The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Recapping Michigan-Alabama and Washington-Texas With Todd McShay

Episode Date: January 2, 2024

#1 Michigan Wolverines will face #2 Washington Huskies after two tightly contested matchups in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. Ryen and Todd McShay break down all the action from yesterday. Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines just keep winning, despite their tumultuous season (00:36). Michael Penix Jr. continues to shine for the Huskies (24:55). Did Bowl season take a massive hit this year? Plus, Life Advice! What’s the proper outdoor gym etiquette (51:16)? 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 Guest: Todd McShay Producers: Cliff Augustin, Steve Ceruti, and Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michigan Washington your national championship game is set we're going to recap the playoff games with McShay how did Michigan do it and love for Michael Penix Jr. Okay. And life advice. 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. Two wildly entertaining games last night. Michigan and Washington advanced to play for a national championship Todd McShay is with us this week to break down everything that we saw yesterday and a couple other college football tidbits let me start with this as I watch Michigan beat Alabama in overtime come back the right team won they were the better football team and yet despite I'm watching Bama going I

can't even believe they're they're in like this close to a chance to play for a national championship so let's at least start with Michigan and the things that you saw from them that I think you'd agree like they felt like the better team throughout even when the score was close and they were behind yeah they did I mean I think the big question was in the trenches, is Michigan as good as we think that they are coming from that Big Ten schedule and not playing the level of competition that Alabama had to play throughout the year. And early on, that was answered. I mean, I give a lot of credit to Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator for Michigan and the plan that they have. You know, Minter came in, it's his second year as a defensive coordinator has has ties to the nfl worked under john harbaugh jim's brother at baltimore and

you could see up front they were utilizing their quickness and their their scheme really with twists and games and stunts and and and you know timing of blitzes to kind of make the size of Alabama's offensive line work against them. I think at some point in the broadcast, Herbstreet said that Alabama's offensive line is bigger than all 32 NFL teams. There are three guys at like 350 and over, and that's great in the run game. It's great in the quarterback run game, the power game. But you could see the inability to adjust, to move laterally,

to see late twists coming and late blitzes coming, delayed blitzes. You could see that throughout the game. They just didn't move as well as they needed to. And so five sacks in the first half. I think there were like 13 dropbacks and eight of those 13 times, uh, Miller was, was pressured. So that to me was the story of the first half. But the other story was that Michigan, you know, they, they had the, the, um, the muff fumble, you know, the muff punt for, you know, fumble recovery for, for Alabama, which led to

a score. They had the bad snap on the extra point, which led to a score they had the bad snap on the extra point which led to a missed extra point later in the game they had another low snap that was part of the equation on the missed field goal they had a second muff fumble that was almost disastrous so special teams in my opinion kept Alabama in this game but I thought on both sides of the ball that Michigan Michigan was the better football team and offensively they weren't great and I give Alabama a lot of credit because Michigan came in and out coached Alabama in the first half okay Alabama went in and made adjustments on offense it was let's get but we whether it's protection it's a combination really

combination of poor pass protection and a quarterback in Dylan Milrow who does not feel pressure and have an understanding for setting up his protections and where pressure is coming from. So they aborted that for the most part, the drop-back passing game, which I thought, you know, Tommy Reese, give him credit. They made the adjustment at the half. I honestly, watching the game, kept on waiting for them to go more quarterback run and just let Milrow do what he does best

so they made the adjustment they dominated Alabama did in the third quarter defensively the adjustment was more five-man fronts three interior defensive linemen bring those outside linebackers so now we got five-man fronts and you saw Michigan's run game get taken away, Ryan. And, and ultimately by dominating the third quarter, now all of a sudden you're looking up and saying, how in the world is this happening? Michigan's a better team today. Michigan's outplaying them, but now they're down, I think 20 to 13 at that point and really dominated early in the fourth quarter as well. Then Michigan made late adjustments and that was the difference in the game yeah there was you know a play after the missed field goal where I'm thinking all right if Bama gets a touchdown this game's over because it would have been 23-13 and you know at one point you're going

all right they've got a first and 10 at the Michigan 30, and then Bama has a substitution infraction. So now it's first and 15, and now you're behind the sticks. You've got Milrow. It's a two-yard pass because they just didn't trust Milrow in the second half to drop back and play a normal quarterback. Because I'll just get into it now with Milrow. I couldn't pick a Bama game this year to save my life. On our Alliance college football picks, Captain 500 added again,

nine, nine and one on the season. That includes an O and five number on Bama games that I gave out. If I picked them to win, they lost. If I picked them to lose, they covered. So I couldn't figure them out other than Milrow scares the shit out of me. And, you know, I don't, I've, I've consistently said the Heisman vote is maybe the most uneducated vote for any sports award that matters.

Four people voted Milrow number one on their Heisman ballot. I mean, all right. Just, um, you know, the Auburn game, he was, how do you, like, I've got a Heisman ballot. I mean, all right. Just, um, you know, the Auburn game, he was, how do you, like, I've got a Heisman vote,

right? How do you in good conscience after, if you truly watch the whole season, when you've got guys like Bo Nix and Pennix battling it out, and you've got Jaden Daniels having a record setting season, what he did. And I get three losses. You've got Marvin Harrison, Jr. You've got Jaden Daniels having a record-setting season, what he did, and I get three losses. You've got Marvin Harrison Jr. You've got Romo Dunze, who arguably had the better year,

over 1,500 receiving yards he has at this point with 13 touchdowns. Like, how do you – when I sat down on my couch that Sunday morning after all the games, I literally, like, I was trying to think – I knew the three that I was going to vote for i'm not allowed i don't like maybe i can say now i'll just say this bo nicks uh pennix and and and um and jayden were in there not not in that order okay but i was trying to think is there anyone else i'm missing marvin harrison jr o'doones they came into my mind but i was like pennix you know pex is a quarterback and had a better year.

I never even once thought about Milrow. I just don't even know how that comes into play. But go ahead, sorry. Yeah, I think there was like 50 people that had him in the top three. So look, the point is, I'm sure there's some Bama fans listening and be like, why were you guys so certain

that Michigan was a better football team? It's because one team had J.J. McCarthy, okay? And the other team had Milrow. And at the beginning of that game, if you want to get on the Bama offensive line, that's fine. But at some point, you need your quarterback to understand where the pressure's coming from and bail out the offensive line.

I don't know what he does pre-snap. I think I have a pretty good guess of what he doesn't do pre-snap. And so when you're seeing this play out, it reminded me of the Texas game, okay? I know Milrow had the Kentucky game. I know that some look at this as the celebratory story of him bucking all the odds, but I can't believe Bama was even in the playoff considering how you could tell.

I think the coaching staff at halftime was like, we're not going to be able to get Bond and Burton on go routes because because we're not going to have enough time and then he's not going to figure it out so they went to the edges they run to the edges but it's not like they were gashing michigan they ran for a big total but the yards per carry was was nothing necessarily all that special so that's the part if michigan and lost this game you know they don't they don't get the 75 yard touchdown drive after they needed it the other part of this game that I think will be lost in the telling of it is in the second half, that Bama defense actually held them in check.

It's punt, punt, missed field goal. You know, like they held them to 41 yards total before McCarthy needs it, and he gets it. You know, he goes 75 yards, and now you're like, okay, there's no way. Like, Bama's not going to win this game because they had the opportunity. They had their chance. But, like, okay, there's no way. Like, Bama's not going to win this game because they had the opportunity. They had their chance.

But, like, they're just so limited offensively because their quarterback isn't nearly as good as the other guys. So, if you were a Michigan fan today and you had lost that game, you'd spend the entire week going, how did you lose this one to Milrow? entire week going how did how did you lose this one to milrow yeah it's interesting because milrow was the scariest player in that game and i mean that positively and negatively like if alabama was to pull off that when going in and my mindset was if alabama wins this game it's because michigan couldn't contain milrow milrow went off running the ball and and with his deep ball accuracy his deep ball for the most part,

has been outstanding this year. Everything else, which is called a work in progress, being kind, right? But if I'm an Alabama fan saying, if we lose this game, I'm scared that Milrow's going to be the guy that loses this game. And I'm not saying he did, but the fumble was critical. The last play of the game, the snap was critical. The, you know, the last

play of the game, the snap was low. It took them out of the rhythm. He had the running back in the flat that he could have thrown, but I think it took his eyes off of that. He could have cut back to the left, but the whole play was disjointed. But there were several plays, including those sacks you're talking about, that the things that scared you about milrow negatively came to fruition and gave out gave michigan an opportunity so you know that's it's kind of it's the the deal with the devil that that alabama made when they decided to go back to milrow his greatness is his athleticism combined with his deep ball but the all the the other plays that he makes negatively because of his inability to protect

the ball inability to feel pressure those are the things that kind of prevented them from being an elite elite team or taking that next step and that's kind of how it was throughout the course of the season he played great in the SEC championship game he played great in that Kentucky game we talked about we he had that great throw against Auburn but we forget why they were in that position you know the play before so there are a lot of things up and down with Milrow but he he was the player that scared me on both sides of it if I was a Michigan fan I'm scared to death that that we can't contain him if I'm an Alabama fan I'm hopeful that he he goes off running the ball and some great deep ball throws but I'm scared to death that he's going to make the the mistakes

that he made in that game that are going to cost us. Yeah, look, if I'm a Georgia, if I'm Kirby smart, I would have to go outside. I'd be like, I can't believe. I mean, he completed 13 passes against Georgia. So when I hear that he played great against them. You mean like sitting in his house watching the game, like I got to go walk the dog or something?

