Ryan Whitney, Stephan Jenkins From Third Eyed Blind, Week 17 Picks And Preview + Someone Slept In Again

Summary

Pardon My Take – December 23, 2025

Episode Theme:
A jam-packed PMT episode before the holidays: Big Cat and PFT deliver their signature NFL Week 17 preview, mix in an early NHL preview with recurring champion Ryan Whitney, nerd out on music and life with Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins, and tie it all together with the usual Hot Seat/Cool Throne, best bets, and classic show banter. There’s also story time about someone sleeping in (Hank) and a peek behind the Barstool curtain.

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Episode Breakdown

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1. Opening: Show Schedule, Sleep-ins, and Holiday Vibes

Timestamps: 00:00 – 15:00

• Hosts acknowledge the unique release schedule around Christmas, taping early to give everyone time off.
• Show rundown: Ryan Whitney returns for a PMT-record “number one guest” recurring appearance (NHL preview), Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins joins in-studio, and they’re moving Week 17 preview up.
• Holiday gratitude: "Cherish every moment you have with your loved ones." (Dan Katz, 03:34)
• Low Man Trophy (fullback award) gets a finalist list; announcement planned around College Football Playoff (05:14)
• Sleep-in saga: Hank slept through “Advisors.” He details the pain (literally: toothache from gorging on candy, 07:00), the embarrassment, and the unexpected lack of roasting from teammates.
  • “My alarm went off for two hours. So I missed the recording this morning. My tooth still really hurts. I don’t know what I'm gonna do about that because I’m going out of the country in like three days.” (Hank, 08:11)
• Office honor: “We’re not rats. We don’t say nothing.” (Dan Katz, 11:55)
• Jerry hops in for a Steelers hype check & banter.

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2. Playoff Picture & NFL Week 17 Preview

Timestamps: 20:00 – 38:00

• Playoff permutations: AFC and NFC 1-seed scenarios, Dolphins, Jets, Chargers, Patriots, Seahawks, Niners, Bears, Rams all in the mix. Hosts run through ESPN’s “percent chance” numbers.
• “Week 18 is gonna be a rough one.” (PFT, 24:19)
• Thursday Games: What looked like a stacked Christmas slate (Cowboys-Commanders, Lions-Vikings, Broncos-Chiefs) now looks “like dogshit” except the Commanders QB mystery and Lions outside shot at playoffs.
• Fun fact manager: Josh Johnson’s wild NFL resume; “You can’t tell the story of football without Josh Johnson.” (Dan Katz, 28:48)
• Saturday Games:
  • Texans-Chargers: “No quarterback has ever been sacked 50+ times and won more than 11 games in a season. Chargers have 11 wins and Herbert’s been sacked 49 times.”
  • Shane (Chargers fan) admits he can’t do playoff math: “I just look at playoff picture and do mental math.” (Shane, 30:22)
  • Debate if Justin Herbert deserves MVP: “If you don’t have Justin Herbert, the Chargers are like a four or five win team.” (Whitney, 32:01)
• Ravens-Packers: “The Ravens are on big time quit watch… Fans are ready to move on from Harbaugh.” (PFT, 34:22)
  • MRI jokes, John Harbaugh play-calling gripes, general malaise for a suddenly fragile Ravens squad.

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3. Sunday NFL Early & Afternoon Slate Highlights

Timestamps: 38:00 – 65:00

• Jags-Colts: Key early game for Jags’ 1-seed hopes; “Trevor Lawrence is maybe in the MVP conversation if they get the 1 seed.” (Dan, 38:16)
• Bucs-Dolphins, Seahawks-Panthers: If the Panthers beat the Seahawks, they clinch. Bucs need to win to keep hopes alive.
• Jets Pick Watch: The Jets’ comedy of errors continues. “Hopefully someday when the Jets are good… you get to tell people, we went a whole season without an interception.” (PFT, 41:10)
• Offensive Rookie of the Year: Tyler Shough vs. Tet McMillan; “If Tyler Shough ends the year on this winning streak, it HAS to be him.”
• Giants-Raiders Number 1 Pick Bowl: “This game could shape the next decade of the NFL.” (PFT, 46:55)
• Eagles-Bills: A potentially snow-affected, low-drama game since both teams have clinched. “Once the Bears officially clinched… it takes a little pressure off. The important games are coming up.” (PFT, 48:02)
• Bears-49ers SNF: “I kind of like the over, because I don’t know if either team can get to the quarterback.” (PFT, 51:14)

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4. Best Bets, Punishment Woes, and Hot Seat/Cool Throne

Timestamps: 62:00 – 80:00

• Best Bets Competition: Everyone lays down their picks for the week; ongoing jokes about how there’s STILL no punishment figured out.
  • Examples:
    • “Packers -2.5.” (PFT's pick)
    • “Broncos -12.5.” (Big Cat's pick)
    • “Chargers -2.5.” (Hank)
    • “Shuckster -2.5.” (Whitney, referring to Tyler Shough)
• Hot Seat / Cool Throne:
  • Ed Cooley (Georgetown coach) on the hot seat for chucking a water bottle into the stands and hitting a toddler.
  • LeBron’s new golf obsession as a personality bit called out as “kind of gross, honestly.”
  • Ryan Clark getting “musically profiled” in Ubers.
  • Sharon Moore’s (Michigan football interim) social media hypocrisy.
  • USA World Baseball Classic roster announced: exuberance about “a real ball club.”
• Office banter: Airport Chili’s discourse; "Don't put the restaurant there if you don't want me to eat before a flight" (PFT/Crowd)
• Low Man Trophy (Best Fullback): Five finalists named by PFT/Big Cat.

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5. Celebrity Guest Interviews

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Ryan Whitney (Spittin’ Chiclets, NHL/NFL Megafan)

Timestamps: 87:00 – 130:40

• Celebrates his legendary “most-appeared guest” status.
• Dishes on: The PMT-guest rivalry, Oilers’ pursuit of the Cup, future of McDavid (“3 years left, then he’s gone”), early NHL season surprises (Colorado “wagon”; Toronto a “disgrace”; Bedard’s next-level leap), why Anaheim will win a Cup in 8 years, accountability in golf (Internet Invitational drama), and random hockey/life tangents.
• “You guys could actually be the leaders...get people away from the NBA and more into the NHL. You guys refuse to do it.” (Whitney, 88:40)
• Absolute scorcher to end: “When Connor McDavid wins a Cup, I’m hosting the show.” (98:46)

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Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind)

Timestamps: 131:56 – 180:26

• In-studio, warm, creative, self-effacing.
• “I’m absolutely mystified as to why you’ve invited me on your show, because I know you invited me on like before the pandemic.” (Jenkins, 132:14)
• Nerds out on:
  • Warriors fandom (“Steph Curry is an artist...you get used to him” 135:51)
  • Band dynamics (“Every good record I can think of was unpleasant to make” 139:44)
  • Recording & songwriting philosophy (explains signature guitar sounds, e.g., Country Gentleman “mute lever” on Semi-Charmed Life, 153:08)
  • State of the music industry: labels, Spotify, digital copyright, AI fears
  • Live music & venues: “The goal…is to get that moment where people feel like they've come up out of themselves and they're not self-aware, even though they're all together.” (166:34)
  • Songwriting rituals: “Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night and this melody will pop into my head...” (176:51)
• “Dying to get freaked” becomes a Zen Jenkins catchphrase (150:00).
• On hearing Semi-Charmed Life on the radio: “It was one of the most effusive moments…like, I can’t believe they’re playing this thing.” (172:59)

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6. Guys on Chicks & Wrap-Up

Timestamps: 181:12– End
As always, audience relationship questions get the irreverent PMT spin:

• Skipping Browns-Bengals for a kids’ roller-skating party: “That sounds like you don’t love football…Some guys don’t love football.”
• Hair gel in bed, Mel Tucker vs. Sharon Moore, how to keep roast jokes within reason at the family Christmas table.
• Numbers Game: Memes keeps chasing that elusive winning number.
• Sends listeners off for the holidays with “love you guys, Merry Christmas.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Christmas Scheduling:

• “We're taping early because we want everyone to have an actual vacation here for Christmas.” (PFT, 03:12)

On Hank's Sleep-In/Candy Meltdown:

• “We had a seven-gallon bag of Swedish Fish. I think I probably took down two of those gallons myself.” (Hank, 07:43)
• “We're not rats. We don't say nothing. You leave the office to play nine, we don't say nothing.” (Dan Katz, 11:53)

Josh Johnson, NFL Legend:

• “He's played everywhere. You can't tell the story of football without Josh Johnson.” (Dan Katz, 28:48)

On the Ravens' Vibes:

• “The Ravens are on big time quit watch…Fans are ready to move on from Harbaugh.” (PFT, 34:22)

On Bears-49ers SNF:

• “It makes winter not feel as bad...The city is 100% buzzing.” (PFT/Big Cat, 51:53)

On Hot Seat/Cool Throne:

• “Ed Cooley threw a water bottle at a child.” (Hank, 67:29)
• “LeBron is turning golf into his whole personality. It's kind of gross, honestly.” (Hank, 69:14)

Ryan Whitney on PMT's effect:

• “You guys could be the leaders, the biggest podcast in sports, and truly get people away from the NBA and more into the NHL…You refuse to do it.” (88:40)

Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind):

• “Every good record that I can think of was made was unpleasant to make.”
• “When you play drums, you have to have all the parts of your body working together…rhythm is the bringing of different things together.” (155:01)
• “I'm always kind of dying to get freaked, so I don't listen to music that I know.” (150:00)
• “That first dopamine hit you get to have on people…only comes once.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:12: Christmas taping, show structure
• 07:00: Hank’s sleep-in saga & candy binge
• 11:53: “We’re not rats” (office code)
• 15:10: Jerry joins for Steelers talk
• 20:20: Week 17 playoff permutations
• 28:48: Josh Johnson appreciation
• 34:22: Ravens “quit watch”
• 46:55: Giants-Raiders #1 pick bowl
• 88:40: Ryan Whitney NHL preview
• 131:56: Stephan Jenkins interview starts
• 153:08: Explanation of iconic Third Eye Blind guitar tone
• 181:12: Guys on Chicks, show wrap

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Overall Tone and Flavor

Classic PMT: a blend of chaotic banter, inside jokes, sports nerding, Christmas-fatigue delirium, and honest fandom. Plenty of irreverence, a few surprising earnest moments (especially with Jenkins), and the loose holiday energy that marks the show’s best episodes.

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If you missed it:

• You get everything: NFL playoff preview, Whit’s hockey wisdom, music and creative process with Jenkins, and classic PMT bits, all wrapped up in a slightly sleep-deprived, high-on-candy, holiday fever dream.

Transcript

[PFT Commenter]

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. Cracker Barrel is home to all the More country anytime. That means buttermilk pancakes whenever you want them, homemade classics like chicken and dumplings and a country store full of fun finds. Swing by and visit Cracker barrel today on today's Part of My Take presented by DraftKings NFL Week 17. We've got a twofer for the people. We got a Ryan Whitney, the number one guest in Pardon My Take history. Awesome time with him doing our NHL preview a little bit early. Also we taped it last week so there might have been I don't think there's any takes that are out of that are cold takes. Although he didn't expect the Bears to beat the Packers I would assume. But but we're going to talk some NHL with him. Then we have Third Eye Blind lead singer Steven Jenkins in studio was really fun interview. This is we say it all the time but like having the platform and ability to do these type of interviews. Guys that we listen to as kids, guys that you know have been making music for a really long time. Really cool. Also stay tuned for that one because PFT and Steven Jenkins got a little nerdy on the music side that I loved. Absolutely loved it. So we're going to Talk some week 17. We have our best bets. We have Hot Seat, Cool Throne. We have guys on chicks. Then we're going to send everyone off for Christmas vacation and we will next see you on Monday after week 17. It is all brought to you by our friends at game time. The NFL's in full swing. Tailgates pack stands at buzz before kickoff. But getting in nightmare cues, price jumps, getting logged out mid click. All you want is to be there. Beer in hand, losing your voice with the crowd. The Game Time app gives the advantage back to fans. It's the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in a few taps. It's incredibly easy to use. The Game Time guarantee means you can Trust you'll get 100% authentic tickets on time and at the best price. Plus fees are always included. So what you see is what you pay. We're looking at tickets. Who's got one?

[Hank]

Patriots at Jets.

[PFT Commenter]

There we go.

[Hank]

Brady cook. Brady Cook $69 in New York.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so go to Game Time right now. Take the guess we're going to buying NFL 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 Gametime app today. Okay, let's go. Welcome to Part of My take, presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, December 24, or Tuesday, December 23. I don't know when this podcast is being released. We're doing a little bit out of order today this week. So we are sitting here. It's Monday morning, right after we recorded the Sunday night podcast.

[Stephen Jenkins]

We're.

[PFT Commenter]

We're taping early because we want everyone to have an actual vacation here for Christmas. Phil Rivers, how did he do on Monday Night Football?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think he was beautiful. I think he was perfect.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I laddered it and I probably lost again.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think he was perfect, and I don't necessarily mean that they won the game or that he played well, but Philip Rivers is just. He's perfect.

[PFT Commenter]

We all had fun.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. This is a moment, especially around the holidays, you know, if you have a loved one in your family, maybe they're getting up there in the years, cherish every moment that you have with them. Yeah. And that's what I did with Philip Rivers last night.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. So we're. We're going to do, like, a fork in the road if the Colts win. Oh, man. The AFC playoff picture really got interesting because the Colts are still technically alive.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That somewhere Jim Ursay is smiling down with his finger on the scale, making sure the Colts get in, baby. Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

And, man, Niners now the path to the one seeds no longer there.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's a tough break for them.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And for anyone that has a future on them. Yep. Now, if they. If they lost, congratulations on everybody in the AFC for getting into the playoffs and clinching.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. You basically got to watch Philip Rivers, which was fun, lose on Monday night. And then you all got in. The Bills got in. The Chargers got in. The Jaguars got in. Yep. I believe the Texans got in. I don't know if the Texans officially got in. I think they might still have to win one more.

[Ryan Whitney]

We're in.

[PFT Commenter]

We're in playoff, you know. Yeah. They're at 98. I'm gonna say the Texas got in. Everyone got in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Congrats.

[PFT Commenter]

Congrats to everyone who get got in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Every good team in the FC is now in the playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So we. So we were thinking about the schedule these next two weeks, because Christmas being on a Thursday is a little weird. We didn't really think that anyone would listen to, like, a Wednesday Christmas Eve podcast. We're releasing this a little early on Tuesday for the People, we got some. Two great interviews, but we also wanted everyone to be able to get an actual break because we'll be back for week 17 Sunday night. We'll be in studio. The turnaround, though, was tough.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Turnaround was tough.

[PFT Commenter]

We were in this studio seven hours ago, recording.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I just. I made a list of things that happened in the last 12 hours, and I walked in the gambling cave. I was like, does anybody have any news? News? Yeah, Because I'm looking for the news right now. I do have a couple things. And we're going to announce the Low Man Trophy finalist today. Oh, so very, very special event. That's part of my take. We got to figure out when we're going to stream the awards, how we're going to do that. I think it would be good to do during the next round of the College Football Playoff. I love that we could do that at halftime of one of the games.

[PFT Commenter]

For New Year's Day.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

For maybe on New Year's Day, we could announce the award. But again, we announced this late in the season because we respect the Army Navy game. Yep.

[Hank]

We.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Which features a lot of fullbacks. Every other award out there, they do it before the game. They do their finalists before the game. Disrespectful to the troops. Not us. Not this podcast.

[PFT Commenter]

Nope.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But, yeah, there's not. Not a whole lot that's shaken out. Some updates, some cleanup on some injuries and scenarios and things like that that have happened. But we'll. We'll make it work.

[PFT Commenter]

How's everyone feeling about the turnaround?

[Hank]

Bad.

[PFT Commenter]

So I would like to say this, Hank, can I get a little bit of credit? We did. Advisors this morning. Did not mention that you slept through. Advisors really did not mention it. One second. Not a. I don't even believe that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And I would ask.

[Hank]

I wouldn't have been mad if you did.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I did that.

[Hank]

That. That. That is. It was bad. Obviously. I slept in. We were up late. We shot something this morning. The worst. The worst part is that I almost wish I had just slept in.

[PFT Commenter]

Miss everything.

[Hank]

No, no, no, no, no, no. Not that. But the reason I didn't even. I. I Woke up at 4am Mega Day. Might have killed me.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Mead Day was me.

[PFT Commenter]

Took a lot out of all this, especially for you.

[Hank]

Walked into me. We haven't really done this. We haven't really done this this year. Like, for whatever reason. I think it's probably the ice cream machine and all the, like, Reese's sponsorships and stuff walked in on Saturday and there was. I don't know what? $200 worth of candy.

[PFT Commenter]

Hand up.

[Hank]

Hand up.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm going to say biggest bag of.

[Hank]

Swedish fish you've ever seen. The biggest bag of gummy bears you've ever seen. Sour watermelons. Sour everything. Every type of candy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

This was an all time super bowl weekend.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Can I just say that? Hand up. This is because this has happened probably, I don't know, 25 times in my life where I am gearing up for a diet and then the couple weeks before I just go so hard in unhealthiness just to bulk up to the point where I can lose weight fast. I'm in that phase. Yes. I think the actual order was $225 worth of candy. So.

[Hank]

And I, I obviously can't help myself. I was just. And, and we were here Saturday and Sunday. We had a seven gallon bag of Swedish fish. I, I think I probably took down two of those gallons myself. And I woke up at 4, 4, 5 o' clock in the morning on Monday and I was having a dream where someone I was talking to was like, they're not going to make it. Their tooth really hurts. That person was just me. Like I got out of bed. It was like my, my right tooth is in so much pain. I couldn't go back to sleep. I finally went back to sleep at like 6, woke up at 9. My alarm was going off. My alarm went off for two hours. So I missed the recording this morning. I barely made it in time for this. And my tooth still really hurts. I don't know what I'm gonna do about that because I'm going out of the country in like three days.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And I don't know. I'm trying to gauge. It's still early and I kind of feel like I just woke up and I don't want to take Advil again. Trying to gauge if I can.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

A toothache is, is the worst.

[PFT Commenter]

But I think you can get a.

[Ryan Whitney]

Filling by the time you have to leave.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Like tomorrow.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. Oh, Memes sounds like he's got a couple emergency. Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Just go to the dentist.

[Hank]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Hank?

[Ryan Whitney]

And if they say no, then there's no, there's no harm in asking if you can get a filling in the next few days.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you have a dentist?

[Stephen Jenkins]

Nope.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's hard.

[Ryan Whitney]

You don't need. You just call a dentist.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Lots of dentists out there.

[Hank]

All right.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What does this mean for. For no naps? Sounds like maybe there was a nap.

[PFT Commenter]

Was that technically a nap?

[Hank]

No. I don't know. I don't really?

[Ryan Whitney]

This.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's.

[Hank]

This is. No.

[PFT Commenter]

You're in a way better mood than I thought because when you slept in, it was like, oh, no. I. So. Oh, he's got. He's got the cream. The oil cream.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So I. I have this. It is. It was in my backpack. It's toothache. Pain relief or gel. Gel. Yeah. It numbs up. Designed for you.

[PFT Commenter]

The. So the. The. The events that transpired this morning. We had advisors at 8:30 in the morning. Again, it. It was a quick turnaround and I got in at 8 and I didn't see you here. And I was like, oh, that's weird. Usually here first. And then 8:30 came around and Jacob called you to see where you were. He said you didn't pick up. I was like, he definitely is still asleep. I'm just. We're just not. We're gonna pretend it didn't happen. We're just gonna move on and do advisors and. Yeah, that sucks. The tooth part.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's honor.

[Hank]

I mean, that's one of those. I obviously, I slept in. I was expecting to have gotten roasted on that show. I wouldn't have been mad if I had been.

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Hank]

But that.

[PFT Commenter]

Mention it once. Christmas spirit.

[Hank]

I still think you're like, with me, you can get.

[PFT Commenter]

Go get quicks. Go get quicks. Get quicks. To verify there's gotta be. Swear to God. I actually kind of shocked at myself. I don't really know what I was thinking other than Jerry, but that Jerry.

[Hank]

Love to. To hop on board with that.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think Jerry said anything because I didn't. I didn't make a. I wasn't like. I said, oh, is Hank here? And Jacob said, oh, I called Hank, but he didn't pick up. And then I put two and two together. I said, let's just do the show because we're on a tight schedule. But yeah, you. You hadn't done that a while.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I. I'd like to say credit to Big Cat for not bringing it up on the advisor. So no one's gonna know about it.

[PFT Commenter]

Correct.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So this is. This will be our little.

[Hank]

Well, no, obviously, I don't.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't like.

[Hank]

I. I don't think. It's not something I'm trying to hide from. I feel ashamed about it. I feel bad. It's not good.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you know who the real winner is here?

[Hank]

Obama.

[PFT Commenter]

Obama? No. Our boy Zach. He was walking around like the cock of the walk. He was like, oh, Hank's not here. Oh, he must have slept in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Zach, how many Alarms did we have this morning? Nobody likes that feeling, Alexa. The alarmy, the traditional iPhone.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And the bomb.

[PFT Commenter]

You had four get the bomb going.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You went quite alarmed this morning. Yeah, unfortunately, the second bomb went off while I was in the shower full of shampoo, so I just tracked soap.

[PFT Commenter]

And water through my apartment to turn it off because I did get a noise complaint for that. Oh, geez. Jerry. Oh, here's Jerry. Jerry, what happened? Put on the headphones, Jerry. We just taped Advisors. Did I at any point bring up Hank sleeping in?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, not once.

[PFT Commenter]

Why? Did you. Someone else? No, we. It's crazy. We did not.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What do we think we're rats?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

We're not rats.

[Hank]

Well, no, I just.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We don't say nothing. You leave the office to play nine, we don't say nothing. We ain't no rats. What are we doing here?

[PFT Commenter]

We would never do that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

When you got. When you go on tour with Billy Strings, you don't say nothing.

[Ryan Whitney]

Nothing.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah, I just.

[Hank]

I. I assumed I had gotten.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm actually shocked at myself. Like I. I might have to go to the doctor and be like, what's wrong? You didn't. You didn't say anything.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I mean, we're talking about it right now. Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, that was a joke. Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You were just so out of it this morning.

