#4753 A Momentary Lapse In Dread

Summary

Podcast Summary: TBTL #4752 – A Momentary Lapse In Dread

Date: June 19, 2026
Hosts: Luke Burbank, Andrew Walsh
Guest: John Scalaro

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Episode Overview

This Friday episode of TBTL is a classic mix of affectionate goofing, cultural takes, and hyper-local color, as Luke and Andrew (joined by John Scalaro) provide listeners with a humorous, heartfelt, and digressive break from the "dread" of the outside world. The trio covers everything from the practicalities and funny politics of pet pronouns, a lively jaunt through recent Obama Center festivities, World Cup fever across the U.S., Nick’s fandom, upcoming TBTLathon logistics, and a seriously consequential debate: what to name their team frog for the Valley City Frog Jump. The episode delivers TBTL’s signature banter, memorable moments, and earnestness about finding joy and human connection in odd places.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pet Pronouns & Language Evolution

• (04:05–11:48)

• Debate about using "they/them" for pets: Andrew shares a recent Blue Sky post where someone used they/them pronouns for their cat, leading to a nuanced discussion on language, allyship, and the potential for confusion when trying to normalize preferred pronouns.
  • Andrew: "I just don't know if that's helpful in this case. If we are trying to kind of get more folks on board...applying it to cats, I don't think that there's a great argument for that." (09:22)
  • Luke: "So much of it for me just falls into the category of: I don't know, is that making my life any harder? No? Then, hey, go for it." (07:13)
  • John (joking): "I'm very heteronormative, so we call Manon Princess or Girly Pop..." (12:02)

2. Pet Songs, Taylor Swift, and Airline Music

• (12:13–14:10)

• Singing to pets: John shares about making up Taylor Swift-themed songs for his dogs, linking animal antics to the vast TayTay discography.
  • John: "For Manon, it's 'Mean' by Taylor Swift because she's so bitey...and Benny's 'Antihero' because the chorus is 'Hi, it's me, I'm the problem.'" (12:53)
• Luke on Alaska Airlines’ inflight music: "They were just doing full-on Taylor Swift. Which was totally fine, by the way. It was just—I don't think I’d heard that before." (13:25)

3. Obama Center Festivities: A Momentary Lapse In Dread

• (14:17–24:32)

• Feel-good moments: The group recounts the Obama Center celebration, emphasizing Michelle Obama’s heartfelt tribute, Barack’s emotional reaction, and performances by Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen.
  • Luke: "If you're looking to have a momentary lapse in dread, watch a lot of that stuff...particularly Michelle Obama talking about Barack Obama." (15:52)
• Relationship dynamic admiration: Michelle Obama’s authenticity and Barack’s humility are highlighted as a model for partnership.
• Contrast with current political spectacles: The loving, dignified energy of the event is contrasted with divisive contemporary politics.
  • Andrew: "The word dignified comes to mind, among other things." (23:14)

4. Life in the Green Room & TV Makeup

• (19:10–22:20)

• Luke’s adventures in TV land: Humorous stories about being mistaken for a TV guest, and the subtle pleasure of professional makeup.
  • Luke: “I really wish there was a product like my laser balding helmet, but that was a laser face makeup. I wish I could just snap my fingers and have that amount of makeup on most days.” (22:20)

5. Mariners, Red Sox, and the Dread of Road Fans

• (28:27–37:12)

• Baseball banter: Andrew prepares to see the Mariners face the Red Sox with musings on fandom, ballpark takeovers by away fans, and a sidebar about the San Antonio Spurs restricting Knicks fans from buying playoff tickets.
  • John on ticket sales: "It's their own people, because a lot of those are resale tickets...they won't even go to the games themselves." (32:04)
  • Luke: "As a Mariners fan who’s had too many games ruined by Toronto or Boston fans, it’s not the worst for a hometown team to try to…keep a balance." (31:09)
• Sports fandom identity: References to regional fan behavior, the Josh Naylor effect, and the team’s “dug on that flight” in-joke.

6. World Cup Soccer Takes America

• (34:29–45:25)

• Global energy, local joy: Andrew, as a self-proclaimed energy-vampire at parties, looks forward to the buzz in Seattle for USA vs. Australia, planning his bus trip downtown amid fan chaos.
• Heartwarming World Cup subplots: Luke delves into captivating stories like the rise of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cabo Verde, the Scottish tartan army’s beer-fueled Boston takeover, and how various U.S. cities have warmly adopted foreign teams.
  • John: "The Scots—Tartan Army—have like, drank all the beer in Boston." (39:53)
  • Luke: "The citizens of Lawrence, Kansas have absolutely enveloped the Algerian team with love." (41:00)
  • Andrew: "It's almost like the dream of that part of the city…coming alive again." (43:29)

7. TBTLathon & The Quest to Name a Frog

• (46:11–55:52)

• Key info: TBTLathon 17 will be streamed live from Valley City, Ohio, July 13–17. The crew will participate in the town's 65th annual Frog Jump and need a listener-submitted frog name.
• Frog name suggestions:
  • “Hopvicular” (Bobby Pape; disqualified for TBTL in-joke reasons)
  • “I Say, What’s Up Frog” (Susie B impression)
  • “Julio Frogriguez” (Seattle Mariners-themed)
  • “Jalapeno,” “Lurk Riverbank,” “Frog Fallaban,” “Denzel Princes,” “Splooch,” and “Mr. Ribbitz”
  • Andrew: "I unironically like Mr. Ribbitz, but just put it on the list…We don't know what's going to happen. We haven't met the frog yet." (54:24)
• Frog facts and debate about frog vs. toad.

8. Childhood, Nostalgia, and the Psychology of Empathy

• (55:52–66:49)

• Naming pets: Reminiscing on naming cats Jimmy and Alex, with the idea that sometimes you have to see the animal to know which name fits.
• Photo sharing & therapy: Childhood photos prompt talk about self-compassion and empathy—treating yourself (and even frustrating people) as you would a small child.
  • Luke: "If you're thinking negatively about yourself...you imagine yourself when you were a baby...you tend to go a little easier on yourself." (58:15)
• Andrew’s frog-touching aversion: He confesses squeamishness about frogs (despite a childhood picture with a worm) and is reassured by Luke about minimal frog-handling at the upcoming Frog Jump.

9. Mariners, The E-Line, & Meeting Listeners

• (72:07–76:33)

• Listener connections: Andrew attempts to meet bus-driver/listener Brian on Seattle’s E-Line, but is foiled by ambiguous appearances and shyness.
  • Andrew: "I did try to enter by the front doors, but the bus driver wouldn't open the front doors ... I was a little bit nervous. Do I say, are you Brian?" (74:08)
  • Banter about bus drivers wearing hot-dog suits to better identify as TBTL listeners.
• USA Soccer update: Luke shares a real-time score: "US has gone up 1–0 on Australia." (72:32)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you're looking to have a momentary lapse in dread, watch...Michelle Obama talking about Barack Obama." – Luke (15:52)
• "So much of it for me just falls into the category of: I don't know, is that making my life any harder? No? Then, hey, go for it." – Luke (07:13)
• "I'm very heteronormative, so we call Manon Princess or Girly Pop." – John (12:02)
• "As a Mariners fan who’s had too many games ruined by Toronto or Boston fans, it’s not the worst for a hometown team to try to…keep a balance." – Luke (31:09)
• "The Scots—Tartan Army—have like, drank all the beer in Boston." – John (39:53)
• "If you're thinking negatively about yourself...imagine yourself when you were a baby." – Luke (58:15)
• "I'm, I'm really grateful to get to be a part of this and get to be that in people's lives..." – Luke (25:17)
• "You could have been my Jimmy." – Andrew, on meeting a dog with the name he almost gave his cat (57:14)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Pet pronoun/grammatical debate: 04:05–11:48
• Pet names and songs: 12:13–14:10
• Obama Center event discussion: 14:17–24:32
• Makeup in TV/green room tales: 19:10–22:20
• Ballpark and sports rivalry talk: 28:27–37:12
• World Cup stories & international fans: 34:29–45:25
• Frog Jump planning & name suggestions: 46:11–55:52
• Empathy, nostalgia, childhood photos & pet names: 55:52–66:49
• Listener bus driver hunt: 72:07–76:33

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Tone, Style, and Takeaway

Warm, irreverent, and gently digressive, the episode provides laughter, nostalgia, and sharp observation, all stitched together by running bits, inside jokes, and ongoing listener participation. The result: what the hosts describe as a “momentary lapse in dread” and what listeners count on from TBTL—a little, much-needed joy and community.

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For more: Join the TBTLathon livestream July 13–17, and keep sending those frog name ideas!

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Power Out.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

For years, TBTL has been delighting audiences worldwide.

That's so good.

Now imagine actually owning the most memorable moments from this unforgettable show. It's some.

It's a meme. Ish.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a meme. I actually couldn't think of the word meme for a second. I could only think of the word dank. Weird.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, now you can. With the TBTL greatest hits album.

That is like. That is a joke on top of a joke on top of a joke.

You will laugh out loud at Luke and Andrew's patented humor.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have. I'm easily. I don't. Hmm. Do you follow?

[Luke Burbank]

Perch on the edge of your seat as they describe their adventures.

I made soup, Andrew. I made soup.

And feel your eyes fill with tears as they open their hearts.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, wow. It didn't seem sad until you put those words in that order.

[Luke Burbank]

This handsome vinyl album can be yours, but only if you act now, as it's sure to sell out.

Hit me. I need the money.

Call 206-414-TBTL to get your copy of this instant classic bada boom. That's 206-414-80285.

It's just all farts.

Get yours today.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tbtm.

[Luke Burbank]

Guess what day it is.

[John Scalaro]

Guess what day it is.

[Luke Burbank]

It's Friday.

Friday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Gonna get down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend.

[Luke Burbank]

What you been up to lately?

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm trying to be a better person. I still have a few evil tasks I gotta do, though.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, there's that fine line between, you know, showing emotion and being a hot dog.

[Andrew Walsh]

The comedy factor speaks for itself. It's just painfully obvious. Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

It's an unfulfilled prophecy. It just has to be played out. Oh, what a fun way to say a normal thing, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Www.this and www.that.

[Luke Burbank]

let's www.all right. Hello, good morning, and welcome, everyone, to a Friday edition of tbtl, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Andrew Walsh]

They've never touched anything in their lives.

[Luke Burbank]

Let them touch those things for once. My name's Luke Burbank. I'm your host. They've got two ears, and they're tuned to the listening station coming to you from the Madrona Hill studio, perched high above the mighty Columbia. Bring it back home, baby. Bring it back home. So nice to be back here in my home environment. I woke up in New York City very early this morning and got on an airplane and flew out here. And here we are, looking out at just an absolutely gorgeous Friday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, ma Pa.

