Scott Van Pelt on Favorite ESPN Stories, Calling the Masters, Torpedo Bats and New Nieces | EP 132

Summary

New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce – Episode 132 Summary

Release Date: April 2, 2025

Hosts: Jason Kelce (Philadelphia Eagles) and Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs)
Guest: Scott Van Pelt (Host of ESPN's Monday Night Countdown and SV Pod)

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1. Introduction and Sponsor Segments [00:00 – 03:35]

The episode begins with Travis and Jason Kelce promoting their sponsors, including Intuit TurboTax and DraftKings. They humorously discuss the convenience of modern tax filing and the excitement of sports betting, setting a lighthearted tone for the show.

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2. Yankees’ Torpedo Bat Innovation [04:13 – 06:42]

Discussion Leaders: Jason and Travis Kelce

The Kelce brothers delve into a significant baseball update: the New York Yankees have unveiled the Torpedo Bat, a technological innovation designed to enhance hitting performance.

• Jason: "The Yankees have been doing a little research and development into what can make a baseball bat better. And they have introduced the torpedo bat to the world."

• Travis: "It sounds like a Nerf bat that we had when we were kids."

Key Points:

• Design and Purpose: Invented by MIT physicist Dr. Lenny, the Bat is engineered to increase the sweet spot, enhancing both power and contact precision.
• Marketability: The bat’s design appeals to younger audiences, potentially opening new merchandising avenues.
• Performance Impact: Early adopters within the Yankees have seen a remarkable increase in home runs, tallying 15 in the last week alone.
• Regulatory Compliance: The bat adheres to Major League Baseball’s standards, ensuring its legality in professional play.

Future Implications: Travis expresses curiosity about the broader adoption of the Torpedo Bat across other teams and its long-term impact on the game.

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3. Family Matters: Welcoming Baby Finn [07:00 – 10:42]

Discussion Leaders: Jason and Travis Kelce

Transitioning from sports gadgets to personal milestones, Jason and Travis share joyful news about their new niece, Finn.

• Travis: "Hey, little muffin. Look at you just hanging out with mom. So, Kai, I said hello. I'm glad everything went great."

• Jason: "We asked Finn a question. Finn. Finn, come here."

Key Points:

• Introduction to Finn: The brothers showcase adorable interactions with their newborn niece, Finn Ann Kelsey.
• Family Dynamics: They humorously discuss parenting challenges, such as sleepless nights and adjusting to life with a new baby.
• Personal Reflections: Jason reflects on the overwhelming emotions of witnessing a birth and the initial months of Finn's life, highlighting her spirited personality at two years old.

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4. NFL Owners Meetings and the Tush Push Debate [10:44 – 19:44]

Discussion Leaders: Jason and Travis Kelce

A heated topic emerges as the Kelce brothers dissect the ongoing discussions from the NFL Owners Meetings, specifically focusing on the controversial Tush Push play.

Key Points:

• Play Overview: The Tush Push involves strategic team coordination to push the ball carrier into the end zone, enhancing first-down conversions in short-yardage situations.

• Safety Concerns:

  • Jason: "From the health aspect, people see people misusing my quotes. Like, the play sucks to run, but it sucks because of like an exertion level. It takes so much to try and get a yard."
  • Travis: "It's football, man."

• Competitive Fairness:

  • Jason: "I don't think there's any statistics to back that up. So anybody saying that it's going to lead to more injuries is pure conjecture, not rooted in fact."
  • Travis: "At what point are we just going to let football be football?"

• Player Opinions: Lane Johnson of the Eagles comments, "Hate us because they ain't us," reflecting on the play’s effectiveness and the rivalry it incites.

• Rule Enforcement: The brothers debate the practicality of enforcing a ban, questioning where to draw the line and the potential challenges in regulating team strategies.

Conclusion: Jason advocates for maintaining the Tush Push as it embodies football’s physicality and strategic depth, dismissing claims of increased injury risks as unfounded.

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5. Special Guest: Scott Van Pelt Joins the Conversation [26:13 – 104:30]

Guest: Scott Van Pelt, Host of ESPN's Monday Night Countdown and SV Pod

Scott Van Pelt joins Jason and Travis Kelce, bringing his extensive experience in sports broadcasting to the table. Their conversation spans Scott’s career, personal anecdotes, and insights into the sports media landscape.

a. Scott Van Pelt’s Career Journey [26:35 – 38:23]

• Early Beginnings: Scott reflects on his start at ESPN in 2001, initially covering golf events alongside legends like Stuart Scott. He shares memorable moments, including covering the tragic Daytona 500 incident involving Dale Earnhardt.

• Transition to NFL Coverage: Discusses his move to covering the NFL, highlighting the adrenaline and intimacy of live sports broadcasting, especially during marquee events like Monday Night Football and the Masters.

  • Scott: "Being face to face, like with Ryan Day and Will Howard after they win the national championship, the conversations you have, the intimacy of that moment… there's no substitute for intimacy."

b. Working with Jason and Travis Kelce [38:23 – 66:33]

• Collaborative Chemistry: Scott praises the Kelce brothers’ chemistry and their approach to sports analysis, likening their teamwork to an effective football line.

  • Jason: "It's like having a teammate. The veterans were more than willing to help and elevate each other."

• Masters Golf Coverage: Scott shares his deep affection for the Masters, detailing the meticulous nature of the event and the enduring friendships formed there.

  • Scott: "The Masters is a completely different level of lunacy. Every hole has a history, every moment is special."

• Personal Anecdotes: Includes the humorous and heartfelt story of Scott almost losing his composure on-air due to a minor stomach issue, showcasing his personable nature.

  • Scott: "That's the story of how Scott Van Pelt almost shit his pants on TV. It happened to me, but I did not need the leaves in the gutter."

c. Insights on Athletes and Broadcasting [66:33 – 104:30]

• Evolution of Sports Media: Scott discusses the changing dynamics of athlete interactions with the media, emphasizing athletes’ control over their narratives and the importance of genuine conversations.

  • Scott: "Athletes have a space that they control the narrative. It's up to them to decide how much they want to share."

• Favorite Sports and Moments:

  • Scott: "Playoff hockey is incredibly intense. There's nothing cooler than it."
  • Travis: "You're freaking excited for some playoff hockey here."

• Cultural Differences in Sports: Explores the unique mentality of hockey players compared to other sports, highlighting their resilience and camaraderie.

  • Scott: "Hockey guys just totally fascinate me because they play through like a severed limb."

• Humorous Segments: The trio engages in light-hearted banter, including a playful discussion about detachable body parts and humorous takes on personal anecdotes.

  • Travis: "Why would I make my dick detachable? I can just make my head detachable and put it on somebody with a bigger dick."

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6. Fan Engagement and March Madness Updates [50:41 – 109:44]

Segments:

• Fan Mentions: The Kelce brothers acknowledge fans from various platforms, sharing humorous observations and shout-outs.

• March Madness Challenge: Updates on the March Madness bracket challenge, highlighting top participants and predicting outcomes.

  • Travis: "The men's final four is all one seeds. It's only happened one time before from our data."

• We Gotta Ask: A fun segment where Scott responds to quirky questions, fostering a relaxed and entertaining atmosphere.

  • Question: "If you could make one of your body parts detachable, which would it be and why?"
  • Travis: "I don't know. Maybe my ears so I wouldn't have to hear people."

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7. Light-Hearted Banter and Closing Remarks [109:44 – 114:45]

The episode concludes with more humorous exchanges, reinforcing the familial and friendly dynamic between the hosts and their guest. They touch upon favorite TV shows, personal preferences, and share laughs over absurd scenarios, leaving listeners with a warm and entertaining final impression.

Notable Quotes:

• Scott Van Pelt: "Don’t say the thing you won’t do. Because look at me, it's darn near 30 years working at ESPN."
• Jason Kelce: "Every single person feels so special that they're at an unbelievable place."
• Travis Kelce: "You’re in a different place now. That’s a huge challenge, but it’s fun."

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Conclusion

In this episode of New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce, the Kelce brothers provide a multifaceted exploration of current sports innovations, personal life milestones, and in-depth discussions with esteemed sports broadcaster Scott Van Pelt. The blend of insightful analysis, personal anecdotes, and lighthearted humor creates an engaging narrative that appeals to both dedicated sports fans and casual listeners alike. Through their authentic interactions, Jason and Travis share valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of professional sports and media, while celebrating the importance of family and camaraderie.

For those who haven’t tuned in yet, this episode offers a comprehensive look into the world of sports through the eyes of two accomplished athletes and one of sports media’s respected voices, making it a must-listen for enthusiasts seeking both entertainment and thoughtful commentary.

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Transcript

[Travis Kelsey]

Wondry plus subscribers can listen to new heights early and ad free. Plus unlock access to exclusive episodes of the show.

[Jason Kelsey]

Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify today. Thanks again to our sponsor, Intuit Turbo.

[Travis Kelsey]

Tax Remember when doing taxes meant sacrificing your weekends to paperwork and crushing numbers? Not us because we were just kids back then.

[Jason Kelsey]

Welcome to 2025 where you can tackle your taxes without leaving your couch. Taxes was waiting around for your taxes to be done, which just led to worrying about, you know, not getting any money back.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh man, that'd be the worst. I would hate to worry about that now. Taxes is matching with the TurboTax Live expert who can file your taxes as soon as today.

[Jason Kelsey]

We all love a cozy Sunday afternoon lounging in your favorite sweat snacks within reach. And now you can feel productive during your chill time instead of stressing about your taxes later. You knocking them out in between your favorite shows with a Turbo tax live expert.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

No more wondering if you've missed something because while you go about your day, you can get real time notifications about their progress.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's 2025 guys. Why do taxes any other way now? This is Taxes brought to you by Intuit TurboTax.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you to our partner DraftKings. There's nothing like the thrill of watching sports. You know what takes it to a whole nother level? Having a little skin in the game. That's right. Download the DraftKings app now and use promo code. New heights when signing up only at DraftKings Sportsbook. Wondering what the DraftKings Sportsbook app offers? Check out DraftKings Live Betting, same Game Parlays and More to build your same game parlay or Same game parlay Extra, Combine multiple bets together from the same game. That's called a parlay. Different games. Also a parlay. And even different sports. Yeah, this all works together. It will be a bigger payout. I think that comes at a bigger cost of it also not paying out. Just a little forewarning. If sports betting is not yet available in your state, don't worry, you can still join in on all the fun with DraftKings. Pick six and have a shot to win cash prizes. They've got something for every sports fan. The crown is yours.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and resort in Kansas, 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Boyden, Ontario. Let me call a golf shot real quick.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, here we go. Oh, this is awesome.

[Scott Van Pelt]

To 14. Oh, that was good.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's it, Travis, give us your best to 14 right now.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, now, here we go now. Over to 14.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm changing the channel. If somebody gives me a 14 call like that immediately.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That was poor. That was poor. To poor. To bad is what that was.

[Travis Kelsey]

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to New Heights, a wonder show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by HBO's the Last of Us. Season 2 premieres April 13th on Max.

[Jason Kelsey]

Looking forward to that.

[Travis Kelsey]

We're your host. I'm Travis Kelsey. My big brother Jason Kelsey out of Cleveland, Ohio, Cincinnati Bearcat alums and yeah, subscribe on YouTube Wondry plus wherever you get your podcast, follow the show on all social media at New Heights show with one s. Jason, tell the people what we got. Coming up.

[Jason Kelsey]

We got another great episode for you guys. We're going to break down everything that's happening in the NFL owners meetings. We've also got some huge baseball news. Huge barrels, some would call torpedoes coming out. We also have have an incredible conversation with my co. Well, with my co worker and host of Monday Night Down, Scott Van Pelt, svp, Maryland's finest SVP coming on the show. You're not going to want to miss that. He brings it as always, as.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, he just has so many good stories and he's such a storyteller. The best pros pro.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, well, let's start with. With the baseball news.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's start with a little.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah, of course. New news brought to you by American Express.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, there you go.

[Jason Kelsey]

Shout out to American Express. And yeah, the Yankees. The Yankees have been doing a little research and development into what can make a baseball bat better. And they have introduced the torpedo bat to the world. That's right. First of all, love the name. I mean, that's a great name for anything. Torpedo bat thing sounds lethal.

[Travis Kelsey]

It sounds like. It sounds like a Nerf bat that we had when we were kids.

[Jason Kelsey]

It does sound like a toy and it definitely sounds like something that would be really marketable to children.

[Travis Kelsey]

It sounds something you tell your kids and they're like, I want it.

[Jason Kelsey]

I would buy it immediately. Well, Kevin Smith at KJS underscore 4 yes. The Yankees have a literal genius, MIT physicist Lenny. I mean, I don't know any physicist that goes by Lenny.

[Travis Kelsey]

One, sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

Lenny on payroll. He invented the torpedo barrel. It brings more wood in mass to where you most often make contact as a hitter. The idea is to increase the number of barrels and increase and decreased misses. Yeah. We have a nice little picture of this to demonstrate how much bigger that sweet spot and how much further down the bat it is moved. I'm really intrigued about it. I mean, obviously they jumped out to some pretty crazy success.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's. Are all of them. I don't think all of them are using this bat.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't think. Although I don't think the main one judge, he's not using it. But the guys that did use it, I think had a number of home runs this last week, if I'm not mistaken. 15 home runs to be exact. Well, I guess it's just Yankees. So which one of the Yankees are using them?

[Travis Kelsey]

That's what I'm saying.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't know if we don't have that information.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, we don't. I don't think we have that. I'm not sure. I. They were playing the brewers and they were smoking the Brewers. I think that's what happened.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Which apparently, according to baseball experts, not that hard to smoke the Brewers. A lot of Brewer hate going on these days.

[Travis Kelsey]

But there is a lot of Brewer hate. It's unfortunate.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm intrigued by it though. I mean, the science adds up. I mean, Lenny. Dr. Lenny might be onto something. We'll see. What's in the future for the torpedo bat? Ongoing investigation. It is a legal bat. It does adhere to the parameters of Major League Baseball. And what is he determined to be a legal bat. I'm really interested in seeing how this plays out.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, I would love to see a list of the guys using it versus the guys that aren't and maybe like a spreadsheet of how they did last year versus this year.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, Jake, we're going to put task that with you because, Jake, I feel like you'd be able to figure that information out.

