The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Celtics Are Champs With Scott Van Pelt, Plus Drama at the U.S. Open

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

Russillo starts the pod with his experience watching the Celtics win the NBA Finals in person (0:43). Then, Scott Van Pelt joins the show to break down the Celtics’ dominance, discuss Kyrie’s imag...e rehabilitation, and cover all the drama from the U.S. Open (18:36). Finally, Life Advice with Ceruti and Kyle (68:17)! How do I move past my first real break up? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, live streams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to learn more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Scott Van Pelt Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Boss itself are your NBA champs. I will break down the game from inside the garden and some of the bigger storylines, what it meant for this team to show patience and what it means for Tatum as the face of the franchise. We're also going to talk some finals with this guy named Scott Van Pelt. He's pretty good. He's on television. We'll also talk us open. What does the wind mean for Bryson and what he would ask Rory who we did not have access to right after a gut wrenching loss, and then just some other nonsense.
Starting point is 00:00:39 And of course, as always life advice. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Make the most out of your summer and get almost anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. As always, life advice. can help you get that. What about a freshly cut lawn? Can't help you there. But a barbecued prawn? Definitely doable. You can even get some paper towels to help clean up after the feast. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats.
Starting point is 00:01:15 Order now. Lucky enough to be in the building last night for the Celtics 18th championship in franchise history. A 16 and three record in these playoffs. In the building, watching it going, all right, what are you looking for? What's easy? What's hard for both teams? And early on, I was like, I don't know if this is going to be much of a game.
Starting point is 00:01:33 Luca started two a six Kyrie didn't make a shot in the first quarter. Oh, a three Gafford messes up one. I would say two rotations on deep drew holiday stuff. Um, I don't know what their rule is with that, but clearly kid had kind of given up on Gafford with some other moments. He only played 11 minutes last night and Lively is the better option anyway. Lively came in at 7.26 left in the first quarter. The only thing, and I thought this was really telling, is Josh Green hits two threes in the first quarter. Now the Verzingis story was a big part of this because you're like, wait, specific
Starting point is 00:02:01 matchups? Like I'm just to the point where I think teams just mess with everybody else on their injury updates. But when the sellers came out to warm up for Zingas wasn't with them. He comes out later in the layup line. He's feeling it. The place goes crazy. And we're all watching him shoot and he's like missing all the shots. You know, like, all right, maybe, maybe just one of those guys who wants to
Starting point is 00:02:20 get the misses out of the way and warmups. And then he checks into the game and everyone's going nuts and you can see immediately like he doesn't look good at all. So, uh, like Luke is going to be looking for him. That's exactly what happened on those Josh green threes, the first two. So the first play he's got true on him. He gets it to the right side. Prezingis is in the switch, but Drew doesn't want to leave Prezingis
Starting point is 00:02:39 by himself against Luca. And then Prezingis finds a way to kind of balance like what he's doing here staying with Luka staying in the paint or then trying to contest on a Josh Green and it's a wide open three. The second three, the Celtics try to pre-switch avoiding Przingus getting caught into a switch onto Luka and after some traffic where it looked like Przingus was going to have to worry about it, they brought Josh Green all the way over from the corner to do it again. And then Josh Green hits the second one. And I thought it was very telling because it was like, hey, that's what this Dallas
Starting point is 00:03:14 offense used to look like when teams had to abandon everything they were doing to try to prevent Luca from just taking over. Because even withuka's output, the Celtics didn't have to just wreck everything they were doing with their defensive priorities throughout the series. And that's why this became tougher. And it was just this moment where I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. That's what the Dallas others used to be able to do. Just get awesome open looks, whether it were lobs, the corner threes, or in this case, Josh Green hit a couple of top,
Starting point is 00:03:45 because you're so worried about Luca. And with Prezengiz's limited ability, I should say, or limitations physically, they had to do like a little extra to protect him, and that led to those open shots for Green. It's 1918 in the first quarter, Celts go on a 9-0 run the last minute 39, and the place is going crazy. It's four buckets in a very short amount of time.
Starting point is 00:04:11 Two Dallas turnovers, and it felt like that was the game. Now, that's ridiculous to say, but now that we have the result, they're like, well, they never really caught them after that closing moment, and the play starts going crazy. So the rest of the game, you're kind of wondering is Luca going to go off or is Kyrie going to wake up Kyrie went Oh, a three in the first quarter to a in the first half and he did not wake up at any point.
Starting point is 00:04:33 Uh, but the others were no shows again. This just was a much harder job for them against the Celtics than it was against the previous teams they played based on everything we just talked about and how you defend Luca PJ and Derek Jones, Jr. one to nine from three. And that's how I'll remember this series. The story of the series is even if the other guys that step up boss probably wins the series, but knowing if you're Luca, there was really nothing and Luca wasn't great last night, but
Starting point is 00:04:59 there's just nothing else that you can go to, especially with Kyrie, the version of him that we expect, even a diminished version from the 17 version is like, you need to take over for a quarter. You need to have a moment. You need to have some kind of run, a run that you had against Minnesota, a run that you had in those second halves against the Thunder. And it just never happened. So that means that everybody else is like, wait, I'm not supposed to do any of these
Starting point is 00:05:23 things. Like I was on the Hornets. I was on the Wizards. Like this has been a cool story and it was a great trade and it turned Dallas around. So I'm not going to now regrade those trades because they lost the finals. The trades were great because they got to the finals, but there was just not another piece there to rely on offensively for Luca. So Boston gets up 26 points in the third quarter,, 7852 910 left to go in the third. Boston scores four points from 910 until Hauser's nine non committal floater.
Starting point is 00:05:55 If you watch that one, he's like, I don't want to do this, but I guess I got to do now and it goes in. That's four points from nine10 to 209 seven minutes and one second of game action. Wait, Austin's kind of doing it again here. But here's the thing. They can have that haunting stagnant offensive moment that every Celtics fan is well aware of like how is this team this good and compete that bad offensively for that long of a stretch
Starting point is 00:06:25 knowing that all the offensive statistics tell you it's one of the best offenses in the NBA. Like wait, it's happening again? Just like it happened at the end of game three. Well, it's because Boston could always bank on its defense. And in those offensive moments, Boston's defense was terrific. Luka was exhausted.
Starting point is 00:06:41 I think everybody was really exhausted in this game to be honest with you. I think it's that much of a grind on you emotionally and physically to play at your peak and know all right I still have another 12 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. So the Celtics win the title and it really wasn't scary at all. I want to talk about a few different things here. Brad Stevens. So he takes over when Ainge leaves in June of 21. I know how frustrating it was in Boston and it felt like Celtics fans had kind of turned on him. Age always seems to be somebody that played a little bit
Starting point is 00:07:13 worse than he deserved publicly. Meaning that it was like, man, I don't know if it's just people get don't like them as a player or what. It just always felt like the age criticism was far more aggressive than it ever deserved to be. I thought, um, because if you think about how this team has been built, like, I don't think there's many GMs that do what age does in the Tatum draft. I think most GMs go like, well, Fultz is still supposed to be the guy. So I'll just take Fultz because if I'm wrong with this, at least I did what everybody else was going to do. And instead he trades out of that pick picks of another pick and then adds Tatum.
Starting point is 00:07:50 When he drafted Jaylen Brown prior to that, I remember doing that draft. That Cal team was terrible. I couldn't figure Jaylen Brown out. I've been wrong about him my entire career. And he saw something in him that I certainly didn't see. And I don't know who else would take three in that trap so if angel is the foundation and put up the frame. Brad stevens the finish carpenter with this product because when he takes over being brad. Okay he's the terrific coach but it seems a little bit stale like he doesn't actually want to coach anymore but now is just gonna be the gm is he going to be able to do that.
Starting point is 00:08:23 And there's an argument that is even better than that than he was as a coach. He made four deals in less than two years that increased the talent level three through five, three through six in a way that's very hard to do in a very short amount of time. Here's what I also love about Stevens is that he didn't really care about those picks. I remember years ago with Bill where I was like, I just think these picks, I know it's 20 to 29 and every fan base gets really excited about the guy you took at 23. Like I'm sure some of you are still wondering how J.R. Giddens didn't work out, right? Length score a little bit. Look at all that.
Starting point is 00:08:55 Look at that wingspan, right? It's an exciting thing on draft night for your team to take one of those guys and you kind of talk yourself into it. Even though the history tells us there's just not a ton of value, especially if you're already an established team and you're thinking, who am I going to be able to take from like 15 on that can actually make this rotation and be a contributor to this team right away? And I don't know that a new GM would be this aggressive being like, I'm not really worried about these picks, even when he did take a Langford and took a Neesmith, but then flipping those guys and then flipping picks later on for a Derek White,
Starting point is 00:09:28 who ended up being Langford. We just mentioned Richardson, a 22 first, which was Blake Wesley. And then there's that 28 pick swap. Worry about that later. They're like, Hey, Malcolm Brogdon's a really good player. That would increase our talent one through five. Let's see if we can figure that out. Or a one for six, one through six.
Starting point is 00:09:44 We've just talked about Brogdon. So it's knee Smith, a 23 first that ends up going to Denver, which is Strother, which are like, all right. Then the market smart deal, which a lot of people were wondering, like, how can they give up their heart and soul? How can they give up their toughness? You've heard my position on market smart a ton of times. So we're not going to go through all of that again. I always thought it was kind of weird. It was like, wait, if you think this team isn't tough, why is taking smart away?
Starting point is 00:10:10 Like if you, if you think the Celtics have all these problems, which again, I did, and we'll get to kind of that 21 star here in a second, but I just felt like a lot of that stuff is, is just Tommy point stuff where you get really excited about your favorite player, but you're ignoring that. Maybe there's actually some limitations with him where if the team did something different, you could be better. And they move smart for Przingus who had a terrific year. I'm not like on record.
Starting point is 00:10:34 I said, I was like, I don't love the extension with his injury history, but it changed who they were. Um, and they got a pick in that deal, which they then flipped to Portland in the drew holiday trade where they're like, look, drew is better than Brogdon. Rob Williams is hurt even when he isn't her. And then they move those firsts that one this year and then the one in 29. So that's white Brogdon into Drew smart and a Przingus that changes who you are as a basketball team. And that's, that's the stuff that I I think is a little bit harder to do.
Starting point is 00:11:07 And I don't know how many teams would say, yeah, I'll just start giving up these first. Because reality is, I don't even know if that guy's even going to play for the team that I'm running. There's also another part of this that I think is important. Whether it's the front office and ownership pointing to Missoula post Emea Yudoka's drama and the moments where it's like is Missoula actually the right guy. I can tell you this. I know enough of the people over the course of the years of working for the TV station. They're like these are smart people.
Starting point is 00:11:40 I had a hard time believing that they would just be dumb and be like, yeah, we'll just give it to Missoula because we're not good at this. And because missoula is quirky look if he goes thirty wins and gives you those quotes the fan base would. Like we have an insane person running the basketball team but whatever it was beyond the x's and o's the timeouts substitution patterns. There really seem to be a message that was consistently bought into by this team, which is really the primary job of being a head coach in the NBA. Are they still listening to you? All right. And it's very easy for these guys to tune anybody out.
Starting point is 00:12:13 So I'm happy for Missoula. I'm happy for Brad. I'm happy that Ainge gets a little bit of credit after the fact. I'm happy for Wick because when I first moved to Boston and started working for a radio station, there's a personal thing there where Wick reached out to me. I tried to not bother him because I felt like it'd be annoying me bothering a guy who owns an NBA franchise, but there's never been a moment where he hasn't been awesome to me. I know how much he cares.
