“I Don’t Like KitKat”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show

Episode Title: "I Don’t Like KitKat"
Date: November 3, 2025
Host: Tony Kornheiser
Regular Guests: Michael Wilbon, Nigel, Tim Kurkjian

Episode Overview

This episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show" offers classic TK: candid personal routines, playful banter, sports talk pivoting between the World Series, NFL and college football drama, and the ever-present lens of nostalgia and everyday quirks. Tony opens by recounting a sleepy World Series watch, daylight saving time struggles, and a Halloween candy tale revealing his distaste for KitKats. Michael Wilbon joins, describing family Halloween adventures, while the duo later unpacks NFL chaos—most notably the Bears’ near meltdown—and Tony welcomes Tim Kurkjian for a deep dive into why this World Series stands with the all-time greats.

---

Main Segments and Discussion Points

1. Opening Banter: Mornings, Clocks, and Obsessions

[00:00–03:36]

• Tony’s morning ritual: Tony confesses to obsessive routines, such as visiting the liquor store at opening and setting a home clock 50 minutes fast.
• Changing clocks: Daylight saving time chaos, difficulty with “self-changing” clocks, and the challenge of synchronizing kitchen appliances.
  • Tony: “I have one clock which I always set about 50 minutes ahead of real time. Yeah, 50 minutes ahead.” [01:47]
  • Wilbon: “What’s frustrating for me is if you have clocks in close proximity... they’re off by a minute.” [02:37]

2. Halloween Recaps & Parenting in the Glow Stick Age

[03:36–07:10]

• Wilbon’s Halloween: Describes his kids’ trick-or-treating, safety anxiety as millennials, and the near-panic when one child couldn’t find the parents.
  • “In true millennial fashion, we are anxious parents raising anxious children... just covering our kids with glow sticks...” [04:16]
• Costume nostalgia: Discussion of capes, and rediscovering old treasures in costume pockets: a vintage matchbook, ancient mints, a gold star harmonica (at least 60 years old!).
  • Tony: “I have no recollection. I’ve never played the harmonica... I probably just bought one or took one from a friend and stuck it in the cape.” [06:25]

3. The Great KitKat Controversy

[07:10–10:26]

• Candy preferences: Tony’s Halloween bowl included KitKat (“which I don’t like”), Almond Joy, Hershey bars, Reese’s. He stacked KitKats on top hoping guests would take them.
  • Tony: “I took all the KitKats and put them on the top, right. So people would take the KitKat... Any leftover I would have stuff I liked.” [08:31]
• Visitor post-Halloween: A neighbor prefers Almond Joy and Hershey’s—the candies Tony covets. He gives them up (reluctantly), then hoards the rest.
  • Tony: “Metaphorically, through clenched teeth and in great anger, take some. Take some. And she did...” [09:08]
  • Wilbon: “I appreciate your honesty.” [10:17]

4. NFL: Washington Woes & Concern for Jaden Daniels

[10:26–13:35]

• Washington’s QB trouble: Jaden Daniels injures his non-throwing elbow, his third injury in two years; Tony worries: “He’s injury-prone. It’s not gonna last.”
  • Tony: “You have to say to yourself... he’s injury prone... The only ability that matters is availability.” [12:57]
• Team struggles: Laments about Washington’s porous defense, parallels to Robert Griffin III.
  • Tony: “He’s slight like Griffin... He does all the right things. He just seems to get hurt.” [13:05]

5. Cooking & Grilling Talk: Fall Meals and Omaha Steaks

[15:33–19:21]

• Seasonal food: Tony and Michael discuss fall cooking, grilling protocols, favorite seasonings, and the merits of Omaha Steaks.
  • Wilbon: “I love it... you still got the grills fired up, but now you're beginning to think about those stews, those roasts...” [17:00]
  • Tony: “My food tastes fine to me. That’s all that matters.” [17:57]

---

6. MLB: World Series Analysis with Michael Wilbon

[19:21–27:52]

• Classic Series: Wilbon and Tony rhapsodize about a World Series featuring late-game drama, defensive gems, and marathon games.
  • Wilbon: “The 5, 6, and 7 of it were classic and historic and I loved every bit of it.” [21:00]
  • Tony: “It reinforced everything that’s good about baseball.” [21:00]
• Pitching strategies: Admiration for starting pitchers going deep; lamenting bullpen overuse in modern baseball.
  • Tony: “It was not just home runs and strikeouts... so many plays at the plate.” [21:23]
• Offseason speculation: Wondering what the future holds for both teams and for baseball.

---

7. NCAA & NFL Weekend Recap

[23:00–34:26]

NCAA Football

• Vanderbilt’s tough loss: Is two losses too many for playoff hopes? Wilbon says yes; Tony reflects on playoff selection drama.
  • Wilbon: “Yes, it hurts them a lot. If they’d been able to win this game... but they’re gonna lose again.” [23:47–24:09]

NFL Reactions

Key Games & Coaching Decisions

• Raiders' missed opportunity: Tony and Wilbon debate Pete Carroll’s decision to go for two; agree the modern NFL expects aggression.
  • Wilbon: “This is what they do now... coaches, even old-school guys... are encouraged by their staffs, their younger players, by the game.” [25:34]
  • Tony: “Go for the win at home. So I wasn’t angry at it. I sort of understood it.” [27:06]
• Kickers’ abilities: Marveling at a 68-yard field goal.
  • Tony: “Kid kicked a 68-yard field goal. Like you need to record 68. That’s so far across the line.” [27:52]

The Bears–Bengals Meltdown

• Wilbon’s emotional ride: Tony calls Wilbon late as the Bears nearly blow a huge lead to the Bengals; Wilbon erupts, calling for firings.
  • Wilbon: “At that point, the game is over. The Bears are going to lose ... they’re going to lose a game that... would have been worse than the Hail Mary game.” [28:31]
  • Wilbon: “The Bears are the dumbest team in the league. They lead the league in penalties in like four different ways...” [30:20]
• Redemption & reflection: The Bears miraculously win, but Wilbon remains exasperated.
  • Wilbon: “It’s as angry as I have... as joyless as I have ever been after the Bears won a football game in 60 years.” [34:26]

---

8. MLB World Series Deep-Dive with Tim Kurkjian

[35:14–48:39]

Kurkjian’s Take: An All-Time Classic

• Best he’s ever covered:
  • Tim: “I’ve officially called it the best one that I’ve ever covered. That’s 44 years… 26 game sevens. I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen for a bunch of reasons.” [35:58]
  • Kurkjian details games: “Game 3 was ridiculously great. 18 innings. Game 6 ended in the most bizarre fashion… and then we get this masterpiece of a Game 7…” [35:58]
• Storylines:
  • “Trey Savage, 22 years old, doing what he did. Yamamoto, pitching the day after, throwing 96 pitches, throwing 34 more. The whole Ohtani thing, the whole Vlad Guerrero thing, the whole Ernie Clement wearing a glove he bought on eBay from a little Japanese woman, then getting 30 hits in the postseason…” [36:50]
• Providence of Dodgers’ Win:
  • Tony: “I use the word, Tim, Providential... They could have lost all three of those games, right?" [38:31]
  • Tim: “Maybe should have lost all three of those games and didn't. They should have lost Game 7 about four different times.” [38:42]

Defense and Execution

• Plays at the plate:
  • Tony: “I had never seen in a concentrated series, I had never seen so many plays at the plate... so many great plays at the plate.” [40:03]
  • Kurkjian: “Those 2, 3, 9th inning, 10th inning plays at the plate and everything else... This series was so good for baseball. Not just because it gave us Ohtani vs. Vlad Guerrero...” [40:05]

