The Billionaire, the Billboards and the Star of the Worst Ad in Sports History (PTFO Vault)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Pablo Torre Finds Out

Episode: The Billionaire, the Billboards and the Star of the Worst Ad in Sports History (PTFO Vault)

Date: July 22, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this "talkumentary" episode, Pablo Torre embarks on a wild investigative journey into "the worst commercial in the history of sports": the infamous "sportsmanship" PSA starring “Alex” (real name: BJ Porter). Together with journalist Zach Schwartz, Pablo traces the ad’s strange cultural afterlife, explores the shadowy world of its billionaire backer Philip Anschutz, and finally tracks down the elusive star of the ad. The episode deftly examines sports culture, morality tales, the viral nature of memes, and how even the most cringeworthy PSA can become a lasting part of both pop culture and an individual’s identity.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Infamy and Obsessed Following of ‘The Sportsmanship Ad’

• [02:15] Zach Schwartz reveals his personal obsession with tracking down the commercial’s actor, admitting this is what cemented him as a "real sports pervert" in his wife’s eyes.
• The ad’s premise: A high school championship player confesses to the ref the ball last touched him, forfeiting a key play. Pablo and Zach describe the on-screen drama and the viral ridicule it receives (“dictionary definition of a hang dog look”). [04:24]
• [05:44] Zach Schwartz: “No one’s snitching at this level ... no one is actually doing that!” Pablo and Zach laugh off the ad’s implausibility and how its heavy-handed message leads to endless internet dunking.

2. The Hunt for ‘Alex’

• [08:26] Zach’s quest spans two and a half years. He reverse image searches, chases commercial credits, cold-calls the charity (values.com), pulls tax records, and gets stonewalled at every turn.
• Zach describes “feeling like Gyllenhaal in Zodiac” as the Foundation’s omnipresent billboards haunt him [20:59].
• [28:35] He finally crowdsources help on social media—his last resort as a journalist—leading him to “BJ Porter,” who's already following Zach on Twitter.

[29:18] Zach Schwartz: “The answer was actually following you while you were searching for him.”

3. Who's Behind the Foundation for a Better Life?

• The charity, which funded the ad, is secretive and anodyne about its mission ("encouraging people to bring out the best in themselves”).
• Zach’s tax sleuthing uncovers the real power: billionaire Philip Anschutz. Anschutz is revealed as a Western oil, fracking, and railroad tycoon who also controls arts and sports empires (Coachella, LA Kings, MLS, The Narnia movies, etc.)—but is publicly invisible.

[16:37] Pablo Torre: “He has his name on the championship trophy in Major League Soccer. And yet ... who the [expletive] is that guy?”

• Anschutz is tied to right-wing causes and described as ingenious at using the Foundation for a Better Life's values ads for broad, “diet” culture messaging. The tax structure allows networks to donate ad inventory for write-offs, making the PSAs omnipresent and lucrative for all involved.
• [22:08] Zach Schwartz: “Apparently ... it is the most widespread and successful PSA billboard campaign in United States history.”
• Critique: Should such resources serve moralizing PSAs or real direct aid? “I need more,” says Zach. [23:54]

4. The True Story of BJ Porter (aka ‘Alex’)

• In a big reveal, “Alex” is BJ Porter: child actor, actual athlete, and now basketball coach.
• On filming the ad: Most roles were played by real friends, teammates, and even family (dad as the rival coach). The original script was “even worse” but improved by BJ’s father’s intervention [35:14].
• The moment of confession in the commercial?—total fiction: “I did not touch the ball.” [36:12] BJ Porter

5. Viral Afterlife, Memes, and Personal Fallout

• BJ first saw the ad on TV with his college team, inciting laughs—not yet aware of its future meme status.
• Gets heckled by fans at college games (“You look like the sportsmanship kid!” [39:42]).
• Virality explodes with the internet and Twitter: teammates, fans, and even NBA star Damian Lillard (his former college teammate) join in the endless ribbing:

[41:52] Damian Lillard: “We stopped calling him BJ. We started calling him Bobby, because it was like, man, you a snitch ... it was a joke from there.”

• The jokes persist through his playing career, into his family life (“Daddy, you’re in a commercial ... why do they call you Alex?” [45:00]), to the extent that BJ deactivated his social accounts.
• Despite the lifetime of teasing, BJ takes the role in stride:

[47:32] BJ Porter: “Yeah, it’s a part of who I am ... I’m Alex. You know, I got an alter ego, so it is awesome.”

• When asked what he’d do if faced with “Alex’s” dilemma as a coach:

[46:31] BJ Porter: “There’s a reason why they have refs ... let them decide.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [03:06] Pablo Torre: “If you Google ‘worst commercial ever’ ... it’s right there in the first couple results.”
• [13:50] Pablo Torre: “The umpire has called a man out who was safe by a zillion miles ...”
• [16:37] Pablo Torre: Anschutz’s omnipresence: “He has his name on the championship trophy ... who the [expletive] is that guy?”
• [22:08] Zach Schwartz: “… the most widespread and successful PSA billboard campaign in United States history.”
• [29:18] Zach Schwartz: “The answer was ... following you while you were searching for him.”
• [36:12] BJ Porter: “I did not touch the ball ... this whole thing is a lie.”
• [41:52] Damian Lillard: “...we stopped calling him BJ. We started calling him Bobby, because it was like, man, you a snitch ...”
• [47:32] BJ Porter: “I’m Alex ... it’s a part of who I am.”

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:15]—Zach discusses his obsession and the ad’s legacy
• [04:24]—Breakdown/re-enactment of the commercial
• [08:26]—Zach’s investigative process begins
• [16:37]—Deep dive into billionaire Philip Anschutz
• [22:08]—Scale and mechanics of the value-PSA campaign
• [28:35]—Crowdsourcing “Alex”—the answer is closer than Zach realizes
• [32:02] - [36:12]—BJ Porter’s acting and filming experience; big reveal: "I did not touch the ball"
• [39:42] - [41:52]—Virality, college teammates, and Damian Lillard weigh in
• [46:31]—BJ’s present-day coaching philosophy on “Alex”-like scenarios
• [47:32]—BJ’s acceptance: “I am Alex. I got an alter ego, so it is awesome.”

