Loading summary
Transcript218 lines
- [00:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll talk with Barry Zverluga about the Gnats firing Davey Martinez and Mike Rizzo. We'll talk some more about that with Michael Wilbon. And we'll talk to Jeremy Shap about Joey Chestnut's triumphant return to the July 4th Coney island hot dog eating contest. But first, commerce.
- [00:17]
Michael Wilbon
Oh, hey. Hey.
- [00:18]
Jeremy Shap
Thanks for meeting me here. It's just you're my only lawyer friend and I need your professional opinion. You see that brand new Hyundai Tucson out there? That's all I paid for it.
- [00:26]
Barry Zverluga
Ah, let me get back to you on that deal. So right it almost feels wrong. At the Hyundai Getaway sales event, get 0% APR for 60 months plus 0 payments for 90 days on all Hyundai Santa Fe models. And check out our other great deals at your Hyundai dealer today. Offer ends September 2nd. Call 562-314-4603 for details. Shop 4th of July Savings at the Home Depot right now and get up to 40% off plus up to an extra $600 off select appliances with free delivery like Samsung. From all in one washer dryers to refrigerators, upgrade to tech you can trust with Samsung appliances. The Home Depot has what you need to simplify your routine. Don't miss 4th of July appliance savings at the Home Depot. Free delivery on appliance purchases of $396 or more. Offer valid June 18 through July 9, US only. See store or online for details.
- [01:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [01:23]
Michael Wilbon
John played tennis, but he followed the season.
- [01:27]
Mary Carrillo
You know, he played baseball in the.
- [01:28]
Michael Wilbon
Spring, he played football in the fall, he played soccer, he played basketball. You know, he didn't dedicate himself to tennis until he was a high ranking junior.
- [01:37]
Mary Carrillo
I mean, that's how damn good he was.
- [01:39]
Michael Wilbon
It was extremely annoying.
- [01:46]
Tony Kornheiser
The Tony Kornheiser show is on now. That's from the July 4th show that we did. That's Mary Carrillo. Mary Carrillo and Anne Hornaday. What a delightful show that was. What a good holiday summer show that was. This show is different. We are guest loaded in this show because we had for this show, for this podcast, because of where I live and because of what I do watching the Washington Nationals so often. I'm not saying this is the number one story in the country in sports that the Nationals fired their longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and their relatively long time field manager Davey Martinez. I don't think nationally it's as big a story as that soccer game, which I didn't Watch or some of the other things that went on in baseball. But for where I live and what I do, it's the biggest story in front of me. Barry Zvaluga is on A one in the Washington Post with a column that doesn't happen all the time, really doesn't. And he had to weigh in right away. And I will say that Barry and I talked about just a couple of days ago and one of the things I had said was, because I've been saying this for a couple of weeks, is David going to survive? Is what's going to happen here? Because it looked like, and I'm going to use this word advisedly, they have cratered kids. They left 15 on base yesterday. That's awful. They're starting pitchers no matter who they are, other than Gore can't get out of the first inning without giving up on a boater runs. Their bullpen is awful. And they're hitting is nondescript other than James Wood is nondescript. So Barry's going to have to have to answer. But this is what a columnist considers when you sit down to write this column. There are basically two questions. One is, is the firing at this time deserved? And two is who? What is the proportion of blame among the field manager, the general manager and the owners who do not spend money on this stuff? So, you know, the questions you had to answer them go.
- [03:57]
Unnamed Analyst
So the first one, is it justified? It is justified. And I think when you and I talked, obviously these issues had been swirling in my head, not just last week or last month, but really going into the year. Like, what is the future here? Yes, it feels kind of stale. So, yeah. Were fans calling for Dave Martinez's firing? They were. And what I couldn't do was get to a point where I thought Mike Rizzo firing Dave Martinez was a move, an appropriate move that would improve the franchise in a measurable way. Because you draw a line from Dave Martinez and the lack of improvement of major leaguers on the field. 2nd worst record in the National League behind only Colorado. But you draw that line right to Mike Rizzo, who came here in 2006, became the GM in the spring of 2009, had a great run from 2012-19 when they not only, you know, won a World Series, but won more games than any team. But the Dodgers over that eight year span, like, that's a good run with good players backed by ownership, but also smart trades and impact players through the draft and through international signings that stopped in 2020. They tried to put the band back Together, Covid hit. They had a poor season, poor shortened season. And since then, only Colorado has lost more games. So when you're portioning out blame, I think the product you see on a nightly basis, players making the same mistakes, running into outs on the bases. That's Dave Martinez. Right. Whatever percentage you put that at, and I'd put it at 15 or something, the lack of impact players drafted and developed, that's squarely on Rizzo, and that's a decade lost where they really have not drafted players since Anthony Rendon in 2012 that have either positively impacted their own major league roster or have been used in. In big trades. There are some exceptions. They. They drafted Lucas Giolito. He became Adam Eaton their right fielder on the World Series.
- [06:09]
Tony Kornheiser
He won a World Series that way.
- [06:11]
Unnamed Analyst
Yeah, we can, we can parse all of that, but by and large, that record was not good. But the line you do draw and the largest portion of the blame, and this, this has been. I think what I told you the other day, Tony, is right. Like both can be true. Does Rizzo and his draft and development operation deserve blame? Yes. But does the ownership group of the Lerner family, who lost the patriarch Ted Lerner, the guiding light for all of them in 2023, did they deserve the lion's share of the blame? And I think they do. And that's not just in spending on the major league roster, which they haven't since they won the World Series, but it's also in spending and support and research and development and technology and all the stuff that has become standard in the major leagues that Mike Rizzo and his staff would tell you they just don't have access to. So I think it leads to hard questions for whoever is trying to step into that chair, whether it's interim, internal, or. I think they really need to cast a wide net. And if they really care, they have to consider who are the best and brightest out there and listen to them honestly and with open ears and open eyes about the state of their franchise, what is lacking, what resources are needed, and assess it that way. If they just don't do a full interview process and bump up Mike DeBartolo, who's a capable executive and cares a lot, who's taking the chair on an interim basis, then it shows that they're not invested in the ways that I always say they have to be, which is not just financially, but emotionally and with their time.