[Luke Burbank]

It's just beautiful. As we've arrived, my friends, at episode 4752 in a collector series, Let the fun begin. In New York City last night was watching our friend, television's Chris Hayes make his television show all in on Ms. Now. And I was waiting for him in hair and makeup. Politician walked by and I fist bumped them.

[Andrew Walsh]

For some reason, I wish I hadn't done that.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't really know. I think I just panicked or something. I don't know. We could talk about that. Also, we've got, of course, the TBTLathon 17 Jumping for Joy coming up July 13th through the 17th in Valley City, Ohio. And we are going to be taking part in the Valley City Frog jump. But we need to figure out the name for our frog and we have got a list of submissions from the listeners. Oh, hey, y' all said my name. Which we will go through here. Kind of see where we're at with that stuff. This guy's got a name. It's Andrew Walsh, which is obviously pretty obvious to those of you listening to the show. Just study it out and you'll see. But did you also know that he's the longest running cobra of the program, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships and that he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend can just keep ending every statement like it's a question to you, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Luke, how do you feel about Mr. Ribbit? I like Mr. Ribbit as a frog name. If it's a, if you know, if it fits a boy, it's a boy.

[Luke Burbank]

Did I hear you pausing there because you didn't know if Mr. Ribbitz is actually a boy frog name. And also, if we talk about frogs in that way anymore, if we assume that a quote unquote boy frog will be Mr. Ribbitz, but a woman frog, a female frog, couldn't be Mr. Ribbets.

[Andrew Walsh]

I actually do think you're right. Mr. Ribbitz works either way. I was thinking, well, yeah, I mean, if we have a girl frog, we wouldn't name her Mr. Ribbitz. But I actually think Mr. Ribbitz works across the board. I am thinking, and I don't think this is the right time to have this conversation right at the beginning of the show. I am thinking about something that I saw on Blue sky recently that really got in my head, which is actually more of a serious conversation because I think that this person is doing something foolish in referring to her cat with they them pronouns. Oh, interesting. That was something that I saw in Blue sky. And I realized that she was engaging in a conversation about her cat and somebody wanted to talk to her about her cat. Now, the stranger online didn't know the gender of the cat, I'm assuming. So they just said, you know, oh, is that their favorite toy? Or something like that? I think that's great. I think for language we need to embrace that more and make it a little bit less awkward just grammatically speaking, because traditionally that is not how we speak. I think, oh, oh, is that their favorite toy? Like that makes total sense to me. But then when the person responded, the person who lives with the cat and presumably knows the gender of the cat continue to use they. Them pronouns. I sort of felt like this was a well meaning person who is potentially doing damage to the cause of using. Of using preferred pronouns. Humans for using. Exactly. I felt like, yes. I feel like you're taking the lesson to a place that makes it more difficult to explain to people why this is important when we're talking about human beings. Is that a. Is that a.

[Luke Burbank]

You could definitely, well understand a way

[Andrew Walsh]

for me to put it.

[Luke Burbank]

Definitely be giving. You could be giving the wrong people some ammo.

[Andrew Walsh]

That as well.

[Luke Burbank]

That way that's even more of a direct to me. It's like where I tend to fall. Oh, by the way, we do have somebody else who's on the show today.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wait, he's leaving the room for some reason.

[Luke Burbank]

Wait, where's he going? He doesn't want to talk about.

[Andrew Walsh]

Come back.

[Luke Burbank]

Hey, pet pronouns. He's John Scalaro. Hey, Romano. He's our TBTB brother and TBTL employee numero uno. Welcome to the show, John. Yeah.

[John Scalaro]

Hey, this is the exact conversation I want to walk in on.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is the beginning of the show too. This isn't like we're burying it in the badlands. Let's just. The music is still underneath us.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, where I have landed on so many things around stuff having to do with gender and pronouns and just like choices that people make about their lives and how to express themselves. So much of it for me just falls into the category of like, I don't know, is that, is that making my life any harder?

[John Scalaro]

No.

[Luke Burbank]

Then, hey, go for it. That's just like when I bump up against anything I don't understand, I generally just think, well, that's not impacting me, whether it's trans swimmers or you name it, you know, but so on the

[Andrew Walsh]

one hand, respectable sport, Luke. That's all I'm saying. Like we just.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, it was when I was Writing about it for the University of Washington Daily. That was my beat. Okay, Andrew, I know. I know a little bit about college swimming, but. So on the one hand, do I know the answer as to whether pets have, let's say, sort of different. Is there a spectrum of pet gender that I can identify? I don't know if I can. Does it mess with my life if someone is referring to their pet using they. Them pronouns? Absolutely not. Does not hurt me. But it is the kind of thing that will end up in the New York Post. And so just a thought, maybe a strategic thought that the one, you know, the unintended downstream effect of that could be if the New York Post finds. If Kristin Fleming finds out that someone is, you know, is describing their cat as having they. Them pronouns that could help them easily write a column. And I don't wanna make their life any easier, but that's just me.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I'm with you on that. I hadn't thought about it in that way. That's a more precise critic, I think.

[Luke Burbank]

And my blazer today.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I noticed.

[Luke Burbank]

I came here to be precise. You know, why I'm wearing this? I ran out of clothes. These are the only clean clothes I had at the end of my trip.

[Andrew Walsh]

But, yeah. And for me, it's just sort of like. It is like, for those who maybe don't. Are not as familiar with the show, maybe dipping in to listen like you. And I strongly believe in using people's preferred pronouns always. And talking to and about and with people the way that they ask us to is incredibly important to me. So therefore, my. And again, this was not somebody who was trying to make a big thing of it. It was just like a conversation about a cat. And I just happened to notice that. And this is also a person who I follow, who I've never met in real life before, but we joke around together during Mariners games. She's a Mariners fan. Like, she's somebody who I basically is like, sort of like, I only know her through blue sky. And I think of her as a seemingly very good person who. These causes are also very important too. But that was one where I was like, huh. I just don't know if that's helpful in this case. If we are trying to kind of get everybody. Get more folks on board with the idea of. Of, you know, engaging in these ways with our. Our fellow brothers and sisters out there. If you're applying it to cats, I don't think that there's a great argument for that. Maybe I'm totally dumb about this. Maybe somebody can write in and tell me why. Why I'm off base, especially as somebody who would be described more as an ally. If anything, I just was sort of like, I don't know about this one, my friend.

[Luke Burbank]

It would be difficult. My question would be how would the pet indic their gender identity in really any direction other than the physical?

[Andrew Walsh]

I think. I guess maybe the argument could be what I started by saying, which is there. Aside from the social aspect of this. There is the straight up grammatical issue of this, like, built into our language. We don't have a genderless singular pronoun. Right. Is that how you would put it? Or third person pronoun or whatever it is, except for they, which then becomes plural. Like it actually is a grammatical issue too, that I think some people just maybe struggle with. And so maybe by just kind of generally speaking of people when specificity isn't necessary, just being comfortable by saying, oh yeah, that's their favorite toy. I guess there's no harm in that from a language.

[Luke Burbank]

I think we actually do that. I think you and I kind of have started to default to that a bit on the like dazzling donor messages and things if somebody maybe doesn't specify their gender or if the name isn't a really clear indicator. And yeah, it's honestly a lot easier to just kind of not have to guess at that or to just make sure that you're not accidentally misgendering someone or whatever. So yeah, I think a little more just the default setting be like that's that like for instance, Bubbles. If Bubbles is doing something with Holly, I could say that's their favorite part of Holly's butt to lick.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Because that's. And. And now we're getting into a other category which is. Are Holly and Bubbles domestic partners? Because I can tell you their lovemaking is furious and obvious and enviable.

[Andrew Walsh]

Enviable, would you say?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, you'd have to ask Becca about that. I certainly envy it. They are certainly. It is a bacchanal down there with those two, let me just tell you. So what do you think the gender of your dogs are, John?

[John Scalaro]

Well, actually, you know, I'm very heteronormative, so I call. We call Manon Princess or Girly Pop

[Luke Burbank]

is the one that gets.

[John Scalaro]

And I exclusively dress her in pink clothing, to be very clear.

[Luke Burbank]

Absolutely. And Benny is the.

[John Scalaro]

The man of the house when I'm not around, you know, so that's.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you have any songs. Have you and. Or Jess. Have you guys. Do you have any improvised songs that you sing. Remember we did a whole episode about this songs people sing to their pets. I don't think I've ever had a pet that I didn't. Without ever intending to just somehow start singing absolutely lunatic songs to.

[John Scalaro]

With Thor and Modi, we used to kind of like have these little. Like, he's such a great guy, like with a little tune. But now with these two, this will be to no surprise to either of you. We kind of just sing Taylor Swift songs at them because they each have songs like from. Like for Manon, it's mean by Taylor

[Luke Burbank]

Swift because she's so bitey and okay, I Gotcha.

[John Scalaro]

And Benny's antihero because the choruses. Hi, it's me. I'm the problem.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh yeah.

[John Scalaro]

Like we. He's my favorite guy. I love him more than anything. But like he so often will choose to be naughty when he doesn't need to be.

[Luke Burbank]

I see. So there's. Luckily there are. And there are over 20,000 Taylor Swift songs. So anything. Anything the dogs are doing can be accurately described by way of the lyrics of a Taylor Swift song.

[John Scalaro]

It's like a Simpsons episode. Like there's always a reference for it.

[Luke Burbank]

They decided on my Alaska Airlines flight this morning at 5am or whatever at Newark that they were just going all Taylor Swift as we were sitting on the plane. Alaska Airlines decided at some point, I don't know how long ago, a couple years ago, that they were going to play maybe because they're based out of Seattle and they think of Seattle as being kind of an indie music hotbed. I don't know if you have noticed this, Andrew flying on Alaska, but they play a lot of actually, generally speaking, kind of cool indie music that you don't expect to hear on a major airline as the like while you're waiting around to take off music as opposed. Opposed to just like real kind of top 40 radio stuff. And I don't know if it's at the discretion of the flight attendants or what, but this morning they were just like, we're just doing full on Taylor Swift. Which was totally fine, by the way. It was just. I don't think I'd heard that before.

[Andrew Walsh]

Last time I was on, it was all.

[John Scalaro]

And then Bill Simmons walked through.

[Andrew Walsh]

And then Bill Simmons walked.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, were you at the. Were you at the ceremony for the Obama Center? I don't know if y' all watched any of that stuff from yesterday, the. The kind of big event there to christen the Obama center in Chicago, but I'm telling you, Michelle Obama got up and started talking about Barack Obama. And she said, I'm gonna need you to look at me for this. And he said, absolutely not.

[Andrew Walsh]

Cause he knew he would cry.

[Luke Burbank]

Yep.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my God, I love their looks.

