Snow Football, Baltimore Heartbreak, and Greek Yogurt Power Rankings | with Stavros Halkias

Summary

Casuals with Katie Nolan: Snow Football, Baltimore Heartbreak, and Greek Yogurt Power Rankings | Episode with Stavros Halkias

Release Date: January 21, 2025

Introduction

In the premiere episode of Casuals with Katie Nolan, host Katie Nolan, accompanied by her friend Stavros Halkias, dives into a heartfelt and humorous discussion about the recent Baltimore Ravens' heartbreaking loss, the dynamics of snow football games, collegiate sports, and even touches on TikTok's recent upheaval. The chemistry between Katie and Stavros sets a relaxed and engaging tone, making complex sports topics accessible to both casual and devoted fans.

1. Navigating Sports Fandom and Personal Connections

Katie opens the conversation by reflecting on her decade-long experience in the sports industry and how it altered her personal relationship with sports fandom. She emphasizes the podcast's mission to make sports feel like "recess" rather than "homework," ensuring that listeners feel included regardless of their sports knowledge.

"We are just gonna make a podcast that's like, if you think you could love sports or if you've ever been curious about loving sports... I want you to feel comfortable here." ([00:05])

Stavros supports this vision by sharing his journey as a big Ravens fan and how personal losses impact his connection to the team.

2. The Heartbreak of the Baltimore Ravens' Loss

The centerpiece of the episode revolves around the Baltimore Ravens' recent defeat against the Buffalo Bills, a game pivotal in the MVP conversation between Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. Stavros expresses his frustration and emotional turmoil following the loss, likening the team's performance to personal setbacks.

"I thought this was fucking meant. It was written in stone. I thought I was going to be cruising..." ([12:23])

Katie empathizes, recounting her own emotional investment and the subsequent fallout that led her to seek solace in less conventional means, such as indulging in Greek yogurt to cope with the disappointment.

"And now it's taken me a year. This is so fun. I literally have been cutting my halo top with yogurt." ([18:16])

3. The Allure and Challenges of Snow Football Games

Transitioning from personal losses, Katie and Stavros delve into the complexities of snow football games. They debate whether fans genuinely love the chaos brought by inclement weather or if it unfairly disadvantages teams unaccustomed to such conditions.

"What do you feel like a snow game? Or are you like, this is how it goes. This is how it goes. This is the world we live in." ([20:52]).

Stavros points out the cinematic quality of snow games, acknowledging their visual appeal while critiquing the inherent inequalities they introduce.

"The snow game is more cinematic. Without question." ([21:22])

4. Critique of Dominant Teams: The Chiefs and Dodgers

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the frustration with consistently dominant teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Katie criticizes the Chiefs for their perpetual success and the perceived favoritism in officiating, making their victories less satisfying for fans of other teams.

"They were winning too much. They're good. I have personal beef with them." ([32:11])

Similarly, the Dodgers' aggressive offseason signings are scrutinized, with Katie lamenting how financial power can overshadow merit-based success.

"It's like, it's always going... They could just buy their way to a championship." ([35:00])

5. College Sports: Detached Yet Observant

Both hosts share their ambivalent feelings towards college sports. While Katie reminisces about her time rooting for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, she admits a lack of deep attachment. Stavros echoes a similar sentiment, highlighting the emotional toll on young athletes and questioning the sustainability of collegiate sports' current trajectory.

"I have no attachment really. And you know, I sort of... I guess because I rooted for the Terps in basketball." ([42:21])

6. Celebrating Basketball and Giannis Antetokounmpo

Shifting to basketball, Katie enthusiastically discusses Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek superstar whose journey from humble beginnings to NBA stardom serves as an inspiration. They celebrate his athletic prowess, personal integrity, and cultural impact, contrasting him with other athletes who fall short off the court.

"He's the coolest guy of all time. ... He's a once in a generation talent and he came from nothing. He's the best." ([49:28])

7. The Rise and Fall of TikTok: Influence and Authenticity

The conversation veers into the realm of social media, with Katie and Stavros analyzing TikTok's fluctuating presence. They discuss the platform's impact on content creation, influencer authenticity, and the phenomenon of "deathbed confessions," where influencers reveal the realities behind their curated personas as TikTok faces potential shutdowns.

"Deathbed confessions are crazy. It's like you're going. So I... Just die, man." ([59:09])

Katie shares her personal struggle with TikTok addiction, highlighting the platform's double-edged sword of fame and personal well-being.

"I started posting a lot... and very quickly, I realized it was so bad for me." ([54:07])

8. Wrapping Up: Future Episodes and Closing Remarks

As the episode concludes, Katie and Stavros recap their discussions, encourage listeners to engage with their content, and promote Stavros's upcoming Dreamboat tour and podcast, Stavi's World. They maintain their signature blend of humor and candidness, leaving listeners eager for future episodes.

"Please get tickets to the Dreamboat tour. Tour. Stavi Biz S T A vvv y dot biz sick." ([59:44])

Notable Quotes

• "I think the reason that I love sports is because they're kind of like social glue." – Katie Nolan ([04:15])
• "The snow game is more cinematic. Without question." – Katie Nolan ([21:22])
• "He's a once in a generation talent and he came from nothing. He's the best." – Katie Nolan ([49:28])

Conclusion

The inaugural episode of Casuals with Katie Nolan skillfully balances emotional depth with lighthearted banter, offering listeners a nuanced exploration of sports fandom. Through personal anecdotes and sharp critiques of current sports dynamics, Katie and Stavros create a welcoming space for all fans to engage with the week's biggest sports stories without the pressure of expertise. Whether you're a seasoned fan or just sports-curious, this podcast promises insightful and entertaining conversations that resonate beyond the final whistle.

Transcript

[A]

Where'd you get those shoes?

[B]

