rolled his eyes in a very dramatic manner, and that all of a sudden went viral. I had no idea what was going on. So I called the number one golf fan that I know, my mom, to break it all down for me, and all of us. Let’s listen.

 

Jason Concepcion: Mom, this week, this past week, a video of Brooks Koepka rolling his eyes at Bryson DeChambeau as Bryson walked into the back—

 

Jason’s mom: I loved it.

 

Jason Concepcion: Went viral on the Internet. And a lot of people maybe who aren’t plugged into golf don’t know what’s going on, including myself. What, what happened? Why are they fighting?

 

Jason’s mom: This has been going on since, I believe, OK, when there was an issue about slow, that’s a slow pace and golf, and one, and everybody criticized DeChambeau, But [unclear] OK, that is slow. And one of them is Brooks said it—

 

Jason Concepcion: He plays too slow.

 

Jason’s mom: Why take so long. Yeah, too slow. And because in golf, they give you 40 seconds per shot. OK?

 

Jason Concepcion: OK.

 

Jason’s mom: So I think it takes them some time 43 seconds, sometimes 50. You know, because he’s so analytical, everything is mapped for him. And I think it happen, I believe it happens, because I know the first, that was 2019, at the memorial. He was there with Tiger Woods and Justin Rose and they were, they were given, they were given that they were being put in the clock four times, I believe. Four times on the back nine because—

 

Jason’s mom: So they were put together. So they were, he was annoyed with them. Brooks was?

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah. And and, no Brooks wasn’t there. It was, he was there—what his name—Bryson was was paired with Tiger Woods and Justin Rose. And Justin Rose and Tiger Woods making a mistake because when somebody’s slow and then they were put in the clock, you know that, that gives me, it’s harder for them. OK? And that was when, and then it happened, I think, again in Dubai, and the same thing he was, he was Bryson was put again on the clock and he was having an argument with the referee. Right. He was in a golf cart and it’s been happening. And he is one of the slow of the new golfer right? Very very slow. So that started and I think, and then when they were in another golf after this happened at the memorial, they said that a Bryson approached the caddy of Brooks and said to the caddy of Brooks that if your boss has a problem, say it in my face.

 

Jason Concepcion: Oh, wow, OK.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah. So when, when, when Brooke came in, the caddy told him so, Brooks, right away went to the DeChambeau, but they didn’t say what happened. Right? And then the worst thing is when 2020, I don’t know which, he made, he made a comment.

 

Jason Concepcion: Who did? Bryson.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah, Bryson made a comment about the abs of Brooks.

 

Jason Concepcion: His abs?

 

Jason’s mom: Yes. And so he said—

 

Jason Concepcion: Why, why, OK,.

 

Jason’s mom: He said, I have abs, this is what Bryson said, but Brooks doesn’t have. So then I think a Tweeter and so, and so a Brooks Tweeter said, yeah, you were right, I’m short two six pack. And then he posted his four majors.

 

Jason Concepcion: His trophy? [laughs].

 

Jason’s mom: This has been going on for the longest time, you know what I mean? And he seems two times in the 19. Because of the slow pace. And then there was another one that Brooks didn’t know that his mic was on or—they don’t have mics—but somebody was taping him and there was, there was an incident—I don’t know where—that, uh, what is this thing, uh Bryson saw a red ant on his ball and it caused the guy to check that if he can drop his ball. And so, Brooks, make a joke of it, and they heard it live, and saying to his Caddy: wait a minute, there is an ant on my ball. You know, and it was just a joke but everybody heard it in the Golf Channel. You know. So it’s been going on for a long time. It reminds me of really, you know, that Sergio used to egg Tiger Woods, that kind of thing. You know, like, but Sergio is also very slow and it’s annoying, it used to grip his uh, his driver, grip, grip, grip—one time 22 times. I counted it. I used to scream: you so slow.

 

Jason Concepcion: So Bryson is like Sergio Garcia?

 

Jason’s mom: Well, Sergio I think it’s worse.

 

Jason Concepcion: Oh, right.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah. Oh, Bryson is like—they actually time him. I think they, he did on some, in a short game he’s really short. Not on the driver, like when he tee off, but a short game, he’s really short. Because he’s analytical. If you watch him, it takes him he always asks, how many, how many, how far it is, that kind of thing. He’s too slow in short game.

 

Jason Concepcion: OK. No go ahead.

 

Jason’s mom: And when he’s clocked, forget it. It takes so long, I think they clock him one 43 and one time 50 seconds.

