“You have to make a choice”

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Tony Kornheiser Show" Episode – “You Have to Make a Choice”

Release Date: February 12, 2025
Host: Tony Kornheiser
Guest: Hakeem Jeffries (House Minority Leader), Steve Sands
Additional Participants: Nigel, Michael

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1. Introduction and Overview

Tony Kornheiser kicks off the episode by outlining the day's topics, which include the recent snowfall in Washington, D.C., an interview with fellow Binghamton alum and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and a segment on golf featuring Steve Sands.

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2. The Snow in Washington, D.C.

The show opens with a discussion about an unusual snowfall in the Washington, D.C. area, with Tony noting, “[02:22] Tony Kornheiser: Yeah, we've got snow all over the Washington, D.C. area. More in the south, less in the north, which is odd because it's colder in the north.”

Key Points:

• The snowfall measured approximately six inches in Tony's backyard ([03:04]).
• Differences in snow accumulation between southern and northern parts of D.C. ([02:42], [02:43]).
• Commentary on the accuracy of local weather predictions by the Capitol Weather Gang ([03:46]).

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3. Interview with Hakeem Jeffries

A. Binghamton University Experiences

Tony engages Hakeem Jeffries in a conversation about their shared alma mater, Binghamton University. Tony reflects on his time at the university, highlighting the economic challenges and the sense of community despite external hardships.

Notable Quotes:

• “[21:04] Hakeem Jeffries: Yeah, I think he's a great player, He's a great scorer. He makes your team better.”
• “[25:46] Steve Sands: ...one of the biggest surprises because I'm growing up in the late 80s, early 90s...”

Key Points:

• Both Tony and Hakeem discuss the affordability and quality of education at Binghamton University.
• Steve Sands shares his academic journey, transitioning from a Law and Society major to political science and eventually law school ([26:14]).
• Hakeem Jeffries mentions being the first Binghamton graduate elected to the U.S. Congress and the growing representation of Binghamton alumni in government ([32:38]).

B. Political Career and Representation

The conversation delves into Hakeem Jeffries' political career, emphasizing his role as Minority Leader and his dedication to public service.

Notable Quotes:

• “[34:19] Steve Sands: ...a chance to represent the people that I grew up with...”
• “[35:04] Steve Sands: It appears that way.”

Key Points:

• Steve Sands discusses the challenges and accomplishments in his political journey, including his initial failed attempts and eventual success in securing a congressional seat ([32:51]).
• The impact of Binghamton University's support and recognition of alumni in public office ([33:48]).

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4. Sports Discussions

A. NBA Coverage on SportsCenter

Tony critiques ESPN's SportsCenter for its heavy focus on the NBA, attributing it to ESPN's ownership stakes and personal preferences.

Notable Quotes:

• “[06:06] Michael: Cashews and toothpaste.”
• “[07:55] Michael: You don't like the spicy toothpaste?”

Key Points:

• Frustration with the disproportionate NBA coverage compared to other sports ([08:02]).
• Analysis of Kevin Durant's career and his standing among NBA greats ([11:25]).

B. Analysis of Kevin Durant's Career

Tony and Hakeem discuss Kevin Durant's achievements, debating whether he ranks among the all-time greats based on his championships and points scored.

Notable Quotes:

• “[13:36] Hakeem Jeffries: Yeah, he's a great scorer. He makes your team better.”
• “[16:01] Tony Kornheiser: Is, I'm sorry, a better player than Kevin Durant.”

Key Points:

• Comparison of Durant's two championships to legends like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant ([15:27]).
• Discussion on Durant's impact on teams and his absence in the Finals last season ([14:12]).

C. Golf Segment with Steve Sands

The conversation shifts to golf, focusing on recent tournaments, the impact of wildfires on LA golf courses, and emerging players like Thomas Detrie.

Notable Quotes:

• “[38:21] Hakeem Jeffries: That's right.”
• “[43:52] Nigel: Thomas Dietary for sure is the real deal.”

Key Points:

• Impact of wildfires on iconic LA courses like Riviera and Torrey Pines, with praise for Riviera's resilience ([38:21], [38:49]).
• Analysis of Thomas Detrie's performance in the Genesis Tournament and his potential in the PGA Tour ([44:04]).
• Critique of the Tour Golf League (TGL) and its use of simulators, arguing it detracts from traditional golf ([52:36]).

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5. Toothpaste Debate

Tony shares his dilemma over choosing the right toothpaste, emphasizing his preference for tartar prevention over cavity prevention.

Notable Quotes:

• “[06:06] Tony Kornheiser: Here's what it is. And Nigel came over and wanted me to see the tube of toothpaste he bought.”
• “[07:55] Michael: Now I think since the last time you switched toothpaste, there's a third piece to this triangle which is a whitening toothpaste.”

Key Points:

• Discussion about the trade-offs between different toothpaste formulas and their benefits.
• Listener emails related to toothpaste preferences and experiences with different flavors and formulas ([59:25]).

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6. Sponsored Segments

As per the user's request, advertisements, sponsor messages, and non-content sections have been omitted from this summary.

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7. Listener Emails and Closing Remarks

The episode concludes with listener interactions, including emails about toothpaste preferences and personal anecdotes. Tony wraps up by appreciating guests and sponsors, encouraging listeners to engage with the show through various platforms.

Notable Quotes:

• “[61:00] Tony Kornheiser: Thanks to our guest today, Steve Sands and the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries.”
• “[62:15] Hakeem Jeffries: Well, to the south they did get hit harder.”

Key Points:

• Emphasis on community and listener participation.
• Final thoughts on the importance of personal connections and positive interactions.

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Conclusion

In this episode of "The Tony Kornheiser Show," Tony engages in meaningful conversations about education, politics, and sports, particularly focusing on the experiences of Hakeem Jeffries and Steve Sands. The discussions offer insights into the challenges and triumphs of navigating academic and political landscapes, alongside candid critiques of sports media coverage and the evolving nature of golf tournaments. Personal anecdotes and listener interactions add a relatable and engaging layer to the show, making it a comprehensive and informative episode for both regular listeners and newcomers alike.

Notable Quotes Recap:

• “[02:22] Tony Kornheiser: Yeah, we've got snow all over the Washington, D.C. area.”
• “[16:32] Tony Kornheiser: ...you're the first person in the history of the university to get elected to the United States Congress.”
• “[44:04] Hakeem Jeffries: Yeah, I love it.”

Transcript

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll talk about the Snow that hit D.C. 6 inches in my backyard. Plus, we'll talk to fellow Binghamton alum Hakeem Jeffries. And we'll also talk some golf with Steve Sands. But first, commerce.

[Nigel]

Wow.

[Tony Kornheiser]

What's up? I just bought and financed a car through Carvana in minutes. You, the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell.

[Nigel]

Or off white, bought and financed a car in minutes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They made it easy, transparent terms, customizable down and monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork. Wow. Mm. Hey, have you TR checked out that spreadsheet I sent you for our dinner?

[Nigel]

Options Finance your car with Carvana and.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Experience total control financing subject to credit approval.

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[Tony Kornheiser]

Previously on the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Michael]

It's like the Catherine O'Hara pickleball one with Daniel.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, that was it. That was. Who was in that?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Willem Dafoe. Willem Dafoe and Catherine.

