“Open up the Barn”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show — “Open Up the Barn”

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the emotional letdown following the close of the Nationals’ baseball season and explores the current state of DC sports fandom. Tony Kornheiser, with his regular guests Michael Wilbon and Nigel, unpacks the action from the first games of the MLB playoffs, reflects on the Nationals' season, and the looming offseason. The show features in-depth segments with Chuck Todd (with his weekly NFL picks, joined by Reginald the Monkey) and Dan Kolko, who offers insight on the Nationals and broader MLB postseason. The episode maintains Tony’s trademark candid, sardonic tone, with the freewheeling blend of sports, local commentary, nostalgia, and sharp asides that fans expect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The End of the Nationals’ Season and DC Sports Desolation

• Tony’s mood: Expresses a profound sense of loss now that the Nats' season is over, as baseball has been his six-month companion.
  • “It gets me through six months. And now it's six months away and I have nothing.” (02:13, Tony)
• DC Sports Landscape:
  • Tony laments the poor state of DC teams: The Wizards (“awful...shouldn't be allowed to charge any money”), never felt an affiliation for hockey/Caps, and finds little to look forward to in winter.
  • Wilbon interjects, finding value in watching playoffs without expectations, allowing for new narratives.

2. Analyzing MLB Playoffs: Drama and Dominance

• Admiration for Pitching & Defense: The hosts dissect the opening wildcard games, focusing on exceptional pitching and missed situational opportunities.
  • Tony details how games hinged on pitching, with few runs scored—except the Dodgers blowout (“a laugher for Los Angeles over Cincinnati”).
• Failures in Execution:
  • Tony: “In a one run game, have a man on third, nobody out, and not score...as a team, you cannot.” (08:13)
  • Yankee-Red Sox rivalry is highlighted as unpredictable, emphasizing their storied and intense history.
• Home/Away Dynamics & Series Predictions:
  • Tony notes two home teams and two road teams won, questioning what that means.
  • Predicts Dodgers to cruise, anticipates Detroit/Cleveland and Yankees/Red Sox could go to decisive games.

3. Remembering Baseball Legends & Broadcasting

• Pedro Martinez Revered:
  • Discusses his record and competitive fire (“Bob Ryan believes that he is the smartest athlete he ever covered...you ought also to revere his record.” 13:22).
• Bob Carpenter's Farewell:
  • Dan Kolko shares a poignant story about Carpenter’s sendoff, the emotional impact of players acknowledging his years as the Nationals’ voice, and reflects on the unique bond broadcasters have with teams (42:30).

4. The Football Picks Segment: Chuck Todd & Reginald the Monkey

Chuck Todd’s Insights & Banter

• Last Week’s Football Rollercoaster: Chuck describes a tie in Packers-Cowboys as feeling like a loss, lamenting coaching blunders and defensive lapses.
  • “The Cowboys are the number one offense in the league...they have the worst defense in the league. That is extraordinary.” (20:38, Tony)
• NFL Picks & Matchups Explored
  • Engaging breakdowns of key games: 49ers/Rams (injuries, rivalry), Cowboys/Jets (offensive woes), Eagles/Broncos, Bucs/Seahawks, Chargers/Commanders, Patriots/Bills, Chiefs/Jaguars.
  • Memorable quote:
    • Breeze Hall’s self-deprecating Jets assessment: “Other teams shoot themselves in the foot, and then we shoot ourselves in the head.” (25:02, quoted by Tony)
• College Football Angle:
  • Chuck discusses the high stakes of Florida State-Miami and the perils of playing desperate teams (#33:09).

Reginald the Monkey — Theatrical Touch

• Entertaining summary of Reginald’s picks, plus anecdotes of his fictional off-Broadway "King and I" production.
  • Reginald’s picks include Rams, Tampa Bay, and Chargers, justified through whimsical stories.

5. Nationals’ Offseason and Front Office Changes

• New Nats President (Paul Taboni):
  • Kolko paints Taboni as a rare combination of analytics + scouting—a “smart hire” widely praised in MLB circles. At only 35, he's risen fast, credited for modernizing Boston’s draft process.
• Transition After Rizzo & Martinez:
  • Kolko notes the emotional weight for staff and broadcasters following the end of an era, but recognizes the need for new voices after disappointing recent results. (“Results-oriented business... lately for the Nationals, the results have not been good enough.” 47:14)

6. Playoffs & World Series Outlook

• Kolko’s Postseason Favorites:
  • Praises Phillies’ depth despite injuries, questions Dodgers’ bullpen, calls Mariners and Brewers potential dark horses (“the Brewers...just play a clean, aggressive, sound brand of baseball” 50:08).
• Hitting Difficulties in Key Moments:
  • Discusses a trend of teams failing to get runners home from third with less than two outs, attributing it to both overpowering pitching and weaker contact skills today.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the desolation of offseason:
  • “The desolation of winter... it was very irksome to me because I didn't have the Nats.” (03:15, Tony)
• On team planning timelines:
  • “Their general manager is running this incredible scam where he says it's gonna take ten years. Ten years?” (03:15, Tony)
• Chuck Todd, on Packers’ coaching mishaps:
  • “They don’t know the rules to the kickoff...That’s coaching.” (19:34)
• NFL comic relief (Jets):
  • “Other teams shoot themselves in the foot, and then we shoot ourselves in the head.” (25:02, Tony quoting Breeze Hall)
• Tony & Chuck riff on Jacksonville:
  • “Cornhizer is a bag of snakes.” (31:10, referencing the infamously unfriendly sign in Jacksonville)
• Kolko on the broadcaster’s grind:
  • “You don’t rise that quickly in a quality organization like the Red Sox if people don’t think very highly of you.” (41:22, on Taboni)
• On play-by-play careers:
  • “If you tell 12 year old me that I would be doing this for a living, I would just absolutely light up…” (45:32, Kolko)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Nats season closure & local DC sports talk: 02:15–05:00
• Playoff pitching/depth analysis: 06:26–12:59
• Red Sox/Yankees rivalry history: 12:31–13:26
• Chuck Todd NFL picks (main segment): 18:29–33:37
  • Jets’ woes & quote: 25:01
  • NFL/college football crossover: 32:05–33:34
• Reginald the Monkey’s picks & comedic break: 34:07–36:58
• Dan Kolko on Nationals offseason & Paul Taboni interview: 38:24–52:56
  • Bob Carpenter tribute: 42:30
  • Kolko career reflections: 45:32
  • Playoff pitcher dominance/World Series discussion: 49:41–51:43
• Closing jingle and mailbag open: 53:04 onward

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Overall Tone & Style

Tony Kornheiser’s signature blend of nostalgia, snark, and sincerity is on full display, with interludes of humor (Reginald, bantering insults), frank assessment of local teams, and deep appreciation for the rhythms of baseball and sports broadcasting. The show moves briskly from granular baseball talk to NFL breakdowns, never shying from strong opinions. Both guests, Chuck Todd and Dan Kolko, bring nuance and personality; Kolko’s behind-the-scenes anecdotes and empathy for the broadcaster’s journey stand out.