Starting point is 00:12:35 I know how much money they've spent on this. I think they've been really aggressive owners, the entire group. There's also a lesson because if we go back to that 21 season that I referenced, the 21-22, where they end up in the finals against the Golden State Warriors, they were 16 and 19 on January 21st of 22. They were 23 and 24. And Bill and I did a pod right around that time. And I remember, because I don't like saying this if I'm not like around a team every single day, but I go, man, I think they're soft. This is a soft basketball team. Like this group is talented as they are with those two guys.
Starting point is 00:13:11 It might not be it. It was the first time I was open to suggesting splitting the two guys up and trying something different because you're like, how are they under 500? Well, things change quickly. They closed the season 28 and seven. They lost the finals, the Steph, the Warriors, which I don't think is so embarrassing thing. But at that point, it's just added to the different playoff failures, which I've always said like 17 and 18, 20. They really count 22. Okay, it's disappointing to
Starting point is 00:13:36 be made to the finals. 23 is a disaster. But all of this stuff because they were ahead of schedule with these young players, like how are they in the Eastern Conference finals again? This doesn't even make any sense. All of that got added to kind of this hangover or anxiety about who they could be in 24. So I think there's a lesson in there once again, which is always a good lesson to repeat, which I'm not sure that we'll follow this lesson because
Starting point is 00:13:57 the next team that's three years into playoff failures with a young roster, are we going to say, Hey, let's hold off because of look what Boston did? We probably won't, maybe we should, but that might be the lesson like, wait, let's look back and think about those questions. Two incredibly young, talented, big wings that can score on their own and also can play defense. Isn't the entire league in the business
Starting point is 00:14:22 of trying to find those guys? So I'm guilty of it too, because at some point, you just go, maybe this won't work and they in the business of trying to find those guys. So I'm guilty of it too, because at some point you just go, maybe this won't work and they need some kind of change. But that's why whenever we do these off season previews, I'm like, they'll probably just run it back because you almost want to give yourself more chances to fail with your guys as opposed to failing
Starting point is 00:14:38 by giving up on them a little bit too soon. The other part of this is that a title means something entirely different for this generation. And yes, there are older players that went years and years without accomplishments. And the joy that they have once they hold that trophy in their respective sport and hold it up and they're like, I finally, the whole point of doing this, a decade plus to the league, like I'm thinking about like older baseball players, like finally having their moment. So that moment has
Starting point is 00:15:03 existed in the past, but not like it exists now because when you're a player like Jason Tatum who when I was watching the trophy presentation and the relief on his face I'm thinking to myself this guy's 26 years old you think he's 38 like huh, huh, I finally did it. Like you actually did it before a really nice list of Hall of Famers, some of the best players in the history of this game. And you did it at 26. I mean, hell, he turned 26 in March. And yet you can't tell him like, Oh, no, you'd be fine.
Starting point is 00:15:40 You'd be fine if it took a couple more years because this is your, if you're one of these players, the face of a franchise, it would all NBA guy flirting with the MVP conversation, even though I don't think he's in the class of like that first tier of players, but he's, he's awesome. And it really is for all of these younger players. If you get to do what Tatum did last night or a Janus or
Starting point is 00:16:05 Yokichu maybe doesn't care as much as the other two guys I talked about, it really is kind of your fuck you moment to the world, which I've always felt is a bigger part of this generation when we look at their accomplishments. I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to do it again, because the access to hate makes this generation of athlete look at the things around them differently than any generation prior to them. And that's just the reality of the access of this stuff. When LeBron goes to the heat, Nike runs an ad where he's a villain in a black hat. This is like, Oh, everybody hates me now. All right, I'll embrace it.
Starting point is 00:16:39 Kevin Durant had a Nike ad in 2017 that started with a fake sportscaster saying Durant shouldn't be the first pick, quote, he's too weak, followed by another guy holding a sign that says soft. Durant was like one of the most sure thing NBA prospects ever, by the way. James Harden had that one with Adidas that suggested that not playing defense was about his originality as a player. I love that one. Steph Curry's Apple documentary starts with Reggie Miller reading a negative
Starting point is 00:17:06 scattering report on Steph. 20 minutes into the doc they have Steph sitting in his car listening to guys calling to talk radio dumping on the Warriors. Anthony Edwards gets eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks and immediately Adidas has an ad up of a guy reading the receipts, the criticisms of Edwards as he's getting shots up. So the point is, is there is a new reward beyond the actual ring and the championship for the team and for the city and adding to the resume of your career
Starting point is 00:17:36 and how you're gonna hold up against other great players. There is this ultimate reward of I got to do the thing that all of you said I couldn't do. And the day after you hold up that trophy, all of that doubt becomes irrelevant. Baseball season is heating up and the best place to get in on the MLB action is FanDuel, America's number one sports book.
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Starting point is 00:19:05 See terms and conditions at fandual.com forward slash sportsbook. You likely know him from his work on Everybody Loves Raymond is Shopper number two, episode Ray Buys Fruit and also the host of Sports Center on ESPN. Two decades in, his name is Scott Van Pelt. Hello. How many decades has it been? It Scott Van Pilt. Hello. How many decades has it been?
Starting point is 00:19:27 It's two plus 2.1. I don't know, it's like, I think this is the 10th year, which Jesus Christ. No, no, no, how long have you been there? Is it 20, 25 years? That's another JC dude. 2001 was the first year, so we're like, I don't know, whatever this is.
Starting point is 00:19:46 Old. Wow, you're getting good at it. Am I? Or I'm about to age out of this bitch. Let's start with the finals, because you had an incredible studio show with legs, the whole deal, everything last night. So the first thing you think about
Starting point is 00:20:04 with the Celtics pulling this off last night. Just the patience that the organization showed. You and Bill are so immersed in this and have such a great feel for all the different organizations and whatever. But specifically, I think Boston, given who you grew up with. And I just admire the fact that they, organizations and whatever, but specifically, I think Boston, given your, your, your, you know, who you grew up with.
Starting point is 00:20:26 And I just admire the fact that they, you know, everyone's like, well, you can't Brown and Brown and Tate, I'm just not going to work. You're just done. It's a redundant. It's just blah. And they're like, no, no. Whether they kind of couldn't punt or they just whatever they did organizationally. The fact that they decided to stand pat with them and then the additions that they make
Starting point is 00:20:50 and having a selfless sort of a guy like Drew Holliday that's just a pro that can do everything and you've been Porzingis who's capable of hanging massive numbers and whatever on a nightly basis. White evolving into a reliable 20 plus point guy and a great defender. I just think they were the best team all year long. And the thing about this league, and I said it on SportsCenter last night, Ryan, that I think what happens is we get bored with things we think we know what they are. And we're way more intrigued with the possibility of what might be.
Starting point is 00:21:20 It's like a game show. What's behind door number three? And so many teams are what's behind door number three. And you think it's going to be the brand new car, and then maybe it's like a sofa, you know what I'm saying? And ultimately, Boston, all year long, they showed everyone who they were. They were the best team. And whether it's just the advanced metrics and different analytics or just how many points
Starting point is 00:21:42 did we score and how many points did you score? From October until now, they just showed that they were the best. And I said this, and I'm curious how you view it. All right, Butler was hurt. Giannis got hurt. I get it. Okay, Halliburton got hurt against Indiana. Fine.
Starting point is 00:21:57 Yeah, Luke is dragging along who knows what kind of scar tissue, taking shots and all the rest. Nobody looks at banner number 14 and goes, yeah, that was the year that so and so was hurt. I just don't think that's what we do. We don't do revisionist history with sharp pencils on who you faced and who you didn't. Do you hang a banner or don't you? They were the best team this year and they won.
Starting point is 00:22:15 That's to me what I saw. I do it with Toronto's, but that's personal. You're right, you're right. Because even though it was a really easy path and it was a boring finals, because they were just, they've just ended up being an even worse matchup for Dallas than we could have imagined. And some of that was just Dallas's secondary guys. As I talked about in the open,
Starting point is 00:22:36 like these guys were living a completely different life in those other series. And then against Boston it's like, wait, this is actually a lot harder. Now I have to like do stuff on my own. Um, I wouldn't have picked any of the teams in the East. You know, it depends if Milwaukee had maybe figured it out, but had been so up and down, then I'm really just kind of banking on the resume and top end part of like Dame Giannis, but I would have had to seen it more.
Starting point is 00:22:58 And then to just buy into Giannis comes back, because I was listening to Doc with Bill when they did a pod last week and that they thought, all right, well, maybe Yanis could have come back for this game or this game or whatever. So I don't know that I would have bought into it then. And the funny thing with Halliburton being out is Nemhard turned into fucking Isaiah Thomas in that series.
Starting point is 00:23:16 So- How about that? It was still like whatever you thought you were getting from Halliburton, but again, whatever, they got swept. So it's been a weird year as I've touched on it throughout because when you have the dominant profile that they have, there shouldn't be any doubt. And yet I still think there was doubt.
Starting point is 00:23:34 And I don't know if it was because of the certain offensive things that I've touched on a million times, or if I think what was unfair is that because they had been there in 17 ahead of schedule, 18 ahead of schedule, 20 was disappointing, 21 was okay, whatever, 22 was the finals, but it was disappointing, 23 was a disaster. I still don't think they should have lost that heat team.
Starting point is 00:23:58 And then that's all leading up into this year, but kind of ignoring the fact that, you know, Derek White's only been there a couple of years, Drew's new, Perzingis is new. It's hard, it's hard, especially with the new rules, even though they're going to have everybody under contract, it's just going to be very hard to ever have a team that is that deep one through five. Unless you have some outstanding second, third year players that compensate your vets, but
Starting point is 00:24:22 if your vets were that good, then you wouldn't be drafted that high. It's just gonna be hard to have a one through five that's this good even in those moments where it felt like their flaws were concerning. And it's also gonna be rare that you have that kind of, that much continuity with star players that don't get there because people just can't fight the urge to blow it up for whether they should
Starting point is 00:24:41 or they shouldn't. People just get impulsive, they get impatient, and Boston didn't, and they added the right pieces. And again, I think we get bored with, yeah, well, we know what they are. Well, what might somebody else be? And the league is a lot of that, right? Durant goes to Phoenix, you're like, ooh, and these guys all get healthy, huh? You're like, oh, maybe they don't.
Starting point is 00:25:04 And then maybe actually, they got a point card. Oh, shit, they don't have a point guard. Maybe anybody can protect the rim. No, they might get beaten up for. Yep, that's it. You know, I think the the intrigue of what could be and the possibilities of star players and how do they, you know, how are they cohesive, this or that the other thing, Boston had a bunch of stars and bunch of guys that were willing to, I don't wanna say accept roles,
Starting point is 00:25:29 because it's like Drew Holliday is not just some little, oh, you do a nice little job. No, but it's not, you're right though, Drew has to really accept in a way where it's like you're gonna have nights where you're just never gonna be the first option down the floor, so that's tough for a lot of guys. That's fine, but cool, I'll check whoever is the other team's
Starting point is 00:25:46 one of their best options and I'll be great at that. And then I'll facilitate. And like, how many times was he involved in the hockey assists in this series, right? Where the ball would go say, Tate him to him and then to Brown, or Brown to him to Tate him, or Tate him would feed him that one game
Starting point is 00:26:00 where Drew did have the big scoring night and Tate him had a ton of assists. Well, that's just being patient and just waiting, biding your time and knowing that I'm one of the guys on our team who on a nightly basis is capable of getting 20 some odd, did it in this series. Dallas just clearly didn't have that beyond the two that they had. And then Kyrie wasn't great in the series after he was all playoffs long. So it ends up being a pretty boring finals, but maybe it was a boring year if you're just
Starting point is 00:26:24 from October till now you just looked at what Boston was and just accepted them as What they proved they were which was your best team in this league you had legs all season I mean, he was great. He did an hour with us and it was just incredible stuff So we all so good. Yeah, I mean he came on and we just were talking playoffs I think it was the conference championship So it wasn't that long ago. And you just get done and you're like, my God, that's so much fun.
