Ski Mountaineering is the only new sport at the 2026 Winter Olympics and Team USA Olympian Cam Smith has a chance to win the sports first Gold Medal. We talk what makes Ski Mountaineering special, what it's like competing in a new Olympic Sport and the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Then, it's Civics and Odysseys vs. Cybertrucks and Tacomas as we countdown the Top 5 Worst Car Names.
00:00: Introducing Olympian Cam Smith
01:11: What is Ski Mountaineering
05: 19: Competing in a New Olympic Sport
06:47: Getting Started in Ski Mountaineering
08:59: The 2026 Winter Olympics
10:20: Ski Mountaineering Crashes
15:07: The Future of Ski Mountaineering
18:15: Pointless
38:34: To5 Worst Car Names
Interview with Ski Mountaineering Olympian Cam Smith
Nick VinZant 0:00
Nick, welcome to profoundly pointless. My name is Nick VinZant Coming up in this episode ski mountaineering and bad car names,
Cam Smith 0:21
it's short, it's fast, it's intense, and there's a lot to it. Yeah, I was just hooked on the mode of travel of it was really cool to be able to access the mountains and access the high alpine and access wild places in the winter time when normally it's really hard to get around. For sure, yes and yes, yeah, we're all starting together and racing together. And that's why kind of a head to head, uphill, downhill and transitions become so exciting, because the race can really get turned upside down in an instant.
Nick VinZant 0:49
I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance subscribe, leave us a rating or review. We really appreciate. It really helps us out. So I want to get right to our first guest, because this Olympics, he will be competing in a brand new sport. This is ski mountaineering. Olympian cam Smith, so what is ski mountaineering?
Cam Smith 1:13
Ski mountaineering, or you'll hear it called skimo pretty frequently, is the only new sport in the 2026, Olympics, and it's essentially skiing without chair lifts. It's short, it's fast, it's intense, and there's a lot to it.
Nick VinZant 1:27
Is it a technical sport? Is it a pure, like physical endurance kind of sport, like, what?
Cam Smith 1:33
Yeah, that's the thing. Is someone competing in skimo has to be able to do a bit of everything, right? You need to be able to literally run up the mountain with your skis on your feet, and you have to be able to race back down, racing with gravity, like you see the Alpine racers do in the Olympics. And then you're also having to transition your gear between uphill mode downhill mode, or sections that are too steep to ski up, and you put your skis on your back. So there's kind of these f1 pit stops almost mixed into this endurance and gravity based sport. So yeah, it's a bit of everything.
Nick VinZant 2:08
It kind of sounds like the triathlon, but with skiing, where you're doing this, then you're changing gear, then you're doing this, then you're changing gear, then you're doing this. Is that right or am I completely wrong on that,
Cam Smith 2:22
yeah, yeah, I think that's a good track to think of it. And then the transitions are probably even more a part of our sport because we're doing them so frequently. So triathlon. I mean, you make your your switch from swim to bike and from bike to run, and those are key parts the ratio, but we're making transitions constantly throughout uphill, downhill, in between, all over the place. So yeah, the racing is really dynamic. I mean, people might be stronger uphill, downhill, and then these transitions, just like totally throw throw a wrench into things, and the lead changes frequently, and there's a lot of back and forth, and no lead is ever safe. And it's really dynamic to race, and it's exciting to watch, so I'm pumped for people to see it in February.
Nick VinZant 3:04
You know, you mentioned this is the first time this has been in the Olympics. Has this sport been sitting there for a while, or has this kind of just come up out of nowhere,
Cam Smith 3:13
like where skiing came from in the US comes a lot from what's called the 10th Mountain Division, which was a specialized group of soldiers in World War Two that the US had trained up as part of their their military, which many of the other European countries essentially already had a version of this. It was basically just like a mountain fighting troops. So they trained and rock climbing, and they trained in skiing, and what looks a lot like ski, more about country skiing now. And then they also trained as soldiers, because the Alps were such a key battleground in World War One and World War Two. Then a lot of those veterans then came back from Europe and said, Hey, this skiing thing is great. Like, check out this technology. We should probably start some ski areas. Like, people should try this, check it out. And that's kind of how skiing gained popularity in the US. And so, like, really, when you think about it from that perspective, back country skiing and skimo are really the roots of the sport. And then, like, as we built chair lifts and you were able to just ski down, and people are like, Wow, it's really great to just do this, that kind of has become skiing as we know it currently. But yeah, it has that sort of historic sense in it. And then from a competitive standpoint, there's been international competitions and a World Cup for about 30 years now. And then. I mean, when you have a World Cup of a sport, you look to the Olympics as kind of the the holy grail of like, has your sport made the big time or not? So, I mean, they've been working on this for a long time of trying to get the sport in. Like, I know it was a conversation at least as far back as 2006 like someone had just told me that that like, Oh, I was racing in 2006 and I remember filling out a form or an interest thing of some kind, saying, like, Yeah, I'd love to race in the Olympics one day, and it's a long battle to get in of. Being recognized by the IOC, getting the local, local organizing committee and host country on board and fit, like, yeah, fitting all these parameters, essentially. So there was talk of it joining in 2022 but it didn't quite make the cut for that games. And then here we are for 2026 so
Nick VinZant 5:19
what's it like to be competing in the new Olympic sport?
Cam Smith 5:25
Yeah, it'll be really fascinating just to have everything be new and historic, just by virtue of it happening, right? Like every gold medalist will be the first gold medalist, every silver medalist will be the first silver medalist, like everyone on the start line will be part of the sports birth in the games. Like, it'll be really exciting to show it to the world for the first time. You know,
Nick VinZant 5:49
do people feel an extra pressure? Like, okay, yeah, we're at the Olympics. That's a lot of pressure. But we're a new sport. We've got to really kind of show out, so to speak, to make sure we come back and,
Cam Smith 5:59
yeah, I mean, in the sense of, like, do people feel that it's like there's only a few of us, right? Like there's only 36 athletes racing in the games. But I think of it more as, like my partner, Ana, and I, that are racing, are more just carrying the torch for this much broader movement. Like the The team worked really hard to qualify and to get here and and and lots of people played a role in getting the team qualified, and the sports growing really fast in the US and worldwide, in these mountain locations. And it's just exciting to be a part of that. And really, we're just kind of carrying the torch for all those people. So I don't really feel pressure in the sense of like, oh, it's the first one. People better like it. I'm thinking of it more of like, let's just do what we do and perform, and I think people will enjoy seeing what they see on TV.