[PFT Commenter]

I was a little out of it. I was. I did not have my best performance.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You're good, Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

Relax. Cool. You. And also, you missed the. I think stu told a 25 minute story that went absolutely nowhere. Could be more nowhere. It's a nowhere story, Jerry.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, we got you here. You want to talk about the Steelers, Soupy, we can do Steelers preview, Steelers, Browns preview. Let's do it. Okay. So, Jerry, you are saying that you're thinking soupy Super Bowl. So I told Dan this morning, I'm thinking two playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

He's saying minimum of two playoffs.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Minimum two playoff wins right now. Okay, listen, I mean, can you say Rogers has been pretty damn good this year?

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. The last three weeks especially, he's been really good.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's dialed in, I think Adam Thielen, mvs, Those are difference makers.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

To him, at least. Adam Thielen has been a difference maker for the Steelers and for the Vikings and. Yeah, because the Vikings haven't lost since they. They got rid of them. Steelers haven't lost since they got him. Fair. Also, can we talk about Scotty Miller taking over that game as well?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I mean, that's the big three right there. Right now. Jerry, what was going through your head. At the end of the Lions Steelers game, when the referees were having a little tea party out on the field for like 10 minutes before they announced anything, I. I thought they were. I thought they were trying to figure out a way to how do we make the Lions win this game?

[PFT Commenter]

And they. And they couldn't.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They're like, no bad ideas.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they real. We were out of options.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. They realized after like, five minutes, hey.

[PFT Commenter]

It is what it is.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Steelers just got to win.

[PFT Commenter]

Those are the rules.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Did they get you when they started out by saying it is a touchdown on the field when they opened up with that? Yeah, but they. Yes, but they also got all the fans as well. Yeah, I know.

[Hank]

It's.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they shouldn't have announced it like that. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They didn't know what they were doing, but, yeah, I figured they were just trying to figure out a way, hey, let's see how we can give this game to them. Yeah. And then, hey, we can't do it. So Steelers win. And Jerry, the. The Steelers right now, they. They look good.

[Hank]

I've been on this.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I mean, they look great. Let's face them. Great. I've been on the Steelers side all season long.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I said before the season started, this is the year they're going to win a playoff game. The defense, especially has looked really good for the last couple weeks. What do you think about that? I. Yeah, they have. The last couple weeks, the last three games, they have looked really good. Different team.

[PFT Commenter]

Something change? Do they do, like a new scheme or something?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What are we doing? They're a new coordinator now. Same. Same coordinator, same coach. What's different? Because it feels like they, you know, guys are tackling. I think that's the difference. Guys are tackling. Guys are flying. Putting hat on the ball. Flying around out there. Flying around. Yes. Dialing it up correct.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Playing with her hair on fire.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, yeah. All these things all over the field. When's TJ coming back? So I had some leaked text messages from a nurse. I don't know if they're real or not. Sounds hippo.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Yeah, but.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But the nurse didn't message me. They messaged this other person, then forwarded the text to me. I. Allegedly, he's done for the year.

[PFT Commenter]

Allegedly.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't believe it, though. I think it was a scam. I think somebody's trying to scam me in fake text messages to make me, like, panic. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Rapaport did say he's expected to play again this season.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think it was always going to be A pipe dream that he would come back as early as the Lions game. Yeah. I mean, he punctured your lung. He probably got stitches in his lung. It sounds pretty serious. Yeah. I mean, definitely. We want to take care of his health first. I mean, football's second.

[PFT Commenter]

We want to make sure he's all right.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Have you figured out how that happened?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do you put the needle too far down? No, but it seems like that'd be very hard to do with the. With, like, acupuncture needle. So did you see Mark Caboli's report? No.

[PFT Commenter]

No.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So he's a, you know, little Pittsburgh insider. He said there's a lot more to the story. I don't know what that means.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, shit.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think there. There could be. Because if you've ever had acupuncture done, it feels impossible to get that needle deep enough to, like, fuck up your lung.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but he was. It's Caboli.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What did I say?

[PFT Commenter]

Mark Bulley. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Did you say that or.

[PFT Commenter]

I started looking up Mark Bulley. No, he.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, I said Kaboli.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he didn't say it. He said it so quick. If you do. If you don't know his name. And I know his name.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Bully.

[PFT Commenter]

You said Mark Bully. I said Mark Bully. What a great name that would be. Imagine you were Mark Bully.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He is a bully. Have you ever seen him?

[PFT Commenter]

How the. How do you spell K A, B, O, L, Y?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Are you nervous about Shador? Me? Yeah. No. I mean, what's her to be nervous about?

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, I like him.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't got nothing against the guy, you know? Yeah, he threw for 300 the other week. Yeah, I mean, he's good. Listen, I'm on 350. I like shoulders. Well, it's more than. How much was it? It was like, a lot, right.

[PFT Commenter]

364.

[Hank]

3.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So he's in the 364. Andrew Filiponi is the one who tweeted it.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. So we're gonna get to the bottom of it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, we'll get to the bottom.

[PFT Commenter]

You're gonna win this game. You're gonna win the AFC north, and that's it. And that's it. And then you're in. And then sit. Everyone. Week 18.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Exactly.

[PFT Commenter]

Just chill out. Then we got a home playoff game, and. Oh, Max is trying to spell another name.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm done. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're done with trying to find it.

[Hank]

I'll.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'll send a tweet if you need it. There's More to the story. I don't know what that means. Cabali said it. Hopefully not. It's a little early in the morning for letters from.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. It's all right either way. Jerry Goodwin.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Thank you.

[PFT Commenter]

Because it got the Bears and the 49ers into the playoffs.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Correct. I got one last question about the game. What's going to happen with dk? And where do you stand on the DK situation? Listen, I think it's. I think it should be a fine and a one game suspension.

[PFT Commenter]

What about for the. For the fan?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

For. For DK Metcalf?

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You can't do that. You know what I mean? You just. You just can't do that. That is just because it's like a split allegiances thing for you. You. You love the Steelers. Yes. But you also love. You are a fan. I'm a fan that would approach an athlete with a jersey and then get upset with them if the interaction didn't go.

[Hank]

Would you go government name, though? That's what, that's what he did.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He just government named me. What do you mean? Would I go government name?

[Hank]

DK. He got. He called DK's government.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's what it was.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

DK said that?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I mean that. That's pretty crazy. I don't know if DK said that.

[Hank]

The fan said that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Fan said.

[PFT Commenter]

The fan said that. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't. I think the fan might have said something worse. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think that Kaylin would.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That you're. You're friends with him, Eric. Would that make him that upset? Yeah, I don't know. No, I haven't. Me and dk, well, you guys, tax. We've been at odds. He got a new number.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. New number. Yeah. Jerry's been asking for his number for about. No, no, I got the. I got my number that I needed. No response.

[PFT Commenter]

But yeah, you texted dk.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No Aaron Rogers. Because remember. Remember what went down last year, which is you told me, big cat, that Aaron told you that he changed his number. So then finally I felt comfortable sending Aaron's number to Jerry because I thought he had changed his number. And so I sent Aaron Rodgers number to Jerry.

[PFT Commenter]

So maybe he did now.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And then you told me, wait, he actually was just lying to me. That's his real number. And then I'm like, well, Jerry's got it now. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Which definitely probably happened. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I only texted him one time and that was it. I didn't let it go past that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I did text. Yeah. Rogers does not. He doesn't text back because I text him thank you last night and nothing. Nothing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It goes dark, you know, what are you gonna do?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Then we'll see him in Tahoe and be like, I changed my number. Just kidding. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So extend Mike Tomlinson. You know, honestly, I still don't think so.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I don't. Even if, even if he wins a.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Playoff game or two, I don't. The thing is, I don't trust him to develop a quarterback. We gotta draft a quarterback.

[PFT Commenter]

If not, Raji, though, might stay for another year. I know he said it was his last year, but what do you think.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

If he win, if. If this team goes to the AFC championship game. I think he'll come back.

[PFT Commenter]

I think he has to.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think you have to come back. You got to try one more year.

[Ryan Whitney]

One more year.

[PFT Commenter]

He doesn't.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I know he can't move, but like, he still got it.

[PFT Commenter]

He looks good. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Thank you, Jerry. And again, nothing was said on advisors.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Nothing was said. Nothing.

[PFT Commenter]

We're not.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We're not rats. Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. That's quicks.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Keep going. Playing.

[Hank]

You're doing footage.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. There won't be any footage of us saying it. Good job, Jerry. Okay, should we do. Let's do our weekend preview. Let's talk some games and then we'll do Hot seat, Cool Throne before we do that. DraftKings. We also have some bets. We. By the way, boys, we. We went over on our touchdown.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We did.

[PFT Commenter]

We gotta. We gotta pick up. We gotta pick that up. So. DraftKings. The holidays are heating up on pick six. DraftKings newest.

[Hank]

Give it to the booth.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we should give it to the booth. That's a good call. We put our faces on the graphic, but give it to the booth.

[Hank]

Their bodies booth.

[PFT Commenter]

You guys figure out your three touchdown scores on Sunday afternoon and night. Holidays are heating up on pick six. DraftKings newest fantasy pick them game. Make your NBA picks for a shot to win big cash prizes this holiday season. Here's how it works. Just choose more or less on two or more player stats. The more accurate your picks, the bigger your payout. It's the kind of upside you'll only find on pick six, not those other pick them sites. And it's available in most states including Texas, California, Georgia and more. New customers get fifty dollars in pick six credits with just a five dollar entry on your first pick set. Pick play. Cash in on holiday NBA action. Download DraftKings pick six app now. Use code take. That's code take play just five dollars get fifty in pick six credits ride the upside. In partnership with DraftKings. Pick six, the crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER Help is available for problem gambling.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org in Connecticut.

[PFT Commenter]

Must be eighteen and over.

[Stephen Jenkins]

AGENT Eligibility restrictions vary by jurisdiction.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Pick six not available everywhere, including New York and Ontario.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Void where prohibited. 1 per new customer bonus awarded as non pick 6 credits that expire in 14 days. Ends December 2nd at 11:59pm Eastern Time.

[PFT Commenter]

[e-mail] promos Weekend preview is brought to you by our friends at Uber Eats. This episode is brought to you by UberEats, reminding fans that if football coincidentally makes you hungry, you can get game day deals on wings, burgers, beers, chips and more all season long, all on UberEats. You'll love being able to get all your personal favorite game day foods delivered on Uber Eats so that you never miss a play. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals all season long only on Uber Eats. Guys, we're by the way, this week, 17 Sunday. That will be my last day before I start the diet. So we gotta go super. I think we. I think we start on that Sunday. On that Sunday, Max.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's insane.

[PFT Commenter]

That's insane.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

There's so many Super Bowls we have.

[Ryan Whitney]

So if I could.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Max, the food that we ate this weekend would make.

[Ryan Whitney]

Would make a grown man.

[Hank]

We gotta go.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

One more thing. You know this feeling that you have right now, disgusted with what you ate yesterday? That's the feeling that will kick start you into a diet. After we do one more super Sunday.

[PFT Commenter]

Correct. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, you can't start it on the Sunday, Max. That's insane.

[PFT Commenter]

You cannot start it on a Sunday.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Because then you're gonna start out day one of your diet by breaking your diet.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm setting you up for success here. All right.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Okay. Let's. Let's talk some. Some games. Let's talk some playoffs. We have the updated playoff picture. Hank, by the way, you have a right now, according to ESPN, you have a 39.8% chance at getting the 1 seed and the Broncos have a 36.2%. I would assume that's because of who the Broncos play. They have the Chiefs.

[Hank]

They had a 7% chance going into Sunday or Sunday. So that's crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So the, the and the Patriots have the Dolphins and Jets. They'll be heavy favorites in both games. So there's a chance. Big chance. There's a. You have the best chance right now.

[Hank]

Go charges.

[PFT Commenter]

You have the. You have the best chance. Yeah. If the Chargers win on Saturday, that will be huge because that means they're going to try for week 18 to potentially win the AFC West.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And memes is going to be thinking, spoiler. You could spoil memes.

[Hank]

Memes tweeted 60 to nothing.

[PFT Commenter]

You can't win Brady. Brady Cook couldn't score a touchdown against the Saints. Yeah, that's true. Saints playing good defense, though. That's true. Saints are the hottest team in the NFL. And then on the NFC side, it's a 47.6% chance for the Seahawks. And then the two. The second and third highest chances for the one seed are actually the Niners and the Rams.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, Niners are a little bit above the Rams right now.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And we don't know what happened Monday Night Football.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, the bears are 11.4% because like I was saying, it's kind of tricky for the Bears considering the fact that they'd have to win out. And part of winning out would then mean the Niners are not going to try in week 18.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, there's a lot of that. A lot of the what if scenarios.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Week 18 again, is going to be. It's gonna be a rough one.

[Hank]

How does this work, by the way? Pfd. Do I just eat it?

[PFT Commenter]

You should put it on your tooth.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, yeah, you just. You put it right. You squeeze it onto your tooth.

[Hank]

Thank you.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's do. We're gonna do the preview a little different today because again, it's Monday morning, so we're gonna. Let's do. We're not gonna go game by game. Some of these games kind of stink. But let's do this. If you had to pick one of the three games on Thursday that you're most excited for, it's not. It's not a great preseason. It looked great. Commit Cowboys commanders. I mean, that would have been a. You know, Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons heading into the playoffs. Jaden Daniels, can he do it again? Year two.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Lions, Vikings, the two teams that won, what, 14 and 15 games last year. And then Broncos, Chiefs. Passing of the torch. Will the Broncos be able to take down the Chiefs? They're one game back in the AFC West. These were all the headlines in our heads.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

In August when we saw the schedule, they're no longer there. When the only team that is fight. I mean, the Broncos are fighting for the one seed, but the Lions are on there. They're basically dead. They will be playing for something the other teams have nothing to play for.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. This looked like the best late ever when it came out.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And now it looks like dog shit. I, I'm still excited to watch the, the Cowboys commanders.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm excited for any football.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm excited for football and I think that I don't know what the commanders are going to do with the Josh Johnson situation. We might get Sam Hartman who does look a little bit like baby Jesus on Christmas day. Just seeing a new guy in the uniform would be fun.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And yeah, I'm not really excited about any of the games. I'm going to watch them because it's football and it's going to be on tv therefore I have to look at it. I guess I'm a little interested to see what. What the Chiefs look like. Ola Duken.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

With a full or not even full week with Ola Duke on. With five days to prepare.

[PFT Commenter]

Holy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Four days.

[PFT Commenter]

Four days to prepare.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. The Lions. I think the Lions are probably going to be the hungriest team.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they have to. So the Lions have to win their last two games. The packers have to lose their last two games for the Lions to be in the playoffs.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They have a shot at it still kind of. But it's good that they're playing before all those other games.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So we get to see the Lions trying full strength and then Max Brosmer.

[PFT Commenter]

And Max Ross probably.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Or dine.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So do we have an update on that? I don't know.

[Ryan Whitney]

I just looked up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

There's no update. Yeah, I don't think that anyone's had time to do anything.

[PFT Commenter]

It's too early. Okay, I'll just throw out some things that you can just take whatever you want. Jared Goff is 8 and 1 against spread against the Vikings as the lions quarterback. These two teams last year, remember they played in week 18 and said we'll see you in two weeks. Yep. Thinking they'd be in the playoffs. They're now the bottom teams the NFC North. This just shows how the NFL is such a year to year league where if you're good one year you can easily be bad the next year. Josh Johnson is Marshawn Lynch's cousin.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He is.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep. He also learned all the players names last time he was on the Redskins by using Madden. I remember that old article and Ola Duken.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We got Ola Duke.

[PFT Commenter]

We got Ola Duke.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do we have any fun facts about Ola Duken?

[PFT Commenter]

He was selected by the Steelers in the seventh round. So he's a seventh rounder. He played at South Dakota State. He had a very good year there. And he's actually had like a kind of a tough. He went Samford, South Florida, South Dakota State, Sanford, South Florida, seventh round practice squad, Chiefs. So I like that old Duke and he seems like he's got some grit.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay, so here's the list of teams that Josh Johnson has played for. He started his career in 2008. I saw a stat that he's thrown an interception to the Eagles in three different decades.

[PFT Commenter]

That's incredible.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He played for The Bucks, the 49ers, the Sacramento Mountain Lions, the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, 49ers, Bengals again. Jets, Colts, Bills, Ravens, Giants, Texans, Raiders, San Diego Fleet, Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Wildcats, 49ers, Jets, Ravens, Broncos, 49ers, Ravens, Commanders. That's the story of Josh Johnson.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's been everywhere.

[PFT Commenter]

You can't tell the story of football without Josh Johnson.

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

In fact, Josh Johnson is probably the most valuable guy to know for Immaculate Grid. Mm. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He played for. Yeah. Just when in doubt, always gets Josh Johnson.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, let's go to Saturday because this actually is a good game. Texans and Chargers. Chargers are still playing for the AFC West. Texans are still playing for seating in the AFC South. Two good teams, playoff teams. The Chargers, it's just like they don't get respect and they're a good team.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So they were playing like third, fourth string tackles.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Cowboys. And they did very, very well against them. They. They showed up. The Cowboys didn't get a lot of pressure on Justin Herbert, which is kind of against the story of what the. The Chargers have been dealing with all season long. No quarterback has ever been sacked 50 plus times and won more than 11 games in a season. The Chargers have 11 wins and Herbert's been sacked 49 times. So he's one away from that. They should do a celebration on the field next time he gets sacked. You're the first quarterback to ever get sacked this much and win this many games, Justin.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Stop the game form like you would for Miles Garrett to celebrate that. But yeah, the. The Chargers. I think their. Their scenarios are. Do we. Does Shane know the scenarios?

[PFT Commenter]

Because I didn't even know they were alive in the AFC West.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Is a massive Chargers fan and he. Not a lot. No, he knew they were alive.

[Ryan Whitney]

He just didn't know that they control their own destinies.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So he did not know any of the scenarios. You have to know the scenarios. Although I do appreciate like the we're taking it one game at a time mentality. That's for the players, the fans. You have to be prepared.

[PFT Commenter]

He said playoff math too confusing for me to comprehend. I just look at playoff picture and do mental math.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, he just hopes for wins.

[PFT Commenter]

He just stares at the standings and does the mental math behind it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, it's.

[Hank]

The mental math isn't that crazy?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And the tiebreaker is they've already beaten the Broncos.

[Ryan Whitney]

So if they beat him again, it's obvious. It's an obvious tiebreaker.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, it's. It's another two guys on the bus meme. It's like.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's not like you have to go through strength of schedule and if you, you beat a team and you don't know how they like, it's.

[PFT Commenter]

It's easy. Very easy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Big cats on the left and thinking about scenarios and doom and gloom. And we got Shane on the right being happy, being like nice, we won.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So no longer doom and gloom, which is nice. Being in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What's up, Shane? Walk us through the scenarios.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I don't, I don't know the scenarios.

[PFT Commenter]

But you realize that if you win out, you're. You win the AFC west because you've beaten the Broncos once already.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, the thing was I thought the.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Broncos had a lose out and we.

[Ryan Whitney]

Had a win out.

[PFT Commenter]

No, they have three losses, you have four losses.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I get that. I understand that now.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I just once, once I'm looking at.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The playoff predictor and there's like double digit wins and stuff. My mind just.

[PFT Commenter]

It's the, it's anything over 10. The double digits.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. They both have double digit wins.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But then that's, that's quadruple digits then.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's just, it's a lot of digits.

[Ryan Whitney]

The playoff math is never.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm not a playoff math guy. I just look at the chart. I never been questioned about the playoff picture. Do you think that Justin Herbert should be in the MVP conversation? Not like historically how the awards gone. I think of if you look at like players who are most like the most valuable players to their teams, I.

[Ryan Whitney]

Think he's, he might, he might be.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The most valuable player.

[Ryan Whitney]

Because if you don't.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Justin Herbert, the Chargers are like a four or five win team. Yeah. It's a line. By that metric I would say Justin Herbert and Josh Allen probably the two front runners.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Harbaugh said he's MVP caliber. He's doing things game after game that are reserved for only the best that are in the game and have ever played the game. He also said you were the best ball club that he's ever coached.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you know what the definition of a ball club is?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I. I think it's pretty self explanatory.

[PFT Commenter]

I agree.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Good. Sounds like you got it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Don't overthink this one.

[PFT Commenter]

Chargers have won seven of last eight. Yeah, I have. You walked around and asked people if that's the truth. They would be like, I feel like they mix in a couple losses. No, they've. They've been really, really good.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Fully bolted.

[PFT Commenter]

Fully bolted. Fully bolted.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Bolted.

[PFT Commenter]

Boys, do you feel good about this game? The only problem with this game is your offensive line versus the Texans defensive line is a significant mismatch.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, it's. It's going to be.

[PFT Commenter]

I actually wouldn't put it. I, I wouldn't judge Jim Harbaugh if he's like, hey, we're actually gonna sit Justin Herbert for this game.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He's like, we really want to win in the playoffs and we feel like we can beat anyone, but we have to keep them healthy and this is not going to be a fun game.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Also the Texans win. That felt like a loss against the Raiders. That's, that's not good for the Chargers.

[PFT Commenter]

No, they're coming off a loss. They're coming off loss win.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. And then like last year's playoff game.

[Ryan Whitney]

They had like a pressure rate of like 65, 70%.

[PFT Commenter]

And that was with Joe Alton, Rashawn Slater. That's right.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So two digit numbers.

[PFT Commenter]

Justin Herbert might get murdered.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, like I'm not confident at all going in this game.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Well, your defense playing really well.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Shane, do you think that. That Justin Herbert should take Madison Beer's last name if they get married?

[PFT Commenter]

I think maybe hyphen it. Herbert Beer. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, I like that. I do too.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Thank you.

[PFT Commenter]

Thank you, Shane. Appreciate it. Let's go. I like the text. No, I think I like the Chargers the in that game.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Let's see.

[PFT Commenter]

One and a half.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

One and a half.

[PFT Commenter]

Not getting enough respect. Here's a game Saturday night that again we thought was going to be a consequential game, but it's. I don't know where the Ravens are at mentally. Ravens plus two and a half at the packers over under 40 and a half. I think the Ravens are on big time quit watch.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Lamar Jackson said we're going to do a little MRI on Monday.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, a little one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So he's going to. Yeah, just stop by the imaging office real quick for a standing meeting that he has on Mondays. He's got an appointment that he has now.

[PFT Commenter]

It's A little MRI like my kids have. You know, I get them different toys and one of them is like the doctor's set. And I think there actually is a little thing that says MRI on it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, it's actually the board game Operation.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And he's going to put that down.