Starting point is 00:26:48 But what were some of the things do you think? Because I watched last night, but I just want to share for the audience, like things that he kept kind of hitting on is like the story of this finals is like the things he was really pointing out to you and to your audience of like why this series played out the way it did. He well, he liked Dallas and I couldn't understand why because I just like I remember having Windhorst on before the finals and I just said have, why are we squinting so hard at Boston trying to find some flaw? Like what are we, why are
Starting point is 00:27:18 we doing this? And I guess I get it because you look at who Dallas beat and how they beat him and they created a lot of problems. Also, they made a shit ton of threes. And then in this series, the ball kind of got stuck and guys don't make shots. I think they had six in the first one, seven in the second threes. And Boston just had this massive three point advantage. And you just, if you're drawing up, okay, how many guys does Boston have that can score 20 tonight? It's a much longer list than Dallas. This isn't really complicated.
Starting point is 00:27:48 We'll take our two and just trust that Brown and Tatum are going to get at minimum 40, maybe 60. Say the same thing with Luke and Kyrie. And again, because Kyrie didn't shoot well, that really caused big problems. But it was, Legs pointed out that he thought that Kyrie, for all the growth and all the sharing he did of how he felt like, I wasn't ready for a lot of stuff in Boston, went through a lot of stuff in Boston, but I'm in a good place now. Okay, well, you still got to go there, right?
Starting point is 00:28:14 It's like, you can move on from your ex-girlfriend, but now you got to go have dinner, like Christmas dinner with your new family. And you got to sit there and look at each other. And maybe it makes you feel uncomfortable. Who knows? Maybe you're just tired. Maybe you just have a few bad games, whatever the case may be. But Kyrie wasn't good enough in this series. And, and, and Legs just said he felt like he was passive and the scoring options for Dallas were just limited and it was, it was, it was in many ways as simple as that. Those ancillary pieces weren't good enough.
Starting point is 00:28:45 Ball got stuck. And then they were horrible at ends of quarters. Boston, they did it again last night. So one point game, about a minute and a half to go in the first. And the next thing you know, it's a 10 point game. Sloppy possession, lackadaisical on defense after getting praised for a bunch of defense and just, you know, Winhorse went viral for going off on Luca, but was he wrong? Was he wrong about the bitching at officials? Was he wrong about him,
Starting point is 00:29:10 you know, getting blown by on defense at that, at that point? No, I don't think he was wrong. No, I don't think he was wrong. I guess it was so, it was aggressive for Windhorst. So it made, it made me pay more attention and I was like, Whoa, isn't that the key point though, Ryan? That when a guy's as reasonable and as measured as Brian always is, and then he's just like,
Starting point is 00:29:32 you're like, whoa, you lean in because it feels, maybe I think, I don't know, it wasn't personal. I don't think, he wasn't mad at Luca as a human. I think he just feels like you're better than what you're doing. This side-eye nonsense, bitching at officials all season long, it just hurts your team and it hurts you. I said a while ago, and I'm sure it's happened organizationally, right? You just sit down, have somebody in your video ops group, just go through the games, put together a tape,
Starting point is 00:30:01 and one of your worst moments. Show it to Luca and see what you want to do. A listening session? Yeah, well, sure, a listening session. Nobody likes listening sessions though. That's the problem. Is Luca wouldn't watch. You know what? If we go back to our listening sessions, that's probably the appetite that Luca would have for somebody sitting down and telling him how he's supposed to act. Oh, I don't know what to do. Huh? Okay. Let me listen me, let me listen to what you tell me how I'm supposed to host this thing. It's probably our answer.
Starting point is 00:30:29 Did you play anywhere? Oh, you studied calculus. All right. Thank you for your, uh, I don't, I think I could guess how Luca would, would respond to that. My, and it's not like Windhorse doesn't know this cause clearly he knows it. I just felt like, okay, everything you said, I would agree with, but he's the only reason they're in the NBA finals. He's the only reason. 100%.
Starting point is 00:30:51 And then watching them play out the way they did in these games, like I don't really, sure he could've been better in game five to start. Yeah, okay, no problem. But when you wanna go over the list of like who was closest to meeting your expectations, he's the closest of any of the Mazz players. Because the Kyrie part of this is fascinating,
Starting point is 00:31:11 is that sometimes in life, being the Robin is the worst. All right, I'm not trying to make this about you and I, but being the second guy when everybody knows who the star is, that's not for everybody. I fucking hated it. Yeah, but you live in a Batman house now, bro, so it's all good. It had nothing to do with you,
Starting point is 00:31:32 but I was like, I don't want, but some people are like, this is awesome. Like I really don't have the pressure. I don't have to do any of these things. So when I looked at the Kyrie celebration, it was very, like it was unbelievable what was happening. And part of it was based on what our expectations for Kyrie were. It was like, Hey man, it's been a pretty quiet season. Like when's that point coming? I was wondering if there was going to be somebody in the Celtics media that's just a
Starting point is 00:32:00 massive Homer that was like, Hey, do you know about the new Mavs ownership and some of the fundraising that's going on? Like I was wondering if somebody hey, do you know about the new Mavs ownership and some of the fundraising that's going on? Like I was wondering if somebody was gonna be a plant if the Mavs had gone up two oh in the series, be like, all right, somebody asking about international affairs. All right, yeah, let's see if he can. So Kyrie deserves like credit for having,
Starting point is 00:32:17 based on our Kyrie standards, a very drama-free season. But there were games against the Thunder where you're like, wait, single digits again. But then we're going to hear on the next game after he lights it up for a quarter, how it's the best scoring back court that we've ever seen in the history of basketball. Yeah. Right. And you're like, well, that seems like the warriors weren't that long ago. Were they?
Starting point is 00:32:38 Like how do we still have that footage? It's not the strength of the, of the, of the collective. I do think that irony is a word that gets used incorrectly. There was a song about it. But I think the idea of a guy that didn't want to play second fiddle to LeBron at LeBron's peaks of his power is then very comfortably becoming the number two. Like, nah, I'm good over here, man. I'm-
Starting point is 00:33:01 Yeah, but that one's different though. I actually side with Kyrie on that one because I refound out that he was a piece of the chessboard for LeBron to move around Somewhere else then he was like that's fair That's yeah, because he's always gonna be he's always gonna be operating on a different sort of however many 3d level chess that you want That's that's fair. But I but still to your point about do you want to be a two or the Robin, he's that there, and he's clearly that there. That's Lucas' team. He's Lucas the guy.
Starting point is 00:33:34 Yeah, but it was, because Kyrie's never been the one. I mean, I guess he was with Boston, but it wasn't really that long, and then he missed the other playoffs, so the only one experience that he really had, I guess, is in 19. So technically you say, okay, he's the one, but here's what I think of like, of wrapping up a bow on the entire Kyrie, at least Boston piece of this. All right. I don't, I never cared that he left. I cared that he just kept adding.
Starting point is 00:34:00 There was stuff with the nets. Like I don't care about the nets. And there was just stuff with the nets. I'm like, come on, man. So then you kind of felt good about the basketball part of this because he hits that game winning left-handed runner against the Nuggets in the regular season. And you just go, oh my God, like here we go.
Starting point is 00:34:16 Like he's back and everybody's talking about how happy he is and how great everything is. And I don't know if the Boston thing messed him up because then I was looking for that. I went back and looked, I'm like, okay, wait, can I find some kind of number that tells me that against Boston, when he's in Boston in the playoffs,
Starting point is 00:34:29 that there's this drop off from him because the crowd stuff actually does get to him. And there really wasn't anything because he had two 39 point games at that place in the playoffs. So like, okay, well that theory doesn't really hold up. So I brought it up and then kind of shot it down, but I do think it was a factor.
Starting point is 00:34:44 And even with his answer about, oh, the Celtics being a cult or whatever, when you heard the entire answer, in fairness to Kyrie, it wasn't like he was destroying, like when I saw it in word form without the video, I'm like, okay, that seems to be like him taking a little bit of a jab. But I would say this to Celtics fans, okay?
Starting point is 00:35:03 Two things. When Kyrie checked out of the game last night, and I was in the building for it, it was like all the stoppage stuff had already happened, all the new Mavericks had already checked in the game. They were waiting to take the court, they were waiting to inbound, and then Kyrie goes around to kind of like
Starting point is 00:35:17 dap up and hug every single guy in the Celtic side of it. And the funny thing is at that point, the arena just wants to win the championship, and now Kyrie's holding it up. So in a moment where he's actually trying to be gracious, and you could also argue that maybe he was trying to make it about himself and all this different stuff, but in maybe a moment where he was trying to heal or repair, because I do think he's been really, there's been answers that he's had where he, I think he's been very genuine and being like, hey, there's things I did wrong and all this kind of stuff. It seemed like it mattered to him,
Starting point is 00:35:46 that dynamic with the crowd booing him and chanting that he sucks for all of these games, that I don't know if he was trying to just have some kind of resolution for himself, or maybe he was making that moment about himself. But for Celtics, think about the arc of the story. This guy tells you he wants to stay, he leaves, he dumps on the place
Starting point is 00:36:05 at every possible turn, and then he had to be in the arena as the trophy was presented to your franchise. I think it's over now. For sure. I get what you're saying because it took a while. I got to dap up you. I don't know you, but I'm going this way and you're sitting there. So there's the awkward exchange. Some people I'm sure you have some with maybe others you don't. I have chosen to view this whole thing as sincere. I understand the kind of, everyone wants to be hostile towards everyone at all time. No one's allowed to grow. No one's allowed to do, make mistakes and F up and then do better. I think he's done better. I've, I've listened intently to the way he's spoken. And I think he says a lot of stuff that sounds
Starting point is 00:36:50 really healthy, and good for him. And so I just felt like it just once he got so far down the line, it was hard to walk past people and not sort of acknowledge who he was walking past. And again, you were there, I wasn't. So yeah, it kind of took a while. But my read on it from throughout was that this was a guy that's in a totally different place. If we talk any USO, but I think you can say some of that about DeChambeau,
Starting point is 00:37:16 a guy that just sort of did some stuff. You're like, what are we doing, brother? And we're all allowed to get better, I guess, is what I'm saying. Yeah, there's a bad TV topic of like, who's kind of rebranded themselves better, Kyrie or Bryson? I think Bryson's got a big ass trophy, so that's gonna be an easy win at the moment, right?
Starting point is 00:37:34 At least, at least. Okay, well let's, cause I even talked about this with Bill, like the way winning makes you, I think sometimes like, now I can't say anything bad about you. And that's almost the point of, like a team's, yeah, now you can't.
Starting point is 00:37:50 Like yeah, but isn't this still accurate? Don't care, it doesn't matter. And for Bryson, look, he'd already had one, so this isn't like it's his first, but it really felt like for a time there, he was the most unliked guy on the tour. Had the pivot already happened and then what does him winning mean now?