Nick VinZant 6:47
How'd you get into it? So I
Cam Smith 6:49
started with a race called the Grand Traverse in the town in Colorado that I live in. So there's this race that starts in one one town called Crested Butte skis to the other called Aspen. It's this 40 mile race that you do in teams of two, and it starts in the middle of the night to help mitigate the avalanche danger. And you just traverse across the mountains and ski from this one town to the other. And, yeah, I was just hooked on the mode of travel. Of it was really cool to be able to access the mountains and access the high alpine and access wild places in the winter time when normally it's really hard to get around. And then it was great to be able to ski back down instead of, instead of walking or running like you climb these peaks, and then you get to, yeah, go skiing to get back to where you started. So it's just a really cool way to move in the mountains. And then the racing was just an extension of that.
Nick VinZant 7:41
Are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions? Sure. Is it better to be good at going up or good at going down?
Cam Smith 7:51
Oh, man, you spend more of your time going up, so you can probably make more of a difference there, but it's a lot sexier to be good at going down. So it depends on what you're going for, but is
Nick VinZant 8:02
going down taking time off? Like, do you feel, like, okay, I can take a break going down, or is it? Oh no, that's just as hard as going up in a different way.
Cam Smith 8:11
Yeah, that's a good question. In the Olympic disciplines, we're skiing on these groomed ski slopes, and so there's not a huge physical output, but you are trying really hard to execute those turns super well and make sure that you're you're gaining time on the competitors and not losing any through those skiing those gates. So there's a lot of mental focus in that element. But then in the individual discipline where you're skiing off piste on ungroomed snow and wild places. Then a lot of times people hit their max heart rate, for example, on the downhills and not on the uphills, because you're working so hard to kind of absorb those G forces and all the chatter under your skis and like, just the super high muscular output to the downhill so it kind of depends on the discipline a little bit.
Nick VinZant 8:59
When you look at the venue you'll be competing at, is there something unique about it? Does it stand out and have unique challenges to it? Or is it more that's a pretty traditional competition venue for this,
Cam Smith 9:15
yeah, for the Olympic course in Borneo, Italy. The the course itself will be kind of wide open for the first climb, which will be really nice for passing. And then kind of its defining characteristic is these big parabolic turns on the downhill, which also make it really easy to pass. On the downhill, it creates more space around the gates for athletes to go around each other. So I think it'll make for really good racing, in the sense of, it'll be wide open, and people will be able to make their moves and play their cards and show their strength. So I think that's kind of the defining quality of the course, to me, as that openness, which I think will make a really good spectate.
Nick VinZant 9:56
Oh, so it's a shotgun start. It's not a timed you. Everybody goes through it. You're all racing together at one time in the downhill. Does that cause that? Seems like that could cause some problems,
Cam Smith 10:08
for sure, yes, and yes, yeah. We're all starting together and racing together. And that's why kind of a head to head uphill, downhill and transitions become so exciting, because the race can really get turned upside down in an instant. Yeah.
Nick VinZant 10:20
I mean, are there crashes for sure?
Cam Smith 10:23
Yeah, and we're elbowing each other and like, yeah, trying to make passes and all those different sections of the race, like, it's yeah, it's competitive and it's hard, and anything can happen.
Nick VinZant 10:34
So does the downhill just get chaotic at times,
Cam Smith 10:39
for sure? Yeah, and that's where that transition helps a lot, like, if you can go from uphill to downhill quicker, then you can get further ahead of all that traffic and and maybe have a more clear line back to the the bottom of the course. So, yeah, it's all, it's all very strategic. And, yeah, it's, it's gonna be exciting.
Nick VinZant 11:01
How many seconds separate a good transition from a bad transition?
Cam Smith 11:06
Yeah, that's interesting, too. So, I mean, let's exclusively look at the uphill the downhill transition, for example. So like skins off. So you're you're locking both of your boots into downhill mode. You're locking both your bindings into downhill mode. You're pushing both of those feet into position, reaching forward, grabbing both skins, pulling them off. You got to fold them up, Storm Away, grab your poles, and you can go. And that takes a high level athlete probably six seconds to do all that. And it like, if you're doing this recreationally, it can be, like, five to 10 minutes, because a lot of times people are, you know, stopping at the top for a picnic or take some photos, right? You take a little time, yeah, for sure. So like, if the base is kind of six seconds, like, someone can do a five second one, and maybe, like, gain that edge going into the downhill or someone might not be able to pull their skin all the way off right away, the skin that's on the bottom of the ski, and add a second and then kind of lose a position. But you can also, like, totally drop the skins, or, like, miss your binding when you go to transition it. And it can go to being like, a 15 second process instead of five or six. So, I mean, those, like one seconds definitely make a difference, but you can also totally flub it and like, yeah, lose the pack and the race is totally changed again. So yeah, it's, it's unique, for sure.
Nick VinZant 12:37
Yeah, if you blow a transition, are you done?
Cam Smith 12:40
Not necessarily. I mean, yeah, the mixed relays in total still takes about 30 minutes, so you can make that up over the course of those next climbs and descents, but it is really, really hard to do, because everyone's pretty much the same level uphill, pretty much the same level downhill, and these transitions really make a big difference. So it's hard to come back from, but if someone is on on an exceptional level, then yeah, for sure, you can can make up for it, but you definitely don't want to put yourself in that
Nick VinZant 13:10
position for you, like, What part are you best at? What part are you worst at?