I'll watch it on Thursday. I got to go for a walk because, you know, my team should be. But look be but look bama beat him that's why two other things though before we get away from this and yes if i was kirby i'd be i'd be biting the back of my hand like all i would have scars on the back of my hand from from like the frustration but two things that really stood out to me in this game and i said it back at the sec championship having watched like everyone any college football fan or analyst watching alabama all season how is it that the crimson tide the money that they have the support that they have the coaching that they have how is it that they can't snap the football and we saw it throughout the year like all year long so it wasn't something

that just popped up the pressure of the game or field was wet or what it it throughout the year, like all year long. So it wasn't something that just popped up at a pressure of the game or field was wet or what. It was throughout the year. I tweeted it during the SEC championship. How can you have this good of a football team, this program, these resources, these coaches, and every single game I watch, it's like you're worried about the snap. It's like a high school game.

I mean, I go out and watch kids in flag football, literally flag football. My son is nine years old playing flag football. They don't have as many snap issues as Alabama football does. Set it in the SEC championship game, and then you watch it throughout the college football playoff semifinal. How do we get that far and have that many issues? The second thing is... Hold on, real quick though.

I'm going to jump in on that because at one point, it was so bad in the first half, but it hadn't really happened yet. And I'm going, that's brutal for Milrow. And in a way, I know they were talking about he needs to do a better job or whatever, but you're eliminating, you're giving him any credit whatsoever for catching all the ones that haven't turned into a disaster yet right so and i keep hearing people say that's not fun he's a great athlete and like that shouldn't affect him that much but you try you try with 11 defenders you know studying you with with a defense that's very well coached and different

twists and games and protection setting and coverage looking like a cover three turning to a cover two and shells changing. The ball is snapped. The one thing you're supposed to trust is I can literally have my eyes on whatever I need to have my, whether it's the safety, the corner, I can have my eyes kind of somewhere else with my peripheral, you know, just kind of looking down and that ball is going to be right here. You know, from like my chin down to the top of my stomach, like it's going to be right here, right within this small little box. It's going to always be right there. I can trust that. Now, all of a sudden the ball's coming out, you know, low to the right, to the left, you know, and not only does it throw off the timing,

but it throws your eyes off. And then even on the good snaps, you're still worried that every single snap could be out of, you know, out of the strike zone, if you will. And so it's like that, that split like quarter count, if you will, that kind of takes the rhythm out. So that it was shocking to me throughout the entire year. And it came to fruition in the, in the final game, the most important game that a snap from center to quarterback in shotgun was a significant factor in the outcome of the game. What did you love about Michigan's approach game plan adjustments from the coaching staff? Aggressiveness in terms of pass rush like

yeah maybe maybe they have more speed on the outside i'm not sure they do but we're going to test it and we're going to trust that he can't protect himself and that his offensive line is not as athletic as um as as you would expect an elite team to have in terms of athleticism up front. I love what I love. I said it before, but Jesse Minter, I love what he did. I loved offensively. Let's just be honest. I'm a huge JJ McCarthy guy. Like I think he deserves, you know, talking about potentially in the first round. If it's not first, early second, I think he's going to have said it multiple times with you, right? I think he's, he might be multiple times with you right I think he might be like a more statistically productive quarterback in the NFL than he has been in college but I loved the

fact that that JJ was not on I mean he made some great throws but his he missed a lot of throws that you you typically see him make and and Michigan's run game was taken away in the third quarter and early into the fourth quarter. But when this team needed big plays, their players stepped up. Like Blake Corum with that run on the first play, I think it was in the overtime. Bad tackling by Alabama, great job by Michigan's offensive line, but breaking tackles, sensing where the cutback lane was and making that run. The best play of the game, the most important play of the game, the most jaw-dropping play of the game. And I knew it when it happened, but I had to see the replay to confirm was to Roman Wilson. Don't forget, Roman Wilson makes a huge mistake just prior, comes in the huddle and says, you know, give me the ball.

Trust me, I'm going to make up for that. They do. They go to him on a critical. I think it was third down, whatever the down and distance was. And McCarthy comes out, thrown to the left to the boundary, comes out and makes a great throw, but it's tipped a little bit. I think Lawson, right, got his right hand up, tips the ball a little bit. It's tipped, yeah.

And not only does it have the velocity to keep the RPMs going, the rotations. You're right, but you don't see a ball tip like that and then stay in a perfect spiral. Yeah, but you could see when they slowed it down, it tipped off the top of his hand, and you could see the trajectory went from more of a line to going up a little bit. And then you got Wilson on the other side.

It's not the biggest, fastest guy. He's going to be like a day three draft pick, but to, to be such a gamer, like a gym rat type to be able to adjust when he's fully coming out of his break, full speed going up and having to go up and get that one hand up and kind of bring it down to himself and to make that adjustment. You look at that and you're like, oh, that's a nice catch. Over his head, like, no. That was a freaking phenomenal catch to adjust on the fly that fast,

everything happening with two defenders, by the way. If he doesn't go up with that right hand and bring it down, even if he batted it down, but to go up and make the catch if he doesn't make that catch that's a pick ball game it's over and so to see him do that and then the catch the touchdown pass which was easy just you know pluck and and jump over the goal line but to have your key guys step up in the clutch that's what it's all about and Michigan does not have like you know a top 10 wide receiver they don't have a first round running back but they've got dudes who are high character hard working believe in the system trust their coaches believe in the team and those are the typically the guys that you trust in big situations like that i

thought it was awesome to see roman to see blake to see jj step up in those big moments completely agree with the last part because i don't know that this team wins and comes back in the fourth quarter unless they have the scars from the georgia game the scars from the tcu game right there was part of me as you were watching some of the Big Ten Bowl games play out. I'm like, man, these guys are getting their asses kicked in some of these games. Is this going to turn into Michigan just wasn't tested enough the whole time? But the great thing for the Wolverines is that this core had been through this kind of stuff. And when you look at the start of that second half, six plays punt, three and out punt, three and out punt, three and out punt.

The missed field goal after the Millrow fumble, where you're like, whoa, massive tie turn. And then you're like, wait, Michigan doesn't get anything out of that possession. The missed field goal, then the fumble. Baked in there too is the throwback to McCarthy, who if he doesn't catch that pass over his head and tip it to himself,

that's probably a fumble recovery at the least for Dallas Turner. Maybe at six, and he catches it and gets the throw off. And gets it off. Right, and it wasn't that Turner lit him up like he has some other quarterbacks. It was just that McCarthy was so vulnerable in that position to get the throw off on top of everything else. I just think to have that second half where it looks like nothing's working, you think you get the momentum after the fumble and then the missed kick.

And then you go 75 yards when you need it with all the headliner guys that you just mentioned. That's the impressive, that's the three-year Michigan story. It's not the story of the Rose Bowl yesterday. That's a three-year Michigan scars and all the stuff. And I know some people have just despised him because of the cheating thing. Fine. You know, go ahead. I can't tell you that you're wrong, but for

the kids that are on the field that are fighting, like that's a lot to go. Those players play for each other. Right. Hey, we got to go 75 yards now, guys. And by the way, the thaw, fumble, I don't know what i don't know what happened in college football all of a sudden guys are just fielding punts inside the 10

i don't know how that changed yeah but thaw having the worst play become actually one of the most amazing plays for him to recover have his momentum stopped at the one not have it be a fumble not have it be a safety imagine losing a chance to play for a national championship on a safety because you change your punt returner and they put him in because he was that he was a safer option not as dynamic but he's the trustworthy guy who has all the experience yeah i mean that guy i don't even know if you go to class like how do you go to class at the beginning of next semester if if that ends up being a fumble or if it ends up being a safety and so the funny thing is like you're like what do you want to give him

credit for a terrible decision i can't believe if you were to still shot that and say hey what do you think happens now as the ball's behind him and the bama guys are coming in to light them up three of them coming in like 25 miles an hour so it it, it was a really fun, entertaining game, but it wasn't clean by any means. And look today, it feels like the right team won the right teams playing for a national championship because I am real simple with quarterbacks. It's completely different when you have JJ and third and seven. And you know, it's not like his numbers were incredible yesterday. And I, I really feel like the story of the game on the Bama side of it is third and seven. And, you know, it's not like his numbers were incredible yesterday. And I, I really feel like the story of the game on the Bama side of it is third and seven. You feel like you just don't have a lot of options that you can't just drop back and get through a

read. It's, you know, it's, it's limited. It's, it's a reason why the story has been what it's been this year. Well, it was really cool to me and no one talked about it cause it was nothing at the time. But Michigan couldn't do anything offensively that whole second half, right? Everything was falling apart. They get the ball back. They got a defensive stop, get the ball back before that long touchdown drive, right, to send it to overtime.

