Thanks for digging the interview.
Here's a link to the transcript of the highlights if you don't feel like listening.
Also, I'll post the awesome street fight story here:
Brian Hemminger:
Ok, well you mentioned you got your nickname hanging out with Gabe Ruediger. I heard you guys used to all live together and you were just crazy. Do you mind sharing any of the stories from those days?
Bret Bergmark: Actually Gabe and I were roommates way back when, around the turn of the century. We were out with a bunch of our core groups of guys, Kurt Osiander, Aaron Hart, the Professor. It was New Years Eve, we were going down to watch the fireworks in San Fransisco down at the Fisherman's wharf in that vicinity. I've got a nice button up on, my boots, a cowboy hat.
Anyways, Kurt Osiander bumps into some guy and he goes "Whoops, sorry" and the guy gave Kurt a little bit of a shove and it was on from there. Kurt spins the guy around, gets him in a rear naked. Some other guy went after me and Gabe Ruediger jumps on him and goes for an armbar from mount. We're reasonably sober and we're pulling things apart going "let's get out of here, let's get out of here!" So we're running off and there's three guys in a ball on the ground. We're like "Oh shit!" and we're looking for cops walking away.
About 5 minutes later, the same group of guys show up with more fellas and they go after us all again. This time it's basically the same scenario as before except I'm the only one standing there. There's 8 guys on the ground, Kurt's got some guy on the ground. James Meadows has a guy in a triangle. There's guys flailing around. Gabe's got another guy in an armbar from mount, I don' t know what his deal was that night but armbar from mount was his deal. There was this little guy with us we called him Slim Shady, he must have been about 5'4 a solid, solid 130 and this guy comes after him and gives him a shove and Shady just lays him out with a straight right. The guy was about 6' and at least 200 lbs. He dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground. Again everyone's hustling up grabbing bodies and we're running down the street and these guys show up again.
It was ridiculous, 3 times they came at us and I'd had enough. I see a police officer and I tap her on her shoulder and I'm like "Pardon me, ma'am? These guys keep attacking us and getting their asses kicked." She talks into the radio and she goes "Three blocks back, that was you guys?" and I'm like "uhh, yeah??" and she starts laughing and she goes "Guys just walk off, keep walking away and I'll make sure they don't follow you 'cus apparently 3 of them are on their way to the hospital in the ambulance."
It was just one of those things you don't realize. Most of, we're just buddies having a good time, most of us looking like pencil-necked geeks. You've got me in a cowboy hat in the middle of the city, Kurt walking around being himself and all of the sudden they attacked one of us. It was shit like that pretty much every other weekend. It was fun for a while you eventually get tired of it, trying to do the right thing. Kurt apologized to the guy, bumping shoulders in the middle of the street. Show some class, but such is life.
