← The Ryen Russillo Show
The Ryen Russillo Show
Knicks Up 2–0 & OKC Bounces Back w/ Jon Krawczynski, Plus a Potential 24-Team CFB Playoff w/ Danny Kanell
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Hey Resilo listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. What if your drive was fueled with more like More protection for more time on the road? Shelby Power Nitro plus provides more protection for longer lasting engines, so it helps you keep your engine running like new for whatever drive is ahead. Shelby Power Nitro engine performance that lasts compared to minimum detergent gasoline. With continuous use of Shelby Power Nitro plus and gasoline direct injection engines, effects and benefits may vary. See Shell Us More Protection for more information. The Ryan Marcillo show is presented by DraftKings. We're doing a night recap. A night cap. That's right, taping at night for your early morning Friday release of a recap of game 2 Knicks win up 20 on the Cavs. 5 thoughts from that game. We talked Western Conference Finals with John Krasinski, who we love having on his Minnesota Timberwolves team that he covers. He's not on the team, he's not an athlete, but I don't know what his high school numbers were, but his team's been eliminated by these two teams. And then we did a little bit of Timberwolves all season stuff because I always find that interesting. And we got good friend, sometimes enemy Danny Cannell on his passion for the expansion for the College football playoff to 24 teams. I say, why stop there? Let's go to 48 and we've got life advice. The NBA playoffs are here and DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, brings excitement to every game day, the whole postseason. When the lights get brightest, the best players in the world show you exactly who they are. Playoff stars turn it up round by round, and DraftKings turns it up with them from from the first round all the way to the Finals. Bet player. Props bet live. From the opening tip to the final possession, every bucket, every dime, every clutch takeover matters. And only DraftKings sportsbook keeps you in on the action all the way through new DraftKings customers. Bet just $5 and you'll get $100 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use the Code Ryan so you're ready for the moment. That's Code Ryan. R, Y E N. Turn $5 into $100 in bonus bets instantly in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER or 1-800- My Reset New York call 877-8-HOPE and wire text hope and y, CT call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through May apply in Illinois 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos Limited time offer
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little recap Little night recap here on the Brasillo pod. We just had Game two finish up Eastern Conference Finals. Knicks pull away in the third quarter. Little flirtation with the Cavs comeback here, but I want to run through five things that I saw from tonight's game. So the first overall thing is you're looking at the defensive alignment here especially I'm looking at like how Cleveland wants to defend a New York team because we know Cleveland is not known for their defense. And you're wondering after a loss like I there was still some stuff I liked from Cleveland in Game 1, so I didn't expect like any dramatic change in some of the assignment stuff. Although New York tried to run a double big thing out there that didn't really amount to all that much time on the court together, which I was wondering if it might be something we see a little bit more of because I actually like the double big combination from Cleveland in this series. As we know historically we haven't always liked that. I say we because I think all of us kind of agree at times like is this going to work long term? But whatever, we don't have to worry about that now. That's not the issue with tonight for Cleveland. I don't think there was some strews and then even Wade lineups in there where they were actually defending Cat. And Cat I think had two guys in the blender at some point there and that's just kind of some of the stuff if you're going to let the other team's big guy float, like maybe you can get away with a smaller player defending him. But I really like that from Cat and I, you know, honestly like Cat hasn't always been my favorite, but I still think they could use him a little bit more. I wish. I feel like we just don't see the three point shooting from him, the volume of it, the way that kind of when he was at his peak of an offensive player, which again which still not my favorite dude ever. But I almost feel like there's another level that that could maybe be tapped into on a night or maybe something they would want to look to call for a little bit more. But I thought he was you know, really good tonight. And defensively it's not something that's been an issue at all, really. I'm sure there's some clips you could find, but it's not some alarming thing which is always part of the cat conversation. So Hart kills him. The whole plan is Allen is on heart, which means that he's allowed to float. You always worry about not having a body on heart if that's going to lead to all sorts of offensive rebounds. And in this game, actually, the Cleveland offensive rebounding edge was dramatic early. So you're like, all right, it's a close game here at the half. Is that going to continue? But that was something again about the double bigs. It's like these guys are getting a lot of second opportunities and with Hart, you're like, we're going to help off of him. Mobley's going to stay glued to cat and Allen's going to get to float. He's going to help on all these drives. And you know, the rule is like, if we're going to give up something, it's going to be Hart on any three point attempt that he wants. And then he goes 10 to 21 tonight, 511 for 3 for 26 points after he was basically bench for Shamut in game one. So the way these games can be so different with all of the same people 48 hours later, that's why we watch the games. So I don't think Cleveland's going to look at this and go, hey, Hart torched us. We now have to change this. Because look, this is not new. It's not even a Cleveland thing. Other teams do this all the time. Against Hart, we're like, we'll put our center on Hart. We'll dare you to shoot. And he's not even like necessarily a bad shooter. But it's the thing that most teams are willing to give up. That was clearly Cleveland's game plan. And even though it burned them for a night, I don't think that they'll change that. We'll see number two, 53 apiece in this game. At the start of the second half, you give up an 110 run if you're Cleveland. And defensively, like this was, there's some defensive numbers I'm going to share with you. They're not necessarily like, oh my God, I never thought that. Thank you so much, Ryan, for sharing that. But I think when you looked at this series, because I don't think there's a huge difference as far as like overall talent between the two teams. But I did pick the Knicks in six. Um, even though I gave out Cleveland, that's seven and a half in game, I wanted felt pretty good about it until I didn't. But, you know, looking at this matchup here, you're like, all right, well, if Cleveland's in trouble, where are they in trouble? And it's probably about who they are defensively. And I thought they were. I mean, their offense wasn't good and you know, some of the shooting lineups that they had out there. I thought there were some really good shots. I thought Merrill had good shots all night tonight, but he just obviously hurt them because he couldn't knock down anything. Then he starts missing free throws, which you're not expecting at all. They had a decent three point shooting stretch to the game and then there's just kind of a disaster. But during this 180 run, I want to point out something here which I think I'm right about. Maybe that's why I'm pointing it out. You've given up an 110 run and then you sit Mitchell down. I understand sub patterns. You know, I understand that when Benyama is going to play in these five minute bursts a little bit more. And clearly there was some game managing in game two in the Western Conference finals from both sides, where I think San Antonio went a full bench unit early. There was 11 guys that had played starting into the second quarter. In game two, San Antonio ran out four bench guys with a starter and that's with Fox down, then Harper down later. So that game was very much about managing minutes because of the exertion of not only the total minutes, but just how tough those minutes were in game one. So I understand that still, even in the playoffs, and I'm not trying to sound like my father who gets mad about a pitcher being pulled in the eighth inning, although he's given up on that years ago. It is about what is happening in the game versus what is your sub pattern. And we know with Cleveland it's the first guys, outer Mitchell and Mobley, and then they play the Alan Harden thing and then they want to come back. That's just how they've wanted to pair this since they've made this trade. And obviously there's overlap with every one of those guys playing to start a game, to close the game and maybe some other moments in there and some overlap with the staggering minutes. But you're at MSG. The game was just tied and now it's 64:53 and you run out of lineup of Merrill Struse. Dean Wade and then Jared Allen and Harden. And just as a side, because he's been taking a bunch of shit, deservedly so. I'm at the front of the pack on this one. Harden was fine. You can't really ask much more from him at this stage. Like the shot distribution through the. Through each quarter. Two shots, five shots, three shots, five shots, zero turnovers. Okay. Defensively, I could find a million clips in there that I'm going to hate, but from an offensive standpoint, because there's times where it's like, hey, when it's tight, can you shoot? Because sometimes I think, hey, there's nobody more comfortable getting you a three when you're down 15 than Jim. But he was fine. He was not the issue tonight. And we'll get to some of the defensive stuff as far as, like, what they were doing against Brunson because it wasn't on him the way it was in game one, which was a lot to ask of him to hold up against Brunson anyway. But my point is, is that I don't know what's going on with Mitchell and I don't know, Like, I understand again, I understand the sub pattern. I know what their sub pattern is. I know it's about managing minutes, but is there any part of you where you go, hey, we just gave you up on 110 run. Should we take our best score out of the game right now? I would offer no. And I would offer no on the face of the lineup that you're running out there with the five guys. Because now you're asking hard to like, do all of it. Which even though he was, you know, he was fine tonight. That's a lot to ask. I watched Mitchell in the post game because then I looked at the 751 mark. He had an. He had a. He had a make. A 12 footer, right? That made it 8880. So Cleveland's actually getting back into this game after that 180 run. And of course, when he's on the bench and they get a shot of him putting lip balm on, you're like, all right, this just it. It was a tough scene for the guy here, but, you know, he's got the make at 751. He misses a three, goes one for two on free throws, then two free throws at 2:46 and that's it. So it's one shot attempt and the two fouls on the other shot attempts from 7:51 to close. I don't, I don't know what's Going on because I was looking at him defensively a little bit and I'm like, is he exhausted? Is he. Is he hurt? And I'm. I'm honestly not trying to do the Steph Curry thing. Like, whenever Steph had like a bad series, like, I hurt. I do think he was hurt sometimes. So maybe I'm guilty of it too, but I know how annoying that can sound. I don't want to be annoying about this Mitchell thing. I just can't accept it that you have somebody who, when he is right, is one of the hardest guys to deal with. Like whatever other flaws or whatever stuff you want to say about the resume, he can turn it on for six minute stretches where it's ridiculous and that's the value in him and he's off the ball and he's not in the plays. And I, I just, I don't understand it. He said after the game, all the things you'd expect somebody to say, hey, make or miss league. We liked our process, all that stuff. I would disagree. Number four. I'm not sure what the plan was for Cleveland offensively. Throughout the night, I never really had a stretch of possessions where I felt like I knew. Maybe if I watched again in the morning, because I'm taping this right after the game was over, maybe if I watched in the morning, I'd be better at trying to pick apart. Like, hey, was there a stretch where it looked like they kind of knew what they want to do? Maybe it was getting these open shots from Merrill. Maybe it was a lot of good looks there. A lot of those good looks, though, too. Sometimes the offensive rebound, they're good looks because everybody's scrambling and nobody's aligned defensively. So is that really because of a player? Just great offensive rebounding. What they were getting at the beginning of this game, there was one play in the third quarter where Mitchell is in and he's in with Mobley and Mitchell Robinson is in and he's defending Mobley. Now, in this play, this is important here, the first part is important. There was a guard that kind of got in the way with a screen, but ultimately ends up being a Mobley screen with Mitchell Robinson switching onto Mitchell once Mitchell's defender is screened off of him. So Mitchell Robinson, you could argue, shouldn't even be out that far. Having to chase Mobley like Mobley feels like the kind of guy where, you know, if Mobley hits a three, we're okay. We're not going to freak out and have our center flying out trying to contest 30 footers or we're not going to have him running him off the three point line. Like, if Mobley hits a couple threes, we'll probably live with that. I'd imagine most coaches feel that way. I'm not going to blame Mitchell Robinson for giving you a ton of effort here, but I think you could see on this play, you're like, do you actually want Mitchell Robinson at the three point line like on a switch dealing with Mitchell going with the ball? Because guess what happens? Mitchell goes right past him. And this is the part that's really frustrating for the Cavs offense is the low man is Brunson in the restricted area and Mitchell just goes right past him and makes that layup next to Brunson. Okay, Mitchell's up top, plays already gone, Ball's past him. The baseline is three defenders for New York. It's Miles McBride, it's Brunson, and it's Jordan Clarkson when the Knicks have that alignment. And if Mitchell is going to chase Mobley up there, I don't care.
