“All the Ice Cream is Gone”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show — “All the Ice Cream is Gone”

Date: May 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show" blends Tony’s trademark mix of sports talk, personal anecdotes, and cultural observations. The program opens with lively banter around customer service and gardening before diving deep into recent deaths of notable figures, an unsettling story about disease on a cruise ship, and then transitioning to in-depth discussions with writer Barry Svrluga (on MLB, The Nationals, and the LIV golf saga) and ESPN’s Tim Legler (on the NBA playoffs). The episode’s humor, curiosity, and camaraderie shine throughout familiar style, with thoughtful asides on everything from cruises to planting potatoes.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

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1. Customer Service Frustrations and Media Consumption

Timestamps: 01:00–02:13

• Tony, Michael Wilbon, and Nigel commiserate on the universal frustration of dealing with overseas customer service and chatbots.
• Tony Kornheiser (01:10): “It’s unbelievable how that strikes a chord with people...you can ask for my Social Security number, and I’m supposed to give that to you, but you can’t tell me where you are.”
• Lighthearted chitchat about SiriusXM channels and how Tony, unlike the others, prefers silence in the car or calling ESPN Radio to complain about programming.

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2. Gardening Updates

Timestamps: 02:23–03:22

• Tony and Michael Wilbon recount their approaches to planting tomatoes and peppers, joking about differing methods and the anticipation for starting their potato crop.
• Michael Wilbon (02:45): “I like to take off the lower...stems right there just to get deeper roots. And I tend to put it in a bit of an angle just again to support the lower root system.”
• Ongoing banter about the best potatoes—Yukon Gold gets a shoutout.

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3. Nationals and Golf Lamentations

Timestamps: 03:45–06:42

• Tony discusses the Nationals’ surprising win (and struggling catchers), making clear he's unconvinced about Kibert Ruiz despite a standout game.
• Baseball fandom merges with Tony’s golf woes:
  • Tony describes his disastrous round, detailing specific holes and scores, humorously self-deprecating: “Had I completed 16, I would not have broken 100” (06:35).
• Conversation moves seamlessly between failures in both sports, with friendly ribbing from Wilbon.

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4. Reflections: Ted Turner and John Sterling

Timestamps: 07:03–11:39

• Ted Turner: Tony praises Turner’s revolutionary impact on television and recounts a personal story witnessing Turner alone in Manhattan, contrasted with Trump’s entourage.
  • “If you think that Rupert Murdoch is important, Ted Turner is more important.” (07:51)
  • The anecdote serves as a reflection on character and legacy.
• John Sterling: Tony warmly eulogizes the legendary Yankees announcer, recalling Sterling as the first person to put him on radio:
  • “He was a showman…He was very kind to me during it... At the end, I thought to myself, you know, I wasn’t bad.” (10:50–11:21)

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5. The “Death Cruise” and Hantavirus Fears

Timestamps: 11:39–16:35

• Chilling account of a cruise ship outbreak, likely of hantavirus originating from contact with rat feces at a landfill. Three deaths, and fearful speculation about person-to-person transmission.
• Tony Kornheiser on cruises: “There’s no cruise where somebody doesn’t die or something bad doesn’t happen...All the ice cream is gone because they need the freezer for the dead people.” (13:10)
• Stark warning not to take cruises, witty yet grim assessment of floating petri dishes.
• Nigel outlines the realities and dangers (“40% mortality rate” for hantavirus, 13:57), drawing parallels (and differences) to Covid.
• Brief discourses on procedures for outbreak control, with comic suggestions about wearing scarlet hats to identify infected passengers.

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6. Barry Svrluga Interview: Nationals, Management Changes, and LIV Golf’s Future

Timestamps: 18:29–33:35

• Barry Svrluga reflects on transitioning to The Athletic and re-familiarizing himself with D.C. teams (19:48–20:35).
• Nationals Discussion:
  • In-depth on the new management regime, analytics-driven approach, constant juggling of lineups.
  • Barry Svrluga: “Blake Butera has now managed 38 games...run out 32 different lineups...to play out scenarios.”
  • Tony probes the merits and pitfalls of the youth movement, applauding attempts at modernization but noting growing pains.
  • The Nationals’ lack of star power, experiments at first and third base, and erratic catching is discussed.
• On LIV Golf:
  • Barry attended the event, explaining the existential threat to the Saudi-funded league as high-profile sponsorship and financial support look precarious.
  • Barry Svrluga (29:22): “Four of their top six sponsors are Saudi companies. It’s basically inside dealing...nobody knows anything about these LIV teams.”
  • Discussion of possible reintegration of LIV players into the PGA still murky, with examples (Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka).
• Broader reflection on LIV’s impact: “It did change the game. It made the PGA Tour much, much richer. And Phil Mickelson, everything he said was right.” (32:18, Tony)

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7. Tim Legler Interview: NBA Playoffs Analysis

Timestamps: 37:16–50:32

• Surprises:
  • Both agree that Denver and Boston exiting early were the biggest shockers given their expected playoff depth.
  • Injuries played a large role in upsets.
• Oklahoma City Thunder:
  • Both Tony and Tim believe their easy progress is a result of a weak draw, but expect greater challenges ahead.
  • Tim Legler: “You need a talent the level of a Luka Doncic...His numbers actually have gone up in the postseason. He can beat you with his passing, and he’s not there [for LA].” (39:10)
• LeBron James’ Future:
  • Speculation abounds, with Tim stating: “Nobody knows. Even people really close to the situation...don’t know what LeBron plans.”
• NBA Blowouts:
  • Tim attributes lopsided games to injury, three-point variance, and young players wilting under playoff intensity.
  • Details shocking 61-point Knick playoff lead: “A 61 point deficit in a 3–2 series, by the way…At home to try to force a Game 7.” (42:30)
• Knicks Analysis:
  • Tim sees the Knicks peaking offensively, highlighting Brunson’s leadership, Anunoby’s injury as a pivotal storyline, and the potential for continued dominance if the team remains healthy.
• James Harden and Paul George Disappointments:
  • Tony: “Harden and Paul George are, for me, players who I shouldn’t count on and I continually do.”
  • Tim reviews Harden’s historical playoff struggles: “He has another night where he has more turnovers than field goals made...which is incredible throughout his playoff career.” (47:24)
• Victor Wembanyama:
  • Tim is effusive: “There’s just never been any player with that level of just size, length, with that kind of agility...He actually...defensively...alters mentally...the way [offense] is processed.”
  • He notes offensive limitations due to Wembanyama’s frame but says his defensive impact is generational.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On customer service bots:
  “The victory is getting the live person. Oh, yes. Getting away from the chatbot.” — Tony Kornheiser (01:03)

• On Ted Turner vs. Murdoch:
  “If you think that Rupert Murdoch is important, Ted Turner is more important.” — Tony Kornheiser (07:51)

• On the cruise outbreak:
  “All the ice cream is gone because they need the freezer for the dead people.” — Tony Kornheiser (13:10)

• On Hantavirus mortality:
  “The problem...it’s got like a 40% mortality rate.” — Nigel (13:57)
  “Oh my.” — Tony Kornheiser (14:02)

• On Nationals’ new leadership:
  “He has run out 32 different lineups...not to make his own guys comfortable...but to play out scenarios.” — Barry Svrluga (22:23)

• On LIV golf’s existential threat:
  “Four of their top six sponsors are Saudi companies. It’s basically inside dealing.” — Barry Svrluga (29:22)

• On NBA blowouts:
  “We had a 61 point deficit in a 3–2 series, by the way...” — Tim Legler (42:30)
  “[Knicks] hit a point where you go, wow, this team is actually at their absolute peak level.” — Tim Legler (44:03)

• On Victor Wembanyama:
  “There’s just never been any player with that level of just size, length, with that kind of agility.” — Tim Legler (48:05)

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Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamps | |-----------------------------------------|-----------------| | Customer Service & SiriusXM Banter | 01:00–02:13 | | Gardening Talk (Tomatoes/Potatoes) | 02:23–03:22 | | Nationals, Golf Woes | 03:45–06:42 | | Remembering Ted Turner & John Sterling | 07:03–11:39 | | The Death Cruise & Hantavirus | 11:39–16:35 | | Barry Svrluga Interview/Nats/LIV Golf | 18:29–33:35 | | Tim Legler Interview/NBA Playoffs | 37:16–50:32 |

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Additional Highlights

• Listener Mailbag & Jingles:
  Regular, lighthearted end-of-show feature with listener letters, anecdotes, and witty email responses—skipping over most for brevity, but maintaining podcast’s community-driven energy.
• Music Submissions:
  Segment showcasing independent artists from the show’s extended listener family.