[Michael]

It was okay, so they started teasing that one. At least I saw it earlier in the day. You start to wonder. They're gonna. These are characters who can play unhinged. There's going to be something that you don't see.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Famous people were in the commercial.

[Michael]

And then you see the Duncan one as well.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah, the Dun Kings one was good.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Matt Damon. Yeah. No, not Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck.

[Michael]

And Casey Affleck. I think I found a way in.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're all. Yeah, they're all fine.

[Michael]

This is General George Washington and you're.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Listening to the Tony Cornheiser Show. So we got snow.

[Michael]

I'm eldest boy.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, we've got snow all over the Washington, D.C. area. More in the south, less in the north, which is odd because it's colder in the north, like northern Maryland. Didn't get much at all.

[Michael]

About two or three up in Gaithersburg.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, that's nothing.

[Michael]

Nothing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's absolutely nothing. I measure snow on the backyard table that. I've got a flat table that is pristine. There's not, you know, it's subject to wind, but there is no wind right now. And it doesn't have dogs walking on it or anything like that. And Michael, you took a picture of it and you believe it's close to 6 inches.

[Michael]

Close to 6. We use the app on the phone. But I wonder if this is a true measurement because the table has a different freezing temperature than you might have.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The table began to gather snow more quickly, so it probably picked up an.

[Michael]

Extra half inch versus the rest of us.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Possible. It's possible, but it's. That's the way I look at what happened. And so the Capitol Weather Gang, who said that in the immediate Washington, D.C. area they would get three to six. They're within the border. Yeah. Probably six. They had more in the south, less in the north, south, southwest. Sammy ought to feel good. Yes. I think they ought to feel good about this one. And he's been talking about it for four or five days. And it was, it appears, predictable.

[Michael]

And there's an extra burst last night in the nine to midnight range that gave you that higher end.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So it was. I mean, it's ok. Who are we.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Talking with yesterday that was like, are they. Is the Capital Weather Gang really accurate?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Carol?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

I thought it was Daniel.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Maybe it was. Yeah, Daniel. Maybe it was Daniel as well.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah, pti. And we're like, no, they're.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, it's not that they're accurate as much as they give you the entire prediction, what it's based on. They show you what everybody else is saying and they say, this is what we think. Yeah. Now, sometimes they miss, but they miss.

[Michael]

But you have to be up to date with your readings of the Capital Weather Gang and the latest runs, because sometimes you get a number in your head and you are guilty. This as well, where you say you hear the high number, I go for.

[Tony Kornheiser]

The three days in advance.

[Michael]

And now I Realize you hear the high number because I start sending you the high number. I scour the runs and whatever is the best for chaos. Like I screen grab and share it with you.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They went, they started at three to six and then some people went three to seven. So I said, looks like we're getting seven because why would they go up?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

At one point it was 12. And you said, yeah, we're going to get it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So I'm out there, I got the crampons on my shoes. It's okay. But I will say this, that when you're walking in the snow and it is un shoveled snow and you're walking uphill, it's hard on your legs.

[Nigel]

Oh, sure.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I felt walking the dog today and.

[Michael]

Well, you notice this dog walkers are.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Not coming over today. They're not getting here today.

[Michael]

Your landing is different. So you start to feel it in your joints like you feel it in your knees.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So, yeah, very much so. Walking up the hills and stuff like that.

[Michael]

My favorite last night was when we start texting you how many visits we had by the plow just to get you nervous that you weren't getting the same attention.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We got one, you know, we got what we. We're okay. Yeah, we're okay. That's what I'm.

[Michael]

I was surprised I got one in. In the 4:00am range. It came, it did two, two sweeps on, on the street.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

I was surprised the side streets are, are, are as, well, as good as they are.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You know, I think it's a wet snow and it's easier to deal with. But I could be wrong. I saw a guy with a snowblower this morning when I was walking Chessy and I said it seems easy to do. And he says, no, it's wet, heavy snow with this machine. That's harder, but it's. But you clean it more. You can get down to the bottom. Yeah, and clean it more. So anyway, so that's going on. I have to give you an update, a toothpaste update. First of all, Tamra is apparently out there buying, you know, dozens of tubes of tooth. Here's. Here's what?

[Michael]

Cashews and toothpaste.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Here's what it is. And Nigel came over and wanted me to see the tube of toothpaste he bought. And it was. It's sort of a. You have to make a choice. You have to make a choice if you want. One of the things that they offer you in Crest is tartar prevention. And every time I get my teeth clean, my dentist says there's a lot of tartar. So I think let's get. Let's minimize the tartar. The other one is cavity prevention. Why have any real teeth anymore? They're all false teeth. So I don't really care as much about cavity prevention. The things that are. No no's for me. Mint gel, all gels. No, no, no gels, no gels, no stripes. No stripes.

[Michael]

You don't like the spicy toothpaste?

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I like as I like with everything in my life, stuff I grew up with. And I've been using Crest toothpaste. The light turquoise color.

[Steve Sands]

Yes.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sweet tooth teeth. I don't know if it's any good. I don't know if it's any good. I don't have any real teeth. I don't know. It's familiar, but it's familiar and I don' so this is the choice you have to make, Nigel. In order to get the blue, the turquoise, you have to buy cavity prevention. Yeah. Not the tartar. And not tartar prevention or cavity control. Tartar control, cavity prevention, whatever it is. And so I cannot get the exact type of toothpaste I want with the curative powers that I'm looking for. But I can get the color. Well, at my age, color, color that wins out. Yes. I don't, you know, I don't want change. Yeah, I don't know what's going to happen. If it's going to give me more tartar, so be it via Conios. You know.

[Michael]

Now I think since the last time you switched toothpaste, there's a third piece to this triangle which is a whitening toothpaste. Do you know that was out there?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, yeah, I've seen it. I've seen all the new things. And by new I mean since post 1980, all the new things like you, your post 1980, you're a new thing. No, no, I don't want the new things. I want the things I'm comfortable with. So. Okay, so that's something that we had to deal with. Then this morning I started watching SportsCenter because I got to try. I know that at some point during the day. Not at some point during the day. At 11 o'clock during the day I'm going to get a rundown. I'm going to have a phone call and I'm going to begin prepping for the PTI program. And to my great chagrin, it's just all NBA. That's all it is, is NBA. Now why is it all NBA? Well, ESPN owns the NBA. ESPN and Turner. Right now only The NBA next year it's ESPN and NBC own the NBA. So ESPN promotes the NBA all the time. Gives it in my mind a disproportionate amount of not coverage, positioning, you know what I mean? Like if all things being equal, they'll start a sports center with the NBA. That's what I'm saying. So I know that we're going to end up doing a lot of NBA because Wilbon is like the only person in America to watches NBA games all the way to the end and has memorized the standings and thinks that the movement prior to the play in game is consequential. Whereas I think let's just end this and get to the play in game. Let's stop having 82 games. So we are at different positions there and he's going to want to advocate for NBA stories. Yesterday we had three NBA stories in the lead segment. Now they were legit. Luca is legit. Dallas fans going crazy is legit. Jimmy Butler scoring and helping Steph Curry, that's legit. But I don't know that they played last night. So now we head into illegit as far as I'm concerned. And so I want to see legit. Yeah, I want to quit. Yeah. Now I want to see what they're going to go with. So the lead, one of the leads, if not the lead seems to be the Kevin Durant. Katie to D.C. yeah, Katie to D.C. sure. Kevin Durant. He didn't even take an interview. Kevin Durant has now become the eighth player in NBA history to reach the 30,000 point mark. And all the people above him are among the greatest players of all time. You can get a list if you want. You can say the list. Nigel, get the list. It's fine. I don't care. He's never going to catch LeBron. He's not going to catch LeBron. It's. He's LeBron's 11,000 points ahead. He's not going to catch Lebron. So even if he averages 30 a game, that's 2400 points in the next year. He's going to need four years. He's not going to do it. And LeBron continues to play and continues to score points. So what we're talking about here is some evaluation of Kevin Durant and Brian Windhorst, who we love, went on the air and said that Kevin, because I know I'm going to have to do this. So I'm giving you the preview now. You don't even have to watch the show. I'm giving you the preview. Now, Kevin Durant, he believes, is the greatest pure scorer of all time. Okay, what does that mean? What does that mean? It means if you want two points, I guess you can give the ball to Kevin Durant and get two points. But that would translate into teams that never lost. They would never lose because Kevin Durant would always score and you would get all these points. By the way, I would add parenthetically, Joel Embiid last night at the end of a game in which Philadelphia was down two, had the ball beyond the three point line.

