#4522 The Express Train To Headbutt Town

Summary

TBTL Episode #4522: The Express Train To Headbutt Town

Release Date: July 31, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh
Description: TBTL is a daily show hosted by two longtime friends navigating the world with humor and camaraderie. In this episode, they delve into intriguing sports stories, support junior athletes, and share heartfelt messages from listeners.

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1. Opening Banter and Personal Anecdotes

The episode kicks off with the hosts engaging in their signature playful banter, setting a relaxed and humorous tone. Luke shares a personal story about his morning jog in Salt Lake City, highlighting the challenges of adjusting to high elevation:

Luke Burbank [01:03]: "I was out jogging around up to the state capitol and checking out this very beautiful city. And I thought that I was having a medical event."

This anecdote not only humanizes the hosts but also establishes their relatable personalities.

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2. Gilbert Arenas' Legal Troubles

One of the major topics discussed is the recent allegations against former NBA player Gilbert Arenas. Arenas is accused of running an illegal poker operation at his Encino mansion, which included taking a rake from games and possibly engaging in other illicit activities.

Andrew Walsh [03:46]: "He's the only former NBA player that I've ever personally gambled with."

The hosts delve into Arenas' history with gambling and his quirky reputation, adding depth to the discussion. Luke provides a personal touch by recounting his own gambling experience with Arenas in Las Vegas:

Luke Burbank [58:58]: "I actually thought there was a chance he and I were going to become like legit friends off of this because we were playing for hours."

This segment offers listeners an insider's perspective on the allegations and Arenas' character.

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3. Supporting Young Athletes: Armani's Nomination

Highlighting their commitment to the community, the hosts introduce Armani, a junior slugger from the Parkside Little League in Portland, who is up for the Athlete of the Year award. This award serves as a fundraiser for the V Foundation and Russell Wilson's Why Not Us initiative.

Luke Burbank [49:12]: "It's a fundraiser for these two organizations that I think both of them do a lot of good work, actually."

Listeners are encouraged to vote for Armani through various platforms, including Facebook and Blue Sky, with both free and donation-based voting options available.

Andrew Walsh [55:28]: "We have the votes and we need to get people to the polls."

This segment not only promotes a worthy cause but also fosters a sense of community among listeners.

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4. Blursday Messages: Celebrating Birthdays

In their lively Blursday segment, Luke and Andrew read heartfelt and humorous birthday messages from listeners. These messages add a personal and warm touch to the episode, reinforcing the show's community spirit.

Notable Messages:

• Michael [71:35]: "Happy 12th Blursday to my favorite firstborn daughter, Langley Grace."
• Lauren St. Pete [74:02]: "Happy Blursday to Molly. Your Instagram feed keeps me from feeling too homesick."

These interactions highlight the strong connection between the hosts and their audience.

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5. Sports Discussions: Unusual MLB Events and Personal Experiences

A. Starting Pitchers Falling Off the Mound

The hosts discuss a peculiar occurrence in recent MLB games where the starting pitchers for the Athletics fell off the mound upon delivering the first pitch but still managed to win the games. They explore whether this is a historic first, acknowledging the lack of official statistics tracking such incidents.

Andrew Walsh [12:32]: "Find it hard to believe that there has been another time that's ever happened in MLB history."

This segment combines sports analysis with curiosity, engaging sports enthusiasts among the audience.

B. Personal Anecdotes at Baseball Games

Both hosts share their personal experiences at baseball games, focusing on interactions with other fans and the dynamics of in-game conversations.

Andrew Walsh [33:28]: "Watching you grow up has been the highlight of my last dozen years."

Andrew recounts a memorable Dodgers game where he was criticized for talking too loudly, leading to personal reflections on public behavior and self-improvement.

Luke Burbank [38:58]: "I'll just say a bunch of dumb stuff and I just. For some reason I don't care that a lot of it's wrong."

These stories add depth to the hosts' characters and resonate with listeners who may have similar experiences.

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6. Gambling Tales: A Night with Gilbert Arenas

Luke narrates an in-depth story about his time gambling with Gilbert Arenas in Las Vegas. He describes Arenas' elaborate baccarat strategies and the casino's preferential treatment, culminating in Luke's hotel bill being comped after his playful interaction with a casino host.

Luke Burbank [65:20]: "It had been the whole bill had been comped because of Gilbert Arenas, basically."

This engaging tale provides entertainment while illustrating the hosts' unique experiences and relationships.

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7. Reflective and Closing Remarks

As the episode draws to a close, Luke and Andrew reflect on the day's discussions, emphasizing the importance of supporting young athletes and cherishing community connections. They also share technical anecdotes about podcasting, maintaining their lighthearted and relatable demeanor.

Andrew Walsh [80:56]: "I really hope this one was the most special and best of them all."

Their final messages leave listeners with a sense of camaraderie and anticipation for future episodes.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Luke Burbank [01:03]: "I thought that I was having a medical event."
• Andrew Walsh [03:46]: "He's the only former NBA player that I've ever personally gambled with."
• Luke Burbank [49:12]: "It's a fundraiser for these two organizations that I think both of them do a lot of good work."
• Andrew Walsh [55:28]: "We have the votes and we need to get people to the polls."
• Andrew Walsh [33:28]: "Watching you grow up has been the highlight of my last dozen years."
• Luke Burbank [38:58]: "I'll just say a bunch of dumb stuff and I just..."
• Andrew Walsh [65:20]: "It had been the whole bill had been comped because of Gilbert Arenas, basically."

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Conclusion

Episode #4522 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live offers a rich tapestry of stories, from high-profile sports scandals to heartwarming community support initiatives. Through engaging conversations, personal anecdotes, and interactive segments, Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh create an immersive experience for both long-time listeners and newcomers. Whether discussing the latest sports news or sharing listener milestones, the episode encapsulates the essence of friendship and shared experiences that define the TBTL show.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, did you find everything you were looking for today? Yes, I did, Kevin.

[Andrew Walsh]

Great.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, will this be cash or card? I will not be paying for anything today. Got it.

[Andrew Walsh]

No charge.

[Luke Burbank]

Now, will you be wanting the extended warranty coverage? I won't be talked into any extended warranty. Got it. Now, if you just punch in your.

[Andrew Walsh]

Email, nor will I be punching in.

[Luke Burbank]

My email address, I won't be talked into any kind of Best Buy membership card or. Or charge card. Right, but we really do need your email to keep you up to date about promotion or for the Geek Squad. Geek Squad. Not a problem at all.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, tbtl I say. I say wait up, dog. Let the fun begin.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a tuna, bro. This comes out to all the coffee.

[Andrew Walsh]

Lovers of the world.

[Luke Burbank]

Beware of things that cost $1.99. Those are the membership dues for this club that I joined, the Columbia House Music Club.

[Andrew Walsh]

Turns out that wasn't really even a club. It was just a business for making money.

[Luke Burbank]

Although it is how I found my favorite band, Various artists of the 80s. What you listening to?

[Andrew Walsh]

College music. Ever heard it?

[Luke Burbank]

What is this guy trying to do? Is this supposed to be what Bozo's thinking or saying? What guy is Bozo?

[Andrew Walsh]

Bozo did it. Bozo did what?

[Luke Burbank]

Bozo did the dub. How'd it go? Well, he's gonna acknowledge me on Instagram, so I guess you could say it was one of the best conversations of my entire life.

[Andrew Walsh]

Please clap.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Thursday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live. Targets. Targets. My name's Luke Burbank. I'm your host. First things first. I love my job coming to you from the Beehive State. That's right. Salt Lake City, Utah. Nothing beats a jet to holiday where it is. It's pretty warm here today, to be honest with you. Got out on my little. My little amble, my little ramble today, my jog. And I did it again. I completely forgot. Salt Lake City is like almost a. Almost a mile of elevation. It's like 4,000 something feet above sea level. I think I did this maybe in, like, Denver a while ago. And I was out jogging around up to the state capitol and checking out this very beautiful city. And I thought that I was having a medical event. I was, like, actually pretty concerned. And then I stopped. I got out my phone, I gorgled, what is the elevation of Salt Lake City? And then it told me, and then I said, oh, okay, this makes sense. And then I Just continued on my way. Feeling lightheaded and almost falling over, but getting it all done and getting ready to bring you episode 4522 in a.

[Andrew Walsh]

Collector'S series, Let the fun begin.

[Luke Burbank]

There's a former NBA athlete named Gilbert Arenas who is in some trouble today. Accused of running an illegal poker game at his mansion.

[Andrew Walsh]

I wish I hadn't done that.

[Luke Burbank]

He's also the only former NBA player that I've ever personally gambled with.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know him.

[Luke Burbank]

So we'll tell you what's going on with that. Also, speaking of high level athletics, one of the TBTL junior sluggers, Armani, is up for an award that we can vote to try to help him win. Kids and fantasy, we'll talk about that too. And it's a Thursday, AKA Blursday, so my birthday. Tonight we'll do the blurs day messages and we'll talk to this guy. Longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. Isn't he the best? He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning, Luke. I'm sorry I don't have any fun banter dialed up here. I was sending an email to Tim Kirkchin as you were reading your intro.

[Luke Burbank]

Are you expanding on the thing that we talked about pre recording that we're.

[Andrew Walsh]

Not gonna talk about here? Yeah, we're not doing it here.

[Luke Burbank]

We just did like a half hour, sort of unrecorded, mariners related, no point conversation. Yeah, I'm just, I'm in a little bit of a state myself here, Andrew, because I don't have my cough button and I can. I'm able to mute my microphone feed to you, but I can't have two screens up at once. I can't have the screen that allows me to do that and then the screen that I play these little sound effects on, you know, like booyah, in your face. And so as I was, as I was getting right into my little spiel at the top, I realized, oh man, I've been. I had too much iced coffee. What I had was too much half and half in my iced coffee.

[Andrew Walsh]

Ooh, did you do it there? I did. I just did.

[Luke Burbank]

And I could feel the need to clear my throat and I was trying to, trying to power through and I couldn't. And you heard me have to. Actually, I don't like this. It's very unprofessional. I had to clear my throat on air.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I had put a marker there. I was gonna. Oh, you can Take it out. I was going to, but now.

[Luke Burbank]

No, that's fin. No, that's good. You know what? We'll put that in the unreleased DVD extras next year for the thon.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe I'll make it. I would rather that you took it out of the beginning of the show, but then I'll save it as an Easter egg for the end of the show.

[Luke Burbank]

Please. I don't like the idea that some new person, some new listener has tuned in for the first time. Maybe they heard me on. Wait, wait, don't tell me. This week, which is why I'm here in Salt Lake City. Maybe they're. They're coming to the show for the first time. And then right out of the gate, one of the hosts of the show is clearing his throat on air. And that's one of those things. I don't know if this is a diagnosable condition, but I definitely have a very strong reaction, a very strong glottal reaction to consuming anything that's sort of creamy. So, like, I've got this iced coffee here, and I. Again, I put some half and half in it. I must have put too much in because it's doing that number on my throat right now. And my mom has this, too. I don't think she knows she has this, but since she's now spending so much time at my house and we have coffee together many mornings, she totally does this as well. But I think it's subconscious for her.

[Andrew Walsh]

Clearing her throat or whatever.

