“Potatoes”

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Tony Kornheiser Show – Episode “Potatoes” (May 9, 2025)

Host: Tony Kornheiser
Guests: Buster Olney, Kenny McPeak
Release Date: May 9, 2025
Producer: This Show Stinks Productions, LLC

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Episode Overview

In the episode titled “Potatoes,” Tony Kornheiser navigates a blend of sports commentary, personal interests, and engaging conversations with guest experts. The episode delves into Major League Baseball (MLB) insights with Buster Olney, explores the nuances of gardening—specifically planting potatoes—and discusses the intricacies of horse racing with Kentucky Derby trainer Kenny McPeak. Additionally, listener interactions add a personal and humorous touch, enriching the overall listening experience.

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1. Baseball Analysis with Buster Olney

Discussion Highlights:

• Pirates Managerial Change:

  • Tony Kornheiser expresses surprise over the Pittsburgh Pirates firing their manager, Derek Shelton.
    • “The Pirates fired their manager. I didn’t even know his name.” [20:54]
  • Buster Olney critiques the Pirates' financial strategy, highlighting their significantly lower spending compared to teams like the Dodgers and Brewers.
    • “The Pirates have spent $1.2 billion less than the Dodgers over seven years, and even $200 million less than the Milwaukee Brewers. Their owner, Bob Nutting, seems to be hoarding revenue sharing money instead of investing to win games.” [20:54]

• Orioles' Managerial Support:

  • Buster discusses Brandon Hyde’s tenure with the Orioles, noting the mixed performance despite managerial backing.
    • “They win 101 games in one season, 91 last season. And now it's been so ugly with the Orioles.” [22:38]
  • Predicts that managerial changes are imminent due to ongoing team struggles.

• Aaron Judge's Dominance:

  • Buster lauds Aaron Judge as possibly the best right-handed hitter ever, comparing his stats favorably against legends like Babe Ruth and Willie Mays.
    • “Aaron Judge is the best right-handed hitter ever.” [23:04]
  • Discusses Judge’s impressive adjusted OPS plus and his continued excellence even without Juan Soto in the lineup.
    • “He’s hitting .400… his adjusted OPS plus is at 249 after having 223 for all of 2024.” [24:50]

• Shohei Ohtani’s Performance:

  • Tony describes Ohtani’s commanding presence on the mound and his powerful hitting, likening him to an “oak tree.”
    • “His swing… he just hits it out. Just the type of swing he has.” [26:12]
  • Buster highlights Ohtani’s extraordinary exit velocities and his ability to dominate games.

• Impact of New MLB Rules:

  • Buster notes that recent rule changes, such as the pitch clock, have not significantly boosted offensive statistics but have been well-received by players for improving game pace.
    • “Players love the pitch clock. It has helped the product tremendously.” [28:51]

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2. Gardening: Planting Potatoes with Buster Olney

Discussion Highlights:

• Buster’s Passion for Potatoes:

  • Buster Olney shares his enthusiasm for planting potatoes, describing it as his favorite gardening activity.
    • “I love potatoes more than I love baseball.” [20:25]

• Planting Process:

  • Buster explains the straightforward process of planting real potatoes with eyes, emphasizing depth and sunlight.
    • “You cut them up and include an eye on a potato. And you plant them about 4 to 6 inches deep.” [17:58]

• Tony’s Gardening Plans:

  • Tony expresses excitement about planting potatoes in his front yard with his son, addressing concerns about potential animal interference.
    • “I am completely unlucky in tomatoes and peppers and zucchini because animals eat these things.” [19:24]

• Managing Challenges:

  • Buster mentions minor issues like vole damage but reassures that it’s manageable.
    • “Two were sort of gnawed by voles… just throw those ones off to the side, or you can cut them in half and eat the good part.” [19:44]

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3. Horse Racing Insights with Kenny McPeak

Discussion Highlights:

• Decision to Skip the Preakness:

  • Tony questions Kenny McPeak about the decision to not run Sovereignty, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, in the Preakness Stakes.
    • “Sovereignty won't ride in the Preakness. It's just a decision. It's not a sign of weakness.” [33:36]
  • Kenny explains that there's no significant incentive to pursue the Triple Crown this year, focusing instead on strategic race placements to ensure the horse's longevity and performance.
    • “There's no incentive… what’s the incentive to come back in two weeks?” [35:13]

• Triple Crown Scheduling Debate:

  • Kenny suggests that spacing out the Triple Crown races more evenly could improve horse performance and maintain public interest over a longer period.
    • “First Saturday in May, first Saturday in June, first Saturday in July would be ideal.” [40:48]

• Impact of Racing Practices:

  • Kenny discusses how changes like removing Lasix have improved horse health and recovery, potentially making the Triple Crown more attainable.
    • “Without Lasix, I think it’s easier to win… the horses recover quicker.” [39:15]

• Race Track Influences:

  • Kenny highlights how different tracks, such as Saratoga and Belmont, affect training and race outcomes.
    • “The circumference of Saratoga doesn’t. It isn’t conducive to running at a mile and a half.” [36:41]

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4. Mailbag Highlights

Discussion Highlights:

• Listener Interactions:

  • Tony reads and responds to various listener messages, ranging from personal anecdotes to humorous remarks about sports and daily life.
    • Example: A listener shares a creative narrative blending historical figures with sports elements, showcasing the show's influence.
      • “Tony donning a tunic… Wilbon dressed to the nines in a cloak woven from the finest textiles imported from Babylon.” [53:09]

• Appreciation and Social Engagement:

  • Tony expresses gratitude towards listeners, sharing heartfelt messages about how the show has impacted their lives.
    • “Mitch Gotti Long time, first time. There’s no way to express how much your show has meant to me over the years.” [55:03]

• Humorous Shoutouts:

  • Tony engages humorously with listeners, including playful banter about mix-ups with celebrity names and local anecdotes.
    • “If you think being named Rob Lowe in Ohio is tough, try living in Southern California.” [57:47]

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5. Notable Quotes

• Buster Olney on Potatoes:

  • “I love nothing more than potatoes. I love potatoes more than I love baseball.” [20:25]

• Tony Kornheiser on Aaron Judge:

  • “He’s a monster… Judge is the colossus at Rhodes.” [26:38]

• Kenny McPeak on Triple Crown Decisions:

  • “Just cause you happen to win a Churchill Downs doesn’t mean you have to go for the Triple Crown.” [33:36]

• Buster Olney on MLB Spending:

  • “The Pirates have spent $1.2 billion less than the Dodgers… he’s not trying to win.” [20:54]

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Conclusion

In “Potatoes,” Tony Kornheiser seamlessly intertwines his passion for sports with personal interests, creating an episode rich in diverse discussions. From dissecting MLB team dynamics and celebrating standout players to sharing practical gardening tips and unraveling the complexities of horse racing strategies, the episode offers listeners a comprehensive and engaging experience. The addition of heartfelt and humorous listener interactions further enhances the show's relatable and entertaining nature.