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Summary Takeaways

A quintessential episode, “All the Ice Cream is Gone” sparkles with Tony Kornheiser’s wit and keen observations, blending baseball, NBA, golf, gardening, and cultural commentary with timely humor and moments of poignancy. The show manages to move from heartfelt reminiscence to sharp sports analysis and absurd cruise horror, all in an entertaining and conversational style. Regular guests and frequent asides keep the episode fresh, funny, and deeply human. Whether you’re a sports junkie, longtime Littles-listener, or just looking for some fun, sharp talk, this episode delivers.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk to Barry Zirluga about starting his new job with the Athletic. And we'll dive into the NBA playoffs with Tim Legler. But first, commerce. There's never been a better time to get outside and experience the benefits of nature, discover nearby trails and explore the outdoors with alltrails. Download the free app today and find your outside.

[Tim Legler]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Tim Legler]

The result is powerful cleaning, safer ingredients and less waste, all in one hyper concentrated formula. It's sustainability minus the sacrifice. Fall in love or it's [e-mail].

[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Michael Wilbon]

And if you're SiriusXM, take note.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The victory is getting the live person. Oh, yes. Getting away from the chatbot. Yeah, the robot.

[Nigel]

Just hang tight.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hang tight. Anyway, so at least one of the numbers that Joel Dollinger gave me was good and thankful for that. And I don't want to even talk about the Sirius xml. I just, I'll just talk about it briefly when you. When you finally get a purse. The Tony Kornheiser show is on now. It's unbelievable how that strikes a chord with people because all of us go through the same thing. You get someone offshore, they tell you, we can't tell you where we are, but you can ask for my Social Security number. And I'm supposed to give that to you, but you can't tell me where you are.

[Michael Wilbon]

Follow the script.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Nigel]

There is a great story in the emails about a very high profile figure that was trying to deal with customer service.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, well, I'll get to it.

[Michael Wilbon]

What's your go to SiriusXM channel these days? Still Coffee house.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't listen to it ever. I don't listen to it ever.

[Michael Wilbon]

Big yacht rock.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I have it. I don't. I didn't particularly like yacht rock.

[Nigel]

You like those.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Nigel]

Like the live channel would have, like, live versions of songs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Covers.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I. I don't listen to anything in the car. I make a phone call and I sit in silence. I'm morbid to be around. I'm awful.

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, you do call ESPN Radio on longer drives.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I do, I do. And I yell about programming. I yell about who's on, who's not on. So a couple of things I wanted to get to the plants, my peppers, and tomatoes are now in the ground. Michael planted the last tomato plant 10 minutes ago. We have potting soil.

[Michael Wilbon]

We have different. Different approaches to planting the tomatoes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Go ahead, explain.

[Michael Wilbon]

I like to take off the lower. What will become branches, but the lower stems right there just to get deeper roots. And I tend to put it in a bit of an angle just again to support the lower root system. And you just plop them straight in on top.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I'm horrified to see what he does because I think it will kill the plants because they're going.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, they're going to chase the sun.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So. But I. Yeah, but I. I just put them in with the potting mix around them and. And see what happens. Yeah, we'll see what happens. Hopefully we're in. We're waiting for the potatoes. And by waiting, I mean Michael has to buy the potatoes, and then we have to find the eyes. And then we have to follow the script from Buster, which we will do within a week.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. I find myself waiting at the grocery store searching. Difference between Yukon Gold and just gold potatoes. Apparently, this is a specific variety that I've always just assumed was a gold potato.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Well, Buster says Yukon Gold is the way to go.

[Tim Legler]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. So we're. That's. That's good. Yes.

[Nigel]

Well, there's been great success with the peppers and tomatoes in the past.

[Michael Wilbon]

There's been limited success.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There's been limited success.

[Michael Wilbon]

Although the boys like to walk by and take your bounty.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And those are. Okay. The cherry tomatoes grab by their hands. Yeah, that's all good. Okay. So I wanted to deal with that. The Nats had an early game yesterday. I didn't know till the fifth inning, but then I watched it. They scored 3,000 runs. They chased all the Minnesota pitchers. I will just say this. I think that. I think it's time to send keyboard Ruiz away.

[Michael Wilbon]

Except for yesterday.

[Nigel]

Very nice day.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He had two run producing doubles and a solo home run.

[Michael Wilbon]

Three for four. Go ahead. Home run, two doubles, four rubies.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How can I.

[Michael Wilbon]

How about this from MLB.com NATS were searching for their first home series win. Then their catchers stepped up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So Drew Millis the other day, who I think is no good as a hitter. I don't think he's a major league hitter. Hit a home run. I'm convinced that Kibert Ruiz cannot play and that they should just cut the losses.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's just both were under 200 going into the series, and he was Ruiz's quote. I've been working really hard with the hitting coach here, and they've been helping me a lot. Every single day. I'm grateful for them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, he didn't help him until yesterday because the day before he had three strikeouts and bad strikeouts, like chasing balls that literally bounced in front of him. Anyway, they played wonderfully. And they're 18 and 20 and they're not terrible. If they were in the American League, they'd be a playoff team. One. So that's. So that's good. I'm glad to say that if you want to know how terrible I am at golf, I'm just going to give you two minutes of how terrible I am at golf. The longest part of the Columbia course, the longest, hardest stretch of holes is 9, 10, 11 and 12. They are solid. Even from the up tees. They are solid. Par fours, par fives, occasionally once out of every 10 to 12 times. If I hit a really good drive and a really good second shot, I can get on in regulation. But it's very rare. But still, I should do no worse than bogey. These are straight ahead holes. I played them a thousand times. I know where to put the ball if I can't put the ball where I want to. But I know where the green is. I can see the green from wherever I am. They are. I'll just go 10, 11, 12. They are par 4, par 4, par 5. Here's my scores yesterday. And they are generous because I didn't bother to make the last putt. Six, seven, eight. I had a snowman on 12. And on the other par four, par five, number five, I had a snowman.

[Michael Wilbon]

Were you tempted to go for the nine on 13, six over?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I.

[Michael Wilbon]

Just for the card.

[Tony Kornheiser]

13 was my only par of the day. I hit a tee shot on with a seven wood.

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, you got enough. You had a small bucket of the previous three holes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Unbelievable how terrible I am. I. I did. Had I finished 18, I only finished 16. I didn't.

[Michael Wilbon]

I shouldn't say were the miss. Were the misses coming from the final 100 yards while you were just like blading wedges across the green and then leaving something.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I couldn't te ball. I topped every T ball after number two. I don't do that.

[Michael Wilbon]

I. I drive like a single digit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I assume that I was teeing the ball up too low. I don't.

[Nigel]

I don't know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Had I completed 16, I would not have broken 100. I didn't complete 16 because when I put the first two balls in the water, I said, that's it. I'm done.