[Luke Burbank]

When I tell you it was a little dusty in that hotel room in New York when I was just watching. Oh my gosh, the love between them and the fact that he can't listen. I cried yesterday talking about people playing pickup basketball. So I don't need to do that again today. But it was adorable. If anyone's looking to just, I don't know, feel really have a momentary. A momentary lapse in dread, just unpack that. As I said that advisedly. If you're looking to have a momentary lapse in dread, watch a lot of that stuff. But particularly Michelle Obama talking about Barack Obama. Because the thing that's so interesting about their relationship, as far as I can observe it, is that they love and respect each other deeply. I think they also probably are pretty comfortable calling each other out behind closed doors on their stuff. It is not a relationship where you get the sense that Michelle Obama sees her job as to constantly gas Barack Obama up, both in public and in private. So when she says, I'm gonna talk about you and I'm gonna say, I'm gonna talk about some of the stuff you've done, I need you to look at me. And he just, he's staring at the ground.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I'm. I'm familiar with the energy in a relationship when somebody is not necessarily there to gas you up all the time, certainly.

[Luke Burbank]

Right. Well, all you have to do is become a two time president who, okay, you know, broke a lot of barriers. And then one day, the other thing was, Eddie Vedder was one of the many performers there because it was kind of, you know, it was music, it was. It was people sort of giving speeches about, about Barack Obama and his legacy and Michelle Obama too. Cause obviously they were a team. But I thought Evetta was actually kind of charming a guy that gets a lot of grief on this show just because of the, you know, the Vetter cup.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the Vetter cup gets grief. I don't, I don't blame him for the Vetter cup, to be clear.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't either. And it's like he's. I think Eddie Vedder is a force for good in the world. Very much so, as evidenced by yesterday.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think he's just going along and getting along with it. I mean, he's a Cubs fan, like, that's the idea.

[Luke Burbank]

But he's up There. And what he. His. His sort of musical contribution was he got together with a bunch of young people in Chicago, a bunch of youth, and they sort of collaborated to write a song. And he said, when I told the president, I'm not gonna do. I don't have an Eddie. Better impression. Australian accent. When I told. Basically he said, like, when I told the president. When I told President Obama the plan for this song, how I was gonna write it with a bunch of young people, and we're gonna collaborate on it, he said, that sounds like a lot of work. And like many things, the president was right. He was like. But it was a good outcome. I thought it was really. The whole thing was just really sweet.

[John Scalaro]

Did Barack Obama's podcast co host Bruce Springsteen also perform? I'm surprised.

[Luke Burbank]

Sure did.

[John Scalaro]

Okay. I would be shocked if he did.

[Luke Burbank]

He surely did. And I don't. You could say it's cute or an affectation, but I find it charming. He got up there and he said, I'm Bruce. Like, he introduced himself to the crowd. He wasn't doing it in a way where he was like, I'm being hilarious. I think he's. I think he's a guy who's probably just internalized enough bonhomie that you have to have if you're Bruce Springsteen. Like, you're either gonna just become insufferable or you're gonna have to find some inner reservoir of normalcy that you tap into a hundred thousand times a day. Because every. It's sort of McCartney level. Every time you're meeting someone, it's blowing their mind that they're in the same room as you. And like, what is that? How does that warp everything around you? So he's. He's very. Bruce Springsteen was. Was very. As you might imagine, it was charming and humble and very supportive of the president. And he played. He played one of his newer songs, like Land of Hope and Dreams, I think, or something. But it was just. I was. I was in the green room at Chris's show yesterday, just watching. Although it was funny because I was coming from having done some CBS commentaries. So I had this blazer on, actually, and I think I was still. I looked vaguely like a person who might be allowed to be on television. And they. Everyone thought, other than Chris, obviously thought I was a guest on Chris's show because I'm being ushered through security. Hair and makeup has two different people from hair and makeup said, okay, you ready to come over? I was like, no, no, no. I'm just here to. I'm just Here to watch.

[Andrew Walsh]

And they're like, I know, but still, brother.

[Luke Burbank]

But still. We've had some requests. Can we do anything? Can we do, like, a smoky lid? What can. To make you look. Not the way you look right now, sir.

[Andrew Walsh]

We don't want you looking like that in the audience. No, you look. You look nice. We tease.

[Luke Burbank]

The wild thing is. The wild thing is that when I go do this. The stuff at cbs, they do have hair and makeup in. Only when I'm at what's called the broadcast center and I'm doing these commentaries, which is me sitting in front of a green screen and then, like, reading off a teleprompter. That's the only time I get hair and makeup. The rest of the time, I'm out in the. The wilds of America, just kind of pasting on makeup myself. That's not. I don't really know what I'm doing. But it's very nice to go to the broadcast center because they really do a very nice, professional hair and makeup person. Kind of makes you look more presentable. And usually when you're leaving after that, they'll hand you some kind of, like, wet wipes and say, oh, here's for getting the makeup off. And one day I didn't get that, or they didn't hand it to me. And I was just wearing the makeup all day, and it felt nice. Actually, I caught a reflection in the lift. I was like, hey, why do I look a little better right now? It's like, oh, because I'm wearing makeup. And so now my move is I don't ever take the makeup. I mean, it's very light. It's not like, caked on anyway. It's pretty. It's pretty subtle. But I now do not take them. And I'm a little sad the next day when I wake up and the makeup is all on the pillowcase. Because I kind of don't. I wish there was Burbank. That's right. And someday they'll build an entire religion around it. I feel like. I wish that there was a. That amount of makeup that I could wear most days. And again, I can't. I can't overstate how I Sometimes when you're doing television, well, you know, I've heard and I've seen, maybe even experienced myself sometimes they can go on really, really heavy. And it looks kind of. It's pretty noticeable if you're not in front of the TV lights for whatever reason. The woman, Leah, who does the makeup for the CBS Sunday Morning stuff is very understated with it, so you wouldn't even really notice. I don't have, like those kind of Donald Trump esque, like, real clear divisions of where the, like, makeup is on and then it's not on your neck, but it's on up here. Whatever's going on, it's much more subtle. And I really wish that there was. There was a product like my laser balding helmet, but that was a laser face makeup. I wish I could just like snap my fingers and have that amount of makeup on most days for moving through the world, but I'm not. I'm not gonna take the time to learn how to do it. So I guess I'll just have to take that as my little couple times a year treat in New York when I get to look pretty for a whole afternoon. That being said, when I was at Chris's show at their new offices, by the way, they've moved out of 30 Rock. They're over in the old New York Times building. I was in the green room with Jelani Cobb, who's the writer for the New Yorker and the dean of the Columbia Journalism School. And I'm a big fan of his work. Have been a big fan of his New Yorker writing for years. And he was on Chris's show. Unlike me, he was an actual guest on the show. But we had like a lot of time to kill waiting for the show to start and waiting for Chris to get done with some stuff. And they have a TV and they were just showing all the highlights. The reason I know as much about what happened at the Obama center is cause we were watching it there together and I had a lot of things I wanted to talk about with Jelani Cobb, just as a fan. But I also felt like, I don't know if he needs that in his life. He was nice, he was conversational. He wasn't like, I could tell he wasn't looking to make a new friend. But also, he was certainly not being brusque with me. But I just. The one thing I said was, I was like, after we watched the obama stuff for 10 minutes, I was like, this is the. And I think I might have said, oh, you know what? Maybe I had workshopped this on our show, Andrew. And then I was trying it out again with Jelani Cobb, which was much like when I saw all those people in New York just playing sports together and hanging out and having a very multicultural experience. I said, that's the opposite of what happened on the White House lawn with the ufc. The Barack Obama stuff. The Obama center stuff was. It just could not have been more opposite in energy from. With the UFC thing on the White House front lawn. I mean, you just could not have had a more different vibe. It just really jumped out at me because of how different it was.

[Andrew Walsh]

The word dignified comes to mind, among other things.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes, without a doubt. Dignified, hopeful, loving, supportive. And not in a. But not in like some kind of, like, way that conveys weakness either. I mean, one of the things about when you hear Barack Obama talk, I always find so impressive is that he talked a lot about. Because everybody's always looking. Everybody from our side of things is always looking to him for, like, what do we do, dad? Like, you were like pretty much the last adult in the room. I mean, I guess maybe Joe Biden, but like, it's sort of like, what's Brock think about this? Because he just seems like he kind of has the answers. And so when he gives a speech, it's always like, well, is he gonna finally just like unload on Trump? And he seems to strike, I think, a pretty effective tone. And he was talking about basically just the way that we need to. He talks about the ways that we need to connect with each other, but it doesn't sound corny for some reason. It doesn't sound naive. It doesn't sound like he doesn't. I mean, holy smokes, this is a real left turn. But there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 vintage airplanes flying in formation over my house.

[Andrew Walsh]

Whoa.

[Luke Burbank]

Tight formation. They must be on the radar.

[Andrew Walsh]

There must be an air show or something. Whoa. I mean, that's fun.

[Luke Burbank]

You'd like this too, Andrew, because I'm indoors, I'm not on a roof.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

It's all of the upside.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Keep in mind, there's airplanes that got me on a roof. There are a few things that will even get me right to begin with.

[Luke Burbank]

Anyway, it was. If you're looking for. If you're looking for a little pick me up on. If TBTL is not providing with your daily recommended dose of pick me up on this Friday and you haven't checked it out, check out the. The Obama center festivities from yesterday. I think it's open to the public today. Or maybe open to the special public today. I think this is the first time people are walking through it today too.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I just say, though, when you were saying that about the ceremony yesterday, I was thinking that is not the worst. I mean, not to put ourselves on a pedestal, but that is not the worst guiding principle of TBTL either. A brief respite from the dread or whatever you said before. People say it.

[Luke Burbank]

People say it a lot in their messages, their donor messages, that this is a little break from all of that for folks. So I am, you know, as I often say, that's. I'm. I'm really grateful to get to be a part of this and get to be that in people's lives, because when we get to see again. I got back to the hotel room, and I was watching more of it, and I was texting with Becca, and I was just like, this is kind of, like, what I needed as my final thought going into my sleep. Yeah, I just need. I need a few things that make me not feel completely sad about the world. Now, the thing I did that was. I don't even. I'm not trying to make this a. A conversation about politics, but, like, as we were waiting in the kind of, like, lobby area before we went into the inner sanctum of Ms. Now, which is technically, the company is called Versant, as in to be conversant, but who has time for the co. Yeah, right.

[Andrew Walsh]

We took the cons out of conversant.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I. It's like. It's like conversant, but all pros. Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that sound. Now that. Now, do not take Proversant if you're allergic to Proversant.

