You're Not Walking Around Dressed As A Penis

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: “You're Not Walking Around Dressed As A Penis”
Date: October 24, 2025

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Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand dives into a blend of current political happenings, cultural phenomena, and sporting scandals. The hosts, Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty, bring their typical irreverent tone to discussions about U.S. military action, energy prices and green policy, viral Halloween costumes (including the eponymous penis suit), the evolution of American culture, a sprawling NBA gambling scandal, and political controversies—punctuated by a few celebrity impersonations and comedic tangents.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. U.S. Strikes Against Venezuela and the Question of War ([00:16]–[03:22])

• Ongoing U.S. military strikes against boats near Venezuela and speculation regarding escalation.
• Jack raises the Bay of Pigs as a cautionary tale in foreign interventions.
• Joe: “If you are declaring war against these cartels... why not just ask for a declaration of war?” ([01:26])
• Trump (impersonator or clip): “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay. We’re going to kill them.” ([01:36])
• Jack and Joe riff on the potential for deeper U.S. involvement and compare it to historic fiascos.

2. Domestic Energy Policy & Soaring Utility Prices ([03:22]–[07:56])

• Announcement of Arctic oil and gas drilling in Alaska and sanctions against Russian oil.
• The hosts claim opening drilling could economically squeeze Russia further.
• Analysis of rising electricity rates, especially in “blue” states due to shutting down coal/nuclear plants for green energy policies.
  • Joe: “Prices in California... up 58% over the past five years. More than doubled since 2008.” ([05:29])
• Jack’s personal struggle with $1,000/month energy bills: “My bills this year are $1,000 a month... I don’t know how people afford to live.” ([06:11])
• Critique of Democrats’ policies and the loss of nuclear as an “energy scapegoat.”

3. Viral Halloween Costumes & Cultural Shifts ([07:56]–[12:19])

• The explosion in popularity of costumes from the Netflix show “K Pop Demon Hunters.”
  • Jack: “It’s as big as anything has ever been. K Pop Demon Hunters.” ([09:19])
  • Parents scramble and pay high prices for sold-out costumes.
• The prevalence of “adult” costumes like the penis suit, even on mainstream shelves.
  • Jack: “My high school son really wanted the penis costume and I said no.” ([10:00])
  • Joe: “You’re not going to be walking the streets of our town... dressed as a penis.” ([10:28])
• Hosts lament the fading of shared cultural norms and taboos.
  • Joe: “We no longer have what could be properly described as a common culture in the United States... If there is no commonality... there are no guidelines.” ([11:53])

4. NBA Gambling Scandal: Rigged Card Games & Point Shaving ([19:20]–[34:23])

• Deep-dive into the NBA gambling scandal involving players, the Mafia, and sophisticated cheating equipment.
  • News report: “Chauncey Billups is... involved in a very complicated scheme involving rigged poker games that did include members of the mafia.” ([20:00])
• Description of cheating technology:
  • Expert: “The X-ray table... has cameras built into it... that can actually see through the green felt...” ([22:09])
• Levels of NBA player involvement, from tipping friends to alleged point shaving.
• Discussion of a story involving LeBron James and Damon Jones—questions about implications but skepticism about direct involvement.
  • Jack: “If the suggestion there is that... LeBron, one of the biggest sports stars... is involved, the coach would have to be involved for putting the guy in.” ([28:29])
• Commentary on gambling culture in the NBA and rampant high-stakes poker games.
• Parallels between sports, gambling, and mainstream lingo.

5. Political Satire, Trump, and Tariffs ([14:06]–[18:16])

• General Motors’ new “eyes off” driving tech; hosts are skeptical of its readiness.
• Canadian ad uses a Reagan speech to criticize Trump’s tariffs; debate ensues over selective quoting.
  • Jack: “The Canadian version leaves out the stuff where Reagan says... we believe in fair trade, free trade, but also fair trade.” ([15:13])
• Tension surrounding the World Series and rising U.S.-Canada trade hostilities—speculation whether crowds will boo anthems.

