The Ryen Russillo Podcast - SGA Saves OKC and Mavs Miss a Huge Opportunity. Plus, Movies, Books and Baseball With Adnan Virk!

Episode Date: May 14, 2024

Russillo opens with his thoughts on OKC’s Game 4 comeback to even the series at 2 (0:30). Then, MLB Network’s Adnan Virk joins the show to talk about getting big-timed by Ryen, the start of the MLB season, and even some movies and books (13:33). Plus, another edition of The Alliance with Ceruti and Kyle (60:53) and Life Advice (63:25)! A friend I don’t like is trying to set me up. … Should I go on the date? Check us out on YoTube for exclusive clips, live streams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Adnan Virk Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's podcast, Adnan Burke takes the mic and runs with it, but we're talking baseball once a month. We've got life advice, a little life lesson for myself, and of course, OKC evens the series to two, all the things I was thinking when it looked like it was going the other way. It's Ryan Russo podcast presented by FanDuel. The road to the NBA final starts now and FanDuel is the best place to get in on the action.

Right now, you can check out the new and improved quick bets, which are back and better than ever for the NBA playoffs and FanDuel. Find what you're looking for faster and easier with more props right at your fingertips. You can check out live bets like three-minute markets and exclusive live bets like quarter-player props, player assist combos, and more.

So download the app today and bet with FanDuel, official partner of the NBA. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming, so please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Must be 21 and older, 18 plus in DC, end present in select states, gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. We're going to start in Dallas and we're going to stay in Dallas because I have a lot to

say about last night's game. Is the Thunder even the series to a piece. This was, I was trying to think of it as I was watching it and I was kind of thrilled I didn't really root for either of these teams, but it was a dentist appointment type win for the thunder. At first I'm going to share with you all my bad. Okay. See thoughts, the pretty typical ones, a lot of cliche ones that you were seeing

last night and would have happened today would have led all the shows too young. Dallas looked like the tougher team. So maybe Oklahoma city just isn't tough enough. Uh, it'd be nice if they had another big, I think that was coming back into play, even though the points, the paint stuff, the rebounding numbers aren't egregious. It just feels like there's an opportunity for a big that could play at the rim to back up chat. The SGA Jokic debate, you know, the first half, I'm like, all right, some of you guys seriously think this guy's better than Jokic. The Jalen Williams-Paolo debates that I'd seen in the past,

which I'm not even saying like are that prevalent now, but they at one point existed and you're thinking, wait, you guys thought this guy was at Palace level? Um, does this team need a number three offensive option? Which I still think they may need a bit of a like more alpha shot creator. But then when somebody like Charis LaVert comes along, I'm like, yeah, maybe you don't want that because the beauty of this offense, the team that was number three in offense in the NBA this year, they're one of the two best shooting teams. The thing about them was that it felt like the offense consistently was always a threat because of their depth. You're thinking, okay, but do they have

like a third playoff creator out of this group? It's not Giddy, who we'll get to. It's not Dort, as much as I like him. It's not Isaiah Joe. Is it Kason Wallace? Is Chet somebody you're actually running plays for at this point? Not really. You're not clearing out a side for Chet. You're like, okay, well, who could they get? So all of these thoughts are running through my head as I'm watching what I think will be a 3-1 lead for Dallas. It's going to be tough for the Thunder coming back against them and look, Dallas very well still could win this series as disappointing as last night was. But I had all these thoughts. I had all of them.

But the halftime score was still only 54-43 even though it felt worse. I thought Dallas' defense was incredible. Their size with PJ against SGA, the Josh Green minutes. I love his minutes when he's out there running around. At one point, as PJ was lighting it up from three again. I'm like, all right, I guess this guy's just going to be a game score in the playoffs, just going to keep doing it every single night. But despite the score in Dallas plus 24 points from the three point

line at the half, they shot 43%. Okay. See shot 9% from three in the first half. Free throws kept the thunder in this game, 12 or three in the first half. Free throws kept the Thunder in this game. 12 of 13 in the first half. And this wasn't about getting calls, even though the Thunder took more free throws. But when you look at it by the end of the game, OKC was 23 of 24. Dallas was 12 of 23 from the free throw line.

So that is one of, I believe, the two major parts of what decided this game. The other part, as you know, if you watched it or if you paid any attention throw line. So that is one of, I believe, the two major parts of what decided this game. The other part, as you know, if you watched or if you paid any attention to how this game is being talked about, this is one of the all time SGA games. It doesn't have all these deep playoff runs to compare it to, but what he did last night, considering how challenging it was for his team to score, this is one of those games, like depending on where SG ends up going. If he ends up getting an MVP, if he ends up getting some kind of title, this was the kind of game where you're like, this is when the resume, there's some other nice scoring games against the Pelicans and all this other stuff, but like this

was needed and he felt like, well, I didn't feel like just the, it's the truth. I mean, guys were passing the ball around, just kind of throwing it back to him being like, Hey, you figure it out and figure it out. He did incredible runs in the third quarter and then the closing moments in the fourth quarter, Jalen Williams finished five and 19. I know he took 19 shots. He was passive. He didn't seem comfortable.

You're going to have to trust me on this one. I was paying, paying, uh, close attention to it. I've really locked in like the beginning of the second quarter when SGA is out and Jaylen starts the offense. You know, there's a couple of plays in there. He got fouled a couple of times, but I just was like, you know, this is the moment where you need to kind of be SGA and you've shown this through fourth quarters in the regular season with his numbers and he's had all of these moments

and the reason we all really like him and what he possibly could be, but there were too many possessions where it's like, you're not even really looking on this one. You're not looking to attack, like you're going to pass it to Giddy again. He had two drives in transition where he probably could have just gone to the rim and gotten more free throws and he decided that he just wasn't interested in it. Um, I was shocked with some of his decision-making last night. They were trying to figure out different switches for SGA to get PJ Washington off of him.

I thought they did a brilliant job of like, Hey, Kyrie's in foul trouble and it's Kyrie. So as great as Kyrie has been with his just effort and smarts on defense throughout much of the series, which is a big part of Dallas' success. Um, they were trying to get PJ off and attack Kyriat sometimes. There was also like a PJ Luca part where Luca was on Jaylen Williams. They ran two switches late in this game. They got the switch.

SGA is kind of waiting for just that lateral entry pass. So it's not even some kind of like entry pass into the post or into the elbow. And Jaylen then decides like attack PJ at one and then takes an absurd three pointer at the end of the shot clock. So there were a lot of bad moments here for Jaylen Williams. I know he had the end one where he celebrated in a way of a guy that's been really frustrated, he had the transition play, and then he had that baseline dunk where he bobbled the ball, but you could see the ball was touched by the defensive

player, which allowed him to reset and dribble again, which the funniest part, which I don't know how many of you caught this is when they were showing the highlights and looking at this play in particular. And Zach Zarba said afterwards, this was the right call. Ernie was like, well, you know, the ball was tipped and Draymond Green's like, no, no, double dribble. Like you can't dribble it again. And everybody knows like, yeah, once the ball is touched by the other person, you

can gather again and then dribble it. And Draymond was telling Ernie he was wrong on the set. But I think all of this is kind of like moving forward. All right, Jaylen Williams had a bad game, but it's that comfort level thing. The irony of like SGA's comfort and why when you have a younger player that maybe has a game like Jalen did last night, I remember in 2020, when it was

the thunder with that group of Chris Paul, Schroeder, and SGA where they lost in seven of the Rockets, if you look back at the numbers, you'll think the shooting numbers are fine for SGA, but they were just moments. It was like, I don't really want to do this right now. And it felt like SGA was surrounded by players that didn't want to do this right now. He was 10 of 14 from the mid range. Okay. He couldn't get to the rim last night because of Dallas's defense and he's not going to

take three. He's the only took one and missed it. His 10 mid-range makes in a playoff game, he and Chris Paul are the only players to do it in the last five years to hit as many as he did. And he had like another four inside of the paint but outside of the restricted area because right at the restricted area is just not him, just not in their form right now because of Dallas' defense and how good they've been. So look, there was a little chat late, two free throws, ice water, nine seconds left, hits the three that put them up three.

The case in Wallace threes, his defense, I think leads to maybe a harder decision for okay, see about what they want to do with giddy, giddy ends up with the ball way too much. I know Dagnall after the game was saying, Hey, we won the giddy minutes tonight. Giddy just ends up the ball way too much because of what Dallas is doing defensively. So if Wallace stretches the defense a little bit more, then it's going to be easier, not only for SGA, but maybe a Jaylen Williams who I just didn't, you

know, didn't love his game last night. So. If you look at the starts here for OKC, the last three games down 14, 6 down 11, 5 down 16, 7. I don't know if it's just the giddy part of him being out there, but I would expect to see more Wallace because he looked comfortable.

He hits those two threes and his defensive instincts are are better than a lot of options for teams. Bringing guys off the bench. Alright, before we close this up here, let's talk Dallas tough one. I thought Luca looked the best that he's looked in the series, meaning his movement, but. He didn't hit any shots, didn't hit enough.

But after the first six minutes of the third quarter in game two, where I was like, he looks done. We know that he's not done. We know how well everybody, up closing and responding to being down, what double digits in game three to okay. See, and they're just kind of running away with it in that third quarter. Um, Luca in the playoffs in these playoffs in 24, he said four of his eight lowest scoring playoff games of his career.

Okay. So the first time I saw that I was like, okay, but let's look at his usage because this team is supposed to be designed to have more balance. So therefore he shouldn't have as many scoring opportunities because he's not taking every single possession over his usage in his playoffs. He's going back to his first year. Remember those Clippers series 37 and a half, 40.4, 40.4, but 32 in 24. So the scoring's going to be down.

The assist rates are going to be down, career low in the playoffs. But the rebounding rate is the lowest it's ever been for him in the playoffs. And his shooting is way off the marks that he had in his first three playoffs seasons. So, you know, look, this whole do better, clearly he needs to be better. The deep drive that I always kind of bank on with him where it's like, he'll get that angle, maybe the two man game on one side, they'll get you on his hip. He's going to get some kind of shot there. He's had only, I believe, eight attempts at the rim in this series. So Oklahoma City's defense with their design has done a really good job. They leave the open corner threes there. They just, they leave them.

And in the beginning of the game and game four, you're like, all right, you might have to do something different here, but the rest of the way, I don't know that they really changed the approach, but they slowed down from finally hitting all those corner threes. They didn't even take a corner three in the fourth quarter, meaning Dallas in last night's loss. And then you have the Kyrie piece. This he said two nine point games. I know he's pacing himself.