[PFT Commenter]

A little tiny MRI and then try.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

To fix his funny bone. I have a theory about. About Lamar. He's dealt with some stomach issues, as we know. He's always kind of banged up. Do you think Lamar Jackson is radiation poisoning from all the MRIs? Too many MRIs and all the X rays you could. You should only get so many per year.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That would mess with your insides. It might be like Chernobyl.

[PFT Commenter]

He has a lot of MRIs.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Three Mile Islands.

[PFT Commenter]

But he's also getting a little MRI.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

This time it's full because he's probably not supposed to get the full MRI anymore.

[PFT Commenter]

Doesn't it feel like the Ravens are in quit watch?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yes, it does.

[PFT Commenter]

And that there the. The decision for John Harbaugh not to run Derrick Henry in the last 12:50. So he scored a touchdown to go up 24:13 on the Patriots and then he never touched the ball again. That one made no sense.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I agree.

[PFT Commenter]

That's. And. And I've seen some of the feedback from our show on Monday. Ravens fans are very much in the camp. It's time to move on.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. And. And Harbaugh even admitted that it wasn't like a performance thing with Henry. It was just a mistake that he made.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He said he should have been in there.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's on you. And I thought that we got through this, John. I thought that it was like you get Derrick Henry because he's the biggest guy on the sidelines. So you can't forget about him and you can't forget to run the ball. And he did it again. But yeah, I think. I think Ravens fans are. They're. They're receptive to memes offer.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But they're gonna. It's more Harbaugh. I think Harbaugh is going to be gone.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Feels.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't think that you can have both of them back. When you have a superstar quarterback that is your franchise and you have a long tenured head coach and they seem to not be seeing eye to eye. That's going to mess everything up inside that locker room. And I think one's got to go.

[PFT Commenter]

There are now a couple teams where you could point to and say, did they. Did they screw this up by letting this guy walk out the door? The. The big one would be the Bucks letting Liam Cohen walk out the door. Just fire Todd Bowles, make him head coach. But there's a sneaky one in. In. In John Harbaugh and Mike McDonald's.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Because Mike McDonald's been very good coach, and that might have been the move.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So the Ravens. I can't remember the last time this late in the season that the Ravens had a losing record.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Was there. What was the year when Stu Puntley came in? I mean, Lamar's been hurt a lot and they're just always so weird.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't really understand it. I don't understand it. I think the packers are going to win this game. I really do. Because I just think the Ravens, like, they. They don't. That was. That was a last gas. We've been waiting all year for the Ravens to show up and I just think maybe they're not that good of a team. Is that fair to say?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They seem broken.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. They all year would be like, watch out for the Ravens. Watch out for the Ravens. Maybe. Maybe we're good.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It was 20, 21. They went 8 and 9 and they finished last in the AFC north that year.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

At 8 and 9.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Okay, Sunday. Do we have games? So just looking at Sunday, there's a couple. There's a couple games that are going to be good throughout the course of the day. There's also some games that are really nothing but the big game. Well, actually, let's do early slate first. There's. Is there any games you guys want to talk about early slate besides Tyler Shuck being Tyler Shock?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Jags, Colts.

[PFT Commenter]

Jags, Colts. Although if the Colts lose.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Doesn't mean anything.

[PFT Commenter]

Doesn't mean anything. Jags, though, trying to break the. I think it's. Teams are.07 after playing a mile high, so they have to try to. Try to win that. Jags are playing for a lot.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They're playing for everything. And Trevor Lawrence right now is maybe in the MVP conversation if they get the one seed.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's playing that good. He's playing as good as any quarterback in the NFL right now.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. The big. The big games, though, I would say are. Because this is the only one that self grabs the Bucks, Dolphins and the Seahawks. Panthers. So if the Panthers beat the Seahawks, they're in. The Bucks need to. Oh, wait, no, if. I think it's actually just if the Bucks win. As long as the Bucks win. They're not. They're still playing in week 18.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The.

[PFT Commenter]

The Seahawks obviously are playing heavily for the one seed. Do you guys want to talk about patriots yet? 60 nothing.

[Hank]

You think that's a meme?

[PFT Commenter]

Said 60 to nothing memes. Yeah. So then that's a good bet to be take the Patriots minus 12 and a half.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I would never bet against jets.

[Ryan Whitney]

But also a good o.

[PFT Commenter]

16 to nothing. 6.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do we know the weather?

[PFT Commenter]

Snow. It's going to be warmish, coldish with snow and clear skies.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I. I wish Tyrod was playing.

[PFT Commenter]

Muck it up a little. Hey, I agree.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

If you had to pick one of these games, which one would be the more devastating one to lose, the jets or the Dolphins?

[PFT Commenter]

If you lose to the Jets.

[Hank]

Yeah, the Jets. I've said a lot of things. I forget what I said about if we lost the jets this year, but I've said a lot of things about the Jets.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I feel like you've been respectful enough of the Dolphins. Just going back to the days when the Dolphins would always steal one.

[Hank]

We lose. We've lost the dolphins week 18 like 10 times in my life somehow. So that wouldn't be. That would be less surprising. The jets would be more devastating.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Memes.

[Hank]

But week 18, if it's Freddy Cook, the Chargers win on Saturday and then somehow beat the Broncos. Week 18, we lose the Dolphins. That would be.

[PFT Commenter]

To not get the one seed. That would be devastating.

[Hank]

But the Dolphins are also a way.

[PFT Commenter]

Better team than the Jets.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, that's pretty much memes. Are you going to get an interception? The jets don't have a.

[PFT Commenter]

They don't One meme.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They don't have an interception this year. We got to get one.

[PFT Commenter]

That'd be. That'd be as good as a win. Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

One pick.

[Ryan Whitney]

One pick.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

We were watching the game in the studio and I was just.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I was just cheering for an interception the entire game.

[PFT Commenter]

You got to get a pick this year. I kind of also like inventing new ways, new stats for sucking. So that's true. That is kind of a fun one to when people. Hopefully someday when the jets are good and you have to explain to someone, like imagine if the jets are just a dynasty in 20 years from now and you have to explain to people, hey, this is how bad it was. It would be nice to have the we went an entire season without an interception stat. Or like we went two seasons without an interception. Oh, you're thinking next year too. Yeah, this is.

[Ryan Whitney]

There's no end in time.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Have a carryover. So that. That way you can start saying like how. How many days it's been since your last inter the 49ers just set this.

[PFT Commenter]

Record and we just broke it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. I mean, you're.

[PFT Commenter]

It's this current 49ers team.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You've got two. You're locked in on two separate first overall picks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

In the draft and in the football season.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You can do it, Memes. You can do it. How have you come. Did you come close last weekend?

[PFT Commenter]

No, we got shocked.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Got shocked up. I mean, I would say that if the jets get a pick against Drake May, it's like. Yeah, that's a win for the Jets. Yeah. Drake May bust. Yeah. Can I say something about Tyler Shuck?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, please.

[Ryan Whitney]

He should win Rookie of the Year.

[PFT Commenter]

I agree.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

His right now he's second. He's second in odds on DK at plus 370. Ted McMillan is minus 250.

[Ryan Whitney]

If Tyler Schuck ends the year on.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

This winning streak, it has to be Tyler Shuck.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. If he ends the year six and three as a starter, it has to be. He plays the Saints this week, the Titans and then.

[Ryan Whitney]

Or he plays the Titans. He's on the Saints. He plays the Titans this week and.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Then the Falcons next week.

[Ryan Whitney]

He could Easily finish. Finish 6 and 3. In which case he has to be.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The rookie of the year.

[PFT Commenter]

I agree with you. I agree. Has to be. Has to be. You got to root against the Panthers to make like. If the Panthers make the playoffs. I know.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

All right, that's. That's a good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Tech kind of disappeared for a little bit, but he might be back. That was a great game.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You know what, Max, you need. It's going to. It's all going to come down to if the Bucks and Panthers play Sunday night football week 18.

[Ryan Whitney]

Why that I would want the Bucks to win.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And you need Tet not to have any big plays because if he scores a big touchdown week 18 in front of the country, that's. That's it. But you know how these awards work.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, but this is one of those games that he could get some nice fat stats.

[PFT Commenter]

If we had a vote, it'd be for Tyler Shock.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

For Shock. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Big time offensive Rookie of the year is. It's kind of one of those ones you forget. Remember a Buka?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I do.

[PFT Commenter]

That was crazy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What a hot start. If we're still kind of talking about the Pats and the Jets. Hank, I was. I was so happy for you last night when Drake May broke the barrier.

[Hank]

I was happy for you. That was a sharp bet.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Thank you. I. I did reach out to your coach, Mike Frable, and I Said hank had a big day today. Congrats on the win. He was very excited about drake may having 300 yards passing. Do you have any words for Hank? And Variable got back to me. He said, hank, do you believe?

[Hank]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he does.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do you believe?

[Hank]

Yes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yes.

[Hank]

Yes what? Do you believe? Say yes, parentheses, I love you, coach.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And should I tell them about the sleeping in?

[PFT Commenter]

I wouldn't. I wouldn't bring it up.

[Hank]

That's not really your show or your business.

[PFT Commenter]

I wouldn't bring it up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No naps.

[PFT Commenter]

I wouldn't bring that up.

[Hank]

Also wasn't a nap. You're. You're. This is your new thing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

This is. This is my show and I was.

[Hank]

On time for this show, but.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No. Well, no, you weren't.

[Hank]

I was.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No. We were going to record right after the meeting. Yeah. You're about 30 minutes late. It's fine. I'm not mad about it. I've been late.

[Hank]

The meeting ran early.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It was scheduled.

[Hank]

It was scheduled for 30 minutes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We did have a company meeting this morning where Dave addressed barstool sports, and it lasted 3 minutes, 36 seconds.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you call in for it?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

The best line from the meeting was, I appreciate everyone who worked hard this year, and if you didn't work hard, I don't appreciate you.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So, Hank, it was scheduled for 30 minutes. He says, yes, I believe.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Anything else?

[PFT Commenter]

And no way did I nap.

[Hank]

No, No.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I should. I should tell him about that. I don't want to hide anything from him. This is accountability. Open locker room.

[Hank]

Say, all right, P. S. I might have napped, but that's gonna be gone in 20, 26.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay. That's when the playoffs are.

[Hank]

Even though it wasn't nap, you were.

[PFT Commenter]

Up for two hours, so. Yeah, I think that hits nap.

[Hank]

I don't know. I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you.

[Hank]

I never got out. Did you ever turn on a light besides the bathroom?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, then maybe that's not a nap. I think if you turn on a light, then it becomes a nap.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Turn on light. If you took a shower, that sort of thing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Then it's a nap.

[Hank]

Do not do that.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. The afternoon games. We have two afternoon games, and they're actually both very important for different reasons.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The.

[PFT Commenter]

The first one is very important. Giants at Raiders. This is the number one pick. Bowl. This is a toilet bowl. I like this. This is going to decide where these teams draft. It's weird, too, because the Giants, if the giants get the number one pick, is there. There's no world that they don't they keep Jackson Dart? Right.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Right?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Are you sure?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yes.

[Ryan Whitney]

But.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Unless it's a new gm.

[PFT Commenter]

That's what I'm saying. If you have the number one pick and you're a new GM that gets hired, is there a chance you pick your own guy?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't think so. Because I think one of the things they'll ask anybody that wants to be the gm, what do you think about Jackson Dart? And they're going to be looking for somebody that is attracted to the position because of Jackson Dart. Now also because they want to change.

[PFT Commenter]

It also the person can just lie and say, I love Jackson Dart.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That is true.

[PFT Commenter]

I would keep Jackson Dart. I'm just. I'm just wondering because it does take a little of the luster out. It would be a lot more fun if this game was Giants Raiders. Both teams are looking to draft a quarterback. We can look back in 10 years and be like, mate, that game was actually the most important game for Butterfly effect future of the NFL.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, what might happen is the Giants might beat the Raiders. They get the first overall pick, they don't want to take a quarterback, and then they make the Raiders trade them something to move up to the first overall pick.

[PFT Commenter]

We know it'd be the other way around. Raiders.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So Raiders beat the Giants and then the Giants have first overall pick and then they get. And then they make the Raiders give them another draft pick to move up or Max Crosby and make defensive line insane.

[PFT Commenter]

They should just. They should just do a chop. They should do. Isn't that a poker thing where they just agree before the game, hey, let's just tie this game. No, wait, no. That would actually keep the Giants. So. No, they need to do a chop where the Giants say, hey, whatever happens, we're not going to take a quarterback.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, a tie is as good as a loss for the Giants in a good way.

[PFT Commenter]

And the Raiders could say, hey, whatever happens, we're not going to take. We're going to take a quarterback.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I also kind of like the idea of going into a draft season where you don't know who the number one pick is going to be. Yeah, like the New York Giants are open for business.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And then the other one, Eagles at Bills. Max, how are you feeling?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

On paper, this game should be super exciting, but there's just like not that much to play for.

[PFT Commenter]

There's. So, yeah, I kind of agree because I was. I was actually going through the feeling of I was getting all hyped up for the 49ers. And then once the Bears officially clinched yes, obviously the one seed still would be awesome. But it definitely. There takes a little pressure off. You're like, hey, the important games are coming up.

[Ryan Whitney]

And, like, I know that you. You want to get the two seed.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But it's not like I need to.

[PFT Commenter]

Get to, like, would be nice, but.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It'S not something that I'm going to, like, really stress about.

[PFT Commenter]

So why would you guys play Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think I. I do like the.

[Ryan Whitney]

Idea of, you know, getting them back.

[PFT Commenter]

Into the mix, and I think they.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Want to play people this week and.

[PFT Commenter]

Then rest next week.

[Hank]

Got it.

[PFT Commenter]

Makes sense. So it's.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

In case something does happen, you got. You have a little bit more breathing room to get healthy for the playoffs.

[PFT Commenter]

So I get that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Max, how did you feel at the start of the season about picking up Jordan Davis's fifth year?

[Ryan Whitney]

I was leaning towards we should probably do it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He just.

[PFT Commenter]

He got a lot more expensive this.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Year, and you got to bring him back. He's been so fucking good.

[Ryan Whitney]

Good.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Howie.

[Ryan Whitney]

Howie.

[PFT Commenter]

Howie did it again. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think you gotta. You gotta want to win this game. You. You gotta really try. This is a great measuring stick.

[PFT Commenter]

It could be a snow game, too.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Should be awesome.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That would be fun. Bring back Shady.

[PFT Commenter]

It is weird. We only have two games in the afternoon on Sunday. Schedule makers do.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

Crazy, right?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we're gonna.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We're gonna need to find some obscure sports.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And then bears 49ers Sunday Night Football. I'm excited for the game, but it does feel a little different now that the Bears are in, because I had been playing for the last month. A doomsday scenario of The Bears winning 11 games and not getting in, but they are officially in. Pft. I know you asked this on Sunday, but I found out the answer for you. Luther Burden was the one who dubbed Caleb Williams the Iceman.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. So it was given in the locker room house.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I like that. I like that because it's a good nickname. I didn't want to hate it, but I needed to find out if.

[PFT Commenter]

If.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Because if Caleb had started calling himself the Iceman, I would have had some questions about that. But that's great that it came from his teammate.

[PFT Commenter]

Now, the last bear to be named the Iceman, because there was one previously, was Red Grange, but it was because he literally delivered ice as his job, which is so perfect. He was the Wheaton Iceman. Also the Galloping Ghost, which is what he's known more for. He would deliver 75 pound blocks of ice to every home working every summer during his high school and college years. So that was why he was the Iceman.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I love that. That's a perfect old NFL story.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What did you do? I, I drove an ice truck.

[PFT Commenter]

How did you get the name Iceman? Well, I literally delivered ice.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Joey Bosa would like to drive an ice truck too. I think.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He would.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But. Yeah, the. I, I don't know. I don't know about this game because we haven't seen the Niners play in Monday Night Football yet. But they need to figure out a way to get after the quarterback. Maybe, maybe Monday night cured them of that. Maybe they finally get some sacks in on Philip Rivers.

[PFT Commenter]

I do.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We're able to. To tune that defense up.

[PFT Commenter]

That would be my take on the. The Bears Niners game is the. I kind of like the over because I don't know if either team can get to the quarterback.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Because the Bears struggle with it as well.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Although I've been impressed watching Montez sweat.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And Grady Jarrett's been playing very well. Which, like, he was. You know, there was a time where it was like, oh, why did we sign him? He's washed. He's. He's been picking it up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I, I know people won't believe me, but I've really enjoyed watching this Bears team. They're fun.

[PFT Commenter]

They are football.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I find myself rooting for him. The city is so much more fun when the Bears are good.

[PFT Commenter]

It's buzzing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Right. Everybody's in a great mood. The city is 100% buzzing.

[PFT Commenter]

It makes winter not feel as bad. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So that will be Sunday football. We will be streaming. We're gonna stream Sunday and we will stream Sunday football. I guess we can also see if there's a change in any of the, like, playoffs and everything. If things get a little clearer and the game is even less consequential. Maybe we won't. I don't know.

[Ryan Whitney]

We'll.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll let everyone know. But that was our weekend preview. Week 17. We're at, we're at the tail end. This is right when I'm just like, just fast forward to the playoffs.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Because there's really not a lot.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm really glad that we don't have to record anything on Christmas.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Because we talked about doing that if it was going to be the Cowboys and the Commanders and both teams were good at the start of the year.

[PFT Commenter]

When the schedule came out, we were. Our plan was like, we got to record something because this might be in. In the playoffs kind of game.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Thankfully nobody gives a shit about this game.

[PFT Commenter]

No, it's. It's actually a really good point. I remember having that conversation. Doing an update of those. Christmas. Yeah. Would have been something. Okay, let's do our best bet. Best bets. Do we have Jerry's fantasy minute? Did he send it? I don't think he did. I I that up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No naps.

[PFT Commenter]

I that up. No, I didn't text.

[Hank]

Come on, Jerry.

[PFT Commenter]

I didn't text him to figure it out. Jerry. One o' clock last night.

[Hank]

That's tough, man.

[PFT Commenter]

Asking him, that's tough. And so that was all my fault.

[Hank]

Wake up, Jerry.

[PFT Commenter]

There's a good chance we get it by the time we edit. Yeah. Yes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Show.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, I'm gonna call him real quick, but then we'll put it in.

[Ryan Whitney]

We'll put it in.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll put it in. Hey, big cat. Hey. You're live on the air right now, so don't say anything up like you did last time.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Well, I. I never said anything messed up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Hey, let me.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Let me call you from my landline, okay?

[PFT Commenter]

What? Okay, I have a wired. I have a wired phone. This is like my WI FI phone.

[Hank]

How old?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What?

[PFT Commenter]

Why? You sound fine. Let me just call you. I'll call you in a second. Wait, but you know, I was gonna say you. You don't. You could send the fantasy minute. Just as long as Max gets it by, like, tomorrow morning. Yeah, I was sort of sitting down.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And working on it.

[PFT Commenter]

Any ideas, like, what I should do?

[Ryan Whitney]

I was thinking of doing maybe like.

[PFT Commenter]

A Christmas Carol or something.

[Ryan Whitney]

Is it gonna air?

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Christmas Carol.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that. Sorry, you're cutting out. I told you, let me call. I'm gonna call you right back. Hold on.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Who has a landline?

[PFT Commenter]

I didn't know they still existed.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What does he pay, like 60amonth for a landline?

[PFT Commenter]

I actually didn't know you could get one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's insane.

[Hank]

I would love to hear what his answering machine is. Yeah, probably a sing along for that.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, we should just. We should just randomly prank call his house.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, all right.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm getting it. Hey. Yeah?

[Ryan Whitney]

Do you hear the sound quality?

[PFT Commenter]

No, it's way worse. No, that's not possible. It's gotta be better.

[Hank]

Are you in a walkie talkie?

[PFT Commenter]

Sound like you're in a submarine. Really? Yes.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, I have a landline.

[PFT Commenter]

Just in case I have to do, like, media stuff on the phone or stuff.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, you can use your phone for that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But then I have to go to.

[Ryan Whitney]

Like, a park area where there's better WI fi. I just don't get WI fi at my house.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't have 5G in my house. Okay. All right. Yeah. So A Christmas Carol will be great. Yeah. I'm gonna try to come up with something.

[Ryan Whitney]

How are the vibes there?

[PFT Commenter]

Everybody on, like, Cloud 9? Everyone's good.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I can't get over how much worse.

[PFT Commenter]

It's so much worse. That is crazy. All right. Are we gonna make this fantasy finals? We need. We. We. We need some points out of Juan Jennings. You know, it's so funny. I didn't want to say anything. I'm so. It's. It's just. It's occupying my everything, guys.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's occupying my soul.

[PFT Commenter]

Everywhere I walk. My wife. I've been like, yesterday we got into.

[Ryan Whitney]

A fight, and.

[PFT Commenter]

I was upset with her, and she was like, what's going on? Are you not gonna make this stupid.

[Ryan Whitney]

Part of my take?

[PFT Commenter]

Fantasy finals.

[Ryan Whitney]

And she was right.

[PFT Commenter]

I was on edge yesterday because this is occupying every fiber of my being. We need a night out of Juwan tonight.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Jerry, do you remember what happened last year in our semifinals? I think it came down to Monday Night Football, didn't it?

[Ryan Whitney]

It came down to Monday Night Football, and it came down to them not remember we needed one less than a.

[PFT Commenter]

Point, and we needed the extra point, and they went for two.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Green Bay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. We can't have that again.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so just sending out good.

[Ryan Whitney]

Good vibes to Juwan.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

How do you say it?

[PFT Commenter]

Is it Juwan?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's.

[PFT Commenter]

It's nuts. This phone sucks so bad.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It is kind of crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

Really? Are you sure? Yes. You'll hear it back and played in the. In the show. All right, Jerry, we love you, thank you, and we'll see you later. Okay? All right, everyone except. Pft.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Thanks, Jerry.

[PFT Commenter]

That was a hang up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, it's a Jerry. Have yourself a Jerry. Little Christmas.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I don't need the music memes. I don't need the music.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Just start the clock.

[PFT Commenter]

Hanky to the world.

[Stephen Jenkins]

The Pats have come. Let digs out of that blue tent.

[PFT Commenter]

May finally hit 300. It's a stat that no one cares about. It's all in your head like Tiffany Gomez it's all in your head like Tiffany Gomez. It's all in your head like the Hanky toy and Tiffany Gomez. Maxie Maxi, you have no O line. Your team does whatever AJ wants, and you'll always be dysfunctional. Big cats thinking soupy. Big cats Thinking, Soupy, you should have.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Never won that game.