6. Political Scandals: Nazi Tattoos & Election Implications ([34:02]–[39:17])

• Reported that a Democratic Senate candidate has a history of a Nazi tattoo, driving debate about media coverage and political hypocrisy.
  • Jack: “You probably shouldn’t have Nazi tattoos if you’re running for the Senate. Maybe get that covered up.” ([34:16])
  • Joe: “If a Republican had a Nazi tattoo, that would be the lead story of every news organization in America.” ([39:09])
• Light banter about candidates, rubber-stamping, and public image.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On U.S. foreign action
  “I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay. We're going to kill them.” — Donald Trump (impersonator/clip) [01:36]
• On energy bills
  “My bills this year are $1,000 a month. I don’t know how people afford to live.” — Jack Armstrong [06:11]
• On cultural mores
  “We no longer have what could be properly described as a common culture in the United States... If there is no commonality in those... There are no guidelines.” — Joe Getty [11:53]
• On wild Halloween costumes
  “You’re not going to be walking the streets of our town... dressed as a penis.” — Joe Getty [10:28]
• On NBA gambling schemes
  “The X-ray table... has cameras built into it... cameras could see what that card is and then transmit it.” — Cheating Expert (clip) [22:09]
• On LeBron rumors
  “If the suggestion there is that... LeBron... is involved... the coach would have to be involved for putting the guy in.” — Jack Armstrong [28:29]
• On hypocrisy in political scandal coverage
  “If a Republican had a Nazi tattoo, that would be the lead story of every news organization in America.” — Jack Armstrong [39:09]

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Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Topic | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 00:16 | Venezuela strikes & Trump’s approach | | 03:22 | Opening Arctic drilling, Russian oil sanctions | | 05:28 | America’s climbing electricity prices | | 07:56 | K Pop Demon Hunters & Halloween craze | | 10:00 | The penis costume debacle | | 11:53 | Commentary on the loss of common culture | | 19:20 | NBA gambling & cheating tech | | 22:09 | Expert details on cheating equipment | | 28:29 | LeBron, Damon Jones, & game-fixing speculation | | 34:02 | Political scandal: Nazi tattoo | | 39:09 | Double standards in media coverage |

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains Armstrong & Getty’s signature blend of comic exasperation, pop culture quips, and pointed cynicism. Their rapport is light and conversational, unafraid to mix caustic commentary with self-deprecating wit. They reference news, politics, and subcultures with both amusement and concern, punctuated by impersonations and quick tangents.

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For listeners new to the show, this episode provides a lively cross-section of news, culture, scandal, and satire—delivered in Armstrong & Getty’s distinctly sardonic style.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live.

[Jack Armstrong]

From the Abraham Lincoln radio studio at.

[Commercial Announcer]

The George Washington Broadcast Center. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Armstrong and Getty (Joint)]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Joe Getty]

And now here's Armstrong and Getty after participating in last night's mayoral debate. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo attended the Knicks game while Curtis Sliwa watched some cats fight a pigeon in Central Park. He's not gonna win, but I kinda wish he would win for the old monologue. It wouldn't be bad to have Mayor Sleewa in there.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you're gonna have a communist to talk about, so that's fun. Gonna run through a couple of different things that are in the news that might be getting obliterated with, you know, the lead stories like our trade war with Canada or the G gambling scandal or any of that sort of stuff. We bombed some more people in a boat near Venezuela last night. Here's that. One thing was very clear, that these strikes are not going to stop anytime soon. And in fact, they appear to just be getting started. President Trump saying he didn't believe he needed to go to Congress to continue to strike these boats and then threatening once again to strike on land.

[Joe Getty]

And Mr. President, if you are declaring war against these cartels and Congress is.

[Jack Armstrong]

Likely to approve of that process, why not just ask for a declaration of war?

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

Well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay. We're going to kill them.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, they're going to be like, dead.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

Sorry, was that an outtake from the Godfather movies?

[Jack Armstrong]

So what's, what's with all the Marines and the bombers and the. There's a. Amphibious boats where you can like, do a D Day sort of landing on the beaches. What's. What's all that stuff going on?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I don't, I, I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Are we gonna do that?

[Joe Getty]

Intimidating Maduro into something? But no, we're not gonna invade Venezuela.

[Jack Armstrong]

You don't think so?

[Joe Getty]

Surely not. Good Lord.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've been assuming that at some point we're going to. With the amount of equipment and personnel that we've sent down there.

[Joe Getty]

All right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Somebody was. I was reading David Ignatius in the Washington Post and he was bringing up, you know, the famous Bay of Pigs incident. If you haven't read about it, you should. It's an interesting historic story where we, the CIA, with the help of some mobsters and everybody else, tried to storm the beaches there in Cuba and were met with great resistance and it went very, very poor.

[Joe Getty]

Poorly.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Fraught with screw ups. Yeah. I said, I can't remember when I said this a couple of months ago.

[Jack Armstrong]

That was a Kennedy plan.

