The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Giannis Vs. Wemby, the Ravens' Biggest Threat With Willie Colon, Plus Michigan-Washington Picks With Stanford Steve

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Russillo starts the show by using last night’s game to compare Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo (1:00). Then, he’s joined by Willie Colon to discuss the best O-lines, threats in the AFC, and which low-seeded team he thinks can make some noise in the postseason (16:00) before welcoming in Stanford Steve to preview Monday’s national championship game (42:00). Plus, Life Advice! Is a guy screwing up the opening stages of every relationship (71:00)? The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out theringer.com/RG to find out more or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Stanford Steve and Willie Colon Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who wants to talk some NBA? I do, after the Bucs win against San Antonio. But it's not really about the result of the game. It's about the two main events. A little bit on the Nuggets. We've got Stanford Steve with his preview of the National Championship game. Willie Colon, O-line play. Can anyone challenge the Ravens in the mindset of going into the final week of the season?

Life advice and more. Enjoy. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine? That's no. A bottle of wine? yeah. And a snow day, again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping, total yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats.

Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. I want to start this show with honesty today last night i looked at the schedule i go hey man there's only two games tonight milwaukee san antonio probably blow them out denver not quite peak denver never know with golden state but is this really going to teach anything tonight and so i was like you know what i might go out play a little night golf they even get a nice chicken parm at slay. And then if I have to, something happened, I can go back and watch him or I can just catch the fourth quarters if I feel guilty. whatever jokes you want. I was like, why don't I just kind of have it on in the background and then I'll start typing away. Well, 30 minutes of watching Giannis and Wemba Nyama happened. And I looked at the computer. I was like, you haven't typed one fucking word. I was

like, you're not getting anything done because this is one of those regular season games that matters. This is one of those games that you're going to want to watch because it felt a little bit, not, you know, epic history. There's not going to be a museum about last night's game, but it did matter. I'm going to tell you why. I kept, I couldn't stop watching and I hope you felt the same way. It's why you buy league pass, right? It's why you take the notes. It's why you lift all those weights. Wimbanyama is on a minutes restriction around 24 minutes. I think he got to 26 last night. Peak Popovich probably sits him knowing it's a TNT game and everybody's looking forward to watching him. He's like, ah, just fuck with everybody and sit him. But Pop is, I don't know

if he's more likable in the sideline reporter stuff. It was funny when he yelled at everybody to be quiet. That's not who we are. Almost no one liked that. Very rarely do we get everybody to agree that we either like something or dislike something. And it felt like people disliked that. So maybe he's a little bit more playful and enjoyable and going, hey, I will give. The country wants one Benyama.

I will give it to him. The country wants Wimbanyama. I will give it to them. But we got a game last night where I believe there'll be footage from this game playing 10 years from now. Wimbanyama likely makes multiple all-star teams. Giannis will be 39. He'll be on the Lakers. Thanasis will be 41, and he'll also be on the Lakers.

But I liked, let me just say, I love that TNT put the side-by-side of Giannis as a rookie next to Wimbanyama right now. That's what it felt like because Giannis wasn't as freakishly gifted size-wise and certainly not nearly the basketball player when he started his career as Wim Benyam is to start his. But Giannis ultimately kind of became the impossible. And I think that's what we're all hoping for with Victor. I mean, it's a pretty ridiculous threshold that you have to pass through to be like, yep, you provide us the impossible and you deliver with all of these expectations. Because for Giannis, clearly there weren't even anything close to the expectations when he was coming in he was picked 15th if you watch the footage of it you're like I don't really know what to make of this guy like the competition is terrible he's not really that good of a basketball player his first season his PER was 10

you know I used to think he was like a really cool vine, but if you watch the full games, I'm like, I don't, I don't know where this is going. Um, his first year he played 25 minutes per game. You know, the efficiency stuff for a lot of these young players always stinks, but he was seven points, four boards and two assists. He was actually playing a decent amount. rear high 35% from three on one and a half attempts per game. That did not hold up, but you thought maybe, you know, he's going to figure out this kind of three and D wing guy who plays some defense and hits threes at like a 30 something percent clip. You're like, or he's going to add 50 pounds of muscle, grow another four, whatever inches, maybe more, um, become a much worse shooter. And you just kind of can't really do anything with him because of physically how imposing he is. His second year, he played 31 minutes a game, 13-7-3. Third year was kind of the first jump and the first sign, and then the fourth year at 22 years old for Giannis, it was on. And a lot of it had to do with his size. But the most important thing, the most impossible thing to predict, as I say this all the time, we talk about quarterbacks, we talk about the the NBA draft and I'm never going to change this. I don't know that it's ever going

to be solved. It is the unsolvable problem. You don't really know what's in a person. You don't really know what a person is made of. Maybe if you're the parent, you probably have a good idea, but a lot of parents aren't GMs drafting their kids. And that's what you're trying to find a way into. And with Giannis, what you can't understand when you're watching this teenager run around in this low-level basketball at a much smaller size, you're like, will this guy want it? Now we can get to his upbringing and his background and be like, how could you not think that that guy was going to be motivated? Well, does that mean everybody with that profile is motivated in their entire life?

Of course not. It'd be an insane assumption to make. But one of my favorite things about Giannis, and we saw it throughout the game last night, is he wants it. He wants it as much as anybody in the NBA today, and that's a big part of his success. So when you look at the top five picks from Giannis' draft class, I think Giannis is now at like 17,000 points. The top five picks combined for 18,000. He is everything you'd want a guy to be, not necessarily in skill set. We'd like a little bit more polish here and there. There are times where I've been frustrated with just, oh, he gets to bully everybody and all that. But at least when I know he laces them up, takes center court. That guy is ready. So that brings us back to Wim Binyama because

his personality seems to give us hints. And I'm not saying that he's going to be Giannis, who Giannis at times looks like a guy who's been dumped and then sees his ex-girlfriend show up to a place and then loses his mind. That's how he plays basketball. The buddy's like, hey, you need to chill out a little bit. And he's like, I will not chill out. I will not chill out. And I'm not saying Victor is that guy. But there are, as we saw last night, glimpses that he's up for it. He's up for all this hype. The way he looks at the crowd, the way that he competes.

And I think the most important thing with big guys is it isn't just that Wimbanyama has this incredible skill that we've never seen in a body package this way. It's that he really cares. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions here, not even halfway through his rookie season, but that's what I felt like last night. That's why I thought last night was special, that he knew that since he was going up against Giannis, that it had to matter to him and that he wanted to get back into the game and that he wanted to keep competing. And hell, it was a close game. They gave out a line at one point where they were like, it started minus 11. Now it's only minus five and a half. And I think the game itself was only like a three-point game. And I was like, man, Milwaukee's probably going to run away with this thing late. That's at least how I felt. And that's not what happened. It went down to the very last few possessions. GMs will tell you this. You always

have to worry about big guys. You have to worry about whether or not they truly love the game. You have to worry if they kind of like the game. Forget love. Do you like it? Because when you're this big your whole life, everybody's telling you to play basketball. You don't grow up necessarily being like, I love this sport. I want to do it. Little guys do. That's why they play like T.J. McConnell at times. He's like, everybody told me to not do this. But with the tall dudes, the especially tall dudes, the rarities, I'll be like, hey, what happened with that guy? That guy doesn't really like basketball that much. I don't have any of those issues. I don't have any of those concerns with Wambanyama at all,

because I think we'd see a different version of him. And that's what I loved about last night. My favorite play is 124, 121. Um, Giannis bumps Wimbledon, which is going to be fun for anybody, especially when somebody isn't full man size yet, bumps them, gets them underneath the rim and then goes up to finish because that's the thing I love about Giannis. He is going to attack you no matter what. He looks forward to it. If he were a fighter, he's the guy that's like, yeah, he isn't just trained. He actually likes to do this shit. Giannis goes up and gets blocked. And there is a moment where I felt like Giannis was like, I can't believe he got me because he moves Weminyama's body back. He's underneath the rim. And yet with his freakishly long reach generational stuff here, he's able to reach back up and

block the shot. The way that block played out, I think he's the only person in the world that could even do that to Giannis. So I don't care about San Antonio's record. I don't care about the shooting percentages right now. As I'm evaluating it week to week and he comes up, I'll be like, yeah, there's going to be some ugly shooting nights. I don't love all the decisions. I'd love to see more point guard play with him. Imagine having like a better lob passer with Wim Benyama because they just still

don't really do a lot of stuff with him. You know, I like Vll's scoring. I like the Sohans just out there and not the point guard role. I don't understand. Maybe I like Kelvin Johnson too much. I don't know. But the team isn't very good, but that's not the point. Because the number one concern for you, if you were a Spurs fan, if you're on the staff, is that, A, we know what the tape looks like. We know how special he could be. We know all the hype, but I thought last night was a real moment for him on top of other moments that were less, I guess you wouldn't say attended, but less on the radar of the national NBA public, right? It was just like, man, this thing's going to be really good. I don't know what that means. I

don't know if it means guaranteed rings. I don't know what it means if it's a Hall of Fame, all that kind of stuff. But his personality in that game is just an awesome sign. That's what this season's about, knowing that Wimbanyama is an absolute win of a guy to build around. That will be the reward for this season, not whatever their record ends up being. A quick aside. Yes, I saw Jokic's three against the Warriors. Unbelievable comeback by Denver, who, after a really hot start, had some weird kind of middling numbers. Yeah, I know guys have been in and out of the lineup, but they still deserve the benefit of the doubt. Down 18 late.

Golden State's now played in 27 clutch games more than any other team in the NBA this year. They're 13 and 14. Atlanta's played the second most, I believe, at 25. For comparison to the other end of it, Minnesota and the Sixers have played 12 and Minnesota's played 13 clutch games. Sixers played 12. So something came up again last night because there seems to be some rule, and I'm going to say fuck, sorry, in advance. There seems to be some rule on every national broadcast where you have to talk about Jamal Murray being a fucking all-star snub last year.

I'm going to help everybody on this. He wasn't a snub. Now, what we do when we talk about snubs is we always remember after stuff, and we never remember the before stuff. Because if you're going like, wait, Jamal Murray's never made an all-star team? How did that happen? That guy's awesome because he is awesome. How does a guy that went for, what, 26-6-7 on 40% shooting from three

in the playoffs last year, who won a ring, who was the second most important player on a title team, how does that guy not make an all-star team? How does a guy who had 23 points in the fourth quarter of game two against the Lakers, how does that guy not make an all-star team? And then everybody just keeps repeating it and they're like, yeah, that's ridiculous. Are they out to get him? Is there a conspiracy? Are there any YouTube videos that Aaron Rodgers could send me that would help me better understand this conspiracy about Jamal Murray not making an All-Star team? Well, there aren't any of those videos because it's not a conspiracy, but everybody keeps repeating it over and over again.

