← The Ryen Russillo Show
The Ryen Russillo Show
Indiana Rolls Alabama & the SEC’s Rough Bowl Season, Plus Mendoza’s Draft Stock and More w/ Daniel Jeremiah
01:50:55
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Hey barstool listeners. You can find every episode of the Ryan Roso show on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. The Ryan Rosillo show presented by DraftKings. We're going to run through a lot of football today. We'll recap all of the playoff games, what it means for the by teams. Big Ten SEC has the belt officially transferred Daniel Jeremiah is going to talk about all the college football stuff. He's going to have a lot on Mendoza and then we're going to do a ton on Crossroads teams in the NFL. Him handicapping the afc, including the one team he hears from most teams in the NFL who they don't want to play on the AFC side of the bracket. Get a little recap of the holiday and life advice. The stage is set. The college football playoffs are here. Every snap, every Drive, every touchdown. DraftKings Sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live betting puts you right at the center of the action. As I'll say in my open I don't know how anyone's going to pick against Indiana now. You want to take the points, go ahead the rematch. Oregon's already played them. Maybe you're going with that part of it. But if you've watched all of this stuff and look, this is the fun part of it, it's like, hey, maybe I'll just pick an upset. So I don't know if I'll work myself there in the next week or so. But after getting done with those first four games, you're like, why would anyone actually want to pick anyone against Indiana? From what we saw in the open, from real wagers to season ending thrillers, DraftKings keeps you in the game from kickoff to the final whistle. New customers bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use the code Ryan Ryen. That's code Ryan Ryen to turn five bucks into 200 bucks in bonus bets. If your bet wins in partnership with DraftKings, the Crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 8778-HOPENY or text hopeny467 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Kansas. Pass through of per wager tax may apply in Illinois 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days. Minimum odds required for additional terms and responsible gaming resources. See DKNG CO Audio limited time offer. I could talk about that Sugar bowl all day, all weekend. I don't. I'm not going to do that to you. That was an incredible game to close out the playoff games late last night, but I think we all need to start in Indiana. Not the Rose bowl where Indiana humiliated Alabama, but what we're looking at here with this team. You know, it's funny, for all the energy that I had that was very negative towards Indiana last year, I think after that Oregon game, if you've listened to this podcast, it's probably not even the same. I don't know that I love when people say, like, you're going to have that same energy for terrible point being made. But however, I felt like about them not being real, I felt after that Oregon game about this team being real and you want the all time exclamation point. And look, there's still a lot of work to do here. And I sit here and go like, what if this team is 16 and oh, are they going to go 16 and oh? Because that's the way it feels right now, right? That's the way this team feels. I have a hard time seeing a scenario where I talk myself back into picking anyone against them. We could talk the rematch and Oregon, they'll be more comfortable with them. That's the part of it that sort of sucks for Indiana and Oregon and the Big Ten on top of everything else. But whatever. I mean, this is a bracket, right? Just like when I picked Indiana to be duke in the 02 bracket and people laughed at me. So there's actually. I don't know if I'm gonna buy the candy striped pants today because I know what I said in 24, so I probably shouldn't order those pants. But I cannot say, like, I could just say it over and over again. The amount of respect that I have for Indiana's football program is off the fucking charts. Because here's the other thing with this, you could say, oh, well, it's nil. And this is this and all that stuff. It's like, yeah, but the. Still the composite rankings of this talent coming out of high school, this roster is ranked behind Boston college even in 25. And a lot can be fixed with a guy like Mendoza, who might be the number one overall pick. But there's an argument to be made that Signetti doesn't even really have this thing rolling yet. You know, we talk about pounds that, that corner that just blasted Simpson, the guy who played in high school with Jeremiah smith, he's like 5, 9, 17 or something like that. Pons is like, well, you know, there's some other places that offer me, but Signetti is the only one that gave me a chance. So I left JMU and I came over here and you're like, this isn't, this isn't the five star guy deciding get me the hell out of Auburn. So this roster, like, yeah, it's, it's impressive and they're well coached, but it's still not even like a fully form. Imagine they win a national championship and what the hell this guy's going to be able to do from a talent standpoint. And it's funny too because last year, like I've been paying attention to the stuff that Signetti said after these big wins after the Ohio State win, after the just demolition of Alabama. And I think last year it was almost if he was having more fun just going like, I don't even know if we're really this good. And then we found out that they weren't. And it's like, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna do a bunch of this stuff. And look, I know some people defend it and go like, hey, it's just like Lane Kiffin. Well, when Lane Kiffin was doing in Tennessee, I didn't like it either because I don't like when it's just not true when you're making some of these arguments. And now he doesn't even need to say anything because the truth is out on the football field. So I don't know if he's enjoying the moment or he's realizing like, hey, this goes from like upstart upsetting the national media, like, who gives a shit? It's 24, like Indiana footballs in the playoffs and we lost in Notre Dame. Like, it's not that big of a deal. Like, what a, what a great story. Now it's like I'm two wins away from winning a national championship. So it feels like he's actually. Because when I was watching him in 24, I'm like, he's going to be the worst if they actually start winning. And they are winning and they're taking out the Blue Bloods. And it actually feels like he's a bit more reserved or if he's enjoying or realizing like how big of a deal this whole thing is. And then you've got Mendoza, who look, I just want to run through three throws. The third and two. You see the end zone shot. There's pressure to his right. He gets away from the pressure. Then he has to throw it back inside to his left to Surrat and there's all sorts of traffic all over the place. I know it's only for a few yards, but it moves the sticks. They were going to be punting from the 11. Great throw. The third and eighth throw on the blitz to Becker for the touchdown. A third and eight where he had a 38 yard hit to Cooper that put him up 38. Three. It doesn't matter. I think the best thing about Mendoza isn't just those throws is like were sort of like examining the personalities of who some of these top picks are. If Mendoza were to DM an only fans girl on Instagram, he may just be asking her if she wants this life. So I think that's safe. Bama, we'll get to them. Miami, they both beat up Ohio State and if you want to get cute with the scoring of it, which I'm known to do from time to time, you're like, all right, well it's 14 nothing. Ohio State seems to settle down. They come out of the halftime, it's 1470. You're like, you know, they missed a field goal. They gave him six on the pick six, which was one of the best reads of a bubble screen I've ever seen in college football where the Miami defender just absolutely is like, you guys want to sit here and pretend you're going to get set and block me? Like I'm just jumping on this thing and reading it. The physical nature of what happened to the O line and D line stuff, like it was both an ass kicking and then there was a score element of it where I'm like, God, this feels just like the Indiana game where Ohio State's in this. If they kick that field goal, they tie it up right in the Big Ten championship game. Yet just like the Indiana game, the entire time of watching it, I'm like, Indiana's better, right? Same as the Indiana win against Oregon. You're like, all right, it's 2020, Indiana's better. Or at least they've been better on this day. And even though it's a one score game, you're like, miami's just better than them. The crazy thing about Miami throughout this, this two game run and why I know I wouldn't have been picking them to win the whole thing is because of Carson Beck. And yeah, I know, like I've heard the arguments about how it's been a little bit better, but he hasn't even had to do anything. It's the punt return and the end around from Tony in the A and M game. He had, Beck had. You know, you want to get cute with it and kind of play the results like, oh, there's a throw here, there's a throw here. Honestly, Beck's two big runs in the Ohio State game might have been more important. Maybe that one run, more important than any single throw that he had the entire day. His two games he's thrown for 301 yards combined. They haven't even. I don't know what's scary, that the bad Beck part is coming or that they haven't even had to have, like, the great Beck. And now they're in the national semifinal. So I think there's a part of us, too. Seeing Miami in the Final Four where you're like, I know it sucks for Notre Dame, but I'm kind of glad this team got invited to the dance. Oregon, who I would have had third. If I were on the playoff committee, I would have had him third. I know you can't do that. You want to spread around the love a little bit geographically. But I thought they were the third best team, which means I thought the three best teams coming out of the regular season, of the conference championship games were all Big Ten teams. They dominated Texas Tech and they also didn't dominate Texas tech. Tech had 88 yards in the first half. 50 of those yards were on a broken run play where it looked like he was going to be tackled for a loss twice and then broken 50 yards. So that means everything else, everything else detected in the first half added up to 38 yards. Not great, Bob. Oregon was 2 of 11 on first down in the first half. They were 4 of 19 for the entire game. So both dominated and didn't dominate. And they got the late touchdown there as Lanning, I guess, wanted to send a message. You could also just argue the clock like, hey, we're not supposed to kick the field goal in this spot. So Texas Tech can't do anything on offense the entire time, despite having this defense where I can't wait to talk to Daniel Jeremiah about David Bailey and his day, because this was like one of those, it'll be a lost thing. They lost the game. Nobody's going to care about Texas Tech moving forward. But what that defense did, what that front did, was special. But when you can't throw the football, you can't run the football. And you give it away four times. That's how you lose. 23, zip the Sugar bowl, the three. Trinidad Chambers plays the Drive that. I may remind the audience once a year about this drive, because what he did, as you know, nice early old Miss kicking some field goals. Georgia responds. Ole Miss responds. And then it's like a fumble. And you're like, all right, we're going to the half. Georgia has settled things down. I did not think Georgia was going to lose this football game. I just didn't think. If you looked at the defensive rankings and what's happened throughout the entire year, like, there was all these different groupings that I would do with the playoff teams and be like, let's look at all these different teams and, like, who are the standouts in a bad boy? Who are the outliers? Like, hey, these are the teams that kind of run the football pretty well. Even though Miami, statistically on the season is, like, way behind the other three teams that are in the final Four. I ran through that stuff with Danny Cannell, opposing yards per play, and you're like, dude, Ole Miss is so much worse than all the other teams. So, again, I am shocked. But this drive by Chambliss, like, when if this stuff's going to happen, you get a chance to win some football games. Second and eleven is the play where it looks like he's going to get destroyed and blindsided. He's running away from one pressure and turning back into some other pressure. Somehow gets out of that and. And then just flips it like a guy throwing a towel into a bin at the gym. Except Chambliss hits this one. That's Delacy. It's short. It's only for 4 yards because it looked like Lacy ran for the first time. So we still have a third and seven. He rolls all the way back to basically the goal line. I think he's right in front of it, if you want to get technical with me here. He clears all of this pressure where you're thinking, like, hey, he's going to get sacked. It's going to be fourth in a million. Like, this is it. This might be the game right here, right? And that's what it felt like. Three plays in a row. We're like, hey, this might be the game. He hits Lacy again. It's a huge buddy pass. Bolden hits him so hard. That's actually shy of the sticks. Lacy's so big. He's such a physical presence. How strong is that guy to not crumble on that hit? And Bolden actually gets hurt on his shoulder, which is like the second guy George had lost in the secondary. I don't know how much that had to do with the outcome of this game. And so now that ends up being a first down because he still has to fight for the first town despite it looking like he may be in his own end zone. On trying to escape all of this pressure. Like, Fran Tarkin was like, chill out a little bit, right? The next play, he escapes again. The right guard gets absolutely destroyed on this play. He rolls out to his right, but he's in such a rhythm now, he hits Wallace for 44 yards. Those three plays are like. Ole Miss fans are going to remember those three plays the rest of their lives. So the crazy thing about those plays, though, is they end up getting the touchdown. And then Kirby Smart had a decision to make where he's at his own 33 on 4th and 2. And there was really only one drive where I felt like George's offensive line was establishing itself in a way where you're like, okay, this is starting to look like Georgia football. Like, I don't trust Stockton a ton. He's going to make some throws. He's going to miss some other reads. He had a couple reads where I'm like, he's just. He's just not going to see the field as well as maybe you would need him to to, you know, get through this game. Clearly not because they lost it, right, Even if they tied it up late. But this decision on 4th and 2 at your own 33, and you're like, okay, what's going into this decision? Because part of me is thinking, like, why are you going for in a fourth and two? Chambers just had to do all of this ridiculous stuff just to keep that possession alive. Like, you're okay. There's still a lot of time left. You're okay. Or does Kirby Smart go, that fucking guy's on the other side of the field. Like, I don't want him getting the ball again because now it doesn't even really matter. Even if our pass rush is winning some of their individual matchups. We're not closing. We're winning the, you know, we're getting through the trench part of it, but we're actually not taking the castle here because this guy is just on an absolute heater. Receivers all over the place. I mean, look, it could have been even better for Chambers. He had two huge drops in this game. So, look, I. This decision, I understood way more than DeBoer's decision, where it's like, you're down three nothing. And you're already going to go for it. And you decide to come out punt formation. You decide to try to get cute with the whole thing. You know you can't run right at anybody, but haven't been able to do it all year long. So now you're going to have to do some end around things. So if you go to the edges against Indiana, like, good luck. And then it's like, oh, now Indiana has a short field. I understood the Kirby one more, even if I didn't like that one. But maybe he was just so scared of Chambers, he's like, I don't, I don't want to do this. So 20 points in the fourth quarter for Ole Miss. Which I thought was very interesting considering when Ole Miss blew the game in Athens during the regular season, it was a 170 run against Georgia. A Georgia team that scored every single time that they had the football did not punt that regular season matchup. And Ole Miss threw all of the nonsense that they've had to deal with that is not of their own doing with Elaine Kiffin. Part of this a kind of win where I think if you're just a neutral fan at home, you're probably brooding for Ole Miss. So what does this all mean? Let's try to summarize where we're at right now with four teams left in college football. Bama frauds, Ohio State frauds, Tech frauds. It's not my favorite exercise. We do it every year. We'll never stop doing it. The irony of this being a pro Notre Dame argument somehow that these other teams, I mean, clearly Tech and Ohio State, we're going to be in no matter what. Bama. Everybody hates Bama. If you don't like Bama, you hate Bama. So I understand the conversation around it. It is kind of funny though, that it's kind of baked into this Notre Dame casserole where it's like, you do realize that when it was a 14 playoff and Notre Dame got in a couple times after they get their ass kicked, everybody's like, well, they should have been in it. Either. We're going to do it forever. There's no point me wasting any time on this. Ohio State 1, they won. They were 12. And oh, before they lost Indiana. And yeah, it looked the same as it did against Indiana, as it did against Miami. You know, whatever my issues are with some of those stretches in the Big Ten scheduling, give me a break, right? Same thing with the Big 12 and tech. Like, they should have been in this. I don't Know, I, I, maybe it's just a lot of people watching it for the first time and maybe it's the recency bias of all of this stuff. Okay, the drop off post. Saban, we knew it was going to happen because you were asking it to. You were asking to maintain the greatest run in the history of college football. But it does for Indiana to do it against Bama is like, is this, this changing of the guard thing, right? You have Miami almost, what, 20, 23 years later against Ohio State, after that pass interference call, you have Ole Miss, which is probably my least favorite of the top four supposed SEC contenders. And now they're the only team left standing without their head coach. Now there's also a conversation around the buys. What do the buys mean in this new system with 12 teams going into the Indiana game early, early over here on the west coast, the buy teams were 0 and 5, right? And as soon as I started hearing that thing thrown around a little bit more and more because Ohio State got, you know, run over by Miami, you're like, is this something right? Because what I say all the time, like, not everything is something. I thought it was really interesting during the broadcast last night when they were talking about Kirby Smart and they were talking about Georgia and McElroy, who's awesome, you know, I went on his pod, love the guy. But he said, you know, you look at Georgia, 90, over 90% of the roster is from high school. There's a culture here, you know, they get it. You're like, you want to think Dabo's at home watching the game, being like, yeah, you know, because Georgia wins. Up until last night, an incredible run here by Kirby Smart. 117 and 20 now 117 and 21. It's like, yeah, you know, he just, we don't want to do all that portal stuff because, you know, we want the guys that in, like when you win, that's something that works. And then if you're losing, it's like, how come you're not dipping your toes into the portal, right? So when I, when I looked at the, the record, the first thing I thought of when I, when I heard the record being thrown around, I was like, okay. But I'm like, Texas was a 13 and a half point favorite against Arizona State, the by team last year. Ohio State was actually a favorite in the rematch against Oregon when they just ran them. You want to talk about an ass kick. Penn State was a 12 and a half point favorite against Boise State and Notre Dame was actually one and a half point Favorite against Georgia in that game. That one swung that one. That number kind of swung a little bit. So last year the buy teams that all lost were all dogs in 24. But I never, I like I was listening to it going, why this isn't that hard. Why is no one talking about that part of it? So then Indiana wins and then you're back to the Texas Tech Oregon line, which. All right, text the buy team. Oregon was favored throughout. It did apparently flip at a lot of places where it ended up being Tech one and a half. So does it hurt my record argument?