[John Scalaro]

Yes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

But I'm standing around. I'm waiting with the intern for the show who had gone and gotten me down from security and brought me up. And we're standing there, and all of a sudden there's, like, a door opens, and like, 11 people walk out, many of them Secret Service. And in the middle of them is Chuck Schumer. And he's. And he goes, hello, everyone.

Hi.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello.

[Luke Burbank]

It's like, oh, I forgot. Cause I don't do politics stuff anymore. I forgot what it's like to be around the energy of someone who's like, the Senate Minority leader, I guess. And, like, just because I used to spend a bunch of time at Congress, not a bunch of time. I spent some time at Congress. And, like, Charles Schumer doesn't. He doesn't know anyone in that room. He, frankly, probably doesn't care to know anyone in that room. But he knows that he's Chuck Schumer. And when he enters the room, it's noticeable. Hi, everyone. Hi. And he gets closer to me, and he's like, hi. And I don't know if he wants to shake my hand or something. So I. But then there's Secret Service, and I don't want to lunge toward him. But I think maybe he's trying because I'm in the blazer. I still have the CBS makeup on. Maybe he thinks I worked there as one of the hosts he hasn't met. So I kind of. He kind of reaches out and I kind of do it. So I, like. I fist bump him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but he's coming to you, though. Like, is he sort of going down the line a little bit?

[Luke Burbank]

Ish. It would. I mean, I would say it was. I think also I wanted to just seem important, like, I'm the kind of person who fist bumps Chuck Schumer. Although there's a lot of stuff that I feel like I wish he would have handled differently as far as the orientation of Senate. Senate Democrats. But I. But also, I'm not going to leave a guy hanging if I think he's coming in for the. For the. For the fist bump, for the handshake, for the. Whatever. Also, I guess maybe I just wanted to tell you guys that I did it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't know.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm still. I'm really unsure about a lot of fist bumped back.

[Andrew Walsh]

And security didn't tackle you because you showed your fist?

[Luke Burbank]

No, I. In my mind, oddly enough, I thought that was me indicating that I. I come in peace somehow. I don't know. I thought, like, making a clear demonstration of, like, this seems, I don't know, less weird than I'm reaching for him in some way. Like, I thought closed fist signaled that I. I didn't have a weapon.

[Andrew Walsh]

I like to clank swords with my friend.

[Luke Burbank]

And so are the Mariners doing that? What is the Mariners doing Sully right now? Andrew, have you noticed they're, like. It feels like they're throwing crap. Like, watch this. I know you're going to the game.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, like, when they reach first, like, what Cal does, he kind of like, he's throwing craps.

[Luke Burbank]

Dice. He's, like, throwing something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure what that is all about either.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, we know Kenzone has his. Dominican has his. Like, that's a spicy meatball.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Chef's kiss.

[Luke Burbank]

Italian kiss, but Italian. Like, I'm talking with my hands. Italian kind of emoji, but, like, yeah, Cal's doing. And then I think Emerson. Wait, who's the. Who's the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Colt Emerson.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. The cult of personality.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm just gonna keep hammering that joke. Colt Emerson, he's got one, too, where I think he, like, throws something. I don't know what they're doing, but maybe if you can get eyes on that tonight. Up close and personal.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, ironically, it's probably better on. You probably see it better on broadcast,

[Luke Burbank]

but that's a good point.

[Andrew Walsh]

But I will keep an eye out for that or.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, hey, on the subject of big weekend plans.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Count as some of yours.

Right.

I'm gonna be going to the game today.

[Andrew Walsh]

Big weekend. The biggest one I've ever had.

[Luke Burbank]

Big weekend.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm both excited and a little nervous, which is often how I go into the weekends, I think, no matter what's on the agenda. But yeah, I did mention to you that I'm going to the Mariners game tonight and it's gonna be a bigger than usual Mariners crowd anyway because they're playing the Boston Red Sox. So that tends to. That tends to draw sort of a. A national fan base.

[Luke Burbank]

Kind of a low key, understated fan base.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, right, exactly. And so they do have a tendency, those Boston fans, to sort of take over the majority of the park, at least in years past. But there's a lot of energy around the Mariners now, so hopefully we will continue to represent it. And if you're listening on the radio, hopefully it will still sound like a home game, which is irritating when the, The. Well, the games out of Seattle sound like they're in New York. What were you gonna say?

[John Scalaro]

The Red Sox are pretty dreadful this year, too, so.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's true. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't. They are. Oh, yeah. And, boy, I don't hate seeing that at all. Dustin Pedroia is zinning in his grave somewhere. He's not dead. But I was gonna say, I don't want to go back into Nick's talk. And I feel like I can say this to you, John, because your Knicks prevailed and, you know, you're very happy. Everybody, Nick stands worldwide are happy. I want to say I don't necessarily think it's not okay for the San Antonio spurs to try to keep their home game not becoming a 51%, 49% Knicks fans event. You said that they were doing everything in their power to be unlikable because there was a rumor and by the way.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

The sideline had Shabla, Doobie and Spike Lee on it. Right. So they got there. But I just feel like as a Mariners fan who's had too many Mariners games ruined because there's more people from Toronto or Boston there. I do think it is not the worst for the hometown team to try to, particularly for a playoff, for a finals game, try to keep a balance where it's not going to actually be, because New York City has a lot of money.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Have you heard about my banker? No. New York City has a lot of super fans with a lot of resources who would be. If allowed to. And maybe who couldn't get. That was one of the other big narratives. Right. It was cheaper to, like, fly to San Antonio. I understand. Listen, if I was a Knicks fan, that would also tick me off. But when I saw that and I read a little more about it, I was like, well, I kind of. A little bit from my own PTSD as a Mariners fan, kind of understand where San Antonio is.

[John Scalaro]

So a couple things. A couple things. One, it's their own people, because a lot of those are resale tickets. So people in Texas who, like own season holders are the ones that are selling. So it's like they won't even go to the games themselves. Right. That's number one.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, no, maybe they're just trying to make a little bit of money in this. In this world, and they're not.

[John Scalaro]

I mean, it's the finals. You got to go the game. That's not our fault that your. Your. Your ticket holders care more about making money than going to the game. That's not our fault.

[Luke Burbank]

I think. Well, anyway, I've. I've said what I said, but I just.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just feel like it's worth noting that, like, the New York Knicks ownership has a very, like, laissez faire attitude about who comes and goes into their stadium.

[Luke Burbank]

Kills it at. And kills it at parade speeches.

How about.

[Andrew Walsh]

Listen, listen.

[John Scalaro]

I am in no way ever going to be defending James Dolan. If James Dolan has no haters, I am dead. Because that man has been public enemy number one New York for decades and deserves to be still. But, like, I just.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I get it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I think it's a matter. I think what it is, is it's like so many things. It's like Josh Naylor. We'll call it the Josh. We'll call it the Josh Naylor effect. When somebody is. When. When. When something is personal to you or your team. Like, we love Josh Naylor, even though if I was another team, I would probably find him very annoying. If I were a Knicks fan, I would find it annoying that the spurs were trying to keep their thumb on the scale. But as a non. You know, as a. As a. As a person who doesn't have much of a dug on that flight, I, by the way, caught Chris Hayes last night. We were having a little drink after the show, and he started to say something. He said, well, I don't have a d. I Don't have a Doug on that flight.

[Andrew Walsh]

Thank you. It's working nice.

[Luke Burbank]

We've broken through the highest echelons of the major media in this country. But anyway, Andrew, back to your big weekend plan. You're going to see the Mariners with the Boston Red Sox. Crazy day down there.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. The game, anyway, would be one of those games where I'd be like, oh, my God, this is going to be a very, very crowded event, which, you know, I love going to Mariners games, but I actually prefer the ones that are like, you know, maybe a day game, maybe it's like, you know, you don't have to wait four hours for a hot dog or what have you. But there's going to be obvious a very packed arena, but even getting down there is going to be a little bit nuts. I'm, I'm excited for it, though, because the World cup, the game, the second game that's being played in Seattle is being played today. In fact, as we record is going to be starting here in a little bit. I think that starts at noon and it's us. It's Team usa, right, versus Australia. So.

[Luke Burbank]

And Christian Pulisic is not. I've become a full on World cup head, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know. I was just telling these. I know nothing. The fact that like, if a team loses as it automatic elimination, I'm not

[Luke Burbank]

that into it that I know the

[John Scalaro]

answer to that now. Right now they're in pool play, which is like you have the four teams in your pool and they all play each other. Then there's like a point system based on how you do and then from there they go to like the bracket.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[John Scalaro]

More traditional tournament.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's my understanding.

[Luke Burbank]

I think you're right about that. But yeah, it's us. Australia and us actually did really well in their first match. So I think that the thought was they weren't going to be very competitive this time around, but they won their first match. And so it's like now they're playing Australia today and it's like, could they, you know, could they be a sleeper hit of this World Cup? And so anyway, yeah, I'm pretty. I'm weirdly into this. Like, yeah, we're recording here about 20 minutes before kickoff and I just saw the headline that Christian Pulisic, who's like our best player, is not going to play this game, which I'm. I never thought I would be that bummed about World cup soccer news, but I'm kind of bummed about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I haven't really been following the Games at all. I know nothing about what's going on with the World cup, but I have been following kind of the buzz in the city. And I do love just, you know me. I don't bring energy to a party, but I like drafting off of other people's energy, and that's kind of how I am in the city right now. I do love the idea of going down there. I was looking for the line so I could quote it to you here, and I can't quite find it because there's been a lot of coverage of this. But in the Seattle Times yesterday, they had another piece about, like, you know, if you're going to one of these matches or any event, you that stadium area or downtown this weekend, like, here's what you need to know, or here's some advice on travel or whatever. And it said, you know, getting to the stadium or something. It said, first of all, if you plan on driving. No, you're not. It's like, great. Cause they're just closing down tons of streets and everything. But also the light rail, which, you know, is sometimes how I get down there. I heard it's just. You can be just hours of waiting before you can even leave the stadium area after the matches. It's been, like, incredibly busy, but that's where I very thankful for. Say it with me, boys. The E Line. That's right. I will be hopping on the E Line and taking that as far into Pioneer Square as possible. And I am expecting it just to be electric down there. I'm pretty excited to kind of get eyes on all of this.

[Luke Burbank]

Are you a World cup guy, John? You obviously know more about it than I did. You know that what pool play looks like?