- [07:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I agree with all of that. And when you say that two things or three things or four things can be true, I believe they. It's not that they had to do this. This is absolutely justified doing it when they did it because the team has cratered. The series against Boston was just awful, awful beyond words. But I don't think it solves anything this year. I mean, this year is gone. And if I ran the team and nobody's asked me to run the team, but you might feel the same way. Brady House and Hassle, they play every day. When Cruz gets off this around. When Dylan Cruz gets off this around the world boat that he's been on for two months, they didn't even know he'd be out for a game. He's out for two months. He has to play every single day. Wood has to play every single day. I guess Ruiz has to play every single day or you have to get rid of him because he started this season great and he hasn't done anything in anything in three months, three and a half months or something like that. And I'm wondering, do you agree with that, that you must, I think you must make a commitment to all of these people in your farm system to see. Because at the end of this year you have to reevaluate everything.
- [09:08]
Michael Wilbon
Sure.
- [09:09]
Unnamed Analyst
And I think that first of all, let me just say about the Boston series, that of course was dreadful and they got swept and it leads to this decision. But it's a symptom, not the disease. The disease is much more, there's much more rot under the surface here. And it just. The poor play at the major league level is an excuse to pull the trigger. A trigger that, you know, the time, the time was right, whether they had swept Boston or been swept by Boston. About the kids, I mean, I definitely agree with you. Obviously James Wood is playing every day and how since he's been up is. Is mostly at third. And I think Cruz will be an everyday player when he comes back from his, his injury. I do think when it gets to the, you know, Robert Hassell level where you're fringy, are you ready? Are you not? You have to be. And this is. Regardless of who is running the show, you have to be careful about a player's proper amount of development in the Miners and are they ready to handle. Are you just exposing them at a too early time? And so I'm not saying, I think overall your statement is right. Let's see what we have here. But I don't think you want to do damage to what you have there if the player is not ready. So that's, you know, there's major Major things ahead for the staff that remains, led by Mike DeBartolo, who started there as an intern in 2012. The draft in which they have the first overall pick is tomorrow night before the All Star. So who's making that pick? I mean, I talked to Rizzo the other day. I was at the park, and, you know, he came up as a scout. He was a scouting director. He came here as a scouting director. That's his game. He had seen about a dozen players that would have been candidates for the top pick in the draft. There's no clear Steven Strasberg, Bryce Harper character at the top of the draft this year. It's. It's a, you know, personal preference type of thing. But he was saying it was on his scouting department, who had seen players many, many more times. So it'd be very interesting what changes Mike DeBartolo makes, if any, to the process in which they're, you know, they're going to. They're going to make a pick that has to work. You can't miss at 11 when you're in a position in which you've lost more games than all but one team over the last six seasons.
- [11:28]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. So it gets to another thing, too, where you. When you go to assign blame, the pitchers don't get better, they get worse. The hitters don't get better, they get worse. Mike Maddox used to be the pitching coach. Kevin Long used to be the hitting coach. It just feels like the coaching staff that Davey had assembled, that they're just not up. They were not up to it. Nobody got better.
- [11:53]
Michael Wilbon
That's.
- [11:53]
Unnamed Analyst
That's correct. And that's where the Dave Martinez blame lies not only in himself and managing and not really figuring out how to work his bullpen or protect or put players in the best position to succeed with, you know, minimal talent, obviously, but. But also surrounding himself with guys who are essentially his friends that. That he would have a tough time firing. That's not the way to assemble a major league or professional coaching staff in any sport. You don't just have your guys. You figure out who the best people are, and if they're not doing the job despite hard work, then. Then you move on. And I think that's where this thing, Tony, is very much like you're. You start pulling a thread and you say, oh, I want to fire Darnell Coles the hitting coach, or I want to fire Jim Hickey the pitching coach. And you pull on that and you think, well, Dave Martinez put those people in position. He hasn't helped them Improve. Okay, I'm going to fire Dave Martinez. Well, Mike Rizzo is overseeing Dave Martinez since they hired him before the 2008. It starts to unravel, and now the only way so that you've pulled that string that leads to ownership. You can't fire ownership. So what you have to do is put pressure on ownership to say, we know you wanted to sell. You took the team off the market. You've kind of just been status quo since. Are you going to actively engage in improving this team and put in the time and energy that it will take to find the proper people to run it going forward, or are you just going to kind of manage it into the dirt and let it fall even further than it has? Which. You know, these things are civic trusts, Tony. It's not like running a mall like you. There are people who care very much about the direction of their major league team. And you can't have stewards that treat it like no piece of real estate property.
- [13:53]
Tony Kornheiser
You can't have landlords. It's got to be deeper than landlords. You have to have people involved on the block. You know, you have to care about everybody on the block, and you're not just a landlord. Did you sense. Did you sense when Davey defended all the coaches and seemed to attack the players, did you sense that this was the next move and that it was close, if not imminent?
- [14:17]
Mary Carrillo
You know, I didn't.
- [14:19]
Unnamed Analyst
I'll say I played both sides of that coins against. I didn't. I did because it sounded like he was desperate and he was defensive and that's not who he is. He's a very positive person. And, you know, they really did win the World Series behind his, you know, let's go one and oh, today thing. After a slow start, like, he has very effective qualities and that was uncharacteristic in turning it around and clearly pointing blame on players that he was supposed to be responsible for developing. But the way I didn't sense that it was going to happen and the reason why, even though the numbers and the data would tell you this is a reasonable move, that I didn't think it was going to happen or that I was surprised that it happened last night, is because doing this requires the learners to make a hard decision. It requires them to think about what direction they want this thing to go. The easy thing for them to do would be to keep Mike Rizzo, to keep Dave Martinez, say they want a World Series together, say they can do it again and they don't have to think about it as it Peters out in front of them. So doing this shows me that they care to a degree, that they care. Found these results to be unacceptable, that they saw what everybody else saw, but now they have the big move ahead, and this will be a bigger indication of what direction are we going here. Like, are we really casting a wide net? Are we listening to different perspectives? Are we investing in, as I said before, not just major league free agents, but people in the front office, data research, all the stuff that modern front offices do. Are we doing that? If they're not doing that, then we're just shuffling deck chairs, right?
- [16:02]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [16:02]
Unnamed Analyst
It's not agreed. But if. But if they do it, it's a good indication that they're in.