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Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's Tony. On today's show, we'll talk some baseball with Buster Olney. And I'll also ask Buster some important gardening information about potatoes. And we'll talk to horse trainer Kenny McPeak about another Kentucky Derby winning horse not running in the Preakness. But first, commerce, the mother of all.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Lowe's Announcer]

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[Previous Show Announcer]

Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I said, bonnie, I'm so sorry I left the cupcakes. Is anybody in the office? Said, sarah's there. Wilburn's assistant. I said, give her the cupcake.

[Michael Wilbon]

At any point did you think asking someone to drive them to you because that's where you normally would go?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I thought about it and thought it was alarmingly selfish. However, had Matt Williamson been there? Right.

[Michael Wilbon]

That's why you're asking who's in the office.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Had Matt Williams been there, I would have said, tell them on your way home, on your way home to Virginia, Stop by the distance.

[Guest/Co-host]

Swing by.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Previous Show Announcer]

The Tony Kornheiser show is on now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So y. Yesterday, I would say about 11 o' clock in the morning, I started receiving texts from people I knew. And they all had to do with the fact that the conclave was over.

[Michael Wilbon]

Oh, they saw the smoke.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, the white smoke when the Pope was elected. And that Pope was of American origin, Chicago, Illinois. And they all asked, is Wilbon going to Rome? They said, is Wilbon. Did he play little league with him? Is Wilbon gonna say he knows the Pope?

[Michael Wilbon]

Gotta start a new text. Ch.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, and that's. Yeah, Richard Dent and Magic Johnson and the Pope. The Pope, yeah. And then I started writing back that Wilbon has already told me the Pope has called. He wants to Meet Jordan. He thinks Wilbon can arrange it and stuff like that. Then it turns out, and I'm serious, I got like about 10 of these things all about Wilbon and a Chicago Pope. And then later in the day, Mike was excited about the whole thing. But Mike thought, as everyone thought, that he was a Cubs fan because that was what was originally reported. And then indeed there was an interview with the Pope's brother, one of the Pope's brothers, who said no. Sox fan. White Sox fan?

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah, Definitively a White Sox fan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wasn't sure. And the White Sox then sent merchandise to the Vatican yesterday.

[Michael Wilbon]

What number is he wearing?

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's a small, I guess. One. I would think one, but I don't know. Oh, no. Leo the 14th. Is he the 14th or the 9th?

[Guest/Co-host]

14Th. Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Maybe it's the 14 he's wearing 14. I don't know. I was sort of like, I don't know how it works. I'm on the other side of the street. But I was sort of surprised he picked Leo. Unless he's a DiCaprio fan. I didn't know. Leo is not one you think of right away, but obviously there's a lot of Popes. But that last one was in the 1800s, right?

[Guest/Co-host]

It's been a bit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

A bit, yeah. There's a hiatus between Leos. Anyway, so everybody wanted to know about Wil Bond. And I'll find. I don't know. He didn't know as of yesterday when we did the show that the Pope was a White Sox fan. But then last night he told me that he always liked the White Sox and that his dad really liked the White Sox. Dad knew Bill Veeck. Oh, well. And so Wilbon was. Was very pleasantly inclined towards the White Sox. But Wilbon is also afraid the Pope's a Packers fan.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yes, he mentioned that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really understand that if he's a Chicagoan, why would he be a Packers fan? Yeah, this is Wilbur. We got Cookie Reynoso, of course, who does wondrous things with pictures.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Put Andy Poly's head on the Pope's outfit. Oh, my. Pope Poley is blessing people. What else do we get here? Oh, we got some things we have to read. Upcoming concert. Steve the Sick of fan said the Herndon Regional Wind Ensemble spring concert this Saturday, May 10th. It will be at Herndon High School auditorium at 6pm Dr. Lawrence Walker will conduct a fantabulous group of tunes to lighten your heart. Admission is free, and I, as always, will be available for autographs and selfies. No Natural levers will be Used during the performance. See you there. Steve the sick fan again. That's this Saturday at 6 o' clock at Herndon High School. Neville. A plug for Neville.

[Guest/Co-host]

Oh yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I am hopeful as a friend of the show Tony can make this plug for me. I am performing. Neville is performing at a storytelling show on Monday, May 12th. That's this coming this coming Monday. Yes, at Murphy's Irish Pub which is at 713 King street in Old Town Virginia. Showtime is 7pm and the theme is secrets, confessions and things your parents don't know. He attached a flyer. Tickets are $15, they're available on Eventbrite. Search for Story Extreme. As an aside, the show is produced by Stephanie Garibaldi who Tony spoke with last year as her dad was a huge fan of the Washington Post style columns, you know. And then Neville wants me to play golf with him which I'm really happy to do. Neville is going to. Neville is gonna do it. He's gonna perform. Good for Neville. Yes. So again that is next Monday night at Murphy's Irish Pub in Old Town Virginia. Got this note from Phil Hochberg. We talked about Phil Hochberg the other day. Yes. Phil was for many years the Washington football team in house. Announcer he did a lot of things like that in house and well known around town. And he said that he and I did an hour once after a football game.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah, some TV show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I don't remember that. I mean but I'm unburdened by memory. But Phil writes thank you for reading my email this morning. Having listened to it on my walk, I was eager to get home so I could listen to it again. In my eagerness to get home I tripped and fell walking right across from the entrance to Columbia and beat the heck out of my face. Broke my thumb and I'm waiting for this CAT scan results on my ribs. The only question now is I'll ask my law colleagues what is Kornheiser's liability? You know so. And also we were waiting if Andy Carpenter is listening, who is the daughter in law of my ex roommate in college, David Carpenter who lived Budweiser and frescobly listening. Yes, he lived on Budweiser's and Fresco and Cheerios and Cheerios In a bowl without milk.

[Michael Wilbon]

How about a fresco, you know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Cheerios. You know, get in touch with us so we can get in touch with him. Like you know, call or write or whatever. You know how to get to us because I'd love to talk to David. Okay. To begin the show. We're not going to Be talking today about the basketball or the hockey because we have other guests. We have a horse racing guest and we have a baseball guest. So I'll bring you all up to date. As expected, Minnesota won easily last night at home with no Steph Curry for Golden State. They won by 20 or whatever they won by. But what's interesting is that the higher seeded teams have now all completed home games. Two home games. The higher seeded teams now two and six at home.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Cleveland 02, Boston 02. I think Cleveland's in more trouble than Boston because Cleveland has injuries, injuries to key players, to starters. But I think Boston is in some trouble, too. The Minnesota golden state series is 1:1. The Oklahoma City Denver series is 1:1. But the math indicates that if Golden State and Denver can win their home games, they win the series. It's as simple as that. They have three home games. Win them all, win the series. I don't think Golden State can without Curry.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah, Curry's out for what, a week?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Maybe at least.

