“A Game of Cat and Mouse”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show — "A Game of Cat and Mouse"

Episode Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Tony Kornheiser
Guests: Chuck Todd, Paul Finebaum, Michael, Michael Winger, Reginald the Monkey

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Overview

This episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show" delivers its signature mix of sports, entertainment, and witty banter. Tony and his co-hosts riff through current sports news—touching on Washington D.C. sports, the NBA and MLB postseasons, and college football's coaching carousel. Notable segments include Chuck Todd’s NFL picks, Reginald the Monkey’s comedic counter-picks, and insightful college football talk with Paul Finebaum. Hilarious tangents about Halloween prep, “AI” skepticism, and the state of the White House renovation fill out a wide-ranging, conversational episode.

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Main Discussion Points

1. The State of The White House (01:43–03:33)

• Tony expresses shock at the extent of ongoing renovations at the White House.

  "All our lives, we have a sense of what the White House looks like, and we are told all our lives, it's the people's house. Nobody believes that. ... To see it half destroyed, it's just so jarring." (Tony, 02:39)

• Jokes about access:

  "I'm part of the people. I'd like this room." (Tony, 02:55)

• The team muses about the disconnect between the public and iconic institutions.

2. TV Talk: "The Diplomat" (03:33–05:02)

• Tony discusses watching the new season of "The Diplomat" instead of NBA games.
  • Praises Alison Janney and Keri Russell.
  • Compares British actors’ American accents favorably:

    "They understand how to do American accents better than Americans." (Tony, 04:31)

• Michael notes Bradley Whitford’s later appearance.

3. NBA Season Opening & Wizards' Woes (05:02–08:41)

• Disinterest in the NBA's long season:

  "I had this tremendously gratifying break from the NBA...and now the beginning of the longest season in professional sports—NBA and NHL are longer than baseball with half the games." (Tony, 05:24)

• Washington Wizards “tanking” criticism:
  • Tony laments the tendency to deliberately lose for draft picks:

    "If you buy a ticket to their games, you are being defrauded. The essence of sports is that people try their best to win." (Tony, 07:03)

  • Mocks management jobs being “protected for 8 years” due to long-term rebuilds.

4. Quick Hits: MLB Playoffs & Seattle’s Drought (08:41–11:18)

• Discussion on MLB's postseason schedule and the Mariners' World Series drought.

  • Seattle Mariners now have the longest streak without a World Series appearance—47–49 years.

    "Seattle's the only baseball team to not make the World Series." (Tony, 09:30)

• Recap of notable droughts: Pirates (44 years), Brewers (40 years).

5. Halloween & Candy Talk (11:18–13:19)

• Tony hates pumpkin flavor but will buy one for $10 or less.
• Price of Halloween candy shocks Tony; Michael urges giving out full-size bars.
• Lighthearted chat about using a Solo Stove to make the house appear “welcoming.”

  "I don't welcome people. That's not on your brand." (Michael Winger, 12:36–12:37)

6. NFL Picks with Chuck Todd (16:57–32:10)

Highlights and Memorable Lines:

• Chuck’s Record Update:

  “Chuck was three and four last week...22 and 27 overall. You gotta move up.” (Tony, 17:24)

• NFL Game Picks Discussed:

  • Minnesota at Chargers:

    "Minnesota doesn’t have J.J. McCarthy...They’ve got Carson Wentz...these are two mediocre, disappointing teams." (Tony, 18:24–19:08)
    Chuck reluctantly takes the Chargers.

  • Giants at Eagles: Chuck picks Eagles to cover, expecting NYG's prior loss to create a hangover.
  • Buffalo at Carolina: Both struggle with the line; Chuck eventually goes Buffalo—"reluctantly."
  • Bears at Ravens: Chuck sees the line as "Lamar's playing line” and takes Baltimore.
  • Dallas at Denver: Chuck picks Dallas, citing the lure of the “hook” (+3.5 points).
  • Green Bay at Pittsburgh: Discussion about Aaron Rodgers facing his old team. Chuck takes the Packers, suggesting this is a big motivational spot.
  • Washington at Kansas City: Tony, on KC’s reputation:

    "By the way, they went through an entire year last year at home and never covered." (Tony, 30:51) Chuck takes Washington plus the points; expects a “back door cover.”

• Kicking and Onside Kicks Tangent (27:24–28:14):

  • Enthusiasm for innovation, like 4th-and-20 instead of onside kicks.

  • "I like the fact that this stuff is a little more random." (Chuck, 27:41)

• Memorable Endcap:

  “All my trash talking to Carville’s biting me in the Cajun ass.” (Chuck, 32:02)

7. Reginald the Monkey's Picks (32:10–34:56)

• Reginald, the show's comedic foil, makes humorous, narrative-driven NFL picks:
  • Giants +7.5 at Eagles: "He'll take the Giants, says he’s got ties to New York—showed a photo from Studio 54 with Ed Koch, Phil McConkey, and Walt 'Clyde' Frazier." (Michael Winger, 34:12)
  • Broncos -3.5 vs Cowboys: Picks Denver, inspired by a tale of heli-skiing with Broncos alumni.
  • Chiefs -10.5 vs Washington: Takes Kansas City, based on reminiscing about hiking Machu Picchu with UL Washington and Christian Okoye.

8. College Football Talk with Paul Finebaum (37:28–47:25)

Key Insights:

• Playoff Committee Timing (37:51):

  "No, I think we're two weeks away from it, Tony...They want to make sure they don't accidentally put Clemson or LSU or Penn State or somebody like that in there too soon." (Paul, 37:51–38:12)

• Top Teams:

  “Ohio State is unequivocally the best team in the country...I think Alabama right now looks like the second best team.” (Paul, 38:26–38:41)

• Vanderbilt’s surprising competence:

  • Paul tempers excitement, recounting prior outlier seasons.
  • Explains his wife’s Vanderbilt connection and Alabama fandom.

• On Miami’s choke vs. Louisville (40:33–41:14):

  "It's very typical of Mario Cristobal. He manages to do this every year." (Paul, 40:41)

• Alabama’s resurgence and Ty Simpson’s play:

  “Ty Simpson has been the best quarterback...he’s the most accurate quarterback I’ve seen at Alabama in A while...That’s including Jalen Hurts, Mac Jones, Bryce Young.” (Paul, 42:18–42:35)

• Rapid Coaching Firings and NIL (44:33–45:25):

  • Surprised by the frequency and scale of midseason firings:

    "The only time you ever see a mid season firing is if there’s some epic scandal. ...Now every AD...they’re just instead firing the guy." (Paul, 44:33–44:56)

  • Cites player mobility and NIL as sources of increased parity and impatience.

