“Snakedraft”

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Tony Kornheiser Show — “Snakedraft” (January 9, 2026)

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Episode Overview

This episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show" delivers its signature blend of sports talk, current events, and quirky banter. The main segments revolve around the recent firing of several NFL coaches and what’s ahead for the league as the wild card weekend nears. The familiar cast—Tony, Michael Wilbon, Jason La Canfora, and friends—also delves into college football, personal anecdotes, listener correspondence, and, naturally, a snake draft for plush hybrid animals.

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Key Discussion Points

1. College Football Playoff Analysis

• Miami vs. Ole Miss Recap

  • Tony thought Ole Miss would win, but Miami’s offensive line impressed by controlling possession and executing sustained drives.
    • “Miami was better. Miami's offensive line pushed Mississippi, pushed Ole Miss around…” [01:18]
  • Carson Beck’s pivotal last drive and rare rushing touchdown were highlighted.
  • The nostalgia of Miami bringing out Ray Lewis and Edgerrin James, versus Ole Miss with Eli Manning, set the stage for a “legacy” atmosphere.

• Notre Dame vs. Miami Playoff Berth

  • Tony expressed lingering disagreement about Miami’s selection over Notre Dame, despite Miami's early-season win over them.
    • “Miami was the last team in…they jumped them over Notre Dame. And they did that because Virginia failed to beat Duke in the ACC championship.” [04:08]
  • The panel discussed the narrative of Miami’s “resurrection,” yet Tony felt the better underdog story would be Indiana.

• Coach Mario Cristobal’s Narrative

  • The poetic possibility of Cristobal (Miami alum and ex-Oregon coach) facing his former team for the national title was discussed.

2. NFL Coaching Carousel

• Fired Coaches—Surprises and Expectations

  • Jason La Canfora outlines the big NFL firings: Giants and Titans let go midseason, but the John Harbaugh firing in Baltimore generated the most reaction.
    • “Were you surprised? I was surprised by John Harbaugh…” — Tony [13:34]
    • Jason explained the Ravens had to make a change, and Harbaugh “is probably the right guy for six or seven other teams.”
      • “He’s not the right guy here anymore…he was done firing coaches.” [15:36]
  • Potential Landing Spots for Harbaugh
    • Atlanta called a “sneaky, good job.”
      • “I think Atlanta is a sneaky, good job for him.” — Jason [16:21]
    • Green Bay a wildcard if things go south with Matt LaFleur.
      • “If they get together and are like, you know what Steve Ross just did, like, who do we think is better to win in this window?” [17:28]

• Other Fired Coaches

  • Stefanski (Cleveland) expected to get another job, notably tied to the NY Giants opening.
    • “I have a hard time thinking Kevin Stefanski doesn't get a job.” [18:46]

• Would Harbaugh have survived with a playoff win?

  • Likely not; uncomfortable conversations around his staff and internal dynamics would have persisted regardless.
    • “I think these same uncomfortable conversations…they're still having those conversations.” [20:13]

3. Wild Card Playoffs and Key Matchups

• Game Picks and Analysis

  • Standout games: Buffalo at Jacksonville and 49ers at Eagles.
    • Jason likes home teams in both: “I like them fairly considerably. This is a real tough matchup for San Francisco…And I just think Jacksonville is a better team than Buffalo.” [22:07]
  • Noted Buffalo QB Josh Allen’s poor “against the spread” playoff history, and Jacksonville as a more complete team.

• Betting Plug

  • Want to hear more? Jason plugs his betting content at wantabetwithus.com, tracking bets and breaking down plays and markets. [24:10]

4. Weekly Picks with James Carville and Jeff Ma

• James Carville Basks in 6-0 Record

  • “One more time, 6 and oh. And is now 51, 47 and 2.” [26:23]

• Carville’s Picks

  • Over 52 (game unspecified), over 48 (Indiana-Oregon), Packers over Bears, Jaguars (+1.5) over Bills, Eagles (-4.5) over 49ers.
  • Believes Trevor Lawrence “is a real quarterback. I thought he was in college...now all of a sudden, he looks like a Pro Bowl player every day.” [28:38]
  • Picks Indiana because “until you get beat, you're the best.” [29:49]

• Jeff Ma’s Picks

  • College: Ole Miss (+3), Indiana (-3.5)
  • NFL: Packers (-1 vs. Bears), Jaguars (+1), Steelers (+3)
  • Analysis revolves around undervalued teams and the importance of matchups, especially Pittsburgh’s advantage over Houston due to pass rush and quick passing. [43:23]

5. Golf Story: Playing with Jon Rahm

• Jeff Ma describes his surprise round of golf with major champion Jon Rahm in Hawaii.
  • “He shot a 63 that day, but if you had looked at him, you would have thought he was Kurt Signetti…He’s a very stoic and competitive person…” [33:20]
  • Did not ask Rahm about LIV Golf: “I don't know if it was something I felt like I could do…just being happy to be on the same tee box as him…” [34:28]
  • A touch of humility: Jeff parred the #1 handicap hole, a net eagle courtesy of his strokes.

6. Listener Mailbag and Anecdotes

• Letters range from nostalgic tales of candlepin bowling and TV game shows, to academic “connective tissue” moments, and quirky social observations about old phrases.
• Notable Quote: “There’s not a bad bowling alley French fry in the world.” — Tony [48:02]
• Odes to local businesses and sponsorship shoutouts pepper the close.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Miami’s legacy:
  “At the beginning of that game, when they bring out Edgerton James and Ray Lewis…that’s impressive, this legacy. Mississippi brings out Eli Manning. That’s impressive. But Ray Lewis is a storied figure in college and professional football and when he comes out there, it feels like a big deal.” — Tony [02:55]

• On the NFL coaching carousel:
  “He’s not the right guy here anymore…he was done firing coaches. He was sick of gutting his staff while the guys who picked the players—nothing changes over there.” — Jason La Canfora [15:36]

• On betting:
  “We try to keep it to 35 minutes a day, but you know, if it’s a three-lobster night, stuff happens and we will give you all our best plays.” — Jason La Canfora [24:13]

• On playing with Jon Rahm:
  “He shot a 63 that day, but if you had looked at him, you would have thought he was Kurt Signetti…He’s a very stoic and competitive person.” — Jeff Ma [33:20]

• Bowling wisdom:
  “There’s not a bad bowling alley French fry in the world.” — Tony Kornheiser [48:02]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:18] — Miami vs. Ole Miss Game Recap
• [04:08] — Miami’s Path to the Playoffs and Notre Dame Controversy
• [13:34] — NFL Coaches Fired: Harbaugh and Others
• [16:21] — Best Landing Spots for Harbaugh
• [18:46] — Will Other Fired Coaches Land Jobs?
• [20:13] — Would Harbaugh Have Been Fired With a Playoff Win?
• [22:07] — Wild Card Playoff Game Picks
• [26:23] — James Carville’s 6-0 Week & Picks
• [33:20] — Jeff Ma Plays Golf with Jon Rahm
• [35:15] — Golf Anecdote: Playing from the Same Tee Box
• [43:23] — Jeff Ma’s NFL Analysis and Picks
• [48:02] — The Bowling Alley French Fry Standard
• [49:26+] — Extended Listener Mail and Storytelling

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains the show’s relaxed, conversational style with witty asides, personal flourishes, and the warmth of old friends catching up over sports, news, and nostalgia. Tony’s blend of sports insight, self-deprecation, and connective tissue humor is as present as ever.