DSW has all the shoes you need for whatever you're into. You know, like running shoes that give new meaning to personal best, or everyday sneakers that make coffee runs look cool. Basically, DSW has all the best styles from the brands that always get it right, like Nike, Brooks, Timberland, and more. Oh, yeah, did we mention they also happen to be the perfect price. Find a shoe for every you at your DSW store. And dsw.com foreign hello, and welcome to Casuals, the sports podcast that doesn't care what you know. It's just really happy that you're here. I'm Katie Nolan. I'm the host. Joining me a little bit later will be my friend Stavros Halkias, big Ravens fan, a buddy of mine. We're gonna have a great conversation. We're gonna talk about everything. We talk about a little bit NFL. We talk about college football, talk about basketball, covering pretty much all the sports. And we'll get to that in just a sec. But first, we're going to start every podcast with me kind of just talking to you about whatever I'm thinking about. We're calling it the Yap because I'm. I. I'm. I yap. So today's Yap. I kind of just wanted to talk to you guys, since this is our first episode, about what we're doing here and what the point of Casuals is. It feels crazy to be making a podcast again. I'm very excited to be doing this and to be doing this with Sirius xm. Although the podcast is a variable, wherever you get your podcasts, everybody keeps asking if you need a subscription and you don't. But the whole point of this podcast, for me, after working in sports for, I don't know, I want. It's about 10 years, but every time I say that, that sounds nuts to me because I'm still 26. Shrugging, innocent shrug. After working in sports for as long as I did, and I've done so many different things and met so many cool people and had so many incredible experiences, and then the last two years, I sort of stepped back and chilled out. And a thing I realized about sports is that when you work in sports, your relationship with it, like, fundamentally changes. You have to care about the stuff that's going to get the most traction with people, and you're not supposed to care more about your team than the other teams. And that makes sense to me for broadcasting. But it also is, like, an interesting, weird part about it, right? Because it's like well, that's how we got into this, is you have a rooting interest, you're a fan. And it. I don't know, I just. Not that I lost that part of me, but it changed my relationship with sports and made it something it wasn't always. And the last two years, I sort of became, you know, I got back in touch with, like, a lady who watches sports because she likes watching sports. And by nature of that, I got into, like, talking to my friends just about sports the way you do when you don't have to talk about them on TV to everybody. And I just realized, like, the reason that I love sports is because they're kind of like social glue. They're. They're. That. First of all, they're perfect small talk. It's perfect things to have knowledge of for small talk. It's a. A lubricant socially, to be able to just, like, talk about sports casually with somebody, because people connect with sports and people have, like, these loyalties to sports that make them, you know, they care about it. But it isn't in the end, like, consequential. It's like, win or lose, and it's not. Nobody dies. You know what I mean? And in these trying times, it's nice to have something you can care about that matters to you, but doesn't, like, matter matter, you know? And in looking at sports this way, I sort of felt like, well, then why isn't everybody here? Why doesn't everybody have this? Why are there some people that feel like sports aren't for them? I saw somebody on a TikTok recently, some female influencer, say something about, you know, it's not fair that men get to take the weekends off if there's a big game on and they don't have to participate in their social obligations. Women don't have anything like that. And I wanted to be like, hey, women can have this. Like, we should. All this is for all of us. And I understand why some people feel that way. I actually think it's sort of because of the way that sports is presented. I think, like, we've gotten very good. Sports media has gotten very good and has perfectly affected the art of, like, discussing and building around a game and creating the narratives. But I feel like some people are getting left behind. And again, that's no fault of sports media. I'm not trying to say I'm trying to change anything. I just think that with the. With media the way it is, we're like, you can just make a podcast here. We are clearly Without a finished set, this is all going to be better. I don't know her, by the way. This woman in the frame behind me for our audio listeners is just. We didn't get the pictures in time, so everything's evolving. But you can just make a podcast now. And so I figured, okay, I'm just gonna make a podcast that's like, if you think you could love sports or if you've ever been curious about loving sports, or even if you currently love sports, but you feel like you don't have anybody updating you in an entertaining way on kind of all of it, like a large swath of it at once. Like maybe you're a die hard baseball fan, but no one's telling you kind of tangentially what's even going on in basketball. This is, this is for you. I want you to feel comfortable here. I want you to feel welcomed here. You know, we're going to have like playful rivalries because that's what sports is like. Astros fans aren't welcome here. That's just, you know, that's just beef. That's how sports beef works. Everyone's welcome here. Like, I want to laugh about sports and talk to my friends and relate to people through sports because that's part of the power of sports to me. We live in a world where like monoculture is kind of gone. Like, there's no more. We're not all gathering around to watch the same episode of the same show at the same time. It's like we're not really all happening live together at the same time anymore. Which is good in ways, but I think the ways in with which it's bad is that you're not like, everybody's not kind of talking about the same thing. And so I think sports is the last bastion of like, this is live, this is happening right now. No one knows if it's going to go one way or the other. We're all going to find out together. And you don't have to know X's and O's to be interested in that. You don't have to care about a QB's stat line to be interested in that and to experience that together. And so that's what casuals is. It's sort of about reminding people that like, this is for everybody. And maybe the way that I love sports to an X and O's person makes me seem dumb.

[A]

But.

[B]

But if we're being honest to that X and O's person, to me that's boring. So it's like everybody's got their own perspective. This is mine. I love sports. I want the people around me to love sports, and I want people to feel included in sports conversations. And so that's basically all this is. All that big speech to say is we're just gonna, like, laugh about sports and it's not gonna be a big deal. And I'm gonna get stuff wrong, and our guests are gonna get stuff wrong, and we're gonna correct it for you. We're not misinforming you, but, like, it's. I want the pressure off here. This isn't about, like, getting. Oh, this is this. And this stat line was. It's like, I don't. I suck at that. If you've watched any of my career, you've seen. I've had to try that a couple times. Not for me. I get very stressed out by having to know a lot. And I think sports puts that on people a lot, whether it means to or not. And so basically, casuals is here as a place where you don't got to know anything. Just come hang out. But we are going to talk about sports and it's gonna be fun, hopefully. Now that I've set up that big cliff to jump off of, let's go ahead and jump off of it with our first guest. He's my dear friend. He's doing me a huge favor by being here today after a gigantic loss for his favorite team, Stavros Halkias. You might know him from. Oh, I don't know. He was in Tires season one, Tires and two and two is coming out.

[A]

Coming soon. I don't know.

[B]

We don't know. Nobody knows. Ask Shane. You have a weekly podcast, Stavi's World.

[A]

Stavi's World.

[B]

You've got. You do. Stan, are you on tour?

[A]

The Dreamboat tour kicks off in less than a month.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

For over 40 stops.

[B]

40?

[A]

Yeah. We're doing a bus.

[B]

A bus tour.

[A]

Bus, baby. Yeah.

[B]

So how does that work? Are you just gone on the weekends.

[A]

Or you're gone gone the whole time?

[B]

Oh, my God. You're out of your mind.

[A]

I'll be a road dog. Like, it's like a motley crew.

[B]

How do you live like that?

[A]

I don't know. I've actually never done it.

[B]

And you sleep in the bus, so.

[A]

Sleep in the bunk.

[B]

That's disgusting.

[A]

No, I thought it'd be horrible. It actually is pretty sick.

[B]

And you take the same people with you the whole. On every stop, and they live in the bus with you or they're on.

[A]

Their own bus they live in the bus. I don't got. I don't got double bus money. I don't know.

[B]

It's just. I don't feel like you should be able to tour without more than one bus.

[A]

No one bus. And then you sleep in the little bunk. It's like your little baby falling asleep in your. In your little car seat.

[B]

Ever.

[A]

You. You weren't. You were a fussy baby. Probably. I'm gonna guess. Sorry. It's your show. I don't mean to start.

[B]

No, I was. I was absolutely. It's the right read. I' allowed to take offense. I think I was a fussy. I also just am currently a fussy baby. I can't sleep in a car. I can't sleep on a plane.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

You have to be able to sleep everywhere as a comic. Right?

[A]

Give it a whirl. Try. Try sleeping in a bus.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah. You'll feel like it.

[B]

Okay. We'll see.

[A]

So. Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Tour.

[B]

Podcast.

[A]

Podcast.

[B]

Tires. Movie.

[A]

Movie. Let's start a cult. Available on demand and hopefully coming to Hulu pretty soon. So. Yeah.

[B]

What. What? You just are in movies?

[A]

I'm a. I'm a. This is what a movie star looks like. Culture has fallen. Culture has fallen to a low place where they're letting me make movies.

[B]

A movie about it. I haven't seen it yet. Is that bad? I loved it. I loved it. I thought it was.

[A]

Don't patronize me.

[B]

The preview was good. The promo that I saw for it was great. Promo. Every time you're up on my feed. Stavi.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Give you a. Like.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you.

[B]

I should mention Stavros is doing me a favor today. We had a last minute cancellation as happens because of the fires. And Stavros is here and I felt so bad on Sunday.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When the Ravens did what they did.

[A]

Yeah. That's a. That's a good way to put it.

[B]

Because Stavros is a huge Baltimore Ravens fan and isn't quiet about it at all.

[A]

No.

[B]

And what the Ravens did on Sunday was that they lost. Now we're going to talk about.

[A]

Right up top. We can't ease in. I thought we're casuals. I thought. It doesn't even have to come up. Maybe we talk about the. The uniforms or something. Look, we have to immediately talk about this.

[B]

We can go in any order.

[A]

Dame. Sexy coach. That's casual stuff. We got to talk about my fucking team losing in heartbreaking fashion. Even though we looked awesome. Even though if we didn't have. Fuck. Anyway. Sorry.

[B]

It's your show.

[A]

I'm not being very casual about.

[B]

Here's the thing. Casual is like. Is like a. We use it as an excuse. Casual excuse to not know everything.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

It doesn't mean. Don't get worked up.

[A]

Good.

[B]

I want you work because I'm pissed. You can be a casual fan of. Of of football and want to see somebody very worked up about football. Which you are.

[A]

I am.

[B]

Do you want to start with it and get it out of the way or would you rather we start with the sexy coach? I guess I don't that we start with the smart guy.

[A]

You know what?

[B]

I'm college football.

[A]

I don't even care.

[B]

Let's just do it. Let's just dive in.

[A]

Okay, fine.