• Rumors and Predictions:

  • Lane Kiffin likely to be offered Florida job.
  • Penn State could pursue Matt Rhule.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

| Time | Speaker | Quote/Highlight | |-----------|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:39 | Tony | “All our lives, we have a sense of what the White House looks like...to see it half destroyed, it's so jarring.”| | 05:24 | Tony | "NBA and NHL are the longest seasons...longer than baseball with half the games." | | 07:03 | Tony | "If you buy a ticket to their games, you are being defrauded..." | | 16:57 | Tony | "[Dan Byrne] putting it into completely reasonable perspective...talking about Shohei Ohtani and the Ohtani game."| | 17:24 | Tony | “Chuck was three and four last week...22 and 27 overall. You gotta move up.” | | 27:41 | Chuck Todd | "I like the fact that this stuff [kicking] is a little more random." | | 32:02 | Chuck Todd | "All my trash talking to Carville’s biting me in the Cajun ass." | | 37:51 | Paul Feinbaum | “No, I think we're two weeks away from it, Tony. Two weeks from last night” (on CFB Playoff rankings) | | 38:26 | Paul Feinbaum | “Ohio State is unequivocally the best team in the country...I think Alabama right now looks like the second best team.”| | 40:41 | Paul Feinbaum | “It's very typical of Mario Cristobal. He manages to do this every year.” | | 45:25 | Paul Feinbaum | "...there’s more parity than ever before because of the transfer portal...” | | 46:13 | Paul Feinbaum | "I believe [Lane Kiffin] will be offered the [Florida] job." |

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Memorable Tangents

• Tony's disdain for pumpkins, watermelon, and Halloween prices.
• Ongoing self-deprecation about “not paying attention” to sports he covers ("I'm not really paying attention in the way I should," 37:28).
• Chuck and Tony’s mutual skepticism on NFL teams’ true quality—"Do they feel like a good team or just a getting better team?" (25:04)
• Hilarious narratives for Reginald the Monkey, including celebrity cornhole tournaments.

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Segment Timestamps of Note

• White House/American institutions: 01:43–03:33
• NBA/NHL seasons and Wizards: 05:02–08:41
• MLB Playoffs/Postseason Droughts: 08:41–11:18
• NFL Picks with Chuck Todd: 16:57–32:10
• Reginald the Monkey's Picks: 32:10–34:56
• College Football with Paul Finebaum: 37:28–47:25

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Tone & Style

The episode blends Tony’s wry humor and sports cynicism with the show’s signature guests and recurring inside jokes. The banter is quick, conversational, and self-aware. Sports are covered with deep knowledge but little pretense, and the show freely meanders into pop culture, family, and DC life.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a classic Kornheiser outing: a deft balance of sharp sports analysis, high-level guests, meta sports media commentary, and offbeat humor. Whether you tune in for actual picks or just for the lively repartee, "A Game of Cat and Mouse" delivers on all fronts.

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Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll get football picks from Chuck Todd and Reginald the Monkey. And we'll talk some college football with Paul Finebaum. But first, let's keep the sales weasels happy. T Mobile is more than the best network in the game. They're now the best network in America, according to the experts at OOKLA Speed Test. So MLB fans are connected from home to home plate with the most advanced 5G, the most towers, and a signal that goes farther than ever. You can keep up with your team on the road, overseas, even off the grid. For baseball fans, it's better over here. Based on analysis by Ookl of speed test intelligence data, first half 2025 compatible device and plan required for T satellite. See details@t mobile.com avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today.

[Bill Grant]

Previously on the Tony Kornhauser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is an amazing thing. It's your mistake and you went and you fixed the mistake and it was just wonderful. And I'm getting charged for it. It's okay. It's okay.

[Michael]

You win. Now you have wine still at the house for you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I want that. And then I.

[Michael]

For Halloween. You have to get it now. Yes. Because you've joined our household.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. So this is General George Washington and.

[Bill Grant]

You'Re listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And happy to join the household. Very happy to join.

[Michael]

You're our fourth kid.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's, you know, I'm going the other way. I'm going to need more help. Your kids are going to go the way of needing less help. I'm going the other way, needing more help. So there are a couple of things we have to talk about here because we can't talk about them on the show because we don't have guests for them. In other words, we have Paul Feinbaum to do college football. We have Chuck Todd to make picks. So we don't have baseball and we don't have basketball. And I just, I know this is not a political show and I don't want to delve too much. I don't want to wander out of my lane. I Don't want to do it because I don't want anybody to get upset. But I'm just going to tell you to. If you can get a copy of the front page of the Washington Post today and look at what's left of the White House. Like, a lot of the White House is gone. It's under construction. There's a new ballroom being built. But it's jarring.

[Michael]

Just make sure you don't take any pictures of it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're not allowed to take pictures. It's so jarring. I mean, all our lives, we have a sense of what the White House looks like, and we are told all our lives, it's the people's house. Nobody believes that. I mean, you can't just walk in and say, I'd like this room.

[Michael Winger]

Table for two.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm part of the people. I'd like this. No, you. But to see it half destroyed.

[Michael Winger]

It's jarring.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's just so jarring.

[Michael]

Well, the ballroom will be paid for by the people. Just a very select few people.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, very select people. Select few people will be able to use the ballroom. But. And I'm not even against the ballroom. Ballroom's fine.

[Chuck Todd]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, if you have stuff for it, if you have a whole bunch of things. But half the more. Is it more than half the White House is now gone. The entire east wing.

[Michael Winger]

I haven't gone.

[Michael]

I don't see it in percent.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's just sort of gone.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's not something you expect to see.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And so what I said to my son this morning was, are these AI photographs? Like, did this really happen? Has this actually happened? By the way, I watched the first episode of the Diplomat last night.

[Michael Winger]

Oh, you did?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I watched the first episode of the new season. Jany is. She's. What's her first name?

[Michael Winger]

Allison Janney.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Allison. She's a great actor.

[Michael Winger]

Oh, she's terrific.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She's just a great actress. And Carrie Russell playing off her is really very good. She's a towering figure compared to Terry Russell. Carrie Russell's about five' one. Yeah. And Allison Janney looks to be about five, ten, five eleven, six feet.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And she. She. She has great stature. Alison Chani, like, she doesn't have to say anything. She can just give you a look and you know what's going. So it was. Although I didn't have closed captioning, so I couldn't hear it half of it, it seemed really good. And I will say that whoever the guy is who plays Keri Russell's husband. That guy's great.

[Michael Winger]

Rufus Sewell.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That guy's. He's British, right?

[Michael Winger]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You never. You have.

[Michael Winger]

No, it's one of mine.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. They understand how to do American accents better than American. It's just. It was good. I was glad.

[Michael Winger]

I will say without, without giving anything away. And Michael, have you. Have you tuned in?

[Chuck Todd]

I'm not.

[Michael]

I'm not up to the season yet.

[Michael Winger]

This isn't giving away. Bradley Whitford, who is also on West Wing with Alison Janney, enters the scene a little bit later as the first gentleman.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I didn't recognize him.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah, he looks a lot different.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He really looks different.

[Michael Winger]

It takes a few episodes, maybe five or so.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I haven't seen it.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah, once you get deep, he actually starts to have a really big role. And it's enormously entertaining.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. I watched it. That's right. I watched it because I didn't want to watch the entire NBA open. I just didn't.

[Michael]

Game one, you're not staying up for game two.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No. Game one out of 82 games. And it doesn't hold. It didn't and doesn't hold any allure for me. I understand.

[Michael]

Double O. T. I didn't.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I didn't make it. I didn't make it. I understand that. We're going to have to talk about this on ptr. Wilburn loves the NBA. And I had this tremendously gratifying break from the NBA in July, August and September. And now the beginning of the longest season in professional sports. NBA and the NHL are the longest seasons long. Sports longer than baseball with half the games. I try to let that sink in for a little while. Longer than baseball with half the games. Okay. And so we're going to have to talk about it. And I'm perfectly willing to talk about. I don't want to be held hostage by the NBA for every single show for, you know, five stories a day on opening day. The Wizards open tonight. The alleged professional basketball team where I live in Washington, D.C. they opened tonight. They're trying to lose again for the third year. They've gotten very good at losing. They're in their third year.

[Michael]

They have to protect that first round.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Pick, which nobody knows who they picked. Nobody knows who they picked.

[Michael Winger]

A few months ago wasn't Abraham Lincoln. Didn't I see a video?

