“Don’t eat the ice cream!"

Summary

Detailed Summary of "Don’t eat the ice cream!" - The Tony Kornheiser Show (April 9, 2025)

1. NCAA Championship: Florida Clinches National Title

In this episode, Tony Kornheiser and guest Chuck Culpepper celebrate the University of Florida's triumph in the NCAA basketball championship, where Florida edged out Houston to secure the title. The hosts reflect on their bracket challenge, highlighting Gary Braun's impressive performance:

• Chuck Culpepper [02:38]: "My favorite part about Gary's bracket every year is he refuses to write out the actual names of the teams and just writes out their bracket seat."

Tony commends Florida's resilience and strategic gameplay that led them to victory, emphasizing their ability to perform under pressure:

• Tony Kornheiser [21:36]: "They're not going to gag. And again, they didn't."

The discussion underscores Florida's consistent excellence and why they were the favorites in the bracket challenge, with Braun's accurate predictions proving his prowess.

2. MLB Update: Dodgers Struggle in Cold Weather, Nationals Victory

Shifting focus to Major League Baseball, Tony and Chuck analyze the Washington Nationals' recent victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The conversation highlights the Dodgers' unexpected poor performance, attributing it to the unusually cold 35-degree weather that the team isn't accustomed to:

• Tony Kornheiser [05:02]: "The Dodgers. They're playing in 35-degree weather. They're not used to that."

A significant point of contention is the performance of Dodgers' pitcher Kyle Finnegan, who Tony criticizes for his ineffective pitching style:

• Tony Kornheiser [05:21]: "It’s how many he will walk. Will he give up any hits? It’s not. How much will he choke you with the way he pitches."

In contrast, the Nationals are praised for their strategic adaptability and pitcher performance, effectively countering the Dodgers despite the challenging conditions.

3. NBA Insights: Wizards' Possible Intentional Losing and Denver's Coaching Changes

The hosts delve into the NBA, expressing concerns about the Washington Wizards potentially manipulating game outcomes, possibly to influence gambling-related activities:

• Tony Kornheiser [10:11]: "...they're trying desperately to lose."

Further intensifying the conversation, Tony and Chuck discuss the Denver Nuggets' surprising decision to fire their coach, Michael Malone, with only three games remaining in the season. This abrupt move sparks debates about possible internal power struggles between the coach and general manager:

• Tony Kornheiser [13:35]: "...power struggle between the coach and the gm."

The hosts question the rationale behind the timing of this decision, considering the impending playoffs and the team's recent performance:

• Tony Kornheiser [14:00]: "They must think it's the right thing to do or they wouldn't do it because they did it. They must think it's right."

The discussion also touches upon the reliability of the Kroenke family's ownership across multiple sports franchises, drawing parallels with past decisions.

4. College Basketball: Florida's SEC Dominance and Coaching Dynamics

Returning to college basketball, Tony and guest Chuck Culpepper analyze Florida's dominance within the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They explore how the SEC's substantial investment in basketball has elevated Florida's performance, challenging its traditional identity as a football-centric conference:

• General George Washington [26:05]: "The SEC just made a really concerted effort to get better at basketball. And when they do that with all their resources, it's going to work."

The conversation also delves into the evolving dynamics of player retention and recruitment, particularly focusing on the impact of the transfer portal versus traditional freshmen recruiting:

• Tony Kornheiser [28:24]: "They [programs] are the programs that steal upperclassmen, you know, because of the transfer portal."

The hosts commend coaches like Billy Donovan at Florida for their pivotal roles in harnessing talent and fostering a winning culture, contributing to the SEC's basketball resurgence.

5. The Masters: Rory McIlroy's Quest for the Career Grand Slam

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to The Masters Tournament, with guest Rabbi Misha Ben David and co-host Steve Sands discussing Rory McIlroy’s ongoing pursuit of the career Grand Slam in golf. The conversation centers on Rory's strategic adjustments and the immense pressure accompanying his quest:

• Rabbi Misha Ben David [39:14]: "Rory has always been an aggressive player, and he's always played this golf course aggressively. He’s going to come in here this week, and he's going to play it more conservatively, which is the correct way to play it."

Insights are provided into Rory’s current form, his equipment changes, and comparisons to legendary golfers like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. The potential psychological pressures and his physical prime at 35 are highlighted as critical factors influencing his performance:

• Tony Kornheiser [49:40]: "He's only 35 years old. He's in his prime."

Additionally, the hosts discuss the unique challenges posed by Augusta National Golf Club, emphasizing the necessity for a balanced and strategic approach to navigate the course effectively. They speculate that Rory's more conservative strategy this year may enhance his chances of clinching the coveted Masters title.

6. Listener Mailbag: Viewer Interactions and Stories

Towards the end of the episode, Tony engages with the audience through the mailbag segment, sharing and reacting to various listener emails. These range from congratulations on the bracket challenge win to personal anecdotes and humorous comments about sports:

• Listener Greg Thomas [53:12]: "Hockey is hockey. It's not baseball, it's not football, it's not basketball."

Tony responds with his characteristic humor and reflection on listener experiences, fostering a sense of community and connection with the audience.

Notable Quotes:

• Chuck Culpepper [02:38]: "My favorite part about Gary's bracket every year is he refuses to write out the actual names of the teams and just writes out their bracket seat."

• Tony Kornheiser [05:21]: "It’s how many he will walk. Will he give up any hits? It’s not. How much will he choke you with the way he pitches."

• Tony Kornheiser [10:11]: "...they're trying desperately to lose."

• Tony Kornheiser [14:00]: "They must think it's the right thing to do or they wouldn't do it because they did it. They must think it's right."

• Rabbi Misha Ben David [39:14]: "Rory has always been an aggressive player, and he's always played this golf course aggressively. He’s going to come in here this week, and he's going to play it more conservatively, which is the correct way to play it."

Conclusion

In "Don’t eat the ice cream!", Tony Kornheiser skillfully navigates through a diverse array of sports topics, providing insightful analysis and engaging discussions. From celebrating Florida's NCAA triumph and dissecting MLB and NBA developments to exploring Rory McIlroy's aspirations in golf, the episode offers a comprehensive overview of key sports narratives as of April 2025. The inclusion of listener interactions in the mailbag segment adds a personal touch, enhancing the show's community feel and connection with its audience.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll talk with Chuck Culpepper about Florida winning the national championship. And we'll talk about the Masters with Steve Sands. But first, commerce at the Home Depot. Spring Black Friday is here, and we've got 14 days of deals to transform your space. So what are you working on? How about a quick and stylish patio furniture update? And what's outdoor dining without a shiny new grill? Find a wide selection of grills under $300 like the next grill four burner for only $229 at the home Depot. Then add a little ambian string lights. Shop 14 days of deals during spring.

[Wilbon]

Black Friday, now through April 16 at the home Depot.

[Chuck Culpepper]

This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. It's tax season and we're all a.

[Steve Sands]

Bit tired of numbers, but here's one.

[Chuck Culpepper]

You need to $16.5 billion.

[General George Washington]

That's how much the IRS flagged for.

