CROpod: The Other Rangers Podcast

Shane is back! And so are those other two guys, David and Todd. It's a shorter CROpod but the whole gang is trying to get back in the mix as we start 2023 the same way we've started every other year of the show—talking absolute nonsense. 

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Shane and Todd decided to go ahead and shoot early Tuesday morning for both of them. You get what you get, but we'll be back with regular CROpod content here soon. Enjoy this bit of nonsense. 

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David's mic has a click; Todd still brought fascism back to Italy; and Shane is recording from his diner. But it's the 10th anniversary of the CROpod! And the big three are back together! 

How Shane dislocated his shoulder; how he's shoulder deep in the shit trying to save two different businesses; how Rangers are making us all absolutely furious; and some of your questions. It's 10 years of the CROpod in only the best way we could possibly do it.

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Shane's been gone! Find out why! And also hear about his latest bar fight! A quick update before we get back to CROpodding. 

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Baseball has long been the national pastime of the US, and because one has so much time to kill while it's being played, baseball is pretty damn weird. Colin doesn't get it and Shane is here to do his best in a new CROpod Explains America.

Pick off throws, anthem standoffs, fans interfering in the games, and why cheating is okay! Until it's not. The very nature of the sport lends itself to any number of ridiculous scenarios cropping up, and because it's been around for so long, almost all of them have at least once. 

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The Canadian has returned! And all he left behind is a newly-oldy-fascist Italy! Todd is back with Shane and David for a full 90 minutes of CROpod action filled with Rangers and coffee and dugs and everything else you expect.

Todd tells us about how horrible it was to be on holiday in paradise because it was slightly windy one day, and David has his regular list of complaints about Liverpool. Plus, Shane went for a walk and it lasted longer than he wanted; a bunch of your questions; and another round of I Dissent!

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Saturday was good; Tuesday not so much. But Tuesday's gone and Shane and Peter are back for a new edition of Don't Ask Me No Questions! When do we actually get a right-wing? Why do we like to throw young center-halves to the wolves? WTF was Robbie Neilson talking about? And when is UEFA finally going to murder a bunch of supporters outside a ground?

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Saturday's result has made the days off before Tuesday a little easier to get through, but Scottish referees have an answer to the good feelings: VAR! Shane's still not sure how that would fix the match official's performance we saw for Rangers' win at Hearts.

Robbie Neilson thinks the ref could've done more to make Cammy Devlin a better person; Ally McCoist couldn't be a better person; and our American players are better than anyone else's in Europe. All that and more on this edition of Second Hand News!

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Well, that certainly made the weekend seem a lot better, didn't it? Rangers rolled out comfortable winners at Tynecastle Saturday with a 4-nil victory to maybe take some momentum into Anfield for Tuesday's Champions League tie. Antonio Colak keeps banging them in; Alfredo Morelos never lost it; and Ryan Kent nearly equals his goal tally from last season. Plus, Steven McLean had a bad one but even he couldn't get the one big decision wrong, and Liverpool struggle at home with Brighton. It's Second Hand News on the CROpod!

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The international break is over and we've got to get ready for the return of Gio's Rangers at the weekend and the bomb scare of Anfield next week. But Peter is back for his last shift filling in for Todd, and Shane and David are happy to fill him in on the past 30-plus years of culture.

The economy is in the bin and the UK is seeking out the techniques of a guy who destroyed the US equivalent fully four decades ago; The Wall is a terrible movie with a very good soundtrack; the club just keeps making us all mad every single day; after conquering Andy and Rob like Donetsk, Shane sets his sights on the rest of Heart & Hand; and bad opinions about dugs from a listener. All that and more on this week's CROpod!

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American sports teams love to move house—they always have, and it's something almost wholly unique to the country's sports leagues. Colin wants to know why, and Shane is here to once again hurt his brain with the explanation.

Fans hear all the time about the true "stakeholders" in football whether it be from Rangers or the governing bodies of the game. But who are the stakeholders those voices are actually beholden to? The new SPFL television deal shows once again that, when it comes to what supporters want, those in charge of the sport simply do not care beyond paying lip service to the people who keep them in their jobs.

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First, no one knew how to actually go about removing a president from office. Then, no one knew what to do when the president had left the office. In Episode 9 of the Watergate at 50 series, Shane and David are back to recount the tumultuous first few weeks of the new administration, one failed from the start by the one it had just succeeded.