[Michael]

Gotta trust that mid range jumper.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Gotta take the shot. I mean, all these big guys can take that shot. And instead he decided to drive to the basket, where he was immediately stripped and got booed in Philadelphia, which to me is just desserts for a guy making over a million dollars a game. Considering the amount of games he plays a game, a million dollars a game.

[Michael]

Base is getting ready for a parade.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, the fan base loves the Eagles now that love the Eagles and now hates Embiid and the Sixers. Okay, so, but I add that parenthetical because I wanted to say this about a minute on Durant. Just a minute. It's not a lot. Do I think Kevin Durant's a great player? Yeah. Do I think he's one of the top 10 all time players? No. What do I base that on? Kevin Durant has two championships. So like a lot of these guys have a lot of championships, or in the case of Wilt Chamberlain, they're just the greatest player of all time. Now, Kareem's got five, LeBron's got four, Jordan's got six, Kobe's got five. They're on this list. They're on this list. They're ahead of Durant. Duran's got two and Durant's got two with Golden State, a team he joined which had already won a championship without him and won a championship after he left. So what did he do? Did he make them better? Sure, sure. But did he on. Did he do this on his. No, he knew this on. They're not his championships. They're part of the ensemble of Golden State's championships. And I'm sorry, when you think of Golden State, first you think of Curry, Thompson and Green. You don't think of Durant. You have to remind yourself Durant went into that thing and he won two. And again, he's a great, great player. I don't think he's all time top 10. And I'm waiting. Here's what I wanted to offer. And I'll get out of the segment. They lost last night. Yeah, scored his 30,000 points and his team lost last night. So what does that mean, you know, if again, I'm not knock. I'm knocking the notion that he's one of the top 10 players of all time. Which by the way, I don't think Wilbon would say either. I don't. We'll find out today.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah, I don't curious but daddy will.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I think he's a great player, He's a great scorer. He makes your team better. But if you notice what, what's happened. He went to the nets. What'd they do? They stunk. All right. He goes to Phoenix. A lot of hoopla around Phoenix. Phoenix got three superstars. Devin Booker. Somehow Bradley Beal has become a superstar in the NBA. No, Bradley Beal has a great contract.

[Michael]

House for sale again in Bethesda.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Okay. He's not a superstar. It's a good scorer making a lot of money because he signed with an owner who don't know anything. Right?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I don't know anything about basketball. Obviously I wouldn't have signed that contract. And Kevin Durant, how many championships have they won? Zero. How many finals have they gotten? Zero. Fat Luca got to a final. Everybody says he Lucas. So fat. Fat Luca got to a final. Kevin Durant didn't get to the final last year. They're not getting to the final this year. So that's. That's. And again a great player. Would I have loved to see him play in his home area? Would he have made the Wizards content? Yes, absolutely. But is he. Is he an all time top? No, not an all time top 10. Not to me. And at some point I'll ask my glad or today what he thinks. And there's a lot of drama around Kevin Durant. It's a lot of drama. Seems to be because he loves to play basketball, but unlike the rest of it, doesn't seem to care about the rest of it. And goes on social media a lot. And got seemed to get shaken by the trade. And I mean and he wasn't the only big time player that got shaken by that trade. Because they said to themselves, wait, wait, is that gonna happen to him? You can trade Luke. You could trade Fat Luke. Really? That Lugo just took a team to a fight.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

All right, did you want the list?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, go ahead, give me the list.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

LeBron, Kareem Karl Malone, Kobe, Carl Malone.

[Tony Kornheiser]

One of the greatest power forward. Cole Malone or Tim Duncan greatest power forward of all time. But top 10, I'm I don't know. And he's got rebounds. He's got all. But he's done that many titles.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Don't have any time.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Had the misfortune of having to play against Mr. Jordan.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

So Kobe, then Jordan, Nowitzki and Wilt.

[Tony Kornheiser]

And it says Nowitzki scored a lot of points and he's got a champion.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Now it's. He's not top 10. He may be the one of the two or three greatest foreign born players of all time.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Oh, sure, I would think so. And it says Julius Irving also hit the mark. When you combine NBA and Julius Serving.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is, I'm sorry, a better player than Kevin Durant. Yes, he is. He's a better player than Kevin Durant. Yeah.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

But I don't see John Wall on this list.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So he's not on that list. Okay. And I don't know how many years it'll take Bradley Beal to get on this list. It's going to be a while. So we'll take a break. We're going to talk to the Minority Leader of the Congress. But don't worry, kids, we're not talking about politics. We're talking to him because his name is Hakeem Jeffries and because he went to Binghamton University. And I want to find out what his Binghamton experience was like compared to mine. And it's a good day to do it because there's snow on the ground. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Nigel]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Michael]

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[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Michael]

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[Nigel]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Nigel]

This is the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This is sent to us by Zebulon Mellett in Barrington, Rhode Island, 66 miles south of Revere. And he says, attached to two songs from my brother Coleman Mellett, whose album Singer Banner Song is being posthumously released on February 12th. The first song Morning Line was written while serving as principal guitarist for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Songs grounded in self reflection and positivity. It's the flugelhorn of Grammy winner and Rochester's own Chuck Mangione. Wow. Feels so good. They played together for over 10 years. We'll get to the second song later. It plays in. And it is. The song is Morning Line. It plays in Hakeem Jeffries, who is the minority leader of the United States Congress. And that's, you know, this show, kids. You know, we don't do politics. Too divisive. We stopped doing that a couple of years ago. But the important thing here is that Hakeem went to Binghamton. He's a kid. He's like 25 years younger than I am, so his experiences are different. But the snow is what binds us together. Snow and speedies, basically. Where. Where did you grow up and why did you go to Binghamton? Because I went. I'm in that group of people when Binghamton was Harper College and it was like only about 3,500 people. And everybody there was frustrated because they didn't. Either they didn't get into an Ivy League school or they couldn't afford the one they got into. So that was my experience. What's yours?

[Steve Sands]

Well, you know, I grew up in central Brooklyn in Crown Heights, and when I graduated from high school and, you know, was prepared to make that transition, you know, I had applied to all of the SUNY universities. Tony.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Steve Sands]

So Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Stony Brook.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Hate Stony Brook.

[Steve Sands]

At that time. At that time. We share that in common.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yes.