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I don't care who has the ball. Keon Ellis isos like, let's go. Attack, attack, attack. They attacked on that one. We didn't get enough of it. Then we get to the close of this game because again, Cleveland made it 8880 and you're like, all right, well, they survived an 180 run here, the 243 or something like that. I mean, it was ugly. But Cleveland actually closes the third quarter away. It's like, all right, they're in this a little bit more. They were even in the fourth quarter. But you're waiting to see what the Knicks are going to do involving Brunson and then Harden. All right, Cleveland is prepared for it. They're like, we're not going to let Harden get just cooked on Harden island the way we did in the fourth quarter. Overtime of game one to be expected. But not only is Cleveland preparing for this, I think the smart teams, especially with somebody like Brunson, who is just a smart player, they go, hey, they're probably going to change this and not let us do what we did with Brunson against hard in game one. So next guy, be ready. And what I mean by next guy, I don't know what they call it, but it was like, hey, the first outlet pass. And I shouldn't say outlet pass, but the first option off of this double because Brunson was brilliant with it. Because sometimes it's easy, hey, guess what? You want to double me because I embarrassed your guy in game one. Now, I'm not going to fight this double. I'm not going to worry about it, but I'm already going to know where I'm going with it. And we're going to have spacing behind me. It's going to be four on three. And that was two catches to Mikhail Bridges. It wasn't all they did, but there are two plays where Bridges catches it. One's a layup, one's a nice make because it wasn't necessarily an easy pull up in there, but they're very easy passes. The pass is not contest and then the shot is not contested at all. And it was almost like you had two guys with Cleveland defending Brunson knowing what they were supposed to be doing, but then three guys playing whatever was going to happen once the ball was swung to someone else, not knowing what was going on. It was like five guys on a team, but two teams within those five. It felt like there was no real communication of like, hey, when someone catches this, like zone beater was what it looked like. We're throwing to this soft part of your coverage. Someone else is now going to have to be tasked with making it hard on the guy who made the catch. And then if we're scrambling behind it, fine. But there's probably a shooter that we're going to help off of. What we can't be doing is letting somebody catch it in the paint and then turning around and just having a free decision in there. So a lot of disconnect there. I think defensively from Cleveland, where Brunson, you know, it wasn't a great shooting night for him. He didn't have to score a million points, but he didn't fight the double team. And I do think that that's because it's a smart team. It's a smart preparation. 48 hours of going, hey, they're not going to let you do that again. So what do we want to do off of that? Hey, let's just be ready. I thought OG had all sorts of super easy opt options off of the double team once they finally started doubling Brunson in game one, where I was kind of looking for that tonight, being like, are they going to use OG's guy in this to stay with Brunson? And now, oh, gee, if he wants to go, is probably going to have, like, depending on how they want to split up the bigs. If they want to do that because they feel offensively they have to split up the bigs. Like, there's probably going to be some really Nice possessions for OG but that's not really what they had to do. They just got it to Bridges. You know, Hart just keeps cooking. And I just. I really love that from New York. I love that from New York that they were like, hey, we're gonna. We're gonna go and harden again and get him in some of these switches, but let's be ready. If they're gonna play it different, they played it differently. They just weren't gonna let it happen again. And New York was already ready for whatever the adjustment was that was needed. And the adjustment that they made wasn't even really challenged by Cleveland at all. So Cleveland's gonna go home. Down two zero. Clearly, they should feel like they should have a split after the disastrous Game 1. But a defense that was 15th in the regular season giving up 114 points per 100 possessions, has been a little better statistically. Here in the playoffs, it's obviously the worst defense of the four mating teams. It ranks eighth out of the 16 teams that have been in the playoffs. It's 112.6. So, you know, a nice improvement about a point and a half there from where they were. But that's also including seven games against the Pistons, who are home because they can't score. This Knicks team wasn't even a great offensive night from them, but they. There has to be. I think there's some fixes here for Cleveland, but I really don't. I imagine they go home because they're close enough in talent to be able to get one. But as bad as, like, the overall scoring is, I'm not worried about what I saw from them necessarily. Offensively, I'd like more Mitchell attacks. I don't know why we're getting them. He looked a little exhausted at the end of the game, and I'm like, all right, is that what's going on here? I don't know. But yeah, Cleveland's in some trouble here, but they're not going up against, like, a 67 win team either. What if you could add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow built into Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook? Copilot works where you work, helping you do more in the apps you already use in Word. Copilot helps turn scattered notes into a first draft. As a writer, I have to tell you, every now and then, Copilot's like, hey, let's make this a little more concise. And I think, all right, back off, Copilot. This is a first draft. And then I look at what they offer up I go, you know what, Copilot, you did it again. You're right. That is more concise. Thank you. The apps, you know, go further with Copilot. Learn more at microsoft365copilot.com work talk some NBA here with a guy who has joined us throughout the season and even in the off season sometimes, because his team that he covers in Minnesota Timberwolves, is always super interesting and obviously just lost to the spurs, play the Thunder in the Western Conference finals. It is John Krasinski of the Athletic. So after that San Antonio series, which, you know, look, Minnesota is outmanned. They're obviously not the better team, so it's not surprised that they're eliminated whatsoever. But your thoughts on, like, how you felt about San Antonio before the series and then after being eliminated, which I know, again, you weren't playing, but you get the point, right?
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Yeah, I. I mean, I would say that, you know, going into the series, you thought if Minnesota had a chance, even though they were shorthanded, ant was hurt, Dante DiVincenzo out, I would assume limited a little bit. You figured that the way that they were going to advance, if there was going to be a chance, was going to be experience metal, you know, toughness, kind of mental fortitude, those types of things, because they had been in that spot for three years in a row, and San Antonio had not been there yet. And to me, the thing that just shone through, you know, so much about San Antonio, was that there was nothing in these young dudes that was gonna get rattled by the moment, by the stage, by the physicality, by any gamesmanship that was being thrown at them. You know, Castle, Harper, Wemby, Fox, like, all these dudes are just tough as nails, and they didn't let the Timberwolves get into their heads at all. And the Timberwolves really tried to do that. And so their ability to just rise above whatever, you know, kind of games the Wolves were going to try to play with their heads that way was the key to the series. They just were not being drawn down into the gutter. They just. They were bigger, tougher, stronger, a little more talented, and they just outlasted them that way. It was really, really impressive to see those really young guys just not get, you know, shaken at all by any of the theatrics.
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It feels ahead of schedule to be that mature. And there were so many moments in that game especially, well, I should say in the series, but I would say some of the later games, like, you could see Jaden getting upset or you could see Randall having moments and it was like they were up for it. Shannon's always ready to start some shit. And even Carter Bryant, like there was one stare down with the two guys where Brian just kind of laughed at Shannon, trying to mean mug him the whole time. And I'm like, this is a very different group. This is not supposed to happen in the league this soon. OKC is different for a variety of reasons, but certainly in the San Antonio tiers we see the series even up one apiece. I guess OKC maybe not having to blow it up quite yet this summer after game one. How are these two teams that you've seen, the team you cover? Like, if you go back to these last two playoff years, like, what would you say is similar? What would you say is different about these two teams that are squaring off now?
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Yeah, I think that the thing that really sticks out to me about both of them is they are so well coached and mentally disciplined in their assignments. I mean, I know that Castle has turned the ball over a bunch already in this series, but when you look at understanding game plans, executing and, and having counters for what each other is going to present to them, I just think their basketball IQs for both teams are off the charts. And they're both coaching staffs really know how to kind of develop counter punches and, and figure out how to work through a game and through a series. I, I think that is frankly one of the things that the Timberwolves really struggle with is when you get into an intelligence contest against these two teams, they are falling out short. But I think Mark Dagnault does an unbelievable job of really defining roles for all of his guys and then all of those guys accept those roles and just go into them happily and know that if they do what they are supposed to do, they're going to be successful. I think San Antonio does the same thing. No, everyone knows that Wemby is the sun and the moon and the stars, but everyone has an idea of where they're supposed to be at all times. There's very few game plan mistakes, very few brain farts that happen with these teams. Like you're not. They don't beat themselves with those types of things. Of course, again, the turnovers are, are an issue for San Antonio right now. But you know, I thought the other night when Keldon Johnson got beat back door in overtime and then was taken out, like that's just the expectation. If you do not do what you're supposed to do, you're sitting on the bench and we're going to put. Put someone else in there that will. So just the overall discipline that both of these teams operate with, it's, you know, off the charts.
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Who did you pick before the series started?
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I picked spurs in seven, and that may even be just because I was just in the series with San Antonio and saw them really up close. And I know that Oklahoma City is terrific, but I just think that Victor Wembanyama is the best player in the league right now. Like, I think that that belt has been passed. When I see what he is able to do on both ends of the court. And then, you know, you see the way that Harper and Champagne and Fox and Barnes and everyone, Castle, Ervacelle and Castle all operate around him. They just have a ruggedness and they have a toughness and a physicality to them that I think should play well against Oklahoma City. We'll see how Dylan Harper, his, you know, is holding up here. And that would be a huge thing for them if they. If they were to lose him for any time in this series. But I just really love the way that they not only play defense, but the way that they don't back down from anything. And I think that Oklahoma City can really rattle teams with the way that they come at you. And I just didn't expect the spurs to get thrown off that way. And I think with Wembanyama, I was just going to pick them to squeak by in seven games.
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We cover this game in different ways. Our responsibilities are different, but we're still watching all the games. And there are times where I can go weeks and be emotionless about outcomes. I'm just like, okay, this is what the job is. And then I would say, even though I picked OKC and I kind of respect the Hartenstein role, or it looked like somebody, if you looked at some of the regular season part of it too. It's like maybe he just doesn't play and they jumped him. I think he played 12 minutes in game one. He played 13 minutes in the first half of last night. And you see what he's doing to Wemby where it's grab every single time. It's grab him more defensively than it is grab him when he's on offense. Because if you can grab him and hold him from helping on drives, that changes things. And if they're not going to call it good for okc. I also think there is an intention from SGA which sometimes the solution or the adjustment from game one to game two is like, hey, just going to go. You're going to have to go a little harder, you're going to have to go a little quicker. You're not going to be able to wait around with these guys, which is the same way that you have to attack okc. Like if you wait with the ball, you're letting everybody get into position, clog up all the lanes, and if you're stationary dribbling, then forget it because another guy's coming over to disrupt everything. But I guess I would admit there are times though, and I don't think it's reached like peak Trey Young annoyance or harden foul baiting annoyance, which I've spent too much time on. But I don't think we're assholes for the next day watching this stuff over and watching SGA fall. Like, this is the part where I think there's so much great about OKC and yet the bad seems to be the headline. But I don't blame the NBA social media world, which isn't exactly my favorite thing from being outraged at times. And you start putting together not like one or two clips, but like 20 to 30 of these clips where you go, okay, well is this, is this going to happen? And, and I'm not bringing this up to complain. I'm bringing it up like pivoting it back to Minnesota in that. Who do you think the team you covered was more annoyed playing against OKC with, with the stuff that happens there and then also like, look, it's not like Castle is an incredibly physical and also in that gray area, especially what he's doing off the ball. So we can find clips for both teams. But OKC because they've been around a couple extra years and compared to San Antonio, there's going to be less patience for the stuff that NBA fans are not thrilled with.
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Yeah, I would say this for certainly to start, Minnesota has a special annoyance with Oklahoma City. Just like the whole operation, the way they, the way everything works. And part of that is that Oklahoma City is on top. When you are the champions, when you have the mvp, you are going to get more scrutiny and you're going to get more jealousy and hate and all of that. And so I think some of that is just from the success. But there is one thing about the Timberwolves and there's plenty of criticisms to level at them up and down the roster, but one thing they don't do is flop. Anthony Edwards is not an embellisher. Jaden McDaniels, none of these guys, Julius Randle, they do not go to the basket and then fall down it just never happens. And that is something that she, Gilxander, Chad Holmgren, Dort. We saw Isaiah Joe do is more of a thing with Oklahoma City. And I think that that is something that frustrates not just the Timberwolves, but I think a lot of people around the league. And I will. I do believe you will see some lobbying this summer with the officials with the league to put a more of a priority on policing that more than they. Than they have lately. They got away from it, from the fines, from. From all of those things. And so I think you'll see the league talk about, you know, kind of trying to address that a little bit because, you know, it's a. It is egregious with. With some of the things that. That they do and, and. And the way that they flop and fall. Fall to the court. I will say that I don't have a problem, Ryan, with the. The physicality that Hardenstein had on Wembanyama last night because Castle was just as physical with SGA and, And so if you're going to have it both ways, that's fine. If you're going to let it be a wrestling match, go for it. I think that when you talk to people around the league and especially within the Timberwolves, one of the frustrations they've always had is that you will get Shig Alexander falling down and getting some of the benefit of those calls. And then Dort, Cason, Wallace, Caruso are very, very physical on the other end and don't get the same calls if you don't flop with them. So, you know, when. When. When the series was over against, with. With the spurs, the Wolves were very respectful of them and just said, hey, they were the better team. They beat us. They outlasted us. I think with Oklahoma City, they are not quite as respectful of the way that they play the game. And I. I don't think they're alone there. And again, I don't want to make this a huge thing because I do think part of this is just the success that Oklahoma City has had. But there's a clear difference between the way those two teams have played, at least in the Timberwolves eyes.
- [30:46]
A
Yeah. It also is a very predictable thing, is if you're good for long enough and even though it's one championship, it could be two here. Right. Going back to 24 and them losing to Dallas. But it's. It's been a team. I think it's the one seed the last three years. So I don't know that there's ever a team, like say they get another one here. I don't know that there's ever a team that can have like a three year window of success like this that all of a sudden all the neutral parties are like, hey, I love this, like trying different things. So. But look, the Harrison Barnes call against him on that flop, like I look at that and just go, hey, if you didn't see it, the same as the Tony Brothers back court thing, it's like you thought you saw it, but you didn't. And there's one official who I'm not going to name, but like I saw one play where they showed an angle where he didn't see where the contact was, but he looked down and saw that the player was. But he was looking somewhere else. And in the replay you can see that his eyes never see the flop. He then adjusts his eyes, see somebody on the ground. And that's, that's kind of, you know, one of the many things that I would say. Like, unless you saw it, I would rather you get it wrong. Because if you get it wrong on like an SGA fall, if you don't see the contact but you're just giving him the call on the fall, I'd rather you just miss it the other way. Because then there's kind of a self correction with the players where it's like, I guess I'm not getting that tonight. And then I think the game just looks a little bit better. But whatever. I've spent some time and just one
- [32:06]
C
thing on that too, Ryan. Like Wemby does fall a lot too. We. I did see in, in our, in the series against the Wolves that castle started to embellish a little bit. So maybe the more that they are in the spotlight, we will see some of, some more scrutiny go that way. But it's just, you're right, it's clear like Oklahoma City is the top dog right now. And so you're going to watch them a little closer and they do absolutely push everything right to the limit and maybe buy it sometimes to try and get an advantage and it works for them.
