Pardon My Take — Ryen Russillo, CFB Talk, Blue Jays In The World Series, Lions Dominate The Bucs And The Sad Texans + FAQ’s

Episode Air Date: October 22, 2025

Episode Overview

On this lively episode, Big Cat and PFT Commenter are joined by longtime friend and colleague Ryen Russillo (“The Ryen Russillo Podcast”) to break down a wild week in sports. The crew dives into the Toronto Blue Jays’ improbable World Series run, NFL Monday night doubleheaders (including the dominant Lions and floundering Texans), contentious college football debates, FAQ banter, and everything in between. Ryen brings sharp insight, classic self-deprecation, and stories from the sports trenches. The show is full of rapid-fire takes, sharp banter, and the unique unfiltered PMT energy.

Main Segments and Key Discussion Points

1. Toronto Blue Jays Reach the World Series

Time: 03:10–14:50

• Clutch Performances and Playoff Heartache

  • George Springer delivers again:
    • "George Springer does it again. Maybe the most clutch postseason hitter of the last, what, 15 years?" — PFT (03:50)
  • Makes history with 24 postseason home runs despite recent injury.
  • Mariners’ misery:
    • Heartbreaking loss in Game 7, a 48-year drought still unbroken.
    • "Your season's over. Hey, that's sports, baby." — PFT (05:15)
  • Blue Jays’ fun core: Springer, Vladdy, Scherzer, Bichette.
  • Dodgers-Jays Series Preview:
    • Dodgers heavily favored due to deep roster and dominant pitching.
    • Vladdy’s confidence — shows up to ALCS Game 7 in a Maple Leafs jersey, taunting fate and the city’s meme culture.

• Banter on Fan Reactions and Clubhouse Celebrations

  • Springer’s injury vs. Mariners fans: okay to boo, it's playoff baseball.
  • Toronto’s “club-like” locker room and prospective mayor’s bet (Drake vs. Kendrick).
  • Mariners’ primal, gutted postgame scream—raw, relatable sports pain (13:12).

Notable Quotes

• "I love Vladdy’s big ass." — PFT (10:19)
• "There's nothing like playoff baseball." — Big Cat (13:31)

2. NFL Recap — Lions Dominate, Texans Flounder

Time: 14:50–25:32

• Lions Bounce Back (Lions vs. Bucs):

  • Lions destroy the Bucs after a previous loss, showcasing grit.
  • Aidan Hutchinson dominates on D, Amon-Ra and Jameer Gibbs shine:
    • "Jameer Gibbs is the best running back in football. Because I think he is." — Big Cat (17:24)
  • Analytical nerds wrong: building around RBs and LB is working for Detroit (18:15).
  • Lions’ offensive line and unique plays highlighted.

• Texans’ Sad State (Texans vs. Seahawks):

  • Texans’ offense is a disaster, despite a strong defense.
  • Both teams try to give the Monday night game away.
  • C.J. Stroud’s body language called out, and PMT officially puts the Texans (along with Jags, Chargers, Falcons) in the “sick of their shit” category.
    • "In theory I like them, but in actuality I'm sick of their shit." — Big Cat (24:38)

• Doubleheader Format Critique:

  • Hosts agree late Monday doubleheaders drag; some games don’t belong in prime time.
  • "Texans playing late night didn't really feel like they were supposed to play that late." — Big Cat (26:11)

Notable Quotes

• "Dan Campbell’s gonna be just locking them in a cage, poking them with a stick all week." — PFT (15:40)
• "The Texans, I don't know if they practice plays on offense." — PFT (21:18)

3. Hot Seat / Cool Throne

Time: 34:05–57:00

A favorite segment where the hosts roast, praise, and skewer sports and pop culture:

Hank

• Hot Seat: The “fake plain book love story” of Dua Lipa and her new boyfriend (“so we’re on the same page”—agonizingly fake, he claims).
• Cool Throne: The Utah Mammoth hockey team’s new branding.

PFT

• Hot Seat: Complaining about refs — ref Nate Jones literally saves JSN’s life on Monday Night Football.
• Cool Throne: Boston vs. New York sports rivalry–escalating coach "poaching" and friendly staff swaps between Celtics/Knicks.

Big Cat

• Hot Seat: Wisconsin Badgers football program (“absolute joke...the culture’s broken, the program's broken.”)
• Cool Throne: Stella Blue Coffee’s new ready-to-drink cans coming soon!

Memes/Max

• Hot Seat: Amazon Web Services (AWS) — technical failures delayed the podcast!
  • "You could spend hours attempting to press a button into an abyss because...the cloud you entrusted to back the button has withered away." — Max (53:08)
• Cool Throne: Baker Mayfield ("When he's back on the field playing with regulation equipment, those balls are going into hands and not into seats." — Max, 57:24).

Notable Segment Quote

• "Guys can't have hobbies." — Big Cat (51:04)

4. Featured Guest: Ryen Russillo

Time: 61:10–129:49

Ryen’s Take Dump, Sports Deep Dives, and College Football Banter

• Ryen on Rebooting His Show at Barstool (61:10–66:45):

  • “Take hoarding” during podcast hiatus; promises nothing about his format is changing.
  • Navigating the business side of podcasting — retaining your feed, the importance of launch numbers.

• College Football: Candid CFB State of the Union (67:19–120:53):

  • Brian Kelly at LSU:
    • “Sometimes those spots are just so intense...the coach will go, ‘I'm not going to be miserable if I don't have to do this again.’” — RR (73:33).
    • Not a cultural fit, and lack of running game highlighted; fanbases’ dissatisfaction.
  • Ohio State/Big Ten vs. SEC:
    • Ohio State’s defense and dominance; the cyclical (and often hypocritical) logic of college football fan debates and SEC/Big Ten chest-thumping.
    • “Instead of just admitting it, that it was happening, that it was just a collective agreement from the rest of the country that now it has to all be propaganda.” — RR (86:56).