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Conclusion

This episode stitches together an absurd, endearing, and surprisingly profound saga: a widely mocked PSA, the billionaire who planted it everywhere, and the real (and remarkably well-adjusted) person behind “Alex.” Through meticulous investigation and heartfelt personal storytelling, Torre and Schwartz reveal what “sportsmanship” (and getting memed) really means in the internet age.

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Transcript

[Pablo Torre]

Okay, so hello, it is me, Pablo, entering, invading even your ears. Because I have done something I have not done before, which is take the advice of someone who once told me that if people wish to support you financially, if they wish to support your journalism, your very strange future of journalism, meaning your newsroom, your ambitions, your desire to investigate things people don't want you to investigate, you should let them. And so I am on Substack, my [e-mail]. we'll put a link in the show notes of this episode. I have turned on paid subscriptions, and if you didn't know I have a substack, guess what? It's free. And that's still there for you. And it's worth it. But the paid subscribers who support this show and us will get legitimately cool personalized benefits to come. We will make it worth your while. We are figuring out here at PTFO our post draftkings future and, you know, more good news on that front. I hope to come. But in the meantime, Pablo show is where you sign up. Click the link in the show notes. Help support us, please. Thank you, thank you, thank you on that front. And this, this episode today is a handpicked episode from deep inside the PTFO vault that we sincerely hope you enjoy. Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're gonna find out what this sound is.

[BJ Porter]

I touched it. I touched the bar before it went out, Coach.

[Pablo Torre]

Right after this ad. I have this issue when I, like, go out and I talk to people in real life and they're like, so what do you do? And I have to explain what my show is. And I've settled up, I've settled upon Zach a summary, which is basically, I use journalism to solve mysteries that are technically about sports.

[Zach Schwartz]

It's a good way to put it. It's a very good way to put it. I know I only just recently started calling myself a journalist because, like, produce some stuff. And then I did social media and made memes for people for a long time.

[Pablo Torre]

But the real lead of your bio now is Zach Schwartz guy, who is truly unparalleled in a very specific obsession about the worst commercial in the history of sports.

[Zach Schwartz]

My wife said, that's when I found out you're a real sports pervert is when you were, like, trying to find this guy and how obsessed you were with it, because it was very early on in our relationship and I had to find him.

[Pablo Torre]

I want to explain what this commercial is because it's not really selling a.

[Zach Schwartz]

Product, I guess it stuck with me, the ad. Like, I remember seeing it in the wild, like on television. Obviously, before it started going viral, it ran all the time, especially during March Madness.

[Pablo Torre]

If you Google the term worst commercial ever in quotes on YouTube, this is right there in the first couple results. It has over a million views on that video alone. There are many, many more. It goes viral seemingly all of the time. I feel like we should just play it.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Because this is what this again, viral commercial sounds like.

[Zach Schwartz]

Any high school gym in America sort of looks like this. We see the scoreboard to start the game. It's is 63, 65, 9 seconds left.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, God.

[Zach Schwartz]

We see the team in the white jerseys on a fast break. Uncontested, easy dunk.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah.

[Zach Schwartz]

Here comes the trap. They're bringing a press trap. Quick ball goes to the sideline, which is not really where you're supposed to throw it in that situation.

[Pablo Torre]

No.

[Zach Schwartz]

We see player white tip the ball out of bounds. The important part is the ref didn't see the ball go off the kid in. In. In a white jersey. Time. Timeout. Coach calls his timeout. I got the perfect sideline out of bounds for this. I'm gonna cook here. They all go to the huddle to get the play. And the player who we think tipped the ball out, but they didn't call it on him, has this very guilty look on his face.

[Pablo Torre]

He has a truly. This is like the dictionary definition of a hang dog look. His eyes are as big as saucers. His lip is basically quivering. He is looking up, apologetic, seemingly for what he's about to reveal.

[BJ Porter]

I touched it. I touched the ball before it went out, Coach.

[Zach Schwartz]

Come on, Alex. The ref did not call that.

[BJ Porter]

You gotta be kidding me.

[Zach Schwartz]

Alex, it's the championship game.

[Pablo Torre]

Talk to him, Coach.

[Zach Schwartz]

I touched this.

[Pablo Torre]

They're both.

[Zach Schwartz]

His teammates are furious, quite upset.

[Pablo Torre]

A kid with acne is as mad at Alex as a person can be.

[Zach Schwartz]

That's that Accutane rage.

[Pablo Torre]

How's it going, Alex?

[BJ Porter]

Sorry, coach.

[Pablo Torre]

Alex.

[Zach Schwartz]

And the coach gives Alex the like, you know what you do what you think is right.

[Pablo Torre]

Alex, do you ride? Good call.

[Damian Lillard]

Sportsmanship. Pass it on.

[Zach Schwartz]

And we see Alex crawl over to the raft to snitch on himself. And the commercial ends with a sportsmanship, pass it on message. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Values.com, the foundation for a better life. It feels like a commercial about sports made by people who have never seen sports before. Yes. It's like, this is what you should do. As if this is a plausible thing that anybody in that very specific circumstance would Ever actually do.

[Zach Schwartz]

Totally. And, like, there are so many other ways to do this ad that would be plausible. Like, someone sets a really hard ball screen and you run over and help the guy out. That's sportsmanship. But no one's snitching at this level. I mean, if anything, the player is, like, turning to the other guy. Like, I totally tipped that to the opponent. And walking off like, you're not telling the ref that.

[Pablo Torre]

And just to give a sense of, like, the level of obsession that people have had with this specific scenario played out this way. I heard Ryan Rusillo and Bill Simmons talk about this at one point a couple years back.