Like it's funny when the Mavs win, right? When the Mavs win, it's like, Oh, he's so methodical. He's just seeing the game. You know, he's just a vet. He knows how to get others involved. And look, he had two passes in the first half last night that were incredible. I think they were both the Gafford, the finish at the rim. And then the no look as Gafford, the finish at the rim and then the no look as

Gafford was cutting across into the paint and nobody even knew what Kyrie was going to do and didn't even see the pass that he saw. You got to take more than 12 and a half shots. Like you can be moving the ball and taking what the defense gives you. You have to be at 18 shots a game if you're Kyrie Irving because his hard dribble drive pull up is one of the most unstoppable moves in the NBA. When you see his hard dribble to the baseline, then pull up from like 10 to 15 feet in that range, he is up so much faster than anybody else into perfect shooting form. Like you think the defender doesn't, well, cause he just can't be quick enough to match what Kyrie is doing there. So both Luca and Kyrie, you know, not offensively consistently through the four games

that you would expect. That's what happens. You get some wins like a PJ Washington. You get some losses with a Kyrie Irving with two nine point games, but it's pretty simple. If you make your free throws, they were 12 of 23. If they make 18 of 23 free throws, Dallas is up 3-1 and everything that I started this segment with about all these questions with the Thunder would have actually

been the real segment and would have led all of the shows today. Also the Celtics are up 3-1. With FanDuel, it's never too late to get in on the action this NBA Playoffs Celtics are up 3-1. With FanDuel, it's never too late to get in on the action this NBA playoffs because right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet that's $150 to use on same game parlays, live bets, championship futures, exclusive markets and so much more. We have an alliance that we feel incredibly good about. We know we have not crushed it individually. We're doing well collectively. We had to rethink it, not rebranding it. The

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Good friend, it's been a bit. Baseball Monthly is our new segment for 24. We may go six weeks or so, but it's at an advert with our NLP network. Ron, it's great to see you as always, man. It's my annual appearance here on the podcast. And as always, I like to touch base on what I've missed since the last time I was here.

So David Graham was fantastic, loved his insight on Killers of the Flower Moon. Of course, he wrote the book. You and I both interviewed him. I interviewed him on my podcast. The movie was incredible. I still understand how your friends didn't like it, because I texted you after Scorsese was nominated.

He broke a record, most nominations ever for Best Director, 10 nominations. I had a Spielberg, and I texted you, and you said, congratulations. And my friends hated it. And I immediately put a dislike to that comment, and I wanted to see you need to get some new friends. But regardless, I was happy to hear David Grant on your podcast.

Secondly, Dan Soder was fantastic. I saw him recently in Manhattan at the Cellar, introduced myself, Afroids. He had no idea who I was, but he's very funny. He's very good. Frank Isola, always good in the Knicks. But I want to commend you on ESPN reunion week because Mike Greenberg was last week and here I am. And there's no chance, by the way, he was on Riverside, because I heard his audio. It was not nearly as good as mine is right now. But Greeny was great. My favorite part of the interview was this. He says it again.

He goes, I talked to Stacey Addle the last time I talked to Rosillo. You give a genuine detailed explanation of how it was not 2018. He said, no, I'd left by then. I've already moved. I would fly up once in a while. I would do your show three times. I'd stay in the studio. I really enjoyed myself. I enjoyed doing your show,

we had a great chemistry, it was wonderful. His response to all of that was simply, yeah, it's been a while. He did not want all the explanation you get, just like, yeah, okay, what do you got for me? And I'll tell you this, of all the things I admire about Mike Greenberg, and he's very talented at his job,

I'm glad you mentioned the teases, and the bosses love all this, what I admire most about him is how filthy rich he is. And I love the fact he commented on it because he even said himself, when you asked him about what jobs he would go to, he said, well, when I started the job 29 years ago, whatever it was 27 years ago, my daughter was this age, my son was this age, my daughter's now out of college, my son's a junior. And I've made a lot of money since then. I'm like, yeah, the green man for good reason has definitely taken it to the house. So I really enjoyed the interview.

It was excellent. All right, man, we'll talk to you in July. Oh, also of note, the fact that, this is also what I had for you. I have life advice before we get into the baseball. What do you do when a friend big times you? Saruti, please chime in. By the way, the great Steve Saruti,

he and I have been texting with his beloved Magic. As he pointed out, disappointing first round exit, but still a successful season. Sarudy, you can chime in. What do you do when your buddy, Rasila, big times you? So I went to Los Angeles for the Critics' Choice Awards, hung out with the great Ben Lyons, got to meet Paul Giamatti, one of my favorite actors,

wonderful human, check out his podcast, Chin-A-Wag, which is great. I texted Rasila. We had talked it the week previous, the Norby issues. Which, by the way, you asked, here's my only, my only note to you. So you made a joke to Greeny about it. He gave you a genuine answer. And then you backtracked and go, Hey, I actually didn't want an answer. I was just kidding around. No, no, you should have got in. Like, okay, if you're going to give me an answer, I'll go more. What else

you got on Norby? What else you got on Mac? Like I think Mike was, he was open to the conversation. Like, okay, sure. You naturally make him uncomfortable, as he said. He enjoys that. Anyways, sure. Here's the thing. I talked to Rosillo about Norby, the whole situation. I said, I'm coming to LA. Ryan goes, hit me up.

Let's do this. It's been five years. Me and Ben are up at dinner Saturday. I texted you, I go, hey, this is where we're at. Now I get it. It's LA. It's tough to move around. I totally recognize that.

Where you are in relation to areas. I think I was Venice Beach. This was the response from you. Won't be able to make it up there. Think Woj is coming over. He's staying across the street. It would have been better if he had simply said, I'm busy. I have games to watch, I have a podcast.

No problem. Once he dropped the Woj bomb, I was like, all right. That's a legitimate excuse though. That's a legit excuse. You think that's a legit excuse? I haven't seen the guy in five years. He can't make one hour for me. But okay, won't just coming over,

but let's get breakfast tomorrow. I'll come to Venice Beach. We'll get a lift in, whatever you want. It's a shame Kyle is not on the Zoom yet here because he'd be the better guy to answer this question having been probably big time by Ryan many times. But they did just hang out. They did, they did just hang out. They went to, uh, they

went to see our guy, Shane Gillis. So that is over now. But I, we both love Ryan. We just throw that out there before this. Of course I just don't get offended when Ryan does this stuff anymore. I just don't. Like I was the last time I was in LA, I think we, we were going to do something. I was going to go maybe check out his house for the first time and he was just like, actually I'm just going to go back. Like, you know, it's whatever. And I was, I just kind of hung out with Kyle for the rest of the night and I don something, I was gonna go maybe check out his house for the first time, and he was just like, actually, I'm just gonna go back, like, you know, whatever. And I just kind of hung out with Kyle for the rest of the night. And I just don't get mad about that stuff with Ryan anymore. So it just kind of is what it is. I don't think it's malicious. I don't think there's anything behind it. He just is who he is. So I will say, though, I think the woge thing,

like it's a subtle flex, but also like it wogey. I think it's more than a subtle flex. I think it's an overt flex. Yeah, you're right. It's just a straight in your face flex um i actually don't think that's actually a legit excuse because that's intel that's his job you know like he's got to get some intel from from woj i am still here if anyone good life advice except racila away is from steve srody i'll take it all right there were also games on that night. When you come out. This was mid January. This was not NBA playoffs.

This is mid January, Saturday, January 10th. Well, there were games on. But yeah, if Woj and I had already made plans, then that's what's gonna happen. And on top of it, your window when you're in LA is so small and you don't want to come down to Manhattan Beach. You want to hang out up there. You want to do your movie thing.

You're just going to meet and greet, take a thousand selfies. And so you don't really want to do what I do. So I'm doing my favorite. If you'd say to me, come over, watch it for an hour or two, I'm happy to do it. Watch some games. It'll be great. So I'm doing my favorite. If you'd say to me, come over, watch it for an hour or two, I'm happy to do it. Watch some games, it'll be great. I didn't want to... When Woj comes over, it's a very short list of people that I think I can make a third.

Because that's kind of what was inferred by it. Because Ben was like, well, he's watching games. I'm like, no, I don't think... If he wanted to extend the invite, he would have said, Woj is coming over. Why don't you two make yourselves at home as well? Mozi on up. I think that's Woj in Rhyme Time, which I understood. You can't be offended because if Lions comes over and Woj is there, then it's just on,

okay? And then you're in the background going, hey, did the Raptors give up on Malachi Flynn too early? You know, and just Woj is looking at me and I go, I'm sorry, you know, I didn't mean to do this. So I think that was a legitimate one. The Sarutti one was, we did the live show and I knew if I went to Shellbacks, it was the entire live show down the block. And then I was like, I'm gonna be doing a second live show. So I, by the way, I didn't tell Sarutti, like, hey, you said you were gonna come over to my house

and now I'm mad at you. I just, you just go, hey, you wanna do that? Okay, I wanna do this. And we're all adults here. One more on Greeny, and Suri can chime in on this as well. So the Green man discussed teases. Again, you were very praiseworthy in his teases, which were well documented.

Some might argue a little overly inflated praiseworthy, but regardless, everyone always knew Greeny and teases were the- Not that the teases are overrated. The documentation of such teases, when it came to managers in particular. Correct, correct, exactly. Mike is great at it. We agree on this. It was the discussion around it. The aura around the teases took on a life of its own, which raises the question.

The reason why I even brought it up, which I don't know that he loved. I think he may have taken from that that he was like, are you saying I'm actually pretty much just above average, but teases have made me all of this money, which I guess you could say the way I framed it, it could be taken that way. But he has to understand, and this is the thing that we all do a better job of, but specific to working in radio during those years, you would sit with somebody in content or management, and they would talk about his teases like Oppenheimer. Okay, they're really good.

I agree with you. But I also think there's a bit of a misleading and disappoint formula going on there. Where eventually I just kind of go like, yeah, but that's not what you said seven minutes ago. Like this is a letdown. What's the one thing you haven't realized about this Pacers series? Find out next.

And you got it. And I think I knew the next lack of depth. I think that is the one thing I realized. I'm like, yeah, they're missing for their top players. Yeah, right. Like, that's not there's no mystery there. We used to always say that Greeny's and I love Greeny, too. He's incredible. It's great to talk to him.

I haven't talked to him in a while. He, his best thing is he takes like B minus content material, whatever, and 20 day plus content material. That is true. He is the go at that. And teasing is part of that. I could just never understand for being on the air three hours a day, I was like, do you guys care about anything else I say?

Well, I liked your point. You said you don't really care about the content. Like I just gave you 10 great minutes and all you care about is the tease, which raises the question I had for you. When you said the managers said that your teases suck, was that A, Scott Masteller, P, Trog Keller, or C, Dave Roberts?

Dave Roberts. C is the answer. No, no, here's the thing is, Dave and I actually get along really well and we had our disagreements. But what I liked about Dave is that I could tell him exactly how I felt and he would tell me exactly how he felt. Yeah. And we could be men about it and go whatever. All right, cool. Like I disagree. I'll take that every day of the week over the other stuff where it's like, hey, we could over the other stuff where it's like, hey, we could tell Rasoola the truth now,

or we can make him really mad in a year and not tell him the truth for a year, and then we'll tell him the truth, and the chances of getting really upset are far greater, so let's do that instead. It was Matt Stellar. Matt Stellar. Matt Stellar.