[Tony Kornheiser]

You showed me that video. That's very odd. Very weird. Very weird. So, you know, they try to lose. They've gotten good at losing. They have a general manager And a president of basketball operations who say this is going to take five to eight years. Well, we're only in the third year. So they have to have jobs protected, much like a draft pick, have their jobs protected for eight years. They're trying deliberately to lose. If you buy a ticket to their games, you are being defrauded. The essence of sports is that people try their best to win. Not everybody. And I'm not talking about the players now, the coaching staff, the general managing staff, the president of basketball operations. Staff don't want the team to win. They want them to finish as far down the scale as they can to get the best chance of getting. Getting the number one lottery pick. Last year they didn't. What, they get six again. I don't know who they picked. I know two years ago they picked Sar from France. I don't know how he's doing. I mean, he's, you know, he made a couple of weekly all star teams. But did they win any games because of him? No. Because they don't want to win the games?

[Michael]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I'm. Because of that six overall.

[Michael]

They got Trey Johnson.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Trey Johnson, a guard from Texas. Okay. I'm sure he's great. I'm sure we'll see that he's great. It seems to me they have a roster of about 20 to 30 people between 64 and 6, 7. That's what they've got. And they appear to be interchangeable parts because you don't know, because they're trying to lose. They bring in older players who have credentials. Then they don't play them because they're afraid those guys will try to win. They don't want anybody winning.

[Michael Winger]

Atmosphere to the organization.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What's the guy's name? Michael Winger.

[Michael Winger]

Is that the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's the guy running it. He wants, you know, he's going to stay here until somebody says there's the door.

[Michael]

You say he's just winging it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's probably just winging it.

[Chuck Todd]

I don't know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But, you know, you go to a game and have a reasonable expectation that your team is going to try to win. And they're not trying to win. And every story says they're not trying to win. So that sours me a little bit on the NBA.

[Michael Winger]

I'm saying Will Dawkins. Does that sound right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dawkins is the gm.

[Michael Winger]

Oh, we're talking about the president.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. The guy who's really running it is somebody else. Anyway, so there's that and then there's baseball. The. When does that start?

[Chuck Todd]

Friday night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's too long. It's too long to wait. This.

[Michael]

Should you lose a lot of non baseball fans for that, even with the stars that you have coming to this one?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Winger]

So anyway, they're lucky that, that Seattle, Toronto went 7, otherwise it would have been a week of dead air.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dodgers, Blue Jays, Seattle, which lost in game seven as the series turned on its head. The road teams won the first four games. The home teams won the next three games. Seattle still has not made a World Series. People say, I guess this is true. Seattle's the only baseball team. Yeah. The only baseball team to not make the World Series.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do they have the longest consecutive streak now of not making the World Series, or is there a team that has been in business longer, that has a longer drought? I'm asking that question because I don't know the answer. I don't know the answer to that. So we all feel bad for Seattle and because they never got there and we all wanted to see Cal Rawley, but the Blue Jays won the series head to head. They're a better team, you know, they're a better team and they're playing an even better team. The Dodgers are the best team. The Dodgers, if they get pitching like they had against Milwaukee, the Blue Jays aren't going to beat them. The Blue Jays combined with Seattle aren't going to beat him. The Blue Jays combined with Seattle and the Yankees and the Red Sox and the Phillies aren't going to beat them because their pitching, their starting pitching, was tremendous. Their vulnerability is their bullpen. Hello, Blake. Trinen. But it's very possible that in the World Series, a limited, you know, seven game series where you really need good relief, let's say in four of the games. It's possible you'll see Sasaki in all of those games. It is, you know, but there'll be.

[Michael]

A lot of stress early to try and make sure those starters get into the sixth or even seventh innings.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So the starters are Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, and I guess Ohtani. Although I don't think they've named a Game 4 starter. I don't know how it works.

[Michael Winger]

So I'm seeing this. It's either 47 or 49 years for the Mariners, and that is the longest.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's the longest one.

[Michael Winger]

The next one up would be the Pirates at 44 years and the brewers at 40 years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, but they've been in.

[Michael Winger]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, and Seattle has never.

[Michael Winger]

I'm guessing it would be 82 for the brewers and 79 for the Pirates.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think the Last time the brewers were in, Robin Yount was on the team.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And the Pirates, Willie Stargel.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That was 79. That was the. We are family Pirates that beat the Orioles.

[Michael Winger]

Came back from three one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And that was a great World Series. And Willie Stargell, having covered that World Series, Willie Stargell would sit there after the game in Baltimore, in the Baltimore games, and take out a mallet and crack crabs and hold court. And it was, you know, he was a worthy guy. Well, he star was a worthy guy. So that's. That's what we have. I. I already discussed my problems with candy and pumpkins. Pumpkins.

[Michael Winger]

Not a fan of pumpkins, are you?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, but I mean, I'm going to get.

[Michael]

You like the idea of a pumpkin. You just don't like the taste.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't like to eat them. So I'm going to get one. What? A pumpkin was about 10 bucks.

[Michael]

You. If you wait another couple days, you'll get it from the Giner, the safeway, for under 10 bucks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's what I'm figuring. And then.

[Michael]

But they won't have the. You know, they won't have the handle.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's okay.

[Michael]

The stem.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's okay. What, the stem robbers took that away?

[Michael]

No, all the kids pushed him over, probably.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, okay. And what candy? How much is. Candy's very expensive.

[Michael]

Candy's expensive and it's like $50.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't think that expensive.

[Michael]

The fun bags are more money than you think they should be. But you're. You know what, you're older in life. Just get the full size candy bars.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And give out full size candy bars.

[Michael]

No one comes to your house anyway. But if they do, make it a night to remember.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I was gonna use the solo stove, but then you told me a story about somebody getting too close to too close.

[Michael]

Would you put the solo stove out front to make it a welcoming home?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. That's not me, is it?

[Michael]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Welcoming.

[Michael Winger]

That's not on your brand.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, it's not what I do. I don't welcome people. So today, what I'm going to try and do, I'm going to go downtown to do the show today, and I'm going to bring. If I remember to do this, I'm going to bring this hideous Wannabet sweatshirt designed by Jason. I'm gonna see if we can drape it over the. I'm gonna see if anybody allows me to do this or if I drape it over the Statue of Liberty and someone goes, what in God's name is this?

[Michael]

Isn't working on camera.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Get that off the set.

[Michael]

You're going straight to the downtown studio. I thought you'd start at the home studio first and just see if it looks good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, there's no, there's nothing. There's no way we can put it up.

[Michael Winger]

It's tough to hang on the wall.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There's no way it doesn't work. So I'll go to. I'll see if it works, but we'll keep.

[Michael Winger]

We'll keep trying.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So we'll see. All right. Chuck Todd when we return, I'm Tony Kornheiser. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast. Smart move. Being financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move. Having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. FanDuel's got an offer you don't want to miss this NFL season. New customers can bet just $5 and get 300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right, pick a bet, bet five bucks, and if it wins, you'll unlock 300 bucks in bonus bets to use all across the app. You can build parlays, bet player props, ride the live lines. Whatever your style, fanduel has you covered. The NFL season is here, and the only question is, are you ready to play? Visit fanduel.comtonyk to download the FanDuel app today and get started.