[Barry Svrluga]

I'm.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's the only water in the court. I put them in the water, so I'm done. So I'm. I'm a terrible, terrible player. Saved only by the fact that I love it and it's DNF for me. I love it. I want to talk briefly about two deaths that I didn't get to the other day. Ted Turner and John Sterling. I'll start with Ted Turner. Ted Turner was a giant. Ted Turner revolutionized television. You cannot give Ted Turner enough credit. He's also a sportsman. He was the captain of the yacht Courageous and he won in Newport, Rhode island in the late 70s. He won the America's cup when that mattered. Yeah, it doesn't matter anymore. He had the first superstation. It was devoted to putting the Braves on TV because he owned the Braves. Went in like the manager. He said he would manage and commissioner said he can't manage, but he did

[Nigel]

for one game, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, he was a swashbuckling guy and a guy. If you think that Rupert Murdoch is important, Ted Turner is more important. Yes, Ted Turner is largely, hugely important. About 15 years ago, I was walking on the west side of Manhattan near the New York times in the 40s, and I saw Ted Turner in the street. Ted Turner was just gazing up at buildings, looking at the architecture of buildings. He would stop and he would look up and up and up. And then he would move a little bit from another angle and look again. The reason I bring this up is because he was alone. He had no bodyguards, he had no people. He had nothing like that. He was alone. And he was one of the most famous, important, prestigious people in the country, if not the world. He could have been kidnapped for all we know, right? I mean, who knows? And he was completely alone. Two days later, I was on the west side as well, in a different spot up in the 60s, and I saw Donald Trump. This is long before Donald Trump became president. Long before that. Donald Trump was walking surrounded by about 50 people. That's how he did it. He had to have people around him. And Ted Turner didn't want anybody around him. And I have no point to make other than I have remembered this for quite some time. And about John Sterling. John Sterling, the Yankee announcer. I'll just read this first by Mark Feinsand. We lost a great one this week with the passing of John Sterling, the legendary radio voice of the Yankees, whom I had the privilege of calling a friend for the past 25 years. John was a true one of one. There have been many voices associated with teams throughout the years, but John was on that short list of broadcasters who transcended the team he called. Whether you were a Yankees fan or not, There was no more entertaining voice than John, who brought a Broadway flair to the booth. He was a showman. His home run call, it is High, it is Far, It Is Gone, was his trademark, though he added personalized calls over the years, such as Burn Baby, Burn for Bernie Williams or a Thriller by Godzilla for Hideki Matsui. When a new player joined the Yankees, there was always anticipation for what Jon's call would be, including from the player himself. I had the great honor of sharing the booth with John and Susan Walman for 10 years during my time at the Daily News, joining them in the fifth inning every night, a lot of folks called John a homer, but he was brutally honest about the team when they were playing poorly, often sounded like you complaining about the Nats bullpen. Perhaps more important than what he did in the booth, he called it his act. John was one of the kindest people you'd ever want to meet. His loss is enormous, not only for Yankees fans, but base and baseball fans, but for anyone and everyone who ever crossed paths with him. He was most famous, of course, for the call at the end of Yankee games, and he would go, the Yankees win. The Yankees win. He was the first person who ever put me on radio. It was in the 70s, it was at least 50 years ago. He was not a baseball announcer then. He was calling the Nets and the Islanders. He was a basketball and hockey announcer. I was working at the New York Times, and he said, do you want to go on at halftime? I'd love to go on with you at halftime. I was terrified. I'd never been on the radio. I mean, I'd been on the radio in college, but it's really different. It's really different. This is real radio going out to, I don't know, a million people or something like that where I live in New York. And I don't remember anything that was said, but I do remember that he was very kind to me during it. He didn't try to hang me out to dry, didn't know me well enough to, you know, to be confrontational. It was very nice. And at the end, I thought to myself, you know, I wasn't bad. I didn't think I could do it for a living. I didn't think I wanted to do it for a living. But I thought, you know, it wasn't bad, and I was very happy about it. That's my only thing I can say about John Sterling, he was very kind to me. We'll get off this topic and turn to the topic at hand, which is the death cruise, which I think is off the coast of Africa. Now, is that what it is?

[Nigel]

They're headed to Canary Islands. Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is that in Africa?

[Nigel]

I think it's off the coast of Spain, actually.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The coast of Spain, yeah. Okay, so the east coast of European coast, but south of that would be Africa.

[Nigel]

Yeah. And not crossing the Atlantic to this point to dock and say, you know,

[Tony Kornheiser]

Washington, D.C. people are being killed. Yes. By the hantavirus. Is that how it's pronounced?

[Nigel]

That's right, yeah. Three people have died and others have it. Eight others have fallen sick.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you want to explain how you get this? The only way you get this, you get it. It's transmitted.

[Nigel]

You get it from. Mostly from rat feces.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Nigel]

Inhaling.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Inhaling it.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And so who ever says, what are you going to do today? I thought I'd inhale some rat feces. What?

[Nigel]

So apparently one of the accounts I've read was there was a Dutch couple on this cruise, and it's a smaller cruise ship. It's not one of the huge mammoth ones. I think there's only maybe 100 or so people that were. That could fit on it. But apparently in one stop they went. They were bird watchers and there was a report of a bird in a landfill. So they went to the landfill and then they came back and, and, and sadly they were. They were two of the three that passed away, but they think that's where it all came from. And now they're worried that instead of it just being from rat feces, that it could be person to person, which is very alarming.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Yes, Very alarming. What have I said about cruises? What is my position on cruises? You don't go on a cruise. No.

[Nigel]

There's not enough ice cream that they could give you to do this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And so on this boat, all the ice cream is gone. Now on this boat, they were giving out ice cream right away. All the ice cream is gone because they need the freezer for the dead people. There's no cruise where somebody doesn't die or something bad doesn't happen or somebody doesn't fall over the side and maybe they get rescued. Yeah. Maybe you got people. Maybe it's eyes on and 24 hours a day they got people on the sides looking for people who jump or fall into the water. Why would you take a cruise? I know it looks good. I know they do really good advertising. They do do it. They do, don't do it. The hantavirus. This is, is this going to be like Covid?

[Nigel]

Well, no, no, it does not appear. Now the problem with hantavirus as I've researched it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The problem, there's lots of problems.

[Nigel]

Well, the big problem is that it's got like a 40% mortality rate.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh my. Now, Covid.

[Nigel]

Covid. I think it was comparatively. Was like 05 or something like that. So we don't want that to get to go deep. But it's such a hailing rat feces.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Nigel]

Stay away from rats is one good tip. But it is such a virulent, fast moving disease that the symptoms show up very quickly and you get it very quickly. That it, it, it's very difficult to spread in a wide way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nobody wants to take this boat. No, no.

[Tim Legler]

Canary Islands were like, don't bring it here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And nobody wants to evacuate the people and put them on airplanes. Nobody wants to do that. But I mean, you know, if people had a choice, they would just say just keep the boat moving. Yeah, keep the, keep it away from us. We'll drop food and just keep the boat moving. Now this is be like Charlie Mtn once again about cruises. You can get sick, you can jump over the side, a rogue wave can knock you over or an iceberg. You know, you're out there, you're out there alone. I don't know. And how do these things spread? Okay, they don't live in the boat. The people who get on the boat, the crew and the passengers bring these things on. It's every year. They don't even put it in the news anymore. Unless it's something like this. Because it happens all the time. Yeah, all the time. And then you have to isolate people, you have to quarantine people and other people. It's. What are you doing?

[Nigel]

And apparently they've got one person in Virginia. They won't say where in Virginia. Could be northern Virginia.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're not in Virginia now.

[Nigel]

No, no, they're back.

[Tim Legler]

They.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How did they get out?

[Nigel]

There were some people that left like before they left that they. Before they figured out what was going on. So there's people you gotta tag. I think there's about 23 people.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You gotta wear a hat, a special hat.

[Nigel]

Somebody from Switzerland, like Harbor Town.

[Tony Kornheiser]

A big hat like that. Everybody knows a big plaid hat.

[Tim Legler]

Hantavirus.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nigel]

So there's some people who.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Scarlet letter.

[Nigel]

Yeah, yeah, exactly the back where the, you know. So the one person in Virginia who, who's in quarantine.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Would you take a cruise. Absolutely not. Are you and your family ever planning

[Molly McFall]

on taking a cruise?

[Michael Wilbon]

I got big holiday news for you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Taking a cruise. Not taking a cruise.

[Nigel]

Hallmark cruise.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just. Look, I'm sure most of them are. I'm sure most of them are fine, but I don't know. Doesn't seem like that. No, I never. I've never heard of a family taking a car trip and getting the hantavirus. Haven't heard of that.

