Becoming a Best Ball Bro: How Important Is Roster Construction?

Rich Ryan (0:00)

You know, it's so cool seeing hundreds of thousands of people go to the draft. Everybody's celebrating last week with the schedule release. JJ, you've talked about how you've transitioned into being a professional, and you're less of a Steelers fan now. When's the last time something got you amped about the Pittsburgh Steelers?

JJ Zachariason (0:18)

I mean, probably like 2015-ish timeframe. It's been a while. It's been a while since I really got excited about something Steelers related. What about you with the Jets?

Rich Ryan (0:30)

Oh, God. I've been dead inside for a decade.

JJ Zachariason (0:33)

I'm JJ, and I've been playing in best ball leagues for years. But there are people out there who play a lot more than I do, and there are people out there who have won a lot more than I have. And I want to learn from them. This season, I'll be documenting my journey of Max entering Underdog's best ball mania contest, and I'll be doing so with guidance from some of the most successful best ball players on the planet.

This is the year where things start to change. This is the year where I officially become a Best Ball Bro.

Welcome in to episode number two of Becoming a Best Ball Bro. I'm JJ Zachariason. As always joined, as always, as if we've done this a million times.

Rich Ryan (1:19)

In perpetuity.

JJ Zachariason (1:20)

As always, joined by my co-host Rich Ryan. Rich, what's going on, buddy?

Rich Ryan (1:25)

Nothing much, man.

I didn't get a chance. I meant to wear my Knicks hoodie last week to show some love to the New York Knickerbockers, but I'm such a true fan that even though they went out in such devastating fashion, like all New York teams do, at least the ones that I root for, had to rock the orange and blue here on the show.

JJ Zachariason (1:42)

Yeah, what is this? You're rocking it after they've, I mean, look, it does show you're a true fan.

Rich Ryan (1:48)

Yeah.

JJ Zachariason (1:48)

Yeah, you're a true fan. That's fair.

I last week, for the last like week or two, because I grew up a Penguins fan, I'm a very, very big Pittsburgh Penguins fan, but I live in Charlotte now, I live in the Carolinas, and the Penguins have not been that great over the last couple of years, and they traded Jake Gensel, no one, like literally 2% of the listeners.

Yeah, no one's ever heard of a Gensel before. They traded Jake Gensel to the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are the Carolina team, was rooting for the Canes a little bit, had been wearing a Hartford Whalers hat that I have as support. It's always nice when you have a team that relocated, because then you can wear the old stuff and not necessarily, like you're telling people maybe I'm hardcore, because I'm so hardcore that I'm wearing the old team's logo and such, or I don't love that team as much as you do, because I'm not wearing their colors and I'm not wearing their logo, but I'll wear the old one. I always love the retro stuff. I wear as much retro stuff as I possibly can.

Rich Ryan (2:47)

I mean, 90s is back. You see it now with the kids that shouldn't wear baggy jeans again. All the stuff that was cool when we were young is cycling back right now, for sure.

JJ Zachariason (2:56)

Yeah, well, the thing that really annoyed me, I'm not gonna lie, is my daughter plays T-ball. I'm a T-ball coach, and we got assigned the Giants for the second straight year, which the Giants as a team is just kind of boring, like orange and black, the logo's not really that interesting.

And this year, in this season, we faced the, they had the Expos.

Patrick Kerrane (3:17)

How amazing, how sick would it have been?

Rich Ryan (3:20)

Before you even stepped on the field, you were wrecked.

JJ Zachariason (3:22)

Oh yeah, oh yeah, we got destroyed. I mean, obviously they're not keeping score in T-ball, but we got destroyed by the Expos, make no mistake. I mean, they, they annihilated us simply because they were the Expos. But I also grew up a Moises Salou fan. I know it's very random. That's another very random reference to an athlete, but Moises Salou, he peed on his hands.

For those of you who don't know Moises Salou, but he played for the Expos for a while. Would have been great to, like I like to buy a shirt or a hat or something of that team. And we already had Giants stuff because we were the Giants the previous season. And I was excited, if I had the Expos, I'd be rocking an Expos hat right now on the show instead of this Penguins hat that I'm wearing.