PMS 2.0 1342 - Tyrese Haliburton, Marty Smith From the PGA Championship, Dion Dawkins, Jeff Passan, & AJ Hawk

Summary

The Pat McAfee Show – Episode PMS 2.0 1342 Summary

Release Date: May 14, 2025

In this action-packed episode of The Pat McAfee Show, host Pat McAfee dives deep into the current NBA playoff landscape, highlights the resurgence of the Indiana Pacers led by Tyrese Haliburton, discusses insights from the PGA Championship with Marty Smith, and entertains with guest appearances from NFL standout Dion Dawkins. The episode seamlessly blends sports analysis with light-hearted banter, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the latest happenings in the sports world.

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1. Indiana Pacers’ Remarkable Playoff Run

Timestamp: [00:00]

Pat McAfee opens the show by celebrating the Indiana Pacers' unexpected yet impressive journey to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. Reflecting on last year's magical run where the Pacers defeated the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, Pat emphasizes the team's growth and determination.

Pat McAfee: "They were not a team that was expected to make it to the Eastern Conference finals. And then they go on this miraculous run last year, captivate this entire city... And this year, post All-Star break, they have been the best team in the NBA both record-wise and optics-wise."

2. Tyrese Haliburton: From Overrated to Underrated Superstar

Timestamp: [03:43]

Addressing the chatter surrounding Tyrese Haliburton, who was labeled "the most overrated player in the NBA" by some media outlets, Pat defends Haliburton's true impact on the court and his leadership qualities.

Pat McAfee: "The people that actually play basketball respect this dude. True point guard who obviously has a three-point shot that is unique but it finds buckets."

Pat highlights Haliburton’s defensive prowess, playmaking skills, and the respect he commands from teammates and peers, arguing against the negative media portrayal.

3. Exclusive Interview with Tyrese Haliburton

Timestamp: [14:35]

Tyrese Haliburton joins the show to provide firsthand insights into the Pacers' strategy, team dynamics, and his personal experiences leading the team to the Eastern Conference Finals. Haliburton discusses the importance of team chemistry, the influence of Coach Rick Carlisle, and the motivation derived from overcoming external doubts.

Tyrese Haliburton: "We use the disrespect as fuel. We have a lot of guys who have been overlooked at some point in their career. We just use it as fuel to try to do something special."

He elaborates on the Pacers' focus on playing their unique style of basketball, emphasizing speed, defense, and versatility.

4. Eastern Conference Finals Showdown: Celtics vs. Pacers?

Timestamp: [07:40]

The conversation shifts to potential matchups in the Eastern Conference Finals, primarily focusing on the Boston Celtics. With Jayson Tatum’s unfortunate Achilles injury, Pat and guest Boston Conner discuss the Celtics' resilience and the Pacers' continued dominance.

Boston Conner: "The Celtics are 8 and 2 without Tatum this year. They still have what it takes to potentially go on and win it all."

Pat underscores the unpredictability of the playoffs, noting recent comebacks and the Pacers' ability to control the game's pace.

5. Marty Smith’s PGA Championship Insights

Timestamp: [45:56]

Golf enthusiast Marty Smith joins the show to talk about the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Discussing top contenders like Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, Marty provides expert analysis on their performance and prospects in the tournament.

Marty Smith: "Scotty Scheffler is the most unaffected, number one player in the world, elite athlete, global icon that you'll ever meet... And as good as Rory's been playing, Scotty is the favorite."

Pat and Marty delve into the nuances of the course conditions, players' form, and the strategic elements that could influence the championship outcome.

6. Dion Dawkins on Offseason Activities and Hobbies

Timestamp: [68:39]

NFL Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins brings a vibrant energy to the show, sharing his offseason routines and hobbies, including drifting and involvement in WWE events. Dion discusses balancing rigorous training with personal interests, emphasizing the importance of mental and physical well-being.

Dion Dawkins: "I work out four days a week, and then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I'm probably drifting my drift car and enjoying the family."

The segment highlights Dion's multifaceted personality, showcasing his dedication to both football and his passions outside the sport.

7. Light-Hearted Banter: Wrestling and Girl Scout Cookies

Timestamp: [99:10]

The episode takes a comedic turn with discussions about professional wrestling moves and the infamous Girl Scout Cookies. Pat McAfee and guests exchange humorous anecdotes about wrestling techniques and joke about the quality of various Girl Scout Cookie flavors.

Pat McAfee: "He gets a lot of heat, too. I tweeted about it. It's like, what are we watching the same guy?"

This playful segment adds a touch of levity, engaging listeners with relatable and entertaining conversations.

8. Derrick Henry’s Historic NFL Extension

Timestamp: [97:07]

Returning to football, Pat announces Derrick Henry's groundbreaking two-year, $30 million extension with the Baltimore Ravens—the largest deal for a running back over 30 years old. The discussion centers on Henry's physical prowess, his pivotal role in the Ravens' offense, and the evolving valuation of the running back position in the NFL.

Hembo: "Derrick Henry is a big part of a reason of why I think the running back position has gotten some good shine over the last three, four or five years."

Pat and Hembo analyze the significance of this extension, reflecting on Henry's impact and the broader implications for player contracts in the league.

9. MLB Segment: Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson Hall of Fame Discussions

Timestamp: [104:03]

The conversation shifts to Major League Baseball, focusing on the controversial potential induction of Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson into the Hall of Fame. Hembo provides a nuanced explanation of the Hall of Fame voting process, the impact of Rose's gambling and legal issues, and the historical context surrounding Jackson's involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Hembo: "Unlike Pete Rose, Pat, Shoeless Joe Jackson actually was on the hall of Fame ballot... It's going to be super interesting when this committee gets together."

Pat and Hembo debate the ethical considerations versus on-field achievements, pondering how societal norms and historical perspectives might influence the voting outcomes.

10. Closing Remarks and Giveaway

Timestamp: [163:00]

As the episode wraps up, Pat announces a special giveaway featuring autographed Topps baseball cards. Listeners are encouraged to purchase specific card packs, share their purchases on social media with the hashtag #TopsMcAfee, and enter to win signed memorabilia.

Pat McAfee: "If you take a screenshot of your purchase of a five-pack of this particular card, post it on X and use hashtag topsMcAfee, you could enter for a random drawing that we'll do for 20 winners."

The finale blends promotional content with community engagement, rewarding loyal listeners and fostering interaction.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Pat McAfee Show masterfully balances in-depth sports analysis with engaging interviews and entertaining segments. From the Indiana Pacers' unexpected playoff success and Tyrese Haliburton's leadership to insights from the PGA Championship and personal stories from Dion Dawkins, Pat delivers a multifaceted exploration of the sports world. Listeners are treated to expert opinions, spirited discussions, and a hearty dose of humor, making it a must-listen for avid sports enthusiasts.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode, the ThunderDome on this NFL schedule release day. Also, the Pacers are the ECF Wednesday show starts now. Sports are happening all around us and obviously in this particular city, with this particular team, they punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals once again last year. They lost four zip to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. They were a team that was not expected to make it to the Eastern Conference finals. They were not a team that was expected to be one of the four teams left in the NBA all season long. And then they go on this miraculous run last year, captivate this entire city, this entire state, this entire fan base. And then this year, the beginning of the season, they're not that great. And then post all star break, they have been the best team in the NBA both record wise and optics wise. They are led by what the helly, Tyrese Halliburton, who is voted the most overrated player in the NBA. There's a lot of these basketball journalist people that are saying, yeah, he's pretty good player. He's pretty good player. He's pretty good, yeah, he's fucking led his team to the Eastern Conference finals in back to back years as a 24 year old. He's an Olympic gold medalist. Didn't get to play. Didn't get to play, but did get invited over a lot of people. You know why? Because the people that actually play basketball respect this dude. True point guard who obviously has a three point shot that is unique but it finds buckets. I don't think he's missed a free throw other than on purpose for like six months, whatever the case. And his teammates love them. And it's not just Tyrese Halliburton. It's also Myles Turner who's been here for 10 years through many different transitions. Spicy Pasco Siakam, traded from Toronto last year mid season. He's a perfect buyer. Niece Smith, Nemhard, TJ McConnell and Rick Carlisle, the head coach. He's been a guy that's been shooed out of a couple different cities after building a winner. This team perfectly epitomizes the city in which they represent. And this city loves hoops. And the fact that the Pacers are back in the Eastern Conference finals is not a surprise to those of us who actually watch them play. The only issue watching them play is if you're a national fan or an NBA fan or a fan of another team. You haven't been able to watch them because they're never put on national television. They've tried to hide this Pacers team. Which is why I think 11 out of 11 people on ESPN projecting what this Cavalier series were going to go projected the Cavaliers to win in either a gentleman sweep, an outright sweep, or in six or seven games. Because nobody has seen this Pacers team play. If you've watched them play since the All Star break, they're fast. So fast they'll run your ass out of the gym. Everybody's like, well, they play against teams that aren't healthy. Well, that's because in a best of seven taking on this Pacers team, they're setting the pace, brother. And that thing is moving. You're going to have to keep up. Now. It stinks that Donovan Mitchell hurt his ankle and he wasn't fully helping. Mobley was playing Turner. Everybody was playing on the number one seed Eastern Conference Cleveland Cavaliers team. And I must say, watching Donovan Mitchell do his thing was fun. Now, I posted about Donovan Mitchell last night. I said, you know what? It's been fun to watch Donovan Mitchell in this particular series. He's a dog. It does feel like he's battling through a lot. Everybody is. It's a long season, everything like that. All anybody responding to me is he's a free throw merchant. He's a free throw merchant. He gets more calls than anybody. It's like also he hawks up threes like this and somehow they fall. It was very obvious he was carrying that Cleveland Cavaliers team on his back when he was not doing great. They were not doing Great. He had 40 in a game against the Pacers. He had 35 plus last night. I mean, this dude was fun to watch. I had no idea. He gets as much hate as he gets as well. Well on the Internet, but nonetheless, number one seed, great season out of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Great season. Not everybody can make the Eastern Conference finals.

[AJ Hawk]

No, no.

[Pat McAfee]

Pacers can. Back to back years and maybe finally they'll get some respect and maybe finally they will think to themselves, maybe Tyrese Halliburton is a. He's a leading man. This guy is an absolute superstar. And I know he won't say it because he is a humble superstar. And that might be a part of his problem. He's a funny dude. He's got a lot of moxy. Will rather do a sick pass to somebody than take it to the rack. Will if he has to for 30. Obviously last night in a series plus 54 in minutes over the last two games against Cleveland Cavaliers when Tyrese Halliburton was playing. So like the guy can score Is willing to score, but he's a team first guy. And I think that's why the boys all buy in. We'll be talking to Tyrese in like five to ten minutes or so. Obviously. Late night. Traveling back from Cleveland after demolishing them in a gentleman's sweep to get to the Eastern Conference finals. But yeah, it's a great time to be in Indiana. And I at smackdown. What was the date of that smackdown, foxy? January 31st. January 31st said this. How excited are you to have the Royal Rumble in Indianapolis?

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm very excited. I'm very excited. Indiana. Don't we deserve this?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we do. I like how he says we too, by the way.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes, we do. I'm so excited to be here. It's gonna be a lot of fun, great weekend.

[Pat McAfee]

We're thankful you're here. And tomorrow you take on the Atlanta Hawks in this building at 5pm Eastern. How's that gonna go? And then are we gonna see you at the Royal Rumble tomorrow?

[Ty Schmidt]

It's gonna be a good game. Paces are hot. We had a great January and we just want to keep it rolling so, you know, goals to get a win and get to the Rumble.

[Pat McAfee]

He said they had a hot January. This is the best team in the NBA. Best record in January. They're getting hot at the right time. Cole, we're hanging a banner in this building because of this young stud in Spicy Pete. Everybody said I was pandering at the time. Nah, I was just watching. I was actually just getting a chance to watch them play. They all buy in, they all run, and they don't give a damn who's the one that's going off on that particular night. It might be Myles Turner hitting step back threes. It might be Pascal doing this wild shit, taking it to the rack. It might be Tyrese Haliburton doing his thing. You know what? Nemhardt has taken over again. Niecemith has taken over games guys that you've never heard of because once again, they're not on national TV now, you're going to have to respect them. You're going to have to see them. They're back in the Eastern Conference finals. And with Kevin Pritchard, the director of basketball operations, I think for the Indiana Pacers. How he has pieced this team together for dogs is what he's looking for. Obviously need to be able to play basketball, but we need dogs. It's a perfect fit for Coach Carlisle. It's a perfect fit for this city. And they punched their ticket back to be One of the final four in the entire NBA. Congrats to them. I'm proud of this Pacer season. Hell, yeah. Proud of this Pacer season. Never hear a peep out of them. No, never hear a peep out of them. Just kind of, we'll just do our thing. We'll keep working. And they've obviously garnered respect from everybody, their peers. And now it seems like the media is going to be forced to talk about it. I didn't hear a lot of it this morning. You know, did see the other day, who's going to get their first title, Ant man or Halliburton. It was like, wow. Yeah. Holy hell. We're complimenting Halliburton here. This is good news. This is the first time. He's young, a lot of career left. Good for them. Who will join them in the Eastern Conference finals? Maybe we find out tonight. Or maybe the Boston Celtics. Let's go to the toxic table at Ty Schmidt at Boston Conner, you guys are, without Tatum, officially torn Achilles, which is an absolute bummer. We are very optimistic, hoping that that was not the case. He's obviously going to miss all of next year. Surgery already has been done. We know from our sport. Achilles is obviously a very fickle matter. It takes a lot of rehab. It's a long time. To get that thing back to where it was beforehand is going to be damn near impossible. But get it strong enough to be. To be stable enough for him to play 82 games and do basketball that he does, he's going to miss all of next year. The Celtics still, I think their favorites tonight beat the Knicks. And I think the Celtics still have what it takes to potentially go on and win it all. Now maybe the Knicks punch their ticket to earn their way to play against the Indiana Pacers.

[Boston Conner]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

And obviously that's a throwback rivalry that we all learned about last year yet again, or reminded about last year, you know, Reggie Miller, you know, the entire Knicks. I think he scored like nine points in like four seconds or something like that to come back and beat the Knicks Pacers. Knicks has always been a good thing in basketball. It's seemingly all the way back with what happened last year in the playoffs. Now it could be an Eastern Conference finals matchup. And I got a lot of Knicks fans tweeting me, we can't wait to see you. Go Knicks. Go Knicks. It's like you better. Hey, there's a champion up there. It's a wounded dog up against the. With their backs to the wall. How do you feel about the Boston Celtics taking on the Knicks this evening.

[Boston Conner]

I feel good about tonight. The Celtics are 8 and 2 without Tatum this year. So it's not as if it's kind of uncharted territory, if you will. Sam Houser will be playing again, but you know, just listen to what I'm saying, you know, Sam, how will be playing again? I'm not saying Jayson Tatum is going to be back. Jaylen Brown, kind of a lot of people have a lot of faith, you know, 300 million dollar man, time to go earn that. Hey, this is my team. I can still do this on my own. I think Peyton Pritchard could be hoisted into the starting lineup, which I think everybody would be very happy about, actually. Fun fact with Payton, Pritchard is the only game he played more than 30 minutes was the game we won. So maybe more Prichard, maybe some more points, maybe another win perhaps. But again, you know, we're in it for this. And when you watch the Pacers play, especially last night, when you watch the Thunder and the Nuggets play, but especially the Pacers because that's who's in the Eastern Conference finals. They're just so good. You know, they were down by 20 points last night, and people aren't talking about that. There was a stat, two of the largest comebacks in closeout game history for the playoffs. They have two of them this year. The last series against the Bucs, they're down 20. And then the Pacers last night, they're down 19 against the Cavs. So when you talk about kind of rising to the moment and that's an easy spot to be in, hey, we're on the road. It's game five.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody's expecting us to win this.

[Boston Conner]

We're up 3:1. We can go home play on our home court, which they've only lost once. When Halliburton's playing, I think they're nine and one on at home court with. With Halliburton playing. So it's one of those things where, hey, let's just punt on this game. We've actually seen it. The Cavs did it in Game 4.

[Pat McAfee]

Golden State did it again after Steph got hurt.

[Boston Conner]

The. The Nuggets kind of did it in game four as well. And the basers don't do that. Carlisle gets the boys going, so it's awesome to see that. But when it comes to the Celtics tonight, you know, game five, sure, I could see the Celtics getting the job done again. They're a three point shooting team. It's not like Tatum's the only one shooting threes. They all shoot threes. They get hot. Who knows what can happen? So still have faith in the boys, still have faith in Missoula, but it's definitely an uphill climb back to the, you know, Larry o' Brien title town.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you talked about last night and obviously tonight we'll watch that game and if it is the Knicks, that's exciting news for Pacers. Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals is a beautiful thing. Little old Indiana taking on obviously New York. Both teams play similar. Both teams kind of dogs and both teams like to run. So it would be an exciting Eastern Conference final. You talked about last night. Nuggets and Thunder played. I passed out. The Nuggets were up those West Coast. The Western Conference is tough to stay up for. I'll be honest, it is tough to stand for. I passed out. Nuggets were up. Joker had, I think 28 points. Whenever I passed out, maybe it was already up over 30 points by whatever the case was. And I saw yesterday that like the most bet thing on ESPN bet, I think was Joker 25 plus points because how everybody had been talking about how Joker hadn't been playing well. Hadn't been playing well. Then down the stretch there were some big time plays made by both teams. Obviously Joker would inevitably end up hitting a crazy three to tie this thing up and then SGA would answer on the other side and then all it would take down the stretch is a mission and then somebody getting on the foul line and then another miss in the game's over. That is why four quarters, obviously, two and a half, three hours, whatever the case is, if these games are close and you talk about the pacers being down 20 at the very end, it's who makes shots late that that is really the only thing. Doesn't matter how much you've been behind, does not matter how much you were up in the game. Who's going to make shots late? SGA and the boys. Chet. Harvard. Hartenstein. Chet, yeah. And then Hartenstein also had some big time plays down the stretch. And Joker, obviously the boys for the Nuggets, gave him everything he possibly could have. But what a great game. And congrats to OKC being who they said they were all season basically last night, very easily. Joker could have stole that one.

[Boston Conner]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Looked like they were going to. And OKC with that crowd. I love the stripes shirts. I love how loud their crowd thunder up. I love how invested they are. But them coming back and winning that and watching this this morning, the the recap of the final four minutes. It was like OKC answered the bell every single time. And I think that's the most important part whenever we get to this stage of the playoffs. Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

Lou Dort, because you fell asleep and, you know, they were up. The Nuggets were, I think, by 11. At one point, Lou Dort had, I think, three threes, back to back to back. To kind of cut that lead down and then SGA towards the end of the game is just unbelievable. Now, when it comes to the Nuggets, gonna need Russell Westbrook and Watson and Michael Porter Jr. Maybe to hit a three every once in a while, because that is.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if that's coming from us. So. I love Russell Westbrook. Football.

[Tone Diggs]

Basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

Football, yeah. Basketball, basketball. I love his effort. I love his energy. I don't think these eyes right here would still pop blood vessel, because, Gunther, I don't think these eyes.

[Boston Conner]

And a bruise.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, new bruises just popped up here on my arm.

[AJ Hawk]

Pretty big one, too.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't expect that to show up.

[Boston Conner]

You can see that thing.

[Pat McAfee]

This just kind of came out of nowhere. That must have been a deep bruise in there. It's just kind of making its way to the surface now.

[Boston Conner]

It's a contusion.

[Pat McAfee]

Jeez Louise, that is a contusion. Yeah, it is. Might be some real damage in there. Yeah, there is. Yeah, it's bleeding. There's a pool of blood on my bicep days later. So I don't think these eyes, though, have seen Russell Westbrook make a three in some time. But Joker and the boys will send it out there. And he's always wide open. I think I know why he's always wide open, but his confidence just to go up and huck that thing. Immaculate. Always part of the reason why I love Russell Westbrook. But there was a time during a run in the fourth quarter where he gets balled three. He shoots that thing out of bounds. I mean, it ends up.

[Boston Conner]

Happened twice.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it ends up going out of bounds. It's like they do need to make. If you can make shots late, you win the game. Yeah. And I love what Russell Westbrook has done. I love him on that Nuggets team. But there's times where he has nothing but space. I think he should just maybe take a step in, like maybe a couple steps in and just maybe see if it's a little bit easier there. But nonetheless, OKC Use is who they said they were all season. And the Indiana Pacers are exactly who we said they were. All season. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, young superstar who has found himself in the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row. Leader of this Indiana Pacers team, ladies and gentlemen, last night had 30 plus points. 31, I believe. Tyrese Halliburton. Congrats, dude.

[Ty Schmidt]

Always appreciate the intro. Always appreciate it.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know who made this shirt if you're associated with it, but it got sent to the office like two days ago. So I figured I'd wear it just to show respect to you and the Pacers because it feels like everybody's been talking about you and the team, the same exact words. And I saw you give the interview last night after the game about outside noise. The only thing that matters is how we believe in there. You guys definitely use that as chips. All right? I mean, all 11 people that were predicting this series had you guys lose it for bspn. I assume the same from tnt. Do you use that? Does Coach Carlisle bring that up? How often do you guys chat about the disrespect outside of maybe you and the fan base?

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, all the time. I think it's. It's all the time. We. It's fuel we use. I think we have a lot of guys who have been overlooked at some point in their career. You know, I think the majority our starting lineup, you look at it, Andrew Nemhar is a second round pick. Aaron Neesmith gets traded and they Bleacher Report puts out a meme of calling him a paperclip when he gets traded. Miles Turner was in, has been in tread rumors his whole career. You know, Pascal started the game late and, you know, it's been a big, big, big addition for us. And then we got a lot of guys like that who can all relate on that level. We've all been and overlooked at some point. We just, you know, we use it as fuel to, you know, try to do something special.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you think Kevin Pritchard's looking for guys that are dogs? Like, do you think that is your culture? Do you think you guys have more dogs than most teams in that. In that locker room?

