WBC, Umpiring on Long Island, and The Notebook as Peak Cinema | with Ian Lara

Summary

Casuals with Katie Nolan – Episode Summary

Episode: WBC, Umpiring on Long Island, and The Notebook as Peak Cinema | with Ian Lara
Date: March 5, 2026
Host: Katie Nolan
Guest: Ian Lara (Comedian, Baseball Fan)

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode blends irreverent sports talk with culture, comedy, and the unique perspectives of host Katie Nolan and comedian Ian Lara. The focus centers around the World Baseball Classic (WBC), umpiring in youth sports, the pain and character of being a Mets/Knicks fan, and an unexpectedly deep discussion on movie preferences among athletes—with signature Nolan humor and inviting approachability.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Sports Cringe: This Week’s Most Awkward Stories

(03:43 – 22:09)

• Magic City Night at the Atlanta Hawks
  • Promotional night featuring wings, TI performance, and Magic City branding.
  • Celtics’ Luke Kornet publicly opposed the event, citing objectification of women and calling for NBA to align promotions with values. Received public support from Al Horford.

    “It just feels like… it’s not your place to come in and speak on what this means. Magic City… is such a huge part of the culture in Atlanta, and celebrating local culture should be exactly what the NBA team should be doing.” — Katie Nolan (06:30)

  • Discussion around whether standing up for women means opposing the event, or including women equitably.
• Headline Humor: Patriots Players “Brought Strippers Hookahs”
  • Katie pokes fun at Boston.com’s wording, highlighting how “strippers hookahs” reads ambiguously but got her attention (07:00).
• MLB Speeches Gone Wrong
  • Aaron Judge’s WBC team speech aired…and flopped.

    (Playing audio) “You sacrifice for your family home. You sacrifice for your country… If we do that, we’re bringing home…” — Aaron Judge (11:01) “That sucked.” — Katie Nolan (11:20)

  • Panel pokes fun at the painfully awkward presentation, the difference between movie speeches and real-life athletes, and suggests Judge needs a “mic guy”.
  • A winning example: Peyton Tolley, Red Sox, gives a goofy patriotic locker-room speech using ChatGPT for material (14:12).

    “I guess I just hate it so much… could we just get somebody to write it for you?” — Katie Nolan (15:14)

• Will Cain Gets Owned by a General
  • Will Cain (Fox News) tries to hedge and overly compliment Retired Gen. Jack Keane, who snaps:

    “You don’t have to patronize me, just ask the question. Go ahead, come on, ask it.” — Gen. Jack Keane (16:55)

  • The panel delights in the abruptness and the “healed something in me” moment for Katie.
• Sports & Ethics: Saudi Arabia Paid Soccer Influencer for PR
  • Fabrizio Romano, massive soccer journalist, posts blatant ad copy for Saudi humanitarian efforts (19:46). Katie bemoans the normalization of state-sponsored PR and jokes disclosures should include payment amounts.
• Misc. Sports Snippets
  • Tom Brady’s Saudi flag football event possibly moving for “escalated combat operations.”
  • Return of the “Cringe Olympics” in sports marketing and PR.

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2. Interview: Comedian Ian Lara Joins the Show

(25:20 – 80:48)

Baseball Origin and WBC Love

• Ian’s Dominican background (family even played pro in DR), love for baseball, and attending several WBCs.

  “The World Baseball Classic, the energy is just insane.” — Ian Lara (26:37)

• Mutual excitement for star-studded 2026 tournament: DR team (stacked), USA finally sending top stars (Judge, Harper, Kershaw), Japan’s unpredictable future Shoheis.

  “They like, this guy’s better than Shohei. You’re like, all right…” — Ian Lara (29:31)

National Identity, Rivalries, & Sports Culture

• Ian roots for Dominican Republic first, then USA—a “slash-American” rooting style he believes many fans share (79:44).
• Mets loyalty, but not a Yankee-hater; focus on real rivalries (Braves, Phillies).

  “That’s like saying, like, I’m in love with two women… that’s not a good thing. You should hide that.” — Ian (30:40)

• On Judge’s speech (“One of the worst.”): Not everyone’s a locker-room leader. Sometimes, don’t force it; let those passionate about speeches handle it.

  “Not everyone’s like Derek Jeter… you could just be like, listen, I’ma just hit home runs. You can handle the rest.” — Ian (31:33)

  • Both laugh at the “war metaphors” in baseball speeches, especially in times of actual conflict.

Youth Umpiring on Long Island

• Ian’s experience as a Little League umpire: minimal training, hostile parents, comedic lens.

  “I took a 90 minute course to like get certified… they’re paying me like $45… I don’t know. I thought it was a strike!” — Ian (37:45)

• Judges discuss the absurd expectations and passion in Long Island youth sports.
• Confessions: As an ump, you start rooting more for talented kids, sometimes widen the strike zone for them.
• Transition discussion to MLB’s new ABS (Automated Ball/Strike systems), ump challenges, and the eternal balance of human error vs. technology (37:24 – 46:47).

WBC Pool Previews and Country Mottos (47:05 – 56:00)

• Detailed rundown of all pools, rosters, dark horses.
• Hilarious detour into the official mottos of countries (“Cuba’s is homeland or death, we shall overcome…” “John is his name” for Puerto Rico, etc.).
• Ian's picks/analysis: DR, Venezuela, Colombia as “can’t count them out.”
• The group laments WBC rules leading to lopsided pools and losing good teams early.

Mets Movie Preferences—A Viral Social Media Fumble

(62:10 – 73:28)

• Katie recounts the viral SNY “Mets Four Favorite Movies” post—reads off players’ awkward or childish choices (Shrek, Nutcracker, superhero franchises).

  “You would think he’d bring the energy of like, I want to nail this. He says The Rockies and The Creed.” — Katie Nolan (63:00)

• Ian and Katie critique and joke through the list (obsession with franchises, missed classics).
• Discussion segues to hosts’ own picks—Titanic, The Notebook (“Peak Cinema”), and why mentioning The Notebook is defensible (“Try to watch it and not cry.”). Ian drops:

  “I had a bit about this… She wanted me to go to war while she slept with another guy—like, that’s what she said.” — Ian (72:48)

Sports Economics: Salary Cap, Dodgers, Paying Players

(67:28 – 70:31)

• Debate about MLB's unique lack of a cap, the logic for one, and why sports seems comfortable capping labor but not other professions.
• Ian insightfully notes billionaire owners pass on costs; capping might help fans more than player pay.

Motivational Speaking for Mets/Knicks Fans

(75:15 – 78:27)

• Isabella (producer) asks for life advice about being a Knicks/Mets fan.
• Ian offers humorous but genuine take: you don’t pick those teams—they pick you, and losing becomes character-building.

  “Life is about losing… Nothing in life gets you better prepared to lose than cheering for the New York Mets or the Knicks.” — Ian Lara (76:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Locker Room Speeches:

  “Not everyone’s like Derek Jeter… you could just be like, listen, I’ma just hit home runs.” — Ian Lara (31:33)

• On Umpiring Long Island:

  “I took a 90 minute course… they’re paying me like $45… I don't know. I thought it was a strike!” — Ian (37:45)

• On Mets/Knick Fandom:

  “You have to be okay with losing. Nothing in life gets you better prepared to lose than cheering for the Mets or Knicks.” — Ian (76:19)

• On Suffering for Love:

  “She wanted me to go to war while she slept with another guy—like, that’s what she said.” — Ian (72:48)
  re: The Notebook

• On Country Mottos:

  “Puerto Rico’s motto is John is his name… Time for a new motto, I think. Let’s workshop that one.” — Katie (49:23)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Magic City Night & Social Commentary: 03:43–09:45
• Cringe in MLB Speeches (Judge/Peyton Tolley): 11:01–15:11
• Will Cain Gets Owned: 16:38–17:02
• Saudi Arabia PR Scandal Discussion: 19:46–22:09
• Ian Lara Interview (WBC + Umpiring): 25:20–80:48
  • Baseball family & WBC memories: 25:44–29:49
  • Mets fandom & locker room speeches: 30:13–34:56
  • Long Island umpiring war stories: 37:24–41:03
  • ABS tech in baseball/strike zone stories: 41:03–47:02
  • Country mottos & WBC pools: 47:05–56:00
  • Mets' viral “movie favorites” breakdown: 62:10–73:28
  • Salary cap & team ownership debate: 67:28–70:31
  • Knicks/Mets fandom pep talk: 75:17–78:27

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Tone & Style Highlights

• Casual, warm, inclusive—explanations aimed at both sports fans and the sports-curious.
• Comedic banter—especially in anecdote-driven segments and during the “favorite movies” review.
• Cultural awareness—critiquing sports media coverage, American sports parochialism, and the changing face of international events like the WBC.
• Self-deprecating honesty—Katie jokes about her own ignorance (the 5-minute mile miscalculation) and the limits of her sports obsession.
• Real talk on sports culture, identity, and economics—not shying from big questions about labor, money, and fandom.

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For New Listeners

• This episode is a masterclass in making sports talk accessible, relatable, and hilarious.
• The conversation flows naturally, with expert breakdowns of the week's news, great chemistry, and plenty of laugh-out-loud lines (especially when dissecting Mets movie picks).
• If you want a sports podcast that cares more about fun and feeling than stats and yelling, this episode is a model.

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Listen to this episode if you want:

• The most fun possible breakdown of the WBC, and why it matters
• To hear what makes a bad baseball speech (and what could make it better)
• Hilarious stories of youth sports drama
• A comedian’s accidental life pep talk for the perpetually downtrodden fan
• Movie recommendations, whether you’re on Team Titanic or Team Notebook

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Find Ian Lara's comedy and tour dates at ianlaralive.com

Follow Katie and the Casuals team for more on IG & TikTok: @casualsthepodcast

Transcript

[Ian Lara]

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[Katie Nolan]

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[Ian Lara]

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[Katie Nolan]

Hey, Isabella, did you see Taylor and Travis have reportedly finalized a wedding date? I did. I did see that. You did see that. You see what the date was? No, it's June 13, 2026. Does that ring any bells to you? Was that like a song lyric of hers or something? No. It is hello Kitty bobblehead night at Mets at. At City Field. I'm not going to that one.

[Margaret]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, I just feel like you're gonna. It's. It's like you're already booked. Like, so if. If the invite comes through, you're gonna have to. Are you gonna say, sorry, I can't make it, I have to go to the Met? Yeah. Kelsey wedding and hello Kitty bobblehead. Like, are you kidding me? I'm going for the bobblehead. Damn. It's a true fan. I'm sorry. No, I'd love that. Actually. I'm not sorry. Yeah, I'm standing on that. 10 toes, add an extra toe. 11 toes, add an extra theoretical toe. You know, Myrtle does too. We can talk to your vet about this. Okay. Sick. Give me Myrtle's vet contact. Hello. That's a new one. I'm bringing the. Starting the mic out here and then bringing it in close. Doing my own audio engineering. Hi. Welcome to Casuals, the sports podcast that does not care what you know. We welcome you in, we want you to love it and be a part of it. And so we're going to tell you about sports in a way that hopefully you find interesting. I'm Katie Nolan. I'm your host. We've got a great guest coming in today, Ian Lara. He's a comic. He's very funny. He's a baseball fan. He's Dominican and he lives in the United States. He's rooting for both of those teams in the wbc. We talk about it. We get into that. He also was an umpire in Little League in Long island, which to me sounds. Sounds like a job. Do not sign me up for that. Couldn't pay me enough. And I bet they didn't, but he did that. So anyway, we talk about that a little bit. He'll be coming up in a bit here. First, I'm joined by the Casualties. That's what we call them. They're the production team here at Sirius xm. We have Isabella, our sports newbie. Hello. Our lovely editor, Chris.

[Ian Lara]

Hi.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know. Lovely. I don't know. It just felt. It just fell out of my mouth. I hope it didn't hurt your feelings. And then Brady's and then Brady.

[Isabella]

Less lovely.

[Katie Nolan]

But hey, no lovely. It's just. I just said lovely. So the magnificent Brady. Okay, I'm feeling attacked. Feeling attacked here.

[VRBO Representative]

Up top.

[Katie Nolan]

Just trying to get through the traffic. Good time for me to remind you guys to reach out to us. Okay. Because I think we've decided the final block of these Thursday shows. What were we? We were doing something before. It was Isabella Fantasy Team.

[Brady]

Oh, yeah, Before.

