It Seemed Smart

Introducing It Seemed Smart

True stories of people who broke the rules of the game, just to win. Hosted by Spencer Hall.

The Great Albert Belle Bat Caper

In 1994, Albert Belle of the Cleveland Indians had a bat confiscated by umpires while his team was in a pennant race with the Chicago White Sox. The episode could have simply resulted in a penalty for Belle. But then his teammates got involved, and set off a chain of events that cast a long shadow on the series and led to the MLB threatening to enlist the FBI.

How to Plan to Break the Law in 20 States at Once

Ed Bolian is a mild-mannered Lamborghini salesman who teaches Sunday school at his church. He is also the driver and organizer behind the fastest Cannonball Run time ever — a 28-hour sprint across the United States that involves a thousand small challenges, and two huge ones. The first: How to document a record-setting attempt of a highly illegal speed run conducted across 20 different states without creating evidence. The second: What to do if the cop who saw the pig heart on ice in his trunk didn’t believe he was transporting a human heart for transplant? Holly Anderson joins Spencer in this week's episode.

The Shady Rise and Spectacular Fall of Daily Fantasy Sports

The online fantasy boom made a lot of people rich: the fantasy sports companies that raked in millions on barely legal bets; and some of their employees who used insider info to cash in.

Wakeyleaks (a college football espionage story)

Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson thought something was up when the Louisville defense read the Demon Deacons’ plays like they knew what was coming — even with plays Wake Forest had never used before. Teams have had spies for as long as college football has existed, but Wake was dealing with something entirely new: The plays were being stolen by someone standing on their own sideline.