[Michael Wilbon]

At least three. Game four.

[Tony Kornheiser]

At least. @ least in the hockey. The Capitals. As predicted by me on the PTI show last night, the Capitals won. I watched a lot of that game. I was energized to see the first goal he split. A couple of defenders, picked up the goal right in the middle area, the ice, whatever they call that. Skated all the way in. It was a one on one shot and beat the goalie to the goalie's top left, I believe, right under the bar. It's a great shot. And goalie had no chance, but you.

[Michael Wilbon]

Could see it the entire way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I mean, it's just. It was really good. And then the Capitals went on to win that game. Three to one, I believe. Was it two to one? I think it was three to one.

[Michael Wilbon]

Three to one. Wilson got an empty net.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. At the end of the game, Wilson got an empty. So they are tied 1:1 with California.

[Michael Wilbon]

Still have been outshot by about 100 over the first two games, but it seems like they got their identity back in game two a bit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that's good. That's good.

[Michael Wilbon]

And started to, by the way, fight a little bit at the end of the game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Unlike other sports. To me, maybe I'm wrong about this. Every single person in that arena had.

[Michael Wilbon]

A red Capitals jersey in the barn.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's remarkable. Is that what they call it? The barn? Yeah, that's remarkable. Every. You didn't see anybody wearing anything other than a red Capitals jersey.

[Guest/Co-host]

That's a great home crowd.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It really is. It really is. So that was 1:1. Edmonton is 2:0, I think against Vegas. Yep. Winning in Vegas both times in overtime. I think Edmonton does. Edmonton falls behind in every game. Every single game. They fall behind and then they win. Yeah, they've got. Come on now. They've got Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who score in every game. So it's tough to. It's tough to keep them away. Yeah. But they also fall behind and make these comeback wins. Florida and Toronto. It's two. Oh, Toronto. And that's troublesome for Florida because Florida has never won a series where they fell behind two. Oh, they're 05 in series like that. And I think Dallas is 10 over Winnipeg after that racket in natural hat trick the other night, I think that's 1 0. I don't know. I don't have, you know, I don't have much to say about Dallas.

[Guest/Co-host]

1 0.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I don't have much to say about hockey. I'm not a hockey guy. I like it, but it, you know, I sort of sit and wait. Is anything going to happen here? Are they going to score? At least they shoot. Unlike soccer.

[Guest/Co-host]

I was going to say, at least they shoot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

At least they attempt to score. Yeah. But in hockey, unlike other sports, boy, it seems like there's an enormous amount of luck involved. Puck luck. It seems the puck bounces around, you know, or somebody redirects it and, you know, theoretically, it seems to me that redirecting it. What are you doing? You can screw it up, but so often on a redirect they go in.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah. Just enough to take the goalie, goalie sight line away. And then all of a sudden it's in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So it's. Hockey is. They're both fun to watch in the playoffs. Not in a regular season. NBA in the regular season. Deliver me from that. But now summer league, it's. Yeah, it's summer. Wilm likes. But so. So that brings you up to date on all of that. And I don't. I don't really have anything else. I mean, I don't really have a beginning. Should I have. Should I talk about anything? Michael made dinner for us last.

[Michael Wilbon]

You came over for pork chops.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It was great. Michael's dinner was great.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm surprised that you like the chimichurri sauce as much as you did. At least you said you liked it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I did like it. I did like it. I was afraid it was chimichurri changa, which I don't like.

[Michael Wilbon]

Oh, just a nice simple herb sauce. My highlight was after dinner. Walker likes to. Bootsy likes to play a game with his flipped over placemat which just has the outline of states.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

And now he's moved on to the world countries. But to see the two of you in your element, I would point to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The country and he would know it. He would know. Knew almost all of them. Wow. I mean, and, and sophisticated ones like Finland.

[Guest/Co-host]

Oh, okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, I mean, which one of the three that you know that are sort of together, that border or close to the old Soviet Union. He knew Finland. You know, at first he thought maybe it was Norway, but he stopped himself, said, no, that's Finland. So he knew Finland, he knew Portugal.

[Guest/Co-host]

Got to get him on its academic.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right. I mean, it was, it was pretty impressive. The other thing that was very impressive about the bootster last night was he's now beginning to understand that when he throw a ball, you take the ball back, you get your shoulder involved.

[Michael Wilbon]

Thank you, Coach Dan. Yeah, it's a good drill this Monday night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So that's always throwing the ball against the wall in the house, but it's a rubber ball.

[Guest/Co-host]

Is he a left handed pitcher? Have we determined that specialist?

[Michael Wilbon]

No, he's. He's got some heat.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's good.

[Guest/Co-host]

We could use him in the pen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. The ones that are there right now are terrible. All right, so we will get out of this show.

[Guest/Co-host]

Can I just say, without stealing thunder, because I'm pretty sure you're going to.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Talk about this with Buster beginning. Don't. Don't do it.

[Michael Wilbon]

I've been waiting for this for two days now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don't do it. I told Michael last night, wait till you hear the Buster stuff. Don't do it. Okay. I haven't told Mike. He says what is. I'm not, not telling. It's phenomenal. It's really good. It's really good. All right, so we will take a break. Is Buster first or is Kenny McPeak first?

[Guest/Co-host]

Buster is first.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Buster only when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Buster Olney]

This is the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Mother's Day is almost here and it's the perfect time to reflect on everything moms do to make life better. Whether it's the home cooked meals, the endless support, or those little moments of wisdom, moms always find a way to show up. Maybe it's bringing over your favorite food without being asked. Maybe it's how just being in her house makes everything feel right. Or how she still believes you can do absolutely anything. And yes, some moms even Treat the family dog like their grandchild. So this year, send her happy flowers for Happy Mother's Day from the Boucks Company that's short for Bouquets. And I've got 25% off for you too, so you can spread that happy around. Bouchs aren't your typical flowers. They're cut fresh from top quality farms, which means they're bigger, more vibrant and last way longer. Some are even grown on the side of a volcano. No kidding. Pick a cheerful bouquet or send a flower subscription so mom gets fresh blooms again and again. It's easy. Just choose your flowers, select a delivery date and you're done. And why stop with Mom? Share the love with aunts, grandmas, wives, anyone who deserves it. Mother's Day is May 11th, so don't wait. Go to boogs.com. use the promo code Tony for 25% off. That's B O U Q S. Promo code Tony. Use code PEOPLE.

[Commercial Announcer]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Guest/Co-host]

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[Commercial Announcer]

This is the Tony Korneiser Show.

[Dan Byrne]

It was another dark night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Orbis Max. This is their new song, their new single. Oh, Polaris. These guys are really good guys and girls, by the way. I think. I think Orbis Max is Dan Bakke, Dale Breeden, Craig Carlstrom, Danielle Silvestri, Bruce Walker, and D.W. dunphy. And D.W. dunphy sends us this Orbis Max. Good song.

