The Best of the Week on The Dan Patrick Show

Summary

The Dan Patrick Show: "The Best of the Week" Summary

Release Date: March 22, 2025

---

1. NFL Offseason Buzz: Aaron Rodgers and the Minnesota Vikings

[43:43 - 05:13]

The episode kicks off with a heated discussion surrounding the Minnesota Vikings' decision not to pursue quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Dan Patrick initiates the conversation by questioning the Vikings' stance:

Dan Patrick (00:00): "The Minnesota Vikings are not pursuing Aaron Rodgers. It's official."

Key Points:

• Vikings' Decision: Dan and co-hosts delve into the implications of the Vikings opting out of acquiring Rodgers, pondering over the potential reasons and future quarterback scenarios.

• J.J. McCarthy's Readiness: Concerns are raised about J.J. McCarthy's preparedness to step in as the Vikings' quarterback, considering Rodgers' availability.

• Alternative Options: The discussion explores other teams potentially interested in Rodgers, such as the Steelers and Giants, and the feasibility of these moves.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan Patrick (00:12): "I would take a chance on Aaron Rodgers for one year."

• Chris Weber (05:13): "I ain't doing that or darkness. Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don't."

2. Analyzing the Steelers' Stance

[05:13 - 06:05]

Chris Weber and Marvin Lewis weigh in on why the Pittsburgh Steelers might not be an ideal fit for Rodgers, emphasizing the team's culture and existing strengths.

Key Points:

• Team Culture: The Steelers' established culture and leadership under Mike Tomlin make it challenging to integrate a high-profile quarterback like Rodgers.

• Quarterback Depth: The importance of retaining backup quarterbacks like Daniel Jones to ensure team stability.

• Alternative Strategies: Marvin suggests that the Giants would have a more fitting environment for Rodgers compared to the Steelers.

Notable Quotes:

• Marvin Lewis (05:33): "You're the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don't lower yourself."

• Chris Weber (05:13): "That's simple. That's the pitch. If you want to be part of it, so be. If you don't, no."

3. College Basketball Shakeups: West Virginia and Coaching Changes

[11:30 - 14:34]

Transitioning to college basketball, the hosts discuss the recent turmoil at West Virginia University, focusing on the departure of Coach Darien DeVries to Indiana.

Key Points:

• Coaching Transition: Analysis of Darien DeVries leaving West Virginia for Indiana, highlighting the impact on the program.

• Historical Context: Comparisons are drawn to past coaching transitions involving legends like Patrick Ewing at Georgetown.

• Future Implications: Speculation on how these changes will affect West Virginia's basketball prospects and recruiting.

Notable Quotes:

• Marvin Lewis (12:01): "It's tough to be the greatest player in the history of that program."

• Dan Patrick (12:11): "It's going to level out. But that needs to be more discussion."

4. In-Depth Interview with Chris Weber: Reflections on His Career

[21:44 - 39:19]

The spotlight shifts to a special interview with Chris Weber, a Hall of Famer and former number one overall pick by the Orlando Magic in 1993. Chris shares nostalgic stories and insights from his illustrious career.

Key Points:

• Black Sox Incident: Chris recounts the infamous "Black Sox" story where team unity and rebellion intersected, leading to disciplinary actions.

• Influence of Coaches: Discussions about the impact of coaches like Clyde Drexler and Steve Alford on his career trajectory.

• Transfer Portal and NIL: Chris provides his perspective on current trends in college sports, including the transfer portal and Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) regulations.

• Financial Responsibility: He reflects on managing newfound wealth post-college, emphasizing lessons learned from early financial mistakes.

Notable Quotes:

• Chris Weber (23:18): "We are working through understanding that you're getting paid for this commitment now."

• Marvin Lewis (32:10): "He is Chris Weber. He is a hall of famer and number one overall pick."

5. Rising Star: Interview with Paul Pabst on MLB Rookie Experiences

[44:31 - 55:38]

Paul Pabst, a rookie sensation for the Pittsburgh Pirates and one of the cover athletes for MLB The Show 25, joins the show to discuss his transition to professional baseball.

Key Points:

• Rookie Challenges: Paul elaborates on the differences between college and professional baseball, highlighting the increased media attention and lifestyle changes.

• Mental Focus: He shares techniques like solving math problems on the mound to maintain focus and manage pressure during games.

• Player Analysis: Paul discusses his approach to facing top-tier hitters and the dynamics of pitcher-catcher relationships.

• Recognition: Reflecting on the honor of being featured on MLB The Show and its significance in his career.

Notable Quotes:

• Paul Pabst (45:52): "I do think that players start to understand that the same love and passion should be there."

• Paul Pabst (53:01): "I prefer it that way. I don't have to hit anymore."

6. Additional Highlights and Promotions

[57:16 - End]

The episode concludes with various podcast promotions and advertisements, including new shows like "Levittown," "Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing," and "Eating While Broke" featuring Nick Cannon.

Key Points:

• New Podcasts: Introduction of multiple new podcast series covering diverse topics from true crime to marketing strategies.

• Listener Engagement: Encouragement for listeners to explore these new offerings on the iHeartRadio app and other platforms.

Notable Quotes:

• Dan Patrick (57:07): "Listen to Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts."

---

Conclusion

This episode of "The Dan Patrick Show" encapsulates a week of significant sports developments, insightful interviews with prominent athletes, and engaging discussions on the evolving landscape of both professional and college sports. From the NFL offseason chatter around Aaron Rodgers to in-depth conversations with sports luminaries like Chris Weber and rising stars like Paul Pabst, the show offers a comprehensive overview of current sports narratives, enriched with personal anecdotes and expert analyses.

---

Note: All timestamps correspond to the podcast's transcript for accurate reference.

Transcript

[Dan Patrick]

T Mobile stats are as impressive as.

[Paul Pabst]

Your favorite athlete's highlight reel because T.

[Dan Patrick]

Mobile helps keep you connected from big cities to your hometown on America's largest 5G network.

[Marvin Lewis]

Switch now.

[Dan Patrick]

Keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per.

[Marvin Lewis]

Line via prepaid card.

[Paul Pabst]

Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4.

[Dan Patrick]

Lines via virtual prepaid card last 15.

