“A matter of principle”

Summary

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The Tony Kornheiser Show – “A Matter of Principle”

Date: February 18, 2026
Host: Tony Kornheiser
Featured Guests: Jay Bilas, Buster Olney, Michael Wilbon, Darius Rucker

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Episode Overview

This episode blends signature Kornheiser humor and crankiness with substantive discussions on weather, civic frustrations, sports, and major baseball labor news. The show kicks off with local color—Tony’s iced-in lawn, mail woes, and his musings on America's decline—before shifting to marquee interviews: college basketball analyst Jay Bilas previews a historic Michigan-Duke game weekend and Buster Olney breaks down the high-stakes shakeup at the top of baseball’s players’ union.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Neighborhood Icecapades & Civic Gripes

• Snow Melting Woes & "SnowCrete": Tony details the lingering, seemingly impervious piles of snow and ice that blanket his D.C. neighborhood, humorously bemoaning the science-defying staying power even as temperatures climb.

  • “We are now in the second full day, maybe second and a half full day of temperatures exceeding 32 degrees... My front yard is 80% covered in snow and ice after two days of temperatures around 50.” (03:44, Tony)
  • Discusses "SnowCrete"—a clever term for the concrete-like layer of ice on top of the snow. (02:58)
  • Observes how sun exposure and landscaping affect melting patterns.
  • Chides neighbors for not shoveling walkways, suggesting city fines. (05:22)

• United States Postal Service Frustrations:

  • Tony laments missing checks and deteriorating mail reliability, a symbol for broader societal decline.
    • “If there was something I could count on my entire life... it was a delivery of the United States mail. I could count on that.” (08:38, Tony)
    • Three bills (DC Water, Comcast, Delmarva Power) sent by mail have gone missing in the last month.
    • He highlights late fees and the laborious process of disputing them, underscoring the growing mistrust in basic institutions.
  • Darius and Michael Wilbon pitch in with stories of compromised mail and torn envelopes, hinting at theft inside the postal system.
    • “The corner has always been torn. Because someone’s trying to steal the check.” (13:50, Michael)

• Principles vs. Convenience:

  • Tony repeatedly mentions his refusal to use drive-thrus or pay late fees on “principle”—a running motif and punchline in the episode.

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2. College Basketball with Jay Bilas

Segment begins: ~18:09

Anticipation for Michigan vs. Duke, historic doubleheader

• Third time ever in regular season that the #1 vs. #3 and #2 vs. #4 teams play each other (18:09)
• Jay Bilas lauds the decision to hold high-profile non-conference matchups later in the season when football doesn’t compete for attention.
  • “I think that’s where the game should be headed... because you play these games in December, they get a lot of attention, but it doesn’t get as much as it does now.” (18:09, Jay)

The Philosophy Behind Scheduling “Tournament-Ready” Games

• Cornheiser wonders: Isn’t there a risk to scheduling these games so late?
• Bilas: Coaches now look for challenges mirroring the NCAA tournament, because committee evaluation has changed—conference vs. non-conference distinctions are blurred now.
  • “If you remember last year, that great team he had... they never really got challenged that much. And I think he’s trying to throw a couple extra challenges in so that his team is a little bit sharper when they get to Postseason.” (19:24, Jay)

Neutral Site Logic

• Why DC? Both programs have huge alumni bases in the area, and Capital One Arena offers more seats than either campus venue.
  • “You can certainly put more people into Capital One Arena... both will have fan bases there and it’ll get a lot of attention.” (20:50, Jay)

“One-and-Done” Teams and Championship Viability

• Tony expresses skepticism that a team full of freshmen can win a championship.
• Bilas counters that while experience is key, teams with superstar freshmen have won before (Calipari’s 2012 Kentucky; Duke’s 2015 team). The real recipe, he asserts, is a balanced mix.
  • “Last year’s team, they were led by freshmen, but a lot of the keys... were the older players that they had around them. So, it’s... a mix.” (23:09, Jay)

Changing College Basketball Trends

• The narrative focus has shifted from “one-and-done” to the transfer portal and NIL deals.
• Kornheiser: Coaches must adapt or become obsolete, calling out Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.
  • “If you cannot accommodate the real world as a coach, you’re doomed to fail.” (25:08, Tony)

Coaching Meltdowns & Fallout:

• The group analyzes high-profile coach firings (Jerome Tang, K-State) and press conference blunders (Mick Cronin, UCLA).
• Bilas’s coaching advice:
  • “Mind your P’s and Q’s in your press conferences... He made it a national issue by the way he behaved in his press conference.” (26:07, Jay)
  • Laments public callouts: “He turned that into a national issue… Even ejecting his own player.” (28:10, Jay)

Syracuse’s Struggles

• Tony: “It feels like there’s a reset necessary at Syracuse, doesn’t it?”
• Bilas: With the AD stepping down, coach’s fate uncertain—results still drive everything, especially with the new reality of NIL and player compensation. (29:07–30:13)

Notable Quote

• “You better be winning.” (27:58, Tony, on coaches getting away with questionable postgame antics)

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3. Baseball’s Earthquake: Tony Clark Out — Buster Olney

Segment begins: ~32:33

Shocking Firing of Players’ Union Chief Tony Clark

• Clark's abrupt resignation (amid rumors of both ethical and personal improprieties) sends the players’ union into crisis before pivotal labor talks.
  • “I think Tony Clark’s tenure as head of the player association was an absolute disaster… Now he’s forced out because of an alleged relationship with his sister-in-law. My question would be, when for Tony Clark was it ever about the players?” (33:26, Buster)
  • Players’ assertion that “we’re as strong as ever” compared to the infamous Animal House quote: “All is well!” amid chaos. (33:26)
  • The union, already weakened by a coup attempt and under investigation for financial mismanagement, now faces a leadership void just months before negotiations.

Fallout and Unanswered Questions

• “The timing of this is horrific. This situation is horrific.” (33:26, Buster)
• No clarity on whether the relationship in question was romantic or business-related; investigation ongoing.
• “Who else in that office knew, and when did they know?” (35:28, Buster)
• Uncertain who will lead negotiations against MLB owners—a crucial, dangerous vacuum.

The Leadership Dilemma: Lawyer or Ex-Player?

• Buster advocates for a trained negotiator, not just a former player, as head of the union:
  • “He was trained to hit fastballs… But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re trained to be a negotiator.” (37:07, Buster)
  • Sees Clark’s tenure as “a staggering failure.”

Strike/Lockout Odds

• Tony: Does this volatility make labor strife more or less likely?
• Buster: Impossible to say—depends on who emerges as the next leader and whether the players unify quickly or remain consumed by internal politics. (38:26)

The Stakes for Baseball

• Both men agree: Baseball has made strides regaining popularity—now’s the worst time to pull “the rug out.”
  • “I don’t necessarily think it’s good for baseball that [the union has] been weakened in this way. I think if you’re a fan, you want the two sides on equal footing and to hammer something out.” (39:58, Buster)

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4. Hot Stove: Baseball Roster Moves

Segment begins: ~40:19

Dodgers’ Arms Race

• The dominant theme: The Dodgers are so loaded, no other team is a logical pick to win the World Series.
  • “If we try to pick somebody other than the Dodgers to win the World Series. You’re just making up reasons.” (40:27, Buster)
• LA’s bullpen woes led to key pickups — Edwin Diaz (second-best closer), Kyle Tucker (superstar bat, ex-Houston). Ohtani, Betts, Freeman, Will Smith round out a superteam.

