Michigan State HC Tom Izzo, NFL Free Agency, Myles Garrett Re-Signs And Geno Smith Traded, Who's Back And Monday Reading

Summary

Podcast Summary: Pardon My Take - March 10, 2025

Episode Title: Michigan State HC Tom Izzo, NFL Free Agency, Myles Garrett Re-Signs And Geno Smith Traded, Who's Back And Monday Reading

Host: Barstool Sports
Release Date: March 10, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of "Pardon My Take," hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter dive into a myriad of sports topics ranging from NFL free agency moves to college basketball insights. Skipping over advertisements and intros, the hosts jump straight into the action-packed discussions, ensuring listeners are immediately engaged.

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NFL Free Agency

Myles Garrett Re-Signs with Cleveland Browns

Big Cat initiates the conversation by highlighting the significant news of Myles Garrett re-signing with the Cleveland Browns. Garrett's decision to stay is underscored by his hefty contract:

• Big Cat [04:56]: "Miles Garrett is staying put... a $123 million guaranteed four-year deal, averaging $40 million a year. This is the largest contract for a non-quarterback in NFL history."

Commitment to Winning

PFT Commenter praises the Browns' commitment to building a championship-contending team:

• PFT Commenter [05:15]: "The Browns football organization is putting their best foot forward trying to deliver a championship. Paying Garrett a significant amount is step one towards that."

Impact on Other Teams

The hosts discuss how Garrett's re-signing affects other franchises:

• Big Cat [07:12]: "The losers in all of this are the Dallas Cowboys, the Cincinnati Bengals, or anyone trying to trade for an edge rusher who now demands higher salaries."

Geno Smith Traded to Las Vegas Raiders

Transitioning to quarterback movements, Geno Smith's trade to the Raiders is analyzed:

• Big Cat [10:30]: "Geno Smith gets traded to the Raiders for a third-round pick, reuniting with Pete Carroll."

• PFT Commenter [12:33]: "The Raiders now have DK Metcalf and George Pickens, building a high-octane offense with dynamic routes and deep balls."

Josh Allen's Record-Breaking Contract

The conversation shifts to Josh Allen's new contract with the Buffalo Bills:

• PFT Commenter [09:07]: "Josh Allen broke DeSean Watson's record with a $250 million guaranteed contract, the highest ever for an NFL player."

• Big Cat [09:12]: "This move signifies the Bills' investment in their future, though humorously, comments are made about Allen owing money for his next contract."

Other Notable Moves

Quick mentions include:

• Jonathan Allen released by the Giants.
• Devonte Adams joining the Rams.
• Trent Hendrickson's potential trade scenarios.

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NBA Updates

Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James Interaction

A notable segment covers an interaction between Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James:

• Big Cat [31:52]: "LeBron confronted Stephen A. Smith on camera after Stephen criticized Bronny James."

• PFT Commenter [34:54]: "LeBron took umbrage with Stephen A. Smith's remarks, defending his role as a father."

Nikola Jokić's Historic Performance

Jokic's exceptional game is lauded:

• Big Cat [37:18]: "Jokinć had the first-ever 30-20-20 game in the NBA, showcasing his unparalleled skills."

• PFT Commenter [37:43]: "Jokić's ability to score, rebound, and assist seamlessly makes him a perennial MVP favorite."

Hard Knocks and Player Trades

Discussions about potential trades and the "Hard Knocks" show eligibility ensue:

• Big Cat [28:39]: "Teams like the Dolphins, Titans, and Colts may be eligible for 'Hard Knocks' next season."

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College Basketball

March Madness and Conference Tournaments

The hosts reflect on the excitement surrounding March Madness:

• PFT Commenter [41:05]: "Conference tournament week is in full swing, with teams like Auburn vs. Alabama making headlines."

Michigan State’s Remarkable Season

A significant part of the episode is dedicated to an interview with Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo.

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Interview with Coach Tom Izzo

Celebrating the Big Ten Title

Big Cat welcomes Tom Izzo, congratulating him on Michigan State's outstanding season:

• Big Cat [55:24]: "Congrats on the title. Michigan State finished 26-5 after a challenging mid-season slump."

• Tom Izzo [56:20]: "My staff did an unbelievable job. We improved defensively and started making crucial three-pointers."

Team Dynamics and Traditions

Izzo discusses team traditions and player character:

• Big Cat [59:02]: "Trey Holloman stood up by standing on Michigan’s logo, symbolizing team pride."

• Tom Izzo [60:48]: "Our tradition of 'kissing the ass' signifies respect and team unity, continuing a 30-year legacy."

Coaching Philosophy and Challenges

Izzo delves into the pressures of modern coaching:

• Tom Izzo [68:08]: "Administrators sometimes don't understand the nuances of coaching. The transfer portal has changed the game, making it harder to maintain team consistency."

• Big Cat [73:26]: "You dared teams to zone."

• Tom Izzo [73:38]: "We faced challenges against Indiana with their zone defense, but we've learned and improved our execution."

March Madness Preparation

Izzo shares insights on preparing for the NCAA tournament:

• Tom Izzo [80:48]: "Experience matters in March Madness. Our staff's decades of tournament experience give us an edge in quick turnarounds."

Expansion of the Tournament

The discussion touches on potential expansion of March Madness:

• Tom Izzo [81:01]: "Expanding the tournament could dilute the essence of Cinderella runs, but I respect younger coaches advocating for the best interests of basketball."

Final Thoughts

Izzo emphasizes team effort and humility:

• Tom Izzo [83:09]: "We win games through the players' efforts, not just coaching. It's about playing for each other and the name on the front and back of the jersey."

• Big Cat [84:18]: "Thank you, Coach. Appreciate it so much."

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Who's Back of the Week

Skip and Stephen A. Smith Reunite

A highlight of the episode is the reunion of Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith:

• PFT Commenter [48:52]: "Skip and Stephen A. have rejoined forces on Skip’s podcast, a nostalgic moment for longtime fans."

• Big Cat [49:14]: "Their dynamic duo is back, promising fiery debates and entertaining segments."

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Monday Reading: "Am I the Asshole?"

Case Study: The Lunch Dilemma

A humorous and relatable story is dissected:

• Narrative: A construction worker upset that his wife no longer packs his lunches as she used to. He begins receiving gourmet lunches from a neighbor who is training to be a chef, leading to marital tensions.

• Discussion Highlights:

  • The worker's inability to see the neighborly gesture as innocent.
  • The metaphorical implications of neglect in personal relationships.
  • PFT Commenter [86:32]: "It's just lunch, baby. Why don't you get upset if I go to Wendy's during the day?"

• Consensus: Despite initial resistance, the feedback leans towards understanding the neighbor's good intentions and recognizing the husband's oversight in communication.

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Conclusion

This episode of "Pardon My Take" offers a comprehensive dive into the latest NFL free agency movements, a captivating interview with Tom Izzo about Michigan State's triumph, lively NBA discussions, and a humorous take on relationship dynamics through Monday Reading. The hosts maintain their signature blend of insightful analysis and playful banter, making this episode both informative and entertaining for sports enthusiasts.

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Notable Quotes:

• Big Cat [04:56]: "Miles Garrett is staying put... a $123 million guaranteed four-year deal."

• PFT Commenter [05:15]: "The Browns football organization is putting their best foot forward trying to deliver a championship."

• Tom Izzo [56:20]: "We've improved defensively and started making crucial three-pointers."

• PFT Commenter [37:43]: "Jokić's ability to score, rebound, and assist seamlessly makes him a perennial MVP favorite."

• PFT Commenter [48:52]: "Skip and Stephen A. have rejoined forces on Skip’s podcast, a nostalgic moment for longtime fans."

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This detailed summary encapsulates the primary discussions, key insights, and memorable moments from the episode, ensuring both regular listeners and newcomers gain a comprehensive understanding of the episode's content.

Transcript

[Big Cat]

Hey, pardon my take listeners. You can find every episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

Boar's Head.com on today's part of my take, we have our good friend. I can say good friend now because he's been on twice. Coach Tom Izzo Michigan State Huge win on Sunday. A little controversy. Also won the Big Ten title outright regular season. So awesome talking to him. It is March. It is Tom Izzo. We also are going to talk some NFL free agency which is about to open. But we had some huge moves happen over the weekend that we're going to break down. Talk a little college ball, a little NBA who's Back of the week and we have a Monday reading. So let's get to all of it. It's brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. Who's scoring big in the NBA this season. You are with the all new way to get in on the Action DraftKings sportsbook and official sports betting partner the NBA DraftKings is the home of NBA player props so you can get behind your favorite players any which way. From monster slams to dishing the rock to cleaning the glass, it's super easy for first timers to get started. Try betting on something simple like picking an NBA player prop. Here's something special for first timers. New DraftKings customers bet $5. Get $150 in bonus bets instantly. Take it to the rack with DraftKings Sportsbook. Every point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Use code TAKE that's code TAKE for new customers, get $150 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 8778-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for a problem G. 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. Void in Ontario, bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG co Audio. Okay, let's go. Welcome to Pardon My take presented by DraftKings. Take to the rack with DraftKings Sportsbook. Every point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Use code TAKE. That's code TAKE. For new customers. Get $150 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Monday, March 10th, and oh boy, do we have sports. We got a lot of sports.

[PFT Commenter]

It's all happening right now.

[Big Cat]

It's all happening.

[PFT Commenter]

We got the start of the legal tampering window.

[Big Cat]

We got, we got NFL news. We've got conference championship week. We've got NBA drama both on and off the court. We have sports, lot of sports. Let's start with NFL because it is the official league. The, the, the tampering window has opened even though there's been a ton of deals.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, it's interesting because there's a lot of, a lot of guys that are deciding not to test the free agent market.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

And resigning with their teams that they were going to be leaving. But they're doing that before they were legally allowed to be tampered with.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

Which is very interesting. Just point out that is so.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, let's start. Let's start with the NFL. The biggest story I would say is Miles Garrett is staying put. So Miles Garrett, who said, who, who mockingly said because, because his GM Andrew Barry was quoted saying the goal was never to or sorry. He said that we envisioned him going from Cleveland to Canton when his career is over. Talking about Miles Garrett wanting to keep him as a Brown and then Miles Garrett a couple days after that said the goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton. It has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl. He wanted to go to a championship contender. And then there was a material change to the tune of $123 million guaranteed four year deal, averaging 40 million a year. Everybody's got a price.

[PFT Commenter]

I think they, the Browns just show that they are committed to winning.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

The Browns football organization is one that is. They're putting their best foot forward trying to deliver championship. And Miles Garrett said, you know what? Now I believe You I think that we're actually going to do it. And step number one towards committing to a championship is to pay Miles Garrett a shitload of money.

[Big Cat]

$123 million guaranteed. That is a lot of money. It is the largest contract for a non quarterback. It, it just. Listen, we always knew it was always about the price, but this is a good reminder. It's always about the price. It doesn't matter. Anyone could say anything. The money talks. And I think Pete Prisco always says that money over everything, it does not matter. And the money talked here. I do. So he'd signed this contract on Sunday. Max Crosby had the largest non quarterback deal that he signed earlier last week, which was 103 or sorry, 101.5 million guaranteed. Three year, 106.5 million. I think there should be a new rule that if you sign the biggest contract, whether it be a. The biggest quarterback contract, the biggest non quarterback contract, you should get seven days to wear the crown. Myles Garrett should have had to wait.

[PFT Commenter]

Seven days to take that crown away.

[Big Cat]

Max Crosby should have had seven days where he was like, yeah, I had the, I had the largest contract non quarterback contract ever. And then Miles Gary, it was too quick.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like in the. Was that the AFC championship or was that in a regular season game where the Bills kicker and the Chiefs kicker went back and forth breaking each other's records?

