Transcript of Spurs Make It A Series And The SCF Continues To Rock, World Cup With Rob Stone, Braves 2B Ozzie Albies In Studio Plus FAQ's

Hey, Pardon My Take listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Stella Blue Coffee is more than just great coffee, it's coffee with a purpose. Introducing We Brew to Rescue, a nationwide campaign using proceeds from our new ready-to-drink cans to help fund 1,000 pet adoptions this year. Every can you crack open helps a real pet find a real home. Simple as that. Made with 100% Colombian coffee, each 11-ounce can delivers smooth, drinkable energy with a boost of protein. Available in Espresso Cafe Mocha and Espresso Sweet Cream. Built for mornings, long days, and everything in between. Drink Stella Blue, fuel your day, and help save a pet's life. You can follow our progress in real time throughout the campaign by watching the adoption tracker on our site. Grab yours now at stellabluecoffee.com, Amazon, and select retailers nationwide. On today's part of my take presented by DraftKings, we've got a twofer for the people. We've got Rob Stone, our colleague from Fox who is hosting all of the broadcasts at the World Cup, talking World Cup. We are one day away from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

So we have a great talk with him about how the US is going to do, other teams, guys we should be looking out for. We also have an awesome interview with Ozzie Albies from the Atlanta Braves in studio. He came in and visited us this morning. It was a great time chatting with him. Really cool dude. Also loves fish. Loves fish. We're going to talk about the NBA Finals getting— we have a series because the Spurs win Game 3. We've got Hot Seat, Cool Throne. We've got FAQs, maybe some Brendan Sorsby madness. It is a packed show. Oh, and the Stanley Cup Finals. It's a lot of sports. It's a lot of sports. It's all brought to you by our friends at Experian.

Best week of the year.

Best week of the year. It's never too late to improve your credit with Experian Boost. You can raise your credit scores instantly for free. Get credit for the bills you're already paying. Add your positive rent, utility, and even streaming payments to instantly increase your credit scores. Boost your credit scores instantly. Experian Boost is completely free and can instantly raise your credit scores. Get better credit scores. Get credit for the bills you're already paying. Increase your credit scores instantly for free. Now paying rent could boost your credit scores instantly. Download the app and get started for free today. Results will vary. Not all payments are Boost eligible or considered by lenders. See experian.com for details. Okay, let's go. Welcome to Pardon My Take, presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, June 10th. And boys, we've got an NBA Finals. It is 2-1 New York Knicks. The San Antonio Spurs go into MSG, win Game 3. We at least have some game pressure. We have some Finals that we can get excited about again, because if the Knicks had won Game 3, it would have been a sweep most likely. But now the Spurs answer, and we got game on.

Yeah, it was a— another good game. All the games have been awesome. In the series so far. Even, you know, Game 1, I know that the final score wasn't exactly super close, but yeah, the Spurs did what they had to do. Wimby— I thought that the, the defense that they played was interesting and they kind of let Hart shoot the ball a lot at the start. He was making them pay, but it was like very much a concerted effort. Have Wimby ready to come through the paint and swat anything that's coming nearby. And yeah, it's— it was a great game by Castle. Fox looked good at times too last night.

Yep.

When it mattered a lot. So yeah, I'm excited. The atmosphere in the Garden. I do think it got to the point where they priced out the real fans a little bit. Where you don't think so, Hank?

I don't like the prices at the Garden. Even when we lived in New York, when the Knicks weren't that good, they were crazy expensive. Not like this. Yeah, not like this, but still like expensive.

Why do you— by the way, PFT, to your point, Game 1, 1-point game with 2 minutes left. Game 2, tie game with 10 seconds left. Game 3, 3-point game with 30 seconds left. What makes you say that they price out the real fans?

Uh, that the— I think the lowest ticket price was like $8,000.

No, but I'm saying like from watching, was it like a vibe you got?

Vibe I got.

Because I think there's also a vibe, and Memes, you get— you can maybe attest this. I think there is a— especially in the first quarter, because the first quarter it was like the crowd was so jacked up, and then the Spurs come out really hot I do think that the weight of how many years it's been since the Knicks have won a title, it is a little bit in the fans' head where you've seen this before, where it's like the Cubs or the Red Sox or like the Bills, where you have a moment and then when things go bad, everyone's like, oh, fuck. And it got a little silent. Then the second quarter, I thought that was the series. I thought the second quarter, the way the Knicks played in the second quarter, I was like, all right, that's it. They bounced back from the— from a not great first quarter. They were down 9 or 11 after the first quarter. And then the Spurs just— they, they got to the free throw line, which we can talk about the refs. Uh, they did a really good job on, on Karl-Anthony Towns. I also think Mikael Bridges getting his second foul so early was huge because he never felt like he was part of the game.

Uh, and they made Jalen Brunson dribble a lot, and Jalen Brunson has not been his best. He's, he's shot— I think he has the same amount of turnovers as assists. And he shot a lot, uh, for not a great efficiency. And this was the game that they, they kind of— the Spurs put it all together defensively. Like, they are, they're absolutely hammering Jalen Brunson. Like, Steph Castle picking him up early, like, you know, body blow after body blow. It's clear that that's the point, is like, hey, if we can stop Cat, if we can start doubling Cat when he gets the ball and make Brunson dribble too much, we have a chance.

Yeah, so the thing is with Brunson, I don't want to act like I'm saying he, he played poorly because I do think he played good enough to win. Win. Like, there were times in the fourth quarter where I thought that the Knicks were going to win. I thought that Jalen Brunson was making some big plays down the stretch, kind of putting it all in his hands. Um, the ref thing, I think, can be— I think that can actually be a legit cause for complaint from Knicks fans. Although we saw last night, Game 2 was worse.

Game 2 was worse than Game 3.

It might have been worse. But I guess specifically, like, I think Wimby might be a dirty guy. I think he might be a dirty player.

So Here's the competing theories. One is Wemby's dirty. Two is Wemby— and I actually don't know where I land because I just feel like I have to watch more Wemby to totally figure it out because that— the shove on Jalen Brunson, like, what was that? That was crazy. But it's Wemby's dirty or Wemby is essentially telling everyone who plays against him, hey, if you're going to play me rough, I'm going to play rough back, which I kind of respect. If that's the— if that's what he's going for. Yeah, I respect it. The Jalen Brunson one made no sense. That was I don't know how that wasn't a foul.

It wasn't anything. It was crazy.

And it— Cat was getting fouled in that play too.

It reminded me of when Zidane, the French guy, headbutted the dude in the World Cup. Yeah, it was like kind of out of nowhere. He just kind of flipped out on him real quick.

And he's got a few this, this playoffs. He's got the elbow on Nas Reid. Yeah, he's got the phantom hair pull of Lou Dort that I don't think was actually a hair pull, but from the angle on TV, it looked like it might have been. Yeah, but it's, uh, it— I don't know what memes— where do you— I, I will say, by the way, Mike Brown, probably the greatest press conference in terms of, uh, funky math about the refs. Did you guys see this? Mike Brown after the game, he, he did give credit to Spurs, and he was like, but we had— they had 24 free throws in the second half to our 8. And he was like, if you go full game That is, that is 48 free throws for the Spurs. Meanwhile, we only were fouled 4 times. So he halved the 8.

Yeah.

And doubled the 24. And by the end of the press conference, I was like, holy shit, that was the worst officiated game ever. So kudos to Mike Brown.

That's really good. Yeah. To take the 8 foul shots and be like, that was 4 fouls. Yeah.

Like, and then the 24 to be like, in a full game, that's 48.

It'd be 48. It weighed 48 free throws.

Free throws. Yes. He went free throws, full game for Spurs. Just fouls half for Knicks.

I mean, it could have been even more than that if they had gotten off the 3-point shots that they wanted to shoot.

Yeah.

And you had been fouled on those.

I do think there's a, like, a— there was some bad calls, uh, which Knicks fans have a right to complain. I also think the Spurs were very deliberate in attacking the hoop, and they were deliberate in being like, we got to get these guys in foul trouble. Um, so there, there's a little bit of both. I also think the Spurs just finally executed well late, where if you look at the first two games, they kind of lost their minds at the end of the games. Yeah, this time they, you know, whether it be De'Aaron Fox, um, that Steph Castle 3 was kind of a prayer, but there was a couple of those in the game for both sides. The Spurs, being the young team, they finally stepped up to the moment and they're like, this is how we have to execute and this is how we have to play defense down the stretch.

If I was a Knicks fan, I would not be confident, and I'm not saying that I'd be confident if I was a Spurs fan either. I don't think either team should be confident right now because the games have been that close and they've been decided on just like a very, very small Verge and Rivera at the end of the games. So like, I don't think that either team should be comfortable.

I'd still be confident if I was a Knicks fan. Memes, how are you feeling?

Talk. Uh, I feel fine. The refs were a joke. It was definitely all called one-sided. That, that's a problem with the refs. It was only called on the Knicks.

I agree. I was gonna say the other problem with the refs that I don't like, because I actually love the physicality in this series, I think it's awesome to watch. The problem is they have not called the physicality the same half to half. First half, it was super physical and they were letting them be physical. Second half, they started tightening it up and it's like, hey, let's just, let's just be consistent both halves because I want to watch the same product. And like, I like that it's physical. I like that guys are like nasty. And there was a moment where I'm pretty sure Steph Castle and Cat have like a competition who could scream at the most people after made baskets. Because that's— they're so animated and there's like real bad blood. But then the second half starts and the refs are calling it differently.

Yeah, it was the— it was the Keldon Johnson foul in the corner that—

which one?

Everyone off. It was just somebody bumped him. Oh, they just called immediate foul. But meanwhile, Jaylen Bronson just getting molested up and down the court and they're just not calling anything.

Just—

just either let them play or call it both ways. Like, I just don't get it. Agree with that. NBA Finals. Like, everyone's watching this.

I also don't love the— and this happened with the SGA when Jaylen Brunson got smashed. I— that was a foul. But I also think it's bullshit when guys don't turn around to go for a rebound. SGA did the same thing. Like, you can't— you can't just stand straight at the guy in the corner and not even attempt to rebound and then be like, oh man, he hit me.

I think it was definitely— it was a foul, but also it was also a flop, right? You have—

you have to actually turn around and try to— try to get the rebound. Otherwise you're just— you're taking charges on loose balls, which is weird.

Yeah, keep yourself in the play. Uh, Landry Shamet is human after all. Yeah, the most important player in the series. Uh, what'd he go like 1 for 7?

Yeah, he was not great.

Did not look good. Um, that one shot that he did make though, when it went in, you thought, okay, well, he's just about to get back on his Landry Shamet bullshit. Yep. I talked to our good friend Stephen Shea, um, at about lunchtime today, and he was very focused on one aspect of the game I was not aware of. But I feel like we should discuss.

Okay. Yes, I know what he's going to say. I know what you're going to say.

Karl-Anthony Towns' girlfriend's bag.

Jordan Woods. So I had a blame pie. If we wanted to do blame pie, we can do blame pie.

But like, I think we should unpack the bag a little bit.

Yeah. Well, the first two blame pies we can, we can rip.

What is the bag?

That's what I'm saying.

Yeah. So she has a bag that she, she has a lucky bag that for the last 12 games she has brought to the game.

They've won them all.

Won them all. Lucky bag. President Trump in the building. No bags allowed.

Right. My question is, is that her fault?

Well, that's what my blame pie was also going to be. President Trump, if he deserves some blame.

Well, my blame was going to go actually to Karl-Anthony Towns, because I would assume that the players were allowed to bring a bag in. Why didn't he just bring her bag? And then he sees her feet on the wood, probably, and then takes the bag over to her after he's already brought it inside.

I will say the bag is perfect size to conceal a gun. Gun.

It's a gun-sized bag. What about— could the bag have had its own seat? If you— if the bag has a ticket, if you animate the bag, the bags. Yeah. You buy a ticket for the bag. The bag sits here.

What about an emotional support bag?

Yeah. You put a strap on it.

You'd be like, hey, I can't be without this bag.

And then when I was talking to him, I thought to myself, wait, this is actually maybe a million-dollar business idea because you're seeing a lot of like Major League Baseball stadiums have different bag rules, things like that. What if you made a shirt or a blouse, maybe like a long sleeve shirt that turned into a bag? So like a sweatshirt? Yeah, like a sweatshirt that you go out and like girls, you know, they get, they get hot sometimes they take their jacket off their sweatshirt off, and then it zips up into a stylish bag. They put their stuff in that bag.

Boom.

Instant bag memes.

I, I was unaware of this bag.

It's a pretty important bag.

Okay, so I blame memes a lot then for not even knowing about the bag.

That was memes. Off of this bag talk, uh, would you— like, KAT wasn't— KAT played great in the first 2 games. He didn't play great in Game 3. It feels like he is the motor, and that, that kind of changed in the Hawks series. He is the motor for this offense. You've seen his assist numbers go up. He's the most important player on the Knicks offense, it feels like. Not Jalen Brunson. Jalen Brunson obviously is your closer, he's your, he's your point guard, he's your best player. But in this series, it feels like how KAT goes, the Knicks go. Is that fair assessment?

Yeah, that was a big emphasis in the postgame pressers, that the Knicks offense was just stagnant. Yeah, it was a lot of dribbling, it was a lot of dribbling, a lot of one-on-one. Uh, it does feel like the Spurs have impose their will to the point where they're— the Knicks are playing in their head and they just can't get out of it.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. If we're doing blame pie, is there any blame memes for you kind of softening up on Zach?

I didn't even think about that, but you should.

Someone pointed that out to me. It's like memes essentially saying like, we're all good. He should have kept that same fire on the number 11 controversy.

No, me and Zach golfed.

We're good. Okay. Okay.

I have another maybe piece of blame pie. Okay. What about Tibbs? The Knicks are so exhausted from last season playing for Tibbs that they finally hit the wall this postseason.

That's a good point.

I need to think about that. Just ran them too hard.

That's a good point.

All those minutes add up.

Memes. Did you think about that?

I didn't think about that. I disagree with that one.

Okay.

I think they've had a lot of time off.

I don't know. I don't know about that.

But listen, if you want to blame the refs, I get it. If you want to blame the bag, I get it. If you want to blame memes not, you know, being hard on Zach anymore, I get it. I think the Spurs, like, for the most part, just played better. And their young guys, like Steph Cassell, was— he even admitted it, he like was a little bit lost in the first two games. He was great. His defense is great. Wemby was awesome. Like, they just put together the game that they thought they could put together.

Yeah, you could blame Trump because he left early. We blame Brandon Johnson for that. Yeah. For leaving the Bears game early. You can't leave that game early for the president. You, you make everybody get rid of their bags.

Also, did he fall asleep?

Yeah, for sure. 100%. Yes. Just a little nap, which is felt like I fall asleep watching sports all the time.

Yeah.

Nothing to be ashamed of.

Just close your eyes for a minute.

Yeah. Just resting his eyes.

What about Cardi B?

Cardi D. Cardi D, as Charles put it. Shout out, Chuck. Those big old women in San Antonio could use some cardio.

Mm-hmm.

Nice. She looked good. She looked great. Excellent performer. I thought she killed it as usual. Mm-hmm. Stefon Diggs probably watching that like, look what I let get away. Yeah. Who, by the way, Hank, is he—

Well, no, he proposed.

That's right.

That's right.

Yeah. Is he going back to the Patriots?

There's rumors. It's weird that he hasn't been signed. Yeah, he had a good year last year.

Yeah, I think it's like, who's, who's going to be more crazy this offseason? I think the less crazy guy between Diggs and Brandon Ayuk will have some closure. Yeah. And then the other—

Diggs hasn't been acting crazy.

Yeah, but there's a body of work there. Yeah, for sure.

Memes, what is it? And Zach, you can chime in too. Like, it has to feel— I don't think the Knicks fans should panic. It's one game. But part of being on a winning streak like that and then losing a game, it's like, oh fuck, this is foreign. I don't really know what to think now. Like, is the sky falling? You haven't lost in so long, you're probably not used to it, right?

It's definitely weird, but I think it was almost needed to a certain extent.

Gotcha.

It just brings you down to earth and you just gotta have your back against the wall and just fight.

Is the old saying true that the series doesn't start until the home team wins a game?

That could be it. We could just be in for Astros-Nationals style final.

Yeah, well, no, you don't— you don't want that.

No, the Knicks will want that.

Or the Knicks do want it. Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

What are you gonna say, Zach?

It was sobering in terms of like, all right, it's a healthy reminder these guys are also like playing the best of their ability. They want to win a championship just as bad. Uh, you didn't see that through the previous series just because they were able to walk through teams. Uh, so So yeah, I still feel confident in the team. I feel good about it. And if we can get good officiating, we should be in a good spot.

What do you think about somebody in Gramercy Park giving Wimby a key? Because you can't get into that park, right?

They don't—

you know, you're not allowed to just walk in. He was in there. He was sketching. He was doing a sketch of a sculpture to pass the time. Some in this office would say that's a bad optic.

Yeah.

And it's a bad look for him to be doing that on game day.

I think it was the day before, but still, it's still bad optics.

Yeah, bad.

Like some guys go to Carbone, some guys go like— there's a lot of bad optics going around. What do you think about—

about Carbone?

What? Don't talk about Carbone. He just talked about— I'm saying, like, if you go out, like, are you— you tell me that guys should be going out for dinner like the night before a big game?

Where are you getting these sources from?

I mean, it's publicly available information. You can read on Barcelosports.com.

Got it. Who went to Carbone?

Oh, you didn't hear about this?

No, won't name.

We can't, we can't name names.

So, so you got to say it now. All right, so Wimby, there was a video of Wimby sketching the statue, and then somebody at Barstool did a blog being like, this is who, uh, Rico Bosco did a—

did he get arrested?

No, no, that was, that was AI.

Okay, it looked, it looked so real though.

It was somebody from the Taliban.

Okay, so what did he say about Carbone?

Uh, well, he said that some guys go and they like do sketches of statues and stuff. Some guys you know, they go out to Carbone the night before a big game. So like there's some bad optics that go around there. You never know which one is going to be the one that like is the bigger distraction. Hmm.

So he was just writing a blog being like, I know this.

No, no, definitely not.

No, definitely not.

Like the entire purpose of the blog, are you, are you saying was just so that he could say, I know that one of the players on the Spurs went out to Carbone?

I would never say that.

Neither would I. I would never. And if you did, I would never agree with it.

Yeah.

But still pretty weird that Wimby was like, that's what he does to just pass the time. Yeah. And just when you think the guy can't get any more French, he one-ups you on it. But yeah, I did also hear there's a quote from, from Carter Bryant on how him and Wimby passed the time because they asked about like, you know, doing art and things like that. And he said, we love to do extracurricular activities. Usually me, him, HB. We've done painting. We've done game days like playing board games. We went to the world's quietest room. We've done a bunch of dumb stuff.

Hmm.

So, I mean, you can look at this and say like, okay, Wimby is eccentric, etc., etc. This— they're just running back the same playbook from the Spurs of the 2000s.

Yeah.

Like they didn't do it. They didn't go out. They didn't party.

No.

Wimby famously sleeps 12, 12 hours a night.

Yeah. They would just hang out at each other's houses and like play Xbox.

Listen, it worked. I, I wonder— here's the thing I'm worried— I'm not worried about, uh, but I'm, I'm curious about is Wemby has looked a little gassed when there's— it's not back to back but one night in between. How's he gonna look in Game 4? He did get— he played the entire fourth quarter, uh, Game 3, but there was also so many stoppages. By the way, credit to the reviews, they nailed so many. They— but they nailed them. Yeah, there was like multiple times like, hey, Good review. That was— it was the Wemby 3. Great review. The ball out of bounds. Great review. They just crushed through the reviews.

I heard some people on— I think it was Get Up this morning that were crushing the review system, being like they screwed up a bunch of— I don't think that they screwed anything up. I just think that it fucked with the flow of the game.

Yeah.

And you could be like, yeah, it gave Wemby a chance to like stay on the floor and catch his breath. Because when Cornette was playing last night, like He cannot stay in front of Cat. No, it's impossible for him.

No, it's, it's when, when Wemby comes off the court, everyone just goes to the hoop. Yeah, every single time. Was there— that was actually the moment, Memes, I assume you had the same thought when they, when Wemby hit the 3-and-1 and they got reversed and then the Knicks scored. I was like, oh, this is it. Like, this game is over.

Yes.

Got it.

That was a great timeout by Mitch Johnson.

Yeah. Yeah, it was. Because yeah, it cut it. It was about to be a 10-point game. Then it was a 5-point game. It was like, this is it. Do you feel like the crowd was— do you have any grade for the crowd?

I like the crowd. ESPN was speechless before the game. Inside the NBA, they're like, wow, this is, this is unreal.

Yeah.

Chuck, Kenny, and Shaq all like stopping and being like, this is an incredible moment. And they've been in, you know, huge games, huge moments, all played in finals. And they themselves were like, wow, speechless. That I feel like settles, you know, the crowd was— the crowd was alive.

Yeah. I think there's— in a game like that, you have to have like the Rowdy Boys Lounge. You got to— you got to set aside like 1,000 tickets that you sell for face value for like diehard fans of the team. Yeah.

If I spent $10,000 on a ticket, I probably wouldn't shut up.

No, no, true. By the way, I wanted Steven Shea to come in here to help us with the parlay because we were so bad with our parlay the other night. Sit down, Che.

We're talking about the cat bag, letting the cat out of the bag. Yeah.

And that—

yeah.

All right, let me do the ad real quick. Uh, DraftKings, the final round of the basketball season is here. 2 teams left, 1 trophy on the line, and only DraftKings has you covered every step of the way. The DraftKings Sports app is now available in all 50 states and includes all markets, bringing each game straight to your fingertips wherever you are. From New York to San Antonio to LA, you're in on the excitement at the speed of sports. Follow every possession, every 4th quarter swing, Every clutch shot that decides a series. Sweat the whole run in real time with a seamless experience built for championship basketball. No matter where you're watching, you're always connected in the game with one app. New DraftKings customers sign up with code TAKE, spend $5 to get $200 in rewards within 21 days. That's code TAKE in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.

Bet with DK Sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER, 1-800-MY-RESET. New York, call 877-8-HOPEN-Y or text HOPEN-Y. Connecticut, call 888-788-8888. 87777 or visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, bet text pass through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over void in Ontario. Event contract trading with DraftKings predictions involves risk of loss. Sportsbook bonus bets expire in 7 days. $50 in predictions dollars issued weekly for 3 weeks expire in 1 year. Redeem one non-withdrawable reward. Availability varies. Predictions offer void in New York. Ends June 28th. Terms at dkng.co/audio.

Okay, so Stephen, you are a massive, massive Knicks fan. Former season ticket holder. You have Knicks in 5. You're not, you're not, you're not deterred at all. He actually was like, he's— it's odd how confident he is. Do you have a pick? Because we— our parlays have been bad in this series.

Do you have an OG 18+?

That was Memes last night.

Shout out Memes.

Good job, Memes.

The Mitch Robinson and, um, I thought it was close. 3s were, were bad. Robinson didn't even take a 3.

