The Pat McAfee Show Live | Thursday May 22nd 2025

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[Music]. The following program is a collection of. stooges talking about happenings in the. sports world. It is meant to be comedic, informative. The opinions expressed on. this show do not necessarily reflect the. beliefs of their peers, their boss, or. ESPN. There may be some cuss words. because that's how humans in the real. world talk. If you are a young, please.

seek permission before watching any. further. Hey, let's go. This show sticks and the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful for. the line with a gorgeous assist. the. all-time leading tackler for the Green. Bay Packers. You. stop. Damn it. Your friend, tell your. friends something nice could change. their life. [Applause].

[Music]. Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to. our humble abode, the Thunderdome on. this Rest Easy Gym Thursday, May 22nd, 2025. This program starts now. sports are happening all around us, especially here in Indianapolis, Indiana. I shed some tears last night. when a friend of mine was announced uh. that he passed away. And we will. obviously talk more about that as the. show goes on. And what the Indianapolis.

Colts owner Jim Ers has done for me, for. this program, for the show, for this. city, uh for everything is uh going to. be tough to kind of break down and. chitchat about. Uh, but Jim Ersce left a. legacy of compassion and give back that. I think should be studied by everybody. that ends up with any type of money or. any type of success. He woke up every. single day hoping to make the world a. better place, making people happier. And. uh, I know life gets in the way.

sometimes and I don't think he always. got it right and he certainly battled. his demons. But God bless this man uh, Jim Ers in the way he wanted to treat. other people, especially people that he. knew. If you actually got to know Jim. Ers, you loved him. I wrote something on. Twitter last night, and it took me a lot. of attempts as I was watching the. Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks. in game one of the Eastern Conference. Finals in Madison Square Garden with a. comeback that hasn't happened in.

1,414 games. As I was watching the great city of. Indianapolis and a great state be. represented, I was trying to talk about. the greatest philanthropist in the. history of this state in Jim Ers. Finding the right words was not easy. because what could you say about a man. who has literally been the owner of an. NFL team since he was 37, the youngest. general manager in the history of the. league as a 24y old. He had been around. the game since he was a child. He. basically chitchat about those Baltimore.

uh Colts locker rooms as being like his. babysitters. He grew up in the locker. room. Always talked about cleaning and. sweeping and hanging out and talking to. the boys. There was a story that has. come out that when he was 16 years old. after his dad said something to the. effect about the guys being bums and not. representing and sawed the team down as. a 16-year-old, he went onto the team bus. and said, "Football is a team sport. Let's never forget it." and cried and. walked off. He was a consmate team guy.

He loved those he was surrounded by. And. if he had heard about anything that. needed help or he learned of any. situation that could use a financial. boost, he was writing a check or giving. money quicker than any person in the. history of existence. I don't know how. they'll be able to track how much money. he's given to people, causes, build. He. just builds buildings here. Just donates. buildings to the city of Indianapolis. Wings of hospitals. uh let alone all the. things that just go not talked about. It. has to be over a hund00 million. And.

then once he realized that he was able. to make other people feel good with his. good fortune and with the amount of. money that he had, he started buying up. things that he thought people would be. interested in seeing. And he wanted to. figure out how he would tour this so. that people could experience these once. in a-lifetime things. From ancient. hundred-year-old things to the Beatles. drum set that he felt obligated to buy. or Elvis Presley's guitar. He wanted. people to experience it, not just him. He didn't want to just lock it up in a. room and say, "Hey, I'm a rich guy. I. got this." He would outbid other rich. people so that the world could see the.

things that he found interesting. He. toured the Jim Ers collection around. this country, around the world. I think. he did a couple European stops. People. got to see things that they never had. The giveaways that this man would invest. time in and make imaginative and make. it, you know, entertaining for. everybody. He dressed up as Willy Wonka. and put a a giveaway on for a Super Bowl. ring for Colts fans. He loved making. other people feel good. And I was very. lucky uh that I got a chance to call him. a friend. You know, a lot of owners kind.

of view their teams as business. A lot. of owners view their players as. transactional. A lot of the suits in the. NFL might not have the most amount of. respect for players, you know, because. players are stupid. But Jim Mercy grew. up in a locker room, so he had. compassion for the players, empathy for. the players, and always had the players. back. That's why every player that goes. into the Hall of Fame that played for. the Indianapolis Colts asks him to be. the one that presents them into the Hall. of Fame. We knew he had our back. We had.

his. He had his problems. A lot of. people talk [ __ ] but if you got to know. him, he was one of the most brilliant, unique, and interesting humans to ever. exist. I'll miss Jim Erse. And uh you. done good, buddy. You done good, [Applause]. man. He was awesome. He would come on. this show anytime I asked him, no matter. where he was. He came on my show in. uh 2012. I think I was doing a show at a. local bar and it was with Indie Star,

the local newspaper, and it was on. Twitter and it was just an idea that I. had and Indie Star kind of pieced it. together and we'd have like 200 people. come to this bar. It was chaos always. because there's people at the bar that. aren't there for the show, you know? Never do a show at a bar. Yeah. Okay. Never do a show at a bar unless you're. getting the whole bar. Do not do a show. at a bar, especially if there's like an. audio component to it, because there's. gonna be drunks at that bar who have no. idea that your show is happening. So, it. was chaos every single week. Chaos. We. would have like half the bar, there'd be. 100 people, 200 people there watching.

It'd be an Indianapolis Coach recap show. that I was doing. And it was solely for. Twitter. It was solely for social media. And uh one of my first guests was Jim. Ers. And uh the reason was because he. followed me on Twitter throughout the. lockouts. So during the lockout uh time. in the NFL, front office executives were. barred from speaking to players and. players were barred from speaking with. front office and executives. I actually. uh worked out with the Columbus crew. during that time and uh I thought I was.

going to make my soccer dream come true. I was way too out of shape. I mean the. coach told me I needed like probably. seven, eight months out of shape and. I'll tell you what I did not have that. time. But the front office people. weren't able to talk to the players but. there was ways to get around it. So like. Bill Polon saw the news thing and it was. like me playing soccer and he got a. message to somebody. They got a message. to somebody. They got a message to. somebody. They got a message to me and. was like hey this lockout's not going to. be forever. You hurt yourself playing. for the Columbus Crew. You would feel. like a [ __ ] I was like who's saying. why are you saying I don't talk to you. that often? He goes that's not from me.

That is from you know somebody high. It. was like a real divide like we aren't on. the same team right now. And Jim. followed me on Twitter during that time. I remember it happening because I was. pretty dowed into my Twitter during that. time. I would answer everybody. I would. reply to everybody. I thought it was the. greatest platform because you could. connect with anybody and you could kind. of share yourself and you could get. creative with your words. You can get. creative with your thoughts and you. could reach people. And that's why I. think X is so important. And I know. there's a lot of [ __ ] on there, but. there is stuff that happens on X that's.

magical as well. And Jim Ros saw the. same thing. He loved that platform and. he followed me throughout the lockouts. And then when the lockouts were over, we. had training camp. And he arrived at. training camp. We're up in Answer, Indiana. I was 280 lbs, baby. I was so. fat. Have fun. I had a lot of fun during. that lockout. I had a lot of fun. I knew. I had to tighten up, but I was not in my. best shape. And uh you know, I'm at. training camp doing my thing. And Jim. Ersce gets there and he he's on his golf. cart and he does a beline right over to.

me. And he and I did not have a. relationship like that after I got. arrested. Okay. For public intoxication, definitely. allegedly swam in a canal. Allegedly swam in a canal. I was. definitely publicly intoxicated. And. that was a big moment, pivotal moment in. my life. In the conversation I had with. Jim Ers after that in the conversations. I would have with him, he would come. check on me, you know, like, "Hey, how. you doing? How you doing? You good?" But. it was always like surface level. conversations. Good. Good. And then he. would get out of there or have a. conversation with Adam Venitary who he. loved. He absolutely loved Adam Venitary. as well. So I was just kind of like a.

part of the conversation. You good? Yeah, I'm good. Any store? Good. Good. And then he would talk to Veniterry. Obviously loved it. And I was just cool. I was lucky to be I was there's pictures. of me, Vinnie, and Jim talking practice, you know, everything like that. And in. 2011 after the lockout, Jim came and. talked to me and it was our first real. extended conversation. And once you. start listening to him start. brainstorming ideas and you get to the. bottom of what he really wanted to do. All he wanted to do on Twitter was give. away [ __ ] That is literally all he. wanted to do was just give things away. to people. And as he was at training. camp, you'd watch him just give hundreds. to every person in sight. I don't know.

if there was a guilt that he felt that. he had everything or an obligation to. give back to people. And I think that's. why anytime there was a narrative about. Jim outside of Indianapolis or outside. of Indiana, you very rarely heard. anybody here because of how much he's. affected and helped literally any human. he could have. He was one of the kindest. people I've ever met. And when I. retired, I went and talked to him before. anybody else because we had a. friendship. Obviously, he's owner of the. team. I'm punter of the team. It's not. like we're best friends. you know, he's.

living a much different life than I'm. living, but anytime we talked to each. other, it was real conversation, real. moments. And I think he genuinely liked. me as a player. I don't know how many. people, but I felt obligated to go talk. to him and let him know that I was going. to retire and I was done with this. thing. And he took two hours basically. just giving me game. Giving me game. like, "Hey, are you going to be able to. fire somebody?" And I go, "Excuse me?". He had this vape and he [ __ ] big. smoke coming out. He was he was a good. vapor. I actually told him in that. conversation, "Hey, you ever see those. people they blow O's and [ __ ] like they.

do the" He goes, "What?" And I text him. a link and he's like, "I think I could.". Yeah, I think I could do that if I had. enough time. Loved his vape. He said, "Do you think you could fire somebody? Cuz what you're signing up to do is to. run your own business." And he said, "I. don't know what bar stool is, but I will. certainly try to learn as much as I. possibly can, but from what it sounds. like is you're going to be running your. own business. You're going to be. managing your own people. Are you going. to be able to fire somebody?" He was. like, "Let me tell you about the first. time I had to fire somebody. Let me tell. you about being a 37-year-old owner. Let. me tell you about the mistakes that I've. made. Let me tell you mistakes that the. Beatles have made. Let me tell you. mistakes that people from around the. world that I've gotten to meet that have.

run companies. And because I am in the. position that I'm in, I get a chance to. learn. And he gave me two and a half. hours of just game on what I'm doing. And he said on the way out that if I. ever needed anything, he'd be there to. help me. And he said, "I'm going to help. you succeed in this venture. And if you. ever want to stop or you get sick of. doing it, you'll have a job here for. life. You're family for us." And that. was like a very comforting thing. obviously to know like, "Okay, fall back. plan. I can work for the Indianapolis. Colts. I think like that was kind of a. good mindset. And I just assumed he was. saying all those things because I was in. his presence and then him following up.

with that through this business. development that we have had and his. care for our business in our show. He. would be showing other people our show. as if we were like his kids and like. proud of what we did. and he would send. me articles that he's come across that. he thought I should read, whether it. would be a leadership uh thing, a. business thing, the future of media. thing, things that are being said about. that. I would just get a text message, maybe 3:00 in the morning sometimes cuz. who knows where the [ __ ] he was in the. entire world. Obviously has multiple. planes, multiple houses, has the ability.

to live and do whatever the hell he. wants. But he was always checking in and. he would hear something was going on. with me. He would send me a motivational. message. He would always come on our. show. Literally, he would ask to come on. our show. And um I just feel an. obligation to let the world know that. you might think things about Jim Mercy. if you don't actually know him, but we. lost a [ __ ] legend in Jim Mercy. And. uh our city will feel the effects of him. not being here going forward.

Um, and here's Jim on our show doing his. thing, showing the world exactly who he. is, which is a uh compassionate, brilliant, wealthy legend. Rest easy, Jim. I [ __ ] love you, man. Arriving. in beautiful fashion. There he is on a. golf cart driven by another massive. human being wearing a suit that is only.

top of the line. A man who walks around. and hands out hundreds to people. A man. that gives away more money than any. other human you've ever encountered. A. man who has paid for everything I have. ever done. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim. Ers. My friends call me Jim. You can call me. Jim. Jimmy from the cold. Ah, Lolita. I love. my friend and there's nothing like her. This 57year-old female killer southern. or club of whale is special now. I'm. frustrated with flying cars cuz I'm.

obsessed with that. Like I I want a. flying car. Hey, me too. I don't want. this phone. Give me a flying car. I out. bid them for Elvis. piano. You need that. Sometimes guys. will get liquored up and go swimming in. the Broadripple canal. Oh, traffic. So, it's direct traffic in. their underwear. Now, Pink Floyd calls. that a momentary lapse of reason. Molita.

is mellow. She's a Buddhist. She hangs. low. She's cool. She's happy. But like. Mars, think about this, is 250 million. miles. 250 million miles. when you go, you know, it it takes about anywhere. from, you know, 9 to 11 months to get. there, depending on the Are you going to. [ __ ] Jim, are you going to Mars? It. sounds like you I wish I go, well, I.

have these beautiful Monae paintings, but I have John Lynn's piano in the. front room. What do you want to see? I. want to see John Lennon's. piano. I don't know. I don't know. I put. on this Willy Wonka outfit about 12. years ago and we had a treasure hunt in. Indianapolis and the winning team at. halftime was given real Super Bowl. rings. You have to get them one at a. time. Try to help anything in any way. you can. One at a time. I've shut down a. lot of Girl Scout. Hey, here's. $2,000. We're going home. You know, the.

only thing that beats everything is. love. Love every time beats hate every. time. If you come at hate with hate, it's not going to be good. You're going. to get more hate. I'm lucky to be a part. of the Colts organization. Getting to. know you has been a cool thing. Just. know that I think personally as somebody. who is a billionaire, you're doing good. with your money. You're doing good with. your time. Can I say this? When you came. to my office and told me your plan about. retirement, I never thought we'd be. sitting there and you'd be the megastar. Sorry for saying that, but it's true. that you are your show and what you do. and the entertainment you provide. You. know, is David Letterman type. It's at.

the very top. I always knew you had that. potential, but man, what you've. accomplished, we're so proud of you that. you're a Colt alumni player. I mean, you. know, you represent. I'm lucky. You help. me out a lot. Rest in peace, man. Obviously sending. nothing but positive vibes in love um to. his daughters, his grandkids, his, you. know, son-in-law, like his loved ones as. a whole, his staff. There's a great. group of people that have been around.

him for a very long time. And I got a. chance to send them messages overnight. You know, the Gormans, I mean, Scotty. and Jeff have been with Jim for like 30. years. Pete Ward has been with Jim Ers. since Baltimore, let alone the training. room that he has kept literally since. Baltimore. The equipment staff, everybody. He takes care of his people. He's so loyal. And uh I have no idea how. they are all feeling today and last. night, but just know you guys all did.

good, man. Jim had a great group of. people around him and that's because he. had a great eye for talent and he had a. great aura. Rest in peace, Jim. I. appreciate the [ __ ] out of you, man. Now, I think Jim had a big big role in. last night's Indiana Pacers first game. win in Madison Square Garden. Now, the. odds say that the situation they were in. multiple times, the game was over. New. York Knicks fans outside of Madison. Square Garden were saying that they were.

going to sweep the Pacers late in the. fourth quarter. Actually, let's go to. down 17 with 6 minutes and 12 seconds. left. 11194 in the Mecca Madison Square. Garden. There's no way this Pacers. team's able to do that. Uh-uh. Nam hard. 18 foot. Step back. How you doing? Keep. it moving. Pascal Seak. And then it. became the knee show. Aaron Naymith, shooter out of Vandy. This dude went. apeshit at the end of the fourth. quarter. Obviously, Tyrese. Hallebertton's going to do his thing.