Let's revisit history here. He missed all of 21-22 with an injury. That hurts your momentum going into the next year. You are off the radar in a way that's not fair, but it's just what happens. He, last year before the voting closed, I believe on January 21st of 23, had played in 39 games, so decent enough. But he got off to a really slow start. I think even the staunchest Nuggets fan and Murray supporter would have to

agree in the beginning, he was working himself back from this injury. It didn't always look great. In October, 14 points a game. Shooting, man, it's all right. November was a little bit better, 20 a game, four and six. Shooting got a little bit better. December took another kind of dip there, 19, four and seven, 33% from three. He crushed it actually after the voting closed in late January. Look at that stretch of the last five or six games. He's like, okay, he's starting to go off. And guess what? It all worked. It was great. He won a title and he was awesome. But if you look specifically to when the voting window was open and then when it closed, how he looked at the beginning of the

year, those first impression games in October October that can be incredibly unfair because everybody's kind of watching everybody and going, oh, what's this look like? And you might not, if you're just a casual, not an insult, but just a reality, not watching that same player again until the playoffs, or maybe you check in on a Thursday night TNT or Saturday ABC game, like you get the point, right? So let's compare him to the rest of the Westfield at guard. Was he going to get in over SGA, who was 31-5-6 before the All-Star game? Ja, who was 27-6-8. De'Aaron Fox, who was an injury replacement at 25-4-6. Anthony Edwards, we were like, well, he's a little bit better than Ant.

Ant was lighting it up last year. 25-6, 4.5 pre-All-Star break, 46% from the floor, 36% from three. Lillard was 31-4-7 on 47-37 splits. There's Luka. Steph I don't even need to bring up because then he was an injury replacement for you and he'd played in 38 games. Murray was 24-6. The shooting numbers were pretty good.

The splits were good. But it's just not the same stats. And if you're saying, hey, you're just hammering me with scoring stats, welcome to all-star voting. It may have seemed unfair because of where they were at seed-wise, but it's a pretty easy explanation. The good news is after that finals run, after the 23 and the fourth quarter against the Lakers, everybody being more aware of it, that he's probably going to get his way here. And he deserves it because he's really, really good. But it's a deep field in the West at guard. And yet it's repeated as if

it's this massive error that happened last year, when in reality, it wasn't. massive error that happened last year, when in reality, it wasn't. The College Football National Championship is here, and you can bet on everything with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook right now. New customers get $150 in bonus bets, guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. I am taking Washington as of today, plus four and a half.

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Big Willie style. Willie Colon with us from FS1, Craig Carton Show, and also Jets coverage on SNY. What's up, man? What's up, man? Happy New Year. Merry Christmas. I know we haven't talked since then, so happy holidays. I know there's usually a rule two days after New Year's you don't say Happy New Year, but I feel like I want you to have the best success in the New Year, so I'm going to, in my own mind, grant you that new success there's no rules with friends i like that if that's the motto here's the deal it's week 18 now uh back in the day it was a week 17 thing and football's a

dangerous game we know this so it's always weird when you're trying to, as you're going through the carousel of options in the final game of the regular season, like who's going to bail, especially when you're trying to figure out a bet, right? And you're like, oh, those guys are over it. But it's kind of hard to be over it when you're like, I also don't want to get my knee bent in half here either. So if you're not playing hard, you're more likely to get hurt. Like, what is the mindset? Like, I think it's only happened to you a couple of times, Willie,

but can you take us back to that place of like suiting up, walking out of the tunnel and everybody's like, I want out of here. Right, man. My first year in the New York jets, prior to me landing in New York, I obviously was with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I came off IR. I was dealing with a knee injury. The Steelers cut me. I signed with the New York Jets. And part of signing on to that season, one of the incentives that I had was if I make it through the year healthy, I get a bonus, right? I got to play all 16 games and I get a bonus, right?

I balled that year. That's Geno Smith's first year as a New York Jet. He's a rookie at the time. Scrappy season. Had a lot of young talent. Didn't really pull it together. Yada, yada, yada. The last game of the season is against the Miami Dolphins, right?

And it's 90, 85, 90 degrees. We're out there banging, banging hard. Two minutes left in the game. Chris Ivory at running back. We run a power to my side. Pretty much a double team on the front side. Pull the left guard. Chris gets around the corner, 88 at the gate. As I'm doing this double team block, I see the screaming linebacker, right? Me and you have had conversations where the screaming linebacker, right? Me and you have had conversations where sometimes the meathead overcomes the thinker, right?

Like, I consider you a very smart person. I consider myself a very smart person at times, right? But normally, the meathead is always going to be like, I got it, big fella. We can take this, right? This screaming linebacker's hauling ass. I get off the double team block. And for some reason in my meathead, I clothesline the guy. Right. I pull up my arm and he blows right through my bicep. Right. I'm like, oh, man.

Why? I take out this linebacker. Chris Ivory takes it up the sideline for like 40 yards. I'm like, yeah, Willie, big block. I'm, you know, I'm getting up off the ground, bro. My bicep is flopping around in my arm like a fish. I tore my bicep, right? Get in my stance, and I'm standing there literally in my two-point stance, and I'm looking. And you can see on tape from behind, my arm is just jerking around like this. I can't stop it. Right? Go through the play. I look right at the sideline

and go to my trainers. They're like, what's wrong? What's wrong? Looking at the clock, it's like 140 in the fourth quarter. Last game of the season. Mind you, last game of the season, Jets versus Miami. If I make it through all 16 games,

I get a bonus. I get a bonus. I blow my bicep. 140 left in the game. I don't get the incentive. Because when the owners checked me, they did what's called the fishhook test, where they take their finger, and there's a tendon

right here that connects your bicep, and they do like this. If it stops, that means the tendon is still in place. They did the bicep test. It's called the fish hook test. It went right through. I blew my bicep. With a minute and 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter of my first season with the New York Jets, I blew my bicep. How much was the bonus? It was like 50K or something. I forget. It was like something like that. Does your agent go, hey, can we work on something here, Woody? He didn't say anything.

He's just like, oh, don't worry about it, Big Flaw. You get them next year. You can overcome it. There's nothing to see there. Da-da-da-da-da-da. And just for a caveat, just because you're my man at 100 grand, right, and this is between me and you, after the game, I get exposed by my side piece, who

calls my current girlfriend and blows up my whole situation. So not only did I blow my bicep and blow an incentive, I then lost my main squeeze in one day. It was a bad

Sunday. That's brutal. by the way the agent the agent 101 course wherever it's taught like when your client is unhappy with their current situation a good default is to let them know how well they'll do on the next deal now wasn't the time now wasn't the time now wasn't the time for you to get paid what we said we were going to get you paid no it was the next one okay all right that's awesome i love i love willie cologne story time okay uh let's look at baltimore they and i i like that you know certain moments throughout the season you're going man they're they're pretty good and then you know I'm still kind of in love with the Chiefs, the past. You're like,

what's going on with Buffalo? Miami had these moments. I even think I pushed Jacksonville on the audience, which I would like to, I think I officially retracted that one a couple of weeks ago. I apologize for wasting your time to the audience. But now you look at where Baltimore's position, and I also think there's a big Kansas City element to this. Do you feel like there's a real threat to the Ravens and the AFC? Listen, to be honest, the only one that plays their brand of football that I've seen the last four weeks is probably the Buffalo Bills. That's the only team that I think that could honestly go pound for pound from a physicality standpoint against the Baltimore Ravens,

just because simply how they run the ball. I think they put an absolute whooping on the Cowboys at home in Buffalo and Archer Park. I think the biggest problem in that game with Buffalo Bills versus Cowboys, the Cowboys found that they were locked for the playoffs before they started that game. And they kind of was like, woo, we made it. And then they went out there and got their heads beat off, right? So nevertheless, push along. I think the Buffalo Bills is probably the only team I say,

well, you know, head-to-head, you know, it could be a gritty type, run the ball, you know, Mahomes versus, excuse me, Lamar Jackson versus Josh Allen type thing. But that's the only team I'd probably give the nod to, but I think Baltimore is playing at a level that's scary, solely

because of Lamar Jackson. I think the fact that he has come to a point in his career where he's being patient in the pocket, where he's letting things develop. He's not panicking with his legs. He's poised. His mechanics is right where they need to be. He doesn't have Mark Andrews, right? He's able to throw outside the numbers and he just looks calm and confident. And for me, right along with that defense, right,

and right like they're riddled with injuries, they're playing gritty-type football. I mean, they don't have, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, you know, that front four for the Ravens, they don't have like a marquee pass rusher. There's not like a Garrett Miles or, you know, a Michael Parsons that pops off the table. Yeah, they got Mattapikwe, and they got Kyle Vannoy and Jadamia Clowney, but those, you know, those guys Parsons that pops off the table. Yeah, they got Matt Abiqua, and they got Kyle Vannoy,

and Jadamia Clowney, but those, you know, those guys are like just battle horses. They're not like the superstar pass rushers like a T.J. Watt. So the fact that they're able to get the sacks, the takeaways, and play that type of, you know, Viking-type football where, like, listen, they're going to burn the village and take the gold and get about their way, they're going to burn the village and take the gold and get about their way. They're scary right now.

And you can see how they're putting it on tape. When I look at O-line play, I don't pretend to know what the assignments are. I used to think NBA Twitter was a hostile place on posting a video and having an opinion, and NFL Twitter has just absolutely lapped it the past couple seasons where there'll be a really smart dude. Because of all 22. Yeah, right. But there'll be like a really smart dude breaking down the coach's tape. And you're like, wow, that's an interesting point.

I'm glad he pointed that out. And then somebody else jumps in and be like, you're the dumbest person in the world. That wasn't this. And this isn't. And the tackle's supposed to go here. That's not his assignment. And the corner fucked this up.

And you're just like, all right, whatever. I'll just pretend. I'm not going to pretend. I'll just sit over here and be like, hey, that quarterback's good. So the point is when I look at O-line play, you go, okay, I know the names here, and I can look at the lack of sacks. I can look at the yards per carry and everything. What do you look for for a playoff ready O-line,

the kind of O-line that can carry a team and show up when everybody's hurt and everybody's mad at the game, but wants to make a run here. I think the cliche thing to say is execution. But I think for me, it's bigger than that. I think execution is obviously, it's the reason why players go, bottom line. But I think for me, it's about your physicality, right? It's about how you finish. It's about tackles, getting to the second level, looking for DBs and knocking the shit out of them. It's about your physicality, right? It's about how you finish. It's about tackles, getting to the second level, looking for DBs and knocking the shit out of them. It's about your center, having the mobility like a Jason Kelsey to pull and kind of make plays go. I think when you see all that kind of happening at one accord, it's like, okay, these guys are humming at a different level.