[Steve Sands]

You know, friendly rivalry. Friendly rivalry at that time. And it's still the case that Binghamton is the elite public university in New York State and one of the great public universities across the country. Hidden gem. And so it was an honor to get in. It was an honor to go. But I was certainly shocked in October when I woke up. I lived in Dickerson and there was like four feet of snow on the ground, and I was totally unprepared.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So when I started, we had trimester, and so we didn't start. Our first day was November 1st, and there was three feet of snow on the ground. And I just said, this can't be good. I gotta get outta. It's only 200 miles from the island. Why am I. Why is there so much snow? When I went to school, I love to tell this story. When I went to school, I had won, as a lot of people, win, the Regents Scholarship in New York, which takes a lot of money. Off your tuition? The bill for my first term at Harper College. All in room and board. Well, not books. I had to buy the books myself. All in room and board, tuition, everything. My bill was $65. It's a pretty good deal. It's a pretty good deal. What was it when you went there? It had to be about 10. 10 grand, something like that?

[Steve Sands]

Well, actually, I think it was probably a little less than that. It's probably about 1500-2000 per semester. Yeah, which was great. I think at this moment it may be around $25,000. All in. Which compared to private universities, you know, is still reasonably affordable, but clearly not what it used to be.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did anybody, when you decided to go there? I don't know if you applied anywhere else. I'd applied to some other schools, got in. My parents said, you can have three weeks. We can't afford this. You're not going there. But did that school, did any of your friends say, what, are you nuts? You going where? What are you crazy people?

[Steve Sands]

There were a lot of people like Binghamton. Where is that?

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's the Fourth Hampton. Fourth Hampton?

[Steve Sands]

Yeah. It came down to me, other than those SUNY schools that I talked about that I applied to, you know, I had applied to Morehouse College, of course, in Atlanta, had gotten in, and then I actually had applied to Wesleyan because a lot of people from Midwood High School, where I went to high school, had applied to Wesleyan. It was a great small liberal arts school and Pipeline couldn't afford Wesleyan. Wasn't even a question.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Steve Sands]

And so it came. It made sense. Didn't want to go down south to school, and so it made sense. But it was a great experience. You dealt with the cold. At the end of the day, the thing that was most meaningful to me, actually, that was one of the biggest surprises because I'm growing up in the late 80s, early 90s, coming of age at that time, and it was a rough time to be in New York. You're talking about 2,000 plus homicides, the crack cocaine epidemic raging, and just to be able to walk across the campus peacefully, no danger, no threats, no gunshots, that, to me, for a city kid, you know, was just a wonderful experience. And the tranquility and the peace of it all, that alone, to me, made it all worth it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Binghamton was. I mean, I grew up on Long island and I spent a lot of time in Manhattan, as all Long island kids do. And, you know, going to Binghamton, it's a small. It was when I was there, long before you it was a small city, you know, 50,000 people and losing people all the time because the industry was going away. IBM, which was created in Endicott, had moved away. And Endicott Johnson wasn't getting shoe contracts anymore with the Army. And it was a, you know, economically depressed place. But it was, as you say, it was safe and lovely to walk around in. And everybody hitched rides with people. Things you would never do now. Just insane there. And did it. Then what did you. Did, you know, what you wanted to do with your life when you went there? Did you know where you wanted to be?

[Steve Sands]

Well, you know, I think I thought at some point that I would want to go to law school. And so initially I got to Binghamton and I was a law and society major, but then I realized in terms of law and society that you had to take political science classes, which was fine. And also philosophy classes. I took my first philosophy class. It was a disaster. I may have gotten to see. And I said, you know what? I'm switching off a Law in Society. I got to go a different direction.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Did you take a course with Doc Roma, with Emilio Roma, by any chance, when he was. When you were in school? Philosophy's course. He used to play softball with people, you know, intramural softball. He was that guy. He was that professor. All right. Anyway, so you got out of that, got out of Law and Society, got.

[Steve Sands]

Out of Law and Society, wound up sticking with political science.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Steve Sands]

And then graduated, went to law school, eventually back home at nyu and in between got a master's in public policy at Georgetown because I knew I wanted to do something public service related.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I wanted to be a sports writer. And I went to a place that had no journalism school and had no sports, had no football team. I mean, if we could do anything for that school, let's get a football team. So people that want to be sports writers have a reason to go there. What was your first experience with Speedy?

[Steve Sands]

You know, it's interesting because Speedy's wasn't really a thing for us, really, when I was there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh.

[Steve Sands]

And you know, I lived on campus for the first two years and then I moved to off campus university housing. So I was still pretty close to campus, you know, in the Vestal Plaza area, if you remember. Vestal Plaza.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, sure. They had scotch and sirloin was the big place when I was there in Vestal Plaza. It's closed now. Was it there when you were there, the restaurant? Scotch and sirloin?

[Steve Sands]

Yeah. Although I could never afford it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Ah, yeah, it was a Once a year thing for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But speedies were not a big deal.

[Steve Sands]

Yeah, at least, at least in the crowd that I traveled with, which is interesting. You know, the biggest deal for us, they had the pub that was on campus.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Steve Sands]

As you may recall. And you just looked forward to becoming a senior so that you could lawfully get into the pub. I don't think the pub is around anymore. But it was an interesting thing on the college campus that you actually had a pub right there in the union that students could enjoy. But the build up to the pub, I think was a highlight for everyone to finally make it over the finish line when you turn 21.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So when I was there, we started something and we. And it was called my senior year maybe, and it was called the Rath Skiller. I don't know if it was called that when you were there and I had a job as a bartender there and all you did was draw a beer. I mean, that's, that's all that was served as beer. There was no hard liquor, there was just beer. And, and that was my job. And yeah, there was a certain, a certain sense of empowerment that you'd gotten all the way through this school and now, you know, you had reached that age and you could go on and you could hang around there. At that point I felt a great sense of accomplishment actually graduating because I don't think anybody in my family thought I would get all the way through. So, I mean, I was really happy. And I think it's a wonderful school. I'm sorry that the president, Harvey Stenger, is leaving, but you know, he's made it great, don't you think?

[Steve Sands]

Absolutely. It's one of the best universities in the country. Regularly recognized as one of the top universities, I think, as you indicate, because there's no football team and you know, it's relatively recently that we've been a Division 1 basketball team. We've only made the tournament once and you know, it's not widely recognized across the country. Of course you helped to make Binghamton University famous and we're appreciative of you and your connection to the university that remains iconic. But it's a wonderful place. A lot of working class people from New York, a lot of middle class kids wind up going there. It's affordable, you get a great education and you can go on and try your best to live the great American middle class dream. And that's what this country at the end of the day should be all about.

[Tony Kornheiser]

So did you worry, did you think to Yourself, ever something like this. I'm doing pretty well here at Binghamton. It's a really good school. Nobody really knows about it. If I go to law school and I'm in there with kids from Harvard and kids from Yale and Princeton, I'm going to be overshadowed by them. Was there any of that attendant fear by going to a state school?