[Bill Simmons]

And then the player looks at coach. He's like, coach, it was off me. And coach is, like, looking at him, being like, there's a real lesson lesson here. There's a teaching moment, and the whole team's looking at the kid, and then the kid goes up to the ref for the first time in the history of anything where he goes to the refs like, hey, it was off me. And the ref's like, all right, balls the other way. And then it's like, that's the lesson. And I think it had to have been a religious thing for bounty towels or it was for towels. Yeah, it was one of those. One of the two things. And people have been fascinated with this ad for years. You've never seen this ad.

[Zach Schwartz]

I remember it, but it was. It was what, 10, 15 years ago?

[Bill Simmons]

Who's to say while ago? Scholars have argued it's timeless.

[Pablo Torre]

TikTok captions because it's obviously made its way over there. They include things like, quote, they definitely jumped Alex in the locker room, a lot of those. And the cultural spectrum on this extends obviously to, like, barstool sports, which has labeled this with a headline, quote, march madness commercial about sportsmanship features the biggest nerd ever. And the write up says, Alex. Alex deserves to have all of his clothes thrown in the shower, end quote. It just recirculates because everybody is cringing and then choosing to dunk on this incredibly implausible morality play.

[Zach Schwartz]

And God, yeah, Alex kind of became the lightning rod for all of it.

[Pablo Torre]

And so for you, when did you begin to wonder, okay, everybody keeps talking about Alex.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Who is he? When does that question first enter your mind?

[Zach Schwartz]

So I used to host this podcast for Wave called Out of Pocket. And it was Josiah Johnson and Jethrin Jenkins, two guys who are very good at NBA Twitter. And the whole sort of center of all this is NBA Twitter. Anyone that spent any time on NBA Twitter knows this ad. It basically goes viral every six months. So we were doing our show. Wavy just brought in Paul George. Paul George's show is blowing ours out of the water. And I'm like, I gotta find a guest for our show that Paul George could never get for his. So I was like, what's the most viral basketball thing that people would be like, oh, my God, you found that guy? And it was Alex.

[Pablo Torre]

It became pretty clear as soon as I started looking into this myself that Alex was not eager to be discovered.

[Zach Schwartz]

That's where the journey sort of started. I was like, I'm gonna do it. For our season finale episode, I think I had three weeks. Like, I'll find him. That's so much time. It took a lot longer than three weeks. It took, I think, like, two and a half years, basically, to find him.

[Pablo Torre]

How did you start your quest to find Alex?

[Zach Schwartz]

So first it was reverse image searching his face and seeing if I could find anything off of that. Because I was like that, hey, like, maybe the reason no one's done this video or found him is because they weren't using the modern tools that we have today. Didn't work. So then, for those that don't know, IMDb is a database where you can look up actors for movies. They have something similar for actors and commercials. So I was like, okay, I'll use that. Nothing. Couldn't find anything there. I started reaching out to friends of mine that directed commercials in la, like, hey, is there a database or a casting director you could put me in touch with? And they kind of were, like, from an ad that long ago. No one I know would work on it. And so, okay, let's see if the charity can help.

[Pablo Torre]

So this charity, this foundation, which, again, in the commercial, it's flashed on screen at the very end. The foundation for a better [e-mail].

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

When you start to look into, into this website, what do you begin to see?

[Zach Schwartz]

There's just not enough information out there about the foundation. There's no interviews or articles. And it kind of triggered this sort of siren in my head, like something weird is happening here because no one talks. No one's ever written a profile about the foundation or what they do. The website, for the most part, looks like it was designed in 2011 and just left.

[Pablo Torre]

The text on the website. Zach. It's so anodyne. I'll read it off of the site right now. They say, quote, we choose values we hope most individuals would find encouraging and relevant. Then we provide an uplifting message based on Each value in an effort to encourage people to bring out the best in themselves. And they go on. As a nonpartisan, non sectarian organization, we carefully design our public service messages to have general universal appeal. And then they say the foundation's small staff works with a network of writers, art directors, and production professionals. And none of that is very helpful. No, none of that is like, giving us an actual detail as to like, so what do you guys do here?

[Zach Schwartz]

And so, you know, I called them. It's one of those calls where you put on, like, the nicest voice. Hi, my name's Zach and I have an obsession with this really famous ad that you guys made from a long, long time ago.

[Pablo Torre]

This ad that I definitely haven't made fun of online with millions upon millions of people exactly like me.

[Zach Schwartz]

And I was like, can you please just help me locate the actor? The secretary was very kind. I would love to help you. And like, what a neat project. You know, unfortunately, I can't release any names. You basically have to write the CEO and get his consent and he'll release the information to you. So then I emailed the CEO and he was really dismissive. I read his message. He was very like, I'm not releasing the name to you. Sorry, Go away. And that made me more mad.

[Pablo Torre]

Oh, yeah.

[Zach Schwartz]

So then I'm like, what is this foundation? Why are you being secretive? Why are you trying to hide who this person is? So I did the next logical thing and I pulled like 13 years worth of their tax records.

[Pablo Torre]

So in the limited research that I have done, compared to your mountain of deep diving, Zach, the first thing you realize when you research the foundation for a Better Life on YouTube. YouTube is that Alex is not alone. Because apparently there is a whole catalog of commercials beyond simply the story of Alex and sportsmanship that are about stuff like not shoplifting CDs. This one's titled do the Right Thing.

[Zach Schwartz]

Come on, man.

[Pablo Torre]

Just do it quick. No one's watching.

[Zach Schwartz]

The other one too. Good job.

[Pablo Torre]

Do the right thing. Pass it on. A message from the foundation for a Better Life. And then there's also this one that I wanted to play for everybody because it's called Umpire.

[Zach Schwartz]

My father was a great hitter, but.

[Pablo Torre]

He knew that life was about more.