[Steve Sands]

Possible identity fraud last year.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Now here's a good number.

[Steve Sands]

100 million.

[Chuck Culpepper]

That's how many data points Lifelock monitors every second.

[Steve Sands]

If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed.

[General George Washington]

Save up to 40% your first [e-mail] podcast terms apply.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on the Tony Kornhauser Show. Duke gig the game.

[General George Washington]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And I was rooting for Duke. My daughter in law went, yeah.

[Wilbon]

I immediately thought, tough Sunday in our house. It's not a good moment over at Michael, but great.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Sans text.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yes. Sans. Doesn't like Duke.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Still hates Duke.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Like sports.

[Wilbon]

Very clear on that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Like sports. Yeah. Does not like Duke. Use the word. We can't use. Oh, we could. We're not. No.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

This is General George Washington and you're.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. All right, so this is our first show since the NCAA championship was decided where Houston gagged and Florida won. So the pool is over. So we need to start with who won the bigs pool and who won the littles pool. And I need to explain, if we can, some of that fabulous candy that we got the other day. All right, we are. I am willing to send that out as prizes, though perhaps in the mail. That's a bad idea. Although it came to us in the mail.

[Wilbon]

That should be fine.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It should be fine. We can figure it out.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Take a little. Take a little bite off the top.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Culpepper]

We'll start the big. So with Florida winning, we had three of our bracket selectors who had Florida winning it all. We had big, big time. Gary Braun once again in the top spot. Pat 40 just behind and Nigel in third. Reginald had a path at the end, but that needed you step. But that final 30 seconds.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Wilbon]

Nobody more despondent.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So the Braun family wins its third time or its fourth time?

[Wilbon]

I think fourth.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think Gary has won twice.

[Wilbon]

Yeah, I think there's. Now they both have two.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. So we gotta break up the Braun family.

[Chuck Culpepper]

My favorite part about Gary's bracket every year is he refuses to write out the actual names of. Of the teams and just writes out their bracket seat. And at first I hated it, but years in, I love its efficiency and you can't make a mistake with it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, wait, wait, wait, wait a second, wait a second. They were all ones in the final four. If he just wrote one and didn't.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Get well at that point, he circles the team. But yes, for the early rounds, it's easy just to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, so who won? The Littles.

[Chuck Culpepper]

All right, well, we have. We've decided that we will send prizes out for the T12 position. I think that gets us 18 winners or so. So that is going back to John Jackson in. In that last final T12 spot. And the winner is four. Micah finished with 1800 18, 10 points. Yeah. And all these are just. They're fractional differences at this point because everybody who is close to the top hundred or so has Florida.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, congratulations.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

So if you are.

[Chuck Culpepper]

If you are in the top 12 in the Tony Konizer Show 2025 bracket challenge, send us an email with a screen grab of your bracket to mailbag. And at some point the next week or so, we'll send you out some toothpaste candy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Shirts, shirts.

[Wilbon]

Dire wolf.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, we'll send DNA. Yeah. So we're good. So, I mean, everybody will get something. Not everybody will get something, but many people will get something. Personal note here. My friend Tim Davis is. His son Connor is now the all time leading lacrosse goal scorer. It's not Gretzky, but it's all time leading lacrosse goal scorer at Bucknell University. That's so well done. Congratulations to him. That Tim Davis of Auburn. Yeah, Tim Davis of Auburn, who was there in the gym when Barkley showed up for the first time. Tim played on the football team and said, who's that? Who? Cause Barkley was playing pickup basketball and killing it. He was just killing it. Who's that guy? The Nats win.

[Wilbon]

Yes.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Series win.

[Wilbon]

So the series win over the Dodgers.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Dodgers. The Dodgers. They're playing in 35 degree weather. They're not used to that.

[Chuck Culpepper]

And they're coming off of what felt like a playoff early playoff series with the Phillies.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you see the clothing that the Dodgers are wearing when they walk out onto the field? Wow. You know, yeah, thermal. But the Nats. The Nats win and they can't and don't have to go to Kyle Finnegan. They can't.

[Chuck Culpepper]

We pitch three days in a row. There's 68 pitches.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I hate Kyle Finnegan. With the passion of a thousand.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Bring him in for two inning save.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just. It's. It's unbelievable. It's not will he walk anyone? He'll walk the first batter. It's how many he will walk. Will he give up any hits? It's not. No. No. How many hits will he give up? How much? How much will he choke you with the. With the way he pitches, where he goes 02 right. Michael. On everybody and it walks them because he's trying to be so perfect.

[Wilbon]

Why you do this Nibbling, nibbling. No attack.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But that's his style. Yeah, it's his style. And he's got saved.

[Chuck Culpepper]

You see, you got the win last night. No poche.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, the Pooch. Pooch. The Pooch was there. The pooch pitch three and four. Right.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Era is down to 20.25.

[Wilbon]

Oh, how about that?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So. And James Wood hit a couple of bombs.

[Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Cruz didn't have a chance to strike out looking bombs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that. So that was nice.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Do you see the picture?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Socialite went to the game, said he was freezing. Chuck Todd went to the game, said he was freezing. It's so cold. Yeah.

[Chuck Culpepper]

I think the pitcher got his first strikeout with Ohtani.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. How cool is that? That's the first one. Yeah. Because Finnegan said. Wait, that's his first?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, like that. Wow. You know, because it's. Ohtani was the first batter up in the game, right?

[Chuck Culpepper]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think Ohtani struck out the first two times he got up. So. Okay, so we've done that. Now the other thing to talk about. Well, let me do this charity thing. So I get this note from Heather Peeler, who's the president and CEO of ACT for Alexandria. It's a community foundation. And she writes, hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out to you regarding an incredible local initiative that's making a real difference right here in our community Spring to Action, a 24 hour online giving event taking place Wednesday, April 9, 2025. So that's today. That's today. That's today where the person I'm related to by marriage is an enormous fan of your show. And once upon a time was a frequent visitor to chatter in our Tenleytown neighborhood. This person insists to me that you are a sucker for baked goods and would likely help us promote the event if we sent some your way. Lo and behold, he was actually proven right when a couple of years ago, you in fact did mention the event on your show, helping us to our highest donation total in the 15 year history of the event, over $2 million that helped more than 100 local organizations. We figured we'd try you again. Please find and close some of the Together we bake fine chocolate chip cookies. Proceeds from the together we bake sales go to a workforce training and personal development for underserved women. Please also find some candies from Penny Post, another of the participating local businesses that are part of Spring to action. And spring. It's to action with numeral to spring to action. You know, so, you know, there's a way. Look, I guess if you want to do this, you can find. Just look up Spring to action, Spring to action. Okay.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Go to actforalexandria.org and you'll find it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, so we recommend this. The cookies came to PTI to Bonnie about a week ago, week and a half ago. And Bonnie sends me a note and she says, this came in the mail. And I go, what is it? She goes, do you want me to open it? I said, yeah, of course. Open it. Cookies and candy. I said, who sent it? And she reads the note. She reads the note to me and I say, okay, we'll do that. So I went to the office yesterday and I had one of the cookies. Cookies were fine. But then I left the rest of the cookies and the rest of the candy for everybody in the office because they're there every day. Sure. And I'm not there every day. And I'm not gonna take it home because I am now. I am up to my gills in candy now. I mean, I got so many.

