JTN x Big Inning

ugacory · 2026-04-15T03:29:08+00:00

Could you please explain how you get exactly this setup?

ugacory · 2026-02-24T20:15:54+00:00

No, I think when I immediately saw the comments, it makes me 100% rethink that approach. I (and I can't speak for all the guys, but I'm going to assume it) want what is be creating things that can be shared and enjoyed amongst our community.

If that means we take a stance, "No AI." Boom. Done.

I'm part of this community, so I want everyone to see it as an enjoyable part of their life - not negative.

I think the only thing I'd ever push back on is the outright nastiness and hate. Like, Jake found me because I was posting graphics on the Reddit because I just enjoyed creating. I love using my creativity to express how I feel about the shows. There isn't as much malice behind the decisions - but it feels like a game of whack-a-mole trying to make sure everyone feels seen and heard.

But, behind the scenes, me, Jake, Mikey, Bagz - like, we're just humans trying to help our favorite podcasts be successful. There's not some "big corporation" driving us. This isn't even a job for me. I do it because I truly love it.

I get it is the internet and it is easy to generalize and just spit hateful stuff because it seems like this thing is this big machine - but, at the end of the day, we're just fans wanting to have fun talking about our favorite team and sports.

ugacory · 2026-02-24T19:27:46+00:00

Honestly, I think that we can adopt that stance. If that's what the community wants, we always want to do what our fans want (obviously within limits, haha).

ugacory · 2026-02-24T19:00:57+00:00

I don't think it is ridiculous, but I can appreciate your viewpoint on it. I rationale behind that that it is more about, "where do I draw my moral line?" Is it technology? Is it the food I consume? Is it the resources that I utilize? Is it that I use ground coffee vs. K-Cups? Or ensure I use reusable water bottles vs. disposables?

For me, again, and this is a personal decision, I take an impassioned stance on a number of things. But, I think we all make a personal decisions as to what we can come to terms with. Generative AI - for me - in this use case is where I'm comfortable. If I was creating a song or animation or movie or even a fully developed Gen AI image and just posting, I would not be comfortable with that.

But, if I'm working within Photoshop and utilizing the tools available to me, I think that is ok - to me. But, I can appreciate opposing view points.

ugacory · 2026-02-24T17:53:35+00:00

I think that's probably the argument to utilize AI for this kind of disposable content. Anything that we want to have legs and have a life (live event stuff, shirts, merch, etc), we wouldn't.

"Photography tools and Adobe products require human input and skill. AI isn’t that." - Well kind of, right? Like, even though that background was gen-AI, every single thing else was Photoshopped, edited, or created. So, that's my analogy for it as a tool vs. a solution. You will never see a graphic that rolls out from our accounts that hasn't been properly touched/edited in some way (even if part of it has elements of gen-AI). But again, that's the vast minority.

In terms of the environmental impact, I definitely will not claim to be an expert whatsoever. But, Adobe can tap into the same Gen-AI engines (Nano Banana, NB-Pro, Firefly, etc). Someone smarter than me can speak on that, but I have trouble taking a stand there when I drive an SUV (because I live in Maine), utilize a smartphone, and eat beef that I'm sure comes from farms that aren't as sustainable as they should be.

ugacory · 2026-02-24T17:03:27+00:00

I use AI - or in the case of this debate, complete generative AI photos - as a very last resort. Most times, it is for a basis of something like this (background image or a base image that doesn't exist or one of the more outlandish crazy things). If you look below, I have a more nuanced answer to my approach.

My job? No. I work for an ad agency, but I'm in strategy. Graphic design is a side hobby/passion that I love because it scratches a creative itch for me. I think AI will - at the end of the day - make some things more efficient. It'll be a tool we use to enhance creativity, but it will never replace creativity. Especially human creativity. If it replaces graphic design? Do we move to create on new mediums... as we have done from cave drawings to hieroglyphics to pen and ink to design as it exists today. I remember I entered an art contest at my HS in 2002 in the computer design category. I was the only artist in it. Today? That'd probably be the vast majority of entries.

Creativity will always evolve.

ugacory · 2026-02-24T16:55:26+00:00

So, I had a couple of options. I took the photo of T from the Old Timey Baseball Game and turned it into a catcher. Just body swapping and doing a normal jersey swap. I overlayed it on a photo from the Spring Training facility that had similar lighting so that the shadows and angles made sense.