[Travis Kelsey]

Could you imagine Barry Bonds with a torpedo bat?

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, we don't even know if it's good yet or not, but yeah, I mean, I think the. The bat Barry used was fine. What's better? Regular bat with copious amounts of steroids or no steroids and a torpedo bat? I'm taking steroids.

[Travis Kelsey]

See, these are the answers. Lenny, you're an MIT guy.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dr. Lenny, we want the.

[Travis Kelsey]

Can you can you figure this out?

[Jason Kelsey]

What's a bigger advantage? Anabol. I don't even know what a real steroids name is.

[Travis Kelsey]

Like the Tor. Ped. Oh.

[Jason Kelsey]

I just missed opening day at the park. I might have to catch. I mean, listen, we just had a baby. Yeah. Are you trying to show the niece? Do you want to show. You want to see your new niece?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, I want to see my new niece. Jason, you only sent one picture.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on, Kai.

[Travis Kelsey]

You didn't even tell me what name you picked yet.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, look at that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hey, little muffin. Look at you just hanging out with mom. So, Kai, I said hello. I'm glad everything went great.

[Jason Kelsey]

Trav says hi.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Hi, Trav.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do you want something?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I gotta go next to him.

[Travis Kelsey]

Hey, Kai. Jason hasn't told me you. If you guys picked a name yet. Are you. Is this still a nameless baby?

[Scott Van Pelt]

No, she has a name. We had to fill out a birth certificate paperwork.

[Travis Kelsey]

I think that. I thought that's how that worked.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, you can technically leave without it, but we wouldn't remember to fill out the fucking paperwork after that. So we have to do it when we. When we know. Is that a beer bat?

[Jason Kelsey]

Is it? That's what I'm saying. That's all we're focused on, too.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That's impressive.

[Jason Kelsey]

Isn't it cool?

[Travis Kelsey]

They might sell them and you're impressive, Kai.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Thanks, Trav.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're impressive.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It really wouldn't have been possible without your brother, you know?

[Travis Kelsey]

Is this Finney?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah. Finn.

[Jason Kelsey]

Finn. Finley and Kelsey. We're calling her Finn.

[Travis Kelsey]

Finn Ann.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Jason refused to let me just go. Finn, so.

[Travis Kelsey]

So I'm dead ass. I love it. Congrats.

[Jason Kelsey]

We asked Finn a question. Finn. Finn, come here.

[Travis Kelsey]

She said sneeze.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, all right, go ahead. What do you want to ask?

[Travis Kelsey]

Hey, Finn.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That's so mean.

[Travis Kelsey]

Finn, you just look adorable. I don't even have anything to say to you. You happy to be out? Huh?

[Jason Kelsey]

How was. How was Kylie's uterus?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Too comfy. That's why we had a. Victor, get.

[Travis Kelsey]

This guy out of here. Oh, man, I'm sorry. Your father's a weirdo.

[Scott Van Pelt]

All right, we're going next door to record.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, Enjoy. Love you.

[Travis Kelsey]

That was lovely. Thank you for that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, she said she wanted to stay and see Uncle Trav. Not gonna lie. Listen, babies are awesome, but they don't do a whole lot for, like, the first six months.

[Travis Kelsey]

You would know. You have four of them.

[Jason Kelsey]

Really doesn't get that exciting until they start smiling and like, giving you something. I mean, it's Amazing. Watching a birth is still one of, like, the most crazy things that you can ever witness. And there's a moment right when you see any baby. I feel like that it's just, like, overwhelming.

[Travis Kelsey]

I love it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's not. There's. There's a. She can't really do much right around the six month mark. That's when it's like Benny right now. Benny's right. A little bit over two. She is a lot of fun. I mean, she is a spitfire. Doesn't even know when she's being offensive. It's the best.

[Travis Kelsey]

I love it. I'll get up there. So. All right. I'll see you in, like, six months.

[Jason Kelsey]

Six months. Yeah. That'll be good. That'll be good timing for you.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's move on to some football news.

[Jason Kelsey]

Football.

[Travis Kelsey]

Annual NFL owners meeting are happening in Florida right now. Flo Rida. And of course, as we always talk about the. The coaches photo got revamped. Little bit.

[Jason Kelsey]

They did this on, like, a stage.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. They got a. They got some lighting.

[Jason Kelsey]

Was it too hot to go outside?

[Travis Kelsey]

Everybody taking the photo like this because the light is. The sun is just burning their face off.

[Jason Kelsey]

I don't like this. They're taking this way too serious now.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's a lot of coaches.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's like professional grade. All right. Oh, there was a storm. There we go. I got to keep reading. So it's raining. Okay, that makes a lot of sense. Good choice, guys. Good choice. Good choice.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nice.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, so instead of naming all the coaches this year, we are going to be tasked with naming the one coach missing.

[Travis Kelsey]

The one coach missing.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right. Who is missing from this photo? I feel like we're playing like, Where's Waldo? All right, so I guess I'll start. How do you. How do you want to do this? You want to do conferences?

[Travis Kelsey]

I think whoever gets it first wins. That's all I heard. That's all I know.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, okay.

[Travis Kelsey]

Name people as you're seeing them.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It's just dead silence. Gosh damn it.

[Jason Kelsey]

We got the NFC East. We got day ball. Sirianni, Dan Quinn.

[Travis Kelsey]

AFC west is there.

[Jason Kelsey]

God damn it. Schottenheimer's there.

[Travis Kelsey]

Gosh. This is. This is. This is the hardest thing.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude. Who is this guy? I have no idea who that guy is. Sorry. Duvall's there.

[Travis Kelsey]

Is he.

[Jason Kelsey]

Taylor's there. Mikko's there.

[Travis Kelsey]

Gosh dang it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Todd, I have Rabes.

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't know who's in Seattle now.

[Jason Kelsey]

Who the fuck is this guy? Shanahan's There, Man. Every year I feel like there's another guy added that I'm just like. I don't remember.

[Travis Kelsey]

Who's this Seattle coach now?

[Jason Kelsey]

McDonald. He's upper left, next to Dable. I think I might know who it is. Nope, there he is. Fuck. And we're positive there's somebody missing?

[Travis Kelsey]

There's one coach not there. Could not make it due to the storm. Storm.

[Jason Kelsey]

Due to the storm. Was that a hint?

[Scott Van Pelt]

No, that was.

[Travis Kelsey]

That was just the weather. That was just the weather.

[Jason Kelsey]

So this was in Florida somewhere?

[Travis Kelsey]

No, I'm not that clever.

[Jason Kelsey]

Are all the Florida coaches here? Yes. Atlanta. Who's. God damn it. Who's Aaron Glenn coaching for now?

[Travis Kelsey]

Aaron Glenn is coaching the Jets.

[Jason Kelsey]

Who's. Who's Atlanta's head coach?

[Travis Kelsey]

You should know this, Jason. You're so cool. Jason, come on. To be fair, I don't. I don't know anybody in that division.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, my gosh. Raheem Morris.

[Scott Van Pelt]

There it is, Jason.

[Jason Kelsey]

You won.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You won.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, my gosh. That was tough.

[Travis Kelsey]

Maybe the most pointless game we've ever played.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Congrats, Jason. What a big.

[Travis Kelsey]

What a big weekend for you. New baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

Winner of Guess the Coach game. The NFL competition committee met to vote on banning the tush push, but discussions were tabled. That's right. It may be nice. Yeah. It may be discussed again in the May meeting that they have as a committee and could be pushed forward once more to support the more that is gathered. So what are your thoughts, Jason?

[Jason Kelsey]

I get it. I get why certain teams want to ban it for competitive reasons. I get why some people think that it's potentially unsafe. I think optically, it looks unsafe.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's football, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

For me, personally, I never felt like there's that much more of a risk of injuring somebody on the play, and I don't think there's any statistics to back that up. So anybody saying that it's going to lead to more injuries is pure conjecture, not rooted in fact. I think the only argument I see for potentially banning it is, is there a competitive advantage? Is it unfair that players can push? And should we allow players to push rather than ball carriers or anybody to have to do things on their own? But, you know, I think that that's going to be a hard rule to enforce. Like, when is that enforced? Like our gang tackles outlawed are, you know, open field? Like when big Creed Humphrey gets behind a running back and he's pushing the pile forward. Do we not want that? Because I like that.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, because that's.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, I think it's it's hard to know, like, where do you, where do you stop this from occurring? You can't just say, like, hey, you can't do the tush push. That feels like a hard rule. Like it needs to be a rule that's enforceable throughout football. Although they do let defensive players push D lineman on the tush push, but they don't let that happen on field goal. They did outlaw that because that was leading to an increase of injury.

[Travis Kelsey]

So, man, listen, there are four downs that a team gets to get a first down or get in the end zone. If the tush push is just one play that you run when you have a short guarded situation, those may come up a handful of times throughout a game.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep.

[Travis Kelsey]

And it's like, you can't get upset at that one play. You know what I mean? Like, I understand the whole. If you want to say it's not safe, football isn't a safe game to play. So I know we're trying to make it safer or whatever. It is what it is. I think it's a football type of play. It's a toughness play that you need to be in sync with the guys next to you and the guys around you, and that's on both sides of the ball. I don't think we, I don't think we need to be banning this. Or like you said, how far down the line does it go? Are players on the defense not allowed to hold guys up now to try and have somebody come in and get a strip like that?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

At what point are we just going to let football be football?

[Jason Kelsey]

Just from like the health aspect is like people see people misusing my quotes. Like the play sucks to run, but it sucks because of like an exertion, like an energy level. It takes so much to try and get a yard. Yeah, it's not a high impact collision. There's not. For the most part, people don't even get rolled up on because you're keeping your feet moving. It's not going to be a play, in my opinion, where you're going to see this huge increase in chance of risk of injury. It's just not. So I don't think it's really that dangerous from a health perspective. And I don't. Listen, I've done no studies other than anecdotally what I've been through, but typically injuries happen when guys get rolled up on because they're locked out in blocks or there's a high impact collision that occurs. And neither of those happens on a play like this. It's. It's so tight quarters. It just ends up being like you're just pushing against each other. Yeah, you know, I get it. I mean, it's. It's a play that some people don't think represents football. I disagree. I think it represents football really well. Some people think it's more of a rugby play, but when we have like a guy who played rugby league, Jordan Mulatti, he's like, it doesn't have anything to do with rugby. Its physicality, its intensity. I think it perfectly represents football that I like, you know. But at this point, I mean, I'm tired of the back and forth with it. If you're going to ban it, just ban it. It ends up being a topic every single year. Before the Tush push was allowed and we started doing it, we just used to do regular quarterback sneaks and was still a high rate. So I don't think it's going to really change the Eagles approach that much. They are going to keep doing this because it is a higher percentage with the push, but it isn't that much. More like the Eagles just generally are good at quarterback sneak. That's why they execute this play at a high level, because they're good at that first. If they take this play out, I still think the Eagles would be really good at quarterback sneaks because I think Jeff Stoutland coaches it well and I think they have good players to execute it. So I'm kind of over the back and forth of it. Do whatever you're going to do with it. I think the health thing is kind of a bogus claim that people are using that. Just want to get it banned.

[Travis Kelsey]

I can see that for sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

The fairness and competitive fairness to the defensive side. I get the argument. I just don't know where you draw that line at. One of the quotes I saw was like, I'm. I'm most concerned for the center. I was like, yeah, I get it. Yeah. I mean, it sucks. It is a. It is a grueling play because of the amount of exertion. It's less of like a grueling play of like being blindsided, like coldcocked. And it's more of a grueling play of like you got to take a shit and it just won't come out and you're just squeezing forever until that thing comes. That's what it's like. That's what's grueling about. It's like, I mean, I think everybody's been there. That's more of the grueling nature behind it. The exertion that I'm talking about.

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't think I've ever done that. Taking a. But I know. I get what you're saying, though.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jeff Stalin did it one time, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen a coach. It was so funny.

[Scott Van Pelt]

All right.

[Jason Kelsey]

One of my former teammates, good friends, and the last of the core four remaining with the Philadelphia Eagles, Lane Johnson, had this to say on Twitter. Hate us because they ain't us. There we go. Talk your player.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right now, player.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, that does it for little Tush. Push. And new news. New news is brought to you by American Express.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes. Yes, it is. And let's move on into some fan mentions of week, some traffic mentions. Yeah, yeah, this is.

[Jason Kelsey]

I love this.

[Travis Kelsey]

This is pretty crazy. Yeah, there are. There are a few people that, that when I look at them, it's like, damn, that's. That's my cousin. This is one of them right here from Sky Dog at. On. On X at New High. Show at me. Travis, when did you start playing baseball? Well, I've been playing for a long, long time, but the Brewers. Bryce To Rang. Hopefully I'm saying that correctly. Bryce. Yes. Where there's some. There's got to be some lineage down the line. He's got a little bit of the Jonas Valentunas look to him too. Yeah, I think might some lift. There might be some Lithuanian in there.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, I see it. I see it a little bit, but I don't think it's like that.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's. I think it's more so just the. The red beard that he's got that, that as it grows out, mine gets like more red.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay, I'll let you know what it is. Here's what happened. I've never done a 23andMe, but I can virtually guarantee there's somebody in a lot of people's like, you know, Genghis Khan? Have you ever heard of this? Like Genghis Khan? There's like a. Heard about him 10 chance or something ridiculous that anybody is related to Genghis Khan. It's something absurd. Like this dude just like was banging women non stop. Just being honest. I forget what. Brandon, can we find that stat about people being related to Genghis Khan or having like Genghis Khan's genes? It's. It's absurd when you look into it. Can we.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You don't know anything.

[Jason Kelsey]

Can we get the Genghis Khan?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I have the Genghis Khan. Quit yelling at me.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm not yelling at you. You're yelling. Genghis Khan is estimated to have over 16 million male descendants alive today.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's crazy.