He's going to be a facilitator. He's. going to knock down shots. But Nay Smith. goes five of six late in the fourth. quarter. Goes absolutely unconscious. That one right there from three foot. beyond the arc. Then that one. offbalance. Bang. Bang. How you doing? Keep it moving. Tyrese. Ah, game winner. Jim Mercy grabs that thing from heaven, throws it through the hoop, and Tyrese. Allebertton says, "Reggie, you see me? We just did it." Biggest comeback in the.

history of basketball. There's actually. a stat that shout out to Between the. Nums, Greg Harvey. The teams were 0 and. 1,414 in playoff games when trailing by. nine plus points in the final minute of. the fourth quarter. Well, this Pacers. team, you'd think to yourself, "Well, that must have been just some anomaly. last night. That must have been some. specialty." Uh-uh. They would go into. overtime, not play their best. basketball, and they'd come out of.

Madison Square Garden with a win. A. massive win. Tyrese goes for 31-1, double double, 30 plus points. How you. doing? Keep it moving. N Smith goes. absolutely unconscious. The boys go. bananas in Madison Square Garden. Pascal. Seakum dog, how you doing? keep it. moving. Rick Carile, the style of play. that they have maybe, just maybe, if you. start reading the T- Leafs, cuz you. think last night anomaly, it certainly. was. Anytime you're 0 in.

1,414, you would think that that is a. statistical matter of fact at that. point. I think that is just something. that all basketball watchers would say, "Yeah, that makes sense." Especially in. the final minute, then you're playing a. free throw game. Oh, got to make those. Have to got to make those. When do you. miss those? Well, maybe when you're. tired. Maybe whenever you're worn out. Maybe when you're beat up a little bit. Maybe whenever that game that you. thought was out of the weeds is all the. way back in the dirt, brother. And. that's what this Pacers team does. Let's. go back to April 29th, shall we? Down.

seven. How you doing? Keep it moving. Pacers, massive dub, hitting big time. threes. They somehow have the. capabilities to do that all the time. Tyresese Hallebertton makes insane. plays. And correct me if I'm wrong. This. right here is the last play that Mr. Hallebertton has gotten to see live. Let's get that man back in an arena. He. deserves to celebrate with his people, not just in a bar. Yeah. Awesome. As his.

boy loses his mind. Now, let's go to the. Cavs. He can't do it again, can they? Well, this is on May 6th, April 29th. Then May 6th, we're down seven with 48. seconds left. Ah. Ah. Knee Smith, give me that. Then. obviously remember the Tyrese. Hallebertton miss on purpose. Gets his. own rebound. Go ahead. and. skates. Step back. We win. You lose. Big. ball dance in Cleveland, Ohio. And then.

in the first game of the Eastern. Conference Finals, it happens again. Is. it potentially a skill? Is it. potentially a trait? Or is it. potentially the way they play that at. the end of games teams might be wore out. and they take advantage because they're. in better shape. The toxicity table's. here at boss Conor Netai Schmidt want to. have the hammer Cowboys is here and. joining us now ladies and gentlemen is a. man who has been fantastic on television. during these conference finals. He's an. NBA champion head coach now seemingly.

television pundit. Mhm. Speaks great. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, Mike Moy. How you doing coach? I'm doing well, man. Good to be on with you guys again. Hey, great to see you again. Obviously, uh this time around you are becoming a. TV pundit. A good one at that. You need. to understand you're doing a great job. Don't change for [ __ ] Well, I only got. one game under my belt, so I got a lot. of room for improvement. No, but don't. ch That's what I'm saying. Don't worry. about Don't change. Just be you. There.

might be somebody there might be. somebody who thinks they're in a. position uh to give you advice because. they have maybe done TV school or. something like that and they're trying. to be nice. Now granted, there are some. people out there that will give you. great advice, but me looking at you just. be you. Okay, your resume is good. Your. personality is fantastic and the way you. talk, you make [ __ ] like me feel. like I'm understanding what's going on. Now, with that being said, do I. understand what's going on with this. Pacers team? It feels like three times. now miraculous comebacks late in the.

game. Is there a reason that that's. happening? And it is that reason. potentially because Carile has these. boys running. Do other teams potentially. get worn out and the Pacers think that. they can capitalize when these teams are. out or what do you think it is about. this Indiana Pacer team, coach? Well, I. tell you what, the question I'm asking. myself, Pat, is is this a team of. destiny? You just showed all those plays. that they're never out. You can see the. belief they have, not only in. themselves, but in the collective. and.

Rick Carlilele, who you've mentioned a. few times, won a championship in Dallas, doing an outstanding job of coaching. this team, using his bench. Um, when I. watched them play last night in game. one, they are relentless in everything. they do. Go back to the very first. basket they scored last night. They made. the basket. Three guys picked up full. court. They they extend their pressure. They're trying to wear Jaylen Brunson. out. He came back in the game with five. fouls. They went at him every time. Um,

but they're never out of a game because. they believe in themselves. And that. start with with Rick Carile. Tyresese. Hallebertton is putting that team on his. back. And then you mentioned it, Aaron. Nesmith last night, 30 points, eight of. nine from three. And in the fourth. quarter, the Knicks and I I know I think. Tom Cibido talked about this after the. game. They didn't find Aaron N. Smith. this guy was going nuclear in the garden. and he hits three after three 20 points.

in the fourth quarter and um you you. talked about it. You're down by nine. points with under a minute to go and. they're able to force overtime and win. the game and uh I just thought about it. afterwards. Is this team destined for. greatness because they keep on finding. improbable ways of winning games on the. biggest stage in the world? Okay, so on. that note, team of destiny and them. finding ways and never losing belief or. confidence that they can come back and. win it because they've obviously done it. now multiple times. Multiple times in.

the I mean in the Mecca is what they. call in New York City. That game was. awesome. Incredible. I mean, that game. was a great start to the conference. finals for the NBA. Answer, answer, answer, answer, answer. Pull away and. then obviously you have the biggest. comeback, quickest comeback in the. history of the sport. I mean that is. exactly what the NBA envisioned in this. entire thing. But whenever you think. about this Pacer team, last year they. make it to the Eastern Conference. Finals. Nobody really talks about them. though because they get swept by the. Boston Celtics. Just swept. Then the. Olympics happened. Tyresese Hallebertton. don't even play. So he he literally.

don't even step foot on the court. So. well did. But you get it. Wasn't a part. of the team. So there was no. conversation about how great the Pacer. season was last year, how young of a. team they were, how Pascal got traded in. mid-season. There was never any chatter. nationally or even locally about, hey, that was a hell of a Pacers year. it. just kind of got swept away because of. how it ended. Do you think having that. uh maturity and having that experience. from last year helps them? And what is. the direct correlation to having been. there before in your eyes as somebody. that has been there talking to a team?

Well, experience is the best teacher, right? And you talked about them being. there last year and losing to the. eventual champion Boston Celtics. Uh I. think continuity is really important in. this business. You know, obviously the. Knicks last year in the played against. Indiana, they were not healthy. They've. added Carl Anthony Towns. They've added. Muel Bridges where Indiana's got. consistency. They've got continuity. Uh. you have a coaching staff that's been in. place uh and won at the highest level. So, you have to give them a lot of. credit in terms of their approach, their.

belief. They went into Cleveland last. round and took games one and two. They're not afraid to go into any arena. in the NBA and find a way to win a game. you you watch them play and you can feel. and sense the belief that they have and. that is a powerful thing. We won a. championship in Denver two years ago. Our players have that same belief. We. felt we could go anywhere and beat. anybody anytime and uh that's a powerful. thing and I think Rick Carile coaching.

staff and their players continue to show. that and illustrate that. So I would. agree Pat. I think having that. continuity, having that belief, having. been there before can uh can be a. powerful thing as you try to get to the. NBA finals. Okay. So, obviously looks. like the Eastern Conference Finals is. going to be electrifying. And I think. Tyrese even brought up that shot there. from Jaylen and that shot from Cat about. how they were talking about, do you. think your guys' style make other people. get tired, you know, especially this. late into uh the season, 100 games or. whatever people have already played? And.

Tyrese mentioned, he was like, I don't. know. I'm not them obviously. He said, "But Jaylen normally at the end of those. games knocks those shots down short. Little bit of short." Obviously, it was. great defense there. And then Cat gets. this short. It's like, were they tired. or was it just trying to get it up. quick? It's like I don't know what you. could say cuz you're not that other. team, but in a best of seven series with. the way this team runs and the way. they're bought in, it's like that would. be they're like a hockey team. They're. like not scared to we'll wear you down. here. We will you might score. Sweet.

You're running a gasser then. You're. coming back the other way. And it feels. like this year they're healthier and. more confident than they've ever been. Shout to the Eastern Conference finals. delivered. Now, let's go to the Western. Conference here. This Oklahoma City. team, obviously, they've only lost 14. games all year. SGA is officially the. MVP of the NBA season. We've obviously. heard you speak about Oklahoma City. We've obviously heard you speak about. the MVP. People get all worked up, you. know, cuz you're saying compliments to. another player and another arena and. another fan base in the Western.

Conference. That comes with the. territory of being on TV. This is. standard operating procedure. So, I. obviously hope you don't take anything. into that from what people are saying. But what is it about this OKC team? What. is it about them that makes them so. dangerous, so lethal? And why have they. been so dominant? I know Chad's big. I. know SGA is an absolute dog. Harvinstein. here is an absolute guy. They got people. all over the place. And the coach people. are saying is this guy's the guy. What. is it about them you think that makes. them so difficult as somebody that's. obviously had to play against them? Well, everything you just said, but the.

one thing that really stands out to me. that separates them from everybody else. is their defense. And if you want to dig. deeper into that defense, it's their. ability to turn you over. It's ability. to generate turnovers and more. importantly to turn those steals and. turnovers forced into points on the. other end. And if you want to go back to. that first game, obviously it comes down. to the ability to take care of the ball. for Minnesota. If they're going to have. a chance to try to get a game tonight in. probably the loudest and toughest place.

to play in the NBA, they cannot beat. themselves. And they did that in game. one. Way too many turnovers that fueled. OKC's break. Minnesota had zero fast. break points. And if you're going to. play against the number one defense in. the regular season, the number one. defense in the playoffs, you've got to. find a way to get some easy baskets. You. cannot play in a crowd. They're sitting. on Anthony Edwards. is sitting on Julius. Randle collapsing on every time they. drive the ball. So, they've got to trust. their teammates. But here's the key.

They need Nas Reed. They need Dante. Devincenzo. And they need Nquille. Alexander Walker to make shots because. until they do so, Julius Randall and. Anthony Edwards are going to continue to. see a crowd each and every possession. Yeah, Julius Randle went for 20 what in. first half, last game, and then next to. nothing in the second half, which a lot. of people are saying that's incredible. coaching what they're doing and what. you're just pointing out there. I forgot. about Caruso. I should have given Caruso. his love. He looks awesome out here in. Oklahoma. So, he feels like that's where. he's supposed to be. Feels like a.

college environment when I'm watching. it, which is what I think goes to your. point about the best arena in all of. NBA. But let's talk about their star. player. Go ahead, con man. Yeah, coach. I'm glad Pat brought up Caruso because. people are saying if Caruso was guarding. SGA, he'd foul out in five minutes. How. do you feel about the entire. conversation with the foul baiting? You. know, a lot of people are are not too. happy with the SGA and Brunson kind of. style of play, but I mean, we looked at. it yesterday. If you were to take away. all of the free throws, SGA still. leading the league in scoring. So, h how.

what do you think about that entire. conversation? And then also, uh, how. would you coach against an SGA or a. Brunson where maybe they do get calls. that other guys don't, but you still. have to remain physical with them. throughout the game? Well, it's definitely a challenge and. and people can complain all they want, but all year long Shay uh was one of the. top guys in the NBA in terms of free. throw attempts per game. That continues. into the postseason. And you've got to. be a lot more disciplined. I mean, Jaden. McDaniels fouled out. He can't foul out.

these coming games if they're going to. have a chance to slow Shay down because. he's their best defensive matchup. Uh. but you've got to be disciplined. You've. got to show your hands. You've got to. stay down on shot fakes. You know he's. going to get a whistle. There are. certain guys in this league that we call. foul artists. They have the ability to. understand how the game is being called. and and they have little tricks to make. sure they're getting the call. U so as a. defender, whether you're the primary. defender on the ball or a help defender,

you've got to know that the referees are. going to be looking for that. So be a. lot more disciplined. Um and if you're. going to have a chance of beating them, you can't put Shay on the foul line 14. times. That's way too many. They. compounded mistakes in game one, whether. it was off of a turnover, a drive, or a. pick and roll, of getting called for the. fouls because that allows the big key. with that fellas, is he goes to the foul. line 14 times. That's 14 times where. they're setting their defense. And as I. keep on mentioning, their defense is.

elite. And I'm glad you mentioned Alex. Caruso because I think their bench does. not get enough credit. They have a. really good starting five, but Alex. Caruso, Kesan Wallace, Andrew Wiggins, Kenrich Williams last game deep all come. in and have a huge impact and meaningful. minutes. So, we're talking about the. depth of Indiana. I think OKC and the. Western Conference very similar. They. can wear you down. They have a lot of. depth and uh deep teams this time of. year are dangerous teams. Yeah, because.

you're somebody's going to get injured. too. I mean, that's just kind of what. basketball is, especially in the best of. seven series. So being able to have. somebody replace that great during games. being able to have somebody get some. minutes in you know like for Carile it's. obvious that he just brings some people. in like run just let's run let's run. these dudes and it's uh I love the. strategy and I think all of Indiana. loves it. Let's go back to the flopping. and the foul artist I think is how you. described it. Great term and we will. start using uh it as if we created it. ourselves. We will give you credit every. once in a while but just know that we.

will certainly say it and act like we. did it and made it up ourselves. Do you. talk to refs? Like all the refs, I guess. there's only a certain amount of refs. You guys know all the refs pretty well. I think it's a pretty personal. relationship between players, coaches, and referees because you're all out. there and you're all a tight group. I. get it. But refs know that like a lot of. these replays are going to showcase that. maybe there wasn't something. And do you. talk to the refs during before the game, during the game? How do those kind of go. as opposing coaches with some of these. calls? Well, there's no doubt. And the. one thing that you guys should know is.

during the playoffs, anytime I contact a. league office after a game or I send. clips in is rule where the league is. going to make sure they share that with. the opposing coaching staff. So they. want full transparency. They want. everybody to be on the same page. But I. remember we were playing Golden State in. the playoffs one year and they gave us. the postgame review like and they. admitted that they missed six fouls on. Draymond Green in one game. And I go, "Well, listen, man. You can't miss 6. fouls in a game. That that is just not.

acceptable. You have to make sure we are. letting the next crew that's coming in. to ref the next game give them a feel. for what's happening and how this game. needs to be officiated better. And I. always give the league credit because. they always strive for being transparent. and helping the league out. But the end. of the day, great players like Shay and. that's what he is, like Jaylen Brunson, that's what he is, had 43 points last. night in a loss. um they're going to get. the benefit of the whistle. That's just.

the way it is. You and and the fans want. to watch the best players play. They. don't want to watch them on the bench. And you just have to deal with it. And. you got to get your players to. understand that and feel for how the. game is being officiated. And I I expect. Minnesota to come out. Chris Finch is a. hell of a coach. I think he'll have his. group ready to play tonight. I think uh. with the way the game is constructed, the way the rules are constructed, and. that it's humans blowing the whistle, and everything's happening so fast, I. think they're destined to get something. wrong. which always in basketball I. think you're destined to get just. because everything can be considered a.

fact like for us holding on the. offensive line in football can be called. all the time. It can be called all the. time. So it's like is it egregious? Is. it not egregious and then a ref just. gets a little flag happy and all of a. sudden happens. Like officiating sucks, okay? It's not fun. I don't know why. anybody signs up for it, but we do. appreciate we do appreciate those who do. it. But basketball feels like the one. where it's the most. like and then we go in 8K super slow-mo. and it's like no actually not. I I think. that's a tough job. That's a tough job.