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Longest field goal.

[Big Cat]

Give it some breathing.

[PFT Commenter]

15 minutes. Yeah, it would be nice. I mean Max Crosby at one point was the highest non quarterback for about four days. For about four days. And then Miles Garrett took that from him. And miles Garrett is. LeBron could learn a lot from Miles Garrett about how to stay loyal to Cleveland. Yeah, like he decided he, he wanted to check the market out there, maybe go to warmer climate, build a super team. And then he said, you know what? I'm not going to break those kids hearts in Cleveland because they mean something.

[Big Cat]

I want to be here for the city of Cleveland. The losers in all of this, I would say are the Dallas Cowboys, the Cincinnati Bengals or anyone who's trying to trade for an edge rusher and has to pay them because the price has gone up.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Michael Parsons is now going to take that crown.

[Big Cat]

Trey Hendrickson, Jamar Chase, all these guys. The price just keeps going up and up and up. And it does feel like more than ever the better move is to just get the deal done earlier than later. And because the price is just always when you have a guy like this and you can put Micah Parsons in that group and Trey Hendrickson and Jamar Chase. Like I said, the price is always going to go up. The cap has gone up significantly. The price is going to keep going up. And so those. Those teams are looking around, being like, fuck, we just screwed this, because now we have to pay a lot more money.

[PFT Commenter]

I did think that Miles Garrett was going to try to either sit out or force the trade. I didn't think that he was going to come back.

[Big Cat]

I thought it was always going to be the money.

[PFT Commenter]

I was surprised when they announced that he' staying this morning.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Because, well, that also Max is probably in the same boat you guys had. You had thoughts of. Of. Of Miles Garrett wearing your team's uniform.

[PFT Commenter]

Max and I are both losers in this one, too. Although you can make the argument that we're both winners in this one, because part of the reason why we each wanted him was to keep him away from the other team.

[Big Cat]

True. Yeah, I was. No, I had no problem with that news. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So congrats on winning this deal.

[Big Cat]

But if you want to trade for Trey Hendrickson, you got to pay him a lot of money. Now.

[PFT Commenter]

You're gonna have to pay.

[Big Cat]

You have to pay him a lot.

[PFT Commenter]

Of money for sure, but you won't have to give anything up in terms of the trade. So that's kind of nice.

[Big Cat]

Yes, that's true. And then Josh also is going to get. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. And T. Higgins and all of them. Josh Allen just broke Desean Watson's record for most guaranteed money. 250 million guaranteed. The total, I think, was like 330 million on six years, but it's. I think it's five years fully guaranteed. 250 million guaranteed. Biggest guaranteed total given to an NFL player ever. Josh still has not paid us from his second contract that he got, so he owes us 10% of 250 million guarantee with interest. 25 million dollars guaranteed to part of my take.

[Big Cat]

That's a lot of getting excited about Josh Allen. You can buy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it is a lot.

[Big Cat]

But this is. The Bills did it, right? Because the Bills. Josh Allen. I still. I think per year, Dak Prescott is still getting paid more than Josh Allen. But Josh Allen. This was a correction to the fact that, like, hey, he was still under contract for what, four years or something? It wasn't like they needed to give him a new contract. They probably moved some money around, did do the cap shit that everyone. No one understands, but they're like, let's get this done now. Money in hand, and he didn't have to he didn't. You didn't have to pay him more than Dak Prescott per year.

[PFT Commenter]

And also, thank you to the Bills for doing that. Just that we can keep saying, like, Dak Prescott actually is the highest paid player in the NFL. Because that's funny to say.

[Big Cat]

Right. And we also. We threw around the idea and this is a loose idea. We're not going to actually enact it. But if awls want to enact it and maybe tweeted them, we thought maybe we would throw out there that we're going to stop doing the podcast if Josh Allen doesn't pay us the 10% that he said he would pay us. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Because otherwise we're looking like schmucks here.

[Big Cat]

Right. So if people want to tweet him and just be like, hey, you're the fate of pardon my take is in Josh Allen's hands, which are very big hands, by the way. That'd be fine. Yeah, that's totally fine. I'm not going to tell people what to do.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm willing to say that we won't put out a podcast. I'm not willing to not put out the podcast, but I'm willing to say we will say that publicly. We will cease.

[Big Cat]

So that those are big news. Then we had Geno Smith getting traded to the Raiders.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So Geno Smith gets traded to the Raiders for a third round pick. Reunited with Pete Carroll. Felt like the, the. I mean, we knew this from when they gave Geno Smith that new contract a couple years ago. And it was basically, you know, this is the season where everyone, we should put this PSA out there. Don't ever believe whatever the newsbreakers tweet in terms of years and money, because they're just getting that directly from the agent. About 50 minutes later you'll find out what the actual deal is. And Geno Smith, when he signed his new contract with the Seahawks and we found out afterwards that it was essentially like a one year deal. I think that they could cut him.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Every contract at the most is really two years.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So. But. So they were never all the way in on Gino. Gino's all the way in on Geno. Gino thinks he deserves a lot of money, which, I mean, I think he's a pretty good quarterback. You can do a lot worse than Geno Smith. But now he's on the Raiders. Did you hear the rumor that the Raiders initially actually knows. I think it was the Seahawks initially wanted to trade Geno Smith and DK for Max Crosby, which that would have Been crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

That would be a wild trade. Trades like that never happen in the NFL.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. There was also a tweet that someone had from combine week that was on a plane, and he was like, I just watched Pete Carroll walk up to John Schneider. I bet you they're trying to talk about Geno Smith getting traded. And it was like, two weeks ago.

[PFT Commenter]

Trying to spot. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Do the thing where they saw, like, the. The Dallas Mavericks and the Laker. A coffee shop.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Be like, this is the origin.

[Big Cat]

This is the origin.

[PFT Commenter]

When it all went down, I did Pete Carol and Geno Smith. Are we qualifying that as, like, a. A reunion that everybody's wanted to see?

[Big Cat]

I. I mean, it definitely was the. Gino Smith's career was saved by Pete Carroll.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. While Pete Carroll was the head coach.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But it's not like it's Pete Carol's playbook.

[Big Cat]

No. But it was Pete Carroll, you know, calling the shots. And Gino was saved.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I mean, that was. I mean, he was. He was nothing. And then.

[PFT Commenter]

What I like about this, though, is just that the Raiders do have a plan.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Whereas last year it felt like they got into mid summer. They're like, oh, we don't really have, like, a quarterback. We've got two backup quarterbacks.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But now they have one.

[Big Cat]

Now the Seahawks. Do the Seahawks have a play. Seahawks then traded DK Metcalf to the Steelers. Credit to you. Pft. You were talking about it on Friday.

[PFT Commenter]

I just wanted to see it bad.

[Big Cat]

DK and. And George Pickens together is going to be fantastic. What is the Seahawks play? Is the Seahawks plan to get Sam Darnold? Because. Is it crazy to say that I think I would maybe rather have Geno than Sam Darnold? Yeah, probably. Because Sam Darnold's probably gonna cost more right now. I don't know. I don't know what Gino's new contract will be.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I don't know either, but I don't think it's. Yeah, they're.

[Big Cat]

They're kind of the same.

[PFT Commenter]

Kind of the same. Like, say it right now. Sam Darnold, the way that he played last year makes me think I would rather have Sam Darnold for most of the year.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I was gonna say until the end.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Whereas Gino. I feel like Geno from, like, two years ago. That would line up with Sam Donald from last year.

[Big Cat]

Yes, yes. But it's the musical chairs then. And then there was a rumor that Aaron Rodgers. So Aaron Rodgers looks like the Giants. But then there was a rumor that the Vikings could be interested in Aaron Rodgers, which I think we all are rooting for. Well, actually I'm not because I don't want to have to play Aaron Rodgers. But it would be funny just for the far story arc.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, the Brett Favre.

[Big Cat]

But yeah, the. The musical chairs are very interesting right now with Geno going to the Raiders and now another Sam Darnold. Because we thought the Seahawks weren't going to be a Sam Darnold destination. Now it feels like Seahawks, Steelers, possibly. Still, I don't know. Where else would Sam Darnold go?

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know. But if he. I don't know how the Steelers are going to manage the DK Metcalf and the George Pickens situation. I'm excited to see how they do it. That's why I wanted this to happen. It's the funniest possible combination of receivers that you could get. I would almost just say run it back with. With Justin Fields and Russ Wilson and just give one of those guys their own quarterback deep balls to.

[Big Cat]

I mean, they. They are with DK and George Pickens. They're. They're basically building the whole plane out of. Out of just crazy routes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, just crazy.

[Big Cat]

Just fucking run. Just two freaks on the outside. Just run as fast as you can down the field.

[PFT Commenter]

You can't double both the fre. No, you can double one of them.

[Big Cat]

I want it so bad. I want them to. I'm afraid they're going to try to trade. Trade George Pickens also.

[PFT Commenter]

They Both were number 14.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So I'm excited to see how they resolve that one.

[Big Cat]

That's just be a battle royale.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, Sam Darnold wears number 14.

[Big Cat]

Oh, so we could just have maybe like college rules. Everyone wears 14. Also, DK Metcalf, another reminder of which we. You don't even remind people the Miles Garrett. It's always about the money. DK did say he wanted to go somewhere warm. Pittsburgh, not known for its tropical weather.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, that's interesting you brought that up because I looked it up. It is warmer than Seattle.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

On the average. So in terms of weather in Seattle, we got in the. In football months, 67 degrees, 59 degrees, 51 degrees, 46 degrees. In Pittsburgh, it's 78 degrees, 65 degrees, 53 degrees, 43 degrees. So every football month besides December, in the regular season, it's actually warmer in Pittsburgh.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

So he's going to get warm.

[Big Cat]

So he is going to get warm. What are you looking at me? Max, you got to look. Hank, I got nothing. I Didn't mean to give a look all the. All the big. It feels like the. I was reading. I think Albert Brewer had an article. He's. He pulled the league. And the quote was that this free agent class is trash.

[PFT Commenter]

Trash.

[Big Cat]

Because a lot of these guys. Miles Garrett, you know, I mean, I know he wasn't gonna be a free agent, but, like, a lot of these guys are resigning. Like, Ronnie Stanley signed with the Ravens. Obviously, there's been a franchise tag on T. Higgins. There's been a franchise tag on who. Who is. Oh, Trey Smith. Right. So there's. That was what I heard. It was trash. I mean, what wide receivers out there. Devonte Adams now a Ram.

[PFT Commenter]

He's a Ram. He wanted to go someplace warmer too, I think.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I think he said he wanted to play on the West Coast.

[Big Cat]

That also might mean that Aaron Rodgers could be washed it also because devonte Adams wouldn't. You think he would be like, oh, I'm gonna wait to see where Rodgers goes? And he's like, no, I'd actually rather just go with Stafford.

[PFT Commenter]

There's a good chance that Aaron Rodgers just wasn't around his phone this whole weekend. So devonte's like, hey, I'm trying to make my decision. If we could speed this up. And Aaron was in a tree stump somewhere in Portland, Oregon.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that might be. Yeah. They had a little gnome knock up.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Knock on the door, be like, hey, devonte's trying to reach you. He's like, no, it's fine. So go wherever I go.

[PFT Commenter]

Devonte taking over Cooper Cups role.

[Tom Izzo]

I.

[PFT Commenter]

Am I crazy to think that he's going to be pretty good on the Rams.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's going to be very good on.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like that's a great place for him to be.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. No, that. That. That was a. That was a huge signing for the Rams.

[PFT Commenter]

Who are the Chargers going to get?

[Big Cat]

The Chargers. Shane is very upset. The Chargers have a lot of cap space and they don't have anyone. I'm trying to think who else? What other big. Oh, Tommy DeVito resigned. Giants.