Starting point is 00:38:11 Look, the thing about when he won at Wingfoot was it was still pandemic and there's no one there. Like there's some, which is every now and then you'll just, I'll do a thing where you just remember that thing, right? Where it was this game is just no one there and then, well, there was an SEC game, there were people there,
Starting point is 00:38:30 I was like, ah, it was LSU, there's people, you weren't telling them they couldn't come out. I'm good, we'll pour some bourbon on it. Yeah, there was a moment that I think even in it, I was like, we can't be outside? Yeah, if we're not good outside, where are we here? I do think that the magnifier of the crowd and the clear, I mean, I asked them the other night,
Starting point is 00:38:56 like they felt like they were the wind in your sails. You're a numbers guy, you're an analytics guy, but it felt like you were a way more emotional guy playing off that. And he's like, yeah, they met everything and you see how popular he is. Um, but how did that happen so fast? Because the guy that has the rope fight footage seemed to be at like the low of what he got. He got mad at the rope. Yeah. Yeah. He's there's, there's a fairly long list of stuff with a guy. I mean, look, he he he he's different. He's a numbers guy and all the physics.
Starting point is 00:39:30 And it's like he's one of those guys that's smart enough to talk in a way that maybe it's true or maybe he's full of shit. And when you're talking to me about these greens and the this and the physics, even the humidity and it's like, can you make the putter? Can't you? And there's a there was a lot of that, that he was just different. And then it was like, hey, I'm gonna eat 12 pieces of bacon, four steaks, drink 16 protein shakes, my swing speed's 200. I look like if you pop me with a,
Starting point is 00:39:57 like prick me with a pin, I'd fly around like a balloon. And people just were, they were done with it. You know, they were, it had enough of, of the, of that bit and the YouTube videos and the running around like enough. And there's some where you could say, well, maybe that's just cause golf is a little bit too, a little bit too serious and takes itself too seriously. And I would agree with that, but I feel,
Starting point is 00:40:23 and I told him this the other night, Ryan, when he came on the show, when he came to Butler Cabin Thursday and Friday at the Masters, because he played really well, number one, he looks, he looks fantastic as a guy who himself is well fit. He looks so much healthier because he's not, he's not doing whatever that protein shake food routine is. And he just felt like he was in a totally different, totally different energy and head space. And it was obvious, like sitting with a guy, and you've talked about this through the years, right? A guy comes in for an interview,
Starting point is 00:40:54 like you gotta work pretty hard to fuck up the interview. Like you gotta really- You have to be a disaster to get seven minutes wrong. But it can happen and we've lived it. And he came in and it was just in just a barely brief window and you do a little bit of chit chat off air. I just thought, all right, man, he's totally the whole vibe is different. And enough so that I never I told everybody that I that, you know, Hey, how's Bryson? Like, he was awesome, man. I mean, totally, totally felt
Starting point is 00:41:24 different. And then he's going on, he's played great. And he talked about rock bottom, he lost his dad. And I think the thing about the live, and everyone can talk about the money and this and that I get it. But the thing that that guy I think has that really he needed was this team. Like, and this this could sound corny, but I really believe this is true. He's part of a team. And he's got these guys that now he's got his crew. And ironically enough, or interestingly enough, see, I just used irony wrong, Charles Howell
Starting point is 00:41:53 is one of his teammates. And the shot that DeChambeau always said he struggled with was the long bunker shot, it's hard as hell. Charles Howell helped him with it. He ends up winning the US Open in part because his teammate helped him work on a weakness that was certainly a strength on Sunday. And I just think all of what I'm saying here, rambling as I do, is that he has just gotten
Starting point is 00:42:13 to a way better space and people are rooting for him. He plays a really entertaining game of golf. He hits it eight miles and he makes a shit ton of birdies, almost won the PGA and now he wins the US Open. Like he went six at the Masters, second at the PGA and he wins the US Open. No one's played better in the majors than him. Rory, who obviously lost in a brutal, bitter fashion, he called him a star, DeChambeau. And he said he's a star the game needs.
Starting point is 00:42:39 I think that's pretty telling when Rory was on the other side of the whole whatever, which feels like it's died at this point. But Shambho there's just a lot baked in there and you know he was an incredibly popular champion on Sunday. Okay let's talk Rory and before you just jump into wherever you want to go. Uh-huh. I didn't understand golf prior to working with you and then just talking about it and the lessons the stuff like over and, when we do interviews with golf people and then getting to know somebody like your golf crew, it was incredibly educational for me
Starting point is 00:43:12 because there was like a starting point of zero, right? And like these moments, well, how does that happen? It's like, well, this is how this happens. Or how come this doesn't happen more often? Well, cause that's not what happens. And the whole, like this traveling concert of golfers coming to your city every weekend, that those Rory moments seem impossible for us to understand
Starting point is 00:43:37 away from the course, but yet this is kind of what this sport is in those moments. It's just that much harder than people realize. Yeah. And there's, you know, the, the fact that it's singular, largely, it's just you and your caddy and, you know, these, any more people have teams, so to speak, there's, you have mental coaches that are helping you with all the baggage, but just talking to our boy, Stanford Steve, about it, we go out in the road and he, he's and he's like you in this sense. Like, obviously he played all these sports at such a high level, but golf was something kind of new to him. And the whole thing fascinates him. It's just like, it is, it's like 150 dead shows and each person is their own little
Starting point is 00:44:20 tribe and they show up in Louisville for the PGA and it's like, all right, where are we staying? Where are we eating? Are we hooked? Are we going to go out? We get, but it's singular and it's hard and it's difficult to win. And Rory's at this incredibly high level and he's been great and he is great. And now you're trying to knock this door down. You've been hearing for a while now, I hadn't won a major in a while, you know, four is a lot, but it's not five.
Starting point is 00:44:43 And that each one more feels like a lot. And now here he is with a is a lot, but it's not five and that each one more feels like a lot. And now here he is with a chance to get it and it looks like he might and then he doesn't in the way that he doesn't. And it lands heavy and I get it, you know, I get it. He, he, he's not going to, he's going to take a bit of a break. And um, I just think it's a lot because you can't be like, I can't imagine, I just can't imagine being him this week, you know? And I know everybody has failures, but like those moments, these small pots where you just go,
Starting point is 00:45:13 like that's gonna be tough. He's not thinking about his money, he's not thinking about his resume, he's not thinking about his life and how great his life will be moving forward. That's the kind of thing. I mean, you wanna talk about blown saves. And I think you said it like in a really great way too,
Starting point is 00:45:26 because I was thinking about that moment of like not, but at least like in football, it's the play and there's all these things happening and maybe you get punished or maybe you make the catch or whatever. In basketball, it's like, hey, you've got to make a decision within a few seconds here. But that walk all the way up to be like, all right,
Starting point is 00:45:43 this is what I need to do. And he's watching Bryson behind him the entire time. Like the way your head can just start taking over with these awful thoughts and the power to try to eliminate those. Like not everybody is the same when it comes to that. You're right. And the thing about that sport that fascinates me
Starting point is 00:46:01 is that the elements that you're describing, because in basketball, like last night, I mean, and last night was not a great example because it was mostly, you know, mostly Boston in control. But there are these little moments where it's a loose ball and things happen in a fraction of a second. There's no time to think. It's instinct. It's we watch this tape. I know what the tendencies are, but I'm going to react in real time. And then I got to get the ball and I'm going to kick it ahead and then you're going to make a three or you're not and then off that and then we back at it again. Golf's like, oh man, I just hit it in the crap again. It's hot as hell. I just missed
Starting point is 00:46:35 a putt. Now I got to walk up there and think about all the things I got to do. And how do you put yourself in a positive spot? We're like, I'm good. I got this. And then, or now you're looking at this put on 18 and you're roaring and that part was really hard because it's so short on TV, but it's downhill and it breaks and you have to, he would have had to play it. I talked to one of his instructors, Butch Harmon yesterday about it.
Starting point is 00:47:00 And he's like, you know, you got to probably play it a ball out, but it's a three feet. Like you can't make your brain believe, your brain knows it, but you can't make your body believe that you have to do that. And all you can do is think about it. And all you can do is think about the outcome if you make it or if you miss it. And it's just you. And it doesn't happen quickly. It's just five hours of walking with your thoughts and thinking about what happens if, and now I'm eight under and he's six under and I, Oh, I'm going to win this son of a gun.
Starting point is 00:47:31 Now I'm like, I got five and now it's. Or you lose the way you lose. And he's like, look, I'm going to take a break. And I don't blame him at all. Um, for just trying to step aside and, and, you know, and I don't want to take all for just trying to step aside. And, you know, and I don't want to take, this is just, this happened. I mean, we saw a guy that battled depression
Starting point is 00:47:53 and he took his life. And it was, it's, it, that's something that a lot of these guys, everyone cared for Grayson and hoped that that would be not obviously be what happened. But I think all of them recognize the difficulty of a singular pursuit with no home games. You're just never home. And this is where the people listening,
Starting point is 00:48:13 I think, and you have smart listeners, so they're gonna nod and know what we mean. But this is where you can roll your eyes and go, hey man, he won 2.5 the other day, cry me a river. I gotta get up and go to work. No shit, buddy. He's better at what he does than you are. And that's the perks of that. But what comes with that is the stakes in the stage and
Starting point is 00:48:29 failing in a public way. He's the man in the arena. And that's what comes with it. The good's the good, but the bad can be heavy. And it's just a lot for these guys to wrestle with. And I sympathize with that because we're all human. You'll interview them at some point. What do you think you'll ask them? Or how do you think you'll ask them about it? And I think that's the, I made the point on SportsCenter, you know, as much as it sucks, part of this is just like Norman melted over five hours at Augusta and lost a tournament that he was destined to win. And then he stood there in the dark under the trees and he answered,
Starting point is 00:49:03 which had to suck. Phil Mickelson, 72nd hole, he's going to win the US Open, the one he never won. And he pulls out his driver and he hits it off a tent and makes double. And he stood there and he said, I'm such an idiot. And Roy just, he split and I get wanting to leave, but he's just never done that. And then he spoke to the fact that it was like maybe the worst day of his professional career. And I think what I'd ask now is, you didn't speak that day. And as you're pulling away, like, what was it? Not that you were running from, but what was it that just you couldn't process in that moment. Just knowing someone's gonna say,
Starting point is 00:49:48 why'd you miss the putt and you didn't know the answer? Like, I'm not gonna give them the answer, but I just, you left. And I get it. I get wanting to, but what was it in that moment that just made the process completely untenable because no one's been more of a a stand-up dude than him no one and You know, I
Starting point is 00:50:11 Guess you just can't you just can't process the the answer because it's a you know, how'd you feel? Why'd you miss what happened? No one who wants to do that like Luca? I'm sure didn't want to sit there last night go so that was great. But you guys just got stopped that. Like, Luca, I'm sure didn't want to sit there last night and go, so that was great, but you guys just got stopped. No one wants to do that part of it, but unfortunately it's a part of it. And I don't feel entitled to it. Like that's what they always turn into. You media guys think you're entitled to it. Well, no, it's just part of what it is. Just if he won, we'd asked him about winning and he lost. And you're curious sort of how do you process it, you know? I wanna talk about the new pod because you relaunched the SVP, SV pod
Starting point is 00:50:50 with Stanford Steve. How are the listing sessions going for that? It's just, we're good. It's just what we wanted to do, we wanted to have a place where we could lean into the football stuff with him and probably go heavy during college football. But what we found is just two middle-aged dads just chopping it up.