[Steve Sands]

There was definitely some uncertainty about it. And what was interesting, There are about 400 plus kids who go to NYU Law School per year. Half the class came from the seven Ivy League schools, which is extraordinary when you think about it, because there's 6,6000 colleges and universities in the country. Half the class at NYU Law School came from these seven Ivy League schools. So, you know, I think it's just natural for people to have some uncertainty. But then you actually get to school, you do your thing, you work hard, you study, and you realize that you've been just as prepared as everybody else, having graduated from Binghamton and other community colleges and universities as well.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's how I ultimately felt. I ultimately felt that I don't have to be nervous about this. I'm as good as them. I have a good, solid education. I mentioned this. I talked about this a couple of weeks ago, meeting you at the Alfalfa Dinner and then meeting the woman who is the CEO at Progressive Insurance and talking about flow. And to me, you're the most accomplished person ever graduated from the school and Flo was the most famous. And I saw just last night, somebody sent me a clip of a story on Sunday morning about three different people who've made a living doing commercials. And she's one of them. Stephanie Courtney is one of them. Were you in school with her or she a little bit younger than you? I don't know.

[Steve Sands]

I think we were in school around the same time. I didn't know it. By the time I got to Binghamton, there was probably about 10,000 students.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Big.

[Steve Sands]

Now there are about 15,000. So the university has continued to grow. But it was very interesting. After I got elected to Congress, I got a note from the president of Binghamton saying congratulations and oh, by the way, you're the first person in the history of the university to get elected to the United States Congress. I was very surprised that that in fact turned out to be the case, but it was. So the university was kind enough to do a profile on me and the headline on the COVID was a Freshman again.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, yeah, sure. But that's nice. I didn't know you were the only one. But it doesn't really Surprise me. When you were in high school or college, did you run? Were you the guy who ran for office, or did you not do that?

[Steve Sands]

Yeah, I didn't really do it. I mean, the first office that I actually sought was when I ran for the State assembly in Brooklyn back in 2000. Actually lost my first two races and picked myself up off the ground. Had to decide whether it was something that I wanted to do. Eventually, seat became vacant. 2006, ran again, was successful, and the rest is history. It's interesting, Tony. I was the first Binghamton graduate to be elected. But this past year, In November of 2000, Eugene Vindman was elected from a district in Virginia.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Around here.

[Steve Sands]

Yeah, Binghamton graduate. Yeah, Binghamton graduate. I don't know if you knew that. And John Mannion was elected in Syracuse. Binghamton graduate. So we have now tripled the size of the Binghamton University delegation in the United States Congress, and we're very proud of that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You could have your own caucus. You could have special meetings. It's bad for me because everybody who gets more famous not just pushes me down the list. And I'll ask you this because I'm sure I know the answer, but you should talk about it. Everybody I've ever worked with and met in sports who's been remarkably successful says, I was lucky. I didn't expect this. You couldn't have expected this, right? You couldn't have expected this.

[Steve Sands]

Yeah, no, definitely not. You know, I just wanted to have a chance to represent the people that I grew up with. That helped to nurture me in central Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly. You know, that was a privilege and for me, a tremendous accomplishment. And the fact that, you know, it's changed into this is incredible. It's kind of part of what the American story is. We truly are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. You know, when I was in high school, I wanted to either be a rapper or the point guard of the New York Knicks. Neither worked out for me.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, you know, you're doing pretty well. It's a longer career. Your career has more legs than those careers. That's great.

[Steve Sands]

It appears that way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Thanks for being on. It was a pleasure to meet you the other day. Thanks for being on. Appreciate it.

[Steve Sands]

Thank you so much.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sony, Hakeem Jeffries, boys and girls. And again, let me repeat, he's a minority leader in the United States Congress. It's a pretty big deal. We'll take a break. Steve Sands is not the minority leader in anything, but Steve Sands loves Sports and we will talk to him when we return. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

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[Nigel]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

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[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah, I love it.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I'd like to be two steps ahead.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

I'd like to be two steps. I'll take one. I think my only issue might be that, you know, I think this coming up in the copy says if anybody suspicious approaches your place, well, you're suspicious. Exactly. I get called myself all the time. But it's brilliant. It doesn't cost a lot of money and it gives you peace of mind.

[Tony Kornheiser]

SimpliSafe's AI powered cameras backed by live professional monitoring agents, keep an eye on your property 24 7. If someone shows up acting suspiciously, Simplisafe's agents can see and talk to them in real time, activate spotlights and even contact the police long before they have a chance to get inside. Here's the best part. There are no long term contracts or hidden fees. Monitoring plans start at just around a dollar a day. Plus you get a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. Name the best home security system by U.S. news and World Report. Five years in a row, SimpliSafe is the smart choice for home protection. Protect your home now. Visit simplisafe.comtony to claim 50% off a new system with a professional monitoring plan and your first month free. Fabulous. That's simplisafe.com Tony there's no safe like Simplisafe. This is the Tony Kornheiser Show. Once again, this is the music of Coleman Mellett. This is called digibob describes Bizarro Tony. A gentleman named Bob, who spends every waking minute of his life immersed in the high tech world of supercomputers, can't imagine the delivery charge on his electricity. After 16 long years, we are thrilled to release Coleman's music and appreciate the pod's focus on independent artists. But most importantly, Zebulon Mellet writes, please tell Steve Kearns of Williamsburg, Virginia, to eat it. Michael, if people want to send in music from their relatives, independent music, how do they do it?

[Michael]

Send us your music by emailing it to jinglesonyconisershow.com and that the album is released today.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Today.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

That's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

February 12th. Today, Coleman Mellon plays in Steve Stans, you're back in Torrey Pines. This is the second tournament being played in Torrey Pines in the last few weeks. This is the Genesis Tournament. How do you feel about that? And the obvious other question is, how is Riviera? You know, how, with the fires, the LA courses, Did any of the LA courses get touched by the fires?

[Nigel]

Riviera actually made it through, which is just incredible if you consider the Pacific Palisades. The Palisade right there, whole area just ravaged.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Nigel]

You know, ravaged. And somehow Riviera ended up not getting touched, which is just amazing. And then they had to move the tournament, the PGA Tour do that. Genesis knew that. The Tiger woods foundation knew that. And Torrey Pines, being a place where Tiger was so familiar, has so much history. You know, one of those crowning achievements was the 2008 US Open, when he won in a Monday playoff over Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines. He won all those regular tour events at Torrey Pines, so it was kind of a natural thing for the event to go down there. But Riviera is such a gem, Tony. You know that. And it's such a popular place on the PGA Tour that, you know, it is sorely, sorely missed.

[Tony Kornheiser]

This week, there are three courses in Los Angeles that everybody who plays golf or even just watches golf, knows of and has seen. Well, I don't know about Bel Air. I don't know how much Bel Air is hosted events, but there's Riviera, there's Los Angeles Country Club, and there's Bel Air. Are they. Are those courses all right?

[Nigel]

Yeah, yeah, they're okay. You know, the. I mean, the images of what the fires, you know, took out for all of us who are not from la, just amazing. I was Actually there a few weeks ago. Went to dinner after the first Torrey Pines event a couple of weeks ago with some friends of mine on Saturday night. It was a Saturday finish at Torrey Pines because of the AFC and NFC championship games. And I drove around a little bit with some of my friends in la and I was like, man, it's just. It literally looks like an atom bomb went off. It's just awful. And I don't know, it's amazing to me that LACC didn't get touched. Riviera, especially because of the Palisades, didn't get touched. Bel Air is okay. Talked to some friends who were members there. I mean, it's horrible, it's sad, it's horrific. But those particular clubs did not get touched. It's amazing.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We get used to at the beginning of the golf season, not as much at the end, honestly, not as much. Even though courses host events forever and ever and ever at the beginning of the golf season, we are conditioned to look at courses that we know. And in the winter in the east, to see Torrey Pines, to see Riviera, to see California courses more than the Hawaii courses, much more. Because in the continental United States, it gives you a sense that if you hold on, spring is coming and then spring arrives, of course, at Augusta. But, you know, there's a certain longing that someone like I would have for the Los Tories. Great. But the Los Angeles courses, in my mind, the whole LA area, there's a longing for that and a sadness because of the fires, right?