[B]

The Ravens lost to the Bills. Now this was the big game too. Like we had obviously four games, but Sunday night was like the big one. We were counting down to this entering the game. For those unaware, it's the two. It's the MVP conversation. You've got Josh Allen on the Bills and Lamar Jackson on the Ravens. And so this was kind of. While the MVP voting does not take into consideration the postseason, those votes I believe have already been cast. It was sort of like a. Let's see then if these are the two best. Let's watch them together. Just watching your body language is fantastic going into the game. Stavros, how are you feeling?

[A]

Good. I was feeling good. I was nervous, but I felt good. I had convinced myself we were a team of destiny. I don't know if you're into numerology.

[B]

Sure I am.

[A]

But every 12 years, the Baltimore Ravens win with a 28 year old quarterback. Trent Dilford, 24 years ago was 28 years old. Joe Flacco, the Don, 28 years old when we made that awesome run that no one thought we were going to do this year. Fucking Lamar. 28 years old and you'd say this team's fucking awesome. Of course people believe in them. They're not. Because every Ravens win has been an underdog win. No one thought we were going to make it to the Super Bowl. We have to go through the fucking Bills. We have to go through Kansas City. We don't have home field advantage after we fucking beat the bitch ass Steelers. I thought this was fucking meant. It was written in stone. I thought I was going to be cruising and. And I thought it was going to be tough. I thought, I thought this is how we're going to earn it. We're going to eek out every fucking victory. That's what it Looked like. That's what the game looked like. Okay, we made a couple mistakes up top. But when it fucking mattered, Lamar fucking marches down the field and then fucking Mark Andrews, who. It's not his fault. That's the other thing. I have to remind myself that we.

[B]

Need to get what's. What's. What do you mean?

[A]

Sorry, I'm just.

[B]

No, no, I love this. My job is to help you organize these thoughts. You spill them.

[A]

Oh, we fucking drove down. We were down by eight. We do a fucking drive against all adversity.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Slippery conditions. Those fucking that. And I say this with love, those fat fans. You have thousands of pounds of people cheering against covered in ketchup and mustard. Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing. You want fat fans in the cold.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Buffalo had another advantage. They're fat. That's a fat city. Their fans are ready to go in the wind chill.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You fought against all odds. We get. We drive down the field, get the.

[B]

Touchdown that everyone's like, oh my God.

[A]

Holy shit, we did it. This is two point conversion.

[B]

Yeah. Which they needed because.

[A]

And look, it was. That wasn't a gimme. But we call a nice fucking play.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

We got our fucking awesome tight end.

[B]

Lamar hit Lamar's guy. That's Lamar's guy.

[A]

He's the man. Both Lamar and Fuck dude. What they had both had some slips, some fumbles earlier in the day. We fucking right. Hits him in the hands.

[B]

In the hands.

[A]

And it wasn't the absolute perfect right. But you gotta make that.

[B]

You could have it felt catchable. Now that look as a non athlete you never really but felt catchable.

[A]

And in that moment, you don't want to be like, this man must be run out of town. You know, in that moment you don't. Because you feel for him.

[B]

Right? But he's human.

[A]

Boy, oh boy, is that brutal. It's like it thought. You know, it's like. Yeah, me and my dad, it's like you're a little kid and your dad has. He's a great dad, but he's not always there. He's overworked. But he promised he'd be at your fucking soccer game.

[B]

And you get why he's.

[A]

And then you're about to take a penalty. You look over, you see your mom. Fuck. Your dad's not there. You're so sad. You slip missed the penalty. He fucking let me down. The Ravens are my dad and they let me down in the fuck. I thought we had it. I thought we fudgeing. Had It. It was going to be fudgeing. Awesome. And I know it's. No, gimme. The Bills had a minute, whatever left, but. And look, I love Lamar. Josh Allen didn't have a fucking good game. He really didn't. All right? He didn't fucking cough the ball up. But we stopped them multiple times. They scored because of pass interference in a short field. Lamar had a good game. Okay. He. He fumbled and he. That pick was atrocious.

[B]

The turnovers were. That was in its. But it just also the most frustrating thing had to be that, like, he didn't have turnovers. That was the negative of it.

[A]

He fucking threw four interceptions all season. He threw a quarter of his fucking interceptions. Fuck this bullshit. This sucks. I hate sports. I don't want to do this podcast anymore.

[B]

I'm also thinking that, like, we hadn't finished our discussion behind the scenes about what we were going to do about cursing and I feel like the decision's been made for us. Oh, man, I'm really sorry. No, it's okay.

[A]

You can't start me off with the rating loss.

[B]

I will apologize to the listeners if it's bleeped. That's a. A bad call by me. That was me. I didn't mean to bleep a minute. We just. Yeah, we're just gonna have to play like elevator music while ST goes on a rant. All right, so it. What, How. What do you now what? Because one of the hardest things about being a fan, giving your heart to your team, your dad, your team.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And just letting them squeeze it and crush it. Like, what are you like, avoiding other than this, my sweet, dear friend. Are you avoiding sports media right now?

[A]

I can't listen to any of my fucking pot go to pods. I can't. I don't want to watch fucking tv. I don't want to be on the Internet. This, this is better than last year. Last year I was fully more Team of Destiny stuff. This is crazy. I had a great year last year. Like just, you know, personally. I had a bad year personally, but a good year professionally. The movie, Ain't that always special shit was going good for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is how fucking stupid I. And how self centered I was for a moment. The super bowl last year was on my 35th birthday and I was like, I've become an unofficial mascot for the Baltimore Ravens. I would have gone to the Super Bowl.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In my head, I'm at the can the game we lose to Kansas City in fucking Baltimore. I have to watch Taylor Swift fucking have a Good time on my home turf. A place where I played in the 2007 Poly City game, by the way.

[B]

And the sack. And you won.

[A]

I don't actually.

[B]

Don't know Personal stats.

[A]

Don't remember the team I'm to. I'm a prima donna. I was a prima donna nose tackle. I don't care about the team as long as I heard my name over the. I got one tackle for a loss.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

On the Ravens field. Anyway, that was devastating.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And no joke. It drove me to like a two week bender. Sick from the game to the Super Bowl. Yeah, I was just drinking, reaching ice cream, getting high as. No, I had a fat. It was. It was more of like a. I'm a weed and food guy.

[B]

A good pairing.

[A]

I had a couple brewskis, but it was more just so out of my mind on edibles. Racking up wild ice cream bills. And I had been cleaning off night ice cream for quite some time.

[B]

Oh, no, you didn't take off the wagon.

[A]

I was. And I honestly now it's taken me a year. This is so fun. I literally have been cutting my halo top with yogurt. I went from Ben and Jerry's to Halo top, and now I have a third of a Halo top with. So this. That loss last year caused me the damage that I'm still getting over.

[B]

So bite for bite. I'm just wondering if you're going like, bite a Halo top yogurt layer.

[A]

Vanilla yogurt layer.

[B]

You're making this in a bowl?

[A]

In a bowl. Put the halo top.

[B]

Greek yogurt, I assume. Sorry, I just have to ask. Yeah, like a Faye or a.

[A]

Don't even. Oikos is actually. Is the new kid on the block.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Chobani. Throw that in the dumpster. No, Chobani sucks.

[B]

Unless you want to pay for the podcast. But if you don't. Nope. But if you don't, it's. It's Chobani.

[A]

No, it's Chobani's dog.

[B]

So power ranking just very quickly for their Faye fire.

[A]

Number one, Oikos. The new kid on the block. Number two, Chobot. And then like a. A long gap.

[B]

And then Chobani.

[A]

And then I would put even the Kirkland brands. Brands. And then I would put your body underneath that.

[B]

Wow. Damn. Buried them. Okay, so you're going a layer of yogurt.

[A]

I'm sorry, what are we talking about?

[B]

A layer of halo top.

[A]

Layer of yogurt. Maybe vanilla. Just get a little something going then a little fucking halo top on top.

[B]

What's our Halo top flavor. Doesn't matter. Anything.

[A]

Mocha chocolate chip. They got a birthday cake flavor that's really. Or a chocolate ice cream cake flavor that's very good. The birthday cake is not so good.