- [32:32]
A
Yeah, I can't really get mad about. I mean the Hartenstein Castle grab thing wasn't my favorite, but the holding Wemby and all the stuff that goes on down there, like if you can get away with it. Yeah, like what's, what are they supposed to do not do it? I mean, it was really something that turned the game in a way where you're like, okay, if this turns, what is it? Is it better shooting, is it SGA getting going? Like, some of those things are real. But when Wemby's got nothing going offensively in the first half, which I also thought was very telling too, is that the amount of energy expended, not just the minutes in the box, scores from an overtime in Game 1, but both coaches subbing the way that they subbed in that first quarter, where you're like, okay, they're looking at the minute sheet 48 hours ago going, let's, let's just try to pace ourselves here in the first half and then see what's needed minutes wise. But, you know, to go to a full bench for okc, I think at one point San Antonio had everybody in there. They had four backups in there with one starter. I think there's also a discussion about what's the point of having SGA out of the game if Wemby's out of the game. So if you're going to be talking about, like, hey, what's the first thing you do? Hey, Luke Cornett's in there. I mean, you go back to the Portland series, saw it with you guys, like, okay, attack mode. We have to maximize every single possession and we have to be super aggressive while Wemby is watching for those few minutes that he subbed out and for whatever reason, Dagnal in a win. So it's not really brought up, but I think if they were to lose game two, you're going to. I understand you probably have some regimented minute thing, the same way San Antonio does, but if SGA is out when Wemby is out, that doesn't make any sense to me. And it also happened in the second half where I think he got SJ in there a couple possessions before Wemby came back and it. And it resulted in some good stuff. So just something to think about, something I'll be watching for. It's going to be a great series. I was reading some of the post, you know, hey, the season's over for Minnesota and Tim, who I like a lot, Conley and that front office, who I think is really good. And obviously I'm biased against Finch because he's come on the show. He's been good to me. I also think he's a good coach. So if he sucked, I probably wouldn't just say, like, we might have him on, but I wouldn't be going like, he's awesome just because he came on. But there's a very straightforward thing. Hey, there's a gap, folks. There's a Gap. So we can be mad here in Minnesota, but Conley can't come out and say it as clear as I just said it. But I think there's a lot of hand wringing going on with your fan base, and I don't know if it's based in reality.
- [35:02]
C
Yeah, I agree. I think that, you know, for the longest time, this is my 22nd season covering the Wolves. I've covered some terrible, terrible teams for a very long stretch of time. My first 14 years on the beat, I never went to a playoff game, so. Wow. You know, that's. That's. I operate from that perspective a little bit in terms of what we've seen over the last five years. You know, the kind of ascendance, the. To the competence, the competitiveness has been a revelation to me. And, you know, I think that they got into that series playing a 62 win team, and Anthony Edwards had no knees. Dante DiVincenzo was on the sideline. IO Dasumu was kind of nursing a calf injury. And I just don't know what was really expected. Of course you want to. You don't want to see him lose three games by 30 points. I think that's a disappointment. But I.
- [35:57]
A
That seemed to be something that was like, hey, we lost. We were probably supposed to lose, but, man, when it goes south for us. And I know Conley even mentioned, like, a lack of maturity at times. Emotional maturity, I think was the phrase that was used. I was like, ooh, that's a little specific. And it's also accurate, which I appreciated from him because I thought it was honesty. And it was also like, yeah, I love the fight from your team, but as soon as I can see it go south with a couple guys and their personality, it's like, oh, okay, like, you're about getting back at somebody and not playing basketball right now.
- [36:29]
C
Yeah. And this has kind of been a trend for them. When they lost to Dallas in game five, they got blown out in the Western Conference finals two years ago. Then last year in Game 5 against Oklahoma City, they got blown out. So when they let go of the rope, it's all the way gone. And it usually gets embarrassing. And so I do think that, you know, they do have to be. They've raised their standard, and so now they have to be ready for the expectations that are thrust upon them. And the reality is, is that they are a cut below the spurs and the Thunder. And so how do they go about trying to make that up? Because I do think they're, you know, they were disappointed in the regular season with their approach to the game. And I think that, you know, they were complacent and maybe a little immature about the regular season, and that came back to bite them a little bit in the playoffs. I also think Chris Finch is the best coach that has ever coached the Timberwolves, and I think that there were a couple of things that he could have done better in the spurs series to maybe tighten that up a little bit more as well. And so it, you know, when you, when you do start to achieve this regular success, you do have to be cognizant of the standard that is being raised. And they have to go into this summer, and I believe they are with the idea that big things need to change. If they are not going to go the other way and say, hey, look, the spurs and Thunder are too good, let's retool. We'll kind of tear down and go back at this in a couple years, which they're absolutely not going to do with Anthony Edwards on this team.
- [37:55]
A
Okay, so is there an ant clock?
- [37:58]
C
I mean, there always is, right, Ryan? I mean, anytime you have a top 10 player in the league, I think there's always pressure on the team that has him to continually surround him with the right pieces to give him a chance to be competitive, you know, and, and, and, and, and look at the long term and say, I can win here and win at a high level. I think that Tim Connolly, Matt Lloyd, everyone in the front office has done a great job so far in surrounding him with talent and, and getting him to, to Western Conference finals into, into, you know, the, the second round three straight years. So there's nothing within Anthony Edwards that looks at this and says, it's hopeless, we can't win here because he's been right on the doorstep a couple of times. But you always have to continue innovating and reloading. And so I do think that there will be pressure over the next couple of years to make sure that whatever this next version 2.3.0 of the Timberwolves under Anthony Edwards is, that he sees that this can be a viable contender in a loaded Western Conference. And you can't just hope that you're going to move east when Seattle and Vegas join. That can't be the plan. And I don't think that's the plan. I think they are going to look at Giannis Anandokounmpo, they're going to look at Kyrie Irving, they're going to look at other big possible deals out there to, you know, try and close that gap and try and keep Anthony Edwards kind of feeling like he can win here over the long term. There has been no indications that he is getting restless, that. That he is getting impatient. But you can't wait around for that to happen. You have to be proactive and aggressive, going out and making sure you get the right team around him.
- [39:48]
A
Rudy, let's talk about your boy, Rudy. You know, the timeline of this transaction is really interesting, you know, because I hated it at the beginning. I thought he was a declining player. He was also really expensive. It was a lot of assets. And then it's like, you know what? He's been really good for what you'd expect from Rudy. And I think it's a convenient rounding up to be like, hey, two Western Conference finals with Rudy, like, what's the argument against this? And it's like, well, it's conveniently leaving out ant to just go like, hey. But then as Finch told me, as you've told me, like, when Conley makes the deal and he goes to Finch is like, you get to promise me you're not going to bail on Rudy. And I look at Rudy as like, this is going to make sense to some, but I think some people understand it. Like, when you have Josh Giddey, you have to have a very specific four around Josh Giddey. If you have Dyson Daniels, you have to have a very specific four around Dyson Daniels. And then there are times you go, hey, this is just not working. Because as great as one part of the game is, it's so limited in the other one. And we know offensively, Rudy's not an answer for anything. But in that series, it turns into another one of these Rudy referendums where I'm. I know I'm stubborn, but my history has told me whatever. I kind of think initially, more often than not, if you just stay with that and not go with the waves of change here, you're going to end up being right long term. So I can understand the Minnesota fan that's like, hey, this was just across the board destroyed. And look what's happened. The Rudy deal was a good deal. And it's hard to tell that person that they're wrong. I think that's the camp that you're in, too, based on reading you all these times. And then there's my camp that's maybe a little too stubborn about it, where you just go, yeah, I know, I get it. But Cat's also gone. And it's funny, too, because I remember Zach Lowe saying, hey, this is emphatic that the Timberwolves have won the cat trade based on Randall and DiVincenzo. And then there's other times you're like, wait, is that still true? So there's almost a parallel there of, like, at times you think it's an emphatic decision, it's over, there's no more debate. And then you're like, oh, maybe there's still a debate about what this is. And I think that's happened on the cat deal, and I think it's happened on the Rudy deal. And, you know, I know what Rudy has meant to this team defensively, and I think he's a great culture guy on top of everything else, after some early years of looking like it seemed like his teammates hated him. But I don't. I don't know. I don't know that this one is the very simple answer, because he may be the piece that decides, like, hey, the pivot is. Even if we appreciate what he's done, the pivot is that we have to figure out a way to be a different team, because whatever this has been, we're too limited in some huge spots. We go deeper into the playoffs, which I think is still a fair criticism of Rudy being out there for your team.
- [42:36]
C
Yeah, for sure. And, like, let's look at all the context, too. I think that even right at the start, but even now, where I will admit to being the. In the camp of that it was a great deal for them that they. That they got what they needed out of him. They gave up too much right away. Like they're. They gave up at least a draft pick or two too much in the deal. And so that hampers you in deal making going forward. One thing that they had to take into account in Minnesota that you don't have to take into account in New York or LA or Miami or many other places, is you not only have to go find someone that's really good, but you have to find someone that's really good that wants to stay here. And I do think that was an element of the Rudy Gobert situation that set him apart, because you can say, well, yeah, if they would have just held on to all their picks and all their players, they could have gone to get got someone else that even better down the road. But Kevin Durant didn't want to come here. There's plenty of other stars that wouldn't want to come to Minnesota and play. And so by virtue of that, Rudy is a win. The other part is that my biggest argument for why Rudy was a Success has been a success is that I saw earlier on Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Carl Anthony Towne, Zach Levy, whoever. You know, a lot of the young stars that were supposed to be the, the guys that carried the Wolves forward were losing at such a level early in their careers that I think it damaged them and I think it damaged their perception of being here. Maybe not Cap, but most of the other guys. And so what Rudy did was raise the floor on this team to a degree that it showed that Anthony Edwards, hey, we can win here and win and you can get playoff experience and high leverage moments early on in your career. And if Rudy wasn't here, they would not have had the same amount of success and there'd be immediate conversations. Right now, Anthony Edwards can't win in Minnesota. He's got to get out of here and go somewhere else. And so that's where the value of Rudy Gobert come in. Obviously you look at what he did against Jokic in the first round of the Denver series and like that's incredible. And then, but then he was not good enough in San Antonio. And I do think that to your point about Dyson Daniels and so many others, I think that right now the biggest question mark for the Wolves going into this summer is what do they do with that three headed front court, Nazrid, Julius Rando and Rudy Gobert. I don't think that they can go into next season with those same three guys here. And if you're going to change out Rudy, you, you give up some, a lot of defense, you give up a lot of just leadership and competency and all of those things, but you probably unlock some more offensive firepower from, from Edwards and Randall and everyone else. If you change out Randall and get some more shooting around Rudy, maybe that makes him viable for another couple of years, but I think that especially a go bear Randall front court that is just so limited from a three point shooting standpoint. It makes them so easy to guard and it makes it so much tougher on Anthony Edwards to operate in the half court that something has to give there. Whether it is Gobert, whether it is Randall, whether, you know what, what they do. But I, yeah, I believe, you know, Rudy is back. Has more than made up for what, what they paid for him. But I also fully acknowledge that there are flaws and that there are special circumstances that you have to set up around him to continue to make this a good, viable pairing with Anthony Edwards.
- [46:09]
A
It's really tough and I think that's totally fair. And it's like, hey, okay, Fine. Ryan, you want to move on from Rudy and get what, A rim protecting stretch five. That's just going to be available. Okay, good luck. Like you can sign Porzingis. Like, I cannot wait for the Brzingis number because it's going to be higher than anyone thinks. Because he actually likes. If you could play 60 games, provides this thing that every team should most want, how it would open things up for Ant and all that kind of stuff. But then it's like, you know, if you're Conley in your ownership and you're sitting there going like, hey, that magic deal isn't there. And guess what? Like, if we keep Rudy, we know we win 50 plus games, we know we're not San Antonio and OKC. This idea that every team is supposed to try to figure out a way to compete with these two teams like those, those opportunities likely are impossible to accomplish. So we bring Rudy back and we're still a good team. And if something bounces right, an injury in the playoffs, in the first or second round, then maybe we're right back in this. Because Ant is that special and that part of the team building or the off season challenges is always so easy to ignore because it's just not as exciting being like, hey, the best scenario here is a tweak here and tweak there. But we're likely going to be the same, even if we know there's a ceiling on it. Because it's a hell of a lot better than trying to tear this thing down for two years around Ant because no one that good, that young is going to be excited for some sort of reset after a taste of what he's had. So it's probably going to be. Well, I wouldn't, I wouldn't predict that it's going to be boring because there's moves to make, but moves to make to catch up to these teams that we're watching right now. I don't, I don't know what that scenario would be. Good luck.