[Joe Getty]

Right. And somebody needs to mark this. These words. I have thought for a very long time the Trump presidency is accomplishing amazing things and feels like something that's going to spin out of control. Both are true. I don't.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I don't know about the second part. We'll have to wait and see. But I liked this announcement from the Trump administration last night. The US Will allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Of course, this being the New York Times, it said a vast tract of pristine wilderness. They're against it. But that opening up some more of our land to drill domestically obviously makes us more independent in terms of oil and really hurts Russia as the price of oil is quite low now and will drive it down with that news.

[Joe Getty]

Love it. And we are the most responsible and careful oil drillers on earth. So if the oil's going to get used, we might as well be the ones drilling for it. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

The sanctions that Trump announced on Russia with their two biggest oil companies and China and India signing on saying, yeah, we won't buy oil from him anymore with those sanctions. And we announce we're opening up more drilling here, we really could be squeezing Russia into a situation where they're going to have to back down. I hope that's what happens.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. Speaking of energy and energy use, electricity prices are rising, according to energy writer Steve Gorham. And Democrats are making it a campaign issue. They blame the price hike on President Trump and those damn congressional Republicans who ended Biden era green energy subsidies. And that's why energy prices are going up. But prices are actually soaring because of plant closures and natural gas shortages in blue states, all in the name of green energy. For instance, according to Energy Department data, electricity prices in California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York have risen more than 30% in the last five years. The average is about 22% nationally. But keep in mind that average includes the super high numbers. Because of climate policy, these blue states closed most of their coal fired power plants and nuclear facilities over the past 15 years. In comparison, prices in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Texas and other states hampered less by green energy initiatives are rising significantly less than the US average.

[Jack Armstrong]

Man, my energy.

[Joe Getty]

California's electricity prices up 58% over the past five years. More than doubled since 2008.

[Jack Armstrong]

Glad you mentioned that before I said this. So California's electric prices up 58% over the last five years. I am now. I'm like, my parents were in the 70s. Last big energy crunch where I tell my kids, hey, hey, hey, don't leave the room, leave the light on. Or let's open the window and cool it off in here and sell the air conditioner, do it. Or that sort of stuff. I didn't worry about that five years ago. I mean, I may. I could have been more frugal and. But it wasn't. My energy bills are insane. Air conditioning, air conditioning, my house. My bills this year are $1,000 a month. Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

That's insane.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like that sort of thing that only used to happen if you lived in some sort of ginormous mansion or something, or.

[Joe Getty]

I was just gonna say, yeah. And your house is not enormous.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, it's just a regular house.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. And a regular dollars a month.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. I don't know how people afford to live.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. You know, what's happening, if you want to get down to the basic political science of it, is the cronies of Democrats in the energy industry. They get money, and then you pay for that through your higher bills. That's the way the money flows. So enjoy that. Massachusetts, similar, third highest in the nation state, produced about half as much electricity as it did in 2010 because of closures of coal plants, which might be due, but they also closed a big nuclear power plant in 2019 because of the bizarre lefty dislike of nuclear energy because of the radioactive waste. And anybody who studies energy at all knows nuclear energy is the only kind of energy that contains its waste. The rest goes out into the air or whatever. Oh, renewables, windmills, that sort of stuff now, it just doesn't. They just don't deliver. The technology isn't ready. Anyway, enough of that screen. Oh, Jack. See, this is. This is hilarious. I don't care that I'm out of touch with youth culture, really. Uh, my youths are all adults. I'd rather worry about the constitution, the state of the country, blah, blah, blah. I just don't have the bandwidth, as they say. But this one amused me. The Halloween costume. No, that does not amuse me at all. It annoys me. It annoys Katie. I could. Her head just fell in despair and hatred. Yes, Katie.

[Jeff Teague]

Oh, no.

[Joe Getty]

I just recoiled, that's all. I can't. I don't know why that bugs me so much, but it does. It's crushing. It's crushing. Anyway, I've got to admit, I was amused when I learned about the Halloween costume that is so hot, parents are going to extraordinary lengths and paying extraordinary figures to get it for their kids because their kids are desperate for that Halloween costume. It is the various characters from the Netflix show K Pop Demon Hunters.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, K Pop Dinam. My kids aren't into it, but I'm, I'm aware of it because so many people are into it.

[Joe Getty]

Kelly Benning's nine year old daughter badly wanted to dress up for Halloween as the knife slinging rapper named Zoe from K Pop Demon Hunters, the global phenomenon surprise hit movie of the year. I had never heard that phrase in my life. So huge. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh wow, that's interesting. Yeah, it's omnipresent.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Anyway, yeah, it's Scrambling to find options to dress their kids as the demon slaying singers of Hunter Slash X and their rivals, the Saja Boys.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh yeah. And the music is a really, really big deal for a certain segment of society. Yes, Michael.