Starting point is 00:51:14 We've enjoyed it. I feel like it's become a very local pod. I talk about my local friends. It's a very inside the belt way. It's not a national show anymore? Not really. It's a very niche audience. But the thing about, and I obviously, any time that I get the chance to do this with you is,
Starting point is 00:51:42 I enjoy it. I love it. I just, I really enjoy the chance to do it. I just, we needed to figure out like, what are we going to do? And like, how are we going to do it. I just, we needed to figure out like, what are we gonna do? And like, how are we gonna support it? And you see what it is now. It's not just an audio space. You gotta have these different components. And the folks from Omaha have been awesome. And I'm actually, as you know, I had a fire in my house. Still not back in my house.
Starting point is 00:51:58 This is not my home. I'm gonna have a space in my house. Green screen? I'll say again? Green screen right now. No, no, it's just, this is an actual, some nice home we've been in for a while. Some very high, they're very nice remnants in this home. Um, higher end. Yeah, that's not home Depot. No sir. That is a, there's like a leather.
Starting point is 00:52:20 But I could just, I can just tell. But maybe not for higher end leather bound remnants. But when we get back in the house, I have a space that we just created just to do, have the ability to do it in my home. Won't be able to see the Pacific over my shoulder, hey now. But I just think the ability to just have conversations with people is something that mattered. And I liked, I always enjoyed doing it. It was just the, just figuring out how are we going to support and promote. And those,
Starting point is 00:52:49 the folks from Omaha were able to sort that out. And, and I'm grateful for the, for them to given us that chance to do it. Cause obviously we need more podcasts in the world. I'm playing Pinehurst in a boys trip this October. Are you? By the way, yeah. Let's just say guys were like, can we change the location after watching what happened this week? No, we're thrilled.
Starting point is 00:53:17 We're excited. We're super pumped up. The guys have not gotten together at a very long time. So we have one friend, shout out to Chris Sullivan, who's put together the group. It's a hard golf course, my friend's it's just a really difficult golf course those greens are very very very hard yeah it looks like it'll be challenging uh so i i had been playing for the first time kind of coming back to it this year and out of the gates i'm playing pretty well based on
Starting point is 00:53:41 what your expectations would be uh not playing for 20 years and then going like, okay, I'm going to play. I'm actually going to play. But you know what's weird about that? I think that that, go ahead. I'll come back to what I was going to say because you were getting ready to say something. Right, because then I needed to sell the next part of it. So then I get invited. I played out at Bel Air, which was amazing.
Starting point is 00:54:06 And I wasn't playing that well. And there was a caddy there that had listened to you and I, watched you and I over the years. And I was like, what am I doing wrong? He's like, I fixed you in five minutes. So we did a little lesson, bringing the old hands inside. There you go. There we go.
Starting point is 00:54:24 Throwing the grounders out to second base, keep the hands inside. There you go. There we go. Throwing the grounders out to second base, keep the hands inside. And I was like, man, this is life changing. So now as I took the lesson and I started working at the range and I'll even pull up to the par three near my house and I'll just go chip balls for an hour. There you go, short cam. Work out 60s, 58s and then maybe a little seven action
Starting point is 00:54:44 if I want, depending on what kind of slope I'm working with. Who am I talking to? Right, right. Because what guys will play with me is like, you can hit it, but it's not always great. You get yourself into some trouble. But some of the hand work around the green is shocking considering how aggressive the tee stuff is.
Starting point is 00:55:01 So we try to dial all this back. So I put together all of this stuff. I got fitted for the most expensive shafts imaginable. Expensive shafts. And the guy's like, no, keep swinging. I was like, I don't know if I'm going to swing this hard. He's like, no, you have all the swing speed. Keep swinging harder and harder and harder. And he's like, he's the perfect shaft for you. And the whole time I'm like, I guess I'll get these shots, but I can't fathom that this is actually how I'm going to swing every single iron shot. It's the rest of my career.
Starting point is 00:55:32 So probably have to replace these at some point. So anyway, invited again down to Newport beach, my guy Chad who came on trainer to the stars, Joe Staley, ever heard of them left Left tackle. And Jake Knapp's brother, Jake Knapp, who's now on the PGA tour and looks like he's full of all the skills. I would defer to you on this one. He's got the good stuff. I saw him at Augusta, actually went up and introduced myself. I've never met him. I just love when people earn their way to that place because
Starting point is 00:56:06 that's how you get there, right? You didn't, you didn't win some contest. You won a tournament and it means you're good enough to be here. Um, and NAP moves it, man. I bet does his brother kill it? Like, cause he NAP's not a big, huge dude, but he is destroys the ball. Right. So his brother's Ryan.
Starting point is 00:56:22 So there's going to be some Brian, there's going to be some money involved and they're like, all right, what's everybody's handicap? And I'm like, well, I haven't really done that. But I knew in my head, I was like, from wherever you were with this magical breaking 100 star after not playing for 20 years and shooting a 90 one day, I would go, just put me down for like a 22, 23, whatever. And I go in and then if after nine you think it's bullshit, then we'll just readjust. And of course the one guy's like, well, that's dangerous.
Starting point is 00:56:51 Like the hustle's on. I proceeded to play the single worst round I have ever played going all the way back to like when I first actually tried to play golf. That's always a lot of fun. Yeah, I mean, just atrocious, atrocious shit. Never, never could figure out what was wrong. It was it was just a disaster the entire time.
Starting point is 00:57:10 And meanwhile, all three of those guys, including Napp, who had his brother or I don't know if they shared the course record, but I think the brother that we were playing with currently at that point, it had it or lost it to his brother. So it was one of the worst times I've ever had on a golf course. So what happened? And then I tore my calf. Then I tore my calf. So I haven't been playing. Yeah. But what happened? What happened from the, from, what was the guy's name, a beller? Mike? Matt.
Starting point is 00:57:34 Matt, sorry. Matt fixed you, hands inside, second base. Like what, you lost, you totally lost the swing thought? You know what I was? You know what happened? I was becoming a range guy. I was becoming a range and chip guy. Ranger Rick. Gotta be able to take it. Gotta be able to take it from the range to the first tee, Ryan.
Starting point is 00:57:53 It's really what it's about. Exactly. Like, hey, you're gonna keep practicing your free throws. You can check into the fucking game here. So, and now you're, so after the calf, we had, we, so wait, the last time you play was this catastrophe? A full 18. Yeah. Yeah. And this is not the recipe for success at Pinehurst is what I'm telling you. So I got to go on a full core press starting now. I got to get back to it.
Starting point is 00:58:16 Yeah. But here's the good news. Hands inside. Yeah. You got really expensive shafts and you've been working on the wedge game, which is going to be important. I, the whole notion of playing fairly well after not playing at all, I think makes sense because you have, you don't have any bad habits and you're at naturally, obviously, athletically gifted. We can see it. And so no need to say it, but thanks. But it's just, you know, sure.
Starting point is 00:58:43 You're going to have natural power. You're not, you're not going to have to wrap the club around your ear to wail it. Just that shoulder turn and then boom, a little speed through the ball. I feel good about it. I just think we got to get back to Matt. Also, just because you'd go back to Bel Air. How good is the, talk about just the vibes are immaculate. That place is pretty pure. The Bel Air experience really was something special. When I had Nance on, Nance and I were talking off the air.
Starting point is 00:59:12 And I don't know that anybody truly understood, you would know this well, but you could think of Nance like some way, like he's hosting these worldly events. He's the face of this network for like 40 years. Like, could he even be normal? Can you be that and also be normal? And then when you get him off away from that, he actually was so normal about everything. This is coming out wrong. So I don't know what I'm even trying to
Starting point is 00:59:39 say, but it was funny because I asked Nance, I was like, do you belong to any courses, any clubs it was funny because I asked Nance, I was like, do you belong to any courses, any clubs in LA? He was like, oh yeah, a few. I can get out, get a nine, get a little evening nine. A lot of the local beauties have been pretty good about getting me a tea time. Yeah, so I got the invite. Yeah, I got the invite out there. Marty Fish invited me when I first got here. He's like, come play with me. And then he was like, oh, what do you shoot? And I went, well, probably break a hundred. And then he goes, is that even fun?
Starting point is 01:00:11 And I went, okay. And then he was like, not to be a dick. And I was like, you're doing an awful job not being a dick right now. Is that like the Mohegan Sun trip? Like, what would you be comfortable playing a hand? That's the same exact vibe, sorry. Yeah, that's the exact same thing.
Starting point is 01:00:27 Hey man, let's start hanging out all the time, going down to the casino, playing some cards. What are you comfortable losing? Not that. Bel Air though, it really is. It's just, it's this old meets, it's not old meets new, so I'm just, I'm not being, I'm not doing a great job at this considering
Starting point is 01:00:46 this is what my job is, but we played with somebody who had been like kind of a lifer had grown up around it. So because we were playing with this guy, normally if I was getting a tour while I'm struggling through around 18, I'd be like, I don't need the tour man. And actually it made it awesome. Cause he was like, that's what this is. And this was over here and this is what this means. And this is so it was this history lesson,
Starting point is 01:01:07 which you know, I love the old archives. And it was, even though I didn't play well, it's one of the probably, it's probably the best place I've ever played and the most fun I've had. The best places in the game, I think are the ones that know they're great, but aren't trying to flex on anybody
Starting point is 01:01:24 cause they're just comfortable with what they are. There are clubs that are super pretentious and want you to feel, what's the line about, I'll just say another club in Los Angeles that they're not comfortable till you're uncomfortable. That's the ethos of the place. And you think, well, why would that be? If you have a guest come, you want him to feel most welcome. And I think a place like, obviously, Bel Air, that's the good stuff. I just did notice as I was watching on this screen that I was at the beach this weekend
Starting point is 01:01:59 and they didn't apply enough sunscreen. And it was this year at the upfronts, Ryan, I got a chance to meet Ryan Reynolds and tell him that I look like an avocado that had sex with an older avocado like Deadpool. The difference is that this, like there was no explosion. There was no accident. This is just sort of what I'm working with. And he was very gracious and said, no, no not it's working out great for you But I do kind of have the Deadpool going at the moment where I sort of a hellboy Kind of a mess looking at the moment a lot of flaking of skin and freckly Jesus Christ
Starting point is 01:02:35 Your parents always matches my expectations, so I wouldn't worry about it. I That's good Reynolds you think you and him connected at all? A little bit. I, I, well, it was, it was actually, it was a hell of a double header. Met Emma Stone and I- Now I'm jealous. And then I, she said I actually had done something for,
Starting point is 01:02:58 recorded something for her husband and she was appreciative of that. And I'm thinking in my head, she thinks I'm some other person, I think, because I don't know that I did that. But I just, I didn't want to ruin the moment. I just said, well, I hope you enjoyed it. And if you ever need anything, I'm happy to.
Starting point is 01:03:13 I didn't know what to do. I just wanted not to say anything ridiculous. And then not long after that, these were at the up front to New York City. And then, Ryan Reynolds. And the good news is, when we would have Hollywood types on the show and they'd tell us in advance, oh, they're such a big fan of the show. And then Rossello would always get super aggressive,
Starting point is 01:03:33 and go, yeah, what segments did they like? Yeah, tell me a segment that they liked that we did. What did they like, the two o'clock reset? What did they like? Well, that was the Denzel. That was the all time Denzel one. I learned that lesson. Yeah, well, I learned it very early, that it was like a year after.
Starting point is 01:03:48 And they're like, no, he's a huge fan of what you guys do. And so he wants to come on. I was like, hey Denzel, what's up, man? Fucking almost just tackled. And I went, okay, there's a lesson here somewhere. So yeah, okay, so you're on it. You're on it. Keep rolling.