Robinson was close. I thought he was going to show out for the president. I thought he was going to like really, really explode on him.

So what do you got for us?

You just want one single prop?

One single prop, and then we'll add it into ours.

Uh, I'm going to give you two. I'm going to give you the option.

Okay, so that's not— you're already following— not following the assignment.

My favorite one is—

no questions though.

No.

My favorite prop—

he did. He said you just want one prop. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

My favorite prop is Jalen Brunson rebounds. And point guard rebounds suck because a lot of it is happenstance, like does the ball bounce their way? Let me give you a stat. So 4+ rebounds is, I think last check, like +133. He's done this in his last, uh, we got 7 of his last 8 games against the Spurs. Had I bet this in game 1, it would have been reversed. So knock it down or boost it up 8 in a row because it was that tip out. Yeah, Bridges got credit for. Had I fought that, we would have gotten the reversed.

Why didn't you fight it?

I didn't bet it. Okay. Okay.

So, but he's had—

this is all just— but if you had all of this from the record, if you had fought it, it would have been 8 in a row. You're the Mark Wahlberg of props. If you had been there, it would have gone different.

But you're telling me that you're selfish because you didn't think to fight injustice.

Why don't you fight for the people? You know, yeah, for the people.

Maybe some people have the under.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Now you fight for the fair thing.

If you're a Knicks fan, you're not—

I'm not auditing every single stat.

Okay.

But you—

but you're telling me that you knew that it happened and that was wrong and you didn't do anything about it. Correct.

Okay. Can we get back to your pick?

Okay. If you want to— if you want to— if you want to pick that hit that is hit in every game that is a little juicy, its largest comeback, 5+ points. That means, okay, I like that. Yeah, it's very easy to root for because wait, what's the odds on it? It's usually like -150.

Okay.

Can you parlay that?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

All right. I have Dylan Harper, 20 points and rebounds. See how easy that was to just give a pick.

I've got Jalen Brunson, 6+ assists over 5.5 assists. Jalen Brunson.

Okay. Okay.

And then, and then 5+ points comeback.

Yeah. Do you want to have one more?

I think that's good.

No, no, let's have one more play.

Memes, you want 5?

No, 4.

Jalen Brunson. Oh, we're doing both yours? Uh, no, no, we're just doing the 5-point thing.

I, I have a parlay that's either live or going to be live momentarily.

Let me, let me—

memes with money. You go, you go.

Landry Shamet, 10+ points.

Okay, okay, sorry. We'll do 4-leg parlay from— and, and bet it on DraftKings. All right, Steven, I have one last question for you. Yes, but I got to do a quick ad. We have a new sponsor alert. Beaming new sponsor alert. TickPick is going to be the official ticketing partner of PMT starting in July. Thanks to TickPick, we are very excited to be with TickPick. We're excited to be working with TickPick. Ticket prices for the finals are crazy, but the best prices are always on TickPick. And we love TickPick. We love TickPick so much because I have a question for Stephen. Memes and Zach, do you guys want to go to Game 5? Yeah. Okay, well, thanks, TickPick. You guys are going to Game 5.

Wait, whoa, memes and Zach didn't confirm.

Oh yeah, memes, Zach, would you guys like to go to Game 5? Yes, sir. Memes? Yeah. Let's go. All right, so the boys, the original trio that went down to Indiana last year, You guys are going to be flying down to San Antonio, Game 5. Thank you to TickPick. Yeah, Saturday night. That's amazing.

Yeah, thank you.

We're gonna win in 5. Yeah, that—

we're gonna win the championship.

You guys might get to watch the Knicks win a championship live in person.

Yeah, yeah, that's unreal.

Absolutely unreal.

That's crazy.

Hey, memes, the Larry O'Brien's gonna be in the building.

Yeah, I'm crying right now. Oh, I love it. Let's go! Hell yes, memes! Fucking hell, yes! Zach, give— give— thank you to Tick Pick.

Give Memes a hug.

Thank you, Tick Pick.

Thank you to Tick Pick. That's awesome.

Give Memes a hug. That man needs a hug.

Oh, I'm so— I'm so pumped for you guys.

It's gonna be a good moment. Put the camera on, on the Max.

And the three of you, they're gonna get some content. We're gonna get— we're gonna get some funny stories. Stephen Che, you might have to come in Sunday night.

That's fine.

To, to recap.

Sure, yeah.

Because the three boys going to San Antonio. So we'll get all the flights in the, in the hotel figured out. Tickets are done. And TickPick, shout out TickPick. This is— they're coming on as an official sponsor in July. But guess what? Start using them now because they got memes crying, they got Che going pumped up, Zach is sweating, Zach has just fixed his glasses for the 100th time.

I mean, yeah, unreal, unreal.

I've seen, I've seen a couple Knicks playoff games in person. The fact that Knicks fans travel, especially to San Antonio, is like 20% Knicks fans past couple games, is incredible. Yeah, that is an ideal environment.

Thank you so much. Vampire meetup.

We could do that. No, you guys lost that game, right? Oh shit. Yeah, yeah, no vampires. No memes.

This is so awesome.

Yeah, fuck yeah, dude.

Memes, you know what you're gonna wear?

I gotta do the black sweatshirt.

Yeah, yeah, you gotta wait. You gotta win. You gotta win Wednesday. You gotta win.

I have to win Wednesday.

I have to win Wednesday.

Wednesday has now just become a must-win because you win.

But listen, no matter what, even if you lose Wednesday, Game 5 will be massive, massive pivotal. That will be the biggest— yeah, I mean, that's the biggest game in the series if you— if you— even if you lose on, on, uh, Wednesday. But I want you guys to win on Wednesday so you can— the, the Larry OB is going to be in the building. Che has been saying— to Che's credit, for the last 2 weeks he's been saying Knicks in 5. So if this actually— if he's— if he, if he calls his shot and then gets to see it in person What a night.

I'll be sick. Was that a scheduled loss last night?

I thought we were going to lose either 2 or 3. We won 2, so 3 was not going our way. That's okay.

Anything that you're very concerned about with the Knicks?

Jordan Woods' bag needs to be back in the building. As long as that's good, we're straight.

Fourth quarter offense. Does he take them to away games? Did you take the bag? Okay, can we find a bag for— can you get a bag like that to bring?

Where do they sell those things?

Just in case she doesn't bring it.

Probably like Macy's or something.

Try to, try to find that bag for me, Jay. Okay. And then we'll throw in— we'll chip in for the bag too.

Okay, sick.

Hell yeah.

Yeah, yeah, pumped. Thank you guys.

Thanks, TikTok.

This is gonna be awesome. Thanks, TikTok.

Thank you, TikTok.

I'm pumped for you guys. Yeah. All right. I just texted Caitlin, so we'll make sure we get your flights. Do you guys want to go in Saturday morning? Yeah, that'll be fine, right? She's got to go early so that we don't have any issues.

Sure.

It's a late game. Yeah. Saturday morning, you come back Sunday. What a day. Meet up with the boys. The PM. Listen, you guys do a little, little AWL. If you get Knicks fans, AWL, just get strength in numbers. Yeah.

Jerry, I know we're saying no teeth, but I do have my backpack just in case.

You, you keep your vampire teeth on you at all times?

At all time.

Never—

yeah, never, never got— I got them on me in my backpack 15 feet from here.

Okay, go get them.

Okay.

All right, Che, love it.

Thank you.

Good luck.

See you, Che. You got this.

Thank you, boys.

Love you guys. Yes, thank you, TickPick. So yeah, new sponsor. We're very excited for, uh, TickPick to come on. Excited for the boys. This would be awesome. Imagine if they get to see it in person.

Be pretty amazing.

Be pretty freaking—

is this about to be the summer of memes? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so.

Um, okay, other things we got to talk about. Memes, you good?

Yeah, I'm good, I'm good.

Thank you so much. Yeah, of course. Thanks, Tick Pick. Um, what else we got to talk about? Should we talk Sorsby? Brendan Sorsby.

So there's no rules in college football as of 2 days ago. Officially, no rules. Correct. Because he bet on his own team when he was at Indiana 40 times, I believe was the number of bets that he put in on just, on just his own team. Bet a lot of money on some other sports, other games. And a judge in Lubbock, Texas, which is where Texas Tech is located, has ruled that he is eligible to play next year. Yes. And now that, that could go up for appeal. Appeal would not be heard until— I don't think until after the season's over.

PFT, the only thing you got wrong there, the judge in Lubbock, Texas, actually is a judge from Fort Worth who has a Houston degree, so it's totally on the up and up.

Okay, all right, so it's just coincidence that he lives in Lubbock.

I think there was a Texas Tech judge that recused himself at first, so that's okay.

So, so it works. So the judicial system works.

This is— and, and look, I know that there will be people who will, uh, say we're hypocrites. I do not think we are because we obviously are sponsored by a gambling company and we love to gamble. We talk about our bets all the time. We don't play the games. We don't play in the games. We're not on the teams. You can't be on the team and bet on the team. You can't be on the team and bet on the, the, like, the games that are taking place. The integrity of the sport— and I'm not clutching pearls here— is 100% at stake. Like, you can't have that.

I'm not going to clutch pearls either, because what's happened is this is a pure 100% result of everything that college football has done to itself for the last 50 years.

Mm-hmm.

And it is every— all the different elements of like pretending that they're not employees, saying that they can't get paid, they can't get tattoos. Everything that's gone into the evolution of college football and the ability of players to make money has led to this point where they don't really have a governing body that is capable of enforcing any of the rules. Yeah, they used to. And then it turns out that that whole system was fucked up. And illegal. And so then they got rid of that. And now it's just essentially college football is on the honor system now. So if you want to self-report, if you want to suspend your own players for stuff, you're more than welcome to do so. But just know that the rest of the schools probably won't be doing that. I have heard that a bunch of the, the Big 12 schools are going to get together, potentially all agree to not play against Texas Tech in one case. In which case, I think if it's already scheduled, like, for the Big 12 schools, that would count as forfeits. So Texas Tech would win a bunch of those games 1-nothing.

Well, it feels like there's a lot of things that could happen here. One is the, the, the Big 12 schools could be like, hey, this is absolutely not, we're not doing this. And then Texas Tech would probably have to play ball and be like, hey, you know what, this actually is kind of ridiculous. The other one is like the College Football Committee— let's say Texas Tech goes undefeated— they could just not rank them.

They could, yeah.

You know what I mean? Just like, hey, we're not going to rank you. It is crazy. Like, you can't, you can't do this, dude. You can't have someone who bet on the games. And I also— the whole thing is so weird because Brennan Sorsby— and I'm not, you know, addiction comes in all shapes and sizes— it feels like he's not taking a lot of accountability for for it, where he's just like, yeah, you know, I, I did this, but I really should get to play.

He did. So when the news first came out and he said that he was addicted to gambling, I was like, okay, well, that's like, we'll see what happened. But it turns out he made a shitload of bets. Yeah, I don't, I don't know the exact number. I don't know what the average amount was. He bet a lot on a lot of different sports. So he might actually have an addiction to gambling, in which case I hope he gets better. I hope that he's able to like continue his career and make a lot of money and be successful. And all that stuff. But again, like, this is— it's entirely a creation of college football and the way that the governing bodies have been set up and evolved over the years. They have nobody to blame but themselves about it. And the only way that you can get past this is you have to have a collective bargaining agreement. And until you have a CBA in place that the players negotiate along with the universities, you're not going to be able to enforce anything. And even so, there's a bill that's going through Congress right now that's trying to fix a lot of these things.

I think it comes closer than, than most have in the past. But what's going to end up happening, since the players won't be designated as employees, they won't have a CBA, there's going to be a lawsuit in the next year, in the next 2 years, that challenges that bill that goes through and challenges the whole, like, giving them the, the antitrust exemption that they're talking about giving to the NCAA. And they're going to challenge that antitrust exemption in court.. And then that's probably going to get overturned in like 2 years anyways. The only way that you can put a permanent fix to this is if there's a CBA where you agree on like what the, what the rules are and what the punishment's going to be. And the players are like officially finally designated as, as employees because otherwise, and you can agree or not with whether or not we should call college football players employees of the universities. That's like a semantic conversation we can have. But the upshot of it is if you don't call them employees legally, you're just going to end up tying yourself up in court. And then whatever rule comes after that is going to make even less sense and you're going to have no ability to enforce anything.

And that's kind of where we are right now, where it's like every school, you, you can just be on your own honor system. If you get caught doing stuff, if you want to punish your star athletes, you're more than welcome. But there's going to be a lot of schools that don't.

Yeah, the— so I'm not a slippery slope guy because I think a lot of times those are disingenuous. People will be like, oh, well, if this happens, and then they'll take it all the way to the end and be like, well, then this could happen. Yeah, I guess it could. But most of the time it doesn't happen. This is a slippery slope one because— and I read an article yesterday. Dan Wetzel, who's an awesome college football reporter, talked to a lot of coaches anonymously. And this was the quote that I was like, he— this is exactly correct. The quote is from a, uh, Big 12 coach. He said, if this is the precedent, then I owe it to my players to bring in people from Las Vegas to teach us how to gamble. Then collectively we need to decide which games we will play hard in to cover and which ones we won't. I'm supposed to do what's best for my players, and in that case they would be able to make a lot of money betting on our games. That's the precedent for me. It's, it's not as far-fetched as you think when you say that we're allowing players to bet on games that they're in.

We should also— let's be clear, because we did kind of overlook something. He is going to be punished. There's a punishment for Swordsby. Be that he has to serve. He's going to sit out the first two games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State.

Yeah.

So there is a punishment in place. Huge punishment. He's not skating scot-free from this.

It's—

it is great. This, this is crazy, though. It's like, again, I don't want to— like, for the most part, all these things, I don't really care. But there are certain lines where it's like, if you have players who are allowed to bet on games, How can anyone trust what they're seeing? You can't. Like, it's why the Giante Porter and the, and the Terry Rozier— those are big, big issues. Yeah, that's why they're mad, and the NBA comes down super hard on them.

And you would think that, like, schools would recognize the importance— don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. If you have a player that's betting on his own games, you have to be smart enough to realize that if you don't actually take steps to make sure that he's punished or has to miss games or kicked off the team, whatever the case may be, you're going to end up just creating a massive amount of doubt that's going to go through your entire sport.

The entire product just becomes— people like, this is actually something that people would start tuning out if they're like, hey, this is, this is all rigged and players are playing hard for one game and not playing hard for the other. Like it, that, that quote from the coach maybe think like, what, you know, when you play, when, when the, when a big-time team plays a small school, like a SEC school plays a MAC school in the first couple weeks of the season, and the spread will be like 48, and they always end up taking their foot off the gas in the, in the third and fourth quarter because they're up by, you know, 35. Why would they just keep your foot on the gas and have everyone, you know what I mean? And then, and then guys can get injured because they're playing 4 quarters in a game that's totally out of the Like, there's so many weird things that can happen if this is the precedent. I don't— I think if I had to guess, I feel like something's going to happen where he's not going to play. Also, I know Sorsby's good, but is he— is he worth like blowing up everything?

From whose perspective? Texas Tech? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know.

It would also be— I think the thing I'm rooting for is for him to play and then stink.

I read the judge's ruling on this and it was very funny because it was like, we've ruled that if we suspend this kid, if we don't let him play football next year, that's going to impact his ability to make money and get better at playing football. So that's not fair to do. Let's let him play. Yeah, it's like, yeah, no shit. It's crazy. No shit. But I mean, like, if you are betting, that's the thing. Like, if you have a big picture perspective on this, it is if you think that there's— if that element of distrust has proven itself to be true where you have reason to believe that players are betting on their own teams, then there will be consequences in terms of ratings, in terms of sponsorship money, TV deals that come in down the line. And again, I think the only way past it is like you have to actually have a CBA in place. That's the only way that it's worked for, for the NFL. That's the only way that's worked for major sports in America, which college football is. It's the second biggest sport in America.

Yeah.

And we need to stop pretending that it's not a major sport, because if we keep pretending, then it's going to be the Wild West and it will kill itself.

Yeah.

Yeah. And it feels like we're on that path. Yeah, I know. It was pretty shocking that they were— I mean, I guess it's not shocking, but then again, there have been judges who have, like, judges who are hometown judges, like the Alabama Betty Yackos case.

Yeah.

That judge is from Alabama and was like, hey, this is probably a bad idea to have a guy who's a professional athlete come and play at Alabama. He, he, he actually made the right call.

Yeah.

You know what? This judge might actually just hate college football. He's like, if I get— if I allow him to play, yeah, then it will end up killing college football.

It's, it's, it's crazy. Yeah. What if he, what if he does play? And I don't blame, by the way, any Texas Tech fan who's like, Fighting for this. Yeah, I do the same thing.

Yeah.

No, how fans should act for sure.

If you're, if you're a Raiders fan, you're like, let the boy play.

Yeah.

He served his time. Yeah. I get it.

Didn't you see suspended for Abilene Christian?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Keep it up. No, like that's, that's exactly the role that you should be filling.

Okay. Before we do the Stanley Cup final talk, what is the, why is AJ Brown trending again? Can someone explain that to me?

What do you do?

There's a lot of players. I think—

is it Madden related? No, no, not Madden related. This is more like the way that he left. You want to leave a place better than you found it, right? What do you do? So when he left, he decided to sign an autograph on his way out. I don't— I don't understand what the big problem is. Okay. Yeah.

And what are the autographs?

So I don't care about this. So when he left, he went to pick up his stuff at the facility. And then there's a picture of him that I guess is up on the wall at the team facility. And he signed it, the best to ever play here, always open, when he left. So if anything, he made the facility more valuable.

Yeah, signatures right there.

They should get it graded.

Max, don't care.

Don't.

Yeah, cool.

I said he was— when he got traded, traded to the Patriots, I said he was the best receiver to ever play for the Eagles. He thinks so too.

I have no problem with that.

T.O.'s pissed somewhere. T.O. don't want a ring. I don't know what you want me to say. Say T.O. was better.

Wasn't. Okay. Deshaun Jackson. Wasn't. Wasn't. Disagree. But he didn't say the best wide receiver. He said the best to ever play here. Ever play here.

You can take that. Always open. You can take that for what you will. I don't care. You guys can care. I personally do.

Where do you put AJ Brown on the Mount Rushmore of Eagles all time?

I don't care.

Where's your big Dom bobblehead? It is on my desk.

Where's mine?

It's behind you. Oh, check this out. Wait, how did you get it to bobble so well?

Did you— is there— is the thing still underneath its head? Yeah. Oh, no.

Look at that.

Be dumb. It's nice.

You might just be mad at Bob. I'm going to fuck you up.

It looks a little like SVP.

A little bit. A little bit. OK, should we— let's do a time travel real quick for Stanley Cup Final Game 4, which will be on Zoom, and then we'll be back in studio for Hot Seat, Cool Toronto and our interviews. Before we do that, Twisted Tea. Summer's here and Twisted Tea is coming in clutch to turn our day drinking up a notch. Their new Summer Party Pack has a brand new Twisted Lemonade made with real lemons and 5% alcohol. It's got that refreshing taste with a little kick, no carbonation, and goes down smooth. We love Twisted Lemonade. I'm gonna have a Twisted Lemonade this weekend when I'm grilling my, uh, cheeseburgers. I'm gonna do that. Can I have a little Twisted Lemonade outside with the grill on? So whether it's hitting the course for a round, pre-gaming a ball game, or inviting the guys over some backyard grilling, the new Twisted Twisted Tea Summer Party Pack is perfect to keep the good times rolling. Grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today. We love Twisted Tea. It is the drink of the summer. Okay, here's us talking Stanley Cup Final. Okay, we're back after the Stanley Cup Final, Game 4.

And PFT, I just tweeted this, but I feel bad for the people who are too proud to enjoy both hockey and basketball at the same time because we are living in blessed days This series has been absolutely incredible. We had another game where a team goes out to an early lead and the other team comes back and now Carolina has tied it 2-2 in the series. Jordan Staal, he's 37 years old. He's got a goal. He scored 2 goals tonight. He has 4, every single game he's got a goal in the Stanley Cup Finals so far. It's been awesome. It's just been awesome hockey. I don't really know what else to say other than it has been the most entertaining hockey and we have a great series and just like the NBA Finals, which we just talked about, we're just blessed to be living in times when we have such a competitive, awesome finals in both sports.

Yeah, I mean, we can do head-to-head. I think right now NHL might be up 3 games to 1 on NBA if we're just going like game by game.

Yeah, yeah, game by game. Yes. Every single one of the hockey games have been incredible.

All the hockey games have been incredible. The basketball has been great too, but the hockey's been just unreal. There's no such thing. I tweeted out the other night that like there's no such thing in the NBA Finals as a lead and a team's always going to come back. In hockey, it's the same way too. It's like, yeah, every team that has taken a lead has blown that lead in the Stanley Cup. And then at times they've gone on to reclaim it. What do you think about Bussie? What do you think? Is it, is this galaxy brain move by Brendamore? Number one, I just love saying Bussie. We're sussy for Bussie.

By the way, my point was that more that like the people who do the con— the Jake Maliceks of the world who constantly are bitches and can't have like a thought of, hey, I like both sports— those guys, the little brothers. My point is you don't have to compare them. We don't even have to do a game by game. It's just both are great. Enjoy both because they've been great and they haven't been on the same night and it's been every night has been awesome. That was my point. But yes, Bussie Anderson.

I was making a joke about the 3 games to 1 lead. I don't, I don't give a shit. The games have been great in both series, but it is fun to just like provoke both sides because I do like the please like my sport people. I think they serve a very valuable part of the sports ecosystem.

It's, it's the please like my sports versus the look at the ratings, NBA Finals ratings people being like, look at this, dominates hockey. Who cares? Bussie. I don't know what happened to Anderson. Maybe he was concussed, like I said, after Game 3. I think also being on the group chat with the hockey guys, he might be in— I'm not quoting anyone. This is more the vibes I was getting. He might have the S-word attached to him as a goalie, a little soft. So they weren't totally shocked that he was scratched. But he was— he— yeah. So they didn't report an injury. So it seems like he was just— healthy scratch and healthy scratch.

It could be gamesmanship by Brendan Moore. It could be just not reporting an injury. Could be that he did get clipped when he kind of hit his head and neck at the end of the last game. Or it could just be that they wanted to mix things up and go with the lefty and switch up the catching hand because Marner had said that I think it was game 2 or game 3. He got confused when he was going up against Bossy. And when he had that penalty shot and he was like, oh yeah, I forgot that his glove was on the other hand by the time that I shot. So it could be just like giving them a different look and having a different-handed goalie might just be enough to, to fuck them up a little bit.