[Guest/Co-host]

It's a really good song. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Vocal, really very, very good. It plays in Buster Olney. And I need to set this up because as people know, Buster is our lead correspondent for making Bagels and Milking Cows, as well as for baseball. And yesterday, because Wilbon is always 30 minutes late and I get to talk to the guest, I asked Buster this question. I said, I'm going to take a shot here. I'm pretty interested in planting potatoes in my yard. Do you know anything about planting potatoes? And the response was tremendous. Buster, can you just explain? Because my son is here and I wouldn't tell him last night that we were. We're gonna talk about baseball. We're talking about potatoes first, you know. Cause I want to plant potatoes.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm taking notes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Can you just describe how the planting of potatoes goes? Cause you have them in your garden. You do?

[Buster Olney]

Yes, we do. And I. When he asked me the question, I just. I just lit up. I was so excited about planting potatoes because it's my favorite thing to plant. Because as I explained, when you get to dig out the potatoes in the fall, it's like a holiday where you. You don't know exactly what you're going to get, but you know it's going to be really great. You know, they might. Some will be big, some will be small, but it's going to be super fun. They grow underground. So we, you know, we grew up on the farm in Vermont, and we're growing them here in Montana. Now what you do is you cut a potato with the eyes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You take a real potato. You don't go to the store and ask, do you have potato seeds? You take a real potato.

[Buster Olney]

That's exactly right. And you cut them up and include an eye on a potato. And you plant them about 4 to 6 inches deep. And you have the eye pointing toward the sky. You cover them up, you water them, you plant them generally where you're going to have a lot of sun. And when September rolls around, it is. It's like a holiday. You're opening up presents when you're digging them out. It's kind of one of the cooler things. No kidding. Last September, I had told my colleagues on Sunday night, baseball, Carl Ravitchen, Eduardo Perez. David Cohen was like, I can't wait. I'm going to dig out potatoes. And I videotaped a copy of that and sent it to them. Like, look at this. We had purple potatoes. And I think in one set, we had, like, 30 different potatoes. It was awesome.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So this is. Now I'm going to plant them. I'm going to put them in my front yard because they're underground. Who cares? But I guess my. My terrible concern is always the same. I am completely unlucky in tomatoes and peppers and zucchini because animals eat these things and I never shield them in the right way. Is how much of a danger from animals do I have? I wouldn't think it'd be that much because they're underground.

[Buster Olney]

There is some. Like last year, when we dug out our potatoes, I want to say two were sort of gnawed by voles. When you. Yeah, when you. When you pull them up, they're, you know, little. Like little critters. But it wasn't a big deal. You know, you just throw those ones off to the side, or you can cut them in half and eat the good part.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is. I'm so excited about this. I'm going to go out and buy some potatoes this weekend, and my son and I are going to plant potatoes in the front yard and. Because that's where a lot of sun is in the front yard. And we'll water them and we'll do all those things, and it'll be, as you say, an enormous surprise. So I'm so happy. I don't think there's any gardening question I have that you wouldn't know because you grew up on a farm, right? You grew up on a farm.

[Buster Olney]

Well, I did, but there certainly would be gardening questions that I don't have the answers to. But it just so happened. You absolutely landed right in my sweet spot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So great.

[Buster Olney]

I love nothing more than potatoes. I love potatoes more than I love baseball.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's so. That's great. That's great. You could get together with Kirchen, who loves avocados more than he loves baseball, and you could cook something up with avocados and potatoes. Let me get to baseball. The Pirates fired their manager. I didn't even know his name. I had no idea. The Pirates have not been relevant in a long time. I thought the first manager to go would be Bud Black. Can you tell me what you know? Who do you think's the next manager to go?

[Buster Olney]

Well, there certainly are people wondering around the sport if the Orioles will make some major change. Look, this is all speculation. Mike Elias, the head of baseball operations of the Orioles, has come out and backed Brandon Hyde, their manager, who, let's face it, you know, he was tasked to manage the team through four or five seasons of tanking, and we thought he was getting the payoff. They win 101 games in one season, 91 last season. And now it's been so ugly with the Orioles. And it does feel like that time of year, a month into it, where you know what teams are no longer saying? It's early. They're no longer saying small sample size. They're making changes. The Rangers fired their hitting coach, Donny Ecker, at the beginning of this week. Then the Pirates fired Derek Shelton, which one of one of the more ridiculous firings ever.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He was not responsible for their badness. He's not.

[Buster Olney]

I mean, the numbers I gave you last night on the show. Think about this. You know, over the last seven years, the Pittsburgh Pirates have spent $1.2 billion less than the Dodgers, which is not a surprise because the Dodgers are a big market team. But over the last seven years, they've spent 200 million less than the Milwaukee Brewers. And you know, you speak with folks with other teams and they believe that Bob Nutting, the Pirates owner, has basically hoarded revenue sharing money. He's not trying to win. He's just basically taking profit out of his team and not trying. Which is why in the statement yesterday, when, you know, he used the word urgency, it made me laugh out loud. Like, dude, you can't say that you haven't signed anybody. You haven't tried at all.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And nobody should be surprised when Paul Skeens, his contract is up when he leaves in the way that Garrett Cole left. Right. Nobody should be surprised that that went out. You think that'll happen? I think that will.

[Buster Olney]

Well, I'm sure that somewhere in the back of the Dodger clubhouse, in the back of the Yankee clubhouse, they're fitting up, fitting him for his uniform. They probably have that ready to go. Doesn't it seem inevitable that that's going to happen?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Buster Olney]

And you know what? If you're the Pirates and you don't care about winning, you're not willing to spend money, then you probably would be best served. It's all about value that's flipping him right now. I mean, why not just get, get it out of the way if you're not going to try to win with the best pitcher on the planet?

[Tony Kornheiser]

You said what I actually felt was an incredible thing yesterday on the PTI show, you said Aaron Judge is the best right handed hitter ever. Ever. You have statistics to back that up. But you, I mean, I took a deep breath and referred to it later. He's that good.

[Buster Olney]

He is that good. And I, you know, I think we all operate under a premise that the players generally get better. The pitching is more, is tougher than it's ever been, strikeout rates are higher than they've ever been. That particular skill is so difficult in this era. And he's hitting.400. And the statistic that I mentioned to me, it's the perfect one to establish his greatness. His adjusted OPS plus which measures a player against the production of his peers. And if you run through all time great right handed hitters, Henry Aaron, his best ever adjusted OPS plus was 194. Willie Mays was 185, Jimmy Foxx was 207, Mike Trout was 198. Aaron Judge is at 249 after having 223 for all of 2024. So this is not just, you know, five weeks. He right now is absolutely dominating the sport in a way that hitters don't anymore.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I was expecting his production to go down a little bit without Soto right next to him in the lineup. And it, and it hasn't. Were you expecting the same thing or is that sort of an overrated notion that when Soto left it would hurt Judge as well?