Quickly, the cameras panned on ESPN to J.J. and Harbaugh crossing paths on the sideline. And that's a moment. Normally you see a head coach. I grabbed the quarterback, pull, you know, getting his face mask. You're like,

here's what we need to do. Or, Hey, we got this. And, you know, just remember this, this, and they walked by each other and JJ just put his fist out and was like,

and Harbaugh was like, yep. And he nodded his head, JJ did, to Coach Harbaugh. Just like, yep. It was like, here we go. This is like what we've talked. They didn't need to say one word to each other. It was just like, let's go. Here we are.

And that, like you said, that's like three years of going through that. That's losing in the college football playoff. That's McCarthy. If you go back and watch's losing in the college football playoff. That's McCarthy. If you go back and watch TCU in the upset last year, there's a great video of him standing there, watching the purple and black confetti come down, watching TCU celebrate on the field and everyone else from Michigan's going back to the locker room.

And he stood there and he studied it. And you talk about the motivation and the psyche of a, of an athlete all off season every single workout everything you go through to get back to that moment and then you get the ball as the quarterback and you're down by a touchdown you need to score a touchdown to tie it to go to overtime against alabama in the rose bowl like that's the pinnacle man that's the pinnacle and to walk by your head coach instead of being like, all right, what are we going to do here? It's just like, I got you.

And just a quick head bob. To me, that is maturity. That's going through it. All the shit they went through this year with the hard bomb being suspended twice and having to step up as a leader. Well, that's their fault. Right. Absolutely.

That's their fault. But I'm saying the players had to – your head coach is gone. having to step up well that's their fault right i mean that's their fault but not the play but i'm saying the players had to like your head coach is gone you're having to answer questions all year like they have been through so much that that moment of getting the ball there was no anxiety there was no like all right frantic or running around trying to figure out what's our play call it was just like we got this we're good and to me it just it was overlooked it wasn't a big moment at the time because they hadn't driven the ball down the field but you go back and you watch that and you're like that is a young man who gets it who's confident who's comfortable

in his skin and and you saw the drive I mean it was it was like watching Tom Brady like playing like we've talked about it before, having three, like really off, off quarters, not being the guy that you expect him to be. But when it's on the line, like I got this, let's go. Okay. That's the Rose Bowl breakdown. The Sugar Bowl coming up next. okay let's talk Washington Huskies let's start with Pennix stat line 29 to 38 Todd 430 yards two touchdowns no picks a QBR of 98 11 yards per attempt my favorite stat of the entire night sacked zero times Texas made a late push in this one. I liked Washington straight up. And Penix is the reason why. And he put on an absolute show. So I think he's the headliner.

What's the big thing that jumps out for you to start? I mean, you can list off those numbers. And like if Bo Nix did it, it would be like a lot of bubble screens and a deep ball here and there. And I'm not picking on Bo Nix. I'm just saying like a lot of other quarterbacks, they threw for 430 and it was know screens and a couple deep shots and all that was watching a high high level NFL quarterback and honest to god like I can't remember many times where I

watched a college game and saw that level of quarterback play from inside the pocket the maneuverability the understanding where pressure's coming from. Remember, he got nicked up against Oregon earlier in the season, and he was kind of dealing with injuries the second half of the year and didn't have the same mobility. He's not a running quarterback, okay? But his ability to maneuver inside the pocket is so much better than what we saw in the second half of the season from him and the occasional ability to tuck the ball and run

and pick up a first down. He managed that pocket like a five-year NFL pro. And the deep ball accuracy, the accuracy with anticipation throws, his placement, Ryan, is so pure with the football. I go back, I was trying to think as I was watching it, because every throw was like, oh my gosh, are you kidding me? I was trying to go back and think of what's comparable. And I remember back like the Utah Rose Bowl with Ohio State versus Utah,

CJ Stroud didn't have his top two receivers. They were sitting out. It wasn't a college football playoff semifinal game. So he was going to his his his quote unquote backup receivers, which were, you know, Marvin Harrison Jr. And and the guys that they have now who are obviously first first second round talents. But in that game, he completed 80 percent of his throws, 573 yards, six touchdowns and an interception and was just dealing from the pocket. But I would argue because the moment was bigger and just like the way he was throwing the football and the degree of difficulty throws that he had to make, that this was even more impressive. So compare it to whatever you want to compare it to.

It's hard to come up with a single game with that pressure on it to find a quarterback from inside the pocket in the college level who played anywhere close to what Michael Penix did in that game I mean it was just it was astounding and it begs the question we can get to it later but like why isn't he a top 15 pick well let's let's get into that let's just do it here but a couple other numbers that I want to throw at you they They threw it 522 times this year. He was sacked 11 times. You know, we were talking about the first time with Milrow. Like, not every sack is on the O-line.

Sometimes it's like you have to adjust. You have to account. You have to kind of see something. You've got to maybe deviate from the original plan. Hey, hot route, anybody? Triangle button. So, you know, with Penix, his mobility in the pocket. I'm not going to say it's as impressive as his throws, because his throws are the most

impressive of any quarterback in college football this year. But his aware, like a few times there where it was late, the play calling by by Grubb, the OC, there was a stop in play. You know, at that point, Texas is going to find a way like, hey, we got to start pressuring these guys. You're going to come after it. They come out of the time stoppage. They throw a screen against it like they knew, like, all right, yeah, the guys are lining

up. Let's look at, you know, they're probably going to start heating it up a little bit. Let's just burn them with a screen here. There was a throw at one point that he made. You know what? I'm going to share one other number for you first. 20 targets for the receivers, Polk, McMillan, Bernard, Rome 19 completions on those 20 targets so Pennix makes you worry about every single inch of the field you know there's a lot of these teams that have run versions of

the spread where they throw that bubble pass and it feels like it never works you remember I asked Mike Gundy once we had him in studio I was like man you guys throw a ton of bubble pass and it feels like it never works you know remember i asked mike gundy once we had him in studio i was like man you guys throw a ton of bubble screens and i know you're looking for numbers over there but you know again this is mike gundy and it's fucking me as a talk show host kind of threw a lot of bubbles they look like they get blown up a lot you know like what's going on and you know and gundy was gundy was cool about it because he goes it's not about the yards gain necessarily he's like I know especially if another team has really limited depth at defensive line I want those guys chasing it out there I want to throw it to the wide side of the field and make everybody run over there because later on you know we're gonna we're

gonna set up the bubble screen and then we're gonna get a clean shot right down the middle of the field because those guys are tired and they're chasing and they're paying attention i was like okay i've been educated on this when washington runs it it like works you know because then all the receivers know what they're signed up for like they're all so competitive with each other and they're all such ballers that you almost think like i see receivers on some teams there's like do you hate the guy who's the main yeah option in this girlfriend like what's what's going on like one of my first notes was washington wide receivers blocked their asses off i mean it's fun to watch i i cannot get over the throws though because yeah like a dunzey deandre hopkins was my 50 50 guy right there's no such thing as

a 50 50 ball with deandre hopkins it's a 60 40 ball it's a 70 30 ball whatever adunze is the same thing and then you you almost kind of lose track of when mcmillan comes back in the rematch against oregon you're like okay yep probably should have factored that in a little bit more too on top of everything else uh it but it isn't just that because even a bad throw from penix todd is still a catchable ball when he overthrew the tight end that looked like he was coming from the left side that route took forever to develop he throws the ball and i'm like oh my god penix missed him and then i realized wait penix adjusted there's actually some loft in this ball it's hanging up a bit yeah this isn't – look, he still ended up missing them.

It's on purpose. Those are his misses. He had a throw that I want to make sure I get this right so I don't mess it up. It was to Westover. It was to the left side. To the left, yep. To the left side, and Westover has a linebacker trailing him and a safety coming down.

