Ep. 1304: Where there's no crying in baseball
Ep. 1304: Where there's no crying in baseball
37:43

Ep. 1304: Where there's no crying in baseball

Culture
-It's Tuesday, July 16th, 2013. Thank you very much for tuning into The 404 Show right here on CNET. I'm Jeff Bakalar. -I'm Scott Stein. -I'm Ariel Nuñez. -Welcome to the program. We've got a very special guest this morning. We are in the presence of the video game royalty. Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to be the first to introduce to the world Mr. Justin Chavarria. Did I do it right? -I'm doing great. -Oh, rock and roll. I'm excited about the name. Congratulations, buddy. -Hey, thank you so much. -You've won $250,000 and you did it by playing video games. Something that I've been trying to do in my entire adult and really childhood life, the MLB 2K13 Perfect Game Challenge. You're the winner and you did it with the Texas Rangers, which, I think, the Rangers are good, right? They're pretty good. So-- -Yeah, they're okay. -So, who's your team? Are they your team? -No, not at all. -So you could turn your back on the Rangers now. -Yeah. -Do that. Who's your team? -If you could pick the Rangers it's just like a challenge, give yourself extra-- it's like you handicap yourself basically you say. -[unk] this. -Wow. -So, who's your team? Like who's your-- -The Yankees. I'm a Yankees fan. -Really? And you're born and raised in Oregon. -Absolutely. -What? I don't-- I'm a Mets fan. Okay? So, your condolences, right? I get it. I don't-- like it's amazing to me. So, how does-- because I always-- wherever I travel in the country, even the world, I was in Europe last year, and everywhere you go, people are wearing Yankee hats. And as a Mets fan, you can understand-- -Right. -Disgusted I am by that. But explain to me like how-- so, you grouped on the West Coast and you became a Yankee fan. How did that happen? -Actually, it started when A-Rod was on the-- -I was just gonna ask if that was-- -It's all about A-Rod. -A-Rod, A-Rod. -I had a feeling. I had a feeling this-- -Unbelievable. So, it was just him and you know, you loved him and you're like all right, I gotta be-- -I wanna be A-Rod as you know, growing up, I mean-- -Of course. -I went to Texas, became a Rangers fan. -Right. -A brief stay and then went to the Bronx Bombers and from then on I've been a Yankee fan. -So, and you know, and it turns out this is your first time in New York. So, what's that been like for you? -Oh, awesome. -Yeah. -I mean everything, the buildings, just the chaos that's going on in the streets constantly, the taxi drivers are insane. -Yeah. It's pretty nuts, huh. -I mean, I don't know who gives them their license. -Right on. So, tell us about the entire experience because you had a very interesting sort of rise to the top here. I understand there were sort of like a qualifying round that you actually didn't officially place in. You placed out of the money in that first round because what happened was they gave out $25,000 to the first round of winners. You fell outside of that. You're kind of like the underdog. How did that all play out? Tell us about it. -You know, it was kinda-- kinda sucked actually. -Yeah. -You know, 25 other people won $25,000. -Right. -You know, I'm the one going to New York and I didn't win anything, you know. -Yeah. -Like there's third in the whole contest and I wasn't able to, you know, get my hands on any money before the contest and you know, coming in here with nothing, it was just kind of a-- I wanted it, I guess, more than maybe, people to enter something like that. -So, did you-- I mean, so, I got to imagine going into this. You're under a little bit of maybe self inflicted pressure because you had placed outside of that. How were you sort of dealing with that internally? -You know, it was tough at the beginning. You know, I knew I was one of the guys who came in without the money like I said earlier. -Right. -But it was a little more pressure, you know, coming all this way, you know, my dad hasn't spent a lot of money, you know. I mean, obviously, 2K Sports paid for the hotels and the plane ride-- -Sure. -But you know, like the food and, you know, sightseeing and stuff. So, I felt like I needed it more than those people I think. -Right on. Right on. -You had a chip on your shoulder. -Yeah. -You came in hungry. -Yeah. He had a grudge, he had a grudge. -[unk] yeah. -So, now, this is, you know, they've been-- 2K has been doing a similar sort of contest for the last couple of years. Had you participated in those at all? -Nope. -No. Wow. See, that's amazing to me. And it's just like, bam! First shot and here you go. -That's cool. -So, you want-- so, tell us about the actual-- the moment that you won. What was the game like because this just happen. I wanted everyone to know. You're literally coming here straight from at the Javits Center, right? Straight from the Jacob Javits Center, you went all the way East bound, you're here now, what was the last hour and half your life have been like? -Insane. -Just madness. -Just madness. Yeah. -And meet people that I you know, obviously that I never met, you know, being here for the first time. Just taking my picture, asking me question, you know, congratulating me like they've known me my whole life. -Right. -And know that this last hour and half has just been surreal. Right. -They just want money. They just want to borrow money. -I'll give them a dollar. -Right. Just a dollar. So, the moment you won-- I mean, what