Cam Smith 13:15
Probably the uphill for me is where I have the most success, and then these transitions and like high pressure situations, like I tend to do well when it's chaotic and snowy and windy and there's other people kind of all around me and stepping on my poles and doing this and that, if I tend to do better with the chaos a little bit,
Nick VinZant 13:37
what country Is ski mountaineering the biggest in Yeah.
Cam Smith 13:41
So the the French team and the Spanish team are probably the two, and the Swiss are probably the three nations with the best Olympic athletes in general. There's a lot of exceptions to that rule out there and a lot of really strong athletes that will be out there. Italy has a really rich history in this sport, but just not necessarily in these disciplines. And then all the the ALP and Pyrenees nations. So Austria is really good, like all the Yeah, Scandinavian countries. But yeah, I would say that France, Spain, Switzerland, will probably be the ones that will be garnering the most medals at the end of the day.
Nick VinZant 14:21
Do we have a shot?
Cam Smith 14:24
I think we do. Yeah. So we were ranked 13th going into the final World Cup the qualification period, and 12 teams would qualify. But then my teammate, Anna and I won that race, and that was on home soil, so you often race better at home when everyone else has to travel over to you, and not every other team was was fielding a full strength relay team at that point of the year, either, because some of them had already clinched their Olympic spot. So there's a few caveats there, but we did win the race, so I think certainly we showed that day that on our rate day, we've gotten a lot better. And we're definitely coming and ready to make some noise. And I think on our best day, we're for sure, yeah, contending for medals.
Nick VinZant 15:07
Are there technical aspects to it, like, do you ever use ice axes, that kind of stuff?
Cam Smith 15:12
Yeah, good question. So in the traditional disciplines of the sport, so we call it the individual race. This is the more in wild mountains, off the ski resorts event where you're climbing up and skiing down in in wild places, and on technical ridges, on peaks, cool hours, all that good stuff. Yeah, you might use crampons. You might use ice axes. You might have roped sections where you're traveling on a rope in a more exposed area. And it's it's definitely a wild mountain sport. And then the Olympic disciplines are these more short, fast, competitive ones. But the rumor is that for 2030 and thus then for 2034 that the individual will be added then. So this is kind of the taste everyone will get to start with. And then I think what people will see in the future is athletes running up these ridges to summit mountains, wearing spandex and going head to head on the uphill and then, yeah, racing down these like exposed mountain faces. And I think it's going to be really cool once, once we get a foothold in the Olympics and continue to build in the next, next few quads of the sky's really the limit for the sport, I think it'll be a really good spectacle.
Nick VinZant 16:23
So, you know, obviously, I think that anytime you're doing a sport, and you kind of kind of got to make it for TV, right? You got to get the TV part of it is the part that you talked about, where you're kind of going more up the ridges. Is that the truer aspect of the sport?
Cam Smith 16:39
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's what gets people into the sport in the first place, is they want to go skiing. They want to go to these cool places. And the Olympic disciplines are just kind of isolating all the skills of that, so these transitions, uphills, downhills, and trying to just put it all in this super condensed format. But yeah, I mean, you could say pure schema, pure ski mountaineering is more out in these wild places. But again, I think there's an Olympic future there too. It's just it's harder to organize, harder to televise, definitely still possible to do both those things. And so we're optimistic that this is just the start. And in the future, you'll see more and more of us and more more of these disciplines and and these races happening in more and more places. That's all
Nick VinZant 17:24
the questions I got. If people want to find out more, where can they find you that kind of stuff?
Cam Smith 17:29
Yeah, I'm on Instagram at cam from CB. CB is in Crested Butte. That's the town I live in, in Colorado. And then same with USA scheme. Oh, my race partner, Anna Gibson is on Instagram as well. I don't know her handle off the top my head, to be honest. But yeah, you can check us all out there, and then you'll see us wherever you get your Olympic news and TV too. So yeah,
Nick VinZant 17:51
I want to thank cam so much for joining us. If you want to connect with him, we have linked to him on our social media sites. We're profoundly pointless on Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube, and we've also included his information in the episode description. And if you want to see what ski mountaineering looks like, the YouTube version of this interview is now live. Okay, now let's bring in John Scholl and get to the pointless part of the show. If you see a man that regularly wears a hat, what do you think the chances are he's already he's either bald or balding?
John Shull 18:30
I'm gonna say it's a good three quarters, 75% that he's bald or balding.
Nick VinZant 18:36
I feel like hats used to be more popular when we were growing up, and now I feel like they're mainly used for cover up the bald or the bald ink.
John Shull 18:47
What a random question to ask, by the way.
Nick VinZant 18:50
I was just wondering, because I saw a big group of guys wearing hats, and I thought to myself, I wonder how many of those guys are going bald? Listen, can you explain why you got a haircut like Biff from the military,
John Shull 19:01
I don't, I don't pay 5080, $100 like you do. Mr. News man, to get
Nick VinZant 19:06
your I go to, I get a $22 haircut. Bullshit. You do $22 right? Because I go to the guy, he doesn't speak any English. He only does like one haircut. He does a three on the sides and a four at the top. That's how what he knows how to do. I'm not sure if he has a license or not, but he's there. He's reliable, and he's done in probably about 10 minutes. My opinion on hair is as long as it's there. I'm not complaining about it. I don't care what the haircut looks like. Is it there? Is that a possibility? It's going to grow back? Did you not do any permanent damage to my scalp follicles, then I don't care what the haircut looks like.
John Shull 19:45
In college, I used to do a zero on my head, and I look like Uncle Fester. So that was, that was the worst haircut I ever did, and I gave it to myself.
Nick VinZant 19:53
So, oh, I couldn't see you being a good like a man who looks good bald. I don't think I. Be either what is happening at your house?