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No.
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I think a reasonable person goes, hey, that was kind of a coin toss deal there. And I think a lot of us actually still liked Oregon better than Texas Tech going into that game. And then you have last night, we're Ole Miss, I think. I don't know if it closed at 6, but it was 6 for much of the week. Georgia was favored by 6. So maybe we have something because you've got two teams here where it's Indiana winning whatever you want to do with the Texas Tech part of this. And then the rest of them are the bye week losers. I know if you ask the coaches who lose, they're going to tell you the bye week is a huge problem because that's what coaches do. They're going to tell you the fucking portal sucks. They're going to tell you the nil sucks unless it helps them tell you signing days on the wrong day. So if you talk to the losing coaches, I think in this case the losing coaches would be the worst possible source on any of this stuff. And it's like, hey, let's give it a little bit more time before we just start deciding that the buy is this massive, massive disadvantage. Because basically all the 24 data tells you, yeah, those teams like two of them, that's 26 points worth of spreads in two of those games. All right, final thought. The SEC's had a disastrous bowl season. They actually had a terrible heads up bowl season with the Big Ten last year. I know I'm Mr. Stubborn Guy and I know I've been banging the drum in the SEC thing here forever. When Michigan won the first Big Ten title in over 10 years and we start talking about like conferences and the hierarchy of this whole thing, you're like, well look, if you just won your first one in 10 years, give me a fucking break. Like now you get the belt. But there was just so much anti SEC stuff out there from so many other different corners that it was like, I don't Even care if it's true or not. I just want to say it because screw those guys, which again, I totally understand that's kind of what everybody's doing here. But I didn't like any of the contenders when the season closed. I did love the depth of conference, which I beat you over the head with. On and on and on. Again, there's part of me that wonders like going into 26, if I'll look at different schedules and I'll look at some of the rosters, I'll be like, look, I still think that that's a different challenge. Like this Big Ten team's going to have like these four or five games. Like, I just don't think that's necessarily the same. But going on the overall standard, the standard that I always held the SEC to was like, if you're telling me that four teams, seven straight titles, like what other conference, why are we even talking about this shit? Well, the Big Ten's on the doorstep of doing this. Not seven straight years, but my whole argument of like, could you get to four teams in the Big Ten? Now granted, they expand so you throw an SC in their history and I don't want to just count every team that's ever won a national championship because prior to the expansion of the Big Ten, I think you could do Ohio State, you could do Michigan, I guess you're supposed to do Penn State. That feels like a bit of a reach. Michigan State was probably a better option considering what they were doing a few years ago. But now you have however you want to categorize those teams. Washington being in a national championship final, SC and then obviously the Oregon. Part of this is very real is they played in two title games and they've been on like a 15 year stretch of really, really high end football without the national championship. If it's Indiana or Oregon and it's three different teams in three straight years on top of what the Big Ten did to the SEC in the heads up matchups last year. I will tell you I am rattled by the Tennessee Illinois result. Right. I guess maybe Tennessee wasn't as good as I thought they were going to be. We can get an opt outs and all that kind of stuff. I don't know. Illinois had a couple, I guess Tennessee had six. But Vandy loses their game. Missouri loses their game. It's a bad bowl record. It's a bad bowl record. The Big Ten bowl record's been terrific here and that's why you could say, hey, welcome. Welcome to what everybody else was saying. This Entire time, which I totally understand. But I also think the motivation of some of the people that were saying, it's like, you know, look, I love Danny, but he came on and I was like, so basically you're saying everything that didn't matter for 10 years, you're now saying is like the thing that matters. Like, I guess I just never. I'd rather be wrong than full of shit is what I'm telling you. And in this case, the standard again, the standard that I hold any of this to. And no one's going to care about the power four head to head record during the regular season because the Bulls kind of stand out a little bit more. And I'm telling you right now, too, like, I'll bring it up with danger. Jeremiah. If Texas had lost that game to Michigan, I'm like, you know, because of all the games that I was looking at, I was like, all right, well, the SEC will win that game. They'll win this game. And this is like two years now with this stuff. And it isn't just about opt outs and any of this stuff. So, yeah, whether it's the changing of the guard in the Ohio State, Miami, the Ole Miss, Georgia, and certainly what Indiana did to Alabama, like, we're, we're right there where it's going to be really hard for any of us that are so pro SEC like you, we're going to have to keep our private chats private. Right? Because there's just. No, there's no way with the evidence of the last year. Plus now, on top of following what Michigan did, there's just, it's going to be a really hard argument to make. You're going to have the least amount of evidence that you've ever had when you're arguing in favor of the sec. The Big Shack is out now and it's a serious burger. We're talking two Angus beef patties, three buns, new secret sauce. It's stacked, balanced and built the right way. You get everything you expect from Shake Shack. Fresh ingredients, that toasted potato bun and sauce that pulls the whole thing together. It's big, it's fresh and it's legit. One of their best burgers yet. You know what I love about a burger is that when you make it through the holidays and everybody's gearing up and they're like, oh, we're going to do this and it's going to be kind of like Thanksgiving Part 2 and got to make sure we have all these things, there's kind of nothing that resets you like a cheeseburger. It makes you just go, all right, we got through it all. You know, some gifts were great. Some gifts answer dreams, and some gifts make you wonder if this person even knows you. And the gift you can give yourself because you know yourself better than anyone else is a cheeseburger. Once you make it to that finish line. If you've been waiting to see what all the hype's about, today's the day. Go to Shake Shack and order the big Shack. Sounds familiar. Made different. Let's keep talking some football. One of our favorites, Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network analyst, the host of the Move the Sticks podcast along with Bucky Brooks, available wherever you listen to podcasts. And we're going to start gearing up. It's his time. So we'll do some NFL on the back end. But I want to start with the bowl games and kind of where we're at with college football. But I think we have to start with Indiana. It's where I started the show today. This is, you know, somebody was trying to figure out like any kind of comp and I, and I thought, it's not my original thought, but somebody pointing out Calhoun and Stores where you could argue stores, makes Bloomington look like Beverly Hills. But, you know, here we are year two where last year was kind of like fun, but I'm like, I don't know that they're any good. And to see what they've done now to close out against Ohio State, humiliate Alabama. What do you see when you watch them play?
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Well, it took a longer period of time, but if you had asked anybody like the pre Harbaugh Stanford stuff and said like Stanford would ever be relevant, much less like winning Rose bowls and you know, a powerhouse program, nobody would have believed it because it was, that was, they were so far away from there now. It took him a couple years to get there. So that's why this one I got, I have no comp. I mean, I know people have talked about different sports, sports and trying to find things, but to immediately do this, you know, the success ad last year and then this year I've got, I've got nothing for it. And it's not even like as much as I love like the, the Boise teams, it felt like, okay, they punched up and it was the Statue of Liberty and it was okay. They got some good front seven players, NFL players, but it was like they were just out scheming teams. And coach Pete was kind of ahead of his, ahead of the curve there. This is like we're Gonna do what you guys have always done as the Blue Bloods, and we're gonna come here, we're run the ball 50 times and just push you off the line of scrimmage and completely dominate you. No frills. There was nothing schematically that was, you know, you're watching the game like, oh, my gosh, this innovative thing that they're doing, they went and beat them at their own game and just physically dominated them. So I, I have no, no comparison for it, but the takeaway that I had when I was watching it was. And I posted this, it was from some of these other games to Miami especially was, I think that one of the things that we don't discuss, it doesn't show up in box scores is like the physicality of the tackling from Indiana and Miami in those two games. Like, there's a difference between just rapping and dragging a guy and getting them on the ground versus just like violent, violent collision after violent collision after violent collision. Like they were playing at a different physicality.
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Those two teams, yeah, Miami especially, like just an O line, D line showcase. And you know, they were saying, like, hey, you know, that's the whole point. It was the whole point of, of all those great SEC teams. It's like, you know, you might have like one or two guys, but like we're expecting to have in like, Miami, you can argue they're not even rotating as many guys in as maybe some of the other schools. Indiana's down a guy on top of everything else. So I just would like to find a way for the people listening and even for myself, like, when you see great coaching, now we can talk about the fourth down discipline. When DeBoer is deciding to go for it that early, where he's like, okay, well, we know we can't run it at you, so we're going to line up and then there's going to be a timeout and then we're actually going to have Simpson come out with a punt team. But that means we're actually going for this whole thing. So, like, we could point to that. And I think that's what you do on tv. Tv where you're like, look at that discipline from Indiana. Like, only one penalty. Like, this is. This is a team. Like, they didn't fall for any of that stuff. Is there a greater understanding of, like, when you were evaluating or you're doing it now? We were like, these are these indicators of how, how special a job a coach is doing with how his team executes on a Saturday I would just.
- [29:55]
C
Say that the poise. There was no. When you're watching on tv, obviously you don't have the mics, you can't hear everything, but there just. No. There's no panic. There's no poise. There's a very comfortable ease which. With. With which they're playing. And it could be on the offensive side of the ball where they're giving you an exotic look. And he even admitted, look, the first series, Alabama kind of. They. They confused him a little bit with how aggressive that they were, and they very calmly just kind of adjusted to that, sorted that out, picked it up. But there was no frantic behavior. There wasn't anything defensively where they saw a look and you saw just this frantic communication. It was just very, very calm, under control. They knew. They knew what. What they were looking for. They played their keys and they just played their scheme and it was nothing. They. They didn't have to do anything special. They. They keep using this phrase. I've heard of several other guys use it, like kind of the. The 1 11th. Hey, we just gotta do one. 1 11th of the job here to do kind of the Patriots way of do your job. But that's what it looks like. Everybody's just kind of locked in, focused in their own little world and their own little assignment, and they're all executing at a crazy high level. I. The other thing with them is, Ryan, when you watch them, like, every single Indiana run or catch, like it didn't matter if it was a receiver, running back, tight end, like, every time they're going forward. How many times you watching these games over this last weekend, and you're seeing so many teams try and get east and west with the ball. Like everything with Indiana, as soon as they get the ball in their hands, everything, they're getting those. Those. Those extra yards, just getting north and south, they're always falling forward. That was one of the little takeaways I had when I was watching. It was like, there's not a lot of east and west with that team.