[Jason Kelsey]

How crazy is that? Approximately 1 in 200 men globally sharing his Y chromosome. That's insane. 0.5% of the global population has Genghis Khan's Y chromosome.

[Travis Kelsey]

I want to see if I'm related to Genghis Khan.

[Jason Kelsey]

And I believe that goes up if you're of Mongolian descent. Historical accounts suggest he fathered many children. Both thoughts. His marriage, both through his marriages and concubines, sons, grandsons, continued the trend, further spreading his genetic lineage. The claim that so many people are related to gang is kind of supported by a 2003 genetic study which identified a unique Y chromosome haplograph group. Haplogroup. Yeah, whatever that means. Okay. Shared about 8% of men in regions once part of the Mongol Emperor empire. These cons are getting after it, man. Yeah, so I think that there's somebody. There's somebody with one of these Y chromosomes in all the. All the basic white bearded guys that we kind of embody. I think that that is. There's some guy that just had a half red, half brown beard and was just running around with an ax up there going through Europe.

[Travis Kelsey]

Well, shout out to Bryce. And finally he had to show some. Had to show some Brewer love today, so Shout out to Bryce. We also got this from the New Heights page of Reddit from Atom Bomb661. Interesting name, buddy. Dude, this church mural in my neighborhood looks oddly familiar. Why? I've never seen Jesus look like.

[Jason Kelsey]

What? Like you.

[Travis Kelsey]

I've never seen this.

[Jason Kelsey]

How did they do this? Somebody painted this in your image. This looks like Travis Kelsey.

[Travis Kelsey]

No, it is not.

[Jason Kelsey]

If you had long, wavy hair, this would be exactly what this picture would. Would look like.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're hilarious.

[Jason Kelsey]

I love. So you're Jesus Christ.

[Travis Kelsey]

There's no way. This is. I've never seen Jason Jesus painted like this, though.

[Jason Kelsey]

Travis, would you ever do your hair like this? This is a good look. This is. This is like an 80s Travis Kelsey right here.

[Travis Kelsey]

That is. That is like. That's like me if I was in the Bee Gees.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, I could tell you almost assuredly. Someone who. Dude, you do. I. I don't want to gloss over that. The Bee Gees is such a good reference. You look just like that one. It's so good. That's great. All right, that does it for fan mentions. Yeah, let's. Let's. Let's see what SVP is talking about, huh? Maybe get this episode back on the rails.

[Travis Kelsey]

You guys are in for a treat. Let's send it to him.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thanks to our presenting sponsor, HBO's The Last of Us.

[Travis Kelsey]

HBO's biggest series the Last of Us returns with a new season on Max.

[Jason Kelsey]

Heck yeah. Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other in a world even more dangerous than the one they left behind.

[Travis Kelsey]

CNN calls the Last of Us exquisite, fully realized and worthy of the hype.

[Jason Kelsey]

I do enjoy it. Based on the groundbreaking video game, the Emmy Award winning HBO original series the Last of us premieres April 13th on max. You can listen to the official the Last of Us podcast wherever you get your podcast. Thank you to our partner Accelerator.

[Travis Kelsey]

That time of the episode where we get to tell you how to get on the same energy level that we're on. You know exactly what we're talking about though, and that's Accelerator Active energy.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. Trav ain't wrong. I will need a can of Accelerator even more because the baby's here. Trav, we're not going to be sleeping too much and this is going to get me through.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, that's a good way to. That's a good parenting, actually. So for parents out there, Accelerator does make you a better parent. To all of you listeners. You can go get with Jason sipping on right now at Hy Vee, Giant Eagle Heb or even Quick Trip.

[Jason Kelsey]

Go stock up on the clinically proven energy drink that uses 100 natural caffeine. Accelerate your metabolism without the sugar crash. And of course, you can always go get a case from Amazon.com thank you.

[Travis Kelsey]

To our partner, the farmer's dog.

[Jason Kelsey]

Good dog health starts with good healthy food. And that's what the farmer's dog is all about.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's right. The farmer's dog is real food made from whole meats and veggies.

[Jason Kelsey]

The recipes are developed by board certified nutritionists, approved by vets and built on decades of research to make dog food that's complete, balanced and full of healthy benefits.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let me tell you something about keeping your dog healthy. It starts with what's going down in their system, if you know what I mean. All right, now the farmer's dog is the real deal. The food is highly digestible, which means your dog absorbs more nutrients.

[Jason Kelsey]

They portion everything perfectly for your dog. They do all the math based on your dog's age, weight, breed, all of it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Each pack comes with their names right on the bag, which is extremely convenient if you have multiple dogs.

[Jason Kelsey]

Get 50% off your first box of fresh healthy food@the farmersdog.com new heights. Plus you get free shipping. Just go to the farmersdog.com new heist to get 50% off. That's thefarmersdog.com new heights. Our guest today is from the University of Maryland. He is also the host of Monday Night Countdown Sports center and the SVP or SV Pod. He's an eight time sports Emmy nominee and the voice of the first two days of the Masters. Please welcome Mr. Scott Van Pelt. Yeah baby.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Thank you.

[Travis Kelsey]

Welcome on big guy. Thanks for doing this man.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Nice to be here.

[Jason Kelsey]

It also says a member of the 2023 class of Montgomery County Sports hall of Fame. What's that? What's Montgomery County Sports hall of Fame?

[Scott Van Pelt]

You know, we're an area where not a ton of people have made it to the big time as evidenced by the fact that they were like, who can we put in like Van Pelt? Yeah, he what he threw like 75 and when he was in high school. We don't have a ton of people from around here that have made it but what makes it cool is the people that have, that have made it to the league where wherever those folks are a big deal. And it was really, it was, it was an honor that they would thought it's, this is all just the broadcasting piece of it and it was, it's flattering. It was not for my sports prowess. Yeah, I mean I was, you know, I was like the classic high school guy. I was a good basketball player, I was a good pitcher. But that was, that was the extent of it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Would you better basketball or better pitcher?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I'd say hoops. Before the age when people started red shirting their children in elementary school, I would have really benefited from one more year. I'm not kidding, I'm not kidding. Like in the area where I'm at like there's like 20 year old high school seniors that have been like held back a few years and then they end up getting for sure scholarships to go play lacrosse at an Ivy League. And you're like, you know, there was a, there was a method to the madness. But I was, I was like a 17 year old high school senior. My nickname was Fungo. I was 6 4, 170 my freshman year in Maryland. I'm 662 05. Like I'd have been, I'd probably had a chance somewhere just because my, I was just physically completely, you know what I mean? Whatever. I was a decent hoop player. So I mean at Maryland like there Were a bunch of people in like, the intramural system that were like, could have played college somewhere, but just, you know, whatever. But I was. That's it. I was, you know, frustrated thought when I was little, I thought I would be the guy people were talking about, but as it works out, I get to be the person talking about the people. And that. That career lasts a hell of a lot longer, thankfully, as we sit here now much.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're one of the best, man. You're one of the best.

[Jason Kelsey]

One of the icons.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I appreciate that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Speaking of hoops, before we get into your heralded career as an analyst, we do got to ask a couple days remove from the Terrapins exit in March Madness.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

How we feeling?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, it was a big bummer.

[Jason Kelsey]

They look good. They were.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Had a chance, but Florida's really good. And then the end coincided with the coach leaving, and we talked about that on the pod. Just because Kevin Willard went to go to Villanova, which is a great job, and I think totally get why that job would be appealing. It's just the way it ended. Like, there's a way to go. And it got. It got really sticky. And so the Maryland folks were really bummed about that. But the good news, the really good news in our household is my wife is a Gator. And it was. This was the coolest thing on SportsCenter. We had Coach golden on in advance of it, and I'm like, look, I got a problem in my house. If Maryland plays Florida, my kids are just. They're really stuck because they love the Gators and they love the tarps. What do I do? And he had this great answer about being a supportive husband. And tell him that it's, you know, you support mom and you're just going to be happy for the Gators. And. And if Maryland loses, it's fine, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, that's a. That's wrong what you just said.

[Jason Kelsey]

Lie to my kids, right?

[Scott Van Pelt]

It was a great answer. It was a great answer, but it was wrong. And then we had just gone on a trip. We come home, and the Gators, they sent a box, fellas. And I believe that my name, image and likeness of my children belongs to the Gators because they got more swag from Gainesville than they knew what to do with. And so I believe that the combination of Florida winning that game and the swag that was sent from. From down in Gainesville to my kiddos, I believe they belong to the Gators. So that's. We're all good, man. It Was. It was a fun run. The end got real bumpy.

[Travis Kelsey]

And that's how the SEC gets you. That's how they gift boxes.

[Jason Kelsey]

So you're telling me Charlie can be bought? Charlie can be bought?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Oh, hell, yeah, bro. He had on. He had on a Gator headband. He's like, dad, look at this, man. Like, you want to go to the closet? We got plenty of Terps gear, but the Gators represented in a SEC level. Trav, you called it, man. They. They do it different down there.

[Travis Kelsey]

They do it different, man. It just is what it is. That's why they thrive. Yeah. Shout out to the Terps. Hopefully you guys can get it back to the old. The Juan Dixon days, man, back when. Back in O2 when the Terps were on top, baby.

[Scott Van Pelt]

My man.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's. Let's move this topic to what really a lot of the fans want to know about on the show, and I am. I desperately want to know more. How was it working with Jason on live television?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Oh, well, we started off with a bang, I believe the first on camera, he said his tits were out.

[Jason Kelsey]

Something like that. It was. It was either first or second. Yeah, it was that first show.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It was early.

[Travis Kelsey]

Just forgot to pack his clothes, talked about his tits within the first five minutes.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It was immediately. Just set the. Set the expectation. I think in life, most of life is managing expectations. No, listen, it was. I'm interested in his perspective because, you know, when. When it was right around now, last. It was last spring when you had made the, you know, official decision that you were going to head into our world on the TV side. And, you know, you were coveted by any. Everybody. And I mean, I've sort of shared this backstory. I. I reached out and I was like, look, man, I appreciate your space. I'm not trying to get in it and. And try to bother you, but I also wanted to represent that. I knew ESPN was interested in having your brother and. And in whatever capacity it was going to be. And so I try to be as honest as I could about what I thought our place was. And now he comes in and the thing about the business is there's a million things about. This is where I'm going to talk about you, Jay. Like you're not there. Okay.

[Jason Kelsey]

Okay.

[Scott Van Pelt]

There's a million things about your brother that make him perfect for. They can keep the. Keep. Keep the cans Perfect perfect for TV, but you still. There's a process of learning the mechanics of TV that it's not innate. He's innately entertaining and engaging and People love him, but learning how to, okay, when's it my turn? And what I would try to tell them is, look, man, your mic's always on. You don't need me to ask you to go. When you're ready to go, go. But there's a couple of guys in Swag and RC that, that we have a built in kind of chemistry. We know how it goes and SWAG can get going on a tangent and like, you just got to let them go. And so it's, it's a challenge when it's four people that are talking to figure out, you know, how to get in, where you fit in. And it was a blast because the things about, you know, the stories and what's genuine about him, what's authentic about him is all right in front of you. And then seeing it get better and better where you're like, okay, you can tell that, that he's more comfortable and by the way, you're more comfortable by the end of the year than you are at the beginning, obviously. And he'll get only more and more comfortable as time goes on. So I had a blast. We blew out a port. My guy dump blew his ACL out week, week two in Philadelphia.

[Jason Kelsey]

MCL's intact. ACL was intact.

[Scott Van Pelt]

As MCL, we were sure that his knee, ACL, PCL, MCL, all blown out somehow they were intact. No, we, we had, we had fun. And I mean, it's, but it's a, the TV piece is, it's a different kind of grind, man. You don't got to get a Toradol to be on, but you're on planes and, you know, you're trying to figure out how to, to bring entertainment to the masses. But again, what he's innately great at, you can't learn how to do. And so we were, we were thrilled with it all. I just, I, I'm curious what, what your assessment of it was, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

It was, it was a lot to learn and take in. I think it's so much different. Obviously we have this podcast trail, but live TV is so much different. We cut so much of this stuff out and have so much leeway to just say whatever we want.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

When you're on live tv, you got to be concise to the point you gotta make space for people to talk and have a conversation. And part of it is getting to know everybody, like, that's a huge part of it. I really feel like after the first year is just like having a, a knack for, you know, what the other person likes. To hear what gets them revved up, how to like, throw things back and forth. And for me, I just was trying to learn as much. I mean, I reached out to Scott early on. We went golfing. You're trying to get a lay of the land. Like, you know what. What do I expect? How do I prepare? And I'm still learning all that. Like, I watch more football this year than I watched legitimately in my 13 years playing. Yeah. In terms of league wide.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

You know what I mean? You're watching.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're focused on your own team when you're in the building, but you got to know everything.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's like your team and the team you're playing and you're getting really hyper focused on those. And I still like watching the game in that hyper focus, game plan oriented focus. It's not feasible to do that really in the same way, in the same depth when you're trying to watch all 17 games that happen within.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Can't watch the. All 22 of every game by. By the time you get to the Monday. Because we're. But because we're not going to break. Although, like, we're not going to break down all of it. But if there's something. Because what we try to do is talk ball. And Trav, you've been kind about that, that like the. What's the role of a show. And I think if you can educate and entertain, I mean, everyone's going to say some version of that, but I think that's really the. The core of what we're trying to do. And I think, like, what we had Jason do is break stuff down. Like, you don't want to limit it to just tackle to tackle. But I think you can help people understand why something works, why a team's really good at it. And I thought that was. I thought that you brought a lot of that to the table in the personality as well. But it's interesting to hear you talk about it because it's probably not unlike learning a teammate. Right.

[Jason Kelsey]

For sure.

[Scott Van Pelt]

If you've got, you know, a guard to your left that you know is really good at this, but maybe not as good at that. You got to figure out how to help him be good at the thing he's not as good at. And that's really what. What the TV piece is about. Like, just figuring out how to make. Put everybody my job, try to put everybody in the best lane to do what they're great at even better. You know what I mean? And for sure, it's. I don't know, it's. We, we had a blast doing it for sure, because it's, it's big, man. Monday Night Football. I mean, it's a. It feels like.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And you hear that thing in your, in your ear and like, I mean, you guys lived it where you were, the guys in the arena. I wasn't. But for me, Monday Night Football, as you're watching back in the day, Howard Cosell, whatever, there was nothing bigger than that. And, like, you hear that music and you're the one sitting there, you're going to talk and you're like, you know, this is an event, man. It's, It's, It's a blast.

