“Is this Melissa?”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show – Episode: “Is this Melissa?” (February 7, 2025)

Overview In this engaging episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show," host Tony Kornheiser navigates through a mix of personal anecdotes, in-depth sports analysis, and lively discussions on current events. The episode blends Tony's unique perspective on sports trades, particularly within the NBA, with predictions for the upcoming Super Bowl, all while interacting with insightful guests like Tim Legler, James Carville, and Jeff Ma. Additionally, Tony shares a heartfelt personal story involving a mysterious package from a listener named Melissa, adding a personal touch to the show's dynamic content.

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Personal Anecdote: The Melissa Mystery [00:00 - 17:59]

The episode kicks off with Tony recounting an intriguing personal experience involving a package sent by a listener named Melissa. At [10:22], Tony reads a letter from Melissa, sent on behalf of Gary Moore, President and CEO of Hex Pol Compounding Americas. The package includes a Peter Millar overshirt and golf accessories, accompanied by a thoughtful note acknowledging Tony's mention of not owning Peter Millar attire on a previous show.

Tony shares his journey to locate Melissa, highlighting his determination and the challenges faced during the process:

Tony Kornheiser [15:18]: "This is Melissa. Yes, it is so great. I feel like a reporter again."

The interaction showcases Tony's commitment to connecting with his listeners and expressing genuine gratitude for their support. Despite initial confusion and the absence of direct contact information, Tony successfully reaches out to Melissa, expressing his appreciation for the thoughtful gift.

Tony Kornheiser [17:23]: "So I was really happy that that happened, and I was grateful that I could find her and that I could thank her. And I think she was happy about that whole thing, too."

This segment not only emphasizes Tony's personable nature but also the strong bond he fosters with his audience.

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NBA Trade Analysis with Tim Legler [17:35 - 39:44]

After the personal story, Tony transitions to a pivotal segment featuring former NBA player and analyst Tim Legler. The discussion centers around a significant NBA trade involving Luka Doncic being moved from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Key Discussion Points:

1. Impact of the Trade:

   • Tony Kornheiser [28:40]: "It's unfathomable to me that they made this move. If nothing more comes out that there's something we don't know, and this is strictly. Hey, he doesn't really grind it out in the summers the way we'd like him to."
   • Tim Legler [25:39]: "I was devastated because, you know, my best basketball was played in Washington, and it was home."

2. Psychological Effects on Players:

   • The emotional toll of being traded unexpectedly is explored, with Tim sharing his own experience of feeling "devastated" when he was traded from Washington.

3. Future Prospects for Both Teams:

   • Tony Kornheiser [32:09]: "They just went out and did a terrific thing. They got Mark Williams."
   • Tim Legler [32:38]: "There's no doubt it's penalizing to think, think what this is going to look like."

4. LeBron James’ Adjustment:

   • The conversation delves into how LeBron James might feel about the addition of Luka Doncic, considering it a shift in team dynamics.
   • Tony Kornheiser [35:37]: "This is about the future of the Lakers. This is going forward about the next."

5. Long-Term Implications:

   • Tim Legler predicts that the trade could be viewed historically as one of the worst if Luka doesn't achieve championship success with the Lakers.

Notable Quotes:

Tony Kornheiser [32:38]: "I think this is going to be fascinating and as I said yesterday to somebody, if God loves basketball, we'll get Dallas Lakers in the playoffs at some point."

Tim Legler [37:00]: "If this clicks, it works, and they figure out a way to protect themselves defensively, this clicks, then the upside is higher for the Lakers this year and next year and however long LeBron plays."

This segment provides listeners with a comprehensive analysis of the trade's immediate and future impacts, highlighting the complexities involved in such high-stakes moves within the NBA.

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Super Bowl Picks and Betting Strategies with James Carville and Jeff Ma [39:44 - 55:41]

Post the NBA discussion, Tony welcomes political strategist James Carville and sports analyst Jeff Ma to delve into Super Bowl predictions and betting strategies.

Main Topics:

1. Super Bowl Predictions:

   • James Carville discusses his picks, focusing on the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
   • James Carville [44:23]: "Philadelphia plus one and a half over Kansas City."

2. Betting Strategies:

   • Both guests share their prop bets, analyzing player performances and game dynamics.
   • Jeff Ma [50:57]: "I'm going to take Jalen Hurts to go over 214 and a half passing yards."

3. Analysis of Player Impact:

   • The discussion emphasizes the potential performances of key players like Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, considering their current season stats and game scenarios.
   • James Carville [49:42]: "I like Jalen Hurts at plus 370 for MVP because if the Eagles win, it's highly likely."

4. Future Implications of the Game:

   • The guests speculate on how the game outcomes could influence team standings and player legacies.
   • Tony Kornheiser [33:10]: "If I ran ESPN, I would rip up the schedule that they have given me and I would say I want to do every single Laker game. That's all I want to do. Because that will be nothing but ratings."

Notable Quotes:

James Carville [49:49]: "If they win, it's gravy. Great."

Jeff Ma [50:55]: "I'm going to take this. And this is the Rufus special. Patrick Mahomes to have under 31 and a half rushing yards."

Their insights offer listeners valuable perspectives on the upcoming Super Bowl, blending statistical analysis with strategic betting advice.

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Listener Mailbag and Community Stories [55:41 - 68:58]

Towards the end of the episode, Tony engages with his audience through the "Mailbag" segment, sharing and responding to listener emails, stories, and humorous anecdotes.

Highlights:

1. Listener Stories:

   • Alethea Mills' Story: Tony reads an email from Alethea Mills, detailing her musical journey and praising her talents.
   • Patrick Sitter's Employment Tales: An amusing recount of past job misadventures and advice on handling difficult employees.

2. Humorous Interjections:

   • Tony shares scripted comedic bits inspired by listeners, adding levity to the show.
   • Tony Kornheiser [60:28]: "I find myself compelled to address a grievous misrepresentation from the February 5th show."

3. Community Engagement:

   • Stories range from personal mishaps to heartfelt experiences, reflecting the diverse interests of Tony's audience.
   • Rona Rocky Jersey City: Shares unique work experiences and humorous comparisons.

Notable Quotes:

Tony Kornheiser [60:26]: "Here's to Middle Aged Guy Radio and to the rest of you, a hearty Shamalama Ding Dong."

This segment underscores the interactive nature of the podcast, fostering a sense of community among listeners while providing entertaining and relatable content.

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Conclusion

In "Is this Melissa?", Tony Kornheiser masterfully blends personal storytelling with expert sports analysis, creating a multifaceted listening experience. From unraveling the mystery of a thoughtful listener's gift to dissecting major NBA trades and providing insightful Super Bowl betting tips, the episode offers something for every fan. The inclusion of listener stories and humorous segments further enriches the show's appeal, making it a must-listen for both dedicated followers and newcomers alike.

Key Takeaways:

• Personal Connection: Tony's dedication to connecting with listeners enhances the show's authenticity.
• Expert Analysis: Discussions with Tim Legler provide deep insights into significant sports trades and their implications.
• Betting Insights: Opinions from James Carville and Jeff Ma offer valuable strategies for Super Bowl enthusiasts.
• Community Engagement: The Mailbag segment fosters a sense of belonging and interaction within the podcast's audience.

For those who missed the episode, "Is this Melissa?" encapsulates the essence of Tony Kornheiser's engaging and knowledgeable approach to sports and beyond.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll talk to Tim Legler about all the big trades around the NBA this weekend. We'll also get super bowl picks from James Carville and Jeff Ma. But first, kids, let's do some commerce.

[Unknown Announcer]

This is the Tony Kornizer show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the Gold Belly Reed. Have you ever heard of Gold Belly? It's this amazing site where you can get the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across the United States, and they will ship it free to your door anywhere in the country. What is this?

