← The Ryen Russillo Podcast
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Julius Randle’s Playoff Turnaround. Plus, Mike Breen on Where Brunson Ranks as a Knick, His Favorite Broadcasting Moments, and Being the Voice of the NBA.
01:20:16
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- [00:00]
Ryan Marcillo
You're listening to the Ryan Marcillo podcast presented by FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook has made it easier than ever to get in on the action during an NBA playoff game, even after tip off. Just look for the live SGP tab on the FanDuel Sportsbook app and build your bet slip. Then sit back, relax and track the outcome of your parlay right in the app. And if you don't already have it, download the FanDuel app today to make every moment more the ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem? Call 100 GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com on today's episode of the podcast, one of the boldest trades in NBA history. No, we're not talking about Dallas. We're talking about Julius Randall coming into Minnesota, Cat going out, and Minnesota is back in the Western Conference finals. Take a look at that. And we've got Mike Breen, the voice of the NBA Finals for ABC and espn. We'll do some basketball stuff, but I also want to talk about his career and his background. And just look, he's the man. He's awesome at it. And we've got life advice. Wargon's awesome at that too. This episode is brought to you by the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card this is an ad for the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog, earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases made with it. Say it with me, the Active Cash Credit Card from Wells Fargo. Learn more@wells fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply. Minnesota is back in the Western Conference Finals. Our guy, John Krasinski from the Athletic who's been on, does a great job covering the NBA and the Timber Wolves. He noted that this is the first time for a Minnesota pro team to be in the final four of their playoffs of the major sports in back to back years since the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. If you remember, the North Stars left for Dallas in 93. If you played the video game, you remember how how challenging that was at the time. And if you were wondering if 8081 was Dino Cicarelli's first season, it was. So we talked about the closing stages of an NBA regular season. I brought it up with Bill. I've. I've touched on it a little bit as we were gearing up for the playoffs, kind of being like, all right, you know, what do we have, right? As an aside, obviously, with the Steph injury and him not being able to get back out there, I, I still don't know that I would have picked Golden State throughout all of this. And just another aside, it's just. I don't know how many more step playoff runs we're even going to get. So just awful. Like, it sucks that we didn't get to see him at least out there competing, but I still probably would have picked Minnesota in this series. So those closing stages that I've referenced a lot, as I try to, as I'm sure you do, if you're really into it and be like, all right, who's been better since the All Star break? What have you looked like your last 20 games? Is this stuff real? Is it fake? What are they doing as far as their schedule? Are they playing all tanking teams? Is it a nice close in the east against 80% of the teams that don't want to win games for those last weird stretches of the regular season? Can I be fooled by some of this stuff? Well, I'll get to Minnesota here in a second because we know that they closed at 17:4. They closed on the 17:4 run, and there's some really good stats in there as well. Well, The Clippers are 18 and five with a number two net rating in the NBA behind only OKC. And when you have that kind of run for a team that feels like it's kind of stuck in neutral for months, you wonder, is there anything specific that's different about this team? Or is the same group of seven to eight guys just playing that much better? Or again, is it the schedule, stupid? But with the Clippers, there was a real definitive thing that you could point to. Kawhi Leonard was back, and he was back, playing much bigger minutes now. He returned February 2, but March was more minutes and far more production. It looked real, that Cleveland regular season win for the Clippers, you're like, all right, and guess what? Out in the first round, the Pacers finished 17 and 7. But most, I think the most important part of it, this is a defense last year for Indiana that finished 18th after the All Star break. So it wasn't just bad all year, it was bad in the second half where you can try to see if something's getting a little bit better, because that is the example that we saw with the Pacers this year. They were eighth on defense after the All Star break. They had a really nice record. The east was different because you had teams that felt like they didn't want to win. I don't know that Toronto wanted to win. And they just played too good a defense the second half of the season to lose as many games as they need to to move up in the lottery. Probably one of the most impressive things that I've seen from the Pacers, at least in these playoffs, is the fact that they would close out Cleveland at their place, get down big early, and you're thinking, is Cleveland going to finally like, get this right and be competitive in these games? And yes, that was a very competitive game. But for the Pacers to outlast them once again and on the road after being down big, I mean, that's. I don't know that it's scary stuff for the rest of the playoff field, but that, that shows you something. That shows you something where a lot of teams in that spot are like, look, we're still up commanding lead, They're a little banged up. We're good, we're in their heads. We'll just go back and get this one at home and let's not try hard tonight. And that is the opposite of what we saw from this Pacers group. So it feels like what we're seeing now is just a continuation of those really good moments in the regular season. Sometimes, sometimes you have the other side of it. Like, you know, Boston was 22 and 5 after the all Star break, but they've always been really good now throughout much of the stretch with this group. You know, the Tatum injury part of it. Look, I still think they were going to lose game four and still would have been down three one. And it's a nice emotional, you know, you can't count us out yet type of win from the Celtics last night at home against the Knicks. But I don't know, Jaylen Brown being the primary option on your offense and the absence of Tatum for two more high stakes playoff games, that's not something I would necessarily feel great about. You also have other seasons as I look at like the East 2018. Remember that young Sixers team everybody was really excited about? They were 24 and 24. They were 36 and 30. And then they closed the season on a 160 stretch. So they get to 52 wins, you're like, man, look out. The Sixers have figured this stuff out, 16 and oh was good. Like, you know what would have been really good is 12 and 4. 16 and oh is 16 and oh. But I think looking back and then their shortcomings in the playoffs, you wondered, did they close really strongly against a bunch of teams that were no longer competing? So let's get back to Minnesota. They were 17 and 17. They were 32 and 29. Randall comes back right around this part of the season, right at 32 and 29. I believe DiVincenzo had come back for two late games in February. So you're basically getting both the trade pieces back. There's also a number here with the playoffs that this team is in this absurd run with Randall back in the lineup where they're 30 and 6 in their last 36 games. But anyone watching Randall over the course of his career, or maybe even the early Randall games with Minnesota, we were like, what did Tim Conley do? I don't know that anybody's ever, like, after a losing streak, gone back to a locker room and said, don't worry, we get Julius Randle back soon. But that's exactly what has happened. And this is outrageous. Okay? You may have been the biggest Julius Randle fan. You did not expect this. You. You can't do a victory lap on this. Maybe Tim Conley can. But what he has been in these playoffs versus who he has been historically, it is two entirely different species. So he was 7 and 8 for his playoff record. Again, record's not always on a basketball player, maybe even less than it is on the quarterback. But his shooting splits in those series with New York. 41 and 28 overall, 34 and 24 overall. 30% overall from the floor, 33 from three in his last series with the Knicks. And then Minnesota trades Cat for this guy and DiVincenzo, who. I think people were more excited about the guy in the sidecar coming over in the trade than maybe driving the motorcycle. But as much as, um, my history with how I felt about Cat is long documented, and there's plenty of examples. Like, I don't think Priscilla's a cat guy or dog guy. I guess 29 years old, you've just made it to the Western Conference finals. It feels like against Denver, you have a nice frontline matchup to combat the best player in the world. Because if you can put Rudy on Aaron Gordon, granted, the non 45% from 3 Aaron Gordon, but I still think teams are like, it's okay, it's okay if you take those. We're not going to freak out about it. But you had Rudy being able to help off of that, hopefully shut off all the baseline Aaron Gordon stuff. And then Cat, who as long as his defensive assignment is right in front of him and it's not a swip switch and he's making a closeout drop decision or he's chasing somebody around a screen at the top like we've seen so many times in this Boston series. If the defensive assignment is right in front of him, Cat is physical enough. And again, he's not a great athlete, but I think he's athletic enough because it's not like Jokic is crossing you up and all these things. Again, no one ever stops Jokic. It's just, can you make it harder on him? Which is why the Clippers still have to be like, you know, we have the guy that actually makes it harder. And I think you've seen that in the carryover in some of the Yokich shooting games that he's had throughout the playoffs. So Minnesota, even if you didn't like Cat, you had that. And you also had one of the best shooting bigs in the league. A real stretch five. If you wanted to play that way, if you wanted to sit Rudy down defensively, maybe you're opening your. Or you certainly are opening it up yourself to some other things you're not going to like