[Chuck Culpepper]

How were the cookies preserved for the last week?

[Tony Kornheiser]

They taste pretty good. Well, they were never opened. They were in a B. Bad.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They were never open. Cookies can. Can last two, three. They're very good.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Chocolate sealed bag.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Yes. Bonnie didn't eat it, so it was. It was very good, you know. And then I left them for everybody else, which I thought was probably the right thing to do.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Don't to keep them in the freezer just for your, you know, once a week visit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I have so many things. No, I don't. Apparently the Washington Capitals sent ice cream over. Bonnie said that to me. And I said, I'm not eating ice cream from. Oh, thank you, Mr. Leonis.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Thank you, Mr. Leonis.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I'm not eating somebody who tr. No, I'm not gonna do that. I don't know what he put in it. He don't like me. I understand that.

[Chuck Culpepper]

So what if it's, like, from a great local?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, give it to somebody.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Crystal City Place.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you very much. Yeah, right. Where the Caps live now, you know, and the Wizards live. Oh, no. For the District. Really?

[Chuck Culpepper]

I told you what happened last week. No, I see a. I'm at pickup on Friday and I look out to see an. Just what appears to be an army of lower elementary school kids dribbling a basketball. Leontis had gifted every kid in the D.C. public school system a basketball.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow. He's so desperate. He's so desperate.

[Chuck Culpepper]

You should have seen how happy the kids were.

[Wilbon]

I'm sure they were delighted. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And they'll say, oh, take us to the Games. It's only $7,000.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Just a lot of jokes in the blacktop that this is what the Wizards players were doing when they were not trying to win. Just filling these with air.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, well, because they're trying desperately to lose. They lost last. They always lose. Yeah, they are trying to lose again. They should be investigated by the NBA. Only because of the gambling. Only because the NBA and Major League Baseball and the NFL and the NHL have gambling partners. And so they encourage you to gamble. And they're. And it's. They're not giving you a fair, honest game because one of the teams is trying to lose.

[Wilbon]

Not just one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, well, Utah is trying to lose and Philadelphia is trying to lose because.

[Wilbon]

When you think, oh, Washington, you're 17 and 62. You've lost your last three, two and eight. That's not what. Get it gets it done.

[Chuck Culpepper]

That's a great prop bet within the game.

[Wilbon]

Utah. 16 and 63.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He does not win another game. Nine game losing streak. They're not going to win.

[Wilbon]

They understand what's at stake now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They've been fined.

[Wilbon]

Oh, they have.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They've been fined. Last year, Utah was fine. So the wizard should be fined. Yes. You know, all that. All that money that they were going to get by moving to Virginia, they should find them all that money because they're trying. As is Philadelphia trying to lose.

[Wilbon]

Yeah, Philadelphia.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So last. What's the big news in sports was speaking of trying to lose, it appears that Denver's now trying to lose because they fired their coach. They fired their coach yesterday afternoon with three games Left. They fired their coach who won the National Basketball association championship two years ago. They fired Michael Malone and they fired the gm and they put in a coach who's Rick Adelman's son, who has never been the head coach in the pros or college before with three games to go and then the playoffs. And I guess the owners, I guess the Kroenke family thinks this. They must think it's the right thing to do or they wouldn't do it because they did it. They must think it's right. Hard for me to believe. Hard for me to believe this is a smart move. Maybe it is hard for me to.

[Wilbon]

Believe at this particular point in time, just before the playoffs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Lou Amarillo does this in hockey every year? Well, yeah, One year he won the Stanley cup as a result of it. One year. I don't know. I don't really get this. I don't think it's the smartest thing. I won the. Won the title two years ago. So you take two steps back and these are the questions that you have. One is, how toxic is Michael Malone that you had to get him out of there? Did players say, we got to get rid of this guy? Did somebody else say, we got to get rid of this guy? And then if it goes to players, did Jokic say, you got to get rid of this guy or I'm going to walk? Which is what players can do. Don't tell me about their contract. Contracts are meaningless when they decide, as Jimmy Butler showed you, when somebody of consequence decides he wants out, as Kevin Durant has shown you, as LeBron James has shown. They just go right? And they go where they. James Harden just goes. He's gone four times. Goes where he wants to go. So it. Did Jokic do this? We have seen Antetokounmpo do this in Milwaukee. We have seen LeBron James did this in a lot of places. I don't like this, coach. Get rid of this coach. Could you do it by 2:00? And that's. That's the way it works.

[Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I. I have no. I can't think. It's a great look for Denver. I can't. I just can't. But I don't know. I don't know. You have thoughts on this?

[Chuck Culpepper]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Three games go. Yeah. I said to Wilbon yesterday, I have nothing intelligent to say here. I don't know anything about it. I said, you cover this league, you cover the team.

[Wilbon]

What did he have to say?

[Tony Kornheiser]

He said he had heard talk of a power struggle. Okay. A power struggle between the coach and the gm. Okay, then fire one of them.

[Wilbon]

Both gone.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They fired both of them, you know? Yeah. I don't know.

[Wilbon]

It just came out of nowhere. And again, you write and nobody thinks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Cronkies are bad owners. They own the LA Rams.

[Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know they built Sofi Stadium and they won a championship two years ago. Years ago. Yeah, they fired.

[Wilbon]

To me, the stuff about Yokich, you think, okay, that that would be where I would look first because he's the most important guy and if he says, I can't play with this guy or the gm, you got to get rid of them. I mean, what are you going to do?

[Tony Kornheiser]

You say, okay, very odd. Very odd. We will not get to it today because we have Chuck, Chuck Culpepper talking about college basketball and we have Steve Sands talking about the Masters. And they will follow this I am Tony Kornheiser.

[Steve Sands]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Tony Korniser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

You'Re listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is our friend Rabbi Misha Ben David, who's a wonderful singer, songwriter and he writes Here's a song I wrote about a tragic girl. I borrowed the name of a young woman I worked with long ago and reached out to her so she could hear it. Shawna. Unfortunately, she won't speak to me anymore. You will soon receive a two sided single from my duet with old pal Sam Long. We're called the Enablers. We'll make our debut at the New World Deli in Austin, Texas April 24th at 7pm we hope to get some TK salutes at the show. I think that's lovely. This is called Tell Shawna Even if.

[Wilbon]

Shawna won't talk to us, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. Plays in Chuck Culpepper I've got something to read to Chuck before we start. Read it out loud so everybody can hear. It's from Patty Tatum says. I was finally catching up with the podcast today and I enjoyed hearing you talk about Chuck Culpepper. I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck on one of the nights he was not covering the 2022 World cup matches. I was working as a volunteer during the World Cup. I was amazed that we discussed sports, including the podcast, family and living in the Middle east for about three hours. I was surprised that we have a mutual acquaintance in Kentucky. I enjoy listening to podcasts. I've been listening for many years. I often get strange looks while driving home from school because I'm laughing so hard at many of the comments at the show, especially when you had guests on to fill out brackets. I especially enjoy listening when Chuck comes on the show to discuss where he is on that day and which team he's watching. I've been living in Qatar. For 13 years, I've learned very little Arabic because I'm terrible at pronouncing the words. My students laugh when I try to use the few Arabic words I know. At least I have the podcast. I'm now trying to finish reading Chuck's book. Patty Tatum. Are you. Do you know her? Do you. Is it name familiar?