Mets’ Wild Card

• Owner Steve Cohen’s impatience and deep pockets create a “wide range of possible outcomes”—either contending with the Dodgers or flaming out in spectacular, expensive fashion.
  • Cohen’s disappointment at losing out on Tucker led to an all-nighter, three-year, $126M deal for Bo Bichette at third base (a position he’s never played). “It’s going to be a wild ride with the Mets.” (43:36, Buster)

Tigers’ Ace and Trade Rumors

• Despite losing a major arbitration case, Buster asserts Tarek Skubal will not be traded midseason—contending in a weak division trumps any temptation to sell.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On USPS malaise:
  “Three in a month… Three in a month.” (11:56, Tony’s exasperated refrain on lost checks)

• On modern coaching:
  “If you cannot accommodate the real world as a coach, you’re doomed to fail.” (25:08, Tony, on the need for flexibility in today’s college sports landscape)

• On coaching postgame decorum:
  “Mind your Ps and Qs in your press conferences…” (26:07, Jay Bilas)

• On the magnitude of the Players’ Union crisis:
  “What an absolute disaster for the players.” (33:26, Buster Olney)

• On the Dodgers’ status:
  “If we try to pick somebody other than the Dodgers to win the World Series, you’re just making up reasons.” (40:27, Buster)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Snow/Ice Coverage & Neighborhood Frustrations: 02:18–08:04
• USPS & Decline of Institutions: 08:33–15:12
• Jay Bilas/College Hoops (Michigan-Duke, NCAA reality, Coaching drama): 18:09–30:32
• Buster Olney/Baseball—Tony Clark Firing and Labor Crisis: 32:33–39:58
• MLB Free Agency, Dodgers & Mets Analysis: 40:19–45:00

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Running Themes and Tone

• Kornheiser’s “Man of Principle” Persona: Hilarious (and occasionally exasperating) insistence on shoveling, refusing drive-thrus, hand-writing checks, and not yielding to modern shortcuts.
• Warm Banter: Regular contributors and musical guests (Darius Rucker, Michael Wilbon, Lund) lean into inside jokes, generational gripes, and gentle ribbing.
• Musical Breaks: Show highlights indie band Lund’s original music (not timestamped as part of main recap).

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode captures Tony’s grumpy charm, blending relatable neighborhood complaints, sharp commentary on the erosion of dependable institutions, and two in-depth segments for major sports fans: First, a smart breakdown of college hoops’ shifting power dynamics with Jay Bilas, featuring some real candor on coaching failures and changing incentives; second, Buster Olney’s blunt, insightful look at a tumultuous day for baseball labor relations, with the future of the game hanging precariously in the balance. Laced throughout are personal anecdotes, self-deprecating wit and playful panelist interactions—classic Kornheiser Show, equal parts old-school radio and 2020s podcast urgency.

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Standout Closing Moment

Tony (on why he doesn’t use the drive-thru):
“The principle is I’m not going to sit and waste gas and pollute the environment waiting for this. Not going to do it.” (47:57)

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For more on the Tony Kornheiser Show, listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Odyssey. For music submissions and more, email [e-mail]

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk college basketball with Jay Bilison. We'll talk to Buster only about Tony Clark's shocking resignation yesterday as head of the baseball players union. But first, commerce. Hey, Sal. Hank.

[Jay Bilas]

What's going on?

[Tony Kornheiser]

We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana, and it was so easy.

[Buster Only]

Too easy.

[Darius Rucker]

Think something's up?

[Tony Kornheiser]

You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank. Yeah, you're right.

[Jay Bilas]

Case closed.

[Lund (Band Member)]

Buy your car today on Carvana.

[Buster Only]

Delivery fees may apply.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show. I get home, I don't know how to use it, but I figure I can learn how to use it. I'll just press it a few times. I'll use it. I know it's a spray. I know it goes into my eye. I figure this out, I open it up, and to see the directions, I put on my glasses. I have bought Afrin for children two to six years old. Well, you're young. You're young enough to. Six years old. This is General George Washington, and you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. So that little bottle of Afrin is available to Michael for his children.

[Michael Wilbon]

So I know you didn't have your glasses.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's only.

[Michael Wilbon]

Did you not see the child on the packaging?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, there wasn't a child.

[Michael Wilbon]

The one that I'm looking at has a child.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I didn't see it. I just put my hands out, I took it, and I bought it. It was more money than I thought it was going to be. Even with my discount.

[Michael Wilbon]

Even with the CVS coupon.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And then I got it all 20ft. So you can use it. You can only use it for the Captain. Yeah, because the other kids are too old now. So take it home. And if the captain needs nasal spray, he can use it. I have a couple of things to talk about today. One is about the decline of America, and one is about snow coverage on my house and in the neighborhood. Buckle up. So we're going to start with the snow coverage. We are now in the second full day, maybe second and a half full day of temperatures exceeding 32 degrees where I live. All right, so no more ice is going to form. Even black ice and overnight temps.

[Michael Wilbon]

That's the big one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

24 hours a day. Yeah. Okay, so we have another one today and another one tomorrow, pushing 60 eventually that's okay, but that's it. Then it goes down again on the weekend. It's under freezing in the evenings and at night in the overnight. With a snow chance, as I explained. Yes, with a significant snow chance, as I explained. Many, many times we didn't get that much Snow. We got 5 or 6 or 7 inches of snow at the most. But it was topped by a solid 3 inches of a type of precipitation that, that caused ice to form and ice on the top that was impenetrable. It's as simple as that. You could not get rid of it.

[Michael Wilbon]

With the new term snow creek.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Snow Crete, which is a great word. It is a fabulous snow creek. Now with this melting has occurred, I want to discuss the melting. The large piles that people put to the sides of the road, they're not melting until April. They're not. It's just not going to happen. They are still 4 and 5 and 6ft high and they are a natural refrigeration system and they're not going to melt. They'll melt by April, but not before then. But in the housing, where I live in the housing, the wide variance is amazing to me. There are, there are no houses that are still 100% covered in snow and ice. My front yard is 80% covered in snow and ice. After two days of temperatures around 50.

[Darius Rucker]

The edges are starting to come.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Yeah, but it's 80% covered. Up the street there's a house. There's no snow. So I don't know how, I don't. I guess it melts. Does it melt from the bottom?

[Michael Wilbon]

This is a lesson in sun exposure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And sort of yesterday or today it's cloudy, there's no sun. It's. So it's just the heat generated by whatever.

[Michael Wilbon]

Sure. But even, you know, if you have a southern facing house, what sun are you going to get versus if you're on the north side?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Better, you're going to get it better. So you, you look around and you see there, that there are how. Most of the houses where I live in their yards, most of them are still at 65, 75% coverage in snow and ice, most of them. But it has shrunk. You can see it, it is lower down. And we have reached the point that if you step on it 90% of the time it will give way, which is not good if you have bad knees and you walk on a dog. Because I have real pain in my right knee because I'm out of balance, because I'm on snow and ice.

[Michael Wilbon]

But at least you can be back to normal. Sneakers or boots. You don't have to use the peja. The ice.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I use the push today. I use the cleats. I didn't use the cleats. I use the books. So they're very good. No, you don't need full cleats. Except. Except there are still spikes. I didn't use the spikes. There are still a significant amount of houses that were not shoveled at all. Yeah. On the sidewalks. Not at all.

[Michael Wilbon]

No attempt. Okay. And no, I don't want to derail your story, but they gave, you know, they gave forgiveness for the first couple of days because normally I think it's 48 hours after the snow stops.

[Lund (Band Member)]

And.

