Opening Day With Jeff Passan, We Finally Got A Great Tourney Game, Lebron vs The World, Fyre Fest + Severance Finale

Summary

Pardon My Take Episode Summary: "Opening Day With Jeff Passan, We Finally Got A Great Tourney Game, Lebron vs The World, Fyre Fest + Severance Finale"

Release Date: March 28, 2025

In this episode of Pardon My Take, hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter delve into a variety of sports topics ranging from Major League Baseball's Opening Day to the heated world of LeBron James's media interactions. Joined by guests Hank, Max, and Memes, the discussion is enriched with insightful commentary, humorous banter, and notable quotes that encapsulate the episode's vibrant energy.

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1. MLB Opening Day with Jeff Passan

The episode kicks off with a segment dedicated to MLB Opening Day, featuring a special guest appearance by Jeff Passan from ESPN. The hosts explore the excitement surrounding the return of baseball and analyze the prospects of various teams as the season commences.

Notable Quotes:

• Big Cat [36:15]: "How did everyone's MLB opening day go?"
• PFT Commenter [36:19]: "Tyler O'Neill hit a home run, so it went pretty good for me."

Jeff Passon provides valuable insights into breakout rookies and key storylines to watch in the upcoming baseball season, emphasizing the unpredictability and excitement that Opening Day brings.

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2. Tourney Upset: Texas Tech vs Arkansas

A significant portion of the discussion centers around a memorable Sweet Sixteen matchup where Texas Tech overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat Arkansas, coached by John Calipari. The hosts dissect the game's pivotal moments and reflect on Arkansas's recent tournament performances.

Notable Quotes:

• Big Cat [02:24]: "When Texas Tech was playing, every time they scored was a miracle."
• PFT Commenter [03:49]: "It was a Hog reveal. They're chokers."

The hosts commend Texas Tech's offensive resilience despite missing key players like McMillan, highlighting their ability to perform under pressure and execute clutch plays in the final minutes.

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3. Sweet Sixteen Highlights

Following the Texas Tech upset, the conversation shifts to other notable Sweet Sixteen games, focusing on teams like Alabama, BYU, Duke, and Florida. The hosts analyze offensive strategies, standout performances, and the implications of these games on the tournament's progression.

Notable Quotes:

• PFT Commenter [06:43]: "If they hadn't shot a two-point shot, they still would have won this game."
• Big Cat [07:32]: "BYU shot 12 of 26. 46. That's half the amount of threes."

The discussion highlights Alabama's explosive offensive displays, Duke's strategic plays led by Cooper Flag, and Florida's strong performance despite key injuries, all painting a picture of a dynamic and competitive Sweet Sixteen landscape.

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4. Kevin Willard's Coaching Exit from Maryland

A contentious topic arises with Kevin Willard's exit from Maryland to Villanova. The hosts critique Willard's management of his departure, suggesting that his approach sowed discord among Maryland fans and failed to maintain professionalism during a high-stakes tournament run.

Notable Quotes:

• PFT Commenter [11:43]: "Congratulations, Kevin Willard. You are the head coach of the Villanova Wildcats."
• Big Cat [12:03]: "Maryland athletic department seems like a shit show."

The hosts lament the missed opportunity for a positive narrative during Maryland's Sweet Sixteen appearance, emphasizing the importance of handling transitions with grace to preserve team morale and fan support.

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5. LeBron James vs The Media: Pat McAfee Interview

A heated segment focuses on LeBron James's interview with Pat McAfee, where LeBron reignites his rivalry with Stephen A. Smith by making provocative statements about the NBA and its players.

Notable Quotes:

• Big Cat [26:10]: "LeBron goes on this, on this on Pat McAfee show, which was actually pretty entertaining."
• PFT Commenter [26:38]: "Stephen A. wants to be talked about. I thought the windy shot was weird."

LeBron's remarks about the NBA being "rigged" and his unconventional comparisons lead to a broader discussion about athlete-media relationships and the impact of high-profile interviews on public perception and league narratives.

---

6. Severance Finale Recap

The hosts briefly touch upon the finale of the series "Severance", sharing their emotional reactions to key plot developments and character resolutions.

Notable Quotes:

• Max [84:50]: "We got a spoils. Spoilers."
• PFT Commenter [85:25]: "It's an emotional part."

They reflect on the intricate storytelling and the show's ability to evoke strong emotional responses, underscoring its impact on viewers despite being outside the realm of sports.

---

7. Fyre Fest of the Week

Concluding the episode, the hosts share their Fyre Fest of the Week, featuring a personal anecdote about securing tickets to an AC/DC concert.

Notable Quotes:

• PFT Commenter [81:07]: "I bought eight tickets to go see ACDC at Soldier Field. Now I got seven tickets that I gotta find people to bring along."
• Hank [81:24]: "I'm excited for you because I plan on playing more golf this year too."

This segment blends humor with relatable experiences, highlighting the camaraderie among the hosts and their listeners' shared interests in live music and events.

---

Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Big Cat, PFT Commenter, Hank, Max, and Memes engage in lively discussions, balancing in-depth sports analysis with lighthearted interactions. Their ability to intertwine serious commentary with playful banter makes for an engaging and entertaining episode that caters to both avid sports fans and casual listeners alike.

Notable Quotes:

• Big Cat [105:26]: "It's always a hard thing to do."
• PFT Commenter [109:02]: "I think you guys are denying science. I think hammocks are better for your back."

The episode seamlessly navigates through various sports narratives, providing listeners with comprehensive coverage of current events, insightful opinions, and plenty of laughs along the way.

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]

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[Hank]

Plan cahs.com contracts for coverage details, limitations.

[Big Cat]

And exclusions on today's part. In my take, we have MLB Opening Day with our good friend Jeff Passon. We also have Attorney game to remember with Texas Tech taking down Arkansas. We're going to talk about the rest of the Sweet 16, Kevin Willard and the weirdest exit possible. LeBron went on Pat McAfee and made some waves, Renewed his rivalry with Stephen A. Smith. Now new one with Brian Windhorse. And then we're going to finish the show with some severance, finale talk and fyre Fest of the week and it's brought to you by our friends at DraftKings. When it comes to college basketball and March mania, one thing is for sure, nothing's for sure. Upsets, buzzer beaters, Cinderella's advancing, top seeds going home early. It's all going to happen. Bet the unexpected every upset, every day with DraftKings sportsbook. With live betting, exclusive content, promos and parlays, DraftKings is the ultimate college basketball destination for March. Ready to make your first bet? Check out the matchups and pick a team to win. It's that simple. First time. Here's something special just for you. New DraftKings customers bet $5 get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Bet the unexpected with DraftKings sportsbook. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use code TAKE. That's code TAKE. For new customers. Get $200 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings gambling problem.

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[Big Cat]

The crown is yours. Okay, let's go. Hey, football guy. Welcome to part of my take, presented by DraftKings. Bet the unexpected with DraftKings Sportsbook. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Use code Take. That's code take for new customers to get $200 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Today is Friday, March 28, and boys, we finally had some madness. Texas Tech down 16 with 10 minutes left. Takes down John Cal Papari and the Arkansas Razorbacks. And I feel bad for Arkansas fans, but I laugh at Cal because that was an all time meltdown. And Hank just sent me a graphic. This is reading off. So. So, so Arkansas doesn't own all of this. 2021 missed the tournament. 2022 is all Cal. 2022 losses 15, St. Peter's 2023, lost in the second round. 2024, lost to number 14, Oakland. 2025, blue 16 point, second half lead.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I don't know that you can group this one in with the other ones because at least he got this far and he was a 10 seed.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's a bad choke.

[PFT Commenter]

Don't get me. It was. It was a Hog reveal. They're chokers.

[Big Cat]

That was bad.

[PFT Commenter]

It was a bad. It was a bad job in the second half for sure. I don't know that you would put this on the same level as losing to a 15.

[Big Cat]

This was a bad loss, though, especially the way that Texas Tech was playing. McMillan was out. They were not shooting the ball well. They were absolute monsters on the offensive glass. There was one possession where I'm like, I think. I think Texas Tech got the offensive board like five times in a row and then finally willed the ball in the hoop. Because it felt like for the first 35 minutes of this game, Texas Tech, every time they scored was a miracle. And they found a way. They willed it. They scored that three with nine seconds left. And then the real egregious thing by Cal is he doesn't call a timeout with nine seconds left, just lets his team go down there. Boogie Flynn takes a. Takes kind of a fade away that. The front iron. That was avoidable. And Texas Tech, incredible fight by them. They deserve all the credit.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, it was the classic Todd Bowles. You can't take them with you. Yeah, you got the timeout. Burn a whole. I guess he was like, I guess maybe we can just catch him by surprise.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But maybe his thought was that Darian Williams would be winded after backing the guy down. He wouldn't get back on defense.

[Big Cat]

Maybe a travel.

[PFT Commenter]

Darian Williams, by the way, I enjoy watching him play very much because he is just always bumping and grinding and.

[Big Cat]

He'S also in slow motion. He had a Couple moments where there was like a breakout and he just, he, he basically let the entire Arkansas defense get back because he's like, I'm not going to do this.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, big boy. Bumping and grinding. Boys are buzzing.

[Big Cat]

Bad for Arkansas fans. Eric Musselman wouldn't have blown that lead.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, no. No chance.

[Big Cat]

Absolutely not.

[PFT Commenter]

Nolan Richardson wouldn't have blown that lead.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, we, I mean, we have fun with Cal. That was, that was bad. Well, I like Cal. He's. I want him around in college basketball. He's fun. But that was a bad one.

[PFT Commenter]

They don't call it 45 minutes of hell. Yeah, it's 40 minutes of hell. So at that point, Calipari is like, you know, they don't pay me for overtime.

[Big Cat]

Texas Tech shot. They fought. They actually shot 25% from 3. So they kind of cleaned it up at the end because they hit a couple. But there was a moment there where they were shooting like 9% from 3, 22 offensive rebounds is ridiculous.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Big Cat]

That's a ridiculous number. And they're a good team and they've been injured like all year. They've had guys in and out. J.T. toppin with that, he had that hook shot and overtime, that was just a thing of beauty. But Texas Tech, that we, we deserve that game.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm glad that we got some overtime. I got that. I'm glad that we got some action. The Sweet 16. Because the first two games sucked. Bad games, bad job. Basketball.

[Big Cat]

Well, bad games. And listen, I bet byu, I put a lot of money on them. Game of the year. I'm. I can hand up and say that was not a bad game. That was a nuclear explosion by Alabama. I don't think I've ever seen a team shoot the three like they did tonight. And that was what BYU against Wisconsin, they didn't shoot like that.

[PFT Commenter]

It was pretty good. But yeah, Alabama, they did tonight.

[Hank]

Yeah, they were playing Missoula ball.

[Big Cat]

They shot 51 threes and they almost. They shot. They were 25 for 51. You actually could take out the last second Huck by Grant Nelson at the end of the first half. That really wasn't an attempt. They were 50% from three, shooting 53.

[PFT Commenter]

If they hadn't shot a two point shot, they still would have won this game.

[Big Cat]

It was insane.

[PFT Commenter]

How crazy. When you take into account the three pointers and the foul shots that they made. If you eliminate every single two point basket that they made, they still would have beaten byu.

[Big Cat]

I'm just gonna say it just because you're just being unnecessary ugly there. BYU shot 12 of 26. 46. That's half the amount of threes. Okay. Against Wisconsin, it was crazy. They shot 51 threes and hit half of them. That's insane.

[PFT Commenter]

It was. It was absolutely nuts. I don't think any team in the country beats Alabama if they're shooting like that.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I agree. Like, that was. And they were shooting from deep. They were shooting because, you know, BYU was trying to mix it up. They were throwing some zone at him. They were just shooting over the zone. Mark. Mark Sears was 10 for 16 from 3. 10 for 16 from 3.

[PFT Commenter]

He just kept shooting. It just kept going in.

[Big Cat]

It was. It was insane. I know we joke about Alabama because of our friend Rico Bosco, that Alabama is fun to watch. And that was. That was an insane, like, offensive explosion. I mean, you scored 88 points and lost by 25.

[PFT Commenter]

So I got a dumb question for you, big cat. Is it bad that they shot so good? Does that ever carry over tonight? If you have a. Like an outlier a game like this. That's so insanely good from three points. Are they. They're not gonna be able to keep that going. Right.

[Big Cat]

I think. I think the rims in Newark might be a little soft because we saw it the Duke game too, where duke. That was 193 points.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So. So combined in. In those two games was like over 400 points.

[PFT Commenter]

I guess you could also say they gave up 88.

[Big Cat]

They did. Yeah, they gave up 88. But, like, it. That's insane to give up 88 and still win by 25 and still just.

[PFT Commenter]

Beat the shit out of your opponent.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that Alabama team is that. That's a scary. That. That is what. If you're an Alabama fan, you just have in your back pocket where you're like, hey, we could just come out and just shoot and hit every three and no one can beat us because they do have that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And that was what we saw tonight, and it was incredible to watch.

[PFT Commenter]

And byu, they weren't making their threes tonight like they were against Wisconsin.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

They were ice cold from the outside. I was hoping that the rim in the first half would translate and that BYU would heat up in the second. They also. Here's one thing I noticed about byu. I've never seen a team miss as many alley oops as BYU missed.

[Big Cat]

I even.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it was a little bit racist. How. How high they were throwing the ball and missing their alley oops.

[Big Cat]

I would say some of them technically aren't even misses because they wouldn't hit the player.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they were.

[Big Cat]

Turnover.

[PFT Commenter]

Just like. I don't know how the scores would. Is that a shot?

[Big Cat]

I think that's a turnover.

[PFT Commenter]

I count that as.