there on drives. But I mean, you want to talk about bold? I mean, this is. This is one of the boldest trades we've seen in recent history. Bold. And we understand the trade as opposed to bold. And what the fuck are you guys doing down in Dallas? I've said it a few times, like, if I don't like a player and the team that has that player trades that player, that's kind of all I need to know. Debate over. Certainly there are other cases where it doesn't mean that I'm right about a player because a team traded him. But if the Timberwolves are trading Cat after making to the Western Conference finals and I'm kind of on the fence about them in certain spots, then, like, what else do I need to tell anybody that's disagreeing with me? Granted, this is not as extreme or as obvious as the angel, the d' Angelo Russell trade that Minnesota had made, you know, earlier, where I'd watch those games and be like, they have to get this guy out of there. They have to get him away from Ant. And they did so pretty quickly. So, you know, when you look at the Randall part of it, and again, I'm being maybe Being a little like I'm overlooking the divincenzo part of it. It looks like he's finally starting to turn around on the shooting a little bit. The rebounding is always like, he's active, he's tough, he's going to defend, he competes a lot of good stuff. But it's, hey, man, you're going to make more threes to be the fully formed version of yourself and have everybody be really excited about grading this trade, what, nine, ten months after it happened. But yeah, back to the point with Randall. He's a completely different player in these playoffs by any metric. You don't even have to spend that much time looking. I think I know no one likes P R anymore. He's basically tripled the P R from where he was with the Knicks to who he's been now with the Timberwolves. And I think the idea always was, you know, because most teams would not have moved off of Cat. They could have despised Cat. And I don't think anybody necessarily hates him. I think it's just, you know, they had. They had seen enough, I think there'd be front officers and coaching staff like, ah, this guy again. All right, let's just run it back. If you're looking at this team and thinking about Ant and all the attention that he gets and last night was a great example. Like, Ant was really good as a playmaker last night because the shots weren't going to be there for him. And it was a really, I think another level of like selling out defensively against Edwards, that whoever was getting the ball off of that stuff had to be somebody that could create for himself late in those shot clock situations. Because Rudy is not somebody who's ever going to do that. Right. We understand that. Jaden McDaniels, who. I like his handle better now, the best I've ever felt about it throughout his career last year. He's a stand in the corner guy and he'll come middle a little bit more. But you're not running stuff necessarily like at the top. For him to probe with the dribble and then pull it back out. If he's dribbling, he's probably already decided what he thinks he's going to do. Conley is a total coin toss. If you get the kind of game from Conley that you got last night from him more often than not in the playoffs, it actually changes, I think, who Minnesota can be like, I'm starting to look at them as. You just don't see it enough from Conley. But damn, when he is hit, when he is hitting shots and he's active and he's driving baseline, he's kicking it back out to guys and collapsing the defense, you just don't see it enough from him. But when the Timberwolves have that version of Conley on a certain night, they're really tough. And look, as much as we all love Nas Reed, he's not a guy necessarily like with the ball, hey, get loose and find yourself a shot. Although that side to side thing he did left and right where he threw it up off the glass was probably one of the toughest shots I've seen in the entire playoffs this year. Randall, even if you don't like him, we know that his with the ball skills are pretty special for a guy his size. And as of right now, this thing is working out. You know, we grade trades when they first happen. And I actually think it's worse to complain about the grading of trades when they happen than actually doing the grading. Because it's like, are you aware of what we do here? So we're just going to grade shit and then we can grade it again. And then when it's all said and done, years later, we can go, hey, what do we actually think now that we have all of the data of what that trade is? So, you know, this is one of those rare trades where as New York City looks like it's about to get into its first Eastern conference finals in 25 years, that they won the trade. But the degree. The degree is the way I should say it of what we think this Randall final grade could be. Because I'm not even sure they thought they were going to get this kind of like, he's been unbelievable. It's funny because I was thinking about this as I close this thought.
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Mike Breen
When.
- [14:52]
Ryan Marcillo
Conley did this deal. All right, man, that seems rather disruptive, right? But here's Minnesota back in the Western Conference finals. So he. There's no, like, Randall could have a bad series, OKC wins, whatever. Now it's okay. Cause they got to where they needed to get to. They had to get as far as they got last year for us to give them a good grade on this trade. Because the dumbest part about the grading stuff, which again, I'm guilty of doing, is that Minnesota could be the exact same team. They could close 17 and 4. They could. If they had been better in the regular season, right? If they'd been good enough to be the 4 seed and lost in the second round to Oklahoma City, which is totally feasible, then it'd be like, oh, they didn't get as far as they did last year. Which is why the way we talk about some of these GM jobs instead of just absolutely celebrating something that I don't think many other teams would have doing if they didn't get out of the second round but had been better in the regular season. Had the higher seed lost to the Thunder, then some of us would be sitting here saying, well, they shouldn't have traded gap. FanDuel's turning your bets into bigger wins with a parlay profit boost. That's right. Build the same game, parlay or parlay, and you can boost your winnings by 30% with a profit boost. You pick the team's players, stats, all of it. FanDuel just adds a little fuel to the fire. Okay, so we're taking a look at game six, Denver hosting okc. So right now the number on this is OKC minus four and a half. Look, I think Oklahoma City going in was going to win the series. There have been moments where I've wondered, but now the last couple fourth quarters and closing those out have gone Oklahoma City's way. There's the clutch stuff that was brought up during the broadcast of game four and you kept thinking, does it mean because it sounds really good, right? Oklahoma City's only played in 24 clutch games this year. That is the least in the NBA. That means they are not comfortable and the team is younger and you're like, at some point that has to not be true, that they're just always with five minutes to go within five points going to suck. And that was the case clearly in games one and three. It's like, what's wrong with this team? But I just think when you're this good and every other number tells you that you're really good defensively, you're really good offensively. You have all these different options. Even if we've talked about about the SGA part of it where you know, the players around the league were like, I'm just going to trap sga. The other guys are going to have to shoot and it's not going to work out. You saw big grown up moments from Chet and Jalen Williams, specifically that Jalen Williams 3 at the very end of game 5. That makes you go, all right, the Thunder may have figured these things out. So playing a number right now doesn't feel great because very clearly Denver could win this by 10 at home, home court, the whole thing, heart of a champion, Jokic, best player in the world, all that kind of stuff I do think there's something, some value too in talking about like SGA is probably going to win MVP and you can go, hey, he have the better season. I hope no one that watches basketball watches these two guys and thinks for a moment that like SGA is actually the better player between Jokic and being at the combine too. And it comes up with other people that work in this world, work in the league over and over and over again being like, how is it like, like you have a vote. Did you vote for sga like you think it's I'm like, relax, relax. Anyway, let's get to the pick. So I'm going to go Denver plus the four and a half. I'm going to go Jokic, three or more made threes, but I'm gonna have Chet Holmgren in there with a little boost of 10 plus points. So a totally reachable number from Chet. The last one we gave you, the only one that missed, we had. We didn't want to lay the 10 points so we were right there. So we went OKC moneyline, but we went 15 points or more with Murray and Gor and Murray hit it. Gordon ended up at 13 points. So feel good about the process. Feel good about this process as well. Chad's got to be able to give you 10 jokic. 3 or more made threes is a little dicer than you'd think, but you still have a huge boost on just not straight money here on Nuggets/4 and a half, you're getting it at +413. So that is the way we're looking at this. Whether you're betting three pointers, home runs or goals or birdies, FanDuel's got markets across every sport and every game. And the best part, when you win, you'll get paid instantly. So check it out. FanDuel is where your parlay gets paid even bigger. Head to FanDuel.com Ryan R Y E N To get started, FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC. Option required. Bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com this episode is brought to you by the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card. This is an ad for the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog, earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases made with it. Say it with me. The active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Learn more@wells Fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply. He is the voice of the NBA Finals with ESPN and ABC and also a guy who's been around the Knicks for a long time. It's a great pleasure to have a guy on that we all check out nightly. It's Mike Breen.
- [20:20]
Mike Breen
What's up Brian? Nice to be on with you. Thanks for having me.
