“The Sammich Fund”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show: “The Sammich Fund” – Detailed Summary

Release Date: December 12, 2024

Introduction

In the “The Sammich Fund” episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show," host Tony Kornheiser delves into a variety of topics spanning the NFL, college football, and the unexpected move of legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick to the University of North Carolina (UNC). The episode features insightful discussions with NFL insider Jeff Ma and North Carolina native Ryan McGee, alongside engaging listener interactions and humorous segments that showcase Tony’s trademark wit.

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1. NFL Betting Picks with Jeff Ma

The episode kicks off with Tony Kornheiser introducing Jeff Ma, who provides his latest NFL betting picks. With Jeff's recent losing streak (currently holding a 37-38-1 record), Tony encourages him as they navigate through the week's games.

• Early Bowl Game Analysis (07:55-08:37):

  • Jeff Ma discusses the South Alabama vs. Western Michigan game, highlighting South Alabama’s perceived overreaction in betting lines due to the opt-out of their key running back, Fluff Bothwell.
  • Jeff Ma Quote (07:55): “South Alabama should be about a 15-point favorite... it was a very public opt-out and that caused the line to go down to seven and a half.”

• NFL Game Predictions (08:37-12:19):

  • Jeff offers predictions on six NFL games, including Dolphins vs. Houston and Seattle vs. Packers, emphasizing his confidence in the Dolphins' offense and Seattle’s defensive improvements.
  • Tony Kornheiser Quote (09:11): “If I had told you in week one that Carolina would be playing Dallas and they would be favored, what would you say? Impossible.”

• Marquee Matchup – Buffalo vs. Detroit (11:46-12:19):

  • Jeff predicts a Buffalo win, citing Detroit’s weakened defense and Buffalo’s need for the game.
  • Jeff Ma Quote (12:13): “Detroit's defense is just beat up and they were able to sort of get by in their last game.”

Throughout this segment, Jeff maintains a candid tone about his picks, acknowledging both his struggles and insights into team performances.

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2. Bill Belichick’s Move to UNC with Ryan McGee

A significant portion of the episode centers on the shocking announcement that NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick is taking over as head coach at the University of North Carolina. Tony brings in Ryan McGee, a lifelong North Carolinian and ACC football expert, to dissect this unexpected career move.

• Belichick's Decision to Coach at UNC (27:50-31:07):

  • Ryan McGee expresses skepticism about Belichick’s fit in college football, noting UNC’s historically modest performance in football compared to its basketball prowess.
  • Ryan McGee Quote (38:58): “I said can't be to start off with because it felt like... you don't like dealing with rookies. How are you going to like dealing with 18-year-olds?”

• Implications for UNC’s Football Program (40:35-47:38):

  • Ryan McGee discusses the potential short-term success Belichick might bring, predicting immediate wins but questioning the long-term sustainability and impact on the program.
  • Ryan McGee Quote (43:06): “Maybe this is just coming from a kid who grew up in North Carolina State fan. It's going to be fascinating watching how Chapel Hill screws us up.”

• Tony’s Perspective on Belichick (31:07-48:54):

  • Tony Kornheiser shares his personal interactions with Belichick, highlighting his lack of fondness despite acknowledging Belichick’s brilliance. He speculates on Belichick’s motivations, possibly relating to setting up his son’s future in coaching.
  • Tony Kornheiser Quote (41:17): “Why would he do this? His dad was a college football coach at Navy and for a couple of years at Chapel Hill. But he said, I've always wanted to coach in college. And I go, what are you... you’re five games away from Donshu. What are you talking about?”

The discussion underscores the unprecedented nature of Belichick’s transition from the NFL to a college program, raising questions about the future trajectory of UNC's football team under his leadership.

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3. Listener Interactions and Mailbag Highlights

Tony engages with listener emails, bringing a personal and humorous touch to the show. These interactions range from anecdotes about personal experiences to playful banter about football terminologies and fan culture.

• Mailbag Stories (35:09-63:18):
  • Divergent Stories: Listeners share whimsical tales, such as losing teeth in Santa Claus-related antics and humorous misunderstandings around sports terminologies.
  • Notable Exchange:
    • Listener Paul Karnes (51:03): Discusses childhood memories and heartfelt requests for holiday gifts.
    • Tony's Response (52:43): Humorous exchanges about moths and sweater mishaps, emphasizing the lighthearted nature of listener interactions.

These segments highlight the show's community aspect, allowing Tony to connect with his audience through shared stories and laughter.

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4. Humorous Segments and Miscellaneous Conversations

Interwoven with serious discussions are Tony's witty exchanges with co-hosts Nigel and Dan Byrne, touching on everything from TV show critiques to personal anecdotes.

• TV Show Critiques (12:52-15:31):

  • Tony and Co-hosts discuss their frustrations with complex spy shows like "The Agency," expressing confusion over intricate plotlines and character motivations.
  • Tony Kornheiser Quote (13:48): “I watched one episode last night and it was... incomprehensible to me.”

• Personal Anecdotes and Humor (63:08-69:49):

  • Tony shares amusing stories about family interactions, holiday preparations, and humorous mishaps, such as dealing with moths and sweater repairs.
  • Dan Byrne's Contribution (63:08): Adds humor by relating to Tony's pest problems and sweater woes.
  • Tony's Playful Banter (64:13-65:57): Engages in light-hearted conversations about proper attire for dining out and playful interactions with co-hosts.

These segments provide a balanced mix of humor and relatability, enhancing the show’s entertainment value.

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5. Concluding Thoughts and Final Interactions

As the episode wraps up, Tony reflects on the discussions with his guests and reiterates key points from the show. He emphasizes the ongoing excitement around Bill Belichick’s move and the potential impact on UNC’s football program.

• Final Reflections (51:13-57:15):

  • Tony humorously laments the absence of certain regular contributors while praising the guest insights from Jeff Ma and Ryan McGee.
  • Tony Kornheiser Quote (63:08): “He knows what they know. There's this style open tab. Doesn't get rid of the moths and keeps bringing in the sweaters. What a gold mine he is.”

• Closing Interactions (65:52-69:49):

  • Tony concludes with final listener stories and humorous reflections, maintaining the show’s engaging and personable atmosphere.

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Notable Quotes

• Jeff Ma (07:55):

  “South Alabama should be about a 15-point favorite... it was a very public opt-out and that caused the line to go down to seven and a half.”

• Tony Kornheiser (09:11):

  “If I had told you in week one that Carolina would be playing Dallas and they would be favored, what would you say? Impossible.”

• Ryan McGee (38:58):

  “I said can't be to start off with because it felt like... you don't like dealing with rookies. How are you going to like dealing with 18-year-olds?”

• Tony Kornheiser (41:17):

  “Why would he do this? His dad was a college football coach at Navy and for a couple of years at Chapel Hill. But he said, I've always wanted to coach in college. And I go, what are you... you’re five games away from Donshu. What are you talking about?”

• Tony Kornheiser (13:48):

  “I watched one episode last night and it was... incomprehensible to me.”

---

Conclusion

“The Sammich Fund” episode offers a comprehensive look into NFL betting strategies, the surprising shift of Bill Belichick to college football, and the personal touches that make "The Tony Kornheiser Show" a beloved daily talk show. Through expert insights, engaging discussions, and relatable humor, Tony Kornheiser delivers a rich and entertaining episode that both sports enthusiasts and casual listeners can appreciate.

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll go around the NFL with Jason Locinfora. We'll talk to Ryan McGee about Bill Belichick taking over as head coach at UNC. And we'll get weekly picks from Jeff Mock because Carville's in London. But first, let's keep the sales weasels happy.