was going through your mind? I mean, how did the game play out? Did you-- were you up? Were you down? Because you know, we weren't there. You came right here. How did that go? -I actually hit a 2-run bomb in the first day. -Really? -Yeah. -With who? -Nelson Cruz. -Yeah. All right. -So, I was pretty, you know, pretty jazz, you know, up to owe and something like this is just you know, it takes a lot of pressure off. -Oh, for sure. -And then you know, I stayed ahead the whole game. I aimed it up, scoring around and Nelson only had 2-run and in the next he made a home run. -Oh, wow. -Again-- -So, all your runs coming off bombs. -Yeah. -Nice. -So, it was pretty cool and then just the last, I don't know, six innings or so was-- -Yeah. -it was nerve wracking. -Right. Handshaking a little bit. Yeah. -Thought I needed someone to like hold me up. -Really. -For like the last 2 innings. -So, like during the innings, you're like throwing water on your face. -Always drinking Gatorade like a mad man. -Yeah. -Like it was going out of style. -Yeah, absolutely. So-- -Was like, hold on to the lead, hold on. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. -No. That's a lot of pressure. -Yeah. -And to me that's amazing that you're-- and he scored and then you still maintain the lead. You hit and the final was 3-1. -Three-one. -Look at that. And who did you play? What was the opposing team? -He picked the Oakland Athletics. -Huh. -Yeah. -So, now, how did that work in the last game, you could pick whoever you want it? -Nope. We had to stay with the team. -You had to stay with the team you had all along. -Yup. -So, basically, for people that are not in the know, every player had a team that they had to choose throughout the entire contest and once you picked that team that was it and then they had-- how many-- it was-- there's 30 teams, right? Thirty teams, right. So, 30 winners and then it got all the way up and bam, here you are. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars richer. You didn't-- you placed out of the $25,000 but you won the $250,000. That's an even tradeoff. I would be okay with that. -Take that all the time. -I would take that all the time. -Until infinity. -Until infinity. So, obviously, you know, the no-brainer question, what do you got planned with the money, man? What-- are you interested in investing in a Podcast or something? Or-- -Hey, give me your number. -Yeah. No, you got it, buddy, after the show. So, no, but seriously what do you got in mind? -Well, I'm a college student currently. -Oh, right on. -So, tuition-- -Yeah. -is a priority. -But you'll still be in debt when it's all said and done. -Yes. -Right, right, right. Okay. Well, that's definitely-- I mean, how many people are with student loans or whatnot to eliminate a lot of that from your life? It's gonna be awesome. -Yeah. -Oh, yeah. -Yeah for sure. -But you're gonna spoil yourself a little bit. You have anything planned in that regard? -Ford Raptor. Ford Raptor. -Who? What? -Ford Raptor. -A Ford Raptor. -Oh, Ford Raptor. -Is that a car? That's a car. -It's a truck. -We don't know what that is actually. -It's a truck. -All we know are cabs and subway cars. -Yeah. I literally thought you said Oviraptor because I like dinosaurs and I was like, the egg-loving dinosaur? I was like, a fossil or are you gonna make one? You can actually research [unk] Jurassic Park. Are those-- okay. But a Ford Raptor sounds good. -I didn't even know Ford made-- a car called the Raptor. -It's a big burly truck. -It's like-- is like the F-150? Or is it bigger or smaller? -It's like a souped up F-150. -A souped-- what is-- it's a small plane, is what you're describing. That's fantastic. -I sure hope so. -Right on. So, what color are you gonna get? -Black. -Hell yeah. I was gonna let you get any of the color. Were you gonna get some nice wheels on that thing? -Yeah. -Yup. Raise it up a little bit. -Really? Is this is like-- this is not a very popular thing on the East Coast. -Okay. -Huge in the West Coast. -Yeah, is it? I guess. -For comparative purposes, I have a Honda CRV like how many miles taller and larger-- -Miles taller. -Would you be like the Godzilla-- -Eat your CRV. -and I'm like a little tiny like shoe or something like what-- -It would crush your car. It would just drive right over it. -How many times larger? -I feel like it's like 3 times. -It's like a speed bump. -Yeah, exactly. -You'd be like, you'd roll over me like, what was that? -I just went past something. I just hit, you know, Scott-- it's a CRV. It's not a CRV. That's amazing. -So, that's like the go to. There's nothing else you'd wanna spend your money on? -Not right now. I don't eve know. I don't even know what $250,000 is like or what feels like to have. -Yeah. -So, I mean, know a couple of things that I need and then from then I'm just gonna be like-- -Right. -Invest it in something like Podcast. -Well, it sounds like you got a very good hit on your shoulders and I'm glad that you're the guy that gets the money because I feel like, it's never-- and I think two guys have been lucky in the past. Everyone that's been awarded prized money has been-- you know, a somewhat put together guy and you seem the same way. So, we're very happy for you and whatever you finally decide to do with the money. Is there anything that you did in preparing for the game? Was there any sort of like specific regimen you had yourself on? Because I don't know if you heard about this, but yesterday, the U.S. government