[Nigel]

Oh, for sure. I mean, LA. Listen, LA is LA, alright? I mean, I love San Diego. San Diego's amazing. But Los Angeles is Los Angeles. I mean, it's just. It has a different, you know, feel to it. The sport, sporting world is different in la, the golf world especially. There's some historic courses in la, the three you talked about, there are plenty of others that probably a lot of people have never heard of that are just amazing golf courses. By the way, you can add pebble beach to that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I was just going to say, I don't want to. Yeah. I don't want to be delinquent and not talking about pebble, because that's the most recognizable course. Yeah.

[Nigel]

And especially, you know, those of us who are from the east coast where it's, you know, cold and it's miserable and it's gray and you can't go out and play and it's, you know, it's snowing or ice and freezing, whatever it is. And you're looking at pebble beach in the middle of, you know, end of January, beginning of February. It's, it's remarkable. Just like Scottsdale, you know, when you look at the Scottsdale golf course and 74 and sunny and Wilbon, you know, going crazy about how great the weather is and, you know, all that kind of stuff, it's, it's very, very cool. I've always thought the PGA Tour season used to begin at Doral, the run up all the way to Augusta. But in reality, for anybody who's really a golf fan and even a sports fan, to watch golf on the west coast when the rest of the country is just freezing, miserable weather wise, it's just a remarkable thing to look at visually. And for sure, all those courses out west are amazing and they're just fun to look at, and it's just beautiful. It's just fun to look at.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Not Hawaii, it's. We love looking at Hawaii, but it's not the same. It's not the same. Let me go to, to the fabulous waste Management that took place last week and ask you about this. Who is Thomas Detrie? I mean, that he's supposed to fold up? He not only didn't fold up, he shot 65 on Sunday and hit a shot into the par three when you went, oh, wow, closed with birdies, you know, four birdies in a row. Is this guy, is he the real deal? Because he's not a kid.

[Nigel]

Thomas Dietary for sure is the real deal. My dog's going crazy here, by the way. Sorry.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's okay.

[Nigel]

Cookie. Named after Jack. Ken Cook, by the way.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Oh, okay. Not Cookie Frugalman. Okay.

[Nigel]

Thomas Dietri is a heck of a player, man. A very, very great reference. He's a great, great young player who had never won before on the PGA Tour. Came from Belgium. He's one of those guys who came from Belgium. You know, a few of them have gone to University of Illinois. Mike Smalls, the head coach at University of Illinois, that's some pipeline in Belgium, for whatever reason. And Dietrich is a very good young player from the European side of things. And I think that, you know, the world is, you know, kind of opened up for him a little bit here. Now that he's gotten to the finish line on the PGA Tour, it's not easy to play. Michael knows this. It's a strange thing to say it, but when you have a four or five shot lead, it's a very strange feeling for the players because they're almost playing defense from the get go, trying to finish those 18 holes. But for him, to hold off that field, that venue, with that type of raucous nature going on there, that's a big, big win for Thomas. Thomas is a very, very good young player from Europe. Everybody in the golf world has known for a while how good he is, and I think the sports world is going to open up their eyes a little bit to Dietrich. Now. This thing could really open up for him now that he got to the finish line for the first time.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's dominating.

[Michael]

You talk about the pressure. It's only more so with Jordan Spieth coming back from injury right behind him.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. So let's say.

[Nigel]

And by the way, everybody in Scottsdale, everybody on TV watching, but everybody in Scottsdale last week rooting for Speed, closer to the lead. You know, Dietri was clearly playing a road game on Sunday, and he got it, and he got to the line. That's a heck of a win for Thomas.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Good news for Spieth. Yes, good news. Even though he didn't close on Sunday.

[Nigel]

Oh, for sure. You know, he's making his way back from. From injury. For him to get into contention, to play well. You know, look, there's a difference in sports between losing and getting beat. And he got beat. He didn't lose.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Nigel]

You know, D3 was just better. It's a big, big difference for. For Spieth and for Spieth fans, what he's trying to do is ramp up to Augusta, and right now he is on a trajectory of getting himself in shape, golf wise, physically, mentally, and also his game to sharpen up, to try to make another run at a Masters title. That. That's for sure what he's doing right now. I guarantee you he walked away not. Not happy that he didn't win, but happy that he played well and performed well under pressure. That's not easy to do.

[Michael]

And with a new putter.

[Nigel]

Exactly. And he hasn't done it in a long time, Michael. So it. It's. It was a very good sign for Spieth and Spieth fans that he was. That he showed up last week.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Two weeks in a row, you get Rory winning something and playing really well to win it. And Spieth, I mean, people like that. They like familiarity. They would have loved, obviously, for Tiger to play in this coming tournament. It is his tournament, and he had announced he was going to play, and he hadn't played a long time. Then his mother passed away. And do we think that Tiger will play at all before the Masters?

[Nigel]

Man, you know, gosh, we talk about this all the time. Tony. I thought that he would give it a go this week, but then obviously, what happened with his mother passing away, clearly everybody can understand that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sure.

[Nigel]

Could I. Could I see him playing Bay Hill? You know, Bay Hill is similar to Torrey Pines. You know, long, thick, rough, you know, fast greens, that kind of thing. Different coast, obviously, but he's had a ton of success at Bay Hill before. I cannot imagine that he will go to the Masters having not played an event since he was going to play this week. So if he was going to play this week, Tony, clearly he thinks he's ready to play.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Nigel]

So if you think you're ready to play, then the natural thing would be to go somewhere where you have some familiarity. He has a big stake right now, as we all know, in what's going on with the PGA Tour, so I would think that if he's healthy enough, he would play in the Players at TPC Sawgrass, which is the signature event on the PGA Tour. It happens to be back to back with Bay Hill. I don't think he'll play back to back. I think he'll play one or the other. But I do think he'll play one of those two because I just don't think he wants to go to Augusta having not played any golf for months. He hasn't played since the Open.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You can't play by hitting it into a screen. You can't. That's not golf. Can't do that.

[Nigel]

No. No. That is not. If that's going to come up here in this conversation, that'd be fine by me. That is not. That is not golf. No.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, I'm not. No. I mean, I. Look, I think it's a lark. I sort of like it, but it's not golf. It's. It's. Right. It's not golf. I have watched it and enjoyed it. I particularly. It's Kevin Kisner. When he said I stink, that made me so happy. You know, I would. If it was up to me, I would not allow some of these golfers anywhere near it. The ones that don't talk. Patrick Cantlay, please get out of here. You're killing this format.

[Nigel]

Cantley and Cameron Young. Exactly. Lighting up the microphone.

[Tony Kornheiser]

You're killing it. But it's, you know. But it's not. It's not golf. But I mean, in the middle. Middle of the winter, on a Monday or Tuesday night, would I watch? I did. I watched an hour. I did. Yeah.

[Michael]

Just make sure the tech picks up every shot.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah.