An unelected Gerald Ford is suddenly thrust into the biggest job in the world and struggles with what to do with the lingering question of the legal ramifications for Richard Nixon. He settles on a "full, free and absolute pardon" of the former president, but that decision raises questions that the House Judiciary Committee calls on Ford to answer. Plus, Nixon struggles for answers in his own interview with a British journalist hanging onto his career, and the 37th president has to pave a new path post-White House that no one before him had ever gone down.

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It's episode one of the new Don't Ask Me No Questions series, and Shane is joined for this occasion by CROpod veteran Peter to try to understand why the SPFL keeps doing the things it does. The new TV deal is symptomatic of the larger problems that impact Scottish football and therefore hold back Rangers, but how is it that these same people who've failed the game over and over again keep getting the opportunity? 

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Despite (or perhaps owing to) the best efforts of its biggest proponents, the proposed contract extension between the SPFL and Sky for broadcast rights continues to look worse. One club chairman came out over the weekend saying analysis of the deal had lacked facts and context—and then flat out lied about the facts of the deal while providing the kind of context one expects from the diddy clubs. At the end of the day, they're going to find a way to force this thing through and then tell us all that they listened to our concerns. 

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The international break drags on, but on the plus side, there's no Rangers to talk about for Shane, David and Peter on this week's CROpod. At least no football; you can't get through an international break anymore without Rangers coming along to really annoy you about something.

Crossover-content as Richard Nixon made some headlines this week, plus we say goodbye to Lewis Macleod in a manner about as brief as his shining moments for the club. Most of the second half is spent tackling listener questions, which means of course that we begin to answer questions and then reminisce about World Cups of yore. All that and more on this week's CROpod.

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Day Two of the Rangers Directors Providing Absolutely No Tangible Information But Talking A Lot series continues as Stewart Robertson follows John Bennett's world salad starter with a main course. The managing director, in typical fashion, contradicted many things he's said before, continuing the trend of board members telling us how communication to fans needs to be improved while apparently rewriting the very definition of improved. No PhDs on offer but some actual questions that still haven't been answered on this edition of Second Hand News.

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International breaks are terrible. Thankfully, Rangers are committed to making sure we always have something to talk about instead of simply enjoying a couple weeks off. In this episode of Second Hand News, Shane's back to listen to what Brian Laudrup says because it echoes what a lot of people have been saying. Plus, John Bennett wants a half hour of your time to explain why he wants a half hour of your time; and former potential Rangers investor Robert Sarver is actually a racist POS, according to the NBA.

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Rangers barely get past Dundee United (yeah, that Dundee United) at home in a 2-1 win and, boy, things just keep going from weakness to weakness with this squad. But Shane's here to at least point out how bad the SPFL is at managing its broadcast rights before getting to how bad this Rangers team has become. Thank god for Antonio Colak's goals and Kevin Clancy deciding today wasn't going to be one of those days.

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Ever think a 100 million-year-old coastline couldn't have an impact on global politics? Man, are you wrong! And Shane and Colin are back to explain why in this edition of CROpod Explains America.

Find out how an inland sea during dinosaur times shapes American and, quite frankly, all of western politics. What the hell does an ancient seabed have to do with modern politics? Is John Roberts actually a lizard person from the late Cretaceous? How racist do you have to be to hate the area where a beach was millions and millions of years ago? All this and more in this episode!

Shane's back for another Second Hand News after Rangers' third loss on the bounce following Wednesday's Champions League matchup with Napoli. Problems: we got 'em, we knew we had 'em, we didn't do anything about 'em. And now we get to deal with 'em. It's a shame such a great moment pre-match was undone by months and months of poor planning.

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Todd missed training and has been suspended accordingly, so Shane and David are joined by Peter who's back to party like it's 2012. Your usual general chat gives way to Rangers and the Champions League on Wednesday as we close out the first half of the show.

Part two comes in with a lovely story about a World War II man finally being laid to rest under his name before the panel discusses the real big news of the past week. Personal reflections from the men on the island; Peter tells us how it's been in Edinburgh since the weekend; showing respect is easy if you just try; and we close out this week with a round of I Dissent! as Shane plays judge, jury and executioner for the others' bad ideas.

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The Special Prosecutor is fitting out his allies for their prison attire. Impeachment is a certainty in the House. And even Republicans in the Senate have let him know that the outcome is a foregone conclusion. In Episode 8 of their Watergate at 50 series, Shane and David are back as the final days of the Nixon presidency draw to an inevitable finish. 

