Trickeration

The photo was blurry but unmistakable. Dressed in Western wear, next to a cowboy with a fistful of cash, was one of the most famous players in MLB. The story behind the story of the star athlete competing in a different sport, under a fake name, as told by the man who broke it.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“DOG GONE” blared the New York Times headline. An interview with the Princeton students who decided to pose as Yale cheerleaders in order to kidnap the famous mascot. Everything was going according to plan. Until the dog almost died.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A fishy triathlon time is met with skepticism. A rival coach’s investigation shines light on how she pulled it off. A furious disinformation campaign to obscure the truth. How and why a middle-aged Ironman competitor cut the course in a race with almost nothing at stake.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a 2011 college football game between UCLA and Arizona, a man dressed as a referee enters the field of play and whistles the game dead. His goal? To get the ball and score a touchdown... naked. Former U of A student Jacen Lankow reveals how and why he attempted one of the greatest streaks in football history, and explains how to trick the TV networks into covering your moment in the spotlight.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All that glitters is not gold. The 4-time NBA All-Star learned that lesson the hard way, falling victim to a spitting-image impersonator. "He got upset but what can I do?" says Hollywood Johnny Depp about the incident captured by TMZ. And later, a UCLA golfer explains the "Hollywood miracle" the Bruins helped pull off with a young pimple-faced Shia Labeouf.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A young boy and his father use fake media credentials in the 90's to score exclusive, sit-down interviews with Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux and more. NYC comedian Gary Vider confesses the details of a five-year scam that routinely got him into the Madison Square Garden locker rooms and rubbing elbows with some of the most iconic athletes of all time. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An NBA fan club with punk rock beginnings evolves into an unlikely friendship with a popular Los Angeles Laker. The true Hollywood story of how a couple of LA kids made themselves into stars in a town full of 'em. And an important lesson in how to create your own Showtime.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It remains the greatest prank ever pulled by the Yankee captain. Coming off a historic debut, Marcus Thames was on top of the world, but shortly before his second professional game, Jeter enlisted Yankee Stadium security, a bomb sniffing dog and Joe Torre to bring the rookie back down to earth. "I thought I was going to prison," recalls Thames. Plus, the Fart Machine 4000 infiltrates the Winter Meetings, and how one Milwaukee Brewer uses Uber as his personal getaway car.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An unsuspecting rookie finds himself in the Colts QB's crosshairs during the holiday season. Peyton took many young players under his All-Pro wing, but only one became the victim of a hidden-camera prank that #18 still watches to this day. And a former Miami Dolphins safety reveals the blueprint for a devilish 80's rookie prank involving a beautiful woman, an abandoned house and a cactus plant.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A St. Louis man wins a life-changing fortune on the Bears-Rams game, but the fantasy turns into a nightmare due to a technicality. And later, a Brewers coach pranks the vets into thinking a killer is on the roster. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A live reptile in the coach's bathroom sends the winningest coach in NFL history running half-naked through the team's facility. And later, a prank war escalation leads to a Dolphins player unable to extinguish a crotch fire. No one is safe in Miami.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An environmental activist comically blew up a golf major trophy ceremony to deliver his message to the masses. "Junglebird" reveals the details of the greatest videobomb in sports history. And the shocking story of a Texas jockey illegally buzzering race horses to victory.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Facing a long prison sentence, the heavyweight champ turned to an unlikely mystical source for help. The details behind Iron Mike's forays into "hoodoo", shocking revelations about prison hush money and misbehavior, and how Brad Pitt managed to avoid a Tyson uppercut.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The catch of a lifetime threatens to upend a North Dakota man's life after witnesses cast doubt on his whopper fish and his character. A Fargo-esque fishing tale with more twists and turns than the Cannonball River, and an ending that will make anglers think twice before going for the big one.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A shattered WNBA record with a wonderful backstory. But was Courtney Vandersloot's recent passing mark too good to be true? A closer examination of the "assists" by a Sacramento Kings analyst reveals scorekeeper inconsistencies that can't be ignored.