- [47:40]
C
Yeah, I think, I think the one thing that I'm just going to watch closely is like if there is one more leap for Anthony Edwards to make. Like he was kind of the pseudo point guard this year and it was kind of, it was good in some areas, but not good in others. His assistant numbers dropped, but every summer we've seen him address a weakness and make it a strength. Two years ago he needed to improve his three point shooting and then he made more threes than any player in the league. Last year he needed to improve his clutch performance. His mid range and rim finishing. Then he was, you know, right in line for clutch player of the year and was excellent down the stretch in games. Being able to stop this year. I think he goes into the summer saying I need to be kind of more cognizant of getting my teammates involved and making plays and making reads and getting off the ball when I need to and finding guys. And if he can add that to his game and make that a strength that all of a sudden turns him into a maybe a top five player instead of a top eight player or whatever he is. And so he gets better every single year, every single summer. And that in and alone will be something. But I still do think that there will need to be some changes around him to get at least give them kind of some optimism that hey, this is going to be different. We at least have a chance to do something different going into next season.
- [48:59]
A
Hey man, enjoy the what's your conference finals. And I know you're watching the Easter conference finals too. I guess I just Little west coast bias for you there. Thanks, John. For sure.
- [49:05]
C
Thanks, Ryan.
- [49:08]
A
What if you can add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow built into Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook? Copilot works where you work, helping you do more in the apps you already use in Excel. It generates insights from your data. Maybe you're tracking Donovan Mitchell touches in the fourth quarter or overtime. Maybe you're just focused on the fourth quarter touches in Game two of the Eastern Conference finals. And maybe you think, I don't need Copilot to add up to three. But what if you're going, hey, I'm going to track this throughout the entire series. Game one, this many touches. Game two, this many touches. But don't ignore the free throw attempts because those are also technically shot attempts in a way too. Even though they're not. Wait, there's too many numbers. I don't know how to put all this into any way that I can explain it to the audience? Oh wait, I have Copilot in Excel. Also, the apps you know go further with Copilot. Learn more@m365copilot.com work he is my friend, former co host, although who knows how this one goes. Could be a friend of me. Danny Cannell joins us from Dusty and Danny mornings on SiriusXM and of course his Cover 3 podcast. He's coming out to Manhattan Beach. I'm inviting him over, but I don't know seeing some of those tweets again, man, on this college football expansion and I'm just like, I guess we can have them on, but I feel like we're going to go at it. So you are in favor of the 2014 playoff? State your case?
- [50:34]
B
Well, let me clarify that because.
- [50:36]
A
Okay, here we go.
- [50:37]
B
I am in favor of. Of expansion. I would say that. And I think most people are. I think most people are okay with 16. I am fine if we stay at 12. But what is starting to drive me nuts, and I feel like we get to this point where everybody just starts making these really hyperbolic statements because they don't want to see it happen. And I don't think they're all true. Like, I don't. And probably the one primarily is, oh, it's going to ruin the college. It's going to ruin the regular season. It's going to ruin the regular season. I don't think that's necessarily true. I think, you know, when you say there's going to be meaningless regular season games. There have always been regular meaning meaningless regular season games throughout history. It's just we didn't really, like, they felt big and they felt penal, but they always weren't for certain brands. So I don't think it's going to change that much at all. So the other thing that I think we can fix is conference championship games. If anything are meaningless, it's conference championship games, which I've always struggled with. What do you do with them with our postseason? It's always bothered me. I think we've even talked about it before, like, I didn't know. How do you intertwine those when you have. It's post season play, but you have some teams lose and they're eliminated, but other teams lose and they're not eliminated. Some champions win, they don't get a chance. Some do and they're going to change that. But I always felt conference championship games have been meaningless. So we can fix those by expansion and replace them with play in games. I think it makes a ton of sense. And you get a lot more good competitive games as opposed to the pomp and circumstance of conference championship games, which really don't matter.
- [52:16]
A
All right, so that's maybe a little less aggressive than the tweets. That's kind of your move. That's always the Danny move is there's no tweeting game.
- [52:25]
B
I just, I'm pushing back on people who are the making the comments like, hey, this is awful because, like, if you go. So I think the Big Ten has a messaging problem. I think they should have never said the word 24 that is such a shock to the system. They should have gone with a 16 game playoff and a playing game to get there. Like, that is my perfect system. My system. I've been giving this a lot of thought. Like, how do you get there is you have a 16 team playoff, which everybody's kind of okay with. I know it's not overwhelming. People want to stay at 12. But if you say we're going to do a 16 team playoff and. But then how do we get there? It's 12 teams, top 12 ranked teams, conference champions, whoever. You get those top 12 teams, they're locked in. The next eight play in for those final four spots. You're at 20. That to me seems to be a really good number. You know, like that, that would be something I would go with. But the big, the Big Ten is kind of dug their heels on, on 24 and calling it a 24 team, you know, playoff. I think that's what's such a shock to the system. But I think if you, if you had, if you had messaged it better, I don't think it would be being received with such like, vitriol the way it is.
- [53:31]
A
Yeah, the, the Big Ten, you know, because they have been so successful these last few years too, which is smart by them to be like, okay, you know, it felt like Sankey and the SEC were running this for such a long time. And obviously previous to Sankey, Mike, it's like, okay, you, you've had this powerhouse put together this run and so everybody just has to listen to them. And even if I appreciated the SEC's success, certainly far more than you did, I never felt like it was right for one conference to just be dictating everything based on the value of the television rights. And there feels like, and I kind of understand this part of it from the Big Ten, it's like, look at us. Three different teams, three national championships. The SEC's down a little bit. Like, I think it's a real conversation between these two conferences. Something that I was not open to in the past, open to now as we go into 26. Like, I'm not sure necessarily who's better, but I think I can understand the big tenant being like, let's just start pushing our weight around here a little bit. But Petiti, who's running the show up there, who comes from baseball, every now and then he'll have some quotes where I go, what are you talking about? I mean, the private equity thing last fall, I'm like, why would you give up a chunk of what you're going to earn in perpetuity just because you're freaked out about all these schools that shouldn't be spending as much as they are in administration costs and all of their athletic facilities. It's like, guess what, Marilyn? Like, you're going to be in the red all the time. So now all of our members, other than a couple that opposed it, are supposed to agree to this influx of cash. That's its own thing. And then Petiti talked about baseball. He was like, why? I've never ever, in all the years of running baseball, as we expanded baseball playoffs, did you ever think that having more fan bases interested towards the end, like, we never had to sell that it's an automatic and it's an understood thing. So I get what he's selling in that A. If more teams, if we're at 24 teams, that means. I think his line was like, why can't Iowa, Minnesota mean something? Why can't it mean something every single year? Because there is a bit of a, you know, there's times where I hear people complain about the regular season, which some of the agreements or some of the things that I would agree with. And there's other times it's like, yeah, but it also, by widening it up, maybe lessens the importance of something that you put a huge priority on. But now all of a sudden, this game means something when it wouldn't have meant anything before. I understand that. But here's what I would say is like, it's totally different when you're playing 12 regular season games at 162. And this is also something like, people always like to come at me and be like, oh, you don't like college football expansion? I'd rather just stay to four. People are going to be like, oh, but you like the NFL? I'd be like, I wish they hadn't added a game. I wish there was no playing in the NBA, which I think was a counter tanking move that maybe they won't need with the new tanking rules that are in place. I don't want anyone to be invited to something after not doing something special during the whole point of what the regular games were supposed to be. And that's why I've opposed expansion to 12. I think the 16 with this idea of gradualism into 24 is like, we're that stupid. Hey, we're just going to do 16, but we're only going to pass 16 if it means in three years we can go to 24. And the other part, like, we can keep Getting into this. But the television part of this is maybe the biggest driving factor is that once it goes to north of 14 teams, the ESPN contract ends and they get to take it back out. Which is a very clear motivation for Fox wanting it to be out there even though they didn't bid on it the last time. And ESPN not wanting to lose a locked in deal at 1.3 billion a year going all the way from, from now until 2032. Clearly they don't want because it's just going to cost more. So why would ESPN like, I don't think it's an ESPN personality thing. I can totally understand why ESPN be like, yeah, we'd actually just like to kind of keep it the way it is now because we've already locked in that price and everything that we have to model out TV wise.
- [57:25]
B
Agreed. Although I do think it is, I think it would be healthier for the sport if you did have the playoffs owned by multiple companies. And maybe it was just two, even if it was just Fox espn. But if that's fine. You know, I think that because I mean when I was on the selection show and we used to talk about it, we were both at ESPN Y. Oh, you guys are, you know, you guys are ESPNers. Like you just want to put these brands in. They still get accused of that. I don't think it has any factor in it, but I do think it would be healthier for the sport if it was opened up to multiple networks. Then, you know, if Joel Klatt's pounding the table for Ohio State, people aren't saying, oh well, you just want a Big Ten team in. Like it would.
- [57:58]
A
I would say that.
- [58:00]
B
Right? Of course you would. It would be, it would definitely be. I think it would be healthier for the sport. Back to what you said. So this is where I think, and I like Tony Petiti a lot. I like his ideas. I don't hate that he's pushing for 24. But echoing what you said, like the messaging. You cannot bring up Major League Baseball when you're talking about college football. Like college football fans are like, that scares the crap out of them when you start mentioning how they, how many more playoff teams they have. Or I do think it's disingenuous as well when he says, you know, what percentage are we have? We only have a certain percentage of our teams in the postseason. When the NFL has this percentage and he's referencing 135 teams. College football is not 135 teams. Right. It's basically 64 65, you know, whatever number right around there. Sure. If you wanted to add a couple in there, let's just call it 70. But that, that is not, you can't use that math to justify going bigger by saying we want to have the same as the NFL unless you use the math for the 64.
- [58:59]
D
65.
- [59:00]
B
Right. Like that's where he said a couple things where I just, I wish he had somebody advising him, saying, all right, this, this doesn't sound like you have your pulse on the, on the heartbeat of college football, because sometimes it just feels like he's a TV executive who has spent time everywhere else but college football. Even though I think he's smart, I think he could have messaged some of this better, you know, which I think is a big part of the pushback that they're getting from this one. A couple. I wanted to dispel a couple. So I, I, we were talking about regular season, meaningless regular season, regular season games. The other thing that bothers me when I hear this because I think a lot of the thinking from college football fans is everything we've known for the past 50 years has been completely just turned upside on its head. So here's an example. So this is a pushback. Oh, well, why do we didn't even need 12? Because really only four teams can win it, which was, you know, or five teams, six teams, whatever that number is. That might have been true 10 years ago, but in the last few years I think we've seen that dramatically change with the, with the evolution of Nil and the transfer portal. The talent is spread throughout. So I think we have to adjust our mindset to think, all right, maybe it isn't just four teams can win. Maybe there are actually 12 teams that can win or 15 teams that could win. And if it keeps going down this road, where, if the Big Ten, if some of those, if we see more Indiana's come to the table and who, who knows who it might be. If it's, you know, Rutgers, Northwestern, pick your team that we're like, oh, they're awful. If they all of a sudden start investing and they find a coach and they start getting competitive, that field I think is going to grow deeper. I think the parody is coming. It's just taking some time in the Big Ten and it's already diluted some of the sec. So I think that is going to impact how many teams can win it, which is why we need more teams to have a shot at it.
- [60:51]
A
Do you think if you've never beaten a ranked team you should be playing for a national championship in the playoff. Do you have 12 games?
- [61:02]
B
Do you have an example?
- [61:04]
A
Yeah, I mean Michigan from Michigan, Michigan from last year. I mean I have two examples. I mean because technically Virginia beat Florida State when they were ranked 8th in that awesome double overtime game they played. They played one ranked team all year long. They ended up 10 and three. They lost to Duke a second time. So that game, you know, is sort of weird with that ACC tiebreaker thing they have. But you know, I can go through every single year.
- [61:30]
B
This is also one of the issues because with super conferences, even within the conferences you have disparity of schedules. So you then this is something that's always been. We can't just go by the record, which I tend to agree with now more than ever.
- [61:43]
A
But they do, they, they say they're not going to, they say they're going to reward you for scheduling.