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Conclusion

This episode is a classic example of the Tony Kornheiser Show’s enduring appeal: sharp sports talk filtered through personal experience and veteran insight, with enough storytelling and personality to engage even the casual listener. Whether you’re a DC sports diehard or following the national sports scene, the blend of melancholy (offseason blues), wit, nostalgia, and playful irreverence makes this a rich and timely listen.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll get football picks from Chuck Todd and Reginald the Monkey. We'll talk with Dan Kolko about the first games of the playoffs and what's going on with the Nats now that the off season has begun. But first, commerce. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. This show's sponsored by Liquid iv. I love when fall arrives, mostly because that means football's back. But that shift from summer's easygoing pace to the high gear of fall can hit you like a ton of bricks. After months of a relaxed schedule, suddenly it's back to back work days and packed weekends. It can definitely wear you down. And when you feel your energy dip, you need something to help push through that. And that's where Liquid IV's new energy multiplier, sugar free hydrating energy, comes in. It's hydrating energy made with electrolytes, vitamins and natural caffeine. Zero sugar, zero crash. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. It's powered by LIV Hydro Science, which is an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. Plus, it's got a 2 to 1 ratio of L theanine to caffeine, which gives balanced energy without the jitters. Liquid IV has so many great flavors, like strawberry, kiwi and BlackBerry lemonade, just to name a couple. Liquid IV keeps it easy. Just tear, pour, shake, and you're good to go. Perfect for workouts, afternoon slumps, or anytime you need to feel focused and ready to. Don't let the grind drain you. Ditch the glitch with zero sugar and zero crash from Liquid IV. Tear, pour live more. Go to liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first order with the code Tony K at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with the code [e-mail] Use the code, people. Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show. They ought to do what soccer teams do. Go after somebody from a different country. Go after one of the Euro Captains, go after McGinley. Go after somebody like that who knows how to win, right? It would be amazing.

[Dan Kolko]

I definitely thought about that soccer comparison. I mean, there's no national boundaries when it comes to, you know, international soccer coaches. That would be a wild, wild, wild.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Way for the Americans to go about it.

[Dan Kolko]

But if you, if you think about.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Go to Luke Donald. Say you live in Chicago, for God's sakes. This is General George Washington and you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. So I made some notes the other day because I got very sad on Sunday when the Nats season was over because I watch, you know, I don't watch west coast games, but I watch parts of almost every game and it gets me through six months. And now it's six months away and I have nothing. I mean, I'm gonna watch sports because it's what I do, but I have no affiliation.

[Michael Wilbon]

So I see the other side of this. I find there's something frustrating about being able to watch the month of playoffs with zero expectations and just letting your heart fall into a good story.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'll give you all of that. But then after that, I have nothing. So, you know, I'm not a hockey guy. By the way, hockey sunsets next Tuesday. Next Tuesday, October 8th, is opening night of the NHL Open up the Barn. I'm just stunned at that. So. And, and I'm not. You know, I appreciate Alexander Ovechkin, I appreciate the Caps, but I've never been a hockey guy. The Wizards are awful. They're just awful. They shouldn't be allowed to charge any money for people who wanna go see them. They're that bad. And their general manager is running this incredible scam where he says it's gonna take 10 years. 10 years? 10 years.

[Nigel]

The 10 year plan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

10 years. What are you talking about?

[Michael Wilbon]

Isn't that the fastest sport to turn around?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just unbelievably how he gets away with this, how the owner lets him with this.

[Michael Wilbon]

But to be fair, they gave every DCPS kid a basketball last year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's lovely. That's lovely. They got nine guys named Bub Carrington. They got. It doesn't matter who their first round pick is or second round pick, if there is a third round pick. There isn't, but it doesn't matter. They all, they all, all of them seem to get 20 minutes a game as they make no progress. You know, and so I wanted to just talk about this and how it, you know, I was looking into the desolation of winter and it was very irksome to me because I didn't have the naps. And then I watched baseball yesterday and it was fabulous.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's everything about the new wild card.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The first three games were all about as October baseball should be, pitching and defense. That's what they were all about. It was a 2:1 game, a 3:1 game and. And a 3:1 game. The fourth game, which I did not stay up for was a 10, 5 game. A home run. That was a home run game. That was home run.

[Nigel]

Did you at least watch the first at bat?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That was. Well, that it was tough with the.

[Michael Wilbon]

Way the Yankees game was ending.

[Nigel]

Yeah, that's true.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I was involved with the Yankees and the Red Sox at that point. Shani hits the first pitch out and then hits another one later. Task or Hernandez hits two out. Tommy Edmond hits one out. It's a laugher for Los Angeles over Cincinnati. And that's what the series really should be because Los Angeles is the defending World Series champion and a far, far better team since I good for Cincinnati, that they got into the playoffs, but they're not a significant threat here.

[Michael Wilbon]

But the good for Francona.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Terry Francono we like a lot, but the first three games, the first game. Now, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be honest here. I'm different than Wilbon because I'm not from the Midwest and I don't have these.

[Michael Wilbon]

Was he on the set when the home runs happened.

[Tony Kornheiser]

In which game?

[Michael Wilbon]

The Cubs game? Just.

[Nigel]

No, I don't. I don't think he'd gotten there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I don't think so. I think he went late in the game into the control room to watch the late part of the game. I was flying blind on that game. But I'm. I'm a little different than Wilbon. I don't have this allegiance to either Eastern teams or Western teams or Midwestern teams that he has for Detroit and for Cleveland. And it's just a way for him to scream about how i95 is nonsense and a way for him to, of course, attack the NFL for, I don't know, some circuitous reason. He gets that, but that's what he likes to do. My feeling about Detroit and Cleveland is enough already. We've seen this. This is the third week we have watched this now.

[Michael Wilbon]

Play with a running clock already.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, it feels intramural to me. It feels very regional to me. It feels honestly like we're on this loop and we just keep watching the same thing. Having said that, Tarek Skubel was tremendous. He struck out 14 Cleveland batters. You know, he was just wonderful the whole way and didn't once field the ball and throw it backwards between his legs over the first baseman's head as he had done last week. So if Tarek Skubal gets the American League Cy Young, you're going to say to yourself, wow. Yeah, look at that. Except Garrett Crochet was every bit as good. He went. What did he go seven and two thirds. 11 strikeouts, 11 strikeouts of the Yankees that game. Max Freed gives up no runs, goes six. And this is not, as Justin Verlander says with disgust, this is not five and fly.

[Nigel]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, you start. Who doesn't go five innings and then leave is old school. Right? So all of these games, other than the last game, featured pitching performances that went deeper than normal in the Yankee game. Now, okay, let me start with this. In the Detroit, Cleveland game, in a one run game in the bottom of the ninth, Cleveland had a runner on third with nobody out. You gotta score. Yeah. Bring home, you gotta score. You get strikeout, then contact play, bouncer back to the pitcher, and the runner is dead. The runner's caught in a rundown. Then you get pop out. It's, you know, that's not. I don't blame the manager. I don't blame the player. I'm just saying as a team, you cannot in a one run game have a man on third with nobody out and not score.

[Michael Wilbon]

How about bases loaded?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now we get to the Yankee game. The Yankees in the bottom of the ninth are down two runs, three to one. They have gotten rid of one reliever, and now they're facing Araldis Chapman, who has history with the Cubs and has history with the Yankees.

[Nigel]

I think Chapman came in straight for the eighth. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, I thought I. Okay, so.

[Michael Wilbon]

And because of the challenge play, he was sitting on the bench for a little bit of time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So then he's gonna. He's trying to get a four out save. Right. All right. And the bases are loaded. Nobody out.

[Michael Wilbon]

And who's up to the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're loaded. And they send Stanton up.