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A backup catcher with too much time on his hands devises a you-gotta-be-kiddin’-me plan to trick a baserunner into an out. Dave Bresnahan recounts the time he successfully used a potato to pull off what many consider the greatest baseball prank of all-time. Hear the inner workings of this insane prank, and Dave's ingenious way of paying off the $50 fine after he was released from the team. All hail the Spud King.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the 2003 Masters runner-up shows up at a small Rhode Island country club? No record is safe. On the 18th green, Len Mattiace has a 10-foot putt that would etch his name in the record books. But it never had a chance. Hear the uplifting circumstances that kept his ball from ever going in the hole.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A failed attempt at scoring Kirstie Alley's underwear leads the Red Sox third baseman to enlist his mistress in an attempt to win a spring training bet. But when the spurned mistress dishes a tell-all to Playboy magazine, Boggs' deceitful ways are exposed.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before Deflategate, Spygate, and even Watergate there was Trench Coatgate. Right before the game-deciding play of a Patriots game in 1961, a mysterious Boston fan in a long jacket snuck onto the field and single-handedly secured victory for the home team in the most brazen way possible. Without a doubt, the greatest “12th Man” moment in football history.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"You've got Werewolf Syndrome." In the early 90s, a fake doctor named Pete Reppucci, with the help of the actual Mariners' athletic trainer, would examine and diagnose players with ridiculous, made-up medical problems. No one was safe, not even the team's superstars.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

397 baseball writers cast ballots for the 2020 Baseball Hall of Fame. 396 didn't vote for J.J. Putz. The one guy just crazy enough to vote for a journeyman relief pitcher confesses why he did and reveals which outlier candidate will be getting his vote in 2021. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A billion dollar baseball team’s social media is stolen by a random college kid in Michigan. No one is safe, especially not the team’s underperforming second baseman. And a cautionary tale about an MLB player forever haunted by two words scribbled on the end of a bat, and the man who became obsessed with him.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Exactly one person on the planet has "tweak MLB players" in their job description. A conversation with the Atlanta Braves employee hired to come up with out-of-left-field ways to invade opponent hitters' headspace. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An LA story about a fan in disguise who snuck into Dodger Stadium and stormed the dugout to show the team what they were missing. And a conversation about mystery with Michael Jordan.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Olympic hopeful Liam Collins reveals for the first time the undercover tactics he used to infiltrate the secret world of drug cheats. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former Yankee batboy recalls how Don Mattingly pranked him on his first day on the job. And a Nuggets ballboy has a cautionary tale about punking the team’s star player. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iconic lefty pitcher Jim Abbott talks pitch tipping, base coach spies, and the unwritten rule breaker that threatened to spoil the greatest game of his life.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Super Bowl sneak and a fake baseball reporter reveal the secrets of breaching stadium security, and explain how you can attend major sporting events without a ticket.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American filmmaker Jon Alpert sneaks onto the ice for a hockey game with notorious thug and crappy hockey player Vladamir Putin. Alpert's mission: stop Putin from scoring, by any means necessary. And later, we hop into the Trickeration time machine for the origin story of the greatest NHL prospect that didn't exist.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti details the time he mistakenly tried to resist Officer Shaquille O'Neal. Vitti also gives the tick-tock of the most elaborate rookie prank in NBA history, and shares a tale of spying on the '80's Celtics. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the pilot episode of Trickeration, Matt sits down with legendary MLB skipper Bobby Valentine. Listen as Bobby V. discusses the famous instance where he wore an eye black mustache and sunglasses to continue managing a Mets game after being ejected, and reveals that this was not the only time he wore a disguise to escape detection at the ballpark.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trickeration is a weekly show that breaks down the boldest and craziest acts of deception in sports. Brought to you by iHeartMedia, each show will feature interviews with principle participants in these sporty schemes and deep dives into how and why these attempts to unlevel the playing field ultimately succeeded or failed. Sportswriter Matt Waxman investigates tales of grooved pitches, savage hustles, chilling pranks and more.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.