Especially with the way they do like. Tyrese had a little leg kick last night. on Jaylen Brunson. And Jaylen actually. said he kicked me. He kicked me. And you. can only see it in like from the behind. angle slow motion. Tyrese definitely did. put his leg right into Jaylen Brunson's. groin and then he hits him and then. Tyrese does the thing. It's like, ooh, that's a little work right there. That, but if you're a ref, how could you ever. get it right? That's a Duck Nema's arm. at one point in the game. He slapped. himself with it. Yeah. Foul artist, baby. That's a foul artist. Okay, let's. talk about the team you chitchated about.

there. Minnesota being prepared for it. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, coach. Um, obviously we talked a lot about OKC and. how great they are. Uh, Ant Edwards on. the other side. It feels like he's one. of the young players in this league who. probably doesn't give a [ __ ] how good. the other team is. Um, it's just kind of. how he's wired. He's kind of an old. school uh young NBA player. Uh how do. you feel about Ant Edwards and is he, you know, primed to is he one of the. more equipped young players to put a. team on his back and lead them to. victory? Oh, there's no doubt and I I've.

seen it unfortunately up close and. personal. Game seven last year, we're up. 20 in our building in one of the crazier. playoff series I've ever been a part of. And Ant Edwards puts that team on his. back in that second half and they come. back and beat us. Um, what I need to see. from Anthony Edwards tonight, what the. Minnesota Timberwolves need to see from. Anthony Edwards tonight is aggression. Only took 13 shots in game one. And the. craziest stat of that is only one of. those 13 shots were in the paint. We. think of Anthony Edwards, we think of.

dynamic athlete aggression, attacking. the basket. They need to find a way to. get out in transition. Once again, zero. fast break points. Anthony Edwards in. the open floor is exciting, dynamic, athletic, and we need to see more of. that because you don't want to play. against that set defense over and over. and over again. I expect Chris Finch to. get him off the ball a little bit more. Let him get off catch and shoot, pin. downs, let him attack. Uh, but he is. confident. He's been here before. Um, and and I expect him to have a great.

game tonight. And we talked a little. earlier about Julius Randall. Third. quarter, zero points, only one shot. After having a great first half, Anthony. Edwards in game one, fourth quarter, zero points, only one shot. He cannot. take 13 shots tonight. He's got to take. 25. And for him to do that, it's got to. be in transition in the open court with. an attack mindset. Okay. And we all want. to see it from Anthony Edwards. Yeah. That OKC team is just Yeah. Explosive.

They really are. It just 14 losses. Mhm. And all year all the conversation was we. need to be talking about OKC more. Need. to be talking about OKC more because OKC. you know obviously small market how. people chat about it. Western Conference. has 45 other stories. 45 other stories. in the Western Conference. So it's like. it's hard to just talk about OKC but all. the basketball people were like OKC. And. then you watch them do their thing and. it's like this thing always you look. down they're up 15. It's like they're.

very dynamic and also lock it the down. on the defensive side. Yeah. Someone on. TV yesterday said they won the, you. know, the triple crown of defense this. year. They were like first in perimeter. D, first in interior D, and first in, you know, point opponents points. They're bopping the wood. Yeah. Yeah, they they bop wood. Okay, let's go to. the Eastern Conference. Oh, hey. Hey. Hey. Whoa. Whoa. Easy with the way. you're thinking about that there, coach. Uh, let's go back to the Eastern. Conference. Yeah, absolutely. Bopping. wood. Yeah, we heard you. Uh, Ty has a. question for you, coach. Yeah, coach, we've talked a lot about the Pacers.

depth and obviously Oklahoma City's. depth. When you're watching that game. last night, is there any way that the. Knicks can withstand the pace of play. and the style of the play, you know, play that the Pacers, you know, use if. they're only playing seven to eight guys. off the bench? It's like at some point. does Tibs have to say like, "Hey, even. though some of these guys didn't get. much burn during the regular season, like we can't keep we can't keep playing. seven guys when they're rotating 11 12. guys out there because come game three,

if they haven't got one, like they're. they're just not going to have anything. left.". Well, yeah, it's a great question and. and you get to the Eastern Conference. Finals and you're the New York Knick. coaching staff, it's hard to just adjust. and say, you know what, we're gonna. change our rotation now. We're going to. go to a nineman rotation. They only. played two guys off the bench last. night, double figure minutes. Obviously, we all know how deep uh Indiana is. They're so deep that you guys realize. that Miles Turner who got off to a great. start last night. How many minutes did.

Miles Turner play in the fourth quarter. last night? Two, right? You had guys. like Ben Shepard, Obby Toppen in the. game late. And that's what Rick Carile. has done all season long. He's uh his. depth is ridiculous. He trusts his. bench. And I learned a long time ago. from my father, the greatest gift you. can give a player is confidence. And all. those players know that Rick Carile has. great confidence in them to go out there. regardless of the time score situation. to do their job. Um, and to answer your. question, I don't think there's anything.

the Knicks can do to change how fast and. how relentless and the pace in which the. Pacers play because they're a great. running team and unlike most other great. running teams, they run after makes. better than anybody else. So, it was a. track me. You score on them, they get. that ball out of the net, inbounds, and. up the floor faster than anybody I have. ever seen. And then they pick up on the. other end. So, they're relentless in. their approach. They come at you for 48. or overtime if it needs to be. Um, and I.

don't think there's anything the Nick. Knicks can do in the middle of this. series to change that. That is Indiana's. style of play and they've been doing it. all season long. Do you ever see a guy. hit his head off the rim like four times. in a two-minute span? Obie Topphen. I. mean, he was he even on Jaylen. Jaylen. had his sick make after Obie did his. double pump uh dunk in overtime. He's. also fouled, which should have been uh. on the foul line, but I think everybody. was so mesmerized by him doing a double. pump uh in a dunk, taking it to the rack. the way right here.

He got fouled clearly. I mean, clearly. got fouled. Would have been a fourpoint. game if he would have knocked down the. free throw, which we assume he would. have. H I think Jaylen before this or. after this had like a little floater. Obie jumped up the swat. It almost hit. his head off the rim. I mean, Jaylen put. it up over top of him. It was like all. the pieces play. And that's kind of the. word about the Pacers uh from all the. basketball people that I hear talk is. like you never know who it's going to be. each night. Literally every night you. talk about Miles Turner uh having a. great start and only playing two minutes. in the fourth. He had some time in.

overtime, didn't go great. I think he's. going to want to get that taste out of. his mouth as well next game which would. be great. But he can go for 30. Miles. Turner can go for 30 in game two and. nobody would be surprised. It's a fun. time to be a basketball fan. You're. crushing it on TV. Keep going, boss. Hey guys, I appreciate it. I'm gonna go. bop the wood and I'll talk to you soon. Lot of that. Lot of that. Ladies and. gentlemen, Mike. Bal playing defense. Yeah, of course. he's gonna play defense cuz he likes to. feel it. He likes Maybe that's why he.

got let go, which we will certainly ask. him about the next time he joins us. Is. was he bopping the wood too strong? He. might have been. And the boys are like, "Oh, we don't we play two games. Stop. boppinging, coach. We don't need you. bopping the wood so hard potentially.". He said, "How about Draymond Green? Guy. was like a Ram truck. missed six goals. Can't be missing six goals on one guy. He's out of the game. The guy's out of. the game. Let alone us and everything. else that happens in the guy's gone just. from what you missed. Probably had four. fouls already, too. Your guy gets 10. fouls. What is this? So, Shane Malone is.

not going to be he's not going to be on. TV very long because the boping a wood. comment. No, no, no. Cuz he's going to. get hired very quickly. Yeah, but what. if he likes his TV stuff so much? What. if he's like, you know what, I don't. mind bopping wood down there at LA. Much. more fun bobbing wood here. Yeah. without all the pressures of having to. deliver every single night. With so many. eyes on you when you're bobbing wood, it's probably a little Yeah, he just. wants to get in there and smack his wood. around a little bit by himself. Nothing. wrong with that. Yeah. Gotta play. defense, brother. More casual. That OKC. team locks it down. They could, you. know, Minnesota, we all just believe in.

Ant. Yeah, right. That's how I feel for. sure. Julius Randle, too. I believe I. believe in Ant, though. I'm like, Ant's. a guy. So, that team will go inevitably. I think it's like then you watch OKC and. they just just like it to coach B it's. just like the Pacers. It looks pretty. similar. I think they play a little bit. more tough defense than the Pacers. And. to his point about the Pacers after you. get they get scored on, they get the. inbound pass quick and they're running. the other way. So it's a gasser. So even. if you have success, you're going back. the other way. That's a mental thing. too. If you get beat and they score on.

you, there's no like you just they just. get the ball. Screw it. So, I think that. naturally potentially lends itself a. little bit to like, ah, they're going to. score on us at some point. We just got. to get it back the other way. It's kind. of a It's an interesting contrast. There. was a highlight tape going around the. internet after game one of the T- Wolves. trying to screen Caruso and they just. couldn't do it. Like, he just kept going. around screens, going over screens, going through screens. Like, he was just. a junk y'all. Relentless. Relentless. You're saying? You talk about the Pacers. though and like what they're doing late. in the games being a skill. Like it's at.

the point now when you talk team of. destiny, like every single one of those. guys like in a late situation where they. have to shoot a three, every single one. of those guys believes they're making. it. Like that's the that's the point. they're at right now. Like their. confidence and obviously everyone we. talk to, it's like, "Hey, confidence is. the most important thing in basketball. It doesn't matter how many times you. miss it, you got to go back there and. have the belief that you're going to. make that shot." every single guy they. have on the court, whether it's their. star players or their role players or. the bench guys, like the feeling is just.

that they're going to make these shots. They're going to knock them down and. they do and they have been. Uh on this. shot, I think a fun little fact here on. this shot is his foot's on the line for. the two right. He thought it was a. three. If his foot is back a half an. inch, what's that ball doing? Swish. Yeah. You know, like in his head, he was. shooting a three. So in his head, all. right, three more. and his muscle just. all of his muscles like yeah we're just. shooting a three right now and then it's. like oh no actually I'm this close or. brick straight up then it falls it's. like if he's actually in a three like he.

clearly thought he even said he wasted. it. it's over I can't do it yeah thank god I. was so scared I was so so scared the New. York Knicks call radio call they say for. two they say it immediately because I. think they're there and they're looking. for everything that TV call and watching. at home and with his reaction, I was. like, "We just won that game. We just. won that game." And Tyrese Burton just. did a what a and Jim Herse caught that. thing and threw it straight down into. the I was like, "What a night." Cuz Jim.

Mercy's last tweet uh was basically good. luck to the owner of the Pacers, Herb. Good luck to uh the fans and good luck. to our city. Basically, that was his. last tweet and it was like it perfectly. encompasses who Jim Ers is. Like he. loved this place. He was appreciative of. this place. loved the people here and uh. he took a lot of pride in this being our. city and this team has a lot of pride in. representing Indiana too. It's very. clear by the way Tyrese operates, by the. way Miles operates, by the way Pascal. was, you know, like kind of just came in.

and I think they've all just taken to. the city when the city has taken to. them. It's a beautiful thing. Speaking. of this city, uh there was a man who had. two different coaching stints here. There's a man that's known as the. quarterback whisperer. There's a man. that is known as one of the greatest. offensive minds in the history of. football. For me, I got a chance to. watch him be the interim head coach for. the Indianapolis Colts. And then I got a. chance to watch him go win a damn Super. Bowl as a head coach with the greatest. of all time. Ladies and gentlemen, friend of the program, Coach Bruce. Arens.

Hey, how you doing, boss? Doing good, buddy. Doing good. It's a little rough. day. That was a rough night for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And you and I texted. this morning and last night. Um, I shed. some tears last night. Uh I shed some. tears on the show here just talking. about him and uh I wondered if you would. potentially say some things about Jim. Ers that maybe uh people outside of. Indiana or people that maybe don't know. him have ever heard. You know, something. that maybe they don't know about. Just I. think you've been around the league. You've been to a lot of teams. You've. been around for a long long time. You.

know how teams operate. You've been and. seen how other owners operate. Jim was. special and I uh I appreciate you. potentially or I potentially appreciate. you coming on and sharing some. sentiments with the people. Oh, you bet. I mean, the guy was just so special. I. mean, I I was blown away by the the. tweets and and everything that went out. by the former players. Uh I think that. just tells you what Jim was all about. Um this was at his birthday party a. couple years ago here at Lake Aone and. he invited me over. We had a great night.

and uh you know he he uh people don't. realize you know the game I missed in. Baltimore after Chuck came back and uh I. got sick. First thing Jim wanted to know. was my wife there and the guy said no. And within two hours my wife was in the. hospital with me. He sent a car. He sent. a plane. That plane stayed on the ground. for three days waiting for me to get out. of the hospital to take me back to. Indianapolis. And that's the kind of guy. Jim is. Jim Jim loved his players. uh he. he tried to mentor his players, you. know, he he was the second team to ever.

hire mentors for his players and uh it. just meant so much to me to to see what. the players reactions were to him. Um. you know, we all called him the boss. because he was just a special special. dude and the most generous man I've ever. known in my life. Yes, I think that is. something that, you know, everybody. assumes that people with a lot of money. donate money and I think everybody does. because there are certain tax exemptions. and there are things that you can kind. of do and I assume they're super uber.

wealthy people feel obligated to give. money back in some sense. You know, there's probably a percentage on what. they're willing to give up of their. value or net worth or whatever they're. making every year. Jim didn't care about. any of the Actually, I have no idea how. his accountant did it. I have no idea. how his accountant would be able to keep. up with everything that Jim did. And I. know with those numbers, nobody cares, right? Oh, you're rich and here's him. with Chuck obviously and everything he. did for coach Pagano that will never be. able to be like the amount of behind the. scenes stuff that Jim Ers is doing and.

the amount of cancer research now post. this because he just learned about this. community and was like, "Oh, I need to. help this." And then mental health. stuff, he learned about this community. I need to help this. and oh, there's. some buildings downtown Indianapolis. that need to be renovated and put back. together. Oh, I need to help this. Oh, there's these people that I know that. they It's just like that was every day. for everything for him. There was even. almost a damn whale that was put into a. bomber plane. Yeah. Filled with water so. that he could fly uh takate Lolita out.

of a um aquarium. Yeah. in Florida to. the Pacific Northwest. 7-hour flight, okay? Seven, eight hour flight, whatever. it is, wanted to fly a [ __ ] whale. with it with a couple to get with its. family on just because he learned of. Takat was like, "This is a Buddhist. whale. This is a cool whale, man. This. is not how this whale is supposed to end. its life." So, he was trying to figure. out he was going to have to spend I. think like 15 million on this plane to.

turn it into an aquarium for a whale to. get up in the sky and go. It's like that. was him with everything. And I there's. not not a lot of humans that have ever. been created that way, coach. Not a lot. of humans. No. And uh you know, he he. was he was the shoe. You know, he always. talked about the shoe. And uh you know, me growing up in York, Pennsylvania, uh. the Colts were my team. Johnny Nice was. my idol. And uh to put on that uniform. and put that shoe on as a coach uh meant. so much to me uh personally. And uh it.

was great. four years, you know, the. three I had with Peyton and the one I. had with Andrew. Uh, but I love the. city. I love everything that the Colts. stands for, and that's because of Jim. Mercy. Yeah. So, now obviously the. Indianapolis Colts um are going to have. to figure out what's next for their. organization, for that family. I assume. there's already been plans because of. how the last few years have gone. We're. obviously all not blind to any of that. I think last night came out of nowhere. I I don't think I expected that at all.

coach you. No, not at all. It was like. we all knew there was things going on. Like we all we all I don't know I don't. know who all knew what to be honest. I. think they were keeping a lot of things. tight. I think they didn't want anybody. to worry. I think that's another thing. Jim like didn't want people to worry. like so I think there was a lot more. potentially going on than any of us. Even the people that are maybe even. closer to him than I. And I don't know. if you like any of that stuff but we all. knew that. But still whenever it was. like jarring it was like holy [ __ ] And.

uh then I immediately just start. thinking about what a legacy this dude. has left behind by the people that know. him. You know, everybody to your point. about the players, every player that. said said the same thing. Every friend. of his has said the same thing. Every. coach has said the same thing. It's like. this is maybe the most giving man that. has ever existed. And it's like he. understood the position he was in. And. uh he tried to make it be a position. that can make the world better. We're. going to miss the [ __ ] out of him, coach. We're going to miss the [ __ ] Oh, there's no doubt. There's no doubt. the. NFL is going to miss him because he was. a true steward of the game. Uh historian.

of the game and I thought Roger Goodell. said it really well today about how much. they're going to miss him in league. meetings and because he loved the game. He grew up in the game and uh it oo from. him every single time you met him. It. was all about, you know, the NFL. protecting the shield and protecting the. shoe. He um I would get messages from. people that were in his suites during. games and I would shank one, you know, if I shanked. Very rare. BA, you know. that. You can attest to that. Very rare. Very rare. Please. Very rare. Thank you.