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For listeners and non-listeners alike, this episode is a rich sampler of The Tony Kornheiser Show’s strengths: timely sports analysis, deep bench of regular guests, and the effortless meshing of sports, humor, and gentle curmudgeon wisdom.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk to Jason Locanfour about all the NFL coaches fired this week. We will also talk to him about what he expects to see in the wild card round this weekend. Plus, James Carville and Jeff Ma will call in with their weekly picks. But first, let's do some commerce, boys and girls. So here's the thing with homemade meals. Eating them is great, but all the chopping and measuring and cleanup, not so much. With new one pan assemble and bake meals from Blue Apron, you, you get all the flavor of homemade meals with a fraction of the work. Just assemble the pre chopped ingredients, bake in the oven and enjoy shop, assemble and [e-mail], get 50% off your first two orders with code APRON50. Terms and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com terms for more. Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show. It's early in the morning. How's Lebatard? Is he sweating yet? Is everything okay down there?

[Michael Wilbon]

Is he, he, he goes to bed and wakes up sweating, you know?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. Everything good in those studios?

[Michael Wilbon]

I think so. It's rather palatial, to be honest with you. I'm in a spare studio right now. I'm enclosed. It's, it's glorious down here.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's nice. That's nice. I mean, the best thing about Dan is that Dan, of course, hates all authority and now he is the authority. So he hates himself. The Tony Kornheiser show is on now. If you're going to have college games, you ought to have a good one. I was, you know, that's a wonderful game. I thought Ole Miss was going to win the game before the game, but if you watch that game, Miami was, I don't want to say dominant. Miami was better. Miami's offensive line pushed Mississippi, pushed Ole Miss around, did. They had a lot of long drives. They sustained these drives. They held the ball for eight, nine minutes at a time.

[Jason Locanfour]

Coming back from third and long often.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they, they made their third down plays and at the end, the winning drive and you don't know it's the winning drive because the other team is going to end up with a Hail Mary situation which by the way, there's all sorts of pass interference and you never call it, you can't, you don't call it on that play.

[Jason Locanfour]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Call it on the play before that play, but you don't call it on that play. So in that last drive, the. Carson Beck was really good. And then he, he pranced into the end zone, which he apparently doesn't do. That's only the second time all year he had a rushing touchdown.

[Kurt Signetti]

Well, he's an old man.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's a, he's 23. Yeah, he's a throwing quarterback. He is now in his college career at two really fine football schools, Georgia and Miami. He's 18 and three against ranked opponents. You know, would you want to take a chance on a guy like that? I think you would, yes. It's not just him, it's the team as well. But he's 18 and three now against ranked opponents. I, I felt the better, I mean, I, as a newspaper writer, I felt, I feel that the best championship would be Indiana and Ole Miss because the storylines are just so good. And you can say Miami is back from the doldrums. You can say that. But everybody, it doesn't matter what Miami's record is, everybody always thinks they're a good football school. And the fact that they haven't won a national championship in 25 years. Well, Indiana hasn't won one in 3,000. So, you know, I don't, I don't know about that, but I think too much is going to be made about the resurrection of Miami and, But it is, you know what, at the beginning of that game, when they bring out Edgerton James and Ray Lewis, you know, that's impressive, this legacy. Mississippi brings out Eli Manning. Yeah. And that's impressive. But Ray Lewis is a storied figure in college and professional football and when he comes out there, it feels like a big deal. Oh, yeah.

[Jason Locanfour]

And now they get an intimidating figure. Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And now they get their home field. Yeah. Now, I don't know what that means. I don't know what the ticket distribution is, but they get their home field.

[Kurt Signetti]

At least for them, it means they.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don'T have to travel.

[Kurt Signetti]

You know, the convenience of, you know, this is familiar to us.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're kids, they like to travel. Well, that's, you know, they would like to travel, but it, you know, all praise to them. I'm still, look, my position has never varied, that Notre Dame should be in and Miami, Miami was the last team in and Miami had to get in by the grace of the playoff committee, which had for five previous weeks ranked them behind Notre Dame by at least two spots. And then at the last moment, they jumped them over Notre Dame. And they did that because Virginia failed to beat Duke in the ACC championship. Had Virginia won that game, Virginia was a two or three loss team. They would have gotten in. Miami would be Miami would be watching like Notre Dame is watching, you know. But is Miami worthy? 100%. They've won three games in this thing, all single elimination games. They're totally worthy team. They always were a worthy team. But I just didn't think as worthy as Notre Dame. Even though Wilbon would point out they beat Notre Dame. They beat Notre Dame in the first game of the season in August. They did. You know, Notre Dame, I thought had a better run after that. But you know, look, I'm not, I'm not saying that Miami does not belong because they obviously belong and they did a great job last night. They did a great job. And now, now the other great story would be. And this eliminates Indiana. The great story would be if Marco Cristobal. Who? Mario Cristobal. Right. It's not Marco, it's Mario Cristobal. I think so. He coached at Oregon. He left Oregon to coach at Miami. Miami is his alma mater. He played at Miami. He's happy. This is where he wants to be. But the notion that he would meet his old team in a national championship is pretty good, you know, and that would. And you can live with that. It's not as good as Indiana.

[Jason Locanfour]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because Indiana has been actually the worst, had the worst record of any football school, school that played football. He's not a football schools basketball school obviously ever.

[Kurt Signetti]

Do you think Signetti goes to the the field tonight with the tape measure and the team and says I think you'll find the same measurements at our stadium back in Hickory.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, you know, he's, he's an interesting. He's scowling all the time. Wilbon must love him because he, he hates everybody. He clearly hates everybody. All right, so I got this nice note from Michael Masson who writes. I wrote in last January about my Joe Garagiola Stan Musial connection and promised to send Michael's boys our lineup of hybrid animal characters. When our company launched, you predicted I'd write back because of your mention of Eddie Longo's. Eddie married my wife's cousin. The omnipresent connective tissue. Our company Zabanki Z E B O N K Y is now officially launched Hybrid animal plushies with children's books in development. A box with our first six characters was sent to Michael. We certainly hope Bootsy, the Hammer and the Captain enjoy them as much as our three boys the same age do. Tuning in is likely the most consistent part of my joyfully hectic life. Feels like catching up with old friends. Same rhythm, same table. Still in Ann Arbor. Still Stepping on Legos. Still know what it means to miss.

[Jason Locanfour]

New Orleans Stepping on Legos?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I Learned my everyday 10 year old masculine child is cleaning up listening to the pod. A 10 year old kid?

[Jason Locanfour]

Really?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Does that make him a little.

[Jeff Ma]

Little?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I guess it does. Now will you describe what these are?

[Jason Locanfour]

Hybrid stuffed animals. So think about the stuffed animal that you might have experimented on as a kid if you're in Toy Story and Sid. So I'm looking at Axel Axolotl. Not sure you needed to combine an Axolotl with an otter, but they did. My favorite part is the picture. I mean there's something so powerful about birth order. The boys are smiling with their stuffies and I can just see my kids in this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you're thrilled?

[Jason Locanfour]

I'm thrilled. Liz is terrified.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Why?

[Jason Locanfour]

I gave her a little preview. These are the things of very cute but still nightmares.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really?

[Jason Locanfour]

No, they're cool.

[Michael Wilbon]

They're very, very cool.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So you left them here yesterday and I thought what are you doing?

[Jason Locanfour]

But you'll take Charlie the chimpanzee. I can already look at the kids fighting over who gets what, how many.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But there's six of them.