[Luke Burbank]

Constantly. Yes. And so I think that may have been passed down from her to me, but thank you for cutting that out. And.

[Andrew Walsh]

Cut that out. Yep.

[Luke Burbank]

Listen till the end of the show, and then you'll get a little special reward, a little treat, which will be me clearing my throat.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Boy, that's how you sweep the quarter hour right there.

[Luke Burbank]

That's how you absolutely.

[Andrew Walsh]

CSS l, my friends. Actually, this is not why I brought this up a second ago, but sort of like, you're talking about professionalism and, like, first impressions and how, you know, you can say something silly or you can stumble and get through it and make a joke of it, but there's something to you about clearing your throat that seems especially.

[Luke Burbank]

That's the one that bugs me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Which I can totally see. And, boy, I know. I. You've made me. You've made. I don't even know if I needed to clear my throat there.

[Luke Burbank]

I just heard you mute yourself.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I had to, because I had the idea in my head. Now suddenly I'm talking, and I couldn't think about anything else other than clearing my throat. But no joke, we don't have to get into it. But like, for real, I'm not just saying that we don't have to get into the email. It doesn't matter. But I was, I do not know Tim Kirkjin, famous baseball writer, personally. I was literally on the website of his podcast sending in a question because I thought I might have seen something unique in a couple of baseball games the last two nights. And so I was writing in to see if it was maybe the first time in baseball history this particular phenomenon happened. That's something that they kind of feast upon on that show. So while you're doing, while you're doing the intro, I'm like, I want to get this in right away because I don't know what their recording schedule is like. And they do try to, like, record shows that are somewhat current. And since this just happened in the game last night, I didn't want to wait until after the show today to send it. So I, you know, when I'm writing something like that, I want to put my best foot forward. I want to sound like not a total knucklehead or whatever. And this is a grammatical question I have for you, so don't worry. Everybody's like, oh, he's building up to have a baseball conversation. I'm not. If you're a grammar nerd, this is for you. So buckle up right now. So there is a team right now. They are not assigned to any city. They are a team just roaming around the MLB that are called the Athletics. Possibly you've heard of them. Famously better known as the Oakland Athletics until recently, but they are better known as the A's. Right. If you're going around talking baseball, you're like, oh, yeah, who we play tonight, we're playing the A's. Hey, by the way, quick side story on that. Do you know, I feel like the M's and then I saw some national people referring to the Or I heard some national broadcasters referring to the Mariners. Just as the M's. Are the M's the closest to the A's as far as like kind of being known as a one letter team?

[Luke Burbank]

Probably that or the Baltimore Orioles.

[Andrew Walsh]

The O's. Yeah. No, the O's are definitely. Have it on over the M's. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Anyway, does anybody call. Are there any T's out there that they call Tampa the T's? We could spell moat. We feel like there's some kind of a word game, word jumble we could do with Baseball teams that are just referred to by one letter.

[Andrew Walsh]

What if. What if we refer to Kansas City just as K and we have a moke and we can. Oh, yeah, that. Right. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a Hawaiian breakfast.

[Andrew Walsh]

But anyway, so here's my thing. The A's really are better known as the A's. Like the O's seems more like a nickname. The M seems more like a nickname, but the A's mostly are known as the A's. And so when that is written out, it's A apostrophe. S usually. Right. It's not just a S problem. Look like As. I don't think that's a problem in that because it's a contraction. I think you can make that argument like.

[Luke Burbank]

I see. I was thinking of just as the possessive. I guess you could say that that apostrophe is standing in for all of the letters between A and S in athletics.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. I don't think it's possessive. I think it's a contraction. In the same way, do not becomes don't, but you put the apostrophe in there to signify that it's a contraction. So I'm all on board with that. But what I was trying to write while I'm also listening to you, and also, you probably heard the levels were a little bit all over the place in that intro because I'm typing it and I'm not writing the levels properly, but, you know, keeping my eye on the prize. But what I want to say is.

[Luke Burbank]

As long as you cut out me clearing my throat, that's all I care about.

[Andrew Walsh]

What I wanted to say was the A's pictures, the A. So now I have both a contraction and a possessive. So does that mean it's a S apostrophe? That doesn't seem right.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I see. So A apostrophe, S apostrophe because the pictures belong to the athletic.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. Now we're getting into A's pictures. I don't know how to. I don't know the proper grammatical way to write the A's pictures or the A's anything. The A's fate lies in the hands of. Well, can you just.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, can we assume. Can we just assume that that apostrophe between A and S is just doing all of the work.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I did for both the. The.

[Luke Burbank]

The. The abbreviation and the possession. In fact, that's. That's an elegant solution.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I decide. I'm like, hey, you're doing all. You're doing all the heavy lifting here, Mr. Apostrophe. I don't. You know. Yeah. I don't know why I had to be so gendered about that. My apologies.

[Luke Burbank]

Mr. Apostrophe was my father.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know why. You're doing a lot of heavy lifting. You're doing a lot of heavy lifting here, Dr. Apostrophe. Actually, I love Dr.

[Luke Burbank]

Mix Apostrophe.

[Andrew Walsh]

I like Dr. Apology a lot. That could be my superhero name. Anyway, I think we probably got there. I don't know if that is the proper grammatical solution to that, but you can't do a apostrophe S apostrophe. That's ridiculous.

[Luke Burbank]

No, that's.

[Andrew Walsh]

Lock me up for that.

[Luke Burbank]

No, that's a bridge too far. I'm now just really interested to see or to find out if you end up getting on the air over there in one way or another. Yeah. And they actually address this because. I'll just say this really quickly. I know you don't want to get into the weeds, but I do think this is kind of a funny footnote. The Mariners were playing the Athletics in the last two games. In both games, the starting pitcher for the Athletics fell off of the pitcher's mound upon their first pitch of the game. I don't know how many times I've seen that happen, ever. It happened two nights in a row to the other team's pitcher. They got up there, they're standing on that hill, they're throwing the literal first pitch of the game, and they fall down.

[Andrew Walsh]

I didn't know that Severino's was literally the first pitch of the game. I wish I had put that. I knew it happened early in the first inning, but I wasn't 100% sure it was the very first pitch. I wish I had asked you about.

[Luke Burbank]

That first two pitches. In fact, he did it twice.

[Andrew Walsh]

I knew he did it twice.

[Luke Burbank]

And then both of those guys who fell down, literally fell down on the job, went on to actually win the game against the Mariners. And your point was, or your thought is that has to be the first time that's ever happened in history.

[Andrew Walsh]

Find it hard to believe that there has been another time in MLB history that a team has had its starting pitchers fall down off the mound two games in a row in their first pitches, but then went on to win those games. It's gotta be now. I don't know. When you get in, the view is.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know who's tracking falling down.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the thing. That's the problem. It's not a stat. And as I'm sending it, there's no way, like, they have this thing. I can't remember who it is, but they always call their buddy some old baseball head at, like. It's not stat cast or whatever, but it's like this guy has become a character on the show because he's Tim Kirk. And so I was like, I gotta. I gotta write to so and so at such and such and like. And then he. He has all of the. All of the details of the history of.

[Luke Burbank]

Is he, like an Elias or something?

[Andrew Walsh]

Elias? Yeah, it's somebody at Elias. It's. I can't. I'm totally blowing their joke because it is such a good, organic thing. We gotta ask Henry Elias. Is it Elias now? I'm already getting my Elias Sports Bureau. Yeah. And so. And then one time they actually had him on, and it was just such a sweet interview, talking about their friendship for years and years and how Tim has just reached out to him hundreds of times a day for years and years and years, asking like, well, could this be the first time this happened? And so anyway. But I don't think that the Elias Sports Bureau is keeping the. There's no stat for falling off the mound. Right. How do you. You don't score that on a scorecard.

[Luke Burbank]

I think we have a new project for Andrew. Look out. Or, you know, move over. Digitizing old VHS tapes from the 90s.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I think you should start watching every Major League Baseball game that's ever occurred and just count the number of times a pitcher fell off of the mound.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do I start at the very beginning of MLB baseball?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, you start with, like, Catfish Hunter pitching.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that a real.

[Luke Burbank]

He's a little. Yeah, he's. Catfish Hunter was, like, almost in my era. I think you had to go back to, like. But the name, you got to go back to Cy Young himself.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Or I'm just reading about it.

[Luke Burbank]

Warren Spawn. Warren Spawn would be a good starting point, I think.

[Andrew Walsh]

How far back does that go? Is that the teens?

[Luke Burbank]

Way far back. I feel like Warren Spawn was like. That was back when they were still naming people Warren. Yeah. Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

Think about that. Right, Right.

[Luke Burbank]

I also love how you and I had one. We, again, we did an entire unrecorded show so that we would get this shit out of our system.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know, but I really did think it was a grammatical thing.

[Luke Burbank]

No, that's a good. No, that's a good question. But then within seven minutes, I had somehow gotten us to the words Elias Sports Bureau. I mean, that Went way worse than expected. Can I tell you about. I mean, not for you and I. I think for us that was a very enjoyable experience.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh yeah. No, I'm sorry.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe not very much for some of the folks listening. Can I tell you about what I thought what almost turned into some drama in real life on the airplane?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. You didn't. I can't. You didn't mention that in your intro. I don't think. Although I was. And otherwise occupied.

[Luke Burbank]

Uh huh. I did not. I was too busy clearing my throat. Yeah, but so I flew from Portland to Salt Lake City last night, which is a quick hop. It's like an hour and a half, which is why I'm so shook by the fact that I'm an hour ahead of you now. Yeah, Like I didn't seem like we went far enough for it to be a different time here, but it is. By one hour.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe you just went fast enough and that's why it's a different time there now.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. We actually flew around the world backwards so as to reverse time and for me to go fix a few mistakes that I made on. On Wednesday. But so we were. I'm on the flight. It's a pretty empty flight. And so because of that, unfortunately, and because Kier smiled on me, I managed to be up near the front of the plane. So I was like in first class for this short flight. And one thing that I noticed, I had my headphones in. I was listening to music and doing other things and I noticed two things. The row next to me. So I was. The way that this is one of these little kind of smaller planes. So the way that the front of the plane, the first class is set up is there's a single row of seats going along one, one side of the plane of first class. And then on the other side of the aisle there's sets of two seats. And if I ever have my pick, I'm always in one of those single seats because that just feels like that's heaven on earth. That's you're both in a window and an aisle. You know, you have complete autonomy there. So I was over in one of those and the folks next to me was. Were sort of an older couple and they were talking pretty loudly to each other, I think, just, you know, because maybe of hearing things or you know, it's loud on the plane or whatever. But they, they didn't really have that. I don't know what you'd call it. Like, you know, Becca and I are Going to be taking a trip here in a little while. And like, when we're on the plane, I wouldn't say I'm whispering, but I'm somehow conscious of not talking too loudly on the airplane, which is a strange thing because it's a loud environment. You kind of do have to speak up a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

But there's. There's a sweet spot. There's a. There's a. An amount. There's a volume that you can kind of use that the person next to you, particularly if you know them, they can hear you and everything. You kind of lean in, though. I think you kind of just. There's something instinctive that, like, I do so as to not be shouting on the plane because I don't want to be bothering everyone else. Also, I'm the kind of person doesn't like to have a cell phone conversation in public, so a lot of that's just embarrassment. So this couple next to me, they're talking to each other. They're talking pretty loudly. But actually the people that were talking the most loudly were these two guys behind them. So in row two of first class who did not know each other but were, like, almost the same guy. Like, in fact, initially, when I saw them and heard them talking, I thought they might actually be in a partnership because they were so similar looking. I thought they might be, you know, a gay couple. Because sometimes you'll see a couple and they look exactly like each other. You know what I mean? Like a couple that is together, but they also have the exact same physical appearance. And I've always thought that's a really interesting move.