[Big Cat]

No, it's just a bad pass. Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It was like, I'm going to throw it. That guy can jump 13ft in the air.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it was. Yeah. The BYU is not, not on their game. Alabama absolutely destroyed them. Duke, I know is 193. But Duke just stopped playing offense for like the last 10 minutes. It felt running their real offense because it felt like they could. They, they were in control against Arizona for the entire game. Even got Caleb Love, who that was his last college game, went out on his sword scoring 35. We never got the Bad Kill Blood tournament, but Duke looks so good.

[Hank]

That game ended after the. At the end of the half.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. When Cooper Flag hit the buzzer beater three. They're just so. Duke just has so many guys and they're just. And when Cooper Flag's bringing up the ball, like, what are you going to do?

[PFT Commenter]

So the way they ran this game, especially after the first like 10 minutes, the last 30 minutes of this game, it was Cooper Flag on the inside running a two man game. Occasionally Knipple would drive to the hole too, but they would just space out the defense and then let Cooper Flag do whatever he wanted with the ball.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And they couldn't stop him. There was no chance.

[Big Cat]

No. He was phenomenal. He scored 30 points. He was, he was all over the place. Yeah. Con Nipple. I think we got to just say nipple.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I do. Like when he does the shimmy and he gets to the baseline, I call it the nip slip.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good move.

[Big Cat]

Con Nipple.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Con Nipple. Duke is fun. I have bad news. Duke is a fun basketball team. If you enjoy watching basketball, you're going to love Duke Blue Devils. It's crazy.

[Big Cat]

I don't want them to win it all, but I've been saying they're going to win it all and I don't hate them the way that I usually hate Duke. And it hurts me. Yeah. Because they are fun to watch.

[PFT Commenter]

They are.

[Big Cat]

And then the last game, Florida killed Maryland and Florida is really, really good. I expect Florida to go to the, to the final Four. We had. Condon did get hurt for a little bit there, which was scary for Florida because that is their ceiling.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Him being out there. And they're just an awesome team. The story obviously though is Kevin Willard in the weirdest, like three week Stretch, because this goes all the way back, I think, before the Big Ten tournament. Right around the Big Ten tournament. Kevin Willard. Should we first announce it?

[PFT Commenter]

Congratulations, Kevin Willard. You are the head coach of the Villanova Wildcats. You got your guy, Max.

[Hank]

Congrats, Max.

[PFT Commenter]

You got your guy.

[Memes]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

How would you. How would you rate Kevin Willard's exit from Maryland?

[Max]

Not a great exit from Maryland, but I'm worried about his tenure. Villanova. That's a pass. We're worried about the future.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

And Kevin Willard at Villanova.

[PFT Commenter]

So you just said the quote I heard from Max Memes, I don't know if you caught this was, I am worried about Kevin Willard at Villanova.

[Max]

Yeah, no, I'm. I'm focused on that.

[PFT Commenter]

No, you said worried, though.

[Max]

But that's what I care about. That's my. I'm not worried about that.

[PFT Commenter]

I think that if I was. If I was in charge of a coaching search, I would take into account how poorly he handled the exiting of. Of the Maryland job, and I'd be like, actually, I don't know if we're going to go ahead and do this.

[Max]

Maybe the people of Maryland are also doing a bad job behind doors, you know?

[Big Cat]

Okay, so from what we know, the.

[Hank]

Maryland athletic department seems like a shit show.

[Big Cat]

It seems like a shit show. And I feel. I want to say this, I feel really bad for Maryland fans because this should have been a really fun, like, Sweet 16 run. They hadn't gone to the Sweet 16 in 10 years. You had Derrick Queen's buzzer beater on Sunday. It should have been a really fun, like, this is the start of something big. And instead, it was two weeks of just the weirdest press conferences and the weirdest headlines. And Kevin Willard, from everything that I've read, essentially, he's been the Villanova coach for, like, a week and a half now. He. He started this all two weeks ago, doing a press conference, being like, hey, we need more support. We need more nil. We need all this stuff. Fine. Totally fine. Everything I've read, Maryland basically said, okay, Kevin Willard, you're right. We're going to give you everything you want. And he's like, well, actually, Villanova is going to give me. I'm going to the Big East. I want to go back to the Big East. And everything I asked for, yeah, you delivered it, but I'm not going to take it.

[PFT Commenter]

It's. It's a bad position for a coach to be in, because coaches, here's a news flash, they have zero loyalty to whatever job that they're Correct. Unless it's one of probably like a dozen. There's probably a dozen schools that guys are at where they're like, this is where I want to be as long as they'll have me. But outside of that, they will be looking for a higher paying job, a better job if it's available. And it sucks. It sucks. I, this is the part that I, I don't like about college basketball is this type of stuff. Because Maryland should have been such a good, feel good story. It should have been. You know, I feel bad for the, for the players. I feel bad for the fans because the nature of the sport. They've had a bad time going to the sweet 16.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

It has not been enjoyable. There was nothing happy about this time for them. There's really no fix. Like, I can't think of a way to, to make this right off the top of my head, but I do. Maybe if just if reporters agreed to stop asking coaches, well, no jobs.

[Big Cat]

The fix is he could have done it one of two ways. He could have done it the Will.

[PFT Commenter]

Wade way, which I didn't mind.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And just say, yeah, I'm taking the Villanova job. I love these guys. I'm going to, I'm going to coach these guys. I'm going to coach my ass off for these guys. I am gone. Or just the note, like, basically don't talk about it at all because he did the thing. Like, I understand coaches will do this all the time and it's bullshit. But I also never going to begrudge someone taking a higher paying job or a job they want to go to for family, whatever it may be. But you could easily just say, like, I'm focused on this team. I'm not going to talk about this. My agent's going to handle everything. He went on a radio show on Tuesday and said, I'm the Maryland coach as of right now. That's crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

And this is the, the same thing that he did. He was at what, Seton Hall. So when he was at Seton hall, his season ended kind of the same way. And in the tournament he was like, yeah, I've got an agent. I haven't talked to him yet, so I don't know what's going to happen. He was like, very, very cagey about it, about the way that he left.

[Max]

He said in his post game press conference, the only thing I'm worried about right now is who my next boss.

[Memes]

Is going to be.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

He was still throwing shots at Maryland.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Because they fired the ad, went to S.M.U. yeah. And he, and he's like, I haven't talked to my wife, I haven't talked to my agent. That all lies. He's talked to both.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he's.

[Big Cat]

He's going to be announced the Villanova head coach. If he's not, I actually don't think you can go back if you're. Kevin Will.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, so there was a report that came out that said that he is expected to take the job. I think it was a Baltimore Sun. But Maryland is planning on making a latch last ditch effort to bring him back, which would be wild. So awkward because when they left the team hotel today to go to the game, the fans booed him. Maryland fans booed their head coach on the way to a Sweet 16 game.

[Big Cat]

And he. There was a report. It was a rumor. Who knows. That he did not go to the team dinner last night.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you think that's true?

[Big Cat]

I, it might be because he, he strikes me the way he's handled this whole thing. And listen, again, I, people, most people aren't confrontational. I don't, I don't like confrontation. He, he probably was like, I'm just going to stay at home and do some game planning because I don't really want to sit with my players and my staff and have to them make jokes or ask me questions.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I think you're right. I think the way to handle is just like, I'm not going to talk about anything else.

[Big Cat]

Not talking about it.

[PFT Commenter]

You got to set the ground rules as a head coach. Not going to talk about the next.

[Big Cat]

Job or the Will Wade, not the halfway of. As of right now, I'm the Maryland coach.

[PFT Commenter]

Here's how I would handle it as somebody that would not feel comfortable doing the. Yeah, I'm taking the Villanova job, but I'm still coaching these guys and I love these guys. I would probably say I'm not going to talk about my future. I love these guys.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And then I'd shame the reporters for asking me about it.

[Big Cat]

I love that focus on the kids.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, I, I think it's highly offensive that you want to take the spotlight off the, off the players and their experience and try to divide us. I think that's a shameful thing to do.

[Big Cat]

That's what Izzo did.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You see the Izzo, when they asked him about the transfer portal, he's like, I got guys here. I got 15 guys here that I love. I'm. I, I don't want to talk about new guys. I don't talk about the transfer portal.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It's my guys right here. Yeah, like that. There is something you don't know when Kevin Willard's been coaching for 18 years. This was his first Sweet 16 run, and it basically was sullied by all of this. Like, I just. Again, it's. You can do whatever you want. You can take whatever job you want. There's just a way that you can avoid all of this. And he basically. He did the exact opposite of avoidance in the fact that he made it as murky as possible. And he kept on having weird press conferences and kept on stoking the flames like he could have shut this down, and he just didn't.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he did a bad job quitting it. But I still think that whether you go that way or the. The Will Wade way, it sucks that it's a conversation that happens.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Part of sports. I don't like that it happens in March, especially with. I mean, this is how Nil works now. This is how. Transfer portal. We always said that it was unfair that coaches could move and players couldn't. Now it is equal. We have. You know, Scottie Pippen's son hit the transfer portal. He's on Michigan. Michigan's in the sweet 16. It's. Remember when Bo Pe did it for Penn State when they're in the playoff?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

This is just the reality of it. They should change. They should change when the transfer portal. Because that's the other part. Is the transfer portal opening during the tournament or the transfer portal opening during college football playoffs is so fucking asinine and so backwards. Because I bet you not to excuse Kevin Willard, if the transfer portal opened, let's say, April 15, Kevin Willard would not have had to have his advanced talks with nova because the pressure of, like, you got to figure it out, and you got to figure out who your coach is. You got to figure out the transfer portal starts so quickly.

[PFT Commenter]

You know, it was crazy tonight, too, is that the first half was close. It was 40 to 38 at halftime. Do you think. Do you think Kevin Willard was like, we're so close it at halftime. I'm just going to tell the boys, I'm going to open up my heart. You're like, hey, guys, there's been a lot of talk. I. I want you to hear it from me first.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I am leaving. Let's go out there and let's. Let's win this game because I love you guys and I'm still coaching you right now. And they took it the exact opposite way. And they're like, this guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. Probably. It could definitely have happened.

[PFT Commenter]

That was his big motivational speech. Backfired big time.

[Big Cat]

Stephen Che was trying to get me on that. This is the exact same thing as Liam Cohen. The Bucks weren't still in the playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, not. Not the same.

[Big Cat]

Like, that's the thing is if Kevin Willard, if. If Derek Queen's buzzer beater doesn't go in, none of this is weird. Like, it was a little weird a couple weeks ago when he. When he made the demands, but he would have been the Nova coach and we all would have been like, okay, that makes sense.

[PFT Commenter]

Which, by the way, this is a stat that I wish that we had. I wish that we had said this earlier in the week. Teams in the last 10 years are 1 in 7 after a buzzer beater in the NCAA tournament in their next game. 1 and 7. Would have liked to have known that earlier.

[Big Cat]

I think I saw it. But that also is like, how much that stat is re. Like, I don't know. It's real, but. Yeah, I understand. But is it just. I'd have to look because you think maybe buzzer beaters. What? You think it's directly correlated? You hit a buzzer breeder, you lose the next game.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I think. I think it has more to do with maybe an underdog that shouldn't win the game.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

And they end up winning at the very last second. Fluky shot. They're less likely to beat a better team in the next round.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

It has nothing to do with the actual shot.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

And how ride. Stats are stats.

[Big Cat]

Stats are stats. But you probably have to look into it a little more.

[PFT Commenter]

Numbers never lie.

[Big Cat]

Numbers never lie. Hank, how did you like the games tonight? They were great.

[Hank]

I like the. It was fun. Fun night. It was better. Better than last weekend?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And we should have. I mean, the Elite Eight matchups. Now this is the whole deal we made is there was no upsets at the beginning of the tournament, but Duke, Alabama is going to be great. Texas Tech, Florida should be great. Like, these are great games.

[Hank]

Kentucky, Tennessee tonight. Yeah, it's.

[Big Cat]

It's stacked. Yeah, we're living in the best times. Michigan, Auburn, the crown starts on Monday. I don't know if you guys have seen, but I'm actually jacked up for the crown.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not going to watch the crown. Yeah, you show on Netflix.

[Big Cat]

You know why you're going to watch the crown. You're going to watch the crown because the crown starts Monday at 2:00pm I like the timing. Yeah. And it goes 2:00pm 4:37:30, 10:00. You're going to watch the crown.

[PFT Commenter]

I can't turn my back on nit Stew.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I'm sorry, crew. Also, I should mention on Tuesday, 2:00pm, 4:30 7:30, 10:00. You're going to watch the crown, buddy.

[PFT Commenter]

It's good having basketball on. I'm going to watch. I mean, the timing of it is no brainer.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's great.

[PFT Commenter]

What are the matchups? Which crown matchup are you most excited? Okay, tell me the teams and then I'll tell you how excited I am.

[Big Cat]

Nebraska, Arizona State could be good. Washington State, George. Georgetown might take the over in that. Utah, Butler, George. Washington, Boise State. We need to find a crown expert. DePaul, Cincinnati, UCF, Oregon State, Villanova, Colorado. Tuesday night, Tulane, USC.

[PFT Commenter]

Were they playing the games?

[Big Cat]

Vegas.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

That's all of them being played in Vegas. So yeah, I'm a crown guy. I'm excited for the crown. I want Max. Will you be live streaming every crime game?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

No.

[Big Cat]

You said yes.

[Max]

I get fucked up with it. I'm looking at Pacific time. I don't know what that means.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you mean?

[Max]

So all of these are two hours back.

[PFT Commenter]

Why is your time.

[Max]

Well, I'm looking at the bracket, so.