[Katie Nolan]

And we didn't really have anything to. I think we're going to put emails and voicemails there. I think we want to do weekly mailb, which means we need stuff from you. If you want to email us Casuals with Katie Nolan gmail dot com. But if you're feeling brave, I would love. I like hearing your voices. Okay, so 646-810-0043 save it in your phone so that when you have a random thought that you're like, I would love to know what the casualties think about this, you just call Katie. Just save it as Katie and. And go, hey, I was just wondering. It takes the pressure off. You know what I mean? But. 646-810-0043 call in because I don't want it to be all emails. It's a lot of reading for Chris and it just makes me flash back to school where they would make you read in front of the class and you're like, I don't want to do this, but you can email us. And we love those too. And on IG and TikTok if you feel like commenting at Casual is the podcast, but it better be nice before we bring in Ian and talk about the WBC and all the baseball stuff. There was a couple things. We tried to find a way to package this all together and really the only thing we came up with is that it all kind of made cringe in a bit of a way this week. And just a couple of sports stories we want to toss around here and discuss. So as you'll remember, Magic City Night, the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA are doing a promotional night On Monday, no, March 16th. What day of the week is that? Whatever. That's a Monday. Thank you. Great. Monday, March 16th, they're doing magic City Night. We covered this on our last episode. It's going to be the Wings and TI is going to perform. Luke Cornett came out and said, Luke Cornett, who you know from this podcast as the guy who went off for the Celtics in the playoffs last year, I do feel like we talked about that here, came out and said that he is against Magic City Night. And you may be saying Luke Cornett, does he play for the Hawks now? Or maybe he plays for the Magic, the team that they are playing on Magic City Night? No, he plays for the Spurs. But he came out in a blog post on his Medium page and, and asked basically the Hawks to cancel the promo because among other things, he voices concerns over what they were glorifying and noted that women potentially face objectification and mistreatment over such such actions and that it's like the responsibility of the NBA to only do promotions with organizations who align with their values. And this one, he loves women and is an ally to women and so he's against this one. And then Al Horford, quote, tweeted that and said, well said, Luke. Now if you've been on the Internet at all, you've seen this has sort of ignited a firestorm with people taking their sides and yelling at each other. I would like to provide a bit of context. Luke Cornet on that Medium blog. Medium's really suffering in the branding because I feel like people kept calling this a substack and I was like, theoretically it's the same type of. But it's not. It's on Medium. And what do you call a post on Medium? Meaty.

[Isabella]

Just name it so that it sounds like a smaller than like just an average sized blog. It's very confusing.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I don't like it. But it is what it is. And so he what he's usually posting about on this, he'll do like reviews of the churches that he visits when he's on the road in the NBA. And it's like, of course, a guy that is that religious is not going to see a strip club promotion and go like, hell, yeah. So I think it makes sense to me that he would feel this way. And it's well within. He's within his rights to. To blog about not liking something. Right. That's fine. What. Where it stands out to me is, like, is the, you know, standing up for women of it all? Like, I think we stood up for women when we talked about Magic City Night. Isabella. Because we are the only. For all the discussion that this promotion is getting across sports media. I haven't seen anyone else mention that the women are not invited. There are. No. It's not like they're going to be in the crowd. It's not like they're going to be on the court. They are not a part of this promotion. It's like food and merch and TI Question mark. So it's strange to me that standing up for women is like, yeah, you. I don't know. To me, standing up for the girls means, like, yeah, I would love to rage against a society that makes women, puts women in positions where they feel they have to do that for a living. That being said, we live in that society. So I don't exclude those women from my idea of protecting and supporting and uplifting women. Which is why Isabella and I said, let them come and wear whatever the cheerleaders wear and do the dancing with them. Yeah, why not? You know, they can dance. And then we also have what Lou Williams had to say about it, but we barely need to know that, right? He said there's a lot of people that don't understand it, but I'm glad this is going global because now y' all understand me. And that's the other thing I think about, the Luke Cornett stuff is that it's like, buddy, it's not your. And I kind of mean that in more ways than one. It just feels like you. It's not your place to come in and speak on what this means. Magic City, as I understand it, is such a huge part of the culture in Atlanta, and celebrating local culture should be exactly what the NBA team should be doing. So since you're not even invited, Luke, I don't think we need to give any notes about the event. You know, a little different for me if he's at the thing, but I. I. Look, he's allowed to share his opinion, and I'm allowed to think it's silly. While we're talking about strippers. I did just want to mention you Always love when you start a story like that. I saw this headline today on Boston.com and it was talking about a restaurant in Boston where allegedly a bunch of players, Patriots players, went after hours to this restaurant and brought strippers. And they were smoking and they were basically, this restaurant might be in trouble for violating their liquor license, which is such a silly thing, but it is how the law works. But I saw this headline and I brought a prop. I printed it out so that it would hit. And when you write for Boston.com, okay, you cannot write patriots players brought strippers hookahs to celebrate at Boston restaurant. I know what you mean. I know you're saying it's the hookah, but strippers and hookahs is how we're reading that, you know, And I just want people that, you know, the editors, to keep that in mind. Or maybe they did, because it got me to print it out full size and bring it here to the podcast. Okay? Cringe stories. This is where it really started because I saw. I got MLB Network on in the background because it's baseball season and that's just what we listen to at our house as background noise. Because if there's too much silence, we have to think our thoughts. And that's too scary right now. Okay? So I was watching the passively watching MLB Network the other night, and they showed a speech. Aaron Judge is the captain of the United States WBC for the World Baseball Classic. And they showed that he gave a speech to a locker room to a group of guys that are full of talent. Great roster for the team this year. I believe we can play the audio and I really want to urge you to find the video because there's subtle things in it that don't come through in the audio to really sell it. But let's go ahead and listen to our captain, Captain America, Aaron Judge, hyping up the team for the wbc.

[Ian Lara]

Sacrifice for your family home. You sacrifice for your country, and you're sacrificing for the brothers in the trenches with you every single day. And that's one thing I want us to do, fellas, you know, we're down. We're beat up a little bit, man. You know, lean into each other, man. We're going to lay it out on the line. If we do that, we're bringing home

[Katie Nolan]

now, I'm telling you, okay? And listen, speaking is hard, okay? And it's not everybody's thing. Aaron Judge seems to me like one of those lead by example type of guys. One of the guys who's really good out on the field and a real quiet leader. And that's okay. That's a type of leadership that exists. You don't have to force it, you know, Like, I also understand not every locker room speech is like it is in the movies with the swelling music and the emotional buildup, but that I'm just going to casualties that sucked.

[Isabella]

It could have been improved, I guess.

[Katie Nolan]

Better question, could it have been worse? I could always get worse. Good point, Isabella. Yeah, I guess he could have fallen down. Another really good point. And I'm not. I'm not offended. Right. It's. I'm. It's a bad speech. He looks, looks down and smirks a lot in it. The way that like a teenager when he's giving a presentation and his friends are in the room and he's like, shut up. Shut up. So in the first World War. Stop it. Like, he just seems embarrassed to be giving it, which isn't the energy that you want. But I will also say he's like, giving speeches is cringe. Exactly. And like it is when you think that. It is when you think that, like, you've got to find the guy. Think about, like professional wrestling. When there's a guy who's great in the ring but sucks on the mic, they give him a mic guy. They give him a manager. Like, he needs a Paul Heyman. He needs a guy that's going to come in and do the speaking for him so he can just kind of wrestle.

[Isabella]

It's not too late. Team USA to bring Paul Heyman in there for Aaron Judge's speech.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

Just get a do over.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I don't know if I would. Yeah, I wouldn't bring actual Paul. I don't know if Paul Heyman could hype me up to play a baseball

[Brady]

game, but I judge can't either, so it's fine.

[Katie Nolan]

It's so true. I mean, we say that and then they play their exhibition. Now, granted, it wasn't against like the best of the best, but they played against the Giants, theoretically, and they beat them 15 to 1. Did you guys watch the exhibition?

[Isabella]

Very confusing because they played 10 innings. I turned it on in the 10th inning and it was 15 to 1. I'm like, what the hell did I miss?

[Katie Nolan]

Was it tied one one and then they hit 14? I guess there was just, you can do this for these games. They were like, hey, we wanted to get to all of our pitchers, so could we do another inning? If I were the Giants, I'd go, no. How dare you. It's like not only are you running up the score, but now you're asking us to stick around so you can keep going.

[Isabella]

Now we don't even have Logan Webb. He's on your team. Like, it was so shorthanded.

[Brady]

The Giants are just the ultimate Patriots. That's all it is.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. It's also, it's tough for Aaron because we did just happen to see this comes on the heels of another video that kind of took off on the Internet over. I don't know when it was. It was a couple days ago. I'll say. Peyton Tolley from the Red Sox gave a speech about being an American that had a. A whole presentation with it. We can play a little clip of it. Let's listen to Peyton Tolley's speech in the locker room.

[Ian Lara]

Here's some inventions in the United States. Flight, nascar, honey buns, baseball, and Hollywood film.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, damn, that's a huge laugh.

[Brady]

Well, the Hollywood film was accompanied by the moon landing. A photo of the moon landing.

[Katie Nolan]

Perfect. Very necessary for the landing of the joke. So I guess I would also go look that one up as well. But I.

[Brady]

There's a lot in that visually that you would need to see. But he, he goes. He goes all in.

[Katie Nolan]

He goes in on it.

[Brady]

Incredible.

[Katie Nolan]

And that's great. Now that I've said the good thing, can I ruin it? In the video, somebody pointed out, if you zoom in, you can see he's. His phone. It's not a notes app. It is ChatGPT. He's just reading directly from Chat GPT.

[Isabella]

I'm still going to give him credit for delivery.

[Katie Nolan]

I know.

[Isabella]

And for committing to the chest area.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And I guess I just hate it so much, you know, that it's like, couldn't we just get somebody to write it for you? Made me feel icky. But you're right. We'll move on. Can we move on to something that makes me feel good? The opposite of Vicky now. Okay. I don't know if you guys know who Will Kane is in a sports context, but Will Kane used to work at ESPN for a long time. This was at the time when ESPN was always accused of being too liberal, too left leaning. They care too much about the opinions of the athletes they cover, I guess is what you could say. And Will Kane was always pushed out as this, like, balance. He's. We've got. We can't be too left. We've got Will Kane. And of course, Will Kane would always go, I don't. I'm not into the politics, but I believe in blah Blah blah. Will Kane left and went to Fox News right away when he left espn I believe maybe one of made a stop at one of the others but I believe he's always been at Fox News. He was interviewing General Jack Keane, a retired four star general on Fox News the other day and normally I'd go here's the context for the clip, here's what was happening. I think in this situation it doesn't help what I need it to do for you to land better to know it doesn't matter whose side you're on in this conversation. Okay, we're just gonna play a clip of Will Kane asking this RET4 star General A question and then you're going to hear what the four star general said to Will Kaine. Let's listen to the clip.

[Brady]

It's not 100% clear to me general and that's not to suggest that I

[Ian Lara]

don't support 100% what is happening nor

[Brady]

that I 100% offer my support.

[Katie Nolan]

I just think I want to ask

[Brady]

a couple of critical questions and I hope you know how much respect I have for your service and I think it goes without saying to anybody watching how much respect I have for the men making these decisions.

[Ian Lara]

You don't have to patronize me, just ask the question. Go ahead, come on, ask it.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh my God. I can't tell you, I can't tell you what that did for me. It just because it's like when you're gonna, if you're gonna equivocate, if you're gonna. And not to say I and I'm not even saying that I. You don't have to keep saying 100%. The point of a percent is that if you are 60% in support and 40% against it allows for that by going to a number less than 100 but to keep going and this isn't to say that I'100% in support of it and not to say that I'm also not 100% in the and it's just so much groveling and to have this general go get off your knees and ask me the question was it healed something in me And I'm allowed to say that cuz I worked with him. This one's cringe. This is very cringe I guess is the is the way to describe it. I would say it's pretty glaring and kind of an ethical issue but we'll call it cringe. Fabrizio Romano, one of the leading soccer journalists, he's Italian. He is a prominent newsbreaker in the world of soccer transfers he's got on combined across his platforms, he's got 120 million total followers. This guy is. If you don't know him, that's unique to you. He's huge in the soccer world. Tuesday he posted I saw it on X. I don't know if he posted it somewhere else as well. I hate that. That's my body rejecting me. Calling it X. He Posted on Twitter 2:14. The text of the tweet just says global humanitarian role of Saudi Arabia @ksreliefn. Hashtag ad. It doesn't even say. Like, check out the new it's ad copy. It's clearly ad copy. It's a paid post and accompanying it is a 2 minute and 14 second video where he says king Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center. That's who they tagged. Over 10 years since its inception, the center has implemented for implemented 4212 projects in 113 countries worldwide reflecting the leading humanitarian role of Saudi Arabia. He goes on to haphazardly list things that apparently Saudi Arabia has done that have helped in humanitarian situations. Various other relief efforts, including the rehabilitation of child soldiers in Yemen. Something about cochlear implants for children. And I got the number 67 successful separation surgeries on conjoined twins. I this is what this was. This rocked me to blatantly post. Saudi Arabia paid you to tell people that actually they're nice and good and you just took the check and tweeted it. Are we. Is this where we're at?