Dodgers’ Bullpen & Pitching Feats

• Overcoming weaknesses:
  • Tony: “Their bullpen is terrible... That's why they use the starters there.” [41:07]
  • Kurkjian: “He has four aces on that team. He used all four in Game 7.…Yamamoto... threw 96 pitches, came back for 34 more. This is a lesson for all of us… We are trying to protect our pitchers too much, and in protecting them, they get hurt all the time.” [41:47]
  • Tony: “Because this is how columnists think, yeah, he’s going to need Tommy John..." [43:05]

Notables and Tidbits

• Will Smith trivia:

  • “Six years in a row that the world championship team included a player on it named Will Smith.” [44:29]

• Max Scherzer’s future:

  • Kurkjian: “Yes. And I talked to him about that this season. Tony has energized him. … It's been the most fun he's ever had playing baseball.” [45:44]

• John Schneider’s managerial acumen:

  • Kurkjian: “I would put him in charge of any situation because his connection to people is ridiculously good... I can't be more impressed with a manager than I was with John Schneider during the entire month of October.” [47:04]

• Kurkjian’s podcast plug:

  • "Is This Great Game Or What"—second season concluding with a World Series recap.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Clocks & Compulsiveness
  • Tony: “I am that person. I am an obsessive, compulsive, disordered human being.” [00:00]
• On Halloween Paranoia
  • Wilbon: “We are anxious parents raising anxious children as we are just covering our kids with glow sticks…” [04:16]
• On Hoarding Candy
  • Tony: “Metaphorically, through clenched teeth and in great anger, take some. Take some.” [09:08]
• On Jaden Daniels’ Durability
  • Tony: “The only ability that matters is availability. And he is not available.” [12:57]
• On World Series Drama
  • Wilbon: “The 5, 6 and 7 of it were classic and historic and I loved every bit of it.” [21:00]
• On NFL Aggression
  • Wilbon: “This is what they do now... coaches, even old-school guys... are encouraged by their staffs, their younger players, by the game.” [25:34]
• On Bears Meltdown
  • Wilbon: “It's as angry as I have... as joyless as I have ever been after the Bears won a football game in 60 years.” [34:26]
• On the World Series
  • Kurkjian: “I’ve officially called it the best one that I’ve ever covered… It’s the greatest World Series that I’ve ever seen.” [35:58]
  • Tony: “I had never seen in a concentrated series… so many plays at the plate.” [40:03]
  • Tim: "He showed everyone with the adrenaline flowing and the importance of game seven, people could do remarkable things. And that was one of the most remarkable things that I've ever seen." [42:58]
• On John Schneider/Blue Jays
  • Kurkjian: “I can't be more impressed with a manager than I was with John Schneider during the entire month of October.” [47:04]

---

Key Timestamps

• 00:00 – Tony’s morning rituals & clock struggles
• 03:36 – Wilbon’s Halloween recap
• 07:10 – Halloween candy, KitKat diatribe
• 10:26 – Washington football injury angst
• 15:33 – Fall cooking & Omaha Steaks
• 19:21 – World Series reflections with Wilbon
• 23:47 – College football playoff talk
• 25:34 – NFL: Two-point tries and coaching aggression
• 28:31 – Bears-Bengals meltdown; Wilbon’s live on-air rage
• 35:14 – Crown of Smoke music feature and transition to Tim Kurkjian’s segment
• 35:58 – Kurkjian’s World Series analysis
• 41:07 – Dodgers’ bullpen, pitching strategy
• 43:05 – Yamamoto’s feat and Tommy John speculation
• 45:44 – Scherzer's future with the Blue Jays
• 47:04 – Praise for John Schneider, Blue Jays manager
• 48:14 – Kurkjian plugs podcast “Is This Great Game Or What”

---

Episode Tone & Style

Warm, anecdotal, sometimes exasperated, proudly cross-generational. The episode is rich with both sports analysis and humorous, self-deprecating personal stories that ground Tony’s expertise and persona.

---

For New Listeners

This episode is classic “Tony”: witty meanderings between sports and life’s minutiae, layered with nostalgia, candor, and warmth. The show’s value lies as much in the personalities as in the topics—sports fans and everyday listeners alike will find something to savor in this mix of humor, sharp commentary, and genuine camaraderie.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. We have a really good show for you today. Wilbon goes insane about the Bears game against Cincinnati and then finds himself. It's not so bad. We actually won the game. And Tim Kirkjin talks about the world Series and where it ranks in all the world series that he's ever seen. But first, kids, a little commerce. Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show. So I have to wait a little while, then I go, I get to the liquor store pretty much at the moment it opens. Because I'm that guy, you know, I mean if you say you, that's. I am that person. I am an obsessive, compulsive, disordered human being. I understand it. So I go to the store.

[Michael Wilbon]

I just love the breakdown of your morning. It's like a. It's like a Richard scary busy town book where you're just going all around.

[Nigel]

Tony's busy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I have to have something to do.

[Michael Wilbon]

You would. Lowly worm.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I have to have something to do. The Tony Kornheiser show is on now. We are scattered to the winds today. Nigel is here with me. Michael is in Delaware. Sean is running the board for us, which always makes us happy. Yes. So the big news for me because I'm old in sports over the weekend was the world series on Saturday. Saturday night I didn't make it. I fell asleep, went 11. I fell asleep in the 8th. I mean I tried. I just didn't make it. When I woke up it was.

[Michael Wilbon]

Nothing happened after that, you know, so.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, then I caught up on it the next morning. We will have Tim Kirchen to talk about that. Then I, you know, then I had to change clocks. Saturday night I had to change clocks and I, and Michael knows this about me. I have one clock which I always said about 50 minutes ahead of, of the real time. Yeah, 50 minutes ahead.

[Nigel]

I've got something like that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Five. Oh yeah, 50 minutes ahead. So I, I have my own system as to when I get up and when I walk the dog and what time it really is. And it gets me to a point where, you know, I can do the rest of the day but I don't like changing clocks and I didn't, I didn't get all of them. And some I thought were self changing clocks and they weren't self changing clocks and I had to change it. I had to change the clock of my car. I've talked about this many times. I saved all the notes from all the people as to how to change the car. And the only thing I did Wrong to begin with was attempt to change it without the car being on. And then I realized, no, you probably should turn the car on. And I sat there in the parking lot of Columbia and I changed it and I changed it. It was easy. It was easy. But you know, I had to do that. Michael, you, you've changed clocks, right? You, you help me, right?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. What's frustrating for me is if you have clocks in close proximity to each other that you have to change manually. If you get them to where they're close in time but not exactly in sync and they're off by a minute. So I'm thinking about the microwave and stove that I'm staring at right now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it's okay. I mean, it's just an approximate time. You pick the one in the middle. If three are different, you pick the one in the middle. Now the good thing is like if you are on the schedule that I'm on, where you're out at 6:30 walking the dog. 6:30, real time, there's light.

[Nigel]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now in a month there won't be light. Won't be. But you're losing three minutes a day, you know, and it won't be light maybe in less than a month actually. But there's a little light the last few days and that, you know, that made me happy. I had, I want to know at.

[Michael Wilbon]

The other end of the day, we're riding bikes yesterday and I look at my watch and it gives me an update about, you know, sunset.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm used to the fall and all of a sudden I see a sunset that I was not expecting to see this early because we're farther east than you.458.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So I mean, yesterday there was, you know, a sign up day at Columbia where you couldn't just walk over and play, which I really like to do. I don't care who I play with. I'm happy to just play. And I couldn't because Sunday is a sign up day. And the first time that was available was a little bit after two when I realized, oh yeah, you're not going to make 18. There's no point. You may as well just stay home and watch, you know, watch the red zone. But then I would look out the window longingly when there was light. I'm saying, oh, you should have gone. Maybe you should go now. Just go now. Just play six. I didn't, I, I did not do that. How was Halloween? How was your Halloween with the boys? Because I'll tell a Halloween story when you're done Halloween is great.