[Jason Locanfour]

Right, okay.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well you only have three kids. Like you know, may the strongest man.

[Jason Locanfour]

Win a snake draft.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know. Yeah. I think it's pretty exciting. I do. I think it's pretty exciting when, when, when people say they're going to do stand up stuff and they actually do. It's. It's always thrilling. Yes, it is. It's. It's not. It doesn't mean we want it. Okay. It doesn't mean we're casting about for it. Right. But you know, I also, I wanted to mention I don't want to read this on the air without permission from Steve Tucker, but we're glad his health is better.

[Kurt Signetti]

Yes, very much.

[Tony Kornheiser]

A really moving email. Yeah. Keeping your thoughts really moving email. Okay, so we will get out of here now and we will bring in Jason. That's correct. We have, we have Carville and Ma picking games. And I say before they go on, just so you know, we taped this last night but we taped it before the game. Yes. So they had no knowledge of the game. As you can. You'll see. As you'll see. So Jason Lucken for when we return, I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. Every Friday from 6 to 7:30, it's NBA happy hour on FanDuel. Your pregame for the weekend. We're talking limited time specials. You won't want to miss Boosts, bonuses, surprises all dropping in the app during happy hour. So before tip off, check the FanDuel app to see the week's specials. Then make your move before the shot clock expires at 7:30 Eastern. It's a perfect way to start your weekend. Little basketball, little action and a whole lot of Friday energy. That's NBA Happy Hour every Friday from 6 to 7:30pm Eastern only on FanDuel. Official sportsbook partner of the NBA must.

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Prime's exclusive wild card playoff game is Saturday night Jordan Love and the packers take on Caleb Williams and the Bears. Not a Prime member. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to stream the game.

[Jeff Ma]

That's gonna be hard for the touchdown.

[Tony Kornheiser]

NFC north rivals square off in the latest chapter of the NFL's oldest feud, the packers and Prime's exclusive wild card playoff game Saturday at 7:30pm Eastern only on Prime. Sign up for a 30 day free trial today. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show. This is a song called Clams Casino by someone named Brian Dunn, who is a New York kid. I've never seen him perform until I saw him do this song. Alex Padregar, our friend at Pinehurst, the director of public relations, wrote me a note saying, loves this song. You should play this song. And I said, well, Alex, you can't just play songs. And he said, I'm on it. And he talked. Talked to Brian Dunn's management, and they wrote me a note. Wrote him a note that he sent to me saying, fine, you know, play it. It's great. And it's called Clams Casino. When Nigel was trying to get permission from Brian Dunn's management as well and say, we're gonna play it on such and such a date, you were stifled by the fact that, well, there's an.

[Kurt Signetti]

Artist whose name is Clams Casino, which struck me as very odd.

[Jeff Ma]

You knew that?

[Jason Locanfour]

No, I've just been googling myself.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Kurt Signetti]

Yeah. And it's like, oh, no. We just want the song, not the artist. But this is a tremendous, tremendous song.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Kurt Signetti]

Well done, Brian.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Brian Dunn. Michael. If people, independent artists like Brian Dunn want their music played on the show or their management group does, or Alex Podligard does, how do. How does he go?

[Jason Locanfour]

Better send us your music by emailing it to [e-mail] and New Year, new code. Johnny O. Is running a bunch of promos on the site right now, so you can't double up. But we do have a code for the month. T.K. gutter.

[Jeff Ma]

Gutter balls.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because I don't have. I'm not throwing it off the bumpers.

[Jason Locanfour]

Hey, you have the choice to play in that lane. You chose yours.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right. I'm staying in my own lane. Staying in my own lane. All of this stuff plays in Jason Lockenfora. Oh, what was that? Not sure. That was a weird noise.

[Jeff Ma]

My daughter off at work. Sorry. She's just getting out of the car.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, okay.

[Jeff Ma]

Perfect timing, of course.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. Wonderful. You know, basically, what I want to talk about is the firings. You know, a lot of coaches are out. Couple of coaches were out in the middle of the year. The Giants coach was out. The Titans coach was out. And then a bunch have been fired since. Were you surprised? I was surprised by John Harbaugh? I'm not sure you were. Were you surprised by any of them?

[Jeff Ma]

Well, surprised by McDaniel, but yes and no. Like they were going to keep him. They told him he was okay. They were formulating their plans for whatever they could do with tua. And then Stephen Ross, who, if you'll recall, got himself into a bit of hot water, you know, chasing various Michigan men in the past.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Jeff Ma]

Not that John Harbaugh is a Michigan man, but Ross is a Michigan man. Harbaugh's brother won a national title at Michigan. He got caught, you know, tampering with Tom Brady in Michigan. Man. And now all of a sudden, Jim Harbaugh is officially on the market.

[Tony Kornheiser]

John. John Harwell.

[Michael Wilbon]

Not John.

[Jeff Ma]

Sorry.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jeff Ma]

So if you had given me that data point, I would have said, oh, yeah, no, I could totally see the Miami Dolphins handling the coaching situation that way. The Ravens needed to make a change. The question was, would Steve Bishotti, at this stage of his ownership tenure and as embedded to this duo of. Of Harbaugh and Dacosta as he was, would he actually pull the trigger? You know, was. Was he willing to go talk that 12, 14 different people, you know, and seriously consider restaffing his franchise in a way he hasn't had to do in 20 years? So that was sort of the only dangling part of simple. But if you really chronicle this thing, they had to make a change. And John Harbaugh is probably the right guy for six or seven other teams right now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what I want to ask you. Yeah. Which.

[Jeff Ma]

He's not the right guy here anymore. Like, he wasn't. He was done firing coaches. He was sick of gutting his staff while the guys who picked the players. Nothing changes over there. Like, it's the same personnel people. It's the same. No, it's the same analyst. It's the same quants. Like, why are you always coming to me saying I gotta blow out all my top guys? But the dudes picking the players just continue to pretend like, you know, like they're not a part of this. And so it came to a head. They came to a head quickly.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And.

[Jeff Ma]

Steve Boshati is off the yacht, and he's going to be talking to people.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Harbaugh will get a job. Is there a job out there that you think is the best job for him?

[Jeff Ma]

I think Atlanta. I'll put it to you this way. I think Atlanta is a sneaky, good job for him. The bar has been set really low there. They haven't had an established coach come in, I think, since Dan Reeves. I mean, you can look at the lineage of the hires there. And so I think it would command immediate. It would just be a whole different thing than they've ever had under Arthur Blank. As we just saw, the division came down to a three way tie break in which the Atlanta Falcons, in a season in which they fired everybody, were basically tied for first. So, like, there's a void there. You can step in and win immediately. I mean, I believe he's got a sister who works at University of Georgia. He could bring Todd Monkin with him. That would be celebrated there. Todd Monkin ran Georgia's offense when they won a national title. Todd Monkin, but Michael Penix, who are you getting? Who could be like, tell me these other candidates who are bringing an offensive coordinator with them or who are the play caller who maybe are more equipped for that unique challenge than a Todd Monkin would be. So, and I think Arthur Blank, if he, and I shouldn't say if. I mean, it's probably more like when, when he gets in a room with Arthur Blank, I think Arthur Blank's going to be like, oh my God, nobody's outbidden me for this guy. And I think Steve, I think Harbaugh is going to be like, this dude's got a lot of Bishotti in this game, which he's comfortable with. The wild card will be Green Bay. If Matt Lafleur. If that thing gets ugly in Chicago and their board of Governors, or whatever they call it, board of Trustees, because it's a different ownership, you know, paradigm in Green Bay. If they get together and are like, you know what Steve Ross just did, like, who do we think is better to win in this window? Do we want to pay Lafleur? You know, do you want to extend him at 15, 17 a year? Do we want to pay hardball, 20 a year? You know, Brian Harbaugh's agent or John Harbaugh's agent, I'll get these names right, eventually. Is Brian Harlan, Kevin Harlan's brother, son of Bob Harlan, who was a decorated executive of the Green Bay packers for generation. Like, he's a child of the Midwest, credible coaches, Miami of Ohio. I'm sure when him and his brother were in the backyard listening to Browns games, they could pick up the Green Bay feed too. Like, I think Green Bay would be. Would be right up his alley.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Are any of the other coaches who were let go likely to get jobs this year?