decided to recognize pro-gamers are professional athletes. -Yeah. -Oh, yeah. -No. You're kidding. -I'm not joking. It is-- I think it has to do with like the paper work and I think it's mostly for like international E-sports athletes so they can get Visas under the guys of being professional. Either way, you're now in the same company as people like LeBron James and A-Rod. -Right. -So, you're in good company right now. -Awesome. -These guys practice a lot as I'm sure you did. How was that process leading up to the big event? -You know, during the whole-- like the whole process of the tournament or whatever, they had it throughout all of April. So, through April I was playing 6 hours a day easy. -Wow. -Easy. -Huh. -And then it took May off. -Really? -Like an all-season. -The entire month of May? -Didn't play one time. -Man, every-- these other kids-- -Everyone's in their arthritis now and fail. -All these other kids are-- -No one is gonna succeed [unk] the way of the Buddha. -They are kicking themselves. -There's one way. -That was the answer all along. Take May off. -That's fascinating. -All right. So, you took May off. -Okay. -And then June came around, I was playing 6, 7 hours easy. -Yeah. -Easy. No school, I didn't have school the first semester for some terms so-- -Right on. -Six, seven hours easy. Just online against whoever would play me, against the computer-- -Yeah. -I just constantly play. -So, now-- so, you know, do you chat when you talk online with people? Because I usually do that. I play a lot of hockey games and I'm always chatting with people. We wind up talking about hockey but when you were playing with these people, did you at any moment being like, yeah, you know, I'm thinking about doing this, you know, huge run. Did you ever disclose any other information to people you're playing online? -No. Never. -Yeah. -I never plugged in my headset, you know, because-- -Okay. Okay. -the way I play, I don't know if a lot of people like it. You know, a lot [unk] rounds, lot of hit rounds, you know. -Oh, really? -What a nasty messages after games, like you can't hit or you can't pitch and I was like, take it out how you want. -So, that's so interesting. So, you're basically using like real baseball strategy but in the game, royal people are always so like, anti, that they're like, oh come on, it's like when you're gonna play Madden and people are like, you know, you're kneeling one when there's like only 30 things instead of like, you know, going for Hail Mary. -Right. -People will go, you suck. Without you know, using some of that really, I'm sure, awesome language you were sent. What-- like what were some of the messages like? Like you can't hit it. -Basically you just suck at this game or-- -Yeah. -you know, don't play a different play. -Yeah. -No one wants you playing this game. -We don't want you here. -Then, I was like, okay, I don't know what you want me to do about it. -Yeah, yeah. -You know, it's not my fault you can't hit the ball or-- -Yeah. It's not my fault you don't know how to play proper defense. -Yeah, right. I mean, I'm gonna hit and run and if your second base was not there I'm gonna send him to third. -And if you suck at pitching and you're allowing me to bunt my way to, you know-- -Exactly. -Come on, this is what we're gonna be dealing with here. -You know I'm bunting all game, throw some balls. -Yeah, right. There you go. Right on. So, is there any-- I heard something that you were playing with someone in this room to help you practice and help hone your skills so that you could win $250,000. Tell us about that. -It was me. -My dad. -It was you. I knew it. I knew it. -Oh, okay. -We've been playing all-- -So, it was your dad. -Yeah. -Is your dad Matt? -Yes it is. -Right on. -Yeah. -So, Matt thinks that-- your dad probably thinks that he's entitled to a percentage of your winnings I would imagine because he helped you practice, right? -Yeah. I think he's thinking about it. -Yeah. -Uh-hmm. -Little does he know, you guys are taking two separate planes out of New York. Now-- -I'm going first class. -You could send him a drink halfway through the flight. What was that like? Because that's awesome because you know, I grew up-- my dad wasn't a bit gamer, he didn't really-- wasn't into it, didn't kinda get it. You're fortunate to have that you know, -Yeah. -and it sounds like your dad is pretty good too, right? -Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, he's the reason I even started playing video-- -Really? -I mean I would have eventually. -Sure. -But he used to beat me in Madden like it was-- -Really? -[unk]. I was like 6 years old. -You need to see the look on your dad's like. -Wow. -He's like, yeah my son was, used to be terrible. -Yeah. -He would beat me like hardcore early training. -Yeah. -This is like the exactly. You're gonna be tough and-- -Yeah like-- -No mercy. -A-Rod's dad maybe did. -Yeah, for sure. -He said that's true. -He's running basis, he was beating me in Madden and getting me prepared or you know, baseball games. -Right on. -This is life. I'm gonna go for two everytime. -Absolutely. Well, that's so cool that you were able to be a part of that training process for sure. Are there any other-- are you a big gamer outside of MLB? -Absolutely. -Yeah. -Video games are huge part of my life. -Okay. Okay. We have a lot in common. What-- as what you do with Scott, I don't wanna spent too much time but I'm-- people on the chat room would like to know what other games you're