John Shull 20:05
Oh, can you hear that? That's my brand new washer and dryer scenes. They both died on the same day at the same time. Is it terrible? I can stop the load. My wife thought it was appropriate to start doing laundry while I'm recording.
Nick VinZant 20:20
Oh my gosh, you this is again, you got to put your foot down, right? You're a pushover. I am putting my foot down. Don't do it. Don't do it. I'm doing it. You can't stop a washing machine once you get started like that.
Unknown Speaker 20:33
I do it has a pause button. Oh well, that's
Nick VinZant 20:37
just a way that's going to throw off the whole schedule. I have a schedule when I do washing and drying like timed out, I got 50 minutes
John Shull 20:45
completely electronic. It's incredible. I can do everything from my phone with my washer and dryer. It's incredible.
Nick VinZant 20:53
I mean, that's great. Are you probably that? But how much extra Did you pay to be able to press a button on your phone while you're in your house and not have to walk downstairs to do it. Because to me, if that, if somebody said, Hey, you can have this app that will control your thing for you, it's an extra $2 I'd be like, No, you probably paid an extra 300 bucks for that.
John Shull 21:14
But doesn't make any sense, because it's quite economical and helps with monitoring the loads.
Nick VinZant 21:20
Oh, see, that's just a lazy man. That's just a lazy man talking, oh, I'm too like, I can't, I can't go downstairs. What do you need to do? You have that doesn't make any sense to me at whatsoever. I don't you paid extra for this. I'm getting upset. I'm getting upset.
John Shull 21:38
First off, you act like I had anything to do with this, my wife, my wife ordered this for you. It's not I didn't pay extra. I don't think so. I don't know. I don't actually know how much they cost.
Nick VinZant 21:52
You probably have a subscription service that you've now signed up for, and you're going to get a bill that's probably set to automatic renewals for the yearly rate, and you're going to pay $100 a month and $100 a month for the dryer. To do this, you have to go downstairs and manually put the laundry in and manually take it out, and then put it into the other one and take it out. There's no reason for this to have any sort of interface with it. You have to do everything manually so that you can look at your phone and know, Oh, thank God. I know I've got five minutes left on the wash cycle. It's a waste of time. You're getting suckered by the man.
John Shull 22:29
I mean, it's actually beneficial, and I think it makes us more effective.
Nick VinZant 22:33
How you still have to go down there. You can't just remember, like, oh look, it says 50 minutes on the wash I'll come back in 50 minutes.
John Shull 22:43
I mean, no one cares, and no one cares about this.
Nick VinZant 22:46
I could go on. I'm much more interested in this than your haircut story. They're, they're,
John Shull 22:51
they're smart appliances. So for one, I can put in any kind of load I want, and a balance itself, itself out. I don't have to try. No, we had washer, a washer and dryer from the 90s.
Nick VinZant 23:03
I mean, my washer and dryer is quite old as well, but it's just a washer and dryer like it'll balance itself. Why don't you just learn how to do it correctly?
John Shull 23:12
It won't balance. Trust me, it will. It won't Balance. Balance itself out.
Nick VinZant 23:17
I think what this is is that smart appliances create dumb people you're hiding down the road of not being able to even wash your own body.
John Shull 23:28
I mean, I already can't reach half the places. Um,
Nick VinZant 23:31
this is what I mean, because you're the kind of guy you're being lazy. I need the washer and dryer to tell me what I'm supposed to do at all times. Put the what? Put the t shirt on the left side and put the socks on the right side. Would you like? It's all fake. That thing isn't doing anything, but that it wasn't doing before. I bet that that those people at the washing machine company have a picture of your face at their store laughing at you like I suckered this guy. I told him this was the newest technology. He's the same damn thing we've had since the 70s. Sold them the app for an extra $200 a year. To be
John Shull 24:04
fair, once again, I didn't have any I didn't have anything to do with it. I wasn't even here when they got delivered. Okay, so I have no idea
Nick VinZant 24:11
it reflects. It reflects on you. It reflects on you.
John Shull 24:15
Listen, can we talk about the weather? No, it's supposed to be negative 32 degrees with wind chill on Friday in Michigan. That's Antarctica temperatures. What is happening to our country? Are we just, are we just gonna freeze over? It's hell froze over. Probably.
Nick VinZant 24:33
I mean, I'm sorry, it's gonna be a little cold outside. Little Johnny's gonna have to, like, well, you're gonna have to wash your mix too close, a little cold on your toes, fingers.
John Shull 24:42
Said, I'm saying that's that's unnecessary, and you don't need to do it.
Nick VinZant 24:46
I'm not afraid of negative 32 I'll be outside playing basketball.
John Shull 24:49
I didn't say I was afraid of it. It's just that's pretty damn cold.
Nick VinZant 24:55
I mean, that is really cold. I've only been in like negative well, is that the cold, or is that the wind chill?
Unknown Speaker 25:00
Oh, that's with the windshield.
Nick VinZant 25:03
Oh, get out of here with that
Speaker 1 25:04
crap, baby, my balls are bigger than yours.
Nick VinZant 25:08
I'm not worried about the wind chill. I'm not worried about the what it feels like temperature. That's an excuse. That's an excuse for you to try to get some more sympathy. What's the real temperature? I don't care what the windshield is. Don't care about it. That doesn't count, right? That's an asterisk that you're trying to throw on there.
John Shull 25:27
It's gonna be negative 12 come
Nick VinZant 25:30
8am Oh, who cares? That's easy all day. Okay?
Speaker 1 25:35
I mean, it's still cool. Like, I don't know, I Oh
Nick VinZant 25:38
yeah, it's really cool. It's really cold. I have actually been in like, Alberta. This is part of Canada. I mean, it's the province in Alberta. I was skiing, and it was negative 45 that was really cold. I was like, oh, history. Should go inside. That's I'm not talking about the weather. I'm not doing it. Talked about your haircut, your washer and dryer and the weather.