Starting point is 01:04:00 Thankfully, it was an instant sort of a recognition and gave me an, it's an honor to meet you. And I said, well, that's probably overstating it, but it's great to see you. And I got to tell them the Deadpool joke, which I got a big kick out of, because I had just come from being in Louisville at the PGA championship when someone saw me and they said, hey, you should get some sunscreen on there. And I said, no, it's fine. I look like an avocado had sex with an older avocado, which is what I said to them.
Starting point is 01:04:28 And then to Ryan Reynolds, who said it was an honor to meet me, but he was very kind, very gracious. And that was a big one. Met a couple of superstars there at the upfronts. Yeah, sounds like it, Emma Stone. Wow. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:44 You know, maybe g maybe Gosling one day. You know what we did here though? What I liked that we did is that we did, usually what was one of my least favorite things is when we had limited time, seven to nine minutes on the radio show, but we talked golf. We talked about, how's your, how's your swing?
Starting point is 01:04:58 Hit them straight. And then I would just look at Scott and go like, come on. Like we just wasted a question. And Scott's so much nicer than I am. And he's a massager of the interview, especially when I was young. Yeah, but you're way better. No, but I was young and abrasive.
Starting point is 01:05:14 No, but you also were very educational for me because you taught lead with the fun. Start with the fun. Because we inevitably eight minutes into our seven minute interview, you'd ask the fun question. Start with the fun, because we inevitably eight minutes into our seven minute interview, you'd ask the fun question, then we'd have great stuff going. And then me, the worst,
Starting point is 01:05:32 just saying goodbye or to anyone at the interview. Then we reach 14, and I'd still be not just milking the bit, I'd be beating it to death and can't say goodbye. So, you know, these are things that hopefully, hopefully I've shed those over time, but you had to live with them and I apologize for that. I see big things years 25 to 30. I'm hoping man, fingers crossed.
Starting point is 01:05:56 I think you're getting better every night. I watch, I go, he's finally getting it. He's finally getting there. Every now and then I have a good segment, but that's, you know, just trying to have have a good and then obviously you want to tease better because that's the that's that's that's really important. You are the best man. No you're the best. If we do this if we do this when we're a hundred we'll still we'll still have that one little pebble in the shoe that pissed us off that will make sure we air it out just
Starting point is 01:06:24 just for us right? Yeah I I didn't even think we were doing it that much I think we know I don't think so either I think we're better but no you really are the best it's it's appointment watching in a in an industry where that doesn't happen a lot anymore and all the studio stuff you guys do after the biggest events it's like the go-to and you Steve and everybody that works on the show, keep doing everything you're doing, because it's hard to stand out right now the way you guys do.
Starting point is 01:06:53 So, appreciate it. Likewise, I appreciate that a lot. And as we've said, every time at the end, I'm thrilled for everything that has gone as great as it has. And one of these times, I'm to threaten you with a good time. I'm going to show up in your neighborhood and we'll see the new spot and we'll go by that, whatever that place is in the neighborhood, which was just the best. What's it called? Are we allowed to talk about it?
Starting point is 01:07:16 What the 900 club? That place. Yeah. I want to go there again. Well you got the VIP access and not everybody gets that. I don't even get it. And that was a night where Scott was just like, are you serious with this? Like, is this what goes on in this mild mannered surf city
Starting point is 01:07:36 neighborhood, village? And I was like, some nights, some nights it does. So the podcast is out, which days? Get that promo in there for you and Steve. Okay. It's SB pod. I don't know. We tape it on Mondays and then- Great promo. I don't know. It's fucking nailed it.
Starting point is 01:07:54 I need to do a better job of making it some thing that matters, but it does matter. And we're, again, I appreciate the help. But SB pod, me and Steve tape, tape, tape stuff on Mondays, it's going to be summertime. It'll be sporadic. I'm sure. But then football, we're actually hoping to do something. Um, and maybe it could, it could end up being like a late night, Saturday night, early morning Sunday thing, just to kind of do a deep dive of, cause everybody's going to do the Monday of the NFL. So like, who's doing that instant reacts to what happens between whomever. So hopefully that's going to be able to happen.
Starting point is 01:08:27 We'll have a better idea of it then. I'll come on and do a better job promoting it then. Yeah. All right. Well, sounds good. And I see you've got your chicken box shirt on from Rocky. Shout to Packy. Oh, or Packy. So maybe, maybe we'll see on the East coast this summer. I miss you, man. Talk to you soon.
Starting point is 01:08:45 Appreciate you, brother. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid.
Starting point is 01:09:06 So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Shout out to Kyle joining us up late last night, right? Taping with Bill and his dad. Yeah, it's finally over. We're gonna start recording normal times. It's the best time of the year. Sorty is here as well. What's up? I think just update the folks, take a victory lap. I think I did win our playoff draft 25-17. So shout out to the Mavs for making the finals.
Starting point is 01:09:31 Helped me out a lot. Oh, okay. Way to start. Hey, you gotta take the Ws when you get them, you know? I'll take it. What was my record? I had 25 points, you had 17. So I think that's the way. Oh, 25 to 17.
Starting point is 01:09:44 Yeah. Yeah. So you actually smoked me there at the end. Why, because you had the Mavs? Yeah, the Mavs just carried me throughout the whole, Mav and the Pacers helped me out a lot too. You know what, I like that. I like the way we did that though. I can't wait to do it next year.
Starting point is 01:09:55 Pretty excited. I'm already excited, already doing some prep. You guys wanna hear a good story about your boy before the game last night? Always. Before we get started? Okay, so I had a friend who I brought to the finals a couple of years ago and he goes, if they go to the finals, I'm bringing you.
Starting point is 01:10:12 So I was like, all right, no problem. Um, so I went with him on his ticket and we had, uh, we were, they were awesome seats, 18 rows up, but we were right at center court. So really good spot. And he was flying down from Vermont with his group and I was already in Boston. So he's like, look, I don't think I can make dinner and the whole deal and let's just meet there.
Starting point is 01:10:36 I was like, no problem. And I also knew even if they won, I was like, I can't really go out tonight because I got stuff to do all day tomorrow or whatever. And so I don't know if it's going to be one of those nights. And he was like, I don't care. It doesn't matter. It's about the banner.
Starting point is 01:10:48 It's about the banner. I was like, yeah, yeah, okay, no problem. So he sends me my ticket and I'm like, I'm just going to go over now and I'll just go into the arena or whatever. But I didn't have like a pass to walk around. I was like, I'll just hang out. So I get there probably like 50 minutes before tip and he says he's still like 20, 30 minutes out. So I'm like, I don't want to just sit in my seat because I'm going to be in this
Starting point is 01:11:09 thing for like three hours tonight. I was like, let me see if I go down to the Putnam club because I'll either know someone or there might be some kind of thing I can scan on this. Cause he was saying like, Hey, there's a thing that we have on our ticket that can be scanned so we can go to that thing at halftime, but he was talking about something entirely different. So I just assumed it's like most arenas, you just have this kind of halftime hangout thing
Starting point is 01:11:30 where you have to have some kind of pass to get in. But in the past, it usually hasn't been an issue. All right. So I'm walking around the concourse and I go to one of the security guys. He goes like, Hey, what's the best way for me to get down there? He's like, well, the elevator is a mess and you have to go all the way.
Starting point is 01:11:45 He goes, you really just take the stairs, dude. And I was like, the stairs? He's like, yeah, just take the stairs. You'll be fine. I was like, okay, but usually the way the stairs work is like you can't open the doors from the stairwell. So I was like, all right, thinking like, okay, what's the worst that could happen? So I go out of the concourse I go down the stairs I go to the level below that I need to get to and I go to turn the door and it's locked Sounds like all right That's not good
Starting point is 01:12:18 So they go down one more level and I'm like if you walk out here You're filtered right back in to the front area where the people haven't had their tickets scanned and your ticket has already been scanned. So I was like, well, I can't go back up the stairs now. So how bad is this going to be? It's one of those moments. Like, is this going to be one of these all time awful stories? It's like, well, I'm not quite there yet.
Starting point is 01:12:44 Go up to the ticket lady, she scans it, says the tickets are already been used. She looks at me and I go, hey, look. I'm like, this is exactly what happened. She's like, this is so beyond me. She's like, I have to get somebody from security. And I'm hoping in Boston. And that guy's really busy right now.
Starting point is 01:13:00 Yeah, but I'm still hoping like 50, 50 chance. Like I don't usually play that card very often, but I'm thinking Of all places. Yeah, like if it's in the garden, it's a security guard my age Least I'll kind of understand like alright. Yeah, it makes sense and a dude comes over and I explain it to him He's just looking at me. He's like really man The clinchy game of the finals and you just you're to tell me that you already came in fucking around in staircases. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, look, he, this is what the guy told me.
Starting point is 01:13:30 And I kind of knew it was bad advice immediately. I figured like maybe somebody would open the door, but nobody opened the door. So yeah, that's exactly what happened. And I was like, you know, I did TV here for the Celtics for a long time. Like, you just had to, I fucking, you guys can make fun of me all you want. What do you think I was gonna turn around? Well, guess I'm not going.
Starting point is 01:13:52 Damn. Yeah. Because there were still a couple calls that could have been made and would have been made to be like, hey, I fucked up, but you gotta help me out here. So the guy looks at me just dead pants. It's like, I have no idea who you are.
Starting point is 01:14:04 That's irrelevant to me. And I was like, all right, good stuff. It's Google on your phone. Yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't going to go there. No, I, I used to have hair shaved it and I looked to the side. So, uh, he's like, I gotta grab my supervisor and the guys like, tell me exactly what you did. And I went, this is what I did.
Starting point is 01:14:22 This is when I came in. I go, this is the email of the original ticket. Okay. And this is what I did. This is when I came in. I go, this is the email of the original ticket. Okay. And this is what happened. And then he went back and then he comes back again. He goes, did you go, he goes, which direction when you came up the stairs and your ticket was scanned, which direction did you go? And I was like, I took a right.
Starting point is 01:14:41 He goes, yep. I was like, wait, I kind of have like a 50, 50 chance on that. Right. He's like, yeah, you're fine. I was like, wait, I kind of have like a 50-50 chance on that. Right, that's a coin flip. Yeah, yeah. He's like, yeah, you're fine. So go up, tell my friend. He's like, what were you gonna do? I was like, start texting a couple people.
Starting point is 01:14:53 This is what I was gonna do. But I don't wanna say I almost missed game five last night, but there was this fleeting moment of, did you really just fucking do this? Isn't it funny when you do so? Like, you just know something is a terrible idea and you're like, I don't know, I kind? Isn't it funny when you do, like you just know something is a terrible idea and you're like, I don't know, I kind of don't have any other options right now.
Starting point is 01:15:09 And then you're like, yeah, I could just easily not done that and avoided all this bullshit, but I just did it even though I knew it was a bad idea. I take it bad advice. And those, it's those people, like they've got no accountability. It's not like you're in a Walmart asking somebody where the bathroom is like, you're going to find that guy be like,
Starting point is 01:15:22 Hey, that wasn't the bathroom at all. What the heck was that? But he's one person in a stadium of 50,000 people and he's like, oh yeah, that way. Like there's no accountability for those people. They know it's just, there's too many people for them, they can just say whatever they want. So directions and stadiums, I agree.
