Speaker 1: It's Game one of the nineteen ninety three NBA Finals,
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls versus Phoenix Suns. The Bulls are at the
Speaker 1: height of their powers and they're going for their third
Speaker 1: championship in a row.
Speaker 2: The Sons have had a.
Speaker 1: Dominant season, but overcoming the Bulls and their star player,
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan that's going to take something special. Fortunately, they've
Speaker 1: got a secret weapon something, or rather some one to
Speaker 1: throw Jordan off his game. Look, it's not cheating, but
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's honorable. Hey, welcome to the
Speaker 1: ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers, and the weird
Speaker 1: stuff between.
Speaker 2: I'm Tony Armstrong and this one is all about the fans.
Speaker 1: Three enthusiasts who took their sports fans them to the extreme.
Speaker 1: Basketball fan Robin Thicket is as loyal as they come.
Speaker 1: He went to every Washington Bullets home game for twelve years,
Speaker 1: and in that time he was always in the same seat,
Speaker 1: right behind the opposition bench. Any team knows the pressure
Speaker 1: of facing an opposing crowd, but contending with Robin that's
Speaker 1: a whole different thing Entirely. Even though he was just
Speaker 1: one voice and a noisy crowd, he earned a reputation
Speaker 1: for being one of the most irritating and disruptive fans
Speaker 1: in the NBA. Robin had a knack of getting under
Speaker 1: the skin of players with relentless taunting. It's probably not
Speaker 1: surprising that he has a way with words. Though Robin's
Speaker 1: day job was a defense attorney checks out his antics
Speaker 1: earned him the title of the league's most notorious heckler.
Speaker 1: Mostly he was ignored, but sometimes players and coaches snapped.
Speaker 1: Robin had water dumped on him and even had shoes
Speaker 1: chucked at him, but that didn't stop him from shouting insults.
Speaker 1: For him, no one was off limits, not even the
Speaker 1: greatest of all time, Michael Jordan. Robin Ficker made many enemies,
Speaker 1: but one man on the court thought he was all right.
Speaker 2: Phoenix Sons legend Charles Barkley.
Speaker 1: See Barkley cottoned on to how much Robin annoyed other
Speaker 1: players and was like, I'm going to give this guy
Speaker 1: a job annoying Michael Jordan so much that he bungles
Speaker 1: the game. The Sons were set to play the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bulls led by mj in the upcoming finals. Barkley paid
Speaker 1: Robin to fly to Arizona for game one of the series,
Speaker 1: courtside seats behind the players bench included.
Speaker 2: Robin came prepared.
Speaker 1: He chose to hit Michael Jordan about his much publicized
Speaker 1: gambling habit, saying things like, Hey.
Speaker 2: Michael, how much did you bet on the game? He
Speaker 2: even brought props.
Speaker 1: At one point, he brought out playing cards to wave
Speaker 1: in Jordan's face.
Speaker 2: Did it work well?
Speaker 1: No, Robin was kicked out from the arena before the
Speaker 1: first quarter had even ended. The Balls went on to
Speaker 1: win the game and the championship for Robin Ficker. It
Speaker 1: turned out the NBA had had enough. The following season,
Speaker 1: the league introduced a new regulation dubbed the Figger Rule.
Speaker 2: It forbids fans.
Speaker 1: From abusing players and coaches, and anyone who breaks it
Speaker 1: is booted from the arena. Robin's favorite team, the Washington Bullets,
Speaker 1: they was sick of him too. When the team moved
Speaker 1: to a new stadium in nineteen ninety seven, they stopped
Speaker 1: Robin from purchasing season tickets anywhere close to the court.
Speaker 1: In response, he decided to abandon his team and boycott
Speaker 1: their games altogether. From the basketball arenas of the USA
Speaker 1: to the cricket ovals of Australia, This next story centers
Speaker 1: around a beloved sports fanatic of our very own. The
Speaker 1: Sydney Cricket Ground is one of Australia's most iconic stadiums,
Speaker 1: but one of its more unique features is a bronze
Speaker 1: statue nestled among the seats in the front row of
Speaker 1: the grandstand. Monuments to sporting legends are commonly found outside
Speaker 1: the grounds, but this particular statue it's.
Speaker 2: A little different.
Speaker 1: In the early twentieth century, before cricket matches were full
Speaker 1: of rowdy fans, they were quiet, much like a tennis match,
Speaker 1: so much so that if a member of the crowd
Speaker 1: was to raise their voice, their words would easily carry
Speaker 1: to the players in the middle of the oval. And
Speaker 1: Stephen Gascoyne was the sword of cricket fan who loved
Speaker 1: to make himself heard. Affectionately known as Yaba, his witty
Speaker 1: one liners would echo around the scg.