Yeah. And guess what? It worked because they just tied the series and now they have essentially home ice because they have 3 games left and 2 of them are in Carolina. And he did a good job in the third period not letting Vegas score. It was also like that was a Carolina performance where Vegas had 21 shots total. Like they were, you know, their defense and getting on top of the Hurricanes had, it felt like the possession of the puck a lot more than the Knights. And that's the game they want to play. And we talked, when we talked to TJ Oshie, he said it like the way to beat Carolina is you have to get out early. The exact opposite happened. Carolina scored a minute and 15 seconds into the game. And it was, These, I'm telling you, the boards, they're juiced because that was another one similar to the overtime goal in game 3. It was a funky bounce, real hard bounce, not like just a funky, like the puck is bouncing far off the boards back in front of the net. And I think maybe the Vegas boards are juiced, which would be cool.

Maybe they should do it even more. And the empty netter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there's something up with the boards in Vegas.

And also 14 playoff goals for Howden. Pretty incredible. Nuts.

I, did I tell you guys the little mishap I had with our good friend Liam Bluttman, who is a diehard Vegas Knights fan? He was actually at the game during Game 2, I want to say. He texted in this group chat I'm in and he said, Howden +250 to win the Conn Smythe, LOL. I read that and immediately went and bet it. And then when Mitch Marner scored his hat trick in game 3, I was like, hey dude, like there's no way Howden's gonna win the Conn Smythe now. And he's like, yeah dude, I was saying plus 250, LOL, no chance he wins. I can't believe his odds have gotten this low. Yeah, that's, you gotta, I put that on him. Yeah. Plus 250, LOL. He was like, yeah, I was saying he was 100 to 1 before the playoffs.

Assuming that everybody is as locked in on the Golden Knights as he is to the point where he can do sarcasm about the Golden Knights.

Yeah. He was like, yeah, he was 100 to 1 before the playoffs. Now he's +250. LOL. I was like, oh fuck. So, but hey, maybe, I don't know that, I mean the Knights have to win this series. I don't know who's gonna win this series because it feels like at times the Knights have just been the better team. But then you have a game like tonight and it's like Hurricanes hockey and now they have the home, home ice advantage going into the last 3 games.

I think the, the Jack Eichel, Conn Smythe dream might be dead, officially dead. I'm not going to blame Merle for it because I think the process was right, but the puck's just not bouncing his way. So unless something weird happens, that might be over. But yeah, I hope we get 7. I just want this game. I want the series to go 7. I want there to be hockey for as long as possible. I, I'm not ready for the start, the start of Mount Rushmore season just yet.

I agree. And who do we have for the crank tonight? Was it T-Pain?

I was looking that up right now. I was trying to figure out who it was.

I think it was T-Pain. Yeah, it was T-Pain.

T-Pain did a pregame concert.

He also did the crank. He cranked it. He cranked. Max, do you want to share the update on the crank that we might have?

I don't want to jinx it before it's official, but we're looking like we got a crank.

We got a crank from a Big Five major sports league.

Yup. Yup. You can put context clues.

Premier lacrosse, it's Water Dogs crank. Well, Big Six major sports league. Think of all the major sports leagues, but major, but major rugby, major Big Seven then if you want to count rugby in there. IndyCar crank, the UFL, that, that's just counting as football, but yeah, not— all right, 9, but it's a major, it's a major league.

Golf. LIV. The LIV crank. The yard goats crank.

It's major. It's so major. Yeah. You can't get more major than this league. If you stay in the confines of the United States of America, as long as you stay in the, in, in our, in our country, it's as major of a league as you get in its given sport at a beautiful stadium. I'm not familiar with this. Actually, I have been looking up— I— Swansea played there once in a friendly. I went. Yeah, it's right under the bridge in Philadelphia. That—

who knows where it is, but you should look up that stadium.

It is beautiful.

Very esthetic, esthetic stadium for sure. Yeah, the home club for, uh, what's his name, Cavan Sullivan, future face of this league.

Yep.

But don't want to jinx it because I still haven't— we're still at the beginning stages of getting this crank, but we're there. We're in the stage.

We're in a stage.

I mean, they were a big part of the Max villain origin story on part of my tape because they were the— remember they lost the same day?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We still don't know. We're still not jinxing it.

We still don't know what major league we're talking about. It was the same day that the Phillies got—

got bounced in the World Series. This other unnamed team lost in extra time in their championship game.

There's so many sports that have extra time in Philadelphia.

Dave Portnoy hates this team. Oh yeah, true, true.

Good point.

Good clue. Took me a while to get there. Yeah, took me a while to get there.

Yeah, we're starting to get a nice collection because I purchased today the St. Bonaventure's 2022 NIT semifinalist banner that they raised. That has been purchased. I think schools are now targeting me and they're just going through their storage and being like, well, this, this is something that we have a buyer of one that will, will take this. That's all you need, right? You just need one buyer.

Woj was like, we need a backup point guard from Lithuania. What can we do for NIL? We need Like a couple, we need like $10,000. Oh, I know, I know. I've got just the fundraising plan.

Listen, it's a sick banner. It's, it couldn't be more brown. It's just so brown. And it's the NIT Semifinals 2022, St. Bonney's Basketball. I think it's the last, I think it, I think it was the last NIT that was, that took place at MSG. So a little bit of history for people. NIT Stew. Shout out, he would love this banner.

It was basically you and NIT Stew going head to head.

Yeah. Okay, I had two other things real quick before we get to our— before we get back in studio, hot seat, cool throne. One, is Aaron Donald playing football next year?

So yes, Shefter made it seem like he was. Yeah, like saying I can't report that he's going to come back and play, but if the Rams come up with a presentation that Aaron Donald likes, he will say yes to it. My guess is that Sean McVay knows exactly what kind of presentation Aaron Donald wants to see. He will then present that to him. I need to know what it's going to be. Is it going to be a PowerPoint?

Uh, I'm guessing it's going to be 2 commas and, uh, 7 zeros.

You don't think that it's going to be like—

that will be the presentation—

like a team's meeting?

Yeah, no, I think it's gonna be 7 zeros, 2 commas, and then be like, Aaron, you pick the number you want to go in the beginning.

Okay, Aaron, I'm going to slack you real quick. I'm going to send the deck over to you and you can pull that up. I'm just looking for my dongle here. Yeah, I know. It's basically like, hey, we're getting the band back together.

Max, we talked about it earlier, but Hank doing his math. I think that was earlier, right? I don't even know what portion of the show it was. Max just had to do his mental math face, which it did not. I was going to say he's going to ask for $20 million or $30 million or $40 million. You couldn't see my fingers, but I was going 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

1, 2, 3. Okay. 4, 5, 6. Okay. That would be one. And then the 7th million. Okay. So it's between 10 million and 99 million. Correct.

And I think that's probably the, I think they're going to be like, you decide where you want to land and then we'll figure it out. Well, the cap isn't real. We'll just figure this out.

I'm looking at the Rams cap space right now. They're like right in the middle. I think if I'm reading this correctly, which I'm probably not because nobody really truly understands the cap. Out. But yeah, they're going to work it out. Aaron's going to come back. He's going to be great. I don't even know, like he's probably not as, he's probably lost some weight, I would guess, since his playing days, but Aaron Donald's a beast and he's going to be fine no matter what. With Miles Garrett next to him.

Congrats to the Rams. Yeah. Congrats to the Rams. And then the last thing was just, it's worth mentioning. So the White Sox who have been electric this year. Brayden Montgomery, they called him up today. I think it's their number 2 prospect in the whole system. Walk-off home run for his first, first home run in the big leagues. First home run, uh, or first game in the big leagues. He hits a walk-off home run. I don't think you can do it better than that. That's got to be the best feeling of all time.

Awesome feeling. Awesome. Yeah. And also a quick update, uh, they did not upgrade Wimby's foul. Flagrant foul against Brunson. Oh yeah. So they reviewed that, took their sweet ass time looking at it.

They couldn't. We all knew they couldn't because 4 flagrant foul points means you're suspended for a game. Wemby has 2. If they gave him one more, now you're basically saying if he fucks up even a little bit, he's gonna miss a game and everyone's gonna cry foul for the rest of, you know, time because Wemby was out for a game.

Series is over.

Yeah, they couldn't do that. They, they had— I, I think— I mean, that would have sucked. That way, I, I, I don't think it was a flagrant foul, but it would have sucked regardless. Like, he— it was a foul. It's crazy he pushed him. It's bullshit. Webby's getting a little bit dirty, but, uh, yeah, I— you can't, you can't upgrade that given everything at stake. I agree. Okay, let's get back to ourselves. Hot Seat, Cool Throne, and then two great interviews, Rob Stone and Ozzy Albies. Okay, before we get to Hot Seat, Cool Throne, DraftKings. The NBA Finals are in full swing and the intensity isn't letting up. Every game delivers high-stakes drama, clutch performances, and unforgettable moments you'll be talking about for years. And with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, your winnings get a boost every single day, all Finals long. The biggest stars turn it up when the title's on the line, and DraftKings turns it up with them with a profit boost available every single game of the Finals. Bet player props, bet live from the opening tip to the final possession. Every bucket, every dime, every clutch takeover matters, and only DraftKings Sportsbook keeps boosting you all the way true.

All DraftKings customers can enjoy a profit boost every single day throughout the Finals. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now. Use code TAKE to claim your profit boost. That's code TAKE to get a boost every day of the NBA Finals in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. New York, call 877-8-HOPE-N-Y or text HOPE-N-Y. Connecticut, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, wager tax pass-through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. One profit boost per customer per day. NBA playoffs bets only. Bet restrictions apply and vary when offered. Max bet and boost vary. Boost only applies to winnings and expires at the end of the last NBA game each day. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos.

Henry, hot seat, cool throne.

My hot seat is me. Oh, why? Uh, Trae Young went on the Pivot podcast. He said, this is the most slept on I've been in my whole life. Imagine the Wizards as the number one team in the East next year. Can you imagine? What people gonna be saying? I haven't played much in a year and a half, but trust me, I'm just entering my prime.

Yeah, that's right. Ice Trey. Are you scared?

I mean, that got me a little scared. I think about it. Not because it's like, I'm not, I don't, I can't see them as the 1 seed, but I'm worried about them being in the top 8 seeds.

The fact that he, he changed, he moved the Overton window. Yeah. By, you were thinking like, okay, maybe somewhere in the 10 through 7. But hearing him say 1, you're like, damn, now they might be like 4 through 6.

To answer the question, what would they say? I would say PFT saw the future. True. Although no, technically he didn't because he said 8 seed.

That's true. I would love to be wrong, right? I would love to.

Yeah, actually, PFT, you would be— you'd be more wrong if they were the 1 seed than if they were the last place team. I'd be way off about my prediction.

Yeah.

If they're last place team, that'd be like, what, 6 away from being in the play-in or 4-way being playing. If they're the 1 seed, they're far away from the—

that'd be— I'd be feel like— I'd feel mentally wizarded. It would be— it would be tough. Now I do think that the Wizards probably trend more towards the 1 seed than they do towards the, the 10 or the 12.

If you did gun to your head, you'd say 1 seed over 10 or 12?

Uh, wand to my head? Yeah. Crystal ball to my head? Yeah. More likely they get the 1 seed than miss the playoffs. Now you're, you're also discounting the, the nature of the rivalry that we've got built in with the Knicks for next year. Like, the Knicks need to be— they need to start thinking about Trae Young.

Is that why the Knicks lost Game 3?

I think the Knicks are kind of always— they're always thinking about Trae Young.

Always think about Trae Young. Yeah, it's honestly like he's already rent-free.

Yeah, you just, you just can't stop thinking about it.

Wemby was thinking about Trae Young when talking about the Knicks.

Yeah, yeah, he was. The whole league is thinking about Trae Young. Like, you guys You guys are forgetting about Trae. I didn't— I never stopped.

Forgot about Trae.

I never would. That's good. I like that, Hank.

And then my cool thing, I got a couple. Also, people sleeping on Trae Young might be right.

Yeah, he hasn't played in a year and a half.

Yeah, they could be right. They could just stay— they could just stay asleep and be fine. No one's going to wake him up. Doubt it.

Doubt it. Me and Trae are going to have a conversation about this on the bench. October. 2026. Lock it in. See you there.

And then my—

what math were you just doing? I was—

year math. It is.

We'll be trying to figure out what year it was.

Year math. That's tough math. Year math.

It's 2026 right now. I know.

I did not object. I literally just said nothing. I know, but I thought for a second and I realized you were correct and I moved on.

We should do a silent film of Hank's faces.

I'd watch that. That was a good face.

Yeah, it was really good.

The Hank math faces. It's good.

My cool throne is— it's again D.C. PFT. Good sports town. Yeah. UFL final this weekend. Yeah. D.C. is in it and the championship's in D.C. D.C.

Defenders looking to go back to back. Never been done before in UFL history.

I heard it's going to be literally on fire.

Literally on fire. It's going to be viral. 50 Cent's playing halftime. It's going to be electric.

Would you rather see 50 Cent or Bad Bunny? Bad Bunny, probably Fitty.

I just— I like saying Bad Bunny.

Yeah, Bad Bunny against the Louisville Kings. No Kings March in D.C. this weekend.

Is that kind of a rock and a hard place for you because you're a Colonel?

No, no. I'm a D.C. defender. I'm an alum. Kind of.

Kind of.

Practice squad alum. Practice squad alum.

Practice squad tryout alum.

Practice squad, got cut, practice squad.

He got a jersey. Yeah, everyone. Well, anyone that goes to the trial—

not true. Not true. There's a lot of guys that have tried out for UFL teams that don't get—

don't get a jersey, don't get a custom jersey afterwards.

Yeah, but no, it's going to be— it should be— it should be wild scene in D.C. Get the beer snake going.

Yep. On fire. And then my other cool throw-in, Charlie Woods. Yeah. Yeah, going to the US Open.

Yeah, about time.

He, uh, he was caddying for his good friend Miles Russell, lefty. Uh, I think they're gonna be playing at Florida State next year, and Miles Russell qualified through the longest day in golf. He's going to the US Open. I don't know if Charlie Woods is going to be on his bag for the US Open, but he should be. How do you, how do you make it through and then, and then switch to another caddy?

I mean, we learned from Cat's girlfriend friend. Like, you had— now this time of year, you gotta have—

you gotta bring the bag. Yeah, lucky bags.

Bring the bag that got you there. Yeah, trust the— trust the bag guy. Yeah, who's—

who's the best? Who's the bad guy?

Who's the bad guy? Who else qualified?

Uh, Shane Bacon did not qualify, unfortunately. Jim Renner also did not qualify, unfortunately. Max also did not qualify, unfortunately.

You know what?

I was keeping track of the guys I was rooting for to qualify, and I didn't pay as much attention to the guys that did. Uh, James Nicholas, Corn Fairy guy, I follow him on social media. He made it.

Is that Jack's grandson?

No. Do you think Max is going to watch the US Open, like, the entire tournament? Mm, I'm probably—

he's probably going to be like most golfers where he'll probably, like, play during the day, maybe, you know, catch some stuff on TV when he's not playing. But I would imagine he's not. Not sitting on the couch watching. No. Yeah, the coverage, maybe a little.

I mean, he's got friends.

Yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. Like, I'm sure he'll be relatively aware of what's going on, probably watch on Sunday if he has nothing else going on.

But okay, we have, uh, oh, Neil Shipley qualified. Nice, Jamie. Good for him. Uh, who else? What are the names?

Ben James, Dylan Wu, Billy Horschel. Giacseppi, Paredes.

I'm just reading all of these people qualified.

Yes, all of these people qualify.

Oh, I didn't know there was this many.

There's a lot of people in this tournament.

Cole Hammer, great name.

Robbie Higgins, good name.

Hey, give us a name to know.

Keith Mitchell, Cashmere Keith.

Emiliano is good. JB Holmes. Gracerman's good.

JB Holmes, slow, really slow. What do you mean, mentally? Like, no, he's got, he's got a pace of play.

Oh, you, oh, okay.

Keep going down. Who's Cole Hammer? That's a great name. Great name.

Yeah. Where's he from? Cole Hammer.

Max McGreevy. He's from West Virginia. Toasty's good. Toasty. Okay.

Emiliano Grillo.

Yeah, he's good. He's good. That's a guy. Mm-hmm. Hey, do you think you have any chance one day of playing qualifying? I don't. What about just making it to the longest day in golf?

I don't— you know, you could— you could qualify.

I think you have to be like a +1 to even enter to compete to then get to the longest day.

You could just lie about your handicap. True. But no.

Yeah, no. Maybe if I had twice as many holes as them. Actually, no.

You just want to play. If I had like—

if I— if I could— if I could play like 4 holes. And then that's my score, then you qualify. I would have a chance if I, if I don't play 36.

These guys are all like -8. How are you going to get -8 in 3 holes?

Maybe if I started at -10 and had to play 4 holes.

Maybe you started on the green. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Okay. PFT. I mean, Hank took one of mine, but I'm going to start out with the hot seat being Dylan Gabriel. So there's a quarterback controversy in Cleveland right now. The controversy is they don't know what number Dylan Gabriel is going to wear because Jared Hurst wears number 8. Dylan Gabriel also wore number 8 at the same practice. Then the Browns don't have any uniform numbers that are open for Dylan Gabriel to wear. They're all tied up with other guys. But I did hear that today Worry not, because JOK is not going to be able to play this year. Mm-hmm. So number 6 is now like temporarily going to Dylan Gabriel. But for a while, a guy that is in theory competing for a starting job didn't have a number. Probably doesn't speak well for the chances of him getting the starting job.

Yeah.

Okay. And then my cool throw is the United States. The US is back. Yeah. All it took was some Europeans to come visit us and just do like stream of consciousness blogs of visiting like the South.

I had this as well.

And it makes even people that live in America be like, yeah, you know what? Our country's not so bad. We got some good spots. The Chattahoochee River watching. So these are like European people who are here in the United States for the World Cup and getting to see them discover Waffle House. In real time, getting to see them discover just like random little towns, the Stone Mountain in Georgia, and watching them really understand what Americana is has been fun to watch. And it makes me a little bit proud to be an American, to be like, yeah, yeah, all those, yeah, all those guys from Norway that are visiting Buc-ee's for the first time. That's what it's all about.

Yeah. This one guy said some proper Chicago food, bro. They have a milkshake with cake in the cup. It's ridiculous. It's talking about Portillo's cake shake, which I love. It made me realize, you know, when Europeans or people from other countries say like America has no culture, we actually do. It's called gluttony. It's called eating past being full. That's what we do better than anyone else. Having a German dude show up to America and being absolutely floored by a Big Gulp. I take some pride in that.

Yeah. Having a Swedish chick come to the United States and being like, what is ranch? Yeah. Oh my God. I've never had ranch before. Blew her mind.

Eating 2 half-pound burgers at 10:30 in the morning. America.

Who did that? Big Cat did that. America.

Listen, I might have taken my— I burgered myself out of like the first 7 holes of a charity golf event because I ate so much burger.

Just, just people that like this, this lady right here discovering a road trip combination of combos and Twinkies and being like, this is America. Yeah, she's right. Yeah, she nailed it. Like, you can read books about American history if you want. We've made more than enough movies about it. If you really want to experience America as a foreigner, you need to just rent a car and then just drive it about 12 hours across as many states as you want, and then stop once every 3 hours to get something to eat.

There was one guy who just went to Chili's for the NBA Finals. He's like, at Chili's for the NBA Finals, and it looked incredible. Yeah, he had everything. That one guy had margs and everything.

One person discovers a, uh, like Coca-Cola freestyle machine. Uh-huh. Like, yeah, blue is mine. That's America. And that's what we do better. We'll always do that better than Europe. And then also, I started reading up on some of the rule changes in this World Cup because I have heard some of the Europeans complaining about some of the new policies at this World Cup. There are some wild ones that you should get to know. You're not allowed to cover up your mouth as a player. If you cover your mouth when you're talking to an opponent, you get a red card for that shit. Huge for the lip readers. Yeah. Which I don't know, like, I think it ties back to trying to prevent players from using racial slurs. But I mean, there is a possibility that they want to cover up their mouth because they don't want people to read their lips because they're talking about a tactic or about the game. So that doesn't make sense to me. And then there's going to be a 5-second rule on throw-ins. Like if they drop food. Yeah, you could do that. Or on throw-ins or goal kicks, they're going to count like the referee is going to do the arm motion like in basketball.

I think count 5 seconds. If you don't kick it off, boom, other team gets the ball. Never been done before. That is never been done. But it's good if you hate time wasting, which I do. It's going to be good to help address that. But yeah, God bless all the Europeans that are just like using their 3 months of vacation that they get every summer. To just drive around and eat at chain restaurants because that's really what it's all about.

It's going to be so awesome. I'm like watching, watching all these Americans or Europeans figure out just how much we rock. Mm-hmm. Is this the best?

And if you look at where some of the teams are staying right now and where some of their supporters are probably going to be flying into, it's very, very funny. So you've got Ghana staying in Boston. Mm-hmm. That's going to be a funny mix of cultures. You've got Saudi Arabia is going to be staying in Austin, Texas. You've got Norway in Greensboro, North Carolina. And you've got— there was one other really wild— oh yeah, Iraq. The Iraqi national team staying at the Greenbrier. Oh, out in West Virginia where like Kyle Shanahan will make the 49ers stay on back-to-back weeks. It's very funny to imagine these teams just like, okay, Iraq, here you're experiencing West Virginia for the first time. Yeah, go for it. Western rocks. Egypt staying in Spokane, Washington, pretty much in Idaho. Perfect.

Um, okay, my hot seat is me because I, uh, I posted a picture from the PAWS Chicago golf outing on Monday. Wasn't the most flattering picture for some, was flattering for Max. Max, you looked awesome in that picture. Yeah, I love that picture. Um, Memes Nipples went viral, to put it, to put it as straightforward as possible. Cannons. Memes Nipples took over the internet for about 3 or 4 hours. It was a trending topic when I went and looked. It was not good. So, uh, Memes, I apologize. How are you feeling? You're mad at me, I know you are. Although the tickets now have softened the blow.

No, I'm not mad at anyone. My body's just a weapon on the golf course.

You kept on saying that. What? What is that?

I just— I'm a viral machine on the golf course. I don't get it. Look at those fucking tits. He's talking about the—

oh yeah, the other one. Yeah. All right. But you're actually— you are actually— you didn't— when I came in this morning, you wouldn't fist bump me.

Yeah, but I know that bothers you.

Well, I mean, yeah, it's because you just walked right by me and you're just like, I'm not mad at you, but you're mad at me.

Yeah, it works.

Okay, so you are mad at me.

I'm not mad. I think the most amazing part of that picture was you were wearing— is it 2 shirts or 3 shirts? Oh, suckers poke through.

It's actually a great— it's a great sign for Roback.

It's going through because 2 shirts—

you didn't have Roback on. Roback wouldn't do that to you.

Yeah, they gave us a gift card and I got a sweatshirt at the shop because it was going to rain and it just immediately backfired. Are they pierced? No, not— didn't you? Were you— I want to— yeah, I'm going to Photoshop it.

Oh yeah. I want to— at one point back here, I saw, I saw him while we were doing the show. I saw him cropping out the picture and, and putting something into AI.

I was like, what are you doing?

He's like, I'm giving myself pierced nipples. Yeah. Like right before, like right as you guys were saying that.