[Joe Getty]

It's like the Banana Splits but with better production values. Yes. I'm hearing that grade school girls love this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, it's, it's ginormous. It's as big as anything has ever been. K Pop Demon Hunters.

[Joe Getty]

Wow. Netflix is selling the trademark yellow jacket worn by yet another character for 89.95. And that's before the cost of her zippered blue shorts, combat boots and waist length purple braid. Some parents are breaking out sewing machines and glue guns they haven't used in years. Others are panicking.

[Jack Armstrong]

Really?

[Joe Getty]

It's sold out. We can't afford it. You got to dress as something else. It's the first in a series of many, many disappointments you're going to endure in life, honey.

[Jack Armstrong]

So we were at one of the big Halloween stores a week ago and my high school son really wanted the penis costume and I said no.

[Joe Getty]

Pardon me? It's actually really funny.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's very popular this year, this penis costume. And I, I said no, you're not going to. You're not going to. He kept saying it's so funny. My friends would think it's so funny. I'm sure they would. But you're not.

[Joe Getty]

That's correct.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're not going to be walking the streets of our town, going to your friend's parents house dressed as a penis. But there were so many different varieties of penis. Hats, costumes, T shirts, whatever. And they're not like in some hidden section of the Halloween costume store. The same. You know, it's next to the snow White stuff where the little girls are walking Around I thought, when did, when did displaying penises become so popular?

[Joe Getty]

I wish I were more religious because I have a sudden urge to become a monk and go study and take a vow of silence and then read ancient scrolls or whatever they do in the monk business.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think I'm done. My 15. My 15 year old came running over because we're looking at various stuff and he said look how cool this is. And he put on this penis hat and it looked like a, you know, the top end of a peen.

[Joe Getty]

You know.

[Jack Armstrong]

You've seen them? Yeah, probably.

[Joe Getty]

We get it. We on board. Yeah, I can picture it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Apparently you're still talking. I'm taking off my headphones for 30 seconds at a time and just putting them back on to check.

[Jack Armstrong]

I said I am not buying that for you.

[Joe Getty]

Well that's good. I'm glad to hear that.

[Jack Armstrong]

But again, why, why these. The, the, the. The nasty stuff right there with all the other stuff. I guess that's just the way we are as a society now.

[Joe Getty]

Absolute lack of cultural agreement. We no longer have what could be properly described as a common culture in the United States which includes mores, as they say, rules, do's and don'ts. What is acceptable, what is unacceptable. If there is no commonality in those. Those guidelines. There are no guidelines.

[Jack Armstrong]

We did buy the six foot dummy that we keep dressing up in different clothes and leaving it around the house. And every one of us gets scared. Regularly walked into the living room today. This guy sitting on the couch.

[Joe Getty]

See that? I would that. That's rough. That jolt of animal terror first thing in the morning.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, well, wake up. You're gonna have an infernal. I'm gon a book about why it's good for you. It's better than a cold plunge. Get a six foot dummy.

[Joe Getty]

Dress it up dummy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Have it standing in the kitchen when you walk in that it'll wake you right up. Helps blood flow. Your mind is more alert.

[Joe Getty]

Dummy shock.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly. Better than the cold plunge dummy. Maybe I'd have been better off letting him get the penis costume so I don't have that dummy scaring me all the time. We got more news on the way. Stay here.

[News Reporter]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Joe Getty]

You guys see this? General Motors says they plan to launch a new eyes off driving technology where drivers don't have to steer or watch the road. That's great. Now your Uber driver can sit in.

[Jack Armstrong]

The back and talk with you. Wanna hear my band?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I guess so.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who, who said at the very beginning, who's announced the new General Motors? General Motors. Hmm. I'll be darned. I'm going to be surprised if there is a car that can actually say you don't need to pay attention. It'll drive you around because Tesla's not there yet. So this kind of happened overnight. The Canadians put out an ad of Ronald Reagan talking about how tariffs are a terrible idea and Trump did not like that and then so imposed some new tariffs on Canada, which once again, we need to get to this Supreme Court ruling where the Supreme Court decides. Can one guy decide these sorts of major, major economic decisions for the planet?

[Joe Getty]

Getting an update on the Supreme Court next hour with the Pacific Legal Foundation. Stay with us.