- [31:23]
A
Let's talk about Mendoza because, you know, there was a few throws that jumped out beyond his Heisman season, so it's not like this is news, but second possession, third and two, he's backed up. They're going to be punting from the 11 and there's all sorts of traffic. And to see the end zone shot of that, to see how athletic that throw was for only a few yards, but it moves the sticks. The Becker touchdown, where you could argue, well, hey, that's an Easy throw because the safety's cleared out on the underneath route. But he still is facing pressure and he has to like know there's one thing that I'm looking for on the Cooper route underneath and if I get that clearing, then I know I can rip this ball. But the pressure doesn't rattle him whatsoever. And then there's the third and eighth throw later on in the game and the game's over. But there are, there are throws with him and I think the mental toughness and the, and the lack of being rattled is something you see all year long. I thought the throw against Iowa to win that game was just such a huge spot because it was kind of like a letdown game and everything. The Oregon response after the pick six, what he had to do on that last drive against Penn State, taking the shot against Ohio State, I mean these are things that we've all talked about. But there was just a few throws through the course of a game where it never felt like a high leverage throw because the score is so one sided. But I wonder when you watch him if it's about getting excited about the best options for 26 or if this is about Mendoza being special in comparison to some of the other guys that are in the argument for number one pick. Historically.
- [32:56]
C
No, I think he's really good. And the comp that I've come back to is just the kind of the Matt Ryan comp of if you were just to evaluate all of his individual skills, they might not blow you away, but the combination of the toughness, the accuracy, the ability to make plays in the clutch late in games felt a lot like what you saw with Matt Ryan coming out of college. And then you knew he was incredibly smart, he was prepared, like all that stuff, he checks all those boxes. So I was comfortable before even that game of saying like he's, he's worthy of being the number one overall pick. And I think he's, he's, he's ready to go. He can come in and hit the ground running and be a up and running, functional starting quarterback. Now I didn't think he's going to be a top five quarterback in the NFL. Like maybe you could say about some of these other guys. You could dream on, you know, Caleb came out, you could say that, you know, burrow with what you saw from him. You're like, okay, this is elite, elite stuff. But I think this guy's plenty capable of being a top third in the league, NFL quarterback. And then this game was kind of, you know, just a highlight of all those things. I like to go back and watch all the third and seven plus throws because with him, when you're watching a lot of stuff during the regular season, you'll see a ton of RPOs, a lot of first read throws. But when you cut through that and you go to the third and seven plus reel and you watch those, you know, 60ish throws and you see everything you need to see. With his ability to, you know, sort coverage, his ability to get up and down with throws in the middle of the field, his ability to drive the ball into smaller windows, it's all in there, man. If you watch all of his stuff before this game, you can see everything.
- [34:30]
A
Well, I liked your third and seven things so much because that's basically been my thing. I retweeted it, I saw it yesterday, A couple people hit me up and I'm like, yeah, this is, this is really what it is. Like we can watch all day on Saturday, but then once you're outside of the system and all of the things that, that are kind of constructed for a lot of these quarterbacks to put up huge numbers, big touchdowns, you know, some of the best programs in college football, whether you're watching, I be like, I don't know, I don't know if that's a pro quarterback, you know, and I struggle with it all the time. What do you see when you rip up just the edits of the third and long guys? Like, is there somebody that maybe would surprise people? Like, you know, who I actually really like is this guy.
- [35:07]
C
Not, you know, I've only done it. I've only done that full workup on him and more at this point in time.
- [35:12]
A
Oh, that's once.
- [35:13]
C
Yeah. Once we get. Because this, at this point in time. Right. My first thing I've got to do is come up with a top 50. And in like, I think I have like 17, 18 days and I got to pump out a top 50. So I call around every team, you know, all my buddies with teams, give me top 50 candidates, we'll go through all the positions and literally I have not had one other quarterback in this class that's been mentioned as a top 50 pick. So I mean, that's so not more. No, well, yeah, him and more so him and more. So I've done those two guys. The third one that came up with everybody was Sorsby, but it's, you know, it sounds like he's, he's portal shopping and he's, you know, going to stay in school. So that was the only Other one that was mentioned to me as someone that was even a consideration as a top 50 pick, now maybe somebody will emerge and who knows what Shambliss is doing coming down the stretch, even though he's undersized, if that, you know, obviously I'll get to him and do all these guys before we get to the combine. But you know, as of, as of this moment in time, you know, talking to guys around the league, that was not the expectation. So I'm trying to prioritize who I watch during this part of the, Part of the process. So Those are the two QBs I've given kind of the full workup to.
- [36:20]
A
Want to talk a little sec, Big Ten? I, as I point out in the open, I'm like, okay, well, when you have this many teams that could all win national championships and now we're on the doorstep of potentially a third straight Big Ten team winning a championship, and then, you know, the default's kind of like the draft stuff, and you're like, well, okay, you know, And I think I'd probably still be a little stubborn even going into the next fall, looking at some of the schedules being like, hey, I just think. But I'll admit, like, there's times maybe I am falling in love with the jersey a little bit. The bowl records have been disastrous for the SEC the last couple of years, especially in those Big Ten matchups from a talent standpoint, like, let me, let me run something at you here, because I know you haven't, and I want the listeners and I, I don't want to put you on the spot of something where you basically just started doing the real work, where you have to start listing all this stuff. I'm going to give you a little exercise here.
- [37:10]
C
Yeah.
- [37:11]
A
How many, how many SEC players do you think are in mel Kuiper's top 25?
- [37:18]
C
Oh, gosh. My guess, SEC players, top 25. I'm going to say it's not as high as you think, so I'll. I'll say top 25. There's. I'll go eight.
- [37:31]
A
Five.
- [37:32]
C
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Just watch the games. Like, just. Even if you don't, not even living in the draft space, you would.
- [37:38]
A
You can see that the rankings are insane. The highest ranked guy is. Is Tennessee's McCoy.
- [37:44]
C
Yeah.
- [37:45]
A
13Th, 13, 16, 22, 23, 25.
- [37:49]
C
But they got some underclassmen now. Like, there's some freak show underclassmen. The 27 draft is gonna like. If anybody wants to just run away with that narrative, just wait a year and then look at what's coming in 27 flip back, right?
- [38:01]
A
Which, which is also like part of the point too is like those guys are also playing in, in games at 25. But look, man, I mean, all the standards, the standards that I have for like which conference is the best the Big Ten is. Look, in some people's eyes, they'd say that the shift has already happened. Where are you with that?
- [38:19]
C
I would say if you look at just this playoff specifically, and I told you, just watch the games. What, what tell me. Look at the defensive lines. Let's first Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss. That like you're, you're watching these games and you're going, I hope they can bat a pass. Like, hopefully they can bat a pat. They can't get there. They're never going to get home. So maybe they can get a finger on the ball, bat a ball down. Then you turn around, you watch Miami's front, Texas Tech. I thought Texas Tech's front was the most impressive, even more impressive than Miami's even. And they lost that game. Oregon's front like these. The, the defensive line which used to be so dominant in the SEC and it was waves. And just think about Georgia a few years ago, like you're getting guys rot rotating in that are elite, elite players. That to me is the biggest difference is the Big Ten has better D line play right now. And you can make a case that Miami of the ACC's elite, elite and, and Tech out of the ACC was elite, elite didn't have that this year. I mean, Auburn's group was really, really good. You know, that's a good defensive line. Their team wasn't any good. But that to me is the biggest difference, is that those defensive linemen who used to all be in the SEC have now spread out over college football. And I think the top of the Big Ten is clearly better than the top of the SEC and has been for a few years. And the argument has been, well, yeah, but the depth, you know, every week in the sec you got to play somebody. I'm like, well, that's really shown itself out when these teams end up running into each other. And then on top of that, I'm looking at. When you look at Matt Campbell going to Penn State, who I think is going to. Is going to win there, Fitzgerald going to Michigan State, they're going to be better. And then Kyle Whittingham, who's a certified, you know, stud going to Michigan, they're going to be physical and good. Like, I don't know if that depth argument's going to hold up as we go forward either.
- [40:02]
A
Yeah, I think all of that stuff's really fair because this run through the bowl season, like the Tennessee, Illinois game rattled me a bit because I was always big on like, well, you know what, Tennessee's got those four losses, but let's go through the losses. Let's go through all the different situations. Although Vandy running away from them should have been maybe the wake up call. It's like, hey man, maybe you should get off this whole Aguilar receiver depth thing. And they're running back that it's just not good enough to carry them. And I know they had the opt outs but you know, look, I, there's, you know, some people would say, hey, it's already happened and you're late. It's just hard for me to be like after they win the first one with Michigan, after a 10 year gap, that it's like, okay, well here you go. It is now yours. The quarter. You could get into like the quarterback play of like two years ago, but I'm with you at least on the title contenders this year. Like I thought the top three teams in the country even ahead of Tech, we're all Big Ten teams. But then I was like, you know, the rest of it though, I'm just not quite that sure. Look, if Michigan had beaten Texas, I would have just given up my whole open of the show today would have been like, I can't. Like if Michigan had won that game, I would have said, all right, you just had a bad, you had a rough 25 or so.
- [41:08]
C
Like just if Biff pulls that thing out, you are, you don't know how you get over that one, huh?
- [41:14]
A
I'm watching the game. I mean there's that Underwood throw that he has to the tight end where he's rolling out to the left side and the tight end is literally like touching him.
- [41:21]
C
Yeah.
- [41:22]
A
And I'm like, what? Because I, again I was not a huge. I think it's the tight end because. Yeah, because then the tight end goes down and he's, look, he's on the sideline being like, what were you trying. You hate me? I gotta, I gotta find that cut up. I'm gonna send it to you. I'm glad you brought up Texas tax front because you know, whether it's people like in Mecidor or Bain or that combination, what David Bailey did, and I'll admit too, like I didn't even want to say it to Joey McGuire when we had him on, but like the push for Jacob Rodriguez to be a Heisman finalist because there was a lot of stats in there, the fumble stuff was, was nuts. And he always felt like he was making these big plays. It was a good story for Tech. And I can't ask the head coach be like, hey, do you think it's kind of funny inside the building that Rodriguez has all the Heisman love and Bailey's like twice the player? Because what Bailey did yesterday and what that front did, like, that's the kind of performance again, we've seen it all year with this group, but they do it up against Oregon to try to keep them in the game somehow. I know you have a ton of work to do, but like, do you actually see yourself having a defensive player ranked ahead of him?
- [42:27]
C
So I had Reese over him just grade wise coming into, you know, I finished both those guys maybe three weeks ago and I was, I was having a conversation with an assistant GM and I was like, you know, I don't know how. Like, I know, you know, look, you got to take the whole thing into account. But I'm like, I can't unsee what I've seen from him there. And then with Reese with kind of the minimal impact. I know he had some tackles and he, you know, he was firm in that game against Miami, but you didn't feel him in that game. You didn't feel him in the Indiana game. Now he's all there and I don't know that I love the usage with Reese. I think they could, I'd rather have him just put him on the edge full time and cut him loose. I think you'd see more impact, but I don't know how. It's just like at the end of the day, like it is about how you play in the impact you make on the game. And Bailey out there with his, you know, with his shorts on and no gloves out there, like they, I mean, it stood out like a sore thumb. It was every single play. And my thing with him was he wins so much with speed and he wins right off the ball, which I'm huge on get off. I'll look at all the get off numbers as we go through it. He's got to be at the top when it comes to that. But to me, I didn't see as much speed to power with him. I thought Reese played with a little more power and then I watched. I'm like, well, forget that. I mean, you see, you saw him stabbing guys in the chest and walking them back. You saw him snatching and throwing dudes. I'm like, oh, that's all in there. This is not just someone who's an elite athlete with elite speed. Like, he played really, really violent in that game. So I think he's got a strong case to be the top defensive guy.
- [44:00]
A
What did you think of Moore? I know you have a lot of work to do there.
- [44:03]
C
Yeah.
- [44:04]
A
But, you know, he's. They'll probably be. I don't know if it'll be like a media creation thing or maybe it's a straight up, like, evaluation deal with it. But it'll feel like there's probably some more momentum and who knows, like these next couple games too, depending on how it all plays out. If it ends up being like Oregon winning a national championship and the bump that you get from all that kind of stuff. Um, yeah, I mean, look, you can tell me what you think personally the gap is, but I know the work isn't necessarily done either.
- [44:31]
C
Yeah. I mean, when I go through and look at my notes, I'll pull up some of them here. But he. Everything he does, like, if you're going to go on the positive side of him in the conversation versus Mendoza, everything he does is a little smoother, a little more fluid, where Mendoza can be a little bit rigid. You know, you'll see variety with more. He can do the arm angle thing, you know, some, some off platform stuff and. But then I'm like, well, that's also what makes Mendoza so good, is that he's always grounded, he's always on base and he's.
- [45:05]
D
That.