There are still a couple of characters left to play their big part, namely Leon Jaworski and Alexander Haig. You've heard about them plenty of times in this series but find out how they came to be the two most influential figures in these closing acts. Plus, the Supreme Court makes it known that they're tired of all the grandstanding; Barry Goldwater tells the president his tired act no longer works on the GOP's base; and a tired Richard Nixon says goodbye to his staff and rides away from Washington.

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We decided to hold all of our planned shows until after the weekend, but Shane's back with a Friday edition of Second Hand News as the football world slows down for a few days to remember Queen Elizabeth II.

A little more on the troubles with Rangers and just how far back they go, including why Dave King and part of the Three Bears have resurfaced in headlines recently. The NFL kicks off and the Chicago Bears are trying out a slightly new turn on an old stadium trick. And a Very Hungry Bear eats cake. Bear down, folks; it's Second Hand News on the CROpod.

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Rangers have shipped eight goals in two games and have a squad full of players who look like they've given up on the manager; the time has come for drastic changes from the top down.

What happened in Amsterdam was no different than what happened at the weekend; it can't stop with Gio; where's the captain in all of this; plus, some US Open Cup stuff and other news at the end to take our minds off this shit for 5 minutes.

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It was a bad weekend, to put it mildly, as a lot of the cracks that Rangers have been papering over were exposed. Thankfully, Shane and Todd found a perfectly reasonable man like themselves to discuss that horror show in CROpod original Peter.

What's going on off the park at Ibrox these days; how it translated to that showing on the park; how does Gio get that out of the team and focused ahead on Ajax Wednesday; dugs as footballers; and more!

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Shane's back for a quick Sunday spot after a terrible Saturday on the park. Sometimes it takes a day that bad to finally bring into focus for many the problems at Rangers. At least we know how to fix this kind of thing.

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Shane's back to close out the week ahead of Saturday's Old Firm derby with another Second Hand News. More on Rangers' messaging and media briefing that was discussed on Monday as Alfredo Morelos returns to the squad and how it fits into the larger club narrative. Plus, Ross Wilson and Stewart Robertson's words mean nothing; and preparing for the first big domestic test of the season.

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Shane and his ex-pat buddy Colin are back for more CROpod Explains America, and they're tackling a $1.7 trillion (yep, trillion) part of the economy: the student loan system.

Some quick Rangers deadline day chat before how paying for university even begins to work in the US. Colin can relate for a while, then Shane breaks his head with the tale of how we got to this spot in the first place. But some good news at the end—kind of. When you've buried an entire generation in insurmountable debt, how much good news can there be?

The full panel is back for a pre-deadline day/pre-derby day edition of the CROpod! Shane, David and Todd are ready for whatever Gio and Rangers have for them with their yellow neckties dry cleaned and pressed and their purple bedroom accouterments on hand. 

A sudden change of heart when it comes to VAR; a decade of Pjanic Watch continues; please sign someone who can play on the wing, Mr Rangers; ticket prices and streaming services; a special tribute to the final Soviet Premier; and we announce the winners for our August drawing! (If you were one of the winners, Shane will reach out to you sometime over the next week or so to sort out your details.)

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Shane is back for another quick round of Second Hand News as the transfer deadline looms. Seeing as we have one fit striker and what should be piles of cash per the board's own notes, it's disappointing some are spending time worrying about what's being said in the press. Plus, the whole briefing strategy lately has been a bit short-sighted and misguided, and Scottish refs continue to be terrible but at least it benefited Rangers this time.

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Rangers returned to North America in 1976 for the first time in more than two decades, embarking on a five-stop tour beginning in the Pacific Northwest. As the USA geared up for its bicentennial and Gerald Ford was on the campaign trail in Portland, Oregon, Rangers rode into town (literally on the day) to take on the Timbers on 23 May.

In the third episode of the Rangers From Sea to Shining Sea series, Shane Nicholson is joined by longtime friend of the CROpod Gary Havlin and brand new friend Don Cox to talk about the third matchday of the 1976 tour. How did Bruce Rioch's little brother almost not survive?; Was it really Jock Wallace that played peacemaker?; and Does Providence Park still have a feral cat colony? All that and more in this special episode!

It's time for Shane and Todd to wither away slowly on their Desert Island yet again, but this go round someone has been careless enough to drop a case full of their favorite Action Flicks overboard and it's washed ashore along with a Blue Ray player and a nice big television. The guys run down their top five guns and explosions and summer blockbusters, and we go through a tranche of listener lists. Good to know we're all pretty much on the same page when it comes to what big damn Hollywood budget-breakers we'd all want to watch as we await our demise.