[Ty Schmidt]

I think he's looking for guys who play the right way and are willing to play our way. You know, I think we got a lot of guys who just fit our style of play. You hear people talk about how fast we play, how hard we play, and I think that's a buy in from everybody. Even our guys, you know, even our two way guys who, you know, aren't even allowed to suit up right now, how hard they're going in their workouts, you know, even though they can't play, and helping us with scout team and all that stuff is just. It goes through our whole organization. So definitely a special group we're part of and, you know, doing some special things. Right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach Carlisle looks like Jim Carrey. Certainly. Certainly looks like Jim Carrey. He's had success in different places. He doesn't really get too high ever, really. It doesn't feel like he's not too. Last night, his big thing was we're eight games away, eight wins away from NBA championship. He's like, congratulations, you've earned it. We're eight wins away now from an NBA title. Pacers on three. One, two, three. Pacers. That was basically like the call up in the locker room for Ricel. I don't know if he's speaking before that. Then when he talks to the media, it's the same exact thing. It's like, when you guys are up 3:1, he didn't. He was like, we don't care about being up 3:1 because Cavaliers don't care that we're up 3:1. Is he always just. He is just always blinders on type guy. What is Coach Carlisle like day to day for you guys?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I think he is a very super serious person. I try to. I try to joke as much as I can to try to get him to, you know, crack a smile or laugh from time to time. During playoff time, it's hard, you know, if I could get him to smile or laugh during the playoffs, it's pretty. It's a pretty special moment for me, something I cherish. So, you know, I know he's. He's the guy who always is setting the tone with, you know, his sternness and being serious. And, you know, I feel like it's. It's kind of my job to, you know, I'm the point guard, so I got to kind of be the coach on the floor to share that messaging. But at the same time, you know, keep. Keep everybody loose and having fun. Let them know it's just basketball. So let's just go out there and hoop.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think you said that whenever somebody was saying something, you're like, it's just basketball. It's not that serious. And then you just kind of kept it moving. But basketball is obviously something that this city and this state love. I mean, they. This is a basketball state. Before Payton, as you get a phone call from Coach Carlos saying, keep my name out of your fucking mind, okay? Keep your name out of my mouth. Coach Carlisle called, but before Peyton Manning got here, this was a racing in Basketball State, a racing in Basketball city. Obviously, the Indy 500 is here every single year. The largest sporting event on earth, and all the Indy cars are based out of here. So the Indy drivers are actually, like, famous here in Indianapolis. The Pacers had obviously been something that's been beloved, and the Indiana Hoosiers are beloved. So then Peyton comes in here and kind of turns it around. But there's a time coming up now where I think the Indy 500 is happening during the day, and then there's an Eastern Conference finals game happening at night. And I assume that would be to the detriment of us. Every Indiana person I talked to, like, that's the greatest day in the history of double dip. That's the greatest day in the history of Indiana. Let's talk about you being back in the Eastern Conference finals. Coach Carlisle has won a title before with Dallas, so obviously he has been there and he has seen it before, and he can obviously say those things for you. Getting a chance to experience the Eastern Conference finals last year and then getting a chance to do it again. What have you guys learned? Are you, like, a more mature team, you think, from all the experiences from last year, or does that not really matter? You just kind of got to focus on today?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, no, I think we've grown a lot over the last year. You know, I think last year we were just happy to be in the playoffs. Like, honestly, it was just like playing with house money at that point. You know, we were just happy to be there. And I think this year, we came into the year with real internal expectations to get back to here and, you know, beyond and win a championship, that's been our goal all year. And, you know, we're eight games, eight wins away from doing that. But we know. We know there's a lot of work in front of us. But, you know, after we won yesterday, I'm sitting in the locker room just kind of, you know, letting it, like, feeling it, you know, because I don't want to take winning for granted. You know, that's something that I've heard a lot from my vets in my time in the league is. Don't take it for granted. You know, it's special stuff happening. And, you know, a couple years ago, I was at the draft lottery representing the Pacers, and I was sitting there. I was, like, steaming. I was like, I do not want to be here right now. You know, so the fact that the lottery happened the other day and it just so happened to be on. On tv. You know, I didn't even know it was happening that day. That's pretty. That's a pretty cool feeling. Something I don't want to take for granted. Last year, you know, I got hurt after, you know, in the middle in game two. So, you know, I'm just excited to, you know, be in these three conference finals and get the chance to, you know, get to play, you know, because last year, getting hurt, game two was frustrating, so. So I'm looking forward to, you know, hopefully having a, you know, healthy series and being able to, you know, compete.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're only going to get a chance to win so many playoff series. You know, they only come so many, so you got to enjoy those moments whenever they come. And also, nobody's going to remember it if you don't win the next series. So if you don't enjoy that moment right there, you potentially miss it all. Like last year, nobody really got to enjoy the Pacer season in the miraculous playoff run because of how it ended legitimately. And then right into the Olympics, then we're right into the season. It's like, nobody really took in how awesome of a run last year was. I'm happy to hear you have a little bit more presence about you to enjoy the good times, because who knows if they're ever going to come again. They will, hopefully. You never know. It's going to take. Yeah, let's talk about that series a little bit. Ty has a question for you. Tyrese.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, Tyrese, there was a stat going around last night that said the Cavs are.05 against you guys at home this year and 36 and five against against everyone else in the NBA. And Pat mentioned it before. He came on about how, you know, I know you guys don't give a. About it, but espn, all the NBA analysts, you know, no one picked you guys to win and all that kind of stuff. Why do you think you had the Cavs number? And. And what is it about, like, you guys as a team that matched up so well with them? Because coming in, you know, everyone was talking about how good the Cavs were all season, and. And no one really, you know, except maybe with the exception of a few people. And you guys in the locker room expected you guys to win the series.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I don't know if it was necessarily like, we have their number. We have them super figured out or anything. They're a hell of a team, and they. They do so many things so well. But I think that our focus was Just coming in and being us, you know, playing Pacers basketball, we don't really. I feel like that's the most important thing every series is just being who we are. So, you know, no matter how teams guard us, we're going to run, get up and down, dictate the pace, and then defensively, if we can get enough stops to get to be able to play in transition even more, I think that really plays our. Our favor. So I thought we did a great job of getting stops, getting out and running. You know, the only game we lost this series, they dictated the pace, they dictated the physicality, and, you know, that was a recipe for disaster for us in game three. And I thought we did a great job responding. I mean, in game four by getting stops. You know, they had, what, 39 points at halftime. We had a hell of a shot making game that game. You know, Definitely.

[Pat McAfee]

Big hoop.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah, big hoop that night. But I feel like a lot of it was we were getting stops, getting down transition, and then obviously playing in Gainbridge with the crowd behind us, you know, the rim just. It felt like you throw it in the ocean, you know? So I think. I think the big biggest part for us was just.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, this is it. This is espn.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah. Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. He just froze Tyrese because we're talking too much about the Pacers. We knew that. I'm not gonna say it's Adam Silver, because I think Adam Silver likes Tyrese for sure. I think he likes the Pacers and Indiana. Yeah. But this is definitely the networks, you know, being like, these guys can't. We don't need anybody liking anybody liking this guy. I did see people tweeting last night, not an NBA fan, but I have adopted Pacers because of our show and because of Tyrese and everything like that. I also saw some Pacers fans saying, you should get. Some of the other guys on the show would love to.

[Boston Conner]

Miles Turner's dog, TJ McConnell. We've been trying to.

[Pat McAfee]

For two years.

[Boston Conner]

Two years.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we've been trying. You know, he's been on team since, like, he's been on team, like, five years.

[Boston Conner]

That's not true.

[AJ Hawk]

So they were complaining. They were complaining.

[Pat McAfee]

No, they weren't complaining. They were like, continue to showcase. They wanted us to continue to showcase this Pacers team because nobody really talks about joining us again. Ladies and gentlemen, Tyrese Halliburton. You were talking about game four, where you were able to respond after. Yeah, that was the network shutting you down, brother. They don't want you to be too liked. They don't want you because you were speaking in three different voices there. They don't want any of them to be liked. I think you did catch a different one. Yeah, yeah.

[Boston Conner]

A mixture of the two.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. It's like, you know, and then. What's that? The Venn diagram. You got the. The wine over here, then you got the other over here. And then every once in a while, those things, you know, like good tag team wrestling, they come together and they're putting.

[Ty Schmidt]

They teach you that? They teach you that in West Virginia?

[Pat McAfee]

No, no. Why does. I learned a lot of West.

[Boston Conner]

Tag team wrestling.

[Pat McAfee]

I learned a lot of West Virginia.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, not tag team. I'm talking more about the Venn diagram. But. Okay, you saw me draw it, brother.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I might not be able to read the music, but I could certainly play it, shout out to, you know, Nick Cannon and that entire thing. But, like, whenever, you know, you have those voices. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You just. Yeah. Great movie. Drum line.

[Ty Schmidt]

Drum line. Hell of a movie.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't like, you know, And I don't know what the head guy is named in that entire world or whatever. The boss, the coach. The boss, whatever.

[Boston Conner]

The head of the P1.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I appreciate him kind of, you know, laying. Laying it all a little bit. Good coaching and everything. But when push comes to shove, the fucking guy had it. You know, like, let's not be worrying about the little things. Let's worry.

[Boston Conner]

That's why they shooting him up for the biggest game.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. And they had to. And they knew they had to. Because when he. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There was a moment. Yeah. One band, one sound. But that guy has a different sound, everybody.

[Tone Diggs]

He does.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Maybe he can't read the music because they weren't able to keep up with him. Nonetheless, you said in Game 4, you guys were able to dictate the tempo and control it, and that's kind of how you guys play. That is when you were at your best. And you talked about that Game three where Cleveland kind of did that to you guys and won by 40 or whatever the case was. I'm really happy that we didn't have a show the next day. Like, me too. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Glad it happened on a Friday, you know, get away from that. Go. My focus was backlash, you know, after. After that game.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, let's not do this too much. I'm getting ptsd. Yeah. My fault.

[Ty Schmidt]

My focus is on backlash after. After that. I don't even know we had a game 3. Just onto the next one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah, well. Or media in game Three. Yeah. And also media. I don't know if that was your decision or if it was team decision. Nonetheless, love that we are moving on to the Eastern Conference finals. You talk about that game three where you lose by that massive amount. One guy had 40 points in that game, and he was spectacular to watch. Con man has a question for you. Tyrese.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, Tyrese. First of all, thank you. Thank you for calling yesterday and checking in on me after the Tatum news. That was very nice, gentlemen. Said you said a prayer immediately. That was a. That was a classy move. Class A, if you will. But Donovan Mitchell, Pat mentioned it. He was unbelievable when he was playing for the series. Obviously, he was banged up, too. You guys had a little moment after the game. You were covering your mouth as you were talking to him, so the lip readers couldn't really decipher what you were saying. What was that conversation like? Was it. Was it something along the lines of, hey, Cleveland's not that far from Indianapolis. You come and team up with us, we could really run this next year again. Or what?

[Pat McAfee]

Was. Would be a great pacer.

[Boston Conner]

Would be great.

[Pat McAfee]

Would be a great. It feels like he has everything that.

[Boston Conner]

Would be a great pacer already in the Midwest. He played for Utah, so we know what that's like. So you come to Indy. He would love it. But what was that?

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[Ty Schmidt]

We have more black people than Utah.

[Boston Conner]

No, I'm.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not what we were talking about.

[Ty Schmidt]

My fault.

[Pat McAfee]

He's from Boston. I get it. That's what you're immediate. Go ahead.

[Boston Conner]

What the hell? But that.

[Pat McAfee]

No, not. Not at all.

[Boston Conner]

I completely disagree strongly. But what was that back and forth like? And where. Where did you guys kind of leave it? Did you talk to him after the game? Or was it just on the court there?

[Ty Schmidt]

Just on the floor there? I've gotten to know him over the last couple years through caa. We have the same agency. Our marketing agents are really good friends. So me and Don have got to know each other pretty well. I think it was just a show of respect. I think I got a lot of love for Don. Obviously, you guys saw when the crowd was trying to get on me there and was at game two, and he was quieting down the crowd when they were chanting overrated at me. You know, I just wanted to share with them that I couldn't tell him at that moment or, you know, during the series. But that meant a lot to me, you know, because definitely a peer of mine that I have a lot of respect for and, you know, he had a hell of a series. He's an unbelievable player. So just to show respect there, and a guy that I know that I'll see a lot throughout my career, you know, being in the same division, same conference. And so I just love competing against that guy. Great dude, great competitor, and it was a lot of fun.

[Pat McAfee]

He gets a lot of heat, too. I tweeted. I tweeted about. It was fun to watch him. Like, it was unbelievable to watch this guy. This series. I don't get to watch as many Cavs game because just like you guys, they don't get a lot of respect in the national primetime kind of slots throughout the season. And then all anybody responded was like, like, Free Throw Merchant. This guy's. It's like, what, are we watching the same. Are we watching the same guy? He gets a lot of heat, too. Why do you think guys like you. Guys like him maybe don't get as much respect? You think it's smaller market stuff?

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, it's not even that, though. It's like, I think it's just sometimes they're just miserable sports fans in every sport.

[Pat McAfee]

True.

[Ty Schmidt]

You know, there's just people in every sport who, like, if my team's not doing well, I got to talk negative about somebody else, or, hey, he's doing well against my team, I got to talk negative about him. Like, that's just how sports and competition work. I mean, we all. Everybody has critics. You have critics, you know, on your show. I have critics in what I do. Jesus had critics. We all got critics.

[Boston Conner]

So, like, amen.

[Pat McAfee]

Jesus did, didn't he?

[Tone Diggs]

A lot of critics.

[Pat McAfee]

Still does.

[Boston Conner]

More than most.

[Ty Schmidt]

So, you know, it's all. It's all part of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Could you imagine if there's social media when Jesus was doing his stuff? Oh, my gosh, the amount of his mentions.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, they'd be ridiculous.

[Tone Diggs]

He turned all the water into wine. You know how many retweets that would have got at a wedding just like.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God, you're right. Because we see OHS the Mentalist, like that number or something like that. I couldn't even imagine what Jesus's content would be like.

[Boston Conner]

Jesus, we're out of.

[Pat McAfee]

We're out of wine.

[Boston Conner]

What do we do?

[Pat McAfee]

What about the bread? He did something with bread.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah. Basically took like, three fish and three loaves of breads and was like, this isn't gonna feed anybody. How about I.

[Boston Conner]

Boom.

[Tone Diggs]

Make it into to 500 fish and 500 loads.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God. Retweet.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Retweet. I mean, I would. Oh, a lot of people would be. I saw.

[Boston Conner]

I saw him pause it and put all those fish in prison.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. That would be the. The opposite side. I don't believe it. The water. I mean, the walking. Yeah. Walking out. Yeah. Geez. People would think there was glass underneath something. Oh, he's on one of. One of those. The.

[Tone Diggs]

You see the strings holding him up.

[Pat McAfee]

You can see the.

[Tone Diggs]

The wires.

[Boston Conner]

This is why Chris angels. The. The hate he gets is.

[AJ Hawk]

He doesn't get hate, does he?

[Pat McAfee]

Please. I don't think we should be putting Chris angel directly in the Jesus Christ conversation.

[Boston Conner]

Oh, really? Angel Christ.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Boston Conner]

Is that right?

[Pat McAfee]

He's literally angel, who we are a fan of. I don't think this is the right time to insert him into this convo. But with that being said, what is the sandbar? That's like, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. That's what people would say. The sand bar. He's walking out the whole way. Yeah. And that's why. You know, that's why people say I could walk on water, and people say it's because I can't swim. You need to just keep going, Tyrese. Don't listen to any of these people. You know, I will say, though, you shooting threes, you're a much better three point shooter than anybody gives you credit for, I think. And what, like, do you agree? Have you always been this way, or have you worked on that? Because I feel like for point guard, that is a great weapon to have, especially because how much you got to move and then obviously drive, dish, pass, get the ball back. Feels like being able to dribble, being able to pass, and being able to shoot a three are like the three most important things for a point guard. Have you had to work on your three, or is it always been there?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I mean, I have to work on it every day. I mean, coming into last night, I had been shooting the ball awful all playoffs from three, so, you know, good to see a couple go down. And that second quarter, you know, the game had a chance to get ugly there, and, you know, I saw the first one go in. They just. They just felt good from there, and, you know, guys kept finding me open, so just trying to, you know, make the right play. But, yeah, I mean, I feel like I. I've shot over 40%, you know, for the majority of. Of my career, going back to college and high school. So, you know, I just continue to do what I do. It's not the prettiest. It's not the prettiest. You know, but that's, that's, that's how good you think.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you just were always shoot like that where you smell like.

[Ty Schmidt]

If you, you. If you, if you find clips of me from like early in high school, I used to have to catch the ball, dip it to my hip, then raise it back and shoot it. And then I met this coach, Coach B. Who was my, my AU coach, all girl freshman year all throughout high school. Now, you know, runs my AU program. He used to have me do the mike and drill every day. I don't know if you guys know what that is, but like you shoot layups. You shoot layups on both sides. You grab the rebound, you shoot it, grab it and shoot it. And the way most people, people teach it, you grab the rebound, you dip the ball, you shoot it right, you dip it. And that's just not human nature. But for me, he. He used to put his arm out like in my stomach and if I dip the ball, he would just smack it and get like, make me go like kick it across the gym. I have to go pick it up so like now that he would force me to keep it above my shoulders. And then that forced that. I feel like now if somebody gives me a pass high, I don't have to dip it, you know, and that allows me to get it off more efficiently. But yeah, I used to have an ugly, ugly like hitch and dip to it. But you know, it all comes. It all comes with some work.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But if it falls, who cares? I think that has been the. That's kind of been the MO of the NBA for a long time. A lot of different styles. Obviously you got like the perfect form guys. And then there's the Amari, maybe Sean Marion. Sean Marion. Yeah. Had like. Yeah, it was just absurd. But if it was fallen, who cares? I also saw Cat Williams. Did you see him with Lethal Shooter?

[AJ Hawk]

No, he didn't miss.

[Pat McAfee]

He's trespassing that thing and it's splash, splash, splash. Cat Williams might be.

[Boston Conner]

Hold on.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he might be looking for a 12 day or whatever it is you guys have.

[Ty Schmidt]

Call it a 10 day, brother.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it should be 12 though for Cat because Kat is an absolute locker room guy. You guys will want him in the room. I think you guys will want him in there. He's been working with Lethal Shooter. Okay, so let's look ahead. The Eastern Conference finals. You're going to watch alongside all of us, I assume. Celtics next. Celtics certainly have enough to get the job done. I think they are the champions for a reason. Losing Tatum to an Achilles not only for this playoff run, but all of next year sucks the abs. Hey, Connor, we want to let you and all Celtics fans know, just like Tyrese said yesterday to you, sucks. Sucks for the game, sucks for the Celtics, sucks all together. You would. I think you said something to Connor, but would you like to say something about the Tatum thing? You're obviously a big fan of his. That sucks, though.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, obviously, man. Sucks to see he was really hooping, playing really well and yeah, I think. Think it's. I mean, I think everybody in the. In the basketball world just hates to see that happen. You know, he's had a hell of a year. You know, he's been such a staple for the Celtics organization, for the league, and so hate to see that happen, but, you know, prayers up for him and feel like, you know, he got surgery already and, you know, he's going to heal and come back to be the. The. The same guy he is, hopefully. So. Yeah, man, I hate to see that happen.

[Pat McAfee]

That sucks. It absolutely sucks for all of basketball, especially with the reigning champs, but I still think have enough. But I saw a lot of KN fans showing up in my comments last night basically saying they're waiting on us. The world is. Tone has a question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Tyrese, let's. Let's just say, you know, the Knicks are the favorites to move on and play you guys in the Eastern Conference final. I don't know if you know anything about long term storytelling. We do over here and so does the wwe and they predicted the Eastern Conference finals right here.

[Pat McAfee]

Shoot him off.

[Boston Conner]

We might need to get some security out here.

[AJ Hawk]

No, it's not. That's for shoot. How do you feel about. Instead of doing a jump ball to start the game, a no holds bar, New York style city street fight to decide who gets ball first.

[Pat McAfee]

Or just a lockup.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, or a lockup.

[Pat McAfee]

Or just a lockup. You know, maybe just lock.

[Ty Schmidt]

That might be a. I think that might be a time where, you know, I might fake an injury and they gotta find a replacement. And James Johnson comes out to. To represent the Indiana Pacers. So I think. I think that's where we're. That's probably where we'll have to go if that's. If that's the case. But Logan texted me last night after the game and I was like, man, sorry to do it. Sorry to do that to your city. And he was like, man, this is crazy. You got. You and Jalen were with us in the garden. And I was like, yeah, let Me know if you want to come to a game, so see if Logan or Logan or Mr. H would like to come to a game here in India. They got open invite. I got seats courtside because, you know, pop still ain't coming to the game. So they're more than, more than welcome to come to come join and keep the storytelling going.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope we get a chance to see them here in Indianapolis. Obviously, they would be welcomed. Mr. H. Has a thousand things going on. So does Logan, Paul. But I think they should at least take a victory lap on what, you know, they potentially had come together. You just brought up your dad. How's he been through this entire thing? Is he starting to enjoy watching it away from the arena, or is he yearning to get back in there so he can let the people People know?