[Unknown Guest]

Yes. So this will arrive at your house, It'll be frozen. You're gonna put it in your fridge until you're ready to eat it. And then there's very specific instructions so you get that same experience at your house.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, listen to this. Gold Belly will ship you Philly's cheesesteaks for Jim's or Pat's in Philly, the original Buffalo wings from the Anchor bar in Buffalo, and even Kansas City's most legendary barbecue. And if the pizza near you stinks, they will ship you New York. New York. It's just real pizza. They will ship you New York pizza from John's on Bleecker. Add that. Or Chicago deep dish from Lou Malnati's or even New Haven or Detroit style pizza. And if you are truly gluttonous, which we are, they will ship you Guy Fieri's is Fieri or Fieri.

[Unknown Guest]

Fieri.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Fieri. Trash can nachos.

[Unknown Guest]

Have you seen those?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No. That's the ultimate game day centerpiece.

[Unknown Guest]

Trying to protect every single bite of the nachos. You don't have that awkward experience where Nigel takes the last good chip.

Yeah, that's.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow. This. Oh, we've got to try this.

[Unknown Guest]

So there's a big game coming up in a few weeks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Unknown Guest]

You have something that should be arriving today or tomorrow. It's to your house. Sorry about that. You don't have to sign for it, but it's. You're getting a barbecue sampler from Joe's over in Kansas City. Get some burnt end, some brisket.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How about. That's tremendous. So if you're looking to host an epic super bowl party, or any party for that matter, go to goldbelly.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code Tony. That's goldbelly.com code Tony for free shipping and 20% off your 1st order. This sounds good.

[Unknown Guest]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Looking for a new home should be exciting, not frustrating. That's why homes.com might just be the best home shopping site out there. Imagine searching for your dream home without ads cluttering your view. Homes.com sleek, beautifully designed ad free interface makes your search simple and distraction free. And if you're a parent, you know how important school information is. Homes.com gets it. They're the only site with detailed school and district info from multiple sources. Plus they've got a super comprehensive and transparent agency or agent directory making it easy to find the right expert to guide your journey. Oh, and here's a game changer. Homes.com always connects you directly with the listing agent who knows the homes best. They even go beyond the basics, offering the most in depth neighborhood content of any home shopping site. Packed with details to help you find a community that feels like home. And the search tools unmatched with 22 data visualization layers. Whoo. Seven environmental layers. This is like layer cake, kids. And filters for commute times and architectural styles. Homes.com truly is the home search you've been searching for. Go to homes.com homes.com We've done your homework. Good line.

[Unknown Announcer]

Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I want crest toothpaste, regular toothpaste color, which is a light turquoise. Some people sent me tubes of this and the toothpaste was sort of a yellowish look. I said I don't want this. So I went. The other day I went to a cvs. I was running low on toothpaste. I bought four tubes of toothpaste. I.

[Unknown Guest]

Four tubes of toothpaste is a year supply of toothpaste for you? Six months.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Two months. Two months.

[Unknown Guest]

Are you still sharing with the dog?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Two months? No. This is not the dog that needs toothpaste. The other Maggie ate toothpaste.

[Unknown Announcer]

The Tony Korniser show is on now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm waiting for people. I'm waiting for the emails. I haven't looked at the emails yet about toothpaste. We'll see what happens.

[Unknown Guest]

I believe there's a few in there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that they're.

[Unknown Guest]

I just want to stress again, yellowish colored toothpaste.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You don't want that.

[Unknown Guest]

But you tried them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I tried it once and it didn't work for me. Didn't work for me. Speaking of the dog who is sitting with us in the studio yesterday? Carol comes home with a red heart toy. The kind that a dog would grip in its mouth and run around with. Probably the circumference of it is about a foot or something like that, not really large like a ring toy.

[Unknown Guest]

Or is it filled in the center ring toy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

She grabs it, she shakes it. There's no noise to it. She takes it outside and quickly gets bored with it because there's no noise to it. And I said to Carol, what's that? And she said, it's a Valentine's gift for Chessy. And I said, you know, I love my dog, but she's a dog. She doesn't have a real sense of Valentine's Day. It's.

[Unknown Guest]

Could have gotten her books.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It could have gotten her what? It doesn't matter. You could have gotten her nothing. She doesn't have a real. You know, like, she doesn't. And I love her. We don't sit down and discuss Julius Caesar. We don't do that. She's a dog. And I just looked at Carol and I said, this is very nice, but I think it's going to be lost on her. I think if you were to sit down with her and explain what you have done, it was going to be lost on her. Right?

[Unknown Guest]

Don't you think that's a gesture? You got to start somewhere.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's nice. It was nice. The super bowl is Sunday. The super bowl has been off the front page all week because of the NBA, because of the NBA trade deadline. I don't know if the trade deadline was deliberately moved this year. Maybe it's this year, this week, all the time. I don't know if it was deliberately moved this year to this week. In hindsight, it's brilliant. And whoever did that at the NBA should be actually made commissioner. They should say to Adam Silver, we paid you a lot of money. You're literally afraid of the players. You make no rulings that stop any player from doing any single thing that player wants to do. So we're going to move this guy in or this woman in. Whoever. Whoever did it. Because the NBA has been on the front page, and the super bowl has not super bowl week, and they haven't been on the front. Now, the NFL.

[Unknown Guest]

What's the lasting effect, though?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know if there's a lasting effect. I think it disappears by Sunday when the super bowl is on. The NFL owns Christmas. The NFL laughed when the NBA said, christmas is ours. The NFL said, it's yours until we decide it's not yours. And that was two years ago. They decided it wasn't theirs, and they put three games out and crushed the NBA. Crushed them like sand.

[Unknown Guest]

Yeah, a little bit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Crushed them like sand. But the NBA has fought back. It's a guerrilla movement, don't you think?

[Unknown Guest]

Guerrilla movement I guess I just think.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They had this really big trade that laid the groundwork for flash.

[Unknown Guest]

This is your network telling me, your colleagues who are telling me about this, this huge seismic shift. But I look at.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, it's not. It's just this year.

[Unknown Guest]

I look at what's happened over the last two months, two and a half months with the NFL. And to me, there's a. There is a natural release of this non stop football that starts the week before Thanksgiving. And you just. You think about weeks where you're getting five days of football in a row. It's wonderful. But I actually think there's something. There's something like old school about this just quiet lull right before the big storm.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Fine. Yes, it's fine. And then ultimately, of course, when they go to 18 games, this game will be played the day before President's Day will be observed. That is a legal holiday throughout the United States of America. That Monday. So everyone will gather and watch the super bowl that Sunday. They'll get the highest ratings in the history of mankind as soon as they put it on that Sunday. Yeah. The highest ratings in the history of man. You could put two terrible teams, it's not going to matter. The NBA will look at that and say, wow, how can we do that? And the answer is, you can't, because football is football and you're not. Just the way it goes.

[Unknown Guest]

This might be a case of football's success getting it, you know, causing it headlines, because I was checking it out. The trade deadline for the NBA has generally been around this time for most.

[Tony Kornheiser]

For the most part, they've never had a trade like the Luca trade.

[Unknown Guest]

No, they haven't. But in years past, the super bowl wasn't going this late all the time. So it sort of encroached on this new territory.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really odd. We had Alex Smith on the PTI show yesterday. Alex Smith is an occasional listener to the podcast. Yes, he may be hearing this right now.

[Unknown Guest]

We thank you, Alex.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, we're very pleased with that.

[Unknown Guest]

Yeah, it was a great segment.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Alex Smith's very good. Yeah. Alex Smith has gone pick it up.

[Unknown Guest]

When he was here locally.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think so. I think so. Alex Smith has gone through stuff that other people haven't gone through. He has been benched in favor of Colin Kaepernick at a Super bowl run. He has been benched in favor of Patrick Mahomes, who's a Hall of Fame player and the best football player on the planet. He has had that terrible luck with his leg being shattered and he had to Come back from that. And it was heartwarming when he went out and played, even though everyone who watched him was terrified that something terrible would happen to him. And he was described by Matt Kelleher to me yesterday because I said I was really impressed with him. Now, he was a Wilbon find Wilbon.