There's not many college quarterbacks who looked at that window and would say, yep, I'm going to let it fly. And yet he couldn't throw it on his numbers. He had to throw it to his outside, and he had to throw it up to his hands. And it was perfect. So yeah, I want to talk about that part of it now. Knowing, granted, that Pennix would be a 24-year-old rookie in college after six years. We know the two ACL things that he's had but as a pure thrower of the football like i'm not telling you i'd take him over caleb williams because i'm not going to do that i

think people still would have drake may ahead of him but how real is the conversation for pennix disrupting some of this stuff it really comes down to a risk assessment is what it is because while and and you have to evaluate you know know, it reminds me a little bit. Remember CJ Stroud last year? You know, he's so great. He's the best pure passer, but he doesn't move around. Is he going to be able to, A, stay healthy, B, manage pressure in the NFL? Is he going to utilize his mobility because he's a better athlete than he shows?

He just wants to stay in the pocket, all those sorts of things. And against georgia he was like fuck it you want to see it here it is and it was tucking the ball running design a couple design quarterback runs jalen carter and the whole crew coming after him and he was he was making throws on the run rolling left rolling right like i can still envision all those stories because I watched that game over and over again because that was the version that you always wanted to see out of Stroud. Well, we know that Penix wasn't completely healthy the second half of the season,

got a little time to get healthy. And that was the best version of Michael Penix. And if you can promise me I'm going to get that or close to that version of Penix in the NFL you can promise me, I'm going to get that or close to that version of Penix in the NFL in terms of health pocket mobility, then take him in the top 10. Right. And forget the age. Like, yeah, I want him younger. It would be great. But, but at the end of the day, he's NFL ready. We're starting him as a rookie. But the thing that's scary for NFL teams is he's had the two ACLs. He was dinged up a little bit this year,

even though he has stayed on the field and healthy for two straight years. So you're just, you're kind of assessing that. But, but why I said it reminds me of Stroud is all of a sudden you get in the playoff, the biggest game and he plays his best game and shows kind of that pocket mobility and taking off and running a little bit more, but also continues to show and continues to prove he's the best pure pocket passer in college football. That's what we all said about Stroud. And then he went and took that, you know, the cognitive test, the whatever two tests that it was a year ago. Everyone got worried that he couldn't process as quickly and all that because Brock Purdy had taken that test the year before,

Mr. Irrelevant, or two years before, whatever it was, Mr. Irrelevant, and scored the highest of all the quarterbacks and the highest score of anyone in the entire class. And so there's all this distraction on Stroud, but ultimately we all knew he's the best pure pocket passer. There's all this distraction on Penix, but ultimately we know he's the best pure pocket passer. There's all this distraction on Pennix, but ultimately we know he's the best pure pocket passer in this class. So it's going to be fascinating to see. And you've got Jaden Daniels from LSU coming into his own in his final year.

And for those people who are like, yeah, it doesn't matter. You can leave after two years, and I get it. Stroud did, and some other guys have had success. But look at some of these guys who have stuck around and what it's done to their career. Bo Nix, I don't think he's a first-rounder. Some people do. Regardless, he's going to go in the first two rounds.

I had him as a free agent after his Auburn career and maybe climbing into the fourth, fifth round after last year. Another season, developing. Jaden Daniels, second year in the system at LSU, developing. He's going to be a first-round pick. Wins the Heisman Trophy. Pennix, we just talked about that, coming from Indiana, the injuries. But the two years, Washington, like the system, understanding it,

knowing where to go with your eyes, and that allows you to be more mobile inside the pocket. You know, J.J. McCarthy the the experiences he's had at michigan like these guys are all poster boys poster childs if you will for staying in college getting more experience because they're all peaking at the right time okay um what happened with texas first of all they i mean I mean, let's just, and we just did give all the credit,

but they ran into a buzzsaw. I mean, they did. You take arguably the best quarterback in the country all season long and say he's going to have his best game of his career. And there's really nothing you can do about it, fellas, because he's got a first round wide receiver in Adunze who had six for 125 in, fellas, because he's got a first-round wide receiver in Adunze,

who had six for 125 in that game. And he's got two other guys who are going to be drafted pretty early, and Jalen Polk and Jalen McMillan, who combined for 11, 180, and two. 11 catches, 180 yards, and two touchdowns, and they weren't even the guy. So you're talking about three NFL receivers with an NFL quarterback and an NFL left tackle it's going to be a tough night but they played to the level Texas yeah I thought Texas one of the things I would say is where were where were their wide receivers you know

Donnie Mitchell you saw after he had that that unbelievable touchdown catch where he jumped too early and it's like he stayed in the air for for a second longer than a human being should stay in the air but you saw him take the ball and just throw it to the ground how pissed off he was and you saw that they did a great job on the broadcast of showing the play before they didn't give him the ball and he's looking screaming at the sideline i mean they were uh donna mitchell and and xavier worthy Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, six combined catches. Again, so it's like saying, Odunze and McMillan or Odunze and Polk, I'm only going to give them six catches.

And what would have happened to Washington's offense if that was the case? So that to me was frustrating watching that game. I thought that they played well in spurts defensively. They just couldn't get enough pressure and get to the quarterback pennants, and that was a big part of it. I thought their secondary, unfortunately, was overmatched and was forced to cover too long. But they responded.

I'll say that. Every time – it was one of those games where it felt easy for Washington, and then Texas would find a way to stay in it. Like, Washington's up 7-0. Well, I forget the exact order of it, but Washington's up 7-0. Texas drives down some scores. Washington's up 14-7. I think they had the muff punt.

They get the ball short field. It's 14-14. I apologize in advance if i'm wrong on the actual sequence but they found ways to stick in right before the half they they score so like there were a lot of different things that texas did that were were great to see and and they were tough to run on the inside and and they you know they they offensively at moments they looked like they were getting into a rhythm but ultimately not getting their receivers going Quinn Ewers got got dinged up when his head hit and it didn't seem like he

was the same guy he late in the game he was but there was there were one or two drives where he just didn't seem like he was fully with it or comfortable or was was still kind of dealing with that head injury and we saw Arch Manning Manning on the sideline warming up. So they clearly were worried about that. But I give Texas credit for being in it late and having that toughness and mental toughness to hang around. And they had a play to win the game at the end. And I think if Ewers throws it on a line and gets that ball out

and shoots it and is confident in it rather than putting it up, that they had a better chance of making that play to score a touchdown at the end of the game but ultimately i mean washington like we said with michigan like you said with michigan michigan deserved to win that game they were the better team washington was the better team and i think we have the best two teams ultimately um in the college football playoff championship game okay that's a good segue to then finish up here. Because we're going to do a lot more on Pennix and the draft and all that kind of stuff as we have you visit from time to time, which is still months away. But I want to talk a little bit about Florida State's position.

They get destroyed against Georgia. I mean, it's horrifying. And then that turned into, and I'll only do this when I see it being other media members. And I'm just like, pick from the randomness of it. But people either that I respect or have zero respect for going like, hey, the committee got it right. All right. Like that was a popular thing after Florida State gets smoked. And for Florida State fans, that's not a lot of

fun, right? Because it's not fair either. It is a Florida State team, as we know the quarterback issues, and then you have 24 guys, I think was the total. And I don't know the depth charts well enough to be like, how many of the 24? Because sometimes we can then lean into that number because it's more dramatic. But let's just say it's not the team that went 13 and 0 it's not close to being the team that went 13 and 0 so that result that result is not like i was being sarcastic when i tweeted out i can't believe this team went 13 and 0 because i knew and that was me making fun of the people that actually felt like you had some definitive deal with all of this now the problem is is like as much as I'm on Florida State fans' side

when that was happening to them, you then can't watch Bama in Michigan. You can't lose by 60, even with a limited team. You can't lose by 60 and then go, hey, Bama sucks like it should have been us. But again, we're asking a fan base, and not specific even to Florida State,

although they've had some moments over the last 10 years where you're like, dude, you guys give out credits for this stuff? Because here's what I'd ask Florida State fans. If Georgia had 20-something guys missing that actually mattered and their quarterback was out and you won 60 by 60 points, would you ever say, well, Georgia didn't have their guys? Of course not. You'd be like, we won by 60.

We would have beaten Bama. We would have beaten Michigan. You know, we would have beaten all these different teams. So, like, I was on Florida State's side knowing full well it's, like, pointless ever trying to get to the – would there have been any Bama-Michigan result where Florida State fans would have gone, yeah, all right, the committee got it right? Of course not. Because, I mean, the fan base cannot.