[Buster Olney]

Tony, 100%, I agree with you. In fact, during the wintertime, you know, I reached out to a bunch of people, you know, who played or in the sport now and asked and to a man, they all said, yes, there's going to be a factor, you know, Jim Palmer and Reggie Jackson and you know, the current folks who are with teams now because their feeling was, look, it's just better if you're a hitter and there's a guy on base and Juan Soto is on base constantly in front of Aaron Judge. You know, he provided protection in that way. But first off, Paul Goldschmidt, who has stepped into their lineup in his place, Ben Rice, who's been great for the Yankees so far this year, they've helped to provide some of that protection. But I think what I missed and what a lot of people missed is judges keeps on getting better. And he's applying the knowledge that he has about what opposing pitchers are trying to do. He's always had, generally speaking, good command of the strike zone. And as Aaron Boone said to me last year, when he hits the ball, because he's 6, 7 at 282. He just hits it further than anybody else. He hits it harder than anybody else.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's a monster. Like, you need everybody. It's distorted on television. It's like when you look at people, the basketball teams on television, and you think they're probably normal sized. They're not normal sized. When you see them in person, it's different. Ohtani is an oak tree, and Judge is enormous. Judge is the colossus at Rhodes. Right. I mean, they're just huge. They're huge.

[Buster Olney]

So I could. Yes, absolutely. And I think the moment when you sort of realize that is, you know, when they do they line up for the playoff game or a World Series, and Giancarlo Stan runs out there, 6 foot 6, 240 pounds, completely cut. And then Judge comes out and stands next to him and just looms over Giancarlo Stanton.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Buster Olney]

Like, it's the difference between Shaq, you know, they're centers in the NBA. And it really speaks to the greatness of Judge because it's not easy hitting a baseball, being that big, because not only is your strike zone bigger, but all your levers are bigger, you know, your arms and bringing the bat through. It's why, you know, baseball, you know, guys like Jose Altuve, Dustin Pedroia can have success as really little guys. So the fact that Judge can be this good at that size is pretty remarkable.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It really is. Last year when the Dodgers came in to Washington, I deliberately went to the game to just to physically see Ohtani. You know, I wanted to see him. And he was. Again, he's an oak tree. I mean, and his swing, his. The upward propulsion of his swing, when he hits it, it's out, right? It's just out. Just the type of swing he has. He's not chopping at the ball. He's killing it. Right? He's.

[Buster Olney]

He's absolutely destroying it. You know, exit velocities, 117, 118 miles per hour. We had the game on Sunday night last year when he almost hit the ball out of Dodger Stadium, not to right field, but to right center field. It was insane how hard he hit the ball, how far he hit the ball. And look, when he came into the big leagues, I remember talking with other players and they kind of give you the roll their eyes a little bit, like, yeah, we'll see. Yeah. Now, I mean, they're in awe of the guy. You talk to other Dodgers, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts about what Ohtani does, and they're in awe of him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Should be. They should be. I'll get you out of here on this. We are into the new rules. Two years into all the new rules, are you surprised by the effect of any one of the new rules?

[Buster Olney]

I am surprised that there has not been more of an impact offensively in a positive way. More offense with the shift rules.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Buster Olney]

That those basically those numbers have stayed close to being the same. And I think that speaks to how pitching is getting better and the dominance of pitching. And I would say this, when they put in the pitch clock, I was all for it. I thought it would greatly enhance the game. And now when you speak to players, they love it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's good to know.

[Buster Olney]

Yeah. And they really feel like it's helped the product tremendously.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The only bad thing for me is that if I forget that there's a game on and it starts at 6:30 and I tune in at about 8. Oh my God, they're in the seventh. 7:38. Buster, thank you so much. We'll keep you posted on the potatoes. Thank you.

[Buster Olney]

I can't wait. I can't wait. Send pictures, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I will, Buster. Only boys and girls, we will take a break. Kenny McPeak, who trained Derby winner Mystic Dan last year, is going to join us when we return to talk a little bit about the Preakness, but mostly about the Triple Crown. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Buster Olney]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show. Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Buster Olney]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Buster Olney]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Kenny McPeak]

The Dodgers won the pennant, but they're feeling kind of weary and so they have decided not to play in the World Series. The Chiefs won, the afc, they were on a roll, but they've chosen to skip the Super Bowl. Sovereignty won't ride in the Preakness. It's just a decision. It's not a sign of weakness. Just cause you happen to win a Churchill Downs doesn't mean you have to Go for the Triple Crown. Einstein almost finished the Theory of Gravity, then tossed it in the trash.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Bright tooth, it had a cavity.

[Kenny McPeak]

Colfax pitched 26 outs of a perfect game, then left them undecided. Baseball was kinda lame. If the Celtics win the east, they'll just be chillin with some vinyl. They've decided not to show up for the NBA Finals. Sovereignty won't ride in the Preakness. It's just a decision. It's not a sign of weakness. Just cause you happen to win a Churchill down doesn't mean you have to go for the Triple Crown. Doesn't mean you have to go for the Triple Crown.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The brilliant Dan Byrne playing us in with Kenny McPeek, the trainer of last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Mystic Dan. But because this is, this is a larger issue for me than it probably is for people in the horse racing business. But it's a larger issue for me because I grew up with the romantic notion that you should try for the Triple Crown. Sovereignty's not running in the Preakness. As a trainer who knows his trainer and knows the ownership and all of that. Kenny, are you surprised by this at all?

[Previous Show Announcer]

Not really. Bill's in a great position and his history has always been he was pretty conservative horseman and I understand it completely why he's doing that. And actually called him yesterday before this, before this call and one to congratulate him because we are good friends and just to actually pick his brain a little bit about his thoughts on it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Previous Show Announcer]

And he made some good points. He said, kenny, there's no incentive. What's the incentive to come back in two weeks? It's of course, everybody. Oh, Triple Crown.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what I would. As a sports writer, I would say the incentive is to join maybe 10 or 11 horses in the history of horse racing. That's what I would say.

[Previous Show Announcer]

Yeah, but. But he said years back there, the incentive when Visa had the. The $5 million bonus, he said there was real incentive then he said, but he really felt like the timing and he really doesn't get any pressure at all from Godolphin.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Previous Show Announcer]

Of course. That's a fantastic outfit to work for. And he just felt like coming back at Saratoga, the Belmont at Saratoga, which I think that's. This horse is based there really knows. Knows that racecourse. I think he's wise. Matter of fact, if I could have a do over, I wouldn't have gone last year. So yeah, I think it was a mistake on my part.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me get to all of these things. But Let me start with what you said about the Belmont. The Belmont is not at Belmont Park. As it gets renovated, it is no longer a mile and a half. The true test, as Andy Beyer would always say of a champion, it's in Saratoga. It's going to be a mile and a quarter. My friend David, who used to run horse racing in California, said, don't underestimate this. This is a very important part of these decisions, that the. Maybe the Belmont is easier to win now for certain horses because it's not a mile and a half. Can you explain that? Does that play in here now that the Belmont is not actually at Belmont at a mile and a half?