Starting point is 01:15:38 We should be doing better. Yeah, I shouldn't have listened, but I also shouldn't have put myself in that situation. The guy had a shirt on and he told you to do something, right? I mean, that's what we're taught. Listen to the people that seem like they know what they're talking about. See something, say something. Anybody in a staff shirt, they can tell me anything.
Starting point is 01:15:57 I'll do the, all right, sure. Yeah, exactly. What you want to do is go to the 300s and then you jump down into section 12. Don't worry about it. It can be a really funny skit, just like dudes impersonating staff people at events and just telling people to do the dumbest shit ever. I was thinking about it because I wouldn't, I'm not somebody that is narcissistic enough to feel like they have to share every fucking moment of their life and update everyone on it.
Starting point is 01:16:20 Where it's like, oh my God, you have no idea what I just did. First of all, it's sort of embarrassing. So why would I be like, hey, let me- 10 part Instagram story of your journeys. So this is the second supervisor and he told me he's coming back. Like I'm freaking out. Does that sound like someone? You know, but I would never post anything like that.
Starting point is 01:16:42 But then I thought about the people that do post stuff like that. And I would like imagine how that plays out. Like you guys have seen the car accident one, right? Well, the guy is in a car and he gets rammed by a huge Dodge truck with a big grill brush guard on the front. And immediately after he posts like, Hey, there's a camera footage of this person. They ran me off the road because I thought I was going too slow. It. 75, 80% of the replies were blaming the person in the car that
Starting point is 01:17:09 got rear-ended. I love that. Yeah. So I would never share only knowing that it'd be like, well, you shouldn't have done that. Or you should have been the security guards are only making this much and how dare you, whatever. I'm like, I didn't even get mad at him. We're talking salaries. Yeah. Yeah. But that's, that's, that's, and I, I made sure like, I didn't even get mad at him. We're talking salaries. Yeah, yeah, but that's, that's, that's what it was. And I, I made sure like, I wasn't going to get mad. It was my mistake, but I wasn't going to just go across the street to the harp and text my buddy being like, my bad seat 1130.
Starting point is 01:17:37 You just want it to be true. You know, like you wanted that it to be that easy for you to get to the thing. Like I think the second to last time I went to crypto, they'd done away with the smoking area, but I asked a guy, cooler, younger security guy, he's like, oh yeah, go up there right now. I go out there, there's just signs everywhere. There's no more, you know, smokers, whatever those receptacles. And I'm like, that one guy told me I wanted to be true. And then it's like a fucking three alarm fire all of a sudden. They're like, you can't be
Starting point is 01:18:02 out here doing that. And it's like, well, the one guy told me and they're like, we don't care. I don't know who you're talking about. I wanted it to be true, but I knew it was a bad idea. Yeah, what's like the job rating for those types of things? Cause like, you don't have to be right when you're talking to patrons. Like, is your boss gonna be like,
Starting point is 01:18:18 you screwed up like five or six times this week. And it's like, nobody cares. There's no like accountability in that whatsoever. You can give 10 straight people bad directions and it won't matter. Yeah. I ultimately, I should have known better. I've been in that building enough times to know.
Starting point is 01:18:33 Well you knew, you knew, deep down you knew, yeah. I don't know what. This was a subconscious thing. Because he was saying specific, he was like go to this section and off of that staircase. So I was like okay maybe there's some hack where that staircase in particular, you can go. And then the other ones close behind you,
Starting point is 01:18:50 like every other arena that any of us have ever been to, but whatever, not worked out. Not a big deal. Yep. Banner 18. Okay, let's go. We get somebody get dumped. All right, here's go. We get somebody get dumped. All right, here we go.
Starting point is 01:19:08 25 fan of the podcast and listening since 2019 stats six foot two 30 aspiring to get swole one plate squat and bench. You get those numbers up bro, two 30, but gaining weight in the wrong places. I'm a huge Georgia fan, went there late teens. My ex-girlfriend and I met in computer science class we had back in 2019 when I was finishing my sophomore year.
Starting point is 01:19:34 My 26 year old girlfriend of five years recently broke up with me and I'm heartbroken. Been in serious relationships since college. She moved to my hometown to work her first job out of school. Unfortunately, over the last year we had grown apart. We were no longer compatible like we were in college. She moved to my hometown to work her first job out of school. Unfortunately, over the last year, we'd grown apart. We were no longer compatible like we were in college. We were beginning to look for leases and move in together. For the first time, we decided it's better to separate
Starting point is 01:19:51 than continuing to stay together. When it hasn't worked out over the last year, until I dated her, I had not been in a relationship that lasted more than six months, so I'm devastated. She was my first real love, and I thought I'd marry her and see the world together. As a 25-year-old man who lives with his parents in his hometown, how do you move on and get back into the dating scene?
Starting point is 01:20:08 I live in middle Georgia and have a career in software engineering. I've been waiting to relocate to Atlanta within the company since I took a job a year ago. Transferring is not difficult according to my boss since we're just a small company and fairly flexible. I still want to stay home for several more months to continue to save aggressively and finish up my current projects I'm obviously heartbroken since it's been less than 24 hours since I do you sent this email a day within a day after
Starting point is 01:20:32 Yeah, you're a fucking disaster. Sorry But your phrase I'd rather be lonely than annoyed rings in my head. Oh, no I'm not trying to build any kind of army that buys That's honestly the worst advice. That's a very specific type of person. Brian's just a dude in his state who's giving advice. Just telling any of you guys that are really buying into that whole premise of how I see my life and trying to apply it to your future. Next time you go to a pizza parlor and there's a guy sitting at the bar by himself, 78 asked him to turn up the Orioles game.
Starting point is 01:21:08 Right. Look at that. Stare that down and say, is that what you want to sign up for? And then he's sitting there talking to the bartender like, Oh, I think their pulpins pretty good. We'll see you next Tuesday. You got onion rings. Try not to eat them often, but so good. All right.
Starting point is 01:21:28 Um, I can live with my parents until I'm ready to move out as I've been living with them since I graduated college in 21, but I'm definitely ready to get out of the house and head to the big city for better jobs and opportunities. Do you have any advice or suggestions or moving on and getting back on your feet after what feels like my own version of 2002? Wow. This guy is super locked in. All right. Yeah. Look, uh, I don't know. I've got the two bad breakups.
Starting point is 01:21:50 They were both bad for different reasons, vastly different reasons. Um, the first one really hurts in a way that you're never ever prepared for. It just sucks, man. It's like, Oh my God. So this is what's happening. You, this is the first time it's ever happened to you. So the first time it hurts, like you don't have anything else to compare it to. So first of all, you're gonna get through it. It doesn't feel that way right now. You are gonna get through it.
Starting point is 01:22:11 Some people move on really fast. Other people hang on to things a lot longer. I think what I like from what you're saying is you are already kind of planning the next phase of your life to try to get yourself out of what will probably be a long run. The best thing you can do is start dating somebody.
Starting point is 01:22:32 All right? And even if that's unhealthy and the relationship isn't all that great and it's some kind of rebound, it's something, and it can even feel selfish, but it's not like it hasn't been done to us as well. But you need to put yourself in a position to allow yourself to be in the mix with other people because sitting at home at your parents place long term, there's not going to be anything that disrupts your routine and you're not
Starting point is 01:22:54 going to be super desirable. Even though I like your frame when you're going out like you have to work on you being somebody desirable for the next relationship that you're going out like you have to work on you being somebody desirable for the next relationship that you're going to have. Um, you know, some people need like all the space and I've got to work on me first and all that kind of stuff. Like, sure, fine. If that's the way it works for you.
Starting point is 01:23:16 But I think most often, like it's just hard for you to accept, okay, this is over. I need to start dating somebody immediately that there's probably someone listening right now going, that's terrible advice. But I'm just telling you every day that I wasted not wanting to be with anybody else because I was heartbroken is not a day that I was like, great use of time. All right.
Starting point is 01:23:38 I've never thought and be like, it's really cool how you prolonged your misery there for a year. That was fucking awesome, man. Great use of a year. We only get so many of these. Great self-reflection, yeah. Now, it was impossible to talk me out of that state of mind at that time because I was a fucking loser,
Starting point is 01:23:56 couldn't rub two 20s together, and the girl that I thought I was gonna marry was now dating a guy in the mix, and I wasn't getting invited on any weddings or any other shit on top of everybody else. And then people were like, don't come back to town for a while. I'm just like, Oh my god. What do you mean I live here? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:24:11 Yeah. And then it's like, how's Ryan doing? Do you talk to him? I heard he's living in a cottage doing this, the shingles and his truck didn't pass inspection. Okay. So there, there wasn't a lot of awesome updates from your boy on that one. But what I wish I had done is just said, hey, I don't have a lot to offer right now, but at least I got my own pad and I'm on fucking Martha's Vineyard, so why don't you just bat some eyes at the hostess?
Starting point is 01:24:37 Go to a fucking movie, grab a little picnic. You're good at making sandwiches, some arugula, a baguette, dry turkey, not this oily shit that we get at some of these delis throw something together no mail maybe a nice italian dressing spread pre packed sandwiches go out to chill mark. Head up to squibby and just fucking do something man get out of the house stop thinking about it and does that mean you're using this other person? Not really, I just made fucking sandwiches. So. Who's using who? What do you think about it? Yeah, right, and they're good.
Starting point is 01:25:10 I'm good at making them, I don't know what to tell you. So you have to find a way to get to that point, and I know that it's really, really hard. I don't think I've ever had a bad breakup. I think I've always been the break-upper. I would just have said. Oh, a heartbreaker. Heartbreaker, geez. The worst one I think I've ever had a bad breakup. I think I've always been the breaker upper. I would just have said, heartbreak, the worst one I think I found, she had become a drug addict and was stealing from me.
Starting point is 01:25:31 But that was like Academy street guy. That was a long time ago. But even then I was like, I guess I'm betrayed, but that still doesn't really count as like me getting dumped was way easier to move on. But so I really don't have advice for that. What I would have said is just kind of what Ryan said is just to go do something and that's easier said than done. But I guess the good news is you're better than you were when you sent this email
Starting point is 01:25:54 because it was that fucking point of impact that you sent this email. So did you know she was a junkie or a thief first? It was tough. It was tough. It was kind of like, it's kind of like two, two horses coming after the turn. I didn't know which one. It was kind of at the same time. It was just like, oh, that's where my fucking shit has been going. And I was like, Oh, this is dealing with it. Well, obviously we're broken up, right? And she's like, what? Like, yeah, obviously, it was just like cash. You know, I was working those two jobs living on, you know, in an apartment after I got kicked out of college for that one year. And it was like a girl that I was like a cool girl in high school. And I was like, fuck, this is like,
Starting point is 01:26:33 now I'm the cool guy. I've got a crib. Let's go. And then it was just like, you know, the money from the cigar box was like light. And I'm like, is it because we got too many friends here? I like all these guys. And then it found out was her that sucks. Yeah. Yeah Well, the good news is the guy's young and he's about to move to a big city So I kind of feel like I know it's again as you said Ryan like it's easy for us to say as older guys I've kind of been through this But you know if you were stuck in your small town with the job you have and maybe you weren't happy with how things were Going but like it does sound like there's like some sort of like change You know if you were stuck in your small town with the job you have and maybe you weren't happy with how things were going
Starting point is 01:27:05 But like it does sound like there's like some sort of like change It's going to happen at some point in your life and that's awesome because that's what you need You need to change you need and then once you get them you who knows How long are you in this town that you're in before you move like if it's like a year don't just like wallow in self-pity For a year, but you know you could take some time If it's a couple of months be bummed out and then just be a new guy when you go to Atlanta whenever you make that transfer. So I kind of feel like naturally your life has sort of carved out a good path for you to sort of get over this and start meeting new people in a new place in a fun city.