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[Tony Kornheiser]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Bill Grant]

Einstein had E equals MC squared. Pretty good. The I have a Dream speaks. When Martin Luther stood, Magellan went around the world. A great accomplishment. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Alvin to the moon they went. Not bad, fellas, but now the best has come. 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 10 K's, 3 home runs. Madame Curie, she discovered radium. Isaac Newton, well, he wasn't so dumb. Washington and his boys crossed the Delaware. You should have seen Sampson before he lost his hair. Not Too bad looks second to none. 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 10 K's, 3h. Home runs for all eternity. For everlasting fame now and evermore. The Otani game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The brilliant Dan Byrne putting it into completely reasonable perspective and talking about Shohei Ohtani and the Ohtani game that plays in Chuck Todd. And this week's picks with Chuck Todd and Reginald the monkey are brought to you by FanDuel's sportsbook. Make every moment more. Chuck was three and four last week and that was a win, including a Monday night win, 22 and 27 overall. You gotta, you gotta move up. You gotta move up. Yes. Gotta move up.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah. No, I mean, I'm, you know, I'm doing well, better on the island games, you know, the standalones, than I am on the ones on the fours. That's, that's killing me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There were a couple of games that you picked that I would have gone the other way on. I certainly would have gone the other way. The Rams, Jacksonville. You like Jacksonville because they play in London a lot.

[Chuck Todd]

You know, that's one of those, you, you know, I'm like, what the hell happened? Yeah, but didn't the London Jaguars and I bought into the, the, the, the, you know, the fact that they were just going to fly. And I'll say this. If McVeigh, if this is real, then when you go into The London game. You just show up, you know, 10 hours in advance and go, yeah, don't.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don'T stay all week. Don't acclimate, just play. Yeah, well, Jacksonville's another. Jacksonville and Atlanta. There's one other team I thought of the other. The Chargers. They stink. They stink.

[Chuck Todd]

They're just terrible. But they, you know, they're going to be 8 and 9 or 9 and 8.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And everybody takes an occasion when they win one or two in a row to say, well, it looks like they're good. Look, look pretty good. No, they stick. Okay, here we go. Minnesota team, a franchise. You like Minnesota at the Chargers. The Chargers just, you know, collapse, basically. This is Thursday night, but Minnesota doesn't have anything. Minnesota doesn't have J.J. mcCarthy. They were given the whole year to J.J. mcCarthy. He's played a minute and a half. They've got Carson Wentz. The Chargers at least made a comeback. Herbert started throwing the ball pretty well in the second half of that game. But they, I don't know. These are two mediocre, disappointing teams. To me, this is a Thursday night game. Who you got? Minnesota. If you want them, you get three and a half.

[Chuck Todd]

This is, I think the, Is this the second non division Thursday night game? It feels like every Thursday night game has been.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, they need a draw. They need to get you in there. Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

You know, you believe J.J. mcCarthy's hurt or benched?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know. I have no idea. What do you think?

[Chuck Todd]

It's. I feel like if he were Joe Burrow, he'd play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Chuck Todd]

Right. Or if he were, if you knew he were, you know, if he were that much of a difference maker. I don't know, it just, it's just curious to me that, that he's, you know, the other. He's not fighting to get back out there. I don't quite. Unless, I mean, this injury doesn't seem as, as, as, as bad as, as you would think. I don't know what to do with the Chargers either. They were the, the two and O team that turned out to be a dud.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right? Yes. Yes.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah. I'm gonna go with Harbaugh.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. You're gonna take the Chargers?

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah, reluctantly.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I think I would too. I think I would take the charges.

[Chuck Todd]

They kind of need it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Next game is the New York Giants at Philadelphia. A division rivalry. Philadelphia got pretty well last week. Jalen Hurts did something he hadn't done in two years. Passed for 326 yards. Best game in two years. He found A.J. brown. He found Devonte Smith Giants had. Were involved in a great game. And don't forget that the Giants went down the field even with a gift call on pass interference. But they scored with 37 seconds to go and it looked like they were going to win the game. It's a division game. They're getting seven and a half points, which does strike me as a lot of points. Seven and a half.

[Chuck Todd]

Who you got in the game. But the game's where Philly. Yeah, it's in Philly. Boy, did the Eagles finally look like the Eagles. Oh my God.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yep.

[Chuck Todd]

That fourth down call when he hit A.J. brown, you're like, oh man. I think this is a. I think that Giants loss is a two week loss.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Chuck Todd]

Right. That there's a hangover and I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take the Eagles blowing the doors off of the Giant.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. All right.

[Chuck Todd]

The second time they played in three weeks. Right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And a lot of. If you look at the schedule for a lot of teams that, that is a recurring theme that it's two in three weeks, but it's often at the end of the season. It's very weird.

[Chuck Todd]

This must be how they. In order to finagle the overseas business and the, and the, and the skipped weeks that they. There's certain things they can't protect.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right, right.

[Chuck Todd]

And I guess that's the. You're just going to be stuck playing, you know, two games out of three, stuff like that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, if they're division games and, and you schedule it correctly, it's not, it's not a bad idea. Buffalo is at Carolina. Carolina has somehow won a bunch of games and they didn't just win the jets, they went at home.

[Chuck Todd]

Well, this Jekyll and Hyde.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is a home game for them.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Buffalo is coming out of two straight losses. Yes.

[Chuck Todd]

And a bye week though. Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And about a bye week. Buffalo minus seven and a half at Carolina. If you gave me this line in the first game of the season, I would put my entire house on Buffalo. But Carolina, how do you.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah. How do you feel about it now?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Carolina has gotten better. They don't beat anybody good. But they're in the game and sometimes they win. Who you got?

[Chuck Todd]

Can I, can I ask the guy that has. Is 24. I've ignored football for the last 24 hours for, for no particular reason. I just have. Is Andy Dalton going to start?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know that there was. It seemed mysterious as to what happened to the starting quarterback. It seemed mysterious. So I don't know.

[Chuck Todd]

I don't know if that would make a difference for me because I think Bryce Young.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's his name, right? Bryce Young.

[Chuck Todd]

I got to think that Buffalo got.

[Tony Kornheiser]

To have it, you know.

[Chuck Todd]

Yes. And my week meant something. And that they're going to flip a switch, given that everybody's now in the hot seat if you lose your second game, whether you're in College, in the NFL.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

Is McDermott on the hot seat?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't, you know, I don't think he's on the hot seat, but he has no discernible personality and, you know, he's not. He doesn't. He's not inspirational to me on any level. I don't know.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah. But I'll do the Bills.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Chuck Todd]

Reluctantly there.

[Michael Winger]

But I. I do see from. AI is answering that Andy Dalton is expected to start this week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is a. I. Well, what do they know?

[Michael Winger]

Well, they go through all the news.

[Paul Feinbaum]

They're better.

[Chuck Todd]

I mean, the problem is. And I know you never learned to Google search, now you have to deal with AI. But as Nigel will tell you, search sucks now. Yeah. So it's sort of like AI. It's all you got.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don't want it.

[Chuck Todd]

Whether.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I don't want it. Here's a game where. The line. I don't understand the line. The Chicago Bears, who've won some games, won a few in a row, with a quarterback who looks pretty good going to Baltimore, beginning of the season, you would pick Baltimore. The Chicago Bears are. Baltimore's one in five. Nobody even knows if Lamar Jackson is playing or on the roster anymore. Chicago's getting six and a half at Baltimore. That seems like a lot, doesn't it?

[Chuck Todd]

This is. It's a. Lamar's playing line.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, that's.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah, that. That's the only explanation is Lamar's playing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Chuck Todd]

And obviously, if he's playing. This is after the buy. I mean, if he's not playing now, this season is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

Like this. We've said it. We say it probably too often. Oh, they've got to have it. You know, this is a must. Well, this one, I mean, 1 6. Yeah. So I get what they're thinking on the line. And my only thing with the Bears is I. I know they've got. What are they, four and two sounds right. Yeah. Right. Do they feel like a good team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Or just a getting better team? Not a good team.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's getting better team.