I think sometimes, and you hear a lot of ballplayers say, man, you're always one guy away from the play absolutely going straight to shit. However, if you look at the Ravens and you pay attention to the Bills and you look at how efficient they are running the ball, it starts with them being able to get their running back to the line of scrimmage. And also from that running back getting to the second level and making guys miss and hopefully taking it home, right? You're seeing that at an efficient rate. So that's a good tell-tale sign for me. And I'm also always worried about – not worried about. I think I'm always interested how committed teams are to the run, right?

Like you take the Philadelphia Eagles for a second. First half of games, you can't find DeAndre Swift. It's usually when everything else kind of falls awry. They're like, all right, give Swift the ball. And now he starts popping off the tape. And I think a lot of it has to do, he has a rhythm with the offensive line and the offensive line is in rhythm with him. And so when you see running backs in rhythm with their offensive line, getting three or four a pop, breaking yardage, being able to kind of get into linebacker depth and really give it to guys, whether it's shimmy or spin move or the flat out stiff arm,

that's rhythm and that's confidence. So I look for rhythm. I look for confidence and execution. That's how I know if a playoff offensive line is ready to go. Okay, so who has that kind of offensive line? For me, it's the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore Ravens, obviously San Francisco has that. Does Dallas have it?

No, not at all. Not at all. But I'm actually think, I'm going to be 100 with you. I think the Cowboys are extremely one-dimensional right now. That's what scares me about the Cowboys. Because if you look at the game against the Cowboys versus Detroit Lions, I thought they tried to implement a pull scheme system where they tried to attack the C-gap to get Tony Pollock going.

And Detroit stuffed it down their throats. even though they overloaded the box and they hit him with a bunch of pressures. I thought Tony Pollock was going to be better in that moment. Right. And I think he has 16 rushes for like 47 yards. Right. And so when you talk about the lack of production in the run game, I think it has to has to do with just lack of execution. I think right now, Tony Pollard is just not connected to that office line. They haven't drawn up enough schemes where they can be efficient and better. And I think Detroit exposed them. They loaded that box up and they're like, you're not running the game. You're not running the ball. Excuse me. You're going to have to beat us with Dak. And they did with CeeDee. It was Dak, CeeDee,

and the refs. That's what beat the Detroit Lions. I know you're a 10 and 10 guy and pick up hoops. So when, you know, I think about the big guy's role in today's game, it's my favorite Larry Brown thing that he ever said to me. It's one of my favorite things that anyone's ever said to me that's professional on the basketball side of things. And I was like, why do you let Ben Wallace shoot so many shots? Why do you want him shooting more? And he was like, because I want him to play harder defense. I want him to rebound. I want him to set screens. I want him to feel good because it's a very simple thing. People like to touch the basketball when they're playing basketball. And if you don't ever get to touch it, you don't ever get to shoot. The rest of that stuff suffers. So even though

I like where football's gone, where they're not just handing it off, handing it off, and then hoping it's only third and four instead of third and seven. We're throwing on first down because usually success is telling us that's how you find a way about who you are offensively. You still need to hand the ball off because you guys hate pass blocking all day long, correct? No, I think that's a misconception. Oh, wow. Like that whole setup and then you're like, no.

No, because I think there's nothing passive about pass block, right? What's passive about pass blocking? If I'm blocking during my time, big baby Sean Rodgers is third and 10. He's locked in a four-eye. I slide – my line has to now slide away from me, and I have to now block this SOB, right? He's not taking it easy on me.

He's going to try to rip my head off. And by all accounts, my mechanics and all this technique I learned goes out the window that now I'm fighting a grown man, right? Because when defensive linemen like to get off the ball and they got to go get it, especially a marquee guy,

he's jabbing me upside my helmet, slapping me. He's cutting my wrist down. He's trying to bull rush me out of my shoes. What's passive about that? And so for me, a guy that like violence turns me on and makes me horny, I like pass block, right? And you understand, I was a 6'3", I was a 6'3", offensive tackle. Everybody I played against was bigger than me. They left Willie Colon off 6'3", the was a 6'3", offensive tackle. Everybody I played against was bigger than me.

They left Willie Colon, all of 6'3", the bully, out on the edge by himself a lot. You know, I went against Willie McGinnis. I went against the Dwight Freese and Rashard Mathis. I went against the Jason Taylors. All those guys were houses compared to me from a height stance. So every time I was in a pass block position, I had to use my feet and my aggression to neutralize what they had over me, the length, the speed, the knowledge. I had to bring the fight to them. And so the violence turned me on.

I never was afraid of pass block. Never. I never was like, oh, here we go again. No. Did I like coming up, rolling off the ball and run blocking? Sure. But I think it was something to be said if you could hold a guy on the edge one-on-one by yourself, turn on the tape and be like, okay.

I had this coach say, hey, Hofstra, good job today. Hofstra got something today. He didn't say my name until I started blocking guys who were real guys. Then they started calling me with it. So I earned my stripes. So, yeah, pass blocking was, I wanted all that smoke. And then it's like, let's 50-50. Sometimes the bear gonna get you, sometimes you don't get the bear, but that's life in the NFL. I haven't heard that from any offensive linemen.

That's why I had that whole setup. I thought I was making this trip, but the answer was even better because I do think that you're more unique, that I think that when you call pass and especially the temptation with today's game, and then even so in the playoffs, in the offensive corners, I'll never understand the math of looking at 14-0 makes you think you're down more than 2-0. You're down 2-0.

You don't have to now drop back 40 straight times. And again, I'm being a little dramatic for effect here, but you will see teams in the playoffs abandon any semblance of balance a lot earlier. I think from guys from sidelines that just aren't as confident,

and usually it's the lesser team if you're already down anyway, so you start to freak out. Like, hey, we get to throw the ball a million times, and I think sometimes O-line, but apparently you don't care. Give me that guy one-on-one. All right, so are you off the Eagles?

I'm off the Eagles because I'm off their defense, man. I thought once the demotion happened and you saw Matt Patricia kind of take over the reins with that stupid pencil in his ear, it pissed me off because they can't get off the field on third down. This is a front by the Philadelphia Eagles that had, damn, their 70 sacks last year. They can't get off the field on third down. This is a front by the Philadelphia Eagles that had, damn, their 70 sacks last year. They can't get home, right? And that bothers me because I thought for a good portion of the season

the Eagles had a top-five defense. They can stuff the run. They can get after it with Hassan Redick. I thought the back end was always in question, but they were gritty and scrappy enough. I thought once they got Darius Slade, they were going to be better. And then they kind of rolled a little bit along, and then they just kind of have taken a nosedive.

Like, think about this for a second, right? Like, last week they played the Arizona Cardinals. The Arizona Cardinals rushed for 200 and I think 21 yards against them. That can't happen, man. It just can't happen. The only time the Cardinals didn't score is when Sidney Brown caught the interception off of Kyler Murray. He took a yard. Other than that, in the second half, the Cardinals scored 29 points.

What championship outfit looks like that right now? It doesn't exist. And the thing is, look, they were winning games, and we were like, wait, what's going on with those guys? What's going on with Hurts? And look, I think that knee injury was a big part of what it was in the beginning of the year. I don't know if it's better now and that it just derailed them or whatever. But you're right. It went from showing signs and getting wins.

I mean, after the Giants game where they won, people were furious. Like, what was that? Yeah. And then the Arizona thing to top it all off. So I jumped in there, but it's just to, you know, every now and then you'll get hints and you can kind of, I actually don't think the Eagles fans were lying to themselves at all. I think they were furious when they were winning these games.

They knew they should have been losing. I also, but let me ask you a question. Maybe I could be wrong and maybe this is a dumbass question. And I was told from a young age, there's no such thing as a stupid question. So I'm going to ask it. I feel like Jalen Hurst is playing better injured than he is healthy right now. Am I wrong? Or is that just a dumb statement?

That I will need more clarification on. I think when he happened. What makes you say that? Well, I think he was just watching his early games. I think it was against the Rams when he was actually, I think he threw for like 200-something yards, and he actually had 75 yards on the ground rushing. I think that's right.

That's rough. Yeah, no, he lit it up as far as in the air. He had a pick, but he was 300 and then ran at 15 for 72. Right. So my point is I felt like he was playing. And by the way, that was when going into that game, there was so much talk about his knee. And I'm like, hmm, what a gimpy knee. I watched the game against the Redskins, which he wasn't great, but he kind of willed them to victory.

And it was the middle of the season, even with the injuries, I felt like he was willing his team to victory. And no matter how much you question it, you had faith in him because of the way he was playing. At least I thought so. And he was actually a candidate for mvp now i look at him these last couple weeks losing four out of five games and i'm saying to myself what the hell is this so i don't know well there's some numbers that would tell you the last couple weeks have actually been a lot better than you know the down stretch against seattle dallas san francisco buffalo i think the fear is is that you know it always happens with with some of the younger dudes it's like i i felt like last year was like whatever my hesitations were because when he first started you know i

guess i don't need to do the entire hertz career timeline but at the beginning i was like i don't know i don't know what this is and then last year tennessee game specifically i was like okay this this seems like a real dude um Even in the Dallas game, I think there's always a couple throws in there where I just like guys that'll crank up their risk a little bit as opposed to avoiding it. And I think he's one of those guys. I thought he looked so bad in the Jets game, but then I'd watch him kind of go towards the sideline and I'm like, you know, this is clearly obvious something is different here. Now, statistically, honestly, maybe you're right. Maybe it's funny. It's the rare case of when you're still winning games, because I think

there were some wins where he wasn't playing well. Statistically, the last couple of games, he's been pretty good, but this defense is now, it's crazy. Same personnel, awesome defensive numbers, a year older, in addition maybe here or there than on the veteran side, but a couple more top draft picks, and they're a completely different unit. For any team that's aspiring to do anything, no one's worse than them on third down. No.

I mean, historically, they're the worst they've ever been in a franchise history. And I think it's like, listen, they're getting Zach Cunningham is playing this week. I don't know what does that do. Maybe it adds some stability. But it's really the backing and the lack of production and getting home with sacks.

And sometimes, listen, sacks are always going to be linked to coverage, right? The longer you cover, the more time the boys have time to get home. That's just science. It's football science. But right now it's just a matter that they just don't look like a Super Bowl outfit. And I can see them honestly sitting home early. That's just a matter that they just don't look like a Super Bowl outfit. And I can see them honestly getting sent home early. That's just how I feel about it. If we look at, as we finish up here, not all the playoff seating is set.