[Jason Lockinfora]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Jason Lockinfora]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thursday Night Football is on. It's only on prime video. This Thursday, west coast rivals collide as the Los Angeles Rams visit the San Francisco 49ers. Join Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreet and Kaylee Hartung for this exciting matchup. Coverage begins at 7pm Eastern with football's best party, TNF tonight presented by Verizon live from the Bay area. Not a Prime member. Not a problem. Simply sign up for a 30 day free trial and you can cancel at any time. It's the Rams and 49ers at 7pm Eastern on Thursday Night Football. And it's on Prime Video restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details. Previously on the Tony Kornheiser show. So anyway, every day, according to this fella, we would have a poll and I would say at the end of the poll with some statistical question, it wasn't necessarily on the air. It wasn't. I mean, you could call in, but the conceit was that other people were getting in touch with us in, you know, contemporaneously. So there was a poll and he said every single day. I would say to Mitch, well, what were the Results of the poll and Mitch would say every single day you're going to believe this. It was split dead even. The Tony Kornheiser show is on now and again unburdened by memory. I don't remember any of this and it happened in my life and I was the lead dog in it and I remember none of it. We're going to do something different today. We're going to put Jeff Ma on at the beginning of the show. Carville's not on because Carville is in London. Carville got crushed. Carville went 05 last week and he's now 38 and 47. And he probably just ran to London, fled the country to avoid having to deal with us. But maybe he will send picks in. Yes, Jeff got hit bad too. Jeff was 2 and 4. He's now 37, 38 and 1. And he has sent us, he has sent us something very interesting about one score games. Would you like to explain what you sent?

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah, there's been a bunch of graphics around the Internet around this whole idea of like one score games if they had been reversed in the NFL because there's some thought process that the one score games are somewhat random. And so again, probability of what happens in a few plays can sway quite a bit. I mean ultimately this is the reason why records are not necessarily the best thing when evaluating a team. It's really more the yardage and their success rates in different situations and things like that. That's why you create these power rankings which again, like you don't look just solely at someone's record when determining how good they are. Because a team like you know, Kansas City, you see if they, you reversed all their one and they've obviously been the ones that have been sort of the highest profile in having these really close games that they've managed to win. Now again, if you reverse that, they'd be, I think what 2 and 2.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And 11, they'd be 2 and 11. The Broncos would be 11 and 2. The Bengals would be 10 and 2. The Giants, who are pathetically terrible would be 8 and 5 if on one score games it went the other way.

[Jeff Ma]

Right. And I mean, you know, I would ask you Tony, what does this mean to you? From my standpoint what it means is that, you know, there is either a skill in winning these one in these one score games which clearly in the Mahomes case, I think there is, yes. And there is some noise in records. Right. So there's kind of like it's not, it's not always one story or the other. There's. It doesn't mean that you should just reverse these and decide that's how good these teams are. Records do lie sometimes, but there is a skill to what Kansas City does. I mean, what would you say to this?

[Tony Kornheiser]

My feeling, and I do this all the time with Wilbon, is I say they win all of these games. The why are we playing? As Herm Edwards would say, we play to win the games. They win these games. I mean, they may not cover and those and that's, you know, important when you're betting. But they win all these close games and I think that says something terrific about them. And the fact that, you know, other teams don't says something. I think it's a little lacking in them. But I mean, I'm, you know, I'm a parcels devotee. You are what your record says you are. So, you know, that's how I look at. Oh, I have to say some stuff here. This week's picks with Jeff Ma are brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. And we got this email from Paul Graneman in St. Louis. As a non degenerate former math major and east coast water polo player, I especially look forward to Jeff Ma's weekly visits to the pot. Thus, when I heard the name Rufus Peabody in a promo for another podcast, against the Rules with Michael Lewis, I thought connective tissue, baby. And of course had to take a listen. Rufus is in fact a focal point of the entire season about online sports betting. The show spends quite a lot of time on Rufus's backstory entry into gambling in a position as a major force in sports betting. All this without one mention of Jeff Lewis even makes an analogy of Rufus betting. Like a card counter at the blackjack table, I found myself screaming to my confused dog, how can you make a blackjack analogy of Rufus Peabody without even mentioning Jeff Ma? Does Michael Lewis think that Jeff just parks Rufus's car or something? I mean, honestly, what are we doing out here? That must make you feel pretty good, Jeff.

[Jeff Ma]

I mean, Michael is a friend and we spent a bunch of time and he knows. He kind of met Rufus through me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And he's a brilliant writer. Brilliant.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah. And he's one of the best writers of our generation.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Jeff Ma]

In terms of what he does, you know, and he had asked me a little bit about this sports betting thing and we talked about. I kind of have made the joke that I'm not going to listen to the podcast because he didn't end up getting me involved. That's my personal protest to it. But it's, you know, Rufus is known for his sports betting and his record and his ability stand on its own. You know, I'm just, I am just a valet in his life.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, let's get healthy. You're 37, 38 and 1. You've had some losing weeks. Who you got this week we're going.

[Jeff Ma]

To start in college. So this week we have Bud Elliott on who's a college football expert and we're talking a little bit about the playoffs, but we also talked a little about bowl season and bowl season and we maybe will talk about this a little bit more next week. But it's all about the opt out. It's all about figuring out who's going to play and it's all about figuring out if the markets are overreacting. So I'm going to give you one very, very early bowl game. I don't know if you know, but there's one this weekend.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know.

[Jeff Ma]

South Alabama is playing against Western Michigan. It's in Montgomery. It's the Crampton Bowl. By metric, South Alabama should be about a 15 point favorite without any home field. And it's being played in Alabama. It opened it, I think ten and a half is down to seven and a half. There was, you know that South Alabama has a running back named Fluff Bothwell. That was their best running back, probably the best player on the field. That opted out. And so it was a very public opt out and that caused the line to go down to seven and a half. But I think it's kind of an overreaction and if you guys are. This is the ultimate and degenerate. Want something to watch on Saturday. You got South Alabama minus the 7.5 over Western Michigan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I cannot even name the cities these schools are in or the conferences they're in. What else you got?

[Jeff Ma]

Then we're going to do six NFL games. We're going to do Dolphins plus the three over Houston. I still believe in the Dolphins offense. They obviously sucked one out against the jets last week. But in a game where, you know, I don't think Houston can. I think. I think in this controlled environment the Dolphins offense is better than Houston's offense and I think they can win this game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, my take this is.

[Jeff Ma]

This is crazy. If I had told you in week one that Carolina would be playing Dallas and they would be favored, what would you say?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Impossible.

[Ryan McGee]

Yes.

[Jeff Ma]

Well, they are favored against Dallas and I will take Carolina, a team that is on the up, up and Up. Bryce Young has been playing much better since his benching. Carolina's defense has actually been playing quite well. They gave. They give Philly a good run for their money and I think there's a real reason they are favored here. I hate, you know, these fixating on narratives, but Dallas looked like a broken team on Monday after that, after that punt, muff after the block punt almost like the ultimate and snatching defeat from victory. And Michael Parsons just looked like he was. He was done. So I don't know how much this team has left and I think Carolina will win this game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What is the number?

[Jeff Ma]

What do you have there? I've seen two and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Two and a half. Okay, okay, I've got.

[Nigel]

I've got Carolina giving three in that.

[Jeff Ma]

Okay, we'll have to go with that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, we go give you two and a half.

[Nigel]

Two and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Go ahead. That was in your head, the two and a half field goal.