[Nigel]

Oh, that's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now Stan makes contact, it's gonna, it's gonna go. Yeah, but he didn't make contact. He struck out. And then there's a fly ball deep enough to. Right to score a run. But it's only one run. I mean, you're down three to one. You don't really, you know, you don't really know what to do. You want to get that runner on second to third, but if you don't send the runner home, you can't do that. And by the way, it's shallow enough that, that if I'm the right fielder, I may go to third. Yeah. I may go to third when Paul Goldschman at third. Nothing happens. Nothing happens. And it's still bases loaded now. And then there's a strikeout. And so these are great, These are great performances.

[Michael Wilbon]

Did you see Chapman's Velocity as that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Inning went on is it goes up over 100.

[Michael Wilbon]

Up over 100. He's 37 years old.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. School's up over 100. Crochet's up over 100. Yeah. So those games were just about pitching and defense. The middle game, the Chicago Cubs against the Padres. I think the Padres took the lead. I think the Padres were up one, nothing. Yeah. And then, and then the Cubs got back to back home runs in the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, whatever inning it was. And they go up ultimately three. They get an insurance run late. And now there's another thing. Let me bring up Wilbourne's name again. Wilbon has this fixation with San Diego Padres. He loves the San Diego Padres. He thinks they're better than they are.

[Michael Wilbon]

Let the kids play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He thinks their lineup is better than it is. He's always talking about great lineup. It's not as good as the Phillies. It's not as good as the dot. It's not. No. It's not that great lineup yesterday featuring Manny Machado. Luisa Rise has been a batting champion three different times. And Fernando Tatis Jr. You know what they went in that game? They went over 11. How tough sat lineup. They went over 11. There were only three different Padres who had hits against the Cubs. I'm sorry, I don't think of the Cubs as the greatest pitching organization in all of baseball. So, so Wilbon is living, you know, on this double edged sword. He's really happy that the Cubs have won, but he insists. How? Because it gives him an excuse if the, if the Padres win, it gives him an excuse to say, well, we lost to the greatest lineup in baseball. But it's not, it's just not the greatest lineup in baseball. No, it really isn't. And the other game, the Dodger game is, that's the laugher, you know, because of all the home runs and, and.

[Michael Wilbon]

Really it's what sets up the Dodgers for the Phillies if they are able to go through this with relative ease.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. And I made this comment the other day on the, on the PTI show and Mike agrees with it completely. I'd rather be playing. I don't want to sit out. I don't want to sit out like five or six.

[Michael Wilbon]

My goodness, if you get the bats.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Rolling like that, you know, I want to play.

[Nigel]

Stay in the flow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Baseball is a, is a play game. It's not football. It's not once a week. It's not. You want to play. You don't get. Most of the time. You don't get the kind of injuries that you get in basketball or football. You don't that keep you out immediately for the game. That. Those are rare injuries. Except for pitchers, those are fairly rare injuries. So you want to be out there playing. I don't know what to make of this. Two home teams. One. I don't know what that means in the wild card. I don't know what that means. Two home teams, two visiting teams. One.

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, the Detroit sort of skews that a bit just based on their, you know, recent play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So this is now. Detroit is now one. Two in a row from Cleveland. Cleveland had won five in a row from Detroit. Again, it feels a little intramural to me. It feels like, okay, we could get out of this.

[Michael Wilbon]

So which series is going to go three?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I don't think the Dodgers is going three. No, I think Cleveland could easily go three. Yeah. I think the Yankees. Red Sox. The Yankee. The point I made yesterday about the Yankees and the Red Sox is you have no. When they play, it does not matter how many games they have won prior to that. That is an acutely intense rivalry over a long period of time.

[Michael Wilbon]

Cowboy up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you cannot be surprised. You cannot be surprised at who wins. You just can't. No. He said, oh, Red Sox beat the I. Yeah, that happens a lot.

[Michael Wilbon]

In preparation for that series, I started watching the Netflix documentary the Comeback episode one to see Pedro when he puts the finger to his head to show, remember, terrifying. We think of, we think of him as the, you know, just the, the happy, go lucky, you know, analyst now on TBS or whatever.

[Nigel]

But he was not.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, Bob, give me a name.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Bob Ryan believes that he is the smartest athlete he ever covered. Pedro Martinez. Bob Ryan reveres the intellect of Pedro Martinez. Yes. You ought to able. You ought also to revere his record, his career record. He's got one of the highest winning percentages in the history of baseball. So I could think it's in the top three. Yeah. In the history of baseball. Pedro Martinez. Great. He's great. But again, like, okay, the 03 thing, but you can't be surprised if the Yankees. No, not at all. Don't like. The odds can never be so out of line that you can't bet both ways. Nobody would say, oh, the Red Sox have no chance. What are you nuts? No, it doesn't work that way. Anyway, so that was a real good first day. We'll have a real good second day as well today. Yeah. And we will undoubtedly lead with on the PTI show with the results of the first game like we did.

[Michael Wilbon]

I love the afternoon starts of the playoffs.

[Nigel]

Yeah, it's great, isn't it?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wilmon also upset that the Cubs are playing in the afternoon? 100 years of Wrigley. What are you talking about? You grew up with Wrigley in the afternoon. Well, I can't go. Yeah, that's why I'm sure that's a terrible price that you have to pay. Maybe the mayor can work something out. You know, we'll take a break. We're going to have Dan Coco when we return. No, Chuck Toddle when Chuck Todd first.

[Nigel]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And Coco after that. That's right. All right. Chuck Toddle pit games when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show, this show sponsored by Liquid iv. I love when fall arrives, mostly because that means football's back. But that shift from summer's easygoing pace to the high gear of fall can hit you like a ton of bricks. After months of a relaxed schedule, suddenly it's back to back work days and packed weekends. And it can definitely wear you down. And when you feel your energy dip, you need something to help push through that. And that's where Liquid IV's new energy multiplier, sugar free hydrating energy, comes in. It's hydrating energy made with electrolytes, vitamins and natural caffeine. Zero sugar, zero crash. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. It's powered by Liv Hydro Science, which is an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. Plus, it's got a 2 to 1 ratio of L theanine to caffeine, which gives balanced energy without the jitters. Liquid IV has so many great flavors like strawberry, kiwi and BlackBerry lemonade, just to name a couple. Liquid IV keeps it easy. Just tear, pour, shake and you're good to go. Perfect for workouts, afternoon slumps, or anytime you need to feel focused and ready. Don't let the grind drain you. Ditch the glitch with zero sugar and zero crash from Liquid IV. Tear, pour live more. Go to LiquidIV.com and get 20% off your first order with the code Tony K at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with THE CODE [e-mail] Use the code people. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole Group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom, 60th and never miss a meme or milestone.

[Dan Kolko]

All protected with end to end encryption.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail] you're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. This is our friend Don Stewart who makes wonderful music. Yes, this is a song called Beginning. This is from his album Don Stewart Volume 31. And he writes, I don't want to grow potatoes or any other edible whatever. I don't want to grow flowers or bushes or anything else that grows out of the ground. I'd rather pay somebody else to do it so that I can write songs and watch tv. If I found the potatoes you planted and discovered how little and scary looking they were, I would take my Stratocaster guitar and smash the potatoes into little pieces. Then I could call them guitar mashed potatoes. Yeah, I like that.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, it's an American Strat.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Again, this is called Beginning. And it plays in Chuck Todd. And this week's picks with Chuck Todd and Reginald the Monkey are brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. Chuck went 3 and 4 last week. He's now 12 and 16. His last game was the game, one of the games that he lost, and this one put him under 500 because he had Green Bay minus six and a half against Dallas. More importantly than winning or losing that game, because it was a tie game, you went to that game, there was a tremendous amount of offense in that game. I would imagine that was extraordinarily satisfying. On the other hand, there was a tie. And I'm curious as to how you felt about a tie.