[Michael Wilbon]

I was saying before the show with Sean that our boys are at the perfect age where they still want to trick or treat with us. I imagine next year Bootsy, our oldest, will be in fourth grade and he'll want to go off with his friends. But we live in a great spot where there's a neighborhood street that turns into a big block party. The, the neighbors there do a tremendous job of hosting and it feels like a safe, closed off space where the kids can really run around and they're going to see a bunch of their friends, parents see their friends. And I'm realizing that in true millennial fashion, we are anxious parents raising anxious children as we are just covering our kids with glow sticks, necklaces, bracelets, that they always see us and we always see them. We had one moment where our first grader, the hammer, could not see us and was a little, a little upset. But we got to them, the kids had awesome costumes and I, I almost went with the cape. It was a rite of passage. But I'm saving that for a big birthday next year and I decided to go with one year old Ryder cup sweaters.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. And that, that's fine.

[Nigel]

Was there anything that you found in the cape as you were going through it?

[Michael Wilbon]

There were three items that again, everyone knows I'm a big name of the wind fan. So, you know, a cloak, a cape is only as good as its many pockets. And I believe dad, you said that this cape is great because it's got pockets so you could take food from the dining hall. So I'm immediately imagining where did you, where did you take.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It has a World Series inside left. And if you went through the dining hall at Colle Village, you could just grab a sandwich, put it in the pocket on the cape, and nobody would know the difference. What was in the game? No sandwiches were in the cake.

[Michael Wilbon]

No sandwiches. So we had a, a matchbook from Frankie and Johnny's.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, what great restaurant.

[Michael Wilbon]

Steakhouse.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Great steakhouse in Manhattan midtown. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

A half used roll of mint, something called reds. I assume that's like a breath mint or something.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, that was a candy mint. That was just candy. That was sort of like lifesavers without the hole in the middle.

[Michael Wilbon]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they're very good. My. That's at least 50 years old. So I, I don't know.

[Michael Wilbon]

They, they are, they are still wrapped for you, as it said. Good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

At least 50 years old. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And a gold star harmonica. Yes. I did not know you had it in you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't. It was. I don't I have no recollections. I've never played the harmonica. I cannot play the harmonica. I was always jealous of people who could play the harmonica, and I probably just bought one or took one from a friend and stuck it in the cape. And I've never.

[Nigel]

Case.

[Tony Kornheiser]

In case. In case something happens and somebody needs someone to play the harmonica, I could give it a shot in case grass.

[Michael Wilbon]

At Harper wanted you to just play them a little number.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just play the little number for the Grody twins. Yeah. Yeah. So that's at least 60 years old. At least the harmonica. It's at least 60 years old. It might qualify as an antique at this point. Well, so now when you left, what did you do to protect your home.

[Michael Wilbon]

To protect your house? So the kids have carved. I told you, they carved their pumpkins. We had the lights on so people knew that our house was available to trick or treat. And I just took the old, you know, mixing bowl, please take two. And just assumed one kid would clear it out. But we came back and we could check this on our video cams. Like, kids were very responsible. We had no more than five trick or treaters all night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't think we had any. I really don't think we had any.

[Michael Wilbon]

Not a one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't think we had any. I mean, I was out for a little while with the dog, but I didn't see anybody on the street. I. I put out a big container with candy, right? I put out candy. The candy that I bought was candy that had four different candies. It had Kit Kat, which I don't like.

[Nigel]

You're not a fan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Almond Joy, which I like a lot. Yeah. Small, little Hershey bars of chocolate, which I like a lot. And. And Reese's, which I like a lot. Reese's Peanut butter cups. So before I put it outside and I was in the house in case anybody wanted to knock on the door. That was fine, too. You just. The dog goes nuts, so you'd rather it doesn't happen. And I had a pumpkin, and it seemed to me sort of the universal symbol of Halloween and your availability and accessibility. You put a pumpkin out there, it's not.

[Nigel]

You don't put calf's blood on the door, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I didn't do anything like that. And there was no wolf urine. No, I didn't do anything like that. So I put this out, and I, of course, took all the. I don't like Kit Kat. So I took all the Kit Kats and put them on the top, right. So people would Take the Kit Kat. So that was. Any leftover. I would have stuff I liked.

[Nigel]

A lot of people like Kit Kats, so they're probably like, yeah, this is great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I didn't. I don't.

[Michael Wilbon]

Placeholder.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I don't know that anybody came to the house and I was out. I, I think we don't have a lot of little kids in the neighborhood. And I think that when they, when you have little kids, they either go out with their parents or they go to parties or they go as you did, Michael, you go to, you go to.

[Michael Wilbon]

You go to a destination.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. So. Because I didn't, I didn't see anybody. Now, this led to something yesterday. Someone came over to the house and. And I. This will tell you who I am. This will tell you who I am. I just, I said. It was. I said to this woman, do you. We've got some Halloween candy. Want some candy? And she looked into the big bowl of candy and she said, wow, I really like Almond Joy. Oh, I really like these small little Hershey bars. And I said metaphorically, through clenched teeth and in great anger, take some. Take some. And she did. And after that, I, I gathered all the Almond Joys that were left and all the little chocolate bars that were left, took them out of the bowl and put them in another place just for me. But, I mean, I tried very hard to be nice about this. And I said, take some. Even as the words were coming out of my mouth, I wanted to grab the words and rip them up. And I wanted to say. And I did say, don't you like Kit Kat?

[Nigel]

And she said, no, no, just the almond juice.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I don't like Kit Kat. What do you make of that, Michael?

[Michael Wilbon]

I just, I, I appreciate your honesty.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Sean, does that sound. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Sure, yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm surprised you offered anything.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I did, I did. I. I didn't think she'd actually take.

[Michael Wilbon]

But who's, who's accepting candy at someone's house the day after Halloween? I thought, someone's gonna knock on the door, but I missed you last night. I just thought I'd come by today and see if you still had anything.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So anyway, one other thing. For local Washington football fans, Jaden Daniels hurt, his non throwing elbow was taken off in a cast late in the game. So here's what I'm going to say. Do I think Jaden Daniels is great quarterback? I do. I do. I thought Robert Griffin at one point was a great quarterback. Then he just started getting hurt. Jaden Daniels has been in the NFL for two years. He's hurt three different body parts now. He hurt his knee, he hurt his hamstring, and now he's hurt his elbow. I think you have to say to yourself out loud or just silently, he's injury prone. It's not gonna, it's not gonna last. You know, he gets hurt a lot and different body parts get hurt. And that's. I don't know.

[Nigel]

Yeah, no, it's.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That game stunk.

[Michael Wilbon]

I got out of that game stung from the start.

And at one point they show, they show the Josh Harris box and Mark Irons in there and he just. There's. They're having a great time. They're talking. When you go, this is, this four week stretch is one of. Is as bad as almost everything except for the culture. But just in terms of running into the worst possible schedule you could based on time and place, you have no, you had no receivers out there, which. So of course Gene Dinos has to try and run more and more and they have a great. They stop the run. So it was. You were not surprised earlier in the game. You just sit there going, I hope someone doesn't get hurt.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They had no past defense whatsoever against Sam Darnold. He had four touchdown passes in the first half.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, he was playing video game football.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I mean, this is, this is Washington.

[Michael Wilbon]

And Latimer just gets penalized every play field.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's no good. He's actually no good. This is what happens when you go to the NFC championship game and they carve out five or six different nighttime appearances. They've lost them both so far. Two or three more.

[Michael Wilbon]

You had the Bears.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. They're going to lose them all after.

[Nigel]

After all the exaltation from last season. This is just the lost. A lost year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It is.