Thank you. I took a lot of pride in. that. Especially I knew offense. coordinators and quarterbacks, too. You. know, if I shank Payton taught me that. early, I'm [ __ ] him, too. You know, cuz there's a much bigger spotlight on. his failed first down. If I am not, you. know, cuz if you if you get a good one, it's like, ah, just football happened. You hit a shank, though. It's like, oh, offense failed, bad punt, now they're in. there. You can really, you know, we can. just keep the game rolling with no. spotlight on anything bad. If there's a. good punt, I would get a text during the. game from the people and I would see it.

to my phone. Hey, can't be doing that at. the gym. He's watching your putts. Okay, I guess he threw a garbage can one time. cuz I hit a shank and I like felt so. terrible. And then he comes down. afterwards into the locker room. Always. came down the locker room afterwards. Always before the game, after the game. Always wanted to be with the boys, you. know, never spoke, you know, unless he. was asked to. Had his own chair that. they had like he had his own locker. basically, but it was in the middle. came down before every game, after every. single game, just wanted to be in there, wanted to experience it. And uh we won.

the game and I think I probably hit a. couple bombs afterwards. Okay, you can't. hit too many shanks in a row. You're. going to get cut as a punter, especially. if you have been arrested and you tweet. a lot. So, you know, I had a lot of. things going against me. So, I read that. text before he got in and I go, "Boss. man, sorry about the shank." And he. goes, "Yeah, but you got it back and we. needed it." and he knew like my net and. he knew like what it led like he knew he. he knew ball like he was a ball knower. but he wasn't scared to hire people and. let them do their jobs either like he.

was a great leader now granted I think. that has worked against him sometimes. like maybe somebody didn't do their job. as well and his loyalty maybe was a. little bit too much but it was all. because of how he felt as everybody was. a member of his family coach you know. like that is literally how he treated. everybody you were a member of his. family if you're on a staff or you're a. player you're a member of his family I. those Thursdays when Chuck was sick and. in the hospital, those Thursday meetings. with Jim were just amazing. Uh, you. know, we talk about Chuck every time and. how he was doing and then we would find. out about, you know, what do you think. about this week? And and I would tell.

him, you know, I don't know how much of. a chance we have, but you know, I I do. remember one game and there was this one. punt. All right, we're playing. Jacksonville. I think the ball's like. the 32 yard line with nine seconds left. I said, "Bro, just kick that [ __ ] as. high as you can out of the end zone.". You said, "I got it, coach." It came. down one yard in bounds and that dude. started running in the back. I was going. to kill you. No, no, no. You wanted me. to have a 12- yard net, brother. Okay. You wanted me to have a 12- yard net. I. ain't got time. I ain't got time for a. 12-y net, but I understand the.

assignment. I I understand I understand. the assignment. Uh, coach, it was great. to spend time uh with you in the. Indianapolis Colts uh building. I know. you are held in high regards, in high. respect by everybody you've ever worked. with, but certainly with the Colts. And. uh thank you for making some time today. to kind of share some thoughts on uh on. old Jimmy from the Colts, baby. We. appreciate you, man. Here's to my man. Here's to the boss, baby. Hey, cheers to. you, Jim. We appreciate the hell out of. you, Coach Arens. You're the man, ladies.

and gentlemen. Super Bowl champion, legend, Bruce Arens. Thank you. I love that. I love that. I think. everybody's uh everybody that I've known. that has been around Jim today has had a. very similar thought. We're g we're going to salute we're. going to salute the we're going to. salute the big man today. Like we were. going to do that and uh I'm happy BA. made time for that. He's so cool. Yeah, that hat still plays. Yeah, always cool. 32 yard line me to hit that thing. We.

had a great relationship. The plus 32, I. assume. Yes. Yeah, it was plus 32. I'm. like, brother. I got it. I got it, brother. Sounds good, brother. I can't. Come on. 12 yard net right now. That is. You might as well just What'd you do? Pooch it to the one and they caught it. Yeah, I got caught it. You got like a. yard. I mean, it wasn't I hit that. [ __ ] I mean, it was very hot. I was. like, I get it. I get it. I get it. But. like if this guy takes 199 after I hit a. 5-0 on this, like we deserve to lose. We. We deserve to lose. And also like our my. boys the boys are ready. Hey, the boys. this is what we do. This is kind of.

[ __ ] up. You're putting me in this. situation. Okay. You could do the. quarterback roll out. Yep. Throw high. Throw. a couple uh you know penalties. Yeah. They would decline it because. they're [ __ ] on the other side. They. know exactly what they're doing. Yeah. BNA BA and I sat next to each other. whenever he came uh to the team and. Chuck was the head coach and then Chuck. gets leukemia uh diagnosis like week. four or week five weeks I forget very. early in the year of Chuck's first year. So BA becomes the interim head coach and.

but he didn't want to act, you know, he. didn't want to Yeah. tough. He was like, it was a very tough. He was probably the. only guy because everybody had respect. for BA already. So, he's probably the. only guy that can handle that. And BA. and Chuck's relationship was like that. So, there was no real, you know, animosity through it all, especially. from Chuck. I mean, Chuck's battling. through that entire thing, but I don't. think there was any from Chuck's friends. that maybe hadn't worked with BA before. Like, that's a tough Yeah. And Bruce was. just perfect for it. And uh yeah, he sat. next to me. He knew I was from. Pittsburgh, so we had a great. relationship before he became the.

interim head coach. So he's the. offensive coordinator, you know. So. whenever I'm jogging out the punt or. whatever, we have one where we're backed. up on like the two, he's like, "Need a. big one, baby. Need a big one, baby.". It's like, "Oh, I know." Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, brother. Thanks, brother. It was. an honor to be a part of a team that. Bruce Aarians led, and it was certainly. an honor to be a part of an organization. that Jim Ers owned and ran. Rest in. peace, Jim. We appreciate the [ __ ] out. of everything you've contributed to. society. We will try to emulate your. generosity. Be a friend. Tell a friend. something nice. It might change their.

life. Our twos on the other side. Take. three. Three. Arriving in beautiful fashion. There he. is on a golf cart driven by another. massive human being wearing a suit that. is only top of the line. A man who walks. around and hands out hundreds to people. A man that gives away more money than. any other human you've ever encountered.

A man who has paid for everything I have. ever done. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim. Ursel. My friends call me Jim. You can call me. Jimmy. Jimmy from the cold. Lolita. I love my. friend and there's nothing like her. This 57year-old female killer southern. or club of whale is special. Now I'm. frustrated with flying cars cuz I'm. obsessed with that. Like I I want a. flying car. Hey, me too. I don't want. this phone. Give me a flying car. And I.

outbid them for Elvis. piano. You mean that? Sometimes guys. will get liquored up and go swimming in. the Broadripple canal. Traffic. So it's direct traffic in their. underwear. Now Floyd calls that a. momentary lapse of reason. Molita is mellow. She's a Buddhist. She. hangs low. She's cool. She's happy. But. like. Mars, think about this, is 250 million.

miles. 250 million miles. When you go, you. know, it it takes about anywhere from, you know, 9 to 11 months to get there, depending on the environment. Are you. going to [ __ ] Mars? Jim, are you. going to Mars? It sounds like you. I. wish they go, "Well, I have these. beautiful Monae paintings, but I have. John Lynn's piano in the front room. What do you want to see?" I want to see. John Lynn's piano. I don't know. I don't know. I put on.

this Willy Wonka outfit about 12 years. ago. And we had a treasure hunt in. Indianapolis and the winning team at. halftime was given real Super Bowl. rings. You have to get them one at a. time. Try to help anything in any way. you can. One at a time. I've shut down a. lot of Girl Scout. Hey, here's. $2,000. We're going home. You know, the. only thing that beats everything is. love. Love every time beats hate every. time. If you come at hate with hate, it's not going to be good. You're going. to get more hate. I'm lucky to be a part. of the Colts organization. Getting to.

know you has been a cool thing. Just. know that I think personally as somebody. who is a billionaire, you're doing good. with your money. You're doing good with. your time. Well, can I say this? When. you came to my office and told me your. plan about retirement, I never thought. we'd be sitting there and you'd be the. meast star. Sorry for saying that, but. it's true that you are your show and. what you do and the entertainment you. provide, you know, is David Letterman. type. It's at the very top. I always. knew you had that potential, but man, what you've accomplished, we're so proud. of you that you're a Colt alumni player. I mean, you know, you represent I'm.

lucky you help me out a lot. The following program is a collection of. students talking about happenings in the. sports world. It is meant to be comedic, informative. The opinions expressed on. this show do not necessarily reflect the. beliefs of their peers, their boss, or. ESPN. There may be some cuss words. because that's how Cubans is the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any.

further. Hey, what? Let's go. This show sticks. And the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful for. you. McAfee on the line with a gorgeous. assist. The alltime leading tackler for. the Green Bay Packers. You pick. Damn it. Your friend, tell a friend. something nice could change their life. [Applause].

[Music]. Hello beautiful people and welcome back. to our humble abode. The Thunderdome on. this rest easy gym Thursday May 22nd. 2025 hour two of the program starts now. [Music]. are happening all around us. The toxic. tables here at Boston Conor and at Ty. Schmidt. Sweet sweater Bob. Thanks man. Yeah, you know just such great hockey. these these last two nights. Basketball's been incredible, but the. hockey has been just as good. Figure out.

where the Bruins. Let's go to one half. of the hammer, Don. Cowboys AP Town is. here. And joining us live from an attic. in Ohio, ladies and gentlemen, a college. football national champion, a Super Bowl. champion, a Rder Cup winner, and a man. who has a tree on the Ohio State campus. Who put it in? Was it Uncle Ladies and. gentlemen, a Jay-Hawker? What's going on, Age? Not too much. I. thought first off the tribute you guys. put together for uh for Jim Ers that was. amazing. Yeah, that whole video is is.

crazy to see what what that guy has. done. He's he has an impact I think that. will last forever on the NFL. Well, I. appreciate you saying that. I think uh. the URS family and everybody around him. will appreciate you saying that. I uh. Yeah, man. I. He's a character like the fact that like. we need more characters, I think, in the. world. I think sometimes people like. they they get in a position like that. and they're not they're not themselves. Jim felt very very authentic. I didn't. know him personally, but man, that dude. felt like he was doing what he felt was. right, the right thing to do. Yeah, authenticity was just something that.

would ring true with Jim. You know, Jim. wasn't acting how he thought NFL owner. was supposed to act. Jim was being Jim. Ers. Hey, I've been in this league. He. was the longest tenure owner. He's the. longest tenure owner. And yet, he he. told us that in one of our our. conversations with him. Uh he said, "I. was going through the the team photos. and there was a photo that I was the. only one that's still here in." and he. was like I think that's when he said. that's when I decided I was going to. start speaking up a little bit more you. know and he started like I think that. was whenever you know the sale of the.

Washington football team kind of got. initiated and some other stuff it's like. he loved the league he loved the game he. committed his entire life to it and uh. he lived you know this dude lived and he. was never once caught not being Jim Ers. he made some mistakes made some mistakes. life happened and uh He's a human. Great. Good for him. I think he he was. very open with that too about the. mistakes that he made, which goes back. to exactly what you say. And he also.

cherished the days, you know, that he. had and he tried to live and he tried to. share everything. It's honestly. literally could go just the amount of. [ __ ] you could say about Jim Ers was. just never ending because of what you. said. He wasn't a proto like he's not a. prototype. It's not like this is what. you think somebody's supposed to act. like. He was a powerlifter. the guy in. the middle just middle of his general. management career and ownership career. said I want to become a powerlifter and. hired somebody started eating more. protein and whatever to get as strong as. he possibly could. Went over to Ohio,

won the Ohio State Championship as a. powerlifter just because he wanted to. prove to himself I think and he played. football at SMU and I mean just an. absolute legend. The music the music he. gets into starts a band he buys like I. mean the amount of just will always be. the youngest general manager of all. time. Oh yeah. 24 years old. You're the. general manager of uh 24 of the kid. 24. years old. That's when he took over. Really? 24 as general manager? Yeah. Then when he was 37, he became owner cuz. his dad passed away. And then there was.

some sort of battle, you know, in court. for who's going to get the multi future. multi-billion dollar team. He ends up as. sole owner of the team as a 37y old. 37y. old. 24 years old. He's the general. manager for the team. and his dad was, you know, there's enough stories about. how his dad operated, how the world was. back then and everything like that for. the Colts. So he's 24 years old as. general manager and 37 as sole owner and. then he's he's 70s 80s is when this is. all happening. So everybody, you know, from that time period, he was friends. with and knew. Everything that was.

available during that time period, he. was potentially, you know, oh yeah, yeah, why not? Why not? Like not. everything was a perfect. He didn't bat. a thousand. But it's like the stories. that he has, the things that he's done, the people he's influenced, the world. has been become better because of him. It's like hell of a life, man. Hell of a. life. And he was certainly unique. That's that was interesting to me. So, I. was looking I was watching everybody's. quotes uh that were kind because I think. we all felt obligated to be like, "Hey, we need to let the world know that we.

love this man, you know, cuz there has. been a lot of things said outside of. Indiana about Jim Ers." And I after I. put mine out, I went and looked at, you. know, the boys. Ty Hilton, super. emotional. That was that was Corton. obviously uh put out his that was all. over everything. Edan James and him are. like Edge and him were very very very. tight and Edge put out like a perfect. Edge post. You know Vinnie had a Reggie. Vinnie. Yeah. Like the guys Dwight was.

talking about him this morning. Like the. guys that were you know you you knew who. his guys were and I was I was lucky I. think to be like the youngest one. I. think I was potentially the youngest. one. And was it because I got in. trouble? Yes. Was it because I enjoyed. Twitter? He enjoyed Twitter. Yes. Was it. because I did have an entrepreneurial. spirit that he understood? Yes. Was it. because like like the guys that I wanted. to read what everybody said, you know, just kind of get their take in on their. relationship with Jim because I think. it's not the same. Like for me, my. relationship with him was I think he.

felt an obligation to like help me in my. business venture because like that is. kind of how he viewed me. For Payton, it. was uh I wonder how it was for him, you. know, like that's why I wanted to read, you know, what everybody was saying. Four, four, four out of five, baby. Five out. of six. Unique was the word that was. used. And uh I think that's a great way. to describe Jimmer in the most positive. way, but very unique. And nobody else. will live his life. There will never be. there will never be another Jim Merc,

you know, never ever. 250 million miles. away. Like in the clip when he's talking. about going to Mars just out of nowhere. That's what I loved about. So the moon. the moon 5 million miles away. Wow. Mars. Okay. Mars. 250 million. And then he says, "How long. it would take to get there?" As if we've. just gone. Yeah. 9 to 11. 91. I'm like, "Bro, you're doing some real. research on this. You're doing some real. research." Well, I don't think it's.

going to happen in my lifetime. It. didn't. He was right. Once again, the. car. Yeah. I don't want the phone. I. don't want this phone. I want a flying. car. Yeah. They say technology is going. to change my life. and what they told me. it was going to be and they say it's. your phone phone. I don't want a phone. I want a flying car. How about him. telling us about the plans to have a. team in Europe? Yeah. Yeah. He was like. the Concord. What was it? Yeah. The. Concord. Yeah. The Concord was supposed. to be able to go supersonic which would. have made New York to London 3 hours 4. hours or something. Then that stopped.