[Chuck Todd]

Such a polite way of putting it. Yeah, they're getting better, but they're not going to outscore Baltimore. If Lamar's Back. So give me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Take Baltimore.

[Chuck Todd]

Give me the Ravens there. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Dallas, which pounded Washington, is at Denver, which was involved in a fabulous game and won it right at the end of the game. Denver doesn't usually score as many points as they scored and they scored them all in the fourth quarter. Dallas scores a million points, but gives up a million points. This is a game. This is a game worth seeing. Dallas is getting three and a half at Denver. Who you got?

[Chuck Todd]

And you know, Denver's defense is supposed to be really good, although they gave up all those.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They gave up points and start right.

[Chuck Todd]

So they seem to score on anybody. And other than that fourth quarter with Denver, I wouldn't have pegged them as a team that could score 30 points very often.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right. Me too.

[Chuck Todd]

I think this is. This is probably a mistake, but I'm going to go Dallas.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Okay.

[Chuck Todd]

Three and a half is nice and that hooks pretty good. I can't. Denver winning this game by with a late field goal, wouldn't that. That would feel about right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Green Bay is at Pittsburgh. This is a Sunday night game. Pittsburgh.

[Chuck Todd]

It's no ordinary game, buddy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, Green Bay. Pittsburgh is SO one.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Are you Aaron Rodgers?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's Aaron Rodgers going. Not going home, but playing against his former team. Pittsburgh did not look good last week. You know, they didn't look good at all. That's what gives hope to the other teams in that division. I mean, Rogers was fine offense.

[Chuck Todd]

I mean, Pittsburgh moved the ball. Can't say they didn't.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, but that was a loss you didn't see coming, right?

[Chuck Todd]

Well, somebody picked that game correctly on this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you have that? Did you have this game?

[Chuck Todd]

I may have had that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You had Cincinnati in that game.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

You were questioning me the whole time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Green Bay is a good team. They're good team. Pittsburgh, we're not sure is a good team. This is a pretty good matchup though. And it's three and a half. If it was two and a half, I'd think differently. But it's three and a half. Green Bay is a three and a half point road favorite.

[Chuck Todd]

By the way, do you love the fact that kicking is a coin flip now? Like anybody could make 60 yarders, but the missed extra points, the weird kickoff stuff, I kind of like the fact that this stuff is a little more random.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, me too.

[Chuck Todd]

You know, me too.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The only thing they have to fix is the onside kick. It's just, you know, you got to have a chance to recover it and then it doesn't work. Don't see.

[Chuck Todd]

And there needs to be. Yeah, there needs to be something different. You like that idea of, is it 4th and 20? You know where that was an alternative to the onside kick.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did they. Did they didn't accept that though. That was floated last year.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Was floated.

[Chuck Todd]

I just love to see them try.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that would be fun. Because you know who would do it? Dan Campbell would do it every time. Yeah, right. Dan Campbell would do it.

[Chuck Todd]

You know, it would be fun. This would be the case where, you know, in baseball you would do that stuff in Triple A or Double A. Yeah, I'd love to see like the Sun Belt try this. Right. Like get one of these, you know, mid major conferences. Hey, we're going to try the 4th and 20 alternative onside kick. That would be fun just to see them. See them try it. I, I'm going to assume that LaFleur really wants to beat Rogers. I'm going to assume that Jordan Love wants to make it clear he's the guy now in Green Bay. I, I think so. I know as a fan of the packers, you can't let Aaron Rodgers win this game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Chuck Todd]

Like, like there's just.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're not going to have another chance. This is it. This is the last line. This is it.

[Chuck Todd]

This is it. And you know, so, you know, if they have a game, if they've worked on any game plan all year long, I got to think it's this one. So I'm going to take the Packers.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. And there's one more game with a huge number. And this is. I don't know what this says about Jaden Daniels. Washington's getting ten and a half at Kansas City on Monday night. Kansas City looked great last weekend and you know, but it was against the Raiders. It's a bad team, but they look great against Detroit. And that was, that was a meaningful win. And then suddenly if they win this game, you stand up and you say, you know who's not gone? You know who actually didn't leave the stage? It's the Kansas City Chiefs. They're still super bowl contenders, but 10 and a half is massive. It's just a huge number when you consider this a team that was in the NFC Championship game last year.

[Chuck Todd]

So what's your take on them without Jaden?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't think Mario is terrible. I threw a terrible pass last week. I don't think he's terrible. But they need Jaden Daniels. I mean, he, the energy that he gives is, is palpable. Their problem is none of their receivers are in the in the game.

[Chuck Todd]

No, they need some.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What's going on here with Samuels and. And McLaren? What's going on?

[Chuck Todd]

You know, they got. They got a. They bought a really nice car that's about five years too old in depot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, right.

[Chuck Todd]

You know, God, it looks great, but you're like, oh, it doesn't really go the way it used to go. Come on. Ten and a half. I know that everybody's now throwing flowers at the Chiefs, like, up here.

[Paul Feinbaum]

They are.

[Chuck Todd]

They're back. I think even. I think they're the betting favorite for the super bowl again, even though they're not even technically. And I don't. Are they in first place in their division or not?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think they are now. By the way, they went through an entire year last year at home and never covered.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Didn't they never cover? So, yeah, they don't care about covering.

[Michael]

Broncos at five and two.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Broncos. Well, okay.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah. So they're not even in first place in their division. And I think they have the best odds for the Super Bowl. I think it's something. It's something like that. They certainly have better odds for the super bowl than Denver, the team. They trail in that division. I'm going to take the advice of your man Jeff.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Ma.

[Chuck Todd]

Right. Which would be buy low, sell high. Like, it feels like. Like Kansas City is. Is. Is overpriced here a little bit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you'll take Washington.

[Chuck Todd]

So I'm going to take that 10 and a half half point hook. I mean, they win by 10. That would be a. You wouldn't say it was that competitive of a game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Depends when the scoring is, you know, Depends if they go out early and they're up by 18 to 20, you.

[Chuck Todd]

Know, and you gotta assume, you know, they're gonna play pretty aggressive.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Chuck Todd]

They're not gonna just fold up Washington.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No.

[Chuck Todd]

Even with Mariota. So I. I think they'll keep trying to score. The. The back door there will be open.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, Washington. All right.

[Chuck Todd]

Yep.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Good luck. We want to see you get a six in one week or something like that.

[Chuck Todd]

I need to. I need to turn it around. All my trash talking to Carville's biting me in the Cajun ass.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you, Chuck.

[Chuck Todd]

Bye, guys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Chuck Todd. Boys and girls, if we just gave you Chuck Todd, it'd be more than enough. But we give you a monkey. See the monkey he sees he's scratching Watching his iPad Smoking and laughing Hanging with the grit Tap, tap, Pat Marsh.

[Bill Grant]

Purple attaching Nigel's going to the zoo, zoo, zoo Nigel got the bites by two Sometimes he throws poo.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Poo poo.

[Bill Grant]

But he's had too much Johnny Walker Blue.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's the Bill Grant version of the. Of the. So that's by Mia Steele.

[Michael Winger]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And which makes us happy.

[Michael Winger]

It's lovely.

[Michael]

Makes us love the pronunciation on Johnnie Walker Blue.

[Michael Winger]

Well, their father emailed earlier.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I said, you know what?

[Michael Winger]

This would be a nice sound plan. I'm sure I will get a million emails saying, don't do it again.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That was nice. Thank you, Mia. Yes, thank you, mia. Reginald was 1 and 2 last week. 7 and 14 overall. He's bringing up the rear.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And he can't seem to be bringing up the rear.

