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- [00:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, I'll talk about the passing of Brian Wilson and his impact on American culture. We'll also check in with Steve Sands, who's at Oakmont for the U.S. open. And we'll see how Jason Locanfora feels about his boy Aaron Rodgers finally signing with the Steelers. But first, commerce.
- [00:18]
Steve Sands
This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. From streaming to shopping, prime helps you.
- [00:24]
Tony Kornheiser
Get more out of your passions. So whether you're a fan of true crime or prefer a nail biting novel.
- [00:29]
Steve Sands
From time to time, with services like.
- [00:32]
Tony Kornheiser
Prime Video, Amazon Music, and fast free delivery, prime makes it easy to get.
- [00:36]
Steve Sands
More out of whatever you're into or getting into. Visit Amazon.comprime to learn more.
- [00:47]
Tony Kornheiser
This Father's Day at Lowe's. Score free gifts for the greatest dad. Right now, get a free Blackstone 8 piece accessory kit when you buy a Blackstone 28 inch griddle. Plus get two free select Craftsman V20 tools when you buy an RP brushless drill and impact driver combo kit. Shop these deals and more this Father's Day at Lowe's. We help you Save valid through615.
- [01:12]
Steve Sands
Wall supplies.
- [01:12]
Tony Kornheiser
Last selection, mirrors by location.
- [01:19]
Steve Sands
Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [01:23]
Tony Kornheiser
So I tried to put in my own app, but I don't know if I succeeded. I don't know. Now I'm just envisioning you and the store manager. This sort of confrontation. Like Gary talking to a rep about a questionable wave of a garbage. No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't. It wasn't that at all. Hit that tear button. It wasn't that at all. The Tony Kornheiser show is on now. I have the Safeway app on my phone, but it doesn't tell me about any discounts.
- [01:56]
Steve Sands
You're not logged in.
- [01:57]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I don't know how to do that part yet. Another password you need to know.
- [02:01]
Steve Sands
I just try typing in your social.
- [02:02]
Tony Kornheiser
See what that does. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing any of those things. All right. Normally I would talk about the Gnats. I would talk about something with sport. No. Or the game last night. The Indiana game, which I had wrong and Wilbon had. Right. And I'm not. I'm gonna talk about Brian Wilson. Brian Wilson died yesterday at 82 years old. His family members did not disclose the reason for his death. He was 82 years old. He was 82 years old. And he was. He had lived a very hard life. I mean, he. I think if you read about him or saw him when he was a teenager and saw him in later years and read about his escapades with Dr. Eugene Landy, which form the spine of what's the name of the movie? Love and Mercy. Love and Mercy. And you know, I mean, Brian Wilson was a genius. Okay? In my lifetime in the rock and roll, the American rock and roll world, for me, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and Brian Wilson are true geniuses. Now some people, I think, will argue for Bruce Springsteen and they will argue for Billy Joel as well in again, American rock and roll. And it's fine, you can do that. And my list is the list that I just gave you. Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and Brian Wilson and Brian Wilson. Unlike the others, Brian Wilson was, I think, a tortured genius. I don't think Paul Simon is tortured. I don't think Bob Dylan is tortured. I don't. Maybe they are. I don't, I don't know them. But you could tell with Brian Wilson. If you looked at Brian Wilson, if you looked at the young Brian Wilson and then looked at him in his 30s and 40s and 50s and 60s and so on, you would see something around his eyes that was different. You would see a certain hollowness around his eyes. You would think to yourself, is he fully comprehending everything that's going on? And the answer probably would be no. As a young man, he began to go deaf. You know, sort of like Beethoven. I don't think he went totally deaf, but he lost a lot of hearing. He had these episodes in which he sought psychiatric care and got involved with a psychiatrist in California named Eugene Landy, whose license was later lifted probably because of the way he treated Brian Wilson. This is all in the movies, it's all in the books. Everybody knows these things. And Brian Wilson never fully returned to what we would think of as mainstream consciousness. I got to see him when I was in high school. I. Well, it's an interesting story. I was in Florida. It was an Easter vacation or something like that. And as I will say later about this, people just didn't get on airplanes in the 1960s like they do now. Airplanes were very, very special. People didn't have enough money to book tickets for their children to get on airplanes. So you got in cars and you drove. I went down to Florida with two guys from my high school, Charlie Weinstein and Bob Dichter, and we went in a Corvette. There's no room in a Corvette for three people in luggage. There's no room. It's a two passenger car. So the third person was in the back. And I was young, so I didn't have a license. I couldn't drive. So I was always in the back. And there's not even a seat. It's a shelf. And. And the luggage. I would hold the luggage on me, next to me, you know, like everybody had one small bag. Anyway, we went to. In Miami beach, we went to see the Beach Boys. I was really excited. The Beach Boys have always been my favorite group. I understand who the Beatles are. I understand they're better. I get all that. Doesn't matter. The Beach Boys were my favorite group. Don't Worry Baby is my favorite song. I think it's the greatest song ever written. You don't have to. It's okay. We're not going to get in a fight about it. As long as you let me say that I believe it's the greatest song ever written. Then we. Then we move on. So we went to see the Beach Boys, bought tickets to the Beach Boys. Brian Wilson wasn't there. This is like 1965 or 66 or something like that. Brian Wilson wasn't with them. You know who was playing and singing for him? Glenn Campbell. Glen Campbell, who was a great guitar player and a great singer and all of that. But Brian Wilson wasn't with them. I saw them with Brian Wilson in New York once. And recently, within the last two or three years, I saw a Beach Boys type group with Brian Wilson at Strathmore, you know, just right around where I live. And Brian Wilson sat there and played the piano and sang. I don't even know if his mic was on. I don't, I don't. It didn't matter to me. Yeah. The fact was, these were all his songs. I mean, he wrote all of these songs. I have long believed that Pet Sounds is the greatest American album ever made. I could even argue that Graceland is better. I mean, I could. But I'm just clinging to this because it just makes my life easier. God only knows, Paul McCartney said, was indeed the greatest song he ever heard. And when Pet Sounds came out in 1966, I want to say Paul McCartney took this seriously. And the next thing, the Beatles release is the greatest album ever made. It's Sergeant Pepper, you know, because Paul McCartney said to John Lennon, come on, let's look at this thing, see what we can do. I mean, everybody sort of knows that Bob Dylan wrote songs that were small p. Political. I mean, he did. He wrote anthematic songs. He wrote lyrics that nobody had ever written before. Such as, as a very young man, how many Roads Must a man walk down before they call him a man? And you just went, whoa. I mean, what are you doing? These are political songs. They're current events songs. They're from the heart of someone who believed that, you know, the world was imbalanced. That's what Bob Dylan did. That was his greatness. Paul Simon wrote about the world that he saw all around him without that political bent, but wrote fabulous lyrics, brilliant lyrics, and had the great gift early in his career of having the guy with the most angelic voice of all time sing the songs. Right? Yeah. You know, like, come On, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Come on. You know, it's. It's the vocal in that is beyond comprehension. And Paul Simon continued to do this for 40 years. Brilliant, brilliant songs. Brian Wilson didn't do that. Paul Simon looked outward. Bob Dylan looked outward. Brian Wilson looked inward. Brian Wilson talked about teenage. What it was to be teenaged in the United States in a certain period of time. And he went deeper and deeper and deeper into himself as he did this. I'm not talking about Surfing USA or. Or Little Do Scoop. Those are wonderful car songs. They're wonderful car songs. They're wonderful beach songs. They're great. In the same way that Bruce Springsteen in his play On Broadway talked about the fact that I wrote all these car songs. I didn't even have a license till I was 20 years old. I never drove a car. I wrote all these car songs. Brian Wilson didn't surf. He didn't do that. His brother Dennis did, but he didn't do that. He just wrote about it. He wrote about the culture of California, where he grew up in Los Angeles. And if you were someone like me and you were on the east coast, well, as Chuck Berry once said, you know, tell the folks back home, this is the promised land calling. And the poor boys on the line, and that's California, was that. That was the dream. If you lived on the east coast and you had, you know, you didn't necessarily have great weather. And by the East Coast, I'm not talking about Florida, I'm talking about New York, Boston, you know, Philadelphia, places like that. And I grew up on Long Island. And the Beach Boys. Just an immediate. The first time I heard him, I said, wow, this is great. And I pretty much memorized every song that I ever heard. And. And I credit Brian Wilson with all of these things. Um, and so, again, you didn't just hop on an airplane like you do now. It didn't work that way. Nobody said, I'm going to LA for the Weekend. It's just. That was not in anyone's consciousness, even very rich people. You didn't go to LA for the weekend like people do now. They do it all the time. No, you know, they didn't do that. You got in a car, you drove across the country to see California, and it took you six or seven days. My friend Andy and I did that. We drove to California when I was in college. And the motivation to drive to California was always. Brian Wilson was always those songs that he wrote, you know, this is not a Brian Wilson song, but the greatest tribute to Brian Wilson ever is Randy Newman, who said, crank up the Beach Boys, baby. Don't let the music ever stop. Yeah, he didn't say crank up the Beatles. He's writing about la. But, yeah, you know, I love la, but that's, you know, that's how a lot of people of a certain age, and I have, I am of that certain age, felt. Brian Wilson, though, he, he admitted to fears. I mean, nobody did this. You might have done this in a novel. And everybody knew they were your fears, but you put them in another character's voice and another character's body and another character's head. Brian Wilson didn't do that. But Brian, don't worry, baby, right? I think it's greatest song ever. How does it begin? Well, it's been building up inside of me for, oh, I don't know how long. I don't know why, but I got the feeling something's bound to go wrong. Nobody does that. Like, they. They don't do that. Songs are, you know, happy things or they are strident things and they're about conquering something. Brian Wilson wasn't about. Brian Wilson was about being paralyzed sometimes by fear. In my room. Beautiful, beautiful ballad. In my room I lock out all my worries and my fears. Nobody does that. I don't want to tell you that I can relate to all that. But I mean, you know, if you, if you had anxieties, Brian Wilson was your therapist. Brian Wilson said, I've got these same things, but he had them for real. And they were, in his case, often paralyzing. They changed his life. I mean, he, you know, what is genius? How long does genius flame? Not that long. You know, if you're Einstein, I mean, Einstein, did he get to his 70s? Was he a genius at 70? Did he do something where you went, oh, my God, that's Albert Einstein. No, no, it happens young. It happens young. Particularly in the arts. It happens young. So Brian Wilson's greatest work was between the ages probably of 16 and less than 30, because he was. He went wild, you know, he. You know, he could not. He was a non functional human being. The Beach Boys went out by themselves all the time. They waited for Brian Wilson to send them songs or give them songs. Pet Sounds, there's one song on Pet Sounds, the end of it is just dogs barking. You know, what is this? What? It's great. What is this? His arrangements, you were so complex and layered. You know, you. Would. You associate that with like the George Martins of the world, people who do that for a living. Brian Wilson, it's in the movie. You. You go into the studio and Brian Wilson does things and people just sort of look at him. Okay, we'll try that. Would try that. We'll see. And he went through different phases, the Van Dyke Parks phase, when he did songs like Heroes and Villains, you know, it's sort of unknowable. They're beautiful songs. Lyrically, they're sort of weird and sort of unknowable. And that's not the sort of Beach Boys that. That people think about. Every. Every group has a bad song. You know, the Beatles have. Michelle. A Good Vibration is not a good song. I mean, everybody loves it. I understand. Everybody loves it. There's a theremin in it. And it's really different. It's. But it's not. It's not really the Beach Boys. I mean, the Beach Boys are. Don't worry, baby. The Beach Boys are in my room. The Beach Boys are. Help me, Rhonda. Everybody's coming out now. All the. It's a lovely obituary in the Washington Post and one in the New York Times, too. They're lovely. Tim Page in the Washington Post and the Times is a writer who had been there for 20 years. And they all sort of give. Like, here's the discography. Here's the 10 best Brian Wilson songs. The 12 best, you know, and, you know, everybody knows what the songs are. And thankfully, Don't Worry Baby is on that list. And then they try to get one later in his life. You know, maybe that's why, you know, that's why God made the radio. They're okay, you know, but they're. But that period of time in the 1960s, late 60s, that's. That's the flowering of Brian Wilson. I wrote down a bunch of stuff here. I haven't used any of it, of course, you know, I did. It doesn't really matter. I mean, he. Again, I mean, what I would say is that he looked inward and what I would say is that he started out, in essence, as somebody you would hire now on the board of tourism of Southern California, because everything was great. You know, the beaches were great, the cars were great, the surf was great. Everybody had a good time. It's automatic when you talk with old friends and conversations. I knew, you know, your hair was soft and long and the beach was the place to go. You know, that's. And that's a late Beach Boys song. Do it again. And that's one of the last Mike Love leads. And I'm. My understanding, from what I read, is that Mike Love and Brian Wilson are sort of estranged and have been for quite some time because Mike Love wanted to keep making money and touring. That's what he did. And Brian Wilson, you know, withdrew. Brian Wilson was the. Was the only surviving brother. I mean, Dennis Wilson drowned at a young age in his 40s. Carl Wilson had cancer. Brian was the last one. You wouldn't have ever thought that. And was continuing to play music, you know, continuing to do that. And so you have to think he loved it because he didn't need the money. He has to have a billion dollars somewhere. All of this music, he's got to be worth something like that. So my friends know that, that I really loved the Beach Boys and, and, and they said, you know, they, they tell you they're sorry, they're sorry for themselves, they're sorry for you as well. And I said, don't worry, I'll talk about it on the podcast. And I just did. Steve Sands. Sands. Steve Sands. When we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [17:07]
Steve Sands
This is the Tony Kornheiser show. Tony Kornizer show.