[PFT Commenter]

I need to bring you down to reality. Now that Netflix is paying you, maybe.

[Stephen Jenkins]

You can finally afford to get Electric Avenue back.

[PFT Commenter]

Sleep in hanky.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Peace.

[PFT Commenter]

Happy holidays. Awls. Love you. That was. That was terrible. Phone.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It was awful.

[PFT Commenter]

The fact that he has a landline is just so funny. Only Jerry. Okay, let's do our best bets.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

As an adult, have you ever had a landline? No, I think I had.

[PFT Commenter]

Absolutely not.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think I might have had one in my college apartment.

[Ryan Whitney]

Nope.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

My first one.

[Ryan Whitney]

Nope.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's also not real adult. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. No, there's no way.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I've had a good point. As a real adult. As a real boy, I've only had cell phones.

[PFT Commenter]

Should we get landlines?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's kind of. Nope. Kind of prestige.

[Ryan Whitney]

Maybe one for the.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

For the studio, I think.

[PFT Commenter]

Sick.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think a red. We would never use it.

[PFT Commenter]

But what if we gave, like, just certain people the number? Like, you can call it any time.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

The hotline.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

If you have a red phone, it does add an element of mystery to.

[PFT Commenter]

I kind of watch landline now. I also am thinking about, like, when my kids get to the cell phone age and trying to resist that, like giving them a landline, being like, you can still talk to your friends.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Being that guy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They'll love that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they'll definitely be so pumped about that.

[Hank]

Okay, where are the apps?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they'll be upset. Very upset. Okay. DraftKings, the most wonderful time of the year. And DraftKings make it even better.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Stephen Jenkins]

Pass through per wager.

[PFT Commenter]

Tax may apply in Illinois 21 and over.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.

[PFT Commenter]

Void in Ontario restrictions apply. 1 NFL or NBA SGPX profit boost per day per customer bet. Iterations criteria profit boost and max bet vary. Tokens are single use and expire at the end of the final game each day. When offered [e-mail] promos. Okay, boys, do we have our best bets? Who's up first? So right now it's tight.

[Ryan Whitney]

We are.

[PFT Commenter]

We are. We just have never come up with a. We're never coming up with a punishment.

[Hank]

Yeah, I've pretty much resigned to the fact that I'm gonna lose and then we're gonna pick the punishment after. It's obvious I'm gonna lose. It's gonna be really bad. That's all right. That's just how it goes.

[PFT Commenter]

No, here's what I'm gonna say is I think we should all agree right now that we need to extend the competition through the divisional round. So that way we've bought ourselves some more time to pick a punishment and.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We'Re just gonna not do it.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But we've. That's officially. Officially through divisional round. So it's not going to end next.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You know, in two weeks of the year.

[PFT Commenter]

Not a lot of games. You gotta pick one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But one or two.

[PFT Commenter]

No, you gotta pick two over, under. There's eight. There's eight different.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

There's. What if there's more than enough. What if we extended it to. You have to pick two. One has to be either an over under or a spread and the other can be prop. That's. That's priced at about minus 110.

[PFT Commenter]

But we have enough. We have enough games. We have enough games. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

There's four.

[Ryan Whitney]

You're going to end up picking something you don't.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. If you go last.

[PFT Commenter]

That would be. That'll be tough. Yeah. We can also just. We. You know what we can do is for the playoffs too, if there's any PFT or. Sorry. Max and I could be ahead of every. Like to the point where we're safe and then we'll just stay out of the competition.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, we've. We've always done second Place and last place. Right.

[PFT Commenter]

It.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Except last year.

[PFT Commenter]

Except last year.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So what we need to decide on that? Just a bachelor party. Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, that was a great punishment.

[Ryan Whitney]

So this is just gonna end up being. How do we find a way that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Max is the only one that gets every year. No. Second place in life. We've always. I've gotten second place. I got last.

[PFT Commenter]

He's right. It was only last.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And then I'm gonna get second again.

[PFT Commenter]

He's right.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I did. See, I didn't even know that when I brought it up. I think that Max.

[PFT Commenter]

I think we can't.

[Ryan Whitney]

We can't just make this the Max.

[PFT Commenter]

Rule of, like, whoever finishes second place.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And whoever finishes in last, I think that's fair.

[PFT Commenter]

But we didn't do that last year when I came in last.

[Ryan Whitney]

And now that I'm gonna get second.

[PFT Commenter]

We'Re gonna bring it back. We only had five people last year.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. So what? Good point. Six makes.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. Last place. We're gonna find a good punishment. We'll do. We'll have. We'll make it super bowl week related. I got sent. I got sent a good one. Oh, sleep at Alcatraz.

[Ryan Whitney]

You fly to the super bowl the opposite way. Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

No. Like, you'll be in London for. Oh, no.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Hours.

[Ryan Whitney]

You can't leave the airport.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, I don't like that.

[Hank]

Oh.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Although, if you get first class, probably wouldn't be that bad. You just sleep the whole time.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, you do.

[PFT Commenter]

Second place.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

First class. Last place. Last seat in the plane, Coach.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, we've done a bad job. Sorry, guys. We've done a bad job this year. Here picks. Who's up? PFT's up first.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay, I am going to take. It's a game. It's a football game.

[PFT Commenter]

You want me to go?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, I'm gonna take the packers two and a half.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Love that.

[PFT Commenter]

I will take the Denver Broncos. I'm going to fade. Ola dukin. Denver Broncos -12 and a half.

[Hank]

I will take. I'll just go. I'm going with my heart. Probably not smart. Hopefully they don't fart.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yep.

[Hank]

On themselves. I'm gonna take a ball club.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I'm gonna take a ball club.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, you will.

[Hank]

San Diego Chargers -2 and a half.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Wow.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's a San Diego baby.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a ball club. Okay, memes.

[Hank]

They should be Sandy. That's so up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It is.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't want to say mine. Say it. I don't want to say it. Say it.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Take the Jets.

[PFT Commenter]

No, Say it. He's gonna take the Patriots.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, you can't take the Patriots.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I can't just go Cardinals bangles over.

[PFT Commenter]

53 and a half. Okay, whatever.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's good.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I like that one, too.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm riding the hot hand.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm going with the Shuckster minus two and a half.

[PFT Commenter]

Love that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That.

[PFT Commenter]

Love that.

[Ryan Whitney]

I would like to do over in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The Texans chargers game at 39 and a half. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

And then you got another pick. And then I would also like to take the Jaguars minus seven. Okay. All right, Max, coming back to you.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I am going to take. I will take over 42 and a half in Seahawks, Panthers. Hank Memes.

[PFT Commenter]

Memes. 49ers minus two and a half. Oh, okay.

[Hank]

I will take the under in The Bills Eagles 44 and a half. I like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Might be snow.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, I like that one.

[PFT Commenter]

I think the over in the bears 49ers 50 and a half. Half. I really. I up. I really like. I think I'm gonna bet. I think I'm gonna bet the Raiders big just. Just to feel something during that game.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I am going to take the over in Saints, Titans, because I also believe in the shockster. That's 39 and a half.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that pick. Yep, it's a good pick.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I should have doubled up.

[PFT Commenter]

Should have doubled up. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You don't really believe in Chuck that much.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, Booth, what do you got for us?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So this is for Thursday's games?

[PFT Commenter]

No, Sundays. Oh, I told him that.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm going Theo Johnson.

[PFT Commenter]

Zach, you go. Okay. Tight end score against the Raid. The Raiders. Okay, I'm gonna go with Jackson dart.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Wait, Jackson dart. I told Zach to pick one of the other games.

[PFT Commenter]

All Giants.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's not good.

[PFT Commenter]

I told him I was going to Johnson pick another game.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't. I don't ha it.

[Hank]

I do. That's fine, though.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We can't do two touchdowns.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I'll change.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, not. Yeah, I'll change it. Right? We never do that. I'm gonna go Dallas Goddard.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Why? You should get.

[PFT Commenter]

Do. Do a bear.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do a bear.

[PFT Commenter]

Do a bear. Coulson Loveland.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yep. We'll go Coon Loveland.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. You like that you had another bear.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We think Caleb gets in Iceman. Zach, is that your pick?

[PFT Commenter]

Good plus you gotta say your pick.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, say. Say what you want.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, I'm gonna go Caleb Williams. All right. That was actually really good. That was growth from you, Zach.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Thank you, sir.

[Ryan Whitney]

You.

[PFT Commenter]

You stood up for yourself. You made your Pick. This one's gonna be juicy. This will be a bomb. This one's gonna be a bomb. This would be a bomb. A real quick hot seat. Cool throne.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Hank.

[Hank]

Yeah, My hot seat is Ed Cooley.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we forgot to talk about that. That was crazy.

[Hank]

He threw a water bottle at a kid.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Yes.

[Hank]

He threw a water bottle.

[PFT Commenter]

What is kid?

[Hank]

What?

[PFT Commenter]

Child.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's child or.

[Hank]

Because kid.

[PFT Commenter]

College kid. He threw a water bottle at a kid.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He. He was mad at the end of the game, and he. He chucked the water bottle directly into the stands, and it hit like, a kid and a mom in the second row.

[PFT Commenter]

How is he not. Is he in trouble? He should be.

[Hank]

I mean.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh. Oh, it, like, slipped out of his hand.

[Hank]

It's a funny video. It's not like.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't know that that slipped out of his hand.

[PFT Commenter]

No, it did, because, look, he's gonna try to throw one game, and it went down.

[Hank]

That accidentally hit a child.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he's. Yeah, that's. That's insane. If a player did that, they would.

[Hank]

Be in a lot of trouble. It's a.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's a toddler.

[PFT Commenter]

It is a toddler. It's a baby. It's a. It's a baby. He hit a baby with a water bottle.

[Hank]

It's a kid in.

[PFT Commenter]

And Cooley hit a kid.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's about as bad as. As it can look like. Direct shot, too. And he. He hucked that thing. That's definitely like the friends and family behind the. Behind the bench, too. Like, I feel like.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you see what I'm saying, though? That he looked up like he was throwing it high and it slipped low, but still, he hit a. He hit a child.

[Ryan Whitney]

And the little double take he does.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Right after, he's like, oh, I fuck.

[PFT Commenter]

I hit a kid. I hit a baby.

[Hank]

I agree.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You gotta throw that. You gotta put some altitude on that throw.

[PFT Commenter]

Feels like it's not going well for Ed Cooley at Georgetown.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Providence fans gotta love that.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I might have been wrong about Ed Cooley at Georgetown. I thought it was gonna work.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. It has not. And then your cool drone, My cool.

[Hank]

Throne is, I guess, LeBron YouTube and Internet Invitational. More. More LeBron. He is trolling at this point like he's. He's turning golf into his whole personality. It's kind of gross, honestly.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You would never.

[Hank]

He was asked about, like, a player or something in a trade transaction in a post game press conference, and he just said, I don't know, man. I just watch YouTube golf.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Now he's locked in.

[Hank]

Which I was fully ready. I was. I was at the Patriots lost. That was going to be my. My take. So thank you, LeBron, for that, that, that quote.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What are the chances that we get LeBron in next year's Internet invitation?

[Hank]

Well, that, that PFT was a question asked to Dave Portnoy by Rory McElroy when at the Jake Paul fight.

[PFT Commenter]

He said that?

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What did Dave say?

[Hank]

I didn't see the full. I didn't see Dave's explanation for it, but I. I hope not. I mean, it's. I think it's better if it's players, people that don't have, like, millions of dollars.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But you hope it's not LeBron.

[PFT Commenter]

It's just going to turn to us.

[Hank]

Do you think it's just going to turn to a celebrity event?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, I don't want it to do that. You're right about that. Because I think it's better if you have a lot of the YouTube golf personalities that, you know, you know them if you're in that community, but they're not like independently billionaires and a million.

[PFT Commenter]

Dollars is a big deal.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But Hank, I would. What if you got paired up? What if you played against LeBron?

[PFT Commenter]

Hank's not.

[Hank]

I'm not in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But I'm. I'm.

[PFT Commenter]

Dave, I'm sure there'll be like some. A valet person who is. Is like a scratch golfer that will get in before.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Well, if either he or her. Who's to say which one it would be that Dave would select. Can't play. And hey, I, I said I would do the Rudy thing. If they ask me back, I'm putting my.

[Hank]

I don't want that, though. I want you. You should be.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm putting my jersey on the table for Hank, regardless. Now, if. If Dave says, like, oh, don't do that. I'll be like, okay, Dave. Yeah, I'll play. Thank you. But imagine you beating LeBron.

[Hank]

Yeah, that would be cool, but I just don't think. I don't know. It feels like that's a slippery slope. Beating LeBron, getting LeBron and other.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I agree. I. I think you should have maybe one or two spots for athletes that want to play.

[Hank]

Well, I guess J.R. smith was in.

[PFT Commenter]

This past one, but that's so.

[Hank]

I take it all back.

[PFT Commenter]

Athlete. But you need someone. It's not the athlete. It's like they have to be like, down to fuck around. Blake Griffin would be great at it. Yeah, he's a perfect example. He's entertaining.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Also, but if it gets down to.

[Hank]

It, the pressure, like, that's what made the last one, like, the. The right. If he gets to the finals, it's like, you're right. I don't care about.

[PFT Commenter]

You're right.

[Hank]

250 grand, by the way.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, hot seat, LeBron, because I. I don't know if this is exactly the sequence of events, but did you see Penne Sewell was like, I. I really don't want to be playing on Christmas. I want to be with my family. And then he. So he. He basically came out. He's like, yeah, it's kind of bullshit that we have planned Christmas and Thanksgiving. LeBron then did it like, a day later. LeBron's been playing on Christmas for 20 years. Like, what are you talking about? Now you're upset.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. I mean, you can.

[PFT Commenter]

20 years.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You can do Christmas Eve. Your kids are grown.

[PFT Commenter]

Christmas Day.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Unders. I mean, you can have. You can have Christmas with your family in the locker room.

[Hank]

NFL.

[PFT Commenter]

I should. Because Sanders are ruined now. No play. They don't play defensively.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Good reminder.

[PFT Commenter]

Hank, you grab me a water.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Good reminder. Remember last year, Christmas? What. The lesson that we learned from the. From all those games. It was that you fade the home. Home team because they're doing all the family stuff. Eating big meals on Christmas Eve. The road team has the advantage on Christmas day. Yeah, I think that that was true.

[PFT Commenter]

They're with their family.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, maybe.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So what does that mean? What does that mean for the.

[PFT Commenter]

Thanks, Zach.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So you would fade the Commanders, you would fade the Vikings, you would fade the Chiefs, which I think we're planning on doing regardless.

[PFT Commenter]

Definitely the Chiefs part. Yeah. Okay. I'm looking right now. The Steelers lost 29, 19, or 29 to 10, and the Texans lost 31 to 2. 2.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And those are the. The home team. Steelers and the Texans. Yeah. Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

All right, load it up. Remember that. Also, Hank, bonus cool throne. You mentioned him. Blake Griffin. He's. I think he's nominated for the Basketball hall of Fame.

[Hank]

It's awesome.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Congrats, Blake.

[PFT Commenter]

Love that. I assume he's gonna want us there.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

What's your cool throne? Oh, no, I was your cool throne. Pft.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

My hot seat is Uber drivers. We missed the story last week, but Ryan Clark went through a traumatic experience in Uber that I. I thought we could give some visibility to.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm tired of being musically profiled in Ubers. Don't get me wrong. I love Pac 50 Cent, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, but I knew I don't need them. Blaring on Sunday morning. What about some gospel? Ever heard of Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams? Why can't I like John Mayer or Maroon 5? Do I not seem like a Sam Hunt, Chris Young or Luke Combs? Man, I'm over it. Please just ask what I want to hear. He was joking about it. He was, he was trying to have a, a light hearted moment, which I'll forgive you if you don't understand. When Ryan Clark is being like super serious to the point of tears and also joking around, he doesn't get the.

[PFT Commenter]

Right to do light heart moments.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, the light hearted. It's tough. It's tough with him.

[PFT Commenter]

You don't know when you spend every single day being like this person has done this bad and this is why this society has a pro. You just can't. It's a similar, it's a reverse for us. We can't get like serious. We around all.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We have to go. Yeah, we have to make the pornhub noise.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't like when, when guys who are serious all the time try to be like, dude, I was joking. How the would we know?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Sometimes I like to have a little fun. Yeah, it's me, Ryan Clark. I do kind of agree with him though. I get, I get profiled.

[PFT Commenter]

I do music off.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do you, you can select that?

[PFT Commenter]

I like this. Yeah, you could select, you could select your air.

[Ryan Whitney]

Everything.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, I, I do get. I, I get in the car and the guy starts playing cartoons.

[PFT Commenter]

I like to, I like to just happens. I like to sit in complete silence. Yeah, I know that sounds a little crazy, but it's kind of a nice like break from my brain. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Also on the hot seat, Sharon Moore. Some more information's coming about Sharon Moore.

[PFT Commenter]

He likes, he likes to be social media.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Apparently he's pretty active on, on Instagram.

[PFT Commenter]

But pft. In his defense, he didn't like tell his team to quit all social media before the season started, right?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, he did.

[PFT Commenter]

He. Oh no.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He told them all to log off more for me.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you think he said that to himself? Yeah, he's like, more for me. I got these guys off Instagram. More for me.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He probably. There were probably some like Notorious Michigan super fans that might have been attractive that he was like, you guys don't get on social media. And then meanwhile I'm going to send all the flame emojis.

[PFT Commenter]

It does feel like he was maybe swimming in the same pools as some of his players in terms of Instagram fishing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Possibly.

[PFT Commenter]

Possibly.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's. It's possible that he was Doing that. But yeah, he was. Read the report. He was very, allegedly very active. Yeah. On Instagram. My cool throne is unc Bobby Petrino is going to be their new offensive coordinator for next season and I think that's a great hire. This is fun that Bobby Petrino, a man of character, can get in, clean up that locker room and, and really change it from being a circus into a run of the mill workman like professional football organization are.

[PFT Commenter]

Do we think there's a chance that maybe they put in a clause that he can't bring his motorcycle?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think you have to, you have to let the. He's not going to be the same Bobby Petrino if he doesn't have the motorcycle.

[PFT Commenter]

But still, that feels like. Keep your eyes, keep your eyes peeled, Bill. Don't let Bobby, he, he likes to take his, his hog out. He does.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

My other cool throne, I mentioned it earlier, the low man trophy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So I have the nominees. All the voters have been polled. Shout out to all the fullbacks and members of college football media that have responded that, that submitted their nominees. We've got a great, great list on the committee of people that, that watch a lot of football, know the position of fullback. We're talking football hall, fullback, hall of famers, Mike Allstott, Lorenzo Neal, John Kuhn, the list goes on. All members of the committee, they've submitted their, their nominees. Right off the bat we have another Michigan man, Max Bredesen from Michigan. Great season for Max. We've got Truman Weyer from North Dakota State.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

There's always a fullback from one of the Dakotas in there. Love that Rusty Van Wetzinger winner. Excuse me, Rusty Van Wetzinger the fourth from Central Michigan, our guy Drinkle. Drinkle, Drink. Love Coach Drinkle, a fullback respecter. And that is the most fullback name on the list this year. Then we've got two guys from Navy that both got multiple nominations. Alex Tesca from Navy and a name that you might remember from last year, Eli Heidenreich, whose last name translates to Argentina, also from Navy. Eli Heidenreich is a bit of a controversial nominee. I thought he was deserving of it because if you play any position at Navy, I think that you could technically be a fullback.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He was listed as a wide receiver this year. He ran the ball a bunch of. He's a great blocker. If you watched him last year and this year, you know that he is. He's definitely in the fullback community. So again, those names are Max Bredesen, Truman Wehrmeyer. Rusty Van Wetzinger. The fourth, Alex Tezca and Eli Heidenreich are the five nominees. The five finalists for the Low man trophy presented by Chevy and the Chevy Silverado.

[PFT Commenter]

Love it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And we love recognizing college fullbacks on the show.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so we're going to announce that sometime in the next week or two.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, I think.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

During the bowl games. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So we'll figure out the details. We'll let everyone know. My hot seat was also going to be Sharon Moore. So that's him.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I need all the stories on it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

There will be more.

[PFT Commenter]

There will be more. My cool turn is the NBA. Christmas Day NBA. We talked about the NFL. Yes. We're going to watch NFL. Sneaky. Kind of an awesome slate. Spurs, Thunder.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Love.

[PFT Commenter]

It starts with Cavs, Knicks, Spurs, Thunder, Mavs, Warriors. So you get to watch Steph Curry, Rockets, Lakers would be good. And then Wolves, Nuggets to end the night. Good job.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's a very good slate. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like you might have gotten Christmas back.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Very. I need to see how the Yokiches get dressed up on Christmas. I hope that the brothers are elves.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that'd be great.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Be good. Look.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So, yeah. Good job. NBA. You're back, Zach. My hot seat today is going to be the rest of the world because.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Team USA is just full of absolute.

[PFT Commenter]

Heaters when it comes to baseball.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, okay. Absolutely.

[PFT Commenter]

We got the roster out.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They got the roster out.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, sir. Let's go here. Let's hear it. Because Japan probably would probably be good too. Right?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That should have been some of the terms from Shohei's investigation. The Department of Justice should been like, you have to become an American citizen. Play go Team usa. Yeah. I don't hate that move. Top of the batting.

[Ryan Whitney]

Or Cal Raleigh.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

How we feel about that?

[PFT Commenter]

Love it. Big dumper.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Second up, Will Smith.

[PFT Commenter]

How we feel about that? Love it. All he does is win. If your name's Will Smith, you win.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Bobby Witt.

[PFT Commenter]

Yup.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Third, Gunner Henderson. Bang.

[PFT Commenter]

That's our guy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Come on.

[PFT Commenter]

We love Gunner. Let's go, pitcher.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What's up? Hear me out.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, what? We just stopped. Oh, you want the whole order?

[Ryan Whitney]

I didn't know if you want the whole order.

[PFT Commenter]

I'll go. Hold it right now.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Keep going.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. How we feel about Bryce Turang?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Great.

[PFT Commenter]

Bang.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

How we feel about Aaron Judge?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Very good. How do we feel about Corbin Carroll?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Pca?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Kyle Schwarber.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Love it. Love it. You were just gonna not say Kyle Schwarber or pca? You know, how this podcast feels about Schwarber.