[Nigel]

What's fascinating about the TGL is. There's a lot of things fascinating about it, but one is PGA Tours competing with itself. PGA Tour is endorsing this. So if the fields aren't as good out west from Hawaii to Mexico, next week in Puerto Vallarta, the first nine events on the PGA Tour calendar are out west for the most part. One is in the mountain time zone, if Scottsdale, but they're mostly out west. So when you have to play TGL on a Monday or Tuesday night in Jupiter, Florida, you're not going to go back and forth because you're not trying to get there.

[Tony Kornheiser]

That's right.

[Nigel]

As far as the Pro Am and all that kind of stuff. So TGL is basically competing against the PGA Tour, the sponsors, the fields. That part I don't like. I don't like seeing Kyle Morrical and Patrick Cantley and Justin Thomas and Rory McElroy and Tiger woods and all these players playing into a simulator on a Monday or Tuesday night, but not playing that week's PGA Tour event. I think that part is no good. It's not good for tg.

[Michael]

Rory did win going back to back.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, Rory did. He did.

[Nigel]

But, I mean, you know, for the most part, we're seeing a lot of these guys play TGL and not play the actual events. That part I don't love the simulator thing, man. I. I'm old. I just can't get into it. Is it entertaining? I guess. But when you see professional golfers, we see this every week. You know, when they're talking to their Caddy. 131, 132, 133, 130. They're so specific with their yardages. And then all of a sudden you see them hit into a simulator and they've got a little flip wedge and they're hitting it 20 yards over the green. Something's not right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

No, you can see it in their faces, Steve. They hit a shot and they go, what? What? Exactly.

[Nigel]

So to me, you know, the reality part of TGL I don't love, because hitting into a simulator is not real golf. And if the technology isn't exactly razor sharp. Yeah, these guys don't look right. And I think it's just an odd thing. I also just the banner back and forth. These guys are not team sports athletes. They don't have teammates and general managers and owners and coaches and all kinds of people kind of talking smack and having a locker room mentality to put microphones on these guys and have them try to carry a show with their personalities. I don't think is the greatest idea in the world either, but TGL is fine by me. I hope it succeeds because I think it's good for sports, good for golf, it's other programming, whatever, but it's just not my cup of tea.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Michael's in the simulator room at Columbia every day now. Right?

[Michael]

I'm taking my second grader.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nigel]

Well, yeah.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Working on ball speed. Yeah.

[Nigel]

I mean really, do you, do you really think that you can translate hitting golf into a semi? Now, I'm not talking about a Columbia when it's freezing cold.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Right.

[Nigel]

Go play real golf.

[Michael]

There's, there's different aims that I have, but I think our totally different. The fact that it's a, that it is a point of conversation that we don't trust the technology that they are using and that there is a partnership between, I don't know, the owner of the league and the, and the piece of tech. When every single player carries technology that is not this, that is not this one. When they go to the range on every course is, is a big, is a big point of contention. But yeah, I agree.

[Nigel]

I, I just think it's.

[Michael]

And no one can say it.

[Nigel]

I just think it's an odd thing when you see professional golfers who are so specific in what they do. They're so specific and they're way, way off hitting wedges. These aren't drivers. I think it's very, very strange when you see that. And I don't particularly like that. But you know, a lot of people are watching, Tony. I mean a lot of people are watching those events on Monday, Tuesday nights on ESPN and the audience has waned a little bit. We all knew that was gonna happen. But you know, you get 5, 600,000 people watching that's, you know, probably equal to a decent or a low level college basketball game on espn. So I don't know, I would.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Just to emphasize the point you're making. If people think back, if they bothered to watch it all at the last round of the waste management on 18, when the guy, the last group, three guys dialed it into within eight feet. Within eight feet. And they, you know, and then if you watch.

[Michael]

They know their numbers.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah, if they, if you watch TGL and you see a pained expression on a golfer's face when he sees where it lands, it's like 40 yards different from what he thought it was going to be. And you know, you know, Steve, he's right. You know he's right because he knows how to hit the shot.

[Nigel]

People ask us all the time, are These guys really, that when we lay on tv, you know, this time and tv, there's a saying called laying out. So we want to. Announcers will stop speaking so you can bring the audience inside the court, the ice, the ropes, the field, whatever it is. In this case, the ropes and golf. So you listen to the player in the caddy when they're going back and forth. Literally, I see it at 29. I got 30, 31, whatever. They are that specific. So for the same player to then hit into a simulator with, by the way, a perfect lie in a dome with no wind. Yeah, and let's. Let's. I mean, come on now. And they're way, way off. Clearly, it's not their equipment and their swing and their contact with the ball. It's got to be the simulator. And to me, I just think that that's. To me that I'm old though it. To me, that just throws it off. I'm sure the kids love it. I'm sure people love the technology, and I'm glad that it's still out there and hopefully going to succeed, but I'd rather watch college hips.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Yeah. All right. Enjoy the tournament. Enjoy yourself at Torrey. Thanks. Thank you.

[Nigel]

Of course. Anytime.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Steve Sands. We love Steve Sands. We'll take a break. We'll come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

[Advertisement Voice]

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[Nigel]

You're listening to the Tony Kornheiser Show.

[Jingle Singer]

Press record. All right, now I'm gonna sing. So now I'm gonna sing a song. It's a live jingle, a real important one, but I've got no experience to draw upon. I'd regale you with some lyrics about a wonderful story without first hand history. It would go rather poorly. Now KJ can take over and sing something funny.

[Nigel]

Wait a minute.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Is this how podcasters make all their My name.

[Jingle Singer]

It's the chorus. Now I'm singing about doing live reads. I sing the words and the her from your Google machine. If I keep singing, will I Get funded by underwear fundraisers and seeds. Build the course. Do they pay for jingles about libraries? I'm singing a jingle about live reads I'm repeating these words again Cause they're important. I'm singing a jingle about libraries.

[Michael]

Take it up a notch.

[Jingle Singer]

I'm playing the same chords over and over. I bet you didn't notice unless you were paying attention.

That's falsetto.

Singing a jingle about libraries.

Fade out.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Jason Fuse. Kirsten Olmsted. Love that. Just love that. Want to do the Bethesda Bagels ad? Because you went to. We didn't surprise the day. Yeah. We didn't think you'd get out in your little car. We didn't think. Think you'd get out to the bagel joint.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah. Made it there and they were surprised. They were like, you guys are doing a show.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Of course you're open. We're open.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Bethesda Bagels. Just go to bethesdabagels.com for location in the DC area nearest you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

[Michael]

Was your car like on cinder blocks this morning?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

No, I had to do it pre shovel last night. And then I woke up and I was like, oh, I guess I'll do it again. But it wasn't too bad.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It wasn't too bad. That'll just about do it for us today. Before we get to the mailbag, let me just say. Ever see a blind man cross the road trying to make the other side? Ever see a young girl growing old trying to make herself a bride? So what becomes of you, my love, when they have finally stripped you of the handbags and the glad rags that your poor old granddad had to sweat to buy you? That's a great song. Yes, that's Rod Stewart at his absolute best. Handbags and glad rags. Love that song. Thanks to our guest today, Steve Sands and the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. And remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Odyssey. Get show through Apple Podcasts. Please leave us a review. Steve the Sycophant A humble request for mention of the Fairfax Wind Symphony's Winter concert on Sunday, February 16th. This Sunday, Maestro Stan Schoonover will direct with a plum. Not a plum plum, but aplomb aplomb. As we play pieces by Bach, Copeland and others follow fellow Little Charlie Burtz will be be with me in the illustrious trumpet section. Not strumpet section. It's a different section, different word. Please come to Katherine Johnson Middle school in Fairfax, Virginia where Charlie teaches music at 3pm we provide a money back guarantee because admission is free. Thank you. From Roberto I feel your pain about your favorite Crest Toothpaste. They discontinued my favorite the cinnamon flavor that I've been using for about 10 years. I found one store that had some bought all they had about 1020 tubes. I'm trying to make them last a long time. I'm almost 73. Maybe it will last till I lose all my teeth. That's great. Just great. Ricky Herb or Ricky Herb in Barnegat? Barnegat Bridge and Bay Barnegat, New Jersey. Frankie Valli.