[Travis Kelsey]

I love it, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

We grew up. It was, it was the pinnacle of football growing up. It's still right there. Where in the league guys are looking forward to, like, man, we're playing on Monday night this week. You better get ready, boys. Prime time. Everybody's watching, right?

[Travis Kelsey]

Not everybody gets to play on Monday night.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That's true.

[Jason Kelsey]

One of the things I really just, I consider myself really lucky is not only was with you, Scott, I was with Swag. I was with Ryan, rc. Everybody was more than willing to help. And just like a teammate, they were the veterans. And I could tell, like, you know, we're on the middle of the desk, we're in the middle of the show, and Ryan's like, yeah, what do you think about that? Like, he's like, all right, it's your turn to talk, idiot. Like, get going here. I'm like, all right, I got you. So it's. I don't know. It's. It's really fun looking back and seeing how everything evolved over the course of the year, how much closer everything got, and looking forward to this next year, for sure. I think it's going to be awesome.

[Scott Van Pelt]

For sure.

[Travis Kelsey]

Svp, how did, how did you get into the Monday Night Countdown stuff? Was it always because you were originally just like in. I think it was 2001. You started with ESPN doing SportsCenter, and how did you gravitate? Like you said, you're a hoops guy. How did they get to the NFL? Biggest stage on the NFL.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I think the one thing that has happened for me, Tribe, throughout my career, and I'm grateful. Grateful, Grateful. Grateful is I've never been a guy that was playing chess. I was never planning three or four moves ahead. I didn't have my eye on anything as much as my eye on right now. I think I've been really good at that, being present in my present appreciative of this moment, try to be as good as I can be at what I do, and trust that if you do that, then you'll get another shot at it tomorrow in some other role. Yeah, I've told the story before, but it's true. I have a post it note that's in a little window box frame that sits on my desk and it says, I will never work at espn. And when I was at the Golf Channel, which is where I started way back in the day, I had a producer that's like, no, I mean, you're going to go to ESPN someday. I said, man, I'll never work at espn. He said, oh, really? He wrote it down, I signed it, and he said, I'll bet you 100 bucks. I said, fine. I saved it because it was a great reminder even to this day to me, don't say the thing you won't do. Right? Because look at me, it's damn near 30 years. Well, no, it's 25 years of me being at ESPN. And I came there to be one thing, and then I moved up there and then I started doing Sports center. And then I worked with some of the all time greats, you know, the late great Stuart Scott, who, you know, we do the show and he'd say, Stuart Scott Van Pelt, which was this really cool thing he did where he made us a team and he made me as his equal and he was a star who was willing to share his shine with me because he wanted us, like you were just talking about Jay, to be great together. Right?

[Travis Kelsey]

So cool.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And I did that. And then I started to do radio and I was like, holy, this is so difficult to do radio. I, I thought it would be easy. And I learned how hard that was. And then I took a little bite of the apple with game day. I spent a year doing college game day. And I guess what I'm saying is that I just kept trying things that were put in front of me. And then around 10 years ago, they said, we want you to do your own version of SportsCenter, which no one had ever done before. And that was obviously a lot of fun. It was a huge challenge, but it was fun. But there's nothing at our place that's bigger than the NFL. And so when, when they asked me, hey, is this something you would consider doing? I'm like, absolutely, it's the NFL. There's nothing bigger. We want you to go to the games I'm, I'm in. And so it wasn't anything that I, I Guess this is a long winded answer of saying I didn't pursue it. But the way the path goes, there's things that. That are sometimes pop up or the. The opportunity arises. And when it did, I was. I was up for it and I did it for one year. And then last year was when your. When your brother joined. And so it's only been a couple of years, but I looked at it like the. There is nothing bigger than that night. And if there's something that has to do with college football down the road, I don't know what it would be. But I mean, I went to the national championship game this year and we did our show from there. I just think being at the biggest events, covering the biggest events, being in. In the arena, nothing substitutes the juice you feel when you're there and you feel a connectedness to the fans and the moment. That's my favorite. And being face to face like you and I this year, Trav, I. What. What game was it? Maybe it was the Saints, I can't recall. But you came out and you. It might have been a playoff game. You came out and you were with me after. Afterwards might have been Houston. It's like it all kind of becomes a blur. But when you're face to face, like with Ryan Day and Will Howard after they win the national championship, the conversations you have, the intimacy of that moment, man, Coach Tomlin said it the other day at the coaches meeting. There's no substitute for intimacy. That man has a great way of saying just one sentence better than I'm saying all of this. I love that. Being face to face with the people that have just been in those moments.

[Travis Kelsey]

So cool, man. Well, I met you on the biggest stage back In, I think 2016, maybe it was 14, 15, 16 at the national championship. I see the. The man himself, svp, the guy that drove our. We talk about this all the time on here. That. Those ESPN Sports center days, growing up with, you know, Stuart Scott, yourself, Rich Eisen, Steve Levy, the whole gang. It was just so much you guys drove our love for sports.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And so cool to hear, you know.

[Travis Kelsey]

Dude, I'm telling you, I loved every single sport because. And it was the only channel that I went to. Jason, he would go to what he would watch Dragon Ball Z. I would go straight to Universe.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sometimes Cartoon Network dad would have Law and Order on every once in a while we'd have to. There you go.

[Travis Kelsey]

But no, I. I saw you at the, the national championship, Ohio State versus Oregon. And we. I was at. In Dallas. I was. I was kind of in that underground bar area, and it was when you had just started doing bad beats, and you came up and you. And you said you were the nicest guy in the world. I'm shaking because I'm actually meeting the man himself. And you were just so cool, so calm, and. And we're talking about how you. I opened the. The bad Beats.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That's a legendary moment, by the way. Belk bowl is all time. All time. And that. That montage is some of the legendary moments in the gambling history where something went completely sideways with the Belt bowl against Duke, and you're right there in the middle of it, because you take it to the. Take it to the house, and then it went sideways, but you're in there. That'll never change. We may change certain things in that montage. Belk Bull will never not be in the bad.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm honored. I'm honored forever, man.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You've done okay since then. You're going. You're gonna have a gold jacket like your brother someday. It's gonna be all right.

[Travis Kelsey]

You've.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You've elevated beyond being in the bad beats montage.

[Jason Kelsey]

If only I wouldn't have lost the. The helmet right after he scored that.

[Travis Kelsey]

That helmet that I scored.

[Jason Kelsey]

Immediately after he scores that touchdown, Scott, I'm in the students. I'm like. I'm in the end zone stance. He runs over and gives me his helmet and tells me, don't give this to anybody. We're partying afterwards at the bar. I'm letting everybody wear it. I look back, it's gone.

[Scott Van Pelt]

So.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Wait, you go out and get wrecked after the Belt Bull and lost your brother's helmet?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. It's a bad story. It's not a great story. We can laugh about it now, but. Yeah, it was not.

[Scott Van Pelt]

No, it's an incredible story.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's made its way back.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Oh, okay.

[Travis Kelsey]

University wasn't allowing me to. They told me if I didn't pay all my parking tickets on campus, that I couldn't have the. I couldn't have the helmet because there was. Bowl game helmet. It was like the special helmet. The seniors got to keep their bowl game helmets.

[Scott Van Pelt]

So wait, But. So the. But it made its way back to you.

[Travis Kelsey]

It made its way. It's.

[Jason Kelsey]

Did it.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It.

[Travis Kelsey]

We found it.

[Jason Kelsey]

We do know where it's at.

[Travis Kelsey]

Somebody.

[Jason Kelsey]

Somebody we mentioned on the pod, like, a year ago or two years ago.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. They had, like, a sticker. Like a circle sticker of 18 on it. Like, this has got to be his.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That's Incredible. I was just picturing like some guy in like Lima, Ohio, in his living room and that helmet, just watching games in the dark wearing a Belk bowl helmet. That was traps.

[Jason Kelsey]

He was doing it for a good decade. We just got it back last year.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Oh, that's beautiful. The universe. The universe bends to the Kelsey brothers.

[Travis Kelsey]

All we needed was this show to tell the story. No, but I remember that day like it was yesterday. Meeting a big guy, it was, it made me feel like, ah, man, I want to be that cool of a dude doing that to, to somebody that may have looked up to me at some point in football, man, you were just so, so down to earth and so like welcoming and stuff, man. It was, it was just awesome, man.

[Scott Van Pelt]

So I appreciate that.

[Travis Kelsey]

I appreciate that.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, likewise. I've said this quite a bit about like, my dad had this line that I recite often. Treat normal people like superstars. Treat superstars like normal people. And, and just a quick story about a guy that was a legend in broadcasting named Dick Enberg, who called everything back in the day. He called anything that's big in sports. Dick Enberg called national title hoops, Super Bowls, the whole bit. When I was a little kid, I went to a Maryland basketball game. Shocker. And I met Dickenberg. And he could not have been kinder and more present and just made me feel like, holy smokes, this is a guy. But he was asking me questions and he was interested and he was present. Fast forward a zillion years and now we're working together. I believe it was the US Open in Philly and Marion. And we're out and we're at dinner and it's a small group and I tell him the story about the way, the reason I act to people, the way I act is, is because of how I'll never forget how kind and how present and just you made me feel like a big deal, even though you were the big deal.

[Travis Kelsey]

So cool.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Like I'm telling Dick this story and he gets like, he's teary eyed and he's like, thank you so much for, for letting me know that something I did, you know, mattered to you. I was like, you kidding me? Like, this is a legendary guy. So I don't know. I think all I'm trying to say is it's, it's. It's real easy to be decent to people. You know what I mean? And look, you guys operate in a different place. I mean, I've done this a long time. I'm six. Six bald headed people recognize me where I go, but, like, you guys have to deal with a whole different level of what that is. And I just try to be a mirror, you know, reflect what you get. And. And so that what I'd say to the people is, give. Give something good and you probably get it back. You know what I'm saying?

[Travis Kelsey]

There you go.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I don't know if that makes sense. I don't know. I remember that moment. We had a blast. And we keep on trucking in the lanes. We're in. And I'm sure we'll keep trying best to stay happy and present in them as long as we can.

[Travis Kelsey]

I sure as hell am. I did want to ask you one question before we get out of this Monday night gig. Have you ever considered actually calling games?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I mean, we. We do call the pro. We do the Pro bowl, which in the flag space is among the most really prominent flag games. Travis. I don't know of a bigger one. There's foam pits. People do flips in them. It's. It's quite a lot. No, I. I never have. And I watch people like the Bucks and the Torico's and the Nances and the Michaels and the whatever and I. And I. It's a skill set. I. I don't have. I don't know. I. I don't want to do it. I've never wanted to do it. I get to do golf, which.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, I was gonna say you do that live, but.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah, but that's. Here, let me call a golf shot real quick.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, here we go. Oh, this is awesome.

[Scott Van Pelt]

To 14. Oh, that was good. That's it. Like. Like to 14. It's. There's. There's very little to say or do. I don't need to set up the down and distance. I don't need to know. Did he catch it? Is he inbounds? Is he out of bounds? That look like a face mask. Calling golf is stealing money, okay? Stealing money.

[Jason Kelsey]

But I think you're. You're. You're really underestimate. You're underrating that. To 14 call. Travis, give us your best to 14 right now. What is it? Let me get your. To 14.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, now, here we go now. Over to 14.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm changing the channel. If somebody gives me a 14 call like that immediately.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That was poor. That was poor to poor to bad is what that was. No, it's very, very, very understood. Think, think, you know, think. Jim Nance. Hello, friends. Think.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, nice.

[Scott Van Pelt]

To 14. See that? See that?

[Jason Kelsey]

That's a lecture.

[Travis Kelsey]

Well, let's. Let's go. Let's keep going over to golf. We got the Masters coming up.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, baby.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

We got the Masters coming up. You and you're. You're supposed to be doing the. The first two days of it, right?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yep. Thursday, Friday. It's by far and away my favorite week of the year. Professionally. It's just so cool. Have you. Have you been.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes, Yes. I got lucky. I went during the COVID year where there was no stands.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Wow.

[Travis Kelsey]

There were no grandstands, so I just got to see how beautiful that course was. Oh, my God.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It's impossible to try to convey to people. It's. And it's an impossible place to exist.

[Travis Kelsey]

Like, every single blade of grass is thought about there.

[Scott Van Pelt]

There you go.

[Travis Kelsey]

Every plant, every tree.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It's perfection.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's amazing.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It is. It's all these things. And the week is, as I say, it's my favorite week. It's. It's. I've done it for a long time, which is hard to process. The first year I went was 1997, when Tiger woods was, you know, a kid, and he laid waste to every record there was. Lowest score, youngest winner, biggest margin of victory, the whole bit. And that was when I started. And now it's all these years later, and. And I'm the guy in the Butler cabin on Thursday and Friday that brings this on the air. And so, you know, believe me, I. I talking earlier about being present, being grateful. Like, all the stuff I get to do is. Is a blast. I mean, I'll go in tonight and we'll, you know, have. We'll do a show. You know, we followed the women's tournament. You Talked to Geno Rem after he goes to his 24th Final Four. He's got confetti in his hair. Like, that's an amazing thing to get to share with somebody. I love what I get to do. It's. It's. All of. It's insane. The Masters is a completely different level of lunacy. Like when you know that it comes on the air and it's a picture and it's. Whatever it is. It's the Hogan bridge or It's. It's the 13th and it's that, like.

[Jason Kelsey]

The iconic shock going to that corner, right?