[Andrew Walsh]

Mm.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, I have such. I have such high self esteem. I'd like to marry myself.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, when Jenna Maroney dated the Jenna Maroney cabaret dancer or whatever he was, he looked totally.

[Luke Burbank]

I always find that to be an interesting move. Like, you'll see two people and they're just like twinning hard, but they're also romantically involved. Like, wow, that's. Okay. Cool. So that's. For a moment, I thought, oh, that's maybe the. That's the. That's the status. Because they were just like, in a conversation in a way that really seemed like they must know each other. But then what I figured out over time was they were not in a cup. They were not a couple. In fact, they didn't even know each other. They just were hitting it off so hard and so loudly. Andrew. Like, they were way more loud than the older couple. That was. That was in my row to the point where I'd be like listening to my music and in between songs, as soon as there wasn't something in my AirPods like kind of dulling the noise, it was like this one guy was like. It felt like he was almost yelling or something. There was something about the way that their voices just almost the frequency of these two guys voices. And again it was a pleasant. They were, they were enjoying their conversation with each other. It wasn't like they were. There wasn't any sort of aggression or anger in it but it was just like it just kept cutting through and I kept being like, what the heck? And at some point and I'm just trying to kind of drown it out. I'm. Mostly what I'm trying to do is get the MLB Apple to like just refresh enough that I can get the flipping Mariner score. Like you pay for the WI FI on a flight. I don't expect it to stream a baseball game for me, although I know you had that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I watched the whole game or the whole back half of the game without interruption. It was amazing.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean that's incredible. I wasn't even expecting that. I just would like to get some updates on like the score, like literally. And I'm paying. I paid $8 for the WI fi. And they said something like this is for light streaming. I was like, okay, looking at a website that's displaying two digits is about as light as you can get. Right? Like, is there anything lighter than trying to go to mlb.com and look at a score?

[Andrew Walsh]

Right, right. Or even Google and it would say of course, if you ask Google, it's going to give you an AI score that's going to say the guardians are up blurs runs. And you're like, okay, what am I doing with that?

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. So I was just like, that's mostly what I was trying to do. But I just. The volume of these, of these two guys was. Was pretty intense. And at some point. Oh, I also noticed that the couple next to me was. And they were not particularly. The woman was not holding back on her drink ordering.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I guess they have something like an old Fashioned in a can now on these Alaska flights is their new thing. They have these canned cocktails and she just kept ordering Old Fashioned in a can. Which I was like. I kind of was like, you know, tip of the cap. But at some point, like how many?

[Andrew Walsh]

When you say how, like how many? Maybe three. Oh, maybe three. Oh, okay, three.

[Luke Burbank]

But it's an hour and a half flight. Oh, by the way, also the menu says Limit one can per flight. It actually says that on the menu. Yeah, I was surprised because I was like. Well, I was like, what is she. I was like, they make old fashions. And then I, like, got the menu out and I was like, oh, it's like a canned old fashioned.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I mean, I got to say. And I'm assume that you've like my. I did not, like, have any cocktails, like, the last time I flew. Oh, it was at work, the work trip. But even. Even on the way home on Sunday, I could have seen myself. But if I order a drink on a plane, usually I'm ordering a double anyway, which means two of those little bottles. Usually I'm getting like a cranberry vodka or something, so. But it's usually not an hour and a half flight, I guess.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, and a double makes sense because particularly if you're in coach, you may never see those people. So you got to. You, like, seriously got to double up. Yes, I. But at some point, I just. I look over and I realize that this. This. This older woman is up on her knee now, and she's saying something between the seats to the two loud guys behind me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Interesting.

[Luke Burbank]

And they're like, kind of. But I can't hear what she's saying because I got my headphones in and I wasn't really paying attention, but she just says something. And they're kind of like. They're like, I. Their responses, it's also hard for me to read because they don't seem horrified, they don't seem aggressive, but it doesn't seem like this is a friendly interaction. I can't. And again, because I didn't know it was gonna be happening. I wasn't clocking it carefully enough. But what I knew is she turns around and says something to these guys, and they say something back to her. And I can just feel energetically, something shift up there in old firsty. Classy. And like, I'm like, huh, I wonder what that was. But now I'm thinking, well, if she said something, you know, to them, then this is. This will probably continue on. Like, because, you know, I just figured, like, okay, I'm seeing round one of this. But then she turns back around, and then they kind of continue their conversation, and then nothing else happens for the rest of the flight. So over the rest of the flight, I just go. I must have misinterpreted that. That must have been like. She must have been just chiming in on their conversation because. Because nothing else has happened. Everybody. And they didn't like, stop talking. They kept talking. So. And she didn't like look back again. Like, this doesn't seem to be a developing continuing situation. So I basically constructed this universe in my mind which they were just talking about something. She wanted to get in on the conversation. They were all in on the conversation. And then she was back to looking forward.

[Andrew Walsh]

And in fact, that's your new sort of reasoning, My new working theory. I want to break in here only because I want some clarification on something and this is on me. My apologies, but I want a better understanding of the. How these people are all positioned in regards to each other and you. Because my point here is I was even thinking this before when you were talking about noise on an airplane. It's a really interesting environment because of the natural sounds of an airplane. It's almost like this natural white noise. It really muffles sound in a really helpful way until something kind of cuts through it. But a big part of that is where you're sitting in relation to the loud people. So if I'm sitting behind the loud people, I might not hear the loud people. If I'm sitting in front of the loud people, it's going to be very loud because they're talking over the din and they're, you know, they're chasing, they're projecting forward. So can you remind me the order of seats here?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. The very front row of first class is the older couple.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

And directly behind them in the second row, first class, are the two guys in their 40s who have met and are hitting it off famously.

[Andrew Walsh]

Love it. And then you're behind them.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm. Nope. I am also in the front row of first class, but I'm across the aisle in those single.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, perfect. Okay, gotcha. Sorry. And you said all of that. That's on me. Go ahead.

[Luke Burbank]

And so I now am thinking, I spend the rest of the flight trying to analyze what I think happened, which is it was such a small thing. It wasn't like one of those zip tie, you know, somebody gets zip tied and hauled off the plane like nothing was even happening. But I just felt a disturbance in the force. And also it was like those guys were real.

[Andrew Walsh]

They were real.

[Luke Burbank]

They're very loud. Like, they talk very loud. It was annoying me, but I wasn't gonna get into it or say anything. But then I also thought, you know, I wonder if maybe this, this woman. And I don't want to be assume anything about somebody because of their age. But I also thought it's interesting that this woman and her husband, who were, you know, again, much older than I am. My guess would be that maybe her hearing was less keen than mine and therefore maybe would be less bothered. I created this universe in which she had. I decided she hadn't been reprimanding them for being too loud because maybe she wasn't. Didn't have as keen of hearing anymore, and so therefore was probably unbothered by it. Like, this is. These are the theories I'm spinning in my head. So the plane lands. I've had finally, by the time the plane lands, now I've got Fubo back. Now I'm just fully locked in on Mariners. Like, we're taxiing, and I'm watching the Mariners again. And I look over, we pull to the gate, we park. They, you know, whatever, turn the thing off. And I look over, and the gal, she stands up, she turns around, she looks at the guys, and she says, I really want to apologize to you for what I said to you on the flight. I've just been feeling really stressed out. And the guys were both just kind of quiet, and they said, all right, no problem. She goes, yeah, I shouldn't have done that. And they said, no worries. We're good. And then everybody just kind of calmly got off the plane. So she did say something to them.

[Andrew Walsh]

And we'll never know what.

[Luke Burbank]

We'll never know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Luke, I.

[Luke Burbank]

She apologized for it. I love you, but you're mad at me.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am taking one of your Daytime Emmy Awards away from you. This is not the journalism that I expected on TBTL this morning.

[Luke Burbank]

Because you're. Because I. Because I. How do you tell us.

[Andrew Walsh]

How do you tell us that whole story without giving us any avenue towards finding out what happened?

[Luke Burbank]

Andrew, it's called edging.

[Andrew Walsh]

And, well, tomorrow's show better be real.

[Luke Burbank]

Damn. When I find out what she said. When I find out what that woman said, it is going to be sweet. Sweet.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're never going to see those people ever again. I am. Seriously, I would have rather not heard this story. I'm not even joking.

[Luke Burbank]

I didn't even think about that until I was delivering.

[Andrew Walsh]

Frustrating. You're like, well, I have this frustration. Might as well let everybody else live with it, too. I want to know the truth is out there. I need to know.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, I've got a context. Clue. I have a context. The guy who was sitting on the aisle seat of the people who were reprimanded in some way, he said, it's okay. I'm a loud talker to the woman when she apologized. So that Makes me think that whatever she said, it was about, can you please not talk so loud?

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, that's. So probably because that was my big thing. Is it just like, hey, you guys are being loud, or is it. I heard what you were saying because you're talking so loudly. And I have.

[Luke Burbank]

I think it was the volume. I would bet. I would bet. I would bet a lot of money it was the volume. Because they weren't saying anything in any way. Like, they were talking about parenting. They were talking about, like, you know, my sense was that maybe both of them had had a cocktail before the flight. I mean, they didn't seem. They didn't seem, you know, sort of like they were loaded. But they. The excitement in their conversation between two strangers was really something to observe. You know, it was like. It was the kind of excitement you might have at the bar after a few. When you, like, you know, you. You kind of meet someone, but you're really hitting it off. But you're hitting it off at a level that's a little elevated than you would be. Just like in regular life, huh? Yeah, that was kind of the energy. But they weren't talking about anything controversial. They weren't talking about politics. They weren't being critical or mean. They were just having, like, a get to know you conversation that was about 8 decibels louder than it should have been. And the one guy did say, I. He was like, I'm. I talk loud or I'm a loud talker, which then kind of had me thinking, like, I wonder what it's like to go through life being reprimanded or told multiple times that you're talking too loudly, like, for this guy. Like, he kind of said, you know, I think what happened was she sort of apologized. Their initial response wasn't like, it is no problem. Their initial response was, don't worry about it. But they were still. I think they were both still a little annoyed. They were kind of.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Stung. They were both. They were kind of like withholding, like, a full forgiveness from this woman. It wasn't like. But then she sort of kept talking. And then I think it kind of. They sort of, you know, they sort of. Their hurt feelings started to, like, you know, ebb a little bit. And then. And then that was when the one guy who was, by the way, the guy talking the most loudly, the aisle guy, he was also the closest to me, and he was behind me, by the way. So that's to your theory. Granted, I'm across the aisle, but he's still effectively behind Me. So that's probably why it was hitting my ear especially loudly. He said I'm a loud talker or something, which then made me think, yeah. So people have told him this before. Yeah, people have told him he's a loud talker. And then I was like, I wonder if that's like an auditory situation. Like, I wonder if. If you're somebody who has like undiagnosed hearing loss, if, you know, maybe like, why has this guy been a loud talker all his life?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Or at least a loud talker to the degree that people have told him, hey, you're a loud talker. But he's not talking more quietly. He's just.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's true. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

What's going on physiologically with that?

