March Madness Bracket Predictions + Steve Rinella On Building The Meat Eater Empire

Summary

Episode Summary: "March Madness Bracket Predictions + Steve Rinella On Building The Meat Eater Empire"

Release Date: March 18, 2025

In this action-packed episode of "Bussin' With The Boys," hosts Will Compton and Steve Rinella dive deep into their March Madness bracket predictions before sitting down with special guest Steve Rinella to discuss the growth and success of the Meat Eater Empire. The episode seamlessly blends sports analysis, entrepreneurial insights, and engaging personal stories from the world of hunting and outdoor adventure.

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I. March Madness Bracket Predictions

The episode kicks off with an enthusiastic discussion about the upcoming NCAA March Madness tournament. Will Compton and Steve Rinella share their strategies, favorite teams, and potential upset picks, offering listeners valuable insights for their own bracket pools.

• Bracket Strategies and Favorites:

  • Will Compton emphasizes a community-driven approach to bracket making, likening it to a "community pool." He discusses his ambitious six-leg futures parlay on teams like Auburn, Florida, Duke, and Houston.
    • Notable Quote: "Think of it like a community pool... get in there with the boys and dive in headfirst." [03:17]
  • Steve Rinella supports upsets such as Arkansas over Kansas, highlighting the unpredictability and excitement of the tournament.
    • Notable Quote: "I actually really like that Arkansas to beat Kansas in the first round. I love that pick." [25:57]

• Betting Insights and Live Strategies:

  • Both hosts delve into live betting strategies, comparing their experience to high-stakes scenarios from the movie "Focus."
    • Notable Quote: "The way I envisioned the live bet was like the movie Focus with Will Smith... how suspense flipping your picks." [05:39]
  • They discuss the importance of staying active with bets, especially during the early rounds, to maximize engagement and potential winnings.

II. Interview with Steve Rinella: Building The Meat Eater Empire

In an insightful interview, Steve Rinella shares the journey of transforming Meat Eater from a humble hunting and writing platform into a thriving media and commerce empire. He delves into the challenges, philosophies, and strategic decisions that fueled this growth.

• Brand Development and Expansion:

  • Rinella explains how Meat Eater started as a TV show and organically grew into a comprehensive brand encompassing outdoor gear companies like First Light, FHF Gear, Phelps Game Calls, and Dave Smith Decoys.
    • Notable Quote: "What that enabled is it wound up being that we own this whole... a universe of hunting and fishing content." [127:16]

• Conservation and Ethical Hunting:

  • Emphasizing his commitment to conservation, Rinella discusses balancing business growth with responsible wildlife habitat management.
    • Notable Quote: "I am going to be on the side of preserving our landscapes. Investing in these wilderness landscapes where American wildlife can continue to thrive." [191:05]

• Overcoming Tribalism and Fostering Leadership:

  • Shedding light on internal challenges, Rinella speaks about mitigating tribalism within outdoor communities and the importance of strong leadership in maintaining team cohesion and brand integrity.
    • Notable Quote: "You're always going to have these tribal divisions in how people approach hunting, but leadership is key." [Specific Timestamp]

III. Hunting and Outdoor Experiences

Beyond the realms of sports and business, the hosts share personal hunting stories and outdoor adventures, highlighting the intrinsic values of passion, perseverance, and family involvement in hunting traditions.

• Personal Hunting Anecdotes:

  • Will Compton recounts memorable hunts, including a challenging encounter with a coyote in Montana, illustrating the unpredictable and humbling nature of hunting.
    • Notable Quote: "When we went hunting in Montana, I took a shot at a coyote and missed. It was a humbling experience." [Interpreted from Transcript]

• Family and Mentorship in Hunting:

  • The conversation delves into integrating family life with hunting, emphasizing the importance of teaching children the values of responsibility, passion, and resilience through outdoor activities.
    • Notable Quote: "The most important thing you can demonstrate to your kids is to show them what it's like to be passionate about something." [Interpreted from Transcript]

IV. Engaging Conversations and Lighthearted Moments

Throughout the episode, the hosts engage in various off-topic conversations, including reflections on popular TV shows like "Severance" and "How I Met Your Mother," fostering a relatable and entertaining atmosphere for listeners.

• TV Show Reflections:

  • Discussions about the complexities of shows like "Severance" and the beloved character Barney Stinson from "How I Met Your Mother" add a layer of casual banter and humor.
    • Notable Quote: Rinella: "I think How I Met Your Mother might have been my number one. That's a great show." [171:03]

• Humorous Segments:

  • A playful segment involves the hosts trying a new "Bojangles Chicken and Boberry waffles," leading to laughs and light teasing, showcasing their friendly rapport.
    • Notable Quote: Compton: "You have these laminated cue cards kind of messed me up a little bit." [44:30]

V. Conclusion

As the episode draws to a close, the hosts encourage listeners to stay tuned for upcoming streams and content, emphasizing their commitment to providing insightful and entertaining discussions on both sports and outdoor adventures.

• Looking Forward:
  • Anticipation builds for future episodes covering live streams of March Madness games and more in-depth interviews.
    • Notable Quote: "I can't wait to be the first party individual... winning hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars." [20:34]

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Note: The timestamps provided are approximate and based on the transcript context. Actual segment durations may vary.

This episode offers a comprehensive blend of March Madness excitement, entrepreneurial success stories, and heartfelt hunting experiences, making it a must-listen for sports enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers, and fans of insightful conversations.

Transcript

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway.

[Will Compton]

It's stock up savings time now through March 25th.

[Steve Rinella]

Spring in for storewide deals and earn.

[Will Compton]

Four times the points.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Look for in store tags to earn on eligible beverage items from San Pellegrino.

[Will Compton]

And Pepsi or breakfast favorites like Chobani.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Greek yogurt, Dan and Oikos yogurt and Pete's coffee, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply.

[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

This season, let your shoes do the talking. Designer Shoe Warehouse is packed with fresh styles that speak to your whole vibe.

[Steve Rinella]

Without saying a word.

[Ryan Seacrest]

From cool sneakers that look good with.

[Will Compton]

Everything to easy sandals you'll want to wear on repeat, DSW has you covered. Find a shoe for every heel from the brands you love, like Birkenstock, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and more. Head to your DSW store or visit DSW.com today. PayPal lets you pay all your pals.

[Steve Rinella]

Like your graduation gifters. Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the beanbag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Will Compton]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send money with PayPal. Get started. In the PayPal app, a PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, we're good.

[Steve Rinella]

Be like busing with the boys hanging.

[Ryan Seacrest]

With the fellas Betting on a moment's gonna tell us what to do and.

[Will Compton]

I've been over here.

[Steve Rinella]

Just drinking beer.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And making that noise, baby.

[Will Compton]

I'm hanging with the fellas.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Busting with the boys, bro.

[Steve Rinella]

3:20Steve Rinella March Madness Ladies and gentlemen.

[Will Compton]

Welcome to another beautiful episode of Busing with the boys. Episode 320. A lot of exciting things happening on this podcast, but we got to start with our beautiful presenting sponsor. Yes, the FanDuel sportsbook. Why don't you take that off Will go ahead and rip it.

[Steve Rinella]

FanDuel is the number one sports book in America, fellas. We all know it is March Madness week. It is time to wear throw any knowledge you have. Look, if you've come to this podcast for for college basketball talk, which I'm sure you haven't, this is where it doesn't really matter. This. This is. Yeah, this is where you dive in. Whether I just remember the days in high school and middle school and you're just filling out millions of brackets with the boys. Doesn't matter if you're. I've been hearing talks about people going to Vegas to get in the action. Whether you're at home just watching on the couch with the boys, whether you're eating wings, whatever the case is. It is March Madness week. Bus with the boys. We will be streaming on Thursday and Friday the first round. It's our first dive into being in the. In the trenches all day long.

[Will Compton]

Think of it like a community pool in, in Bonaire, Missouri. You go out there with the boys and you get in the beginning of the pool and says do not dive. Well, guess what? The boys are diving in head first.

[Steve Rinella]

Delaney's going to be joining the boys. I, I believe there's some talks of Clay Matthews. Join us on Friday.

[Will Compton]

Beautiful hair.

[Steve Rinella]

But we'll be having. Yes, we'll be having the boys streaming on Thursday and Friday the first round of the games. Live betting, doing everything with the FanDuel sportsbook. And we do have, we do have some fun and exciting promos. The first one we're going to talk about the dog of the day. The beauty of the tourney. It's the underdogs. And now with dog of the Day, fanduel is turning the excitement up even higher. If you guys remember last week their dog of the day. If you had plus 100 odds or longer, you get a 30 profit boost on that dog. Well this week with the, with, with the first two rounds of the tournament, you bet on the lowest winning seed of the day and you'll win a share of $1 million in bonus bets.

[Will Compton]

A million dollars.

[Steve Rinella]

Let's say you bet on a 14 seed or my looking at McNeezy State taking down Clemson. That's McNE. You know that knowledge out the game.

[Will Compton]

Throw it out.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. This is about having fun.

[Will Compton]

I like McNeesy better than McNees anyway. McNeesy baby.

[Steve Rinella]

As a 12 seed they get an upset and no other 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 seed wins that day. We will win a share of $1 million in bonus bets. That's for Thursday. That's for Friday. That's for Saturday and Sunday. Fanduel is the best place to bet on the tournament. Just visit FanDuel.com Bussin to sign up to America's number one sportsbook today and back your dog of the day. You can also just download the app.

[Will Compton]

Can I say something?

[Steve Rinella]

21 + and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and present in D.C. opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See [e-mail] gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Chattinconenetic Hope is Here gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050.

[Will Compton]

For 24.

[Steve Rinella]

7 support in Massachusetts, visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org. in Maryland, call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY 467-369 in New York.

[Will Compton]

Real quick, Go ahead. A lot of people want to talk about all these different apps that you can sports bet on. There's only one app in the game that's able to do the futures bet. Oh yeah, you're able to if you want to do futures bet.

[Steve Rinella]

This is a second. This is a second little.

[Will Compton]

You got Michigan going to sweet 16. You got Arizona making the lead. A. You can take all those futures bets and you can parlay them together in one solitary bet. No other sportsbooks doing that. FanDuel is the only single one and it's a copycat league. I guarantee in the future there's gonna be a bunch of guys are also doing the same thing.

[Steve Rinella]

But.

[Will Compton]

But right now, the one and only sportsbook FanDuel is doing it for you right now. And I believe.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Can you explain that a little bit more?

[Steve Rinella]

Great news. Willie C. Just cooked one up.

[Will Compton]

Yep. Yep. Do you want me to explain it more or do you want Willy C. To tell you what's going on?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I think Will can explain it and then that would explain it.

[Will Compton]

Okay, perfect.

[Steve Rinella]

Mitch has got a mustache.

[Will Compton]

Mitch has got a mustache. He's got a little more confidence in him, too. You look good. Look really good, Buddy.

[Steve Rinella]

So on FanDuel, you can do a parlay on futures for the tournament. So for example, your boy has cooked one up already. Because I'm thinking, like, what is this about? Can I really just take like the top seeds and conservatively place them in the Sweet 16 or the Elite 8?

[Will Compton]

That's always the game.

[Steve Rinella]

We talk for a second. Auburn, they're a one seed. I got them reaching the elite eight. Florida to reach the elite eight. St. John's to get to the sweet 16. Duke to get to the elite eight. Houston to hit the sweet 16. Tennessee to reach the sweet 16. Doesn't matter if I believe any of those Teams can win the whole damn thing. But I have that six leg parlay on all futures. You put that together and that Parlay is worth plus 808 right now in the sports book.

[Will Compton]

Spicy.

[Steve Rinella]

Just FYI. People say, hey, this, everybody wants, you know, they want the March Madness to come alive. Like they want to get cute, they want to find all these upsets. How is this tournament going to be chaotic. But also people are talking out there. It feels like this is not necessarily a year. You kind of maybe want to keep it simple because these teams that are playing at a high level or playing at such a high level that it almost feels like a no brainer. Like people talking about like Duke and Auburn, Florida. I got Florida.

[Will Compton]

Rumor on the street is that Houston might be the best team out there right now. I've been talking to a couple guys and they're saying, Houston, hey, don't I know they're on one seed, but people are still sleeping on Houston a little bit.

[Steve Rinella]

You know why I like Houston basketball? Their strength coach. Yeah, yeah. They have a great strength program. Somebody I followed for a very long time and, and his name is Alan. What is his last.

[Will Compton]

He's followed him for a long time.

[Steve Rinella]

So apparently like he, he hasn't came across my algorithm in a while. And this could be a focus. Maybe he's somewhere else. But I've started following Houston basketball because of this strength coach because he's big on like the eccentric work, you know, the triphasic model. And he shows it like on social media. So I was just like, oh. And then when you see Houston kind of getting better and become the program that they've been, I'm not chalking it all up to the strength coach, but I'm thinking like, that's fucking awesome.

[Will Compton]

That's fucking. This doesn't need to be a weight.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Alan Bishop.

[Will Compton]

Shout out. Is that him right there?

[Steve Rinella]

Yes.

[Will Compton]

Handsome boy. Strong post before and after.

[Steve Rinella]

Photos of like the young freshman coming in and shows them at the end of the year, their sophomore year and the progress picks and it's like it gets you fired up.

[Will Compton]

I love that. And the eccentric talk is just a piece of nostalgia for me because it brings me back to Vanderbilt. We had that whole summer hitting that French eccentric with Rex.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, that French buddy training, that stuff.

[Will Compton]

Gets you strong as shit.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, he'll have the heels lifted four or five second eccentric.

[Will Compton]

Yes.

[Steve Rinella]

Just the stuff that, you know, he's in the weeds on and you think in your mind like based on the, the, the surface level knowledge that we have in the streng, you're like these basketball players, they're. They're on something special out there.

[Will Compton]

Get me juiced up. Maybe want to get under a bar right now doing some French eccentric, but there's some exciting. Fanduel is the best place to bet on the tournament. Just visit FanDuel.com Bussin to sign up to America's number one sportsbook today and back. Your dog of the day. There is frantic things.

[Steve Rinella]

Build yourself a future.

[Will Compton]

Frantic fingers just going towards the TV there for a second. I panicked and I just started reading. So thank you, boys. Thank you, thank you for that.

[Steve Rinella]

The first thing, because, you know, people at the top of this episode, if they're watching on YouTube right now, by the way, if you're listening on Spotify, Apple, all of them, make sure you're following and subscribed on all channels. But if you're watching on YouTube, they saw a little special piece at the top of the episode.

[Will Compton]

Bud Light.

[Steve Rinella]

Let's give a round of applause.

[Will Compton]

I mean, boys, this is. There is not a stronger partnership or a more aligned partnership than Bud Light and busting with the boys, if you are. But if you're in a think tank of Anheuser Busch, you're like, we need to make a podcast that represents Bud Light in America, in sports, in sports. Coming together as one cohesive unit. You are realizing that busting with the boys is the perfect pair. Yeah, it's like wine and cheese, baby. It is the perfect.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. And if you've been on day one, I don't know when we went with the other guys, when we the bus wrapped, but if you've been with us in those first couple of years of bus with the boys, you know that this bus was a Budweiser bus, a Dale Earnhardt 8 Budweiser bus. And we had the merch drop that. It wasn't like a collab with them, but we had our bowtie merch going.

[Will Compton]

They allowed us to kind of do it for a little bit because we.

[Steve Rinella]

Got a little bigger cease and desist, right?

[Will Compton]

So Ajax Turner, who is the regional brand for this area for Nashville, Tennessee, we'll just say that's the regional brand for Anheuser Busch. They. When we first started getting sponsors, was it. Whether it was like, you know, a real estate company or this company, we started getting Ajax Turner, we're like, yo, this is serious. So they allowed us to use the B and for the tier ones, you're listening to the story. You already know how the story goes. We end up getting A little bit bigger.

[Steve Rinella]

Yep.

[Will Compton]

We end up not having Ajax Turner as much anymore. I can't remember why that just didn't.

[Steve Rinella]

We went to. We went with Barstool.

[Will Compton]

We went with Barstool.

[Steve Rinella]

Not like that's what, that's what went away, but the sales.

[Will Compton]

Essentially our sales went away.

[Steve Rinella]

That helped sell us.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

In the very beginning, like one singular guy. A shout out. Adam Freudle. But he would help, he would help with these deals with the real estate company with Ajax Turner when they slid in the dms. So then when we went with Barstool, you kind of. Our exclusivity is now with Barstool.

[Will Compton]

Right. The sales, they. They held the entire sales branch of busting with the boys. Now going independent shout out fanduel for giving us the nudge on that.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

We have now been able to go and talk to other people and then Bud Light for a couple of years now. I met the CEO at Power Slap one time and he's like, hey, we'd love to be with you guys. And obviously who we were in bed with at that time. I don't want to be like, I love the other people we were with also.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Great partners, awesome to be around. Let us creatively do our own thing. Once there was like an opening, it was. We get on the horn right away and say, hey, Bud Light, do you want to do this? And they were scratched and clawing at the door just to become a part of busting with the boys. So this is going to be a beautiful partnership.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. And just getting back to the origin story.

[Will Compton]

Yes. And it's like people, people love to use the sellout. The sellout game. You guys are leaving, you guys are selling out. It's like, really, we're getting more back to the roots than we ever have with this bus. As OG as it possibly can be. Because when we got C Indeed by Anheuser Busch in the beginning, it was like, okay, well we're not going to do free shout outs. Like that's a core value of bus with the boys.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. I mean, Budweiser, it's.

[Will Compton]

It's everywhere.

[Steve Rinella]

It's all over this bus.

[Will Compton]

But on the side it now says bus.

[Steve Rinella]

We had to get it repainted, but we had to get it repainted to bus. And because when we, when we would do the fall tour, go to colleges, they're always like, hey, can we cover up the Budweiser, the alcohol stuff? Because you don't know what colleges are in bed where. So it was like, hey, it's just Kind of easier a. The free shout out where we just have Budweiser all over the place.

[Will Compton]

Just a rolling advertisement for them. Yeah. So, yeah, dude, it's. I'm fired up. I'm fired up. The idea of Bud Light, the. The amount of access that they're gonna have for us, the amount of talent they have, whether it's post one, the boy Shane. Like, they have a bunch of people that were allowed to live in their ecosystem a little bit. They have so many great partnerships that are gonna allow us to give you people better content. So it's just. It seems like a match made in heaven.

[Steve Rinella]

Could you imagine if we are on a Bud Light super bowl commercial?

[Will Compton]

I mean, I have. I've told you we're on the plane to Montana.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And I told you my idea. That that could be amazing.

[Steve Rinella]

It's a great idea.

[Will Compton]

Like, do we say it out loud? A part of me feels like yes. Because when it happens and we're not in it, it's like, well, we had that idea first. It kind of goes back to Jason Kelce doing the Christmas album. We had that idea first. You remember that idea?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, dude.

[Steve Rinella]

Making a Christmas Christmas album. We had the idea. We idea.

[Will Compton]

We had that idea. And then it kind of got shelf for a second. Fast forward one year later, Jason Kelsey's going platinum on a Christmas album.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Great album, by the way.

[Will Compton]

It's a great album. Phenomenal. But you want to say the idea.

[Steve Rinella]

Go ahead, man.

[Will Compton]

Christmas time snow is falling in Nashville, Tennessee. Broadway, a staple of Nashville, where every. All the bachelor bachelorette parties want to go to are there enjoying their time. The road's empty. It's vacant even. And now you see a group of clydesdales marching down with a wagon being pulled by yours truly and Will Compton right next to him. People are looking in awe seeing these beautiful horses walking down the street. Beers are flying from the wagon. They're being caught by Post Malone, by Shane Gillis, by bachelorette parties, by bachelor parties. Peyton Manning, Eli Manning. Hell, even Cooper Manning's over there grabbing himself.

[Steve Rinella]

I don't think he likes part of the.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so he's out.

[Steve Rinella]

He's out with the cartel.

[Will Compton]

Snow's on the ground. And as you see the wagon pulling away, it just says, tis the season of giving. Bud Light. That's the commercial.

[Steve Rinella]

No words, just all action.

[Will Compton]

None needed. Facial expressions only.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, I mean, Santa flying.

[Will Compton]

You hear. You hear a distant ho, ho, ho. And then a shooting. Is that a shooting star?

[Steve Rinella]

No.

[Will Compton]

It's Christmas time. Here's Some jingles in the background. That's all you hear. How beautiful is that?

[Steve Rinella]

So something to think about, you know, Bud lights listen. Right now.

[Will Compton]

They've got to listen.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. This is the launch.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And if they're the partners they claim to be, we're going to be in that commercial. Right. Those are the things that are going to happen.

[Steve Rinella]

Get us in that game.

[Will Compton]

Let's be in the commercials, man. So, yeah, really exciting stuff happened. We'll bust with the boys. We do. We just got back from Montana.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

I mean that was an incredible experience. Went to hunt coyotes. Didn't see one. Actually. That's a lie. I saw one. I saw.

[Steve Rinella]

We saw coyotes. We didn't get one. That'll be broken down. It looks like Jack's ready to question the.

[Will Compton]

Jack's ready to say something.

[Steve Rinella]

He has. We have an awesome interview with him coming up where we talk about the episode. We have a vlog coming out as well. But yeah, the boys were in Montana for basically two and a half days ripping content, hitting the shooting range.

[Will Compton]

Skin and beavers. Skin and muskrats, trapping.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

By the way, marshes. Just walking through those. It is insane.

[Steve Rinella]

Four mile hikes.

[Will Compton]

It's just crazy. Steve was walking around Marshalls like it was no big deal. Will double kneed, shot himself, but on a rock. Yeah, yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, yeah. When I was in the water.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah. It got. Will just kind of sit on the sidelines for a little bit because Steve was walking around. I don't want to get too much into it, but seems like, do you guys want to come with me? And I'm like a little kid. Like, yeah, dad, I'll come and was.

[Steve Rinella]

Like, well, you going. I was like, you guys got it smart too.

[Will Compton]

Because I'm telling Steve a story. I'm telling Steve a story that I know he doesn't give two shits about. And all of a sudden I'm up to my crotch in marsh. Just realizing there's a sunken little hole there.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

So these men move different. They walk different than us. But we. They were great as always.

[Steve Rinella]

Jack, you had a question?

[Will Compton]

If you guys are gonna talk about in the podcast, hunting and everything, then we. I don't want to give anything away, but I've heard rumors swirling someone, I don't know who it is, missed a shot on a coyote. Pretty close. But.

[Steve Rinella]

There'S a great story behind it.

[Will Compton]

I don't know anything. I'm just curious. So I will be listening because we weren't there as you, you guys and jp so I'm excited. And Mitch was saying how this podcast is amazing. So he was checking out.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, it was really good, dude. He's a. He's a stud, man. Very fascinating individual. Like, getting his cutting his teeth in through writing and everything else. You can just hear it when he's storytelling.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He's like. He's literally like, one of the most interesting man in the world to me, because, like, we're not privy to that type of world. Like, we're just sports athletes, dumb athletes. And then you go out here and then he's like talking about, like, oh.

[Will Compton]

You hear a bird?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yep, that's this one just right over there.

[Will Compton]

Just crazy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And it's like the people like that, their brains can operate like that, that quickly.

[Steve Rinella]

Like, oh, I know exactly what bird that is.

[Will Compton]

I know exactly where it is, how old it is.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

If it's. If it's trying to mate what the call is, like, this dude's one step.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's so cool. It is so cool.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, it's a fun episode.

[Will Compton]

The cool thing about Steve, too, is that he'll sit there and you'll just be standing in a random spot and he'll point to something and just tell you a story and then give you historical background and factual evidence. On that little spot right there, you had won the marsh. There was one over by the otters. But all that. I'll get into the podcast. It's an incredible podcast I think you guys are going to love. Yeah, it's awesome. But should we jump back to March Madness? Dive in a little bit?

[Steve Rinella]

Absolutely.

[Will Compton]

So you got a spicy little parlay that's plus 808 right now.

[Steve Rinella]

Right now. Right now. I don't know what I'm going to add to it. I will let the people know what my parlay is going to be, but I'm going to have a very exciting futures parlay that we'll be getting in on. And I am a massive fan. I did. I started doing it last year. I'm a massive fan. When we are streaming, getting us involved with which team's going to score.

[Will Compton]

First to ten.

[Steve Rinella]

First to ten.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, dude. So this will be Thursday, and Friday will be my first time truly digesting the March Madness tournament, diving in, putting the bets in, all that. So, like, I'm ready to fly by the seat of my pants. Yeah, I'm ready to listen to the boys, listen to the chat. Hey, what are we doing? Where are we going? I'm willing to throw away all of.

[Steve Rinella]

The money because it's like, right when tip off Happens. The excitement is at its peak. It's like it's here. March Madness. The tournament is starting today. What are we doing all day long? And you're so high when that first tip off happens.

[Will Compton]

And.

[Steve Rinella]

And you're kind of looking around, you're like, when's the second game coming? They're like, oh, that one will be in like an hour or two. And you're kind of just sitting there watching the game. And you got. You got your first bet out there, whether it's, you know, one team to cover. And I'm sitting there like, okay, so we gotta. We gotta wait two full halves for one of these things.

[Will Compton]

Two full halves.