But if you had to go with like a 5, 6, or 7 seed in either the NFC or AFC. So, you know, NFC, it would be the Eagles. The Rams have locked it up. The Rams and everybody's kind of healthy, have some nice numbers there. That seven spot's still up for grabs. And on top of that, the AFC South or NFC South part of it. If you look at the AFC, depending on what happens with Jacksonville, let's just say it's Cleveland's five, Buffalo's six,

and then we have a massive Colts game this week against the Texans. Is there a five, six, seven in either conference? You're like, man, look out for them. Oh, for me, it's Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns, right? Old man Flacco, the 10-year-old kid came off the couch, the 38-year-old gunman. Yeah, I think, listen, and listen, I'll be honest. We all know what it is.

Flacco is working on a combo deal. For every one pick, he's going to throw you two touchdowns, and I'm think, listen, and listen, I'll be honest. We all know what it is. Flacco's working on a combo deal. For every one pick, he's going to throw you two touchdowns. And I'm okay with that, right? He adds some stability to the offense. I'm going to be honest with you. I thought the Cleveland Browns were going to step it up and go get Dalvin Cook. Because Kevin Stefanski was the OC in Minnesota in 2019 with Dalvin when Dalvin was tearing up the league. I was like, man, that's going to be hellified coming into the playoffs.

Dalvin's actually healthy. He didn't play nothing. He didn't do anything in New York. You know, he was healthy pretty much half of the year, the portion of the year. They didn't use him. He's still got tread on the tire. I thought he would have made a great addition to that running back room.

Overall, the defense is big time. Joe Flacco is just out of his mind, even though he's taking naps on the sideline, but he's still throwing touchdowns. And yeah, the Browns are the team that I think you got to worry about because of their defense, because of the way they're humming.

I mean, him and Njoku, what they've been able to do last couple of weeks is just, it's money. I didn't expect it. The fact that he has a relationship with Njoku and Amari Cooper in that run game, the offensive line has always been solid. So, yeah, I think if there was a five seed to watch out for,

watch out for the Cleveland Browns. They can do sneaky good damage in the playoffs. Yeah, Njoku's had two massive games in the last three. Against the Jets, should Flacco have touched Quinn and Williams' head? He lightweight-sunundom, right? Yeah, I mean, never touch another grown man's head. Just don't do it, right?

Just keep your hands off a grown man's head. Unless it's like your brother or somebody you've been in a back room with that you kind of have secrets for. There's a secret between you two. You're like, ah, I know who you really are. You know what I mean?

So other than that, no, keep your hands off another grown man's head. Flacco's throwing interceptions on 4% of his passes. And you may say, wait, it's only, no. But if you actually like dig into where that number usually lives, like you'd like to have your quarterback in the ones. 1.3 is like really good. You know, to have your quarterback in the ones. 1.3 is really good.

Brady's numbers are always incredibly low. Dak was an interception guy last year because he jumped to two-something, which was more than double where he's been in his career. When you're at 4%, you are flirting with disaster. I think the story's been kind of cool. My favorite part is the Hall of Fame stuff. you are flirting with disaster. So I think the story's been kind of cool. And you know what my favorite part is, is the Hall of Fame stuff.

He said sarcastically. But if Flacco were to go on some kind of run, it's like, man, is this guy a Hall of Famer? Be like, are you out of your fucking mind? Because his Super Bowl run is still, I believe, one of the most unlikely single-player performances, meaning multiple performances, of a player of like, it'd be like Bruce Brown going for 31-12-7 and winning finals MVP.

I like Bruce Brown. Nice player. But it just, and so a flack over to, if you were in an AFC championship game with this defense and with the way football is, it's not impossible. It's not. The Flacco Hall of Fame push, I'm going to have to take the week off, Willie. He's having the type of year Disney makes movies out of. You know what I mean?

They used to. Like the little Flacco that could, right? Like it's right on par with that. So I wouldn't be surprised that Flacco goes on a run and then you see him, you know, you know, he'll have, I don't know, Kevin Costner play him in a movie or something. I don't know. It happened.

It used to. Yeah. Yep. Thank you to Willie Colon. You're the man. Yeah. Enjoy the end of it and we'll have you on in the playoffs, all right? Yes, sir. Looking forward to it. Yeah, enjoy the end of it, and we'll have you on in the playoffs, all right? Yes, sir. Looking forward to it.

Excited to do this. Good friend, guy I've spent a lot of time with in the past. Just saw him this past weekend as well as he was in attendance for the Rose Bowl, Michigan's win over Alabama. It is Stanford Steve. Game day, ESPN, SVP, ESPN radio screening graduate. What's up, man? There's a couple of those on here, you know? Yeah.

Look, screeners is where you go to build your depth. Started from the bottom. We're good to go. Yeah. No, no question. I don't know that there's a worse entry-level job. Cerruti and I would know. Yeah.

Like what? What's going on? I used to, whenever I'd walkruti and I would know. Yeah. Like, what? What's going on? I used to, whenever I'd walk into screening and guys would be excited, I'd just be like, I wish I were wired more like you. It'd be like 1 a.m. Some guys get a Padres game in the 12th inning. Yeah. Like, hey, how's it going?

He's like, hey, man, good show today. Just be like, all right. Oh, God. Weekend. I think the overnight shift, Cerruti, what was it, screening? 10 to 6 at night, like, all right. Oh, God. Weekend. I think the overnight shifts, what was it, screening? 10 to 6 at night, Friday, Saturday night. I'm like, why does radio screening have overnight shifts? All right, I'll take it.

The worst, too, is always like you'd be in the middle of summer, and you get a baseball game, go 15 innings. Like the Dodgers game goes 15 innings, and you're there until like 4 a.m. closing. Good times. Good times. None of the morning show guys are working. It's like, no offense to villains. No, but I mean, look, I was, I was a fill-in forever. And you know, those Saturday shifts would just be hanging out all day. Cause if I wasn't, I would just be in the hotel room

down the street. So I was like, I'll just go in now. And then you go into screening and be like, what are you guys doing here? It'd be eight of us cutting up sound be cutting up sound of what what and somebody who's like really into it be like well you never know like bruce bocce might give you a nice little sound bite you know like you have a whole department for uh this nascar prelim saturday good the best was the nascar push because all of a sudden they're like every one of you guys on the air has to learn nascar you have to learn nascar so i went in and pretended i was studying for the lsats and did like a 20-hour crash course over like a week and then went in and then we had daytona it was like you got to learn it you got to learn it

and then somebody else comes out just like's like, this is a green. This is a white-green checker. It's a white-green checker. That's what this is going to be. I'm like, what the fuck does that mean? Like, it's a green-white checker. I don't know. You know, whatever. And I was like, all right, well.

And she's like, you don't know what it is. I was like, no shit I don't know what it is. And then I was like, you know, I was like, man, Richard Petty's crew, though. Those guys really know what they're doing. And, like, we went crazy with it. We spent all day talking about this NASCAR race because we were told from up high and then managers were told you have to make this a priority. This is a huge deal. Huge deal.

So I was like, all right, I got to learn NASCAR. Never talked about it again after that weekend. Nope. Didn't remember it. Can't confirm. Yeah. All right. let's talk about stuff people still talk about uh that is the national championship game what did you learn at the rose bowl about michigan against alabama how deep they are uh i i had a feeling going in i was had

a chance to go to the ohio state game you saw it there uh i just thought they were superior to ohio state and what i wanted to see was would this depth of defensive line and the strength of their team I still think is their secondary. You look at the stats, Ryan. I believe Alabama didn't have a receiver with a yard after a catch. That's insane. And it comes down to me tackling, but also pre-game prep, like knowing what

Bama was going to run. Then when they get Milrow behind the sticks, it felt like they were in their back pocket. They knew what quarterback run, they took those out. But just the depth of those guys up front that they just wheel in. It didn't matter.

And they're still running the same thing. And that thing's tough nowadays, man. When you talk about all the different guys you got coming in, whether it's young guys, vets, transfer guys, but being on the same page,

they didn't do anything crazy complicated. They tried to do some stuff with messing with Milrow and, and McLaughlin, you know, trying to ID the defense, but it wasn't anything that we've never seen before. But just the way they got after Alabama's ass, man, it was really impressive.

I thought they set the tone. And then the offense, you know, I went back and watched the tape. They're down 7-0. It's about eight minutes, seven minutes left in the first quarter. They have almost a pick on the first play of the game. They fumble a punt. They go three and out on that first series, and they come right out. They run the ball with Corham on an awesome toss play.

On third and seven, they run quarterback run with McCarthy to get to the fourth and one, and that's set up by a devastating block by Mullings, a backup running back on Braswell, and then just J.J. making a play. You know, had some big ones but that throw to Mullings on the on the sideline that extends the drive and then the execution of the rub route I call a tailback opposite on Corum's first touchdown the tight ends on the opposite side not not you know decleating guys but actually getting through

to the second level clean that automatically and naturally builds a wall for Corum but just the depth and the execution, they were in it that their season was on the line right there and they got down to it and didn't do anything special. I was really impressed. And they took back the momentum there for the majority of the game until the second half. If Michigan pulls this off,

that late touchdown drive in the second half is going to be one of the all time, like legacy drives because it just didn't,-time legacy drives because you didn't know. You didn't know if they had it because I wonder, was there anything that you saw, whether live or the film study after the fact, was there anything that Bama did defensively that held them to 41 yards in the second half prior to that touchdown drive? Because if you go through the possessions, it's like, hey,

sixth place, pawn, three and out, three and out. There's the fumble. So the weird part about that game is there was a stretch there where footlock Bama was in control more so defensively. Is there anything personnel-wise? Is there anything? Granted, I know Washington's defense, especially when you look at some of the stats,

you're not going to be comparing it to Bama. Is there anything that Washington sees there where they think they can duplicate that and slow down Michigan? It's tough because Bama sort of did the thing they did against Georgia. Remember against Georgia, SEC title game, Georgia goes right down the field and that place is going numb. Like, oh boy. And then Alabama changes their front. You know, they go to odd even. And then what Alabama did after Michigan got things going in the second quarter to the third quarter, they went with more down guys. They basically had five down guys that basically covered up the Michigan offensive line.

So what happens is, what's a quarterback's best friend in a tight situation? Two minutes. And basically, Michigan went that, and Alabama couldn't play what they were playing in the third quarter because they had more guys split out wide. McCarthy looked so comfortable in that scenario, which was damn impressive. He's not going to light up the stat sheet. But, man, that third and eight that got reviewed on Michigan's sideline,

I think they got stalled on the drive. But that throw where he absolutely drilled eight in the chest, they first called him out of bounds, but then he was inbounds. That throw, the throw to Mullings going to his left and on the dime. The ball to Wilson I thought was really impressive because it shows his arm strength because I believe

Lawson got a hand on that and it kept the spiral. I just felt like Michigan was, they knew what they had to do in that scenario. The backs were, I mean, that was it. If they don't extend that drive to seven points, that game's over. But the way, how comfortable McCarthy looked was really impressive.