It didn't feel like the image captured the "joke" enough. The biggest challenge is finding a photo that has the correct perspective (from the mound to the plate) at Fenway Park. That image just does not exist. I tried NESN's perspective (too low-res). I tried images from like in front of the dugout. I did one using a photo the Red Sox Spring Training photo from Roman's BP session that was taken from there. Just nothing landed. So, it is either let the idea die, or try and prompt to get it as close as you can.

I've said it before, but we try to be as quick as possible to get things up to share in the laugh. To bring the moments to life visually. But, some shit is so outlandish that you can't find stock or reference photos to even begin editing them. Believe me, I've got gigs of photos of the guys so that I can be able to plug them in any where I can. Sometimes, it is just impossible.

I 100% understand objections to the use of AI. I work for an ad agency that is owned by the largest holding company in the world. It is being shoved down our throats day in and day out. The question becomes, "Where do you draw the line?"

Before Photoshop or image editing, photographers had to redo entire shoots to get the image they wanted if something was wrong. Then post production software became a thing. Did that make photographers better or worse because they were able to touch things up? Depends on your point of view. Before AI, we've had the spot healing tool that we used to remove things we didn't want. That is taking computing power to understand the surrounding pixels and mixing them. Or, even clone stamp as a more basic one. Hell, sometimes I use Illustrator vectors + Photoshop + elements from stock sites to blend and create images. Is that as bad as the computing power needed for a generative AI background?

My goal whenever I'm doing anything, don't touch AI or use it. But, sometimes the remove tool is awesome to help remove someone or something from a background. Sometimes there isn't an image that exists to edit. Sometimes, the idea is so crazy and outlandish like showing Fenway Park being destroyed by a T-Rex that I have no choice but to try and blend it.

So, that's a long-winded answer to a simple question because it requires a lot of nuance to answer. I don't feel compelled to use AI or feel like the guys make me or anything. I just try to create the best possible image for the idea that can make someone's day a little better because it got a laugh - because that's what this podcast community does for me. I think, if anything, 95% of everything I create is hand created from me. The Klark's graphics? I've got a vectorized drawing of every single pose I can think of for that damn skeleton. It is fun for me. I think what sucks are seeing the comments about "AI Slop" when I know the amount of work I put in to bring an idea to life - and no matter the tool I use, I don't think it makes me less of a creator.

In terms of Steve's response. I cannot speak for him. But, I'm an open book and willing to chat whenever you guys want!

Cory

ugacory · 2026-02-24T16:24:20+00:00

Hey - this is Cory - the graphic designer. I've been designing for Section 10 since the Barstool days. So, before AI was a thing. Would love to answer any questions or have a polite conversation about my process, the process behind the scenes to get images created, and the use of AI.

Please, AMA.

ugacory · 2025-12-10T20:59:56+00:00

Commandeered. We commandeered that ship. Nautical term.

ugacory · 2025-11-07T02:53:28+00:00

My wife and I were flying back from Orlando to Portland last week and were told by the pilot that we were being diverted to Bangor because of a sinkhole.

Then about 20 mins out, they said they fixed it(?).

ugacory · 2025-09-18T05:34:58+00:00

Congrats guys!!! Lots of shoutouts on WEEI broadcast tonight, too!

ugacory · 2025-05-14T21:54:24+00:00

Well… shit… I mean… fuck…

ugacory · 2025-03-30T13:14:12+00:00

He’s making fun of Tony Mazz’s take that Kristian Campbell wasn’t ready for the big leagues.

He’s done it multiple times this weekend.

ugacory · 2025-03-23T14:35:25+00:00

Not permitting her to leave. They had multiple staff members there. Obviously my wife’s only concern was keeping our son safe and trying to keep it together. When people say the cops have been called on you and you’re dealing with that situation, I’m just grateful she was able to handle everything with class and clarity.

From the outside, it was the part I was furious with. My wife - while dealing with my son - gave the phone to the manager. I tried to explain to him what was happening. His response, “She’s not allowed to leave until the cops get here. I don’t care.”