[Isabella]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Nobody. You didn't even try to make it about soccer. You just posted legally what you had to clearly. Because again, global humanitarian role of Saudi Arabia is not a sentence. It's like the title of an essay. And then he's just clearly reading a script that they sent. Yuck.

[Isabella]

At least ethically he put hashtag ad.

[Katie Nolan]

Good point, Brady. He did adhere to the I'd like to know. I think instead of hashtag ad, I think the new regulation should be you've got to disclose the check. You got to let me know the amount of the check. Hashtag add $100,000. Like I need to. I want to know. Because it's got to be it. It's got to be a lot. Right? Because if now if I were to find out you did that for $25,000, I'd go like even worse. You know, you almost need it to. It better be. It better be a big number. Not saying if it is, you're okay because it is crazy for a country to pay you to tell people they're good. But while we're talking about Saudi Arabia, let's talk about Tom Brady. You know the flag football league is coming. He released a video on Tuesday. I'm not even going to talk about this. It's a Photoshop photo shoot of him playing catch with Gronk and then he escalated his feud. I'm doing huge air quotes with Logan Paul. This is clearly a work. Okay. Or a shoot, whatever. The thing is that I'm trying to thank you. It's clearly a work. Not interested in engaging with this. What I would like to say is that the little footnote here is the fanatics. Fanatics Flag football classic in Saudi Arabia is scheduled for March 21, currently scheduled to be played in Riyadh. NBC Sports reporting likely to be moved or postponed. And the reason for that is war. So I feel like or escalated combat operations, whatever. Legally we're allowed to call what's going on. Crazy to think they might still be pretending to put on a flag football tournament with all of the biggest stars of the NFL in a couple weeks in Saudi Arabia.

[Isabella]

Great flag, though. At least it's not full contact.

[Katie Nolan]

Right? Because you wouldn't want anybody to get hurt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Make sure we're just pulling flags off of belts. Let's go ahead and bring in our guest for today, Ian Lara. We're gonna take a break and when we come back, we'll be sitting here with Ian and we'll talk to him about the WBC and baseball and the Dominican Republic and a bunch of other stuff. You'll see. We'll get there. This is casuals and we'll be right back. Hey, I don't know what it is about the world now, but finding clothes that look good and actually also feel good is such a challeng. And that is where Vuori comes in. They make incredibly versatile, insanely comfortable clothes that move with you from lounging at home to layering up for a chilly commute. It's effortless, elevated style that you will actually want to live in. The performance jogger and Halo essential wide leg pant are made with Vuori's signature dream knit fabric. It is their softest premium stretch material. Lightweight, it's moisture wicking and it's effortless to wear anywhere. Add the Restore oversized hoodie for an easy pulled together look. I wore my Restore oversized hoodie to work the other day and everybody was like, I love that hoodie. It's an investment in your happiness for our listeners. They're offering 20% off of your first purchase. So get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the [e-mail] Casuals v u o r I.com Casuals exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. With men's college basketball, women's college basketball, NBA and NHL seasons in full swing, Sling is the live TV service putting sports fans in charge of their entertainment at an unmatched value. Sling delivers the flexibility to watch the games that matter, when they matter, without locking into a long term commitment. Want to watch one big game without paying for a full month? A one day pass for sling starts at just 499. Want wall to wall action? Monthly plans have that covered. Sling lets viewers customize their channel lineup so only the channels actually watched. Make the cut. No paying for stuff that never gets used. Sling keeps live TV flexible, simple and built for sports fans. I know. I like to use Sling to watch women's and men's college basketball games. I'm getting geared up for March Madness and doing my scouting and it's the easiest way to just bop around between games that are on. Choose and customize your channel lineup or pause and watch for free. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com to learn more with VRBoCare.

[VRBO Representative]

Help is always ready before, during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind.

[Ian Lara]

The wrongs we must right, the fights we must win, the future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, Very exciting. Now we're welcoming in a guest, Ian Lara, a comedian who you may know from his new special material. Boy, just hit YouTube. Your HBO special Ian Lara romantic comedy. I love that. This weekend you're in Atlanta for the Atlanta Comedy Fest. And if you want tickets and more tour dates, ianlauralive.com But Ian.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah?

[Katie Nolan]

Thanks for being here.

[Ian Lara]

Thank you for having me.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm so excited to talk talk about baseball with you.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, me too. Hell yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

So you grew up in Queens?

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

But you are first generation. Like, your parents are from the Dominican Republic.

[Ian Lara]

Dominican Republic, Yeah. Mom and dad.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. So, I mean, you were engineered to love baseball.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My dad, my mom's dad played professionally for the Dominican team.

[Katie Nolan]

Shut up.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, he played third base.

[Katie Nolan]

That's sick. Did you ever go to.

[Ian Lara]

No, I never met. He passed before I was born.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn yeah, the worst. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Him and his brother both played, so. Him, him and my great. My uncle. I don't know what they call that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

My grandfather. Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

I think.

[Ian Lara]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. Your grandfather's brother.

[Ian Lara]

My grandfather's brother.

[Isabella]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Great uncle.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That's very cool.

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Did your parents, I mean, they love baseball?

[Ian Lara]

Well, my family does. My, my, my, my mom, she didn't know much about it and my dad loves it more casually, but like my brother does and my cousin does. We all do.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Just like a baseball family.

[Ian Lara]

Yes. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Cause you just have to be.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah. You have to be. It's fun too. Like a, of people who don't like baseball, I'm like, you never, you just never gave it a shot. Like if I, I've been to the World Baseball Classic the last two or three times and it, it's an experience that I'm like any sport. Like I, I, I'd compare it to any sporting event. Like I went, I'm a big basketball fan too. I went to the Knicks, like playoff games and, but like the World Baseball Classic, the energy is just insane.

[Katie Nolan]

Which, do you remember which games you went to when this was the last one that we did?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, I went to the last three. The last three years. The last time I see Dominican Republic play, I seen, I seen Dr. USA in San Diego two times ago. That was great. I saw Dominican Republic versus Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic versus Israel, Dominican Republic versus Venezuela.

[Katie Nolan]

That's sick. It's just like such a. I was watching last night they started doing the exhibition games that they're playing before they play the actual games. And they had the Dominican Republic playing Detroit. The Tigers in the Dominican Republican Republic.

[Ian Lara]

Insane played.

[Katie Nolan]

It was awesome. Yeah. That was the energy that came through. Even just the TV broadcast, right. There was one inning where they hit three home runs, basically back to back. It skipped one batter, but Soto hit

[Ian Lara]

one and Machado hit one and then

[Katie Nolan]

Junior Camino and that third one. The way the crowd was like, like they lost their, they were like, they're not stopping. It's just like non stop runs. It was.

[Ian Lara]

I have family members like texting me from the Dominican Republic like, are you watch. And I'm like, this is an exhibition game versus the Tigers without Scuba. This is not like, like, it wasn't

[Katie Nolan]

like they were sending like their greatest know.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. But I'm glad that USA is getting like really into it now. Like I, I heard Judge talking about it and they got like the like great players to come because all the other countries like to Japan Dominican Republic, like, this is like a national. Like, the country stops for this. So I'm glad, like, USA is taking it, like, real serious.

[Katie Nolan]

Also, I feel like part of that's driven by the fact that in Major League Baseball, they always say they're, like, the world champion when you win. We do that in American leagues a lot, where we go, like, the basketball's the world champion. And I feel like if I were another country, I'd be like, we also play base. And you're only the champion of your little domestic league. You're not the international champion. And so, like, you want to show up and be like, usa, we can beat you at this game.

[Ian Lara]

But even so, I'm like, I understand all the world. The rest of the world being upset with that, but I'm like, we are the best, though. So it's like, even. Like, even hockey. Like, hockey was one that Canada got, but, like, we're the world champions for that, too.

[Katie Nolan]

Awesome. I know there's parts of it that aren't as fun or awesome, but it is nice to be like, I get it. Not your game anymore, Canada.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, I'm sorry. I get it. But, like, yeah, yeah, we're the best.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm so hyped up for it. That Dominican Republic team is crazy stacked, stacked, absurd.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. And. But usa, I think USA is still, like, super, super good. They have the. Probably the best pitching staff.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And, I mean, the Japanese pitching staff, though, is like.

[Ian Lara]

Well, that's the thing about the Japanese. You don't even know, like, the play. Like, there'll be, like, some Japanese guy, and they're like, this guy is the best player. And, like, I've never heard of him. They like, this guy's better than Shohei. You're like, all right. Yeah. You're like, all right. Right.

[Katie Nolan]

Which, I guess. Yeah, I guess once you have Shohei, you can. There's others that look up to you and become the next Shohei.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But it's like, damn, show is so good.

[Ian Lara]

So good. So good.

[Katie Nolan]

Scares me.

[Ian Lara]

It's. It's insane. It's insane. Like, he's like an alien. He's like, AI.

[Katie Nolan]

You said you saw Aaron Judge talking. Did you?

[Ian Lara]

The speech.

[Katie Nolan]

Now let's state your affiliate in Major League Baseball. You're a Mets fan, I assume so you're not, you know, you're not, like, predisposed to defend the guy.

[Ian Lara]

No, I don't hate the Yankees, though. It's whatever. I just, like, I'm not one of these people that hates. Like, it's so weird to me when people hate teams that aren't even really like your rival. Like, they're in a different league, different division. Like, we would only meet in the World Series, so I don't care about them till the World Series.

[Katie Nolan]

But the other side of that, it is equally weird when someone's like, I like both New York teams. And you're like, well, I do need you to pick one. You can like them both, but one needs to have your. Like, you need to be loyal to one of them.

[Ian Lara]

Well, I think that's like saying, like, I'm in love with two women. I'm like, well, you're just, like, douchey. Like, that's not right. That's not a good thing.

[Katie Nolan]

Admit that.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, you should hide that.

[Katie Nolan]

Certainly don't sew a shirt together that has both of them on it.

[Ian Lara]

Clearly, you have commitment issues.

[Katie Nolan]

Pick one and. And. And go all in.

[Ian Lara]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

But I do agree with you. You should. It is weird, too, when they're like, I hate the Yankees. Why?

[Ian Lara]

Like, I hate the Braves and the Phillies.

[Katie Nolan]

People that matter. Like, rivalries of consequence. Right? Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But you don't hate the Yankees. But that speech. Top five worst speeches you've ever seen in your life.

[Ian Lara]

Well, I. I have to be honest. I haven't watched a lot of speeches, and I think. And I think the ones that get shared are generally the good. So, like, the ones that aren't good, they're just like, we're not going to air this. But I think because it's Aaron Judge, they were like, we gotta. We gotta air this. But I'm like, you don't need to make a speech.

[Katie Nolan]

Right?

[Ian Lara]

Like, you could just not do that. Like, you don't have to be that

[Katie Nolan]

good advice in this era. Just don't.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Not everyone's like Derek Jeter. Not everyone's like this, like, profound, deep, and also talented. You could just be like, listen, I'mma just hit home runs. Y. You can handle the rest.

[Katie Nolan]

Designate a guy who does your talking.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Pick the talk locker. And maybe that guy's not the captain for whatever reason, but he's the. Gets the locker room going guy.

[Ian Lara]

Right?

[Katie Nolan]

And let him do it.

[Ian Lara]

Right?

[Katie Nolan]

Because watching that video, I think for

[Ian Lara]

the USA team, like, I think probably like Bryce Harper, maybe, like, he's. He seems like more like a speech guy. He's more like angry a lot of. A lot of the time.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Or like. Or like Clayton Kershaw, a guy who's like, at the end of his baseball career, this is his last Hurrah.

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

A guy that's going to be like, come on, guys.

[Ian Lara]

He's also won it before.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. So it's like that's the. To me, the guy that should do the talking.