[Ty Schmidt]

I think he's, I think he's enjoying watching it from the house. You know, he watched it. They had a little watch party in my house last night, him and my mom and, and Jade and over here at the crib. I called him after the game, and the whole locker room. I, I, I have a video I can send you. The whole locker room was, Got on the phone with them. Everybody was like Free Pops to us backwards. You know? You know, the, the league left. The league left it open. They said foreseeable future, so we don't know what. The foreseeable, foreseeable future, really. I don't know what that means. So we'll see what, what ends up happening. But yeah, I'm sure he would love to get back in the building. I'm sure he would get a, he would probably get an ovation.

[Pat McAfee]

Not just probably. Yeah, they should, they should stop the game.

[Ty Schmidt]

I think at that point with the whole, with the whole WWE thing, I think he needs to, they need to, like, stone cold glass shatter. Pops walk through the tunnel. That would be, that'd be pretty.

[Boston Conner]

Throws up the tip.

[Pat McAfee]

And he would live up for the moment. He would live up to the moment, too. I mean, let's not get it twisted here, Pops.

[Ty Schmidt]

Don't get him started.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he, he's already, he's got a plan already.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

If he's coming. Maybe a T shirt gun, you know, with Free Pops shirts in there. Poom. Ping pow. The boys.

[Ty Schmidt]

Maybe him and Mr. Mr. H could come out to DX.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you ready, B Bo?

[Ty Schmidt]

That'd be kind of sick.

[Pat McAfee]

And then your dad just comes out. Where's Adam Silver at? Goes right up to Adam Silver. That'd be awesome. All right, Last thing for me, Lebron put out a tweet about you. You talked about LeBron. He talked about you after the Olympic experience. Obviously you're a young lad on that Olympic team. They're expecting you to be come, if not be the next, like, leader of team United States of America. And maybe you win four gold medals in this. There's a chance with how young you are in the entirety, but I think you built up a relationship with a lot of guys on that team, LeBron being one of them. There's a photo of you two flexing your gold medals at the end. But that last sentence there, that boy. Nice. Very complimentary. Your dad read that and was like, thank you. I agree. And even more someone everyone would love to play with. Do you get a sense about that as a point guard, that that's a big deal? Because, like, you talk about being a coach on the field, in our world, you're also like the quarterback out there. And it feels like the point guard has to be well liked by his teammates. I feel like the point guard has to be look out for his teammates before he looks out for himself. Is that kind of your mindset? Do you think you're like a throwback style point guard, which is why maybe LeBron and the other boys enjoy your style of play.

[Ty Schmidt]

I just feel like I'm maybe part of a. Maybe a little bit of a dying breed in our league. I feel like I'm, you know, a true pass first point guard. You know, I feel like that's not as common these days, but I just try to play the game the right way, man. Try to, you know, I want to play the right way and I want to win. That's the most important thing for me. So I'm sure it's easy. Broad said people would want to play with the. Yeah, if we're winning, I'm sure people would love to play alongside. Alongside me, but I think our group, just a group in our group in general, I think we have a group that people. People enjoy to watch, people enjoy to cheer for. I think that's why we got, you know, our fans here in Indiana love getting behind this group and, you know, we're getting people like, like you out, out of, you know, used to the Pacers kind of kept at arm's distance for. We're bringing you back in. You know, you're back in. And that's happening with a lot of people out there. And that's. That's cool to see. And yeah, the Broad thing was super, super cool. We texted back and forth last Night. You know, there's got a lot. I've grown a lot of cool relationships, you know, from. From that Olympic experience. And it's been. It's been really cool. But, yeah, we're not done. We still got a lot to go.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Let LeBron know next time you text him. We appreciate the hell out of him for the conversation.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, conversation, conversation. I'll make sure I let him know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, please. I've not talked to him since then, but please let him know. So I've tried to say it publicly so maybe he'll make way to him. We are very thankful for the LeBron Versace, and we are still all very amazed with how fucking big he is. You all are so big. Like, I watched that clip. I don't know if you saw it earlier. We ran the clip from the Smackdown before Rumble when you came out with me and Michael Cole, and it's like I am clearly, you know, and you're nowhere near the tallest guy on the court. You NBA, look at. Look at how big you are.

[AJ Hawk]

Look at.

[Pat McAfee]

Look. Just look how tall you are. I don't want to call you, like, abnormal, but you get it. You NBA guys are a special, special type of athlete. And what you and the Pacers are doing has been nothing short of magical here in this city. We appreciate the hell out of it. Enjoy your day. Tell the family, tell Jade we said what's up? And thank you for making time.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Appreciate you guys. Pat, all I know is you better come to a conference finals game.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay?

[Ty Schmidt]

That's all I know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah. Got nothing but time.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah. Nobody got nothing but time. You better be at the game.

[Pat McAfee]

Game.

[Boston Conner]

It's race day, man.

[Ty Schmidt]

I. Yeah. Game three is patience and racers race in the morning. Yeah. You can make game three happen. If can't make game three happen, you can make game four.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, of course. Of course. I'm loud at my house when I'm watching these games. Oh, God. I got my legs kicked up.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, it's really nice.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, no, no, no, no.

[Ty Schmidt]

More legs kicked up court. You need to be court style.

[Pat McAfee]

I got you. I got you. You guys going to let me.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, you got it. We don't rev it up anymore. We don't rev up it it up anymore.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay? That's what we learned last year. That's what we learned from last year's playoff run. Got it. Got it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes. But we can give you a mic and let you, you know, do your promo. You know, Stephanie McMahon, Stephanie's place and says she learned promos from you. We could. You know, you can get your promo off right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, that was a pretty good episode, wasn't it? That's.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was a great episode.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great episode.

[Pat McAfee]

I watched it. I was like, man, you guys are, like, really nice to me. That never happened. Normally whenever I take my time to talk to somebody and they're either writing something or creating something, it's just a burial of me. And it's like, oh, I'm happy I spent my time doing that with you. I didn't know that was an angle that you could even take from what we talked about. They were very kind to me. Stephanie is very cool to me, and I think it told the story well of how much wrestling can do and how much wrestling can, you know, help folks. And I think you're one of the people that believe the same thing as do we. And I can't wait to watch you do your thing in the ecf, brother. Good luck rest of the way.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Appreciate it, bro. Appreciate it, guys.

[Pat McAfee]

You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, Tyrese Halber. He perfect superstar.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. Especially for Indiana.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely. But if he was even in a big city, I think, oh, it'd be especially with the. He does and the way he plays. Yeah. Because he's kind of a nerd. You know, he has nerdy qualities about him. I think he said something about Katan. Katan? Yeah, he said, I've never played chess before, but, like, I think I played Katan, which I think is like a similar thing or whatever. Well, loves wrestling, as do we. So I'm not saying, like, that's nerdy, but, like, a lot of the things he's interested in. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Went to Iowa State.

[Pat McAfee]

No, that's.

[Tone Diggs]

That's part of it.

[Pat McAfee]

That's part of it. That's an Iowa grad. They're talking about that, but it's like, loves video. Like, everything about him is, like, maybe more relatable than any NBA superstar that I've ever encountered. But then on the court, dog. Yes, like, absolutely absolute dog on the court. And he. He wants his team to do what? Point guard? Like, that is literally what he wants. It's. It's been perfect for him here in Indy.

[Boston Conner]

Well, that's why some of these small market teams, like, we talk about how the NBA doesn't see a lot of fans, don't see teams like Indiana because they're small market. But now these small market teams have massive stars like Hal Burton. I mean, Minnesota with Ann Edwards, Oklahoma City with sga, like, four of the last. Last, you know, four teams possibly, or three of the last four teams possibly will have these smaller markets.

[Pat McAfee]

But Denver. What's Denver considered? Small.

[Boston Conner]

I think they're small, but because they just won a title a few years ago, they've been on a much bigger market because they're bigger than the other ones. Three MVPs. Yeah. I mean, Colorado, they went on that run where the avs won a title. The, you know, the freaking Nuggets won a title and all those things. So they're getting paid bigger.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think so. Basketball is in a good spot. A lot of young superstars. Yeah. Brunson, if it is Brunson and Tyrese, that's. Yeah, here we go, brother. Cinema is about to take place. We will be off tomorrow and Friday because the PGA Championship is being covered by espn. Obviously, this is massive in the golf world. All the megastars will be golfing at Quail Hollow. Joining us now is a man who is a megastar. Ladies and gentlemen, ESPN Southern hospitality, Marty Smith.

[Marty Smith]

Gentlemen, how are we doing this fine day? I look like Skeletor in this overhead sunlight out here at beautiful Quail Hollow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think we're out here.

[Marty Smith]

What do you think about this view, Patty?

[Pat McAfee]

That's not bad. Where are we at? We're at the driving range right now. Everybody's getting warmed up, getting loose for today.

[Marty Smith]

Yep, we're out here at the driving range. And I just had a great conversation with Rory McElroy, who, of course, along with Scotty Scheffler, are your betting favorites this weekend here in the PGA Championship. And for Rory, with. With great reason, won the Players Championship already finally won the Masters Tournament, and. And thereby the career Grand Slam along with it. And I've known him a long time. I've rarely. I don't know if I've ever seen him this emotionally free as a result of that victory. I was just talking with. With Rory and his caddy about winning Augusta, and he said earlier today that he won't watch it anymore on tv. He won't go back and watch the footage of that victory at Augusta because he wants to remember it the way he lived it in the film strip of his mind. And I just think that's fantastic.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think so, too. Especially because you could see the weight, you know, kind of leaving his body. You talk about him being mentally free. We saw the moment where it all happened, and if Rory can get back to what we thought Rory was going to be, what, like five, six years ago? I mean, absolute weapon. Scotty Scheffler, though. You talk about the favorites for this weekend, favorites for any golf tournament. This guy's just a different animal whenever it comes to golfing. What is Scottie Scheffler's vibe like? And is this a course you think that Scottie Scheffler is going to do well on? Not that Scotty Scheffler has any weak courses, but is this a course that Scotty Scheffler should be able to slice and dice?

[Marty Smith]

Absolutely. To your point, there is no weakness. The guy does everything well. And on top of that, Pat, going back to the emotion of. Of the lives these guys live, Scotty Scheffler is the most unaffected, number one player in the world, elite athlete, global icon that you'll ever meet. The guy just does. Doesn't define himself based on his sport. He defines himself based on the husband he is and the father he is. And he's a man of faith. He lets those things define him, not the game at which he's the best in the world. And so I admire that. I know a lot of other people do. But certainly the way that he strikes the golf ball, the respect he has out here, he's going to be formidable. And as good as Rory's been playing, Scotty is the favorite.

[Boston Conner]

Me.

[Marty Smith]

Let me just take you guys on.

[Pat McAfee]

A little walk here. Yeah, please. Where are we? So we're at the driving range where everybody's warming up. Wednesdays are normally like Pro Am. Or is this practice day?

[Marty Smith]

We're. It is a practice day. We've had terrible weather here in Charlotte, but I wanted to show you guys something, and hopefully our boy Tyrese Halliburton is still watching.

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, wow, look at that.

[Marty Smith]

Be right there. America.

[Pat McAfee]

What's up, buddy?

[Marty Smith]

That is the Larry o' Brien trophy that Ty Reese and his boys are chasing after, along with many other elite players in that.

[Pat McAfee]

Cool.

[Marty Smith]

Isn't that cool? They gave me a nice little lapel pin. I feel official. Thank you guys for that. Our great friends at the NBA.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, let's get that thing to Indiana here in a couple weeks. You know, let's get that thing to.

[Marty Smith]

Indiana down the range here. And I got to be a little muted. This is golf. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm gonna be a little muted. Okay.

[Marty Smith]

Check this out.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Marty Smith]

Here's our boy, Max Homa.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Homer's got a good swing. Let's judge this. This thing.

[Marty Smith]

Friend of the show. Let's just watch this for a second.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, good swing. Casual in shorts.

[Tone Diggs]

He likes it.

[Marty Smith]

Hopefully that shot's Good. Okay, there we go.

[Boston Conner]

Smaller calves.

[Pat McAfee]

They're in shorts out there. Marty. We're allowed to wear shorts.

[Marty Smith]

Where did he go? Oh, there he is. Yeah, they can wear shorts out here, but during practice.

[Pat McAfee]

Round the nose shot by Morty. Marty, there we're seeing right up your nose. I like that you have.

[Boston Conner]

I'm trying.

[Marty Smith]

Oh, can you see my nose hair?

[Pat McAfee]

My bad. Yeah, no, you trimmed it. It's very properly trimmed.

[AJ Hawk]

Trim.

[Pat McAfee]

Max Homa. Oh, he likes it. Hey, that's a good. That's a good motion there.

[Marty Smith]

Absolutely pure. Just pure.

[Pat McAfee]

Boys, go down here. Maybe we can.

[Marty Smith]

Maybe we can say there's. There's Nick Dunlap. He's Roll Tide.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Roll tag.

[Marty Smith]

Great resilience at Augusta. Shot 90 on the first day. Did not withdraw draw. Did not quit and came out and finished. We should talk to Keith Mitchell.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Marty Smith]

Keith Mitchell's. Go Dogs.

[Pat McAfee]

Go Dogs.

[Marty Smith]

He's one of the great. He's one of the all time great Americans.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, go Dogs. You're on TV right now. Go Dogs.

[Marty Smith]

Go Dogs.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, how do we feel? How do we feel? How's the ball coming off the club?

[Boston Conner]

It's good.

[Jet Passan]

We're trying to hit our numbers here.

[Pat McAfee]

But, you know, I got a man.

[Boston Conner]

In a suit and tie over here.

[Pat McAfee]

Talking to me, so it's a little tough.

[Marty Smith]

What do you think about my pants?

[Boston Conner]

I think they're very Charlotte.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, geez. How the hell are you guys supposed to golf with those pants? Marty.

[Marty Smith]

Geez, Louise, we just turned on the neon lights. Give us a quick preview of the tournament.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What's the course? What's course like playing. What's of course playing like? It's. It's sloppy.

[Jet Passan]

It's.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean. I mean that because of the rain.

[Boston Conner]

It'S in perfect condition.

[Pat McAfee]

It's just soaking wet out there.

[Boston Conner]

But they have the system under the.

[Pat McAfee]

Greens that sucks all the water out. And it's playing firm. And the greens are firm and fast.

[Boston Conner]

And the fairway boys are soaking wet and slow.

[Pat McAfee]

So what's that mean, whoever can hit it?

[Boston Conner]

That means you have to hit it really far and really high.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh. Because then it's. Yes. Got it.

[Marty Smith]

And do you know what. Do you know what cashmere Keith Mitchell leans on when he has to hit it really far and really high?

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[Marty Smith]

The greatest chest hair on the PGA Tour. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Appreciate you.

[Marty Smith]

I mean, that. That man. That man has some meat sauce. He just lets you.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought there was some golf analysis coming. Oh, this guy has the best seven iron. Maybe like I thought it was coming.

[Marty Smith]

No, Patty. No, sir.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, hold on.

[Marty Smith]

It's really all about the chest hair.

[Pat McAfee]

Before we interrupt somebody else at driving range, which is awesome. We need to do this every single tournament with you, Marty. This is fantastic. I just learned a lot there. Yeah, Sloppy fairways, hard greens, they got a drying system underneath that. Everything else is potentially going to be a little thick. I don't know who that benefits, but I'm going to bet on the guy with some chest hair. Now there's another person on the favorites list there from the ESPN bet, bet. Tone Diggs has a question for you, Marty.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Marty, when we were looking at the favorites there, obviously Bryson DeChambeau from Live is up there plus 800. It feels like he's the only one from live that we can kind of trust right now to go out every major tournament and put and put out and show up. Like, what's going on with Rambo and Brooks Koepka? Obviously Rom's up there at plus 2000, but it feels like those two in the last couple years, you can't really rely on them. What's going on with the. The rest of the Liv. And obviously you know those topics to.

[Marty Smith]

Well, first with. With Bryson. You're so right. He is so well prepared every time we come to major championships, of course, won the US Open last year at Pinehurst, outlasting Rory McElroy. But it is interesting with. With Brooks, who's one of the greatest major champions there's ever been. You know that when we're on these stages, he's going to be there. But it has been a struggle since he won the PGA Championship a couple years ago. And, and Dustin Johnson, you know, he's a major champion multiple times over. Where has he been? Rambo, a Masters champion, A multiple major champion. Where has he been? A lot of people will tell you it's because LIV doesn't have the same intensity or require the same focus that the PGA Tour does. Those guys will scoff at that. But that is most certainly a narrative out here that because those guys got all of that money that, that they've gotten complacent. They don't. They don't believe that. And certainly Brooks and I will tell you, having known him pretty well for a long time and someone that I consider a friend, I think that he is incredibly focused this weekend to go fly the bird at that narrative.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I like to hear that because Brooks hunting in the weekend is just. Looks so cool. Everything just looks so cool when Brooks is around and Rambo. So to Diggs's point. I mean, he was about to take over golf.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, yeah?

[Boston Conner]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, three quarter swing. We learned a story about his birth foot. I think he had a club foot or whatever, which is reason why his swing is the way it is. We loved old Rombo, and I. I didn't blame him for getting 150 million. But when you're sleeping on satin sheets, Marty, they say sometimes it's hard to want to wake up and get punched in the face. You know, like, it's a little bit of a different. Different animal in that entire thing.

[Marty Smith]

And I think that 150 million numbers a little bit. Conservative estimate there. I think it was. I think that number was fatter than that, sir. I think his wallet is much fatter than that double.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, maybe. Maybe at some point you get past the honeymoon phase of like, wow, I am ridiculously wealthy, and get back to playing great golf.

[Marty Smith]

Look, man, they're competitors.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, they are. They are down in here.

[Marty Smith]

They are competitors, and they desperately on these stages, when they're back. Back aligned with the PGA Tour at major championships, they want to prove it. And I'm. I can guarantee you that any narrative that they aren't as prepared as they once were pisses them off.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Marty Smith]

And so we'll see how they respond to that. To your point, it hasn't been. There hasn't been a whole lot of competitiveness from live other than Bryson. Bryson in recent. Recent years. But all of those guys are really good. Really good. And I would love to see one of those guys in contention here on Sunday evening.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Marty.

[Marty Smith]

Beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina.

[Pat McAfee]

We have a hard out in two minutes. Real quick, the PGA Championship has Scotty, Rory, and Xander golfing together for the first two rounds. You talk about everybody being competitors. Who do you think this best? Do you think this helps all three? Do you think, like. Yeah, okay, go ahead.

[Marty Smith]

I do think it helps all three, because when you're sitting there and witnessing firsthand, you don't have to look up at a leaderboard to see who's doing what. These are three of the best players in the world and have been for many years now. Of course, Xander won two major championships last year. Rory just won the Masters, and Scotty's the best player in the world. So they're going to be in a position where they're seeing real time for a couple days what the best in the world are doing out here at Quail Hollow. And I think that they all three will ratchet up their game to another level. Now, Xander, of Course, he's been battling a little bit of an injury. It's been a little bit of an inconsistent year so far. But he's been. He. He's been fantastic in major championships the past couple years. Gonna be that, that, that. That grouping is just going to be fascinating to watch. Can't wait.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, me neither. And Connor's got the last one for you. Quick.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, Marty, real quick.

[Pat McAfee]

You.

[Boston Conner]

You have any bojangles from. For McGee down there in Charlotte?

[Marty Smith]

Well, I know that a lot of people in the national. National viewership and the national consciousness may not really understand the. Just what Bojangles is. Okay. When. When. When LeBron James is. When it is. When it is. Must eat. Anytime he comes near Charlotte, North Carolina. You know it's the truth. It is a Charlotte staple.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we gotta go. We get it. We love Bojangles.

[Marty Smith]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Best sweet tea in the world out there.

[Pat McAfee]

Put sugar in your tea. That's Marty Smith. Thank you, Marty. Spore are happening all around us and we're lucky that we get a chance to chat about it. Last night, the Indiana Pace, who were led by Tyrese Halliburton, Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, Nemhard Niece Smith, TJ McConnell and Rick Carlisle as the head coach, punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row. Tyrese Haliburton was voted the most overrated player in the NBA by the New York Times athletic poll. And what did they do? They just knocked off the number one seed in Cleveland last night. Now who will they play in that Eastern Conference finals? Will it be the Boston Celtics who just learned yesterday that their worst fears have become a reality? Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in a game in which he was about to score 40. I think he maybe already scored 40 against the new York Knicks. He'll be out for the rest of the playoffs, obviously, and then obviously I think out all of next year as well. An absolute bummer for the sport of basketball and not great for the association and obviously sucks for all. Boston Celtics fan. But the rest of their team is still stacked and still have championship pedigree as they take on a New York Knicks team that if the game is close in the fourth quarter, that man, the Brunson bearer, Jalen Brunson, will make it a Knicks win as opposed to a Knicks loss. Karl Anthony Towns was traded over there and the rest of that Knicks squad is built for the moment seemingly. And all of New York City is rallying behind them. They could potentially punch Their ticket as well, well as underdogs in Boston. Four and a half points. That game will start at seven o' clock on TNT and TruTV. Who will be seeing the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals? Let's go to the talk stable at Boston or at Ty Schmidt? Ty, how do you feel about the Boston Celtics chances without Tatum? Do you think this is a Knicks game obviously to win? I kind of get a sense that Celtics win tonight just because they're not like there's no way they're supposed to win.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, no. I'm kind of in the same cage campus. Connor. I think there's a good chance that they do win this game tonight. But when you are a Celtics fan or you know anyone on the Celtics, like you win the NBA championship last year. So like they don't give a shit about just making it to the Eastern Conference finals. And it does seem like it's quite the tall task for them to win another championship and go back to back without Tatum. That's just. That's a big part of the offense, a big part of the team that you're going to have to try to, to replace. But I do think they will probably get it done tonight and then. And you know, ultimately the Knicks will close them out.

