Ryan Rosillo (2:42)

have an MVP vote, so I'm putting the work in and I want to get it right. I know I can be a bit of a contrarian at times, but I don't do it just to do it because this is important. This is important. It's a part of history and you want to make sure you're thinking about everything here. So I'm not 100% sure. I'm probably pretty sure how I'm going to vote here. I want to go over the four candidates because it's four. If Cade were eligible for this, he'd probably be my fifth place vote. But I think it's pretty clear that it's Jokic, it's sga, it's Wemby, it's Luka. It's not in that order necessarily, but I'm going to go through the cases. It's going to get a and then some factors and then ultimately like what I think might happen as opposed to how I may vote for it. But again, I'm not 100% sure yet on this. So if we start with Jokic, he's seventh in scoring, he's first in rebounds and assists. Okay, there's a Wilt note of did Wilt do it? Did he not do it? I'll update you on what that is a little bit later because I looked it up this morning on did Wilt actually lead the league in rebounds and assists? The way Jokic is right now, from a metric standpoint, Jokic is kind off the charts. Again, some of these numbers are the best of his career. Prior to that Miami injury, he was on pace for like an all time advanced metrics kind of season. I don't know if he would have sustained that for an entire 70 plus games that he probably would have played. So you know, at that point I was kind of looking at it going like, man, I think he's going to win it again this year. But again it was really early. So the box score plus minus stuff, he's always off the charts with that. It's plus 14. His usage is at 30%. He hasn't shot it great in the last two months. So I watch a lot of Denver games because I just love watching him play. I don't know, he's always a little more reluctant than I think we all want him to be pulling it from three, but I just don't know that he's as comfortable with that the last couple months. And I would say if I get a little nitpicky, which I have to to separate these four guys and kind of really dig into all this stuff, there's probably a few turnovers there late in some games that speak to some of the clutch numbers that I'll get to as well where, you know, I just would rather not see those turnovers. SG second in scoring, he's 18th in assists. Not going to get on his case that he's only 4 rebounds per game as a point guard. That's not really a factor here. His metrics are again incredible. His box score plus minus is at 12. The usage is at 33.5. So that's a. That's a healthy number which you'd expect. It's not like historic necessarily or off the charts. And he's the thing that makes it go the best team in the NBA. Wemby is 14th in scoring, fifth in boards assists. Again, we're not going to worry about it with him. His passing's fine, but he's not going to have the totals blocks per game. He's at 3.1, which is actually the lowest of his career, but he's still way ahead of chad, who's number two at 1.8. His usage is at 32. His box score plus minus is right around 10. So really healthy numbers from him. Luca, your NBA leading scorer, 33.8 points per game, just a tenth of a point off of his career high. In 24, he's fourth in assist. He's a fantastic rebounder for a guard because he's so big. Just about eight boards a game, 23rd in the league. His box score plus minus kind of more in line with Wemby here. Plus 9.4. Some of the other advanced stuff is not at the level of Jokic and SGA. His usage is at 38% which is 7th all time for a season. So when I look at some of my standards for this, I've told myself if you have a vote, try to sift through some of the free throw production. That's not really going to be the case this year for me. I think if I had been a voter back when Hardin was flying, I don't know that I would have been as aware of it or as in tune. Clearly we all saw what was going on. But this is one of the issues that I have with some of the free throw merchants is that you are going to be elevated to a level historically that maybe is not where you should be placed. Having said that, about some other players, as much as the Sea stuff and Luca stuff can drive me crazy on certain nights, I still think these are two of the four best players in the world. And I know I've talked about this free throw. I just don't want to get bogged down on all the free throw stuff. So it's something that I would think about every year as a voter, maybe how I'm placing some of the players. We're like, hey, I think that guy's really good and he's obviously had a great year. He's been really productive. But I think so much of what he does is based on the way the game is called and why the officials keep doing this, I have no idea. But I'm not really going to ding SGA or Luka for that. So that's the decision that I've come down on because I just think we all agree, even if you don't even like the players and it drives you crazy on a certain night, I think you have to appreciate, you know, all the other stuff that is incredibly special about all these players. If we get into the defensive box, plus minus stuff, this is where it can get really weird. Luka, I think when he's into it, is a good defender when he's not involved. It's kind of like the Westbrook stuff, where Westbrook on the ball was, like, tenacious, and then as soon as he just didn't have the attention span to pay attention to anything else that was going on, and then it would lead to mistakes. So I felt like Westbrook, because of its athleticism, a lot of people like, oh, he's really good defensively. It's like, yeah, I don't know about that. I would rather have you be in position and understand than be really hyper aggressive and then have zero interest whatsoever in the team defensive concept. When the ball is somewhere else, SGA is hunted unless Isaiah Joe is in the game. But that's more because what do you want to do? Hunt Lou Dort, Kayson, Wallace Caruso, one of the bigs, you know, in the standard point guard, center switching stuff. So SGA gets hunted. I don't think he's like a great defender, but I think if we're going to look at SGA and. And Jokic, and I know Jokic has all sorts of clips that are out there, but then he has some metrics out there that say, like, he's terrific defensively, which I'm like, okay, that seems a little crazy. I think Jokic is In position, but he's not exactly scaring anybody when you're going to the rim. And then you have Wemby defensively, that is basically changing what kind of value I'm putting on defense because I still think that he could never score. And it's not like a Rudy Gobert thing where he can't catch and he's so good defensively that it's still kind of worth it. Where Wemby is I think at just another level right now, maybe beyond anything we've ever seen. So the defensive box score stuff is. It doesn't really tell that great of a story. Jokic is plus 4.1. Wemby's at 4.0. So like, what am I supposed to do with that number? SGA is at plus 3.0. Sometimes there'll be players where you're like, this guy's a net negative defensively. And the rest of the team has some good defensive players. That can be really alarming. Luke is at 1.3 again, not going to freak out about this thing. The box score plus minus though, you know, I know some of these numbers get shit on by people all the time when you pull up the career leaders in box score plus minus. And Jokic is number one right now in NBA history, first career. But it's important to point this out is that those years are being like calculated, the non decline years, right? So Jordan's number two all time, LeBron's third, Magic's fourth, David Robinson's fifth, Larry Bird, sixth. So these are heavy hitters. So whenever these numbers get kind of dismissed, you're like, yeah, we'll look up who all the greats are and then see where they rank. It's like, oh, it's all the great players. There's some really friendly rankings for David Robinson historically, because I wouldn't put him necessarily in this class of players. But Jordan to speak to the decline, if Jordan who I was looking it up again, like the fact that he missed his 35, 36 and 37 year old seasons is just so disappointing. You wonder if he's ever just like, that was stupid, like, why would I have done that? But he came back and played for the Wizards, 38, 39 years old. And that dragged down his overall career box, his box score plus minus. So his decline years are already in there in comparison to Jokic. So Jokic, towards the end, maybe that number comes. Well, the number is going to come down. I don't know to what degree if he ends up being number two or number three. All time. So I think based on this season and looking at that stuff like that's something that heavily, heavily favors Jokic on the assist and rebounds thing. Let's get to this Wilt note now because I've seen it brought up that Jokic is going to be the first to ever lead the league in rebounds and assists. Then I've seen that actually Wilt did do it. Here's what happened is wilt in 67, 68 was second in assists per game to Oscar Robertson, but he was number one in total assists because Wilt played 82 games because that's what he did and Oscar Robertson played 65. So from a per game thing, if Jokic ends up doing this, it'll be the first time that it's ever happened. Let's look at some of the clutch stuff because this does not paint a pretty picture for Jokic. As we know, the Nuggets, for whatever reason this year have been abysmal in clutch situations. Just awful numbers. And it doesn't make any sense because for many years because of Jokic, they were always good even when you didn't like the team as much. And so if you look at SGA's clutch net rating, he's plus 26. All the OKC numbers are terrific because they're the best team. His usage goes to 44. All you have to do is even just watch this week and realize like what he did in that Knicks game or every single thing was on him to figure it out. Come back close out that win. The comeback against Detroit was all him. The two threes are because three defenders are all over. SGA at the top coming downhill. Jalen Williams to the left side, Caruso later on to the right side. I mean it's just a nice reminder that it's like even as great as this OKC team is the on ball creativity, especially with Jalen Williams just trying to get back and then not even playing in the Detroit game. Like it's just like, hey sga, like figure it out every single time. And yes, the free throws are part of it, but there's also a lot of other stuff that he's doing that's incredible. Jokic on the other hand for the season in clutch situations is a minus 11.5 net. That's an astounding number that it could be that bad. It doesn't make any sense. The turnover ratio is a little bit higher than the other guys. Lucas net rating is terrific. It's 32.5. Wemby's is a little bit lower than you think at +12 usage wise. Oddly, Lucas is down significantly for where he is in the regular season in clutch games where SGAs is just at 44 usage rate that would. No one's ever had that for an entire season in non clutch right. So clutch can get skewed a little bit here. The shooting numbers, Jokic is 23% from three in clutch spots. If we look at SGA, you know he's at a much better number, 35%. Luca's numbers are better shooting a little bit later. So the way I'm landing on this right now because there's a Wemby defensive thing that is just not showing up in these numbers is I still think I'm going to go sga, Jokic, Wemby and then Luca fourth. Now the standings are always brought up. Is kind of. I feel like the standings are coming up more and more. I think it's why Cannipal there's advanced stuff that tells you Canipple is the obvious choice over Cooper Flag. I think Cooper Flag is tasked with doing everything for a really bad basketball team where he's playing multiple players. Defensively, he's basically playing point guard and I think his traditional numbers are strong enough where I may lean Cooper. I also think the recency part of this where it's like can anyone do anything here down the stretch where like if Cooper flag had 49 points like he did earlier in the season one of these last two weeks, then I think that would really influence the voters there a ton. But I think the voters are going to prioritize that Charlotte's in it and playing real games, even though Knipple has a much easier life his rookie year than Cooper Flag does. But I think Knippo is going to win it because the advanced stuff, the standings and the priority that I think a lot of voters put on all the standing stuff which gets us back to the mvp because I've seen like the LUCA push where it's like well wait a minute, look at this Lakers team. It's not that great. They're going to end up being the three seed. I'd ask anyone in the LUCA push this, like if you're really focused on standings, are you focused on Lucas standings? Ignoring that SGA and Wemby are way ahead of everybody else, then standings don't matter as much. And if standings matter because you don't think the team is as good because look, the Lakers aren't as good as those other two teams and Luke is doing all this stuff and by the way, the Lakers were fantastic last night. Luca, just another casual 42, just beat up on the Cavs. You know, Cavs team, you're like, hey, they've got a lot of size. Is that going to expose some of the Lakers weaknesses? Not even close. It wasn't a factor at all. They ran away with this game. I thought LeBron played really well last night and, you know, Mitchell was terrible. So you could say, hey, the Clippers Lakers back to back is tougher than the Lakers, than Luca not playing the night before. I don't care. Like, sure, fine, it's a factor. But that was. That was a bit of a statement game from the Lakers last night. But if you're pushing Luca because the Lakers are a three seed. And this is where I think, like, the seed thing gets really annoying. It's like they're a three seed or this team's a five seed. It's like sometimes these teams, especially right now in the west, are separate, separated by like a couple games. Denver, who's won six in a row, is two games behind the Lakers. If Denver caught LA and ended up being the 3 seed, would the Luca push? People go, all right, yeah, now I'm going to give it to Jokic. Of course not. You've picked who you've wanted with mvp and then you'll just change the argument around it the entire time. I do wonder if momentum, boredom, all of these factors that seem to influence voting, if we'll get a result where it's SGA won because of who he is, all right, and what he's done this year and how consistent it's been, and then a Wemby push because it's newer. And did his Jokic end up third or fourth? Because, like, I even was toying with the ideas, like, is there a way? Because, you know, another thing that I would want to do with the voting is that if I think if it's close, I want to reward the player who I think is the best player in the world. And I still think that that's Jokic. Yes, I said it. I still think he's better than sga. But the award is about the season. And I think there's enough of a gap from what we've seen in the way SGA has just controlled all of this stuff on offense to just close out so many of these wins. And I'm not even talking about, like, the Heisman moments. Oh, that shot. Or that shot. I mean, they're supposed to play like 82 of these, right? So we shouldn't let a moment be the defining reason why somebody's going to win this kind of award. But if it were SGA and Jokic like neck and neck, I may still go Jokic because I'm like look, I think he's the better player and I think the way history is tracked it's important to pull up basketball reference in 20, 30 years from now and see where you finish in your MVP to confirm your standing in the game at that time. But if Jokic were to end up outside of the top two, it'd be the first time in five years and SGA winning the MVP is the headline. But I wonder if there'll be a bit of a boredom push, some of the clutch stuff if it'll end up being a wembanyama being new and being recognized for that or kind of like this full circle. Luca like this is why this is why this guy carried a not special Dallas Mavericks team to the NBA Finals in 24. So I'd probably lean right now. SGA 1 Jokic 2 Women Yama 3 Luka 4 I wonder if the media will end up going as I'm a member of it, but if Jokic ends up falling outside of the top two for the first time again in five years Boost your credit score instantly with Experian Boost. Experian Boost is completely free and can instantly raise your credit scores. Add everyday on time payments like phones, utilities and even rent payments to your Experian credit file so your positive history can count. It's fast, secure and free and built for people whose credit doesn't tell the whole story. See results quickly. Many customers get instant score uplift. Look, having bad credit is a bad time, but the problem is when it's bad. You're like, hey, I don't even care. I don't even want to fix it. That's just the wrong way to go about it, brother. Let me tell you from experience, Experian helps you get in that mode where you start counting the wins. You're like, look at this. Plus 12 Lookout World. This guy's improving. Download the app and get started for free. Results will vary. Not all bills or subscriptions are eligible. Savings not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected payment account required. See experian.com for details. He has been the voice of the tournament and the NFL for CBS for years. I was looking up the resume again. I don't know, some of the stuff doesn't even go back. And of course part of my favorite NBA broadcast, the Nets broadcast. It's Iron Eagle. How Are you.