 

Jason Concepcion: Wow.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah, it’s takes him too long because he’s too analytical.

 

Jason Concepcion: What, so do they give you a warning? What do they do?

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah, they give it give you a warning. They clock you.

 

Jason Concepcion: They call him the what?

 

Jason’s mom: They clock you.

 

Jason Concepcion: They call him the what?

 

Jason’s mom: They clock you.

 

Jason Concepcion: No, but what do they call him?

 

Jason’s mom: Scientist. Because it so analytical, you know, OK, he’s the only one his golf club are all the same measurements.

 

Jason Concepcion: Oh, wow.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah, because he’s so analytical. Everything, that’s what they call him: scientist. Everything is math to him. Yeah, they call in scientist.

 

Jason Concepcion: You do you, do you have a person that you support more in this feud? Who do you like more?

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah, I like, because Brook is like, you know, you’re there, you’re playing golf. How long does it really, really—you’re a professional. OK, you tee off, you wait for your other group and how long really, as a professional? It shouldn’t take you that long. You were given 40 seconds per shot. You know, you don’t have to think and everything like that, you know what I mean? And, you know, Justin Rose is fast, Tiger Woods is like, he go, he tee off and that’s it. And while Bryson, he walks fast, but he doesn’t play fast.

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah. That’s the problem. You know, it’s what is this thing, golf needs it.

 

Jason Concepcion: The rivalry? They need the rivalry.

 

Jason’s mom: [laughs] Yeah. Because it’s boring. You know, for some people it’s boring. But think that I worry about is, on the Ryder Cup, how are they going to—Steve Stricker? How’s he going to do it? He better have Tiger Woods there. You know?

 

Jason Concepcion: What are they going to do, just wheel him out?

 

Jason’s mom: Now Brooks and Bryson will be there. I bet it will be both of them will be there for the Ryder Cup when you see it, July or August. Forget it. And it will be in the U.S..

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah.

 

Jason’s mom: You know what I mean? Forget it. It would be a problem. Those two will be fighting, [laughs] you know, still have him with Roger Aaron and Tom Brady.

 

Jason Concepcion: Oh, I saw that, it’s a meme.

 

Jason’s mom: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Forget it. Well, it’s not too bad because there’s no Brooks. And then egg Brooks again because Brooks was not on the match.

 

Jason Concepcion: You called him [laughs] Roger Aaron. [laughs] It’s Aaron Rodgers.

 

Jason’s mom: Oh Sorry. Aaron Rodgers. OK, so that’s it. Anyway. That’s how it is. You know what I mean. You know, it’s not as bad as Sergio Garcia with Tiger.

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah, well, that was like racial too, wasn’t it?

 

Jason’s mom: Huh?

 

Jason Concepcion: Was that, wasn’t that racial too? Sergio Gar—

 

Jason’s mom: Yes. Racial. You know, and everything, you see then, I remember I was there with the Open, U.S. Open in Bethpage, raining and he blamed that: oh, it’s Tiger Woods. They’re going to postpone it and everything. He’s a baby. I don’t like him at all. And Sergio is worse. You know what I mean. I don’t like it [unclear] such a baby. But I think he’s just one, one Masters. That was it. You know. So at that time when Brooks said: oh, yeah, you know, I’m short two, two six packs and you already won four major was Bryson didn’t, haven’t won anything.

 

Jason Concepcion: Wow.

 

Jason’s mom: So you can’t, you can’t egg somebody and you can’t really show that you’re a good. You know what I mean? You haven’t won anything, you know what I mean. So that’s it. But I love it when you go [unclear], you know, he forgot everything. He forgot what he was saying. I said, oh, my God. I think I didn’t really click his [unclear] Click. You can hear it! You know? Click, click, click. Some people were passing it and didn’t click and I think intentionally click, click his golf shoes. [laughs] But it’s so funny. I love it when he throws his [unclear]. You know what I mean? So that was it. But that’s, you know, golf needs it. You know, sometimes. Ok?

 

Jason Concepcion: Well, thanks mom. Really appreciate it. Love you.

 

Jason’s mom: Love you. Bye, bye.

 

Renee Montgomery: OK, OK, so you know what that sound means, but on this episode, we’re shaking things up this week. Today’s Buzzer Beater comes to us from Alex Nelson, a fan of the show, and he asks: what’s the best sports movie of all time, Jason. What’s up?