- [16:05]
Tony Kornheiser
That's agreed. I'm going to get into an area I know nothing about. Now I'm just warning people I'm an idiot on this. But to me, in the way that the Washington football team reached out, for example, to a guy like Bob Myers, who had been the general manager of the Golden State Warriors, a different discipline to talk to him, to find out what he thought about stuff. To me, there's one. You call Theo Epstein. You're Mark Lerner. You call Theo Epstein. You say, can we have dinner? Would you just tell me what you see, you know, and tell me who's out there? I mean, you go to somebody not in your organization at all who has a certain knowledge of what it takes to run a baseball team. Would you do that, or am I just nuts saying that?
- [16:50]
Unnamed Analyst
No, no, no, you're not nuts at all. I mean, I think Theo is back in an ownership group with Boston, so I think he'd probably be not.
- [16:57]
Tony Kornheiser
So he recuses, but he gives you someone else.
- [16:59]
Unnamed Analyst
Yes, you. I think you're exactly right. And that's kind of what I'm talking about in terms of investing time and emotion into this thing. Like, please ask for different perspectives you have on this team since 2006. You hired Mike Rizzo in August of 2006. You had him as your general manager.
- [17:20]
Tony Kornheiser
Good. General manager.
- [17:22]
Unnamed Analyst
Great, great run.
- [17:23]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [17:23]
Unnamed Analyst
And now you're really doing something for the first time, because when they fired Jim Bowden in a controversy in 2009, they did do interviews, and they ended up with Rizzo keeping Rizzo, who was already on hand. And that worked out for. For a long stretch. But really, certainly since Ted Lerner passed away a couple of years ago, they haven't had a decision of this magnitude to make. So how do they do it? Who do they. I think your thought is exactly Right. Talk to as many people as possible. And I'll say I've talked to and heard from by text, lots of execs and you know, Even in the 12 or 14 hours since this news broke, like asking about the job, asking about the family, wondering about things like, and you know, Tony, baseball, general managers and front office people don't only know their own franchise, they know the other franchises because they have to know who are our trade targets, what do they, you know.
- [18:22]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah.
- [18:22]
Unnamed Analyst
So there's deep knowledge out there, outside perspectives on your own operation. Please go get them.
- [18:29]
Tony Kornheiser
Agreed. Agreed. Thanks for coming on the show and good job. Good job.
- [18:33]
Unnamed Analyst
Thanks. Appreciate it.
- [18:34]
Tony Kornheiser
Barry's for Luga boys and girls, we will take a break. Michael Wilbon will join us when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [18:42]
Barry Zverluga
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [18:46]
Tony Kornheiser
There are few things more exciting in the world of sports than 100 meter dash and nobody was better than Usain Bolt. He had game changing speed because speed like that doesn't give the competition a chance to catch up. He was looking back at people. He never even ran hard in the last 10 meters. He was that far ahead. That's exactly what makes it so unforgettable. In business, speed matters just as much. When a big opportunity pops up or an unexpected problem shows up. You've got to be able to act fast. And that's why revenue exists. Revenue gives small business owners access to fast, flexible funding so you're not waiting on slow traditional lenders while the moment passes you by. You can get approved based on your revenue, not your credit score, and have up to $250,000 in your hands as soon as one business day. Only need part of that. No problem with the Revenue flex line. You draw only what you need when you need it and pay only for what you use. No applications, maintenance or draw Feees. More than 10,000 business owners are already using Revenue and the Five Star Trust pilot reviews speak for themselves. Apply now@use revenue.com that's use revenue with a D dot com. Apply today and be ready for whatever comes next. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. You've heard me talk about collars and company makers of the amazing dress collar polo. Well, now they've taken things to the next level with their brand new maverick performance blazer. And you have to check this out. These blazers are sharp, perfect for travel. Why? Because they're wrinkle resistant. Just throw it in your bag. When you get to your destination, slip it back on no wrinkles, no stress. Finally, no more figuring out how to travel with a blazer. And it's not just about convenience. The Mavic Performance blazer is made with stretch fabric so you can move comfortably all day long. Plus, it's packed with smart features, inside security zip pockets, a built in optional pocket square, and even a sunglasses loop. While you're at it, pair the blazer with The Collars & Co. Famous Dress Collar Polos. They've already sold over a million of these comfortable polos with the signature dress collar on top. So Visit Collars & Co. And use the promo code Tony for 20% off today. Use the code people that should send me one of these. Yeah, I'd like to see this. A non wrinkle blazer. Yeah, because then I don't have to carry a steamer around with me all the time.
- [21:06]
Barry Zverluga
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [21:11]
Tony Kornheiser
This is Tim Roberts. This is sent to us by Mark Snyder in Boise, Idaho. Writes, I'm thrilled to submit two instrumental songs written and performed by my brother in law, Tim Roberts. Tim recently retired after a career teaching guitar and music at Ohlone College in the San Francisco Bay Area. A longtime player, composer and educator, Tim wrote, recorded and produced his latest album, his 6 Sweet Home California, a collection of original country rock tunes. He's also active in the Bay Area music scene, playing as a freelance guitarist who performs with touring musicals and local orchestras in the region. Also plays mandolin and banjo. This is Tim Roberts playing Sweet Home California, not Sweet Home Alabama. Sweet Home California. And it plays in Michael Wilbon. And there was a million things that Wilbon and I were going to talk about until the Nats fired Davey Martinez and the general manager, Mike Rizzo, who you are pals with. Right. You know Rizzo pretty well, reasonably well.
- [22:08]
Mary Carrillo
And, you know, fellow Chicago boy. We're about the same age. I may be a year or so older.
- [22:14]
Tony Kornheiser
Right.
- [22:15]
Mary Carrillo
But certainly have enjoyed him being in town and rooted for, you know, him. I mean, some of these, these, these things get personal with teams and who's running them and who's working for them. And of course, the manager come over from the championship Cubs team in 16 to work in Washington. So, yes, running for both of them was easy for me.
- [22:38]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes, I believe that it is. They had a great run and they won a world championship and then it went steadily downhill and they had the worst record in all of baseball other than Colorado for the last six years. So, you know, if I have to use a word like justified, it's okay. You Would say, yeah, they had a long, you know, everybody gets fired. And they had a long standing run and they did a. They did a good job. So I'm not particularly upset. What are your thoughts on it?