- [61:48]
B
That's why I think we need more teams in there. So that if you are a team like Michigan or Indiana whose schedule was attacked the last couple of years, I mean the last three national champions, all from the Big Ten have played three complete cupcakes in the non conference and it. Well, you know, Ohio State had a game against Washington canceled. So I get that. But Indiana, Kirk Signetti canceled Virginia last year. He was like I don't want to play, why would I play them? You will start seeing more coaches take that approach. But even in their schedules, Ohio State this year, their schedule wasn't good. So you know what happened? They got exposed like in the, in the Big Ten championship, which didn't again this conference championship game didn't matter. They just flip flop one and two. But then when they got to the playoff, they got exposed for playing a weaker schedule. I'd rather see that where you have teams that have really good regular seasons. But there is a lot of disparity even within conferences. Ole Miss, I mean this is where you know Lane Kiffin, I saw him with PMT and the fellas over there, he was saying how you know they're 20 in the non conference. Well, they scheduled cakewalks too and they have dodged a lot of the better teams in the SEC during this run where he gets, he gets a birth in a playoff, you know, wins a game. But ultimately they got exposed, they got beat. Like that's where. I think that's what the postseason is for. Like the regular season should ultimately matter and you want to have a good regular season. But because of super conferences and some teams trying to manipulate scheduling, I think that's why we need more teams at the table getting an opportunity, because then those frauds get weeded out.
- [63:14]
A
Yeah, but see, I kind of hate that. Not that I'm disagreeing with you, but it's basically like, okay, so the conference expansion thing messed up the schedule so bad, so now let's expand the playoffs. Because the other part is messed up. Like, I just don't think you should be able. And I'm not making fun of Michigan. I'm just looking at a team that goes, hey, who finishes in the top 24? Okay, cool. You played three ranked teams. You know, the Oklahoma game was kind of close, but it didn't really feel all that close. Like, I mean, I remember watching it going like, I don't think they have much of a chance in this, obviously, with their issues on offense and all that kind of stuff. And then you go, and I'm not even counting the Texas bowl game, but it's like, so now that team's playing for a championship. And, like, I was looking through the stuff this morning. The coaches association, guess what they voted for. Of course they voted for expansion, because it lets them say, hey, I made the playoff. The acc, who's been a stepsister now for far too long, even though I think things should be cyclical. And it's easy to forget how talented this conference was, especially when you look back at those draft rankings for all those years, and you're like, the ACC's putting a million dudes into the league. And granted, sometimes I think I forget who's in the conference. But of course they voted for it. The Ads and coaches voted for it. The Big 12 follows suit the week after because they're kind of like, all right, what is it that we're doing with all of this stuff? So it gets turned into. Because I saw your tweet, you're like, hey, if you're anti 24 teams, you're either an SEC fan, which I pseudo am. And I can understand everybody making fun of me for it because liking lsu. You work at espn. Well, I did, but I haven't worked there. You know, me too. You know, I've hated expansion from day one, and I haven't worked there in almost seven years, and I still hate it. And then it's like, you. You grew up in the 90s, and so, yeah, okay, that's fine. I just.
- [64:57]
B
There was another group in there, and that's the other group.
- [65:01]
A
Am I in that group?
- [65:02]
B
Well, this was. I think it would be Ohio State fans. It would probably be Michigan fan. Like big brand teams. And ironically, I think Notre Dame would be included in that group. Although people vacuole all of a sudden is all in on the 2014 playoff, you know, where he's come out, which I don't think they. That kind of surprising me because I don't think they need 24, and they're going to be guaranteed a spot in the top 12 this year, as long as they're ranked in the top 12. So I was a little bit surprised that they were, but it kind of goes back to, like, we're not going backwards. Like, I and I. I think that, you know, the golden era of college football was probably when I played and soon after, like the 90s, 2000s, that was awesome. And then sport felt perfect. But we also. We're not going back to not paying players. We're not going back to the bcs. We're not going back to force players to play in bowl games. Like, so there's all these new issues that have cropped up in the past five years where it really has changed things so dramatically, and I think it's there. Let me ask you something. So do you. So you would prefer four, like, that was where you were like, four. You didn't mind going to four, though, right?
- [66:05]
A
No, no. I think. I think it's hard for me to keep track of everything that I felt philosophically.
- [66:11]
B
Right, okay.
- [66:12]
A
But I. I probably didn't even like 4 all that much, but then was like, hey, this makes sense. And yet you knew the leaders that decided it, they were so mad about the 2 system. Right. That was kind of the motivation for 4. It wasn't really about TV as much, if you go back, because I remember, like, Stu Mandel writing about it all the time is like, all of these guys running these conferences and everybody involved in college football was just like, all right, we're sick of getting dragged here all the time. But then it's like, okay, the first thing you did is you installed a new philosophy where one of your major partners, when we were in the power 5 structure, before the PAC 10 is dissolved, it's like you immediately set up a system where one person is going to be so pissed.
- [66:52]
B
Right?
- [66:52]
A
So now, like, you know, I know you're all looking out for each other, but why was. Why was that it? You know, maybe the. The four plus two thing, you know, with two buys for. But then it's like, certain years you're going to feel just as good about the number one team in. The number two team in the country is maybe the Number six team and all that kind of stuff. I mean, in this 24 team structure, the absurdity, like when you start digging through it, one auto bid and Then the other 23 are based on a selection committee, like, what is that? I would rather. If we're doing like, hey, everybody gets to play, then I would say, okay, then get. Let's get. Let's give the PAC12 an auto bid. It's not. Well, let's, let's give them, let's give them auto bids. Like, I don't want to see a ton of two lane Oregon games. Or, excuse me, two lane. What was it? It was James Madison, Oregon. Ole Miss. Right, right to lane Ole Miss. The James Madison game, which, like, oddly was the not closest weird game because Oregon was kind of like, all right, this is such a joke. We're going to let you back into this game. I saw that when I was like, well, wait a minute, you're going to go to 24, but you're not going to take care of everyone? I thought that was the whole point.
- [68:08]
B
And I, I think that's kind of what's getting overlooked in this whole debate of do we go to 16 or do we go to 24? How do we get there is probably going to be the biggest factor in whether people like it or not and whether it's successful or not. You know, because, because I don't, I
- [68:23]
A
don't want four autos from the Big Ten. I don't want four autos from the sec. Like, you know, it's whatever you could think. Like there were structures with that where it was like, hey, we want six from our conference. And you go for, for what, like a 12 year structure? What if you have an awful conference because you guys had the most valuable TV ratings eight years prior to whenever it was negotiated. Like, that's. But go ahead.
- [68:48]
B
Let me ask you this. Do you think the 12 team has been a good thing for college football?
- [68:57]
A
I don't like it, but I.
- [69:00]
B
But why? Because I think it's, I think it hasn't hurt the regular season at all. Like, and I. And like, I don't think it's taken away.
- [69:07]
A
I think I'm going to reference it all the time. But like when Gus Johnson's going, hey, this game means everything and it's Ohio State, Michigan, and you're like, no, this is the first time ever one of these teams could lose and still be playing for national championship. Like, that cannot be ignored. That can't be ignored because it's not true. It doesn't mean everything anymore, but it
- [69:25]
B
still means a ton. I mean, if you go back, Ryan Day lost to them. Ryan Day was on the hot seat. Like, they're lit him in, whether he really was or not. The Ohio State fans wanted him fired. And it was like, what happens if he loses to Tennessee at home? He's going to be fired. And he had to go on the run. Then he goes on the win. He wins, you know, three games.
- [69:43]
A
That's my point, is he gets to lose to Michigan and then go to the playoff.
- [69:47]
B
But that's how me, like, why does that. Why do we want, like, are we just a bunch of sadists? Like, we want that type of punishment to a guy if he loses a game to a rival? Like, it's still going to hurt. That's. That's a thing.
- [70:00]
A
Like, I'm not saying Ohio State fans enjoyed it, but it doesn't mean the same thing if you still get to play for a national championship after you lose that game. I feel like that's ignored because they'll be like, hey, Minnesota, Iowa means something now because they're ranked 21 and 22 and the winner is going to be in our new playoff. And it's like, okay, like, I understand you're widening the net of interest, but you're also destroying. Look, I'm sorry, but, like, I can't help but think that the reason Fox wants it to happen. ESPN doesn't want it to happen because of a trigger and a clause, all right? Fox wants it to happen because their early big noon kickoff slate sucks.
- [70:42]
B
Ohio State seven times last year, eight times where you have Ohio State fans. And it should probably be the same this year because it's their biggest brand and it's the only one that people will watch that has good opponents. I agree with you on that.
- [70:55]
A
So when, when, you know, like, everybody loves shanks that's ever dealt with him. The, the guy calling the shots at Fox. But when I see his quotes about, like, I don't see what the problem is, I was like, well, I know why you don't see what the problem is. Because he would love to have more games that matter. If you can split up the extra 12 games that you're getting here with a 2014 play out. Like, look, man, I don't think I'll kind of say this too. Like, you can be a capitalist and not like all of it. And that's really all this is. This isn't about fairness. This isn't about let's make sure balance. It's just like, hey, we have a product where for the longest time we didn't maximize a limited inventory. The NFL's doing the exact same thing, and that's going to get so gross that they'll push it. And I don't even know what the end game is for the NFL as far as, like, is there ever too much NFL? Because right now, the answer appears to be no. So this isn't some brilliant guy coming in with some economic model. You go, you know, we were really stingy about our inventory. So if we have this product, like, why don't we just sell more and more inventory over and over and over again? And even if you're a capitalist, I think there's part of you that goes like, all right, I can be an environmentalist. It doesn't mean I hate lumber. I don't think this stuff is. We spend so much time talking about the games and what it matters and the programs, the players and all that kind of stuff. And it's like, now they're just sitting on this thing going, hey, can we just keep selling games? And it's not really that hard. I don't know, man. I just. College football, like, thank God. I've never felt like I would say this before, but, like, thank God for pro league commissioners, because at least they can step in at times and go, well, I don't know, maybe that's a bad example right now, because I'm pretty sure the NFL would love to have 30 games a season and have it run, you know, from August until May.
- [72:45]
B
But I just look at the people that have cried about the downfall of college football from when it was, if we're going to pay the players, I'm not watching anymore. Right. We heard that hasn't impacted it. Yeah, the portal. And I don't like the portal. It's going to ruin the game. I can't stand when my players aren't there. People are still watching. It was the first way with the 4 to 12 team. It's going to ruin the regular season. I don't think it's ruined it at all. I. I just. I am a firm believer in college football fans, that they are different, that their passion is different, because a lot of it is passed on. It's where you went to school. There's an emotional attachment that is always there. And I. And I. And if you want to talk me into saying, well, you know, man, those fans are going to leave if we expand, I just don't believe it. Maybe I'm. Maybe I'm taking a risk. On that I am, you know, maybe overvaluing fans passion. I just don't think they're going to throw in the towel all of a sudden on the regular season. Like, the other thing is like, we don't want it to be college basketball. We don't want it to be college basketball. You know why the college basketball regular season isn't good? And it's because people are watching college football. Like the college basketball season becomes entertaining in December when the regular season's over and then people start turning their attention to. I am not that concerned about some of the people that are saying the sky is falling. And what if we, you know, what if we become NASCAR or pick your sport that has kind of fallen from its peak. I, I don't have those concerns. Maybe I'm naive and maybe one day I'll regret it and say, man, well, well, man, well, we're in dire straits. What are we going to do? I just don't see that happening.
- [74:18]
A
I, I think I'm aligned with you on that because I've never felt like the sport has been healthier, you know? Right. I don't, I don't know. Like, sometimes it can be your own experience where it's like, how much do you love the sport? And I love it. I mean there's sometimes I think I like college football more than the NBA. And it's also, I'm a terrible perspective on this because it's the job. So I know I'm going to sit there every single Saturday and, and you know, watching and hopefully knowing what I'm talking about. But I don't know what that, like, I think about it, I actually do spend time thinking about this kind of stuff is like, what's that saturation point for the NFL? Like, what would it be where it's like, ah, it's too much. We might not even be close. And college football could be right. The college football could be the exact same thing. But I just, look, it's the same thing with 12. The arguments about teams 12 through 14 in certain years, you look at it and you go, this is brutal. I think the Indiana thing is like fucked a lot of people up because it's like, hey, this is going to be the new norm. And I would suggest that that's almost discrediting Indiana because I think Indiana is going to be this outlier and I think the portal thing and with the money and the programs are going to have the right backers and the big time programs that like, you could say, oh, this program's Going to get all this money and they're going to pull in Indiana. It's like, what about the big time program like Alabama that's pissed about being like kind of overlooked here the last couple years? Like, you don't think they're going to start putting more resources into it to try to get back to what probably is impossible to match what they had done in the past? So I do think it's going to still be a lot of the blue bloods and then randomly you'll be surprised, but every now and then, like, we've been surprised with certain teams in the past, but you know, again with those structures, they were going to be closed out of the playoffs.