[Michael Wilbon]

And this time they said, you can't get through this, so we'll give you an extra couple days. There's been no effort since then.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nothing. No, nothing. These people. I'm not saying they should be jailed. I'm not. I'm not overreacting. They should be fined. That people should go to their houses from the city and say, clean it up, and you're gonna be fine. Clean it up. Hire somebody. Here's a truck. We have a truck. Pay them. Simple as that. Yeah, but the coverage of the snow coverage in my backyard. Pineapple came over and cleared a significant path in the backyard so that Chessy could go out if she needed to and do whatever she needed to do, which she doesn't do in the backyard. But that's not the point. You have to make that available. The area where they did not shovel at all is still 90% covered with snow and ice. But again, and to that, once you.

[Michael Wilbon]

Expose one area, does that allow more heat to radiate to uncovered areas?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I've noticed that everywhere near what are 12 month a year, shrubs or trees, that area, the snow is denuded. That must be something.

[Darius Rucker]

Yes, there's something there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There's something there that I don't understand. But plants are warm. Yeah. That's where you see it happening. You see. You see no snow in areas where there are plantings in the middle of. In the middle of yards. That is the more difficult place to see the snow coverage recede.

[Darius Rucker]

Was this covered at all in biology for non majors?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know because I cut most of those classes because I thought I could ace it. I didn't realize I would face. But even graduating from college, even in.

[Michael Wilbon]

The hardscape rays, you look at, you know, asphalt in the road versus some of the concrete sidewalks versus the paver stones, which clearly radiate more Heat than those other surfaces.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, yes. And the roads are fine, except where there are piles up on the side.

[Michael Wilbon]

Sure. I'm the guy who. Every day I go out and I take the, you know, the. The extra top layer that is now softened. Throw the. Throw those chunks into the street and just look at cars as they give me a shakedown as they drive by.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They'll melt, you know.

[Darius Rucker]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They'll melt right away. Yeah. But we are not. We are even with temperatures in the 40s and 50s and never below 35 the last two days. Even with that. No. Like you think, oh, it's gonna be a miracle. No snow would have melted. Not this ice. The ice.

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, I'm sure Chessy. And you are probably relieved that there's not as much ice melt on every surface. So you don't have to worry about it getting stuck in her paws.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right. She's. Yeah.

[Lund (Band Member)]

That.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She's been fine with that. Although she wants to go on the traditional route. The traditional route of our walk in the morning takes us up a path that is 100% covered in snow and ice. And I can't go up it.

[Darius Rucker]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

As I can't.

[Michael Wilbon]

You're a thrill seeker.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I have no balance. I can't do it. I'm not Michaela Shifrin. I cannot do this.

[Michael Wilbon]

So cross country skiing up the hill.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Can't do it.

[Darius Rucker]

Break out the skis. You've been waiting to do that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I've never been on skis in my life.

[Michael Wilbon]

So we were out in Delaware and, you know, we.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Skiing. No, no.

[Michael Wilbon]

But to see the. This is a flat. There's no hills. So you're not really wondering about, like, which house is higher. But to see the effect of the houses that were facing the south versus the north because they didn't have nearly as much snow.

[Buster Only]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And the course opened today.

[Buster Only]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Delaware. Robert beach opens today. The golf course.

[Michael Wilbon]

I love that. All these golf course updates are basically addressed only to you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Dear Mr. Courtheiser, Columbia is no carts.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Colombia is 80% snow covered. Maybe.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm sure the pro shop is just high fiving.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. They're happy. They haven't had to work in a. Yeah. It's not. It's not opening till March. All right, now let me get the other thing where I'm losing confidence in the United States of America. If there was something I could count on my entire life, one thing that the government provided that I could count on my entire life. 100%. It was a delivery of the United States mail. I could Count on that. Everyone could count on that. You'd go back to the Pony Express. That was a great measure of pride that not only would your mail be delivered, but it was cheap to deliver. Yeah, it was like 4 cents or 8 cents or 12 cents. Whatever it was, it was cheap to deliver. In the last month? In the last month. Now, I understand that people don't send letters anymore to their friends. They email or they text or something like that. And overwhelmingly, the mail that I get, 80 to 90% of the mail that I get is junk. It's solicitations for money. That's all it is, solicitations for money in one form or another. But I also am that rare person.

[Michael Wilbon]

In America, or the J. Peterman catalog.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Which I don't want. I am also one of those rare people in America that pays bills by checks. Still, if I have the opportunity to pay bills by checks, I do. It's just a habit I've gotten into. I keep my own checkbook. I do all the math. I understand what's going on, and it keeps me sane in a lot of. A lot of ways. But now, in the last month, three different checks. One to the D.C. water Department, one to Comcast for cable, and now yesterday, one to Delmarva Power. They are not accounted for. And I have received bills saying, you owe much more than you think you owe because you didn't pay last month. And I look up these checks and I send them a note, and I say, this is the number that went out. This is the day that it went out. Let me know if you get it. Three is a lot. When I went years without any.3 in a month is a lot. Now you can say, okay, there was a snowstorm. Okay, there was a snowstorm. I sent this Last one out January 10th, well, before the snowstorm. I sent the bill out January, the checkout, January 10th. It's now February 19th. How come it didn't get there? And things aren't getting there?

[Michael Wilbon]

Now, these are not big enough checks. They sent them, you know, certified. This was just a normal $100 ch.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, 150.

[Michael Wilbon]

And you drop these off inside the post office, not on the curb box.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Inside a post office. And they're not getting there. I can't be the only one this is happening.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, but I hate that we have to ask that. You sent it from inside the office.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Versus just one of the people, rifle through mailboxes, steal them.

[Michael Wilbon]

People have stolen the skeleton key, so they have access to different boxes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So. And this is this is the United States Post Office. And that entire system is something that enabled hundreds of thousands of people to join the middle class in America. Those jobs provided by USPS enabled these people to go up the ladder. Yeah, and I applaud that. You know, the United States Postal Service. Love the United States Postal Service. Still use it all the time. But three in a month. I hope that's just an odd grouping and it's not going to happen again. Three in a month.

[Darius Rucker]

This won't make you feel any better. Just got a call. Hey, that check never arrived for me. Like this is just yesterday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm sending these checks out. I can't. I can just show you the notations. I can't prove that I sent it out, but they're not being delivered. And then you get a late fee. And the late fee. The late fee is problematic for me because I understand the corporation, the company, the utility saying it's not our fault that we didn't get it. But I want to say it's not my fault you didn't get.

[Michael Wilbon]

You're responsible for it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What? And so. And I am. And so I have to call and barter the late feed down. I have to do that. I have to say, look at my past record. I paid these things, you know, month after month after month, year after year, decade after decade. And they say, okay, we'll take it down the next time. But I don't want to have to. It's hard to get a person. You're on the phone for an hour. You're on the phone for an hour trying to do this.

[Darius Rucker]

And please listen carefully as some of our menu options have changed.

[Tony Kornheiser]

If I were running for mayor in Washington, D.C. i'd say the mail is going to be delivered. We're going to make sure you get mail. I mean, I wouldn't. I wouldn't go on all of these macro things. I wouldn't have a foreign policy.

[Michael Wilbon]

Trash recycling picked up. You saw what happened where they weren't getting our recycling.

[Darius Rucker]

Trash pickup, ice and snow removal. Mail on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is what we do.

[Darius Rucker]

You win in a landslide.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do. And if we have to charge you a little bit more, you're going to pay it. Everybody's going to pay it.

[Michael Wilbon]

Give a street lamp out.

[Jay Bilas]

Yeah, Copy.

[Darius Rucker]

Could you work in maybe somehow getting Shohei Ohtani to the Nats?

[Michael Wilbon]

We try to do the stadium naming rights. So. So you don't get. You don't really get any mail other than bills and catalogs and.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Except Christmas cards, you know.

[Michael Wilbon]

Okay, so the Christmas card.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So Lizza Valentine's.