And as far as Washington combating that, you know, Washington's defense was the unit that I thought was the least talked about going into the semifinal of any of the units of any team. And what they did was they got guys back held. They weren't healthy after the first Oregon game. They had guys nicked up. Even Penix was nicked up. They didn't have McMillan.

But on the defense, they got a safety back. They got a defensive linebacker. He was on a snap restriction against Oregon. It was a huge difference. snap restriction against Oregon was a huge difference. So when I look at Washington, they have playmakers. They just don't have the depth, and that's why I'm interested in the Michigan plan. What are they going to do? You know how stubborn they are running the football, but are they successful?

That's the key to the game because I think Washington could be in trouble if Michigan could do whatever they want. And when I say whatever they want, that's five yards a clip where they're keeping the Washington offense off the field. That's another factor in this game. You talk to coaches that play Michigan, and they constantly think about – they say they're constantly looking up at the clock because your possessions are so limited

because they have the ball for so much of the game. So that's like one of the games inside the game is the success rate that Michigan has. And most of all time of possession, keeping pennants off the field. Are you, it sounds like you're leaning Michigan then. Yeah.

Outright. Yeah. I, I think it's four and a half now that gets a little scary. Yeah. So, you know, let's talk about the spread later.

Let's just talk about his, I mean, what matters is who's, you know, raising a banner here for a Michigan program that let's face it, the way they carry themselves, the way they talk about it. And then you get into the national championship conversation. You're like, dude, you guys like aren't even close to these other programs as far as recent history here. And this would, I mean, it's going to be complicated because, you know, there's people who are going to be dismissive of it. I won't be dismissive of it. I think that win against Bama is two years of scarring. It's the Georgia game, getting your ass handed to you. It's feeling like you blew the game against TCU.

But TCU was in shootouts all season long last year, so I think they were seasoned to find a way and hang in there. JJ doesn't have a very good game. But I don't think they win against Bama, even though it wasn't a clean game and it wasn't like Bama's offense was scary. I don't know that they win that game unless there's a handful of guys that have been around the previous couple years. And the fact of just kind of not only getting over the Ohio State hump,

but dominating now for three straight years. And I say dominating because it's a stretch where three years in a row and it's going in the wrong direction, by the way, when you look at the last matchup, because the two years ago, I still was shocked that Michigan kind of found a way to, to pull that one off was wrong. All right. So when I, when I look at what this means for Michigan, it doesn't make up like decades of not having titles when the teams that they think they're in the same neighborhood are running through and winning titles. But it, it feels like it's a massive statement for Harbaugh, for all the doubters and for a blue blood program that, that, you know, look needs, needs more than one shared title in 50 years

to be the team, to be the program that they see when they look in the mirror. Yeah, it's interesting. You know, the people that were interested in the history of the game brought up Alabama-Michigan, most wins all time in the sport. The people that are interested in titles bring up Michigan's struggles with that. And I just go back right before COVID, Ryan. Like, they wanted Harbaugh gone. You know, it was like, this is going to work.

It's worn out. He's wearing on people, you know, then they cancel the Ohio state game and COVID like that's an ordeal that doesn't get brought up. But I just think it speaks to what they've done and, and adapted to. I remember talking, you know, there was a 2019 recruiting thing, and, you know, Ohio State's up there with Bama and Georgia, obviously. And talking to people at Ohio State, I'm like, they're like,

Michigan isn't even recruiting the same guys we are. Like, they're not even in that tier. So the player development, to me, is what really, I think, is impressive. The way they brought in guys along with the portal, and you bring in a freshman quarterback, people hated the way Harbaugh handled McCarthy with McNamara at the beginning. He'd bring him in in big spots.

And I think that's paid off now. So when you look at what they've built, and Corum constantly, three times I've been around, just talks about the locker room and how Aidan Hutchinson and those guys and now Sainer still, who's I think the face of the program. He was a wide receiver.

And you remember last year he gives a speech on the sideline at the Ohio State game. You just see how guys just gravitate towards him. And they've just always had this edge. You know, Harbaugh's got that awkward thing about him. If you know him, you know there's a different guy. But the weirdness he gives off provides an edge. And I'm standing there on the sideline before the game,

and pregame, you know, everybody has their half of the field, but on your sideline, they call it the long side. And Alabama's punters are on their sideline, so they get to go and catch the ball at the Michigan 40. So he's doing his punts from there. The Michigan receivers run right out of the tunnel and run right into his lane that he's getting snaps from with the center. And they're catching balls from their coach like, hey, we're here.

This is ours. And the Bama player is like getting frustrated. The backup punter is getting frustrated. And I'm like, this isn't a good matchup. It's wide receivers versus punters. And then the Bama coaches had to get involved and the referees. Like, Michigan just came out and just said, this is how it's going to be. And, like, that little thing, I just had the back of my mind.

Like, their hair, man. Like, this isn't a Georgia game two years ago. There's way more sustainability in this team. And there's way more belief. And I think that stuff is real. In the locker room, seeing what everybody's saying about them, and that team just being able to go out every day and practice, that's the identity that they have.

And you mentioned it. They didn't play great. I didn't think Bama played well enough to win that game. But Michigan hung around enough. And that's just on the toughness and the depth of that team. And you get in a one-score game, and you have a chance to make a play, they did it. And that's why I give them all the credit,

and I think they're set up to do this. Nothing like fucking with punters to set the tone for a semifinal. I know the story. I'd be curious to see if Washington's aware of it or if it's going to be something that happens. I mean, I really like Harbaugh. I've defended him. I know that I'm not supposed to like him now with a cheating scandal, which does seem pretty egregious.

But I kind of move on from it personally. I'm not saying everybody else has to follow my lead on that. But that's the weird petty Harbaugh shit with the messing with the punter stuff where I'm like, OK, who cares about this? OK, let's talk Washington. There's a stat that's going to be – it's already been thrown around a lot because you're like, well, wait a minute, they suck on defense. Did you have it first though? What's that?

Did you have this stat first before anybody? No, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw them. I'm like, wait, they rank one. Because sometimes the stats are a little weird. Maybe it's because they're computed during the regular season and they're not including the playoff game. But if you look at it as of right now, they are 121 against the pass in college football. That's low. That's really low. So the first thing I thought of, though, when I saw that number and how it was brought up, I'm like, well, wait a minute,

what are they against pass attempts? Because you know, when you signed up for 60 against the Huskies, you're going to get the ball down the field, even if you 60 against the huskies you're gonna get the ball down the field even if you don't want to if you're not built that way like i'd see the service academies being like we'll never we can never schedule these dudes with the board there um they are 22nd defensively against the pass when you look at yards per pass attempt to me that's a far more telling number it's like like sometimes there'll be an awful NFL team, and they'll go, our pass defense is pretty good. It's like, yeah, because everybody's running the ball

to run the clock out. Like, they don't actually throw the ball against you in the second half. You want credit for that? So this is the opposite in a, I think it's a positive, because I'm telling you right now, plus the four and a half, I would take Washington. I'll give you my pick, probably Monday four and a half, I would take Washington. I'll give you my pick probably Monday.

Still some more computing over here at HQ. The plus four and a half I like. Okay. I like, I like the plus four and a half today. There's a part of me that looks at who Michigan, you're in it as, as the big 10 was getting its ass kicked there for a day against some other teams. I'm like, wait, is Michigan running into a Bama team who is not perfect? One of the more flawed offensive Bama Saban teams he's ever had, arguably, other than the first year when they lose to Louisiana Monroe in 07. I'm like, is this a telling, like, is Michigan going to be walking in something

where it's like, man, we haven't played anybody that's kind of like them? Now, that's part of it, but maybe that is a carryover. Maybe I'm correcting that after Bama by going, actually, Washington is the team. They haven't played anybody. They've played bad quarterbacks, and Mill Road's just another one of them. There's no one even close to who – Deacon Hill, Kyle McCord, who's gone. Leah, tongue of Iloa. He's the best quarterback.

He's the best quarterback. He's the best quarterback that Michigan's faced this year. So now you're going up against Pennix. That would feel like a bit of a wake-up call and maybe a little early play for first touchdown for the Huskies. Okay. I love it. I understand where you're coming from, but to me about Washington and why I liked Washington against Texas, and this is what, it's an old cliche, but this is what it's going to be, and this is why that four and a half is tricky,

but what are you going to do in the tight areas you know you saw Washington I thought they made a statement uh with that first series and running the ball in right on those d tackles uh to go up seven nothing in that game in Michigan you heard I heard Saban yesterday talk about the last play sequence when you get in those tight of a windows and you don't have a quarterback like uh uh up pennix and you have say a mill rope you you can't you cannot trust him throwing the ball the the ball i mean just snap alone takes you away from timing but the throws have to be so quick because the reads are so much quicker and that's why michigan is so dangerous because the speed that they play with and then they know where you have to get to that's

a weird dynamic and on the other side I mean that throw over the middle uh I think it was to to McMillan that he's these right over the middle he slices two guys uh that's that's the matchup is what happens when Washington gets in a couple things I don't think Penix is going to be able to to have the time for those long developing routes. I also factor in Dylan Johnson. I thought he's done a really good job in pass pro. And when you talk about that, that's that extra half second, right, that Penix gets where McMillan's at the top of that route

and he's either breaking it out or he's breaking it across the field. So I think Michigan could get pressure against this line. I'm glad that Washington won the Joe Moore Award. I think they Michigan could get pressure against this line. I'm glad that Washington won the Joe Moore award. I think they deserved it for what they've done. And I, again, the depth, like Washington's going to be out there and Texas has the guys up front, but Michigan's got better guys on the edge. That that's what I wonder about. And, you know, we were talking about it, watching that game. Washington does an incredible job of just, you know, throwing quick screens but not losing yards.

Like having a plan, right, and saying, all right, we want to get these guys going side to side to build in those vertical routes. But even if they first play the game, I go back, they get four yards on a quick screen. And now it's second and six, whereas you look at Bama trying to throw the ball on first down, they take a sack, it's second and 23. So Michigan's not going to have that advantage. Penix is going to know and be able to ID it. I mean, the game against Michigan when he was in Indiana, I'm not going back and watching that.

I don't think it means anything. I don't think you need to. Being this much of a veteran, he's seen so many looks. So, you know, the new saying is the simulated pressures, right? Everybody on the line of scrimmage, they have to ID, all right, who's going to come, who's not. That's where Minter, I thought, was really good against Alabama, and you saw Milrow struggle it. So, to me, it's in the red area what happens. And I think Michigan holds Washington in field goals instead of touchdowns there, and that's why I like Michigan. milrow struggle it so to me it's in the red area what happens and i think michigan holds washington

the field goals instead of touchdowns there and that's why i i like michigan i can't imagine being the defensive coordinator for michigan and that staff and prepping for milrow and then prepping for pennix they'll be like are we did what happened did we get promoted to the nfl like what what's going on here i thought pennix was great in the pocket his mobility was there there. I think Texas had chances to get to him, and then he found a way. I think watching the game with you and then seeing some of the other stuff, I think Texas' back end actually defended a lot of that stuff really well, and that's just how nasty Penix is, and that's how great those receivers are. I'm a little surprised.

