Episode 118 of the Nothing Major Show brought together Sam Querry, John Isner, Steve Shonson, and Jack Socks to recount their most embarrassing and disastrous moments from their careers, ranging from junior academy slip-ups to professional tour nightmares. The segment also revealed the backstory behind the show’s recurring joke about one of the hosts wearing “tighty whities.”
Underwear on the Court and the Origin of a Running Joke
The first horror story came from Jack, who recalled a moment from his younger days at an academy. Rushing to be on time for practice after school, he dropped his bag and decided to quickly strip off his tear-away gym pants—the kind with buttons running all the way down the side.
“My horror story I was I was new at the academy or not newish I was younger… Forgot to put shorts on underneath the pants Thought it’d be a cool move to run in do the full like whip off get straight onto the court flew those things off Just had the underwear on underneath…” (Jack)
He realized he was running out onto the court in just his underwear for about five to seven seconds, resulting in laughter from the older kids and girls. This led to a discussion about whether Jack wore “whitey tighties,” a suggestion he vehemently denied, but which the other hosts then pinned on John. The hosts joked that John gave off those “vibes,” instantly creating a new running gag for the show.
The joke then branched out to a related locker room mishap: the disastrous consequences of a laundry mix-up with a specific European player on the tour. The hosts quipped that if Fabio Fognini’s “Imperio Armani Whitey Tidy has touched any of your clothes you got to toss everything.”
Tough Tournaments and Travel Nightmares
Stevie shared his on-court horror story, dating back to his 2014 DC event, a tournament where he ironically reached the quarterfinals. His issue was not losing but the quality of the tennis played due to his opponents’ immense serving power.
“I didn’t play one point on return I played Jon 29 aces I played Carloic 27 aces Then I played Rayonic 16 aces I didn’t play a return point for like 72 hours.” (Stevie)
John’s
story began with a tough personal loss—choking while serving at 6-3, 5-4 in the 2010 B-Grade final against Sam, a match he ended up losing in three sets. This loss led to a travel nightmare. Deciding to take a later flight to Madrid after the loss, he and his coach, Craig Boon, were stranded when the volcanic ash from the Icelandic eruption canceled flights across Europe.Stuck in the B-Grade airport, they eventually flew to Barcelona and had to share a bed in a horrible motel. During this anecdote, John put his coach on blast for his choice of undergarment:
“Craig Boon wears Tidy White Oh for sure He’s a Tidy White blast He does Oh no Do it I put him on blast” (John)
The next day, John endured a three-to-four-hour train ride to Madrid, tired and unable to sleep because a conductor kept waking him for putting his foot on the opposite seat. He had to play a match that same afternoon.
A Career-Threatening Injury in Bangkok
Sam ended the segment with his most serious and legitimate horror story, which occurred in 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. The day before a tournament, Sam was in the locker room after practice, attempting to put on his shoes and socks while sitting on a glass coffee table.
“I fell through it got up and there was a shard of glass sticking out of my arm… Sliced right through the skin right through the muscle missed the nerve by a millimeter If it missed the if it hit the nerve I probably would have lost use of my hand.” (Sam)
Sam described the corridor looking like a “murder scene” due to the amount of blood. After receiving emergency attention from the tournament doctor, he was taken to a private hospital, where a Thai-Australian doctor performed emergency surgery to stitch up the muscle and the skin. Sam was out for the next three to four months, with his arm sliced so badly that when he flexed, he “could just see the inside of the skin and the muscles moving.” The incident happened right as John was heading to court for his own match.