[Pat McAfee]

We are not basketball handicappers.

[Boston Conner]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. We are not doing any of that. I've been telling you since January, Pacers are the best team in the NBA just strictly because I've been watching them and their record has been the best. But this feels like in sports, when something's not supposed to happen, it happens. Like this just feels like through our history of gambling on both our sport of football and random sports in the off season when you feel like there's no chance. Now the Celtics being favored by four and a half kind of tells us that they the books thinking the same thing. But in my eyes this seems to set up for a Celtics win just because it would be unexpected. Now let's go to one half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys AP Tone. I say all that while also understanding that this team in the fourth quarter is the best team in the league with what they have to do.

[AJ Hawk]

They've been unbelievable in the fourth quarter and Brunson has obviously been unbelievable in the fourth quarter. But like, let's take a look at Jaylen Brown. I believe he was the MVP of the finals last year. Drew Holiday and Derrick White were both on Team USA this summer. Christoph Sporting is still there. Al Horford is still there. The cupboards are not bare in Boston now. The six are or the Knicks are minus 600 to win the series. Obviously not favorites tonight, but I think there's definitely a world that we live in where the this series is not over.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I saw a lot of Knicks fans just being like, yeah, we'll see you there. We'll see you there. It's like, like, just like whenever everybody's saying the Pacers are going to get past the Cavs, it's like maybe like this best of seven for a reason. Crazier things have happened. Don't think it's possible with the way this Knicks team is built for them to overlook anybody or kind of lay an egg. But there's a chance that it happens. And that's why, you know, this association best of seven playoffs has been so electrifying.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, it's been awesome. Look, look, we're not some rinky dink operation, okay? This is the Boston Celtics we're talking about. So, sure, a game five.

[Pat McAfee]

How much you guys sell for this year?

[Boston Conner]

$6 billion. Which got left off of some people's evaluations of teams, which, again, everyone's bullshit. Everyone sucks. So I don't care. I'm looking forward to the broadcast on TNT tonight. I think it's going to be a start to finish masterclass just because there's a lot to talk about. But like I was just about to say, we're. We're the Boston Celtics. Okay, I understand some teams just want to get to the Eastern Conference finals. And in this situation, we have now fallen into that category as a team that would be, you know, happy to advance, but we're about banners, okay? We have the most banners in NBA history for a reason. We only are playing for banners. We don't give a shit about beating the Knicks in the round two. We don't give a shit about beating the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. We give a shit about winning this trophy right here.

[Pat McAfee]

Larry.

[Boston Conner]

OB Which I thought was interesting, they got a fake one at the PGA Championship because the real one's sitting right here next to me. So, I mean, it's cool. It would be a great story. I'm excited to watch the game tonight. I'm excited to watch Jalen and, you know, Derrick White and Drew and support my boys. But again, without my boy Jason Tatum, who leads the team in points, assists, rebounds, and I believe, minutes, it's going to be hard to get me to think, yeah, we're going to be able to go and raise Banner 19 without him. But I can also see Jaylen Brown saying We did this one for Jason. This banner's for Tatum.

[Pat McAfee]

This one's for Jason.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now is a man who's in an attic in Ohio. I'll be excited to get his thoughts, thoughts on all of this and anything else that he's maybe stewing on. Because that's what this guy does.

[Tone Diggs]

He does.

[Pat McAfee]

He stews on stuff. He's a college football national champion. He's a Super bowl champion. He's a Ryder cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawk. What are you doing on aj? Is it the fact that they said that Tyrese was the most overrated player in the league and now they're in the Eastern Conference finals or what's really, you know, driving you wild right now in the sports world?

[Jet Passan]

Well, yeah, you know, I do sit and stew on things, so I appreciate you letting me. Let me get that out. When you guys are talking about this, this Celtics, Knicks game, I feel like either Celtics find a way to win this thing or they get routed or they get blown out and it's over like halfway through the third.

[Pat McAfee]

That's.

[Jet Passan]

That's what I view this game tonight as.

[Pat McAfee]

So the interesting thing about that is a lot of these games in the NBA playoffs have been blowouts at one point during the game. And then granted, pacers lose by 40, Knicks lost by 30, or whatever it was in, in the game three, whenever they were up 2 0. So like, there was a couple games that have been blowouts. I understand that. But in the fourth quarter, all these games have basically come back to within reach.

[Jet Passan]

Game of runs. It's definitely a game of runs always. You're right. I mean, a 20 point lead is. That's nothing. Last night, seven minutes to go.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, last night. And it's happened again against the Pacers a couple weeks ago. And then I think the Nuggets were down. Nuggets at one point and then they were able to come back. It's been like, it's been on a very regular bas. Almost like, remember football? A 14 point lead in football. Football like five years ago was like, ball game, you're in a good spot.

[Jet Passan]

Insurmountable. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You can't come back if it's halfway through the third or later. It's like, I don't know, this one. We gotta start bringing out trick plays. Like, we gotta start trying to figure this out now. Like 17 points, even like 20 points in the NFL is attainable pretty quickly with how explosive things have gotten. It's not just the NFL, obviously, where people have gotten more talented on offensive side of ball basketball as well. I mean, there's like 192 runs that happen out of nowhere. And for some reason, I know statisticians can't find it in their souls to believe in it, but once one falls for a team and then a crowd starts building, it feels like that next one, there's a little bit more surface area on that hoop. And whenever these runs start happening, especially at home for these teams, it is electrifying. And if you're on the other side, you just got to be on. You got to be holding on for dear life and just hoping that a foul comes or you make a big shot. And that's the thing about this Pacers team. What I've liked about him, and I think probably Knicks fans will say the same thing. When the Cavs would go on a run and it felt like they were getting their momentum, like the Pacers in the face of their fans and momentum, they would knock down a massive shot and it's like, boom, right there. You just put everything to sleep. But if you miss a couple of those, that thing's going the other way rapidly. And that's what the story of this playoffs has been for the NBA in my eyes.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, I mean, last night the Pacers, like, when they were down 20, you know, I was getting to the point where I was almost like, all right, I'm gonna, you know, flip channels and, and I'll. I'll check back in during the next game. And then Tyrese hits a couple threes, like they, they cut that 20 point lead to, you know, nine, like in under a minute, you know, so it's like how quickly things can happen is. Is crazy. And again, I said this a couple weeks ago, like, that's what I think the biggest difference between playoff basketball and regular season basketball is, is we see those blowouts in the regular season. Like teams will kind of, whether it's load management or whatever. Yeah, exactly. Teams will be like, okay, hey, we're down 20 in the third quarter. Like, it's not our night. We got another game tomorrow, the next game in. In the playoffs, like that. That's not the case at all. And when we will see these leads more often than not, you know, get cut down and. And games are coming down to the last couple possessions in most of the playoffs.

[Pat McAfee]

Which is why the Celtics have been losing.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Because the Knicks in the fourth quarter, they've been knocking down the shots and the Celtics haven't. No matter what happens in the first three quarters, it's always coming down to like the final four minutes. I went to sleep last night. Pretty late night game. Nuggets were up. It's like Nuggets are going to win this game. Congrats to Joker. He's kind of shut everybody up. Everybody's been talking shit on him. And I wake up in the morning, it's like they missed three shots and Oklahoma City made three shots and then they made their free throws over. You lose the game, it's out of reach. Now all of a sudden, it's like, I, I've been impressed with this year's NBA playoffs. Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

The stat everyone's talking about with the Knicks Celtics is the Knicks have only led for like 24 minutes and 50 seconds in the entire series. And obviously it's 3:1, but I feel like tonight will be either a Celtics, you know, shoot 30% from the field and get killed, or they make 33 pointers and are just absolutely rolling. I will be excited, excited to see if Tatum's there. You know, quick couple days after an operation, maybe he's up in a suite with his leg kicked up and people are going nuts for him and it's a hell of an atmosphere. Or maybe the Knicks just say, you know what, it's been a good run, but it's MSG season, baby. We got home court advantage. If we beat these Celtics. Let's just get it done in five and we don't have to worry about anybody getting, you know, tired in this next series here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And story of the Knicks Pacers last year was the Knicks got hurt, ran out of gas, and the Pacers ran him off the court and went into Madison Square Garden and did it. Did some gardening. Yeah, did some gardening. I remember that. And it's become a great rivalry, I think personally, the Knicks and Pacers already with the young crew. Let's go to one half of the Hammer Cowboys. AP tone.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Something you guys were talking about there as far as second half comebacks. Now, this is not coming back to win, but teams that trail at half are now 70% against the second half spread. Spread. In this year's NBA playoffs, they've covered 10 in a row. So if you were to take the team that was down second half spread, they have covered 10 in a row in this NBA playoffs.

[Pat McAfee]

Good for them. Yeah, good for those teams. Good for the betters, too. Backdoor, backdoor, backdoor, backdoor. Yes. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is not an NBA player. He's actually a Pro Bowl NFLer. I think he's been to the Pro bowl four times, if Connor's math was right here on this particular sheet. He's also a guy. I think he owns a race team or a D. Drifting team. You already snow. Ladies and gentlemen, tackle for the Buffalo Bills, Dion Dawkey. Yeah, you already snow, baby. How you doing?

[Dion Dawkins]

What up, man?

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, how have you been? How's the offseason been? I saw you promoting the NLL Buffalo Bandits, the NLL lacrosse team up there. How's that going? Are you a fan of the team?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, I'm a fan of sports, bro. I like sports. I like people that excited compete. Anybody that can get on a big stage and perform under lights. It's cool. You know, I've been at all the WWE events. I've been all over the place, bro. I enjoy it. I enjoy being at events, and I enjoy spectating. This shit's pretty cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I enjoy watching people do their thing, you know, because we understand how much work has been put in beforehand to get to that moment. Now let's talk about the work that beforehand to get to the moment. What does the offseason look like for you, Dion? When does everything get started for the Buffalo? Oh, we're driving. Driving. We're driving. Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, we're driving, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

And we're driving.

[Ty Schmidt]

We're driving.

[Dion Dawkins]

Now, that's what my off season, it looks like. But, you know, it's OTAs now, so bouncing back and forth from Buffalo to Florida to Atlanta to Virginia this weekend. But I come. I work out for four days a week, and then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I'm probably drifting my drift car and enjoying the family. I'm trying to just balance it at all. And it's been a good, good balance. But, you know, I try to just. Just have fun, bro. Like, life is short. I've been seeing that stuff is happening in the world, bro. Do what you like to do, man. I like to wrestle. I like to play. I like to have fun. I like to do drifting. And I'mma. I'm gonna spend them tires, dog.

[Pat McAfee]

I've been following along on Instagram and watching you. I mean, he's. We're real. Hey, we are professional.

[Dion Dawkins]

N. It's. It's. It's a real thing, Pat. It is a. It is a real thing, bro. And I'm telling you, I know that everybody wants a piece of Pat, but I'm telling you, if you want to experience something that you have never experienced before, of a thrill and a rush, get in a drift car with snow.

[Pat McAfee]

Please.

[Dion Dawkins]

Just get a drift car with snow.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay?

[Dion Dawkins]

It's one of those things that you don't even know exists until you get in it. You're like, bro, why have I not been doing this my whole freaking life?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I had a. I have a Mustang, 650 ponies going to the back, two wheels. Yeah. I've done some drifting in my day. I've done some drifting in my day.

[Dion Dawkins]

That is a stain. I actually have a. I have a Mustang being built right now from Justin Pawlik, who is the FD driver, and it is a Mustang. Roush is the sponsor, and Roush is donating all the supercharger and all the stuff. And I agree. The 650 horse powers.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Dion Dawkins]

Is beautiful, but you know what you're doing if you're talking that type of number in the, in the horse range.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, I did know what I was doing. Yeah. I, I took that Shelby. Okay. And I was very comfortable. Okay. I'm fluttering with the clutch. I'm fluttering with the clutch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm working this thing, you know, and I, I, I got too confident, I think. So I have a little I. At one of my houses. I have a little roundabout in front of the house. You know, a little circle. Yeah. You know, super successful. Super successful. Yeah, it was cool to have that. Very cool to have that. Yeah, super cool. Until it's not. So I, you know, had the wife in the car. First time having the show.

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, man, it's tripping.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, don't do that.

[Dion Dawkins]

You'll scare them to death back.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, almost kill them, too. So. So it was first time I had Shelby out in, like two years. I hadn't had it out in a while, you know, just was excited about it. I was like, oh, I'm drift this thing around my driveway, you know, because I can. Okay. I feel pretty comfortable with it. Okay. Been driving, you know, manual. Been driving sticks since, like 16. Learned how to do it. Kind of been floating gears a long time, brother. You know, dad, rock, driver, the whole thing. Like, I thought I was really good. Start, trip, pull that E break. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pothole.

[Dion Dawkins]

Go crazy. Pull the E bra. You know, all you hear is the little guy on your shoulder.

[Pat McAfee]

Go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, what I heard was pothole. Pothole back, right wheel hits pothole. Oh, that's.

[Dion Dawkins]

Nah.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Into a tree. Yeah, yeah. Boom. Yeah. Shelby had to go. Shelby had to go shop. And the wife at the time, girlfriend, not the most impressed. I learned quickly. And, yeah, it was a wild time. So that's the last time I drifted A car, but with that being said, would love to sit passenger while you are snowing me around the damn drift course.

[Dion Dawkins]

Hey, Pat, like, where we drift at? Like, up here in Buffalo, it's an open blacktop, so we don't have no potholes. It's all flat. It's all open, and then we go in between, but the building. So that's maybe the only. Only part where you can get a little iffy. But besides that, it's all a complete black top. But I want to ask you something, Pat. I don't ever, like, want to hijack, but, bro, can you tell me about backlash, please? I watched. I am a fan. I love it. I was rooting for you. I was like, please kick Gunther's ass. I freaking love it. You are a freaking stud, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Dion Dawkins]

The black and blue, bro. I'm telling you, bro, it is. It is. It is the real deal, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

Bro.

[Dion Dawkins]

I had no idea. Well, first of all, I knew that you wrestled and that you had history of wrestling, and you were actually a wrestler for years. But, bro, the backflip off the top turnbuckle. I'm telling you, bro, people don't understand the athletic ability to be able to do that and then land and then about to get suplexed and then come out the suplex with the Jordan 11s on.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's crazy. You already know, brother. You already know, brother. Yeah, I appreciate you doing that. And, yeah, I mean, I was trying to get him with the 1, 2, 3, kids moonsault there. He obviously ring general moves out of the way here. I'm like. Well, he just German suplex me two times. Legs give out from underneath me there. Okay. Was. Was trying to land on his feet, and right here. Oh, my God, this is it. Big punt. Kick his head. Boom. Gunther's done one. Nope, Nothing crazy. Yeah, and then he tried to choke you out. Like, come on, bro. He didn't try to. Come on. Yeah, he did. He did. I had to take a stand, you know you yet? Boom, boom, boom. I think he was worried.

[Tone Diggs]

Gut.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the gut. The gut of go. Yeah. Gunther couldn't. Didn't take it anymore. I thought I had him. I was thinking sidewalk slam. I was trying to remember what other people would do.

[Dion Dawkins]

Man, you should have did a swan. Top ball off the top turnbuckle.

[Pat McAfee]

So the swan, Toni Bombini was certainly something I was thinking about trying to add in there. I do a little GR up there. It was. Obviously, it wasn't a fun experience for me. For Cole, it was worse, I think, than it was for me, because Cole felt terrible about the entire thing that was happening because he put us in situation. It was his fault I was in there. But it was. Obviously, when you're about six minutes into that thing, seven minutes into that thing, you already know. Yeah, we are blowing up in that entire thing. But also it's a realization. Oh, we're beating the out of each other in here. Yeah, that is what this is. And it's. It's quite. Boom. Smacked in a mouth. It was a lot of that. He. It was awesome. I think you would be great. I think you would be great in there, too. Yeah, I mean, I still. I'm still bruised up pretty good. I mean, man, look.

[Dion Dawkins]

But the next time you get to practicing, bro, let me know, man. I will come and practice with you, dog. I'm telling you. Because next time, maybe Tag Team champions, though.

[Pat McAfee]

We can kick their ass, man. Yeah, we can kick their ass, man. I think you would have been a phenomenal professional wrestler. Yeah. If you to the face, jbl.

[Dion Dawkins]

You know what I'm saying? Like, the real. You know what I'm saying?

[Pat McAfee]

Clothesline from hell. Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Clothesline from hell.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You know, I found a couple of those this weekend. I'll tell you what, those are devastating. Those certainly are devastating. And I don't know if that. If it's directly from hell, but it sure felt hell was coming with it. All right.

[Ty Schmidt]

Wasn't from heaven.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk a little football for the Buffalo Beals. What do you think is the thing that gets you guys over the hump? I don't say over the hump, but you get it. What do you think gets you guys to take the next step? Obviously, elite team, elite program, elite vibes. It sounds like in that building culture. Fantastic. What do you think it is this year that maybe you guys either have or. What do you think? You talk about going into the year.

[Dion Dawkins]

You know, I think just to keep it of what it is. It's just the opportunity. All we need is the opportunity again, and we'll see. And what happens? Because we have everything that we have, and we have everything that and we need. But I think that the biggest thing is honestly just be able to get ourselves in a position to have the opportunity to take another swing out of it, swing at it. That's it. Like, we don't need another player. We don't need another this, another that. We just need ourselves to just tone in on finishing and just having the opportunity and getting ourselves to be able to have the opportunity to go for it again?

[Pat McAfee]

Hell yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Because it's hard. It's hard to get to that distance of a season. But to be able to get there, you know, that's what it is. But we have to be there to have another swing out of it. And when we get there, it'll be special.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of things, a lot of things have to go your way to get that far in a league. A lot of things, a lot of things have to go. A lot of luck has to happen. A lot of balls have to bounce your way. That's why what the Patriots were able to do for 20 years is just, yeah, absolutely absurd. But you guys as well, we've had a lot of success, obviously haven't had the massive success that, you know, Chiefs Eagles have had, but being around is just a very difficult thing. Excited to watch you guys break through. Go ahead, A.J.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, Dion, as far as you personally, how was your like, we're in the heart of your offseason workouts right now. Everything you're doing with the team. How has your offseasons changed from when you first got in the league until now, like, as far as physically and mentally, what you have to do to get ready for the season?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, man, it's been like the older and. But you get. You learn how to maintain and protect your body. I think a lot of, I mean, I don't want to cheat code it, but I do a lot of Pilates. I do a lot of Pilates, I do a lot of reform. I do a lot of stretching and I rest. I rest. I rest when I can, but the lack of of rest can hurt. I do a lot, but while I'm traveling, I sleep. If I'm not at performing, I'm sleeping. If I'm not doing something, I'm stretching. Like, I think that that has been the biggest difference in my career as I do a lot of stretching with Pilates and I rest when I'm not performing and I do a lot. But when I can get a 15 minutes here, 20, like minutes there, those add up over time. And I've trained in my body to be able to sleep whenever I treat to. And I think that that's what is beautiful about it because we're moving around so much, you have to be able to just sit back and just turn the switch off. And I've been doing that and that's been been great. But and the mental part too is just understanding who I am and not cheating on myself and understanding that I'm not perfect and just, just to be free Just try to be as free as possible and don't cause no extra added stress. That is unnecessary.

[Pat McAfee]

Love your vibe. Love everything about the way you approach life. It is fantastic. There needs to be more Dion Dawkins. There won't because of how big, strong, fast, athletic you are with. This mindset is absurd. You said you can fall asleep. So you can fall asleep, like, sitting up. You can do all that stuff. You're like, not.

[Dion Dawkins]

Not standing up, but as I'm sitting here in. In this chair. Yes, I can sit here and I can just work on my breathing and just breathe and breathe, and then all of a sudden it'll be. And it's. That's like a military. And that's like a military, like, technique.

[Tone Diggs]

Technique.

[Dion Dawkins]

But, like, I've. I've listened and I've learned, but, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, what is it? Is it that in for 7, 8, 4, 812 or whatever? It is the.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that what you do? Yes, it does work. Okay. It's like.

[Dion Dawkins]

It does work.

[Pat McAfee]

It feels like it's up, up, down, down, left, right for your body. Like you.

[Dion Dawkins]

It's. It's a joystick. A Grand Theft Auto Cheat code type of thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What is it? You breathe in for a certain amount of time, you hold for a certain amount of time, you breathe out for a certain amount of time, then you have no air for a certain amount of time. It's called, like, block or box or square. Is it box breathing, Box breathing or something like that? Yeah, I.

[Dion Dawkins]

Whatever. But the name is. Yeah, like, it's. It's. But it's literally all off of breathing. Like, you have to just hold at your breaths. Deep breaths in, and just kind of just slow your heart rate down. Just slow it down, slow it down. And then you just.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't. Don't fall asleep. Don't fall asleep. Dion, we need you right now. Yeah, don't. Don't fall asleep. Don't. Dion, you already know. Wakey, wakey, wakey. Like, he's getting rest for the season. He's going to have a good season. Got his stole, quick two minutes or whatever. All right, let's talk about the season. Got some new teammates. Go ahead, con man.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, Dion. Big addition for you guys on the D line was Joey Bosa. Have you been able to talk to him? Is that something you're looking forward to? Just learning kind of his thoughts and tricks of the trade when it comes to, you know, dealing with certain pass rushers?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah. So I've. I've known Joey for a little while, but now that I get the opportunity to speak to him. Our first, like, conversation was real Joey. Like, he's definitely a football guy, but we talked about bunkers. We talked about bunkers, and it was pretty cool, bro. It was like, yeah, bro, I kind of just want a bunker just in case, if anything happens.

[Pat McAfee]

And.