[General George Washington]

Oh, certainly. Yes, I do. We had a. We had a three hour coffee in, in Doha during the 22 World cup, and it was great. It was just great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You made an impression. You made an impression. Good for you. Good for you.

[General George Washington]

I was hoping. I was hoping over the course of three hours that I could, you know, that I could be remembered.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, well, you are. And remembered. Fondly remembered. Fondly. What an ending to that game, huh? What an ending.

[General George Washington]

Oh, I know. It's so hard to process what it is and whether it's, you know, is it one of the great gaffes in the history of the tournament or is it a terrific defensive play? I lean more toward the latter, but it. It's just. It was just so hard to process and very hard to process on deadline. I won't live as long as I would have without that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I understand all that. The greatest gaffe ever is Chris Weber. I mean, that's one. So this wouldn't. This wouldn't have been one. I thought it was a really heads up play by the shooter to realize he was in dire circumstances and not very heads up by everybody around him who was his teammate. You know, it didn't work out. I mean, I just. It's the same game to me as Duke. I mean, this is Houston. Duke could have, should have beaten Houston. Duke gagged from coach to player. Houston could have, should have beaten Florida, gag from coach to player. I. I am a little more critical of Houston because they are more experienced in the coaching game and the playing game. How about you?

[General George Washington]

Well, their offense over the last minutes just was ground down to dust pretty much by Florida. And I guess the assistant coach, Kellen Sampson, you know, who's the son and assistant of Kelvin Sampson at Houston, was saying that all that length and height of Florida, it wore on them through and it just, finally just got to them. So I lost faith that they could do anything. And I had no. Of course, I had the same thing with Duke late because it was panicking so much, but I just had no sense that they were about to score. I would have been shocked if they scored.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So I hate the word resilience. A lot of words I hate. I hate culture. I Hate. Resilient. I'm going to talk about resilient or resilience, but Florida actually is that. Flis is the third game against terrific teams where Florida is down and apparently out, and they come back storming and they win these games. And that's why, before the day of the game, I said, when Wilbon picked Houston, I said, I'm picking Florida because I've seen them do this. They're not going to gag. And again, they didn't. What do you make of them?

[General George Washington]

It's almost as if they prefer it. They prefer sort of. I don't think they, you know, slough off in the first half or anything. I just think there's something about them where. And it is fascinating because it sort of, you know, tells us about groups. When they get together and collaborate groups of people, they all have sort of different tones and tenors and senses about them. So I think with them, it's a strange thing to be. But it kind of became who they are. And, you know, there was that moment in the West Region final when they're down 75, 66 with 314 left to Texas Tech, where you're just like, wow, Texas Tech is going to the Final Four. I didn't have that, you know, and. And the. The. At that moment, that sort of the ferocity and, I mean, within a minute and 20 or something like that, they were tied. And what they were doing in that minute and 20 was really compelling. So it is something about them, something unique to them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think they're big, they're tough, they're pretty fast, they're deep. They have everything you want. They got a. You know, Walter Clayton Jr. Is a great player. I don't. Wilbon says, gonna be fun to watch him in the pros. Only if you watch him sitting down, because he's not gonna be a great pro. I mean, you know, stop. Because he's not Trae Young. But they are a terrific college team. And everybody, Chuck, everybody that I talked to leading up to the tournament, and let's go back a month or so before the tournament, everybody said, is there somebody to watch out for? Everyone said, Florida. Yes, Florida. Did you have that sense as well during the season? Yeah.

[General George Washington]

And toward the end, every single person. And there were people saying that the SEC tournament in Nashville was actually. It was a running joke. You know, that's the better tournament compared to the, you know, 60, 18 tournament. And, you know, there was a ton of quality in there, maybe more quality than any conference tournament ever had, and they won it. And they won it, you know, in a pretty commanding way. So when that happened, when they got to that point, it really became to where, I mean, I was almost in the bracket thinking against them because it seemed too hip.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[General George Washington]

Seemed too, too much of a surge. And I always think that. I actually think that kind of thing can harm a team. I really do. Because the players are young and you know, they say they don't listen to outside noise. They do it all the time. That's, you know. And so it really did become a fashion to pick them and it was spot on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I mean, let's look at the team that they beat. Houston statistically was the best defensive team in the entire country. They're a very experienced team. They have lived and died in close games all year long and won all of them. And Florida beat them at that game. That was, I mean, you know, stepping back. That's really impressive.

[General George Washington]

Right, right. I think that might be the top of the list is just doing that, you know, just you get to three and a half minutes and you're 60 to 57 down, which isn't that much. But maybe against Houston seems further down than then against everybody else. And then you play those minutes just like actually you are the better team at close games. When the season would have showed us that Houston is.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. We both know, and everybody knows who's listening, that the SEC proved its worth. I have sort of the larger question the SEC is now was before, always will be a football conference. A football conference. They've got good coaches, they've got good players in basketball. But it's not. That's not the bread and butter. It's a football conference. We just heard the immediately former Maryland coach whine about, you know, playing at a. In a football conference in a football school. As if Maryland. Come on, stop. It's not a football school, it's a basketball school. Just stop. Just shut up. But the wine that he has has some legitimacy. Cuz most of the money is always gonna go to football, particularly in the sec. And yet here they are this good. Do you have an explanation? Is it about nil money? Are they ahead of everybody? What is it?

[General George Washington]

I think yes, they're ahead of everybody in money. B. It used to be that football would block basketball from being good in so many different ways. You know, King Football would just, you know, just, you know, slap its hand at basketball. And that changed. And Billy Donovan is one of the first people I can remember when he's at Florida. Four Final fours and two, two wins. The first people to Say, let's, let's say we're a football school and let's, let's benefit from that, you know, and then see, I think the, the SEC just made a really concerted effort to get better at basketball. And when they do that with all their resources, it's going to work.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Do you think. I think this is true. It's certainly true for women players and I think it's true for marginal men players. Marginal in terms of the NBA. I think people will stay in college for the nil money. But do you think, you know, the Cooper Flags of the world will stay because they could do. Could Duke could match the salary. He could. They could easily.

[General George Washington]

That's true. And you know, it crosses your mind if you think of playing one college season and that's the last game, you know, how could that be the last game? The way it unfolded at the end. And it crosses your mind that if you can get just as much money, why don't you stay for another year? Of course, that's putting a lot on a tournament that we all know is, you know, just such a. Such roll of the dice, you know, so he's not going to. But. But it crosses the mind and in a way that it wouldn't before because of course there is that option now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I mean, you can make more money than you could in the next phase of your career. But. But the end. Winning the NCAA is so much harder than winning the NBA. You know, a really good team and the series are seven games. The really good team's going to win. Right. I mean, it's. They're going to win. It's just. It's much harder. And there are now two types of programs, it seems to me. They are the programs that recruit freshmen or they are the programs that steal upperclassmen, you know, because of the transfer portal. Do you. Do you have a sense which is be, you know, which is better because, I mean, Duke looked awfully good recruiting freshmen, not stealing players.