[John Scalaro]

No, like, if it's on a place, like if I'm at a bar or if I'm at somebody's house and it's on, I'll, like. I'll watch, but I don't seek it out in any way. And I've definitely been distracted this last week with more important sports.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, sure, that's a good point.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You've had your hands full. I've been getting into just, like. I've been really excited about some of these teams from Africa that have been like, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been, you know, they had a draw, I believe, and they scored their first goal ever in World cup competition. The last time they went. Mobutu was the dictator of what was then called Zaire, and basically, like, told all these players, you know, like, when they qualify for the World cup, that they were going to be showered with, with, with all these riches and gifts for like, you know, honoring Zaire when they got over to the. And they were really, you know, they were kind of outmatched with some of these teams that had much more funding and professional players. And none of these players were allowed to leave Zaire and play professionally other places. So most of them had day jobs and they're losing these matches terribly. And then they're hearing from, from the Mobutu people that actually they might get killed when they get home. Like, and they're just like, you know, they've gone from being the heroes of Zaire to now being like, you know, like this is their fault somehow, even though they're playing their absolute hardest. Anyway, it was like a really traumatic time for. There was a big story in the Athletic about this is why I'm top of mind. So when they finally get back to the World cup as the Democratic Republic of Congo and then they have this like, I believe. No, I'm sorry. Cabo Verde was the, was the team that has this goalkeeper. So Cabo Verde, this other team from Africa that's like playing. Is it. They're playing a team that is one of the, Is it Spain maybe they're playing a team that's considered one of the like potential favorites to win the whole thing. So you have Cabo Verde, which I think we used to call Cape Verde and now we're calling it Cabo Verde, although I'm seeing it sometimes as Cape Verde. I'm not a geography whiz. But anyway, they go into this game, this was their first match, I should say, where they have like, no, they're considered to have no chance of winning and their goalkeeper single handedly keeps them in the match with like, like 15 of the coolest saves you've ever seen in your life. Now he's a national hero. He's got 12 million followers on Instagram. His mom wasn't able to come to the first match because of, I don't know if it was either finances or paperwork. But now she's going to get to see him play because he's become the sensation of the world up. Just like plot lines like that have really got me kind of into this and then I'm just a good old fashioned basic be America lover who would love to see the American team make a run. So yeah, I'm, I'm pretty intrigued by this whole thing.

[John Scalaro]

Something else I've been seeing, I will say that's gotten into like that I'm really loving is on tick tock. Apparently the Scottish oh my. Invaded Boston and it's like become this whole thing where the Scots and the Bostonians are like hitting it off and

[Luke Burbank]

like they love each other.

[John Scalaro]

Scotland. The Scots, like, they call them the tartan army. Tartan army. And they've like drank all the beer in Boston. And just something else they're doing is they're putting.

[Luke Burbank]

Which is how you get respect in Boston. You walk up to the biggest beer keg and you beat it up.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tap that.

[Luke Burbank]

That's how you. That's how you make your. Your presence known.

[John Scalaro]

They apparently a thing they're doing is they're walking around Boston and putting like traffic cones on all the statues heads. And Boston, of course, has like a thousand statues. So they're just going all around the city. So that's been fun. Like, if I'm scrolling on the ticky talk, like that'll make its way into my feed.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I saw a guy, somebody works for the Parks department of Boston who was complimenting the Scots on how much they can drink and also how much they picked up after themselves.

[John Scalaro]

Oh, that's lovely.

[Luke Burbank]

He was like, this is one. He's like, it's just me. And I actually goes, this wasn't too bad. These guys, you know, they're like, they're standing on business. He goes, I don't know if they had. He goes, these guys were thirsty. I don't know if they have water in Scotland. I don't know what the deal is. I've never seen people drink this way. But also they did clean up after themselves, so I'll give them that. Have you seen the stuff coming out of Lawrence, Kansas though? If you want to get back. If we want to get back on the Hope Train? Different cities and towns in America have become kind of the adopted hometowns of some of these teams. And the team from Algeria is been staying. They've been practicing in Lawrence, Kansas. And the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas have absolutely enveloped the Algerian team with love. I can't find the video. I really wish I could, but there is this one news clip of this guy and you know, I don't want to stereotype or anything like that, but like, he's an older white guy that. Let's just say if I saw him unfortunately, like at a MAGA rally, I would be unshocked. Right. And he is just so flipping excited about the Algerians choosing Lawrence, Kansas. He's just effusive and he's just like, I just, I'm just so proud they Wanted to come here. I'm just so excited they're here. Like, so that's also been, like, a really fun, you know, a fun kind of subplot of this whole thing has been this international, I guess you could say, cooperation and embrace of folks from other places, which, as we all know, is in short supply.

[Andrew Walsh]

Am I right that the Belgians have taken over Dallas? Is that right? I saw some huge crowds, and I wanted to see.

[Luke Burbank]

They're making everyone put mayonnaise on their French fries.

[Andrew Walsh]

Because I did see somebody sort of snarkily saying, like, boy, this is a team. You know, some sort. They're sort of dunking on the Cowboys franchise and, like, kind of where excitement is around that team versus, like, all the. I want to say, Belgians. I know. It was just like an absolute sea of bright yellow. Is it kits. Is that what the jerseys are called? Kids? Just like. Just an absolute sea of them all. Just an undulating mass of humanity all pushing in the same direction. You know what I mean? Spiritually or energetically wise. And I just. I don't know. There is something about that. And so. And, like, I'm seeing scenes. I don't think we have that type of energy in Seattle, but I am seeing, like, you know, that whole area down in Pioneer Square, which is just like a huge. It's almost like a. A big empty block with benches, and it's a place where sometimes DJs set up for just kind of free stuff, but often it's just kind of empty, and you just kind of walk across it and there's a few people kind of hanging around or whatever. But I think that's just been absolutely filled with people who are getting together to watch the various matches on huge screens or whatever. So it's kind of like. It's almost like the dream of that part of the city dude coming alive again.

[Luke Burbank]

Becca and I were walking home from dinner. Two things happened on Saturday night. That was kind of interesting. John, you'll appreciate this. Yeah, we were having dinner as the Knicks won the. As they clinched. And we're just like. We're in an area called the Pearl of Portland. It's called the Pearl, not the Pearl of Portland, but we're just having some dinner outside. And I'm just hearing, all of a sudden, in New York, concrete, people are fricking blasting that song. This woman comes out of the restaurant. We were eating outside, but she comes out of the restaurant. The Mediterranean exploration companies where we're eating. She comes out and she's crying. She's on her phone. She's like, they did it. And then all of a sudden people are just like walking up and down this alley that we're in in Knicks Grim. Like, I didn't know there was like four Knicks fans in Portland. Like, that's remarkable. But the other thing was we were then walking from there back to Becca's place. And it was about 9 o' clock at night. And it's just a beautiful, warm night in Portland and in what's called Pioneer Plaza, which I often mix up with Pioneer Square from Seattle. But it's kind of a similar deal. It's a big brick kind of gathering area where sometimes there's concerts and stuff, but also sometimes there's, you know, things that aren't great. And Portland obviously gets a really, really bad rap from certain kind of people and stuff. And we just get there and there is just a huge screen with one of the World cup matches on it and just like a thousand people just kind of sitting around in the Pioneer Square area, Pioneer park area, just watching the game. There was a little soccer field set up for kids to play in that was at the base of the screen that was kind of had a little fence around. So there's like 10 little kids running around, kicking soccer balls, playing soccer. There's a bunch. It's a warm night. There's, you know, little food trucks. I was just like, this is. This is what we need to have more of. So, yeah, there's this. The watch party aspect of this seems to also be really cool.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's fun. We gotta. We gotta capture this for the World Baseball Classic next year. We gotta have it.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah, I. I also encourage.

[Luke Burbank]

And if not for the better five years.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah. Why can't the better cup be every four years?

[Luke Burbank]

Can't find a better cup. If you aren't making your better cup plans now for next season, you're gonna be behind the eight ball.

[John Scalaro]

I also encourage if tens want to get together and have an outdoor viewing of the Thon when we're broadcasting live like we do. I don't know when you.

[Luke Burbank]

Can you get. Can you get Projector guy from New York who was showing the Knicks games in the West Village. Could he project the Thon?

[John Scalaro]

I don't know him personally, but I'll do my best.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you know the Twin Cities version of him? Somebody with.

[John Scalaro]

I think that's Stu. Maybe.

[Luke Burbank]

It might be. It very well might be. Hey, by the way,

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

Speaking of Thon stuff, as I mentioned, we're going to be in Valley City, Ohio, Andrew's hometown, July 13th through 17th doing the THON, streaming the show. What is the time again? We're going to be streaming it.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're going to live stream at 10am Pacific Time, 1pm East Coast Time.

[Luke Burbank]

Always a fun experience for folks to watch the show live and chop it up with the other tens in the comment section. We will take phone calls. This is part of the tradition of the thon. But we also are going to be on Sunday. There's a big community get together there in Valley City. It's the Valley City Frog Jump Festival, I think might be the name of it. And we're going to be participating in that. And we're going to have a frog that is we're going to be entering as part of the frog jump. And one of the things that we need to figure out is what we're going to call the frog. And we're always open to good ideas from the tens of listeners. And so we said last week, I think or whenever it was to email John with names. Have people been emailing you with potential frog names?

[John Scalaro]

Yeah, I got some good names that came through. Also I wanted to point out because this came up last week, it's the 65th annual Frog Jump. So it's not a round number and not like. That's pretty cool.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, actually, that is really. That's interesting. What you hear in my mind is that that might help me tip my. Trying to get CBS Sunday MORNING let me do a story about the frog jump so that I could also casually mention our podcast on television. And I think it being the 65th that might sway them.

[John Scalaro]

I'll call Barry myself and tell her she's.

[Luke Burbank]

I walked by Barry's new offices the other day. It was like back rooms.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you fist bump them?

[Luke Burbank]

I did. That's what Chuck Schumer was coming out of. I don't like this. I don't like this.

[Andrew Walsh]

I like the idea of you interviewing me on CBS but not, you know, not giving any tell that we know each other and I can just sort of say I like frogs or something along the lines of that.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah, we need to work on your media training, Andrew. That's your move over.

[Luke Burbank]

I like turtle kids. There's a new kid on the block

[Andrew Walsh]

and then it goes viral and then that I like turtles. Exactly. Imagine that only coming from me, a 15 year old bearded, gargantuan man.

[Luke Burbank]

So people have been sending in their submissions, their suggestions.

[John Scalaro]

We got a few of them for sure. I'm gonna start off with My favorite one. But I'm also gonna kibosh it right away because I don't like the. The impetus, the origin, or what's going after by our good friend Bobby Pape.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[John Scalaro]

Sent in Hopvicular.

[Luke Burbank]

Hop Vicular.

[John Scalaro]

I literally laughed out loud at when I read it. But I'm just saying right now we can't use that for all the reasons

[Luke Burbank]

Clavicular is getting enough attention as

[Andrew Walsh]

good

[John Scalaro]

in any way, so. Right.

[Luke Burbank]

But although I do hope that whatever frog we get, they are Hop smacks.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was gonna say I just got frame hopped.

[Luke Burbank]

I got brutally frame hopped by.

