“Why trust what I can see?”

Summary

The Tony Kornheiser Show

Episode: "Why trust what I can see?"
Date: February 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Tony Kornheiser Show blends classic Tony fare: Washington D.C. weather woes (with a focus on the latest snowstorm and power outage), dramatic recaps and reflection on Team USA’s gold-medal hockey win over Canada, Olympic coverage quirks, and sharp, freewheeling conversations about the NBA, college basketball, and more. Tony is joined throughout by regulars Michael Wilbon and Craig Laughlin, each bringing their wit and insight on sports and the world around them.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Washington D.C. Snowstorm Recap & Outage Anxiety

• Snow Totals, Local Experience:
  • Tony and Mike compare notes on the recent snow in D.C.—about 3 to 4 inches in their part of town.
  • They poke fun at the dramatic, often conflicting, weather predictions (from 1 inch to three feet!) and the city’s tendency to overreact.
• Power Outage Saga:
  • Tony recounts an unnerving night with a full power outage, including his distrust of the restored service and the ambiguous Pepco updates.
    • Quote: "You know me pretty well. I don't trust that. I was anxious. I was anxious that they would turn the corner, the power would go back off." (Tony Kornheiser, [04:44])
  • Wilbon describes going over, delivering a portable phone charger, and assessing how cold Tony’s house was.

Timestamps:

• Snow & power outage segment: [01:12] – [05:13]

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2. Olympic Hockey: USA's Dramatic Win Over Canada

• Game Recap & Fairness of Overtime Format:
  • Tony and Wilbon unpack the nail-biting action, particularly the excitement—and controversy—over 3-on-3 overtime.
    • Quote: "Three on three is tremendously exciting. I’m not sure it's fair." (Tony Kornheiser, [06:21])
    • Wilbon defends it as much fairer than penalty kicks in soccer.
  • Both praise Team USA's performance but resist comparisons to the 1980 "Miracle on Ice," stressing that today’s teams are pro vs. pro.
    • Quote: "It is not okay if you make a comparison between the United States beating Canada and 1980. There's no comparisons. We're all NHL players." (Tony Kornheiser, [07:19])
• Heroics & History:
  • Discussion of Jack Hughes’s impact and the significance of the American win.
  • Wilbon highlights the emotional spectacle—celebrations, flag draping—a nod to Olympic theater.
• Craig Laughlin’s Hockey Perspective:
  • Laughlin, ex-NHLer and Cap’s broadcaster, describes a house divided (Canadian vs. American allegiances) and gives his detailed analysis:
    • Quote: "I would have preferred when you go to overtime in the Olympics, it's still five on five... and if it goes 3 overtimes, so be it." (Craig Laughlin, [35:09])
  • Both goalies’ performances come under the spotlight, especially U.S. goalie Hellebuyck’s "out of his mind" game-saving play ([36:42]).
  • Craig weighs the value of Olympic gold vs. the Stanley Cup, concluding they're "equal" in prestige for modern players.

Timestamps:

• Initial hockey/1980 comparison discussion: [06:38] – [08:56]
• Wilbon’s third-period and goaltending praise: [16:57] – [19:30]
• Overtime format fairness debate: [19:30] – [20:30]
• Laughlin’s deep dive: [34:10] – [44:58]

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3. Winter Olympics Coverage & Commentary

• On Halfpipe Jargon and Broadcast Personalization:

  • Tony and the crew riff on NBC’s use of technical lingo—'triple cork 1980', etc.—and the value (and absurdity) of “interpreting” Olympic events for the less initiated.
  • Tony shares a note from NBC’s Todd Harris, who directly referenced Tony on-air, explaining his job in making unusual sports accessible (and confirming listeners from inside the Olympics booth).
    • Quote: “I had a producer tell me: ‘Most of the people tuning in have no clue about the terminology.’ It made me immediately think of you and your rant last week.” (Todd Harris, [12:29])

• The Athlete’s Commitment vs. Snow Impact:

  • Tony recounts from his doctor friend how outpatients and medical staff sleep at hospitals overnight to make scheduled procedures during storms—a detail overlooked by most people.

Timestamps:

• Halfpipe jargon & Todd Harris note: [11:27] – [15:25]

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4. Golf, College Basketball, and NBA State-of-the-Union

• Golf—Jacob Bridgman Holds On:
  • Tony and Wilbon run through Bridgman’s tense moments at Riviera, highlighting his jitters on the 18th green and contrasting with the easier shot-makers who missed chances.
    • Quote: “…when you saw that putt, you go, oh my god, he's gagged it, right?” (Tony Kornheiser, [24:03])
• College Basketball Talent Pool:
  • Post-Michigan/Duke and Houston/Arizona weekend, they discuss this year’s ultra-deep draft class; 8–10 “tank-worthy” players, lessening the need for teams to intentionally lose.
    • Quote: “…that’s why this is the actual year. I would flatten the odds in the lottery. Utterly.” (Tony Kornheiser, [26:58])
• NBA Playoff Outlook:
  • Who can make noise down the stretch? Wilbon picks Detroit and San Antonio as the most fascinating young teams.
  • Both slam the media’s Lakers/Cowboys obsession, ranking L.A. as barely in the playoff picture.
    • Quote, on Lakers:
      • Tony: “Would you bet on the Lakers as constituted in a playoff series right now against either Oklahoma City or San Antonio? I would not. Would you?”
      • Wilbon: “I would not know.” ([31:12]–[31:31])

Timestamps:

• Golf/Riviera recap: [22:10] – [24:53]
• College/NBA talk: [25:01] – [33:15]

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5. Notable and Memorable Moments

• Personalized Olympic Broadcasts:
  • NBC’s Todd Harris referencing “my good friend Tony Kornheiser” on-air and even singing the show’s mailbag theme during rehearsal ([12:29], [15:02]).
• Snow Commentary Gold:
  • Mike joking about D.C.’s snow over-response: “Three to four inches and a classic DC over respond. We messed up the previous storm. We're going to be out early and often for this.” ([02:19])
• Classic Tony Skepticism:
  • “I can’t wait for the bill. Be $4,000, you know, this month.” ([05:02])
• Wilbon:
  • “People don’t have any sense of history. We know that. We talk about you, and I talk about that all the time.” ([20:30])

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Segment Highlights (w/ Timestamps)

• Snow/power outage tales: [01:12] – [05:13]
• Olympic hockey/1980 context: [06:38] – [08:56]
• Hospital logistics in snow: [09:45] – [10:41]
• Olympics halfpipe/Personalized commentary: [11:27] – [15:25]
• Wilbon’s hockey analysis: [16:57] – [19:30]
• Hockey OT fairness: [19:30] – [20:30]
• Wilbon/Tony on non-hockey Winter Olympics: [21:21] – [22:10]
• Golf (Bridgman at Riviera): [22:10] – [24:53]
• College/NBA deep dive: [25:01] – [33:15]
• Laughlin detailed hockey breakdown: [34:10] – [44:58]
• Notable emails, music break, and show traditions: [45:00] – [51:46]