- [20:25]
Ryan Marcillo
So I want to start with something I kind of talked about a little bit in the open and obviously we're getting some of the series here but you have this play by play role that's it's supposed to be super buttoned up, you know, opinion free. You're setting up your teammates there. But look, you've watched this game for decades. When you get into the playoffs and you see things from the regular season, how often do you think that the playoffs end up playing even though the product is different, how often are you allowing yourself to be surprised? Because I'd say so far this year there's been plenty of surprises pretty much every game.
- [21:05]
Mike Breen
I mean that the only predictable thing about the NBA playoffs is how unpredictable they'll be. And it's not just, you know, not just matchups. You expect a certain matchup to go a certain way. It's different players on how they react to different scenarios. Some, some of them first time in this kind of, I'm sure other ones have been there before. You have certain expectations. To me that's, that's the beauty of the job. That's the beauty of the playoffs and especially this year seems more than recent years Ryan, in that you just don't know who's going to win from night to night and you don't know who's going to be the star who lifts his team. You don't know who's going to be the supporting cast member who has the game of his life. And you know like we saw that last night with, with the Celtics. Luke Cornett, who I've watched for years and is a really good player but he comes and he's an instrumental part of a season saving victory. And to me that's the beauty of the NBA sports. But for me, the NBA to have games like that and players like that come out of nowhere that's what brings about a lot of joy.
- [22:12]
Ryan Marcillo
Do you think in your production meetings you can tell who likes their team and who's worried?
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Mike Breen
That's a great question. You can? Yes. For example, coaches come in before every game. And sometimes they come in and they got smiles, make jokes, talk for 10 minutes before we even get to basketball. And other times they'll come in and they'll sit down. All right, what you got? You know, stone face, just want to get to business and get back to their office and cross some T's and not some eyes. You can absolutely tell when they feel a little pressure, when there's some anxiety going in, and then other times. But every coach is different. You know, some coaches, it doesn't matter what the situation. Up three zero, down three zero, they're just relaxed and ready to go. They're prepared. Whatever happens, happens. Not that they're not competitive, but that's also an interesting part of it, seeing how, how they handle the ups and downs of the roller coaster ride.
- [23:11]
Ryan Marcillo
I was Talking about Game 4 with Golden State in Minnesota, you know, a couple days ago, and I was saying this. That first half is like the perfect example of a coach. If you had told them, like, I don't like your chances, like, curse thinking, hey, we play zone, we muck it up, we get a couple threes from somebody that's not expected. We're right in this thing, even without Steph. And I think it just be so insulting to tell a lot of coaches, like, I don't really see it. I didn't see it with the Knicks in Boston, but I'd imagine Tibbs is one of those coaches that would go into that category where it's like, give us a chance. Let's get out there and let's see what happens. And to see this Knicks team, despite the big deficits, and look, they lose game five at Boston, you know, we'll see where the rest of the series goes. It's. It's an incredible pivot from what we've seen from the regular season, no doubt.
- [24:03]
Mike Breen
And people might think because the amount of minutes he's playing, it's a minor role. But I said all season long, you can't really judge the Knicks until Mitchell Robinson comes back. I mean, their number one weakness this year was how inconsistent their defense was. Mitchell Robinson is simply one of the best defensive players in the game. He's not only a rim protector and a good shot blocker, but in terms of a guy his size, his ability to handle the pick and roll is pretty Amazing considering again his size. And in today's NBA, if you don't have that, you're going to get crushed. And Carl Anthony Towns, he's had some very good defensive gains, but he's not going to be an NBA all defensive player. But to have Mitchell Robinson there at certain situations, I think that's going into the series. I thought that was going to make a difference. And the other thing for the next Jalen Brunson, as we've all seen, has developed into a very special player who is one of the few that come playoff time, come the biggest moments, he's got the ability to raise his game even higher. I don't know. I'd love to see a medical study Ryan, on certain guys when, if they could take their blood pressure when it comes time in a tight game with three minutes ago in a playoff game, because some their blood pressure doesn't go any higher, it stays nice and even. They have way to have poised. Jimmy Butler is like that. I mean so many of the great players are like that and he seems to have that, that he's able to compose himself and stay poised in the most intense pressure situations of the season.
- [25:48]
Ryan Marcillo
You've been there for like a lot of it, man. You know, going all the way back to, I'm sure rooting for the Knicks as a kid and then being with the team. Where is Brunson as far as most beloved Knicks to the fan base?
- [26:00]
Mike Breen
Well, he is, is rapidly going high on the, on the, on the scale. You know, if they ever, if they can beat the Celtics and it certainly is not going to be easy. I think Boston still certainly has a chance to win the series, but if he gets them to the conference finals, if he gets them to the finals, he's going to be in the top five. You know, you can't put them past those who have won championships. But for the younger generation, he's the greatest thing of all time. For, for people my age, it's always going to be Clyde and Willis and Dave the Bucher. You know, Bernard Kane is certainly up there and Patrick Ewing, I mean Patrick obviously didn't win a championship, but he came close twice. So they're there now. But he is rapidly ascending that Ryan. And part of it not only is the success, but the way he goes about his business. He's got such a humility about him, yet he's got that arrogant confidence when he's on the court and his team, you know, they just look to him and he's not a vocal leader, but they look to him, to lead him because of not just the player he is, but his character as well.
- [27:13]
Ryan Marcillo
Did you always want to be who you are now professionally? Did you always hope to be, you know, the voice of the NBA, the voice of the Knicks? Was this the goal?
- [27:26]
Mike Breen
When I was in college, I went to college with Michael K. Who's been doing Yankee games for as long as I've been doing Mick games. And we were two college nerds, just as uncool as you can imagine. And we would sit in the Fordham cafeteria and we talk about, okay, if you had your dream job, would it be. And he would say, I want to be the Yankees announcer. And I would say, I want to be the Knicks announcer. And then our friends around us would laugh and say, you're two fools. There's no way that's going to happen. So yes, from in my college days, that would have been the dream job. Never thought it was going to happen. You know, I grew up listening to Marv and thought it would just be the coolest job. But back then it was more of a dream than you think. It could be a reality.
- [28:12]
Ryan Marcillo
When you probably watch other games, do you catch yourself watching the game or paying attention to the play by play more?
- [28:22]
Mike Breen
Oh, both. And it's every game and any play.
- [28:25]
Ryan Marcillo
By play guy that tells you he's.
- [28:27]
Mike Breen
Not doing that, they're lying to you. For me, one of the great things like watching the playoffs off nights like Turner has, usually Monday through Thursday during the playoffs. So I'm home watching the games we have, the weekends. I learned stuff from other guys, not only information, but how they handle certain situations. And to me it's one of the great things I think right now, and I know I'm probably not objective here, I think there are so many great play by play voices in our industry and not just the basketball, but just like during the NBA playoffs, it's a treat to watch and learn from. And certainly sometimes you think, okay, I have handled that situation a little differently. At other times you watch it and say, you know what, I love the way they handle that spot. That's a, that's a good way for me to think. And not that you steal, but you're influenced by what you watch on other night.
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Ryan Marcillo
The transition from radio to television, right? It really, the radio part of it, it's a very tough sport. I think on radio, you know, hockey has this flow, football has these breaks. I did a little baseball play by play. I wasn't very good at it. And baseball can, you can have longer pauses and with basketball, there's so much information that you need to process, but you need to leave out, like, the inefficient stuff. But you're also trying to paint this picture. Did you have a hard time figuring out what you could leave just off the broadcast when you would get more involved in television?
- [30:11]
Mike Breen
Oh, sure, it's, it's. It's much harder to do radio play by play than TV play by play. There are other challenges in tv. You have to work more with your analysts, you hear more in your ear from producers and directors. But radio, you really, you do have to paint a picture. And, and when I first checked, my first five years doing the NBA was strictly radio. And I found myself that first year doing TV talking too much and a lot of stuff, you just have to back off and let it go. I mean, it's the old expression that a viewer has never said, boy, that guy doesn't talk enough. You've never heard that complaint about an answer, and it's true. So you always have to leave time for a little air. And even when you do radio, sometimes you can't just talk. I talk and talk. It just becomes an assault in the senses. So finding that balance is a really big part of the job. And, you know, I struggled with it at first. And then you get more comfortable with. With letting the crowd take over and just back it off a little bit. Sometimes you want to let the fans at home hear how intense the crowd is. And that part just takes. It just takes a while to get used to doing that.