[Nigel]

And, and the overall concerns, you don't know with the elbow, it's not his throwing hand or arm, but if it's broken, that's going to be real problematic. Even if it's dislocated, it's. It's troublesome. And you just say, yeah. What's the phrase that you. I've heard you say. I know you didn't come up with it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's not mine. Run. The only ability that matters is availability. And he is not available. He's not. And people in Washington saw this with Griffin.

[Nigel]

Oh, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, saw it with Griffin and he's slight like Griffin, you know, but he's. He slides. Yes. I mean, he slides. He does all the right things. He just seems to get hurt so far. We'll see. And they have no what happened to their past defense? What happened to that? I don't know what happened to that. I will take a break. We'll talk about this and other things with Michael Wilbon. Later in the show. We will talk about the World Series with Tim Kirchen. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tim Kirchen]

Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's NBA Tip off week and FanDuel is your home for live betting. So even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. However you want to play. Now is the perfect time to join because FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets if your first five dollar bet wins. So just visit FanDuel.com TonyK to sign up today. Play your game with FanDuel. Official sports betting partner of the NBA.

[FanDuel Announcer]

Must be 21 plus and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana. Permitted parishes only Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia or Wyoming. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. First online real money wager only $5 first deposit required bonus issued as non withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See [e-mail]. gAMBLING PROBLEM Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit fanduel.com rg in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Call 1-800-Next Step or text Next Step to 53342 in Arizona, 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chadinconnecticut1,809 with it in Indiana 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com in Kansas, 1-877770 stop in Louisiana, visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland, visit 1-800-GAMBLer. Call 1-800-522-47 00 in Wyoming, hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327550 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny in New York or visit oasas.ny.gov GAMBLING Standard text messaging rates apply. Sports betting is void in Georgia, Hawaii, Utah and other states where prohibited.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the Tony Kornizer Show. Fall cooking season is the best. Cozy nights, football on in the background, something sizzling on the grill or roasting in. But between busy weeknights and tailgating weekends, finding time to make a really great meal can be tough. That's why Omaha Steaks is a total game changer. You'll want to stock up on their fall favorites. Some perfectly marbled ribeyes, juicy burgers, or a batch of their chicken wings for tailgates. Everything arrived frozen, neatly packed, ready to cook. Just throw the steaks on the grill and honestly, I think you'll find that they will be some of the most tender, flavorful cuts you ever have. Buttery, juicy, perfectly aged. And having them right in your freezer means you can pull together an incredible meal any night of the week. No grocery store run required. Omaha Steaks deliver heartland quality food right to your door. USDA certified tender steaks, burgers, seafood, even comfort meals and desserts. Every bite is backed by their 100% money back guarantee, and they've been America's original butcher since 1917. Bring home the legendary flavor and everyday convenience of omaha steaks. Visit OmahaSteaks.com for 50% off site wide during their semiannual sale. And for an extra $35 off, use the promo code Tony at checkout. That's 50% [e-mail] and an extra $35 off with promo code Tony at checkout. Terms apply. See site for details. I need. We need to consult our grilling officer here. Yes. Do you concur that fall cooking season is the best?

[Michael Wilbon]

Oh, I love it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you? Is that something?

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, you're still holding on to the summer, so you still got the grills fired up, but now you're beginning to think about those stews, those roasts that you're talking about. Like.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So I've had Omaha Steaks over the course of the last 15 or 20 years. I like them.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I like them. In fact, I have. What I use as a seasoning on anything I cook is an Omaha steak seasoning. Really? Yeah. A lot of pepper. I don't know that it's a lot. It tastes fine to me. Garlic. I've changed how I cook. I still use time.

[Michael Wilbon]

Oh, you use the timer?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I use timers. I'm not like Michael, who doesn't use timers and uses a thermometer. I don't do that.

[Michael Wilbon]

The day starts the decision as to what you should defrost for that evening's dinner.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. But what I. What I do now is I only put seasoning on one side. I put it on the first side that's going to go on the grill.

[Nigel]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And I don't do it on both sides.

[Michael Wilbon]

I mean, there's two theories as to whether you season early or when you want to season later, even after you cook. So depending on what some of the granules are in that seasoning, some of them will burn if you put them over high heat.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So I don't know what I'm doing. I mean, it tastes fine. My food tastes fine to me. That's all that matters. Not tastes fine to someone who was a good cook, but it tastes fine to me, so I'm happy with that. The Omaha Steaks. You're listening to the Tony Cornheiser show. Here's a rock and roll band called Crown of Smoke. This is a song called Draw the Line. George Melee, our friend who's an anchor in Indianapolis. Right. And knows all about sports and all about horse racing. Yes, yes. He writes. My brother Phil's band, Crown of Smoke, is now available to stream on platforms including Spotify and Apple Music. Some of these guys played together when they were teenagers. At least one of them, my brother, is a grandfather. At any rate, even though the youngest member of the band is 55. Crown of Smoke plays hard rock and roll. It's made up of Russ Gullick, lead vocals, Brian Elliott, bass and vocals, Phil Millay, Prevost, lead guitar, and Mike Legler. Not Tim Legler. Mike Legler drums their friends, seasoned rockers, and they play gigs in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Very good, actually. Very good. Crown of Smoke plays in Michael Wilbon. There's a million things. Let's just start with your thoughts on the World Series, which was a. Honestly, a thrilling World Series with so many great defensive plays. What did you think of it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, the defensive play didn't really cross my mind. It's just the totality of it. It was, you know, I was just starting to get my voice back and I lost it again, screaming at the TV in those two games, game six and seven. And, Tony, look, I was just at gate seven just nine years ago when the Cubs beat the Indians in what was said to be one of the great game sevens. And maybe the, you know, one of the great game sevens of all time. It wasn't Mazeroski, but that just, to me, surpassed it, even though I had skin in that game. This game seven was so. I mean, the games I'm not going to say it was over, but because it's the Dodgers and they got this lineup. But I love Toronto. I like the city, I like the ballpark, I like the franchise. I'm in the tank for Toronto as much as I move the Dodgers and Toronto blew it in a lot of ways. They had so many chances after that crazy catch the Dodgers make to save the game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The pajes in.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, I'm just thinking that's it. That's it. The game's over. I don't know who's going to hit the home run. But the Dodgers are going to win this game because Toronto's exhausted its chances. They've given away too many chances to win this game at home. And of course they had. Yes, but the whole thing was. I don't, I'm not going to distill it into any. Yeah, I don't have any one image or two images or five images. It was just great. It's a Great Series. The 5, 6 and 7 of it were classic and historic and I loved every bit of it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's good for baseball. It was just. It's one of those things now. Maybe you just have to be old to like baseball. But it reinforced everything that's good about baseball. It was not just home runs and strikeouts. It was not. There was so much. There were so many plays at the plate. It was, it was right. It was just really great.

[Michael Wilbon]

It had everything. It had everything. It had an 18 inning game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

You know, it had the long, you know, if not the longest, next longest game in World Series history. It had Tony, it had everything. And so that's how. So, you know, not every series has that. Not even you could have a seven game series. I remember the seven game series between Atlanta and Minnesota in which each home team won all the games, which was the first time to that point that had happened. And you had this unbelievable Jack Morris performance where he went like 10 innings and complete game and won nothing. But this, man, it had it all. And so, yeah, baseball I guess should have enjoyed it. I don't know what's on the horizon. I don't know what kind of free agents, you know, off season is coming, hot stove league is coming. But it had everything it could want. And Tony had two important franchises. It had the defending champion. They had the only team in Canada. So I don't see how you could want any more from it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And it had starting pitchers going into the bullpen which that. Well, that matters.

[Michael Wilbon]

That matters less about that than starting pitching being Starting pitchers starting pitching being they were and so I don't care about starting pitchers in the bullpen. Personally I find it, I find it, I find you often unnecessary.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I love, I love it but I.