[Unknown Guest]

That's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wilbon has been saying, we got to put him on. He said, will, let me give Mike all the credit in the world for that. But Kelleher said, he's a very smart guy who seems completely normal. And that's how I felt, too. He's a pal of Pablo's. And when I got off the air yesterday, I texted Pablo about him and I said what Kelleher said, and he said, that's it exactly. He's a normal human being, which you don't ever expect, you know, from somebody who's been a great athlete, made a whole bunch of dough and stuff like that. That's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about a letter I got. I'm going to read you the letter. Dear Mr. Corn, this came to PTI, a box. I was in PTI the other day, and Bonnie said, there's a box for you. And I looked at it and I took it home.

[Unknown Guest]

Original packaging. Had the tape been opened?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, Bonnie opened it right in front of me. Bonnie opened it, and here is the letter that was enclosed. Dear Mr. Kornheiser, on behalf of Gary Moore, President and CEO of Hex Pol Compounding Americas, and its executive leadership team, please accept this Peter Millar piece as a new addition to your wardrobe. You mentioned to Mr. Wilbon on the Friday, January 31st show that you do not own any Peter Millar attire. We hope you enjoy wearing it on and off the golf course. Kind regards, Melissa. So we had Jay Bilis on, and Jay's obviously got a deal with Peter Millar because he's wearing a big crested Peter Millar shirt or sweater or something. It looked like. It looked like. They said, and don't remember, Jay, when you go on tv, wear this. So I said, because, you know, I mean, because, you know, you want to be sort of casual when you're interviewing people. I said at the end of it, is that Peter Millar? And he says, yeah, I got a deal with Peter Millar. And then Wilbon is sitting next to me. He's on the air. Wilvon says, well, I got to deal with Peter Millard, too.

[Unknown Guest]

It makes sense because I think they're originally down in North Carolina.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. And it's Peter Millar is just. It's nobody's name. It was. They took it off the gravestone in England that it's Miller, but it's just spelled Millar and pronounced here. Millar. It's pronounced Miller in England. So, anyway. Anyway, Wilbon says, I've got a Peter Millar deal, too. And I said, well, I have a Peter Millar deal, but we're affiliated with Johnny. Oh, then that's it. Right. I don't even know if that got on the air, but obviously I don't have a Peter Millard deal got on the air. I don't know if Johnny O made it. I don't know. So I opened this thing up, and it's a bunch of golf balls. And it's a blue overshirt, you know, sweater cues it. Yeah, right. And there's a golf shirt in there, too.

[Unknown Guest]

Loud golf shirt.

[Tony Kornheiser]

A very loud golf shirt made with totally recyclable materials. It's totally recycled.

[Unknown Guest]

Like, it's straight from the Sony Open.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's really. Yeah, right. It looks pretty cool. I don't know that I can wear it. I don't think I can get away with it.

[Unknown Guest]

You could wear it, I think, for holiday golf tournaments.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Okay. Maybe it's.

[Unknown Guest]

It's the Alfalfa dinner next year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. So I want to thank me, Listen, I want to thank Melissa. And there's no number. There's no card. There's no number. There's nothing. So I have to do what I used to do for a living. I have to be a reporter. So I go to the Internet and I type in Hex Ball. I don't know what Hex Ball is. I have no idea. Hex Ball is a rubber company. They deal in compound rubber stuff. Maybe Giant, I don't know. And it's headquartered. It seems to be a Swedish company. They probably grow rubber. Sweet. And they just plant it, right? So. And it's got a whole bunch of names. And then I scroll down, and it's got this guy Gary Moore's name with a picture. So I press on it. Nothing happens. I keep pressing on it. Nothing happens. It says contact us. I hit contact us. They show me the same bunch of pictures. Nothing happens. This is frustrating to me.

[Unknown Guest]

Sure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I go back into the Internet and. And I start seeing if I can just get Gary Moore. Not, you know, not Hex Paul, just Gary Moore. And there's a way to do that. But again, his picture comes up and it doesn't work. So now I Try on Melissa. I try her name with the company and I get, you know, something like LinkedIn.

[Unknown Guest]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, sure.

[Unknown Guest]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're on LinkedIn. I'm not in LinkedIn. Yeah, I don't want to be in LinkedIn. I don't. You know, people say to me all the time, I'm in LinkedIn, why don't you join me? No, I don't want to be in LinkedIn. You don't need it. I don't want to give away my life to the Internet. I'm not on the Internet. I don't get Twitter or X. People send me stuff. I cannot access it. Yeah, I don't care.

[Unknown Guest]

Like I did last weekend.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't care. It's okay. I just write can't access. Yeah. And in the tone of can't access, they hear me basically saying, don't want. Like, Arch Campbell didn't see it. Don't want to see it. So I keep going deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into this. And I find.

[Unknown Guest]

Opening new tabs, or is it still in the original tab?

[Tony Kornheiser]

What does it.

[Unknown Guest]

Just opening up new windows for you?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. Everything, you know, And I. I finally find her name, and there's a number. There's a number. There's a number of the company. And I call and a woman answers, and I go, is this Melissa? She goes, yeah. I said, this is. Now I don't see it. It worked. Okay. This is. I say, this is so great. I don't say who I am. She could think, there's a stalker calling.

[Unknown Guest]

Sounds like it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't say who I am. I say, this is so great. This is Melissa. Yes, it is so great. I feel like a reporter again. I did something I haven't done in so long. I found you. And then I said, this is Tony Kornheiser. And I say, you sent me this wonderful thing. Everybody was so excited when a big box of that showed up at the PTI show. And I opened it and she said, yeah, I didn't. She said, we watch every day. We watch every single day. We heard what you said. And I could get you this Peter Millar piece because we. We have these things, but I didn't enclose a card. I said, I know I found you. I'm so happy. It's two things. I'm so happy you sent me this stuff. It's very, very nice. Thank you so very much. That's all you asked for. What's the point of being famous? Help your friends, hurt your enemies, Get a Good table at a restaurant and somebody sends you a big box of that. Yeah. And I explained the Bonnie thing. I explained all about it, and I told her how happy I was and how grateful I was, but that I was even happier that I located her. I was able to do that.

[Unknown Guest]

I'm proud of you. I'm still trying to click the president's picture.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Did you compress it forever?

[Unknown Guest]

There's nothing that suggests it's a hyperlink, but, yes, I see your confusion.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What does hyperlink mean?

[Unknown Guest]

Just a link that would take you someplace else. Sometimes you might see it change color.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know, you know, so. I know.

[Unknown Guest]

Well done.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Unknown Guest]

Well done tracking that down.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I was really happy and I thanked her and. And. And I was.

[Unknown Guest]

And it was so, like an hour of your time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Half hour. Okay. Half hour. I still had some chops. I could still do it. It's interesting because the. The Peter Millar piece, there's no Peter Millar crest on it. It just says on the sleeve.

[Unknown Guest]

Well, I assume these are made for their rubber cover.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It says Hex Paul on the sleeve, but it even says it. It's a blue shirt, and the Hex Paul is in another blue. You can't even see it. Subtle. You gotta. Yeah, it's beyond subtle. It's like, not. You can't see it. You gotta really. Look, those Hex ball people, they're not calling a lot of it. They don't have, like, bright colors. They don't have balloons or anything like that.

[Unknown Guest]

Waste management.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah. So I was really happy that that happened, and I. You know, I was grateful that I could find her and that I could thank her. And I think she was happy about that whole thing, too.

[Unknown Guest]

After she recovered from the initial shock of like, oh, who is this?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Who is this? Who's this loon on the phone?

[Unknown Guest]

It's the greatest stressor. Unknown number.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So happy about that. That's all I got, allegedly. We have Tim Legler. When we return, I hope. We have Tim Legler. We tried to get him the other day. His phone died. Yes.

[Unknown Guest]

I feel confident. We've exchanged texts. He will be there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So when we return, Tim Legler. I am Tony Kornheiser.

[Unknown Announcer]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the MD Hearing Reed. It feels like everything has gotten more expensive these days. And if you've been listening to the show, you know that the price of electricity has skyrocketed in my house lately. That's not the only thing that costs a lot these days. Have you ever tried to get a good hearing aid from a clinic? What? Their prices are crazy. I say, that's the only word I say in this house. What? I don't hear anything anymore.

[Unknown Guest]

You give me the stare and when I get that empty look, I go, I'm gonna have to repeat myself. But turn it up to 11.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Unknown Guest]

No.