[Paul Pabst]

Days qualifying unlock device credit service port.

[Dan Patrick]

In 90 days device knowledgeable carrier and.

[Paul Pabst]

Timely redemption required Card is no cash access and expires in six months.

[Chris Weber]

This.

[Marvin Lewis]

Is an ad for the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog, earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases made with it. Let's say it together. The Active Cash Credit card from Wells Fargo. Learn more@wells fargo.com ActiveCash Terms Apply welcome to TGL presented by SoFi. It's golf's newest league. Sharp, electric two hours of hammer dropping overtime forcing playoffs on the line Golf 24 of the best players from the PGA Tour, the best of three final Series is here. It's the New York Golf Club versus Atlanta Drive. Match one will be Monday, March 24th at 9 Eastern on ESPN2 and ESPN+ matches two and three will be Tuesday, March 25th at 7 Eastern, 9 Eastern on ESPN and ESPN+. Tune in Monday and Tuesday to catch all the TGL playoff action. Keep up. It's golf game changing Sound in my world, every day is game day. So when our partner Sonos installed their game changing sound system at the Man Cave, I immediately said, I think I need that in my house, in my home. Man cave Danon when you hear that sound, it's different. It's game changing. So make your game day setup the game day setup when you build your own game changing sound system and you can do [e-mail] Dan Once again, Sonos.com Dan Tires matter. They're the only part of your vehicle that touches the road. Tread confidently with new tires from Tire Rack. Whether you're looking for expert recommendations or know exactly what you want, Tire Rack makes it really easy. Fast. Free shipping, free road hazard protection, convenient installation options and the best selection of Goodyear tires. Go to tirerack.com dam see their goodyear test results, tire ratings and reviews. Be sure to check out all the special offers. Tirerack.com the way Tire buying should be. You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. The Minnesota Vikings are not pursuing Aaron Rodgers. It's official. There are two reports. The Vikings are not pursuing Aaron Rodgers. I don't know if the Steelers still are. I don't know if the Giants are. I don't know if Rogers is pursuing the Giants. Is he pursuing the Steelers? We tried to kick the tires on this Viking situation, and I wondered. I was skeptical, but I thought, okay, if the Vikings are interested in him and J.J. mcCarthy's not ready to play. Oh, okay, then I would take it. I would take a chance on Aaron Rodgers for one year. J.J. mcCarthy is your future. You traded up to get him at number 10 in the draft last year, but I just didn't know. It felt like maybe Rogers was interested. I just didn't know if it was reciprocated. And maybe internally the Vikings were saying, hey, what. What about this? What do you think? Maybe you talk to J.J. mcCarthy, maybe you get an update on his recovery time and then you finally come to the realization, we're good. Now, I do think they made a mistake in letting Daniel Jones go, because I'd like to have a little bit of experience there as a backup. Sam Darnold was going to cost you more. I got that. But Daniel Jones, I think you could have kept him there and he would have been maybe okay as a backup. But you're. You're getting somebody who is going to be basically a rookie and playing, but coming off knee surgery. And there's going to be an adjustment period. This is a team that was a playoff team, had aspirations of going to the Super Bowl. But now if you're Aaron Rodgers, does Aaron Rodgers want to stay in New York? If you wanted to go to the Steelers, you probably would have gone to the Steelers. I don't know if that's a great fit. It's just because it's, you know, if he goes into Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is the star. He went to the jets and they're like, what do you want? Do whatever you want. You would change the colors. I don't care. They were desperate. The Steelers aren't desperate. But it feels like you go in there, that's Mike Tomlin you're dealing with. You're dealing with T.J. watt, Minka Fitzpatrick. Cam Hayward had something to say. He's the Steeler defensive lineman on the Not Just Football podcast. On. What would your recruiting pitch be to Aaron Rodgers to join the Steelers?

[Chris Weber]

I ain't Doing that or darkness. Darkness. Tree Retreat. I don't mean any of that crap. Like either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don't. That's. That's simple. That's the pitch. If you want me to recruit. That's the recruiting pitch. You know, Pittsburgh Steelers. If you want to be part of it, so be. If you don't. No. No skin on my back.

[Marvin Lewis]

Exactly. That's what I've been saying. You're the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don't lower yourself. Oh, Aaron, could you please come here? Move on. You should have kept Justin Fields. At least that gave you a bridge quarterback for the next two years. Maybe he develops into something now what do you have? Mason Rudolph. Okay. Are you going to bring Russ back? If it's true that Russ and Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator, didn't get along at the end of the season, or maybe you didn't see eye to eye, but you're the Steelers.

[Paul Pabst]

Now.

[Marvin Lewis]