[Andrew Walsh]

That is certain people's energy, though. Like, I know that I definitely have friends, you know, who just like just. They naturally are just talking loud all the time. And you're right. I don't know if it's a. I don't know if it's an ear thing or what, but, you know, might be an energy level thing.

[Luke Burbank]

I match your energy.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know this. I mean, I don't. This thing lives in my head. This goddamn moment in time lives in my head so painfully. And I've brought it up on the show before and it's one of those. I don't even like talking about it. But do you. I don't know if you'll remember this or not, although I know this always pisses you off and you want to go and clock these people. You want to go box their ears on my behalf. But like I was at that LA Dodgers game, you know, this is 10 years ago now or more because I lived in LA around 2014. Yeah. So into that Dodgers game. And I was like a newish baseball fan at that time. But I think the thing that makes me cringe the most about this is how little I actually did know about baseball at the time. But I think I was. I was at this game in la. I was talking with Jennifer.

[Luke Burbank]

You didn't know there was. From Captain Kirk.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, by the way, I've already got a response from the Kirkjin's. One of them. I'm assuming it's Tim. I will give you this. If you have the breaking news sound, you can play it later and I'll. Is that how breaking news works? And I'll give you update from them. So we're doing it now.

[Luke Burbank]

TVTL Breaking news.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that was a sample. I'll finish my LA Dodgers story and then just get that. Keep your keeper.

[Luke Burbank]

I've got it right here.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, okay. Don't let it out of your sight. But anyway, so this is a long time ago, and Veeves and I and some friends are at a Dodgers game. It might even be my first Dodgers game. I just have this vague recollection of having pretty good tickets, although I don't think we had a hookup or anything like that. And I remember just talking to Genevieve a lot about baseball. I think I did have a sort of nervous, like in a good way, but sort of a good nervous energy. I think I was just sort of like tuned up, but not on. Not on beer, but just like kind of excited to be there. And I think I was probably rat a tat tatting and talking too much. And also I think getting a lot of stuff wrong. This is what really kills me about it is I think I kept saying that this one player was a. Was a former Mariner. And in hindsight, I think I'm wrong about that. But either way, I'm just talking to Genevieve, minding my own business. And then at some point I get up to get a hot dog or something like that, and apparently the woman turns around and the woman who was sitting in front of us, there was an older couple sitting in front of us. And the woman turns around and we had been joking with them a little bit, like there was a friendly conversation, but she turns to Genevieve and just says, boy, that one won't stop talking, will he? And that lives in my head so much. And I do think a big part of it is because I was sitting behind them. Everything I was saying was going right into their goddamn ears. The people behind me don't think that I talk too much or too loudly or I'm a baseball oaf. This is what makes me so mad in my head. And Genevieve says, I wish I'd never told you that. Which makes. I don't want to not know. I'm glad she told me that because it has made me adjust my behavior in public in a way that I think is better. So I don't want Genevieve to stop telling me these hard truths, but she was not siding with them. She thought it was funny. But it really lives in my head about all the. These people probably really knew baseball and just heard me saying some of the most ill informed, straight up loud, wrong shit. And I never shut up the whole time.

[Luke Burbank]

I just. The thing is, people pay good money to hear you talk, Andrew. That's the first thing I'm being totally serious. Part of why I'm so mad about this is because, a, I've been to many baseball games with you and that is not the energy that you're bringing. You are not annoying at baseball games. You also are not a know it all like you. If anything, you don't give yourself enough credit for the stuff that you know. Like this person being like that person's experience with you is so wildly outside of my experience with you. And again, I know I'm with you so much of the time, either like literally or virtually. Like, that's the thing. That's what bothers me is that that's not who you are or how you are in the world ever, in my experience. And again, also, people are paying money to hear you talk. No one is paying money to hear that person talk. Unless the person who was shading you was, I don't know, like who's a, who's a, who's a podcaster of note. If, unless it was one of the making my favorite murderer podcast hosts, the chances are that person who was chastising you or being kind of being kind of rude about you is not a professional talker who is being paid. My point with this, but the.

[Andrew Walsh]

It was Robin Young, by the way. It was wb.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, you know what? Tough but fair. No, but I mean, the only reason I keep bringing up the fact that the people pay money to hear you talk is because. Because there are a lot of people who, if they were to talk over the course of a nine inning baseball game, I think that there could be a lot of real banal stuff in there. And also they're not thinking about the entertainment value of what they're saying or how they're structuring something or whatever. I don't think that's you. I think that this job that we have indicates that both of us have at least some moderate amount of communication skills. And like, that's why I'm also mad at them, because it's like, it's like they're. I just feel like, I just feel like the many ways in which that comment just doesn't hold up to scrutiny for me is just. It ticks me off.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I think that's why it's so embarrassing for me is because I think it's a side of me that it probably doesn't get aired all that often. But is there. Which is like, think about it. When I go to a baseball game with you, I'm asking more questions because I'm interested in which you need to.

[Luke Burbank]

Stop because you now know more about baseball than I do, without a doubt.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I don't know. I don't think that's necessarily. I don't think that's true, actually. But anyway, so if you and I go to a baseball game, I'm probably asking you about, like, oh, about the shift or about maybe the Mariners history or whatever. It's very rare that. And I do think that probably because I was there with Genevieve and two other people who I'm guessing didn't follow baseball much at all, but just liked. And I don't know that for sure. I don't even remember who else was there. I think it was four of us, though. And the thing is, I don't think I was talking to those other people. I think I was just talking to Genevieve, and I think I was just in that mode where I was like, really? Again, like, sort of amped up and just talking too loudly and too stupidly. And I really do think I said some really stupid things. That's what kills me. It's not like I stand by what I was saying suddenly, like, I think that person saying that made me realize, oh, my God, they heard it all, and I knew. You know what I mean?

[Luke Burbank]

Also, unfortunately, that is, like, probably one of your kind of most. Like, that goes to a place that already, I think, causes you a great deal of embarrassment and shame. It wasn't like. It wasn't like they were criticizing or saying something about some part of your personality that you don't already have a lot of anxiety around.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, yes.

[Luke Burbank]

But, you know, and there's. There's tons of examples of that, for me, where it's like. It's weird somebody saying something about something I was doing that was annoying or something about my appearance or something about whatever. That wouldn't even bother me at all. And then there's other things that it would just be like. It would be like when.

[Andrew Walsh]

That.

[Luke Burbank]

It's like in Lord of the Rings, when they figure out that Smaug has that one little area, that one little area of his underside, like a thrush comes and, like, tells one of the guys that, like, there is this one little area that's unprotected, and then, like, they somehow shoot the arrow in there, you know? Is that in the real book or is that just in the cartoon?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know if I even knew this part. I'm getting real. Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, Death Star vibes.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, that, too. He used to shoot womp rats.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

That's how he figured out how to shoot down that little. Okay. Same difference. Like it feels like this is. God, if I try to like do that Star wars thing from memory, that's gonna be also gonna be rough. But point is, there are we. We have these little, these little vulnerabilities that are especially sort of vulnerable. And like if somebody says something about that particular thing, it just, it's like an arrow right into that area. And I think that's what that is for you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. But also, again, I still think I'd rather know because I do think about it now when I am at ball games. Like, I don't think I thought about sound in that way. And like. Okay, well, just everything. Just know that everything you say is probably decipherable by the people in front of you. You know what I mean? And so that's just a. That actually is a really good lesson for me. So now I just know and that's fine. It doesn't make me not talk, but I just know that I'm on a little bit more of a public stage than maybe I. Than I thought.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I. I'm trying to think about how I'm coming. I think I come off as annoying but don't care at the baseball game. I think that's my, that's my confidence. I guess that might also be known as confidence, but like just. Yeah, I'll. I'll just say. I'll just say a bunch of dumb stuff and I just. For some reason I don't care that a lot of it's wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

Uh huh.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know why that is the case for me. But when I'm at a baseball game and you know, particularly if I'm with my friends and I'm with. If I'm with people that have like kind of old long running Mariners kind of history and knowledge, it's just like me just like yelling out Jack Perconte or something. Like, it's just, it just brings me great joy to just like. And screaming at the field. And I don't know, I'm. I'm very. I'm like the opposite. Probably in the game, at the game where it's like I probably. There isn't probably anywhere that I feel like less self conscious about what I'm saying.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

One of those baseball games for whatever reason, and that's not because I'm like spot on with my information. It's because I guess also it could be beer. Could be beer related. I don't know, it's just somehow I feel, I just feel like it's. It's basically open Season on any crazy ass shit I want to yell out.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you remember? And I bring this up from time to time too. You and I were at a game. This goes way back. This goes way back to the time that you and I were working on Ross and Burbank together. But then after that show, going back to your place and doing tbtl. I think that's how that usually happened. But then we were just talking about this somewhat recently. Then we would sometimes parlay that into fun times. One time we even took our recorders and did the show from the ballpark. Did sort of an abbreviated one. I don't know if this was that time, but it's definitely that era where you were getting some pretty good tickets. I feel like it was maybe through your friend over there.

[Luke Burbank]

I think it was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah. Greg over in the marketing department or. And for some reason I thought that Gibbard was involved with one of these and then he didn't show up. But maybe. I feel like maybe I'm making that up. But all that is to say it was like probably like what, 2012 or something like that. And we're getting good seats. You're getting good seats and taking me to the ballpark. And one time we're sitting behind this guy. And I just remember this so specifically because he is such a type of guy. And it was during that era when everybody, including like Big Beefy Bros, which by the way, is a website that I run that I would be excited for people to check out and support. There's a little patreon for Big Beefy Bros. But it was that time when Big Beefy Bros, you would see them at the ballpark. Just so many bees. You would see these big beefy bros at the ballpark. They'd usually be drinking beer, more bees, but instead everybody was low carbing it. And so you'd see everybody like drinking wine or whatever at the ballpark. And I just remember this guy who was sitting right in front of us. And you and I are talking. God knows what we're talking about. And we're probably a couple of beers. And you're low carbing it at the time, so you're maybe drinking wine too, I don't know. And I just remember this Big beefy bro guy who I think at the time was maybe a little bit older than us, but maybe a middle aged guy turns around and it kind of says, I know you. I know you. He's talking to you. He's like, I know your voice. You're. You're in Luke Burbank. You're like, yeah. And he's like, I listen to your show. And you're like, thank you. He's like, I didn't say I like it or something like that. He was kind of like ball busting a little bit. Does any of that ring a bell to you at all? That has happened a lot, but I just remember. And for some reason, and I just remember this guy having all of that energy of like, kind of a, you know, bro. Ish baseball fan. But there was something about him ball this. Okay, this big, beefy bro at a baseball game, not drinking beer, but busting balls. And something about busting balls with this little glass of white wine in his hands. It's just. And again, everybody can drink what they want. I can't explain it. It's just like. It's just really burrowed into my memory.