[B]

Van Leeuwen has one of those that I tried. I love. I'm a big. I'm on a Van Leeuwen cake. So tasty. They put egg in it. I guess that's what makes it good. I don't like thinking about that too much. Like, where is the egg? But they put frosting in their birthday cake. One and I reached a certain age where, like, too much frosting at once is like, yeah, I'm here for the cake more than the frosting.

[A]

I respect that a lot.

[B]

Because a kid. I was more frosty.

[A]

You know what?

[B]

I'm cake now.

[A]

You said that. I've been doing that. I've been scraping frosting off of my cake.

[B]

That's gross.

[A]

That's not for a lack of cake. I like the. If anything, I've eaten more cake.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it's less frosting.

[B]

For sure. It's just the way.

[A]

So anyway.

[B]

So anyway, the Ravens lost. Are you. There's been a conversation sort of after this weekend about snow games. Because it's. People have always said, like, we love a snow game.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because it's chaos.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But now people are like, do we really love it? Because if you want to see the best, go against the best. If you're not a team that plays in snow a lot, there's really no way to prepare for that. So you're just kind of seeing somebody at a disadvantage that there's no way they really could have prepared for. Does this make you, as a Ravens fan, like a snow game? Or are you like, this is how it goes. This is the world we live in. I don't want to blame anything.

[A]

You know what sucks is the snow game is more cinematic. Without question.

[B]

It's very true.

[A]

When it's chilly outside, you got a nice bowl of not warm nachos. You have just remicrowaved it. You know what I mean? The refried beans.

[B]

There's no film on the cheese yet.

[A]

No film? No. These are. These are warm. You're warm. It. You know, there's cold coming outside. Those gladiators are battling. There's a little. Little. You know, it just looks. I mean, as a kid, I don't know about you, I would sim. I would restart my game if I didn't get a snow game. Sometimes it looks so cool.

[B]

It does.

[A]

However, yeah, there is a. And look, this is not just because.

[B]

My team just got bowed a big disclaimer on this. It's. He's. Let him have his piece.

[A]

If you think about it, it's kind of insane that we. That football is played outdoors. It's kind of the elements, like, have such a say on the game. It feels like some shit from like the 1910s when they couldn't have roofs. You know what I mean? It's like, why do we play? Like, imagine if they played the fucking NBA Finals on a street ball.

[B]

Crazy. Imagine if every hockey game or like the Stanley cup was the winter class.

[A]

Exactly. It's like, what do we do? Like. And that does pain me to say because it's like, cool again. The images are cool, but it's like. Or then you get those weird rain slop games. That's like three to six. And it's like, is this good? No. The argument then becomes, well, football is a tough sport, but you have taken out all the artistry, all the like, higher level skill out of it. When the elements play that much of a factor. It does look cool, though. It is cool. When you see. You understand. Will I follow my coach to the gates of hell if he's coming out here with short sleeves in. In winter? That's crazy.

[B]

That's. Speaking of which, actually, your coach in wet conditions, wore a soft outer layer, no waterproofing on Harbaugh. I was like, what? You need to have a shell layer? Like, sure, wear your hoodie. But I was looking by the fourth quarter, I was like, that's soaked through. There's no way that's not soaked.

[A]

So he must know what the soldiers are going through. A general must understand. A general must understand what his foot soldiers are going through.

[B]

Yeah, well, some of the foot soldiers. One guy on the Bills was wearing a full winter jacket underneath his jersey. A thing I didn't know you were allowed to do.

[A]

Yeah, I do like that. That's like. That feels very like 8th grade football.

[B]

Yes. I love it. Cause it's like, listen, okay, you come out here with no sleeves on, being like, I'm tough. And this guy's like, I'm prepared. I'm dry. I'm not freezing cold. But yes, snow games are insane. And the fact that Buffalo's building a new stadium and it has no roof.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is insane.

[A]

It is crazy. I agree with you.

[B]

It's crazy. That was for you. I want you to have that. I just think it's nuts that they continue to let them play outside.

[A]

It Is weird because it's just the kind of thing that you'd think, like, when you think about it, you're like, oh, yeah, that's like. I remember. It's the kind of thing that if you tell someone who doesn't really follow sports, they're like, what exactly. I remember I told my. A friend of mine how the NBA plays back to backs. And he was like, what? He was like, that's nuts. They play a game and they don't get a day off.

[B]

Baseball, same thing.

[A]

Well, baseball, no disrespect, barely a sport. I know. I love my. I love Baltimore, but you can play. You can play four games back to back. Yeah. I like drinking beers and eating hot dogs.

[B]

Yeah. I like matching my shirt to my hat.

[A]

And I like throwing the first pitch. Thank you. To the Orioles. And that was cool, but had an Orioles game.

[B]

I've only done it at, like, a minor league team. It's okay. It was. I botched it. I botched it really hard. Was yours good?

[A]

It was okay. Yeah. I threw from the mound.

[B]

Gotta throw from the catcher.

[A]

Could have helped me out a little bit. If she frames me up a little micer.

[B]

Who was it like?

[A]

You know, it was one of the Orioles, like, hitting coaches came out, he was like, bro, I'm a big fan. I asked to catch for you. We're broing out. We're like, hell, yeah, dude. And then it's time for him to get. He's nowhere to be found when the first pitch comes out. And then, like, somebody who worked. She, like, worked for the social media department. Somebody just whispers in her ear. She goes like. She just shrugs and they give her a glove. And look, she did her best, but this guy comes to her.

[B]

That's in your head too. You're like, I don't want to miss. Also, what if I miss? I hit this poor social media girl in the big. Like, she can't. She doesn't. You don't know if she's catches, so you have no idea.

[A]

I miss her. She's doing tiktoks with a black eye for the next week.

[B]

This is what Stavros did to me.

[A]

I have corneal damage. Yeah, that was. That was tough. But anyway.

[B]

But you did it.

[A]

I just mean you could play baseball back to back, and there should be fewer games so that they can go a little harder, in my opinion.

[B]

Any button you want to put on Ravens before we talk about the other games. I think they played a great game. I think they had a good season. I think Lamar could Still get this could be third mvp. I think he still could get mvp.

[A]

I support him. He's the man. This is not. I have full confidence in Lamar. Everybody who's talking about Lamar, like, is the problem. No, he's fucking not. He's incredible to watch, first of all. And, yeah, it's hard to be in the fucking playoffs.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not everybody. Like, whatever.

[B]

No one's talking about.

[A]

He's Payne Manning. He's basically cool Peyton Manning. And that's. I like having that on my team. Like, there's a lot that we can work on. He's got that. That was a good game. I know it's crazy, but it's like, all right, the pick is bad, but it's like a fumble in the. Pouring in, like snow in wet conditions, not great.

[B]

Light snow, quiet. It's like the snow in the game before was heavier.

[A]

Light snow is worse.

[B]

I just want to get the facts.

[A]

Lifestyle is worse. It gets everything cold and slippery.

[B]

The Chiefs beat the Texans. Who's rooting for the Chiefs at this point? Like, now? In your next round, who are you going to root for? Just a nothing. You're done with football. Football's over for you.

[A]

Yeah. I don't want to say a domestic terrorist, so.

[B]

Good. Don't first. Please don't.

[A]

So I'm not going to say that.

[B]

Right. Thank you.

[A]

I don't want to say. Yeah, I don't know who am. I mean, look, I do. I like. I actually like Buffalo as a city. I like Josh Allen. I think he's cool. I have friends from Buffalo. I like that it's a fat city. I feel at home when I go to Buffalo. They haven't won in a while. I think if, like. Or ever, I guess. I think if I. I still won't be able to actively root for them.

[B]

This is really big of you.

[A]

Well, I just don't want the Chiefs to win. Let's be honest.

[B]

Well, yeah, sure. Yeah, that's.

[A]

I cannot have the Chiefs.

[B]

Yeah. Just exhausted.

[A]

I'm, like, exhausted with them and so whatever. I do like Buffalo. I hate that we lost them, obviously.

[B]

But he's rooting for you.

[A]

It would be that. Let's relax with him.

[B]

He's rooting for you in the next round.