[Steve Rinella]

And I'm sitting there with. With Ryan Whitney. And I want to say Dave got in on it too, and Big Cat. But we started doing these first to 10 bets. I'm like, hey, how do we get the juices flowing even faster? Like, when another tip off happens? Like, what's a live bet that we can hit? So it'd be like first attends just to give you, like, a little juice up front so you're not like, waiting for the end of every game to see if it's going to, you know, you pick the over, the under, the spread, whatever it is. Like, the live bets in. In college basketball is a lot of fun. And like, when we were back in, we'd go to state basketball in Missouri. We'd go up to Columbia at Mizzou, and we'd sit there and we'd have, like, rolls of quarters and dollars and just bet, like, throughout the game, like, if guy's going to hit the free throw, hey, who's going to score? And it's going to be a three, and you just be betting. So the live bets during March Madness is a lot of fun.

[Will Compton]

The way I envisioned the live bet. The movie Focus with Will Smith when he's at the super bowl and he's just sitting there with that really rich Asian guy going back and forth. The suspense in that movie. How I was feeling just being a third party in it. Yeah, I can't wait to be the first party individual. And I hope to God I'm Will Smith in the situation, winning hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars.

[Steve Rinella]

There's so much going on in the first round, second round that there really is no way to prep other than have your phone charged. Yeah. And your money ready.

[Will Compton]

Money. And just be ready. Yeah. Have that thing on the fandom where you have to sit there and be like, hey, just so you know, you've been on here for an hour and a half.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, I know.

[Will Compton]

You know, it gives you little updates.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Like, you've been on here for 25 minutes. Just making sure you're okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, dude.

[Steve Rinella]

And don't. Don't forget. I know we'll jump into, like, the full bracket, but those first play in games are today. Oh, they started the 18th. Oh, yes, yes, yes. I forget we're shooting on Monday right now, so.

[Will Compton]

Okay.

[Steve Rinella]

In games. Yes. You waited on some action there just to start spicing it up a little bit so we can talk about those if we want. Kind of flex our muscles, show them.

[Will Compton]

We do know what we're talking about.

[Steve Rinella]

We don't, though.

[Will Compton]

We don't.

[Steve Rinella]

And we don't, like, hey, let's flex our muscles on Alabama State in St. Francis. I'm thinking, like, it'd be fun to see St. Francis win because St. Francis county is where I grew up. So I'm just thinking, like, all right.

[Will Compton]

Oh, that's in Missouri.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Okay.

[Ryan Seacrest]

St. Francis in Philly.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. St. Francis county is in Missouri.

[Will Compton]

Correct. Right. It's. It's like.

[Steve Rinella]

Like, hey, I'm rooting for this team.

[Will Compton]

It's a name association. Name association. That's what we're dealing with right here. By the way, if Mitch was not here, I would have thought we're rooting for a team in Montana, Missouri.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay. Okay. That's what makes you right. Because I'm thinking. Yeah, I know. It's.

[Will Compton]

No, no, no, thank you, Mitch. New mustache. Mitch is different, man.

[Steve Rinella]

He's.

[Will Compton]

He's saving this podcast because I'm sitting there like, yeah, Fuck yeah, dude. Missouri. We're going hard for them.

[Steve Rinella]

There's one thing. One of these play in games. If Texas wins, That'll be the 14th SEC team in the tournament setting a new record, which is nuts, man.

[Will Compton]

Crazy. So we kind of want Texas to win because we need the SEC to have something, Right?

[Steve Rinella]

Sure. I think Xavier is like a blue blood. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

But they have basketball conference. We need them to step it up because you guys are.

[Steve Rinella]

It is. It's tax season, and by now. I know we're all a bit tired of numbers, but here's an important one.

[Will Compton]

You need to hear.

[Steve Rinella]

$16.5 billion.

[Will Compton]

That's how much money in refunds the.

[Steve Rinella]

IRS flagged for possible identity fraud last year.

[Will Compton]

Here's another 20%.

[Steve Rinella]

That's the overall increase in identity theft related to tax fraud in 2024 alone. But it's not all grim news.

[Will Compton]

Here's a good 100 million.

[Steve Rinella]

That's how many data points Lifelock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, LifeLock's US based restoration specialists will fix it. Backed by another good number, the million dollar protection plan. In fact, restoration is guaranteed or your money back. Don't face identity theft and financial losses alone. There's strength in numbers with Lifelock identity theft protection for tax season and beyond. Join now and save up to 40% your first year.

[Will Compton]

Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code iheart or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off terms apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway.

[Will Compton]

It's stock up savings time now through March 25th.

[Steve Rinella]

Spring in for storewide deals and earn.

[Will Compton]

Four times the points.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Look for in store tax to earn.

[Will Compton]

On eligible cleaning items from Charmin, Tide.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And Downey and dinner essentials from Stouffer's, DiGiorno, Arby's and Violife, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply.

[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals like your graduation gifters.

[Steve Rinella]

Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the beanbag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on payp? It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Will Compton]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send money with PayPal. Get started. In the PayPal app, a PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create.

[Steve Rinella]

A pool, apparently the first time, and I don't know how long, that if North Carolina loses, it'll be their first time not making the tournament since God knows how long.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, and there's some rumblings right there that they are. They're being sneaky boys.

[Steve Rinella]

Apparently there's maybe in bed with somebody in the committee that.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, the Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick's working his magic in the basketball court already, huh?

[Steve Rinella]

Just. Just based on the two names. Who you taking in this game, American or Mount St. Mary's American.

[Will Compton]

American.

[Steve Rinella]

Bud Light. Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Are you talking about just the name of the school?

[Steve Rinella]

That's what I said. Just based off these two.

[Will Compton]

And then we heard yours, Mitch. I hope the mic caught it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

No. Yeah, Mount St. Mary's is kind of.

[Steve Rinella]

Like they've been making some runs. They're a wagon.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They're a bit of a wagon. They had this dude like a couple years.

[Will Compton]

They haven't seen Americ, though.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He was like, five, eight.

[Will Compton]

Mount St. Mary's hasn't ran into America yet. Fact check me on that. I don't know if they played.

[Steve Rinella]

Who's going to play in to play Houston. Mount St. Mary's a bit of a wagon I do have right now. As of right now, I have six circled upsets, which I don't know if you consider a 9 upsetting an 8 like an upset. But they are underdogs. But here's what I have. I have Creighton over Louisville, New Mexico over Marquette, Arkansas over Kansas. And I'm leaning like, hey, the SEC's got teams. Arkansas over Kansas. I like that one a lot. Baylor over Mississippi State, VCU over byu. I just saw the way VCU was fired up at the end of their tournament. I'm like, oh, let's. I would love to see him make. Do a little bit of damage in the first round. And then McNeezy shout out, It's McNeezy. McNeezy in that kneezy over Clemson. Come on.

[Will Compton]

All right. I noticed you didn't have my boys in there. That's nice.

[Steve Rinella]

I thought about it, but I'm like, you know what? I can't. Because logically, it does seem like Michigan's in a tough spot with their draw, based on the way everybody else has been talking.

[Will Compton]

Right. That five, six, seven seed. Right. They're always in a tough play.

[Steve Rinella]

UC San Diego. But apparently UC San Diego is like, a pretty good team. Not just like, hey, they won 15.

[Will Compton]

Straight and they're a beast on defense. They're going to be a tough 12 seed for y'all to play. Yeah. But let me ask you this. Who have they played?

[Steve Rinella]

You see, right? You see this, you see that, you see Los Angeles.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. You see Encinitas, ucds, UC Sacramento.

[Ryan Seacrest]

UC Los Angeles is ucla. Did you mean to say that?

[Steve Rinella]

I was just saying, like, uc.

[Will Compton]

And hey, Mustache Mitch strikes again.

[Steve Rinella]

Ten minutes in the pod.

[Will Compton]

Why is he owning us right now?

[Steve Rinella]

UC Berkeley.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That is a tough Berkeley.

[Steve Rinella]

For Michigan.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. But can I see your little sheet real quick?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, go ahead. It does have all the spreads on it as well.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. So.

[Steve Rinella]

Right now, scary. Michigan's only.

[Will Compton]

What? I know. I know that Michigan won the Big Ten tournament. So, like, shout out us once again, like Michigan we. You say what you want about my fandom, about Michigan. People hate on Michigan. It's a good sports school. It is.

[Steve Rinella]

I don't think anybody disagrees with that.

[Will Compton]

Okay, good. But again, A M and Yale after that.

[Steve Rinella]

But facing the 12 and then you got. And they're only.

[Will Compton]

Then you got Auburn, possibly after that.

[Steve Rinella]

Two and a half point favorites against UC San Diego. San Diego. Yeah. You're in a tough spot.

[Will Compton]

Tough spot. But smooth waters never made a skilled sailor.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, there you go.

[Will Compton]

So my boys. My boys are going to be ready.

[Steve Rinella]

Quick little shout out to the hometown Lipscomb in the tournament. Yeah, that's got a big time shout out. Lipscomb.

[Will Compton]

Shout out.

[Steve Rinella]

Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt's in there. Do you guys have. You guys have some upsets that you like in round one? I did just want to highlight one of yours, which was the Kansas Arkansas game. I. I've been watching Big 12 basketball, like, pretty closely this year. I've watched it closer in years past, but I think Kansas is extremely overrated. I've seen them lose several in conference games. They started the year very highly ranked. They've, you know, fallen out of the top 25 since. But extremely vulnerable Kansas team. So I actually really like that Arkansas to beat Kansas in the first round. I love that pick. Do you have any other Jack? I know you guys who are in the weeds more with college basketball.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I feel like Drake. Drake against Mizzou. I mean, just strictly looking.

[Steve Rinella]

Just strictly looking at record.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, Drake is 30 and three and where's Missouri?

[Steve Rinella]

See, I love that. Sometimes it's just like, hey, look at the record. Look at the record and make a pick.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. You like Drake. Drake over Missouri. Correct.

[Steve Rinella]

But again, Mizzou's in the SEC for sure.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But 22 and 11 and 30 and three. Like Drake. Say Drake like.

[Steve Rinella]

Doves. Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I feel like they, they're. They're low key, like, not really a blue blood, but they've been in the tournament sometimes and like, they're kind of. They're a little feisty. They got.

[Steve Rinella]

They get spicy.

[Will Compton]

There's a feisty team. What conference are they in?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I want to say, like, big Easter. American.

[Steve Rinella]

Sounds right. Yeah. Biggie sounds more right. Yeah. I kind of like your VCU pick. I did watch the end of that game. Yeah. And they were fired up. Hit the free throws, kind of sets in dub, go into the tournament. I don't know. Momentum. It'll be pretty sweet, but there's a lot. I mean, it's March.

[Will Compton]

Anything.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, anything can happen. I can't wait to see what storylines, like, come of it. It's like last year, that cat who was dropping threes from Oakland, Remember him just going nuts, like the peak of his life, looking like JJ Redick throughout all of March Madness. I mean, he was, I Mean, he was. We only know one basketball player. It's JJ Reddick.

[Will Compton]

The best basketball player will sees now is JJ Redick.

[Steve Rinella]

But draining threes like that, like, bro, it was iconic watching this dude work Oakland. Then they were like, were they.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They were like a 16 or 15.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, they were a very low seed. If you had to pick out of any of the one seeds to get upset, who do you think it would be to get upset? Let me see what I got here.

[Will Compton]

Auburn had a tough draw in the SEC tournament.

[Steve Rinella]

No, they, they had a. Their last like four games haven't gone as well as they wanted them to.

[Will Compton]

So that's either momentum's a big thing in all sports.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. I mean, it's either a good thing to have a bad taste in your.

[Will Compton]

Mouth or it's bad for that Ohio State type run.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Will Compton]

Whether they start putting points, everybody, it's. It's Auburn, Houston, Duke and Florida.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. I think out of those I, I have again, no clue. And I'm a square. I have all number ones in the final four. Keep it simple. One thing I do know about Auburn is they're on average they're one of the oldest teams in the NCAA. They have a lot of 50 or six year guys. They're very athletic, they're really strong, number one. But some of those play in teams, those 16th seed playing teams, those are the ones to watch because they get that first win under their belt, then they go up against that one seed. They're not playing cold, they're coming in a little hot because they just played recently.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, but yeah, the buy the bye.

[Steve Rinella]

Week with the experience that you were talking about with Auburn. True. If I had any, I would say either Houston or Duke.

[Will Compton]

Why?

[Steve Rinella]

Because I know that Alabama can be very good and I know that Wisconsin can get really spicy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Cooper flag to hurt. His really like really bad ankle sprain. I think it was in the semifinal. So he couldn't come in hobbled. He's like their best. He's like overall.

[Steve Rinella]

But they're talking about him just missing this first, maybe second round. Right.

[Will Compton]

But yeah, you're one and done around here.

[Steve Rinella]

Right. But if they're without, if they're without that cat for it would be against Arizona or Oregon. But look who they're playing. No, no, no, no. Baylor.

[Will Compton]

Look who they're playing.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, Baylor. You're right. Baylor. Come on and don't be playing. Baylor hurt, Banged up. And then I think because on the other side you got Tennessee, Kentucky, and I never sleep on Illinois, you know.

[Will Compton]

Will Compton does not will Compton, does not sleep on the Fighting Alliance.

[Steve Rinella]

That's a good football team right there.

[Will Compton]

That's a good football. That's a good ball club.

[Steve Rinella]

Good run game.

[Will Compton]

I mean, they handle Michigan too.

[Steve Rinella]

You're thinking this is going to be a well coached ball team. Them ready? Yeah. Bill, have Illinois ready for March Madness.

[Will Compton]

See, I. I like Florida a lot. Here's how impressionable I am.

[Steve Rinella]

Dude, there's.

[Will Compton]

I don't know very much about basketball at all. We get out of the car this morning at a specific spot, we won't say where, cuz we were shooting a little custom mad. Garrett says he goes to the game. Florida versus Alabama. And Florida went in a flow state mode where they would just walk up on a three and drain him over and over and over again to the point where Ge's telling me he's at first mad and now he's like, I gotta just watch greatness. Even though they're beating up on my own team. So now I just feel like, all right, Florida, Florida's gonna.

[Steve Rinella]

And they got some big white boys. Yes. They down low and they're very good. They're very active. They're long like. Yeah. Florida seems very athletic every position and they are physical. Yeah, those boys down low can ball.

[Will Compton]

I heard another physical team in the southwest region area, Arizona. Them boys can get physical in there. I was talking to a couple of homers from there. I was gonna say, don't sleep on Arizona.

[Steve Rinella]

Arizona group chat.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, Arizona boys were out there. Obviously extremely biased. We're like, don't be surprised when they beat Duke.

[Steve Rinella]

That's. It's just like Sherman before we came on the bus. He's like, if we can knock off Duke, we could win the whole thing. And I'm like, well, yeah, who's we?

[Will Compton]

Who's we? Yeah. Okay. You understand why I'm a little confused, right? Based on how many teams you have.

[Steve Rinella]

But Baylor is his first. His origins, your origin, Right?

[Will Compton]

His origin technically is not. That's where he went to college, went.

[Steve Rinella]

To and graduated from Baylor University. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Somewhere. Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Let's see. Oh yeah, here's a question. I'll go grab it.

[Will Compton]

Okay, thank you, buddy.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay, we'll wait on that question. Jack, how are you feeling about Tennessee?

[Will Compton]

I don't know, man. We didn't have a great final conclusion in the SEC tournament, but it's always good. We got. I think we are in a really good spot of the bracket. I do like it. But the whole problem with Tennessee is we are like, we'll make it to the elite eight and then we lose. So hopefully Rick Barnes can get it done. I think Rick Barnes is going to leave after this year. He might retire because we have like six of our seniors that are leaving. So I think he's going to kind.

[Steve Rinella]

Of fade out with them.

[Will Compton]

But I don't know Rick Barnes, one of the, you know, most elite college.

[Steve Rinella]

Basketball coaches that's been out there and.

[Will Compton]

He'S been in the game for almost three decades, but he plays a very.

[Steve Rinella]

Older style of basketball in like a very evolved league.

[Will Compton]

So I don't know, I, I hope we go deep, but you just never know. This is March, so anything could happen.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. And another storyline I, I enjoy too is Kentucky just because of that, that meme that the, that old buddy gave us. You know, he had the little, he made the face. What do they call it? Yeah, the mean mug. Yeah, he bit his left. He was mean mug and hardcore.

[Will Compton]

I see you guys both have taken Kentucky to beat Tennessee.

[Steve Rinella]

How'd you see mine?

[Will Compton]

I know I see him.

[Steve Rinella]

I, I, and you want to know why? Sure. The Kentucky, Tennessee game was the last one. I kind of filled out in the sweet 16 and I'm looking around and I'm realizing like how much of a square I kind of am picking all the, like, I, my upsets are like in the first round, none really in the second. And so when I was looking at Tennessee, Kentucky, I'm looking okay, three seed versus two seed. I kind of looked at your guys, you guys playing this year. It seems like Kentucky got you one time and we got them. You're right. Right.

[Will Compton]

Recently.

[Steve Rinella]

Most recently. So I was thinking like the toss up. Right. Thinking the toss up is like, okay, I'm just gonna go Kentucky here to get a 3 seed.

[Will Compton]

Follow the patterns.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Like, let me, let me.

[Will Compton]

This is a game of baccarat instead.

[Steve Rinella]

Of one teams across the board. I also have, and this is what I was going to ask you, Sherm, because I know you're big into the Big 12. Texas Tech is also like one of your teams. They're a three seed. I have them beating St. John in the Sweet 16, which I'd love to see St. John go far because of Rick Patino. I love like following all their stuff that the content that they've been creating with him. But it does seem like Texas Tech could be a bit of a wagon to, to sell Tech. They are unreal beyond the three point line. They actually knocked out Baylor in the Big 12 tournament by making 12 threes in the first eight minutes of the game. When they get hot, they get really, really hot. But their most important piece, and correct me if I'm wrong, I believe it's J.T. toppin. He's Big 12 player of the year.

[Will Compton]

He's the last name.

[Steve Rinella]

He is the Texas Tech big man. And that dude underneath the basket that goes across the board, by the way, if you are similar to me where you are an absolute casual and college hoops, a great way to break down if a team has the ability to go far is either one, are they hot from beyond the three point mark, or two, do they have a nasty big man that no one can guard? And that's how a lot of these schools that are the higher seeds will make deep runs because they have one big nasty dude. NC State was a perfect example, right, Last year. No, that was. Yeah, that was last year in Purdue. Purdue, if you just have one big nasty dude that is got soft hands by the hoop, it doesn't matter who they're playing. They can be anyone. Because if that team's missing shots, you know, he's getting the rebound on defense. And then offensively, if his team's missing, it's okay. He's going to get some offensive rebounds, he's going to get some fouls. Their better players are going to start fouling out. That's how you win basketball games in a tournament because you have all the nerves of the tournament. Teams don't usually shoot as well as they do in the regular season.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Season.

[Steve Rinella]

So that's a great way to kind of break it down. If you're a casual to this. You want to do a bit more research on your gambling, go look up some of these teams, some of these 11, 12, 13, 14 seeds, see if they have a big man. If they have a big man that's putting up crazy numbers all year. That's a team to choose, in my. That's my opinion. And you know, bad. What do they say? Like, be safe, don't bet too much. Responsible.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, responsible is the word you're looking.

[Steve Rinella]

At responsibly on the fanduel. I'm a podcast producer or.

[Will Compton]

Right response. This is not real medical advice here. Yeah, you can't prescribe these types of things is what it is. All right, I like that.

[Steve Rinella]

I love the big fellas.

[Will Compton]

Look into the big fellas. The offensive line of the basketball, the.

[Steve Rinella]

Trenches, the trench warfare.

[Will Compton]

I love that. I love it.

[Steve Rinella]

I love the conversation too, because we're.

[Will Compton]

We'Re kind of just kind of following.

[Steve Rinella]

The bouncing ball a lot of circles. That's how everybody tries to operate.

[Will Compton]

I love that people. Essentially, we're operating like a one big group chat right now because there's a bunch of people that are coming to watch our sports podcast. Be like, oh, Will and Taylor will have answers. When we sit here, we're like, we don't.

[Steve Rinella]

I think people have any, and they know that we don't.

[Will Compton]

We don't have answers.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, let's see. Yeah. We are shocked. Yeah. We are going to shock the world.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I think there's a huge opportunity on Thursday, Friday, on these streams for people to make some good money. Good money.

[Steve Rinella]

Going to the side might bring my unit all the way down to $10.

[Will Compton]

Wow. Why?

[Steve Rinella]

Because I. I won my dog of the day bet with tailing you in Michigan.

[Will Compton]

Let's go.

[Steve Rinella]

Shout out the boys, turn $10 into 29. I might just operate off percentages than. Yeah, the actual dollar amount.

[Will Compton]

That's a smart. That might be a smart move. And you can have more fun. It's like, kind of walk into a casino, and you're like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna win it all. Then you spend all your money in the first five minutes. You're like.

[Steve Rinella]

And the thing, too, with. With March Madness is there's a lot of opportunity. So you could. If you get in the hole and you're just losing left and right, and you're just like, all right, here's where we get back on it. Next thing you know, you're like, okay, I'm down. Down quite a bit of money.

[Will Compton]

Sounds like you're speaking from experience.

[Steve Rinella]

Last year, I was. I. I had a very bad percentage. Pretty much all of us did. It was not good. We were believing while keeping.

[Will Compton]

While keeping your same unit.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You start flying it around. First to ten, parlay this.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

The cat from Oakland, is he gonna make this many threes? Like, you start getting into the weeds. You got 13 bets laying out there for, like, one game. You're like, how did I get here?

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Or you're, like, chasing, like, you know, if you're down, like, hey, live bet. You go in at halftime and live bet something else. And you're like, this one's not turning away.

[Will Compton]

Something about being with a group of guys and live betting, like, each with football every possession. What's going to happen in this position? We're all kind of, like, teamed up, doing our own thing because it's fun to put the parlays together before the game, but once the game starts, like, those things have to either fold or unfold the way they do with the live betting. It's like you're getting action right then and there. So it's automatic endorphin spike left and right.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

At the end of the day, you go home, you're exhausted, all of it.

[Steve Rinella]

What did I just do?

[Will Compton]

What did you do?

[Steve Rinella]

And I know one thing that the. That's going to be on the FanDuel sportsbook, too, is there's going to be like, this. I don't know what it's called. We'd have to dive into what the exact verbiage is, but kind of like a mulligan bet.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

If you have a pick, like, say you have. Say you have Alabama. Yeah. Bet back. I think that's what it's called.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I don't know if it's called that. We just know it's a mulligan. It's a.

[Steve Rinella]

So. So, Mitch, the difference is, like, you could have. Let's just say Alabama -4 and a half and. Or let's just say Alabama -18 and a half. Like, say it's in the first round, whatever their big spread is against whoever they're playing, and there's like 20 seconds left in the game and they're only up seven, so you know they're not going to cover 18 and a half. You can go in and get you a mulligan bet and get a bet back, like, before the game ends. As long as you're doing it on live bet.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. Bet back token. A bet back token turns your bet into a bonus bet if you decide to back out during the game.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

So you're not going to get that money back into your bank account, but it'll be like, hey, you want to save it here? That's fine. We'll just put this in a little nest over here whenever you're ready.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Start dishing that boy out again.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. But you got to be active. You got to be ready and paying attention.

[Will Compton]

You got to be paying attention. You got to be dialed in.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

You got to be dialed.

[Steve Rinella]

So a lot of good tokens, a lot of good coins and promos going on.

[Will Compton]

Because that's. That's a great note by Garrett, too, because when you get into the streams and you're watching games, a lot of times you can fall victim to what's happening on the bird, what's happening on Instagram when it comes to these first couple of rounds. If you're gonna hit that bet back token, you got to be dialed.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

You got to know what's going on. Good note, G. That's a great note.

[Steve Rinella]

I mean, we're gonna have multiple split screens going, so you're gonna be. We'll be excited. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Locked.

[Steve Rinella]

Maybe we assign somebody to, like, hey, keep an eye on this one. Notify everybody. Right. Eject or hammer it. I'm excited for the first kind of rival bit that happens. Well, we might have a while, but just somebody has, like, a different, like, say, Michigan makes it to Auburn.

[Will Compton]

Who's gonna. What rivalry is that?

[Steve Rinella]

I'm saying, like, if I'm sitting there betting, I'll probably bet all the ones.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can understand. Yeah. That. I. I'm. That brings us back to the. I lost my three of thought, but you could also.

[Steve Rinella]

You could join. You can join forces in that moment, though, and do the O. Are you gonna say my feud against Michigan?

[Will Compton]

Well, you're. I was going to bring it up. Yeah. Your feud against Michigan. But it was also, like, the teams, the upsets that. I don't know why that word cannot come to me, but the upsets. I was surprised it wasn't in your first round, because I know you got a little deal with Michigan.

[Steve Rinella]

I don't have a deal with Michigan. I always deal with Michigan.

[Will Compton]

And we talked about it walking.

[Steve Rinella]

They were my dog of the day.

[Will Compton]

It feels like. I don't know and I don't know. I don't want to put words in your mouth. Maybe it's a jealousy thing. Maybe it's like a.

[Steve Rinella]

No, no, no, no.

[Will Compton]

It's your. It's a best friend.

[Steve Rinella]

When you say jealousy, that's where the feud starts to spark in my body. But it doesn't have to be a feud.

[Will Compton]

I get it.

[Steve Rinella]

I know. See, now you're doing it.

[Will Compton]

No, no, no.

[Steve Rinella]

You're doing the thing that creates some feud. I don't have a few with Michigan. You.

[Will Compton]

I understand why you would be upset based on how the last couple years.

[Steve Rinella]

Have gone, but I'm not upset. I'm not upset about.