into. You're so good at MLB, you're probably pretty good at other games. -I'm a bit sports fan. -Yeah. -Just in general. Madden is my favorite game. -Right. -NBA 2K, huge fan. -Amazing game. -Oh, yeah. -For sure. -I love it. My team-- I play a lot of Skyrim. I love like you know, just roaming games like you know-- -Sure. -Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty of course. -Right on. -I started playing Halo again just to check out the-- -Just why not? Some dust on it, let's check it out. -Yeah let's check it out but-- -So, you play Xbox? -Yeah. -You're an Xbox guy. -But I don't mind-- -But you're an equal opportunity guy. -They have the same controller. -I'm curious. You know, because I'm not friends with a lot of people your age because we're just old men now. What do you think about the new consoles? I'm curious to hear about that. -Good question. -I wanna hear what you have to say about that. -Scratching the chance. Scratching the chance. -I could tell people how old you are, right? -Yeah. -You're 21. You've got your whole life ahead of you. You've got this amazing sort of thing that's just happened to you and you know, people-- you're a big gamer, you become an important figure in a few hours. What do you have to say about the next generation? What do you think? -You know, I watched a couple of the introduction, I mean, for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. I watched both of those. -Right. -Uh-hmm. -And you know, I've always been an Xbox guy. I mean, I've always own an Xbox, you know, I don't mind the PlayStation but neither one of them was like I'm gonna buy this. -Really? So-- -Like they want-- -So, you-- -Yes. -So, you're like-- -Yeah. -You're kinda turned off by the whole thing. -I think they just started it too much almost, you know, -Yeah. -so many things I heard were just like the Xbox One like, I don't know. I don't really wanna talk to my Xbox, you know. -Right. Okay. -I mean-- -Yeah. -I'm a gamer. I love video games but I mean-- -But you don't wanna talk to it. -Yeah, you know. -Too much Kinect. -You wanna sit on that couch and okay, that's refreshing. I feel like a younger generation has embraced the whole Kinect thing more so but maybe not so much. -Yeah. -Do you feel like the Xbox One and PS4 are too similar or they-- do they seem pretty different to you? -Another great question. This is-- -That is a great question. -I feel-- they're gonna wanna hear this because this is important. Yeah, what do you think? I don't-- yeah, we don't wanna get too cerebral or have-- but what do you think? -You know, I think they're starting to go in the same direction as far but I think they have a lot of differences-- -Yeah. -that make them, you know, the PS4 and Xbox One. -Sure. -I think Xbox One shouldn't do too much with this new system that they're coming out with but-- -Right. -you know, I don't-- I guess I can't give you straight answer until I play ball for both. -Of course. -Yeah, yeah. -You know. -No, that's the right answer, yeah. -Because you know, when my, you know, blow one-- the other one out of the water, you know. -Right, right. Absolutely. -It's true. -The presentation can't give us everything, I guess, what I'm saying. -You're looking for another job here, guy? -Yeah. I was getting analysis. -Well, Justin, it was a pleasure to meet you, buddy. Again, congratulations on winning the $250,000. The first tank of gas in the Raptor is on us. All right? Which is what? Like $83? How much is it gonna cost to fill this thing up? -It's pretty expensive. -It's pretty massive truck, right? -Yeah probably. -Go to New Jersey first, right? Is that you're better off? Or any particular state. Well, only this state where the gas be filled. -Oregon. There's like no tax on anything, right? In Oregon, right? -There's property tax. -Yeah, that's right. It's like a great-- it's fantastic, right? -It's awesome. It's a bunch of things. -Your daddy is gonna say, he's like, well, it's complicated. Anyway, congratulations. Enjoy this time, savor it, take a second to stop and be like, well, this is pretty freaking awesome. -You've been to Yankee games yet or have you not been yet? -No. -And are you going? -I'm gonna try to go to the All Star Game. It's awesome. You know, I haven't had the pleasure of going to a Yankee game, you know that. -All right. I'm sure that lies in your future for sure. -Oh, definitely. -Rock and roll. Again, congrats, that the games MLB 2K13 and Justin just won $250,000 by playing it. Hope to see you around, man. It was great meeting you. Congrats to you, your family and everything. You guys are really great people and glad it happened to you, man. -Yeah. Thanks for having me. -Rock and roll. We'll be back after this short break. More 404 right after this. Stick around. We'll be right back. -I love Comic-Con. I haven't been in years. -You haven't been in years. -I have not. -We gotta figure out a way to get you out there. -So just-- -And we gotta figure out a way to get Ariel there. -Yeah. -Just drag me and then suddenly I'm on a plane back to San Diego where I used to live. -Yeah. -And then put a-- -Oh, I didn't know you used to live there. -I lived there for 5 years and I went to Comic-Cons back in like '97, '98. -When it used to be about-- -When it used to be-- -When it used to be about the music. -When it was cool. -Yeah. -Exactly. -Real [unk] before entourage ever existed. -What do you think about this kid freaking winning $250,000 playing MLB? -All I could think of