Ian Eagle (20:12)

Hey, what's up, Ryan? Great to see you, man.

Ryan Rosillo (20:16)

Yeah, it's great to catch up. You know, we've. I don't know, we're not like buddies or anything, but there's been a distant. Hey, how's it going? Over. Over a long time. When I first got started in Boston.

Ian Eagle (20:26)

What a way to classify it, by the way. You know, we're not friends, but I

Ryan Rosillo (20:30)

don't want to overstate it. With your power now, your position in the industry, that's what it's.

Ian Eagle (20:36)

But the reality is we go back a long time. I feel like whatever that stretch of your career was when you started out, I was there with you. I don't know why you randomly picked me out to have on as a guest at that time, but I was a frequent guest on your show, and I think you build familiarity that way, and you start to convince yourself, like, oh, no, we're close. We know each other in a way.

Ryan Rosillo (21:07)

You just talked to me. So I was like, I think I got him. I think I'm just going through the blue book. I was like, oh, this guy's national, too, kind of.

Ian Eagle (21:13)

Yeah, you're right, though. And it's funny that that NBA blue book that had cell numbers on it or home numbers on it. It was as if you got the Bible that you could reach out. And when I was producing radio, we would play hotel bingo. You would just try and find anyone that would pick up their phone in a hotel. And I remember very vividly calling the Cincinnati Reds hotel. And I asked for Chris Sabo's room. And he picks up on the first ring. I said, hey, Chris, it's Ian Eagle from WFAN radio. How you doing? He's like, what? I said, yeah, it's high on Eagle. WFAN radio. How you doing? He said, I'm eating dinner. I said, oh, what are you having? Some Italian Chinese. He's like, what? I said, well, we're hoping to have you on the show. Howie Rose is the host. He's like, ah, call me back in half an hour. And I did, and he picked up and he came on the show. So those little victories that you would get were enough to carry you to the next show.

Ryan Rosillo (22:22)

Oh, it's such a win, man. It's so funny that you're saying this because again, for the audience, there's this blue book, and this book comes out, and it was like this Holy Grail. I mean, as you said, it's like this Bible. I don't know, do they still do it? Do they put Everybody's cell phone numbers in there. No, it's done.

Ian Eagle (22:36)

It's done.

Ryan Rosillo (22:37)

Okay.

Ian Eagle (22:37)

It's done.

Ryan Rosillo (22:37)

I think that makes more sense.

Ian Eagle (22:38)

There might have been some stalking charges that were out there that maybe they said, hey, this isn't smart.

Ryan Rosillo (22:46)

I remember before the draft, and this is like 030405, and I'm just going through that thing, just dialing up people, right? But I'm dialing, like, local reporters because this was like, I was trying to figure out a way to get more information. I'll never forget I called one team's beat guy. I'm not going to say the team. I have no idea what he was doing the night before. But I call and I'm so naive, which was perfect, because I was like, I needed to be that delusional back then completely. And I go, hey, you know, my name's Ryan. I work for the Celtics radio station, and we're doing, like, a big draft show. It's just. I was like. I was just wondering what you think, like, what they make do, you know, at number four, number five. And he's like, oh, hold on, hold on. You know, he's like. He's like. He's like, actually, like, shuffling paper. So I'm like, oh, I think I get.

Ian Eagle (23:39)

He's like, oh, yeah, he's got info for me.

Ryan Rosillo (23:41)

He's like, man, I got no fucking idea what they're doing.

Ian Eagle (23:47)

We respect honesty and direct in this business.

Ryan Rosillo (23:51)

Do you remember the last time I asked you to come on? How funny. I don't know if you remember. I think I've told the story, so maybe you've heard me tell it, because it was just so funny.

Ian Eagle (23:59)

I think we might have had a miscommunication because it was leading up to the first Final Four that I did, and I think I squeezed in an NBA game in between the. I want to say, the opening weekend and then leading into Sweet 16 Elite 8 regionals, and I'm in Boston, and we had a really nice conversation, and I think we were talking about all of, like, these different interviews. You asked me, like, what's changed? What? It's like, oh, I've been doing all these interviews, which is great and very cool. And then you, like, threw in at the end, like, yeah, but you'll come on my show. It's like, oh, no, no, I'm not going to do that. And I was joking. Of course. Go on your show. And then I realized, like, a half hour later, I was like, oh, man. I wonder if he took that seriously, because I thought it was a funny beat after I basically said I was doing everybody's show. And I find out later, it was like, yeah, no, we tried to get iron on.

Ryan Rosillo (24:58)

I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, dude.

Ian Eagle (25:00)

But it's okay. It happened the way it was supposed to happen.

Ryan Rosillo (25:03)

Well, you were so busy that I felt bad, and I. The way you delivered it to you,

Ian Eagle (25:10)

that might have been part of the issue that. That I was bitching a little bit that, oh, yeah, I got all these things lined up. And. And by. By my own standard, I. I do try to accommodate because, like you, I was in that boat of picking up the phone, calling people. I always have some kind of visceral feeling when someone texts, reaches out and says, hey, can you. Can you do my show? Can you do my podcast? I really do try to do it. So I think in that moment, I felt we were simpatico. And. And obviously, anytime you need me, it's not a problem.

Ryan Rosillo (25:51)

The delivery, and I should be aware of it at this point after listening to you for this many years, and maybe why we get along, just the dry delivery of it. Because then I did follow up because I was like, well, I'm not going to watch you after the Final Four. Yeah, you went. Exactly.

Ian Eagle (26:08)

Why would you want to talk to me after the Final Four? But this whole experience in sincerity has been very different than what I thought it would be. But then reassuring that once you get to the game, you do the game. So all the other ancillary parts of it, and that's real. You know, that Friday practice, you're not really watching the team's practice at that point. They're out there. They're just shooting around anyway. They've already done their serious practice. But the amount of college basketball media that's there, the amount of people that have been in and out of your life at some point or another, crossing paths that are there, it ends up being almost like a receiving line at a wedding in the best possible way. But I didn't know that until I showed up that first year. And it hits you. Your synopsis are firing on all cylinders because people are just popping up and you're doing your best to watch what's going on out on the court and make sure you got the names right, the players right. But then I just quickly realized that's not going to be part of the experience. So take it for what it is and go lock yourself in your room and do whatever extra studying you need to do. But it's not going to Happen there.

Ryan Rosillo (27:37)

I love the regional finals. There's just something about them because of what's at stake. Because, you know, the Final Four. I don't know if you agree or disagree. I mean, sure, all four of these teams are trying to win a national championship and raise the banner, but you're still, you know, especially for some programs. It's not like these programs are hurt necessarily, but there's just something about making it to the Final Four, like coming out of that region. And so I think the mood is a little bit different too, because there's almost this like delay in the first Final Four game of like, is this actually real? Like, it just feels super tight. You just see kids kind of like missing shots. There's almost this unsettled first four or five minutes of like the final four games. That's what I've always thought, to have that call, to have this, have it be Duke, have it be Yukon. You know, a lot of people, you have to be pretty old to think of redemption from Leitner in 1990, which I thought about because I remember I was at the mall in Connecticut when that shot went down. But to have that moment and have it feel new again when you've been doing it this long. Take us kind of through like that moment where you're maybe even away from the shot and you're like, I can't believe I'm now this part of history.

Ian Eagle (28:48)

Yeah. You know what's really interesting is you bank all these games and I've done literally thousands of basketball games on TV and radio between college hoops, NBA, and you never know what sticks with you and what resonates. And you also never know when a mistake actually is something that helps you down the road. So early in the NBA run, I definitely called more than once. This is for the win. And ball goes through the net and there's 0.4 left on the clock. And now as a play by play announcer, for me at least, I realized, okay, that wasn't accurate and that bothered me and I probably made the mistake two or three times. And you're just a little bit overzealous in the moment and you say to yourself, at least I did. That's not going to happen again. I'm not going to do that again. And it's probably been 20 years since that happened. And it's not simple. Obviously you're, you're working with the clock and exactly when the ball comes off the tips of the fingers and you're processing in real time, what's going to happen of all the things. And it was a chaotic sequence. That's the one that I think back on and say that's just a ton of reps and being in that situation over and over again, that allows you to make the call clean and feel secure in what you're saying and how you're saying it. The part that you don't know in the moment is that it would be historic. Because I'm approaching it, Ryan, with the idea that Duke's going to toss the inbound. There's 10 seconds left. They'll go for a steal. They won't get the steal and they'll foul. And now will there be 7.3 on the clock? How many more possessions can they get out of this? That's really where my brain is going. And from a play by play standpoint, those moments, you get to reload, you get to actually organize your thoughts because there's a dead period. Everybody exhales and there was no exhaling the way that that whole series of events took place. You just had to be in the moment. And look, I don't go through this exercise anymore. Having done this job for so long, it's not productive to now go back and say, man, I wish I could have said that. Man, I should have gone with that. Doesn't matter. It's done. You get one shot, you get one opportunity. You're Eminem. That's it.

Ryan Rosillo (31:50)

The thing I've always kind of appreciated about you is that, like, I'm not sitting here and, like, I don't want to turn and I'm not going to name any names, but, like, sometimes I'll be like, hey, you're giving me fourth quarter. Finish stuff in the second quarter. Like, I can't. I can't have that yet. Like, if you're this high in the second quarter, then how are you going to match it? If you get this kind of ending, then I think there's some that really want to put their signature on the moment on top of everything else. I do always kind of wonder what you're looking at once the shot goes through. You're probably looking at the clock first, but then are you looking at Shire, you're looking at Hurley. Is there something to be said of just tell the story, be understated, but have the emotion at least match what the moment requires?

Ian Eagle (32:34)

I think so. I think there's no textbook way to do this. And if you talk to 100 different broadcasters, they might give you 100 different answers as to how they approach it. I know we get into process and process is such a personal thing. I would never say this is how you have to do it. Somebody else may feel a completely different way and it might be highly effective. I think in those moments, leaning on being accurate is probably the part of the equation that you can live with for the rest of your life. So even if you don't have the perfect phraseology, but you nailed who touched the ball each time and were on it as it happened, not after the fact, but on it as it happened. And if you do have something at the end, some kind of exclamation point that, that can button it, that probably has been more the formula for me. And yeah, voice inflection obviously comes into play. And then also just being in the moment because the goal is to mirror what other people are feeling. You can't lose your shit because that, that's not gonna, that's not gonna live on well for a national broadcast, local, it's different. I, I get it. And obviously having done both for all these years, I do know the difference. There are people that might say, well, not just be the same, it's not, it's not the same. Your audience is different, expectation level is different. But that moment deserves something that meets it in some way. And that's how I've always tried to view it. Not to overwhelm it, not to become the story. But can you accompany what took place? And then I think good calls, often the line blurs and maybe you just get connected to it in a manner of speaking.

Ryan Rosillo (34:37)

College basketball in the regular season is not what it was when we were younger. I think there was even some concern. My position was kind of like, there's so much going on that you would never want to pitch this in the meeting of like, hey, for college basketball, at least we have the tournament right? Like, big Monday's not coming back. You just never operate that way. Anyone else invested be like, so you're just telling us that all the regular season stuff's over, but that's the way that it's felt. And then I think there was even some concern about the tournament and just going like, hey, there's just not enough long term stories in this sport with all the one and dones. And yet we're on like a really nice run here for college hoops. Again, it's far more tournament related, maybe even conference tournament related. The NBA, I would say, like, all right, so we're going to compare the tournament excitement to the tanking stretch of four weeks of the NBA season in March and April. That doesn't seem wicked fair.

Ian Eagle (35:32)

No.

Ryan Rosillo (35:33)

But you know, these conversations are kind of happening right now. And considering how long you've been with CBS and their investment in this tournament, where do you think college basketball is? I'm not saying rank them, but just it's clearly on an upswing, but maybe some insight into people that actually make these decisions and broadcast these games.

Ian Eagle (35:55)

The three things that have struck me and really resonated with me this year more than any other year that I can remember. And I've worked this event now 29 years. Three things stand out in this current setup with NIL. The fact that you can have an Alex Caraban, who in the previous iteration of college basketball would have turned pro after his second or third year. The people around him would have said, hey, it's in your best interest to now start the clock. And I don't know what would have happened after year two or year three. Probably would have been a second round draft pick. And maybe he gets a two way deal in the current NBA and gets a chance to prove himself financially. It would not have been a boom by any stretch. And I'm just using him as an example. But there are a bunch of Alex caravans around the country that may not be the prototypical. This guy should be in the NBA, but he's a really good college player now because of the setup, he can make money. And in his case, he stayed with the university. Others have transferred, but they're making money and they can develop their skills. And they don't have the two year flame out of G League team to G League team. A dalliance in Europe. He wants to come back. Alex Caraban has now cemented himself in UConn history and college basketball was better off for it. The level of play has been better because of that, because of that scenario. Players that would leave after year two or year three, they weren't ready or they didn't have the skill set to play in the NBA. But they remain at the Division 1 level and they do something with it. And we see better games, more competitive games because of it. The second thing, Illinois, unbelievable example. They've leaned in to not just getting a European player, they've leaned into European scouting, recruiting and development. Look at their squad. They're in the final four. They have five Balkans. This is not. Yeah, we got a couple guys here and there. They help out. No, no, no, no, no. Their team, the core of their team is this group. And obviously Wagler is terrific and they never anticipated, I don't think him being this good I think they felt they were on a sleeping giant with him, that he was a late bloomer and his game could translate. It's really very slow motion what he does. I said it on the air and I know the second you make a comparison to a player, everybody jumps on it. And I didn't mean it as this is who he is. I just meant it in the style in which he plays him. Kyle Anderson can somehow get to his spots and you watch him and you say, I don't know how he gets there. And Wagler, different kind of player, but similar vibe in somehow his movements are so unique that he can get to where he wants to get to. Illinois is all in on the European recruitment process and it's working. And I think you'll see other teams now really lean in heavily. And the third thing, and I didn't know if this would happen, Ryan, but it has. When we figured out that the transfer portal was going to basically be free agency, because that's what it is. It's free agency in college basketball. I didn't know if the tournament would lose a little bit of its luster because people weren't seeing teams develop. They weren't seeing a group really grow together at a blue blood. And my first instinct was this might be rough because now every year you're reshuffling the deck and people might now clock out and zone out of yeah, man, this is a completely different Kansas team than last year or Kentucky team from last year. And it's actually been the opposite. It's proven to me that people love rooting for their school and they love rooting for the name on the front of the jersey and the name of the back of the jersey is important, important. But in terms of priorities, they just love their squad and the names may change, but their love of their school program will always be there.