[Will Compton]

So you're gonna look at me with that tone of voice, and you're gonna look at me and say, I'm not upset.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm ready to. I'm ready to take down UC San Diego. Like, if they lose, I'm gonna. I'm gonna think to myself, damn it. This was the one that. I know logically, like, everybody was kind of saying, this is going to be the toughest one.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I think we need to take a time out. I think we need to take a time out before it Gets too heated.

[Will Compton]

Let's get a bow timeout in.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, a bow timeout.

[Will Compton]

We're gonna do a bow timeout real quick. Yeah, let's. Let's cool the jets for a second. Let's dial it in.

[Steve Rinella]

Reset. The vein was going to start coming out of my.

[Will Compton]

Let me. Why don't you.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, we got a bow timeout. By the way, Mitch, nice surprise for you. We got something I know Taylor's about to talk about here in a second, but some boberry waffles. We would love to see if you can take these things down. How big of a bite you can take out with that large mouth.

[Will Compton]

You have these laminated cue cards kind of mess me up a little bit.

[Steve Rinella]

There we go. Beautiful, though.

[Will Compton]

Great job, Sherm. Do me a favor. Go ahead and open up the Bojangles app or order Online to get 20 off of your chicken and bowberry combo using code bus and that's B U S S I N. Available at participating stores 31025 through 3 24, 2025. Try your new. Try our new chicken and Bo Berry waffle. It's both sweet and savory. We put the Bojangle spin on a classic breakfast. Introducing the chicken and Boberry waffles. Our signature Cajun fillet between two warm Bo Berry waffles with a Bo Berry honey glaze drizzle. If you're a fan of chicken and waffles but always felt like it was missing something, bold Cajun flavor and sweet boberry goodness, then it's your lucky day because Bojangles new chicken and boberry waffles are available now. It's the bold Cajun filet you love, topped with boberry glaze and sandwiched between two delicious boberry waffles. It's only available for a limited time, so get your bow jangles and order yours today.

[Steve Rinella]

Bojangles saves friendships. The boy saw. The boy saw. Let me get this Lucy out of my mouth. The boy saw that there was some. There was some, you know, some heat coming.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Potential heat.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Like we can.

[Will Compton]

Cajun heat.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, a little Cajun.

[Will Compton]

A little Cajun. Now we got to simmer it down with that little blueberry.

[Steve Rinella]

I will say the is good.

[Will Compton]

You mind if I. You want to share these? Let me get a little bite to you. That. See that little bite right there? That's the one that you. When your friend asks, hey, can I get a bite? You want to take that one first? Will was not smart enough to do.

[Steve Rinella]

That right now because the Cajun fillets, incredible by Itself. But you put it with that drizzle, that boberry drizzle, and just sandwich between a couple waffles. I see what they're trying to do. Take a bite. Do the big bite.

[Will Compton]

Let's go, Mitch. Take it all.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Might just take it out.

[Will Compton]

I think you can take it down. All one bite. Don't you think?

[Steve Rinella]

No, try. You do have to try. It's for the boys. Everybody at home watching right now. They're like, is Mitch gonna take this down or not? Think about your family watching like they do every Tuesday night.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm thinking about my grandparents.

[Will Compton]

Think about Gam Gam.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hi, Mama and Papa.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm so sweet.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They're gonna.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm on Pop up.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's no way I can do this whole thing.

[Steve Rinella]

My dad.

[Will Compton]

There is no try. Believe you got it. Just shove it in there. Shove it in there.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay.

[Will Compton]

All right.

[Steve Rinella]

That's a good bite, though. That's a good bite. Now get back to work. So I do. I don't hate Michigan.

[Will Compton]

We're back. Time in.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, time in. Time in. I don't.

[Will Compton]

I don't have a pity. It's very. I mean, a couple weeks ago, you were sitting there saying, we're back to hating Michigan. I'm back to the downfall. I'm back to this, back to that.

[Steve Rinella]

It's because you say some spicy stuff that starts to spark that feud.

[Will Compton]

What do friends do? We got to get spicy up in here.

[Steve Rinella]

I understand. I understand. Again, we just came off of.

[Will Compton]

You're so focused on the Bo Berry glaze. Dude, I'm focused on Cajun chicken out here. You know, I'm trying to get a little spicy on this bus. And it's very clear to me that you're just hating. And I know I can be a pestering fan.

[Steve Rinella]

What am I hating?

[Will Compton]

Come on, now. You said, I can't wait to watch Michigan's downfall on multiple.

[Steve Rinella]

That's because you Pat.

[Will Compton]

And this is after. This is after I said I want Nebraska to do better than they did this past year.

[Steve Rinella]

I know I can recall the conversation.

[Will Compton]

Oh, you can? So you remember being a little nasty.

[Steve Rinella]

The problem is, I want you to be so on board because I don't want to surround myself with mediocre thinking. Greatness hates mediocrity, and mediocrity hates greatness. And when you say, hey, six and whatever, seven and six, whatever. That. That game up 75, that's where it's like, that's mediocre thinking. And I don't want that. That. To me, I Don't want that part of my life.

[Will Compton]

That is one. That's one thinking right there. Here's the other.

[Steve Rinella]

My boss. You're my boy. So when you say that, that's where the fester starts.

[Will Compton]

Like, all right.

[Steve Rinella]

And you know. And you know that about me. You know that about me.

[Will Compton]

What do you mean?

[Steve Rinella]

So that's what fires me up.

[Will Compton]

I know this. I know Will Compton this. I know when Will Compton goes in the offseason when he played 10 full years in the NFL, that he focused on getting 1% better. Being good consistently makes you great. So when. Michael. When Nebraska goes 7 and 5. If they go 7 and 5, you are being better. Every single year, you're being good, good, good. Which will lead to eventually being great.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay, so I got a scenario.

[Will Compton]

Okay, so let. Tell me.

[Steve Rinella]

You're coming off. You're coming off.

[Will Compton]

It's Marsh, and we're talking about football. The brackets here, boys. But let's dial in this.

[Steve Rinella]

You're bouncing back off of your acl.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

You're just like, hey, I just want to start all year long, put on some good tape, just get better than I ended last year because I'm coming off an acl. Are you thinking I'm going after. I'm going after all of it. I'm going after all pro Super Bowl, Pro Bowl.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I was going after what I was already achieving.

[Steve Rinella]

You didn't achieve it the year before that.

[Will Compton]

The year before that, five games, no pressures. I was playing the best game. Football ever. Great. So when I tore my acl, my thought process was, get back to what you were doing. Get back to Taylor Lawan of old.

[Steve Rinella]

And if I was just like, hey, that's kind of. Those expectations are kind of crazy. Like, you're coming off a pretty. A major surgery. Like, let's just. Let's just have a good year of starting every game.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, but that's not.

[Steve Rinella]

I would be. I'd be. You'd be like, bro, you're my boy. Like, we need to be going after this thing together.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, we. And we go after it. I'm saying.

[Steve Rinella]

And we went after.

[Will Compton]

Right. So, okay, if that's. If that's the train of thought you're using, then let's go after another bowl game. But you know what I'm saying?

[Steve Rinella]

I'm saying, no, no.

[Will Compton]

I was at my expectation for myself and how I was playing was up here.

[Steve Rinella]

So no matter what I'm thinking, pre.

[Will Compton]

Acl, thinking, let me buy ACL happens, and I'm like, how do we get Back to where we were. And so if we want to use your logic, it's like, all right, well, we got the monkey off our back of hitting a bowl game for the first time since 2015. Let's go right back to just taking a bowl game. No, I want these motherfuckers Capital One Bowl. I want these boys fucking seven and five. I want the dogs out here.

[Steve Rinella]

Our brains are different. We operate differently.

[Will Compton]

You're. We're saying the same thing.

[Steve Rinella]

No, different expectations, differences.

[Will Compton]

You're saying national championship.

[Steve Rinella]

No, no, no. Well, yeah, that's what we're chasing.

[Will Compton]

Dude, I might need another bow. Timeout.

[Steve Rinella]

Hey, the analogy doesn't really hit the same because Taylor was. The greatness that he's trying to achieve. That was the year before he tore his acl. What you're wanting Nebraska to do is like, hey, Taylor, your best years were when you were in second or third grade. Like, it's been a minute. Like, let's get back to that.

[Will Compton]

And it's like, let's get back to sixth, seventh grade before we start looking at those grades.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it's been a minute.

[Will Compton]

It's been a minute, and it's okay. Listen, listen, Nebraska fans, you guys are.

[Steve Rinella]

Being way too rational and thinking.

[Will Compton]

Let Louie just talk to you for a minute. Nebraska fans, first off, I want to. I want you to know I'm on your side. I love Big Red. I love Lincoln. Whenever I go into Lincoln, the. The camaraderie, the hospitality, people being around. You guys are incredible. And I got to witness you guys donkey stomp the Colorado Buffs, who are a massive rival of you guys. I am on your side. When I say seven and five, I'm not being like, oh, a little. A little Poor Nebraska. I'm saying seven and five. Like, yes, dude, let's get better. Let's just get better than the year before, right? Because if we go six and six, we're like, ah, dude, we're the same. I love Matt Rule. I love Raiola. I love that he's taking and he's literally trying to do exactly what Patrick Mahomes doing. Because why Kobe Bryant did it for Michael Jordan. Why can't Dylan Rayola do that for Patrick Mahomes? We just want to be better every single year. And seven and five says you are better than the year prior. So, yes, you're going to have the Will Compton's out there that say natty or bust. But when it doesn't happen, it's like, okay, well, we disappointed, but we went seven and five, like we're better. And next year's gonna be eight and four. Better and better and better and better. That's what we want every single year. And I do want to tell a little story real quick.

[Steve Rinella]

You're a casual, you're a casual and that's okay.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I'm a casual of my friend's team. Yes, I am. But I also give me UC San.

[Steve Rinella]

Diego in the first round, dude.

[Will Compton]

And also you want to talk about ball real quick. You guys want to get rock hard, rock hard. Watching some blocking go pull up late 2019 Tennessee Titans offensive line this weekend we're gonna do a little camping situation. The weather didn't permit, so we went to the man cave and I set up a couple of blow up mattresses. But then you know, you know how kids are. It's always a war at bedtime. So one of my kids will sleep the wife. I sleep in the man cave with my youngest daughter. And I start seeing Andrew Whitworth and I are going back and forth about how like he sent me the tweet he put on Will Compton before he even tweeted it. Like, just so you know, I'm about to put your boy's head on a steak and hey, it's all good. Don't worry about it. I know my boy's got thick skin. Then all of a sudden who, who was the, the center for. I can't believe.

[Steve Rinella]

His name is Eric Wood.

[Will Compton]

Eric Wood Post that out of nowhere. So I started thinking to myself, like it would be an absolute shame, it would be a horrible, horrible shame if offensive linemen around of 2013 to 2020 started just posting their blocking videos. Roger Saffield, 2019 Raiders, clips of them blocking Will Compton. So I actually go and I found a couple clips of me and Will when we went at it, Nebraska, when you try to throw a punch at me after I brought you the sidelines Raiders when I, when I bought you out, we got a seven, we got a seven yard game.

[Steve Rinella]

You guys averaged two yards.

[Will Compton]

So I'm, I'm watching, I'm watching YouTube videos on my phone like 11:00pm on like Saturday night of just these couple things and then I just start self sucking a little bit. I go to like the 2019 highlights and I start watching these five men just put on a fucking clinic of blocking. It was so beautiful, dude. It's like the good old times, the good old days. You sit back there, I'm watching B blocks with Roger Saffold and Taylor. I'm watching Man Reaches by Jack Conklin. I'm watching Aces by Josh Klein and Ben Jones. Boy, dude, I might be one of the greatest offensive, most underrated, greatest offensive lines that have ever walked this earth. It was so beautiful to see. So when I tear my acl, I'm trying to get back to what I was. What we're trying. What we ended up being Nebraska. We don't want to go back to what we were because we haven't been there since 2015. So we wanna this decade, the 20s, let's get better every year. And then by the 30s, we're fighting it, baby. We're fighting it.

[Steve Rinella]

I. I do have great depression. I do have a science experiment.

[Will Compton]

Go ahead.

[Steve Rinella]

That I would love to implement this. That's why I don't mess with you on a real level.

[Will Compton]

What you mean?

[Steve Rinella]

You know, I don't gotta. Go ahead, Sharon.

[Will Compton]

Okay.

[Steve Rinella]

Right now the streets are saying that the content curse is a very real thing. The street. It's all over Twitter.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I've seen that.

[Steve Rinella]

It's all over Twitter.

[Will Compton]

I can vouch for that.

[Steve Rinella]

So I think we go to some kind of place, like Lids or whatever. We get some basketball jerseys for Sir Will. We have them put some on, cheer for that team in March Madness during the game and see if the Compton curse really is real. Let's put it to the test. Yeah, I'm down to do that. To me, I just think, like, you get your lip bloodied over and over and over. You just got to keep coming back because one day it's going to shake.

[Will Compton]

The legit Willis home. Willis. Homer Simpson, when he decided to start boxing, just takes punches and punches. Eventually. Eventually that person is going to wear themselves out. They're so exhaustive. Hitting Will in the face, he just won't get knocked out. Yeah, dude.

[Steve Rinella]

It's hard to beat a man that refuses.

[Will Compton]

I don't think that works. Sure, I mean, we can try it, but I don't think. I think Will's heart truly has to be in something for the curse to come alive. If the curse is real, which I don't believe it is.

[Steve Rinella]

It's even been with some of these bets lately. If he. If he posts the bet on Twitter, it loses it. If he doesn't post it on Twitter. And then he'll. He'll post his winning and be like, hey, yo, look what I won. Because he wasn't gassing it up before the game, right?

[Will Compton]

You need to go. What was that like? You called McPherson out for that, right? Because he would hit and he would post the winners. Like that's maybe where you need to go. You need to go with that. Like, don't promote your picks. Just say, I've got picks. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And then you post the winners. Right.

[Steve Rinella]

Because Jack's always talking about these winners he's always hitting on. It's like.

[Will Compton]

And dude, it's always on the phone. I specifically remember us like we're driving through Chattanooga all time gambling stats.

[Steve Rinella]

We can and do this if we really want to.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

If you, if you guys were to go toe to toe, I assume you'd be prosperous. However, that's the point we're making. Yeah. And I remember us driving through Chattanooga and all of us are standing there on the border and be like, okay, what parlays are we going to put in? And there was a good long conversation that took place. I can't remember what game I think was in Georgia.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. I think we were going down.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, we're going to. Yeah. Georgia, South Carolina. And everybody's got an opinion about what parlays. And we all dial in our parlays and we go to the game. We leave, we get back and Jack's posting parlays that hit.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Parlays did it. So that I think parlay. That's where the, that's where the hate kind of comes is like we see Jay, you maybe have a beautiful mind. You got that, Ray man of sports betting. And you kind of trying to get better harboring all the wins for yourself. Dude, just speaking of betting, I haven't done a ton of betting since football ended because I like to take.

[Steve Rinella]

Take this time to.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway.

[Will Compton]

It's stock up savings time now through March 25th.

[Steve Rinella]

Spring in for storewide deals and earn.

[Will Compton]

Four times the points.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Look for in store tags to earn on eligible beverage items from San Pellegrino.

[Will Compton]

And Pepsi or breakfast favorites like Chobani.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Greek yogurt, Dan and Oikos yogurt and Pete's coffee, plus many more. Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply.

[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals like your graduation gifters.

[Steve Rinella]

Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the beanbag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Will Compton]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send Money with PayPal get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.

[Steve Rinella]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech Upgrade the whole [e-mail] Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device. Win the tech search for business [e-mail].

[Will Compton]

Like do a little just break.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Soul searching. And I cannot wait for Thursday because I'm gonna be dialing it up in a big way and I.

[Steve Rinella]

So just so it's out there, I.

[Will Compton]

Will be posting all of my bets before tip off. At least an hour. So at least an hour.

[Steve Rinella]

At least an hour.

[Will Compton]

Five seconds before tip. But yeah, I don't want to rehash something bad. I will be taking UC San Diego as my upset. It has nothing to do against Michigan, but I look at all the upsets constantly and I can't find one that I love. That's like a 12 verse 4, 12 verse 5. So that's where I'm at right now. Yeah. Can I say something? Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

All good, man. Dude, that's big of you. That's, that's. It has nothing to do with Michigan. This is my first time diving in. I hope the maize and blue do well, but I don't know enough about basketball to, you know, plant my flag in the ground and be like, we're gonna win because of X, Y and Z. I can do that with football. It's hard for me. Basketball, I'm watching truly as a fan and just hoping for the best. It's gonna be awesome. There was a moment we all, I think, experienced in elementary or middle school or even into high school where that Thursday and Friday where they put on all the games at lunch, at least.

[Steve Rinella]

They did at our high school. And you have those teachers that are just loving it and it's sports teachers. Yeah, it's basically.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, it's basically like a free two days.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

I don't know.

[Steve Rinella]

Brackets in class.

[Will Compton]

Hopefully we got a couple high schoolers listening and they're maybe listening on Thursday, like about to go into these first rounds. And I just hope they're getting fired up thinking, man, I don't even have to focus today. So. God, I'm so excited for Thursday. Mr. Cervantes, economics class, he would do that shout out every male teacher.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Brett Wood was coach.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

And they love it, dude.

[Will Compton]

I love it.

[Steve Rinella]

So fun.

[Will Compton]

I love it. It's going to be exciting. I can't wait.

[Steve Rinella]

It's gonna be a fun little time update with busing. Oh, when's the merch store dropping? So we have an update with the tornadoes and the rain and everything else. We didn't get the merch that got to the shop on time. Correct. So I believe we're pushing the store drop. Yeah, we're going to push it a week.

[Will Compton]

Pushing it a week.

[Steve Rinella]

We'll push it a week. But good news is we have almost 1500 people signed up. So shout out to you guys. And if we get to 2000, do we want to do some giveaways? Oh, we're getting to 2,000.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, we're getting 2,000.

[Steve Rinella]

So. Yes.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, definitely. We wanted to promise giveaways then, is what you're saying. Yeah, I'm gonna brainstorm and then, yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

We'Ll get in the. We'll get in the think tank. Yeah, yeah. But. But if you're listening right now, go to BWTB.com and sign up.com and sign up and you'll be the first to know when the merch drops. And I think there's going to be a discount code.

[Will Compton]

It's gonna be a discount for the first 24 hours.

[Steve Rinella]

24 hours, which will be big. But, yeah, if we hit up, if we get these, if we get numbers up to. Absolutely. We should give away merch to the tier ones.

[Will Compton]

And there's gonna be. I mean, I've seen the merch. G's done a fantastic job. There's some new stuff. There's some OG stuff. Like, it's exciting. It's exciting. What's about to happen. Yeah, that one thing we were texting about last night.

[Steve Rinella]

Go ahead and tease it. Whispers of the bow tie coming back.

[Will Compton]

The bow ties coming back. We got sweatsuits.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, Travel suits.

[Will Compton]

Travel suits. For real? Yeah, And I saw that. I, like, I scrolled through it pretty quick last night and I got to that bottom and I saw that sweatsuit and I was like, oh, my God, let's go. The bow tie, though. And the bee. It's back.

[Steve Rinella]

Just kidding. Loading.

[Will Compton]

And some best sellers will be back too.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, I picture all of us. Well, not all of us, but everybody that's like going on a spring tour trip in the airport. Matching sweatsuits. Yeah. Just walking through the terminal. It'll be hot, but, yeah, I'm down.

[Will Compton]

It'll be hot. It'll be hot.

[Steve Rinella]

They go, what team is that? Yeah, people are looking at the squad Being like, that's not a team. We have height.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

We look like a basketball team. We got all the heights. Taylor first.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, but I feel like in basketball, I'm like, normal. You're like a point guard.

[Steve Rinella]

I succeed. You are like a point guard, though.

[Will Compton]

I'm like, yeah, it's a one in the NBA.

[Steve Rinella]

I mean.

[Will Compton]

I mean, I feel like on a high school basketball team. I'm a filthy center. No easy buckets around me.

[Steve Rinella]

Hell, yeah. What? Pool basketball.

[Will Compton]

Well, you already know how that goes. I'm talking about in high school, like high school basketball. You need someone to own the paint, buddy. I can. I'll throw some bows in the paint.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

I'm not afraid to get a little dirty, but.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Shout out to all the people that have signed up already. That's awesome. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. That's nuts.

[Steve Rinella]

Let's.

[Will Compton]

Let's bump that up to 2,000.

[Steve Rinella]

Let's bump it to 5,000. 5,000.

[Will Compton]

Holy God.

[Steve Rinella]

We might have to up.

[Will Compton]

We got some Nebraska expectations on that one. But I love. I'll get behind that.

[Steve Rinella]

What are you giving away if we hit 5,000?

[Will Compton]

What would you give away A jar of? Will Compton sweat. Dude from the sauna. That's what we need to give a jar of Will sweat. I'll. I'll get it myself.

[Steve Rinella]

We have. Have to get that.

[Will Compton]

We gotta get it. We gotta get to five, give away a jersey.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Steve Rinella]

I have some Raider ones in the closet still.

[Will Compton]

What about your sweat?

[Steve Rinella]

I'll give away a sweat.

[Will Compton]

Okay.

[Steve Rinella]

You put in a little. Yeah, little mason jar, maybe.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, well, mason jar is a lot of sweat.

[Steve Rinella]

Well, I'm talking about one of them little itty bitty ones.

[Ryan Seacrest]

A little shot glass.

[Will Compton]

Little shot glass of sweat. You can maybe turn to a little necklace for somebody. Be like, oh, what's on your. What's on your neck there? Oh, nothing. Hard work. Yeah, that's what that is.

[Steve Rinella]

I mean, speaking of hard work, did you see my. You see my throwback video last night? No. Come on, man.

[Will Compton]

What's your hope?

[Steve Rinella]

Don't act like you.

[Will Compton]

No, I. I pull it up because I might have seen it, but I don't.

[Steve Rinella]

That thing's going viral right now.

[Will Compton]

Okay, which one is it?

[Steve Rinella]

Me wrestling at 10 years old.

[Will Compton]

Okay. I did see that this morning, and.

[Steve Rinella]

I am a pit bull.

[Will Compton]

Look at the grainy film, bro.

[Steve Rinella]

Cody, for whatever reasons, just reliving the youth days back home. He got a. Yeah, he got a VCR to work. So he had this stuff up on the screen.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Which one are you, Will?

[Will Compton]

He's the one in the blue.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Navy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Hey, put his little ass down.

[Steve Rinella]

Go to the. Yeah, here we go. Now we go set up. Look at your boy in the back. Look at the post.

[Will Compton]

Look at you right there standing up.

[Steve Rinella]

Just slam back.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Shoulders are crazy.

[Steve Rinella]

Right there.

[Will Compton]

Your shoulders are wild. Who the.

[Steve Rinella]

This a fake cut. Go into a cradle. So usually, Taylor, when you take the diamond position, because you know when you. In wrestling, you'll either get top or bottom. If you're on top, you, like, get around their stomach.

[Will Compton]

You want to. Can we move this stuff so you can show me?

[Steve Rinella]

No, no, no. You sure? Take a minute.

[Will Compton]

Okay.

[Steve Rinella]

You get around that. You get around the stomach. You know, you place it on the elbow, wrap slowly around the belly button, and right when it touches, when the whistle blows. But I'm going diamond. Like, hey, I'm gonna diamond cut him. Like, I'm gonna put my hands on his back, and I'm gonna let him up. Give him a point, because I know he can't take me on my feet. Go diamond. I'm on the side, and instead of letting him up, I just go for that cradle. Just head in the side and crank him up.

[Will Compton]

God damn. I. I understood most of that.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm watching that, and I told Cody. I was like, I can't believe that kid never won state. I'm watching him like he has it in him.

[Will Compton]

Sounds like he didn't have the drive. You tried to quit in high school.

[Steve Rinella]

Well, I quit in sixth grade and didn't come back until my parents threatened to ground me in high school, which is just nuts. Wrestling's a different. That's a. That's a different animal game. It's a different world, bro.

[Will Compton]

Is there a piece of you that wishes you had a little cauliflower?

[Steve Rinella]

I do.

[Will Compton]

No, but that's like. Yeah, yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

You said a little bit of cauliflower.

[Will Compton]

This is a little dirty.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Look at this here.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, I see it.

[Steve Rinella]

Your boy's got a little bit of cauliflower here. I tried skipping school when I got this cauliflower here. Yeah. Acting all beat up. Like, I just wasn't feeling it. Had some coffee. A little blood coming from the ear.

[Will Compton]

How cool did you feel?

[Steve Rinella]

I felt.

[Will Compton]

Did he drain it?

[Steve Rinella]

No, because it didn't get puffy enough. Like, Cody's gotten his drink because he's got coffee. It's like Cody was an actual real.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, Cody's. You don't mess with Cody.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

You see Cody at a bar and he's poking you in the chest. You let that poke happen.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, Cody, that's when you pull aside. You're like, buddy, what are you doing? Like, we're just trying to have a good time out here. Well, you don't got to look at everybody thinking they're trying to fight.

[Will Compton]

His version of a good time is.

[Steve Rinella]

You know, them Dracos that they're just psychos. There's no. Really? He's down in 30A and he's staring everybody down. Yeah, buddy, we're on vacation.

[Will Compton]

There are guys you go and you hang out with. You're. You're at the house pre gaming with the boys, just like, yeah, we're having a good time. He's all smiles, house. And then they walk through the bar door, and it's like a trance comes over them.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. They get severed.

[Will Compton]

I thought I was literally gonna bring it up.

[Steve Rinella]

Yes, great.