is what I would spend the money on and I kept thinking like golden crusted things and lots of trips to Shake Shack until it eventually disappear. -Let's be honest though. That's taxed, right? -Yeah, right. So, a lot of that goes. I think prize money is like-- -How much do you think-- it's like 30%. -Thought it was 50. -Holy-- -Really? -Lotteries are usually-- -He's only gonna get $125,000 out of that. -I am not positive but I think when you win those types of prizes, it's usually 50% goes to tax. -A buck 25 goes a long way in Oregon I'm sure. -Yeah. I mean, I could be wrong but I think I'm right. I know with lottery, huge amount goes but still-- -Yeah. -it's fantastic. And basically, you're right. Like to get out of-- I just think about getting out of like most of your student loan debt. Who knows if it's even, at this point it might be like-- -That's the way to do it though. -Yeah. -I mean, like I-- -If you can enter the next part of your life and not have to worry about that-- -Almost a huge lego. -You have a huge advantage. -And have a gigantic truck. -Yes. -He was so-- -Those two-- he really-- that was great. -You know what, at least-- -He's in truck country. That's like-- -Oh, for sure. There's-- -if you don't have a truck in some of those parts of Oregon, you might die. -There's terrain that you need to-- -Open Hills. -Yeah. You gotta be off-roading. I don't even know Ford made a Raptor. Did you? -Maybe only in Oregon. It could be like a regional-- -Regional exclusive. -A regional experience. I didn't know that but I now-- I am a car person but I don't you know, I'm like only semi because I don't even drive to work. I just take a train. So, it's like a car is my when I'm not taking a train thing. -Yeah. -I'm like a hybrid. I'm a hybrid person. Yeah. -So, I think he was trying to hold back his laugh when you said you had a RAV 4. -No. CRV. -Yeah. Oh, that's CRV. -I know. That's-- that was my attempt-- -Yeah, yeah. -It was like the most humiliating. I want to do that. I wanted to-- it was a compliment. I wanted to give him additional masculine power. -Yeah. -And present him with the most embarrassing supposed SUV [unk]. -Chat room is saying-- conflicting reports in the chat room. Schneid is saying it's 40% tax. DJ Estelaga is saying, it's about 32 and a third. -Okay. Well, that's better than I thought. -If it's 50, that's just-- that's rough. -I always thought it was a huge-- I mean like-- -I thought-- I agree with you, man. I thought it was a lot, right. -Maybe I'm just-- the stories about like lottery winners, it's like you [unk] in like Esquire and it's like, this guy [unk] $200,000 and by the end he was dead. -Buck-O-Nine. -Yeah I like it. -And dead. -Buck-O-Nine and dead. -Yeah. That's it. -But that's also stories of people who mismanaged in everything else. -Right. -He seemed great. -Yeah. -What a great kid. -And also what a great dad. -Oh, my God. So cool. I'm so happy it happened to them. -It made be very sentimental. I felt like, I was like, this is-- -It's a super nice story. -Kind of the best story I could imagine. -Totally good. -And he's gonna have a really awesome, very killer truck. -Oh, my God. So cool. And I just-- -I can't get anyone to play beyond-- -I can't believe 21 looks like that. -I was about to say I pegged him at like 15. -Yeah. I [unk] kids. Good for him. -Which means I, look like I'm 70. -Yeah. I was gonna say you look 60. -He was like, it's great to be on with the 50-year-old Jeff Bakalar, -Yeah. -and that old 70-year-old Ed McMahon guy who was sitting next to him. Like, hey, good to meet you. Congratulations. -Yeah. And we were probably, yeah, that's-- -We were-- I smelled like an old man to him. -He's like, this smells like my grandfather's place. The studio. -Old man's shirt's smell. -Anyway-- -But it was-- I can't get anyone to play me on Madden, you know, -Yeah. -I can't even think of one person. My, you know, my dad never did and so I jus think like the idea of a family member always playing with you, it's a journey. I'm alone. -So cool. -Yeah. -It's so cool. -It's very cool. -Oh, your children will have that luxury. -By the time they get older. I don't even know if we'll have an apocalypse or something. -Okay. So, you're being super positive of that whole thing. -So, I feel like-- or video games and what way they'll be around. In 20 years it could be like a mind control iPad. -And you thought I was pessimist. -Yeah. -I know. Seriously. -Yeah, yeah. -You've caught me. You know what it is? I was saying this. I came on today and I'm in a downturn today because I-- yesterday, I was at home and all I heard on Twitter-- I don't know why it's getting me mad but there was a lot-- all this-- it came up again, the seasonal anti-shorts crap. Everybody, -Yeah, yeah. There's a movement-- -at least everyone I'm following I'm gonna unfollow. -There's a movement. -Yeah. It's like-- -It's-- -I think that has ended. -It's a certain elitist mind frame. It is. And I'll be-- look-- -And makes me so mad. I can't even explain. I don't know why. This surely gets-- -There is an agenda. There is an anti-shorts agenda. -Yeah. -And first off, if you're talking about this agenda and you do not live in New York City, you do not have a seat at this table. -Right. -Because this is a situation and we're talking about-- we're talking about girl-- -It's hateable discussion on either side. -Right. We're talking-- -It's a despicable discussion. -And we're talking about grown men like you yourself, -Yes. -myself, Ariel