[Nigel]

It's fairly weird.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I heard of that. Yeah, right.

[Nigel]

Seems unlikely.

[Molly McFall]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So we'll take a break. We'll come back with Barry's Verlouga. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Tim Legler]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right now, new FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right. Turn 5 bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started. And when every possession matters in the playoffs, FanDuel makes it easier to get closer to the action. From player props on your favorite stars to all the tools you need to back them up, FanDuel puts player research right at your fingertips. So you can check stats, trends and matchups all in one place and make your picks with confidence. It's everything you need all in one app, so don't miss your shot. Head to FanDuel.com podcast to get started. FanDuel play your game.

[Tim Legler]

This is the Tony Kornizer Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let's be honest, Mother's Day gifts can get a little predictable. They're nice, but they aren't home runs. And the older you get, the more you realize how much moms actually do the stuff you didn't fully appreciate growing up. So it feels like they deserve something a little more lasting. And that's where Aura Frames comes in. Instead of something that fades after a few days, it's a gift that keeps evolving. You can keep adding photos and videos over time so it never feels static. It's also super easy to set up, and it comes packaged beautifully so you don't have to overthink the presentation. It's just a more meaningful way to say thank you for everything past and present. Make Mother's Day special with Aura Frames named number one by Wirecutter. You can save on the gift moms love by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $25 off their best selling Carver Mat frame with code Tony K. That's A u r auraframes.com promo code Tony K. And when you check out, let them know you heard about aura frames from us. Terms and conditions apply.

[Nigel]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Marty Smith. I don't think it's the Marty Smith who interviewed me on tgl. I don't think so, but it might be. I'm not sure. This is sent in by Matt Morris. He says it's the non running Store Matt and Evanston Passing along what I think could be a great song for a sports show on the week of Mother's Day. While we may not be Nashville or Austin when it comes to singer songwriters, the northern suburbs of Chicago certainly boasts a stellar roster of musical artists of all ages. I first heard this song at an open mic in Glenview, mainly frequented by old timers playing a mix of 60s covers and heartfelt originals like this one. Marty Smith is the artist's name. Song was written for his Cubs loving mother after her passing. I hope you enjoy it and it can bring some comfort to any of your listeners who have had to say goodbye to their mothers in recent years for whom this weekend is now a bittersweet affair. While it can lead to a painful reality at points, I still thank God that the love of a mother's embrace lasts long after we are forced to let it go. It's a very nice note. It's a very nice song. Plays in Barry's Verluga. We had Chuck Culpepper on the show the other day who was so happy at ESPN I just couldn't believe his fortune. Like, you know, say this is a story I want to do. And somebody said, yeah, go do it whenever you want. You went to the Athletic. You began to work in May. I think you were off until May. How is it so far

[Barry Svrluga]

coming to the end of week one here? And I'm hoping it is, you know, a reasonable version of my old job that can, you know, serve the fans of Washington and give them some insight about the teams that they care about. I spent the last couple days at Nats park getting to know the new people there and writing off something yesterday. And I'll head out to a little Commander's availability later today, so get my feet wet in familiar territory, subject wise, but a little bit unfamiliar territory in terms of where it's published. I mean, I haven't had a first day on a new job in 23 years, so it's a little unsettling at some level, but really comforting at another.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you went to the Nats game yesterday?

[Barry Svrluga]

I did.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You went with the other 300 people

[Barry Svrluga]

in the stands I counted 310, but, you know, well, we can quibble.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I mean, so I watched. I mean, I watch all the time. This is not new. And I should tell people that you were there at the start of the Nats in Washington, right? Or shortly thereafter, Weren't you? At the first year?

[Barry Svrluga]

No, I was the first beat writer at the Post. Yeah.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. So you know, the Nats, you know, you know the history of this particular franchise as well or better than anybody. There was a regime, the Mike Rizzo regime, that lasted a long time. They were swept out. A guy came in from Boston who's 35 or 36 years old, hired a manager who's 33 years old who, you know, it's all new. They cleaned house. What do you think of the kid manager? What do you think so far?

[Tim Legler]

So I'm impressed.

[Barry Svrluga]

I mean, listen, I've been watching in the time that I was off, it is. They handle things much, much differently. I did not meet Blake Butera until, you know, Wednesday when I went there for my first time professionally. Certainly handles himself well. I'm not going to concentrate on the age. I don't want to demean them for being, you know, 20 years younger than I am. That's not their fault. They were given these jobs and entrusted Paul Taboni with leading a brand new baseball operations department. But I will say, Tony, you know, I covered Mike Rizzo for the entirety of his time and he had some obvious strengths that led to a decade or so of really, you know, for a long stretch there, only the Dodgers won more regular season games and they ultimately capped it off with the World Series title. So there he had to be doing something right. This is completely different. And my first column on the Nationals for the Athletic is, you know, a kind of an indicator of how different it is. Blake Guterra has now managed 38 games in the major leagues. He has run out 32 different lineups trying to find matchups and combinations not to make his own guys comfortable. Oh, I'm the third place hitter. Oh, I'm the cleanup hitter. Oh, I hit eighth. But to play out scenarios in how the game might unfold and make sure he's got combinations left, right, that are best suited for late game matchups against the relievers he's going to face. And it just leads to interesting discussions about who hits where and why. And it's an indicator that this operation has been modernized in one off season. James Wood hits leadoff every single night, and then no one knows who's going to hit where. That's right for that. And it's not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

People don't play outside of the outfielders most of the time. Lyle and Young, but Young sits down a lot. People don't know if they're playing the Nobody's. There's no regulars there.

[Barry Svrluga]

No, I mean, Abrams. Abrams, the shortstop is in there pretty much every day. But yes, he's mixing and matching and trying to win each day. And I think you can see a trickle down in the way this team kind of competes is that they're trying to win each pitch and each at bat in a way that is, you know, they're not good. They're not going to. They don't have enough talent to compete with. You know, I know the Mets are off to a terrible start, and I know the Phillies struggled and fired their manager. The Braves appear to be one of the best teams in baseball. They can't compete financially or talent wise right now in that division, but they're trying to compete on every pitch and every at bat. And that's led to, you know, an 18 and 20 record after the first. You know, they're not a quarter. Quarter of the way through the season, but the product is watchable in my mind. And that's in part because of the way to. Boney and his staff have provided information to Blake Butera and his staff and the way they're implementing it with, you know, basically James Wood, C.J. abrams and a bunch of unknowns or parts.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. And they're hitting now. They're hitting in bunches. I mean, they got nothing. The first two games against the brewers are pretty good team, for example there, but they got a lot of runs yesterday. They're not. It's not like they're hitting a lot of home runs. They're getting on base and they're hitting a lot. And I assume that the manager and the hitting coach have to get some credit for this.

[Tim Legler]

I think so.

[Barry Svrluga]

I mean, you know, this lineup, when you roll it out, does not. It's not intimidating to anybody. Wood is a superstar in the making. I mean, and Abrams has gone through stretches like this. You know, he's got 33 RBI not a quarter of the way through the season. It's a question of whether he can sustain it. But beyond those two guys, there's nobody in the lineup that scares anybody yet. Headed into yesterday, they were averaging 5.35 runs per game. That's fourth in the major leagues. That is more than the Dodgers. Like, I don't know that that's sustainable. Yeah, but they're doing something right so far. Again, baseball is built for 162 games, not 38. So that's how you prove yourselves. And there will be a lull. And some of that is, you know, they didn't score anything over the weekend against the brewers, but then they broke out for 15 runs against the Twins on Wednesday. So there's, you know, little blips. But all teams have those, so we'll see. I mean, they're there. I don't think they're an interesting team nationally. I think they are an interesting team locally, where, you know, baseball. That's what it's about. It's your summer programming every night. Is my team interesting to watch? Are they competitive? Do they have a chance to win each game? Even though they're, you know, they're not going to be. They're much more likely to be a 90 loss team than they are a 90 win team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, they have, like, they have no power at first, they have no power third. Their catches are terrible. All the last two games they've been very good, but they were terrible up to that point. And they have terrible relief. But the relief has looked better. And Butera goes out and yanks somebody for a very specific lefty, righty combination. I've seen this a number of times when he comes out, you know, I always think he should be carded because he looks so young. Although the pitching coach looks younger than he. He looks.