Okay, good, thank you. Matt Stellar at one point had told me on three separate shows to talk less. The baseball show. Yes. Brevity really is your strength, Ryan. A little less out of you, much better for the audience. Four hour baseball show. Four hours. And he's like, talk less.

Like, okay. Then college game days, a seven hour radio show. Seven hours, they stopped doing it. Finally, I don't know if unions got involved, but they were like, how long is this show? I think I would have told them at some point, I was like, I knew if you're going to cut it back to four hours of pre tapings, I'm going to stay on it. I love doing that show, but I would get dumped every fall doing that show with whoever I was seeing. Right. They'd be like, are you serious?

And he's like, why are you talking so much? I was like, I know we got seven hours to film. You have seven hours to film. And then the all-timer, the all-timer with the beginning of Van Pelt, is they thought initially it's like, oh, this is just going to be a sidekick and he's going to have some singers here and there. Like, he won't be in it on the interviews. And I was like, wait, what? That's not what I'm doing. That's not my plan. And look, to Scott's credit, he didn't look at it that way. I thought we were gonna be hosts together. That was kind of the way I thought it was gonna go.

And then Mastiller told me, he goes, it's not that I want you to talk less, it's just that I want Scott to talk more. And I said, I was like, can you say that out loud again? So, you know, he's a nice stuff guy. We get along all right, but yeah, he was, if he could have had posters of greenie teases in his office, he would have been like, we should have these at the Disney store.

I liked Mike's point that he's read more reads than any human being in America for the last 25 years. That was incredible. I think he's point that he's read more reads than any human being in America over the last 25 years. That was incredible. I think he's right. To say you're the singular person more responsible for hawking more crap to Americans, no incident more than the Green Man over the last 25 years. That was the key when you filled in.

Did you get the reads in? Again, to your point, nobody cared about your content. Not one person. I thought Adnan's tapes were pretty good. I thought his energy was great, but he worked well. No, no. Did you get the reads in? Progressive twice an hour, subway fresh steak hotline. We're good to go.

I was blown away the first time I got a rundown from Mike and Mike. Liam hands me a stack of 15 pages. Like some were pink, some were white. And I was like, all right, you know, we have a pre-show meeting. Like I'm here early, let's go. What do you want to get into?

And he's like, yeah, he's like, yeah, have the rundown. I'm like, there's nothing here. There's no topics. All vibes. There's nothing. He's like, yeah, have the rundown. I'm like, there's nothing here. There's no topics. All vibes. There's nothing. He's like, yeah, you know, the guys. I mean, that's also the brilliance of Greenie that in a very short amount of time before the show,

they give you like, okay, what happened? All right, Vikings come back. All right, great. Yeah. Yeah, 5.15, they'd walk in ready to go. Meantime, Shruti's lost years of his life. He's there at 2.30 in the morning, stands there, just worn out.

The guys look like they're members of the, like from Twilight. They just have the bags under their eyes. Like, sure. That took years off. You look refreshed now, handsome as ever. That took years off your life doing that show. How long was it?

A year and a half, two years? About a year on the dot. And I think every boss there could tell I was incredibly miserable. And I had, listen, I had a great time. Like I got along with Greeny and Golo Katan. Sure. Especially, Greeny is a great dude.

Like, you know, we don't talk ton now, but like, you know, he's a nice enough guy where he remembers me and we talk about all the times. It's great. Yeah. I tried to do the thing where I would split cause I wanted to watch games. Like I felt like an idiot going into the job the next day, not having watched anything. So I would, I would stay up until like midnight, wake up at like three 15, three 30, get in there for four 15 and then sleep again for those four hours when I got home in the afternoon

So from like one to four one to five, so I try to do the split sleep thing for a good year I have never been more of a zombie in my entire life couldn't do it can function not for me and there were times I'm like, I mean, you know Ryan it was like hey Could you ever do the morning show if they offered you the morning show would you ever do it? I just don't think it's possible Like it's just because you would lose not only would you lose your mind from a health standpoint, but like you wouldn't be able to watch games the way that you watch games.

And that's, it's hard to do a four hour show with like kind of flying blind a little bit. I don't know how you do it if you have a family. And I remember talking with one of their managers because like, again, everybody knows my deal. I'm a games guy. And when I did Mornings of Boston, I split it in two days just to be able to watch games.

It's an awful existence. And I probably would have still done it at that point in my life just for the ego if it were ever available. But I was not. Yeah, that used to always be the carrot that they would dangle. Oh, you know, Greeny moves on or Gollick finally retires, you know, because that was always like the thing of, you know, if this happens or this happens, like you might be on the short list.

And in the first six or seven years of ESPNPN I'm thinking like could that ever one day be me like on the biggest seat in the industry on ESPN and from a lifestyle standpoint I would never ever want to do it again but I could never do the job and not watch the games like I used to show up at four for Mike and Mike and they'd be like what are you what are you doing yeah like what are you writing down? Like, I'm writing down segments. I'm looking up stuff and I remember one of their managers, I went, I go, do you ever get like any of the insiders who can kind of tell they just, I don't know that it's feasible for them to watch with that schedule and having families and all the other stuff going on. And the

manager was like, that's the brilliance of the show. He's like, that's the brilliance of the show is that no one can tell that they're not watching as much as you would think. And I was like, you think no one? No one? Goalie would watch, Goalie sleeps like, he'd go to bed at 10 and get up at four. So if it was like, hell, with the pitch clock now,

he could watch a Yankees game, no problem. But if it was like an eight o'clock NBA game, he'd watch the first half and then go to sleep. So at least he had a semblance of it. He'd be able to say, okay, that was a key moment. But I'm like, an 8 o'clock NBA game, he'd watch the first half and then go to sleep So at least he'd assemble in somebody you'd be able to say okay That was a key moment But I'm like yeah But in a basketball game that 11-0 run the second quarter may have been rendered moot by what happened in the fourth quarter And then you're just trying to catch up with highlights

Here's the point though is it doesn't matter The job was to do the show and they did it as well as anybody's done it in the industry For almost two decades So all the extra credit that I used to think of, that I would get when I was younger, nobody gives a shit, like no one. I thought it was a great show to pick and pop on the list. For you and me just to show up, it was great.

Cause you could feel the platform was bigger, everyone was paying attention. Like, yeah, this is my little peppery step. Hey man, little me roll here, I'm on Mike and Mike. So I would agree with you, five days a week would be nauseating. But just to show up once in a while was a blast. If you filled in on it twice,

it ruined you for the rest of the night. You were better off going out on a bender in your late thirties, okay? I'm not even talking about forties, but like that later in life going, I'm not gonna be right until Wednesday. Yeah. Just doing that show,

you could always get through it the first one because you were so hyped and whatever. But if you did that, if you did your normal gig like for me, say a Monday, Tuesday, and then I filled out a mic to mic on like a Wednesday, Thursday, I was messed up for days. Just couldn't make it back up. You want to do any baseball? Whatever you like. I also want, for those who haven't listened to the episode, make sure you listen to the

rhyme. Particularly, it's all inside baseball, the no guardrails was great because the- They're probably listening now going, hey, Attenborough, we did listen. Did listen. Is your audience listening to every single episode? I don't think they listen to every single episode. The research has shown they kind of dip it out here and there.

Actually, my retention is one of the highest in the industry. I don't know what it is right now, though It's dipped for syphilis for this episode. Next episode is back again. All right. That was I even have Soder follow ups, but I do actually want to do some baseball. Give me one Soder follow up. Well, okay. He didn't know who you were.

Did you start right away with how you used to work with Katie Nolan? I mean, I thought that would be a natural way to get into it. It was just like, no, like, okay. I thought you were great. He was easily the funniest guy there. I'm telling you, the seller, me and my buddy Scott Spinelli, the six brand of people, right? I'm not sure if you're familiar with this or whoever knows.

The seller's a place in Manhattan. You go there, you get tickets ahead of time. You don't know the guest list until the day of and just go. There's two people there who I'd seen previously who weren't particularly good and it's this tight cramped atmosphere Soder came out the end killed it like I was not going with him I'm sorry comedy seller comedy seller yeah yeah I go every time in New York and Soder killed like like far away Ryan blew everybody else out of the like he was awesome I was like this guy's great I immediately followed him on Instagram. YouTube's first. First time I ever saw him. He just rolled in.

I saw Colin Quinn show up to test stuff out there one night. Yeah, Colin Quinn was on it too? Colin Quinn, great writer. One of the ultimate great writers on SNL. All right, let's do a little baseball. Because I have to use some of this prep. Okay. All right, Phillies 29 and 13.

Yeah. Using the ALCS last year in Arizona. Knew they'd be good coming back. The lineup, it's not even, I mean, it's nuts when you look at the depth of the lineup and there's still a couple of guys that are probably not to where you'd expect them to be. We know, you know, look between Wheeler and Nola, but Ranger Suarez is a completely different guy. So give me your Phillies take.

I want to do some of the top teams here, the Phillies on how much better they are this year than last year. It's been a great story, man. I got to lucky enough to go to spring training from MLB Networks. It was me and Jake Peavey in the camps that we hit. We were at the Red Sox first, which was terrible timing because G Alito, they literally announced it that day. And Alex Corry is telling me, of course, Alex and I go back to our time at baseball tonight. And he's supposed to be the ace of the team. I said, oh, man, that's miserable. So we go for the Red Sox, which was a funereal atmosphere.

We go to the Twins. It couldn't be more upbeat. Royce Lewis, nicest guy in the game. God willing, one day he stays healthy. But he's such a great guy. Correa is great. Buxton is great, et cetera. Twins are here.

Here go Twins, Rally Sausage. We got the Rays. We're always accommodating. And they end up with the Phillies. And I was joking with the guys. I said, Phillies could be tough. There's a lot of star power here. We might get big time.

Instead, they could not have been more accommodating. Trey Turner, whatever you need. Zach Wheeler, awesome guy. Bryce Harper, as good as it gets. And Schwabber, of course, always a company. And Rob Thompson, I love. Great manager, fellow Canadian, a member of the Canadian baseball hall of fame.

Philadelphia, in the past, Ryan, they're a team that has been lurking in the regular season. And the playoffs, you go, watch out. They're 89 and 73. They're gonna beat the Dodgers. This year might go the other way. They're on pace for a franchise record, 111 wins. This year they might be Goliath,

as we're at a quarter mark of the year. And to me, when I look at their team, is they have a ton of balance. They average 5.2 runs per game. That's second best in baseball, but not only the Dodgers, to fraction-mind them. They are top five in runs, home runs, stolen bases, average, OBP and slugging.

And as you pointed out, the whole offense has yet to really get going. Castellanos had a miserable first month of the year. He's been better recently, but they've been carried by the likes of Alec Boehm and Brandon Marsh, guys you more consider to be role players rather than the Schwabers and the Harpers. Harper, his splits are really noticeable.