- [23:06]
Mary Carrillo
Well, I understand it's been a while. I look at it a little differently in that, you know, it's interesting, Tony, following Rizzo's career, which also includes stops in a couple of places I call home, the first one is both our homes. Chicago. Mike, Catholic schoolboy in Chicago, just like I was. And he, he signed a guy for the White Sox. When he worked at the White Sox early in his career, he signed a guy named Frank Thomas. Yeah, that would be. That would be the best player in the history, in the 140 year history of the Chicago White Sox. Mike Rizzo signed that guy and then, you know, he worked in Arizona with the Diamondbacks and I know was credited with, you know, a long way going a long way toward having a roster that while not. It's a big market, I mean, you know, Phoenix is the fourth biggest city, fifth biggest city in America. People back east don't usually know or understand that. And they think of it as a small market. No, it's much bigger than places like Washington or Boston. It's a big market, but it didn't spend like that. But Rizzo scouted like that. Scouting is what he did, is what his dad did. I think it's what his grandfather did, if I remember correctly. And that's what that was at the center of what Mike did and did. You know very well. I don't follow the Nationals day in, day out. I pay attention because I've lived there. I. To me, it was like, okay, there's a difference between who you keep and who was brought in. And the Nationals have some. They got some players brought in. Because as I look around the league, even now, I watch a lot of baseball last summer when the Cubs got to be relevant.
- [24:59]
Tony Kornheiser
Cubs are good.
- [25:00]
Mary Carrillo
I watch every night now.
- [25:01]
Tony Kornheiser
Cubs built, rebuilt, on the fly. They're good.
- [25:04]
Mary Carrillo
And by the way, if we weren't going to have. We had King Theo. So I wouldn't replace Theo Epstein with anybody. But if we didn't have Theo Epstein during that period, I would love to have had Mike Rizzo. And I'm just looking at the, I'm just looking around, I see the players that people go, oh, yeah, he was the Nationals. This guy came up with the Nationals and the farm system. The same thing happened in Arizona. And that's Mike Rizzo. So I hear you. I hear You. And by the way, everything does run its course.
- [25:33]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [25:34]
Mary Carrillo
What was. I read Mike's quote saying, the sun's gonna go tomorrow.
- [25:39]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes.
- [25:40]
Mary Carrillo
You know, this is a great run. And he handled it with aplomb. And I get it. And yes, even successful people, teams have to keep winning or you're gonna look for a new solution that I get.
- [25:55]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. So, I mean, yeah, we're in agreement on that. I'll get to the golf tournament. But we have to talk about the philosophical thing that bothered me the other day. I was watching. I landed on the prefontaine track and field tournament at the University of Oregon, and I realized how much I love track and field. And I love track and field for the same reason you do, because whoever breaks the tape, there's no judge, there's no ambiguity. You break the tape, you win the race. It's as simple as that. And you know the words that sound alike, Dearth and death. There is a dearth of track and field in the United States, and it's a death of a sport. I understand why boxing died. I get that. I understand the social implications. I understand why horse racing died. You can bet on anything, you know, and they're horses. You can't talk to them, so there's no human interest story. But I don't understand why track and field died, do you?
- [26:52]
Mary Carrillo
Well, it's not dead during the Olympic summers. I mean, I watch so much track and field because they can get rid of the swimming. I get tired of it. I get tired of 140 races in the. You know, I do. And so to me, the Olympics start when track and field starts. And like that first Friday or whatever it is. And I love it. But, you know, Tony, things come and go, and that's just, you know, that's the evolution that we have. And so things come and go. Baseball, Baseball is not. Doesn't have the popularity to hold an America it once had.
- [27:36]
Tony Kornheiser
Does not.
- [27:37]
Mary Carrillo
You mention boxing when. Horse racing. Because the three biggest things for 75 years were baseball, boxing, and horse racing. And now, okay, so they come and go.
- [27:48]
Michael Wilbon
Football.
- [27:49]
Mary Carrillo
Sometimes I explain to Matthew, football became something glamorous in the 1970s. 70s, and I don't know, maybe it'll hold on you know, for another 75 years. Maybe it won't. I don't know. And so the coolest people are the ones that are celebrated. And right now in America, that's in America, it's football and basketball. Basketball. And so far, it doesn't mean it's going to stay that way forever. And track and field doesn't seem to have that now. It had it with Usain Bolt. It had it with Usain Bolt. I got on a plane and took my family to Europe to see Usain Bolt. Okay, so you talk about somebody appreciating track and field. And I remember running into Mo Green on the way to see Usain Bolton, stopping and talking to Mo Green and selling. Matthew, this is one of the great athletes you'll ever meet in your life. And so I wanted to raise a kid who had some appreciation for track and field. And you know, it will be again, Tony, in a couple of summers. It'll be hot for a month.
- [29:00]
Tony Kornheiser
It'll be just be hot for a month.
- [29:02]
Mary Carrillo
Yeah, just. It won't be. And I don't know how long that's going to last and maybe not in our lifetimes will we see it return to any sort of full time prominence. But I'm like you, I love watching it.
- [29:15]
Tony Kornheiser
I watched 1500, the women's 1500 meter world record was broken at that meet and I was thrilled by that. I was just so excited to see that, you know, world records going.
- [29:28]
Mary Carrillo
And I don't know, you know, I'll watch it again, I'll watch it again. I haven't got. I did. I haven't done it this summer and there's more to come because I'm locked and so, you know, obsessively locked into the Cubs. And I have added something in my own life evolves. You know, 20 years ago you'd be hard pressed to get me to watch a soccer game that I didn't have to cover for The Washington Post 30 years ago, 40 years ago, now I do. I sat and watched Real Madrid and Dortmund on Saturday. A game that my son, my 17 year old son got on the Acela train and went to see in East Rutherford. So my own life has evolved where these are events I did not pay any attention to even 15 years ago.
- [30:15]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I guess I quibble with the word evolved because to me evolved means getting better. I just think your life changes. I think there's certain things that fall in and out of fashion, you know what I mean?
- [30:27]
Mary Carrillo
And, and that's what I could evolve means change to me. Oh, okay. And by the way, better is just qualitative judgment per person.
- [30:38]
Tony Kornheiser
Sure, sure. Everybody, everybody would view that differently. So let me get to the golf tournament because pleases me that you are so angry that a kid from the University of Illinois won in the playoff.