Starting point is 01:27:34 So it might suck now. Sometimes it also feels good to just be shitty and just be sad for a while. Like I remember, you know, my first girl that I was really into and dated forever in high school, like you kind of like you start listening to sad songs and you just you're just like in that mood. You don't want to get out of that mood, you know, and you just make it a Van Morrison mixtape. Yeah, what the fuck? This is where I went to that big John Mayer phase. I got into John Mayer because I'm like, man, this guy is like really singing to me right now.
Starting point is 01:28:00 And but the good news is like there is some sort of natural ending to that. So I would say, you know, do your thing for a while, but definitely push for that Atlanta move because that's going to, that's kind of going to change your vibes and appreciate the, whatever dudes you have that are still in this town. Right. I mean, you're going to maybe, maybe you haven't even spent as much time as you'd like to, maybe you can use this as an excuse to like reconnect and rekindling of the dudes and you have this finite timeline
Starting point is 01:28:28 where you're gonna be out soon anyway. So, I mean, it's not like you're moving states or whatever, but maybe that's another thing you can lean on and just be like, hey, I really feel like we should connect or rekindle like you said. You guys wanna do anything this weekend. And then you have that, plus you know that, you know, your timeline is creeping towards moving to Atlanta as well. I think you got stuff that you could
Starting point is 01:28:46 focus on. Yeah I actually think there's a ton of positives in this email okay because you this is not and I know the South can be a little bit different and I just believe that but the reality is this is your first real one so you don't know anything else you can't even think about other options and you're 25 and the world is going to be full of options and you are, I promise you, you are going to think back at this moment when you meet the next person and you're going to go, Oh my God, you know, whether you weren't ready now or she wasn't ready, you just said it wasn't going well.
Starting point is 01:29:20 So then it wasn't going well for a year, but then you're like, Hey, let's get a place together. Well, guess what was probably not going to happen. It probably wasn't going well for a year, but then you're like, Hey, let's get a place together. Well, guess what was probably not going to happen? It probably wasn't going to go better if it wasn't going well for a year, year five, and then you were going to move in together and now everything's going to be sick. I don't know. Maybe I mean, unless the stress was based on you not having a place to live together, but it sounds like there was other stuff.
Starting point is 01:29:40 And even within 24 hours of this all happening in you writing this email, you're already talking about plants, like Saruti pointed out. The best part of the email is that you're already allowing yourself to think about, okay, what's the next move? Be motivated by it. I can get to two plates on each side. All right? There you go. I remember just thinking about the new guy with every tricep pulldown. That went on for years. I was going to be like, motherfucker. He's PRing every day. Yeah. Like, all right, you know, who does eight reps? I'll do nine. So I think there's a lot of positives in here. And then who knows? There's always the, you never know about this one, but the U-turn of life where you'd be like, oh, there's so much pressure and I didn't really know what to do.
Starting point is 01:30:26 And I was at this stage of my life and I wasn't really thinking clearly like, let's get back together. But what you can't do if you want to get back together with her is unfortunately, because we're all fucked up, you can't tell her that you desperately want to get back together with her. You have to like chill out. You got to do so well in this time and not say a word to her. That's how it works.
Starting point is 01:30:45 Yeah, there's a good chance that you go to Atlanta, things are going well. She sees your Instagram stories and maybe she, she reaches out, which is not a good thing. I don't think you even want that at the point if you're having a good time there. So beware. Go one 85 for three posts. Okay. Uh, I think we got that one.
Starting point is 01:31:01 It is funny though, really quickly how, man, like when you break up with somebody, you just remember, or so when somebody breaks up with you, you really do just remember the good shit. You don't remember any of the bad stuff. He's a saint. And you're like, oh, it was so fun, but it's like the chains that really screws you up because like, oh, I had this routine,
Starting point is 01:31:17 but you just ignore all of these red flags because you're just kind of sad because you got dumped. But a lot of times, like, I don't know, this might not be the worst thing in the world for our guy. Yeah, that's why the forgetting Sarah Marshall thing I always had a problem. It's a great movie, but I just always had a problem with the premise. It's like, okay, so he gets dumped by this unbelievable catch, you know, cause she's on TV on top of also being really attractive. But then it's like,
Starting point is 01:31:39 okay, but now there's just a run on all these attractive girls that can't stop sleeping with them. Like he's having a much better time than from what I remember it being like. I know he's eating cereal a lot, but another eight's leaving his house. He didn't really do anything. It just sits around a lot. Let's get to another email. Should I have helped blind one here? 24 years old, 6'3", 220.
Starting point is 01:32:07 Wish more of it was muscle. Maybe you said some skeletal muscle goals, who knows? I was playing pickup basketball in my friend's backyard. Oh, so this one's even like, okay. He has a full court. We have a group of 15 or so guys. Oh, so this is a little bit more than just horse with your hammered uncle.
Starting point is 01:32:29 15 guys that play there a few times a week. I'm in the bottom half of impact and skill level, but I make smart passes and set off ball screens, hit open shots and rebound occasionally. Really on PO on our hands here. So two of the best players regarding each other tonight and the guy on the other team was cooking my teammate playing at 21.
Starting point is 01:32:45 He probably was scoring assisting on 15 points per game. Usually when he drives in my direction, I slide over to help. I guard the slowest non-shooting bigs that come to the run. So I figure it makes sense to shut up drives because I can recover to these non-shooters in time. Tonight in one of the last games, I slid over and helped. The kid I was guarding was over 300 pounds, was not making any shots.
Starting point is 01:33:02 The good player retreated, backed it out. My teammates start yelling at me, Tim, you need to get the fuck out of my way on these drives. That is not help. What was I supposed to do? Let someone blow by if we're casually on the perimeter, I'll go third man through, but this was a direct drive at me. Was he upset about losing or getting cooked by this guy?
Starting point is 01:33:20 I'm not a good defender, but this is not a high level enough run to be screamed at by a guy who didn't play organized ball growing up. Should I have helped? Um, I'm going to side with you on this one. It sounds like your boy was getting absolutely worked by the other guy. So he was just mad at the world the entire time. And that's what people do. It's like Luca yelling at the refs after something.
Starting point is 01:33:35 It's like a lot of players yelling at the refs where there's this immediate instinct of competitiveness, where you lose all rational thought in those moments. It has to be someone's fault, right? Yeah. I look, I've done it. Okay. I've done this. So, um, maybe not in health defense, but you understand the point.
Starting point is 01:33:55 Like, yeah, it's not anything I'd ever be proud of, but what your buddy is doing is he's yelling at you because he really wants to get himself. So he doesn't need to do that. It would have been nice if you just gave it right back to him. And based on the know your personnel, it sounds like you do know your personnel and if there's a 300 pounder out there who's not a threat from three. And maybe you weren't positioned perfectly. I don't need to see the video of it, but I think what this is, is a very clear
Starting point is 01:34:21 case of him being so mad about how the game was going, he was going to take it out on somebody else and you just happened to be the target. Yeah. He probably would have got a quick shut the fuck up for me, um, in a similar tone as, as was provided to me. That's probably where I would have left it unless it wanted to go anywhere else. But, um, yeah, I know what you're talking about.
Starting point is 01:34:38 I mean, I have those reactions like I could be considered clumsy, uh, just at times in my house. Dropping stuff, dropped a bottle of crystal hot sauce yesterday. So mad immediately. How'd it go? Give us a breakdown. Well, I got probably 80% of it up.
Starting point is 01:34:55 It was pretty late. It was after Bill's Pod. So I actually kind of shoved it in the corner with a bunch of paper towels. I'm gonna go handle that after this. But I was like, yeah, no, not my proudest moment. I got the big piece. Sounds like ants happen.
Starting point is 01:35:07 Yeah, I know. I'm going to handle it. But I think immediately I was just like, why was that there? And it's like, it doesn't matter why I was there. Why did you fucking knock it over? How about that? So that's just, even from little things, it can happen. What's the, I don't know, I feel like it doesn't sound like it's
Starting point is 01:35:23 a competitive enough level of basketball Like would you do this at the Y if somebody that's me at the Y I'd be pissed off and I think that's it That could be a pretty high competitive game depending on what it is I don't know I feel like if you're somebody's backyard even if it actually is five on five and you got 15 dudes and it's like You know, there's a hierarchy of people shouldn't be yelling out defensive rotations like that's that's just a dick move So I don't know if the guy's an asshole in general. I don't know if you're really that closer than whoever.
Starting point is 01:35:48 It probably doesn't matter. I don't think you have to say anything to him, but yeah, he's more mad at himself and he is at you. And, you know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't let this be a habit of people just yelling at you at basketball games. If you're, cause again, as we talked about, this really didn't seem like it was that much of your fault. So I don't know, probably it was just like kind of a one-off thing.
Starting point is 01:36:03 I just let it slide. Yeah. I think getting yelled at by a teammate in a basketball game, there's different stages of it. Like there's some that I think we all just know, like that's not where that should happen. I played for a men's league in Vermont where I was the only guy of the starting five that didn't play in college.
Starting point is 01:36:18 Semi-pro? Yeah, semi-pro, yeah, we traveled a little bit. Pretty nice, not a big deal. And there was a guy that I had a guard. I think his name is Matty Johnson. He's like a Vermont legend. He was like really, really good players older than me. And he was just one of these guys was like smooth saw the game a different way. It wasn't like he was just this awesome score. And the
Starting point is 01:36:40 other guys that I played with ended up becoming like coaches. Alright, so these guys were another level of like what I even understood about the game at that time. And I remember. Like he wasn't, the guy wasn't really shooting because he was just one of those really good players, just kind of control of everything, but he could still score whenever he wanted to, but he wasn't like really going at me. So I started thinking like, Oh, well, maybe I can cheat off of this guy a little
Starting point is 01:37:02 bit. And the second I cheated off of him, he threw a pass and like cut baseline, came back and then finished. And it was like a level of, he knew what he was doing the whole time. He read what I was starting to do through the first few possessions.
Starting point is 01:37:14 And then he was kind of like, this guy has no idea how good I actually am. And I'd heard about him, everybody told him he's like, he's fucking awesome and you're gonna have to guard him tonight. And when I left him and he scored the layup, the guy on my team calls time out and was like, you can't fucking leave.
Starting point is 01:37:29 And I was, I didn't love it, man. I didn't love it, but in that setting, he was right and all of those guys were better than me. And so I had to eat it. I had to take it. This sounds like more of the LeBron Mario Chalmers thing where he's just looking for somebody to blame though, for something that he might've done.
Starting point is 01:37:48 Yeah, yeah. Like Tristan Thompson's not my favorite, but when Tristan went back at LeBron, being like, stop yelling at us, like stop screaming at me. And then LeBron had like a realization, cause I think there was a respect Tristan, he's been around, same agency where LeBron,
Starting point is 01:38:04 it was like one of the few times I've ever seen LeBron after he mistakenly blamed somebody else for something, then kind of had an epiphany of like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have done that. But again, if LeBron's yelling at you in a pickup game, I think most of us would actually have to take it. Even if he was late on the road. I would be fine with that, yeah.
Starting point is 01:38:18 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, some people are right. Okay, good pod. I enjoyed today. This was a lot of fun thanks to wargon saruti and kyle check out our youtube channel on youtube and subscribe and ryan rusilla podcast and Must be 21 and older, 18 plus in DC, and present in select states.
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