John Shull 26:03
See, what you don't know is I have a secret group of fans that I we're just ticking off boxes, and so far, I've been very successful on this podcast. Well, that talks about the things you don't want to things that just make your skin crawl.
Nick VinZant 26:19
Oh, yeah, like people who pay extra money for apps for their washing machine, like you did,
John Shull 26:24
I don't think first of I don't think it was extra money. I think I'm sure it is. I don't I don't know. It doesn't matter. Let's get shout outs, please. Let's see Carlene Davis, Nolan, Duffy, Liliana, Ochoa Barton. Love Mabel Klein, don't see a lot of mabel's anymore,
Nick VinZant 26:43
a lot of Nolan's. Either that I might, that might be the only I only know one Nolan. I know one Nolan I know. I mean,
John Shull 26:54
I can only think of one, and he's five. So, okay. Clifton Berger, Louise, Louisiana, Louisa, Bentley, Jewel, Norman, Marina, Bullock and Lindsay Ford,
Nick VinZant 27:11
I generally give you about 75% chance that you're pronouncing the names correctly. I feel like this one was probably closer to the 25 to 50% Oh, but I polled the audience about the balding question. Zero 25% of people said all right. 14% of people said 25% chance or less. 30% of people say 25 to 50% chance. 47% of people said 50 to 75 and 9% said 75 to 100 so basically, I think that the game is up. People know that if you're wearing a hat, you're probably bald or balding.
John Shull 27:52
I mean, I would say, once again, 75% is probably the right number. Like I wore hats. I'm not balding. I just like hats.
Nick VinZant 27:59
I'm just saying that I think the majority of people wearing a hat are probably bald or balding.
John Shull 28:06
Yeah, I would, I would agree with you three, three quarters or so. Okay, okay, okay, all right. You ready for some more just I'll throw some random things out. You just give me your first thoughts. Okay, I got some real good ones for you here. Okay, garden gnomes.
Nick VinZant 28:26
I like them. I'm okay with garden gnomes, right? I think they really add something to a lawn if done appropriately. Now you can't have a ton of them.
Unknown Speaker 28:34
Anderson Cooper,
Nick VinZant 28:37
oh, is he still doing that? Yeah, I don't like, what's the point? Is still doing that? I don't understand people, if I made a lot of money, you would never hear from me again, like you're still doing that. Because I you, you work in news. I used to work in news, and was one of the reporters who kind of like, you go all over the country, You're never home. Like, man, you're still doing that. What for?
John Shull 29:05
Because I think he makes 10s of millions of dollars per year doing it.
Nick VinZant 29:10
But what's the deal like at some point? Like, what? At what point do you if you have $50 million what are you trying to buy with that, that you can't afford, if you're making what he's making a year. What are you trying to buy that you cannot afford? Like, what do you what are you doing this for?
John Shull 29:27
I think some would argue that, you know, it's, it's all greed, right? It's, it's, you don't want to stop because if you can get more, get more.
Nick VinZant 29:35
Oh, I would imagine that they're probably really, what they like is the fame and the recognition, like that's filling some hole inside of you.
Speaker 1 29:45
All right. Anyways, Matt Damon, I
Nick VinZant 29:52
don't really know if I have any thoughts about Matt Damon. I still wonder if he really wrote Good Will Hunting.
Speaker 1 29:58
I. Supposed to be one word. Just the first thing that comes to your
Nick VinZant 30:03
mind to say, like, I don't know one word. It's terrible. One word that's not, that's that's not one word,
Speaker 1 30:10
okay, one sentence, one phrase. He's all right. You are legitimately the worst legit.
Nick VinZant 30:20
I don't know what like you want me to then you tell me next time. Well, you tell me what you want me to say. And I was No, no,
John Shull 30:27
no, I'll give you another and let's, let's see what you do with this.
Nick VinZant 30:31
You're not, you're not tickling my pickle here, right? Okay, you got they're just not. They're not things I think about all the time, right? I'm not really concerned about garden gnomes. I'm not really concerned about Matt Damon, okay, all right. Well, this one, you don't think about it all probably, but I'm not liking what's on your menu,
Unknown Speaker 30:46
goat skin, condoms.
Nick VinZant 30:49
I don't really understand what the difference is.
Unknown Speaker 30:54
I just think it's like,
Nick VinZant 30:55
I'm not paying extra for it. I know that, like, I'm a married man with two kids. I haven't bought a condom in probably 15 years.
Speaker 1 31:04
I just, I just didn't even realize those were a thing. So that's,
Nick VinZant 31:08
that's like, supposedly the fancy one.
John Shull 31:12
But like, what makes, did you goat skin better than regular?
Nick VinZant 31:16
It feels better.
Speaker 1 31:19
I don't know. I don't know why you asking me.
Nick VinZant 31:22
I've been married for too long. I don't like I if you could tell me whatever price the condoms were, and I would have no idea if you told me the condoms were like, 12 for 599 I would say, oh, okay, if you told me they were $500 now I'd be like, Wow. Speaking of totally shocked, no matter what number you gave me, speaking of your wedding,
John Shull 31:42
can I tell you a story that just popped in my mind that you don't care about, but I feel the need to tell you, it's about my wedding. It's not about your wedding, but it's about where we were for your wedding.
Nick VinZant 31:53
Oh, okay, Sedona, by
John Shull 31:55
the way, Sedona, so my wife and I went kind of rock climbing sight, saying whatever they have, the red
Nick VinZant 32:00
rocks there, you did not go rock climbing. Whatever we climbed. We climbed up some rocks that were did not. No, you didn't. You walked around, whatever.
John Shull 32:10
Okay, that's not the point of the story. The point of the story is, I took a photo of this rock come to find out, one of my school dads, one of my good friends up here in Michigan, five years later, took the same photo from the same angle of the same rock.
Nick VinZant 32:27
I mean, it's a prop, yeah? Like, that's
John Shull 32:29
incredible. I'm shocked by that. That was insane.