[Luke Burbank]

But then I don't know how much you remember about the aftermath, but he basically said. I said, thank you. And he said, I'm not saying I was a fan. And then I'm assuming that he said that kind of half jokingly, I think it was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Or I might. And in fact, I might have even said that. Like, he said, oh, I listened to your show. And then he didn't say anything. And then maybe I said, well, he didn't say he likes it or something like that. One of us. It was just a little bit ball busty, generally speaking. I just remember that.

[Luke Burbank]

But it didn't get, like, tense from there. Like everything stayed okay?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no, I think it was okay. But I do think it was one of those things where you and I were kind of like. And you were a little bit more head buddy in those days, too. And I. I don't think that literally in figure. Yeah. So I don't think it was like. I don't think it was anywhere near getting that level. But it was a little bit of, you know, kind of like a couple of dogs sniffing each other a little bit.

[Luke Burbank]

You know what I mean? It probably helps that I'm guessing this guy was a Mariners fan because he lived in Seattle, I'm sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Of course, it would have been unlikely that this person, if they were from out of town, would then have heard the radio show. He probably heard Ross and Burbank, I'm guessing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's what I'm guessing.

[Luke Burbank]

And. But it like, let's just. Let's just imagine it's like, you know, it's Mariners versus the Yankees or some team or the Red Sox, and then one of their Fans is there, and then is, like, somehow aware of, like, me and then. But then is also kind of flipping me. Shit. That's a. Yeah, that could. That could go. That could. That could be an express train to Headbutt town real fast. It helps at least if we're all rooting for the Mariners, because that's what happens to me in those situations is it's like. It's all fun and games until some weird element of it triggers me because there's the competitive nature. There's the, like, there's the. I really want the Mariners to win, and then because of that, I really want the other team to lose the team they're playing. And, like, if there's something going on with me and another Mariners fan, that's one thing, but at least the question of outcome is not part of the thing. We're not rooting for different outcomes, but there's always. There can be this moment for me if I'm kind of. If I'm sparring with somebody who's the fan of another team, where when I feel somehow cornered or triggered. Now I have to let them know that being a fan of their team is a war crime.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right?

[Luke Burbank]

I have to let them know that liking the team they like, makes them, at their core, a horrible person. You know, that's what it gets. That's what it can get. A little out of hand for me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Depending on the team. Are you like me, though?

[Luke Burbank]

You're saying depending on the team, that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Might be true because I feel like the. Yes. Depending on the team, it might be true because I've definitely been at games. I'm trying to think the. I know I was at a game earlier this year because I told you about it. This guy was shopping for Stetson hats on his phone, and I was with his son, and I was looking over his shoulder, and I can't remember who we were playing, but we got walloped that night. But it was one of those teams where I was just, like, kind of just happy for them. I mean, not. Listen, I still have the. I still have the spark of fandom. I'm not rooting for the other teams, but if that had been. And we've made the ARIA list a million times on this show. But if that had been Red Sox fan, you know, if that had been the really obnoxious fans who come in, Blue Jays would have killed me, you know, or that time that Dodgers fan was, like, making fun of the Mariners. And then when I asked him what part of LA he's from, he's like Federal Way or whatever. Lynwood. I can't remember where he said he's North Hollywood.

[Luke Burbank]

It was just like a Federal Way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, it was like literally a suburb of Cleveland, of Seattle, I should say. And he literally says, I'm just a hater. I'm just like, like, I want. That guy was awful.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm just a hater. Would I. What an ineffective explanation of your behavior.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. Like, well, I guess enjoy it, bro. But I don't know, like, honestly, I was at a game when there's a couple of seasons ago where the Pirates like pummeled us. I'm really into alliteration today. It's my new thing. But we got absolutely pummeled.

[Luke Burbank]

Pirate pal who was having a Paloma.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I remember it was one of the most fun games I had gone to because I was there with a couple of pals at the Pirates game when we got pummeled by the Palomas. And I remember literally saying to my buddy Jacob after the game, I know we lost, but that was literally one of the most fun games I've been to. It's just like everything hit right. I think there might have been fireworks afterwards or something. It was just like it hit right. And it's because I don't have a deep seated hatred of Pirates fans, you know?

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, yes, exactly. Well, I'm hoping that I learned a lesson, an important lesson, when I was at that Yankees game and the Mariners lost and I ended up not hating everyone and I ended up kind of. Of broing down with the bros in the area. Like, that was a. That, that was a really useful experience for me because it kind of. It helped me understand that, like, just because somebody else likes a different team than me, it doesn't mean that I. It doesn't mean they're a bad person. Like, I know that sounds insane for me to say because like, obviously that's the case and yet there's something very emotional and very triggered about me and these sports where that's how it feels and that's not a good way to go through life and that's not a good way for me to categorize folks, you know? So, yeah, I'm gonna try to. I'm gonna try to remember that going forward as the Mariners emerge as possibly the best team in the area.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Listen, I know we need to move on, but you got to hit that. That breaking news sounder.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, that one. I forgot about that.

[Andrew Walsh]

We'll make this real quick and then we'll move on.

[Luke Burbank]

TVTL breaking news.

[Andrew Walsh]

So you, you explained the question that I sent into that baseball podcast a little bit ago. It was like, could this be the first time in history that a team had its starting pitchers fall off the mound two games in a row in the first inning and still went on to win those games almost immediately? Got a response back from, I'm assuming this is Tim, but maybe not. Maybe I should assume this is Jeff, Tim's son. It's a father son podcast, but they wrote, first of all, this just sounds like Tim to me. There's no punctuation, but they use my name, which is really interesting. So I don't have my original question right in front of me, but it's basically as I just posed it and then the response just comes in. I'm not sure, Andrew, about falling off the mound. Not something we track, but we can track first inning balks and see if that's a thing we can find out. So as you and I guess we don't really know if unfortunately that won't.

[Luke Burbank]

Get us to the answer because there was nobody on base when these guys fell off. So it won't be a balk.

[Andrew Walsh]

But will it get me onto the show though?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, that's the big question and I think the answer is no. But maybe. I mean, I do think it's a very interesting question, but I think you and I both suspected correctly that the issue was going to be the non tracking of people falling down when on the mound. That's why Operation Andrew Eyes now kicks in where you go back and you watch. You have to watch every single Major League baseball game. That's at least that that was recorded.

[Andrew Walsh]

I guess it actually helps you a little. Huge chunk of baseball history was not taped.

[Luke Burbank]

So I was wondering, which puts you into the 70s, probably mid-70s. So that's actually kind of good. That helps. You know what? Forget the name Warren Spawn. Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, sounds good. Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay, a couple quickies here or at least one quickie here at the top of the top stories. Andrew, I got a text from Coach Ben of the TBTL Junior Sluggers of the Parkside Little League in Portland. And one of our Junior Sluggers is up for this sort of athlete award. It's called Athlete of the Year and it is our pal Armani. And oh my gosh, the page for armani. So it's athleteoftheyear.org and what it is is it's a fundraiser for the V Foundation, which is the, the, the started by Jim Valvano, the. The college coach who died from cancer. And it's a great organization. And then also Russell Wilson's why not us, Andrew?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, really?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, Those are the two. So it's basically what it is. It's like a fundraiser for these two organizations that I think both of them do a lot of good work, actually. And so you can basically vote for a player to be the athlete of the year. There is a component of it where you can also like. Like you can donate money and then you get more votes, but you can vote for free, too. You can just vote for the person one time and then you don't have to actually spend any money to do that. And our guy Armani is right now third in his particular group. And the photo that they're using for Armani is Armani at bat in his junior sluggers uniform, Andrew. And it is such a great action shot. I just. It just gives me all of the good feelings that I've had about the TBTL association with this team over the last couple of years. So I put this on the Facebook page, the Stens page, Andrew. And still waiting for management approval for it to be posted.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, geez. Okay. They're keeping it locked down over there.

[Luke Burbank]

I've really got it locked down to the point where one of the hosts of the show is. I don't have carte blanche over there, apparently. So at some point, hopefully I wrote just a little thing saying what I'm saying right now, which is that Armani is up for this thing and it would be pretty fun if he. If he won or moved through the ranks, you know, if we could all throw him a vote. I do think you have to be on Facebook because when I voted for him, it uses your Facebook page to verify it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh.

[Luke Burbank]

So that might be a barrier for some folks, but like if you're on Facebook, if you're on the Stens page and you see this post, if, if the admin ever allow deigns to allow it onto the page and you got a moment, let's throw Armani a vote and see if we can get a junior slugger up there at the top of the athlete of the year awards.

[Andrew Walsh]

So wait a second. They can verify my vote using blue sky?

[Luke Burbank]

You know, it's.

[Andrew Walsh]

They didn't start with that.

[Luke Burbank]

Not when I voted. But again, maybe there's other ways to. Maybe there's other ways to get verified. I was. And also this means, by the way, Andrew, I don't know if you have a calendar in front of you. I'M still on Facebook right now. Like I'm still. I haven't deactivated my face. That was just laziness. You know, usually I come onto Facebook for one week out of the year. It's for the thon. It's for the little eagle soaring thing. And then I kind of go on and I'd sort of deactivate my account for the rest of the year. I sort of forgot to do that. So I've just been, I've been logged in and logged on and then when I went to vote for Armani, I noticed that the way it verified me was through Facebook. So of course I was going to stay logged in for that. But. But anyway, yeah, he is currently third in his group and. And I'm hoping we can get him up to first in his group and then I don't know what happens after that.

[Andrew Walsh]

So I am posting this to Blue sky right now. I am so psyched about this. I own the reason I started talking about like how to use punctuation mark when discussing the A's starting pictures at the beginning of the show is because I was trying to think of something to talk about that wasn't this. I wanted to just launch into this and I wasn't sure if you wanted to hold it for top stories, but this is what we do. Like Armani has to win. This is why we have the tens of listeners to gather on. I mean, if nothing else, check out this link. I'm putting it on Blueski now. Eventually, hopefully it'll be on the Stens page. We'll get it up onto Slack as well. And I just will spread the word. And we want everybody because it's strictly votes. Right? Like we have the numbers. Luke, I've been. I mean I don't know what the Pod Save guys say about this, but I see a path to victory here. We have the votes and we need to get people to the polls. It also.

[Luke Burbank]

Let's do this really sucks if you're a kid who plays for a team that isn't backed by a podcast today.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is true. But we are a mid market at best podcast. We are not like we are not generous. We are. Yes, exactly. We are not.

[Luke Burbank]

If there's a kid that sponsor, if there's a call, call her daddy. Sponsored Little League team. I think Armani's in trouble. But. But as far. No, you' I mean that's the thing is it's like if we actually, if we actually turn the tens loose on this project, I can't see a world in which Armani does not advance at least to the next level. Now here's the thing. There is a financial component to this. So you might have another kid whose parents are just committed to like because you know, it's like you can, you can donate, you can vote for free for once. That's what I did, by the way, for the record. But you could, and I would imagine that we have so many more people getting eyes on this than maybe the typical potential athlete of the year, that that might be enough if everybody just does their one vote. But also there you can, you could get 250 votes if you wanted to donate $250. That's how the money is being raised for these foundations. So we'll see. There could be somebody who's really wants their kid to win and they're really willing to spend the money to do it. That's a possibility. But I think it would be fun at least if we can try to move our money on it too. I'm assuming also that there's like a lot of rounds to this. Like because the top prize for the, the athlete of the year is they get to be featured in an ad in Sports Illustrated and they win $25,000, which you know, just saying Armani.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Kind of get you there. A little kickback to TBTL wouldn't be the worst.