Can you explain what happened in this picture? And again, I did not. So Hank will attest to it. We were playing, uh, it was Zach, Max, Memes, and Jerry playing a scramble. And then Hank and I were auctioned off for a charity for Paws Chicago to play with two other guys who were awesome dudes. I got this picture sent in the Stella Blue group chat. The only thing I saw was Jerry being short. I just hit send. Hank was with me. If I had seen the nipples, I would have said something to you right away. Oh, yeah. And then I got off the golf course and Memes was like, why did you post that? I was like, what are you talking about? Out. And then I looked, I was like, ah, now I see what happened.

I don't think there's really much to explain. I just have pepperoni nipples.

Are they though? They're like, they're kind of going up.

I didn't think that you— I've seen your nipples before, memes. They're no disrespect, nothing to write home about.

I got nice nipples.

They're just normal. I think you got normal nips.

Normal nips. I got the pepperonis.

Someone said, no offense, but your staff has an estrogen imbalance.

It was about 8 tits, 8 breasts, and not a chicken sight. I— Max, you look strong. You look like you have a six-pack.

Yeah, I don't care about any of those comments. I'm looking at this picture and being like, maybe the needle— needle looks good.

That's always tough when there's like an imbalance, like such a huge picture imbalance between two guys, because Max is going to want to spam that picture all the time. Understandably, you do look great. And memes just like the worst possible angle of picture for you. Meanwhile, like, yeah, Jerry, a little on the short side.

Jerry's looking short.

And Zach has the biggest small tits in the world.

Yeah, that means small, like small, small. You just have to really focus on the, on the— just forget the biggest part. Compliments in there.

Don't let these fellows get in an elevator.

What? That was—

wasn't that funny? I'm just reading one. So I had St. Louis stripper titties.

What, uh, did you go through all the comments? You were trending, and then you got on golf Twitter. Like, there was like— burner golf Twitter was like, look at these fucking guys.

Well, they were just like, respectfully, what's going on with this guy's nipples?

I love the idea golf Twitter looks at memes. Shrink. Yeah, they want to shrink the nips.

Yeah, well, it looks like you guys had fun.

We had a great time. Shout out Paul's. Shout out Stella Blue.

Yeah, we went out after the— after the round, we went to— there was like a cocktail hour. And then I went and looked at my phone and I saw 550 replies and I was like, oh boy, I didn't—

we're up to 669 replies on this picture. 1.3 million views.

I apologize. I don't mean this in a perverted way. Were you aroused?

It looks like it. You sure? Did they look like that the entire round?

I'd love to flick them.

You just like playing golf? Yeah, I guess.

What the fuck? They're really sticking out. Did you hit a good shot with those nipples? I did. Oh, so that's all that matters. Single-handedly parred this hole. No one expects those nipples to par a hole.

Memes of Max anchors yesterday. Yeah, we needed him bad.

Zach also. Did you see Zach's bag?

I saw that he had like 2 irons and a putter. Yep. Yeah.

He was 6 approach putter. He was saying the other guys have too many, too many clubs.

You listen, you got to master the clubs you have. Then you can add on. You can, you can always add on.

Yeah. There's a billion clubs in this office. Yeah. And even more specifically in our back corner.

Yeah. I have my entire righty set.

Zach sent me a picture of a bunch of clubs on on Tuesday or Sunday night before, and he was like, I'm good to take these, right? I'm like, yes, take all the clubs in that corner. And for some reason, he just chose to take 4 clubs.

Well, yeah, I seen a photo of the ones in the bin, but they were— I didn't realize at the time when I sent it, they were like some this-handed, some the other-handed. So I just went with the dominant-handed.

But there's so many other clubs back there. You could have just grabbed other clubs that were in that corner.

That's fair.

I played it wrong.

Yeah, that's— you look, hindsight's 20/20.

Yes. Zach, you got to just get comfortable. Like, he also— PFT, he— Zach and Max live like, like 2 minutes from each other. Zach took like a $150 Uber.

He was too nervous to text me and ask for a ride.

Well, I wasn't at my usual van. This is crazy.

I was at the Dick's Sporting Goods, so I didn't— I wouldn't—

which again, he was at the Dick's Sporting Goods getting golf balls, which we have for him, and getting a golf bag, which we have for him. Him. He spent like $300 on this trip that could have been free.

Step up, Zach.

Why didn't you ask him?

You just have to ask any questions and we, and we would say, you would not have been going to Dick's Sporting Goods if you were explaining to me what you were doing at Dick's Sporting Goods.

No. Why didn't you ask Zach if he needed a ride?

So there was a group chat before that.

So this is what happened.

There was a group chat before that Memes asked Dom for a ride and Dom said, yes, I'm I'm already— I already have one in the car, but I can fit you too. I assumed that one in the car was Zach. Zach. It was not Zach. It was somebody else. So then once Memes said who was in the car, I texted Zach and said, do you need a ride? And he said, I'm good. I'm already on the way. Still didn't tell me that it was an Uber.

It all worked out, though. We had a great day on the golf course.

Yes. Everyone did. Everyone. The golf. Great day.

Yeah.

The golf course and the internet is different. Two different things. You had a great day on the golf course. Not a great day.

I had a great day on the internet too.

I would say they might even be opposite things. Yeah. Like if you're on the golf course, you're touching grass.

Yeah, big time. All right. My cool throne is the internet because you've, you've, you've done a good enough job that Sam Presti had to mention you in the press conference. The, you know, roundup of the OKC season where he said that SGA is playing 6 guys, 5 guys on the court and a guy on the internet.

I know the 6th guy, I believe, is social media. Oh, social media. Yeah. Yeah. So he did it. All-time quote.

He did it. Those are bars. Great job.

When you hear him say that, if you're on the Thunder, you're like, fuck yeah, Sam. Yeah, I appreciate that.

And if you're like a burner who's just been tweeting SGA flops, you're also like, fuck yeah, we did it.

Well, I was going to say if you're a burner, that is the guy he's talking about. You hear this and you're like, I fucked up big time. You're probably thinking to yourself, like, he's making a lot of— I should stop.

No, I think you're proud of yourself.

You're like, I got through. You're thinking, I should stop. This is— this GM has mentioned— it's really bad. I can't believe— you know how trolls think when they get acknowledged by somebody like the GM. They're probably just going to stop and be nice. Yeah. And be like, you made a lot of good points. I'll start to be polite online.

They're not going to be like, hey, Sam Presti triggered. Right. Rent free. All right, Zach, go ahead.

My hot seat this week is going to be Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Tom Brady. I don't know if you guys saw this, but Tom Brady might just be a freaky-ass boy.

Yeah. Yeah. Good nut.

What do we think about good nut? What are our thoughts?

Weird.

Never had a good nut. We're talking original sparkling Tom Brady's good nut.

What's that? You drink it?

One of Tom's good nuts? Yeah.

This is weird.

Can we just say it's weird? Super unset.

Now look at Tom Brady and look at you guys.

Maybe he's doing something right. Meme's nipples are totally fine. He could probably use a couple good nuts in his life. Do you think Tom Brady saw Meme's nipples? Yeah. What? It's weird, Hank, to name a brand Good Nut.

What? Meme's— who doesn't like a good nut?

Oh, so many people saw my nipples.

It's so many. 1.3 million views.

It's weird, Hank. Just admit that it's weird.

It's just weird. Like, it's just weird.

Admit that literally everything Tom Brady has done for the last, like, 3 years has been weird.

No, Hank, it's weird to have a coconut water drink and name it after, like, implying that you're drinking cum. That's weird.

That's—

no, you're weird.

Your mind is perverted. Oh, get your mind out of the gutter.

Okay, so, but who is this for? Like, who is excited about healthy people drinking? Elite athletes know the name. Who's excited? Who's amped up to drink Good Nut?

People that like nuts and coconuts.

Would you go original, sparkling, or chocolate? Oh, depends.

I mean, they should do a jizz flavor. That would be— that then I'd be like, you know what, it went from weird to—

you're just probably original and chocolate same time.

Like, lean into it.

Yeah, yeah, one after the other. Yeah.

Tool fist them. Would you have two hands at once?

Yeah. Ski pole them.

And would you pour them at the same time?

Yeah. Like, yeah. One of those?

Yeah. Yeah. No. Okay. You're making some. Yeah. Some good points. It's weird. It's okay to say it's weird.

I think you need to get your mind out of the gutter. I think it's perfectly normal and healthy. And like, if you probably, you know, drank one of these every day instead of eating a burger every day, you would be in a much better place in 6 months.

Wrong. Meat is good for you.

Coconut's also good for you.

What if it was just like, Suck This Meat, Big Cat's Burger Company? Mm-hmm. What would you say about that?

Suck This Meat? That makes no sense.

Who sucks burgers? Big Cat's Meat Tube. It was Big Cat's Meat Tube. Suck One. Would you think that was a horrible name?

What about Good Mouth Meat?

That's a good name.

That's not a good name.

It just You're right in a way, Hank, that I could see— I could see a guy like Tom Brady having thought so highly of himself that he would make like a Tom Brady flavored cum coconut drink. Mm-hmm. It's not cum.

Studies have shown it is coconut.

If you consume like 15 million sperm per week, you actually end up living 5 seconds longer. So we're going to optimize.

What, like, what are the other alternatives to not drinking cum? No, it's coconut, dude.

There's zero cum in this. Okay, that would actually— I would love to have that as a tagline. Yeah, zero cum. Yeah. Good Nut no longer featuring cum. 0% cum. Cum-free drink. Yeah. I guess for the sickos that need that, like you, like it should list on the back, it should say potassium 5%, vitamin C 90mg, 100% cum 0mg, 0% niacin, 16mg, 100%.

Maybe even, maybe even cum 0%, jizz 0%, just to really, yeah, really hammer it home.

And then you could even, like, if I was a competitor, I would have like negative 10% cum. Cum. Yeah, like you get more— your body will make more cum if you drink this. It would actually— it's actually the straightest drink that you can ever have.

It would actually be funny if Brady put a little pre-cum in every single one, right? Like, I told you there's no cum. Yeah, it's pre-cum. Yeah. Okay, Zach, good, good hot seat.

And then my, uh, cool throne—

what, what are they laughing?

I was good. It was— I did a— I did a Google I did an AI search and it was—

yes, yes, coconut water is connected to semen in two main ways: internal health and external sperm preservation. Drinking helps promote— so if you drink coconut water, it's good for your sperm.

Oh, that's why you called it good nut.

I, I just thought maybe that's why I wanted to— I was, I was doing some research.

Is this drink the world's leading source or the world's most healthy thing that you can do for your own something?

Pineapple juice. That makes it taste sweet. That's good. Yeah. Unless—

I don't really have a preference.

Unless you're a savory fan. It's all good.

I think it's all good. Okay, I'm not picky.

Zach, your cool throw.

Oh, my cool thing this week is going to be, uh, uh, Kai Sunat and Guys Who Stream. You guys see Streamer University back? Stream University? Streamer University. Streamer University.

But yes, but Kai Sinat, when was the last time he streamed? 8 months ago.

So wasn't this a— wasn't this like a— didn't, didn't this happen and everyone's like, that didn't really work the way they wanted it to?

Uh, there's some rough patches last year, but it was like proof of concept-wise, it kind of plays. They took over the University of Akron last year when they did it. Uh, so you just submit applications, like people who are trying to stream online, then they, they bring you into a campus They got some classrooms, some alumni. Sign up, Zach. Good classes.

I was waiting for you to finish so I could say this. Next year we're getting—

Sign up. I want you at Streamer University. You will be attending Streamer University 2027. 100%. Yes. First student.

How much does it cost?

No, it's just like there's an application process. I don't think it works.

We're going to figure it out. We're going to get you in there.

You got a whole year to figure out the application process.

You will be in Streamer University 2027.

And if anyone knows anyone who's involved in Streamer University 2026 and we can get Zach into this one, he would love to be in this one.

Yes. Don't send— send me DMs. You don't— not even PMT voucher party. Send me DMs if you have any connection to Streamer University 2027. Uh-huh. Or 2026.

Well, 2026 is over. It already happened?

Right? Uh, uh, no, they're— this is the trailer for the— for the new one.

Oh. Wait, oh yeah, applications already submitted? Uh, no, no, I was just— oh, I thought it was happening right now. All right, so Zach, get in on the app.

Yeah, no, we're getting you, we got to get you in here.

What kind of stuff do you do at Streamer University?

Uh, I can submit one if you guys like me to, but, uh, well, yeah, it's not, it's not if we like it too.

Okay, you have to. I can do that, I can do that. I was more—

also, did you guys see the trailer? No.

Trailer kind of rips.

Watching it right now. It touched 32 million people on the Everything app.

Yep, I think it was a great trailer. When does this start?

What happens at this university?

Obviously you just go and— so this is what happens basically. You apply to Streamer University. It's like going to college. Blah blah blah blah.

You're in. When does it happen? Next thing I want to hear about Streamer University is with you in a fucking hat and cap and gown. I can submit an application.

Yes, sir.

I can definitely do that for you. No, you will.

You will submit an application. You will do Streamer University.

And we're going to clip this right now. Anyone out there who has any connection to Streamer University 2026, please reach out.

We need to get Zach. Tom just texted saying he's got a guy. So where are we? Oh, right. Yeah. Akron.

But I— All right. Great. So yes.

I'm curious to know what goes on at Streamer University.

They stream. We're going to find out because Zach's going to be there.

But wait, wait, wait. But do we know— Zach, do you know at all?

Yes. So you go in, you apply. If you get accepted in, then they have— Everything's live. So like all the students are ripping live.

Teachers are ripping live.

And then you'll go to— so you go to class.

Wait, are they teaching actual classes? Are they teaching you classes about streaming? Yeah, they're like—

there's like, there's like valuable lessons to learn how we do Camp Arsal.

So you're streaming while you're attending a class learning how to stream? Yes. Yes. Do they have a sports team?

No, currently no sports team, no sir. Well, you're gonna have to try out for the sports team. All right, yeah, maybe I'll walk on.

Maybe you create the sports team. Yeah, that could— and then you stream.

I could can't wait to watch you at Streamer University.

It's a beautiful thing that he does for people, and I, I can submit. You're gonna be the people. I will submit an application.

So we'll just stream— you'll be streaming on PMT YouTube. Okay, great. That's Streamer University. But yeah, yeah, Zach's gonna stream. He's gonna learn how to stream by streaming. Yep. This is great. He's gonna come back, he's gonna be a streamer.

He's just gonna be our— he's just gonna be a streamer.

I fucking love it, Zach. Zach, way to go. Hey, Zach, let me be the first to congratulate you on being accepted to Streamer University 2026.

I don't know if it works quite like that, but I will submit an application.

Is that the— that's Hail to the Chief.

That's Hail to the Chief. What is the graduation?

Now they only say it's graduation.

Happy birthday as we go. Happy birthday. Birthday. We remember.

Can I graduate? Can I get my punk ass off the street? These guys are also streaming tomorrow.

What are you guys streaming? No, you're streaming. You're streaming. Oh yeah, Doug's. By the way, speaking of— wait, yes, Golden Mug. Golden Mug is starting on Wednesday, June 10th. It's running through Friday. We're gonna stream some Dugs on June 11th, but Golden Mug, we're doing the same thing we did last year, was our favorite Golden Mug that we do. If you go buy anything on stellablucoffee.com right now, uh, you'll be entered. If you buy ready-to-drink cans, you'll be entered 10 times. The winner— we're picking 15 winners. Every winner gets a plus one, and what you're getting is a trip to, uh, Barstool HQ to— we'll look around, check out Barstool HQ, and then we're all going to a baseball game on a rooftop in Chicago with all of Barstool, uh, Chicago HQ. So it's gonna be our company outing, and 15— so 30 people, 15 people plus one are gonna come. You guys were there last year, it was awesome. We drank beers, we watched the baseball game, maybe a team in blue playing another team. Um, it was great. And so go right now, save some dogs. Stellabluecoffee.com. And we will be streaming— Zach and I will be trying to win a national championship on Doug's on Thursday.

Okay, let's get to our interviews. We have Rob Stone talking World Cup, and then we have Ozzie Albies in studio.

Before we get to Rob Stone, he's brought to you by our great friends over at Reese's. Everything happens for Reese's. One of the best things about the new Reese's Lounge that we have here is unlimited supply of Reese's. You literally cannot eat us out of Reese's. There's so much of it. And they've got the new flavors. They've got the marshmallow, which is delicious. You got the strawberry PB&J, which is incredible. The limited edition cups, they make it all happen. And, uh, nothing, nothing beats summer break when you were a kid. It was time off from school and sad school lunches. But you don't get summer break as a grown-up. That's a huge bummer. The good news is you can take a break from sad work lunches this summer Get those new Reese's. Everything happens for Reese's. Both taste just like your childhood— the marshmallow cup and the strawberry PB&J. The official candy partner of Barstool Sports, Reese's. Get yours today at hershealand.com/reese's. That's hershealand.com/reese's. Rob Stone's also brought to you by Jose Cuervo. When Cuervo enters, every moment gets better. You find yourself in the center of the dance floor. You can't help but stand up and high-five those around you at the game.

The room reacts like it just got the same text at the same time. You stop checking the time. Suddenly small talk escalates to laughing so hard that you can barely catch your breath. That's the Cuervo Effect, a signal everybody understands, a moment that anyone can join, and a good time that just grows. All you have to do is keep it Cuervo with Jose Cuervo.

Now here's Rob Stone. Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very special guest. He is hosting the World Cup along with North America. I think those are the two hosts. It's North America and Rob Stone, who you will see on your TV all summer long hosting on Fox. Uh, Rob, great to see you. Also Big Noon Kickoff, which we've worked together and had a great time. Rob, good to see you. We're ready for the World Cup. Are you ready for America to get a ton of Rob Stone right down their face?

Nobody asked for that. Nobody wants that. Yeah, I'll give them as much as they can take and then I'll back off. But yeah, the summer of soccer is here. I don't know if you guys can feel it. Um, and I kind of wanted to feel it when the calendar turned to 2026, and I've been impatient for the last couple months. But like the last, probably since Saturday, I've felt kind of like the refrigerator sitting on my chest, and it's harder to breathe, and the brain won't stop. And everywhere I go, it's soccer conversations or soccer visuals, and it's all about the World Cup. So it is here, and And listen, nobody does FOMO like the United States, right? We are the capital of FOMO, and people are coming out of the woodworks talking soccer and World Cup and tactics. I was sitting in a sauna at my gym 3 days ago, and I had a 20-minute conversation about the World Cup in Argentina and the US Men's National Team. And then I had to stagger out of there. I was like, I'm done. I can't take this anymore. But that to me was like this great sign that, yeah, the World Cup is here and people can't get enough of it.

And we haven't even started yet. Yeah.

It's your— I would assume, is it your favorite sport? I mean, you host Big Noon Kickoff, but you, you played soccer collegiately. It's got to be your number one, right?

Soccer's my DNA, right? It was my gateway drug into this business, so it's, it's up there. But let me tell you, like, the Big Noon Kickoff is over my shoulder. I love college football. I love everything about it. But, uh, we can have two loves, can't we? Yeah, right? We can— we have all— the three of us have a lot of love to share, so we're all right.

Yeah, actually, you know what, let's use bowling. Toss that one in there. Yeah. Oh yeah. Bowling, let's go!

We haven't even talked to the US national team, we're already going to bowling.

Yeah, I was gonna say, let's just— you know what, let's not talk to any soccer, let's just talk what your thoughts are on Brendan Sorsby. Oh man, don't answer that.

All right, yeah, what you said is actually— I agree, because I don't— I, I agree with what Weston McKinney said the other day too, which is that he expected there to be like soccer fever in the United States for the last couple years, but what ended up happening since we're hosting the cup, we didn't have to go through the trials and tribulations of qualifying for the World Cup. So it felt like none of the games that we've been playing had anything at stake. And so it's tough to kind of build up that excitement if you just kind of like jump into the World Cup at the very end. But now I like that game in Chicago against Germany was awesome. Uh, the first half, I think, and also the first half against Senegal, I think it gave a lot of people, myself included, who were like a little bit skeptical about the way the US men's national team has looked, it gave us reason to think like like, at least our attack, our offense could be really, really entertaining and really good. And I think that bare minimum, my, my bar for success is we have to win at least one knockout stage game.

What do you think?

Wow, you and I are like totally on the same page with everything. Um, these are sort of my bullet points, my talking points, and, and one of the key ones was I feel so much better about this national team than I did probably a week, week and a half ago, you know. Uh, Big Cat, we were talking— I don't know when I was with you guys, um, in Chicago in your studio, and you were like, this team, what are we gonna do with them? And I was like, yeah, I'm nervous. Yeah, uh, I, I wasn't feeling the love, I wasn't feeling the vibe, but it, it certainly has picked up. I think home field advantage has something to do with it. To your point, PFT, about those strong starts against two really quality teams that'll be in the World Cup as well and that should get out of their group stage, um, that gives me hope, gives me optimism. I, I feel better, but that doesn't change what the reality is of what they're going to do at this World Cup. Again, my, my, my gut is, you know, we get to the round of 16.

I think that's kind of the ceiling. And if we're, if we're really lucky, we get to the quarterfinals, and that is as, as good of a tournament as we could hope for. Uh, but I guess my point is I feel better about those thoughts than I did a week and a half ago. They haven't changed. I don't have them rising into the semis I don't have them as a surefire quarterfinal team, but I definitely feel better that they're going to get to the round of 16. I feel better that they have a chance to get to the quarterfinals.

Yeah. Are we going to get bullied? That was our conversation last time because I remember what was the— what was the cup we played in last summer? Gold Cup. Gold Cup.

Yeah. We got bullied. We lost to Mexico.

Yeah. We got pushed around. Yeah. So that's really like my bar is I want us to do well. I'm going to get excited. I'm going to watch every game. I don't want to get pushed around.

Yeah, I love that point. And I think that's been something that has been felt by the American fan base for the last couple of years. PFT, it probably goes to your point too, that there haven't been these meaningful games or not enough meaningful games where people can get motivated and the team can get excited and have that camaraderie and that real fight and that real steel that you can only really build up through World Cup qualifying. I've seen that, right? And I really saw it at the tail end of that Germany game, um, you know, there was a lot of pushing, a lot of shoving. There was some, um, questionable tackles by the Americans, right, coming in low and hard and clean on the sideline. Totally unnecessary, totally unnecessary, you know, just a few minutes until the World Cup stage is finally upon you. And I know if that was a German player doing that to an American, I would feel so aggrieved, but since it was an American doing it to the German, I was like, hell yeah, Yeah, here we go. I don't care, let's come in with these tackles. I don't care if we're losing.

Also, we were fighting to get that equalizer. So again, this goes back to that, those feel-good vibes where, hey, that blue-collar mentality, that fight, that we're not backing down from anybody approach seems to be coming out of the U.S. camp. That's what the manager Mauricio Pochettino, that's always been kind of his directive when he was at wherever he was with a club, or here he is with the national team in the United States. He wants some of that fight, some of that steel, some of that hit, some of that, that that nastiness that makes you happy and proud. A little blood on the jersey and a whole lot of grass stains. I'm all for it. And I'm seeing more and more from that from the US. Obviously, it takes way more than just the heart and the, you know, and the blue collar. But at a minimum, I'm seeing that right now.