- [17:12]
Tony Kornheiser
This is the Liquid IV read. It's peak hydration season and Liquid IV is the perfect companion for your hottest summer plants. They've just launched an exhilarating new flavor. Arctic Raspberry. Have you had that?
- [17:23]
Steve Sands
No.
- [17:24]
Tony Kornheiser
Have you had that? I have not tried that yet. Arctic raspberry.
- [17:26]
Steve Sands
Stuck with strawberry lemonade, I could have Arctic Raspberry Plus.
- [17:29]
Tony Kornheiser
Liquid IV has sugar free solutions powered by Liv Hydra Science for smart hydration. Just visit LiquidIV.com and use the code Tony K at checkout for 20% off your first order.
- [17:41]
Steve Sands
Like how the kids make my Liquid IV drink vanish.
- [17:44]
Tony Kornheiser
They just drink it themselves. Oh.
- [17:46]
Steve Sands
I go to the playground to pick them up and I just slowly see each of the three boys circle over to my, you know, my station and.
- [17:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Just take furtive sips. Okay. Did you know that just one stick of liquid IV along with 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. Now Michael would have used that and then the kids would. Yes, and sip that. Yeah. Powered by LIV Hydro Science, an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration no matter what your summer brings. Tear. Pour Live more go to liquidiv.com get 20% off your first order with the code TonyK at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code tonykidiv.com use the code people.
- [18:35]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [18:38]
Tony Kornheiser
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 and co.com 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.
- [19:40]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [19:46]
Tony Kornheiser
This is sent to us by Rick Franzosa in Cincinnati, Ohio, who writes. I've known Scott Salmon for many years. He went to the same Catholic elementary school as my children. His parents are friends of ours. I first got to know Scott when he did what many of our generation said we were going to do but didn't. He dropped out of college to pursue a career in music. His band in the early 2000s, Cavachon, had a punk edge. But even back then, Scott's ability to turn a lyric phrase was remarkable. He and his wife now reside in Nashville. He has shared a new song with me, Whiskey Doesn't Work. It's been Released and it's available on the usual channels. He has other songs mastered and ready, and I will keep you posted. So this is Scott Salmon. And this is a song called Whiskey Doesn't Work, and that's the title of it. And it plays in Steve Sands. So I, you know, Wilbon says to me yesterday, this is fabulous. Wilbourne's in Arizona. And he says, yeah, so the Open's going to come on at six in the morning. So it's three in the morning out here. I always sort of get up at three, so I'm going to watch the Open at three. He says, are you going to watch? And I said, well, not at three. Maybe. Maybe after I walk the dog, I'll watch. So I turn on the Golf Channel. It's not on the Golf Channel. And then Michael comes over and he Sundays, it's on USA, which I didn't know. So I got to watch a little bit. And it seems that everybody likes to put their ball in the grass. That has been tramped down.
- [21:06]
Steve Sands
Four left on one.
- [21:07]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, four left, right on one. Fleetwood was there. DeChambeau was there. Everybody was there. The USGA loves Oakmont, right? They love it. Tell me why.
- [21:19]
Steve Sands
First of all, two things. No offense to Scott, but he's incorrect. Whiskey does work. The second thing is this is the nine year anniversary, Tony. The nine year anniversary. It all began here at Oakmont at the US Open. I was on the 10th hole and Jason Day was hitting a shot and someone yelled, la cheeserie.
- [21:42]
Tony Kornheiser
Really?
- [21:42]
Steve Sands
Very first time in me at Oakmont at the US Open in 2016.
- [21:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Wow.
- [21:46]
Steve Sands
Because all you wanted to do was get rid of people saying you demand and all that stupid stuff.
- [21:51]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [21:51]
Steve Sands
And you said everybody who sees Steve Sands out at a tournament, or even if you don't see him, instead of yelling that stupid stuff, just yell at Cheeseree. And it all began right here at the. In 2016.
- [22:04]
Tony Kornheiser
Makes me happy.
- [22:05]
Steve Sands
Amazing. And happy anniversary, Tony.
- [22:07]
Tony Kornheiser
I love you. That's great.
- [22:09]
Steve Sands
They love the US Open here because it's the most difficult of all the tracks. There are some certain challenges. You know, Wing Foot comes to mind. There are some great, great challenges in the rotation of all the courses that have hosted the US Open. But the USGA has come here more than any other venue in the United States. This is the 10th US Open at Oakmont, and it is the most difficult. It has the highest scoring average of any of them. And ask any player in yesteryear or today, and they will tell you that this place is a brute.
- [22:45]
Tony Kornheiser
So when you prepare for the show because we had Brando Chamblee on yesterday, and he was fabulous. Matt Kelleher gives me a bunch of numbers to see if I want to use any of them. Any of them resonate with me, and the one that did. There have been nine US Opens at Oakmont with nine different winners. Eight of the nine are multiple major winners. What does that say about this course?
- [23:13]
Steve Sands
Well, I'll give you another one. Six of the nine are already in the World Golf hall of Fame, and you can make a strong case that Angel Cabrera and Dustin Johnson, who won an 0, 7 and 16, are also going to be. So it should be eight of nine in the World Golf hall of Fame, along with eight of nine winning multiple major championships. This place. You know, the USGA likes to say they're not trying to punish the players. They're not trying to do anything other than then identify the player who best use all the clubs in the bag. It's an absolute, complete test here at Oakmont. And over the years, if you look at the winners, it has been that way. It's just one of those places that truly identifies not only the best player this particular week or whatever week it is at the US Open in all those years that it's been coming here, but they just get a lot of horsepower here. You don't see a random winner here. At least you haven't thus far. You never know what's going to happen this week. But a random winner just doesn't happen at Oakmont.
- [24:15]
Tony Kornheiser
What you hear anecdotally all the time is that the members want it to be very, very hard. They don't want it easy at all. They take pride in high scores. I understand that. But the players seem okay with it. I think if this was a regular tour stop, the players would say, I'm not playing there. This is nuts. But they seem to like the Open there. Am I wrong on that?
- [24:38]
Steve Sands
By the way, I'm about to get into the booth and call the next five hours. Oh, and my man Mike Tirico just walked by and he waved and says hello.
- [24:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Say hi. Yes, say hi.
- [24:48]
Steve Sands
So, you know, the thing about Oakmont, Tony, that's. That's so interesting is that the members here, the joke is they sit on the porch and as the players walk by, they say, hey, how do you like it that we slowed our dreams down for you?
- [25:05]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [25:05]
Steve Sands
And I have been here many times. I have played the course many times. And I will never understand how any normal person can enjoy being a member here. It's just so hard.