I get it. The Giants, they are going to have to beg to get Aaron Rodgers. The Giants. Who would have thought? One of the blue bloods. And you're waiting to find out, would Aaron Rodgers please come and play for our team? Feels like the Giants are taking Shador Sanders. I don't have any information on that other than it feels like Shador has thought all along that's where he was going. Now can you bring in somebody? Do you bring in Aaron Rodgers and let Shador Sanders sit A year maybe. But the once proud New York Football Giants, they're waiting for Aaron Rodgers. And if you're the Steelers, move on. No, move on. You might not have somebody as good as Aaron Rodgers or the ceiling might not be as high, but move on. You're the Steelers. You don't do this, please. And then Russell Wilson, I still think Kirk Cousins plays a role in this somewhere at some point, somehow. Now the Falcons, you know, they have him. They're paying him. They want him to be their backup. And it feels like every team needs a, you know, a good backup. If you're going to be a playoff team, you got to have a good backup. Chances are your quarterback's going to get dinged up a little bit at some point somewhere down the line. Michael Penix Jr. The third has been banged up in his career, early in his career when he was at Indiana. So the quarterbacking carousel, I don't know if it's stopped or stalled, but it doesn't seem like it's going at the same speed that we thought it was going to. I thought Aaron Rodgers would make a decision by last Friday. But he's Aaron Rodgers. Maybe he waits, maybe you wait until after the draft. And this is what I wondered. With some of these teams, you're going to get a quarterback. You might get a quarterback. If you don't get your quarterback, then things change a little bit. Then all of a sudden, maybe there's more people interested in Russell Wilson, maybe there's more people interested in Kirk Cousins. Maybe he becomes more valuable as a trade possibility. There's always the chance that Aaron Rodgers just says, I'm done. And this came out. I. I'd love to give. Maybe it was Diana Rossini. I'd love to give the credit to the person, but it felt like there is that option on the table and, and that seems obvious at his age, what he went through with the Jets. But then we always come back to the following. Well, you don't want to go out this way. How do you think Aaron Rodgers is going to go out? Probably not on a high note unless he goes to the Vikings. You can't all be John Elway. And if you're going to go to the Giants, how do you think you're going to go out? This isn't Travis Kelsey, who played in the Super Bowl. Hey, I want to come back. Okay, Aaron Rodgers, does he want to play? I don't know. Does he know? But if on the Steelers, I make you an offer and you don't want to come, we're the Steelers, then I say, all right, we move on. Were the Vikings ever really interested in him? Was he more interested in them? Now? There are reports that he loves New York, wants to stay in the New York area if he's going to play, whether that's true or not. But he would go from, you know, one locker room to the other locker room in the same building, from the jets to the Giants. But that's the updated news with Aaron Rodgers holding us all hostage. Not much longer though, right? 8773 DP Show Email Address DP dan patrick.com Twitter Handle @TP Show Watch basketball last night, and I was curious just how good North Carolina was going to be. And this doesn't. This doesn't prove really anything. I know this is where Tar Heel fans will say, oh, are you going to apologize today? No. For what? I didn't think you deserved to be in the tournament. It's not the end of the world. It's okay. If you're really honest about your team, you probably would say you didn't deserve to be in the tournament. But you take it. Okay, fine, you beat San Diego State. Great. Maybe you make a run. We've seen teams in the first four end up in the final four. And, you know, they, they're on a mission here. Alabama State at the buzzer gets by St. Francis, Pennsylvania, not a great couple of days for West Virginia basketball. West Virginia doesn't get in the tournament. Thought they deserve to get in over North Carolina and. And then to make matters worse, they lost their basketball coach. He went to Indiana. Darien DeVries. I don't know if he would have gone to Indiana had West Virginia made the tournament. After they get, you know, bounced. Do you eventually go to Indiana? I'm not sure, but Mike Woodson, who got Indiana to the doorstep of making the tournament, got fired. Darien Devries, who was kind of the, I think the guy after the guy to clean up Bob Huggins mess at West Virginia, but he goes from West Virginia. I don't know if the governor holds a press conference and has anything to say today about losing their basketball coach. Yes. Your alma mater.

[Dan Patrick]

Yeah, I think the big part was Bob Huggins. This is kind of the after, I think Darren Devries, he was, like you said, kind of the guy after the guy.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah.

[Dan Patrick]

You know.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah. And now going to Indiana, Steve Alford never got a shot. Now Steve's at Nevada. And I thought that that was one of those. That was always going to be inevitable. And then all of a sudden it wasn't. Yes. Marvin, looking back on history, don't you.

[Dan Patrick]

Think that's a bad idea?

[Marvin Lewis]

You saw Patrick Ewing at Georgetown and.

[Dan Patrick]

Chris Mullen at St. John's it's going okay for Penny Hardaway at Memphis, but isn't it tough to be the greatest player in the hit, not one of the greatest players in history of a.

[Chris Weber]

Program going back to be the head.

[Marvin Lewis]

Coach like Clyde Drexler at Houston.

[Chris Weber]

Right.

[Marvin Lewis]

You can't hire somebody without the thought that you may have to fire them. And with, you know, Chris Mullen at St. John's Patrick Ewing at Jordan, like these are your all timers. And of course, it has to be awkward when you come back. You know, there's, there's a Hall of Fame ceremony, alumni weekend. And yeah, you're introducing Chris Mullen or Patrick Ewing, and everybody's thinking the same thing. The school fired them. Yes, Marvin.

[Chris Weber]

And it's hard because those two are.

[Dan Patrick]

Easily the greatest players in the history of that program. So everyone's looking for them.

[Marvin Lewis]

Steve Alford, I'm not sure if he's the great. I don't know much about Indiana basketball.

[Dan Patrick]

So I don't know who the greatest player is that ever went there, but it's got to be difficult if you come back after getting fired.

[Marvin Lewis]

But this was a guy who played for Bob Knight. He's a local. He's an Indiana kid. You won a national title with him. I just. And I think Dan Dockage, who played at Indiana, Radio host, will join us tomorrow and I can ask him more about this. But it just felt like Steve Alford wasn't considered for that job. You know, he had ucla, had Iowa, Nevada, but Indiana now has West Virginia's head coach. All right, see what's poll question today. I was going to go with most.

[Paul Pabst]

Sure thing in the tournament.

[Marvin Lewis]

Okay. Oh, by the way, a sure thing. The Dodgers won. They just beat the Cubs. And get a load of Roki Sasaki. If you get a chance to watch him pitch. Whoo. His first three pitches. Hundy, hundy, hundi. And then his next pitch was 99. Then he had a splitter at 82. He. It feels like either strikes you out or walks you. But you want to talk about some electric stuff. They may not need Ohtani to pitch this year. Imagine a year in the National League west and you're like, damn, we're already two games behind the Dodgers because nobody else has played except for the Dodgers and the Cubs. But they ended up winning Ohtani homer in the game. This is just business as usual. But Sasaki has. I'm trying to think who it reminds me of. Yeah, Paulie Nuke Lelouch.

[Dan Patrick]

Well, a little Nuke Lelouch. Three innings, one hit one and run five walks in three K's.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah, but as far as. Man, he's got some stuff. But they ended up beating the Cubs, you know, and you get. Sometimes you'll get that Japanese player who might be 26 or 27. Ichiro, I think was 26, 27 when he came over. Sasaki's 23. But that's that pipeline. They spent the money, they outspent everybody for him. And they, you know, their pitching staff was decimated last year with injuries. And I mean, you have. Clayton Kershaw is a luxury. He could be. He could be your pitching coach at $35 million a year. May not need him that much. But I don't think the offense is going to be as good. But they're still going to be the overwhelming favorite to win the World Series. In fact, according to DraftKings, the Dodgers are plus 2. 90, the second favorite. The Braves are plus 7, 50. The Yankees plus 8 50. Then it's the Phillies and then the Mets at plus 1200. Yes, Paul, the bases were.