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Quotes of the Episode

• Tony Kornheiser (on power returning):
  "You know me pretty well. I don't trust that. I was anxious... Why trust what I can see." ([04:44]–[05:00])

• Michael Wilbon (on historic context):
  “People don’t have any sense of history... They have no sense of what was going on in the world in 1980.” ([20:30])

• Craig Laughlin (on Olympic gold vs. the Stanley Cup):
  “I would say equal to… You’re competing against the world…” ([40:35])

• Tony Kornheiser (on the Lakers coverage):
  “Not doing the Lakers. We're not doing the Cowboys. We're not doing the Cowboys or the Lakers.” ([32:45])

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Tone & Style Notes

The episode is classic “Tony”—lightly curmudgeonly, self-effacing, and sharp, always keeping the conversation both erudite and approachable. Tony and Wilbon riff with the ease of old friends, mixing inside jokes and deep sports knowledge with universal gripes (weather, power companies), while Craig Laughlin offers a measured and passionate hockey analysis with a just-right touch of nostalgia.

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For First-Time Listeners

You’ll get a full taste of why The Tony Kornheiser Show remains beloved: accessible, funny, with the camaraderie of lifelong friends and sports experts, and a singular mix of D.C.-flavored personal stories and national sports takes. If you missed the 2026 Olympic hockey finale, college hoops, or just want smart talk about weather, power outages, and how the NBA's talent landscape is changing, this episode delivers.

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[Timestamps indicate start of relevant segment.]

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk about the snow that we got. Plus we'll catch up with Michael Wilbon, who is in sunny North Scottsdale. And we'll talk with Craig Laughlin about Team USA's dramatic win over Canada for the gold medal. But first, commerce. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

[Mike Wilbon]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show. There are some people, not just Kevin Sheehan, predicting 3 of snow.

[Mike Wilbon]

And yet every time I turn on WTOP they say please don't listen to your weather apps.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, apparently it's a 30% chance of three feet of snow and a 30% chance of an inch or two of snow.

[Mike Wilbon]

Three feet of snow. That's a big gap.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, because if the bombo genesis forms in exactly the right latitude and longitude that it explodes over Washington D.C. and then goes up the coast and destroys Philadelphia and New York. The Tony Kornizer show is on now. We were fortunate to this point in Washington D.C. inside metro Washington D.C. let's

[Mike Wilbon]

see what number you pull.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I can't speak for other people, but I would say looking at my yard, walking the dog this morning, I'd say three to four inches. I don't think we had more than that. What do you.

[Mike Wilbon]

I'd say three.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, three. Something like that.

[Mike Wilbon]

Three to four inch and a classic DC over respond. We messed up the previous storm. We're going to be out early and often for this.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, the roads are wonderful. Roads are fine.

[Mike Wilbon]

Streets haven't looked this clean.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, roads.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Really? Yes, roads are Wonderful. Now there is, it's a heavy snow, which means that in our yard, for example, tree limbs are falling and that's going to continue all day. Hopefully trees don't fall.

[Mike Wilbon]

But for those kids who have a two hour delay, it's a perfect snowball. Snow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

Oh yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So we're fortunate. I hope that. I'm sorry for those who are not so fortunate. For example, I believe Sean said he's got about a foot of snow in New Jersey. Maybe he'll get a little bit more. My daughter near Atlantic city was expecting 16 to 18 inches of snow. Boston is expecting 20 inches of snow. Cape Cod, more than that. So you don't know if the bombo genesis has formed. It just spared us apparently. I'm very grateful for that. I will say that we lost power yesterday. We lost power at about 7 o' clock in the evening. Just went out. There was no explosion. There was nothing like that. All electrical power went out in our house. The people on the street who lost power as well, I was told that they called Pepco as well. We called Pepco and they said, in effect, they said, okay, well, we will write a ticket for this. What that means is they acknowledge that you have no power and they acknowledge it is their responsibility to try and help you get power. And so they go through the forms of writing up the tickets and then getting a truck. And then after they get a truck, then they have to get a specialist truck as well. It's not just the first, the first people who arrive usually because I've gone

[Mike Wilbon]

through this before, the scout team.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, they tell you, they tell the,

[Mike Wilbon]

you know when the power is off, right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

When the pros from Dover show up, they tell them what's wrong.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah, go over there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So there were Pepco trucks on our street from about 8 o' clock at night on and at about 1:30 in the morning. And I'm aware of this, I'm not sleeping well, obviously at about 1:30 in the morning and the Pepco trucks had been up the street, the Pepco trucks began to move. This created a panic in me because there was no power.

[Mike Wilbon]

Okay, giving up for the night.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I thought they'd given up for the night.

[Mike Wilbon]

Wait for daylight.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's what I thought.

[Mike Wilbon]

It's quitting time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They came down to the end of the street. They sat there for less than a minute. Power came back on. You know me pretty well. I don't trust that. I was anxious. I was anxious that they would turn the corner, the power would go Back off. And I would have to get.

[Mike Wilbon]

Why trust what I can see.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, but I. But the. But the power came on, and to this point, that was about 1:30. To this point, it's about 8:00 o' clock in the morning when we, when we do this, the power has stayed with us. So I'm very, very grateful for that

[Mike Wilbon]

and credit to Pepco and their communication because through the app, they give you updates with estimated times and you just see it ticking back.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So we fix it by nine.

[Mike Wilbon]

And from my perspective, I drop off at about nine. I drop off a portable charger for your phone. And really what I was doing was I was trying to assess the ambient temperature in the house. Didn't bring out the thermometer, but it was fine. I tried to have you keep the doors closed, and then I figured it'd be on by midnight. Once I went to bed, I just wanted to make sure it came on at some point.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Leave your elderly parents in the lurch,

[Mike Wilbon]

get an extra blanket.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, yeah, it wasn't. You know, as I woke up 20 times in the middle of the night, I was never particularly cold. But I'm not. I'm not that person, you know, I'm not. I like it cold anyway, in. In the house. And so it didn't bother. No, it did not bother me. And the, The. Everything came back on. I can't wait for the bill. Be $4,000, you know, this month. So the Olympics are over. The hockey game is worth talking about. We will talk to Wilbon about it. We will talk to Craig Laughlin, great NHL player. We will talk to him about it. I will just say up front that three on three is tremendously exciting. I'm not sure it's fair. I'm not sure it's fair. The NHL doesn't do that. The NHL may go to 4 on 4 in the regular season and then into a shootout, but in the playoffs, you're there till you die.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Somebody has to score.