No such thing as a friendly. I like that he took away the F-word. He said, I hate, I hate that term.

And I banned it. I banned the term friendlies from my use at Fox Sports. Everything was like a World Cup 2-0. Up, right? Or a Gold Cup tune-up, or a preparation for the World Cup. Friendly, just like, why? What are we even doing? Yeah, if it's called a friendly, why are we even playing this? I, I have— we can do friendlies all day. Yeah, you know, 5v5 pickup, is, is that a friendly? I don't think so. People are blowing out their Achilles on the basketball court. That's not friendly. Get after it. Let's play. Let's play to win. I agree.

I'm knocking on wood right there.

Let's combine, let's combine 2 out of your 3 favorite passions. We'll leave bowling out for once.

Um, Wrestling? Is wrestling going to get in there?

Well, I was going to say, like, if you were to— if you were to compare the US men's national team to a college football team, who would they be? Oh, all right. Oh, I'll give you an NFL team because I thought about this the other day. If they're an NFL team, I would say I have a couple, but let's say the Chargers feels like that's the US men's national team. Like, we've had a couple good teams, felt like we've been able to do something, never really works out. We play a good team in the playoffs, We get bounced. That's kind of what happens.

Yeah, that's good. You're right, because there has been past success, right? You know, the first ever World Cup. And let's be honest, that was a different World Cup than what we're in right now. You know, the US made it to the semifinals after that. And the one that really matters in modern times, 2002, that great quarterfinal run in South Korea and Japan and in a goal that we should have had that, you know, a handball and disallowed things. We had a chance to be at the semifinals. So I guess my point is they have had some, some brief level of success, but they are an underdog and nobody's thinking much about them. You know, like there's elements of Vanderbilt football the last couple years that kind of piques with me. Like, hey, nobody really expects much about them. Um, what a great place to be, right? Like, hey, you're, you're getting a Vanderbilt education, you're smart, good for you. Oh, now you're good at football? All right, like I'm not mad at you, Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt, right? I'm not mad that Vanderbilt's having a good football season. I'm not mad like when TCU had that run to the national championship.

I kind of like that, like some, some good American boys who are maybe kind of, you know, over their skis a little bit but getting away with it. Um, you know, I don't think it's the big Alabamas, the Georgias, the Ohio States, the Michigans. That's clearly not what this US Men's National Team— I think it's a bunch of plucky dudes. Here's one, how about this? How about If this summer's U.S.

men's national team is the Indiana University of college football, I wouldn't, I wouldn't hate coaching this team. That'd be nice. Why not? I think you can do anything right.

I would take Coach Sig to sit on the bench next to Pochettino.

Yeah, what could go wrong? Yeah, I like that.

That's good. I, I was thinking, so we have a co-worker that said maybe Texas A&M because like kind of always in that conversation, and then we're a cult.

Yeah, but A&M's got all that money and they've got all those, all that recruiting perks, and the U.S. doesn't quite have have that, that box that we could check.

Yeah, I like A&M though because we're a cult and there's always kind of like a, uh, like faint of like militaries somewhere around. Are we all in the military? Yeah, good one.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we could use a 12th man too. That would probably help our chances.

Yeah, see, that works perfectly. 12th man. Yeah, yeah.

All right, we're on to something. Uh, in terms of actual news with the men's national team, um, the defense feels kind of suspect. Is Chris Richards going to play? Because he's been hurt and it took him a long time to get back. He hasn't played yet with us. I did hear that he practiced like in full yesterday, um, and he would be a big piece. I guess first question, do you think he's going to play in the opening game? And then two, how big of a deal is getting him back in the lineup?

Yeah, so Chris Richards last played May 17th and that was for his club. So if he plays on Friday versus Paraguay, it'll be 26 days since his last game. That's a big number, you know. And, and talking with former U.S. national team coaches Greg Berhalter and Bob Bradley and Bruce Arena— we've got a, a podcast, uh, throughout the course of the World Cup— and, and we brought that subject up, and a majority of them were like, I think I'm good, you know. We've trusted him this long. We know who he is. You can figure out, um, how to scrape off that rust. You can get that steel wool across that rust over the next couple days and get him fit. Because you're right, the backline, uh, the cohesiveness, the spacing, the timing has been problematic. And Chris Richards has been by far our best defender for the last couple years, and he's in the middle of that defense. He's a great communicator. The fact that he was at practice as a full participant— and I will say that practice was pretty light, right? It wasn't like, hey man, we're hitting some bodies. It wasn't like full pads, right, to go back to the college football reference, but it was a full practice for the US.

The fact he was there, the fact he was able to do that, everything that was asked of him, is promising. To me, it's more about, hey, hey, how's Tuesday and Wednesday? Like, how do you feel, right? Is, is the ankle good? What's the swelling like? Well, no more. But I think even if he's 75%, you let him go.

Yeah, I agree.

All right, so the rest of the world, let's talk about the World Cup, the rest of the world. Give me— if I said you get to pick 5 teams and the winner has to come from these 5 teams, what are the 5?

Yeah, I think that's actually pretty easy. Okay, um, oh, so, so, uh, 4 teams.

Okay, um, keep talking, I'll say 3. Yeah, right now we'll take a look.

So let's, let's— let me throw 2 quick facts at you that might help you kind of like shrink the field a little bit. Only 8 nations have under— ever won the World Cup, and they've only come from Europe and South America. So you're probably going to pick from, from that little pool. Of those 8, only 7 are here at the World Cup. Italy, of course, is not here. No nation has ever won the World Cup with a foreign head coach, which is really unique. So all the success has been with somebody who is from that country leading that country. So like Brazil is now led by one of the greatest managers ever, Carlo Ancelotti, but he's Italian. Does that scrub Brazil? Brazil. I don't think that scrubs Brazil. I just don't think Brazil is good enough this year. So if you gave me 4 nations to win it all, the first 2 are super easy— Spain and France. Um, after that it starts getting, uh, a little bit more open. Uh, Argentina, you know, to quote Ric Flair, to be the man you got to beat the man. Yep. So Argentina still has the belt.

I, I think they are an absolute threat. And then I think the other team is going to from Europe, and I'm not exactly sure who it's going to be. And part of me wants to say England, and part of me also thinks England is really overrated. But when you look at their collective talent, you do say, oh, these, these Three Lions can go really deep. So I think those are the four that you would feel really good about.

Okay, I like that you didn't say Portugal. Yeah, because I don't want Ronaldo to get one.

Well, I guess he's my GOAT.

I had a question about Portugal. Ronaldo, I, I actually—

Messi's my GOAT. He's a— Ronaldo just He's just— he's Penaldo. All he does, he gets all his goals. I think I saw a stat, it was 93% of his— 93% of his career goals came from penalty kicks.

Yeah. All right, so that's a good nickname. Here's my thought on Portugal. I think it's hard to call Portugal a dark horse, right? I think a lot of people are starting to lean into Portugal because people aren't just frankly talking about them enough. To me, what will be most fascinating is, will Portugal have the Messi effect this World Cup like Argentina had with Lionel Messi 4 years ago, where, hey, we have a GOAT, we have this pressure, we have this responsibility to win the World Cup for Lionel Messi. It's that one thing that had been missing from his hardware, uh, case. And so he finally gets that trophy, and everybody was so invested in winning it for Messi. I wonder, I just wonder, and I don't know because they're two different characters, but Is there that feeling in the Portuguese camp like, hey man, Ronaldo's one of the best ever, can we do this? Can we send him out on a proper, on a proper note? And I get it, he's, he's easy to wear that black hat, it's easy to kind of cheer against him, you know. He's got ab muscles that I didn't know existed, you know.

Everything is perfect, the coif, the leg muscles are fantastic. He pulls the shorts up to let you know how, how defined his quads are. So there he does a lot of things that make you lean against him and want to cheer against him. But I am curious if Portugal gets, gets a bounce in their hope to try and win it for him.

So I, I'm a Messi fan too, and I feel like maybe the funniest outcome would be if Portugal won but Ronaldo didn't play, because they— I think in the last World Cup, it's happened before. In the last World Cup, they were better when he wasn't on the field.

So to that point, like, will he accept what his role needs to And that was the drama 4 years ago in Qatar. Like, can you still have Ronaldo on your team and not make it dysfunctional if he's not starting? Yeah. So if he can say, hey, you know what, I can start game 1 and 3 and I'll come off the bench game 2 if needed. If he's in that mindset, which by the way, I think he should be, watch out for Portugal.

Yeah. All right. So what about a player that you think might have the most to gain from this World Cup? Like, you know, uh, what was it, 4 years ago? No, 8 years ago, Mbappé, where it's like, holy shit, this guy. I guess it was 4 years ago where it's like, oh my God, this is incredible. Is there a guy right now that's— he— most diehard soccer fans know who he is, but a casual like myself, yeah, I'll be talking about him in 3 months.

Yeah, Erling Haaland, uh, the big Norwegian striker. I know who he is. He strikes that look, you know, he's super pale, you know, it's like you just pulled him out of the Arctic Circle from some fishing boat, and all of a sudden this guy is able to lumber around and score goals. Listen, if you're a true soccer fan, you know how talented this guy is, right? I'm not, I'm not telling anybody any secrets right here. But I was having this conversation with Peter Schmeichel yesterday, and I said, here in America, the casual fan, the FOMO fan that is going to be jumping on board, they don't necessarily know this guy. And, and when you get the shots of him, this, this towering, imposing, you know, figure that looks like, you know, he just, he, he came out of the, the Norwegian ice, you know, with the slicked-back tight hair and his goal power and the smile. And the fact that when he scores, the team is going to run up to him and hug him, and he's going to be towering over them and patting them on their heads almost. I, I think he's that type of, of mythical figure that the non-soccer diehard here in America could really lean to.

He is a, he is a Targaryen. Yeah, it's crazy. Yeah. Yes. And he, all he does is score goals. He's just a machine when it comes to that. When it comes to England, I feel like this is, this should be England's year, right? Like on paper, this is setting up as good as it has. Now when you say it's England's year, then instinctually every like English soccer fan will hear that and be like, oh, here we go, we're about to get our hearts broken again. Like the, the expectations I feel like are just so beaten down in that country that they can't really get that excited about thinking this is their year. But on paper, they, they feel like they have as good a chance to win this World Cup as they have in a very long time.

Is that fair? English fans, lighten up, man. Lighten up. Enjoy it, right? Have your pints. Enjoy your Three Lions and how well they're playing. You know, they are major factors in every major international soccer tournament over the last stretch of years, right? Don't be down and dour raise up, enjoy them, don't suffocate them. That's been the problem with England is I feel that national team has been crushed by the press and the fan base and the stress and the expectations rather than just kind of being like, hey, we're a really good team, we're one of the top 5 in the world, we have a real chance to finally bring it home for the second time ever. I would encourage English fans to just sit back and enjoy, like go to Dallas for your opening game versus Croatia and just cheer on your team. Don't be nervous, you know, don't be tight. Just embrace what this team is. And I think if they can be loose, it'll get pushed over to the national team. They play better when they're freer and they can smile. And for sure, for sure, England has a chance to bring it home this summer.

Yeah. What about the, uh, the next group of teams? If there's one that could make that jump up and you could see them in like the semifinals, if it's, uh, Japan, Netherlands— I guess Croatia would probably be in that discussion.

Switzerland's been Yeah, Croatia has been there so often, but, you know, their team is, is old. I don't know if you guys saw that meme out there with like, it was like 4 shirtless, 50, 60, 70-year-old dudes who look like they were from Eastern Europe and they were coming around a bend looking like they're ready for a fight. Yeah. And they were like, here comes the Croatian national team. I kept playing that on loop and I'm cracking up. And that's kind of the vibe, you know, like, I still don't want to fight those guys. Like, half of them look drunk or on some type of meds. But I'm backing off. I'm backing away. I'm going to the other side of the street to avoid them. So Croatia, they still got it right. They are still something to be reckoned with because they've done it for so long. I think asking them to get to the Final Four is probably too heavy of an ask. I don't think enough people are talking about Ecuador. Again, we talk about South America and Europe. This is where your champion is probably going to come from. And Ecuador is on a rise.

They had great qualifying., through CONMEBOL. You know, all those games are just absolute bears. I think Ecuador is going to be one of those nations, like a Norway. Uh, Czechia is another nation that I don't think people are talking about. They have some real young emerging talent that might surprise some folks. So, and I do like the Dutch, you know, 3 times runner-up. You know, is this the time that they can kind of finally get over that hurdle and win it all? I think they're close. I think they're going to make noise, but I think their lack of depth is eventually going to sting them, whether that's in the quarterfinal or semifinal round.

And then one thing people don't talk about with Ecuador, like we talk about the Denver Broncos like training at altitude. I'm pretty sure Quito is like twice as high as Denver is. It's probably like the highest capital city where they train in the world. I like their defense too from what I've read about them. And then I was also just thinking about the storylines that could possibly come out of New York City because I believe France is playing in New York. Could be in like playing at Madison Square Garden the day that France is playing a game in New York. That could be a tough day for New Yorkers or for the French, or for the French, either way.

Yeah, it'll, it'll be a tough day for anybody in the greater New York, New Jersey metropolitan area if they want to get anywhere. Bad day to have a kid's birthday party, uh, not too far from, uh, whatever the stadium is called, New York, New Jersey Stadium.

We're not allowed to call it MetLife. Yeah, that's correct. Isn't it?

You can't say— I gotta catch myself, you know. It's like, oh, they're going to Boston Stadium, right? All right, that's, that's fine. Uh, real quick note though, you're talking about the altitude for Ecuador. Also, I do feel like there is a bit of a home field advantage for South American nations, you know. Um, obviously there's such great diversity in this country, but there's a great South American population here, whether it's, you know, the Ecuadors or the Brazils or the Argentinas, the Uruguays as well. And And the weather this summer, you know, I think is going to suit them. You know, it's what they're used to in South America more so than maybe what you'll see with some of these European teams. I don't know if you guys saw those great images. The Norwegian national team after training in North Carolina, they're all shirtless. They're all like on the— it looked like a bunch of college kids out on the quad where you— when you go to school in the Northeast or you go to school in Wisconsin, you got that first sunny day, you know, that the sun came out in March or April. Everyone's like, shirts off, let's go, let's get some vitamin D.

So the Norwegians, the English, you know, how are they going to handle this heat, the sun, the travel? I think the South Americans are a little bit more built for it.

Yeah, that's a good point. What about, give me a couple teams because I love to bet the over. Give me a couple teams that play open style and like, hey, these games are going to be electric. Huh.

Well, I, I would say games that are going to be electric might involve the minnows of the world. You know, we talk about this being the largest World Cup ever, so 48 nations are playing, which means there's a lot of teams that wouldn't be here under the old format, right? And there's a handful of teams who've never had World Cup experience. So there are going to be some teams out there— this is probably more to your point— that might get overwhelmed by the moment, particularly in the first round. And I, I said this this to a couple people earlier, there's going to be a lot of moments to pick the over in goals scored in the first round because you're going to have on paper some real mismatches, and you're going to have some, some Haiti or some Curaçao who are going to say, you know what, here's my chance to step on the field with the big boys. I want to prove to them that we belong, that we can play, instead of maybe being pragmatic and like, hey, hey, hey, let's get all 11 behind the ball and, and kind of defend. I, I think there's going to be some, a few games that are going to sneak in there.

We're going to go, oh, how many goals were scored in that game? 5 goals, 6 goals. So for me, that's the entertainment value. Uh, and again, you know, goal differential is a tiebreaker, so you're not going to see teams kind of pull back. They're going to keep that foot on the gas. Um, Argentina is a team that can score. Um, You know, Brazil has shown that they have a surplus of offense as well. Their question mark is on the defensive backline. They have a great goalkeeper, but I think those games are going to be high scoring. It kind of goes to our theme too about like South America. This could be kind of a tournament of South America where they feel at home. Their fan base understands this. The weather doesn't impact them. They're playing with joy. They're on an absolute upswing right now, and a lot of them are pretty offensive-minded, unlike Paraguay, also from South America, who's very defensive-minded, and the US opens up with them on Friday on Fox. But outside of Paraguay, I think the rest of South America is ready to be open and score some goals and electrify their fan bases.

I love that. From the defensive standpoint, the US has always been known as having the best goalkeepers. Like, that's been the one bright spot that we've had going back to, uh, I guess Tony Miola was even a pretty good goalie for us back in the He was a great goalie.

He's a Hall of Famer. He's a great goalie and a pretty good place kicker for the Jets too at one point.

That's right. Yeah. Well, I mean, we almost beat Brazil on the Fourth of July. Who could forget? So like looking at that tradition of always having, you know, top-tier goalie, we're going to this World Cup, not— we don't really know who's going to be starting for us, right? It could be Freese or it could be Turner. Correct.

I've had a lot of conversations about that topic the last few days. I was with Brad Guzan, former U.S. men's national team keeper. Last night, and, and we were discussing it. And I'm like, all right, well, what do you do? And we were kind of breaking down Germany's first goal, uh, off that set piece in— what was that, the second minute in Chicago on Saturday? And the first thing he said, and first thing some of the former coaches said to me, is like, why was there a 4-man wall? So now we're getting soccer nerdy. Can we go— so we'll go soccer nerdy for 30 seconds if you're all right with that. So they put a 4-man wall, so So now, now you're a little bit thin with the coverage behind you, right? Because if you have a 4-man wall, you have that many dudes trying to block it because you think it's a shot, right? If it's a cross, you don't need 4 guys in the wall, okay? And if it's a cross and you think— or you think somebody's going to make a quick pass, you need at least 3 in the wall so that guy can break out and cover that, okay?

But if there's 4 in the wall, you as a keeper are saying to your defense, everybody else this guy shooting it. Well, you remember where that ball was. That wasn't a shot, right? That was a tough angle. That was distance. So already you're— the nonverbals from the keeper, Matt Freese, is, I'm not feeling confident. I need 4 in that wall, right? Rather than, hey, we're good with 3 or maybe even just 2. And now I can bring those surplus of defenders back here to, to have tighter marking on some of these great German attackers. And then he was stuck on the line when the ball came in. You got to own that box, right? If you're a goalkeeper, you own that area. American keepers own that area. Get off your line. Any ball that's flighted, that's like, you know, the hang time on a punt. One, one thousand. Two, one thousand. Get to that ball, right? You've got your hands, you've got your body, you have free rein literally to run over people more times than not in soccer, right? Goalkeeper always gets the advantage. So you got to get off your line. And Matt Freese wasn't on— it was stuck to his line and ended up pulling the ball ball out of the back of that.

That one moment said a lot about where his mentality is, and it scared me a little bit. I have a ton of belief in this kid. He's going to be great. But can you handle that big stage? And that was just a tune-up, but that was a tune-up in front of a big audience in a big stadium versus a team that is going to have a say at this World Cup in Germany. So I'm nervous. I think I feel a little bit better about Matt Turner and where his mental state is right now, his comfort level. And if my goalkeeper is comfortable and upbeat and confident, so am I, so are his defenders, so are the players, the 10 players in front of them as well. So I think it'll be really interesting who starts on Thursday. I also wouldn't be surprised if there's some form of goalkeeper, um, rotation that goes on at this World Cup, which would be incredibly unique and awfully rare in World Cup circles. If you have 2 goalkeepers, do you have one?

Well, here's the thing.

I don't think we have one goalkeeper, right? Like, last time we rotated, we had Casey Keller and Brad Friedel. Like, those are two number one dudes. Yeah, right? Like, you're, you're— hey man, whoever's in goal, I'm good with, right? I'm, I'm sleeping easy the night before. Now I'm not sleeping easy whoever it is. So it's not like you got— you have two quarterbacks means you don't have one quarterback. Uh, actually, no, it's exactly what that means. It's, we have two goalkeepers because we don't have have one goalkeeper. Yeah, who's better than everyone else. So I think part of the, the management is, hey, is it better for that player? Is it better for this team? Is it better for our future going through the stage of this World Cup to commit to one guy and say, hey buddy, I believe in you, you're my guy, take it easy, right? You don't need extra melatonin tonight to go to bed. You can go, you can shut it down with a clear conscience to know you're a guy. Go play free, go play confident. I think that's what the manager wants to do. But the problem is we're still debating this here on Tuesday and they open up on Friday.

Yeah, I would say that is a problem. All right, so Rob, what is your— what's your schedule like? Are you— are you— so you have shows in LA. Are you going everywhere?

Going a lot of places. Yeah, because the US opens up in LA and, you know, the Fox base is kind of right here. It's all hands on deck for, you know, the opener, the opening 2 games on Thursday and then Friday where they play at LA Stadium, SoFi. And and we'll be there. That's a 3-hour pregame. As soon as that game is over and we're done with our postgame responsibilities, uh, myself, John Strong, Stu Holden, we jump on a jet and fly right to New York to cover Brazil-Morocco the next day. As soon as that game is done, we jump on a jet and go down to Dallas and get ready for, uh, who's— who am I getting? England. Who am I getting ready for? England, Croatia. Yeah, I think on that one, England, Croatia. No, I'm sorry, Netherlands, Japan. As soon as that one is done, we jump on a jet and go right to Kansas City to get ready for Argentina. Once that is done, right back to Dallas. When that is done, I think it's a New York or a Seattle, and then back to LA. So you're doing it all. It's a lot of travel.

It's all right. It's— hey, man, there's no— if you heard me complaining, you misread me.

No, no, no, I didn't think it was the world, man.

Yeah, I know. I asked a question. I asked a question. Listen, Listen, if they stuck me on a Greyhound bus to get from LA to New York, I'll figure it out.

I don't believe that part. Now you've gone too far. Fair. That's awesome though. So you'll be like this— it is whether you root for, you know, the US team, whether you root— like, everyone should get and get excited about the World Cup. It's the best. It really is like such a fun thing for, you know, every 4 years to just have of— it's free sports. It's like, hey, I didn't expect sports in the middle of the day, now I got it.

It is the greatest sporting event on the planet, whether you're a soccer fan or not. And that's why I encourage my sporting fans, like my Urban Meyers, like Urban, just come to a game, please. Like, he hates kickers.

Yeah, but you can't use your hands. No, he hates kickers, Rob.

Can't use your hands in soccer, that's a problem.

I'm trying, I'm trying with him. He's my pet project. He's a lot of work, but like the Matt Leinerts and the Mark Ingrams and the Brady Quinns, they get it. Uh, Coach Meyer is a little bit more work, but there is nothing like it. And, and I love how it's, it's, it's overtaking everybody's social media right now. Like, we didn't have that in 1994. And, and my algorithm is all over the place, but I'm getting these, these images, these Instagram things that are just making me laugh and kind of proud to be American. And, you know, like, there's this one German dude who's like mesmerized by the concept of a Big Gulp at 7-Eleven, right? Like they're taking pictures of this and like, this is amazing. Like, look at how much soda they can put in this container. And they're going to Wendy's and Taco Bell and like taking pictures of the spread. They're talking about their first 1 a.m. meal at Waffle House. I'm like, yes, yeah, Waffle House meal. I get it. You know, how did you get your— how did you get your, you know, your hash browns? Were they smothered and covered?