Ryan Rosillo (40:25)

I don't know that this impacts it at all because I think in the past, like you just love not only having the brand names in the final four, especially from the rating standpoint. Right. I don't know if the ratings really back up the love that the public thinks they have for Cinderella, but

Ian Eagle (40:42)

a

Ryan Rosillo (40:43)

lot of times it's like, hey, this is going to be this high profile guy. He's going to go high in the draft. Waglers a lottery pick. London Borg. Because the age probably borderline. Arizona should have one in co op. UConn Mullins is probably outside of the ladder. Who knows? Things can change here. But if you expand it out like the top 75, top 100 prospects. Granted, only six of these guys are going to get drafted. This Final Four is actually littered with NBA players. Like, Illinois's got like four or five guys. UConn's got their four or five guys. Arizona's got a ton of guys. Michigan may have, you know, two first rounders. It depends on how far you want to go with that. But I don't know that that is necessarily. Matt. I don't know that that matters right now to the Final Four audience. Right. Because it's not, hey, that's the number one pick going up against this other guy. So in a way, I do think that this can help the NBA, because backstory, I always feel like is the most important thing for an investment in viewership. Like, why am I watching this? Okay, well, I care about the outcome. Well, why do I care about the outcome? Because I'm more familiar with some of these players. And so even though there's a bit of this, like, where is the NBA thing, there's a way this benefits both parties involved, even if it feels like everybody's competing for eyes.

Ian Eagle (41:59)

No, I, I think you're on it. I think, you know, there, there are people who study this, and that's their job. And they know the metrics of what the tournament has done, the years that Cinderellas have emerged. You know, a few years ago, you had San Diego State, you had Florida Atlantic. I don't think the ratings were through the roof. And they were great storylines. And coming out of the regional weekend, obviously there, there was a lot of chatter about it, but it didn't necessarily translate into the general population wanting to see those two teams go head to head. It's a double edged sword. Because part of the reason why we love this event is that there is a chance that a team that you did not know anything about could upset a team that you knew everything about. And I've seen it, seen it firsthand with St. Peter's doing it to Kentucky, and then a couple of rounds later doing it to Purdue, and then North Carolina just pulverized them in the Elite Eight. And that's where it gets tricky. We. We like the idea of it. I don't know if we love the reality of it quite at the same level. The buildup to this Final Four has felt legitimate and real. And for all the reasons that you just laid out, you have a bunch of NBA players that you're going to see. So these are names if you are committing time to watching the Final Four and you're a general basketball fan and you have no skin in the game. These are names that you're going to see down the road in the NBA. And you can say, I remember when. I remember watching that guy in the Final Four or in the Elite Eight or in the Sweet sixteen or in the national championship game. There is something to that. And this particular group is literate. It doesn't mean that you have the number one pick, which you've laid out. You don't have a top four pick in my mind, in. In any of these groupings right now, but that's okay, because you have really good teams, highly competitive, compelling storylines. Michigan, Arizona. This has felt like a collision course. Fair, unfair. You have people that say, well, that's your national championship game. Well, there's a reason why you play the games. And UConn's got that team of destiny tag on them right now. And Illinois is supremely confident with what they do and how they do it and the massive bodies that they can throw at you. So in my mind, you got a little bit of everything.

Ryan Rosillo (44:32)

I have a couple catchphrases that I've worked on kind of workshopping around the house.

Ian Eagle (44:37)

Hey, I'm not above this. If there's something there, I. I absolutely could work it in.

Ryan Rosillo (44:43)

All right. We tried this once with Nate Bargadzi pitching him jokes. It didn't go very well.

Ceruti (44:48)

Okay.

Ryan Rosillo (44:49)

He was a tough audience. Okay, how about this? Illinois is on a bit of a run, and based on the old and one T shirts, you let out an emphatic Balkan is life. The rest is just details.

Ian Eagle (45:05)

It's a little wordy. I like it. I like where you're going. But the second part of it, I would probably garble, or Raph would jump on top after I said bulk in his life. But, yeah, I'll throw it in Hopper. Why not?

Ryan Rosillo (45:20)

Do you remember that shirt?

Ian Eagle (45:22)

I do. I do. I was an AND one guy, and my son also an AND one guy. He watched every mixtape known to man. He was infatuated with it. And I did own the shoes at one point, which probably was. Was not the best thing for my ankles.

Ryan Rosillo (45:38)

They had a run. They did have a run. I had the professor on that local radio show. I think it might have been the same day, same rundown.

Ian Eagle (45:44)

We got Iron after the professor coming up. The professor and Iron Eagle next hour.

Ryan Rosillo (45:52)

Okay, how about this one?

Ian Eagle (45:53)

Okay.

Ryan Rosillo (45:55)

Terrace Reed's been putting together a hell of a tournament here.

Ian Eagle (45:57)

Yes.

Ryan Rosillo (45:58)

So he just. Another great post move. Terrace Reed, he's an American pie.

Ian Eagle (46:06)

I mean, Tara Reid would be very happy I'm sure. As would Jason Biggs.

Ryan Rosillo (46:11)

It might be a little esoteric.

Ian Eagle (46:13)

It might be a little.

Ryan Rosillo (46:14)

What if he starts 3 or 14

Ian Eagle (46:15)

from the floor and then I work

Ryan Rosillo (46:18)

it in because it's double meaning.

Ian Eagle (46:21)

Yeah, I got it. I got it now.

Ryan Rosillo (46:23)

Well, just. I can forward those to you in an email if you want.

Ian Eagle (46:27)

Probably text is better, if you don't mind.

Ryan Rosillo (46:30)

Yeah, fax them over. Have you ever caught Noah, who we had on. Who's terrific. You're like, hey, you're kind of stepping on Dad's material here a little bit.

Ian Eagle (46:43)

You know what's funny? You now and all of your. Your people and my wife and Noah will be the only ones that. That know this. I said this to him a few years ago when he started with the Clippers. I said, hey, dude, just so you know, anything that I've used, you can also use. And that was it. I just left it at that. Now he's got his own stuff, but he's consumed so many of my broadcasts over the years that I just think by osmosis, things filter in, in. And I know there are times where he will go to a certain thing, and both my wife and I, our neck. Will crane up at the screen at the same exact time, thinking, I've heard that before.

Ryan Rosillo (47:36)

What is this like for you to. I mean, everybody wants to help their kids, you know, but. And we touched on a little bit, too. It's like, I remember when I first read about him, I was like, what? And then the second I heard him, I went, oh. Oh, my God. You know, and. And I. Maybe I phrased that wrong. It's like, hey, everybody wants to help. But I guess I'm looking at it as like, all right, so I'm this guy. I'm doing this. And sure, I'd love to help, but you've got to have the talent and all these things. And then for him just to be, like, unnatural and have this Runway of a career that's going to go on for decades. I can't imagine that it's. Maybe there's something I'm missing with what that feeling is, because obviously, it's proud and, you know how he works and all that kind of stuff. But is there something else to it that maybe we wouldn't understand about that relationship?

Ian Eagle (48:29)

Well, to put it in perspective, when my wife and I dropped him off at Syracuse, you go through all the emotions. He's our oldest child, and he's going to the university that we went to. We met, and it's special. It's special that he also wants to do this. But he didn't do any of this in high school. He. He didn't. He didn't take part in any kind of radio station or he wasn't online doing YouTube videos. He did nothing. So he shows up, we do the obligatory hug at the end. There might have been some tears. And we get in the car now, after getting all of his stuff into his dorm room, and we leave. And there's a very specific set of turns to get out of Syracuse, to get on the highway. And I did it so many times as a student. So you pull off a local road onto a road that leads to the highway under a trestle, and the sign, Route 81 is up there. You follow it up a ramp, and then away you go. And at that exact moment, my wife, amidst all the emotion, turns to me and says, is he going to be any good at this? And I said, I have no idea. Because I didn't. You have no idea, Ryan. You know, you lived it. You have no idea. Until someone gets in front of a microphone with a headset, and then with a sporting event in front of them or with a camera in front of them, whatever it might be, whatever venue you choose, you don't know. And by his own admission, I think, you know, his freshman year, he's trying some things. He wouldn't tell people his full name. He just didn't. He didn't feel comfortable. Someone would offer up their hand. Hey, I'm so and so. He'd say, hey, I'm Noah. That was it. There were people that just didn't know. And I think that was his way of handling it. And I think finally by junior year, I said to him, I was like, hey, dude. I said, be proud of your last name. Don't run away from it. And I think that resonated with him, and that's when his mindset shifted.

Ryan Rosillo (50:56)

Yeah, it's just funny to think that he's not doing all, like, the nerdy things that somebody that's obsessed with this at very early age, like, hey, I'm listening to people, and this is what I want to do. And it's almost like, hey, dad, I'm a natural. Don't worry about it. It's going to be toughly fine.

Ian Eagle (51:10)

Guys, guys, I got this. All right. Okay, man. We truly did not know. You don't know.

Ryan Rosillo (51:17)

I grew up listening to Fan, even though I was living in Massachusetts at the time, the signal was clear out to Martha's Vineyard. My father and I would much rather Listen to people talk about teams we hated on Fan than the teams we loved because we just liked it so much better than eei. And so I remember it was like, who's this Ian Eagle? What's going on with this? I have to imagine the humor. And again, the thing that I've always loved about your broadcast so much is just that it's like, hey, I'm going to do the job, but I'm going to throw a little spice in there. And you may not notice it. Maybe 90% of the won't even notice it. But for the 10% that understand he's crafty, you know, like, I still. I'll always kind of appreciate it. And did those early years, because that must have been brutal with those personalities, with those egos, with the resume of the people around you, and for you to just jump out. And I can kind of imagine it, too. It's like, so this guy just graduated from Syracuse and he's play by play, but he's going to be a producer? Be like, no, because I know who that guy is, and I feel bad for that guy at espn, it's like, so what do you want to do? I want to be on the air. All right, well, you can work here for two years, and then you've got to go be on the air somewhere. Because if you think you're just going to backdoor into filling in for Mike Greenberg in five years, it's just not the way that it works, but the shaping of your personality, because that had to be. You want to talk about iron sharpening iron. What was it like about those early years where you knew, I'm going to get shit from everyone here? I think it might have been one of the best things that could have happened to you.

Ian Eagle (52:55)

It was the best. It was the. The best thing to ever happen to me, to be honest, professionally, because I had offers in Buffalo and West Virginia to be on the air. And your first instinct is, well, take it, go right. And then I get this offer from Fan to be the nighttime producer 7amidnight. And it wasn't even a doubt in my mind. I took it literally as they offered it, the chance to go back home, the chance to work at that radio station at that time that was May of 1990, and to be in that environment, it's everything I dreamed of, and that's how I viewed it, that I'm going to learn so much. I'm going to be around people that I have such high regard for. And at some point, this was at least my naivete at the time they're going to say, you, yeah, you're so good, you, you go do it. We think you can do it. Now the one thing that, that I realized where humility comes into play. Someone told me very early on Mark Mason was the program director. Tremendous guy, great guy. He said to me, hey look, we're hiring you to be a producer. We know what your aspirations are. Do not talk about being on the air. Don't talk about it. And I didn't. I kept it to myself. But every day I would do a two minute sports report on my own, going to the back production bay, recording it, just to stay in that mindset, incorporating sound and the repetition of that. And because we had update anchors there like John Classy and John Minkow and Stan Martin, I was learning from them pacing and how to use sound correctly. It was like a graduate level study for me. I just happened to be getting paid, not a lot of money, but getting paid to be there. And when the call finally came in, again, not talking about it, but building trust and allowing them to see me for who I am. It was September of 1991. So it started May of 1990, September of 1991, an update anchor had pneumonia and I got called in. It was a Friday. This guy was not going to recover by Sunday. And I did updates for the first time on a football Sunday, Sunday night. And it was glorious. And then I was on the schedule the next week because it went well, and the next week and the next week. And then Steve Levy and I hosted a five hour super bowl pregame show leading into Buffalo, Washington. That was the first time I did a show for fan. And they liked it enough that when Jody McDonald left to go to Philly to take a normal time slot, they gave me the weekend overnights, midnight to 6am Just to have that amount of time to explore who I was, what I was all about, what I could bring to the table. All of these things happened for me in such a fortuitous manner. And look, I, I delivered. I did really well. Every time that I was on, I thought I, I committed myself to being the best version of myself that I could be in that setup as a young kid. I was 22 at that point when I started getting those opportunities. And this was really bizarre because I was such a Seinfeld fan. Jerry Seinfeld was on with Steve Summers. And I go to bed, I wake up the next day, summer shows airs. I get a call from someone at the radio station and you know, again, before social media, they Said, hey, Jerry Seinfeld mentioned you. I said, what? Said he mentioned you on the air. We have it. We cut it up. So when you get in later, you can hear it. And I get in later, and it's Jerry doing a bit. Steve, he's like, jerry Seinfeld joins us. Jerry, how are you? And now Seinfeld, this is his lead. And it blew my mind that this is what he came to the table with. He says, you know, great to be with you, Steve. He says, you got this update anchor. I n, is it I A N, is it ion? Is it iron? Is it E? I'm like, holy shit. Jerry Seinfeld is aware of my presence as a human being. And crazily enough, and Imus ended up playing it. And it kind of put me on the map in a weird way. So my name, which is unconventional, I know it's always been my name. It's not like my name's Mike Cumstein and I. I changed it. Yeah. Or. Or Mitch Cumstein. Either one is.