[Unknown Announcer]

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

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the Boox read. Guys, Valentine's Day is not the Time to wing it. You need a solid game plan. Send foolproof flowers from the Boox Company and wow your Valentine and get 25% off your entire purchase. Books makes it simple. Choose the quickie bouque with the click of a button, get their best selling bouquet right on time for Valentine's Day. She'll brag about it for weeks. Pick from their collection of unique modern designs or go for their flower subscription. The number one husband life hack and be the hero every month. You really can't go wrong. Books aren't just any flowers. Their flowers are cut fresh from where they grow best. So you get bigger, brighter blooms that last longer. Some are even grown on the side of a volcano. Should be blown away by how stunning they are.

[Unknown Guest]

I wait for that line every year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Which?

[Unknown Guest]

The side of a volcano.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Unknown Guest]

Volcanic. Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You've had you like books and they.

[Unknown Guest]

Really do last for a long time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Not like the stuff you buy in the supermarket that's gone in the morning.

[Unknown Guest]

By the time you get home, it's down.

If you pay attention to the the ends of your flowers, give them a little. Give them a little trim every couple days.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they'll go on and on. Valentine's Day is February 14, right after the big game. So don't fumble the flowers. Get your order in now. Go to books.com. use the promo code Tony for 25 off. That's B O U books.com promo code Tony. Books promo code Tony. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This is a woman named Alethea Mills. This is sent to us by Mr. Granberry, who never misses.

[Unknown Guest]

No, he doesn't.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And who writes. Alethea Mills was born and grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where she attended George Washington Prepared Preparatory High School, which in her words we lovingly refer to as the Prep. There she met fellow student Siobhan Stewart, and through their school choir director, they met a man named Jackson Brown. They performed and recorded with Jackson in various configurations with their high school gospel choir, for one, as far back as the 2001 school year. But almost a decade later, during 2008 and 2009, Alethea and Siobhan became official members of Jackson's legendary band and have been ever since. Alethea and Shyvana brought so much to Jackson's music. In my opinion, they're two of the best background vocalists in the country. Both incredibly versatile. In Alethea's case. It is great to hear her add so much to some of my own favorite songs, such as Late for the sky, doctor My Eyes and the Dreamer, which Alethea and Siobhan enhance on stage by singing in Spanish beautifully and perfectly. And now Aletheia is emerging as a serious songwriter. And why not? After years of adding her own rich voice to the songs of a dual inductee in the Songwriters hall of Fame, in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, I came across her knockout ballad, if it's worth it, on YouTube. As you can see, she happily gives her permission for you to play it. In the email below, she's joined the song by Siobhan Stewart, who sings background, and Jeremy Jeffers, who plays piano. How good is she? How good is she? Better than us is the correct answer. She plays in Tim Legler. We're so happy to have Tim Weathers. Your phone died the other day, right? That's the backstory. Your phone died.

[Unknown Announcer]

It did. And my apologies, Tony. Yes, my phone died. It thought it was charging when I, when I laid my head on the pillow, his phone was not charging. The outlet wasn't working. So my phone, my phone went kaput. And I did not get my alarm to wake up or receive the call from you guys. So I apologize.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Perfectly okay, because we got you. Now, the thing that I had written down, of all the questions that I wrote down the other day, the first one is, were you ever, in your career, were you ever traded?

[Unknown Announcer]

I was traded once and it's one of the better trade stories you'll ever hear. I actually was traded from Washington at the end of a four year run there. And here's the best part. I was on a cruise ship with the season ticket holders because the Wizards did that at the end of the season every year, right? And they invited me four years in a row. And I mean, I held a basketball clinic on the thing. I was doing Q&As at cocktail receptions. And so now we're docked in Bermuda and we're about to sail back to New York and I'm standing outside of an elevator on this cruise ship and a Wizards fan woman in her 70s saw me and said, oh, I'm so sorry, you're my favorite player. And I said, well, I didn't die. What happened? And she said, well, oh, do you not know? And I said, well, my, you know something? I don't know. She was literally sitting in her room on the cruise ship watching ESPN and heard that I had been traded in a deal that included Ben Wallace. We went to Orlando for Isaac Austin. And it was a very awkward situation because now I had a two day Sail back with all these events planned with a bunch of season ticket holders for whom I was no longer part of the team. I ended up getting off the ship because I was kind of upset. I didn't hear from the team, and that's how I found out. And I ended up kind of finding my own way back, back to Washington. It wasn't the smartest decision in the moment, but I felt kind of awkward staying on the ship and continuing that. That trip when I wasn't no longer a member of the Wizards.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I had written down, what is it like psychologically to be traded? Did you like where you went? Did you hate where you went? So what was that like?

[Unknown Announcer]

I was devastated because, you know, my best. My best basketball was played in Washington, and it was. It was home. You know, I was born in D.C. i lived in Baltimore for 12 years growing up then Richmond, Virginia. That was home for me. That was the home team for my parents to watch the games. My family in Richmond, you know, that was part of their home cable package. So I was. I felt so home playing there and had such a great connection with the fans. And so when it happened to me, I was devastated. But it was. It was a weird situation. I got traded to Orlando, but they had. Doc Rivers was the head coach, and he had just gotten there, and they had like 20 something guys under contract after the trade, and they were all, you know, six, two guards. And so we knew pretty much that I wasn't going to be part of their plans. So I actually got bought out from Orlando. And then I went for the last year of my career. I went as a free agent and I signed with Golden State and to play for PJ Carlissimo. And that was already finished up. But he ended up getting fired around Christmas. So it was. And then I retired shortly thereafter. My knee was shot from the knee injury I had in 96. I never really recovered. I played like three more years, but psychologically, it was devastating. I can't imagine what this must have felt like for a guy like Luca Donna.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is exactly what I want to get to that like that there's a guy, it's impossible for him to have ever considered being traded, right?

[Unknown Announcer]

The shock level when he got that news, when he talks about. And he was very honest about his emotions and how difficult the first 24 hours was. And I think he was probably underselling it. And I'm imagining a guy walking around literally in a state of shock. Number one, guys of that caliber, that age don't get traded in this League, period. They don't get traded in any league.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No.

[Unknown Announcer]

It just doesn't happen. So. So for that. And you know, he's thinking, I'm going to be here hold my whole career. He's about to sign a massive extension over the summer. $350 million extension coming his way. And what he had done, he had established himself in the community, did all kinds of stuff. He had connected himself to charities in the community. He was. He was, by all accounts, at least by my account, I should say, I guess he's the most talented player to ever wear a uniform for the Dallas Mavericks franchise. And he's 25 years old and he's traded. And I can't imagine the level to which his head was spinning and probably still is. It's going to take a while for him to just wake up, head to the arena and feel normal again. That might not be for the rest of the season. Honestly, that might not be till next season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I would imagine Anthony Davis feels similarly, although he has been traded once before, but he wanted to be traded away from New Orleans. He lands in Los Angeles with LeBron James. They win the championship. Maybe it's discredited a little bit because it's the COVID bubble championship, but they win the championship. He could never have thought he was going to be traded also, right?

[Unknown Announcer]

No, never, never. But I will say he. He genuinely came off to me, for some reason, he came off a little bit more present in the moment, happier with. With the news. And like the video, a little video he posted when he was there with Max Christie. And they're on the plane, they were headed to Dallas. He seemed to be coping with it. Luca still, even the other night, Luca, in the first game, he sat on the bench for the Lakers. And it was so surreal watching him sit there cheering Lakers on. And at one point, it was him, Bronny and LeBron, the three of them sitting there, like in the same shot. And I'm he. If I had a thought bubble on him, I would love to know exactly what he was thinking as he was rubbing his chin and sort of staring off into space a little bit. Anthony Davis looked like mentally, he was a little bit more lucid and with it and like, okay, here we go. But what a difficult situation because there is outrage in the city of Dallas that is going to last not just this year. And I think that's no matter how much they win and sort of winning a championship, I don't think people are going to get over this anytime soon in Dallas. This was For a generation of fans, especially young fans in Dallas, this was their guy and he's no longer there anymore and you're the one replacing him. So this, this is going to be a difficult situation for them. Although they're still, I think Dallas a very good team, as obviously are the Lakers. This is going to be fascinating and as I said yesterday to somebody, if God loves basketball, we'll get Dallas Lakers in the playoffs at some point.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So this is initiated by the Dallas gm. I cannot fathom it. Now I'm one of those people. I was contrarian about this in the fact that I said, look, they've got Kyrie Irving. I may not want to go to dinner with him, but he's a championship point guard. He's got a ring. Doncic doesn't. And they just got Anthony Davis, who is a great two way player when he's healthy. They've got Klay Thompson. They could actually win the title this year. But having said that, I also said it's insane to have done this and this GM will be out of a job in three years. Do you agree with any of that?