[Michael Wilbon]

Real goal.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. That's how it works.

[Mike Wilbon]

Is your thinking influenced by what happened in the women's gold game as well? Just in terms of these. You start that extra, you know, the overtime, and it's over in a minute and a half.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think they want it to be over. Yeah, I think that's the goal. To go three on three. Want to be over? No, no. For in my mind, the women's game is the women's game. It could have entirely different rules. As far as I know, it does not. But it could and it would be okay. I mean, every. Every sport.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah. Just saying in close session, you saw games end quickly.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. And I'm good with that. And, you know. Cause, you know, if you. If you take a run at it and you miss the other teams going the other way, two on one, which

[Mike Wilbon]

is what happened at the end, that's a quick turnaround.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, you know, that was. It was lovely to watch. I just want to say this out loud. When people make references to 1980, you're okay. It's okay if you say the last time the United States team won was 1980. It is not okay if you make a comparison between the United States beating Canada and 1980. There's no comparisons. We're all NHL players. You know, we. Canada has the most NHL players. We have the second most NHL players. We are not Cabbage Patch Kids going up against something. No, we're not. You know, we're as good as them.

[Mike Wilbon]

But 1980, it was different.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So that was different. There were no pros. You know, the Russians had pros. The Russians had people in leagues. We didn't have anything like, I think.

[Mike Wilbon]

And the thing. What you're. You're seeing history happen in real time when you watch, you know, the flag draped around the shoulders, the skate around, the photos afterwards, the celebration.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So it's less Jack Hughes that. That great moment of glory cost him about four teeth. Wow, There's. The mouth. Side of his mouth is vacant. You can rent it. You know, there's a lot of teeth missing at that point. But, yeah, he's. He is heroic. I don't know that he's on the Microruzioni level. I don't think he's on the Microusi level. Rusioni level. But I think he's. I think he's pretty good.

[Mike Wilbon]

Were you watching the Pokemon intermission break? The first one with the Rusioni?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I did not see that.

[Mike Wilbon]

He looked like he was ready to suit up.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, well, he's ready to go. I mean, he's. He's had his whole life defined by that. And he's had a lovely. He has.

[Mike Wilbon]

And you know his great line which he says in person, in speeches, in documentaries, if that shot goes a foot to the left, I'm painting houses for the rest of my life.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Mike Wilbon]

So, great.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, yeah. Okay. A couple of things about the snow that I wanted to say, and then I'll get to something that I. I hope you'll find enjoyable. There were predictions. Capital weather gang. And they never went crazy. They never went crazy. They never said it would be more Than five or six. They, depending on the area, they show you a picture and they show you the defined area in which you live in. And you can see, I think, that the area of D.C. where we live was never going to go higher than 6. It was like right close to us. Could have been 2 to 4 and then a little bit away, 3 to 6, or we could have been in the 3 to 6 or anything like that. But there are things that you don't think about. Everybody thinks about their children in school and schools will close. The reason schools will close is because the teachers don't live near the schools and it's hard for them to.

[Mike Wilbon]

It takes a while to get the schools ready.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So, you know, but that's not what I want to talk about because I was talking with my friend Tom Lockney, who's a doctor who has procedures on Monday. He schedules operations on Monday, four or five, whatever he does on a Monday. And he said, look, the patients, for example, they don't want to miss this. The doctors will do their best to get in and they may be a little bit late or they may be completely on time. And, you know, you have to, you have to try to get there on your regular time. But patience. This is not like canceling a flight. You don't want to cancel an operation.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And he was telling me, and I never even thought about this, that patients assemble. Like last night, there were a whole bunch of people at Sibley, at Georgetown, at Children's, at all of these places, they're going to stay on air mattresses overnight. That's what they're going to do. They're going to be there. Nobody's sure, nobody's going to say, yeah, sure, we'll do it a couple of months. Nobody's doing that. Nobody's doing that. So I just, I had not even thought about that at all. And that was interesting to me. You have to get to the hospital and the hospital basically has to provide, you know, for you in the way that they would in emergency. That's their job. Emergencies. That's their job. Health care and emergencies. So that was interesting to me. I mentioned this on Friday. I was taken aback by the fact that there was a commentary on, I thought, on the Olympics, dealing with the crazy sort of nomenclature and vocabulary of those half pipe, full pipes, three quarter pipes or whatever. And it was said that someone on TV said, I will interpret this for my good friend Tony Kornheiser. And I didn't hear it and I didn't believe it.

[Mike Wilbon]

You know, should we play it for folks again.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes. Play it if you could.

[Craig Laughlin]

He's doing a triple cork 1980.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So not only is he spinning carve of butter, but he's also.

[Craig Laughlin]

Also adding that slight car and the butter almost feet together. And it's just adding an extra bit of flavor to the.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The spin itself. And the judges love additional moments of.

[Craig Laughlin]

Of interesting things added.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So to translate that for my good friend Tony Kornheiser, that is a five and a half rotation spin off axis with the cork.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

Yep.

[Michael Wilbon]

Simple as that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, so I doubted this was actually on the air. I couldn't be sure. This was. I never.

[Mike Wilbon]

Personalized broadcast, isn't it? It had that finishing salt.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, come on, you know that it got. If you've never seen it before and you hear commentary like that, you. You just turn away. You don't know what you're doing. Yeah. And you can, by the way, to the naked eye, you can't tell who's better than the other guy, who's better than you. It all looks amazing.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

From Todd Harris in NBC Sports. Dear Mr. Tony, it was I who referred to you as my good friend during the men's free ski big air competition on NB. These are my 12th Olympic Games. And as we prepared for this latest iteration, in those past, NBC has always put a premium on storytelling and helping the viewer understand these sports that are not in the mainstream. I had a producer tell me, remember, most of the people tuning in have no clue about the terminology and how these sports work. It made me immediately think of you and your rant last week about how you thought some of these sports are made up. So thank you for being the viewer I imagined as Tom Wallace and I did our best to explain the scoring and the trick names. We have never met in person, but we have crossed paths in the past. Before coming to NBC nearly 18 years ago, I was with the ABC ESPN as part of the Keith Jackson, Dan Fouts Pac 10 Game of the Week football crew. Like you, Mr. Jackson was an exceptional writer and broadcaster. And like you, he was genuine and great with words and made you feel like you were listening to a friend describe the most common occurrences in a way that helped you better understand the situation. However, to my recollection, he never bought children's Afrin, only to get a call out, Whoa, Nelly. Keith used to do. We crossed paths on PTI once. When my halftime interview with Lloyd Carr became tense, he was not happy with the question I posed him in a showdown with Ohio State and replied, why would you ask such a stupid question like that. He immediately apologized after the game and I hold no grudge and respect him in the job he did at Michigan. It was a topic for you and Wilbon to discuss before the big finish. In conclusion, thank you for the hours of entertainment I received from the work you, Nigel and Michael do. In a world that seems bent on dividing us, it's good to know that there is a place where, where we can gather a few times a week and discuss important sports, social and weather topics that matter. Where else would I have ever learned not to flush the mouse if it's not already taken? I would like to apply for the Tony Kornheiser show, official Olympic extreme sports correspondent. Thank you again for the impromptu on air inspiration to be a better broadcaster in serving the viewer. Grazie, Milli. Respectfully, Todd Harris, NBC Sports. That's great. That goes on the special pile. Oh, yes. I doubt he's listening today because they're in the air. Yeah, they're in the air. One of the things that they said yesterday was all those NHL guys after the game, which was a great game, they were supposed to fly into New York. Not so fast.