It sounds like you like Michigan's defensive line in totality more than you like Texas' D-line. I was not expecting that. I do, because, and I thought it played out right. I mean, Sweat got all the hype. He won the awards. He flashed the Heisman in the Big 12 title game, but Murphy's a better player. Murphy was incredible. And you go back, I think it's a better player Murphy was incredible and you go back I think it's four or five times he beats his guy right off the snap and Penix avoids him and that's what I'm saying like Penix's pocket mobility was incredible that night you know that wasn't like zero pressure I mean that's another element to what you're like oh so now we're actually going to get home and he's going to move and he's going to get rid of the ball. And his release is stupid quick, man.

So, I mean, I know I interrupted you there, so finish the thought. No, no. The totality of it, I do favor Michigan in that because of the numbers. I think there's going to be a lot more snaps. I think Bama only ran, or Michigan, one of the sides only ran like 59 plays. So, like to your point before, Washington's going to have the ball and run a lot more plays. But in that, you also got to think about your offensive line

and what they're getting at it. Because Michigan's going to hit you every single snap. So, yeah, I do believe, I'll be shocked if Penix doesn't get sacked once. I think those hits. And you know what I meant? You're once. I think those hits. You're right. I mean, I expect he's going to get hit more than he did against Texas. I'm not saying he's going to be as bad as Milrow,

but look at Milrow the first series. It was just like, what are we doing here? He's taking hits, and he's losing 15 yards, a clip. And I think if you could get to Penix and hit him a little, that's going to mess him up. Now, it's easier said than done, but I do believe Michigan has the ideas to do that. It's a fascinating matchup because on top of the physicality that Michigan brings with it and that Big Ten mindset,

Washington is the ultimate underdog. Like, everybody is rooting for this. And you look at what Penix did on that stage. I mean, his fanfare had to double or maybe even triple for what he did on that stage against Texas and knowing how many people dislike Texas. So it's fascinating to see. I do think the Michigan offense is the key going back again.

That's the one. I talked about Washington's defense being not talked about a lot in the matchups going into the playoff. I think in this game, Michigan's offense is the team that's, I would say, getting slept on a little bit because they are damn effective. And when you look at throwing the ball, right, Washington's going to spread you out. They love those trip bunches where they have the three guys,

two guys off the line of scrimmage. Michigan and Harbaugh forever, when he was at Stanford with the Niners, they do a great job of throwing the ball to the tight ends when they motion in or they're in the box. That's where they get it because now you can play action. Now you can RPO. And that's the difference here is the tight ends

don't have as far ground to cover. So that's the other thing. Effective wise, I think the play action game. You know, Oregon State tried to do it. It was pouring rain and DJ's not JJ. So that's the other thing effective wise i think the play action game uh you know oregon state tried to do is pour and rain and dj's not jj so that that's the other matchup i like michigan for uh you know third and short if they get second and short they try a shot there uh you know a huge play was the double pass with edwards um to colson against ohio state and that's another guy i just can't believe how he's disappeared from the office. I mean, Donovan Edwards won that Ohio State game for him last year.

He just hasn't been himself. Huge drop at midfield in the Rose Bowl and a chance to extend the drive. He's still out there. He's still dangerous. So that's another guy with speed. If Michigan could get Washington all bunched up in those tight sets if they could get him on the perimeter so you like Michigan straight up to win the national championship I do yes sir but you're still thinking about the four and a half um yeah I am

I'm hoping for four I would take him for sure at four four and a half is kind of tricky um you do take Michigan minus four yeah yeah I'll take Michigan minus four and a half is kind of tricky. Um, you do take Michigan minus four. Yeah. Yeah. I'll take Michigan minus four and a half. You talked me into it. We're good. Okay. All right. I have this for a parlay. I want to run it by our guy here. Oh, I was thinking about one last night. What's the hat? Oh, I was, I was thinking of one that I have to do for, for our stuff. So I want to hear what you got. And for those that have just been introduced to Steve on TV, he has been the best picker of games of anyone I've ever worked with. I guess the game day picks didn't go all that well, but if this is your first experience with him,

a lot like a lot of Heisman voters that watch Pennix for the first time ever against Texas. And they were like, holy shit, this guy's pretty good. 23 is in the past. We're in 24. We're good.

That's that's right. Right. Texas is part of the sec sec. Oh, and two in the past. We're in 24. We're good. That's right. Right? Texas is part of the SEC. SEC 0-2 in the playoff games. Canell told the girls they could stay home from school. Oh, man. All right. So I got Washington plus four and a half. Roman Wilson, any time touchdown.

Because I think they're going to need him. Yep. They're going to need him. And, you know, if you look at, it's kind of all over the place. I was going through his target chart and everything. I feel like when they need him in a game, it's just that Michigan didn't really need anybody because they were so dominant in the conference this year.

So Roman Wilson, anytime, staying with the Caesar theme here, Roma Dunze, anytime touchdown score, but also the first time touchdown score right oh michigan's out there they're fucking with punters in the pre-game they're all hyped and then all of a sudden rome runs past him and they go like whoa dude not that they're not aware of it with marvin harrison jr you get the point they're like okay first touchdown let's reset you know let's calm down we're the team that's been here which I think is the best part of the like if you're picking Michigan it just feels kind of like it's their time you know

this this entire Harbaugh thing that's gone on for such a long time if he's leaving on top of everything else it kind of feels like their time more than Washington but if you go Washington plus four and a half Roman Wilson anytime time, and the first touchdown score, so you combine them, it's $10 to win 370. Holy shit. So that's, yeah. Plus, yeah, plus, wow. Plus 3,700. No, yeah, plus 3,700.

That's pretty good. That's what we're saying. I was thinking, because I wanted to get it in there, I figure you you get plus odds even though mostly all nfl quarterbacks are minus money michigan to win the game quorum to score a touchdown panics to throw a pick i could see that if they're down late yeah i mean he's gonna give he's gonna give the secondary a chance it's just like his receivers specifically roam they don't like imagine throwing to a Denze as a quarterback and being like,

I never have to worry if the corner is going to get it. And they're even. The matchup, too. Somebody asked me who the best players on the field were. I obviously said Pennix. But Will Johnson, the corner for Michigan, is as good as I've seen all season. the corner for Michigan is as good as I've seen all season. I thought

I thought Arnold was better than McKinstry for Bama all year, but I think Will Johnson and what they do with him against Ohio State he shadowed Marvin Harrison Jr. and it took I was on the Ohio State sideline during that game

it took them a while to realize what was happening, and that really frustrated them early on. So I'm interested also, another chess match with Minter on that Michigan defense. What do they do with Will Johnson against, you know, obviously everybody talks about the three receivers are being NFL guys, but do you put him on a dunze or do you just play a side of the field?

Whatever you have, that's a fascinating thing what they're going to do with. That is Stanford Steve. Steve Coughlin, our guy, and part of game day, and a good friend. And it was great to see you and enjoy the national championship game. I will not be in Houston. Okay.

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.

So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. The email address is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. We have Kyle. We have Steve. Camo Steve. What's up? A little duck hunting later? This is a Target special.

Just big and soft. And so I bought it. But yeah, it's not usually my style. But I'm also not wearing it out in public yet. So I guess we're soft launching it here on the pod. I like the orange tea under it. Like creamsicle orange. You're not going full hunter, but hunting with style, not a hunter did. Uh, I went to a

Maddie had like a work outing thing. And I was talking to a hunting guy who invited me on a hunting trip. And I don't, I don't know that I'm going to accept that one. I don't know that that's my vibe, but appreciate the invite from my guy. I saw a clip yesterday about like why hunting is actually like the most noble thing you could do. And it really got to me. I don't think i'm going to be waking up at five in the morning and waiting around but it you know the idea of it i like the idea of it you know so what idea did you like it was yeah one minute pitch the dude just explained how like you know people are upset at hunters and stuff like that and i was never like in that camp but uh you know definitely seeing a pickup truck with like a freshly murdered deer in the back of it,

that's not something I enjoy. But the guy was just talking about the pushback that hunters get, and then he explained it. And it's like, you know, you could... It actually was Taylor Sheraton, your guy, was talking about it. And he was just like... My guy.

Yeah, you could get a gun, a box of bullets, and a freezer,, you could have 60 pounds of, you know, deer in there and that could last. Yeah, it could last you a year. And the next year that cost goes down. And I don't know, he did. He did a good job of explaining it. I'm just sitting in my in my apartment like, fuck, yeah, I probably won't ever do it.

But just it was explained eloquently as, you know, Taylor Sheridan is known to do. Guys away with words. Yeah, I I've never I I guess I yeah, I've never do. Guys away with words. Yeah. I, I've never, I, I guess I, yeah, I've never been, I've never been. Yeah.

I will say there is a difference between the guys who hunt, you know, like deer or, you know, mostly stuff in the States here and the people that do like the big game hunting in Africa and just decide to shoot a lion or an elephant. You're like, I don't,

that to me, like you wouldn't be don't that to me like you wouldn't be cool with that I'm not cool with that I'll just say straight up I'm not cool yeah man's gotta have a claim actually man's gotta um but yeah I don't know like like it's you know there's some deer populations are I think probably a little bit overpopulated you know I get it public service angle yeah and if you're gonna eat it yeah if you're doing it for food okay I get that's no problem with that. Wouldn't be for me.

There was a, there was a deer population spike in Vermont and we had, it was basically like a small government class, the UVM, shout out professor Brian, who basically it was, it was incredible. It was an incredible course because he basically, he got into like how Vermont, because they have every town, every town was allowed the day off on this one day. To go get as many as you could. No, no, no. Oh, okay. Sorry.