[Michael Winger]

Can't seem to get past the one and two week, you know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, he can. He can get an O in three weeks.

[Michael Winger]

Yes. And I believe he's had one of those. So I went down to the National Zoo. He was not there. I. So I had to zoom with him, which is always a little uncomfortable. Turns out he was at the. The cornhole World Championship this year. That's in Ottumwa, Iowa.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, sure.

[Michael Winger]

So I believe the home of Radar Riley.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's exactly right. Yes.

[Michael Winger]

Yes. And he was. It's a team thing. So he was teammates. Reginald was with John Montefusco and they were in the finals. So they made it all the way through count playing. Exactly. You know who they're playing in the finals?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No idea.

[Michael Winger]

You would have loved this team. Jacqueline Smith and Graham Nash.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Oh, that's great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Winger]

It's a powerhouse team. And in fact, they were able to win the title.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So. So Reginald took the. Took silver.

[Michael Winger]

Took the silver. A little bit upset with that. But, you know, in the aftermath of that, we went through some of these matches. The first one we gave him was the New York Giants getting seven and a half at Philadelphia. And Reginald was so happy, eagerly pulled out his wallet, showed me a photograph from a long time ago of him at Studio 54 with Ed Koch, Phil McConke and Walt Clyde Frazier.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There you go.

[Michael Winger]

Tells me he's got ties to New York. He'll take the Giants with the seven and a half. Now, the next match we gave him was the Denver Broncos at home giving three and a half to the Dallas Cowboys. And this is a lovely little video clip he showed me of him. Heliskiing. Are you familiar with what that is?

[Tony Kornheiser]

To drop out of a helicopter is my guess.

[Michael Winger]

You take a helicopter to a remote place and then jump out of it and ski from there. So he's doing that with Carl Mecklenburg, Alex English and Terrell Davis.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's going Denver. Going Denver.

[Michael Winger]

He's going Denver Lane the three and a half and the last match we gave him, of course was the Washington football team getting ten and a half at Kansas City. Reginald showed me a nice photo of him at Machu Picchu alongside so they just hiked it. Paul split off UL Washington and Krishna Coye.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So he's going to go Kansas City. Now often he goes with Chuck Todd in the Washington game, but he's going the other way. Yes, going to take Kansas City. Okay, that's great. This week's picks with Chuck Todd and Reginald the Monkey have been brought to you by FanDuel's sportsbook. Make every moment more and when we come back, Paul Feinbaum will talk about college football. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Bill Grant]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Bill Grant]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Bill Grant]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Bill Grant]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Bill Grant]

This is the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Tony Korneiser Show Tony Kornizer Show.

[Bill Grant]

Will he stay or will he go? The buzz is thick and heady. How does he best pursue the drive for championship confetti? Leave the Hoosiers for the land of Stromboli and spaghetti. That'll be the choice of Indiana's Kurtzigdaddy. He could get to Happy Valley in an hour on a jet. He could choose to say a Hoosier though. Keep building slow and steady. If he wins there, he's a legend like Sacco and Vanzetti. That'll be the crucible facing Kurtz Ignetti. In the past, to be a Hoosier meant you were a loser. Any coach would be sighing a Nittany Lion. But times have changed. Things have rearranged with Nil Doe. There ain't no status quo. So while we watch the standings and the scores and the points spread, he has a job to do keeping the Hoosiers good and ready. A decision just as rare as encountering a yeti. Indiana or Penn State. That's a choice in for Kurt Signetti.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's brilliant. Dan Byrne is brilliant. He's brilliant. He says he's back stateside after six great weeks in Europe and he's got the Kurt Signetti song and he had the Ohtani game. So he's absolutely brilliant. He plays in Paul Feinbaum. I need to ask this first because I'm not really paying attention in the way that I should. When. When does the committee come out with their first ranking? That hasn't happened yet, right?

[Paul Feinbaum]

No, I think we're two weeks away from it, Tony. Two weeks from last night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So it's not even until, like, they play eight or nine games before we go through this.

[Paul Feinbaum]

That is correct. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow.

[Paul Feinbaum]

They want to make sure they don't accidentally put Clemson or LSU or Penn State or somebody like that in there too soon.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I have to say, I love that show. I do. I love the show. And they get to it quickly and they just kind of. I do love the show. Okay. If it was up to you, who would be in your. What's your top three now?

[Paul Feinbaum]

I don't think there's any debating. Ohio State is unequivocally the best team in the country. I think there is a conversation after that.

[Chuck Todd]

Who is it?

[Paul Feinbaum]

Texas A and M is undefeated. They're going to LSU this weekend. I think Alabama right now looks like the second best team. I have nothing against Indiana, although some people in Indiana think I do, but they just haven't played a schedule. They wanted Oregon, but probably the best winner this season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Paul Feinbaum]

But I would. I'd still like to see more from them before I would put them right behind Ohio State, who I think is just about as flawless a team right now as I have seen in a while. Probably since some of Saban's best teams.

[Tony Kornheiser]

At Alabama, there are a couple of teams a little bit further down the line that are undefeated. One of them is Georgia Tech. I think there's another. But they're not necessarily in the top three to five. The question that I have, and just because it's. It's so rare and it's such a good academic school. Do you have Vanderbilt in the top 10? Can you bring yourself to do that after years of watching them be lousy?

[Paul Feinbaum]

It's hard to do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I mean, I heard that some game days going there. This week in Missouri, I'm like going, why are they doing that? Then I realized Vanderbilt's only lost one game and Missouri's only lost one game. But My wife has one of her degrees from Vanderbilt and it's just always. I went to Tennessee, so it's always like a laughing story stock when those two teams play. Except for this year. It happens, it happened about 15 years ago, Tony. James Franklin, remember him? Yeah, I remember Vanderbilt and yeah, he had a couple of pen win seasons, but it hasn't happened since. Hasn't even come close.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I mean I, you know, it made me happy to see that they won. They beat obviously lsu. By the way. Just interrupt the show. One of her degrees. How many degrees are we talking about here?

[Paul Feinbaum]

Well, she has a, she's a, she's a physician, so she did her residency at Vanderbilt. So that's why I was, I was haughty with that response.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you call her by her name or you call her Doc and what do you do?

[Paul Feinbaum]

I just call her. I call her, I call her anything she wants me to call her these days, the way my career is floundering.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Your career is great. All right. What a gag by Miami last weekend, huh? What a gag.

[Paul Feinbaum]

It, it's very typical of Mario Cristobal. He, he manages to do this every year. I don't think this will cost them a playoff bid, but it was, it's, it's this Friday night ACC thing, Tony, which you don't pay much attention to. Three weeks ago, remember, it was Florida State. Now that was, that was their first loss. I think they've lost three times since, but I think Miami is still very legitimate. They just got caught up against a pretty good Louisville team. Not to waste your time with, but the ACC is a pretty competitive league this year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You mentioned Alabama. They have made a wonderful comeback. Where do you put them right now? Alabama. The other team that's made a really good comeback is Notre Dame. But Alabama's had tougher opposition, I think.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Right, Tony? I was in Tuscaloosa over the weekend and I had a guy grab me early in the morning, a big booster, and he said, do you realize how bad things were after the Florida State loss? And I said no. He said, I got, there was. I got a call on Sunday morning saying if this doesn't turn around, how much are you willing to put in to the buyout? That's how, that's how bad that loss to Florida State was. It's conversely, it's how great Alabama has been since. Ty Simpson has been the best quarterback. Ian Mendoza from Indiana are the two best right now, but he's probably, he's the most accurate quarterback I've seen at Alabama in A while now that's including Jalen Hurts to Mac Jones and Bryce Young. It's not a bad run in the last 10 years. But, but he's, he's, he's phenomenal. And I think they're going to keep going because their toughest competition ahead, which I thought would be LSU and Oklahoma, I think are trending in the opposite direction. So, I mean, they very well may go 11 and one and be the number two seed in this playoff.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you for mentioning LSU. They don't waste a lot of time there. They fire people won national championships. When are they going to fire Brian Kelly?