[Andrew Walsh]

See, I like to think, I mean, well, what's, what's like a, what's a, what's a tenth of that? Like, you know what I mean? Like you can peel off.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. Like what's that two, is that 200 and that's $2,500. Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then you split that between you, me and John.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. That cash can get us out of a couple of deals.

[Andrew Walsh]

Ab Absolutely.

[Luke Burbank]

So just, I'm just saying I scratch, we scratch your back, you scratch ours, everybody wins, it's all good. No, but, but seriously, if you, if you go to the Stens page or if you go to the, the blue ski and you see this, this little. Just if, if only to look at the photo of Armani in the TBTL Junior Sluggers uniform.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

About to just absolutely rope the ball to left, I presume.

[Andrew Walsh]

So anyway, now I'm very excited about that.

[Luke Burbank]

From that story to another story that's not so much about athletes but about gambling. Gilbert Arenas, the one time Washington wizard and I think played a few different places in the NBA. He was known as Hibachi and also Agent Zero. He's always been, let's just say a quirky guy. Also a guy who got in some trouble for, I believe, bringing a gun to the locker room when he was a Washington wizard because he was in a fight with another player on his team. He's kind of, you know, again, he's had an interesting past. Let's just say he is now been charged with helping run an illegal poker operation out of a mansion of his in Encino. And the charges are essentially that he and some of his collaborators had these really, really, very, very sort of expensive poker games going on, which more or less they'd open an illegal casino. And what they were doing, according to authorities that was, was illegal was they were taking a rake. You can have a poker game in your house and you can have. People can bet whatever they want to bet. If you start taking a percentage of each pot for the house, that's called the rake, that means you're trying to be a casino and you're not really allowed to do that. There's also part of the allegation is that there were, there were women that were hired to sort of take drink orders and to provide, I believe it was described as like, personal comfort or something to these players. There was. Sounds like there may have been some, there may have been some, some things that were going on, you know, at the place and within the game that were. That are not particularly legal with that kind of stuff. And so now Gilbert Arenas is. He's already out of jail, he's already bonded out. He was apparently dancing as he came down the steps of the, as they let him out of jail, he was doing a dance and he said, basically, you know, they don't have anything on me. And then he wrote like on one of the social medias, he said, all I did was rent my house out. Now the problem with that is one of the allegations is that he had a custom made poker table with his face on it that everybody was playing on. Which does seem like maybe more than just renting your house out. Like, you know, like, it seemed like he was pretty involved in the whole process. And considering the fact that I've gambled with this guy, it's not super shocking to hear these allegations. He is the dude that when I was in Vegas playing baccarat once, years and years ago, he and I, I mean, I actually thought there was a chance he and I were going to become like legit friends off of this because we were playing for hours. It was just me and him at this baccarat table. He's playing, you know, so much more money than I am. But I was also at the time playing a fairly. A fairly hefty amount per hand. Because baccarat is mostly a tie game. You kind of push it back and forth a lot. And he had this whole crazy system. He had this. Because the thing with baccarat is the people that play it a lot, they get obsessed with what the sort of. What the patterns are. So the baccarat, the way it works basically is you bet your money on one of two spots. One spot says player, one spot says banker. And all that means is you think that the player hand is going to be the good hand, or you think the banker hand is going to be the good hand. So the dealer puts down cards on two sides of this line. One side of the line is player, one side of the line is banker. You can do either one. When you're sitting there, you.

[Andrew Walsh]

That.

[Luke Burbank]

The banker thing doesn't really mean anything. It's just. There's two different categories, and you're just betting on what category you think is going to get the winning cards. But the people that play baccarat, they get obsessed with all of these, like, quasi mystical ideas of like, like, if it's going to jump, if it's. I mean, that's what I saw that Dana white guy win $1.2 million in 10 minutes on when I was doing that thing in Vegas. So Gilbert Arenas has this. They give you these long, big, long rectangular cards where you can just. You can track like the last, like 40 hands. And they give you a pencil and this big, long card. And everybody who's serious is just sitting there making all these, like, elaborate. I mean, it's like A Beautiful Mind shit. They're writing down equations. I'm always like, you guys, this. That's like. That's like thinking that you can figure out what's going to happen with a coin flip. That's like thinking like, well, it's okay, it's going to bridge because it bridged four times ago. And now it's like, no, it's just. It's just random chance and then probability, you know. But anyway, he had this crazy thing going on his scorecard where he would tell himself that he was down $10,000. So he would write minus $10,000. And then every time he won, he would be coming up to the. Up to zero. So he'd now I'm only. He'd win a thousand dollars. He'd be like, now I'm only down $9,000. And then he'd do it again. He'd be like, he'd win more. And he'd be like, now I'm only down $4,000. And he'd get up to where he wasn't down. I'm doing that in air quotes to where he was even. Which really meant he had made another $10,000. Then he would scratch that out, and he would, like, put the chip somewhere, and then he would write minus $10,000 again. This was his system, was trying to trick himself into thinking he was down so that he was winning back up to being even. I don't know why that matters.

[Andrew Walsh]

Setting my clock ahead a little bit.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I always do that in my studio here. And that's why sometimes you and I will have a moment of, like, when are we dialing up again? Or something like that. And I'll be like, well, that's 15 minutes. I realized, oh, that's actually 20 minutes. Yeah, yeah. Cause my clock is always about five minutes fast.

[Luke Burbank]

He was doing that. Another thing that.

[Andrew Walsh]

That.

[Luke Burbank]

That I observed in this. In these hours of playing with him, because people figured out, oh, that's Gilbert Arenas. And like, I have never. I've never just been in normal life with somebody who is. Let's just say that appealing to the opposite sex. Like, I've never watched somebody just have multiple. Multiple women approach him and try to talk to him. Him while he's just sitting there playing baccarat. And in this particular few hours of time that I was with him, watch him. Totally not engage with that. Like, this guy wanted to play baccarat with me weirdly. Like, we were really, really hitting it off. And, like, it was just. I. You know, that's just not. Let's just say that's not how my life works. You know, just watching people come up and kind of throw themselves against the castle wall of trying to get Gilbert Arenas his phone number or his attention, and him to just be, like. Like, totally uninterested because he's, like, playing baccarat. It was just a very. It was a very unusual experience for me. And then, of course, at some point, because I've been sitting there so long with this guy who is a high roller.

[Andrew Walsh]

I.

[Luke Burbank]

It is my. It is my theory that the casino misunderstood my relationship with him and thought maybe I was his agent or just his fighting guard body. Probably bodyguard.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, I was the muscle. Sometimes I would carry him around the casino, kind of like Kevin Costner does with Whitney Houston, you know, movie the Bodyguard.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was picturing more Paul Rubens being carried around in 30 Rock, saying things like, it feels good to Laugh.

[Luke Burbank]

That was when, Gil. When Gilbert would carry me. It was more like that. There was one set of footprints in the Aria casino. And that was when Gilbert carried me. Yeah, but the. But anyway, from that point, somebody walked up to me from the casino and handed me a business card and said, hey, this is the name of your host if you want to get in touch with them. And I was like, host, say what? Like, I didn't even know what that meant. I was totally inexperienced with that side of Vegas at that time and have gone back to being inexperienced with that side of Vegas, for the record. But I was like, okay. And so it's a phone number. It's a business card with a phone number and a woman's name on it. And they had. I had. Because I had been there with Gilbert Arenas for so long, I had somehow been re categorized in their system as being somebody who should have basically a fixer at the casino, somebody who gets you tickets to things, somebody who takes stuff off of your bill. Because the whole way that that casino stuff works if you. Again, if you're like a Gilbert Arenas, is you gamble so much. And let's be honest, the casino ends up getting so much of your money that they are incentivized to really try to give you a lot of perks so that you are feeling good about the experience even as you are eventually surrendering a lot of your hard earned money to them. And so I had this host and I remember I called the person and I said, hey, I've been told that you're my host. And this person, she said, yeah, yeah, when you're checking out, just call me and I'll see what we can do about your bill. And so I remember on this trip, a number of us, we were staying at the hotel and we'd put a lot of stuff on the room. And now I'm. I think the room was like under my name or something. So I'm waiting in line and there'd been a lot of room charges. I want to say that the bills, you know, it's in the few thousand dollars between the actual room charge and between the food things that have been charged to the room. And like, we're going to divide this all up later. That's the plan. And I called, I'm in line checking out of the hotel. And I think, I don't know, maybe this person will take like some of the food off the bill or something. And I call and I get the voicemail for this casino host. And I go, hi, this is, this Is Luke Burbank. I was here with Gilbert Arenas. I'm trying to really lean into this now. I don't want to say. I don't want to lie, but I also want to make sure that it's. They're tracking that I was with Gilbert Arenas, and I'm like. And you said to call this number when I was checking out. So I'm calling it, and thank you. And then it's like I hang up. And I was like, well, that was stupid. Like, why did I do that? Stupid Luke. And so then there's, like, three more people in line in front of me. So they get done. They check out, check out. I walk up there. I go to check out. I give him my card. The guy goes, oh, yeah, the bill is comped.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[Luke Burbank]

I was like, what the heck? So, yeah, it had been. The whole bill had been comped because of. Because of Gilbert Arenas, basically.

[Andrew Walsh]

Did part of you wish you had gone harder in some aspect of your bill?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, part of me was like, these people I'm with better be freaking. Seriously appreciative.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Because, like, they weren't the ones donking off money with Gilbert Arenas for six hours to get us to get our room comped and all the food that they ate comped. Like, I was like, you know, God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, and I'm reporting for duty.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, no, you are a hero.

[Luke Burbank]

I. A true hero. So anyway, all that is to say when. And a lot of people were saying this yesterday online about this thing, and again, these are just.

[Andrew Walsh]

Just.

[Luke Burbank]

These are just allegations. It's. You know, this has not been proven in a court of law, but Gilbert Arenas just has this rep of being a guy who's kind of, like, always a little bit in some kind of hot water. And he doesn't seem particularly shy about it. Like, he doesn't. It's almost like his personality. And I saw a lot of guys online yesterday saying every once in a while, it's exactly who you think it's going to be.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. And that's.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a rare thing. It's. You know, it's a lot of times it's the last person you thought it was going to be, but then sometimes it's 100% the person you kind of thought it would be. Like, nobody who follows sports. And Gilbert Arenas was in any way shocked to read Gilbert Arenas arrested for running illegal poker ring. It was, like, the least surprising headline that you could have read yesterday. If you're a sports person has his.