[Scott Van Pelt]

You can close your eyes and see him in corner, and you hear that. That. That sort of melodic piano, and you're the voice that says whatever it is that you have to say. And the Masters begins, and you're the one doing it. There's no way I can explain the depth of appreciation for the fact that I'm the person sitting in that chair, it's something I share with my pop. My pop died when I was in college. And I'm gonna tell you a quick one about, like. So it'll be Thursday at 3 Eastern. We'll come on the air.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You know, you start, you rehearse a little bit. All right, we're gonna show these highlights. Scheffler on six and Rory on 10. Okay, we just make. All right, I know how we're gonna come on the air here. And at some point in the last minute, all right, I'm sitting there and I'm getting ready, and then there'll be about a 30 second bit where I just sort of get into this Zen sort of place where I'm just. My mind is still, my heart is grateful, and I think of my father and I think, pop, I. It's like, I don't say it out loud. I just think, let me be calm. Let me do my job well. Let me speak slowly and clearly and let me do my job well. And I think of him and I think, man, if my father were here. They say a young man that loses his dad early in life spends the rest of his life trying to make him proud, and I know damn sure sitting in that chair that my pop is. Is proud of his boy. And then we come on the end.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And that last little five seconds, it's like. I swear to God, it's like time stops for just a second and I'm like, we good? Here we go. And then off you go and you do your job. But I give, I give myself, like that very focused attention to that feeling, like what you feel in that moment, and it's just gratitude just exploding in your soul. And I don't mean for this to sound over right now, man. I don't mean for it to sound too goofy or heavy, but it's sincere. It's sincere. And so I'm here and you know Jim Nance is there, and you know Jim, it's his show. I'm just there to sort of welcome people on. I. I don't do a hell of a lot of heavy lifting, but that's. That's the gig for the week. That's the main focus of it. Wednesday's my favorite day. I'm doing the par three, the contest this year, which is a blast. It's like, you know, the kids are caddying for their. For their dad, and it's just, yeah, this beautiful day. And it's this minute the. This par 3 course is sort of a miniature version of the big course. It's incredible. The whole thing's incred. There's a lot wrapped up into that week, as you can tell from what I'm sort of saying here.

[Travis Kelsey]

Heck yeah, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's awesome. Getting a lot of knowledge dropped on us right now. I love it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah. And the Masters, all these majors are so. They're so much more. I feel like, ramped up because of the split. You get to see these guys coming from all over the world. All over the world, different leagues. If you're the top of the top, you're in these majors.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Right.

[Travis Kelsey]

So we get to see the guys that were. You know how it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's always been like that, but I feel like there's a little bit more excitement when you don't. Because you don't get to see, you know, Bryson every single week on the pga.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Right. You know, there's a lot. A lot of big time guys. I think. I think Travis, that. That. I don't know. I don't know what the time frame is. I think that they'll sort that out. I think we'll get back to a.

[Jason Kelsey]

Little bit trying to figure it out for what, two years now, basically. But.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, I mean, the whole thing got real sideways where dudes took money and the PGA Tours, like, that's. Don't do that. Then the PGA Tour, I was like, well, maybe we'll do that too. That's a funny game.

[Jason Kelsey]

We gotta compete. Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah. That's an interesting trick.

[Jason Kelsey]

We're.

[Scott Van Pelt]

We're. I mean, if. Imagine being like Rory and you passed on God only knows how many hundred millions of dollars.

[Jason Kelsey]

And then Tiger, too, right? Didn't Tiger pass on? Yeah, right.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I heard numbers. I don't know what the truth is, but I. I'm certain that there were. That there were nine figures involved. That much I know. But. But the point you make about just not seeing them compete that often, that does make the majors feel a little bit different. But honestly, like, we'll. We do the PGA Championship on. On espn. We'll be down at Quail Hollow in Charlotte in May, and that's a great field, too. But to me, the star of. Of the Masters week is not even the players. It's the stage.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It's the venue and the feelings associated with the venue. It's going back there every spring. It's the friendships that get rekindled, like among, you know, patrons and people that work there and, you know, it's just the whole week is so. So special. So you're right that. That those events have. Have added significance, but the Masters is just feels like what it feels like because of the place, more than. Than who. Who's competing in it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thousand percent. I think golf in general, it's. It's such a sport that's rooted in history. And when you go to a lot of these older venues that have so much history to them, that is there in the back of your mind.

[Travis Kelsey]

In itself, it almost takes you back in time.

[Jason Kelsey]

What the Masters has at the same time is not only does it have that history, but it's every little meticulous thing is just done in a way that, I don't know, makes it feel just ridiculously special.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Sure.

[Jason Kelsey]

To every single person. And even, like, the person serving you beer to the. To the. The person you walk by in the clubhouse or whatever, they all just make every single person feel so special that they're at unbelievable place, and we're all taking this in together, and it's. It's just such an awesome place. Because of that feeling, I feel like, agreed.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And I'm. I've been so lucky going there through. Through the years that the people that you walk past will. You know, I. I talk about my. My friend Ms. Nadine. She's. She's a security. And years ago, I walked past her in her station by the par three course, and I hear this voice say, you look nice. And I stop and I look. And that's Ms. Nadine. And so I walk over to Ms. Nadine. She said, let me see that tie. And I look. I'm like, okay. And she said, I'm Nadine. I'm Scott. I walked by the next day. She said, come over here. Okay? She's like, I don't like that tie. Like, who asked you? And she's like, okay. So, like, it became that week. Every day I go by, and by the end of that week, me and Ms. Nadine were like this.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yes.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I get Christmas cards from her, she gets Christmas cards from me. We see each other and we hug. Like, every single day. I give her a hug. That's my girl, Ms. Nadine. Like, we've been friends for 20 years, and this is a place where there's the. There's this grill where we're allowed to eat. This room that, you know, it's the greatest sandwich and fries on a china plate you've ever had in your life. Okay. And years ago.

[Travis Kelsey]

Is it pimento cheese or what?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, yes, that. That is Part of the lore of the place, for sure. But one year, I ordered a grilled cheese and bacon with tomato. Wasn't on the. They just made it it. And if I walk in there now, my guy Tony will just give me a nod, and they'll just bring it to me. They know I'm not a member at Augusta National. I'm just some bozo that's been coming for a few years. But these are my friends, and so.

[Travis Kelsey]

That'S so awesome, man.

[Scott Van Pelt]

They know what to bring me, and you know what I'm saying? Like, yes, that's the level of attention to detail and. And the friendships that you. That you revisit every year. And my wife may come down this year, and I said, I don't care if you see the golf course. I just want you to get to hug Ms. Nadine. I just, you know, because she knows my family like. Like, Christmas cards with. With each other every year. So, like, those are the people that are part of it. And then, as you say that, the history of it, the actual golf. Every hole, right? Like, 13. You remember when Phil hit it off the pine straw past a tree, and.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You know, 16. You remember Tiger hits it up and it rolls down the hill. And Vern, have you ever. In 17 again, Vern? Jack Nicklaus, maybe. Yes, sir. I mean, every hole has a picture in a moment in time. I mean, I could keep going. The 10th hole. Bubba and a Bubba Watson.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, that is still the most iconic shot I've ever seen in my life.

[Scott Van Pelt]

There you go.

[Jason Kelsey]

I have no idea how that lefty hooked that thing that much.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Bubba's not. Bubba can't see a straight shot in his mind.

[Jason Kelsey]

He prefers to have an angle.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Exactly. It's actually better for him to be in there, in a tree. Go.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right.

[Scott Van Pelt]

If I hook this some 90 yards around a tree, I can. You know what I mean? And so everybody has their shots and their moments, and that, to me, is what makes. You know, that's what makes it what it is.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's awesome. So you've been working the event for a long time. The first time you were at the Masters, were you a patron, or were you working it?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Oh, no, I went 97. I was covering it for. I worked for the Golf Channel at the time, and, you know, you'd never. And it's amazing. It's amazing, Trav, how much it's changed. I mean, and yet it has this incredible ability to evolve and yet stay timeless. It's impossible. It's a trick. You can't pull off, and yet they do where everything about it every year feels like it's been this way forever. And yet so much of it has changed in terms of the golf course, how they stretched it out, made holes longer, tougher, changed this undulation, that undulation, whatever. So, I mean, like, the snapshot of 97, in my mind, it feels like the same place, and yet it's. It's so very different. But they get. They get everything exactly right. Exact. Every detail is. Just. Is perfect. And I haven't been to everyone since 97, but, I mean, there's similarities for you guys maybe with. With seasons, with football, right? When you're in a sport and you do something every year, and then, like, you. There's a. There's a pace to the season, and then there's your off season, and then the next thing you know, it's like, all right, we're back at OTAs, and then we're in camp, and then the season starts again. And it's like, it feels like time's not passing in some ways. And so, like, I was just at Augusta in my mind, only I wasn't. I mean, it was a year ago, and I'll be back there, and it'll be Masters week. And you think to yourself, oh, it's probably been three or four years since that. And then you go, oh, that was 15 years ago. You know what I'm saying? Like, it can't possibly be almost 30 years since I was there with Tiger in 97.

[Jason Kelsey]

Holy cow.

[Scott Van Pelt]

But we're damn near there. And that's where I. That's where I just look at myself and go, good Lord. Like, how. How lucky are you to be able to keep doing this? And so it's. It's crazy how, again, how time passes and yet when you're there, it feels like time hasn't moved.

[Travis Kelsey]

We're all freaking excited for this year's. And I know you'll kick it off, right, big guy? Jason, man, I know you got a newborn, but I might slide down there for a Sunday. Come on.

[Jason Kelsey]

I want to go so bad.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Come on, now. Come on, now. I know some people that know some people. If you left your boy at home, he would not be pleased with that. Woody, Jason, just bring the.

[Travis Kelsey]

Bring the baby.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on, Travis. That baby is surviving off of Mom. I cannot offer anything to that baby.

[Scott Van Pelt]

How's that go? How's that. Let's. Let's just. Let's workshop this. Let's workshop this conversation, boys. We're three semi smart people. How do we Tell. How do we. How do we play that? How do we say, hey, listen, we're just gonna. Gonna leave you alone with mosey down.

[Jason Kelsey]

I've tried and I've. And I've failed.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I think mosey's the key. I think it's not. I'm not going. I'm just gonna mosey on.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's just gonna be a day, and.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Then I'll zip right back. Mosey and zip. It's a mosi and zip scenario.

[Jason Kelsey]

Just go down, right back, you know, just. Yeah. I mean, you know, we know.

[Travis Kelsey]

A few pimentos.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

A few eagle nests. One of the. The beers. Are they eagle nest?

[Scott Van Pelt]

When I forget. Azalea. People enjoying azalea.

[Travis Kelsey]

There you go.

[Jason Kelsey]

I already tried floating, and I was like, you know, I. You know, like, you know, a lot of. A lot of dads, you know, they got jobs, they got to work and they can't. You know, I feel like I'm just gonna be one day, and then I'm right back.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah.

[Jason Kelsey]

And then I have. Anything else, you know?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Scott needs help for the par three. Scott's doing the par three. He can't do it by himself.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's right. That's right.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You've seen him on tv. He can only form a sentence. He can barely speak coherently. We need him. Come on.

[Jason Kelsey]

It is not going well. It has not gone well so far. I'm sweating just thinking about this conversation again.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah. Sometimes you gotta just know what you can and can't pull off. By the way, he mentioned just this in passing. We play golf. Your brother, his practice swing, like the divot pattern that. Are you familiar with the flank steak size divots this man takes out of the earth?

[Travis Kelsey]

Ridiculous, right?

[Jason Kelsey]

Are you doing that on the T.

[Travis Kelsey]

Box on a par five, Jason?

[Scott Van Pelt]

And we played. We played on a day where it rained really heavily. And so the ground was super sort of.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It was not firm. And so those practice swings, you'd look up and be like, this was like a full yard of sod in the air. And that's just the practice swing. I'm like, well, you're gonna have to hit the ball here. We're gonna have a trench here. We can bury a squirrel, man. Big. He's got a nice. Nice swing, though. Obviously a lot of power involved.

[Travis Kelsey]

Big dude. Big dude. These. The line. He has a better swing for a lot of the old linemen that I've come across. The shoulders and the neck and the torso area, they're just. They're meant to be, right Here, they're not meant to. They're not meant to turn as much.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, that's getting that. That left shoulder behind the ball. That's important. And he's pretty. It's hard when you have, like, that sort. It's all fused together.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Tempo, though, your depot is. I. I mean, you can really swing at it. Trav. You can.

[Jason Kelsey]

He's got a great.

[Travis Kelsey]

I can get. I can get it going a little bit. I'm trying to get a little bit more because I get out of whack, so I'm trying to.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You know what the key.

[Travis Kelsey]

Eliminating variables.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Agreed. And the key for the big guy is to recognize that if. If, like, if you draw. If you drew a line from the ball back to the top, back to the bot, a tall guy, it's a mile long. So I think that. I always think Jon Rahm, and it doesn't need to be as abbreviated as John Rom, but you also don't need to wrap that son of a gun around your neck because, like, chance to get back.

[Travis Kelsey]

We don't got to do the John.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Daly really difficult, but if you just turn to the point, if your shoulders behind it, all you got to do is get back to the bottom, and you're going to be. You're going to knock it a long way. Your swing's really good, though.

[Travis Kelsey]

I appreciate that.

[Scott Van Pelt]

What's your handicap?

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on, Trev.

[Travis Kelsey]

I shoot in the. I shoot in the probably low to mid-80s, but you could.

[Scott Van Pelt]

If you got it cooking you, like you're thinking I might. Maybe I might could shoot something that started with a seven, right?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

All right, that's. That's what I thought.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're good if you're. If you're shooting something that starts with a seven, you're a good golfer.

[Scott Van Pelt]

No, you're beyond your 99th percentile, right? Seriously?

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I always get a kick out of people that, like. Like the reverse sandbaggers. Like, people that sandbag that say, I'm probably like a 12, and then they shoot 75. You're like, that's. Yeah, but people that say, oh, no, I'm like a nine, and then they go shoot a hundred. You're like a nine. What.

[Jason Kelsey]

What would you rather have? Would you rather have the guy sandbagging it or the undershooting it?