- [31:22]
Ryan Marcillo
When you have partners. Look, it's not any secret that you've been probably trying to find the team. Post Mark and post Jeff. Certainly you get into that kind of rhythm. I'm sure it's a lot like coaching, where it's almost like a player coach, where your job is to be the voice and tell us everything that's happening, but also learn the tendencies and learn how to get the best stuff out of the people that you're on the team with. What is that like when disruption makes it sound negative, but when there's just a change when, when you know, now your group calling the NBA finals is different, and it feels like, hey, we don't have a ton of games to get this right, to be ready in preparation for a championship.
- [32:05]
Mike Breen
There's no question, it's. To me, it's the most underrated part of what we do in spiting that. That chemistry, because it takes time. Every once in a while, you'll have somebody that instantly you connect with. But it takes time, like a team with new players. Look at Minnesota. It took them a while to get to where they are and they're just operating all systems go. Same thing with a broadcast team. It takes time. And especially when it's not a two person booth, it's a three person booth. Because the key for that, I've always felt when you have two analysts, when it's a three person booth, that chemistry between the two atlas is vital because they come from different angles, often will disagree, and they've got to be able to get to a point where, you know what? Okay, I agree with that. But sometimes they have to go at each other and disagree because we don't all agree on everything. Like Mark and Jeff for the example. There were two or three times a game where Jeff would say something and Mark was saying, what are you talking about? Are you out of your mind? They completely disagree. And that's, that's fun for the viewer, but it's also just good, honest debate. And that's, I think that's important for the two analysts to get on that, that page where they're, they're comfortable criticizing, comfortable disagreeing. I always tell whoever I'm working with, whether it's just one analyst or two, that if I say something on the air that they disagree with, come at me, tell me, no, that's not right, and we can have a debate. I might back off. I might go back. I think that's important to, to be able to do that and trust each other, that nobody's trying to put each other down. We're just trying to have good basketball debate out there. And then the other time, you know, when it's, when it's not necessarily a point, just kind of feeling the rhythm of, like you said, feeling the rhythm of when I'm finishing a thought, when they're finishing a thought. And sometimes it just takes time. And I, I, you know, I think this year, last year was a hard year for Doris because she had two different analysts. First Doc, and then after just a handful of games, now JJ and some a handful of games, and here we are in the finals. And I thought she handled it beautifully. And then this year with Richard coming in, they've developed already, to me, a really nice chemistry where they poke fun at each other now and occasionally disagree. And, you know, Richard's so easy to, to, to go back and forth with. So I'm really pleased with the chemistry this year.
- [34:37]
Ryan Marcillo
You know what I like about, you know, this even goes back to Mark and Jeff. I think your instincts of understanding that there's stories in games where you could be really rigid, especially if it's a tight game and the game itself is the story and there's not any chance for like that off ramp of conversation. And I think there are times too, where, you know, the basketball public can be a little nasty just in general, but it's like, oh, you know, here we go again. It's this broadcast that turns into a podcast. And I just felt like that's unfair because the best stuff is when it's those moments where, you know, you can probably steal a few possessions and let the people next to you go, hey, this is something that's happening. Or this is a bigger picture thing. Or up until this point, this player has said this, but he's come up short, like whatever discussion points that we all have on podcasts and stuff. I personally, I don't. Maybe some people disagree with it. I think the game needs that, you know, one or two times a game. This departure from just the rigid part of, here's the play, here's what happened. Good foul, bad foul, and all that stuff. I, I personally, again, like two and a half hours, it's okay to talk about storylines and, and weave those into what you're doing during game action. And I think that's what you're the best at.
- [35:55]
Mike Breen
Well, thank you. And it's my favorite part. It gets more challenging every year because, you know, every stoppage at play, every time somebody goes to the free throw line, there are sponsors that you have to get in. You've got promos, I mean, broadcast now are so loaded with that that you really have to be concise when you do that. But I think, especially if it's relevant to what's going on on the court and the player who's involved in it, there's nothing better than hearing that. And I, I hope we don't get away from that, because for me, when I'm watching at home, you know, I want to hear all the relevant stats and why a team is struggling against his own defense, etc. Etc. But most of the time, the thing that I take away most are a particular story about a player and what makes him tick or, you know, what's going on in his life or something from his background maybe prepared him for dealing with this particular game. To me, that's what I usually take away from. Those are the most interesting parts of the telecast. And I'm like you, I love to hear something more about these players. I want another reason to root for these players. I Want another reason to find out why maybe they're succeeding or why maybe they're struggling. And that's. That's an important part. You know, Brian Windhorst brought up a great point recently, talking about how our access to players has decreased. Obviously, Covid changed it, but we've never really gone back maybe a little bit, but we used to be able to have so much access to players when the game wasn't going on, either in the locker room or they bring them back to our room. And you would find such interesting things that made you really root for these players because of something they told you about their personal life growing up or something they. Some interaction they had with a coach or another player. And we don't have as much access as we used to. And I think that hurts overall. I mean, I know there's so much information out there and players have their own podcast now and get a lot of that stuff, but I hope we never go away from that because I think that's an essential part. I could not agree more with that. For me, the storylines about the individual players and coaches, that's what makes me care so much about the league.
- [38:08]
Ryan Marcillo
I didn't expect to do this in prepping to talking with you today, but when I was just a high school kid, spent a lot of time in the truck with my dad, we'd be listening to talk radio, and I just remember you being on Imus. So I went back and started watching some of those clips. At one point, I was sitting there going, this had to be an incredibly intimidating situation. But then also that you were smart enough to know and be like, okay, I know I am here. I'm like, I'm going to be the young guy, which I'm sure probably makes you kind of smile now, but I'm going to be the young guy that stops by and I'm not in charge of anything that's going to be happening. Which I would say, as broadcasters is probably the most uncomfortable position you can be as a broadcaster. Being like, this is not my home. This is not a home game. I'm just rolling in. I don't know if that helped you become better at play by play, but I do think that the best broadcasters are the people that have the most life experiences. I wonder how much those shows helped kind of round you out as a personality.
- [39:16]
Mike Breen
It was critical because it made you really have to think on your feet, had to adjust. And that's what play by play is. You don't know what's going to happen. So you have to be able to. To deal with whatever's thrown at you. And there was stuff thrown at me on a daily basis on that show. You know, I tell people I grew up with, I was one of six boys who not only verbally abused me, but physically abused me. So I was just verbally abusing. It was okay. I could deal with it. And I had a thick skin. But the first, like six months I worked on the program, I tried to be serious sportscaster. And he would crush me. Every day I'd come home to my wife and I'd say, I can't do this, I can't. And then one day he said to me, listen, because you can be a clown, you can be a goofball, it has no bearing on your credibility as a legitimate sportscaster. So just let it go. And him saying that to me made me a little more comfortable. And one day I just went off on him, you know, started yelling back at him, which I never thought I'd do. And after it was over and he yelled back at me, we go to commercial, he leans over, he says, that was great. That's what I want from you every day. So it made me. It forced me to use my sense of humor more and forced me to use my personality more. And watching it was such a talented cast on that show and watching them perform and how they went about their business made me much, much better.
- [40:43]
Ryan Marcillo
So it is fair to say that you hated in the beginning because it sounded like you hated it.
- [40:47]
Mike Breen
Well, I love the show. When I was growing up, I used to listen to it every morning when I was driving Fornum. That was, that was what I had on my radio. So this is the greatest thing. But he just was, he was relentless and he was so demanding to work. Forgive me if the story's too long, but I wanted to be the fill in. Don Cricky, one of the most underrated play by play guys of all time. He was on Mrs. Sportscaster and I was working on the night show. I was a producer for the sports talk show at night. But cricket would miss every Friday and Monday during the, during the football season. And they didn't have a fill in. So I went to the program director and I said to him, any chance I could fill in for cricket? I would love to be on the Imus show. So he brings me back to imus's office about 2 o' clock in the afternoon one day, and Imus was still drinking back then, and he was three sheets to the wind and his head was down his lap and the program said, hey, this is Mike Brain. He works at night. Can he film for Quickie tomorrow and Ibis? Without even lifting his head, he says, yeah, that's fine. Now get the F out of my office. That's all he said. Never even looked up. So I go in the next day and I am so pumped. I'm going to be on the Imus in the morning show. And I sit down and Iris is to my right, Charles McCors to my left. And Imus is staring at me while he's talking on the air like he has no idea who I am. And he tells Charles, he gives Charles, hey, start talking. So Charles starts doing the news. Iman shuts off his mic and he leans over to me, he says, who the F are you? He had no idea who I was. And when I started telling him, he puts his mic on and he goes, hold on, Charles. This kid says he's filling in for cricket. And from then on, for the next six months, he just crushed me day after day after day. But it made me stronger and it made me better.