[Ian Lara]

But yeah, that was pretty bad.

[Katie Nolan]

So uncomfortable.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

It was like watching the kid that doesn't like to talk have to give his presentation in class.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. It was very awkward.

[Katie Nolan]

Just kept like smiling a little bit.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And like looking off to the side

[Ian Lara]

and it was kind of word salady, like he didn't really have a message.

[Katie Nolan]

A lot of like, war looks like tough time to be making war analogies. I get it. It's a battlefield out there, but maybe we're not mentioning trenches.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

At a time like that. No.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. That was a poor choice of words.

[Katie Nolan]

It was just like swagless, you know, it didn't know what it was.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Which in his defense, this wasn't something that he thought it would get out. If he thought it was going to be something that would get out, I'm sure he would have workshopped it, hired some writers and really had it.

[Katie Nolan]

And we should turn the blame to who decided to post it, who watched the clip back and said, well, the audio's not very good, but at least it's Aaron Judge. Let's post it. Because the immediate swift reaction was like.

[Ian Lara]

But I bet in the room, I bet, like when they gave it in the room, it probably didn't feel as awkward as it did to us. Cuz like when you're in the trenches, like, it just feels like, all right. Like, yeah, that. I mean, that's what he was saying. But it's like, it feels like, all right, we're just getting motivated and then we're looking at it very objectively and we're like, what is that?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. It's like I just got home from

[Ian Lara]

work and I walk.

[Katie Nolan]

The context is not there.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not. We don't have the context.

[Katie Nolan]

They didn't. Yeah, you're right. It could have been the end, it could have been the beginning, it could have been the middle where we all take a little nap.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

If you've ever been to a wedding, you get into one of those long speeches and you all stop paying attention in the middle a little bit.

[Ian Lara]

I'm doing a wedding. I'm not doing it. I'm like the best man at a wedding coming up. Yeah. How soon? In like three weeks.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn. You got a speech?

[Ian Lara]

No, I gotta write a speech.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, everybody's different. Yeah, but I would go into it with at least some thoughts jotted down in a notes app. App about what? If you had to do a speech, what sort of stories might be the ones you'd tell? Because the last thing you want to do is get told at the last minute. You got to do a speech, and then you start telling your favorite stories about this person. And those favorite stories are not necessarily vetted for the audience that you're. I mean, you're a comic, so you think that way anyway.

[Ian Lara]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

But I've been to weddings where they tell stories where you're like, that person's grandmother is here. I don't think they want to hear about the time the girl was.

[Ian Lara]

You've seen this live.

[Katie Nolan]

She puked out the.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, I. I seen. I see, like a video, they go viral. Like the judge. Yeah, but I seen it live.

[Katie Nolan]

That. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

I never seen it live. Yeah. Maybe I should start working on a. On a speech.

[Katie Nolan]

Just start vetting, going through your favorite memories of that person, and when one jumps out is like, oh, that's family friendly. And also talks to who they are as a person. Just put it in a notes app

[Ian Lara]

and what's the time? Like, what I say?

[Katie Nolan]

Short, of course. So short. No one is ever at the end of a speech going, I wish that was a lot longer.

[Ian Lara]

No, never.

[Katie Nolan]

And there's going to be unique pressure on you that everybody knows that you're.

[Ian Lara]

That's the thing. That's the thing. People think they're going to get a set out of me.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. And you should give them at least half of 1. 1. It'll help your tickets in.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Be selfish.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, I. I gotta start. Right? I need. I need to hire some writers. I gotta see who Nikki Glazer's using.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, right.

[Ian Lara]

For the coding clubs. I get them to punch up my

[Katie Nolan]

speech just a little bit, you know, just turn up the notch on this. Make it really kill.

[Margaret]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

I wanna. I want somebody to keel over. But, yeah, short and sweet, I think, is the move. A minute, 30, tops.

[Ian Lara]

90 seconds.

[Katie Nolan]

I've had people go, like, 17, and you're just going like, hello. They're standing with the cake, waiting to bring it out to us.

[Ian Lara]

17 minutes.

[Katie Nolan]

Just, like, such a long.

[Ian Lara]

Pull the fire alarm.

[Katie Nolan]

I know.

[Isabella]

I think.

[Ian Lara]

I think some people. I mean, obviously this is not news. Like, people just really enjoy hearing themselves talk.

[Katie Nolan]

And, I mean, look at us.

[Ian Lara]

I know, but I. I don't enjoy hearing myself talk. I think that's the charm in me.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, true. I am thinking about my. The bane of My existence is when I have to review these, my clips and stuff to post. Yeah, I don't want to listen to that bitch. I'm so. No, she's always going up here.

[Ian Lara]

No, that's the thing. Like, I think I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm like a tad less successful than I probably would be if I just had more confidence and speaking. Speaking. Not even in speaking, because I do it. But then I'm just like, I'll, like, I'll speak. But then I'm like, you, you don't got to listen to this. Like, I'll tell people that instead of being like, go watch it. Like, I'm like, look, it's fine.

[Katie Nolan]

Go watch it. But I know you're busy. I was having a tough day and you've got a lot on your plate, so go watch it if you don't like it. Understand? I totally understand. I'll make another one. You can try that.

[Ian Lara]

Right, right. I'll keep trying to get better.

[Katie Nolan]

Really brutal. Really crippling the career of the both of us. Let's talk a little bit about the, the WBC and the teams that we've got because there good ones coming into this. Yes. This will air on Thursday. The audio of this episode, the video will come out on Friday. We're trying a new timeline. So I'm still trying to figure out where we are in it. The first game will have happened already. That's Wednesday tonight for you And I at 10pm It's Chinese Taipei versus Australia in Tokyo. Low key. One of my favorite things about the WBC is that there's baseball on all day because they're playing it all over the place. And so like we get to watch a game tonight that technically is happening there tomorrow. Time zones. Fascinating.

[Ian Lara]

Pretty fascinating.

[Katie Nolan]

One thing to note about the wbc, no ABS challenges. So that's something we're seeing in spring training this year. And they're bringing into the, the league where you can tap your helmet or your head, depending on who it is that's doing it and challenge the call of an umpire.

[Ian Lara]

I don't know how I feel about that.

[Katie Nolan]

I want to know because I think I saw a clip where you said you were an umpire once.

[Isabella]

Yeah, you.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, when I was.

[Katie Nolan]

And I was like, I don't know what level. And I'm not putting any pressure on you to talk about your umpire experience. It's been once or twice in the league.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. And it's like it, I mean, I like, I would get screamed at. Like I Was like a major league umpire. Like, I remember one time I had this dad, like, he was just screaming at me and I was like, I took a 90 minute course to, to like get certified to do this. I'm like, I'm like, they're paying me like $45 for that. Like, I don't know. I thought it was a strike. I don't know. You want. And then the, the dude, the guy was like, yeah, like, you're right.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, good. No, but that's, that's not usually how those stories go.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, he's just like, you're right.

[Katie Nolan]

Where was this in Long Island? I was going to say, I hope it wasn't in Long Island.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, Long Island.

[Katie Nolan]

I can't imagine being a baseball umpire in Long Island.

[Ian Lara]

He's just yelling at me and I'm like, it's one umpire for the whole.

[Katie Nolan]

I can't appeal to my friends. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

It's like, it's just me. And I'm like, look, I thought it was a strike, first of all. And you're also trained to just call strikes. Cuz you don't want to walk in the whole thing. You want them to swim. They're kids.

[Katie Nolan]

You don't want to squeeze them.

[Ian Lara]

Right. And he's like, he's like cursing me out. And I'm just like, dude, like, I got a 90 minute certificate to do this.

[Katie Nolan]

I watched a PowerPoint.

[Ian Lara]

Your kid sucks.

[Katie Nolan]

He wouldn't hit it anyway.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, like, are we gonna, are we gonna pretend he doesn't suck?

[Katie Nolan]

Damn. Yeah, I don't. That's one of those like front lines gigs where I don't think I could for some reason. Long Island. I went to college there. So I'm allowed to say this.

[Ian Lara]

Me too.

[Katie Nolan]

Culturally, I've been. Oh, really? Where'd you go?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, Sunil Westbury.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, I went to Hofstra.

[Ian Lara]

Oh, right there.

[Katie Nolan]

Sick.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Hemster.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I can say this. I feel like it's an entire area of people who are convinced their kids going pro in a lot of different stuff. Like, I grew up, I took dance as a child and got to Long island and told people this and they were like, where do you compete? And then I saw what their competitions looked like and I was like, yo, I didn't do that. I. I danced at a dance center with like eight other girls with no coordination. We did not like, put our hair in our big and like compete for it. And like, same thing with long is football. And long. They're all like, my son's going to go pro. And so being an ump in that

[Ian Lara]

scenario, I will say I did learn from that like for watching sports. Like cuz there were some kids who were really good where obviously you're like, all right, this kid is going to play. Like this kid's going to be like a good player. You do 10 as an umpire, like if they are good, you do tend to lean their way like when it comes to like rooting for them.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Cuz you're like, like I remember this dude, this one kid and this is like nine years. Like they're like nine, 10 year olds and this dude was throw like a no hitter. And by like the third inning, like I was definitely giving them the strike zone. I was like, I was like these kids. But also you can tell when, when a coach is telling like their kid like the team like to let them walk it in. And as an umpire you don't want that. Like that's very boring. You want the kids to play, you want to put the ball in play, you want them to play. She's telling the kids not to swing. And I'm just calling everything a strike.

[Katie Nolan]

I love it. Like a chaos umpire.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, but I imagine in the majors it has to be that way. Like if, if, if you have, if school has a no hitter in the eighth, you're not squeezing them.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, but then sometimes you get those umps who you're like, they want us to know their name. They want us to remember that he was the guy who took. I know, the worst. It's the worst.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And it's why I think we've gotten to a point where they're putting in abs.

[Ian Lara]

I remember that happened, that happened a couple years ago. I forgot it was over. Probably over 10 years ago. There was an umpire, I think it was for Detroit where there was a no hitter and he just, in the ninth, he just made like a terrible call to blow. Like it was like a strike. He called it a ball and on like two outs in the ninth, the guy got a hit, broke up the no hitter and the umpire was like crying like he messed up a game. And it's like, yeah, you, you. Why would you do that?

[Katie Nolan]

Why would you do that?

[Ian Lara]

It was close. Two strikes in the ninth for. I think it was a perfect game. Not even a no hitter. But that's insane. I know it's a tough gig, but the abs. I was watching some spring training and they were just challenging everything.

[Katie Nolan]

I know there was one game where they challenged like seven times in a row and it got overturned seven times. In a row.

[Ian Lara]

And I believe that was the first inning.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean. Yeah. If you're that ump, it's like, how do you do the rest of the game?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. That's very embarrassing.

[Katie Nolan]

Very embarrassing.

[Ian Lara]

So I. I'm not. And when it comes to the. Is it going to be a limit?

[Katie Nolan]

I think so. I think what it is is that you get two, but if you do it and you get the call overturned, you get it back.

[Ian Lara]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

So you can perpetually have two challenges.

[Ian Lara]

You can be unlimited. Really. If you.

[Katie Nolan]

If you bat a thousand, you can be. Yeah. Which is, you know, you hope doesn't happen because.

[Ian Lara]

And the coach can't challenge. It has to be the batter, batter, catcher.

[Katie Nolan]

Or pitcher.

[Ian Lara]

Or pitcher. Okay, that's good.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And I bet each team is going to have their own. Like, you are not allowed to challenge. Like, you know, those people who always. It was a bad call and always wrong.

[Ian Lara]

Like the Luka Doncic just complain on every single call.

[Katie Nolan]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

For sure.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. So it's certainly going to be interesting. It's taken a lot of time in spring training.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Which I don't like because we just got the pitch clock, which I was resistant to at first. I like it because I don't like clocks. The whole thing about baseball was supposed to be like, no clock.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And so I was like. And I like it.

[Ian Lara]

I like it.

[Katie Nolan]

It fades enough into the background. I don't need them to put it on the broadcast. I just need to know if, like, oh, he violated it. That's all I really need.

[Ian Lara]

But it's Richard. It was going pretty. Like, they would tap it and within, like, 10 seconds, they'd have a ruling on it.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. I think what it is, is the distraction of the conversation because. Because it's spring training. I'm just nitpicking.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Because they go, like, into this big, long conversation about it, and you're like, yeah, just get back to the.