[Jack Armstrong]

But here's a little bit of the Ronald Reagan ad that they put out. When someone says let's impose tariffs on foreign imports, it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it work. Okay, so that's what it sounds like. It's Ronald Reagan from a radio address back in the 80s and he lays out in a very long way the, the long held Republican position that tariffs are a bad idea ultimately. But the reason that he made this address was he was trying to explain why he had imposed tariffs on Japan around semiconductors. So like Bloomberg I was reading made the point that the Canadians selected parts of Reagan's speech, pasted them together, and that it was not the entirety of the thing or blah, blah, blah. Both sides have a decent argument here on the whole Reagan ad in that it is selected quotes, it leaves out the stuff. The Canadian version leaves out the stuff where Reagan says, but in this instance, because Canada is not treating our agreement fairly, or Japan, Japan's not treating our agreement fairly, we are imposing these tariffs. This is a special instant. We believe in fair trade, free trade, but also fair trade. And Japan's not. The other side of the argument is he makes a long, long, I mean, very long argument for while tariffs in general are a terrible long term idea and that is just flat out true. That was Reagan's position.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

So both sides can use some of this for ammunition.

[Joe Getty]

Well, we've cut off trade negotiations with Canada now. Just walked out of the room on the eve of the World Series, which could turn, turn ugly. It's going to be like a South American soccer match. The umps are going to have to shoot their way out of the stadium.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think a better, I think a better angle, if they'd have put more thought into it from the Trump administration would have been able would have been would been to choose the portion of the speech where Reagan explains why they're putting tariffs on Japan because they're not following the agreements. Since that's his argument with some of these other countries, I think that would have been a better way to handle it.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. Tweeting at each other in general is probably no way to hold trade negotiations.

[Jack Armstrong]

But no, no, it's not. Like I said earlier, it's going to be interesting to see if nationalism raises its head during the World Series tonight. How loud will the booze be for the US national anthem, which hasn't happened in previous World Series when Toronto was playing?

[Joe Getty]

Boy, it happened in the NHL a lot last season. Yeah, I guarantee it happens. Guarantee and the booing will be lusty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's interesting, huh? Okay, we got a lot more on the way. If you miss a segment, get the podcast.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Joe Getty]

You know, I don't, I don't. That pressure thing is nothing to me, man. I do the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. You know that about me by now.

[Jack Armstrong]

Quick, there's nothing to that clip other than that's the coach Chauncey Billups using the phrase let the chips fall where they may. Guilty.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, I get it. Let the chips fall where they may.

[Jack Armstrong]

Guilty.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, he said it again.

[Jack Armstrong]

So he's the coach for the Portland trails Blazers hall of Famer, former star player, NBA champion Chauncey Billups who got caught up in this whole gambling thing and this story. And then we're going to hear in a little bit from a gambling expert. Forget about it. He's going to explain how this all goes down. But here's, here's more or less the story from cnn.

[News Reporter]

Martin Trailblazer head coach and hall of Famer Chauncey Billups is kind of a very complicated scheme involving rigged poker games that did include members of the mafia. Billups was the lure who brough wealthy bettors into these poker games where things like illegal card shuffling machines were used so they could not possibly win. They took those profits and split them up and then mafia went on and did what they usually did. In the other, I guess more traditional case if you will, Terry Rozier, who plays for the Miami Heat was involved in what is essentially point shaving. He would give players or give people insider information about his status and in some cases remove himself from a game with an injury so that they were able to, to bet on his points, assists and rebounds. Prop bets as they're called and, and profit off of that insider information.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, you got this, like there's different levels of that. You got this Damon Jones guy who played with LeBron who supposedly would tip people off, hey, LeBron's hurting, ain't going to play Thursday night so we're probably going to lose. And then people would bet accordingly. That's a, you know, it's illegal and you don't want that going to cause all kinds of problems.

[Joe Getty]

Certainly not. But it's a different level, definitely a.

[Jack Armstrong]

Different level driving at than a guy pretending to be hurt and pulling himself out of the game having tipped people off. I'm going to score way fewer than my average 18 points tonight.

[Joe Getty]

Right, Right. Are we planning, I don't remember on Running the next.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I want to get to the expert first and then we can get into the players. So this is.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, that's that. I was just gonna say the lady on cnn, she said the card shuffling machine.

[Jack Armstrong]

She left out the fun stuff.

[Joe Getty]

They had a damn X ray table. Yeah. Where you could read the cards.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's this guy, Sal, Italian last name, who's a cheating expert, explaining how else it goes down. They allegedly also used high tech equipment.

[News Reporter]

To rig play like this X ray machine, which authorities say could read cards that were face down on the table.

[Joe Getty]

Also used hidden cameras and altered.

[Jack Armstrong]

We're playing the cheating expert 37. There we go.