[Zach Schwartz]

Than just one game.

[Pablo Torre]

It's like a sepia toned, almost old timey baseball kind of aspect here.

[Zach Schwartz]

There'll be one more coming through. Oh, he was so safe.

[Pablo Torre]

The umpire has called a man out who was safe by a zillion miles.

[Zach Schwartz]

So when that umpire made a bad.

[Pablo Torre]

Call, that ended the Game for dad and then needed help with his car.

[Zach Schwartz]

My father made the right call.

[Pablo Torre]

Helping others, the right choice. Pass it on. A message from the foundation for a better life. And so who is the person behind these ads, Zach? Who is the person that the secretary and the CEO, unhelpfully, in the end, would not connect you to?

[Zach Schwartz]

His name's Philip Anschus. He is a billionaire and he's been a billionaire for a very long time. Forbes magazine has their list of the wealthiest Americans. And four of a Coloradans make the top 400. They got money. Number one isn't a surprise. Philip Anschutz, the wealthiest person in our state with a net worth of $16.9 billion. That makes him 45th for the USA only. Only CNN called him the richest American. You've never heard of Fortune also called him the greediest executive. He started running his dad's oil business at the age of 20. Made his money drilling, fracking. Also ran Union Pacific Railroad as an adult.

[Philip Anschutz]

I've spent my business career working on companies and in industries that have always been firmly rooted in the west, often companies that are quite historic in nature.

[Zach Schwartz]

And then, you know, things that maybe are more in our lives than oil and railroads is that he owns Aegis Angelus Entertainment Group, who does coachella. They own crypto.com arena. And he's also managed to kind of scoop up a few different sports teams, right? LA Kings, LA Galaxy, and then he's finance movies, Chronicles of Narnia. He did the movie Ray. Like he's kind of everywhere, but you have no idea that he's there because he is truly one of the most like behind the scenes billionaires ever.

[Pablo Torre]

He has his name on the championship trophy in Major League Soccer. And yet I have never, until talking to you for this episode, thought, who the is that guy?

[Zach Schwartz]

I found it very interesting that this person who has Coachella, which is about as godless of a place as you can go legally, also pushes these very conservative God forward, church forward messages. And so that was very interesting kind of as I dove deeper and deeper and found out about the different groups that he was kind of financing and funding and some of the initiatives that they were behind.

[Pablo Torre]

Yes. So just to tick off some of them here, the Federalist Society, which is a very famous historic at this point, conservative and libertarian legal organization, he's a big donor to them. It turns out the Heritage foundation, the right wing think tank, and Schutz is also a big donor to them. He also appears in New York Times headlines such as, quote, Neil Gorsuch has web of ties to secretive billionaire. The billionaire being Philip Anschutz. Neil Gorsuch, aforementioned being the Supreme Court Justice. Now this goes back to the 2000s, I guess, when Anschutz and his companies hired said future Supreme Court justice as their outside counsel. He is simply Zach, one of the most conservative owners in all of sports. He's given to Republican candidates and shoots.

[Zach Schwartz]

Has reportedly, you know, funded anti gay ballot measures, anti union, anti weed, anti science. I mean, there's a lot of things that he's done over these years, and you're kind of like, okay, so the foundation for a Better Life is sort of just like the diet version of those messages, if you will. Like, he's sort of like stripped off all the nasty parts that he's doing over on the side there.

[Pablo Torre]

The part that I do need to say, I guess for legal reasons, is that Philip Anschutz is the type of guy also who does not grant interviews. The New Yorker, by the way, has reported previously that he does not even use a cell phone or email. But he also declared that reports about his donations to homophobic political organizations were, quote, fake news and garbage. And he indicated that he stopped funding said groups, which, to his apparent surprise, did support such causes. But as much as he is trying to not actually be heard in public, we did find a bit of rare video of this man. This is at the 84th annual U.S. conference of Mayors. It was 2016. And it's a translator who is translating for the Dalai Lama. And next to them is Lady Gaga. Here is Philip Anschutz actually speaking out loud.

[Philip Anschutz]

You have the leader of one of the world's great religions, you have a world class entertainer, and then you have this obscure business guy. And it's unlikely that we're discussing kindness, of all things. Not a very precise term.

[Pablo Torre]

So if you're wondering how rich Philip Anschutz is, he has the kind of money that where Lady Gaga and the Dalai Lama are just chilling on stage, listening to him talk about sportsmanship or whatever.

[Philip Anschutz]

Things like fairness, trust, learning, perseverance, love, patience, optimism, humility, confidence, civility. These are universal values that transcends race and religion, religion and politics.

[Zach Schwartz]

I like that he had to go into his coat to take out the values that he wanted to specifically name like, brother. You can't just name like loyalty, sportsmanship, honesty, respect. Off the top, like you had to go to the note. Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

But all of it is to say that, yeah, like the diet religiosity of this meant for broad appeal. It feels like a motivational college dorm room posterior. Like, that's what this whole thing is.

[Zach Schwartz]

All the ads read very much like the poster where the cat is, like, hanging from the tree and it's, like, hanging in there. All the ads kind of read like that.

[Pablo Torre]

This whole operation that Anschutz has funded, it seems like their mission, if nothing else, is to be as omnipresent as they can be.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah, it's billboards, radio ads, TV ads. The billboards were really mocking me. And seeing them everywhere, seeing them on Santa Monica boulevard near the 405, it sort of led me on my spiral, where I felt like Gyllenhaal in Zodiac, where it's just like this thing is sort of taking over my life to a degree that it really shouldn't. There's this wonderful one that Shaq is a part of.

[Pablo Torre]

He's holding a basketball, wearing a cap and gown, and it looks like he loves civility. Yeah.

[Zach Schwartz]

I mean, it says perseverance. He's holding a basketball like, he got his doctorate's degree in basketball, which he did do.