[Michael Wilbon]

Valentine's Day. Way to squeeze that one in, Chris. So maybe it's because of the kids are at this age where they get, you know, cards from grandparents, obviously not you, but anything that looks like it might be a birthday card or holiday card, the corner has always been torn.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because someone's trying to steal the check.

[Michael Wilbon]

Someone's trying to see if there's cash or a check.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's bad. It is, it's. It's bad. I mean, this is, that's another thing. You know, I rail about Kodak going out and things like that, but the United States Post Service.

[Darius Rucker]

Post service feels like it's wobbly right now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And they're the best. Yeah, they're the best. For decades. For centuries, they're the best. And now that three in a row. Three in a row. DC Water, Comcast and Delmarva Power, three in a row. And they were sent.

[Darius Rucker]

This would not happen under a Kornheiser administration.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, it might happen, but we would be responsible. We would say, okay, yeah, in front of it. Yes, we'll find these things. Yeah. And we'll find them. You know, we'll make sure that we find them and we will deliver them. Because now the stamp is like close to a dollar.

[Buster Only]

Yeah.

[Darius Rucker]

You know, I don't know. I just buy a bunch of those forever stamps.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. But it's still close to a dollar. You know, I mean, it's getting more and more expensive. When you, when you reach the point where it is not significantly more, more expensive to go to the post office and get something certified mail, you're going to do that all the time. If it's just, you know, 50 cents more, of course you're going to do that because you know that that's going to be hand carried in and if it isn't, you can prove that you sent it. Yeah, that's the whole thing. I can't, I can't prove.

[Darius Rucker]

No, you get the receipt in the tracking number. You're like, I did my work.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I don't have time to talk about my ears and, and the new prescriptions that I have.

[Darius Rucker]

But I believe we got a few emails on that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So do that on. I'll do that on Friday. To that. On Friday we will take a break. We will come back with Jay Bilis. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This episode of the Tony Kornheiser show is brought to you by Wild Grain. Wild Grain is the first baked from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, artisanal pastries and fresh pastas. Unlike a lot of store bought options, Wild Grain uses simple ingredients you can actually pronounce in a slow fermentation process that can be easier on your belly and richer in nutrients and antioxidants. You can choose the variety box gluten free vegan or even their new protein box. It's made weeknight meals simpler, weekend mornings cozier, and honestly just adds a little calm to my routine during the winter months. There's nothing like having an artisan bakery in your freezer to chase away the winter chill. Now is the best time to stay and enjoy comforting homemade meals with wild grain. I highly recommend giving Wild Grain a try. Right now, Wild Grain is offering our listeners $30 off your first box plus free croissants for life. Free croissants for life. Rob Stronick availed himself of that. He's thrilled when you go to wildgrain.com Tony K. To start your subscription today. That's $30 off your first box and free croissants for life. When you visit wildgrain.com Tony K. Or you can use the promo code Tony K at checkout. Look, I like this stuff. It's really good. Try it. It's, it's. It's really good.

[Darius Rucker]

You like eating it and you like making it, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I do, yeah. No, it's really good. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This is sent to us by Reagan Carmichael, who writes, longtime listener, first time emailer. I promise I'm not a publicist, just a proud family friend passing along something I genuinely think fits the show's vibe. My friend Trish's son plays in a band called Lund, an American rock and roll band built on family ties and Midwestern grit. The band formed when cousins Nate Oak Urich, Nate Urich, vocals, and Jeremiah Lund, drums and producer, reconnected at a family gathering, realized they still had musical chemistry worth chasing. This new album, Shotgun Theory, was recorded almost entirely live to tape at Jeremiah's own studio in Kenosha, Wisconsin. No digital shortcuts, no plugins. Everything analog, start to finish. Sounds like classic radio rock and roll in the best way. It does. This is called Gone Way Too Long by L. They play in Jay Billis, who's going to be in Washington. There's a game on Saturday, right? Saturday afternoon that is between Michigan and Duke, who are now at the moment, the number one and three teams in the country. On that same day, the number two and number four teams are going to be playing. Jay, I found this out yesterday. It's only the third time ever that in a regular season that the 1, 2 and 3 and 4 teams are playing each other. I know it's a small fact, but it does seem like very attractive games, right?

[Jay Bilas]

Oh yeah, it's a big weekend and I'm really happy to see that teams like Michigan and Duke are playing non conference games at this time of the year. I think that's where the game should be headed, where we play some of these high profile non conference games after sort of football has waned. Because you play these games in December, they get a lot of attention, but it doesn't get as much as it does as much attention as it does now. And so I think those are really good for the game and it'll be, it's got a chance to be the, one of the best games of the year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is my question. I mean you sign up for this, you don't sign up for this on January 10th, you sign up for this a year ago or two years ago. Michigan, Duke, you can't possibly know that they're going to be number one and number three at that point. But I guess I thought isn't that risky cuz you're coming out of conference time, are you gonna, do you risk injury? Do you risk sort of getting up for this game in a way that makes it harder to get up for conference games after that? You sound like you're in favor of this. I wonder if there is another side.

[Jay Bilas]

I don't really think there is anymore. I mean years ago coaches used to say, well I don't want to take attention away from the conference. Winning the conference is the most important stuff like that. But now the selection committee looks at every game as the same. You know, conference games, non conference games when they're played, none of that really matters. And I think one of the things that I believe John Shire, the Duke coach is doing here, and he did it last year against Illinois about this time, if I remember right, is you know, the ACC hasn't been as strong the last couple years as it's been in past years. And so it hasn't given the kind of resistance that the ACC usually gives. So I think he's trying to get a game that's going to be an NCAA tournament kind of final four type game to his team headed toward the tournament. Because if you remember last year, I think you know that that great team, he had that at Cooper flag and you know they had three top 10 picks and five guys there, five starters all got drafted. They went into the tournament 19 and in conference and then they won the ACC tournament championship. But they never really got challenged that much. And I think he's trying to throw a couple extra challenges in so that his team is a little bit sharper when they get to Postseason.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How did D.C. get this game? Why is it in Washington?

[Jay Bilas]

Well, I don't know that. I think both. My guess is, and I haven't asked anybody, but my guess is that both coaches wanted this to be a neutral site game. And you can certainly put more people into Capital One arena that you can put in Cameron Indoor Stadium or Chrysler arena at Michigan. And both have fan bases that'll travel and there are tons. Michigan's got the largest living alumni base in the country. And then Duke has a lot of people on the East coast and D.C. is not a lot of people in D.C. so both will have fan bases there and it'll get a lot of attention and be a really good thing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

My son says the tickets are going for hundreds of dollars, maybe more, maybe thousands.

[Jay Bilas]

So maybe I'll sell mine if that's correct.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me, let me go back to something that, you know, that you just talked about and look at it in a different way, about Shire and wanting to get ready for the tournament. He's been a very, very successful coach. Nobody in his right mind wants to follow a legend. And he followed Mike Krzyzewski and no, he hasn't won the tournament yet, but he's been very successful. But he's very successful in attracting players who leave after a year. You played four years of college basketball. I'm not sure you can win a championship with all freshmen start all freshman starters. I think you can be great to watch, but I don't know that you can win that way, can you?