[Advertisement Voice]

Oh, is that where he's from?

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sung about that. Yeah. Well, he's not from there, but Ricky Herb is From there Dear Dr. Grandpa, you think the wrong color is bad? Recently I had to take my daughter to the hospital expecting that we were potentially spending the night. I hays packed a bag in case that happened. Not wanting to leave the woman I'm related to by marriage. No toothpaste for the night. I just figured I'd use my daughters. The flavor was bubble mint. It is pink and sparkly. If unicorns were real, this is what I would guess their vomit would taste like. So your color might be off, but it could be significantly worse. That is a great I think I.

[Michael]

Know that too Face.

[Tony Kornheiser]

It's a great email.

[Michael]

Go for the Pokemon flavor.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Todd Dolce who works. Where does he work? He doesn't work for P and G right?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

I don't think he does, no.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Sounds like there may be a doubter in the group. Regarding my past email pointing out which Crest toothpaste variety contains the fluoride in combination with the original light turquoise paste. I've attached a comparison photo to best illustrate that I have indeed the blue paste version and not the nasty white formula that has recently dominated the market. I am puzzled too in the fact that the correct light blue paste is shown as almost white in the picture they show in their packaging. Just remember it's the plain anti cavity formula with the words regular paste displayed at the bottom right of the box. It will also show that is fluoride protection in it. No tartar control should be on the label. But it's cavity. It's not. Yeah, but I did no tartar control.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

No tartar control.

[Tony Kornheiser]

They're not giving you tartar control. But why can't you just go back to tartar control with the original blue paste? Don't know.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

But this was the email I used to get the and you got it right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

And I have it.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yes, that's right.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Thank you for that, John. In Chapel Hill, with the football season wrapped, I fear Carville may disappear from the podcast for a while. Carville hit them all. Yeah, hit them all.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

And closed really well.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I hope you find reasons to keep chatting with them. I look forward to those conversations. A quick story about the Carville Magic More than a decade ago, I was attending an event in Atlanta where Carville was on hand to present an award to Dean Smith. Early in the evening, I was out in the hall talking with my wife on my cell. It was one of those evenings when my wife Betsy wasn't doing well. It was lousy that I was away from home. I was running out of stuff to say. In the middle of our call, Carville came around the corner, was walking toward me. I did the absolute worst anyone can do to a celebrity. I handed him my cell and said, this is my wife. Talk to her. So great. Not only did Carville take the phone, that alone would have been mad. He talked to Betsy as if he'd been expecting to hear from her. He appeared excited to reconnect with a long lost friend. When he handed me back the phone, Betsy was cheerful and I was in awe. The episode was instructive. I learned I should talk to the people I love with the same enthusiasm as Carville talks to strangers. Football season is too far away to wait for more Carville. Here's a vote for keeping him on hand year round. It's not like he's not betting. That's true. It's not like he's not doing that. Grant in Richmond on on Monday show Soliza Richmond probably got a lot of snow, right? We think in Richmond got a lot.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Well, to the south they did get hit harder. Yeah, I'll check that.

[Tony Kornheiser]

Well, it's not too. I mean, maybe in North Carolina they didn't get snow, which is south of Richmond. On Monday show, Soliza chuckled at the obvious analysis by Tom Brady that Kelsey is Mahomes his go to receiver. Shortly after that, he made the original and completely not obvious comment that Lady Gaga and John Baptiste are very talented. Maybe Lace can be the third chair in the Fox booth. Tim Cree, Fort Collins, Colorado Imagine my happiness when Nigel jokes that Brady was wearing a Swatch watch. I made the same joke during the game when everyone else in my house was wondering what in the world Brady was wearing. Affirmation baby from Joe Pearson in Indianapolis. Team Samoas. That's it. That's the email. That's. That's a cookie, right?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Oh yeah, Girl Scout cookie. Yes.

[Michael]

I Think you have to always go back to Thin Mints in the freezer.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah, that's the. That's the way to go, right?

[Tony Kornheiser]

I didn't. The ones that everybody liked, the mint ones, I never liked them. I never like.

[Michael]

I think it has to be in the freezer.

[Tony Kornheiser]

I just. Well, if it was in the freezer, I'd leave it in the freezer. I would never take it out. From Kate, Milan, Chuck and Roxy. Number 61, top 20. She says, I do not have an Aunt Shirley. Was I supposed to be assigned one at birth? What department handles this? I do have an Anne Janice, though. She's everyone's favorite, so I got that going for me. If you're out on your bike, tight, everyone, as always, do wear white, but.

[Nigel]

We don't have the shaputzvah to do it.

[Jingle Singer]

Wake up, try to check out the morning light Put the word on the street Takes time to travel down the vine. Who knows? Think the numbers will fall more my way? Could today be my lucky day? Or just another chance to play? We still got each other and that's all I need to get by and every day is a new song so in the morning when I rise get up to sing along Check up, have a look at my vital signs I try to change with the change in time so I hope I'm doing fine. Lighten up, try to look at the brighter side Let the men in the suits decide and just hang on for the ride. We still got each other and that's all I need to get by.

[Nigel]

And.

[Jingle Singer]

Every day's a new song so in the morning when I rise I get to look into your eyes and keep on keeping on. Cause you keep me keeping on. I get up and I sing along as we keep on keeping on.

[Tony Kornheiser]

We.

[Jingle Singer]

Still got each other and that's all I need to get by. Every day is a new song so in the morning when I rise I get to look into your eyes and keep on keeping on. Cause you keep me keeping on. I get up and I sing along oh yeah. Cause we keep on keeping on. SA Digibob lives in a world of conveniences. Everything is right at his fingertips. Assigning every task to his super appliances. He just relies on those microchips. But what can he do when his motherboard fails? When his keyboard gets stuck beneath his finger? How can he send his electronic mail? Put up a flag and wait for the snail? Digibob surfs the high speed Internet hanging 10 without even getting wet. Samples a world with new flash photo tricks. Each day is 9 billion mega pics? But all of those places that flash by screen? He knows what they look like but not what they mean? He could book an online vacation and go? Instead he'll choose to bask in his monitor glow? Knows what they look like but not what they need? He could book an online vacation and go? Instead he'll choose to bask in his monitor glow? Dilly Bob won't be going out today? He won't be getting any sun? Everything he needs is just a click away? Mousing his lips? This cat so me idea of fun? Did you beat? Oh, did you buy? Did you buy? Oh, did you? Did you be old? Did you buy? Did you buy? Oh, did you, did you, did you bop? Oh, did you.