More new CROpod material has finally arrived as Shane and Scotch ex-pat Colin are here to give their best effort at explaining America, and why not start with an attempt at one of the reasons our system of government is the way it is: there are way too many elections.

Did you know Shane has to vote for his coroner? It's true! Or that in some years (and they plan this) there are three or maybe even four consequential elections all thrown together in the space of about nine months? Hell, Colin can be a party member and raise donations and everything but he can't vote. None of it makes sense, but is anything done to change it? Is it fuck. This is America, baby! Sit down, lock in and get ready for the ride!

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Despite all of his best and most illegal efforts, Richard Nixon's presidency is crumbling around him. And now, it's a matter for the US Congress to decide whether he's still fit for the office.

In Episode 7 of their Watergate at 50 series, Shane and David are here to explain just what impeachment is, because people in 1974 didn't really know. Why had the nation avoided this for over a century?; Who was going to run this process in the House of Representatives?; What the [expletive deleted] is [expletive deleted]?; When would the president's Republican allies finally jump ship?; and How did we reach the final days of Nixon?

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Shane and Todd will be back with some more Desert Island tomfoolery before next week's Champions League playoff tie, but, unlike our Dutch opponents, you might need something to get through an away day at the weekend (THANKS SFA!). So here's the first episode of the Desert Island series, and it's the absolute classic pub version: the five albums you would take to go wither away and die on a small hunk of rock in the middle of the ocean.

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Shane, David and Todd are back in business following Rangers' draw on Tuesday night with PSV. Some talk about the football; how media rooms work; David offends as many social groups as possible before Shane throws it to break to save whatever listeners we have left; Todd has Canadian weirdoes of his own to contend with; don't do drugs; a few of your questions; and more!

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Shane's back for a quick look at some news items from the past week in the CROpod's Second Hand News. Aberdeen shed some more light on a SPFL broadcasting plan and no one seems to know why we're doing this right now; Graham Spiers continues to oddly pick the wrong fights; Bill Leckie continues to have a job in 2022 somehow; and the Souness thing from the weekend continues to be a story but no one can really explain why.

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The Watergate story would never have been told without the relentless work of a number of journalists, not just Woodward and Bernstein. To that end, Shane and David are back in Episode 6 of their Watergate at 50 series to talk about the people left out of the history as told in popular culture.

In this show, the guys introduce you to the city editor of the Washington Post, the man whose name was listed first on their Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Watergate, Barry Sussman. Plus, how all that leaking worked; how the media failed to make people care about the story before the 1972 election; how by the Spring the White House can't get out of the way anymore; and Leon Jaworski proves to be just as adept as his predecessor in the Special Prosecutor's office.

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Shane and David had to get together on a Friday because the SPFL continues to shoot itself in the dick when it comes to broadcasting contracts. The pair lay out what this new deal would actually mean; how it stacks up to comparable leagues (very poorly); and what should actually happen in negotiations that don't need to be finalised for nearly another three years.

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The week in CROpod is much better as Rangers overturn another Belgian pretender and Malik Tillman has already made his case for a permanent display in the new Edmiston House. Shane, David and Todd talk about the fun that is football when football is fun along with some love for John Lundstram continuing to not give one single shit about your feelings. Plus, Florida man has his house raided by the FBI; David gives us his Death Row Meal (tie-in content!); some questions from the listeners; and more!

*****

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Shane and Todd are back and invariably doomed to death either slowly on their Desert Island or perhaps in an American prison to be named. But at least they have some final meals to look forward to! The guys break down the three-squares on the menu before meeting their ultimate fate; tell you about some famous last meals in recent memory; and, of course, take on some listener suggestions for their scran supremo.

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The long-awaited follow-up episode in Shane's Rangers From Sea to Shining Sea series is finally here, as he takes a look at a three-time opponent during the Struth tours, the Fall River Marksmen. Did we actually play them in Fall River? Did we play them to help raise money after the city caught on fire (again)? Did the Marksmen survive a trip to Central Europe after we left them on our last visit? All that and more in this special CROpod episode.

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We've joked about it before but it does appear Rangers are deadset on introducing a whole new generation to what the mid-90s felt like. Thankfully, Shane, David and Todd have all already lived it and know how to prepare. Plus, comedians who aren't funny; David thinks he is funny; nutjobs take a loss in Kansas; and more!