Ryan Rosillo (57:46)

Except either. And this is my name.

Ian Eagle (57:50)

This is. This is the pronunciation. This is how it's always been. And for Jerry to do a bit on it, I think gave me some kind of weird validation that this might actually work out.

Ryan Rosillo (58:04)

That's wild. God. What was the first. Like they actually asked you something about you as opposed to just kind of like that update thing is always a bit like, let's let you have give us the scores for a little while and then the host will kind of throw something. It's almost like a test. And then obviously the worst way to fail the test is like, hey, there's nothing there. We're never going back. And it was very clear with you there was something there that they could work with. Yeah.

Ian Eagle (58:34)

I think it's so funny how life works out in a certain way. And at the time, you don't realize why it works out that way. The first update shift that I had, as I mentioned, was a football Sunday. And in the studio next to the main studio, they were doing Mets extra on a different. I don't know if it was on a different station that day because there was a conflict. Basically, Howie Rose, who I had been producing for, was in the other studio. And Howie, who just announced he'll be retiring at the end of the season, he's an all time great broadcaster. All time great. Really super talented, smart, funny, all of it. My first update, there's a window that connects the two. As I'm going on the air, he moons me. So your first reaction would Be, dude, this is potentially my big break. But what it did, it cut the tension for me and it actually put a smile on my face. So my first update was delivered with a smile on my face. I didn't. I didn't crack up. I didn't lose it. I kept my. My wits about me. So that's the first time I'm on the air at Fan and his ass is pressed against the window. And it, to me, it almost typified my experience there because they were familiar with me because I wasn't some outside hire, because I wasn't someone that was working at some other radio station that was getting his first shot on Fan. We were close enough that I felt part of it. I was part of the family. And then as you alluded to when I started doing updates for Mike and the Mad Dog, having worked for them as a board op, associate producer, as it was called, and they put me on the air to now do updates for them. And then it was complete and utter chaos because I had a relationship with both. They could incorporate me as part of the show. And that's when my personality actually came through, that I could be sarcastic and cutting and I could bust balls with them, which not a lot of people could. And now you got this young guy that it's going back and forth. And I knew Chris very well because I would drive him back into the city every day, literally every show. I was living on the Upper east side, he was in midtown. I would drop him off at his apartment so you could think about five days a week spending 25 to 35 minutes together every day. And Mike, I had developed a great rapport with. So that ends up becoming very easy and very comfortable. And I do think it unlocks a part of your brain. And the other part, the last thing I would say about it, Ryan too, how it actually played into play by play because it's a completely different muscle chemistry always stuck with me because of those two guys. I saw them on the air for five hours a day, but I saw them off the air as well. And that was during a very good period between the two. They were legitimate friends at that point, and their back and forth was legendary. And it spilled over onto the air. I realized that you can have that with your broadcast partner. That's a real tangible thing if you work at it.

Ceruti (62:17)

And.

Ian Eagle (62:17)

And that stuck with me for all the years as a play by play announcer of hey, first things first. Yeah, you got to call a good game. You got to know the names and numbers. You got to Know the stats, you got to know the storylines, you got to find common ground with your partner because people feel that that's real. And if it's not genuine and it's not coming from a real place, people will sniff that out as well as bullshit.

Ryan Rosillo (62:42)

Yeah, it's an unbelievable way of kind of putting together the timeline, but of also, like, hey, we can have these almost like talk radio snippet moments with Rob knowing again, anybody that grows up with radio and then works in it. It's like the clock. The clock. The clock is this constant thing in your head. But it's like, you're so right. I have room here in this format to do a much smaller version of it. And I could do this all day because I always think about fan, and I know that in the past, I think about the Boston Sunday Globe, right? And I would fight over was my favorite thing in the world. I would read every single notes page. I'd read the hockey notes page. I read Kevin Paul Dupont. I just couldn't. But I didn't have access to any other information, so I just would read it all as the gospel. And then Tuesday or Thursday, you're still arguing, well, that's not what Gammon said. So we were simpler. And I don't even mean that necessarily as a knock, because I don't know if that lives today. Could there be one form of information that everybody would read? Because now I think it would just turn into, here's why all of these things that are wrong. And we're like, all of these guys are wrong about every single nugget that they gave us and all of these things. And so when I think about fan, it's never going to happen again. It's just because there's no way anything could be that important in the limited way that we could get any of this stuff. I still listen to talk radio religiously. When I left ESPN, I think I listened to ESPN's radio lineup the next day. It wasn't emotional. It didn't bother me because I love the routine of radio. And it can be an age thing, it can be a generational thing. But I really think back to those fan years, and it was just me in the truck. It's me back home working around the house or something and listening to you guys hours after hours after hours and going like, is it because I'm younger and impressionable, or is it because we had so few options and we also didn't want to listen to you and tell you guys we're idiots the entire time? And this entire thing has shifted to we have a million options. It's just so hard for anything to be that important anymore in the day to day consciousness of whether it's sports fans or however else you're consuming media.

Ian Eagle (65:01)

It was very seminal and I think the part that sticks with me that you can't recreate again. And this is not a knock on anyone that's doing it. Now. People that get to that level clearly have ability and talent to do that. The gift of gab, understanding what buttons you can push, understanding time, circumstance and how to phrase something and how to present something to elicit a response. But the one thing I always knew in my early years in the business and even in my later years in the business, when something big happened in the world of sports, I had to know what Mike and Chris thought about it the next day at 1 o'.

Ceruti (65:46)

Clock.

Ian Eagle (65:46)

I had to. So if that's ingrained in you, no matter what's happening in your life, you've got to find a way to get to the radio at one o' clock to know what their take is on it. Well, that means you've busted through to a different level of people needing this. And I needed it. I don't know if it was an addiction, but it certainly was something that was important to me as a sports fan, as a broadcaster. And you're right, the instantaneous nature now of the business that we're in is I don't have to wait till 1 o', clock, I can get it right away. You know, there are people that are doing podcasts the second the game is over. If you want to take, you can have it, you want to get online, you can read it, you can, you can consume all of this in real time. You can do it as the event is happening now. You don't have to wait. So I just think our priorities have shifted and then the way we consume it is, is so different. So I don't think there's any going back to that.

Ryan Rosillo (66:52)

You're the man. I'm glad that you said yes this time.

Ian Eagle (66:57)

Can't believe I turned you down that time. What a douchebag I was.

Ryan Rosillo (67:03)

It's one of my favorite stories ever, because you. I probably read it a little wrong, but when you delivered, when I said, well, then I'm not going to want you kind of like giving your shit back. And then you kind of put your hands out to the side and was like, exactly. But you didn't say exactly. You just kind of gave me that look.

Ian Eagle (67:19)

I played the comedic moment more than the. The reality moment. The reality of the moment is you can have me anytime. The comedic moment was, man, that was a perfect, perfect period at the end of that conversation.

Ryan Rosillo (67:34)

It was. It was perfect. It was perfect because even my buddies, because I was with a bunch of my. My buddies.

Ian Eagle (67:38)

Yeah. I got to meet a bunch of them.

Ryan Rosillo (67:41)

Yeah. And they were like, what happened there at the end? And I go, I think it's. I go, I think it's the funniest no I've ever received. But I was like, I'm still not 100% sure that is. That is the curse of the dry sense of humor that Ian Eagle on the call the final Four cbs. I'm so happy for you, man, and thanks so much for the time.

Ian Eagle (68:00)

Really appreciate it, man. Great talking to you.

Ryan Rosillo (68:04)

From the wildest upsets to the most creative bracket bus shared, we saw that no matter how the bracket ended, every moment was a chance for fans to win and reward themselves with Reese's. All tournament long brackets have busted for Reese's, and we've seen some epic fails and even more epic Reese's fans. We even sent someone to the final four. Everything happens for Reese's. Even busted brackets shop Reese's now@hersheyland.com Reese's he has six top 11s in seven events on the PGA Tour, and he is coming off a terrific round. Houston Open PGA member Jake Knapp. Good morning, man. It's good to see you. Thanks for doing this.

Jake Knapp (68:48)

How's it doing? Of course. Good to see you. Thanks for having me on.

Ryan Rosillo (68:51)

So it seems like you're locked in right now. Is that fair to say with your game?

Jake Knapp (68:57)

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think. I think I got in some, you know, I mean, you want to get off to a good start. You know, you don't want to feel like you're behind the eight ball or anything like that. And I love the west coast swing and kind of all the events to start out the year. So, you know, I'm not one to take time off. So I feel like I did a good job of getting prepped and ready for the season. And, yeah, things are trending well.

Ryan Rosillo (69:22)

When you set a course record and you've now done this, you tied the course record with the 62 at Houston, and I was watching some of the pressers there and, and, you know, I think it was pretty straightforward. It's like, yeah, cool. But I also tied for six. I. I wonder when you're looking at the scoreboard, if you go, all right, I'm Just going to, like, let it fly. And then the score reflected your approach.

Jake Knapp (69:41)

I mean, I wouldn't say we let it fly. I mean, I. I felt like, you know, first poorly is I got. I got off to a really bad start on Saturday, and. And just kind of some. Some weird things happened. You know, hit it for sure, hit some bad shots, but just kind of felt like I got maximum penalty for some mediocre golf. And I was 5 over through 6, and I was like, you know, I don't. I don't, like, I don't feel that off necessarily. Just like, some weird stuff happens. You know, sometimes that's golf. And then did a good job of just kind of reeling it in. And, I mean, for the day, I was second in ball striking when I shot one over on the. On Saturday. So I was like, okay, it's obviously, I'm. I'm not. Not hitting it bad. Like, I'm swinging it nice. And so, you know, confidence was fine going into Sunday. And I knew, you know, going off early, the wind was going to be back to the normal direction. We kind of had a good idea of how we were going to play the course, obviously, and all that, and, you know, just decided to play a little bit more aggressive, because at that point, it's really just like, hey, how do we. How do we build for Augusta? How do we build for this week off? And let's, you know, maybe if you're in contention or something like that, you're not going to try to hit every. Every shot perfect or something like that, where it was like, you know, if the pin's back left, I'm going to hit a draw. If the pin's front right, I'm gonna hit a high cut. It was just like trying to force myself to every shot, even if it wasn't what I would usually do. But I was swinging it well and. And, you know, didn't even hit it perfect necessarily on Sunday. But I was happy with how I kind of, you know, rolled with it, was able to get up and down and keep the momentum going, and then got some putts to fall late.

Ryan Rosillo (71:09)

I think anyone that understands golf would be like, hey, you know, just the. The feel like, do I feel good? Do I not feel good? When do you feel good? When do you know what's right?

Jake Knapp (71:21)

I'd say usually a couple. A couple holes in. I mean, I think, you know, I think we've all had moments where we have just, like, the perfect rain session. Everything feels great, and then you go on the course, and it just Doesn't. Doesn't feel as good. Whereas I feel like the first, you know, maybe it's even in the first hole, you hit a good drive, you hit a good iron shot, and you're just like, oh, man, those. Those timed up. Well, it went exactly where I wanted to, all that sort of stuff. And. And you're kind of testing it through the first few holes for sure. And then, you know, after that, you kind of. You as a player, you kind of know what feels maybe aren't there, you know, what is there and that sort of stuff, and you sort of lean on that. And, you know, for me, I've been working on some swing stuff, you know, since the off season, and I feel like it's, you know, it's just slowly getting better week in, week out. And I think the main thing is to not. Not go back to old habits just because that's what you're comfortable with or that's just kind of what, you know, and more so just kind of trust the work that you've been doing.

Ryan Rosillo (72:15)

When a basketball player is young, they may look at the parents and go, okay, look how tall his dad is, look how tall his mom is. You know, like, this guy's going to be really tall. In football, there's some size stuff. What is it? When you're a young golfer, when does the kind of like, hey, you see this. This Jake kid? Like, do you see what kind of game he has? Or you see his swing? Or like, what is it that kind of puts you on the radar of like, wait, this could actually be a thing for me. When. What age is that? What are those conversations like, you know, I don't know.

Jake Knapp (72:47)

I think. I think for me, it's probably around. It was probably around high school, I would say. I mean, I think I started golf super young, and, you know, golf wasn't like, the cool, popular sport growing up. And, you know, most time kids were playing golf because that was the only option, or they wanted to get out of PE in high school or something like that. So for me, I mean, I played every sport going into high school, and I still played basketball in high school and played some, like, club soccer and baseball stuff. But I, you know, when I'd play in those games, like, I was. I was good and I was athletic and all that, but I was really undersized, too, so it was like, oh, you know, maybe, like, basketball is probably not gonna be my thing. When you're five foot one as a freshman in high school and, you know, smallest kid in the baseball Field, soccer field, all that sort of stuff. And then, you know, you go to a golf tournament and, like, I was always somewhat around the top of the, the leaderboard. And like, in, in Southern California, it's, it. Golf's super competitive, you know, in a junior level, because the weather's good year round, you can play all the time, so there's just a bunch of good players. So high school, it was, like, pretty obvious where it was like, you know, for me, I don't think there was ever a moment where it was like, oh, yeah, no, I'm definitely, you know, I'm definitely going pro, whatever. I just, I just knew it was what I love doing day in, day out. And I was like, I'm just gonna keep on going to the golf course every day until I can't anymore. And so it probably, you know, it probably wasn't until, you know, 2023 where, like, the PGA Tour even seemed, like, remotely possible.

Ryan Rosillo (74:16)

But you had played what is an amateur in the 15 U.S. open.

Jake Knapp (74:22)

Yeah, 15 U.S. open. And, and I mean, I guess that, yeah, I mean, the 2015 US Open. 2015 Farmers Insurance on Monday qualified as well. And, you know, I remember I hit my iron so bad. I was so nervous just all week at Tori, and I missed the cut by either missed it by one or maybe missed it by two. And I hit it in the water on 18, going for the green and two and made bogey. And it was just such a. Like, that was my last hole to miss the cut. And I was so bummed. And, you know, looking back at it, it was one of those where it was like, you know, like, I played terrible, you know, by my standards, even back then, and I still almost made the cut. So it was like that, that was kind of like a, like, oh, you know, maybe I can. Maybe I can, like, really do this. And I was, you know, I was a good player in junior golf. You know, I obviously went to a top college, you know, for golf and all that sort of stuff. And it was, it was obviously, it was in there. It was just, you know, just took a while to get to that point.