[PFT Commenter]

Let's get Schwarbed. We're the number one Schwarber podcast. Guys make mistakes. Pca, by the way.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Guys do make mistakes.

[PFT Commenter]

You guys do make mistakes. PCA.

[Ryan Whitney]

What?

[PFT Commenter]

PCA needs to go to every Bears game. I think he's been the last two.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Good luck charm.

[PFT Commenter]

He's gotta stay now. Yeah, he's gonna stay.

[Hank]

I right.

[PFT Commenter]

Scubal. Yeah. Stud Haas.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Paul Skeens. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Joe Ryan.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Logan Webb.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Nolan McQueen.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Clay Holmes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

David Bender.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Mason Miller.

[PFT Commenter]

Nice.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Is the world finish.

[PFT Commenter]

Can I say it? Can I say it? That's a ball club.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. That's a ball club right there.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a ball club.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's a ball club.

[Hank]

That club makes me proud to be an American.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a ball club.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

This must work.

[PFT Commenter]

Win. Have to win. We've only won one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

World Baseball Classic. How many have there been? Six or seven.

[Hank]

Oh.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You okay, Hank?

[PFT Commenter]

That's crazy. He said six or seven.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think Mike Tariko might have killed it. I think he might have killed six. Seven. When. When you got Italian Mike dropping it on you.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Italian Mike does change the. The course of it a little bit.

[Ryan Whitney]

A little bit Bit.

[PFT Commenter]

They're projecting Paul Skin versus Brazil.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

This is our. This is the sixth one and we've only won one. Japan's won three out of six.

[PFT Commenter]

We're gonna five.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's gotta stop.

[PFT Commenter]

Remember the Olympics that's coming up? We're actually gonna talk about it with Whitney. That's happening. It's crazy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I'm excited about hockey. Yeah. Active.

[PFT Commenter]

What?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, yeah. Lindsay Von won a. Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

She's back. I thought she was retired.

[Hank]

That she was.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought she was gone. Yeah. She broke every bone in her body. I feel like crazy. Good for her. Cool throne.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Cool throne. Today is yesterday. My cool thorn is a booth yesterday. We were talking about scheduling. It seems that we got a three man back here that flights might be leaving similar times. We're thinking maybe three man. The airport Chili's today. That sounds silly, but it could be a great time.

[PFT Commenter]

You guys can get silly at Chili thinking maybe.

[Hank]

Zach, I saw people giving you shit last on over Thanksgiving for going to Chili's before your flight.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

I got ratio. I got ratio back. That's insane. I got got. What was the. What are you supposed to go after?

[Hank]

People are saying it's not fair to eat a full meal before a flight. I don't really understand. I. I didn't understand it.

[PFT Commenter]

Don't put the restaurant there. Don't put Chili's there.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What were people saying into the. This, this one dude was just like I hope this is the airport you landed at.

[PFT Commenter]

And it did like 11 million.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's crazier.

[PFT Commenter]

Just absolutely ratioed me on holiday trust. Tree talk real quick. Have you guys ever eating food when you landed?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

At your destination.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Out of chilies. I've done it out of chili too.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that feels like. Yeah, you feel like a real now I, I, I'm in a city that I can go eat and I'm going to, I'm going to just do the airport.

[Hank]

I've had to like rush, rush to get on a flight. So you know, I'm time to eat before. And then it's like a four hour flight.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good point.

[Hank]

Got to eat.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Got to eat, dudes. Got to eat.

[PFT Commenter]

And Stanford, 9.1 million views.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's crazy. None of those are for me. They're all from the guy who hit the ratio. Stanford Steve is right. That the Ben's chili bowl in the Reagan airport, isn't it? That is an insane move to eat that before you get onto a flight. That should, it should be box cutters and Ben's chili bowl. The two things that you can't bring on a flight.

[Ryan Whitney]

This quote we got 94, 000 likes.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh my God. Better be airport you landed in. Wolfgang Face is a great name though.

[Ryan Whitney]

7.3 million views. 94,4000.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Like I understand the take because that's a lot of food. Zach, you got the appetizer. It's like two bites.

[Ryan Whitney]

Not at all.

[Hank]

What's on the plate for the audio?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Two mozzarella sticks. Two egg rolls that have been cut in half in like a fun diagonal way. Very fun. And five boneless wings. Okay, that's not that.

[Ryan Whitney]

So not really.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Like and, and half a beer.

[PFT Commenter]

That's what we got right there.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, you drank the full beer. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

That's fair.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

But in the picture. Yeah, yeah, that's on me.

[PFT Commenter]

I think people who don't realize the fun diagonal way are going to hate but it was. That is a fun diagonal. Got a phone. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, let's get to our interviews. We got Ryan Whitney and Steven Jenkins from Third Eye Blind. Great, great interviews. And then we'll finish up with guys on chicks.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Ryan Whitney is going to be brought to you by Twisted tea. It's the perfect beverage to keep the good times going this holiday season. We've got our Christmas twee right behind us here. It looks delicious. The most delicious tree I think I've ever seen. Great job decorating it, Zach. It's beautiful. Wonderful job. Thank you so much. Pft. Of course.

[PFT Commenter]

You like it?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I. I do love it. They call me PF Twisted tea around this time of year because I'm always slammed the tweeze. They're delicious. You love them? I love them. The half and half is my favorite also. Hank, what's your favorite?

[Hank]

I like the og.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You like the Diesel. You like the T Diesel. Make sure to look for these yellow cans whenever you buy beer, wherever you buy beer. And give yourself the gift of twisted tea this holiday season. Grab a refreshing twisted tea today. Ryan Whitney's also brought to you by our great friends over at Experian, your big financial friend, Experian. Some listeners might be looking for a travel credit card so you can maximize rewards on your trip to London for the inevitable super bowl that they will be playing in Europe. Others might be looking for a cash back card to help pay doctor bills because their toe and ankle will never heal no matter what type of card you're looking for. Experian can show you personalized credit card offers based on your credit profile. Even better, cards labeled no ding decline won't hurt your credit scores if you're not approved so you can apply with confidence. Did you guys know that if you apply for a card and you're declined, it could hurt your credit score? That's why we need experience. It's like having a financial coordinator in your pocket minus the headset. Take control of your finances with your big financial friend Experian and find a card that's matched to you today. Download the Experian app now. And now here's our dear close personal friend, the number one recurring guest in the history of part of my take, Ryan Whitney.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very, very special guest. Number one guest by appearances in pardon my take history, it is Ryan Whitney. He's number one. Number one. Did you talk to our ghostwriter?

[Ryan Whitney]

I was gonna mention I had a long, I would say 35 minute call with the ghostwriter. Great guy. And if you don't think that I was bringing up how, how big it is for me to be the number one most appeared guest on this show, then you're crazy. Because actually when I started thinking about it and I said I'm like, that's, that's pretty legit. These assholes have a book being written about them and like I've been on the show more than anyone else. That's crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

Ten years of being the number one sports podcast, and you're the number one guest.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then we talked about. Sorry, dad. We talked about my NBA rant. Was that my first. I think it was my first appearance.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, we gave you. We gave you a minute to just trash the NBA. And also, to be fair, when you say that, we're having a book written about it. We're writing a book about ourselves.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, yeah, fair enough. I forgot. I forgot it was just a ghost rider. He's. He's fake.

[PFT Commenter]

But. But, yeah, you had the NBA minute. Do you actually want to do it? So we're. We're going to run this next week where we're taping this on Tuesday, the week before, because we have a crazy Christmas schedule and everything, but we are taping this right before the NBA Cup. Do you have any thoughts about it?

[Ryan Whitney]

I think it's. It's an absolute disgrace. The entire league. And I. And I almost want to say save. Listen, read the book, because we went into that for a long time. Like, okay, I think 29 of the 35 minutes was NBA discussion and how you guys are letting down NHL fans. And you guys could actually be the leaders, the biggest podcast in sports and truly get people away from the NBA and more into the NHL. ESPN won't do it. Nobody else will do it. You guys could do it, and you refuse to do it.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, that's why you're the number one guest. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You're number one.

[Ryan Whitney]

You don't even talk hockey that much on this thing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We're having our NHL preview, I think earlier in the off season than we've ever done, where it's like March.

[PFT Commenter]

We've never done it before.

[Ryan Whitney]

Usually, like January 15th.

[PFT Commenter]

We're a month early.

[Ryan Whitney]

We're a month early.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, we're a month early. By the way, before. Before we get into the NHL preview. How are we? How are we? Because I've. I had. I've gone back and forth between muting and unmuting. You depending on how Caleb Williams is playing. I think you're unmuted right now. You were muted after the packers game. How.

[Hank]

Let me.

[PFT Commenter]

You know what? That was rude of me. I shouldn't talk about my guy. How's Connor McDavid doing?

[Ryan Whitney]

He's on an epic tear right now. I think in his last six games, he has 17 points. They play the Penguins tonight, so he's playing against. Crosby was definitely one of his idols growing up. So this is Tuesday. I'm sorry, December 16th. I know this is next week, but I can't wait to see what he does tonight. The team has been up and down. We never start well. And listen, I went into this in the book as well. I hate both you. I hate your teams. I'm so happy that PFT's team sucks so much. I never root for injuries, but I still really didn't care. I'm waiting now, Dan, for the most epic failure of all time in the playoffs. I texted Hank last night because I. So we made a. I made a rink in my backyard. And it's very. It's very relaxing. I get out there, I flooded at night, I start a fire. And I listened to Monday's show. And you were just giving it to Hank after that Bills loss. And I was. I was fuming enough to the point where I texted him. And I was as mad at Hank as I've ever been too. Let me read this. I said. I said I. This was at 1004pm I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm just listening now. Fuck these two. And then he never responded. So at 7:30 this morning, I wrote, fuck you and them. Now it's me versus the world today.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, so you're sitting there, you got your beautiful ring fuming, you got a fire, and you're just angry.

[Ryan Whitney]

Angry listening. Like pausing it And. And these. And. Because you guys are such jokes and pft, you're the biggest joke of them all because Dan. Dan actually took the jacket off those two jackets you guys had on, and he took it off. And people took it off.

[PFT Commenter]

I did. Karma got him.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I. I took it off.

[PFT Commenter]

It's hanging.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's hanging up on the wall right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, but in that recording, you left it on the entire time.

[PFT Commenter]

Time.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, yeah, it was a nice.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, no, that jacket sucks. And. And you both suck. And. And what's happened to the commanders and what will happen to the Bears and what we have seen in New England. Forget that game against Buffalo. We weren't gonna beat those guys twice this year. Nobody even thought we'd beat him once. I love where we're at. I love where Hank's at. I couldn't believe how you guys treated him. And you call him a troll. You guys are the meanest, most annoying motherfuckers of all time. And you're just jealous of him and jealous of us.

[PFT Commenter]

What about Max?

[Ryan Whitney]

I can't help but love Max. I can't wait till Philly loses. But I also can't stand Max because he talks. He talks like he's a fan of a team who's never even been to the super bowl, let alone won one. And they won one last year, so at least PFT called him out. It was a couple episodes ago. Like, Max, shut the up. I think you were yelling, shut the up. You won the super bowl last year.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I was. I have no problem when Max gets upset and when he acts like the sky is falling with his team when they look like shit. That's a good sports fan. Fan that. That's calling it like it is. If your offense sucks, I appreciate what Philly does. But then when Max is like, oh, it'd be better if I never won.

[PFT Commenter]

A Super bowl, because I still stand by at that point.

[Ryan Whitney]

Not one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

If anything, at that point, I'm like you, Max. A lot of people would love to win a Super Bowl. You want to discount. Yeah. This calendar year. Good for you. Enjoy it. But wait, we're. Listen, I was trying to gas you up last night.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, buddy, you're. No, you're. I got a sports fan, and we're dead together.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I got a coat I should get.

[PFT Commenter]

At least a little bit of because, wait, you know, the inside dealings. I was ready to go to game seven. I had that. Ready to go. I was a man of my word.

[Ryan Whitney]

You. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes, I was. Yes, I was.

[Ryan Whitney]

Dan, you were gonna go and be in Roger's place rooting against the Oilers.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I was. No.

[PFT Commenter]

I'll tell you exactly what I was gonna do. No, Whit. What I was gonna do was I was gonna. I was gonna bet a. Oh, probably.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. This is probably what he does.

[PFT Commenter]

Unreasonable amount. Responsible gambling. Unreasonable on. On the Oilers. And if they lost, I would have just, like. I would have dogged you the whole way home. I would have just been like, I can't believe you did.

[Ryan Whitney]

I would have flown commercial. I would have flown commercial. I wouldn't even have gone home with you. But just. Just like to see what. What Hank and I's teams turned into, and then you got poor memes back there and that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You guys haven't won a playoff game yet. You guys haven't won a playoff game.

[Ryan Whitney]

Here's the thing. Here's the thing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Look what we've turn haters. Because they.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, no, I agree with you, but it's. I. If we go to the playoffs. If we go to the playoffs and we lose the first game, very disappointing. It's more about what we have the next 10 years. And. And this is way early. This is way in advance of what we thought. And just the fact that we're going to be in the running for a Buy and in the running and possibly winning the division, it's like, dude, getting to the playoffs and losing would absolutely suck. But you know that next training camp and that next season and the season after and after and the season after, we will be competing. And you know it too.

[PFT Commenter]

Max has a question.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I have a question.

[Ryan Whitney]

Go ahead, Max.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you think that PFT was also thinking this around this time last year? Oh, good question.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes. But the fact of the matter is a quarterback who's that mobile and runs and relies on his speed, that often never lasts. And we have a guy who can run, but he only does when he has to. And his arm is a golden cannon. And I'll tell you right now, our coach is way better, our defense is way better, and our organization compared to the Washington shitbag commanders is on a different planet right now. And you all know it's sitting there.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Fair response. I just, I just had that. I would say I was even higher than wit last year because it made the NFC championship game, you guys.

[Ryan Whitney]

And now you have, you're like, yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Whose knees probably done sometimes his knees are fine.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay. It was, it was his elbow, his arm is backwards.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's got an upper body in injury, as you would say. And he tried to play through it. So he's hockey tough.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay, well, but okay, wait. This is all fair because we did, we did put the whammy.

[Ryan Whitney]

You started all this. I would have been like, yeah, we did. Rooting, like, I would have been like, oh, that's cool. Like, those guys are my buddies. Their teams are finally good. They've sucked forever. And no, no, you want to be the greatest hockey player to ever live and ruin my, ruin my springtime playoff run. I'm gonna try to ruin your guys football season.

[PFT Commenter]

Is there any coming back though? Because the worst part is like, I, I've, I, we have put ourselves in this spot and I, I'm not, you know, we done this. But I've told you both on and off air, watching Connor McDavid play is so awesome.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. And that's what we put. And that's what's insane to me that like I just mentioned, you get Caleb Williams, who big time improvement. You get Jaden Daniels. Looks awesome. Like, I would have been genuinely happy and rooting for you until the super bowl and in. And even if the Pats weren't in, I would have been rooting for you. And then because I was rooting for McDavid, you were laughing and laughing and laughing at us losing the cup finals two years in A row. And then that jacket. That jacket. Those jackets were the end. That was complete. The end of any relationship.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Can I say something? Can I say something? The jackets were my idea. Big Cat almost backed out because I did. After we started, because he thought it would be too mean.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought it was karma, too.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

If you gotta hate, I. You can. You can focus that on me. It sounds like you're doing that a little bit anyways, which is fine. You can put that on me. I wrote Big Cat into it. Leave him alone.

[PFT Commenter]

I. I'm just a gambling jinx guy. And I was like, if I put this jacket on.

[Ryan Whitney]

Bad pfc. You ever heard the saying, you are who you hang out with?

[Hank]

Yep.

[Ryan Whitney]

So. So Hank, too, you know, Big Cat robs up. Robs a. A bank with you, and it was your idea. He's going to prison, too.

[PFT Commenter]

It's true.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's true. And look what happened to us. My team fell apart. The Oilers are in first place in their division.

[Ryan Whitney]

And Hanky boy sitting on that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, wait. No, they're. They're in.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, are they.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, they're in fourth. The.

[PFT Commenter]

Are in first place.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Fourth place. I spoke.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, they're in the playoffs right now. But it has. It hasn't been a great start. It has not been a great start, but they never start good.

[PFT Commenter]

What's the deal with McDavid? He signed a new deal. Correct.

[Ryan Whitney]

Huge hometown discount.

[PFT Commenter]

In how many years?

[Ryan Whitney]

2 year extension this summer. So he has this year left on his current deal and then took the exact same number for two more years. Which. Here's the problem. He's. He's gonzo. Win or lose, we have three seasons left with Connor McDavid. That's my opinion.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you don't think there's any chance that they would ever trade him if he asked?

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, if he. If he says, trade me Sconzo. And. And maybe they. They wouldn't want. And he's like, no, I'll stay here. Leon has eight more years. This is the first eight. And maybe, like, he would stay, but in my mind, it's like, hey, after three years, so three more playoffs, I think that would have been 13 years for McDavid. It's like if there's an Oilers fan that dislikes him, if he does leave in three years, win or lose, they're idiots because.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Right.

[Ryan Whitney]

He gave you. He gave you. Look at what he's giving you.

[PFT Commenter]

Right? So. So do you think in those three years, he's going to win a cup?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

That's going to suck for Us. You're going to be. You will have an open invite.

[Ryan Whitney]

You can literally I'm hosting the show that day.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You could demand when you want to be on you. That is 100%. You're right. And that will suck for us.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We'll make the first ever PMT gold card and issue it to Ryan Whitney.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And you can just come on the show whenever you want.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You can just bomb in on the show.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Guys, this is, this is a legit thing. Like now we know this.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Because I will hop on a plane to Chicago some random Sunday night and just as you guys are exhausted, recap. In the late night game, I'm gonna come bombing in. I'm gonna knock over the computers and make you start all over again.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's gonna wait till like the, the commanders play in England and then Big Cat has an early game and we both lose.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's gonna get on a private jet and he's go of Chicago to do that.

[PFT Commenter]

That NFL be a great show.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm gonna come in like the Hawaiian punch guy through the wall.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I was, I was looking at the schedule for this year. What are you going to do when it's time for the Olympics? Are you going to root against Connor McDavid?

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yes. I did that last year in February for four nations and he broke my heart. He scored the game winning goal in overtime. I, I believe you guys were dogging that tournament. I'm pretty sure once the US lost, I believe you guys were just calling it.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, it was, it was an all star game game.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You agree?

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I don't. I'm gonna, I'm gonna take that loss like a man. Like we, we always win.

[PFT Commenter]

Not us.

[Ryan Whitney]

We always beat them. And you guys are Americans. We always beat them in the game. That doesn't really matter. And I was a part of a 2010 Olympic team that we won the round robin. Now, I wasn't playing a big role. I was actually a real issue in the gold medal game in which I was on the ice for one of Canada's goals. But we won the round robin game. Game lost gold medal. We won the round robbing in Montreal, lost the four nations title game in Boston. So we have to get them this year. We have to get a gold medal.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, here's a spin zone. If we don't get a gold medal, who cares about the Olympics?

[Ryan Whitney]

I, I, yeah. See, I'm, I'm a man. I respect it. I just, I, I'm not gonna be somebody who's like, I Didn't even care anyways. This doesn't matter. Like, that's you guys. That's your guys. Troll angle of being funny podcasters host.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm not did care. We, We. We did a whole watch party for it.

[Ryan Whitney]

We.

[PFT Commenter]

That's where oldie was born. We absolutely cared. But we can't, we can't let Canada off that easy. We can't be like, oh, we really do.

[Ryan Whitney]

Remember when Pedro Martinez said the Yankees are my daddy? Like, he didn't sit there and say, it doesn't matter. You got to own up to it. And then it makes it that much more special when it does happen. Maybe 20, 30 for us if we can't.

[PFT Commenter]

You are right. All right, so Canada is our daddy right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

You're right.

[PFT Commenter]

It is. It. Canada's our daddy. I, I, I actually agree with that. Like, when, when it finally happens, we.

[Ryan Whitney]

Can be like, yeah, like the packers are your daddy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, they are. Well, we're taping this after, we don't know, Saturday night.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I, I think what happened in the, in the four nations, that was, that was our exit the entire time was to say it was an exhibition in case we lost. And we said, we're only focused on the Olympics. So we said, we're focusing now. It counts now.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay, so you guys aren't gonna be like, olympics don't matter.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, no, no. It, it's also kind of interesting that McDavid's only championship was without Whitney rooting for him.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, very true. Or it had something to do with playing with Crosby and McKinnon and McCarr and Marshawn and Sam Reinhardt and a bunch of superstars, and you just made up half those. And I'll tell you right now, like, we were right there. Went to overtime. We actually had like three or four great chances that Bennington saved an ot. It's even right now. Can is our daddy. But it, it's right there, boys. We're right there.

[PFT Commenter]

Right there. There. Right there. All right, let's talk NHL. Who's good? Is there is. I know the Panthers obviously are going for three people. They've struggled out of the gate. Is that just. They have to get healthy. Who, like, who has shocked you through the first couple months?

[Ryan Whitney]

Shocking me? That's a good question. I mean, I'm never shocked at the Oilers bad start. They always start bad, but I thought it would be, I didn't think it'd be this bad, but they've started getting it going a little bit. Last six, seven games. Florida Shock is not a Start is not shocking because Tkachuk's out and Barkov tore his ACL in training camp. And they've just battled a ton of injuries. And now as of December 16th, they're going, they're rolling, they're figuring out. So they're petrifying again. They will be in the mix once the playoffs come. Chuck comes back pretty soon, Colorado is the wagon, guys. Colorado is the one that you're scared of. You're worried about if you're not an AVS fan. And there's a part of me that sees them running through the entire league and then winning the Stanley cup with ease now saying that they right now are on pace to break the Bruins record for most points in the regular season. The Bruins, that year they did it. Lost in the first round, ironically to the Panthers, who went on to the cup final and lost to the Vegas Golden Knights. The team that the Bruins broke the record of was Tampa Bay Lightning. Years, couple years before that, they lost in the first round. So the last two times we've had this dominance in the regular season by a team team, they've lost first round Colorado. It doesn't seem like that would happen. But if somehow Edmonton ends up as a wild card team and they get Colorado, like you got, you got, you got McDavid and Leon. That's, that's not something that would be that shocking. Now, the problem for Colorado also is their second round matchup. This is if they go on to win the Central Division. Of the four top teams in hockey right now, three of them are in the Central. You got Colorado, you got Dallas, and you got Minnesota. I don't know if you guys know who Quinn Hughes is.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Ryan Whitney]

Quinn Hughes is the second best defenseman in the world. He.