[Andrew Walsh]

Own Face imprinted on the poker table. That.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, before we move on, I want to kind of shift the conversation back to something we were talking about before because I want to give a quick update on this Athlete of the Year, the youth Athlete of the Year contest, please. So you do not need Facebook in order to vote. I did not use Facebook at all. So I just wanted to check that. And you had said this. You'd mentioned that it was a fundraiser, but I didn't understand exactly how it works. And you probably said this and I was probably googling around, but it actually, it's a fundraiser in that, like, you can buy a certain number of votes. When you put it that way, it really sounds sketchy. But no, it's a fundraiser. Maybe you said that. So I did. So I just bought a certain number of votes and I just wanted. I was, you know, very loudly saying, let's do this, people. And I still think let's do this, people. But coming off of our own week of asking people for money, I want to also just express once again, oh, yes, I see. This is. This is not us asking the TENS simply to crowdsource and jump online, but this is another financial commitment which you might be interested in. I do think we should support Armani and, and this group. But I just, I. My tone might have been slightly different when I thought this was just like, get one of those toys of the pecking bird and set it behind your computer and just keep hitting the submit button over and over again. So, yeah, no, this is definitely a fundraiser and I was happy to chip in.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And as I mentioned, you can do a vote for free. I did a free vote myself. I voted one time for Armani. It didn't cost me any money. So that's also an option. That's kind of what I was.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sounds like I'm kind of winning here. Sorry. It sounds like I'm winning here. Then maybe that's why you needed to use Facebook. Because for me it was like, well, the credit card or I use Google.

[Luke Burbank]

Youe skip right to the front of the line.

[Andrew Walsh]

I skipped right to the front of the line. I was, I was trying to vote and somebody says, do you want to skip to the head of the line? I'm from Clear. And I said, yes, sir. No, but it was a very, very seamless. In fact, we could. If you're interested, and I have a feeling you're not. That's why I'm not going to let you answer this question. After you hit Go, you get a little video that is from one person representing the first organization and then our boy, Russell Wilson. For the next Youth Athlete of the.

[Luke Burbank]

Year, do more than just support your favorite little competitor. You're helping support why not Youth foundation and their mission to equip today's youth with the skills and opportunities to become tomorrow's leaders.

[Andrew Walsh]

Didn't I tell you that I heard, like, Levitard was on a different podcast, and I think it was the kirkjin podcast, and they were playing the Looks like game. And I think I said this to you on the air that somebody had submitted. Russell Wilson looks like one of the trainers at SeaWorld or one of the presenters at SeaWorld. And he does sort of have that energy here, the way he uses his hands. He's like, constantly.

[Luke Burbank]

If you put him in a wetsuit and you gave him, like, a headset microphone.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exactly. His body language is very, very much that. But anyway, I'm still very excited about that. And again, I'm sorry I wasn't listening as closely, but I just wanted to sort of mention how it works.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, yeah. Just to. Just to reiterate for the 19th time. Yeah, we're not trying to tell anybody to go spend a crazy amount of money. I'm saying I think we have enough people that if everybody just does one free vote, we should be able to get him over the top, potentially. But, yeah, that's what's going on with that. And also, I'm putting money on Gilbert Arenas, his books in jail because we're dear friends. And so that's also going on. And I guess we have blurs days. There's a right way to rock and.

[Andrew Walsh]

A wrong way to roll. You can't just listen to your song. Just remember that life is number one. You can be having so much fun. Just remember that life is much fun. You can be nothing but. Who wants to go to the blurs? Petal, that's not the best intro to this segment. This is the Blurs day segment where people wish everybody a happy. I don't know. There's this line that always lives in my head from Arrested Development where Tobias is just, like, crawling along the floor. I don't even know what his ailment is. And he's just like, who wants to go to the hospital? And it just lives in my head. And so for some reason, that's how I was trying to start this segment. But no, this is the classic Blurs day segment where people write in to me. They put blurs in the subject line. Andrewvtail.net, and you can wish somebody a happy birthday. Happy blursday. Scott says one of your tens is getting close to another revolution around Helios. Mm, it's Karen. Feel free to sing along as Abba did. I won't be singing this, by the way. You can. Oh, you can make me read your blursday messages. You cannot make me sing. No, but I believe this is to a dancing queen. You can bake, you can jive Having.

[Luke Burbank]

The time, having the time of your.

[Andrew Walsh]

Life of your life. See that girl watch that scone. Diggin the Baking Queen.

[Luke Burbank]

Love it. You can bake, you can dance. Was that the second part? You can be.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think so, yeah. Good job.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're ready to sing at Drop of a Hat.

[Luke Burbank]

Uh huh. Try to stop me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Got one here from Michael saying Happy 12th Blursday to my favorite firstborn daughter, Langley Grace.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, we know these kids.

[Andrew Walsh]

Watching you grow up has been the highlight of my last dozen years. Keep telling your friends that your podcast famous because you definitely are. And the boys at TBTL appreciate the downloads from the Gen Alpha demographic. Keeping yourself what you do skibidi toilet is so important. Gail says happy blursday to Jeremy in Brooklyn on the day of your actual birthday. Even though you probably won't hear this for a few weeks due to your time banditing ways, we need to catch up soon. Happy blursday, Jeremy. Tracy says Jackie, how lucky am I to share a birthday with someone as fabulous, fierce and full of fire as you? A lot of people getting on the alliteration game since they heard me doing it. We were clearly born on the same day for a reason. Oh, it sounds like we got a double blurs going on here. Okay. We were clearly born on the same day for a reason. The world needed double the greatness, joy and unstoppable energy. Here's to another year of leveling up. Laughing louder and living like the tens we are. Let's celebrate like only true tens know how.

[Luke Burbank]

I didn't get to use as much Michael W. Smith as I meant as I wanted to during the the Thawne.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that's pretty good.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, that's a by the way, for the like 40 people who know what that is that just took that just time traveled them. Friends are friends forever.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I know. I. I recognize that. Yeah, I wouldn't have that made its.

[Luke Burbank]

Way even into your life as a kid.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe I only recognize it from you playing it on the show. I don't know, but I definitely know that sound. Should we do this one from Lauren St. Pete?

[Luke Burbank]

Absolutely.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Lauren, St. Pete says happy Birthday, Molly. Your Instagram feed keeps me from feeling too homesick. Lol. I hope your celebrations are many and merry.

[Luke Burbank]

Aw, glad we did that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Rebecca in Federal Way says, I'd like to wish A happy 50th Blursday to myself. Rebecca. I'll be kicking and stretching and kicking into next year. I also just want to say thank you to you, Luke and John. By the middle of the thon, I knew I had to up my donation because of all the joy and laughter you bring to my life. And for the past 17 plus years, now I am forever grateful. Well, geez Louise, Rebecca. Yeah. Thank you so much.

[Luke Burbank]

I suddenly realized I was talking to them. You know what I'm realizing, Andrew? I had to update this little system that I use for playing audio.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And it's got all this preloaded stuff now of basically sample music, which I'm guessing a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

Everything's been a little. All your drops during this particular segment have been a little bit low and I'm not exactly sure.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. Yeah. Well, I don't know what's going on.

[Andrew Walsh]

So you might want to turn them up. What do you got over there?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, we got country rock.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh God. You know what? Lower it.

[Luke Burbank]

Lower it so low you can't hear it.

[Andrew Walsh]

It. Yeah, let's go low.

[Luke Burbank]

That's country rock for you. Let's hear what the techno's got. Let's see what techno's doing. These are so bad. There's something called tense hip hop.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tense.

[Luke Burbank]

What is tense hip hop? Like hip hop that makes you tense.

[Andrew Walsh]

It does. I'm on edge.

[Luke Burbank]

These are. Here's a. Here, here's music for getting it done. This is getting it done music.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wow. These are just. I just cleaned my whole house while you played that.

[Luke Burbank]

These are unbelievably bad. And what's amazing is the icons that they've put on them. So it's like it's a wav file, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

And it'll say something like rock out. And then it has the emoji of the like rock finger, hand.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, sure, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Or like. But then there's one that's called R and B. But then it's just has the emoji or the, the. The symbol right in the middle of the wav file is just the emoji for a giant glass of whiskey.

[Andrew Walsh]

R and B. Huh?

[Luke Burbank]

R and B isn't. That's a weird pairing. I don't think of R and B as being especially whiskey coated. Let's. I don't know if I'd even call that R and B. Yeah, I don't.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the very sultry night that feels like kind of like 90s sexy R& B. Right.

[Luke Burbank]

And see what Big Game is, and then I'll stop doing this. This one's called Big Game and has a stadium on it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, sports.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know when they wrote this stuff, but I feel like there was a big technological shift right after they did it. Like, I feel like if we jumped on AI, we could have. Or that.

[Andrew Walsh]

What? That. That. That.

[Luke Burbank]

What was it? Soonmo or whatever that website is that I had. Make some music for us. Like, that stuff sounds incredibly antiquated, even though it probably came out two years ago. It's like in those two years, the programs have figured out how to make stuff that sounds a lot less corny.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the thing that I'm most proud about of the segment so far is that we played all of that music on top of the Tim Heidecker music. Like, I just love that. We didn't even bother pulling it out.

[Luke Burbank]

No, that's good. That's new art.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the thing.

[Luke Burbank]

You take two pieces of existing art and you combine them and then you've got new art.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's called sampling. Yes. Keith in Cleveland, where we believe Snake Plissken spent some time.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Referred back to in Escape from LA. Keith in Cleveland says Happy Blursday to my 11. April, you're an extraordinarily thoughtful and caring person, an amazing mother to our two fives, Ben and Chloe, and the best wife and friend a guy could ever hope for. I'm so fortunate to have spent the last 40 years with you and look forward to many more. Here's to a fun birthday celebration weekend with plenty of relaxing herkle derkle time.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, okay, that sounds. Sooner or later, gentlemen, you will eat your words.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm having a thought that I want to tell you about a podcast I listened yesterday, but I feel like I mention it now, it's going to sort of, I don't know, implicate Keith and April in ways I don't want. Hold on. We'll get through this segment. Then I'm going to ask you.

[Luke Burbank]

I hate podcasting. It's just ruined my life.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, last one. This is from our utens, Utah.

[Luke Burbank]

Wait, that's great. I can see them from my.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know. This is from August to Maddie, dad and me wishing you a Happy 46th birthday, Maddie. Almost five decades. Wait, this might be a different different. This. Actually, I don't know if the Maddie I was thinking of, I don't think is 46. Never mind. I don't know that these are Utah. My apologies. You know what? Let's just clean.

[Luke Burbank]

Let's start the show.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, here is a message from another place. That Snake Plissken probably got in trouble at one point. Although we don't know where this is. From August to Maddie. Dad and me wishing you a Happy 46th birthday, Maddie. Almost five decades. I really hope this one was the most special and best of them all. From August to Maddie.

[Luke Burbank]

So we have a. I'm assuming that if that. Well, I guess I don't know the. I don't know the age of that August, but can we assume that. That August is an adult?

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know what to assume about that, to be honest with you.

[Luke Burbank]

Because I was gonna say we've got. We know we have a young Auggie.

[Andrew Walsh]

We have the baby Augie that we love.

[Luke Burbank]

And then. And then we've got. I'm just. I'm interested in the number of Augusts that listen to this show.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

And what the age range is of Augusts. I feel like we've got a lot of them.

[Andrew Walsh]

And we also. The thing is here I'm looking for. Because we have another Maddie who. Her and her old family, I believe, are the songs.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm gonna see them tonight, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, you're gonna see them tonight. Oh, here it comes to.

[Luke Burbank]

Wait, wait, don't tell me.