• Atmosphere Rankings & Best/Worst Fanbases (88:35–94:58):

  • Top college football stadiums: LSU, Tennessee, Florida Swamp, Oregon, (Penn State in the Big Ten).
  • “I've been to 60 plus of these places.”
  • Lubbock’s Halloween game against Texas “my favorite sporting event ever.”

• Indiana’s Rise and Coach Signetti (97:08–109:10):

  • Ryen (and PFT, Big Cat) analyze the improbable ascent of Indiana—Signetti’s bravado, program-building, and big-game wins.
  • “To do this with a place with such a dismal history...he deserves all the credit...for this guy to be like, ‘If we're just average in resources, then I can win here’...and he's done it.”
  • PMT panel shares more anecdotes about Signetti’s Saban/Harbaugh-like “offness” and hands-off program-building approach.

• Underrated Teams, Group of Five, and More CFB Tangents (109:10–121:23):

  • Shouts to Georgia Tech (Haynes King!), the American Athletic Conference’s top-heavy strength, North Texas, East Carolina, and more.

• NBA Quick Picks (121:58–124:43):

  • Ryen’s NBA title picks: Denver in the West, “I'm so down on the Sixers that I can't sit here and say if they don't get to the NBA Finals this is massively disappointing...writing the ship would be massive.”

5. FAQs / Mailbag + Misc. Banter

Time: 133:10–143:10

• Spoiling The Sopranos for Hank (133:17)

  • The infamous podcast saga comes up again—Hank still holds a grudge.
  • “The way you just explained it...that’s really fed up of us, and hearing it back, it was fed up.” — Big Cat

• Off-Pod Careers, Real-World Skills (137:01)

  • Crew muses about being completely unemployable in “the real world”; imagines jobs they could never actually succeed at post-podcasting.
  • “I'm just a stupid, stupid person now.” — Big Cat (137:54)

• Who Smells The Best?

  • Surprise answer: Carrot Top! (142:26)
  • “He has his own custom cologne. That delivers.”

Memorable Quotes & Running Jokes

• On Fanbases and Sports Cycles:

  • “It’s like, the thing that you can point to...there’s a really good chance your guy is going to do the exact same thing in six hours.” — Russillo (85:37)

• On PMT’s Own Incompetence:

  • “In terms of the real world, I am so fucking stupid. I don't know what I would do.” — Big Cat (137:19)

• On Hobby-Shaming:

  • “Guys can't have hobbies.” — Big Cat (51:04)

• On The Podcast Tech Fail:

  • “I was just sitting there with nothing to do until someone could wake up or Amazon could magically start working again.” — Max (55:40)

Summary Table of Key Segments

| Time | Segment | Key Topics | |--------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:10-14:50 | Blue Jays World Series | Springer heroics, Mariners heartbreak, locker room celebration | | 14:50-25:32 | NFL Recap | Lions' dominance, Bucs’ collapse, Texans’ woes, doubleheader critique | | 34:05-57:00 | Hot Seat/Cool Throne | Hockey mascots, Dua Lipa romance, Jeff Saturday, AWS fail | | 61:10-129:49 | Ryen Russillo Interview | College football deep-dives, CFB playoff expansion, stadium rankings, Indiana, Group of 5 chat, NBA picks | | 133:10-143:10| FAQ / Mailbag | The Sopranos spoiler feud, post-podcasting life, who smells the best |

Tone, Style, & Listener Takeaway

The episode is quintessential PMT: hilarious, loud, slightly self-deprecating, and full of sports obsession. Filled with deep-dive college football discussion, personal stories, running inside jokes, belly laughs (and sports pain) about MLB and NFL games, the banter is both welcoming to new listeners and a treasure chest for longtime fans. Ryen Russillo brings an “inside the industry” perspective while playing along with the playful chaos.

Listeners will walk away with:

• A sense of where CFB, the NFL, and the MLB postseason stand—plus what really matters to the fans and players.
• A dose of PMT inside jokes (spoilers, career incompetence, “guys can’t have hobbies”).
• A preview of Ryen Russillo’s new Barstool pod, full of the same sharp content as ever.
• A laugh at the expense of the world’s most dysfunctional sports podcast “office.”

Selected Timestamps of Memorable Moments

• 03:50 — Springer’s clutch postseason home run discussion
• 13:12 — Mariners' primal post-loss scream
• 15:40 — Dan Campbell’s motivational tactics
• 17:24 — Big Cat: “Jameer Gibbs is the best running back in football.”
• 24:38 — Big Cat: “In theory I like them, but in actuality I’m sick of their shit.”
• 34:05–57:00 — Hot Seat / Cool Throne (highlights: Dua Lipa story, Utah Mammoth Hockey, AWS fail)
• 61:10 — Ryen Russillo joins for wide-ranging sports tangent
• 85:37 — Russillo compares college football tribalism to NFL fan reactions and politics
• 97:08 — Russillo on Indiana’s football miracle and Tom Allen
• 120:53 — Big Cat pushes for Jeremiah Love Heisman hype
• 133:17 — FAQ: The Sopranos spoiler saga for Hank

For sports fans—casual or diehard—this episode is an indispensable mix of insight and belly laughs. Circle back for the CFB banter, stay for the unique PMT blend of self-aware madness.