[Dan Patrick]

There's two men on for Ohtani and they intentionally walked Ohtani. Not a good reaction from the local crowd.

[Marvin Lewis]

No, no. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live. Hey, it's Steve Covino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. And of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich?

[Dan Patrick]

We talk about everything.

[Marvin Lewis]

Life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Ko Vino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast. And of course, on social media, that's Covino and rich.

[Dan Patrick]

In 2020, a group of young women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.

[Marvin Lewis]

Someone was posting frank photos.

[Chris Weber]

It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone.

[Paul Pabst]

Else'S body parts on my body.

[Chris Weber]

Parts that looked exactly like my own.

[Dan Patrick]

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the Internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deep fake pornography. This should be illegal, but what is this? This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Something about Mary Poppins? Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. Oh, man, this is fun. I'm AJ Jacobs and I am an author and a journalist and I tend to get obsessed with stuff and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, the Puzzler. Dressing. Dressing.

[Paul Pabst]

French dressing.

[Dan Patrick]

Exactly.

[Chris Weber]

That's good.

[Dan Patrick]

Now you can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. I thought to myself, I bet I know what this is. And now I definitely know what this is. This is so weird. This is fun. Let's try this one. Our brand new season features special guests like Chuck Bryant, Mayim Bialik, Julie Bowen, Sam Sanders, Joseph Gordon Levitt and lots more. Listen to the Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. That's awful and I should have seen it coming.

[Marvin Lewis]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. I'm having conversations with some interesting folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned.

[Dan Patrick]

Along the way that everyone can use.

[Marvin Lewis]

I'll be joined by innovative leaders like chairman and CEO of Elf View Beauty, Tarang Amin.

[Dan Patrick]

The way I approach risk is constantly try things and actually make it okay to fail.

[Marvin Lewis]

I'm sitting down with legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist Jewel.

[Dan Patrick]

I wanted a way to do something that I loved for the rest of my life.

[Marvin Lewis]

We're also hearing how leaders brought their businesses out of unprecedented times.

[Dan Patrick]

Like Stefan Bonsell, CEO of Moderna.

[Marvin Lewis]

It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world. Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math and the ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to math and magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. Somebody violated the FBI and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century and the God damnedest love story have ever heard.

[Chris Weber]

I picked up the phone and my.

[Dan Patrick]

Thought was, this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. Listen to divine intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Mary McBray Bray I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains, or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marvin Lewis]

He's Chris Weber, hall of famer, five time all star, former number one overall pick by the Magic back in 1993. C. Webb joining us, who came up with the idea for the Black Sox with Michigan? Do you remember?

[Chris Weber]

I do, I do. Ray Jackson. I had to interview him for my book Shameless Plug, but I have forgotten. So we were playing in Texas, we playing against Rice University. And you know, Dan, when you play with your teammates, whenever you have a teammate that's from somewhere, when you go to their home, you want to show up. And so we knew we were going to want to play well for Ray and Jimmy. And Ray, though he wanted to transfer. And Ray had been talking about transferring to me for the whole summer, for the whole year. He felt that he was kind of left out, that he was the scapegoat, the coach. He was kind of tired of coach staying on him for a long time. So he and his friends decided to go to the mall. He bought a few different colored pair of socks and he was going to wear them in protest. But he comes to the room and you know how it is with your friends. He comes to the room, I'm sleep. He comes back and Juwan is like, what is this? I love it. We're going to wear those black socks. And Jalen's like, oh, let's go to the mall. So Jalen, Jimmy, they ran to the mall, bought me a pair of black socks. And so Ray's frustration and protest turned into brothers saying, man, shut up. We love you. We're all gonna wear the black socks. That's a whole nother story. Cause we get in trouble for wearing the black socks, for not including the rest of our teammates. So we have the black socks on. We're excited. We have our sweatpants.

[Marvin Lewis]

On.

[Chris Weber]

We usually don't warm up with our sweatpants in warmups, you know, usually take them off in your shorts. We kept them on. And we all get in the starter circle and Coach is looking like, what the hell? You know, because it was pretty obvious then. And then after the game, Coach was, fine, we win it. But after the game, he pulled me to the side and said, come on, man. You know, I was. I'm the oldest of five kids. And he was like, would you do that with, you know, family members? He's like, no, we don't do that here. Everybody has to wear black socks. So he didn't understand how excited we were. That really what he was telling us is, yeah, y'all could wear them, but everyone can wear them. But Ray Jackson was the. Ray Jackson was the start of that. He picked those socks.

[Marvin Lewis]

What about the baggy shorts? I know Jordan wore baggy shorts, but you guys went baggier.

[Chris Weber]

Yeah, you know, it was Illinois and UNLV had really nice shorts. Syracuse, you know, all the guys like Derrick Coleman or Anderson Hunt, they would bring us their shorts in the summer and give us a pair of shorts. That was like gifting the guy a car to wear some official, you know, shorts. Back then, there was no fanatics. You know, you could just give them things like that. And so really what. It was a funny story. The day we get to get our uniforms, we're all super excited. You know, that's a moment when you get to look at your uniform, put it on. But thanks to Chip Armor and Eric Riley and all of the old heads, because they wanted just regular shorts. And we were searching for that extra 2 inches in the crotch, in the seam. And so we were able to trade with upperclassmen who didn't get it yet. And then Coach, eventually he and Coach Dutcher of San Diego State, now he and Coach Dutcher eventually ordered us some. Some longer shorts. So we. We were just complaining the whole time about, you know, our shorts, you know, the term. Then we didn't want Stocktons and we didn't want to catch a yeast infection at practice from a teammate with too tight draws on. So, you know, Coach, he was cool. We had some tough practices for it. That's how we got to earn black socks and everything. You have to have tough practices, but we earned it and all was well.

[Marvin Lewis]

We were talking about the great nickname. So you had Fab 5 Phi Slam a jam. It was great. Hoya paranoia don't know if there's running Rebels don't know if they're Any other team nickname that kind of belongs in that group.