Ryan Rosillo (75:16)

Yeah, because I, I, that's why I think, like, the career, when you look at the, the log of all the different results, you're like, wait a minute, 11 years ago, your second event ever was the US Open, and here you are complaining about some of it, which I get. But was there a moment, like, in the first tee box? Or you're like, is this actually happening here? Or, like, because it was. Right. It was your second event ever, right?

Jake Knapp (75:37)

Yeah. Yeah. The U.S. open was my second one.

Ceruti (75:39)

It was.

Jake Knapp (75:39)

And, you know, my junior year was like, a good year for me. It was like my first big, big college win. Qualified for Farmers, qualified for the US Open. It was like I was kind of, you know, finally starting to, like, hit my stride and just become a better player and a little bit more well rounded. And I remember it at the US Open, I was so nervous. It was at Chambers Bay, and I went to hit my first tee shot and, like, only time it's ever happened to me in my life. And, like, I hit this thing and every single time as a player, like, as soon as you make contact, you kind of have an idea on, like, where, you know, the window it's going to go through your eyes, kind of, like lock into the ball pretty much immediately. And I hit it. I looked up and, like, my eyes were searching. Like, I couldn't. I couldn't find it. I had no. I was like, you know, and then people started kind of clapping and I just, like, walked back over. My brother was counting for me, and I'm like, where did. Like, where did that go? And he was like, dude, right, right down the middle. And I was like, nice. All right, sounds good. We'll take it. Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (76:38)

I mean, that's. You're. Have you just to have, like. Because whenever I'm playing, like, three new guys and then you're never playing it, of course, like, the first thing I'm thinking about is like, just don't take forever to find this.

Jake Knapp (76:47)

Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (76:48)

And at least in your case,

Ceruti (76:52)

you

Jake Knapp (76:52)

don't want to be that guy. You know, you don't want to be like, you know, the amateur that's going out there and shooting 90 and holding everybody up or whatever. You don't want to feel like you're, like a nuisance. Especially, I mean, in PGA Tour events if you're a Monday qualifier, you play with PGA Tour rookies. Like, that's who they pair Monday qualifiers with. So I played with Justin Thomas when he was a rookie at Farmers, and he was only, you know, a year older than me or something like that. He had basically just turned pro.

Ceruti (77:16)

And.

Jake Knapp (77:17)

And he was obviously a stud in college and knew who he was. And. And I was like, man, this is, you know, this is a bit nerve wracking playing with, like, actual tour players. It's not like you get paired with other Monday qualifiers. So it's not the most, you know, comfortable scenario, that's for sure.

Ryan Rosillo (77:32)

And at least you also have a few Thousand four caddies. Right. So they. Yeah.

Jake Knapp (77:36)

Probably not losing the ball. Yeah, probably.

Ryan Rosillo (77:38)

See where the ball landed. You're seventh in driving distance this season. Okay. And you've always been somebody that's like, hey, do you see how much power this guy has? And maybe because you're a smaller player, that sometimes, like, it's like, oh, not only does he have this swing, but, like, look at all of this power this guy has as well. So you're on the radar, you know, you're playing some events, but, like, what's that next level of it coming together to start to put together the resume that you've had in 26? And look, I know you've been on the tour now for a few years, but I'm curious what that difference is between. Yeah. Playing some tournaments. I'm not sure how many cuts I'm going to make, and putting together all the skill that everybody saw in a young golfer to be at this point,

Jake Knapp (78:26)

I mean, I think it's. To me, I felt like I. Anytime I, like, moved up a level, it always took me some time to get comfortable and actually start to play to what I feel is closer to my potential. I mean, as golfers, we're always trying to get better. You can always play better and shoot lower scores. So for me, I felt like when I jumped up to Korn Ferry, I played bad and then I fell back down. Same thing. Took me a while to kind of catch my footing in college and PGA Tour Canada, all that sort of stuff. And I think usually the biggest thing is just consistency. You know, it's being able to, you know, like, every player is so good. It's a matter of being able to do it day in, day out and not have those bad stretches and those, you know, those bad tournaments and trying to have, you know, trying to turn some of those bad rounds into, you know, okay, rounds where they can keep you in the golf tournament. So for me, that was kind of. My main thing is like, you know, I know. I know when I play well, I can win golf tournaments. It's more so like, hey, what can I do when I'm. When I'm not on my A game, when not everything feels perfect? Like, can I, you know, is there a part of my game I can always rely on? Like, for me, I've always tried to be really well rounded. I've tried not to, like, just lean on one thing all the time. You know, whether it's ball striking or driving or putting, it's like, I want to. I want to try to Be, you know, I'm not. I'm not chasing average in every category. I'm trying to see, like, oh, what are the best guys do and how do they do it and how do I get that, you know, across my entire game? So, I mean, yeah, for the most part, it's really, it's really just been, you know, consistency in my own game and just trying to, I mean, just really just trying to get a little bit better every day and every week.

Ryan Rosillo (80:01)

Is it true that in your one win you set a record for fairways missed?

Jake Knapp (80:06)

Yeah, I only had two fairways the last round. Yeah. And I mean, I will say that golf course, you can hit it just about anywhere off the tee. And there's like, you know, it's funny because, like, there's. There's probably only like three or four, like, difficult tee shots out there. And you know, when you're in the, when you're in the lead at a golf tournament, the one thing you can't do is hit it in, like the only trouble on the golf course. So it was like I erred on the side of caution pretty much the entire last round for the most part, especially after I had a terrible drive on three and hit it into the water. And I was like, man, I like, I just can't. I can't be going backwards. You know, I had a four shot lead and that was like the first time I'd had that kind of lead going into a last round in my life. So I was like, like, all right, this is, you know, it's new territory, trying to figure out how to handle it. And yeah, there were, there were definitely some holes where it was just like, hey, like, you can't miss it. You know, on like 16, there's like one tree on the right side that I would get blocked out from. So it was like, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna aim left. Obviously, I'm not gonna hit it anywhere near that tree. So, you know, you see it all the time with guys talk about it at like number four on Tory South. You know, you have the canyon left, but you have the rest of the world to the right. And like, I've hit it in that canyon before and it's just like, it, it just sucks because you're just like, you know, you have eight miles to the right to hit it. And it's like you hit it one yard left and you're gone. You just feel like an idiot.

Ryan Rosillo (81:24)

I love that strategy. Yeah. Because I didn't know, of course, obviously. So it's like, you see that number, and it was like the first time since 1983 or something that was like this many misfair ways for somebody to win, but now it makes sense. That's. That's a good explanation. So this past weekend, as you mentioned, the course record tied for sixth in Houston, but your brother Ryan, who I met and talked to occasionally, won the Mesa Verde championship, club championship. So does he call you or do you call him to congratulate him?

Jake Knapp (82:00)

He called me, and I was texting my parents. They were out there watching and kind of giving me updates and whatnot. And then he called me after, and he was just like, man, you just. You just couldn't give me one day. You just couldn't give me one day where. Where I had a nice little accolade and going on and everything. But, yeah, he. He played great. He. And he's such. He's such a good player for somebody who doesn't play anymore, you know, hardly. I mean, he's played like, I don't know, six rounds this year or something like that, but the guy just shoots, you know, a couple under or even par pretty much every single time he goes out. So I think that's his. I think that's his fifth time winning it in the last six years or something like that. So he'll. He'll practice for a couple days before and then get out there and go do his thing.

Ryan Rosillo (82:42)

So Mesa Verde is like your home course. Like, you grew up on that course, I assume, right?

Jake Knapp (82:46)

For the most part, I grew up going to Costa Mesa, which is the. The public course right across the street. And then I got access to Mesa Verde through an honorary membership in 2012, I think. So, yeah, like, senior in high school, freshman year in college, they allowed me to go out there and use the course and facilities. So I've been there. Yeah, for. For a long time now. I mean, it's best membership in the world. We have. We have, you know, the best people. They're super supportive. They let me do everything that I need to do to get better. And, you know, I'm in Scottsdale mostly now, but when I go back in the summer and for holidays, I'm. I'm there every day.

Ryan Rosillo (83:20)

Yeah, it's a great course. I've been down a few times, and I played with Ryan. It was probably in the last few years of just trying to figure the game out. Like, I played a little bit. My 20s, didn't play. And then, like, three years ago, I go, enough of this. Like, I'm gonna teach myself. Like, I'm gonna. And that was without question. Of the three years I've been playing the worst round, it was so bad. And what made it even more embarrassing is I was in Vegas for the super bowl and I had all this extra time, so I went out, I was like, let me just get fitted. Like, let me try different shafts, because of course, it has to be that.

Jake Knapp (83:53)

Of course.

Ryan Rosillo (83:54)

And I bought the most expensive LA golf shafts ever. And your brother. I think it was like the 10th hole where I was like, man, I'm really struggling. I was like, I don't know if it's these shafts because it's the first time I've played with them. And he was like, yeah. He's like, I did notice those. He's like, aren't those, like, a grand? I was like, yeah, they're like, they're really expensive. He's like, yeah, I did. He's like, they're really nice, man. They're really nice. Like, almost kind of just going like,

Jake Knapp (84:23)

what are you doing with those?

Ryan Rosillo (84:24)

Yeah, what the fuck are you doing?

Jake Knapp (84:27)

I mean, we see it all the time with. With sometimes, I mean, you know, you get somebody who gets into the game and they just fall in love with it, and if they have money to spend, they go buy just the most expensive stuff because they think that's what's going to be the best. And it's like, unfortunately, you know, until you get to a certain point, that stuff doesn't matter too much.

Ryan Rosillo (84:45)

Yeah. If you're working on your low spin. Sure, buddy. Like, great. Could you get those tipped as well? So it was tough because we were throwing out numbers and trying to figure out what we were going to do that day. And then I was like, I think you're going to put me down as, like a plus 22. And he was like, he's like, that's dangerous. And then at the end, he was like, you were being way too nice. And I was like, well, I was like, that was. And it just was. It was just one of those days, man. It was just one of those days. That was just brutal. And you're looking in. He was good. He was a great sport about it, and I think we played again. But he's. Do you give him. Do you have to give him strokes there, considering how much he's played?

Jake Knapp (85:23)

Yeah, I mean, I give him. I give him shots. I give him. I can't remember if we do, like, three and three and three. Maybe three on the front, three on the back, something like that. So yeah, kind of. It will almost kind of base it off of, like, maybe where we're playing or how much he's been playing lately, or if I've been playing well lately, like, all that sort of stuff. So we always. We always have something going on.

Ryan Rosillo (85:44)

Do you guys get any kind of gallery when you're back where people, like. I mean, it's kind of frowned upon, but it's a pretty loose place in the best way. Like, it is a great hang kind of country club. So I can imagine maybe they, like, Jake's here. Like, you know, let's take a couple carts out.

Jake Knapp (85:59)

No, we don't. We don't ever really get a gallery. I mean, you will around, like, the first tee box, 10th tee box, and then maybe around 18 or something like that. But everybody's known me for so long. It's, you know, and it's. It's. It's like a community country club. So, like, everybody who's a member there lives within a couple miles. Like, they're there every single week. So feels like everybody knows everybody and it's all just like one big family. So, I mean, they're. They're not like, in shell shock or anything like that. When I show up to the golf course, it's just. They're just like, oh, yeah, Jake's back. Cool. So they're. They're pretty good about, you know, not. I wouldn't say, like, leaving us alone, but like, you know, they're. You know, the course is so busy. Everybody's usually playing every day anyway, gearing

Ryan Rosillo (86:39)

up for the Masters. You mentioned that this weekend. Do you look at these, you know, two tournaments in front of Augusta as, like, there's things that I want to. Look, I'd love to win a tournament, but I also want to have my game dialed in for Augusta as well.

Jake Knapp (86:56)

Yeah, I mean, that's why I'm skipping this week at Bolero to get prepped and whatnot for Augusta. So, I mean, Houston. Houston's kind of a mix of like, you know, I. I'd play that tournament whether I was into Augusta or not. It's just a. It's a really good course fit for me. You know, it helps to be long off the tee, and then the conditions are pretty similar to, like, what you're going to see at Augusta in terms of, you know, the types of grass and. And, you know, they have some crazy greens out there in Houston as well, so it's kind of good to perhaps get used to pots breaking a lot and some. Some early chips. That you have out there. But. But yeah, I mean, for the most part now, I mean, I played some practice rounds, like maybe a month or two months before Augusta, my rookie year, and kind of got an idea of like, what shots you're going to need and what the course kind of calls for. But now after playing it, I feel like I have a better idea. I mean, everybody's watched the tournament a million times and they've seen all the shots and everything. So it's not like you don't know the golf course, but. Yeah, just kind of knowing in my own game, you know, just not treating it like any other golf tournament, but knowing that, you know, I need to get my own game dialed. I mean, the golf course is a golf course. Like, you just have to go hit good golf shots. And, you know, there's a few things, you know, ball striking wise, that you kind of, you know, you need, you need to ball strike it well out there. The greens are so crazy. You need to be able to control it and hit it in the right spot. So that's going to be, you know, kind of focus number one. But. But yeah, just, you know, getting dialed in this week, seeing my coach Boyd, and just making sure everything feels good.

Ryan Rosillo (88:29)

You changed coaches this off season, correct?

Jake Knapp (88:31)

I did, yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (88:33)

What goes into that?