[Paul Feinbaum]

He's getting close and he has a home game this week against Texas A and M, which is undefeated but still kind of hard to take them as seriously as a top three or four team. But the game that if, let's say he loses to A and M and then two weeks from now goes to Alabama and loses, that would be. Let's see, he's got two. That would be his fourth loss. That means the will knock him out of the playoffs and that. And this was a playoff or bust season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Paul Feinbaum]

Remember that game against Clemson eight weeks ago? And he's. Listen, I don't need to tell you about Ryan Kelly. He's no different than he's ever been.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, he can be grading and he's not from there. They fired a guy who grew up there and won a national championship. So they can fire this guy. They can, right?

[Paul Feinbaum]

Yes, they can. It would cost them about $50 million, but that's no big deal right now. The problem with Kelly is that the fans, the LSU fans, are unlike any other college fan base. There's two things they cheer for in Louisiana, the Saints and the LSU Tigers. And they're on the same level in terms of the emotions. This isn't a college fan base anymore. They're a pro fan base. So you lose a game and I'm hearing on our show yesterday, when are we going to fire him? And you're right, he's from Boston, Tony. You know that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. He's not.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I mean, his, his father was involved in Boston city politics and he, he just does not compute down there. And I think he's a good coach. I don't think he's a great coach. He. It's been an awkward marriage from day one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Especially with that accent, that nonsensical accent. Have you ever seen anything like these firings? You followed college football your whole life. Have you ever seen anything quite like this?

[Paul Feinbaum]

Never. I mean, the only time you ever see a mid season firing is if there's some epic scandal. There's no scandal here with James Franklin or any of these other coaches. And you know, there were a couple of random firings early, but the Franklin firing was, was a, was DEFCON 1. I mean, it sent a shock through the system. And now every AD who is trotting out and using the usual, Pablo, we're behind our coach. They're just instead firing the guy. And the alumni is going, okay, well, we'll come up with the money. I mean, I don't know where the money is coming from, Tony, but some of it will be coming from private equity equity. But there's an endless stream of money coming into college football right now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you have a theory why these firings are so rampant? Does it have to do with nil? Does it have to do with resets, you know, daily? What is it?

[Paul Feinbaum]

And there's more parity than ever before because of the transfer portal. Yeah, you can leave. You can leave at any time. So instead of Georgia or Alabama having the second team as good as the first team, they don't have that. They don't have any depth. So there's a lot of unpredictability and there's impatience and the players are essentially professionals. So there's not a lot of forgiven forgiving. And it just, I don't know. By the way, if you fire a coach in October, you're still not hiring one until December. And Tony, you understand there's basically about. It's like, it's like in the media, in our business, there's basically about two or three agents who control the entire playing field. So it doesn't matter when you fire a coach.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's really something. A friend of mine has Lane Kiffin going to Florida. Have you heard anything like that?

[Paul Feinbaum]

I believe that he will be offered the job. And Lane wanted. Lane wanted the job last year and it didn't open because primarily because of Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin, the coach down there. Beat both of them in November, saved his job. But I think he will be. He would be perfect for Florida, Tony. He growing up, he's the son of Monty Kiffin, of course, the great defensive genius. And he started wearing a visor as a kid playing football. When he started coaching as a young man because of Steve Spurgeon, I think it's a perfect fit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Who gets Penn State?

[Paul Feinbaum]

If you had asked me a week ago, I would have said Matt Rule. And then he goes out and blows it on Friday night to Minnesota. If he can. If he can get back, if he can start winning again, I think he has a chance. You know, he played there. Doesn't matter. His best friend happens to be the AD who is also his boss at Temple. But it is a good connection and I think he's pretty good for Penn State.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That would be nice. I mean, he's. Yeah, he's, he's okay, but that was a bad situation. All right, thank you. When you move here, I'll see you around. Oh, that's a joke. Come on. That was a joke.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I can't wait.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's a joke. Thank you, Paul. You bet.

[Paul Feinbaum]

I'll see you soon, Paul.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Fine bound, boys and girls, we will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser. The holidays have arrived at the Home Depot and we're here to help bring the excitement with decor for every part of your home. Check out our wide assortment of easy to assemble pre lit trees so you can spend less time setting up and more time celebrating. And bring your holiday spirit outdoors with unique decor like one of our Santa inflatables. Whatever your style, find the right pieces at the right prices this holiday season at the Home Depot. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Bill Grant]

Here comes Tony's mailbag.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Got email faxes and you, Eric DeLong and the Slappy Boys. Love that.

[Michael Winger]

So good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Bethesda bagels, they were hot today when you brought them over. It means they were made today. Yeah.

[Michael Winger]

Very excited about that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah. Keep the bag open. These are fresh out of the oven.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's really good.

[Michael Winger]

See, these are the kind of.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael wasn't as excited when I told him about it.

[Michael]

They might have just put the seat warmer on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, no, he's out of the oven.

[Michael Winger]

These are the kind of things you can enjoy when you go to Bethesda Bagels. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say. Raven hair and ruby lips Sparks fly from her fingertips Echoed voices in the night She's a restless spirit on an endless flight Witchy woman See how high she flies she got the moon in her eye. Small group called the Eagles. Pretty good. I know. Liz Clark. Not crazy, not fan. I am. I just think they're great.

[Michael]

They're good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Thanks to our guests today, Chuck Todd and Paul Feinbaum. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or to see if you get the show through Apple, please leave us a review from Brett Bossi in Lee, New Hampshire. So Willie Mays was 5 and 11, not too tall, but I guess he wasn't the shortest guy to play, so that's one thing he's got going for him. That's very funny. Pat DeWine in Cincinnati apparently the new game is for State Supreme Court justices to act themselves as little, so I figured it was time for me to email. I regularly commute between the court in Columbus and my home in Cincinnati, and your podcast always makes the drive go a little faster and seem a little more fun. Thank you. Today you and Mark Feinsand discussed other athletic performances possibly comparable to Shohei Ohtani's NLCS game four performance, specifically Wilt's 100 point game and Bob Beamon's Mexico City long jump. As a proud Ohioan, I feel compelled to nominate another performance. In 1935 at the Big Ten Championships, Jesse Owens broke three world records and tied another in the span of 45 minutes. He tied the world record in 100, broke the world record in the long jump, 220 yard dash and 220 yard hurdles. His long jump record stood for another 25 years and if you want to be precise, Jesse actually broke five world records that day. This is because world record times were also recorded for the 200 meter dash and 200 yard hurdles during the 220 yard dash and 220 yard hurdle events. Oh, by the way, Jesse had fallen down the steps of his Ohio State dorm five days earlier, could barely bend to touch his knees on the day of the meet. His coach only reluctantly agreed to let him compete on the condition that he would reevaluate whether he could continue after each event. Pretty good 45 minutes. Yeah, yeah, that, that, that rates.

[Michael Winger]

Oh, absolutely.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Certainly rates. Thank you for that. Barry Katz Columbus, Ohio 1973 NCAA national title game in basketball UCLA vs. Memphis State stat line for Bill Walton 21 of 22 scoring 44 points Bruins win 8766 Shohei's otherworldly efforts clinched a pennant. Walton's won a national championship. Isn't Walton's night in the conversation of all time performances? Your thoughts? I was there.