Shane is down with a bit of an ear problem so the latest Watergate at 50 installment has been pushed back a couple of days, but we've gone into the vault for something you may have missed: from May of 2021, it's the third edition of his and Todd's Desert Island series as the North American contingent give you their top One-Hit Wonders! The guys look at the five must-have singles they're taking to live out the rest of their lives in squalor on an uncharted hunk of rock in the South Pacific. Plus, they evaluate and judge some listener submissions and ridicule each other's selections.

Shane and David are only about halfway home in their Watergate at 50 series, and if you've missed anything, now is your chance to get caught all the way up with the first five episodes.

Meet Dick Nixon and all the other dicks along for this ride; learn about the break-in which wasn't the first one but was the worst one; the Senate committee hearings that became Must-See-TV; and a bow-tie-clad man who became Nixon's worst enemy. It's seven hours of Watergate to fill your earholes.

Episode 1: A Man of Perceived Grievance: 0:00:00 to ~1:07:00

Episode 2: Lawyers, Guns and Money: ~1:08:00 to ~2:30:00

Episode 3: A Third-rate Burglary: ~2:30:00 to ~4:10:00

Episode 4: A Simple Country Lawyer: ~4:10:00 to ~5:45:00

Episode 5: Cox, Lies and Audiotape: ~5:45:00 to End

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The full panel is back in action as Shane, David and Todd work to get in shape for the upcoming league campaign. Actual talk about football for the first bit of the show; a mass shooting down the street; absolutely awful people masquerading as public servants; maybe don't lean into the stereotype of being a bunch of junkies; and more!

Shane and David are back for the fifth installment of the Watergate at 50 series, as the wheels begin to come off the presidency of Richard Nixon while a bowtie-cladded Harvard lawyer drills closer to the Oval Office before being spectacularly dispatched.

This week, we meet the Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, a man Nixon couldn't have conjured up in his worst nightmares to steer the investigation into his administration's dirty tricks. Plus, the tapes take center stage and we have a bunch of them for you; Nixon fights the courts every step of the way to protect those recordings; and ultimately hatches the Saturday Night Massacre, setting the stage for the final act of his time in office.

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David is at the football but Shane and Todd have agreed to return to their Desert Island after a long time away. In what could only be described as "an episode of a podcast," the guys play a little game Todd found on the internet, picking their top films from the years 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2019. It will come as a shock to no regular listener that it gets more difficult as the years move along. 

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The lights may have gone out on the football but the lights never go out on the CROpod! Shane is back with David and Todd for your usual round of nonsense and shenanigans. It's exactly what you expect at this point.

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Shane and David are back in the fourth episode of their Watergate at 50 series for a look at the Greatest Show on Earth: the 1973 Senate Watergate Committee Hearings.

Meet the Simple Country Lawyer chosen to head the Senate's inquiry into the Nixon White House, an incredible jurist and orator (and a staunch segregationist) whose daily hearings ended up in the homes of nearly 85% of Americans during the spring and summer of 1973. Plus, John Dean goes on the attack after accepting he was to be the scapegoat; Republicans plot against him with the help of Nixon's team; but a Bob Haldeman aide reveals what Dean had by then believed for months: that he was being secretly taped in the White House.

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The full side is back in action as Shane is joined by David and Todd to mark yet another banner day in US history. Todd is not available to play harmonica at your stupidly themed wedding; David still hates your favorite band; Shane deals with a juggalo invasion; and the guys spend a few minutes remembering how good Andy Goram was. 

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After two weeks and nearly three hours of their Watergate at 50 series, Shane and David finally get to the genesis of it all: the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Watergate complex.

The guys walk you through how all those names and faces laid out in Episode 2 came into play in what became the greatest political scandal ever. Plus, the extra-legal measures taken by the White House in the days after the break-in as a cover-up is quickly put into action; everything works great and Nixon is re-elected in a landslide; but then everything comes apart when one guy sends a letter to a judge.

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Yes, Shane's 1963 laptop finally gave up the ghost so it's David and Todd to discuss Rangers tops, stupid laws and various other random nonsense!

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Trying to actually explain how awful it all is, I (Shane) sit on my back porch on a Sunday night and just riff on how bad the US Supreme Court throwing out 50 years of settled law. There are about 8 minutes of waffle at the beginning that is moderately important to it all but you can probably skip to 8:05 mark to get into the groove. Basically: It's all shit in America now and only gets worse. 