[PFT Commenter]

Congrats to the Giants.

[Big Cat]

Zach Bond with the Eagles. That was big, Max. Like, that's the thing is a lot of these guys are staying with their teams and getting paid because I think the problem is the cap goes up. The cap went up significantly. Everyone can afford to keep their guys.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Zach Ertz. Back to the Commanders.

[Big Cat]

Zach Ertz.

[Hank]

Daniel Jones.

[Big Cat]

Daniel Jones. Deciding between Minnesota and Indianapolis and possibly Pittsburgh. Hmm.

[PFT Commenter]

Are you just throwing Pittsburgh in?

[Big Cat]

I just threw Pittsburgh.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like Pittsburgh, they might not know what's going to happen. All they know is that Mike Tomlin. This is actually a little bit different from Mike's normal MO which is to draft insane wide receivers.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

This time he's bringing in a crazy guy from out of town. Like he's outsourcing his craziness. Yes. And dk, again, I don't think dk.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he's crazy on the field.

[PFT Commenter]

He's a live wire. Yeah, yeah, he's a live wire on the field. He's not a crazy guy in the same way that George Pickens is crazy in the same way that Antonio Brown is crazy. But he gets, like, he. He will get thrown out of a couple games.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, there'll be some There.

[Hank]

Wide receiver one, though, like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, no, he's a dog. There will be some significant. There will be some funny moments where both George Pickett's and DK Metcalf are costing them 15 yards on the same drive.

[Hank]

Well, if they have a bad quarterback, that's going to be the problem.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

That's why they should get their own quarterbacks.

[Big Cat]

They should.

[PFT Commenter]

DK's like, Russie, he's my guy. You don't talk to Russie.

[Big Cat]

That's another one where we don't.

[PFT Commenter]

Pickens is like, you don't talk to Jussie. That's my guy.

[Big Cat]

We don't know. Similar to the Pete, Carol, Geno Smith, were Russie and George or DK Metcalf, were they tight?

[PFT Commenter]

I. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they. They had their moments.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

I think DK had enough good games with Rossi where he's like, okay, I can. I can get excited about, you know.

[Big Cat]

What, the situation is fluid.

[Hank]

I don't think they were tight.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think they're tight.

[Hank]

I think Russell Wilson, like, not talk to the team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't think anyone probably was tight with Russell Wilson, but the situation is fluid. You don't know. He might have been humbled when he had to take the a team friendly deal in Pittsburgh because the Broncos are still paying him like, a billion dollars.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I don't.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I think Hank's right. Nobody. Nobody's really that close with Russell Wilson. So I'd say probably he's happy. Like he was happy when he was getting thrown the ball in Seattle.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He had some monster games with Russell.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, what. What other big moves are we waiting for? I mean, there's. I'm excited. There's going to be. Who who's out there though, still? Because, oh, Aaron Jones got resigned in Minnesota. Yeah. We're looking at a Chiefs resigned. Nick Bolton, that was another big free agent guy that people thought was going to get some. A lot of money. Patriots. Harold Landry.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good signing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, there's. There's not like what's. Who's going to be the biggest name that goes on Monday because it will happen pretty quickly. Right. I know the Bears are Godwin, maybe get Khalil Mack back and Dahlman center, which would be awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Godwin. I feel.

[Big Cat]

Oh, God was a good. Probably goes back.

[PFT Commenter]

Probably.

[Big Cat]

I want. I want the Bears to get Khalil Mack. I would. I would very much like that on a deal. That makes sense. But the cap went up. Cap went up. I. This is why I'd be such a terrible. Well, there's a million reasons why I'd be a terrible gm, but if you give me more cap, I'm spending all of it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you don't right away keep it.

[Big Cat]

I'm also. I'm also just assuming the cap will always go up like that. That's. That. That would be a very bad assumption on my part, but I would do that. All right, you got it. So Sam Darnold's the biggest name. Josh. Josh Sweat, a big name. And then Milt Williams. So a couple Eagles. And then. Yeah. Drew Dahlman, who I think the Bears hopefully will sign, which would be nice because then they'd have their interior of offensive lines set. Yeah. Look, a lot of these guys have already resigned with their teams.

[PFT Commenter]

I expect Godwin to go back. I feel like he'll be. He'll be in Tampa again next year, but if not that, that is the guy that the Chargers should get.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Tevin Jenkins is going to be good somewhere because he's going to stay healthy. And I'm like, fuck, that's going to happen. What are the. What. What are the commanders going to do now that they lost out on Miles Garrett. Trey Hendrickson.

[PFT Commenter]

I think Trey Hendrickson. I think that's what we're looking at.

[Big Cat]

Me a spicy meatball.

[PFT Commenter]

Very spicy meatball.

[Big Cat]

Very spicy meatball.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm excited. So I don't think you can announce. You can't announce the signings until Wednesday. Correct.

[Big Cat]

Wait, I thought Trey Hendrickson still had a year left. Does he not? I'm pretty sure you'd have to trade for him still. I thought he had a. I thought he had. I thought he just wants new money.

[PFT Commenter]

And they're not going to pay him.

[Big Cat]

Let's See, he is an un. Yeah. Yeah. He's got. He's got one more year.

[PFT Commenter]

One year left.

[Big Cat]

So he. So, yeah, so they're going to. They would have to trade for him.

[PFT Commenter]

Probably not the same price tag that you'd pay for Miles Garrett, though, right? Because Miles had. I feel like he had more years left.

[Big Cat]

He's gonna.

[PFT Commenter]

They're probably gonna. They'll give him a new deal no matter what.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, He'll. He'll. He'll get a new deal wherever he go. Wherever he goes. But to trade for him, you'd have to. It'd have to be a second at the minimum. Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's see. The Cincinnati Bengals aren't eager to pay edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. The Commanders are positioned well to trade for the star.

[Big Cat]

What is it saying? It's. It's. It might be your first rounder, right? Could be, because it is picking at the bottom of the draft. Have you. Have you thought about that?

[PFT Commenter]

No, I haven't. So we're in Indy. It was funny because we're in Indy, and I was saying to somebody, like, there's just not that much buzz around the draft this year. I feel like it's not as much juice as it normally is. And then this person was like, well, dude, when. When was the last time you picked in the 20s in the draft? I was like, oh, yeah, that's a great point. Like, if it's not your team that's active in it, you're like, oh, not kind of. Kind of a dull draft season this time around.

[Big Cat]

Right, Right. I'm excited, though. I'm juiced a lot of teams, getting some new players. Oh, yeah. You guys. You guys released Jonathan Allen, right?

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, we tried to find.

[Big Cat]

How'd you feel about that?

[PFT Commenter]

So Jonathan Allen. I. I like Jonathan Allen a lot. He played on some really shitty teams, and he played very well on some really shitty teams. And he had that famous quote last season where he was like, I'm sick of this. I'm just sick of this. This sucks. This. And I was like, God damn it. He's right. He's right. And if he wants to get traded, like, I wish him the best, but he just wasn't worth it to bring back next year. And so I hope he finds a good place. I feel like we could have traded him somewhere for, like, not a lot of compensation. And we said, you know what? We're going to set you free.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Find your own spot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You're a good player.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Memes. Did I see a Rumor that the jets might think about doing Justin Fields. You did see that? They're very interested. Strong interest. And are you interested in. Yeah, it'd be good to have a mobile quarterback for once. Okay, that's. You always say. You memes saying mobile. Mobile is insane. You say it every time. And I had. I had to address it.

[PFT Commenter]

And so you're saying, thank you for addressing that. It would just be interesting to see a quarterback run around a little bit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. There were moments last year where you're just like, the yards are right in front of Aaron.

[PFT Commenter]

Just run.

[Big Cat]

And he couldn't run because he's old as. So you put Justin Fields in that scenario.

[PFT Commenter]

He gets those yards. Yep.

[Big Cat]

Memes, let me ask you this. You produce this show called Pardon My Take.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You were probably one of the people, if not the person who edited the majority of the roller coaster of my experience with Justin Fields. Do you not. Does that not give you a sense of like, oh, this is bad. Young quarterback. Like, you had a front row seat. You. You not only watched it in real time, but then you would go to your computer and have to edit it and watch it back and then post it. Yeah, but we're in Chicago. Got to watch a lot of Bears games and. And that Atlanta Falcons game when the entire stadium's just cheering, Justin Fields. Justin Fields. He was a stud.

[PFT Commenter]

Means he has those games where he is a stud. I want you to be honest with me. How many times have you said the words justin Fields is ass? Oh, I think it's probably a lot.

[Big Cat]

No, not that many. He was good at times. When he would break out for one of those runs, you would just be like, oh, my God.

[PFT Commenter]

I know. But me, you are the. You are the biggest hater in the world. And you especially hate our quarterbacks when they play poorly. You're the first guy to be like, that's his ass.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. He also didn't have an offensive line there. All right, let me ask. Let me ask.

[PFT Commenter]

It's wild, the justifications you're making for him.

[Big Cat]

Like, that's.

[PFT Commenter]

That's verbatim. What?

[Big Cat]

Big cat, I'm telling you, I'm you and you. Let me ask a different way. Max. Hank. You guys also producers of Pardon My Take? Hank. More of a co host. Shout out. Cass, you guys saw it. Front row. Would you want Justin Fields on your team?

[Hank]

God, no.

[Big Cat]

Me, no memes. Maybe, like, what option? I like Justin Fields. The guy, awesome guy. But he's. You can't be like, this is our plan.

[Hank]

But what would the Plan Sam Darnold.

[Big Cat]

But everyone's saying Sam Darnold. Not everyone. Rogers.

[Hank]

Daniel Jones.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I would rather have Justin.

[Big Cat]

Fields and bringing back Aaron Rodgers. You're wrong. It actually wouldn't be the worst idea. What? Now hear me out.

[PFT Commenter]

He's faster.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What if the jets signed Aaron Rodgers and it was kind of like a, you know, you got divorced, you moved out, and then you started dating again. Like, oh, man, I really like this person.

[PFT Commenter]

If you love something, set it free.

[Hank]

McAvoy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What? Why not? Memes. But what if Justin Fields has that redemption arc like Sam Darnold did with the jets, and then we go, but it's the Jets. Your team sucks too, Hank.

[Hank]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a fair point.

[Big Cat]

Also, could be a good rebuilding quarterback. Could be a bridge quarterback. Like, could be. Could be a good enough quarterback to be bad next year to get a good quarterback.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, this is. This is where we start to look at the most impactful free agent being Jameis Winston.

[Big Cat]

Yes. Well, James, his name out there. He'd be awesome in Seattle.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he would.

[Big Cat]

He'd be awesome in Pittsburgh. He doesn't get enough in, like, in person meetings. Do you think Jameis throwing to DK and George Pickens, that would be.

[PFT Commenter]

This is.

[Big Cat]

All right, so if James Winston went to. To the Pittsburgh Steelers, I'm going to make an executive decision right now, and you guys have no choice but to follow along. But you could also tell me I'm crazy. If Jameis Winston is quarterbacking for the Pittsburgh Steelers and DK Metcalf and George Pickens are on the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing every game in the middle TV next year. Yeah, like, that's with sound. Every single game.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm down. Jameis Winston is the antidote to the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive struggles. Whatever disease they have in Pittsburgh for the last, what, six years?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Seven years. You get Jameis in there with DK and George Pickens throwing. Go balls. It's a different team. God, the vibes are different. Also, Hard Knocks. Can we please get Hard Knocks in Pittsburgh?

[Tom Izzo]

Do it.

[Big Cat]

They made the playoffs. Fuck, yeah. Stupid Hard Knocks rules.

[PFT Commenter]

So who's eligible for Hard Knocks right now?