Nuñez, Justin Yu, wearing shorts to work. This isn't mad men anymore. I get it. Okay. -Right. -Times change, people change, productivity is all that matters and however you wanna be productive, your outfit can be whatever as long as you're wearing clothes, let's be honest, right? -Yeah. -And you know, I don't wanna make it like a whole gender sort of thing but like-- -It is. -It is. It totally is. -It is reverse sexism. And you know what, I had nothing to do with anything in the past that was perceived as sexist and to me, it feels like, you know, some of these come back around, oh, everything with skirts is fine. Everything with short skirts is fine but if people started making, and also joky comments about you know, oh, that people over this age shouldn't be wearing it or shorts are fine but no Mandels. I'm like, okay, I understand that but you know what, first of all, it's also-- I can't even-- I've got-- this go on forever and ever. We have totally unrelated thing but there are huge upsetting news stories that have happened over last week. They're all sorts of big issues in the world. Everybody is going on Twitter to talk about shorts. You know what, I put up in the city with horrible people, horrible attitudes, stupid fashion, stupid little hats, stupid little sunglasses, sunglass hats, super little vests. All these dumb things in the city and I don't say anything because you know what, you can do whatever you wanna do. I don't care. And then you can tell me I can't wear shorts? Go away. Just go away exactly and it makes New York more hateable. They don't hate the shorts. They hate those people who are arguing about shorts or fore shorts because it's all obnoxious. -Yup. -It's a coastal thing. It is also horrible. I just like comfort. I like the idea of being comfortable, be who you are, be whatever you want. -My junk-- -Yeah. -is in constant jeopardy. -All you're doing is driving me to come in naked. You wanna go further? -Yeah. -Put it further, I will come in naked. -Yeah. I'll come in-- I'll do it. -That is gonna happen. -I'll do it. -And get in your face because I know what upsets you. I-- and no one is responding to me now in Twitter. Maybe because they all don't like me or I'm irrelevant. -Don't think about it like that, man. -But you know what, I also-- -Don't get down on yourself like that. -I want to get back in people's faces because I felt like it's so annoying because it's like a little bit of-- everybody wants to feel cool and make a little jokes and make a little trend and it's like it's such a dumb conversation because it always comes around seasonally. This is like the McRib of like-- -It hasn't been in town a long time though. -Right, right. That's true. But it's like the McRib of discussions. Every single years we come around and it's like, people shouldn't be wearing shorts. -Right, right. -Oh, Mandels and the stinky toe or the-- I'm looking at a man toe and like, you know, like whatever guys, just you know, you see people in like crocheted full body outfits on the subway. People defecating on the windows, there's some crazy guy with a guitar who was like-- -Yeah. -you know, lizard man or whatever-- -No one says anything-- -it became bodies and yeah, nobody says anything just because-- -Yeah. This is all great. -It's New York. Just-- exactly. -Yeah. This is New York. -Can I say this is New York? -This is freaking New York. Just-- yeah, just act like you're here in New York and go along with it like we'd go along with everything else here. That's horrible. If you think shorts are horrible, that's part of the horrible part of New York. Accept it. -Yup. -It smells like vomit all the time in the city. -And it sounds like hot garbage all the time. Yeah. -Yes, it's a hot vomit city. -Go get some real problem. -Well, how much worse than our shorts? -Get some real problems. -Right. Get some real problems. Think about the real issues in life, the things that had been all around. Horrible things that we've been talking about and questions society and it's like, you know what, just allow the shorts. -Allow your shorts. -Yeah. -Let them fly, baby. -The worst part, though, about this is that-- -Is Scott's wearing pants. -I'm wearing pants. -Yeah, yeah. -And you know what, I came in in shorts and out of semi-humiliation, I did. I caved. I brought pants so people, you know, would respect and look at that, I caved. -Don't get me wrong, though. If I'm going on TV-- -I'm gonna change back in a short tonight, see Pacific Rim. -Right. And if I'm-- -And flip flops as well. -If I'm going on television, -Yeah. -all right. Yeah, I'm gonna wear pants. -But they don't see you from down. -I know. And they don't see me right now. -But from like-- -And no one knows I'm wearing shorts. Not well until like [unk]. -I do too wear pants. -Right. But there's a time and a place and we are-- -Yes. -And not everyone has these luxuries that we are afforded here at CNET. -Right. -We're allowed to. Not everyone is allowed to and I get that. -That's right. -So, I think the bitterness-- -And if you can, celebrate. -And if you can, flaunt it, baby. I think the outrage is multi [unk]. I think it's people who hate the shorts, they probably don't look good in them themselves, -Uh-hmm. -or they can't handle doing it. -Yes. -And look, I am a pale [unk]. I know it. I'm-- it's offensive how pale I am but at the same time I'd like being comfortable and that's all that matters. -But I love that you wear shorts and I would have never known that