[John Scalaro]

So that's. That was 1% in.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[John Scalaro]

A couple different people sent this in. I'm gonna do my best Susie. Susie B. Impression.

[Luke Burbank]

Okay.

[John Scalaro]

I say, I say, what's up? Frog.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay.

[Luke Burbank]

That's actually pretty clever. I mean, I don't know if it's really a name, but it's a catchphrase.

[John Scalaro]

It's good. I like it. I like it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I say, what's up?

[John Scalaro]

Some names that were said that you going back to the Mariners, the Seattle Madness. Julio Frog.

[Luke Burbank]

Julio Frogriguez.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's interesting. Just Julio.

[Luke Burbank]

Is there another Mariner? I mean, Julio's maybe the most famous Mariner. Is there another Mariner, Andrew. Whose name more lends itself to Frog or.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, my God, our relief pitcher, Hoppy. Oh, yeah, literally. No, it's not. What is his name looking?

[Luke Burbank]

It's H. His last name is Hobby.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right. And his name is literally his last name is Hoppy. H, O, P, P, E. So that that would come out.

[John Scalaro]

What if we call the frog Alex?

[Andrew Walsh]

You can call me Al.

[Luke Burbank]

Subtle. Call him out. Yes.

[John Scalaro]

Or her. Or them.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah. So that's another good one. What? This one came in from our friend

[Andrew Walsh]

Sean in Texas, noted Astros fan. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes.

[John Scalaro]

And I. So I. I need to Maya Culpa on air because I got an email from Sean, I think it was Friday night that said we should name the frog Wemby. And I saw. And I saw the email coming. Well, I didn't do anything with it.

[Luke Burbank]

I hate you. No, no, no, no.

[John Scalaro]

I didn't do anything with the email on Friday night when I saw it on Saturday. The Knicks won. And then Monday morning I sent an email being like, oh, hey, Sean, sorry, I'm just responding. I didn't see this till now because I try. I think I said, like, I try to like, have a real good work life balance. I don't respond to Friday or something like that.

[Luke Burbank]

It's also good that the Knicks had already. Hadn't actually. They hadn't actually.

[John Scalaro]

Not when he sent it in. And then I. And then I proceeded to write. I finished the email with, sorry, we're trying to name this frog after our winner. And so I just feel like that was. That was a little harsh.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I think you do.

[John Scalaro]

So, Sean, I apologize for the, the harshness, but also, we're not gonna never apologize to Sean.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's our Go Astros guy. He hurt me more than anybody's ever heard me.

[John Scalaro]

Me.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, then actually, good job, John.

[John Scalaro]

I'm not going to attack listeners, sl. Donors. Sean, you can send me those emails. I won't be as cruel. You got next year, probably.

[Luke Burbank]

I feel like wimby, it's a. Do frogs have webbed feet? They do. I feel like there's some kind of webby. Just webby, webby. I mean, then I guess, then the Wemby joke doesn't work. It seems like it's adjacent to a. To a frog to frog related humor.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Do we, do we know what's the difference between a frog and a toad? And I'm actually not kidding you one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, there is a difference.

[Luke Burbank]

There's a. Is it a size difference? Probably.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, it's a different species, right? They're just similar. Like, I, Yeah, but I, I. So I, I don't know, though. I'll.

[John Scalaro]

I'm thinking you need, like, a frog expert to tell us this.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, if only we had one. Email us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I got to reach out talking to you, Simeon.

[Andrew Walsh]

We'll be getting.

[John Scalaro]

I'll. If I'll. I'll kind of roll through a few of these, so.

[Andrew Walsh]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Everybody stop. Stop, John, stop. According to AI, all toads are technically frogs, but not all frogs are toads. Now, I need to dig. I need to dig. I need to dig deeper into this. But if this is true, first of all, I got to figure out how many cookies to accept, reject all, or accept. I'm going to accept all the cookies on this. So let me see here. You aren't alone if you don't know the difference between a frog and a toad. Thanks for that. While frogs and toads are both amphibians, they are separate, separate families of animals. And while they are similar in many ways, they do have differences. So anyway, I don't think I'm gonna get a quick answer here, but there.

[John Scalaro]

Because. Sounds like AI lied.

[Andrew Walsh]

It does sound like AI lied. Anyway, Go ahead, John. Sorry.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah, yeah, no, that's good. All good. So we have a few others just very TBTL specific. Like Jalapeno was one. Oh my there. I like so a listener. Chris and Worcester. And Worcester. Or Worcester whatever. Sent in a whole bunch really good pun names. I'll rattle off a few of the. A few of these. Andrew, I don't know if you're okay with this, but. But lurk. Riverbank.

[Andrew Walsh]

Lurk. River bank. I actually kind of like that. That's pretty okay. Well, I don't know about the lurk. Why are we lurking? Because Luke.

[John Scalaro]

Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

I know it's a Luke Burbank. So Riverbank.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Yeah. I love the riverbank. Yeah.

[John Scalaro]

Okay. So maybe we also got from Chris Jr. Slug Eater.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, okay.

[John Scalaro]

We got. I really like this was good. Frog Fallaban, like a Bob.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wow.

[John Scalaro]

Wow. Yeah. And then this one Chris also. I mean Chris in a whole list. Them one was Denzel Princes because he likes to get wet though.

[Andrew Walsh]

He does like that was good.

[John Scalaro]

So yeah, there's a few other ones we had in there too. Oh, and also Chris suggested just splooch.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's splooch, though.

[John Scalaro]

That's feeling. That's a strong contender.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that is pretty good.

[Luke Burbank]

That's a. That's actually a pretty good idea.

[Andrew Walsh]

I want. I. I serious that if you have. Is it a spreadsheet you're working with there or just a word doc? I want you to add Mr. Ribbitz. Ribbitz to it.

[John Scalaro]

Mr. Ribbitz or just Ribbitz?

[Andrew Walsh]

Come on, neutral Ribbit. Somebody take that sound away from Luke. You're hitting the wrong button, Luke. It's supposed to be a bunch of kids saying yay or something.

[Luke Burbank]

I hate you because you look different.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what you should look for that. Yeah, I like. I unironically like Mr. Ribbitz, but just put it on the list. We don't have to go with it. And I think that we need to make it clear to the listeners as well. We don't know what's going to happen. We haven't met the frog yet. So this is like, this is like a family talking about potential baby names but waiting to name the baby. Once the baby is born, we're not going to lock into it gender reveal. It's going to be green.

[Luke Burbank]

Have like a confetti cannon and the color of the confetti is going to

[Andrew Walsh]

indicate cut into a cake and it's

[Luke Burbank]

going to be green.

[Andrew Walsh]

I actually love that. Maybe I just want some green cake. But yeah, so we'll meet the frog and maybe. Maybe when we meet the frog, it'll align with one of these names on the list, which is still growing. And you can continue to email John.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I like listening. I like hearing these suggestions. I think that they're fun. So keep them coming. Because it might be the case that one of the suggestions that's just kind of jangling around in our head when we get eyes on our frog, it'll just go. It'll connect. It'll say like, oh, that is, you know, whatever. Fill in the blank. So, yeah, please keep. Send in some ideas while we're taking them.

[Andrew Walsh]

I met a dog named Jimmy yesterday. And I was thinking, because Luke, didn't you. Actually, I was very impressed with you at some point recently. It had nothing to do with your tv. I want to hear more about who you're hobnobbing with. But it had to do with who

[Luke Burbank]

I've been fist bumping lately.

[Andrew Walsh]

Who've been fist bumping. I think you actually remembered something. I don't remember if this came up on the air or off air, but you referenced in passing the fact that when I adopted a cat in high school, I had told you this story, that I was all set on a name for the cat. I'd been wanting a cat for so long, and I knew when I got a cat, I wanted to name that cat Jimmy. Jimmy. And then me and my dad went to the SPCA and adopted a little cat. And I remember, I mean, for at least months, I knew my cat's name was going to be Jimmy. But then I just remember bringing the cat home and the cat sitting on my lap or maybe in like one of those take home boxes that the cats come in with little holes in it and saying to my dad, who was driving the car, this cat does not seem like a Jimmy to me. And almost like, almost like saying it, like as a sad realization, like, this, dad, this cat is just not a Jimmy. And he said, well, what is it? I said, I think it's an Alex. I think it's an Alexander. And I don't know why I felt like that cat was an Alexander. I wasn't trying to be clever. I wasn't trying to be anything. It just seemed like the right name for this cat. And so then I had a cat named Alex for a long time. And then last night I met a dog named Jimmy. And it was sort of like one of those things. I was kind of like, you could have been my Jimmy.

[Luke Burbank]

Is that the cat, Andrew, that you are holding in that, that flipping adorable photograph?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that I sent you over the weekend. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You've got like, I think you've got like a little league hat on.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And you're, you're holding a cat, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

I am. I don't know what cat that is.

[John Scalaro]

I'm holding.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm holding a little kitten. No, I don't know. So, you know, I was pretty and just so listeners know what happens over the weekends when Luke and I are not recording the show is we send each other cute pictures of ourselves as children. It's really more of a one way thing. I just, I feel like I need to send Luke, Luke one cute photo of me about halfway through the weekend just to remind him what he's coming back to.

[Luke Burbank]

This is forward those.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm not kidding.

[Luke Burbank]

I forward those to Becca. I'm like, look at how cute Andrew

[Andrew Walsh]

was with this cat and his little. I said that to you and I say this is who you're being mean to.

[Luke Burbank]

That is a thing in therapy, by the way. Not about the other person, but about yourself.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, I always see that online. That's kind of a thing that people will post a photo of themselves as a child and say, this is who you're being mean to. But is, is it the roots of that come from therapy?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, yeah, my experience, you know, therapy, I've had therapists that have just kind of, they call it, you know, attending to your young self or whatever. Just like if you're thinking negatively about yourself or being really hard on yourself, it's like you imagine yourself, you know, when you were a baby or when you were a little kid and it's a, you tend to go a little easier on yourself, have a little more empathy for yourself, think about yourself. And, and by the way, also for other people, people like I've had very powerful. This is, I don't take this here, but like some of my more powerful moments in being in therapy have been thinking about people that I've been frustrated with, but then imagining them as like a two year old because you can

[Andrew Walsh]

take them down easier.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, exactly.

[John Scalaro]

What about somebody who like, you know, definitively was like a jerk when they were a kid? Like I had some bullies growing up. Like if I think about them now as a kid, I'm like, yeah, they were mean.

[Luke Burbank]

But see, you're getting, you're too far. You're doing it wrong.

[Andrew Walsh]

John, go back, go back.

[Luke Burbank]

No, you, you. That's like once they, once they can bully someone. Now we've moved out of the exercise. I'm talking like when they're like when they're a baby. Like when they're holding a baby rattle. When they're not even capable of having the thought to bully anyone.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Except their parents. Sleep pattern. But, you know. Yeah, I don't. I don't. I don't think you have to have empathy for somebody who was mean to you in.