[Jeff Ma]

I have a hard time thinking Kevin Stefanski doesn't get a job. I mean, it got ugly there in Cleveland. And some of the stuff he did this year, he's going to have to explain. But if you're in the game, you know, he just wanted to make it like he needed to get out of there and he needed to make sure that the climate was such that he was going to get out of there because there were going to be a bunch of openings. And, you know, okay, Harbaugh might get fired, but other than that, you know, okay, maybe this Tomlin thing happens too, but I don't know that Tomlin wants to coach as much as some of these other guys. He might want to reset, in which case he's going to be really well positioned as someone who's been to the playoffs, won in the playoffs, in a place where they never win in the playoffs or even make the playoffs. So I think he's, I think he's in. I think he's well positioned. I have a very hard time thinking Kevin Stefanski if the Giants don't get Harbaugh. I mean, that just that. That has always felt like Stefansk. I wrote about it in the Washington Post months ago. Like, I could see that ownership group falling in love with, with Stefanski, the rest of them, I, I think it's probably tough sledding for most of them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me ask you this. Do you think if the 44 yard field goal is good and Baltimore makes the playoffs, even if they lose in the first round, do you think John Harbaugh would be fired no matter what?

[Jeff Ma]

I think these same, these same uncomfortable conversations to the degree they haven't had them and, you know, a decade, I think they're still having those conversations. Like, you know, he's still going to say, you know, you got to fire your whole defensive stat. Like, that's just abject. Like, that's not good enough. You hired Zach Horror was the wrong hire. Like, we can't keep bringing in Dean Peas and Chuck Pagano out of retirement to prop up a young DC who's been over his head since the day you picked him and you picked him over Denard Wilson and you picked him over Anthony Weaver, who we're now going to be bringing an interview for our head coaching job. So, like, I think if you're John Harbaugh and you've got to stay there. Excuse me. And they basically want you to put. And then Todd Monkin, they wanted out. Like, Machadi was pretty convinced that, like Monkin might not be the guy to get Lamar over the top. And you know, their longtime offensive line coach passed away about a year ago. And the new guy, they're what he's developing. So I want a new offensive line coach. What about, you know, what's going on with Rashad Bateman. What's going on with Isaiah, likely. Why didn't they develop? We might need new position coaches there. And so if you're John Harbaugh, you're like, man, look, I'm. Like I said before, I'm done. Like, my daddy was a coach. My brother's a coach. I'm a coach. I'm a coach's coach. I fired a lot of people here for a long time at your urging. Like, I'm not. I'm not starting over with a new staff at age 63. Like, I think we're pretty close. Bishadi obviously didn't think they were pretty close.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, that's good to know. I mean, you know what? You live there. Six games. Green Bay, Chicago, San Francisco at Philadelphia, Rams, Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Chargers, New England, Texans, Steelers. I mean, to me, the two games that stand out just this is just to me, are Buffalo at Jacksonville and the 49ers at Philadelphia. And I'm wondering if you agree with that and where you're leaning on those two games.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of meat on the bone for both those games. And I like the home team in both those games, Philadelphia and Jacksonville.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You do?

[Jeff Ma]

Yes. I like them fairly considerably. This is a real tough matchup for San Francisco. They haven't been able to run the ball all year. It's volume, but it's not explosion. Kittle, I think, is more hurt from that situation in Indianapolis than they're letting on. He didn't look right to me. You know, Trent Williams, they're not the same offense without Trent Williams. And Trent Williams at 70% or whatever, if he does get out there versus that particular D line and Kittle at 70% or whatever against that particular D line and Vic Fangio's defense, where he generates oodles of pressure without ever blitzing, I think that's a big problem for them. I think that's the worst possible matchup for their quarterback. And I also think you look at Barkley, who had a tough season, but the last three, four weeks of the season, they started playing Eagles football again and riding him. And he's getting 130 scrimmage and he's getting the sweat going. He's getting 18 to 20 carries, and they're grinding people out in the second half. San Francisco's run defense is an absolute joke, and they get zero pass rush. I mean, you can rattle Jalen hurts, but they've got a worse pass rush than the one that just got hardball fired. I mean, They've got one of the worst pass rushes to ever make a postseason and I don't think that's improving here. And you know, the Eagles offensive line have had their share of injuries, but again, I think this is a great matchup for where they're most vulnerable. And I just think Jacksonville is a better team than Buffalo. I think they're a more complete team than Buffalo. All the pressure is on Buffalo. I mean, Josh Allen doesn't, I can tell you this much. He don't cover in the playoffs. He's five and eight against the spread in the playoffs. He's owing four against the spread on the road. I don't think they're going to be able to run the ball the way they want to, which means you'd start defaulting to some super superhero ball and that's a defense that gets a ton of turnovers. I think Jacksonville, I think Jacksonville wins that game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. All right. Plug one a bet for us.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah, we're breaking all these games down and continuing to give you our best bets in the English Premiership and the Bundesliga NBA college college playoffs. Tonight we're going to be all over that Oregon game. Futures college basketball. There's so much that I'm sure your listeners are wagering on and thinking about wagering on. Go to wantabetwithus.com check us out. We're trying to keep it to 35 minutes a day, but you know, if it's a three lobster night, stuff happens and we will give you all our best plays. We'll tell you why we're playing them the way we're playing them and we show all our work. We track every bet and we tell you which markets we're doing great in where we're not. We keep score and we do pretty well. So calm. You can get all our content just.

[Tony Kornheiser]

On the way out. Who do you like tonight in the football game?

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah, I'm, I'm on Oregon. Like I jumped on Oregon Futures at 9 to 1 to win the whole damn thing. So I am a little biased there. I'm not fading them by taking Indiana Moneyline, but I am taking the points with the Ducks. I don't know that you beat Lanning twice and get them on at a neutral site. I think it's two best quarterbacks in the country. I think Oregon's experience could help them here and I think Indiana being down their top pass rusher, I just feel like that's going to show up. But this is for it. I mean, whoever wins this tonight, I think that's your national champion.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you, Jason. We'll talk to you next week.

[Jeff Ma]

Thank you guys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jason Lucken. For our boys and girls. We will take a break. We will have James Carville and Jeff Ma. We know we will have them because we talked to him last night. As we will explain. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Jeff Ma]

This is the Tony Kornheiser show. Tony Kornheiser show.

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, you wake up in the morning.

[Jeff Ma]

Boy you hear the ding dong ring. Then you look upon the table by.

[Michael Wilbon]

You see the same darn thing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You.

[Jeff Ma]

Find no food upon the table bar there's no fork up in the pan.