The point was, no, but you're not wrong. But the point was that every town was allowed to assemble in the most basic form of government. And he was so passionate about it because he was passionate about government. And he would essentially argue that Vermont was like the only place in the world that had this system set up that an entire day for the entire state was set aside. Now, granted, when you're a student, you're like, wait, we don't sick on this this random tuesday and you're like no um i don't know when you say assemble when you say assemble are you talking like militias or what the fuck is wrong with you i don't know i was like wait i know that's much more hampshire than vermont but it was the simple process of whoever felt they needed to be represented to their town was was given that platform and however long the day took that's how

long the day took and in the smallest of towns and he made every one of us in the class go to a really small town because he basically was like you he would bid on a town, but there was no money involved, but he'd go, all right, everybody in the class, I don't know, maybe it was a smaller class, 30 people. And he would go, you'd have to pick a town. You have to research the town. And then you have to go to that. So we didn't get the day off. If you had that class, you had to then go and drive to that town and watch them go through their local form of government where everyone could be heard, but it had to be a small town. That was the whole thing. Even though every town could do it. He's like, I want everyone to go to a small town. So if you

started bidding on like convenient ones, he would just, Nope, Nope. And he'd be like, try new fame. So then when I bid on Holland, Vermont, which is on the border, because my father had a piece of property there years and years ago, he was so excited. He's like, you're going to drive past Newport to Holland, Vermont. And then the DJ from the place of the bar that I was bartending, or I think I was managing it at that point. Yeah. He was like, I'll go. Shout out to Mike. And he went with me, which was the worst idea he could have ever had, to drive up with me and then watch this small town assemble. And they were like, what are you doing here? And I was like, I'm watching you guys meet.

I'm a humble student. Yeah, right. And I have to write a paper on this whole thing. And they were like, introduced us. Meanwhile, my buddy's sitting there going, this is the dumbest idea I've ever made ever. Um, and the reason I bring that up is that again,

this took too long. We're four or five minutes in. He talked about this policy of the harvesting of deer, which was one of the first times like I realized the packaging of something where that was just, you can shoot as many as you need to because there's too many, but government decided to phrase it as the harvesting because, you know, if it was just, all right, it's on shoot as many deer as you possibly can. Although in Vermont, I don't know how Southern Vermont, a little different ideologically, uh, ideology than

Northern Vermont, but yeah, so there you go. It's a hunting story. And I gave you a little field trip lesson in there. And I don't really know why I did. Shout out to that DJ. Yeah. I still can't believe Sir Rudy said militias. I don't know.

You said assembling. I was like, you know, that's what I, when I think of like the constitution, isn't that what, you know, you assemble a militia. Militias do also assemble. That's true. Okay. You can't rule it out. do also assemble. That's true. Okay. You can't rule it out.

They also assemble. Just want to make sure everyone at home. So do the Avengers. Yep. Is that the, we had a lot of people chime in on the bartender etiquette thing. Anytime it ever comes up, even though I think we've covered it, I don't know that there's anything new that we could talk about with it. Uh, people were shocked that, that Kyle was a bottle tapper, but I just think people,

the audience needs to understand that Kyle is the rules for him at the frolic room are different than for just the guy rolling out of a theater. I gotta be honest. I lost a little sleep over this. I don't think you people understood what I was saying. I was saying it's a, it's just, I mean, you got to put your glass down when you're done drinking, right? You have to do it.

You have to, you don't hold it. Right. So I put it down a little bit further away from me. So it's shown that I'm done. I'm not putting it on the, you know, the drip mats or whatever that is. It's just that little strip of bar. I put it there and it makes a sound. I don't tap it more than once.

I just put it down. I don't smash it. That's not the same thing. That's what I'm, that's what I was trying to say. I put it down. It makes a sound when I put it down. And if that guy's an earshot, maybe he look around like oh somebody just put their glass down maybe they won't do that i don't know i was just edging my bets but it's a one it's just the one put down i

don't tap it so i think now we've cleared it up this feels a bit like when i talked about standing on the plane and then what it turned into it does feel that way yeah because then it's like oh you're a stander i was like well eventually at some point you yes have to stand damn it it's like, oh, you're a stander? I was like, well, eventually at some point you, yes, have to stand. Damn it. It's way too similar. Fuck. Yeah. I don't like this.

Good luck. Good luck with that. Because now when everybody stands on a plane like way too early, they're like, oh, Rosillo. Most of the time I'm in a window anyway. When I transitioned from aisle to window guy, it was a crazy experience. Crazy experience. I did that this last year because of you. And I got to say, I'm never looking back. yeah yeah i kind of feel that way all right so off the bartender thing we had somebody

chime in that said they have a better idea of it if you're seated at the bar lay down your empty bottle or glass on its side use a napkin to prevent rolling it's passive sends a clear message and draws attention and that is my submission for the worst fucking idea ever had i've never seen that that's crazy we i brought i brought it up um the other day i was like hey am i an asshole here and they were like no no no no not at all so i was like okay that's cool but i could speak that could speak to your frolic room thing there were things are different and the old guy was like you know when you put the beer label facing the bartender, that's how you know you want another one. If you put it sideways or something, then that means you're not ready for another one or something.

I was like, I've never heard of that. And I don't think many people know that. But he's like, that's how they did it on the East Coast in the 70s. That's like the there's like, you know, there's like dining things you do for that, too, where you like the way that you put your cutlery. Like if you cross them, you're done. If you put your, you know, your knife and fork in a certain way it means that you want seconds i'm sure there's a bar etiquette of that too we just don't know what it is right i think i saw some travel show in like east asia where if you're eating and then you fold it towards you it means you enjoyed it

and if you don't know that you fold it out it means just a jerk no if you fold it out it means like i really didn't like this. Just a really nice, I think we should have that here, some version of the States. Your meal just sucks. Like I bit into a chicken sandwich at this place I love going to. And I was like, this doesn't taste good. And all the lettuce was wilted. And I'm like, I think they just, they got a, they got a C minus guy in there today.

And I was like, ah, just power through it. And then I took another bite and the chicken was so disgusting. I just went, I'm out. I go, I'm not eating this. I'm not eating this. And, uh, I set it down. And one of the girls who, you know, I've been in there enough, she's like, Hey, is everything all right? I go, no, this is in a double. I can't eat it. And I'm not going to, she was like, uh, okay. She's like, we feel terrible. She's like, let us get another one. I go, no, I'm just out. I'm out on the whole, okay. She's like, we feel terrible. She's like, let us get another one. I go, no, I'm just out.

I'm out on the whole experience today. That's okay. We'll reset. And I will see you guys in a couple of weeks. Cause I love the place. I love the food. I love the sandwich. And usually it's always awesome today.

It's terrible. And I'm not going to, I thought about trying to get through it. I thought about being quiet about it. I just don't want to, it's like eating hard gristle. Like what, what are you guys doing with your chicken back there

all right um i think we cover a lot of stuff there all right here's an email am i screwing up the opening stages hey guys 32 years old 5 11 and three quarters 188 very specific this guy must have gotten that tape measure um put up 315 on flat earlier this year with a slight hip thrust. Good for you. Question for the fellas. Am I doing it wrong while looking for the next and hopeful final relationship? Uh-oh, this guy is ready to tie the knot. I am a frequent dater and since being single for two years have been on dozens of dates, mostly through apps, the women have been for the most part pretty great hangs. More than a few got pretty intense within the first or second date. You know what I mean? Not my sole or main intent, but I'm a guy and not going to turn it down. Ooh,

I get what you're saying. Location, Western Mass, Central Connecticut. You should be psyched you're having sex regularly. That was not to brag to three strangers and many listeners to boost my ego. It's where my problem lies. Those women have had many qualities I look for in a long-term relationship. However, the fledgling relationship has consistently died in the vine following a couple more dates. I know it sounds like I might suck in bed, possibly, but it doesn't seem like an issue at the time. That's one of the weirdest, like not to get too weird here,

but when you start hearing about one of your buddies, you'll be like, yeah, he's a tough hookup. It's a devastating thing. I don't think it's something that's covered a ton as you get older, but it is a devastating thing to have on your resume when somebody, one of your roommates, you'll be like, oh, you didn't know the deal? Yeah.

You're just like, I don't want to talk about this anymore okay maybe that's not the case for you so i'm not texting them a million times a day so they can sense i'm placing all my eggs in the basket i like to think i'm cool but there's been a ton of these promising budding relationships that go up in smoke should i take the next one slow which runs counter to previous long relationships that began at a 10. What is your guy's prognosis? He said he was a taxi driver on the, on the vineyard for a bunch of summers. I don't know if we were supposed to put that in there.

I did drive cab for a summer bus cab van. Let's see. Maybe you're just that hot, dude. You just have hookup only vibes. Yeah. I mean, you kind of answered your own deal.

Stop sleeping with everybody immediately and being so hot i mean if this guy look this guy's writing in the email that so many women actually wish they were meeting this guy on the apps but this might be a generational thing like i remember somebody saying like hey are you on the apps i was like no he goes the only time i don't have sex is when i'm not on it so you know i don't this might just be the way everyone is conditioned now and you know more power to you and the youngins out there um maybe you're on the wrong apps i don't know like i mean it sucks because you got an old guy and two dudes that got locked up early because they're such great catches. I guess, well, I don't, I'm not sure if that's the problem. That's just a guess, right? We're not saying like, that's the issue here. We don't know. We don't know the issue with this guy. We just, he's like, maybe I'm just getting in there too quickly. Like I, I don't, I don't know. I

mean, I guess what I would say is maybe like, have you tried meeting people the old fashioned way in addition to just doing that I mean I guess Western Mass who I don't know I don't know what that means really so 413 kid so I I don't know if apps are the only thing I think maybe you're on the wrong apps we've discussed eHarmony ad nauseum

that's a little old dude they're all like you know Roger Sterling this guy's talking about his last relationship though you know maybe there's people this guy's talking about his last relationship though you know maybe there's people maybe there's people that that think like you that are like i'm i'm in for the last relationship i too hit the mattresses a little too early in my relationship so maybe maybe they're also on e i'm not this isn't an e-harmony ad i'm just i'm saying i can't imagine it's like the issue is entirely you you know you're too attractive and this goes, you know, this

gets hot and heavy too quick and then no one knows what to do. So they leave you alone. That just doesn't sound, doesn't sound exactly like whatever it is here. I mean, are you, are you fun? Like, are you like, is there stuff to do? Like, are you, have you thought about doing other things? Like, do you go on like a unique date? Like, I know you say you're going on dates, but are you like, are you just going to get

that Italian place every time? Like, but are you like, are you just going to get to that Italian place every time? Like, what are you doing? So I wish I had a little more info other than just we're jumping to your thesis is that like you're just getting in there too quick. Yeah, we definitely need more information. I feel like the... I just don't even know what Kyle just said,

but it was funny to me. I don't know. Sorry, Steve. No, unless he's just oblivious to the things he's doing wrong i'm gonna give our email a little bit of credit here like i think he would have some awareness if like he was you know if like if there's a clear pattern of why these women are leaving him so i don't know like maybe it is the app like i don't know which one you're using like isn't like hinge the one that's the whole slogan is like oh it's meant to be deleted

so maybe maybe be on that one a little bit more because people are looking for long-term things. Did Hinge out Tinder Tinder? No. I think Tinder's PR is so bad, I think. I don't know where Bumble lands, but Tinder's PR is so… Tinder is just the hookup one, right? That's it. That's it.