- [25:16]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [25:17]
Steve Sands
And if you're an 11, if you're a normal person, not like Michael, I mean, even Michael. Rory McElroy told me, this is amazing. Rory McElroy told me he shot 81 last Monday here in a practice round. That's Rory McElroy. And he said, if you are a scratch golfer, a legit scratch, not some guy who says he's a scratch and he's really a seven, but a legit scratch, no chance he would break 90 here this week. No chance. And maybe not even 100. And it's just the kind of place where not only does the USGA want to make it difficult for the best players in the world and those who qualify for the U.S. open, but the membership kind of demands that they make it this difficult. They don't want anybody getting after their golf course. Dustin Johnson won here in 16 at 4 under par and the members were not happy here the previous US Open, Cabrera into plus five one at plus five plus five. So, you know, they want to punish you here. The membership does here at Oakmont. They thrive on that difficulty. I don't understand how the members enjoy playing this golf course, but that's just the way it is here.
- [26:26]
Tony Kornheiser
They have a 300 yard par three, you know, so that would take me three shots to get there. So I'd already be over if I got to the green. But again, and I bring this up, you do not hear pros grousing about this. It's sort of like they say, you know what, we don't do this a lot. Let's have as much fun as we can, even though we're going to get our brains beaten in. Right?
- [26:48]
Steve Sands
Jack Nicklaus once told me, and Brooks Koepka, of all people, I'm not putting them in the same sentence very lightly, but Brooks Koepka once told me he's a two time US Open winner in the late 2010. He said the same thing that Jack said in a different manner, that when you come to a major, they're not easier to win than regular events per se. But because you can scratch off after field, three quarters of the field, because they're complaining before the peg gets put in the ground on Thursday, you can scratch them off, they have no chance. So if you complain, Jack used to say, I used to look at him and go, that guy's got no chance. That guy's got no chance. That guy's got no chance. Brooks Koepka said the same thing when he was winning all of his major championships in the late 2010s. And I think a mindset takes over at a major, especially at a U.S. open, and especially a U.S. open here at Oakmont. If you're complaining coming into the week, then you really, truly don't have a great chance of winning.
- [27:49]
Tony Kornheiser
So Michael and I turn on USA and we watch for five or six minutes before we start the show. And one of the things that is said is whoever was announcing it. The five and a half inch rough. Yeah, the five and a half inch rough. That.
- [28:06]
Steve Sands
Yeah.
- [28:06]
Tony Kornheiser
Wow. How do you get out of that?
- [28:08]
Steve Sands
And they mowed it, by the way, in our production meeting with the USGA yesterday, and they were saying, yeah, we're going to. We're going to do it at five and a quarter. I think it was five and a quarter. Maybe it's five and a half, but it was five and a quarter. It doesn't matter. And then we're going to mow it tonight and we're going to mow it on Friday. And I'm thinking to myself, what about in between those two times? Yeah, and it's just a really, really challenging thing here at Oakmont. The greens are crazy fast here. They're, you know, undulating and they go away from you. It's very, you know, unique here at Oakmont to other golf courses, but they're rough. Tony, if you had to look at one statistic all week, had about six or seven players tell me on Tuesday and about 10 players tell me yesterday during practice rounds that they had a hard time advancing the golf ball out of the rough, let alone hacking it out, and then hitting your third from 150 yards or even trying to attack the green. So there'll be some times where you see players, world class players, not the qualifiers, who are in the rough and then stay in the rough. If I had. I do that exactly. We all do. If I had to pick one statistic to look at this week, Obviously putting is very important, but to me, accuracy off the tee, you have no chance of scoring. If you're going to be in the rough more often than not, you have to hit the fairways here just to give you a chance. You also have to avoid double bogeys. You can make bogeys here and it's not going to crush you. You make doubles here, you're going to get in big trouble. But finding the fairway is the most important statistic to me coming into the week.
- [29:41]
Tony Kornheiser
That's why Wilbon likes Morikawa to win, but he always likes Morikawa to win because he knows Morikawa and says he wants him to win. Who can't win on a course like this? What type of golfer can't win?
- [29:53]
Steve Sands
You know, length isn't a huge thing here at Oakmont. You know, there, there are four par fours that are under 408 yards. So it's not like length is a massive issue. But if you don't have, let's just put it this way. If you're someone who's not. If you're someone who does not hit it accurately off the tee per se, on average, and you try to dial it back a little bit, let's say you hit a three wood or something less than a driver. Well, these greens are so difficult to negotiate. They're rolling almost 15 on the stint and it's Thursday morning. I mean, wait till you see some of these golf balls and what happens to them when they hit the green. So if you have a shorter club in your hand from the fairway, you're going to have a much, much, much better chance of holding the green and getting yourself in a position to have a birdie putt or at least a tap in for par. If you don't have a makeable birdie putt, if you are farther back, if you're not accurate and you decide to dial it back and you're hitting longer irons into these greens, you have no chance. So again, the person who is not accurate, Tony, is not going to win. You better be accurate with your irons to hit these greens. You better be accurate off the tee that if you're not accurate, you have no chance this week.
- [31:07]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay, so we switch it, we flip it to who can win what, not only what type of player can win, but are there two or three or four people where you say these guys, they can win this tournament?
- [31:19]
Steve Sands
Well, the Scotty Scheffler count, yeah, sure, Scotty, yes, Scotty absolutely could win. You know, he's bringing his A game in here. He's won three of his last five weeks and they have been by four shots or more. Just to make that equivalent to basketball. That's a double digit win in basketball. That's a 20 to 28 point win in football. You don't see blowouts in golf very often. So Scheffler clearly can win here. The other people I think who have chances to win here are guys like Harris English, guys like Tommy Fleetwood, you know, guys like Taylor Pendras. If you really wanted to go off the board, I think Ludwig Oberg has an outstanding chance to win his first major championship at a Young age this week because of the way they go about their business. When you have to look, let's put it this way, Tony. Last year, Rory McIlroy should have won at Piners.
- [32:11]
Tony Kornheiser
That's right.
- [32:11]
Steve Sands
He's the best driver of the golf ball. And he missed the fairway at 18. You have to hit the fairway when you have that position and you're that player on the 72nd hole at a U.S. open. When you're Scotty Scheffler and guys like that, he has that nice little cut that he can find a fairway on. Those are the guys you want to look at, the guys who absolutely dead nuts have to hit the fairway. Those are the guys you want to look at this week. And that's why Scotty's the heavy favorite, because he's the best player in the world. But he's also the guy who can do that better than anybody right now. And those other guys, Fleetwood, Justin Rose Harris English, Ludwig Oberg, those kind of guys, you know, Corey Connors, the ball striking ability that he has, guys like that can win here this week for sure.
- [33:04]
Tony Kornheiser
All right, last question. What do you think the winning score will be?
- [33:08]
Steve Sands
Well, I looked in the odds last night. I was in the hotel watching game three of the NBA. And then I was doing some homework for the show today, and I saw the odds are 278 and a half. It's a. It's a par seven. He's a 280s par. So minus one and a half is the over under in Vegas. I have a hard time thinking that if it doesn't rain over the week, it's supposed to rain a little bit. Hopefully it stays away. That gets firm and fast. If it's firm and fast and does not rain over the course of the four days, over par is going to win. But if it rains a little bit and softens the golf course just a touch, even though it's blazingly difficult, I think two under is going to win. I just have a hard time thinking with these guys talent, these guys condition, the technology and the way they go about playing golf today. I just can't imagine that one person isn't going to be under par if it does rain a little bit. But if it doesn't rain, Tony, it gets firm and fast all throughout the four days. Man, oh man. I think over par is definitely gonna win.