you have leg tattoos if you hadn't worn shorts. -This is true. This is true. -And I discovered I learned something about you. -This is-- yeah. It's-- -We're discovering this. -It's an eye opening and a knowledgeable experience. -Yes. -So, where are these shorts protests happening? -It's-- -On the internet. On Twitter. -Online? -Yeah. -It's a bit of a tiny little thing. It's like some people have been, you know, and also Gawker put up a pro-shorts commentary. -Uh-hmm. -One of the few out there. And then I think that also-- that, if nothing else sparked a lot of people again saying like, I don't wanna see your shorts, get away from me. -Yeah. -So, you know, it's just-- I don't know where it comes from. -Yeah. They can't be from New York. -Like where are these-- they can't be, right? -They can't be. -And I think that's the thing. I think-- -The anti-shorts? -Yeah because they think that because they've you know, migrated here from wherever, you know, butthole town they came from, -Uh-hmm. -They're like, well, we're in New York now, so we have to be official. -You know what it is? It's-- -Well, we've been here our whole lives. So, we can do whatever the hell we want. -I think it is heat madness. People are-- have gone so hot that they're baking their brain because they're not wearing shorts. -Yup. -Exactly. -They're so hot and uncomfortable in their little Victorian outfits, which have you know, like these perfect little whatever you wear in New York that's not shorts. And all they can think about is, if I can't do it, no one can. -Exactly. -Uh-hmm. -And they're just full of hatred. -Hate. Yeah, hate. -But it's true. I don't know. That's my-- -All right. Well, we can always spend so much time on this. Right? I mean, we can always spend like 10 minutes on-- -Spend days. I need to get over, I'll talk to a therapist but-- -I know. This is therapy for you because I'm sure this has-- -It's all great. -been a very therapeutic episode for you. -But there's something else related to shorts. I was gonna say, oh, one small note. I think this is interesting. I keep referring those Umberto Eco, this is my smartsy, fancy, stupid pants analogy. -Yeah. -I remember what we're reading a long time ago, Umberto Eco wrote an essay in against tight jeans. And the idea was that he said that it put him into body conscious and he was thinking about why monks may have worn loose flowing outfits to put themselves closer to God. -Interesting. Interesting. -And they think outside the body and basically, the better thoughts you have, the less you wear clothing that makes you wear of yourself. And so-- -Well, that also implies like an anti-sexualism thing too. -Right. Wear what's comfortable. Of course, everybody who didn't start wearing snug-- not Snuggies, what am I saying? Not Snuggie. -Like scrubs. Or something like ER scrubs. -What are those blank, I have a total word loss. The blank pants. -Forever Lazy. They're called Forever Lazy or something like that. Snuggie, you had it right. -Was that the Snuggies? -Snuggie, yeah. -I'm [unk] a while. -No because you're not a schlub. -Those blankety are you know, [unk] punch, you know, those things. Everyone maybe be wearing that [unk]. -I would be very, very upset if everyone in New York all of a sudden started wearing like ER scrubs in the summer. -Yeah. -I'd be upset. -I think it's just-- yeah, it's like whatever you want. If you want to be-- -Wear whatever you want. -You wanna be a dandy, if you wanna wear shorts, if you want-- as long as you're not naked. -If you wanna wear a thong and a tank top, -Yeah. -that barely covers your belly, it ain't my slice of pie but goddamn it, you got the right to do it. -It's true. I think about this because we're sort of in between pants right now and there's no-- we're really waiting. I was just thinking about this. What do-- recommending back to school stuff even, because we'll be back to school and then like, I feel like everything is kind of a wait and see attitude. Half of Apple's laptop lineup isn't even really here yet. I feel like-- -It's a weird time, man. -Yeah, iPads, iPhones, no-- there's no new Nexus 7 success or there's no link for game consoles. -Yeah. -It's like to come before the storm. -Everybody is waiting. We're waiting for Comic-Con. -Everyone's gone. But it's always been like this. -Yeah. -It's always been like this. All right. Speaking of Comic-Con, thank you for bringing that up. -Yes. -We gotta talk about a few things not good news guys, and we're not excited about this but unfortunately, Justin will not be able to come out to Comic-Con with myself and a few of our CNET San Francisco guys. Unfortunately, he's got some personal matters that he must deal with. Everything is okay for the most part. He's all right but he is unable, unfortunately, to come out to Comic-Con. I hope it's okay. I'm gonna be there. I hope that's okay that no one gets upset that he's not there but I'll still be at the meet-up and I'll still be out there shooting the videos and whatnot. Unfortunately, the circumstances are such that he can't be with us. We're very upset but there are more important things in life and Justin has to take care of that. So, you know, we obviously respect him in that capacity and that regard. It's a bummer for sure but it's not at all terrible. I'll still be there. I hope that's okay if you wanna come and meet me and you know, shake my hand and have a beer with me at Lou & Mickey's that will work. So, hopefully you're not turned off the fact