[Big Cat]

It's teams that did not make the playoffs and don't have a first year head coach.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so that would be the Dallas Cowboys. First your head coach.

[Big Cat]

Seahawks.

[PFT Commenter]

Seahawks. The Giants.

[Big Cat]

This is some good.

[PFT Commenter]

Giants will definitely not let them do.

[Big Cat]

Titans.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Titans would be eligible. Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

Colts.

[Big Cat]

Colts will be eligible. This is some good podcast. Cardinals right now. Dolphins. I Feel like they might.

[PFT Commenter]

Dolphins might do it. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Cardinals are up there. Yeah. 49ers. That would be a fun, like, redemption arc. Bengals. Bengals would actually be. If they. If they go into the year with all these guys not under contract. Trey Henderson doesn't get traded, and, like, I feel like they would do the Bengals.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

I. I think the Dolphins, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Guessing hard knock.

[PFT Commenter]

I completely forgot.

[Big Cat]

Do we miss football playoffs?

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, we do. We do. Very deeply.

[Big Cat]

I told you guys the other day it was a moment of weakness. But we were talking about. I think we were talking about the weather and, like, you know, the calendar year. And I said that I just need. What? March Madness is one of my favorite times of year. And then as soon as March Madness ends, it's like, it's almost football.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That's how my brain works.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, because March Madness, I'm like, well.

[Big Cat]

Summer'S in front of us, and then it's football.

[PFT Commenter]

Here's how it goes. March Madness ends. Then there's the Masters, which means that it's getting warm.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And then after the Masters, you got the draft, which is football season.

[Big Cat]

Pretty much. My. My entire point was that I love life in the calendar year from March 1st till the end of the Super Bowl.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So it's pretty much from the end of the Super bowl till March 1st. I'm like, this fucking sucks.

[PFT Commenter]

February, life sucks.

[Big Cat]

And then you get through it, and you're like, we got everything in front of us. We got summer in front of us. And then football.

[PFT Commenter]

I think football season starts after the draft because then you got rookie minicamps. You got OTAs.

[Big Cat]

True.

[PFT Commenter]

You got some other stuff going on. You got piss tests.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay. We're going to talk some other sports real quick, but before we do that, no Bull, if you're going to work out, you've got to try out no Bull footwear. Best shoes, the most comfortable for both in the gym and on the go. We love no Bull. We love the shoes. Shoes are super, super comfortable. Hank, your boy has invested heavily. Tom Brady. So no Bull is an awesome athletic wear. Awesome shoes. Our friend Mike Rapole. So go check it out right now. The shoes are super, super comfortable. We wear them all the time. And they look good, too. So exclusively for pardon my take listeners, no Bull is offering 30% off your order. Visit no bullproject.compmt for 30% off. Your entire order is a great deal. You get some new shoes, get some new gear. 30% off. That's www.n o b u l l project p, r, o, j e c t.com backslash pmt for 30% off. No bull. Project.com backslash pmt For 30% off. Do it now and get some awesome gear. Okay. Other sports. Should we talk about Stephen Avers LeBron?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So on Thursday night, Elite Stephen a. Smith and LeBron had a little do to do after the Lakers game.

[Hank]

In the middle of the game.

[Big Cat]

I was in the middle of the game. Larry David sitting right there, which is very funny, was literally just a curb your enthusiasm episode. LeBron went up to Stephen A. Smith. It was caught on camera. Stephen A. Smith would never have talked about it publicly if it had not gone viral.

[PFT Commenter]

It was just too viral. Stephen A. Smith would never talk about his interaction with another player. He would never mention anything of the sort. But the fact that he. He basically was forced to talk about it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

By LeBron getting him his face.

[Hank]

And then why did LeBron go up to him?

[PFT Commenter]

I went up to him because he had some. He had. He took some umbrage.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

LeBron took umbrage with Stephen A. Smith's remarks regarding Bronny James.

[Big Cat]

Yes. He went up to him as a father, not a basketball player. Stephen A. Smith was like, you should have just made contact with me in a private meeting. I actually have no problem with LeBron doing this, just because I do actually think that, like, LeBron is. Is LeBron James a better father than he is? Basketball player?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I think. Didn't we determine that on Friday?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

The fact that he got Bronnie drafted.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

No basketball player has ever done that before.

[Big Cat]

But I do think he went up to him. Like, Stephen A. Smith played the role afterwards. He got in his very serious tone and was like, he came up to me as a father. But I think the. The issue LeBron had was when Stephen A. Smith, a couple months ago was pleading with LeBron James as a father. Stop this. When you say as a father, I think that's where it becomes a little bit more direct. A direct shot. And LeBron, like, he grew up without a dad. He. I think he. He takes being a father very seriously. Obviously, you have to talk about Bronnie, and you can say like, hey, Bronnie shouldn't be in the NBA. This is crazy. But saying LeBron James as a father. Stop this. That probably pissed LeBron off. And I would understand LeBron being like, hey, don't do that.

[PFT Commenter]

Stephen A. Smith saying that, like, LeBron James is not being a good dad.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Essentially by getting. When I think he's actually being the Best dad ever by getting his son an NBA contract that he shouldn't be getting.

[Big Cat]

Correct. So, like, in a weird way, I do think the whole situation, and I've maintained this, Bronnie is the big loser in this. Ronnie's not a loser, but he's the big loser in this. And the fact that he's been put in a situation where he's talked about in this way and, like, Stephen A. Smith is going on First Take and talking about LeBron as a father, that sucks. This. This probably sucks for him. He probably wishes in a. In a weird alternate world that he could be on an NBA roster that isn't with his dad on it and people talking about him as a player and not him as LeBron's side project.

[PFT Commenter]

The only way for LeBron to win this interaction is if he use it. He flexes the remainder of his muscle in the NBA and he says, fuck it. We're drafting Stephen A. Smith.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And I'm gonna. I'm gonna force Stephen A. To get some minutes in the NBA and just watch him get swatted into oblivion.

[Big Cat]

That's a great idea.

[PFT Commenter]

How awesome would that be?

[Big Cat]

That's a great LeBron.

[PFT Commenter]

If you want to get back at him, this is the best way to do it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but I, I. Hank, did you have a problem with LeBron doing it? No.

[Hank]

And Bronnie's been playing good in the D league, but it's also LeBron, like, the one everyone was.

[Big Cat]

That's. LeBron's gonna come up to you and talk to you about that.

[Hank]

Everyone resurfaced a tweet of LeBron from last year, which is just him. Lightweight Hilarious is funny, but he was like, yeah, I'm watching league pass, and Bronnie's better than a lot of these cats. It's lightweight hilarious.

[Big Cat]

That was a bad tweet. Bad tweet.

[PFT Commenter]

But also, as a father, again, I get it, right? Like, as a dad, he's like, my son's better than these guys.

[Big Cat]

Like, I. If LeBron had gone up to Stephen A. Smith and said, do not talk about my son, I would 100% be on Stephen A. Smith's side. Being like, that's ridiculous. Your son is in the NBA. He has to be talked about. Does he get talked about more than every other rookie by a long shot? Because he's LeBron James Jr? But I think the father part, like, if Stephen A. Smith calls him out as a father, I think LeBron has every right to be like, dude, don't do that.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it's kind of fair play for both sides.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I don't think even has. Does he have kids?

[Big Cat]

Oh, he might have a kid.

[PFT Commenter]

Stephen A. Fucking.

[Big Cat]

He might have a kid.

[PFT Commenter]

No, Stephen A. Has his. His boys swim. Yeah. He's a confirmed sex haver. But I. I think it's fine for Stephen. He's been like, LeBron, you got your son drafted to be on your team, probably shouldn't be in the league. He's not that great.

[Hank]

He's not really playing on it.

[Big Cat]

He's. He's.

[Hank]

He's is playing in the G League still.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Still a great dad move. But also part of what goes with that.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

You. You should have at some point thought Stephen A. Smith is going to have some thoughts.

[Big Cat]

Right. The scrutiny's fair until you say you're. Stop this as a father. That's where it's like, hey, dude, what are you talking about? He's a pretty fucking good dad. Yeah. Defending. I'm defending LeBron again.

[PFT Commenter]

I think Stephen A. Smith was like, you're. You're forcing me to talk about your son.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Not a good father move.

[Hank]

I also don't think it was very funny timing, but I. From what I looked into, it was taped before, but it came out on Friday that Skip and Stephen A. Are reunited.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

My. Who's back of the week.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And also Skip is in. In a doo to do with kd because he said. Skip said that Kevin Durant is. Looks like he's semi retired. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He said. Well, then Katie came back at him and said, we're both washed, Skip.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay. We also had Jokic have the first ever 30, 20, 20.

[PFT Commenter]

Just insane.

[Big Cat]

Insane. It's crazy. It was overtime, but it doesn't matter. He's so good.

[PFT Commenter]

It looked so easy for him out there, too. Everything was in slow motion. He was doing the crazy passes where only he knows where the ball is going to go.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And he knows it like, two passes in advance, and he still doesn't look like he's really enjoying himself that much. And then after the game, do you see? SVP got the exclusive interview with. With Joker.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

And SVP was like, all of us, he was pumped because we've never seen that before. And it was such a great game. It was so fun to watch. After the game, he's like, I know you don't really get amped up, Jokic, but is there a part of you that's like, this was really fun out there. This is amazing. I can't believe I did that. And then Jokic his response was, you know, I go out to try to play basketball. Like, he did not give a fuck. He was like, I wish I had been with Horse instead. He did not give a fuck that he just dropped 30, 20 and 20 face. The league does not care. But that's what makes me love Jokic so much.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And he. We have a real MVP debate going with him in sga. It's. People are. People are choosing sides and diminishing. We. We on this show would never diminish anyone in. In any kind of postseason award debate. That's crazy. But it's a good debate. It's have. We're having it. And it's. It's a classic voter fatigue versus, you know, best team in the league. Okc. I think it's going to be in the debate.

[PFT Commenter]

It's going to be sga. I think.

[Big Cat]

I think so too. But.

[PFT Commenter]

But if I had a vote, you go to Jokic.

[Big Cat]

I. I would vote for Jokic, too.

[PFT Commenter]

Probably every year until he retires.

[Big Cat]

He's so fucking good. He's so goddamn good. And he basically just. He runs everything. He runs the. He's the point guard, he's the center. He's everything. Okay. College basketball. It's March. Do we have any thoughts from this weekend? I saw NC State fired their coach off of a Final Four appearance. Everyone was like, how can you do this? Maybe because it was the flukiest Final Four. No, I mean, it was an incredible run. Nothing to take away from NC State, but if Virginia had fouled up three in the ACC tournament, he would have been fired last year.

[PFT Commenter]

It's still kind of weird, still kind of shocking that after a team goes on that run, they fire the coach. Yeah, but like, fans don't care.

[Big Cat]

No fans.

[PFT Commenter]

We. We forget about that within a month.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Very quick. Also, we had Cal drop some bars. I don't know if you saw. He said everyone put us in a coffin. They forgot the nails. I like that one. I like that one a lot. The Omaha St. Thomas game, they're not scoring points. They just have started the second half and they're not scoring points. Sorry.

[PFT Commenter]

This be how many in a row?

[Big Cat]

16. We had the craziest win ever on. On Saturday for the Kentucky Missouri. I was at. I was at a birthday party. Climb zone. I had all the dads huddled around an iPad getting. They were like. It trickled around Climb zone. That like the fifth. The 14 man was in the building trying to go 15 and. Oh. And it was like a whole scene of people just being like, oh shit, is it going to happen?

[Hank]

How did the wives feel about it?

[Big Cat]

My wife wasn't there, so she didn't know, so that was good.

[Hank]

Listen, were there any wives huddled around in the.