[Barry Svrluga]

And he is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Oh, the pitching coach is. Is under 33. Oh, wow.

[Barry Svrluga]

30.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, really? I had no idea. Yeah, he looks like. He looks like a kid who delivers the paper. But you know what? They get better as the season goes on. They have gotten better as the season goes on. More competitive. Although when they lose, they tend to lose to better teams than them. I would. All right, let me. I'll get off this for a second. Are you going to the live tournament this weekend, by any chance?

[Barry Svrluga]

So I went out there on Tuesday, my second day on the job, just so that we could have a body on the ground, you know, boots on the ground, in case John Rom said, you know, I'm not in for this, whatever, and I am going to go on Sunday. I mean, I would never go to a live tournament and, you know, say, cover it like Sergio Garcia shot a stirring 64 to take the live Virginia event. You know, that's just not what this is about. This is about existential questions for a renegade league that was very boastful of how it was going to change the game. And it did just lost its, you know, what seemed like infinite Saudi money and has real questions about who's going to fund it beyond this year. So I'll go out there on Sunday and you know, write what I see and write what Bryson DeChambeau says. And you know, that leads into the week of the PGA Championship. So I'm curious about it. I'm really happy to be doing some golf because I so loved covering golf for so many years and this is a way to dip my toe back into it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I guess one of my questions is why are they going, Are you sure, sure they're going to go through the whole year? I mean, if they turn the spigot off, which I thought would happen earlier than this because it's unwatchable on television. It was, you know, they've had to make a lot of changes in it. Go to 72 holes, for example, Liv and Roman numerals is 54. That was their selling point. Music shorts and 54 and a shotgun. And almost none of it worked. But if now they said we're going to stop the funding, why does anybody think they're going to fund for the whole rest of the year? Why?

[Barry Svrluga]

They've been told that. I mean that's what Scott o', Neill, the CEO has been told, that the Saudi money will support the rest of this season. Now there's reason to raise eyebrows about that because they've already postponed one event that was supposed to be in New Orleans a few weeks ago. And they say they're going to kick it to the fall, but there's no hard plans to do that. They signed guys to nine figure contracts and they then promised $30 million purses on top of that. And for since 2022 they delivered that with no way to offset that money because they just aren't bringing it in through sponsors. I mean, four of their top six sponsors are Saudi companies. It's basically inside dealing. I mean they're not propped up independently. And this guy o' Neill is saying, no, I've got these great value to sell to investors and my phone is ringing off the hook and people, you know, the value is in these teams. And that just is, is laughable on the face of it because you can't, you couldn't walk down the street in a crowded play, say the National Mall on a spring Saturday and find anybody who could tell you who are the four members of the Crushers. What is the cliques logo? I'm, I'm, I'm holding up the logo of the Southern Hogs. Or whatever. And nobody, nobody knows anything about these live teams. So, you know, maybe they exist beyond this year. A lot of these guys are under contract beyond this year. They're going to get paid by somebody and. But DeChambeau is the one that's hanging out there. He doesn't have a contract beyond this year. What's going to happen with him? How can this CEO sell his league to potential investors without knowing whether his biggest star is going to be on board? So there's tons of existential questions going forward.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just briefly, do you have any sense of a re entry plan if these people want to get back to the PGA Tour?

[Barry Svrluga]

So Patrick Reid is already on it, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Like he World Tour to qualify.

[Molly McFall]

Right.

[Barry Svrluga]

And he's also sitting out. He can't play on the PGA Tour for, I don't, I don't know the amount of time. But he's not allowed back on for x amount of time. And then he's not allowed. And Brooks Kafka is doing this right now already. He's not allowed to tap into all the bonus money that you get for, you know, being prominent on social media and mentions and the bonus money for competitive stuff that the tour established after live kind of made them reassess how they valued their players who bring the product to fruition.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It did change the game. It made the PGA Tour much, much richer. And Phil Mickelson, everything he said was right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Everything not rich enough to pay the entire staff.

[Tim Legler]

Right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. You can't pay the host. That's right.

[Barry Svrluga]

Right.

[Tim Legler]

And.

[Barry Svrluga]

But it did recenter the way the PGA Tour thought about itself by saying, you know, the players basically saying, wait a second, we bring the value here. We're not paid what we're worth. And so it reset the system. It's not really unlike a different version of, of nil in college where, you know, players eventually were like, everybody kind of recognized. Well, without the athletes, there is no product. They generate the product. That's what we sell to tv. That's what we make, you know, billions of dollars off of. They've got to get something. This was a, you know, a reset for the tour that was, was needed. And I think all the players would say, even if they didn't like live, they benefited from it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, yeah, no, it's a pleasure to have you. You sound good. You sound like you're ready to work again. That's good.

[Barry Svrluga]

Ready to work. That's exactly the way to put it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Put that on the back of your shirt. Ready to work. Ready to work. We will talk a lot now. That's good. Thank you, Barry.

[Barry Svrluga]

Thanks, Tony. Appreciate it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Barry Zverluga, who we love. We'll take a break. We will come back with Tim Legler and we'll talk about the NBA. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. You know that moment when something breaks in your home and you think, okay, who do I even call for this? Because suddenly it's not just one thing. It's three different projects and zero time to figure it all out. That's exactly why Angie has been so helpful. It's the place to go when you need to hire skilled local pros who can handle just about everything around your home. Angie has been around since 1995, and over the years, homeowners have turned to them for hundreds of millions of projects. So they really know the ins and outs of getting things done. Well, what makes it easy is how streamlined everything is. You just answer a few quick questions and Angie connects you with local pros who fit your specific project. You can check out reviews from people nearby, compare quotes, and find your best price without spending hours searching. And whether it's a quick repair, a deep clean, or a full remodel, you can find pros covering over a thousand different types of projects. So you're not bouncing between a bunch of different places trying to figure it out. Download the free Angie app today or visit angie.com that's a n g I dot com. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. Mother's Day is coming up. And you know, when you're a kid, you don't really notice everything moms did for you, like helping you buy socks and making sure they were the right size or helping to plant potatoes every spring all the time. You may not have appreciated it, but now you get it. She's always in your corner. She always will be. So, yeah, Mother's Day matters. You got to get it right. And honestly, the easiest way, books. That's short for bouquets. And how about this? You can get 25% off your order just for listening to this show. These aren't just flowers. They're cut fresh from the best farms. They're bigger, brighter, they last way longer. Some even grow on the side of a volcano. You can send a vibrant bouquet or even go big with a monthly subscription. So mom gets a little moment of joy again and again. And when she smiles, you'll know you nailed it. Plus, There are over 55,000 five star reviews, so you know it's legit. It'll take you like two minutes to get it all done. Pick the bouquet, set the delivery date, and you're set. And with 25% off, you can grab something for your wife, your aunt, your grandma. Cover all your bases. Mother's Day's May 10th. Don't wait. Go to boox.com, use code Tony for 25% off. That's B O U Q S.com promo code Tony boox.com we've had these things. They're good.

[Tim Legler]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Molly McFall and she writes. My name is Molly McFall and I'm an independent musician producer from the DMV. I grew up in Montgomery County. I'm a grad of Fort Whitman. I'm really excited about one of my latest self produced songs called the Metro. This is the Metro. Guitar is kind of my main thing, so a lot of my music is actually instrumental. But I love singing and songwriting as well as the D.C. metro. And this song is a testament to both. I wrote about listening to the songs that get me through, paired with the visuals of patiently awaiting your stop on the Metro. Isn't that nice? Isn't that nice?