[A]

I'm not actively rooting against them.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Actively rooting against the Chiefs. It's the absence of malice towards the Bills. Yes, of course, but there's plenty of malice towards the Chiefs.

[B]

And if a domestic terrorist event happens, then. Well, it's the way it was written.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I Haven't written in the stars.

[A]

No, I don't want that. I don't want plain and bloodshed to happen to the fans and, you know, whatever.

[B]

The commanders. Commanders are fun.

[A]

That's cool. But it's like, now what? I gotta. I gotta worry about the commanders being good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're playing Maryland.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We've been able to just. That pisses me off. They are good now. I mean, I have friends. I'm happy for them.

[B]

Yeah, sure.

[A]

But Jaden Daniels is cool.

[B]

Very cool. Fun to watch, fun team. Fan base. That deserves it. That's tough. I didn't even think about that. That you're going through that with them. Of like, oh, you guys haven't been something we've had to even think about.

[A]

And we're not in the same conference. Whatever. But I just.

[B]

But your neighbors.

[A]

There's something about. I can't also root for dc. That's in my DNA of Baltimore and dc. People all the time are like. Like, we don't have a hockey team. And they're like, oh, want to come to a Caps game? It's like, no, that's not my team. Same way. It's like, the same way with. You know why I was a wit. Like, people are like, oh, you're a Wizards fans. Like, no, I'm not from DC.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's nuts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

DCs are dorks. It's a city of fucking losers. It's a city of lanyard tattletales that were like, the SGA president in their high school that all came to fucking, you know, help some politician that's done nothing but steal from us. You know, it's like, it's. It's a horrible town. And look, there is a cool. There's definitely a cool. Like the people that were there before.

[B]

Right?

[A]

There's a cool part of D.C. that I like. You know, I did open mics there a lot, but I don't know. A lot of. A lot of DC's historically black community doesn't root for the. Didn't for a while root for the Now Commanders.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because of. Because it was, like, racist and all their owners were pieces of shit. That's why you see a lot of black D.C. cowboys fans, weirdly, and Eagles fans. It's just like. So it's like even the coolest part.

[B]

Of DC wasn't really behind that team.

[A]

Yeah. There's not a lot of Go Go bands that love.

[B]

But now.

[A]

Now, probably because Jaden's cool and whatever.

[B]

Right?

[A]

And owners are gone, so whatever. And then I guess Eagles. I like Philly as a city.

[B]

I have a lot of Philly friends.

[A]

A lot of Philly friends.

[B]

You got a lot of money coming from Philly connections. I feel like. Don't do. Don't say anything to me. No, I like gotta be in season three attires.

[A]

I like Philly. We are mid Atlantic trash. Like, I go to Philly, I feel at home. The accent is pretty much the same. I love a cheesesteak. Even though. Let's relax on taking credit for meat and cheese as a sandwich. Fair, but still fair. I don't know. I don't.

[B]

I like Philly too. Philly gets a bad. Philly gets a bad rap. I think their fans, I mean, they are tough.

[A]

No, they are.

[B]

I'm not signing up. They're monsters, but they're monsters I can relate to.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

They're monsters that I feel a little safe among that I know they have greater enemies that aren't me. True.

[A]

That's what it is.

[B]

But if I were an enemy of those monsters. Oh, boy.

[A]

Summary for everyone but the Chiefs of I can convince myself for some reason to root for anyone but the Chiefs.

[B]

I think anybody can. If you had to sum up because, you know, casual fans are watching this and a lot of people got their entry into sports or into football, at least through the Taylor Swift of it all. And so they are de facto Chiefs fans. And I don't think they know the narrative of why that sucks.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Can you. Do you have like, what it is about the Chiefs you can't stand very quickly for anybody that's watching this going well, why does he hate this team so much? Sure.

[A]

I mean, I think anytime anyone wins too much, you know, it's a zero sum game, the championship. They're being greedy. Also, do they get a favorable whistle? I think they do. I think the refs, it's. I'm not going to call them cheaters, but it is annoying that, you know, Patrick Mahomes can be like, am I going to run psych. I'm going. I'm going out of bounds. And then if a guy pushes him, it's roughing the passer. The. On the last game, the Texans hit their helmets together. That's a roughing. The passer, Lamar gets tackled out of.

[B]

Bounds, which we all saw that we all thought about.

[A]

What do you think happens if that happens to fucking Patrick Mahomes? They. They stop the game and they let him go to the hospital for an hour. And then they're like, are you okay, Patrick?

[B]

Have you had cocoa Cure some crackers and some orange juice.

[A]

They gave the Chiefs three points.

[B]

They've had a hard day.

[A]

I don't know. They've won too much.

[B]

You're sick of them.

[A]

I'm sick of them. And look, no disrespect to T. Swift. She is, she's a, you know, she's a huge success, great musician, puts on a hell of a show. But it is annoying when you just have like an influx. You just make the team more. You give more attention to them. They just get more like they just got. They just got so much shine. There's like. They just got new fans. It's like they didn't need that. They were already winning.

[B]

They were already fine.

[A]

There's other franchises that could have used an influx of swifty support.

[B]

Yes, 100% agree.

[A]

I'm not telling you. Stay out of football. I love that you're in football.

[B]

That's exactly the whole premise. Stay here, but come not the Chiefs. Just want them to know why it is we're bugged by the Chiefs. It's not the Taylor Swift of it. This was already happening.

[A]

They were winning too much. They're good. I mean that's the other thing. Patrick Mahomes is awesome.

[B]

Great.

[A]

And it's frustrating in an annoying way. It's frustrating. And yeah, I don't know. I mean I lost personally. I have. They do, you know, they've completely. They destroy. I watch them beat. Like I said, I've watched them celebrate on my home turf. Yeah, I have personal beef with them. But it's like it's not fun when anybody keeps winning.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Maybe Swifties don't understand this because they want. Because music is not zero sum.

[B]

Right?

[A]

The cool, the more successful you get. Tennis, it's not hurting anybody putting on arena shows. But imagine if Taylor Swift because she sold out arenas, nobody else could make music.

[B]

That would be crazy.

[A]

That's kind of what. That's kind of what. The Chiefs are sucking up all the championships and I wanted another one.

[B]

While we're talking about winning all the time being annoying.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And also I, you know, you hate baseball for whatever reason. Can we talk about the Dodgers? Have you paid any attention to the off season of baseball? I know that sounds boring, but any of the signings. Have you seen any of the signings?

[A]

I did see that. The Dodgers just picked up a Japanese phenom.

[B]

Yep. On a very cheap discount.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, some shady's going on there.

[B]

No, the discount was like anybody was going to get the discount. It just sucks that he went to the Dodgers. Just that any time for anybody paying casual attention to baseball, it's like there's a big signing and everyone goes, who's gonna get them? This team sure could use them. This team rolled out the. Their three biggest stars of all time in a meeting to try to get them. And then no matter. You. I just. At this point, I see somebody's on the market and I go, well, I hope he has a good time at the Dodgers. And then three weeks later, it's like, oh, by the way, Blake Snell chose the Dodgers and that Japanese phenom chose the Dodgers. And now the Dodgers have signed a closer from who The. The Rangers just signed a closer from there. And you're just like, what? How is that still happening?

[A]

I know. Yeah, it's the same. I mean, it's kind of the same thing with the Chiefs. It's like you're. And there's no salary cap in baseball, so you can just. If your owners are willing to shell out the money and they worked out some weird deferment deal with Shohei, like, it feels. It is annoying when a team just feels like they buy their way to a championship. So that's kind of what's going. You know, you don't want to root for that, but. And it's like whenever. Something outside of competition, whenever you're reminded that sports is an illusion and it's not about just like, oh, a team and we believe in each other and we're gonna. We're gonna just be, you know, we're gonna. We're gonna compete against our rivals.

[B]

It's us against the world for the love of the game.

[A]

Yeah. When you realize, like, oh, the Dodgers are building a huge brand, they could probably spend this kind of money. They want to be. They're clearly. Just because of Shohei, they're the big team in Japan that it's a. That's a country that loves baseball.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're probably selling so much merch, they're doubling down on that now. It's like, that was. It was probably a no brainer for this kid because he's young.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To come to the Dodgers where they.