[Travis Kelsey]

That's a good question.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That's actually a really good question. But I. The guy that says he's at 14, that goes to some member guest and shoots 75. That's very, very poorly looked upon. So I think I Think. I think the person that says that they're a 12 that shoots 108 like that, you could live with that. Like, I just had a bad day. Well, no, you actually. You have a 12 is what you're. There are a lot of those, but don't be. Don't be the sandbagger. Don't be a sandbagger. That's bad. Look. Bad.

[Jason Kelsey]

Look, man, let's go back to when you started espn. How about that?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I'm happy to do it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Joined in 2001. How old were you when you first joined at ESPN?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, let's do the math. I'm. I'm. I'm 58. So what did that put me at? 2001. I was. I'm not good at math. That was 20. 35 ish. Yeah, 35 ish. Mid 30s. Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

Nice. And you were with Golf Channel up until that?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I was. I was. I mean, I told you the story about, like, having the note. I wouldn't work at espn, but it was kind of a lot of life. Is this right? Sort of serendipitous. Like a guy named Jimmy Roberts, who actually is a Maryland guy and was at ESPN covering golf. Left to go to NBC, and that was in the middle of Tiger Woods. Com. Just laying waste to all humanity in the game. I mean, he was breaking records, you know, winning every major. And ESPN really kind of needed a guy that had an in with Tiger.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sure.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I was that guy.

[Jason Kelsey]

There we go. Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I mean, literally my entire career exists because of Tiger Woods. That is a fact. And. And maybe I could have found some of this without him, but almost certainly not. And so I went in 2001 because ESPN really kind of needed a golf guy. And I lived down in Orlando at the time. Time. And I stayed in Orlando and I was covering golf and a little bit of this, that and the other thing. So that was when it started.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's so cool.

[Jason Kelsey]

What was your first day at ESPN like? Do you remember?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I. I remember it vividly because I was. We were in Australia to cover a golf tournament. It was the Mat World Match Play, and we're in Australia. This is actually cool. I can picture it as clear as day. We were going to follow a Syracuse basketball game. Game. And we're just waiting for it to end. And I'm sitting in, like, this. It's like a tent. When you cover, when you're doing a golf event, you know, they build these little. You've seen them. If you go to, like, a major or whatever, like, it's a TV compound with, you know, you're, you're outdoors, but there's a 10 over the top of it. And I'm sitting there with my guy, Andy North. And when the game ends, there used to be this, like. And you guys are ESPN heads. Like, there was this animation that, like, it was like sort of a circle and it says espn. And there's this, there's this voice that says, this is a presentation of espn, the worldwide leader in sports. And that's like, I told you about the Masters moment where I'm waiting to talk. Well, this is 2001, and I've never done it. And I'm like, oh, I have to talk. And it's me, and I'm on espn. You know what I'm saying? It's, it got as real as it could get. And I'm just like, don't talk fast. Don't freak out. This is what you do. You can do it. Only I got news for you boys. I kind of couldn't do it like that at that point. And. Yeah, so I'm in a tent in Australia with Andy north at the, at the World Match Play. And that's the first event I did. And then the next, it was a two week thing because we went from there to Kapalua to do what used to be the Mercedes. And I'm doing a two week junket in Australia and Hawaii. And I'm like, bro, your boys on espn. And I am living right. You know what I'm saying?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, no, this is a good introduction.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It's Australia, it's Maui. And it's like, life is good. And this is real, real good. Look at your boy. Then that's how, that's how it started. And then it was actually a really, unfortunately sobering moment because I, it's. I come home and I'm sitting at my house one day, it's February, and it was the Daytona 500. And I get a phone call from ESPN that says, hey, Scott, we, we're. We're getting word the, the Dale Earnhardt might have died in this crash. I'm like, oh, that's awful. And then they said, I'm. I'm not processing this right, and there's, we need you to go there. And I'm thinking, wow. I mean, I had only done golf, right? And so I had just done these golf events, which was a very familiar space for me. And now all of a sudden, I'm hopping in the car, driving up to Daytona to cover as big a story as, as there could be in the sports world. And that's where it was a real reality check of the, like, you're in the deep end of the pool, man. And. Yeah, and, and I, I remember vividly. SportsCenter started that night with a report from me at Daytona, given the news that Dale Earnhardt had died. And it was, it went from like, everything's whatever to the reality of what the stage you were on and, and the fact that you were covering everything. And then, then, you know, obviously from there there's, there's far less serious stories, but you added more to the plate as, as time went on.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah. Holy cow. I mean, that's a heck of a switch up.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah. Australia, Maui, and now Dale Earnhardt is gone. But yeah, from my perspective as, all right, can I do this? It was, you're not going to be asked to, to cover something more significant than that. And I was able to do it. And then it was just a recognition of, all right, you're, you're in a different place now. That, and at the Golf Channel, where you just go on to the next, you know, tour stop. And, you know, that was all that we were going to do. And then, you know, as I say, it was more used to do some NBA things like Tracy McGrady and Shaq and people like that were the magic at the time. You do some of that. And it was just around that summer was when they said, hey, we want you to come up and maybe do some Sports Center. And I was like, all right, I can do that. And then I went. Then, then the next thing you know, it's like, hey, we want you to move up here and do it. And I'm.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I mean, leaving Orlando, where it was 75 and sunny every day for Bristol was. That was, that was a different kind of reality check. Like, who, what am I doing?

[Jason Kelsey]

Sure, sure.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That was a rough adjustment initially.

[Jason Kelsey]

Speaking of an adjustment, like going from the Golf Channel where you're obviously just doing golf, then all of a sudden you're doing all this stuff. Was there anybody at ESPN that kind of showed you the ropes and taught you, I don't know how to now cover everything?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I mean, I, I don't think I had as much of a, sort of a, of a guide as much as I just. There's, there's a person and, and you would know this name because you know him and he's the guy that's now in charge of, of all things at ESPN, a guy named Mike McQuaid. He's a behind the scenes guy. Who's has been as instrumental in helping me get where I am as anyone. Just what he did, what he did, Jason, was he basically just said, you know what to do do, just go do it. And, and was great with feedback. We don't. You told me something when we played golf that day. You said, I, I like being coached. And I thought that's great news because not everybody does. Everyone says they want feedback. You know what feedback they want? They want grab ass. You're awesome. Attaboy. They don't want, hey, that's that, that you can't do this. That was bad. Here's why this sucked. But that's what you need. Need. And, and having a guy like that, that was really helpful in just trusting, trusted that I would do the work and put in the work and wherever the bumpy spots were, I'd figure him out. He was great from a behind the scenes standpoint. But then, you know, as I mentioned, you know, Stuart Scott was awesome. And we had this, we had this kind of admiration from afar because he, he and Tiger were boys and I was as well. And so we had kind of seen each other from across the aisle. And then when I came, I had kind of the, the endorsement from Tiger with Stuart. And then I, I was an ACC guy from Maryland, he was a Carolina guy, and we had that kind of common thing. And then he and I just found this rhythm with one another that was really helpful from a sports center standpoint. But I mean, I've been so lucky with people that I worked with from like. And if I start naming people, I'll leave them off. But like, Stuart was big. Neil Everett was a partner of mine that I worked with a ton. And he's just like, that's my brother forever. So I've, I've just been so lucky that the people that I, that I've sort of shared the set with and, you know, traveled with and worked with were all great teammates that helped, helped elevate me, that hopefully I helped make them the best version of them. And you kind of ham and egg it. But, you know, it wasn't like we had a, you know, sit, sit down. And here's, here's, this and here's that and here's the other. They just kind of trust you to figure stuff out and what you don't, you know, they're going to help nudge you back towards the center.

[Travis Kelsey]

Well, I'll tell you what, man, the, the ESPN commercials alone.

[Jason Kelsey]

Come on now.

[Travis Kelsey]

Made that place seem like the coolest workplace of all Time outside of the. The cameos of the superstars that were, you know, in the NFL, the NBA and all that. The cast of Sports center, men and women. I mean, we talked about them already. Rich Eisen, Dan Patrick, the Swami, Chris Berman, Linda Cohn, Steve Levy, Stewart Scott. Like you said, we're leaving off way too many, but how fun was that to go into work? Like, did you guys actually have cubicles?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

So. So this was actually like you guys were just hanging out with each other and just talking sports, I would assume.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, creating the show before.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Right. And I mean, I, you know, Dan and Keith made SportsCenter something different. They took it to a different place. I think Berman's the Godfather, Bob Lee as well, obviously. But then Dan and Keith took it to a thing where it was different. And then Stuart and, and Rich were a big time team and, you know, they had a lot of us that kind of worked together. And you, you team up with different people at different times. But then the idea was if you could create, you know, people that work together quite a bit, then you create chemistry, which makes a ton of sense. Right? Like, yeah, you become like an O line. There's this and hey, I could slide out the tackle if I need to, but if we can get some reps together, we can make this a thing. And so honestly, I mean, and it's still like that and it's different. I'm down in D.C. and I'm not in a cubicle and you know, sitting, sitting next to, you know, Rich or Stewart or whomever back in the day. But it's the same idea. Like, I'm gonna go in and watch games and then I do a show. It's a joke. My dad was. My dad worked for a plumbing company. I always say this. He wore boots to work. You know, I wear Ferragamos and a little light dusting of powder on the head. I mean, that's what I wear to work. And I just watch games all night. It's absurd. And so I think with the, what the genius of those ads kind of captured was that like, people like, this is what it's like. Like, well, yeah, I'm not actually sitting in LeBron's chair in a throne, but it's like that. And you know, the cool thing about like that spot is it's. And he was on me recently. It's like still a joke that we go back to. Yeah, like I saw when he was on with you about, you know, the, the. He's about when he, this, this won't continue. And then now he's 40 and he's like, yeah, when I'm, when I'm 50. Like, I mean I saw him reference that, like the idea that Holy. Like he's still doing this at that age. He was a baby when he did that ad with me. And so now we can kind of still reference it. And you know, I got a note from his folks, like, you know, clutch folks, like I was texting back and forth with Rich Paul about. I said, you know, what's cool is like we've both been doing this for 20 some odd years and can still kind of do it. I'm not comparing myself as an anchor to LeBron James, but, but, but we're still in, we're still in that respective place and we can still still, you know, play at a certain biggest spots. And that's kind of, that's kind of cool. Going back to who he was as a 212 year old, maybe at the time when we did. I mean, it might have been, he might have just been 20 when we did that spot. Because I joked with him, I said, you know, I, I think when you and I did that ad, I might have been around 40. And I, that was right around the, the age when I realized there was stuff physically I kind of couldn't do. And you're 40 and there's nothing like, what is it you're doing? You know what I mean? Like, how are you still.

[Travis Kelsey]

This guy, he's not human.

[Jason Kelsey]

He's a freaking nature.

[Scott Van Pelt]

My favorite one, other than the LeBron one was me and Stuart were with Arnold Palmer and all the, the ad is 15 seconds and it's Arnold in the cafeteria and Arnold Palmer makes an Arnold Palmer. A little iced tea, little splash of lemonade. No words are said. Then he walks off and it's me and Stuart Scott and all we say is, that was awesome.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And Stuart's like, I know. And it's a 15 second spot. And that was that. That's it. And so it's like, is this what ESPN was like? Like, yeah, kind of. We just kind of sit in our cubes, go to the cafeteria. Again, Arnold's not there making an Arnold Palmer. But that, that ad was just what I thought was just genius.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, that was, that's probably my favorite.

[Travis Kelsey]

Simple.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yep.

[Jason Kelsey]

So you just talked about LeBron has obviously changed or still in the same space with you. You've been in the sports world for a long time. Time. How have you seen athletes change? Has interviewing athletes gotten better? Or worse.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It's interesting the. You guys doing this and, and you know, you were straddling the back end of your career. Jason Trav, thankfully. Run it back. I like that. That's great news. Still. Still in it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's do it.

[Scott Van Pelt]

There's a clear understanding among athletes that you own your voice and you are in charge of your voice, and you have agency over yourselves to share that voice the way you want to. And I think it's been great for people to learn about athletes in a different way, Share your lives as much as you're willing to share. Share your lives with the public. And that's tricky, right? You got to pick how much of it. How much do you want to know about your new baby, by the way? I had to say congrats. And I didn't.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thank you.

[Scott Van Pelt]

God bless you. That's awesome. Awesome. But that. That's a tricky thing, and it's. It's up to you to decide how much you want to share it with people, because athletes have a space that, that they control the. Not the narrative, but what it is. The narrative. It's their narrative. It's. It's very different. And you guys joked about it a couple years ago. Jason, you're still playing for Philly, and we. I thought we're going to talk to you, and then you had cramps and they sent somebody else out. And I think I said on Sports Center, I thought we were talking to Kelsey, but I guess he wants to save the content for the podcast. And I, I was just joking. But then you guys, you know, you guys covered it. Yeah, I've had my backs, like, how you gonna blow up svp? Like that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Which you don't ever.

[Jason Kelsey]

You don't ever do that, which you didn't.

[Scott Van Pelt]

But I think what I'm saying is, I think that it is interesting that if you have something impactful and important that you want to say, you want to say it on your platform the way you want to say it.

[Travis Kelsey]

It.

[Scott Van Pelt]

But I do think what I have with. With athletes is a. A trust. I think people respect that. I respect them and know that I'm not trying to, you know, you're not going to get got. Like, it's not what that's about. I'm trying to have a genuine conversation, and I'm interested in. In the things that are related to the competition, and I think I'm good at having conversations that can pull out about the. The emotions and. And the answers that are related to that, that are interesting to me and the audience. I Still think we can have those conversations. Even if you have a lane that you want to be the driver of that content, I get it. So it's different. But I also think it's made guys and men and women more comfortable in talking about themselves in a way that it's maybe less guarded when you do have the conversations that make sense.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sense for sure.

[Scott Van Pelt]

There's just, there's a tonnage of voices and content out there these days. And so I've done it long enough that I don't, I don't meet strangers, if that makes sense. Even if we haven't talked, I've done it long enough that I'm not saying this to being asked, but I mean you probably have some idea who I am and I know who you are. So we're not. Even if we've never talked, we're, we're familiar with each other and hopefully you're familiar with the way I approach things.

[Jason Kelsey]

Absolutely.