[General George Washington]

True. I don't think either one is shown to be better. I think there are more of the latter, of course.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[General George Washington]

You know, you look at Calipari at Arkansas, he's. He's going to continue his way with, with, you know, I mean, he stated it in the Providence region where I was. That he's going to keep being himself. And. But, you know, and I. I don't know yet if we know, but this delineation between the two is. Is clear, as you say. But I don't know if we know yet which one is going to win more, except that they're more of the teams that, that are going to do the transfer portal. And so they'll probably win more just because there's more of them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Everybody just go, they just go in, they just announce, I don't know, at 11 o'clock in the morning they're going in the transfer portal. And I would imagine, Chuck, that most of them have their deals already. Right. They're not going in on a lark, are they?

[General George Washington]

Well, I think there are, that. There are some who, you know, there's so many in there. There are some who go in on a lark because they get bad advice or they, you know, they might think more highly of, you know, their talents than others do or they might have, you know, dare I say, parents who, you know, and. But yeah, but I think mostly, you know, they have that sort of idea of having something arranged. You know, I was talking to J.T. daniels, the quarterback. Dennis Dodd and I were both talking to him, Dennis from CBS Sports about a year ago, and he was saying one thing that people misconstrue about the transfer portal is that there's any bitterness from one step to the next, you know, from the last. So he said, that's all gone now. It's just the way now. And, you know, people know it's the way and it's just. So that does lead me to think that, yes, you do have a strong idea of what's going to happen when you enter that portal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's. Yeah, I think there are contacts made beforehand because all of these things are legal now. I mean, you know, I think if there's anything and it's going to be. It would be a boring story and I wouldn't ask anybody to write it, but it's, it's how the NCAA ruined themselves and in so doing that ruined all college sports because there's, you know, there's no police anymore. There's nothing. Maybe eventually there will be. Maybe the courts will make it so schools have to pay people directly and they have a budget and maybe they will limit the amount of economic freedom of students if they're still, in fact, students. But what we see now, to me, it's, it's easy and appropriate to me to blame the ncaa. But perhaps you think I'm wrong.

[General George Washington]

I just think that the entire idea of having colleges play sports and having 100,000 people, you know, in some cases watching them from the get go in 1869, whatever, is so strange in the history of, you know, human behavior that I sort of just see this thing as the latest crazy thing and that it was always headed to this because there was always something offensive about the way it was set up before and the, the idea that the coach could leave but the player can't, had these restrictions and, and the, that, you know, I could remember sitting with Reggie Bush's mother and she was saying, you know, that in that house where they, you know, eventually got in trouble for which seems absurd now. And I was thinking, her son is running around the LA Coliseum floor in front of 90,000 people, thrilling them and they can't have a house from that, you know. So I thought, you know, we all loved the old system for so many reasons and it was a big part of my life, but it was always sort of crazy. So I see this as I've watched all this as kind of the latest crazy and maybe an inevitable crazy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So good to talk with you. Thanks. Appreciate it, Chuck.

[General George Washington]

Thank you so much, Tony. Thank you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Chuck Culpepper. Boys and girls, we will take a break. Steve Sands will join us when we return. From Augusta, I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

This is a message from sponsor Intuit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

TONY Kornheiser show this is sent to us by Hershey Bell who has sent us stuff before. Says you played my song cotton Candy Morning 2024. I'm a friend of Scott Parker of Midlives Crisis. Long suffering Maple Leafs fan, this is our year. Originally from Toronto, now living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where I serve as the dean of the Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine. I'm a home studio musician. I've released over 100 songs on music services, most of them heard only by my friends. This song is a duet with Ukrainian vocalist Lilia Kiesel, who does an amazing job. I should have let her sing my parts as well. By the way, be on the lookout for a song from Pete Delano. Peter Delano called Cantor of Fenway. It's an absolute killer. Perfect for your show. Scott and I have urged him to submit submit it again. This is Hershey Bell with Lilia Kiesel. It's called Does He Know Michael? If people like Hershey want to send in their original music, how do they do it?

[Chuck Culpepper]

Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesonycornheisershow.com.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

This is the Tony Kornheiser.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Steve Sands]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Steve Sands. Before we get to the golf, there's a couple of things we have to get to. One is, are you okay with Buzz Williams?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Yeah, I think he was the best option as far as all the things that are concerned. Didn't love the exit there from our former coach, but, you know, not everybody handles everything perfectly, so no one's perfect. But I think Buzz Williams, he wins everywhere he goes and he obviously is a good coach and he was probably the best option that Maryland had.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me tell you something, he's better than I thought Maryland was going to get. The way that, that gu. I thought he trashed him so badly that they wouldn't get anybody. They'd have to take a first time coach. And Buzz Williams is a good coach. The complaint about Buzz Williams is that he, he stays for a while and then he leaves. And you know what? Gary Williams stayed for a while and then he left until he didn't leave anymore, until he got to Maryland again, until he. And that was it. And then he won a national championship. I don't think it's automatic that Buzz Williams will leave if he does. Well, I don't.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

In today's climate with college sports, you never know if everything is transactional or if Buzz Williams is going to stay for the next 15 years and build a great program. And you, like you and I have mutual love for Gary Williams. And he and I have spoken a lot over the last few weeks because of what's going on at Maryland and with Maryland basketball. And look, he's the first one who said it. American bc, Ohio State. I mean, you know, he took a lot of jobs and left a lot of jobs after a few years because that was what's best for him and his family and his situation and his aspirations. I don't hold anything against Kevin Willard at all. The exit was not clean, clearly. But nothing in college sports right now is clean. It's, it's such a bizarre time. But I think that Maryland did well to get Buzz Williams. And by the way, by the way, they got a guy who wants to be there, which is certainly a good thing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And on a happier note, Duke lost for you, right? You made that made you happy.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Can I just tell you, in the last three weeks, I say this to you guys all the time. Your reach is beyond belief. The last three weeks, airport, restaurant, a bar, having a beer, walking around the golf course, going to grocery store, getting gas in a rental car center. No matter where I am, I get either a la cheeserie or I get do you hate Duke. I'm just trying to be clear. Do you hate Duke? Broke my heart to see them get heartbroken on Saturday. It was. It was tough.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'll bet it did. Because your usual text is. I love sports when those things happen.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

I heard you guys show, and I. I love that this is a clean show and that you do not curse on the show like you can on podcast. I mean, you can, but you don't. It's like Seinfeld always said, the best comics are the ones who can be funny without cursing, as opposed to with cursing. But I thought it was appropriate in a private text to you guys to say the two words that are as meaningful to me in sports as any two words can be.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And you did. Good for you.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Before we get to the Masters in golf.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