[Mike Wilbon]

Miami.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Miami. They bring their stuffies into Miami. So. So that's a wonderful story. And it obviously was on the air. And it's thrilling. It's thrilling to me.

[Mike Wilbon]

I was sent an additional piece of audio from him in rehearsal. You know, I guess they're sort of just running stuff to make sure everything works later on. And he's singing the mailbag theme.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is that right?

[Mike Wilbon]

So we'll have that. We'll have that for later in the week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So Todd listens? Yeah, always Todd listens. And we're, you know, I always wonder who's listening. And now I know Todd's listening. That's great. We will take a break. We will come back with Mike Wilbon who will talk about his feelings on the hockey game and maybe the golf yesterday. Because I watched and I assume he watched. And if he's not ready to talk about the golf, I'll just talk about it because I enjoyed it.

[Mike Wilbon]

I'm Tony [e-mail] it's not just about window treatments. It's about you, your style, your space, your way. Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right. From free expert design help to our 100% satisfaction guarantee, everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows. [e-mail], the only thing we treat better than Windows is you. Visit blinds.com now for up to 50% off with minimum purchase plus a professional measure at no cost. Rules and restrictions apply.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show. This is a song called Loveblind. It's by JJ d'. Annunzio, and here is the note. You recently read an email from a listener in Snoqualmie, Washington, and I immediately thought, hey, I know that town. In fact, I visited Snoqualmie Falls, a 268 waterfall foot waterfall featured in the notoriously weird TV show Twin Peaks, twice in the past 15 months. Both times I was there with my daughter, JJ, who's a sophomore at the University of Washington, Snoqualmie Falls, about 30 miles southeast of the UW campus. All this a long way of saying, I haven't sent you guys any of JJ's music in a while. So here's Loveblind, which she released last year, signed John d', Annunzio, who Michael Wilbon and I worked with at the Washington Post. That's a jolting thing to. To get something from him. It's really nice. And she's a lovely, lovely, super talented. Wilbourne is out in Arizona and he watched what I watched, what we all watched. You loved the hockey game, didn't you?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes, yes. You know, the end of it was fine. It's the end of it. The US Won great. But I thought that was almost anticlimactic given that the third period, to me was maybe the best sustained period of action I've ever seen. It's way up there. I mean, you know, people listening may think, oh, you know, Wilbond curves. The NBA. People should shut up. Because, as you know, I go to a fair number of hockey games and I, when Blackhawks are in it, which they were for about a decade, when they were in big games, I went to, like, all their home games. And I've seen some great play in Stanley cup playoffs in third periods over my lifetime. That third period, the goaltending alone.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Fantastic.

[Michael Wilbon]

Is the highlight reel from that, from both of them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Was stunning. And, you know, certainly the United States could have been, you know, could have lost, you know, six to one.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. The other team had 42 shots on goal and Hellebock was fabulous.

[Michael Wilbon]

Just so, so many unreal chances and stops that you just can't, you just, you can't have. And with the most pressure you're going to have for those goaltenders, maybe the pressure is a little different for Stanley Cup Game seven, but it's It's. It's similar. It's not identical. And I just thought the second and third periods alone were like, okay, that's it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Didn't you think. When there was a double penalty on that one Canadian player in the third period, didn't you think the United States was going to score then? I did. I did.

[Michael Wilbon]

Not necessarily, because by then we established how great the goal pending was. Right, right, right. And so. No, no, it's just like.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And then there was a Canadian flip, then there was an American penalty. Yeah. And it flipped over the American penalty

[Michael Wilbon]

to cut into it. But. But they gave them their own power play late for like a minute 40 or something. But not necessarily by then, Tony, because at that point, you're looking at the goaltenders going, no, maybe nothing gets past these guys. It's what I thought was, this is going to take three on three. You know, you create the kind of space and chances that just catch a goaltender. Anything you can do. And that's what the 3 on 3 is designed to do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Do you think. And I know what you're saying. I know that you. Look, these are the rules that they play by. The NHL plays by different rules. Do you think three on three is a fair way to decide it?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes, I think it's much fairer than penalty kicks. Shootout. Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you make Canada the favorite going in or the United States? They're all NHL players. They're all NHL players.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't.

[Michael Wilbon]

That's one of those deals where I don't think there's a favorite. I mean, you have teammates, you have friends playing against each other. It's like a bunch of guys playing shirts and skins, except they're the 30 best players in the world.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

I didn't know how that was established. I didn't know how to do that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

My only issue in this is when people say, oh, it's just like 1980. No, it's not. No, it's not. These are all pros of an equal nature. That was different. That was

[Michael Wilbon]

people. People. Of course. And I thought about this, Tony. People don't have any sense of history. We know that. We talk about you, and I talk about all that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

They have no sense of history. They have no sense of what was going on in the world in 1980 with, I mean, the United States versus the Soviet Union.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

I mean, you know, people need to just pipe down. They have no idea what the hell they're talking about. It was nothing like amateurs at the time. And yes, a Few of those guys went on to become great players. It's nothing like it. And the, the shock. There was no shock to whoever won yesterday.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, not at all. They were the best. They're the best two teams. They proved it in the Four Nations Cup. They proved it over a long time.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. And the best, you know, players in the world. And so, no, it was nothing like 1989 at all.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Was there anything besides hockey in the Winter Olympics that actually caught your attention and you really liked.