- [45:05]
C
That to me, is why he's tremendously accurate with more. I thought you'll. He, you know, we saw it with Shador a little bit. Obviously with an extreme case of someone who drifts, you'll see more drift around, float around in the pocket a little bit. I'd like to see him just be a little bit more precise. Get your cleats in the ground. I think that'll drive the ball more and be a little bit more consistent from that regard. There's not a lot of weight transfer, so it's just some mechanical stuff that he has there. And then, you know, look, he likes to throw the ball underneath, get the ball out and he's. He's good at all that stuff. He throws under the sticks a lot. Which to me, if you're a. If you're real confident in what you see and, and what you get, picture wise at the college level, you're not going to do that quite as much. You can attack a little Bit more. I didn't see that quite as much from him. I think there's a gap there. I just think he needs to play. You know, he didn't have the same number of starts. I think that was like his 18th start maybe the other day, 18th or 19th. So I've been an advocate for him saying I like him. I think he's a, he's a really good player. I just feel like Mendoza is way further along in the journey and to me that would be a classic case of hey, I'm sure Oregon could unload the Brinks truck to bring you back and give you a huge chunk of money. I think for the long term development of him, that'd be the right decision.
- [46:22]
A
Vegas has a game up on the Giants. But just say like hypothetical world, if you were the Giants, you're the number one pick and you've got dart. I mean we can talk about the trade but would there be any conversation about hey, we, we think Mendoza is just a little bit cleaner than this dart experiment.
- [46:38]
C
I would stick with dart. I, I think he's shown enough there and I think you could, you know, if you had that pick you could. The way Mendoza's coming down the home stretch, you could probably auction it off for a nice, a nice price there. But I think they're kind of down the dark road here and I think with his, you know, his athleticism he can, he can do some things Mendoza can't do from that standpoint. So yeah, Mendoza's a cleaner in the pocket quarterback at this point in time. But I think there's enough with dart. You've seen enough there. Once he has, you know, his guys back, neighbors especially that I think you keep rolling on that track.
- [47:13]
A
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- [49:29]
C
I think it's everything is matchups in the AFC because it's so, you know, I would say average. You know, they're without the standout team. So I go off of when I talk to these teams of who they want to see and who they don't want to see. And the number one team that teams don't want to see in the AFC is Houston. Except for like you know, the Jacksonville thing, they're comfortable. I think it's just the familiarity there that there's no, there's not the fear there that some of these other teams have. But everybody would have liked to, would like to avoid Houston, the only one that. And then you Talk about from Houston standpoint. Who does Houston not want to play? And everything you kind of get from this, not directly from the building there, but everybody's like, yeah, just Houston doesn't want to play Baltimore. Like, that's the only team like, is that they can nullify that, that Rush a little bit. Just hand the ball off to Henry. And I know they hammered Baltimore earlier this year. When Baltimore didn't have Lamar, who was starting at quarterback, it was. What's the name from the Cowboys, the old Cowboys backup, Cooper Rush. Cooper Rush, I think started that game and threw some picks. But so to me, it's, it's all like the matchups and nobody's, you know, everybody's. You talked a lot of folks around the league, and I think I'm in that boat with, with the Broncos, like, okay, it's a great defense, but it's a speed defense. There's a feeling like it's not the most physical, you know, violent group there, so you can, you can run the ball on them a little bit. When you get in the postseason, Bonix doesn't, I feel like you can, you can shrink everything on him a little bit, make him have to play over the top of you and take away that stuff. And they feel like you can match up with them from that standpoint. And then with New England, it's just, okay, the quarterback's unbelievable. He's going to likely win the mvp, but he's just never been in this situation before. And the supporting cast, where there's some pieces there, it's not, you know, it's not an elite, elite group, so the feeling is that you could catch them, too. So I, I, everybody's just like, get in, just get in, just get in. Just get in. Take your shot. See if you can get hot and.
- [51:17]
A
Go, yeah, that's right. Like, what is anybody, what should everyone be doing exactly that. Like, it should feel good no matter who you are, in a way, because maybe it is a matchup you like.
- [51:27]
C
But we used to bracket watch, though. Like, I, I just as someone who calls Charger games, and you'd be looking at it going like, okay, well, how long till we have to play Kansas City? You know, or even in a year when Burrow, like, how, how long can you avoid Cincinnati before you get a run into Joe Burrow? Like, there's not nobody. I don't really get the sense there's a whole lot of that right now. It's just like, hey, we'll go play whoever we got to play. Like, we'll we'll be okay. We'll have a shot.
- [51:50]
A
Yeah, that's how it feels. I mean, even with the Josh Allen factor of all of it were the easiest thing. I think there's just going to be a lot of people that would be like, you know what? Give me him. Yeah, it's like really like, you know, that defense is coming with him too. Right. And if you compare that defense even to a diminished Denver one, you know, who knows who's going to be out there and healthy available for New England. But, you know, the Houston defense, Jacksonville defense, like, that would make sense. The Houston offense, I think is an interesting conversation because, like, if you go through Stroud and you just blow up on the scene, the 23. 5 split on touchdown interception ratio. But the rest of the numbers for this year, this. There's an argument statistically this is the best year of his career. And if you really dig into it and go post that Monday night game against Seattle, like, he wasn't great against KC I know he's had the two picks in the Chargers matchup where they were kind of up, but, you know, he's been really good now for a while. Like, there's some. There's some terrific games in there. And the overall offensive stats, if you look at yards per play for Houston, they're 25th in the NFL. I mean, they're behind Pittsburgh by a decent margin here, but it feels like so much of that is being dragged down statistically by like the first half. So I'm wondering if they're a little bit more balanced and if there should be a little bit more faith in Stroud going into this tournament, then maybe there feels like there is.
- [53:08]
C
You know, I've been in the building in the playoffs when I saw him elevate too, and played a really high level. So I saw that in the Charger game where I think there was a lot of confidence on the Charger side of things going into that. And then he played great and he used his legs more. That, to me, is the key. I think when he, when he will, you know, he's a little bit of a reluctant runner when he adds that element. I think it gives them kind of that little missing piece that they need to kind of fill in around their offense. But honestly, I don't. I don't know anybody has a lower bar than he does going into the playoffs. Like, just make it. Make teams travel the distance. Make them travel the distance against your defense. Like, they can win a lot of playoff games, you know, 17 to 13, if they make teams travel. You know, the Charger game, being there for that one, you can't give short fields. That was it. They kept the Chargers in the game with those. With those two decisions. So to me, use his legs more in the postseason is a big part of the formula. And, you know, take. Take your shots when you get them over the top. They've got now with Higgins, especially coming on Noel, they got two young, fast, athletic guys to add into the mix with Nico Collins drawn so much coverage. Yeah, take your. Take a couple shots here and there. Outside of that, play a little more conservative. Let him run the ball and just. I mean, the defense is the. It's the most physical, violent defense that I've seen. I was going back to when, Remember when the Niners had Alden Smith, Justin Smith, Bowman, Willis, and it was like every single tackle was a car crash on the field. Like, that's what it feels like when you're. When you're studying that defense.
- [54:38]
A
Why do you think Jacksonville's turned this around? Like, what he's like is this the draft picks all. Because I was going through it the other day when I was watching one of the games, and it's funny, right, because when a team starts turning things around and there's a bunch of first and second rounders, you're like, well, look at all the draft picks. And you're like, well, if that were the case, then I mean, this would be a lot easier job for everybody here. So we could talk about Trevor's last month and Liam Cohen, but anything else that you talk to other people about when you discuss Jacksonville's ascent here?
- [55:09]
C
Well, I think on the psychology side of it, I just think he's. He's fixed the confidence issue with Trevor, who completely lost that. So I think that's the most important component. It's not anything you see on the, on the, on the film from that standpoint, but just talking to people around that building, that that's. That he's a different guy because he's just infused him with so much confidence. Seeing the way they do things, I. They mess with your eyes defensively. I saw it when he was with the Bucks last year as well. There's a physicality, and then when you add the physicality with some of the misdirection stuff and the way they kind of mess with your eyes at the second level of the defense, they get guys playing on their heels, and then they're. They're. They're finishing and moving guys with their group up front. So that, that, to Me has been the most impressive thing you've seen on that side of the ball. And then defensively, they have a lot of traitsy guys. Like there's a lot of, you know, have, you know, not necessarily the biggest names all the way across the board, but they're all real long, they're all real twitched up explosive and they've, you know, they've kind of just playing really well together. I definitely think it's a sum is greater than the individual parts when you look at it there. But man, they, I was there, they beat the stuffing out of the Chargers when I was in the building there and kind of turned around their whole season.
- [56:22]
A
Caleb, year two, what do you think?
- [56:24]
C
I think it's been fun, man. It's like my, it's one of my favorite things on a Monday is that's, you know, I have all the stuff I need to watch to get ready to do shows. And it's like, okay, I know we're going to talk about this other game more, but like the first game I want to watch is the Bears because I want to see how they're using him and what he's doing and to see those handful of plays he's going to make, which are just, you insane and ridiculous. And he's, he's continued to, you know, kind of maximize those, you know, where you're seeing a few more of those special plays and then he's minimizing some of the gross misses. He still has, he still has two of those. A game where you're like, oh man, that's where'd that come from? But it's not putting the ball in harm's way. So I think it's, I think it's ahead of schedule with where they are. And I think when you look around, if you looked around with like nucleus, like young nucleus on offense, not only do I think it's by far the best young nucleus on offense in the NFL, you can make a case it's maybe the best young nucleus we've seen. The Lions, where Ben Johnson was previously would have, you know, would be in that conversation with LaPorta and Gibbs and Omross St. Brown, but in terms of the sheer number of guys they've got, it's the best I've seen in a long time. Watching this group kind of grow together as we go forward.
- [57:33]
A
Can you see development from him on like, you know, I, I, when it's great, it's great, right? But when it's bad, I think all of us can tell when it's Bad. It's like a lack of confidence to rip and it's probably something where the guys upstairs in the box are like, come on.
- [57:49]
C
Yeah, it's there, right?
- [57:51]
A
Like, it was, it was there. Is that something? Like it's, it's always like one of these conversations. Like I was talking to an NBA scout the other day. We were talking about a player and you know, the default, and I think it's probably the same thing with you guys in your sport is that I'd rather have to tell somebody to calm down than have to rev them up. Right?
- [58:11]
C
Yeah. Oh yeah.
- [58:11]
A
Because if, if the person is just not up for it, then it's like, well, that's a really tough thing to fix. I'd rather you be a little chaotic or whatever. Quarterback maybe is a little bit more different. But do you think, do you think that there's something to like, hey, if I have to fix that, I'd rather have to fix getting him into year, you know, end of year two, whatever happens here in the playoffs, into year three. I'd rather have to fix that part of it where it's like, hey, you know, this first look, is there a little bit more than you realize as opposed to like the other limitations, other quarterbacks that we spend. Like, you know, look, I watched Bryce Young. It's a hell of a nice story. Great for the Panthers. I can't fathom him being a long term starter in the NFL and it's been three years. So I'd rather fix the Caleb stuff if I had to have something that I had to fix.
- [58:58]
C
Yeah, two things that we would always use the phrase, which was you'd rather reel in a thoroughbred than have to kick a donkey in the butt. Like that's, it's. You'd way rather do that. And do you remember the debate and the discussion when it was, do we stick with Justin Fields and go forward with Justin Fields or do we go with this Caleb Williams kid? You know, and I think you can look at it now and that's the clear example of what you're just referencing of how do we.
- [59:23]
D
Do we.
- [59:24]
C
Can we make Justin Fields more, more of an attack player? Can we get him to play more aggressive? Can we get him to push the ball, not hold the ball, not take sacks? And with Caleb you're like, okay, yeah, like he's, he's raw, but man, like he, he's. We're winning all these games late in games because he can make all these incredible throws. So all that stuff's all in there. We need to clean some stuff up. Like you said, there's some. There's some stuff. Just take the layup there. Take the easy wins that are provided for you. That's a lot, a lot to me, I'd much rather deal with that and, and try and clean that stuff up because I think you're going to win a lot more games. There's a. Both developmental paths. I think you're going to win a lot more games on the path they're on with the way Caleb plays.
- [60:05]
A
Do you have something that you've, like, evolved with, like, prioritizing, like. I. I'll just give you an example here. So it's a better way to set up kind of the discussion here. Not so much a question, but, you know, different times. Like, hey, I think an NFL team, if I could have like the most important thing besides the quarterbacks, like, I want this. And then it's like, well, maybe, maybe I don't want corners as much because of the way the game is called. And then it's like, well, maybe that means I actually do want. You know what I mean? Like, there's just different things that I think about in the years that I've talked about this sport where then I was like everybody else, where it's like, hey, you gotta pass on first down. You have to attack. That should be an attack down. You can't do run, run pass anymore. You know, it's. It's just too predictable. There's all sorts of numbers that tell you like, hey, first down, first down, first down. I don't know if it's the college game and watching Indiana run the football, watching Oregon run the football, watching Lacy last night for Ole Miss, you know, feeling like Georgia, you know, a Georgia team that normally can just line up and push you around when they need to. And it felt like there was really only one drive last night from Georgia where the offensive line felt like that they were really cooking. And then, you know, even though we were talking about some of the pass rush guys, there was consistent disruption, even if it wasn't necessarily leading to sacks for Stockton. So I thought that the O line, D line matchup. Surprisingly, Ole Miss hung in the fight the entire time. I think I'm back to like running the football guy now. And, and even the Miami numbers are a little weird in the college game, although Fletcher's come along here. I don't know if that means that now I'm going to just start going through this whole thing because I think sometimes it's a little overstated too, especially with the way the, the stadiums are built now, it's like, hey, you know, late in the playoffs you're going to have to run the football, you're going to have to do all this stuff. Like the weather factor is just not the same. It's not the same as when we grew up and you thought that that was the default thing that you always had to do. But I would say maybe college is influencing my overall football thought. But I'm starting to come back. I guess the statement is it's felt like a decade plus, but I'm starting to respect running the football again now in a way that I got, I got away from it. I got away from it and I'm embarrassed to admit it.
