Pablo Torre Finds Out

Episode: Share & Atone & Tell with Nick Wright and Kevin Wildes

Release date: January 10, 2025
Host: Pablo Torre
Guests: Nick Wright, Kevin Wildes

Episode Overview

This episode launches Pablo's new year with an unruly deep dive into the competitive, anxious, and occasionally absurd inner world of sports media “takes.” Pablo is joined in-studio by Nick Wright and Kevin Wildes—his frenemies from FS1’s First Things First. The group explores what it means to be “smart” in sports media, the addictive rivalries and ego management behind punditry, the fine line between confidence and delusion, and the emotional language of rankings and hot takes. They also invent a collective ritual of “take atonement,” debate the best kind of fame, and reflect on the psychological impacts of public relevance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hair, Rankings, and Insecure Compliments

• The episode opens on a light, self-deprecating note about everyone’s hair and quickly moves into the idea that life—and especially sports media—revolves around rankings.
• Nick Wright: “These people that think they’re too goddamn good to like…for lists and rankings and whatever, that’s what life is. I’m not into people that think they’re too good for what everyone enjoys.” ([01:40])

2. Origins of the Pablo-Nick Rivalry

• Pablo revisits a moment at Kevin Wildes’ holiday party in 2023 where Nick called him “the second smartest person in sports media.”
• Pablo: “[You said] I think you’re the second smartest person in sports media.” ([03:58])
• Nick: “Do I think I am the smartest guy in sports media? Obviously, I think that… if they think there’s someone smarter than them, I would lose respect for them.” ([04:24])

3. Declaring Rivals: The Secret Motivation

• Nick reveals his motivation is outpacing everyone in sports media near his age and creating a running “rivals list.”
• Nick: “Everyone in the media that is within two years of me or younger than me, I must vanquish…right now, rising to the top of the rivals list is Pablo Torre, and he will be vanquished.” ([07:15])

4. Take Atonement: Public Owning of Bad Predictions

• Pablo tries to get the trio to atone for their worst sports takes. Nick resists, joking that it’s “Herculean” to recall so many failed takes, but admits to a few.

• Nick’s atonements:

  • Predicted the Bears (with Caleb Williams) would reach the Super Bowl ([11:06])
  • Picked the Lakers over the Nuggets in last year’s playoffs ([13:11])
  • Misjudged Saquon Barkley’s impact with the Eagles
  • Predicted Derrick Henry would make a difference for the Ravens

• Nick: “The thing about sports predictions is…they’re predictions. As try as I might, can’t flawlessly tell the future.” ([12:06])

• Wildes' “never give up” take:

  • Refuses to fully abandon any favorite quarterback, citing Sam Darnold’s redemption as precedent ([17:41])
  • “I'm never giving up on anybody until they retire…maybe USFL, he can come back with the point.”

• Pablo’s atonement:

  • Forced to give up hope on Ben Simmons after years of support.
  • Pablo: “Ben Simmons is my answer. My take on Ben Simmons was always…like a flying car that doesn’t have brakes.” ([19:31])

5. Language & Craft: Magic Words of Debate

• The group digresses into the loaded vocabulary of sports talk: words that drive heated but entertaining arguments.
  • Wildes’ favorite: “Deserve” – “Does Lamar deserve to be a 10-point favorite?” ([23:25])
  • Pablo adds: Words like “disrespected” and “scary” are irresistible for creating takes.
  • Nick: “Wilds wants more emotion and less analytical responses. Typically that creates the best show.” ([25:21])
• Messiness of debate is celebrated—the ambiguity of words like “valuable” or “greatest” ensures “eternal debates” (e.g., MJ vs. LeBron never ends).