- [30:49]
Mary Carrillo
Go ahead, tell people that I can't go too Far with that, considering. I'm pretty certain Mike Rizzo's a University of Illinois guy. Northwestern and University of Illinois, if we got rivals, that's who it is. And Northwestern's golf program is really, really good, men and women. The women just won something called the NCAA Championship. Thank you. Pat Goss, our director of golf for men and women. And the coaches are men. And we have to go against the University of Illinois program, coached by Mike Smalls, that is thought to be, you know, at times, he's thought to be the best in the business. And he produces people in Champaign, Illinois, Not Scottsdale, Arizona, not Gainesville, Florida. Champaign, Illinois.
- [31:39]
Tony Kornheiser
Where it gets cold.
- [31:41]
Mary Carrillo
It gets cold and stays cold. And yesterday we got man Lipski.
- [31:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. David lipsky, who eagled 17, Eagle 17 to get to a tie.
- [31:52]
Mary Carrillo
It's going to be a playoff 18 under. And he could win it with birdie 18, which was not, you know, unheard of.
- [31:59]
Tony Kornheiser
No. And he jacked the drive so far left.
- [32:01]
Mary Carrillo
He pulled a drive left. And I was in despair because I was on the phone with you when he. When he. He shot on 18, I was in despair. And David Lipsky is just, you know, I met him a couple of times. Just a fine man. I call him a kid because he's 36 years old, and to me, he's a kid. He won a Big Ten championship, I think, in 2010. Big Ten championship. And so I was rooting for him loudly and passionately. And so when he jacked that drive left, I was in a little despair, as you know, some words come out of my mouth, and then to have to lose to an Illinois kid, I.
- [32:42]
Tony Kornheiser
Just like, no, the Illinois kid made a great second shot on the first playoff.
- [32:47]
Mary Carrillo
Great second shot. And I do at times. Look, I grew up with Illinois kids. If I hadn't gone to Northwestern, I'd have been in Illinois. So I. You know, I don't. The rivalry can only go so far. But like I said, Rizzo. I'm pretty sure. I gotta check Rizzo with the University of Illinois, I'm almost certain. And so anyway, and then I thought, I'm gonna be in a really bad mood because. Cubs, Cardinals starts in a few minutes.
- [33:14]
Tony Kornheiser
That was a good game.
- [33:16]
Mary Carrillo
Well, it wasn't a game when much of a game. 11. Nothing. I was thrilled with the result.
- [33:21]
Tony Kornheiser
I liked it. I liked. I finally got to hear Pete Crowe. Armstrong. I got to hear him talk. I really. I enjoyed it. I thought it was good.
- [33:29]
Mary Carrillo
You did?
- [33:29]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [33:30]
Mary Carrillo
You know, mvp, as we like to call him. Households, they're good. They, you know, did beat the Cardinals two out of three after splitting with the Cardinals in a four game series in, in St. Louis. I can't ask for much more than that.
- [33:45]
Tony Kornheiser
No.
- [33:45]
Mary Carrillo
And a team in which, you know, the All Star teams are now announced and we got a guy leading Major League baseball in RBI runs batted in. Not. Not Aaron Judge. No, not Shohei Otani. Okay. That would be Fayette Suzuki leading start, not starting. He's leading the league. I think he's got 77 runs back and he's not. His career high 74 and he's not on the damn team.
- [34:13]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I hope we don't get.
- [34:15]
Mary Carrillo
I want that to be fuel for the whole summer.
- [34:18]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I hope we don't get bogged down in All Star snubs. Because the snubs take place is the stupid rule that says every team has to have one All Star. It's a stupid rule. I mean, if you eliminate that, you go on merit. You know, it just. Yeah, and there's always going to be a snub. It's like the team that says, oh, we should have gotten into the NCAA. We're the 69th best team in America. Shut up. Leave me alone.
- [34:43]
Mary Carrillo
Yeah, but you know, yes, you're right, but this guy's not 69. He's.
- [34:47]
Tony Kornheiser
No, he should been on.
- [34:49]
Mary Carrillo
He's first.
- [34:50]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, he's first in rbi. I don't know how you lead that.
- [34:52]
Michael Wilbon
Guy off for a team.
- [34:53]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't know.
- [34:54]
Mary Carrillo
For a team that has the biggest run differential in baseball.
- [34:57]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, just, it's. That's crazy. All right, you know, I'll talk to you later.
- [35:01]
Mary Carrillo
All right.
- [35:02]
Tony Kornheiser
Tom Michael Wilbon, boys and girls. We'll take a break. Jeremy Shap will join us when we return. We're going to talk once again, as we did last year, about the hot dog eating contest on Coney island, which I can't. I can't deal with. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [35:21]
Jeremy Shap
On WhatsApp, no one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay between you, your friends and your family. No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride, is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm personal price plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
- [36:17]
Barry Zverluga
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [36:25]
Tony Kornheiser
This is once again Tim Roberts. And this is an instrumental. Nobody's singing on this. By definition of an instrumental, this is called Radio Cat. Michael. If people like Tim Roberts want to send in their original music so we can play it for people, how do they do? So send us your music by emailing it to Jingles Tony konizershow.com and he plays in Jeremy Shaft and, and we did this last year after the eating contest. And I, I like, I have to tell you how this worked for me. About four or five days ago, like, I don't know, July 1 or July 2, I was watching something on TV and it was the eating contest and I didn't even occur to me that it wasn't on July 4th. I thought it was the eating contest and the guy, Joey Chestnut got up to like 75 hot dogs. And then I found out, no, that was from years back and it was awful. I mean, it was disgusting. I don't, you know, I mean, you know, in the way that MMA is disgusting. You know what I mean? Go ahead.
- [37:31]
Michael Wilbon
See, I don't find it disgusting. I mean, I think it's inspiring.
- [37:35]
Tony Kornheiser
Really.
- [37:37]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah. I think what they do, I mean, think about this, Tony, right? I mean, there are a lot of things in sports, you know, you know, they get sick after they run too fast. Wimbledon, I mean, was it Pete Sampras at Wimbledon or the US Open thrown up on the side? I didn't see anybody throw up this time, right? One woman was disqualified for throwing up, or as they call it, for impulses contrary to eating. But I did not see that. And you know, these are, these are world class athletes.
- [38:10]
Tony Kornheiser
No, they're not.
- [38:12]
Michael Wilbon
They're the best at what they do.
- [38:13]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay, but they're not this way.
- [38:15]
Michael Wilbon
How many billions of people have walked the surface of planet Earth? The vast majority have eaten. Very few have not eaten. Right? This is something we all do. They are the best ever at it. And the difference, I was talking about this with James Webb from Australia, who I believe right now is the number three ranked year in the world.