[Ian Lara]

I feel like players like Soto are going to go like a thousand with that. Cuz, like, he. He don't miss.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. It's interesting. And I mean, we have the technology, so it's kind of like it's a half step between going, like, we don't want umps anymore. We're just going to go with regular robots. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

I remember. I remember. I play mlb, the show in the league with, like, my friends. And I remember we. We ran a season. We ran a league, and we had, like, a big discussion amongst us, like, do we want perfect balls and strikes, or you want to leave a video game where the umpire could make mistakes. And one of them, was it like

[Katie Nolan]

a setting for the league.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, you can put that just

[Katie Nolan]

before and what an existential question to ask.

[Ian Lara]

Right, right. And we, we had like the league almost shut down for this because like half of the guys were like, no, it's real baseball to allow error. Like, human error is part of baseball. And I'm like, but why would you want to lose a game to human error if you could help it?

[Katie Nolan]

And it's a video game, so it's like human error. The only human making error is supposed

[Ian Lara]

to be, supposed to be me. Right. But now I remember, like all the guys that, like the three guys that were against it before, now they've come around and they were like, no, it does make like, why would you want human error to affect the game? Like you'd want it to be called down the middle.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I mean, for a video game especially, I think that, like that I thought that when Dan got really into to and is still way too into NCAA football video game, and I'm like, how do they make it college football? How do they make, did they make the fake players not as good as a, as a pro? Like, what would make a video game different between NCAA and pro in terms of the, and he was like, yeah, crazier things happen. Like, picks will happen. You'll have like nine picks in a game. What?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

It's absurd. Yeah, but it's, I don't know. Those are tangentially related. And I felt like going down that road. All right, so we're half in and half out on abs. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

[Ian Lara]

Atlas, when, when, when, when the bases are loaded in the ninth and Sodo's up and they call a, you know, a strike and there's a ball, I'm gonna love it.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm like having anxiety just thinking about, like the high stakes moments when someone's

[Ian Lara]

gonna go like, yeah, yeah, that'll be great.

[Katie Nolan]

How do you keep an up from getting jumped?

[Ian Lara]

I, I, I feel like it's very, I'm, I'm sure the umpires union was probably like against this because it's very humiliating.

[Katie Nolan]

Humiliating, but it's probably better than getting rid of them entirely.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, but if you like that game where it was like the first seven was like, that's like, I'd quit it. Yeah, you gotta sub them out.

[Brady]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

At some point.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That is the logical next step. It's like, let's just have a bunch of umps waiting. But beyond deck circle.

[Ian Lara]

There was a thing too, about baseball which. That I. I understand this argument where it was like, the umpire having, like. Like some umpires have a high strike zone, Some of them have a wide strike zone. As a pitcher, you got to adjust to that.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Ian Lara]

And as long as he calls it fairly for both sides is okay. Even if he's calling high strikes that are balls, if he's calling them for both sides is okay. And the pitcher got to adapt to that. That was like a part of baseball that was cool. Which I guess is gone now.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Or almost gone, technically. Did you see the part. The other wrinkle of it, which is a lot of guys were lying about their height. And when they started doing the abs, it's based off of, like, literally your measurements to make the digital strike zone. And so they had to get specifically measured. And a bunch of guys. Heights, like, dropped two or three inches on three inches. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Three inches is. That's like using steroids. Like, that's that level of lying, that level of cheating.

[Katie Nolan]

How are you sleeping?

[Ian Lara]

So how tall is Altuve, then? What's the real.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it's probably lower.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Although I feel like Altuve might be the end of the spectrum where he just goes, like. I lie and say I'm shorter. Yeah. Because it makes me stand out. Like, I'm actually not that short, you guys.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But, yeah, I just thought that was funny that they're like. Yeah, we measured everybody. You check their, like, baseball reference difference. And it just.

[Ian Lara]

They do that in every sport, though.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

They. You gotta add a couple inches on the height.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. Because it's like, it's not your right to know.

[Ian Lara]

Hipaa.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You don't need to know, my man.

[Ian Lara]

They do that with the fastball, too. Like, they'll add like, the. The house radar adds a couple miles an hour on the.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Because you know what? They're within their rights.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, let's talk about these WBC teams. So the. We got pool A is happening in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Who. A lot of people in America just learned part of America.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Which this is probably a little confusing for them because they've got their own team. So now people must. Spinning.

[Ian Lara]

Who would have known. Yeah. Who thought.

[Katie Nolan]

Who would have possibly known? You know, read a book. The. So who we have in there, we got Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Puerto Rico.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Are the teams. You know, Canada's got a good teamish.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

They got Josh and Bo Naylor.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Who are brothers. And Jamison Tyon. Yeah, right.

[Ian Lara]

I probably have. Puerto Rico would have won that one if they had their players, but they don't. None of their.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, yeah, because the insurance.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. None of their players went like, they don't, they don't have none of their. They have Edwin Diaz, but he comes in at the night.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

The game has to be closed for him to be relevant.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

And they lost their big bats. They, they, they don't have Lindor and.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

So I think Colombia probably coming out of there.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Colombia has a lot of sleep. Any Latin country in the pool, you

[Katie Nolan]

gotta assume you can't count them out.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. You gotta assume that they're.

[Katie Nolan]

You can't count them out. They got something.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Yeah. Cuba too. Cuba's one of those two that has players you never heard of, but then they're like, all ready to be major leaguers. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I was thinking we could look at the, the, I believe these are the sl. The mottos of these countries and use those to judge them as teams.

[Ian Lara]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

And Cuba's is actually, I think the coolest sounding. Cuba's is homeland or death, we shall overcome.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. I mean, that's like Judge's speech yesterday seems a little aggressive for base. Well, but yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I think this is their actual country's motto. We're just applying it to baseball, but it works for me.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Panama's is for the benefit of the world, which is like. Oh, okay. I guess your country slogan should be for the benefit of you. I feel like.

[Ian Lara]

Well, I think maybe because of the canal. Oh, that, like, helps everyone.

[Katie Nolan]

They really are a huge part of the benefit. Okay. Smart.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Book reader. Puerto Rico's motto is John is his name.

[Ian Lara]

No, it's not.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Well, if this Google Doc is to be believed, apparently it's a convoluted reference to Columbus originally naming the island after St. John the Baptist. Time for a new motto, I think. Let's get, let's workshop that one.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. John is his name. Is I, I mean, that's.

[Katie Nolan]

Bingo. Was his name. Oh, is a crazy motto for your country.

[Ian Lara]

That's not a good.

[Katie Nolan]

My. I don't love it. Canada's is from sea to sea. Sure. And Colombia is freedom and order, which are a little bit at odds. I feel like Freedom and order.

[Ian Lara]

Freedom and order in col. I mean. Yeah. I mean, Colombia. I mean, I've seen narcos. I don't know order, but it's order.

[Katie Nolan]

There's a semblance of order, I guess.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

I guess. But I, I, I did I see. No, I saw. Last year, I went to see Venice switch. Venezuela and Dominican Republic. And like, a lot these Latin teams, they just have so many players that you. That you didn't think.

[Katie Nolan]

You go, oh, yeah.

[Ian Lara]

You're like, oh, I forgot he was there. I forgot he was from there.

[Katie Nolan]

All right, so we're thinking, like, Colombia could come out of there.

[Ian Lara]

I think Columbia, Cuba, probably.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Poor Puerto Rico always has a good team, too.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. All right, Pool B is happening in Houston, Texas. This is ours. This is United States, States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil.

[Ian Lara]

I mean, usa.

[Katie Nolan]

I know we have to.

[Ian Lara]

USA is going to sweep that. I saw Jorge Posada was coaching for Italy.

[Katie Nolan]

He is?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Is he not Puerto Rican?

[Katie Nolan]

You know, I wouldn't. The eligibility rules for the countries for the WBC are a lot more lax than, say, the Olympics.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And so I think there, if you have any parent who has a lineage to any of the countries, you're allowed to, like. Vinnie Pasquino plays for Italy, I think,

[Ian Lara]

for the World Baseball Classic. You just got to, like. Like the food.

[Katie Nolan]

Like, I've been to Japan. Can I come play? If you make the team, I feel like you can play.

[Ian Lara]

Jorge Posada coaching for Italy when Puerto Rico's like, that's kind. That was surprising to me.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, that feels like a. Like a. Do you think he went, like, none of the players are able to play. I want to go with somebody who's got a chance to win.

[Ian Lara]

Italy has no shot.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. No, they could do it. Aaron Nola is on Italy.

[Ian Lara]

I stand with what I said.

[Katie Nolan]

You know, they used to be managed by Mike Piaza. That would have been.

[Ian Lara]

Oh, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, they were, but not. Not. They were Great Britain Jazz. Chisum is on. Is the star for Great Britain.

[Ian Lara]

He's like. Isn't he from the Netherlands?

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Chisum does sound very British.

[Ian Lara]

It does sound British.

[Katie Nolan]

Very British.

[Ian Lara]

It does sound British. But, I mean, look, that's. That's a tough div. That's a tough.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it's a tough pool to get out of.

[Ian Lara]

Easy for usa, though. I feel like they got. They gave USA a little bit of a. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, Mexico could be tough.

[Ian Lara]

Mexico's okay. Mexico's good. I mean, USA just has some beast.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. Paul Skin, Clayton Kershaw, Cal Raleigh, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwerber. I even forgot Ernie Clement. I saw him get into a game, and I was like, oh, my God, Ernie Clement.

[Ian Lara]

They got Byron Bucks in playing center Is. Is crazy.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, they got a lot. They got a lot of going on. Tarek Scubal, though, have you seen that story? The pitcher from the Tigers, he's going to pitch in the WBC, but only 55 pitches and only one game against great Britain.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, I mean, that's, I guess that's just like a spring training.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, but I'd be like, you can just stay home.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You're either in the rotation or, or.

[Ian Lara]

But there's limits on, on. On all the pitches.

[Katie Nolan]

65 pitches, I think in the early round.

[VRBO Representative]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

And. And so he's only 10 under that, which at that point I go for the priority of it. Just throw the 65.

[Ian Lara]

He's like, they come to take him out. He's like, I'm staying in. They're all 15 zip.

[Katie Nolan]

Sort of like. Exactly.

[Ian Lara]

Versus Great Britain.

[Katie Nolan]

And like, I don't know, look, get. Get in where you fit in or whatever. But it just feels like he really wanted it to be in his Wikipedia and you're barely going to participate.

[Ian Lara]

But even. But the wbc, the rules are lax too. Like, he could come back in the finals and be like, I want to close. And I'll be like, all right.

[Katie Nolan]

Wacky. Wacky stuff. I didn't give you any of their mottos. That whole segment has fallen apart. In God we trust. That's still our motto. I guess that's us. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

In God we trust.

[Ian Lara]

Sure. Yeah. I trust cuz.

[Katie Nolan]

Who else?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

It's tough to find these days. Okay, Pool C in Tokyo. This is Australia. Chinese Taipei, which is Taiwan. I don't remember why we have to call it Chinese Taipei in international competition.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Czech. Czechia, Japan and Korea.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. I think two come out of every division.

[Katie Nolan]

I think so too.

[Ian Lara]

I think Japan and Korea are clearly going to take that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Chinese Taipei. Don't count them out.

[Ian Lara]

I kind of don't.

[Katie Nolan]

But we don't know any of that. Yeah, I did. I did do that and I will do it again.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. And then the Miami pool.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Miami is Dominican Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Venezuela.

[Ian Lara]

I mean. Yeah. Dr. Venezuela. Because last year the, the last year a lot of people were complaining because they put Dr. In the extremely. All the Latin countries in, like, the

[Katie Nolan]

hardest pool, which, like, I guess you would understand from geography, but you go, you got to split this up.

[Ian Lara]

You got to split it up.

[Katie Nolan]

You got to split this up.

[Ian Lara]

I went. I was. I went to Miami for the last one. Like, the Latin community are. Is like, built the World Baseball Classic to, like, made it like Relevant. They sell out the stadium. So it's like the last one they had Dr. Out in the first round, like with the, with the team. Because they have Venezuela in the. In that. In the division. Puerto Rico in the same division. And I think Colombia, Columbia, it's like, yeah, we're just gonna have the best teams out in the, in the. In the first. I mean it still was cool because it came down to usa, Japan and it was Shohei versus Yeah, that was

[Katie Nolan]

cool as hell, but wish it went in our favor. Unfortunately it didn't.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Yeah. But you gotta, you gotta split it up. I think they did a better job

[Katie Nolan]

this year because it's like it leads to good games at the beginning and then you're losing a huge chunk of interest by only moving some of those teams on. If you could put them right elsewhere, then you get the people engaged.