- [62:07]
C
Yeah, I mean it looks like if you close your eyes, it's kind of 90s football. You know, it looks like those old like cowboy teams and that's what's winning not just at the NFL level, but at the college level. And I think there's also the complimentary component to it, which is you want your defense to, you know, to play with the hair on fire and to get up the field and dominate the line of scrimmage. Well, you take some of those snaps off their hands, that, that sure helps. Again, I kind of reference just the Chargers a lot in this conversation because I've been around it. But I mean they, their tackles go down and they're having some struggles and then they just in the defense is okay. And then they just say we're going to play with extra offensive linemen, we're going to put the 300 pound fullback in there. We're going to run even just more about attempts than yards. And now the defense isn't out there as much. The defense is playing at an elite high, high level. You're not having to play your backup, you know, edge rushers as much because Khalil Max Fresh and Tui Poloto is fresh. So I think all that stuff kind of complements each other from one side to the next. And you can't watch these games, especially these college playoff games, and just look, it's all line of scrimmage. Like it's whoever's winning along the line of scrimmage. And then if you look at the receivers, you know, as much as we get infatuated with speed and separation, it feels like every guy making the catch is just, you know, it's a physical, tough receiver. Maybe you're going to be in more traffic in big games in the NFL, especially in the postseason. Like you got to be Able to play through contact down the field. You know, to me, the physicality and the toughness at the receiver position, you can go through a lot of these teams that have won Super Bowls over the last 15 years. You'll see that guys who are real, real strong, physical on the outside because the windows are not going to be as big as they are in the regular season.
- [63:47]
A
The extra offensive lineman thing I kind of love now. It's fun where it's like you're giving us what you're going to do. And I think, you know, the cyclical nature of all of sports is that if you were staying outdated with your base defense, you know, this. All the stuff that we used to talk about, like, oh, three, four, like, all right, cool. If you want to go to a base defense and you don't want a nickel corner out there, like, no shit, we're going to throw it all over you guys because you're just not going to be able to hang in any of the crossers. You know, our slot guy is probably going to beat you up all the time. Like, go ahead. And now base, like everybody's base is, is the extra defensive back, which doesn't even sound like it's all that enlightened. But I wonder if that's like we're now on the cusp of, hey, the defense just went different personnel all the time. So if you're going to play small to play the pass in the past Happy World for 15 years of the sport, like, fine, now we'll line up, we'll prioritize drafting tight ends that we hope can do both things. And then maybe we bring in that six offensive lineman. And now if you're sitting out there at nickel or dime, go ahead and we'll get back to what the sport was.
- [64:51]
C
If you want to look at like the talent deficiency positions in the NFL, I might put off the ball linebacker number one. Like, there's, there are not a lot of really good off the ball linebackers. And if you think about it, it's because the college game, everybody's been doing this forever where you got one, maybe two out there at all times. So you've got, you're in nickel or dime and you're, you're playing with smaller guys because you gotta be able to run to get out to the perimeter. So now you look up and you're like, okay, you. We're supposed to put three out there on a. To match your personnel group. Like, we don't have three quality off the ball linebackers to, to roster to put out there to match that personnel grouping. So everything kind of goes in cycles, but that's what I see when I'm watching right now. And I think a lot of the great defenses have those guys in place. I think Houston, we were talking about, like, the way those guys. Al Shayer is a really good player. Toe to oh has been awesome this year. Like, that's the underrated component of that defense. You know about the coach, corners, you know about the edge rushers, Bullock at safety, Petrie at the nickel. Like, they're stacked there. But to me, those off the ball linebackers have been a big part of it, too.
- [65:55]
A
Let's talk crossroads here. I don't know if it's Pittsburgh, you know, and I don't even know what the result means this weekend. You know, the, the title of like, well, you know, we won the division and, you know, Tomlin keeps it rolling. We know what this team is. It's been an average football team for a long time. But then you have, like, higher stakes crossroads like Baltimore with Lamar. So if we just stay, I mean, hell, we could stay in the division and talk about Cincinnati on top of everything else. Can you run through, like, what you think those off seasons will be like for those teams?
- [66:31]
C
Well, Pittsburgh, you know, I think they've done a good job of building up their offensive and defensive lines over the last couple years. So I think from a roster standpoint, they're in a decent spot there. To me, it's like you could make a case A lot of times when you switch out the coach, it's when you switch out the quarterback. I think if, if Rogers, and who knows how long he'll take to make his decision. I'm already dreading, like, how long that can take.
- [66:53]
A
But, but if you were probably be pretty chill and think about others.
- [66:58]
C
Yeah, I just, to me, I wonder if that would be the impetus for a, for a. Okay, this is time, like, maybe, you know, Coach Tomlin would decide, you know, they got to go through a new quarterback and get that whole process going here. If, if, if Rogers was going to come back, I think he's played solid and the way they have their offense and defensive line set up, they need to go out and upgrade their, their skill positions, which shouldn't be the hardest, you know, thing to accomplish in the offseason. I think you could make a strong case, like, hey, let's give this thing another shot. Maybe we can bust out of this average, you know, fence that we've been stuck behind here. So that to me, I Think Rogers is kind of a key part of whether or not that's. That's it there and then with Baltimore.
- [67:39]
A
Wait real quick though. Would you want him back if you were Pittsburgh Rogers?
- [67:44]
C
Yeah, I think where they're positioned, like draft wise and all those things. I mean, gosh, I don't know. I guess you could make a case. If I could get Malik Willis, who I'm kind of all of a sudden excited about again like that. I would be excited. I would be excited about that, but I'd want to probably have a bird in the hand and feel pretty good about getting that accomplished before I would, Before I would go somewhere else. But here's. Here's an interesting one for you. If, if. If one of these two coaches say, whoever loses this game, Baltimore, Pittsburgh. We had this conversation the other day. We was talking with some buddies and we were talking about college coaches that could coach in the NFL because we're kind of going through the candidates and it feels like a lot of defensive guys and who are the offensive guys, and it's kind of led this long. Discuss these head coaching candidates. If there is there a college coach you think would make good sense for one of those two teams if whoever lost the coach decided to leave.
- [68:43]
A
So you want an offensive coach?
- [68:45]
C
No, no, no, no, no, no. We started the discussion there and we branched off and so we were talking about all the different candidates that are out there about just who would be a good fit with that, with one of those. Because I think they're very similar. I think Baltimore and, and Pittsburgh, you know, kind of what they. What the identity of their great teams has been.
- [69:03]
A
Whittingham just mess up Michigan's whole thing.
- [69:06]
C
That'd be fun. That'd be fun. That one wasn't. Wasn't the one. I'll give you. I'll give you one or two more guesses here.
- [69:13]
A
Well, I mean, are we letting the Signetti train just run off the tracks here entirely so that he goes from James Madison to the Steelers in two years?
- [69:20]
C
I would, I would, I would love that. I would absolutely love it. I got asked, somebody was like, you think he'd work in the NFL? I'm like, yeah, I do. I actually think he would work.
- [69:27]
A
I think most of these guys, by the way, would. Would like. I don't know why that's surprising to anybody. Yeah, you know, I think recruiting is such a mess for so many of these guys that they kind of just hate it now and that they'd love to get the NFL. And I think if I Mean, look, this is an old speech, but even guys that probably shouldn't go from college to the NFL still want to go to the NFL because it's the NFL and they want to see if their stuff works here. So it's an active coach.
- [69:53]
C
He's an active head coach in college.
- [69:58]
A
Go ahead.
- [69:59]
C
Mario Cristobal. Don't you think Mario Cristobal and the toughness and the. Just his whole vibe makes sense, like in a Baltimore or in a Pittsburgh. Like, that's, that's their identity of their. When they've been great is they're just physical, tough line of scrimmage teams. And I'm like, gosh, I don't know if anybody. I mean, you met you two great options that you just mentioned with Signetti.
- [70:26]
A
I was trying to figure out, but I mean, those are funny.
- [70:28]
C
That's that ethos. Those, those guys kind of share that same ethos. I don't know if he, you know, let's just say Miami goes and wins the national championship. He kind of checks that box. What's the next challenge? I think it would be. I, you know, I think it'd be kind of fun.
- [70:41]
A
It's just wild, too, though, to think about how Crystal Ball was thought of, not, oh, just because the Georgia Tech.
- [70:50]
C
Or the Georgia Tech game from a couple years ago.
- [70:53]
A
Well, there's that. But I mean, even, you know, the general feeling about Miami is that they'll figure out some way to screw this whole thing up. There was even a timeout in that Ohio State game that I was kind of like, was that, you know, but I don't want to turn this. The guys in the semifinal, like, I don't, I don't. Like. I'll have an argument with one of my friends who just doesn't like Shanahan because of some challenges. And I'd be like, this is one of the greatest coaching seasons we've ever seen from a head coach. But you're pissed off I. About a challenge. My friend will know exactly who it is as he hears me talking about him. I'm just not going to give him a shout out on that. What about Baltimore, though? Because the Baltimore season, if you want to run through and say, like, what's the single most disappointing season in the NFL this year? There's a lot of candidates, right? But there'd be candidates for different reasons. At least with Baltimore, you could go, okay, Lamar went down. And there's probably an internal discussion of, like, who is Lamar the rest of the way? Like, the rushing stuff from him. This year is somewhat alarming because this is.
- [71:52]
D
This.
- [71:53]
A
This is where this goes for any dual threat quarterback. And for him to not have, like, probably the best thing or the scariest thing since Vic, I think that's. That's how special Lamar is in that part of it. And then he fixed out. I think he fixed a lot of the pocket stuff. So we don't, you know, we're not sitting here, like, after a couple MVPs, debating the whole thing with Lamar. But I know if you wanted to be really positive about 25 and say, hey, it's. It was a weird year. We had injuries all over the place. We'd like so much of the personnel, especially on defense, like, we come back into 26, we look the exact same way. That's the best option for us. As far as, like, did you guys really want to do a reset year? I could understand anyone in Baltimore going like, let's just turn the page on what was a disappointing year, especially if they don't win the division.
- [72:40]
C
I wanted to look up this stat because I was just thinking about this with them. Hold on one sec here. So I just feel like when I. I know the defense has gotten better. I know a Loe Gilman's helped, you know, kind of tie some things together on the back end, but let's. Yeah, dude, Travis Jones leads a team of four sacks. Like, they can't rush the quarterback. So, I mean, that's, you know, their needs actually marry up well with this draft. I mean, that's. They should go heavy in that regard, if not in the free agency side of things, but Lamar losing his juice and losing his explosiveness. Yeah, that's alarming, but I just don't. I don't see how they're going to navigate their way through a tournament if they can't rush the quarterback at all. But they traded. Always got seven sacks since they traded him. He had zero in Baltimore. So, you know, I don't know, you know, from a. If they're going to just what they're doing schematically or what, but that's alarming to me. Like, that's a major, major problem. So that to me, when I watch their stuff every week, I just don't see them get to the quarterback at all. That. That scares me as much or more than all this drama that's going on with whether Lamar's staying awake in meetings or not.
- [73:51]
A
It's a great point. But it is funny, too, because when they had a good record and they probably. That was maybe the worst unit the Pass rush would be like, oh, you know, like, it's. It's the sum of the parts. You know, it was like, it's just.
- [74:05]
C
Not, you know, it's hard to win the tournament. You can't do that. Yeah, just like, no, no.
- [74:10]
A
He's like, not. There's not one standout. It's just, you know, you got. And it's like, well, actually, you have, like, nasty linebackers and secondary, which probably covered for some of that talent drop off. All right, last thing here. Is it the Rams for you and the nfc.
- [74:26]
C
I've been Seattle for the whole year, and then it's one of those deals you just kind of look up and like, oh, man. Really? You have to go. You have to win at San Francisco. This all comes down to winning at San Francisco. Like, can Sam get one of these finishing games at home, please? So they can have home field advantage. That's a tough place to go. I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to stick with Seattle because I love their defense so much. I love the completeness of their defense. Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna stick there. Raheechi made a massive difference for them. That was an incredible pickup. If they. Nobody has more on the line this week. Everybody talk about, you know, winning in and, you know, seating and all that in San Francisco. To me, if they had to go on the road with Kyle, I think nobody still is going to want to play them. Seattle to me, feels like you get Seattle at home, I think that's. They're in a great shot. Home field advantage all the way through. I think they. I think they come out of the NFC if they have to go on the road. I'm not. Not feeling quite as good about that. I think they have more on the line this week in any of these teams.
- [75:27]
A
Great way to end it. You can check out more. And all of Daniel Jeremiah's work recapping and prepping you for the draft as well. The move the sticks pod with Bucky Brooks. He is part of the NFL Network and we appreciate anytime he has a chance to visit with us. Thanks, man.
- [75:41]
C
Thanks, buddy.
- [75:43]
A
Foreign. Before we get to life advice, the alliance marches on. Ceruti and Kyle with us here. I'll tell you just before we get into this, I set a personal record for thinking yesterday was Sunday and today was Monday. I can't. I mean, if set the over under that, like 15, you should take the over. I think I'll probably do it two more times today.
- [76:07]
D
Yeah, this is the classic time of year where I don't know what day it is. Kids are off from daycare. It's just been chaos. So we're just surviving.