He's great at the bank, of course, hitters park, not nearly as good on the road. Their ERA, starting rotation, 2.70, second best in baseball, by and only your Boston Red Sox. The bullpen you might think is the weak link, the 4-5-2 ERA, 22nd in baseball, but they've been under two over the last 17 games. And I'm glad you mentioned Suarez specifically, because what's happened this year is because of some of the injuries, Spencer Stratter being out, Garrett Cole not pitching for the

Yankees, hopefully back around Memorial Day, You've had the door open to a bunch of starters who've been really good stories. And if you look at right now, the ERA leaders in baseball, it's stunning that like Shota Imanaga has been, has a sub one ERA. His first eight starts, he's been incredible for the Cubs. Javier Asado also very good.

But Suarez is third on that list. And if you're a Phillies fan, you go, Zach Wheeler's un question, he'll be our ace. Aaron Nuller, we gave him $168 million, he's our number two. Ranger Suarez has like a 1.3 ERA, and he's our number three starter. Christopher Sanchez has also been brilliant.

He's got like a 3.2 ERA. So for Philadelphia in the past, they've been a two-headed monster. Now they've got genuine depth in that rotation, and that's why they're feeling pretty good right now. And again, their bullpen, at times bullpens, as you and I both know, can be flammable. They can be volatile. You can have a great month. They can have a bad month. I don't, I'm not too worried about that.

I think their offense, once they start clicking a little better, they're even more fearsome. But their starting pitching to me has been enormous. And that's one of the big edges they have right now over the prime competition in the NL. Alright, so the Dodgers, and I talked about this with Passon when you looked at the depth chart and the available starters they could have at the end of the year versus the start of the year. It's just incredible. And they just keep adding to it.

Puyler's been back. It hasn't been great in the first couple of starts. Shohei has been everything, which is weird because I almost feel like he's doing exactly what you'd expect. But again, his teammate, Mookie, has been incredible. But like the Atani thing seemed to be all about the signing and then the scandal. And maybe it's just the April part of May and where baseball lives now. But he's been everything that you'd hope for.

And you just think they have even when things aren't working out for it, it just seems like they have endless options and they'll have even more options in the second half of the year. Well, Atani specific, I was with Ron, yesterday, one of my favorite guys at MLB Network, and Ronnie was pointing out how funny it is. This guy was an MVP because he could pitch and hit like no one's ever done before, and now he could win the MVP as a DH in the National League. Let that sentence sink in.

He's on pace for 104 extra base hits, 127 runs scored. No player has had over 100 plus extra base hits since 2001. So that's 23 years since this has happened. Also, you might think coming off of the major injury and the surgery that perhaps Dave Roberts will, you know, kind of pick and pop as far as options when he used a tonic. He's played virtually every game. So he's not even using any rest days.

Monday is the fourth of 13 straight games without an off day. And he had lower back tightness. He left Saturday's game a little bit early. But otherwise, he's been a gamer. So not only durable, but obviously very effective in the numbers point that out. I would love to discuss Mookie Betts because you've got Betts, Freeman, and Otani. That one, two, three at the top of the map. You've never had that before, right? MVP, MVP, MVP. Betts as a shortstop, which they did out of necessity because Gavin Luck struggled in spring training and immediately go, that's it, knee jerk reaction. You're going from right field to second base where he had played previously, where he's always taken ground, has always enjoyed playing

second base to now the shortstop. As you know, centerpiece of the diamond, this is a critical spot. And I remember people whispering saying, okay, he might be an adequate shortstop, but he's no longer going to be a great defender. He's fifth right now in the majors in defensive run save. That's crazy to me. That is the most mind battling start of this season. The fact this guy's gone from right field to second base to shortstop and he's top five in defensive run save is extraordinary. Offensive, of course, is gifted and it continues to bash the ball, hits for power, has options. And Freddie Freeman is going to be third in the MVP race because it feels like it's going

to be Betts and Otani. You've still got Max Muncie who can hit. You still have Will Smith who's a great catcher, arguably the best catcher in the game. You mentioned the options. They'll have more with regards to their pitching staff. Their top two is great. Glastow has never pitched more than 130 innings in a season. That's my concern with him.

He's never been durable, but he's electric. Right, but he's lights out. Right. But for a sport in which so many guys now throw so much when it comes to like cutters and sliders, et cetera, Glass was refreshing because he still throws his four seamer like 60% of the time. Like he's just throwing 98, go hit it. Yamamoto, awesome.

Terrible first star. Didn't look good in the spring. He's been as advertised. He's a great number two. And as you said, they'll get Kershaw back at some point. Walker Bueller is now back. I haven't seen a lot of guys come back from Tommy John twice, with the exception of Nathan Evaldi,

but maybe Bueller can be that guy. Their pitching will get healthy at one point, and again, they're gonna be the best team in the West. All right, so Houston at one point, I think it was 13 and 25, they won their last two. And I was looking at something the other day, it's like, you know, if you look at the entire season, I always think this is really important to do,

is like, look at all the teams that were pretty good, that have had a brutal stretch. But generally, the teams that start like this end up never winning 70 games. And we know we can point to some of the hitting and some of the age stuff. They finally have three other starters in the mix with Valdez, Javier is in there and then Berlander together for like the first time since this weekend. But the bullpen is a disaster and Hayter who it's funny how he was unhittable with the brewers then he had kind of like a weird stretch of the podges. I don't know if this is just his weird stretch in

a new setting but this bullpen is dragging it down as much as everything else but I just think bullpen is dragging it down as much as everything else. But I just think as bad as the record is, like the Dodgers, they just have a bunch of options that you'd imagine they're gonna figure out. So it's just really hard to write them off at the start. I'm more cynical than you are. I know what you mean that you look at their past history and their talent, but again, I'm looking at the past history

of Major League Baseball. And as you point out, 10 games under 500 at a quarter mark of the season there's literally seven teams in baseball history that have come back from deficits like that in order to make the playoffs. Now again for much of Major League Baseball there was not this many playoff teams so it's different from looking at the 1914 Boston Braves who came back from 10 games that are to make the playoffs but it's a significant hole. Now what helps their case is the Mariners and Rangers haven't exactly run away and hid. So the Astros, and they have to look at the division. We're six and a half games back on the division title. And what's that? Three games back, four games back,

a wild card spot. But here's what concerns me. They're starting pitching. The only guy who's been great is Blanco, of course, through the no-hitter. Verlander was great his last year against the Tigers. Vintage Verlander back at Comerica, roughed up the previous time against Yankees. Valdez has been up and down. You mentioned Javier's back that helps. Hunter Brown dreadful. Spencer Arigatty dreadful.

I think they had three guys set down from the rotation already. Right. Like it's awful. And you mentioned the bullpen, which you thought would be a strength. Their bullpen ERA is a run higher this year than it was a year ago. That's demonstrable if you're looking over the course of the season, if you're going to be a run higher the year than it was a year ago. That's demonstrable. If you're looking over the course of the season, if you're gonna be a run higher the way you were. And Hayder's not the same guy

unless he's in a safe situation, I get that. But even in safe situations, he hasn't been lights out. ERA North of five. Presley's not the same guy being a setup guy and Abreu not the same as a semifinal guy. You would have thought, Ryan, those three guys would be like the Yankees back in the day. It's like Stanton, Nelson, Rivera.

Seven, eight, nine, we're gonna lock down. Instead it's gone the other way. Hasn't worked out. Do I think they'll be better? I do. But I do think when you dig yourself this big a hole, it's tough to climb out of it. Bregman's been a disaster. Yesterday, he had his first two home run game in a year and a half. That's crazy. Alex Bregman at one time was the better third baseman in the game. He's a free agent after this year. Josie Abreuil was so bad. I didn't realize OPS Plus went negative. He was a minus 30 in his OPS Plus.

Got sent down, as you said, to the Miners of Spring training. Go figure this out. He's a guy who's been a supreme run producer for years with the White Sox. You thought he'd be good with the Astros, all that line of protection. He's been a disaster. They can still hit. Altuve is having a great year. Kyle Tucker's got 13 home runs.

Jordán Álvarez is a great hitter. So they have talent. You're right. But I'm not so certain they can climb back in this thing. I think they're in trouble. I just have a hard time believing the three arms, specifically Presley and Hayter, are going to continue to pitch like this. And the fact that the top three in the rotation are just together,

and I think the division point's the strongest point. And if we look around at the rest of the divisions, I always joke about the AL Central. If you go over the years of what that team never does in the playoffs historically and how many teams are bad and now it actually has like this incredible depth and I don't know if that's real or not So why don't you just take me through your AL central takes before we go to the AL East?

Sure the Guardians right now. They've got the best bullpen ERA in baseball two point four three class eight to me is a legit closer as he always is he's been fantastic a flame for the twins again I got a soft spot for them because I got to hang out Rocko Baldelli and those guys in the spring the rally sausage for those who

are unaware Ryan Jeffers had a summer sausage as they wrap it up you touch the sausage you go get a hit ever since they got the rally sausage they've won 16 of 17 games. It's been a great story for them. What's odd with the Twins is, again, when healthy, you think they'd be formidable, but

they haven't been healthy. Buxton perennially gets hurt, should be back this week. Correa missed time. I mentioned Lewis got a hurt opening day. He's not back till early June. But Ryan Jeffers has been one of the better catchers in the game. He's third in OPS, which is mind boggling. Max Kepler has been amazing for them as well.

And I love Pablo Lopez for me. He's always in the midst of the Scion conversation. He's third in OPS, which is mind boggling. Max Kepler has been amazing for them as well. And I love Pablo Lopez for me. He's always in the midst of the Scion conversation. He's their ace. Joe Ryan's been pretty good. So, Guardians and Twins, probably the top two, unless you're forgetting about the Royals. The Royals lost 106 games a year ago. They were atrocious. And this should have been carried by three guys.

There's only three guys in their offense of an OPS plus above 100. Those who aren't aware, 100 is average. So, if you're above 100, you're above average. Three guys. There's only three guys in their offense have an OPS plus above 100. Those who are unaware, 100 is average. So if you're above 100, you're above average. Three guys, Bobby Wiches in the MVP conversation, Sal Perez should be the starting catcher, and Pascuantino. Those are the three guys. Everybody else is below 100. So MJ Melendez, et cetera. These guys have been terrible. And yet they're there fighting for a division tunnel, which again, if you go from 106 losses to even a 500 team to have a plus 25 win improvement for KC would be mind boggling. But Lugo has been amazing.