[Jeff Ma]

I'm going to take Tampa plus the three over the Chargers again. Tampa is a team getting Mike Evans back defensively playing much better. Chargers coming off a tough, a tough one against Kansas City again, like, like Tampa, you know, and to win this game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

And then I'm going to take Seattle plus the two and a half over the Packers. Seattle's defense, you know, you have Mike McDonald who really transformed Buffalo's defense, sorry, Baltimore's defense last year looks like he's doing the same thing with Seattle. They're finally getting healthy at home, getting two and a half against the packers team that has played quite well, but there's some belief that they're overrated. I'll take Seattle.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We had three at one point the other day. We'll give you three.

[Ryan McGee]

Yeah, we'll give you three.

[Jeff Ma]

Okay. I'm going to take the Vikings minus the six and a half over the Bears. I think the Bears are just kind of a broken team at this point. Defensively, they're. They're a very weak team. They've. They've struggled towards this. You know, last. They give up more explosive plays and you saw that again in that Niners game. In that Niners game, the game that. The thing I really liked was the. Over there and that came in. But yes, I thought the Bears might be able to do enough to keep that game close because I thought the Niners were struggling on defense, but the Bears defense is just pretty broken. I think the Vikings will put up some points here and cover the six and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, that's good. We're rooting for You.

[Jeff Ma]

I hear you. And there's one more which is the marquee matchup on Sunday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Jeff Ma]

Which is Buffalo.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Buffalo and Detroit. Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

Yeah.

[Jeff Ma]

I'm going to take Buffalo plus the two and a half. Detroit's defense is just beat up and they were able to sort of get by in their last game. But I think this is a situation where this is just, this is just too much. And Buffalo needs this game. I think that they will, you know, off of a tough game against the Rams and Josh Allen playing as well, I think Buffalo will be able to score and I think they can win this game on the road.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's the game they want to see. That and they want to see Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. Those are the two games everybody wants to see. Thank you, Jeff.

[Jeff Ma]

Thanks, Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And also be sure to listen to bet the process which Jeff and Rufus do. This week's picks with Jeff Ma have been brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. So we don't have the standard open today because we went to Jeff in the open because we are guest loaded today. But I just wanted to bring up one thing. I was going to bring up the soup cans, but I'm going to hold the soup cans. That's you know how much soup costs. I'm going to hold that.

[Dan Byrne]

It's a baby.

[Nigel]

Wait for that for sweet.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And I was going to bring up the Mark Gastineau, Brett Favre thing that I saw the confrontation. But I don't want to because Mark Gastineau was. It was pathetic. And Mark Gastineau came across as just annoying. Just annoying. But instead I'm going to bring up something that I was told about the other day. Deb at work said that I needed to watch television show called the Agency.

[Nigel]

Oh, that's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And then Nigel said, you need to watch a show called the Agency.

[Nigel]

It's a great cast, like Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, somebody else.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Richard Gere.

[Nigel]

Richard Gere, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Byrne]

But you have not had spy show fatigue at this point.

[Nigel]

I mean, Slow Horses is so good.

[Dan Byrne]

But that set a bar and there's a. Yeah, there's a humor and just sort of a look at human frailty in that show. That's just tremendous.

[Nigel]

So I have not. I have not gone down the road with the. I think it's called. It's called the Agency.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Agency.

[Nigel]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But it's on Showtime.

[Nigel]

Yeah, it looks quite good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Well, I watched one episode last night.

[Nigel]

Oh, no.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I watched one episode last night and it was this is the word that I will use. It was incomprehensible to me. It is. It's one of those things that the people who made this show, and this is to Michael's point, are so invested in the literature and culture of spy shows that they take for granted that you watch a thousand of these things, and I had no idea what was going on. None. Zero. As I watched the entire show. It's not that I'm not going to watch the second episode, because I'll probably watch a second episode, but I. I didn't like it. I'm not saying I disliked it. I didn't like it. You know, I mean, there would. There would be various scenes where you say, well, that was sort of clever. But it's so dark, you know, and it's so clipped. And they don't tell you anything that you don't even know what the eight. You don't even know if it's a cr. You don't know what it is. Yeah, you just don't know. And that's because I think people who write these things are so immersed in spy stuff that they assume you are, too, and they don't want to insult you by making it elementary. Yeah, they don't want to do that. So instead, people like me look at it and actually say out loud, what is this? What is going on here?

[Dan Byrne]

It's interesting because I've seen the previews for that, have not watched it because we're now caught up with Slow Horses and enjoyed that so much. Slouch.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is the first thing I.

[Dan Byrne]

There's another one on Netflix called Black Doves, which I was super excited to watch with Keira Knightley. I made it through two episodes and had no idea what's going on. And Liz has vowed never to watch it again.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, I mean, I respect John le Carre.

[Dan Byrne]

Did you watch Night, what was it, the Night Manager, Night Agent, a year ago or.

[Nigel]

No, I didn't see that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's the first thing I've watched in years.

[Nigel]

Well, can I give you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I didn't get it.

[Nigel]

Can I give you a recommendation for something I think you will get called Landman with Billy Bob Thornton.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I saw the ads for that. I don't want to get back into tv. I just like watching.

[Nigel]

I'm just telling you, this is really good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, Billy Bob Thornton is a fabulous actor.

[Nigel]

Jon Hamm is in it. John Hamm is great. Demi Moore is in it. It's. It's a good cast and it's a great script.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I'm going to give this one more, but I give it two or three.

[Dan Byrne]

You normally have to give it two or three, but I'm, I'm now old enough where I judge shows and how good the subtitles are. And so you understand, like certain cable shows, the subtitles are through, I guess through the cable, but through the normal TV box, they're just not good enough. And usually on those movie channels, they're pretty good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I couldn't hear anything with this, so I had to read the show. But I didn't. I just didn't get it. I just didn't get it.

[Nigel]

It's not the Americans.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, not for me. Again, incomprehensible. I mean, is that what you're going for? Okay, you got it. All right. We will take a break, Jason. That's right. We'll have Jason lock in for it when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Unknown]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Jason Lockinfora]

Tony Kornh.

[Unknown]

The gold in a bat. How about that? Anyone who's ever worn the uniform or hat. What an idea. It sounds delish. Anyone in history can step up to the dish. I caught a game between the Yanks and Red Sox up in Fenway. Sotos struck out. Judge went out the same way. So the Yankees sent up Ruth B Bang bun in the street bus. Encountered with Williams knocked at 500ft. The Tigers were down to their last out in the night. Cops singled and stole and got into a fight. But the Pirates had two odd schemes. While trying to win his knife, Honus Wagner doubled down the line. I caught a Giants Cardinals game. The Giants had two on McCubby put one in the bay, but McGuire for the cards get one out of state. Golden at bat. Hoorah. Hooray. The golden at bat. How about that? Anyone who's ever worn the uniform or hat. What an idea. Inside fee lish anyone in he can step up to the dish.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now batting for the Reds, Ted Klaszewski. Dan Byrne is brilliant and he knows so much about sports. He does. This is a great he knows so much about sports and he makes fun of the idiotic golden at bat.

[Nigel]

Terrible idea.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Which is just a terrible, terrible idea. Anyway, he plays in Jason Locinfora and I gotta read a couple emails. Well, let me read this first. We're joined by Odyssey NFL insider Jason Lockin for a host of the podcast in the Huddle covering the entire NFL from Emory in Watertown, Massachusetts. Over the summer you had Jason Locanfour on to discuss the NFL season preview. It was one of the first of many shows in which he excoriated the Jets. He mentioned that the jets were plus money to not make the playoffs. I jumped on it. Now that they are officially eliminated, I want to thank him for the insight. I'm not a big gambler. I bet five, maybe $10 at a time. But Jason helped me earn a good sandwich for lunch and I'm grateful for that. If only I live near a rofo so I could get some fried chicken Hun. And from David Wilson in Findlay, Ohio, you bring us Chuck, Todd, Carville, Jeff, Ma and Monkey to help us make wise betting choices. But let us not forget Jason Lakafur who told us to take good odds that the jets would not make the playoffs. I believe he had that. So don't you feel good about that?