[PFT Commenter]

On the printout bracket it says Pacific. So that means that you need to add two hours to it.

[Big Cat]

Just look at the website.

[Max]

I also like that the, that the, like the final four of the crown is the same day as the real final four, but it's just before. So if you're like craving.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that's great.

[Max]

So it's 12:30 and 3 our time, so it'll be like going right up until the final four.

[PFT Commenter]

What about the championship Sunday?

[Big Cat]

Love it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Love it.

[Max]

It's great.

[Big Cat]

It's a crown guy.

[Max]

It's good scheduling. It's good scheduling for the crown.

[PFT Commenter]

Your crown with a sickness.

[Max]

Sure. I don't know what that means at all.

[Big Cat]

It's a lyric.

[Max]

What?

[Big Cat]

Down with the sickness.

[Max]

Oh, got it, got it, got it, got it, got it, got it. I thought this.

[Memes]

I don't know.

[Hank]

My bad.

[PFT Commenter]

Just say I'm crying with the sickness.

[Max]

Yeah, yeah. I'm crying with the sickness.

[Big Cat]

Sure.

[PFT Commenter]

Fuck, yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right, we got. We got to talk some, some LeBron. Before we do that, Hank, we look up what the prices are on game time for the Cubs opening day next Friday.

[Hank]

Sure.

[Big Cat]

Baseball is back. There's nothing like getting to a baseball game, especially last minute. Lucky for me, I always use GameTime, the official ticketing partner of Barstool Sports GameTime makes getting tickets faster and easier. Prices on the app actually go down the closer it gets to Showtime. Plus the gametime Picks feature makes it even easier to find the great deals on the seats you want. Just pull up your chosen event and turn on the GT Pick setting at the top of the screen. Or browse the best local GameTime picks deal near you on your GameTime app homepage. Cubs opening day Friday against the Dodgers.

[Hank]

Yeah, I think it's going to be a nice day too. And you can get into Wrigley for just $64.

[Big Cat]

Wow. Use the Game Time picks. You can put those savings back in your pocket and spend them at the ballpark on a hot dog, a new hat, or some good old fashioned cracker Jack. What are you waiting for? Buy those Cubs Dodgers tickets now with Game Time Picks. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use code pmt for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code pmt for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. What time is it? Game time. Okay. LeBron James, he went on Pat McAfee show on Wednesday, lit the world on fire, then hit a game winner against the Pacers. Then we should mention he had the laziest entry pass ever in the Bulls who were very hot. One on a Josh Giddey half court shot which was an incredible. If you didn't watch, I would assume a lot of people didn't watch the Bulls. Lakers just pull up the clips for the last 40 seconds. It was insane.

[PFT Commenter]

It was nuts. Three to cut it within two.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And then stolen inbounds pass.

[Big Cat]

Kobe White was just on fire again.

[PFT Commenter]

And then was it Lakers scored a two. Yeah, it was Luca to Austin Reeves.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

They go ahead and then Giddy hits a half court shot.

[Big Cat]

Half court shot. But LeBron conversation. LeBron Versace, great name for, for the interview. I have some takes. I want to hear what you guys have to say. My first take is how pissed do.

[PFT Commenter]

You think Skip Bayless is that he's not involved.

[Big Cat]

LeBron goes on this, on this on Pat McAfee show, which was actually like pretty entertaining. You know, I like the whole thing. You didn't hear LeBron. LeBron doesn't do these type of interviews often and he started a war with Brian Winhorse. He went at Stephen A. Smith again.

[Hank]

And said the NBA was rigged.

[Big Cat]

Say the NBA was rigged. Said Giannis could have dominated the 70s.

[Hank]

Said his team that made the finals when he was younger was A joke, basically. Shat on it like the players.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But all this to say Skip Bayless was not mentioned once. And all Skip Bayless wants to do is get mentioned by LeBron. He's the big loser in all of this.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. Skip was really. He was grasping that straws tonight because he was pissed. He was mad at LeBron. He was, you know, calling him out for losing the game tonight in the home palace of Michael Jordan.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

And so he's laying in extra hard trying to make LeBron seem like a loser. But in reality, Skip was just like, maybe he'll talk. Maybe. You think maybe he's going to call like Stephen A. By my name.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

In this. In the LeBron versation. But I thought that LeBron and then Stephen A's response to LeBron. They just need to have a conversation on. On a podcast together. They need to quit talking about each other behind each other's backs. They need to just sit down and do it all in a room. You think that this is all the work to get Stephen A. Smith some ratings?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. To get the NBA talked about? It does feel very workish at this point.

[Hank]

I have not given up on my conspiracy theory that LeBron is starting this separate league. And him basically admitting that he believes the NBA was rigged is further evidence of it.

[PFT Commenter]

It's trying to put it a little crack.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Cracking the truth. Hank, I've agreed with you since day one when the. When LeBron said that he was thinking about starting his own league that would rival the NBA after they've done everything just bending over for him for the last 25 years, I thought that fair play on both sides until Stephen A. Was like, you didn't go to Kobe's funeral and.

[Big Cat]

Well, no, he also say that.

[PFT Commenter]

I know. Good point. Good point.

[Big Cat]

He things that he was never brought up.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

There. They brought him up.

[PFT Commenter]

There are things that he could have brought up and he didn't, which he hasn't. And he will continue to not bring them up.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

And those things as he listed them were. I didn't bring up that you didn't go to Kobe's funeral. Yeah, I get it.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

When I'm talking about the news between you and your son. There were things about your son's illness. I'm so thankful that he's okay. And then he just moved on from that point.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And also the Dwayne Wade didn't go to Dwayne Wade's hall of Fame induction.

[PFT Commenter]

That's right. But when he fired the Shot about Bronnie. That was the weirdest one to me, because he didn't finish his thought on it. It was almost like one of two things happened. Either one, he was letting LeBron know that he knew something that he wasn't going to detail. Or two, he just decided mid sentence, oh, I better not go there because LeBron's gonna kick my ass.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[PFT Commenter]

And then moved on. But that part was really weird to me. And then also, oh, yeah, it turns out that LeBron did go to Kobe's funeral, and he just asked to not be photographed there because he didn't want to make it about himself.

[Big Cat]

Right. The. So that. That. The Stephen A. Smith, LeBron stuff, I mean, it's basically just giving Stephen A.

[Hank]

Smith life, but it's a power move by LeBron. Jew McAfee show, the biggest LeBron hater. But, yeah, he hates Stephen A. And Stephen A. Hates McAfee. So as a way to get back to Stephen a. Going on McAfee, like, that's a. You gotta just tip your hat.

[Big Cat]

And I thought Pat did a really good job because Pat does do a good job of, like, asking questions that are uncomfortable, like, just getting right to it. The one. The couple things I. I like him going after Stephen A. Was fine. Whatever. Like, Stephen A. That's the game Stephen A. Wants to be talked about. I thought the windy shot was weird. Yeah, the windy shot was weird. Just because, like, I don't think Brian Winhorse has ever said he's best friends with LeBron.

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Big Cat]

And he's also everything I've, like, heard from Wendy. He's always pretty effusive in praise of, like, I wouldn't have a career if LeBron. Yeah. Like, I wasn't in the same place, same time as LeBron James.

[PFT Commenter]

I think maybe what LeBron's heard is everybody else being like, Wendy is best friends with LeBron. That's why he gets all the LeBron scoops. But Wendy has never said that. It's just everybody else being like, Wendy is the guy that has everything about LeBron.

[Big Cat]

But it's also very funny because LeBron, you should probably look at your inner circle because they're probably the ones talking to Wendy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, right. Yeah, I also. Wendy, I would have been like it. I wish that LeBron would say that to my face. Because, Wendy, I'd have to. I'd have to swing on him when.

[Big Cat]

He had the whole media responding for him having his back.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So, like, and these are minor things, because again, overall, I like the interview, and I thought LeBron was more relatable than he's been in a long time. The. The other one that I was just like, this is weird. The Giannis scoring 250 points in the 70s, that just feels, it feels desperate of, like, trying to push, you know, I'm the goat conversation. And it always strikes me as weird when guys, like, bash the people who came before them, who not only, like, 70s NBA players were on tape delay, guys weren't being paid a ton of money, they were traveling like, like, those guys built what the NBA eventually became. So you should have a little more, like, reverence for those guys, I would assume. But it's also weird to me because if you're bashing guys from the 70s, what do you think's gonna happen in 40 years?

[PFT Commenter]

You're gonna get bashed.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, right. It's like, it's like having a conversation. Like, everyone knows someone who's a big gossip and always has, like, inside, you know, telling you, oh, this guy's doing this, like, and they ask you what's going on in your life and you're like, no, you're just gonna tell this to everyone else. You can't. If you're gonna bash the 70s, they're gonna bash you eventually.

[PFT Commenter]

Or it's like, hypothetically, if a coach left a job unceremoniously, right. What do you think he's going to do to your job at some point?

[Big Cat]

Right. It's just so weird to me. Like, you're going to get. It's going to come around on you, LeBron. I don't know why you could just take the high road and be like, the guys in the 70s were great in their own way. The errors have changed, basketball has evolved. But I appreciate them and I hope people will appreciate what I've done for the sport in 40 years.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, if yacht. Is he saying that if you took modern day Giannis and then just teleported him back in time and dropped him in the middle of a game. Yeah, he would dominate. Okay, that's. That's probably correct. Yeah, he'd probably be the best player by, by far. But also if you were to take Giannis and then have him be born in that era.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

He probably would never play in the NBA because they didn't scout in Greece.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

And so you, LeBron, if he had been born in the era, probably would have been a great player, great basketball player, one of the best. But would he have been as. He wouldn't be a carbon copy of who he is today, would he have.

[Big Cat]

Been able to play for 20 plus years. No way.

[PFT Commenter]

Super teams didn't exist. He might never have won a title.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But he also like his career longevity is because of how far we've come in sports science. You'd think like to bash those guys. They were playing in Converse. And Chuck Taylor. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't like him going at Wendy. I don't like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Wendy was too much.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't like that. But I do like the fact that Stephen A. Is like, I would have swung on him if you put hands on me.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I like.

[PFT Commenter]

And then I also Fair play by LeBron posting the boxing video of Stephen A. Smith.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Be like, bring it on.

[Big Cat]

It's a good rivalry.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a great rivalry.

[Big Cat]

It is a great rivalry. The other two ones.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you think that Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee don't like each other?

[Big Cat]

I think there was a report definitely.

[PFT Commenter]

Because Stephen A.

[Hank]

Definitely.

[PFT Commenter]

Stephen A. Seemed very complimentary to Pat McAfee earlier.

[Big Cat]

I think that's been. It's been. The beef has been settled. But I think there was a beef six months ago.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

This also. Stephen A. Was in a contract year, so I think he probably was, you know, hangry. Yeah.

[Hank]

He's never been on McAfee Show.

[Big Cat]

Oh, he hasn't. I didn't know that.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I didn't know that.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[Hank]

So, yeah, I mean, that's not really like.

[Big Cat]

I know there was.

[Hank]

Let me confirm that.

[Big Cat]

But other two funny side pieces of the LeBron versation. I saw this. This tweet from Justin Term term mine. Sorry if I up your name, dude. Termine radio hosts the NBA today 4 to 7 Eastern on Sirius XM. The most disturbing part of this entire interview was the amount of swearing for a guy who claims he understands his responsibility as a role model. Very disturbing. Makes you appreciate guys like Steph Curry even more. Very disturbing.

[PFT Commenter]

Fact, fact.

[Big Cat]

I was disturbed.

[PFT Commenter]

The part that I liked the most was the swearing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. It makes it relatable.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And then the other one was Hank your boy Perk down bad. Did you see that? Perk says that he blocked LeBron's number after LeBron unfollowed him on Twitter.

[Hank]

Perk is down bad. I mean, Perk also is like, that's.

[Big Cat]

Does he understand what, like blocking someone's number who never calls you and who just unfollowed you.

[PFT Commenter]

You're blocking somebody that already broke up with you.

[Big Cat]

I got your ass.

[Hank]

I was actually thinking about it probably.

[PFT Commenter]

So that he doesn't reach out to LeBron yeah.

[Big Cat]

You think. You think Perk has LeBron in his phone as. Do not text.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, do not text. And you get a couple glasses of red wine.

[Hank]

And Perk, he got cut off from the Celtics, too.

[Big Cat]

He did?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

For what?

[Hank]

For, like, talking last year, being like, break up the Jays. And. And, you know, this team's not going to win a title. And so he, like, he's not even welcome back, like, within the organization.

[PFT Commenter]

KD kind of roasted him, too.

[Hank]

Yeah, no, he's gotten. He's got. He just burned all his bridges.

[Big Cat]

Damn. Damn, that's tough.

[PFT Commenter]

The swearing was bad.

[Big Cat]

Swearing was. No, it wasn't bad. It was very disturbing.

[PFT Commenter]

It was fucking awful.

[Big Cat]

It was very disturbing. Okay. MLB opening day. Yeah, talk with Jeff Passon in a minute. About. I would say everyone should listen because he's great at giving us a lot of the Nuggets storylines, rookies that you got to watch out for so you can know before everyone else knows. How did everyone's MLB opening day go?

[PFT Commenter]

Tyler O'Neill hit a home run, so it went pretty good for me.

[Big Cat]

Six straight.

[PFT Commenter]

Six straight opening days.

[Big Cat]

Crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

He was just like, I have no idea what's going on with me. After he hit this one, he's automatic.

[Big Cat]

Cubs are one and, oh, Phillies want to know. I'm not counting. I'm not counting Japan. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But Max are 10 with an overtime win, so it's really. We got a point, too.

[Max]

We don't. We don't play hockey.