Again, unheralded starters. You mentioned Ranger Suarez at the top. Lugo's top five right now in American League in ERA. Him and Michael Walker together. People remember Walker's name from 2013 in the Cardinals. And they've got a guy in Cole Reagan's who's also a legit ace. So you put three legit starters there, three guys carrying

their offense. I don't think that's sustainable. Tigers are 500 team. I love Terrick Scoobball. Again, one of the better pitchers in the game. Torkelson only has two home runs

this year. Riley Green has to do too much to carry the offense and the White Sox are bad. They're 12 and 29. They're a little bit better recently. Tommy Pham since they signed

they're above 500 team. But that's my central take. Probably guardians and twins. Royals are a good story though. Okay, AL East. I think when you looked at it going into the year and you thought the Red Sox would be worse, the ERA is absurd. That's the best of the majors considering the start

in pitching that they've lost. But when you look at that lineup right now, you're like, who are these guys again? I mean, and they've dealt with a lot of injuries and they're not scoring a ton of runs lately. I don't think the pitching is sustainable at all. Toronto feels like with this youth movement of the last couple years, a bit disappointing. I've granted some of their starters have not been consistent enough, you

know, year to year where you're like, okay, this is the top three guys in this rotation here. We knew Baltimore was coming, saw it last year, they're stacked again and then you have the Yankees revamping this bullpen on the fly and then Clay Holmes with a zero ERA and seven sweet innings pitched here. Yeah. And they're missing like four pieces from bullpen last year so whatever the Yankees do with their bullpens they figured out. I mean Clay Holmes was in anything with Pittsburgh when they traded for them in 21. So it feels like

Baltimore's the steadiest pick out of all of this. I think the Blue Jays continue to be disappointing. I think the Red Sox should be thrilled to even have this kind of record. And then you have Tampa Bay in there. So go any direction you want. Start with a team close to your heart. The Boston Red Sox. I agree with you.

They're probably going to be a 500 team. I agree on the magic of Alex Cora. And new pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Talked to Bailey in the spring and he said to me, we're not going to focus so much on four seamers. We're going to throw more off-speed pitches that's been previously with the Giants. So what is that? Because I was reading about that the other day where it's just like a if a company had a mission statement the Red Sox would be throw less fastballs collectively and it's working so far. Yeah what concerns

me is that as you and I both know if you throw a fastball I mean that's the easiest pitch in your arms that's why I love Glaston, just throwing 98, like great, nice and easy. Whereas if you're throwing a lot more pitches, like Lance McCullers famously threw like more off-speed pitches, I think he threw his fastball like 42% of the time over a three-year stretch. Hasn't been the same guy, of course.

He's been hurt perennially with the Astros, but he had a great run. Of course, McCullers, great curve ball, slider, cutter, et cetera. So Bailey's just felt like, you know what, this is going to be our approach and so far it's working. What's again one of the bigger shockers in the game the Red Sox are the best starting rotation in baseball. Like that is not a misprint nobody expected that. Tanner Halcow is watching yesterday Jake Peebe pointed out when he throws the ball it's like he shot puts it. It's

such a fun fun pitch to watch and he just he shot puts it in terms of his delivery. Coming in yesterday 1.75 ERA second second in the American League. Nobody's expecting that from Cutter Crawford with a K. My man Pavetta, fellow Canadian, was okay, hurt a little bit, but he'll be fine. Tanner Hauke, revelation. Been fantastic for them. So you go, well, I thought the Red Sox had no pitching,

and all of a sudden they've got three guys there, and you're throwing Brian Baio, who some call a baby Pedro, all of a sudden they've got something cooking. What's shocking for Boston is they can't score. Their offense is dreadful. They're averaging 2.9 runs per game in May. That's the third worst in baseball,

behind only the Reds and the Cardinals. Von Grissom's hitting a buck 40. William Bray was not doing much after a hot start. Tyler O'Neill went deep yesterday after carrying the offense. He hadn't done anything for a couple of weeks. Devers is still great. Last 16 games, he's hitting 367. But it's odd for your Red Sox because they have right now legit starting pitching.

The problem is their offense, which has been lackluster. As you said, I don't think it's a standalone. They're probably a 500 team. Jays are very worrisome. I bet MGM has got John Schneider as the manager most likely to be fired. Because with this collection of talent, they're dead last round in the division. Critical win yesterday. I'm telling you. If ever a May game felt critical, it did against Baltimore at Camden Yards,

against Van Peltz Orioles. The Jays went 3-2. You mentioned the starting pitching's been suspect. One guy who hasn't has been Barrios. Aside from one start, he's been outstanding for the Blue Jays. Seven strong once again yesterday. Problems are offense. Springer's hitting 2-0-5.

Bo Bichette has a 570 OPS. That's the seventh worst in baseball. That can't happen if you're one of the stars of the team. Vlad Jr. has been a little bit better recently, but much like Boston, they really struggle to score runs. So if it's not Bo Vlad and George Springer, the rest of these guys are basically role players. Alejandro Kirk is what he is. David Schneider is going to get a couple heads. Kevin Bichu, et cetera. He can't expect that team to be strong. So I think it's gonna be challenging. And really under the radar,

Jason, the worst ball-pinning area in baseball, 515. Romano's a good closer. After that, it's shaky. Rays, I think all two of the injuries are catching up to them. Here's a stat which will surprise you. The Rays normally fundamentally strong. Second worst in baseball in defensive runs saved. They do not field the ball well.

I am surprised. Right, and they've obviously missed their pitchers with Shane McClanahan. And, you know, eventually figure the Rays magic would run out. So I think it's Yankees and O's and the O's are incredible. I mean, talk about a team that's fun to watch with Richmond and Gunnar Henderson. Henderson was my pick for MVP. I said, how about a little Cal Ripken magic? Henderson won rookie of the year last year. He won MVP this year. They always win the World Series. Exactly what Cal Ripken Jr. did. Rookie of the year, was MVP, won the World Series.

Who knows if that'll happen? Richmond's obviously a great catcher. We know about their talent. What's crazy is a guy like Ryan O'Hern is a platoon player, hits third in their lineup. Santander is great. Corbin Burns has been a legit ace. That's transformed that rotation, I think. What you get, that pillar everyone can look to as your legit ace, all of a sudden that makes things easier for Kyle Bradish and the rest of the starters. Grayson Rodriguez is obviously a flame thrower. I worry a little bit about their bullpen, Ryan,

Craig Kimbrel, I don't like, listen, Kimbrel is very volatile, and by losing Bautista, that was a big miss to me, signing Kimbrel to replace him. They have options, you know, Cano can close, they have other guys, and the Yankees, I'm glad you mentioned their bullpen. It's been elite, Holmes has been awesome, our boy close. They have other guys and the Yankees. I'm glad you mentioned their bullpen. It's been elite homes has been awesome.

Our boy, Booney knows that a pull the strings. Caleb Ferguson and others have been really strong. So to me is the MVP. He's been one of the best stories in baseball. At times I've been critical of him. I think he's too patient. He hasn't been that way at all. He looks for his right pitch.

He does damage with it. His slugging is off the charts. He's leading the majors as always on base percentage. Stanton looks healthy and better. Judge slow start now looking better. Volpi had a great start, cooled off a little bit, but I think the Yankees are awfully good. I just think they're doing this without Garrett Cole. Like Rodin appears to have figured it out

after a horrible year a year ago. He's been significantly better. Clark Schmitt grinds it out. I've been impressed how well the Yankees have played. Last baseball thought here. You think this is the year that Jurics and Pro-Far puts it together? I don't think so.

I remember years ago working on Sports Center and I can't remember the researcher now. It might have been my buddy John Fisher. Pro-Far is having a hot turn. I said, Pro-Far, so good. And I go, no, we're not doing that. Pro-Far, so good. I like that. Pro-Far, so good.

But I said, shut up to my boy Fish. But jerks and profars not going to put it together this year. The guy I'm really happy for though is Joe Adele. Joe Adele was a first round pick years ago. I said, I'm so happy because I have all these Adele songs. I can use Joe Adele, Hello It's Me, Joe Adele, Rolling in the Deep. And then he stunk for a few years. He disappeared.

He's having a great bounce back here. He might be the All-Star representative for the Angels this year. So Joe Adele, keep it going. Have you thought about pivoting to just trying to honor Berman by being the guy? No one will think that you invented it, but just to keep it going. I think you could pull it off. I don't think there'd be any necessary criticism. It's understood.

Hey, I'm just going to keep the Berman thing going and it's fine. What was always funny is you and I grew up on SportsCenter in the 90s. We loved all those guys, you know, whoever was your favorite, whether it was Boomer or you know, Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick Stewart, Scott Richeyes, etc. And then when I worked on it, they said, hey, like I would throw in some catchphrase and they'd go, hey, that's very 90s SportsCenter. I'm like, yeah, that's what I grew up watching and loving.

They're like, yeah, we kind of stopped doing that. I'm like, I didn't get the memo. So they're allowed to show personality. We are not. I'm like, okay, got it. So I don't know, man, as long as we can get a chuckle to somebody. You know, I asked Oprah about that one time. It was a Neil Everett story I told to Keith. When I first met Neil Everett, when I was filling in on sports in LA for Stan Berrett, I told Neil, I said, I'll always be a fan of yours. Because years before I was in America, my brother lived in Peoria, Illinois, and he heard you say on a home run call, he'll take him across the street to Mitch and Murray. My brother called me and goes, oh my God, I go, yeah, Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross reference. That's incredible.

What's this guy's name? He goes, Neil Everett. So I met Neil and he goes, that's so funny you mentioned that. He goes, the first time I said that, the coordinating producer turned to me and goes, what's that? And I said, it's from a movie. They go, I wouldn't use it. He goes, what? He goes, it's from a movie they go I wouldn't use it he goes what he goes it's from Glenn Gregor and I was because no one's gonna know what it is and no one's gonna get it and Neil's response was I get it and I repeated that story to Keith and chaos today he goes nobody's ever watched a sportscast and said I'm not sure what that reference is I'm gonna go watch something else you're still gonna find out the Cubs won 3-2 if you can entertain yourself and a few others along the way, good for you. Nobody's going to get it. Yeah, I know. But the thing is the reward for the few people that get it,

that's the fun of it all. And I don't know, this is kind of funny how it came full circle, because usually we're going to screw around at the end, but we screwed around for such a long time at the beginning of it, which I do enjoy, by the way. I'm a little cautious with this. Do we have anything in the creative field that you want to touch on here? Because we can't talk about it. No, two things. One, we'll do the silly one in a second. On a serious note, I want to show up my crew at MLB tonight. We're nominated for an Emmy for best daily studio show. The Emmy Awards are next Tuesday. It's going to be the first time I'm ever going to the Emmys. I don't think we're going to win. We're up against four ESPN nominees for best daily studio show. I believe SportsCenter will win. Might be PTI. The other nominees, according to Ben MGM, I think we're running third. We're

up against NBA Countdown and NFL Live. So I'm looking forward to that. I want to salute my awesome team, our producers, our researchers, our graphics people, our directors. They do an incredible job. So I cannot wait to go and support MLB Network and MLB Tonight specifically getting nominated. I texted Van Pelt because Scottie's up for nomination. Hey, I'll see you at the Emmys. No response. So again, life advice to you. Has he changed his number or does he know it's me and he's big time?

Yeah, you got big time. He has not changed his number, right? He has not changed his number. This will be a great moment when I see him like, hey man, I asked for Celo, you haven't changed your number. Here's the text. Yeah, that's a tough, that's a tough look. Would he, was he usually, uh, it was responsive previously. Absolutely.