- [76:14]
B
I've been on it. I gotta say, I better.
- [76:16]
A
Really? At daycare?
- [76:19]
B
Oh, my God.
- [76:20]
D
Oh, my God, you're right. Should have somebody look into that.
- [76:25]
B
I asked Chachi explain that to me. Maybe I won't do that in this segment, but, yeah, cool.
- [76:30]
A
I can explain it to you. Yeah. Yeah.
- [76:36]
D
Kids do go to their daycare, so that's good.
- [76:39]
A
Real attendance.
- [76:40]
D
I've checked. I've been in there doing the real boots on the ground reporting.
- [76:46]
A
All right, well, what do we got?
- [76:47]
D
DraftKings.
- [76:47]
A
Gonna love this.
- [76:48]
D
Yeah.
- [76:48]
A
DraftKings.
- [76:49]
B
DraftKings. DraftKings.
- [76:50]
A
DraftKing. We're back.
- [76:53]
D
As we discussed, I ruined Christmas. I was the only one wrong. My bad. I went for. I went. Steph Curry. He did not get the points, rebounds, assist, total. I'm go to another Steph this time. Steph Castle. No Wemby tonight against the Pacers. I'm going Steph Castle, 20 or more points.
- [77:09]
A
Okay. I told you. I thought Cleveland was going to be in a bit of a run. Even better if Denver doesn't have any of their players. So I'm not going to touch the Cleveland odds on this one. They're minus 13 and a half. But give me Mobley, a double double Dublay. Dublay. I've been enjoying.
- [77:30]
B
I've been enjoying the Knicks. Yeah, you just got a nice cadence sometimes, which just gets me. I'm going to stay with the Knicks. This is a little Big east bias. I love Tyler Kolik. For a while, you couldn't even find Tyler Kolik.
- [77:41]
C
Props.
- [77:41]
B
DraftKings has finally gotten on board, so we are taking Tyler Kolik four or more assists tonight.
- [77:47]
D
All right, that pays five and a half to one, plus 553. Let's go.
- [77:52]
A
All right, let's check out all the latest odds on DraftKings. You had something there, Surudi.
- [77:57]
D
No. This is the week. This is it again. Good. Records are good. I'll read them off to you. Ryan 4 and 4. Kyle 5 and 3. I'm 4, 2 and 2. So, you know, one of these weeks, it's about the process of the results.
- [78:10]
A
Yeah, no, we love that. We love that part of it. That's what we tell our kids all the time.
- [78:14]
C
You want details? Bye.
- [78:16]
B
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [78:20]
A
What's up?
- [78:22]
C
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
- [78:24]
B
I have every. Every toy you can possibly imagine.
- [78:27]
A
And best of all kids.
- [78:28]
B
I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.
- [78:34]
A
Life Advice, lifeadvice.rr, gmail.com. before we get to that, anyone have any New Year stories? Anything? Anything worth sharing? I saw some, like, Smokey Eye Ceruti and his wife. Yeah. I actually looked at his story through the camera.
- [78:48]
D
I saw that. You look at the story?
- [78:49]
B
They were looking through the camera, dude.
- [78:51]
D
Yeah, no, it was good. We went out to this like, cool chef's tasting thing. Shout out to the foundry in Hartford. Heartbeat. Hartford has it. New spot. It was good. Yeah, we had like Rising Star, a lot of things. Yeah. Still. It's still rising. You know, one of these days it'll be up there. But we had a good time. Ate some food I wouldn't have normally eaten. Took some cool photographs. Home by 9:30. Perfect, perfect day.
- [79:11]
A
Is Hartford 21 still the spot? Is that where the cool guys in the city live?
- [79:14]
D
Wouldn't. Wouldn't know. Not cool anymore. I don't know.
- [79:18]
A
I don't know what angle that was with you and your wife on that picture.
- [79:21]
D
You like that? People like the sweater. It was a nice old J. Crew number. Cable knit, kind of like off white sweater. It was cold.
- [79:29]
A
Reminded me of the movie the Lighthouse.
- [79:32]
D
That's kind of the vibe I was going for. Yeah.
- [79:33]
C
Wow.
- [79:34]
B
I'm happy to see everyone's on the same page.
- [79:36]
A
Amazing.
- [79:36]
D
Pattinson.
- [79:37]
C
Yeah.
- [79:38]
A
What a disturbing show.
- [79:39]
B
I loved it. I always think I'm gonna rewatch it. And then I'm like, I don't think I'm gonna spend. And I actually don't want to do that right now, but I like the idea of rewatching it.
- [79:46]
A
What's the Lighthouse One with Gerard Butler. That one's good. That's a good movie. Lighthouse with Gerard.
- [79:53]
B
I'm not familiar with the genre as a whole. I just. I think maybe I'll check it out. It's not Greenland.
- [79:58]
D
Lighthouse.
- [79:58]
A
Movies are tough to write.
- [79:59]
D
The Vanishing. All right.
- [80:01]
B
A lot of constraints.
- [80:03]
D
It's called the Vanishing. Never heard of it.
- [80:05]
A
The Vanishing is a good movie. All right.
- [80:07]
D
IMDb.
- [80:08]
A
You guys on Train Dreams yet? With Edgerton? So. Oh, is it good?
- [80:13]
D
Have you seen it? No, no, no.
- [80:14]
B
I'm thinking about whether.
- [80:15]
D
You know what's funny is there's a few movies that I just like in life have not seen. And my buddies and I have been kind of kicking around in the group chat, and one of them is. Is Kingdom of Heaven.
- [80:25]
B
Oh, my God.
- [80:26]
D
And so I think I'm gonna watch that today. Maybe later today. Amazing napping. But I've been told I have to watch the extended edition.
- [80:33]
C
I don't know, it's just one of.
- [80:33]
D
Those ones that just slipped through the cracks of life because I know I'd like it. So that might be a new respect.
- [80:38]
B
For our boy Orlando, if you don't already have. I hold him in high regard. Obviously.
- [80:41]
D
It's a Ridley Scott movie. Yeah. I don't know how I haven't seen it.
- [80:44]
B
Who else could be Legolas? But I mean, really, really takes it to another level in Kingdom of Heaven.
- [80:48]
D
All right, good, good.
- [80:50]
B
25 kingdom of heaven for you, Kyle.
- [80:51]
A
Top 10 all time. You.
- [80:53]
B
Dude, honestly, I don't want. I don't want to say yes because I feel like you're making fun of.
- [80:57]
A
Me, but yes, I am.
- [80:59]
B
Great.
- [81:00]
D
I have a buddy who likes is on is in your camp and it's like incredible music.
- [81:04]
B
Not a lot of films from that time, you know, it's not ancient time, but it's kind of, you know, it's like we're talking like 1100s, right? I mean, not a lot of. Not a lot of movies from that time.
- [81:12]
A
1100S never get brought up.
- [81:14]
C
Yeah.
- [81:14]
A
Really? Yeah, it's true. It's an ignored. Say that north century. It's bullshit.
- [81:21]
B
That's what it is.
- [81:22]
A
It's not done yet.
- [81:24]
B
And if we're just still talking New Year's, I. Yeah.
- [81:27]
A
What's going on with you? You look bad. I die.
- [81:30]
B
Yeah, I know. I actually changed my vest because I was like, I put this nice little curtain up because sometimes people are walking around behind me and I just like, I want to keep everything cool here.
- [81:40]
D
Oh, you're in the same spot.
- [81:41]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [81:42]
A
It's just like a spot. Yeah.
- [81:43]
B
I was going to make a joke. I felt like a little hostage situation going on, so I was going to make a joke where I went out and bought a newspaper today. And then Ryan was like, honestly, you look so bad. I didn't even want to comment on any of it. So I went out and changed my vest just because I wanted to switch something up. I did. I did throw up early in the morning, but it's because I was sick. I don't think it's because I overdid it. Did that yesterday. Popped a bunch of blood vessels up here. So not really the way I wanted to debut this whole situation. But yeah, Ryan really just calling it out right off the bat before we got on air. Really? I was stewing in that for about an hour.
- [82:15]
A
So were you. Yeah. It's like, holy, guys gonna start talking records right now.
- [82:21]
B
A little harsh, but, you know, I liked. I liked it. We're close enough that we can just.
- [82:24]
A
Say that to each other.
- [82:25]
B
Right before we hit record.
- [82:28]
A
It was a little harsh right before we hit record, but I didn't. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what's going on. I looked at your eyes. It looked like you've been punched in the face a couple times. So I was like, all right, well, I'm just gonna let this go. And then you. Before we even hit record, we're like, nothing to say. Nothing to say about the new setup over here. I'm like, all right, well, I got plenty to say if you actually want. So I got the invite in, but I didn't think, like, you actually had been assaulted. I was, like, looking at you, and you look rough. You look really rough.
- [82:54]
B
I'm sick right now.
- [82:55]
A
And you're sick and you threw up and you broke blood vessels in your eyes. So I just. So once you were like, hey, nothing to say here. I was like, I have plenty to say.
- [83:06]
B
Well, this in my head was gonna look way cooler, and it's just this.
- [83:11]
D
Like, white off, white background.
- [83:13]
B
Yeah, this looks like I have white.
- [83:15]
A
Is Vikram in the other cubby next to you?
- [83:20]
D
Yeah.
- [83:20]
B
Anyway, we can just move on. I was gonna say I, I, I broke my non prefix New Year's Eve menu rule, and I still regret it. I don't think it was very good, and I overpaid, and I think I'm done with prefix for Prefix for the foreseeable future. Another rule.
- [83:35]
D
What was.
- [83:36]
B
Was just like. It was just like, you know, get one of. One of these appetite, like one of six. You can choose these. The crab cake was like, you know, not all the way warmed. And then the steak was, like, burned on the outside, a little bit charred. And it was just like, you know, it was the prefix. You get what you get. They're pumping stuff out. I know the deal with prefix.
- [83:54]
A
You know, Ponderosa is usually pretty good with crab cakes.
- [84:01]
B
Don't talk about shadows on the Hudson like that. Anyway, I'm just. I thought I. It had been a while, and I was like, I remember why I didn't do this anymore. So I noticed there's anything wrong with shadows. It's just the prefix. Stuff is just better off without it.
- [84:15]
A
I think they have a salad bar still, though, right?
- [84:19]
B
Let's get to some emails.
- [84:20]
D
Salad bars, wow.
- [84:22]
A
Honestly, post Covid salad bars.
- [84:25]
D
Ever heard of salmonella?
- [84:26]
A
Dude, I don't know. Heard of the Windjammer, bro.
- [84:31]
D
Although I have heard of the Windjammer. Wait, remember the salad bar? Speaking of salad, we're just off topic now. The. The Ruby Tuesday salad bar, though, back in, like, 2004.
- [84:41]
B
Like, dude, right? It was an end cap in the Galleria Mall. That's how big it was. That was the. Was one of the end stores.
- [84:50]
A
They used to have that fancy burger. There was, like, supposedly filet in it or whatever. And it was, like, twice the price of their normal burger.
- [84:57]
B
Crispy onions on it.
- [84:59]
A
That was me living large. Like, I'd get done with pickup hoops. I'd be in Watertown, and I would go, you know what? Like, you. You deserve it. You had it. You had. You know, you had a couple nice buckets today, buddy.
- [85:14]
D
Yeah.
- [85:15]
A
And then I'd pull down the knee brace, and I'd just go, hey, salad bar. And I'm gonna do the prime burger.
- [85:20]
B
Prime.
- [85:20]
A
Whatever. Yeah, it was, like 20 bucks before burgers were even expensive. Yeah. It was a real premium bled.
- [85:27]
D
Yeah.
- [85:27]
A
Blend. Which probably means it was. I don't know. It tasted great, man. It tasted great. That's all they let you go to the. You could go to the salad bar as much as you want. And I. Even if I didn't want it or need it, I would go a second time just because then's the rules. And. Yeah.
- [85:40]
D
Heavy. Poor ransom eggs. Although you're not a ranch guy, I would imagine. Yeah. I was going to say you're. You're more of a vinaigrette type guy.
- [85:48]
B
It really is where I would be adventurous with salads. I would never be adventurous with salads at home like that. So really, I think a salad bar for me, that was like, I'm going to step outside my comfort zone a little bit, and if I don't like this, I'll go get a different one.
- [86:00]
D
Cool. Put that thing right inside the table.
- [86:03]
A
Come on.
- [86:03]
D
Grab this. Bang on, Zola.
- [86:04]
C
What?
- [86:05]
A
All right. I think the three of us get it when we go to San Francisco for the Super Bowl. I think the three of us go to Ruby Tuesday and we do it right.
- [86:12]
C
Yep.
- [86:13]
D
Are they still around?
- [86:15]
B
There's a couple. There's more Ruby Tuesdays than Blockbusters left.
- [86:18]
A
I think, but I don't know. I don't know how much.
- [86:20]
D
Come on.
- [86:20]
A
There's gotta be.
- [86:21]
D
I don't know.
- [86:22]
A
Fries were great, too. They had all sorts of treats.
- [86:25]
D
Is that your favorite of those, like, spots, like, fast casual? Cause, I mean, still Chili's by the Way still rips to this day. Love Chili's. And you can get like a $9 margarita and you get like three.
- [86:35]
A
Three pours of it.
- [86:36]
D
It's pretty good. The Presidente, I think it's called. It's legit. Last time I went to Chili's though, a fire alarm went off middle of dinner. Two year old did not love that.