[Chuck Todd]

Oh, I felt like we lost the game. I felt like it felt like a loss. And the Cowboys fans that were there, they felt like they won something. Right. It was sort of like disbelief that they hung in that game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And Jerry Jones was the happiest guy in the whole joint because he didn't lose to Micah Parsons.

[Chuck Todd]

Don't you think he, like, offered bonuses to the offensive line if they would? If you prevent him from getting a sack, you know, I'll pay you this or whatever. If he didn't. If he didn't, I'd actually question why he didn't. You know, that's what you should do. It was. You know what it reminded me of? It felt like a college game where you have one of those, one of the highly ranked teams playing somebody who's not Ranked. And then they kind of just like the packers did, they kind of quickly got out to the leading and thought, okay, you kind of know where this game is going. Then something fluky happens. The blocked extra point. That's run back for two. And it, like, completely changed their attitude. The complex. All of a sudden they were. They were calling a more aggressive game plan. They were throwing the ball down the field. They weren't doing that at the beginning. They felt. It looked like the Cowboys were just afraid to give Micah Parsons an opportunity to sack him. It just. It was one of those. It totally changed. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, my God, you're in a game. Yeah, stop. You know, stop playing with your food and start, you know, paying attention. And then. And anyway, special teams, I mean, they don't know the rules to the kickoff. The packers did not know the rules to the kickoff. They kept. That's coach letting the ball bounce in. It's totally coaching bounce in the regular. Then they'd catch it in the end zone thinking they were getting it at the 35. And if you do it that way, you get it. It's a 20. Anyway, it was. It was a really. It was hard to watch. If you cared about the outcome for the pack from the packers perspective, it was a terrible game, right? And yet it was probably incredibly entertaining.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is one of the most amazing statistics I have ever heard. The Dallas Cowboys are the number one offense in the league. They get 404 yards a game. That's higher than the other 31 teams. They have the worst defense in the league. They allow 420 yards per game. That's worse than the 31 other teams. That is Chuck. That's extraordinary that you could be first and last in the only two categories that matter. It's amazing.

[Chuck Todd]

Well, as they says, offense wins. Oh, no, that isn't the same. That's not what they're. Your statistic just proved that out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just unbelievable. It's very bad math for them. It's very bad Math.

[Chuck Todd]

All right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

3 and 4 last week, 12 and 16 overall. Let's go to the slate of games. The first one is the Thursday night game, which, if you told me about it before the season started, I would say, well, that's a really good game. It's the 49ers at the LA Rams. The Rams did exactly what we all expected them to do last week. Come away from that Philadelphia Eagles game and win a game. The 49ers are plus five and a half because they don't have a squad, everybody's hurt. They lost a game. They're just. They don't look like the 49ers are supposed to look. Five and a half is a lot of points for the San Francisco 49ers, but part of me thinks it's like really not enough because now their quarterback has a bad toe. You know, he's been out for a while. He came back in, hurt his toe. If you don't think a toe matters, that's why Joe Burrow's out. Will you take the five and a half?

[Nigel]

Actually, I'm looking at it. It's now six and a half when I checked this morning.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Six and a half on Rivals. Wow. Will you take it?

[Chuck Todd]

And it's a. It's so hard not to take the points here in this rivalry.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Chuck Todd]

Right. This game is always super close. Always. But would you be doing. If you were running the. The sports department, you know, in the Bay Area, would you want to do an investigation of. Why do 49ers players get hurt more often than anybody else?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Anybody else than anybody else. Kittle, McCaffrey. They get hurt more than anybody.

[Chuck Todd]

I don't know, you know, I, It's. I just can't. I can't do it. It's too many points. I'm going to take you to Niners. You can take because, okay, this is it. McVeigh. And they know, you know, they know each other too well. They know sort of how to.

[Dan Kolko]

They know how to.

[Chuck Todd]

They know how to slop up a game when they have nothing. You know what I mean? I just. If you told me Shanahan knew how to just, you know, make this game so ugly that it kept it a one score game, it wouldn't surprise me. So I just. Too many. I will regret when somehow the Niners cover this on Thursday night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But anyway, so you will take the nine. You'll take.

[Chuck Todd]

I'm taking the Niners.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dallas goes to the Jets. Game stinks. The jets stink. They're 0 4. Their rookie coach, Aaron Glenn, may not get a second year. Their own. They could lose them all. Their quarterback is now 0 and 25 throughout his NFL career. When the other team scores 21 points or more, the other team is Dallas. They score 40 points. They have a tremendous offense. The jets the other day committed nine offensive penalties. That's tied for second most in one game in the last 25 years. I'm not making any case for Dallas because they can make the jets look like a really good team. But if Dallas is minus two And a half. Even though it's in New York. The jets have. They don't look like they have anything. Who do you like in this game?

[Chuck Todd]

You have to take Dallas because what you just said, how they're going to score 24, 28 points. Are the jets even against Dallas's defense?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No.

[Chuck Todd]

No, they're not even against. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'll give you a great quote, a great quote.

[Chuck Todd]

A little bit about a hangover on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dallas, but, yeah, the jets thing. Breeze hall says this. He's a running back for the Jets. Other teams shoot themselves in the foot, and then we shoot ourselves in the head.

[Chuck Todd]

So it's a direct quote that goes right up there with. Would you like to. What is it? The. The John McMahon. Would you like to execute the offense? Oh, yeah.

[Nigel]

How do you feel about the execution of your offense? I'm all for it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. All right. So you'll take Dallas. Two road teams.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Denver is at Philadelphia. Philadelphia had an offensive second half last week that was unbelievable. They completed no passes. No. Jalen Hurts was oh for eight.

[Chuck Todd]

They do this. They do this a lot, though.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

Get all their scoring done in the first half and they're like, all right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We'Re done for the day. They have a very unhappy, terrific wide receiver, A.J.

[Chuck Todd]

Brown.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's very unhappy. Even though Nick Sirianni says he wants to stay here, it doesn't seem like he wants to stay there. Denver is a pretty good team, but you cannot. You cannot take beating Cincinnati at home particularly seriously because they don't have Joe Burrow. Their two wins are Tennessee, that's an offer team, And Cincinnati. It's not going to. Cincinnati's got. Not going to win five games without Joe Burrow. Denver's getting three and a half. That's up from two and a half. But Philadelphia is a really good team. Philadelphia is at home. Who you got?

[Chuck Todd]

I just don't believe in Denver. I'm not. I don't buy in. I know some people think that they're a sleeper playoff team. I'm not yet sold on Knicks. Um, and, you know, Philadelphia just does what they. The only thing you worry about with them is just what you said at the beginning, which is fall asleep. Yeah. You know, they just sort of do just enough. And this has been their MO for the last couple years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They win every year.

[Chuck Todd]

Just.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they're 20 and one in their last 21. 20 and one in the NFL. Get out of here. Come on.

[Dan Kolko]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

I wish it were two and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

Well, you know, I know you'd have given Carvel the older line, but that's. I'll lay the three.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Carvel gives his own lines. Well, we got five. You got five. No, you got two and a half. No, five.

[Chuck Todd]

Okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Tampa Bay is at Seattle. Tampa Bay lost a game last week for the first time all year, but had a chance to win that game. Had a chance to win that game late Seattle.

[Chuck Todd]

Of course they did.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

By the way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

I mean, they were blown out. And you're like, he's going to somehow. And sure enough anyway, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Seattle won. I believe Seattle won last week. Seattle. Sam Darnold looked pretty good again. It's a pretty good game. Tampa Bay at Seattle. Long trip for Tampa Bay. They're getting three and a half.