[PFT Commenter]

We're playing hockey. We're playing hockey, Hank. I was pumped, actually. I was pumped. Yeah, I was pumped. MacKenzie Gore had 13 strikeouts through six innings.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he was. Yeah.

[Max]

But Alec Boom said after the game that it was because of Shadows.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, okay. Well, he also pitched there last year and he wasn't as good, so.

[Max]

Shadows, 4 o'clock. He was like, no game should ever be.

[PFT Commenter]

How many strikeouts did your guy have? Max?

[Max]

You don't even. My. Your guy?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

The best pitcher in the nl.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

How many. How many strikes?

[Max]

Your guy?

[PFT Commenter]

How I'm guy. I'm asking you a question.

[Max]

Zach Wheeler. I think he had nine.

[PFT Commenter]

You haven't answered. Let's see. Let's look it up.

[Big Cat]

Memes. How was Soto's debut? He got a hit in his first at bat. How was his last at bat? Not great.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, what a bad strikeout.

[Big Cat]

Oh, Yankee, Yankees win today. We will win tomorrow. What? No, I'm just saying today was a.

[Memes]

Win for the Yankees.

[Big Cat]

Oh, they dominated. Are we keeping up? Are we doing game by game score on the Yankees Versus Soto. Okay, I'd like you to update that every time we do a show. Today.

[Memes]

Today was a Yankees win.

[Big Cat]

All right, so when we do Sunday show, I want Friday, Saturday, Sunday done.

[PFT Commenter]

The best pitcher in baseball had eight strikeouts, max. Eight.

[Max]

Eight strikeouts, six innings, one run.

[PFT Commenter]

That's McKenzie Gore had 13 strikeouts, six innings and zero runs. Which one's better?

[Max]

Seven to three, the final score.

[PFT Commenter]

No, we're talking about pitching. We're talking about the starting pitchers.

[Big Cat]

Okay, but they got a point, too.

[PFT Commenter]

We got an overtime point the game dude over. Learn. Learn how to score.

[Big Cat]

Matt, I have a question for Max. Hank, I actually already threw this out to pft. We're going to talk about this with Jeff passing because we were talking about rookies. Cam Smith. What, you don't like Jeff Pass? He might have had some words for you at the end. Cam Smith made the opening day roster for the Astros. He was part of the Kyle Tucker trademark. A lot of Cubs fans are like, this sucks. Cam Smith's going to be awesome. I think I'm rooting for Cam Smith to win AL Rookie of the year, and I might even bet it.

[Hank]

And the Masters.

[Big Cat]

And the Masters. Because if he wins ale rookie of the year, then Tom Ricketts has to resign Kyle Tucker. Otherwise, it's one of the worst trades ever.

[PFT Commenter]

You think owners think that way?

[Big Cat]

I don't. I don't know, but I'm just. I'm. I'm trying to think optimistic. It's early. It's opening day. Do you think that's stupid?

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think it's stupid. Whatever makes you feel better.

[Big Cat]

Well, you're in. Everyone's inclination is if you trade a prospect, you don't want him to be incredible right away. But Kyle Tucker's on a one year deal and the goal is to obviously resign him. If Cam Smith is incredible, you're like, wow, we traded him.

[PFT Commenter]

I think what you're really.

[Big Cat]

Here, let me cut through. All right, all right. I was working it out.

[PFT Commenter]

I get it.

[Hank]

Doesn't equal too.

[PFT Commenter]

I get it. I understand the sentiment entirely. But here's, here's what you're doing. You're really hoping that your guy is good and that he stays around for a long time.

[Big Cat]

Well, Kyle Tucker is good. But you.

[PFT Commenter]

What, you hope that he continues to be good.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[PFT Commenter]

You don't want them to put like a Jason Hayward type contract on him when he is, when he appears to be good just because you don't want to miss out on the guy that you traded away. And then that contract Becomes something that you want to get rid of for the next four years.

[Big Cat]

But Kyle Tucker's good and he's been good and he's on the right side of 30. Little different than Jason Hayward.

[Hank]

What if Cam Smith wins Rookie of the Year and they don't resign Kyle Tucker?

[Big Cat]

Then it's a disaster.

[Hank]

But you're rooting for that.

[Big Cat]

I'm rooting for the pressure to be turned up to re sign Kyle Tucker. And in reality, I know the other side of this.

[Hank]

I mean, I guess you could, you could apply that pressure right in the.

[Big Cat]

Other side of this, which I've thought this all through is. The real way this is probably going to work out is Cam Smith will be great and then Kyle Tucker won't get re signed with the Cubs and Tom Ricketts will. The only lesson he will learn from this is never trade prospects. And then we'll hold on to prospects forever and they'll never be good.

[PFT Commenter]

That's also a possibility.

[Big Cat]

That's probably the reality. It. Listen, it was a dumb thought. I threw it out there. I don't know. It is cope, but I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think it's a dumb thought. You have to protect yourself.

[Big Cat]

So maybe I should bet camps with the win.

[PFT Commenter]

Rookie, you have to protect yourself somehow. I won't judge you for how you choose to do that.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

Kyle Tucker is very good.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Max]

Kyle Tucker's a guy you want.

[Big Cat]

Yes. Long term. Yes. And I'd like them to do that. Dumb thought, but we'll see. Maybe I'll bet it. Good thought. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, all the bad teams won today. Yeah, a lot of the bad teams won today. So you had the Marlins, they beat the, the Pirates and then you had the White Sox beat the Angels. My method this year, I'm not going to be fading one team. I'm diversifying. Oh, so I'm going to be fading what I, what I project to be the three worst teams in baseball, which would be the White Sox, the Marlins and the Rockies. So I'm 02 on the season on that. Not off to a good start, but the season's young season is one one day. Also I saw some Yankees guys looking a little bit disheveled with the new grooming standards. I hope, I hope that the Yankees come out tomorrow and they say, yeah, you know, when we told you that we relaxed the grooming standards, that was a test to see who is a true Yankee.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Who wants to be. And.

[PFT Commenter]

And those of you that took advantage of that, see ya.

[Big Cat]

I like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Take a hike.

[Big Cat]

I like that. It was entrapment.

[PFT Commenter]

It was entrapment. We got you.

[Big Cat]

We found out. We weeded it out. Cut all the guys that aren't true Yankees. Yep. I like your diversification, although it's the reverse. Mark Titus. Our friend Mark Titus bet the Marlins parlayed with the White Sox to both win their respective divisions. $5 to win 350,000.

[PFT Commenter]

Pretty good.

[Big Cat]

Off to a two and oh start.

[PFT Commenter]

If the season ended today, that would cash.

[Big Cat]

Would it? Do they beat division rivals? I don't know if it would. I don't know if it would.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm looking at the Marlins beat the Pirates.

[Max]

The Phillies also.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, the Phillies won an in division game, so the Phillies are probably. Although technically I'm looking right now the Marlins are listed first and the White Sox are listed second, so.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

Might not work right there. It's right there. He just needs 161 more of those from both teams who are both going to lose over 100 games.

[PFT Commenter]

Definitely.

[Big Cat]

Okay, let's talk some more baseball. MLB opening day with Jeff Passon. And then we have severance spoilers and fire fest after Jeff Passon and then we'll. Yeah, get to that. Okay. Before we get to Jeff Passon talking baseball, guess what it is summertime. It's about to be summertime. It's spring, but it's about to be summer. Truly Unruly is our drink of the summer. 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. Comes in four fresh flavors. Tropical Twist, Berry Blast, Citrus crush, Strawberry Smash. My personal favorite. It's the official hard seltzer. Pardon my take. Find Truly Unruly at a store near you or Visit truly hard Seltzer.com Like I said, it is spring. We're about to have golf coming. We're about to have beach coming. Baseball's back. Opening day. Truly unruly. It's going to be a true. It's going to be truly an unruly summer with truly unruly. 8% ABV hits hard but still tastes amazing. Find Truly Unruly at a store near you or Visit truly hard seltzer.com we're also brought to you by our friends at taxact. Can you believe we're getting to the end of March and your taxes are due on April 15th? Hank, do you have any tips? Yeah.

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[Big Cat]

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[Big Cat]

Okay, so get ready to go with tax act. It comes like that where it's like, oh, March happens. Then you, you turn the calendar, boom, it's tax day. Make sure you get tax act and get yourself all squared away with taxact.com. anything else, Hank?

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[Big Cat]

Awesome. Thank you, hank. Go to taxact.com okay, here he is talking baseball. Jeff Passon. Okay. We now welcome on a very special guest friend of the program. It is Jeff Passon from espn. It is opening day. We're going to air this on Friday. So we're already going to see opening day. Although technically The Cubs are 0 and 2. I told you in text. I'm not, I'm just not going to acknowledge those two losses. I don't think they should count. They should have done an exhibition game. But it leads into my first question for storylines going into this baseball season. Are the Los Angeles Dodgers bad for baseball?

[Memes]

Everyone loves asking this question. And it's the problem with it is if I say yes, then I'm lying. But if I say no, then it infuriates everybody because I think fans of every team outside of the Dodgers believe that the Dodgers are bad for baseball. And I understand, like, I get the sentiment, they have an incredible team. They have a chance to win more games than any team in Major league baseball history this season if they can manage to stay healthy. And when you put everything against the backdrop of that and of the fact that they're going to spend a half billion dollars this year, when you've got a handful of teams that have payrolls under $100 million and we're so conditioned to this parody salary wise because the NFL and the NBA and the NHL all have salary caps, it, of course it must be that the Dodgers are ruining the sport. And yet when I pull back and try and look at this rationally, they are playing in a collective bargaining agreement that was agreed to by all 30 owners. Now, I bring that up because they decided for this system right what the Dodgers have done is they've taken the natural advantages that they've had and use them incredibly well. Like if the Dodgers sucked at developing players, or if the Dodgers sucked at analytics, or if the Dodgers sucked at any of the areas where they're actually good, they wouldn't be this seemingly unbeatable machine that we see right now. The problem is when you have a system that operates like Major League Baseballs and then you have a team that not only has that financial advantage, but is incredibly smart with how it deploys its resources to you have the opportunity for a team that looks unstoppable. And the only way to remedy that is not through a salary cap. Because if Major League Baseball, when the collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2020, says the only way we're going to go back to playing again is under a salary cap system, we're not going to have baseball in 2027.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

Like it is plain and simple. They're not going to be. Players are not going to be bullied and cajoled into accepting a cap because the notion that the cap is like this panacea that, that, that it's going to fix all of baseball's problems. No, a cap would not necessarily do that. It would help in some regards, but it wouldn't fix things. Things.

[Max]

Right.

[Memes]

And so because of that, I think we have to live with the idea that we've seen a team like the Dodgers in the past. They're called the New York Yankees. This was the narrative throughout the early 2000s, the late 90s, when salary disparity really started coming into baseball. And what the Yankees did is they spent themselves into a bad position. We've seen the New York Mets guys spend themselves into a bad place. Money does not necessarily equal success in Major League Baseball. It allows you to make mistakes and it gives you opportunity at those high level players that some teams just don't have access to. And that's not great. Like, if you want to say that part is bad, I would agree with you on that. But is it bad enough where you're going to put constraints in place that ultimately hurt the players? The people who we watch these games for, we don't watch it for the laundry. We watch it to watch incredible athletes do incredible things. And if you're trying to do something that harms them in the name of parody, you're barking up the wrong tree.

[Big Cat]

All right, so I'm gonna wait for this season to happen. To answer that last question. Is it bad enough that we need to change Everything. Because if the Dodgers win, like, 125 games and then sweep their way to the World Series, then we're. I'm just gonna play the results and be like, yeah, it's broken. How many games do you think they actually can win? Because they are. They. They won the World Series last year, and then they added a ton of pitching. And it feels like even if they have some injuries, they have guys that could step up. Like, realistically, is the record something that you could, like, be like, yeah, we could be talking about this in late August.

[Memes]

Yeah. I mean, we're looking at 116 games from the Seattle Mariners. And let's not forget that Mariners team bombed out, like, in the first round of the playoffs, too. So that's like. When I try to. To answer that question of the Dodgers, good or bad for baseball. Right. One of the things I always go back to is that I can more or less guarantee that the Dodgers are going to be in the postseason, and there are only 12 playoff spots. So there's a lot of value in that. But let's look past 2024 and back to 2023. They got swept right in the first round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Let's look back to 2022. They got beaten by the San Diego Padres. Let's look back beyond 2020, when they won the COVID World Series. They hadn't won a world series since 1988, and they have been spending, not quite to this level, but pretty similarly over that time. And so the great equalizer in baseball is that its postseason is just kind of a crapshoot. Like, even the best team is going to go into a series with a 60% chance of winning, not a whole lot higher than that. Right now, if you look at the Dodgers, like, the most favorable projections have them, like, a 25% chance to win the World Series. Now, if you ask me, would you take the Dodgers or the field, even though the numbers suggest otherwise? I'd probably still say the Dodgers just because beyond their stars guys, they have so much depth in the organization. And depth matters. Depth allows you to weather the injuries. Depth allows you to weather the ineffectiveness from some guys you might not have expected. And that's one thing the Dodgers have done incredibly well.

[Big Cat]

They.

[Memes]

They have developed players who can either step in for free agents who leave or be there when guys get hurt.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I think they might be bad for baseball, though, because here's why. Hear me out. Now, we're not complaining about the Yankees being bad for baseball. We're complaining about The Dodgers being bad for baseball. And I miss that. I miss being able to do that. You were talking about the salary. You know, obviously with a league that doesn't have the same salary cap like, like the NFL does, it's not built for parody. Has there been more discussion about the salary floor and having a high salary floor? So some of these teams that, you know, get away with not spending any money at all, some would say it's disrespectful to their fan base. They're just printing money. They know they don't have to win to make money. Has there been a discussion about incorporating that into the next cba?