And they have a lane. That's fine. I don't know. And then each one has its own thing, right? Bumble's the one where the girl can only reach out to the guy. So that's what Bumble is. I think so. I've never actually been on Bumble.

I only use Tinder. The thing I think would be funny about being on a dating app would be your descriptions of everything and just lean into it and have so much fun with it and be unique. And maybe this, this guy's clearly smart. Okay. With the way he wrote the email and there's a little bit more information in there. Um, but you know, yeah, like I think you just go in and be like, Hey, I don't want to have sex immediately. Like I have been for the last year, you know, and, and have that be part of the dude. I'm telling you. Okay. Okay. I'm

telling you if you have fun with it and do something and describe your deal in a way nobody else is doing, you may actually connect with somebody because the people that don't get it or the people that are turned off, you might not even want to hang out with them before. Anyway, like again, on my Instagram where the picture of me on a private jets, like just because you fly private, don't mean don't keep it a secret. If you don't, if you don't get me making a joke about the whole thing where I've heard some people go like, this guy's a dick. Did you see his private jet photo? If you don't get that joke, if you don't get what I'm doing, then we were never going to get along anyway. So I wonder if there's a hard marketing pivot on who you've been where you're even calling yourself out a little bit. Now, look, maybe some of you guys are are listening but clearly he's sick of whatever the routine is while we probably have hundreds of dudes listening to this being like poor guy and the more most sarcastic voice of all time

um i i have to think it's an app thing yeah we don't have a ton of information to go on here but look it's going so well for you and how most guys would look at it like you i would i would go out there like steph curry up 30 in the teens and just start taking ridiculous shots and doing shit that like i asked steph curry in an interview once i go when i watch you i think you're bored in games at times with some of the weird shit you do and he just started laughing which confirmed that yeah like at times i just see what i can do because it's absurd steph Curry, this motherfucker, just see what happens by trying completely different approaches. Because if that screws everything, you just go back to what you're doing now, which again is what most guys would want. But it's cool that you don't want that,

right? It's cool that you want the real thing. So look, man, play around with it. Yeah. I'd rebrand the apps. Yeah. Put on, put on a fedora. To your point. Well, I don on a fedora. To your point, well, I don't know about that. To your point, I did have a buddy who put his credit score in his dating app.

Love it. They just got married and she literally cited that as a reason why she was like, oh, this guy's funny. That's kind of interesting. One, it's a good credit score. What was his credit score?

I would imagine it was in the 750s. He's a pretty, he does all right. Buttoned up guy. Yeah, he knows his way around business. But that's the kind of thing. Maybe you're just putting out, again, are you –

did he say how old he was? I forget. Early 20s? 32. Maybe this guy puts out a FICO score. Yeah. Just show what percentage towards his retirement goal goal is. Don't show the money. Just show your, your 48% there. I know you are below, you were, you were not on track and then

I'll see, I'll see the number and be like, well, I don't know. I'm like, I'm not going to be able to live off that anyway. So cabin in the woods. so i think i don't know i don't know that we have a ton else other than to say it sounds like they're awesome for you what do you what do you tell to the sad lottery winner really i mean keep keep your head up dude i don't know okay uh okay a lot of people wanted to follow up from the extorted guy because the deadline was what yesterday. Yeah. I don't, I don't think I saw it. So if you're listening guy, uh, hit us back up because the problem is so many of these emails got lost with the flooding of help. So, oh, here's a good one. Okay. Um, A twist on the classic annoying coworker.

5'11", 185, was always a tall kid, but haven't grown any taller since eighth grade. Never learned the guard skills because I always played center growing up. So my comp would be an understanding. Big man, think Daniel Tice, streaky shooter from three with decent post moves. Do you get punched in the face and never get a call and then never retaliate? I graduated college last May and almost immediately started my first real job. I work at the entry-level role at a regional sales team for a pretty well-known tech company. Because this is my first big boy job, I was not prepared for corporate culture. Few are.

Few are, my man. But luckily, my office has been very young average age, no fully in-person employees over 25. All the management is based out of a different office, so it's mostly just the people that have my job and the job right above mine every day. When I started this past summer, I immediately hit it off with my new co-workers. We grab beers or play nine holes after work and usually once a week. I generally felt like I was forming solid friendships with the guys I work with, and even though I have kind of a boring job, I look forward to going to work every day because I like the guys I work with. There are six guys and two girls on my sales team.

When I started in July, one of the guys had recently transferred to a role in marketing and I inherited some of his accounts. We'll call this guy Rick. His new role was completely remote, so he was never in the office. Two months later, my company fired a bunch of people in my role. All of us in my office survived the purge, but Rick got forced back into his own role. This guy's completely thrown off the vibe since returning to the office full time. He does classic annoying office guy things like today he made himself an egg salad sandwich at 10 a.m. and stunk up the whole kitchen.

He often brings several different pungent food items with him to work and cooks up a huge meal, which usually takes over an hour. He's super committed to his body. An hour, come on. Over an hour. Dude, who's cooking for an hour at work? In the kitchenette. He's making bread.

He comes out. He's like, hey, do we have any shallots? What's the ginger budget? Yeah, right. He's super committed to his body. The avocado oil. Did you guys read that thing? Anyway, so nothing against him eating what he wants to eat,

but I feel like there's a better way he could prep the meals that would lessen the amount of cooking he does in the office. No shit. This can't be true. Maybe he's just trying to waste time. I kind of respect it. We might be exaggerating a little bit. No one's calling him on it. He just gets to cook at work. That's trying to waste time. I kind of respect it. We might be exaggerating a little bit. No one's calling him on it.

He just gets to cook at work. That's half of his eight hours. Can you imagine like Ray Nechi back at ESPN radio with an apron on in like the common area? He's making pancakes. Don't be a great ESPN commercial, by the way. He's just like, man, this risotto is just taking

forever. He's just turning it. He's like, are we taping what do we have yeah we have joe shat at 11 30 we can get an intern in here um anyway so uh then we get into the more gen z weird office guy moves he's constantly asking us to squad up with him on fortnight and always brings up his lifting stats so and tries to steer the conversation towards lifting i don't this guy sounds fucking awesome is he available for new friends um it sounds like he's fucking with you or trying to get fired like i'm just thinking about a jacked meal prep guy cooking for an hour at work. I can't stop thinking about it. Like what's your exhaust fan situation?

All right. So this line of conversation usually alienates the women from the conversation. What really boils down to is that since Rick has come back to the office, I haven't been able to talk with my other coworkers like I was when he wasn't there. We're not really hanging out like we were a few months ago. And it seems like my coworkers don't want to make any plans in the office while he's there making plans in front of someone who's not included or behind the back for that matter is kind of a dick move. How can I continue to foster my friendships with new coworkers? And Rick seems to be getting in the way. It's hard to make friends

in a new city. So I really want to keep up what I have going with these guys. Uh, the simple one is just make plans when he's not around, like going behind his back. Look, this is life, okay? Yeah. Not everybody's invited. And there's no other sentence after that. So this is a simple solution. Like this guy's so weird if all of this is true. He's used to dudes not wanting to hang out with him, okay?

He's telling other guys that just don't have any choice he's had longer relationships maybe there's a sister he's like i'm just having a hard time meeting friends okay he's already had this discussion with whoever's intimate with him uh on an emotional level so this isn't going to be breaking news when a bunch of younger guys who have no similar interests cooking specifically at this level of intensity. Um, you don't have to really worry about Rick's feelings and he's probably not going to be back in the office longterm because this felt like a demotion to him. Or I don't know if he's motivated enough for his body and in the meals he should be motivated enough to get back out on the road um so so rudy i mean if you did you ever have an older guy situation at espn where an older guy who didn't want to hang out with wanted to hang out with you guys i don't even know if it was an older

guy which like there were clicks there's it's like high school you know i think every job is like high school this is what i don't understand like this is this is what like side texts are for and like different slack channels like this is why this is how you get around this stuff yeah i know it sucks like maybe you can't like hang out by the water cooler like the same way you could but i don't know all the stuff outside of work like i don't know man the guy's weird like you guys have a front thing going like do the same stuff you were doing just make plans in in a in a text thread i don't i don't see why this should be affecting your outside uh hangouts with some of the people at work i get i get the work thing that probably sucks and like if he comes up he's gonna ruin a conversation it makes

it weird but i don't know why that would affect you you know playing nine holes after work once a week by the way yeah i don't understand that either go ahead he's gonna be a 10 minute seven to 10 minute topic of conversation when you guys get together and he's not there because you just have to catch each other up on all this shit. That's like, yeah, he's a binder. You need,

yeah, you need one of those guys to unite you. So you just have to figure it out. Find, find a, well, you know, one,

if I land to it by C, find a fucking fun little way to communicate with these guys, you know, light a fucking lantern or something. But you know, you gotta, you gotta get back to, you gotta get back to what you like. And this is going to be a a great topic for you you could rank the foods you hate that he does like it'll be great yeah i think you honestly the the

quickest most of it you're being way too sensitive to his needs which is nice it's nice that you have that kind of compassion i think it speaks to you long termterm being a good dad, maybe a great lover, a selfless lover perhaps. But you're not marrying Rick and he's going to get left out of shit. So, you know, I think you play with it a little bit. You have fun. But I don't understand why the rest of the core can't be like, Hey, we have our own text thread.

What are we doing later? Text about Rick is going to make the day go by fast. Right. So this is great. I thought this was, you had like an, an, an office enemy.

This is like, it's you've got a Michael Scott. I thought there was like a, like somebody who was like, you know, razzing you and, and like, I don't know,

just doing a bunch of terror. Like he's just being his awful self and doesn't see it. Like I thought you had like a real like evil guy who's trying to put you down and get ahead. It's like, not even. It's just, you've got a Michael Scott and that's great.

Go to fucking JD's or whatever bar that was that they went to and didn't invite Michael. Sorry, I annoyed you with my friendship. Poor Richards. Go to poor Richards. There you go. That's why I was joking about it. I think that's what Andy says the second time around.

I love early Andy. I hate late Andy. Yeah. Well, he was just supposed to replace Michael and that was never going to happen. Yeah. After he blew up in the hangover, they were like, okay,

we actually can build the show around ed helms like that was the thinking when i read the book about the show they were trying to figure out the post michael thing great call out of you kyle i don't know if you read the book or not but that's exactly what happened they were kind of on the fence they're thinking about doing a couple different things and they were like can we make dwight the main guy because he's usually better reacting off other people and then because the hangover blew up the way it did it was like all right let's make him the main guy and early andy was was so much better than late andy yeah totally all right a little office history for you on top of everything else that is the episode for today thanks to kyle thanks to srudi and thanks to

wargon on this one. Ryan Rosillo podcast, Ringer Spotify, different schedule next week with the national championship game. We'll be back normal Monday, NFL recap, and then

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