- [76:01]
B
But I think those gaps aren't as wide. That kind of goes back to the pool of teams that can win. Like last year, Notre Dame got left out, Miami almost got left out. And Miami was a 10, made it all the way to the championship game, you know, Ohio state championship. Like Notre Dame could have won. I think Texas could have won the national championship last year if Arch Manning continued on his progression. And they get hot. Like, I think there are teams more so than ever before because I remember we used to do our draft of teams at the beginning of the year. Like, all right, you get. And as soon as we got past like pick five, you'd be like, oh, dang, I got no chance. You know, like after you had that deep, you'd just be like, I'm screwed. I don't have Bama. I don't have Clemson. I don't have whatever teams they were. Now that's where I think it is. Good. Because I think more teams, and I think they believe it and they actually do have a chance to make the college football playoff and actually win the championship.
- [76:54]
A
Maybe. Okay, maybe. Or is it, hey, now you're invited to this single elimination thing that never existed before. And you know, there. There could have been teams even during like Pete, Clemson, Alabama stuff, where if Bama had to play three games instead of one or two.
- [77:15]
B
Right.
- [77:16]
A
Is it. Is it really good?
- [77:17]
B
Does that give you a better national champion? Doesn't that give you a truer national champion?
- [77:23]
A
Well, it means the regular season doesn't mean anything then if you can. If you can enter the playoffs never beating a ranked team and then put together like two wins because the really good teams that you played in back to back weeks fumbled too often. And then it's like, hey, man, this is. This is wide open. It's like, is it wide open? I just. Look, man, I think that's I think you should get through those 12 games and show me something. I think you should show me the same as the 12 teams and some of the arguments that we get to and who should be 11, 12, who should be left out and all that kind of stuff. And I think there's going to be some.
- [77:54]
B
You see Sark's comments on Texas Tech today?
- [77:57]
A
Not today, no.
- [77:59]
B
Oh, he called out Texas Tech. Cause if you look at their schedule, man, they are. It might be the easiest schedule out of anybody in the power four. He said I could play with my twos or threes and go undefeated.
- [78:11]
A
Good for him because he's probably right. I mean, absolutely, he's right. So isn't that an argument against this? Like there's some teams that are just going to stroll. They'll have like the one bad loss, they're going to be 11 and one, they're going to be from power four, and then they have a chance to play for a national championship. I'm never going to like that.
- [78:28]
B
But see, I would rather them have that than get the opportunity to play in a four team playoff. Like you're saying they only, they only have to get lucky and, or just win two games. I'd rather have them to go through a gauntlet of really good teams and then when we accuse them of being a weaker team and they're not that good, they get exposed or they get the opportunity to prove it wrong and go through a gauntlet and win and beat really good teams like Indiana. Indiana was a team and I think they clearly came around. People finally started to, you know, well,
- [78:53]
A
they were way better this year than they were three year prior.
- [78:55]
B
But if you go back to the Big Ten championship game, people like, oh, they're gonna get wax. They finally, finally play Ohio State and they end up winning. And then they, the, the teams that they beat were really, really good.
- [79:04]
A
So they were awesome this year.
- [79:06]
B
So we can't ever say, well, that was the regular season schedule because their regular season schedule was not that tough. But like, they're still looked at as maybe one of the best teams now because of what they did in the postseason, which I think is good.
- [79:19]
A
I think Indiana's messed people's brains up. Like, this is going to be the new normal. And I think it's still going to be like a handful of teams that are in there, but it's not, it doesn't mean that there's more parody. It just means that parody is invited. You know, with, with this structure, I just, I'm never Gonna like it. Whatever. I'm repeating myself. It's gonna happen too, so.
- [79:40]
B
Yeah, I think so too, I hope. Honestly, I. I would like to see the 16 first. See, like, I don't want to rush and just.
- [79:46]
A
Just get it over with. Rip the bandaid off.
- [79:49]
B
Bandaid off.
- [79:50]
A
Like, don't. Don't treat me like I'm 7. Just go to 24.
- [79:56]
B
Don't call it a 16, but it's really a 24. And just have some playing weekend that you call something else. See, my thing is that you should not be able to hang a banner for making the 2014 playoff. To me, it should be. Has to be 16 or 12.
- [80:08]
C
Like why not?
- [80:09]
A
Why not 48, right? Go to 48. No, but why not? Like, if everything you've said about 24, what's wrong with 48? Right. More regular season games will matter. If you go 7 and 5 and your quarterback is hurt, there's still a chance you can get in.
- [80:25]
B
I do think there is a point of where it does dilute the regular season.
- [80:29]
A
Yeah, it was after four. What do you want to do? What do you want to do on the itinerary when you're out here with the brood?
- [80:39]
B
Let's go, man. Let's play some golf. Maybe a little beach volleyball.
- [80:43]
A
You know, it's set up. Yeah, Nobody steals.
- [80:46]
B
The girls want to hit the guitar room again. They want to play the car, the guitars, you know, they've been talking about. That your guitar?
- [80:53]
A
Yeah, we do these volleyball. We can do the surfing. We get a workout in, see what Brady's, see what kind of weight she's pushing around now. We get some hoops in. We get all sorts of activities. I could hit up Marty Fish, see if you can get us on Bel Air. But I don't know. I don't want to step out of bounds him. I don't even know if I want to golf with you. Although I would like to see you golf again. You were writing, right?
- [81:19]
B
Yeah, I think I'm gonna. I think I'm gonna do it. I think I'm gonna bring.
- [81:21]
A
No, I've got a set for you.
- [81:23]
B
All right. But you know, I mean, I.
- [81:25]
A
Look, I totally get it, but if you don't want to travel with your clubs, I'm not even sure you're gonna get around in. Yeah, we have some options over here.
- [81:34]
B
All right, I'll keep that in mind. Sounds good.
- [81:37]
A
Some tailor made P790s.
- [81:39]
B
Oh, those are good clubs. Those are good ones. I'm a strix on guy now.
- [81:46]
A
Yeah. People like them, man.
- [81:47]
B
Yeah.
- [81:48]
A
You a blades guy?
- [81:50]
B
No, no, I'm like a pseudo. I got like the pseudo ones. They're not. They're not full cavity back. They're not blades. They're like the hybrids. They're right in the sweet spot. It's good, though. I've been, you know, I've been taking creatine, taking some peptides. I'm hitting the ball further.
- [82:05]
A
You're a peptide guy now, huh?
- [82:06]
B
Big peptide guy.
- [82:09]
A
You and Josh Duhamel, man. Thought you looked better.
- [82:12]
B
Exactly. I mean, we're pretty much twins.
- [82:17]
A
All right, so we'll stop the interview here and then we'll air it again when they expand from 16 to 24. Because honestly, I'm probably sick of hearing myself talk about it.
- [82:27]
B
But if they go to 48, we'll have to. We'll revisit.
- [82:31]
A
I'd like to ask people that are in charge, like, what's wrong with 48? Well, that's ridiculous. Is it?
- [82:37]
B
I'll be at Big Ten media days. I will ask. I'll ask Tony Petiti.
- [82:42]
A
I would like that.
- [82:43]
B
Just be like, hey, somebody asked him, like, what is the point? Where is the cutoff line?
- [82:47]
A
Yeah. Like, based on your baseball thing and like, if more fan bases are excited about the end of the season and we looked at September 1st and how many teams were within four games and all this different stuff based on that methodology, wouldn't 48 make more sense?
- [83:04]
B
Right. We've got to keep Purdue invested. We have to keep their. Maryland. I don't want to offend all these fan bases, but you know who you are.
- [83:15]
A
Well, yeah. I mean, you picked a bunch of big tent schools, so that doesn't seem nice.
- [83:22]
B
I don't. I don't even want to go there. Kentucky, Mississippi State, Big Ten.
- [83:27]
A
Danny. Hey, Kentucky had a. Kentucky's had some, some nice games. They've been in Mississippi State, Arizona State, which didn't count. I got an argument with a Big Ten guy about it, and he was like, give me the out of conferences, though. And I was like, you want to really do the out of conference thing? I was like, look, I think the SEC's down, but you want to do the head to heads on these. And he was like, tell him to use bowl season.
- [83:48]
B
Tell him to use bowl season.
- [83:50]
A
Hey, look, you can start using bowl season if you're a Big Ten guy right now. It's been a nice, nice run for you for a couple years. It's not just one data point, by the way.
- [83:58]
B
People need to stop dunking On Iowa and saying, oh, we don't want. They had four losses all by one possession or less.
- [84:04]
A
Iowa was a really good football team this year. So I'm with you. Yeah, they were not good. They were not good when your Cover 3 co host was trying to argue with me offline about how good they were. Yeah. And then different one.
- [84:20]
B
Oh, not Tom.
- [84:23]
D
Yeah.
- [84:23]
B
Oh, Tom. Big time.
- [84:26]
A
Yeah. There was like a. I. I had another Iowa argument which kills me as a Waterloo guy. It kills me to be negative about Iowa ever. And. And he was just kind of like, you know, I can't believe you would think I was like, I can't believe you think this Iowa team is like, worthy of any of the shit that you're talking about. It feels a little big tennis. It feels like, like the bias which you accuse everyone else having. And then that was when Michigan just absolutely dump trucked him in the Big Ten championship game. Yeah. I did not follow up with them. So this is the follow up.
- [85:01]
E
All right.
- [85:02]
B
This is the Big Ten, Tom.
- [85:03]
A
I let it go.
- [85:04]
B
See if I can broker a peace deal. Although it gets uncomfortable because.
- [85:08]
A
Is this your God?
- [85:09]
B
Well, sometimes Big Ten Tom and ACC Danny get into it because he takes some shots at the acc. But I am almost. It's becoming indefensible.
- [85:17]
A
I forgot you played in the acc. I thought Florida State was in the Big Ten based on your content the last couple years. So. No,
- [85:25]
B
it's been a rough one. It's been a rough go of it. I'm just ready for our big opener. We have before smu. Who do we play?
- [85:36]
A
I don't know. You should know. You're the alum. I'm in playoff mode right now.
- [85:39]
B
I should. We just talked about it this morning. It's a big powerhouse week. Zero critical matchup. It is New Mexico State. That's what I thought. Watch out, Aggies.
- [85:48]
A
Who you guys? Who are you guys playing? Out of state or out of conference? Out of state.
- [85:53]
B
Bama again in Tuscaloosa. The revenge.
- [85:56]
A
Oh, that's right. Revenge game. Yeah, those are. Those were good times. Imagine. Imagine feeling as good as you felt after that Bama win and then not expecting to.
- [86:05]
B
I've never. I'm not a big fan of deleting videos, but. But in the aftermath, the glow of that game when I stormed the field with Brady Buckets and Dylan. My daughter's there. I was feeling good. Post a little video and some passion, please. Saying, we're back. We're back, baby. And saying, we better be in the top 10. That video has been thrown in my face quite a few times throughout the rest of the season. I thought we were. I thought we were. I was wrong.
- [86:32]
A
Your front got after it that day. They did. Like they were touched by a God for one afternoon. Castellanos was one rainy afternoon. That's right.
- [86:43]
B
In Tallahassee. What could happen?
- [86:47]
A
Good seeing you, man. See you soon. All right, you too. What if you could add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow built into Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook? Copilot works where you work, helping you do more in the apps you already use in Outlook. It cuts through the noise to get you up to speed faster.
- [87:05]
E
It is.
- [87:08]
A
Look, I'll admit, I didn't want to give in. Sometimes I'm like, I can write an email. And whenever it's something and it's like, just like. How do I word this? Perfectly? And then you kind of just put it all together and then you hit on it and you go, yep, that makes way more sense. Thank you, Copilot. Now I feel more mature and efficient. The apps, you know, go further with Copilot. Learn more@m365copilot.com Work.
- [87:36]
B
You want details? Fine.
- [87:38]
A
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [87:41]
B
What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the south fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.
- [87:54]
A
Let me tell you what's required. Today's life advice is presented by Shell. You hear it all the time in sports. You get out what you put in. If you're eating right, training right, doing all the little things, you're going to perform better. Everybody knows that. It's the exact same dynamic with your car. Not thinking about what you're actually putting into it. But it turns out it matters a lot. Shell V Power Nitroplus is designed to help remove up to 100% of performance, robbing deposits from your engine. So instead of your car working through all that buildup, it's actually able to form the way it's supposed to on the road. That's where you feel it. More power when you need it, and more performance every time you drive. If you're putting better fuel in, you're gonna get a better drive out of it. Shelby Power Nitro plus Premium Gasoline. More power, more performance in gasoline. Direct injection engine fuel injectors with continuous use of Shell V Power Nitro plus Premium Gasoline compared to lower octane fuels. Actual effects and benefits may vary according to vehicle type. Driving conditions and driving style. See? Shell us more for more details. All right, man, life advice is getting expensive around here. Lifeadvicemail.com I think I want something new at the end of the show for a little while. And I don't know if we can get it on this, but maybe just the. What's our lemon situation? Dropped to end every episode for a couple months. Summer's around the corner. Citrusy. You know, you guys have no idea what I'm talking about.