[Pablo Torre]

But in your defense, just psychologically speaking, the foundation did release the following statistic. The campaign has apparently aired in more than 200 countries. Nielsen says that the ads, at one point, had more than 10 million impressions each day on U.S. network television. And then Current affairs magazine estimated that there were once as many as 10,000 billboards. Zach. Across the United States. Apparently, according to the Outdoor Advertising association of America, it is the most widespread and successful PSA billboard campaign in United States history.

[Zach Schwartz]

They're everywhere, and they're. They're. The reach for these campaigns is. Is so impressive. And I reached out to a friend of mine that worked in advertising, actually, for Viacom for a long time. He did, you know, TV ad sales. The way he kind of broke it down for me is that, like, you know, we talk about the Alex ad running during March Madness. Well, those spots for March Madness could be hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. And so he kind of gave me a wide range of what they could be. Like, you know, it's something like late at night could be in the tens of thousands of dollars to a March Madness spot. That could be hundreds of thousands of dollars. So these spots are obviously very valuable. They're running all the time because the foundation doesn't have some huge operating budget to go out and buy Ad Times. I was trying to figure out how they're getting these ads on billboards or on tv. And the way it works is if you as a network have ad inventory, you could take that and donate it to them and write off on your taxes and basically say, hey, that inventory that I gave away was worth $1 million, $100,000, a couple million dollars. Good on me. Pat on the back, I did my thing. I'm writing that off on my taxes as a network saying, I made this wonderful charitable donation. And so that's sort of what this foundation has become, is that it's sort of a way for people to write off, hey, I did this wonderful deed without having to do research or find charities to actually go approach somehow tax.

[Pablo Torre]

Write offs on a big poster underneath a kitten. Not as inspirational.

[Zach Schwartz]

And I think part of it that frustrated me was that while I understand the messages and it's important to teach people about perseverance or honesty or being.

[Pablo Torre]

Truthful, we are a pro Perseverance podcast.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yes, for the record, it's important, and I'm not saying it isn't, but isn't shouldn't that be going to, like, a foundation that's trying to help get people clean water? Or like, there are just so many things out there that are bigger issues in my mind than, you know, hey, I'm really happy Shaq got his degree in perseverance, but I need more.

[Pablo Torre]

So this is where I should jump in to say that Philip Anschutz Company, the Anschutz Corporation, did decline our request here at Pablatore, finds out for an interview with the 45th richest man in the world himself, and that the executive director of the Anschutz foundation also didn't respond to messages that we left at a phone number and also an email address that were provided by the Anschutz Corporation. Also for the record, neither the foundation for a Better Life nor its president, the guy who runs the nonprofit behind all of those pass it on ads for sportsmanship and love and learning and so forth, responded to our multiple requests for comment, which also included a detailed list of our questions. But what we found out, thanks to the years of tax returns that Zach Schwartz had pulled, is that these organizations are all, in fact, intertwined and saving seven figures via tax deductions in the process. In 2021, for instance, the Anschutz foundation gave a $2.4 million grant for general operating support to the foundation for a Better Life, whose tax returns that same year listed nearly $2 million in production costs for TV commercials and billboards and other ads under the heading of direct charitable activities, and even more specifically, the promotion of quality values for all individuals, regardless of their race or religion. It's a line which may now sound familiar.

[Philip Anschutz]

These are universal values that transcends race and religion and politics.

[Pablo Torre]

All of which is to say, say that the other thing being passed on here beyond these values is tax benefits. Because, yes, also the networks and the billboard companies that broadcast these ads, they also get to deduct the fair market value of that ad slot from their taxes. But what all of this paperwork and uncovering all of this accounting really did for us was something even more important. For the purposes of this episode, remember, months earlier, Zach had started this whole quest by calling up an ultimately unhelpful secretary. And now he had these documents, documents with all of these details that wound up pushing Zach in what felt like a new direction in his search for the whole reason he was here in the first place. Alex.

[Zach Schwartz]

So I've got their tax returns in front of me, and it's. There are production company names on some of these tax returns that they filed. And my process was take the name on the tax return, put it into LinkedIn, take the name on the tax return, put it into Instagram. And in doing that, I found two former employees and just DM'd both of them and was like, hey, guys, very odd question here, but I'm trying to find this person. Can you help me? And one of them got back to me and he said, I'd love to help. I wasn't working on that ad campaign, or I wasn't there at that time, but I know someone who can help. They've been there for forever. I'd to connect you, you know, give me your email. So I get in an email thread with them, and they sent me right back to the original secretary. So. And at that point, I was sort of embarrassed because I was like, the secretary definitely thinks I'm a weirdo. So it was very much back to square one. Huge bummer. Like, really thought I was moving in the right direction at that particular moment. I was like, okay, I have to go to Twitter and ask them for help for this, because I need some sort of closure on this. And part of me not wanting to tweet it was because I was worried someone else would beat me to the story.

[Pablo Torre]

To be very fair to you, it is absolutely a journalist's last resort when they are beating their head against the wall and are like, fine. What does the Internet have for me?

[Zach Schwartz]

It killed me because I was like, all right, I'll wave the white flag.

[Pablo Torre]

You ever get that message? Being like, how did I not have the story idea already?

[Zach Schwartz]

So I put out there, okay, this is an odd request, but can anyone on here, Help me find this actor from the famous Sportsmanship basketball ad. And 29 minutes later, a motion graphic designer for the Las Vegas Golden Knights replied and said, might be former player, now current assistant coach at the University of Denver, named BJ Porter. I mean, like. Like, my hands were shaking when I got that one. I go to the Denver page, and I'm looking and I'm like, looks a lot like him. You know, 15, 20 years older. That might be him. And then I go and I click on his Twitter, and he was following me already. He'd been following me the entire time.

[Pablo Torre]

The answer was actually following you while you were searching for him.

[Zach Schwartz]

And the best part, I reached out and he agreed to meet up.