[Chris Weber]

Man, that's good. I wish I had time to think about that one, because that's gonna be on my mind. I really loved the Running Rebels. I mean, to me, it said it all, Even their moniker with kind of the Yosemite Sam type character. You know how many I think them in Oklahoma get to got to carry a gun around in at those times. But, yeah, I don't. You know, I've always said the greatest personal nickname to me is the Great One, and. And then you can go from there, but for the teams. Yeah, I think it'd have to be maybe the Running Rebels back there.

[Marvin Lewis]

Were you aware of Georgetown with Ewing?

[Chris Weber]

Are you serious? Yes, I'm with you. I'm a big sports fan, so. Yeah. And you gotta remember this. What was really smart and. And in talking to Sonny Vaccaro for my book, he was a really good guy, but they snuck into our minds early. So when you talk about Georgetown. Yes. Do I love John Thompson? Yes. Do I love Zo and all the big fellas that had Ewing and Machumbo? Yes. But what really started my love for them was the blue and gray Nikes. It was the blue and gray starter jacket. And I don't think then, really, people remember what an influence starter had in. In our kind of. In our life, because you kind of got to be a pro before you were a pro and wear what you wanted to wear. And so, yeah, for me, it was a. It was a. A really good time of fashion in the world we want. But it's all started with what you could wear on the street. And that's why I really love Georgetown, because of how cool they were even before I got to see them on the floor.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah. What I was meaning is growing up, you know, because Ewing and. And Hoy, you know, Hoya paranoia was in the 80s, and I was just curious if you were old enough to get gear, if you wanted to get gear from Georgetown or there was some other school, because I think you looked at Duke, didn't you? If you didn't go to Michigan, it was either Michigan State or Duke.

[Chris Weber]

Yes. Yes. And so Patrick Ewan is a little older than me, and I didn't get Georgetown gear, but you would always see all the cool guys in the neighborhood wearing it. I remember his interview with my father, you know, telling me where Patrick Ewan was from. And I remember my mother telling me how smart you had to be to go to Georgetown. So I really remember those conversations, more so than watching Pat Play. But Coach Carrillo, rest in peace, who is a close, close mentor of mine. When I got in the pros, I heard so many great stories about that Princeton, Georgetown game, but those were much later. So, no, I didn't really get to see that because I was going to Duke. I was going to Michigan State to be like Steve Smith going to Duke to play with Grand Hill or, you know, Lucky, luckily went to Michigan to play with Juwan, Jay, Loren, Jimmy.

[Marvin Lewis]

Toughest guy you ever faced in college.

[Chris Weber]

Christian Laettner is the best. One of the best college players of all time. I think of great college players. I think of Kareem Walton. Of course, there are a lot of others that are mixed in, that have one or two great years, but it was. It was by far, by far Christian Laitner for me, because, sorry, Christian Laitner and Big Dog Robinson, because those two, Glenn Robinson, those two were the first big guys that put it on the floor, that could dribble, that could pump fake, that could get you in foul trouble, that played outside the game. You know, when you look at the evolution of the game, we grew up when big guys weren't supposed to handle it. And so Latener, being able to shoot three of these latent, or being able to just do all the stuff that he did from a freshman all the way to a senior, I would definitely say in my time, I think he was the toughest for me to play for, play against.

[Marvin Lewis]

Do you ever have a conversation with him about that rivalry and games you guys played against each other?

[Chris Weber]

No, no, no. But it's. It's. It's overdue. It's. It's long overdue. We should have a beer over, because I think I've told you this before. My best. One of my best college visits, if I had, you know, eight or nine of them, was definitely at Duke. And. And my host, so I was very familiar with him when we played. That's why we talk so much junk to each other. And, you know, he knew my admiration. But the more admiration I have for you tomorrow, I'm gonna try to kill you anyway. And I think that's the same with him. But now we haven't talked about it, but, you know, it'd be fun, fun, fun to talk about.

[Marvin Lewis]

It would be. It'd be a fun podcast where it's just you two talking about that time because you had Duke, the establishment, you guys, you know, freshmen, and going toe to toe with them. You probably had people who liked you because they hate. Hated Duke so much.

[Chris Weber]

They did. And also, I Had people that were mad at me because I didn't hate Duke. I mean, I hated him because I wanted to beat him. But all of the other talk and this that I didn't get into because I hated him enough just from basketball. And I went to visit there and I wanted to be part of that team. But, you know, Coach K is such a special guy. And, you know, when I think about. And again, keep saying in the book, by God's grace, when I think about Coach K coming to my house and recruiting me, he was in enemy territory, actually. My friends were screaming, 103, 73. 103, 73. That was the score that they lost against UNLV. And people are outside chanting this while he's walking in my house, and all he does is turn around on the fortune of justice ring, and everybody's like, so when I saw Coach K's toughness, you know, in the hood and how he was and, you know, respectful of Ferris and all that, he's always been one of my favorite coaches in the game as well.

[Marvin Lewis]

Okay, wait a minute. Your boys are outside, Coach K is walking into your house, and they're mocking him of getting blown out by 30 by UNLV.

[Chris Weber]

Yeah, Dan, I actually got to send this to you because I interviewed my guys on the porch that he walked in and they were saying it because my father was like, don't tell anybody. You know, Coach K is coming. And so the whole neighborhood knew. And so he gets out the car and they are just booing. But when he walked back out, people were like, yeah, coach, you know, you know, good job. So he earned our respect. But, yeah, Coach. Coach K was tough. It's not just. It's not just an act. You know, he's a. He's a good guy and tough at heart, and so he's always had my respect. He and his all remind me of a lot of each other, too. And I consider coaches or a very close friend.

[Marvin Lewis]

Chris Weber, the Hall of Famer, member of the Fab Five, more concerned about transfer portal or nil in the future for the sport.