[Chuck Todd]

I've been trying to, you know, it kept trying to fade Tampa. Like catching a fallen knife. But I'm going to continue to do it. Give me Seattle.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Chuck Todd]

It just feels like, you know, they're the ones with the horseshoe up the. You know what?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okey dokey. All right. I'll give you. The next game is the Washington football team at the Los Angeles Charges. Washington is getting two and a half. Apparently, Jaden Daniels is going to play. Me personally, I like the Chargers here because the Chargers lost to the Giants. And the Chargers. The Chargers are going to say, no, no, no, we can't. No, no, no, that's just me. But I don't know, who do you like in this game?

[Chuck Todd]

I'm very curious to see how many Washington fans are out west. Right. It's always Charger games that you find out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Because they don't sell out.

[Chuck Todd]

They don't sell out at all. But I'm with you. The Chargers are an easier bet to make after losing the Giants. Yeah, that. That feels. That feels right. Should we be worried about the commanders?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Not yet. You had two games without a starting quarterback. Not yet. No, I don't. I don't think so. And by the way, I wouldn't worry if they lost this game because again, the charges are a playoff team. And the charges got humiliated by the Giants. And it's not if Jim harbor is better than that. I think I do.

[Chuck Todd]

I completely agree. I mean, they're the team that I expect to challenge the Chiefs in that division at Denver.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, here we go. New England, which had a huge win. They scored, I don't know, 7,000 points last week against nobody good. Right. Was it the Saints?

[Nigel]

I think it was Denison.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just a bad team. New England goes to the Bills. That's a division game. New England's getting seven and a half. That's a lot in division. Obviously, if you feel that the 49ers getting six and a half in division is a lot, seven and a half is even more. But there's a greater disparity here, it seems to me, between New England and Buffalo. Yet Buffalo is probably due for a letdown of some sort. Who you got in this game and.

[Chuck Todd]

We'Re not 100% sure that's a decent Buffalo defense, are we?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don't know. Don't know yet.

[Chuck Todd]

Right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because they gave up a million to Baltimore.

[Chuck Todd]

Right. Which is a great offense and you have to. Have to give them some credit for that. I like the hook for the. For the underdog and the division game. And my friend's going to his, you know, first Bills game in like 15 years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Chuck Todd]

Going to that one. He's very excited. So on his behalf.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You'll take New England?

[Chuck Todd]

I'm going to take New England.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. One more game. Kansas City, which got well against Baltimore and Baltimore. That was the worst loss of the week. Baltimore losing that game. They got pasted by Kansas City. Kansas City is at.

[Chuck Todd]

Can't wait for lock and four on this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, yeah. Oh, sure.

[Chuck Todd]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, yeah.

[Chuck Todd]

Something's wrong with the Ravens.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's going to attack.

[Chuck Todd]

He'll let us know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I hope so. Kansas City is at Jacksonville. Jacksonville, I think, won a game. I think they beat San Francisco. If I'm not mistaken, this is the Monday night game. I know what Jacksonville feels like on a Monday night game. With the river going north, Kansas City is a 3 1/2 point favorite on the road. Who you got?

[Chuck Todd]

Are you allowed in Jacksonville or. When they see your face.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They don't. They don't want me.

[Chuck Todd]

We don't want you here.

[Michael Wilbon]

What was the sign? Cornhizer is a bag of snakes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Bag of snakes. No, they don't want me there because. But it's hard to keep me out of those Waffle Houses, all 3,000 of them in the greater Jacksonville area. Hard to keep me out.

[Dan Kolko]

This is a. I.

[Chuck Todd]

It's a weird game. I don't. I have no feel for it. I'm. I'm a. I'm kind of thinking that the Jags might. Might be okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They have a new coach and. And Trevor Lawrence looks better. Not good yet, but better than he looked.

[Chuck Todd]

That's a nice way of putting it, but wow. Bringing worthy, having somebody that can run for Kansas. Geez.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Made a difference.

[Dan Kolko]

It's.

[Chuck Todd]

It seemed like it. It opened up their offense. I'll stick with The Chiefs here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Okay. Four road teams, three favorites. Okey dokey.

[Chuck Todd]

I got another football game this weekend. My third weekend in a row going to a live event.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Where are you going like this? Where are you going?

[Chuck Todd]

Tallahassee.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, Florida State. Miami.

[Chuck Todd]

Yes, sir.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh. Wonder how. How did they lose to Virginia? How did that happen? Does that hurt Miami or help Miami?

[Chuck Todd]

I think. I don't like it. Right. I wanted Florida State to feel better about themselves. Now they're kind of desperate. They have to win this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Chuck Todd]

It's a different. But, you know, I. As a. As a college football fan and as a Miami, there's no game you. You worry about more than being on the road on one of those weeknight games. Right. When you're playing a road game on a Thursday night or a Friday night against a team that rarely gets to be in primetime, it's. They always feel like, is that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is. It is. That's a Friday night game.

[Chuck Todd]

That was that Friday night game for. For Florida State.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. With Virginia.

[Chuck Todd]

You know what I mean? It just. Those games are. Those games are. Those games are tough. But no, I'm. I'm nervous about this one because of that. I wish they had won. That's what I wish.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's.

[Dan Kolko]

Wish they would.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That was my first thought, that this is not a good thing for Miami because Florida State now is. Becomes desperate because they could get knocked out of the perch to get them into the playoff. And that was also. That was an ACC game, too.

[Chuck Todd]

Well, at 10 and two ACC teams not making the playoffs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nope.

[Chuck Todd]

We learned that last year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nope.

[Chuck Todd]

Right. 10 and 2, SEC gets in 10 and 2, Big 10 gets in. 10 and 2, ACC gets in. So you gotta win.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Okay. All right, good luck. We'll talk to you.

[Chuck Todd]

Bye, guys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Chuck Todd. And if we gave you Chuck Todd, that'd be more than enough because he's fabulous. But we do more than that. We give you a monkey. See the monkey, first time this year. Watching his iPad, smoking and laughing. Hanging out with Bud Grant. Tap, tap, tapping on his purple attache. Nigel's going to the zoo. How come people don't like this? I love this. I love this.

[Nigel]

Virginia coalition.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Outstanding.

[Don Stewart]

Sometimes he throws his poo, poo poo.

[Tony Kornheiser]

When he's had too much Johnny Walker Blue. It's just great. It's just great. You people who don't like this, what are you. I'm not saying we're gonna play it every week. No, I'm surprised. I just heard it. But it's great. Yeah.

[Nigel]

We gotta filter it in every now and then.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Reginald was 1 and 2 last week, which he's been three different times so far. He's 5 and 7 overall.

[Nigel]

Off to a scuffling start, but, you know, he's always ready for the turnaround.

[Michael Wilbon]

5 and 11 is in play.

[Nigel]

It certainly is in play. Certainly not the worst out there. So I went down to the National Zoo. Very busy scene down there. Reginald was busy. Busy putting on the final touch of really what has been a passion project for him. And that is a production of the King and I. As you know, he was very close with the late Yul Brenner.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Nigel]

Still hasn't really recovered from his death, even though it was decades ago.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Long time ago. Yes.

[Nigel]

So this is something he's been looking forward to doing for quite some time. This is gonna be an Off Broadway production in a town called Poughkeepsie.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Poughkeepsie, yeah.

[Nigel]

Which is famed for launching productions.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Pick your feet in Poughkeepsie.