[Previous Show Announcer]

Well, the circumference of Saratoga doesn't. It isn't conducive to running at a mile and a half. So they can't run it at a mile and a half even if they wanted to. But I do think that surface wise, it's a similar surface. It's still a tough test. It's basically the same test as the Traverse. And I see this horse. I actually thought this was the easiest Derby to handicap ever. I thought he was so easy to see that this horse could win. And it wouldn't surprise me if he went basically Belmont, maybe he runs a prep at Jim Dandy, comes back in the Traverse. Hard to say, but. And right onto the Classic. This is a really serious horse.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You won the Derby last year. It's a fantastic. It seems to me it's a fantastic thing because it's the most well known horse race in the United States of America. You ran your horse in the Preakness, finished second, I believe it's. That's a good race. Why did you run him and why are you saying now that if you had to do it over again, you wouldn't do it?

[Previous Show Announcer]

Well, he was taxed at the end of the three. He didn't run well. He ran horrible in the Belmont. You know, he made an effort, but he was. He was over the top. Hindsight's 2020 with a lot of these things. You've got to watch how they're eating, how they're feeling into the Preakness. He actually ran a really credible race in the Preakness, although Lucas stole the race and I was proud of that race. But. But he. In Hindsight, you know, look at anytime. Hindsight, right. That's easy stuff. Yeah, but. But I wish I could have done it over because it took me a long time to get him back. He actually had a great race last weekend. But if I had skipped the Preakness, would my horse have been fresher and stronger and maybe not taken as much steam out of him for later in the year? I believe, although Brian Hernandez felt like he really didn't handle the Saratoga surface. But it is different ground in the sense that these tracks play a little bit different everywhere you go. And that is the, the challenge of the Triple Crown, which is, which makes it such a, such an amazing thing for a horse to do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Does it change it?

[Previous Show Announcer]

That's the question.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, and I'll get to that. But I think before I ask that, I'll ask this. Does the Triple Crown among trainers, maybe even among owners, does the Triple Crown not mean to you what it sort of means to the rest of us?

[Previous Show Announcer]

Well, for years we thought it was almost impossible to do again. But I think the reason why that was so difficult, because we were running on Lasix back in the 80s and the 90s, and then when we came off Lasix, I think, I actually think the races, those races were easier for horses to win because they weren't dehydrated. I love the fact that we don't race on Lasix anymore. I think it's better for the horses and they recover quicker without it. For those that don't know what Lasix is, it helps with pulmonary hemorrhaging or bleeding, although it's not a real prominent thing from my perspective. But trainers may argue, but without Lasix, I think it's easier to win. Of course, it was one years back by a whole list of horses, and then there was this long, what I think it was a 37 year drought, and then Bob Baffert knocks it out twice. But those were exceptional horses as well. It still takes an exceptional horse to do it. But, you know, Bill felt like it was right that his horse maybe wasn't the horse to go through that. Now that it's been done a couple times by Bob, maybe that does take a little shine off of it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is there? I mean, it seems to me that the solution for this would be instead of going two weeks to the Preakness and then three weeks to the Belmont, go four weeks to the Preakness and four weeks to the Belmont. Is something like that the solution? If they changed the, you know, the late time in between, would more horses go for it?

[Previous Show Announcer]

I think we're somewhat on the same page on this. I suggest. And of course, we can't control these businesses that run these races, but I suggest first Saturday in May, first Saturday in June, first Saturday in July. I think that would Be ideal. You have a pattern. There's so much emphasis put upon the safety of these horses that I think it would be valuable in the sense to change it. You know, other sports adapt and change. You know, horse racing has and is slow to come around. Can you get Pimlico to move theirs to the first Saturday in June? I think Belmont could easily move theirs. They're pretty adaptable there. But Pimlico in the city of Baltimore probably would have more of a, you know, stop sign on all, all this. But I do think that for the sport. And it also drags out the Triple Crown longer in the sense that it lasts in the public eye longer than five, six weeks. It would last for pushing, you know, two, two, two and a half, three months.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Previous Show Announcer]

And then it brings it into the Traverse and these three year olds and there, there is absolutely no three year old top stake race in the nation in July, early July. I've always felt like the first week in July was an ideal time to promote the sport because of fourth of July weekend. A lot of people vacation then. I always thought Chicago would be an ideal place to have a straight three year old grade one. But there is, there's these three powers that have to align themselves. Of course, you're never going to get the Derby to change and I wouldn't want them to, but. But can the others? Yeah, I think, I think there's, there's incentive there. So remember, spend up, spend a buck. Skipped it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Years. I remember that. I. And it's happened with a certain amount of frequency, but I was a sports writer for a long time and I view the world a little bit differently and I, I respect the records from sports that have come before. I respect that. I respect the numbers of baseball. And I would ask you this, if you stretched it out, would people be able to say, yeah, but you're no Secretariat because he did it in five weeks and you're doing it in eight weeks. Is that, would that matter?

[Previous Show Announcer]

I don't think so, no. If you look at the back story of the Triple Crown, it actually, these races have adjusted over the decades pretty significantly, going back a hundred years. I mean, you, you can go back when the date of the Preakness might have even been before the Derby. I mean, I can't recall all the movement, but there's been, and there was at one point time to run in between the Derby and the Preakness. So there's been change in the past, but we seem to be a bit rooted into it now, not changing and, you know, who's to say? But I do think that it would be prudent to do it, and I think the sport could really, really shine a little longer. It wouldn't be such a narrow period. And the other thing is, is that the NBA Finals tend to be NBA Finals when they end in June.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Mid June. Yeah.

[Previous Show Announcer]

Okay. So you get the NBA Finals over, people are always looking for something else. And that's the way it is with college basketball. Seems to go from college basketball, and people get interested in the horses for a little while, and then the NBA. Of course, we could get Wilbon off the NBA after the finals are over, and then we could actually probably get him to the RA in July, and then he might actually become a fan one of these days. I'm gonna do five good minutes, but I'm gonna keep woodpeckering. Do you guys fit me in?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I would love to do that. We would love to do that. Listen, plug your app. I know you got an app and people can pay attention to it. Plug it.

[Previous Show Announcer]

So I've always been passionate about where the sports going. And so actually it's been over a decade ago. I invented a racing app for those out there that have an iPhone or an Android. It's really easy. It's called Horse Races now. And when you download it, you simply register a username and a password and you can put in your favorite tracks, horses, trainers, jockeys, and then you allow push notifications. It's actually made just like it actually follows the ESPN model on the ESPN ScoreCenter app. And I actually was frustrated years ago by the fact that ESPN had no horse racing inside their products. And so I called a developer and I said, let's put it together. And we have, and we've been in the market. We've got a million downloads and 123 countries. The only downside is that we have ads inside the product, which I think all. I think ESPN's app has ads inside, too.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We got ads in this podcast sales weasels everywhere. It's okay.