[B]

Already had Yamamoto and Ohtani. So you're like, why wouldn't I go where there's people who speak my language and understand the culture that I came up in?

[A]

And so it's just annoying when it's like, you know, with the decks, the deck feels stacked. Right.

[B]

When anytime there's like a 50, 50 ball, it goes one way, it's like, well, this isn't a 50 50. It's like, it's always going.

[A]

Like for the Orioles, for example, we. We've. We've a lot of our players we've already lost. We were good, but we're losing. You know, we lost Burns and Santander.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Which sucks.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

If we had some Dodgers money, that'd be nice.

[B]

Well, see, so see here.

[A]

Keep your guys.

[B]

I mean, imagine. Remember those days when you would keep your guys. I was like watching the. The Socks documentary about 04, and they were talking about like in the. On the Red Sox, you don't. You don't get rid of your guys. And I was like, used to. Now that's all they do is get rid of their guys.

[A]

Yeah, you handed the do. Speaking of who handed the Dodgers a little something.

[B]

I mean, handed. I was holding on to Mookie as tight as possible. I was begging them, please don't leave.

[A]

But that is. That is good. I do like when Boston suffers.

[B]

That's great. Thank you so much.

[A]

That is a problem in our relationship.

[B]

I feel like as I hate Boston sports as it. Why still?

[A]

Yeah, why not?

[B]

Well, cuz like now it's punching down.

[A]

Oh, you had two bad seasons. Oh, and then you immediately get Drake May and fucking what's his face is coming back. He was an awesome coach. How was he even a freeboot? Yeah. Yeah, it sucks. I don't want you to be good yet. You should have had six years of at least sorrow.

[B]

We've had a couple. Hasn't it been six? Hasn't it been six? It sucked for long for. For a couple. It feels like six. What's it, three, four?

[A]

And you probably rooted for Tom Brady to win in Tampa.

[B]

You know that I didn't.

[A]

Whatever.

[B]

You know that I didn't.

[A]

But, you know, party was like, all right, Gronk and Tom Brady.

[B]

When Gronk came out of retirement, I was like, you fucking kidding me? But that's not what we're talking about right now.

[A]

I want you to feel bad too.

[B]

It's working.

[A]

I shouldn't just feel. And this is what sports fandom is.

[B]

So this is a thing I'm trying to square now as an adult. Right? Because as a kid, the Yankees, what we always used to say about the Yankees, forgive my Boston, but we used to be like, they buy their team, they buy their team. Now as an adult, with everything going on in the world, when I look at a private equity guy owning a team, I'm like, why shouldn't they spend their money? Why shouldn't they Go out and buy whoever I want on my team. I think what gets frustrating is, like, when your team, it's like, how do you make the other teams spend? Almost. It's like, my issue with the Yankees used to be, like, they buy their team. I think as an adult, my perspective on it isn't like, I almost wouldn't want to be mad at. It's like, at least their billionaire spends his money and as opposed to this one who's like, we can't afford to keep that guy. And you're like, why can't we just pay him?

[A]

No, you're right. I think that is a good point in terms of what a billionaire can do with their money. Making a franchise, like, make your team good. Like, it's cool what he's doing with the Clippers. He made that arena that he made his own arena. He got tired of the cli. Like, and, yeah, right now it's laughable that the Clippers will compete with the Lakers at all. But slowly, over time, he made a cool fan experience. He might revolutionize the way the NBA builds arenas. He's spending money on play. He's trying to keep a competitive team.

[B]

Very enthusiastic guy.

[A]

My man is spazzing out.

[B]

He's high on life.

[A]

Yeah, he's spazzing out. And in terms of, like, what our billionaires can spend their money on, it's like, I'd rather they make a middling franchise awesome as opposed to, I don't know, a standing army. When people realize how much inequality. How bad inequality has gotten, I don't want Jeff Bezos having, like, a private air force to protect him. I'd rather they buy a franchise and, like, spend money on players than buy elections. Right. You know what I mean?

[B]

It's like, let's force them. Yes. Pass some laws so that the money has to stay in sports. I think, like, a lot. For all the conversation about salary caps and luxury tax taxes, I'm like, raise the floor. Tell them, like, you cannot feel the team for less than this this year. Totally that way. I don't know. But then you're like, the money keeps going up. When you see how much baseball players sign for, you're like, yeah, what?

[A]

And I get that. I get the mu. But it's like, it's either the players get it or the owners hoard it.

[B]

Much rather the players have it.

[A]

The players.

[B]

It's. I mean, it's crazy.

[A]

That's a lot on the. Let's get them back to the community in many ways.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

You know, it's like it's not staying in a, in a high yield money market account. The local exotic dancers are making money. There's mistresses that are getting their college tuition paid for. They have illegitimate children that are getting Jordans. You know what I mean? It's like, if I was a rich athlete, I'd spread it around.

[B]

Yeah, dude, that's the real trickle down pay the athletes and the athletes keep your local economy thriving.

[A]

Their dumb cousins, they get to be like, I've. I have given a lot of money to delinquent members of my family since my life has gotten better. And I can only imagine what they'd be doing if I had a, you know, if I made the mid level exception right now.

[B]

Okay, college football. Where are you on college sports? Do you have loyalties to a college team? I personally do not. I'm trying to start caring about college sports. To me, they're too young. They already look like babies to me. There's two. When one of them gets hurt, all I see are the money they can't make for the rest of their lives. I had no connection to it growing up because I was in the northeast. So like I'm, I'm interested, curious. Also not really attached.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So that's where I come to it from. What's your college football fandom?

[A]

I'm similar. I'm similar in that like I don't pay. I am a textbook casual college football fan where it's like, I will watch the play. I like that they did the playoff because as a casual, it's like great.

[B]

Something to know to pay attention to.

[A]

Something to pay attention to. It's. You're guaranteed, you see the best teams. If there's like a huge matchup in the middle of the season, I might tune in same. But I'm not. I don't have a team. Exactly. I grew up in Baltimore. I went to University of Maryland, Baltimore county, who we did have good team. I never thought they would ever have a sport. We'd have a sports moment. But we were the first 16 seed to beat a one seed in the love.

[B]

A 16, which is crazy Cinderelli, which.

[A]

Sucks because like two years later, whatever that other fart, Fairley Dickinson, is that who. Oh, the big one they just beat or. Oh, yeah, no, no, they just. They also beat. They beat Purdue and it was like, what the. I thought this would never happen again.

[B]

We do this.

[A]

This sucks. Why didn't you do anything special about my dumb school?

[B]

Well, you're still the first to have ever Done it right.

[A]

Something. But still.

[B]

That's. Right, that's something.

[A]

But only is better than first. Anyway, so. Yeah. I have no attachment really. And you know, I sort of. I guess because I rooted for the Terps in basketball. I had the Juan Dixon team. I was like in middle school when that was going on. I cared about. I'm much more of a basketball fan growing up. College basketball. Because like you're delusional as a little kid. You're like, I'm probably going to the NBA.

[B]

That's probably my future.

[A]

I'm five four, 200 pounds in fifth grade.

[B]

I'm probably going to start calling, so I should probably start eating clean.

[A]

So I gotta. I gotta watch. I'll be playing these guys in a couple of years.

[B]

Game, right?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. So. But it's been. I really like the playoff. It's been. I watched pretty much every. I tuned in at least and it was perfect timing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Around the NFL playoffs and it's just like a lot of. It was great time.

[B]

A lot of football and.

[A]

Yeah. And you know, I. Again, I. You kind of latch on to what your friends root for.

[B]

We rooted for Notre Dame in our house last night.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because of friends.

[A]

That was brutal. That was brutal. Even though I'm not a big Catholicism guy. You know, Greek Orthodox. The schism.

[B]

Right. As we all know, we're casual fans of sports, but big history buffs.

[A]

The schism, yeah.

[B]

Like the 11, the famous schism.

[A]

But. But yeah, it was. It was cool. And I'm with you with like the kids getting hurt. That sucks. But I've also been able to watch. It feels better now that I know they're getting paid. Yes.