[Ian Lara]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

Do you know the Netherlands motto is I will maintain, Maintain.

[Ian Lara]

I like that model. It's very. Cuz that's like my life. Like I'm like I'm not going to do well. But like this right here, I can promise, I can for sure maintain this.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm not dead. I will continue going at exactly this rate.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. For forever. I could, I could do this.

[Katie Nolan]

It's very like hunker down.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Keep calm and carry on. I will maintain. Yeah. That Dominican replacement public team is absolutely stacked. Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez. I saw last night they had Julio batting like seventh.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

When you have Julio batting seventh, your team is so stacked that's the soonest you can get him to the plate.

[Ian Lara]

And Jose Ramirez, like Deci, he backed out last minute. You didn't hear what happened with that?

[Katie Nolan]

No.

[Ian Lara]

I don't know if this is true, but apparently the rumor in Dominican Republic is he got annoyed because they had a players group chat and every time he would talk in the group chat, nobody would answer. But when stto spoke, everybody would like acknowledge it right away.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn. Jose Ramirez does not get enough respect.

[Ian Lara]

He doesn't. Cuz he's the best.

[Katie Nolan]

He's so good.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. He's better than everyone.

[Katie Nolan]

He will maintain.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, that's what he says too. He's like, there's a ranking and I'm above everyone all the time.

[Katie Nolan]

But he's never in the conversation for like those big awards. And honestly that would be the straw that breaks my back.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

If I'm in group chat and like Soto speaks and everyone goes, yeah, Juan, great idea, Juan. I was just thinking the same thing. I'd be like.

[Ian Lara]

And he'll say A joke and it's silenced. I get that same. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I hate a group chat anyway though. I'm really not a group chat.

[Ian Lara]

Oh, me too.

[VRBO Representative]

I'm.

[Ian Lara]

I'm anti group chat. I've missed like funerals cuz I won't respond to a group chat.

[Katie Nolan]

Damn. That's my fear of I'll. I'd love to mute them so that I can just check them when I'm ready. My fear is I'm going to miss some big thing.

[Ian Lara]

Everybody knows who's around me. You have to. To tell me straight up. Like, honestly, it's weird. It gives me anxiety.

[Katie Nolan]

Like I too much anxiety. It's a con. It's like being in a meeting that never ends.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And having to like perform in it.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. I feel like I'm on stage. Like I have the stage and everybody's

[Katie Nolan]

like, that's what you do for work. You want to just go home and when you look at your phone, just be like.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. And then I'll say something funny and like, do you know, maybe two of my cousins will laugh and then I'm with my aunt. I'm like nothing with you on that one. Yeah, that was good. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You get it. Jose Ramirez, you completely. They understand. Well, on this show we respect. The two of us respect Ramirez for sure.

[Ian Lara]

No, he's great. He's great.

[Katie Nolan]

Any player that can wear a necklace with a picture of themselves on it.

[Ian Lara]

And he, I mean he also fights like knocked out.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Ian Lara]

He's good.

[Katie Nolan]

Any bass runs? He's like such a. I don't know. He's just great.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, he fought like. I remember when that fight happened, like it had went so viral and then after he was like so modest about it. He's like, I don't want to talk about it like that. That wasn't my best moment. And the reporters like you just knocked it him out.

[Katie Nolan]

It's great. He's the best. Who's. Who would you say is like your favorite player? Not even wbc like in the league at the moment. Like, who do you really root for?

[Ian Lara]

Ah, I have this trouble in sports cuz like I'm such a sports guy, but I'm not a players guy.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you're a team guy.

[Ian Lara]

I'm a team guy.

[Katie Nolan]

Which is. Don't be ashamed of that.

[Ian Lara]

I don't have. I don't really have idols like that.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. And you're also like, I don't. I can't like you if you don't play for my team.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, like I like, I'm A huge Knicks fan too. Like I'm a Brunson. Like Brunson is. Is my perfect Nick.

[Katie Nolan]

I feel like he's like really made for it.

[Ian Lara]

Right? Like, but if you had like my favorite player, I'm like, ah, I don't have one. I kind of just watch.

[Katie Nolan]

Sick.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. I guess in baseball, cuz I'm a Mets guy. I would have to say. I would have to say maybe I like, I like Sodo. I like Auna from Atlanta.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, he's sick.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, he's dope.

[Katie Nolan]

When he's not hurt. I feel like whenever he gets hurt, I'm like, damn.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Of watching you play.

[Ian Lara]

He's hurt a lot. I like Bryce too. I like, I like sh.

[Katie Nolan]

Sh's just unreal.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, unreal. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

If they lock out and we miss a year of watching that guy do that, I'll be really bummed out.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah. No, we're going to lock out. I know it's going to lock out. It has to though. Cuz the Dodgers are just.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. And it's. The hard thing is as I'm getting older. Right. Because I'm getting close to 40. Be cool about it. I. I feel like I. I used to be able to. Able to go like, you hate the team that buys all the players.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And then now I'm like, I hate the Dodgers. Because anytime.

[Ian Lara]

Who are you a fan of?

[Katie Nolan]

The Red Sox? We don't have to. You're not a Yankees fan. Right. So you don't have hatred for me?

[Ian Lara]

No, no. The Red Sox. No, actually a lot of Dominicans love the Red Sox.

[Katie Nolan]

That's why Cardi B. Was a Red Sox fan. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, they had all the Dominicans.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, exactly. Like Poppy.

[Ian Lara]

Poppy. Manny Pedro, player of all time.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Less popular, but my fave.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I wrote a sign for him once and then gave it to a guard who said he gave it to him. So somewhere I think Manny Ramirez has a sign that like 11 year old me wrote.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Oh, you know what? You know, I like. I like Vladdy. Yeah, I like Vlad.

[Katie Nolan]

Vlad. He's also awesome. Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

I like. We're from his. We're from the same town in Dominican Republic.

[Katie Nolan]

Really?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

What town?

[Ian Lara]

It's called San Cristoba.

[Katie Nolan]

Sick.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, sick.

[Katie Nolan]

What were we talking about right before that?

[Ian Lara]

Oh yeah, actually your favorite team.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Well, you know, someday it'll come to me. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and go, oh my God.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, that's what it was.

[Katie Nolan]

But until then, do you have a favorite Met. Are you comfortable saying if you have

[Ian Lara]

a favorite met a favorite met all time.

[Katie Nolan]

No, like right now.

[Ian Lara]

Right now. Currently, I guess I would have to go with Sodo.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Lindor.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Lindor, I feel like, is a good, is a good one. The reason I ask is because did you happen to see the incredibly embarrassing Sny Mets social media post yesterday about the four movies that the New York Mets love?

[Ian Lara]

No, I didn't see it.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so have you ever heard, you've heard a letter letterboxd? That website's like a social media website for people who love movies. Are you a movies guy?

[Ian Lara]

No, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of a movies guy, but not like a

[Katie Nolan]

movies guy, which is actually good because if you're a movies guy, we both know no, that person sucks.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

But so like letterboxd will do these things on red carpets where they'll be like your four favorites, where they say their four favorite movies. And usually people get really stressed out by it because it's like, you know, everybody's got strong opinions about movies the Mets put together. First of all, it's a knockoff. It doesn't at all. It just, the text of the tweet said shout out letterboxd. But they just took the idea and said four movies. The New York. And I just have to tell you your players and what they picked so that you can help me break this down.

[Ian Lara]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. So Francisco Lindor starts out the video.

[Ian Lara]

Uh huh.

[Katie Nolan]

Shrek. Now this is top four movies. Shrek, the Sound of Music, the Nutcracker and Hitch.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, I mean those, those are good. No, there's no bad movies that he picked. But top four, that's insane. Like, like, that's, that's like what his kids like, what he showed his kids.

[Katie Nolan]

I think, I think he does mention, like, I'm watching a lot of stuff that my kids are watching. And it's probably you're trying to think of the first four movies. You think of a little surprising.

[Ian Lara]

Shrek 1 is a good classic animation movie.

[Katie Nolan]

Absolutely. I was one of the first movies where I recognized the, like this joke is for me.

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Not a child.

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

But a child wouldn't clock it as anything inappropriate. But I know because I'm an adult, like it was jokes for the adults,

[Ian Lara]

you know, has that a lot. SpongeBob. Yeah, SpongeBob has a lot of dope jokes.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Where you go like, oh, that could. You're like, oh, I know what they're saying. Yeah, it gets worse. So Boba Shet. New met.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Excited about both.

[Katie Nolan]

You would think he'd bring the energy of like, I want to nail this. He says the Rockies and the Creed.

[Ian Lara]

What is that?

[Katie Nolan]

And so on the graphic, it put up Rocky. Rocky 4.

[Ian Lara]

Oh, the creed.

[Katie Nolan]

Creed.

[Ian Lara]

Oh, okay, okay. I mean, pick one. Pick Rocky one. Come on. What are you doing?

[Katie Nolan]

Pick one.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, the Rock, seven Rockies. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You left it up to the social media manager.

[Ian Lara]

You could have said the Rocky franchise.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Tyrone Taylor. Thor, Spider Man, Iron Man, Avengers.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, that's. That's a very childish. That's worst. Inland Doors.

[Katie Nolan]

It's. That, I think was the first one where I went, okay, this video is not getting better.

[Ian Lara]

If you're going to go with a comic, but no Dark Knight, the best comic movie ever made.

[Katie Nolan]

Thor. Which one? Let's be specific.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You're just naming superheroes. Jared Young, Dark Knight.

[Ian Lara]

There you go.

[Katie Nolan]

Good Will Hunting.

[Ian Lara]

Two classics.

[Katie Nolan]

Lord of the Rings.

[Ian Lara]

Three classics.

[Katie Nolan]

And then he kind of falls off and goes both of them. So it's both one and two. Lord of the Rings, which is fine. This one.

[Ian Lara]

One. I was like, he has the best list.

[Katie Nolan]

Promising. And then like, it. It felt like a cop out. Instead of thinking a fourth movie, he just said the sequel to the movie.

[Ian Lara]

He said, yeah, yeah. But otherwise, I feel like they were probably prepped PR wise, like to keep the movies in a certain realm. It sounds like maybe because nobody has said like, you know, New Jack City.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. Okay. Brett Beatty was asked. Now you can imagine that, the social media manager, whoever said, I need you to name four movies. Isabella, can you please play sound 11 audio 11 of Brett Beatty when reacting to being told to do that. Whoa, four. It was like terrified. Whoa, four.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Then he says, I like the Oceans series.

[Ian Lara]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

So they did 11, 12, 13 and 8.

[Ian Lara]

I mean, Ocean's 11.

[Katie Nolan]

Great classic. Great.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

After that, I don't think we're giving it to all.

[Ian Lara]

No.

[Katie Nolan]

All of them.

[Ian Lara]

No, no, no.

[Katie Nolan]

You got to diversify.

[Ian Lara]

Ocean's Eleven is a classic, right?

[Katie Nolan]

And not a bad movie to name at all. But like, come on, think of three other movies. He's like, I like a heist movie. You're like, okay, then say the Italian Job. The Italian Job, great heist movie. There's lots of Isn't Heat.

[Ian Lara]

Is he he to heist all the Fast and Furious. Are they heist or are they just jumping out of spaceships?

[Katie Nolan]

We get to that. The. Very funny. You should mention Freddy Peralta said Fast and The Furious.

[Ian Lara]

All 14 of them.

[Katie Nolan]

He. Right. Which I'M like, you can't say that there's more than four.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah. Also, the movie changed from one to eight.

[Katie Nolan]

Right.

[Ian Lara]

One is like a normal race car movie.

[Katie Nolan]

Exactly eight.

[Ian Lara]

They're jumping out of space. They're jumping in space.

[Katie Nolan]

Absurd.

[Ian Lara]

They're two different films.

[Katie Nolan]

The social media manager chose to use the images for the first one, the fifth one, the sixth one, and the seventh one. I have notes on that, but we can't get so pedantic. But those are not the four I'm pulling out of the oeuvre.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

How's Tokyo Drift? Not in there.

[Ian Lara]

You like Tokyo Drift?

[Katie Nolan]

No, but the soundtrack was at least a little worth it. I got a couple songs that every now and then will come up on my phone. I'm like, why do I have this? Because it was on the Tokyo Drift soundtrack.

[Ian Lara]

I think Fast and Furious treats Tokyo Drift like a stepchild. Like, they don't. They don't really claim it that much.