- [38:39]
Tony Kornheiser
They have rankings, do they have weekly polls? Do you move up and down depending on what You've eaten.
- [38:45]
Michael Wilbon
No, no. This is much better than polls. This is strictly based. This is points based.
- [38:49]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay?
- [38:49]
Michael Wilbon
Your performance in. In all of the different regional events. And I asked James Webb, I said, look, if you pulled an average Joe out of that crowd in Coney island and put him up on the stage with you guys, with the pros, how many dogs and buns. Don't forget the buns, because the buns are very important. Could that average Joe down in 10 minutes. And he said, I think three or four.
- [39:14]
Tony Kornheiser
That's all.
- [39:15]
Michael Wilbon
Okay, that's all. There is as much a difference between you and me and Joey Chestnut as there is between you and me and Scottie Scheffler or you and me and Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes. That is how sophisticated their training has become and I think their techniques.
- [39:38]
Tony Kornheiser
Let me just get to one thing here. I saw a clip two days ago of the young woman who had eaten, I guess, 33 hot dogs.
- [39:48]
Michael Wilbon
Mickey Sudo.
- [39:49]
Tony Kornheiser
And she kept. After she took a bite of the hot dog, she didn't eat the hot dog like Joe. Joey Chestnut just inhales these hot dogs and the buns, wets them down and, you know, and inhales them. But she takes bites. She just takes bites.
- [40:03]
Michael Wilbon
Yes.
- [40:04]
Tony Kornheiser
And then she would rub her face on her shoulder. And I just thought. I turned away. I just couldn't. I just thought, what. Why am I watching this? I guess. I guess I should ask you why they pay you to watch it. But would you watch this on your own?
- [40:21]
Michael Wilbon
Well, I mean, I guess the answer is I have. I mean, I remember watching it, like, 21 years ago. I think was the first year was on espn, maybe, you know, four. I can't say that I, you know, had it set on my calendar every Fourth of July to turn it on. But it gets a huge audience. I think, like 10 million people.
- [40:43]
Tony Kornheiser
Oh, my God.
- [40:44]
Michael Wilbon
I think I'm exaggerating, but it could be million or 2 million. It is over a million. When you add up all of the digital, all of the different airings, all of that stuff millions of people in the United States alone watched. That doesn't account for all of the huge fans of competitive eating on the other six continents.
- [41:07]
Tony Kornheiser
You just said all of the huge fans of competitive eating. I mean, that's a phrase, a half sentence that I guess I never would go to. How many fans are there?
- [41:17]
Michael Wilbon
These guys are huge celebrities.
- [41:18]
Tony Kornheiser
Really.
- [41:19]
Michael Wilbon
I mean, look.
- [41:20]
Tony Kornheiser
Well, if Joey Chestnut walked through an airport, would somebody know who he was?
- [41:26]
Michael Wilbon
Like Elvis.
- [41:27]
Tony Kornheiser
Wow.
- [41:28]
Michael Wilbon
Like Elvis. I mean, like Elvis with Jaws. I'm not even kidding. He is. He is huge. I mean, when he announced on June 19, just a couple weeks ago, that he was coming back after this hiatus because he did not compete last year.
- [41:47]
Tony Kornheiser
No, because he had a legal problem. Right. He was endorsing a certain kind of hot dog. Not a Nathan's hot Dog, something like that.
- [41:54]
Mary Carrillo
Right.
- [41:55]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah, we. Well, not a hot dog, but another food brand, plant based. I don't know why they don't like to call it vegan, but they like to call it plant based food brand. Impossible. Let's give them, you know, their do. It was. My point is, when he made the announcement, it was huge news. It was, you know, it was like the ticker in Times Square kind of news. If, you know, stop the presses type news. I mean, share. If you look at social media. I'm not making this up. I'm not, you know, just ginning this up, you know, for your amusement. This is true. And you should see the crowds out of Coney island at the corner of Surf and Stillwell. We're not. When we opened the show on Friday and I said, you know, other, you know, like the founding fathers, he is a man synonymous with Independence Day.
- [42:50]
Unnamed Analyst
Probably about.
- [42:51]
Michael Wilbon
Probably else can you say that? Who else can we say that about? It's like Jefferson Adams and Chestnut. Franklin and Chestnut.
- [43:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. He's on the Mount Rushmore of July. Let me get. So how much does one hot dog weigh? Is it like three ounces, maybe, of food?
- [43:10]
Mary Carrillo
Two, two and a half, something like that?
- [43:11]
Michael Wilbon
I know with a bun, it's 300 calories. So he took in over 21,000 calories.
- [43:18]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay.
- [43:19]
Mary Carrillo
And.
- [43:19]
Tony Kornheiser
But how many pounds of food? Like, the tonnage of food, the hot dogs and the buns.
- [43:25]
Michael Wilbon
Let's say it's 3 ounces. Okay? So that's 2,100 ounces of just dog. Okay.
- [43:30]
Tony Kornheiser
Not counting the buns watered down, where there's more weight. Two ounces.
- [43:35]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah. We're talking about, you know, what is it I can't do?
- [43:39]
Tony Kornheiser
Is he eating over 15 pounds of food in 10 minutes?
- [43:43]
Michael Wilbon
It's way more than that.
- [43:44]
Tony Kornheiser
Right?
- [43:45]
Michael Wilbon
Well, each pound is, let's say, for argument's sake, five dogs. So five times 15, we're talking about 75 pounds of dogs.
- [43:56]
Tony Kornheiser
It's unbelievable. Like, how could you walk away from that? How could you not just get sick as a dog? How could you not?
- [44:06]
Michael Wilbon
They do. They do immediately.
- [44:08]
Tony Kornheiser
Oh, they do get.
- [44:09]
Michael Wilbon
Although I was a little surprised because when it was over and I was trying to get a selfie With Joey. He was up on that stage for like 45 minutes. I waited like 45 minutes. There were reporters from every corner of the globe waiting to speak with him. Get their one on ones with Joey.
- [44:26]
Tony Kornheiser
I wouldn't speak with him. What if he vomits on you? I wouldn't. I wouldn't go near them.
- [44:30]
Michael Wilbon
You do have to be careful.
- [44:31]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [44:32]
Michael Wilbon
And typically they go right to the bathroom.