[PFT Commenter]

I've been seeing a lot of Minnesota.

[Ryan Whitney]

He just got traded to the Wild from Vancouver.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Ryan Whitney]

Shocking trade. So now you got those three teams and one of them is going to be out in the first round and another one of them is going to be out in the second round. That's the problem with the current setup in the, in the playoff format is you have. If you get a division with unreal teams and this is even crazier than other years of those three.

[PFT Commenter]

Three.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's kind of like, man, if you got the three of the four top teams in the league and two of them are gone before the conference final, some people want to maybe look at going through one through eight again in the playoffs instead of the division way they're doing it now. Yeah, yeah, I am. I think Biz kind of leans towards the way it is now because he likes like the rivalry aspect of the first and second round and having the second round always be two division foes battling it out to get to the conference final. But what's happened in the east is the Atlantic Division, which has been Florida, Tampa, Boston, Toronto. They end up battling and killing each other. One of them gets to the conference final and then you got Carolina waiting there and they just smack Carolina. Carolina's like an auto trip to the conference final because the Metro Metro Division isn't strong. And they, they walk through the first two rounds and then they get worked in the Eastern Conference final. And it's almost like I think if Florida, Toronto last year had played in the conference final instead of the second round, it would have been a lot more entertaining than Florida just dusting up on the Hurricanes again.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Are the Hurricanes still playing that same brand of, of hockey? Have they switched anything up this year?

[Ryan Whitney]

They, they grabbed Nikolai ers from the Winnipeg Jets. He's very good. They actually have this crazy story right now in goal. This kid Brandon Bussey, who was signed by Florida, put on waivers in, in, in training camp, Carolina picked him up, up and he's 11 and 1 and these are his first 12 starts ever in the NHL. So kind of crazy as they've had their normal goalies go down, he's, he's been one of the stories of the season. Carolina is a great team. They, they, they, they come at you in waves. They're like an incredibly hard working team. They have skill. I've always said they don't have a superstar to get them over the top. Hurricanes fans get furious at me, but the proof is there that every year in the Easter conference final, they lose.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

So you said the, the Avalanche or a wagon.

[PFT Commenter]

Wagon.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Who's, who's the biggest disappointment of the season so far?

[Ryan Whitney]

Toronto's up there. Biz in the Toronto Maple Leafs are truly a disgrace. And they lost Mitch Marner. That was an ugly situation where, you know, I Biz isn't going to like this. He was one of the guys that really ran him out of town and you have him on and he'll argue that point. But they ran him out of town for his playoff performance and he's in Vegas. He hasn't had the best start. He's been good, but I think he only has like five or six goals. But Matthews without Marner is, is a problem. And a lot of talk about Matthews possibly being injured, but the past few years since he's gotten to the league. It's like, who's the best player in the league? You got McDavid, you got McKinnon, you got Matthews. Matthews is not at all even in that discussion anymore. It's kind of. I don't know if you guys know who Macklin Celebrini is. He's a new guy. Incredible new. Like Sidney Crosby, superstar grinder. That's the way I'd kind of describe him. Physical, doesn't cheat the game. Incredibly skilled night. He turned 19 in like July and it's his second season and I think he's third in the league in scoring or fourth. So the Matthews problem in Toronto and that entire team, they look slow, they look old. Their D aren't good. They've had an injury to their best defense with tan ever. One of their best defense. But, but Ben, shocking in Toronto, it's, it's not pretty right now.

[PFT Commenter]

Macklin Celebrini, was that the, the video of like the old lady going up to them in New York and being like, hey, you guys are good looking guys. They're like, yeah, we got a game tonight. It's like, that's one of the best, like up and coming guys in the entire NHL. Like, going to be incredible for two decades. And it's like he's just sitting, having a coffee on the side of the.

[Ryan Whitney]

Street in New York and he's with Will Smith, who, who was the fourth pick. He played at Boston College for one year and turned pro. So I think they're one year apart in age and they're both awesome celebrities. A different level above. But Will Smith, he could end up being a 90, 95 point guy for, for 10, 15 years. So excuse me. They're building something special there. They're in a playoff spot. I don't have the standings in front of me right now. Yesterday they were in a playoff spot, which is kind of crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

It also doesn't matter because we're going to be.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yep. I'm sorry, I keep forgetting.

[PFT Commenter]

No, that's okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

Keep forgetting.

[PFT Commenter]

That's okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The Sharks are playoff spot.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. So the playoffs, the Sharks, like last year, they were under. They were on my no watch list. You know, I have, I have teams that, that like, if they're on, I'm watching them. I have teams. I can watch them. I can't. Then I have teams that if they're on, like, doesn't matter. If they're playing in my backyard rink, I'm not watching. And the Sharks were one of them even. I'm sorry. Two years ago. And then Celebrini came. It's like, all right, this is. This is different. And then this year he's reached another level. And do you guys know about his dad? Who his dad is?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, the warriors trainer.

[Ryan Whitney]

So, yeah, he's like tight with Draymond and stuff. I don't know if that's the guy you want to necessarily have you be your role model in terms of his on court antics. Sick league. But, you know, he's a leader, I guess.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Can you imagine having a guy on court? All he does is fight. What a disgusting sport.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, fighting's allowed in hockey. If you're gonna fight all the time in a sport, it's not allowed. You're breaking the rules.

[PFT Commenter]

That's true. They should fight your teammates too.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

They should be allowed to fight. Fight. Who are the other, like, young up and comers that we should be watching?

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, Bedard's been incredible. It sucks, but that injury sucks. Fluke injury. Just like off a face off. I read today there was a report that it was a separated shoulder now.

[PFT Commenter]

And there was like eight. There was like. There was like a second left too.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, yeah. 0.8 seconds. I know.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Oh, and.

[Ryan Whitney]

And if that causes him not to make Team Canada, I feel that. I just feel gutted for the kid. We'll see what happens there. If they take. Take him, knowing he'll be healthy by the time the tournament starts in Milan. So there's a guy in. In Montreal and you guys definitely don't know about him? I don't think his name's Ivan Demidov. He's a Russian. I think you could tell based on Ivan Demidov being his name. I called him.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I thought he was from like New Jersey.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, he's from Secaucus. His. I call him demigod. He is world class skill. Like some of the sickest hands and moves and fakes and like his edge work on his skating. He is a treat to watch. He's incredible. I think he's going to be a superstar. It's his rookie year. He came over last year when his KHL season finished and like looked unreal right out of the gate. Played in the playoffs, had some wild moments. And right now I think he's second rookie scoring. Maybe a couple back from this kid, Bennett Seneca. He's on Anaheim. He's a. Anaheim is a team. Guys, heads up. Up. They have a wagon of like young stars coming. One of them, Leo Carlson, he was the second or third. He was the third pick, I believe. Second. No second pick, the Bedard draft. He's about 6, 4 monster, Swedish center. Who's lighting it up? They have this kid Cutter Gauthier, that played at Boston College. He's got about 18, 19 goals already. A bunch of young defensemen. Anaheim is now looking like, I'll guarantee a Ryan Whitney guarantee. Ooh, Anaheim wins a Stanley cup in the next eight years. I know eight years is kind of whatever wit, but Anaheim's going to get a cup. And you know their coach. You know their coach, Dan.

[PFT Commenter]

Who's their coach?

[Ryan Whitney]

Joel Quinville.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, it's Joel Quinville. Yeah. Yeah, he's. I bet. Because. I bet coach of the year and because I don't think they're going to give it to him. Do you think the writers will give it to him?

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't think that. That.

[PFT Commenter]

That's because he deserves it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Right.

[Ryan Whitney]

So that was the mix right now, but there's a bunch.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he's definitely in the. But the writers won't give it to him. I mean, he's a hell of a fucking coach.

[Ryan Whitney]

Hell of a coach.

[PFT Commenter]

He's. He's. Playoff. Playoff. Q just finds the answers as a season, as. As a. As a series goes along. Can I go back to Bedard real quick? Did you see enough from him this year? Because the talk, obviously, in the national media and in the. In the local media was like the first two years of Bedard. You saw the flashes, but there was maybe a little something missing. It feels like this year he was having that leap where everything was coming together. He was playing, you know, he was playing hard on both ends. He was doing the right things. I know Biz has been a little critical of him at times.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Did you.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you see that?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That.

[PFT Commenter]

It was like, okay, this is exactly what he was advertised. It might have taken a couple years.

[Ryan Whitney]

But he's finally here 100%. And Biz has been very open about what he said last year, and I think it was pretty fair, like, what he was bringing up in terms of. Of like, kind of not playing the right way. Like, you have all the skill in the world. You have one of the best shots I've ever seen, body language wise. Like, stuff that honestly happens in the NBA, the whining and the complaining and the yelling at teammates and the body language. There was some of that in Bedard. We're not talking NBA levels here, but enough as a young guy where it's like, this isn't how the game is played. Like, this is stuff. Crosby, his first year, maybe had some whining a little bit, but he grew up quite quick. And everything Biz brought up. It was one TNT Chicago broadcast that Biz went on a rant, and it went pretty crazy. The story and. And Biz has been open this year of, like, every single thing I brought up has completely changed. And we had Jeff Blash on the coach of the Blackhawks, and he just said, we. I think they met. They. They hung out for four or five hours when he got the job this summer, and he said he was beyond impressed with the kid and his approach and realizing, like, what I need to change and what I need to do. Do. And he'd done it all. He was competing. He was way more physical. Like, back. Like, back checking the board. If he did turn one over, he's not kind of shrugging his shoulders or slamming his stick off the boards. He's flying back. Looked like an incredible teammate. The guys obviously love him. I mean, his skill is so fun to watch. Like, you want to. Want to enjoy watching this guy play. And this year, I didn't know he had. I knew he had this in him. I. I thought he had this in him, but I didn't know it'd be this quick based on last year. And, yeah, he was one of the best players in the league before he went down. I hope it's just a couple weeks.

[PFT Commenter]

And he's. He's 20. That's the thing that people forget. Like, you. He's 20 years old. His first two years, he's like, you know, yeah, it wasn't perfect. And I think the hype, obviously, of him coming in the draft was like, he's going to be instantly incredible, but this year has been awesome.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

If he doesn't, I. I agree. Do you think he'll get on Team Canada if he's healthy?

[Ryan Whitney]

What's crazy is, even before the injury, they're saying, like. Like, people who are kind of in the know are like, it's 50, 50. And some people are like, I don't think he. He will. It's it. They have. They have so much kind of loyalty to the guys who have won before. Like last year. That's a big deal. Another thing is Bedard didn't go to the world championship, so they have the world championships every. Every season. If you're playing in the playoffs, you're. You're. You're out, obviously. But, like, he had the chance to go, and he chose, like, to get healthy. Been battling some injuries, injuries. They could sometimes hold that against you, whether that's right or wrong. Like, I don't know. Like, as I said, they're our daddy. Who am I to judge how Team Canada does things? But Bedard said himself they could throw two teams in and like, the second team's competing, like, for a metal, they're that good, they're that deep. But the other part of Bedard for me is there hasn't been a player that's come in with the expectations like Bedard since social media has become like the monster it is. So, so when McDavid came in, it was, I think it was 2016 or 15. It wasn't like it is now. Like, it's changed that much. Where, like clips and constant scouting and reports on every single game. And like the noise around Bedard for the past three years back, going back to junior even. No, the past five years, it was so ridiculous. And breaking records in the WHL and the Crosby McDavid comparisons that were coming. So he was the one kid who had these ridiculous expectations and had to deal with the social media aspect of the entire world knowing about him and expecting a Crosby rookie year with 100 points. And that's just not. It's, it's not realistic. Like, it's not fair to him because you just said it best. He's 20. He's in his third season. He's 20 years old. Like, there's college freshmen who are 23. It's like, right. It's not. And I'm talking college hockey and how old it is and how difficult it is to play at a high level level. You go to high school, you go to three years of junior and then you're a freshman. It's just, he is so good. He's so young. He added speed too. Like something about his training this summer where they're now tracking the speed bursts and, and how fast you're going on the ice. Like he's getting a mile or two faster than he did at any point last year. Which may not sound like much, but it's the difference in, you know, getting that one quick shot off or that lane that wasn't open the year before.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, that's, that's way faster if you're able to, to constantly get like one to two miles an hour faster over the course of a year. Yeah. That. It is crazy that as a, a 20 year old, you're not done growing.

[PFT Commenter]

And so he was playing as 18 and 19.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Right. Like, you can show up and you can be like Wimby. Wimby grew in the off season. It's pretty crazy.

[Ryan Whitney]

By the way pft that guy Leo Carlson. I was talking about who's who in a few years, like hockey fans now know, but like we're looking at like a Matt Sundin like future superstar type player his rookie year. His agent I'm friendly with was like he's. They've realized like he's not done growing. They did all these scans. All his growth plates aren't done. So they actually sat him out. They would play him. He would sit a game or two, he'd be working out, lifting, they'd play him. They had, I hate to say it, a load management, but it wasn't because he was lazy and didn't want to show the fans that paid hard earned money that they weren't going to play that night. It was more for his body because he was still growing.

[PFT Commenter]

Being that young, what is the, the.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

NHL equivalent of LeBron James's 10 point a game streak?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, that's one where like I wanted to dog it because 10 points is like 10 points, but it's more about doing it that, that one. I was kind of impressed at it.

[PFT Commenter]

Regular season, by the way. Regular.

[Ryan Whitney]

It would have been a lot cooler if it was 15 points for some reason. The 10 and the 15, that's a big difference to me.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know. Yeah, it's a 10. Getting 10 points is like not, it's not that bad.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I could get 10 points.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, I, I mean I'm, I might be able to and I, I'm. People don't know if I'm a righty or lefty when I shoot, shoot baskets. That's how bad.

[PFT Commenter]

10 points, that's the state of defense. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

But he's also like, he's. When he was making sure he got his 10 points in that one game there, getting blown out when he kept it alive right before it ended. And then. Don't even get me started with him. His son's in the NBA. His son's horrible. His son's brutal. What are we doing? Do you think that there is a hockey player in the world that would even if he even could do it, do you think he'd put his son in the NHL if he didn't deserve it? No. Never.

[PFT Commenter]

No way.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't think so. That's a joke. That is nepotism at its finest. And I got no problems someday maybe helping my son start a podcast. Heaven for. God forbid he ever wants to do this. I, I don't, I don't hate all nepotism, but to take an NBA spot And give it to your son. Just because you're LeBron James is a disgrace to the sport.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, yeah, agree. Good rant. It's interesting that you brought up the, the right handed, left handed thing because I did a little research on you wit. I found out that you, you know, obviously when you, when you play hockey, you're lefty, but when you play golf. Golf, you're a righty.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And that when you started, you started playing golf, your grandfather had a set of right handed clubs.

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And he said, just swing it like this.

[Ryan Whitney]

So he, he screwed me. God bless Paul Whitney. He screwed me. Though. Apparently back in the day, you like, couldn't get lefty clubs, okay. They were very rare. They weren't made as often as righty clubs. And I, so I'm a weirdo. I, I, I, I pitched. Growing up as a lefty, when I played football, I played quarterback one year. I was a righty. I throw a football righty. I pitched lefty. What I know, I, I base baseball, lefty, hockey, lefty. So I grab a golf club and I just naturally in the backyard, down Cape Cod, started swinging it and he, he said, no, no, no, no, you can't be a lefty. The sport's not made for lefties. They don't have club clubs. And he took me to his golf course, Woods Hole Country Club, beautiful place, right on the water. And I went to the range for the first time I've ever touched a club with righty clubs. And I just hit balls for like four hours with them. And now I'm a righty. And I know, I know in my heart of hearts I'd be a better player lefty. And I've thought about switching, yeah, I'm following Hanks.

[PFT Commenter]

Do a video series. You should do a video series. Switching a lefty.

[Ryan Whitney]

Listen, I got pretty good. I'm not very good anymore, but I got pretty good. And now as I've gotten worse, I've thought about it enough to the point where I bought a lefty club. And I, and I was like, I can't, I can't even think about trying this now. The guy sitting to your left, he has no kids, he has just amazing team, NFL team he roots for. And he's got a good basketball team, the baseball team was good this year and the hockey team surprising people. But he's got nothing to do besides golf. And he can go and try to do this, this. And I know a guy by the last name Driscoll who got down to a scratch or a one Handicap as a righty and then switched to lefty and then also became a scratch. So, Hank, keep going.

[Hank]

Although. Thank you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Thank boys. The reason he didn't respond to me last night when he finally texted me back this morning was sorry I was in the lab banging balls.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's all.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he. Well, this lefty thing, he found a way to just be like, I have to golf even.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Even more. And I understand it because his mindset is like, where Your mindset is where, like, you. You wake up every day thinking about how good you could have been at golf.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

If you had started left handed. And Hank doesn't want to allow himself to get to that point in life.

[Ryan Whitney]

I agree with you, Hank. I. I honestly agree with you that you're not, no offense, like, good enough righty to be like, I can't switch back. Right. Switch to.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I got to see it through.

[Hank]

It's like when. When an idea kind of consumes your brain, it's like the only thing you can do is just see.

[Ryan Whitney]

Were you a lefty in baseball?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I pitch.

[Hank]

I'm kind of like you. I pitched lefty, so I have, like, a lot of experience, like, loading up on the back leg. I. But I swung a baseball bat righty. So when I started golfing, same thing, though. My dad just had an old set of ready clubs, and I was like, oh, I swing a baseball bat ready. I must swing a golf club.

[Ryan Whitney]

But if.

[PFT Commenter]

But.

[Ryan Whitney]

But if you. If you just grabbed a golf club naturally, first time you ever held one, would you have swung it lefty?

[Hank]

I don't think so. Just because I was like, oh, I swing. You know, swing a baseball.

[Ryan Whitney]

So I don't know if I can get down with your switch now.

[Hank]

I took one swing lefty, and I saw it like, that was. That was what.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's what started is like, I took.

[Hank]

A swing lefty, and I was like, oh, it's. It's there.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe I'm a left more than it is right.

[Ryan Whitney]

He looks like a. He looks like a lefty golfer. Country club kid with the frosted tips in that shirt on right now, though.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And lefty golfers just.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, it looks left. Swing is just beautiful.

[PFT Commenter]

It is.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. No, he's. Hank's getting some online from the. What are we calling them?

[Hank]

The. The right. The right side.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The online right. So Hank is the. He's the Joe Rogan of the left. This is what he's gonna do. He's gonna. He's gonna dominate. I actually. I hate righty Hank, and I always Beat Righty Hank. I own Righty Hank. I'm terrified. I beat you straight up last time. I'm terrified that left.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's a Hank guy. That video.

[PFT Commenter]

Terrified.

[Ryan Whitney]

It was heartbreaking. And Hank was. I could tell Hank. Things were moving a million miles an hour out there, man. It was not. It was not. It was not good. And I've been there. I mean, Riggs dusted me at the. At the. At the. The Writer cup. And like, yeah, it's. It's just a brutal feeling. I was. I was in your soul for that one, buddy.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. We had a great time at the Internet Invitational this summer. I enjoyed being a part of your team for a brief period of time. Unfortunately, we had to go home after. After 18 holes total. What. What were your. Your thoughts and feelings like watching that, watching how you came across in that? Because I watched it. I was like, I'm so glad. Glad that Whit was there.

[Ryan Whitney]

So I. I turned into the most hated man in YouTube Golf. Like, I. I've never. And I felt hate before online. Like, I'm talking, like, minus three every game in Edmonton getting yelled at while I'm eating a steak, you know, after games. Like, I felt hate. The hate I was getting from the YouTube Golf Committee was unlike anything I've ever imagined. And I still stand by the fact that. That the guy slept in, treated you like, and didn't give a flying. So I don't really care. I. I would do this exact same thing again. I also, if I saw Luke quality, say, what's up, buddy? Like, no hard feelings. You this over. But it is what it is. But he has either an enormous fan base online or YouTube golf community are the biggest pussies to ever exist because I was basically like Bane from Batman movies movie. And. And the biggest bully, mean guy, scumbag piece of. In the world for calling a guy out. And in which, if you'd done that in a hockey locker room, you're getting called out.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. No, you didn't do anything wrong. I was sitting right next to you when you called him out. It was.

[Ryan Whitney]

Here's what happened.

[PFT Commenter]

Golf commenters are so.

[Ryan Whitney]

Dan. Here's what happened is Gruden gave that speech.

[PFT Commenter]

I know.

[Ryan Whitney]

And the minute that speech ended, I said, I'm not gonna look great when this thing comes out. Not that that is a unifying speech speech. That is everyone accountable. That is no one blames others. We're a team. And I was the exact opposite.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, he was getting a lot of hate right when it happened. And then I think the hate got so much autumn that it swung the other way. That's like, hey, whoa, let's back off Luke Juan. What do you really do here? But no, Whitney was on. You were 100, right? You needed. It needed to be said. If you're in a team environment, Whitney's an accountability guy. That's why I want you on bag if I ever play him again. Yeah, I. I gotta. I gotta send you the clip.

[Hank]

Whitney, the. The Luke Juan's, like, crew that he golfs with, they just. They're. You know, a couple of them are, like, Korean golfers he grew up with, and. And they do a Ryan Whitney impression like in their videos. That's so funny. This guy, like, it's. It's. It's. It's crazy. They bust his balls, too, for it. And it's like they. They also just will, you know, in their videos will just insert the clip of Whitney being like, this guy's a joke.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And it's. It's also.

[Hank]

I'll send you the clip that they're. They're. The guy's name's Sam minutes.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's my main anger. It just. It was so brutal to get knocked out. And, like, granted, like, maybe. Maybe if he showed up and. And you guys dusted them, which you would have pft. Like, maybe we still lose. But it's like just knowing that that point was gone and then, like, going into the final round and. And then, like, everyone's like, you didn't do anything. I'm like, well, I won one match. I mean, I don't know. Like, I then played Roger Steele and Paige. It was like playing Tiger woods and Phil Mickelson in their prime. Like, I was like, we got no chance. Like, I don't. I. I'm not that good. My partner. We. Neither one of us played that good, and they were incredible. But I won the first match, and we were done, and I just wanted to keep playing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it was a fun event.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

When you turn. You turn. Get some lunch into a chirp. Yeah, that was beautiful.