I love Will Bond to death. I love him, But. And I'm glad the NBA playoffs are about to begin because he's in his glory for the next two and a half months. The Ovechkin chase and the Ovechkin record. The Ovechkin celebration. The. The good that Ovechkin and Gretzky have brought to sports and hockey and just everything that is great about competition. Come on, Wilbond. You telling me that that wasn't the most amazing thing we've seen in quite some time in sports? That is an astonishing record to break, and he broke it from the greatest of all time. Let's. Let's be clear on something. They did not nickname Wayne Gretzky the pretty good one. They nicknamed him the Great One. And the Great Eight has now caught him. And he did it in the same number of games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Amazing.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

It's just an amazing, amazing sports feat.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's how I felt. I mean, I stood. Stood up for that side as I listened to Wilbur stand up for a side that I didn't even know existed. Didn't even know it existed.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

All right, let me get.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me get to the Masters. How's the weather? And there any large issues there that we have to talk about before I get to Rory?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

No, no. The rain came through Sunday and Monday. They closed the golf course at 11:25am local time. Nobody else got to play or practice the rest of the day. But yesterday was perfect. Today is perfect. Tomorrow is supposed to be great. There might be a little bit of rain on Friday morning, but nothing that should halt play at all. And then Saturday and Sunday are clean and clear as well. So it's going to be for the first time in a while, Tony, we could Have a firm and fast Augusta National Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, so I will tell a little story about yesterday. Yesterday we were prepping the PTI show and one of the stories in the A block was Rory. Rory had apparently said, I'm going to treat the Masters like any other tournament. And the lead was coming to me and it was going to ask me, do you believe that? And I would have started by saying, no, no, a thousand times no, but. And I was all prepped on Rory and all the other people Rory hasn't yet. The people he wants to join, the very small, select group of people who have won every single major. And I was ready to go on Rory. And then, you know, at about, I don't know, quarter to four, the Nuggets fired Michael Malone. And that takes precedence. We had to get rid of one story. Our other stories were the national championship. We're not getting rid of the national championship. And a Lakers story about the fact that at that moment they had filed an injury report that was 87 names long. And so. And because it's Mike on the show, we decided we would boot Rory because we had Scott Van Pelt on and we could ask about Rory. But I'm, I am prepped here for the fact that the spotlight is on Rory at the one major he hasn't won and once had a four shot lead going into Sunday and shot 80. Hello, 80. That's a long time ago, but it's still 80. And he had won majors before that. Your thoughts on Rory as I give you all this walk up.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Oh, I thought it was. It was great. I actually listened to your podcast yesterday and I appreciate that you were the only person in your estimation, watching the Valero Texas Open. I thought that was a great line. Literally one person watching the Valero Texas Open. That was great. And then I watched PTI last night and you gave your funny bald reference when you introduced Scott. Yeah, look, here's the thing with Rory. He's tried it every way. Tony. You know, we've been doing this a long time together, on and off the air. This is his 11th opportunity to join that exclusive club. Only five men have done it. Is he going to try it a different way this year? No doubt. Is he going to try to make it a normal event? Well, go ahead and good luck.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

When you, when you walk onto the grounds here at Augusta national, it just feels different. You've been here before, Tony. You've played here and you've walked around as a patron. It's just different than Any other place. I've said this before. There is less oxygen on the first tee at Augusta National Golf Club than any other place in the world of golf. And you cannot treat this thing like it's a normal, regular event, because it just isn't. And I think that Rory has the best chance to win this week that he's had in quite some time because of a couple of reasons. One is his game plan coming into the week is different. Tiger and Rory. Tiger and Jack. Excuse me. Eleven of the 88 masters that have been won have been won by those two guys. Six with Jack, five with Tiger. They both played this golf course the same way, conservatively. Play conservatively on Thursday, hover on Friday, hover again conservatively on Saturday. And then if you have an opportunity to win on Sunday, and you need to go pounce and be aggressive, go ahead and get after it. Rory has always been an aggressive player, and he's always played this golf course aggressively. Well, that can get you in a lot of trouble and can get you out of the mix early by shooting a 74 or 75 on day one. He's going to come in here this week, and he's going to play it more conservatively, which is the correct way to play it. And I also think coming in with two victories, Tony at Pebble beach, and.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The player, yes, yes.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Easily the best he's ever played coming into the Master. So I think this is his best opportunity, whether he can handle it or not. From the collarbones up, that's a different story. That's a lot of pressure on him. But I do think he comes into the week as sharp as he's ever.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Come here to the Masters, to the playing style changes. You actually look. This can be seen with his equipment as well. He switched to the TP5, has a bit more spin, lower launch. Historically, it's not been his putting that's held him back here. It's second shots. He's missed about 10 fewer greens in regulation than the average Masters winner. So we go back to how he wanted Pebble. He flighted a lot of irons. He hit those partial shots. If he does that, he gets a lot more of those makeable birdie looks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What do you think of that?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Exactly right. That's exactly right. He's playing it differently this year. The tee shot at 17 on Monday morning in the playoff at the Players with JJ Spawn is a shot that you have to be able to hit here at Augusta. It's a. I don't want to get too golf into the Weeds. But as Michael was alluding to, you have got to flight the ball. You get that ball up in the air here at Augusta and it can swirl around in the trees and it can get kind of dangerous. What you want to do is you want to hit more greens and give yourself more opportunities. That means you're not going for every hole location because you'll miss more greens the more you try to attack the golf course. You should only attack this golf course when you have to. It's kind of like going for two in the NFL. I've always thought this. Why do people go for two so early? You should only go for two if you have to go for two. And here at Augusta, you're going to miss more greens by playing more aggressively. And that's something you cannot do. Par is not a bad score on probably 13 or 14 of the holes here at Augusta National.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me give the list of the people who have won every single major in tennis. This is called the Grand Slam. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Gene Harrison, Gene Saracen. This is golf royalty. There's only five of them. There's a lot of people whose names are not on there who are great, great, great golfers. If Rory wins, he's immortal. There's probably not a great, great, great golfer who hasn't won the Masters. I mean, you want to give me Lee Trevino, you want to give me Ernie Ells. I'm going to come back and I'm going to say, are they really on the big wall? Are they really on the big wall? Do you agree or disagree with that? That this is. You have to win this one. You have to.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Yes, I think you have to win this one. Now, I will say Lee Torino is an all time great player, okay? The reason he's not in the top 10 is probably because of that. And you know, it's, it's an important event. It's the biggest event. There's no question about that. And to join that group would put Rory in a completely different category. I know it'll be only be one more win, but it would be a big one because only five guys have done it. Like you said, only one of those five did it here at Augusta. And no offense to the Squire, my man. Gene. Sarah. Yeah, but the Masters in 1935 was a completely different scenario than 2025. And look, McElroy has been trying to do this for a while. It's kind of like a destined thing. But there are 11 players done in the history of the sport who won Three of the four majors, you know, I mean, Mickelson still hasn't won us.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sam Snead.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Not going to Sam Snead.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

I mean, somebody. Arnold Palmer.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Arnold Palmer.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd, Tom Watson. You know, Jordan Spieth has a chance next month at Coil Hollow to win the PGA Championship and join those five guys, but McIlroy has been the guy, and the Chase has been the longest. The longest any of those five took to capture the career grand slam was three starts. This is McElroy's 11th attempt here at the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. And as you guys all know, and as the audience all knows, the longer it goes, the more the pressure builds. And when the pressure builds, that's when you really find out what's inside of an athlete. And in this case here at Augusta, it has not gone well for Rory as far as getting to the finish line. I do think he has a great chance this week, as I just think he's playing really, really well. And he comes in here with the right attitude and also the right mindset as far as playing this golf course.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'll just say that he's only 35 years old. He's in his prime. We're not waiting on a guy who's 44 or 45, who's never won it. I mean, he's 35 years old. Is there anyone else who comes in here with as good form as Rory does?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

No, that's the other thing. That's the other scary thing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Tony, is that not Chef?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Yeah, the number one player of the world, Scotty Scheffer, comes here, hasn't won yet.