[Katie Nolan]

They don't.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Which is why, if you're not going to claim Fast and the Furious movies, I would put it on your graphic.

[Ian Lara]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the cast isn't in Tokyo Drift like the regular cast.

[Katie Nolan]

I feel like Bow Wow. Been like one or two, like, cameos of the regular band. It was Bow Wow.

[Ian Lara]

It was like Bow Wow.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Huh. Marcus Simeon.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Said second base.

[Katie Nolan]

And this one's, I guess, also. Okay. Happy Gilmore. The Sandlot. Remember the Titans. Avatar.

[Ian Lara]

Okay, that's fine.

[Katie Nolan]

Given what we've been working on.

[Ian Lara]

That's fine. I like Avatar.

[Katie Nolan]

We're not mad at you. Marcus Simmons, you can go.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Everyone else, stay.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Christian Scott, Moneyball, which is, I think, a little weird for a baseball player to like.

[Ian Lara]

You think so? Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I like Moneyball, but it's about, like, paying them less.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, it is.

[Katie Nolan]

But I remembered what I was gonna say.

[Ian Lara]

Oh, here we go.

[Katie Nolan]

We're in the middle of a segment.

[Ian Lara]

No, it's never too late.

[Katie Nolan]

This doesn't make sense.

[Ian Lara]

This is a classic.

[Katie Nolan]

The editors are screaming somewhere.

[Ian Lara]

I. I need to know. For me, for my way.

[Katie Nolan]

We were talking about the potential lockout coming up. And about. I was gonna ask you your thoughts on a salary cap, because as I get older, you want to hate the teams that take all the players, and I do. I hate the Dodgers because they take all the players. But I also live in the world, and I see the owners as the billionaire class. And I see them going, we shouldn to pay them as much money as the market dictates.

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

And that to me is like, well, but that's how America is. You guys get to make as much as you want, whatever the market dictates. And you guys, billionaires use that all the time as justification. At least this billionaire is willing the Dodgers to spend money on putting together a good baseball team. We should be bringing you all out to the mat and making you all spend your money on your baseball team. I think there should be a floor and it should be way high, and that's how we should get the money to be back into the players. I just. As I get older, it's harder for me to go like, I'm mad at the Dodgers for spending money. I'm mad at them for stealing my players and stuff. I'm never going to like the Dodgers, but it's like, if I were a Dodgers fan, I'm like, hell, yeah. My billionaire spends on my team.

[Ian Lara]

Well, the problem with the Dodgers is they're not really spending money. They're kicking it down the road.

[Katie Nolan]

True.

[Ian Lara]

And theoretically, you can continue to kick it down the road until you sell the team and never pay. As a billionaire, you can just keep kicking it down the road, and then when you sell the team, they'll just have take that debt. And as an owner, you've never paid. But I think the problem with the billionaire class is that generally the billionaire class is good with money. They understand it. So it's like, even. Even without the salary cap, like, the owners spend money like the Mets, they spend money, but it's like the owner's not taking that hit. Now, hot dogs at the park are $35. So it's like, yeah, if. If you're not going to actually spend. They're not going to spend their own money. They're just going to pass. Pass it on to the fans. So it's like, if you allow the market to dictate, they're just gonna make hot dogs. A hundred dollars, tickets, 300. And then we won't be able to.

[Katie Nolan]

Are gonna pay it.

[Ian Lara]

Right, right, right. So I'm like, look, let's cap it so at least we can keep it reasonable.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I just don't like the way it feels.

[Ian Lara]

I know.

[Katie Nolan]

Because they always are arguing that America capping is un American.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Because I would love a cap. In a lot of different ways, in a lot of different ventures. Sports seems to be the only place where we're comfortable going. Like, these guys can only earn so much. And it's like, why we don't let them do that elsewhere?

[Ian Lara]

I'm. I also I mean, I. It's something. Something makes me feel weird about a player getting a billion dollars.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. You hear the numbers for contracts and you go like, how do I explain this to my friends who don't like sports? Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

How do I make this make any sense?

[Ian Lara]

I don't think, I don't think any. Like these huge contracts, like, even Soto. Respectfully, like, I. I just don't think any athlete is worth this amazing amount of money.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Like, it's just. It's just cuz like I. If you, if. If your contract is going to be $800 million, you. You, to me, you got to hit like 80 home runs.

[Katie Nolan]

You need to. You really, really need to.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Because otherwise you don't get to take it. That's too much money.

[Ian Lara]

I hope so. Don't get mad. I hope he don't hear this and get mad. Shout out to Soto. You deserve all the money you got.

[Katie Nolan]

Not you, King, everybody but you.

[Ian Lara]

I'm talking.

[Katie Nolan]

I'm not talking about you. You're the exception that proves the rule.

[Ian Lara]

Right?

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Just a couple more hits from this Mets thing because it does get worse. They stop naming four. Some of them just give two, and they're not even doing two good ones. Your manager, Carlos Mendoza, one of his was Field of Dreams.

[Ian Lara]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

And the other one was the Bone Collector.

[Ian Lara]

Very different. Two different genres to only name two.

[Katie Nolan]

And one of them be the Bone Collector.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. He needs therapy.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I don't know what that. I don't know what we're saying, but I don't think it's good. That's mostly it.

[Ian Lara]

What are yours?

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know. I would never answer this question, but

[Ian Lara]

if you got put on the spot, you're a player. You're walking through, hey, grandma, doing something

[Katie Nolan]

out cold.

[Ian Lara]

He's like, worst in all the players.

[Katie Nolan]

I know. These are my. These are. This is like four movies I will always watch. No, I don't know. I liked. I really liked Godzilla minus one. Did you ever see that? The new. It's like a newer Godzilla movie. No, I have. It's really. Why are you looking at me like you want to laugh at me?

[Ian Lara]

No, no. Because I feel that if a player had picked these movies that you just named, you would be judging them, like, right now. Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

But I'm not on the Mets.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

And I don't need a billion dollars.

[Ian Lara]

You're kind on the Met. And that you've never won a championship.

[Katie Nolan]

So, so true. God, so true.

[Ian Lara]

You're not. Not on a match.

[Katie Nolan]

Absolutely True. AJ Minter, take me home. Tonight. It is a.

[Ian Lara]

What happened to, like, the Godfather? Like.

[Katie Nolan]

Like Godfather not mentioned. Good Fellas got a mention.

[Margaret]

Who.

[Ian Lara]

Who mentioned. That's my favorite.

[Katie Nolan]

Ryan Clifford, outfielder. Ryan Clifford mentioned Fight Club and Good Fellas.

[Ian Lara]

Two classics. I would say Goodbye, fellas. I would say Bronx tale.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, good.

[Ian Lara]

I would say Titanic.

[Katie Nolan]

I love Titanic.

[Ian Lara]

I know. It's such a good movie.

[Katie Nolan]

I might say the Notebook.

[Ian Lara]

Okay, that's fine.

[Katie Nolan]

It's just a really good one.

[Ian Lara]

It's fine. You think the Notebook is better than Titanic?

[Katie Nolan]

Different.

[Ian Lara]

Not that different. Both from romance. Love stories. Yeah, one of them.

[Katie Nolan]

And that's basically it. One's got a giant tragedy. Historic. I don't spoil anything, but.

[Ian Lara]

Which gives it backstory.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, true.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Don't give it away. Don't give it.

[Katie Nolan]

It anchors it in. Not to use pun, but it anchors it in reality.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

The Notebook is just like, dude, try to watch it and not cry. Have you seen it?

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, yeah, Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, it's just a perfect love story. It's like a beautiful.

[Ian Lara]

I had a bit about this that had went viral, like, about the Notebook.

[Katie Nolan]

What? And it said. It sucks.

[Ian Lara]

Not.

[Brady]

No.

[Ian Lara]

Not to say. Not to do by bits. But the joke was, I was like. I. I dated a girl once that told me that she wasn't willing to settle down until she could find a love like the Notebook. And I was like. She was. Wanted me. She wanted to sleep with another guy while I went to war. Something like that. She. She wanted me to go to war while she slept with another guy. Like, that's what she said.

[Katie Nolan]

I do like that in that movie. You're. You're. You're confronted with this. Like, both guys are good choices.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You know, which nobody talks about that.

[Ian Lara]

I know when you have two good

[Katie Nolan]

choices and you've got to pick between them, usually they go like the obvious guy who treats her like. And then the guy who she should be with. That was first time in a movie. I remember. Remember going like, james Marsden, ain't nothing to be.

[Ian Lara]

That's true.

[Katie Nolan]

He's real handsome.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. That is true.

[Katie Nolan]

And it's not his fault that it happened this way.

[Ian Lara]

No, it's not.

[Katie Nolan]

But love is love. You just can't. Can't say no to it.

[Ian Lara]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

If you're a bird, I'm a bird.

[Ian Lara]

Right.

[Katie Nolan]

You know, I got.

[Ian Lara]

Well, I stopped that Titanic. If I had to throw one more in there.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Please. Would it take me home tonight?

[Ian Lara]

No. Got it. My cousin Vinnie.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Really good.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Love it.

[Katie Nolan]

That's a good one.

[Ian Lara]

One of my favorite.

[Katie Nolan]

These are good movies. Yeah. My problem is I can't ever think of movies off the top of my head.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

I would have to go, like, what are my. And you think that I would. To be prepared, but you think a lot of things.

[Ian Lara]

Right, Right.

[Katie Nolan]

You'd be wrong.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

All right. We. Here's one thing I wanted to do before we let you go. And we do have to let you. And I will remind everybody listening to Go see Ian live. He is on tour.

[Ian Lara]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

You've got Atlanta this weekend and then what's coming up after that?

[Ian Lara]

I got Atlanta this weekend. I got Wilmington, North Carolina coming up. I got Los Angeles in the end of March. I have. I just added like 30 dates for my tour. Yeah, it's stay busy. Ian lar live.com tickets are on sale. Watch my special material boy streaming for free on YouTube and romantic comedy streaming on HBO Max.

[Katie Nolan]

And he's got five appearances on Fallon and counting.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Five. Can't stop him going for the record.

[Katie Nolan]

Can't stop him. What is the record?

[Ian Lara]

It's gotta be 30.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. It's gotta be like 70. There was back when the gatekeepers were still fully, fully in charge.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

What I want to do here is bring in Isabella. Not physically. We're just going to bring her in on camera. Our producer who you met, who's out in our little production hallway. Isabella is a new sport. We. Part of this podcast, part of the joy of it has been like, getting her into sports. And so we've been having her pick her teams. Hi. And she. Hi. Hi. And she is a Knicks Mets fan.

[Ian Lara]

I am Knicks Mets.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. Perfect. She got it. She figured it out.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. But I do just want you to give her a little bit. There've been a lot of stories since her declaring her Knicks Mets fandom, where she's been like, why did you guys, like, let me make these decisions? Like, why did you let me choose these two teams specifically? And I figured since you are a Knicks Mets fan, you could give her what Aaron Judge would have hoped to give his USA team a bit of a speech and advice for how to ride out what the experience of being a fan of those two teams is like.

[Ian Lara]

All right, Isabella, where are you from?

[Katie Nolan]

Jersey.

[Ian Lara]

Jersey. All right. Tri state area. You know what? I'm going to be honest with you. New York Knicks and New York Mets, that's not a fandom that you choose. It kind of just chooses you.

[Katie Nolan]

That's exactly what I said.

[Ian Lara]

I was.

[Katie Nolan]

I was born into it. I come from a Knicks family and a med.

[Ian Lara]

Same. Same. I. I generally believe that I. I'm. You have to be okay with losing life. Life is about losing. I think we g. Glamorize winning a lot, but if you think about it, in life, you usually just lose.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, no, for sure.

[Ian Lara]

And nothing in life gets you better prepared Del lose than cheering for the New York Mets or the New York Knicks. I mean, literally, going into the season, The Knicks were 100% locked to go to the finals. And now they're saying that Jason Tatum is coming back next Friday. So it's like, who knows? And that's what life is. In life, you expect to be successful, and then you just consistently fail. But you just get up and continue to move forward. And I think nothing builds character development like cheering for these teams. You want to throw in the jets in there, and I'm telling you, you will have, like, nothing thing in life.