[B]

Like, I like that much better now. Cuz before it was like, oh, I'm just seeing all the checks. You're never going to get that. You have the talent to make it. And now you're hurt and now your money just, just. It's too much. I also hate. And this happened last night in a pretty big way. When a college kicker misses a kick, it bumps to that poor kid. And I'm immediately like, he's getting jumped. Because your fans are like hyped up college kids or like overly invested older people who went to that school or wanted to go to that school, especially Notre Dame has so much of that. Like my dad's. Dad's football. We're our own. And so you're just like that kid.

[A]

It's tough.

[B]

Oh my God. The way it dunked and then lost all movement and just like fell out like if it's gonna hit and go in even you're already, like to have it loudly announced to the stadium that it's not a good kick. The poor kid.

[A]

And he'd had some problem. Like he'd gotten hurt and he was playing better. Yeah. College kickers, and they make them wear the dumbest numbers.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like, come on, there's no. There's no honor in a. In a 94 kicker. Give the kid a single digit. And then Ohio State. I don't really, you know, who cares about them?

[B]

Like, I cared about hating Urban Meyer, but, like, he's not. So now I don't.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I guess I have residual. Like, meh. I think the stickers on the helmet's crazy. I think the stickers on the helmet is crazy because if you had a helmet that didn't have a lot of stickers on it and then you're on a national broadcast, I'd feel like. I wish I had a platform to go. I missed a lot of practice. I wasn't. I was sick a lot. I have a condition. Yeah. It's not that I don't try. It's just like, immediately if you. You notice a guy who has a lot. But imagine if you got like a sticker every time a joke landed. You'd be like, oh, I hate having to wear this externally. I'm here. You should root for me. I'm good. Yeah.

[A]

Every time I've eaten it, my fucking cap is covered with bombing stickers. Just a thumbs down sticker.

[B]

It's gonna be pretty helpful, I think, now that you all have podcasts, it'd be good to know who's actually putting in the work and getting it done. Also wrote, they have a hot coach. That's. I mean, was kind of the narrative. Very sexy coach. I think we're allowed to objectify the coaches. I don't think you're supposed to objectify the athletes, but the coaches.

[A]

Your show, I'll take. I'll take it. I'll take the cues from you. But yeah, he's a grown man. He's a handsome guy. It doesn't hurt.

[B]

I will say I should let you objectify because I wanted to. We're gonna move to basketball. We've done our football, we've done our baseball. Now in basketball, if I have a.

[A]

Franchise that I root for, it's the Knicks player. Though, player wise, Giannis the Greek. I mean, the. A Greek basketball player is arguably the best player in the world. How am I not going to root for this guy? Yeah, that's. And I followed his whole. Like I've been a. I've been following every Greek player that gets like drafted. I remember Sophoclesanides, who was drafted by the Clippers. Baby Shaq, they called him sick. But never really got off the ground. Never had kind of a.

[B]

You said the name. I believe that was my first time hearing it. So it's.

[A]

He was, he was. He had a bit of a weight problem. Kind of a short man, kind of maybe like sort of related for multiple reasons. But when Giannis came out, I followed his whole. You know, I was. I remember him when he was like, baby Giannis, he's like this cute kid who came from Greece. An inspiring story. You know, his. His family were immigrants in Athens. You know, they're. They're like making money sell. They're like street merchants. Just like at a red light will just sell whatever just to like pay, you know, get by the whole family. They're so poor they have to share shoes. Him and his brother Thanasi had to share shoes, which is insane for basketball players. For basketball. Yeah. And he's like this lanky kid, whatever. And he's like adorable. Like he comes into the league pretty young and he's like wide eyed about how much, you know how awesome America is. He's tweeting about how it's the first time he's ever had a smoothie in his life. He's like, I love smoothies, man. God bless America. There's a Giannis tweet from like whatever ten years ago at this point. And then you watch him and then it's like, wow, it'd be cool if this guy was like a solid NBA rotation player. And then you watch his career and you're like, whoa, he's getting. He's handling the ball a little bit. He's like, you know, he's like this cool, easygoing guy. Then in the playoffs one year, he tackles Mike Dunleavy Jr. Which is. He just like. It's like he think he's just like laid back guy and he. Some slight of Mike Dunleavy, a Duke Nepo baby. I mean that's the guy you want your guy to tackle.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So he tackles Mike Dunleavy. I'm like, whoa, Giannis is fucking now. He's like, he's the. And then he just like, he's got like a little edge to him too. He's not just this fun, goofy kid. And then he has a most improved player season. He's got MVP seasons, dpoy he's such an incredible athlete and such an incredible like basketball player. Championship run. He goes to the championship that whole time. He can't make free throws. What happens in the, in the, in the game six defi. Like the defining. He barely misses a free throw. He ices the game. From his. Is one mental weakness when it matters most, he. He conquers it. And one of the plays that ices the game is a alley oop fast break dunk, which is insane to do in like a high leverage moment. He's cool. He's the coolest guy of all time.

[B]

After the game, went directly to a, I believe to a drive through chickfila.

[A]

He got 50 chickfila nuggets. Another a real one of us moment.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

He's a big wife guy. He's horny for his wife, you know, which is nice from a basketball player, his wife. He's not, he's not out there cheating, you know. Well, who knows that?

[B]

We know of that.

[A]

We know every, every basketball player cheats. And he's also, you know, he's Greek.

[B]

Is that a thing? Is that a stereotype?

[A]

I don't know. I just think like from my Greek and Nigerian friends, those two demographics, maybe not the most faithful just from personal experience, but Giannis seems to be bucking the trend. He's a family man. He's got cute kids. He's horny for his wife. He's a real. He's just the kind of guy, it's funny to like look up to a guy who's significantly younger than me, but like, I really like. He's. There's nothing to hate about this guy. He's so awesome. A real competitor and a, and a corny, fun guy. He's the whole package. He's a once in a generation talent and he came from nothing. He's the best. He's the man.

[B]

In 2018, he tweeted. Just had my first sip of American red Kool Aid while watching the game, period. It's extremely tasty.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

He also, in 2018, said, While having my first pedicure in two years, I tried my first bag of Funyuns. They were good, but I'll stick to American Cool Ranch Doritos.

[A]

There we go.

[B]

Correct opinion.

[A]

He's right.

[B]

Correct opinion. Funyuns are better in a specific situation. Like you have to be specifically pretty high.

[A]

They're a knuckle baller, but you don't want them in your rotation every night. You know what I mean?

[B]

Wouldn't want them gone forever.

[A]

Specialist.

[B]

But you can Only use it when it calls for it.

[A]

The Doritos.

[B]

The Ace Cool Ranch Doritos. Tasty. A real tasty treat. You won't. This was 2021. He tweeted, you won't believe me, but a kid just told me to try dunking my Oreos in milk, man. Game changer. One could argue that was the whole game.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't think I've ever been sold Oreos without being told, please dunk these in milk.

[A]

I hate to get my antenna up here.

[B]

Oh, boy.

[A]

He was already pretty famous at that point. That feels like Oreos might have paid for that. I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist.

[B]

Let me just say it doesn't say hashtag AD here, right? So there's no way it could spawn con 2021.

[A]

Giannis.

[B]

He's not to disclose.

[A]

He's not a rube from Athens anymore. By that point, he's had. He's had Oreos. All right? And I hate to. I just. That's all I'm saying is allegedly, it.

[B]

Feels like, yeah, maybe that good for him.

[A]

Get your bag. I'm not gonna. I'm not here to hate. I'm pro Oreo. I'm pro Giannis getting paid.

[B]

I'm pro putting Giannis or people like him in your flight safety videos. He's in the flight safety video for AGN Airlines. Feel like that would get.

[A]

I haven't flown a GN in a couple. In a while. Yeah. That's embarrassing. Wow.

[B]

Somebody's not going back.

[A]

Fly this year. This year I'll go to Aegean. I'll fly Aegean.