[Chris Weber]

Can you separate them? Can there be one without the other? You know, I'm. I'm, you know, I'm very happy that, you know, any time you're in the beginning of any new system is going to be terrible. You're going to have to figure it out. So I can't wait until the playing field levels and we figure it out. But I think coaches are getting a taste of their medicine. You want to leave your guys and Coach and leave. Well, some guys are going to leave you mentally late in the season when you decide that. But also I hope that players start to understand that the same love and passion should be there. But even more than ever, you made a commitment now. And I've talked to a lot of young players and I don't know, I talked to a lot of young players and we are working through understanding that you're getting paid for this commitment now. So you have no excuse, but you still need to come with the same energy and innocence of passion that you would have played with. And how do you figure that out? And I think some guys are figuring out. I also think some players are look at mid season saying, well, I could. I'm averaging 8, I can go average 10 here next year in a crazy, unsubstantiated situation. And then they go into the transfer portal and no one picks them up. So, you know, it's a, It's a. It's a difficult time right now. And I think everyone from coaches, players are all kind of getting used to seeing, like, how is this going to. Going to level out. But that needs to be more discussion and, and hopefully more leveling of the playing field so everyone can get comfortable.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah, I'm wondering about that. That if you get money when you're in college, does that help you when you go to the pros and get money? Because a lot of times you go into the pros and you go crazy because you haven't had this kind of money and you buy stupid things. Did you do that?

[Chris Weber]

Yeah, every. Every, Every. Everybody. Everybody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody's done that. And I thought it was sports until I talked to a lot of my friends in VC and others, and I found out it's all people that do that. But I definitely, you know, was one of those guys. But. But you're going to do that, I think too, with guys. Let's take a guy like the big fella from Kansas. Bigson. He was, he was at Michigan and it was. He's a really good guy and he plays with passion. He's so hard. He wanted to stay at Michigan and he's going, I'm not playing pro now. I think he's a pro, so I'm not having that conversation. He's a pro, he's a pro, he's a pro. But that was the conversation then. And the conversation asked to me, who was someone that never been in that position, what would you do? You know, because my thing was, you can stay here for Legacy. You've been In Michigan four years and having records and numbers. Do you, you know what that's like when you get older to be able to come back to Michigan and say that you were part of it? This is a wonderful university. And I think that. I think that that factor has been taken out of the decision making because guys are saying, you know what? I might not make the pros. I might not have the luxury of getting a paycheck and buying something stupid. I need to make as much as I can now and prepare for a professional career overseas or in coaching. So I. I think guys are battling with a lot of different decisions that really are. They're struggling with, that they don't want to have. I was talking with Deion Sanders for a show I'm doing, and he was telling me that the parents were more of a problem with the Portal and with Nil than the students because the students haven't lived life enough to kind of be that greedy yet or, or to just not put team first. And so I, again, I think it's a lot of different situations. You know, guys are getting taxed off the nil and didn't know they were getting taxed and parents were used. So it's. It's just so much going on that. That hopefully, again, the dust just settles.

[Marvin Lewis]

What's the craziest thing that you spent money on early?

[Chris Weber]

I mean, I've, you know, I was smart in the beginning because I wanted to get my parents everything, so. And I had a big family. But for me, I mean, you know, the day, you know, I got drafted, it was a chapter in my book called Gators for everybod. So gators, you know, are a shoe. Now I look at this. So damn stupid. But gators are a shoe. And back then it was big block gators. And, you know, from guys in the hood, the preachers to anybody had gators. And so what did I do? I went and bought gators for everyone in my neighborhood. I mean, even if they didn't have a suit. Hey, why don't you have some gators and take this? Or, you know, oh, man. I took friends to restaurants, you know, that we had never been to. So a guy lived across the street from Ibuki. Rest in peace. Just stupid stuff. You go to restaurants, you pour concoction a hot sauce, and you say, the guy here, I gave you $5,000 if you eat it and you're happy because you were gonna give him something anyway. But, you know, your friends, you have to bust them up. And so, you know, I've Done a lot more worse things, I'm sure, in. In other areas of life. But I remember when I first got it was that, oh, one of the most fun things I did, the pride was stupid. I went to a music place. I had a truck, a white Suburban, when it first came out, and I asked him to give me the loudest sounds in the world. And the guy laughed. And I immediately walked out, went down the street and asked the guy for the loudest sounds in the world. He was like, I could do that. And so I took out every seat Besides the front two seats. I had 16, 12, 14, eight. Something crazy. And I used to just love driving down the street, making alarms go off or breaking my window in the back. And so I think that's pretty stupid to, you know, put, you know, $50,000, $40,000 worth of sounds in your truck that only one person can fit in. You can't even put your luggage in. But it was a good time. It was a good time.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah. But here's your dad who worked factory for all of those years. Did he ever say, what are you doing?

[Chris Weber]

Yeah, you know, yeah, yeah. But story time. I can keep going. I know it's your show. I want to keep going.

[Marvin Lewis]

But I know you bought him a Cadillac, right?

[Chris Weber]

But that was the best thing. I told him Magic was coming to the house and I went to the. And he loves Magic. I went to the car dealership in Cadillac and people started cheering when I went in because they knew my father had worked for GM for, you know, many, many years. And I brought him a Cadillac. I had to cut the grass meticulously now. And you never got to play football on the grass or anything. I drive the car on the grass. My father comes out at six in the. About seven in the morning. And that was one of the most special moments of my life. Getting yelled at while throwing the keys to my father while he's driving off, telling me to make sure I take care of the grass. Is. Was a pretty cool moment.

[Marvin Lewis]

Always great. Thank you for storytelling time. Chris, we appreciate your time as always.

[Chris Weber]

Thanks, Dan. Appreciate you.

[Marvin Lewis]

He is Chris Weber. He is a hall of Famer and number one overall pick by the Magic back in 1993. A lot of fun. Always appreciate conversations with him. All right, we'll take a break. More of your phone calls coming up. Back after this. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

[Dan Patrick]

In 2020, a group of young Women in a tidy suburb of New York City found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.

[Marvin Lewis]

Someone was posting photos.

[Chris Weber]

It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone.

[Paul Pabst]

Else'S body parts on my body parts.

[Chris Weber]

That looked exactly like my own.

[Dan Patrick]

I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. It happened in Levittown, New York. But reporting the series took us through the darkest corners of the Internet and to the front lines of a global battle against deepfake pornography. This should be illegal, but what is this? This is a story about a technology that's moving faster than the law and about vigilantes trying to stem the tide. I'm Margie Murphy. And I'm Olivia Carville. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast podcasts.