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Shane and David are back for the second episode of their Watergate at 50 series with a rundown of the characters that made up the Nixon White House and the scandals they just simply could not stay out of.

We meet the collection of southern California lawyers and PR men that surrounded the President throughout his time in Washington before diving into some of the scandals that preceded Watergate, including the one that really blew the covers off the White House's response to the break-in, the Pentagon Papers leak and the quest to destroy Daniel Ellsberg.

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Shane, David and Todd return after a short turnaround from last week's show to bring you another rip-roaring edition of the CROpod! Something something Ronald Reagan; wi-fi failures and the weather that causes them; why your opinions about media from the mid-90s are wrong; actually answering some questions about the football; and more!

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Shane and David bring you the first episode of their new CROpod/Heart & Hand series, Watergate at 50. And there's no better place to start than with the story of the man at the center of it all, Richard Nixon. 

Find out about the formative years of the future President; the endless dirty tricks to win elections; from the office of the VP to political castaway; and his rise back to the White House (helped by what could only be called some light treason).

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Shane, David and Todd are back together and discover the CROpod and Las Vegas are in lock-step on one particular point: We will both take your money absolutely any way possible.

David and Todd on a NARSA to remember; Shane makes his opening bid for Rockford 2025; the joys of open seats on airplanes; don't give out your room key to professionally polite women; Covid: Still not fun at all; and more!

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David and Todd are in Las Vegas, but Shane is back with one of the old school CROpodders, the man from the mountain, Peter Ewart. The boys talk about Americans killing each other; UEFA trying to kill people in Seville and Paris; Rangers trying to make us all happy again; and a bunch of other stuff because they hadn't talked for a while.

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Shane, David and Todd are back together to close out the season in style. Recounting the longest four days in history; rehydrating; relying on police isn't an option; relieving a nation of the burden of contraception; replying to your questions; and more!

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David is somewhere in Spain and Todd is stuck in a meeting, but Shane kept the bald quotient of the show intact by bringing in Andrew Dickson to preview the Europa League Final. Some chat about sun cream; how Rangers got here; how much different this feels than 2008; what it means to the two guys who were there for that run; and more!

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It's the last CROpod before the madness unfolds, as Shane, David and Todd relive Rangers' Europa League semi-final win and look ahead to Seville. As per, Shane and David are both hanging on by a thread whilst Todd is just as fit and chipper as can be. How much can we love John Lundstram?; How badly has this further broken them?; How many '80s pop songs can you shoehorn lyrics into?; and much more!

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Bad news broke for the entire Rangers family Tuesday morning, but Shane, David and Todd still got together to remember Jimmy Bell for a while during one of the club's biggest weeks ever. Plus, the United States is a time machine moving rapidly toward 1791; John Lundstram is a machine sent from the future; Calvin Bassey learned his lesson; and more!

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Back after just four days, it's an all-new CROpod! Shane prepares to host a couple guys from Glasgow and a bunch of Swedes for the first-leg of the semifinal; David packs a lighter bag for his away day in Germany where he assures us he's visiting Berlin for altruistic purposes; Todd booked his train trip to coincide with the match; and more!

Shane, David and Todd are back with an all-new episode of the CROpod! The panel goes over the last glorious week of football, including: John Lundstram as the second coming; trying to self-impose blackouts on the scores doesn't work; treat yourself to upgrades at sporting events; PLUS we answer your questions for a very very long time, and then Shane's computer suddenly dies! Speaking of...

Shane, David and most of Todd are back for another edition of the CROpod. Travels to Portugal; moving mountains; wrapping one's self in products from Hate Flags dot com; Todd leaves; Todd suddenly returns; Leslie Nielsen references; technical difficulties; and more!

Shane, David and Todd return as Rangers continue following the CROpod model of only showing up midweek. Post-mortem of a league campaign gone horribly wrong; outdoor planters as urinals; we're not the only club in the world dedicated to fucking stuff up off the park; let's just all go back to 1993; and more!

CROpod reaches the 100th episode milestone for the second time! Even though it probably already had a month or so back and we just can't count. But Shane, David and Todd are here with a full 90 of all the usual nonsense, including: our uniquely insightful review of The Oscars; your preferred politicians aren't uniquely terribly; why letting someone else own your ground is not a uniquely good idea; and more!