- [86:44]
B
Do you guys have Bugaboo Creeks? Cause I was gonna say I probably like adolescent me was like Freewater Creek. TGI Fridays was my jam. But clothing Bugaboo Creeks was like, I think more of a regional thing, but.
- [86:55]
A
There was a bunch of them.
- [86:56]
B
But yeah, I think TGI Fridays, which, you know, if I was. If I was my age now, I would probably be Ruby Tuesdays. But certainly like my. My youth was like, can we please go to TGI Fridays? Potato skins. Load them up.
- [87:10]
D
Yeah, I would agree. You cracker Barrel guy.
- [87:15]
B
Alfredo. Never been.
- [87:16]
D
Never been.
- [87:17]
B
My dad went once and he told me it was like the slowest service he ever had. And I didn't realize they were like highway restaurants until this whole thing with Uncle Ernest or whatever his name is. But my dad was just like, I'd never go there.
- [87:29]
A
So I was like, all right.
- [87:30]
B
Dad says never go there.
- [87:32]
D
The most calories I think I've ever eaten in one sitting was at a Cracker Barrel. And yeah, it was good. You know, it is what it is. Like, I don't go there expecting like a, you know, Michelin Star situation. It's fine. I have no comment on the new logo change, but I think that's good.
- [87:48]
A
Yeah. Ruby Tuesday. The one in Mass. Is not there anymore.
- [87:52]
B
The one in Mass.
- [87:54]
A
There's one in Maine. I mean, these are. They're littered over the Atlantic. And yeah, there's like a lot of acc sec, but then nothing really west of the Mississippi. Missouri's got a few right around the Mark Twain National Forest. And then you start going further west. You got one in, I don't know, Des Moines, Lincoln, Sioux Falls. Fargo still has one. Bismarck, Aberdeen, Rapid City. Looks like there's one in Wyoming.
- [88:29]
B
Not a ton of New York here. Yeah.
- [88:31]
A
Spearfish.
- [88:31]
B
Oh, it looks like there's one maybe in the city. Oh, that's Elizabeth, New Jersey.
- [88:39]
A
It looks like Las Cruces is the furthest one west. So looks like I'm not going to be going to one today.
- [88:45]
C
No.
- [88:46]
A
All right. Shout out. That's better than a read right there. I think so.
- [88:50]
D
Yeah. Geez. All right.
- [88:52]
C
All right.
- [88:53]
A
So how are we reading?
- [88:54]
D
Email sounds good.
- [88:56]
B
13 minutes in. I'm ready.
- [89:00]
D
Wait, Ryan, what did you do for New Year's?
- [89:02]
A
Oh, yeah, you mean turned down a couple invites? Went to bed early.
- [89:12]
D
Nice. There was a picture floating around and people were wondering if where you were. Did you see that? The Taylor Swift, Travis Kelsey with a couple of your friends situation?
- [89:25]
A
Yeah. Yeah, No, I don't get invited to those. That was not one of the invites I turned down.
- [89:30]
D
I didn't know if that was the one you turned down.
- [89:31]
A
Yeah.
- [89:31]
D
Okay.
- [89:32]
A
Just making sure.
- [89:33]
B
Damn. We could have left that a mystery. That would have been a little cooler than what he actually did.
- [89:39]
A
No, I. Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna get invited to that kind of stuff.
- [89:44]
D
Okay.
- [89:45]
A
It's never been discussed. I think it's pretty much understood that. It's just I'm not at that level. You know, maybe the bottle pick up.
- [89:52]
D
Yeah.
- [89:53]
A
So we'll. We'll see. I also think when you don't have, like, a wife or fiance, you know, it can kind of start going like.
- [90:00]
B
How many singles are we inviting to this thing?
- [90:02]
A
Right. I don't think single guys get invited, that kind of stuff. But I also just think that.
- [90:05]
D
Here's our buddy, Ryan.
- [90:07]
A
Yeah, I just. Yeah, I just think there's a buffer. I mean, I might get invited as like an offset.
- [90:11]
D
Right.
- [90:11]
B
Maybe to offset somebody else's single something.
- [90:15]
A
I really like Steve. So I. I think. I think there'd be a back door in there, but I think Carissa might be like, you're not allowed because this is like the other friend group. I don't know. It hasn't really been discussed. I think you just sort of have to accept your lot in life. Like, there's a lot of. That's really worked out for me, and I feel pretty good about myself in social settings, but I think there might be some concern of, like, would he start, like, hey, what do you do for work, like with her? Or something like that, you know, so I wouldn't do that. I like the Kelsey's. I'm happy for everybody.
- [90:51]
D
Yeah.
- [90:53]
C
You know?
- [90:53]
A
Yeah. All right, let's talk about lice. Was not going to tell us their kid just had lice. Gym stats, athletic and fit. Nothing special. Like Roger Federer, minus the athletic ability and accomplishments. A pretty face, likable dude, always with something positive to say. So here's the timeline. Partner's friend only told us their kid house had lice three days ago because she asked if anyone in the house was recently sick. This happened to my partner over the holidays. We figured out a solution, but I'M curious how you guys would handle the situation. Each year we go to my partner's hometown in the Midwest, have Christmas with our family. We while she is there, she catches up with two of her best friends, college roommates, they're twins and one lives a few streets over from my partner's parents. We were all in the mid. We're all in our mid-30s. The twins have young children, 18 months, 1 year, 4 years old. My partner and I do not have kids. As parents of young children, their house is a cesspool of sickness. Every time she visits her friend, she gets sick. This spring when visiting her grandfather. This spring, when visiting for her grandfather's funeral, she contracted the flu from her friend's three year old. To make matters worse, she was around her elderly grandmother after the visit, but before symptoms presented themselves. This time, before hanging out with her friend, she asked if anyone in the household had been sick recently. One of their husbands was at urgent care the previous day for a sinus infection. The same 3 year old had liced the previous week. Turns out that meant two days ago. But the house was sanitized, de liced and whatever else people do for lice. But her friends still invited her over. They only told her about the lice after they were asked. There was a back and forth that resulted in. With young children will probably always have some infection. If you want to see us, that is something you have to deal with. End quote. Wow, that seems stern.
- [92:40]
B
I don't know, it seems like this email writer. Is this how you're coming off outwardly? Because you sound like a bit of a stick in the mud. I understand not wanting.
- [92:47]
A
Maybe it's me, maybe it's my reading. Keep going here though. Dude, your kid just had lice. And I almost gave my grandmother the flu. It's a funeral for her husband. Your husband is a doctor and you're a nurse. What the. How would you handle the situation? Thanks for everything. Love the pod. How it was handled. This is very like. This is like formatic. Not having kids were out of touch with how sick those houses can be. She decided to get her friends away from the kids. So they went to the bar for a drink. The beef was squashed and no one else got sick. Sounds like you solved your own problem.
- [93:19]
D
Yeah.
- [93:20]
A
Yeah. Well, I don't know. I mean, you guys tell me, what would you do?
- [93:25]
D
I mean, as the one guy who has kids. Yeah, like it's the last year or so. I always say that. My daughter's three. I've been sick more in the three years of her life than I was in my entire life Leading up to that point. I thought I had a good immune system. Turns out, doesn't matter. Like I'm just perpetually. Something is wrong. And it's kind of a dick thing to say, but they're right. Like. Like, if you want to see us, like, this is kind of our existence. I've told my parents that, like, yeah, like we're all just kind of carrying something at all times. My parents are like, luckily not super old and like healthy. So it's not like a huge deal. But that's just kind of how it is when you got kids like these. They're these parents. I mean, you said one of them's a doctor. They're probably fighting for their lives. Like, they're busy, the kids are sick, they want to hang out with their friends. Like, I think you as the person without kids, like, cut them some freaking slack, dude. It's also like they delice their house, it seems. It sounds like they did all the things that they were supposed to do. Reckless about it.
- [94:15]
A
Yeah. 48, 72 hour window of lice, though.
- [94:19]
D
I'm not a license expert, so I don't know, but like, it sounds like they did what they were supposed to do at least. Like, you know the things that you're supposed to do when you have people over. So yeah, I guess they could have given you more of a heads up, but I don't know.
- [94:30]
A
Teacher lice all the time.
- [94:33]
B
Are you serious?
- [94:35]
A
I mean, all the times. Aggressive. I think it would happen like three times the first year.
- [94:40]
B
That was like the scariest day for me.
- [94:41]
D
Did you have to shave your head at school?
- [94:44]
A
Who, me?
- [94:44]
D
I wasn't.
- [94:45]
A
I mean, she was dating me, so it was like I was over there all the time.
- [94:50]
B
That was the, like the scariest day for me in school was like, fuck, am I gonna have lice today? I never did have lice, but, you know, there was always somebody who had it.
- [94:57]
A
That's kind of surprising. I'm kind of surprised I didn't have lice.
- [95:00]
D
You give a lice vibe.
- [95:03]
B
Use life lice vibes. No, I mean, but every day, every, every time that we would have that and we'd all line up and they do the comb thing. I was like, I just know today's the day. I just fudge know it and I never had it.
- [95:14]
D
But life for dudes, like, who cares? Just buzz your head and you're fine. You can.
- [95:17]
B
No, I know, but I'm just saying we all knew it's like, dude, Sean fudgeing went home.
- [95:21]
A
He's got, like, what that could do to you. Your whole, like, dude, fourth grade.
- [95:26]
B
I mean, we didn't have much else to talk about, you know, so it's.
- [95:29]
A
Like, dude, it was, like, going on at elementary school. Like, really? Dudes? Like, what?
- [95:35]
B
Dude, they brought in some outside people to come check this.
- [95:38]
A
Like, this.
- [95:38]
B
We got to keep this under control.
- [95:41]
A
When you're nine, you don't know, you.
- [95:43]
B
Know, dude, your life is over. I'll never kiss.
- [95:46]
D
Life did seem like a bigger deal then.
- [95:48]
A
That's what I'm saying.
- [95:49]
D
Everywhere.
- [95:49]
B
Yeah, that's what I'm. That's.
- [95:50]
D
That's my.
- [95:51]
B
That was my point, you know?
- [95:52]
D
It's not like it was everywhere. Quicksand, like.
- [95:54]
B
Oh, absolutely. It's probably cartoons. Was definitely cartoons.
- [95:57]
D
Yeah. It's like, you. Everyone encountered quicksand. Nope.
- [95:59]
A
Is there even real quicksand?
- [96:02]
B
I don't think it's as quick as it is.
- [96:04]
A
I think it's a lot slower.
- [96:05]
B
It's a lot slower. But I think the same principles. You struggle, you know, you might be in trouble.
- [96:09]
A
By the way, I know there's quicksand. I've watched the videos of the zebras, but it seems more like just sort of. You know, there was, like, a Star wars template that you could. And there was, like, the foam thing, and Luke was always going into it. You're like, God, dudes are just freaked out about quicksand. Great, Great call. Quicksand and light.
- [96:29]
B
The last thing I would say on this, actually email, is that, you know, when I had bedbugs, I was not in a hurry to. I told people who needed to know, people who were inviting me over to their house.
- [96:40]
A
I'm like, yeah, I don't think I'm.
- [96:40]
B
Gonna go right now. I'm still working through this. And I wasn't necessarily inviting people over to my house. Right after the window of where I was supposedly clear from the bedbugs, my roommate brought it in. By the way, I wasn't telling people unnecessarily. Once I cleared the threshold. I wasn't.
- [96:58]
A
Two weeks ago.
- [96:58]
B
Did have bedbugs here. Might want to keep your shoes on. Like, there was. I didn't. I didn't do any of that. So, you know, again, if they think that they made it past the threshold of telling people about something, that maybe you could be a little embarrassed, even though you could just be like, hey, it was the kids. You know, I'm not super upset if. If. If medically, they. They're cleared or whatever. Like, you don't just keep telling people, hey, you could, you could think of us as being dirty people if you want.
- [97:22]
A
Like you don't just keep bringing it up.
- [97:23]
D
I just, I will say I have thought that.
- [97:27]
A
Thanks.
- [97:27]
D
It's. It's my life. I've really thought, like, I thought things pre kids that I'm just like, you are an idiot post kids, you know.
- [97:33]
A
And do you want time to prep this? This could be your own little breakout thing.
- [97:38]
B
Think about the T shirt stuff.
- [97:39]
D
One of the things is I remember working at espn, there'd be guys with kids and be like, oh, did you see the new, you know, whatever movie? And they're like, nah, man, I'll have time to like watch movies and stuff. I'm like, what do you mean you have time to watch movies? Like, it's just watch a movie. It's not that hard. And I just don't watch as much shit as I used to watch. And I'm like, I now I feel like an idiot for like you talking.
- [97:56]
B
About having like 15 years.
- [97:58]
D
Like, yeah, like I really want to see Marty Supreme. I got to find a babysitter. Like, everyone's getting sick all over the place.
- [98:04]
A
Why can't you go by yourself?
- [98:06]
D
Maddie wants to see it too. And I, you know, I did see one battle after another though. I didn't see it in the movie theaters. I saw it the other night about the road scene, you know, what scene you guys are talking about? That must have been awesome. I had, I had fomo just thinking about you guys watching that in theater. But no, I just, I just, it's hard, it's hard to do stuff. And I, I felt like an idiot because I'm like, wow, that guy was right. And I was just that like 25 year old idiot. Because there was a kid I used to work with back at the old gig who I remember when I had my first kid and he was like, oh, Ray Niche. Not Ray. Not Ray. No, no, this is the Spotify person. Won't name any names, but I had the kid and you know, we were sending her to daycare and he's like, oh, like you work from home. Why does she have to go to daycare? I'm like, dude, you could not be done like that. You think that I'm just gonna. With a six month old. I could just like do my full time job with a six month old like sitting next to me all day. I would get nothing done all day.