[Michael Wilbon]

Not like. No. I mean, that guy Clabo, I watched him a couple of times as he worked his way to eight medals or whatever. Good goals, whatever it was. I watched some of the. Obviously I watched the downhill early on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

But because I don't watch the skating and that's such an enormous part of what people pay attention to and obsess over during the Winter Games. No, I'm not. Not really. I mean, I checked in on stuff. I watched a little curling, so I watched a little of this, a little of that. But was I captivated by anything other than the hockey? Not really.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. All right. Did you watch Riviera yesterday?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay, good. Let's talk about Riviera. Let's talk about Riviera. Because Jacob Bridgman this time did not have a Pacific Ocean to put his toes in and no sand to hit out of and hit over a bunch of rocks. He held on. Boy, oh, boy, Mike, that first putt on 18, after a great second shot into 18, that first putt was four and a half feet short. I thought. I thought he was going to lose it. What did you think?

[Michael Wilbon]

I wasn't sure. I watched him be. I watched him interviewed after his Saturday round.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's pleasant, kid. Pleasant.

[Michael Wilbon]

A lengthy one. He was any. Any, you know, he talked about the kinds of things that he was introspective without having to get on a couch. And maybe I was just sort of. I'm not gonna say I was rooting for him the whole weekend because he's not a guy that I know anything about or know personally, but I thought he was gonna be all right. I thought he was gonna be all right. And going in with that bigger lead. What do you have, a six shot lead? What was it?

[Tony Kornheiser]

At one point he had a six shot lead going in. Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

And he gets to a hot start.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He parred. He's starting at number eight. He pared like six or seven in a row. And people, you know, people were trying to catch him. But Kitayama missed two. Very makeable birdie. Putts of under eight feet. Rory had things hang on the lip. They didn't go in until the last hole.

[Mike Wilbon]

So he had to hold out a bunker shot to get himself going.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, he hold out a bunker shot. So it was. I didn't know that he was truly. He hit such a good second shot.

[Mike Wilbon]

Do you hear his protein? He couldn't feel his hands, really. Yes, he could. Touch. He touched a putt.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Like when you saw that putt, you go, oh, my God, he's gagged it, right?

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. Yes. But that's. Until you cash in. Until you do it. Until you do it a few times. I would imagine that's. You know, everybody has that story and that feeling. It's the one thing that makes you feel like when you're a weekend player, you have something in common with the best players on Earth.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

That you can experience that thing in the most famous venues. Which is why I don't want to hear about TGL.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right. We're off. We're on ESPN2 for two days in a row because of TGL. So you don't like people hitting balls into bed sheets? You don't think that's good?

[Michael Wilbon]

I do. I see it on television.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I like it.

[Michael Wilbon]

I hit ball to the bed sheets.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Let's go. Let's go on the weekend. Michigan, Duke. Pretty good, huh?

[Michael Wilbon]

No, it's great. It's great. You look at that the whole weekend. I didn't isolate on the game of Michigan, Duke, even though it was great, period.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

I looked at that game for different. I looked at the whole weekend differently because I wanted to do this, because the games. None of the games featuring the top teams mattered in terms of them getting in the tournament.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Michael Wilbon]

None of the teams playing this weekend that I cared about in the big games were on the bubble. None of them.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Michael Wilbon]

So I chose to watch it and then ask people, who's the best player you saw on the weekend? Who's the guy? If your team is tanking, since that's the subject of the day, who do you want to tank for? That's what I cared about in all those games. And so the Duke, Michigan game was loaded with, like, four people that you want to tank for, apparently. And so was Houston.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Houston, Arizona. Houston, Arizona.

[Michael Wilbon]

Arizona. And so is byu. You want to tank for the event that you just do. You want that kid in your uniform from 2027 to 2040. So that's what I cared about watching. It's the best. It's the most loaded cover of college basketball talent. I think we've ever seen. Now we don't know if the top end is going to be like 1982, 3, 4, 5, 6. We don't know that. It probably won't. It almost cannot be. But damn, they're kids who can just flat out Play. And they're 18.

[Tony Kornheiser]

There are so many of them that you don't even really have to tank. Because if there are eight to ten of them.

[Michael Wilbon]

That's a great point, Tom.

[Tony Kornheiser]

If they're eight to ten. That's why this is the actual year. I would flatten the odds in the lottery. Utterly. Utterly.

[Michael Wilbon]

Listen, here's the thing. Here's what you have to be able to do. You have to be able to scout.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Because I agree with you. Like, I don't need to pick first this year.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No.

[Michael Wilbon]

I can pick seventh. I can pick 11th and find Giannis or find Joker or, you know, so. You're right, Tony, I agree with you on that. Like, you don't. First of all, not only do you not need to, you can know. You can't know. You can approximate it. You can guess. There are teams like, there's scouting teams like Oklahoma City, which are just superior. They're just better than you. They go out and they swipe this kid from Philly and he. Come on, this kid could score 25 a game. He's in his second year and the Sixers just gave him to OKC. So OKC could identify somebody at 25th and kick your ass if you're picking third. And this is that. This. This appears to be. From what we saw this weekend, this appears to be that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I mean, I. I think that's possible. I mean, you know, we listen to people like Jay Billis, who tells us this, and all of this stuff gets sort of reinforced. It's a different league. The NBA is different than college. It requires different skills, and it requires literally a physical strength that college does not require. Doesn't. It's a 48 minute game, not a 40 minute game. And you're playing against people 10 and 12 years older than you, and you have to adjust to that. That's why when you look at all of these people that the Wizards have drafted in the past three years, other than the big kid. Other than the big kid.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

Other than the big.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They've drafted everybody between 6, 4 and 6, 7, and they all look the same. I don't know if they're any good. I have no idea. You know, so, yeah, you. Yeah. You need good scouting. Is there. What. So we start now. The NBA is Back and the NHL will be back at the, at the end of the week. Is there any particular thing you're looking for? Anything you want to see other than wembanyama?

[Michael Wilbon]

Lots.

[Craig Laughlin]

Lots.

[Michael Wilbon]

I mean we got 27 games, 26 games, 25 games left in the NBA. And so now, you know, load management is for the most part over and people will actually come to the arena in their May box and they will try to actually put a uniform on and play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Michael Wilbon]

Consecutive nights, all that. And so yeah, there's a lot of stuff I want to see. Can San Antonio and Detroit. Detroit had a little bit of playoff heartbreak, a little bit last year, lost in six to the Knicks. Can either one of those teams with a cast of baby faces, can they. They're so talented, they're so good. Before they start to be torn up with things like, you know, selfishness and agenda, basketball and free agency, injuries and age, wear and tear. Can either one of them break through early like I want? Detroit and San Antonio are the most fascinating teams to actually just watch play the games. And of course Luka and LeBron are. But I don't think they have enough.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No.