[Michael Wilbon]

I love the starting pitchers being actual starting pitchers the way I knew it as a child.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Okay so I'm going to go you know in chronological order on the weekend and I'll just do very, very little on college football. I mean the game that interested me the most was Texas at home against Vanderbilt and Texas held on at the end and they won. And I just would ask you this, I mean we're going to get tomorrow I believe is the first time that we get the out of the room with all of the members of the committee what, what it looks like for the playoffs and I really enjoy those shows. I think they're done very well. I don't think this is going to hurt Vanderbilt all that much. Vanderbilt was on the road and lost by three. Do you think it hurts them a lot?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, because. Yeah because it's the second loss. They were undefeated. It's the second loss and they got a tough schedule. Yes, it hurts them a lot. If they've been able to win this game then maybe they could lose. Tony, they're gonna lose again. Yeah, I mean it's notion so if you lose again that's the third losses.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Three is too many.

[Michael Wilbon]

Okay so you know what, the second one hurts a lot because they're gonna have another one. I've seen, look I was rooting for Vandy, I made no bones about that all week. I'm rooting for and, and the way that people, the way that some of the voters we're going to treat Vanderbilt as any. And we knew they weren't good anyway and that's how they're going to be received and so yes that was a, that was a. I'm not going to say crushing because it's not crushing if they run the table from here but they're not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, so we'll get out of college football, we'll go to pro football and I'm going to ask you about, I will mention to anyone that's listening I did not expect, I did not expect yesterday's games to be so thrilling. So many to be so thrilling. So many up. I did not expect that and I want to get to the Raiders game because the Raiders are in a position. The Raiders are at home. They score a last second, last minute, last second, maybe touchdown. They go down the field and now they're down one and their coach. It's very hard to argue with Pete Carroll because he's won national championships in college and Super Bowls in the pros. He decides, we're going to go for two. We're going to let Geno Smith throw it and try to win the game. When you saw that, when you saw that he was going to win the game and not go to overtime, what were your thoughts?

[Michael Wilbon]

Now, wasn't okay these days, Tony. That would have made me crazy as recently as three years ago, but this is what they do now. This is the, you know, this is the way that pro football has evolved, that coaches, even old school guys, and Pete Carroll would qualify. They are encouraged by their staffs, their younger players, by the way, the game has evolved by the metrics. This is what they do. And so now I find myself nodding like a bobblehead and thinking, yeah, why not? You don't want to tie it. You want to do this. And so I'm like, all right, this is the way the game has gone. And you see it all the time.

[Tim Kirchen]

Look.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes, in. In the. We'll get to it, I'm sure in the Bengals game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So we'll get to that.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, we'll get to get about the drama of that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They went for too early. Yeah, early. And got.

[Michael Wilbon]

It wasn't that early. It was. It was a minute left.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I mean, it wasn't on the. It wasn't when they needed it. You know what I mean?

[Michael Wilbon]

So when they went, they thought, we have two chances here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So. So you think you're okay with Carol doing that? I sat there and I thought to myself, well, you're at home. And a lot of people think when you're at home it's easier to win in overtime. But I think you're a 2 and 7 team. You're not going to the playoffs. Go for the win. Go for the win at home. So I wasn't angry at it. I sort of understood it.

[Michael Wilbon]

I think I understand it most times now. There are a few times it's still, you know, coaches hold those stupid cards that it annoys me, but by and large it's like, okay, this is like a three on two break in the NBA and a guy fans out to the corner and takes a 23 foot shot instead of following his teammate in case it's a mislay up. Things change. They evolve. Games change. It's like we just talked about starting pitching. A guy has a no hitter and he's thrown 84 pitches in the eighth inning and his manager takes him out. Every game has evolved into something that you or I did not, could not, would not imagine in a few years ago.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Agreed. By the way, that game, the Jacksonville Raiders game, a game that nobody cares about. Nobody cares about. Kid kicked a 68 yard field goal. Like you need to record 68. That's so far across the line.

[Michael Wilbon]

And that's another trend, Tony. I mean, if you miss a 50 yarder now, you're going to be cut. It's like a chip shot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. That's unbelievable how good they are. All right, so let me get to the Chicago Cincinnati game, because I called you with, I don't know, a minute left. With a minute left. And you were the angriest I've ever heard. Tell people what you were saying. With a minute left, I.

[Michael Wilbon]

At that point, the game is over. The Bears are going to lose.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right?

[Michael Wilbon]

They've led 41, 27 with two minutes left. And in that moment, they're going to lose because they've allowed Joe Flacco, who, you know was on the phone at halftime with AARP, right, Dave, he's 41. They're going to let Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco's Dan Marino, he's just. He's going up and down the field. They cannot stop a single pass completion, and they're going to lose a game that. Because of the way it went down. The Bears are celebrating twice. Not only was it 41, 27, there was. It looked like a pick six. That should have made it 48, 27. And so that was just allowed because.

[Tim Kirchen]

It was an alleged touch on a.

[Michael Wilbon]

Shoulder pad, which is stupid, but nonetheless, the Bears are going to lose a game. That to me, and I said this to you in real time, it would have been worse than the Hail Mary game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, you said that.

[Michael Wilbon]

In the most embarrassing loss in the 60 years I've been following the Bears.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You said you were going to call them in in the morning and get rid of people. Right?

[Michael Wilbon]

I would have. I would have fired the special team. Here's how the special teams coach. Here's how they went. Coach Hightower. It started with a 99 yard touchdown return by the Bengals and it ended with a recovery of an onside kick. How you like that combo?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Tim Kirchen]

Huh?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

So that's. That's how his day went. I didn't even. I'd have called everybody in if I. If I ran the team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You said you were going to bench.

[Michael Wilbon]

Caleb Williams in real time, and I had chance. I called you back and said, okay, I'm relatively sane.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now that's right. That's right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Because my own nephew, Jordan Wilbon called me. He's like, Uncle Mike. Caleb didn't play badly. He didn't play bad. He didn't. You're wrong about this one. You got to calm down. Calm down is not the mood I was in, as you know. And I would have fired everybody. Tony, the Bears are the dumbest team in the league. They lead the league in penalties in like four different ways. Yardage, number of penalties, number of false starts, number of pre snap penalties. They what are you doing? And yet they had guys celebrating up 41, 27. The whole stadium would seem to be. I mean, people just drove from Illinois over to Ohio to go to this game. They're celebrating. They all got Ditka outfits on. People are going crazy. And I'm like, wait a minute, do they know we can't stop a nosebleed? What are they doing?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Joe Flacco has now produced 80 points in the last two weeks. 38 and 42. And he's 0 and 2. He passed for 470 yards. Yet yesterday he's 0 and 2. They are so awful. It's unbelievable, right? The last play, the touchdown play, that two guys converge on the guy who catches the ball and they don't converge.

[Michael Wilbon]

On Loveland and Loveland. And it's going to have to be, you know, the whole hurricane drill to get them on the field to try to kick the field goal to win the game. Yes, in 13 seconds. Which is doable. You see teams do it. Except the Bears would have had two penalties and they would have negated it. And yet they win the game with this play. And I don't know what to make of it. I mean, you, you, yes, you take the win on the road in the NFL. And by the way, what was making me crazier in real time, as you know, is that the packers and the Lions lost.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They lost.

[Michael Wilbon]

Their games were over the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The. In. In. In fact, the Bears and the Bengals doesn't mean anything compared to the three games that you never would have seen happening. You never would have seen the Steelers bury the Colts. No, you never would have. Carolina beat Green Bay in LA in Lambeau and Minnesota beat Detroit in, in Detroit. They're nine and a half point under. And those three games are headline games. But, but your interest obviously was Chicago, Cincinnati, which I understand.