[Michael Wilbon]

But you better not complain boy.

[Jeff Ma]

You.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Get in trouble with the man. The midnight special, Paul Evans. It's the traditional James Carver walk up music and he's walking with a spring in his step because he went to 6 and oh last week. One more time, 6 and oh. And is now 51, 47 and 2. 6 and oh. This week's picks with James Carville and Jeff Ma are brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. You want to bask in the glory of this. It was great.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

But you know, we got, we got to roll on.

[Jeff Ma]

We can't look back. We got to look forward. You know, yesterday's victory could easily be tomorrow's defeat. So we put a lot of thought into it and we ready for our picks this week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let me just say that we are taping with James and with Jeff on Thursday evening before the start of the Miami Ole Miss game. So they can pick that game. You'll know when we hear this that that game was over. But it's legit for them to pick that game. What have you got for us?

[Jeff Ma]

I got the over 52 in a game tonight.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Over 52. Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

That's my over 48 in the Indiana Oregon game. We're going two overs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're going to take both overs in that, okay?

[Jeff Ma]

Yes, sir. And then we got a really good game. Packers in the Bears.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. In Chicago.

[Jeff Ma]

Should be. Yes, yes. Should be cold. And I'm going with the pack. I think they're more solid up and down the road. But Green Bay, it's not a very fortunate, you know, to take the bus down there. It's not that big a deal.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, it's, it's. Wilburn used to do that all the time. Yeah. Screaming at cheese heads. Screaming. Yeah. Go ahead.

[Jeff Ma]

Maybe one of the powerhouses of the future in NFL. We're going to take the Jacksonville Jaguars. It should be. Should give a little Bit here, but it's their home against the Buffalo Bills. If you get a point and a half, great. If it's point, take it anyway.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We have it as a point and a half. So you. You are convinced that this iteration of the Jags and Trevor Lawrence. They're real? You think they're real?

[Jeff Ma]

They won eight in a row, I think.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ma]

I think Trevor Lawrence is a real quarterback.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

I do. I thought he was in college. We bottled him up, but he was real. He won a lot of guys.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He was. He was great in college. And then the last two or three years didn't look good. And then they bring in this quarterback whisperer, Liam Cohn, and now all of a sudden, he looks like a Pro bowl player every day.

[Jeff Ma]

He does, yes, absolutely. And 49ers and the Eagles. You're going to have to eat some points here, but take the Eagles.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really?

[Jeff Ma]

Four and a half.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ma]

Oh, dead home.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

I got a playoff game. And as opposed to going from Green Bay to Chicago to San Francisco to Philadelphia.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Trip.

[Jeff Ma]

It's a big trip. You got a long time on the plane. You got. You got. I don't care how good athletes are, you just got to adjust a little bit. I like. I like home field in these playoffs when the road team has got to go a long way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

So just play somewhat stuck on it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We're not doing this. This is not the bet. But if you had to pick a team in Miami Ole Miss or a team in Indiana, Oregon, who would you pick?

[Jeff Ma]

I never thought I'd get this out of my mouth, and maybe it's because I'm kind of halfway pulling for him, but I think pick Indiana. They beat everybody.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Jeff Ma]

Until. Until you get beat. I mean, it's the old boxing rule we grew up with. Until you get beat, you're the best.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jeff Ma]

Okay. And I. I didn't think it would beat Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. No, they did.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they did. They did.

[Jeff Ma]

Right? You know, so they lost. Yeah. That guy might be. That might be the best coaching job in the history of sport.

[Kurt Signetti]

Well, they just squeaked by Alabama in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That game, like 38.

[FanDuel Announcer]

3.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And he likes to run it up, too. Good for him. All right, James, good luck. We hope you.

[Jeff Ma]

Thank you. All right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hope you win them all, James Carville, boys and girls. And now we will get Jeff Ma on. Jeff Ma did not pick last week because Jeff was in Hawaii. Right? That's right. And so are you going to. You think you get him quickly? We're trying to get him right now.

[Kurt Signetti]

Yeah, calling him right now.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jason Locanfour]

Because do you think James had to tell Luke that he's going to publicly take the Jaguars before coming on here?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Because of the Bills? Because of the Bills. I mean, James has always been loyal to the Bills, as is Luke, obviously. So, yeah, I was a little bit surprised on that. Wilbon's got that, too. Wilbon's got Jacksonville. He thinks that they're going to win. I don't know. I mean, I think Philadelphia is a good team, but I also think The Ford, the 49ers, just don't have any defense, but they can score a lot. They can score a lot. All right, so tell me if we have Jeff. We have Jeff. Okay, so I want Jeff to be able to hear this Jeff. When we tape these things beforehand, and even when we do them for real on a Friday morning, Jeff always gives us suggestions of things that he might like to talk about. And overwhelmingly, these have to do with gambling and, you know, future gambling or present gambling or trends or whatever he wants to talk about. And so I, you know, I go, okay, we'll talk about him. Because it makes him happy. And it's always a better show when he's happy. Today, one of the things he said was he, you know, because we. He didn't pick last week because he was in Hawaii and he was playing golf, and he said, why don't you ask me about playing with Jon Rahm? And I went, what? What, John? That. That John. You played with that Jon Rahm?

[Michael Wilbon]

Is there another John Rahm?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know.

[Michael Wilbon]

I mean, there's gotta be another Jon Rahm. But. Yeah, no, I play with that John Rom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What was. How did that happen?

[Michael Wilbon]

You know, they needed a fourth at the local Muni and show up to the first team. Yeah, I was like, I'm. I'm here. You know, they're like our fourth late. No, we played at McKenna. One of my buddies, the guy named Shane Sigsbee, he's a, you know, plus five handicap. He's a member. He's the guy I played with at Summit, and he happened to be out at McKenna, which is the Discovery Land property out there. He said, hey, do you want to come down and play? And, you know, bring the family down? Because we were on the other side of the island. We're up at Kapalua, because. True. And we managed the Kapalua course out there. And that normally would have been when the sentry would have been. There's no sentry this year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Michael Wilbon]

So. And you Know, and so he said, come down and play. And then the night before, he sent me the gins of everyone playing that day. And he goes, hey, this is our sixam. And I was reading down the sixam, and, you know, I'm obviously getting a lot of strokes, and I'm like, I wonder why I'm getting 28 strokes. And there's a. There's a guy by the name of John Rom, part of our six.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Wow.

[Michael Wilbon]

Who was giving me 28 strokes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is he a nice guy? Did you like him? I mean, these. He, at one point was, and might be, again, the greatest player in the world. He might be, but did you enjoy playing with him?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, no, I've met him before. This wasn't the first time I'd met him. You know, he's not out, like, effervescent and outgoing, but he's. He's certainly friendly. He's very competitive. He shot a 63 that day, but if you had looked at him, you would have thought he was Kurt Signetti. So, you know, he's just not. He's just a very. He's a very stoic and competitive person, and I think he takes golf seriously, you know, no matter what. No matter what he's doing. But, you know, I had no idea that he shot a 63. And then we were sitting around Acros, and I'm like, oh, how did he play? Because given sort of his demeanor, and they're like, oh, he shot a 63. So.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I'd be crazy not to ask this. I'm going to put on my sports writer hat. Did you ask him about Liv? About Koepka leaving Liv, about what his future was. Did you ask about those things, or was that not something you felt you could do?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, I don't know if it was something I felt like I could do, you know, at that situation, you know, giving 28 strokes away and just being happy to be on the same tee box as him, you know, again, like I. And, you know, you've probably been in situations like this, obviously, where, you know, you don't want to be the person that's holding anyone up. You don't want to be the person that's disrupting anyone that's, you know, walking through lines or anything like that. And so, yeah, no, I wasn't super provocative in asking him, you know, about Liv and the future of Liv and why he took the $500 million, etc.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, he's a great player. There's only.