[Travis Kelsey]

Always a pros pro. How many. I gotta ask you though, of the four major sports that you typically cover, even though it goes far beyond that, which athletes give you the best post game answers?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I think hockey guys. There's a, there's a sincerity to hockey guys and they fascinate me because I've, I can't skate. I, these guys will play through like a severed limb. What they're willing to go through is beyond my comprehension. Like I get, get, you know, dude's got to take a shot to be available and your availability is your best ability. I appreciate what you guys put through yourselves through rather. But hockey guys just totally fascinate me. Like there's guys whose mouths, their teeth, it looks, look like they ate a grenade and they're still playing like passage.

[Jason Kelsey]

They brag about it.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Right. How do, what are you doing? If that happened to me, I'd be incapacitated for a week and they're like out there for the next chance shift. So there's a, a curiosity I have about them and I, I, I'm not talking about they're like they're zoo animals. Like what are you. But it's a little.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, they are, they are, they're zoo animals.

[Scott Van Pelt]

They're zoo animals. They just, I, I played golf once with, with Oshi and Carlson. A couple of captains here in town had literally, he had literally just had surgery on like a sports hernia a week before and him and Carlson are talking about that moment when you're passing out from the, from the anesthesia about like that, that last couple of seconds and they were Talking about it with joy in their eyes before they go under for surgery. And I'm, I, I, I couldn't get over just how those dudes are wired, man. So I, Hockey guys, Hockey guys fascinate me. Those are the guys I enjoy the most because I have the least understanding of them.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's a whole way they talk too, that's like mesmerizing. The verbiage they use. And there's like half of them are, aren't even Americans, right? They're Canadians or they're from overseas in Russia or whatnot. And there's like, there's slang to it.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And, and everybody's got a nick. You know, everybody's, it's, no one's just Jason or Travis. It's, you know, it's jbo and, and you know, everyone's, you gotta, I'm doing a shitty job of what they're good. Like they call Wayne Greg. Oh, Wayo. That's what me and Steve, every time we bring up Wayo, like this is the greatest player that's ever played. And the Canadian guys talk about skating down the ice side by each. Like side by each. Okay, I get it. You're, you're next to each other. There's, it is, there's a different language. And the boys and the room, the way they talk about the room, I, that's my favorite thing. The, it's the locker room, but the room, the way they talk about it's like a sacred place.

[Travis Kelsey]

Oh yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And you guys know it because you live it. But hockey guys, room, room is a whole other level. And you know, last year I talked to Paul Maurice after they won the, the Florida Panthers won. And he gave the greatest answer. I asked, you know, you've spent your life in pursuit of this thing and now you've done it. And in what way does that change your life? He took this really deep pause and then he gave this sincere thing. He said, I hope it doesn't. I hope I've lived my life in a way where it won't change me. And, and then he says, but next year when we go to camp, I'm gonna skate the hell out of the boys because I got carte blanche. You know, it, it was, it was this real sincere moment. But then right back to the way that he's going to give the boys a hard time. I don't know. Hockey guys, again, I'm being redundant, but they're mind boggling.

[Travis Kelsey]

Different breed, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

No, I'm right with you. And I think anybody who's been in an ice rink or, you know, a hockey locker room. You know, the culture of hockey, especially in the, in the good spots, is, you know, nobody's, nobody's put on a pedestal. Everybody is like, the moment you think you're going to be like a pretentious or like prima donna, you can't surv live in that sport. Right? Like, it's all about doing stuff for your team. We had the Kachuk brothers on their dad, obviously in the league for a number of years. And his one rule, there's two rules, were be a good teammate and work hard. Right? That, and that's like, sums up who these guys are.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Yeah, but that's life. Whoever's listening, the 92 percenters, that's it. Be a good teammate and work hard. But then I'm just trying to imagine what it is to be a guy guy and, and to understand that there's going to come a time when you got to go out there in the ice and you skate up to that dude next to you and you just look at the guy and you go. You want to go?

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And, and you gotta say yeah. And then, and then down, down go the gloves. And like, you want to go. I mean, it's like an invitation. It's like, hey, you want to go get some lunch? And like, no, you want me to punch you in the head? And. But there's an invite, and then you gotta. And if you don't accept that invite, you know, and then even if you can't fight, even if you get mopped, the boys are going to give you a stick tap because, you know, it was your turn to go again. That's, that's not, it's not a space I'm, I'm familiar with.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's so epic.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Steve Levy never once came up to me and asked me to fight. That never. Never happened.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's a, there's a weird thing in like a lot of hockey players eyes where I feel like if you punch most people in the face, they get pissed. Like, they're going to look at you and they're going to, like, there's going to be a look of anger. I feel like if you punch hockey guy in the face, they would smile, which I like. It's almost like this like, weird mentality with some of these sports, like hockey. I think rugby players are similar there. And there's certainly some football players like this where it's like, it's almost like you want to get punched in the face. It's weird.

[Scott Van Pelt]

But I, I've Seen, like, when. When D&DBs and wide receivers get at it, and you grab the. You grab the face mask, and dudes are swinging, swinging. And then it's more like lunchroom. Like. Like, let's separate me, and then let's get mad. We're like, if. But like, you punch John Carlson in the head, and he would be like, come on. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, all you did was light that fuse, buddy. And you're not ready.

[Jason Kelsey]

I wanted.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You're not ready for what's coming.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're not ready pulling us back.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, you guys are getting me fired up for some playoff hockey here.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Hell, yeah. I love it. That time of year is great. Like, postmasters. And I get, like. Then it gets back into a great flow of, you got, you know, one night you follow Stanley cup, the next night you follow, you know, NBA playoffs. And it's just there's. There's a great cadence to this time of the year as we get to the. To the spring.

[Travis Kelsey]

You ain't lying. Now a moment brought to you by American express.

[Jason Kelsey]

What's your favorite type of cuisine? Travis?

[Travis Kelsey]

Cuisine. I'm like an American cuisine kind of guy.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yep, yep, yep. Okay. Are there certain cities that you think the food is better in?

[Travis Kelsey]

New York?

[Jason Kelsey]

Wait a. Be super creative with your answer.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean, Jason, you can get anything you want in the world in New York.

[Jason Kelsey]

I mean, it's good. I'm not gonna lie. New York's very good. I think Philly's got good food, too. Philly's got great food. You know what's a really good food town, especially for anybody born in the Midwest? Chicago.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's right. Like, you know, to check expiration dates before cooking.

[Jason Kelsey]

Like, you know, to, you know, check if you have your keys before closing the door.

[Travis Kelsey]

Like, you know, to check the weather before heading to the beach.

[Jason Kelsey]

That'd be a good idea. Good idea. Like. Like how you have to check if you have your wallet before heading out to dinner sometimes. Sometimes you check to make sure you didn't bring it. It's a vet move.

[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you to Intuit TurboTax for sponsoring today's episode.

[Jason Kelsey]

Hey, Trav. Do you remember when you told people to do their taxes?

[Travis Kelsey]

No, but I can see myself saying that.

[Jason Kelsey]

Well, here's a clip. Why don't we play this for everyone to see?

[Travis Kelsey]

Make sure you do your taxes. Yeah, and we still mean it, because April 15th is coming up fast. You need to get your taxes done by then. So listen, we all know taxes can be complicated, especially when you're trying to handle them yourself.

[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

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[Travis Kelsey]

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[Jason Kelsey]

Now, this is taxes, brought to you by Intuit TurboTax.

[Travis Kelsey]

Now do your taxes. Well, let's keep this cadence and in the show going. We got one last segment for you, big guy. We call this one We Gotta Ask. We close every convo out with a little we got to ask, and you don't have to answer. And you can basically either answer the question or tell me and Jason to go off. First one off the board, what is your greatest personal athletic achievement?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I play a par three tournament every summer at the beach. It's a little course called Bethany. Well, this. This. Yes, we're. I. That's where our family's been for.

[Jason Kelsey]

Sorry, I don't know if we want to disclose this. Yeah, yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Everybody in town knows where we live. Come by and say hi. Look forward to seeing you. It's. It's north of there. There's Dewey beach, and then there's a little town called Lewis, Delaware. And Lewis Delaware has a Par 3 course called the Midway Par 3. Me and my boys have been playing tournament there every year forever. I'm proud to tell you. Last year, your boy won it in a playoff over a guy that actually. Thank you. Thank you. Over a guy who actually Playoff. Actually played well at the University of Maryland. Beat him in a playoff with a birdie. And then I sent a. I'm not trying to name drop or whatever. This is just actually me making fun of what an idiot I am. I sent a picture. I sent a picture to Scotty Scheffler, who has won some tournaments. I'm like, you know what, buddy? You never won this. And it's a picture of me holding up the trophy.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Our buddy runs a bar down there called the Starboard. It's our guy, Monty. And like every year, the winner of this tournament gets put up on this on the. On the. The video board outside the Starboard. And so seeing my. My smiling face, that trophy, that's. That's as good as it's going to get, boys. It's pretty much down here. Hill from there. But I did win in Midway last summer. Defending champ. Actually, you know what? Not defending, because no one can take it away from me. I'm the reigning champ.

[Jason Kelsey]

Reigning champ. Yeah, baby.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Come get a reigning Midway Dingle champion. That's it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Grown this man.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, you tweeted this at the New Heights account. Please elaborate. How close did you or Mark Schlerith come. Come to your pants on air.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Okay, so, all right, let's just say Mark Schlair shout to Stink. My guy. I taught him how to. To tie his tie. And. And like, it should have been a sports commercial. I taught him how to get that great dimple in the middle of his tie. And he. To this day, we. We love laughing about that. But this was. This was a story. Show me a man who says he hasn't shit his pants, I'll show you a liar has. It happened on air. I explained. Mark Schlerith is familiar with it. So there was a day where I was having a rough day, had a little. Had a little bubble. Little gurgle in the belly. A little bad tummy.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And I'm said to stink. Buddy, there's a decent chance that while we're sitting out here, I might shit my pants. And Stink says to me, it's fine, it's fine. You just need to put some leaves in the gutter. I'm like, excuse me, you don't know leaves in the gutter. I'm like, what's leaves in the gutter? It's like you just take a big, giant ball of toilet paper and you ball it up and you put it in your ass crack. And then while you're. And then while you're sitting there, you know, in your boxers, you just. You got. It's basically like a. Like a diaper of sorts.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're just making a.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Because I wasn't gonna Full on my pants. It was going to be just a short kind of a moment. Just that. That. Is this a fart? Oh, it's hot. No, that wasn't a fart fart. And so I had leaves in the gutter. And then that night. This gets better. We were doing. He's there to do analysis on, say, the Thursday night game. For argument's sake, it's the Steelers and the Bengals. I don't remember, but Isaiah, because a lot of what we do are inside jokes. I said, you know, stank tonight. The Steelers defense, man, they. They bought. They really. They. They bottled up that run for the Bengals like leaves in the gut. Gutter and. And stink. Barely can get through the segment because I'm talking about the balled up toilet paper in my butt crack that he share with me. And I'm happy to say I did not need the leaves in the gutter. But, fellas, maybe ladies, when in doubt, if you need to go leaves in the gutter, there's a pro tip from Mark Schlerith to me to you. And that's the story of how Scott Van Pelt almost shit his pants on tv. Wow. I didn't know.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's great.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I didn't know that we were gonna get into that. But that's. That's a true story. There you go.

[Jason Kelsey]

I'm stealing that. Everybody that leaves in the gutter shout out to stank.

[Scott Van Pelt]

It happens. And if you're. If you got a little gurgly belly, you want to make sure that would be a real bad problem if it. If it happened without the leaves in the gutter.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, for sure.

[Travis Kelsey]

What do you watch outside of sports, Scott?

[Scott Van Pelt]

This is a bone of contention with Stanford. Steve. Nothing. I have so many shows I know I'm supposed to watch. He's like, you got to watch. And Steve is a. Is a consumer of content. He is. He's up on all the great shows. And then he says he's like, bro, White Lotus. And then he shows me the White Lotus scene where Goggin's character's talking to the dude about lady boys, and I'm.

[Jason Kelsey]

Like, It's so crazy.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I'm like, this is the show I'm supposed to watch. Like, my man's goggin going through it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

And that, that's a, that's a tough on ramp for a show. If, like, this is. What's this? He's like, oh, it's a resort. Like, what kind of resort is. Is it. So I really, I have, I have three young kids. Maybe this, this is sad, but it's true. I just really love sports. And if I have free time and there's a game on, I find myself watching it, A, because I like it and B, because it's my job to kind of be aware of what's going on. On. And so I largely. I don't think I've watched anything like immersed in it since Breaking Bad. And that hasn't been on the air in years.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, it's been a while.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I'm really, really bad at this because I know what I'm supposed to know, and I can kind of passively my way through a white lotus or a severance conversation. Like, I saw you talking to, to, to Ben about waffles and all this stuff, and I know what it's about, but only vaguely. And that's always bad. It's like if you only speak like a little bit of Spanish and people are talking Spanish and you're just nodding and you're like, biblioteca.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

That shoes. Right. I, I'm that guy that knows like eight words in Spanish. That's what I, that's what I'm able to do when it comes to TV shows. And I always say I'm going to do it, but I'm not going to lie to anybody anymore. I'm probably not going to watch any of this. And that's, that's my own fault, but that's where I'm at.

[Jason Kelsey]

What about TV shows about sports? What about, like, Ted Lasso show?