[Nigel]

You'll be interested in the cast. He's obviously starring as the king. Brigitte Bardot will be in it.

[Dan Kolko]

It's been a while.

[Nigel]

Flo from Progressive. Stephanie Courtney, super talented. And Owen Wilson.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So Owen Wilson now on these television commercials with Vince Vaughn. And they're terrific. They are wonderful commercials. They really are. Even though I don't want to watch soccer, they're wonderful commercials.

[Nigel]

They need to make another movie, maybe after the production of King and I. So the first match we gave Reginald was the Rams at home giving 6 1/2 to the 49ers. And Reginald showed me a clip from a newspaper, very old, of him playing in a bridge tournament alongside Vince Ferragamo, Willie Flipper Anderson and Jack Youngblood.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So he's gonna go Rams.

[Nigel]

Tells me he's got ties to the Rams.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think I would. I think the 49ers are just.

[Nigel]

Just a little too banged up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's what I think.

[Nigel]

Now, the next match we gave him was Tampa Bay on the road getting three and a half at Seattle. And this was fairly recent, actually. Reginald showed me a video clip of him competing in an Ironman triathlon alongside Mike Alstott, John lynch and Booger McFarlane. By the way, Booger was wearing. Who was wearing a Cypress. Cypress Point. Yeah, Cypress Point jersey.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's great.

[Nigel]

That's what he does. So he will take the Tampa later. Three and a half. And the last match we gave was the Washington football team on the road getting two and a half. And this is another rather old photograph he showed me. From a foreign newspaper of Reginald running with the Bulls, I believe is that Pamplona, Spain. And you could see in the photograph Dan Fouts, Charlie Joyner and Kurt Bavaca.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So he's going Chargers. Yeah. Even though like Chuck did.

[Nigel]

Yes. Even ties to San Diego. Doesn't matter. It's the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. Well, there's still the San Diego superchargers. I mean, Wilmot and I, we cannot take charges without San Diego. We just can't grew up with it, so. All right, that's good. That's good to know. This week's picks with Chuck Todd and Reginald the monkey have been brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more and we will be back with Dan Kolko. I'm Tony Kornheiser. Lowe's knows how to help make your home holiday ready for less. Get select style selections vinyl flooring for just $1.99 per square foot and have it installed before. Before the festivities begin. Our team can help you every step of the way. See a Lowe's red vest associate or visit Lowes.comholidayinstall to get started. Lowes we help you save basic Install only. Date restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Install by independent contractors. See associate for details. Contiguous us only. This is the Tony Kornheiser show. Once again, this is our friend Don Stewart. And this is who to talk to. And this is from Don Stewart, Volume 37. He's done a lot of albums, Michael. If people like Don Stewart want to send in their independent music for us to happily play and we really like him.

[Nigel]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

How do they do it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesonyquoanizershow.com plays in Dan Kolka, who.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Does such a good job whatever he's asked to do on Nats broadcast. I was saying at the beginning of the show that I'm unhappy. I mean, I got this one more month of baseball and I'm gonna get completely into it. But the gnats are done and, you know, then I have to wait like six months and I. It almost feel as much as I hate the team half the time because I think they're terrible. I mean, it feels like family to me. And I wonder how you feel about that because you've done so well on the broadcast. I wonder how you feel about there being no baseball for you.

[Dan Kolko]

This is always a really strange time of year for me, Tony. My brain obviously is aware that the season is over, but it's as if my body with the daily routine that Come with Baseball has not fully processed that it's over yet. I'm actually currently sitting in an empty national park right now. We're getting ready to have a press conference to introduce Paul Taboni, the new president of baseball operations for the National. So I'm just sitting here behind home plate in a totally empty ballpark, just kind of looking around and it's like I'm expecting there to be a game later today. So, yeah, it's always bizarre, but a chance to kind of recharge the batteries, remind my wife and my family and friends that I'm still alive after I've been largely six months. But that's what's beautiful about baseball, is that it becomes so ingrained in our daily routines. And, you know, whether you're watching at home, you're watching at the ballpark, or whether you're working in the game, there's a game almost every single day. And it's part of our life. And then it's over and we get geared up to do it all again in a few months.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know anything about Taboni. I only know that he comes from the Boston Red Sox organization, which is an organization that I think produces people that you would consider taking someone from that organization. What I know about him is he's 35. That's really young to me. Really young. What do you make of that?

[Dan Kolko]

It's impressive, I think is the first thing that I think of to be 35 and to put yourself in a position to be not just a candidate for this job. But when word was circulating that the Nationals had chosen Taboni around baseball, everyone was saying that this was a smart hire by the Nationals. And I got about five text messages from people around the game that I know that were saying that we were going to love this guy. He's kind of an interesting blend of multiple facets in different ways. So a lot of new age baseball executives are analytics guys that went to, you know, high end institutions and he is that. He got an MBA from Notre Dame, but he also played baseball at the collegiate level. He played at Cal Berkeley, a part of a college World Series team there. At Cal, is he into the data and the numbers? Yes, he kind of modernized the Red Sox draft and development standpoint from a data and technology perspective. But he also came up through the scouting ranks. He got his first full time job with the Red Sox as an area scout. He was out there in the south, in Louisiana and Texas, grinding, trying to get, you know, high school and collegiate talent and evaluate these kids. And he worked his way up from intern to area scout, got promoted time after time after time. And you don't rise that quickly in a quality organization like the Red Sox if people don't think very highly of you. And people pretty much universally around the game think very highly of fault the bony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So it's good to know. That's good to know. By the way, I should. I should ask about this. The last. The last game against the White Sox, the home series against the White Sox, the team was pitiful. They lost eight. Nothing got one hit. But that was Carpenter's last game. Bob Carpenter was leaving after 20 years. The players, the players got together and looked up and tipped their hats and all that. How was that? How was that?

[Dan Kolko]

It was a really nice moment. I think one thing that, you know us as broadcasters, we. We're around the team on a daily basis and we fly on the team plane and we stay at the hotel, but we're kind of separate, obviously. We're not. We're not hanging out with the players necessarily. We're not invading their space too much. So you get to know people on the outskirts of the organization and the fans. When you get recognized by the players in that kind of a way, I think that's when it really sank into Bob, the impact that he'd made on the organization as a whole. A lot of these players don't. They might not know Bob all that well. There's been so much roster turnover and there's so many young players here, but they know that his voice has been the soundtrack of Nationals baseball over the last 20 years. And I've known Bob, you know, well over a decade. I worked with him on the TV broadcast for 11 years, and we've gotten, I think, closer over the last handful of years as I've started filling in for him, doing play by play. And for a while, I think he wasn't really processing that this was going to be. I mean, he knew, but I don't know that it really sunk in that this was going to be the end for him down the stretch. It was starting to hit him a little bit more. And then over the final couple days in that final game, when the players came out and tipped their caps, you saw on the broadcast how emotional he got. And I think it was just a really nice send off and a nice moment for him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It was very, very nice. You know, he's in his 70s, but he's not anywhere near me. So he's a kid to me. Would you. Would you be surprised if he Got back into it at some point I would. He.