[Will Compton]

I was gonna bring up severed, because it sounded like that's what happened.

[Steve Rinella]

Severance season finale this week. I am so down the rabbit hole on every theory that is out there. I follow the Severance fan club on X. I've been checking out everything. Any message board that I can. I can fill my brain with severance, and I, I. I have no clue what's going to happen or what's going on. We got to be careful. Jack hasn't watched yet. You haven't watched Jack?

[Will Compton]

I was out of town all weekend. He's in Knoxville. Yeah, I was at a wedding all weekend, so I got back last night.

[Steve Rinella]

And you didn't watch it when you got back?

[Will Compton]

I. I started watching it in five minutes. I fell asleep.

[Steve Rinella]

Buddy, you have to watch it.

[Will Compton]

It's on the to do list tonight.

[Steve Rinella]

100, bro. James. All right.

[Will Compton]

Should I get off the bus?

[Steve Rinella]

We're gonna do this. He does that. He does a little moment.

[Will Compton]

What is that noise?

[Steve Rinella]

He's like, I wish you'd take them roll. Oh. And she's, like, cutting this little egg, and you're like, dude, this dude's a little psycho, bro. You're not listening or. Hand on the mic.

[Will Compton]

Guys, we're in the middle of a podcast trying to whisper the things. Go ahead.

[Steve Rinella]

Hey, so. Or when she's at her desk, you can talk. You have to talk. I was just playing into the orange. She was at her desk, looking at the little code. Yeah. And he walks in my heli.

[Will Compton]

She's like, what the.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, bro. I don't know what's gonna happen this week, but I am so locked. The last scene. I'm telling you, something's going on, but she's alive. The sister. Something's going on with the sister. Mark. Sister something. You know when she pulled up and Cobell's like, she's one of James. Like, the. The James guy is kind of like this Epsteinish figure. It feels like this elite. Well, I'm just saying, I feel like there's so many, like, calls to the things that have happened like that happen in the world. It's like Milcheck, him turning against the system, everybody else using big words. Milchick's not. For whatever reason, you got to talk dumber. Like some racial ties going on. And he's just like the man in the system. Milchick's gonna turn. Yeah, we did get one of our OG boys back on our side. Who?

[Will Compton]

Dylan.

[Steve Rinella]

Dylan's back. I'm off Dylan. No, Dylan's back. Hey, he's. He's got to prove it. He's on a prove it deal. But he's such a pussy, dude. If you're getting severed but. And you're seeing your wife in that. In the. In the room, it's like, why is the real life. Dude, why is your Audi getting upset that she's like. Like having dates on the inside with your severed mind? It's like, you could have some fun with that. I mean, yeah, we. They're like, hey, can we hug and kiss? I'm looking at my wife like, hey, I would need you to. We'd have to get down in this little private room. Come on. Yeah. And then go home and talk about it. Like, I feel like. Like, that would be. It's me. It's my brain. You know what I mean? And he's mad and he walks out because he feels like she's cheating on him with him. Yeah, because Audi, Dylan don't get hoes. He's a. He's a punk at home, dude. He's not putting in the real work. Also, milkshake. That's Milkshake Taylor. You've been hearing milkshake around the office. Same guy.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand.

[Steve Rinella]

And Milchick getting hit with that work life balance.

[Will Compton]

Jack's over here sitting. Like a flashbang just went off in his ear. Like, can we. We wrap it up? No, Almost. Go ahead, finish your thoughts.

[Steve Rinella]

I was just gonna.

[Will Compton]

He's got tinnitus in his ear or some shit like that right now.

[Steve Rinella]

Mark telling Milchek about, like, he's like, man, it's just work, man. Like, I'm just going to take today. And it's like, it's hitting Milchek that he sacrifices absolutely everything for this company that continues to belittle him and pat him on the head and say, hey, get in line. Milchick's going to flip. And it's, it's all starting to come together. Yeah, you already flipped on the one guy that was like, that's your job, not mine. Devour feculence. What does that mean, Taylor?

[Will Compton]

Eat something. Feculence.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, eat feces. Yes, Mr. Drummond. Dude, I, I love the edit that you sent in last night, Sherm.

[Will Compton]

Dude, you know what I love about you? The intentional words you put in sometimes. Like, I know when you like something. I always will know when you really truly enjoy something. I'll love this show. That was it. It's so amazing. It's like one of my favorite qualities of yours is the passion in your voice when you're truly into something.

[Steve Rinella]

Thanks.

[Will Compton]

That is season finale this week.

[Steve Rinella]

And, and Ms. Wong, the way they kind of treated her.

[Will Compton]

Go back tonight. Let's go to your thing.

[Steve Rinella]

And you see that everybody's like this. These are raw moments of she's actually a child. The way they're kind of passing around. You're going to take this shuttle and you can see the little bit of fear she has of just being young. Dude. Dude. Again, the show is. Is all time. And the little nuggets. It's again the severance fan club followed on. On X. It is. Follow me. Follow me at Underscore. Will Compton both Instagram X Tick Tock. All right.

[Will Compton]

You feel good?

[Steve Rinella]

We're back. Oh, speaking of tick tock, we might as well just shout out the boys.

[Will Compton]

Follow us. We're almost at 600 000.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, are we really?

[Will Compton]

Oh, dude. Well, let me ask you a question. First off, I know I kind of said this while everybody was talking. Love these cue cards. Yeah, Slippery.

[Steve Rinella]

Got the.

[Will Compton]

I've kind of. They've been fumbling.

[Steve Rinella]

We kind of have a good method. Like we read the Bojangles. We gotta throw them on the ground.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, see, I'm not doing that. I'm all. I'm all mixed up when I want to read the Bojangles. But let me ask you a question. What does a mechanic and auto shop owner in Georgia, a taco restaurant operator in Arizona and a life savings, medical innovator and Tennessee have in common?

[Steve Rinella]

Tell us, Taylor.

[Will Compton]

Well, they're all small business owners. They're all thriving on Tick tock. Across the US over 7.5 million businesses from the from family owned shops to entrepreneurs are using TikTok to compete and grow. In fact, 40% of businesses on TikTok say TikTok has allowed them to scale their operations, increase sales, and expand to new locations. And that growth means jobs. Today, There are over 7.5 US businesses on TikTok, employing more than 28 million people. And that number keeps growing. Small business businesses thrive on TikTok. Learn more about TikTok's contribution to the US at tick not tick tock. Economyimpact.com that's a good read. Thanks, man.

[Steve Rinella]

I like the throw.

[Will Compton]

You know, I've been doing a little bit is. I've actually. Well, yeah, I've actually. I started reading the cue cards before the show, so my brain's like, you've done this before, buddy. Like, you just keep on keeping on. You've seen these words. You've been a part of these words. Don't let them get you. Terrible. And I haven't done a thing for my. To get the Lasik or whatever it needs to be done them.

[Steve Rinella]

We got to be accountability.

[Will Compton]

You know what the problem is? Done with that one, too. And that one. You know what the problem is? Is I'm gonna do the Lasik. And then my wife sends me a bunch of horror stories on Lasik, and now I'm scared of Lasik. I'm still gonna do it, but I'm a little. I'm a little afraid now and then. Something about, like, being on the podcast and just kind of maybe it doesn't go right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Tell her to kick rocks when it comes to doing that.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay.

[Will Compton]

Mustache Mitch coming at my wife.

[Ryan Seacrest]

No, Taylor's awesome, but it's like, hey, you know, I'm gonna try. I'm trying to do this. Why are you gonna make me scared of doing it?

[Will Compton]

But my wife is a nervous version of me, which I need, because if my wife was like me, I would be. We'd be dead. We would essentially be dead. It wouldn't be able. Oh, we're done with that one, too.

[Steve Rinella]

You know. Who is seeing the field? Well, who's seen the field? Well, the Cincinnati Bengals.

[Will Compton]

You know, before we go to Cincinnati Bengals, I want to say something about TV shows.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay.

[Will Compton]

Okay.

[Steve Rinella]

The floor.

[Will Compton]

I just sat here for 15 minutes and I just heard gibberish. Season four of Shoresy. It's out, and I'm almost all the way through. Jack, have you looked into it at all? I've seen the first episode and a half episode. Episode two, and then, like, five minutes to the third. Big transition season. Yeah, Big transition. It's all about Shorzy. He's getting away from hockey for the first time he's Anybody who's ever played sports, whether it's high school, college, or in the professional league, eventually you got to hang it up. Now Shores is in this nice gray area. Not nice gray area. This tough gray area where he's trying to figure out what's next for me that's going to fill the void that one of what I once was. And it's a fight, boys.

[Steve Rinella]

Is he listening to Bus with the boys?

[Will Compton]

I hope so. Jared Keys are needs to be on this bus. He needs it. And it could just be him sitting there, because we'll be like, hey, have you seen the show? I was like, no. Okay, get off. We need to.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm down to listen to the show, though. You know, I'm done. To sit there like yourself in Severance and talk through it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I feel like I was. We did it one time, and I sat over there, and that was fun. Now it's become like a weekly thing for you guys. And I know next week I'll sit on this show again while you guys break down the finale. And I have to hear Jack have tinnitus again in his ear.

[Steve Rinella]

You know what it is, too. All you need is that one comment that says, love the severance talk.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, just one for sure. We could have 40 that say stop at the Severance talk. But if one guy's like, love the severance talk, it's not going anywhere. Yep, it's not going anywhere. But that's all. That's all I had to say.

[Steve Rinella]

I think I'm gonna dive in once we get through March Madness and severance is over.

[Will Compton]

So I'm starting at season one. People don't know. Know how big that is. That's huge. It's been a year and a half of us talking to Garrett about getting on. Let's get. Yeah. Getting on Shoresy. Because, buddy, I'm just telling you that you will love that show. If I know my G baby the way I know my G baby, G baby's gonna love that show, you're gonna love it. I can't wait. It sounds like you can. March Madness, Severance, and then after that.

[Steve Rinella]

I can wait.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, you can wait, but not for very long. It's got to be in this year. This calendar year right now. But go ahead, talk football, Will. Bengals are doing great.

[Steve Rinella]

I was just gonna say, I'm like, okay. Where can we find a little transition to talk? Some NFL talk, You know, who's seeing the field? Well, yeah, this is Bengals.

[Will Compton]

I Don't think they're seeing the field that well.

[Steve Rinella]

I think they're starting to.

[Will Compton]

I think they understand they have key pieces they have to keep in the locker room. I think Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, Joe Burrow, those guys all deserve the contracts they have.

[Steve Rinella]

If, if you go to our Twitter or Instagram, you.

[Will Compton]

You can pull up a graphic that.

[Steve Rinella]

Our amazing graphic designer Cooper made, but shows how much money that LSU team.

[Will Compton]

$666 million.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Hasn't guaranteed Derek Stingley Jr. To sign a three year, 60 million, three year, something like that. Okay, so three or $90 million deal then. But that, yeah, that team, that team just in numbers value is probably proving to be the greatest team of all time. Time. Like that was it 2019. 2019 LSU team. That is insane. But let me get back on my Bengals take for just one more second. I love the fact that they're keeping these, these pillars on their team. However, your team wasn't very good last year from a record standpoint. Your defense was not very good last year. Joe Burrow as amazing he was and probably had the numbers to win the mvp. They couldn't get in the playoffs. They had themselves in a situation where they did not control their own destiny in December. So now you got to get better. You're keeping the pieces you need, but you're also letting Trey Hendrickson walk away who is a stud for your team. He's an all pro type of guy. He's the guy gets to the quarterback on a consistent basis. He is now a disgruntled employee. He wants to go somewhere else, he probably will. And now you have a worse defense.

[Steve Rinella]

So where does that go?

[Will Compton]

Retired Hubbard, the Cincinnati kid who had a great highlight like walk away from the game videos.

[Steve Rinella]

You see it.

[Will Compton]

Phenomenal stuff. Little mini JJ Walk.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Walking around there with a little bionicle arm. But I just think, yeah, you got it. You got to add pieces. I looked in, they added like some 5th year DT who was a 5th round pick from the packers. But other than that, not a whole lot of movement and free agency for their defensive. On the defensive side of the ball, which I get, I get you want to keep those pieces. But boys, we gotta, we gotta strengthen that defense up. If you want to be, if you want your, your defense to be on the same level as your offense. Your offense is incredible. And by the way, there's like $150 million on the receivers and the quarterback. And then I think their whole offensive line is like at like 69 million. We need to spruce Those numbers up a little bit too.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. I mean, they still have holes, but if you look at last year, like, yeah, they had a very bad defense. To me, I don't think you can go anywhere but up, even though you're losing these perennial players like Trey and Sam Hubbard. Because with Trey, it's like you can only pay so many guys at a number there that they're going to be happy about.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

And this offense, the way that they were performing, like, even though they didn't make the playoffs, still, like on that back end of the season, they were like a playoff contending team. They were over. They were 0 and 4 on like walk off field goals. So again, it just comes down to a last second kick with a brutal defense. Again, they have, they had guys on that defense, but as a unit they were very bad. And so now they know that they can just get to work on getting young and getting good on defense because they were as good as they were on offense last year. And both of these wide receivers are playing when. And they're kind of disgruntled about what their future is with the team that they want to commit to them. Now they know this team is committed to them. Joe Burrow's happy because there was a rumor a week or two ago about, hey, if, if Bengals aren't doing the right thing, Joe B. Might be asking for a trade and who knows if that was even real or not. But now that they've solidified these pieces on offense, they know that they have to get better on defense. And I think, you know, you start trying to find these cats in the middle tier, lower tier free agency that can help your team out, play good defensive football, and then you're going to have to, you're going to have to win in the draft. But I still think that they're set up in a very good position to grow off the year that they had last year now that they got their receivers happy. And again, they did lose these key pieces on defense, but defense was a question mark for them anyway. Like, if signing, is signing Trey back going to make your defense better? Like, yeah, if he's not on the team, like, you get a little worse there. But again, you already know you have a lot to fix defensively anyway. You can't just pay a guy like Trey, try to get to some number that they might compromise on. And he's still a little disgruntled and pissed off, kind of doing his own thing on the defensive front. Just thinking about sacking. Yeah, you need some guys to Play team defense on the Bengals because it's not, hey, we're not going to lean on you. You know, you want the room thinking, hey, let's lean on us to win games. But you just need. You need guys playing team defense in Cincinnati because that offense is what's going to win you these games because you got a killer under center and you got these weapons now on the outside. And it's like, I think about the time it's like them signing Jamar Chase and T. Higgins, like, gets back to the years of when, you know, Torello and Janocho Cinco were on the same team or you had these, these superstar receivers, like, they have two contracts now they're in, like the top five wide receivers. Y a very happy offense. Yeah, you got to get a little bit better on the offensive line. You, of course, have to pour in defensively. But I think that they've established like, the cornerstones now. The cornerstones that were already there are now extremely happy that they're getting paid. So I think it's just going to build good juju going into this year.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, you definitely on the offensive side of the ball. There's. There's good juju. And you brought up a good point. This might be my offensive bias, but you don't necessarily need to break off your defense. You just need 11 guys playing as one. Everyone has to understand what they do, how they do it. Edge, wall, swarm, as 11 Willie sees out there. You need 11 will he sees with a better tan. That's all you need. You need 11 guys with a Will Compton mentality and a little bit more of a tan from an athletic ability standpoint. And you're rolling. Yeah, right there.

[Steve Rinella]

You're top, brother. You're top 20.

[Will Compton]

You need a couple guys that can rush the passer because you can't be putting corners and safeties. Will he see corners and safeties in positions to be covering all day long? Yeah, you got to get to the quarterback. You can do that with exotic blitzes and stuff, but you'd much rather have four guys that can powerhouse their way to a quarterback.

[Steve Rinella]

Now. You know, a team that needs to make a move or needs their move to happen is the Steelers with Aaron Rogers, in my opinion, because you're looking at a. A really good AFC north, especially if the Steelers get Aaron Rodgers. You got the Ravens, the Bengals, the Steelers, of course, the Browns with the Browns. They're not going to Browns are going.

[Will Compton]

To Browns, the Browns are going to Brown. And I think it's. I love these edge Rushers. These. Max Crosby's. These. Miles Garrett's. These. These guys. No, no, no. These guys that are not him. These guys that are like, I'm mad about where I'm at, and then they get broke off. They're like, never wanted to leave, actually. I love. It's a game of chess. It's a beautiful game of chess. And I. I think that's awesome because at the end of the day, we want our boys to get paid.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Miles Garrett needs to bring his big piece on this podcast.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And we need to show him that photo and be like, is this real.

[Steve Rinella]

Or just all of us wearing grays on the pod?

[Will Compton]

Yeah, just gray.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

That would actually. What do you think.

[Steve Rinella]

What do you think of the. The rumor or the headline with Aaron Rodgers and the Vikings?

[Will Compton]

I don't know. It'd be cool for the story because he's. Then he's following the exact footsteps of Brett Favre, but it didn't work out that great for Brett Favre. Like, I like. I like him spinning it there for spinning it. But I like. Like Aaron Rodgers, I feel like still has more tr. I. I believe he has more tread on the tires than people believe he has. I think he's still that guy, and he needs a good room. And I think the Steelers make so much sense to me to have DK Metcalf, Pickens. George Pickens.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

But Buddy.

[Will Compton]

And.

[Steve Rinella]

And Addison.

[Will Compton]

Buddy.

[Steve Rinella]

Justin Jefferson.

[Will Compton]

I understand. But O'Connell, if it's me, I would want to write my own story a little bit differently. It's just. I think it's just because the Brett Favre progression. I love Tomlin, too. I think. I love. I love the fit for the Steelers. Obviously, he's going to do what he wants. And there are the rumors that Aaron Rodgers is kind of just waiting on the Vikings, but I think you got JJ sitting there. Pat Mahomes comes out and says, JJ McCarthy has the best arm he's seen in forever. He can make all the throws, all the things. It's like you have those weapons. It's a. It's a great learning curve for a guy like J.J. mcCarthy who's. It'll be his first year starting. He saw Sam Darnold have the success he did. He's got the guys, you just said as weapons to dish it out to and allow them to make the plays to build his confidence. Like, why not. Why not go with this kid? Unless they know something that we don't know.

[Steve Rinella]

That's probably what's taking so long for the Vikings to get back. Because it is, it's like if you're Aaron Rodgers, I think the Vikings would be the better fit over these teams that are trying to get Aaron Rodgers because again, you're going into an offense that goes with O'Connell, Wes Phillips, you got Brian Flores as a D coordinator. Like, that's a defense that's going to continue to just get better. They're already very aggressive. Like, you're going in a, a situation that's, that's, that's prime for a run. The Steelers, like, yeah, they've gotten better, but again, who knows how much? If you're Aaron Rodgers looking at it and you're looking at the Steelers and the Vikings, I just think this, the Vikings would be a better situation to go into.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And it's not the end of the world. It might be a better situation for JJ if Aaron comes in, another guy to learn from, a vet that's been there for a while. Hopefully Aaron takes a leadership role in and be like, all right, I'll bring this guy along with me. Yeah, let's see how it goes.

[Steve Rinella]

But, yeah, I honestly think this is the last year for Aaron.

[Will Compton]

I mean, very well could be.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, you were talking about just shred on the tire. I'm thinking, what, maybe two years max? But this is a, this is a one year all in situation for whichever team's trying to get them. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

So maybe it could benefit jj, But I'm sure they're, that's probably why it's taking the Vikings so long is they're having all of these conversations to see, like, what kind of move that they could make for Aaron Rodgers.

[Will Compton]

He'll be turning, what, 42 at the end of this year?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, ripping. He's, he's getting up there. But hey, he can still spin it.

[Will Compton]

He can spin it and he's got, he's got some savviness about him. Yeah, he's got an energy about him.

[Steve Rinella]

Again, you, you're, you're talking about Tomlin, who's much more of a D. Hey.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals like your graduation gifters.

[Steve Rinella]

Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the beanbag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Will Compton]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send Money with PayPal. Get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.

[Steve Rinella]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Upgrade the whole tab team at lenovo.com Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device. Win the tech search for business [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo. Defensive minded guy. Yeah, but, but Arthur Smith, like that would be a great combination. And then you look at the Vikings, you got Phillips and you got O'Connell. Like that is an offensive mentality right there to where they're just level two. They're just operating level two and three. And again, you got these cats that have been, that have played for those coaches and been in the system. You got a, a dog and Justin Jefferson as your one. Yeah, you do have Pickens and dk. But you know, Justin JJ is about that life in ball. Addison, Aaron Jones. I mean, you have some weapons, studs.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I'm with good offensive line. I'm with you. I just see like everyone's conversation revolves around Aaron Rodgers. Not as talent, a little bit of his age, but mostly it's about all the extracurriculars that go around, around him. People talk about the distraction of the Pat McAfee show and all these things. I've never seen a coach like Tomlin handle those type situations. You go back to Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, Le like having those types of guys. The Pouncey brothers, Alejandro Villanueva, all these unique and different personalities under one roof. It seems like Tomlin is a guy that can always keep the boat level in those situations. And I think he, that's why he would mesh so well with Aaron Rodgers and get the best Aaron Rodgers, allowing him to do the, the X, Y and Z things. Let him run the playbook he wants to run. I know I've seen Arthur Smith sit down with Ryan Tannehill before games and Tannehill bluntly going, I don't want this play called. I want this play called. Make sure you call this on that. And you listen to those conversations and you go into the game and you're realizing situations that Ryan was talking about with Smith are now being called, and we're having success from that.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

So Arthur does a great job of collaborating with his quarterbacks and just allowing things to kind of come to him, which is awesome.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

I like it. I mean, good options all around. Yeah. But the Minnesota can't be. You want to hit that real quick?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Quick.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Let's shout out the boy Bert Kreischer.

[Will Compton]

Gotta talk about Bert Kreischer once again. I want to remind everybody that he put up £325. The bet was 320. And so now we must promote him. One thing. But once again, we have another ad read with two things on it. Las Vegas show double down, 321 and 322 at Resorts World Theater, Las Vegas. Tickets on [e-mail] and his new special Lucky out only on Netflix March 18th. That is today, folks.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Shout out to boy Bert.

[Will Compton]

Shout out the boy. Oh, bad throw. Bad. Better throw. Better throw. So, yeah, dude. A lot of exciting things. A lot of exciting things.

[Steve Rinella]

Draft is coming.

[Will Compton]

Mitch's mustache.

[Steve Rinella]

Mitch's mustache.

[Will Compton]

He is a different man.

[Steve Rinella]

We need to get a photo of Jared up, too. Jared shaved his face, and I think the audience needs to see Jared, so.

[Will Compton]

He looks like photo prepubescent. What's the. What's that kids movie? The Spy kids with the thumbs. Yeah. Yep. That's. That's Jared.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, he's. He's down bad right now.

[Will Compton]

The. The head part. Yeah, he did. He did look wild. And I was, you know, I was being nice to Jared. Oh, yeah, that's all right. He'll grow back. Whatever. Jared will walked. He's like, God damn.

[Steve Rinella]

I said, you don't. You don't look like a goon anymore.

[Will Compton]

Is that not Jared right there?

[Steve Rinella]

Just throw some glasses on it. Stacked.

[Will Compton]

Them boys are ripped. What a good movie. What a good movie. Is there anything else we want to talk about before we let these people listen to Steven?

[Steve Rinella]

Ella, we have to get into our spicy tear talk for best wingman.

[Will Compton]

That's right.

[Steve Rinella]

I know. We just. We did a little. Little Bert Kreischer moment, but let's talk to you about Roe. This spicy tear talk about best wingman. It can be fiction. Real life fiction. Yeah. Sci fi can be anything. Is brought to us by our partner, Ro. Your intimacy with your partner matters. And, boys, you need to have that blood going around the clock when you're trying to spice it up and have some fun. And RO Sparks are a two in one prescription treatment for guys who need a secret weapon against softness. They hit the bloodstream faster because they dissolve under your under your tongue and getting hard faster means there's no waiting. There's no more waiting to perform. After Rosesparks dissolve, they work within 15 minutes on average. Rose Sparks can give guys thicker, longer erections because they get fuller. Rosesparks gives you the boost to last longer so everyone gets more pleasure and it stays active in your system up to 36 hours so you can go back to back to back round after round. Be ready the morning after. Jackie Boy it connects guys with a medical provider and it's all 100% online so there's no awkward conversation with in person providers and if approved treatment treatment treatment ships directly to their door. Connect with a provider at Rode Co Bussin to find out if prescription RO Sparks are right for you. Patients New health patients get $15 off Sparks on a recurring plan that's ro company slash bussin for 15 off your first order. Compounded drugs are permitted to be prescribed under federal law but are not FDA approved and do not undergo FDA safety effectiveness or manufacturing review. For full safety information go to Roe Co safetyinfo. Our spicy tear Talk of best Wingman in the game Taylor, you've looked in, you had a smile on your face that you might be ready to roll.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I feel good about mine. Yeah, I feel strong about mine. Saw this last night. I immediately got on, got on my phone and started looking up the greatest wingman in pop culture history and I realized that the answer's been in front of me the whole time.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh please.