[Michael Wilbon]

You know, it gets back to if the Lakers don't have enough, then I'm going to ask this now then, how great is Luka? How great is he? I don't want to hear about how prolific he is. I don't want to care if he shouldn't have been traded and if dudes should have been fired. That's fine. That's last year's conversation. He's on a team now with a bunch of dudes who can play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

He's out there with a 41 year old guy and some other people who are pretty good.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah, that's great. That's just one of them. He's out there with people who have been in playoff games. He's out there with a starting center who was the starting center in the NBA Finals. I don't want to hear the excuse.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You would not. I'll turn the question on you and then you can go do what you need to do. Would you bet on the Lakers as constituted in a playoff series right now against either Oklahoma City or San Antonio? I would not. Would you?

[Michael Wilbon]

I would not know.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I would not.

[Michael Wilbon]

That's because we know the results of what I would watching the games.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I would not.

[Michael Wilbon]

I'm not doing it based on. I'm. I'm watching the games. The Lakers are not up to. They're not the level that they need to be to be.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, they're fun to watch. They're not on that level.

[Michael Wilbon]

They're not Tony or Nor Cleveland. The Knicks.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, you know, I sort of like Cleveland, I think hard enough.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, no, no, no, no. I mean the Lakers could not.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, no, they couldn't beat them. No, no.

[Michael Wilbon]

Nor Houston.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, they can't.

[Michael Wilbon]

They're like the how many teams get in the playoffs? 8. 16. So of the 16 teams in the playoffs that are going to make it, and I'm counting the two playing teams that wind up qualifying, I'd say The Lakers are 13, 12, 13 somewhere in there. That sounds about right. So you, we, you and I agree on them. And yet, you know, Sports center is going to ask us talk about the Lakers championship.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, you can tell people what happened when we had, when they said that on Thursday or Friday and I said, no, no, we're not doing the Lakers. No. Right.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah. No, no, no.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Not doing the Lakers. We're not doing the Cowboys. We're not doing the Cowboys or the Lakers.

[Michael Wilbon]

No, no, no, no, we're not. There are 10 stories out there as we, as we start this first Monday with basketball again.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'm happy to do the Lakers during the playoffs. I'm not doing them. We're not doing the walk up. All right, I'll talk to you later. Michael Wilbur, boys and girls, we will come back. Craig loughlin, we'll talk about the United States Canada hockey game that ended the Olympics. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Craig Laughlin]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Michael Wilbon]

TONY Kornheiser Show

[Tony Kornheiser]

Once again, this is JJ d', Annunzio, the daughter of John d' Annunzio who I worked with at the Washington Post. This is a song called Last One. She's a college student. She's better than you are. She's a college student. Enormously talented. Yeah. Michael, if people like J.J. d' Annunzio want to get their independent music played on this show, how do they go

[Mike Wilbon]

about send us your music by emailing it to jingles.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Tony konizershow.com so now we have Craig Loughlin with us. And as terms of introduction, Craig grew up in Canada and realized every Canadian kid's dream. He played in the NHL, stayed with hockey and has been on the broadcast crew of the Washington Capitals forever and ever and ever. And also told my kid he's not good enough to play small kid hockey, which, which has made us very happy.

[Mike Wilbon]

Sent me to golf.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I sent him to golf, where he was actually pretty good. Let's get to the game. Let's get to to the climax of the Winter Olympics. United States against Canada in hockey. You've watched a million games. That game seemed extraordinarily good. What did you think?

[Craig Laughlin]

Fantastic. I mean, what a great game for the global game of hockey. I think. You know, it was a house divided here, Tony, by the way, me being from Toronto as you introduced, and my wife and kids American. It was a house divided here. I had a Canadian flag ready to cloak over top of me if we had won. But the bottom line was it was spectacular, it was drama. It was the dream teams of the world going head to head. And to me, I don't think hockey got any better than what we saw. It had speed, it had finesse, it had skill. The only thing I didn't like about the game, and I will keep saying this, I would have preferred when you go to overtime in the Olympics, it's still five on five. That's all. That's the only thing I would change is that we play the game until someone wins 5 on 5 in overtime. And if it goes 3 overtime, so be it. Let's get a winner. 5 on 5. Us deserve to win at 3 on 3. They had a real good rush up the ice and our guys didn't connect properly defensively and it was in the back of the net and game over. But what a spectacular event last night and throughout or yesterday morning and throughout the Olympics when it came to hockey.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. I mean, I feel, and I was talking with Wilbourne before. You know, we're okay with three on three, but it doesn't seem fair. It seems too quick. It seems to be, let's just get this thing over with. Whereas I think I would go to 3 on 3 as a last resort. I would certainly do a 5 on 5 period to begin with. It just, you know what I mean? It's not.

[Craig Laughlin]

Yeah, I like that idea, Tony. I think that's a great idea. That's a great, you know, compromise. Go five on five for 20 minutes. If it doesn't work out with a winner, go three on three. I'm good with that. But I think the game should be played 5 on 5. I think the guys would like it also. I think the nations would love it. I think it's just the way to do it in the future.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So Canada, certainly, in terms of shots on goal, dominated the second and the third period. Hellebuk was fantastic. Both goalies were fantastic. And you're looking at something like that. What do you. What is your admiration level of the goalies.

[Craig Laughlin]

I mean, I thought Hellabach stole the game, to be honest with you. I think the camp Canadians will look back on this medal game and say, what a shoulda coulda, okay? They had a lot of opportunities with empty nets. That save with his stick reminded me of the great Holtby save in the playoffs that all of a sudden sparks your game to the next level and puts your team in Stanley cup like the Caps had after that saved by Braden Holtby, the so called V save. I thought he had the similar save yesterday morning against Canada. And I think he, he stole the show if not for Hellebuyck. And everyone says in the playoffs or in the Olympics you need good goaltending. I didn't know how great Hellebach was because if you look at his season's numbers, he wasn't that good this year. And he's won the Vesna a couple of times. But this was sort of a down year for him. And I'm thinking, okay, goaltending probably in the favor of Canada. You know, four nations was won by Binnington. He was solid in net 2. And I was thinking that was the difference. Tony, when I come in into the playoffs, coming into the medal round, I said, the difference is Canada has been engaged and all of a sudden it turned out the opposite. And Hallebuk was out of this, out of his mind, the way he played.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's an odd circumstance for me because in the last, say, eight to 10 years, if you ask me about goalies, I always come up with the name of a Russian goalie. They're not available for Canada or the United States. States.

[Craig Laughlin]

Exactly.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I, you know, I thought, well, you know, it's not going to be as good, but both of those guys were great. Did you. I mean, I assume you expected this, but I'm not certain because Finland is usually very good. Sweden is often very good. Did you expect the United States and Canada in the gold medal game from the beginning?