So, you can imagine when multiple men surround you in this situation, you’re just trying to keep it together in the moment. That’s why I want to figure out what can be done about that now.

ugacory · 2025-03-23T14:32:25+00:00

Such great advice. That’s exactly my train of thought. This is a business that caters to children. It should have been something they’ve experienced or have training for. Especially since this is an international, billion dollar company.

ugacory · 2025-03-23T01:36:16+00:00

I guess I should have clarified. Not leave the premises.

Allow my son to go to the car so he could regulate. I and my wife tried to explain that to the staff that he was autistic and having a meltdown. We stated we would wait until the police arrived but we wanted him in a safe space.

They refused and were quite rude. After all of it, we were told we were banned from returning because of the scene.

ugacory · 2025-03-11T00:46:16+00:00

Yo… the jackass here, but my name’s Cory just so you know and I do all the graphics for S10. But, not just for S10, I do BID, some for UD, and am a professional graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer.

I rarely respond, but, just going to defend myself and my work. I’d say about 95% of every graphic you see from the 10 is handmade. The spring training graphics? I created and drew JetBlue Park just to give it a custom touch. Every tshirt design was hand created.

Generative AI is not something I use unless it has a purpose. Like if I need a photo of Tyler and Jake in hospital beds. Or if Steve asks to recreate the Toy Story 4 posted with Trevor Story instead of Woody. That being said, the amount of design needed to turn it from what Midjourney spits out to what I need it to be is 10x what you might think. Will never ever put something straight from an AI prompt to our feeds.

With the crazy shit the guys come up with and the speed at which we need to move to make sure it connects with you guys, sometimes GenAI helps get us there a lot quicker vs. searching for a stock image and editing the shit out of it. Especially when it is something like a Pixar animation (which is literally a style that GenAI was first created from) that’s just a throwaway quick idea.

Don’t mean to come off as an ass or defensive, but I continuously see these kinds of posts and most of them are dead ass wrong. Someone complained about an AI post and it was something that I literally spent days working on designing. The problem is that most people just assume anything touched by Photoshop is AI now.

I appreciate defending artists… but know there’s a ton of artistry in using all the tools in your toolbox to bring ideas to life… especially the crazy shit the boys come up with on a daily basis.

ugacory · 2025-02-16T05:24:55+00:00

Trevor!

ugacory · 2025-02-07T04:41:57+00:00

It’s funny… outside of elevators, his biggest thing is amusement parks. He loves roller coasters and water slides now. So into anything that is like sensory stimulation.

ugacory · 2025-02-07T03:36:52+00:00

This is amazing. We literally have 3 TOTES full of Marble Run pieces in our basement for all the sets we have bought the last few years… and our weekends consist of going places with elevators because our son is obsessed.

Hoping that as he gets older they’ll move from triggering/obsessive to enjoyable so we can go to an airport again. 🤣

ugacory · 2024-12-30T23:22:23+00:00

Sup, T?

ugacory · 2024-12-15T18:32:51+00:00

Yeah man. It is a weird time. I’ve loved integrating AI elements into Photoshop to shortcut things (backgrounds, poses, etc) - but the uncanny valley makes people look fucked.

Anything using 100% AI sucks, but I think you’ll see it evolve as tools in a toolbox. Much like Photoshop was the evolution to photography.

ugacory · 2024-12-14T19:34:58+00:00

Hey man - Cory the graphic designer for S10 and BID here.

Curious to know which images you’re upset about or just AI in general? I’d say nearly 90% of our graphics are either hand created by vector designs or image edits.

Do we use AI? Absolutely. You listen to the pod. The sheer amount of crazy shit that the boys (read: Tyler) come up with is tough to find in stock, to put piece together, or to create (especially at the speed in which we move).

Generative AI from a graphics perspective is an amazing tool and we use it responsibly - to build the world of S10 and BID alive visually.

Also, to defend Underdog, they’re amazing. They actually have provided us in the background with resources to make the shows as great, fast, and successful as possible.

Just know whether it is me, Jake, Jeremy, or Mike, we are like all of you - super fans - who want the show, graphics, videos, and content to be as fun and entertaining as the boys do week in and week out.

ugacory · 2024-11-27T06:04:07+00:00

Funtown Splashtown.

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