[Jason Locanfour]

Look, same tee box.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Were you in the same tee Box with him.

[Michael Wilbon]

Really?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Actually on the same tee.

[FanDuel Announcer]

Box.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Jason Locanfour]

When he finally caught up.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, no, we. We played from the same tee boxes. We. You know, I don't know if you guys have ever played any of these discovery land properties, but you have your own golf cart. You can drive right up to the tee. You can pretty much drive anywhere except for on the green. You know, as a sixam, we played in about three hours and ten minutes. Wow, great. Got around the course well. And. And, yeah, no, we played from the same piece.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you ever out hit him? And big hitter, the llama. Did you ever out hit him?

[Michael Wilbon]

No, I did, I did. I did. Par the number one handicap hole, which when you're giving. Getting that many strokes is a net eagle. So. Yeah. And you. You win that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So good for you. Good for you. You did. You did better with Ron than you did when you picked. The last time you picked when you ended up 2 and 3, 49, 37 1. You're still the leader. You're the leader, but that was. You did not have a good week. So we need you to rebound. What have you got?

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, can I. Can I tell also one. One other story. Just the social fabric of this. So we're planning a marketing activation for the company I work for during waste management week, which is, as you remember, is the week that you and I met.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Michael Wilbon]

When you asked me to park your car way back in the day.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's a long time ago. I've forgotten that part. I forgot.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. One day we're going to have to tell that story again because I think people really want to hear it. But we're in this meeting and we're talking about basically sponsoring this area at the Fairmont, which is the hotel that kind of butts up against it. And, you know, we go through this whole thing, we're kind of going through this negotiation, and then one of the guys kind of in the background comes on camera, and the first thing he says to me is, leches. A reef.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really? Wow, that's fabulous. That's good. Oh, that's good. That makes me happy.

[Michael Wilbon]

It's pretty much everywhere.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's good to know. That's good to know. All right, what do you got? What are your picks?

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, so we got one college game going tonight. Yeah, you can pick it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You can pick it if you want. You can do that? Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

I mean, I'm going to take Ole Miss. Okay, what do you guys? Do you have three and a half? Or do you have three or what do you have?

[Kurt Signetti]

I've Got three. But we just gave lines to Carville that could be questionable. So if you'd like three and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, because I used it as a lead in. In PTI and was three. It was three on this day. Yeah. Take Ole Miss.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm going to take Ole Miss. It's a very plus three. Plus three. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens with this game because ultimately it's going to be a question of whether this is like galvanizing for this team or whether they really miss coaching and leadership. But they're offensively just a lot better than. Than Miami. Miami's been obviously incredible defensively, but usually good offense can be good defense. So I'm going to take them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'll give you one scary little stat for picking Ole Miss and that is that Carson Beck in his career at Georgia and at Miami is 17 and three against ranked opponents. That's pretty good. That's pretty good number. So.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, but I mean, what. What was Georgia during that time? Carson back. What does George have been during that time? So it's. Yeah, these things are misleading in terms of like the Carson back situation. I don't. I would rather have Trinidad Chambliss as my quarterback in this game than Carson back.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, what else you got?

[Michael Wilbon]

I'll leave it to that I will take. What do you have? Indiana? Three and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, three and a half.

[Kurt Signetti]

That's right.

[Michael Wilbon]

If. If Indiana had Alabama or Ohio State on the front of their chest, given the way they've played this year, what do you think this line would be?

[Tony Kornheiser]

6 and a half.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. It's interesting that the only thing that holds me back in this game is that at the core, Oregon probably has more pure talent than they do. Like if you look at the 5 stars, etc. Indiana has the experience and you know, Indiana is certainly a better team. They performed like a better team all year. And what they've done this year, I think again, it would be short of like, you know, one of those juggernaut seasons, but because they're Indiana, people are still holding them back. I mean, this is probably the first game that they've seen the respect that they deserve in my mind. But I'm still going to take them minus the three and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So what would worry me here, and I. I will say this tomorrow on television is, you know, this is the second time around this year and this is. Look what happened with Ole Miss in Georgia and look what happened with Alabama and Oklahoma. I mean, I just worry about that. Do You.

[Michael Wilbon]

I mean, no, I mean, obviously you worry about everything. I'm more worried about is Oregon's talent. You know, was last week a real indication that Oregon's talent is peaking and is elite and, you know. Or was that just a matter of Texas Tech?

[Tony Kornheiser]

They drilled them. They shut them out. They drilled them.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right.

[Michael Wilbon]

You'll take India almost beyond shut out, too. It looked like Texas Tech didn't even know how to play football.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Three and a half. Okay. What else?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, then we're going to go in the NFL. We're gonna take the packers minus the one.

[Jason Locanfour]

Is.

[Michael Wilbon]

We got one still.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One is fine.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, we got.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Carville had it at. Even Carville found someplace in. You know, in. Somewhere in southwestern Louisiana nobody's ever heard of. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead.

[Michael Wilbon]

Was it someone's. Was it someone's backyard or garage that they're booking. Booking games?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Could be. T boys. T boys. Shed could be. Yep.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. No, I'm going to. I'm going to take the Packers. Packers have a lot of upside. They obviously have a lot of downside, too, with all the injuries and. But. But I think they're a team that, like, in this situation. And again, the Bears just defensively are. Are kind of putrid. So I like the packers here to win this game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So do I. Because Wilbon can eat it. Just. I just want to see Chicago lose. Go ahead. What else?

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm going to take the Jaguars at home getting points. We talk about this on that. The process this week, the narrative of that elite quarterback is. Is kind of getting dispelled this year. Right. Like, we had Mahomes and Lamar and all those guys that burrow and we were like, that's all that matters.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But not Josh Allen. The only reason Josh Allen's been legit.

[Michael Wilbon]

Well, but the only reason you would pick Buffalo in this game over Jacksonville is Josh Allen. That's really the only reason you'd pick them?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Michael Wilbon]

And obviously that's a very, very, very big reason. But at the core, I think you're getting value on a Jacksonville team, which is. Which is a better team in Buffalo and they're at home and somehow they're the underdog. That doesn't make any sense to me. So I'm going to take Jacksonville at home. Getting the one point.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I would say to you that everything you said about Indiana and why they're only minus three and a half applies to Jacksonville right now. That there is still a measure of doubt with Jacksonville. They have not been a playoff team for a couple of years. Their quarterback as great as he was in college and as great as he's been this year had not been great for two or three years, and Josh Allen has been great for five or six. So, I mean, that's, that's just the counter to what you're saying, I think.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, no, I agree. And it's not the counter. It's, it's. Isn't it kind of the corollary. It's basically saying, okay, yeah, a little bit of the same thing that, like, this is a, you know, this is a team that is a bit underrated.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. And they don't, they don't inspire the belief that, that they should, given what they've done the last eight games and given what this guy Trevor Lawrence has done. He's thrown 19 touchdown passes and scored five touchdowns on his own in the last eight games. It's an unbelievable, unbelievable. That's Joe Montana numbers. It's unbelievable. So, okay, what else?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, I'm gonna take one more. I'm going to take the Steelers plus the three.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really?