[Memes]

A floor comes with a cap. A cap comes with a floor. The two shall never be separated. And you know, as, as somebody who looks at like the Pittsburgh Pirates and sees Paul Skeens on a near minimum contract and sees Jared Jones before he got hurt, but Mitch Keller, they've got Bubba Chandler coming up like the Pirates have an incredible pitching staff and they didn't do shit this offseason. And, and it, you know, like, I should be the person who's yelling about this because I live in Kansas City, because I grew up in Cleveland, because I embody like the Midwestern thought process when it comes to sports. And you know, when you have a team like the Pirates, I look at them and I'm like, try just once, just once, please go out and try to field a winning team. I look at Cleveland, they traded Andres, Jimenez, lost Josh Naylor this off season, they won the American League Central last year. Here another team didn't do. And, and it just bothers me as a sports fan and somebody who loves nothing more than widespread competitiveness that some of these teams that are in position to go out and potentially win World Series don't treat their seasons like it. It's disrespectful to fans, it's disrespectful to the game. And listen, I would love for there to be a salary floor in place in order to force some of these teams to go and spend. We saw this off season, the Oakland A's actually went out. Sorry, that's the A's. Yeah, not Oakland anymore. But the, the A's went out this off season and spent some money. And the reason pft they did that is because they were in position for the Major League Baseball Players association to file a grievance for them not spending enough of their revenue sharing money. Now that was enough of a threat for them to go out spend, but it wasn't seemingly enough of a threat for the Miami Marlins, who were in the same position to go out and do that. And I understand if you're going to like, pull back and do a full rebuild, it kind of makes sense just to bottom out what your. What your payroll is going to be. But that doesn't make the game better.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Memes]

And when too many teams are doing that, when the, when the lack of incentives to win are in place, it's problematic for the sport. Which is why I think MLB and the Players association in particular did a really good job in the past. Collective bargaining agreement of draft pick penalties where you can't pick multiple years in a row inside of the lottery if you are at a certain salary level or a certain market level. So there are little things that are helping, but they haven't solved the problem at this point yet. And it's why when we get to that collective bargaining time, like, you need smart people in the room to make decisions that positively impact the sport writ large.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, so let's do nl, al. So NL is. Is. I would say is. Is more, you know, top heavy than the al. It feels like obviously you have the Dodgers, the Mets spent a lot of money. The Braves are getting a bunch of guys back, including Acuna. So in the nl, is there a team that you have circled as like, hey, this is a team that no one's looking at that could possibly break through this. Mets, Dodgers, Braves, possibly Phillies, Diamondbacks, like top of the nl. That looks top heavy.

[Memes]

I think people are sleeping on Cincinnati a little bit. You know, Ellie De La Cruz has a chance to be a super duper star. And Matt McClain, who's the second baseman there, was out all of last season, he's an all star caliber player. And Hunter Green at the front of their rotation. And they're managed by Terry Francona, who all he's done throughout his career is win. The Reds sort of stagnated last year. I think I might have picked them to win the Central last year. But in a division as wide open as that is, I like a team that has some youth on its side. I like a team that has a little bit of energy going on. And the Reds feel like they could be that team this year because you're right. In the National League, you've got your clearly established teams that are either going to be good all the way to great. In the east, it's the Braves, the Phillies and the Mets. In the Central, I don't know if anyone's good. All five could win that division, frankly. And in the west, the, the Dodgers clearly at the top, but the Diamondbacks had the best offense in baseball last year and added Corbin Burns, the best free agent agent starting pitcher this off season. The Padres still have a ton of talent and did a good job adding Nick Pavetta to a rotation that really needed another starter. And, and the Giants are an improved team and it'll be interesting to see A, how Willie Adamus plays there and B, how much Justin Verlander, who's like well into his 40s now has left.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So in that central, we got to check in on the health of our, our guy, Christian Yelich. He's is very important to this podcast for reasons we could get into with you, but I don't think you want to hear about.

[Big Cat]

Well, actually, let's ask him. If there's no way you're aware of what we have with Christian Yellich, I hope I you're not doing your job if you're aware of it.

[Memes]

I, I, I am happy to say that I am not aware it's for the best. Enlighten me.

[PFT Commenter]

So he had back surgery, right? Are we thinking that a guy like Christian Yellich would be able to compete in the Home Run Derby this year?

[Memes]

I don't give a shit about that.

[Big Cat]

Why?

[PFT Commenter]

Why do you do.

[Big Cat]

If, if Christian Yellich ever wins a Home Run Derby in his career, we have to eat each other's asses.

[Memes]

Yeah, Okay, I, I do suddenly give a shit.

[Big Cat]

Right. Right. It's very important to us.

[PFT Commenter]

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

[Memes]

Could he compete? I don't know if he could, but I do know that I have some favors to call.

[Big Cat]

Well, there was a year that he hurt his back right before. So this all comes from we. He's been a friend of ours for a while now. We first had him on, I think, 2017, and we were joking with him that he doesn't really have a good home run swing. And it was also the time that there was a porn going around where the dot, the guy in the porn, was a doppelganger for Christian Yellow. She looked exactly like him. And we brought it up to him. He's like, yeah, I get tagged in it a lot. And then, then it just went to that, you know, the old, like, I'll eat my column. Pft. I were like, well, we'll eat each other's asses. So. But you're saying he probably can't.

[Memes]

No, no, I'm not. In fact, I'm rooting really hard for it now. Gonna make sure that like the juice. Like the especially juice balls are there for him.

[Big Cat]

Shit. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. So the al.

[Memes]

I feel. I feel like after I watched. I watched the latest White Lotus last night. Yeah, this is like a. Yeah, it's a very white Lotus conception.

[Big Cat]

Some people off.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll get back to Jeff Paston in a second. He's brought to you by Noble. If you're going to work out, you've got to try no footwear. I'm wearing them right now. I've been wearing them all week. They're great for working out. Went on a run wearing my no bowls. Very lightweight, very comfortable, great support. Legs felt great afterwards. Feet felt awesome. They make the best shoes, the most comfortable for both in the gym and on the go, with options across training and lifestyle. Well, Noble has options for everyone. They look great, too. That's the thing. I was wearing them yesterday. Got a compliment second I stepped into the office. They were like, damn, what are those? Pft. Nice shoes. I said, yep, they're no Bulls. Exclusively for Pardon my take listeners. No bull is offering 30 off your order. Visit www.nobleproject.com pmt and get 30 off your entire order. That's N O B U L L P R O j e c t.com pmt and get 30 off your entire order. Jeff's also brought to you by Experian Madness in March is good madness and credit is bad. To take control of your credit and finances, make sure that you pick the Experian app. Experian could be your financial Cinderella with tons of free tools at your fingertips to help you take control of your financial life. The amount of free tools that you get with Experian could fill a bracket with things like your free FICO score score. You could boost your FICO score instantly for free. With Experian Boost, you get free credit monitoring with alerts to keep you in the know on changes to your profile and free access to a marketplace of credit card, loan and auto insurance options all matched to you. Plus, you can freeze your credit file for free, helping protect you against identity theft. Make sure you're ready for your one shining moment with Experian. Go to the App Store and download the free Experian app today. Results will vary. See App Store for details. Go to the App Store. Download the free Experian app now. And now. Here's more. Jeff Passon in the nl. Can you give us, like, who do you think who should be keeping an eye on for rookies like upstarts that we're going to want to know their names, but we know their names now because you just gave them to us.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

You know, the, the rookie class this year is not all that great on the National League side. The guy who I picked, I mentioned him a little earlier, is Bubba Chandler with the Pirates. And I think you guys will. I don't know if you saw this story, but I think you'll appreciate it. So Paul Skeens, you know, probably the best pitcher in baseball right now after less than a year in the big leagues, gets named opening day starter for the Pirates. And Bubba Chandler was a guy who, I think he went to Clemson to play football, got drafted, was a two way player, like just an. An extraordinarily athletic guy, but Pirates made him a full time pitcher. Fastball up to 100 now. Great breaking stuff, good control and commit like he's going to be a guy. I picked him to win rookie of the year this year. But on the day Paul Skeens was named opening day starter, he got a text from Bubba Chandler. And I don't have the exact words, but it essentially said, enjoy it while it lasts because next year I'm going to be starting opening day.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that.

[Memes]

I adore that the guy hasn't thrown a pitch in the big leagues yet and he's got the balls to text the guy who is best at what they do right now and say, get out of my way. And that's that. I mean, it's confidence swag. A big Bubba Chandler fan already.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a great bubble move too. Yeah, I like my bubbles. A little cocky.

[Big Cat]

Yes, absolutely. All right, so what about the AL rookies we got? We. Because PFT is right, we just need to basically come away from this and our listeners do where they can just say, oh, y. Yeah, you hear about Bubba Chandler, he might be better than Paul Skeens. And everyone's like, damn, you know, Paul.

[Memes]

Christian Campbell is my pick for the American League. He, you know, he started off this season as potentially the second baseman or the favorite going in for the Red Sox after being minor league player of the year last year. And he just kind of stunk at the beginning of spring training and there was, you know, the gloss wore off a little bit. But, but the Red Sox believe in the bat and I understand why it's an unorthodox swing, but he's got incredible contact skills and you know, through. Through this work. I wrote a story about this earlier this spring on Roman Anthony, Marcelo Meyer and Campbell.

[Big Cat]

The.

[Memes]

The big three prospects with the Red Sox And Boston's doing like a bit different form of training of hitters than there used to be. And hitting has fallen so far behind pitching in Major League Baseball that it is one of those things that's kind of broken and could use some fixing. And I think these guys, with Campbell actually winding up making the Red Sox opening day roster, playing at second base, forcing Alex Bregman over to third and Rafael Devers to be dh. He's, you know, he's the favorite, I would say, at this point, do not sleep on Jackson Jobe, right hander with the Detroit Tigers, who's in their rotation, as well as Cam Smith. Who Big Cat. I think you might know Cam Smith's name. He was one of the players who went to the Houston Astros in the Kyle Tucker Trader.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

And less than a year after being drafted, he's making the Astros opening day roster and is going to be their starting right fielder and was one of the best hitters in the Grapefruit League this spring.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that'll be fun when the Cubs don't resign Kyle Tucker. Yeah, that's going to be a lot of fun when Ricketts is like, I can't find the money for it. We just have so many restaurants and, and luxury seating in Wrigley now. All right, so who's going to win the AL like that? It is wide open. Does it not like it feels like, especially with Garrett Cole getting hurt. John Carlos Stand. I don't even think we counted as an injury because it's kind of to be expected. So it's not like.

[Memes]

I guess so, but it's a weird injury, too.

[Big Cat]

What is it like? It's.

[Memes]

He's got issues with. With both elbows.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, we talked about this, remember?

[Big Cat]

That's right. My.

[PFT Commenter]

My dog had the same thing. I can give you a little bit of insight. My dog had bilateral elbow injuries, fixed him up. He spent about three months in a crate. Gave him a lot of Trazodone, anxiety medication. He wore a cone. Then he got out. He's good as new now. So have the Yankees considered putting him in a crate in with Trazodone?

[Memes]

John Carlos Stanton in a cone of shame would be something really.

[PFT Commenter]

No, it is. It is a weird. It's a really strange thing for a baseball to have, like, both elbows give out at the exact same time. But do the Yankees still have hope? Because they've got other. They've got some really, really good players. They've got a good roster still.

[Memes]

Yeah. The Yankees hope is the fact that they reside in the American League. Because if you drop them into the National League, their fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth best team, I, you know, before Garrett Cole needed Tommy John surgery, I still had the Yankees winning the American League East. I do not have that as the case anymore. I don't have them making the playoffs and, and I feel like this is like potential asshole zone for me because I didn't have them making the playoffs last year either, and they made it to the World Series. It's not that I'm like a Yankee hater, because I don't think that's the case. I just look at them and there's so few things with the Yankees that I can point at and say, yes, that is going to happen. I know Aaron Judge is going to have a very good year as long as he's healthy. He has consistently done so and is going to be in the hall of Fame and is the best hitter in baseball right now. But beyond that, do I know that Austin Wells is going to be a success at leadoff hitter? I do not. Do I know that Jazz Chisholm is going to take that leap forward we've been waiting years for? No, don't know that either. Don't know about Anthony Volpe or Jason Dominguez. Have no idea if we're going to get 2023 or 2024. Cody Bellinger. Does Paul Goldschmidt have anything left? Can Carlos Radon be a top of the rotation guy? How does Max Freeze, who's. Who's been consistently awesome throughout his career in Atlanta, transition to New York? All of these different things that are up in the air give me pause about the Yankees. But I, I'll also acknowledge that if a few of these things hit right, the Yankees very easily could not only win the American League east, but could win the pennants again. Like, this is a team whose ceiling is, is pretty high still, even after the Cole injury. But the floor happens to be lower, I think, than it is in typical years for the Yankees.

[Big Cat]

Okay, okay, so. So what other teams in the AL should we be looking out for in terms of like, hey, this team, maybe people aren't talking about them, but this is a team that if everything goes right, they could be in the mix come October.