[Jay Bilas]

I think you can, yes. But, you know, you could look at it the other way and say there were, look at all the teams that had nothing but juniors and seniors that didn't win. You know, we've seen teams that have been freshman led and freshman dominated have done extraordinary, extraordinarily well. You know, John Calipari won a title with freshman leading the way in 2012. Duke did it in 2015. It's happened and it'll happen again. I think the thing with, you know, they have super talented players and not everybody gets those and they tend to get a lot of them. And I think you'll remember this, Tony, when the one and done thing was going on and doesn't that seem like a quaint argument back in the day when we were all up in arms over one and done. And now, you know, people are worried about gig leaking players.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Jay Bilas]

But when, when the one and done thing became more prevalent, Coach K didn't really care for it and decided I'm not going to go that route. And after a few years he finally decided, you know what, A lot of them want to come here and if we don't take them, we're going to have to play against them. And so he started taking these one year players that he felt like they're not coming in just, you know, just for a year with their own agenda. They want to be a part of this and, and they may leave after a year, but they wanted to, he wanted to do it and they got Kyrie Irving and guys like that and the guys started leaving and. But once you're in that cycle, it's tough to get out of it. And you know, when you've got, how are you going to turn down Cooper Flagg? If Cooper Flag wants to go there, you can't. And, but you know, there's a balance to it too. And last year's team, they were led by freshmen, but a lot of the keys to them being so successful were the older players that they had around them. So it's, you always, I think, have to have a mix. And I think they have that this year they've got a number of sophomores and juniors and all that stuff that are experienced, but they're being led. Like, I don't, I don't think there's a coach in the country who would say, you know what, I don't want Cameron Boozer. I mean he's going to be, unless something crazy happens, he's going to be national player of the year. And so in this year's freshman class, as I think you and I have discussed before, is historic. I've never seen anything like this. Not only at the top, but the depth of them, the maturity of these guys. And while everybody was losing their minds over this, Alabama's Charles Bediaco, who was in the G league playing in a game a few weeks ago, that same day, three freshmen scored over 40 in a game. I mean we've never seen that before. It's been amazing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And you have to get your head out of the sand. And this is the painful lesson that Dabo Sweeney doesn't seem to have learned completely yet at Clemson. Clemson has fallen off the cliff because he took a stand based on a principle that he had. But you, if you cannot accommodate the real world as a coach, you're, you know, you're doomed. I would say you're doomed to fail. By the way, Wilbon was ecstatic that Kansas State fired Tanks. I thought that was a bit of an overreaction. I wonder your reaction to that. And I'm wondering, is Mick Cronin, given what happened last night with ucla, is he in jeopardy of being canned?

[Jay Bilas]

He may be. And I tend to agree with both of you on Jerome Tang. So Kansas State wanted to fire him. So what? I feel like Jerome did, who's a good guy and a good coach, but they haven't done well. And clearly he got fired because they didn't win enough. Yeah, that's. But. But he gave them an opening.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He did.

[Jay Bilas]

And there was no reason for him, like, And I tell this to my friends in coaching all the time, like, mind. Mind your P's and Q's in your press conferences. You know, they lost to Cincinnati, a game that no one nationally cared about, and he made it a national issue by the way he behaved in his press conference. And, you know, he, you know, called his players in embarrassment, said some of them weren't going to be there the next year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You recruited.

[Jay Bilas]

My first reaction. Yeah, exactly. But my first reaction when he said that was, wait a minute, you may not be there. What are you talking about? And Kansas State took the opening and fired him. And now they say it's for cause because of a clause in his contract that says he can't bring disrepute or embarrassment or all that stuff, and did that with that presser by throwing his players under the bus. Now, do I think that's legally sufficient to trigger for cause? I don't. But that's just business. You know, they'll reach some kind of settlement. But one thing I think some of the critics of the firing are missing is that Kansas State now has the opportunity to look into everything into that program, and they may be able to find cause in addition to what they're claiming. And so all Jerome had to do was go into his press conference, say, look, we didn't play well, and we're going to do better and answer the questions and get out of there. And the same thing for Mick Cronin, like, this is two years in a row that Mick Cronin has made a nothing issue into a national issue because of the way he responds. Like, do these guys not know they have press responsibilities after the game? And, you know, he dresses down a reporter for no reason. I Mean, I just don't understand why some of these coaches act this way in press conferences. It's unnecessary.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You better be winning.

[Buster Only]

His.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You better be winning.

[Jay Bilas]

You better be winning. It's like an old friend of mine said, you can't win unless you're winning. Even Tony, him ejecting his own player.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. What are you doing?

[Jay Bilas]

He turned that into a national issue like that was. That may have been a flagrant foul, but I don't believe that that player was going to get thrown out of the game. And it was. In my view, it was an unnecessary kind of grandstanding issue. And, you know, is it a fireable. No, but I felt like it was unnecessary. And it made a game that would have been, hey, Michigan State just blew out ucla. Let's move on to the next highlight into a national, you know, national issue. And now the issue is McCronen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And you lost that kid and you lost his friends, and you're ucla, and they don't need you if you're not gonna win the tournament. They don't. You know, they don't. Let me move on to one other thing. I watched Syracuse, Duke. That was awful. That. That was brutal. It feels like there's a reset necessary at Syracuse, doesn't it?

[Jay Bilas]

And that may be. That may be in the works. I don't. You know, I think Adriana Autry is a good coach, too. But, you know, your results are ultimately going to be the determining factor of whether you stay in a position. And with John Wildtack, the ad, stepping down and retiring, you know, and I don't know this is the case, Tony, but oftentimes in that sort of situation, what the outgoing AD does is fire the coach for the incoming ad. And so that. That could be. That could be in the works. I don't know. But certainly, you know, when you don't have positive results, these questions are going to be asked. And I certainly feel for Autry and feel for Syracus, but, you know, when. What I find kind of interesting is now that players are being compensated, anytime something happens with a player where they're thrown under the bus by a coach, there are those that say, well, they're pros now. Well, okay, well, if it's pro sports, then, you know, the NBA and the NFL fire guys all the time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Jay Bilas]

So we shouldn't be surprised when it happens here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, well, we will talk on Friday. You'll be on pti and thanks for being on. And, you know, it must be fun. I think it'll be fun to Call that game Michigan Duke. I really do think that should be fun.

[Jay Bilas]

It'll be an honor. I mean, I can't wait. It'll be one of the great games of the year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, talk to you Friday. Thanks, Jay.

[Jay Bilas]

Thanks, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jay Billis, boys and girls. He's wonderful. He's wonderful. And he's a lawyer. So that when he talks about whether or not something rises to the level of with cause, but then says, but you can investigate the entire program now. I don't know that anybody wants that. I will take a break, and yesterday's birthday boy, Buster Only, will join us. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Buster Only]

This is the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Once again, this is Lund. This is called the Dinosaurs Song. Michael, if independent artists like Lund want to get their music played on this show, how do they do it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us your music by emailing it to jingles@tony koenizershow.com it's the best thing we do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It is. I mean, it is. It's like I can defend the show on the principle that unbeknownst to us when we started, and only for reasons of money, we're playing this music. And it's really good music. It is.

[Darius Rucker]

We would have never heard something as great as this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Makes people happy. Lund plays in Buster Only. And this segment with Buster Only is brought to you by fanduel. Make every moment more. Buster had a birthday yesterday, and we said happy birthday to him on the PTI show. And you saw it. That makes me very happy. Did you enjoy it, man?

[Buster Only]

It was. What a surprise. And thank you very much, sincerely. It made me smile. What was, I think, really funny about it is I was working on a story and, you know, you're making calls and you're writing, and all of a sudden I get this absolute burst of text messages. Happy birthday. From all over the baseball spectrum. Kevin Cash, the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, honored. You know, just a bunch of people sending me, like, what happened? And then I, you know, went, went and found your. The, the thing that you did. It was really cool. And thank you so much.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, because, I mean, you have an unfortunate birthday. It's the same day as Michael Jordan, same day as the late, great Jim Brown. The two greatest players in their sports of all time. Nobody's going to mention your birthday if we don't do it.

[Buster Only]

Well, there you go. And we also have Paris Hilton in our group.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Right. Yes.