- [42:41]
Ryan Marcillo
Wow, that's slightly different work environment than, say, I remember when I filled him with Golick one time. He's like this. No, I'm just kidding. That obviously HR might get involved at that level. Man, it's tough to pivot out of that, but I'm still going to try. So when you are building to the moment when, you know, like, okay, here's a possibility, here's an outcome, whether, you know, Easter Conference Western Conference finals, how much stuff do you have in your back pocket in preparation or do you maybe not want the preparation to get in way of the moment? I mean, you've been doing this long enough, so you have the formula down. But I'm wondering in those moments how. How ready you are or how natural it feels.
- [43:33]
Mike Breen
Yeah, well, the call itself has to be spontaneous in terms of a particular play, but you have to put it into perspective what that play means or what this victory is going to mean or what this loss impact could have on a player or a franchise. So if you're not. If you're not have something in your head ahead of time about. All right, how am I going to phrase this? How am I going to put this into perspective? Then? You're not. You're not doing your job. And sometimes you do that while the game's going on. Sometimes you do that commercials, you know, for example, if a team is about to make the finals for the first time in. In their history, right, Minnesota, we're doing the Western Conference finals. Minnesota has never been to the NBA Finals. So if we get to a point where they're about to clinch, move on to the Finals, you got to figure out a way, okay, what's. What's the best way to put that into perspective, not just make the call. So it's a combination of staying spontaneous, but at the same time preparing for a moment. Because, you know, it's our jobs to, I think, put it in the right frame. It's our jobs to put into perspective how special these players are and what they're doing. And I always want to do it justice. It's a great responsibility. It's a responsibility that I love. But you have to make sure you're ready for the moment because you want to do it right by the players and by the team. So to answer your questions, a long winded way to say you absolutely have to start thinking of those things. You can't do everything. Just spontaneous.
- [45:02]
Ryan Marcillo
What's been your favorite moment nationally? Wow.
- [45:09]
Mike Breen
That'S. That's a hard, hard question. You know, I think Game Sevens. I've done a few Game Sevens in the finals, and no. Has always mean so much. Ones that have direct. A play that has a direct impact on who wins a title. That. That block shot by LeBron James in 2016. If he doesn't block that shot, they probably don't win, and that changes everything. It's a magnificent play at just the most, most perfect time, and then they make history by coming back three, one down, the Ray Allen shot. If he doesn't hit that, they don't win. I mean, I know it was only Game 6, but they don't win. If he doesn't hit that shot. The game's over, and the spurs are celebrating on Miami's. Miami's home court. So shots like that, from a national standpoint, I would think those are. Those are two of them.
- [46:07]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, I figured 16. You know, because of the magnitude of the story of who Golden State had been and what LeBron and Kyrie did in those last three games. And then Kyrie has that shot, and of course, the block it. That thing felt like. Because it was such a slow start, it was almost like. I don't know if the building was nervous or, you know, just the pace of play and maybe Steph not having, like. It wasn't a very good game for Steph. So there was. There was these elements of. You still expect Golden State to close this thing out, but the momentum shift of that series was so massive where Cleveland looks helpless and LeBron and Kyrie just turn into superheroes down that stretch. That was something that built to this moment of oh, it's, it's not just a championship. Like this is really going to happen. And I, I figure, I know I put you on the spot, but I was not surprised to hear a couple examples from 16.
- [47:03]
Mike Breen
But, but your point is exactly what makes it a special moment. You know, if a team just wins, it's different. It's what leads up to that. You know, for example, the, the Steph Curry, the double bang in Oklahoma City. Yeah, it was a fantastic play, but it's what led up to that game. I mean they were on this magic carpet ride. He had been playing like no other player that I had seen since, you know, second since Michael Jordan. And the way he was doing it, they, they were like something like 58 and 5 or 6. Some crazy and they're getting crushed in Oklahoma City. Places going crazy. He had to leave the game because of a, an ankle injury. We didn't even know if he was going to come back and play. And then for him to do that, that was, that was, it's an, was an amazing game. But it wasn't just the shot. It's what went up to the shot like you said. So those are some of the moments. I also. This going to sound corny but my first Olympics when I was broadcasting For NBC in 96, it was at the Georgia Dome and the women were the. They had not lost in like three years leading up to it. They won the gold medal. It was fantastic story. And I remember the place that, you know, 45,000 people and they raised the, the American flag for the gold medal ceremony and the entire, I think 40,000, however many were in there, sang the national anthem and it was like such an emotional thing for me. My first Olympics. I watched Olympics as a kid with my father and my brothers and to, to be in that arena and finish up my first Olympic broadcast of a gold medal game and have 40,000 people singing the national anthem at the top of their lungs. For some reason that always sticks in my head when people ask me about some, some favorite moments. That's a long time ago and it's certainly has nothing to do with the actual sport, but that's something that sticks out.
- [48:57]
Ryan Marcillo
A couple quick ones as we finish here instead of leaving someone out, you know, hey, the best 5 atmospheres for a big time playoff game. Can you give me a building in a city where we don't mention them enough as far as, hey, when you're in the Building. Because I love when the broadcast will tell us, hey, there's MSG's going off. You'd expect Boston to go off. OKC looks ridiculous. I think Cleveland has some moments and here I am doing it. So I'll, I'll take the brunt of who I'm leaving out. But I like when a broadcast goes, hey, you may not experience it, you know, watching on tv, but this place, like, is at another level. Considering all the buildings you're in for, for these huge moments when you tell us, hey, this is something that's a little extra here. Is there a place that you think is. Is consistently left off that, that people don't think about is one of the great atmospheres.
- [49:49]
Mike Breen
Yeah. Ryan, you've mentioned some that are always involved in it. By the way. Like for me, Madison Square Garden special, the most special arena, but it wasn't the loudest. The loudest arena I've ever been in is the old Chicago Stadium. That place was just off the charts. United Center's great, but Chicago Stadium, the loudest arena. Minnesota this year we did some of the Laker games there in the first round. Minnesota's arena, Target center has become just crazy, Absolutely crazy. And that's up there with one of the loudest amongst the ones that you mentioned too, that are some other good ones. Top of my head. OkC, as you said, is superb. Indiana has always been off the charts nuts. Although Old Market Square arena is louder than the current one. But I would say Minnesota is one that doesn't get as much attention that their fans are. Are absolutely crazy.
- [50:53]
Ryan Marcillo
Last thing, our industry is always interesting because you feel like you can never have enough. Like, I remember coming up being like, how come that guy has three jobs? Like, I'm just trying to get one. And then you're in it and I'm like, I guess this is the way you, you have to do it. You, you have your job, and then you're trying to figure out two other ones that you can get. Are you different? Are you in a place where you're like, you know what? I am the voice of the NBA. And this has been a run now that's it's coming up 20 years. As far as, you know, the ESPN, ABC part of it, you're in the number one arena, you're in the number one media market and all those things. Like, I guess it just dawned on me, maybe I'm bringing up a source. It'd be like, actually, I've been turned down for NFL, but it appears that you are a Bit more content at the top of your profession than others have been.