[Michael Wilbon]

But look, but look how, but look how all three of those games come into play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The same division.

[Michael Wilbon]

Bears are now. So the Bears have three losses. They're five and three. Green Bay has two. I think Detroit has three.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They have three.

[Michael Wilbon]

Okay, so the Bears played Detroit in Chicago later. We have, we haven't played Green Bay yet. And we get Minnesota either next week or the week after, which should be blood eyed vengeance for giving away the season opener on Monday night to this rookie quarterback. So I mean, all of a sudden, if you win this stupid game where you're, you got Joe Flacco on the ropes and he's George Foreman.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Then you're in it. You're, you're, you're in it. You've got a, you've got a tiebreaker with the now completely careening commanders.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Michael Wilbon]

You, you, you, you've actually got. Now, are they good enough? I don't know. Are the Bears good enough to meet, make something of this? We have the Steelers coming up at, at Soldier Field, so they're meaningful games where you can make a dent. I mean, I know that's out of conference game, but yes, in real time yesterday. Tony. It's as angry as I have, it's as joyless as I have ever been after the Bears won a football game in 60 years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Amazing. All right, I'll talk to you later.

[Michael Wilbon]

All right, Tom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael Wilbon, boys and girls. We'll take a break. We'll come back with Tim Kirchen. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Korneiser show. Tony Kornizer show. How does this sound? Like the beginning of an Eagles song. Wow.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Once again, this is Crown of Smoke. This is a song called Lazy and honestly, I'd never heard this and it just sounded like the Eagles. I mean, I'm not saying they sing like the Eagles, but. Yeah. Wow.

[Nigel]

Yeah, it's really good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Once again, they play in Tim Kirchen. Michael, if people like Crown of Smoke want to send in their original music for us to play, how do they do it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us music by emailing it to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jinglesonyquinizershow.Com As I said, Tim Kirchen joins us. Concert veteran and pit bull devotee Tim Kirchen joins us. We had so fun replaying time and time again your explanation of your meeting with Pitbull. I just was wonderful. Just really, I have to tell you, was wonderful. All right.

[Tim Kirchen]

I've ever seen. Go ahead.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right. You were, you were there for this series. You were there for what I think was a great World Series. But, but you know, you know more than I. How, how good was this World Series?

[Tim Kirchen]

Well, I've officially called it the best one that I've ever covered. And that's. That's 44 years, Tony. And that's 26 game sevens that I've covered in the playoffs. I think it's the best I've ever seen for a bunch of reasons. Game 3 was ridiculously great. 18 innings innings. Game 6 ended in the most bizarre fashion that I have ever seen. Ever seen in a World Series game, which was an elimination game and a potential clinching game. Never seen a ninth inning like that ever. Nor has anybody else. And then we get this masterpiece of a game seven that had so many twists and turns. I was dizzy watching it. It was that great. So you put those three elements together with some of the most amazing storylines in the history of the World series. Trey Savage, 22 years old, doing what he did. Yamamoto, pitching the day after, throwing 96 pitches, throwing 34 more. The whole Ohtani thing, the whole Vlad Guerrero thing, the whole Ernie Clement wearing a glove that he bought on ebay from a little Japanese woman, then getting 30 hits in the postseason. It's an endless string of amazing storylines. And that's why I make it, in my mind at least, the greatest World Series that I've ever seen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I certainly bow to your opinion there. I will say this, that I was sitting around Columbia yesterday talking with a couple of guys, and I use this word about three particular games. The 18 inning game, then game six with the weird ending, then game seven, the way the Dodgers came back. And certainly Rojas, the least likely human being to do that, and certainly Pages, who was benched, goes back into the outfield and makes. Makes that catch. And I use the word, Tim, Providential, because the Dodgers could have lost any or all three of those games. I mean, I think if you watch this series. Well, at least I felt this way. I said, boy, I have underrated Toronto. They may be a better team than the Dodgers. And I think the Dodgers are a great team with a very specific flaw. Their bullpen is terrible, absolutely terrible. That's why they use the starters there. But I use the word providential because I couldn't come up with another explanation. They could have lost all three of those games, right?

[Tim Kirchen]

Yes. Oh, absolutely. Could have. And maybe should have lost all three of those games and didn't. They should have lost game seven about four different times.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Tim Kirchen]

And they didn't. So that means they're either that much better than the Blue Jays and everyone else, which I do not believe, or maybe they're just the Dodgers. They have the best set of players. I told you, Tony, that a talent Evaluator told me this is the greatest roster of players in major league history. And I don't believe that, but that's what he believes. I'm telling you, the Blue Jays are really good. Yes, they played great until game six when they went one for nine with runners in scoring position. And then in game seven they went three for 19. So the thing that they have, the ability to put the ball in play, the ability to get a hit, not just hit a home run, is something that other teams don't have. And then when they really needed it in six and seven, it didn't show up. That's the reason they didn't win the World Series. But the Dodgers deserve to win this because they made some amazing plays and got some really big hits at the most important times.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Maybe. And I say this a lot, that I am unburdened by memory and I don't remember what I've seen in my life. So this may not be a fair statement to make, but I had never seen in a concentrated series, I had never seen so many plays at the plate. So many great plays at the plate.

[Michael Wilbon]

Right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'd never seen that.

[Tim Kirchen]

Tony. It was fantastic. Those 2, 3, 9th inning, 10th inning plays at the plate and everything else. Infield, in balls hit right to a guy. Did he get a good secondary lead? Did he keep his foot on home plate? I mean, those are so good for the game. This series was so good for baseball. Not just because it gave us Ohtani against Vlad Guerrero head to head and Guerrero hit a homer. It's that the game was played properly because no team plays it more correctly than the Blue Jays did. And that's what the Dodgers did to a play had to be made and a major leaguer made it, whether it was pies in center field or Miguel Rojas, like five times in the last two days, last two games made plays that if he doesn't make them, they lose and the Blue Jays win the World Series. That's what was so beautiful about this World Series. Skillful plays were made at the most crucial time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So the only thing I would say, you know, in as we say, contradistinction to what your talent evaluator said, is that they have no bullpen now. They got great, great bullpen work in the 18 inning games. But after that, you know, really not so much. And Roberts didn't go anywhere near Blake Trinen. And Roberts put in all his starters, which is what Davey Martinez did when the Nats won. And that's how the Nats won, because their starters went to the bullpen and what he couldn't do, and he knew this. He couldn't put Kershaw in. It wasn't going to work. And I just. I think it was. I don't want to say it's courageous because it was born out of necessity, but his starters came through, did they not? They did.

[Tim Kirchen]

Oh, my gosh. Tony, he has four aces on that team. He used all four of them in Game 7, and he had to, because the same talent evaluator told me, the Dodgers are going to win the World Series because they're going to do exactly what the nationals did in 2019. They're going to take their seven best pitchers and use them all the time. And that's exactly, essentially what happened. And the Yamamoto thing, Tony, cannot be overstated. What? That dinky little 5 foot 10 inch. I'm going to throw a javelin before each start. Nobody throws 96 pitches in a game and comes back the next day and throws 34. Nobody throws 96 pitches, period. And they took him out after 96 in game six. I was shocked. I thought he was going to go 126 pitches, but they brought him back because he said, I can do this. This is a lesson for all of us. We are trying to protect our pitchers too much, and in protecting them, they get hurt all the time. It's a paradox. He showed everyone with the adrenaline flowing and the importance of game seven, people could do remarkable things. And that was one of the most remarkable things that I've ever seen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So this is exactly how I felt when Yamamoto did what he did. I said to myself, because this is how columnists think, yeah, he's going to need Tommy John like he's done. He's going to need this. But on the other hand, he's got a $350 million contract, and he just wrote his name out there for the ages in game seven of the World Series. I mean, just did something that everybody is so jealous of and wish they had that opportunity. But I wonder. I wonder if he will get hurt. I mean, that's an awful strain on a person's arm, is it not?