[General George Washington]

Yeah, just.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Just getting back in gear as far as, you know, that weird hand injury had over the holidays with the kitchen knife. And, you know, look, he loves this place. He's one here, two of the last three Masters. Yeah, but he's not razor sharp coming in here. And Jack Nicklaus always used to tell us, you can't find your game at Augusta. You can only bring your game to Augusta. So I think Scotty has a great chance to win as well, because he's just so comfortable here. There are 95 players in the field, and you can eliminate half of them. I think only 30, 35, perhaps could win. 40, maybe could win. And Scotty absolutely should be the favorite, along with Rory coming into the week. And I think that, you know, he has an opportunity. But Xander is number, you know, 1, 2, 3 in the world with those three guys. Rory's definitely playing better than Scotty, and He's definitely playing better than Xander. Ludwig is a great player. A lot of other really good players here, but nobody's playing better than Rory right now. And that's, you know, a bit of a scary proposition if you're on the Rory train.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It is. It's scary because he could throw something real high, you know, on the first day and then. And then on the weekend finish T4, you know, because the day.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Tony. Yeah, tomorrow is the day. You cannot win the Masters on Thursday.

[General George Washington]

You can lose.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

You certainly can lose it. And if he goes out tomorrow and shoots a 69 or 70, I think there's a great opportunity for him to win the Masters. If he goes out tomorrow and does something goofy and shoot 73, 74, then it's going to be one of those backdoor tie for four. So you just talked about.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Have a nice time there. Enjoy yourself. Thank you. We'll talk soon.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Tony, be good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Steve Sands Boys and girls, this segment was made possible by bank of America, which wants to give a nod to golfers changing the game in 2025. For starters, there's 14 year old, one armed golf prodigy Tommy Morrissey, whose expert drive is the stuff of legends. Then there's pro golfer Gabby Barker, who's inspiring more girls to get into the game. And Renee Fluker, whose midnight golf program teaches kids life lessons through golf lessons, bank of America supports everyone determined to find out what's possible in golf and in life. Find out [e-mail] MastersGolf what would you like the power to do? Bank of America NA member FDIC. Copyright 2025 bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. We will have email and jingle when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company seniority skills. Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply.

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Here comes Tony's mailbag. Got your email, faxes and your notes. Here comes Tony's mailbag. Gotta read some for all you folks. Thank you, Gary. You won.

[Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Congratulations to Gary.

[Wilbon]

Do you know where Gary is right now?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I do not.

[Wilbon]

Augusta.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, good for him.

[Wilbon]

Yeah. Going down there for his birthday week, I guess.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wonderful. That's great.

[Chuck Culpepper]

He's going for the entire week.

[Wilbon]

Well, I don't know if he's going.

[Chuck Culpepper]

For the first time hearing of this, Gary.

[Wilbon]

I don't know if he's there for the whole week. Maybe he was there for over the weekend, a few days this week, but, yes, was very excited to be down there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Good.

[Chuck Culpepper]

We used to play Wave Racer together. Now you're not even telling me you're going to the Masters over here giving fine sandwiches.

[Wilbon]

Did he take you to your first concert?

[Chuck Culpepper]

His wife did, yes. Gloria Stefan at the Old Cap Center.

[Wilbon]

How about that?

[Tony Kornheiser]

You want to do the Bethesda Bagel ad?

[Wilbon]

Bethesda Bagels. We love them. You will as well. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop it in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right. Let me just say before we get to the mailbag, you with your masquerading and you always contemplating what to do in case heaven has found you can't you see that it's all around you? So follow me. Hey, come on, babe, follow me. I'm the pied piper. Crispian St. Peter's this is his only big hit. I had this one yesterday. Nigel couldn't believe it that I pulled that out of him.

[Wilbon]

The Outsiders. Just brilliant.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Time won't let you. Thanks to our guests today, Chuck Culpepper and Steve Sands. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Audacy. Get the show through Apple Podcasts. Please leave us a review.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Masters and Food, what were your thoughts on the champions dinner menu from last night?

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I had heard about this a couple of days ago because they're going to replicate it at Rehoboth beach on Friday night. Oh, nice. It's steak and blackened redfish.

[Chuck Culpepper]

Yeah, but the starters, you have a little riff on Scotty's injury, where you have the papa Chef's meatball ravioli bites. I mean, he got injured making some ravioli.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, is that what it was? Okay.

[Chuck Culpepper]

And apparently the chili, this is his move. He did spicy tortilla soup a couple years ago, and apparently the chili, also very spicy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, he's Texan, isn't he?

[Rabbi Misha Ben David]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I mean, he's used to that kind of food. Okay. From Jesse ford in Havertown, Pennsylvania. Ovi scored his 895 goals against 183 goalies. I can't wait to hear Dan Burns summarize it for us. From Neil in Rockville. I can't believe you buried the lead on Obi's record breaking goal. Because when he was asked if anything could make the moment even better, he said in broken English, yes, if we only could go out to a lower tower to celebrate. A haiku from Shad certainly is great. Until he has most assists, he is not greatest. Yeah. Yes, I. Yes. And he's not. It's not going to happen. Stop with that. You know, Stop. I got a letter yesterday. I opened a letter from somebody complaining about all the people that nobody has ever mentioned how far behind Gretzky he is in assists. And I read the letter out loud. I said, is this guy living on the moon? What are you talking about? People talk about this all the time. What are you, an idiot? From Greg Thomas in Cincinnati, quote. Hockey is hockey. It's not baseball, it's not football, it's not basketball. Unquote. Thanks for clearing that up. Scott Foster, not the referee from Manchester, Maine. Not sure what it says about me that the first thing I thought of when I heard Ovechkin got the record setting goal was, oh, good, now it won't screw up Barry's Vergas mask this week. Yes. Yeah, that's what we all thought. I sent him a note saying, good for you. Go to August Mark lynch in Camby, Indiana. It was amazing to watch the Great Eight break Gretzky's record. But I also found myself looking at Ted Leonces pants. Is it Leoncis or Leonis? Mike O'Brien, Chuck and Roxy, number 303 from Boston, formally Revere. I just heard Wilbond mention how Wayne Gretzky and Darryl Greene were the first two people to talk to him about his heart attack. When I was 21, I was admitted into the hospital for two weeks with what turned out to be horrible. The first two people I heard from were my mom, who said I must have drank too much alcohol on my 21st birthday and I need to change my life. And my dad, who told me to drive myself to the emergency room during a blizzard if my stomach hurt that much. How's that for a name drop? That's brilliant. Brilliant. Email from Jeff barger in Hillsborough, North Carolina. I finished in the top 40, the bracket challenge. If I ever have grandchildren, I look forward to telling them about the time I almost won toothpaste from Greg in New York. Has there been any consideration for a consolation bracket prize for the person who comes in 511? I mean, it's not the best, but a lot of people did worse. Disclosure, I did not come in 511th place. I did worse. Tony Beeson, our friend in Cincinnati, Ohio It's a great Littles Weekend. Little Palooza was held this past weekend at the AC Hotel in Reston. Shout out to Betsy Jaffe, Dina from Koolanne Claire and Toby Clark for hosting and making the event so enjoyable and memorable. A group of us made the pilgrimage to Calvert Woodley when we were assured that the beloved cheese counter remains in service. You know, okay, so he said would rather this not be read on the air. Well, it's a little late. Yeah, you know, a little late. I did that.