Nick VinZant 32:32
I'm sure that, like, people take, think, like, when you go tourist area, people take the same pictures. This is awful. Do you know how many people have the same pictures of like, Moraine Lake, which is in Canada, any tourist spot people are going to have the same picture of it like, Hey, wait, you went to Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower and took a picture?
John Shull 32:51
Nope. No way. Yeah. Why are you? You're always so negative. Why can't it just be fate? You know, I was supposed to meet this person like, we literally, it was the same picture, same picture. It's crazy. It's crazy.
Nick VinZant 33:05
I mean, it's not when you really think about it though, like, I'm just, I'm sorry, I'm going to be the person who is going to sit here and tell you the truth. Other people in your life may lie to you. They may convince you to spend extra money on the washing machine app. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to sit here and tell you the truth that both of you having the same picture of a popular tourist place is not really that crazy.
Speaker 1 33:26
Fine, we're moving on. Usha Vance, I don't know who that is.
Nick VinZant 33:32
Usha Vance, don't know who it is. I mean, you can say, do you want? Like, if you say it slower and louder, will I now know
John Shull 33:38
the Vice President's wife? Wife, good. Good for her. Jesus grace. No, never mind.
Nick VinZant 33:48
I don't I mean, I understand the idea of being informed about society. I don't know if I really need to know who the Vice President's wife is.
John Shull 33:57
Kill Miss moles. Kill Miss moles. Here's, I don't know who it is. It's a whole thing, because she's pregnant again, but people think that he's with
Nick VinZant 34:04
or Charlie. Oh, there's contra Why is she here?
John Shull 34:08
You know, nobody knows, like you know, but it's his whole thing. But like usual, why? Why would you know anything about anything current events? I guess it's fine. It's fine. I I'm, I should have
Nick VinZant 34:21
known better. I wrote that down in on this parade. I know you were excited about your name. You're, you're, I was one word thing you were so excited, and I'm just raining on it.
John Shull 34:30
Supposed to be fun, and instead, you answer it like an 85 year old housewife with dementia.
Nick VinZant 34:36
Well, I don't have anything to say. I don't I don't have any thoughts about things you just put forward. You know what? I don't think about Matt Damon. I'm like, You know what was good?
John Shull 34:46
Let's talk about Donald Trump in Greenland. Then I
Nick VinZant 34:49
don't want it. Like, why are we invading? Like, I don't
John Shull 34:53
want to talk about that. That's just no one wants to talk about that. I was in Canada for three days or so, and it. Was amazing. Nobody taught there was no political ads. There was no, I don't know. Everyone was nice. It was, it was refreshing to see that that, you know, I don't think, and once again, I'm not trying to be political. I don't care what side of the aisle you're on. I'm not saying which side of the aisle I'm on. However, there was like, it was just like, you come back into America and it's like the cloud just sucks you back in, like it's crazy.
Nick VinZant 35:28
So I live in Seattle, and we go up to Canada quite frequently, and you can tell the difference in the mindset of the countries. Now it could be because you're on vacation, you're more relaxed, you're just not paying attention to those things. But there does seem to be something about the United States that it's a rat race, and that's fair. It doesn't feel like that in other places, that there's so much competition in the United States, and it seems like that people are much more frustrated and angry and just stressed out. And it doesn't feel like that in other places. It could be because you're on vacation. I think that that certainly has to factor into it, but it doesn't seem like some other places are like that, and I would like for us to get back to
Unknown Speaker 36:08
that. Well, hopefully someday, after
Nick VinZant 36:11
trust old Usha Ushi Vance,
John Shull 36:14
oh, my god, her to do it. Yeah, sure, I'm done. Let's just move on. Doug, you
Nick VinZant 36:19
don't have any more Okay, give me, give me another one, and then I'll, I'll, I'll try to be as happy and upbeat as you like. What's another one you got? John, tell me all about it.
John Shull 36:31
You're gonna, you're gonna hate this. I already know Mayo chip. What is it? Mayo chip? Mayo and ketchup mixed
Nick VinZant 36:42
in a chip. Is it Mayo chip? But I don't understand what it is. Is it a flavor of a chip? Are you not pronouncing it correctly? Do I just not know what it is, or is it just ketchup and mayo mix together in one bottle?
John Shull 36:57
You know, there's a lot of stresses in my life, if for some reason I just want to choke you. Sometimes I
Nick VinZant 37:03
just, what's up? Man, reach through. Mom is what computer screen making chocolate, blush
John Shull 37:11
and I want to choke you. Fancy dessert, maybe smack you
Nick VinZant 37:16
making it now. Okay, all right. Well, Betty's doing something talking Uncle John. Okay, so what is it now,
John Shull 37:26
Mayo show. It's mayo and ketchup mix. I don't even Can
Nick VinZant 37:30
we just, Oh, it sounds fantastic. No, it's terrible. I'm all No, I'm all about being efficient. I mean, there is not a lot of times when I'm putting ketchup on something and not also strongly considering mayo. So I think that have mayo and ketchup mixed together in one convenient location. That's, that's, that's an A in my book. I'm all about it. That's great. I love it.
Nick VinZant 37:55
Bring some more of it. Mix like, there's not a lot of times that I'm not going to be there is not a lot of times that I'm not going to be using mayonnaise if I'm also using ketchup.
John Shull 38:06
Like, how, after doing this podcast for eight years now or seven years, whatever it is, how can you still just, just make me want to run my ad through a brick wall? Ow.
Nick VinZant 38:18
That's what I do. That's what I do. I just, I'm telling I was interested in Mayo and not interested in Matt Damon.
John Shull 38:29
I just, I It's nothing. I don't know, whatever. Can we just move on?
Nick VinZant 38:34
Okay, so our top five, it's John is throwing his fit. Check your app. How much time? What's the app say about your washer that you paused? What's it telling you so it stopped going? What percent is the cycle done? Does it tell you what percent of the cycle done? Does it tell you how much usage it's doing? To tell you how much electricity it's used? Is how much water it's used? Is it providing you with any helpful information? No, it is not. You downloaded the app too, didn't you?