[Previous Show Announcer]

You gotta pay the bill.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You do. Kenny, thank you. Thank you so much. It's horse races now. Thanks very much and I do appreciate all of it. Thanks.

[Previous Show Announcer]

Anytime.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Kenny McPeak, boys and girls again trained the derby winner last year. Had that walk into the winner's circle with Mystic Dan. We will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Buster Olney]

This is the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the game time read. Game time makes getting t faster and easier. Even for hard to get playoff seats, prices on the gametime app actually go down the closer it gets the tip off with amazing last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat and the lowest price guarantee, GameTime takes the guesswork out of buying NBA playoff tickets. You've done this. You bought tickets at Game Time?

[Guest/Co-host]

I have. It's a fantastic app and I know we'll probably get into it in a minute, but the best thing is the view from the seat to be like what is, what is this going to look like when I sit in my seat? Am I going to be happy? And once you have that information, you make the purchase.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. I mean to me that that's something that changes how you view everything. The absolute here's where I'm sitting, here's what I get to see. Yes, Game Time has great last minute deals that help you save up to 60% off buying last minute for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, etc. Game time picks make last minute ticket buying easier than ever by quickly highlighting the best deals in the stadium zone. Deals let you save even more when you choose a section. Let Game Time choose the seats. When you toggle the all in pricing feature, it shows the total up front with no surprise fees at checkout. My personal favorite is the Seat View gives you a panoramic view from your seat in the app before you buy Game Time. Ticket coverage means that your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code Tony for $20 off your first purchase Terms apply again, create an account and redeem code T O n y for $20 off. Download the Gametime app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.

[Buster Olney]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheise.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's our great friend Bill Pitcher, the large organ. Just that sound is so sportsy. Oh yeah, it's just so sports. It makes you. Makes you feel so happy. Can you do the Bethesda Bagel ad for us, please?

[Guest/Co-host]

Yes, Bethesda bagels. We love them. You will as well. Just go to BethesdaBaggles.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, you know my temperatures rise and Tupacs blowing a fuse. Hearts beating rhythm and soul keeps singing the blues. Roll over Beethoven Tell Tchaikovsky the news. That's Charles F. Berry. I once wrote roll over Valvano Tell Kyzyzewski. The news and the column made me happy. Thanks to our guest today, buster only, Kenny McPeak. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Odyssey. Get show through Apple. Please leave us a review okay. From Reese in London. There are some worse than him. Talking about Jose Ferrer. Not the worst picture, he writes. There are some worse than him. To paraphrase a famous idiot, that's nasty. Funny. Can I interest you in Ryan Lovelady of my formerly beloved Toronto Blue Jay? He's pitched 1.2 innings in 2025 and has an ERA of 21.6. Now that's what I call hocus pocus junk. Yeah, but. But Jose Ferreira keeps going out there. Yeah, Lovelady's not going out there. Jose Ferreira is put out there all the time. Peter Jennings. Not that Peter Jennings. Your daily Nats updates diatribes are the absolute best entertainment content in the sports podcast world. Thank you. By the way, I missed the game today due to a long plane flight. How did Jorge. Jorge Lopez pitch? He stinks. He pitches the same as he pitches every day. Stinks. I think the Nats are on the verge of making a run. That's funny. We're back in residence at the Tokyo American Club. If Nigel can send your box of that address, I'll be delighted to send you some bling. The show continues to be right up there with my favorite podcast, along with John Wall's Point Game where he shares a secret of Game six success Serenity. Now, Peter Jennings. Kenny Ray, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Do you double dip with chessy spoon in the peanut butter? If so, consider that jar yours. Of course I do. Sure I do. Malcolm Smith, Tipton, Indiana. This in my humble is the MVP most valuable peanut butter for your snacking pleasure. Just FYI. Honey peanut butter spread creamy 16 ounces, which you get at Kroger. Apparently. It's the. It's a Kroger local brand. Is there a Kroger around here?

[Guest/Co-host]

I don't think there is.

[Michael Wilbon]

Not near here.

[Guest/Co-host]

I feel like that's.

[Michael Wilbon]

But any. Any peanut butter that is. The honey added into it is. That's a treat. That's not. That's not peanut butter.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that's. Well, whatever. Tom Miller, Davidson, North Carolina. It's your 2025 World Cruise Correspondent reporting on day 124 of our 197 day around the World cruise. The good news is that we narrowly avoided a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok. The road construction in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by the locals, has been completed, thus relieving much of the challenging traffic, and the Sultan of Brunei appears to be still in strong financial condition. The bad news is that the heat, humidity and highly questionable street food found in the Philippines and Indonesia has taken its toll on the ever aging clientele of our ship. It seems that an ambulance awaits at each port to deliver yet another senior citizen to a local hospital. No formal ice cream parties have been declared as of yet, but I have noticed recently that I received two scoops of ice cream instead of the usual single scoop earlier in the voyage. Could they need extra room down in the freezer? Only 73 more days left in our epic journey around the world. To quote Coach Belichick, on to Australia. It's fabulous. It's fabulous. From who's this from? From Jason this is from Jason Best in Springfield, Illinois, who writes I enjoy your podcast on my commute to work this morning, While fully expecting Wilbon's lack of surprise at Golden State's Game 7 first round upset, my mind wandered back to another place in time. The year 1200 BC the locale Judea. Tony donning a tunic tied at the waist with a braided rope belt and his fro complimenting his orange face. Wilbon dressed to the nines in a cloak woven from the finest textiles imported from Babylon. The two sit at a table of stone and wood. Tony excitedly turns to a sleepy Wilbon, who had just arrived late the night before from the Syrian capital of Toronto and says, mike, were you surprised by the upset of David and the Israelites over Goliath and the Philistines last night? I was shocked. Shocked were you? And a calm and collected Wilbon replies, tony's slingshot is a very underrated weapon and the bravery combined with the experience of a warrior like David can overcome a lot of things. No, I wasn't surprised. And many people I trust. I'm talking about guys like Yashabim and Eleazar, guys who've been in these battles. They weren't surprised. He's either Eat it Ryan Mark it's very funny and he encloses a drawing.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah, it's a great drawing of you too. From Babylonia.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really nice. Mitch Gotti Long time, first time. There's no way to express how much your show has meant to me over the years. And before that, listening to and watching ptr. Your view of sports and the world around us shaped who I am today. To the point that despite our 47 year age difference, I told the woman who is soon to be related to me by marriage within five minutes on her first date. I'm very much an old man, get off my lawn type of person. I've gotten her to occasionally listen to the podcast on long drives throughout the Midwest, Iowa and the surrounding area. Mr. Wilbond, not Toronto. Thanks for all the laughs over the years. My best to you and Nigel and Michael and he encloses a picture of of he and his intended and they are having they're getting married on May 24th in Iowa City. Isn't that nice? That's lovely. Yes. Maybe I was city maybe they could get Caitlin Clark to show up. Oh sure, maybe they could do that. From Ron Jensen in Galesburg, Illinois during my morning walk recently, I heard a mention of your show in the movie Let It Ride, starring Richard Dreyfuss, which Nigel mentioned. The movie was from a book written by Jay Cronley. He was a columnist at the Tulsa Tribune when I was a reporter there in the mid-1980s. He wrote several funny novels, including two others that were made into movies, Funny Farm, which starred Chevy Chase, and Quick Change, with Bill Murray as a bank robber dressed as a clown. Much of the funny dialogue in the movies was taken directly from Jay's books. My favorite book was his first Fall Guy, a laugh out loud tale about a highly recruited high school football player's adventure as a college athlete. It's funny because it's true. Jay wrote a thrice weekly general interest column for the Tribs news pages, but during football season he wrote a bitingly funny prediction column for the sports page under the byline the Picker. He also wrote about horse racing for ESPN. Jay passed away in 2017, but his books remain available on Amazon, and some of the movies he inspired can be seen on screening services. He is in the Oklahoma Writers hall of Fame. I admired Jay and thought you should know about the newspaper columnist behind the movie you mentioned. That's very nice. From Ron Jensen in Galesburg, Illinois.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah, Quick Change is also that's a really fun movie.