[Unknown Announcer]

Here's, here's. Yes, Tony, you take us on point and I've been, I've been so vociferous about this since the trade. I'm just in a state of disbelief over the entire thing. This just doesn't happen. And I'll put it this way, here's what I've said. I think this can only go one of two ways. There is no in between. One way is Luca goes to L. A. You know, they don't win a championship in the next year and a half with LeBron, however long LeBron plays, for whatever reason, they just, they don't win a championship. And then of course they got Luka for the next iteration of the Lakers. They surrounded with players and then three more years go by and he doesn't win. And now he's 30 and he hasn't won and he's missing some games. And it's the same stuff we're talking about. He shows up to camp 10 pounds overweight, whatever it is that Dallas use and now he's 30 years old and he hasn't won. If that happens, if that plays out that way, then Nico Harrison in some way will be justified. I still don't think it's fully justified no matter what Dallas does, by the way, it doesn't matter. This is about Luka Doncic only. The entire trade is, is solely based on the arc of Lucas career going forward. That's where this is going to be judged. So if that happens, he's somewhat justified. Maybe he was right about Luca, but the other way it could go, Luca goes to L. A and wins. Whether it's right now with LeBron in the next two years or he wins the post LeBron era and he centered around him. If that happens no matter what the Mavericks do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Unknown Announcer]

Then this trade will go down. 50 years from now, we'll be talking about this trade is the worst trade in the history of the league.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Because he's 25 years old. He's got at least 10 years. And they, by the way, they just went out and did a terrific thing. They got Mark Williams. Now he doesn't play. He's just like Anthony Davis. He doesn't even play. Plays 40% of the time, but when he plays, he's going to help them. I don't. It's not that I think they're going to win this year, but by getting him, I think they have a chance. Right?

[Unknown Announcer]

Well, they definitely do this year. There's no doubt it's penalizing to think, think what this is going to look like. And I, by the way, I'm very blessed and fortunate that I'm going to be on the call one way or another. Whether he plays tomorrow or plays Monday night. I will be doing the. Doing the color analysis on that game for espn.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I'm very excited to tell you something. If I ran espn, I've said this on the air, I would rip up the schedule that they have given me and I would, I would say I want to do every single Laker game. That's all I want to do. Because that will be nothing but ratings, Tim. Right. Nothing but ratings.

[Unknown Announcer]

Yeah. No, no doubt about. Listen, obviously there's no secret, you know, the league probably secretly is happy about this, but networks, the networks certainly are because we love talking about the Lakers. Regardless, Matt talked a lot about the Lakers the last few years when they weren't really relevant. We find a way to talk about the Lakers all the time because they're an interesting topic and they've got this fan base that's all over the country now. You've taken it, taken that and put it on steroids, the interest in the Lakers. So you've got this tantalizing combination. We're all waiting to see what it looks like. It's not going to happen overnight. It's not easy. It's two ball dominant alpha players that don't especially. Luka doesn't really do a lot without the ball. So it's going to be interesting to see how this works out. But come on, anybody says they can't play together, these are two of the smartest players that have ever lived, two of those talented players that have ever lived, and two of the best passers that have ever lived. That, that to me spells success. Now, does it mean you win a championship? I don't know. Because number one, Oklahoma City is the best team right now. They're the best team not only in the west or the best team in the league right now. So I don't know that anybody's beating Oklahoma City Thunder this year. This isn't about it. This is about what were they betting on in Dallas. And they were betting against Luca, that's what this comes down to. And Luca. The Lakers were betting on Luca for the next decade and they got the guy to take them past LeBron and that's really what they were panicked about in L. A. They didn't know what the next version would look like after LeBron retired. Whenever that was going to be. He might shock everybody this summer and say he's walking away. He could. I doubt it. He had 42 points last night as a 40 year old. So I don't think that's going to happen. But they don't know. And now they've answered that question for the next decade. And the Mavericks, they did this banking against him and very short sighted view of the next three years, probably with Anthony Davis and Kyrie trying to win. It's unfathomable to me that they made this move. If nothing more comes out that there's something we don't know, and this is strictly. Hey, he doesn't really grind it out in the summers the way we'd like him to. Well, all I can tell you is fat Luka got you to a conference finals and a final by age 25. I wouldn't care, Tony, if he was backing a guy into the post and he had a Red Lobster Bibble and with butter sauce dripping off of it, I would give the guy the supermax.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's great. I'm glad you're going to broadcast the games. I got one other question and I don't know that we know the answer, but you played in the league. How do you think LeBron feels?

[Unknown Announcer]

That's a great question. And I honestly, I don't necessarily know. He's 100% thrilled about it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Like me too.

[Unknown Announcer]

This is great. Absolute bonus. I don't know that now. He might get there, Tony, because of Luca's talent. But I'll tell you that he is going to get frustrated with Luke on the defensive end of the floor. And LeBron has been very vocal praising Anthony Davis and saying that we don't have a shot to guard anybody without Anthony Davis back there. And what he does now, this is a totally different feeling. You know, just playing, basically. Listen, Luka Doncic is the type of guy that walks into the locker room in LA the first day and is basically like, okay, guys, this is my team now. Even though LeBron sitting there, that's just who Luca is. So that's a different feel for LeBron. I mean, for the first time in his entire life, it's really not about him. And I totally believe this. And this was. They don't even care. I shouldn't say they don't care. This isn't about trying to win right now with LeBron at all. I don't think that played into.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is about the future of the Lakers. This is going forward about the next.

[Unknown Announcer]

10 years for the Lakers. And so if. Look, if they win, it's gravy. Great. They get. They get to win for LeBron. If not, that's not a massive concern for them. And that's the first time in LeBron's life, literally life, since he touched a basketball. It's not about him on that team. And so that's a different feeling. I think that took a whole year for Damian Lillard to get used to in Milwaukee, where it's the first time in his life he had a player on his team that was better than him. And he. And that's why last year was kind of like rough sailing. They've been better this year. His chemistry with Giannis, it takes time for guys on that level. This is an adjustment for LeBron. Let's see. But I'm not going to sit here and say he was absolutely thrilled about it, but I think he could get there in the moment if this clicks and you have two guys on the court that are so dominant in their ability to control defenses that there's not an answer for them. So that's. We have to wait and see. I wish I could give you a more definitive answer how LeBron feels. I think that's going to take 10 to 15 games for him to really kind of figure out, okay, what does this look like ultimately for them? And I'll be as fascinated as anybody.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think in his honest moments, he says to himself, wait, you did this to me. Well, you brought this guy in. You did this to Me, I'm Robin. I'm not Batman anymore. I'm not Batman.

[Unknown Announcer]

I've often said about these players, Tony, like, the best. The best sound you could get is if they're inside of their cars, had, like, a sound recording device. You could really hear them when they're driving home from the arena. Like, I said that about. About Steph Curry after some of the Draymond Green stuff over the years. Like, no, the best sound is what's he saying to his wife on the way home from the games? Like, that's. That's what I want to know. Not the constant public support of Draymond all the time and all the stuff that was going on there. I kind of feel the same way here. I'd like to have that wired so I can totally agree what LeBron thinks, really thinks. Listen, listen, he's going to go out there. I don't know. They're winning with Anthony Davis this year. I don't think they were. I already said Oklahoma City is the best team. But listen, you've taken. You've taken. You've taken an uptick in overall talent because of who you've added. So if this clicks, it works, and they figure out a way to protect themselves defensively, this clicks, then the upside is higher for the Lakers this year and next year and however long LeBron plays, and certainly it is for the next seven to 10 years after LeBron leaves. And that's really what this is about. And that's why, like I said, even if Dallas won a championship this year, it wouldn't validate this trade, because you might have done that with Luca, too. And you just gutted your fan base by trading him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, well, you. He'll be asking Rob Pelinka for a job in two years, is my opinion. Thank you, Tim. Enjoy covering the games and broadcasting. Thanks, Tim.