[Will Compton]

So my tier three is going to go to Doug Glatt. Doug the Thug Glat the movie Goon. He is the greatest wingman of all time. LaFlembre. He is a goal scoring hawk on the on the Highlanders and he can, he can shoot and score but he's lost a little bit of confidence after he took a big hit. Doug the Thug galact comes in and protects him, bringing his confidence back to a whole new level. Willing to make the sacrifices physically so his boys can make the goals finessely. So I have to give Doug the thug my tier 3 when it comes to wingman. My tier 2 could have easily been tier 1 by the this is like a 1. A 1B for me is going to go to Jeremy Gray. Wedding Crashers. That is Vince Vaughn's character. A Man who has the moves he does, tells the jokes he does, he rambles on and lays on the sword for Owen Wilson. John, his character, John. While he's trying to court this woman over and over again and eventually finding love along the way. There's not a better wayman than that. Except for my tier one. Now, my tier one is a real individual. I've seen so many times this man close for his boys, whether it was college or high school or wherever. He's talked about it on Bad Friends podcast. My tier one is myself. I am the greatest wingman of all time. No Mooch. I've done work for Mooch, too. I've done. I've done work for all my boys.

[Steve Rinella]

Dude.

[Will Compton]

There's nothing about a shameless friend that's willing to walk over to anyone at any time and tell them, hey, I'm here for you. But not just me. My boy's more here for you than anybody else could ever be in their entire lives. Walk with me, talk with me, and I'm gonna bring you over to them, have a couple drinks, see where the night goes. Bat a high percentage, too. That at a high percentage. Not to mention, also from a recruiting standpoint, at the University of Michigan, I only lost one guy ever. All right. I only lost one guy in the recruiting pitch. So that's my tear talk, man.

[Steve Rinella]

Gary gave himself to tier one.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Self glaze.

[Steve Rinella]

Very safe week to do that with no JP on the bus. That would. That could have been.

[Will Compton]

I thought about putting Patrick Star as my honorable mention for JP as a tip of the cat to jp.

[Steve Rinella]

I have some tears.

[Will Compton]

I want to hear your word first.

[Steve Rinella]

Solid. Well done. Hyphenated. Hyphenated Big guys.

[Will Compton]

Vain. Good, but good, though. All hyphenated in a good way.

[Steve Rinella]

Vain, but in a good way.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. Yeah. All Big Guys is a good comic G. That's really. That's detailed. That's thought out.

[Steve Rinella]

Big guys.

[Will Compton]

Big Guys.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm trying to figure out how to. How to rate them. How to rate my three right now, because I love them all.

[Will Compton]

Take a moment. Take a second. Not too long, though.

[Steve Rinella]

I think you have to. My tier three is going to be Vince Vaughn from Wedding Crashers.

[Will Compton]

Wow. Sorry.

[Steve Rinella]

Well, you think that's low?

[Will Compton]

You have the floor. We could. We could break all that.

[Steve Rinella]

You think that's low?

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I mean, Vince Vaughn, incredible. Wedding crashers.

[Steve Rinella]

The maneuvering he does. Thinking on his boo.

[Will Compton]

Stalking.

[Steve Rinella]

Yes. The booze talking. I'll try my hair.

[Will Compton]

Just a tip. Just for a second, just to see how it feels.

[Steve Rinella]

I think Vince Vaughn is my three, my two. And, man, I don't want to say this, but I'm gonna go with the boy. I'm gonna go with the boy Taylor, and he's right. Like, I have zero experience with him, but I've. I. You just. You see the man work and this a guy you talk about. No. Quit fighting to the end if he were to get a challenge like that. I do think. I do think it is Taylor. Like, Taylor. Taylor is up there. I mean, you're tier two. Honestly, it pained me to hear you tell yourself tier one, because, honestly, I was about to put you there. Really.

[Will Compton]

I was kind of hoping you'd go first with the hope that this is all right. Go ahead, go ahead. I'm all smiles right now that my cheeks hurt.

[Steve Rinella]

But, yeah, man, I think it's you. I think, again, a lot like Vince Vaughn, you know, very first podcast we did on otp. Like, my comparison for you, like, personality wise and everything else was Vince is Vince Vaughn out of, like a Wedding Crashers movie. And I think you operate on that kind of level, and I give you the nod because I have a personable relationship with you, so I give you the nod over Vince Vaughn. Vincy, if you're out there watching, my tier one is going to be none other than Barney Stinson from How I Met yout Mother. I think Barney Stinson is. Yeah. Have you met Ted? He's just. He's a wordsmith. He's suited. He's like, let's suit up. He's got a theme for all of it. When you're stepping out, he's like, let's get. Let's get suited up. Let's get suits on. He's got a closet full of them. And he's just. That show, How I Met yout Mother was. It's probably my favorite sitcom. I think we've done tear talk before on sitcoms. And I do believe How I Met yout Mother might have been my number one. But I love that show and I love the character of Barney Stinson, and I think that guy is the number one wingman in the game. And if you ever had a night out or had the ability to. To. To have one with him, I think you. It would be a memory that you never forget in your life. And so that's my tear talk. I'm watching How I Met your Mother for the first time right now, season four. So I'm very happy. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. How great is that? Show.

[Will Compton]

Phenomenal. It's so good.

[Steve Rinella]

Such a good show.

[Will Compton]

Ted is a though.

[Steve Rinella]

Whoa. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

It bothers me how much of a. Yeah. I don't like how much. I think he's a little. Yeah, Robin.

[Steve Rinella]

He has his. He has his moments, for sure.

[Will Compton]

And we. In all the moments I'm thinking about in my head of him being a. I have actually done myself, but still, it's. Watching it. It's like, God damn it, man, you're better.

[Steve Rinella]

He's the vulnerable one.

[Will Compton]

You can be vulnerable. You can be. Be. You can be vulnerable yet dangerous. You can feel strong, yet have a soft side. You can have all the things it just shows.

[Steve Rinella]

But then the side character. Side characters aren't what they are. Unless Ted is the way. You know what I mean?

[Will Compton]

True, true. Well written.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, Very well written.

[Will Compton]

My one word, amazing elite. Incredible.

[Steve Rinella]

Greatest you've ever done.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I've never had a better moment on this podcast. Hyphenated legend. Wait for it, dairy.

[Steve Rinella]

Yes, sir. Let's go, Jack G. G looked at.

[Will Compton]

Me and he goes, wait for it, dairy. And then he asked for the mic. I go, don't steal mine.

[Steve Rinella]

So that's me.

[Will Compton]

Angie's. I guess Tier two.

[Steve Rinella]

That's my. That's my hyphenated Tier two.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Damn good.

[Will Compton]

The boys might have been my favorite tear talk of all time.

[Steve Rinella]

And as you guys said that, too, I'm thinking like, damn, that was a good tear talk.

[Will Compton]

Smiling.

[Steve Rinella]

And if I would have went first, I think you would have been the. The one.

[Will Compton]

Really?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. I just. The. The double back. You would have. He said kiss. Yeah. Because I think you got it, man. I'm surprised you didn't put, like. I just wanted to put a fictional character, too, in everybody. Like, if you've watched How I Met yout Mother, everyone knows Barney is. Once Barney Stinson rolls off the tongue, it's going to be.

[Will Compton]

What's that?

[Steve Rinella]

I'm surprised you didn't do Ryan Reynolds.

[Will Compton]

In, what, like Deadpool?

[Steve Rinella]

Just in general. Yeah. Just.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Gets the attention, but gets away. Ryan Reynolds are kind of in a different.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

There's a lot going on in the Internet between Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Oh, really? Should we dive into. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Not the best. Yeah. Not a good look for a boy.

[Steve Rinella]

To be continued. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Can I say something without knowing nothing.

[Steve Rinella]

Go ahead.

[Will Compton]

Can I say something without knowing. I don't know any context at all about this?

[Steve Rinella]

Yes.

[Will Compton]

So I'm just gonna say something. I'm a fan of Ryan Reynolds.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay. That wasn't. That was.

[Will Compton]

No, no, no, I wasn't gonna. I. I just. Regardless of what's happened, he's talented and I like him. I like his stuff.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, okay. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Okay. You thought where you.

[Steve Rinella]

No, I didn't know. That's why I was kind of like, oh, no.

[Will Compton]

I just feel like a lot of times. I feel like a lot of times when these. This. This stuff happens, people just toss you out to the side. Ryan, I want you to know I'm still a fan of your.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Ryan.

[Will Compton]

Of your work.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Of your piece. Probably have a beautiful piece.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, I'm fired up about that tear talk. You know, who just missed the cut. And again, zero experience. But you just assume, based on the stories and everything else. Delaney. Oh, man. Honorable mention to Delaney Walker.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, good call.

[Steve Rinella]

Because I was like, do I want to go like, you know, do I want to have two characters fictional? Because I'm sitting there, I'm thinking about. Thinking about Taylor. I'm thinking about Delaney. I'm even thinking about my boy Logan. Logan. Yeah, bro.

[Will Compton]

He's like that.

[Steve Rinella]

He's just got this spirit about him. He'll approach anybody. He'll approach any group and. And being on bachelor parties and everything else with him, like, he's just got that spirit about him to where it. You know, he's not the most intimidating, but he just. He has a confidence that it doesn't. You know what I mean? You know?

[Will Compton]

You know what?

[Steve Rinella]

It's like, you might. You might eye up a table of gals or a group walk, couple of ladies and the boys, and I'm one of them. You kind of want to. Where you're a little. You're nervous.

[Will Compton]

Middle school dance ass.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I'm one of the more nervous guys. I'm not like the. I'm not like. Like a tailor. I'm not like. The guys. It's like, they don't think nothing of it. They have the confidence. They have the bravado and everything else. I don't know if it was the teeth I had when I was young to where there's just like a festering that happens where it's like, hey, you know, how we gonna. How are we gonna go approach this group? And there's just a guy in the group that just has. Seems to have the confidence in the. All the confidence in the world that just that they. You're like, game strategizing with the fellas. And then there's this one that's like, oh, yeah, why. Why are we spending so much Time talking about this. He's already at the table. He's at the table. Like, why you're talking.

[Will Compton]

He's Leroy Jenkins.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. And he's got the. You know, he's got the ladies coming over to where you're mixing it up. You're talking and everything else. And Logan's got that. He's got that ability.

[Will Compton]

Shout out Logan. Because you need a guy.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

You need a guy that hits it. And a lot of times, the guys that are like, the. The. The. That type of confidence, they're in it for themselves. They. They like to go in. They know what they're doing. They know what their mission is. Yeah, it's a. It's a different kind of guy that's like, trying to. You gotta push it off to say, hey, this is. How are you? Everything's good. Boom. Pass the ball. Yeah, pass the ball to your boys.

[Steve Rinella]

And. But that ball ultimately comes back around. I mean, we're very happily married, but.

[Will Compton]

No, no, no. I'm trying to process the ball back around thing. Oh, you should come back here.

[Steve Rinella]

Like, yes. The. The vibe you give off, it ultimately works back in your favor because you're making it all happen. You're. You're like the guy that facilitated. Yeah, that's. Facilitated the whole thing. And then, you know, the ladies start talking to that gentleman because they have the ability. They have that approachable ability. You know what I mean?

[Will Compton]

I feel you.

[Steve Rinella]

It's like the guys that are. That are like us, you can get in your own head about how your game and your strategy is going to be, and it's ultimately. It's like paralysis by analysis. You're, like, overthinking it with the guys who can approach and do everything else. They're making it about a purpose bigger than themselves. But at the end of the day, that one. That one can win.

[Will Compton]

I've never seen it more beautifully done than a guy like Rob Muji.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. And I just wondered if Rob was.

[Will Compton]

Gonna make no, because I don't. I never seen him really be a wingman. Like, Rob is definitely one of those cats. Like, even in high school, like, we would go to places and he'd be like, oh, I'm gonna go home and change real quick. And then he just would not ever come back out because, you know, somebody would come over or something like that. And even now, like, I walk like. I remember specifically, like, when my wife and I first met, I went and got pizza with Rob, my wife Taylor, and one of Taylor's friends. And Rob comes in, then we say, what's up? I introduce them as a first time Taylor and this girl have met Rob. Rob goes, I'm gonna use the bathroom. We sit down. Taylor goes, he's fucking hot. And I'm think I'm trying to court Taylor. So I'm like, in this, like, interesting little, like. Okay, how do I navigate that world?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Right now. Right. Because I brought you.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

But I realized this is what Rob Muji's beach, and you're the sand, you know, and that scares me a little bit. But Rob just has it about it. And Rob. It's not about Rob, how, like, confident he is. It's the. It's the laugh. It's the smile and the laugh and that beautiful head of hair that he has. Yeah, he's just. He has it. Mike Campanero has it. Who else? There's one other Campbell.

[Steve Rinella]

Go camp. He's a. He's like a guy that'll approach.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, he's a guy that approach.

[Steve Rinella]

But I feel like honorable mention to Mike Campanero.

[Will Compton]

Honorable mention Mike. But also, is Mike working for the boy or is Mike working for Mike? That's why. That's where the wingman thing gets a little pulled apart right there.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Because I think Mike walks into a situation, he sees. He sees the field, he sees the entire. He's got no peripheral vision issues. He knows where he's going, he gets where he's going, and then he gets out of there. Like, Mike. Mike's a ninja smoke type of guy.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Like, all of a sudden, you'll see a dust and he'll be just out of the room. And that's what I think is beautiful. That's a whole nother game that I don't. I don't.

[Steve Rinella]

There's a lot of rules out there, right? A lot of rules out there.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, Mike's a finisher. Yeah, he's a finisher. He's a closer, you know, Mike's like.

[Steve Rinella]

A put me behind the eight ball and I'll figure it out. Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Like, it's almost better if Mike stumbles and falls to the ground. At first. He's like, good. Got the first hit out of the way type of mentality.

[Steve Rinella]

So.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, dude, shout out the boy. Shout out this tear talk.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Fun tear talk. Should we dive into the interview after just bouncy ball everywhere. We will dive into this interview after we shout out and. Neutral.

[Will Compton]

Neutral. Neutral.

[Steve Rinella]

Anheuser Busch, baby.

[Will Compton]

Yep. Neutral. Tastes great. Tastes so much better than. Than. What else is out there? Neutral is made with real vodka. And real juice. Neutral comes in a variety of flavors. Some of their popular flavors, pineapple, watermelon, orange, black cherry, and their new flavors, lime and strawberry. Perfect for social occasions. And this thing is a crowd pleaser. Let's see here, here. Let me tell you about neutral real quick. Three, four years ago, I'm in British Columbia, Canada. There's a little bush league going, a little softball league. They're, hey, we're going to the Bush Garden. We're going to hang out, we're going to boost. We're going to have a great time. We go into this liquor store, they come out. Quinn Taylon's brother's like, you got to try these things. I look at him like, was it neutral? He's like, no, neutral. We go, we grab these things. I put down 3, 4, 5, 15 of these boys throughout the day.

[Steve Rinella]

15?

[Will Compton]

Well, probably through the course. You know what I'm saying? We got to bump numbers up when we're talking.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

These things taste delicious, feel great. There's a. Just enough carbonation in there where you're not. Your tummy's not upset. It's actually settling. Neutral, this stuff. Especially if you're watching that beautiful figure of yours. Phenomenal stuff. Phenomenal stuff. Neutral. Keep it tasty, dude.

[Steve Rinella]

Shout out Anheuser Busch. Man, I'm real fired up.

[Will Compton]

For real.

[Steve Rinella]

So fired up.

[Will Compton]

God.

[Steve Rinella]

Enjoy.

[Will Compton]

No, I just. I'm just fired up.

[Steve Rinella]

Big ox. Tiny kisses.

[Will Compton]

Gotta have it.

[Steve Rinella]

Enjoy. Steve Rinella.

[Will Compton]

Subscribe. Unsubscribe. Resubscribe.

[Steve Rinella]

Subscribe. Love it. Leave comments. All right. Welcome to Busting with the Boys. This interview is brought to you by Bud Light. My God, Steve Ranella, you are our very first Bud Light interview of our lives. Really?

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I mean, we're.

[Steve Rinella]

We're in it big.

[Will Compton]

We're.

[Steve Rinella]

We. We've made it big. Bud Light, they're the official sponsor of the NFL. NFL Draft, UFC. Shane Gillis's 2025 tour. Shout out to boy Shane Gillis. And we're working with some juggernauts now.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, dude. Peyton Manning, George Kittle, Baker Mayfield, Emmett Smith, Post Malone, Dustin Poirier. Okay, there is something about the bow tie. There's something about Anheuser Busch in general, but Bud Light, sitting down with your boys, hanging out, having that drink. And now we have, like, a company that sits there and they're like, yo, we want to go with the boys. Yeah. It's beautiful.

[Steve Rinella]

Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Bud Light, as always, brew with four simple ingredients for a clean, crisp taste. Enjoy. Responsibly Anheuser Busch, Bud light, shout out, St. Louis, Missouri, Steve Rinello. I will say, Taylor, I don't know if you feel this way, but. And I don't want to slight any guests we've ever had, but I feel like Steve is the most fascinating guest that we've gotten to sit around, talk with experience. And I, I'm excited for this interview because you're, you're deeper than all of us. I feel like every story that you tell, you can just hang out with you and you have a story for absolutely everything and you get to learn about you a little bit. You got your, your. You start to find your niche in writing and you have this way of storytelling and bridging the non hunters with the hunters, the com. The conservation stuff, just the history of hunting. You're able to bring it all in in every experience or the two experiences that we've had hunting with you. So I feel like you're the most fascinating guest we're going to have on this podcast.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's great, man. No, I don't want to say anything to ruin it now.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's gonna end.

[Will Compton]

No, he's, he's absolutely right. Like coming up here last year we went on a little duck hunt and there was obviously some nerves because we knew like, we were aware of you from. Well, I mean, the first time I saw you was on Joe Rogan.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Will Compton]

And just your, the, the amount of passion and how intentional you are about conservation, about hunting, all like. And you now Will and I, who are two domesticated cats, are walking into Montana like God's country to sit with you and all your professional buddies to go on a hunt. It's like, man, I hope these guys like kind of embrace us a little bit because I don't know if you've, like, I don't know if you notice it, but like in the man's band community, there's always like this like egotistical, like kind of dick measuring competition going on. I don't know if you guys would be like kind of laughing at us, but we came in and you guys were awesome. Like, you guys just treated us as like legit, like we were kids, but in a good way. Like, hey, we're going to teach you up. You know, these are the do's, these are the don'ts. You guys are great with gun safety and all that. So it was, it's, it's been a, a fun second experience as well. It's just awesome. So we do appreciate it. What is, what Is it like having guests that don't necessarily know what they're doing in the hunting world?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I enjoy it. I've always liked it because it lets you. It lets you see the. The world through fresh perspective, a new perspective. I got started in doing a lot of. A lot of the outdoor stuff. Hunting, fishing, and trapping and all that I got into very young, so I have no recollection of starting out, doing it. And it is really. It's exciting for me to bring people in and have them see it for the first time. That's one of the reasons I like to get out with my kids a lot and just, like, kind of see it through new. You know, see it through a new perspective. And I think at a point, too, when you get like.

[Will Compton]

I thought it all just turned off.

[Steve Rinella]

I know. I thought I did, too, too. What kind of operation you running, Steve? Let me slide this over.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What happened?

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, he.

[Will Compton]

He.

[Steve Rinella]

He bumped the light switch there.

[Will Compton]

So we're still rolling, though. We're still rolling. All right. Great.

[Steve Rinella]

Power didn't go out. Just.

[Will Compton]

Just the lights here go out. Your kids, new perspective.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. And then there's a thing that happened. I used to. I'd hear people say that this happens, but I couldn't even picture it happening is people say, well, eventually, it's just more fun to, like, see other people have success, you know? I got this body of mine, dude named Zuck that I hang out with a lot.

[Will Compton]

Does he own Facebook?

[Ryan Seacrest]

No. Okay. No, this dude. No, this dude's last name is just straight up Zuck.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay, Nice.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It just ends at the K. Guys call Mother Zucker. This dude, like, so he's haunted his whole life, you know, he don't hunt now. He only, like. It's just like. He just don't really seldom. Yeah, he just. He just likes to take people and just whatever it is, he just has where he doesn't need to do it anymore. He just wants to have. He wants to, like, help other people. And, you know, I could picture. I'm not. I'm not there, but I could picture that more and more happening.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's just fun to take people, I think.

[Steve Rinella]

Did you have fun watching me miss that coyote yesterday?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I had more fun watching that happen then if I'd gotten it. Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

It sounds like based on listening to the other conversations, you could have had an opportunity to get it too.

[Steve Rinella]

Well, there's a gun in your hand.

[Will Compton]

And you decided to laugh.

[Steve Rinella]

I had that gas gun. I would have put it down right when you missed it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, the main. Like, the main thing is I woke up talking crazy. Yeah, yeah. I was telling you. I woke up in the morning, and I thought that I was gonna grab my shotgun. If we'd had a shotgun we'd had. But he just. He came in. He came hard and fast.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

On Rabbit number six was the sound we were playing.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, you're messing with that caller like you're playing a video game. You're like, oh, I got these new calls. Let me try them out.

[Will Compton]

Dude, was it Max?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

Max was showing me the film. And, dude, the intensity. You came right. Okay. Yeah. All right. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, bro.

[Steve Rinella]

And shoot him.

[Will Compton]

And I'm thinking, putting myself in Will's position. Holy shit.

[Steve Rinella]

I was so nervous. I couldn't imagine Steve was under the weather, so he wasn't at the shooting range the day before. When we're trying to dial in the shots and you're messing with the tripod and you're trying to lock it in and get a good shot, and obviously the targets aren't moving. So when we get there the next morning, and they're like, hey, Will, you're gonna go with Steve. I'm like, all right. You know, you're feeling the nerves. Like, all right, I gotta try. And I want to try and, you know, make Steve proud. This is my captain. And so we sit down, and within. Within sitting down, what? Within five minutes, he puts the call out there. And right away it's like, hey, hey, there's one there on the right. Get on it. Get on it. Are you on it? All right, you're gonna. You're gonna shoot it. Shoot it when it stops. And then I'm like. I'm trying to get it dialed in and realizing my tripod, like, okay, I can't set up to where I get it tightened up. And I'm scoping in on this coyote. Like, it doesn't seem like it's gonna stop. This thing's moving. And he's like, shoot when it stops. And then it wasn't stopping, and it keeps coming in faster and faster, and the vlog will be out soon. And I started just trying to follow it on the scope, and he's like, shoot it. And he. And then there's a pause, and he goes, are you gonna shoot it? And I'm like, yeah. I take a shot and miss. And I look to the right, and I see Steve, and he's just laughing, just having a fun.

[Will Compton]

It blows me away. Like, you, Stephen. And I was with Garrett, and we're like, just the intentional walking. First off, you guys are men's on mission. Like, you guys are just going at a pace that there's no domesticated human being can actually go at.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And just the radio walk, just the radial walk, walking, that's my specialty.

[Will Compton]

But Garrett will just start walking, and I'll be, like, walking behind him, like, kind of like watching his feet and stepping where he steps. And then all of a sudden, he'll just abruptly stop like a duck. You just gotta, like, look around a little bit, and you just. He's like, all right, I have no idea what you saw, but picking out, even doing the. The. The targets the day before he big. All right, go to F. Whatever it is, about 750 yards off to your left. And I'm just like. I got this scope in my hand. I'm just doing figure eights, trying to figure out, like, where the hell is this F? And I'd find the number, like, all right, to the left of that. Okay, to the right of that. And it's just the. You guys's ability to just see the world out of the, like, the. The live. The live animals that are walking around is just mind blowing.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, that. Yeah, that's. That kind of stuff, like, definitely comes from a lot of exposure. And shooting at the range is great. And you learn a lot shooting at the range, but never. You can't replicate the. The stuff like what we saw with where there's, like, timing.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You know, timing and then trying to predict, like, behavior. And, you know, it's tough, man. It's tough. You just gotta have, you know, it takes a ton of field experience. But the. The walk and deal. That's the thing that's always bummed me out is there's no sort of glory. There's no, like, Olympics. Do you know what I mean? There's no, like, championship walking for just walking through the woods, man. Or, like, walking, you know, I mean, like, there's no record. There's no way that you ever get formal recognition for just being really good at, like, a measured pace walk.

[Steve Rinella]

Do you take. Do you take pride?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Governing body?

[Steve Rinella]

You take pride in, like, are you aware that you're just burying me as we're climbing those.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm aware that, like.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, he's not only aware.

[Ryan Seacrest]

If I started to run, I would have splints. It'd be terrible. But if it's just like, a walking. Yeah, it's like, I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm, like, extremely good at just regular walking.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, dude, we're climbing.

[Will Compton]

Not just regular walking, dude, but catch. Catching those beavers, too. Like, it's. I felt like a newborn deer just trying to, like, get around. And then all of a sudden I'm, like, in the mud, sinking. And you were smart, too, because at one point you're like, hey, if you want, I'll just grab these traps. And I'm thinking, I'm like a little kid. I'm like, no, I'll go with you, dad. And we'll just sit in the back. Like, I'll stay here.

[Steve Rinella]

You better.

[Will Compton]

You've had enough of Steve. I'll just come with. We're walking around. I'm in the middle of telling some story that Steve doesn't give two shits about. My left leg all of a sudden just goes, like, you know, three feet in the thing, and I'm, like, kind of stuck for a little bit. He's getting, like, multiple traps while I'm, like, prying my leg out. You just. You just understand terrain.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You know that. That spot. Right. Was joking. Had you walk into that spring.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And get stuck in that line.

[Steve Rinella]

It's like, up to.