[PFT Commenter]

Get some lunch.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Get it. Yeah. Yeah. Get some lunch.

[Ryan Whitney]

Get some lunch. Get some lunch. I got. I got no hard. I got no hard feelings towards the guy.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, I hope he comes back. I hope he does it again. It'll be great redemption art if he.

[Ryan Whitney]

Came back and he's awesome again. Dude. I. I would be. I would. Would be. Round of applause, buddy. You're.

[PFT Commenter]

I'd respect it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

That you're that much of a clown, that I love you now.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, he was in Switzerland like two weeks before.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's ahead. He would have woken up early. We've been through that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

He's got triplets.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. Yeah, that was the best. Yan will just throw. Just getting all the confusion going like he just had trip.

[Ryan Whitney]

People are like, he would kill you in golf. It's like, dude, no. You want to do a stick handling competition like Luke.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. All right. I got, I got one last question. Roback question. Rhobac.com promo code, take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code, take two part question, first part, give us the Stanley Cup Final and the winner.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

You gotta go. Oilers.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, it's Edmonton. I'm thinking about the east.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Of Florida again.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

Might be Edmonton, Florida again. And people are going to be like, you are an absolute moron. We got one team not in the playoffs and one team in a wild card spot. And the Central Division is so tough with Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota. I got Edmonton. And then the way Florida looks the past six, seven games and knowing guys are coming back, I think they might do it again. That would be four straight cup finals for them if they don't get there. I believe in Tampa.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, Tampa. And then my last, last question is, are you going to the frozen four this year? Wisconsin's number two in the country.

[Ryan Whitney]

They're awesome. They got a guy. They got a guy coaching them now. He coached one of the world junior teams I played on, which is a big international tournament over Christmas time for U20 players. Great guy. He spent a lot of time in the USHL and I believe Mankato, another. Another college, but he's legit. And here's the problem right now with college sports everywhere, but particularly with hockey. Hockey this nil money for the Big Ten schools is like, there's so many hockey programs that just don't have that football money. And granted, like, Western Michigan won it last year. They're great. They don't have big football money, and there's other teams that are real solid without football money. But I think over the course of the next few years, you're going to see budgets for these Big Ten schools that no one else can compete with. So I'm worried for my team. Bull. We don't even have a football team, let alone a football budget. And I don't know. I was told that the Big Ten Network, each school gets $22 million a year from, for in that deal, and that like 12 of it goes to the Football program. And the other 11 goes within basketball and hockey. If that's.

[PFT Commenter]

It's. It's stupid money. And then there's also. I mean, there's a deal with Fox, there's a deal with NBC. There's a deal with cbs. The TV money is crazy.

[Ryan Whitney]

So. But no, that's Wisconsin's a program. I want to be good. It's a blue blood. They've had some incredible teams over the years. Their last national title, Joe Pavelski, who's from Wisconsin. Yeah, you were there. Then in Milwaukee, Vegas, which I'm not a. Not a huge fan of Vegas. And that's. That's always right around our putt putt tournament. And, and.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so maybe we gotta hop on a flight. If the Badgers are in it, we gotta go.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay, so I'll. It's always our mini golf. It's always masters week and we do the mini golf on Thursday. So I always go. I've gone to the frozen four. The two games are Thursday, national championship Saturday. So if we go to putt putt and Wisconsin's there, we'll hop on a bird out to Vegas.

[PFT Commenter]

Love it. And then in two years, it's going to be in Chicago.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. And we're going to be just. I'm just going to be whoever who Wisconsin's playing off. I'll paint my face the color of the other team.

[PFT Commenter]

Great. All right, Whit, you're the best man, everyone. Love you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Love you guys. See you later.

[PFT Commenter]

We'll see you a bunch of times before the end of the season. And yeah. Merry Christmas and, and love having you.

[Ryan Whitney]

Go Oilers. Go packers and the Commanders. See you later, guys. Bye, Hank. Bye, Max. Bye, memes. Zach, good talk.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Same to you.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Ryan Whitney was brought to you by our great friends at Shell Chevy. Football season's here. Whether you're grinding through the week or gearing up for football, there's one ride that's always game ready. That is the Chevy Silverado. The Silverado is a longtime partner of part of my take. It's our favorite truck. It's all about grit. From job site to tailgate, Silverado lets you show up strong and tackle any task. It's built for the hustle, ready for the game. The Silverado is America's most dependable full size truck. For J.D. power 2025 award information, visit jdpower.com awards head to chevy.com learn more build your own Chevy Silverado. Check out Chevy. It's the best truck in the world. It's a truck. It's Got grit. It is the full back of trucks. We love Chevy. Been a great sponsor, a great friend of the program. We drive a Chevy Silverado all the time on the road. Check one out today. Go to your local dealership and get behind the wheel of a Chevy Silverado. And now here's Stephen Jenkins from Third Eye Blind.

[PFT Commenter]

Quick, about our show. Just so you know, we're so we've been doing this for, we're actually coming up on 10 years right now. We're number one sports podcast. But part of our success that we've had, we've like had the joy of being able to interview people that we find interesting. So it's. We do sports, but we do everything.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Well, I'm really happy to be here and I'm absolutely mystified as to why you've invited me on your show because I know you invited me on like before the pandemic.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. All right, so let's start. Are we good to go? All right, here we go. Yeah, we are going.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Fucking.

[PFT Commenter]

That was the cold opening.

[Stephen Jenkins]

That's me going.

[PFT Commenter]

The voice you hear right now is a very, very, very, very, very, very special guest. It is Stephen Jenkins from Third Eye Blind. And that was our cold opening, but ice cold. We did. Yeah. So, so the story behind this is we, we were, I think we were ready to interview you during the pandemic, something fell through and we're so we've been doing this.

[Stephen Jenkins]

The pandemic fell through.

[PFT Commenter]

The pandemic fell through. We've been doing this for 10 years. We're writing a book about the show the last 10 years. So we're in the process of that. And in the process of that, I think the conversation started. We have a, we have a segment we do on the show where listeners write in questions and one of the questions was like, what's an interview that kind of got away? And we mentioned that we, Steven Jenkins from Third Eye Blind is one of those ones. We're like, damn. We were so close to interviewing him and our booker was like, hey, I just looked up. He's going to be here in Chicago in December. Do you want me to reach out? And I was like, yes, we would love to have him on. So now we're here. You're sitting on this couch. I still can't believe it because I told you before. Third, the your guys self titled album is one of my. I actually looked it up because I put out my top 10 album, top five album of all time. Personal, personal top five, five album.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's incredible. It's yeah, no skips.

[PFT Commenter]

You want all four in the top five. That's a little selfish.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I want to be on the podium.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You want to control all of.

[Stephen Jenkins]

No, I'm really happy because I. Because. Because I was thinking, am I about to scintillate everyone with my incredible sports knowledge? No, I am not.

[PFT Commenter]

I do want to talk about your warriors fandom, because that would be fun.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Well, so I'm in town today because I'm playing a show at the Argon Ballroom, which I think is a gem in Chicago. Have you guys been there?

[PFT Commenter]

I think I saw you there.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's a great place.

[PFT Commenter]

Ten years ago, I want to say 12 years ago, I saw you guys perform, play there.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah. Back in the day. And we're doing it again for Q101 radio show.

[PFT Commenter]

I actually think I saw you at the Christmas show.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah, those guys have, though. So the guys at Q101 in Chicago started playing my first record in 1997. And we've never been out of rotation at the radio show. I mean, on their station ever.

[PFT Commenter]

Rightfully so.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Really. He said when they asked us to come play the radio show, you know, we're delighted.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And then. And then I just really wanted to find out, why do you want me on a sports show? I know why I want to be on, because I like to do the Wario, the Warriors pre show.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And there's no reason for them to let me on again because I really don't know even that much about the warriors, but I'm a big fan and it's really fun. So now that they know that I'm on this, they're going to be like, we've got to get him back.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Like, that's my theory.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Listen, being a Warriors fan would be, it. It be incredible. Even if you're not a massive sports fan, if you're not a huge basketball fan in general, just going to that. That atmosphere, watching Steph Curry play. He is an artist. He's changed how. How the sport's been played, and it must be just a joy to watch him live.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It is. And then you get used to it. And then you're like, what is. What. What is Steve Kerr doing with Kaminga's talent? I don't know.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I like that. Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And I'd like to understand that. So, you know, it's not like everybody there is just like, you know, all the time. Thanks for Steph Curry. I mean, we are. Because we definitely feel like we're witness to a moment and we want to make that Moment last, but you still get into all the nuts and bolts and nitty gritty, and everybody's across critic, including me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And it's like having a starting pods again.

[PFT Commenter]

Really? Yeah, really. Well, I would assume it's kind of like, you know, being a rock star. I'm going to call you a rock star. I don't know if you like being called a rock star, but you being a rock star or being guys like us who have a dream job, you can't really star. You can't really complain about it because everyone, like, looks at you and you're like, that's the best job ever.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But there's always parts of any work that you're like, ah, that's. That's not the best. That's not the most fun thing. Just like the warriors winning all the time and Steph. But you're like, oh, I don't agree with the rotation. You find complaints in everything.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah, I. I mean, I think developing young talent is the thing that I'm. Have you seen Richards, this guard?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

So I really hope he gets developed and like, Quinton Post. Quinn. Post is a really good. Really good center, and he's beginning to show it. I hope he's showing it enough that we don't just put him out for a trade, because I feel like that's the thing that's coming up here.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Trading for. Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah. Well, everybody's gonna try and get Giannis, and we're not gonna get Giannis, but we could get Sabonis.

[PFT Commenter]

There you go.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And Sabonis. Sabonis would be. He would be a nasty piece of business, because I hate watching that guy play basketball. I can't stand it. He's always just poking and picking at people. I want him poking and picking on our team.

[PFT Commenter]

You can't complain about poking and picking if you root for Draymond Green.

[Stephen Jenkins]

If. Well, I would give this to Steve Kerr. I would have traded him after. After he punched Jordan Poole. Jordan Pool in the face. Yeah. To me, that's like. First of all, all Draymond is. He's the guy I would hang out with. I actually have.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

We.

[Stephen Jenkins]

We ended up in a poker game together. He's a lovely guy. I like his restaurant. He's my favorite basketball player because I think he is seeing things in a different way. I think he's the most intelligent guy playing basketball, and they're all actually really smart, those guys. So he's like. He's on another level.

[PFT Commenter]

However.

[Stephen Jenkins]

However, he's a powerful man, and if you look at that punch. He turned his hips. He could have broken his jaw.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

He could have broken Jordan Poole's jaw. I was wrong. Steve. Steve Kerr was right. Keeping him on the team is. He is the glue of that team. And he said sorry, kind of.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, he's sorry for punching you in the face. Yeah. I mean, being in. In bands and having these types of relationships is not always, you know, hugs and kisses all the time. There's some infighting that goes on. It can be sometimes good for the creative process to. To have a little bit of chaos, controlled chaos around you. Right.

[Stephen Jenkins]

That's a big jump between a little bit of controlled chaos punching and somebody who's six' six and incredibly athletically gifted. Putting their hips and then their shoulders into a right cross into your face. That's. There's distance. Yeah, yeah. I think. I think tension. You know, every good. Every good record that I can think of was made was unpleasant to make. You know, they all sort of hate each other. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Fleetwood Mac, that was my number one.

[PFT Commenter]

The rumors.

[Stephen Jenkins]

The White Stripes, you know, Jack couldn't get Meg to do anything. And they're just over, over there in this kind of stripe struggle. There isn't enough food, there's not enough time. It's all kind of this kind of. There are these pressures, these real pressures on it that, that create. If they're real, they create a kind of intensity and pressure.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you have that when making, you know, self titled, your first album? Was it. Did you feel that pressure? Did you feel that, you know, creative tension or. Or was it. Because I always have a theory and you can tell me this is the dumbest thing ever, but the first. First record, first and second for any musical act, it's like the most raw what they are and then they have to evolve. And then it's not saying that there can't be better records or different records, but the first one or two is like, that's what. That's their essence. Before they're famous, before they have, you know, big shows. That's what they are. And it's. There's something about it. You could tell me I'm wrong.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I don't think you're wrong. I think that. I think that I'm just trying to think about how I felt in that moment. I felt like even though it was my first chance, it was my absolute last chance.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, really?

[Stephen Jenkins]

There was only one chance. And so there was that kind of desperation, but also I felt like I finally get to do what I want to do because I put in the, in the contract. They wanted us to get a producer and I said, well, I'm going to produce the record and probably had to take less money in order to do that, but I get to have the team of people that I wanted to work with. So Eric Valentine had not blown up yet and I had him as co producer and engineer the record and we got to do what we wanted to do do. And, and that was. So it was, it was an actual real state of freedom mixed with desperation. Both of those things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I don't know, I don't think it's my best record. I think my last record is my best record. However, that first, that first dopamine hit that you get to have on, on, on people, that only comes once, once. So it doesn't matter if the records, you know, your next record is better. You only get, you only get one first one.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, I, I read that you guys signed the, the largest ever first record contract. Is that true with Electra for like a, A first time signee? They gave you the most money without having.

[Stephen Jenkins]

They still wanted to put us in a van, but they still wanted to put us in a van.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Right, right. Was that a lot of pressure, though, if, you know it's your debut album and you're, you're being touted. I don't know if there's competition to sign you guys or how that ended up being such a big offer for you, but was there any additional pressure being like, hey, there's a lot of expectations on you because it's your first album and people are throwing money at you, they're going to want something big now.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I was happy to spend their money and I didn't care one bit about that. That never, I never factored in, like, let's be frugal with the corporation's money.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, right.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Actually, that wasn't really a thing.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And it, and we went from, I went from sleeping on packing foam, six roommates, one bathroom, happy to have that, no bank account, to heading off and making a record. And then I was on tour for. A year and a half and I was home for cumulatively maybe five weeks. And it went from. We had gotten repeated looks. I got made demo tape after demo tape and kept getting better as a producer, actually making, making music in a studio to really kind of getting my very last chance. And that was opening for Oasis.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Cool.

[PFT Commenter]

That's pretty cool.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And we had been a band that was playing in San Francisco for, if we're lucky, to get a gig and lucky if I was lucky to keep a band together long enough, 75 people. And then David Massey, who was there, was Oasis's tour manager, said, come on out. So I'm sitting in his office in New York and by this time I had seen so many people, I was so over it. And he's talking and I go, so, what can I do for you? I just interrupted him because I was like, let's just get on with it. And he said, finally, you can sign to Epic Records. Finally, somebody actually, you know, I've been working forever on trying to just get to that moment, when can I see you? And I said, well, you can have us open for Oasis. And. Next week we're opening for Oasis and Epic Records doesn't sign us. But it made everybody else jump in and that started sort of a bidding war. Yeah, I don't think it was, was a. Maybe it was a record for them. I even forgot that that was a big record deal. It didn't do anything for me. It's not like I. Nothing really changed in my life. It all kind of went into the record and went into touring and, and, you know, the bus. Yeah, we're not getting in a van. We're not driving across this country in a van.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Do you kind of miss the van a little bit? We sometimes miss the van. We, we got a van our second year as a podcast, so we took it on road trips and it was a lot of fun. It's. It stinks. It still stinks to this day. Kind of like, you know, we would smoke cigarettes in there and fart and burp and just be, you know, boy, you know, but, but. And then you, you, you evolve and you, you know, the show gets bigger, at least in our terms. And, you know, we stay in hotel rooms sometimes there's an RV that takes us around. But you kind of miss the van. Do you miss.

[Stephen Jenkins]

There's kind of like a quick footedness with the van. With the van now means that we're going to stay in a hotel. So when I'm in a van, I came over here in a van afterwards, I'm going back to the Athletic as this airing today.

[PFT Commenter]

No, probably next week.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Okay. Yeah, the Athletic. What's it called, the Athletic Club or something? Yeah, it's great, Great. So I'm happy to stay there. So that's kind of what the van means now. But falling asleep in that, you know, those bench seats. Yeah, I don't really miss that that much.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but there is something I, I would imagine that like the the. That making it, the climb to make it. There's a little bit of nostalgia for it. I mean, I feel it sometimes with, you know, just what we've done. And like, you. You look back, you're like, oh, man. That was the energy that you had in that moment. Moment where you're trying to make just it something that you can't really replicate once you've accomplished some things.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I was. I had. I think I had undiagnosed Lyme disease.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, geez.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And I was feeling just kind of sick most of the time.

[PFT Commenter]

So you had the opposite.

[Stephen Jenkins]

So many stresses on us. And I'd get up and fake it. And night before last we were in Tulsa playing another one of these Christmas radio shows. And we were playing at the world famous Cane's Dance hall, you know, and this is one of these square dance made in the 20s, but, you know, stayed open during the Dust Bowl. Just a place that has all of this huge history in it and everybody goes and plays there. I was looking at the walls like, you know, the Police played in their first record there. Somehow, Jack, it's. It's a thousand. It's a thousand person capacity. So it's. It's a small, small club for. For us and for so many of these other people. But it's got an enormous vibe. And these are the days right now. These are the days where I feel like I'm better as a musician. I have a more direct exchange with my audience. I really don't look back at all.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Really feel. I really feel excited about going and playing in Chicago tonight. And I have a sense of freedom with that. I. I feel like I'm comprehended and energized as fuck.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

So, no, I feel like this is the moment.

[PFT Commenter]

Who, who were your, like, who are your bands that you listen to and like, shaped your style as a musician and, you know, your records, well, they're still being shaped.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And so I don't just come from one place. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver said he's done. He doesn't think he's going to make another record. I hope that's not the case because everything he does kind of lifts me up and influences me. I love Joy Division. I love that whole post punk thing. I really liked a lot of New Order as well. After that, there were things when I was just a little kid, these first times that I heard music, I heard Led Zeppelin walking by from a dark window from this girl's house in the fifth grade that I. Fourth grade, that I liked. And it was scary. It frightened me. I wanted to move along. I'm like. Like that, you know? And I. I loved. I loved the Clash and. And I loved early Prince, but I listened to music. I'm always kind of dying to get freaked, so I don't.

[PFT Commenter]

I love that quote.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I don't.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't get time to get freaked.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah. I'm always looking, looking to hear, you know, they've got so much hype, but I. I listened to Geese, and it just felt like it was about to fall apart and just come. Like the whole thing was kind of reckless.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

The way that they were hucking it out there and, you know, that. That gets me going. So Ekka Vandal, she. I. I just. I just heard her singing. I was like this one chord song, and she's just kind of yelling at me. I. I'm like. I like it when you yell at me over one quarter.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I'm. I'm. I might get a tattoo if I'm dying to get freaked.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, that's.

[PFT Commenter]

You're just looking. You're looking to get freaked at all times.

[Stephen Jenkins]

You can have it. I'm having a great time on your podcast, by the way. And I really was driving over here going, what is this going to be like? Are we going to talk about. Because right off at the beginning here, I just said everything that I know about the Warriors. Got that done.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we got it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You don't have to pretend to talk about sports. It's actually. Actually fascinating talking to you. I've thought this about you for a long time, and I. I hope you take this as a compliment, but you are always very intentional and very meticulous about the different layers that you record when you're putting out an album, the different layers of sound that you put out there. It feels like you're. You're being very specific. You know what you want, and you're very experimental sometimes with some of the sounds. So I. This might vary from album to album, but typically, over the course of one album, how many different combinations of guitars and amplifiers do you use?

[Stephen Jenkins]

There's a room full of them, and it's always about starting over again. You know, I love acdc. They just straight jack. For those of you don't know, straight jacking is. You take your chord and you put it into the amplifier and there's nothing in between.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yep.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And if you want it to be more distorted, you turn your guitar up from the actual volume level on the guitar or you turn it down. No pedals, no wash, shoegaze. Comes from. There's so many pedals that people are playing through that some. Some British reporters said they. All they do is stare at their shoes. So the. So My Bloody Valentine and. And everything that followed is. It was called Shoe Gays. I always start over and go, there's a sound in my head and I want to try to find it. And so there's this search for it and sometimes I get closer and sometimes I mess it up and I go back and think, well, you know what we should do an unplugged record or a live record so we can fix the shitty job. But I just.

[Ryan Whitney]

Ted.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, I mean, the one that maybe our listeners might be most. Most familiar with the semi Charmed life. The guitar in the first verse. Yeah, that is. It's such a unique sound of an instrument that I don't think I've ever heard on any other album before. It's always. It's always made me wonder, what did you use to record that? Because it's got like an almost acoustic type feel to it, but it's on an electric. So.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What was that?

[Stephen Jenkins]

That was recorded so long ago, but somehow I remember this and I remember the smell of the guitar and the case. It's got this funky old musty smell. That was a Gretsch Country Gentleman. And the country gentleman has this mute thing, this mute lever, and you pull it over and it gives you that clunk, clunk, this kind of shortened sound. And we were mucking around with. Trying to get the guitars small because the chorus and the verse are the same three chords. So how do you get this to. How do you get this to move? How do you get the. The. The track to hold pressure and breathe? And I love this guitar. We had to rent it. I really wanted to buy it, wouldn't sell it to me. It's. I'm sure that thing's priceless now. It's this green, late 50s country gentleman. It's a semi hollow body Gretsch guitar.

[Hank]

It's.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It's big, it's heavy. And you put that thing on and you get that. You get this like real small ticky thing. Yeah, it's a good question.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, the. The mute switch. So it's not entirely muted.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah, it just makes it kind of thuddy and. And. And duty. So that when the guitar actually opens up, when you take it off it, it sounds crisp.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Right.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And now you're in. Now you've sort of changed moods. You've come into like the. The clouds moved out of the way or something. You you have some different view on the, on the, on the oral space, if you will.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You've always used guitars as at times almost a. Almost a percussion. Percussion instrument. I think you also use the vocal line as a percussion sometimes. Am I way off on that?

[Stephen Jenkins]

No, you're way on on that.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, way on, way on.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Well, people, we've established that they knew more about music than I do about sports. So I'm a drummer by trade. All I ever wanted to do was be the drummer. I've always feel like the drummers has, has. Is in control and. And I think I started music because my life as a 8 year old boy where my parents are getting divorced and I can't focus in school and there's all this sort of uncertainty and I feel like my life is coming apart. But one can't say that, that you're just drawn towards something that puts it together. And when you play drums you have to have all of the parts of your body working together and putting it all into a rhythm. And rhythm is the bringing of different things together. That's what rhythm is. So I would just do that four hours a day and then getting into bands. We couldn't find a single and so I would fill in for the singer until we found said singer. Because somehow doing it from behind the drums you couldn't, couldn't see them and. But I was always sort of drawn in and keyed to the drums. So it sort of sing to the drums. And then I needed to do something so I started playing guitar. Guitar. And I did not know how to play guitar so I sort of played it like a drum set. I still don't really know how to play guitar but I can play the. Out of drums on the guitar.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So. So you, so there's like a sliding door moment. If you find a singer, you're just a drummer for life because you. It almost not. Not a reluctant front of stage.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Happily.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Like that's, that's something you're. The drums were your passion and then it's. We got to find some.