- [34:08]
Tony Kornheiser
Thank you. Thank you. Enjoy yourself. Have a good time. And happy anniversary. Of course. Yes, Happy anniversary.
- [34:13]
Steve Sands
Happy anniversary to all the La Cheeserie people. And by the way, I appreciate Everybody saying that and yelling it. It makes me smile, makes me think of my dad. And it's very, very cool. And you started it, Tony. I appreciate it very much.
- [34:25]
Tony Kornheiser
Wonderful. Steve Sands, boys and girls. We will take a break. Jason Locanfora will join us when we return. I'm Tony Kornheim.
- [34:33]
Steve Sands
You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.
- [34:37]
Tony Kornheiser
Now let's talk about that car you own but don't use. The one you're paying to keep registered and insured that's taking up space out front and is just sitting there doing no one any good. Let me tell you what you should do about that car. You should give Cars for Kids a call and have them take care of it for you. That's right. Just give them the info. They will come to you as soon as the next day. Take that car off your hands at no cost to you. Even better, they will turn that car into funds to help kids. So visit carsforkids.org Tony that's cars with a K and the number 4. To donate or call cars for kids directly at 1-877-cars4kids. You don't want to sing it? I'm not singing it. Donate your car today. Now. I will never get that out of my head for the rest of the day. And they will get that car picked up in a jiffy.
- [35:20]
Steve Sands
Join the band.
- [35:21]
Tony Kornheiser
Plus you can get a tax deduction, vacation voucher and life will be just great. They've been around for 30 years and have done this over a million times. Call now or head over to cars4kids.org Tony right now and get this done. That's carsforkids.org Tony. Remember, that's cars with a K. Ryan.
- [35:38]
Jason Lock and Fora
Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
- [35:40]
Tony Kornheiser
With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile Unlimited premium wire wireless. Everybody get 30. 30. But you get 30. Better get 20. 20, 20. Better get 20, 20.
- [35:53]
Jason Lock and Fora
Everybody get 15, 15, 15, 15.
- [35:55]
Tony Kornheiser
Just 15 bucks a month. Sold. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [36:01]
Steve Sands
Of 45 for 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 you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.
- [36:14]
Beltway Ben Hall
So let's get it started with Jason and Ben.
- [36:17]
Steve Sands
Let's get it started with Jason and Ben.
- [36:20]
Beltway Ben Hall
Let's get get it started with Jason and Ben Suck the cuts and catacombs about the cunts of fanny let's get it started with Jason and Ben let's.
- [36:30]
Steve Sands
Get it started with Jason and Ben.
- [36:33]
Beltway Ben Hall
Let'S get it started with Jason and Ben Suck the cuts and cat it calls about the concert belly. No. Set started. Let's get started.
- [36:41]
Tony Kornheiser
Set started. What is this? What is this? It's the intro song for Jason's.
- [36:53]
Steve Sands
Yeah.
- [36:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Want a bat show? What is Jason. What are we getting started that they're referring to? And who is Ben Tone?
- [37:00]
Jason Lock and Fora
We're starting the show. Ben is Beltway Ben Hall.
- [37:03]
Tony Kornheiser
Beltway Ben Hall.
- [37:05]
Jason Lock and Fora
Yes. On. On. I want to bet. I'm a little surprised that he's not on your radar term. But we'll change that. We'll change that. Yeah, wannabe. We're doing it noon eastern pretty much every day. Although 11am today, because, you know, schedules do change. And. Yeah, in about 25 minutes, me and Ben and one of our buddies who is an expert in the gambling field. And one sport or one thing or another, if you're going to gamble and you're going to use some of your discretionary income that way, we're going to try to make you do it smarter. And we're going to get that song in your head, Tony. It's the jam of the summer and AI is a dangerous thing. I'm just gonna leave it at that.
- [37:47]
Tony Kornheiser
How much did you pay for that song?
- [37:50]
Jason Lock and Fora
Nothing.
- [37:50]
Tony Kornheiser
Nothing.
- [37:51]
Jason Lock and Fora
I created it with AI. Me and my 13 year old, we just kept trying different stuff and then he got bored with it pretty quickly, but once he showed me sort of like in a half hour how AI works, then it took me probably three or four hours, and it's just kind of trial and error.
- [38:06]
Tony Kornheiser
So. Wait, so those are not real people singing?
- [38:09]
Jason Lock and Fora
I mean, I. I don't really know how AI works. Like, I don't know if it's based off somebody real, but, like, I just put in sort of like lyrics and then you kind of play with the tempo and then, you know, I wasn't really gonna go sca. But then the different things I tried and then I was like, well, what if we did like Scott? What if we went a little bit more upbeat? And what if we change it from a man's voice to a female voice? You know what I mean? And what if we change the cadence of the opening a little bit? Like it. It's pretty nuts, dude.
- [38:42]
Tony Kornheiser
Who are you, George Martin? What are you doing? Is this the new thing in your life? You're gonna like, be in a studio and create music?
- [38:50]
Jason Lock and Fora
No, no, just for the show. But I mean, like the logo and everything in the backdrop. I did all that with AI too.
- [38:55]
Tony Kornheiser
And it's called Wanna Bet Wannabe.
- [38:58]
Jason Lock and Fora
You could find it YouTube.com backslash. Want to bet all our stuff is there? Or you can just go to my Twitter at Jason Lock and Fora and we stream the shows there and you can find out everything you need about it there. But really, if you. If you really want to help out the startup and if you're a little. Who cares if you just subscribe to the YouTube channel, even if you never go there. If you just go to YouTube.com backslash@1 a bet with us, subscribe. That would be a beautiful thing.
- [39:30]
Tony Kornheiser
That's great. And when Beltway Ben, we're helping him out too, right?
- [39:34]
Jason Lock and Fora
Yeah, Beltway Ben, he's getting a cut of everything. Beltway Ben's my partner, man.
- [39:38]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay.
- [39:39]
Jason Lock and Fora
So. Yeah, yeah, I. What. What helps me helps Beltway Ben.
- [39:45]
Tony Kornheiser
We should make T shirts on the back. So what helps me helps Beltway Ben. Yeah.
- [39:50]
Jason Lock and Fora
Yes, Beltway Ben. Sharp, man. He's super sharp.
- [39:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay. You know, I mean, what does he do for a living, like, other than this?
- [39:58]
Jason Lock and Fora
He produces my radio show.
- [40:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay. So he doesn't. He doesn't put tile down or, you know, carpet or anything like that? He doesn't do that.
- [40:05]
Jason Lock and Fora
No. Any handicaps, man? He handicaps games, like, pretty much full time. Yeah.