[Nigel]

Really is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Molly McFall. That's just lovely, Michael. If people like Molly McFall want to send in their independent music, how do they do it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesonycornazershow.com and we have a new promo code from Johnny OTK Plant. Mother's Day weekend is the season. Let's get those tomatoes in the ground. We got, you know, obviously Mother's Day. We got the pga.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're opening up stores here? Yes.

[Michael Wilbon]

One on Bethesda Row.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Nigel]

It's very exciting.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Johnny O. We're so happy for Johnny. Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask John McClure about Johnny O. I should have done that. But that's wonderful. TK Plant.

[Michael Wilbon]

TK Plant.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Things are in the ground plays in Tim Legler, who was on the PTI show yesterday and was wonderful as always. And I, I'm just, I guess I'm curious in a general way.

[Tim Legler]

You're.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're there. You watch all these games. Many of these games are routes. They. Many of them are not close. But better teams are winning these games. I'm just sort of wondering, has anything truly surprised you so far in the playoffs where you go, wow, I did not expect that.

[Tim Legler]

I think if I had to call out one surprise, it would be Denver going out as early as they did. I think also, you know, they dealt with injuries. Boston being home already is a surprise to me. But again, they had a pretty critical injury and that series flipped on its head in a way that I didn't really see coming when Joel Embiid returned to that lineup. And that really was the difference in the Boston Philly series. So I think that we're sitting here, you know, in the early stages of the second round and we don't have Boston or Denver still playing. I guess that would be my biggest surprise.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I think that makes it much easier for Oklahoma City and, or San Antonio, I think is the logical challenger. But it just, it looks like people are sort of fading away here and Oklahoma City looks really good all the time, but there's always a but. They're playing far weaker teams. Far weaker teams. Is that what, what do you see in Oklahoma City given the fact that their competition is not on the level of what's going to be in the next round at all?

[Tim Legler]

Well, yeah, that's for sure. I mean, look, you got a team and I have a lot of respect for Phoenix and what they did this year. And I think in a lot of ways they turned around the way they are perceived as an organization. You know, they had these underachieving years by acquiring a bunch of, you know, top tier names and talent did not come to fruition. They went through three coaches in three years, you know, two of which won a championship and lasted one year in Phoenix after, after that. So now they've flipped their perception, which is great, but they're not on par clearly with the Oklahoma City Thunder. They sweep that series, which I think a lot of people expected to happen. Now you get a Lakers team without Luka Doncic and so and an Austin Reaves that's coming back after missing a bunch of time, who's clearly not at his best, not in the rhythm that he would need to be in against this elite defense with so much depth, really an unstoppable offensive force and Shay Gilgis Alexander setting the table for them on the other end. You're right, they are not going to be challenged to a great extent in the first couple of rounds and I think they will be significantly challenged going forward. And look, we'll see what the Lakers have for them when they go back home. But the bottom line is this. You need a talent the level of a Luka Doncic with the size and the ability to play through the contact and the defensive pressure that OKC puts on you. You know, you're Talking about a guy that's 33, 34 a night, his numbers actually have gone up in the postseason. He can beat you with his passing, and he's not there. So there's only so much L. A can do to muster enough offense against this team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you think LeBron will stay there for next year or do you think he'll want to go somewhere else?

[Tim Legler]

That's a great listen. I wish I could say I have an inkling on that. That's, to me, the greatest mystery of all. Nobody knows. Even people. Even people really close to the situation that even, you know, talk to. His inner circle don't know exactly what LeBron plans on doing. And some of it could be that whatever taste he has in his mouth when this is all over with, at the end of the season, whenever that ends, and presumably in this round against Oklahoma City, you know, who knows what he's going to feel in that moment? You step back, all players do for a short period of time, a few weeks, you get away from it all and see what his. What his mind is wrapped around when you get into the early stages of the summer. Because that's when I think players, that's when it becomes most proactive, profound of what is in front of them. Particularly a guy that's 41.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Tim Legler]

You don't know what he's going to do. I don't know that he'll walk away from the game. He's playing to too well, Too good, too high of a level.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Too good.

[Tim Legler]

Yeah. And I think that LeBron is going to probably make that announcement when the time comes before a season and then have that last year. Who knows though, does he want to go play somewhere else or you want to stay in L. A? I don't know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So many of the games have been routes. You've been calling games that have ended, you know, in enormous disparities. Why is that?

[Tim Legler]

Well, there's, I think, a few reasons. I think one of the reasons is injuries have played a part in it. Like just teams not being whole in certain cases. I also think the just the three point shooting, the volume of three point shooting. I also think there's been some teams that have some younger guys that didn't react well to playoff pressure. So I think there's a variety of things that have gone into it. Now that doesn't explain some of the things we've seen, including a game that I was part of a call that had a 61 point deficit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Tim Legler]

In the third quarter. Next a 61 point deficit in a 3, 2 series, by the way, this wasn't a situation where it was a 1 8, you know, matchup, and it was a 30 series, and that team just mailed it in. This was Atlanta and the Knicks. It was a 3:2 series with a team at home. At home to try to force A game seven. And they were down by 61 points in the third quarter.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That was absolutely remarkable to me. I don't even know what you do if you're the coach or the players. I mean, just. And I noticed in the right at the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Knicks, you know, outscored them like 10, 10 nothing or 10 two. After that, the Knicks would try to take 21, 22, 23 seconds of the 24. They would they, you know, just get out of here without causing any more pain to. To another team. Everybody. It's easy to say the Knicks are really good. The Knicks are better than Philadelphia. They're better than Philadelphia. But do you think the Knicks are really good? Because I'm not sure they're really good now.

[Tim Legler]

Well, they're playing at that level now. Throughout the year, I saw peaks and valleys where you kind of go, you know, teams that are ready to win it, they don't have those kind of peaks and valleys. And so I saw that from them throughout the year. I will say this. They made some adjustments to what they run during the season that helped them. They made adjustments again in the middle of the Atlanta series when they were down two one that turned that series around to a great degree. And they hit their stride in that series to such an extent when that's the best, without question, that their offense had played since that group came together and that starting lineup came together. So I got to the point you say, yeah, this is now turned into a buzzsaw offensively because you got to deal with Brunson, who's. Who's great, and then he's even better. In the postseason, Towns was playing better and actually more appreciated. Even though his numbers came down as a scorer, his inclusion in the offense, it's like he seemed like he was proud of the fact that they were utilizing his passing skills more. So he was bought in more. Then you had an anobi and Bridges, like, hitting their stride at exactly the same time. And then their bench was playing great. So, yes, they hit a point where you go, wow, this team is actually at their absolute peak level. Very few teams can find it where you go. That's the best they can possibly play at exactly the right time. That's where the Knicks were heading into the other night. They were able to win that game, but OG Anunoby, with that hamstring now, it doesn't sound too serious, but it's going to be very delicate and tricky going forward. I would suspect that no one has said this, but I would suspect they sit them for game three tonight. If they win the game, I think they sit them again because they'll be up 3 on Sunday. And even if they somehow don't win that game, you're then going home to close it out. Maybe you see him then. No one has said that. That's just my personal opinion. If they lose tonight and he's really feeling really good, maybe you see him on Sunday. So that series doesn't have a chance to get to 2:2. But you know, New York right now is playing. At least they were prior to this injury. They were playing the best version of themselves, which is all you can ask for if you want to be a contender.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You are very complimentary of Brunson, and Brunson is a terrific player. If only James Harden in the playoffs would. Would max out the way Brunson does. I'm the last guy in the world. I think Cleveland can win, but. But they're not going to win. I mean, at what point do I become convinced that they're. They're just not going to win.

[Tim Legler]

Right? I just. The thing that. That. And I don't know why, because I've seen it enough throughout his career to think it's going to be different this time. With James Harden, you understand, when he's. By the time he's done, he's going to be only the second player in history with 30,000 points and 10,000 assists. The only other guys, LeBron.

[Molly McFall]

Wow.