- [98:54]
B
I did have that worse. Glad I didn't Say anything.
- [98:56]
D
It only gets. Yeah, like one day. You'll figure it out. Kyle. It's just like. It's not. You don't get anything done. I wouldn't be able to do my job. Also your sanity, you know, just to be able. Okay. I'm a better parent if I at the end of the day see my kid and have three, four hours of that kind of time with her. But it's just there's little things that a 25 year old Steve would have. Would have just been like, that's dumb. Like, why wouldn't you just be able to like have your kid at home while you're working? Another example.
- [99:19]
B
Right? Set up some sort of water station and just.
- [99:21]
A
Fuck yeah.
- [99:23]
D
Let it ripster.
- [99:25]
A
Yeah.
- [99:25]
B
Teach you how to push the. Teach you how to push the lever.
- [99:28]
A
Yeah. Is there a salt lick for humans? Did we just invent something? All right. Golden handcuffs. 27. 6 foot 1, 180 bench 320. Wow. 180 bench 320. Yes. Two and a half. I was pushing myself. Hey, look, I just don't like when 2 1/2 are in the way. I used 1 1/2 during COVID to see how far I could go. Spotter touched the bar. Effectively ended our friendship. Oh. So technically we'll give it to you. How about that? D1 baseball player torn. UCLA. Wait, UCLA? UCL. Nice. Kept me from making the league. Pioneer League. So I think that's some self deprecation there. It's good. This guy's off to a hot start here. Slow pitch player comp prime. Barry Bonds. When our team is out of home runs and I absolutely can't hit a home run. I always do. I know. I'll never forget the first time I experienced that. All right, I'm not going to tell this story. Here's a problem. I'm having a life crisis. I left college after I got hurt. Immediately took a job selling timeshare. I don't know what timeshare really. I didn't even know what timeshare really was when I started. I just needed a job. But I settled in quickly.
- [100:40]
B
I'm glad he knows now.
- [100:44]
A
Here's the thing about timeshare. I know what they are now. Became one of the top reps in the industry. Started making really good money for my age. For reference, 200,000 plus a year. Wait, he made 200k plus year 1, 2 and 3. Made 400k this last year. Some pulling down some ducats, son. That was a massive shift for me. I Grew up with a blind, widowed mother. We had no money. I couldn't chase dream jobs because I was terrified of going back to eating ketchup and crackers or checking my bank account before going to shake shack. So what's the issue? On paper, things are good. I'm making money. I've accomplished real things. I bought a house, I got a decent 401k. I became a dad. I even won the Heisman in NCAA 26.
- [101:29]
D
Hell yeah.
- [101:30]
A
But timeshare is nasty, man. It's nasty. The things you do to people, the manipulation, the half truths, the straight up scams. It's awful. And I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be. I don't want my gravestone to say timeshare salesman. I can't live with that. Morality aside, it's also unstable. Nobody keeps a timeshare job for more than five years. I don't want to spend my life scrambling, bouncing around, uprooting my family every time the music stops. So why does a young man with a mortgage. So what does a young man with a mortgage, mortgage and family do? I've thought about law school. I like negotiating. I like arguments. I like structure. It fits my skill set. But that's three years of school just to hopefully make the floor of what I already make. Now if I look for another job in sales, I'm basically looking at 80k a year and it's just not feasible for me and my mortgage. I don't need to be rich. I don't need to live lavishly. Except for my 2022 Rolex Sub. I just want to pay my mortgage and not have to tell my son no all the time as he grows up. I'm not averse to hard work and long hours. I just want to be able to watch my son play sports and keep my family secure and not stre about money like I was growing up. Please help.
- [102:30]
B
Why can't you sell?
- [102:31]
A
Why can't you sell Mercedes, dude?
- [102:33]
B
You're not going to just make 80 grand a year if you sell a Mercedes. You know, I understand.
- [102:38]
A
Direct route from timeshare guy to Mercedes.
- [102:41]
B
If you could sell this, why can't you sell those? I mean, you could at least have these guys, like, they're just seeing pictures of these timeshares, right? They're in a room and you're giving them like toasters or golf clubs, right? Isn't that what you're doing? Isn't that how it works? Like, you know, I've never done it.
- [102:54]
A
But I Wanted to have a party where I brought a timeshare guy.
- [102:57]
B
A Tupperware party. But it's a timeshare party.
- [103:00]
A
No, I wanted to do it to my friends where I was going to have a party and then bring a timeshare guy in to fuck with him to make it seem like I was trying to get everybody invested. I was going to tell the timeshare got it, beat it. But now I gave it away because a couple of them listen, so now they'll know that it wasn't true. Kyle, I just want to stay on that point. Not well, but I want to get back to it. I think you kind of nailed it when I read it. Like, that's the whole. If you're doing this well with this, doesn't that mean that you're going to sell something?
- [103:27]
B
There's a commercial for, like, you don't see commercials for timeshares. You see commercials for Help me get out of my timeshare.com, that's the only commercial.
- [103:34]
A
Sleep. You'll see some.
- [103:35]
B
Okay, well, the only thing that I've ever seen over the airwaves about timeshares is I'm a lawyer that can help get you out of your timeshare. It's the only thing I've ever seen. You know, why don't you sell a product that more.
- [103:45]
D
I still don't even know what timeshare like, actually. Actually is. I'm not even joking. Like what you. So you buy. What do you even buy?
- [103:51]
B
You buy like a week a year in these specific times, and that's what you buy. It's like instead of.
- [103:58]
A
They.
- [103:58]
B
Basically the pitch is like, look at how much hotel rates are right now. Look at how much they've gone up in the last 10 years. If you lock this in right now, you can, you know, go to this place.
- [104:07]
A
Kyle, you were selling me a timeshare. I might. I might sign right now.
- [104:10]
B
Dude, look at the red line going up.
- [104:12]
D
So you own like 1 52nd of a. Of a piece of property for a specific time of year?
- [104:18]
A
Pretty much, yeah.
- [104:19]
D
That sounds horrible.
- [104:22]
A
Or if you can't afford a vacation, I have a couple friends that have a couple that actually have sworn by it.
- [104:28]
D
And then, you know, you like, trade them too, right? You could like, trade with other people for things and places and times a year. Right? I don't. Yeah.
- [104:35]
A
Okay.
- [104:36]
D
And this is cheaper than just like getting an Airbnb depends on.
- [104:41]
A
Well, the idea is that you're Appreciates. Everybody's in on. On sharing the appreciation of Desirable vacation, right?
- [104:49]
D
Yeah. 50 something times. If it's, you know, a weekly, the.
- [104:52]
A
Pitch is you own something, right? But you don't.
- [104:57]
D
Do you though?
- [104:58]
A
Yeah. The number of emails that we're going to get from people arguing, this is going to turn to sec Big ten all over again. I love that you said that thing about the look, because I'm like doing guitar lessons. Like, all it is is like, are you diabetic? I'm like, I'm just trying to figure out Mountain Jam here by Dwayne Alton. All right. He's just. You leave me alone. I. I think the core of like what this guy is about is really admirable. I mean, this emails, you know, there's a lot in there. But like, if you went through that growing up and then money's super important to you, but not so important that it's like driving you, then I think you've kind of answered your whole thing here. Like, if you can make another 400 grand in another year doing this, right? And hopefully you save your money, but if you saved enough, you should be able to handle some lean years. And then you already said you don't need like endless. You're not driven solely by money. So are you. Are you afraid of what it's going to feel like to be making 200 grand a year instead of 400? Like you just said to us that it didn't really matter. So isn't that kind of your answer? So stockpile this money. Be psyched about what you did. I think it's great that your morality is in a place you're like, I don't really want to have to do this. There's certain things that I've come across in 20 plus years of being in this business where I'll just be like, wait. So for me to have done that, I would have had to have done this, this or this. I got to people over, I got to lie to people, I got to mislead people. You know, if I have to run a business, I've got to. With all these people, like, I don't know. I don't know that I want to do that. You know, Logan Roy, he's like, why are they selling us something that we want? For a price that's fair, right? And then it's like, you screw them out, go up to the elevator, offer them 4 9. Offer them 4 9, you make them hurt. You know, that's cool. And everybody wants to act like they can kind of be that guy. But if you're doing it to Your friends, you're doing it to people, you know, it's not just a group of local TV stations like it is in this TV show. I mean, maybe you could argue, hey, I don't really know any of these people anyway. But, you know, do you want to be the guy that they're going like, that guy? Because I guarantee you there's all sorts of stuff that you're just like, oh, that's what happens. Hoa times. What? Divided by carry the six. Like this doesn't seem to make a ton of sense here. So it sounds like if. If you had written in and said, hey, I love this and I love fucking people over, but I'm worried about long term, then that's a much bigger problem.
- [107:29]
B
But I just started believing in heaven and I'm concerned.
- [107:33]
A
If you said, like, I care about my. I want to make a million dollars a year, then I'd be like, well, maybe you don't get to hit the reset button. You're younger. You went through something that's very, very specific and super challenging. On top of everything else, it's probably grounded you in a way that makes you. You somebody. I would guess if your mother. You lost the dad and the mom's blind and you didn't have any money, you're probably going to end up being a better person just because of the way you would see the world through a much more challenging upbringing than most of us ever would. But I do think you kind of answered it. If money isn't the driving force in your life, then what do you care about leaving something that's making you feel bad about it at such a young age? Usually you got to be a little bit older to go, hey, you know what? Maybe this isn't the coolest thing ever. They run those ads with those guys in those suits and they all have subs, by the way. But then it's like, how much did you make this week, Tyler? Oh, well, you know, 200k my first year. And then I'm gonna do 770 in business this year. It's like you guys, the guys with.
- [108:32]
D
They, they always have those suits is the most accurate way to describe exactly what you're talking about. It's like, why, why are you. Why do you have.
- [108:39]
A
I said this week. I meant light years.
- [108:43]
D
Ankles are showing. But here's the thing.
- [108:45]
B
Ankles are showing.
- [108:46]
D
No, it's always ankle cleavage. It's just like, all right, we get it. That probably double breasted. You know, there's some sort of inscription on the inside of it. Who knows? What was I going to say? Okay. But there's still a big, like his. I feel like we didn't solve the problem, though. Like, his issue is like, he sounds like he has expenses for what his money intake is right now. And like, is it easy to just become a Mercedes car dealer or car sales?
- [109:13]
B
There's so many things.
- [109:14]
D
I don't know.
- [109:15]
B
I have a buddy that only sells solariums. That's his whole market. He just sells solariums.
- [109:20]
D
I mean, you just got to find a really.
- [109:22]
B
Well, I mean, it's a little bit leaner this time of year, but, you know, that's why you, this is, you really, you really reel it in in the, in the spring and summer people are ready to go in spring, you know, trying to get this thing done by June.
- [109:33]
A
I would think if you're doing this. Well, I, I don't know how, like, other, like, you can't do, you can't do sales somewhere else. Like, can't. Can't you then go to everybody and be like, I, I don't know, I don't know how the sales market would look at this guy. Be like, this dude's a badass. This guy's selling timeshares. He's doing 400k a year in income. Like he can come in and, and sell our product. Or does the other place go like you have some timeshare stank on you and we don't want that. I don't know. I don't imagine. If you're this good at this, then you're going to get another sales job somewhere else. Unless you don't want to do sales whatsoever.
- [110:09]
B
Maybe it's fun to look like Zillow, like for houses, but like, just what can you sell? Like, what about like industry level tractors? Like big tractors?
- [110:18]
D
Not.
- [110:18]
B
You can't even find these ones where they sell regular tractors.
- [110:20]
D
Just tires.
- [110:21]
B
These ones are. Yeah. The tires themselves cost 50 grand. You know what I mean?
- [110:24]
A
You look at cat stock the last couple years, right? Yeah.
- [110:29]
B
Maybe you should just spend some time looking at things that you could sell. It sounds like you're a born salesman, man, so you should feel a little happy about what you're doing.
- [110:37]
A
Feel a lot happy making it through that. Because that probably wasn't super easy, man, but I think your head's in the right place. All right, that'll do it for us. Thanks to Saruti. Thanks to Kyle. I guess we, I don't know, we always had to say thanks on the ringer pods. So then I could not say thanks to anyone. But then when I've been doing it, I feel like Tom and Kevin have been super left out, and I think there's, like, a divide. So if those guys. If those guys are in San Francisco for the super bowl, let's go. Well, let's. Yeah, let's figure out a really good burger, salad bar place in San Francisco. We'll do a fucking right.
- [111:13]
D
Hell, yeah.
- [111:13]
A
Maybe we'll all wear jackets.
- [111:16]
D
Love it. All right.
- [111:18]
A
Thanks, everybody. Happy New Year. Thank you to the listeners. And I don't have anyone.
- [111:24]
D
Anything else?
- [111:25]
B
I mean, what else can you say?
- [111:26]
A
I think that's pretty much it. I think it's pretty much it. Ryan Rossillo Show, Barstool sports. Sam.