You know, did you get the waffle combo? Did you get the All-Star? What was next? You were doing this. And I love the fact that so many people are coming to America, particularly right now, where I think a lot of people have some preconceived notions about what our country is. And they're coming here with this open mind, and they are embracing, embracing who we are and what we are. And, and I think that love is going back from Americans. I, I saw it in Russia. I saw it in Qatar. You know, we were a little hesitant, like, what are we— what are we walking into, into Russia in 2018? What is Qatar going to be like in 2022? Those two nations could not have been more hospitable. It was a summer of love. Everything was open. The, you know, the natives wanted to talk to us, the locals, to learn more about us. We wanted to learn more about them. That is happening right now in real time in the United States, and, and I, and I love it. I see it at the airports. I can see, like, you know, the World Cup paraphernalia or a team flag or the fact that you just know they're they're from another country, you hear the dialect, and I go up to them, I'm like, where are you guys from?

They're like, all right, you're, you're from Ecuador, welcome. Like, how can I help you? You're here in the Bay Area, you're here in LA, like, come do these things, try these things. Go, you're in LA, go to In-N-Out, right? Figure out what an In-N-Out Burger is because I know they're not everywhere, right? Um, I love the fact that we get to share that. I know we're talking a lot about food and beverage right now, but that's what we're doing. That's what we do in America.

We do it really well. Yeah.

Super size. I actually thought that the, uh, the Waffle House was perfect diplomacy. Yeah, we could have— the UN should meet in a Waffle House and everything would be fixed. It'd be like, all right, yeah, I get it, you guys are pretty cool, this is good food.

Oh shit, I got this food that fast? Yeah, that was awesome.

And there might be a fight across the restaurant, we get to watch a little bit of a yelling. Okay, that's cool. Let's make dinner and a show. There's the jukebox, right?

You can play certain music if you want. Yeah, you can, you can have that supersized iced sweet tea at 8 in the morning. You know, your body doesn't need it, but your body needs it. Yeah, come on, I love, I love me some Waffle House. I had some evenings at Waffle House now.

Yeah. All right, Rob, I know you got to go in a minute. I got one last question for you. It's a Roback question. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE, 20% off your first purchase. Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com, promo code TAKE. Zach, get us going.

How are we doing today, Rob? I did have a quick question. Yeah, so we're seeing a lot of stadiums here to comply with FIFA regulations, they're putting in the grass, right? Are we going to see those same guys maybe keep the grass, or are they going to go right back to the turf? Like, do they see the nod and kind of read the room of like, oh, this is injury-prone, this is bad for the players, maybe I should respect my team and put and keep the grass?

Or are they going to go right back to the NFL owners, right?

Talk to the NFL owners, they're the ones who are making that, that final decision, the upkeep and the maintenance about it. But it will be interesting, you know, if, if it's a pretty injury-free tournament I guarantee you, you know, to your point, Zach, that a lot of those NFL stars, those studs, the Saquon Barkleys, etc., are going to be like, hey, man, why aren't we doing this here? Right? Like, these guys are running around hard and cutting and everything is fine and it's easy on our body. And by the way, we are your investment, right? You are spending millions on me and my body. Why would you not want it to be at its absolute best? And why would you not want it to be protected? So I'm with you. I think grass is better for every sport. Sport out there. Uh, it will be interesting to see if there is some carryover effect, but my gut feeling tells me as soon as that game is done at whatever stadium, the last one, they're pulling it out and donating it to some school, some college.

Yeah, we should buy it. Yeah, who would want it, right?

We can put it on the roof. Wait, Zach, that was a— that was an NFL question. Do you have a soccer question? Yeah, we can go soccer question.

All right, uh, I would like to know I feel like it's an important question to ask anybody. We're going— you're going Ronaldo or Messi?

Careful, Rob.

Yeah, so I've changed. I've changed. I was in the Ronaldo book for a while, but the last 4 or 5 years I've kind of leaned to Messi. And I, as much as I— here, I love the showman of Ronaldo, right? I love his look. I love his, his winks, how his goal celebrations, how he does everything. I love the fact he's a showman. Messi's not a showman. He's just a quiet guy who gets stuff done in remarkable fashion. And I think I've grown to appreciate that. I love the fact that he had a team and a nation absolutely fighting for him and how much it meant to them and how much it meant to him to win that World Cup. So I now lean towards Messi. Correct. And I hope he has some of those Messi magic. Magic moments this summer, and I think he will. They have a tune-up, they have their final game tonight. By the way, you know, we were talking college football. Did you see, like, they're playing— people are playing warm-up games at Texas A&M? Yeah, playing it at Auburn University. I love that international soccer is coming to these, you know, these SEC communities, hence the Waffle House, or even, or even the Huddle House.

Have you guys ever been to Huddle House?

Not bad. Yeah, not bad. Yeah. Uh, Crystal—

have you ever been to Crystal?

Crystal's great. Yep. Yeah. Like the Southern White Castle.

Yeah. Yes. And a little more affordable, which is telling you something. Yes. People enjoy your crystal on your, your journeys through America. Yeah. I love the fact that Messi's played at Texas A&M and played in these SEC.

We were saying, we were joking, like, listen, no shot at Marcel Reid, but like, that's got to be the weirdest. Yes. Marcel Reid giving him a signed jersey. It's like, what are we doing here?

I'm sorry, my dog, my dog is barking.

That's all right. We love dogs.

Come on, go attack. Can you bring her on?

That's a mean 30-pound golden retriever. This person, that was my wife. The Marcel Reid, like you saw Messi, like come into the tunnel and some guy talks to him. He's like, you know, like you're like lip reading. Like, hey man, you, you need to go over here. Just, just smile. And this guy's going to get a jersey. I have no idea. I have no idea who this guy is. You're like, Marcel Reid, I'm a Heisman candidate. I'm a quarterback from Texas A&M. I don't know what any of that means. Yeah. Here's the jersey. Smile nice. Off into the pile it goes. Who wants this Marcel Reid signed jersey?

I would even say I'm glad that you came around and saw the light with Messi. First of all, I don't want to push you away. We should be acknowledging people for growing and admitting their past mistakes. So welcome to the right side of history. Thank you. I would even say Messi number 1, Maradona number 2, Ronaldo number 3. I don't think he's top 2.

Pelé? You're not even putting Pelé in there?

Yeah, good point. Pelé 3. Yeah, only 3.

Yeah, for me, it's hard to bump Pelé out of number 1. The problem is, you know, the further and further we get away from his legacy, the less and less we remember about it. And we're watching grainy videos and some of the stuff he did. And the same goes with Diego Maradona and the moments of magic that he created, particularly at the World Cup. You can't go wrong with any 4 of those guys. All of them I would love to have on my team. It'll be interesting to see who joins that, that, that level, right? Like Kylian Mbappé, you know, with a magical run this summer and leading France to another World Cup title. You're going to start putting him in that conversation.

Yeah, I do have one last question about the ball. So I love the ball controversies every year. Seems like somebody has like the ability to connect with the ball. That's like back in the South African World Cup when Diego Forlán was the only guy that could figure out how to kick that ball. What have the early returns been on the new World Cup ball?

I haven't, I haven't heard any. That's a good point. I'll have to dig into that when I get in today. I haven't heard any, but you're right. In years past, like, this one is faster, this one floats more, this one's got more bend to it. Yeah. Uh, to me it's just, it's just dudes overthinking things. Like, can you just put a ball out there? But they're also like trying to find, um, the needle nipple or whatever, and they're always kind of lining it up and they want to strike it.

Talk to me about that. Memes will show you where the nipples are.

We just, we just ventured off the soccer highway. Yeah, Rob doesn't understand that.

Well, you might have actually It went so viral.

It was very viral. Memes has big nipples. Yeah, and they were protruding. It's like that Barney Frank, very disgusting. Yeah, I'll send you the picture, Rob.

Uh, Rob, you're the best. Uh, we look forward to seeing you all summer long, and, uh, safe travels.

Hey, hopefully we can do this again. Yeah, you know my number, man. I'd love to chat with you guys anytime we can make it happen. I'm here for you.

Absolutely. Thanks so much, Rob.

You got it, guys. Be good.

Enjoy this World Cup. We'll get back to to part of my take, and Ozzy Albee's coming up here in a second. But Rob Stone is brought to you by Mountain Dew. Summer's coming. I can't wait to crack open some Mountain Dew at Camp Barstool. Just crack— nothing goes better with hanging out outside. Nothing goes better than being on a boat than the refreshing citrus kick of Mountain Dew. We got the Stars and Stripes on this one, the American Dew cans, because Mountain Dew is proudly born in the foothills of Tennessee. You know, you just know that there are some guys some bros overseas from Scotland right now somewhere driving through the foothills of Kentucky that cracked open their very first Mountain Dew of all time, and they're probably going to move to America afterwards. That's how good it is. Enjoy the refreshing citrus kick of Mountain Dew. It's an American original. Grab a Dew, tasting great since '48. Mountain Dew.

And now here's Ozzy Albies. Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very special guest. He is 3-time All-Star, World Series champion, second baseman for the Atlanta Braves, the first place Atlanta Braves, Ozzie Albies in studio. Ozzie, thank you for joining us. Let's start there. Uh, you guys are the best team in baseball right now. Is there a point, like, how, how high can you get about this team and how you guys are playing? Or is it like, hey, it's 162, we got to just keep grinding.

Yeah. We, like you said, 162. So we gotta keep grinding. We gotta keep going. Gotta keep pushing every day. Um, you know, we are in the up place right now, number 1, and it's, it's fun when you win in games. Definitely. I would imagine. Oh yes.

What was it like last year? Because it, it feels like it's about the same group of guys and last year obviously went sideways for a lot of different reasons, but then you bring back a lot of the same guys and now it's good. Like, what was that like getting through that year?

Yeah. Going through years like that is definitely tough. After being like 7 times in the playoffs, you know, 7 straight years in the playoffs, it's, you know, for being there, it's special first, you know, and going through a year like last year was very, very tough on everybody because everybody is expecting to win. Like we go to the field, we expect to win every single day and it wasn't going our way, but we kept pushing and we had like a great finish towards the end. But it was definitely late time to, you know, get it going. But But, um, they tweak, you know, some stuff here, change some players, coaching staff, and I'm so happy that we're doing great right now.

We, uh, we talked to Matt Olson last year and he told us about something that you guys had in your clubhouse that you don't have anymore, or at least you didn't have, you didn't have it last year. And that might be the reason things kind of got messed up. Uh, you used to have an ice cream machine in the clubhouse and they got rid of the ice cream machine.

Yeah, they got rid of it and, uh, we didn't have a good season. So we, we pushed to bring it back. Back. So is it back? No, it's not back yet. We have one here. Hopefully we get it back though.

You'll get some ice cream here.

Should I take the one here?

Yes. No, you can't take it, but we'll give you some. Listen, last year Cal Raleigh came and had some ice cream. I think he hit like 6 home runs against the Cubs.

I gotta have 2 cups. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I need, I need a couple of them to take back.

Wait, so you should get the ice cream machine back.

Yeah, that's, that's an important thing for team morale.

When they took it away, was there not like Did you guys not have like a players meeting being like, hey, how can they do this?

We tried, we tried, we tried to bring it back. So not hard enough. Well, we'll try harder this time. Yeah, we'll get it back. We'll get it back.

I feel like you got to be angrier about that.

I don't know.

I just go off on— I'm mad about— I'm mad about it for you, but I— was there any one guy who was like, hey, this is real bullshit? Yes. Okay, who was it?

Yes, most of the guys, not just one guy. Okay, because, uh, for example, we have our closer Iggy. He loves ice cream. Ice cream. Like, he will, he will eat the whole machine, man. I'm telling you, he loves it. So he was asking every single day, where's the machine? Where's the machine? Like, so, uh, I'm happy we're in the talks right now to bring it back and, uh, the boys can have fun again.

Okay, besides the ice cream machine, which again, I don't want to minimize the impact of the ice cream machine, but besides that, um, what's the biggest difference in the clubhouse with Walt Weiss as the manager?

Oh, well, to me, he's one of the greatest person in general. Uh, not beside his manager role he has. He's just phenomenal human being and a person. You can talk, you can talk crap with him, you can have fun with him, and when it's game, it's serious time. Let's go. So to me, he's, he's definitely a role model for a lot of people on the team. And, uh, you don't want to mess around with him because you saw what happened in that brawl too. Like, oh, he will take you down immediately. You don't mess with him. Yeah. Uh, but he's, he's He's definitely— he sets the tone for us and he's straight to the point. Like, he comes to you, tell you what's going to happen, if you're going to play or not, if you're going to do this from the bench, whatever the case might be. He's just phenomenal.

Yeah. All right. I got a weird question for you. So you're from Curaçao. It's population of 160,000. You grow up and you are the biggest Andrew Jones fan, which makes sense because he's from Curaçao. He's probably a hero. On the island, but then you play in Major League Baseball for the Braves. Was there any part of your life where you're like, am I living in a simulation? Because that does feel like too perfect.

I'm gonna be fully honest with you. I never thought— because once I was coming up through the, like, through my living in Curaçao, and, uh, I did some tryouts, and most scouts were like, you're too small, I don't think you ever make it, this, this and that we don't trust in the small guys. They want the tall guys, you know? So I'm glad and happy that I proved them wrong. Yeah, definitely that. But then I remember for my birthday, for my 3rd birthday, my dad surprised me with Andrew Jones. That was right when after he hit the 2 home runs in the playoffs. Okay. Yankees, something like that. I mean, it was one of the best things of my life. And to play in the big leagues and play WBC when he was managing me was like literally a video game. Yeah. The type of like, is this really happening? Yeah. So to me, it's like you're living the dream every single day till you like sit down and it comes to your mind like, hey, that just, that just happened. Yeah. Like, this is the coolest thing ever. A 10-time Gold Glove Hall of Fame guy managing you and from that small island.

Yeah, from the small island. Yeah, definitely living dream that he had always.

Was there a moment when you were coming up where Andrew Jones was like, hey, I actually think you can do this? Yeah.

When was that? It was in AA, AAA. He actually came down to the field before a game and we sat down and talked for like a good 30 minutes, an hour. And I'm like, I'm literally seeing one of my role models. Yeah. My face telling me that I can make this a reality and all I got to do is keep going, keep pushing. Yeah. It became a reality. It became reality. The dream They come through. Yes.

For an island of 160,000 people, is everyone your neighbor? Can you say like Andrew Jones is your neighbor? Like, I can't imagine he grew up much further away from you, right?

Like 10 minutes. Yeah, because everything's probably 10 minutes. Everything is close. Everybody calls each other cousin and family.

Okay, so that's all right.

So your cousin was Andrew Jones, basically. Yeah. Who else is on the, the Curaçao baseball team on the WBC?

Yeah, it was me. Didi Gregorius, Rafaela with Boston, Kenley Jansen with Detroit. We had Profrós' brother and, and a couple more. Trump, he was with me early this season. And let's see, let's see who else. That seems like it. Andy Johnson. Oh, okay. He's a big prospect. He's a top prospect. Did you play at Williamsport or no?

I never played Williamsport because I feel like Kershaw is usually in in it, right?

Curaçao is always in it. Yeah. Like, they, they always represent our, our island with a good team at the Williamsport. But I was the team that, uh, Juremi Profar, Jurickson Profar's brother, beat in Curaçao. So they went and I stayed in Curaçao that year. Oh yeah. I lost, I lost the final game in Curaçao to make it to the team.

Oh, that's brutal.

Why do you think, why do you think it is that Curaçao has such, like, outstanding representation in Major League Baseball? Like, a lot of A lot of baseball talent comes from a very small country.

I think it's because, like you said, small island, small country, and we focus on baseball a lot. Like, I think it's the number one sport on the island. Most people love soccer also, but when you have the baseball, like, crazy guys that wants to make it, wants to be an Andry Jones, wants to be a Kenley Jansen in the game, me as well, Rafaela, like, they push for that. That. Like, they just focus on that. They stop going to school. They like tell their parents, hey, I just want to focus on baseball. I want to be a big leaguer. And I think they, they just push to the limits and see how good they can be to when they sign free agents. Because from Curaçao, you got to sign free agency. It's not like you come here and go to college scholarship and all that stuff.

Yeah. We have to talk about your fish for a little bit, if that's okay.

Oh, yeah, of course.

So you're a big fish guy, maybe the biggest fish guy in baseball. Baseball. I think it's probably fair to say, right?

Probably, yes.

How many fish do you own?

I own about 500 fishes right now.

Holy shit, 500 fish!

How do you keep them alive? Because we, uh, we used to have a goldfish, uh, a gambling goldfish actually. Yeah, yeah, no, so he was really good. We had multiple. The first one, we— died in less than a week and people were like, I've been there. Okay, all right, so, so it's because we got a lot of shame for that.

It's normal. Okay, it's normal, but obviously I felt felt sorry. Yeah, because I should have done my research a little better. Yeah, yeah. But, um, we all start at some point, at some— somewhere. Yeah.

So our second one, we stayed alive for like 5 months, and we put him into a Las Vegas, uh, uh, gambling contest. He actually finished like 50th, like against other humans, professional gamblers. Yeah, he picked 5 NFL games a week, and he went like 54% against the spread, which is pretty insane. Yeah, really good. Yeah, special fish. He also died and then we buried him at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His grave was robbed. That's a different story. But yeah, so like you, you have to like—

I have 500 fish is a lot of fish at the house that has been there for 5 years. Geez. And they, they don't stop growing like they growing, growing, growing. Yeah. It takes a little bit of definitely The hobby is not for, for people that aren't like, I'm gonna do it tomorrow. Like, if you have a schedule, you got to stay on the schedule because the fish, you have it on a routine now. Like, if every Sunday you do a water change, that means— I know it's a fish, but it's expecting to get his water quality back to where every Sunday he knows, hey, there is fresh water coming in, I'm gonna feel better. Yeah, it's literally like a human. Yeah, basically. So it's like feeding your body the good food, the, the special water and all that stuff so you can keep going. So, uh, to take care of all of them, I have to do water change on my smaller tanks because the smaller tanks, the water gets polluted faster, obviously, because it's a small volume of water. So every week I do 30%, so either every Saturday or either every Sunday.

Yeah. Yes. Do you know all your fish? 100%. You know all 500? All Like, if I, if I posted it, if I just showed you a picture, you'd be like, oh yeah, that's my fish. Yeah, 100%.

I don't believe you. 100%. Did you name all 500? No, I can't. How many of them have names?

Uh, a couple of them. I'll say about 10 of them has names.

They have to do something really special to get noticed to get a name.

Yeah, and it was some of them that were adopted, that local adopted, that the people that had it used to name, used to call them on their name already. So I kept it adopted. So just in case I talk on the channel and they realize that's their fish. So for example, I have Mango. It's a koi fish that got adopted from a local koi place I go to. And I still name him Mango because it's just special how I, you know, was able to, you know, rescue that fish. Yeah. For that particular fan that I have.

Are they all saltwater or all freshwater? Do you do saltwater?

All freshwater. And then one of them is brackish freshwater with African cichlids.

Okay, and you do the maintenance yourself? Oh, 100%. Yeah, you don't have anybody— like, someone has to help.

So when I'm out of town, I have my wife's mother, mother-in-law takes care of everything.

Yeah. Do you have any sharks?

I do have freshwater sharks. Okay. Yeah, not, not saltwater. I think that's for the next, the next chapter, right?

Yeah. I like that you, you're hands-on though. It's like you have a relationship with all these fish.

I'm gonna be honest with you, the hands-on is actually fun because It gets me something to do beside, you know, play base— after playing baseball, I'm home, I'm doing some stuff. I have the dogs running all around. They watch the fishes when I go feed. They want some food of the fishes and stuff like that. So it's fun. Yeah, I have fun with it.

All right, is that one of your fish?

No, I don't know. You were right that we got that.

Yeah, yeah, he knows his fish. We just pulled up a random clownfish on Google Images. You don't have clownfish?

Yeah, I know about it, but I never owned one yet.

Why? I should, right? Is there, is there a fish that— I mean, it's like a Moby Dick. Is there a white whale fish that you're looking for?

I'm actually looking for a freshwater arapaima. If you can pull that one up, you'll see how big they can get. And, uh, they are a true monster Amazonian fish.

A freshwater— what do you— what is it called?

Arapaima. Okay. I actually saw one yesterday at the Shedd Aquarium. Okay. Visit there and It looks like it's 12 feet long.

Did you go by the stingray?

I did touch the stingrays. How many? I don't know how many are in the tank, but I touched about 3 or 4 of them.

Okay, I have the record, no big deal. Uh, I, I have that for you. Yeah, yeah. Oh nice. Yeah, I got the record. I broke it like probably about 15 years ago. How many? I pet like, I, it was like 40. Oh my God, I was just dominating, just walking around and hitting them all. The sturgeon too? Uh, I didn't pet the sturgeon. Okay, I, listen, I'm, I'm a I'm a traditionalist. I just keep it to the stingray. Okay, someone else could have the surgeon record. Yeah, I'm not sure. All right, so that's a— that's a gnarly fish.

Yeah, holy fish. We fished it actually in, uh, spring training this year. They have a big facility in Florida, maybe Jurassic— Jurassic Living facility. And we went and we have a picture where 4 of us was holding the whole fish, and there is still more room. That tells you how, like, big— I mean, I mean, it was bigger than this couch. Holy shit.

Do you have a fish that, that if you, if you win another World Series, will you get, like, will you treat yourself to a nice The biggest fish, that one.

It might be that one, right? Yeah. Wait, so how do you get that one?

Is it hard? Like, can you just call and get it?

I think you got to get— like, where I live, we got to get permission first.

Got it.

And then make sure the space is enough because they get really, really big. Yeah, I'm not kidding. Yeah, they are monsters.

So what got you into this? I guess, I guess growing up on an island probably helps.

Yeah, growing up on an island, 3 to 5 minutes from the water too, you go, you go fishing most of the time, most of the weekends. And funny enough, my grandfather used to own koi fishes, and I always help him like feed, do water change, maintenance, change the pump, do this, do that, scrub the algae that grows over time. And that's how I got into it. And I always had a goldfish. I started with a goldfish. Okay. And how was it gambling? No, I didn't do anything. We just had them as a— we had them as a cat, and okay, like 30, 50 cents for it at a PetSmart, and, uh, happened to live 8 years.

Wow, that's pretty good.

Yeah, we called him Goldofredo, and he started my whole fish hobbyist. I'm not kidding, he was the original. He was original. We buried him in the backyard, put a whole rock with his name, everything on it.

Got you hooked. Yeah, that's a fish joke.

Way to show us up. All right, what about this? These are your koi. One second. We got a picture of a couple koi. Those are your koi, right?

I do have the same— I do have the same koi, but those are not mine.

Oh, he's good, he's good.