- [51:45]
Mike Breen
I, I don't know if content is the word. I just feel so blessed to be doing this so long in a sport that I absolutely love. You know, back early when I was, you know, trying to make inroads into the business, I did the NFL for I think three or four years with Fox and NBC. I did talk shows, I did anchoring, all that kind of different stuff. But at the time, because I was doing national NBA and the Knicks, the local broadcast and I had three small children, I was away so much during the winter that I didn't want to do anything else once the basketball ended. So I always wanted to have my summers off and even Septembers and October's so I could have more time with the kids at that time. And I, I don't regret doing that. I'm glad I did. Obviously I do miss doing like the NFL. The NFL was so great and I'm so in awe of. There are so many guys out there doing blood I play who excel at not one, not two, but three different sports. I don't know how they do it. I don't know how they do it. I'm a one trick pony right now and. But it's, it's a decision that I'm really comfortable with because it gave me, you know, this incredible honor of calling some of the biggest games of the NBA, but at the same time having a little more time with my family in the off season. So I have a decent off season. A lot of people don't have an off season and I, I'm not judging by any stretch, but it served me well to do it this one for, for a number of reasons, but I am in awe of the, of the other broadcasters who do multiple sports and just knock it out of the park and all.
- [53:25]
Ryan Marcillo
NBA fans. You know, I don't know if awe is, is the right word. It is just a pleasure to have you on the games all the time. I think you can only be in awe if you know how to do the job. So many of us don't know how to do the job, but it's, it's been awesome and I. Look, I always love catching up with you. I appreciate this time and I hope you enjoy the rest of the playoffs. I know you will.
- [53:50]
Mike Breen
Ryan, thank you. It's an honor to be out with you. Thrilled for all your success as well and hopefully we can get together down the road.
- [53:57]
Ryan Marcillo
Thanks, Mike. This episode is brought to you by UberEats. Summer is almost here. And you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with Ubereats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered. A cabana, that's a no. But a banana, that's a yes. A nice tan. Sorry, no. But a box fan? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost. Almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details.
- [54:39]
Mike Breen
You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up?
- [54:46]
Kyle
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
- [54:49]
Mike Breen
I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid.
- [54:55]
Oregon
So now you know what's possible.
- [54:57]
Mike Breen
Let me tell you what's required.
- [54:58]
Ryan Marcillo
The email address, lifeadvicerrmail.com and boy, do we have advice for you. What is up to Oregon. Hello, Kyle.
- [55:08]
Oregon
Yep.
- [55:09]
Kyle
What's up?
- [55:11]
Ryan Marcillo
You guys were talking fashion a little bit earlier.
- [55:14]
Oregon
Yeah, I just need to know the story behind most of his shirts. I knew it couldn't just be a butterfly shirt. It's a. It's an Ed Sheer tour shirt. Been there, done that. Nice job by you.
- [55:22]
Kyle
I'm running out of rotation for the shirts on this thing, man. I'm trying to, like, wear new ones so people aren't calling me out. I'm running low.
- [55:28]
Oregon
Yeah, it's video now. You got to think about this stuff.
- [55:32]
Ryan Marcillo
I know. It sucks. I have a closet full of dress shirts that I used to have to wear for all the TV stuff. And they're nice and they're expensive, and I wear them zero times.
- [55:43]
Oregon
Maybe we do, like, Fashion Week. We just pick one week and we just go. We just go hard. All of us.
- [55:50]
Ryan Marcillo
We did that with Van Pelt, the outer rotation shirt. Those videos live on. Well. And then we were going to do something where I was going to start giving them away with, like, a certification, PSA graded. Right. I mean, this is not new. We've covered this before. But I just. You know, you start to understand the hoarder show. Because the biggest thing you have to understand about hoarders is they see value. You know, we see cat shit in newspapers. They see value.
- [56:17]
Oregon
Right.
- [56:18]
Ryan Marcillo
And so, granted, I don't think my nice dress shirts are a roll of Pringles from 1984, but I see value when I see them hanging there. And somebody who is a little bit different of a spirit may Just say, I see clutter and I see stuff getting. Now I don't think about these shirts very often. I'm able to get through my fucking day and drive a car and complete my tasks, but I look at them sometimes. You're like, dude, you don't wear those a lot. You don't. So what are you doing? Because of tv. So, Oregon, what I would say is wear whatever you need to wear. Rotate tightly as you need to, you know, go to a. Go to a Tibs rotation place. Place six shirts. Don't be like Rick Carlisle. And. Well, although both are working, so I. I'm just saying don't go buy extra shirts for this podcast because there's going to be a time where you're not going to be on video. And then, you know, I'm sure your square footage and your storage stuff in New York City, I'm sure it's not great.
- [57:24]
Kyle
It's not great. It's not great.
- [57:28]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah.
- [57:28]
Oregon
What'd you say? 6, 650? 660?
- [57:30]
Mike Breen
We're.
- [57:30]
Kyle
We're around that. Yeah. They never told us the exact square footage.
- [57:33]
Oregon
Yeah, it's probably better that way.
- [57:35]
Kyle
Yeah. But I can. I can see the entire thing from here, so it's not. It's not great.
- [57:43]
Ryan Marcillo
All right. You think you'll ever move from the city? Are you just a city guy? You love the nightlife?
- [57:48]
Kyle
I'll probably move it. It's just not. Not affordable, man. And then it's like, if you want to start a family, like, you're toast. You got to have real money to.
- [57:54]
Ryan Marcillo
Start a family here in the city.
- [57:56]
Kyle
Yeah, okay. You can have, like, once they get to, like, two or three.
- [58:01]
Oregon
Hey, the crown jewel is open for you, man. You just got to get up a little early. Get up a little early and you can make it down in the city.
- [58:06]
Kyle
I took the train from there a couple weeks ago. It was nice.
- [58:08]
Oregon
Metro North. Beautiful ride.
- [58:11]
Ryan Marcillo
Okay. But you could technically live anywhere you want. But I assume your significant other works in the city, so you have to be in the city. Is that.
- [58:21]
Kyle
We both work remote.
- [58:24]
Ryan Marcillo
So you just love Broadway that much?
- [58:26]
Kyle
You got it. I'm going tonight.
- [58:28]
Oregon
Yes, you are.
- [58:29]
Ryan Marcillo
What are you seeing?
- [58:29]
Kyle
Lottery winner, baby. Lottery winner, ironically enough. Lion King.
- [58:34]
Oregon
Oh, dude, you got to go. You got to go. Maybe tank top so you could show off the.
- [58:38]
Kyle
You think?
- [58:39]
Oregon
Yeah.
- [58:41]
Kyle
Sleeveless.
- [58:42]
Ryan Marcillo
Hey, just so you know, you're now going to be our Broadway correspondent. You're going to do think when you watch. Give us. I want five minutes after you've seen Something. I want five minutes on it.
- [58:54]
Kyle
I think most Broadway correspondents get their tickets expensed, right?
- [58:58]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah. How much are these?
- [58:59]
Kyle
I'll talk about that offline.
- [59:02]
Ryan Marcillo
You don't know?
- [59:03]
Oregon
I'm going to a Neil diamond musical that my stepfather or my father in law couldn't go to. Have you seen that one Neil diamond musical?
- [59:11]
Kyle
No, my dad really wanted to go to that. I shut that down. Was it a beautiful something? Is that the one?
- [59:17]
Oregon
I don't know. It's Neil Diamond.
- [59:18]
Ryan Marcillo
It's in my phone.
- [59:19]
Oregon
I don't know.
- [59:19]
Ryan Marcillo
I'll be going in June Cracklin. Rosie, let me wait. You shut that down. Your love for theater and your father shares that love and then he wanted again. You just wouldn't sit through Neil Diamond.
- [59:31]
Kyle
Yeah, I don't know. Neil diamond doesn't do it for me.
- [59:33]
Oregon
This is politics. No, I'm just kidding.
- [59:35]
Ryan Marcillo
No.
- [59:37]
Kyle
My dad also irks me sometimes, so that definitely played a role.
- [59:40]
Mike Breen
Wow.
- [59:43]
Ryan Marcillo
Wow.
- [59:44]
Oregon
Do you have any life advice?
- [59:45]
Ryan Marcillo
He knows he probably went to some shit he hated when you were a kid.
- [59:50]
Kyle
For sure.
- [59:52]
Oregon
Shout out to Disney.
- [59:57]
Ryan Marcillo
Okay then. Yeah. That's going to be your new thing. We're going to do Wargons. I got to come up with a better title. We could talk about per diem later. All right, let's get to some emails. Call a divorce guy to get him his stuff back. Kind sirs, let's just get to it. Work at a non profit that specializes in furniture donations, people downsizing, moving, spring cleaning, dying house sales, all the above. Sounds like they could use some shirts. All of the stuff has to go somewhere and what we do is we take it and sell it. Or, excuse me, we take it all and donate it to people so they do not sell it.