[Dan Kolko]

He makes this joke and he realizes that it's only partially a joke that he's been married to his wife Debbie. I forget the exact number, something like 46 years. And they, they say to each other that it's really only been half of that amount of time because he's been gone for six months out of the year every single year. Debbie has. She's just the sweetest woman. And I think they're looking forward to spending more time together with the family. He has two grandkids now and his daughter and son in law and the grandkids moved back from Seattle to very close to their home in Tulsa. And I think he's looking forward to spending time with the family and playing golf and experiencing other things in life than just grinding out baseball games and long flights that get you back sometimes at 3, 4 in the morning. I'm sure he'll still be around. He wants to maintain a connection to the organization, but I would be surprised if he gets back into it in any significant way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He got into it very young. You got into it very young. Is this what you always wanted or did you just fall into this? Or when you were a small kid, did you say, as my friend Charlie Steiner did? That's what I want to do. I want to broadcast the Dodgers. I mean, Charlie was very specific in that. But how about you?

[Dan Kolko]

When I was a small kid, I wanted to play and then I realized pretty early on that I was way too scrawny and lacking talent in order to play at any legitimate level. Once I realized that, the goal shifted to being involved in sports in some capacity and broadcasting seemed like the right route for me. I studied it collegiately at the University of Delaware and then have just kind of gotten some lucky breaks along the way. I've been involved with Masten in some capacity since back in 2008 and just kind of moved from one job to another shooting and editing video and working on the website to then being a beat writer for the Ravens, then being a beat writer for the Nationals, then doing some TV stuff for the Nationals, sideline reporting pre and post, and now play by play. So it's really been quite a ride and I've been incredibly thankful for all of it. And yeah, I tell people all the time that if you tell 12 year old me that I would be doing this for a living, I would just absolutely light up in a huge smile and be pretty blown away by that. So yeah, it's been a heck of a ride And I'm having a lot of fun.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're very good at it. I mean, I've said this. If you've heard this podcast, you've heard me say this a number of times. The broadcasts are very, very good. You know, I wondered and I. This is the ins. It's not so much an inside question, but it's a. Seems to me the question you have to ask. The Nat season when they fired Davey Martinez and Mike Rizzo, I'm not going to say that that was completely out of the blue, because it wasn't completely out of the blue, but the finality of something like that and the change that happens as a result of something like that, what was that like for you?

[Dan Kolko]

It was strange in a number of ways. First of all, I don't know Washington Nationals or I didn't at that point without Mike Rizzo at the helm. I started covering the team in 2012 and Riz was here and he's been here ever since, up until being let go. And Davey was our longest tenured manager at seven and a half years. And I had a very special relationship with both of those guys. David would have me into his office after games and he pour a bourbon for me and we'd sit around and we'd talk baseball and we'd have some laughs. And I think that's a pretty unique thing. I'm not blind to that fact. And Riz, you know, we would. We would have some pretty good parties after some of those postseason series wins in 2019. And I got to know his family very well. His, his wife Jody, his son Mike, and the whole family. So it was a challenging time for a lot of us because you build up and you get to know the people and you care about them. But I think you also in this business realize that it is a business. And also you understand that there are times when you have to change course and you need a fresh voice and fresh ideas. And the Nationals, I think, were in that place and I think, you know, they could have gone with Mike DeBartolo, the assistant GM to Mike Rizzo, who had stepped into the interim GM role as their new president of baseball operations. They opted to go with an external candidate in Faltzavoni, I think because of what Paul brings, but also because of that, that you want some outside perspectives and ideas and just a chance to bring in something new. So that's how things go in sports. And Riz would always say it's a results oriented business. And lately for the Nationals, the results have not been Good enough. And so these sorts of things happen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And team flatlined. You know, once they made the change, the team wasn't any good. And so everybody is, as a result of that, anticipating more change. I mean, significant change. Managers, coaches, probably everybody. I should ask you this. You know, the league you there at all the games, you've watched all these teams, do you have any particular thoughts on. On the playoffs that you've seen so far and the World Series that you expect?

[Dan Kolko]

Yesterday was so much fun for me. I mean, you would think after 162 games around baseball that I'd be sick of it, but I plopped my butt down on the couch and I watched baseball pretty much the entire day yesterday. And it was just so fun for me, Tony, watching the left handed starting pitching that dominated so many of those games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Crochet and school in the early game.

[Dan Kolko]

Yeah, yeah, crochet to Blake Snell in the late game.

[Chuck Todd]

It.

[Dan Kolko]

I love big starting pitching matchups, and we're getting fewer and fewer of those in the game today, which saddens me. So it was refreshing for me to, to see that sort of starting pitching yesterday from a lot of these teams. As far as what do I expect going forward? I think the Phillies are really good. They lose Zach Wheeler and their rotation still somehow is very deep and very talented. They're going to be a force. They're a little banged up, but they're going to be a tough out. The Dodgers bullpen is just a problem, and it'll be interesting to see how Dave Roberts tries to manage this. Is he going to lean harder on his starting pitching to try and get him through seven innings so that he doesn't have to get nine outs out of this battered bullpen? I don't know. American League is wide open in my eyes. I think the Mariners are really, really good. And the Brewers. You know, everyone overlooks the brewers because they don't have the huge names or the huge payroll. But I watched that team play in the regular season, and they just play a clean, aggressive, sound brand of baseball. And if they can keep that into October and win on the margins, I think they could be a force to be reckoned with, too. They don't have the sort of flashiness that some of these other teams do, but I saw firsthand how good that team really can be. So I don't necessarily have a favorite, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. There's a lot of teams in the mix.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'll just ask you this. I'LL get you out of here as a broadcaster. Twice yesterday, once in the bottom of the ninth with Cleveland, man on third. One run game, no out, doesn't score. Yankees two run game, bottom of the ninth. Bases loaded. Bases loaded. Nobody scores. You broadcast games like that, you go, what happened? Right? I mean, you can't believe that, right?

[Dan Kolko]

Yeah. I don't know whether it's a matter of teams today not having as much skill in terms of putting the ball in play and forcing the defense to make a play as it is. Pitching just being really, really good. In this day and age, you've got guys that are throwing a billion with nasty off speed stuff. And I mean, Araldis Chapman was throwing 100, 101, and it's tough to square that up. And he got a couple big strikeouts. When you have guys that can miss bats with the regularity that a lot of these pitchers do, there's fewer chances to put the ball in play and to get a run in from third with fewer than two outs. So it's a really tough game. It's really tough to hit. It always has been and it's tougher to hit now than it ever has been.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Enjoy meeting Tabone and we look forward to hearing you and seeing you. Thanks a lot for being on, Dan. Thank you very much.

[Dan Kolko]

My pleasure, Tony. Happy to do it. Anytime, Dan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Coco. Boys and girls, we will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser. This is the Tony Kornheiser show. Here comes Tony's mailbag. Got your email faxes and your notes. Here comes Tony's mailbag. Gotta read some for all you folks. Thank you, Gary. I'm just so glad that we don't have to pay residuals on every time we hear that. Thank you, Gary. Do you want to do the Bethesda bagel ad for us, Nigel?

[Nigel]

Yes, Bethesda bagels, we love them. You will as well. Just go to bethesdabagles.com for the location in the DC area near Student. Pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Before he gets to the mailbag, let me just say it happened on the strip where the road is wide Two cool shorts in side by side My fuel injection stingray and a 413 revving up our engines and it sounds real mean. Jack it up, jack it up, buddy. Gonna shut you down that shutdown. It's just part of that whole California car thing that circulated around the genius of Brian Wilson. Yes, thanks to our guests today. Chuck Todd, Dan Koko thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Audacy if you listen on Apple. Please leave us a Review it made.

