The following podcast contains explicit language.

Hi, this is Josh Levine, and this is Slate's sports podcast Hangup and Listen for the week of June 2nd, 2014.

On this week's show, we'll talk about the conclusion of the NBA conference finals.

The finals rematch between the Spurs and heat and Steve Balmer's $2 billion

purchase of the LA Clippers. We'll then be joined by the inimitable hockey historian Stan Fisler

to talk about the upcoming Stanley Cup finals between the Rangers and the Kings. We'll close

things out with an interview with Bob Bradley, who coached the U.S. men's national team at the 2010

World Cup and whose tenure as theS. men's national team at the 2010 World Cup, and whose

tenure as the manager of the Egyptian national team is documented in the new film American

Farrow, which premieres on PBS on June 16th. Joining me from New York this week, he's fresh

off some manner of Scrabble tournament. It's Stefan Fatsis, author of the book's Word Freak and a few

seconds of panic. The Friday sports correspondent for NPR is all things considered. Hello,

Stefan. I can finally talk happily about Scrabble. I went six and two in Brooklyn. I think it was

being back in Brooklyn. Mike Peska, host of The Gist with Mike Peska. Did you sleep until Brooklyn, or were you wide awake during the tournament? What was your strategy in terms of how? Do you nap a lot the day before? Don't you think that that's really important, by the way? It absolutely, a little workout and a nap. It's huge. I finished second, I got to say, six and two, but I finished second on spread, on point differential. Still won $100. bucks. So it pays to run it up on your opponent, man.

You got to try. Yeah. Yeah, you never hold back. The show is on you today? You're buying for everybody? Yes. Love that enthusiasm. Our membership program, Slate Plus, you should subscribe if you're not a subscriber already. And if you are,

thank you very much for supporting us and other Slate ventures. It's $5 per month, $50 per year.

You can sign up at slate.com slash hangup plus. And when you do, you can enjoy such Slate Plus exclusives as extra segments on the Hangup podcast. We're going to do one today. We've got the, what's that, Mike? Whoa, didn't know that. Change of plans. Better be prepared, dude. Get ready. Haven't yet talked about the recommendations engine. That's important. Every afterball we've ever done, indexed, every audible recommendation. And there's also the Slate Plus Game of Thrones podcast if you're into that sort of thing. Slate.com slash Game of Thrones. You can find that. You can try Slate Plus free for two weeks. Do it up. That sort of thing? Like podcasts? That's what Mark Merrin says. I'm copying Mark Meran. Now, please tell us all about your angst, your

relationship with your dad. Well, I was a little bit worried that the Spurs weren't going to make

it back to the finals. I've had a really, as you listeners know, I've had a really fraught relationship

with the Spurs over the years. It goes back to my childhood in New Orleans, George Gervin, the Iceman.

There were some really dark years.

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