I think, to me, this whole thing is asinine, okay? It's so simple to me. Florida State forfeited without forfeiting. They had to put a product on the field, but they really forfeited that game. 24 guys out. The strength of their team was their defensive line. Three of their four starters and I think a backup or two weren't even playing. All right? So to me, if we're going to sit here after that game and put any tie correlation, whatever, into what could have happened happened what should have happened like it's ridiculous there's that outcome what we saw in that field has nothing to do with what we talked

about after the selection committee decided to keep florida state out the game out of the the playoffs the second thing is without jordan travis at quarterback george's going to beat them 10 out of 10 times if everybody else is on the field. They just are, okay? If with Jordan Travis in there, I still think Georgia's a better team. I still think there are probably two, maybe three better teams in the college football playoff, but if Jordan Travis is in there,

A, they're in the college football playoff, but B, they've got a chance to win a game or potentially win two games. They do. I still can think Georgia's a better team, but they would, to me, Florida State would have had a shot, a legitimate shot of pulling off an upset and winning the national championship.

But these are three different things. You don't have Jordan Travis. Ultimately, that's why they're not in the college football playoff. Pure and simple. And the that's why they're not in the college football playoff. Pure and simple. And the game's not, like, we just watched Michigan battle it out against Alabama. Wasn't the most, you know, aesthetically pleasing game in the world, but we had two iconic head coaches, two great programs with depth, with quarterback play, you know, highs and lows, obviously, from Alabama.

Offensive and defensive, like, from Alabama, offensive and defensive. They stacked two teams that were stacked and delivered in the clutch. Then we had kind of this shootout going with Washington and Texas, two loaded teams. If Florida State made it into the playoff without Jordan Travis, one of those two games would not have been pretty. I'm convinced of that. And then the third thing I know, the first one is,

take nothing from that Georgia-Florida State game. The second is, without Jordan Travis, I hate to say it, they deserve to be in there, but they didn't belong. They couldn't compete. And the third thing is, I give a lot of credit to Kirby Smart. Instead of being like, I told you so, and you and I talked about this before we came on. Instead of being like, I told you so, we'reorgia we won that two national championship like we belong we should have been in the college football playoff it's like you know what pump the brakes

what just happened isn't right for college football and we got to get this thing fixed and i know a 12 game playoff will will help you know help that cause moving forward next year but this bowl season let's just call it it sucked i remember i was five six years five six years ago like say like waiting like being at like you know uh family's house like what i couldn't wait for games like midday on the 23rd of december the 27th of december like getting ready to fly out and watching games like in the 28th when i was at the rose bowl like preparing for the game like I remember being so excited for these matchups, like, oh, Michigan's playing Alabama in the Citrus Bowl. This system is now broken. We kind of knew what was going to get here. And I give Kirby Smart, instead of like putting on this campaign

about how we should have been playing in the playoff being like come on guys like we gotta fix what's going on now i loved that from kirby smart probably one of my favorite things i you know not like i'm a kirby smart historian um but you know he's never done anything where i've been like hey what's going on with that guy because when i was watching kirby do that all i could think of was like i was trying to go like imagine jimbo fisher being like a teen that had been left out and then winning 63 to three and what he would have done. He would have just spent the whole time talking about how they should have gotten in, completely dismissing the idea that 10 or 24 guys are missing from Florida State.

Like, I don't know if Dabo would have done it and prime Dabo. Like, Dabo will have some moments where you're like, come on, dude. Like, what are you talking about? And the fact that Kirby, instead of campaigning, which is pointless, the season's over. Like, you don't need to do it. And he didn't. And I thought it was really cool from him in that moment. But, you know, the initial thing that I've said and I've said forever, now we don't have to worry about it because look, with the extra playoff games, there'll be more bowl games that matter. I will enjoy the games. I'll watch the games. But my fundamental belief, which everybody disagrees with me on, is I would rather leave a couple deserving teams out that have multiple teams that don't deserve anything playing for a national championship. Penn State would have played for a national championship this year. They have not had a good regular season win in two years, and they would have played for a national championship at back-to-back years. That's not about Penn State specifically. It's about the concept of

that team. With a 10year uh run of results with a four-team playoff which by design was always set up to at least screw one if not two power five conferences um we had a lot of people saying well the committee's never done this before well we're only visiting with this process you wouldn't you wouldn't visit a part of the world and then expect to be an expert on their weather unless you would live there for 10 years. Great point. In this case, the smaller sample of just 10 years of selection committee results, like, oh, well, they've never taken a group of five.

Well, okay, then they did. Oh, they never left out 13-0 undefeated. Okay, well, this year they did. We saw, instead of years of the Clemson-Georgia-Bama cycle of like, man, there's no parity. It's only those teams. We had at the top real parity this year. And you could see two weeks out with the season going, you're like seven slash eight teams

might still be alive for this playoff. Somebody was going to be left out. But the problem in life, and I've learned this over the last few years, we only pay attention to the bias that negatively impacts us. We only pay attention to the bias that negatively impacts us we only pay attention to the bias that we don't like and you want to know why i remember that is because i remember being captain 617 and watching the end of the year nfl highlight stuff and then being like why are the patriots always on the bad side of all of these plays because i wasn't keeping the mental track

right right but i wasn't keeping a mental track of Right, right. But I wasn't keeping a mental track of the times the Cardinals were the bad team in the NFL highlight video or the time the Packers had something go wrong or the time the Bucs because I had no emotional relationship. I had no attachment to it. Every time the Pats had a play,

the time Barry Sanders turns the Pats corner around. So I'd actually be upset being like, oh, the NFL, this is before any of the Goodell stuff. This is before any of the Goodell stuff. This is before any of the deflategate. This is before Belichick, Spygate, the deflated footballs, any of it. I was obsessed fan that was convinced

because I was only noticing. I was only registering some kind of reaction when it was happening against my team. So in the case of this Florida State thing, which I guess we kind of put to bed until the next fan base feels like they're left out in the new format because they were ranked 14th and they think they had a better chance

of the team that was ranked 12th. Like, it sucks. I get your angst. But, you know, we would have had, if we did this for 30 years, we would have had multiple seasons where an undefeated Power 5 team probably would have been left out for some reason

that didn't sit well with that fan base. That was a great rant. I think that's it. What? That was awesome. It's rare that I just sit back and listen and agree. And even if I disagreed, I mean, it was a great rant. But also, it's true.

It's true. It's just true. It's real. It's true for politics. It's true for anything that people are passionate about. You're so right. And I think, honestly, you take a step back and just listen to what you preached about. There's a lot to that. All right.

I think I'm excited to talk draft to you from time to time so look let's talk next week we'll uh recap the national championship game you have an early lean on this one washington michigan early early lean is michigan but can they keep up with washington if they if they're forced to that's that's the big question but Give me a week. I'll study the tape. Actually, will we be back? The game's Monday night, huh? Yeah, we're going to probably just do... Look, I'll be doing a Monday show,

but... But I'm not invited to it? No, we might have to do... We might have to do... I don't know. I don't like doing the previews as much as I like doing the recaps. I'll talk to you next Tuesday, and I'll text you who I like't know. I don't like doing the previews as much as I like doing the recaps. Yeah, so I'll talk to you next Tuesday, and I'll text you who I like on Sunday. All right, we'll figure out what we're going to do.

Maybe we do a Monday and then a bonus thing. I don't know. Whatever. We'll get it rolling. Thanks, Todd, as always. You got it, brother. You want details? Fine.

I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

Time for life advice. The email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Feel like with the holidays and after, you know, last week, I didn't really check in with the dudes at all. How's everybody doing? Everybody good? Everybody have a good New Year's? Yeah, shout out to the flu.