that Justin is not gonna be there. I'll still be there from Thursday to Saturday and again, the contest is still going on, The 404 SuperWeakness Contest. Make sure you enter that. We've just surpassed well over 400 entries, so that's awesome. We're excited about that. Our meet-up is Saturday, July 20th at Lou & Mickey's in San Diego, California which is right across the street from the convention center where Comic-Con is going down. Make sure you head over there again from 4 to 6. You're gonna get some t-shirts, I'm gonna bring the stickers, we're gonna have beers, we're gonna laugh, we're gonna cry. Every range of human emotion will be explored in that meet-up. So, make sure you still come out and say what's up and I will be as-- I will spread myself as thin as possible. I know no one's ever used the word thin in my name in the same sense but I'm going to somehow make it happen. -You know, this is-- I mean, there's even more reason why I should have been going to Comic-Con. This would have been awesome. -You-- and maybe we could figure out a way for you to still come now. -Maybe. -It's such a great event. -I don't know. It's fun. -Maybe. -It's fun. No, he's not-- -[unk] that's in our hands. -Yeah. I don't know. We'll try and see-- -I miss it all and very [unk] of you guys. I'm deep in like second kid, 5-month-old. -Yeah. -No way out. -No. And that's totally understandable. -I dreamed of those days I used to go there. -Yeah. -when I lived there in like the late 90's. -Sure. -San Diego is so great. -It's a great city, it's a great time to be there. And you know, I'm more excited because the weather is cooler right there right now. So, I'm excited. -Speaking of shorts. -Uh-hmm. -Yeah, speaking of shorts. -That was where I think that my ears in Southern California was where this was truly all born. -Yeah. -Because you had one season. -That's it. -And so like, this is-- yeah. But I won't go back to that again but I think about-- I don't even know the restaurants that are down there anymore. -It's fun. -I used to go to places-- I lived there back before Petco Park opened. -Okay. Where the Padres play. -Yeah. -Yeah. -So, the Gaslamp area, -It's awesome. -there used to be like a little Indie theater called The Fritz, that was like down-- -I don't think it's there anymore. -It's like call out to that theater company. -Yeah. -That's gone because they had to relocate a lot of those things. -Right. -And it used to be like a little more edgy obviously. -It's a little-- it's commercialized now. -Yeah. -Yeah. -Because once Petco came in, it kind of capped the end of the Gaslamp District. -Right. -And brought a huge amount of evening-- and there were still great restaurants and things but it was like a little, you know, like where I used to live on 5th and Laurel by the park. -Yeah. -That now they're this huge apartment buildings but they're used to be this little like New York-Italian outpost. They used to make like Italian heroes and there were these guys from like, I think, the Bronx. So, they just like-- -They just migrated out there, yeah. -This little joint [unk] it's totally out of place but you find these weird little places and cafes. -Yeah. -Because it was like a forgotten landscape. -And now all they do is to get the kids flip in the science now. -Yeah. -You know those guys? With the arrows saying like-- -Yeah. -come this way. They just like wear them on their fingers. They love hoisting those things up. It's crazy. Anyway, that's the situation. Wish it could have been better. Unfortunately, this is how it's playing out. No, he's not lost in the woods again, Iceman. It has nothing to do with the woods. But anyway, that's the story with that. And I think, well, that's where we'll end it for today. -What do you most looking forward to at Comic-Con? -That's a good question. I just wanna be surprised by a franchise that I don't know about. Like everyone knows they're gonna do the new Godzilla there. I don't give a crap about Godzilla. Do you care about-- -What is the new Godzilla? -I don't know. It's like-- -Comic or movie or-- -I think it's a movie. I like the toys, man. I'm a toys guy. -Is that stuck in like infinite reboot? -I feel like they're not-- every single time they do it it's not going right. -Right. -It's like a whole-- it's like-- -Yeah. It just doesn't work out. -Yeah. They're gonna try again-- -Yeah. -and it's gonna be mediocre again. -Yeah. -So, that's what I'm hoping and I'm hoping I'd find some cool exclusive toy that I or Stacy likes, you know, and you know, we'll see what we got there. See kind of Batman stuff they got. Anyway, that's it. I'm excited. If you see me in San Diego, say hi and we'll see you guys then. So, here's the situation. There's no formal 404 Show until a week from today, the 23rd. That's when we will all be back in the studio. I guess it is possible Justin might be here Monday, maybe he'll have a show but we'll let you know on Twitter if that changes. That's it for us right now. Thank you so much for tuning in. Hope you enjoy the interview with Justin in the first half of the show. Congrats again to him and thank you to Scott Stein and follow him on Twitter, @jetscott. That will do it for us. I will see you when I get back. Have a great rest of the week, guys. We'll see you soon. I'm Jeff Bakalar. -I'm Scott Stein. -I'm Ariel Nuñez. -This has been The 404 Show. High tech, low brow. Have a great week. We'll see you at Comic-Con later.

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