[Memes]

I apologize for doing like a long checklist here, but that's how wide open the American League is. It's, it's like, I mean, you can make an argument for every team. Tampa Bay, Shane Mcclanahan. Turns out, isn't that Hur coming back from Tommy John surgery now and headlining a really Good rotation and an excellent bullpen. Junior Caminero with the Rays is going to be a superstar and this is going to be his first full season playing, so I could see the Rays doing it. The Blue Jays, I have them at the bottom of the AL right now, but if Vlad Guerrero and Boba Shet have the years that they have, Vlad last year and both the years before that, they're both impending free agents, they could lead the team team to the playoffs. The Red Sox I have winning the division. I feel good about what they did, getting Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman this winter. And let's not forget about the Orioles, who won 101 games a couple years ago and made the playoffs last season. I think people are sleeping on them a little bit in the Central. The the Twins bad year last year. Always questions about health, but they've got a lot of slug in that lineup and they're starting pitching. With Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober at the top of that rotation, they have a chance to be pretty good. Kansas City made the playoffs last year. Great pitching and my pick for American League MVP Bobby Witt Jr. I've got Detroit winning the Central with Tarek Skubal and so many other great starting pitchers in that rotation. And A.J. hinch is a manager just like he gets how to construct lineups and use the platoon advantage in his favor. Cleveland won the division last year. I'm not really on them, but they're also one of those teams that surprises Seattle playoffs two years ago, 88 and 85 wins the last two seasons, a great starting rotation. And today they signed Cal Raleigh to an extension. Cal Raleigh's nickname is Big Dumper because he's got a fat ass and it's like, honestly, it's the best nickname in baseball right now. And love, love him as a player. Won a Platinum Glove, leader in the clubhouse. The A's are going to be better this year. I'm not sure if they're a playoff team quite yet. The Astros seemingly always are a playoff team and you know, trading Kyle Tucker and getting Cam Smith back in addition to Isak Paredes, who's going to absolutely abuse the the short porch in left field. The Astros still have a chance to be good, but the team I'm picking to win the pennant is the Texas Rangers. They won the World Series two years ago. They were pretty awful last year, but they get Jacob deGrom back to headline their rotation this season. You know, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, both really good young arms. And when you look at the lineup that Corey Seeger and Marcus Simeon up the middle, Josh Young at third base, they traded for Jake Berger at first play, first base, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter in the outfield. They have good catching with Jonah Heim and Kyle Gashioka, like on and on and on. If the Rangers bullpen can perform or if at the trade deadline they can go out and get some high end relief arms, I think they have probably the ceiling in the league.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so there were two teams you didn't mention, White Sox we don't have to talk about because they're, I mean, they're a joke. Jerry Reinserve should sell the team. The other one, Mike Trout, he's going to be back. Is there any chance we get Mike Trout on a different team? Could this be the year?

[Memes]

You know, I remember I went to spring training with the Angels on the day Trout was going to talk two years ago for the first time. And it had been coming off a season where he gotten hurt, which has been sadly like an all too frequent thing lately. And we posed him the question, like, do you have any inclination to leave it? Would you waive your no trade clause to go to a contender? And he said, I feel like I have unfinished business here. Now, he hasn't said anything to the contrary since. But like, guys, we got to remember Mike Trout is 33 years old now. I'm not going to say he's entirely past his prime because I think if we have like a full healthy year of Mike Trout, he can still be a guy who puts up a thousand OPS and looks like one of the best players in the game. But he's been around for 14 years now. He's had 14 years of Artie Moreno bullshit. And it just goes to show you the importance of ownership. I don't know if this is the same way in other sports. You guys can, can tell me in football especially because like, I don't know who's considered the good owners or the bad owners in football, but the way that Artie Moreno has run the Los Angeles angels in the 20 or so years he's owned the team, and especially over the last decade and a half since Mike Trout's been around. Like, let's look at it this way. They had Mike Trout in his prime with Shohei Ohtani for six years and they did not make the postseason once.

[Big Cat]

Crazy.

[Memes]

That is, it's insane as, as, as somebody who was, you know, the, the biggest Mike Trout Stan imaginable during his best years, you know, the year that Miguel Cabrera wins The Triple Crown. I'm arguing that Trout should have been MVP anyway, because I, like, that wasn't just like a, you know, hot take. I just. He's. He was a better player that year. What Cabrera did was incredible. Trout was just better than him. It saddens me that Mike Trout might never know what winning feels like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

Because what are we doing this for? Like, what's the whole purpose of athletes going out? There's the individual accomplishment that you want. There are the goals you set and that you try to meet, and that. That gives you some feeling of fulfillment. But at the end of the day, you want to win something with the people who you spend seven or eight months in close proximity with with some of your best friends in the world. Because coming together as a team and achieving something like that beats anything you can do individually. And Mike Trout simply has never had that in his professional career.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he won the super bowl this year, though.

[Big Cat]

He did win.

[PFT Commenter]

He's pumped for his Eagles. Yeah, but you're right. It's like, how could that not get to you on a day to day, year to year basis? You go to work every day, you don't win. Your teammates are bummed out a lot. I would like to see him win. I'd like to see Mike Trout go to a better place that'll take care of him. I don't know what team that would be, where he would want to go. But, yeah, maybe the unfinished business is like, yeah, they send me my check every two weeks and it's pretty good check.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So I'm going to continue with that business. But with the angel, do you think is. Is Rendon going to play at all this year for them?

[Memes]

Nah, Rendon had surgery, so he's. He will not be playing. He is not that guy. Yeah, that guy's amazing. Yeah, I mean, he really. He really, really is amazing. Like, there. There were two contracts the winter he signed with the Angels that were for seven years and $245 million. It was Anthony Rendone and it was Steven Strasberg and the total production that their teams are going to get for the half billion or so dollars that they spent on those players. It's unbelievable. And it shows why, like, owners in baseball are so hesitant to give out deals like that. I get it. Because they can go sideways so fast. And in Rendon's case, like, I'm not going to say he never liked playing baseball, because I don't think that's true. But it was never, like, his passion. It was never what he lived for. He was never like a grinder. He was just extraordinarily talented at something. Got paid an obscene amount of money. Money. And hasn't been able to get back out there.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. What about the Astros? I feel like the Astros, no matter what we do, we'll never get rid of the Astros, though. They're always going to be hanging around, they're going to be pesky, they're going to be showing up in the postseason. Is this. Is this, like, the last dance for that. That core group of guys has been around for a while.

[Memes]

I mean, there's no one left really, like, after Bregman left this off season, it's like Jose Altuve and Lance McCullers are really the only ones left from. From the cheating team. And. And you know, Altuve is going to be there forever. Like, he's the. The Astro of lifetime. Astros, but they still have Jordan Alvarez, who is one of the best hitters in baseball. And adding Cam Smith has, you know, has sort of reinvigorated potentially that lineup. And they've still got from Valdez, Spencer Araghetti, Hunter Brown. Like, the Astros have done a good job of developing starting pitching, as you saw Carlos Correa and George Springer and some of the, you know, Alex Bregman, the core guys of not just the cheating championship, but the one they won after that as well. But yeah, the. The Astros, they're an interesting organization because it's. It's one of those teams where other, like, people from other organizations love on. The Astros, like, absolutely love it. And I think some of it goes back to the cheating, but some of it, they just don't believe that they're particularly well run, and yet they make that trade with Tucker and it's immediately paying dividends.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, Jeff, I got one last question for you. This is. Has been fun. I'm ready for baseball. There's always something about opening day that just. It just. It feels good. It's. It's a fun day. Roback question.

[Memes]

You know, you know, Big cat, you know what it is? It is. It is spring telling us it has arrived.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, you're right.

[Memes]

That. That's what it is in spring. I don't know how you guys feel about spring, but, you know, living in the Midwest, spring is when the sun starts coming out. I walk outside in spring, you know, I can wear shorts and a T shirt and not like my asshole kids who wear shorts and T shirts like, in the middle of the winter, because I don't know when it happened that Children's skin suddenly became impervious to cold weather. Yeah, I feel like this is a new generation thing. I don't know if your kids are.

[Big Cat]

Like, oh, yeah, my kids with, with coats every day. And it's just like, it's like 10 degrees. I'm like, you need a coat. They're like, it's not that cold. Like, what are you talking about?

[Memes]

But no, you, you go outside and you see the sun every day. And I think that's why opening day feels good, because it is introducing us to the season that makes us happy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I'd agree. I'd agree. All right. All right, so rollback question. R H O b a c k.com promo code. Take 20 off your first purchase. Q zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code.

[Memes]

Good hoodies.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, very good hoodies. The best hoodies. All right, so I know you don't watch as much of the other sports, but I assume that you are at least genuine, generally aware of Travis Hunter, who played for Colorado this year, going to be a top pick Heisman Trophy winner. If you had to just make an, just a gun to your head. Travis Hunter or Shohei Ohtani, who's more impressive at what they're doing?

[Memes]

Shohei Ohtani, because he has done it at the big league level. And I don't, by the way, to be clear, Travis Hunter absolutely should play cornerback and wide receiver in the NFL 100%. If you have the ability to have a guy out there who can impact both sides of the ball, why would you limit him from doing so? Particularly if he's on a rookie contract, which is shortened enough where you're not locking him up long term and you're not going to have any of like the wear and tear issues later on in life. It's the NFL. You can get rid of them anyway. Contracts aren't guaranteed, but Ohtani being elite at both levels, at the highest level of baseball, if Travis Hunter can be an all pro cornerback and an all pro wide receiver in the same season, get back to me and we'll have a conversation. And I am not minimizing in any way. He, he's awesome. I love watching him play, but it's just a matter of levels.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Counterpoint. Ohtani doesn't tackle anybody and Ohtani has.

[Big Cat]

Never won a Heisman.

[Memes]

Both true. Hunter's never won an MVP and I'd like to see him hit a 95 mile per hour fastball or throw a ball. 95.

[Big Cat]

Good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Good counter.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Our Producer Hank is an idiot, and he said that he. He thought Travis Hunter was more impressive than Chohei, and we were like, hey, I didn't.

[Memes]

I didn't know your. Your analingus Christian Yellich story, but I did know that Hank's a dipshit.

[Big Cat]

Perfect. Perfect. Well, Jeff, thank you. Oh, is it. When is Ohtani gonna start pitching again?

[Memes]

He's. He's been shut down for, like, a month now, so he's gonna have to build up. And let's remember, he's coming off of his second elbow reconstruction, so the Dodgers are going to take it easy with him, and they also have so much pitching depth that they really don't need. Need him. So is it going to happen in May as expected? It could, but I think it all just really depends on how his elbow responds, and we're going to get a much better sense of that over the next month or so.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Such a flex for the Dodgers to be like, hey, it'd be nice to have you pitch, but. But we don't need you.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we don't need it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's all right. It's all good, man. I had one last, last thing about Mookie Bets, because I've been reading about Mookie Bets. Did he lose £25? He got. Did he have the flu? He went down from, like 185 to 160.

[Memes]

Yeah. I don't think it was quite that much weight, and I don't think it was the flu. They. They haven't said what it is specifically, but the sense is he's going to play in their actual opening day stateside. So I listen. Baseball is better when Mookie Betts is good.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

And I. I hope nothing but a. A full recovery there. And us seeing him. Him, you know, even if the Dodgers are bad for baseball, like, seeing Mookie Betts out there is a good thing for everyone.

[Big Cat]

Agree.

[PFT Commenter]

That's why it's not fair, because Mookie Bets is so likable, and he's playing for the team that everyone should hate. It's like, God damn it, I want to hate you.

[Hank]

But yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Mookie's. I hope he's okay, too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. Well, Jeff, thank you so much. Appreciate you coming on. We'll maybe talk to you in middle of the season. And I feel like we got some good Bubba. Bubba Chandler. Bubba Chandler. Yep. Bubba Chandler.

[PFT Commenter]

I just call him Bubba.

[Big Cat]

Watch out. Hey, Paul SK Is good, but Bubba Chandler might be better.

[PFT Commenter]

You know what, Paul? Skin is great, but Bubba Chandler has it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's it.

[PFT Commenter]

We.

[Big Cat]

We got it. That's the takeaway.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You can't.

[PFT Commenter]

You can't.

[Memes]

I look forward to talking with you guys on the day that Home Run Derby rosters are released.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Memes]

I have my mission for the 2000.

[PFT Commenter]

You said it's the hardest thing to do in base. The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. That's impossible for Christian Yellich. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Can't do it.

[PFT Commenter]

Baseballs that many times.

[Big Cat]

Can't do it. Can't do it. All right, thanks so much, Jeff.

[Memes]

Thanks, boys. Appreciate you having me.

[PFT Commenter]

Jeff.

[Big Cat]

Pass.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

Okay, let's wrap up. We got fire fest of the week. Henry. Yeah. Oh, also, do you want to do severance?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, severance recap. Yeah. Yeah, I like this.

[Big Cat]

Max cried.

[PFT Commenter]

Max, what part did you cry in when he got reunited with his wife?

[Max]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So severance. Seven. Seven. Spoiler.

[Memes]

SPO.

[Big Cat]

Spoilers. Spoilers. Skip this part if you haven't watched it, but you also probably have watched it.

[PFT Commenter]

Good call. Thank God we got that.

[Big Cat]

So you cried.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

It's an emotional part. You think, like, imagine thinking that your wife is dead for so. For such a long period of time, and then, like, that first moment that you actually realize, like, realize that she's alive. Like, how could you possibly, like, put yourself into that situation? It's got to be an unbelievably emotional moment.

[PFT Commenter]

I got. I got misty eyed. I don't think there were any tears.

[Max]

No, no.

[PFT Commenter]

But I felt.

[Max]

I eyed that.

[Big Cat]

You get.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, right.

[Hank]

Welled up.

[Big Cat]

I laughed when Marquez shot the big dude in the. In the neck. That was so funny.

[Hank]

And just screaming at the other lady.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I thought.

[Max]

I thought there was a moment Hank was going to be right, that there was just gonna. That he was gonna go on a killing spree and just kill everybody down there. And I was like, oh, my God. We laughed at Hank, but he was right.