I'm sick. I look sick. I feel sick. but here we are oh shit i'm sick new year's flu oh yeah you're sick too sir rudy yeah we're supposed to have some people over and uh it wasn't covid but i just like kind of felt like dick and i don't know it's like maybe we should kind of cancel this thing so i just we just hung out on the couch we watched a movie and that was about it it was the longest night ever it felt so long even even waiting for the nine o'clock new year's on the west coast i was just like this can we just get the shit over with because now it's three years in a row i think one of us has had

the flu during new year's and i just it's now just a tradition where we just sit at home and drink one bottle of shitty champagne and i just wait until it's nine o'clock i could send out those texts to my east coast family and just fucking get it over with it's really sad i used to have a life i don't know i don't know what happened my new year's has just been shit for the last three years yeah so uh you know a lot of games yesterday though had to be locked in stanford steve stopped by after the rose bowl we watched the second game together love stanford steve so shout out to our washington huskies crew friend of the frolic newland newland and the gang go dogs stanford steve's been at the frolic room yeah dude i've never seen anyone who drank that first beer faster too i was like i was like in

love with the guy from the minute i saw him but uh he didn't stay that long he stayed longer than i thought he would so now 10 out of 10 from from me a beer doesn't do anything to him nothing it's incredible to watch he's a one seed against beer are you just like people are looking at beer going i can't even believe beers in this tournament against this guy then after after the game they're like i can't believe beer got a bid yeah he strikes me as like that guy you know and like the like all those like cliche sports high school movies where like you know he he throws for like 400 yards scores five touchdowns and like goes back to the house party after that friday night and just takes down a case on his own like that's stanford steve in a nutshell to me

like he just just all around his own hey i don't i wouldn't yeah i wouldn't go there uh no stanford steve's a legend i mean there's he was five star steve before he was stanford steve and then shout to connecticut what's up and spurrier spurrier was at the high school heisman thing and they ran uh steve's highlight tape from ansonia and spurrier offered him on the spot spurrier's like you you you can come to florida but he had already verbally committed to stanford and i think the story goes that he was like shit can i go to florida and they were like no you gave your word to willing hand gotta go yeah and that's not how it works now stanford steve lined up in the slot you know instead he went to stanford and blocked the

whole time so yeah uh who knows we might not he might not even be talking to us if he was florida steve that's right now he's on game day let's go yeah now he's on game day and i thought i had something else on remember that story i always think of stanford steve with this story i forget was it was it who's the jerk or something one time when stanford steve admitted that or maybe it was you or van pelt telling the story that like when he's at the bar like he's the guy that taps the empty glass on the bar to get the bartender's attention which is kind of like such a dick move but also like san for steve yeah like it's just kind of like yeah okay hold on well i i do i do one heavy put down on the you know there's the

bar and then there's that one little strip where they put the uh you know the whatever the sponsored uh whatever that little strip rectangle yeah the water yeah yeah so i'll put it on the space between the bar mats and i'll make sure it makes a sound but it's only one tap but yeah that's that's an indicator will you do that at a place that you're not a regular at maybe yeah i mean just it's just like i i'm putting it somewhere away from me so you know that it's so you'll see it and i'm putting it down once maybe it's a little loud but i'm not like chipping glasses or anything you know i'm just just one just one stern put down it's like it here it is uh i would lose that move okay all right well stanford c does it i don't know i'm doing a more tame version than stance whatever thanks look i'm not happy to learn i'm not telling you i'm not telling you i love it when steve does it either um but especially by the way

the bar mat moves that's set up to make mixed drinks well i'm not putting it on the bar mat and it's got to make a sound so i put it like there's the bar there's not bar mats all across the bar you know but there is that little ledge whatever all right listen i take it from a guy a service industry legend like yourself, I'll change my ways. I think you're allowed to do it at your home base or places you have a relationship. But I would say in general, the tapping to get an attention thing.

Like, look, ultimately a good barker. It's just a place. It's not like, hey, is anyone listening? He's like multiple taps. I think you know what you're doing. It's like, hey, barkeeper. Yeah, of course. Let's pick up the speed.

I don't know if he yells, hey, barkeep. I don't know that I've seen that. That was part of the story. Any good bartender is going to know who was first, who wasn't. I think a key back in the day used to be have your money ready. Now nobody uses cash anymore, so that's its own thing. We used to lose it on single card transactions. We used to get so mad about it uh now that's all out the window people are like weirded out especially now traveling internationally um if you're not just running a card every single

round they think you're weird you know like hey can i run the tab or something so we don't have to do this the whole time and they're like now like it's all that's been done for years so um nobody has a hang-up about it but yeah i do think that aggressively trying to get a bartender's attention um is probably going to do you more harm than than good because i'm just telling you if you're making noises and tapping or yelling or hey barkeeper anything like that the bartenders are going this motherfucker to each other about you and then you might get punished in the order you might get dropped to seventh and you're like i can't believe this i was hitting cleanup earlier all right um so i think we covered a lot there let's uh let's get

into a couple emails sucks everybody's sick okay uh girlfriend wants me to sleep uh wait girlfriend wants me to sleep with a stuffed animal what's's up guys. 25 years old, five, eight, two Oh five max bench, two 25 and two 55 squat. Even though, uh, I haven't been consistent enough to get those numbers up. Player comp is Rodney Stucky. He had a moment or two. Um, speaking of any Isaiah Thomas updates on whether or not he's going to play or wants to play, can we just let me know. Forward those to us on Twitter. Let us know.

I have a weird dilemma. My girlfriend of almost a year ago wants, of a year, excuse me, wants me to keep one of her stuffed animals in my bed while I sleep. She has a bunch of stuffed animals, which some may see as a red flag already, but she's extremely mature, easy to get along with.

I could definitely see a long-term relationship with her. I've honestly looked past her affinity for these things because she's so smart and easy going I'm also past the stage in life where it's cool to on people for their interests or hobbies cool I don't know that I'd be upset with you for on this one but I get your point and I think that's the right way to go about life you know eventually just get like leave people alone um but her wanting me to do this has made me uncomfortable if she struggles to see why she struggles to see why i wouldn't say i'm liam neeson in cold pursuit on the manly scale but having a brightly colored stuffed elephant sit next to me while i'm trying to get some shut eye just makes me feel weird i understand making compromises uh for those you love but this just isn't a line that I really want to cross. Am I the asshole big fan of the show? That's a little weird, right? It's definitely weird. Um, but I think

you kind of make your own point. Like you like everything about her longterm, the whole deal. Uh, you know, if you had said more in the email that would scare me, if it felt like it was something that she's doing to test you, Like sometimes there'll be relationships where you go, you don't even really want me to do this thing. You just want to see if I'll do it and somehow submit to you on this stupid thing. So yeah, if a girl were like, Hey, do you mind? I mean, does it mean when you're sleeping over or you live in together? Like it's a freeway, right?

over are you living together like yeah we need a little freeway right with with the elephant or is it when you go back to your place solo she would approve or encourage you uh maybe even demands of you that you take one of the stuffed animals back the specific elephant always has to go back and like is sleeping in a bed with you is it like a yeah like it's like me when i'm not there sort of deal like that's the thing is like you always have a little piece of me or is it like does she tap this thing i'm just thinking like real nefarious here like is she is she worried about something going on see if there's a battery pack in there yeah i don't know maybe you know scan for some electronics run a bug test on it yeah you went there huh i don't know maybe it was the niece and stuff yeah probably not but not you know not a terrible not a terrible theory just to be sure it's probably not what it is uh i don't think

there's anybody that's going to be listening this like going no no this is actually really cool and it's great that you should do this i don't think i don't think really there's going to be anybody that goes that route with it uh but you know in the list of things that you don't want to have to deal with and you seem to like every other part of the relationship and everything about her, I don't know. I mean, am I saying out loud that you should, I guess that's kind of how it sounds. And yet I think it's kind of stupid. So I don't know.

I'm kind of stuck on this one. I mean, if you don't want to put your foot down, if you don't want to put your foot down and just say like, no, because this isn't like that one dude who was like, I'm not letting my girlfriend go on a trip on a vacation with her college. Like you're not like, it's not a weird no from you. Like if you don't just want to just say, you know what? I'm not really going to explain it other than I really don't want to do this. If you don't want to do that, what I would maybe suggest is you put it and always have it be on the floor when she comes over. Cause girls a lot like my wife, she hates when shit's on the floor. I can leave it on the floor for a little bit. I'm working on cleaning that up but my wife really does not think

the floor is a place for things and if you're just like yeah you know every time it's in there when i start sleeping and i wake up and it's on the floor and if she comes over and this elephant's on the floor if she thinks about she cares about that thing enough she's gonna be like you know what i gotta bring this back to my place i can't have you putting it on the floor like this you'll be like hey it's it's always on the bed when I go to sleep. I wake up, it's on the floor. I'm sorry. So I think maybe you could do that.

I don't think it's a deal breaker. I think it's definitely weird. If it's going to start a fight, like, do you really want to do that? Like, just put the thing in your bed. Like, that's what I would do. Like, I'm going to tell another lot of ESPN, former ESPN employee stories today. I don't know if you remember this, Ryan, but there was a guy I will not. I already know.

I already know exactly what you're going to talk about. Yes, I have not. This is insane. This is actually insane. And I've said this to him, so it's not even it doesn't sound like I'm talking behind his back at all. Doesn't work there anymore. But he went to Disney World with his I think it was his fiance at the at the time, maybe

girlfriend. They weren't married yet. They are married now. And he came back and they both got what is is it nala and simba the lion king they both got stuffed animals and brought them into work so like here we are you know the bump back on espn news to svp and rossillo and there's just this dude sitting there with a simba doll on his desk um and he was not even remotely embarrassed by that at all not even remotely and multiple people were like dude this is like insane like yeah this is like the least

uh like you're never gonna live this down and he like he just doubled down was like i don't care i don't care at all and he he owned it and it was super weird and don't talk to him anymore i had this little boba fett guy on my desk and i still have it on my desk here it was in the office like where's where do you draw the line that's different is this over the line is it no it's not stuffed so because you know you know those like little like what are those little like um i'm not like in that nerd culture thing but those marines with the big heads that everybody has oh yeah those are fucking stupid people have those i don't like them i think i think if it's like that or a figurine it's kind of fine if it's a stuffed animal if it's a if it's like a Disney animated stuffed animal. So the material matters.