[Pablo Torre]

By the way, that is perseverance. This was a thrill, Zach. I don't know. It was kind of like the opposite of an episode of Catfish, I guess, on mtv, where it's actually like, hey, this person is who they say they were. But the genuine thrill I felt from putting you and BJ Porter, AKA former assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Denver and current athletic director at a private school in Orange County, California, putting you and BJ Porter, slash Alex, in the same room at a podcast studio in la, where you guys finally got to meet each other in person. What was the moment like when he walked in the door?

[Zach Schwartz]

I was so happy to finally get to meet him. And levels are all good on our great. He's 35 now. He's got a bit of scruff. You know, maybe you may not necessarily recognize him initially as Alex, but, like, got a big, bright smile. Like, truly the. Not one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

[BJ Porter]

What I want people to know about me, I'm a chill, simple guy.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah. You know, his best friend and best man in his wedding was a guy that I worked with at Arizona State. Wait, what?

[Pablo Torre]

This is.

[Zach Schwartz]

This is.

[Pablo Torre]

This is now a little creepy. Zach, did he know you. Had you ever actually met him before in real life?

[Zach Schwartz]

We hadn't met, but we had been in the same room a couple of times. So he played basketball at. At Portland with my friend Luke Sigma.

[Pablo Torre]

This is of the basketball playing Sigmas.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yes. Jack Sigma, son.

[Pablo Torre]

Amazing.

[Zach Schwartz]

So when Portland would come to LA and play Pepperdine or LMU in their, you know, set schedule, my whole family would go to the game. So I was in the stands. BJ Was on this team, and I had no idea. Oh, Wally throws down the OOP to BJ Porter.

[Damian Lillard]

Thanks, man.

[Zach Schwartz]

This is, you know, this is in January of 09. So, like, memory is a little foggy. This is before I went to Arizona State, which, Lord knows, did some damage to my brain.

[Pablo Torre]

But as for the question of how this basketball player becomes the basketball player that we became obsessed with, how he becomes Alex. How did BJ Porter get the worst role in the history of sports commercials?

[Zach Schwartz]

He was a child actor.

[BJ Porter]

So I actually started. I used to act. You did? Yes. So just basically from the age of around 12 when we moved out to Utah. Okay.

[Zach Schwartz]

You know, he talked a bit about kind of having to prioritize hoops over acting, but he has some serious acting credits to his name as a kid.

[Pablo Torre]

The acting credits that child actor BJ Porter has to his name includes.

[BJ Porter]

I actually was involved in another kind of, like, bad basketball scene. Double team, you know? Yeah. So it's an extra.

[Pablo Torre]

Girl.

[Zach Schwartz]

Bring it in here.

[Pablo Torre]

Game time, time. Let's go.

[Zach Schwartz]

Gather in.

[Pablo Torre]

Teamwork.

[Zach Schwartz]

There was that. There was an episode of Touched by an angel with Scott B. Check it out. Makes drugs all night, plays baseball all day. All American guy.

[BJ Porter]

I actually was a child named Jamal. And during that time, it was kind of like, with police brutality.

[Pablo Torre]

Ma.

[BJ Porter]

So what. Basically what wound up happening was, is my mother was at work. I got spooked, and I called the police department to come in, and they accidentally shoot me.

[Damian Lillard]

Oh, God.

[Zach Schwartz]

I shot a kid. Paul. I shot a kid. Call an ambulance. Go. So he's got those roles. He's a senior in high school, and it's pre basketball season, which is sort of important for eligibility. And this is pre nil, so you obviously can't be paid once you're in your senior season of the sport you're gonna go play in college.

[BJ Porter]

My agent reached out, talked to my father and my mother and said, hey, we think this would be a good opportunity for bj. We know this is the last one that he would be able to do.

[Pablo Torre]

And how vivid is BJ's memory now of that day?

[Zach Schwartz]

His memories of the actual shoot were very clear.

[BJ Porter]

It was funny the whole entire time. If you watch it, I'm trying, basically not to laugh. I'm looking like I'm trying not to laugh because my cousin, who's actually my teammate at the time, he is the biggest, like, jokester ever. And he's, like, laughing the whole entire time. He's like, hey, Alex.

[Zach Schwartz]

Alex.

[BJ Porter]

The whole entire time, like, behind the camera a little bit. So it was fun. At the same time, it was this.

[Zach Schwartz]

Wild family affair where, you know, bj becomes Alex, BJ's cousin is the teammate. That kind of, like, shoulder checks him. How's it going, Alex? Sorry, coach. All the players in the huddle, basically, that had Speaking roles are BJ's teammates from high school basketball. It's like the guy that's like. It's the championship game, like, teammate.

[Pablo Torre]

The guys who very plausibly hated this kid's guts were actually his real life friends.

[Zach Schwartz]

Friends and teammates and some family.

[BJ Porter]

My dad, they wanted him to do the basketball scene.

[Zach Schwartz]

Oh, so they wanted your dad in it? Yes, yes.

[BJ Porter]

My dad actually is the coach on the other team who does that.

[Zach Schwartz]

And ironically, his dad sort of has this unique role in the whole shoot where apparently the original script was even worse than this.

[BJ Porter]

It was actually supposed to be something worse. I can't remember what it was, but my dad had to change it a little bit because he's like, a basketball player would never do this.

[Zach Schwartz]

And his dad had to kind of go to the producers and be like, this is how I would try to fix this mess of a thing that you guys have come up with.

[Pablo Torre]

Wait, it was worse before it became the version we came to know, it was worse.

[Zach Schwartz]

And unfortunately, that original is lost to time.

[Pablo Torre]

So this pretty dramatically changes everything. If you were to rewatch it now through the lens of what you've reported for us, the haunting decision that forced BJ Porter into hiding the acting required when it came to him having to give his confession that in fact, he committed the crime. It's him. It was him the entire time. The ball went out of bounds off of Alex. What does he recall?