[Tim Kirchen]

Yes. And he probably will get hurt, and he probably will need Tommy John. But I'm telling you, if he. If you asked him in advance, all right, you're going to win the World Series mvp. You are going to win the World Series for your team. You are going to accomplish some, do something that almost nobody else can do. But in return, you're going to have to give up a year of pitching. Would you do it. The answer would be yes, I would do it. Because what he did will not be achieved by him like maybe ever again. Exactly what he did. So he'll take the consequences of being the Ironman for game seven.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It was, I mean, it was just when the Dodgers finally needed hits. Will Smith not only hit that home run, he put three on the track or at the wall within the last two games. That guy's a beast. Will Smith, I mean he is, he's a beast, right?

[Tim Kirchen]

Tony, A few years ago he played caught with a broken rib. Another season he caught with a broken ankle and he broke his hand. And his hand is still swollen and hurting this postseason. And he hit the biggest home run. Although Miguel Rojas home run was equally big. He hit the game winning home run. And now, Tony, we have six years in a row that the world championship team included a player on it named Will Smith. Six years in a row a guy named Will Smith was on the World Series champion team. This Will Smith the catcher and Will Smith the reliever who was on three other championship teams in between Will Smith. It's just ridiculous.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Neither Will Smith is the one who smacked Chris Rock in the face. Neither one is that lost in this and only, you know, it only matters to me. But it does matter to me. Matt Scherzer, two credible starts. Two credible starts at 41 years old, didn't, didn't last long. Wouldn't have gotten the win because he didn't go five. But two credible starts, apparently saying he wants to play again next year. Is that what you're hearing too?

[Tim Kirchen]

Yes. And I talked to him about that this season. Tony has energized him. Not like he ever needs to be energized. No, but being on that Blue Jay team, which I don't care how corny this sounds, the character, the camaraderie, the chemistry there, unlike very few teams I have ever seen, I was completely taken with how much those guys love to play together. And Max Scherzer got caught up in that. He basically called it the most fun he's ever had playing baseball. And yes, that's one reason I think he will come back next year. A, he's still good enough to pitch. Two, he's a maniacal competitor. What else is he going to do with his life? With all due respect, and if he comes back with the Blue Jays, I think he would be thrilled because they loved having him and more important, he loved being on that team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I, again, I know nothing about them. I pay attention much more to the National League, Toronto I. I mean, I know they've spent a lot of money and I, you know, for a lot of years, and they were really good. I was so impressed with the post games comments by John Schneider. So, you know, I just thought, yeah, this. This guy, this guy knows what he's talking about, knows what he's doing. It was not a bunch of cliches. It always seemed heartfelt. Is he. Does he have that kind of reputation?

[Tim Kirchen]

Yeah. So Buck Martinez, former catcher, former Blue Jays manager, and a Blue jays broadcaster for 30 years, told me that John Schneider reminds him of Bobby cox in the mid-80s managing the blue Jays when they started to get really good. Bobby Cox is one of the best managers of all time. And when you are compared on any level as a manager to Bobby Cox, that is about the highest praise you can get. I spent so much time with John Schneider over the last month, and I'm telling you, I would put him in charge of any situation because his connection to people is ridiculously good. And he sat there, Tony, in all those managers meetings that I went to and told us the truth. It was so. It was so refreshing that you could ask him a question and he would tell you the truth. He would make you laugh. He would make you think. I can't be more impressed with a manager than I was with John Schneider during the entire month of October.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's good to hear. Plug your podcast so people can go listen to it.

[Tim Kirchen]

Yeah. Today we're taping our final one of the baseball season. It's a recap of the World Series. It'll run tomorrow. Is this great game or what? Our second year is soon to be finished, and it's been a joy of a lifetime for me professionally to work with my son Jeff, who has been absolutely even better than I thought he would be on this podcast.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's so good to hear. And I feel the same way about my own kid. Thank you, Tim.

[Tim Kirchen]

All right, Tony, see you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's just great. The best. He's just great. We will take a break, come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. Hey, Alan, did you know it's time for Tony's mailbag?

[Michael Wilbon]

Really, Glenn?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is Tony gonna read some emails, faxes and notes?

[Tim Kirchen]

He sure is, Alan.

[Nigel]

He's gonna read them for all the folks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Gee, Glenn, that's swell. Brilliant. Norwegian soft kitten. Brilliant.

[Nigel]

Yes, we love them dearly.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Brilliant. Brilliant. What do the Bethesda bagel add?

[Nigel]

Yes. Bagel sandwich day. I'm very excited, very excited about that. Bethesda Bagels just go to their website Bethesda Bagels.com for location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop it in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I've Eddie and Mindy coming over this morning. I may give them one. Yeah, just one though.

[Nigel]

Just one to split.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Keep your hands off the joy. Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say so. Put me on a highway, show me a sign and take it to the limit one more time. You got to sing this song. You got to sing it or Glenn Frey is going to be really mad. You got to sing it. Thanks to our guests today, Michael Wilbond, Tim Kirchen. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Odyssey. Get show through Apple. Please leave us a review from David Bradley in Sterling, Virginia. Tony pictures and catchers report in 106 days from Grayson Leahy, Chuck and Roxy episode 238 as a Canadian sports fan, I really had no choice but to write this email. That World Series was without a doubt one of the greatest moments I've ever witnessed while being able to cheer actively for one side despite being on the losing side in what I am sure will go down as an historical game 7. Only half of the tears shed here are sad ones. Everything about this series, from the unbelievable rise of Trey Savage to the complete mastery on the mound by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the championship exit of an all time great in Clayton Kershaw to the record breaking performance by noted hockey fan Ernie Clement was perfect. Moments like this one are why we love sports, why so many of us are tuned into your inevitably entertaining reflections upon them. Thank you for another excellent season's worth of hearing you and the gang chat about this crazy game we all love so much. You know, I'm really glad that we had Tim on. Oh, you know, I mean, I know it's 48 hours old, but I. I just think that the World Series was.

[Nigel]

Worth talking about such a great postseason.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And yeah, from Andy Broccolo. Surprised to hear Mr. Tony gave away the wannabe hoodie so dismissively when it sounds like it could have fit well into his homeless man wardrobe. The mental image that Michael created for me when he likened Tony's day out to Richard Scarry's Busy Town not only made me laugh out loud, was the inspiration for my own attempt at an air submission, hoodie included. And it's a picture of me walking the streets of Busy Town and Andy Broccoli Is in Regina, in Saskatchewan, in Canada. It's very nice. Doesn't look anything like me, but it's very pleasant. Yes, very modern.

[Michael Wilbon]

Mr. Frumble.

[Guest Musician or Singer]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Rob Lowe. Not that Rob Lowe in North Royalton, Ohio. Was I the only one fascinated by the fact that your Thursday morning errand journey was focused around your shower at Columbia? That has to be one heck of a shower. Still helping to do with Tim Kirchen to a Norwegian soft kitten. Post Sex Nachos Double Feature Concert It's a Steve shower. Glenn Winters, Chuck and Roxy, number 237 in Newport News, Virginia. I was listening to the narration of your morning of errands on Friday's pod when it came to me. That story could be adapted into a board game. I envisioned a game combining elements of Monopoly and Candyland. So the game board would be a cartoonish map of your neighborhood with pictures of your home, the barbershop and the bank and all the others. Instead of the Monopoly tokens like the thimble and the iron, these tokens could be tiny likenesses of Jesse, a golf tee, a wine bottle and the like. Players roll the dice to advance. There'll be a pile of cards. When a player lands on a card square, card must be drawn. Cards might say barbershop clothes. Go back three squares. Beaujolais on sale. Go directly to the liquor store. Your residual checks bounced Pay bank fees. This game will be low to moderate fun for the entire family, though children may need to be bribed to participate. This is a brilliant email, isn't it? From Glenn Winters. Totally brilliant. Right, Michael? Isn't that brilliant? From Mark hughes in Ashton, Maryland. Dear Mr. Tony, Friday's wall Street Journal had a front page story about people who give away potatoes to trick or treaters. Surprisingly, kids seem to love getting a potato. I have no idea why. Have you heard about this tradition? Nothing would please me more than to hear you had a bumper crop of potatoes next year and decided to hand them out on Halloween. Do that and you can keep all the candy for yourself. Yes. Yes. I've never heard of this. Have you heard of this? No.