[Buster Only]

I mean, it's, it's an eclectic mix, but yeah, I mean, we've got the Goat and maybe somebody who is another goat. And then there's the rest of us.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. All right, let me get to the news of the day. And it is serendipitous. We were going to call you and just ask about, you know, new locations for famous ballplayers and we may get to that. But Tony Clark resigned Yesterday at about 3 o' clock in the afternoon as the head of the players union. What, what does that mean? I mean, baseball is approaching what everyone fears could be either a lockout or a walkout. And this guy was, was going into all the meetings for the last X amount of years and running the show. What does this mean?

[Buster Only]

Yeah, you had players like Tyrick Scubal come out and speak to reporters yesterday and say, we're as strong as ever, you know, we're good. And it reminded me of the Kevin Bacon character in Animal House saying, all is well, all is well as the chaos is going on around them. Look, I mean, the timing of this is horrific. This situation is horrific. You know, I think Tony Clark's tenure as head of the player association was an absolute disaster. And especially in the last five months when we got to, you know, the first stories emerged last, early last fall that he was under the pa, was under investigation for some financial stuff. And you know, that is ongoing. And you thought at that point, because Tony had been weakened, there had been a coup attempt before that to get him out, he thought at some point, you know, he was going to step down. He didn't. We, you know, we roll into November, we roll into December, January, February. Now he's forced out because of an alleged relationship with his sister in law. Inappropriate relationship with his sister in law. My question would be when for Tony Clark, was it ever about the players? I mean, they're headed into this absolutely monumental, pivotal negotiation with the owners who are gearing up, trying to fight for a salary cap. And he just stayed in power. And so now you've got the players having to pick up the pieces of their leadership and, you know, see what comes out the other side. But what an absolute disaster for the players.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It has been reported as you're saying that he had had an inappropriate relationship with his sister in law. I think many minds immediately jumped to the fact that that might be a romantic inappropriate relationship, but it could also be a business inappropriate relationship. Hiring her, paying more money than she was worth, you know, and because of their familial ties. Has it been, is there clarity on this?

[Buster Only]

No, there is not. And that is one of the things that reportedly is being Looked into is that, you know, what was the job she had and what was the compensation? Was that appropriate during this coup attempt within the union? 20, 24, one of the things that was asked for was an audit. And this, you know, there were questions along these lines, okay, who was getting paid? What and why were they getting paid? And if I'm a player, one of my questions today is, okay, not only, you know, what are we going to do? What's the best thing to do going forward, but who else in the office knew and when did they know? Like, this is the point. Like, we still don't know who's going to lead the union in their negotiations with the owners. But this clearly is a point where if you're the union, you're going to want to project strength to the owners. You're going to want to make it seem, hey, we're as strong as we were 94, 95, when we stood fast in a player strike and we stared down the owners. And instead you have this situation where they're so weakened, their perception of them is so weakened in the eyes of the owner owners. It absolutely could not be worse. And I'm going to be really curious to see among the players who emerges as leaders, is it going to be Chris Bassett of the Orioles, is it going to be Tarik Skubal? You know, who, what, what is going to come out of this? I mean, the only saving grace is this didn't happen in November of 26. At least they've got a few months, but, man, they're behind the eight ball.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you think that, do you think it's wise for them to have a lawyer as their leader or a former player as their leader, if those were the choices?

[Buster Only]

A trained negotiator, right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Buster Only]

I mean, and I remember writing this when Tony Clark, you know, was early in his tenure, he was trained to hit fastballs. He was trained, he was an excellent, you know, slugger. He was trained to be a first baseman. He worked for years as Michael Wiener, the late, great head of the players union. He's worked alongside him. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you train to be a negotiator. I remember Pietrangelos, when he was the owner of the Orioles, made an interesting point to me once when he talked about how sometimes former players who would graduate into front office roles, and he asked what I thought was a legitimate question, which is, what training do they have to negotiate multimillion dollar deals? And in this case, what training did Tony Clark have to be the person who's the head of the union. And look, when you look at the broad landscape of his tenure at the head of the Player association, they have just given up ground and given up ground and they built nothing with the. In terms of the relationship with Major League Baseball to build something. It has been really a staggering failure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, and this is the question all other questions lead to. Does it make it more or less likely for there to be either a walkout or a lockout?

[Buster Only]

I don't know, to be honest with you, because I, you know, the question is, you know, will this. Will the, you know, will the players go and look for new leadership? And what. What would that person's perspective be? What would their, you know, what would their history be? You know, will they reach out, for example, you know, to try to reconnect with a Gene Orza? Don Fear, as you know, you know, led the union through really successful decades that they had. Well, you know, we don't know what they're going to do next. The one thing that, you know, the first thing I'm curious about is sort of what questions do the players ask about what's happened and how long they let that. Let that go on for? Because they can't just have this political discussion about who's in power for too long. They have to get to the business of building their next cba.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's really a shame because baseball has regained a lot of its footing in the last couple of years. You know, it's a quicker game. It's a more popular game. They've had great playoffs and World Series. You know, you'd hate to see the rug being pulled out right now. You know, I would. I'd hate to see that.

[Buster Only]

Yeah, I agree with you. And as you know, you know, the player association has been viewed as, you know, if not the strongest union in the country.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The strongest.

[Buster Only]

Yeah. And to see the state of them. Right. The state of the union right now, it's. I don't necessarily think it's good for baseball that they've been weakened in this way. I think if you're a fan, you want the two sides on equal footing and to hammer something out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And let me get to some baseball things, though. Some movement. Alonzo to the Orioles, Peralta to the Mets, Diaz to the Dodgers, Tucker to the Dodgers, Valdez from a Valdez to the Tigers. You know, any of those individually excite you? Do any of those say this is a turning point situation? This is very important?

[Buster Only]

Well, the moves that the Dodgers make, let's face it, if we try to pick somebody other than the Dodgers to win the World Series. You're just making up reasons.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, you can't. Yeah, you can't.

[Buster Only]

Right. I was talking to Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager, about this a couple days ago. Last year The Dodgers had two, had 12 different pitchers get saves for them because during the course of the year, because of injury and performance, their bullpen was a mess. And so what do they do? They go and get the guy who's probably the second best closer in baseball, Nedwin Diaz. And they add Kyle Tucker, who is a superstar talent and he joins the Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith at the top of the line. It's ridiculous how good they are. We've seen the Dodgers slow play the regular season and basically have their starting pitchers save their arms for October. It's a formula that works. They're clearly going to be the favorite and that's going to be the theme of this year. Can anybody knock the Dodgers off that perch? The Mets to me are really fascinating, Tony, because I, I. There's such a wide range of possible outcomes for this team. Either they're going to be, you know, potentially they could be the team that challenges the Dodgers for preeminence in baseball or they could be the second worst team money goodbye. Yeah, the 93 Mets are go down in history. Is that but man, they have to have a lot of things go right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I would say that the Mets manager whose name I don't even know is on the hottest seat in baseball because that owner came out the other day and said I'm really annoyed. Do you know. So I know this because today is John Stearns his birthday. Who's the, who's he's the head of. He's the guy who gets to spend Steve Cohn's money and you know, happy birthday to you because you could be out the door in an hour and the manager. Right. That's the hottest seat for a managerial seat in baseball, don't you think?

[Buster Only]

Yeah. David Stearns, you know has.

[Tony Kornheiser]

David. David Stearns, yes.