I do have the same pattern though.

Damn it. So when you go on the road, do you go to every aquarium?

I try to visit all of the aquariums in each city. Yes, we did. I did the Arizona, the Philly one, uh, obviously Shadow Aquarium yesterday. Yeah, um, we tried to go to the one, I think it was in Boston, but we didn't have time. So next time I'll go to that one too. Baltimore's got a good one too.

I heard Baltimore's got a really good aquarium. It's a very cool design there too. I don't know if—

I don't remember the schedule if I'm going there this year, but if I do go, I'm definitely going to see it.

What's the best one that you've been to?

The best one so far, obviously Georgia Aquarium, one of the biggest here. Um, I'll say number 3 right now, my 3 favorite ones are Chattanooga. Okay, okay. It's like big because of fresh water too. Too. So I'll say Chattanooga, the Shad Aquarium. Oh, the one I have the record at? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, 100%. Like, I saw their paima and my red— I own like about 8 redtail catfishes at home. So I saw the redtail yesterday, I'm like, oh man, I can't wait for mine to get like that too.

Does your, uh, does your house smell? No. I, I don't believe you. 100%. Like, there's— that's like someone who has like multiple cats and you walk in, you're like, oh, you'll see, you'll see.

It doesn't smell at all like fish or an aquarium. Overfiltrated tanks. Um, flush the pumps every week. And that's— I think that's what, what does the, the part of not smelling. And, and it's closed, so it's nothing coming out.

Okay. Yeah. So your, uh, do your fish love you?

I think they do.

I feed them very well. Yeah, like you walk by and they, they come immediately?

Immediately, yes. They want me to like put my hand and they try to like bite my finger all the time.

Yeah. And your dogs, they love your dogs too? The same way. How many dogs do you have now?

We have 7 at the house and 1 rat—

1, uh, You have a zoo, you have a full zoo.

We have a small zoo in Georgia, you know. Uh, we have 7 dogs and we fostering one at the moment.

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. And they get along well with the fish too? Yeah, like the fish like them and they like—

so when they go inside the room and they're wiggling their tail, the fish is thinking it's like a, like a bait. So they're trying to like grab their tail through the glass and I'm like, you can't, like relax. And I just give them some food, like some treats, so they can feel better.

Do you ever go swimming with the fish?

Yes, you do. I saw a video of you swimming with your koi. You jump—

and the monster fishes too, the redtails. I go in there. Yeah, you jump right in. Oh, right, right in it. So you're like playing with my snorkel stuff on and go right in it.

Do the fish know when you're in a slump?

I don't know about that. Okay, okay. Hopefully they don't know because we don't want to know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Do you have Do you have a slump buster?

Do you have something to get you out of a slump? Not really. I just, you know, keep pushing, keep going hard. And, you know, sometimes you just do less. Yeah. Sometimes people start doing more and more, but I think it's just you take your mind away from it and just keep playing because the game is more about, you know, all around. You still got to do good base running, still got a good defense also. That wins you games. So Sometimes those moments present, but you got to take your hat away from it.

Yeah. Yeah. What's the, who's the hardest pitcher you've ever faced?

I'll say the tough, one of the toughest pitchers in the game that I faced as a starter is Jacob deGrom.

Yeah. Like we've heard that before. Oh my God.

He, he, he was at some point telling me what's coming. I still couldn't, couldn't get to it. Mm-hmm. You know? And then I had my good days where I took the same pitch and I hit a base hit. Like score a run, like stuff like that, help the team win. And you know, those are great stuff when you do it against somebody like him. He's super, super good. But, um, there is definitely pitchers out there that they're very tough. Yeah.

Does it ever annoy you guys in the clubhouse that that fat fuck Blooper pretends that he's part of the team? Oh my God, because he does. And he's like, bro thinks he's on the team.

Uh, well, it doesn't annoy me me. Okay, but definitely some other people. Okay, there we go. I'll just— I won't say names, but some people, you know, not everybody likes everything that happens, right? So, uh, you heard comments here and there, but I'm like, oh, I'm gonna keep going this way.

Yeah, you know. Yep. I mean, I, I wouldn't be shocked if he's trying to take at Bats in the middle of the season. Can you imagine that? Yeah, you know I can, because he's an egomaniac like that. It's crazy, trying to make it all about himself. It's funny. Uh, do you have a favorite unwritten rule of baseball? Or one that you— do you have an unwritten rule that you're like, I actually believe this, don't do this?

I'll say I always make sure I don't step on the white line on the field. Okay, I like that one. I heard that before when I was like coming up in the league and all that stuff. They're like, hey, you respect the white line, don't ever go over it. So I'm really like When I'm crossing to go take defense or even go like just, uh, practice, I make sure I go over it. Have you ever messed up? No, no, hopefully I don't. Never stepped on the line? I mean, playing, like running down the line, probably. Yes. Yeah, that, that's, you know, in the game because you're just going. Yeah. But I make sure every time I take the field, I promise you, you see pitchers do it too. Yeah, yeah. I go, I make sure I jump it.

That would be really funny if you tried to avoid the white line while running. Oh yeah, that—

I mean, I'll probably have to be running on the grass.

Yeah, yeah.

Or like you're in the field, there's like a pop-up and you're like, I can't, I can't touch that line. That's different, you know?

Like I'm looking at the pop-up and you're going like foul territory. Yeah, stuff like that is different. But me taking the field, I always try to avoid it.

Are there, uh, are there any rules that you have on the team for who is and who is not allowed to challenge pitches?

Um, I don't think we have a rule on that one because I want, I want the team guys to be aggressive. Aggressive, especially like, I'm not as aggressive with like other guys. Mm-hmm. Like when it comes to, if there is no situational moment, let's say the game is 0-0, bottom third. I mean, if it's really close and I'm like guessing, I won't challenge that, you know? Mm-hmm. But if it's a guy on third, less than 2 outs, or even with 2 outs and you can be 3-1 instead of 2-2, for example, like I'd rather you take a shot and be wrong Yeah, don't take a shot and then you see it on the iPad, you're like, ah, shit, I challenged that.

So what, you know, because we had Francisco Lindor in here and he said he'll never challenge because he's so, he's so bad at it.

I think everything is a ball too. Okay, like, don't get me wrong, and from defense, I think everything is a strike. I'm like this with the catcher, like, hey, let's go, ask for it. Then it was like 3 inches off the plate. Yeah.

So what, what's your record on challenges?

I think I'm pretty good right now, actually. I think you can look it up.

I'm gonna try to look at it. I think I keep tracking.

I think I won I'll say 2 out of 6. That's not that good.

2 out of 4. Ozzy, I'm not gonna lie, that's not that good, dude.

You go 3 for 10 and you're hitting .300, right? Yeah, I know. I mean, that's what I'm—

yeah, it's all baseball trick, but still, like, you gotta—

I don't know how much, to be honest with you, I don't know how much I challenged before, but they have challenged against me a lot. Yeah, because I don't— like I said, I don't ask for it consistently, but I think I won won 2 challenges this year from the 4 or 5 I challenge or 3.

You've got, I think what I'm reading right now, you might have the, the most important challenge in the history of baseball.

Yes. I had one in Arizona. I remember that one. Yes.

Yeah. So you, you extended the inning. Yeah. We scored 8 runs, right? Walked in a run and then you scored 8 runs that inning. Yeah. And it led to a 17-2 blowout.

Oh yeah. Okay.

I remember that. That's a big game, Rod. That's the biggest challenge I've had.

I remember that one was really, like, not so crazy off the plate, but I saw it, like, high and far. So I was like, no, no, let's go. This is the ball. And then I walk. I walk to first immediately without even looking.

Can I give you a tip, though? 100%. Because it's going to be like— you know, the challenge system, I love it. I think it's great for the game because they've figured out a way to do it so fast. Even when you're at the stadium, you're just like, wow, that was quick.

It's amazing for the game.

But here's what you got to do. Because I doubt anyone does this yet. You need to start going up to the umps before the game and be like, hey, out of respect for you, I won't be challenging. Be like, I trust everything you say. Then they're going to start giving you some extra, you know, like balls here and there. Yeah, just look, just be like, hey man, I respect you so much. I'm not trying to show you up. I just want you to know that I'm not going to challenge.

And I was wrong, I think, a week ago, and I challenged. I was like, it was like biting the line like this much, and I went to him, I said, hey, my bad. I I think my eyes are not telling me what it is today. And he goes, hey, I've been there too, man. I respect you. I said, I respect you also.

Okay, there we go. Boom, done. That's good.

But I'm cool. I'm cool with him. Yeah, like we talk, we have fun, and you know, it's 162 games. You gotta have fun.

Yeah. Have you been kicked out of a game before?

No, not— never yet. Oh, you gotta. Hopefully. You gotta. Hopefully I keep it that way.

Ozzy, people are saying you're soft for never getting kicked out of a game.

No, not soft. I just respect their job. I'm gonna be real on that one. I respect, uh, I won't— I don't want to curse them out big on TV. You see my mouth going crazy on them. I mean, they have a family too. Yeah, they have kids. So I don't want them to go home and say, 'Dad, Ozzy was saying this, this, and this on you,' you know? Like, I keep it respectfully. Yeah. But, um, yeah, never been thrown out yet. What about, uh, so hopefully it doesn't happen tonight.

Yeah, you're, you're playing second base uh, batter charges the mound, what's your move? Because you're one of the first lines of defense.

So that happened this year for the first time in my career where I actually saw punches being thrown, like, live.

And what were you doing?

And so I was— the play happened, it was a throw to second base, I tagged the guy. So I have the ball, like, I'm like, where do I throw it? Do I throw it out, throw it to the pitcher? I threw it out, turned my back going back to my position, and it happened. So I wasn't even paying attention. Then I saw, I was like, oh crap, I got to go. And then by the time I said I got to go, I saw already punches being thrown. So I just walk in there. And then if you, you see the video, actually, I went to Solaire and I told him like, hey, that's not you. And he's obviously like 6'4". I'm 5'7". So it's like a little guy trying to stop the big guy.

Yeah. Yeah. You can— I mean, you can just go for the legs, though.

You know that you got to go for the legs. So he can come down. That's the only way, or the only chance I got before he kicks me.

Yeah, no, Jorge slayers. Oh, he's a monster.

He's a monster. I will never be in a fight with him. Yeah, even though I talk a lot of trash to him when he was with us, having fun and joking, but I don't think I will ever be in a fight with him.

How much did he hate playing in the cold?

He does hate the cold. I mean, I'm one of them too. I hate the cold.

Okay, because when he was on the Cubs, I just remember when it was like early season, like, well, can't really expect much from Jorge here because he looks like he wants to be anywhere else. So you hate the cold as well?

I'm the same way. But once I get in game mode, like game mentality, it's like throw some Vaseline on the body, Abilene, whatever that keeps the body a little moist. And, you know, you just go play. Yeah, you got to go play. Yeah, I got to be on defense. I got to hit. Get some heat warmers here, like for the hand, hand warmers and stuff. Just go at it.

Yeah. I have a question here from Big T. You met Big T outside earlier. He's a massive Braves fan getting married this weekend, and he asked me to ask you this question. So again, not for me. Me. This is from him. He said, is it more fun when the Mets are total garbage all season or watching them suffer at the very end and choking it away? Which is more fun for you?

Oh, all right. I'll say this. It's more fun for when we, you know, clinch the division and they have to go fight for it to be like— so like you said, late in the season when they choking for their life. Yeah, I'll say that because there are biggest rivalry, I think, beside the Phillies. So, uh, yeah, we definitely want to do great against them. So definitely the late season.

Yeah, we heard a, uh, we heard a rumor from somebody on the Braves, and, uh, it was that when the, when the Mets had their most recent epic collapse at the end of the season, that the team would gather around and watch our colleague Frank the Tank, uh, meltdown whenever you guys would win and the Mets would lose.

Do you remember watching any of that? I heard about Yeah, I never watched it, but I heard about it.

He would always just say, like, the Braves never lose. And it's true. When the Braves are good, they never lose.

Yeah. When we good, I'm gonna be honest, we play really good baseball and it's just fun. Like I said early, it's fun when you're winning and you want to keep doing that every single day.

Yeah. Yeah. Kind of a sad season for the Braves with Bobby Cox passing away. And I didn't know if you had a relationship with him, what that was like, but the guy was a legend. Maybe, you know what, he has to be in the discussion of the best manager of all time.

100%. Legend, no doubt about that. Yeah. And I do— I did have a relationship with him. Even when he started getting sick and stuff, I was sad watching him come to the clubhouse on a wheelchair, still knew my name, still said Ozzy and everything, because he was kind of like, you know, losing it slowly. And I remember we have a group picture with him in the clubhouse, one of the special— like, one of special moments we had, because, you know, you see one of the best managers in the game suffering And it kind of melts your heart a little bit.

Yeah. Yeah. Just an all-time guy for what those Braves teams of the '90s were able to accomplish for so long. Like, he deserves so much credit because not only— yes, he had a great team and maybe one of the best pitching staffs of all time, but people don't realize that he put that team together. 100%.

All the rules he actually bring to the team. Like, yeah, I remember when I got to the team, there were rules he created since the '90s. Like, we used to wear only black leads. Black turf for practice, socks. You have to do pants up, everything tucked in all the time. No glasses on the logo, on the A of the Atlanta Braves. Like, those are rules that he put up since the '90s. Yeah, it's still carrying until today. We still don't do it. If you watch anybody on the team, and even when there is a new guy that come in, we like make sure we tell, hey, put it on the back. Like, watch any day game when we have glasses on. It's always either on or on the back.

Back. I never realized that. That's—

oh yes, very cool. Those are rules that we still just keep following because he's one of the biggest guys that put this team together.

Yeah. How, uh, how the hell do you switch hit? That's the craziest thing ever. I really don't understand it. I don't— guys who can switch hit, it blows my mind.

Yeah, it's tough. It's definitely tough. And I started late. I started when I was 15.

No way. Yeah. So you just never bat lefty when you were— until you were 15?

No, no, only when I was 15. I remember doing doing a tryout with the Braves when I was 15 with a metal bat. They wanted to see what I can do. And, you know, they saw I can hit, I can swing it on the right side, I have speed and all that stuff. And they were like, hey, we want you to be a switch hitter, especially on the left side. Put the ball in play and run. So I did that through my minors, minor career. And then about AA, they were like, hey, we need to start elevating the ball now. And I'm happy it worked out. That's crazy.

So you, because like, I just assume most switch hitters they just grew up doing it the whole time and it was just natural. They were almost ambidextrous. They— you just, like, a kind of late part of your development, yeah, had to just start doing— how bad was it to start?

Oh, terrible. I couldn't hit the ball off the tee. Oh, I was hitting the rubber more than I hit the baseball.

That's insanely impressive.

Yeah, yeah, I was, I was hitting the rubber, break the rubber, split it in two. Um, definitely hard. And then, you know, you slowly, like, like instead of doing too much, you slowly slow down the process and start focusing on what to do. And I had a guy that always was there with me, helping me, uh, be better. So, um, definitely put in the work, start swinging it from the left side way more than the right side until I got better. And then I'm so happy it worked out.

Yeah. Have you ever thought about messing with another pitcher? And let's just say they have a left-handed pitcher and going up to play and be like, you know what, I'm gonna bat lefty against—

I actually did righty on righty. Did you? Yes, I did it in '21 against— there was a pitcher called last name Harper. I don't— I'm not sure if it's Reine Harper or Ryan Harper, the way you say it. And I went right on right and took him deep. So, um, that was like a special moment because I normally go right on right on position player, like if it's a blowup game. But, um, I did it that day in the game and they were like, they don't know what to do now. So yeah, I'm so happy I actually hit a bomb and help the team win. And it was fantastic. That's awesome.

What was the reason why you decided to do that?

Because he threw a lot of breaking balls and I'm definitely more confident on the right side. And I was like, I can take a pitch and actually do an adjustment I need to do to have a better, you know, better at-bat. And I'm happy it ended up being the 2-run home run to help us win. So it was fun.

Can you I think you're allowed to switch sides mid-at-bat. Have you ever thought about doing that?

I never did it, but that would be probably something that could be pretty cool. Yeah, why not? Kind of mess them up. Yeah, I kind of have to do it.

Yeah, you should do it.

Please do. We'll try to do that. Yeah, yeah, let's do it, man.

Also, we ask every baseball guest that comes on, um, maybe next game if you get walked, can you sprint to first base for us? Okay. Respect 90.

All right, let's do it.

Yeah, just like hard sprint. Okay, I'll do it. We love it. Yeah, I'll do it for you.

Really respect 90. Happen tonight.

Yeah, yeah, we'll do that. Really respect 94.

When you hit a home run, how fast have you— have you like compared how fast you get around the bases to your teammates?

I do have gone fast before. Yeah, because it was like it barely made it out, so I was running faster. I was like, might as well keep going.

Yeah, just keep going. Yeah, I remember David Ortiz, he used to sometimes just like walk around.

Walk. He does walk it. But I mean, Big Papi, legend too, so you deserve it. Yeah.

All right, I got a baseball fundamentals question because we have a slow pitch softball league. We're actually in the playoffs. No big deal. And we sometimes make errors. All of us, the entire team. Yeah. Do you ever find yourself— have you ever in a big league game thrown behind the runners and been like, shit, that was stupid?

Behind the runner?

Yeah. Like if there's like a guy on, say, first and third and it's like you're trying to get the guy out at first, but then the guy at third can just go home because you threw behind the runner.

Probably. I don't remember though.

All right, probably.

Do you get yelled at for that? No, you just don't— like, they ask you like, what was that? Yeah. Okay. I was like, I thought I can get him.

I did that one time. I was catcher and I threw to first base. That was the guy on third. Yeah, but I, I got aggressive. I mean, it happened. They're challenging me with a big secondary lead and they weren't respecting my arm, so I had to try to force— you have to, you have to.

We do it like once a game. Um, it's no big deal. Yeah, we just, we just try to make plays happen. Yeah.

How do you feel about bat bat flips?

I love it. Good. I feel like if a pitcher leaves you a ball that you're not supposed to leave it hanging and you bat flip, he can't get mad. Yeah, he's supposed to strike you out. So that's facts. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Bat flip as much as you want, just don't get mad when you strike out though. Yeah. And they show you up.

Yeah. What about if you have somebody like a teammate that bat flips maybe a little bit too high? Maybe—

yeah, I might get drilled next at bat.

Yeah, then you're like, come on, man, can you just maybe not do that right now?

Especially if you winning by a lot. Yeah, I think Respect the game. Yeah.

What about, um, when do you stop stealing?

6 runs up, 5 runs up. Yeah, late in the game. Okay. Yeah, not early, late in the game.

Would you ever bunt to break up a no-hitter?

No, I think, um, that's a really shady way to like break a no-hitter. I feel like if you went 6th inning and you didn't try before that, yeah, like even 5th inning and you didn't try to get a hit before those 5 innings went by, I think you should keep swinging the bat and just get it the the, like, earn the hit. Yeah. You know, like, don't, don't lay down a bunt. Third baseman is playing back. Like, there is no need for that. Play the game.

What about, uh, combined no-hitters? Those count, right? Of course.

Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. I mean, I agree on that 100%. It's, it's a hard game, man. Yeah. Like, it's hard to throw strikes consistently. It's hard to hit the ball. It's a round bat, round baseball. And, uh, if you did a combined no-hitter, Tip of the cap. You guys earned it.

Yeah. You earned it. What about, uh, is there, is there any times that you're, you notice yourself, you're like swinging too hard where you're like, hey, I gotta, I gotta loosen this up a little bit. I gotta, I gotta have a little more finesse at the plate.

Yeah. It happens. It happens here and there where you're trying to hit the ball 500 feet and you will never hit it 500 feet. Right. Right. You know, there's probably like what, 4 guys in the whole 200 years of baseball that went that far. Yeah. Um, that you're like, hey, slow it down. The less you do sometimes is even better. I remember playing a couple of years back through a little bit of like pain on my shoulder and I was not taking hard swings and I had one of the best years of my career. Oh, wow. Like crazy fact. But yeah, it happened. And then after that, I did surgery and all that. But I was like, wow, it actually happened.

Yeah. If a coach told you like, hey, we noticed that you're swinging too hard, What would your response to that coach be?

I agree. Yeah. Because you see me trying to do too much. Right. And it's great that he's actually, you know, he trusts me to come to me and tell me, hey, see you overswinging, like, slow down a little bit. Right.

And you know, what if he wasn't a coach and he was like one of the worst hitters on the team?

That's not— worst hitters on the team. My OBP is insane. Yeah.

I like how you tapped into it.

Worst hitters on the team is crazy, Max. That's crazy. Not one of the best.

The guy who is on base 2 out of 3, you've been on the team like for 3 or 4 years. A guy comes in, he's like your 6th hitter, and he comes up to you. You have— you're hitting like .800 on the year. You have one bad game and it's like, oh, you're swinging way too hard.

Hold on. No, no, I didn't say, oh, you're swinging. I said, hey, just, you know, that's not what he said. Not— hey, friend to friend, dude, swing a little A little easier hitting 800 on the year.

Yeah, at that time he also—

I would love to go through my stats, man. This is— I've been on— this is—

I've been on base every single game. Crazy.

Oh my God. But Max, in this circumstance, we were talking about a coach saying it.

Yeah, the thing is he's not a coach, right?

But what about a friend? You'd hear from a friend.

I heard it from outside of baseball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, uh, sometimes, right, not that I took it immediately, like, hey, You don't know what you're saying. Yeah, I was like, kind of like was in the back of my mind, like when I get to the field today, I'm actually going to look at that.

Okay, so that's good. So that's growth.

Yeah. You see your friend, your, your mom, your, your partner, whoever it is, they see you from the TV from a different angle. They're like, hey, I saw your actual— like your leg is turning more than it normally turns. For example, like you're rotating more. You, you, you, your swing is going, your bat is going underneath the ball more than it used to be directed. But like, they can see that. Yeah. Always being coached. People that watch you every day, they can see that. And you playing the game, you worry about so many other stuff, you don't even realize you're doing it, right? Till it become a habit. And now, like you said early, you like, oh, for whatever. Yeah. And you're like, oh damn, I actually is doing that. Yeah. You fix it, boom, you're right back on track, right? So sometimes it does help. Help. Yeah, for sure. Or not. It's a good friend, it's a good whoever.

Yeah, you'd say that person's a good friend. Yeah, you hear that, Max?

Good. Some people think you're picking on them, but no, I'm not picking. It's good friend.

You can't take everything as they pick on you. Is there a, uh, is there a difference between like a bad first base coach and a good first base coach?

To me, that seems like the best job in the world. The best job in the world. Like, we have Antoine Richards on the team, one of the best coaches I that. And, uh, he's always prepared, like always prepared. I remember there was a ball I finessed it to like left field. It was a lazy fly ball, whatever. He come back to me, I give him my helmet, we chilling. He goes, hey, what about you actually swing the bat? Like I looked at him, I go, I swung the bat. He goes, no, swing a little harder this time. Don't finesse it. Hit a homer next at-bat. Like he's like, yeah, you are aggressive. Like you are aggressive and you didn't have that on that, that particular at-bat. And then boom, I hit home. I'm like, bro, thank you. Yeah, okay, that's the way it needs to be. Like, you're not picking on me, you're just telling me, hey, I saw this and go get better at it.