[Zach Schwartz]

It's my favorite moment from sitting down with him where he. He. He kind of says, the best part is I didn't even touch the ball.

[BJ Porter]

I did not touch the ball.

[Zach Schwartz]

You did not touch the ball. This whole thing is a lie. Yeah. Yeah. Let that be a lesson about the magic of Hollywood. This is all a. There were multiple takes. The take they ended up using. He didn't even touch the ball. And it's. It's funny because if you read the YouTube comments, there are people that actually point this out, saying, like, he didn't even touch the ball. Yes, he. He admits he did not touch the ball.

[Pablo Torre]

So just. Just to be very clear about this, the whole point of this ad is that the ball went out of bounds off of Alex in the commercial. We don't actually see it going off of the real life BJ Porter's hands in the scene. This is the story of his ad in a nutshell, is that, of course, it didn't actually happen. The way that everybody Thought it did.

[Zach Schwartz]

In the foundation for a Better Life cinematic universe. It's pretty perfect.

[Pablo Torre]

So how long did it take from production and filming to release? When did Alex actually get to see his work?

[Zach Schwartz]

It took about a year and a half. So, like, he went through his football season, his basketball season. He gets to Portland. The first time BJ actually saw the ad, he was watching Law and Order with his teammates on USA Network, as most college athletes do, try to pass the time. And there it is.

[BJ Porter]

I never forget. The first time I actually watched it was with my teammates. And we were sitting there and it pops up, and I was just like. I kind of was in shock. I was just like, oh. And I was like, yeah. Like, that's me. And like, they're like, wait a minute. That is you, right? And I was like, yeah. And it was just kind of one.

[Zach Schwartz]

Of those things where you just kind of, like, laugh.

[BJ Porter]

We just laughed it off. Like, it wasn't as big of a deal during that time because it was just like, okay, this was just something that was just getting started as somebody.

[Pablo Torre]

Who watched a lot of Law and Order in college with his roommates.

[Zach Schwartz]

Did he.

[Pablo Torre]

The idea that you'd be watching an episode and be in a commercial that would then render you the victim in an Internet murder mystery, basically where you have to go into hiding as a result. You truly cannot script like this, Zach.

[Zach Schwartz]

No, no. And like, it would be so cool to get to be in an ad in college and be like, guys, that's me. But then it's like, the crux of this ad is so tough for him, you know? And like, that I can't imagine.

[Pablo Torre]

Yes, in the sports criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups. The memes and the people who dunk on them. So just to set us in Internet time in the history of our culture, Zach, this is 08. BJ Porter is trying to be a real life actual college basketball player. And this commercial comes on, and now we're beginning to see the. The spread. Right.

[Zach Schwartz]

I think he probably got his first inkling of it. Portland ghost display@gonzaga.

[Damian Lillard]

EJ Porter into the game now for.

[Zach Schwartz]

Portland, number 24, a guy who brings energy to the pilots. You know, I mentioned being a basketball sicko myself. There are plenty in the kennel at Gonzaga games like those in the best way. Like, those are die hard college basketball fans.

[Pablo Torre]

Back door and free throws coming for B.J.

[Zach Schwartz]

Porter, a sophomore out of Layton, Utah. And one of the kids in the stands yells, you look like the sportsmanship kid.

[BJ Porter]

And if you know about Gonzaga, when you go there, especially during that time, it's like, that's when. Kennel craziness. That's when they had the zombie nation right before you play. And, like, we're right there warming up, and we're like, all right. Really good at that time, too. And it's like, hey, like, you look like the sportsmanship kid.

[Zach Schwartz]

Did your heart sink?

[BJ Porter]

It kind of did, because me and my other teammate, Jason Hannibal kind of, like, laughed, and Jason's kind of like. He would be like, yeah, that is. But I was like, you better not, you know? So it kind of.

[Pablo Torre]

So as this is now being noticed in specific instances by these college kids who are also presumably watching Law and Order with their friends in their dorm, when did it feel like virality had. Had come to pass?

[Zach Schwartz]

So he ended up transferring to Weber State. Okay. You know, he gets there around 2010.

[Pablo Torre]

Yes. The home of Damian Lillard.

[Zach Schwartz]

And there were teammates, like, right. They were. They were teammates at. We were together. And this is sort of where it starts to, like, Twitter introduces video. And that's kind of where the problems start to arise for. For our good friend BJ here.

[BJ Porter]

And I just never forget, I walked into the locker room one time with my teammate, and he's just dying laughing. He was like, man, they're roasting you. They're going after you. And I was just like, what's going after me? And he showed me the video of it and all the comments, and I was like, wow. Like, this really is kind of like.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah.

[BJ Porter]

Starting to take a turn a little bit.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah, they're dying at the comments on the video. And it's like Alex, the kid who reminds the teacher about the homework she forgot to give out.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah.

[Zach Schwartz]

If this was real, he'd be bench for the season. This is why bullying exists.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah. I just looked up the comments today, and someone wrote, sounds like something Drake would do.

[Zach Schwartz]

Damn.

[Pablo Torre]

Getting roasted. Eternity. Which is all to say, Zach, that you found B.J. porter, the guy who played Alex, who played at Weber State alongside Damian Lillard. And one of the people who remembers vividly this very true fact pattern happens to be Dame Lillard, who we sent a correspondent to interview in Miami.

[Damian Lillard]

One day we had class, and we was all sitting in the dorms, and I don't remember exactly how the conversation came up. Up, but it came up.

[BJ Porter]

We was like, you.

[Damian Lillard]

The.

[Zach Schwartz]

You.

[Damian Lillard]

The person that was in this. In this commercial, you know, where you said the ball went off you. And it came up, and we stopped calling him bj. And we started calling him Bobby because it was like, man, you a snitch, you know, like, you in that commercial. And it was. It was a joke from there.

[Pablo Torre]

We got the vibe while talking to Dame that he didn't co sign Alex's code of honor.