[Will Compton]

I almost died in there. We'll go ahead and check it out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. So there's this little. There's a. There's a spring. It's kind of. It's a. It's a warm spring. It's not warm to the touch, but warmer than. It stays open year round where that water comes out of there. And I'd waded in there and I was joking about getting stuck in there, but, like, later, like, I went into this little muck pocket and got stuck. And then later was kind of like thinking, like, man, but, you know, you were. To myself, like, I was stuck. Stuck.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I realized I was like, what would you even have done, man? And I'm like, why? Because my buddy pulled me out of there, but I had my phone right here, you know, so I would have been fine. But, like, the second time I went back there, when I was with you, I left my phone on the dashboard and. And, you know, you encounter all kinds of close calls in your life and stuff, but, dude, if I'd have. If no one knew where you were and I'd gotten stuck in that mud, I don't know that I had a couple things I could have tried to get out of that mud hole, but I don't know that I would have gotten out of that mud hole. I'd have been calling someone, trying to explain where I was.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Because we were Talking through it. You would have had to take off your waiters and try and, like, swim out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That'd be the thing. I would, Yeah. I guess the next thing you try is take off your waiters. There's this place, and this kind of. This is a harrowing story, but, you know. You guys have been to the town of Anchorage, Alaska?

[Will Compton]

No, I have not.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's heard stories.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Know about, you know, Captain Cook. You ever hear Captain Cook?

[Will Compton]

Does he have a cereal?

[Ryan Seacrest]

The great sailor. No, the cereal.

[Steve Rinella]

I've heard of Captain Hook.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's this. The city of Anchorage is on this thing called Cook Inlet. And there's a arm of Cook Inlet called turning an arm. And it's just. It's got circles, silt. Like, it's different kind of muck, but it's got silt like that, and. But it's also got a tide, and there was a story from years ago. It's just so, like, harrowing to think about where a woman walked out on that muck, got stuck in that muck, and the tide was coming up, and there's, like, first responders there trying to extricate her from the muck, and no joke, just drowned her.

[Steve Rinella]

God, that would be such a scary.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Way to go out, because you're not only stuck in the muck, but then the water rises.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's just the worst, man. You know what I mean? I was telling you guys about that dude in the ice, you know, like, that haunts you.

[Will Compton]

Being found frozen, holding herself up, you.

[Steve Rinella]

Knowing that you're trying to get out, and just there's nobody around.

[Will Compton]

But the lady in Alaska getting stuck. Like, she's got to be so panicked, and then see the first responders, and there's got to be a sense of relief. Like, all right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, my God.

[Will Compton]

I'm gonna get out of here. And they go to help her, but then they're like, hey, water's getting too hot. We got to get out of here. And they have to essentially make the conscious decision that we have to walk away from this lady and let her die.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Trying to help her breathe through a tube and stuff.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's certain, like. There's certain, like, get.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like, weird. You know, with outdoor stuff. People spend a lot of time. I've written about this for. In various ways. People spend a lot of time thinking about, oh, I'm going to get attacked by a mountain lion.

[Will Compton]

It's me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm gonna attack by a grizzly bear. Which is great to think about, but, like, then you, when you're out messing around and doing stuff, you realize all these kind of like really mundane, dumb ways to have something bad happen to you. You know, all your mental energy is like, you know, me and my buddies rise like this never ending debate, you know, like, should you have your pistol or your bear spray? You know, and you don't even think about. Or you just get stuck in the mug.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Have all the pistols you want, but you're stuck in muck.

[Steve Rinella]

What's been your closest call?

[Ryan Seacrest]

The. In reviewing it back in my head, there's. There's a thing that happened with. In southeast Alaska. We have a little fish shack in a remote area of southeast Alaska. You fly into our fish shack and when I. Before my. We were married, before me and my wife were married, we were out one night and it was right around between Christmas and New Year's. We were out in our boat at night coming back from deer hunting and hit a submerged log so hard that it, like we're going pretty fast. Trying to get back before it got dark and hit a submerged log so bad that knocked the engine back up in the boat. Like the engine like bam. Up into the boat, you know, on the, on the tip built and the bow dove down and just scooped up a big old mouthful of water in that bow. And we were out in this. We were out in this big channel and the water there's, you know, at that time of year, the water, there's upper 40s and you can't last anytime in that water, you know. And dude, like reviewing it, my, like reviewing in my head, we were like, so you never made the beat beach? You've never made the beach. I used to know that I met this guy that was Coast Guard up in Ketchikan, which is near there, and him talking about going to distressed vessel things, you know. And he said like, it's always the same thing, like people's dying the water so fast. And then he said one time they do a call and they get there and there's two people that were. Had to hit the beach, but they're just dead on the beach from hypothermia, you know.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And that like that water up there. Serious. And I've always taken my kids out and we take them out and he realizes, like it's, it's. Yeah, you're just playing with. I don't want to say playing with fire because like a lot of people do just that that's a sketchy environment, you know.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I'll. And I'll bring up to them or bring up to other parents. I'm talking about having kids and raising kids. Like, I like to kind of put them in a, what I call a. Like an arena of consequence. Do you mean like to bring your kids into situations where there's like real ramifications to stuff?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Do you know what I mean? Like, it's like real, you know, and, and I like to do that with them. But then sometimes you also realize that, that you, if something bad happened, you can imagine like the articles about what an idiot you were.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You know, I mean.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Who would ever take little children.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Out in some 18 foot skiff.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You know what I mean? And you'd be like. And people be, oh, Darwin awards, you know, and all that. You know, you know what I'm saying? And you'd be like that. You'd be like the never. You'd be, you'd. You'd be remembered as the idiot.

[Steve Rinella]

They wanted to put him in an arena of consequences.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. And you would.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They wouldn't remember you as like the, the. The dad trying to like make his kids.

[Steve Rinella]

Trying to make him better. You're going to learn today.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, dude, we, when we were trapping, you were talking about just like these, these muskrats and hey, they used to be like $45. Now you probably get like $5 for these beavers. And like you could see the passion in your face and your voice about just like, just trapping and even said like when I was growing up, up, that's what I wanted to be, was a trapper.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I was all in which to me.

[Will Compton]

Growing up in Arizona, I think is like one of the craziest comments I've ever heard in my life. Like, I never even thought, I thought that like died in the 1800s being a trapper. But you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

The next time we talk, I'll explain that there was a path forward for you in Arizona as a bobcat man.

[Will Compton]

But we.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I could outline it for you later. What you would have. Need to. What you would have needed to have done. Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway.

[Will Compton]

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[Steve Rinella]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals like your graduation gifters.

[Steve Rinella]

Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the bean bag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on PayPal? It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Will Compton]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send Money with PayPal. Get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.

[Steve Rinella]

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[Will Compton]

Yeah. To be a Bobcat trapper, but I see, like, obviously the Meat Eater brand has become, you know, through. I mean, every time we come here, over the last two times we come here, like I have, I was in Vegas this past weekend, people are like, hey, the Meat Eater stuff you guys did was awesome. All my buddies in Cave Creek are like, I can't believe. Yeah, yeah, you know Cave Creek.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

Oh, yeah. Shout out the boys. Yeah. But you've built such an. Such an, awesome, like, company and everything like that. Like, where did you transition from? I'm gonna be a trapper to. You know what, I'm gonna start writing. I'm gonna start being a conservationist. I'm gonna go, go and. Oh, I'm gonna start a company called Me Eater and made people more aware of hunting and fishing and the right way to go about these things. Like, when did that big transition happen for you?

[Ryan Seacrest]

When I. So I started trapping muskrats when I was 10 and was just, like, consumed by it. The reason, one of the reasons I liked it, it was kind of there's this thing, these two things that would work together on it. Like, I liked doing it, but I was also very interested in. Remember talking about Daniel Boone. I was very interested in these, like, these guys that we now call long hunters, like the. The early deer skin hunters and very interested in mountain men and these other groups of guys that. That would go out and just supply the skin trade, like fur trappers and hunters. And I was just fascinated by that stuff. Part of why I was fascinated by it is because I like to do it too. And these were like, these, these were These iconic American figures who made their livings doing that and had all these wild ass adventures. Right. So I want like when I was little, I wanted to make my living doing like, as a hunter and trapper. The only contemporary version of that would have been being a sort of like, like generalist trapper who traps for fur and, and whatever else when they're growing up, you know, getting older. And it just became untenable at the same time. It became untenable because the economics didn't work out. Because this mark. There's a market that like really fluctuates wildly. I got interested in writing and for a while I thought, well, what I'll do is I thought I could supplement my income from trapping as writing articles about trapping. Went to college as an afterthought. Like, I don't really know what's the test you're supposed to take when you like what the acts. Is that what you do?

[Will Compton]

SAT and act?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I like. People tell me there's no way this is true. I know. I went down and took the asvab. I took the military test and thought about going in the army for a minute. Changed my mind. I don't think I took the college test. Like, I honestly got. Don't think it. I remember going down to the community college we had. Where I grew up was a Muskegon County, Michigan. I went down to the community college and I wrote a check for 600 bucks for a semester of night classes. And that was. And I began college, like reluctantly.

[Will Compton]

Really.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yep. Dude. And, and kind of fell in love with it. But I took two years of night classes and just kind of started getting into school and like getting more into writing. And then pretty soon I was, I was very, pretty soon I was very focused and dedicated on like becoming a writer. Whenever I give professional advice, I always point this out. Like when I give professional advice now to people, I always tell them, like, if I'm talking to kids or whatever, I tell them like, never have a plan B. You guys probably know what I'm talking about because you made it in a thing that was impossible to make it into. Like, it's impossible to become. To be in the NFL.

[Steve Rinella]

Right?

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So it's like kill any plan B because it'll be. Be more seductive, it'll be easy, and you'll just, you'll do plan B. If the plan B is sitting there, it'll, it'll be. The draw is too strong. Like, you'll be sucked into your adversity strikes.

[Will Compton]

You'll look back at that plan B and be like, it would be easier just to do that.

[Steve Rinella]

I could just pivot to this lane.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yep. And so even though my plan A was like to be a trapper, my plan B was to be a writer. Once I, once I settled on that idea, kind of like the sort of an adult notion of what to do is like to be a writer, I was, it was, I was either going to do that or I was going to die. You know what I mean? Like, there was no other option. Like, I, I, I never entertained other.

[Steve Rinella]

Options about it outside of writing.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I was like, I was going to make it work as a writer. And, and for years, you know, it was. It's hard for years, right? Like, it's, it's hard to get there financially, but I don't. If you're not married, if you don't have kids and you're not married, like, it doesn't, like, like, there's no such. You're not like, actually poverty. You're just broke, right? You're just broke. So you have years of being broke as a writer. But I eventually got there and, and just by being that, that's what I was going to do.

[Steve Rinella]

You know, what was the one thing that started to catch. Catch traction in the writing world? That started to shift, like, okay, now I can start supplement money, making a little bit more money. Like, when did that momentum start in writing?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I, you know, the, there's, there's a meritocracy to it, right? There's a, there's absolutely a meritocracy to it, but there's also like a connections thing. I got lucky. There's this, there's this writer, he used to be very prolific writer, this writer named Ian Frazier. He wrote this phenomenal book about the American Great Plains called Great Plains, where he just spent years cruising around on the Great Plains. He's a really, he's really good about culture writing, really good about, like, writing about landscape and Western American west and Western history. He had this book, so he wrote this book, Great Plains. I love this book. It wound up being the weirdest deal where, like, he had never gone hunting and he'd written all about, like, he'd written whole books on, like, the Lakota Sioux and all this Western stuff, but hadn't hunted for summer reason. And I got a chance to take him on his first deer hunt. I took him on a, on a canoe trip for deer. He gets a deer, and meanwhile we talk a lot about writing. And he takes some of my stuff and sends it Takes a piece I wrote and sends it to Outside magazine. And this is in the very late 90s. 99. The piece published in 2000. And I had written a piece about that. We used to go to the bar. When the bar closed, we would go out and sleep inside this dam. And then fish, whitefish and steelhead inside the dam at daybreak, you know. And I wrote this whole story about doing this. And he gives it to Outside, his editor at Outside magazine. And they bought it for 4,000 bucks. Which I thought, dude, when I went. There's this like. I was living in Missoula, Montana when I got that 4,000 bucks. I remember I bought a topper for my truck, which is like 800 bucks, and went out to Hot Springs, Montana. Basically just holed up at Hot Springs, Montana in a, like room for a couple days to try to just process the, like the windfall.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

The amount of wealth.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, the amount of money. Yeah, man.

[Will Compton]

3, 200 after that.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I know, it's like, I got a topper. I got a topper. I'm gonna blow a couple more hundred here at the Hot Springs Hotel. Now what's my path forward? And yeah, that was it. It was just like, it was. I remember that dude telling me in the, in the writing world and everything, it's changed so much. Like I'm. This is an old ass story, right? This is to the year 2000. But him saying like he said, like, as a writer, he goes, somehow you just wind up with like a stamp of approval on your head. He goes, I don't understand it. But all of a sudden you get it, it and you got it. You get like the stamp of approval. And so in, in those days there's a hundred ways to do it. But in those days there were certain magazines that once you would publish. In those magazines it was like your stamp of approval. And then all of a sudden people would like, you could sell a book, right? It's just like all of a sudden the whole world opened up to you. All a, you know, TV people call either about development, you know, maybe they want to license something you wrote or get an option on you wrote. I don't know. It's just all of a su. Like you struggle, struggle, struggle, struggle. Then all of a sudden like some imperceptible piece thing happens and it's. And all of a sudden just life becomes easy. Yeah, and he told me that would happen, you know, and. Or he told me that's. You just get, you need to get the stamp of approval. You'll Know it when you got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was true, man.

[Will Compton]

Outsider magazine was a stamp, huh?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, that was it. And I wound up being on the mast headed Outside. I wrote, I wrote a lot of articles for Outside. I wrote, I wrote all over the place. I wrote like, I did magazine, I did magazine bits everywhere. I did every. I wrote all the tons of magazines and then started doing books, you know, and then, and then from books, got. From books, got into doing television, television, kind of got into doing podcasts. And then.

[Steve Rinella]

Were you excited about television because you're talking about, you know, plan A was Trapper, plan B was writer. Then writer becomes plan A. When TV starts to come into the equation, that's like another opportunity, you know, getting in front of the camera.

[Ryan Seacrest]

No, not in and not in and of itself at all. I, I felt like it was a. I felt TV was a way to. I felt TV was a way to kind of round everything out with, with books. Like, I thought it would be a way to find audience and find readers, you know, like that the primary. Like at any point in time, if someone says had. If at any point in time someone came to me and said, hey, you gotta, you gotta choose. Like, you can, you can host. TV host or, or you can write at any time. I would never, without a doubt, I'd always go toward writing. Oh yeah, always. If I ever had to make the decision. But I always just looked at it like part of a. A thing. You know what I said that the. Or I always looked at as like part of being a writer was doing that kind of stuff. Stuff. Remember I said the industry changes so much over time and, and being back and like when I was starting out that magazines were a good way to come in. There's a hundred ways to come in. I mean, you guys are media. You guys are like media professionals. Look, came out of athletics, right? Like that. I wasn't aware of that path to, to media. And it's. Everything changes so much. Like, you couldn't do it the way I did it anymore. But what became obvious to me over time. Time is it became obvious to me over time that you had to learn, you had to think of like, your world as a set of ideas, right? Like it's in the set of ideas lives and it's this thing and you can hold, like, you can hold this set of ideas and like, imagine that there's all these sort of conveyor belts moving away from you. You do, you know what I mean? And you could have this thing in your hand. It's Your set of ideas, and you can just randomly place them on these conveyor belts that move away from you. When I started out, it was like there was only one. It was like it was writing for publication. And so every idea was placed on that thing, on that one belt. Right. But now I imagine that it's this array of belts, and it's like. Like it's podcast material, it's. It's television stuff. You know, I've worked a little bit. I've worked on some documentary stuff. Right. And it's. Instead of thinking that I'm doing all these different things, I'm still dealing with this contained object, which is my ideas. Like, the things I care about and where I put them isn't important to me. Right. It's just important. Yeah. It's like this remains like my thing. Do you know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I don't really care about all that. That's kind of how I've come to.

[Will Compton]

Think about the necessary evil to get your idea, this contained thing, out to more masses so they can enjoy and understand it more.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, exactly. And. And I went to kind of like. I went to. At what at the time was a. I got into a pretty. Pretty like a prestigious writing program in. At University of Montana. And at that time, man, there was, like. With the Internet, common. People were deathly afraid of the Internet, man. People were deathly afraid of amp. Like, everybody thought that, like, that you were this. That, like, writing books was the intellectual purity and everything else was less than, you know, and everyone was real. You know, you could. You could get real snobbish about all that stuff. But I just.

[Will Compton]

You never fell in that trap?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, I did, but I fell out of it.

[Will Compton]

I could see. I could see it. I could see it, the Internet coming. But these individuals don't understand the art of pen to paper.

[Steve Rinella]

The community that you're in, if they're kind of frowning upon it, you have this vulnerability of, like, seeing it the way you're seeing it as like, these are just vessels that I'm able to get this idea out. They're not necessarily seeing that, but also you feel the pressure of, like, if I do do this, you know, the boys are gonna be. Oh, yeah, having some.

[Will Compton]

That's first time he had an article on the Internet. You know, he went back into that little group, and they're like, steve, you.

[Steve Rinella]

See Steve's on the Internet.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Steve sold out.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Did something on the Internet. Stupid.

[Will Compton]

Is that like in the environments and worlds you live in? Is that like a consistent Where I feel like in the hunting world, there's, like, a lot of, like, purity about it. Like, there's like a. I don't know if it's a cliquish group, but, like, people have, like, their ways. They want to do things, and there's a pure way to do something as opposed to, you know, maybe just the regular hunter hookers in a tree stand and just takes the. Just takes the rack or something like that. I feel like you've lived in those types of communities most, if not all your life, dude.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's like, I'm sure everything is. I'm sure everything is. I'm sure every discipline, community, whatever. There's, like, intense tribalism. There's, like, there's a tribalism to hunting. It's almost common. Comical. You know, what I used to observe is like, so. So I grew up in a. You know, I grew up in a Christian household, in a Christian community. And. And if you had gone, like. Like, people would be. I remember people would be. They'd feel threatened by. Where I was growing up, people might be feeling threatened by Latter Day Saints.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Threatened by Mormon and. Because it was, like, similar but a little different. Right. And you look at me like, well, why aren't you guys worried about, like, devil worshipers? That seems like it would be, like, a real enemy, you know? But you're like, well, yeah, no one pays attention to that. We're looking at. We're. We're worried about the things that are just a little different.

[Steve Rinella]

And then.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And like, the tribalism of hunting is that you. It's. It's that. Yeah. Like, there's, like, archery guys that are, you know, look down on rifle guys. There's guys that hunt over bait. There's guys that don't use bait, that look down on guys that hunt over bait. Just whatever hunt, you know, at some.

[Will Compton]

Point, just guys that use a knife or you got to kill something with your bare hands.

[Steve Rinella]

That's exactly.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Track it down with your bare hands.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What it winds up being like, the more I've been around the country and, like, met so many people and got to go to so many places, it winds up being that. That whatever you grew up around, whatever's normal to you from growing up around. That's right.

[Steve Rinella]

Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

That makes sense.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And everyone else is. Everyone else is, like, not. Right.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Tribalism, dude.

[Will Compton]

Intense.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Trib.

[Will Compton]

I posted a video yesterday on Twitter or X of just, like, the landscape, me and Gary, it looking over like, it was. It was beautiful. But I had the Rifle and someone's like, be a real man and use a bow. That was one of the first comments. I was thinking, yeah, I've never even shot a bow like, but in my head I'm like, I guess I'm not real, you know, I failed this man's opinion of hunting.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, next time you come out, we'll shoot bows. I love shooting bows.

[Will Compton]

But there's a rumor, there's a rumor going around that we're hunting a bear next time.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, really?

[Steve Rinella]

Rumor. There is a rumor.

[Will Compton]

Rumors. I'm glad you know, I'm glad you're very aware that we're hunting a bear next time.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Good, good.

[Will Compton]

There's something about the apex predator that I'm interested in. The thought that if I don't kill it, it'll kill me. I knew this would happen. No, talk down.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You're not getting killed by a black bear.

[Will Compton]

Fair. But I could be.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, you could be right.

[Will Compton]

Maybe a couple cubs walk by, kill you. Yeah, no doubt. But black bear is not going to kill me, man.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Black bears don't like, here's the thing, they do. So I think that you have black. I think there's like black bear hunting seasons in close to 30 states now, okay? Most, like by far, most Americans live within like a 45 minute drive of a black bear, okay. Or blackberries. Everywhere you have, you take a state like here, it's like we might have 10,000 black bears in this state. No one gets killed by a black bear, okay? 10,000 black bears. And I can't think of the last time someone in this state's been killed by a black bear.

[Will Compton]

Still get their number.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Meanwhile, you get a thousand grizzly bears and they're killing a couple people a year. It's just a different bear, man. They're like a different bear with a different groove. And they just got a different worldview. And like even then the odds are small. But there's like an elite group of, there's like an elite group of players out there that are like very high risk individuals on getting mix ups with grizzly bears. And it's a real, it's a real thing. Like I've had like close calls with them, little skirmishes. It's a different bear.

[Steve Rinella]

When you have, we're having your mix, your mix ups with the grizzlies, like was. There's some fear starting to set in.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh yeah, it's. They're intimidating, man. They're intimidating. It's a real bear. I mean, I love them to death. I love them to death. But yeah, it's like, you know, those bears, those bears play for keeps, man. Like in this state, you know, every year people get, people get tore up by one or two people in the lower 48 get killed by them. And there's not that many. You got grizzly bears in three state. Well now and then you'll have one in northern Washington, but you got a small number of bears that, that do, that, do a lot of mixing it up with people and they're, they just have a different attitude, you know, like a black bear. When you scare a black bear, intimidate a black bear, the black bear in his mind is like, he's going to get clear, he's going to get clear of the thing. A grizzly like usually as well, usually as well, he's gonna, his impulse is gonna be to get clear of it. But 10% of the time, whatever, some, some percentage of the time, it's not 50, it's, it's less than 50 is when he gets scared. His impulse is to just like crush what scared him. And blackbirds don't have. And it's like it's getting like nine times out of 10, whatever it is, like nine times out of 10 or eight times times out of 10, he's gonna peace out. But then you get like the right. Mix up the right proximity, he's in the right mood, whatever, and you like scare him. You know, the difference is picture you go around to your buddies and you, you hide around a corner in a house, right? And your buddy comes in the door. Like you hide in your buddy's house and your buddy comes in the door and you go to scare him.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What percentage of bodies are going to jump back and go, but there's going to be that one that just boom. Do you know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, that's a good analogy.

[Will Compton]

That is a good analogy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like, I don't know who. You know, like there's going to be that one that just decides to smoke that has the, has the sort of, the, the sort of response.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, I fear. I know. I'm the jump back guy.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, yeah. I'm gonna jump that guy too.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, you got me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, I'm like an assess. I'm jump back.

[Will Compton]

You're an assessor?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

I could be a striker. Maybe I just hold you in high regard because of our tuner action.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I don't think. I know. Try it. Well, don't try it because that sounds scary.

[Will Compton]

Sounds like if I broke into your house, that'd be a world of Hurt.

[Ryan Seacrest]

If I had a minute to assess, then I would then take steps.

[Will Compton]

Just a 6, 7 shadow in the corner of your house. I'll be done. What about. What about polar bear? I don't want to take this. Turn this into a bear fix.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But, like, no, they're bad.

[Will Compton]

Something about. About. Something about. They kill a lot cougars and bears and all that. Because I'm. Like I said Arizona. Like, I'm. We got javelina and gila monsters and snakes, but there's no, like, giant predators. And so I walk out in the woods around here, black bears. And, well, those are up north. If they're anywhere, they're not going to be down in Cave Creek area, like the desert.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And you know, you're. You're overlooking one. Because usually there's. There's usually a jaguar in Arizona.

[Will Compton]

A singular jaguar.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Dude, I'm telling you.

[Will Compton]

No, I'll take my odds of the singular. Like, I, I just. I've never. I went to the University of Michigan, and the first time I get there, I see all these trees, and I just think there's a bear and every bunch of those trees. Like, that's how dumb I am. And so then I come out here, I'm like, we're for sure in bear country now. We got to be.

[Steve Rinella]

So.

[Will Compton]

And then my wife is from British Columbia, and she. They're always talking about bears.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, she knows bears.

[Will Compton]

She knows bears. They're aware. The whole, like, if it's. If it's a black bear, get big. If it's a brown bear, like, lay down. And then if it's a white bear, it's like, you might as well do. It's over. It's over for you. But.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Excuse me.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, but polar bears, is that just a. You see one of those things, it's, It's. It's game over, man.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I, like, I have. First off, I'm very comfortable talking about black bears and grizzly bears.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I have zero polar bear experience. I can tell you though, that numerically they are. Numerically they are a high, high level of aggression. But I'm. I'm way over my waiters talking about. Talking about.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, you're in the mud.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm not a pole.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm not a polar bear, man.

[Steve Rinella]

Polar bears would be. I mean, those things are massive.

[Will Compton]

Massive terrifying.

[Steve Rinella]

Yes.

[Will Compton]

We can get off the bear stuff. Well, what do you got?

[Ryan Seacrest]

You talk about bears all you want. I just can't talk about polar bears with any level of authority.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, fair enough.