[Buster Only]

You know, he is absolute to me there's more pressure on him than anybody. And you're right. Carlos Mendoza, if they get off to bad start, he's probably going to lose his job. They fired, they basically got rid of the whole coaching staff after that collapsed by the Mets at the end of the year. And it was interesting, you know, after the Mets signed Boba Shet, there were stories written about how this was a careful negotiation and you know, it's Something they'd been working on for weeks. And then Steve Cohen blew it out of the water the other day, that whole narrative when he said, because you remember the Mets thought they were going to get Kyle Tucker, who was the best hitter available. He tweets out words to the effect of, we're waiting for the smoke to emerge. You're not tweeting that out if you're a billionaire, unless you think you're going to get the player. And then the Dodgers swoop in, grab the player, and overnight the Mets work out a three year, $126 million deal to sign Boba Shed, which was considered to be a, you know, overpay in the industry. And Steve said earlier this week, yeah, you know, I was really disappointed we didn't get Tucker. I got a call from the agent. We worked it out. Just, I mean, they threw this together. And Boba Shet's a really talented hitter, but he's being asked to play third base, a position he's never played before. It is going to be a wild ride with the Mets.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You mentioned Skubal. I wasn't aware that he was such a leader position guy as well as a great picture. Detroit, the Tigers lost the lawsuit, you know, the arbitration hearing. Of course they did. They offered $19 million to a guy who won two Cy Youngs in a row. So you're going to lose, and you lost the 32 million. Do you believe that Tarek Scuba will be a Tiger till the end of the season? Yes.

[Buster Only]

The idea in a. I mean, the weakest division in baseball is the American League Central. And the idea that the Tigers are going to be in the middle of a winnable division, even if they're, let's say, four games out, worst case scenario at the trade deadline, that they would consider taking offers for Tarek Skubel. You want to see a revolt in the clubhouse fan base. So, no, I mean, Tarek Scubal is not going to be traded. He is going to leave as a free agent. The aforementioned Steve Cohen probably going to be sitting there waiting for him with a $400 million contract, you know, to be executed before the lockout begins on December 1st. So I, you know, I'm sure, you know, Tarek is a professional. He's going to set aside the arbitration situation. AJ Hinch, their manager, called him right after that and said, okay, you ready to go try to win a World Series? And Tarek said, yes. And, I mean, his history suggests that he'll, he'll be fully focused on pitching as he leads up to his free agency, Buster.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you so much for being on. And again, happy birthday from yesterday. Thank you.

[Buster Only]

Well, that was again, I appreciate it, Tony. That was really cool.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's a kid. He's a kid. I'm like 20 years older than him. Buster only boys and girls. This segment with Buster Only has been brought to you by fanduel. Make every moment more and we will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Jay Bilas]

Here comes Tony's mailbag. Get your emails, faxes and your notes. Here comes Mr.

[Buster Only]

Donate's mail back on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

A reason for all of you folks, Darius Rucker. Our great. Thanks to Darius for recording that. You want to do the Bethesda bagel ad, please?

[Darius Rucker]

Yes. Bethesda bagels.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We love them.

[Darius Rucker]

You will as well just go to BethesdaBaggles.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop one in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And before we get to the mailbag, let me just say I can see you're slipping away from me and you're so afraid I'll plead with you to stay but I'm going to be strong and and let you go your way. None of you knows this song. This is Gene Pitney. This is in the early 60s. Get this song. Listen to this vocal. Listen to the notes he hits. Gene Pitney, P I T N E Y. I'm gonna be strong. Yeah. Thanks to our guests today, Jay Bilis and Buster. Only thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Odyssey. Get the show through Apple. Please leave us a review.

[Michael Wilbon]

I can get you into the game for under a thousand if you're willing to. To sit in the 400 level.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I'm not. No, no. I can get into the game myself. I don't know. I'm not going to do under a thousand.

[Michael Wilbon]

Just don't bring your bag in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's a big no. No, I caught the last one. So this is from Luis Quintero in Spring Hill, Florida. He writes, manatees are marine mammals, not fish. And you're going to say, well, what is that about? Well, we did an open yesterday on PTI about manatees, and I said, I don't think they're fish. And Wilbur said, they are fish. Yes, yes. And they're not fish.

[Darius Rucker]

They're not fish.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're mammals. They're sea cows.

[Darius Rucker]

They're called the sea cow.

[Michael Wilbon]

The eye test.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, I got this right. Yes, Swims like a fish from Tom Door in Chicago. On Friday, after reading my email, Michael said, say hi to ej. I helped organize a foursome for ej, Michael Chan and my dad at the Dunes Club a few summers ago. EJ and Michael hit it off and chatted about EJ's casket and cremation business, among other things. So I called EJ and said, michael says hello. Hello. EJ said, tell Tony to tell Michael hello, unless he's no longer doing the show. In which case does Michael need a casket or an urn? Which I think is pretty fun. From Dan Hughes in Loudoun County, Virginia. I love when the week starts. I don't have my glasses. Can't love this pot anymore. Yeah. Afrin for kids. Afron for kids 2 to 6. Dan Ziegler, Stevensville, Michigan Old People's Counter it's called the drive thru.

[Darius Rucker]

That's one solution.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't do the drive through.

[Darius Rucker]

You don't do the drive through.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I do not do it. Don't do it out of principle. Jerry Kelly Principle? What principle?

[Darius Rucker]

Yeah, what's the principle there?

[Tony Kornheiser]

The principle is I'm not going to sit and waste gas and pollute the environment waiting for this. Not going to do it.

[Darius Rucker]

Okay, well said.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jerry Kelly, Jefferson City, Missouri, which is the capital of Missouri. A few summers ago, some friends and I went to the McDonald's at the Louvre Museum in Paris and experienced kiosks for my first and only time. Take your DC experience and add mass humanity and a language barrier. And that about describes it. I got my food about 90 minutes later. Why is there a McDonald's in the Louvre? What? Are you kidding?

[Darius Rucker]

Not sure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Mark Lynch, Camby, Indiana if you haven't had McDonald's for eight years, what have you been doing for antibiotics during that time? Well, I mean, I eat some food that would, you know, help, you know, sort of take out bad food, but I haven't. I just haven't gone to a McDonald's.

[Michael Wilbon]

Bootsy wants to try Taco Bell.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Taco Bell's cool. Yeah, Taco Bell knows how to market. They know who they're. They know who their fans are. Chuck in Columbia, Missouri, while listening, which is the home of the University of Missouri, while listening to your most recent struggles at McDonald's, I can't be alone in wondering why you didn't just use the Drive Thru like everyone else. I think I just explained that. No touch screens. Get a real human being to help you. Maybe Wilbaum would let you drive his freshly cleaned car the next time you get to McDonald's. Great. But when that desire hits in eight years, maybe one of the grandkids can take you through the drive. I guess we'll have to wait until 2034 to find out. No, it's just a principle of mine.

[Michael Wilbon]

I love the stories at the drive thru. They can hear what you're saying as soon as you drive up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really?

[Michael Wilbon]

Oh yeah. So for you it just be a lot of counting.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what I do. I count.

[Darius Rucker]

I would have accepted the Joe Pesci line from Lethal Weapon too, because something always happens to me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. Elliot Olshansky. I haven't heard from Elliot in a while. Did I really hear you say I don't care about the potatoes when discussing your breakfast outing to McDonald's on Monday's show? McDonald's hash browns are the main reason why in my long ago stand up comedy days, I used to say that McDonald's breakfast is as addictive as crack and almost as good for you. But don't just take my word for it. In 2009, when I was working overnight shifts at the New York Daily News, the newsroom was used as a filming location for a movie called Going the Distance with Drew Barrymore, and I wound up writing about it for the paper when the regular overnight reporter got called away to a crime scene. By the time Drew made it to the set, it was was between 4 and 5 in the morning and she talked about wanting to get breakfast from the McDonald's. It was a block away on the corner of 33rd street and 10th Avenue. She spoke specifically about the hash browns, referring to them as potatoes in their highest form. After filming concluded, I got my picture taken with Drew feeling like I pretty much had to after having grown up with constant references to ET which came out the year I was born. I've enclosed the picture for the viewers on News Channel 8, although I should warn them that this picture nearly prevented me from meeting the woman to whom I'm related by marriage. But that's another story for another time. Or perhaps a Chuck and Roxy experience. Best regards for Albany county, where I ordered lunch from McDonald's on Monday and even got a free Big Mac using my awards points in the wrap. Oh, it's a lovely picture of him and Drew Barron.