[Hank]

I thought I. My. What I wanted was Helly to kill her dad. And they kind of like. As I was happening, I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. And then obviously didn't.

[Big Cat]

Oh, she picked up a pen.

[Hank]

Yeah, it was weird. She didn't lowkey. And then you guys, like, you just want Game of Thrones. Brienne of Tarth. We got it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, we.

[Hank]

We got the Game of Thrones. Like, that was. That was also electric. Although the goats thing, like, explain the goats.

[PFT Commenter]

They just sacrifice.

[Big Cat]

They sacrifice him with. With. Anytime someone dies at Lumens in. Which seems like a decent amount of times because they've. I have a lot of goats out there. They sacrifice the goat with the person and it takes them to heaven or something.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you also notice that in the earlier episode where they had the goats and the people that look after the goats, they asked the people from the outside for macro data refining? Do you guys have pouches? Yeah, they were looking for oldie. Yeah, that's what they were like. Look up your shirt. Let me see your bags. What Hank I think is referring to, and I, I agree with Hank Lowkey. I thought that heli was Helena on the inside during that episode. At least at the start, until she like kind of teams up with Mark and. And he goes on a separate way. I thought that we were going to see Audi heli on the inside again.

[Big Cat]

She. She can't be Audi down on that floor though.

[Hank]

No, she was.

[PFT Commenter]

Earlier this season.

[Hank]

She banged Mark in the T cheapy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, that was when she was any.

[PFT Commenter]

No, no, no, that was Audi.

[Max]

You're not paying attention.

[PFT Commenter]

You're not paying attention.

[Big Cat]

Hold on.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, big cat missed a big part of this heli.

[Hank]

And I know that he's got two bodies on.

[PFT Commenter]

I know that he had a threesome.

[Big Cat]

The Audi one was outside.

[Hank]

No, no, that whole.

[Max]

Until that outside moment. The whole beginning of the season.

[Big Cat]

I understand.

[PFT Commenter]

No, you don't. Because she was Audi helly when she was on the inside.

[Hank]

Undercover.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that entire part of the season. Even on the inside. Not just on the ortbow.

[Big Cat]

She, he. Audi Helio outside.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, but he also hung out without any heli inside. Wait, he also hung out with Audi heli?

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

For the first like couple episodes of the season.

[Big Cat]

I get that. But they, they on the inside. That was any hel.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

You guys just told me I was wrong for that.

[PFT Commenter]

I literally just said that.

[Hank]

No, but the oro is also.

[Big Cat]

You just said. You guys just told me that I was wrong for saying that she fucked Audi heli outside and any heli inside.

[Hank]

No, but like when you say outside, you mean it would still.

[Big Cat]

I know I might have been wrong. There's kids. She can't be switched back. But I literally just said she fucked any heli inside. Yeah, yeah, she said I was wrong for that.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think she did.

[Hank]

No, you said you can't. She can't go out down there.

[Big Cat]

But she. They fucked outside. Yes, that was Audi heli.

[Max]

Correct, but we're talking about two different things here.

[Big Cat]

I understand.

[Hank]

Well, you said any. You said Audi helly can't go downstairs years.

[Big Cat]

She. I. I'm now remembering the beginning of the season. She was, she was faking it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I thought that's what we were seeing.

[Big Cat]

When was that?

[PFT Commenter]

That was like the first couple episodes when Irving was getting mad suspicious when he was like. You saw Night Gardener? Yeah, when she said that she saw Gardner when, when she got that glimpse of the outside override. Control.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That's what Irving was like. I. I'm beginning to. I'm beginning to keep my eye on you. And then he tried to kill her because he knew that she was outside. I thought we were going to see audi heli. I thought that's who we were seeing at the start of the finale. I thought she had done it again because it was a very important day.

[Max]

I feel like the real theory is that it's Audi Helly at the end of the episode.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

Because she brings him back and smiled.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

At Gemma. And Irv said any heli was never cruel. And it was kind of a cruel looking smile. When she looked at Gemma was like.

[PFT Commenter]

I1 yeah, that's what I. So I was thinking when I was watching the episode at the start, I think this is audi heli. And then she didn't kill her dad and she kind of like nudged Mark to go on and go downstairs and do that whole. And I was like, maybe it's. Maybe I was wrong, maybe it's not. And then at the end I was like, yeah, that kind of seems like Audi heli.

[Max]

So I, I, people think that they, once they realized that Mark was down there and getting Gemma, that they switched.

[Hank]

The glass cow block.

[Max]

The block that they, that at the very end they made her audi heli.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Max]

But it, but it was any heli the rest of the episode.

[PFT Commenter]

So now I just wonder what they're gonna do in the episode or season three. Yeah, it's like gonna be him and Helly just like holed up in a room with like a bunch of dead people and like blood everywhere.

[Big Cat]

It's gotta be like five seconds into them running down the hallway. They're like, whoops.

[Hank]

No, I think the dad. I think they already kind of set it up with the dad being like, he, he likes any heli.

[Big Cat]

He sees Kieran her.

[Hank]

And he's gonna probably maybe try and convert Mark. Like they're gonna try and convert any heli and any mark to convince them that if they roll with the cures, then they can stay together.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I, I really like the scene where Mark was arguing with himself on the video camera. Like stepping outside the room. That was a really good way to do it. And it. I don't think I could win an argument with myself. I think that's a very hard thing to do.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

Right. That, that's how I feel when I'm deciding to bet on a basketball game.

[Hank]

I don't know why he didn't just mention the, the Pete. Like they had A mutual. There's a mutual friend there that could have.

[Big Cat]

But he doesn't. But Audi. Mark doesn't fully understand how close any Mark was with Pete, I guess because he remember he like just went like. It was a crazy guy who had nosebleeds who then went to his funeral.

[Hank]

Yeah, I guess that makes sense because that. That didn't make sense to me. The other thing that it was two episodes ago, it kind of bled into this one. That. That still just makes no sense to me. I hope they like flashback to it is. Is the fact that Cobal and Mark and his sister just sat in the woods for 10 hours arguing. They weren't even. But what did they talk about? Like, why did they have to show up to the forest to. Or like.

[Big Cat]

I don't know if it was 10 hours, but yeah, they got there in.

[Hank]

The morning and then they cut back and it was nighttime. Like, all right, time to.

[Big Cat]

Well, it's always wind.

[PFT Commenter]

Winner. True.

[Big Cat]

It's always winner.

[PFT Commenter]

And what is it about the birthing center that they put the like geofencing in that can switch you back from any to Audi.

[Hank]

Yeah, that was weird. And then the.

[Big Cat]

Well, so the women don't remember that they went through the pain again.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

That was the whole. Remember the crazy like government governor's wife. She had no recollection of the sister because she went in there. So she didn't have to actually give birth.

[Hank]

When any Mark told Cobell that Irving knew where the testing floor was, like, she got scared. That made me think that Cobell's gonna flip again.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Because she was like, oh, yeah, Irving knows where the floor is. And she goes, wait. She was basically like, wait, what?

[Big Cat]

She was like a nice. In front of that fire.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, she did. She looked real good.

[Big Cat]

Real nice.

[PFT Commenter]

She gave you those eyes.

[Big Cat]

Real nice. I was pissed that like. I don't know. I guess he had to. He had to make that decision because they're two different people. But I was mad.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I really liked the episode. I thought it was one.

[Big Cat]

I did too.

[PFT Commenter]

One of the best episodes.

[Big Cat]

I was just pissing him. I was just like, you. You've come all this way. But he also. That's the great. That's the great part about the show is these two. Two people that are independent of each other. Like, he's making a decision for his own existence, not realizing that there's a guy out there.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

And think about if you're the. Any market you turn around and you see. I guess you would think it was the what was it? What was her name? The health woman. Not, not Gemma.

[PFT Commenter]

Miss. What was her name? I can't remember.

[Hank]

Hang.

[Max]

No, Ms. Casey.

[Big Cat]

Yes, Ms. Casey. So you just see Ms. Casey yelling @ it through a door, being like, come out, come out. Please come out.

[PFT Commenter]

There's got to be a way where he can have both.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Episode three is just all threesomes.

[Hank]

Well, Casey can't. I could see them like figuring out a way. Cuz obviously if Cobel invented the chip, could she like flip a switch to turn Audi Mark into any mark so he can get out?

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, you think she's going to get back in the lab?

[Big Cat]

Oh, I see what you're saying. So he, he wakes up as Audi Mark on the floor. He's like, I gotta get out of here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. Great show.

[Hank]

And Rickon, there, there, there's a lot. There's a lot. I think they're. I, I feel like we're the getting a full flashback season episode series. Like they, there's so much like 10 years ago past stuff that they need to address that I think to stretch it out. I could see them going like deep, deep in it because Rick and I.

[PFT Commenter]

Would watch a full spin off series about Rickon.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. What a weirdo.

[PFT Commenter]

He's funny.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he is funny. All right. Firefest of the week. Oh, also White Lotus. Did you see Duke is.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Very upset.

[PFT Commenter]

Duke's.

[Big Cat]

That's right. No spoilers for White Lotus. It's still ongoing going but very funny.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, traditionally the best way to have people avoid seeing the thing that you're embarrassed about is to threaten legal action against them. And then that way they won't sign up to, to see what all the fuss is.

[Big Cat]

People will stop talking about it.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

I think I've said this on my Firefest before and it probably means it's time to just get a new. New slats or like a new bed frame. But I plopped onto my bed again. Like I went to take a pessimill in night, just kind of fell onto my bed slats pushed down and, and broke and it was like 4am and so I just went to sleep basically inverted and my neck is killing me.

[PFT Commenter]

I got a solution for you.

[Hank]

What's that?

[PFT Commenter]

Sleep in a hammock. Yeah, you don't have to worry about slats and hammock.

[Big Cat]

There you go.

[Hank]

True.

[Big Cat]

Do you have to worry about getting just balled up and dying? Yeah.

[Hank]

And I feel like it's bad for my.

[Big Cat]

Your back, but no, it's interesting I.

[PFT Commenter]

Think it's good for your. Your back for.

[Hank]

Yeah, long term. Eight hours a night, every night.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it's good for your back.

[Hank]

One hour summer in the middle of the day. There's nothing better on this planet.

[Big Cat]

But you're saying laying on something more firm would probably be better for your body.

[Max]

Like piece of outdoor furniture for eight.

[Hank]

Hours a night, every night.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I think you guys are.

[Hank]

One hour break in the summer. I'll take a hammock over anything in the world.

[PFT Commenter]

I think you guys are denying science. I think hammocks are better for your back.

[Big Cat]

And how so?

[PFT Commenter]

I think that I've been reading a lot of pro hamic propaganda.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

And many people on the various message boards that I've read have said things like ever since I started sleeping on a hammock, my back pain is non existent.

[Big Cat]

These are people who are pro hammock.

[PFT Commenter]

Pro hammock on like Reddit.com hammocks yeah. Or hammockminder.net Big hammock. Big hammock.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Hammock fans dot com.

[Big Cat]

Hey, I got some new outdoor furniture coming. I can't wait for you to sit on it. It's going be.

[Max]

No, he's not allowed. I think he's not allowed.

[Big Cat]

It's going to be great. You're going to have a great time.

[Hank]

That's fine. I seem like a simple chair, but whatever you got.

[Big Cat]

Oh, simple chair. Okay, I get. I can get you more than that.

[Hank]

Just give me a beach chair. Best outdoor furniture there is.

[Big Cat]

Beach chair. Now it's the best outdoor furniture.

[Hank]

It's all you need.

[Big Cat]

Okay, beach chair.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm kind of with you.

[Hank]

It's about being outdoors, not about what you're sitting on.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Beach chair.

[PFT Commenter]

Make sure if you get a hammock that you hang it at about 30 degrees, hang angle with an asymmetric lay and then you're going to get rid of your back pain.

[Hank]

All right, good to know.

[Big Cat]

Okay, what's your firefest?

[PFT Commenter]

Pfd My firefest of the week is I realized this, I believe on Sunday of this week. But I, I went to a concert like four or five months ago and I had a great time and I got in the mood to see more live music. So I looked up to see who was coming to Chicago in the next like six months and I proceeded to. I was drunk at the time, Hand up bought eight tickets to go see ACDC at Soldier Field. Eight really nice seats. And then the person that I bought him with, turns out is going to be out of town for the ACDC concert. So now I got seven tickets that I gotta find people to. To bring along to go see ACDC in Chicago. And I realized, especially in this office, that seven tickets is the perfect amount out to have people not like you if they don't get the invite because it's a big enough group where it's like, oh, anybody that he likes should be invited.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

If I'm not invited, I'm not part of the crew.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

And I. I was saying this the other day to Miny, and Mincy just put his hand up. He said, stop right now. I'm coming with you. So I.

[Big Cat]

That's great.

[PFT Commenter]

So Miny. Mincy said like right off the bat, like, no if, ands or buts. He is locked. He said it like nine times. He was like, just so you know, I'm a definite. I'm a definite yes. So Mini's gonna come. And then Megan was listening to me, so her and her husband, Mr. Making Money.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

Are coming. But now I got to figure out what to do with the remaining tickets. Remaining five tickets, because again, this is like, you're in. Remember the Club Cool days in New York?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like, if you don't get the invitation, then PFT doesn't like you.

[Big Cat]

That was also very. I mean, the Club Cool days is one of the funny. I randomly was thinking about it today. I think that was the only time I went out. New York.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It was like the first week we were there, and then Dave got mad and Dave went out and was. Created his own club. Cool.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Well, you guys are massive Kanye fans.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You were there, Club Cool. You weren't.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I.

[Big Cat]

You moved already?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Kanye. Kanye is not my guy. Maybe he's your guy. Yeah. I wish I had gone.