[Unknown]

Anytime I can contribute to somebody sandwich fund.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

It warms the cockles of my heart. Especially in the holiday season. Yeah, I'm dreaming that it was like he, you know, because he knew this bet was going to cash for a while, that maybe he splurged and he went out and got like a serious post Thanksgiving, you know, turkey, cranberry stuffing, the whole nine. Knowing that that's going to. Woody Johnson is going to buy him that sandwich back, you know, five or six fold. That's what we should do as Americans is have Woody Johnson buy us lunch because he certainly can't buy a competent football team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Have you seen is there a Netflix series on Aaron Rodgers coming out?

[Unknown]

The sizzle reel showed up on my Twitter.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, that's as much. Is that not unbelievable that he would have this other agenda during the season?

[Unknown]

He. Look, there's one person truly interested in the mythology of Aaron Rodgers. Him, the guy who's spinning it. Yeah. I mean, to have the sort of like the. Just there's so much irony and lack of self awareness. Just get out of my life. Just go, go. Stop.

[Tony Kornheiser]

All right, let me get to football. You wrote about Russell Wilson going forward. There is a dilemma here. Russell Wilson's 90 years old. He's having a great run. He's. Boy, was I wrong. He is having a great run. But what is the dynamic going forward?

[Unknown]

I think they're going to do something with him. You know, there's latter stage rust. There's been reasons outside of football that would give you pause or sort of make you cringe or, you know, have. You'd have these other things to sort through. Like, is he a fit with our coach? Is he a fit in a locker room? You know, like, does he need X, Y and Z to be accommodated? Has the guy I'm replacing already sort of done some things with this quarterback that I now have to undo? You know, the fact that he has a superstar spouse, you know, how is that working in our sort of culture? So there's been all these things that, you know, he had to figure out at the end in Seattle and then going to Denver and then it was a part of the decision of where should he sign and what makes sense. And this has been a perfect fit. And yeah, like, people in that building don't just gush about how he's, you know, manage games for them and help them win. Like, they gush about their quarterback room. They gush about the relationship with him and Justin Fields. They, they gush about the way he's interacted with their quarterback coach. Like they, they gush about the work ethic, they gush about, you know, like the subjugated ego and look to your point about how old he is, et cetera. This is not going to be a massive payday. So it's not like you're worried about, oh, things are going to change dramatically now that you know, he's a year older and he's got more money in his pocket. He's made a ton of money and he's sort of been, you know, I think he has a lot more self awareness now about his football mortality, where he is in regards to where he used to be. And I do still think though that he is a workout warrior and a guy who eats and breathes this 24 hours a day. And Tom Brady is his role model. And Tom Brady played till he was 40 and played effectively into his 40s. So I think there's a two or three year deal here waiting to happen and I don't think he wants to be a nomad or a vagabond. And I think that the combination of this market size with the history and a coach who's a strong willed and easy to get behind as Mike Tomlin and the fact it's not a great quarterback draft and the fact they're going to win way too many games to get one of them anyway. And they've, they've been shuffling for a while now like you can sign Russ to a bridge deal and still draft one pretty high in the next year or two if possible. So I don't think he's going anywhere. And I think the Minnesota Vikings are going to have to put a franchise tag on Sam Darnold.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I agree with that.

[Unknown]

Those things happen. Then you're looking at Justin Fields as maybe the best free agent quarterback available and you're looking at a draft where after you get past the kid in Colorado and the kid in Miami, it's just a whole lot of question marks. So it's going to be hard for teams. Supply and demand at the quarterback position is going to be a very interesting dynamic.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It leads me to something that Masky wrote about the other day, which is deshaun Watson. Nobody's gushing about desean Watson. What are they going to, what are they going to do? What are they going to do?

[Unknown]

I think they're running it back. I think the owner's running it back. You know, there's people in the league who would love to see him do a Bobby Bonilla deal and be done with this. Because then it makes it even easier to say that was an outlier, that was anomaly. Like, you know what I mean? That we don't need to bid against that contract because that contract was so horrible that they paid the guy more money to go away than they paid him to play. I don't think he's inclined to do that. And I'm guessing it will fall on. I don't think he's going to fire Kevin Stefanski at this point. So, I mean, that would fall on Kevin Stefanski to try to fix that. And. And I don't think it's fixable. And you now have two years of no small sample size of somebody else running your offense where the entire thing elevates and multiple players play at such a ridiculously higher level with Flacco or with Jamis or seemingly with anyone other than DeSean Watson.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Unknown]

Than how they produce with Watson that most people. It would be enough for them to admit defeat. I'll put it to you this way. If Jimmy Haslam gets there, I don't think it's right around the corner. Like, I don't think it's coming at the start of the offseason and him clearing the deck and just saying, we're going to do whatever we have to do to pay him to go away, but our new future starts now. I don't think that's where he'll be. I also think there's not going to be a whole lot of other options out there anyway to improve. And, like, maybe James Winston goes back there. I mean, like, I don't see him in New York. Like, he was already in New Orleans. Right. And they passed on him for Derek Carr. So you just start looking at, you know, is he going to go to the Raiders? I think the Raiders are drafting one. Like, I don't know if the Raiders are winning another football game. Like, I think Shadow Sanders is the next quarterback of the Raiders. Like, so it could be that he, you know, ends up backing up Jameis Winston. But I don't think. I don't think he's going to be sort of, you know, banished from their building.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, let me move on. This is a real good week in games starts tonight. Rams and 49ers is a good game. Buffalo at Detroit's a great game. Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, great game. Green Bay at Seattle looks like a very good game. And I would ask you about those because it's reasonable to. But Bill Belichick has left the NFL for North Carolina.

[Jeff Ma]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What do you think about that?

[Unknown]

It's fascinating, I think. I mean, Bill Belichick does a lot of things, and a prideful man is among, you know, among those things. It's something. When you win that many games and you do things that people thought were impossible, it certainly, you know, will. Will affect one's ego. And the fact that these owners didn't want much to do with him last year, and he lost out on the one place where he seemed to be a real, you know, contender, Atlanta, you know, to Raheem Morris, I think that had, obviously, now, looking back, a significant impact on him. And so I think it shifted from chasing Shula to, all right, well, I'm not going out like that. And wherever I go, whatever program it is, college or pro, I'm. I'm not selling myself short in any way. There's. There's going to be a sizable list of things that you're going to have to provide if you want sort of Belichick incorporated and all my underling coaches, including my son, who, like, it's not just going to be a wink, wink thing that he's the next guy. Like, we're going to put it in writing. Like, who's going to be willing to agree to that and who's going to be willing to agree to it sort of expeditiously. And I think we know that Chapel Hill pretty much said, yeah, we'll check all those boxes. We'll give you the budget you want for your coaches. We'll give you the budget you want for your. Your football operations. Your nil will let you staff this however you want to staff it. Like, we will get out of your way, will give you saban, like, levels of, you know, control to our program. And so I think he said, what the hell, you know, his dad has some history there. It's a great place to live. The college game and the pro game have kind of continued to dovetail and overlap. And I think the thought of being left at the altar by these guys who he thinks most of them are feckless idiots anyway. He'd be right about that, by the way. I just think that would have been a lot for him to sort of have to stomach. And the idea of having the kowtow and placate to them and be interviewed for six or eight hours at a time, you know, and then why should we hire you over some guy who's worked with Sean McVeigh for five seconds? Like, I just think he knows that most of them are never capable to come anywhere close to building what he and Robert Kraft built. And they also, look, there was a lot of luck in that as well. There always is. And people were that successful. And so I just think it was like, yeah, I'm going to take this bird in hand and I'm going to sit there and watch these organizations being efficient next year. And most of the lame ones who want to hire me will continue to be lame and they'll continue to sputter and I'll, you know, I have different things in my life that I prioritized. And so who knows, maybe there'll be a Belichick coaching legacy at, you know, North Carolina that stretches, you know, for a while. But I just, I know what he thinks of most of them. And I think, you know, watching these other people get jobs that he feels like should have been offered to him straight up, guess he wasn't up for it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's fascinating to me. It's absolutely fascinating to me. Plug your radio show for us.