[Michael Wilbon]

Houston?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. Steelers team is very perplexing. But again, I just, you know, this, this Houston team, the Steelers actually match up well with Houston. Houston's weaknesses on the offensive line. Steelers can get pressure on them and I think they will cause some disruption. The other thing that the Steelers do well that is kind of neutralizes the Texans, you know, is these just quick passes and Rogers likes to get that ball out quick. And so if you get that ball out quick, a pass rush doesn't matter. So it's a good matchup for Pittsburgh there at home. And getting three points, again, like, it's just, it's, you know, in a game that's lined at three. 39 and a half for the total, meaning there's three. Not going to be a lot of points scored. Three points means a lot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's good. That's good analysis. I, you know, I would go the other way just because I don't really trust Pittsburgh, but you're right about Rogers. He can't throw it deep anymore. So he gets rid of it quickly and doesn't get sacked, which is a smart thing. Thank you, Jeff. Good luck, Jeff. We'll talk to you next week. John Rom. How about that, John Rom. This week's picks by James Carville and Jeff Ma have been brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more and we will come back with jingle and email. And I am Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Jeff Ma]

The Tony Kornheiser show.

[Annie Kress]

Here comes Tony. Here comes Tony. Here comes Tony's mail back. Got your emails, fax, sent your notes. Here comes Tony. Here comes Tony. Here comes Mr. Tony Smith. Gonna read some for all of you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Can you do that? Annie Cross can do that. Can you do that? I can't do that. Annie Kress can do that. You want to do the Bethesda Bagel?

[Jeff Ma]

Yes.

[Kurt Signetti]

Just a brilliant version, though. Yeah, yeah. Bethesda Bagels, we love them. You will as well. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's going to do it for us today. Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say, they seek him here, they seek him there. His clothes are loud but never square. It will make or break him so he's got to buy the best because he's a dedicated follower of fashion. One of the King's great songs. Thanks to our guests today, Jason Locanfour, James Carville and Jeff Ma. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Odyssey if you listen through Apple. Please leave us.

[Jason Locanfour]

I'm not going down the rabbit hole and reading the about us for the Zabonkis.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Jason Locanfour]

Meet Ricky Ricardo. Ricky Racketew is funny, clever, and extremely curious. He's off in the life of the party. Good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Which one's getting Ricky?

[Jason Locanfour]

Ooh, that's gonna go to the Hammer.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Okay. All right. Happy New Year. This is Riley and Derek from Bin 66 Wine and Spirits in Rehoboth. We wanted to thank Tony personally for shouting out our shop on the show this past year. As fledgling small business owners, it means the world to us to have an advocate like Tony that will speak so highly of our establishment to his audience. It's a great liquor store. You know, there's Calvert Woodley here in Washington, D.C. and there's been 66 in Raul Chateau. We have a small thank you holiday gift. Oh, box of that. Oh, yeah.

[Jason Locanfour]

Is it the tote bag?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I got the tote bag.

[Kurt Signetti]

Unknown yet.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The tote bag. If you buy six and you bring them in the tote bag, you get one bottle off or 15 off or something like that. Very nice.

[Annie Kress]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's one of those liquor stores where if you're like me and you don't really know what you're getting, they'll explain it to you. They'll tell you why they recommend this.

[Jason Locanfour]

They have great staff recommendations, usually in the middle of the store. And they often do tastings during. I mean, I imagine during the season.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. And by the way, O'Reilly has a. Has been a competitive figure skater for most of her life, so. And she says the Team USA is the most stacked it's been in about 25 years. The Olympics are coming up.

[Kurt Signetti]

Yeah, in a month.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're coming up. Michael in Annapolis, Maryland, I am glad that you came to a compromise with Sherman Oil, but I'm secretly hoping they come back and say, sorry, but we no longer accept checks. Peter Potke, Southington, Connecticut. You mentioned including a note in your payments to Sherman Oil. Any thoughts on publishing a coffee table book of images of your past checks so we could read what's in the memo section of each? You saved every canceled check going back to 1979, right?

[Jason Locanfour]

Include that routing number from Steve Gilmore.

[Tony Kornheiser]

In San Angelo, Texas. Dear Captain Farmer, all this talk about bowling with Michael and the grandkids and no talk of what food you lifted from their plates at the alley. We need to know. French fries.

[Jason Locanfour]

French fries.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There's not a. There's not a bad bowling alley French fry in the world. There's not. You know, that's. That's the standard for food at a bowling alley. Okay, this is long ones from Eddie Madden. Greetings, Captain Ron. From Eddie Madden in Merrimack, Massachusetts. I am a dyed in the wool Bostonian and proud of it. As a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s, candlepin bowling was at its apex in popularity in the Boston area as well as northern New England, the Canadian Maritime Provinces, such as Nova Scotia and Prince Edward island, bowling alleys were ubiquitous, as were bowling leagues for several years. On a Saturday morning during the school year, my folks would slip me and my younger brother Davey a couple of bucks and then drive us up the square. We would then catch a bus that was owned by the Baldinelli family. The Baldinelli family were candlepin bowling legends in this neck of the woods and owned a highly successful bowling alley in the next town of Amesbury. For five bucks, they would take you to and fro on the bus. We would also get three strings, a shoe rental, and perhaps a hot dog and a tonic. That's what they call sodas in New England at tonic or just candy from the vending machine. My sister was left behind to help my mother clean the house. My dad just wanted the two of us out of the house so we didn't have to break up our fist fight du jour. At least until that afternoon. Two of the Most popular TV shows, particularly one in particularly one were TV ratings powerhouses in these parts. A popular sportscaster, Bob Gamere G A M E R E G Mary Gamir hosted a bowling show by the name of Candle Pins for Cash.

[Kurt Signetti]

I do remember that it was on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Monday through Friday at 5:30pM Keep in mind this was the lead in for the ever popular 6pm news which was must see viewing while eating supper back in the Halsey. On days of TV news you had to roll a strike to win the jackpot that increased by 20 bucks with every bowler. The suspense would increase with every time the great gamer would exclaim, will it go or will it grow? That's a good line. While this was a great show, it did not compare to a show that was a staple every Saturday at high noon. The Boston Globe used to provide a listing in the scoreboard section of the top 10 sports programs watched on the TV every week. Before football became a juggernaut, a show by the name of Candlepin Bowling with Don Gillis reigned supreme every week for two decades with no close second. The Canadian born Gillis was the number one Boston sportscaster at the time. His show was number one. Every week my brother and I would race home from bowling ourselves to watch it, then have a fist fight. Life was grand. You cannot talk about candlepin bowling without talking about the best candlepin bowler ever. A woman by the the name of Stacy Zernicki. She appeared with Don Gillis on Saturday's a record 55 times and was the world candlepin champion eight times. She was voted as one of the top athletes of Massachusetts in the 20th century. And she always wear a skirt. Different days, but repeat Life and Candlepin Bowling were grand. Isn't that a nice. How about that? And the.

[Jason Locanfour]

The bowling alley. I was thinking of Sacco's Bowl Haven. Also the flatbreads.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, okay.

[Kurt Signetti]

And so there was Bowling for dollars. But there was also something and I think Janis Joplin refers to as dialing for dollars. Do you remember this?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I do not.

[Jeff Ma]

They would.

[Kurt Signetti]

You'd be watching a movie and they would take a break and they would randomly call people. If you answered the phone, you would.