- [40:09]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay. All right. This leads me into the question I. I like most of all the Aaron Rodgers.
- [40:16]
Steve Sands
Oh, there's a topic I want to.
- [40:18]
Jason Lock and Fora
Bet the other day.
- [40:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Aaron Rodgers. Like, what do you think? How long. How long is he? You know, what is he. What's going to happen?
- [40:24]
Jason Lock and Fora
Yeah, well, look, I'm not going to sit here and we had this discussion last year, and I urge people, go to wherever you make your bets and look at what they're doing. They were giving you plus money for the jets to miss the playoffs, which they always miss. And of course they were going to miss with him. Like, this is not a full fledged, like, do whatever you can to fade this guy routine. Because, look, it is Pittsburgh. It's a different culture. It is Mike Tomlin. He can't. I don't think he can come in and try to get away with everything he was doing in New York. I just think it's a little different. There are some guardrails, there's checks and balances. They're a professionally run organization. Yes, but that, that doesn't mean that he's truly in this for anything other than himself. And it's just, you know, they take a little longer for that to manifest itself. The distractions and the weirdness and just, you know, him. Him being as low, lowsome as he can be. Like, I don't know that that starts the first day of training camp, but I also know the talent around him, I would say inarguably, is less here from an individual talent standpoint. And you just look at that season last year, and I can remember watching all the film and running all the numbers in week 8, week 9, week 10, and all the individuals around him who were supposed to prosper from his presence were doing worse than they did with Zach Wilson. And this is, you know, Derek Wilson's talent, real talent, and Breeze hall, who has real talent. And like, could this offensive line be better than. Not that offensive line? Like, probably, yeah. But, like, I, I don't know, Tony. Like, he wants to throw the ball a ton. He. It's a lot like Ben Roethlisberger at the end of his career. Like, he's not going to stop throwing the ball. He will audible and check out of whatever you try to do into whatever he wants. He will try to pat his stats because they. The balls only go in six yards downfield. So in his mind, it's a high percentage play, you know, completion percentage, you know, more completions, more yards. But it's not particularly efficient or effective. The big plays weren't there last year. I don't think they'll be there this year. He doesn't clearly want to be hit anymore.
- [42:42]
Tony Kornheiser
He.
- [42:44]
Jason Lock and Fora
He wants to kind of do it his way, and I don't think his way with that team is, is going to. Is going to work. But we also know that Mike Tomlin, every year at Christmas, right, They're in it and they're. They're playing games that matter and they're on the periphery. Some years they're great, and a lot of years they're just sort of on the periphery, but, you know, they find a way to get in. Maybe they're able to stay in that sort of domain, but I don't think he adds like three wins or three and a half wins. Are you thinking him from WAR perspective? Is he better than Mason Rudolph yet? Will he do all this other stuff that hurts the team? Probably. And does he make them better enough on the field to offset that? I don't think so.
- [43:30]
Tony Kornheiser
The. I am belaboring this point, and I apologize for it. Why would Mike Tomlin expose himself to This.
- [43:40]
Jason Lock and Fora
I wonder if subconsciously, like we've been. There have been rumors about Mike Tomlin and you know, will he sign the next extension and would he like to go somewhere where there aren't. The separation of church and state between personnel and coaching isn't as great. And we've seen so many coaches get basically the entire building, right. And that's become the norm. And so there have been a lot of people who've wondered for a while about, you know, could that ever come to a head. And I just wonder if this is his way of bringing it to a hit because to me it is Machiavellian and it is very much individualistic and it is counter to the sort of Steeler slash Rooney culture forever. I mean, he put his entire offense on hold until the very end of the off season program. So this guy could come in for three days, you know what I mean, talk to the media, shake his ass and then go back into the abyss and then, you know, show up at training camp. Like that's so unusual for them. Like how? Like, you know, like, I mean, what was Arthur Smith and that offense really able to accomplish? Like, they go and get Metcalf, but he does nothing with the new quarterback, not even in the building at the same time until, you know, mandatory minicamp. So to me, like, if it works, it's. It to me is kind of like my Tom were saying, well, hey, you know, I pulled that off, I could pull anything off. You know, maybe, maybe things need to be a little different around here. I don't know. And also, you know, maybe. Maybe other people should sort of report to me more. Like it just seems like something that only a coach with that much power could do. If it works, can he prove even more power, whether it's there or somewhere else? And if it doesn't work, there's really nowhere else to point the finger other than Mike Tomlin.
- [45:25]
Tony Kornheiser
And so that's right, if things have.
- [45:27]
Jason Lock and Fora
Been wearing a little bit thin and nothing does last forever in the NFL, you know, and even Andy Reid left Philadelphia after a while with five straight championship games because he couldn't get over the hump. Like, does it also bring it to a head in that other way? And maybe Mike Tomlin isn't back there in 2026 and we know damn well that Aaron Rodgers won't be one way or the other.
- [45:49]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, yeah. Terry McLaurin, T.J. watt, Trey Hendrickson. I assume that you think that McLaurin and T.J. watt will be satisfied, but what about Trey Hendrickson?
- [46:01]
Jason Lock and Fora
I Think Watt certainly will. You know, this is a new regime there in Washington. I think they've done things a little bit odd to me and to some other people. There seem to be some people that they brought in last year who kind of might have been one year mercenaries and it worked. And I think the GM really sort of got off on it working. So they prioritized, you know, kind of going the George Allen route and bringing the band back together, the over the Hill Gang. And you know, they go and do this Devo Samuel thing at his position. I didn't think it made any sense. I think that his body, his film, his metrics had been showing you what he is and you know, they're worried about, you know, let's take that off San Francisco's hand. And you know, that wide receiver is the priority right away. And like, I don't know, man, I think they lacked a bedside manner to this whole thing. This guy's played with terrible quarterbacks and he's been a one man band and he's been as good of a sort of soldier as you can be. Despite all that, you know, coaches there who don't really know what they're doing, coordinators there don't really know they're doing, quarterbacks, they don't really know what they're doing. And he, you know, risked his neck week after week.
- [47:09]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah.