[Unknown]

You can listen to me daily on inside access on 105 to 7, as I like to call it in Baltimore from 2 to 6 Eastern Time every weekday. You can check me out on the weekends on and bet MGM game day on Sunday mornings on the Odyssey. But QL Network breaking down and handicapping every game. I will try to do as well as I've done on my fading the jets prop bets. Yeah, I can't guarantee that level of efficiency. I, I make no promises, Tone, but every, every dog has his day. And when they give you free money to call Woody Johnson a fool, take their money.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Thank you, Jason.

[Unknown]

You got it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Gentlemen, Jason Lock. And for our boys and girls, that was Odyssey NFL Insider Jason Lock. And for make sure to follow in the huddle on the Odyssey app or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We will come back with Ryan McGee, lifelong North Carolinian, to talk about Bill Belichick. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Jason Lockinfora]

This is the Tony Kornizer Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Nigel]

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[Jason Lockinfora]

This is the Tony Kornheiser show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Jason Lockinfora]

Have I got a story for you. Now. I was only five years old, excited and awake on the night before Christmas. My most favorite of all days when lo I heard a noise.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is Tim Wild Smith, our friend from Nashville. We've played this before. We love this song.

[Nigel]

So great.

[Jason Lockinfora]

And there I found my mother dear With Santa locking lips. Ho, ho, ho. He said to me, go back to.

[Unknown]

Sleep this is just a dream.

[Jason Lockinfora]

No, no, no. Said I to he removed your hands from my mother, please. And he said, look, son, it's me. Oh, I think my dad is Santa Claus.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Love this song. Love it, love it. Tim Wil Smith, our friend in Nashville. Thank you for sending it to us again. It plays in Ryan McGee and the news about Belichick. You say to yourself, well, how do you go about doing this? Who do you get on? Do you get on a football? Football players? Well, why, I mean, really, why? Why would you get a football player on? You have to look at the greater context of this, and the greater context of this is that North Carolina as a state is a basketball state. It's not a football state. The North Carolina program is nothing special at all. It's very ordinary. I could give you these statistics. They've won five ACC titles, none since 1980. Since 1980. Tobacco Road is about basketball. It's not about football. So we thought, let's get Ryan McGee on, because he's born and raised in North Carolina. And if anybody's going to feel the excitement of this or the dread of this, it's going to be a native North Carolinian. It was either going to be Ryan or Alex Potligar. And then we were going to get free rounds at Pinehurst. But it's Ryan. You were born and raised in North Carolina, right?

[Ryan McGee]

Yeah, I mean, born in Raleigh. And my dad was. Was an ACC referee for a couple of decades in the 80s and 90s and retired in the 2000s. So, yeah, I have. I have witnessed this my whole life. And North Carolina, I was just at Arizona State prior to the Big 12 championship game. And the conversation I had with Kenny Dillingham, the 34 year old head coach, grew up there, right around the corner, went to school there. And I said to him, I said, how has Arizona State never been great at football? Like, they've had moments and they've had players, but they've never been like everything on paper says they should be amazing. And to me that list was always Arizona, Arizona State, ucla, maybe Rutgers and North Carolina. Like, how can North Carolina be bad at football? And they just all not bad, but just generic like, like Gator bowl or bust.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, no, look, we did this. Matt Kelleher and I did this the other day. I said, tell me their record in the last 10 years and tell me their record the 10 years before that. So that covers whatever we got in this century. It's 132 and 120. It's okay, it's okay. But, but it's, it's nothing. I mean, basketball, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Duke, North Carolina. You live with this your whole life. When you hear a week ago or three days ago or four days ago that Bill Belichick is involved, do you say can't be or do you say wow?

[Ryan McGee]

I said can't be to start off with because it felt like. And this is kind of also been. North Carolina has been a program that other coaches have used for leverage when they were trying to get another job. Well, I'm gonna get to North Carolina job, so you better hurry up or, you know, in the case of Mac Brown, he took in 2000, when 1997, he had taken North Carolina in his opinion, as far as it could go in football. So he left for Texas. And so that's what it's always been. And so it just, it was just baffling. And also, I don't know Belichick, I don't pretend like I know him. I think I've interviewed him twice and it was both in, you know, awkward press conference situations. But the book on him is that he doesn't really like dealing with rookies. Well, that's all college football is. You don't like dealing with 22 year olds, how are you going to like deal with 18 year olds?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

And so that, that, that, that it just, none of it makes any sense. But if you're North Carolina, and by all indications, and this is a, this is, this Chapel Hill assembly over here, the board of. Someone on the board of trustees, you know, overstepped, overreached, kind of cut the ad out of the process. And what we're getting Bill Belichick. I can get him. And so now they've got him. And I guess the idea is if, if your greatest season ever was at, let's say, 1980, when they won 10 or 11 games and won the Gator bowl, then, you know, why not throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks. But you know it's Gonna cost you $50 million.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, they've got $50 million and sure. And they've never had a good football team. And it would be exciting to have a good football team. It was 10 days ago. It's unthinkable to me now. I'm crazy excited about it. I just think because it's an all or nothing circumstance, I can see him in two years throwing his hands up and saying, why did I ever do this? I can also see him winning 10 games immediately because he's Bill Belichick and North Carolina and all of those schools, you know, Wake State, Duke, North Carolina, they're basketball schools. They've never had anything like you didn't grow up with this. You couldn't have, right?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

I mean, it was funny because again, I'm the son of an ACC football official referee. And so, you know, I grew up going to a lot of pretty good football games, you know, and also a lot of bad football games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

So it's just. But it's always been a head scratcher because North Carolina, you go look at the rosters of most other schools in the Southeast. All these SEC schools have at least a handful of North Carolina players on a roster. Clemson has lived off of North Carolina high school football talent for 50 years. And you know, you have the money, you have fan bases who love football. High school football in North Carolina is a big deal. And you know, you're in a, you're in a powerful conference. I mean, everything on paper has always said that NC State and North Carolina should both. I mean, listen, App. State is a football school. North Carolina has had its runs. You know, Wake Forest won the acc. I mean, Duke hosted game day last year. So I mean, it's all there. It's just never been, you know, in North Carolina had what, the number three overall NFL pick in the draft last year. So it's all, it's all there. It's just never come together. So what's going to be fascinating, and maybe this is just coming from a kid who grew up in North Carolina State fan. It's going to be fascinating watching how Chapel Hill screws us up. They will. They will. It'll look really good for a minute, and they'll make a run, and then it'll all fall apart at some point, because that's just what they do. And when they do it with the greatest coach in the history of football, like everybody called him, then that will be the most capital thing ever.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's the right place in the state of North Carolina because they accommodated a giant figure in Dean Smith for a lot of years. And Bill Belichick is a giant figure. But I've been around him a few times. I don't like him. I just don't like being around him. I mean, it's just. He's always playing games, you know, he's always got a win. He talks down to you, he stops talking to you, you know, even though the interview is set up for a long time. So, I mean, I find I found my dealings with him unpleasant. Okay? Unpleasant. That doesn't mean I don't think he's brilliant. It doesn't mean I don't think he's a great, great football coach. But I'm trying to figure out, why would he do this? Okay. His dad was a college football coach at Navy and for a couple of years at Chapel Hill. But he said, I've always wanted to coach in college. And I go, what are you. What are you talking about? You're five. Five games away from Donshu. What are you talking about? Right. Why would he do this?