[Big Cat]

No, there were not a six year old birthday party. Anyone could, any parent could back me up here. When you go to a birthday party, it's, it's. You just let your kid go. They just had the fucking time of their life. It was an arcade, climb zone, laser tag. They were having the best time ever. They didn't even know it. Like, kids go to birthday parties and they're just like, see ya. Yeah, they fucking love it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. What percentage of kids birthday parties at a trampoline park end with everybody uninjured? 100% health.

[Big Cat]

I don't know about uninjured, but there's always tears. Yeah, we survive without tear, which it would have been my tears if that over didn't hit. But we survive without tears.

[PFT Commenter]

That's good.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And it's March. We're conference tournament week.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, the Auburn Alabama game is awesome. That was such a fun game to watch.

[Big Cat]

Huge win for Alabama. Nate Oates was, was, was riling up.

[PFT Commenter]

The crowd himself a little bit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Auburn fans were getting upset about that. I mean, Bruce Pearl does do semantics as well. It's fair on both sides.

[PFT Commenter]

There was some litter that was thrown.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, they were thrown.

[PFT Commenter]

So I think University of Tennessee fans broke in to the, the arena and they threw trash.

[Big Cat]

Yes. But it's, it's the best March. And I, I also. The Badgers had the worst loss ever. I, I'm, I've downgraded my expectations.

[Hank]

That's a shame.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

No thanks, Hank. I've downgraded my experience.

[PFT Commenter]

They'll be back.

[Big Cat]

It's bad.

[PFT Commenter]

You're going a little run into the conference tournament. They'll be back.

[Hank]

Nah, I had a moment during the Duke UNC game and, and I've talked about, you know, not caring as much about Duke over the years and obviously it started, started with Caleb back in the day, but they did the celebrities in the crowd during that game and it was Belichick first and then Drake May. And I was like, yeah, yeah. And I.

[Big Cat]

You know, you think they.

[PFT Commenter]

You think they talk to each other?

[Hank]

Definitely.

[Big Cat]

You think so? Yeah.

[Hank]

Belich, I mean, spending time with Gruden, it's a insight into a true football guy's mind, which Belichick is as well. Like they're just talking X's nose, you know that he's just there. Like he could talk to any Football player and just talk about their film or whatever it may be. You know, Belichick's watching Drake. Maybe you know that he doesn't take his personal feelings with the Patriots when he's talking to a player. Like they just. They can just talk ball.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And that goes for any football player with any coach ever.

[PFT Commenter]

Without. Without Belichick, Drake may. Would not be there.

[Big Cat]

True.

[PFT Commenter]

Just.

[Big Cat]

That's a good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you feel like. Were you. Were you rubbing it in like any UNC fans faces? Do you get pleasure out of beating them in a down year?

[Hank]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

No, no.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. UNC is in trouble. UNC's in a lot of trouble. It was a good game. They fought hard.

[Hank]

Yeah. For a second.

[Big Cat]

Douche is really, really good. Okay. Anything else?

[Hank]

People were giving online. I saw there was a clip of a UNC fan crying in the stands after. And they caught her mouth saying at least they tried really hard.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I saw that.

[Hank]

And people were giving her, which I don't.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, what was that?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. Max is finding something.

[PFT Commenter]

Max is pulling up a picture of a chick in a bikini.

[Big Cat]

Wrong. Tap holding load in 4k. Max. Wrong. I was trying addiction baddie.

[PFT Commenter]

I was.

[Big Cat]

I was trying to. The video that they were talking about accidentally. I accidentally put up Twitch instead of Twitter because it's.

[PFT Commenter]

It's X.

[Big Cat]

The everything happens all happening on X. Action. Baddie Addiction baddie.

[PFT Commenter]

And this was just the first picture that came up. That's an interesting picture.

[Big Cat]

On a boat. Wow. Good job, Max. Now I'm just not going to find the video. Well, you got to put that into the show. You got to put addiction baddie into the show for the. For the. For the viewers.

[PFT Commenter]

She is on a boat, isn't she?

[Big Cat]

Please subscribe to the YouTube.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah, well, I will add a diction.

[Big Cat]

Baddie to the show. Shout out everyone who punched a ticket to the dance. Drake, big win. They deserved it to be in anyway. High point.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

I think Lipscomb got in. This is the best time of year. It's going to be. It's conference tournament week, so we'll have someone on to talk some conference attorney week. Maybe our friend Stanford Steve. But yeah, I love this. I love these two weeks.

[PFT Commenter]

Sunbelt finals are semifinals on right now. JMU looks like they're probably going to lose Detroit. A lot of time left.

[Big Cat]

A lot of time left.

[PFT Commenter]

Don't feel. Don't feel great about the spot I'm in right now.

[Big Cat]

Same.

[PFT Commenter]

You remember last year, though?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That was fun.

[PFT Commenter]

So fun.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. So bad I need points. You haven't. Have you been betting or fading? Nothing. Nothing. Do we believe him, Max? We believe him. He's. I've. I've heard from. I. Jerry was Jersey Jerry thought he was breaking news to me. He was like. I was playing Call of Duty with Hank the other night and he was like, PJ2K. Oh, it was two PGA2K. He's like, I can't wait to fade Big cat. And in conference tournament in the tournament. And he thought. He was like telling me. I was like, dude. He's literally said it to my face like seven times. And it hurts every time because I know he's probably right and he's gonna have like the best tournament ever. But so. So it goes. So it goes.

[Hank]

Maybe not. I mean, that. That one Saturday was.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, God. God touched me. Yeah, God.

[Hank]

Something else.

[Big Cat]

God was on my side. God was on my side. We'll see. We'll see how this game is dead. Is. I'm dead. All right, let's do who's back of the week. Who's back of the week is brought to you by Truly Truly Unruly is the first high ABV hard seltzer that actually tastes good. Truly Unruly is a hard seltzer that breaks all the rules, drinks light, parties hard with 8% ABV. It hits hard, but still tastes amazing. It's the official hard seltzer. Pardon my take. Find Truly Unruly at a store near you or visit trulyhardseltzer.com it is. It was 60 degrees in Chicago today. We had the. The clocks change. We got some light late, you know, in the afternoon. It's about to be golf season. It's about to be beach season. It's about to be backyard barbecue season. It's about to be truly. Seasons about to be truly. We're going to get unruly this summer. So find Truly Unruly to store near you or Visit truly hard Seltzer.com all right, who's back of the week? Hank?

[Hank]

Yeah, My first one was shorts. Another treacherous winner of Chicago survived. There was like two cold weeks. Now it's 60 degrees again. So all the people that you know said Chicago's gonna be so tough, the winners are so bad.

[PFT Commenter]

There has been snow in April here.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we're gonna probably get a couple more just like shitty days that are gonna be tossed in there. Some false. We're just gonna get some. We're gonna get like a 30 degree day out of nowhere.

[PFT Commenter]

We got mid-60s this week.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

All you need is A couple Nice. Like, today was really nice. Tomorrow's gonna be really nice.

[Big Cat]

The clock's changing.

[Hank]

Clocks change like the. The end is near. Summer is here.

[PFT Commenter]

It's gonna be 63 on. On Saturday for the St. Patrick's Day celebration.

[Big Cat]

That's pretty good. Dangerous, either.

[Hank]

Who's back Was the Celtics as a national. I mean, NBA championship favorite?

[Big Cat]

Is LeBron hurt or is he just.

[Hank]

I need LeBron.

[Big Cat]

I need some.

[Hank]

If they won that game, he might not be hurt.

[Big Cat]

I need two weeks before the playoff stretch. It's.

[Hank]

I need two weeks before the playoff stretch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Take some time off the Lakers.

[Hank]

The Lakers were scaring me.

[Tom Izzo]

They've been.

[Hank]

You know, they won eight straight. They were playing really well, and it. You know, the conspiracy of how does Luca end up in la? The NBA needs a Celtics, Lakers, NBA Finals for ratings.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Hank]

I hope that happens.

[PFT Commenter]

I do too.

[Hank]

I hope that happens. The Celtics love Luca. They love hating Luca. They love DNM up and showing the world that he's not as good as, you know, people says he is. Showed it again last night. Al Horford, 40 plus. Maybe not 40 plus, but he's so old. Dn up. LeBron. Dean up Luca. It was just a beautiful sight to see. And with no Porzingis.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he had Luca locked up pretty good on a couple things. I saw where Luca was just traveling all over the gym. He was taking, like, seven steps, and.

[Big Cat]

He got kneed in the face on that Al Horford dunk.

[Hank]

Yeah, he got pickpocketed on one end, need in the face on the other. It was just.

[Big Cat]

You're having the time of your life.

[PFT Commenter]

You're calling him out. You're calling LeBron out.

[Hank]

Yeah, I was. I was a little. There was, you know, a little bit of. Of concern with, like, LeBron, Luca, team of destiny. Could this be the team that beats the Celtics now?

[PFT Commenter]

But you want to play him now?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So you're rooting for the Lakers in the playoffs.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I like. Yeah.

[Hank]

I put a two futures.

[Big Cat]

Obviously.

[Hank]

Celtics are such heavy favorites, but I did Celtics to beat the Nuggets in finals and Celtics to be the Lakers in the finals.

[Big Cat]

Are they gonna. Are the Celtics have any chance at the one seed or no?

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

Okay. So that's.

[Hank]

I think they're probably six or seven back. Cavs don't lose.

[Big Cat]

It's crazy. Cavs are really good. Yeah, they're seven and a half back. Yeah, the Cavs are. Cavs are awesome. A really good team. You're not scared of them?

[Hank]

I'm a little Concerned. But I, you know, we're the champs. You got to beat the champs to be the champs.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Can't be scared of a team that hasn't done it.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Pft. Your who's back of the week?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, my who's back of the week is Skip and Stephen A. Yeah, Skip and Stephen A. Have reunited. They're back together. They taped an episode of. I believe it was Skip's podcast. Right. Which if you had asked me, whose podcast would it be? I would say probably Stephen A.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Great booking by Skip to get Stephen A. To go on his show. Maybe the LeBron thing had something to do with that.

[Big Cat]

Maybe.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe skip saw LeBron, Stephen A. Yelling at each other, and Skip was like, come talk to me about this, my son. Like, this is. This is friendly territory for you to get all. All the feelings off your chest about LeBron.

[Hank]

But I'm pretty sure that's. That was what I was hoping. Like they saw that and was like, finally, it's time. Let's. Let's get back together.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like LeBron parent trapped him.

[Hank]

I think the report came out on Friday that they had already taped it earlier in the week. I hope the cases.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we need the LeBron.

[Hank]

They talk about that for the whole time. But yeah, I'm pretty sure that the report came out Friday that they taped earlier in the week and the LeBron thing happened late Thursday night.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, if they taped and then that happened, Skip. Skip had to call up Stephen A. And be like, we need to do like an appendix to this.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

We need to do like another segment because this is going to be what people tune in for.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm just very excited.

[Big Cat]

I will be tuned in because if you.

[PFT Commenter]

If you did not live through the. The first take years where it was Skip and Stephen A. It was perfect television.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Just two. Two guys who have never been wrong in their lives disagreeing on everything.

[Big Cat]

They. It's one of those. We were lucky enough to be born at the same time that those two guys found each other and were on tv. And it was perfect. It was perfect. All right. My who's back is baseball injuries because Garrett Cole's out for the year.

[PFT Commenter]

Bad Tommy John.

[Big Cat]

Bad Tommy John.

[PFT Commenter]

Not good.

[Big Cat]

Bad. Really bad.

[PFT Commenter]

They should never change the rules about shaving your face. Facts.

[Big Cat]

That's absolutely, absolutely true.

[PFT Commenter]

Like this. This would not have happened if he was clean shaven.