[Michael Wilbon]

Me so happy to hear from Coker. I mean you talk about having the gnats in that daily part of your, you know, viewing and I think about like life with a team before your life changes. So for me it's, you know, before kids and I just these great moments with the Gio Gonzalez interview with Coco where he's just doing the meow. All these great moments with Rendone. The reluctant Rendone post games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's a tough job. Yeah, that interview job is a tough job. You're at the mercy of the players. You are. From Steve the Sick of Fan here's what your charming wife will soon be watching on the Walmart channel One Love on the Slopes where Alex, a copywriter, is sent to an extreme sports writing competition. Cole, a sports fan, reluctantly agrees to be her guide as she faces her fears. Savoring Paris Ella, disillusioned with life, embarks on a soul searching journey to Paris. Navigating love, self discovery and cheese. Raise a glass to love. Aspiring master Somalier. Is that how I pronounce it? Sommelier? Yeah, yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Tennis balls. Tennis balls.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jennifer returns to her family vineyard and is intrigued by the natural methods of the handsome Argentine winemaker Marcelo. Can't just one winemaker be ugly and named Fred? Groundswell chef Emma, on the heels of a personal and professional setback, travels to Hawaii and meets Ben, a handsome, reclusive surf instructor and finally heiress and the handyman were an heiress. Who else loses her fortune and moves to a rural farm where she mistakes her handsome neighbor for the handyman. I'm betting romantic complications ensue. There you are. Hours and hours of top level Canadian made entertainment for you and the littles to savor. I'm sure it'll be on tonight. Peter Jennings not that Peter Jennings. I enjoyed your Ryder cup postmortem. Totally agreed with the sentiments expressed. Barry's Veluga is so great as a writer and in your interviews he's always exceptional. I always look forward to his insights on the show. Regardless. Regardless of the topic, the Cameron Young positive comments were large silver lining, particularly in light of his being a Wake Forest alum. I've attached photos of the Wake Forest Ryder cup players. There's folklore at Old Town. Your standing invitation is still open. About Cam Young's first visit to Old Town during his recruiting trip after the first three holes at Old town. You have to cross a portion of the parking lot to get to the fourth tee. Cam Young's flight was late and he changed his shoes in the parking lot and met the guys on the fourth. No warm up. When Coach Haas met the group on nine green, he asked how Cam was playing. One of the players handed him the scorecard. Cam had recorded six threes and six holes minus six. As I said, I have no sources to confirm this story, but after watching him play at Beth Page, that may be verification. Verification of enough. He should have played every match he'd won on that course.

[Michael Wilbon]

State Open.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He'd won on that course.

[Nigel]

Why wouldn't you?

[Tony Kornheiser]

That was bad that he didn't play the first. First time Dan Byrne writes happened to be in England for some shows. Was in a McDonald's in London enjoying the McMutton. Chance had it that I ran into some of Nigel's relatives who were enjoying a McKidney pie. There are littles to the core I can assure you. Never miss an episode which they enjoy while gathered around the wireless with their Eaton mess and trifle. I've still got some shows in October in Paris and Spain. If any little show up, I promise to sing a refrain of Victor Wembanyama on the spot. So talk to him if you you see in Stanford. Safe travels down from Joe Glennon in Bloomington, Indiana, formerly of Haddonfield, New Jersey and Weymouth, Mass. But never revealed. Now that all the Weisenheimers are done suggesting that you water the potatoes, here's some real advice that will help you next season. Two words Grow bags. They are large fabric pots you fill with soil and the potato nubs. No need to dig in the yard. You can move the grow bags to catch the best sun. And when it's time to harvest, about 100 days after planting, you just dump the bags onto a tarp and sift through the soil for the spuds. It couldn't be easier. And because there's no digging, you don't risk piercing the skin of the potatoes. So you can store them for weeks and weeks, perhaps in the root cellar of the little house. You can get grow bags on Amazon, lots of other places. This is. We save that. We save that. Oh, I see it. Yeah. Oh, wow.

[Nigel]

It's a whole different level.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Gotta get that. Justin Johnson in Arlington, Virginia. I watered my potatoes and what started as me just following your yield. Yield following your lead yielded over 20 potatoes from the original one I cut up and planted. Eat it, Tony. That's great, Justin. Good for you. It's a different climate from Ted in Arlington. Yeah. Ted Smith, Pittsburgh. If you haven't already tossed the potato harvest bounty, here's a business proposition. Chase the celebrity spirits craze by turning it into old guy vodka. This will be a prime task for the next crop of show interns. Imagine how many hours you keep them busy not working on the actual podcast with this endeavor. Bottoms up. Michael Kendrick. I planted a week after you. Here's my yield. I got this ridiculous amount of roots that I had to deal with. Did you experience that? Yeah, I had roots on the one small potato that. That showed up. Yeah. And he shows me his potatoes.

[Michael Wilbon]

How do they look?

[Tony Kornheiser]

They look better than mine. You know, fuller, rounder, better than mine. But not many. A haiku for bunker shots. Mighty slash sand sprays the ball. Laugh. Still in the trap. Nice day at the beach? I don't. Iileen Robinson, Rochester, Minnesota I ordered a package of Kiwi Strawberry Energizer Multiplier Liquid IV after listening to your ad. And yes, I use the code in the employee cafeteria. I noticed there had they had Liquid IV sticks, which replaced my need for coffee. I use it instead of drinks and sugary espresso drinks. My energy has improved. I'm more awake than ever. I would like to be the official Liquid IV user of the Tony Kornizer show.

[Michael Wilbon]

Have at it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Amy Oberhelman. Even though I am a listener to the pod, I'm also a fan of the band one. This is One Direction one. Direction one D. Yeah. Typically reserved for now women between 20 and 30. While the band is no longer together, several members of the band have gone on to great success such as Harry Styles and Niall Horan. I am Team Nile and follow him on Instagram. Ask Michael. It is technology related. In addition to singing, Nile is an avid golfer and he posted some photos of an interview he did with Steve Sands. See attached I finally know what Steve Sands like looks like. After only hearing his voice on your pod for years, he may be broadening his fan base. See attached photos and ask Steve about his time with Nile and find out if he has band aspirations. Nile's an avid golfer. Yeah, his picture. Wow, look at that. Is he.

[Michael Wilbon]

Is he a face a lot of the. A lot of the celebrity tournaments.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is he good? He's with Sands. Okay.

[Michael Wilbon]

I haven't played with him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right. Neil Ayervase. After Wilmot had delivered what I thought was the show's weekly quota of Chicago centric baseball and football observations, Steve the sycophant regaled us with news about the annual Catnay or Cat and I Fat Bear competition with stories about more bears and cubs. Perhaps Wilbon could be recruited as a most appropriate judge if he would commit to not casting in right in ballots for the Fridge and Keith Trailer John in Rockledge, Florida, Wilbon's pitcher from the Cubs cracked a rib from coughing. Who is this guy? The Orchid Jr. Mark Lynch, Camby, Indiana I noticed a lot of emailers are named Mark. I was wondering if you would be willing to rank us with a K or a C and one more Mets really flush the mouse. Regards, DG if you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, wear white.

[Dan Kolko]

Ken, Lonnie, I'd like you to meet Muhammad, Jug, Dish, Sydney and Clayton.

[Don Stewart]

I swear I'll do it next time. It feels so like a good time. Remember what you told me that bill of good you sold me the you showed me upon me like you love me Come to where they call patience A place that makes a difference the end is the beginning a stream continue singing the few you show me Bestow down me right out about me like you love me Right above me like you love me no place I want to walk to Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain Sam until here in the inside the prison and the blue side and there's no one to talk to.

[Chuck Todd]

No.

[Don Stewart]

Place I wanna let it rain let it rain, let it rain, let it rain who to talk to who to talk to? Sam.