[Scott Van Pelt]

I was in that. No big deal.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, yeah, there we go.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Now that, that was actually really cool. This is this. And you had Jason on and he broke the news about that, which was cool.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I was told, hey, Jason Sudeikis wants to talk to you. I said, what about? Like, well, he wants. They. They want. They're going to do this show and that. He wants to talk to you about it. I said, well, just tell him I'll just, I'll just do it. Whatever it is. It's fine. It's a cameo. No big deal. No, he really wants to talk to you. Okay. So I end up on the phone with Sudeikis, and we end up talking for, like, an hour about life and how we had. We held a lot of similar views about gratitude and all the stuff I was kind of talking about. Yeah, and what a cool man, what a great dude, what a fun guy to talk to. And he just wanted me. It was really important to him that I understood what this guy was about and then how much they wanted me to be sort of the guy that set the tone in that very first episode with the Sports center thing about this coach that's going to go over, and I'm. I'm like, sure, of course. But what I got out of it was this really, really meaningful conversation with this guy right before this thing became this phenomenon. And so it was really neat because, Jason, you mentioned when you brought me on, it was nice. Like, I've been nominated a lot. I've been nominated, like, eight times for an Emmy. I have never won one. Well, when they won everything, I'm like, hey, man, I was in an episode. Do I get a. Do I get a trophy? Like, how's this work? You told me how important it was for me to be part of it. Like, I was in one. Like, how far down the line of credits do we go? I was kidding. I didn't. I didn't really want one. I'm not that thirsty. But anyway, it was. It was. It was cool that he asked me to be part of that and that he had this sincere want for me to understand what it was about. So, anyway, no, Like, I watched. I did watch Ted Lasso the Wife, and I watched that. I think that's the sweet spot for me. I need something that's about that long that you can kind of watch on demand when, you know, you're not refereeing WWE between the boys in the basement.

[Jason Kelsey]

Do you have a favorite sport to watch?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Whatever is.

[Jason Kelsey]

Whatever's on?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Well, I wouldn't say that. Like, I love college basketball. I love the tournament when the Stanley cup is on. I'm. I'm mesmerized by that. Like, playoff hockey, over time is the most tense thing there is, because at any moment, the game just ends tens. And then when I'm watching that, I'm like, there's nothing that's cooler than this. But then, like, look, college football, you turn it on if it's a big, Big Ten game, a big sec game, whatever. Whatever league, I don't care. But then, like, when we're at Monday Night Football and it's, you know, a couple years ago, when, you know, when Philly came to, to Arrowhead, like it, you knew what, that, that the stakes were high for a regular season night. There was juice that was real. That's hard to fab, hard to manufacture. So I guess what I'm saying is I'm, I'm real, which, whichever way the wind blows, the place that I'm at right now, I'm just, I love that and I love baseball. It's just that it gets, you know, by August and we're dragging, you know, it's, you're just waiting for football to kick at that point. But then when we get to the playoffs, man, playoff baseball is incredibly intense too. So I, I, I'm like you all, man. I, I grew up with it. I love it. And whatever we got tonight, I'm, I'm excited because something will happen that I don't know is going to happen.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yes. Well, one last question for you, big guy. What are your Mount Rushmore of Sports center top 10 plays, the all time.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Greatest plays ever of you, of yours.

[Travis Kelsey]

Put you on the scores that you just. Yeah, yeah, for me. Yeah. Yes.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Things that happened to me. That or things I did on SportsCenter or things I saw.

[Travis Kelsey]

There you go, bro.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Your boys done.

[Jason Kelsey]

Just tell us to off. Just tell us to off. This way. You just tell us to off.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Off.

[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Off. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm old and feeble. This brain is mush. And I've done a lot of shows, man. I, I, you know, I don't know.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's already so many golden stories, man. Thank you for your time, brother. We appreciate you.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Hey, listen, continued success in all things. Boys, you guys, guys, you know it. Yeah. Be grateful for, for what we get to do. I know you guys are and, and do, but I think it's important that people hear that. You know that Edinburgh story I told her, I just, I'm sincere about it, you know, the going to the Masters, being present, being grateful. I just think that's a great sort of place to stay. I try my best. That's. I love, I love what you guys have. I love the bond. I love you guys sharing your lives with people because they're interested and, you know, it's fun to stop in and say hello. So keep doing what you guys are doing.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're the best, brother.

[Jason Kelsey]

Complete honor to have you on. Scott, thank you so much.

[Travis Kelsey]

Thank you.

[Jason Kelsey]

Dude, you're the best.

[Scott Van Pelt]

All right. Fuck. Fuck off.

[Jason Kelsey]

Scott Van Pelt, everyone.

[Travis Kelsey]

Gold, man.

[Jason Kelsey]

How awesome was that, dude? Told you, man.

[Travis Kelsey]

Guy's the best it just felt like we were in the living room and he was just speaking the gospel to us like telling us like the stuff that his father said, said the how. He's still dude, just an all time great dude.

[Jason Kelsey]

He's just an all timer man.

[Travis Kelsey]

Can tell a story like nobody else man. And yeah, I mean leaves in the gutter forever. Let's keep it moving.

[Jason Kelsey]

Let's get to some no dumb questions brought to you by perplexity. That's right. We've spent most so much time on this show looking up answers. We are now sponsored by a search engine. How about that? Shout out to Perplexity. Discover fast and reliable search with perplexity today from M Notam questions. If you could make one of your body parts detachable, which would it be and why?

[Travis Kelsey]

Detachable?

[Jason Kelsey]

It's a very weird question. M. I'll wait for you to answer first. What would I want to be detachable?

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't know. Maybe my ears so I wouldn't have to hear people.

[Jason Kelsey]

That's what I was. I was thinking too. You can right away just like nose, nose.

[Travis Kelsey]

Because I think, I think smell can be.

[Jason Kelsey]

You're going senses.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, I think smells can be a.

[Jason Kelsey]

Little more mayonnaise in the area. You don't want to have to smell that.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'm not trying to smell that. I'm going senses though. I'm going ears or nose.

[Jason Kelsey]

Ears or nose. Ears would be nice. You're trying to get some shut eye. Trying to go to sleep. Just take years off. Yeah, sleep tight.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's real nice. Then you're never waking up. You have to get something that shakes the room or something.

[Jason Kelsey]

All right, I'm just gonna throw it out there. I mean if we're being honest, it usually just gets in the way, Jason. I mean it's an inconvenient appendage at times. I mean, listen, I'm very happy I have one.

[Travis Kelsey]

The ball. Ball, hand, chain.

[Jason Kelsey]

I feel like it's a one. I think, I think it's a one. One. No, there's two different one stop shop. I think it's. I think it's all the same appendage.

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't think that's how it works.

[Jason Kelsey]

You can't. If you could just take it all off, I mean it would just. I mean it would eradicate. I mean it just gets in the way sometimes, you know what I mean? Like if you're running, you gotta think there'd be less friction without that in between your legs. Trying to play sports. Right.

[Travis Kelsey]

Don't think about it. It doesn't bother me at all.

[Jason Kelsey]

And then if, like, you could take. I mean, let's just be honest. If you can detach it, that means you could probably attach an upgraded, you know, I mean, you could go bigger. Assuming it's like a universal connection point. I could attach another one.

[Travis Kelsey]

You're a psychopath, man. I was waiting for you to make it make sense. And yo, you never disappoint. Well, there you go. Go like.

[Jason Kelsey]

Is it like the iPhone charger where they went to all just USB c. Like we're going to one standard connection, whatever thing those are called.

[Travis Kelsey]

They're hilarious.

[Jason Kelsey]

I thought one of the things is we're asking Perplexity these questions.

[Travis Kelsey]

What question would you like me to ask the machine real quick? I'll do it. I'll do it for you, Jason.

[Jason Kelsey]

What is.

[Travis Kelsey]

What is. What is.

[Jason Kelsey]

What is the best body part to make detachable?

[Travis Kelsey]

Okay, we'll see where this goes. What is the best body part to make Appendix?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Boring.

[Travis Kelsey]

Tonsils Boring.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Gallbladder?

[Jason Kelsey]

O. O.

[Travis Kelsey]

Arm?

[Scott Van Pelt]

Hand?

[Travis Kelsey]

Legs? Head.

[Jason Kelsey]

Head. You can make head detachable? That's like. What is that, Futurama where the heads are detachable?

[Travis Kelsey]

Get a new body. Just get a whole new body.

[Jason Kelsey]

Not a bad idea. Yeah, I wouldn't mind that.

[Travis Kelsey]

Okay.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's a great answer.

[Travis Kelsey]

Perplexity, you already. You already mentioned you wanted.

[Jason Kelsey]

Why would I make my dick detachable? I can just make my head detachable and put it on somebody with a bigger dick.

[Travis Kelsey]

Why did you even. Why did you even go to Perplexity? Because he asked me to.

[Scott Van Pelt]

My job is to do what you guys asked me to do.

[Jason Kelsey]

You.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I don't.

[Travis Kelsey]

This is hilarious.

[Scott Van Pelt]

All right, all right.

[Jason Kelsey]

Perplexity wins every time.

[Travis Kelsey]

Can you imagine coat checking your dick? Hilarious. Coat checking your dick is funny.

[Scott Van Pelt]

I'm not gonna need this tonight. Can you hold on to this?

[Jason Kelsey]

What did dad used to say, Fanny pack. You'd lose your dick if it wasn't attached? I think it's what dad used to tell us.

[Travis Kelsey]

He used to tell me that all the time.

[Jason Kelsey]

Maybe that's where I of this immediately. You're right, dad. I don't want it to be detachable because I would definitely. I would lose that.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Jason, you have all knowing me. Your dick would be like in the car, in a sock.

[Travis Kelsey]

That's funny.

[Jason Kelsey]

As my dog would eat it, I'd find it balloons, got it in his mouth. I get Jason Kelce.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Dick is lost in a vat of chili.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, you're Right. We don't want that to be. You need to keep that, John. Yeah. I'm not responsible enough to have a detachable dick.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Jake.

[Travis Kelsey]

Jake.

[Scott Van Pelt]

You're always like, what do I make quote cards?

[Travis Kelsey]

What do I make quote cards? There's your quote card for the week, Jake.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Make that a graphic. Put it out immediately. Jesus Christ. Rap.

[Travis Kelsey]

Let's hit the brackets.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Let's get out of here. God damn it.

[Travis Kelsey]

All right, that does it for no dumb questions. Brought to you by Perplexity. Discover fast and reliable search March with perplexity today. Let's move on to some March Madness challenge updates. That's right. We're. We're all the way to the final four.

[Jason Kelsey]

Oh, where are we sitting? Where are we sitting?

[Travis Kelsey]

First time in a long time. The men's final four is all one seeds. It's only happened one time before from our data.

[Jason Kelsey]

Thanks a lot, Nil. Thanks a lot.

[Travis Kelsey]

You gotta love it. Nice. Auburn, Houston, Duke in Florida for the men's bracket. And let's take a quick look at the leaderboard for the new heights March Madness challenge and a quest for the golden cup. Demetrius Asrat is on top of the leaderboard with Jeremy.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's going to come down to the Houston and Duke matchup.

[Travis Kelsey]

Yeah, that's a good point. I guess that is it.

[Jason Kelsey]

They play this round, right.

[Travis Kelsey]

I think there's a few other things that could go into it too, but yes. Oh, like who else?

[Jason Kelsey]

It's 181. Whoever wins that game is probably gonna. I guess it depends on who their other final four team is and then who. Yeah. All right.

[Travis Kelsey]

I don't know how these. These points work. I think it matters also who wins the other game too and who those two picked but Demetrius. Jeremy, congratulations on getting it to this point. That's pretty damn good.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, somebody's gonna win it.

[Travis Kelsey]

Amy Waldrip is up there. So is Amanda Frias, Casey Qualls, Nicole Winkle.

[Jason Kelsey]

There's nobody's game.

[Travis Kelsey]

I mean everybody's. Everybody's kind of right there. Everybody's kind of right there. So shout out to. To all of them for making it. Making it this far. Yeah. The tie for first and a little five way tie for second. The women's final four is Yukon, ucla, South Carolina and the University of Texas. That's Brandon writing that and me just reading it. 92 percenters. The standings are just two points separate first place and a three way tie for second. Shout out to Nick, Sterling, Adam A and Cody. I'm just gonna say Cody because that's a crazy last name and Katie Plummer. Shout out to Katie. Going into the final weekend, here are our new heights team standings. The men's bracket. Brandon is winning by one point. Surprise, surprise. Jason is dead last.

[Jason Kelsey]

Yeah, I'm out. I'm out.

[Travis Kelsey]

And in the women's bracket, though, Jason, you got me by a point right now.

[Jason Kelsey]

My average height of roster is paying off.

[Travis Kelsey]

You got me by one point.

[Jason Kelsey]

Although I. Yep, I had UConn in South Carolina. Well, we'll see.

[Travis Kelsey]

I'll tell you what, it's. It's gonna be a fun final Four. I'm pumped. Got obviously all the one seeds in the men's bracket, the women's bracket. It is getting real, real, real exciting here. Going into the final Four, I'm just, I'm pumped, man. There's, there's just something about March Madness that just, it keeps me glued to the tv.

[Jason Kelsey]

It's the best. It really is.

[Travis Kelsey]

It's, you know, it great.

[Jason Kelsey]

TV happening, live sports happening all day. We're in the tail end of it where it's only at night now, which kind of sucks. But these are the best games, too.

[Travis Kelsey]

So you know it.

[Jason Kelsey]

Going to be a great week of basketball, baby. That wraps up another episode of New Heights. Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube, the new heights Chann channel and follow New Heights on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to new episodes of New Heights early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Travis Kelsey]

Once again, New Heights, a wonder show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by HBO's the Last of Us, premiering soon here in April. Follow the show on all social Media New HeightShow with 1s for fun clips throughout the week. Thanks to the production and crew for always editing out what we shouldn't say.

[Jason Kelsey]

Jason, there's things we're not supposed to.

[Travis Kelsey]

Say into the 92 percenters. Love you guys. We'll see you next week. Follow New Heights on the Wonder App or wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to New Heights early and ad free, plus enjoy exclusive episodes of the show by joining Wondery plus us in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify today.

[Jason Kelsey]

Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop?

[Scott Van Pelt]

From Wondery and at will media, I'm.

[Jason Kelsey]

Misha Brown and this is the Big Flower Flop.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time. Like Quibi, it's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to, like, get other people to do it.

[Jason Kelsey]

And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Like, if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie. Find out what happens when massive hype.

[Travis Kelsey]

Turns into major theater fiasco.

[Scott Van Pelt]

Enjoy the Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to the Big flop.

[Jason Kelsey]

Early and ad free on Wondery. Plus get started with your free [e-mail] plus.