- [47:09]
Jason Lock and Fora
Knowing we're probably not going to win games, you know, and then he's sitting around watching the money go to all these other places and it's almost like, don't take my good attitude for weakness, you know, like, don't think you can just get to me whenever you get to me or, you know, oh, he's, he's Terry, he loves it. You know, he's a commander for life. Like, I don't know, it. The whole, the vibes, everything about this have been off. And I do know that before Jayden Daniels became a version of Jaden Daniels that even they didn't think he was going to be. Like, I didn't know that he was going to be back there because I know that there was frustration about like, I'm kind of sick of all this medicine balls, right. And leaving my feet to catch this and catch that and selling out every week to make these plays because I'm not getting the kind of service other quality receivers are, you know, and we're not winning any games either. So I don't know, man, like, we're still going to find out about that gm and I know everybody's falling all over themselves to, you know, pump those guys up. But I think that handling success and handling the schedule they're going to play this year and people preparing for them differently. Like, I think they take a step back before they take a step forward. And I'm interested to see culturally how they handle a situation like this because everything has kind of been so kumbaya and everything's worked for them. And frankly, I think they really misstepped here. And then the Bengals, I mean, look, the Bengals can't get their first round pick sign. I mean, the Bengals won't. Won't change a few. They're trying to take a stand with this kid who they really need on the field because they're not sure when Hendricks is going to play and even Henderson does. They figure that all out and he is there. Week one, the defense was God awful and now they want to play around with contract language and flex their muscles. And this kid's in the building not practicing, telling them that they're fools because they are fools. I don't know, Tom. You know, the quarterback isn't quite as happy anymore and now he's like, yeah, this is a distraction. I don't know, man. That's a Mike Brown production like that that tends to get janky. So could Hendrickson miss some time in the regular season? I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. Even as sort of draconian as the CBA is for those kind of things like that seems really, really personal. And now the kid they drafted to kind of hopefully replace him one day, he's already at odds with the organization before he's ever played a practice now.
- [49:34]
Tony Kornheiser
Not good. That's not good. That's not good. Plug your radio show for us.
- [49:38]
Steve Sands
Even listen to me two to six.
- [49:39]
Jason Lock and Fora
On Inside Access on 1057 the fan and. And again, bang that subscription button for me and Beltway Ben.
- [49:47]
Tony Kornheiser
Beltway Ben and Jason. Wanna bet? Wanna bet? We're gonna. We're gonna play that song every day.
- [49:55]
Jason Lock and Fora
YouTube tone and just put in one the of that.
- [49:57]
Tony Kornheiser
We're gonna play it. We're gonna play it constantly until.
- [50:00]
Jason Lock and Fora
I hope so.
- [50:01]
Tony Kornheiser
Until we smash our heads through the glass window. Thank you.
- [50:06]
Jason Lock and Fora
I want to hear the whole open tone. You really. You're kind of cutting yourself short just hearing the chorus. I'm just saying.
- [50:12]
Tony Kornheiser
Jason. Locked in. Good. We'll come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [50:22]
Steve Sands
This episode is brought to you by Stay Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want is a great talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.
- [51:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Here comes Tony's mail back. Get your emails, faxes and your notes.
- [51:06]
Steve Sands
Here comes Mr. Tony's mail back on.
- [51:09]
Tony Kornheiser
A reason for all of your folks. That's Darius Rucker. That's a great thrill for us that he did. The mailbag always is. Yes, you want to do the Bethesda bagel ad? Yes, Bethesda bagels. We love them. You will as well.
- [51:21]
Steve Sands
I think we got the hot bagels today.
- [51:22]
Tony Kornheiser
Very excited about about that. Just go to BethesdaBaggles.com for location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled. Well, they won't be hot by the time we get to them. It's ours. It's a couple hours.
- [51:33]
Steve Sands
It's no hot bench, but it's true.
- [51:34]
Tony Kornheiser
It's not that true. And credit Nigel here. Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say there's a world where I can go and tell my secrets too in my room, in my room in this world I lock out all my worries and my fears in my room. Brian Wilson. Thanks to our guests today. Steve Sands, Jason Lock and Fora. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and ought to see if get show through Apple. Please leave us a review for those people who are Dan Byrne fans and we are all Dan Byrne fans. He tonight. That's right at 8:30 at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn, Illinois. All right, if you're there go see Dan. He's with special guest Andrew Calhoun at Fitzgerald's historic nightclub. This is sent to us by Ron Lewis at WNUR Folk Show Northwestern University Folk show in Evanston. I'm a community DJ at Wilbon's alma mater on wnurfm. I had the fortune of doing a short interview with Dan on my show where we went into some of his origin story. For those littles interested in listening. The show will be posted by Thursday@mixcloud.com w n u R Folk F O L K Hope people go out and see Dan Byrne tonight. A haiku from Shad for Brian Wilson. If he only wrote God only knows then he is still a free freaking genius. Yeah, God only knows what's good. Andy in Cincinnati. I know many will be sending in Brian Wilson stories. I'd like to submit my favorite in his 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson, Brian recalled meeting Don Henley backstage at a show where Don expressed his admiration and asked him to sign a copy of Pet Sounds. Brian obliged and signed it to Don. Thanks for all the great songs. Don then turned to leave, and at that moment Brian beckoned him back. Brian then took his Sharp. He crossed out the word great, replaced it with the word good. Don took it in good spirits and laughed. Brian Wilson was the best. From Neil Ayervase, our friend in Littleton, Colorado Just as I was finishing your Wednesday podcast, I received the news of Brian Wilson's passing. Certainly a meaningful juxtaposition in light of your appreciation for the music he and the other Beach Boys created. Being the same age, we share many of the same musical history and how the music of those early years evokes happy memories of a more innocent time in our lives. The Beach Boys music reminds me of a time in the early 60s, before the polarization and politicalization fostered by the Vietnam War, civil rights struggles, and other transformative societal issues. Through the songs, we can reminisce about skateboarding in the park and imagine we were surfing and remembering how we pictured ourselves being old enough to drive the GTOs, street hemis, and other muscle cars. We can recall the cheerful music played at class dances, although I remember more huddling with the nerds and making excuses why we wouldn't ask the girls to dance. While Brian Wilson endured struggles for much of his adult life, perhaps it is best to remember him as a consequential music influence and one representative of that time in our lives. From Steve the Sick of I'm sure you'll have a lot to say about the passing of Brian Wilson. I was in my teens and twenties when he and the Beach Boys were most popular, and his music was a big part of my Life. Here are two quotes about Mr. Wilson Bob Dylan quote that year I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian. Paul McCartney was Pet Sounds. That blew me out of the water. I figured no one is educated musically till they've heard that album. And when you are listening to his great music, please don't forget one of the best ballads ever written. In my room. Sure, yeah, in my room. Josh Cromwell, Moselle, Mississippi Would you reconsider downloading the app if they gave you a huge deal on 40 containers of ice cream? Pat Kriitlow in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. You're the only person who's held an animated discussion at the grocery store that might have mystified others. You're not the only person who's held an animated discussion at the grocery store that might have mystified others nearby. My mom, aged 79, recently complained to a manager in the bakery department that her favorite kind of bread wasn't on the