[Ryan Whitney]

Someone.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And then. And then basically I graduated high school and there just wasn't room to put them anyplace else. And so I never practiced every day again. I still play drums on my records and I play drums on some other people's records. But it's not the same thing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Where would you say the, the state of the recording in industry is right now? The. In terms of like how it's evolved from, you know, back when you first started yeah, there was a lot of, you know, the major label had control over everything and. And they were seen as like the enemy that one day will be vanquished. And then the Internet came along and then we thought, maybe this is going to be good for the artists. But then, you know, other companies started to take over that distribution too. But it's evolving. So where do you think, where do you see it as being at right now? As opposed to like, is it a better place? Place is in a worse place.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Well, I'm aware of how fortunate I am to be able to say I don't really know because I'm not moving through that set of gatekeepers, portholes. Before, when I was coming up, the record deal was all electric, elusive. It was all, all important. And you did everything to get a record deal because studio time was so astronomically expensive and the gear was so expensive and you, you couldn't go, you know, the Streets is one of my favorite records of all time. And that kid made that in a London public house flat with like a Dell and a handheld mic. That's not anywhere close to as good as these SM7s that we're talking through. And it's. To me, it's one of the best records of all time. And then put it out. That is, that is a liberating kind of thing. There's so many artists. Billie Eilish is a wither around with her brother and putting stuff out on SoundCloud, so they were never really at the beck of Jimmy Iovine and Tommy Mottola and some guy who got knighted from some record whose name I can't remember anymore, but boy, could you remember back in the day because it was so important. I think that that is, That is got to be liberating. However, I think there are enormous problems in artists being able to get paid now. That is a struggle onto its own. And, you know, we go and we build these huge things like Spotify and they become incredibly valuable and artists don't share in that value. And I think that that is, That's regrettable and I think probably is ultimately is going to change, I hope with. I hope with AI scraping everybody's stuff. And you know that you two are going to be recreated, right?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Well, the beauty of our podcast is we're so, so stupid.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we're wrong.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I don't think that anyone's going to program an AI to be as wrong as we are.

[PFT Commenter]

The computer can't be as wrong as we are. So, yeah, like, how are they going to replicate that it'd be like a.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Give them a chance.

[PFT Commenter]

It'd be like a computer playing out of tune all the time.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think that they can do that.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I heard a, I heard an AI Motown version of Never let you go and it was moving like, it was like I, I felt something in that second verse and that freaked me out.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, yeah. And then after, were you like, were you angry at yourself? Were you like. I can't believe I enjoyed that it was a computer that did it.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Well, what I'm saying is that I hope that we will be able to have a sort of a digital copyright of ourselves and that instead of just being scraped that going forward into a blissful future that as you as, as what you do matriculates out somehow that will come back in some kind of royalty. I think that that's possible. It hasn't happened yet.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, yeah. I mean that would be, that would be ideal. But knowing how these things tend to work, I'm not so sure that that's like what someone's going to make sure to get all the clearances to go back and pay somebody that wrote a song, you know that influence and sliding.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I do. Like you, you have an optimistic spin on AI because it's sometimes hard to like really grasp it and, and not get a little bummed out, you know.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Oh, I'm bummed out as.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Yeah. I'm, I, my whole.

[Stephen Jenkins]

No, I, I, I find it to be incredibly reckless.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And that there's eight guys are going to own it. Have a lot of problem with. It's basically like having a hundred million Nobel prize winning workers come in and, but all of, all of their income goes to eight people. I have a problem with that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. The, the, my optimistic.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It's us against them.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. My optimistic spin on AI and it, you know the music industry is definitely part of it is that I'm hoping we reach a point or it will be ugly to get to this point but because everything will be fake or computerized that like interact human interactions one on one becomes gold.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And you know, kind of as just going back to what we were saying before about Spotify. Third Eye Blind is bigger than it's ever been. More people listen to it and more people go to our shows and they are young, they are finding something in it that they value and they're finding it from each other. And that is I acknowledge is a product of file sharing and file sharing apps that is that I'm grateful for.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Actually when the like The Napsters of the world came out.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The Morpheuses of the world back in. When was that? Probably like around 2000. They started to really make.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah, that's when the two seans.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Were you resistant to that at first?

[Stephen Jenkins]

I'm, I'm. I met. I think it was Sean Parker walking through some arena or something in Las Vegas. And we met and I said, hey, you owe me a million dollars. That's what he did.

[PFT Commenter]

He left. He had a little nervous.

[Stephen Jenkins]

No, seriously, a million dollars?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And anyway, did he respond? That was kind of a joke, but.

[PFT Commenter]

Also a little serious.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I know this is gonna, you know, technology is gonna happen. You know, we're. We're not gonna stop the replacing of the, the horses with the, with the trolley buses. But what we do with it and how. How it redounds to people is. Is an open question.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. What's your. Do you have a specific venue that is like near and dear to your heart?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The.

[PFT Commenter]

Your favorite venue you've ever played?

[Stephen Jenkins]

I love the Argon. I'm in Chicago and that's why I got to come see you guys. I think that's an incredible place to play. And then there's a place. Place. It's. It's. It's a little. It's like 5,000, which is. We play a bigger venues when we play in Chicago, when we do bigger tours, but there's also a place out on the water. I think Chicago has some of the best public spaces in the world.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Northerly Island. That Northerly Island. Yeah, that's the spot. Incredible.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It's great. It always rains.

[PFT Commenter]

It always rains.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Every, every time we play there. It. There's some point where the clouds open up, but people seem to really enjoy it. And I do too.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

So that's. That's a really great place. And I like playing Japan.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, really?

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah. That. The fans there are amazing. Playing. Playing in. In Tokyo is just incredible. I like playing. There's a little club in Berlin I love to play. And the whole place just jumps off and goes batshit out there. And. And then in New York, it's not the Garden, it's.

[PFT Commenter]

Barclays, the Fillmore.

[Stephen Jenkins]

No, see, see, like arenas. It. It's great for your ego to play an arena. That's an. That's an incredible thing. But when there are people up in seats, you really want them to. You want them. The goal, I think, of live music, and it's my life's work, is to get that moment where people feel like they've come up out of themselves and they're not self aware, even though they're all together and they're in some collective state of feeling. Mm, that's hard with seats.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

You know it is.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Is there a least favorite place to play?

[Stephen Jenkins]

Some people really love Las Vegas. They just love it. I have friends who love it.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Go get it, Vegas guys.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah, yeah, that's not me. Like getting across the lobby to get to the elevator where I stay during the show. And then. And then you go back through all the kitchens.

[PFT Commenter]

What about the Sphere? That'd be sick.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Yeah, but see the sphere. So people say that they like the sphere, but everybody says the same thing, which is there's a tiny little person in this great big thing. So it's spectacle over what you guys were talking, what you were talking about, which is that human interaction.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And I don't really see it. I mean, they had the wizard of Oz playing there and that was kind of my favorite movie of all time. I'd like to see that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, no, it is. You're right.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I've.

[PFT Commenter]

I've gone to the Sphere a couple times and it. You don't feel like you're at a concert. You feel like you're at a. A show that's like bigger than a concert.

[Stephen Jenkins]

What did you see there?

[PFT Commenter]

I saw Dead and Company six times there.

[Stephen Jenkins]

But that'd be kind of good because you're not really being asked by them to. So one thing I think is that when I play, I'm trying to be genuinely, honestly, authentically in some emotional. Connection, in the emotional landscape, somehow some corollary of it, of what I'm playing. And you should be able to see what is, what. What the temperature of the show is on my face. Yeah, that's the discipline to me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And. And then. And then really feel it in what I'm playing. So I'm not just like, just, you know, anybody can play the chords. It's like. It's like. Do you have something behind it? Something ineffable that. Behind those chords? And so, so if you. So if you see me, hopefully you're going to. That's. You're going to be sort of infused with that, with that sense of feeling. I think for them, that's not so much visual.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

So they're. They. They're sort of into fully just sort of the.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The.

[Stephen Jenkins]

The musical aspect of what they're. Of what they're doing. And so you can have. I think that'd be conducive to a big light show.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, it was great. It was awesome. But it definitely feels different than being at a more intimate, you know, ballroom. By the way, I looked it up. I saw you in 2009 at the Aragon. It's great show. Eight mushrooms. I think one of my friends freaked out and left because he ate too many mushrooms. But I had a great time.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Just.

[Stephen Jenkins]

We sound good on mushrooms. The right amount.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I was in. I had a great, great time. I just remember being like this.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Thanks for coming.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, dude.

[Hank]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

Why wouldn't I. I. I'm.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I'm. I'm flattered.

[PFT Commenter]

It's. Thank you for coming here. This is, you know, know.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

16 years ago. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Why did these guys.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, why the hell? I really wanted to know.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Did you. Did you get, like. Because we've mentioned you a couple times. I know that we mentioned during co. That we, you know, missed out on you. Did you have anyone reach out being like, hey, these guys talked about you, or was it just.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I didn't know that you talked about me. I knew that. That you wanted me to be on your podcast during COVID And. And I wanted to do it because I wanted to, you know, everybody. We wanted to reach out and find some way of connecting with people. So I was into doing it then. And. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, it's been. It has been awesome. I have one last question for you. Roback question. R H O-B A K.com promo code. Take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code. Take back to semi charm life. Were you shocked that that was the song that popped? Or was there any part of you that's like, hey, that's. That's. That's kind of crazy that that song specifically became the big song that obviously brings in a huge amount of audience that can then listen to the whole album? Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I was like, there's no way that's getting played on the radio.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

This is a filthy, dirty, dirty song.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Did you.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, it is a third dirty song. And it's. I feel like people just don't realize that was. But there was there a song hearts that you thought was gonna be the song and then it became, you know.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I. I didn't think that. That. That's not what I was thinking at all. I was. There were bands like Camper Van Beethoven I loved, and their big record sold 300,000 copies. And my ambition was that we made a record that could sell 300,000 copies. And I remember talking about that that's why I was thinking at the time. And then I was driving over the Bay Bridge and from Berkeley to San Francisco, and I heard it on the radio. I heard it on Live 105, which was the local alternative station that I had grown up listening to. And it was one of the most effusive moments. It's like, I can't believe. Believe they're playing this thing on the radio.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

And. And then how. How many albums did you sell? You wanted to sell 300, 000.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I don't know. Which. I. I don't know. 7 million?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That's a lot of albums.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It's a lot of. It's a lot of records. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I bought it twice because this is my cd, scratched back in CD days.

[Stephen Jenkins]

But, you know, but. But I play. I really am supposed to be making this new record now, and I feel so many distractions, but I want to get into that mind frame to make this record. And. There isn't really the real estate on. On the radio because I still have songs that were from my first. My first two records, maybe three records that are that play, and I can't bump that off. I can't get new stuff played. The Chili Peppers have the same problem. The Strokes have the same problem. It's great company to be in, but people get to hear that. And that becomes the energizing force of my band right now. And that makes me very excited about making records because I can make it however I want to.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Are you intentional about when you sit down to write a song or do the songs just, like, you get struck by something that you see, something that you do, and you're like, I have to go work on this right now. Or is there, like a scheduled time that you're like, okay, I have to. You know, Monday through Friday, I'm gonna be in the lab from, you know, nine to four. We're gonna be working on songs like, how does. Do you force inspiration upon yourself by being there? Or do you let it come to you and then you just go.

[Stephen Jenkins]

When it just kind of comes down fully formed, like you're downloading a radio, like you're hearing sound, radio from heaven in your head. Billy Corgan said, it's almost like being a mystic, which is the kind of thing Billy would say it. And it is true, that is working off inspiration is the best thing, and it's probably some of the least effective. But actually just sitting down and going, account for yourself in this moment, whatever that is, and sit with it and sit with the difficulty of it is really essential and required. This is what happened. This is what happened actually, during the pandemic. I was all distracted and, you know, fucking around on my screen same as everybody else and, you know, refreshing, trying to find stuff out. And then a certain point I went. I gotta go out in my little room with a guitar and a notepad and go to work. I was not inspired to do that. And that's how the songs on out of the Vein were written. And I think that that's my best record in a really long time. And that is not out of inspiration per se. It's really out of. Of sit and do your work.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That is an interesting concept, though, that you get. You just get this download of information. Like, I've got the song in my head. I better. I better get it down now before I screw it up. I better transcribe all this. Oh, yeah, right. Like, it's like you against the clock.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I hope I get this one right. Thank you. Chasing a dream for sending it to me.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It's exactly like that. Yeah, it's exactly like chasing a dream.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And. And sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night and this melody will pop into my head and I try to sing the bass line so I know kind of what key I'm in. And then I try to sing the. The melody that I'm hearing because I'm. I know I'm going to forget it. It's gonna. It's gonna float away. It's gonna evaporate like a dream. And then I'll wake up the next day and I'll listen back to it and I have no idea what the. What it was. It's useless.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You dream songs.

[PFT Commenter]

You.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

You.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Sometimes. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Is there. Do you have a song, like something that might be a hit or something you've. You've become very proud of? Like, what's your best song that you've just gotten In a dream?

[Stephen Jenkins]

I. I don't really have much prediction on hits nor the. I'm not like that. Like Max Martin or somebody who's. Who's got a theory and a plan and. You know, I've never tried to remake a song. There's the.

[PFT Commenter]

There's.

[Stephen Jenkins]

There's no. There's no. How's it going to be too.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, well, you have AI for that.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Got AF at that. Yeah. So I don't have some road map method of doing things. It's just try to get yourself in the space and also be. I think it's. It's really Important. To be permeable. To be. To be vulnerable to the world and to take things in.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Open to the universe. Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Like it's. It. There are similarities with what you do. It's like anybody can. Can sit around and talk about sports except me. And you have to. You have to be. Awake and alive to this moment so that what people want to hear is how. What happens in your mind as you. As you interact with these things happening. And for that you have to take things in and you have to be sort of tuning it in. I think it's all the same. Same.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Well, this has been so much fun. We really appreciate you.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I think so.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. And anytime you're in Chicago, come by.

[Stephen Jenkins]

I'd like that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Come out my band. Brad only likes British soccer, but he doesn't like. He doesn't like Premier league soccer, but he's also not doing. He's not doing, you know, Wrexham. He's somewhere. Although I, I watch their. I watch, I watch their show. Yeah. And I'm Welsh somewhere back there. Jenkins. You know, everybody's named Jenkins in their show.

[PFT Commenter]

That's me.

[Stephen Jenkins]

So. But he watches, he watches soccer. And Colin, my keyboard player, watches the Rams and that's what he cares about. And, and, and Alex, my bass player, only cares about the kids.

[PFT Commenter]

Kings, the Sacramento Kings or the LA Kings.

[Stephen Jenkins]

The LA Kings.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Okay.

[Stephen Jenkins]

It's all a puck flying around all the time.

[PFT Commenter]

So you guys all together have a full sports fan together.

[Stephen Jenkins]

There's somebody who's like kind of regularly in sports.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Jenkins]

But we all have our niche.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

I like that.

[Stephen Jenkins]

And they've learned nothing from me about basketball. And I still don't know where the puck is. And with that, boys.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Thank you so much, man.

[Stephen Jenkins]

Thanks for having me.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Thanks. Stephen Jenkins is brought to you by Proper 12 Irish Whiskey. It's PFT here. Making my Irish entrance with Proper Number 12 Irish Whiskey. How do you make an Irish entrance, you ask? Well, it starts with a shot of proper number 12 Irish whiskey. Because real friends don't let friends Irish exit a party without a story to tell. Original proper number 12 is a rich smooth blend of golden grain and single malt aged four years in bourbon barrels. Can mix it up with some ginger ale for a classic refreshing proper ginger. And if you're in the mood for something smooth but a little sweeter, try proper Irish apple. It's a delicious blend of proper's award winning Irish whiskey with crisp fresh notes of apple. So get out there, make your Irish entrance. Anything else just wouldn't be Proper. Make your Irish entrance with proper number 12 Irish whiskey.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, let's wrap up. Send everyone on their way. Just another reminder because I know we get questions all the time when there's not going to be a show on Friday. Where's the show? Monday, Wednesday, this week, next week, Monday, Friday. Oh, no show Wednesday. No show on New Year's Eve. Monday, Friday, next week, guys on chicks.

[Hank]

What up PMT boys.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

What up, what up?

[Hank]

The majority of my family attended Michigan State. My fiance is concerned with the amount of talking about Sharon coming his way during the holidays. Oh, is he allowed to fire back even if it's my dad? And if so, any suggestions as to what he should say? I mean, if you want to get serious serious, you. There's stuff you could fire back with. Yeah, I don't know if you want to do that.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, so I wasn't thinking Larry Nasser, I think where it comes from, Michigan State, obviously the little brother thing. Complex. But more than that, Mel Tucker similar firing and there was a lot of joking about that. So Michigan State deserves and is allowed to just go after Michigan right now. I actually think you should fire back. Don't hit the Larry Nassar button. No, that's a bummer to bring up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

At Christmas and also way, way, way worse.

[PFT Commenter]

Not even in the same stratosphere of what we're talking about. That's like a really horrific thing. So it's not like a haha. We're just busting balls. I think you just hit him back with Mel Tucker. You go Shron Moore Mel Tucker. Because that looks like you can hang. Yeah. And also do not do the Larry Nassar.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I also feel like if Mel Tucker, if that happened at Michigan, we would know way more details about that. But the fact that it happened at Michigan State. Yeah, people dug into it a little bit, but it wasn't as, as huge as this Ron Moore thing was.

[PFT Commenter]

War Tuck Cummings still is just the.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Funniest hashtag it is in retrospect.

[Hank]

I'm a dude, but my girlfriend is wanting to go to the Browns Bengals at the end of the season instead of a seven year old's birthday party at a roller rink. Am I beta for wanting to go skip the football game to go to.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The roller skating Browns Bengals.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a hair on your chest game like you are you. That, that, that's a fun experience. It's like, hey, we're just gonna go in the this Embrace the suck.

[Hank]

Why does she want to go?

[PFT Commenter]

Well, she doesn't.

[Hank]

No, she does.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

She does.

[PFT Commenter]

She does.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah.

[Hank]

The dude doesn't. He said, am I a beta?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

For now?

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah. You are a beta. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It sounds like you don't love football. That's. That's okay if you don't love football. Some guys don't love football. It sounds like you might be a guy that doesn't love football.

[PFT Commenter]

I would say he's 100. A guy who doesn't love football.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I would ask him, are you a guy that loves football? If he says yes, then you're dating a liar.

[PFT Commenter]

You have two options here, buddy. Either love football or you love little kids. You pick. Or roller skating with little kids.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

No, Big cat's right.

[Hank]

He specified roller skating.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Big Cat's right. Would you rather watch sports or go look at little kids?

[PFT Commenter]

Those. That. Those are your options. We've laid them out.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I know where I.

[PFT Commenter]

You can make your decision. I'll be watching football. Football.

[Hank]

All right, last one. My boyfriend has recently started using hair gel because he finally has enough hair to use.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Use.

[Hank]

It was a buzz cut. Guy grew his hair out. While I do think he looks good with it, he's gone a little overboard. He will shower at night and put it in before bed because he always wants his hair to look perfect. I'm glad he likes it, but I'm getting kind of annoyed by it. What should I do?

[PFT Commenter]

What were you gonna say? Zach, that's insane. Insane. That's a wild move.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

In the sheets.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you just gelling up.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I think this guy might have a little bit of. Of American Psycho in him. Like, he. He's staring at himself in the mirror with his new hair, wearing it to bed.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, speaking of which, throwing out a. Throwing out a recommendation for Christmas break. Not because of our affiliation or anything. Beasting me. Really good.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I liked it. I did not like the last, like, two or three episodes.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I loved episode seven, but before.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That, it was good. It's a very good show.

[PFT Commenter]

American Psycho esque. Yes. Yeah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Reese is. Is incredible in it.

[PFT Commenter]

What?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Matthew Reese is incredible. I could. I could deal with a little less of the Claire Danes hyperventilating.

[PFT Commenter]

You don't love the chin?

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

The hyperventilating, quivering chin.

[Hank]

It's.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

It's good to break out once a series.

[PFT Commenter]

It makes me laugh every time.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Every episode. That chin won't stop.

[PFT Commenter]

It's. You're. You're basically asking Steph Curry not to take threes.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I am.

[PFT Commenter]

I am. You can't do that. You can't say, hey, Claire Danes, do this emotional show and don't quiver yourself.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Chin much like Clair much like Steph Curry, I fear that Claire Dan has inspired a new generation of actresses to just be chin only.

[PFT Commenter]

Quinn. Chin.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Quiver.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I can't remember the chin. Oh, yeah. This guy's weird. Weirdo. All right, Memes, What a Christmas gift this would be to send you off. You ready? Numbers? Three. Come on, memes. Come on.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That was generous of you all.

[PFT Commenter]

125 for Christmas.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I go 85.

[PFT Commenter]

95.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

8.

[PFT Commenter]

8 for Hanukkah.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Amarian Hamilton.

[PFT Commenter]

What's your guessing?

[Hank]

22.

[PFT Commenter]

93.

[Ryan Whitney]

That was a fake. You want one more? Sure.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Yeah. It's double show. We are at 29 now.

[Stephen Jenkins]

29.

[PFT Commenter]

You're getting close, Memes.

[Ryan Whitney]

They haven't updated this.

[PFT Commenter]

You kind of got to get it before Super Bowl, Memes. Because that's going to be a lot of people.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

New York jets, like, super bowl week.

[PFT Commenter]

A lot of people coming up to you.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Zero picks.

[PFT Commenter]

No. You don't care about getting it?

[Ryan Whitney]

No.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

People are coming.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, 52.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

I thought that was 25.

[PFT Commenter]

I did, too.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

That was 22, Patrick Willis.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Dan Katz (PFT)]

Love you guys. Merry Christmas.

[PFT Commenter]

Sa.