Jake Knapp (88:37)

You know, I mean, sometimes you just need like a fresh perspective and, or just like maybe different wording on, like how somebody's going to give you the same ish information and, you know, some, you know, every, every coach has like a different style on like how they teach or how they, how they go about it during the lesson and stuff like that. And I think for me, I just realized that I wanted to see somebody, you know, more consistently in person. Like I was, you know, my, my longtime coach, John Ortega, lives in California. So, you know, I talked to him a bunch, but I don't get to see him as often. And then when I moved to Scottsdale, I was working with Dana Dahlquist for a while and it just, you know, just got tough to see him in person as much. Unless I was going back to California. He was coming here, it was just tougher. And then Boyd's helped a lot of guys, you know, become, you know, kind of go from like mid level average ball strikers to really, really good ball strikers. And so I felt like he was going to be a really good fit for me. And he lives in Scottsdale as well. So when I'm back home during weeks off, you know, we can work four or five hours a day for three or four days in a row and just, you know, just get more reps in and. And just get a little bit more dialed in. So, yeah, he's been. He's been a huge help, and he's been a big, big part of the

Ryan Rosillo (89:59)

success I've had lately playing Augusta in 24. Like, how. How does this. Even though it's limited experience with it, how does that help you prep for. For this time around with the way you're playing?

Jake Knapp (90:12)

I mean, I think, number one, I think anytime. I mean, you know, that's like the. The dream golf tournament for every kid to play in. Not only, you know, you obviously want to win, that's why you're there. But. But I think a little bit of, like, the. The shock and awe is probably going to be gone this next time. I mean, obviously, I'm excited to go back and all that sort of stuff, but, I mean, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face after I won, knowing that I was going to go to Augusta, you know, in a couple months, and I was just. I was just excited to go. So your head's on a swivel, and you're. You're just kind of, like, amazed that you're even there. And especially everything that I've just kind of gone through the, you know, the previous, like, eight years as a professional golfer, to be walking around Augusta was just. Was just nuts. So I think now the expectations are a little bit different. And, you know, I feel like I can go out there and I can compete and I can. I can put up some good rounds. And, you know, I think I did a lot of good things my rookie year there, but I think at the same time, I just made a lot of, you know, costly mistakes. And that place is a lot about kind of not really the birdies you make, but the bogeys you can avoid. So, yeah, I think. I think going in, I just. I just know what to expect. I think I'm a lot more comfortable in general, I think, just in that atmosphere. So. Looking forward to getting some redemption.

Ryan Rosillo (91:26)

Is that it, though? I mean, I love the way you just said that. It's not about the birdies. It's avoiding the bogeys. And there's probably a lot of you because you're, you know, look, you're the best players in the world. There's very few courses you're ever going into, like, with that kind of mentality. Is that kind of the overall lesson about that place that every golfer has to learn?

Jake Knapp (91:48)

I mean, I think for me, it Is I think, like, you know, that that course is a lot longer than people think. They've. They've stretched it out quite a bit over the years. And, you know, it's obviously not easy. Like, the winning score, they always kind of shoot for around that, like, 12 to 16 ish under par, you know, depending weather and stuff. And so it's not somewhere you need to go shoot, you know, five, six, under every single day. Like, you can have a day where you shoot over par, you know, even par or something like that, and still be in the golf tournament. So. And I think for me, knowing that, like, I'm gonna be able to reach, you know, all the par fives unless there's some crazy wind or something like that, so I'll have plenty of birdie looks. It's more so just about like, being patient and making sure I don't try to force it on some of those tougher holes. And. And, you know, like, that place is the ultimate. Like, you can. You can always kind of miss it somewhere. And then there's definitely like one or two places where you absolutely can't go to certain pin locations on each hole. So it's more so just knowing where those spots are, doing your homework, and then, you know, just having the discipline that, you know, if you do have kind of an awkward number if you don't love the shot, all that sort of stuff, it's like, hey, it's okay. Like, we can. We can play to the edge of this green, and even if it rolls off and goes into this collection area, trust your short game and your putting to. To get up and down and move on to the next one.

Ryan Rosillo (93:04)

Is Ryan accepted the fact that he's not ever going to carry your back for this

Jake Knapp (93:09)

somewhat? Yeah, I think he always. He always jokes about, you know, like, hey, you know, tell. Tell B. Reed, you know, my caddy now, he's like, tell him. Tell him to take that week off and I'll. I'll come loop for you, like, maybe one of the tournaments in Japan or something. But he got the caddy my rookie year in the par three contest, so that was. That was a pretty cool experience for us to have.

Ryan Rosillo (93:30)

Well, look, my friends that. That are really into it, love your game, and they didn't even know we were doing this, so there's a lot of guys I know that'll be rooting for you and be rooting for you as well, man. So let's. Let's see. I can't wait.

Jake Knapp (93:43)

I appreciate it. Thank you. I'm looking Forward to it, that's for sure.

Ryan Rosillo (93:47)

I didn't ask you if Kobe was better than LeBron either, so we didn't want to get you.

Jake Knapp (93:51)

I'm a Kobe fan through and through, so. Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (93:55)

Do you like Kobe more than the Lakers? Because I've learned that living out here now.

Jake Knapp (94:01)

Oh, man, that's a great question. I've never been asked that. I mean, if Kobe would have left somewhere late, I probably would have. I mean, I would have still been a huge Kobe fan. I don't think there's, you know, I don't think there are many. There's not many like him. You know, between him and mj, I feel like, mindset wise, they're just. They're just kind of built different.

Ryan Rosillo (94:22)

See, you were. You were. You're not sure, but I think you. I think you're like, oh, wow. I think I've just discovered it. I've discovered it out here. I share it all the time with the podcast. I'm like, there's guys I remember, I'll never forget. Like, went down to get a little free time down by the beach. And the Lakers were in the playoffs, so I was taping it because there was a million games. I was like, I'll catch up on it a little bit later. And there's guys just outside in Kobe jerseys playing volleyball. And I'm looking at him going like, your team is playing a playoff game right now.

Jake Knapp (94:50)

Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (94:51)

And it's like, well, no, I'm a Kobe fan. I never understood it. I never understood it until I lived out here. I would.

Jake Knapp (94:56)

I would say I'd be. I'd be locked into the playoff game. You know, I wouldn't. I wouldn't be doing that necessarily. But. But no, I just.

Ryan Rosillo (95:04)

You get.

Jake Knapp (95:05)

Yeah, 100%.

Ryan Rosillo (95:08)

Enjoy Augusta, man. Fired up.

Jake Knapp (95:10)

I appreciate it. Thank you.

Ryan Rosillo (95:14)

Before we get to life advice, Saruti traveling. So he got onto life advice, but not part of this. The alliance marches on, as we know. Banners held high. We've got Kyle with us here. We've got some NBA picks for you tonight. Whose board is it?

Kyle (95:30)

Definitely not mine. I think it's yours, buddy. You're the only one who hit. Yeah, you hit the Arizona and Shruti and I lost last week, so the gap is certainly closing. Your boy will probably not be at the top much longer.

Ryan Rosillo (95:44)

All right, let's see. We put together another winner here for you. That Arizona thing was just the clarity that I had on that one. I was like, this is just not going to be an issue. That was, I think, it was the Arkansas game. All right, give me the Knicks -14 and a half. They looked terrible last night against Houston. Houston looked terrific for a game. So I know it's a back to back here, full board, lot of big numbers. Milwaukee plus 17 and a half at Houston. Kind of interested in that. I don't think I like that as much. I think Denver's a massive number tonight as well, minus 17 and a half at Utah. So I don't like laying all those points, but I'm just kind of going to go with the Knicks having a tough night, rolling into Memphis. No advanced scouting because a couple of players are not going to know who they are on the Grizzlies. So yeah, let's try something a little different.

Kyle (96:39)

Yeah, speaking of, I'm taking Cam Spencer, five plus assists. That's going to be. That's my play tonight. So we'll go, we'll have a little bit of, you know, they don't, they don't cancel each other out, which is nice. And it's funny you mentioned Bucks Rockets because Ceruti wants to over texted me this morning over 217 and a half and that's going to get you to +456 right in the zone where everyone's happy.

Ryan Rosillo (97:01)

Wow. So he went with the lowest total on the board. I think there's one that's at 250. Yeah. Denver, Utah's 249 and a half. Pacers, Bulls 247 and a half. I would probably just play both those unders and see can just load it up two legs.

Kyle (97:20)

All right, so screw the alliance. Do the 200.

Ryan Rosillo (97:23)

Yeah. Okay. No, that's not what, that's not the official release here. But that won't be on the graphic. Some of these numbers are so big this late in the season because it's a free for all in some of these games. So it's tough, it's tough to keep up with it. All right. Check out the Latest dialogues on sportsbook.draftkings.com you want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up?

Ceruti (97:48)

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

Ryan Rosillo (97:51)

I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Okay, the gang's all here. Ceruti, Kyle, life advice. Lifeadvicermail.com lot of feedback. Lot of feedback. Do you want a couple of them? Ceruti?

Ceruti (98:14)

I'm going through it. Right now, I'm watching Italy. We're taping this a day early. Italy's in penalty kicks against Bosnia to make the World cup or miss probably for the third straight time. So I'm on edge already. So you know what? Let's just fire away.

Ryan Rosillo (98:27)

Okay? I think to stick up for my guy here a little bit. What Ceruti is proposing is a world where things are better for each other. If you give stuff to a relative because your baby is now no longer in the baby tier, and you have something that can help out a family member, and they use it for their baby, and then a little bit later on, there's another baby. And so Rudy's premise being like, yeah, even though I've given this to you and I no longer have a deed or title, what would be nice, what would be great in today's society is if they were like, hey, instead of, like, getting all worked up about ownership and can I sell these items now? Because you have given up, up the right to them, maybe I can just pivot them off to somebody else who are all helping each other. I know Siri didn't grow up in a commune, but didn't.

Ceruti (99:27)

Nope.

Ryan Rosillo (99:28)

There's something to be said about society helping each other. And we've got a lot of legal experts chiming in, saying, like, oh, really?

Ceruti (99:44)

Arguing the legality of this. Like, so I don't, like, cool. Like, yes, I understand morality. Likely allowed to sell something that no one has a deed to that was given to you. That's not.

Ryan Rosillo (99:53)

It's.

Ceruti (99:53)

It's about being classy. It's about just like, I don't know, like. Like, Mr. P, it's not yours sell. In my opinion. Again, this is like, big ticket items. This is like, stuff that hundreds, maybe thousands of bucks. Like, again, go ahead if you want to do it. It's not going to ruin my life. I just think. I just think, you know, if someone gives you, like, a high chair or a bassinet, you probably as. As Italy losing and miss the World Cups. Now I'm just gonna be on fire today.

Ryan Rosillo (100:19)

Wait, they lost.

Ceruti (100:19)

Now I'm pissed off. Yep, yep. They just lost their straight World Cup. They missed. They did win a Euro in the middle of that, though, which is hilarious.

Ryan Rosillo (100:25)

But WBC was exciting.

Kyle (100:27)

You always have that.

Ceruti (100:28)

You're right. Although most of those were not Americans, which, you know what, maybe is even better.

Ryan Rosillo (100:34)

But who's this guy? Oh, he delivered for Papagenos for a little while. Yeah, like, he's a new center fielder again.

Ceruti (100:43)

I'm Not. I'm not debating the legality of it. I'm just saying that, like, if my sister was to give me a bassinet in two years when I don't need it, I would feel weird about selling that. I'd be like, hey, do you want this back? Does anybody need it? Is there anything coming down the line on the family? I feel like this isn't controversial, and

Ryan Rosillo (100:58)

I don't think it is at all.

Jake Knapp (100:59)

Yeah.

Ceruti (101:00)

Thank you. So I. Again, yeah, you want to sell it? You're not going to get sued, bro. Thanks, I understand that. I'm just saying there's, like, optics to this that don't look great.

Kyle (101:08)

I will. I'll say this like my. The last generation, the previous generation of my family, babies everywhere. You know, you probably couldn't. Couldn't get rid of this stuff fast enough nowadays for me. Like, I look around like, the clan's shrinking a bit. We're not multiplying as much these days. So, like, there might actually be, like, not a. Not a good place to turn to to get rid of this stuff. I'm not saying that's the situation, but, like, if I had a bunch of stuff that was, like, being aged out of, and I wouldn't exactly know where to go with it right now, but that's just me.

Ryan Rosillo (101:40)

Some of these thoughts were brought up, so here's one. They're going to push back on Cerutty's pushback as an experienced Craigslist marketplace, garage sale and garbage Thrifter. So Rudy's family bubble is just that, a bubble that most families don't operate with. If the emailer had put a stroller in the trash and then saw it on Facebook three months later, would he be mad? I think that's an insane okay.

Ceruti (102:01)

Like, these are just like, bad faith arguments. Like, I'm not. I'm not gonna respond to this. I'm just not. This is stupid.

Ryan Rosillo (102:05)

Cool.

Ceruti (102:06)

Good argument. Thanks for the email, guy. Next.

Ryan Rosillo (102:08)

Wow, there's a guy. We got a guy in there. If he says chief, we may have to. We may have to ask him to sit out the rest of them. That's essentially what he's done by giving it to his brother. I would disagree. That's a little bit different than giving it to your brother and putting it in the trash, than being mad about it being sold later on. I have a similar experience where I took a neighbor's ceiling fan from their trash, cleaned it up, and then sold it on Facebook for $40. They were upset because, quote, I took someone else's property to have it for free. They put it in the trash. So the likelihood was no one was going to have it. I put in the work to clean it and find it a home. If the emailer wants to make a little cash, then he says sell it to his brother. Easy solve. I think we're dealing with a very specific audience here of a guy who's just handy enough to one man's trash, another man's treasure. I think he's completely eliminating any of the family dynamics here. I think it is very different.

Ceruti (102:58)

But these people are not throwing these things away. If you're asking me to defend guy who put a fan in the trash, I'm not going to defend that guy. They are giving this to you as a gift. Something that you need, likely an expensive item. It helps the burden for when you have a child. This isn't complicated, guys. These are terrible examples of why I'm wrong. I mean, I'm not saying that I'm objectively correct and right or the way is the way that I'm doing it, but like, that's a. These are two dumb examples.