- [44:36]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [44:36]
Michael Wilbon
One thing I was told is I don't want to get, you know, gross here. But you know, the one place you want to avoid in Coney island after the competition is the eaters bathroom.
- [44:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [44:46]
Michael Wilbon
You don't want to be anywhere near there. In the green room. I can stairs. Nathan's.
- [44:50]
Tony Kornheiser
Imagine.
- [44:50]
Michael Wilbon
But I was surprised. My point is he had not yet retired to the lavatory.
- [44:56]
Tony Kornheiser
Right.
- [44:57]
Michael Wilbon
He was still up there talking. I mean, he's a machine. No one else like him. He is Michelangelo. He is Mozart.
- [45:06]
Tony Kornheiser
He is a guy eating hot dogs.
- [45:08]
Michael Wilbon
Jesse Owens.
- [45:09]
Tony Kornheiser
He's not Jesse Owens.
- [45:12]
Michael Wilbon
You know, maybe not Jesse Owens. He is the Michelangelo. He's the Mozart. I think I called him the Caravaggio of consumption.
- [45:21]
Tony Kornheiser
Good line, Jeremy. That's a good line.
- [45:24]
Michael Wilbon
And what makes it, you know, what makes it so much fun, Tony, is that everybody's having a good time.
- [45:30]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [45:31]
Michael Wilbon
I mean, think about sports today, Tony, like the big picture. How much joy is there right now? There's joy, right. I'm not one of these cranky old guys who thinks everything stinks down. Everything was better when I was a kid. The athletes are bigger, stronger, faster. But you remember my dad was saying this in the 90s, right? Where has all the joy gone? It's all about the money now. And it's all about the hype and it's all about these guys. Yeah. Joey. Joey does it for a living. And he's the only guy who does it full time. But, you know, this is. This is as strange as it sounds. This is pure.
- [46:07]
Tony Kornheiser
Does he travel with like a cardiologist? You know, is it a cardiologist in the retinue or something like that? I mean, just. No, it's weird to me. Can. I'm going to get off this subject because he's reckless.
- [46:18]
Michael Wilbon
Yeah, he's kind of reckless with his own health. And I feel that way. 41, he's. He's at the peak of his powers.
- [46:25]
Mary Carrillo
What?
- [46:25]
Michael Wilbon
What?
- [46:25]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't. Wait, wait, wait, wait. How do we know he's. Is there a peak? Have people studied this before with competitive eating that like in your 40s, you.
- [46:33]
Michael Wilbon
Know, some of the Greats have retired before turning 40. You want to talk about Eater X? You want to talk about Crazy Legs? I want to talk about Eric Badlands Booker. I mean, Sonia Thomas, famous black widow. We could go on, Tony.
- [46:49]
Mary Carrillo
Okay.
- [46:49]
Michael Wilbon
You know, there they were once, you know, at the pinnacle, the apogee, if you will. And now they're retired. I mean, it's always good to see them out there. They're in the hall of Fame, most of them. I saw Crazy Legs on Friday.
- [47:01]
Tony Kornheiser
There's a Hall of Fame for this?
- [47:03]
Michael Wilbon
Of course there's a Hall of Fame. There's a whole thing for everything.
- [47:07]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm getting off this. I'm going to something else that I.
- [47:09]
Michael Wilbon
Can see in a Hall of Fame. They're hall of Fame for everything.
- [47:14]
Tony Kornheiser
Do you have a documentary coming out on Jim Abbott? I'm switching gears utterly here. I believe that Jim Abbott is, if not the most extraordinary athlete of all time. He's. He's on very, very short list. Pitched to no hitter. He had one hand.
- [47:28]
Mary Carrillo
And.
- [47:28]
Tony Kornheiser
And the greatness of Jim Abbott was that everybody knew he only had one hand. It didn't matter. Like he would go out there and pitch. Tell me about the documentary and tell me if you agree with me on my assessment of Jim Abbott.
- [47:40]
Michael Wilbon
I couldn't agree more. I mean, gmatt. It's one of those things right in the moment. Back in from, say, 89 to 94, when he was one of the best pitchers in baseball, it was a huge story. Of course, there were cameras everywhere, but it was pre Internet, it was pre social media.
- [47:57]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [47:57]
Michael Wilbon
Imagine what it would be like today, Tony, what he achieved. And he wasn't just pitching in the big leagues. He was the runner up. I'm sorry. He finished third for the Cy Young. Okay. In 92. Okay. Behind Roger Clements and Scott Erickson. And by, you know, modern metrics, if you look at it, he had a better year than Scott Erickson. He was the second best pitcher in baseball. He was a phenomenon. And he was the best amateur athlete in America before that.
- [48:26]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [48:27]
Michael Wilbon
He won the Sullivan Award in 88. He is the only baseball player ever to win the Sullivan Award. And they weren't giving him extra credit because he had one hand.
- [48:37]
Tony Kornheiser
No, he earned it. He earned it.
- [48:39]
Michael Wilbon
He won the Olympic gold medal. He won the silver spikes as a freshman at Michigan. And at the same time, as he was doing all these remarkable things from the mound, he was a true inspiration. And that's what the documentary is about, too. It's really two stories. It's the story of Jim Abbott, his rise, his success. And I think it's brilliantly told by our director, Mike Farrell, who uses the no hitter on September 4, 1993, is the spine of the story coming back to, you know, inning after inning and going back into his story between the innings. But it's also the story of the impact he's had on so many lives, and especially those from what we now call the limb. Different community. Not a. Not a term we.
- [49:27]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay, I've not heard that ever.
- [49:29]
Michael Wilbon
And I mean, it's so moving. Tony. I'm not somebody, I think, who's easily moved tears with these things. And I know it's, you know, it's at least partially my work, but it's really the director's work. But, you know, every time I watch, I just like, like I have. We're doing three premieres in the next three days. One with Michael K. Tonight, another one ESPN marketing tomorrow, another one. It was in a film festival. And I'm like, I can't. I can't sit there and watch it. It's too emotional. Because the young people he had that he influenced, and it's not just their parents and their grandparents and what it became for him, the responsibility. Every ballpark, every letter from a parent or a grandparent or a kid himself or herself who was going through this and then finding those kids that he inspired 30 years ago now and how he changed their lives. That's what this story is about. And, you know, we say it a lot. It's one of the famous things Jackie Robinson said, right? A life is only important in the impact it has on other lives. And to me, by that measure, there aren't too many who had more impact or who are more important than Jim Abbott.