[Craig Laughlin]

Absolutely. No doubt about it. They are the hockey powers right now. No doubt and no question about it. I think the next teams you mentioned are the second tier. Could they win with some good goaltending or good luck? Absolutely. But even in the women's side, which I thought was spectacular, also Canada and US are at the top of the ledger. There's no one close, Tony, when it comes to women's hockey and those two teams. And I don't think there's anyone real close when you put dream teams together that are as close and as good as Canada and Us.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So you talked about a house divided before you've been in the United States. You've lived here for, I don't know, probably 40 years. Are you. I mean, it seems to me that you could say you win either way. Seems to me you could do that.

[Craig Laughlin]

Yeah, you could say that. That is true. You know, it's like when we talked about. I said, well, who's going to win? Well, Canada's got to win. And I was cursing when we missed the goals, and I was saying, and my wife and daughter and everybody in the house that was watching, we had a house ready, divided. But it was. At the end of the day, I just thought of this game as being great for hockey. Tony, to be honest with you. It's going to grow the game. The game's going to get stronger. It's going to be talked about more often. It's a pinnacle of sports, playing in the Olympics for a gold medal. And to me, that was spectacular. I just think, you know, what? There shouldn't have been. It's like a lot of my friends text me and said, man, we wish it would have been a draw. We wish it would have been a tie. Yeah, because it was such a good game that that's sort of what it deserved because both teams competed. Both teams were loaded with talent. And to me, that huge shot, sort of. You know, it was a silence in our house. However, my wife and daughter were cheering. So there you go.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So let me get to something. You just mentioned that, you know, the gold medal, Gold medal is a big deal, but you grew up to be a hockey player. You grew up to be in the NHL. Is a gold medal equal to. Lesser than. Greater than the Stanley Cup?

[Craig Laughlin]

I would say equal to, you know, really funny you mentioned that.

[Michael Wilbon]

Really?

[Craig Laughlin]

Yeah, I think so.

[Michael Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Craig Laughlin]

Because it's. You're competing against the world where in the NHL. You're competing against the NHL, the league itself. And a lot of teams aren't as stacked as others. You know, case in point, Colorado, with Makar and. And all these guys, McKinnon, a lot of guys we saw yesterday morning are loaded and trying to win a Stanley cup in the Olympics. What I find interesting is how fast teams can come together now. It's not like the 80 Olympic team, which was all college kids. You know, a funny story, Tony, I know a funny story about that. Was I still to this day have a letter from Team Canada saying, sorry, Craig, we're not going to select you for our team this year. We. You were on. You know, you were on our List, but you weren't selected. I was a senior at college at the time, and I was thinking, okay, there's college kids going. And I was thinking, you know what? That would have been very cool. I actually got a letter from Team Canada, which I didn't even expect to get a letter, and that I was not going to the Olympics. I was actually coming back from a game in the ECACs with Clarkson back in the day when our bus stopped to watch it in a restaurant because we were so enthralled with this Team USA and what they were doing. And then the Russian game was on and all that. And I remember like it was yesterday. So, to me, the Olympics are right up there. I mean, you win a gold medal. I was hoping and really help praying probably that Tom and. And Logan Thompson from the Caps would have had a chance to win the gold. And they had a chance. They win the silver. Yeah, it's a fantastic accomplishment. And Tony, I think it's right up there with the cup. I really do.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's interesting. I know. I know how important hockey is to Canada. I'm sure that if Canada did not make the final game, it would be a state of mourning up there. But they, you know, they won the. What they did with the four nations cup, what everybody did with the four nations cup was fabulous for hockey. This continues it. But that was just great. And they won the first one. And then, you know, on home ice, Sidney Crosby made the goal that won the Olympics in Vancouver, I believe. Can they. Yeah. Can they accept. Can they accept losing in the final game like this? Or do you think that's tragedy in Canada?

[Craig Laughlin]

It's going to feel like tragedy up there. I know my sisters and brothers were texting and saying, yeah, this is tragedy. We expect to win. They expect to win. It's their game. It's hometown, it's. It's the biggest sport in Canada, obviously. But I think, yeah, I mean, they expected to win. Is it a tragedy? Probably because they all expected that. They had put together. Everyone was reveling in the fact that they had put together the best team Canada ever had. Really saying something.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, really.

[Craig Laughlin]

This team was supposedly the best team from top to bottom that has ever skated for Canada. So now you're up there thinking, okay, we got it. You know, we got this gold. And now all of a sudden it's taken away from you on that goal from Hughes, and it's. It's going to take some time to sink in up there, up north. I mean, this is. This is a pinnacle of hockey. Everybody in Canada would have been watching. To me, I think the type of game this was was very similar to the 72 Canada versus Russian game. And that's when we went, you know, nine games or whatever it was, playing Russia and we ended up winning that series against Russia and that everybody stopped in Canada and I think that's what would happen. I mean I was in school as a probably a fourth or fifth grader. They actually stopped school and we had to watch Canada versus Russia. It was that big. And now we had Canada versus usa, which is our neighbor. It was probably as big as that. And to me it's going to take some, there's going to be some morning up there. There's going to be some second guesses. Hey, we should have picked this up guy over that guy because Canada had so many guys to pick from way more than us did. But us still had their great quantity of players that are so skilled playing in the NHL and over in Europe they could have picked from. But I just think it, you know, it came down to that. And to me, yeah, I mean this is going to take some time to sink in, I think.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Great pleasure to talk with you, Craig. Thanks for doing this. Best of luck. The rest of the way broadcasting. Thank you.

[Craig Laughlin]

Thank you, man. Appreciate it. See you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Craig Laughlin, boys and girls. That was great. We will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I am Tony Kornheiser, Toogood and Co. Coffee creamers are made with farm fresh cream, real milk and contain 3 grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the 5 grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers for a rich, delicious experience. Whether you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold or frothy, two good coffee creamers make every sip a good one. Two good coffee creamers. Real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local Kroger in the creamer aisle.

[Craig Laughlin]

You're listening to the Tony Cornheiser Show.

[Michael Wilbon]

The Tony Cornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's great. That's a new one from James Bug, the new jazzy mailbag theme. It's really, really good. You want to do Bethesda bagels? You got there today?