[Big Cat]

That's true. That's your. Your face. Your face is connected to your shoulder.

[PFT Commenter]

To your elbow.

[Big Cat]

Your elbow, without a doubt. Max, what do you get, oh, oh, John Carlo also may have season ending in surgery.

[PFT Commenter]

See, I'm telling you. I'm telling you. It all went downhill.

[Big Cat]

Oh, my God. Oh, yeah. Jalen Brunson got hurt too.

[PFT Commenter]

Second guys grow beard.

[Big Cat]

That's bad. They got St. John's basketball, though. Max, are you excited for your fills?

[PFT Commenter]

Ah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, just say birds. Just say birds are getting older.

[Big Cat]

I mean, I'm gonna be excited for opening day. We'll see how we do.

[PFT Commenter]

But I don't have the highest of hopes for the Phil season.

[Tom Izzo]

Got it, Got it.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, also, national sports podcast, Ovi scored again.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah. So what is he, 10 away?

[PFT Commenter]

Empty netter at the end. I think he's single digits. I think he's nine away. He's 886 right now.

[Big Cat]

Damn.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, single digits. It was an open netter, but it was also from center ice, backhander off the boards. So it was a sick goal.

[Big Cat]

That is.

[PFT Commenter]

And also, if you're a hater, that says to me, empty netters. Another empty netter for Rovi. You have to be winning the game to score an empty netter. Yeah, so that's pretty good.

[Big Cat]

Also, national sports podcast, the NHL trade deadline. Brad Marshawn trade to the Panthers.

[PFT Commenter]

Tough.

[Hank]

Very sad. Very, very sad. Again, not a die hard Bruins fan.

[Big Cat]

But you're a puckhead.

[Hank]

I'm a puckhead in the playoffs and.

[Big Cat]

And so you won't be doing puck.

[Hank]

That was the very, very. It's tough that he went to the Panthers like that hurt.

[Big Cat]

It's.

[Hank]

That's tough to get over our rivals. Hated rivals. And truly the end. The final person of someone who won a championship for Boston when I was still in high school, last player on any of the teams. So it's sad, sad, sad day for.

[PFT Commenter]

For young Hank and he wanted to stick around too.

[Hank]

Yeah, it sounds like they, they, the Bruins it all up.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, I know that you're not supposed to pay a guy based on what he's done for the team, but some guys, but like a centerpiece like that, I. I feel like he wasn't even asking them to break the bank. Right. He said, I'll come down. I think he had a face to face meeting with him. Said, I'll. I'll bring my request down. If you can meet me in the middle, we'll make something happen. I don't want to play anywhere else. And they said, okay, we'll talk about it. Pack your bags, go to Florida.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. Should we get to our interview with Coach Tom Izzo. Awesome interview.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

Okay, we now welcome on a very, very very special guest. He is March. He Is coming off a record tying 11th Big Ten title. Incredible run that his Michigan State Spartans are on right now. It is head coach Tom Izzo. Coach, first of all, congrats on the title. I know you got more work to do, but I wanted to start with that because I know we got to talk about what happens when a team stands on a logo and what goes on with that. But I want to talk with your team and how they're playing right now. Like three weeks ago, you guys were 19 and five. You were lost three of four. You had a gauntlet coming up at the end of the Big Ten schedule. You ripped off seven straight wins to finish 26 and five win the Big Ten outright. What changed and how are we here right now where you guys are looking prime for a deep run in March?

[Tom Izzo]

Well, to be honest with you guys, my staff did an unbelievable job. I mean, we spent a lot of time, we felt like, you know, we've got a good team, but it's not a talent laden team. And so we started working together more. We became very good defensively. We just couldn't make a shot from three. We're shooting it good, we're getting through the line, we're making free throws, we're scoring 80 points a game. And I said if we ever make some threes, we could be really good. Well, we got a little better now we're making threes and, you know, we're still maintaining our defensive stuff. I think the players and that my staff did an unbelievable job and I've, I've got along for the ride.

[Big Cat]

Coach, that's, that's too humble.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you, you, this might be, you know, one of your best coaching jobs that, that you've ever done this year, considering where, you know, you came to the season, what the expectations were and then how you guys are playing. I also just love the voice. Right now your, your voice sounds like March basketball. Are you going to take a couple days off? Are you putting yourself on like a, a word count for the next couple days, try to gain that back?

[Tom Izzo]

You know, guys, the only time I lose my voice is when I don't sleep and I haven't had a lot of sleep lately, as you can tell by how I look. But no, you know, we are taking a day off tomorrow. We've been on a grind and now we don't play till Friday. So guys deserve a day off. But, you know, you'd really like my team that players, they've worked their tail off, they've been selfless, they've sacrificed for each other, and it's kind of a good team to cheer for. And yet we still make our mistakes. You know, we have our times when we don't take care of the ball or we kind of go through these little stretches. And so we got to try to correct that this week.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, today was the big win against Michigan. You guys had already wrapped up the Big Ten title, so obviously you're playing for your seniors, but, you know, the effort was there, and you guys. You guys killed Michigan. We had a little. Little dupe to do at the end of the game with some Michigan players standing on the logo when seniors are going to kiss the floor. And Trey Holloman took it in under his own hands. I gotta start with Trey. He was. He was made in the Izzo factory. How do you always get these guys? He's a dog. He's got, like, so much heart. And it's down to the thick headband. I feel like you always got the dogs with the thick head. When they put on the thick headband, it's like, that's an Izzo guy. And, you know, you can go to war with that guy. So is he. Would it be safe to say that he's kind of the heartbeat of the team? And you liked what he did there, like, you know, kind of standing up for. For the Spartans and for all the home fans and everyone there?

[Tom Izzo]

Well, I didn't love what happened, you know, because the game was going along pretty good. They came back. Give them credit. And we have a tradition here, and it's been a tradition for 30 years, and I didn't even see all of it. You know, Dusty's done a good job with his team, but, you know, we've gone through a few things over the years with Michigan, and, you know, that hits home a little bit. But I would never do anything on somebody else's court. We did not celebrate the Big Ten championship at Iowa. You know, I wouldn't do any of that. But we are going to celebrate at home when we win. And I think it just got out of hand quick. I don't even know totally what happened. I do know this. Our guys are kind of trained by the guys before them, not by me. Team Cleaves comes back, or Steve Smith is there, even back to Magic Johnson. I mean, you know, Draymond Green. I mean, the rivalry is a rivalry. I mean, you're not supposed to love your rival, but you're supposed to respect them. And I felt like, you know, Trey was sticking up for not only his Teammates, but all the players that have come before him that got a chance on this special day to kiss the ass and kind of. Kind of symbolize, you know, what we are here. You know, we're not flashy and this and that. We're just kind of grimy. You know, we get down and kiss the floor. I mean, that's not always good, you know, to kiss the floor. There's a lot of people, but on that floor. Floor, yeah, what we do. And I hope that doesn't take away from, you know, how good we played in the game. And they came back in the second half and played good also.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I loved it. I listen, you're. You're on the right show because we're a big supporter of rivalries. Should be. You shouldn't like your rival. That's what makes sports fun. Like, that's. Those moments are what we tune in as fans. And I love Trey Hallman doing that, standing up for him. Hey, listen, there's a pretty basic rule. Don't stand on another man's logo. You can't do that. Can't stand on another man's logo.

[PFT Commenter]

Get him off there. And if there's one thing I know about the University of Michigan, they don't tolerate post game theatrics at midfield or at half court. That's just not their D. So they're probably shocked to see something like that happen. There was a funny moment, though, as all this was being cleaned up. You had your arm around Dusty May. He had his arm around. You guys were talking to each other. What was said? Were you guys, Were you explaining to him? Because I don't think that Dusty knew about the tradition. Were you letting him know, hey, Dusty, this is what we do when we win at the end of the season.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, we do it when we lose. I mean, Draymond Green, senior year, we lost the game. I mean, it's, it's, it's tradition. It's not tradition when we win or tradition. It's. This is what you do. You. Some guys have been there four years. Blood, sweat and tears. That's what we do. And I just told Dusty that. But he was at Indiana. You know, he's been in the state, at Eastern. You know, I think he's done a hell of a job this year with his team, and I give them all the credit. But let's be real here. Nobody is disrupting us from kissing the ass.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. Can't do it.

[Tom Izzo]

15,000 people and probably 600,000 living alums watching for that moment. And we would have done it if they would have beat us. Yeah, this is just about winning, guys. Draymond Green lost that game to Ohio State. I think we had one or two other guys, but that was devastating. They hit a last second shot, beat us by one. And Draymond, we had to live that, you know, he had to kiss the ass on a loss. So it's not something we do as front runners. We do it because it's who we are, what we are. It was started by Sean Respert, it was reinvented by Mateen Cleaves. Those are two of the greatest players that ever played here. And it's going to continue hopefully the rest of my life. But definitely, as long as I'm head coach, it's going to continue.

[Big Cat]

I got a question about that because I, I learned something today because we were trying to get John this afternoon and, and you had your mother in attendance and she's 99 years old. And it dawned on me, with those genetics, are you going to coach for another 20 years? I feel like you're never going to stop. You're going to coach forever. I mean, your 99 year old mother was at the Breslin center today. I heard reports that she was handling the stairs just fine. So, like, you're going to coach forever.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, I got 29 years to catch her, so who knows, you know. But I tell you guys, it was a thrill of mine. I have my family there, my grandchild there, my 99 year old mother and a lot of former players came back. And like I said, Michigan and Michigan State this year. Rivalries aren't rivalries if both teams aren't good.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Tom Izzo]

That's another thing about rivalries. You know, you don't have a rivalry. I mean, my first three years here, I couldn't call it a rivalry. You got beat by 20 every night.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Tom Izzo]

And then we went on a stretcher, we did a lot of the beating and you know, then John beIN came along and we, I think had a very tough rivalry, but a very respectful rivalry. But knowing you guys, the way you are there at barstools, I, I would probably figure that you'd like us to drop the gloves.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

Have a big hockey fist fight.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, I would appreciate it.

[Tom Izzo]

I wouldn't go over big for me, but I guess once in a while I understand how you guys feel.

[Big Cat]

Yes, yes. We, we, we love rivalries. We love bad blood. Have you ever kissed the ass, by the way? It's kissing the S, not kissing ass. Yeah. Are you an ass kisser? It did definitely sound like the first time you said it. Kissing ass.

[Tom Izzo]

I've done that a lot, but no, I haven't. You only do that on your last time in Breslin. This is my last time in Breslin. When it is, I'm positive I'll kiss the ass. Yes. Got to.

[Big Cat]

Got to. Speaking of Breslin, I got a question for you. So I'm. I'm a Badger. We played you guys last Sunday. What do you do? It's the Izzo Magic. There was a moment in the game where, where Tanjay went up, got called and won. They went to, I think commercial break and they're like, haha, just kidding. It's ball out out the side. There was no foul there. And then you guys went on a 100 run and ended up winning the game pretty easily. Was that just. You just talked to the ref and you're like, hey, listen, that's not going to happen in my house.

[Tom Izzo]

You guys are crazy, man.

[Big Cat]

You know the moment I'm talking about the game swung on that moment. I'm not an excuse guy, but it swung on that moment.

[Tom Izzo]

What do you think I had Uncle Guido doing the refereeing or what?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. I'm just asking, Just asking questions.