[Marvin Lewis]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. I'm having conversations with some interesting folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned.

[Dan Patrick]

Along the way that everyone can use.

[Marvin Lewis]

I'll be joined by innovative leaders like chairman and CEO of Health Beauty, Tarang Amin.

[Dan Patrick]

The way I approach risk is constantly try things and actually make it okay to fail.

[Marvin Lewis]

I'm sitting down with legendary singer, songwriter and philanthropist Jewel.

[Dan Patrick]

I wanted a way to do something that I loved for the rest of my life.

[Marvin Lewis]

We're also hearing how leaders brought their businesses out of unprecedented times, like Stephane.

[Dan Patrick]

Bonsell, CEO of Moderna.

[Marvin Lewis]

It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world. Join me as we uncover innovations in.

[Dan Patrick]

Data and analytics, the math, and the.

[Marvin Lewis]

Ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to math and magic stories from the frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dan Patrick]

Something about Mary Poppins. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. Oh, man, this is fun. I'm AJ Jacobs and I am an author and a journalist. And I tend to get obsessed with stuff. And my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, the Puzzler. Dressing. Dressing.

[Paul Pabst]

French dressing.

[Dan Patrick]

Exactly.

[Chris Weber]

Oh, that's good.

[Dan Patrick]

Now you can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. I thought to myself, I bet I know what this is. And Now I definitely know what this is. This is so weird. This is fun. Let's try this one. Our brand new season features special guests like Chuck Bryant, Mayim Bialik, Julie Bowen, Sam Sanders, Joseph Gordon Levitt and lots more. Listen to the Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. That's awful and I should have seen it coming. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes, host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar was furious somebody violated the FBI and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to itself. The FBI went around to all their neighbors and said to them, do you think these people are good Americans? It's got heists, tragedy, a trial of the century and the God damnedest love story you've ever heard.

[Chris Weber]

I picked up the phone and my.

[Dan Patrick]

Thought was this is the most important phone call I'll ever make in my life. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Brendan, it was divine intervention. Listen to Divine intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marvin Lewis]

Paul skeens, he is one of three MLB the Show 25 cover athletes. This is the 20th anniversary honoring two decades of baseball history. Ellie De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson are on the COVID as well. The Pirates rookie of the year joining us on the program. What did you learn from your rookie year or what do you wish that you had known in your rookie year or when you were in the, in college minor leagues? Coming up to the Pirates.

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, I mean the, the biggest thing I learned from, from getting to the big leagues is that the game is a lot more similar than I thought in terms of the actual the baseball, you know, play. Everything that's added on makes it a lot harder. So traveling cross country. We had a couple cross country flights last year. I travel within the division's pretty good, you know our hour long or less than an hour long flights for the most part within our division. But still, I mean you got the media in the, in the locker room Every day the food is different. It's, it's better, but there's more of it. So it's easy to, you know, overindulge. Just a lot, a lot of little stuff like that that makes it, just makes it makes it different and probably makes it a little bit harder.

[Marvin Lewis]

What's the strangest thing you've thought of while you were on the mound?

[Paul Pabst]

Oh, man. Probably like doing math problems or something like that. I don't know if you've ever seen, I think it was Major league OR Major League 2. The catcher is, is, you know, learning to get over the yips and he like memorizes a Playboy magazine or something like that. And I do that with math problems rather than, you know, Playboy magazines.

[Marvin Lewis]

But how does that help you?

[Paul Pabst]

I mean, because it's, it's very, so it's very easy to, like, focus too hard and try to execute a pitch, you know, too much, and then you just completely sail it or like pull a slider or sail a heater or something like that. So, like, having your mind not, you know, solely focused on, on that pitch, like a little bit of distraction is sometimes a good thing.

[Marvin Lewis]

Give me the guy that you keep an eye on in the on deck circle that you know he's coming to the plate.

[Paul Pabst]

It's probably one per team. Usually it's like the three hitter or something like that. Maybe it's to a team, it's because we kind of like bucket hitters a little bit to where we can pitch them similarly to get them out. But there's always like one guy in the lineup that's like, hey, this guy doesn't beat us. So, I mean, it's the Juan Sotos, the Ellie De La Cruz, Cody Bollinger, Those types of guys, they, I mean, you know, they're coming up.

[Marvin Lewis]

What do you do when you disagree with your catcher?

[Paul Pabst]

Just shake. I wear a pitchcom too, and I'll punch it in sometimes, but yeah, just shake there. No, there are no hard feelings there.

[Marvin Lewis]

But you have final say.

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, I mean, if, if I, my, my experience is generally if I throw a pitch that I don't wholly believe in, it doesn't end well. So I have to, you know, throw pitches that I, I believe in out there with, you know, full conviction, and then it generally ends, ends pretty well.

[Marvin Lewis]

But when you give up a big hit or a home run in college, it's one thing, but when you have thousands and thousands of people and you know it's going to end up on SportsCenter, like, how do you process that differently, if you can, than when you were in college and you gave up a home run.

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, honestly. And I think this is probably more of a. A change for me, but I think I took it, like, took it harder, took it more personally when I was in college than I do now. And I think there are probably a couple reasons for that. I think I've matured, grown up a little bit. But also we get to do it more often now in college. It's like, you know, the SEC is the biggest thing in the world and nothing else matters. Like, that's. That's the. That's what they feed you. Right? So when I give up a home run at Ole Miss and the beer's flying everywhere, like, it feels like the end of the world a little bit more than. Than it does now when I give up a home run and, you know, Dodger Stadium or something like that, it's just. And I think. I think part of that's because it's. It's so routine now, but I think a lot of it's because I have just, like, grown up to talking to.

[Marvin Lewis]

Paul Skeens, and He's one of three MLB the Show, 25 cover athletes. You got Gunner Henderson and Ellie Della Cruz. Tell us about the honor. When. How did you find out?

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, I can't remember exactly when I found out because it was something that I think, you know, we were in the talks for. For, I don't know, probably last summer, last September, around. There kind of blends together when we're in season. But it was cool when I, you know, found out that it's, you know, no kidding happening. I mean, definitely some satisfaction there is. It's. It's pretty cool. I've, you know, grown up seeing, you know, the COVID athletes of the show and seeing the game. It's been a. A huge part of a lot of people's childhood, I think, as, like, the game that they want to play, when they. When they get to play video games.