[Ryan McGee]

The closest he's ever come to being a college football coach was when his. And his dad was at Navy for, like, 30 years.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

And when he was a kid, he would sit in, he'd go to practice, and he'd sit and watch. That's where he learned how to watch film. He told that story many times, his dad, Stephen. But then this also all feels very much like he's trying to set up the future for his son. 100%, you know, and, you know, nobody wants to use the term head coach and waiting. I. When I wrote my column, free spin.com, we even had a debate. And do we even use this term? Because, you know, the head coach and waiting thing, Remember when Will Musk, champ, was the head coach in waiting behind Mack Brown? That didn't work.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Didn't work.

[Ryan McGee]

You know, Dana Holgerson of West Virginia, that killed Bill Stewart. I mean, the stress of it, you know, it fractured the relationship for a while between, you know, Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Baldwin, Jimmy Fisher's hero. They were fine after a while, but it just. It doesn't work. And so, you know, if the. Garrett, you know, if he handed this 400 page manifesto, this is how I'm going to run the program. And, you know, all reports and everyone in North Carolina was telling me Billicheck wasn't budging at all on. On his demands. And part of his demands are making sure that his son, who was until like today, the defensive coordinator at Washington, this is all about setting him up and that, you know, listen, I'm a dad. I'll do whatever to make sure my daughter gets what she needs.

[Tony Kornheiser]

But I understand. I understand all of this.

[Ryan McGee]

It doesn't have to play the game.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It doesn't work.

[Ryan McGee]

I don't know if he can do it. I don't know. I don't know. Even Nick Saban, who was as surly as there ever was.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

Ended up becoming a media darling. And now it's on game day and, you know, he knew that he had to, you know, bow at the knee of Bear Bryant Jr. And the people that ran the university system in Alabama. That's just how it works. And I don't know. I don't know if Bill Belichick has that in him, but we're going to find out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think that the fair question, particularly of someone who's North Carolinian, is the reasonable expectations. To me, if you're a high school player or you're looking to get into the portal and you can go to work for Bill Belichick for two years. Yeah. I mean, you're going to go to the. He had Tom Brady kids. You're going to go to the pros. I would think that they could bring people in all over the place. I think a reasonable expectation, maybe, maybe I'm out of my mind, is 10 or 11. I really do. They can win those games. What do you think?

[Ryan McGee]

Yeah, no, I agree with that. I, you know, the question is, because he won't be there long, I don't think there's two, three. What position will he leave the program in? And what has never happened there is what you had in the past. When we saw Larry Fedora, we saw Butch Davis, we saw, obviously with Mack Brown twice, which is you can get to 10 wins and you can knock on the door of the top 10, which they finished in once this century, but they never hold it together like they. Like in the middle of the season, during this Entire Mac Brown 2.0 ERA, with the exception of this past year, they start knocking on the door of the top 10. Midseason. Here they go. It's back to 1997. And then by the end of the year, they're in the, you know, the Duke's Mayo bowl and they're out of the top 25.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

So. So the question is, can Belichick finally be the guy that leaves it in better shape? The good news is the way it's built now, he can build a roster immediately. That's right. His whole ro. His whole roster is gone. They left, but they also went six and six.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Plus, you know, he's going to bring in all of his assistance from the Patriots. He's going to basically say, you want to make the NFL, we are the NFL right here. Come to us. It's a two to three year deal at the most.

[Ryan McGee]

I think I do too. And that, and that was when, you know, when he was on Pat McAfee Show Monday. That's what he said, listen, if I do this, if capital. If he kept saying if I do this, then, you know, I have the roadmap to get you to the league.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Ryan McGee]

And that's going to be, you know, that was Nick Saban. That's how Nick Saban built his dynasty, which is, you know, every year I got six guys in the first round. So, you know, and I got 20 free agents. If you want to be in the league, come on. And so it'll work, but we'll see too. You know, I don't know if, I don't know if a 17 year old four star out of Wilmington, North Carolina knows who will Belichick is, you know, because it's been a second and it's going to be, it's really going to be fascinating to see how this doesn't work. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's great. Thanks for being on at such short notice. I just, I just thought that someone like you, been there your whole life, would have real thoughts about this because seriously, 10 days ago, if this was brokered, you would have said no. What are you nuts? What are you talking about? And now it's here. It's cool.

[Ryan McGee]

Greatest coach ever versus the most head scratching, generic program ever. I mean, something's got to give. So we'll see.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So good. Thanks, ryan. Thanks, Ryan McGee, boys and girls. We appreciate that very much. I don't even know the order of the show anymore because we tape out of order. Who's next? Mailbag is next Jingle in an email when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This is the Etsy read. Etsy knows what kind of holiday gifting reactions you're looking for this year. You want squeals of delight, happy tears, and spontaneously written songs of joy, right? Well, to get reactions like those, you need to make sure everyone on your list feels heard with handmade, handpicked and designed gifts from small shops on Etsy. Etsy makes it so simple to find original items that will make whoever I'm shopping for feel extra special. Shop Etsy this holiday season for personalized jewelry, custom artwork, cozy style items, vintage pieces, and home decor to celebrate all of your favorite people and their specific kind of special. For original gifts that say I get you, Etsy has it.

[Jason Lockinfora]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Kelly Vickstrom Hoyt on the squeeze box.

[Nigel]

On the squeeze box, yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Love it. Do you have a Bethesda Bagel read for us?

[Nigel]

I do indeed. Bethesda Bagels. We love them. You will as well. Just go to Bethesda Bagels.com for the location in the DC area nearest to. Then pop on in, my friend, and you will be thrilled.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's it for us today. Before we get to the bail back, let me just say you shake my nerves and you rattle my brain. Too much love drives a man insane. You broke my will, but what a thrill. Goodness gracious, great balls of fire. The killer Jerry Lee Lewis. Let me thank Jason locan for Ryan McGee and Jeff Ma for being on the show today. Let me thank today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and Audacity if get show through Apple. Please leave us a review.

[Dan Byrne]

Sorry we couldn't get Chan Hardwick, lifelong Carolina fan and Charlotte Boyd to talk about this news, but we'll get him on in a year or two to preview the Duke's Mayo Bowl.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, no, I wrote him last night. I said Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick. That's great.

[Dan Byrne]

I've not heard from him yet. Glad to hear he's okay with.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, he's thrilled. He's thrilled. He's totally thrilled.