[Unknown Announcer]

Will do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thanks, Tim Legler, boys and girls. That was great. Was worth. Totally worth waiting. Just wonderful. We'll take a break. Carville and Ma. We think. We hope. We know we got Ma. Carville. We don't know. I'm Tony Kornheiser. Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet? Yeah, sold it to Carvana. Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy. The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months. Yeah, no. Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient. Just like that. Yep. No hassle. None.

[Unknown Guest]

That is super convenient.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sell your car to Carvana and swap. Hassle for convenience. Pick up. These may apply. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. The Tony Kornheiser Show Super Bowl 59 One game, two teams, endless possibilities. And there's no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. Whether you're predicting the first touchdown, who'll take home the MVP trophy or the coin to us, FanDuel makes it easy to place your bets and feel the thrill of every moment. With live betting all game long, you can jump into the action, adjust your bets and ride the wave of excitement from kickoff to the final whistle. Plus, to make the super bowl even sweeter, new customers can score 200 bucks when you make your first bet. Just place a $5 bet and if you win, you'll get 200 in bonus bets. Download the app or head to FanDuel.com Tony K bet with FanDuel official partner of Super Bowl 59 must be 21.

[Unknown Announcer]

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You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show the Tony Kornheiser show well, you wake.

[James Carville]

Up in the morning, boy you Hear.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The ding dong ring.

[James Carville]

Then you look upon the table bar, you see the same darn thing. You find no food upon the table bar. There's no fork up in the pan. But you better not complain.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Boy you get in trouble with the man.

[James Carville]

And the midnight special.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The walk up music for James Carville. This week's picks with James Carville and Jeff Ma Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. James is 61 and 57. He's had a winning season again, not as great as last year, but his last five or six weeks were just fabulous. Are you hosting super bowl parties in New Orleans? Are you hosting Chuck Todd or anything like that?

[Jeff Ma]

I'll be attending a bunch, you know, and I'll have a little bit thing up balcony right by the Superdome. So I'll probably do something and I'm going, I'll see everybody at Jonathan and Betsy Martin's holiday party. And there's the Google party at Delacroix and the Axios party and I don't know dc, I don't know what it all I've got to get there and figure out what I'm doing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. I just want you to know, by the way, that Alex Smith, who was such a good quarterback in the NFL, Alex was on PTI yesterday and he listens to this podcast occasionally and he wants to meet you. He idolizes you. So if you get a chance. Oh, that's great. All right, so you're, you're over. You won. You won this year. You don't even have to bet. You're gonna bet. Tell me what you're gonna bet.

[Jeff Ma]

We stand on the precipice. We can do no other. It's not us who is not now when take this down because we're not backing off. Plus five. Philadelphia, first half line.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Philadelphia in the first half. Plus five.

[Jeff Ma]

Plus five.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

Kansas City under 117.5 yards rushing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is that in the game or the first half?

[Jeff Ma]

That's the game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Jeff Ma]

Philadelphia over 23.5. Total points scored.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

And take Philadelphia in a point and a half. Prosperity looms right over the horizon.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Philadelphia plus one and a half over Kansas City.

[Jeff Ma]

Correct.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Four different bets.

[Jeff Ma]

Five per tab.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Okay. So we're good.

[Unknown Announcer]

All right.

[Jeff Ma]

We're going in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right. Because you, yeah, you, you're. You're putting yourself in a little bit of jeopardy there. 500. Yeah. This Ted Williams on the last day of the season looking to go six for eight and bat 406.

[Jeff Ma]

All right, there we Go.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, thanks. Okay, enjoy. We'll talk. Thanks, James.

[Jeff Ma]

You bet.

[Tony Kornheiser]

James Carville. It's so hard to understand what he says to begin with. And then when his phone is muffled, it literally becomes impossible. I don't understand. The first bet plus five, Philadelphia in the first half. So they'd be ahead, he's saying. Right.

[Unknown Guest]

They get five points.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So if they're.

[Unknown Guest]

If they're within five points at the end of the first half, then he'd win that bet. Okay, so it's like 14, 10 or something like that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that's James Carville. And we will come right back seamlessly with Jeff Ma. Here he is. Jeff Ma joins us now. And Jeff, because of his position with Troon Golf, right, Michael? It's true.

[Jeff Ma]

Golf.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jeff has become America's guest at every golf tournament in the world. And so earlier this week, you were at the Waste Management, right, In Arizona. Did you go to that?

[James Carville]

Yeah, we did. The company that I work for, Troon, we're headquartered out in Scottsdale. So, you know, we had, you know, a lot of hospitality out there. We had clients out there. And I went up to the celebrity pro am or the Pro am for a little while. I mean, if you've never been in this tournament, it's. It's insane. It's just unlike any other golf tournament there is out there with the way that the stands are. And, you know, this is a Wednesday Pro am and it was passed and people were walking and following, trying to see Aaron Rodgers, trying to see pro golfers, trying to see Larry Fitzgerald. We also had an event Troon did on Tuesday night at a course called Grass Clippings, which is a lighted par three. And we did our own version of a member guest there, which started at 7pm and ended at 11pm One of the members made a hole in one on 173 yard hole, par three and won $10,000. So it was a good event.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's good. But I mean, the Waste Management is known for the par three where everybody gets drunk as a rat and booze people and cheers people. And it actually saw Jeff. It was out of control. Last year it was out of control. I mean, even the people running the tournament said this is out of control. I'm just. Are you going to go back for the weekend to see that?

[James Carville]

No, I headed back to San Francisco. But yes, it's hole 16. There's a whole basically stadium.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

Built around hole 16. And last year the problem was the weather was so bad that all people did was sit around and drink so it got pretty bad. But, yeah, I think what Harry Higgs or whatever had that hole in one where he lifted his shirt. Yeah, part of the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

So it's iconic. And I do. It's a bucket list thing. I would tell all the little. That it's an event you should go to once.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, let's get to the betting and then let me do a little prelude here by saying that Jeff was 54, 57 and 1. If he does a lot of prop bets, he can get to 500. We don't relegate people. This isn't British soccer, and we love you, but it wasn't a great year. Do you have a particular explanation for this?

[James Carville]

I mean, It's. Yeah, it's 111 or 111 games. Under 500 by three games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

You know, there's probably 10 to 15 games there that could have gone either way. At least maybe 20 to 30. So, you know, I'd say just variance and luck. And, you know, I don't. I mean, it is. It's hard to bet these big public markets. You know, we have this guy, Judith Fort Gang, on this week, who's basically doesn't. He's one of. He's a very successful professional. Better. But he doesn't bet any of the, you know, spreads or totals because those markets are incredibly efficient. He makes all his money with prop bets. Really? Yeah, Yeah. I mean, that's. That's where a lot of the value can come in here. He's the guy that does these same game parlays and kind of exploits because the sports books. Because he can understand how these bets should be correlated better than the sports books do. And so he makes a lot of money that way. And it's in a way that they don't fear because they think like most people betting those are losing money.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, tell us what you're gonna do at the Super Bowl.

[James Carville]

Yes, I'm. I'm gonna bet a fair amount of prop bets. And if you guys let me get away with not betting, betting the. The actual game, that I would do that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But we will.