Yeah, you know, so I love that. Yeah. Um, all right, so you have your foundation, the Ozzy Albies Foundation. You're focused on, uh, dog and animal rescue. That's awesome. We love dogs here. So what, what do you got? What kind of work are you guys doing?

So we rescue dogs from, you know, shelters and stuff that, you know, we can— I truly believe we can give them another chance in life because sometimes dogs can be, you know, not fitting their family that is there, and they take it to the shelter. They don't want it no more. So we definitely believe in the, the Best Chance program we have, and we rescue the dogs, train them, give them a new home, give them a new family. I truly believe in giving another chance can help, and we rescue over 100 dogs in one year and rehomed them. And, uh, it was one of the best things we could have done. Actually, matter of fact, we just rescued a dog last Saturday, like 3 days ago, and they say he was like, you know, biting and stuff like that. He's aggressive. And then we picked him up, one of the sweetest dogs we ever like had from the shelter. He was all knotted up. We give him a bath. Now he's running the house. Yeah, enjoying We've made like a little fence thing. He jumps the fence to go play with my own dogs. Yeah.

So it's like the best fun thing you can do because I love—

we love animals. That's awesome. I mean, it is— there is like a stigma with, with rescue dogs where it's like, oh, something's wrong with them, or, you know, they've gone through trauma.

Yeah, I think there's nothing wrong with them, but it's more like humans that didn't want the dog or puppy anymore and they mistreat them, right? Because the minute I raised my hand and the dog went like this, I was like, dog, he probably got hit before, right? Something like that. So then we rub him on the belly and he feels comfortable and, and trust, trustworthy again. And boom, the dog is a different animal. Yeah, different type of dog completely in one day, right?

My dog Stella, yeah, I remember when I first rescued her, she was like, loud noises like dropping your keys or like everything, a door, everything was scary. They got mistreated before. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, that's awesome.

I love that. Uh, we love to do with, uh, hopefully we can do 100, 200 more this year because that's the goal. We, we try to keep rehoming dogs and make it a better chance for them because, you know, I think the problem is not the puppy, the problem is what we do towards the puppies.

And, and the thing that I always say, because I was telling you before, the Stella Blue Coffee, where we, we, uh, we're trying to get 1,000 dogs adopted this year through it, ready to drink cans. But the big thing is like people want to get a dog and they don't realize how many dogs need a home. So they go to a breeder, but it's like there are so many dogs ready to be—

ready to be— right, you know, put in a new family home and give them a chance because they deserve it. Yeah. Like I said, I don't think the problem is the dog. I think the problem is the humans that mistreat the dog. So, uh, I think I will never go to a breeder. I think it's just go to the— to the shelters and adopt is a better way to do it.

Agreed.

I used to work for a dog adoption place way back in the day, and the most common thing is like me or my coworkers saying, oh, I'll foster this dog. And then that dog just becomes like part of your life and you're like, well, I guess I got another dog. We did it. How many of those— how many of the dogs that you have right now were fosters that it's like, I really like this dog?

So definitely Max. Max was one we found. And my wife come to me and she's like, hey, this dog, the family doesn't want it no more. He's getting a bed right now. I'm going to keep it at the house and maybe rehome him. One day later, he chewed my car bumper. So I kind of like spanked him on the butt. Hey, don't do that. And my wife was like, no, don't hit him. Just talk to him, teach him. But I wasn't like mistreating him. I was just like, hey, don't do that. And like, then I talked to him. And after that, now I love to play with him every day. Yeah, we play— he's the biggest fetch player, play dog that I have at the house. So I have to throw baseball about 30 times a day and he still wants more.

Is Max a big boy or— he's like 100 pounds. Oh, nice.

He's a golden doodle. I love that. And now I'm like, he's my best friend. He stands up and he stands on my shoulder like that. He's tall. So, um, love him. We do everything for him. Every time we, you know, finish a game, I get home, I'm like, hey, let's go outside.

We need to play with him.

You just, in the back of your head, every time you foster a dog, you're like, there's like a 50% chance that this dog is just never leaving my house.

We are fostering one right now and I love him a lot. And I know I already have 7, but 7 dogs, a lot of dogs. I think 8 is not gonna be that much. Yeah, no, I think once you get past like 3.

It's just kind of— you just a dog, you just have a farm.

Yeah, you literally have a farm. And he's like literally 8, 10 pounds. Oh, okay, perfect. So tiny. And I mean, I love him, like the way he just went right away and play with our main dog Puchi that thinks he can run the house. He's 10 pounds and he thinks he can beat up Max, for example.

No, you can't beat up Max.

Exactly. Max will pick him up and throw him over there, but he doesn't He chased Max, tried to bite Max. Yeah.

And, uh, athlete.

Yeah, yeah. And he played with him and I was like, oh, this dog is lovable. Like, I already want to take him inside the house.

Yeah. You know, who do you let your dog sleep in the bed? Because that would be a problem. 7 dogs. I mean, I let my dog sleep in the bed. Tough question.

But yeah, um, we try to, you know, train them to not sleep in bed, but, but we have 2 of them that sleeps with us every night.

Oh, those dogs think they run everything.

They get to sleep in the bed. Yes, and now I can't even hug her at night because he just wants me— yeah, he wants me to hug him. Yeah. And cuddle with him. So I'm like, dude, like, give me a chance. He's like, nope, I'm in the middle. Move, move, move. I'm in the middle. I'm the— I'm the—

I'm the guy now. My dog's 30 pounds, like, small dog, but she somehow finds a way to sleep diagonally and like take up the most amount of space in the bed at all times. Yes, all the time.

Yeah. All time, 24/7, man. As soon as I lay in bed, he's right here. Yeah, done. And he throws his head back like this. Oh, that's awesome. I love it.

You must get the best greetings when you get back from a long road trip. Yeah, like, like 7 dogs at once, 8 dogs at once.

Just go run errands and we come back, it's like I've been gone for a month. Yeah, yeah, like running up to me, jump, jump, jump. They want to be like in my hands like a baby. That's 24/7.

Are the fish happy to see you after a long trip?

Yes, definitely. Definitely. They really— to be honest, man, people don't think this, but they do realize when you don't— like, you're their owner. Like, I walk in and they're like, oh, you're here, I want food, I know what you're gonna do, I know this, I know that. Like, it's, it's facts.

You should do a video where when you get back from your next road trip being like, I return home to my fish after a long road trip, and just watch how much I'm gonna do that and show it.

Yeah, you'll see it for real. Like, you'll see them come up the tank right away like, I know you're gonna feed me, like, give my food. That's awesome. Yes, it's awesome.

Um, the best thing ever. Well, Ozzy, this has been so much fun. I have one last question. Rowback question. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE, 20% off your first purchase. Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Rowback.com, promo code TAKE. Zach, you got a question? Zach's not a big baseball fan, but he's trying to get into the game. All right, how are we today, sir?

I do a quick question. Uh, with this being your 10-year— 10th year in the majors, uh, are you excited to get your gold card? Oh, and if not, would you be willing to work out like a joint custody situation? With us.

All right, fun fact, I gotta say this. So I know it used to be 10 years, right?

The Gold Card, by the way, for people who don't know, it's, it's a certain amount of time played in Major League Baseball. They give you a Gold Card, it gets you 2 tickets to any game at any time in a Major League Baseball stadium.

So I do have the Gold Card already. Oh, they bumped it down to 8 years. So now you have 8, 8 full-service years in the show, you get the Gold Card. Okay, so 2 tickets to whatever game you want to attend, and it's a lifetime card. Yeah. Are you going to use it, you think? 100%. Okay. Yeah, when I'm done playing, I think, you know, like a playoff game. Yeah, that is the best thing ever. Yeah, like I attended the 2024 World Series, Yankees-Dodgers, and I was doing the questions on the side after games. It was one of the most fun moments that I had. Obviously I want to be playing. Yeah, but we got out of it quick, early, and I had the chance to do that. It was— I mean, the, the energy of the game, and in LA, it's, you know how crazy it gets, right?

Crazy. So it was good. To Zach's second part of his question, would you consider maybe letting him hold it for a little bit? Because you're playing.

I don't have it with me right now.

All right, but like maybe send it to us and he can just hold it for like a copy.

Yeah, I have it already. It's actually a cool card. I don't know if I have a picture.

You're gonna have to prove it by giving it to Zach.

Let him see it in person. 8 years now. Yeah, we should—

somebody should try to just copy those.

Yeah, I think they see us.

I think they— yeah, I'm like, yeah, I played, uh, 8 years for the Dodgers.

Yeah, we'll just do a proof of life and then we'll send it right back. All right. Yeah, hold it for a second and we'll get it back.

It made 14-day shipping. We do 2 weeks and then right back.

It would be funny if we did a video of Zach trying to go in saying he's Ozzy Albies. You should be like, hey, I'm Ozzy, what's up guys, I want my 2 free tickets.

Yeah, it's a cool thing to achieve, definitely in the big leagues, it's fun.

Yeah, well Ozzy, this has been awesome, man. Best of luck the rest of this year, great, uh, having you in the office. Also, Matt Olson wanted me to ask if you can dunk.

I always tell him that I can dunk. I always dunk on him. Obviously he's way taller than me. Yeah, there is no chance. I said I might use the trampoline. What about that? Okay, okay, okay. So tell him yes. Yes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh man. All right.

Well, thanks so much, Ozzy. Thank you, guys.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

Ozzy Albies was brought to you by Chevy. Our AWLs know that Chevy Silverado is the official truck of Part of My Take. That's because Silverado is the truck with grit that shows up every time, built to haul, tow, and take a beating, but smart where it counts. It's got modern tech that makes life easy. Big screens, camera views that help with towing and parking, and a cabin that feels right whether you're road tripping, heading to practice, or if you're loading up for the weekend. During the season, it's the MVP of the tailgate. After the season, it turns into your training camp truck, hauling gear, tackling home projects, doing the work that never stops. Because the grind doesn't take breaks, neither does Silverado. Check out the current offers. Build your Silverado at chevy.com.

Chevy.com. Okay, let's finish the show. We got FAQs.

Henry, are there any athletes/people that you would say no to interviewing if given the opportunity that you haven't already? And if so, who? Glenn Maxwell.

There are, um, Ravel. Yeah, there are people too that if they don't— if they like say 15 minutes, we say no. Yep. Like there's just certain guys that we just would not interview in a 15-minute time frame.

I would say a guy like Michael Jordan.

Yeah. Listen, if Belichick was like, hey, it's 20 minutes, we've been like, no chance. Yeah, we can't. We just don't. We cannot do an interview that quickly. And all we're going to do is make our fans mad being like, why didn't you ask this? Why didn't you ask that? Like, how could you not ask that? So, yeah, we've said no to people. That are in that like 15-minute hard-out range. We also, I think, have started to say no a little bit more to people who are on like hardcore press junkets because those don't always do great.

Right.

I would say, Max, I— what?

I disagree with them. Yeah, I think— I think if you—

15 minutes, it's not enough. It's not enough. I know, but 15 minutes would literally be Also, MJ, if he said 15 minutes, it's not, we can figure out a way to get 30 out of that. They would be instantly like, you're done. We— it would just be— it would be a tease. It would be such a tease, memes. People would be mad.

It would be a tease for the people.

It would be for us, like, such a good 15 minutes.

No, no, no. Yeah, it would have to be a conversation with him that would like develop, like the Belichick interview.

Yeah, it would have to be like— I would want 2 hours with him because I could— I would be very confident in 2 hours we'd an awesome interview.

If you do a 15-minute interview with Michael Jordan, then the entire 15 minutes he's thinking about how he's going to get out of there, right?

45, 45 minutes.

I would, I would obviously say yes to 45 minutes. I would, I would internally want an hour or more. I would say about how much, how many questions we would have for Michael Jordan.

I would say yes to 45 minutes, but it would have to be in person the first time. Yeah, it would not be over Zoom.

And we do that as well. We've done like, I'll say, I'll just say the name. We were— we got offered, um, Bill Murray, who I would love, love, love to interview, but it was like a 20-minute over Zoom, and I was like, I don't— we got to do it over— we got to see— I want to do it in person. Yeah, he's a guy that I want to do in person because I think that we would gel and it would be awesome. And I don't want to do an interview just to say— because I think there's— it would be— it would be wrong of us to be like, here's a name in the title, get everyone pumped up and then you listen and it's like, oh, it's, it's 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Yeah. And it's over Zoom. Bill Murray's like a dream guest. I'd want to sit down with him for an hour. Like, it would be so awesome.

It'd be— yeah, it'd be really tough to get into anything noteworthy with Bill. Or like, if you even feel like you're having a conversation, right, in 15 minutes, I would— what about Tom Brady? I feel like he—

you need time.

One good nut with Tom. Yeah. Post-nut clarity.

You need a load of time. That's another one.

You need a lot Time, I would say no to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Yeah, I just don't think that the, the audience is there for him.

Well, if we're trying to actually know if we're trying to tank our ratings, we do.

I just feel like nobody would let— they'd be like, who? What about Chalamet?

Yeah, Chalamet. Do it a second in person. I do Chalamet over Zoom because I think younger people can understand Zoom a little bit more. That's also it.

It'd be way better in person. I think I would almost say great in person. Yeah. First time, I would say in person.

Person. Like, do you think Michael Jordan or Bill Murray have ever opened a Zoom themselves? No. Right. So then I wouldn't do it, you know what I mean? Yeah. Xiaomei has. It's also—

there, it's the list of people now of will we travel to that person.

Yes. That's like— that also is— yeah, we would drop everything for MJ. Yeah, we'd go anywhere. We'd go to his like yacht if he wanted us to. Magic too. If Magic wants us to go to the Mediterranean, we'll be there, show up.

Yep. 100%. I don't know. Like, if the Knicks win, I feel like traveling to Chalamet, we would do. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Big Cat thought about saying no.

No, I would say yes. I'd have to— I'd have to feel it out to see, like, is he a fan of ours? Because that's the other thing is like, if we're traveling and he just doesn't really— he's just doing it for press. But if he's like, hey, I listen to you guys, or I know who you guys are, I'd love to come on for an hour. Can you come to New York?

Like, yeah, 100%. I think he's— I think that he's someone that you could win over, though. Yeah, definitely.

I think the fact that he obviously watches a ton of sports. Exactly. We would— we would get along. We get along real well.

But you understand what I'm saying? It's— it's like, is he doing a press junket? If he's doing a press junket, probably no. If they're like, hey, after the Knicks won, if Xiaolong was doing a press junket, he had 15 interviews in a day and we got 30 minutes, I'd say no.

That, that is true. Correct. That is true.

Because I just don't think we would get a great interview and he would probably be tired. We get our best interviews when it's people who want to come on or people we have enough time and they're not like exhausted and they get to know us and like we have a good rapport with them. We earn that trust.

Yeah, but Windham was like a press junkie. He was good.

I would say a press.

No, that wasn't. That was doing press.

No, but we've done lots of those interviews via the PGA Tour, like when they have somebody reach out to Just One, they're— it's usually a pretty good interview.

You're saying the movie press, John?

Yeah, I'm not— and look, I like these guys and I'm happy they came on, but like Seth MacFarlane or a— when do we have Wahlberg? Do we have Matt Damon on? No, we didn't have that.

Affleck and Matt Damon, one was good.

Yeah, but that's a little— it's a little awkward because they're— how it works from the other side is they're doing they're sitting in a room for an entire day doing 15 interviews, and we're just like interview 7. So it's always a little bit hard to, to navigate that because they're very much aware of— they're in interview mode. They're like very, you know, not uptight, but they're not relaxed. When we get guys relaxed, that's when it's the best.

Is Big Cat worried about veriflation when it comes to introducing guests? How many varies is too many varies? Yes. What will guest intros look like in 5 years if this doesn't stop?

It's a problem. I've gotten myself into a hole and I don't know how to get out of it because I also feel bad when, when we have someone and I don't hit them with like 5 or 6 varies. I'm like, people are going to be like, oh, you didn't really like that guy. I don't really know how to fix it.

I think you got to go back. You started with 2, I think. Okay. I think it's very, very special. It does.

I will say this. It is intentional. People like, people like sit there and they're like, oh, they really like me. It's like, we do that for everyone. But in the moment, I think it disarms people a little bit.

I'm trying to think who we had on that you just hit them with. We welcome on a special guest and didn't say any varies at all. Yeah, I can't.

Rodgers might have been. Yeah. Yeah. It's a problem. I got to figure out how to, how to fix that. We might have to— might have to have a, like, a Black Monday market crash and then get back to one.

Because when— yeah, the varies have lost, like, all meaning.

Yeah, I just get lost in them. All right, from here on forward, I think maybe not Friday's shows because we already taped those interviews, but after this week, we're going to— we're going to keep it to one or two varies unless I really mean it, and then we'll go more. So you'll know. So everyone will know.

So that still just means the one very— you just don't really like that much.

No, no, that means it's— they're very, very special guests. Well, that—

but like, Orion, one or two. So one means you don't really like them much.

Two means you really like— like Orion, Whitney, or Ursula, they're gonna get like 6 or 7 memes.

Memes. Why are you going horns down?

Doing Spider-Man back here. Okay, nice.

Okay, it looked like he was going horns down. I was about to find him.

Why are you doing Spider-Man?

But yes, good astute question by that person because because it has been in my head every time we start an interview.

All right, we'll end with this one. Uh, as a lifelong Knicks fan, I need to hear Zach give us a pump-up speech. I want Zach to act like he's in the locker room talking to the Knicks. Last night's game was brutal to watch and vibes are low right now. Love you guys. Right now?

Yeah. Okay, gentlemen, let's get together. We're gonna go commit crime. We're gonna— listen, we're gonna go out on this court and we're gonna murder them. They'll never see their families again.

It's been a physical series and today it reaches the precipice of physicality. You go out there, you kill them. Let's go. Oh, nice.

Uh, memes. And Zach, would you like to disavow the Knicks fans that did commit crime?

Yes. I also don't think they're Knicks fans, even though people are— Yeah.

What do you mean?

The guys in the Knicks jerseys? You know what they are?

They're Spurs fans dressed up as Knicks fans.

No, you're wrong. They're Philadelphia fans dressed up as Knicks fans. That's 100% Philadelphia. Well, the one guy was wearing an Islanders jersey.

I didn't like that either.

But could people from Philadelphia afford to travel up to New York City?

For crime? Yeah. Yeah. No, that was bad. Disavow Knicks fans. We did talk about the Knicks fans that did that.

We did talk about this a few weeks ago. It's like things go great and then like last year, yeah, they threw garbage at the Pacers fan. Now they're just beating the shit out of Spurs fans.

They heckled Windy. The likable Knicks fan storyline is now dead though.

Yeah, I said that was going to happen. I said New York— like, listen, that's— New York shouldn't apologize. They should just never try to be likable again. We know where it's going. Just be yourself. That's the beauty of Philly. Philly never tries to be likable.

What? Those, those, those videos are bad.

I'm saying that was good. You saw the video. I'm not comparing you to Philly. I'm not comparing it to Philly. I'm saying Philly never— it's the whole, we, they don't like us, we don't care.

What, Max, was it your first thought when you saw those videos? Imagine if Philly did this.

Well, not really, because it is a pretty big deal. Regardless, like, people are talking about those videos. Yeah. And I think they're talking about them just as much. I think we probably would have led the show with it if it happened in Philly because you could have, you know, scumbag Philly fans.

That's true. Got under my skin. We're part of the problem.

But I think that those, those videos were bad and people realize those videos are bad.

Yeah. And I do think it's probably like, you know, 1%.

Yeah. Every fan base has really bad people.

I had this argument. I had this argument for memes. There's so many more more New York fans that the percentage-wise is about the same.

Yeah. Yeah. But that was bad. Disavow. Disavow.

Disavow. I felt so bad for that guy with the bloody nose.

They took off his jersey and then burned it. Yeah, that was bad.

Let it be known I was saying kill him with points. We're talking about basketball in that hype-up speech.

Now, you know, that was a bad read.

I thought we should clarify after Zach's violent speech. Like me. Okay, we're talking— you were talking to the team, the team, you know, No.

Yeah. Fans, come on.

What we do when we, when we clip that, have, have a graphic under saying Zach is only addressing the team, not the fans.

Yeah. Disavow all fans. When Zach says we're going to commit crime, he's not talking about actual crime. He's talking about crime on the basketball court.

And when we're in San Antonio, don't beat us up.

Oh yeah.

That was awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

Don't forget to go to San Antonio. San Antonio. The people are awesome.

Yeah. Big old women.

Yeah. We've been there. Thinking maybe, is it, is there a strip club that San Antonio AWLs hit you guys with some racks?

There's some places I could, I could point you in the right direction.

Zach, maybe, uh, maybe bring some backup glasses. Yeah, you want to go titties in face next?

When glasses are gone, that means, yeah, probably, yeah, probably no vision on the flight back. I'll get in front of it.

Um, this place is, it's recommending Jaguar's, uh, I've only been to the Jaguars in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. RIP. I think it closed down. If San Antonio's half as good as the Dallas one, you boys are in for a hell of a night.

There you go.

Good times.

I feel like San Antonio is like blowing it by not having a big women-only club.

That would be awesome.

Yeah, it would be awesome. All right. Good show, boys. Again, thank you to TickPick. Incredible memes, Zach, Che. What a— what— I love that trio. Thank you, Tick Pick. They gave us that— that trio gave us Zach. Yeah, and the McDonald's. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, the McDonald's story was when we're like, oh shit, this guy is fucking weird and we like him.

Keep the teeth on me.

Yeah. Oh yeah, put them on. In. Yeah, put them in for the numbers. Numbers, Zach, you lead. 98. Memes? 11. 2. 95. 88. I'll go 15.

I'll go 50. 55.

If I didn't need coffee that night, we'd never know that McDonald's story.

Yeah, true. 91. Anyone? 91. 91. 27, 27.

Happy birthday to Kate Upton. Happy birthday to Pokey Reese. The big two. Happy birthday, Bill Burr. Happy birthday, buddy. Happy birthday on Thursday to Joe Montana and Vince Lombardi. Maybe the best football birthday of all time. Happy birthday also on Thursday to Diana Taurasi, Kodak Black. And Henry Hill from Goodfellas. And also, we're on birthday watch. Hank's birthday coming up on Saturday. Wait, you told me it was Wednesday the 13th.

You told me it was Wednesday.

I got confused. My number— listen, Hank's birthday is not Wednesday. Hank's birthday is the 13th, which is Saturday, and we're all—

we're waiting for it. So it's not Wednesday? No, Saturday. Saturday. Got it.

Happy birthday, Moke. Okay, it's always Saturday. Okay, which one?

Which one? I think Nick.

Okay, happy birthday. Go Knicks!

Oh yeah, it is his birthday.

Love you guys.