Ryan Rosillo (103:28)

So emphatically agree with Cerutty. Always appreciate all three of you on life advice had a writing to say how much I agree with Cerutty. The Facebook marketplace selling for baby items they didn't purchase is so wrong. I appreciate Ryan's warning of families have been separated over dumber shit, but have to clarify that Ceri's perspective is not just his family. I'd be pissed too. Like Ceruti and emailer and I definitely bold font. I definitely at least make a snide comment or call out, I love the show.

Ceruti (103:56)

Yeah, like, am I. Am I excommunicating this family member? No, but like, will things be said? Probably. And I wouldn't be the only one.

Ryan Rosillo (104:06)

We also had somebody else chime in. It's like you can get just blitzed with, hey, take all of this stuff. And it's actually not stuff they care about. They're just psyched to not have it at their house. If you want the crib, if you

Kyle (104:20)

want the crib, you have to take the bibs as well.

Ceruti (104:21)

Like, yeah, that's fair. Like, my sister just came over like two weeks ago, she grabbed some stuff and the leftover stuff will probably either donate or toss or whatever. But like, yeah, I'm not like, hey, you gotta take the, you know, this is an all or nothing deal. Take what you want. I don't know.

Ryan Rosillo (104:39)

If you take this, you have to have one more kid in the next 24 months. Yeah.

Ceruti (104:45)

Again, I think there are three or four different children in my family have slept in the bassinet we use. So, like, you know, if someone was to sell that, that would be a weird look.

Ryan Rosillo (104:55)

Don't get mad at them for maximizing value.

Ceruti (104:59)

Just think about the shareholders. Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (105:01)

The Rosillo wine. The Saav, available online, is doing okay, I guess.

Jake Knapp (105:10)

Good.

Kyle (105:10)

Pretty hot out the gates though, right? Did it cool off a little bit waiting for.

Ceruti (105:14)

For ours.

Ryan Rosillo (105:14)

Everything cools off eventually, Kyle. Yeah.

Jake Knapp (105:17)

All right.

Ryan Rosillo (105:17)

Even love. So is Resilo wine an appropriate wedding gift? I'm actually the guy who emailed about the ex girlfriend gaining weight. Update on that? Didn't work out, but not just because of the weight gain. So I think this was recent. Wasn't that the guy? We've had a few of those, but. But there was one more recently. We were like.

Ceruti (105:36)

I felt like a few weeks.

Ryan Rosillo (105:36)

Take it easy.

Ceruti (105:37)

But maybe I'm wrong.

Ryan Rosillo (105:39)

This guy must feel like, oh, he's going to tell people. This is his podcast to remind you of My Player Comp. 6 foot 185 Quentin Jackson style game. That's right. There was a specific comp there. I'm emailing today for clarity over a debate I had with my friend, one of my close friends. Let's call him Steve. No problem. He's getting married. I'm a groomsman. He's a big fan of the show. My current plan for a wedding gift is as follows. $100 in cash, plus a $50 ticket on Michigan State to win it all next year. Basketball. That's his favorite sports team. Plus one bottle of Versilo Sauv Blanc. A total of $200 spent. What are you going to do? Keep the other two bottles because they're only sending out three at a time. Because to ship just one. The shipping cost. Some people have been a little upset about the shipping costs. It's like, well, it's glass and it's not. This is Boone's Farm over here.

Kyle (106:27)

Hey, nice bull.

Ryan Rosillo (106:29)

Yeah. Although in college. My God. Case of that. Limitless possibilities. Start handing those out to people. Anyway, I told one of my other buddies, let's call him Teddy. My plan for the gift, which I personally was pretty excited about and thought it'd be cool to add some items outside of just cash that I know Steve would enjoy. Teddy told me this was a ludicrous idea and that the wife would be upset with this because the gift is supposed to be for both of them. I argue that half of the gift is cash, and that could be the part that is for her. And the other fun items were meant mostly for Steve. Am I making a mistake by catering the gift to the interests of Steve? Will the wife be upset by this? Do I try to do the fun thing here or just put 200 on a cash envelope and not make any waves? Thanks for reading.

Kyle (107:14)

My answer would be different based on is there or is there not a registry? Instead of the $100 in cash, could you get the salad spoons and the fucking wooden bowl or something and like do a little extra than one gift, double gift just to cover your ass on the fun gift?

Ceruti (107:29)

Hey, you say personalized gifts?

Kyle (107:30)

Yeah, because they are going to, they're going to look up at the tally

Jake Knapp (107:33)

at the end of this thing and

Kyle (107:33)

they're going to be like a $50 bed slip. Well, I think so. If they're doing. If they're thank you notes kind of crew, it's all written down. And so a lot of times mother of the groom, mother of the bride's, like really into tallying everything up, you know, So I would, I would just. If there is like a physical thing you could get, get them on top of the fun gift. Otherwise, if the bachelor party hasn't happened yet, it'd be cool to show up at the bachelor party with that.

Ryan Rosillo (107:59)

But. Yeah. What do you guys think? Yeah, go ahead, Seru. You guys have more experience with this.

Ceruti (108:06)

I don't really remember keeping track of who gave what. Like, I remember we wrote it down for like thank you card purposes, but I don't, I couldn't tell you, like, if people use the registry gave cash. I mean, cash is obviously all always king, so that's fine. We did get a few gifts here and there. I don't know that I. I don't know that these people know that they're really going to remember. Unless you, unless like, you know, the wife is a kind of a stickler and like really goes through that stuff. Like, I don't remember that being a thing. I'm. I'm a dude, though. So, like, I don't. Dudes probably care less about like the telling the gifts after the wedding. It's not really what I was like, doing it for necessarily. Not that the, not that the girls are doing it for that either, but I think they're more into that kind of stuff. I didn't remember it, so I. That's. That's how I would feel.

Kyle (108:43)

Also, if she doesn't know who Ryan Rosillo is, you might like the the joke might.

Ryan Rosillo (108:48)

Possible.

Kyle (108:49)

The joke could like lose a little bit of steam with her. Like, she might not know that's part of the joke.

Ceruti (108:53)

Gif.

Kyle (108:54)

Like the bet slip. If she just thought the bet slip was the only joke, maybe that's cool. Because if it's just like a nice bottle of white wine, you know, coastal flavor to it, maybe that's.

Ceruti (109:05)

Maybe that white wine.

Kyle (109:06)

Yeah, maybe that sneaks in under the wire and it's just the bed slip. She's like, wow, that's Johnny.

Ceruti (109:12)

If somebody got you a bottle of wine, Three bottles of wine for your what? Oh, I guess he was keeping it. I don't know what the tally is, but bottle of wine for your wedding, like, I don't think that's a guy or girl gift either. She could still enjoy the bottle with you.

Kyle (109:25)

That's my point.

Ryan Rosillo (109:27)

Yeah. If she actually likely doesn't know who I am, you should just be like, what is this stupid label? Like, what is that guy, like a naval hero or something?

Jake Knapp (109:37)

Yeah,

Ian Eagle (109:40)

yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (109:41)

I don't know. I think your other friends kind of like. I know that there have been times, especially like when you grow up a little bit more blue collar and then you're around non blue collar guys like in those early years and you go like, yeah, I'm just going to do this. And then the guys that grew up a little more refined than you did, it just blows your mind. You're like, what are you doing? You're like, yeah, that's what normal people do. You're like, cummerbund, what the fuck? So I just. There's certain times in life, depending on how you grew up, what your parents are like, the people that you're around, there can be some real, like when there's like real grown up stuff and you know, you maybe. I mean, again, I'm speaking from firsthand experience of like almost having to retrain myself or I wouldn't even say retrain, just like understand the ways of the world in a way that I was just never. It wasn't like I was going to fancy weddings or anything kind of like, like that. It just didn't exist. And so there was a bit of that in the early 20s. So now I would say mid-20s, like 30. And by the time I was 30, I think I kind of figured out some of the stuff. But there was definitely some hard learning of they're your friends, they're the same age and they're all kind of going like, are you insane? I don't think this is that big of a Deal other than it's like two items that are kind of for him as opposed to just the cash. So I would say instead of the cash back to the registry thing, I tried to do that whole like, oh, I'm not going to do the registry. It's the dumbest thing ever. Find something in your account. From the heart. Be lied from the heart. Hey, what can I spend? This is what I would do. Let me click on something done and done. And then. And it's almost like you're being penalized for being more creative and adding extra stuff, because you could probably just go 100 bucks in the registry, cover your bases, and you're totally fine. And here you are catching touching for, like, doing something that's a little bit more thoughtful and means something, and he's totally going to appreciate. So maybe the move is get yourself checked off the registry box so the wife knows. And then just to the side, yeah, you put the ticket into the wine bottle deal. You know, however you're going to package it all up there. And it's like, you know, why would you get knocked for doing two different things there? So I would tell all younger guys, like. Like, anytime I was like, oh, I'm gonna figure something else out. Then I'd forget. Then I'd be the asshole that didn't get the gift. And then it would be brought up years later. I would say, anyone that I've hosed on the wedding gift thing, they made up tenfold. Because later on, I would be like, now I'm really gonna make it up to you. So it was almost like I was paying penalties every year that I didn't do it. But it's just like, oh, I don't have. Yeah, right. I mean, it was really stupid. It's just like, hey, but you have no money. Everybody knows you have no money. Buy the thing that's very inexpensive and make sure that you're doing something. And I was like, no, I'll do something cooler. And it's like, no, you won't. You'll forget immediately do nothing because you're broke. And then you'll be the dick when they're going through their cards to thank people, and then you're not going to get one. Which reinforces once again why the wife's going to be like, oh, my God, what a fucking loser.

Kyle (112:37)

Dude, it's shrapnel from Normandy. What are you talking about? I think. I think you could put the bottle of wine on the gift table with your. With your money and then slide that thing post like in the reception, slide the bet slip in his breast pocket. You know when you just meet up with him, when he. After he walks through with her and he's all happy and you're like, dude, check this out. And then there you go. Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (112:58)

There's a limit on how much heat you should take for doing extra nice things for your friend.

Kyle (113:02)

So, yes, I would just say don't let her lay eyes on the bed slip. That's. That's the best thing.

Ryan Rosillo (113:08)

Yeah, maybe. Especially if it cashes.

Kyle (113:10)

Well, if she thinks gambling is stupid, too, it's like, oh, great, so $100 a plate wedding he gave us.

Ryan Rosillo (113:15)

Not if it hits. She's not going to think it's stupid.

Kyle (113:16)

Yeah, but she thinks gambling's stupid for that reason. She's.

Ceruti (113:19)

Oh, in March, dude, you can bet

Kyle (113:20)

it gave us 50 bucks. But he gave us probably nothing.

Ryan Rosillo (113:22)

She's like, you know, I've always hated these cabinets. Be rooting for Sparty like crazy.

Ceruti (113:28)

Right?

Ryan Rosillo (113:30)

So, all right, let's stay with a wedding registry. We have a different one. Creatine on a wedding registry. I don't know about this idea. Six foot, 195 just ran seven and a half miles consecutively at an eight and a half minute pace. Oh, yeah, that sounds awful. I ran on the beach yesterday with a weighted vest on. That was horrible.

Ceruti (113:52)

With your sling.

Ryan Rosillo (113:54)

The sling. I think I'm in the clear. I'm not wearing it today. I'm going to put it back on later, let it breathe a little bit. Yeah. There's no bruising, so that was the first thing. And it immediately hurt way less this morning than it did yesterday. So I'm clearly doing a hopeful diagnosis on this. We had somebody write in and say, you need to go get surgery immediately on this. And I was like, I just don't think that that's.

Jake Knapp (114:23)

Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (114:24)

If it was a full pec tear or the bicep tendon. Although the top of the bicep was just aching all night last night, which wasn't fun.

Ian Eagle (114:32)

I feel like.

Ceruti (114:32)

You know, though, right, when you tear, your peck doesn't. What am I thinking of? Oh, maybe it's the tricep. When it's just like the pool of blood down there that you always see. I think it's nasty.

Ryan Rosillo (114:41)

Well, the bicep also curls up. I don't even like talking about this.

Kyle (114:46)

Yeah, we should not.

Ryan Rosillo (114:47)

We should stop.

Kyle (114:47)

Back to the creed.

Ryan Rosillo (114:48)

Yeah. But I do appreciate the guy who was a doctor being like, you need to go and you have to get surgery. Immediately, because it's the best way to repair it. I was like, I don't. I'm already out of the sling after two days. You kid me. Look at this guy. He's like Wolverine over here. I'll probably be in it tonight, but it sucks taking notes. Love the show. I listen. My fiance does not. You are not alone, my friend. My fiance and I are getting married in September. She is setting up the wedding registry. I asked if I could add creatine to the registry, Half joking. She said, no way. Creatine is not an appropriate wedding gift. Furthermore, she made a rule about no consumables. Do you guys have that kind of rule?

Kyle (115:26)

The registry was for her. I was rooting for cash. I was like, maybe we could. Maybe we could lower the amount on the registry. I didn't, you know, I didn't even put anything on there.

Jake Knapp (115:39)

Okay.

Ceruti (115:39)

Yeah, a lot of that stuff goes into storage almost immediately too.

Ryan Rosillo (115:42)

Oh, Beast, shut up. People don't want to hear. There's sort of some of your wedding guests. Listen to this pod.

Kyle (115:50)

Sorry. He doesn't even know what they gave him. It doesn't matter.

Ceruti (115:52)

No, I do. I feel like we got. I don't think we got that many. I mean, yeah, you get the. You get the pots and the pans, the towels, you know, all this stuff. And it's like. I think we were living in. No, we had. Yeah, we had the house at that point, but still, like, you're not using all this stuff, so I don't know, it eventually finds its way to the kitchen or where it's supposed to be.

Ryan Rosillo (116:09)

I wasn't really planning on adding anything to the wedding registry as I can buy my own stuff with my job and don't really care that creatine will not be included. I just suggested it because I knew the future wife would say no, and I get a kick out of that. However, I do believe that I should be able to add it if I wanted to. I guarantee one of my buddies would buy it and it would get a good laugh out of a few of the guests. What are your guys thoughts on where to draw the line on wedding registries? Kyle and Siree, were there any things your wives would not let you put on the wedding registry? And he goes, my future wife is from Mass. I'm from Minnesota. Easygoing. She's from Mass. You're probably not getting your way on this one. So I would just kind of let it go. Even though I do think it is kind of funny. It feels like we already covered this So I don't know, is there anything else to that?