The material matters. It's just, that's just, you know, like my wife, for example, like she still has this like whale from like a TY whale, you know, the TY thing. It's not a beanie baby, but it's the TY company. And she's had it since she was a baby. It's kind of around in our room,

but she's never like, hey, we have to sleep with this. Like that would weird me out, but it's around. So I don't think that's that weird. But yeah, to ask somebody to be like, hey, we need this in the bed, it's a bit much for me. I say just try to get it on the floor every time. And I think this will go away on its own. But that's just my thought. I mean, really, the deal here should be, hey, on the scale of you would like me to sleep with this stuffed animal of yours in my bed every night. I guess when she's not there, I don't know.

Or when she's there, it doesn't really matter, right? And you go, okay, I see your point. I don't want to. Right. Should be the trump card of this. Yeah, right. Like, you should be more willing to accept that i don't want to do this because me not doing it doesn't really change anything me doing it changes things and now i have this animal in my

bed speaking of the the lion king uh controversy from that time i think my biggest issue is that the stuffed animal made its way onto the desk of the show in the studio oh wow yeah and that's when i was like what's going on why do we have a stuffed animal next to the football helmets and then he explained it to me and i was like that's that's even worse and i think my my issue was probably like do you want to ask the hosts of the show hey do you guys mind if i put this stuff down now granted i if i were him doing this i wouldn't be like hey van pelt real quick before we start today's show i want to put this stuff in. Now, granted, if I were him doing this, I wouldn't be like, hey, Van Pelt, real quick, before we start today's show,

I want to put this Disney lion on the set so that my fiance knows that I'm thinking about her. And he'd be like, no. So that's probably why he didn't ask. Yeah, he knew the answer. But once it was discovered, I believe it was on the set and that's why i was kind of like don't you think you should ask the hosts hey i'm gonna can i can i do that now granted i was gonna say no scott would have said no but do you think you can just do that

and he did the answer was yes yeah so he did yeah he'd have to know him yep he thought it was totally fine to just put a decoration out there to let one person know uh what was going on okay uh i think we covered that one uh all right real quick this one's quick um italian playground workout six foot 185 30 years old 165 bench more of a tennis guy these days great tennis a great sport to learn as you get older uh or if you're younger so it's not an age thing you get the point all right checking in with a public workout etiquette question i was in italy over the holidays visiting family must be nice two days after christmas i go

out to hit the day pass gym that i usually do but find out it's closed um that happened to me in new zealand by the way we had christmas and then we had boxing day back-to-back days big holidays gym was closed both days uh I'm already in workout clothes and trying to get a sweat in so instead I head to the local park and do a little solo bodyweight thing I crush some sprints push up some bodyweight squats uh all good stuff and I'm trying to finish up the workout with some pull-ups problem is there's no dedicated pull-up bar best option I see is the playground which has a bunch of different options but naturally also feature some kids and parents playing there's one dedicated pull-up bar. Best option I see is the playground, which has a bunch of different options, but naturally also features some kids and parents playing.

There's one swing set that's free. So after giving it a couple minutes to make sure no one was using it, I head over, drop off my stuff, rep out eight pull-ups, NBD, take a two-minute break, then rep out another five. I promptly take my stuff and walk away. My girlfriend and sister think this is weird and, quote, kind of sus. What do you guys think did i infringe on european etiquette my pursuit of lats will any of those families be talking about the creep at the

playground later that night or was this an understandable given the holiday closures thanks boys uh yeah i don't i don't i think you're totally fine i don't understand where the criticism is coming from now granted if it was a pack park and then you screwed up some kids rotation on the swings because kids should win all the swing you want to talk about like waiting your turn at a bar kids just they're kids and you don't get to do pull-ups when they want to be on the swing set if you're telling us you did not disrupt that flow whatsoever and it looks like you went for eight reps and then five reps so that most were could have taken five minutes with a little break in there it's not like you just decided to go hard oh like squat rack thing like happened to me in maui a couple years ago

where a girl set up the tripod used the only squat rack and filmed a fucking documentary of her deadlifts um that day i think it was all deadlifts i mean you don't talk seven minutes in between reps one rep um you're like hey we're in maui right now there's other guys here that are interested in using the squat rack roger moore so um look i don't have any issue with this i have nothing else to say yeah i think you stand out a little bit but not in a bad way if you're like you know this is juxtaposition we have a dog park and there's like, there's like two like free weight things. I don't know if you'd even call them free weights. It's like, I don't know. Like there's one like little like bar thing. And then there's like something that you sit on and use your own weight to do some, I don't even know. But you know,

you stand out a little bit when there's like, it's a dog park and then there's a kid's playground. And then there's just, you know, a dude going hard. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's definitely like, it's, it's a park. You can use it. And you weren't like sitting on the top of the jungle gym, crisscross applesauce with an iced coffee while these other, like you're doing your own thing. Like you're clearly there for a reason. I think that when it's us is when nobody's really sure what you're doing there. I think it was probably clear what you were doing there. So unless you're just like, you know, hanging around without a good, without a purpose at a park, I think, I think you're, you're cool. And you're unless you're just like you know hanging around without a good without a purpose at a park i think i think you're you're cool and you're you're maybe you're just bolder than your

sister and her friends or family whoever was talking about this yeah maybe they suck at pull ups yeah maybe you weren't just like loitering around like that would be to use their word like you i don't think i don't know why it would be sus i personally wouldn't do that but you're more dedicated it sounds like to get in shape than i am so shouts to you what's the it just made me think like you know I've been to Italy a few times what's up no big deal um well I don't remember really a ton of gym scenes there though you know I'd obviously like I'm you know I'm not like in I'm in like Rome so I don't really know or I'm in the Amalfi Coast or something and I'm sure it's not like gym haven there but I don't know there, but I don't know if there's a ton of

big gym scene in Italy. I feel like it's kind of like definitely not as big as it is in the States. So maybe it's just a hard thing to find. You're just not going to be able to find what you want there. Well, no. He found what he wanted. It was closed. No, I know. I'm just saying. I don't know. I think people

work outside more in the States and just do generally more. It feels like they're just generally more active in the States. There were more worried about fitness. Whereas people in specifically, I think Italy, like, you know,

they're around that. What's it called? Like the blue zone or the, what is it? The green zone die. Like they're just, they're like more naturally healthy with the way that they eat and just their lifestyles.

So they might not be used to somebody just like working out in a park. Whereas that in the States wouldn't be that big of a deal. That's a good question. I've only been to Jamaica and Ireland, so I don't really know but uh that's a really good question most places have like is it weird as i'm like i don't think postitano has an la fitness but uh opportunity maybe postitano doesn't have a lot of square footage there i don't have a lot of room for that kind of stuff so that might it might be just a zoning thing all right do i read this serious one it's bad and it's a little graphic but it's serious and it's time sensitive and after i

read it i feel terrible for this guy sensitive we owe it to this guy time sensitive well here's the deal because we're doing another pod tomorrow because of how the week played out then maybe there'll be somebody that has some advice because i don't have any advice for this guy but he's freaking out and it sucks and so just a heads up to those listening this is a bit more on the adult side okay um i usually hesitate to read these things but i felt so bad for the dude if this is real and i think it is um so i'll just read it all right so again that was the warning heads up you know if uh you're listening this with your eight-year-old who couldn't get on the swing set so some guy was doing pull-ups right all right uh 21 years old six foot 175

no impressive lift stats basketball comp carlos delfino shout out apologies for the longer email get right to it i matched with a girl on Hinge. Her age was listed as 22. She was cute. No red flags on her profile. We exchanged Snapchat, started talking on there. She was sending pictures of herself, then slowly becoming more suggestive.