[B]

Okay. Now, outside of sports.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

The big news this weekend was TikTok going away.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Are you on TikTok or is it, like, I'm old, so don't be mad at us if we're not. Like, I'm on it. Like, I scroll it. Yeah, I'm on it. Like, I have my own spy who keeps track of what I like to watch, but I'm not. Not posting on it. Yeah, I. Well, actually, funny enough, we made a. As soon as we joined, it went away. We made a casual account, and then they were like, we don't have to.

[A]

We're back.

[B]

And now it's back.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Question mark? So, like, do you. Did that affect you at all, or are you. No, not a Tick Tock.

[A]

It did not affect me very much. I had it for a while. Like, I did a lot. I started posting a lot of, like, stand up on Tick Tock and Instagram. And, like, a couple Maybe like a.

[B]

Couple crowd work, you know, crowd work on the Internet.

[A]

And it weirdly changed my life. Like, that got me a lot of fans in a way I wasn't expecting. But very quickly, I realized it was so bad for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I just could not get away from my phone. And now I do the thing of, like, I'm not a TikTok guy. I'll watch the same videos on reels two weeks later.

[B]

Yeah. It's really crazy.

[A]

It's like the, the, you know, the, like, millennial move.

[B]

And he's like, yahoo, News says. That was three weeks ago. I don't need you to tell me what Yahoo News says. All right? So you'll. You Look, I think TikTok gets a bad rap that everybody thinks it's just people being like, sure.

[A]

Which isn't bad. That's why I had to get off.

[B]

Two arguments is a lot of that. And that's not necessarily bad. Yes. It's a lot of people doing their makeup while they talk about something. But there's also, like, I don't know, just like, it's a video platform that, like, serves you with the stuff you interact with. And so, like, if you interact with, like, sketch comedy, it's gonna serve you with, like, the best sketch comedy on TikTok.

[A]

Sure. The problem is, I don't want to. I don't want that. I don't want that mirror held up to me.

[B]

You don't.

[A]

I don't need to know.

[B]

That's probably what a lot of people's issue with it is. You're like, why does it keep giving me this? It's like, because that's who you are inside.

[A]

Yeah. And I'm not a good guy inside is what it turns out.

[B]

That's fair.

[A]

Let's just say it's a lot of my most base instincts.

[B]

I think that's most people. I do think that's most people. I think it's work.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To change your own.

[A]

Oh, and that's. I'm doing self care on fucking Tick Tock.

[B]

We're doing. I don't want to do that internal work.

[A]

I want to do that for my algorithm.

[B]

So I get it. So when it went down and then did you see one of the things, one of the trends? They were treating it like it was the season finale of Tick Tock. So people were pretty sure we were going to lose it on Sunday.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So Saturday, if you woke up and checked the app, it was a lot of people being like, this is my last post. Some people chose to do something, you know, like, really high production value, which is interesting. Some people chose to make some sort of joke. We had people pop up from the past that were like, remember me? I'm the guy from that viral video. And here's me saying goodbye to TikTok. It was very interesting. And then one of those trends was that influencers were saying that they were confessing something about their content. Like, now that this is all over, I should probably admit. Blank examples. One lady was very famous, a lot of views, for making ice, like, special tea ice. So she would fill up these elaborate ice trays in her fridge with, like, this is round ice with cucumbers inside for water, and then this is coffee ice. But when you make an ice. And she made tons of ice. And her last post was like, I never used any of that ice. Wow. There was, like, fitness influencers who were.

[A]

Like, she just let it melt.

[B]

She, I guess, would just burn it and toss it every week. She said she came out and was like, family members used it. And it was like, yeah, no, your mom came over and filled up her ice. That doesn't. You made it look like you needed all this ice. You sold us. This consumerism. People bought it.

[A]

They bought her ice.

[B]

I mean, they. I know they probably, like, bought. They were like, I'm not a real mold or whatever unless I have eight different types of ice for my guests. They like, raised this high standard of what, you know, a hostess is. And then she's like, yeah, I didn't use any of it.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Okay. There were people who were like, oh, those workouts. I faked those. I wasn't doing any of those. One girl got famous for. I feel like I'm rotting your brain out loud.

[A]

No, no.

[B]

One girl got famous for taking makeup and putting it all over her face. She would put on an absurd amount of makeup, and then she would whatever until it looked normal. She admitted that she washed it off. She used to watch and, like, it was just these people.

[A]

These are barely confessions.

[B]

If you've ever seen the movie Max Keeble's Big move, does anyone remember that film? Max Keeble's Big move was about a little kid who found out he was moving. He had been, like, bullied. And he was like, on my last day, I'm gonna tell everybody what I think of them. And then he finds out that they're not moving. And he just told everybody.

[A]

Wow. He used to live with that.

[B]

Now that, to me, is the influencers telling me that they didn't use their ice. And they washed off off all their makeup and they never did that exercise. Me, a. A person who uses TikTok but is smart enough to know how it works. I knew they were lying, but it seems wild to me to go, this might be ending. Let me confess that I was full of this whole time.

[A]

It is.

[B]

And then it came back 12 hours later and you were like, you should.

[A]

They should have known.

[B]

Right?

[A]

They should have known.

[B]

And also they're like telling you to follow him on other platforms. Like, were we doing. Just sending it. You're just going to send it in my face? Like I. You. I've been supporting you.

[A]

Don't lie to me.

[B]

Why are you telling me this?

[A]

Don't lie to me.

[B]

Take it to your grave.

[A]

Yes. Let's keep the illusion alive.

[B]

Yes. Don't give me a deathbed conf.

[A]

Don't put that on me. No, no, no. I don't need to live. I don't need to live with this.

[B]

No, you're right.

[A]

Deathbed confessions are. Are selfish in general.

[B]

This. We're getting too close to a Dan bit. And I know I'm only doing that cuz I've talked to him about it, but yes, I completely agree with you. Deathbed confessions are crazy. It's like you're going. So I. Who's staying has to keep this.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How dare.

[A]

Just die, man.

[B]

Just die. Just die quietly.

[A]

Just kick the bucket with. With dignity.

[B]

You don't. Don't have to record a podcast on your way out. I feel like that's everything. Stavros, this was so wonderful. Thank you for coming in to be a part of the very first.

[A]

I'm honored to be guest number one.

[B]

You are the best. Remind people where they can come see you. Or are the shows already sold out?

[A]

They're not all sold out.

[B]

Please get tickets now.

[A]

Please get tickets to the Dreamboat tour. Tour. Stavi Biz S T A vvv y dot biz sick. We're a real business. Get tickets there. I'm. I'm gonna be all over. All over the west coast, Midwest, South. Coming to the east coast later in the fall. But yeah, see me stavi baby2 on Instagram. And yeah, just.

[B]

I always forget there's a two on the end.

[A]

There was a stavy baby one that was too scandalous for Instagram.

[B]

Ah.

[A]

I was censored, okay? My freedom of speech was encroached upon about eight years ago. Yeah. But we're back, baby.

[B]

Nice baby too. And Stavi's world. Watch all of it. Consume all of it. Starburst. You're the best. Thank you so much.

[A]

Thank you. You're the best.

[B]

Where'd you get those shoes? Easy. They're from dsw. Because DSW has the exact right shoes for women. Whatever you're into right now, you know, like the sneakers that make office hours feel like happy hour, the boots that turn grocery aisles into runways, and all the styles that show off the many sides of you, from daydreamer to multitasker and everything in between. Because you do it all in really great shoes. Find a shoe for every you at your DSW store or dsw dot com. All right, folks, that's it. That's the first episode of Casuals. Ooh, it's done. Oh, it's done. Which means now we just get rolling. I will see you all on Thursday. We should have a guest. We're gonna chat about more sports. Thank you all for coming and for being here and for listening to the first episode of Casuals. If you didn't love it, it's literally the first episode. Like, give us it. We're gonna get our feet under us. If you did love it, isn't it perfect? Tuesdays and Thursdays. Don't forget to follow us on socials if you want to. That's at Casual is the podcast on Instagram and Tick Tock. Subscribe, get notifications. You know all the stuff people usually say here. Pretend I'm saying that. And thank you for coming. We love you, and we'll see you soon. Ah.