 

Jason Concepcion: OK, so I took this to mean we could not do like a multipart documentary, but I still want to do a self-contained documentary, so I’m going to say Hoop Dreams. With an honorable mention to a League of Their Own, and White Men Can’t Jump: two movies that I just absolutely love that I think are so funny and combine sports and comedy in a way that is just magnetic. But Hoop Dreams, there was nothing like Hoop Dreams when I first saw it. About, it’s a documentary about two Chicago-area basketball players, William Gates, Arthur Agee, their dreams of getting to the NBA, playing for various high schools in the Chicago area, dealing with injuries, with various obstacles in their life, with their neighborhoods, with the people around them. And it just, it’s a movie that I think about still. I think it’s one of the most incredible uses of the documentary format—the filmmakers followed these two young men for years, catching the arc of their careers and their personal lives and is like it’s dramatic. It is heartbreaking. It’s all that stuff. It’s just an incredible, incredible movie. If you haven’t seen Hoop Dreams, and if you’re a fan of sports, sports documentaries, watch Hoop Dreams. Rent it. Buy it. Watch it. It’s great.

 

Renee Montgomery: Sold! I would say, for me, well, you already said, including your list, because those are all good ones, I would add to that Space Jam, first of all, and hear me out—

 

Jason Concepcion: [laughs] Hear me out.

 

Renee Montgomery: When we young, that was like a whole, I knew the whole sound track. Like we knew every lyric, every line, we watched the movie 100,000 times. Love and basketball was a movement for women’s basketball in general. I remember seeing, you know, they had the Sparks at the end and had real stars like Lisa Leslie in it, so, of course. Of course. And then I would say He Got Game. You know, we’re talking about a Spike Lee, I talked to, I had a conversation with Ray Allen and how it was to just be an athlete that someone plucks you out of the universe and was like, hey, I want you to act alongside Denzel Washington. I mean, what so first of all, that’s pretty crazy. But then the movie was dope. So, yeah, I would say those.

 

Jason Concepcion: You know, it’s funny. It’s, I can’t figure out why you would pick a movie starring another UConn guy. It’s . . . you know, it’s funny.

 

Jason Concepcion: That’s my guy too. Shouts to Ray. What up, though? Yeah. Like, it’s interesting because I asked him all about like, how did that happen? He was like: yo, I got an email saying Spike Lee wanted me to come audition. I’m like, have you ever even acted in anything? He’s like: no, I mean, I just went there, I started reading the lines. They told me to come back. And then he, you know, he goes on to talk about, like, the whole process and even how at a certain point they were riding back in a limo and Denzel Washington was like: yeah, I’m a get out right here. And he just like starts walking because he likes to enjoy New York. And it was just like, what?! Is this real life? Because why doesn’t it ever happened to me when I’m in New York?

 

Jason Concepcion: You just see Denzel.

 

Renee Montgomery: Denzel Washington, just walking down the street. But yeah, I think the whole process of that movie is just as interesting because Ray Allen is not an actor. He was never planning on it, but he ended up being in one of the best sports movies of all time.

 

Jason Concepcion: I saw that movie approximately 800 times because I was working in a movie theater at that, at that time when it came out. So I just, I know every every second of that movie. So there’s a famous, let me ask you, I’ve always been fascinated by this, this is famous story that, you know, the final one-on-one basketball game between Ray Allen’s character and his father, played by Denzel, Ray was supposed to win like eleven to nothing or whatever. But then Denzel started taking it to him, and scored a bunch of points.

 

Renee Montgomery: Yeah, listen. Competitive.

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah.

 

Renee Montgomery: That’s what you call. Forget the script!

 

Jason Concepcion: Yeah, forget the script. I love that. It’s one of my favorite factoids. That was great. Well, that’s it for us. Happy Memorial Day to everyone. To all our listeners. Follow and subscribe to us on Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And don’t forget to subscribe to Takeline show on YouTube for exclusive video clips from this episode. Plus my digital series, All Caps NBA, which airs every Friday. Check it out.

 

Renee Montgomery: Let’s go!

 

Jason Concepcion: Takeline is a Crooked Media production. The show was produced by Carlton Gillespie and Zuri Irvin. Our executive producers are myself and Sandy Girard. Our contributing producers are Caroline Reston, Roger Cone and Jason Gallagher. Engineering, editing and sound design by Sarah Gibble-Laska and the folks at Chapter Four. And our theme music is produced by Brian Vasquez.