Ceruti (116:49)

Well, does he think like this? The guys showing up with the jug of creatine to the wedding. Usually that stuff just gets delivered in the house too.

Kyle (116:59)

Yeah. The modern wedding website. Yeah, A lot of that stuff's just

Ceruti (117:02)

so you're not even getting really the funny part of the joke. I mean, you could, I guess, theoretically, but yeah, I'm kind of with your wife. That would be like a weird look. I mean it would be funny, but it's also like, this is dumb. Seems kind of unnecessary when you're planning a wedding.

Kyle (117:15)

There's so many if you wanted to like, it's sort of like in the beginning of life advice when we had these bad faith arguments talking about cerutis, you know, stroller policies. Like you could as the husband planning a wet. Like planning a wedding with your soon to be wife. You could get. You could enter into one of these bad faith arguments every single day. And what you just learn is you don't. When it comes down to the venue, when it comes down to what's on the tables, when it comes down to how much extra you're renting for, you know, for of stuff for one day that's not tables and chairs. You could, but often you don't. And so I think you're doing exactly what we're all doing.

Ceruti (117:53)

Just don't. There'll be plenty more hills to die on in your future.

Ryan Rosillo (117:59)

Oh yeah, dude.

Jake Knapp (118:01)

Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (118:02)

I mean, just think of what future argument you're losing if you win this one. Like, you know what? I let you have the creatine on the wedding five years ago.

Kyle (118:13)

Come on, think of something. Yeah, I thought you had it.

Ryan Rosillo (118:18)

What?

Kyle (118:18)

You look like you were. I let you had the creatine, so you have to let me. Whatever. I thought you had something.

Ryan Rosillo (118:22)

Oh yeah, something I probably did. I usually pull myself rein myself in there a little bit. Okay. Like I said, another one I can't really help with, but let's go. 5, 10, mid-30s, 235 thick, no gym stats to brag about. Especially since becoming a dad. Player comp. Dwan Blair. Big body that takes up space in the middle with little to no verticality. Despite having both of my ACLs intact, I had a fun of the fact. What's that?

Ceruti (118:49)

The funnest of facts. I feel like you cannot bring up Dewan Boyer without talking about his lack of ACLs.

Ryan Rosillo (118:55)

Yeah, I think I remember somebody justifying him being picked being like, if you get three good years out of him at that cost. And then he can't walk anymore. Isn't it still worth it because he was so good in college?

Ceruti (119:06)

Do you ever see that? There's an Instagram page where I think it's just called Dudes Rock. And just they're starting, guys. It's great. And I stumbled upon the Kevin Pittsnoggle one the other day, man.

Kyle (119:17)

What was one of the first ones?

Ryan Rosillo (119:19)

The Pitznoggle one's the og. One of this, like, this Dude Rock thing picked up so fast. It went so fast that I was like, is something going on here?

Ceruti (119:31)

You're suspicious of it.

Ryan Rosillo (119:32)

You're like, yeah, I think the content's really good, but it's just any industry plants kind of like that.

Ian Eagle (119:37)

It's.

Ryan Rosillo (119:37)

It was almost like the really good podcast where it's like, she's just getting Drake, like, episode two.

Ceruti (119:46)

Yeah.

Kyle (119:47)

Yeah. Well, they're. They're branching out fast. They got MLB dudes that rocked, NBA dudes that rocked so.

Ryan Rosillo (119:52)

Well, are they branching out or just another guy be like, hey, everybody.

Kyle (119:54)

Just them. Because the original account is like, this account's going to rock too. And it's like, hey, maybe it's a whole industry plant. Maybe they're just firing. Firing up the ad buys real quick and just seeing what they can do. But, yeah, they're. They're expanding.

Ceruti (120:08)

That's like the expansion. The Titanic music ones. There was like, every sport had the Titanic music.

Ryan Rosillo (120:13)

Yeah. Somebody did it with the Yukon game winner. Was like, someone had to. And then I watched. It was like, this didn't even work.

Ceruti (120:20)

Oh, it just. What do you mean it didn't work?

Ryan Rosillo (120:22)

It didn't work. Like, timing was off.

Kyle (120:25)

The Kanye.

Ryan Rosillo (120:25)

The Kanye bad.

Ceruti (120:26)

Yeah, it was just the Kanye ones.

Kyle (120:29)

The.

Ceruti (120:29)

What is the father stretched my hands. I have not seen one of those that has not hit.

Ryan Rosillo (120:33)

Those are pretty good.

Ceruti (120:34)

They are incredible.

Ryan Rosillo (120:38)

If you could do something like that, what would you do? You ever thought about that? If you had the time to just be like, I'm going to edit a

Kyle (120:46)

video or be the subject of one of those things that goes hard.

Jake Knapp (120:49)

What do you mean?

Ceruti (120:50)

No, like your idea for.

Ryan Rosillo (120:51)

For a.

Ceruti (120:52)

For a feed for an Anonymous.

Kyle (120:53)

Oh, now I. Yeah.

Ryan Rosillo (120:55)

Put you guys on the spot.

Ceruti (120:56)

I don't know. Yeah.

Kyle (120:59)

Lord of the Rings to father, stretch my hands. Just pivotal moments. No, I don't know. I'd like to think about it.

Ryan Rosillo (121:05)

That's why we need to think about it more. Yeah. I like that. It's no bad ideas in the writers

Ceruti (121:09)

room, but there was the NBA Game of Thrones one, but I don't know that one. After a couple days I was like, all right, I've seen it.

Kyle (121:17)

Lost a little bit of shine, in my opinion.

Ryan Rosillo (121:19)

All right, back to the email. I had an interaction this past weekend that I wanted everyone's take on. Maybe mostly Ceruti's. That makes sense. He has kids. We recently moved to a neighborhood in a large Midwest city known for being very family friendly, great schools, decent commute to the city, tons of parks, et cetera. This past weekend I took my 18 month old son to our neighborhood park in a step two push car. So basically it's kind of like a big wheel, but not. And then there's a handle on the back of it. And we're talking 18 months. You can't just have your kid firing away pedaling down the sidewalk. So. So yeah, we have something similar to that. Yeah. So plastic car, four wheels, red. An 18 month.

Ceruti (122:01)

He's got things they're steering but they're not.

Ryan Rosillo (122:03)

Yeah, yeah, the kid fits it perfectly. And then there's a handle, you know, like again, you still needed an adult in control of this. We go to the park. I placed the push car next to an empty bench and proceeded to play with my son on the swing. Within five minutes, a couple early 30s and their toddler sat at the previously empty bench with the toddler looking, immediately jumping into my son's parked push car. I expect the parents to do what any normal parent would do and ask their kid not to play with a toy that's not theirs. But they did the opposite. They encouraged him to keep playing with my son's push car. I ended up not saying anything, just kept an eye on them from across the park. 15 minutes go by and I see the mom pushing their kid in my car across the park. The kid was having a blast, but I was reeling. Since when is it okay to just take someone else's belongings? Since I couldn't take it any longer, I take my kid out of the swing and beeline it straight to the couple and their toddler. The dad asks with an annoyed face, is this yours? To which I replied yes, sternly. He proceeded to take his kid out of the push car and walked away. No quote, thank you for letting us play with this. No. Oh, sorry. Didn't know this was someone's. I didn't say anything, but now that I think about it, maybe I should have. Am I out of line for being slightly irked at the entitlement of this couple? Notes to help. The squad park was packed. Maybe 30 kids, 30 parents. Toys such as scooters and push cars were scattered across the park, but only mine was carjacked. I don't think they knew the toy was ours, but I did not see them looking for the owner to ask permission either. When I see my son walking towards a toy that's not his, I grab immediately and say, this isn't ours. Let's not play with it. I was bigger than the dad. I would have been minus 500 favor had there been a betting line for a fight. The toy can be bought for $100 at Walmart. This one had maybe 10 miles on the odometer.

Ceruti (123:46)

Yeah, I mean, I'd be annoyed, too, but, like, what are you going to really do in this situation? Like, you could make a snarky comment. You could just say, hey, thanks, dude. Or I should say, you're welcome. Or you can be like, hey, that's, you know, that's five bucks, you know, rental, rental fee, you know, yada yada. You could make the snarky comment. But I don't know. This. This person clearly just, like, doesn't understand how, like, being a human goes. So I. I don't know, like, what the win here for you would necessarily be.

Ryan Rosillo (124:15)

I get you being annoyed, but at the same time, too, I've seen parents in absolutely desperate situations, and if a kid's that young and he's having a blast in the car and they go, hey, if we grab, we're clearly not stealing this. We don't know whose it is. We're not going to ask every parent at this packed park. Is it okay? Is this yours? Is this yours? Is this yours? I think a lot of times with really young kids, it's like, like, whatever gets us through the next 30 minutes here. And instead of like, grabbing the kid out of the car, which, you know, might be a little early lesson, and planting that seed there, right? I can see some parents just how tough it is just having a young kid all the time. And it just changes everything in your life. And you're exhausted and you're just like, hey, what can we do? We can let him smile and laugh and we've got a nice 30 minutes, or we've got a disaster waiting on our hands if we yank him from the car, even though no one's really using it and he's not doing anything bad to it because it's designed for really young kids to drool all over the thing. So I get you being annoyed at the entitlement part of it, and maybe you're just better at it with giving your kids some boundaries even at a young age where they don't understand them. But I do think there can be a little grace with another young kid knowing that if you, their parents and this situation, like if they got a happy 30 minutes out of it and didn't really do anything to you other than you being annoyed by it, I'm glad you actually didn't say anything to the guy because they're probably just trying to get out of the house and hoping it's going to go peaceful. And you never know. Every kid's different. Maybe the kid's just a disaster and cries all the time. It's just non stop. And they were like this is just a nice little reprieve from that and that's the main thing they're thinking about at that point.

Ceruti (126:01)

You're right. He's not wrong though. Like no, I don't think a thank you or like you know, you do. The thing is you tell the kid to say thank you. You teach them a lesson. Hey, if we're using other people's things, you know, make sure you say thank you, yada yada. Yeah, that could have been all been done there. It didn't happen. Sucks. It's not your job to parent their kid. You move on. It is what it is.

Kyle (126:19)

Yeah, it feels like the lack of sort of any closure at the end of it is what really got disguised, you know, grinding his gears. But I think to Ryan's point is like I think every year you get older, you get a little smarter about picking your battles. And I think when you have kids, I imagine it's just like exponentially changes what you're willing to maybe get into a sort of extracurricular thing about. I'm not talking about a fight. I just mean even having words like even one more thing like oh, you're welcome when they didn't say anything like that's. I think, I think he, he handled everything the way that you're supposed to and yeah, I guess I agree.

Ryan Rosillo (126:53)

I don't have anything else.

Ceruti (126:54)

Yeah, I remember, I think I told the story before but when I was, I think it was like the, it was one of like the travel baseball teams. We were 11 or 12 years old or whatever and like my two managers got kicked out on a call and they were like lose. They, you know, they're told them to go home like we live in this town and they're sitting in the parking lot afterwards, yada yada. And you're like, yeah, you might have Been right. But like it's a little excessive for the situation. Like you know, it's, it's 11 year old baseball. It's the same thing. Like you're gonna, you know, fight this kid at a park, this kid's parent at a park because you're mad about it. I the picking cows. This is the second time Kyle pick and choose the battles. You're totally correct. Like why I just, as you get older, I'm just like why, why am I going to let this bother me the rest of the day? Because if you like do something then even escalates the situation, you feel more strongly about it. I don't think it's gonna make you feel better if you do any of these things. You might feel some shame afterwards too. So I don't know man, he got one over on you. His kid got to have some fun. I think he just move on.

Ryan Rosillo (127:43)

If you want to feel you're in

Kyle (127:44)

the right, if you want to feel better. I think by the way that this guy described the parents and like the lack of, of any sort of cordialness, cordiality, whatever the word is upon like yeah, this is mine. Oh shit. Like these people are probably, probably a bit annoying. They probably go terrorize restaurants with the kid. It sounds like they're just not really not thinking about everyone else. Maybe it's because they're overwhelmed or maybe it's just because that's the kind of people they are. So I think if you want to feel better, those guys could have handled it way better and you did everything right.

Ryan Rosillo (128:11)

So yeah, I mean, hey, maybe one day you'll be able to afford a plastic car. Do you really want to say that to him? So yeah, I wouldn't say that. By the way, I'm glad you didn't say anything. I think you should, I think further remove from it. This is not one of those moments where two days later you're like, oh, I wish I had said this or now I just came up with a perfect comeback. I think you not saying anything. Look, you have a young kid so I think you would understand it. But sometimes you're just. And I know I'm not a parent, but I mean again being the oldest five and seeing what happens sometimes the parents are just so frazzled and just so defeated by the process in these moments that all the other things you could be possibly thinking about, it's just all those receptors are shut off because it's about this one thing all the time. And so I think most of us should have a lot of patience, especially with moms where you're just like a kid on the plane and then the mom and it's like you're going to get mad. You know how tough that is. She knows it's tough. And sure, some people are jerks about it, but I think for the most part you're like, hey, that's like a mom of two little kids and plane and traveling. It's like, guess what? They're going to take longer and yet they're probably going to make noises and they may not always listen. It's pretty easy to forget that we were all. Usually at some point, not all of us were a pain in the ass. But, you know, you get the point. That'll do it for today. Thanks to Tom, Kevin Cerruti and Kyle. Sucks for Italy. Really sucks.

Ceruti (129:47)

Magic Italy. At least the US they had. They, they, they had to qualify for the World Cup.

Ryan Rosillo (129:52)

I'm starting to worry about our military efforts with your run right now.

Ceruti (129:58)

Leave that one alone.

Ryan Rosillo (129:59)

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