What was supposed to be a banner episode for the CROpod is struck down by myriad problems, as Shane is ill, David's house is collapsing around him, and Todd--well--Todd is just fine, actually. Damn Canadian. But the boys still get through some chat about the war of the statements before David's 4G ushers him into the Phantom Zone. So Shane and Todd spend a little more time before deciding we'll just come back later this week to do an official 100th New CROpod episode!

Shane's back with David and Todd and throwing open the door to any regime willing to throw in a few quid for the CROpod! Plus, idiots at concerts; the joys of the 3-5-2; Chelsea may have to bear a couple months of possibly not winning anything; and more!

The panel is back with a simple request: Put McCoist on the telly and just let us enjoy it. Plus, why do Rangers have to keep ruining our weekends?; why is Russia hellbent on ruining everyone's weekend?; why are people on the internets so set on never having a laugh?; how is Dick Nixon the light entertainment in this week's episode?; and more!

For the first time in 250 episodes, the CROpod has fallen on one of those best of days, the birthday of Brian Laudrup. Shane, David and Todd mark the occasion by discussing Rangers' rampant Europa League victory over Dortmund; the less-than-stellar showing at Tannadice; the refs are still very very bad; why you should know which First Amendment you're trying to invoke in a court of law; and Russia's courtesy of waiting for the Olympics to end so as not to make it awkward.

(Something went wrong with this episode late last week where it stopped playing if you tried to listen to it anywhere but the actual website so I've sent it back out again for folks who may have missed it.)

Shane's here for the latest (second) installment of the CROpod's Second Hand News show, looking at the thing that keeps Michael Stewart and SSB on the airwaves: the referees. Unfortunately, VAR or a better disciplinary system won't solve the problem that the officials we have are just bad and the SFA and SPFL have no plans to fix that.

It's Shane, David and Todd back with another full 90 minutes of CROpod! Expectations for our trip to Germany; Canada goes all US-law-enforcement; the NFL Playoffs were very good and so was the half-time show; why we won't be heading to Eastern Europe any time soon; and more!

Shane's here for the latest (second) installment of the CROpod's Second Hand News show, looking at the thing that keeps Michael Stewart and SSB on the airwaves: the referees. Unfortunately, VAR or a better disciplinary system won't solve the problem that the officials we have are just bad and the SFA and SPFL have no plans to fix that.

We promised more content heading into the winter months and then all hell broke loose for a couple of the regular CROpodders. Hopefully, the world is now normal as Rangers are handing out beatings to teams from Edinburgh. 

Shane and Todd get together to quickly discuss Rangers 2-nil win over the Easter Road Minitims, including the spectacular Alfredo Morelos; Nick Walsh will not issue you a second card; what's coming up next; and more! 

Shane, David and Todd are back with another gold medal-worthy episode of the CROpod! Where are the freedom fighters to clear roadways in 2022?; What the hell is Willie Collum actually looking at when he's out there?; Why can't we play that well every time out?; and How are the Winter Olympics so good?

The CROpod is back to battle through these darkest of times as Brandon Barker has left Rangers. Thankfully for Shane, David and Todd, Aaron F*cking Ramsey has joined the club in his place. The panel talks about deadline day; civil defense sirens; Canadian Nazis; and more!

CROpod is back to its usual Tuesday slot as Shane is joined by David and Todd for your typical 90 minutes of unhinged programming. Some football (really); trips to the home repair store; things you really shouldn't do with a pig no matter who you are; racist bacon; newly discovered nations; your questions; and more! 

Shane, David and Todd are back for another 90 minutes of CROpod! Low-key Football Manager sadness; how is Kevin Clancy still allowed; stuff we've been buying from the Rangers shop; and more!

Diving back into the archives, sometime-Canadian Ross brings us the story of Nutzu the Pawnbroker, a man fond of his lions and black stallions. The tale also presents the March 2013 CROpod panel with some ideas for future television appearances.

New year, new CROpod, same crap. The Canadian is back as a newly-boosted Todd joins Shane and David for your 90 minutes of nonsense. Pubs Nathan Patterson should discover on Merseyside; what we did without an Old Firm win to pass the time; loads of your questions; and the annual reading of things people stuck in their private bits last year.

It's a Todd-less end to the CROpod for 2021, but Shane and David are here to carry us out. All your usual nonsense and a bunch of your questions answered. Happy New Year, everyone! 

David's back has been destroyed; Shane is dealing with multiple crises; Todd is Canadian -- and they're all here a few days late for a brand new CROpod! Who killed JFK; things in the universe Joe Aribo can't control; and god knows what else. Enjoy the fun. 