[Damian Lillard]

I never been in that situation, but if it came down to it, I'm cheating. I'm not. That ain't gonna be a moment where I show sportsmanship. And I think that's why he. He got clowned a lot for it. Even to this day, when the commercial come on, I'm telling, like, my teammates here, like, man, I played with him in college, you know, so it's like a. That's a forever joke. When we first started getting on him about it, he was like, man, I know, like, almost like he looked back at it, like, man, if I would have known it would have turned into this, I probably wouldn't have did it like, that type of vibe.

[Zach Schwartz]

But, oh, my God, it's. And that's what's so fun about this ad, is that, like, we, as people who consume basketball, like, know this ad, but the. The people that are like the greatest basketball players playing right now also know this ad. That's how engrossed in the basketball culture.

[Pablo Torre]

It is, doing better promotion than Philip Anschutz could ever have dreamed of. And it's. But. But the whole thing, I mean, truly, like, as BJ Porter is making his way through college and his basketball journey, as, again, he's trying to be a. How did he deal with this? How did he deal with the attention that was already obvious to him?

[Zach Schwartz]

He's a very good basketball player. And I think that's the part that's like. That's what's funny with all this, is these people, like, I'd give Alex buckets. I'd cook Alex. And BJ's sitting there like, what would you say to any of those people?

[BJ Porter]

Please come try.

[Zach Schwartz]

He was a very good shooter, very good player. You know, plays it ASUSA Pacific. After his time with Damon at Weber can. Even while there, you know, the coach in film would put his, you know, picture up on the. On the projector and say, you know, nice going, Alex, and things like that. The ad hung with him. He told me a story when we sat down that he gets engaged and he's at Disneyland. And at some point they were at ESPN Zone with his family, and they look up and there's the ad all these years later playing on the TV at ESPN Zone, right?

[Pablo Torre]

He's trying to start a Family. And meanwhile, Alex is still watching him even that day.

[Zach Schwartz]

The ride operator sneaks up to him and whispers, hey, I touched it.

[BJ Porter]

I was like, what do you mean? I kind of, like, looked at him and he goes. He goes, I touched the ball, coach.

[Pablo Torre]

Ha ha, ha, ha, ha.

[BJ Porter]

And I was just like, all right, dude, you're a funny guy.

[Pablo Torre]

At a certain point, it must be the case that his own kids, now that he's like a grown man, also are pointing this out to him.

[Zach Schwartz]

His kids have seen the ad. The friend that I know, that's their godfather, who's a coach in college actually right now, showed them the ad, took out his phone and said, hey, you gotta see what your dad did. Let me show you this thing. Your dad was a star and played it for him.

[BJ Porter]

So my daughter, the whole entire time is like, daddy, you're in a commercial, Daddy, you touched the ball, Daddy. And my son's like, daddy, why do they call you Alex?

[Pablo Torre]

All of which is to say that he could not escape this at home, at the happiest place on earth, in any locker rooms, on the Internet.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

Is enough to make someone become a recluse, truly.

[Zach Schwartz]

He deactivated his accounts on all social media at one point because he went into coaching that's such a necessary tool for recruiting that his coach at Denver is like, hey, you have to reactivate your social accounts to, like, reach out to kids.

[Pablo Torre]

Right.

[Zach Schwartz]

So he kind of got forced back into this place where it's constantly being brought up.

[Pablo Torre]

Right. Which brings him back to you, following you. And just to complete the circle here, like, the beautiful part of this story, to me, the symmetrical part of the story, is that BJ Porter became a real life basketball coach.

[Zach Schwartz]

Yeah.

[Pablo Torre]

He became the other person in the commercial that haunts him. And I guess my question near the end here is, how does coach B.J. porter, how did he view Alex? How would he handle a kid who did what he himself did in this ad that he can never escape?

[Zach Schwartz]

He. He, you know, grinning through a grin, said to me, you know, thank you for your honesty.

[BJ Porter]

And there's a reason why they have rests and refs are supposed to do their job. So whatever the risk, let them decide. Let them decide.

[Zach Schwartz]

It's like such a perfect sort of summary on the whole ad and kind of his outlook on life in general.

[Pablo Torre]

Yes.

[Zach Schwartz]

I asked him, like, hey, if you were going against Alex, what would the scouting report be? Yeah. What's Alex's scouting report be?

[BJ Porter]

Physical. Knock him around, he'll lose you the game.

[Pablo Torre]

What I feel like I found out, Zach. What I found out, thanks to your reporting today, is what actual sportsmanship in the age of the Internet actually looks like, which is far more vivid now, thanks to BJ Porter, the embodiment of that principle online, than it was in the ad he started. And that literally had the word sportsmanship in big letters trying to drill into us, you know, values dot com.

[Zach Schwartz]

Totally. I mean, his whole outlook on it. Even ask him, like, would you. Do you regret doing it? Like, if you could go back in time, would you still do the ad? And he's like, yeah, it's a part.

[BJ Porter]

Of who I am.

[Pablo Torre]

Yeah.

[BJ Porter]

You know what I mean? I'm Alex. You know, I got Altar is alter ego, so it is awesome. So that's what I say to.

[Zach Schwartz]

It was very special to have him sitting across the table from me and lean into the microphone and say, I am Alex.

[Pablo Torre]

It's so rare to have a story about a child star who gets eaten by Twitter and comes out on the other side being like, I think I'm better for this.

[Zach Schwartz]

Totally. He's a very profound and awesome dude. I was very glad to have gotten to know him and find him.

[Pablo Torre]

Zach Schwartz, you're now free from a journalistic prison of your own devising. And all I can do now is shoulder check you off of my show and tell you earnestly, nice going, Zach. Really nice going.

[Zach Schwartz]

It was an honor. Thank you.

[Pablo Torre]

This has been Pablo Torre Finds Out, a Meadowlark Media production, and I'll talk to you next time.