[Big Cat]

It was really.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I was out of town that weekend, but. Yeah. So.

[Hank]

All right, so let's. Let's rank top to your top six favorite co workers.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, so that's the problem is like. Like if. If I don't.

[Hank]

We'll just sound it out. Yeah. Go one through ten.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm gonna say everybody in this room tied.

[Big Cat]

Nice. Yeah. Yeah.

[Memes]

Wait, we're not.

[Big Cat]

Oh, memes.

[Hank]

All right, so that's. That's four.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So Hank and Big Cat tied.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Well, no, it's for tickets. Is that. Was that an invite or.

[Big Cat]

That was. No, we're just tied.

[Hank]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

If you want to go see ACDC right now, you guys, I think we have dibs. You guys have dibs. But did you talk To Greer. I did not. So that's the other thing that comes into this, is that Greer is having his bachelor party in Chicago that weekend, and. And they are going to ACDC as part of the bachelor party. But then I thought about that, and then I'm like, is that weird where if I. If I give the tickets around me to people in Greer's bachelor party, am I inviting myself onto Greer's bachelor party?

[Big Cat]

No, no.

[Max]

Greer would absolutely love that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

And also, it doesn't have to be Greer. It could be, like, it could just be other people from this office that are just going with you that are.

[PFT Commenter]

Going to the bachelor party.

[Max]

Correct. And it's also such an easy out, just being like, oh, well, it's Greer's bachelor party.

[Big Cat]

It's a.

[Max]

It's a gift to Greer.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

For him getting married.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, you know what? That's the easiest way as my wedding present to Greer, who's getting real married. Not at all. A green card marriage. I would like to donate four tickets to ACDC to his bachelor party, if you would like it.

[Hank]

Damn.

[PFT Commenter]

And I'm keeping four.

[Big Cat]

So we're out.

[Hank]

I really wanted to go, too.

[Big Cat]

I really wanted to go.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you really, Hank?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So bad.

[Hank]

You kind of invited me the other day, and I kind of said yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, do you want to go?

[Big Cat]

Kind of.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, kind of invite.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hank didn't say kind of yes. He was just like, I'll think about it.

[Hank]

No, I was like, I'm in.

[Big Cat]

Sounds like there was a kind of yes.

[Hank]

It's fine.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. Hank's going.

[Hank]

No, no, no, no, no, no. Four for four.

[Big Cat]

What's the date?

[PFT Commenter]

It is the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

[Max]

I'm also out.

[PFT Commenter]

I. I pencil Big Cat. Here's how I operate with the. If I have a situation like this around Big Cat, I. I invite him, knowing that he's going to say no.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, I just have. I. I know I have.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

With my family.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

My kids.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so Hank's in. So now we're down to three tickets to Will. That's my wedding gift.

[Max]

Should I call Greer, ask if he wants some?

[Big Cat]

Hank's maybe in. You kind of offered, and he kind of explained accepted.

[Max]

I turned 30 that day.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, I. I literally.

[Big Cat]

Oh, wow.

[Max]

Actually, no. The next day, I offered.

[Big Cat]

How many meatballs you can put in your mouth that night? So many.

[PFT Commenter]

I offered you, like, four days ago, and you didn't say yes.

[Big Cat]

He kind of said yes. But you Also kind of.

[PFT Commenter]

That's the worst kind of friend. That's like a maybe.

[Hank]

Maybe. I was thinking. I said.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, the maybe is so bad.

[Big Cat]

This is Michael Greer from Macro Data refinement barstool version.

[Memes]

This is.

[Max]

This is our severed man. He's not gonna answer. What a joke.

[PFT Commenter]

This is our data guy. Wow. We're never inviting career on to part of my take again.

[Max]

Nope, never again.

[PFT Commenter]

One and done. We have our Canadian. His name's Oldie. By the way, I got a text from Oldie today because it's opening day.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, he's pumped.

[PFT Commenter]

He's so fucking pumped about opening day. He said, I fucking love sports, bro.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. So pumped. He's addicted to college basketball now, too. Yeah, I don't really have a fire press.

[Hank]

No, I was just joking. By the way, you can. Greer can have all four tickets.

[Big Cat]

That's a kind of. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. Don't do this, Hank.

[Big Cat]

He did it. He just did it.

[PFT Commenter]

You're gonna be golfing that day anyways. Let's get real.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Come on. That actually might be my fire fest. My fire fest is that the. The weather's turning, and I'm gonna lose my friend Hank for the rest of the season.

[PFT Commenter]

That is tough.

[Big Cat]

I'll see him somewhere around week six of the NFL.

[PFT Commenter]

It's Bittersweet Audi, Hank.

[Big Cat]

It is. You're saying. All right, that's it. Nice knowing you.

[Max]

Greer's calling me back. Should I answer?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll give him a shot.

[Max]

Michael, what up? You're live to tape on part of my take right now. Okay, so. Oh, Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, you are going to an AC DC concert in Chicago. Is that correct?

[Big Cat]

That's correct.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Max]

One Mr. PFD commenter would like to gift you four tickets to that concert. Is there anyone in your party that would like four tickets to the AC DC concert?

[Big Cat]

In my party?

[Max]

Anyone who's going to your Basser party?

[Big Cat]

They're all coming to the concert.

[Max]

Do they all have tickets?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we all got tickets.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, okay.

[Max]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

I could maybe find more. Well, find more people. No, he's got to find more people.

[Max]

You have to find more people. You're getting the tickets. The tickets are yours. You have to find the people to go.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Max. Max, tell him that I. I accidentally bought too many tickets and that I would now like him to decide who from the office gets the information.

[Memes]

Yeah.

[Max]

BFD accidentally bought too many tickets to this concert, and it is now your responsibility to find people from this office to go to this Concert, but it's not his responsibility. It's yours.

[Big Cat]

But.

[Max]

But congratulations on your. On your marriage.

[Big Cat]

Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm more than happy to find homes for those tickets.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Sweet.

[Max]

All right, Cool.

[Big Cat]

All right.

[Max]

All right. Thanks, Greer.

[Big Cat]

We did it. Yeah. So I got to say goodbye to Hank. We do it every year. It's kind of like the end of severance where he just stands the. At the door and, you know, I scream, I'm on the inside, and I scream, don't come back.

[PFT Commenter]

It's the old school, distracted boyfriend meme.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Work and then golf.

[Big Cat]

He's gonna get so good at golf this year.

[PFT Commenter]

Pft. Pft.

[Hank]

You know, likes to. To fly planes around F18s and just sit in the skies all day, and that's fine.

[PFT Commenter]

You don't know what an F18 looks like.

[Hank]

Big cat likes to spawn children and. And provide life for them. Children and. And that's okay. Like, no one frowns upon that. But that's what you guys like to do outside of work? I like to golf. And that's a problem. It's. It's.

[Big Cat]

I didn't say it was a problem. I said. I say. I say goodbye to you. I miss you. I mean, I'm going to be. You're going to be gone.

[Hank]

As I see you at work now.

[Big Cat]

It's a bittersweet moment.

[PFT Commenter]

I'd like to encourage Hanks. I think it's important to have hobbies.

[Big Cat]

By the way, I. There's, like a big barstool content thing coming up in a. I don't know, a few months, I was front and center saying Hank should be involved because he's really good at golf. That's factor fiction.

[Hank]

You did do that. I'm fiction about the good at golf part.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

But true that you.

[Big Cat]

All right. Fact, I was gassing up my boy.

[Hank]

True.

[Big Cat]

Yes. And you're good at golf.

[Hank]

But then you shame me on the podcast.

[Big Cat]

No, I didn't. I didn't shame you. I. What if I. Let's rewind the tape. I said I'm sad. This is the point of year where I have to say goodbye to you.

[Hank]

But I'm here every. I'm here as much as I was in the winner.

[PFT Commenter]

That's not true.

[Big Cat]

It's not a good or bad. You're going to keep working. I just. I'm going to miss you.

[Hank]

I don't know what that means.

[Big Cat]

Usually you come on the act on Fridays, Stuff like that.

[PFT Commenter]

No, Hank, I'm excited for you because I. I plan on playing More golf this year too. So I can't, I can't be too hard on you because then that I just looked like a hypocrite.

[Big Cat]

What's the best, what's the best round? I'm, I, I, I'm a Hank Stan, Longtime Hank, stand over decade long Hank Stan. I'm going to root for you to like crush it this year, by the way. Shout out the cheeky, cheeky Golf club boys. That was awesome.

[Hank]

Awesome.

[Big Cat]

Over a year doing it. Trying to play in a round every single day until they got 18 pars in a row. What is your best round this year?

[Hank]

I like to break 90. I don't want to set too, too long.

[Big Cat]

Wait, you haven't broken 90?

[Hank]

I have, but like, no, I did from the white teeth last year, but I feel like that doesn't count. Count.

[Big Cat]

I just assumed you broke 90. That's my bad.

[Hank]

No, I mean I have, but I wanna, I wanna do it more consistently. Five times.

[Big Cat]

Five times. Break 90. What's the best score though?

[Hank]

86.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, what about a hole in one?

[Hank]

Yeah, I mean, I, I would love that.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

I can't really plan, plan on it.

[PFT Commenter]

Happening, but you can set as a goal.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, go for it. Why not try?

[Hank]

I'm gonna try.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

It doesn't sound like you will. It sounds like you, you're not really focused on the whole one.

[Hank]

No, you got those just have to come to you. You can't, you can't push for it too hard or else it'll never happen.

[Big Cat]

Okay. All right. Well, I'm, I'm excited for your golf adventure.

[Hank]

Thank you.

[Big Cat]

So am I. I'm gonna play.

[Hank]

How many times?

[Big Cat]

How many times will I play with you?

[Hank]

A few. I have some, I have some ideas.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Wait, on camera or not camera?

[Hank]

Both.

[Big Cat]

How many times do I play with you as, as friends?

[Hank]

I think once I have. I, I would like to come to Michigan this, this summer.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Okay. I think twice. You know what? I'm gonna say three times. Three times that I'm gonna play. We're gonna play together. Not maybe all 18 holes, but we will actively be out together playing golf.

[Hank]

Like last year when you took a vacation and then we planned a golf run. They're like, I gotta go do the act.

[Big Cat]

No, that was vacation. No, that was, was that remember?

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Big Cat]

No, I think that was because I had rough and rowdy that night.

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I had to get on a plane. And you also just like robbed me. You, you, you invited me out to your golf club and you took so much money off me. Because you brought a golf pro with you and you're like, oh, oh, big cat. You have Jerry. I have this guy. He's just a pro at golf. Let's just play duos.

[PFT Commenter]

Hank, if we played one on one, 18 holes, what? How many strokes would you give me? 10?

[Hank]

No, I'd give you like six or seven.

[Big Cat]

How many strokes would you give me?

[Hank]

I'll give you. I give you a lot.

[Big Cat]

30.

[Hank]

Stroke a hole.

[Big Cat]

Stroke a hole.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you want to do a summer long contest? Call it seven strokes? We. We take.

[Hank]

You should just get a handicap if you're gonna play more golf. Like, that's very. There's a very easy way where you could post enough scores to have a handicap. Where it's like, we don't have to. Well, let's just say makeup.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's say seven strokes. Seven strokes, Strokes. And all the holes that we play, all the rounds that we play this summer, you have to beat me by more than an average of 7 strokes.

[Hank]

Why don't we just play match by match?

[Max]

I feel like we do this all the time on camera. And pft just wins outright.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, that's on camera.

[Big Cat]

That's on camera. Jokes on camera every time.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, I'm clutching clutch when the lights are on.

[Hank]

We haven't done that in, like two years. It's fine. We'll see. Time will tell.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so you're turning down my challenge.

[Hank]

I don't want to do, like, math averages and.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that sounds confused.

[Hank]

Rounds. I want to have play. Let's just play like, I won match one, you won match two, and who wins the most matches?

[PFT Commenter]

I want a summer long competition, like an extra long round of golf.

[Big Cat]

How many rounds do I have to play to get a handicap?

[Hank]

Eight out.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

I actually might be there.

[Max]

I don't think it would be possible for me to get a handicap because I don't think I. I don't. I think the course would close before I did a real round of golf.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I also don't have the attention span.

[Hank]

Credit to me for being a good guy. There was a bachelor. We're going through bachelor party submissions. We should have the one end of this week, if not next. But there was one that was like in Oregon. That was like three days walking 36 holes each day.

[Big Cat]

And I wanted to sit next on.

[Hank]

That, but I felt bad for the. Whichever camera guy goes. But that would have been a hilariously, like, fun for some people. Like, I would enjoy that, but. But that's. Max would.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that would be brutal.

[Max]

I am so bad. He said I could. I could stop at any time I wanted if I got a par, which would just never.

[Big Cat]

That's really funny. That's really funny. We should do that challenge for me on camera. That would be a funny video, because I don't want to golf. And then we just. I. I have to keep golf until I get one par.

[PFT Commenter]

You can get one on a par.

[Big Cat]

Three, maybe par three. Three.

[Max]

That's the least likely for me that would get.

[Memes]

That would get a par.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you hit. You hit dingers.

[Max]

Only because, like, a short par four, I could. I could get it right next to the green and still probably bogey.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. It took me a while. Okay, numbers three.

[Hank]

18.

[Big Cat]

Oh, you spicy today. 22. You're not gonna get it.

[PFT Commenter]

75, 99.

[Big Cat]

Post 34.

[PFT Commenter]

55. 46.

[Big Cat]

46. Who gets 45?

[PFT Commenter]

Not me.

[Big Cat]

Oh, 55 memes. Not even close. You're not even getting better at it. Memes. No. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Love you guys.

[Big Cat]

One day.