- [89:17]
E
No, I do, but I just think that you should have told me that off air because it takes a little bit of the magic the first time somebody hears it. But, yeah, we can make that happen.
- [89:25]
D
I need my memory because the first thing that comes to me is the 12 lemon centerpiece from. What was that movie? Vince Vaughn. The Breakup Aniston.
- [89:34]
A
Yeah, the greatest love story ever told. And it's.
- [89:37]
D
It's a pretty underrated movie. Although it's probably underrated anymore.
- [89:40]
A
But not underrated.
- [89:43]
E
It's a great.
- [89:43]
B
Well, I felt like it didn't have
- [89:44]
D
a great, like, theater thing. And then I was sudden, it came out on dvd and I was like, wait, why have I not heard about this movie? This movie's awesome. And then everyone bought the DVD so that it probably became properly rated.
- [89:52]
A
Would you have gone to the theater for rom com at that stage of your life?
- [89:55]
D
I mean, back then when, like, obviously, the Vince Vaughn run.
- [89:59]
E
I wanted to go for Hitch.
- [90:00]
A
Old school.
- [90:01]
E
I wanted to go.
- [90:02]
D
I went to all of those. Ironically enough, the best one I did not see in theaters, though. I didn't see Superbad in theaters. Regret it to this day.
- [90:11]
A
You wanted to see Hitch in theaters. You've always been a supporter of urban storytelling, though, Kyle.
- [90:18]
E
Well, Will Smith was just my guy, though. Yeah, still is. I didn't waver at all when he smacked.
- [90:23]
A
Yeah, he still is.
- [90:24]
E
I didn't waver it off.
- [90:25]
D
You've seen the music, the new music he put out. You've heard that. And it's still.
- [90:29]
E
I said he's my guy. I'm not saying, like, you know, you know, I could be in Barometer. I don't have to hate lumber, you know, so. Nice.
- [90:42]
A
That's pretty good.
- [90:43]
E
But I know what your lemon sting is from. This is from Chef Donnie. I watch the stuff that Ryan does when he's.
- [90:47]
D
Oh, it's queued up.
- [90:48]
A
How was that?
- [90:49]
D
People got excited about that.
- [90:51]
E
A lot of lemons.
- [90:51]
A
I heard a lot of lemons.
- [90:53]
E
People think with lemons.
- [90:55]
A
Yeah.
- [90:56]
D
Yeah.
- [90:58]
A
The edit that I saw, that's out is. I seem pretty bossy in it.
- [91:03]
E
Oh, yeah.
- [91:04]
A
I don't know if that plays.
- [91:06]
E
It sounds like no one's ever done that before, so that's. At least. That's interesting.
- [91:11]
A
Well, I think the past. Chef Donnie would just. And I really like, you know, met him in Vegas, and then we did the show together. I really like him. I don't know if he's weird or not. And I, you know, I really like
- [91:21]
E
him, but I don't know him.
- [91:22]
A
Yeah, right.
- [91:24]
D
We didn't meet him in Chicago. At least I didn't.
- [91:26]
A
He was in and out. He actually, like, left that after we made the cutlets. I was, like, still there eating them, and he had to leave for some other meeting. He was, like, in a hurry.
- [91:33]
E
You usually get to do that to guys and he did that to you.
- [91:35]
A
That's. He did it to me on his own show. So actually, who. Who is the real alpha? That's a.
- [91:41]
D
That's a.
- [91:41]
A
You. You should. You, of all people would respect the
- [91:43]
D
hell out of that.
- [91:45]
A
Yeah. Like, okay, I guess this guy's done.
- [91:47]
E
Got to leave him wanting more.
- [91:48]
A
That's great. I was psyched. I was happy to do it. Happy to cook with him because he was like, hey, is there any way you can. Come on. I was like, well, I can cook a little. Then he was like, are you serious? He's like, what do you want to do? And then I gave him the ingredients list. It was kind of. He was just like, what are you going to. And then I watched the edit. It's like a 15 minute version of it, but the edit. I'm just bossing him around the entire time. And I was like, oh, okay.
- [92:10]
D
How'd you land on cutlets? Chicken cutlets.
- [92:13]
A
I'm a big fan of a nice chicken Milanese. Yeah. So it's not like I'm just dicing up cutlets over here all the time. We're not calling this the house of cutlets. House OCs. But super versatile, though.
- [92:25]
E
Cutlets.
- [92:25]
A
You can do anything with them.
- [92:26]
D
I've seen people that are using those as protein bars these days.
- [92:29]
A
Yeah, don't blame them.
- [92:30]
D
Little plastic bag. Put a cutlet in there, eat it on the road.
- [92:34]
A
Yeah. I mean, I don't think you want to be eating fried food every single day. Depending on how you're prepping the cutlets, maybe you're baking them or whatever. But these are really fresh the way that I. You know, it's lighter, it's. There's an arugula, there's an heirloom tomato in there. There's a heavy vinegar vinaigrette. So whatever. All right, can we go back to
- [92:52]
D
the lemons thing really quick though?
- [92:53]
A
Yeah.
- [92:55]
D
That is truly one of those things where like now 37 year old me is like, yeah, dude, I can't have enough lemons around the house. I love lemons. And back then like why would you have lemons in your house? Like, this is the dumbest thing ever. It's just such a, like wow. Okay, I've reached the stage in my life where lemons are awesome.
- [93:12]
A
Good old Meyer lemon too.
- [93:13]
D
Yeah, I'm bummed out. I'm like in the fridge. Oh, we're out of lemons. How could we be out of lemons right now? Whereas like 20 whatever year of me was like, I don't think I've ever bought a lemon.
- [93:21]
A
I'm not going to tell you how to invest your money, but you could do a lot worse.
- [93:26]
E
You know, we've got a, we got a lemon tree growing right now and
- [93:29]
A
my wife's going to do up there.
- [93:30]
E
My wife thinks we can keep it alive this winter. I was like, this is crazy but I scored like a million points getting her the lemon tree. So whatever. I guess it's a win for me either way.
- [93:40]
A
I would bet a substantial amount of money that tree dies this winter in Poughkeepsie.
- [93:43]
E
Well, yeah, we're talking about inside, outside, like you know, maybe put it on like a wheeled. Oh, it's interesting. There might be a ramp involved. I don't know what the gonna happen either way. It's either I told you so or she's still happy.
- [93:53]
A
Either way I would tell you what if all the rabbits die and all you have to worry about is a lemon tree inside in front of a heater. That's an upgrade perspective. Not that we're the rabbits to die. What's the rabbit count out now?
- [94:04]
E
Still two. Still two.
- [94:05]
A
Still two. Two.
- [94:06]
E
A couple of 90 degree days recently though. I was certainly watching. Oh no, I'm just obviously to check on.
- [94:15]
A
Where are you keeping them, buddy? In your car Garage? All right, let's get you a couple emails. I love the headline of this one so much. My college son is a dick. Hello gentlemen. No impressive gym stats. I hit some cardio and weights a few times a week. NBA comp. Rip Hamilton defenders get annoyed with how much I run around and exhibit a solid mid range game. Those are tough guys to deal with and pick up if you're going to keep running through stuff. Honestly, if you're not that Good at hoops or you have great cardio. Just keep running around all the time, you're going to score buckets. Cutting to the chase here. My oldest son is in his second year of college. His first year he got great grades, made the dean's list, was active in rotc. The second year, he failed four classes, dropped another, and did poorly in his reaming courses. He lied to me about his grades, but still active in other organizations like rotc. I grew up poor, so have worked very hard to pay for schooling for him. So he's been living on my dime. I told him I'm cutting him off and he's on his own. He responded by calling me. A few choice words. So I kicked him off our phone plan and car insurance. There you fucking go. My wife didn't like that, so go ahead.
- [95:24]
D
No, I wasn't off the phone plan until like a couple years ago.
- [95:26]
E
I feel like, dude, guys, guys threaten this and he like, boom, boom, boom. He. He is not playing around.
- [95:33]
A
There's all sorts of adults. I think there's people with grandchildren right now that are like, what's your dad's name? You just keep the phone going. Anyway, my wife didn't like that, so I turned his phone back on end. Am covering his insurance. He took advantage of his phone being back on to text me and call me a dick. Should I cut him some slack for a year? He underperformed or dropped the hammer on this D bag. Some slight background. He struggled with mental health as a kid, but hasn't had issues in years. As far as I know, he doesn't drink or do any drugs. I think he's just having too much fun based on his appearance. Spending too much time at the gym. It's a tough one.
- [96:13]
E
Oh, you just lost right at the end there.
- [96:16]
D
Well, usually it's the, like, I had the, like the freshman year where it's like, whoa, man.
- [96:19]
A
Two, five.
- [96:21]
D
And then you kind of figure it out after that. You usually don't do well the freshman year and then suck sophomore year.
- [96:27]
A
Usually it means like, you've joined a fraternity or you're dating somebody or you broke up with somebody. Like, there has to be usually something like all of a sudden it's like you've decided, I mean, for him to say that he's not drinking at all or doing any drugs. And usually I would. I don't know. So no offense to the ROTC guys out there. It was a long time ago for me. I wouldn't exactly call the ROTC guys that were on Campus, like straight edge. No, but I wouldn't say like those guys. Those guys usually generally had like a little bit more maturity than your average undergrad. So even if they had fun on the weekends or whatever they did, it wasn't like, hey, those guys are morons and they're always doing stuff wrong for no reason. They do Seruti.
- [97:10]
D
I know, great call. That was real life experience right there.
- [97:16]
A
I came back a couple summers and wasn't exactly the greatest dude to be around. A little salty, but that was more about things going on in my life that I didn't feel great about and maybe some things at home, so. And I would reorbit back into the family scene. You know, you start like thinking you can kind of like everybody's supposed to get out of your way because it's like the first time you've been away and then you're coming back. So I'm simply just trying to help like a dad understand his kid. Even if I'm only coming at it from the kid who came back where I think eventually like one of my family members was like, hey, what's your deal? Like, what, what is your deal when you come home and you're just gonna
- [97:49]
D
be like this from now on?
- [97:49]
A
Yeah.
- [97:50]
E
Tyrant. Right.
- [97:51]
A
Yeah. Right. Like you're not, you're not that great to be around, man. We like miss.
- [97:56]
D
What would you say you do here?
- [97:58]
A
Yeah. You're such a sweet person. What. What happened to you? There is a fucking life happened.
- [98:06]
E
You left that cheese on the counter. You jumped down my throat.
- [98:08]
A
What the fuck, man? Yeah, there is a level though of
- [98:10]
D
like, I think, I mean this isn't. Everyone goes through, like, you just think you're so cool in college and like you've got it figured out and like, because you just are kind of on your own, but not really. And you just, you know, you kind
- [98:22]
A
of, especially if you're cool at college too, like, you know, yeah, you're like, yeah, I'm the man. And the man is now home visiting you for a little while. But just so you know, I am the man.
- [98:31]
E
I hope you don't think it's going to be like it was.
- [98:33]
D
Yeah, I'm hang out with you.
- [98:35]
A
Hey, dad, I'm the man now, so I want you to adjust.
- [98:40]
E
Also, I need $300.
- [98:43]
A
Can I get an advance on that deck work that I'm going to be doing?
- [98:47]
E
I. I got to say, for me specifically, like, I thought this happened to everyone. I thought like I had like a big like 19 year old apology. This was on the heels of my suspension and move out to my apartment thing. And I just. Before I went back, I just was like, hey, man, I'm sorry. I know it's been a long 19 years, and I just sort of just got hip to that, so I'm not gonna run through the laundry list. I'm just like, I'm sorry. I did the same thing with my mom, and I just. It's been very different with us since then. You know what I mean? I've been able to zoom out, and I have a younger brother that's like 10 years young, nine years younger than me, and he hasn't done his big apology yet, and he's a couple fucking years late on it, if you ask me. But, like. But I don't know. I don't know if. I don't know if this happens with everybody who is kind of like me or not, but for me, I just kind of woke up. I was. It was almost like an enlightenment. I was like, oh, my God, you guys weren't stupid.
- [99:37]
A
I was stupid.
- [99:38]
E
And you guys weren't, you know, up my ass. I was, like, doing all this crazy stuff. So I would just say maybe he's a guy that's gonna do that. It was. It's crazy how, like, BC and AD it was for me, like, how different my perspective has become with my parents. So I would just say if you're holding out hope for that, it could totally happen.
- [99:58]
D
It does feel a little harsh from our guy from the emailer. Like, all right, he had a rough
- [100:02]
E
sophomore year, but he seems like he might be that kind of dad, which there are those guys out there, and I don't think that's.
- [100:08]
D
But now your son kind of doesn't like you, so. And I know you're. You're basically, you know, obviously he's on scholarship with your money for life, but I don't know. I think there's a way to, like. And maybe he's leaving some stuff out, but I think there's a way to, like, be, like, stern, but not, like, kick him off the phone plan and basically, like, you know, disown him for a little bit. Like, I think it's a little.