[Armstrong and Getty (Joint)]

The X ray table, that's just a table that has cameras built into it that look upward at the cards. It can actually see through the green felt. So you can use any deck of cards. As long as the cards lie above the camera. The camera could see what that card is and then transmit it. The shuffle machines, what happens is the deck made two has a camera in it. The cameras know every card and can actually sort that deck out and put it back in order for you. Well, the cheaters came up with ways of utilizing that camera as well to know what cards are being dealt and who's getting them. And that shuffle machine is altered to transmit to an earpiece to tell the people who were going to win.

[Jack Armstrong]

God, that seems awfully complicated. You'd have to keep track of. You'd have. You need almost multiple people, wouldn't you? To watch different players hands. And then unless you're some sort of idiot savant. That'd be a lot to keep track of.

[Joe Getty]

No. Cause really? Well, I, I don't know because this is way more sophisticated than I was guessing it was yesterday. As I said earlier, I was going on like riverboat gambler or neighborhood poker game.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wild Bill Hickok.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, this is, this is really sophisticated cheating. But all I have to know as a cheater is whether to fold or not fold or stay. That's all I need to know. It's like one bang on the trash can. This is World series appropriate. One bang on the trash cans. Fastball, two bangs is a breaking pitch. That's all I need to know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, how about the cameras staring up through the felt and actually looking at all the cards? I mean, obviously that's a tremendous advantage.

[Joe Getty]

Oh please. That's what I'm saying, all of it. And it's, it's almost ridiculous how many layers. I mean this was so ironclad, it's almost overkill. What you need the card shuffling machine and the X ray table and the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Special contact lenses and.

[Joe Getty]

Or glasses that could read the markings on the back of other cards.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I suppose you cover all your bases in case the guy doesn't lay his cards down on the table over the camera. You got the markings on the back. It just. But yeah, I. If I'm playing with some guy who's got an earpiece and. Hey, what's with the earpiece there, Sal? What, what you. What you listening to? I'm just listening to baseball game.

[Joe Getty]

Love them Yankees. Yankees are off tonight. I don't know much about the game.

[Jack Armstrong]

So again, so you got two angles to this whole thing. You got the illegal card games going on. That the NBA tie in there is just that star players would be the lure to get rich people to show up.

[Joe Getty]

And we're learning there's a big culture of super high dollar poker in the NBA.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then you get into the players and what they might have been doing in games and that sort of stuff, which seems like a smaller amount of. I don't know. Do you think so?

[Joe Getty]

Well, from a law enforcement perspective, yeah. But from a. Running a sports league, it's devastating.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah. From a. It's exciting to hear about. I'm way more excited about the NBA stuff than. I assume there's lots of card cheats in the world.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, right, right. This, this could. I don't know what, bring the league to its knees, whatever that means. This, this could be enormous in the history of American sports.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, here's former NBA star Gilbert Arenas. Was he a king? Was he Michael Gilbert Arenas?

[Joe Getty]

No, no, he was a warrior. He was a warrior.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I knew he's a local somehow. Anyway, he's telling a story about the 2006 NBA playoffs and this guy, Damon Jones. Go ahead. That's 34.

[Gilbert Arenas]

You got two free throws and LeBron comes by and taps you on the chest and whispers something to you. What did, what did he tell you? He said, if you miss these free throws, you know who's going to win it. What makes it worse because we gamble at LeBron's house. Me, Damon Jones, you know, that was our group. So Damon Jones was horrible. Horrible cards. He owed me money. I like every time we played them, I always used to scream out, the landlord's hit. The landlord needs his rent money, so he doesn't even play in game six. So when he whispers, you know who's gonna hit it? Everybody assumed it was him. I knew what he was talking about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Like I was.

[Gilbert Arenas]

I was Balling that game, just hit the three to get us in overtime. And then I see Damon Jones in there stretching, and they really put the man in. And the fact that LeBron even passed him the ball is what hurt the most.

[Joe Getty]

Damon Jones, who hadn't played a second long game, inserted a. Knocks down the one shot.

[Jack Armstrong]

So what is being suggested there?

[Joe Getty]

That LeBron told Gilbert Arenas that if he misses the free throw, Damon Jones is going to win a bet? Is that the way we interpreted that? That's the way Hansen, executive producer, interpreted it. Well, why did that would imply that LeBron knew that Damon Jones was gambling on the game or. I'm not sure. I'm confident in that interpretation.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, this would be the biggest scandal, one of the biggest scandals in sports history, obviously. So if the suggestion there is that, oh, God, how many people would have to be involved if Damon Jones, who hadn't played the entire game, now he is. He's one of the people arrested, Right? We know he's dirty.