[Tom Izzo]

Now, the truth of it is, and Greg Garden, I talk a lot. He's one of my favorite guys. So believe it or not, I guess I got to like you a little bit because I love Greg and the job he did. I think he was coach of the year this year. When you look at where they were picked 12, 13, he reinvented his team. He's done an unbelievable job. It's too bad that he has some alums that are turn out like you guys. No, I didn't. I didn't talk to the official. Those guys make mistakes, you know, once in a while. Yeah, once in a while.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, they make mistakes. Yeah. It was just. It was an interesting mistake. I so. So about Greg Garden, the Big Ten as a whole. Cause you played Iowa on Thursday night and Fran McCaffrey, it's not a. They've had a bad season. And you talked afterwards, you're like, look, this guy's a great coach. You got to stick with these guys. You don't want to make a mistake and move on. You've had some years in your career where it's maybe not been up to expectations. What does it feel like when that kind of the walls close? Do you feel that? Are you like, hey, look, I'm trying my best here, but It's. It's year to year, and the ball doesn't bounce your way sometimes.

[Tom Izzo]

You know, there's a lot of things that happen, especially now with this transfer portal and everything. You know, it's. I mean, I look at Greg, Guard last year, struggled a little bit, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

And then. And you. I hope you weren't one of them that was leading the charge.

[Big Cat]

Never said a bad word.

[Tom Izzo]

That guy did an unbelievable job this year. I mean, not only did he reinvent his team, but he reinvented his style. You know, they were scoring 90 points a game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

Bo probably was turning over in his bed out there in Palm Springs, but I was really. No, I just think that coaches nowadays are in trouble because everybody thinks because you're paying players, you should win. Well, other people are paying players, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

You got a lot of problems with these kids leaving and coming and going and. And you can be up one year and down the next. It's going to be. You know, I saw where they just fired the guy at North Carolina State.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

He went to a Final Four last year. Now, I don't know the particulars to it, so I'm not speaking about it either way, but, you know, there's administrators out there that are crazy, too. You know, it's not just coaches that are crazy. There's administrators that are crazy, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. It feels like the whole college sports, the pressure has just been ramped up even more in terms of urgency and. And just like, win now, win now. And if you don't, like you said, the Nil has changed the landscape for it.

[PFT Commenter]

And even in the off season, if you don't. If you don't add guys that your fan base is excited about going to the next year, they almost, like, put you in the hot seat preemptively.

[Big Cat]

Where.

[PFT Commenter]

Where were Spartans fans with you this off season? Were they excited about this year?

[Tom Izzo]

I don't know. You know, I do something really good that would probably bother you guys. I've never been on Twitter in my life, and I don't plan on starting it.

[Big Cat]

No.

[Tom Izzo]

Because. So they were probably upset with me. I don't know. But I. I didn't know it. I tricked them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

I just didn't read anything. You know, my wife has a rule here. There's no. No newspapers, no online stuff, no anything. So I just kind of do my job. But it is getting harder. You are. You are so right in college athletics in general. But I. I think we still. I think you'd be surprised. You know, it's not 40% of the people are 30 or maybe even 20. It's 10% of the people are 15 that make all the noise.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Tom Izzo]

And somebody believes them because sometimes administrators, you know, they used to be former coaches, and so the coach understood what was going on. Now, some of them are not former coaches, and I don't think they understand, you know, one big injury like Franny. Yeah, he lost the freshman of the year last year. The guy was averaging almost 17 points a game. He's 6 10, and all of a sudden you don't have him. And, you know, in sports, they do it a lot. In football they say, well, the theory is next man up. Right. You always hear that line man up. If the next man up was as good as the guy that was there before him, he'd have been a starter. So it's in the same man.

[Big Cat]

True, true.

[PFT Commenter]

Especially when there's not as many men.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like you got, you got five. Good luck. If you lose one, you're gonna have to coach that guy up. When did you realize, though, that this year was it? When the three started falling, you realize that this team might be special?

[Tom Izzo]

No, because the three started falling just, you know, maybe a week or two ago, I, you know, we took our team to Spain. We, we did a bunch of stuff this summer to try to keep the culture and camaraderie. I was really lucky because had some guys coming back. Jeremy Fears, who was injured last year, you know, he's come back. I get a guy like Jace Richardson, whose dad one two Big Ten championships and a national championship here. I think they knew what the culture was. What has really impressed me about my guys is the, the way they bonded together and pulled for one another and the selfless acts, you know, the sacrifices they made. Maybe a few minutes here, a few points there, and I gotta admit, it's been one of the more fun teams I've had to coach. Now, sometimes we're not as good, but we found a way to hang in there. And I'm proud of him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Maryland. Three, two. The buzzer beater. It's like it started to feel and you, you had quotes and talking about, like, you know, these guys understand Michigan State. And I was like, oh, this is a problem for the Big Ten because this is izzo. There's some of, I can kind of, I've been, you know, I, I, I know you from afar for a long time. I can tell when you start to get a little swagger. I could tell when you feel like you got Some guys. And that. That happened a few weeks ago. I was like, no, this is a problem.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, in that game, you know, the only thing I was frustrated with is we had pretty much been up eight or nine points, you know, and we screwed up at the end, so we need the heroic play. And everybody made it out to be. We were lucky. I thought we played pretty well most of that game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

But it's not the Izzo swagger that does it, because, believe it or not, guys, I never shoot a shot, never get a rebound or make a pass. These guys have. Have taken on their own personality. You kind of hope each team each year has something that they can hang their hat on. You know what I mean? You always want them to learn from the players before them, but you also want them to bring their own identity. This team has been different than most teams before them. What's been the same is they got good guys. I think they play for the name on the front and back. I don't think it's just that way where you play for the name on your front anymore. Those days are kind of gone. But if you just play for the name on your back, you got problems. So I think this team has found a way to play for both. And I'm really kind of proud and excited about it, and I'm also enjoying it, you know, and you know me, I don't enjoy a lot of things, so this is good.

[Big Cat]

Are you still daring teams to zone? You, you. You. You threw that out there a couple weeks ago. You said, I dare you to zone us. Is that still standing now that you're hitting your threes?

[Tom Izzo]

Well, when I say Darren to zone us, I mean, listen, we played Indiana, and I went to the press conference, said I did a poor job, blame the players. Don't. But we did not prepare enough for it. They played like 2% zone. We hadn't worked on it as much. And so it wasn't only that we didn't shoot well, we didn't execute well, and that was, you know, I mean, there's times when coaches got to look in the mirror and say, you know what? I didn't do my job. And I said that in front of everybody. But I vowed then we're going to be making sure that never happens again. So we're working at it harder. But at the end of the day, as you guys know, you can work on anything all you want. If the ball doesn't go in the hoop, it's like hockey, you know, or soccer. You know, you can pepper that Goalie. But if it don't go in there, you don't score.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

And so there's a combination. You know, we needed to get better at what we do. We need to make some shots, but. But we have to execute better, and that's what we've improved on. Now we're starting to make shots, and then we'd be a much better team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Have you had to break out the football pads this year?

[Tom Izzo]

You know, you guys laugh about that. Every time my old players come back, that's the first thing they talk about. You know, I did it because I was mad and we had so much fun. I'd have done it again. I just afraid this day and age, some lawyer come in and sue me. You know, I'd get fired. But the guys love it. It's. It's another part of our identity. So maybe someday I'll shut off the cameras and lock the doors and go ask Jonathan to borrow some football gear. That was fun, man. Nick Saban sent over 12 sets. It was awesome.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Hey, quick question about your bobblehead. Do you see your bobblehead? Do you think they did a good job with your bobblehead? They have Izzo counter for wins because you're going up there in all the records, like I said. But, you know, you broke Bobby Knight's big ten win record. You just tied him for the conference record. You just keep going, going and going. But they made a bobblehead. I think they could have gotten a little more ISO. Maybe put on that, like, crazy leprechaun sweater that you wear, Something like that.

[Tom Izzo]

No, I don't look at my. My bobble head. I haven't seen my bobblehead. And I'm sure it's not. I'm sure it's not very good. You know, my bobblehead doesn't have to be that big. I'm not that tall, so I don't know what the bobblehead is. But I keep saying I don't win those games. The players win those games. And I mean that. I mean that out of my heart. And. But I also, you know, guys, it's. It's. It's been an interesting three, four years. And yet, you know, we won a championship, I think, in 17 or 18, 19 and 20, and now another one in 25. So we had a little bit of a downstretch there, but right now, you know how good we are. I don't know. Like I said, it's not the talent laden team that maybe you normally see, but it sure has Been a fun team to coach and guys are getting better and I think they believe in each other and they, they play for each other.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

And get better than that.

[PFT Commenter]

How, how much importance do you put on the tournament now? On the, on the conference tournament? Is this something where it means a lot to you, it would mean a lot to the program if you guys won the whole thing, or is it, let's just go out there, let's work on some stuff, we'll try to win, but if we don't win, it's not the end of the world.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

I don't think I'd ever admit that. But the truth of the matter is, you know, winning the regular season is so important to me because it's that 20 game stretch, you know, and you get lucky or unlucky in three games and you might be in or out here, but I still think it's important because it teaches you how to play when it's one and done time. In other words, if you lose Friday, you're done. And so that's where we had a stretch today. We didn't play very well. And that's first thing I told our guys. Hey, guys, you know, if this happens in the NCAA tournament or the Big Ten tournament and you go down, you're out, you know, it's not. Yeah, you just get another chance. So those will be things we'll be working on this week. So it's still important to me, but it doesn't supersede the 20 game grind that we just went through.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, Coach, I got one last question. It's been so much fun. We, we love having you on. We appreciate you giving us some time. Roback?Rhobac.com promo code take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code take. It's actually a two part.

[Tom Izzo]

Man, I can't even understand you.

[Big Cat]

Slow down. It's a two part question because I got. Can you sit up for a second? I want to see the Positive Vibes Only sweatshirt. It looks awesome. Wait, let me get that in frame. See if you can get it in frame. I want to get the. There we go. Positive vibes only. I love that you're wearing that. I don't know if you. I would imagine in like the, you know, when you're preseason and you're coaching the guys, tough, you're probably not like, hey guys, positive vibes only. That's all we're going to do. I don't know if that matches your style, you could tell me if I'm wrong. You don't seem like a total positive vibes only guy.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah, you're probably right about that. But it's hard not to be positive when you just went through this 20, you know, game grind, and we won the Big Ten championship. Right. So at least for tonight, by tomorrow, we'll be back to dog eat dog. But tonight, we're into the positive vibe.

[Big Cat]

I like that. So my last question, my real last question. You. You. You've been coaching for 30 years. You've seen it all. You've been in all these tournament settings. Do you kind of relish getting into March Madness, into the big dance, knowing that you have a little bit of an edge because you have seen it all. And that quick turnaround, that's what I love about the tournament, where it's like, you play Thursday, you play Saturday. The coaching staffs do. Players make the plays. You said it a million times. But the coaching staffs do matter because you have such a little prep time for the. For the opponent. It could be a team you never seen, style you never seen. Do you feel extra confident, though, going in, being like, look, I've seen it all. I know how to coach on 24 hours. I know how to get my team ready quickly on a quick turnaround.

[Tom Izzo]

You know, honestly, I would say that's one thing that I'll give my staff's credit of. Over the years, I think we have had enough experience in the eight Final Fours, and the things we've done that quick turnarounds are a key. So I feel really comfortable that we'll have our teams prepared, but you still got to play well. But I think. I think the experience, even for a player, experience matters, you know, and I think experience matters in that respect as far as preparing them. But you still got to play the game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

How are we feeling about the talk of expanding the tournament? I know that they said that they might look to add eight teams, 16 teams. There's all these plans out there for the future. Where do you stand as a coach?