[Michael Winger]

Oh, you were there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I watched it. I watched it was in St. Louis. I watched it. Yeah, sure. I look, I don't think it's showhead, but I. It's great. And yes, it is in the conversation.

[Michael Winger]

I had one thought, a golf one for you guys with Johnny Miller didn't he shoot like a 63 in the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Final round that Sunday at Oakmont.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah. Is that. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I don't know because Tiger. Tiger won a masters by like 20 strokes at one point, so I don't know.

[Michael]

I think you're thinking of the US Open.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The US Open. He won by 20. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Greg in New York, the person who I will soon be related to by marriage, is a neurologist. While she may not be a dementia specialist, she's a vascular neurologist. Just spends her days dealing with strokes. She's had a particularly busy day at the hospital on Sunday, and I playfully said, more strokes than Mr. Tony trying to get out of the sand. She stared blankly at me. Jeff Simpson Arlington, Virginia My wife and I love to make homemade pizza on the weekends. It's one of our favorite traditions and we love to pair it with a bottle of wine. Last night I was wondering how we should pair our pizza, and then I had a brilliant thought. How about Chateau Cambon? I remember that Michael had found it at Hop Cask and Barrel, a store in London which is only a short drive away from us. So I drove to the store, found a fully stocked shelf of Chateau Cambon. I only grabbed one so that Michael could pick up the other four on the shelf.

[Michael]

Game of Cat and Mouse at dinner.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Time, I opened the bottle and immediately understood why you love this wine. It's really good. A light to medium body, crisp, smooth, easy to drink. It's easy to drink. Thank you for the great recommendation of making Pizza Night in our home a success. It slightly helped ease the pain of watching the Commanders flush the mouse against the Dallas Cowboys and Jayden Dale Daniels leave the game early with another injury. Jim Carlisle, Simi Valley, California In Another life I covered sports for the Ventura County Star newspaper. Mostly was very local high school and college sports, a lot of editing. But after becoming a columnist, I managed to cover some bigger events in Los Angeles area. Postseason baseball, NBA playoffs, even a Super Bowl. But nothing has impressed the woman to whom I'm related by marriage and my two grown masculine children as much as having my email read by you a couple of weeks ago. Seriously, you would have thought about I'd won a Nobel Prize or something. Thanks for making me a one day star From Andy in Apopka, Florida. While listening to the ESPN Radio broadcast of Game seven of the alcs, Eduardo Perez made a Shania Twain reference that Kirkjin didn't catch and required an explanation. Tim asked for no more musical references since he's only been to three concerts in his life. Now I have to know what the concerts were. Was he in the mosh pits from Metallica? Was he harmonizing for Billy Joel? Is he a Swifty? The world needs to know. Next time he on, we'll do it. Yes, Chris Ely or Eli? I think it's El. Dayton, Ohio Dr. Ron, here's my attempt at AI since you were talking about passing out individual Necco wafers to the trick or treaters this year and he's got a picture of me holding a bag of Neccos, but it's not the way Nekos come out.

[Michael Winger]

No, but cheerfully handing out a cylinder individual wafers to the kids.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Very weird. It is AI. I can't stand that. To Michael Kyle Caldwell Edmonton, Alberta, Canada On Monday's podcast you mentioned Little Potato Company. I thought, I know that company. I also eat those potatoes even more uniquely. They're headquartered in Edmonton, where I live. I almost applied for a job there, but they don't pay enough. I work for peanuts, not potatoes. So I had them last night. I had the second half of the batch that I put away.

[Michael]

How'd you prepare them?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I just put them in the microwave for 45 seconds. They were delicious. They were delicious. Carl in Oswego, New York, it says Chuck and Roxy. Number pending. I need a ruling from you guys. The zip code for Oswego is 13126. I think that Saturday, January 31st should be declared Oswego Day and the city should have some sort of celebration to commemorate this once in a lifetime event. That day's date will be 131 26. The question is, is this a huge event that should be appropriately celebrated or am I just being a big dork? And yes, I realize both things could be true. No, no, that's a big deal. No, that's a big deal. Yeah, it's an important date. That's a big deal.

[Michael Winger]

Yeah, make that happen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Peter Metzger Lake St. Louis, Missouri In a world where my computer, TV and phone felt feel it imperative to constantly change the user interface when they were working perfectly fine, I take refuge in this show knowing we will always get the same consistent product from Monday's open Tony. This is good sports day. Lot to talk about in sports. 50 seconds later I went shopping. The other day I went to the supermarket to buy some things. Thank you for never burying the lead, Steve the Sick of Fan. It's Rocks From Space Week. Dear Satch, yes, the world famous Orionides meteor shower is at its peak. And even better, these little bits of rocks come from the debris of Halley's Comet. Since we have a new moon this time around, viewing of the meteors will be at its easiest. Find a place as far away from outside lights as possible. Look toward the stars that make up the constellation Orion's belt and let the show begin. Oh, just to be clear, viewing is best at night. Daytime really doesn't work. The peak is Tuesday night. But they'll still be plenty of meteors to see the rest of the week. That's nice. I was out last night and looked to where the moon is. When I walk the dog at a certain time, there was no moon, which meant it was a new moon. You know, I could see that from Joe Rizzo. Beaujolais. Ron, what's the status of the Cape? Has Michael taken ownership yet? Dustin Duncan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. They took my teeth in Rehoboth. A. The title of this year's hottest indie film. B. A bad online review for a Delaware dentist. C. Swedish fish. P.S. please tell Andy Broccolo and Lance Marston to eat. Did John in Herndon. On Saturday, I turned on YouTube TV to watch football. It was promoting the CCSU versus Wagner football game. I'd never heard of these teams. My first thought was, did Carville bet this game? And from our friend Kenny Ray in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Wait, there's more things you don't like. Yeah, yeah. If you're out on your bike. Tight. Everyone, as always, do wear white. I hate bananas. I hate watermelon. I hate pumpkins. I hate squirrels.

[Bill Grant]

Einstein had E equals MC squared. Pretty good. The I have a dream, sweets. When Martin Luther stood, Magellan went around the world. A great accomplishment. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. To the moon they went. Not bad, fellas, but now the best has come. Six innings, two hits, zero runs, ten k's, three holes. Runs Madame Curie. She discovered radium. Isaac Newton. Well, he wasn't so dumb. Washington and his boys crossed the Delaware. You should have seen Sampson before he lost his hair. Not too bad, but second to none. 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 10 Ks, 3 home run for all eternity. For everlasting fame, now and evermore. The Otani game. Will he stay or will he go? The buzz is thick and heady. How does he best pursue the drive for championship confetti? Leave the Hoosiers for the land of Stromboli and spaghetti?

[Chuck Todd]

That.

[Bill Grant]

That'll be the choice of Indiana's Kurtzigdaddy. He could get to Happy Valley in an hour on a jet. He could choose to stay a Hoosier though, keep building slow and steady. If he wins there, he's a legend. Like Sacco and Vanzetti. That'll be the crucible facing Kurt Zagnetti. In the past, to be a Hoosier meant you were a loser. Any coach would be sighing a Nick Whitney Lyin. But times have changed. Things have rearranged with N I L Doe. There ain't no status quo. So while we watch the standings and the scores and the points spread, he has a job to do keeping the Hoosiers good and ready. A decision just as rare as encountering a yeti. Indiana or Penn State? That's a choice for Kurt Signetti.