[Joe Getty]

Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, he's one of the guys arrested. So he's absolutely dirty. But so.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah, we're innocent until proven guilty, Jack. This is shocking. Thank you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever. So he doesn't play the entire game, and they put him at the very end so that he could. Presumably then LeBron passes him the ball. So you got somebody you can count on who will miss it on purpose. I mean, is that what you're suggesting? Because if you're suggesting that LeBron, one of the biggest sports stars in the history of any sport on earth, is involved, the coach would have to be involved for putting the guy in.

[Joe Getty]

I mean, what.

[Jack Armstrong]

What are you suggesting here?

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, I'm not sure I understood everything I needed to about that clip.

[Jack Armstrong]

It might just be. If you can work LeBron into the story, it's very exciting. That's what I'm thinking. It is. I mean, it's kind of interesting that this guy that was arrested as a regular card player at LeBron's house. That's kind of interesting.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we ought to play the next clip of Jeff Teague.

[Jeff Teague]

Anytime you say anything about Brian, people call you and say, hey, man, you might want. Hey, okay, I want to chill. I know you got some funny stories. And, hey, leave LeBron alone. I'm like, damn, I came on here and apologized. I'm sorry. I'm talking some real people like, you.

[Joe Getty]

Know what I mean?

[Jeff Teague]

Like, hey, we funny. Yeah, you get a little too funny. All right, My fault, brother. So I know ain't nothing getting by. They hold, they hold camp. They run the lead. That whole camp run the lead, bro. They too plugged in.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

All right?

[Jack Armstrong]

There's a lot of language there I don't understand, but okay. Anytime you say something about LeBron, people come to you and say, hey, shut up. Well, it's like the Caitlin Clark thing. This is your biggest star bringing in the most money. Don't go around bad mouthing Caitlin Clark, all right? It's stupid.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, yeah. That could be. Again, some of the street lingo escapes me as a doughy suburban dad, but, yeah, people call you real people, heavy people, whatever he said. And. And he did. He did what sounded like a little bit like a mob accent, a little. Hey, you. Shame if something happened to your nice Miami beach mansion.

[Jack Armstrong]

Don't you think that Cash Patel. Jesus, of all people, Cash Patel, the FBI. If there was a sniff that LeBron was involved, they would have hung on to this stuff until they could have nailed that down.

[Joe Getty]

Cash me outside, Patel. I don't know, because that would be.

[Jack Armstrong]

Such a big score. Oh, my God. I don't think LeBron's involved in throwing games in point shaving. I just don't.

[Joe Getty]

No. But I'll bet he gambles a lot. A lot more than the league would be comfortable with. People know, but he does, too.

[Jack Armstrong]

So most NBA stars, it seems like, could be.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm not really worried about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would like to know how many rosiers are out there, though. That guy, people that most people have never heard of who are missing shots on purpose to pay off gambling debts. I'd like to know how many of those people were in the NBA.

[Joe Getty]

Well, speaking of getting a little action on sports, prize picks, the easiest and most fun way for daily fantasy sports for you. It's super simple. All you do is pick more or less on at least two player stats. If you get your picks right, you could cash in. And you can combine athletes from multiple sports, too. You got a little theory on the baseball, the basketball, whatever.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. You got World Series tonight and this weekend. And then of course, another big weekend of NFL action with some really good games, including Chiefs Commanders on Monday Night Football, which I'm excited about. Come on, Broncos.

[Joe Getty]

Lose.

[Jack Armstrong]

I need the Broncos to lose to the Cowboys. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is with prize picks.

[Joe Getty]

Download the Prize Picks app today. Use the Code Armstrong to get $50 in lineups. After you play your first $5 lineup. Good Lord. You don't need to win. They give you fifty dollars to play around with just for playing a Five dollar lineup. That's the code, Armstrong, to get fifty in lineups after you play five prize picks, it's good to be right. Let the chips fall where they may.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

That's what I'm saying.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, so I don't think LeBron's involved. It's exciting to, to like, take some of these difficult to follow stories and try to pretend there's something around that, but I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. I don't want to get the call from the heavy guy with the accent.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

Hey, Joe Getty, you're funny. Maybe a little too funny. Just trying to shut up about brawn, huh?

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm just surprised that there's so many rich people that are willing to sit down with strangers and get fleeced at a card game. And I don't know, that was just kind of surprising to me.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, a lot of people with a lot of money have that money because they're fanatically competitive and, you know, playing cards is fun. It's fun. It's a mind game. It's a mental exercise. It's all the bluffing and all. I love it. I don't. I don't play much poker anymore.

[Jack Armstrong]

Because you've been cheated.

[Joe Getty]

Well, that's not really the reason why.