- [60:30]
Oregon
It's a little different.
- [60:31]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, yeah, yeah. They do not sell it. They donate to people who need furniture in their home. Vets, women who've experienced domestic violence, people exiting homelessness. It's truly wonderful and awesome. I love my job despite the major pay discrepancy from my former life in the corporate world. I guess I'll never own that second home. Oh, well. The nature of the beast means we sometimes end up with some interesting stuff and some really fascinating stories. But a recent one put me in a bind. A lady basically donated half a truckload of stuff to us. When asked why she was making the donation, she said, quote, divorce and he can himself. Golf clubs, peloton, rowing machine, cool chairs, Not Null or Roche, Babois cool, but expensive. RH and West Elm and a nice Desk rh. Dude, RH is awesome. Yeah. Yeah, Expensive. RH is even nicer. And a desk TV stand. I'm assuming the large contractor bags are closed. His business card was in the desk drawer. Do I close Paul and tell him.
- [61:36]
Oregon
Wow, violate a policy if it doesn't?
- [61:40]
Ryan Marcillo
Probably, yeah. Like it's just upon this guy to be like, hey, sounds like your ex is a real wild card. She just dumped your tailor maids and a couple sick, sick Travis Matthews pullovers. Do you want this stuff?
- [62:01]
Oregon
It sounds like. Maybe you should call your friend and have him get down there as fast as he can and claim some of this stuff.
- [62:06]
Ryan Marcillo
I knew the. I knew the Kyle, the real Kyle was the angle.
- [62:12]
Oregon
Matter of fact, where are you guys located?
- [62:19]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, no, no, no doubt. I. I kind of know. Like I'm. My first thing is. Yes, tell the guy clearly she's unhinged and she just gave all of his stuff away. Right? That would be huge of you. This is one of the all time saves. But what if the husband, now ex husband's the bad guy? I mean, if she's donating his stuff and he doesn't know it and she's just doing this to be like, to get back at him. I mean, all the stuff, all the stuff in the accounts, half of that's not enough. You got to get rid of all of his shit too. Now maybe she was the breadwinner and maybe he's getting half of her stuff, then he doesn't deserve it. I don't know. I don't know them that well. I just met him through an email, so I'm sure there's probably some protocol that you would be violating here by reaching out to somebody after things have been donated, because the whole point of your operation is to bring in stuff. And if it's nicer, like, hey, boom, we're helping people out, it's going to a good cause. But I would. I would struggle with the idea that all of this dude's stuff may have been just dropped off and she thinks she's going to get over on him. And this poor guy's sitting there going, my golf clubs are gone. My golf clubs are gone. Because that's just nasty work right there.
- [63:38]
Oregon
How do we know that this is. He just found a business card in a desk. Maybe, maybe the last name matches up with the lady who dropped it off. But I'm like, how could you be so sure that this is the man? I mean, sometimes people keep business cards in their desk.
- [63:51]
Kyle
It's a good point.
- [63:53]
Oregon
Yeah, I imagine he Did a little legwork and maybe the last name matches up or something.
- [63:59]
Ryan Marcillo
I think that's a really safe assumption here. I don't. I don't know that the guy was like, you know, bill Vance.
- [64:06]
Oregon
Yeah, I might. Maybe I'd read the handbook and just see if there's something. I think, you know, that's a great.
- [64:12]
Ryan Marcillo
Let's give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. I think that's the benefit. So what would you do? What would you do? What? If it is against company policy for you to do this thing? But you think that this woman came in and was like, hey. And clearly, I think once this golf. It's the golf clubs part of it. She's doing it to hurt him again. Maybe he hurt her first. We don't know that. I would probably reach out, but I would know that.
- [64:35]
Oregon
Go ahead.
- [64:35]
Ryan Marcillo
Go ahead. No, no, you got it.
- [64:37]
Oregon
I was gonna say, maybe you could find one thing where you're just like, oh, maybe this shouldn't have been in here. Like, maybe there's something in the desk and you're just like, you know, oh, it's a bill with some personal information. Like, maybe there's something that you could zero in on and be like, I was just trying to do. It actually is our company policy because of this thing that I found. I just have to make sure this wasn't a mistake. Maybe you could do that.
- [64:57]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah. Like all of your stuff.
- [65:00]
Oregon
Yeah. But there's one thing in there that's like, I don't know, got a last four of a bank account on there. No one could actually do anything with it. They're like, this is, you know, we're not supposed to accept personal property of this type. And maybe you find some little loophole that gives you the. The end to call this man and.
- [65:13]
Ryan Marcillo
Just see if he wants to personalize. Scrimshaw. Are you good on this, Wargon?
- [65:20]
Kyle
I think you got to reach out just to cover your own ass. Because this woman isn't just going to sit there and be like, I don't know where the golf clubs went. She's going to tell this guy that she donated those golf clubs.
- [65:28]
Ryan Marcillo
And then he's going to go.
- [65:30]
Kyle
He's going to come down there and then you're going to have to deal with him. Like, I would do it just to protect yourself almost. Because you don't want to have to deal with that.
- [65:40]
Ryan Marcillo
Think about the homeless guy, though, Just. Just transitioning out of being unhoused to.
- [65:45]
Oregon
Now you're taking away that guy's Robert Talbots, come on.
- [65:49]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, he's got some nice shirts. He's telling his buddies I'm golfing again. Never hit blades before. All right, we got another Raising Canes one here. Maybe we just have Todd Graves on for life advice. Although the titling of this one scared the shit out of me. Raising Cane's coke incident. But it's the cola, which makes a lot more sense. All right, guys, Love the show. 40 years old, 64195. Nearly the perfect height according to you guys. It's a great height.
- [66:22]
Oregon
Good weight too.
- [66:23]
Ryan Marcillo
Honestly, love to be it one day. Don't play contact sports anymore because of a mechanical knee and foot, Femur. All right, that seems like a good idea, But I have 1 hour and 15 minute half marathon under my belt. Sub 6 minute mile pace, OR 15, 115.
- [66:47]
Kyle
That's really good.
- [66:49]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah. That's insane.
- [66:51]
Kyle
That's very, very good.
- [66:52]
Ryan Marcillo
All right, well, that's why we double checked with you. I'm now an avid cyclist that has trekked through Manhattan beach hundreds of times and ever heard of it? I have great biking. My team at work was going out to lunch at Raising Canes, but I was in a meeting running 15 minutes behind, so they left without me. One of my direct reports. Let's call him. Luke texted me, said he would order for me so I didn't have to wait in line when I arrive. I thought this was a kind gesture. I told him to get me the four piece box with a Coke. What's your Raising Canes order, Kyle?
- [67:20]
Oregon
Between four and six. Between four and the kainiac.
- [67:23]
Ryan Marcillo
Really Caniac?
- [67:24]
Oregon
If I'm alone, I'll probably do a cac. But if there's someone with me.
- [67:28]
Ryan Marcillo
So you can't be judged.
- [67:29]
Oregon
Yeah, totally. 1000%.
- [67:31]
Ryan Marcillo
You ever done Kaniak and Ex side finger? Yes.
- [67:35]
Oregon
What are you talking about? Are you kidding?
- [67:38]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, exactly. Sorry. Sorry I even asked. A little while later I arrive at Raising Cane, sit down with my co workers and begin enjoying my meal. But when I take a drink of my Coke, it tastes funny to me. I asked Luke if it was Coke. He said, yeah, it's Coke Zero. I was aghast that he thought I wanted Coke Zero. Based on my text response, I said that quote Coke means quote regular Coke, unquote. But he says I didn't describe which Coke I wanted and he thought maybe I shorthanded the information since I was in a meeting. He said he was at the machine and saw Coke Zero, Regular Coke and Diet Coke and he thought Coke Zero was the Happy medium of the three options. What's funny is most of my team, including my boss Stacy, agrees with me on this. But Luke is dug in his heels and will not admit he was wrong. To this day, he still believes he made a smart and rational decision. Who was wrong in this situation? Can we all agree that coke means Coke and not Coke Zero? Am I the asshole?