So we had to hold up our plans. I was. like I feel like that was actually I. feel like that was actually the NFL's. plans. Like I feel like that probably. was. And Jim Ersce with his, you know, fascination, it appears with these types. of things. He was probably a big part of. it, brother. I How long does it take for. Indiana to LA? Four hours. New York to. London. Concord. Supersonic. Three. hours. We can have a team, the whole. world. We can travel the whole world. He. was definitely going to buy one of. those, too. But he was going to be. supersonic. And let's go down to the.

house down there in h Puerto Rico. Yo, let's go over here. Super going. supersonic over the United States. There. were stories he had a helicopter here in. Indiana and uh you would know I guess. you would know you know cuz he lived in. a uh community a town like you know. Caramel which is like one of the nicest. I say nicest towns in America I assume. it wins the award for it every single. year and he had a uh I think you pay for. that but still amongst those who try to. pay for the award karma wins so it's a.

very nice part of town lot of money. because a lot of companies are. headquartered here in India Indianapolis. because of how easy it is to kind of get. everywhere. You know, it's got called. the crossroads of America here because. we got everything everywhere. So, a lot. of money in Indiana. I don't think a lot. of people know that. A lot of money in. Indiana. Caramel has a lot of the lot of. money. Like that is where you know it is. a lot of cops, a lot of roads, a lot of. land, a lot of castles, a lot of the. high school goes vi viral every single.

year. Yeah. The high school is a. university like a campus like it is a. very nice town. So Jim had massive piece. of land in Caramel and he got a. helicopter and they I guess they did not. have rules on where you could land or. take that thing off from. So you know. Jim, [ __ ] it. Let's land that thing in. the backyard. Yeah. And uh he was and I. guess some of the neighbors got upset. about it and obviously he said, "Whoa, I'm so sorry." So then he bought land. wherever it was to build a helipad in. that thing and they would talk about him. just going up to concerts because the.

Eagles were in town or whatever and he's. friends with uh with them and so he's. like ah I need to go and so he just. hoping hel it was like there's Jim. there's Jim cuz you see like news. helicopters you see you could kind of. see oh that's a hospital obviously that. and oh there's Jim going through it's. like he was just one of the most. interesting people of all time and it. all came from a good spot I think I. think everything came from like a good. uh perspective, which is wild because. he's been his dad had like, you know, he.

just never acted how you would think he. was supposed to. And it was always in my. eyes as somebody that came from, you. know, nowhere near that class of people, I always had respect for him being able. to be relatable while having a. completely unrelatable life. And uh he. was special, AJ. He was special. Okay. So were sports, which he loved in. abundance. We talked about the Pacers. Knicks. Anything to add to that? I mean, a great example. I tell my kids all the. time, you never you should never give up. on any game. Unfortunately, my kids fell.

asleep before Tyrese and the whole. situation happened. But they they try. not to give up. They were very excited. when they woke up, but man, you got to. this right here. Come on. I mean, N. Smith, everything about it. This game. this is a game you'll be watching 20. years from now, I think. Yes, I agree. completely. And uh he said he wasted the. choke. I think he got out of the way. Exactly. I think he got it out of the. way. It's done. A lot of people were. probably thinking you were going to do. it, expecting you to do it, especially. with how clutch you have been. You got a. chance to do it. You still won the game. and you acknowledged that it was, "Oh, I. know that's tough. That's I wasted it.".

And people say, "I would be a farming.". Great answer. Great. Also, great New. York costume out of Tyrese Hallebertton. last night. Backwards hat, big jacket. doing New York. I respect Tyrese in that. entire thing. But yeah, you're right. Talking about not giving up in any game. Pacers are obviously the epitome of. that. Did you watch the hockey last. night? Did you watch the hockey last. night? A little bit. I did. Did Did you. get a chance to You talked about your. kids falling asleep during the Pacers. Knicks game. I'll tell you what, Oilers. stars, there was certainly nothing that.

would have held you on that game in the. first two periods. Conor Mc Jesus, uh, Dry Cidle and the boys in Edmonton are. about to run wild on Texas hockey. Otter, more like we need the Otter guy. Okay. He couldn't see anything. Couldn't. see anything. Wow. These guys are about. to get run off home ice. Uh-uh. Let's go. to the third period, shall we? 3-1. Third period. 30 seconds in. Power play.

carryover from the second period. Mero. Heist. Now we got a game 3-2. You know, they say a two uh goal lead in hockey is. the most dangerous one because once you. score one, guess what? It's a onegoal. game. all of a sudden and everybody can. get a little nervous. Well, they did. Another power play. 2 minutes later, Oilers can't play hockey legally in the. third period. Male Granland makes it.

33. Then 2 minutes later, another power. play. Edmonton, do you know the rules? Duty Matty. Duchain scores. And then inevitably once. it was 4-3, it would become 53 as Tyler. Sean with a nasty backhand. You're. talking about taking the top off the. lid. Uh I mean they did that and then. they would have an empty netter at the.

end. Dallas Stars would inevitably win. 6-3 going into the third period. It was. three to one. Let's go to Dallas Stars. fan. One half of the hammer done. Cowboys. A man who's been wearing an. otter mask in public, Bubba Gumpino. Gumpy, you thought it was over two, didn't you? Going into the third period, you thought maybe this Dallas Star team. wasn't going to be able to keep up with. them Edmonton Oilers. Uh, they were. cooking us in the first two periods, but. this is what we've done all playoffs. Game seven against Colorado, they're up.

on us the whole game. Third period, we. start skating downhill. It's kind of our. mo. It's kind of what we were doing. And. I don't know if you caught it, there was. some great USA chance at the end of that. game. There was a big dust up at the end. of that game and everyone was USA all. night long. Scotty Sheffler in the. building. This is It's Texas Hockeyy's. time, brother. This is it, brother. Baby. team of destiny. USA chance to end it. I. did not know. Okay. Oh yeah. Hold the phone. We got a.

five on five or B. Now the Canadian. people will tell us that a lot of. players on the field now. Dallas is fin. They're a finished team. They're a. finished team. I assume there's some. Canadians on that team as well. Believe. they have six Americans on the team. We. love that. We love that. The United. States. organization franchise is going to win. Lord Stanley again. Mhm. Ladies and. gentlemen, without further ado, age. I. don't know if you know this. Joining us.

Live in. studio is something that was born in. 1892. Wow. What? Ladies and gentlemen, Lord. St. Lord. That is Lord Stanley's coming. here. This is what it is all about. This. is what the Dallas Stars, who were down. 3-1 going into the third period, kept. fighting for. This is what the Edmonton. Oilers got so nervous. They just had to. break a rule. Mhm. They had to get three. penalties, three consecutive times,

three power plays, three penalty kills, failing as Otter and the Dallas Stars. fight back for a three-goal lead and win. to start off the Western Conference. Finals. The Hurricanes and Panthers are. about to be in quite of a fire tonight. Quite of a quite a fire with how Marie. kind of got disrespected a little bit. there by Shaneo. This is what it's all. about. Marshy's been there. The Florida. Panthers have been there. Can the Carolina. Hurricanes get back in this thing?

Can the Edmonton Oilers play like they. played in the first two periods for all. three periods for the rest of the. series? And will the Pittsburgh Penguins. ever get their names back on here? They're on your four. There's a lot of. Pittsburgh Penguins on here back to back. multiple times. Stacked up one time. because they had to change to a new. level. So, right on top of each other. It's a beautiful thing. And in this cup, legends have housed beers. Housed so. many beers in this thing. Patty Maroon.

throw six or seven. I I somewhere around. there. So thousands thousands of beers. out of the top of this thing. The amount. of people that have shaped hockey, shaped the sports world, shaped pop. culture, have had their. lips wrapped around this thing as booze. get shoveled down their gullets. Is. endless. AJ's actually one of the booze. bags that have been a part of this. That's right. You too. Yes. I certainly. have chugged a beer out here. Shout out. to Ruper. New Jersey Devil Stanley Cup.

champion. Shout out. You're have to go. back a couple to get to that one. New. Jersey Devils for a long time, too. Same. with the Penguins, too. You got to go. No. Yeah, they're they're middle of the. cup right now. They're teetering on. getting evicted from the cup and not. having their name on it. We need to. figure that out. But AJ, whenever you. see this thing, even through the screen. all the way from Ohio, your first. thought is you get a little tingle in. the pants, don't you? Yeah, little. little tingle for sure. I'm honored to. have drank uh a couple beers out of that. thing. So, yeah, it was it's a beautiful. thing. I mean, what a talk about history.

like the the amount of legends that have. not only drank beers out that just been. around that thing. Think how many. presidents have been around. Is every. president been around the Stanley Cup? I. would imagine especially if they love. balls. Every president ever from when. the Stanley Cup was invented. Wasn't a. big hockey guy. I think he was the only. one that didn't Howard. Yeah, George. Washington loved the Stanley Cup. That's. a fact. I heard that. I heard that he. put apples in it. Actually, I think is. 100 years. Yeah, he predates the Stanley. Cup by a bit. I think I'm not 100% sure. You know more than me. You're the hockey. guy. I don't think Giorgio saw the.

[ __ ] Lord. DJ just said every. president ever. So, it's since 1892. Since the NHL. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing. One of the fun. facts about Lord Stanley Cup that we. like to point out every single time. we're around it because it is something. that they say is a fun fact about Lord. Stanley whenever you're around it. Boom. Right in here. The Wanderers defeated Canora 12 to8 May. 25th, 1907. That one's going to live there. forever. I have no idea how that was the.

one that ended up being in there, but. there's there's a team in there that won. 12 to eight in there. They're going to. be there forever. They're the first team. to understand what it's all about. You. know, I think that's why they left them. in there. Yeah. And when this thing's. out in the boot, Yeah. It's a head turner. Oh yeah. Big time. Shiny. Greatest trophy. I I mean. obviously the Lombardi is the Lombardi. It's a world championship means the. most. I heard some things about. Lombardi. Uh the Lombardi from the.

handlers. Howie. Oh, they're talking. [ __ ] on Lombardi. Howie. Howie and Matt. from the league. Howie uh from the Hall. of Fame. Howie the handler knows ball. Howie the handlers from Toronto. I. talked to him about the Maple Leafs not. beliefing enough. Uh he's he's great. Canadian lad. Oh yeah. He said a boot. pretty good. He did. He had a good boot. He knew he knew what he was here for. He. knows [ __ ] on Lombardi, though. Well, they weren't talking [ __ ] on Lombardi. And it wasn't Howie. Howie laughed about. what he learned from maybe the NHL's.

understanding. I think Lombardi kind of. just gets shipped just kind of like, "Hey, coming in." Oh, no. Yeah. Like a. football. They throw it. No. Yeah. But. with like uh a delivery with a. logistics. Do you at least have to sign. for it? That's what I'm That's basically. what they were saying. It's like it's a. priority shipment. I guess this thing. will always have a human around it. Yeah. Mikey Goodair. Yeah. Okay. He's. been around a couple times. Howie with a. great accent is how I'm going to talk. about this guy going forward. Right. Dog.

17 years, I believe. Oh, damn. This. thing will never sound like Huh? What's. his accent? What do you mean? Like you. can you say something, please? So we. know so we can explain. Will you act. like this Howie gentleman, please? Howie. the handler. There. Straight there. That's exactly what it sounds like. Howie the handler. Everything's kind of. a question. Round a boot. He's a boot. I've heard a lot of boots in my day. That might be the best one I've heard. And then he he got we said, "Holy [ __ ]. What are you Say that again?" And he.

basically looked at me like I'm not your. puppet. Okay. But I uh I said, "Is this. thing in a boot?" And he goes, "Everybody always makes fun of how they. say a boot." And he was like, "No, that. is that is how it's he's might be the. perfect guy for the job." say he's he. seems like just living embodiment of. hockey. The way he walks even looks like. he skated his whole life. I'm sure he. has. Yeah. Shout out to Howie the. handler. He was a mountainy before. There's a chance he was on a horse. Yeah. Where was Mike though with the good. hair? Is he all right? Yeah. Remember. they do they do like uh nurse schedules. I like that. Okay. It's like three days.

on, three days off. Sure. Three days on, three days off. He's out in a boat. Before Mike, there was another guy. His. name is Phil Pritchard. He's now the. curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame in. Toronto. So they kind of they move up. the chain until they Oh, it's a. corporate ladder here. What are they. doing with Howie the handler? I I assume. How's committed to the game? He needs to. be up. It's kind of disrespectful that. you said there's something higher than. the handler of the cup. Yeah, you're. right. Coming from the hockey. conversation. The curator of the Hall of. Fame, I think, probably considered a. good one. Not better than the keeper of. the cup. Yeah, Howie the handler would.

disagree. He's a nice man, too. You. know, he he is a good man. Yeah, he's. glad as they would say. He's never. leaving. I am surprised Mike's not here because I. thought he lived inside the case with. the cup. That is kind of how it was presented to. us. Correct. Cuz every time that thing. was around Yeah. He's there. Mhm. It was. like, "Holy hell, I never take my eyes. off this thing." That's basically what. he said. Yeah. You guys want to touch. it? You can. Don't [ __ ] hug it. I.

think he is in there. They just fold him. up and turn him off. No. No. Tim Tim saw. the inside. Oh, he did? Yeah, cuz we. were surprised. Was there a pillow in. there? Uh, yeah. Actually, there was. nice satin in it. Nightlight. Yeah. Yeah. How about Howie just wheeling this. thing around? Yeah. Everywhere. Is it. steel or um silver? A little St. Lord. Stanley. Yeah. No, it's a metal. I'm. pick it up. I don't think I don't think. I'm allowed to pick it up. I think I'm. allowed to touch it. I heard that. I. think I just saw his head. Oh, get a. little comfortable out there. E silence. pistol. Getting a little comfortable.