[Tony Kornheiser]

John Buchanan, Chuck and Roxy276 of Annapolis, Maryland Happy to have spotted my dad's chips at Green Valley in Arnold, Maryland. One mile off Route 50. On your way to the beach?

[Guest/Co-host]

Stuck up on the way out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Know that. Jeff Barger, Hillsboro, North Carolina I'm currently reading a novel named A Man Called ovi. I read this passage and I thought I was reading about you. For the last 20 years, practically every human being he's met has done nothing but drone on at Obie about how he should be paying for everything by card. But cash has always been good enough for Obi. Cash has in fact served humanity perfectly well for thousands of years. And Obiwan doesn't trust the banks and all their electronics. Perhaps we need a novel with the title of man called Tony. Last night I gave my daughter in law a check and she. And this was like at 6 o' clock, 6:30 at night. And she did something, took a picture, did something and deposited immediately. Yeah. And didn't need the check anymore. And I looked at her and I just thought, what world are you from? I can't. This is bothers. This bothers me. You know that.

[Michael Wilbon]

Oh yeah. A game you do not. Do not recall.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't understand how it works, Ron. Flatter. Bob Ryan did not object to the idea that the warriors surprised the Timberwolves in game one. I was stunned. Doesn't he always say a seven over six? We have to have Flatter on next week. Okay, Steve the sycophant with an actual email here. He took a picture of the rainbow that we talked about. Not a great shot, I'll admit, but the only time I've been able to photograph a horizon to horizon and rainbow shot during a Fairfax County Parkway traffic jam. Yeah, it was gorgeous. My memory of it is seared, you know, But I couldn't go horizon to horizon. I mean, I had. I can't see the horizon.

[Guest/Co-host]

No, you just got a little.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Nice. Really not. Brandon Borzelli, Lebanon, New Jersey. If David Carpenter is looking to get in touch with you have a mail you disguise bill for Pepco or any other utility with an inflated delivery charge, he should receive a a phone call. Just let him know how to hold the receiver away from his ear until you've stopped shouting representative before he answers your call. Derek from Akron. I'm wondering if Tony remembers my mom, Kathy Brown. She watches PTI nearly every day. It's funny, it's fun. Rob Lowe. Not that Rob Lowe. If you think too little's named Rob Lowe is a coincidence, I'll up the ante. I too was born, raised and spent most of my life in Ohio. In fact, I lived about 15 minutes from North Royalton. Amazing that we never crossed paths. This is the Rob Lowe from Orange County, California. Not from. Not from Ohio. One day we'll have to meet up and swap war stories on awful Rob Lowe jokes we've received. If you think being named Rob Lowe in Ohio is tough, try living in Southern California. You've never witnessed disappointment like the look on a hostess's face when a guy that is clearly not that Rob Lowe walks in and claims the Rob Lowe reservation in the restaurant.

[Guest/Co-host]

By the way, there's some incident with the real Rob Lowe where there was like a Hollywood tour recently and I can't remember if they confused him, but the guide was like, and everybody, it's Jimmy Smith. Rob Low was like, you've got to get better at your job.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Something like awful like Jimmy Smith is like 6 4.

[Guest/Co-host]

Oh, he's a tall drink of water.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, he's really big. You look anything like Rob Lowe.

[Guest/Co-host]

Yeah, it was something like that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And from Tom Bonduron in Memphis. You're in my thoughts and prayers. I can't imagine how insufferable Will Bond will be to have a pope born in Chicago. Talk about infallibility. Everyone, as always do.

[Lowe's Announcer]

Where?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Why? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Saturday.

[Dan Byrne]

It was another dark night but our day on I was deep in despair when I heard you call my guiding light you held my hand you broke me up in many ways I'll never understand A northern star I thought I saw you there yes, you gave and you forgave and you almost make me feel like I was someone worth saving oh, hilarious. You gave and you forgave and you almost made me feel like I was someone worth saving Like I was someone worth saving. The way war Orion spelt I'm sure it's jealousy rage that you just some narrow dwell on the past break.

[Kenny McPeak]

But.

[Dan Byrne]

I hurt you so beneath that starlight shine I made the cardinal mistake Trying to keep you a spine ask you to stay was like the moonlight to the day hopefully you can that you forgave and you almost made me feel like I was someone with sa. You gave and you forgave and you almost made me feel like I was.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Someone.

[Dan Byrne]

Sam.

[Kenny McPeak]

The Dodgers won the pennant, but they're feeling kind of weary. And so they have decided not to play in the World Series. The Chiefs won the afc. They were on a roll, but they've chosen to skip the Super Bowl. Sovereignty won't ride in the Preakness. It's just a decision. It's not a sign of weakness. Just cause you happen to win a Churchill Downs doesn't mean you have to go for the Triple crown. Einstein almost finished the theory of gravity, then tossed it in the trash. My tooth.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It had a cavity.

[Kenny McPeak]

Koufax pitched 26 outs of a perfect game, then left them undecided. Baseball was kinda lame. If the Celtics win the east, they'll just be chillin with some vinyl. They decided not to show up for the NBA Finals. Sovereignty won't ride in the Preakness. It's just a decision. It's not a sign of weakness. Just cause you happen to win a Churchill down doesn't mean you have to go for the Triple Crown. Doesn't mean you have to go for the Triple Crown.