John Shull 39:04
No, I don't have the app. Actually, my wife has the app, and that doesn't mean I don't do laundry, by the way, she just has the app. I do not.
Nick VinZant 39:15
You're gonna have to get the app. You're not taking it seriously. You're phoning it in. You need to put in some more work here. Okay? All right, so our top five is top five worst car model names, like, why did they name this car that that is a terrible name for a car.
John Shull 39:35
So there are a lot that I didn't realize existed. I don't know how how deep of research you did, but I
Nick VinZant 39:43
did go current car models. I didn't go stuff in the past.
John Shull 39:47
Oh, I Well, I went all over the place. So okay, well, good way to fuck it up. I'm gonna start with the Suzuka cappuccino.
Nick VinZant 39:58
First of all, it's Suzuki. Yeah, Suzuki, you said Suzuka,
John Shull 40:04
sure I did, but it's Suzuki cappuccino.
Nick VinZant 40:12
I'm flustered. You get frustrated with me. You have the audacity to be frustrated with me. You can't say I get two words correctly. You're gonna get mad at me. You're too worried about what I'm doing. Worry about what you're doing.
Unknown Speaker 40:30
I'm not mad at you. I'm just trying to get through this.
Nick VinZant 40:34
So what's what? What's your problem with this Suzuka cappuccino? Their words Smith
Speaker 1 40:41
Suzuki, Suzuki,
Nick VinZant 40:45
cappuccino, right? Yeah, like the coffee. It's what is that like? What is this word frigerator? Anyway, never seen this word before. I just T, H, E, the, are
Unknown Speaker 41:11
you done? Are you done?
Nick VinZant 41:13
I am now. Yeah, did you raise your hand in the Yes, you did. I did. Getting frustrated. I didn't know you could do that.
Speaker 1 41:23
Go ahead. No, please. You're number five, please.
Nick VinZant 41:27
No, I just want to know what was so what's I mean, what does the car look like? If it's a, like, a little, small, Fiat looking car, I don't have a problem with that car being named the cappuccino. It's actually kind of like it, to be honest with you, actually, I like that a lot. I think that's going to be called the cappuccino. It's like a Mini Cooper.
John Shull 41:46
You should never drive vehicles that are named after drinks or food.
Nick VinZant 41:53
Okay, I kind of like the cappuccino. Honestly, if it's a little, tiny, Zippy thing, like it, actually, it's, really, well, I actually really like it. Of course you do buy one. My number five is the Honda Odyssey. It's a minivan. You're not going on any Odysseys, except for picking up the kids in the school line. Like it's, don't try to make it fancy by naming the minivan the Odyssey, like it's some grand adventure to be the Honda boredom, the Honda average.
John Shull 42:24
I mean, I'm, I'm fine with it. I don't understand.
Nick VinZant 42:27
It's not an odyssey. You're not going on an odyssey. You're going to soccer practice.
John Shull 42:33
Sure, I get I mean, do you have problems Kia carnivals too? Dodge Pacifica, there's no
Nick VinZant 42:39
carnival on the Kia carnival. Yeah, I know that you bought a minivan and you're sensitive about the minivans. Now, Bill, I'm not. I just I'm not. What do you have again? Do you have a Kia carnival? I do. Does it feel like a carnival? Does it make you feel like you're going to a carnival? Yeah, because you're driving all the time. Circus load full of children around all the time.
John Shull 42:58
Yeah, well, sometimes I don't even know who's in the van. They're just random people in there, not even my children. Okay, all right. My my number four is the proton.
Nick VinZant 43:09
Putra. Okay. I did not know there was even a car named a proton. There's a proton. Are you saying? Is it really like apparently? And you can't pronounce it,
John Shull 43:21
apparently it is a Romanian car company.
Nick VinZant 43:26
I don't know if I would drive a Romanian car.
John Shull 43:30
I sure I would we drive American cars.
Nick VinZant 43:34
Yeah, that's a good point. I guess I just don't immediately think like quality product when I think of Romania, but that could mean by me buying into stereotypes created by the media. Minor four is a Hummer. Didn't really age, well,
John Shull 43:52
no, and frankly, they're just other than for military use, like they're just not practical vehicles,
Nick VinZant 44:00
not at all. I don't think they fit in a lot of car lanes. Every person I know that bought a Hummer. The Hummer was like the test run for the cyber truck. It's like, oh, people are going to buy this stupid looking piece of crap. Oh, they'll certainly buy this.
John Shull 44:14
Yeah, they'll buy this other stupid looking piece of crap. My number three is the Honda Wow. And wow stands for wonderful, open hearted wagon, and it was designed specifically for dog owners. The Honda, wow.
Nick VinZant 44:34
I don't know if I would buy a car specifically for my dog, like I don't know what I was looking at this other car, but it's not designed with my dog in mind. I need to buy. What is it like? What does it have? What's What does it have?
John Shull 44:48
That the back seat is foldable, and I think that is supposed to be lure like, I think that's supposed to be okay, like, it's fully foldable, and it's like, completely flat, like, there is no. You know, trunk, really, unless you have it up and it's kind of small, so I think that's supposed to be extra space for now, for a dog, yeah, and there's, like, a there's two extra windows in the back. I think that are doggy windows, if I had to guess, but I haven't done any research.
Nick VinZant 45:16
I don't really have a problem with the name, wow. I have a problem with people buying a car because of their dog. Like, you can't adjust. You can't just adjust to a like. You can't get a better vehicle, not a better vehicle, but you can't get a more practical vehicle. Like, it's, I need to have this specifically designed for my dog. Those are features that I really need.
John Shull 45:39
I mean, it just doesn't make, I don't know, just Honda Wow. What makes it a wow. It's for a dog.
Nick VinZant 45:45
My number five, my number three, is a Honda Civic. Civic has to be the most boring car name Civic. You want to drive a car called a Civic.