Hey, dude. This is what it's all about, though. That's what it's all about. Yeah. It's not made out of anything that. you would know. Uh, it's it's kind of a. vibrating. It's a material not known to. man. Only toanium. Yeah. Only Stanley. Cup champions know it's what it's built. of. Well, thank you to Howie and Matt. and to Mike with the good hair. Yep. Mhm. Here's Howie, by the way. If you. This is How This is the man that showed. up at our Thunderdome. Say something. Our office. We set up that. Thank you, Howie. Howie's not that big compared.

like I think there was good perception. Perspect perspective. Is it? You stand. in front so you're bigger. Yeah, but he. knows cuz he's always around it. The. gloves. Look at the gloves. I love the. white gloves. Yeah, the gloves actually. were a little bit of a problem for uh. for Howie this morning. Put the one on. only went up past the thumb. Oh no. Then. went to the other one and they tightened. him up. Y. Oh no. Oh no. What happened? Uh oh. Did. Mike Is Mike alive? Mike is alive. Okay.

Mike has retired from handling. What? What? Mike with the good hair no longer. around. He said, "I'm not doing it anymore.". Sick and tired of living in this goddamn. box. Like to get an apartment at least. Is he the head coach of the Manitoba. Moose or something? He could be the. Medicine Hat Tigers. Maybe maybe a Swamp. Rabbits. Could be. Yeah, the bids. You. know what? There he is on the right. There he is on the right. He he he took. the tractor the last lap around. That's.

Phil on the left too, the other keeper. of the cover. Phil is the curator. Now. the one on the left is the curator of. the Hall of Fame. Hair on both. Great. hair. They know they're with us. A lot. of pictures. Yeah. Lord, you can't. retire from this. Mike, what your life? He probably has 17 billion uh miles. flying. Can you imagine how grueling. that could be? Traveling everywhere with. that. He's with Lordo, brother. It's a. good life. Who's your travel companion? Lordo. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have an extra. seat for this? You do. Okay. Hey, I.

would like an upgrade. Why? Lordo. Yeah. Okay. We appreciate Mike's service. We. appreciate Mike's service. Miss you, Mike. We are. I'll tell you what though. Howie how he's Yeah. How he's got. possessed. I don't know. You know what? You know how he does that he was done. when Tom Cruz was done. It's kind of how. I feel about Mike. Oh, Lord. You're done. with Lord Stanley. Ah, Tony Ice. Don't. worry because Mike with the good hair, one of the perks of being the keeper of. the cup is it gives you good hair. Wait. till how he comes back next year. He's.

been doing it 17 years, brother. Yeah, but but once he's around it, every. single sleeping in that box. I threw my. shoulder out or something. That's Mike. That's Mike with the good hair. I don't. know. What the hell is going on with. you? Squeeze. He's not dead. Has Howie. ever handed the cop off to the captain. of the winning team? Cuz I know Mike. has. No, I think this is probably his. first. I I bet you he's going to be on. skates, too. Mike like to walk. I think. he's going to be on blades. Yep. Howie, what? I think he's going to take a lap with.

the cup before he hands it over to show. They announce him. They announce him and. he gets to hold it up over his head. first before anybody else. Howie. Yeah, that is how they Howie. think Howie knew he was coming on. How's. going to be so mad? I'm not You're. [ __ ] popping his head. Can we get him. a Can we get him a microphone? Can we. get him a microphone, please? Yeah. Is. there a dress code you got to have with. with You just got to have a jacket on. There he is. Howie, you should give you should run go give.

him the mic. Jo got out. [Music]. there a shuffle going on. Howie, you're. the best. Look at Howie. Thank you, Howie. Howie, thank you for. this today. Oh, I'm happy to be here. Uh. it's always great to bring the cup. around and uh get the publicity and. everything that it deserves. Uh it's a. great time of year now with the playoffs. going on. Nothing else like it than the. Stanley Cup playoffs. I agree. completely. Uh Howie, how long have you. been a handler of the cup? Uh since.

2009. Should we call you Howy the. handler? You can. Uh Mike with the good. hair has retired. I heard he has. Yes. And Phil has gone on to be the curator. of the Hall of Fame as a whole. Uh he's. always been the curator. Uh he still. travels. It just he chooses when he. wants to travel. And it's you and one. other handler or are you full-time uh. the main the main handler? Uh during the. regular season, there's probably four of. us that would travel with the cup. Uh. then in the summer when we're traveling. with the winning team, we have a couple.

other people that will help us out. And. uh you know, cuz it's much busier. Every. day you're traveling somewhere. So um. whenever you think about uh the entire. process, this is a full 16 17 years now. of you being committed to traveling with. Lord Stanley Cup. Is that accurate? And. when you get presented with that. potential job, is that a massive honor, I assume, or how do you kind of view it? And uh when did you find out that you. were potentially just going to be. traveling with Lord Stanley Cup for a. living? Uh it definitely is an honor um.

when I was asked. I was very surprised. I started working at the Hall of Fame as. a volunteer back in 2004, I guess. And. uh you know, I worked some part-time. hours in the museum and then all of a. sudden Phil Pritchard had asked me if. I'd be interested in traveling with the. cup. So, didn't take me long to uh. answer and I've been doing it since. Um. I travel with other trophies, too, and. artifact displays at different events, but the cup is probably the main thing. that I do. So, your security for high. value things. What other trophies? Yeah. What What other Yeah. What other stuff.

do you artifacts do you try like smith? The heart trophy, the Art Ross, everything that we have uh for the NHL. There's like 20 or 21 other trophies. So. we could be various events uh with these. trophies. Um yeah, and then we have art. artifact displays. We have different uh. cases that the uh uh artifacts will sit. in and we can display them at different. events. Um so there's always something. to do. Okay. Well, we want to let you. know we appreciate you coming here to. Indianapolis, Indiana. Uh we appreciate.

you because we've always had Mike with. the good hair. Yeah. Yeah. What's he. doing now? I'm not sure. I think he just uh he got. a little tired. He just wanted to relax. a bit. Um he uh I can understand what. he's about. He's living in a smaller. town outside of Toronto now. Uh his. father lives there too. So I guess he. just wanted to spend more time with him. And uh I don't think his life is as busy. as it used to be. So I think he's. enjoying himself. Mikey with the good. hair. You done good. Yes. Real hair. 21.

Stanley Cup salute when when one of the. handlers retire. I'm sorry. A 21 Stanley. Cup salute. Maybe like does did Mike E. with the good hair get to out of the cup. before he retired or? I'm not sure to be. honest. I think he kind of surprised us. when he did decide to go, but uh he put. in his time for sure and uh you know he. deserves a big hand of course for. everything that he did do of did do over. the years. He did a lot of it on his. own. Uh there was a lot of long days and. uh I don't think people really.

appreciate what we do do at the cup. I. think you are. Uh but it's been a lot of. fun, a lot of great experiences and uh. we all love what we do. I I appreciate. you speaking there for Mike but also for. yourself there. A lot of long days. I'm. alone with the Lord standing up. We are. traveling to a lot of cities, a lot of. places so we can have an eye on the. greatest trophy in all of sport. Last. question for me. He just talked about. the 21 beer salute maybe out of the top. for Mikey with the good hair which we. would like to see sometime. Uh I asked. you this earlier. you have been because. you're literally at all the c not all.

the celebrations but most of the. celebrations yes the players have. So. every player and every coach on every. team that wins the Stanley Cup gets a. day with the Stanley Cup and you guys. travel around with the Stanley Cup to. these different parties, these different. events and everything like that. Yes. You have seen some wild [ __ ] Is that an. accurate? Uh I I think the fans uh they. kind of fascinate about some of the. things we do see. I mean, they're not as. crazy stuff as uh you might think. And. everything they always ask us, what's. the craziest thing you've ever seen with. a cup? Well, for us, the craziest thing.

is like stuff that's normal. So, we we. don't know what's considered crazy. 17. years doing this, brother. I've seen. 10,000 beers get drank and deleted out. of this thing. I assume that is. something that all the lads want to do. Oh, sure. They're always drinking out of. it, for sure. Uh the players will maybe. put their babies in it. Uh maybe. christen them. Um, you know, there's. food eaten out of it all the time, too. Um, poutine. Yeah, poutine is a big one, especially for the guys. You like. poutine. You think poutine's good? Poutine is great. What about um Timmy.

Horton's double double? Is that Is that. good or no? Timmy Horton double double. is very good. Uh, just like I [ __ ]. said it would. He can't hear me because. he doesn't have headphones on. There's a. Canadian in the back really doing a. victory lap to what you said. Smooth. Smooth. Tiger. Tiger. Yeah. Tiger. Do. you know smooth creole? No, I don't. I'm. not a big coffee drinker, so I'm not. sure. Craft peanut. Tell them it's craft. peanut butter. Craft peanut butter. Craft peanut butter. Oh, is it? Okay. What? Sounds interesting. Smooth cream. is not even delicious. Holly. All right,

Hie. We appreciate the hell out of you. for bringing uh Lordo. And uh thank you. for uh walking out here. We forced you. to do it. Basically, you're you're peer. pressured into this. Yeah. And uh you're. the man, dude. We appreciate you. Don't. take Lordo yet, though. Please. I need. one of those blazers. Grab that mic. What? The Hall of Fame. Yeah, look at. that thing. I think Phil can get you one. of those, right? Phil is the guy that we. need to ask for that. You guys need to. sell some merch. I think you have to uh. it requires some uh you know, maybe. unemployment first. Okay. All right. We.

don't got time. All right. We appreciate. the hell out of you, Howie. All right. Okay. So, the NFL owners meeting was. yesterday and uh well, Tuesday and. Wednesday there was a vote. That's. awesome, isn't it? Just sitting right. there. So cool. Amazing. How is the dog? Uh, I mean, I love how how you could. tell Howie he's a soldier for the cause. Like, he is all in on that on his gig. 17 years. 17. I don't think he's going. to retire, you know, ever. I think he. probably just goes down with the cup. Yep. And I respect that and I love that.

I think that's what hockey, you know, is. expected out of that. So, him saying. we're all surprised by Mike with the. good hair. I think we all are surprised. by Mike with the good hair. Bel his dad. though, I'm sure there's Yeah. Thanks. for your service, Mikey with Thank you, Mike. And it sounds like he went out on. top. So yeah. And now he's just able to. go boat his day because I mean think. about that too is that he started as a. volunteer. Yeah. And he never said sorry. about it either. No. He climbed his way. up and now he's out in a boot with the. damn Stanley Cup. Yeah. And you can go. duba.

What? Double double. What's that? Two. cream two sugar. Yes sir. They created. that. Oh the duba. Jimmy hoes. I mean. roll up the rim to win. It's phenomenal. I don't know how I feel about how. Alejander not knowing about smooth. premove or tiger tiger. Yeah, I was. confused that he did not know the crap. peanut butter. I wonder if he talks to. his American friends uh in a position of. being like the GPS guy in kilometers. Oh, probably. Yeah. Hey, 3 km you're. going to make it right. I have no idea. what that is. I have no clue. Is that.

three football fields? Is that three. mile? What is Why are you guys using. such a different thing? Meas about 20. meters down. What is that? So that's. like almost a yard and a half. It's like. 25 and I got to make a writing 25 yards. going. So having Gumpy on the maps some. of my favorite times in a car. I always. put it on in my car if anybody's in. there every time. Got to put It's so. loud too. His speak is louder than. everybody else's. So it's like in 3. kilometers make a left and I'm like gump.

what the [ __ ] is that? What is that? Canada's awesome. Canadians are awesome. Are we worried um that Mikey with the. good hair either got sick of us or were. the Panthers just so much that he was. like I can't do this? Elbow room got. him. Yeah, elbow room. I've been here. for three weeks straight. He saw it in. the ocean. He's like, I can't do this. anymore. It's on a beach. He's from. Toronto, too. Oh, man. The cup's down on. the beach. Hockey time. All right. The.

NFL owners uh met yesterday and voted on. new rules that were being pushed by NFL. coaches and management and teams. The. big one was the tush push play. The tush. push was potentially going to be banned. forever. Philadelphia Eagles obviously. didn't appreciate that. Lori uh gave a. 30inut speech. Jeff Lori gave a. 30-minute speech that was followed by. Jason Kelsey who came in and I only. heard what Jason Kelsey said on the New. Heights podcast, but he said if I was.

told that I only had 80 plays and they. were all going to be the tush bush, I. would sign up for that immediately. Now, we have heard him in the past say that. he's at the bottom of car wreck in that. thing. But that is being an offensive. lineman as a whole, but Jason Kelsey. went and lobbied, Lori went and lobbied, and inevitably it was a 2210 vote, I. think, uh, to keep the tush push around. It wasn't just the tush push though with. the way it was being worded this. particular vote. It was basically saying. he couldn't pull or push anybody on a. football field that would take away the.

scrums that happen uh late in games. where a running back gets stopped then. the offensive line comes picks them up. There's four Dlinemen, there's four. offensive linemen or three offensive. linemen and they move the running back. over the first down line like six, seven. yards. Everybody goes apeshit for that. because it's literally a display in a. feat of strength over the other team. So, I think the wording of it. potentially eliminates some other plays. as well that all football people would. be down with, but it was certainly an.

attempt to get rid of the double pushing. of Jaylen Herz's ass. The Green Bay. Packers were the ones that presented. this and the Philadelphia Eagles take a. victory lap after it doesn't get past. the ban and say push on. Guess who. they're playing in that game? The Green. Bay Packers. So, it was great use of. social media there. Great use of social. media there. Uh the teams that were very. loudly against the ban of the tush push. were everybody you would think it would. be. Everybody you think it would be. Yep. It was uh Coach.