- [50:38]
Tony Kornheiser
No, I look forward to it. I look forward to it. Thank you. We have to have you on more often. We can't just wait for Joey Chestnut to show up. Thank you, Jeremy. Jeremy Shap, boys and girls, I miss you too. We'll take a break. We will have email and jingle when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [50:53]
Michael Wilbon
Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
- [50:55]
Barry Zverluga
Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [51:15]
Jeremy Shap
Of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.
- [51:25]
Barry Zverluga
This is the Tony Kornheiser show.
- [51:28]
Michael Wilbon
Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [51:32]
Mary Carrillo
Here comes Tony's mailbag.
- [51:34]
Unnamed Analyst
Got your emails, faxes and your notes. Here comes Tony's mailbag.
- [51:38]
Mary Carrillo
Gonna read some for all of you folks.
- [51:41]
Tony Kornheiser
Bryant Adler. Very nice.
- [51:43]
Mary Carrillo
Yes.
- [51:44]
Tony Kornheiser
Quick to the point.
- [51:45]
Michael Wilbon
Very.
- [51:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes. Do you want to do the Bethesda bagel air, please? Yes. Got the bagel sandwiches. They're always happy about that. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled. Where's our intern today? Who likes the bagel? Missed out Bethesda bagel sandwiches. I want to. I want to thank everybody here, though, for just sort of linking arms and pulling. Pulling together to pick up the slack. For not having the intern in need to have the intern back before he gets to the mailbag. Let me just say, how about a pair of pink sidewinders and a bright orange pair of pants? You could really be a Beau Brummel baby, if you just gave it half a chance. Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers. You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers. Next phase, new wave dance craze. Anyways, still rock and roll to me. Long Island's own Billy Joel. Thanks to our guest today. Guest loaded. As I said, Michael Wilbon, Barry Zorluga, Jeremy Shapp. Thanks as well. Today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Oughtyssey. Get show through Apple. Please leave us. Speaking of interns, young Todd Zucchini seeds that we just threw to the wind are actually producing fruit. Really? Yes, yes, I've seen it. It's outside. Yeah, they're just laying around and producing fruit. It's very exciting. From John Juback in Pittsburgh. Way back before cell phones, I worked in an office with a receptionist named Lorraine, who handled all incoming calls, even if they were personal. I was involved with a local arts organization and frequently received calls from a woman named Eva, who had a hyphenated Polish surname to go with her thick accent. Whenever Lorraine buzzed my extension, she struggled mightily with with the pronunciation of Eva's name. Finally, I told Lorraine to just refer to this woman as Eva Gabor and I'll know who it is. From that day forward, I would pick up the phone and hear Eva Gabor on line one. Jeff Barger, Hillsborough, North Carolina. Quote, nobody knows who the Gabor sisters are. You do realize that the median age of your audience is probably born during the LBJ administration. We grew up with Johnny Carson foil on the TV antenna, no seatbelts in the car. So we know who the Gabor sisters are. From John molino in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Six more full moons for the remainder of 2025. I think the next one is on Thursday. Oh, is it? I think it's on Thursday. No forecast on how many times Uranus might be seen. And then it shows all the moons the Buck Moon, the Sturgeon Moon, the Blood Moon, eclipse, the first supermoon of the year, the biggest and brightest moon of the year in November, the last super moon of the year in December, and says happy moon gazing. We've missed here the last four or five moons. Wow. Yes. Of overcast skies, rain. Yeah, we missed it. Lee Gordon Boynton Beach, Florida it was great hearing Ann Hornaday talk about sequels. She also said she liked the movie the Life of Chuck. No doubt the sequel to that will be the Life of roxy. That's funny. Episode 80 Lee Gordon that's funny. Mark Hughes Ashton, MD Dear Skipper, My tax guy, Larry, tells me the new tax bill has new tax deductions for whaling boat captains. Oh, make sure your tax guy figures out a way to make your charter boat qualifies. A whaling boat. She shouldn't be a problem. Mark Gorman in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in Canada Given Wilbon's history of humble brags about his group chats, I'm a little disappointed he hasn't brought up a Pope group chat yet. Given that the current pope is from Chicago, it's only a matter of time until we hear him say something like, as you know, tone, I've got a few Popes, some past, some current ones, too. In my NBA group chat, they're telling me the Cardinals really like this kid Cooper play, you know?
- [54:57]
Mary Carrillo
Anyway.
- [54:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Bill King Falls Church, Virginia what do you think of the Washington Post new print format? I hate it. I spent a lot of time at the Washington Post, and I love the Washington Post. To see a Metro section and a sports section folded inside a style section is not the way I want to live. It's just not. And it makes me think that the Washington Post is trying very hard to reach a point where it doesn't do any print edition anymore at all. I mean, it's just not. Somebody can tell me why they're doing this. The answer to all your questions is money, obviously. But no, it saddens me don't like it. I don't. Nobody asked me. Becky and des moines. My 10 year old daughter humored me today and agreed to listen to your show in the car, only to hear the segment about eating Chessy's chicken. After a few astonished chuckles, she exclaimed with wonder and incredulity, this guy in chicken. Not sure you're landing with the next generation, grandpa, but keep up the good work. All the best on your quest for 150. Jason Slaughter Lincoln, Nebraska it is strange to say that for over half my life I have listened to you. I've enjoyed you and your crew for all these years. I can list all the life events you've gotten me through, but you are older than me, so I won't bore you with a list. I just want to say a simple thank you. You and your team make me laugh, think and appreciate life's little quirks. I know I won't get another 26 years out of you, but I'll take what I can get. Michael's listened to me his whole life. Not happy about it. And from Dave Bravo, named after an audience reaction a Bravo Dave Bravo in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The Wilson parody, the Wilbon parody is that it is a two hour drive between the Midwest cities of Chicago and Toronto while it is 20 weeks from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
- [56:36]
Michael Wilbon
Ha.
- [56:36]
Tony Kornheiser
If you're out on your bike tonight, everybody, as always, do wear white.
- [56:40]
Michael Wilbon
Come on now.
- [56:42]
Mary Carrillo
That means everybody just cool out, will you? Cool out, everybody.
- [56:47]
Tony Kornheiser
Thank you, Michael.
- [60:46]
Michael Wilbon
Sa It.