He was responsive. He was the first responder. It was responsive previously, but I'll send along your best. Well, I didn't want to end on a silly note, but we can agree on. Well, he's done box to me, so I don't need you to do that. What we could close on this, which is something we both agree on, we both love Killers of the Fire Moon. We also both hated Sultburn.

So for anybody out there listening who thinks Sultburn's a good movie, we're still not here to tell you, it's absolute dreck. If ever there was a movie pretending to be a good movie with Sultran, and thank God the Academy, people like to crap on the Oscars and take shots at them, that movie got zero Oscar nominations because it is worthy of zero recognition. It was pitched as one of these Oscar baits, like, oh, my God, it's dangerous, it's risky, might win over another best screenplay nomination. How about the work that Barry Kiyogan is doing?

That feels like a best actor nomination. No, no. The voters watched and said, this movie stinks. It's a turd impersonating the talented Mr. Ripley. Thumbs down on Saul Bern, which you and I agree on. Soundtrack was good. Soundtrack's good. Good last song.

Brought a few songs back into the rotation if you're out in that scene. Yeah, I didn't... You know the thing I enjoyed the most about salt burn is the grave scene where somebody was explaining like the art behind it, where it was like, you know, I just I wanted to be a close set. I wanted Barry to just go go wherever he needed to go. And then once he thought he went too far, like break through that. And honestly, like, if you

didn't see the movie and you feel left out, spoiler alert, he sticks his dick into the soil of the grave. He's a grave humber. Yeah. And you're like, okay, I'll give you, you want dangerous? I'll give you dangerous. And there was someone on social media

that's in the business, which this is incredibly rare for anybody to be in the world of Hollywood, to be like super critical and like in a quote tweet to just go right at it. And so as a story was being explained about that scene, this guy's like, yeah, that's why as a director, you can also just say no sometimes. Yeah. Cutting. So yeah, that was, that was. you can also just say no sometimes. Yeah. It's like cutting.

So yeah, that was a tough one. I mean, there's a scene of a guy masturbating in a tub and when the water goes down, the guy runs and slurps up the water. Like that shit that day. Yeah, right, right. Spoiler alert. Okay.

Well, no, I'm not even talking about spoiler alert. You're just disgusted by the imagery that I just called him. Yeah, and every now and then, you know, we'll get some complaints on the swearing that I do on the pod. And that's just that's just far more obscene. Yeah, it was one of those. What do you got for us?

What's something new? You know what? I got a book review for you. I love to read. How about this? Giamatti's podcast, which I love. It's called Chinwag. I mentioned it.

I don't know why I'm doing it. Don't make eye contact. Not nearly big enough for Paul Giamatti. But I met him. He was awesome. He could not have been nicer. I was like, dude, I'm such a fan of Paul Giamatti. I'm so happy the holdovers got recognized. That's his first best actor nomination.

You like the holdovers, right? I haven't seen it yet. Okay. All right. I know I like it though. I know that I'll like that. That's kind of up my alley. Alexander Payne, you're a fan.

We've definitely discussed Alexander Payne. I mean, it's not even Payne. It's not even yeah Favorite Giamatti movie because I threw the throne at him American Splendor Oh, no sideways sideways sideways sideways is my own personal relationship with the movie in that I was like When I was young and it came out like this blows really I didn't get it and it's the kind of movie that is you get older and you go through some of your own things, you're just like, Whoa, like this thing hits that movie hits you. And it's a it's one of my all time favorite movies and his character is perfect for it. But I also love his friend. Yeah, Thomas Hayden Church playing Jack, incredible. I love that character.

I love the development of the character of the person that got a taste of it that's more haunted by ever having a taste of it than the person that never did. Yeah. I just always really liked that character, not even specific to Sideways. It's like, are you better off just never knowing what it was like to have that life? It makes you think of child actors, right? You peak when you're 10. Yeah, that's the same, but I still think it's different because the child actor, I think you can,

despite its own trauma that seems to be pretty prevalent in that path, I think there's something that like being an adult and being successful in your 20s and 30s and then like, on the other side of 40, 50, you're like, like it's over and that guy can be the most annoying human being of all time. Yeah. Because it's like hey just I'm right around the corner and then again who's anyone to tell that person that it's over right? No one should tell that person that it's over but that that movie man I love that movie and

Giamatti is great in it. It's just an awesome story. It's an awesome script. No, the whole backstory behind the whole thing, like when the script, everybody was kind of freaking out about the script. And it's an awesome story. Clody wanted to do it. Brad Pitt was gonna do it at one point.

Like big stars. And Payne was like, no. They go, we'll give you $40 million. He goes, no, I like Giamatti and Hayden Church. I'll do it for 8 million. It's not gonna work with those guys in the movie. Yeah, he was right. I tend to Giamattioddy I said listen man last thing I went for a few minutes and I said hey everyone always quotes the Merlot line I said you

know the best line he said what's that I said when you go to the store and say can I get a copy of Barely Legal? He goes no no the new one. G.Moddy starts cranking up because that's a pretty good one. The new one. Good luck at the Emmys, man. Thanks so much, Ron. I appreciate it. Book review real quick. Giamatti recommended it. So Giamatti reads like you. By the way, just for the audience to understand, as I said, hey, good luck at the Emmys, this

look on Adnan's face is like, I'm not done. No, no. I've got to get the book review in. Giamatti, he's like you, a voracious reader. He reads three books a week. So he's with a guy named Steven Asma, a philosophy professor. The podcast is called Chinwag.

And he said he read a lot of science fiction. What's a science fiction book everybody can read? What's one that's accessible? So Giamatti said, The Lathe of Heaven. It's by Ursula K. Le Guin. It came out in 1971. I picked it up in my local library, 184 pages. It's fantastic.

I don't think I've ever read a science fiction, but I don't believe I've read Isaac Asimov or Philip K. Dick and the Major Ones. This book is amazing. I recommend it to you highly. The Lath of Heaven, and I want to read this blurb from Michael Chabon. When I read The Lath of Heaven as a young man, my mind was boggled. Now when I read it more than 25 years later, it breaks my heart. Only a great work of literature can bridge so spillingly

that impossible span. Check it out. And the best part for those not able to see the video here, which is primarily everyone, it is from the library. And it has the library protection cover on the book itself. It is incredible.

Our man is going to the library. He's checking out books that Paul Giamatti recommends to him. Thank you by cultured and well-rounded friend. I appreciate it. Seriously, congrats on the podcast. Congrats on your success. You know, I'm always listening. Congrats on the writing. Hopefully we'll hook up soon. Saruti, always a pleasure, man. Go Magic. We have a couple of things to get to here before we get to life advice. And we start with the Alliance. So Rudy, we're getting 75% last couple of weeks, but that's not good enough.

We need a hundred percent to give the audience the winner we hope to provide. I'm sorry. It was Kyle and Luca did let us down. Yeah. Yeah. Two, two weeks ago, it was, uh, it was, you had Daunte DiVincenzo, uh, three plus threes, that was our only loss. And last week it was Luca, three plus threes that was our

only loss and last week it was Luca 30 plus points that was our 30 points for your boy how about that well well I could give you that going forward you went the exact opposite this week buddy so I love that did okay so Saruti has all the picks and the payouts so what are we looking at for the Alliance this week the needs are we're due we are We are, we're one and nine. But our records individually, like we're all above 500. This is what, this is what sucks. Like we've just had a couple of close weeks.

So, you know, just this, what is it? What do they say? It's darkest before the dawn. Like we'll get there. Not worried about it. What a spin. Why don't you, well, why don't you lead it? One of you, Kyle, you lead us off with your pick.

Okay. I'm just going Heartenstein for plus Or 10 plus points. Sorry, it's gonna be hard Stein 10 plus points Nowhere near as outlandish as Luca 30 or more So I think we can hit this one and and I think if the Knicks are gonna win he's got at least do that So it's a good one Okay, so Rudy you have my picks. Yeah, you have my picks. I don't even remember what they are.

All right. So you have, you're taking the under by the, we're doing Nick's Indiana, by the way, Nick's Pacers. You're taking the under two 15 and a half, which, you know, we were worried last week about the over under situation and we got two unders here. So the first under is the under in the game. And then you're also going to take an Ale Birx one plus threes and then I'm going to take the under Haliburton nine and a half assists. He hasn't hit this in any game this

series and I think I think you're right. I think this is going to be like a kind of grinded out low scoring game. So I think the scoring would down like the system will be down. So under nine and a half for Haliburton that gets us well over a plus 400. So feeling good. I like it. A lot of diversity in the picks and you know look forward to seeing these crews this next week okay I love it I love it you want details bye I drive a Ferrari 355 cabriolet what's up I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid.

So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. The email address, lifeadvice, rr at gmail.com. Before we get to a couple of the emails, Kyle, Steve, I want to share a little perspective on life. A little epiphany for your boy the other night. So I was back in Boston and my dad and I were both in town at the same time.

And you know, there was basketball on, of course, because there's basketball on every night. And it was going to be like one of these deals where I was like, well, I don't know, like maybe you'll sit in your room and watch hoops and then I'll sit in my room and watch hoops. And I was like, that sucks. I'm like, what are you going to do? Like, Hey, did you see that play?

Cause like we didn't have any room and I'm going to sit on a bed with my dad and why he probably fall asleep, you know? So we're doing better than that now. Right? Yeah. I was like, I don't want to, I was like, I don't really want to do that. So I, I went on one of the ticket apps. I don't think we have a sponsor right now.

So I'm not going to say which one it was. And I go, I'm getting two B's tickets. B's Panthers game three. So I mentioned something, he was like, is there any way you can pull that off? I was like, I don't really have any Bruins connection. So I'll be paying for them. But let me just see what's out there.

Of course it's a playoff game, fairly popular franchise. So I saw the prices and I saw two right behind the bench, but it says when you buy the tickets, it's row three. Well, row one is the players, row two is the coaches and row three is your first row in the stands. So as a basketball guy, I was like, wait. So we walk up, my dad's thrilled, we're going down, we're going closer and closer and closer. And then if you've ever sat in these seats, you can't really see anything.

You can see to the corners, you go up to the jumbotron, but if it's a first time deal, like everybody in those seats for the first time was kind of like, Oh, wait. And, you know, I wanted this awesome moment with my dad, but he's not afraid to be like, can't really see anything, right? I'm like, yeah, no, I know. Like I know. And here I am, I think I'm like,

hey, I was gonna treat this as a normal Rossello Friday and I'm gonna buy food for us, but I was like, hey, I'm gonna have to probably just go in my room and lock into these two games. It's like, oh, that's not what you're supposed to do when you have time with your dad and you don't live near him. You can't do that kind of stuff. So I'm like, I'm going to have an awesome thing. I'll watch the game in the morning on YouTube.

I'll watch the second game back at the hotel. I'll figure it out. This is not hard. You know you can do it. They have technology for this. Go to the Bruins with your father and then I've got these seats. And I was just kind of like, fuck. Now shout out to Teddy Richards, equipment manager for the Florida Panthers.