[John Scalaro]

In fourth grade because I got a list of names.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, you hear that? Marty d'. Amico.

[John Scalaro]

What's that?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I said, you hear that, Marty d'? Amico. I don't want. I'm naming and I'm blaming. By the way, speaking of using people's full names.

[Luke Burbank]

You better be careful, Andrew. We're about to return to the scene of some crimes. We're gonna get off the airport and have Marty d' Amico waiting for.

[Andrew Walsh]

We're gonna step out of the rental car at Liverpool elementary and Marty's just gonna be putting one fist into a hand like that. I've been waiting 40 years for this. What was I going to say? I had. I can't remember. Anyway, I don't know who that little kitten is in my. In my hand. I sent you, Luke. I sent it to you because I thought that was a pretty bomb ass little, little league hat I was wearing in it. But it looks like there's not a lot of context in that photo. But it looks like that's probably our backyard, which means that might have been a kitten that came into our life. But it really sort of underscores how we really were more of a barn cat family. You sort of can understand a little bit more about my sort of. Kind of cat what was sort of a casual relationship with cats. I've told you before that I had a cat that I absolutely loved named Fred that I raised as a kitten. But when we moved, Fred just stayed behind with the house. And it wasn't until decades later that I would look back at that and be like, that's weird. I don't remember being emotional about that. I just remember being like, well, we're moving now and Fred stays with the house and I'm sure Fred is still alive.

[Luke Burbank]

I bet you Fred was not that sad.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, probably not.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, I bet you Fred was. Fred was probably living his best life, mousing and running around inside and out

[Andrew Walsh]

and you know what mean I. And I can't remember. It might have even been our next. Geez, it's weird that I can't remember this. I have this weird memory. I think it was our next door neighbors who bought our house. And this is next door neighbors. In the country, we kind of shared a driveway or whatever. Anyway, so if I'm right about that, that makes even more sense because there was a sort of communal kind of. We didn't have a fence or anything like that, so the cats could sort of come and go. And so it probably did not feel like a change to that cat, as opposed to bringing him to a completely different place that was more of a, you know, like a cul de sac kind of place. And could he have even been an outside cat there? We don't know. And so, anyway, I don't. But it's weird to see a photo of me holding a kitten in my own backyard and having no memory of who that kitten is.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, it's freaking adorable. And I love that hat. That hat is right up there with the Kellerman's hat from Dirty Dancing. Hats that I would like to get my hands on. Do you know there's no chance that, like, your dad has that hat somewhere in a storage unit?

[Andrew Walsh]

I would be surprised because I think it was legitimately my Little League hat, which means also probably was pretty sweaty and dirty at some point as well. But, man, I wish I was thinking about maybe we could maybe recreate that hat for the three of us and wear it in Valley City the whole time we're there.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. So, yeah, we're, you know, we're working assiduously to get ready for the events of the Thawne, including. Including the thank you gifts, which, again, to John, to you and Andrew, thank you for. I know you guys have been putting in a lot of work on that to get that all dialed in. We have our Airbnb rented. We have, you know, things. Are you guys feeling pretty. Pretty good? I mean, are you feeling as okay as you can, Andrew, at this point, between the technical side of it, which falls disproportionately on you, and the fact that it's happening in your hometown. Like, this one's going to be a

[Andrew Walsh]

lot for you, Luke, if you want a serious answer to that. Do you want a serious answer to that question? I'm going to give you a serious answer question. I have. I have so much anxiety and stress right now. I can't separate what from what right now. And honestly, though, maybe the upshot of this, because I just heard you both make sad sounds and that's not what I was going for. But maybe the good part of that is I don't even know that the TBTL a thon technical issues are a huge part of that right now, because I'm Sort of just like looking at things that are a little bit more directly in front of my face. Like this book event I'm doing with my friend in a couple of weeks and this ongoing project that is going on in my house that is causing more and more, less than positive feelings. And I feel that. And also, and this is a good thing, I love having Lucy in our life, but also we brought Lucy into our life during this relatively chaotic time at home. And so everything just has felt very topsy turvy to me the last couple of months. And so if I have anxiety about the technical aspects of the THON right now, some of that anxiety is that I haven't even given enough thought to it yet. Like, I need to sit down and I need to like, kind of start thinking like, oh yeah, how do we live stream again? But knowing that we have done this several years in a row now makes me think that we can figure it out. And we're going to a part of the world where even though I haven't been there in forever, like if I am missing a cable or something like that, I just feel like there's. Yes, there's less unknowns about where I might go to get that cable. It might be Brunswick, Ohio, Luke. Or as my grandma used to say, into town to get a missing cable. You know what I mean?

[Luke Burbank]

I like this. I mean, I don't like that you're stressed across a variety of different sort of like events, Andrew. But I do think that this is also good that the stress you're feeling about everything else is meaning that you don't have time to stress about the THON because it will totally work out. It's gonna be really fun. And yeah, again, I don't like you being globally stressed, but I like that you're not locally stressed about the THON because you have too much global stress in your life.

[Andrew Walsh]

Think global worry. Local. I wrote about something in the TBTL newsletter last week that is a real concern of mine. This is not a bit that I'm putting on. I'm not trying to add another layer of drama to the TBTL a thon, but this is a real thing. Do you guys know that I'm not super down with touching the frog?

[Luke Burbank]

I saw that in the newsletter and I guess I didn't know where the real Andrew feelings start and the bit ends or however you pronounce it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. In fact, the reason I sent you the that photo this weekend, it was because my dad read the newsletter and then he started digging through old photos and he found a photo of me holding a worm and he said, look, you said in your newsletter that you don't like touching these things. And look at you touching these things, Bob.

[Luke Burbank]

Just fact checking you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but did I send you that? Did I send you that photo, though? Here, I'll send it to you now.

[Luke Burbank]

I'll even make that the worm one.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'll make it the show pick. Because if you look at my face, it is the face of a child who does not want to be holding that worm. Don't let them touch those things they

[Luke Burbank]

don't want to touch. They're very afraid of those things.

[Andrew Walsh]

They've never touched anything in their lives.

[Luke Burbank]

Let them touch those things for once.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm also wearing, for whatever it's worth, not to just keep on bragging, but I'm wearing another bomb ass hat in this one. This is my favorite hat.

[Luke Burbank]

Isn't it like, doesn't it kind of suck if you look back at pictures of your childhood, particularly from a certain age? Like, we all get kind of awkward at some point. But there's that era before that where everything just like, how do I ever get back to being that effortlessly cool.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, he knows what. You know what I mean?

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know. It's like, it's like, it's like between like four and maybe seven, there's this window of time where it's like you're just always wearing some kind of something that you gave no thought to because you were a five year old. But you look back on it now, you're like, dude, that's kind of a dope fit.

[John Scalaro]

I think the answer is you didn't care what other people think.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. How do you get back to that? Well, is there a surgery?

[John Scalaro]

There's a therapist you could talk to.

[Luke Burbank]

Is there a procedure?

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I just sent you guys a photo of me holding this worm. So I am. I do love that jacket, by the way.

[Luke Burbank]

First of all, I think you have swag in this photo.

[Andrew Walsh]

Dude, I love that hat. I remember that hat. I had so many hats growing up. So my dad used to get tons of free hats from work. And this hat was from a company called Hydrocrete. And their whole thing was like, instead of being. Instead of using one of those traditional concrete trucks that you see on the highways that are kind of spinning the big drum behind them.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

To keep the concrete that'll dump the concrete behind it when you're ready to use it. But these were trucks that would sort of pump it through this series of tubes that you can sort of see in the cartoon image of it on the hat. And so Hydrocrete had the logo or the slogan, don't dump it, pump it. And so here I am in this quasi oversized hat, kind of trucker style

[John Scalaro]

hat with that, with a dope jacket.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about that jacket too.

[Luke Burbank]

But you know what? You are wincing.

[Andrew Walsh]

You have. I am wincing.

[Luke Burbank]

You have one eye firmly closed in a. But your lips are pursed in a way that like, I could see how your dad would look at this and read this as you're not that bothered by it. But I could also see how you would look at it and go, no, I was very bothered by it.

[John Scalaro]

It's kind of.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a little Mona Lisa smile.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a little inscrutable. Well, don't worry, I got his ass. I wrote, I wrote that is not the face of a boy who is enjoying touching that worm. To which he wrote, good point. I probably forced you to hold it for the picture. Crying, laughing, emoji. So knowing that, and this is for real, here we are. So we've talked about the past, let's talk about the present and the future. It is currently the summer of 2026. I am currently 49 years old. My feeling about touching a frog now is probably even more squeamish than it was when I was a kid. Because at least when I was a kid I was in the country, I was confronted with the these things a lot more. I know I've held frogs before, but I'm also not joking when I tell you I was thinking I was going to live the rest of my life without ever being in one of those situations where somebody's like, here, hold the snake or hold the frog or all the other things we do to children.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, here's the thing. I don't think you have to hold the frog. And in fact, I would vote that we probably hold the frog as little as possible. So I just, I can't imagine the frog would love being picked up and handled. It's probably kind of stressful. So my thing is we get the frog. We put the frog in a very large and sort of well appointed terrarium, giant whatever, Tupperware tub, whatever we land on.

[Andrew Walsh]

The Dave also be helping us with that. They seem very excited to create a habitat for this frog of ours.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, we want to give the frog like a nice comfortable habitat and then I think we want to mostly leave it alone. I don't think we need to be picking it up and Pulling it out a bunch. So I think you actually, you. You can probably get away with literally never touching the frog. My, my thought wasn't that we're going to be like passing the frog around a bunch or anything. I want to try to keep it so that it can perform well on Sunday. I want to keep its cortisol level.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's a really good point too. And to definitely get one of those.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't want. I don't want it developing dangerous belly fat either. Get one of those cortisol huge sleeves

[Andrew Walsh]

that the pitchers wear after an outing. The ices have now on each leg. But you know, there will be.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't think you have to touch

[Andrew Walsh]

the frog, but there will be the obtaining of the frog. So you know, the Daves are going to be taking us out on I think Tuesday night or something like that to the, to the bogs of Valley City to find our. To find our frogs.

[Luke Burbank]

They said a golf course, but I'm going with Boggs. Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's Boggs Golf Course. Bog is a guy with a Bill o' Grady or you say Jill.

[John Scalaro]

We. Wade Bogs.

[Luke Burbank]

Yes. Yeah, we're gonna name the frog lemon chicken.