[Andrew Walsh]

And this is what. Because yesterday at the end of the show, I mentioned Carl Malone, the mailman, and how he said I. I delivered Salt Palace. Well, I do, too. From Maddie in Utah, who texted and says, you guys were talking about the Salt palace in Salt Lake. At the end of today's episode, I want to let you know that it was a basketball arena from the 70s through the 90s, and then they moved to the Delta center, and it was torn down to make the Salt Palace Convention center, which is still here and thriving. That was the update I had. Did you have more?

[Luke Burbank]

That's the update I had as well. I jogged by the Salt palace today. My hotel is, like, 50ft from the Salt Palace.

[Andrew Walsh]

Really? There you go.

[Luke Burbank]

And I noted that it was the convention center, and we're, like, across the street from the Delta Center. So that was the intel that I had as well.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. Well, that random thought that popped in my head earlier had to do with anniversaries or somebody had said that they had been together for 40 years, which reminded me of somebody talking about a couple that had been together for 50 years on a podcast yesterday. And this person was just like, that just doesn't happen anymore. I mean, 50 years is such a long time. And the reason they were astounded, especially about the length of this particular marriage, was because it was the marriage that resulted from what was called, and I don't particularly like this term, but the two 1970s era lefty Yankees who kind of swapped wives and swapped lives. Did you know about this?

[Luke Burbank]

And it was a public. I feel like I've heard this story a long time ago, but I've forgotten all of the details and I have.

[Andrew Walsh]

Forgotten all of their names, which is gonna be. Be probably problematic, but maybe not, because really what I should do is just say this was a episode of Pablo Torre finds out. And I think it was from the archives. He must be on summer break or something. And usually I don't listen to reruns, but the headline was something about the wife swapping scandal of the 1970s Yankees. And so I listened to the whole story. That podcast, if you're at all interested in the topic, and sometimes I'm not, and so I just skip it, but if you have even a tiny bit of interest in the topic, that show does such a good job of storytelling.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, they did the whole figuring out where Bill Belichick, what house Bill Belichick was walking out of with the ring cam shirtless. I mean, that's one of the greatest. Maybe it's the most important sports story of our time, as far as I'm concerned.

[Andrew Walsh]

And Pablo, no joke, as far as really important sports stories, Pablo broke that whole story open. He got that like 61 page document about basically collusion inside the NFL that broke a few months ago between. And also like kind of collusion between the association that represents the players union.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, that guy's in big trouble.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh my God. And that all happened from Pablo. So it's just like this meticulous reporting, but also really good storytelling. And so anyway, he told the story of these two teammates and I'm just going to leave all the names out and I'll give you the broad strokes and you can go back and listen to a good version of this. But there were these two teammates and they were friends and they were both, I believe, lefty relievers during, I guess, an unprecedentedly bad time for the Yankees. Like the Yankees were doing really poorly, which is sort of like kind of of as they put on the show. Nobody was paying attention to this team until this whole thing happened. But the four of them, these Two players. And their wives were like, you know, they always hung out together anyway, and then they were at some sort of a barbecue or something and they were all leaving. And one of them sort of just casually, one of them was more of a Luke and one of them was more of an Andrew. It sounds like I'll let you decide who is who. But like, one of them was more of a wild man, sort of, and kind of known as a character. And one was more reserved. And the guy who was kind of a bigger personality, more of a character said, hey, why don't. I'll drive. Why don't you. Why doesn't your wife come with me or whatever, and you take my wife. And then that's basically how it all started. The Meeker guy, I think, went to this mom and pop kind of soda shop with his friend's wife and they kind of had a more innocent date. The other two kind of disappeared for about two hours and then came in. Shirts are ruffled or something like that. But then that started this whole thing where it was kind of like everybody was on board with this and they basically kind of swapped partners and families. Yes. As Pablo said, it was not a wife swap as the term is. And I always. That. That is always. It's always called a wife swap because of the way we sort of regard women. I feel like it's more possessive and I don't like that. But he said actually this was a husband swap because the wife's lives stayed the same. They stayed in the same houses with the same kids and the same families. It was the husbands who actually kind of swap scenarios here. But the thing is, the guy who sort of spurred this all on, the kind of more like kind of bigger personality. They end up having a press conference, the Yankees have a press conference to explain what's kind of going on, because all is very public at this point and it's better just to address it head on. But then the relationship that sort of started it, the more, let's say steamy relationship that started it, did not last very long at all.

[Luke Burbank]

Unsurprised.

[Andrew Walsh]

But the other one, the other two, and they tried to, like in the parlance of today, they tried to claw back the old relationship. But the other two were like, no, we have a nice thing going here. And they remained married until the end of their lives. Until. Until the player died. Not all that long ago, I think. In October.

[Luke Burbank]

Slow and steady wins the race. Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

And they played the very. There's not a lot of tape of him talking about it. But when they did, like, find interviews where he talked about it, it just sounded like the most loving, loving relationship. It was a really. It was a hell of a story.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, it sounds like what you're saying is Andrews win in the end, and that's fine. I get it.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's exactly.

[Luke Burbank]

It's like you basically had where, like, this couple that, you know, when they, when they paired up, that they were probably, you know, they were well aligned and that they probably weren't maybe the flashiest two people ever, but also that their love was solid and they built a great life together. And then you had the horny couple that was like, all like, you know, champagne, champagne wishes and caviar dreams. And like, this is just so great. And then, like, happens to a lot of people who were wired that way. A couple years in, they were like, actually, I don't like this anymore. Can I please go back to what. How life was and it was like, too late.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And again, to know. And I guess as he was reporting this, the. The player, the one who had remained married all this time had. Had passed away and they didn't even know it. The family was so sort of private about his life that they had done almost all of this reporting and didn't realize until the very end that the. One of the many reasons the family, the kids didn't want to talk, the wife didn't want to talk was because they had recently lost their dad during all of this and was.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, that's. I mean, that's the first of all. I can't believe you didn't remember Mike Kekich and Fritz Petersen off the top of your head.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I did. Just listen. That's a shock to me. I tell you what, I did just listen to this podcast. Like 12 hours ago, you would have had those names.

[Luke Burbank]

No, no, no, those are not. Listen, my brain is done making new memories. But what I think is also very interesting. I wonder what the experience was like for the kids, because that's a whole thing too. You know, like, I'm assuming that there was still maybe, you know, maybe this is addressed in the Pablo Torre thing. But, like, I mean, I'm guessing that they still had contact with their. With their biological fathers. It wasn't just like, this is now your new father and he's making the rules and your old father is no longer even a little bit part of your life.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. No. And in fact, the one quote, or it was, I think a piece of tape from a. A. I think like a CBS story. Because basically the guy who was, let's say the Meeker personality also was the lesser arm, I believe.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, interesting.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so he's traded away to Cleveland, which is like just insult because I guess they said at the time that Cleveland was like one of the only teams worse than the Yankees at that time. But then the other guy, please don't.

[Luke Burbank]

Be mean to Cleveland.

[Andrew Walsh]

Years later he ends up in Cleveland too in some sort of kind of providence. But they didn't never played again together. But the other guy kind of goes on to play I think in Canada and then in Mexico. Mexico and then cbs. This is the guy who had the long term relationship afterwards and he had just had a bad outing and playing in Mexico. And it was a very charming like, I don't know, 30 seconds of tape of him talking to this reporter for CBS saying I'm just got pounded today. I just like totally, I'm doing terribly out here. But then he starts talking about his relationship, I believe. Actually you know what, I think I'm conflating two quotes. But anyway, later on in life he's talking about his relationship and how much he loves his wife. And he does say something about like yeah, the kids, some of the kids are still upset but they've had a good life and I would never trade away what I have with my beloved wife or whatever.

[Luke Burbank]

What about for a kid to be named later?

[Andrew Walsh]

That was the joke that Johnny Carson made. It was either Johnny Carson or Bob Hope because they played tape of both of those guys making jokes about this scenario. I'm pretty sure it was Carson who said, yeah, the trade involved, yes, such and such and a child to be named later. And the crowd did not laugh consideration very much about that. I thought that was.

[Luke Burbank]

Well that's good actually. I'm glad at the time anyway, the crowd didn't laugh too much because again the adults are the adults. They get to make the decisions they want. But then there's the real impact on the lives of the children. I just really wonder what that was like if you were in the family that had melodad and now suddenly, now suddenly you have like, you have like. I don't know how we're describe, you have wild man dad. Suddenly like that seems like that would be a pretty big downgrade for you. I don't think most kids are like, I hope I get wild man dad. I think most kids are like, I hope I get dad who loves me and shows up for things.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I just want to say too, if you're hearing me tell this story. You're like, ugh, this is kind of. I don't know, like, I just. Trust me that you should trust Pablo on this. Like, the tone is right. All of these things are considered and addressed. And it's a really. It's a really touching story. And it's not like some, you know, podcast.

[Luke Burbank]

It's not todry. It's not just toddry hay off of no, you know, wife quote unquote, wife swapping.

[Andrew Walsh]

No. And then the one other dazzling detail is one of his main interviewees, one of Pablo's main interviewees in this to kind of tell the story, is a guy who wrote for Seinfeld for a really long time and wrote some of the most famous, I think, Seinfeld episodes and Curb youb Enthusiasm and Veep. I don't remember his name either, but.

[Luke Burbank]

Is it Larry Charles?

[Andrew Walsh]

All I know is he wrote a screenplay to be turned into a movie about this story, and he really fought to have it made, and it came pretty damn close, but then it ended up getting spiked, I think, by the studio system. So I don't know the name of it, but so he had. He had researched this story so that he could turn it into a Hollywood film that never ended up getting made.

[Luke Burbank]

I was wondering if it was Larry Charles, because he's been doing a ton of. Of press. He has this. I think it's called, like Comedy Samurai or something. Got this new book out and he was kind of the. I think he was seen as the sort of third creative, big creative force in Seinfeld. Both like Seinfeld, Larry David, and then this guy, Larry Charles.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's Dave Mandel is the name.

[Luke Burbank]

Dave Mandel.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you know this show? Never heard of that guy. Yeah, I guess he was a TV writer for those shows that I had mentioned. But anyway, really, really fascinating story, which is probably why they chose to kind of of play that from the archives.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, today's show has been. It's been sprawling. It's covered all kinds of things. The charity operations of Russell Wilson family swaps, unsatisfying airplane interactions. Unsatisfying to the listener. Anyway, what else do we do today? What else do we talk about?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I wrote into a podcast and.

[Luke Burbank]

Got a response within the same episode of this. I battled through a glottal blockage.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. Oh, that's right. That's. That's a good reminder.

[Luke Burbank]

Don't you forget, sir, there are people that are still listening to this. I almost said this crap, but I'm not. Remember yesterday I said I'm not going to. I'm not going to. I'm not going to, you know, insult this show that the listeners love. I'm going to do that later when I turn the mic off, when I go into the mirror and slap myself, say, you're an idiot. But I'm not going to do it here. All right. All right. Well, maybe I'll see a few of you out at Wait Wake. Don't tell me. Tonight here in Salt Lake City. I am going to be hustling home early tomorrow morning, so I'll be back in the great Pacific Northwest for tomorrow's episode of tbtl. Please, if you can join us for that. In the meantime, have a great Thursday. Take care of yourselves. Welcome back, Gino. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all. Power out.