Siriani playing football. Mhm. John Harbaugh. We're playing. football. Motor City Dan Campbell. We're. playing football. Hell yeah. Mike. Vrabel, we're playing football. Come on. Aaron Glenn, we're playing football. Basically every coach that you thought. would be we're trying to trying to take. football on football was against it and. then some. So the tush push stays AJ and. congrats to Philadelphia Eagles. Uh. first and nine first and eight and a.

half every time they get the ball. brother. Yeah I I don't have a problem. with the tush push to be honest with. you. Like I understand when people want. to argue say hey it's not a football. play. Well yes football by the way what. you just said you go along Mercedy Dan. Campbell Mike Frabel hard ball. everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We get it. I'm just saying if I was a defender and. I was trying to stop it. Yeah. It would. piss me off. It would be frustrating. But at some point someone's going to. crack the code, right? And they're going. to find a way to You're not going to. stop it every time, but they're going to. find a way to consistently have a way to. do something about it. I don't know. I.

mean, I would assume that's the case, but I just don't know because they're so. good at it. I don't feel like we can ban. it just because they're the best at. doing it. The Philadelphia Eagles fans. and the Philadelphia Eagles as a whole. turn this into a oh, we're tougher than. you. Say you want to ban it. Yeah. Angle. Good angle, by the way. Good. Good angle, by the way. Because whenever. you watch it, it does feel like, oh, this is just a battle of wills. This is. a battle of strength. This is a battle. of grit. Low man wins. That's what. football's supposed to be. And I think. Dlineman say it doesn't matter how low.

we get. They got 800 lb of people. pushing their ass cheek. If a Jaylen. Herz who squats 800 lb in this entire. thing, it's unstoppable. So, you say. somebody's going to figure it out. I. think there's some people in football. that are worried. Uh uh I don't know if. we can stop I don't know if there's any. way to actually stop it cuz on the. defense I don't think they're allowed to. push back because that was banned. because of field goals back in the day. So I also am a fan of not getting rid of. it strictly as it becomes a toughness. conversation. It's like oh we're tougher. than you can't handle it. Okay. How come.

we're better than you at Are you It's. just an easy play. Well, why aren't you. because you're not as tough as us? I'm. like oh they got a point. Checkmate. All. right. I I'm on their side for it. But. it feels like something's going to give. Feels like something. Maybe only one. person. Pushers. Yeah, it's going to be. like they're going to have to change it. eventually. Maybe one pusher I guess, right? That could they could see that be. like a negotiation if the Eagles go 89%. 90% on this again this season. And I. know there's the Packers were the ones. that bit the bullet and said, "Fuck it. We'll be the ones that'll kind of push.

this." There'll be more people that be. like, "All right, maybe we do got going. to make it a competitive fairness thing. as opposed to just a health thing, which. I think is what they're thinking." Yeah. because, you know, obviously like the. Packers take a bunch of heat for this. and, you know, rightfully so cuz they're. the ones that push forward, but I think. a lot of people are saying like the. league itself, the league office, like. they're kind of the ones who want this. out of it and it's just a kind of an. easier situation for the Packers to be. the ones to do it because they don't. have an owner. So, it's not like, you. know, you can't point fingers at one. guy. But also, like we were under the.

impression going into this, everyone who. was reporting around this was basically. saying like, "Yeah, this is going to get. passed. Like, this is going to be a done. deal." And then it doesn't. So, I wonder. if we're going to be at this same stage. next year and they're going to be. talking about it again or if this is. kind of just going to float off like. into the into the sunset and we won't. really talk about it for at least a few. more years. When it was the when it was. the tush bush when this play on the. screen right here is what we were. talking about and what the rule was. talking about, I think I could have gone. either way on whether it was it was. banned or not. But when they changed the.

wording recently to the situation that. you described, you know, where running. backs five, six yards downfield, he gets. held up, but then, you know, two, three. offensive linemen come in and you push. him for a first down. Or there's many. times when a guy, the ball carrier. stumbles or whatever, and an offensive. lineman or a teammate holds him up and. then kind of throws him for three yards. or something like that. When they. changed it to you're not allowed to push. or pull anywhere on the field, a. teammate or anything like that, anywhere. on the field, that's when I really. didn't want this to go through. Um, so. you know, if they change language.

potentially to only take out this like. the tush push potentially and only one. person can push if it's within the line. of scrimmage or something like that, but. like downfield and stuff like that when. when like situation you talked about. when like pushing for a first down and. stuff like that, that's awesome. That. can't leave the game. Well, and also not. everybody's good at it. Like it's just. the Eagles and the Bills who are very. good at it. So, you know, credit to. Jaylen Hirs, their offensive line, and. also credit to Josh Allen and the Bills. offensive line. Like I could see banning. it if every single team was swinging a.

90% bat and they're just getting first. downs and it is a first and nine for. everybody. But how many times do we see. it failed for the other teams that don't. work on it? Like I think it it's. happened multiple times with teams where. it's oh they're lining up for a tush. push let's see what they got and then. they don't get it done. like it is, you. know, a different type of NFL play, but. until everybody is very good at it, there should never be a play that's. eliminated cuz, you know, what if what. if a team like the Colts, they they.

could come out with we could get good at. this. Yeah. When with Anthony and Daniel. Jones both, we the Colts could be good. and Syen obviously has been over there. It's a lot on the offensive line though, which goes back to so the Philadelphia. Eagles are being punished because. they're good at finding and Stoutland's. good at coaching offensive linemen like. and they're tougher than your D lineman. It's like to your point about if every. once everybody gets good at is probably. whenever it becomes a conversation for. competitive fairness and all that yada. yada. It's like that was what happened. with kickers. So there'd be like five, six good kickers and then there was a.

bunch of [ __ ] kickers for a long time. and they'd be missing extra points and. it was still an exciting play. Then. kickers got like too good. Kickers got. too good. It was just like routine. This. is 20 yard kick. No NFL kicker is going. to miss this. This is either getting. blocked or it's going in. It's getting. blocked one out of a thousand times and. it's going through. So once everybody. got good at it, to your point, it became. a this is not this is not a competitive. play. There's nothing in then we need to. change it. Maybe that is where we're. headed. Maybe if everybody gets good at. it and everybody takes advantage of it,

then everybody will be like we can't. just have it be first and nine for all. parties here. like that can't be how it. is. That's a very valid point and. they've shown precedent with it with the. kicking and that was a huge change. I. mean going from gigantic that was a. gigantic change that the NFL doesn't. love doing. You know, I think I think. that's a very good point. Joining us now. might be a guy who. understands this play a little bit more. than anybody cuz he's been bent over. with the ball in his hands to start a. play more times than any of us. Oh yeah.

Ladies and gentlemen, he's the founder. of the Trenches. Which is an. awards banquet for offensive linemen. around the. NFL. He didn't get any credit. No. In. any of the roll out of the protector of. the year award. Ridiculous. But I know. he's excited that it's happening. Ladies. and gentlemen, on his birthday today, what? Super Bowl champion AQ Shipley. Happy birthday, AQ. Happy birthday, buddy. What's up, boys? I appreciate it.

No, uh, we appreciate you spending some. time, uh, out of this off season for you. and, you know, retired professional. athlete life that you've been living and. stay at home dad life and obviously this. birthday celebration to chitchat with us. and work on your tan. You could be doing. that right now. And working on his body. I don't know if you seen him. Starting. to look good and work on his cooking. I. don't know if you see he's been doing I. mean, I've watched you guys talk about. my belly enough. I got to get that back. in order. Jeez Louise. you had time to. watch our show. I I thought you were.

doing golfing and celebrity events. Yeah, if you guys saw that. I mean, happy birthday Q. Living your best life. We love you, man. Training guys, putting. guys in the NFL got, you know, training. 13 NFL offensive line. Yeah, I'm just. sitting around over here, you know. Okay. Hey, listen. You do you, brother. You live your life. You live your life. Happy birthday in the shipyard. We know. it's active. Oh, yeah. In full piss. Yeah. If we flush the toilet, maybe for. the birthday we go flush the toilet. Yeah. Once a week. Once a week we keep. it out. We got we got to let people. know. All right. Happy birthday. Maybe.

this year we do it more often. Uh we're. talking we're talk about the tush push. and uh obviously this is during so many. conversations. I think I felt like four. different ways about this play. throughout the process of them. potentially banning it. And I think I. would have been okay either way that. they went in the end. If they would have. banned it, I would have been like okay. The way they rewarded it to take away. downfield drags and pushes I don't think. I was a fan of because that moment of an. offensive line picking up a wide. receiver or running back in moving the.

pile for a first down is a cool moment. in sports. So if it was just tush push. if they would have banned it I would. have been okay with it. If they would. have made it one person allowed to push. I would have been okay with it. Jason. Kelsey want to bat for it. He's. obviously in the epicenter of this. entire thing. What are your thoughts on. the tush push? And do we need to give. credit to the teams that are great at. this more as opposed to just trying to. ban the play entirely in your eyes? Yeah, I think that's been my biggest. take the whole time is the fact that the. Philadelphia Eagles have been the only. ones that have been damn near 100% on.

this thing. And so when you look at it, it is a skill. Like Buffalo tried to do. it, they get stuffed. Other teams have. tried to do it and they've gotten. stuffed. I mean, it's not nearly as. successful with all the other teams as. it is with the Philadelphia Eagles. It's. clearly a skill that the Philadelphia. Eagles have mastered. So, if one team's. better than the rest at it, then then. they're clearly doing something right. and it's clearly a skill set. This isn't. that this isn't a play where it's an. automatic first down for everybody. across the league. And if it was, I. could understand it. And clearly, it has.

been proven that not many people are. getting injured during this play either. I've done a million QB sneaks. You just. kind of dive your legs and keep your. feet moving. And they they've found a. way to to to make it so good. good and. Jaylen Herds behind has made it so good. So you you you can't punish them for. being better than everybody else at it. First and nine for the Philadelphia. Eagles continues. I think that is kind. of a mindset. I that should almost be. like a shirt for them. Yeah. Yeah. Like. that that's almost like a thing for the. Philadelphia Eagles. If they're up over. 90% again and nobody else is touching. them, maybe the respect will be gained.

for their ability to pull this off more. than anybody else. Go ahead AJ AQ. How. do you propose like how how would you. try to coach a team to stop this? like. what do you do? Obviously, you can't let. any kind of movement like what are you. telling your Dline, your linebackers? Listen, the biggest thing is you have to. get off on the snap. Clearly, the. offense has the advantage cuz they know. the snap count. So, they're able to. anticipate that and get out on the snap. But if a defensive line can somehow get. a tell and dive at the legs, because. that's what you have to do. Like the.

offensive linemen are doing such a good. job of anticipating the snap, getting. off first, and then once you create. movement and you get the push from. behind, it's over. So, you have to stop. the initial movement and then have. people flying up over the top. You've. been in that mode where you've seen the. linebackers jump the pile and kind of. get that stop. But, you know, you it. starts with getting off on the snap. And. if you can get some anticipatory tell on. what the cadence is or what the snap. count's going to be, that is going to be. big. How old are you today? 39 years.

old, boys. 39 with an anticipatory. dropage. This might be the year for AQ. This might be this might be the one. This really might. Okay. So, that's when. they started doing the hard count and. then the Chiefs were just jumping over. top and then the ref said, uh, we told. the defense that we can award a. touchdown here if they want to keep. doing that. And that's cuz the Eagles. can just add a hard count in there and. keep everybody off balance. It's they. got they got the league in a bind and. they're way behind. Everybody else is.

way behind and and that's why Jeff went. in there for 30 minutes and was like, "We don't like football anymore." And. then Jason Kelce comes on the back end. of it and goes, "Vraes, you don't like ball." Dan. Campbell, you don't like ball. They're. not tough enough, huh? Aaron, are you. not tough anymore? John Harbaugh, Baltimore, you guys aren't. What is. going All the teams that backed it are. exactly the teams that you thought they. would be. Like it it is exactly who you. thought it would be. Congrats to them. It survives for You're right. It's It. survives for another year. And uh.

congrats to the Eagles. Now, let's talk. about congrats to the offensive lineman. as a whole, protector of the year coming. to the NFL honor show. Wow. Yeah, that's. cool. Wow. Yeah, it is. That's cool. It. is cool. It is cool. We actually pitched. uh what the trophy should look like and. uh it's very similar to what your trophy. looked like uh last year whenever we. gave away the trenches. I love that. Deion Dawkins has pushed for this. because Deion Dawkins loves the.

position, loves being an offensive. lineman, loves life, and will also be. considered one of the protectors of the. year every year that he plays football. I like that Andrew Witworth got in on. the push. Obviously, he has very great. connections at the NFL, multiple Super. Bowl champ, absolute dog, one out on. top. And uh we think that this is what. it should look like. Just put the. protector underneath it. Let go. Yeah, I. think we get rid of the trench the. trenches word there and we put the. protector and I think they handed out.

the NFL honors and ash I think you. should feel very proud of yourself. influencing an awards or awards show. maybe for the offensive lineman. Pretty. cool. There's no doubt about it. I mean. listen, we've been talking for years. I'm a big believer in the offensive line. there. They need to be recognized. It's. tough to recognize cuz there is no. stats. But if you watch ball and you. know ball, you know how the play starts. and how the play finishes. It always. starts with the big boys up front. And. you uh forgot about that. What was that? Divisional round. Uh yeah. And then the.

uh uh the round after that round. Yeah. Championship round as well. Yep. Without. the Relax. I just said the team. I said. the team. I still had them ranked one. offensive line. Relax. Yeah. But we said. if you have a good offensive line, you. win. He said he hated Jay. And he said. no. And go. I blame I blamed it on the. on the quarterback. You didn't say you. hated him. You just didn't think he'd be. able to make the play that would be. needed is what you said. Well, he proved. me wrong. He had a hell of a run. He had. overrun. Yeah, I'd say ass beating in. the Super Bowl. I mean, absolute. And.

they ran the ball obviously more than. they pass the ball throughout the. season. They committed to the run game. I think a lot more people are going to. do that. And speaking of that, I think. the seclity of uh football is coming. full circle. Well, con man has a. question. Listen, listen, listen. Hold. on. Before we go any further, I don't. know what that word means, so you're. going to have to tell me what that was. Contextuality. Cyclicality. There it is. Okay. It was cyclicality. Yeah, it's in there. You heard it. You. heard. Don't be a [ __ ] [ __ ] You.

heard the first of all, no matter how. it's pronounced, don't think it's a. word. But the uh Meither Yeah. No. Yeah. We It is. Uh Connor has a question for. you, though. Yeah. Hey, K, how did you. feel about uh all the offensive linemen. going in the first round? And it felt. like that was kind of the uh trend this. year in the draft. Obviously led by Mike. Vrabel, the Patriots, and Will Campbell. But how did you feel as you saw those. big dudes fly off the board? Were you. just juiced up for those big dudes or uh. what was your feelings? Juiced up,

rocked up, all the terms. I mean, it was. uh All right. It was fun. It was fun to. watch. It really was. I mean, listen, the big boys, they it it happens every. year. always take the over on offensive. lineman draft in the first because it's. always there's always going to be a run. As soon as some some team makes a pick. and they make a pick early at four, right? Then there has to be a run. because now you're scared you're going. to miss out on that. I think offensive. linemen their track record of being able. to play and be able to play with. longevity has been proven more than the.

skill positions I think over time. And. so when you see that and you can find a. cornerstone, once one goes off the. board, they all start to go. And in. typical fashion, the Chiefs get a guy. who probably was the best lineman in the. draft because of an injury with the last. pick of the first round. I mean, Josh. Simmons, what a picked by them at the. end of the first and just um I think it. finished with two picks on the over. I. think the over was six and a half. I. think it went with eight in the first. round. I mean, it's a big number of. offensive linemen. It was a good group. We will see how they perform at the next. level. It's always interesting to see.

what the transition is, but yeah, I was. pumped to see that many guys go. Who. drafted the best one offensive lineman? You think Kansas City Chiefs got the. best lineman if he I think Josh Simmons. on tape. What he put on tape uh at Ohio. State was incredible. He probably would. have been the first guy picked. Uh he. tears his patellar tendon against Oregon. halfway through the year and teams were. questioning that. But talent-wise and. what he put on film, he was probably the. most talented guy. He probably would. have went fourth overall had he not. gotten injured. How old is he?

21 years old, transfer from San Diego. State, comes over to Ohio State and just. baldled out. Bald out. He'll be able to. recover though, we think, from the. patellar tear is what we're saying. Yeah, I think I think that's a. questionable injury if you're 30 31 32, but I mean at 21, he should be able to. pop right back into that thing and. Chiefs get themselves kind of a steal at. the end of the first round. Of course. they do. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, teams. were actually uh super surprised at how. quickly he healed that he was. I I. remember him at that combine. They were. all like pleasantly surprised at how. fast he was healed. Then I'm pretty sure. he was medically cleared by the time uh.

the draft happened or whatever. Um how. was the uh how was the Mahomes outing? Any Did you make any new best friends. with any NFL players at the Mahomes. outing? Had a great time with Ammonola. and Edelman. They were they were a lot. of fun. Spent some Yeah. Spent some time with. Witworth. He was great. And then uh. Steel Laughy, one of the best. wakeboarders, I guess, in the country. had a great time with him. Great golfer. Daniel Laferty Daniel's son. Steel. Laughaferty. Really? I believe so.

