Beating Jordan

Have you ever heard of a comedian named Brian Regan?

TigerBlog had never heard of him until recently, when he stumbled on him on Netflix. He's tremendous.

TB's favorite bit of his is the "Me Monster" bit. It's hysterical.

The essential premise is that people are inclined to talk about themselves and are determined to top whatever story you just told. He tells a really funny joke about being at a cocktail party and bringing up how he had two wisdom teeth out, only to have "the four wisdom tooth people come parachuting in."

He concludes by saying that he wishes he had been one of the 12 people who have walked on the moon, as they have an untoppable story. His way of telling it is better.

See for yourself:


That's funny stuff.

Every one knows the names of the first two people who walked on the moon. The first was Neil Armstrong. The second was Buzz Aldrin.

Did you know that the third was Pete Conrad, Princeton Class of 1953?

Those 12 people are about the only ones who could top John Rogers, Princeton Class of 1980. As the "me monsters" are doing their thing, Rogers can calmly wait it out, only to interject his story.

"So I beat Michael Jordan in one-on-one," he could say.

And he did.

The story is a famous one. Rogers, a former Princeton men's basketball captain, played a game of one-on-one at a camp against Jordan in 2003.

After Jordan's career ended with the Washington Wizards (it's like whatever Tom Brady will do with Tampa Bay; nobody will ever remember it), Jordan had a series of camps for seniors, sort of like the baseball fantasy camps. Rogers attended, and he got to play in one of the games Jordan would play against the players at the camp.

They'd be one-on-one to three baskets.

Rogers, who played for Pete Carril and through pretty much hard work and dedication worked his way from a program afterthought to a starter and captain, went from Princeton to a career in financial services that saw him become founder and CEO of the incredibly successful Ariel Investments.

He is also a close friend of former President Obama, and he has worked with, and played basketball with, the former President many times.

TB had heard the story of how Rogers came to beat Jordan in the one-on-one game many times before. It's told beautifully in a story on the website The Undefeated, by Jerry Bembry.

You can read it HERE.

Jordan, of course, is back in the spotlight lately because of the ESPN series "The Last Dance," a 10-part documentary, told over five Sundays, about Jordan that focuses on the 1998 Chicago Bulls season, when the team won its sixth NBA title. Along the way it has been telling Jordan's complete story, from when he was a kid in North Carolina, through everything that happened along the way of his playing career.

As TB said in an earlier post, it's an incredible documentary, for many reasons. First, there's Jordan, the greatest athlete TB has ever seen. His story alone is compelling, and most of the events are familiar if you remember seeing him play. When they're told again in the documentary, they remind you of every one of them all over again.

Second, the access is insane. It's like cameras followed Jordan everywhere for years, not just in 1997-98, and all of that footage has just been sitting there.

Third, there are the interviews. Every time a story is told, you think to yourself about what the people involved in the story might say. Then they appear on screen - and they're all being so brutally honest about their memories and emotions.

It's great stuff. Unfortunately, there are only two more episodes to go.

So far the story about Rogers hasn't been in the documentary. The way the game unfolded was that Jordan was used to simply thumping all of the players at the camp, regardless of how good they'd been at basketball.

Now it was Rogers' turn, and he, well, TB doesn't want to ruin it for you. Let Jerry Bembry tell you the story. Or you can see it for yourself:



The first video TB had for you today will make you laugh.

The second one will make you smile.