shelves. After multiple visits, the manager apologized and said she could call him anytime he'd make sure that kind of bread would be available the next day. She said that was unsatisfactory and if they can't keep that kind of bread in stock, she wasn't coming back and she left the store having made her point. Hang on, I told her if she repeated the story of our triumphant departure. You're telling me a bakery manager went out of his way to tell you that you could get custom ordered bread on demand at this busy suburban megastore and that bread would always be freshly made just for you? And your response was to get angry? She paused for a bit chagrin and came back with patrick, you know your mother is old. This is just what we do. I know, Mom. And so her stubborn pride won't let her go back into her closest grocery store, apologize, and accept the most generous offer she'll probably ever get for her favorite bread. For the curious, it was English muffin toasting bread, for which I would love a custom baked deal like that. Yeah, from Davis in Alexandria. I bought those cherries. That's funny. From Seth Becker in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I don't know the address for the Soviet Safeway, but The Safeway at 322 40th street in Northeast in D.C. has been named the worst grocery store in America. It ranked 18th on the list for worst lines and 10th for worst quality food. Also, we have a grocery store here that uses these digital coupons as well. You can preload them. Just have Michael go through the coupons on the app each week and load anything you might use. I don't know how to do that. The answer to all of my questions is always just have Michael do it. Just have Michael do it. Michael can do it. I can't do it. Exasperated sigh From T. Sun Clade 6 foot 6289 Bold 7 Perfect Games Read 991 Books They Want you to use to install and use the app. This is free advertising for them as you or someone not older than Methuselah will see the Safeway app on their phone and might stop in a bit more often. Say Second Safeway is a chain and the corporate office may be taking the hit on those cherries, but only if the app is used. Otherwise the local store may have to eat eat it. More importantly, they want you to store your credit card in the app to make purchases. Frictionless. The answer to all your questions is money. From Tim Cree, Fort Collins, Colorado so Costco sells 200 million hot dogs and soda combos every year. Well, when you take out the 50 million of those that I'm personally responsible for, I guess that leaves 150 million for the rest. From Tony T in Brooklyn in D.C. with your permission, I'd like to add a funky Cornheiser to my drink menu. Just a bartender, not a mixologist, but it'll be Scotch based. It'll I'll add some sour and some sweet. I won't use Johnny Blue because It'll be a $5 special. P.S. nigel, I understand about having your own personal music library. Double. P.S. someday can we play Famous Folks Bartenders, Little Bartender Littles. Absurd. I had a whole list of folks from last week's show. Yeah, because that would be sort of like my five Greatest Sporting Events. Oh yeah? Yeah. What's your. What's your top five? Absolutely. And is this drink going to be called? We think it's the Funky Cornheiser. We okay with that. Going to be called the Wilbond. I'll be called the Wilbur. Ed o' Connell writes, Last Wednesday I was playing the sixth at Falls Road. We just hit our approaches onto the green spot as a snake slithering across the putting surface. We all took note and proceeded to line up our putts and were interrupted by a large hawk swooping down, extending his talons and grabbing his or her breakfast. He or she then proceeded to look land greenside to consume the meal. My par putt lipped out, I've never seen that. I've seen hawks. I've never seen him go and eat a snake that's never seen that. Although at Columbia on two, on the left hand side at two, I saw a hawk eating a squirrel. But it had it. It already had the squirrel. It's tough to swirl down Glenn Winters. Not that Glenn Winters, Newport News, VA My hackles rose as I listened to North Norwegian Sex Kit and accused me, Glenn, of having ruined their college gig due to drumming while high on cottage cheese. Using your mailbag to air their dirty laundry was an affront to common decency. If, and I repeat if this actually happened, I was set up. My bandmates furtively added fermented pineapple to the cottage cheese. And that prank would have caused any impairment I may have exhibited, if indeed I am the Glenn to whom they refer. These people are brilliant. They're brilliant. Mike Roseberry, State College, Pennsylvania intern. Chris better come through on the potatoes. Penn State started as the first Farmer's High School of Pennsylvania. Tens of thousands of alumni. Okay, maybe tens are waiting to hear how he does. You are Penn State?
- [59:30]
Steve Sands
Yes, sir.
- [59:31]
Tony Kornheiser
Did you know that? That it was the Farmer's High School of Pennsylvania? Are you confident with the way you laid the potatoes into the ground?
- [59:38]
Steve Sands
I don't think I've been more confident about anything else in my entire life.
- [59:41]
Tony Kornheiser
It's tremendous. When are you appearing by the way, again? When are you going to.
- [59:45]
Steve Sands
Saturday.
- [59:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Good. Publicize it.
- [59:48]
Steve Sands
It's at Solly's in downtown D.C. starts at eight and I'm going around 8:30.
- [59:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay. Did about what, seven minutes on seven minute stage, Tom.
- [59:56]
Steve Sands
Seven minutes. There will be 12 comedians there.
- [59:58]
Tony Kornheiser
So are you gonna put a tape recorder up there so that you can get feedback from the audience?
- [60:03]
Steve Sands
I might have somebody with a camera recording.
- [60:05]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay.
- [60:06]
Steve Sands
Give a lot of props. I try not to, but sometimes there's a harmonic.
- [60:10]
Tony Kornheiser
Live animals. Live animals. That ain't part of your show at all.
- [60:13]
Steve Sands
A lot of pet sounds.
- [60:14]
Tony Kornheiser
Okay, great. How many, how many of those minutes will you devote to, you know, giving us credit for your career? 0.3-½ from Ted Smith in Pittsburgh. In order to aid your young intern, I took the liberty to enter the following prompt into my AI machine. Create some resume bullet points for my summer internship with the following responsibilities. Planted potatoes and renowned sports podcasters front lawn. While working on the show, ChatGPT produced this coordinated unconventional publicity stunts including planting potatoes potatoes on the host front lawn generating viral social media engagement and listener buzz or demonstrated adaptability by balancing physical outdoor work with media related tasks in a high energy entertainment environment. Good luck young man. This is why AI should be outlawed. This is the actual reason. Oh, Mike Roseberry is another one. Did the Safeway manager just hand you a five dollar bill? Or did he go full sunny and throw the cherries to the ground while tossing a five dollar bill hatchet you as he walked away. If you're out on your bike T everyone as always do wear white. But I still need a bit of milk full fat which I've warmed in the micro wave.
- [61:32]
Beltway Ben Hall
Slide back on and fix your hair. Your eyes got a guilty stare in the rear view mirror. I ask you why you lie. You answer just because it isn't what it was it's 4am, you're drunk again. Funny how the end begins when the whiskey doesn't work. Work the way it did before you kissed me. I was cursed the poison that you poured. The truth won't be ignored. When the whiskey doesn't work anymore. You took me to see a shitty band. I can't believe that I shook his hand. The song belong to every word the song was out a wish I never heard and I hadn't noticed. You never looked at me the way you looked at him. It's 4am, you're drunk again. Funny how the end begins. When the whiskey doesn't work the way it did before you kissed me. I was cursed the poison as a border you plead the fifth, the verdict's in the truth won't be yours when the whiskey doesn't work anymore. Before the ink dried, the honesty died. The high you get when crisis hits and nicely fits your brand. You bite your lip with priceless wit to buy another friend. Empty bottles on the floor, Broken valves right out the door at 4am you're drunk again. Headlights in manure with him. Funny how the end begins. When the whiskey. The whiskey, the whiskey doesn't work. Cause the way you did before you kissed me. I was cursed. The poison that you poured, you peed the verdict.
- [64:23]
Tony Kornheiser
Does it work anymore?
- [64:28]
Beltway Ben Hall
Does it work anymore?