[Jeff Ma]

Have got on your money.

[Kurt Signetti]

It was crazy.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is from Peter Bergman in Austin, Texas. I'm an economics professor. This past summer, at a David Aldrich moment at arguably the most prestigious conference in economics, the Summer Institute organized by the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Never revere. As I walked into the largest, most overly air conditioned conference room, I ran into Marty West. No, not that Marty West. His son Marty, as I'm sure you know, is a brilliant professor at Harvard. Like everyone else there, he was taking advantage of being in a room with some of the smartest people in the world to chat about various smart things that smart people talk about. But not I, Tony for the Connective tissue is strong I did what any little would do. I awkwardly interrupted Marty's conversation to make consistent references to your podcast. I knew it was going well when I felt compelled to explain who you are to his Ivy League colleagues sitting beside him. Marty was nonetheless extremely gracious. If it's not taken, can I be the official economics professor of the show? I'll put it down on my CV as part of my annual performance review. Hopefully it will make up for being ostracized from all future conventions with these people. Please tell my Brother Aaron and DMV Happy birthday. Oh, January 12th. That's on Monday. And to eat it. Big fan of all you guess. Particularly, enjoy your segments with Jeff Ma. His work is a fascinating blend of analytics and behavioral economics. A waste of talent having him park cars, if you ask me. But what do I know from John Pearson in Milwaukee? And what was an what is an ultimate example of connective tissue? I stopped at a Quick Trip convenience store, one of the top three reasons to live in Wisconsin for a way too large Diet Coke. I'd been listening to your Chuck Todd appearance on the show as I walked through. In the spirit of your old man phone awareness, I did not lock my phone, so it started playing the podcast again and I was oblivious. Just as I got to a quiet part of the store, see the monkey? He's scritch scratching. Blasted on my phone. A guy just down the aisle lit up and said to me, holy cow, Lechees a rig. You and Reginald are bringing the world to the world.

[Jason Locanfour]

Holy cow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It wasn't cow. I put in Cal from Mike o' Brien in Boston. Formerly Revere is the new game Meeting astronauts. I used to be a livery driver in Boston, and one day I had to drive Jim Lovell to the airport. For those who don't know who that is, he's the guy Tom Hanks played in Apollo 13, but the real human being. You know, your car breaks down, you make a whiny Instagram video about it, then call AAA and they tow you home. Jim Lovell did basically the same thing, except he used the moon's gravitational pull to bring a useless hunk of metal back through Earth's atmosphere without killing anyone. So we're driving to the airport through the tunnels. And Mr. Lovell asks, Are these the Big Dig tunnels? Didn't something bad happen here? And I said, yeah, they are, Mr. Lovell, you know, sometimes things don't work out the way they're supposed to. He didn't talk to me the rest of the ride. Also, I'm opening for Brian Simpson one show Friday, two show Saturday at Laugh Boston. If you give me a TK salute, I'll let you buy me a Bud Light.

[Kurt Signetti]

How about that? Oh yeah. A reminder, Greg Garcia will be on the stage tonight and tomorrow, I believe, at Mohegan sun. So featuring in his new career as a stand up comedian.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Mark Elliott, Prospect, Kentucky so I was at physical therapy the other day after having hip surgery to repair a torn tendon. While waiting my turn, two of the therapists who I've worked with before, we're having a conversation nearby. One of them saw me and gave me a wave like it's time to get started. He said to the other something like, well, it's been nice shooting the breeze, but I guess we better get busy. The other said, shooting the breeze. Haven't heard that in a while. That's an old one. Really. I mean, to me it seems pretty common. It's not like 23 skid do. I then told her how the holidays I somehow wove Katie Barr the door into one of my long winded stories and my daughter in law looked at me like I had three heads and then interrupted saying she had no idea what that meant. Not sure what to think of all this, but it kind of threw me for a loop. If I didn't feel old just going to PT for my hip in the first place, this really sealed deal. Oh, what was Wilbourne wearing Wednesday night? An expensive leisure suit. Dg.

[Jeff Ma]

It was.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It was an odd looking thing collar. It just. I don't know. Yeah, Mike is. Yeah, Mike's current mark Sport Canton, Georgia to answer Michael's bowling questions from Wednesday's pod, you get hook spin by lifting and turning your wrist during the release. If you're bowling traditional ten pin, you let your thumb out of the ball as it passes your ankle, then lift with your fingers and turn your hand to a handshake position. Duck pin would be similar, obviously without the thumb hole. As far as where to stand, you and Michael are both right. The determining factor is how much rotation you generate. The more rotation you generate, the further towards the center of the lane you stand because you have to get the ball towards the gutter later so the ball doesn't Start curving too early. Wilbon probably knows this already. After all, he's never surprised. I'm just hoping to be added to his technique Chain with Pete Weber, Richard Denn and Mookie Betts, a PBA level bowler. By the way, can I be the official bowling coach of the show? Yeah, he's 300 games. Yes. Mookie bets. Great. Chris Ely, Dayton, Ohio Dear Dr. Turkey Club, I enjoyed hearing about your morning routine in Columbia. Have you tried the sauna instead of the steam room? I highly recommend it. You can walk in, sit down, close your eyes and imagine you're enjoying the dry heat of North Scottsdale. We don't have a sauna. I'm not a sauna guy. Just the steam. I have trouble breathing in a sauna. I have no trouble breathing in the steam room.

[Jason Locanfour]

You get the eucalyptus spray.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, but the steam room, it's too crowded. Yeah, it just, you know, there's too many people. There's too many people. Bob Baldwin Ellicott City, Maryland I laughed when I heard you say on PTI that Kurt Signetti used to coach football at IUPUI. IUPUI doesn't even have a football team. Signetti coached at IUPenn. Better known as Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Well, that's what I thought it was. That's what I thought I PUI was ooey pooey. Yeah. Okay, so yeah, I got that wrong. As Signetti said at his first IU press conference, this is true. All I do is win. Google me said that said that Eli in Atlanta. Imagine being Trey Young. Then imagine actually preferring to be traded to the Wizards. Then imagine willingly wanting to be part of a 10 year rebuild. The answer to all of your questions and is money. If you're out on your bike tonight, everyone, as always, do wear white.

[Michael Wilbon]

Hey, dad.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Dad?

[Annie Kress]

Honey.

[Jeff Ma]

Tony.

[Annie Kress]

Dad. Dad.

[Jeff Ma]

Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don't listen up.

[Annie Kress]

I've been trying to have a good life but no one wants you to be satisfied they double the bill with the and leave you pain down the interest will they say you get what you pay for. I bought a mattress at the discount store Feel like I'm sleeping on a concrete floor I guess you get what you pay for. Why it's so hard to have a good day. It should be easy, easier. You would think you better be rich and good looking Cuz it's so hard to have a good thing I'm just trying to have a good life. Plants casin on a Sunday night Bed in the house on a bottle of wine and I'm just, just trying to have a good time? Is it so bad to want a good? Don't even let him get you looking don't let him see you get you bad to want a good. She said all you do is and moan. You're never happy and you're never home. Everyone wants what they don't have and you really don't have it half bad. But baby, I'm trying to express myself. You know, the doctor said it might help if I can release some of this tension. If I can make this with the cushion. Is it so bad to want a good thing? Don't even let him get you looking don't let him see you get your foot in. Is it so bad you want a good thing? Little Is that so much for me? Is it so bad to want a good life? Is it so bad to want a good life? Is it so bad to want a good life?