6. Drafting the Best Kind of Fame

• Pablo poses: “Whose fame do you want? The whole world is available. Draft pick.” ([27:22])

  • Pablo’s pick: Mike Trout – highly respected, known by true fans, but largely anonymous to the general public ([28:43])
  • Wildes’ pick: “Sully” Sullenberger – heroic, revered, but not constantly recognized ([29:38])
  • Nick’s evolving pick: Initially dishonest about wanting more fame, then honestly describes craving incremental recognition, then settles on “Daniel Day-Lewis”: wildly famous when he chooses but otherwise anonymous. ([35:25])

• Discussion: The group explores the psychological impacts of fame, agreeing that constant recognition would be exhausting, but moments of acknowledgement—“a great endorphin boost”—are addictive.

7. Confessions: On Fame, Ego, and Growing Up Publicly

• Nick: “My entire adult life, I’ve had tiny, slightly increasing fame…it’s never been weird for me because it’s like watching your kid get taller.” ([34:00])

• Pablo: “Nick and I have been clawing...digging my fingernails into a tree trunk of celebrity.” ([35:20])

• Wildes: Prefers anonymity; thinks his cohosts are “nuts” for seeking validation.

• Nick: “...most people feel they need it [fame]. I’m not saying it’s healthy, but...once you have an element of it, I think most people feel they need it.” ([42:54])

8. Closing Round: What Did We Find Out?

• Pablo: “Nick Wright drafting Daniel Day-Lewis is the perfect answer for a guy who I can’t tell is acting or not. I think you are a method arguer and that is the highest compliment I can pay to you.” ([39:33])

• Wildes: Realizes he misjudged his peers’ need for validation. “The external validation is a little concerning for me. I didn’t have you guys pegged for that.” ([41:05])

• Nick: Confesses to the addictive nature of minor fame and its psychological traps—even relating it to how social media has changed collective psychology.

• Wildes’ story: At the Belmont Stakes, a fan recognizes Nick but not Wildes, humorously illustrating “levels of fame.” ([44:41])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nick Wright, on rivals:
  “Right now, rising to the top of the rivals list is Pablo Torre and he will be vanquished.” ([07:15])

• Kevin Wildes, on word choice:
  “My favorite is deserve. Deserve is one of my favorite words. Does Lamar deserve to be a 10-point favorite?...Deserve, it’s just so good.” ([23:25])

• Pablo, on failed takes:
  “Ben Simmons is my answer...like a flying car that doesn’t have brakes.” ([19:31])

• Nick, on sports predictions:
  “I don’t understand people being embarrassed by incorrect sports predictions...Do I care? Like, what is like? Like, oh, no. This loser’s gonna retweet the thing that I said.” ([13:27])

• On fame, Nick Wright:
  “My entire adult life, I’ve had tiny, slightly increasing fame...it’s like watching your kid get taller. You don’t actually recognize it.” ([34:00])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:40 – Importance of rankings in sports media
• 03:58 – Pablo confronts Nick about backhanded compliment
• 07:15 – Nick details his “rivals list” for sports media
• 11:06 – Nick atones for Bears Super Bowl prediction
• 17:41 – Wildes on never giving up on favorite quarterbacks
• 19:31 – Pablo gives up on Ben Simmons
• 23:25 – The loaded vocabulary of debate: “deserve” and “disrespect”
• 27:22 – Drafting “types” of fame; Mike Trout, Sully, Daniel Day-Lewis
• 34:00 – Nick on growing up with slow-boil fame
• 39:33 – Pablo dubs Nick a “method arguer”
• 41:05 – Wildes comments on his friends’ need for validation
• 44:41 – Wildes’ Belmont Stakes story on being only semi-famous

Overall Tone

The conversation is fast, irreverent, competitive, and meta—frequently poking fun at sports debate tropes while also sincerely reckoning with their own insecurities and ambitions. The banter is dense with genuine camaraderie, competitive needling, and the occasional philosophical aside about the mental costs of chasing relevance in media. It’s as much about ego and performance as it is about sports.

In Summary

This episode serves as both a playful roast of sports media’s quirks and a surprisingly honest group therapy session about ego, failure, and the need for public affirmation. For anyone interested in the psychology behind sports punditry—and how “takes” become a way of life and a metric of self-worth—this is a candid, funny, and insightful listen.