[Dion Dawkins]

And that was the Joey Snow conversation. It was about being out in the country and about bunkers, which is a very unique thing because I'm like, blacktop, very in your face.

[Pat McAfee]

And it's like.

[Dion Dawkins]

Like, yeah, I just want to go in a bunker. And that's cool. It's super cool. But, yeah, Joey is a great player. He works out hard. He's here, he's present. And as a teammate, knowing and receiving new teammates, the guys that choose to be present when he doesn't have to be because he's already at a certain level. I respect it because, like, you know, Right. Like, he's had a contract. He has his life. He has his life, and he doesn't have to be here yet, but. But he understands that this is our motto, to be present and being present, and that he just came in and grabbed on board. You know, I'm okay with it. Like, he gets my head nod and my. And thumb up.

[Pat McAfee]

But I like Joey Bunker Joey and Bunker Joey. Joey. Snowy conversation is one that certainly should be a Buffalo Bill social media thing. If possible, maybe go into a bunker and record it. I've heard those are great times. They spent a lot of money on a big bunker, from what I was reading on the outside. Yeah. Who knows? I don't want to get into it, but I've heard the bunkers are paradise. A pretty good idea. And when he said life and then you doubled down and said life again, I think you didn't want to out anything in his life, like family, friends, houses he got. But him picking up new city off season, coming up there to a place he doesn't know to show face, to be present. I think that is a great sign of leadership. And obviously that goes back to the culture, you know, that Bean has built up there that obviously McDermott has. And you guys have all taken to a next level. T has a question for you, Snow. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Speaking of that culture and everything, is it weird when you look at your team? Obviously the super bowl is the only goal, and that's what you guys are looking for, but you guys are kind of the elder statesman in the AFC east now. You look around, you know, there's two new head coaches, There's a lot of stuff going on in Miami, you know, with different players maybe leaving and all that kind of stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

How.

[Tone Diggs]

How hard is it? I. I don't want to say, like, you know, keeping the main thing. The main thing, obviously, knowing that, hey, in order to, you know, win a Super bowl and do what we want to do, we need. We need to win the division first. Especially when now you have a couple of these teams who are going to be much different than what you guys have played over the last couple years.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, our. Our first goal, you know, is we have to win our division. Not that that's the easiest way in, but when you handle your division, then the rest takes care of itself, right? Win the division, you get the opportunity to play in the playoffs. Get the opportunity to play in the playoffs, you get the opportunity to play for the championship. So step one is, one, be present. Two, know your job, and three, you know, win the division. And that is what we preach, and that's where we're at every single year. But, you know, winning the division is the first step of greatness, and we.

[Ty Schmidt]

Not.

[Dion Dawkins]

We seem to have that on lock, but, like, we do a good job of taking that first step, depth. But it's hard. Every single year, our division gets tougher. These guys get better. The Dolphins, the Jets, the. Like, the Patriots, even. Like, these guys play us hard. Like, even if the records don't show it, these guys play us extremely, extremely hard. And that's our toughest battles throughout this season until we get to the Chiefs and the Ravens and, like, all these, you know, juggernauts.

[Pat McAfee]

Colts. Yeah. Colts. Yep.

[Dion Dawkins]

My guy, Kenny. Yep. Colts.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, Kenny Bad.

[Pat McAfee]

Respect. Respect. Kenny Mo. Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Mad respect for Kenny.

[Pat McAfee]

Mad respect for Kenny Mo.

[Boston Conner]

Love Kenny Mo.

[Pat McAfee]

I wish we had. It would be great to have Mo.

[Boston Conner]

Kenny Mo.

[Pat McAfee]

Mo. Kenny Mo.

[Tone Diggs]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Mo. Kenny, you already. If we could get a bunker Joe, that'd be great. I think we do. I think we do have a bunker Joe. Mo. Kenny Mo's.

[Boston Conner]

You have bunker Joe?

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about? Cleveland? No. You know, you talk about Joe Flacco.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. Bunker Joe Flacco.

[Pat McAfee]

That ain't bunker Joe. Oh, you did that.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, he was there.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

As he was there. No. Geez Louise.

[Tone Diggs]

Danny Joe.

[Pat McAfee]

Now. Now he got Danny Joe.

[Dion Dawkins]

At least you got the Indy 500.

[Pat McAfee]

You got the Indy 500.

[Dion Dawkins]

I'll be there.

[Pat McAfee]

You're coming out Is coming up.

[Dion Dawkins]

That was a super. It's super dope.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'll be there.

[Pat McAfee]

You're coming to any five. You know, the Pacers are playing afterwards. They Got.

[Dion Dawkins]

I'm planning on being there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, sir. Okay. Racing and pacing, baby. Come on out.

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, look.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yo, yo, you're legit, bro. Racing.

[Pat McAfee]

Do not give me credit. Do not give me credit. There's other things. Thank you. There is other things that I have created that people do not give me enough credit for. This is not one that I created. And we do not. No, no, no. I did not. No, no, no.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, you did.

[Pat McAfee]

Now you already know. I did not.

[Dion Dawkins]

You guys, it racing and pace it.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. We get the shirt. All right. I'll make sure.

[Boston Conner]

Don't plan on doing too much either.

[Pat McAfee]

AJ has, but. Yeah. So the Indy 500. I don't know how much you're living. I don't know what you're living like. There's going to be a lot of opportunity to do a lot of boozing if that's what you're looking to do, and I don't know if that's what you're in. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of that. A lot of that. Yeah. So. Hey. No, that Pacer game's coming, though. That Pacer game's coming hours and hours and hours later. So I'll be excited to see you monitor your vibes throughout the entirety. For sure. They will.

[Dion Dawkins]

Look, I have my glasses on. I promise. You won't see my eyes.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, and also, I mean, in that snake pit, he could.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, exactly. Catch a quick nap.

[Dion Dawkins]

Catch a quick. Catch a quick monster refresh.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Go ahead, aj. Go ahead, aj.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, Dion. Sorry. I don't know your exact sports background growing up and in high school, but I assumed you played basketball, ran track, baseball. I assumed you're an athlete and everything. Like, when you have. I think when you watch it, you see your feet. Like, you have great feet. And I think that comes from a lot of times playing other sports as a young kid. What sports did you play, and how important do you think that is?

[Dion Dawkins]

I think it's the most important thing because I did everything. And you're correct, I played basketball, but because I grew up in Jersey, I never played on the high school team. We played in Hoboking every single day. During the basketball season, we played every day in Hoboken. I ran track and field. I threw, I wrestled, I bowled, and I swam. But one of the biggest things that I do and still do now is I longboarded. I have a longboard that I still have since I was young, and I used to longboard, and that longboard helped me with my single foot. Balance. And why my calves are the way and that they are is because I was always pushing and kicking and balancing. But all of that definitely did work. And then in college I took tennis, which helped with my lateral movements and I just tried to do everything. And sports is definitely why it creates the perfect type of character of player. You know, like you just can't just do one thing, but you can. Like you can do one thing and you might get lucky. But all the variety of sports definitely do play a big part of the sport that, that and that you love, which is me in this case is football.

[Pat McAfee]

Football.

[Dion Dawkins]

But it does definitely balance and help.

[Pat McAfee]

Swim, tennis. Yep, yep. Longboarding. And then let's talk about bowling. You think bowling helped your lungs a little bit. We had a bowling lane bowling alley that I hung out at growing up. I didn't get good at bowling, but I was around there billiards. I could probably do okay if we need cigarette smoke. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Do you think that built up the lungs?

[Dion Dawkins]

The cigarettes, man, the, the cigarette smoke definitely made your lungs extremely strong because when you don't smoke the cigarette, your body begins to form this defense of keeping it out.

[Pat McAfee]

But who knows?

[Dion Dawkins]

I was definitely Weber.

[Pat McAfee]

And other things, I think. I mean, I'm not getting into it. Where were you? Were you a two handed wonder from down under?

[Dion Dawkins]

No, that was, that was elite bowling. That two handed stuff is elite. I was the one hand spin. But when you end your, your, your goal, you end on that one leg which is still balanced. So it was still balancing and still helping everything. Which it was fun but it was also cool because I tightened up at my quad and everything. But yeah, one hand spinner and I would only put two fingers in and flick the rest.

[Pat McAfee]

And what was the, what was the average? What was the average?

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, I was really like a 180 guy. 175. Like that was, that was like me like on an average day. But you know, I get to the 205s, you know, you know, the bigger.

[Pat McAfee]

The kick, the better the flick. They say, you know, whenever you go out like there. I didn't create that either. Was a bowling thing. Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

See, look at the balance. Look, your quad is activating right now. If you stay there for 15 seconds, your quad is going to be on fire. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's burning one.

[Boston Conner]

Look, I mean those scores too.

[Ty Schmidt]

Get to the other one.

[Jet Passan]

Got balance looking.

[Pat McAfee]

Of course it. My other leg I can. Left leg I can balance on. That's, you know, because I'm Right footed. So the. The balance all came from this one. I have learned through my years. The right. Not as. Not as what?

[Dion Dawkins]

What a guy, bro. What a guy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're the guy, all right. We appreciate you for joining us. Enjoy the hell out of your life. It seems like that's going to be definite. You've earned all of this. Can't wait to see where you're drifting this weekend. We'll see you in Indy in a few weeks.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yes, sir. Much love as always. Yo, but you guys are the truth, bro. You already saw the vibes.

[Pat McAfee]

You are. Hey, let's make sure they don't screw you this year with the. Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, yeah. No, we already talking about it, man. It ain't happening. No flags. No flags, man. You know?

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, exactly. That's the bowling boys.

[Dion Dawkins]

Big boys need an award. My big boys need an award. Right, Pat? That's all I'm saying.

[Jet Passan]

Big boys need an award.

[Pat McAfee]

We did give out an award this year, but we will try to push for the NFL to give one out as awards. NFL honors. Because that's real. Now, are you going to go interior and then tackles or are you just going, what is the goal?

[Dion Dawkins]

It's a unit. It's. Anybody that plays ball, center, guard, tackle. You shall see. We shall see. But I'm telling you, we. And we working, man. It's.

[Ty Schmidt]

We're working.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. This is what we're working. This is. What we gave out last year was a trenchy. We gave out the trenches. You were a finalist for the trenchy. That's AQ Shipley on top of that, when he was at the Arizona cardinals weighing 360 pounds at 5:11. And we put some Kevin Green hair on him just to show some respect, you know.

[Dion Dawkins]

That is insane, bro. Why is the stomach so big? Look, the big guys can be swagged up too. The big guys can be swagged up too.

[Pat McAfee]

We did not edit the photo of his Frenchies.

[Dion Dawkins]

Boy, that boy like a little Frenchie.

[Marty Smith]

Man.

[Pat McAfee]

What's up, ladies and gentlemen? Thank you. Yo, I'm a good. He's the greatest. Why is your stomach so big? We were asking the same question.

[Boston Conner]

It had to be.

[Pat McAfee]

As his friend at the time, I was asking him same questions, but what's going on here? Playing fullback. I'm playing kickoff.

[Jet Passan]

Gotta push people around.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he was able to move at that weight and now that he's thinner, he. I'm happy he is putting weight back on though. Remember, he was on that big long. I feel like he maybe thought to him soon. Like, when I retire, I'm gonna become a iron man athlete or whatever.

[Boston Conner]

UFC fighter.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, whatever. He was thinking of wrestling in billionaire basements or whatever, and he. He got, like, too thin, too focused. Like, way too focused on the fitness thing.

[Jet Passan]

And he wasn't eating food right. Like, he. He was miserable.

[Boston Conner]

I thought 30 pills a day.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it wasn't him either. Like, it was. It was him, but, like, he lost that edge, and that edge came from being happy, you know, and, like, doing this and taking entire thing. So then. Yeah, here's the actual photo that we took from. And nobody. We're not expecting. That's a real photo. For real.

[Jet Passan]

That's the real one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. And we're not expecting him to look like this. We're happy. He does not look like this. Oh, my God. We'd like him to see.

[Boston Conner]

I've never seen that before.

[Jet Passan]

When you bend down, like, that's a bad.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, especially with how tight the football pants are, right? Football pants are so tight.

[Boston Conner]

Two bowling balls in his gut.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Maybe four if you really start doing the math and start looking at it a little closer. But we don't want this. None of us wanted this.

[AJ Hawk]

We're happy.

[Pat McAfee]

We were worried out. We were worried about him.

[Boston Conner]

I'm worried just looking that. He was like that at one point.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. He's got. He's got kids. He's got a family. He's got a future. Like, this is not good. This is not. We told him that. Okay. I would like to let everybody know. Friends of his at this time said, bub, this can't be.

[Boston Conner]

Tighten it up.

[Pat McAfee]

This can't be what it is. He goes, oh, I know. These white jerseys, you know, he gave a full speech at the time. So then when he retired, I think, like, all of us maybe in this exact moment telling him this, he, like, locked in, like, when I retire, I'm gonna become, like, super fit. And we watched that for, what, a year and a half after he retired? It was like, all right, dude, I know this is partially my fault because of what I said whenever your fucking big gut was hanging out, but, like, we don't need this. This is not what we need.

[Boston Conner]

That was crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

This is not what we need for the entirety of your existence. Resistance. So he's back to being in. I think he's normal. But myself, aq. I mean, I'm in the middle of it right now. You're. You're about one, two bad weeks away from, like.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Running away with it.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You Know, because I was heavy keto, trying to lose weight against Gunter, you know, and then I thought to myself, like, four days before, I'm like, well, maybe I get some more padding on me, actually, because he's going to bang hard in there.

[Marty Smith]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, it's gonna be banging in there. So now I'm like, all right, what do I have to prepare for? Nothing.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So I will take the French toast sticks from Burger King this morning. Is five pieces enough? I don't think so. I'm six foot one. 240, sure. Heading to 260. So I did two of those this morning. So then I. I had to look at myself in the mirror and be like, buddy, come on, we don't need to do the full song and dance again.

[Tone Diggs]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

So, you know, know, I think AQ is doing the same thing. And that's why what you do every day, so impressive. White rice, bear, grilled chicken. Yeah. Yes. Every meal, rest of life. No.

[Jet Passan]

No, I'm not Orlovsky.

[Marty Smith]

Dan.

[Jet Passan]

Dano really lives that like that. I am not that, but I'm very plain, you know, I like food plain. That's all.

[Pat McAfee]

Once again, forget everything he just said right there.

[Tone Diggs]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

This guy eats white rice and bear plain. Sorry, Grilled chicken. Every meal. Even whenever we present him with a very tempting off. Look at his pizza. Look at his sandwich. Yeah. Look at his chocolate.

[Boston Conner]

Have a donut.

[Pat McAfee]

His discipline is unbelievable. Aj, your discipline's unbelievable. It really is. I don't know how you're able to do it. I'm looking to do that for, you know, the rest of my being. Today was a wake up call whenever I had, I don't know, 6,000 calories over there for breakfast, give or take. Yeah. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad. Bad thing. AQ is the same way. So we got to monitor it. And we need some accountability buddies. We need some accountability buddies, too, to say, hey, don't be so fat. A lot of people tell me I need to say that to you. AQ looks amazing there from the shipyard there. Sure. I wonder if they flushed the toilet since last year.

[Tone Diggs]

Piss in there.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of people say that I. Oh, that was in the Hawk house. A lot of people say I'm not a good enough friend to you. Connor's not a good enough friend to you. They say tongue's not a good enough friend to you.

[Boston Conner]

You.

[Tone Diggs]

Why are they saying that?

[Pat McAfee]

Cuz they say you almost poop your pants way too often and that should be talked about.

[Boston Conner]

Should we do Ty?

[Tone Diggs]

I mean, not a whole lot. I have a physical illness, a physical disability that I've had for a long time. So like, you know when people say like, hey, you should try taking probiotics, it's like, oh, wow, I never thought of that. You think I like doing this? You think I like eating something very plain? And then like, yeah, two hours later it's like, hey, sorry, I. I'm legitimately gonna. My pants if we. If I can't go right now. You think it's. It's fun just sitting there with like a stomachache? It feels like you have a goddamn, you know, mortar shell inside your stomach. No, it's not great. It's not great. But, you know, am I just gonna eat a plain turkey sandwich from Subway for the rest of my life with nothing on it? No, I'm not gonna do that either. So it's kind of every once in.

[Pat McAfee]

A while you need a little za.

[Tone Diggs]

You need some Z. Ah, okay. At 10:30am exactly or at 11:00pm, you know, when you know, eating it, hey, guess what? Eating this and then piggy backing it with a 45 ounce coffee the next morning, you might have some. You might run into some issues. Listen, everybody on this earth has a cross to bear. That's my cross to bear. You know, it's just something I got to deal with. It's something I'm gonna do so I don't ever think, hey, you need to be a better friend. Me decide hiding what's going in my stomach. I. I live with that. And I'm doing just fine.

[Pat McAfee]

This is from yesterday, obviously. And you did make it right is what we're being.

[Tone Diggs]

I did make it. It was. It was a photo finish, but I did make it.

[Pat McAfee]

How come you didn't slide across the ring? D Butt wanted you to. Maybe way in.

[Tone Diggs]

I considered it. I had a pair of nice Lululemon slacks on. I love those. I wear those all the time. If my stomach would have hit the. The ring, I would have. I. I mean, I would have. Have blown out the backside of my pants big time. And I don't really, you know, doing that's one thing. I don't really need to see a bunch of people on TV seeing me explosively my pants. So that's why I decided not to dive into the ring. I'll consider it next time. I will. I'll consider doing it next time.

[Pat McAfee]

Well said. I don't mean to laugh in your face. No, it's a. I'm laughing with you here.

[Tone Diggs]

I've been dealing with with this since I was 16, but it's great.

[Pat McAfee]

The thing that's the greatest about it is it does happen a lot on the show.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

People don't even know, obviously outside the show. Think about how many times this potentially happens to Ty and how he feels this way. But we'll watch what Ty's eating for breakfast and we'll all go, well, seems like there's about a nuke on deck.

[Boston Conner]

It's coming.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I did appreciate. I. I got like some real messages from people that are like, somebody's got to be the adult and tell Ty guy that he needs to lock in here. This is not how it's supposed to go. You guys need a dietitian at the Thunderdome. You need somebody to come in there and talk about nutrition.

[Jet Passan]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

At the time it's like, oh, I'm sure Ty will listen. Okay. Would you like to. Would you like to talk to your.

[Jet Passan]

PowerPoint deck and show everybody how they should eat? How Ty should eat?

[Pat McAfee]

This guy's an adult. He's got kids. Okay. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

We're in the business of telling other adult males, you know, how they should live their life.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaking of tone, we need you to start taking care of yourself.

[AJ Hawk]

If I choose to, I will.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, we have some breaking news out of the NFL. Before we turn to some breaking news from the mlb. Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens have reached an agreement on a two year, $30 million extension that includes 25 million fully guaranteed over the next two seasons per Todd France of A1 Athletes First. It is the largest deal in NFL history for a running back over 30 years old. Okay. However you qualify it for being a big deal. Sweet running back position. Back, back. And Derrick Henry, remember he had that magical run with the Titans where he led them to the playoffs. They're actually the team that kind of launched the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty because they had the lead. And then Chiefs come back and win. Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill get paid in Tennessee. Massive turnover happens. He goes to Baltimore. We all assume, what a perfect fit, what a perfect match for a team and a culture. And here we are a year later after a successful run. And that is the case. Remember at the beginning of season, Harbaugh said, we're not running a 30 year old Derrick Henry 20 times a game like that is not how we're going to win. And as the game season went on, it was like, yeah, we are actually going to feed this guy. He's a special athlete and he takes care of himself. He's committed to the profession and what a perfect fit over there in Baltimore. Congrats to Derrick Henry, King Henry, and also Baltimore AJ he's one of those.

[Jet Passan]

Guys that's like the scariest type of guys to play against because obviously the guy's a physical freak. He was born genetically like, he's unbelievable. But then he has absolutely like maximized every single ounce of what that is.

[Ty Schmidt]

When you.

[Jet Passan]

You hear about people that play with them, like his nutrition, his work ethic, everything he's doing. Yeah. Well, well deserved. And running back position, he is a big part of a reason of why I think the running back position has gotten some. Some good shine over the last three, four or five years.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. In the running back position. All the way back, seemingly. Go ahead, con man.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, I think he was the one only. Only running back with, you know, 1500 yards over the last five seasons to have multiple of them and he's got like four of them. But this was what Jimmy Seafood John Minidopoulos was talking about. The. No, no, it was extension that was coming.

[Pat McAfee]

That's not his name.

[Jet Passan]

What's the name?

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, it is. No, John Minopoulos.

[AJ Hawk]

They extended with the Ravens yesterday.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they. They. The Ravens and Edgar Po.

[Boston Conner]

Edgar Allen and Poe.

[Pat McAfee]

Poe. No, Edgar Poe. The bird, the basket. Yeah, we knew that. Yeah, congrats to Jimmy's. And Edgar. The Raven. Yeah, I think they just call him Edgar Poe. I think they dropped the Allen.

[Boston Conner]

Oh, see, I thought Edgar got hurt and then Allen and Poe were the two replaced.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, remember they broke his leg.

[Pat McAfee]

The one.

[Boston Conner]

That one had his broken.

[Tone Diggs]

Do you remember that?

[Pat McAfee]

Dancing too hard.

[Boston Conner]

I forget how kinda.

[Tone Diggs]

I think so. I think his knee blew.

[AJ Hawk]

I think his name is just Poe.

[Pat McAfee]

Just Poe. Okay, so Edgar.

[AJ Hawk]

No, there was. Sorry, there's three. Three of them. There was Edgar Allan and Poe.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, and Edgar. Yeah, after broke the leg.