- [68:34]
Mike Breen
Totally.
- [68:36]
Oregon
And dudes want DC before they want Coke Zero.
- [68:42]
Ryan Marcillo
About Sherry Coke. Is that even an option anymore?
- [68:46]
Oregon
Right. Well, that strikes with your argument. It's like, what if you saw Vanilla Coke there? Orange Creamsicle? Did you think that would. You just think that that'd be exciting to me? Because I didn't specify everyone's. This could have been a teachable moment. And this guy's dug in. Everyone else knows.
- [69:01]
Kyle
It's honestly, there's just no argument for it.
- [69:03]
Ryan Marcillo
Like, yeah, and everyone else knows.
- [69:05]
Oregon
Yeah, right.
- [69:08]
Ryan Marcillo
He said Coke. I would fire this guy because that's a red flag of processing information.
- [69:16]
Oregon
Yeah, this should bleed into work. Like, when he asks you for something, just give him something else and be like, oh, I thought you wanted a shorthand. Yeah, I thought you wanted a file. This is a file, isn't it?
- [69:30]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, this is. First of all, I don't even think you would have to email us on this one. You were right. We're telling you that you're right. And this is. I don't know if you'd put this on the Wonderlic. You know, quarterbacks, right? Like, processing information, decision making. You had three things you could go to here. You can't throw it over the middle here. I don't know why. I don't know why you went with Coke Zero. I. I can't imagine anybody is going to agree. Like, this is one of the rare occasions where you read something, you play it all out. Would anyone go, well, here's what you guys are missing because that's pretty much all we do to each other now, is you share something, and then it's just immediately, here are all the things you may not have thought about. And you're like, well, it was a tweet, not a thesis, but I don't think we. We probably have time for another one. That one's totally done. Yeah. 5, 10, 172. No gym stats. We're sharing, but putting in the work. I was the junior high equivalent to Jason Tatum in the Olympics. No, we're not. We're not doing Tatum jokes, guys. I was recently on video work call, making a small talk as we all waited to join the group of people I work with all share the same alma mater of which they're very proud, right? And one of them was wearing a sweatshirt adorned with the school logo. I do not hail from this top notch engineering school. However, one of my best friends from childhood does and he played football there. Think D2 Wes Welker. I'd love to think about a D2 Wes Welker. How about Kyle? Keeping things loose I explained that once around 17 years ago I'd stolen a pair of my buddy's team issue gym shorts back when we were in college but had stopped wearing them later when I moved to that town. Since I kept getting asked if I played ball there, the group quickly started taking jabs at me for wearing other guys shorts. I defended myself explaining in college I wasn't out there keeping up with the latest workout gear from Big Five Sporting Goods and that any 19 year old dude would be pumped to score free gear. The group asked if I commonly wear other dudes clothes to which I proudly explained I did receive a free pair of high end socks from the same best friend just last year. My well dressed and generally stylish best friend of 35 years is working on getting jacked again and was outsizing much of his closet. I reaped the benefits. Oh, high end slacks. I was going to say you're buying slacks. God that's too. Yeah, selling donated stuff. Socks, slacks. I'm going to give myself a C minus on today can't and I can't redeem myself from it. That's it in pen. C minus for Ryan. So high end slacks from another buddy. My well dressed and you know he's getting jacked again outsizing much of his closet. This put things over the top on the work call and has now become a source of debate. For months things have gotten nasty with accusations of me being like the girl steals a guy's shirt early on in a relationship to wear out. So everybody knows these guys got to.
- [72:27]
Oregon
Be in the northeast.
- [72:28]
Mike Breen
They gotta be.
- [72:29]
Ryan Marcillo
Yes. This is a mean group like hey great khakis, are you dating Doug? I counter by explaining maybe a C Now I counter by explaining that you don't know true friendship if you can't share slacks that you don't know style if your clothes shopping predominantly happens at Costco. Noted. We all love Costco. So I'd like to ask Priscilla Pod what are the boundaries, if any on bros sharing clothes? Last item specific to Ryan. This weekend I'm headed on a fly fishing trip with two best friends, one of which is the character noted above. So you're vacationing with the guy too. You get an Orvis vest out of this deal. General feedback is that more fly fishing content is welcome. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think I've ever done anything.
- [73:16]
Kyle
Other than fly fish open coming next week.
- [73:19]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah. Really? No.
- [73:25]
Oregon
Oh, I thought, I thought Wargon was like following there's a fly fishing open. So like a U.S. open. And I thought he was. Thought he just knew.
- [73:31]
Ryan Marcillo
No monologue. Okay, monologue, like, all right, I don't want to go too long here. 20 minutes later. And here's the thing. How many four or five weights do you need? But how often am I going to use a 9? 10 probably not often. Salt water. Forget it. I don't have time for that. All right, well, look, I was with you on the shorts because look, team issued gear is cool shit, all right? And there's some almond catalogs that would have replaced Victoria's Secret pre Internet for your boy and his college buddies. 93, 94. Being like, I think I had a pair of Georgia Tech lacrosse shorts. Doesn't make any sense. Didn't play lacrosse, didn't go to Georgia Tech. Not even into engineering. Although I do enjoy, you know, watching some good sluicing. So if it's your friend, but you didn't go there and you were 19 and it's a pair of team issued like football shorts, there's definitely a time where you have to stop wearing them for the problem that you just brought up. Now I wear all sorts of shit at the gym because schools had sent it to me and it's workout gear. But yeah, it's annoying. But I've allowed like, I've put myself in that position. Especially if I wear like the Air Force stuff that I got when I visited there. And it's like, hey, did you serve? No. And it's like massive disappointment. It's like, yep, I know, I know. But I really like this fucking hoodie combo dry fit thing. And I'm just at the gym. It's not that big of a deal. Borrowing or donating slacks to dudes. I don't know if they're a nice pair and the guy doesn't want them anymore. You probably just shouldn't have admitted it. I think you should let it go.
- [75:20]
Oregon
Honestly, at this, I think I would dig in if I was this guy, if I'd let it get this far. I'm admitting all sorts of shit that, you know, in hindsight I probably wouldn't have admitted. But it's out there. I think you just dig in and you're like, oh, so if I get it from a stranger at Goodwill, it's fine. But if fucking Bob gives it to me and I know that its last home was good, there's no bedbugs in that house or something, like, I would. I would dig in. At this point, these people are already, you know, you're, you know, on the Wednesday call, you're already like, oh, fuck, what are they going to say? I would just dig in, make it seem like, you know, no sweat off your back, you're good, because you gotta be good with it. And you honestly don't think there's anything wrong with it? If I had some dude that would give me some shit that fits that I wouldn't be buying otherwise, and I'd wear it to, like, you know, Versilo Fashion Week if we. If that ever comes to fruition, like, I'd be happy about that. So the fact that these guys are not letting it go, I think the only option is to dig in and just be like, yeah, I don't see a problem with it.
- [76:15]
Kyle
I got some shirts from some buddies. You know, they wear it once or twice. They don't like it, they're gonna give it away. I'll take them. I'm really cheap, though, so I wonder if this guy's sort of like me. And it's like, anything to not have to buy new clothing.
- [76:30]
Ryan Marcillo
I understand why they're making fun of you, but they're probably wrong.
- [76:36]
Oregon
And I think the only way out is through. So you can't backtrack. If you backtrack it, they're going to be more merciless.
- [76:44]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, I would ask for something else. Hey, you guys. Like this? Maybe like a pullover.
- [76:52]
Kyle
Ask it off your friend's back. Like, hey, let me get that shirt.
- [76:55]
Ryan Marcillo
Yeah, like, what would be the worst. What would be the worst thing you could. I mean, obviously underwear. And, like, that. I'm just talking about, like, totally. But yeah. Yeah, it was a different email when we were reading about socks. All right, that'll do it for us today. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Make sure you check out the POD on the Spotify app and watch the video. Also our YouTube page. Please subscribe. Ryan Podcast Ringer. Spotify.
- [77:19]
Kyle
They were gonna name me Michael Jordan. My dad was like, I don't think he can live up to it. So they named me Michael Jared.
- [77:38]
Ryan Marcillo
Foreign. Must be 21 and older. Present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York.