[Darius Rucker]

Isn't that nice?

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's just lovely. Kenny Ray Fort Walton Beach, Florida the Power of AI Tony the Power of AI. He has me in the middle of the last supper at McDonald's.

[Darius Rucker]

Everybody's eating McDonald's.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Eating McDonald's. That's how it went down from Shad. A haiku. The end will be nigh when you have to buy Afrin via a touch screen. I'm not doing that. Andrew Johnson. Not that Andrew Johnson in Pelham, New York. This is a little known fact, but Fawn Leibowitz was actually just trying to clear an ear tube. Dr. Brad Hauser, Minneapolis, Minnesota I'm not a physician, but have you considered hiring a Langer monkey to help with your ear problems? Rob Lowe. Not that. Rob Lowe in Orange County, California Consider your Afrin mix up a blessing in disguise. When I first started dating my wife, she introduced me to Afrin when I had some congestion. I took it for the first time and couldn't believe the immediate relief I experienced. However, as Michael mentioned, I quickly became dependent on it and couldn't breathe without it. There I was, strung out on Afrin, questioning my whole life. But that wasn't the worst part. After about day eight, I woke up one day with what I can only describe as utter confusion. I couldn't comprehend anything I heard or read. When my wife would talk to me, I couldn't understand what she was saying. I should add that we had just started dating and now, after years of marriage, I still can't understand what she's saying most of the time. But this was different. I went to the doctor and after explaining what I was feeling, she instantly asked, you've been taking Afrin, haven't you? She told me to stop taking this immediately and to never take it again. She said, and I quote, afrin is the devil. And that made me even more confused because I thought Neosporin was the devil. Which is what Dr. Kaguchi told me a few months ago. But when I heard about your mix up, I thought to myself, tony can't afford any more confusion in his life. Confusion was in fact what led you to buying children's Afrin in the first place. One week of the real stuff and you'd start referring to Blake Trinen as the warrior God. Wow, Matt, while I'm not a doctor, I think this will help your hearing issue. There is a knob on the TV that makes it louder. Hope that helps. Timothy Weatherhead. Mr. Tony is right. Winter Olympics has a bunch of made up sports. Whereas the Summer Olympics has traditional sports like break dancing. Okay, okay. It has made up sports, but it also has more traditional sports. From Glenn in Harriman, Utah. Just want to say thanks for the reminder to add rice with the chicken for the dog McElroy. Dog's name is McElroy. He's feeling much better. See attached picture he's named after Rory as usually as usual. Please tell Kevin Brown how old's the pup? Can It's a nice little dog. Yeah, it's good. Ken sands, Forest Hill, D.C. tell Wilbon I feel seen Perry, Della, Hamilton, Berger, and especially the Natalie attired Paul Drake. I'm almost exactly the same age as Wilbon, so I totally get it. Watching Black and White Perry Mason reruns on rainy days in the late 60s and early 70s classic. Thanks. Thank him for sharing that. Steve gilmore, San Angelo, Texas Ask Wilbon who Richard Dent's favorite character is on Law SVU when they talk about the show in the text chamber and in Gainesville, Virginia thanks to Pat, 40 for putting words to my daily mindset at work. Next time my boss yells what in the world were you thinking? I can calmly answer with confidence. Nothing. Just like the great Michael Phelps, my mind is blank and I'm amazing. From Werner Milano in Wellington in New Zealand. Ooh, pen him Hi Tony. New Zealand is not a warm weather country, I'll grant you that the northern part is generally warmer compared to the other parts of the country. It's still not as warm as, let's say, Florida. Also, during winter season your summer people from Australia and all other parts of the world visit our ski fields, especially Queenstown, which is in the South Island. Calling New Zealand a warm weather country is like calling Toronto a Midwestern state. P.S. can you please greet my wife with a happy Chinese New Year? She's not a little yet, but she watches PTI with me. Thank you. Yes, so I guess they do have they have snow there and that's why they have Winter Olympians. Dana Ost in Columbia, Maryland Barry Manilow just announced he's performing in Baltimore in early March. I'm sure he'd love to see you again. Joshua Zenner in Jacksonville, Florida per your Monday episode, enlighten you regarding the end of the Daytona 500. You stated you wanted clarification or explanation regarding the crash on the final lap. Crashes too, on the final lap of the Daytona 500 that did not draw a caution flag. NASCAR officiating has made more of an emphasis this offseason regarding letting drivers race back to the finish if there is no immediate danger at the start finish line. That is a car in the middle of the track stopped at the finish line. This is after years of criticism from the NASCAR fan base that races would end under caution without letting the drivers race to the finish. So yeah, that makes all the sense in the world. Let him go Let him go. And from Brandon BORZELLI In Lebanon, New Jersey, the quote from Godfather 2 seems more and more appropriate as we learn of another cast member passing away. Hyman Roth's Sicilian messenger, Johnny Ola discussing discussing with Michael and Roth why Roth has survived. As long put it best, Hyman Roth always makes money for his partners. One by one our old friends are gone. Death, natural or not, prison, deported. Hyman Roth is the only one left because he always made money for his partners. But no send off for Mr. Duvall would be complete without his response to Tessio asking Tom, can you get me off the hook for old times sake? Tom Hagen simply says can't do it, Sally. As Tessio is escorted to his doom. Rest easy, Tom. Not a Sicilian, not a wartime Consulari, but a brother to the Corleone. Fabulous email if you're out on your bike tight everyone is always to wear white. Now you get the hell out of here. Thank you for the dinner and a very pleasant evening.

[Buster Only]

Maybe your car could take me to the airport.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Mr. Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news immediately. Cartoon.

[Lund (Band Member)]

Don't wait too long what is wrong with you? Don't wait too long what is wrong? I don't have a clue I don't know how you can go and say you nothing lost on something finally we can be in charge of nothing instead of everything. Is this the way that it was meant to be? We hide behind the things we said but given time it's gonna make us feel just a little bit sad. Gone way too long what is wrong with you? Gone way too long what is wrong? I don't have a clue. Sam. Gone way too long what is wrong with you? Gone way too long oh, I know what is wrong I, I don't have a clue.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the dinosaur song take four.

[Lund (Band Member)]

Same this conversation for somebody else All I do seem to disagree. Nothing nice to say so better shut My loyalty is getting in the way. Sitting all alone up on this broken shelf Novelty will it ever run? Don't test the face you never feel no more. The looking glass with paintings on the lens you don't appreciate me hardly anymore I'm trying hard make you understand.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But.

[Lund (Band Member)]

I cannot communicate with dinosaurs who never knows that I could be a man? Take a look around at what I see Breathe a bit more consciously Ponder all the reasons I am here.

[Michael Wilbon]

To.

[Lund (Band Member)]

Find the piece that's in my head. I count the test end from the other end now it seems so clear Got break another time before I find you Catch another sun that's on the Rising. Everything up to now has been tangled into you. I'm the one who thinks it's cruising. You think it's funny? I think I hate you. You don't appreciate me hardly anymore. I'm trying hard to make you understand. But I cannot communicate with dinosaurs. But heaven knows that I could be a man Heaven knows that I could be a man.