[James Carville]

One of the actual. One of the actual bets I like a lot is obviously very correlated with who wins the game. But I like it. I like this in a way, to bet Jalen hurts to win the MVP at around +370, which means for $100 you would win 370. If that happens, it's, you know, when a team wins, the quarterback, more often than not of that team is going to be the. So you Very seldomly see this big of a disparity. Usually it's pretty close to what the money line is. And the reason this is, is because he's not seen, you know, like Barkley has good odds and other people like receivers. But like, you know, this is a situation where I think if they win, it's going to be because he plays well. I think that, you know, he, he does actually line up well with this defense because they play a reasonable amount of man to man. I think A.J. brown is going to have a pretty good game. So like you can look at some, some overs with A.J. brown's totals. But I think if the Eagles win this game, it is highly likely that Hurts will be the MVP. So I like him at plus 370 there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, what else?

[James Carville]

I'm going to take Isaiah Pacheco to rush for over 22 yards. Essentially Pacheco's kind of gotten buried. You know, Hunt is getting more of the share right now. You know, the rushing projections on Hunt versus Pacheco are. I think Hunt's in the 40s and Pacheco's in the 2000s. And if you'd gone into this season and someone had told you that was going to be the case, you'd be very surprised. So I think this is one where Pacheco has it earlier, that has it early. They may ride him and he may get more of a share. So I like the idea of him rushing for over 22 yards.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You only need one big run. I mean it's really, that's. You need one big run, that's all. So. Okay, all right, what else?

[James Carville]

I'm going to take Jalen Hurts to go over 214 and a half passing yards. Similar logic again, I think, you know, there, there is one of the things that this game is very interesting is it's, it's very game state oriented. Meaning the Eagles this year, their numbers are highly impacted by the fact they've basically never been losing. So they've always been playing in these positive game states that have allowed them to run a lot and they've never had to have Jalen Hurts do much. I think this game may be different for them in that they are going to need Hurts to do more or they may come out and try to get up with Hurts passing. So I expect that Jalen will have a good game here and will go over the 214 and a half passing yards.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, go ahead.

[James Carville]

I am going to take this. And this is the Rufus special. Patrick Mahomes to have under 31 and a half rushing yards. So that's a very contrarian pick. Everyone says, oh, in the playoffs, Mahomes runs a lot more. That's what, that's what you want. That's what he does. That's one of the reasons he's so effective. But you know, the market is priced much higher than it should be. And what's interesting is, I don't know if you know this, Tony, but at the end of a game, if Mahomes is winning and he takes a knee, those count as negative, negative yards.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're negative yards. I do. Yeah, I know that. Yeah.

[James Carville]

So that's another way you can win this bet is if the Chiefs happen to be winning and he has to take the negative rushing yards. And then I'll do, I'll do one more, which is Saquon. To have under 22 and a half rushing attempts. It's just a really big number for a Super bowl, you know, to get, for him to get to that number. I mean, he obviously has gotten there and that's why this number is so high. But I do think it's pretty inflated. So I would take the under there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

22. That's the number for rushing attempts.

[James Carville]

Two and a half. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How often during the year has he done that? How often has he been over that?

[James Carville]

Well, I mean these things are priced based on averages and median. I don't know the numbers themselves, but again, this is one that, that Rufus lights on bet the process. We did like a props contest this week where we each spent a mythical thousand dollars against each other and the losers will have to donate to the winners charity of choice.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. All right. So you got five prop bets. Just out of curiosity, it is now down to one. Kansas City minus one. I'm not making you bet it, but who would you bet?

[James Carville]

Well, so I have the Chief at 4 to 1 to win it. So my thought process, and when I, when this game opened, it opened Chiefs even, actually. And then it moved to two almost right away. Chiefs minus two. And I even. I, you know, I still, I think would bet the Chief. I think that's that, that's the side that I would bet. I mean, you, you can put me down for an official pick on it, it's fine. But again, like the, you know, if you look at the way I bet, I probably cannot win both the Chiefs bet and the Jalen Hurts MVP bet. That's not likely to happen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[James Carville]

So we would call that in some respects a hedge where, you know, the Chiefs are almost a hedge against Jalen hurts winning. And if Jalen hurts winning, wins. And, you know, I lose that chiefs bet and, you know, end up plus, you know, three. Almost. Almost three units, as James Carville would say.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I wonder what Carville is going to say. The line. What kind of line you got? Got five. You got five. Got five and a half. I don't, you know, who knows, who knows what he's going to do? All right, thank you, Jeff, and good luck. And, Jeff, thanks for being with us all the time this year. Thank you very much.

[James Carville]

Yeah. And, you know, I had one other thing. You guys were talking about these short names, and I know that we've, you know, done like this great tribute to my dad.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right?

[James Carville]

My dad's name was Ed Ma. That's four letters.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Four letters. That's. That's a winner. That's got to be tied for a winner. Unless he went by just his first initial and then to be ima. That would be great. That's great.

[James Carville]

Not a professional athlete, but a short name nonetheless.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Very good. Thank you, Jeff.

[James Carville]

All right, bye, guys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jeff Ma. Boys and girls, this week's picks with James Carville and Jeff Ma have been brought to you by fanduel sportsbook. Make every moment more and we will come back with email and jingle and I am Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. This is the cars for kids. Ready? Selling a car privately can be a real headache. Endless negotiations, tire kickers, paperwork hassles. There's a better way to get your unused car off your hands for 30 years. Cars for kids. I keep thinking the song is going to start playing. Has perfected the car donation process to make it truly effortless. They'll take your car in any condition, running or not.

[Unknown Guest]

There is a way to remember the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Number and turn it into funds for kids in need plus a tax deduction for you. It takes just two minutes on the phone or at cars4kids.org.org Tony to donate and they will take over from there, getting your car picked up as soon as the next day. No haggling, no schedule conflicts, no paperwork nightmares. You receive a vacation voucher and maximum tax deduction while supporting proven programs that help children reach their full potential. With over a million successful donations over three decades, Cars4Kids continues to be a trusted partner for car donors across the country. Again, it's free, convenient and easy. Freeing up your driveway while making a difference for the next generation. Call now, 1-877-kars4kids. That's K A R S Cars for Kids, the number 4kids or donate online at Cars4Kids. That's with the number 4carsforkids.org Tony Donate your car today. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. Here comes Tony's Tony's Mailbag. He got your emails, faxes and your notes. He's gonna read some mail. For all that is Tom Goddard, who can hit these notes as opposed to Tom Masser when he sings, who misses these notes. We're happy to have both Toms. You want to do the Bethesda Bagel ad?

[Unknown Guest]

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

[Tony Kornheiser]

Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say Saturday night I was downtown working for the Fish sit in a nest of bad men, whiskey bottles piling high bootlegging boozer on the west side full of people who are doing wrong Just about to call the DA man when I heard this woman singing a song a pair of 45s made me open my eyes My temperature started to rise. She was a long cool woman in a black dress. That's one of the great tunes ever that the Hollies have done. That's one of the great tunes. Our thanks to Tim Legler, James Carville, Jeff Ma. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or to see if you get the show through through Apple. Please leave us a review from our friend Brendan Borzelli in Lebanon, New Jersey. All along you assume the moths, the mice, the squirrels, and the rising utility costs are originating from somewhere on your property. The attic, the backyard, a leak in the pipes, the trash compactor, and countless other trouble spots. Tony, the issue is the staging ground, the little house. As we speak, the mice are over there aiming themselves for the next assault while the squirrels rest up for the springtime surge. The moths are rebuilding their ranks while a mole of some kind is siphoning electricity, water, gas to keep their house warm, the Army Fed, all while watching the Grammys and the Pro bowl from Mike Tam in Monte Vista, Colorado. If the mice are in the walls with the wires, could they be delivering the electricity? Are you literally trying to eliminate the middleman? From Patrick Vincenzio, Laurel, Maryland Mice, moths and rabbits. How's Ingleside looking now? Sort of funny. Carla Corrado Columbus, Ohio A typical Day in the Life script inspired by Greg Garcia Scene Bethesda Vision Care Actor Larry David as Mr. Tony did you see me waiting in my car? Unfairly confronted Nearsighted man entering the eyeglass store, played by Raju, narrated. He screams, you don't have to be so rude. A fight ensues an hour later. CVS Pharmacy actor Jason Alexander as Mr. Tony Listen up, listen up. You sold me White Crest toothpaste without a warning label. I demand my money back. Or a blue tinted toothpaste as replacement store clerks played by Don McLean and Barry Manilow croon, you don't have to be so rude. Another fight ensues. The end. Very good, Tom. Ronan Goddard, who's an integral psychologist who.