- [100:31]
A
Little bit harsh.
- [100:32]
D
I would just say.
- [100:33]
E
I mean, but if this is the first time that the grades have really slipped and if really all he said was like, hey, man, like, what's going on? What's going on with these four classes? You all of a sudden failed. It's never been this way, you know? And his response to that is just like, get off. You know, if it's. If it's like, crazy and it's like, this is uncharted waters, if they've never actually dealt with this. And like Ryan said, he probably discovered something. Maybe he's in like some beer league or something that's taken up all this time. Probably not if he's rotc, but, you know, if he's just, like, trying. This guy's now, you know, however many miles away from his parents, and he's just trying to figure out what the disconnect is. And if maybe the question sounded a little bit, like, alarming, because it is alarming to them. And if that's the reaction you get from this kid who from the first time, for the first time in his 19 years, has totally slipped, you know, this. I think it's just bad communication on both sides.
- [101:21]
A
So I like, I think the communications sucks because, all right, like, there's going to be two very distinct parties that are going to respond to this, right? There's going to be the tough love guys. They're like, this kid, he just failed four classes and dropped out of another one. So normal course load, what, 10 classes a year? So that means he just blew an entire semester, which is like, all right, so who's paying for that? Especially he's not even thinking that way. Yeah, yeah. Like, when you're the kid and you're going, like, I remember when I screwed up, it was kind of like, cool, I could just stay here longer. Who you think's paying for that, buddy?
- [101:54]
E
Goalpost just moved.
- [101:55]
A
Yeah, like, who's Fannie Mae? You know, there's no perfect answer to this because if you're the dad, you're going, I got to give him the wake up call now to set the course in the right direction as opposed to, if I'm too harsh, do I send him down the wrong direction by that. I remember one of my close friends played sports, awesome athlete, and he made a deal with his dad. And I remember the deal because I got a ride home from them after one of the semesters was done. And he asked his son in the car, and I was just meeting his dad for the first time. And his dad was like, it was intense, man. I mean, so his dad's like, all right, did you close your bank account? And he was like, no, I didn't close the bank account. I'm leaving for the summer. And it was like the first impression that I made with this guy's dad because it was like, he didn't even care. He's like, where am I dropping you off? And I'm like, just drop me off in Boston somewhere. I was like, I'll find a way to get back to the Cape. And so he was like, did you close your bank account right? And the kid's like, no, Dad, I did. Like, I didn't close my bank account. So he's like, what do you mean? How are you just going to have the bank account? He's like, that's how bank accounts work, dad. Like, I'm. I have a bank account. It stays open. There's like 80 bucks in it, which is a miracle just to keep it open. And then when I come back, like, I'll have 80, you know, like. Like, I'm coming back. And then he was like, well, we don't know if you're coming back. He's like, how did you do on your last whatever? And then he had already gotten his grades, and he was like, what do you think that'll be? And they were like, figuring out what it was going to be. And he's like, we had a deal. You wrote a contract. He's like, it has to be over this. He goes, you're not coming back. And now I'm in the car.
- [103:39]
E
Whoa.
- [103:41]
A
And the thing is, he did not let him come back. That was it. He was done. He never came back to school.
- [103:45]
D
It's the last time you saw.
- [103:50]
A
I saw him. I saw him. We actually spent some time together. He's one of my favorite guys that I've ever met. But it was like, I had a very strict father who definitely had a little bit of a. Like, I don't want to. I don't want to drop the hammer on you so much that, like, I'm derailing some things. And look, even back then, I think there were some explanations. It's. You know, we've already covered some of this stuff, but. But I was sitting there as, like, a front row seat to being like, maybe I was just too young.
- [104:21]
E
Maybe I got to go home and talk to my dad.
- [104:23]
A
Yeah, right. I'm going to go home and be like, hey, dad, thanks for not. And that was it. He was like, we had a contract and it is over and you're not coming back here. And I'm like, holy shit. And so I'm thinking about that story as I'm reading this email going, you probably don't want to do that because you're so proud that he's in school, but you've got to get to the root of, like, how did you turn into A completely different guy. And you've explained nothing in the email. So before you start punishing him, figure out, hey, man, how are we turning this around? What derailed you and how are we turning this around? And then maybe you can go, if you do this again, then you already know the real hammer's coming down. You gave him a little taste of it, and I think that's probably the right thing to do. But I guess if I were a parent, I would be so fearful of proving a point, but then also holding my child to some standard and yanking him out of an experience that can be corrected, knowing that if I yank him, am I sending him down a worse path? And maybe that makes me sound soft, but I can't imagine being a parent struggling with that decision, knowing the thing that I could be doing that's the right thing could ultimately end up being way worse for my kids. So I don't envy the position, even though the communication.
- [105:39]
E
The communication has to get better. It's late, May. He might be home already. I try to lengthen your fuse a little bit. It sounds like you're, like, itching the fuse from Kyle.
- [105:48]
A
I love that.
- [105:48]
E
It sounds like he's itching to prove like, I am that guy. And I will turn. I'll turn off your fucking phone and pay the 50 bucks to get it turned back on. When your mom badgers me, I'll find you a new auto policy, but I will turn it off just to show you I'm serious. But you definitely want to get this in check before GTA 6 drops in November. So definitely figure out what went wrong and try to build up something because GTA 6 is coming mid November. That's right smack in the. In the middle of that next semester back, so get your together, man.
- [106:14]
D
Is that confirmed? I didn't even know that.
- [106:16]
E
Yeah, it's confirmed until it's not November 19th, actually my birthday, so.
- [106:20]
A
Oh, wow. Okay.
- [106:21]
E
Calling out that day.
- [106:24]
D
I don't have much else to add. I. I think I. I don't know. I struggle with that now in, like, even with, like, you know, my three. It's like, how much do you, you know, you want to lay the hammer down, like, a little bit and, like, be a. You know, hey, I'm not to be fucked with, but also, like, I want to be. I don't want you to dislike me. I don't want you.
- [106:42]
E
I don't want to throw out your ice cream.
- [106:43]
B
Yeah.
- [106:43]
D
You know, like. Yeah, like, you know, you're, like, adorable. What am I supposed to say to You. Obviously, it's different with a college kid, and they're probably way more annoying in certain ways, but I. Yeah, like, he doesn't. It doesn't seem like this kid. I mean, maybe he does, but you didn't say that. He has, like, a habit of screwing up either. You know, if this was, like, a thing, it's like, all right. Like, hey, dude, you've had, like, a thousand chances already, and this is the last one, and I'm done. One and done.
- [107:07]
C
I don't know.
- [107:07]
D
I just. I wouldn't. I wouldn't want to be that parent.
- [107:09]
E
The problem is, it's not one thing. It's fucking a couple of months of things. Like, this is. This is a signal of a couple of months of shit that he's been hiding until he couldn't. So you're not really sure how serious it is.
- [107:19]
A
So fair.
- [107:20]
D
But I think it's worth being like, you got two more years up at school. Also, like, what's his major? I mean, I don't know.
- [107:25]
E
Like.
- [107:25]
D
Like, you know, I had a. I had a 2, 5 my freshman year, I think, and it ended up being, like, it didn't really matter. Like, you know, he's not that, like, studying. Yeah. Who knows?
- [107:34]
A
Look at what you.
- [107:35]
D
You could do. I don't know. Communication screens are also, like, kind of fake, so, you know, got easier as I went there. Hey, I'll be the first. Listen, I. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not ashamed. It's easy. I learned a lot of things outside of school than I did in school. I feel like my internships are actually more, like, educational than, like, the actual schooling part of it, but I don't know.
- [107:53]
E
You didn't take ethnography in the digital age, buddy.
- [107:55]
D
Yeah, you're right. I did.
- [107:56]
E
Rhetoric of the black church. Come on.
- [107:59]
D
I did take boxing in college, though. That was definitely necessary.
- [108:04]
A
It's just a way of weeding us all out, man. And you guys passed a step, like playing junior high baseball after Little League. That's. It doesn't mean you're going to be on the Red Sox. Just means you cared a little bit more to keep playing after the Red team season ended when you were 11. All right, here's a quick one. What type of wedding gift to get a couple who will divorce? 63190. No pickup. My brother Michael, name changed, is engaged and set to be married early next year to his fiance Sarah, Also changed. I'm very close to my brother. He was the best man in my Wedding has always been my closest family member. Here lies the problem. Michael and his fiance never seem to be on good terms. Since being engaged, all they seem to do is fight. Sarah refuses to talk to anyone in the family anymore. It's getting so bad. They have both walked. Oh, both talked about calling it off and breaking up. Hey, that can happen with young love. They recently went on vacation together and I asked her. Everything was. And he just said terrible. We fought the whole time. When my wife and I were with them a few weeks ago, it got so bad, I would have put every dollar I had on them calling the wedding off. Since they both talked about calling it off, my wife and I assumed it would be canceled. Fast forward to this week, and in the mail we received the official invitation. I reached out to Michael asking if everything was good between them, and he only replied, quote, guess so. Damn. My question is, what type of wedding gift do you get to. Excuse me? What kind of wedding gift do you give to a couple who you think might end up divorcing? Do I chalk it up to the game and still get them something nice like I was planning to do? Or can I get something slightly less nice and get my brother something personally on the back end?
- [109:49]
D
Yeah, definitely that. Well, to save face a little bit, do you just get something that maybe he's going to get in the divorce?
- [110:00]
A
Pool cue.
- [110:01]
D
Yeah. You know, it's fucking awesome.
- [110:09]
E
I got to say, the last, like, four weddings I've been invited to, like, the registry is just like four different places you could donate cash to. It seems like that's where everything is headed, at least for my age group. I mean, they don't even put, like, candlesticks on there for grandmas to get. Like, it's just like, house, fun, honeymoon fund, wedding expenses. It's like, oh, so it's all gonna go in the same pot.
- [110:31]
D
I think it's different, though, when it's your brother. If it's a run of the mill wedding, then yeah, all right.
- [110:36]
A
Just cash.
- [110:36]
E
And this is you totally minding your business by still getting him a wedding gift, but getting him a wedding gift that he's gonna be able to hang on to without saying, hey, man, I don't think this is a good idea because that's never going to work. So, you know, we don't even. We could just skip that part of the email where he's just like, what do I get him? Yeah, definitely. I think this side gift is way better, especially if you're like, I'm definitely going to be on your Side when the dust clears.
- [110:56]
A
So what about an extra set of sheets, like, for a couch?
- [111:04]
E
Like a top sheet that perfectly fits over a couch.
- [111:08]
A
A Murphy bed. That is funny. Murphy bed. A gift card to Hilton Gardens. It's a thousand bucks on that, man. You get eight stays, never expires.
- [111:19]
D
This is an anticipatory gift. Yeah.
- [111:25]
A
That's better than money. That is a gift card to a local motel 6. Right where you guys have been looking on Zillow. Very convenient. He even walked there after some wine. A little too much Chardonnay. He doesn't even have to call an Uber. Oh, man. Because he's probably. You guys are gonna be. It'd be great if you got him something that they fought about, right? Like, what if you got him, like, some religious book? And she's like, that's the worst fucking gift ever. You're just like him. Like, his beliefs are his beliefs. I will not let you cross that line. Next thing you know, it's done. It depends on how much you make here. I mean, can't. Can't you get something? I mean, it's going to be a little weird if he's walking around with a new Rolex day date. It's like, where'd you get that, my brother? It's our wedding gift. Yeah, look, I like where your head's at. Why don't you just put a slightly lower ceiling on what you're willing to spend and make it up for the next wedding? She already doesn't like you. What do you care?
- [112:33]
D
It is a good point. It won't really matter.
- [112:35]
A
It won't really matter. So if you get something really nice. Normally I understand doing pretty well. Like, what's the difference between 200 and 400 on the gift? Like, just get the right gift and who cares? And move on from the whole thing. But, like, you sent us an email, so.
- [112:50]
D
Does it go to a wedding where you don't talk? One of the sides doesn't talk to the other side of the family. It's a damn hope. It's an open bar, not a wedding party.
- [113:00]
A
A relative say about another. He's like, are you going to come to the next one?
- [113:05]
E
I think somebody says that every time. I think there's.
- [113:08]
A
I don't know, depending on how big the wedding is. I was. I was shocked. But I guess you're right. Yeah, I guess. I guess. That's not exactly new material. He thought it killed. All right, that'll do it for us on the show today. Please subscribe. Check out our full episodes on Netflix. Thanks to everybody on the show.
- [113:29]
D
Today, no 10 good minutes. Tomorrow we'll do it next Tuesday.
- [113:32]
A
No. 10 good minutes. That's right. No 10 good minutes.
- [113:35]
D
Get the questions in for Tuesday, right.
- [113:37]
A
NBA mailbag NBA mailbag rrmail.com thanks for listening. Ryan Rosilla Show Barstool Sports. Sa.