[Tone Diggs]

Y. Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Which I don't like.

[Tone Diggs]

That's just. That's the business.

[Pat McAfee]

Allan had a bad attitude. He's always squawking.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, they all do.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And then po. Now, you know, A.J. that's kind of the.

[Jet Passan]

Did Alan. I thought Alan or Poe may have, you know, the old. Was it.

[Pat McAfee]

Who.

[Jet Passan]

Who was the old ice skater that blasted somebody in the knee with the.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, Jeff Galuly.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, Galuly Harden.

[AJ Hawk]

If you remember, in 1990, Paul Walter Hazard started the franchise. All three of them birthed from eggs on the football field. That's not a lie.

[Pat McAfee]

I do remember that. Well, how else would Ravens. Yeah, let's pivot away from the NFL Works. Tony. Congrats to Derrick Henry and Poe. Signing back with Jimmy Seafood. Free crab cakes for that bird. That's probably a great move. Huge. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who has more information from the baseball world than anybody else we've ever spoke to. He's a senior MLB insider at ESPN and in my eyes, the voice of a generation for an entire sport, ladies and gentlemen. He talks about baseball for a living. We try to limit that, but he's always great at it. Jet passes. How you doing?

[Hembo]

Gentlemen, I have a question for you. This is like a sincere baseball guy trying to understand football. Derek Henry is ridiculously good at his job. He touches the ball three to four times as often as wide receivers. Why is Jamar chase making making $40 million a year and Derrick Henry's guaranteed 12 and a half?

[Pat McAfee]

So there's always a stigma about the running backs that any play they can get hurt because there's a lot of contact right now. Granted, wide receivers have that opportunity as well. Wide receivers also normally bigger chunks whenever they're getting the rock. Especially if you're electrifying less electrifying wide receivers than they think running backs can be. Derek Henry, an anomaly at the position, but that is just kind of how the running back position has been viewed. And I'll tell you what, the running backs were pissed about it two years ago.

[Hembo]

They should be.

[Pat McAfee]

They were two years ago.

[Hembo]

There's almost like they have every right to be.

[Pat McAfee]

They almost created a union. It was like they almost created a union, almost did like a holdout, like legit. This was a real thing two years ago. Now Saquon signs a massive deal. Derrick Henry just signs a massive deal. I think they're coming back around. But to your point, the running backs were pissed about it just like two years ago.

[Hembo]

They are. I'm sorry, but they do not provide half the value of elite wide receivers. It just seems like a clear market inefficiency in football.

[Pat McAfee]

That's good journalism right there by you. And now supply, demand, all that shit will get put into place and I'm sure teams will have a reason. Nonetheless, we're happy for Derek Henry. We agree. Probably deserves much more money in our eyes. If we were paying him, we would do that. Let's talk about somebody or somebody's that deserve something and potentially have the possibility to do it. Big news out of the MLB yesterday. Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are now allowed to be voted into the hall of Fame. I assume that all the super baseball purist nerds and Journalists who are the ones that making all these decisions will hold all these things against Pete Rose in Shoeless Joe Jackson, even though they're available to go into the hall of Fame. Or how do you expect this to go? And what is the narrative now that Pete Rose has passed versus maybe when Pete Rose was still alive, about him potentially getting into the hall of Fame?

[Hembo]

Jet Pat, this is an incredibly complicated issue. And let me start off just with what the process is going to look like if you don't make it into the hall of Fame after your career as a player. You go to what's called the ERA Committee, and it's a group of 16 people comprised of former executives, hall of Famers, as well as a few journalists, and they essentially get to decide on a group of players. This past year, for example, Dave Parker and Dick Allen, two guys who have been overlooked by the writers, ended up getting voted in by the ERA Committee. With the case of Pete Rose, though, especially, it is just so complicated because you have all of these different elements of his legacy bumping into each other. As a player. Pete Rose is unequivocally a Hall of Famer. 4,256 hits, the most in Major League Baseball history. 20 plus seasons of just incredible baseball. He was, you know, an otherworldly baseball player. He also broke the cardinal sin of baseball, which is do not gamble on games in which you are involved. Did so as a player. And a manager as well, was accused of statutory rape of a girl who in a sworn statement said she was 14 or 15 at the time when she had sex with Pete Rose. His retort to that was, I thought she was 16. The interesting thing, though, is going to be Major League Baseball and the hall of Fame has a character clause. You know, you look at the players who are voted into the hall of Fame, and it tends to be just based on numbers. But one of the elements that people who are voting are supposed to consider is the character of the person involved. And because it is such a small group of people, Pat, who are voting for this, all it takes is five nos. You have to get 75% to get in through the ERA committee. All it takes is five people who think that, you know, what Pete Rose's moral objectionability was should keep him out of the hall of Fame. And, you know, he's never gotten the chance to get voted in. This is going to be his first chance in December 2027 when the ERA committee meets next.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so obviously, all those things that were being held against him for a long time Are notable and make a lot of sense. But whenever you talk about artist art, that's kind of like the conversation, right? Because whenever it comes to the sport itself, it's like Pete Rose's Hembo sent over. And Hembo is not for Pete Rose going in. I actually asked you about that. I'm like, hey, do all you baseball purists people feel the same way that Hembo feels? Which is like. Like Pete Rose doesn't belong in the hall of Fame. Nor does Shoeless Joe Jackson. We'll get to Shoeless Joe Jackson here in a second because interesting story in 1919 about the potential Mafia. What it was like, what the rules were and everything like that. And a man who was actually illiterate, I believe is what we learned into there or leaned about. But like the stats for Pete Rose as a baseball player, like insane, right? I mean, all time leader in hits, obviously. Games played, played, appearances and at bats. Three World Series titles. I think he was only on two losing teams in like 21 years or something like that. His teams are 500 games over. 500. Whenever he was playing, the success rate that he had in the playoffs versus the regular season was higher. When you talk about seventh inning or later, you're talking about a guy who performed better than anybody at the plate. It's like in the clutch time he played his best ball, he won a lot. But he obviously added some ammo in the picture. People that were against him on a regular basis. I think a lot of people that are fans of the sport are like, hey, the best hitter of all time deserves to go into the hall of Fame. And I think that what people say is you can't tell the story of baseball without Pete Rose. That is kind of always the angle. So maybe that'll get settled. Go ahead. Let's go to Shoeless Joe Jackson now, shall we? That's the Black Sox scandal, I do believe of 1919 he was a part of it where a from my understanding this is just how was recanted to me. And we tried to do some research over like the last 12 hours or whatever since this has all been announced. Mafia gets a hold of team. Pretty much sounds like, I think it was like seven guys on the team or something like that. It wasn't just Shoeless Joe Jackson. There was a lot of eight. Eight guys on the team. Nine guys on the field, right?

[Dion Dawkins]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

So Mafia gets a hold of team and they end up whatever. Colluding and throwing the World Series is how the story is portrayed in a trial. They were acquitted Right. Of this all, yes. But everybody from the ERA says no. They all admitted to it anyways. It was the trial was different than what actually was the case. So this is gambling on the game as well, but at a much broader stage in a negative light. Pete Rose allegedly was only betting on his teams to win and perform well. The Black Sox scandal has always been brought up because they were working against their team to lose this entire thing.

[AJ Hawk]

Thing.

[Pat McAfee]

1919 is a long time ago. It's a much different era. What the Mafia was potentially able to do and say and what narrative is real, what narrative is not from them is tough in 2025, not only for this story, but most stories. How does this end up working out, you think, for Shoeless Joe Jackson and what is kind of the overall thoughts on him and the hall of Fame conversation in general?

[Hembo]

Unlike Pete Rose, Pat, Shoeless Joe Jackson actually was on the hall of Fame ballot. He was on twice. And the first time in the 1930s, I believe he got two out of 226 votes. And the second time he was on in 1940s, he got two out of 200 some odd votes. So, you know, the writers back then had the opportunity to induct Shoeless Joe Jackson and said, absolutely not. But you know, all of this, to me it's really interesting because it's so much of a modern story and what is acceptable now or what we have grown to accept as society and you know, mainly like gambling, is an enormous part of sports in 2025, it has been not just accepted, but embraced commodified. Sports are going out and making money hand over fist through gambling companies and Major League Baseball. For the longest time, tried to stay away from gambling, didn't move to Las Vegas because of ties to gambling.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa.

[Hembo]

And Joe Jackson may have a chance because societal norms have changed and attitudes toward gambling have changed. Is it as grievous a sin as it once was? Unquestionably, it's not perceived to be that way, but it's going to be super interesting when this committee gets together. I would love to be a fly on the wall in that room, Pat, just to hear what the arguments are from the people who are in that room. Because the ERA committee tends to be comprised of people who are older, you know, retired general managers and presidents of baseball operations, hall of Famers who are in their 60s and 70s and grew up in the game hearing there's one thing thing in baseball you cannot do, and that is gamble on the game. And writers who are either retired or toward the end of their careers. So you have a group of people who may look at what the societal norms are like right now and reject them like it is a secret vote and a secret ballot as well. So we will never know who voted for what. I don't think it is a fate accompli that Pete Rose is going to be elected to the hall of fame in December 2027 for induction in summer 2028. I don't think that's a guarantee at all. It's just a possibility now. And when Fawn Rose, Pete's daughter, went and met with Rob Manfred in December, that's all that they were looking for. I think they just wanted the chance. And Pete himself had said in the past, you know, when I'm six feet under, I don't give a damn if I get voted into the hall of Fame or not. But clearly it's an important thing to his family and it's part of what Rob Manford heard during his meeting with Flan Rose.

[Pat McAfee]

Give him an opportunity to see if they want to vote him in. Sounds like potentially not first time, but maybe in the future. We will be off Thursday, Friday due to the PGA Championship. We will see you back here on ESPN on overreaction Monday. Have the greatest four days of your life. Okay. Let's continue to talk baseball here as we still continue continue digitally here. Which is it sounds like the big hope for ESPN to make the jump to in the future. We've been doing it for a while now. You know, open door policy on if you have any questions. So whatever you think about gambling too. Yeah, all these things. I mean there is a lot of things. Obviously we're just a bunch of doofuses. We get it. But as we continue here digitally on this glorious Wednesday. What did you say? Fait accompli.

[Hembo]

Accompli.

[Pat McAfee]

Which means like a foregone conclusion or a certainty that he goes in.

[Hembo]

Patrick.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Contact.

[Hembo]

Look at your ball knowledge here. Love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Context clues. Brother never had a book, so I've had to always kind of pick up what the hell smart people are saying around me by what else is going on. But it sounds like the Rose family obviously wouldn't mind seeing their father get honored for how good he could hit a baseball and play baseball. And then Shoeless Joe Jackson. That's got to be what great grandkids now.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, they might not even know.

[Pat McAfee]

Great, great 1919. You talk about all the things societal norms now when it comes to gambling and everything like that. How about what we know now about what the Mafia did and how they treated people and like the things they would say to people.

[AJ Hawk]

Allegedly built this country.

[Pat McAfee]

In some cases. And I think rock and roll was another big part of it. I don't think the Mafia utilized rock and roll as much maybe, but I do know rock and roll was part of building it. But it's like the documentaries we've watched now on how the Mafia used to operate and how they used to be able to go about getting things accomplished. It's like if that team was told, like, which very easily could have happened in Chicago, I mean, from everything that we've learned, like, hey, you either do this or like. And even given an example of something, you would hope that there would at least be a little bit of a conversation, at least a little bit of empathy for what potentially was happening at the time. But I'm not a voter. Never will be. Thank God. Good luck to all of them. Let's talk about the current state of baseball, shall we? Connor has a question for you. Jet.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, Jet. Five walk offs yesterday, three walk off homers. Esau Parides, Hope I'm saying that right, Tatis Jr. And then one I saw you tweeting about Javi Baez for the Tigers. Trey Sweeney tied it up in extras and then Baez hit his second three run homer, I believe, of the game to win. How big of a surprise is this Tigers team? Not just Baez, but are you surprised by the Tigers being, you know, the number one team in baseball when it comes to record? What is the Javi Baez story and are they peaking too early or is this one of those things where, hey, the Tigers can keep this rolling for the entire season?

[Hembo]

Connor, I was talking with somebody yesterday about just how good the Tigers can be and I picked them to win the American League Central this year. So I'm not surprised that they are a good team team. I'm surprised that they're scoring enough runs because I was looking at them as like a team that was going to be led by its pitching and going to be led by AJ Hinch, who manages the bullpen just about as well as anyone. But getting production from Javier Baez is something that absolutely nobody expected. Like, let's remember when Javi Baez came up, he was an absolute wonder kid, like the smoothest shortstop you're ever going to see. Like, he made tags look cool. That's how smooth he was out there. But you know, he always had swing and miss issues, got out of shape, signed for six years and 140 million with the Tigers and had provided Negative value. It was at the point where there were questions like how long is it going to be until Javier Baez gets cut by the Tigers? And they just, you know, sunk cost at this point. Let's get rid of him and use the roster spot. But he got into good shape this offseason and good enough where he's playing some center field now after being an infielder his entire career. And the resurgence of the bat is really the shocking thing. Even, you know, when he was a little bit overweight and not looking quite as good physically, defensively he was still pretty good. But he just has this propensity to swing and miss a lot and he does not have good plate discipline. And if you're not making contact, you're not going to be able to hit the ball well. Like it's pretty simple thing. Now that was just a bad pitch, just left slider left over right in the middle of the plate. But he took advantage of it and that's what he's doing. He is hitting mistakes this season and I think you're going to see a lot more pitchers just start working outside with him because he, he is the guy who will swing at a pitch two feet off the plate. But Javier Baez is beloved by Cubs fans for what he did in the 2016 championship and you know, Tigers fans are learning to love him a little bit after a couple of really rough years.

[Pat McAfee]

Three walk off homers, Ding dongs last night. Obviously that's great for the sport. We have been enjoying it more than I think any year in the past. Jet, you will be proud of us. We talk about baseball more and on a more regular basis basis than ever. And that's because I think, I think what's happened in New York is potentially historic. Go ahead, Ty.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, Jet, do you think, I mean, is there any way Aaron Judge can sustain the pace he's on? I mean, I don't think anyone thinks he's actually going to hit.400, but when you look at the Yankees, obviously Paul Goldschmidt's been very good. He's got the second highest batting average in the ale and Trent Grisham has been one of the, you know, best surprises. I think not only the Yankees fans, but just the MLB in general. But with the, I mean it's kind of they, they go as Judge goes, the Yankees do. Like, do you think he can sustain the type of pace that he's been on for the next several months or how do you see that kind of working out for the Yankees?

[Hembo]

This is the Best version of Aaron Judge that we have ever seen. Which is saying something for a guy who hit 62 home runs back in 2022 and who had 58 home runs last year and who has the opportunity to win three MVPs in four seasons. His strikeout rate tie is down to under 21%. He's hitting.410 right now. That's not going to be sustainable. You know, his average on balls in play at this point is 81. Where as his career average on balls in play is a little bit closer to.350. So we're going to see the batting average go down. I don't think Aaron Judge is a candidate to hit.400 and maybe not even be a guy who's going to hit.350. But the power is still there despite having more patience and despite making more contact. And very rarely do you see a guy who maintains the kind of juice that he's got while lowering his strikeout rate. We've seen it with Pete Alonso this year too. It's the mark of a good hitter. And Aaron Judge is not just a good hitter. He is the best hitter in baseball right now. There is nothing a close second and he is putting up some of the best seasons we've seen all time. Now this year, if Aaron judge finishes with 11 plus wins above replacement, he's going to be the third player in baseball history to do that three times in four years. The other two are Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds. Pretty good company to be keeping.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'd say. And he's bombing balls too. It's not just like he's hitting for average whenever Aaron, just when he's connecting on these things because he's such a Goliath. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

He doesn't hit any cheapies.

[Pat McAfee]

The balls are gone. That has to be explosive baseball for the Yankees fans to be watching. Obviously good in that market. There's another market that's gigantic with a superstar. Go ahead, Todd.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, Jet Shohei, another guy who over his last 10, he's been on an absolute tear. He's really starting to come into form. We've talked about this with you a couple of times in terms of him potentially pitching, obviously Roki Sasaki, the guy they signed this year out of Japan, he's going on the IL for a little bit and we, we continually see the videos of Shohei, you know, throwing off the bump and doing some bullpen sessions. Do you think with the, the Dodgers starting pitching, starting to get banged up a little bit that there's a chance we're going to see Shohei pitch, maybe sometime sooner than later.

[Hembo]

Nope. I don't think the Dodgers give a damn about right now. And it's a weird thing to hear, right? Like, you know, a bunch of guys going down with injuries. Don't they want to bring him? No, they don't. Because the Dodgers care about one thing, and that's October. That's when they want Shohei Ohtani healthy. And what they're trying not to do is allow any concerns right now to get in the way of their ultimate goal, which takes discipline, in which very few teams, guys, if any, have the luxury that the Dodgers do. But part of this luxury is also that they are really good at developing stars, starting pitchers, and they have, like, a room full of guys, whether it's in the bullpen or down at aaa, who can be capable fill ins. I. I understand that there is a temptation to want Shohei Otani to come back right now because we've seen him on the mound. He's awesome on the mound. Like, he's going to be really good when he comes back. But at the end of the day, they are more concerned with having the best rotation that they can for the postseason and not trying to rush guys back at all because they figured, hey, we're going to be a playoff team. We're going to win enough games during the regular season to make the postseason, and then the postseason, you can see what the Death Star really looks like.

[Tone Diggs]

Do you think there. So there's no concern either with how good the NL west has been to start the year. I mean, they have, you know, four of the best teams in baseball already.

[Hembo]

Totally agree. No concern whatsoever. And look, maybe that's misguided, maybe that's misplaced, but in spite of all of the injuries that they've had so far, the Dodgers are still at the top of the National League West.

[Pat McAfee]

Shohei, he's got a little bit more sauce this year, a little bit more comfortable in who he is. Is that accurate or no?

[Hembo]

I don't think we're ever going to really see who Shohei Ohtani is publicly.

[Pat McAfee]

Right here, right here, right here. Did we see it right here? Whatever. He answered the bat flip to that guy. Yeah, I. You know what?

[Hembo]

I think that's a. That's a fair way to put it. And here's Lourdes Goreal looking down, chucking it up, doing the airplane. I. I think that Shohei Ohtani did that for his teammates. And, you know, you spend enough time in a clubhouse, you win enough with people, and and maybe you do become a little bit more like them. Maybe you do, you know, let it eat a little bit, to use a baseball term. But no, I don't think we're going to be seeing Shohei Otani doing cartwheels around the bases anytime soon.

[Pat McAfee]

I bet he could do them though. Oh, yeah.

[Hembo]

Did you see that backflip happened?

[Pat McAfee]

Did you see that? New Japan wrestler. Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I bet you. I bet you all the way up. All the way up the.

[Hembo]

The ramp.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Unbelievable. How many hits his head off the top rope there. He was probably.

[Hembo]

It was close.

[Pat McAfee]

Very. Yeah. I mean that is impressive. That's half an inch away from being catastrophic there. I wonder if as he hits his head while he's doing that backhands where he's like, oh, no, I completely ruined this. And it's watch, watch. So he's a big boy too. Yeah, he's thick right there. He hits his head off the top rope, it's like, damn, that's so close. And now once he's chasing you, you're in trouble. You better get out of the way. I'm gonna keep doing his bang kick to the head. That's unbelievable. Yeah, this guy needs to be obviously new Japan. Gigantic wrestling promotion and historic promotion has created a lot of magical wrestling moments and also historic wrestlers as a whole whole especially getting a chance to go over to Japan. The way they hold professional wrestling in such high regard is such a beautiful thing. But if we can get one of those at Mania call, man, we get one of those. Yeah, if we get one of those backhand spring pay kick thing festival long ramp.

[Boston Conner]

Someone showed Joe long rants in a football stadium.

[Pat McAfee]

That's at a football stadium. What you say? Joe Hendry?

[Boston Conner]

I said someone show that to Joe Hendry now.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Joe needs to get working on that. Joe ne's been working on that. I wonder when his head hits that top top rope though, if there's a little bit of a. Oh, I broke my neck. And then. And then he slepts through and it's like, all right, we got magic still. We got. Because that would scare the out of me just as somebody who has potentially slipped on the top. I mean, his head hits the top rope there.

[Boston Conner]

Maybe it was part of it.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean that's an unstoppable move though, you know, because once he gets rolling, especially if you're in his sights, you got no shit.

[Hembo]

I don't know. That seems very stoppable. Can't you just stand there and kick him when he's like like kick one of his arms.

[Pat McAfee]

What? You ever see those things that. What they hypnotize you with?

[Tone Diggs]

You know the little pendant deal?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You. You're telling me you don't see that guy hit all this? You don't get kind of. Whoa. Kind of like, no, I stepped to.

[Hembo]

The side and kick his arm out.

[Pat McAfee]

You've never been in this.

[Boston Conner]

Only thing stopping that guy's a gun.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

A big gun.

[Pat McAfee]

That's probably right. And it's going to be a multi shooting, or it's gonna have to be. You need a few of those things because he's gonna. What they don't show there is if you stepped it aside. Like you're implying. So simple. Jet. Jeez Louise. He'd actually boom on his hands.

[Tone Diggs]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

He can redirect that, turn that thing. We only got to see it go straight because that guy was right in his sight. If he was doing the alligator walk or the zigzag walk that we learned whenever the DC sniper was kind of out and about as a child, I think he would have been able to adapt that thing back and forth if he needed to. You didn't let him showcase his trap. Bang. And he gets your shin to the top of the head, you're done. And also his back hurts. You know, I don't know. He's selling his back.

[Tone Diggs]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

So he just got kicked in his back missile.