[Marvin Lewis]

So what else are you a gamer of?

[Chris Weber]

I'm not.

[Paul Pabst]

I'm not really a gamer at all.

[Marvin Lewis]

Really. Okay.

[Paul Pabst]

So, yeah, so the only time I would play the show, because I never had a PlayStation or Xbox or anything, the only time I would play the show is when I, like, went to, you know, my. My buddy's house or something like that, and they had it. But I've always been terrible at it. And if I. I'm the kind of person, like, if I'm not good at something, I just won't. I'll Just stop doing it. Yeah, I'm the, I'm the take my ball and go home type of guy.

[Marvin Lewis]

How territorial are you when it comes to the SEC, whether it's football? 14 schools are in the NCAA tournament. The baseball with the SEC. Are you annoying to be around when it's conversations about the sec Now?

[Paul Pabst]

Because I'm a, I'm a baseball guy. First football I could kind of care less about. I mean, I'm a true believer that, because I'm an SEC guy, but I'm a Mountain west guy, too, and I'm a true believer that the Mountain west just breeds winners. So probably more territorial about the Mountain west because it's not a, you know, people don't, people don't know about the, the Mountain west, but that's where, that's where champions are made. I believe that.

[Marvin Lewis]

Okay, but you're in Pittsburgh. They love their football there. Do you go to, you care about, you go to games?

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, but I mean, because I look at college baseball and call and, and pro baseball is two different sports. I, I never played football. I don't understand what's going on out there. I know that you're supposed to move the ball down the field, but I view college football and pro football is two different sports, too. So I've gone to a Steelers game. It was, it was really cool. I want to go back. I'm a Steelers fan, you know, now bleed black and gold, so. But yeah, I don't, I don't. It, they're fun. The games are fun to go to.

[Marvin Lewis]

Are you going to be okay with the automatic strike zone?

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah. Hey, it's not in there this year, so I'm, I'm happy with that. I haven't, I haven't challenged anything this spring. It's not going to be in there this year. When it comes, it comes. I, I like the human aspect of the game because I, I think that, you know, there are games where the umpire zone is big and there are games where the umpire zone is small. Obviously, catchers, you, you bring in the automatic strike zone, then it completely devalues framing, which, you know, effectively eliminates the catching position. So I, I have mixed feelings toward it. I, I, I do like the, the human aspect of the game, but there's definitely something to be said about, you know, being objective with the strike zone.

[Marvin Lewis]

Yeah, but when you're at the plate and all of a sudden there's a, you know, a star pitcher and he gets a call, you're okay with that. And it's not A strike. But because of who he is, Justin Verlander is going to get that call.

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, I mean, I prefer it that way. I don't have to hit anymore.

[Marvin Lewis]

Do you want to hit?

[Paul Pabst]

No. Maybe BP occasionally. But I. I don't want to face Justin Verlander. I don't want to face any of these other guys. They're too. They're too. They're too good.

[Marvin Lewis]

If you were building the perfect pitcher. So you gave me fastball, slider, curveball, change up. Who's using your fastball?

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, I'd like to think all four of those are, you know, mine, but.

[Marvin Lewis]

That'S just not the case. I'm glad you think that way.

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah. I mean, because you can't use my fastball with like. Because I would say, like, my fastball and Clayton Kershaw's curveball or something like that, but, like, we're the exact opposite pitchers, basically. I. I'd like to thank my fastball. Kershaw's curveball for sure. Just a straight up and down curveball. Change up scubal. Those are two lefties slider. And there's so many good ones. I think a nice, like, for. For me, like a downer, a downer slider, like a degrom, like a shorter downer slider. Because that's something I don't have. But there's, I mean, striders, slider. There's so many, so many ways, so many different ways to have a good slider, though. So specifically a slider.

[Marvin Lewis]

Isn'T it amazing that these guys can hit this stuff? I mean, they talk about hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do, and there are guys that are hitting 100 miles an hour and it's like, so what?

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, I don't. I don't know how they do it. I'll let them do it. That's why I'm not going to try to try to get back in the box.

[Marvin Lewis]

Congratulations, Opening Day. Congratulations on MLB the Show. That's the COVID with Ellie Dela Cruz, Gunner Henderson, and this is honoring the 20th anniversary of that. Great to talk to you again, Paul. Thanks for joining us.

[Paul Pabst]

Yeah, no, really appreciate it, Paul Skeens.

[Dan Patrick]

What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the King of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101 free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday, keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast this Is Working can help with that. Here's some advice from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, on standing out from the leadership crisis.

[Chris Weber]

Develop your EQ A lot of people have plenty of brains, but EQ is do you trust me? Do I communicate well?

[Marvin Lewis]

Develop the team, develop the people, create.

[Chris Weber]

A system of trust. And it works over time.

[Dan Patrick]

I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor in chief. On my podcast this is Working Leaders Share Strategies for Success. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The legendary escapologist Harry Houdini was obsessed with the afterlife.

[Chris Weber]

I see a little boy.

[Dan Patrick]

He is in a happy place. Join me, Tim Harford, for a Cautionary Tales trilogy on the world's most famous magician and his campaign to ban mediums, a mission that would cost him friends and leave him fearing for his life.

[Chris Weber]

They're going to kill me.

[Dan Patrick]

Listen to Cautionary tales on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I was always around it.

[Chris Weber]

Hollywood saved me on this week's episode.

[Dan Patrick]

Of Eating While Broke, a podcast presented by the Black Effect Podcast Network. Nick Cannon joins us to discuss his journey from teenage comedian to entertainment mogul. Now I do the super dad, content with my kids and everything that people go viral for. And making millions of dollars on YouTube.

[Marvin Lewis]

I was doing in the 90s.

[Dan Patrick]

Listen to Eating While Broke from the Black Effect podcast network on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Eating While Broke and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today. In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.

[Marvin Lewis]

Someone was posting photos.

[Chris Weber]

It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts.

[Dan Patrick]

This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.