[Jack Armstrong]

But you have been cheated. You said that.

[Joe Getty]

I suspect so, yes. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, somebody's wearing the X ray glasses.

[Joe Getty]

No, no, it was the old fashioned way. Just a syndicate, as they call it. He. He and another guy were cooperating and that's enough to stack the deck in. In your. In their favor again, no pun intended. It's funny how sports and gambling lingo is so pervasive in our language. I heard Noah Rothman of the National Review, who's not a sports fan at all, he used three sports related, like metaphors in the span of 20 seconds and he's not even a sports fan. He. He hit behind the eight ball. I can't remember what they were, but anyway, get it out of the park.

[Jack Armstrong]

That sort of stuff.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, something like that. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Anyway, about the nose. You put your finger on the nose. Just. That means I got a good hand.

[Joe Getty]

My allergies? No, bad idea.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

You get shot for that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the guy who wants to be a senator has got a Nazi tattoo. We got to look into that story some more. We were talking about it the other day. There's another wrinkle to that. You probably shouldn't have Nazi tattoos if you're running for the Senate. Maybe get that covered up.

[Joe Getty]

Democrat. Nazi.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can't. You can't you get that turned into a rose or something like that before you announce you're running for Senate?

[Joe Getty]

Well, he got it turned into something else and that's part of the punchline.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, cool. We got a lot on the way. Stay here.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Making it clear this is a comedian. This is not actually the President of the United States.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

Give me what you got for a pork chop. I don't know who said it, but whoever said it was a genius.

[Jack Armstrong]

Look at it.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

It's actually one of the most beautiful things in the history of the world. And you look at this. Rosie o' Donnell won't eat that because that's called cannibalism. Right. She'd be eating herself. Pigs.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Donald Trump (Impersonator or Clip)]

She's a very, very nasty person. But this is a beautiful pork chop and a lot of people know about it. Nobody can cook them like I do. We have a Blackstone in the White House. They call me a racist. We have a Blackstone in the White House and we make fantastic pork chops. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Joe Getty]

What the heck?

[Jack Armstrong]

Rosie o' Donnell won't eat them. They call it cannibalism.

[Joe Getty]

The pause and then the barking out the word. That's good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yes. Oh, the defining a word or phrase as if it's something other people don't know what it means. That's a, that's a common Trump thing. Yeah, Always funny in our three. We'll get to the Senate candidate who has had a giant Nazi tattoo, according to some, on his chest for quite some Time. And he's a Democrat. He's. He's trying to run against that kind of squishy Republican Maine senator. What's her name?

[Joe Getty]

Susan Collins.

[Jack Armstrong]

Susan Collins, yeah. And take her down. Which, you know.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. Well, the more it comes out against the. About this guy, the more dim his prospects look. He's a joke. Anyway, more on that next hour Bloomberg.

[Jack Armstrong]

Headline, Trump's sudden shift on Putin spurred by Russia critic Rubio. So apparently the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has convinced Trump that Russia is not in the least bit serious about any sort of ceasefire or backing down or you can't trust them and all those sorts of things. And has been successful.

[Joe Getty]

Finally got through to the old man. Yeah. I wonder what those dynamics were like, because it's not like Marco Rubio just figured that out.

[Jack Armstrong]

No, Marco Rubio has known that the whole time. He's. And he's a really smart guy. I'm guessing Marco Rubio feels like my job is to stay here and try to push my point of view however slowly it takes.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

To get the right outcome. And maybe that's what has actually happened here with the oil sanctions kicking in two days ago, which almost everybody I read of any political stripe thinks is a big deal. Like MSNBC taking them very, very seriously. In addition to right wingers.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's a real art. You remember that couple of radio executives that we dealt with way back in the day? One wanted to hire us and then the other one did, but. But the first guy got fired even though he's great at his job. And the second guy described it as he was right, but you can't say the same thing in the same way over and over again. You've got to be more subtle and creative about it. He, you know, he was right all along, but he just so chafed his bosses that they dumped him. And Rubio must be really skilled at not doing that. Really aware of the need to not do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I gotta think about that with a couple of teenagers that I regularly talk to use exactly the same tact every single time.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well, yeah. You've got to keep a person's ear. Right. Or you have no chance.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, clearly true. Okay, so we had a lot of good stuff on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's funny.

[Joe Getty]

If a Republican had a Nazi tattoo, that would be the lead story of every news organization in America. Must have not heard about it. Or not knows.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's an excellent point. If a Republican had a giant Nazi tattoo on their chest, you would have heard that story. Armstrong and Getty this is an iHeart podcast.