[Nigel]

That's a new one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I never got a potato as a kid. Never.

[Nigel]

Didn't even do it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael, you don't give potatoes.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, no, I don't eat potatoes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Out, Steve the Sick of fan. Now that Halloween and the Day of the Dead are behind us, dear Toby, let us celebrate my carving a magnificent Jack O lantern with no wounds to my thumbs or fingers, plus my absolute award, your ultra precise morning errands. When I head out to complete a multitude, multitude of tasks. Even as I am pulling out of the driveway, I still don't know if it's left to the dry cleaner or right to the library. You, on the other hand, have everything planned to the split section. One bit of info if you absolutely have to mail a letter at a at 8am oh, the United States Post Office at 4005 Wisconsin Avenue opens, then you're welcome. That's very nice.

[Nigel]

That's good to know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dennis Bounds Redmond, Washington Halloween Follow up Reese's and Amen Joy are fine, but candy corn rules. Brock Candy corn. I'm with Team Wilbon on this one. I'm not a candy corn.

[Nigel]

Wilbon is adamant that that's the greatest candy of all time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, he loves it. From Ed Butt Many thanks to a fellow Little for reminding us that in 1936 Jesse Owens broke five world records in less than an hour. Do you want to know how significant that was? Well, RG3 was not allowed to wear red shoes when he visited a Michigan football practice. There are no red tees on the Michigan golf course, but there was a brass plaque at the Michigan track honoring this feat by a bleeping Buckeye. That's really good, Jim. In Lutherville, Best game ever. That would be me. Mid July 1979. 420 points, fourth skeeball machine from the left, Funland Rehoboth. People are still talking about it at least. Did he bank? Did he go straight up? You know? What did he do? Matthew, this is not a wedding invitation, but a virtual poetry invitation I want to extend to you as the official poet of the Tony Kornheiser Show. I do not take that title lightly and I was recently named a finalist for the EE Cummings Poetry Prize from the New England Poetry Club. You, Nigel and Michael are invited to join in virtually on November 16th to hear me and other award nominated and award winning writers read. Months ago you read my poem the Greatest Catch by Willie Mays. The poem that was recently selected as a finalist is another baseball piece, I Dream the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn, which I've attached for you to enjoy. Details on how to join on the caller at this web link. Web link NEPC I guess that's New England Poetry Contest, right? NEPC 2025 Contest Reading. Oh, I'm sorry. New England Poetry Club. P.S. i have a baseball themed poetry collection coming out in September of 2026. I'll be sure to send you a signed copy. Well, that's very, very nice. That's very nice. Let's put that on the pile of saved stuff.

[Nigel]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Eddie Manning. Eddie Madden. I'm sorry, Eddie Madden, not Joe Madden. Eddie Madden from Merrimack, Massachusetts. Turns out that this Sunday is also. It's this Sunday. Yesterday. Yes. Is also the birthday of Warren G. Harding, known for the Teapot Dome scandal. His middle name was Gamliel. I know that. I know. I knew it was Gamliel. I knew that because I went to college with a kid whose last name was Gamliel, and he talked about this all the time. I wanted to name my second son Gamliel, but the woman I'm related to by marriage voted me down emphatically. I understand that. Yes. Brian from Rochester Hills. I tied my golf shoes with my golf glove on this weekend. I guess I got a few more good years left in me. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. Michael Nuttall, Cincinnati, Ohio. Today, I interviewed a candidate for an open position within my department who got their undergraduate degree from Binghamton University. In the get to know you portion of the interview, I asked directly who's the most famous alum of Binghamton. I was expecting this young individual, guessing they were 25 years old, to say flow from progressive. But to my surprise, the first name out of their mouths was your own. He wasn't familiar with the broadcast, so NOLA Cheeseries or TK salutes were shared. But maybe after the interview you'll have a new little. So Congratulations to you, Mr. Tony. You still hold relevance with young people. Go celebrate with some pumpkins. I know you love them and it's a great time of year for them. Derek from Akron. Is the new game burning our family degrees? I think I'll wait for your answer before playing. No, don't burn your degrees. He shouldn't do that. John Lansome, A Marinech, New York. Well, I had hoped to write with news that I would officially be adding half to my title, joining the likes of other legends such as yourself and Walt Clyde Frazier. It seems I've been snubbed from induction into the Mamaroneck High School hall of Fame. This is despite the fact that I was the lead blocker for the number one running back in school history. That I graduated with the single season record for pins in wrestling and still hold the fastest pin in school history at 8 seconds. How difficult it is to pin another man's shoulder to the ground in eight seconds. This is like Pete Rose not getting in. Only I never gambled on the game. And the Marinek ain't exactly the math. Linemen don't get no respect. Where the ditch diggers of the sports world tell hall of famer Matt Beadon to eat it. John's mad. Yeah. And from Rob Colette in St. John's Newfoundland, Canada. I've learned how to say Newfoundland because.

[Nigel]

We used to go to Newfoundland.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I learned how to say it. Thank you for reading a recent email from a listener who described his birthday plans to dine in at his local grocery store for a while. Go steak dinner. That's Anthony Beast. Tony Beast. Yes. I was moved by the beautiful connection he must feel for that establishment and the wonderful customer service they must provide. My only comparable experience was a few years back when a friend and I visited our local supermarket. When my friend asked if he could try a grape, the grocery clerk responded, I don't care if you bum down the whole store with me. Burn down, rather the whole store with me inside it. That's interesting. Wow. Wow. Thanks for all the laughs. Burn down the whole store with me. And if you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white. Okay?

[Tim Kirchen]

We wound up 5 and 11. Not very good.

[Michael Wilbon]

But there were some worse than us.

[Tim Kirchen]

I guess that's one positive way to look at it. We weren't the worst team in the league.

[Guest Musician or Singer]

Hey child like the way you walk and sway so why you make me echo night and day See you coming off the track in the city never coming back get away child why you always wasting my time? That's where I draw the light hey child like the way you walk and crawl so wild makes me yankee makes man roll you coming off the track in the city never coming back get away, child why you always wasting my time? That's where I draw the light Sam.

[Tony Kornheiser]

O.

[Guest Musician or Singer]

Like the way you walk and swear so wild make the egg on Then why you always wasting my time? That's where I hey. Then why you always wasting my time? That's where I hey, Tim. Why you always wasting my time? That's where I Sam all the time I've been so lazy how am I getting by? Everything is way too hazy inside I think I'm doing fine Wrapped up, holding on wound up being wrong.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I lost.

[Guest Musician or Singer]

The craving oh, miss me heaven now my life is getting crazy how the hell am I getting by? I thought you look so well I didn't know inside your life was hell Wrapped up, holding on Wrapped up being wrong I've lost the craving for this Behave, Sam. Now my life is way too crazy how the hell am I getting by? I thought you looked so well inside your life was hell Wrapped up, holding on, wound up being rough. I lost the craving. Oh. Miss me? Heaven.