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah, you know, I. I was involved in a lot of things. I was on a lot of committees. But this last a couple of things that have happened. I've kind of just decided I care about the game a lot. I work for a guy who loved the game. I mean, he. He cared more about how the game went sometimes than our own team. But I would say this. I'm. I'm not really putting enough time in to figure out what's right. I hope they do what's right for basketball, what's right for the players in the game, and not just for money or something else. I hope it's, you know, the best interest of basketball. And I don't know what that would be until I really sat down and observed it. But right now, there's some younger coaches out there that I really respect. They're on some of these committees that I think will fight those fights. And in the meantime, I'm going to just. They want my opinion. I give my opinion. And you're going to say, well, what's your opinion? I worry if they expand it too much. You know, we have already. It's tough because we have Cinderella. You know, football doesn't have Cinderella. Everybody that's in there, I mean, I've been beaten by a 15, right. You know, my good friend Tony Bennett, you know, was beaten by a 16. You know, I mean, it happens in football. That will never happen because that team will never be in there. So the more you expand it, the more those kind of things happen. Which you guys all like the first day, right? But TB doesn't like it. The second round.

[Big Cat]

No, no, no.

[Tom Izzo]

So it's always fun and exciting for you guys. And meanwhile, I'm sitting home ready to, you know, whatever, and.

[Big Cat]

Well said.

[Tom Izzo]

But I do respect the little guys, too, because I was a Division 2 guy to start with, and I have great respect for Cinderella. I have great respect for what VCU did back when Shaka was there. You know, that was. I was pulling for him. But now that I'm on this side, I. It's scary. You know, I. We. We faced Middle Tennessee State, for example, and we were really good. And Denzel Ballantyne and I thought I had to make it to a Final Four, and we were, I think, one in the country. Defensively, I think they shot 58% in the field and 54% from the three.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Tom Izzo]

I mean, they just beat us. And that was kind of bone crushing, you know?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

I don't know what I'm. What I hope for. I don't want it to be too watered down, and yet I want everybody to get a chance that deserves a chance.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Good answer. All right, Coach. Thank you. Rest that voice. And you, you are very humble, but incredible year, incredible team, and we're excited to watch you guys in March.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, you know, the only person you'll be more excited than YouTube that I did. Come on. Is my son, because he spends all the time watching you guys. So clean your act up. Do a good job, talk good about everybody. Be positive.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, positive vibes sometimes.

[Big Cat]

Positive vibes sometimes. Then it's dog eat dog. All right?

[Tom Izzo]

There you go.

[Big Cat]

Thank you, coach. Appreciate it so much.

[Tom Izzo]

Take care.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

All right, let's wrap up. We got a Monday reading. This one was sent to memes. Good. Am I the question on Reddit? Have you not read this?

[Hank]

I'm just looking at this picture of is how you post.

[Big Cat]

Oh yeah, Positive vibes only. He looks. He looks like he's a hostage. Yeah, looks like a hostage.

[PFT Commenter]

A good rule of thumb is if you're posting something to Am I the yeah, you're usually an yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right, so this one is am I the for letting a neighbor make pack lunch for me. My wife used to pack lunch for me, but I noticed a while back that she stopped making lunch like she used to already. Bad, bad start before. She would get creative with it, take her time, try new recipes, put little special touches here and there. Then I felt like it just became okay, what are the kids having? I'll just make an extra one and give it to them or give it give that to him. I would make my own lunch, but for one, it's not the same as when she makes it. Haha. And two, I work in construction, so by the time I come home, all I want to do is hit the sheets. And all the places to get lunch near the construction site are expensive, so I'd rather just bring something from home. So I brought it up to her one day and we talked about it and she told me that she had so many things to do in a day that she didn't have as much time to put her energy into making my lunches like she used to. Seems reasonable.

[PFT Commenter]

It also seems like the lunch might be a metaphor for something else in this relationship.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, it's. So far we've learned that this guy is mad that his lunch wasn't made.

[Tom Izzo]

Well.

[Big Cat]

And also, when he gets home, he goes right to bed.

[PFT Commenter]

And also she spends more time making the kids lunches than she does making his lunch.

[Big Cat]

Yes. God damn it. You got to make technical free throws. You have to make tactical free throws. That's a sidebar. But I could see that she generally felt bad, because I noticed the next few lunches were more polished than the previous ones. And I appreciate her so much for trying that when the quality of lunches started to go down again, I didn't even have the heart to complain. Wow. Fast forward. I have a day off, so my wife drags me to a Bible study that was being hosted at a neighbor's house. The food was so good that I kept going back for more. After my third plate, the woman who had made the food and I started talking. Basically, she told me that she was flattered that I liked her food so much and that she was training to be a chef and that she had more food that she would like me to try out. I told her that that would be perfect because I always am looking for different things to try. And whatever food she made, I could just pick up in the morning and take with me to lunch.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so you're let.

[Big Cat]

You're.

[PFT Commenter]

You're asking your neighbor now to make you lunch every day. Does that also entail, like, you going over to her house first thing in the morning?

[Big Cat]

Well, yes. Good question.

[PFT Commenter]

The lunch up?

[Big Cat]

Yes, we exchange information. The next day, she sent me an address to her home, which turned out to be right on the way to work.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

And not too far from the construction site. So that's where I've been getting lunch for the past few days.

[PFT Commenter]

This does seem like a big metaphor.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, my wife, it was great when we first got married, the lunch was fantastic.

[Big Cat]

But my neighbor, she would do special.

[PFT Commenter]

Tricks, and it would be, you know, try something new all the time. A lot of variety there. Then it got stale.

[Big Cat]

Kids showed up.

[PFT Commenter]

But then I met. Then I met my neighbor, and, man, she makes a fucking hot lunch.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And met her at Bible study. So, you know, there's nothing there.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

This is. He's hitting all the cliches. I told my wife that she didn't have to make lunch for me anymore, and she didn't say anything until today. She said. She said she thought I was getting lunch from the store. And I said that I don't see why that matters where I'm getting it from. She said she doesn't want me to pick up lunch from there anymore. I told her she was being unreasonable for no reason. We had a big argument a few hours ago and she's still mad. Am I the asshole? I really don't see what the problem is. She doesn't have to worry about taking time out of her day to make lunch for me. And I'm getting quality lunches again. How is this not a win win for everybody? I'm confused. This guy's the most guy brain ever.

[PFT Commenter]

It's just lunch, baby.

[Big Cat]

He is like. He's just quintessential guy. Like, well, I like special lunches. You didn't make me special lunches. I found special lunches. Win win.

[PFT Commenter]

There's no difference between me getting the lunch from my neighbor and me buying it at the store. There's no difference if somebody else made it. Why don't you get upset if I go to Wendy's during the day?

[Big Cat]

All right, edit. I know what you guys are implying, but it can't be because she thinks I'm cheating. I told her that she can literally check my hours when I arrive at work. I have to clock in. If I was going over to her place to cheat, I would be clocking in late. Unless you come fast. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Check my location.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Edit 2. To clarify 1, I complained once, but after I saw how bad she felt, I didn't complain again and quietly kept eating the lunch she made.

[PFT Commenter]

Good guy.

[Big Cat]

Hero.

[PFT Commenter]

Good guy.

[Big Cat]

2. Stop making it seem like I intentionally went out looking for another woman to make me food. She's a chef. She saw that I enjoyed her food and came up to me and offered again. She's a chef in training. Obviously she wants people to try out her food. Please stop making it seem like it's more than that, because it's not. I love my wife. She's a chef.

[PFT Commenter]

I wonder if this guy because he's going to construction every day. Do they do trades at lunch and construction like they do in elementary school?

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like you show up with Dunkaroos elementary school, you roll in with a pack of gushers. You can take five people's sandwiches.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

For that one thing.

[Big Cat]

Absolutely.

[PFT Commenter]

So I feel like on a construction site you probably are able to to wheel and deal and upgrade and he probably just. Since she wasn't doing a good job Making his lunch anymore. He was probably just left out of the trading circle.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. And at three. Well, basically, it seems like it's unanimous that I'm the asshole, but I really can't. He must have just been getting roasted. But I really came here hoping to find out why. And no one really explained to me why it's wrong for me to eat food that a chef ordered offered to me. Especially since my wife has already said in that she's usually too busy to make lunch the way she used to. I thought this would be easier on her and let her have more time in her day to focus on other things, but somehow I wind up the bad guy shaking my head. Thank you for all the responses, but I think I'm going to keep eating at the chef's house. I can't stress enough. This dude is just like. He has the most, like, caveman brain.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that he. His whole point of view is, I thought you'd appreciate it. Yeah, I thought that. I'm doing this for us.

[Big Cat]

No one is telling me why this is bad.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm doing it for us, babe. I thought you'd be happy that I was going over to her house every morning picking up food.

[Big Cat]

Here's a reason. It might be why your overstressed wife, who's busy taking care of your kids, maybe doesn't love the fact that you love the food that your. Your hot neighbor is making for you.

[PFT Commenter]

And maybe because she was still going out of her way to make you lunch every day. Yeah, your wife was making you lunch every day, and it just wasn't up to you.

[Big Cat]

It wasn't special enough.

[PFT Commenter]

It wasn't like it used to be.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I editorialized hot. But we all agree this chef is hot.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, for sure.

[Big Cat]

Bible study chef hot.

[PFT Commenter]

For sure.

[Big Cat]

And she's also, like, she is definitely unhappy in her marriage if she's making lunch for a random construction. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Does her husband know that? How would this guy feel if he came home and. And there was another guy that was just mowing his lawn.

[Big Cat]

A construction dude is pulling up to his house every morning being like, where's my food?

[PFT Commenter]

He's. Yeah, he's pulling up. He's got his hard hat on. Oh, he looks like a village person. Maybe just only wearing the vest.

[Big Cat]

Probably got some sick tattoos. Edit 4 last edit wow. She locked the bedroom door. So I guess I'll be here reading responses from time to time until I fall asleep. How did I get here? I love this dude.

[PFT Commenter]

I kind of agree with him.

[Big Cat]

I love this dude.

[PFT Commenter]

It's just lunch.

[Big Cat]

This dude wants to. Come on. We can. We can have his back and just be like, dude, we still don't understand it. That food. Like, yeah, it's just lunch.

[PFT Commenter]

Why didn't she make you special? She doesn't put the treats in there anymore.

[Big Cat]

When. When. This is crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

She's trained, by the way. She's training to be a chef. Could mean a lot of things.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It could just mean, like, she likes cooking food.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And it's been her dream. Like, when she was a kid, she saw a movie about a chef, and she's like, oh, that'd be fun.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And she just thought about it for a couple years. Or she could actually be in school. My guess is that she just enjoys cooking.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And the guy's like, she's trained to be a chef, man.

[Big Cat]

She's trained to be a chef. And that she's someday going to just be, like, making food for the whole Bible study.

[PFT Commenter]

All the boys on the construction.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I hope she's an inspiring, like, food tick tocker. Yeah. Like, she has, like, 500 followers on TikTok and, like, is really trying to blow up her page. Yeah. Yeah, that would be great. I love this dude, though. What a meathead. Absolute meathead. All right, good show, boys. Great. Two weeks coming up. Memes, welcome back. Numbers 3, 33, 8. Three has never been pulled. Memes. Not here. Okay, I gotta pick a new number.

[PFT Commenter]

I go 60.

[Big Cat]

You guys go first. 99.

[Tom Izzo]

Pug.

[PFT Commenter]

51.

[Big Cat]

21. Shane, do you want to do 15 seconds on the Chargers? Go. Did we already start?

[Tom Izzo]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. Five bad so far. Very disappointed.

[PFT Commenter]

Give me one name. You want fast?

[Big Cat]

Devonte Adams. I. I don't know. Who's available?

[PFT Commenter]

Chris.

[Big Cat]

Justin Jefferson. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

All right. All right. Justin Jefferson. Good call.

[PFT Commenter]

56.

[Big Cat]

3 means you're not gonna get this, so I don't know why. 25. 25. Love you guys.

[Hank]

It.