[Steve Rinella]

I was gonna ask. You've obviously Built an incredible company with Meat Eater. You have Meat Eater. You have First Light. Like, every time we come out here, I feel like we learn something new. Like 150 employees. Like, how did you build this company into what it is today? Because it came through writing. You get on television, there has to be a shift in your mind mentally to where it's like, hey, I have the. I could have the ability to build something of my own. Because I think that's incredible. It is incredible what you've built with me.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, that's such a. It's such a convoluted, complicated story. And it's hardly like. It's hardly all. It's just not like. It's not this doings of a. It's not the doings of a single person at all. But I had eventually. Do you guys remember. Of course you do. All the Anthony Bourdain shows over the years. Okay, so what happened was the. The production company that made all that Bourdain stuff. Stuff, it was 0.0 production. Chris and Lydia Tanaglia had 0.0 production. And they did, like, Cook's Tour, which was Bourdain's first show. They did no Reservations. They did Parts Unknown, and they produced all that material. I'm only bringing that up because it's a way to kind of understand the. The group of people I'm talking about. I. I fell in with ZPZ on some, like, development projects to, like, develop some of the work, some of my writing into TV material. And we started making Me Eater the show. Like, we just. It was like, meter was a TV show that I was making with 0.0 production. I named it that because I just had a new kid. My first kid was born, and I would read him books about animals. Like, I mainly would just reading books about animals and be reading, like, books about dinosaurs and, you know, and it'd be like this ferocious meat eater, the T. Rex. So I just had that word in my head. And we started this show, and it was like, no intention of being anything other than a show. And we would. We'd make the show, and we didn't sell it. We just licensed it. So we licensed it to Sportsman Channel. We licensed it for. We licensed it to Netflix for a bunch of seasons, and we just owned it. If someone had bought it, we would have sold it to him. Okay? So it was just. It was like, lucky that we. If the right deal would have come along, we would have just sold the. We would have sold it because that's how TV's always made like when a network, a stream or whatever, when they buy a project, it's usually they. That they take possession of the. The ip. You produce it for them, but they own it. We just. Because we, we just got lucky. We got lucky and didn't originally sell it to anyone. We only ever made licensing deals. It was almost like accidental, right? But what that enabled is it wound up being that we own this whole. We want owning the. Like a seed to this whole sort of universe of hunting and fishing content and whatnot. Over time we got an opportunity to take an investment that would let us spin that we're approached about taking an investment that would let us spin Meteater out outside of the 0.0 cradle to spin it out and like hire our own people. A lot of the guys that worked at. A lot of the guys that worked on the show that I did all lived here in Bozen, Montana. It was just like a very. It was a very small group of people. And just almost like weirdly coincidentally, we're all centered around here. I had lived here before they were living here. So when we found, when we found a way to like spin meteater off and make meat eater its own entity, we just like moved it here. And then we're able to take like, we're able to take investment to buy gear companies. And we had had a sponsor like First Light was a sponsor of ours going way back. Like the founders were one of our first sponsors. We eventually got to a point where we were able to like to buy First Light and then other gear companies. FHF Gear, Phelps Game Calls, Dave Smith Decoys. We were able to like to grow into this commerce brand. But my. I'm like aware of and know what's going on and you know, in all aspects of it. But my day in, day out is. Is like our, our media brand, right? So we look at it. We kind of look at our world as being. We have our con. Our commerce business and our. And our content business. And I work day in, day out. I'm like in the content business. But it was just. But it's like it's not like a thing I did. I didn't have like a road map in my head for it. I don't feel if you think about like your professional life, maybe you guys have found it differently. I don't. I've never had it be that. That I've never been in a situation where I felt like I arrived in a. At a t. In a road. Do you know what I Mean like a clean tee where you have to decide like, you're going to turn 90 degrees right or you're going to turn 90 degrees left. I've never hit that professionally. Every junction I've ever come to has been like, like an angle. That's the obvious angle. Or there's maybe like some little shitty dirt road you could take off to the side. And I've always just like, like been like, well, I'm gonna stay on the one that seems the most like beaten down.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like I've never had. I've never had like some moment to be like, oh, do I, do I do this or do this? Because they're equally tantalizing. It's always been like, well, no, man, right now for me, the clear option is to go that away.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I've just always gone like, the clear option is to go that away and I just go that away. I've never had like a do or die. Do you know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I can't think of ever having to do or die, like, thing that happened to me.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Will Compton]

Change the trajectory of where you're actually going. It seems like it's all just been one thing to the next thing that's opened up the next door.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. It's never some movie, you know, or like someone's like, take it now or.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. You know, your last opportunity, you're in a hotel room with a suitcase and a guy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. Never happened.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Was it weird getting into the content world, like showing, like showing hunts? Like, you know, some, like when we go on these hunts and they're prepping us about Steve Rinella.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

And hey, we got to have things in order. Camera guy's got to be right. Because you're somebody who likes to go and do your thing. You're not necessarily thinking content first, you're thinking Hutton first. And the content better adapt around it.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

So was it weird when you're starting to implement cameras into your day to day on the things that you love to do and you're wanting to show people very weird. Right, right. And then you're showing it to the world, you're putting it on socials, you're putting it on YouTube.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, it was very weird. And there was a couple times. There's a couple times early on in trying to film stuff I like to do. There's a couple times early on I was like, man, I just don't know if I want to do this, you know, but. But I fell in love with it. And what one of the things that really, one of the things that made our material stand out in a somewhat crowded space is what made our material stand out is. Is remember I was talking about that with like working with zpz. So like, like picture that. That Bourdain show for so long was like, of such heavy influence, you know, like cultural influence. Like it was emulated. It was like the cool kids worked on that show. It was like the cool show. Well, those dudes. So there's like dudes that worked on that show. Nick Brigdon, Jared Andrew Canis, this guy. Mo Fallon, Josh Farrell, a bunch of dudes that worked on that show that would come when they weren't doing that. They would come out and do hunts and these are guys that would, they'd come out and film hunts and these are guys that could give a shit about hunting. But what they were interested in is just like story, right? They're interested in like telling a good story, making things like telling a beautiful story. And they're like, what turned them onto it was they're, they're like. Every quest is so sort of encapsulated in person. If you imagine there's a definition of a story, you'd be like, it seems weird to define what a story is, but a definition, a working definition of a story would be that there's a person or a thing wants something. There are obstacles preventing them from getting it. A story is them working through those obstacles to get it right. So you go back to the Iliad, the Odyssey, whatever. Like it's, it's. That's the story. Some, someone or something wants something and they have to overcome obstacles to try to achieve it. And they're like, dude, it's kind of perfect because all the shit and all the thought you put into it, like, what is like, what's happening? It's all just right there. Like you want to go somewhere and get something and then there's all these obstacles, but they just happen naturally anyways.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And then you either do or don't, don't. But it's like, it's per. Like all you gotta do is like turn someone loose. It's just. It's there already. So they were kind of fascinated by it just in this weird way of like, you could make these really clean, really entertaining 20, you know, 30 minute episode is actually 22 minutes. You can make these clean, entertaining little stories by just going into the woods and being like, what are we after? Yeah, well, see, way up on that mountain, that thing up there, we try.

[Steve Rinella]

To figure out how to get it there.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

And they're like.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And it was just. It was just fun for them, you know? Know, and they were able to bring their, like, all their talents of cinematography and other stuff to this thing that they just thought was fun. And a lot of those guys later on did a little bit of hunting and, you know, and, and, and, and, and liked it, but they were. First and foremost, they were like, they were professionals. And normally what will happen? And I'm. And, man, I am not disparaging this. Like, I do not want to seem like I hesitated to bring it up, but, like, a lot of people that would. Would come up and do hunting material would wind up being that, like, your crew was guys that like to hunt, you know, and there's a lot to be said for that. There's a lot to be said for it. But my. The. In those early days of doing it, the crew was like, people who were like, film professionals. So it was just different, you know? Know, it was different. And I can't take the credit for it.

[Steve Rinella]

Right, right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Because they brought, like, a lot. And so we came out with this show and it was just different. And part of why it was different, it was, it was. It was like, I'm. I'm in the world hardcore, but there's a lot of people involved in it, just didn't care. You remember all the tribalism and all that lost on them, you know.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

If you said, hey, man, we're gonna go hunt this kind of weird squirrel. Squirrel, they'd be like, great. They didn't know enough to know that that was done.

[Steve Rinella]

Cool, man. Let's.

[Will Compton]

What's.

[Steve Rinella]

What's the story in taking down the squirrel?

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It seems he got a crew now that. I mean, Max himself says Will was saying he pointed out the coyote from 400ft, like four yards away. Like, you got a crew that, like, it seems like everyone just lives and breathes.

[Steve Rinella]

Oh, buddy.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Now I got. Now we got Best of both Worlds because, yeah, now we got these guys that are like, media professionals, but, you know, long time has gone by, but now there's these, like, media professionals who are also very passionate. And like, here's the thing. You take a dude like Max, really, I mean, if you kind of looked at it, you'd almost maybe think that, like, if. If someone came down, like a. In a. An objective person came down and sort of looked at the meritocracy of it all, they might be like, dude, I think that Max should be the guy on camera.

[Steve Rinella]

Camera.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And Steve should be Max Crush is old dude. Steve should be like the. Whatever, like the sidekick, the CFO guy, or some mentor. And it should be that this Max dude is, like, hosting the trips because, like, he's got, like, he's got all this, you know, he's like a.

[Steve Rinella]

Your guy, like an unbelievable hunter. You know, like, walking around with them. It's. Max spots the coyote 400 yards away. Steve's once. Max points out out. Steve knows exactly where it is. And I'm thinking, what in the. Are these guys looking at? Like, where the. Hey, Steve, where we're at on the mount? It's right under there, under that little lip of the cliff. And I'm. I'm trying to spot it, and then next thing you know, Steve's on the gun. But even walking these guys and birds. These guys and bird, He'll. He'll be in the middle of a story that he's been telling this entire podcast.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

And they'll just. I don't even know what happens, but he stops. Like, the way you, you know, talk about Gary, where he just kind of stops and looks around.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

But he'll be. Steve will be in the middle of a story, and he'll just stop and be like, max, you heard that? I'd be like, yeah, yeah. That seems like one of those blueberry pheasants that. That came down that migrated down from the northeast. He's like, yeah.

[Will Compton]

Four years old.

[Steve Rinella]

Yes, it sounds about four years old. Like, it sounds like he brought his family down here. And it'll be in the middle of a story, and he'll just hear this noise.

[Will Compton]

Dude, we were.

[Steve Rinella]

They'll talk about some, like, some crane, and Max, like, it stands, like, 4ft tall.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We're talking about a sandhill crane.

[Steve Rinella]

We'll be walking on the hill, and. Yeah, we'll be walking on the hill, and Steve will just stop. He'll sprint to this other hill and find this little bottom jaw of a lizard bone. And b. Hey, check this out.

[Will Compton]

How the.

[Steve Rinella]

Did you see that?

[Will Compton]

Is your. How do your eyes operate that way, dude. Something as simple as we're, like, driving back and the Can AM from the night hunt last night.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And Garrett's in the middle of talking about horses, and a bird goes by. He's like, yeah, so we had. We roping pheasant, and he just said he has to let me know that he saw this bird.

[Steve Rinella]

And, you know, every particular identify for.

[Will Compton]

Me, just so you know, that blur that just went across your face was a pheasant. You'll Never be able to see it again. But that's. As long as you know now. It's insane.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, there.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There is a thing that's like. Imagine you could look at it and you'd be like. It's like. Well, I was going to say, I imagine someone could want to look down on it and say it's a sort of like some kind of like colonial tendency or whatever. I don't know. But there is a thing with outdoorsmen be like that cataloging the landscape is. I've never called it that before, but just hearing you guys talk about there is a thing of like, like the, The. The. The need to, like, list it all.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, you know, a bird, you have to go. Like, you have. You can't. It can't go unnoticed.

[Steve Rinella]

You. I mean, like, you guys are legit.

[Will Compton]

Like, like, like wild animals, like a noise go. You're like, yeah, you can be standing.

[Steve Rinella]

On any part of land. And Steve, yesterday, we're just standing by the river. He's like, oh, look, the beavers. This is where they kind of, you know, this is kind of where they, they. It's like they're Johnny on the spot. Look, they were rolling around over here. That's beautiful. And you're just standing there. It's like, yeah, some grass.

[Will Compton]

Steve goes, you see this, this horseshoe in this little river? I'm like, yeah. He goes, well, see how it's kind of like sloped here? Well, the beavers and the otters, they just think, I'm not going to take that trail. I'm just going to go and slide over through here. And I'm just like, standing in the middle of, like, their highway or whatever.

[Steve Rinella]

When I'm in the mud and he's talking about the meth, the method, and.

[Will Compton]

You'Re like, slowly sinking to your death. And he's like, you know something crazy, guys, When I ice fishing back there.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Blew the tent up, blew the 10 up.

[Will Compton]

It's like this wealth of knowledge.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Wealth and knowledge. Never been hit in the head that many times. Yeah, you do you. When you go out with these guys, like, obviously, Will and I, we sit there and we obviously bend the knee. Like, we don't. We're. We're. We listen to you. We know. We don't know. So that makes it more fun for us to learn and like, hear your stories. Do you ever have guests that come in and be like, the greatest hunter? I'm maybe the, The. The. The greatest gift to hunting I've ever. Anyone's ever Seen, and you have to kind of deal with.

[Steve Rinella]

You're telling a good story, and they're kind of like, yeah, yeah, I know.

[Will Compton]

You know, I had something like that. And he tells a story has nothing to do with anything he's saying.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I, I have definitely encountered blowhards. But no, not like, no. You know, it just doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. And I, I, I try not to. I just try not to even create environments where that's like, I just like the dick swinging and all that. Like, I, like, I'm sure you could probably build. You could probably build a world where it was just full of it, you know? But I, I just, I'm so. I just, I dislike it. I dislike it.

[Steve Rinella]

Are there any content creators in the outdoors world out there that are just kind of. Of full of dude? Like, I'll be.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'll be out around crazy.

[Steve Rinella]

I'll be out around some.

[Will Compton]

We want you to do on bus with the Voice. Start a war with another outdoor.

[Steve Rinella]

Where's the outdoor beef?

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

You got some money beef? You got to be.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, no, you'd have to be. There's no way. There's no way I would ever take that question on.

[Steve Rinella]

But say you don't take the question on. Are there, Are there thoughts of like, yeah, there's some people that are like, I'll be around some outdoor buddies, and they'll bring up some brand or some personality in the back. They curated this way. But I've. I've hunted with this guy, and it's all, it's all manufactured.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, here, I'll tell you this. It won't be as satisfying to you to hear it. There are people I know that are, like, exceptionally talented hunters, and I'll know that they're like, I'll know their bio. I'll know that they're exceptionally talented and, like, extremely dedicated. And then I'll hear rumors, oh, yeah, he ain't shit. He did this, he did that. And I'm like, dude, it's not true, man. It's not true. Like, there's such an appetite to. There's such an appetite to see people be diminished in such an appetite to see people be put in their place that, that people want those stories. They ask for those stories. They're hoping for those stories. Yeah, they're hoping to hear a story about how terrible someone is. So in the same way that if.

[Steve Rinella]

I'm talking to a friend, JP's question.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Listen, man, you know, like, who do you hate? Well, no, hear me out on this because like there's different ways of looking at like if I'm hearing all about let's say I'm, you know, let's say I'm talking to my wife and I'm hearing all about someone how terrible some friend's husband is or maybe I'm hearing all about how terrible some friend's wife is. I'm always sitting there thinking to myself, well I'd have to hear their story too. Right. It infuriates people around me where when I hear a story a lot of times I'm like, I have like a somewhat contrarian thing where I'm like why did I have to hear more from them? You know, sounds bad but I don't know know, haven't heard the full story. So there is. So you hear so much talking. It's got to be way worse and, and it's got to be way worse than your guys world of like professional bad. Like, like, like an athletics. It's got to be like a thousand times worse. But yeah, there's this thing where everybody wants everybody to be ain't they ain't all that they don't. They're opposer, whatever, you know, I mean and when I hear it, I'm always like man, knowing how bad people want negative to be true and that they're rooting for negatives to be true, I just tend to just dismiss it sounds.

[Will Compton]

Like a much more peaceful lifestyle than willing what will and I grew up grew up in. Because a locker room can be a nasty place.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. But yeah, it's such a performance. How much room is it because you.

[Will Compton]

Want to be seen as better. Like even if you want to be looked at as better than you might might actually be. A lot of times guys will lean to well, he's not very good, I'm better. Or especially in like position groups or.

[Steve Rinella]

If somebody gets coached a little differently, coaches harder on somebody else or you see, you know, if I'm thinking of my experiences, you, you might feel like I might feel like I'm doing something correctly. I'm getting really, I'm getting coached on something very small and somebody that could be above me on the depth chart per se, they could be doing something that the technique that's going on is not even being taught. But the coach kind of goes over it because he's, he's like yeah, he's the guy.

[Will Compton]

You know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

And so you feel like this, you feel like this bitterness that could build in your mind because yeah, it's also, it's all so performance based and in your success and you attaining this, you know, the roster spot or whatever it is is like predicated on your performance. So I feel like you're very more high alert or were highly aware of all of these stories that are going on around you to make it seem like you're, you're doing the correct thing. And this guy, he's not that good. Like his, your past set's different than this guy. But the headlines are really hyping this guy up and you're like, I mean, he's not really right.

[Will Compton]

He doesn't have it.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, he doesn't have it. Yeah. I feel like it is a lot.

[Will Compton]

Of conversation in the sports world. I can only speak. We can only speak for football. But ego is the. It's insanely high. It's insane. It's out of control.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Do you feel that that in you. In, in that world, do you feel that there's a way that talent isn't captured by stats? Like it seems to me, like, how could there be anything to argue about? Because all, all reality is laid out like all reality is. Is on the table.

[Will Compton]

Yes. Yes. I think you can app. There's stats only tell part of the story. It's easy to see with like receivers or quarterbacks and all that. But like take Will, for instance. Will was a middle linebacker. If he had 2D tackles that are shitty in front of him, it's going to make him look worse. And they might get the D tackles, might have better stats because they're doing things that they shouldn't be doing, but they're getting through the line of scrimmage a little bit faster, but they're leaving big gaping holes where Will has to now have a bigger area to cover to make a tackle. He's going to look worse. But if you have two guys that are doing their job in that instance, and maybe not making the tackle, but putting everybody else in a position to make the tackle, their value now goes up a lot more. Offensive line.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So there is a. There is room to just be mad.

[Will Compton]

There's more room because you talk to like, like offensive linemen. Our stats are only negative. How many penalties you get, how many sacks you give up, those types of things. But there is a way, like helping your neighbor. Like we like as five guys on offensive line, like, we're only as good as a cohesive unit. So if I'm playing great, but my left guard's playing bad or vice versa. So like it's kind of on both of us because there's so many times in a game that I can help my buddy out with, you know, putting my hand in a guy's shoulder at a certain spot so it turns his shoulder more. So it makes that reach block easier for my guard or he helps me out on a backside cutoff. There's so many. It's like that's why it's the greatest team sport ever is like no one can just do it by themselves. It's not like basketball. You can just have like a superstar that puts like 40 up a game.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Everyone's got to kind of function and have this well oiled machine working as one unit. Otherwise it all falls apart. But with that comes guys getting more stats than others and being paid more. And then ego. Well, I should have got this because I was. Will had 100 tackles this year, but I was eating up two blocks at a time. I should be getting paid more. And then ego. Fights, fights, fights. That's why culturally you need great leadership not only in the locker room, but also from a coaching standpoint as well. So it's a. There's a lot of different nuances in the football world that are just.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, there's a lot underneath the surface.

[Will Compton]

A lot underneath. Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Gaps can get filled in and not as like comparable to like basketball where I feel like the realities and the stats are laid out a little bit, a little bit easier for like the objective eye.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. But going off of like not hating on people. But was there ever like guess that came on and you're like I don't know what this guy's gonna know. Like and was like a pleasant surprise. Eyes of their knowledge and understanding of the outdoors, they kind of stood out to you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's def. There's been a lot of people that have stood out to me but I can't think of people that where I want to be in surprised.

[Steve Rinella]

And you can't say us.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like you were surprised with our shooting abilities last time.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That was surprising. Well, I, I was surprised until I thought about it, but then I thought about it. But like, but you guys have. Obviously you have to have like a very good. You have to have a very developed sense of situational awareness. Extremely good hand eye coordination. Right. And just like a little zip in your head.

[Will Compton]

No, don't do that.

[Steve Rinella]

That was not me. You know, I'm claiming.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, what happened?

[Steve Rinella]

Somebody farted. You rip one back. There we go. We got a hand up. We got a hand up. Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

A zip in your head.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like a fast kind of like Thinking thing. So then it was like. Then it made sense to me that you would excel at it, you know, because you have a. And then also there's a competitive drive. So it made sense to me. But I was surprised. Yeah. Because I've seen people really struggle with, you know, trying to pick up a shotgun and hit a moving target with a shotgun on. But then when you factor in that your whole life has been, you know, big portions of your life are focused around a moving ball and following it and figuring out what to do and making quick decisions. So, yeah, it would make sense. You'd wind up being good.

[Will Compton]

So now we spend that. To us, that was nice.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I was. I was telling. I was telling Will about something the other day is like, we went out coyote column. Okay. And we'll go coyote calling. It's kind of a midwinter thing here, like, after big game hunting seasons are all done. Just a fun thing to do to keep active at a time of year, and there's not a lot going on. So we'll go Kyle calling. But I was telling him, I got a friend, this guy named Mercer Long, right. Who's a professional predator guy. Like, he. He catches. He does government work as a caller for predation work. He does. He catches bobcats for researchers to put radio collars on. Like, his whole life. He's a fur trapper, so catches bobcats for the fur market. I don't like bouncing all over the place. Catches bobcats for the fur market, does predator work for biologists, where if you have, like, imperiled species and you're trying to. And you're trying to help sustain, like, a small population of animals and try to get them built back up again. And so you're trying to reduce predation on that little population of animals. He's a guy that will come in and do predator control, very targeted predator control in a place and catches stuff for researchers who want to do put collars on him, radio tracking collars on him. It's all this guy, I mean, like, his whole life. So here's a guy that he'll call. He'll go predator calling for months on end, every day, months on end. You get to, like, you guys will make some jokes about, like, oh, you guys know this, and you're me. You know, me and my ex or me and Garrett will, like, see this and see this and see this, this. You go hang out with, like, a dude like that who has been hyper focused on one small little component of this, and then you get into, like, some holy.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. He's like Snow White talking to the animals, dude.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You get into like, you get into a highly focused man. And then I had a couple experiences of being able to go down to South America and hang out with like, indigenous South Americans. And so here people live, you know, living in a community in the jungle. Your people have always been there. They spend their whole lives maybe within, let's say you spend your whole life within about a 75 mile radius. But so did your great grandpa, your grandpa, your dad, you. You guys hunt and fish 250 days a year. You want to talk about hearing some bird off in the distance.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

They know what it is. They know what tree it's sitting on. They know what his, what that bird's mom was, you know, I mean, it's like you can't. There's a level, there's, there's a level of depth to this that, that certain people can get and like, I get to live in it, but I live in this whole other thing of like, like, you know, producing media. There's like a business component. There's a lot of guys out there. There's a lot of guys out there that just do a very stripped down version of just all in on all nature all the time, man. And that's like hanging out with. When you talk about being surprised by people, the surprise winds up being how deep you can go and how good you can get on. On like wildlife and just immersing yourself into that natural world, man. And I get to touch it, I get to like tickle it, you know?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But there's some dudes that live it.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I always try to be clear. Like, you know, I never run around talking about, you know, I never run around talking about knowing more than whoever because I've met the guys that know, like, I've met the guys that know it all, and I can't compare myself to them.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Do you know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Because they're just too deep. They're too deep. You'll never catch them.

[Will Compton]

So many, like, side categories, like, there's obviously the, like hunting. Right. It's just one thing. And then there's all these different things that people can specialize in finding these guys that just like sit out there and the generations of all that is just, it's just nuts to me. There's like, you could never learn too much.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

There's never an end date. Like you officially reach the pinnacle of the outdoors.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's like, there's this thing I found bouncing around the country that, like, an observation I've had is, it doesn't matter. Anywhere you go. Anywhere you go in the country, you could have two houses next to each other. Okay. Anywhere you go in the country and there's two outdoorsmen. They live next to each other. You could find the one guy in. In the house on the right who's like, everything's all up. It used to be good, but all the spots are gone now the woods is full of idiots. Everybody's out there. The fishing sucks. Now the fishing game agency, everything up. Right.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And then the left house right next to him always is a dude's like, you can't even scratch the surface.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's too good. There's too much to do.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I mean.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's like everywhere you go, those two dudes. Everywhere you go, there's those two dudes, you know? And I just like the guy in the left house better, man.

[Steve Rinella]

That's ready to find the new pivot, find the new way to figure out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yep. And they're just excited, man.

[Steve Rinella]

Breaking up. Break through another ceiling.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Can't scratch surface.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Too much to do.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's like you always. There's always those dudes, and I'm always like, I'd rather talk to that left hand, the left house guy that can't scratch the surface.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And. And it's. Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest. For Albertsons and Safeway.

[Will Compton]

It's stock up savings time now through March 25th.

[Steve Rinella]

Spring in for storewide deals and earn.

[Will Compton]

Four times the points.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Look for in store tags to earn.

[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

And Downey, and dinner essentials from Stouffer.

[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply.

[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

PayPal lets you pay all your pals like your graduation gifters.

[Steve Rinella]

Who's paying for the mattress topper? You mean the beanbag chair? Aren't we getting a mini fridge? Can we create a pool on paper? PayPal. It lets us collect the money before we buy. Ooh, yes, that's smart.

[Will Compton]

Glad we can agree on something easily. Pool split and Send Money with PayPal. Get started in the PayPal app. A PayPal account is required to send and receive money. A balance account is required to create a pool.

[Steve Rinella]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech upgrade. The whole [e-mail] Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon powered by Intel.