I was right next to him the entire time. He fixed a mouth. He fixed a nose. Um, there's a couple of guys on the Panthers that seem to want fresh gloves, every shift, which has to be brutal. I mean, he, if he anticipated a stick being knocked out of a player's hands, he was already over the boards with a backup stick extended.

He worked his ass off the entire night, blown away. I could not be a backup goalie. That would suck. Just sitting there and all of that equipment and you're on a chair because your equipment's so big and nobody wants you on the bench. I think Sam Reinhart is the type of guy who shows up to the game and goes, maybe score a goal or two and then shop for Corvettes online

after this fucker's done. I don't know what it is about him and his face, but I fell in love with him throughout the entire game. I was like, this guy just, I imagine he is a great hang. Like, it's not that he wasn't taking it seriously, he was just unbothered by his surroundings in a way that was incredibly. Rare for an athlete. And I'm not even saying like specific to hockey players.

It was just, you had to be there. Right. But I was right there. I was basically on the bench. I couldn't have been closer. I missed all the neutral zone action. I couldn't see any of it. But Danny, cannell be jealous,

sitting there, soaking up the action, catching paychecks, looking for cars online. No, Sam plays. He plays. Danny never wanted to play. That's what we learned about Danny. So I, you know, I don't know what it is. Look him up, man.

He's 28. I don't know. I don't have any more on him. There's a couple other guys, maybe some commentary, but there's actually a story baked into all this. So, you know, Friday night I was kind of on edge about some stuff, which, you know, some of you that know me would be like so normal. And I could be a little uptight, but not like raging uptight or I'm going to, you know, some of you that know me would be like so normal. And, uh, I could be, I can be a little uptight, but not like raging up tight where I'm going to, you know, make somebody else like, I don't want anybody else's experience to be bad.

I think there's a difference there where there's some people that are up tight that are like looking for some sort of confrontation because they're just assholes. And I might just be more along the lines of like, yeah, okay, whatever. So my father and I, these two seats seats and there's a third seat that's open and in comes this guy about a period into the game, all black, right? He's wearing black leather jacket, black dress shirt, black jeans, black boots. He's double fisting. His hair is done not up for just the game, but also for the wild. That was probably going on after the game, double fisting beers. And I'm like, Jesus Christ, this guy, this guy's going to sit here.

And he also had a monstrous fake plastic gold chain on the size of like bigger than an anchor chain. If you know, you know. And then some Bruins decal at the bottom of it. And he sits down, sees the seat, is like, what the fuck, I can't see anything. And of course my dad is in between us. So he's like, you ever sat here before?

The guy's like, no, this, because I just bought it out on the street. He's like, I figured I'd grab some beers, watch the boys skate, Bruins playoffs. He's like, I wanted to bang on the glass after we scored. Meanwhile, the Bruins hadn't scored for a long time into the game. And he's talking to my dad, he's not really talking to me.

And I'm kind of like, what the fuck? You know, what's this guy gonna be like? And he was awesome really talking to me. And I'm kind of like, what's the fuck? Like, you know, what's this guy going to be like? And he was awesome. He was incredible. He drank his beers. He got more beers. He drank those. He's saying, living on a prayer during a slow time in the game.

As he's saying, living on a prayer, he put his arm around. My dad was like, let's go boys. Let's go boys. Let's go. When the Bruins scored, he banged on the glass like a little, but it was like four one, so he wasn't crazy about it. He said, let's go boys. Let's skate boys. Probably 200 times.

He could have been nicer to my dad. And the thing is, is you know, that he was going out that night and he was going to talk to everyone imaginable and he was going to talk to five girls that were going to go fuck off, bad outfit guy, weird Bruins chain. And then he was going to talk to a six girl. And whatever happened that night, he was going to tell his friends he had the best night in a long time. He went to the brew solo, or he went to the B solo, pounded some brews. At one point, when the men came out to clean the ice, he had a video of some Dallas stars game that he had been to where women in attractive clothing get out there and clean the ice off.

And he was like, wait, we use some of that here in Boston. Shows the video to my dad. Yeah, right. It's like, oh wow, hot girls cleaning off the ice. And he thought like, hey, this is a share moment. And he's like, come on boys, let's go, let's go. And I go, you know what? That guy doesn't do, he's like, come on boys, let's go, let's go. And I go, you know what that guy doesn't do. He's not overthinking shit.

That guy hasn't overthought a day in his life. And he was fucking awesome. I want to know more about him. I'm never going to follow up, but I just looked at his whole deal and those two plus hours, and he's probably going right across the street to the heart. And I thought that guy probably has it way more figured out where his first impression is like, what's this guy's deal? And his deal is he doesn't have a deal. I love the guy. Not going to hang out with him. Never met him, didn't get any contact, but he was awesome. So was your epiphany like, don't close that guy out. You never know what you're

going to miss out on. Well, I can't be like that. I know that that's not, that wasn't the epiphany. Be more like this guy. Never going to be more like him, but like, don't shut that guy out when he sits down next to you at a game. Is that like, is that what your turned over new leaf thing is? There's no, not though. Probably not that either. No, no, I like that you thought of that because I think I didn't really even

attacked it from that angle I guess I just looked at him and thought He's just not gonna have a bad day He's not gonna have a bad day so There's maybe you know, maybe I'm sure for the audience. Maybe I'm sure for myself Was your dad was your dad cool with it?

Was he annoyed by it? Because some people, you get that solo guy who kind of wants to talk to you the whole time and you're like, all right, man, especially on airplanes, that person's the worst. But at a game, yeah, it's a little bit different. Was your dad cool with it? Yeah, real cool with it. Good. And I don't know that he would have always been either, but...

The only you get, I think. Yeah, there was just something about this guy. that he would have always been either, but. The only you get, I think. Yeah. There was just something about this guy that if I, if I said, Hey, he did these five things, then you would say, Oh my God, that guy must've been so annoying. And it was like, but it, it wasn't, it was so sincere and he was just in the moment so profoundly. It's like a spark. I knew, right.

And I just knew looking at him too, it was like, he's going out tonight, he's gonna go to this place and this place, I know all the places, he's gonna go to every one of these places, and he could strike out. The Bruins, by the way, got smoked. The seats aren't that great,

because you can't see anything. And he was gonna text his buddies. It does feel like there should be a better. Yeah, but I'm just saying, like, his buddies would be like, hey, did you go out last night? And he'd be like, best night ever, dude. Sounds like a ton of new people, but his buddies also kind of know like, all right, man, like you say this all the time, like every night's the best night every

year. I mean, solo Bruins game and then sold the bars after that's that takes a special individual. I'm not built for that. I don't think any of us are built for that, but yeah, you have to just have to have that, you know, high on on life man, like just lucky to be here And I've always thought about like man, that'd be cool like that would be fun to like not think about shit Just like I said all vibes that's my that's life But if he had you out would there have been any little like hey man Just kind of want to see what this guy's like in the real wild like I already know I already know what it's like I don't need to see it. I know him. I already know him and Minnesota Denver was on so I didn't want to even go out there but like you

said something where his friends already know like is it the best time like what's what's better the guy that says every night's the worst so yeah whatever this guy was doing and it's just the look on his face and he had the two beers and he sits down and like I could see his hair was done up in a way that he was like, I'm going out tonight. Right. This is the appetizer. It's a nine out of 10 on the scale. So we'll do a couple of questions now.

Here we go. Five nine, 160, no NBA comp because I'm more of a hockey guy. Our guy was taller than five. I consider myself to be an Adam Oates type, always looking for the assist. Here's my question. I'm white.

I was born, raised and attended university in Canada. After my undergrad, I moved to South Korea and lived there for almost the next 10 years. So after undergrad, so we're talking about 2131, I married a Korean woman, had a child and then moved, immigrated to the United States when I was 34 years old. Most of my friends are Korean Americans.

They're all either born in America or came here at a very young age. A few weeks ago, I referred myself as an immigrant and they all scoffed at me. They said I shouldn't be calling myself an immigrant because I'm white, speak English and don't have a very noticeable accent. They said that people don't view me or treat me like an immigrant. So I shouldn't really be claiming immigrant status. They pointed out that my experience was completely different from what their parents went through when they immigrated in the 70s and 80s. I counter the fact that part of the immigration experience is leaving behind

your friends and family to start fresh in a new country. I said that I went through the whole immigration process, which involves submitting countless documents, getting things notarized, and waiting over a year for a decision to be made. I suffered through having no credit score when I came to America. I could only buy a car with a super high interest rate. I was rejected from renting apartments because I didn't have any rental history

or credit score in America. I am still confused about measurements. What's a court actually? Or exactly, I guess. What do you think? Can I call myself an immigrant? Well, you say yes, Kyle, he's in America, right? Didn't he say he was born in Canada, went to South Korea and now he's in America.

That's exactly what he said. All right. Well, that's okay. I'm from New York too. I'm not from New York city. And every once in a while I'll have to explain that, but you know, technically it's true, so I think it sounds like he's got his talking points like down. So it sounds like this is all like muscle memory, quick twitch stuff he can pull out

if he never needs to defend himself. But fuck yeah, you're an immigrant. You're not saying you're a minority or you're not saying you're this or that you're saying what exactly the truth of your situation is. You're an immigrant and you know, unless you want to like put qualifiers on everything, which I'm not going to do when I say I'm from New York, I know they're different things, but they're just things where somebody could be like, what are you talking about?

And then I have to get into it. Or you can just say, you know, when you're telling people he's out from Canada or whatever, or you could just say I'm an immigrant, but I think stand your ground. It sounds like you have great talking points. Um, this is just what it's going to be. I guess we should have asked to add in this question because I mean, the, the, the Korea thing is, is obviously the complicating factor here because if you were a Canadian and then you moved to America, like technically you're an

immigrant, but like that, I would be like, dude, come on, like I don't think many Canadians refer to themselves as immigrants if they move here and vice versa. I didn't almost get deported though. That's what I mean. If you can be deported, if that is true, if that can hang over your head, you're technically an immigrant. It's like I can't, they can't send me anywhere but jail. They can't send me anywhere else. You know what I mean? Yeah, I'm American. Yeah.

I think because you have the Korean thing and that was like a big part of your life and that's a huge culture shock. I think you have a little bit more credibility here. But I if it was just straight America to Canada or Canada to America, like I'd probably give you a hard time too. Even though there are some validity. There's some valid reasons why you credit score thing, you know Just general lifestyle the lifestyle moving American candidates probably not that crazy But I think the Korea thing kind of gives you a pass like I think these guys They're a little too harsh on you here. He's a white guy. So he's gonna lose this argument He's right

He's right, but like they're not, you know, whatever the accepted packaging of like what an immigrant is, I guess his group is just saying, yeah, but you're not really even though he absolutely is. I guess I'd ask, why do you care? But do you care that you're not like, is it, are you frustrated that you did all this work and they're not recognizing your official status? Well, maybe he just wants to be like the friend, like all the friends, like he feels like he's part of that group

and they're like saying, no, you're not part of this group. And that would annoy me. That would be great if he just decides to just double down on it. So they're sitting at a table and like a friend who's actually a citizen, like naturalized citizen, it has been born

here and everything, but sorry, immigrants only he starts like elbowing his buddies, because they know they don't like it. I mean, I think it sounds actually pretty like I kind of get his friend's point. But this isn't really about what this is. Like this is about, hey, I've actually technically eminent immigrant. And I've actually technically am an immigrant and I've done all of these things just like you had to do it. And they're looking at you saying yes, but your experience was entirely different, which I imagine it probably was

because he's a white guy. So I can see both sides of it. I just don't know. It feels like one of those arguments. Like I remember I got an argument with an uncle about a phrase that at one point, it just was an outdated phrase. It wasn't like a really offensive, super egregious thing. It was just like the way phrasing and terms can evolve, which for older people can be really challenging. And I was like, hey, you know, you're not really kind of supposed to say that. And he was like, why?