(The first upload of this week's show seems to have had some issues being picked up on feeds, so we're just gonna go again and hope that somehow fixes it.)

Shane, David and Todd are back with a brand new CROpod! The French screw it all up and not for the first time; theatre seating meant for people a century ago; song lyrics of questionable province; and more!

Shane, David and Todd are back with a brand new CROpod! The French screw it all up and not for the first time; theatre seating meant for people a century ago; song lyrics of questionable province; and more!

Shane, David and Todd are back with a brand new CROpod! We're thanking the happiest centreback in Scotland for gifting us yet more points; pouring one out for poor Thommo because lord knows he doesn't need another; discussing how your boss can cost you your military posting; answering a bunch of your questions; and more!

It's nine years of the CROpod! And Shane has been punched in the face! Join him, David and Todd as they get through about 70 minutes of nonsense before Shane can't really talk anymore. 

The three-man dream team is back as Shane is joined by David and Todd to remember a big, bad, stupid week. A look back at the madness; a look ahead to our hopes for the new management team; a look at a bunch of other random crap; and a bunch of your questions are answered poorly.

Shane, David and Todd are back on their normal schedules (except for one of us already having served the autumn time change while the other two wait) and here for a brand new CROpod! A little look back at Rangers trouncing Motherwell by a familiar scoreline for longtime listeners; the abject lunacy of dragging thousands of people from around the globe for a conference meant to reduce non-renewable energy consumption; why red zones aren't the fault of Rangers; and plenty more!

The boys are back with a Thursday edition of the CROpod. Shane and David kick it off with some talk of the week, remembering Walter and trying to ignore Wednesday's result. Then it's on to the regular nonsense you expect before Todd joins the panel for a round of questions about The Gaffer before the two North Americans close out the day without David. 

Shane and David can't keep up with modern music. What better way to address their shortcomings than talking about albums that came out decades ago?

By popular demand, here's the first episode of a new CROpod/Heart & Hand crossover, where two musical curmudgeons look back on some of the great classic rock albums of all time. And the guys went for one of the daddies of the genre right off the top: 1972's Exile On Main St.

Shane and David talk about the Stones at the time, how they made the thing, why it still stands up today, and throw some songs in the mix because let's be honest: we'd all rather listen to Keith and Mick play, anyways. 

Shane, David and Todd are back for another Tuesday 90 minutes of fun with a brand new CROpod! Bidding on things that won't fit in your house; bidding adieu to war criminals; setting fire to roadways for no real reason; a bunch of your questions; and more!

Shane, David and Todd are back for a weekly rundown of all the most important topics in the world. When is an internal investigation not an internal investigation?; When is it okay for your football club to be owned by a murderous regime?; When should rock stars stop talking about being rock stars?; and When should you inform your friend what the gummy you're handing them actually contains? All this and more in this week's CROpod!

Shane, David and Todd are back for another weekly roundup of all the important news. Court cases you really don't want to be a part of; red cards that definitely won't be rescinded; surviving the great October 2021 internet outage; and more!

Shane, David and Todd are back with another weekly roundup of the world at large. Smatterings of actual football chat; a Rockford weekend gunshot update; television from 20 years ago; unfortunate looking footballers; and more!

Shane, David and Todd are back after a rousing weekend slate of, "This you?" The panel discusses the big dumb story of the past five days; lessons in Twitter morality; how to know if your boss hates you; CONMEBOL laughs; solving the transport problems for world sport; and more! 

Shane, David and Todd return for another round of the usual CROpoddery. The big news of the week; previewing Scotland's finest referee ahead of the weekend's Old Firm; the trouble with road signage; loads of your questions; and more! 

Shane and David are joined by pro musician and producer Dan McMahon for a lengthy chat. Find out what musicians like Dan did to get through lockdown; what it's like getting back on the road for the first time in nearly 18 months; the joys of having your own studio at home; the challenges Spotify presents to the industry; and more!

In the first episode of a special CROpod series, Shane takes us back to 1930 as Bill Struth's Rangers visit Chicago Sparta. Get the basics of the club's second North American tour before a deep dive into the city the Gers rolled into; the team they faced; and the town they left behind.

Just what the title says! Shane and David are back for a lengthy look at the four U.S. Presidents who met their demise at the business end of an assassin's bullet (or the dirty hands of a filthy pretend doctor).

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