[Mike Wilbon]

I did. We got the bagel sandwiches. Very excited about that. For a snowy Monday, just go to BethesdaBaggles.com for location in the DC area nearest you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Mike Wilbon]

And I want to say a special thanks to Joe Martin from NBC Sports who connected us with Todd Harris.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's one. Yes. Before we get to the mailbag let me just say Hot town somewhere in the city back of my neck dirt and dirt and gritty been down isn't it a pity doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city all around people looking half dead walking on the sidewalk hotter than a match head. That's aspirational. We don't have that today. We don't have that. We got snow. Thanks to our guests today, Michael Wilbon and Craig Laughlin. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple podcasts Spotify and Odyssey if you get the show through Apple. Please leave us a review from our friend Scott Swanky, who used to be a golf pro. Please let Uncle Tony know we had a beautiful litter of American terrier pups. He met my line at Chatter on the Air one morning knows my love for hounds. The group is magnificent. Two males, four females which I am gifting to great homes and masters. Ask your dad if he would give a mention. I have a feeling someone out there is destined to find the best friend they will ever need. Just a hunch. Have a look please. There are many more at Scott Swanky SW A N K E S C O T T S W A N K E on Facebook and as he always signs fairways and greens Pro Bill Anderson what an amazing show. Open a perfectly sane discussion about a Bombo Genesis as if they are real words, followed by a segment on the absurdity of terms used in Winter Olympics. It's why we listen. Your post Office issues are not local. I am in the Philadelphia region. I've also had several checks never delivered by usps. The US Post Office is so important that it is required by the US Constitution. I guess the founders should have written that it should actually work instead of just existing. This is my this is the decline of America to me. You know that the Post office doesn't work as well as it should. Jeff Barger Hillsborough, North Carolina do you think Bombo Genesis will make the Nats 40 man roster as a DH? I'll hang up and listen. Mike Johnson in Cerritos, California I thought Bombo Genesis was the backup shortstop for the 1974 Texas Rangers from Shad. A little bit fear, a little bit science, and a little bit north. Thank you. John Tagliarini I've had fluid stuck in my inner ear for the better part of two years and I've been using nasal sprays to relieve the pressure. The nose and ears are all connected. Hopefully the sprays work. Not yet. If you've been really desperate to see an ENT come to Des Moines, I only had to wait 33 days. Quick traffic update. The worth on the work on North Ankeny is finally done but they will start the same work south of first street in the spring. Good news about North Ankheny from John Adams. Obviously not that John Adams. Hey Porthouser, go full Van Gogh on the air should do the trick. You're the best. From Dave Case in Cascase. Portugal. In Portugal. Please ask Michael why my Instagram account is suddenly filled with advertising advertisements for children's Afrin. My kids are grown congested. Brett Hobbs in Linton still standing in Linton, Indiana. While your area was experiencing a possible snow event, my area had another tornado do damage. This time several tornadoes passed around my town of Linton, but one hit Bloomington, Indiana. That's the home of University of Indiana.

[Mike Wilbon]

Oh, that's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes, hard truth. Thankfully nobody was seriously hurt, but there was much property damage. That is three tornado events in less than a year. You would think we're living in the the tornado belt of Oklahoma. You would think you might consider, you know, three in a year. That's a lot. That's a lot. From Mike Galley about Roger Maxwell. Do you know the name Roger Maxwell? He was a PGA pro, brother of two time US Open champ Susie Maxwell, and he owned Celebration of Golf, an amazing golf memorabilia store in Scottsdale. I visited his home. He showed me through what he saved after his store closed and it was an enormous collection of notable golf stuff. I asked what his prized possession was and he took his PGA card from his wallet. He said that when he became a PGA pro, all you had to do was get four qualified people to attest that you had the necessary skills. He told me to turn the card over. There were four signatures. Gene Sarazin, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones. Okay, Okay. I saw him again near the end of his life. He was clearly having some memory problems. I asked if he still had the card he showed it to when he died. My friend who had introduced me to him bought a lot of his collection, but didn't know what happened to his card. I thought you enjoyed knowing about this. I wonder if those four signatures have appeared together anywhere else. Think there's a neater piece of golf memorabilia?

[Michael Wilbon]

No, no, no.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's one. Amazing. No, that's one. Yeah, that's one. The mention of Lundy's and Sheepshead Bay brought back memories of my childhood. We would often go on Sunday afternoon when my mother's family, the Hoffman with my mother's family, the Hoffmans. What was amazing about the restaurant besides its size and popularity? It did not take reservations and you stood behind a table of people eating and then took their seat when they were finished. I could also remember in 1955 or 56, my family was upstairs and one of my relatives had the big Filco portable radio and the Dodgers were playing in the World Series. In those days the games were during the day. They were also famous for the biscuits they served besides the coffee ice cream. What memories. DG One more from Jeff Barger. By the way, as the former bassist of Norwegian Soft Kitten, were you able to watch Johannes Clabo, the Norwegian cross country skier who won all six gold medals in Italy? Maybe Glenn and Allen can find him a place in the band. With Clabbo's lung capacity, I'm guessing trombone.

[Mike Wilbon]

That's the guy that would sprint up

[Tony Kornheiser]

the hills in skis. Yeah. I have deep admiration for him. I wouldn't know him if I tripped over him. I congratulate him on everything but it is lost on me. Whereas in Norway he could run for king. He could run for king. If you're out on your bike tonight, as always, do wear white.

[Craig Laughlin]

If we played them 10 times, they might win nine.

[Michael Wilbon]

But not this game, not tonight. Tonight we skate with them. Tonight we stay with them and we shut them down because we can.

[JJ d' Annunzio]

It's just what it looks like. I was caught up in the past. While living in real love. Diluted my feelings till I didn't know In a normal heartbreaking sun dried a status quo new wife Illusions of a good time these games left me love blind Stuck on last July did a number on a guy he won't talk I'll always try to prove I was truly love but I was 16 then 17 and now 18 and I should turn the light off My dad was just made I have some photos of us Good thing I've never let anything go Cause I could drown in these sounds I think I already have it's worth doing thankfully it's still worth doing. I could do it again and I wouldn't change a thing. The things that I've said the things that I've left in my head in my head in my head. Despite the hours we can't get back and how quick the question turned effect the world's been worse. You couldn't let go of my sleep you stayed with tears tonight and once previously you know what you did I hope she was everything I was not the far as high so tell me how did she do you'll regret this soon. I think that this is overdue but after all you put me through my hands can't feel the things I thought I live by what you said I'm not if I could go back in time I would you'd feel venom spilling from my words you'd feel the sting I curated this perfectly for you I think I found the only other side of the wrote a song about that and you know the woods it's funny how things can change but I know you never change I hope she was everything I was nothing about is I so tell me how did she do and I still don't buy the you settle now that we don't speak I'll paint your lie the truth with colors from June. And it's not that I want you back but my pride needs some clarity I can't bear the idea that it was something about me I know now I wouldn't have been enough lost myself a thousand times but I'm glad you loved our months and it's not that I want you back to my need some clothes clarity I can't bear the idea that it was something about me six months of trying for this six months of poor taste six months of worshiping you and you won't even look my way. You won't even look my way. Way you won't even look my way. You won't even look my way. You won't le. You.