[Chuck Culpepper]

But in the subject line, yeah, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That'S what you should do instead of Little Spalooza. Neil Aravais, our lawyer friend in Littleton, Colorado, in addition to keeping Carmelo Anthony from winning Rookie of the Year, were you the only voter to keep Ichiro from being unanimous, the fourth place vote that cost Lamar Jackson MVP and the one vote that kept Andrew Johnson from being impeached? Inquiring minds want to know. Eric Robertson in Dartmouth in Nova Scotia, the ferry goes from Halifax to Dartmouth and back. Am I the only one who heard the turtle story and immediately assumed you were talking about the candy? I was thinking, what ingredient is it in turtle that would be banned in the land of the free? This seemed more logical to me than someone with an actual full sized turtle down his pants. Yeah, me too. Nathan Ackerham, Charlotte, North Carolina On Monday's pod, Wilburn mentioned he was in Phoenix, Louisiana and Chicago over the past week. I assume that was a total of 8 hours driving in Wilbourne time from Dave Lord in Odenton, Maryland. On Monday's podcast, you read an email from Tom Palmettier, Colonel, United States Army, Retired, and I immediately said, hey, I know that guy. Not because I served with him in the army, have not been in the military, but because he was one of my freshman college roommates at State University of New York, Potsdam in 1972, way upstate home of Jimmy McSparren, who went to Harper. The two of us and a guy named Mark Bossick from Miller Place, Long island, were put in a dorm room that was barely big enough for two people in what was then a brand new dorm that hadn't been officially named, so it was referred to as Stage 13. Not Stalag 13, but Stage 13 because apparently it was originally supposed to be completed in 1973. That is 73 60. Don't ask me how the 60 plays in this Tom was a music major, trombone, and if you had said to me during the year we roomed together that he would end up being the Commander of the U.S. army Band, I would have most likely laughed uncontrollably. The military was absolutely the last place I expected freshman Tom Palmateer to land. There are a couple of stories from that year that stick out in my mind that I won't relate out of respect for Tom's service to our country. So you can imagine my flabbergastedness when, many years later, I discovered where life had taken him after Pottstown. Our paths have never crossed since that year at Potsdam, but it was most assuredly a memorable year. Regards, Dave Lord so Tom will hear this. Yes, he will get in touch with Dave Lord if he chooses to From Sally Bradley in Los Angeles I had the pleasure of attending the Women's Amateur on Saturday in Augusta that Michael and I talked about on Monday. The course was absolutely stunning and the players so impressive. There was a 16 year old player asterisk talley who crushed the ball from the What a great name that is. First name * who crushed the ball from the tee box. I can only imagine going back to her high school and being asked what did you do this weekend? I played golf at Augusta National. What did you do? Being a Texas graduate, I followed Farrah O'Keefe to cheer on a fellow Longhorn. Several women also had female caddies, which was fun to watch. I know you've spoken about how special Augusta is and it truly was once in a lifetime experience for me. Oh, until Michael Bradley to eat it. So that's really nice.

[Wilbon]

That is nice.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And Bill Matfield from Fort Mill, South Carolina. So over the weekend I'm traveling home to Fort Mill from the DMV. I'm on US 29, sure north of Charlottesville and just enjoying the spring colors pass by me in central Virginia. In my head I'm thinking this is why I take this route. Even though the drive on I95 through Fredericksburg and I85 through Roller Durham is 20 minutes shorter. It's just so beautiful. Then I see something that saddened me. In a ditch was an abandoned Subaru. As I pass by at 75 miles an hour, I check my rear view mirror and I'm thankful. I don't see any signs of damage or any evidence that someone could have been hurt. I wonder what happened flashes through my mind. The only thing I could think of was that the family had an unfortunate falling out with their children and they no longer Love them. Not needing the symbol of the love they once had for their children, they abandoned the Subaru in a remote part of rural Virginia where no one shall ever speak of it again. So sad to see discord within a family. If you're on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white. Later.

[Steve Sands]

He gets the rebound, passes it to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The man, shoots it, and boom goes the dynamite. Passes it to the man.

[Hershey Bell]

Tell Shauna that I happen by today I pushed your paper under Tell Shauna that the rain fell all night long and that's why I walked up 7.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Floor.

[Hershey Bell]

Tell Shauna that I brought some of her clothes sure, you can pass them along Tell Shawna that I've thought a lot about it and I think figured out where I went wrong Tell Shauna that I understand she's mad and there's nothing I can do to change her mind Tell Shawna that I'm living in a daze and I miss her cozy suppers her comments about people her endless interruptions Tell Shauna I was here Tell Shauna that the ledge outside her window Is just no place for conversation But I'd listen if that's the only place she'd see See me I know there's no reasonable explanation Tell Shawna I see she wasn't playing a game she could have called but my phone, it never rang Tell Shawna that my thoughtless introspection well, it ended with a bang A big bang Tell Shawna that I called and told her mother and I made all the arrangements yesterday Tell Shawna that there's lots of people coming and each and every one says they just don't understand she was always so happy she made fun of my resentment Impersonating Gracie Burns Tell Shauna I was here Tell Shauna I was here Tell Shauna I was here I was here I was here I was here.

[Unknown Singer]

I know that I know that I see.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Looking.

[Unknown Singer]

At me as you Know that I know that it's worth Know that I know that we be romant to be Love has come upon welcome forever more it's you I adore.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Does she know.

[Unknown Singer]

How I feel that she means the world to me does she know how I feel that my heart flutters endlessly? Does she run how I feel that we were meant to be Love has come knocking at my door Welcoming to take a seat forever more it's you I adore Afraid to say a word man, this is so absurd. Maybe I should go first. Let him know I want to hear his words.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, can I.

[Unknown Singer]

Can you what? Let's talk okay. Love hands come knocking at my door welcome in to take a seat Forever more Love has eyes Come knocking at my door welcome in to take a sleep over it's you I adore it's you I adore Love hands come knocking at my door welcome in to take a seat Forever more Forever more Love has come knocking at my door welcome into take a seat Forever more forever It's.