[Nigel]

Well, this is the time to be excited about it, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Before the first game. Sure. Right. Patrick Sitter, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. How you doing? Can we blow him up? Can we blow him up? Adam Benson, St. John's Newfoundland, Canada. Even I have CBS and I live in Canada. Jeff in Longview, Texas, while discussing the Stampeders ban being from Calgary, you said there's football team there. The Stampeders. Really? Only a football team? Calgary is also known for the world famous Calgary Stampede Rodeo dating back to the early 1900s. As well as the home for the now defunct Stampede Wrestling owned by Stu Hart, father of the great Bret Hart. Not saying the band is named for either of these things, but something to think about from George McGuff in Waxhaw, which is still southeast of Charlotte, North Carolina. I love the story about your grandson losing his tooth. I too am a grandfather. They all call me Pops. I have four grandchildren. They have figured out very quickly that the tooth fairy that comes to Grandma and Pop's house is more generous than the one at their own home. $5 versus $1. Three of them just try to make sure they lose the teeth when they are visiting Grandma and Pops. But only one, my seven year old granddaughter has taken that to the next level. The last time she lost the tooth, she told her mother, my daughter, that she wanted to save the tooth in a resealable sandwich bag until the next time she spends the night at my house. That way she gets the higher payoff.

[Nigel]

Smart kid.

[Tony Kornheiser]

For the lost tooth. I'm so proud.

[Dan Byrne]

The vessels on Bootsy was old enough to open up his piggy bank and he found a folded up $50 bill with a note that just said Cheers Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's what you gotta do. How about that? Jim Tippett, Bethany beach the spicy edamame at Confucius in Rehoboth is fabulous. Tell Camerson Smith, not Cameron Smith, to eat it. Cameron Smith okay. From Neil it just says Neil on the Wednesday podcast. You wondered again whether Dan Fouts was born in Bend, Oregon, to be informed that San Francisco was his hometown. You should know that your belief about the connection between Fouts and Bend is not unfounded. Dan retired to and lives in Sisters, Oregon, a town 23 miles from Bend. Since my wife's parents retired to Bend years ago, we've visited the area many times during which we have become aware of Fouts presence in the area and his numerous charitable endeavors, including a concert series to raise money for the local school district and a cancer fund in memory of his son who died from cancer in 2012. I didn't know any didn't know anything about that.

[Nigel]

I wasn't aware of any of that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Shad Not a haiku?

[Nigel]

No. This is fun.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, I remember the old days, Thursdays with Andy or Warner, and I remember recall Mitch Levy and the polls. Most were stupid and forgettable, but my favorites were the fantasy fights. Mike Tyson. I have no idea about this. Mike Tyson would be pitted against someone with inferior boxing skills, but the opponent was given some accessory to help even out the odds, like Tyson versus Jessica Tandy. She gets a chainsaw, but it's not started. Or Tyson versus Bea Arthur. She gets a machete, but she's also blindfolded. Insanely. Oh, I debate these with friends. I'm taking Tandy. She may not be able to start the chainsaw, but she hacks at him and wins on cuts. Fantasy fights where you pick the winner. You know, I I don't remember that. I'm not saying I didn't do it because it sounds weird and I might have done it. It's fun, but I just don't remember Christie Stocks in Fairfax, Virginia, who sends a picture of her wearing a Chatter shirt. How about that? And a mask. That's really nice. Really nice. I'm a long time little Going back to the days of Sports Talk 570 and a one time unsuccessful emailer. I work in the field of healthcare in the DMV and my boss, Dr. Mark Childress, is a longtime little as well. We have spent a fair amount of time over the last decade discussing the show and the POD and have many inside jokes that our colleagues must find extremely annoying. From our gift of the Magi style exchange of Chatter T shirts a few years ago to our delightful game of replacing each other's nameplate with the customized Edith Salisa tag I had made. And there's pictures included. This year I've drawn my dear friend in her office's Secret Santa drawing. Although I will be getting him a storebought gift, I can think of no better topper than for him to hear the four words that every Little dreams about. I ask for your help in accomplishing this mission by requesting a hearty Eat it Mark Childress this holiday season. I hope you can make this dream come true for both of us. Thanks for all the years of laughter and levity. Easy to do from Lee Gordon, chuck and Roxy number 80 in Boynton Beach, Florida, which I know well. Hinky dinky hinky dinky hinky dinky hinky dinky hinky dinky hinky dinky. That's it. That's the email from Paul Karnes in Maidens, Virginia. Your recent discussion about the term hinky dinky caused me to recall that I heard that phrase thousands of times in the 70s as the cheerleaders from my high school basketball team had a cheer that went like this. Hinky dinky do wah. Hinky dinky doo wa. What are we talking about? What are we talking about? Talking about the Knights. Talking about the Knights. No idea how that cheer came to be, but that's the way it was in the 1970s in the Chicago suburbs. Now this previously barely remembered cheer is running through my frontal lobe 247 like the crawl on ESPN asking why the college football committee did or did not include Alabama, Army, Mississippi state, Mississippi, Miami, etc. Please make it stop. I can't. Tim Creek, Fort Collins, Colorado I'm confused. Everyone keeps saying they have CBS, but considering your recent Jessie the Dog stories, I assume that cbs, or Canine Bowel Syndrome, was exclusive to dogs. I guess humans can get it too. Who knew? Tim in the Midwest, do you have ABC? If so, I'll be there around 7:30 Monday night for the Bears Vikings. King, is it okay if I bring some sourdough bread? Heard you have a great toaster that I'd love to try.

[Dan Byrne]

Let's make sure you offer to share the bread.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, just share it. From Derek in actor let me be the first to ask, how you doing? Jim Cardillo, Annapolis, Maryland the exception to the rule is Jackson Brown's the Loadout, which does not use Detroit. He says Detroit.

[Nigel]

Oh, Detroit. I guess he does Detroit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know. There's so many shows to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Chicago or Detroit.

[Nigel]

But I think if you if the city's name is in your band's name, it has to be Detroit.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The Detroit Wheels. Yes. James Waller from Milton Keynes. Well, he's an economist. Milton Keynes, is he not? Regarding Noah from Austin's email, this presents an example of the flush the mouse paradox. If Urban Dictionary hadn't published his definition of flushing the mouse, Noah would have in fact, flushed the mouse. As the definition has now been published, Noah has not actually flushed any mice. Please tell Mark Dimmick and Edith Soliciti. Edith Solicit is so funny. Carla Corrado, Columbus, Ohio An Ohio lawmaker, we know about this, just proposed a house bill that would make it a felony to plant a flag in the center of Ohio Stadium on the day of a college football game. It's called the Ohio Sportsmanship Act. Can you imagine convicted felons at penitentiary asking, hey buddy, what are you in for now? My team beat the Buckeyes. I was penalized 5 yards for legal procedure and then tend to life for this flag. Paul Kelly, Greetings from Australia. I started listening to you and Wilbon on PTI a number of years ago to get my daily insights into American sports and graduated to add your show as well. These are now a regular staple of my listening week while at the gym or taking my son to baseball practice while I started listening to help increase my knowledge of the finer points of American sports. I now tune in for equal parts of sports stories, ice cream recommendations, and old man rants. Thank you for the ongoing entertainment. Looking forward to my next trip to the USA to attend Major League Baseball spring training. That's very, very nice. Paul Kelly Joe Rizzo Oak Hill, Virginia I've made the round trip between Northern Virginia and Ocean County, NJ via i95 15 times after the past four months, so much that I know where to park at rest stops for the fastest restroom entries and exits when to avoid Dunkin Donuts at the Maryland house. On two such trips, I was feeling a bit fatigued and I wasn't up to the task of traveling at more than 75 miles an hour. I wanted to cruise at a slower pace, so I went into the far right lane and put on my blinkers. And it worked both times. Cars and trucks cleanly navigated around me while I drove at a safer speed. During your next drive, you may want to consider this technique. It'll make you look like an old fogey, but after all, you are an old fogey, and I think that's fair to say. Do we have time for a couple more?