[John Scalaro]

60, 60 beers. Cross country flight. That's also a weed bog story. Andrew. If he helps alleviate some stress. I did get a notification during this recording that some of the equipment has already been delivered to your dad's house.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, good. I'll probably be. Wait, hold on. I just got a text message. Is it from my dad? No, not yet. My folks are very diligent when it comes to package delivery at their house. I believe that if they find out

[Luke Burbank]

that you come from a long line of package. Of package watchers.

[Andrew Walsh]

If there is a. I'm actually not like. I mean, I'm excited. I'm very excited about the pole saw that's heading my way and I got some shoes heading my way. I'm excited for packages to arrive. But like in my life I have been very, very lucky. I have not been the victim of any kind. Of any kind of package thievery or anything. So I don't actually get worked up about it. I see other people and I would just say may, maybe other generations get super worked up about it. And I do sort of feel like if a package is arriving sometime between, you know, two and three on a Friday, there is a chance that my parents will take the day off of all activities the day previous and following to make sure that it arrives. I specifically told my dad. I'm like, just so you know, Like I said, some audio equipment is heading your way, John shipping it to you. But then I said, but just so you know, like, it's not super valuable. It's like a really old audio board. Like, don't stress about this because I. And then I did tell him he only needs. John's says you only need the smallest tow motor to remove it from the truck. Just to make sure that he was prepped for that pallet jack got from the same cloth. My dad said, I'll get the kerosene ready. Which is where how I Learned at age 49 that apparently kerosene is how tow motors run. Did you guys know this?

[Luke Burbank]

No. Also, what's a tow motor?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's like a forklift. It's a brand of forklift. You know, whatever. Anyway, so thank you for that. I'm sure that I will get a notice soon that the equipment has shown up on time and I am really looking forward to this adventure. It should be fun.

[Luke Burbank]

I think once we're there, it's gonna be. And once things are kind of set up and operational, I think it's gonna be really, really fun. Speaking of things that are fun, I just have a little update. US has gone up 10 on Australia.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, wow. World's pretty awesome.

[Luke Burbank]

I think you're. Listen, Australians are wonderful people, both warm and direct. John, I think we've learned anything on this show, but Andrew, especially if the US Somehow manages to win this game sans Christian Peliss, it's going to be. Not only is it going to be a mob scene down there, it's going to be a delirious mob scene. It's going to be like, it's not going to quite be Nick's level Knicks, you know, celebration parade levels, but it's going to be fun to be down there. If the US has managed to win this game.

[Andrew Walsh]

How long does a. Because I got to figure out my day here. I got some things I got to kind of take care of a little meeting, but then. And I do have to finish writing the newsletter. And so I want. But I do want to get down there kind of as early as possible. Does a. Does a typical soccer match last about. Would it be like about three minutes

[Luke Burbank]

officially, but then they add some stoppage time, so just call it two hours to be. Well, there's also, you know, a halftime or whatever you want to call it, call it a couple of hours. But then the good news is, you know, you'll be. Everybody's going to be coming in as your or everybody's Going out as you're coming in.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So I even think on the light rail, I mean, you're going to take your E line, but I think you'll be kind of going against the. In the best way.

[Andrew Walsh]

You'll be.

[Luke Burbank]

All the people will be trying to get out of that area as you're coming into the area. So.

[Andrew Walsh]

By the way, speaking of the e line, I rode the e line that weekend after we got that note from listener Brian talking about how he's a new bus driver who's driving the E line. And when I enter the E line, you know, it's one of those very long buses that has several sets of doors on it, and I usually enter one of the rear sets of doors.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, was it the fourth in the franchise of Bruce Lee movies? It was Enter the dragon and then Enter the E Line.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I mean, he was here in Seattle, so that makes a lot of sense.

[Luke Burbank]

And he sometimes had to use his karate skills on that bus. That's right.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. I'd actually watch that movie if he was, like, a personal protector on the e Line. But anyway, so after getting that email from Brian, who said, hey, listen, if you're taking the e line, these are the days I work, and there's a chance you could be on my bus. I keep an eye. And I think he described himself as maybe a guy with a beard and tattoos. And anyway, I went to get on the bus that evening or afternoon or whenever it was, and I saw that the bus driver. I don't know if I saw that the bus driver had a beard or not, But I did try to enter by the front doors, but the bus driver wouldn't open the front doors or they were just closed. And I also didn't have a good game plan. I was a little bit nervous. I was like, do I say, are you Brian? And then if the bus driver has no idea what I'm talking about, I guess he would just say no. And I guess that's how that social interaction would work. But I got in my head about it a little bit, and then. So. But I was like, I'm going to do with this. And then I went to get in the front doors, but the front doors weren't open. So then I got in one of the back doors, and then I kept staring. I was trying to make eyes with the. I think. Did Brian also maybe say he has a shaved head, but this bus driver was wearing a ball cap? And so, like, I kept on trying to make meaningful eye contact with the bus driver every time he would look up into his, like, rear view mirror or whatever. But anyway, I never found out if that was Brian or not. I was too shy to go up there and introduce myself to the bus driver on the Elon Musk.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, at least you weren't, you know, in whatever state of affairs I was in, when someone may or may not have been dressed as a hot dog, may or may not have been driving me somewhere in an Uber or a Lyft. At least you remember the event. You remember being too shy.

[Andrew Walsh]

Would it be. I don't know if Brian is still driving that route, but if he is and you're still listening, Brian, would it be possible for you just to always wear a hot dog suit that way? I know, like, this is Seattle. You say I have a beard and a shaved head and some tattoos like that. Can, you know, a lot of people can look like that. There are fewer people wearing hot dog suits driving a bus up and down Aurora.

[John Scalaro]

Fewer. As if there's not other ones wearing hot dog suits driving.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, it's, you know, it's a lot of energy in the city right now.

[Luke Burbank]

Bus drivers should be allowed to accept tips because I think it's a hard job sometimes. That's a good point. And I feel like if Brian started wearing a hot dog outfit and had like a little tip chart, I feel like he would really supplement his income pretty. I like this handsomely.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. We're here for our listeners. We have ideas that will help them. Them.

[Luke Burbank]

Well. So on the good news side, from USA Soccer, they've gone up 1 nothing on Australia. On the bad news, they just cut to RFK Jr. At the stadium.

What?

Yeah.

[John Scalaro]

Awesome.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't know how that falls under his purview of trying to make everyone unhealthy again, but he's. He's taking a break from working out with Kid Rock to. To hang out at what they're calling Seattle Stadium. Did you see that they renamed it Andrew for this week.

[John Scalaro]

All. All the stadiums in Sev. MetLife or it's new York New Jersey Stadium instead of Levi. In San Francisco, it's just San Francisco Stadium. That's.

[Luke Burbank]

I actually, you know, I said that somewhat derisively. I actually, I actually think that's a good idea. Think about if you're from some other country.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And, you know, like, first of all, I just think that these corporate naming things are kind of BS anyway, in a way. So I'm glad that. I'm glad they're just going with the name of the city that is associated with the stadium. But it does feel a little. It does feel a little. I don't know.

[John Scalaro]

But some of it's misleading. Like, famously, Foxborough is not like downtown Boston, but they call it Boston Stadium.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, it's like, yeah, that should just be Foxborough, right? Or does that have a different name now? If it's called Foxboro and it's in Foxborough, they should just kept the name.

[John Scalaro]

Well, it's Gillette is the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that. It does have a. I just.

[John Scalaro]

If you're like a tourist, you're like, oh, I'm gonna go to Boston. But then I have to figure out transit to the suburbs actually is what the. What it becomes. And like, whatever. I don't know. I'm just.

[Luke Burbank]

Do you know when I was a kid.

[John Scalaro]

Kid.

[Luke Burbank]

And the New England Patriots made it into the super bowl against the Chicago Bears. I want to say it was 1985.

[John Scalaro]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You might not have been born yet, John, but it's the year I was born. I remember hearing all season about these New England Patriots and thinking, I feel like I'm pretty up on the cities. I didn't understand that you could. That you could be named for a region. And I have a specific memory of being a little kid and either looking on a globe or looking in like an atlas and trying desperately to locate where New England America was. Because I was like the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Rams, which they were the LA Rams back then.

[John Scalaro]

And the LA Raiders, too.

[Luke Burbank]

The LA Raiders. They may have been the Oakland Raiders in that time, but every team I knew was associated with the city. So I was like, how has this New England city been escaping my radar all these years? All eight of these years of being alive?

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm gonna ask a dumb question. Are there, there. So are all the football teams except for New England named after cities or do we have any named after states? We have the Carolina Panthers.

[John Scalaro]

Minnesota Vikings.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, Minnesota.

[Luke Burbank]

Carolina Panthers.

[Andrew Walsh]

Carolina Panthers. Okay, yeah, so there are states. But. But you are right. It's confusing because you know the region, right?

[Luke Burbank]

Or just kind of area.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, yeah, but there are states.

[John Scalaro]

And then assume will be the Indiana Bears.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, God, I hope not.

[Andrew Walsh]

Don't say that.

[Luke Burbank]

Surely hope not.

[Andrew Walsh]

Say that.

[Luke Burbank]

But. All right, well, let's.

[John Scalaro]

Cardinals.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah, good. Good point.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Right. Right. Now baseball really quickly. Base. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Ball.

[John Scalaro]

Arizona Diamondbacks.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, yeah, there you go.

[John Scalaro]

Minnesota Twins. I. Yeah, I'm.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Minnesota Twins.

[John Scalaro]

Doing this.

[Luke Burbank]

Dude, I was. When I was walking through Times Square last night, there was this big. Did you know, all those ads, obviously those digital ads are running crazy. And it's like the Mets have some big ad. The, you know, they're the Amazons. And it just thought. And the Mets are like, once again, just dreadful. Like last year, they were like, I think they started with one of the best records in baseball. And at the All Star break, they just went into a complete free fall somehow didn't make the playoffs, which was like incredible. It was like you almost had to work harder to do that. And now this year, they're just like, really dreadful. There's nothing like just seeing like an ad for like, get your amazing tickets right now is like, you're not fooling anybody.

[Andrew Walsh]

And after spending so much money, I heard our boy Jorge is I think, on the deep into this now. Yeah, I think I had heard that, Blanco. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

All right, that's going to do it for today's episode. Hey, John, thanks for being here. Always fun to catch up with you. Thanks for all your work on getting the Thon ready and all the other TBTV biz.

[John Scalaro]

Absolutely. Nixon 5.

[Luke Burbank]

Nixon 5. My way to bagel.

[Andrew Walsh]

My frog is green.

[Luke Burbank]

There you go. That's good. Do it for this broadcast week, but we will be back here on Monday with more imaginary radio for all of you. So we'll see you then. In the meantime, have a great weekend, everybody. Go, go, usa. I know you don't love me saying that on this show, Andrew, but it's specific to soccer, okay? And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all. Power out.