[Will Compton]

Core Ultra processors so you can work.

[Steve Rinella]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

It'S like there's that like infectiousness about it, you know, about getting out.

[Will Compton]

You got some.

[Steve Rinella]

Sorry, I was going to ask you, you, you speak to so many people that are both hunters and even non hunters because you have this, this knowledge of, with history and again you're able to weave all these things in that kind of, kind of bring it relatable to everybody. So I want to put you in a situation where you're speaking to, let's just say guys like Taylor and myself, people that are kind of like, you know, they flirt with hunting, they have kids. You know, we're both girl dads. You're very, you're very adamant about getting your kids out the whole arena of consequences. And let's just say you're speaking to, you're speaking to potential hunters or you're speaking to hunters that just kind of dip in and they're wanting to learn about your philosophy of getting kids involved and getting in the outdoors more like what would be kind of your general approach when speaking to a group like that? Because again, I think you do a. It's really cool to hear you talk about hunting in a way to where you know that you are immersed in it in such a way that is very intimidating and you feel like you can't belong. But you're also able to sit next to guys like us to where it, it makes it seem so fun and that where you want to dive into it more.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I, I developed a couple philosophies about with, with families and getting kids outside is like. Remember I was talking about in picking a career, it'd be the. You you get, you got to either get where if you're trying to do a thing that's hard, hard, you got to get where you're just going to do it or, or die. You know, I mean, and I would, it would. Having little kids, it's so hard to get out. It's like you go and you're like oh, there's like this, the snack and this one still wears diapers. You know, I mean like this one like take some weird ass nap in the middle of the day every day. I mean like at a point you just be like, well just never mind man. I'm not gonna do. And I'm just gonna become like a bitter dad who's like pissed at his kids because I can't go you know, I'll be like, I'm just gonna do that route and kind of resent my kids and kind of be shitty to my wife and just generally be pissed because now I can't live out my. I can't live out my passions. And I'm just like an old. Has been dude. The amount of dudes that fall into that, you know, a lot. And I just didn't want to, like, I didn't want to do that. And so I just had it. I would set a goal even when they're little, like, you know, with all that shit, like diapers, all that garbage. I would. I would set like a goal. Like, we're gonna go today and we're gonna like, I don't give a shit what happens. There's no way. It's not gonna happen happen. We're gonna go fish, you know, and maybe we're gonna fish something that's not that exciting. We're gonna go catch some bluegills, whatever. But, like, I don't give a. Dude, if we don't fish, I'm gonna kill myself. Do you know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And like, I had, like, go at it like that with little ones. And I'll tell you, here's the thing that I found. Like, well, there's, there's. There's two parts, because this is the area that we. That me and my wife agree on, is we're not terribly interested with little kids. We're not like real interested in what they think. I don't really want to hear about. Like, I'm not that interested in what they want to eat. Right? It's like, you're gonna eat what we're having. And I'm not that interested in. In. On Saturday we're going fishing. I don't want to go fishing. I was gonna go to Bobby's house. It's like, no, you're not going to Bobby's. We're going doing that. Like, you live in our house and we'll lean your way a lot, but in a lot of ways you're going to lean our way and you're going to do the things we're going to do. Because I think that one of the most important things you can demonstrate to your kids is like, demonstrate to them what it's like to be passionate about something. You know, like, if everything, if all you ever can bring to the table for your kids is just like this kind of like ambivalence passivity, well, I guess we'll go down to the park because what else you're supposed to do with a kid later on, like, what is their impression about how you. Later on, when they're grown up and they're thinking about, like, what is their impression about how you engage with the world? You know, even if my kids. And they probably won't. I don't know. I remember someone saying, like, what if your kids don't like to hunt and fish as much as you do? I'm like, not many people do, man. Whatever that happens to them, if they don't go at all, they will. When they're. When I'm dead and they're sitting around with their spouses and they're like, goofing on their dad or remembering their dad, they're going to remember someone who was on it. Do you know what I mean? Who was like, driving hard. And they maybe won't like it, but they'll. Later they'll laugh about it and they'll probably begrudgingly, they'll be like, yeah, I learned some from that, you know, and it'll be that, like, what you're going to do, like, be tenacious. And so I. It's not. To me, like, getting them into the outdoors is. It's like, selfish, because that's what I want to do. But it's also. It's also like, well, I'm showing them what it's like to care about something, what it's like to try to excel at it, what it's like to try to, like, be in it, what it's like to try to do hard little goals, you know, and. And it's not just to make them be outdoors people. It's just to have them see that, like, that you can. That. That it's good to go through life fired up, you know, to be like, this is. We're going, man. You know, know, it's windy. It's cold. Let's go.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, I love that because I think in a way, like, whether or not they picked it up, they're about it later in life or when you're still around. But the moment that they start to have families themselves and think about it, or if you, you know, unfortunately weren't around anymore and you're able to recall things like, ultimately you would bring. They will be bringing that into their world because they're going to actually start to remember. It's like all the things we resent about or you get. We would get upset about with our parents. And then you look back on things that they did and it's like, well, this is why they did they did this? And then it starts to come out through you now that we have families.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

So I love that.

[Will Compton]

Interesting how parents will be like, you don't like this now, but you're going to appreciate it later right when you're a kid. And then you actually sit back like, yo, I actually, I really do appreciate it because it is, it's, it's very difficult. I have a seven and a four year old and I want so badly for to be a place where they can come and talk to me about things, where they can just say, how are your emotions emotionally feeling? How do we work through it? What's the process of communication so that you don't just lose a gasket every single time you're mad about something? Like how do you process it in your mind and have an ability to talk about it? But then it's like, I worry because I was successful and I, my, my kids live a much better life than I did growing up. And it's like, hey, how do I stop? How do I one make sure they have a work ethic and then in a passion and whatever they're doing. And I think the answer you gave is the correct one, which is show them, like, show them every day. Like the reason why your dad is successful is because of X, Y and Z. The reason why he has a hard work ethic is because he's passionate about the things he's working towards. And you just show him that over and over again. Eventually they'll sit there and be like, okay, I want to succeed in these things. Well, how would I do that? Well, my dad's successful. He did X, Y and Z and they can always lean back on that. So it's a very, it's a difficult thing because I've been around, I went to, I went to high school. My senior year I transferred down to Scottsdale, Arizona. It's a very rich area of Arizona and all these kids are driving, you know, the nicest cars and live in the nicest houses and you see them like 10, 15 years later and none of these kids have drive because they've been given everything their entire lives. So it's just like I sit back as a father of two young kids and I'm like, how do I make sure that does not happen?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I get worried about that, that my kids have it too. Gravy.

[Will Compton]

You have, have, you have, you've established something incredible. Like you've trailblazed an area that you know for a lot of times only like a niche group knew about and you're making it a mainstream thing. And so, yeah, you. You. You might run into that. It sounds. Actually, you're not going to run into that. I hear the way you talk about your kids, like your kids are gonna be just fine. It's from a tough.

[Steve Rinella]

I think, either way, though, like, there's always fear. Talk about the definition of storytelling. Like, somebody wants something, there's going to be obstacles. Some might have many more obstacles. But if they're able to. If they have moments to where we're wanting to show our kids something and maybe they're in college and we feel like they just haven't gotten it, and we've done everything that we can. If they're going to overcome whatever that final obstacle is, they would have to look at themselves so closely to where you almost do appreciate. You're like, you know what? Dad was right. I'm never going to tell him. But if I want to get this thing, I have to come over this obstacle that ultimately I'm just standing in front of my own way.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Right?

[Steve Rinella]

So no matter how it comes out, whether it's early in life, life, or later in life, I do think it comes out at some point, no matter what. And sometimes it's, you know, when mom and dad might pass, and then you're reflecting, you're in a different state of mind. Sometimes it's when parents are alive, sometimes you're getting out of college and you. Everything structurally has happened the right way to where they kind of have that drive and passion. But no matter what, I think it'll trickle out at some point along the road.

[Will Compton]

And it's like, also like seeing the adversities they're going through, knowing in your head, like, this is not a big deal, and you know that. But it's like, what do I essentially step back and say, you work through this. You have the tools to do it. And then at what point do I go, okay, I need to intervene here? Because I want to make sure that I can see the path they're going. And if they go that way, it's just they're either going to get in trouble or, you know, not handle it the correct way. So it's such a. Yeah, it's a finesse game with kids, ma'am. And I don't necessarily love the word finesse, but it really is like, oh, it's terrible.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Terribly. Finesse. Is that a word? You know? You know, it sounds melodramatic, but, like, I think about it, I guess because I think about it, I'll just Share it. Even though it sounds melodramatic and kind of simplistic, like, I always picture. Let's say your kid is like. Your kid gets older and they have. And there's a car crash. Right. And there's like a car rolls over and it's on fire, and there's like a person that needs to be pulled free of the car.

[Steve Rinella]

Right? Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But the car could blow up. Do you know what I mean?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You always be like, will my kid be the. Would. Would my kid be the one that runs over and drags him clear?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Do you know what I mean? And, like, it sounds so. Like, it sounds so melodramatic and, like, fantastical. But I'm always like. When I think about little things and bringing them up, it's like, I want. How do you kind of, from the ground up, make the one that be like. Like, I don't want to do it, but I'll do it.

[Steve Rinella]

Right. Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'll go drag them clear there.

[Steve Rinella]

The selfless act of like, hey, this something we.

[Will Compton]

This could be the end of me. But you don't even think about.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And it's like a lot of things. It's like, how do you. How do you deal? How do you view other humans? Like, what do you. What are your obligations to people? What's your obligation to your family? Like, are you act first? Are. Do you have it in you to act?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Do you know. I mean, like, are you willing to, like, do you don't want to do or, you know, are you willing to, like, court a little danger and have a little risk?

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And so I'm always. I kind of look at, like, would this make it more likely that they would go and drag someone clear for burning?

[Steve Rinella]

I love that.

[Will Compton]

The most extreme version.

[Steve Rinella]

I know we gotta wrap up soon, but I have a question that's brought to us by Bud Light People. People do. Are you talking about this one?

[Will Compton]

Well, how long we got? Like 10 minutes.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. People do anything for a Bud Light Light. What's something that you would do anything for? Is it. Is there some big game out there that you hadn't yet conquered? What is something that you would do anything for?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Man, there's a. Well, yeah, I'll tell you. There's a. There's a documentary thing I want. There's a documentary I want to make. I don't want. I'm not going to tell you what it is. There's a documentary that I want to make, and it does. It makes no sense. And. But if I don't There's a subject I want to take on in a documentary and if I don't get to take it on in my life in a documentary form, my wife will have been a failure.

[Will Compton]

Holy shit.

[Steve Rinella]

You can't give concept every.

[Will Compton]

You can't give us after this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Years from now I'll tell you about it and you're going to try to act like you think it's interesting because you're polite.

[Will Compton]

We are.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But dude, it's like I would. Yeah, yeah. I was going to say like a cheap shot. I was going to be like, I'll do anything for my wife.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah. Something. Some low hanging.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But no, like there's like a. There's a thing I want to. There's a thing I want to make. It doesn't make a terrible lot of sense and like I don't even. At this point, I don't even give a if anybody watches it or not. But it's so fascinating. I have to find a way to do it.

[Steve Rinella]

I love that I.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's not a day goes by I'm not kidding you about it goes by. I don't think about how I want to make a film about it.

[Steve Rinella]

I love it. People who go to great lengths to get a Bud Light. I love that you're going. You'll go to any measure, any length across the world to make sure that this.

[Will Compton]

But that needs to call us, whatever it is. We'll be the presenting bureau.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. And I'll be like. And just bring me. I'm sure they make one. They need to bring me an N.

[Steve Rinella]

A. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they got a couple.

[Will Compton]

I actually want to start up your company.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, my old man, he. He's a, he's a drinker of Bud Na.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll drink, I'll kick back with the old man. But you know what I'm going to turn them on to is I'm going to turn them on to taking that, the, the, the Bud N A and mixing in a little zing zang Buddy Mary mix.

[Steve Rinella]

Okay. A little cocktail.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You know what it is? It's like because when you quit drinking, it's hard to like at night if you're hanging out and other people are drinking, it's like you can't just drink water because it doesn't like. But you take that really spicy bloody. This is a, this is a tip for people who quit drinking. Take an n a beer and then you put really spicy bloody Mary mix in the N A beer and you drink it and it's got like a little burn to it. Scratches the itch. Yeah, it scratches the edge.

[Steve Rinella]

It helps you like, you're getting there with everybody.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, yeah, but I wasn't like that kind of drinker. I wasn't like a, you know, I wasn't like an AA guy. I was just, I just drank too much and wanted to quit and gradually quit. But. Yeah, that little, you need that little burn. I find. And that little burn kind of your body's like, ah, there it is.

[Will Compton]

Is all right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It's just tomato juice with black pepper.

[Will Compton]

The.

[Steve Rinella]

I love it.

[Will Compton]

I did want to ask, before you go, being a conservationalist, being like someone who's in the outdoors all the time, there's been like a lot of stuff. Like, obviously, and I don't. We're not a political podcast. I just really want your thought process on this. I'm not trying to make this. Anyway, and we kind of touched on it yesterday, but there's obviously all this, this tariff stuff going on with Canada and all the wood and everything. And so, so Trump's now put done this executive order saying. And I don't know the full details, so there's so many different news articles that say he's. It's a terrible thing. It's a great thing. But he's like, sign this executive order that says that we have all this wood, like 300 million hectares of land that you can.

[Ryan Seacrest]

He did, he did about hitting the National Forest hard.

[Will Compton]

Right? Hard to essentially be like, we don't need Canada.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Because we have the resources, but the resources, like 33% of our wooded resources. Sources. Some people have broken down to me, like, you need like 10 years for a tree to mature. And the old, the longer they mature, the better the wood is, makes better the homes, makes better quality. So you being in your world that you are, I just want to know, is this like a detrimental thing to America? Is it actually, hey, there's a lot of things we can really clean up in America from a wooded area standpoint. Because it's like, I'm just trying to understand that this little game of chess that's going on between our northern, you know, neighbors and us.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'll give you a couple, I'll give you like a little high level, my kind of high level thought process on it. And it's, it's, it's quite, it's much more complicated than Good, bad. Yes. No, we need just like, first off, I'm going to clarify, I'm coming at this strictly from like wildlife habitat and like an environmental, wildlife habitat perspective. I'm not, I don't have the home builders, wood market.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Seat at the table.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I'm like the wildlife habitat guy. There is a lot of stuff that needs to be cut and we need to have active timber management. And when a lot of places we've neglected timber management and it's detrimental to habitat. A healthy forest, like if you go across most of the country, healthy forest is a mosaic of stuff that was just recently burned or recently caught, whether from lightning strike, fires or whatever. So it's like new growth, medium growth, old growth. Right. You need it all because you need, you want to create habitats that have all these different offerings and you want to create habitats with a lot of edges. Right. Meaning like open areas that abut brushy areas that abut mature stands. Because that way there's a lot more going on. I'm trying to speak in very general terms. There's a lot more going on ecologically. Greater diversity of plants, greater diversity of stages of growth. So you have things that are big old trees that are producing mast, that producing acorns, beechnuts, whatever from old trees. Trees, young trees that have new growth on them and that's good for food. You have little thickets for stuff that likes thickets. Right. So you want a mixed ecosystem. If we leave everything alone and don't do active land management because the natural processes aren't there anymore. Like we just don't have, we can't just let fires rip, you know, because it destroys property and things and other issues. You got to kind of do a man made version of how to create these mixed ecosystems systems. So there's a place for logging done.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

It can be very advantageous for wildlife in the right areas. What I don't like is I can't support and I can't get behind building new infrastructure, building new roads into our, into our wilderness areas. And I don't mean designated wilderness areas, but areas that are like, that aren't industrialized, like land, natural landscapes that don't have infrastructure in place, that don't have roads built into them. I cannot support a plan to go into those areas and build new roads in order to harvest old growth timber.

[Will Compton]

Why is, why is that like we're.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Just gonna, we're gonna run out of it. Yeah, we're going to run out of it. There's like a deal, there's always a deal with the devil that you make on this stuff. You mentioned your wife being from British Columbia, Canada has, you know, Canada has a reputation Like a little bit of. Some people hold Canada's reputation of having a stellar environmental record in some ways like the US We've been able to hang on to our old growth growth coastal rainforests which we, you know, there's not that much left old growth coastal rainforest. And we've kind of looked and, and guys in my world will look and be like, man, I can't believe be way BC British Columbia has just maintained openness to just keep whacking away at it. And it was kind of like, man, they're going to cut it till it's gone.

[Steve Rinella]

Right, right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And meanwhile we got a lot of coastal old growth rainforest. Like I mentioned, I have a fish shack, like I have a fish shack at like ground zero of this shit. Tongass National Forest, surrounded by Tongass National Forest. It's a perennial. Like you know, like political ping pong back and forth is whether or not to build a bunch of new roads in Tongass National Forest to get after the old growth coastal. I mean we're talking 6, 700 year old trees. Right?

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And you look in that southeast Alaska stuff, you look in B.C. and they've been hammering it and they might hammer it to the bitter end. I just, like I, I think that, that if you go in the, into the future, I'm very conservative about this when I can, When I say conservative, what I mean is this. When we go into the future and more of the world is developed and more of the world is industrialized and there's less biodiversity and less wildlife, I think we're going to look at these last bastions of old growth timber and we're going to be like, thank God we protected that stuff. You go look, there's been a lot of talk lately like someone, even some politician in Florida I think introduced some bill to protect, put, to put President Trump on Mount Rushmore. They say that that rock face isn't even suitable to accommodate a new face up there anyways. But let's just say, let's talk about who one of the guys that is there, okay? One of the guys that is there is Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt, he's Republican. And Theodore Roosevelt created the national forest system.

[Will Compton]

Him.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay. And what he did was he knew that American wildlife was on the way out. Like, like we relative to the late 1800s, early 1900s. We leave, we live in the good old days of American wildlife was bad. Then Roosevelt came in and he knew that like for American wildlife to thrive we need a national forest system. We need like big tracks of forest and, and he did that and people didn't want him to do it and they were pissed at him at the time. Now he's like universally celebrated. Every politician wants to be favorably compared to Roosevelt. Okay. I'm very cautious about any effort that would undo or subvert those efforts to create these big tracks of nature, these big tracks of wildlife life habitat. And I'm just always going to be like, I'm always going to be on the side of preserving our landscapes. And I'll use the term investing in these wilderness landscapes where American wildlife can continue to thrive. And I'm going to be like very, I'm just gonna be on the defensive, I'm gonna be on the defense. I'm going to defend wildlife habitat.

[Will Compton]

Is he had guilty before proven innocent with you when it comes to the wildlife habitat? But it sounds like it's a double, like it's a double edged sword because on one hand what you're saying is because we can't let fires roam free.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We gotta be doing it.

[Will Compton]

We need the levels of growth. So cutting down wood like is not necessarily bad.

[Ryan Seacrest]

No.

[Will Compton]

And if they get another layer, that's when it becomes detrimental to the, the wildlife, environment, human beings, the world we now see as it is today.

[Ryan Seacrest]

If the right. So with that executive order. Order with the right person in place to interpret it, I would be. There's a what? There's a version in which I'd be like, thank God.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Because there's a lot of, there's a lot of work we need to be doing for like wildfire work, wildfire reduction, habitat improvement, thinning. I'd be like, great. If with the right person on the ground implementing it, I could get excited about it. With the wrong person on the ground implementing it, I could get fearful of it. And right now it's, it's a little early to tell. But yeah, with the right people executing it, I could think that it would be like net positive or it could be people doing it. And I wound up being like upset about it.

[Will Compton]

Now, hypothetical question for you. Let's say you're sitting in your office later this afternoon. There's a call, some of your secretary walks in, she goes, steve, the president is on the phone. You answer that phone, it's Trump. He tells you how great you are, how amazing you are, everything's going so great in your life. But he wants you to be the guy to interpret this executive order. What do you say to that question?

[Ryan Seacrest]

I would say yes. And then I would promptly call, I would promptly call a couple friends of mine. And I would say you guys need to do this because you understand it better than me and I need to act like I'm in charge.

[Will Compton]

Smart man. Smart man. I love it. Was it delegate to elevate?

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah, yeah, exactly right?

[Will Compton]

Yeah. That's good. I do appreciate you breaking that down a little bit because it is so interesting, like this whole, like the political landscape we live in now because a lot of things he's doing, people are like, well, this is what you, this is what everybody wanted. But there's so much going on that's hard for me to follow the bouncing ball. And I do my best to kind of like, kind of follow on because it is so interesting to me. But when I saw that, you know, my brain goes to. It's probably not as bad as it is because I'm not a pessimist. I'm very positive about, like, best case scenario is usually going to work out. My wife on the other end being from British Columbia, not knowing the nugget that they're actually killing their forest up there. I'll have to bring that up at our next family meeting. But she, she is huge in the wilderness. Her whole family like her, her mom is like, known as like the fishing queen in her town because she's like, she can just rip any lip around there. So like, she was very, she's obviously like worried and concerned and I was like, well, I'm gonna be with me or next week. Like, what a perfect individual to talk to it about.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Because it is very interesting and just, just trying to understand all the nuances of kind of like you were saying, like, how do you interpret these executive orders as opposed to just reading at face value and just assuming it's a blank canvas?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah. If you. Here's the main rub. Do you got a second?

[Will Compton]

I have a moment.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Here's kind of the main road.

[Steve Rinella]

I don't know exactly when the flight is, but I know we're getting.

[Will Compton]

All right, we'll end on this.

[Ryan Seacrest]

This will be very quick. This will be very quick. My, my problem with the administration so far when it comes to natural resources issues and public lands issues is I would like, I, I like, I understand some of the things that need, they need to do. I think that they're taking a pretty ham handed approach. And a lot of the Doge stuff has been coming. A lot of the Doge stuff has been decisions being made by people who have no understanding. Understanding of what they're toying with. And I think that a better approach is get your cabinet heads in get your administration people in and let people make decisions at a more expert level. The same way you read about Rubio's conflict with Musk, where like Rubio's like, I'm Secretary of State, Let me go into my like, portfolio of interests and identify the cuts. That's my world. Right. I'll do it. And so there's like a little possessiveness and some of the stuff with like Forest Service issues, Bureau of Land Management issues, logging issues, whatever, Public Lands Administration layoffs and all that. Get the right agency people in place, let them know what they need to do. Give them a minute, minute to go and have like a, A more fine tuned expert opinion on where we find room for cuts. And don't just start cutting that you don't understand because someone else is going to go in there and be able to do it without. Without throwing the baby out with the bath water. And they've thrown a lot of. They have thrown a. On in the area that I'm informed on, which is like natural resources issues. They've thrown a shitload of babies out.

[Steve Rinella]

Out.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And now you're going to watch people come in and they're going to come in. They're going to be like dragging those babies back.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Picking those babies back up and putting them in. And it's just, it creates a mess.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And they will like, the babies will get picked back up and it'll kind of be like, well, why don't we just like take a. Why don't we just do this in a more thoughtful way anyways? Because they're already like, oh my God, he got. They got rid of what?

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And that's causing a headache.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So I just think that it's. I'm not the only person to bring this up. Like there's an intention to go and do something and I think that it was just like, I think the intention kind of ran away with itself for a minute.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There's gonna be a lot of cr. I think now there's gonna be like a, A lot of corrections are going to need to take place.

[Steve Rinella]

Right.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, that is. I mean, that's just a whole another hour of a podcast.

[Ryan Seacrest]

We actually do different show too.

[Will Compton]

Different show.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And I'd probably have someone different than me talk to you.

[Steve Rinella]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Steve Rinella]

Hey, delegate.

[Will Compton]

Last time was awesome, dude. Shooting ducks with you this time, just as much fun. Like the trapping portion. Obviously we didn't get a coyote, but.

[Steve Rinella]

It'S good that we didn't get one. You can't, you can't be like, hey, we're going on a meat eater hunt. Like, it's gonna be right out in front of you. Like that's, that's hunting.

[Will Compton]

But we, we appreciate, like, not just you, but your entire crew, like, the hospitality, the way you guys treat us like everything's first class here. So thank you so much.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I appreciate it, man. Thanks for coming out. I look forward to hanging again.

[Steve Rinella]

You're the man, bro. Thank you. Thank you.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway.

[Will Compton]

It's stock up savings time now through March 25th.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Will Compton]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Will Compton]

And Ritz crackers or sweet treat favorites like Nestle Drumsticks, Nerds, Gummy clusters and Lindor chocolates, plus many more.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Then clip the offer in our app for automatic event long savings stack up those rewards to save even more restrictions apply.

[Steve Rinella]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details. It's tax season, and by now, I know we're all a bit tired of numbers. But here's an important one you need to hear. $16.5 billion. That's how much money in refunds the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud last year.

[Will Compton]

Here's another 20%.

[Steve Rinella]

That's the overall increase in identity theft related to tax fraud in 2024 alone. But it's not all grim news.

[Will Compton]

Here's a good number. 100 million.

[Steve Rinella]

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[Will Compton]

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[Steve Rinella]

You know, some people say that Odoo business management software is like fertilizer, the.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Way it promotes growth and all. But other people say Odoo is like.

[Steve Rinella]

A magic beanstalk because it grows with your company and is also magically affordable.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And there's some people who would even.

[Steve Rinella]

Say Odoo's individual software programs come together to build the perfect suite.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Like building blocks. Well, Odoo is all of these things.

[Steve Rinella]

Fertilizer, magic beanstalk building blocks for business. So sign up now at odoo com o d o o com.