[Katie Nolan]

That's what I was kind of thinking. And I told her no. I heard that the jets really suck, but I was like, you know what? Maybe that'll be my New York team, because it could be all the same.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. I mean, right now, jets or Giants? I'm a Giants fan, but, like, I saw the Giants win two championships, and honestly, it kind of ruined me, whatever. Because I was just like. I, like, I remember they won, like, pretty. When I was in high school. They won the super bowl twice. And then I. I thought that I would, like, be a lot more successful than I was, like, based on that. But I think the. The consistent losing, it's a good way to. Way to, like, prepare yourself for what life has in store.

[Katie Nolan]

No, I agree. Thank you so much.

[Ian Lara]

No, it's a pleasure.

[Katie Nolan]

You're basically saying winning's kind of lame.

[Ian Lara]

Winning is overrated, to be honest, because, like, think about winning and then think about losing. It's the same really. Like, the same thing happens. Like, you win, sure, you pop champagne, you raise a trophy, but then you go home.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

And then when you lose, you just go home, which is like you're in bed.

[Katie Nolan]

Champagne? Yes. Nobody's telling you you can't. You can pop losing champagne.

[Ian Lara]

You can do you, like, more free time to just do whatever you want. So, like, I. I just think people like Michael Jordan, Kobe, like, the winning.

[Katie Nolan]

Enough with it.

[Brady]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Like, first of all, both of them lost more than they won. Everyone has.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

So I. I think we just need to normalize. This is good losing. I. I think this is my motivational

[Katie Nolan]

speech because it's so much it's basically saying, don't worry about the. The winning. You're not a Mets and Knicks fan for the winning. You are there to enrich your experience as a human being by getting better at handling the losing.

[Ian Lara]

Yes, exactly. I couldn't have said that better. And sure, are there franchises that win a ton.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Yes. Sorry. As a Boston fan, I just had

[Ian Lara]

to say yes, but they didn't choose you.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right, the Knicks and Metro. The quarterback that in fact, the quarterback you spend a lot of your childhood years rooting for and thinking exemplifies your team will leave and then later not claim you when your team is back in a Super bowl, someone will ask, who you rooting for in this one? And he goes, I don't have a dog in the fight. You don't?

[Ian Lara]

Yes. If he would have lost his entire career, this would have never happened. This arrogance that he got would never have happened. And this is why I support people who I'm die hard. Like, I'll be at the games, I'll spend all my money and I'm pretty aware that they're gonna lose.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

And I think that's a good way to approach life.

[Katie Nolan]

I think so too. That's.

[Ian Lara]

I think if judge. If judge would have gave this speech, I think they would have went out there and just had fun.

[Katie Nolan]

They could have gone out like, oh, nothing matters.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah, nothing matters.

[Katie Nolan]

We're all going to die.

[Ian Lara]

Very nihilistic. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Nothing matters. Ian, thank you so much for being here. This was a blast. Who actually, who are you rooting for in the wbc? Are you going for doctor? Are you going for the United States?

[Ian Lara]

I was the Dominican Republic.

[VRBO Representative]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

That's fair. Cuz it's. If I had two countries that I felt and both had talent on them, because I'm not going to choose Italy, right. At a time like this, I could see why I would maybe even, even be more motivated to root for a different.

[Ian Lara]

But I have a theory. I think almost every country is cheering. Like every country is cheering for like everybody who's cheering for a different country is cheering for like their country slash American. Like I'm, I'm cheering like, yeah, like as Dominican American. Like, because it's like an American sport and it's like those players, you want them to play in America. Like you're cheering, you got. Everybody's like rooting for America in a way, I find.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

Like, it's like an immigrant. Like you're just immigrants ruling for like the home country. But if not, then I want. I want USA to win. Like if not Dr.

[Katie Nolan]

I think is it. I don't remember how it works, but I think if they meet it'll be in the semi finals.

[Ian Lara]

I think I saw where where USA is. Where in. They're in TE. They're in Arizona. Arizona. Texas. That. Yeah. They'll meet in the second in the next round.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Ian Lara]

I think they go to Miami. Everyone goes to Miami.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh yeah. I mean that would make sense.

[Ian Lara]

Yeah. That's the final. So yeah. Team doctor or team usa. I. I'm sick of the Japanese. Wait. And in sport, in baseball. In sport other than other than that, I think they're the perfect culture.

[Katie Nolan]

Great.

[Ian Lara]

Perfect.

[Katie Nolan]

All right. Cool. Ian lar live.com for tickets and dates. Ian, thanks for being here.

[Ian Lara]

Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun.

[Katie Nolan]

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[VRBO Representative]

Day or night. VRBoCare is here 24. 7 to help make every day part of your stay seamless. If anything comes up or you simply need a little guidance, support is ready whenever you reach out. From the moment you book to the moment you head home. We're here to help things run smoothly because a great trip starts with the right support. And hey, a good playlist doesn't hurt either.

[Ian Lara]

I'm Bobby Finger.

[VRBO Representative]

And I'm Lindsey Weber.

[Katie Nolan]

Our podcast who Weekly is everything you need to know about the celebrities you don't thank you.

[VRBO Representative]

Think of us as your cheat code to People magazine.

[Katie Nolan]

Your glossary for Hollywood. A shortcut to understanding pop culture at large.

[Ian Lara]

For the past eight years, who Weekly has Been telling listeners everything they need to know about the celebrities. They don't.

[Katie Nolan]

Hooweekly airs twice weekly with brand new episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays. Listen and follow Hooweekly, an Odysee podcast, available now for free on the Odysee app and wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, welcome back. It's the end, guys. I'm really sorry. Big thanks to EW and Lara. There's. We've got a segment left, but it's the last one and so if anybody wanted to feel sad, now would be the time. We're gonna do a mailbag. We're gonna reach into our. That's me doing the sound effects myself into our mailbag. There's a, there's a cat in there.

[Brady]

It's about to say seconds.

[Katie Nolan]

Perfect. See? Problem solved. The woman solves the problem. The men just make fun of me. We're going to the mailbag. Let's start with an email. We got an email from Z. We talked about that half marathon drama. What did Z say in their email, Chris?

[Brady]

Well, so Z's email wasn't about the half marathon drama, it was more about your. When we were talking about the. What was the challenge called?

[Katie Nolan]

Where in 24 hours, 24 hours to do 24 beers, 24 tacos and run 10 miles.

[Brady]

Yes. So you mentioned initially that you thought you do about a five minute mile and then I think we talked you down to about a 10 minute mile. But still crazy Z responded and said hey Katie and the casualties. I just wanted to write into question Katie's initial thoughts for her 10 minute mile time would be 50 minutes. A 5 minute mile for 10 miles. I had to look it up. And the current fastest 10 mile time in the world for a woman is 49 minutes and 53 seconds. So maybe Katie should get into running. Love you mean it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. That's exactly right. And I've been meaning to get into running. I just keep forgetting. Is it worth it to say what happened? I, my brain was trying to remember that what the number was in high when they would go like oh, she can do a blank minute mile. And I don't know why my brain skipped over investigating this step and it said it was one minute. And so my brain was like, well I couldn't do one. I would multiply that by multiple and it's 10 minute mile. The 10 minute mile was impressive back then. So the thought I don't know what happened there but it's why the pod. It's not unrelated to why the Podcast is never the hour it intends to be. I'm not really a clock gal. I'm not really good at managing a clock. Happens quite a bit. Time runs away from me. I don't run away from time. So I obviously was super wrong and it would take me a really long time. But let's. Let's not forget that it's Brady who says he could do this. Okay. And I saw somebody jump in and go, yeah, Brady's got the right idea with walking and drinking the beer and eating the. You can't walk. You have to run. So he doesn't have the right idea. That violates the rules of the actual. You don't just get to go. Yeah, if I smell. Smelled the beer, I think I could absolutely get this done. I'm just getting defensive because I was so wrong. I did want to update that half marathon story. Apparently there as quickly as possible. There was a person whose job it was to direct the traffic. So to direct the guy on the motorcycle who was leading the group. That person abandoned their post because moments before, I guess somebody, another cop in the area had been bumped into by a vehicle and was injured. And so local, the area cops responded. Now, that cop that left the position should have put down cones, but didn't. And the cones were about to be placed down, but they didn't get there in time for when the lead vehicle arrived. And so they went down the wrong path. And a comedy of errors ensued. Crazy. I found this out because somebody called into fan service to tell me today and they said that the call of officer down went out over the radio and I was like, that feels. And it not that the officer wasn't hurt. I already was treated for minor injuries in the hospital and he's fully gonna recover and everything's fine. It just feels like a weird call to be the exact same as if somebody shot at a cop. I just think officer down when you bump into a car is a little different from like, everybody come over here. Officer down. Am I. Is that.

[Brady]

Was it the same cop that arrested Scotty Scheffler before?

[Katie Nolan]

It sounds like it. It does sound the tournament. So anyway, that's I guess how it would happen. And they're going to pay her the prize money that she didn't get. But still no recourse for her recourse. He on the, you know, fact that it cost her a qualifying spot or whatever. So we're keeping our finger on the pulse of that half marathon story. Don't worry. We are your podcast for that. Let's Go to a voicemail. Now that we got this one, Chris, there's a question mark for the name.

[Brady]

Yeah, I think it's Magra.

[Katie Nolan]

You think it's Mara?

[Brady]

Okay, Margaret. It could be Margaret. I didn't hear the T. Well, the

[Katie Nolan]

good thing is it's on audio so we can hear and we'll figure it out.

[Margaret]

Hi, Katie and the Casuals, this is Margaret. I'm calling from Omaha.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, wait, can we go back one last time? Give me one more. I just want to hear it one more time.

[Margaret]

Hi, Katie and the Casuals, this is Margaret calling from Omaha. And Isabella reminded me of what I think is adorable story of my very casual family's first baseball game. My son was very young, maybe three or four. And every time the ball person missed a ball, I'm so casual, I still don't know what that young person is called. The crowd would be boo. And my little 3 year old son would laugh and laugh and I didn't really get what was so funny until one time at the end of the booing, he looked at me and he said cows. He thought that the whole crowd was in fact mooing at each ball and that was hilarious. So Isabella, when she said they could have been and mooing was right on.

[Katie Nolan]

That's so true.

[Margaret]

Share that fun little story. Love you, mean it. Bye.

[Katie Nolan]

We love you and we mean it. Margaret. I think it was Margaret.

[Brady]

That's what you heard, right?

[Katie Nolan]

It is what I heard. I googled Margaret to see like maybe this is a common name and I just don't know that in like a different culture. And all I'm getting is something called Margaret Lamb.

[Brady]

I saw that it could be a

[Katie Nolan]

premium Australian white lamb,

[Brady]

but I also saw that it could be a Greek name or a name with Greek origins.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, this says a lamb like no other. Redefining what lamb can be born of. Family legacy backed by science. I don't know what that's even, but that's.

[Isabella]

That is some marbled lamb. That's like wagyu lamb right there.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so Margaret is a premium cut. That tracks for that voicemail. Yeah, because she basically said that Isabella's right because her three year old son. Son thought it. You know, which I think is makes sense. It makes perfect sense. That completely adds up. All right. Hey, good mailbag, you guys. What a fun thing that we're going to do. We're learning out. We're learning out. We're figuring out lots of stuff. We're learning. We're growing together. We're still a Baby podcast, technically, you know, we're new to video. We're nervous. You can see us now. Look away.

[Brady]

E. Think about what I wear.

[Katie Nolan]

And I mean, God, I just see what I wore today. Did anybody want to comment on what I wore today?

[Isabella]

That's an XFL poll, right?

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Original season of. Well, not the original original, but the original reboot of the xfl. I bought this thinking, like, hey, if this thing takes off, we'll have like ground level merch. We got it early. I can resell that. It's not. I've not even worn it since I bought it. I'm just out of clothes because we're doing so much on camera and I have nothing left I haven't already worn. Hey, that's it for the podcast, you guys. Casuals is what it's called and it's technically sports. I do think we talked a lot about sports today. Don't forget to reach out to us if you want to. You can do it by email. Casuals. Casuals at katy [e-mail], our voicemail 646800 1043. You're going to save it in your phone and you're going to call us and leave a voicemail so that we can debate if your name is what you said or if it's something else that Google transcribed it to be. That's the beauty and the trust charm of it all on IG and TikTok at Casuals, the podcast. We love you, we mean it. Big thanks to Ian Lara. Again, go to ianlaralive.com to get tickets and find him on the road. We love you, we mean it and we'll see you. Have a good weekend. We'll see you next week. Watch the WBC. It's going to be fun. Bye.

[VRBO Representative]

Support is available 247 with Verbo Care. We're here day or night, ready whenever you need help because a great trip starts with the right support.