[Tone Diggs]

I mean, you got to time it right. Neither. You know, hopefully you can get his. His legs in the amount of time where you can hit a sharpshooter or a Boston Crab. Yeah, exactly. That's really all you're looking for.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You gotta. You gotta be like Shohei. Yeah. Golden arms. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not just one glove. You need both of those. That's right.

[Tone Diggs]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

We could try. We should give that a go. Bo need you to do the back handspring party thing. Need you to need springboard back handspring party, Bill.

[Boston Conner]

Catch him if he does it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Bill, you're the target at the end of this thing. We'll get it figured out. We'll get it worked out. All right. AJ has a question for you about pitching. So sh's not going be to pitch is what you just said.

[Hembo]

He's not going to pitch right now.

[Dion Dawkins]

He will pitch this year.

[Hembo]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, whoa.

[Jet Passan]

What? Like playoffs or when?

[Hembo]

This is purely a guess, but I think in order to get him built back up, because let's remember, guys coming back from reconstructive elbow surgery, they will usually go down to the minor leagues to do you know four or five rehab starts just to. To get the feel of the mound back in games that don't count. Shohei can't do that. So it's going to be like right out there for him. And my guess, in order to get him built up to start deep into the playoffs, it seems like August is probably the right time. But the Dodgers haven't said anything to this point.

[Pat McAfee]

So this is.

[Hembo]

This is not. This is not news. This is informed speculation.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I like that out of you though, because I think there for a while was like, we don't think so. There's no reason season to do it now there's a chance we're going to see sh back on the bump. Go and get it. Sh. Go on. Sh be 101, brother. We can't. I can't wait to watch. Go ahead, A.J. sorry, buddy.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, Jet stayed on the Dodgers. I believe what Clayton Kershaw is coming back Saturday and, you know, first 18th season. What do you. What do you expect from him and what do you think the Dodgers expect from him?

[Hembo]

Heighten Kershaw's consistency. AJ Is just remarkable. Like, the guy has legitimately never had a bad season season. And to play at that, like, hall of Fame caliber level, even when his stuff isn't what it used to be, even when, you know, he. He mainly throws two pitches, his fastball and a slider. And there are times when the separation of velocity is so small that it's tough to distinguish those two from each other. And yet it still works for him. And it works for him because he has always thrown the ball over the plate, never walks guys, manages to get strikeouts still by getting swept, swings and misses in the zone and having this exceptional command. And like, I'll be honest, I was on the, I was on the field with him after the Dodgers won the World Series last year. And, you know, I've known Clayton since I met him when he was 19 and was in Double A. And I went down to, went down to Alabama where he was playing a game and I wanted to write a story about what's it like to be like this prospect who can't miss. Like, what are the pressure? What's the expectation? How do you.

[Pat McAfee]

You.

[Hembo]

How do you rear a prospect properly? And all he's done his entire career is prove that, like, he was ready for the moment. And so this was like the perfect cap. Last year during the World Series, I was like, dude, you're done, right? He's like, no, I think I want to come back. And I Give him a lot of credit. Like, the man's body hurts. Like, he has had back issues, he has had arm issues, and yet he understands. Clayton's a smart guy. He understands when you're an athlete, you get one chance. Get one chance to have a career, and once it's done, like, you can never match that. I mean, I'm talking to two people right now who understand that as well as anyone. Like, there is nothing like being out there on the field. And I think he wants to keep that going as long as he can. His kids are still young, and he wants them to have those moments and those opportunities to see what it's like when their dad looks like a superhero.

[Pat McAfee]

I understand that, and I respect that. And I like the fact that, you know, you don't know how many more you got. So if you're getting an opportunity to go again, why not take it? You know, there's other people who have the idea of, I'm gonna go out on top and always think like people think and remember me at my absolute best. I don't mind that either. I'm a guy that retired after a Pro bowl, you know, And I think a lot of people just assume for, like, the next five, six years, hey, you want to. Teams would reach out. Hey, we. We remember you from five years ago. Being able to do your job, you think you still got it. It's like, in my mind, I know I probably don't, but the. The last memory is good. I think then some guys just. We're going to. The wheels fall off. And I respect both ideas in both theories because people have committed their entire lives to these sports. It's not easy just to fucking turn the lights off, take from your career.

[Hembo]

What you want from. And Clayton Kershaw was a guy who didn't grow up with a whole lot, you know, single mom, was raised in Highland park, which is very affluent area of Dallas. He did not have a whole lot of money, but Marianne Kershaw wanted to send him to great schools. And so that's where they landed and went to. Went to high school with Matt Stafford. And both of them have had pretty incredible careers.

[Pat McAfee]

Pretty good ball throwers. Yeah, pretty good ball throwers there. Okay, speaking of good ball throwers, scores, let's talk about one that's representing city of Pittsburgh. And also that's our great country. Go ahead, Tom.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, more importantly, our great country. Paul Skeens is going to play for Team usa. He's finally going to get a chance to pitch for a team that has a Chance to win. How happy do you think he is doing this? And I just want to throw a fact out there. I don't know if you guys have known this yet.

[Pat McAfee]

Nice.

[AJ Hawk]

19 straight games where the Pirates have scored four or less runs. That's never been done. I don't think. So are we happy for Paul? How happy do you think he is for this opportunity?

[Hembo]

He's elated because Paul Skeens might be the most actually patriotic ballplayer that I've ever met. Like, you know, there are people who wear the flag and wave it, but Paul Skeens actually lived it like he was going to be a fighter pilot. He went to the Air Force Academy. Like, like that man loves America and the opportunity to represent the United States, I think is a big deal for him. But it's a bigger deal for the World Baseball Classic because you guys remember, like I came on the show last time the World Baseball Classic was around and it was awesome. Like that. That tournament was phenomenal from start to finish. But the thing that Team USA in particular has always been missing is top end starting pitchers. It's held at the time of year when guys are still trying to ramp up and where guys, you know, like, arm care is a really hard thing and you don't want to, you know, you don't want to get hurt in what essentially is an exhibition game. But the truth is, to Paul Skeens, these are going to be the most competitive games as long as he's a Pittsburgh Pirate, that he plays before he reaches free agents.

[Pat McAfee]

What's happening? So. So we got him for what, another six years or something in Pittsburgh. And then like, what is the reality? What is the reality of this situation? LSU is calling him America's ace. Obviously he had great success in LSU down to bayou. He found love and a championship. And I think he figured out, you know, what he could possibly be as a baseball player. He comes here to Indianapolis. This place filled up for him every single time he was on the mound. We went and watched him the night before. Big night out in Pittsburgh. There's 22 people in the stands, you know, like. And I know Paul Skeens has to be a professional and he has to go out and do his job. It's not about who's all there, who's not all there, but it feels like he's a competitor, feels like he's a guy who understands who he is. And I think even as a guy who, you know, loves to represent Pittsburgh, I do. I am very proud of the fact that I'M from there. It's like we watched that stadium that night and it was like, this dude deserves better than this. This dude deserves better. Deserves to be in massive. What is the reality, future, realistic future of Paul Skeens in his baseball career here? Like, the Pirates can trade him at any time. Is that accurate? And yes.

[Hembo]

Let's, let's, let's start here. Pat it's not just Paul Skeens who deserves better. It's Pittsburgh Pirates fans concur, deserve better, and they deserve a system that allows teams to keep ground great players. Right now, in some cases, guys will stay with small market teams. We've seen that Bobby Witt Jr. Signed for 11 years and 280, you know, $288 million with the Kansas City Royals. We saw Joe Maurer stick around in Minnesota. Like, there are plenty of instances where guys will stay with smaller market teams. But what incentive does Paul Skeens have to extend with the Pirates when the Pirates haven't shown the willingness from either Bob Nodding all the way down or the ability to bring in guys who are going to make this team better? The Pirates haven't shown that they are worthy of a Paul Skeens extension at this point. And so what it comes down to is The Pirates, including 2025, have five years of club control before he reaches free agency. If they believe that they have absolutely no chance of signing him, then they should trade him. And you can make the argument that they should trade him. Now, I'm not going to because I think the Pirates, with some of the players that they have coming up, they would have a chance to win if they were to go out and actually bring in some offensive players and sign some free agents. But, but the truth is like, there, there are teams that already are going to ask about Paul SK at the trade deadline this year. And I don't anticipate that he's going to be moved, but there's a real argument to be made that the best thing for the Pittsburgh Pirates would be to move Paul schemes when he has his most value every year. And it's a, it's like, it's a depressing reality.

[AJ Hawk]

We literally have the next Paul SK Too.

[Hembo]

So, I mean, I told you about Bubba. Bubba's good, man. Like, Bubba can play. And Bubba Chandler is going to be up at some point soon. And when he is in, if Jared Jones gets healthy, you have a rotation of Paul schemes, Jared Jones, Bubba Chandler, Mitch, Keller Barcos coming.

[Dion Dawkins]

Like, shut up.

[Pat McAfee]

Legit.

[Hembo]

I mean, it's, it's really, it's a really, really good potential rotation. One that should be able to contend. There's just not enough help there from the top.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, hopefully he wins in the World Baseball Classic for the United States of America.

[Boston Conner]

Amen.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw him where he was wearing the United States of America headband. Hair. Hair thing. When he was being asked about the manager being fired and he was like, we're 1240, dude. So it sucks that it's him. We liked him, but we. Somebody was gonna get fired. We kind of understand that. Everything going on around Pirates. Not great.

[Tone Diggs]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Even a security out there.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah. That kid didn't die though. That was good.

[AJ Hawk]

That was good.

[Pat McAfee]

Said he put some ice on it.

[AJ Hawk]

On that fight.

[Pat McAfee]

So. Yeah. Def. Not kind of. I mean, yeah.

[Boston Conner]

I don't know if the Pirates will win that fight.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It sounds like that fight is not over. It feels like that fight's going to continue. Jet, we appreciate the hell out of you for joining us. Go baseball. Go baseball.

[Hembo]

Go baseball. Exactly. You know what, Pat? It's been a good season.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor just laughed. Connor just laughed about your go base baseball there. I don't know why he did that.

[Boston Conner]

No, it's not at that.

[Pat McAfee]

It wasn't that for sure. It wasn't that. I don't like that at all.

[Hembo]

Why do you have to be a dude?

[Boston Conner]

I knew, I knew like why. This is why I said it was me. Because I don't wanna. I don't want to light this fire chat. I'm gonna be honest. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Everything's good. It's Wednesday. We got a four day weekend coming up. Celtics playing tonight. He's got his fur coat on.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. Come on, just let me live.

[Pat McAfee]

Let him live. Good for baseball. Good for baseball. Baseball right now though.

[Jet Passan]

Y.

[Hembo]

Go baseball.

[Pat McAfee]

Go you. Ladies and gentlemen, are you an insider pundit analyst? What is your title?

[Tone Diggs]

All the above.

[Hembo]

Whatever you want to call me. Patrick.

[Pat McAfee]

Author, the Baseball Man. Yeah. New York Times bestseller, Ladies and gentlemen, Jet Pass. Yeah. If you want tools that stand the test of time without testing your wallet, Harbor Freight is the place for you. Expert engineers design and rigorously test Harbor Freight tools to bring you top quality. Whether your next project is big or small, Harbor Freight carries a wide selection. From hand tools to power tools to automotive tools and welding equipment. And with prices lower than other top brands, but with the same top quality, you're getting more for your money at Harbor Freight. There are over 1,500 Harbor Freight stores in the U.S. so come see for yourself. Whatever you do, do it for less at Harbor Freight. Why'd you laugh in the guy's face?

[Boston Conner]

Let's run it back.

[Tone Diggs]

It was the way he said it.

[Boston Conner]

Let's run it back right now. He's been hanging out with Tim Kirchho a little too much. Run it back right now. Play it back.

[Pat McAfee]

It's awful now. We all heard it. Yeah, we all heard it. We heard it. Yeah. That.

[Boston Conner]

It was a little bit of his Elmo impression creeping in.

[Pat McAfee]

He does have a good Elmo impression. He does.

[Boston Conner]

Does good.

[Pat McAfee]

But I think he was excited greatest. Maybe he was excited for baseball.

[Boston Conner]

He is. Which is understandable because it as a baseball hater, I am even very much into it.

[Pat McAfee]

Three walk offs last night. Nice.

[Boston Conner]

Five.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, I thought three walk off homers, five walk offs in total.

[Boston Conner]

I thought it was three. Two.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so there's like a single or something like that.

[Tone Diggs]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Two, three walk off dingers.

[Tone Diggs]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Good for baseball. I mean, I'm not watching the entire game to get to that point. Moment.

[Jet Passan]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll watch the clip and I'll say baseball. You know, like I watch the Javi Jav Baez. Yep. That sound when that thing. Awesome. Oh, yeah. And then that place going crazy. The best. I didn't know you guys are filling up for the Tigers. It looked like there was a lot of people there. Yeah. People are so excited. The Tigers are good at baseball again. And like Jet nailed it. Javi Baez legitimately was one of the most hated Detroit athletes I've ever seen in my lifetime because they. They gave him all that money. He gave piss poor effort. He was kind of a shitbird and now he's playing great baseball. Everyone's apologizing. Everyone loves him. And he hits the walk off. It's awesome. When Detroit sports are good, we just need the Red Wings to kind of get on board here because we're all making the playoffs right now. Except for them. We have a couple updates from today's program. There's also some schedules and games being leaked as we round up this glorious Wednesday AQ Shipley told me that he blames the photographer or the cheeseburgers. He said he's in a cheeseburger era when his big gut was sticking out.

[Boston Conner]

Understandable.

[Pat McAfee]

Also could have been the photographer, though. A.J. that is something. Trying to get him that like that photographer takes that picture straight on. Probably not as devastating slips to the side there. We can go ahead and get this thing.

[Jet Passan]

Eddie Lacey got screwed by this too. Remember when Eddie Lacey got screwed by this?

[Boston Conner]

Oh, yeah, definitely. Definitely.

[AJ Hawk]

That was the Eagle.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Definitely blame the Photographer. Yeah, you should always AQ's exact text is that fucking pick. Come on. I blame the photographer or the cheeseburger. Okay, okay, so shout out to him. We have some games that have been leaked while we've been live. Remember schedule releases this evening. This is the social media team, the digital team. Olympics around the NFL people are starting to hint at what their videos are going to be. Pittsburgh Steelers have some of the boys acting out there. Laurel Highlands, I think.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it looks like they're acting out there. You know, Steelers, packers, those franchises don't expect much from, from them tonight. They're going to do their best, they're going to try hard. But you know, this is, we're about getting wins out here during the football season. Not so much in May for the schedule release that, that's for the Chargers, Panthers teams, teams like that, you know, that's how that goes.

[Pat McAfee]

So Ari Miro has a bunch of tweets that he has put out. Shout out to Ari at my SportSuperTake NFL Schedule Week, the full Week 1 Primetime Schedule. Thursday night is obviously Cowboys at Eagles. That's banner night in Philadelphia. The last banner night Philadelphia had. Philadelphia Eagles fans are booing them at halftime.

[Tone Diggs]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Remember that. You remember that just a few years back we. That could be anything that could happen there. And then Chiefs at Chargers Friday night in Brazil. Once again, that's been kind of alluded to numerous times. That will also be streaming live on YouTube. Yeah, YouTube TV, but also on YouTube. That number is going to be fucking insane if it is streaming just on YouTube like we are and we have exclusive.

[Jet Passan]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. Yeah, it is going to be. I think it's on YouTube TV and on YouTube. But the YouTube number is going to be fucking absurd just because the way that they can position that obviously on their website is just basically anybody on Google is potentially going to be watching that. The concurrent is going to going to be record breaking. And congrats to the NFL holding another record which is going to be in front of everybody's eyes. And shout out to the Chiefs being a part of opening night or opening Friday night yet again. Ravens at Bills on Sunday Night Football. Love that game, love everything about that. And then Vikings at Bears on Monday Night Football. A lot of hope and expectation for the Bears to be good this year. Let's hope that that is the case. And we have a banger of prime time time throughout week one there.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, another one that was tweeted about that I believe was from Shefter was Chiefs Cowboys on Thanksgiving as well. That is another that has been locked in.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Chiefs, Cowboys on Thanksgiving and then Chiefs are on Christmas against the Broncos. So they got opening Friday night. They're on Thanksgiving, they're on Christmas. You do some Math. Christmas is 25th. That's a Thursday. What's New Year's Day?

[Boston Conner]

The Thursday, right? Yeah, the first.

[Pat McAfee]

So how many days is that apart there? Seven days. I assume they're gonna be on New Year's Day as well. I assume the Chiefs are doing the gamut here.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

And they want, they want Christmas was the conversation last year. Like hey, we want to be the Christmas Day game.

[Pat McAfee]

And good news, they got it.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, they did.

[Pat McAfee]

They, they. They got Christmas coming right down the pipe. They're the perfect color for it.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And Chief sp Kingdom is obviously the perfect home for. Cuz they're always going to show up and be big. Perfect for it. It's like I'm excited for that. Here's some other games that have already been announced across the schedule, across the board. And obviously we will learn more as we go. A lot of international games this year that's only going to continue to go up if you listen to Roger Goodell talk. Going to try to travel to more places. Go ahead, Tone.

[AJ Hawk]

Believe it's. I mean not officially. Officially confirmed, but 99% Steelers will be going to the Jets Week 1. So you can almost guarantee now that Aaron's gonna sign just for spite Week one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Well, maybe. Or just despite the schedule makers, he doesn't.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, he could take this both ways here. True. You think it's Steelers jets week. Oh, isn't that cute? Justin Fields against the Steelers. Why me against the Jets. Okay. That's cute. Okay. Yeah. He might sound weak too.

[Tone Diggs]

I think I'm busy that week.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a chance.

[Boston Conner]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Aj you would know more than us. There's a chance it because they scheduled that he goes. What am I a puppet? What is this? Yeah, in there.

[Jet Passan]

Possible. Yeah. Yeah. He signs like two hours after that game ends.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

There's a possibility.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

They need me.

[Pat McAfee]

That'd be awesome. I saw a video with him and Mike Stud saw that too. Living good. Looks like he's happy. That's good for hitting jump hook.

[Jet Passan]

You know he loves that jump hook three. He's doing that. He tries it a few times in this video.

[Pat McAfee]

This video is from a few months ago. Yeah, it's older. It's from Mike does documentary that he released. Ah.

[Jet Passan]

Nice court.

[Tone Diggs]

It's like a tbt.

[Pat McAfee]

Got a good golf. Got a good golf Setup, too. I saw Aaron with the hands, you know, with the hands coming out of the pocket. No. Yeah. It was a little chipper. It was just a little chipper figure. Mike Stud, former college baseball player, turned into rapper, pop musician and philosophizer, I believe. Believe. Oh, yeah, right. I believe he's a philosophizer. Has pocket.

[Boston Conner]

Good merch.

[Pat McAfee]

Did he make one? Did he make one of these?

[Jet Passan]

He makes one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Mike Stud, putting himself over smart. Right in Aaron's face.

[AJ Hawk]

Good luck stopping it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Walk it off. Three stripes. Looks like he's in great shape. Looks like he's living good. Yeah, that's from months ago. He saw him at the derby a couple weeks ago. Looked good.

[Ty Schmidt]

Looks like.

[Pat McAfee]

Like he was happy and in great shape. Excited to see what he does this year. OTAs are about to start happening. Obviously. The schedule's being released tonight. It's a great time to be alive. The PGA Championship starts tomorrow. It's going to be good.

[Boston Conner]

Come on.

[Jet Passan]

People are to. People's opinion of the course are torn.

[Pat McAfee]

Right.

[Jet Passan]

Either way, either they really love it or they don't love it as much.

[Pat McAfee]

Isn't the PGA Championship always the one? Or is that the US Open?

[Tone Diggs]

US Open.

[Pat McAfee]

US Open is the one that always makes really hard.

[AJ Hawk]

They're not happy because. Because Quail Hollow is a PGA Tour event this year it's not, but normally it is a. They play a PGA Tour event at Quail Hollow. So a lot of people think that a major shouldn't be played at a course where there's always an event.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Got it. Because too many people know the course.

[AJ Hawk]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

I appreciate that. We got a little heads up from old Keith Mitchell in his chest hair. Sloppy course. Greens dry, though. They got something under the greens. Keep the greens dry.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, it can suck. It can suck the water out of the greens.

[Pat McAfee]

Right?

[Jet Passan]

Make it faster.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So the greens fast fairway everywhere else, very slow. So the high ball hitters, the high. The guys who hit it high in fars are going to be the ones that have an advantage. Toad actually looked up a stat. He sent it into the group. There's 11 guys that have like a high ball hitting apex 180 meters mile.

[AJ Hawk]

Plus and then 110. 110ft. Apex, I believe, was what it was.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he sent it into the group. Hopefully you're able to pull it up. Yeah. Tone, I can't read this because of how small it all is. And I don't think we'll be able to. Bryson DeChambeau is at the Top of hitting the ball high and far. Min Woo Lee, who's a dog, obviously, Roy McElroy is in the group. Gary Woodland, Wyndham Clark, David Puig, Michael Thornberry, Brooksy. That's not his name. You were nowhere near it.

[Boston Conner]

It was close.

[Pat McAfee]

You were nowhere near it.

[Boston Conner]

Got the first four right.

[Pat McAfee]

How do they know this about Bryson and Brooks, though? We haven't seen him golf.

[AJ Hawk]

It's a good question.

[Pat McAfee]

I. I know Bryson hits a high ball because I saw him hit it over his house. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he does.

[Tone Diggs]

Yep. I don't think David Puig's gonna win. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that.

[Boston Conner]

Yes.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm kind of with you on that one.

[Tone Diggs]

Okay.

[Boston Conner]

All right.