And he was like arguing with me about it. And I went, I'm not telling, like, I'm just saying. That's not the kind of thing that you would say. Like if you're at the grocery store, you probably don't want to say it that way. And then he was like being really technical. He's like, yeah, but if the origin, like, I'll never forget when this is kind of derailed, but, uh, Yijin Lian who was Yiji Leon.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was six pick. Yeah. No seven. I was working. I just started working at ESPN and the woman that I was hosting with, we were

talking about the draft, we were talking about the draft, we were on the air and she called him a d*** and I was like, hey, we went to commercial break and I was like, hey, you don't want to say that. And she was like, why? And I was like, well, you just can't say it. You can't say that. And she was like, why? He's a man from China.

I was like, you know He's a man from China. I was like, you know what? You just keep fucking saying it then. You just go ahead and you just keep saying it then. Let's go fuck myself. No, we're good. Yeah, I mean, she was an awful person to work with. Wait, what? Oh yeah, yeah.

I've never told you the story. No. She didn't know. She didn't know. And I was like, hey, you can't, like we went to a commercial break and I think I'm like doing a heads up. You know, we're all fillings back there. I was like, hey, you know, I kind of was like, I remember she was like, you know, we're

breaking down different prospects and then she says it again. She's like, and then you have ye, da da da da da. And I was like, oh my God. So I was like, yeah, you can't do that. And then her thing was like, it was about me, right? Like this guy's gonna start taking my fill-in shifts. So I was just like, don't, you shouldn't do that. I'm just giving it, she's just like, why?

That he, his gender is this and his nation of origin is this. And you're like, that's okay. You know, after I tried for like 30 seconds, I exactly, I was like, you know what? Actually fine, keep rolling it out then. Good luck. That's insane. Is Frenchman out too?

No. Frenchman's fine. No. Yeah. Yeah, Frenchman's fine. So again, it's not the exact same thing, but if somebody is arguing with you and you're going, why am I not? Why am I? I had to do all of these different things? I was not born here I had to go through all of this to become a citizen and all just like you did and they're like, yeah, but

It's not the same experience which they're not wrong about. Okay. Yeah, but also no one's hopping off Steamship with 85 cents in their pocket either anymore too. So it's like how, what's the bar anymore? So it's like, it's above you, but whatever. So I think you could totally argue it if you want to. And I don't even know how often it's going to come up anymore, but I guess, I think it probably, you probably don't have to have this argument often enough that you still have the energy to go, to give it your best explanation when it's time.

So that is a good point. If you're like finding, if you're around all your friends from Korea who and you're just like introducing yourself as an immigrant, you're like, oh, I'm one of them too. And it's like this it's really in everyone's face. Yeah, that's annoying. That would be annoying. But if it's like kind of subtle, and it's like it comes up in conversation, and then

you want to like think that you are that, that's not insane, but don't make it your entire personality. That would be annoying. I kinda like the annoying path though. I kinda like it every now and then. I like having the hill to die on, like all my buddies out here. It's sort of a joke, but I do halfway believe it.

When they were going to my wedding, I told them that Poughkeepsie was called the crown jewel of the Hudson Valley. I really would like that to catch on. It's not, but I'd like it to be there. And they went and they asked everyone in the two days before the wedding, everyone's like, what the fuck are you talking about? But anyway, I take, I use that, that story to like, we'll argue about how great Poughkeepsie is. And everyone's like, yeah, that was terrible. Main street suck. That didn't feel safe. Blah, blah, blah. And, but I love it so much. So I actually like the feeling of being ganged up on and having something to die. It's not

a serious thing, but I like it. I like the feeling of it. It's like, all right, I'm like brave. I'm like Mel Gibson in Braveheart. I'm like, let's go, bring it on. Yeah. I don't know. I think part of it's like, who cares? And then the other part of it, I kind of see your pride in, I had to do all And then the other part of it, I kind of see your pride in, I had to do all of this stuff. But then again, I kind of see they're part of it all. So I don't mean how much time you want to waste on this one. It needs to be great.

I think there's a chance for once every few months to lean into it and be annoying about it. Where if you meet somebody and go around the table and be like, technically non-immigrant. Todd, like in front of them. Technically an immigrant, not recognized officially. How are you doing, Todd? Technically non-immigrant. Todd, like in front of them. Technically an immigrant, not recognized officially. How are you doing, Todd? All right, we got one more.

Friend who I don't like, trying to set me up with a girl. Fellas, 25 years old, 6'1", 230, pick up comp, Dallas Mavs version of Elton Brandt. A lot of posters available for that era. I'm single, have been single for a couple of years, recently moved to a bigger city and have really enjoyed going out on the town most weekends and having a good time, met tons of people, although mostly just that one night at a bar type of deal, but with a couple exceptions.

All right. Sorry guys, doing all right. Made this guy, went to a hockey game on Friday sat next to the stiff. So one of my old high school friends and his very new less than one month in relationship girlfriend want me to talk to the girlfriend's friend. The idea of it sounds great until they hit me with the, then we can all go out together. Let me emphasize the fact that I all caps, can't stand this guy. He's everything you would expect from a high school glory days type of guy, just constantly living in the past, over exaggerated stories, putting others down to make himself look better.

I've distanced myself from the old friend group we had in high school, and I'm very happy to keep it that way. I told my current friends that that is a deal breaker for me, for him to be involved in. So I don't think I'm out of line. Am I wrong for thinking that way or should I suffer through potentially many double dates with these people to see if this potentially very nice woman who I haven't met yet is worth the awkward double date stage?

All right, so- You would go out with her first though, right? But alone, like it's not, you're not in high school. Like you don't need to do this thing. Cause if that's the case, if you can get, you know, get some time with her first, this thing could Because if that's the case, if you can get some time with her first, this thing could just never happen. I mean, I've got so many people like Tate, Van, my frolic buddies, my buddies back home. They're always like, oh,

we should do this. We should do, like, we should get everyone together. And it's so easy to just sidestep that thing and well, kick the can down the road. You may never go to dinner with these people. It's so easy to flake out on one of these things or just like the scheduling out and out and out. If you really cared about not going to dinner with this guy on a double date, you could totally make that happen. If you can get the introduction first. If it's not a chaperone first date. If you guys hit it off, you could totally work around never having this plan come to fruition. It's much easier than it sounds.

That's all well and fine. Do you know what she looks like? Do you know what her personality is like? Like that might answer your question. Like, is she kind of cute and it might be worth the pain in the ass. Maybe it's worth going for it. Uh, I would definitely not do a double day on the first date though. Yeah.

Like, go and see what the deal is. See if you like each other. That's fine. And the only other problem is like, then you kind of feel like you owe something. Like, I can't just like break it off after one date. Then I see him like the asshole and then my friends don't look good. But if you don't care, that doesn't really matter. But I think you, I mean, I don't know, there's always like,

there's a certain level of like hotness personality. If you're really into this girl and she could potentially be someone you want to date, then that's your, that's kind of your answer. I think everything else kind of just falls by the wayside. Yeah, right. I mean, obviously we all realize as men here that there's a picture of a girl in our heads. They were like, hey, this is my girlfriend's friend. You're like, all right, this guy sucks, but when do we meet? Right? But the most important thing that this guy told us based on his resume is he's 25 and he's out about on the town and it's going well for him.

He's not running the email that we see from a lot of different guys. Can't meet anybody, moved to a new town. This sucks. I don't know how to talk to him. I don't know how to do this out of a bad breakup, all these different things. This guy didn't have any of that shit. Apparently things are going really well for him. So why would you need to just meet one more person that may be a potential hangout down the road to then reintroduce a guy you can't stand into your life? This is the easiest one ever.

Don't go say, I don't want to do it. Then you avoid the buddy. I mean, look, different people have different things with it, you know, over the course of my life, like different times where someone's like, Hey, you know, I may be say, yep, my friend here. And I'll be like, I'm going to save you the hassle. Don't worry about it. You know, um, I think there's also like, all right, who would you of the people,

you know, Sarudy in your life that we would know that the audience would know. Like give me somebody you would trust to set you up with somebody and somebody that you would be like, no way. Smallman, I would trust if she was like, Hey, this person's legit. I'd be like, all right. Yeah. And who I wouldn't trust. Oh man. I'll bring them up again. Canel maybe. I don't know. I feel like Canel is always in it for the wrong reason. Like he'd want something out of it. So I probably not trust canal. So yeah, probably the two can I'll take some strays today. Sorry, Danny. Love you. Kyle, Bill wanted to set you up with somebody. Yeah, unless he was like, unless it was like a dinner for schmuck scenario where it's like a joke with him and Sal, like I don't like early, like younger me, I could see I could be like,

what's going on here? Like something doesn't smell right. But like nowadays, like younger me, I could see, I could be like, what's going on here? Like something doesn't smell right. But like nowadays, like if, you know, if my, my marriage fell apart or something, and it was like, he's like, I gotta get you back out there. I would trust him. But I think the earlier days of the BS pod where it was just like, you know, just a straight up punchline. So, um, nowadays, yes. I thought I had a line and I, that can't be topped.

It's just so good. Cause I was thinking van might be the answer for me, for both. Ryan, come on higher learning. Talk about that day with me. I'd be so interested in like who van would say, not that he would ever do this, but if van were like, Hey, we're still, I got somebody I want you to meet. I would have to, you have to, yeah. but if Van were like, hey, so I got somebody I want you to meet,

I would have to. You'd have to. Yeah. Because I'd be like, hey, and then it would either be a text or you're like, bro, oh my God, like, thank you so much. I had the best time ever. Or it would just be as likely to go,

are you fucking insane? Hey man, what the fuck was that about? What was, do you hate me? I think we end there. Sure, me? I think we end there. I think we're in there. Nothing else to add. Yeah. Be happy, man.

You don't need to meet everybody. Right. Agreed. There's, there's one thing in life. Like, yeah, whatever, man. So you don't have to hear his stories anymore. There you go. Thanks to work on.

Thanks to Seruti. Thanks to Kyle. Make sure you check out our YouTube page, Ryan Russell Podcast, 18 plus in D.C. and present in select states. Fandual is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit Fandual.com forward slash RG in Colorado, D.C., Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio,

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