[Tim Legler]

And yet James Harden, for a guy that has accomplished that much, he seems unsure of himself, and it seems like it happens almost every postseason. It certainly looked that way in the first two games of this series really badly last night when they were right there in a position to win. And Donovan Mitchell looks incredibly frustrated because I. As he left the court, he had this. Just this frustrated look on his face because I think he's thinking to himself, man, oh man, I need a lot more help from him because he's physically capable against this level defense, which Detroit is on that level with. OkC. They're big, they're physical, they hold, they grab. It's just a war out there every possession. And James Harden has the physical tools to play through that. Not everybody does on that team, he does. And yet he has another night where he has more turnovers than field goals made. And we've talked a lot about that. Number of times that he's done that, which is incredible throughout his playoff career. So I don't know that he finds that and turns that around mid series against the defense this good. It certainly isn't in a good place mentally as they go and change venues and they go to Cleveland now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, no, I mean, I. Yeah, Harden. Harden and Paul George are, for me, players who I shouldn't count on and I continually do. I'll get you out of here on this. Wembanyama. You've watched a lot of basketball. You played a lot of basketball. I hate to say that Wilbon's right.

[Nigel]

I mean, I just hate to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But Wilbon believes he. He's a generational player. What do you think so far? And he's a kid. He's a kid.

[Tim Legler]

Yeah, he definitely is. Because there's just never been any. Any player with that level of just size, length, with that kind of agility. And, you know, so I played with the tallest player that ever played in the NBA. Seven, seven, George Mirror sign. I played against, you know, Sean Bradley. You know, we know about Manute Bowl, Yao Ming, you know, go down the list, Mark Eaton, guys that get to that 7, 4 and up range. None of those guys moved around the floor. This guy covers so much ground defensively. He actually. Not only the tangible things he does with 12 blocks. We don't even know how many possessions are altered mentally by a team because they don't process what's in front of them potentially as an opportunity to score the same way when Victor Wembanyama is on the court that they used to. So there's no even real way to quantify that. You don't know what a player's thinking. I just know I've sat courtside calling games, and you can see what looks to be a driving lane for a player or a guy that maybe could turn the corner on a guy and get to the rim. And Victor Wembanyama's out there somewhere on the opposite side of the floor lurking. And all of a sudden, that's action they don't even look at. So there's no way to even put a tangible number on that and his impact there. You know, I do think offensively it's. I just think it's going to be tough for him to get to a place where he can just do what he wants offensively the way some great, great players in this league have done. Where they just seemed unstoppable as scorers. Because he's 7 5, he's never going to have a lot of weight to him. Guys can get into him and sort of push him around a little bit on the perimeter. He'll take shots that are maybe helping the defense. It's going to be hard for him to do that, but he might not have to because he does enough offensively as a scorer. And then his impact defensively is unlike any player I think we've ever seen. So he might not need to to win MVPs in championships. But that will be the one thing I don't think he's going to be a guy that's going to go out and average 35 points a game at some point, like. Like a. Like a Kobe, like a Michael Jordan. I don't think he's going to be able to do that because it's hard to move around at 75 when you're thin and guys can get into you a little bit and manipulate your body and force you to places on the court where you don't want to go.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's really wonderful to talk with you. Thank you so much. We'll lean on you if you allow us to as the playoffs go on. Thank you, Tim.

[Tim Legler]

Of course, Tony, always. My phone is always open to you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's great. Tim Legler, boys and girls. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Tim Legler]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Molly McFall]

Here comes Tony's mail bag.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Email, faxes and notes keep.

[Tim Legler]

Here comes Tony Mayo B.

[Molly McFall]

Going to read some for all of you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's going to read some for all of you. Love that. I love that. It's a great version. Bethesda Bagel ad for us, please.

[Nigel]

Yes, Bethesda Bagels, we love them. You will as well. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the details 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, in the summertime, when the weather is high, you can stretch right up and touch the sky. When the weather's fine, you got women. You got women on your mind. Have a drink, have a drive. Go out and see what you can find. That's the one hit for Mungo Jerry. For those of you big Mungo Jerry fans, I know that song. Thanks to our guests today, Barry Sverluga and Tim Legler. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Odyssey get show through Apple Podcasts. Please leave us a review.

[Michael Wilbon]

We need to get Barry A Ripper's GC hat.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That would be nice. Just be a little bit of a troll, but yes, that would be fun.

[Michael Wilbon]

Wasn't expecting that reaction from you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think that would be nice. I just want to thank Leonard Klein for a lovely email, mostly about his dad. It's not for the air, but it's just lovely. Thank you. Rick Devens has written us. Yes, hey Mr. Tony. Only two episodes of Survivor 50 left and I'm still in the game. There's been some fun sports crossovers lately. My Braves hit a walk off home run at the same time I was flipping Mr. Beast's coin on last week's epic Survivor episode. The official Twitter account of Major League Baseball tweeted out a picture of the home run with the caption Big night for Rick Devins. Then your friend Bill Simmons, a Survivor fan, was discussing season 50 on the Ringer podcast and he called me the MVP of Survivor 50 so far. I'll take it. Guess this means I haven't flushed the mouse. Thanks for watching all the support from you and my fellow Littles.

[Nigel]

I hope he wins so badly.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just so nice.

[Nigel]

Yeah, we love this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, just so nice. Ken Vastola in Del Mar, New York. Not Steve Del Mar, Delmar. It's upstate Del Mar, New York. About two months. By the way, everything north of the Tappan Z is upstate. About two months after Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo xiv, he put in a call to his bank back home, a close friend, the Rev. Tom McCarthy, told a gathering of Catholics last week. The new pope identified himself as Robert Prevost, saying he wished to change the phone number and address that the bank had on file. The Pope answered the security questions correctly. Then the woman on the line for the bank told him that it wasn't enough he would have to come to the branch in person, he said. Well, I'm not going to be able to do that, Father McCarthy said in a video clip shared on social media. The Pope tried a different tack. Would it matter to you if I told you I'm Pope Leo? He asked. According to Father McCarthy. She hung up. Tremendous. Just tremendous. From Paulie Coconuts Dear Dr. Hopwaff, on the general topic of Paulies from New Jersey, Number one, Paulie Walnuts. Number two, Paulie Coconuts. That's it. That's the list. Forget about it. From Joe in Greensboro Once I was in a band with four other Joes. Our name was the Michaels. That's funny. Brett Hobbs1t bred Hobbs, Linton, Indiana I recently did discovered the cancel serious technique as well, but I already knew there was another step to getting a lower rate. I would tell the AI bot that I wanted to cancel and would offer me a reduced rate of $8 per month, but I still felt that was too much so I went ahead and canceled completely. About two weeks later I received an offer in the mail to Resubscribe at 599 per month on a one year contract. That's the one I signed up for. So if you're willing to take that extra step, save even more money with Sirius. I was stupid. I took the original deal.

[Nigel]

Yeah, you went too stupid.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Also, just for FYI, my T Mobile 2 line cell phone monthly bill is $70, that is taxes included and a complimentary year of MLB TV. Also my Comcast Internet bill is $69. These Comcast to stream what I want to see and I use an antenna for any broadcast sports I want. Why am I so dumb?

[Nigel]

T Mobile sounds like the way yeah,

[Tony Kornheiser]

well I've heard that also, you know. And I got Derek west helping me. Except I don't understand all of it. There's another one here. My name is Christian Everhart, I'm 13 years old. I'm writing to you from St. Michael's Maryland. I've been there. I'm currently stuck in the back of my dad's car, likely headed over the Bay Bridge, which I know is your personal nightmare. Listening to the latest show. My dad absolutely loves the podcast, so I'm still trying to figure out if your struggle to call Amazon or your AT&T bill rants are meant to be a master class in broadcasting or just a warning from my future. I'm actually starting my own podcast. I've decided to model it after yours since you are clearly the best. I figure if I can master the art of complaining about the price of crab cakes, Buster Olney's potatoes, and the true origin of a Lilly Hammer jacket, I might eventually get people to send me free ice cream and golf shirts just to keep me quiet. I promise that when my show hits it big, I'll never refer to you as pal, buddy, or Chief. I'll also make sure my car is cleaner than Wil Bonzo. From what I hear, that isn't saying much. Hope Chessy is feeling better and you finally sorted out your cable problems. Stay safe and if you're on your bike to tonight, do wear white Christian Eberhard St. Michael's Merrill, which I'm Sure. A little help from his dad maybe? Maybe I'm going to take a show.