[Tone Diggs]

That's. That's my kind of big pick to click for the weekend. But if you saw this and you're thinking, you know what? Yeah, it's time I'm gonna lay a little money on David Puig. Save. Save those shekels for, you know, a different event.

[AJ Hawk]

But this list could cement, you know, Bryson, Rory Brooks, if you wanted.

[Tone Diggs]

Erasmus.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Ludwig Kaiser over big 20, 25. Yeah. How about this? I tweeted that Sidney Crosby should play for America, you know. Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Uhhuh. Everybody was really rational with that response.

[Tone Diggs]

Canadians love it.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, I figured that.

[Pat McAfee]

Americans, too.

[Jet Passan]

First, he's basically American now. I mean, how long he's looking for?

[Pat McAfee]

20 years. But he's doing Sidney Crosby at this World Games. What is this called, Nick? The World Championships. Boom. World Games. And look, you're a child. Goalie the other day was Latvia guy punching his bucket off. They're up 72 now. It's a triple deke shot. How you doing? Up over the goalie's shoulder. These guys that are playing in this game had no idea Sidney Crosby was going to be popping into this thing. They had no clue. Who's playing for Canada. Sidney Crosby's playing. No way. What's that going to be like? Well, kid, see you. That's what it's like. You'll see that goalie's gonna have nightmares of that for the rest. I mean, the puck was just going, so I didn't know where I was. What is this guy? He's fighting guys, doing the whole thing. And I tweeted, I still think he should be playing for America, but nonetheless, Sid's doing. Sid.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

The reaction has been hilarious. You fucking idiot. How'd this moron get his own show? Well, we fucking built it, bitch. How about that? That's how you get it. And with that being said, he's lived in Pittsburgh longer than he lived in Canada. This guy's a yinzer. And I know he's the greatest international player in the history of hockey. I think his record with the Canadian team is like the best record in the history of any sport. Playing for their international. Nashville, too. I think he only has like two losses or something. Two or three losses. I forget what it was. It was like, what was the number? Like 28 and 2 or something like that. Yeah, it's something absurd like that. I mean, he's one to two Olympics. He's won two gold medals. So he's. He's captain Canada.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he's got a yinzer.

[Pat McAfee]

So obviously he does not somehow. Because remember at big night, I was hoping there'd be a little bit of a.

[AJ Hawk]

He was faking.

[Pat McAfee]

But I mentioned to him about how he plays for America next time and yeah, he reacted in the same exact way as any rational human being was. Don't think that's possible, but people on the Internet read that. Surprised. This piece of. It's like, what? All right, dude.

[Boston Conner]

Irrational.

[Jet Passan]

Thinks it'll coach. He ever coach? Because he is so into hockey. I don't know what his life will be like when he's not playing hockey.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a good question. He said he's gonna play for a couple more years at Big Night Out.

[Boston Conner]

GM maybe.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I'd see him more as a executive there.

[Pat McAfee]

Like Mario L. Yeah, like ownership.

[Boston Conner]

Eiserman.

[Pat McAfee]

What a player. Dude. He was so. He's so good.

[Boston Conner]

He's healthy.

[Pat McAfee]

He played so good this year. So good. It's like SK's playing so good.

[Boston Conner]

It's all right. They'll be back.

[Pat McAfee]

Pens at some point. Dubus. Dubus is going to get it done. Cold call.

[AJ Hawk]

Don't say what you're going to say.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, what I'm going to say, Dubus.

[AJ Hawk]

Is don't add an M to it.

[Tone Diggs]

Don't pump duplicates.

[Pat McAfee]

Piss.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, get. Get it done with the toilet.

[AJ Hawk]

Maybe that's what he said to me after the show. He goes, oh, I should have added an M to it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Instead of flipping the B to a P. I thought that's where you were headed. That's why it was good. Curveball, dude. Piss.

[Boston Conner]

I don't even know what n you guys are talking about. M M. Dumb Mubis.

[Pat McAfee]

What? All right. I can't believe us idiots got a show. That's a good call.

[AJ Hawk]

I love throwing tennis balls.

[Pat McAfee]

I know. They're the best. For real. Do you hard it Was a little. It was a little. That's a tough one.

[Boston Conner]

There's nothing like a tennis ball with a baseball bat.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

Bonus Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

Couldn't see it on camera one. Trash can die. We saw it. Get tempted to throw something away in that trash can. Those trash cans on a regular basis. Thunder Buckets is dead.

[Boston Conner]

No, it's not.

[Pat McAfee]

Once the.

[Boston Conner]

Once the ring. Once the ring leaves, we'll play again.

[Pat McAfee]

Thunder Buckets is a dead game here. We knew it had a chance.

[Boston Conner]

Once the ring's gone, it will play again.

[Pat McAfee]

Guys, shoulders are a little sore. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Imagine. No, no.

[Jet Passan]

It's understandable.

[AJ Hawk]

Bonus ball. A deep bicep contusion.

[Pat McAfee]

So this is the thing. Thing. You just got to acknowledge what you are and then play it. It's like people who have a slice who just say, I know I'm going to hit it straight. No, you're not. Okay, look left. It'll come back. No, I'm going to hit it straight then. If I do that. Okay, well, if you hit it straight, then the next time we aim straight down the middle. This time I'm going to have to aim. I'm just going to aim past the hoop.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, aim higher.

[Pat McAfee]

Aim high. I don't. You aim high.

[Boston Conner]

Shoot higher.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if I aim high.

[Boston Conner]

Shoot higher. Watch.

[Pat McAfee]

You'll see.

[Ty Schmidt]

Shoot.

[Boston Conner]

Just shoot it a little higher. There it is. I mean that. I mean, that much high. You know, it was going. You went under before. You went way.

[Tone Diggs]

Not that much high.

[Pat McAfee]

You went under before.

[Boston Conner]

I didn't know you had that in the basket.

[Pat McAfee]

Listen, massive giveaway happening right now.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Okay. I have a Topps card. It is awesome. This is a card that. I'm not a big card guy. Not a big card. Was never really given a football card, Just to be clear. Never really afforded the opportunity to have a football card. Felt weird to me that it was never offered, but it really never was. I think there's a few of them out there. I'm not really a big card collector guy, but there are a few in the office that are card collectors. This one looks sweet. This is one that my wife has already purchased. I would like to have to keep one. These are only available, I think, for the next 48 hours or so. This is available. We have a QR code here. Boom. That'll take it right there. Right now. If you take a screenshot of your purchase of a five pack of this particular card, post it on X and use hashtag tops McAfee, you could enter For a random drawing that we'll do for 20 winners. And I'll sign 20 of them.

[Tone Diggs]

Hell, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And then we'll send them out.

[Boston Conner]

Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

I think that that means something in the corner card world. I don't really understand the card gimmick as much, but I do appreciate the fact that that one's sweet. And we bought 40 of them. Here, we'll sign 20 of them. 20 random winners. All you got to do Is hashtag tops McAfee and post a picture of your purchase of a five pack. Maybe we'll give away 30. This goes in. Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Cracking packs.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. 20 of them is all you get. Hashtag 20 tops McAfee. We appreciate you all so much. And shout out to Tops for doing this. It looks cool.

[Boston Conner]

That's sick.

[Jet Passan]

Who took the picture? I mean, what a great picture.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Boston Conner]

Randy Johnson.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Could have been Ken Griff or Ken Griffey Jr. Huh.

[Tone Diggs]

Could have been Ty her street.

[Jet Passan]

I don't know if he has Drew Carey.

[Boston Conner]

Are we just naming people now?

[Jet Passan]

No, he does that. He's a. He's a big photographer guy. Seattle.

[Pat McAfee]

Could have been Tim McAfee.

[Boston Conner]

Tim Mc.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, he wasn't there, but he's got a good camera.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

Good timing.

[Pat McAfee]

Thanks to Tops for making that shout out. And shout to you if you purchase it. All you do is post a picture of a five pack, and you could potentially be one of 20 winners of an autographed card. Hashtag tops McAfee. All right, you guys have a great weekend. Watch PGA Championship. We will be. We'll be enjoying time with our families. We'll be enjoying the life of a sports fan. And we'll be back for overreaction Monday. Going crazy. Will the Celtics still be in it or will it be over? How about in the West? Will there be a clearer picture on who is going to be taking on the Pacers in the NBA finals? I don't want to get ahead of myself. I don't need to do that. I've just been saying since January, they're the best team in the NBA. Now they're in the eastern conference finals. They're making me look really good. I appreciate them doing that. Looks like I know ball. AJ it.

[Jet Passan]

You do. You do know ball.

[Pat McAfee]

People would also know ball if they were able to watch the Pacers. Y like, I think that is. They weren't really on TV ever.

[Jet Passan]

NBA is doing a good job of keeping them away from us.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it has been like a shell game somehow.

[Boston Conner]

Jam.

[Pat McAfee]

They're Playing the number one seed in the east. Yeah, but how can we. We got to put it on Turner. Do True tv.

[AJ Hawk]

Actually, ECF is only on Roku.

[Pat McAfee]

Not getting into it. Not getting into it. A lot of people have Roku.

[AJ Hawk]

I agree.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

Really?

[AJ Hawk]

I have Roku.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you really?

[AJ Hawk]

My TV came with it.

[Pat McAfee]

It's an app on there, right? Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I never used it.

[Jet Passan]

But it was a thing you used to plug into the side of the tv.

[Tone Diggs]

That's right.

[Jet Passan]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

Hundreds of millions. Hundreds of millions. Those are fires.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I've heard.

[Tone Diggs]

No, Roku has the six as well.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't think so.

[Boston Conner]

I've heard Roku.

[Jet Passan]

Oh, yeah.

[Boston Conner]

They do nothing.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Boston Conner]

I've heard Roku is just like a nothing burger. Like.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I've seen it. It has the R N. That could.

[Jet Passan]

Be said that some circles do say that. Con man.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. The circles I. I have frequented say, like, Roku.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Boston Conner]

What is on Roku?

[Tone Diggs]

Well, no, I like. I know a lot of people have the Roku sticks. I have never met a person who actually like. You get the Roku stick and then you. You watch Netflix. You watch stuff you don't. I've never.

[Jet Passan]

That's what I thought it was. That's honestly all I think thought it was.

[Tone Diggs]

Downloading the Roku app and kind of.

[Pat McAfee]

We're learning of Roku here over the last couple days.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah. It's good product.

[Jet Passan]

I have the sticks, but I use it to watch YouTube and Netflix on the TV. That you don't. Isn't a normal. Like, I did that back in the day before the tv had it on there.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. And I actually haven't heard. It's a good product. I've just.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, you haven't.

[Boston Conner]

No, I've just heard.

[Tone Diggs]

I was just kind of saying that I, I.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't know much.

[Tone Diggs]

No, I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't know enough about it. Hundreds of millions.

[Tone Diggs]

Makes sense.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. Sticks for aj. You're the man. Have a great weekend with all the kids.

[Jet Passan]

You too.

[Pat McAfee]

Happy birthday.

[Jet Passan]

Oh, yeah. His birthday was yesterday.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

Appreciate it. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

He doesn't look like your kid at all.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Your kids all look like your kids. Yeah. Like they are.

[Jet Passan]

I'm too close. I'm too close to it.

[Boston Conner]

I don't know. Did you know Axel's middle names after Chris Jericho? I had no idea.

[Pat McAfee]

Axel Jericho.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

For Y2J, you guys were.

[Jet Passan]

Well, you know, I mean, if Chris Jericho is in the room, then yes, it is. Absolutely. For Chris Jericho.

[Pat McAfee]

Chris Jericho's not in the room currently. Let's say he's listening, though. What. What would it be for then?

[Jet Passan]

I mean, just because it's sweet. It's from Biblical, all that. And we wanted to make him AJ junior. I mean, he's not AJ Junior, but his initials are the same.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but wouldn't that have to be Aaron James? Because that's what you are to be a junior.

[Jet Passan]

Like officially a junior. But there's no rules when it comes to names. You can do whatever the hell you want.

[Pat McAfee]

Deuce. We should call him Deuce. We ever think about calling Axel Deuce? Axel. Good name. I don't know why you want to get.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, I think the. The same name thing has. Isn't that the first and the seconds.

[Pat McAfee]

Versus juniors or the first.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, but like Clay.

[Jet Passan]

So Clay Matthews, he is. He wasn't the firstborn son, but he is his dad. He is like the third.

[Tone Diggs]

The third.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah. Clay Matthews.

[Pat McAfee]

Congrats, Clay, by the way, signing with Boston.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Believe he's going to be doing some more media stuff. Like to see that. Oh, yeah, kind of presidential promo at the draft.

[Boston Conner]

That was awesome right there. That was hilarious.

[Pat McAfee]

Hot. A letter. Yeah. The Bear place went ape.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, they did.

[Pat McAfee]

Green Bay was a great host. Will Pittsburgh be the same? I think so, yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

They already got the countdown clock up.

[Pat McAfee]

So where are they putting it at? Do you know?

[AJ Hawk]

The countdown clock is at the point. I know they're doing a huge project to renovate that this. This year, so I don't know if that's where it's at. I don't know if there's enough room there.

[Boston Conner]

But not counting down to the season already looking ahead.

[Pat McAfee]

They'Re hosting an event for the NFL.

[Jet Passan]

Kind of weird.

[Boston Conner]

They're hosting an event for the NFL for nine Sundays.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they. They have a countdown to the season.

[Boston Conner]

Figure they.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody's brain already knows what it is.

[Boston Conner]

I haven't heard about that.

[Pat McAfee]

They get in our car, DV tells them we got this many Sundays until Pittsburgh Steeler Sunday. That's what they say. I hope the 2026 NFL Draft is still being finalized. The main portion of the event gun is expected to incorporate elements of Pittsburgh's North Shore and Point State park, as well as acresher Stadium with a variety of venues to be utilized and activated within close proximity. All right, if they do go down there at a point where the stadium is kind of across the river there, that would be pretty nice. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, there's a lot of. There's a lot of views, a lot of areas that you can do it.

[Pat McAfee]

In a lot of huge. Like, I think people are gonna look like you're packed in there. Yeah. Yeah. Getting in and out of there is going to be fun. I'm a little worried about.

[Boston Conner]

Need a boat.

[Jet Passan]

It's pretty compact. Everything's pretty compact down there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I'm a little worried about day two, day three, people still having the excitement to do all this to get there, you know. Why is it in the south side?

[AJ Hawk]

There's no room over here.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on. They should just shut down the south side. They should just shut that down.

[Tone Diggs]

Should do the Coach Dick's pool.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We're talking about.

[Boston Conner]

That's an idea Paradise Dick.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, exactly. Think of could fill that up.

[Boston Conner]

I know it's a big pool filled up right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Of course. Coach Diggs is in here. How's the weather where you guys are?

[Jet Passan]

It's been raining a ton, but it's. If it's not raining, it's very humid.

[Pat McAfee]

It was coming D this morning. Shite coming also.

[AJ Hawk]

This is going to be shocker.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach.

[AJ Hawk]

Coach is at the Elbow Room right now.

[Pat McAfee]

So he's down Florida. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

He texted me. He said, hey, watching you guys on TV's elbow room.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe they do it. Can't. It's in Pittsburgh. Never mind. All right, everybody have a great four day weekend. We can't thank you enough. Aj Great work this week. Really crushed it. Thank you. Boys in the back. Really good work. Really good work, boys. Boys. The graphic design boys. Really good. Really good.

[Jet Passan]

Can't wait to see you do that. Oh, you know there's multiple back flips, Debone.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we needed the back handspring party. Like Ninja Max is the name.

[Tone Diggs]

Okay.

[Jet Passan]

Debone could do it. I could see Debone getting in there and doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think so. Debone said he plans on getting in good shape by football season. Isn't that right?

[Tone Diggs]

We just have to hang like a box of like McCrispy strips or something at the end and he'll just.

[Pat McAfee]

Probably would. Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

And he wouldn't kick those. He ain't knocking those over.

[Pat McAfee]

No girl Scout cookies showed up in her office out of nowhere. Nobody brought brought them and somehow nobody brought them.

[Boston Conner]

That's always.

[Pat McAfee]

They were the worst. The worst collection.

[Jet Passan]

The coconut ones or whatever.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo.

[Boston Conner]

Not the worst.

[Tone Diggs]

They're good.

[Boston Conner]

That's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys are asinine. This is.

[Boston Conner]

This might be a generation.

[Jet Passan]

Get the chocolate peanut butter one.

[Pat McAfee]

That is.

[Boston Conner]

We agree. Yes. But that doesn't mean the worst ones.

[Jet Passan]

Coconut one should be burned.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Conner]

Throw them away way you Agree with aj who only eats so it doesn't help my car.

[Jet Passan]

I'm not a coconut guy. I'm not a coconut guy.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a samos. I believe the.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, you don't like Samoans. That's interesting.

[Pat McAfee]

Watch your mouth right now. That's weird. It's called samosas, whatever the hell they're called. I'm talking about Girl Scout cookies right now. That one not my favorite. I understand people that do like it, but if you don't like coconut, you're not gonna like that one. Okay? That is just.

[Boston Conner]

I don't like coconut.

[Pat McAfee]

But I like the Samoans anyways. It was that one. Okay. So obviously. Yeah. No way I'm doing that. And then there was the plain. Like, probably the one that you like the most. It's just a plain ass.

[Boston Conner]

That one sucks.

[AJ Hawk]

Vanilla and cream.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Whatever it is. Just plain looking ass. It's okay.

[Jet Passan]

It's okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you love that one.

[AJ Hawk]

Like the white Oreos.

[Pat McAfee]

And then there was three Thin Mints. Fire. Three Thin Mints. Fire. Yeah, they were the orig. I believe Simon's probably one of the original. I appreciate their service for this entire thing, but that was the worst collection of Girl Scout cookie purchases I've ever seen. They just showed up here this morning. Nobody brought them in. Okay. I don't know how that happens. I have no idea how that happened.

[Boston Conner]

You started burying them too early. That's how it happened.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We should have complimented a little bit. Yeah. Because I went over there and I go, these are all ass. The.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

This is the worst collection.

[Jet Passan]

Whoever brought them instantly just quieted the kept typing.

[Pat McAfee]

Wherever they were made actually stood up. Also, Zeto brought those in.

[Hembo]

Awesome fog.

[AJ Hawk]

No, that's when he forgot to. He forgot to write something down.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Well, the falk was made out a couple moments this morning that were really good. The whole office got to hear him and his takes and his opinions. I saw Zito bring those Girl Scout cookies in. Zito's. Like, I found him in the front room. So somebody had a him in the front room. Oh. And he sits down.

[Boston Conner]

Wait, I know where everything is. In the front.

[Pat McAfee]

I am the front room, basically, is what he said. And then there was another one that had a graphic of some sort he forgot to write. Sure. Wrote it down. It was such a good idea. M. You're trying. Good work this week. M, Boy. M. Worst Girl Scout cookie collection we've ever had.

[Boston Conner]

It's not true.

[Pat McAfee]

But no questions asked.

[Boston Conner]

There are. I'm asking questions question right now.

[Pat McAfee]

So you think if that collection. Because there's so many good options. I think of Girl Scout Cookies. Yeah. Was placed against any other collection.

[Boston Conner]

That's not what I'm saying.

[Pat McAfee]

I said it's a collection.

[Boston Conner]

You said it's the worst.

[Pat McAfee]

Potentially.

[Boston Conner]

No, because I think you put them in Samoan's top four.

[Pat McAfee]

Both of them.

[Boston Conner]

And then you got the tag along that one and then. And then you have a floating scale other box that just slides in there sometimes.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to the Girl Scout Cookies. Where's they gonna make so much money on it? Where's it all go?

[Tone Diggs]

Good question.

[Boston Conner]

Probably to that cool bunker.

[Pat McAfee]

Heard about that bunker. And then Joey Bose is like what's up? Dion Dawkins. Good to talk to you. Love football. They call you Chanel. Haha. I'm trying to never see that in my bunker. And then they just roll right into a bunker conversation.

[Tone Diggs]

Sounds like that is exactly how it went.

[Pat McAfee]

So is everybody. So the bunker talk is we're going down. Yeah, we're going down.

[Jet Passan]

You got YouTube?

[Pat McAfee]

There's some.

[Jet Passan]

There's some guys that have great YouTube channels that are burying bunkers in people's yards that are awesome.

[Boston Conner]

I mean Zuckerberg has the 240 million dollar bunker. Hawaii.

[Pat McAfee]

What was that show? What was that show?

[Boston Conner]

Paradise.

[Pat McAfee]

Paradise, Very good. Is that the one that was all done? No sire Silo or something?

[Boston Conner]

No, Silo is all down. Yeah. And that show took a turn at the end of the last season. But paradise is about a bunker built inside a mountain in the Rockies. Not really a bunker. It's like the size of Toledo is what they said.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, tan. Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

Which is what you ever toured that Greenbrier one. You guys ever toured the Greenbrier? Big old bronker that was secret and then all of a sudden got found out and now it gives tours.

[Pat McAfee]

Greenbrier, West Virginia.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, they have a huge bunker.

[Pat McAfee]

They there never been. The only thing I remember from Greenbrier is one time the casino and they maybe put a. A fake pair a pair of dress pants on. That's true. Size 46. Had to put these dress pants on cuz I had shorts on. Not allowed in the casino with shorts. So they pulled a pair of suit pants out from the back. Here's 48, still fit.

[AJ Hawk]

And we had a great time on Jay Z's bus.

[Boston Conner]

Yeah, we did great times on jay Z's bus.

[AJ Hawk]

J.D. john Daly.

[Boston Conner]

Good gosh. I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think so.

[Pat McAfee]

Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Okay. Great work, boys. Team on me. Have a great weekend. Team on three. One, two, three. Team, goodbye.