[Unknown Guest]

Writes we just did our mailbag theme. Oh, that's him, that's him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, oh yeah.

[Unknown Guest]

I think he had some choice words for me at the start of the email.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Fantastic says as a devoted little who's wondering where Nigel lost my bluesy rendition of the mailbag theme again? Oh, I find myself compelled to address a grievous misrepresentation from the February 5th show. Sure, I was tempted to weigh in on the misuse of the word crisis in connection with toothpaste that is no longer the color it used to be. But Nigel's comparison of late merging in traffic to line cutting has left me in a state of profound indignation. Late merging, or the zipper merge, is not the reckless behavior of societal misfits, but a scientifically backed method to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. Studies have shown that the zipper merge can reduce traffic backups by as much as 50% in areas with lane reductions. By utilizing both lanes fully until the point of merge and then taking turns, drivers can minimize the length of traffic queues, prevent unnecessary congestion, and reduce speed differences between the lanes, thereby decreasing the risk of accidents. So Nigel, before you cast aspersions on the noble late mergers of the world by equating the late merging driver as comparable to the horrific line cutter, consider the science and the benefits to society embracing the zipper merges and just courteous. It's the key to a more efficient and harmonious driving experience and ultimately to world peace. Yours in righteous rest indignation, Rona Rocky Jersey City Rocky Rack of Dear Michael, during the eyeglass story you said I need two pair. I thought to myself, wait a minute, I know that line. That's a bar from Nelly's 2002 rap track Air Force One.

[Unknown Guest]

That is correct.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Here's to Middle Aged Guy Radio and to the rest of you, a hearty Shamalama Ding Dong.

[Unknown Guest]

And on Sirius, you can find me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

At pop2k from Tom Targonsky, Sioux City, Iowa. Peanut butter sandwich. Girl Scout cookies are the best. Girl Scout cookies. That's it. That's the list. I'm not sure you will partake, though, as they set you back $6 a box nowadays. No, I haven't had Girl scout cookies in 50 years. Been a while. Yeah, it's been a long time. And from Michael Granbury. With the super bowl fast approaching, I wanted to share with my favorite podcast my very own romance story involving the woman to whom I'm related by marriage 35 years as of Tuesday, the Super bowl, and yes, even the Washington football team, which I have spent most of my life rooting against. I'm a Cowboy fan, as hard as that is to admit these days. So here's the deal. My very first date with my future bride happened at the Super Bowl. Hey, I thought I'd impress her. But. But suffice to say that Nancy is not exactly the world's biggest football fan. On January 31, 1988, I picked her up from the San Diego airport. She had flown back after seeing her family. I couldn't wait to surprise her. Where are we going? She said, to which I replied excitedly, the Super Bowl. To which she responded, the Super Bowl? Is that here? Well, yes. Who are the Chargers playing? She said. When I answered, no, it's Denver and Washington. She looked confused, even annoyed, saying with a sneer, don't they have their own stadiums? Well, yes, but the NFL is different. As kickoff approached, she hated the ritual of fighter jets screaming shock and awe style above our heads. I did not like that one bit. She yelped, the cacophonous roar still ringing in our ears. Hey, our tax dollars at work. But then a new kind of drama unfolded. The dreaded Washington team, again I'm a Cowboy fan, scored no fewer than 35 points in the second quarter alone to demolish Denver. And by the end of the game, I had somehow become, albeit fleetingly, a Washington fan only because I knew I had the privilege of being a direct eyewitness to one of the greatest moments in super bowl history. And yet, of course, something far more accompanied the Burgundy and Gold's big day. In addition to having been married for 35 years, Nancy and I went on to create three great boys, two of whom will have fathered our first grandkids by summer's end. Oh, yeah, one more cool thing about super bowl week in San Diego 37 years ago, which I remember well. I remember that super bowl the night before the game My editors at the LA Times sent me to a media party to gather a few quotes for a feature story, and there I got to meet, and I know we won't remember this, one of my journalistic heroes chap by the name of Tony Kornheiser. I don't remember it, but I'm thrilled to think that you thought my work was good. Connective tissue from Neil Ayervase in Littleton, Colorado. I have a feeling that Tony's tale about being fired from his high school job for conveyor surfing will prompt a flood of similar stories from Littles. In an attempt to avoid the i95 bottleneck, I'll offer my checkered employment history. I started by being canned from a high school job in the kitchen of a bowling alley lobster restaurant for wasting water by getting the dirty dishes too clean and putting the hot bread plates where the waitress put cold butter, which immediately melted all over the server. My first college job was spraying herbicide or herbicide on the shoulders of rural roads. My employer apparently displeased when I informed the local paper the spray contained compound. The next summer, when I was a tour guide in a winery, some of the guides took splits of champagne off the assembly line, kept them cool in the toilet tank, and had an after work party. The winery didn't buy our story that we had to sample a product to be better informed as guides. Now I just smile when my clients ask for employment advice to deal with troublesome employees. Patrick Sitter Sioux Falls, South Dakota Art Spiegelman was the weirdest of them all. Excuse me, who went for a ride on a retail store conveyor belt? And you wonder why you aren't member of grass Clinton, Richmond Hill, Ontario 1877-cars for kids has nothing on Nigel's going to the zoo. Zoo, zoo. That's it. That's the email cards for Matt and Evanston. Not Matt Abbott ball Matt Morris. Thanks so much for the recommendation on the running store in Evanston. I moved up to Chicagoland from Atlanta a year and a half ago, but I'm still getting to know the area. My apartment is in South Evanston, about a mile from the Chicago city limits and, per a quick Google Maps search, a mere 1.8 miles away from Commonwealth Running Company. I could almost walk there if only I had the right shoes. From Rob Lowe. Not that Rob Lowe from North Royalton, Ohio. Mousetraps, toothpaste, and a monkey. Just a typical Wednesday show. And from Alex Lau in New York City on Wednesday show, Michael asked you if you'd ever worked at a Dairy barn growing up. And you said you hadn't. If that's an itch you're looking to scratch, look no further than my hometown of Huntington on Long island, where one of the few remaining dairy barns still stands. You can rent out my old room and make the 10 minute drive every day. Right, right, left, right, left. As far as I know, my childhood home doesn't have any mice problems, but I'm not sure what the electricity prices are.

[Unknown Guest]

Yeah, Huntington's a little fancy for you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Huntington is fancy. I was Lynbrook, remember? Not Hewlett, Not Hewlett harbor, not Woodmere. Lynbrook. If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white.

[Unknown Announcer]

Let me ask you this. If you're gonna put him on a football team, which would be your wide receiver, which would be your tight end, who can go the farthest, the fastest?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I. I don't know any dogs that play football.

[Unknown Announcer]

I'm having some fun with you here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's dead. It's too.

[H]

I've gotten it wrong so many times in my life. Thought that we were one of the things I got right. I shouldn't be crying, losing sleep at night over you? You're saying one thing, but I. I don't know. Cause you hurt me and I was so vulnerable? Baby, I got one foot out the door. But if it's worth it, you will find. If we're worth it, you will fight. If I'm worth it, you will fight. If it's worth it, you will fight with all your mind?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah?

[H]

Trying real hard to see past what you've done. Don't wanna be wondering if I'm the only one. Cause baby, I thought I was enough for you. Let me walk away if it's gonna be like this. Cause I won't have the strength to do this again. If you don't want this, there's no point in me being here. Oh, but if it's worth it, you will find. Worth it to you? If I'm worth it, you will find. If I mean anything to you Will find? You will find. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you say that you care and you say that you're here. I want to believe you but why should I believe you? And if we. We really want this? I'm really gonna need you. Cause I can't do it without you. I need to know if you're worth it really here, baby, don't just tell me what I wanna hear. Fight. Come if you will then I will. So since we're worth it we should fight Cause we're worth it we should find I believe we're worth it so let's find light it won't be easy all the time but let's fire with all our mind.