[Michael Wilbon]

We trust the kids.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know. He gets it from Tim 003 in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, May 22 from 6 to 10pm I will be hosting the 5th annual party on Parkway. What started years ago as a small block party has officially grown into community event that is testing my ability to manage it. We have live music featuring local musicians, Jill Miglick and the band, double secret probation, Great food, even better company. But I'm reaching out to you with an offer I don't believe you can refuse. It has come to my attention that a few of our elderly neighbors have asked that the kids stay off their lawns during the party for safety reasons. A request such as this calls for a seasoned professional. Can you help us, Grandpa Tony? I will provide a folding chair, a clear line of sight and a steady pour of Johnnie Walker Blue in exchange for you occasionally screaming get off my lawn. At the neighborhood kids. Sure, they've never seen you before, but being yelled at by a strange orange man will only add to the magic of the evening. As a bonus, I'll even throw in a premium parking pass for you at Stevenson Elementary School just feet from the party entrance. Feel free to bring along Michael, Nigel and any other Columbus Littles you pick up along the way. Many thanks and be curious. Tim Ratterstorff raiderstorf I'm sorry. Raederstorff Columbus, Ohio Michael, if you RSVP yes, be sure to sign up to bring the egg salad sandwiches. Matt Quigley in Galloway, New Jersey, not Galway Galloway was listening to you in Buster on Wednesday show about preparing your potatoes for the season. You seem to have a little confusion about the eyes or sprouts of the potato. Please allow me to provide a little clarification to assist you on your potato journey. If you're buying seed potatoes, the eyes should be already developed and those potatoes are ready to plant. If you're buying regular potatoes and waiting for the eyes to sprout, may I recommend wrapping your potatoes in a damp cloth or paper towel and storing them in a warm, dark place as the moisture and humidity will accelerate the growth of the sprouts. After you have a decent number of sprouts or eyes on your potato, simply cut down your potatoes so that you have two or three sprouts on each piece and plant away. If you need further tips, I'm more than happy to send my forward my previous email on potato gardening. Just let me know. Isn't that nice? That is nice. Yes if your potato crop goes well this year, may I upgrade my credentials to include the South Jersey potato farm farmer of the show, in addition to the South Jersey restaurant consultant? Gonna keep that? It's in the special pile. Yes. Kyle Pownall. Give that to Michael so he gets that Kyle. Panel on Macon, Georgia. Tony, I assume you remember Mason Howell from Brookwood High School in Thomasville, Georgia. If you need a reminder, he was teeing it up at the masters with Rory McElroy. A couple of weeks ago, my club in Macon, Georgia, Brickyard hosted the state finals for his high school. Here is how his match went. After 11 holes, Thomas Sams and Mason Howell were tied for first place at 6 under. Thomas pushed Mason all day. Mason birdie 12 and 13, so Thomas was down two going into 17. Thomas put his approach within 8ft and birdied the hole while Mason settled for par going into number 18. Thomas was only one shot behind Mason. His tee shot landed under an oak tree on the right side of the fairway. So Thomas had to keep his approach shot under the tree and hopefully land on the green. He pulled his driver out successfully, went through the right side bunker and landed a few feet off the green. With yet another chance to catch Mason, Mason's approach barely made it to the left fringe of the green. Thomas chipped in for an eagle and was then in the lead with a round of 64. Howell then putted from the fringe of the green at 22ft. It also went in for an eagle and a round of 63 to successfully defend his state title. Of course, if you and Michael happen to be in Macon, me and fellow Little Rick Devins. Is he from Macon, Georgia? That's right, yes. So yeah, would love to host you for a round. That's cool.

[Nigel]

Isn't that great?

[Tony Kornheiser]

64 and 63. Come on now. Tony Beeson, a dear friend of mine, reached out the other night and offered to take my wife Linda and I to a dinner event this Friday evening which will feature his former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy and his lovely wife Lauren as guest speakers. I'm not sure that I've ever shared this before, but in a roundabout way, Coach Tony Dungy has a connection to this show. A few years ago, it was my great honor to spend an entire afternoon working at a charity event in Indianapolis alongside Coach Dungy. He is absolutely a wonderful human being and a proud owner of a piano. For you. See, I was able to relate the whole I have a piano story to him. And when we party, someone brought up a picture that was taken of the two of us working the event. I asked him to sign it. And as you see, because he enclosed it, it's fabulous.

[Molly McFall]

That's great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

As you see, Coach Dungy personalized it in his humorous way. It occurs to me that between the three of us Tonys, we have a doctoral degree, a Super bowl ring, and not one, not two, but three pianos. It says to Tony, I have a piano. God bless Tony Dungy. That's just tremendous.

[Molly McFall]

Oh, that's great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just tremendous. Should I read one more?

[Barry Svrluga]

Yeah, sure, read one more.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Read one more.

[Nigel]

I'll go to the bottom of the

[Tony Kornheiser]

pile, then go to the bottom of the pile and I'll just save these for the next. Yeah. Oh, the bottom of the pile is always hard. Okay, here we go. From Mark lynch in Upper Camby, Indiana. You read an email recently from Paul in Upper Arlington, Ohio. So now towns are adding upper to their names. I assume this is more pretentious than North Arlington, Ohio would be. Yeah.

[Nigel]

Where does he sign it?

[Tony Kornheiser]

He signs it Upper Camby, Indiana. Just makes me think of North Scottsdale, where the weather is so much different than Scottsdale. If you're out on your bike, tie. Everyone is always to wear white.

[Barry Svrluga]

Later, he gets the rebound, passes it to the man, shoots it, and boom goes the dynamite.

[Molly McFall]

Hello, Mother, it's me. All too long ago you left our earthly presence. I miss our late night chats as you pretended you were asleep. I still pick up the phone thinking you would love this story Then sadly put it down when I remember you're not here. So many things have changed since we shared our favorite stories. So many things have changed since we heard each other speak along my lifelong journey. There's so much I wanna tell you still can't believe you're gone but your spirit's flying free. What, what does mother say when she looks down here from heaven? Does she gather all the angels that she checks in on my life? And what does mother say when she looks down here from heaven? All the things you're missing are not being miss at all. Watched a lot of sports. You were the world's biggest Cubs fan. Every year was gonna be be the year they won it all when they finally took the pen and I just knew that you were watching so I bought a brick at Wrigley. I displayed it at their wall. What does mother say when she looks down here from heaven? Does she gather all the angels as she checks in on my life? And what what does mother say when she looks down here from heaven? All the things you're missing Are not being missed at all. You were there when I had kids. Now I have grandchildren. The joy they bring reminds me of the good times that we had. As I reach my later years, I hope you gain your knowledge. Be loving and be patient. Take the good with the bad. And what does mother say when she looks down here from heaven? Does she gather all the angels as she checks in on my life? And what does mother say when when she looks down here from heaven? All the things you're missing are not being missed at all. What would mother say to her family and her friends? Everything's all right we'll be together once again I wanted you to know these things but you only ready.

[Sam]

Would someone tell me what I'm turning into the ones I loved before you might correct me maybe it was wrong but it felt like it for sure. Need an answer so I listen to songs I don't know the words do yet find it helps to write the titles down that way you know you won't forget. The mess Str my headphones on paper with titles in my hand saving the se for anyone extra headphones in the sun Wants to help me understand. Someone tell me what I'm turning into the ones I adored before maybe the answer simple you can write this time sometimes you should learn to lock the door. Still need an answer so I relive the past Cause it's just so easy you should see me losing my mind completely searching for him under bridges thinking I found a hidden in the graffiti you see me is all right. Be for anyone with extra wants to help me understand Or I'm turning into someone who's forgetting how to feel and turning into someone who feels it's wrong to feel. And I won't on the way no no no no no Long as I'm on my way home. Sam.