Speaker 2: He'd shout, bowl the bastard a grand piano, see if
Speaker 2: he can play that.
Speaker 1: No matter the situation, Yaba always had something to say.
Speaker 1: For money, Yaba sold rabbits, but for fun he'd take
Speaker 1: up his favorite spot on the grass with his lunch
Speaker 1: and a bottle of beer and enjoy the cricket. You see,
Speaker 1: Yaba loved the game. He was deeply passionate and knowledgeable
Speaker 1: about the game. He never drank too much, and his
Speaker 1: heckles were always in good fun. In fact, the players
Speaker 1: quite enjoyed his comedic remarks leave those flies alone, that
Speaker 1: your only friends here, He'd cry. I wish you were
Speaker 1: a statue and I have a pigeon. If only Yaba
Speaker 1: knew how that particular taunt would come back to haunt him,
Speaker 1: Yaba's reputation grew among visiting teams at the SCG. Tales
Speaker 1: of his playful jibs spread from Sydney to London, and
Speaker 1: soon Yaba was featuring in advertising campaigns for the Ashes series.
Speaker 1: His name was cemented into cricket history, and eventually.
Speaker 2: His likeness too.
Speaker 1: In two thousand and eight, a bronze statue was erected
Speaker 1: in the stands of the SCG, depicting Yaba in his
Speaker 1: typical pose, a hand raised to his mouth, shouting one
Speaker 1: of his iconic remarks. On match days, fans sitting next
Speaker 1: to the statue have been known to hold up their
Speaker 1: umbrellas to protect Yaba from the sun and the rain,
Speaker 1: and maybe from the pigeons too. Sports fans are a
Speaker 1: dedicated bunch. Some folks will go to great links in
Speaker 1: support of their chosen team. But this next door, he
Speaker 1: might just take the cake to Jim Becker, the Green
Speaker 1: Bay Packers are everything. For more than fifty years, he
Speaker 1: rarely missed a home game through rain, hail, and snow.
Speaker 1: Jim was there. We ll lose season after season. To
Speaker 1: call him devoted is an understatement, but it's not just
Speaker 1: his attendance record that makes Jim Becker a true fanatic.
Speaker 1: The NFL's Green Bay Packers are unique in American sports.
Speaker 1: The football team is largely owned by its fans. The
Speaker 1: weightlist for season tickets is so long that some people
Speaker 1: could live to one hundred and never receive them. So
Speaker 1: if you have season tickets, hold on them. If you
Speaker 1: give them up, you name goes straight down to the
Speaker 1: bottom of the waitlist. And as a huge Packers fan,
Speaker 1: Jim Becker was determined to never let this happen to him.
Speaker 2: But as a father of eleven kids, money was tight.
Speaker 1: He needed an additional stream of income to help pay
Speaker 1: for his season tickets.
Speaker 2: His solution selling his own blood.
Speaker 1: That's right, A few times a year, Jim would roll
Speaker 1: up his sleeve and give blood to pocket the cash
Speaker 1: fifteen bucks a pint. He didn't think much of it
Speaker 1: as long as he got to see his beloved packers play,
Speaker 1: but a routine health checkup changed his whole perspective. Jim's
Speaker 1: doctor told him that his blood contained high levels of iron.
Speaker 1: After looking into his family history, Jim learned that his
Speaker 1: father had died from hemochromatosis. It's a genetic condition that
Speaker 1: causes too much iron to stay in the blood. Jim
Speaker 1: had inherited the condition, and if it was left untreated
Speaker 1: for too long, his life would be at serious risk.
Speaker 2: He's the kicker. He'd been unknowingly treating himself for years.
Speaker 1: It turns out the only way to manage the condition
Speaker 1: is through blood letting, which helps to remove the excess iron.
Speaker 1: Of course, Jim was no stranger to the process. By
Speaker 1: the time he'd been diagnosed, he'd sold a total of
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty five pints of his own blood
Speaker 1: after years of giving blood to help cover the cost
Speaker 1: of his packers tickets. The ritual had undoubtedly saved his life.
Speaker 1: The Green Bay Packers have a special way of honoring
Speaker 1: the most passionate among them the Fans Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: In twenty ten, Jim Becker was inducted as recognition for
Speaker 1: the unwavering support and utmost dedication he showed to his team.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the pool room. I'm Tony Armstrong
Speaker 2: and this has been an iHeart production. Catch you next time.
Speaker 2: For more weird and wonderful stories from the world of sports,
Speaker 2: Say up.