[Nigel]

We absolutely do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We have some time, yes. Ben Garrig, Westport, Connecticut When I got into my wife's car and heard her listening to a raspy voice saying, you have to take a knife and pry it out of the bear's head, I assumed it was RFK Jr talking about a falconing afternoon gonna ride. Thankfully, it was just Mr. Tony talking about hardened honey. Patrick Vincencio Laurel, MD which is easier to pry open from a bear's head? Two year old honey or a timeout from Coach Eberfluss? From Neil Erwes, Littleton, Colorado lawyer as we know, I'm sure my suggestion to dealing with Tony's granulated honey problem is duplicative of those offered by other Littles and certainly not a haiku. But the easiest way to liquefy granulated honey is a quick burst in the micro wave, or if there are not enough outlets to operate one in a pan of hot water. I also have to comment on the lovely Pre Thanksgiving podcast, which contained all of the elements of the holiday family assisting an ailing older patriarch, connecting and reconnecting with old friends, and betting on football. The highlight of the show was first and probably only time that Carville was more understandable than Tony. Yeah, my voice was terrible then. Kyle Buttersworth in Oakville in Ontario in Canada, my son who was very aware of this show was at a fellow 9 year old's birthday party the other day. The party featured a magician. As the magician was about to astound us with another illusion, he said hocus pocus to which my son yelled at junk. The magician was confused and I couldn't have been prouder. It's a Wilbonian Michael in Aurora, Colorado I always drive 5 11. Not the best way to drive, but there are certainly worst ways to hold the wheel. Tony t in Brooklyn, D.C. in 1971 I was in a pet store in Iverson Mall. I was walking down the aisles when a monkey reached out of a cage and grabbed a handful of my hair. A few weeks later we were picking mom up from her kooky friend's house, walked in and their pet monkey ran across the room, jumped up and grabbed me by the hair. Now 53 years later, a bunch of monkeys escape, Jesse's got the runs and Mr. Tony has a bad throat. Coincidence? I think not. Reginald is either the target or the leader. If Mr. Tony reads the lyrics to Brandy during the mail bag, it may be a distress signal from Nathan Ackerham Charlotte, North Carolina I look forward to the next brilliant creation by dan Byrne entitled Pat 40 Got Pepper Sprayed. Actually, you know what? Putting that idea in his head Tom Muell the official Solstice Sunrise and Sunset Monitor of the Tony Kornizer show which Coming up soon. It is coming up soon. December 21st. A week or so. A little over a week. I just wanted to remind you that starting this weekend the sunsets will be getting later each day. I don't want you to be surprised like you have been in the past every six months around either the winter or summer solstice. You mention on the show about how you don't understand how the sun rises or sunsets could be getting earlier or later before the 21st. While the shortest day of the year is on December 21st, the earliest sunset in the Northern hemisphere around the Washington D.C. latitude happens about two weeks before around December 8th. With the leap year this year the sunset will be at 4:45pm so that was a few days ago. By December 10th the sunset will be at 446 and continue to increase. Sunrises are just the opposite. The latest sunrise will be about two weeks after December 21st around January 5th. Hopefully you will be feeling better to start taking advantage of the later sunsets. I will email again in about six months. So today I did notice we are there is light in the sky at seven in the morning but it is not much. And I do know that over the next two to three weeks there will be light in the sky later and later. So it is possible that when I get back with the dog around seven, there will be no light in the sky. Which is why I bring a flashlight with me, which I do. From Rich Bennett in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. I wish you well and a quick recovery. But if things don't work out and turn badly, can I have all your moth eaten sweaters please pass on to Carol. My shipping addresses below.

[Dan Byrne]

I saw one of the moth yesterday flying around your kitchen.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you kill it?

[Dan Byrne]

I tried.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you fail?

[Dan Byrne]

I think it found its way to your cedar chest safe back home.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So why do I have American Pest? Why am I paying them $240 to come in here and not get rid of my moth?

[Dan Byrne]

Moths flying around.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I don't see him. I don't. I don't want to see him. No. But, but one of the sweaters that I got fixed, the blue sweater from Brooks Brothers Merino. Yeah, that one on my back, right shoulder. Opened up a giant hole today. I'm taking it back today. I'm saying, come on, you got to fix this better than that. There's another 200 bucks on a sweater that costs like 45.

[Dan Byrne]

The card open. You leave your credit card open there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They know what they know. There's this style open tab. Doesn't get rid of the moths and keeps bringing in the sweaters. What a gold mine he is from Lyle. I'm bringing my family to D.C. in a couple of weeks. We have reservations for dinner at the Palm. What would be the proper dress for well bred ladies and gentlemen, such as we are, I think you know you don't have to do this. You can just wear sport clothes. Put a jacket. A sport jacket is nice.

[Dan Byrne]

You don't need a tie.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just, you know, you don't have to wear a tie or anything like that anymore. Tuxedo, T shirt if you do.

[Dan Byrne]

But ask about the steak. Olive stone. That shows you've been there before.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. So anyway, good luck with that lot. Oh, ask for the pickles. Absolutely. Ask for the pickles. The radishes. Pickles. If you're out on your bike tonight, as always, do wear white.

[Jeff Ma]

Ken, Lonnie, I'd like you to meet.

[Ryan McGee]

Muhammad Jug Dish, Sydney and Clayton.

[Unknown]

The golden at bat. How about that? Anyone who's ever worn the uniform or hat. What an idea. It sounds delish. Anyone in history can step up to the dish. I caught a game between the Yanks and Red Sox up in Fenway. Sotos struck out. Judge went out the same way. So the Yankees sent a brute deep. Bang bun in the street bus encountered with Williams knocked at 500ft. The Tigers were down to their last out in the night. Cops singled and stole and got into a fight. The Pirates had two odd schemes. Will try to win his night. Conus Wagner doubled down the line. I caught a Giants Cardinals game. The Giants had two on a cubby. Put one in the bay. Buck McGuire for the cards. Get one out of state. Golden at bat. Hoorah. Hooray. The golden at bat. How about that? Anyone who's ever worn the uniform or hat, whatever, anyone in history can step up to the dish.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now batting for the Reds, Ted Wazewski.

[Jason Lockinfora]

Have I got a story for you. Now, I was only five years old, excited and awake on the night before Christmas My most favorite of all days when lo I heard a noise downstairs so I crept out to catch a glimpse and there I found my mother dear With Santa locking lips. Ho, ho, ho. He said to me go back to sleep this is just a dream. No, no, no, Said I to he Remove your hands from my mother, please. And he said, look, son, it's me. Oh, I think my dad is Santa Claus. So back to bed they made me go But I couldn't catch a wink with the thought of Rudolph and his friends upon my roof I just had to see so up the chimney I went and there before my eyes the reindeer and that glorious sleigh and Santa I mean dad, about to fly.

[Jeff Ma]

Ho, ho, ho.

[Jason Lockinfora]

He's said to me, get back inside it's time for me to leave. No, no, no, said I to he, you need some help and your son works free and he said, all right, come on, hurry. Oh, I think my dad is Santa Claus. We flew around the world to all the good boys and girls Left gifts under their trees we ate lots of milk and cookies the next morning I awoke with a fright had it all just been a dream but when I got downstairs my dad was waiting With a grin and a wink Ho, ho, ho. He said to me my secret's out now can you keep it, please? No, no, no, said I to he I've got to tell my friends or else they won't believe when I say I think my dad is Santa Claus it's really true he's san. I wonder if I'm going to be.

[Ryan McGee]

Santa Claus one day.