John Shull 45:57
I mean, it's boring, but at least you know what you're getting with us. It's like the Chevy Cruze or the Ford Sonic, which is kind of dumb, but like, you know what you're getting, Honda Civic.
Nick VinZant 46:10
It just sounds like the most boring, like you're just gonna get the most average car we could possibly find,
John Shull 46:16
the Civic. I will say that when you say that, I immediately know who's driving a Honda Civic.
Nick VinZant 46:22
Exactly right. You're like, I don't really have a personality. I drive a Honda Civic.
John Shull 46:29
I read history of books, and I smell of sweet mahogany. My number two is the land or Range Rover.
Nick VinZant 46:39
Oh, yeah. Very pretentious, very intentionous. I feel
John Shull 46:43
like everyone I've ever met that drives one of those vehicles is a very pretentious person.
Nick VinZant 46:49
The Land Rover, Range Rover is the souped up version of the BMW like, however you feel about BMW drivers. The Land Rover driver is worse. Like, oh, you're even more pretentious.
Speaker 1 47:04
Yeah, by far, not even close, yeah.
Nick VinZant 47:08
Land Rover slash, Range Rovers are like D bags mixed with pretentiousness.
Unknown Speaker 47:18
Driving a Dodge Prowler.
Nick VinZant 47:20
My number two is a tie between the Tucson and the Tacoma. As a person who has lived in Tucson and lives near Tacoma, those are not two cities that you want your vehicle to be named after.
John Shull 47:38
What I mean, why are they not safe? Are they not safe? Cars to drive?
Nick VinZant 47:42
No, they're just not the best. They're not like, they're not good, like, I've lived in Tucson, Tucson, I would not say, is a mecca of intelligence, okay? And yet people are like, Oh, the Tucson, because both of those are the second because they're both named after the second rate city in each state. Like, should we name it the Phoenix or the Scottsdale? No, name it the Tucson because it's not, it's not good enough to be the main city in the state. We need to name it after the second or third best city in the state, because it's not good enough to be the first. Okay, all right, naming something in the Albany, the Toyota Albany, because it's not as good as New York City or Buffalo, it's the Albany,
John Shull 48:39
yeah, or the Dodge Grand Rapids. Oh, my God, we did the same thing at the same time. Did you eat going for Grand Rapids? No, I did Seattle. Oh, anyways, so my, this is not my number one, but I thought this was interesting, that there was a car made called the LI Shi Guang, Detroit, fish. It is terrible. But my number one, and I I'm wondering if it's your number one, it's the cyber truck.
Nick VinZant 49:15
The Cyber truck. The Cyber truck is basically the worst vehicle ever created. I honestly point and laugh every time I see somebody with a cyber truck bought that. Right? Like that is the biggest sucker on the planet is the person who bought the cyber truck. What's an ugly car, poorly named? That doesn't work very well. Let me pay three times the normal price for that.
John Shull 49:43
Yeah, there's not there. I mean, we don't have one obviously, but there's not one, like, redeeming feature from the outside of not, like, not only one, like looking at when there's not one thing where I go, man, I wouldn't mind owning one of those
Nick VinZant 49:58
if I was a woman and. My husband bought a cyber truck. I would divorce them, because this is a person that clearly does not have taste or sensibility or any sort of forefront sight about the future.
John Shull 50:15
Just leave them. I What if you knew them for like, 30 years and they were just going through a midlife crisis?
Nick VinZant 50:22
No, I would still have to. It had to be done. I would like to see a study commissioned on the divorce rate of cyber truck owners, because if I was a woman, there was no way I would be staying with my husband if they bought a cyber truck. Nope, I'm out.
John Shull 50:38
I mean, there aren't. I mean, there aren't really that many good car names, if you think about it, like, there just aren't.
Nick VinZant 50:45
No, there's a lot of them that are kind of bad. What else do you have in your honorable mention? I have a I have a
Unknown Speaker 50:50
decent amount the Buick Lacrosse.
Nick VinZant 50:54
I don't mind that for some reason. It's not like, it's not good. There's just a bunch that are kind of like,
John Shull 51:00
like, like, like, really, anything. Like, any Chevy name makes no sense to me. Silverado traverse the canyon, like, I don't know. Give it something with a little more meaning, a little more something I don't know
Nick VinZant 51:16
I've never understood. The Chevy Suburban irritates me, because what's my goal in life, to live in the suburbs?
John Shull 51:27
Yeah, I guess. I mean, I have no idea why they call it a suburban, other than it's as big as a Suburban.
Nick VinZant 51:32
That's probably why role, um, I have the Hyundai Santa Fe. I'm generally, I'm pretty much just against naming cars after,
Speaker 1 51:44
yeah, you are. You really are. I didn't realize like it
Nick VinZant 51:47
because I've been to those places. Like, I lived in Tucson, I lived near Tacoma, visited Santa Fe like, I always wouldn't name a car after a place that I've been to and been like, oh, that place isn't that great, the Impreza. That's a dumb one too close to impregnate the Corolla. I like I initially had them. I had the Mazda Bongo, and then I started to actually, kind of like it. The Jeep gladiator is also very stupid.
John Shull 52:21
Gladiator. This is defunct, but I have Astro van on my honorable mention. They don't make Astro vans anymore. I don't think so. I don't think Chevy makes a van.
Nick VinZant 52:33
That's a shame they make a minivan. How is your minivan? By the way, do you drive your minivan around town?
John Shull 52:39
That's great. It's really good in the winter for the weather we're having, and I win.
Nick VinZant 52:45
Okay, that's gonna go ahead and do it for this episode of profoundly pointless. I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, leave us a quick review. We really appreciate it. Love to hear from people. Let us know what you think are the worst named cars. I think the big difficulty, when you look back on it, is none of them are really that good. Like, there's nothing that's like, Oh, that's a great name, maybe the Mazda Bongo or the Miata, but there's not many that really jump out to you.