It was the same girl that was in the Hinge profile, and the pictures she was sending were live, a.k.a. they weren't being sent by the chat function where you can send saved pictures. She tells me that she's into being a dom starts asking me to send some pictures shirtless and the like she starts sending some other photos videos asking me to do the same without getting too graphic uh she starts asking me to send videos um with my face in them which bit of a red flag there yeah obviously there was my big mistake i know

i never include the face been around at this point i was right uh at this point i was super into the whole thing uh she was taking on the dominant role and there were no red flags over her snapchats she asked my insta i gave her my handle i'm folding my laundry my phone is buzzing like crazy but i decided to finish up what i'm doing before attending to it i check my phone and a chat from this individual says hello my full name send me two thousand dollars or i'll send the videos to everyone you know and ruin your life if you block me i will send it to everyone along with the attached videos saved and a screenshot of my Facebook friends list she got my name from the insta profile since I didn't respond promptly enough

she sends a screenshot of her sending the videos to my uncle of course when I see this my heart drops and I'm in panic mode I message saying to please unsend the message to my uncle and I will send the money she sends a screenshot of her uns sending it to my uncle. She sends me a crypto website to sign up for, to send her the money. Oh, Jesus Christ. I tell her I only have $350 in my account as I'm a broke student, even though in reality I have over $2,000 saved from my part time and summer jobs. She says to send the 350 now and the rest later. Here's where I have a brain wave and say it won't let me sign up for the crypto site since I'm only 17. So again, our emailer is 21. This is actually pretty genius on his part. He says, I can't sign up for the site because I'm 17. So I was clean shaven with a baby face so it could potentially pass for 17.

Was hoping being a minor would scare her off. Her tone changed slightly, but she didn't entirely believe me and was still saying she needed me to send the money. Ultimately, she said she can give me until Thursday, this January 4th to come up with the money and find a way to make an account on this website. How should I proceed? Do I send the money and immediately block so she can't ask for more? Do I send the $350 and block hoping it's enough? Do I really dig into this 17-year-old thing and refuse to send anything? Given that she's already shown a willingness to send the videos to my uncle, I feel I have to tread very carefully. Finally, do I tell my parents so I can get ahead of it or let it ride out in hopes it never leaks? They're typical parents who would certainly be extremely disappointed and somewhat

angry, but they're reasonable people. Note that if it was just a regular pic, I'd at least be somewhat okay with leaking it, but the video with my face would be too much to bear. Two grand would really break the bank, but still feels like a minuscule price to pay if it stops from getting out, which would be a life-altering event. Also, I'm aware she is likely a man in a different country. No clue how they pulled off the Snapchat thing, so I don't see getting the police involved as any sort of solution. Appreciate the advice. I'm shaken, but not yet stirred. Still away with words, despite all this.

All right. Obviously, this is horrifying. It sucks. You're probably not having the greatest uh night's sleep last couple nights uh i don't i don't know i don't know what to do my get my guess would be if you pay the 350 and then block there's going to be a problem if you pay the two grand that doesn't guarantee you anything it's not you're going to write over sign over a contract being like okay this transaction is complete so i don't know how that would go and how endless the whole thing would be um is there any way you could have somebody or even yourself write up a fake lawyer letterhead

thing where you send it to this person and lean into the 17 year old thing you know to try to go like hey but i don't know. I mean, these people are sketchy. This is what they do all day long. This is how they make their living. They know every angle they're anticipating your moves before you even know it. I mean, this is what they do. They're pieces of shit. Um, and it, and it sucks this happened to you, but I'm not going to sit here and tell you all the mistakes that you already know that you made. So I don't, I don't know. I don't don't know i've had a couple friends that been hacked and next thing you know like the thing they'll make you do is be like hey send a picture of you

with today's date you know so that that way you can get your account back or whatever and then they take that that happened one of my friends i'm like wait so you actually made a picture of you holding up a legal pad with today's date with your picture. And then they use that and then go at your contacts and start saying like, Hey, I'm locked out. You need to send me money or whatever. Um, and I'm not saying that's necessarily the same thing. I don't know. I feel for you on this one, but I don't know. I don't know what to do, Kyle. Yeah. I think, I wonder how much of this is dependent on them thinking that they've got a fish on the hook, right? Because I'm sure, because what's the, what is the benefit for them to send all this?

If they're blocked, if you block them and whatever, and they can't get in contact with you and they can't scare you into doing this anymore, like what is the benefit for them to send this video if you've already not paid and now this video is already out that's the only thing they have right and listen i'm not an expert so i don't want to i want you to do what i say but i'm just i'm thinking like like how many people are they just trying to get like with the fear of like the sickness that you're feeling in your stomach is that enough to open up your wallet and give them two thousand dollars because like you said right if you give them 350 they're like oh this guy is scared enough to give us the money we don't

have anything real except for this video and his fear of us sending it because there's no value in the video unless you pay to stop them from sending it i think so i don't i i wonder if i wonder if the block thing is is enough like i don't i don't know and she's got the screenshot of your friends right on facebook or something i wonder if there's a way where you can like hey can you block this person she's about to try of your friends, right? On Facebook or something. I wonder if there's a way where you can like, hey, can you block this person? She's about to try some shady shit. And then if you block them before the Thursday or something,

this isn't good. The one thing I think is, I think it could not go away just by you giving money. Even 2,000, they might be like, all right, well, he's at least good for 2,000. What's to stop us for saying we need more? Yeah, there's no guarantee the 2,000 gets you clear of

this whole thing and that person's always gonna have the video no matter what and i don't like i think the 17 thing was smart and but i don't think this person cares if it's a dude in bosnia who gives a shit like yeah good luck finding me on my vpn i don't know bosnia i think it seemed like a i think this is like a country this is the classic, we don't negotiate with terrorist tactic. It's not going to end well for you, so you just kind of have to ride it out. I think your point is right, Kyle. That's the only thing they have on you,

but it is kind of like a pretty ridiculous and tough game of chicken to play with somebody that you know that you can lose pretty badly in. I think the number one rule, though, is you don't pay them. Because at't you know because at some point you know they still have the pictures like you're always gonna have those pictures like it doesn't it's not gonna go away if you pay them or not uh and i mean is there some way i there has to be some sort of like i just try to do a quick google search i couldn't find anything specific but

i want like facebook or whatever these social media companies, there has to be some sort of number you can call or email you can send to potentially like get ahead of this or block this person or whatever. I mean, I know it's hard. Obviously, it's a different country probably. But there has to be some sort of thing you can do at least.

It might not work every single time, but I'd imagine because the police, yeah, you're right. The police doesn't, that probably won't do anything whatsoever. But there has to be some sort of like shady internet guy that could at least help you out here i don't know um but yeah you

can't you can't pay this person because it's just it's going to be a never-ending thing even if you block that one account they've probably got nothing but a cat probably got a whole you know slew of accounts but i guess the only thing is is like you know this isn't a scorned lover right they've got no thing like oh you blocked me well i'm gonna i'm gonna do this to mess your life up this is probably cold and calculated and you know they do this with as much time they get as many people with as much time as they can so it's not like i don't i doubt i doubt they'd be emotional about you blocking them and and you know and be like well i'm just gonna do this just to make sure his life sucks all they want is your money right they're not like i know i don't want

to i wonder how many times they actually because you suck you know do they wonder do they ever get sent or they just scam people? Well, I'm sure they do sometimes here, but I don't understand the video of the sending to an uncle and then the unsending video. I mean, again, I just don't quite understand how you can send that and then pull it back. Yeah, maybe Facebook is a long way.

Do you go to friends and family if it gets out and be like, AI, it's crazy now with tech.'s not me it's you could do that generated i would speak less to them though i wouldn't say you're not negotiating with i would either if you're not going to do it just cut it off so they're like oh we lost another one but if you i think the more you communicate with them the more they're gonna you know think that they can they can get you if they maybe we just send it to two people or something maybe you know i think if you just cut the communications off maybe i know they have pictures of your contact list, but can you just do a rapid unfriend where you just completely purge your page? I mean, and then just delete.

I think it's too late. But then they would have to individually, like they don't, then they could just go to your profile. They'd have to individually search all of these people that they want to send it to and then send it to them instead of just like having this massive list i don't maybe how much do you like facebook i don't know yeah look i have a friend where i don't know what happened but she got hacked and then the person kept sending pictures it was like a woman was sending her her pictures of her holding a handgun essentially being like you need to pay me or i'm going to release everything and it was like there wasn't really anything to release but she was just like all right I want to deal with this she would block and then another number would text you know the same person she'd be like you don't block me and then she'd call it was over and

over and over again and I was like I don't know I think you just keep blocking and blocking and blocking like if you're not worried necessarily about anything the person has on you, that's certainly different than the situation we're talking about right now. But anyway, the point is we'll be back in 24 hours of this taping. And so maybe people have some better advice and that can help our guy out. That's really why I read it more than anything else, because I don't have a great solution for this. Okay, that's life advice.

Again, we'll be back on Wednesday. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday this week. Thanks, Kyle. Thanks, Steve. Thanks to Cliff. Ryan Russillo Podcast. Ringer. Spotify. We'll be right back. pg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut, 1-800-9-WITH-IT in Indiana, 1-800-522-4700,

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