Laferty Daniels. Daniel Laferty. One of. the goats. Wow. We stud. We saw you. mingling out there. I think you. represented well. How was the golf game? Did you play well? Golf game was really. good. Uh practice round. I was driving. the [ __ ] out of the ball about 310 down. the middle. Uh surprisingly, uh there. was a par4 was about 375 on the green. putting. I hear a ball hit into the. front of the face. That's old Patrick. Mahomes bombing one about 365 carry into. the front face of the green. I was like, whoa. He's a guy, huh, in golf?

Obviously, he's a guy at everything. else. He has those two par three holes. we saw at his house and he's former. baseball player, right? Like very good. baseball player. He's hitting the ball. 365, you're saying, in Vegas. So, he. does he does that in the practice round. I was blown away. I was like, who that? Oh, whose ball was that? They're like, oh, that's Patrick. Gez, he was in the. group behind. And then during the. tournament, Marty Fish drives the green. He hits it like 375 to win the long. drive on that hole the next football. Marty's a monster. Yeah, I'm coming for. Marty someday though in that golf.

course. Amen. Yeah, Marty can play, man. Marty can play. Yeah, I heard. I heard. Yeah. Does he come out of the slot? Yeah. Can he get that thing? I don't. know if you've heard. I got a new swing. I don't know if you've heard. Yeah. No, let me see it. Well, we still fade. We still fading the. ball over there. No, it's coming slow. I'm in the ball perfectly straight. You. see what Rory's doing there and JT and. whoever that guy is and that guy. And. that guy and there's Scotty. Oh, that.

was Scotty. Okay. Yeah, I'm pulling now. Yep. I'm pulling now. I'm pulling that. thing coming down the slot and then bang. the bang. Hit one. I love it. I've only. hit one. Nothing like an internet golf. lesson. Internet golf lessons are the. best. They only make me shank the ball. 400 times after I could do an internet. gold. I told the story about the. undouff. Do you remember that thing? The. unuffable. Do you remember the uh that. wedge I bought on uh the golf channel? Bubba stole it. Yeah. Bubba Bubba He. might have stole my unuffable. I think I. think it's behind that putter. Is it?

Yeah. You remember this a bought this. thing uh watching the golf fix at like. 3:00 a.m. It was considered the. undouffable. Uh I think we went to GCI. I do remember that. Yeah, I think we. went to GCI literally the next day and I. took an entire chunk out of the fairway. and I was like, "This thing lied to me.". And I believe you you were a little. negative. You thought I was a little bit. naive thinking that a golf club was. going to be able to fix everything about. my golf problem. And uh I'd like to let. anybody know if they can figure that. out, I would like to buy those clubs.

Okay. Okay. Well, I think that thing is. also uh a lie because I think I've tried. to chip it on your putting green over. there and I think I bladed it right into. your office door. So, I'm not sure that. thing works. It's not a duff. That's a. blade. Sure. That's on you, brother. Happy birthday. We appreciate you, man. Appreciate. Yeah, you too. All right, we'll wrap up here on ESPN. We'll. continue on YouTube plus. No, just. YouTube. YouTube plus ESPN plus Disney. Plus Tik Tok Live. Period. Boom. That's. where we'll be. Be a friend. Tell a.

friend something nice. It might change. your life. You have no idea what's going. to happen tomorrow. Let's take advantage. of today. All right. Sweet. Uh, anytime. somebody passes away, that's like the. whole It's hard not to do that, you. know. Perspective. Yeah. You normally takes pretty serious. things to get real perspective for. people. That was crazy. Walking around with my. daughter McKenzie. Sam recovering from. uh surgery she had. She's kicking ass, too. Absolute dog. Sam, she's a beast.

What she's had to go through and just. like so inspiring. But a lot more time. me and McKenzie doing like you know. one-on-one time. Me and McKenzie one. It. has been awesome. I'm running around the. house with her. Ah, you know, and then. we had this room in the house, smaller. room and uh it's like got some small. steps up there. It's like a secret room. that was created by the previous owner. for his kids to like make like it was. like literally created for kids to like. kind of hang out, turn on some music,

you know, depending on how she's. feeling, you know. Mambo number five has. been getting a really good song. Yeah, cuz she can count. So, one, two, three. She feels like she's part of it there. And then it has like good bop in there. And uh there's two lights in there. And. she has found where the light switch is. and now we don't want the light on in. there. Okay. But there's no room. There's no windows in there. So, it's a. little dark except for the thing in. there. So, I'm starting to I have my. flashlight out now on her with the song.

playing. And now she's dancing with her. shadow right in this room. Pretty sweet. And then all of a sudden I bring in the. Oh yeah. Yeah. And she goes, "No." So. she like starts running for her shadow. away from Big Shadow. So we're literally. just running laps around this room. 10. 15 minutes of no running from my finger. just doing this around. It was so much. fun. Like just it was so cool. and uh. we're about to take her to bed or. whatever and I open the group text and.

it had been sent in the the tweet or. whatever and it was just like I was in. like disbelief almost like it just kind. of came out of you know you never expect. that cuz there was like a lot of. things you know not going great I think. for Mr. Er, Jim Ersce like I think we. knew that we'd heard that there had been. like speculation and stuff but nothing. really out there but I was just like Jim. will get it cuz Jim's had to do it. before. I think like the thought was. always just like Jim will figure it out. Jim will figure it out and it Jim's has.

the best people in the world literally. helping like Jim will figure it out. So. whenever I see that I'm like just like. blindsided like holy hell I did not. expect that to happen. I guess he is. human after all. like he is human so. this was going to come and then you. immediately think about like his family. and his crew and everything. It's just. like perspective and then holy [ __ ] that. came out of there's so many you just got. to appreciate what we have. We just got. to appreciate the fact that we're here. Yep. You know I think we got to. appreciate don't have to agree with. everybody. Don't have to get along with.

everybody. don't have to be happy all. the time, but there should be at least a. little bit of uh you know what, we're. still [ __ ] alive. And uh we it's. gonna h we either treat that as one. thing or another. And I think the thing. that Jim treated it like was going to. try to make the most of it's going to. try to give back as much as possible. because pos uh position he was in. And. it's like we can make decisions every. day too. Do we want to be miserable. existence or do we want to potentially. try to enjoy this finite time that we. have that we have no clue when it's. going to end? you know, and that always. seemingly comes back to the forefront.

whenever something like this happens, especially to a friend or a family. member. So, rest easy, Jim Mercier. We. appreciate the [ __ ] out of you, man. All. right, let's take a break on the other. side. Let's talk about all the things. happening in the sports world and then. let's get the hell out of here on this. uh another conference final Thursday. Here we go. Big night tonight, AJ. We'll. talk about that and more. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might. change their life. Take five. arriving in beautiful fashion. There he.

is on a golf cart driven by another. massive human being wearing a suit that. is only top of the line. A man who walks. around and hands out hundreds to people. A man that gives away more money than. any other human you've ever encountered. A man who has paid for everything I have. ever done. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim. Ers. My friends call me Jim. You can call me. Jimmy. Jimmy from the cold. Lolita. I love my.

friend and there's nothing like this. 57year-old female killer southern or. club whale is special. Now I'm. frustrated with flying cars cuz I'm. obsessed with that. Like I I want a. flying car. Hey, me too. I don't want. this phone. Give me a flying car. And I. outbid them for Elvis's. piano. See that? Sometimes guys will get. liquored up and go swimming in the. Broadripple. canal. Traffic. So it's wreck traffic in.

their underwear. Now Floyd calls that a. momentary lapse of reason. Molita is. mellow. She's a Buddhist. She hangs low. She's cool. She's happy. But like. Mars, think about this, is 250 million. miles. 250 million miles. When you go, you. know, it it takes about anywhere from, you know, 9 to 11 months to get there,

depending on. Are you going to [ __ ]. Mars? Jim, are you going to Mars? It. sounds like you. I wish I go, well, I. have these beautiful Monae paintings, but I have John Lennon's piano in the. front room. What do you want to see? I. want to see John Lens. I don't know. I don't know. I put on. this Willy Wonka outfit about 12 years. ago and we had a treasure hunt in. Indianapolis and the winning team at. halftime was given real Super Bowl. rings. You have to get them one at a. time. Try to help anything in any way.

you can. One at a time. I've shut down a. lot of Girl Scout. Hey, here's. $2,000. We're going home. You know, the. only thing that beats everything is. love. Love every time beats hate every. time. If you come at hate with hate, it's not going to be good. You're going. to get more hate. I'm lucky to be a part. of the Colts organization. Getting to. know you has been a cool thing. Just. know that I think personally as somebody. who is a billionaire, you're doing good. with your money. You're doing good with. your time. Well, can I say this? When. you came to my office and told me your. plan about retirement, I never thought. we'd be sitting there and you'd be the.

mega star. Sorry for saying that, but. it's true that you are. Your show and. what you do and the entertainment you. provide, you know, is David Letterman. type. It's at the very top. I always. knew you had that potential, but man, what you've accomplished. We're so proud. of you that you're a Colt alumni player. I mean, you know, you represent I'm. lucky. You help me out a lot. The legacy of this great sport and the. World Heavyweight Championship belong to.

me. This particular Wrestlemania will be one. that Jay Uso will remember for the rest. of his life. [Applause].

taps out. Jay Uso's world champion Gunther tapped. out. You did it, Jay. Gunther tapped. out. Jay Uso winning his first world. championship. Tap it out. The ring. general Gtha who for the second year in.

a row at Wrestlemania lost to a massive. underdog. [Applause]. I'm sick and tired of future. Michael, you got something to say to me? Tell me. right now. I'm doing my job. I'm not the. one who tapped out. [Applause].

What is. it? Let him go. Let him go. Get him out of here. [Applause].

Gun has been fined an undisclosed amount. and suspended indefinitely. I think there's a lot of people that. have forgotten who the hell I am. You. must ride for those that ride for you. You're either with me or against. me. You got a problem with Cole. You got. a problem with me, Gther. I want to. fight Gother ASAP.

We can lift the suspension on Gunther in. a sanctioned contest at Backlash. Deal. I'm going to show up more focused than. ever. before. I'm going to maul you. I'm going. to grab you by the head and drive it. into this match. You've gotten jaded. You've gotten too damn comfortable. It. happened with Sami Zayn. It happened. with Jay Uso. And on Saturday, you're.

going to underestimate me. And I'm going. to prove to you and all these people. that this version of Gther is. soft. Only the grace of God can lift my. arms off your. [Applause]. throat. My partner and friend Pat Mcabe. steps into the ring to face the ring. general.

Gunther. He's going in there against a A. very vicious and a very violent man. [Applause]. [Applause]. [Music]. Enough of this. End the match. Michael. Cole has left the damn desk. You. absolute nutcase.

[Applause]. Sleep locked in deep on the red general. Confident now furious, completely. enraged. That is. [Music]. over. A rare rare show of respect. [Music]. Matt McAfee. That was absolutely. incredible.

Thanks. [Music]. Thanks. [Music]. Thank. you. Thank God.

Thank. for. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music].

They. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music]. [Music]. are you are you are.

[Music]. Hi, how's it going? My name is Pat. McAfee. Used to hold balls for Adam. Venitary. Now I'm in his home state. College game day. It's absolutely. electric in. Brookings. South. Let's go. College Game Day has. made the voyage to Brooking, South. Dakota to experience a game with the. best fans in college. [Applause].

football. I unfortunately cannot attend. because I have a game this Sunday. So, I. sent a man I trust to make my picks. A. man who is my holder for almost a. decade. Please be nice to him. Welcome. this week's celebrity guest picker, Pat. McAfee. [Applause]. Go big, go blue, go Jacks. Hosting Auburn. Yes, everybody saw this.

The best fake blood in the world. What. do you think, Pat? I absolutely loved it. all the way up until execution time. That is not one we like to show in the. brand headquarters and punting and. kicking world. Oh, pants off. Let's get. weird. Yes. Duck that. Huh? Bang. Right. over the top of the dome. That makes it. a lot easier when you got a dummy. standing right in front of you like. that. Running. Running. He's. Oh, Daniel Russo. Wax on. Wax off. Knees. to the face.

Go. Yes. [Applause].

But I'm going with Trey. Please excuse my dumb friend Kirk. [Applause]. Look at this crowd. They've been out. here since 4:00 a.m. College Game Day. comes to town, they lose their mind. The. population of this state is about. 800,000. And when the Jack Rabbits take. the field, they're alongside all 800,000. South. Dakota. The Dakota marker was in Fargo.

for far too long. Today 5:00 local time, the Dakota marker is back in. beautiful South. Dakota and Terry School. They might be. the Jets, but they're the goats today, ladies and gentlemen. South Dakota State. with the. win. Give me that. No, don't do that. No, no.

We coy. We're still bringing it. I like every bridge I see here just to. watch it burn. If you seen all the hell. I seen it make your stomach turn. I. think you know why I do what I do when I. do. [Music].

started with 133 teams vying for one of. these coveted 12 spots for this 12 team. playoffs and it came down to two teams. in the great state of Indiana kicking. this entire thing. off. I might drink a little. I might. smoke a lot, car. The best year of college football. that it's ever had is about to have the.

greatest playoffs it's ever had. And it. all starts right here in front of. touchdown Jesus and his beautiful. people. And I need to. say Irishers. Don't do that all night. If you make. this kick, I will double his kick to. $500,000. I will also donate. $250,000 to a charity of Chris Dy's. choosing. Yeah. Let it go. Oh god.

That's terrible. That's terrible. Don't. blank it. $750,000. The Lord is watching you. 1. [Applause]. million. And there's a bunch. of them.

We don't just beat top 25 teams. We beat. the [ __ ] out of you. Okay. But one thing you didn't learn from me. is talking all the [ __ ] you. talking. Welcome to the most. electrifying atmosphere in all of sport. I know European soccer fans are wild. That's like 30 to 60,000. You're about. to see all weekend 100,000 plus bananas. atmosphere and that is one part of the. reason why college ball is so damn.

great. Is this not a fun show? No serious. serious football. Alabama Jones is very. serious. You know, he was trying to be funny, which I get it. And you know, my. daughter Kristen loves him. So that's. kind of soothed the soul a little bit. that somebody in our family likes the. guy. I choose to. believe and for a touchdown Jesus and. everybody looking. down. IU gets a massive win over Notre.

Dame. Shane, I'm sorry. You're a real. scumbag. I thought Coach Signetti coming out here. was a real disgrace to the game. He left. his players in the locker room to go get. some camera time for himself. I know a. legend like yourself would never do. something like that. Would you? No. No. It's disgusting. I I saw it. I thought, "Wow, what a sad disgusting program." A. million go Irish. Riley Leonard and the. Irish from their own two. Jeremiah Love. breaks free. Jeremiah Love trying to go.

98. Touchdown. [Music]. Might be fiction for a blowout here, fellas. couldn't wait to get to the. wonderful state of. O. But the SEC coming up to the Big 10. when it's cold as hell, we shall settle. the conversation here in beautiful.

Columbus. Coach, that hairline, you get. a haircut every day. Not every day. Not. every day. Big beard, big boot, fers, and toes. 500. Oh, this guy sucks. Holy. Holy hell. This guy's the worst we ever. see. Just took out the Ohio State. cheerleaders. $1 million here. JD. level. This guy sucks at kicking, but we. appreciate the hell out of you, Jeremy.

AJR, there he is. He was once wiped 100. times with the white blood. Yeah. 100. times. There are actually people out. there, psychos obviously, that like the. nonfrosted Pop-Tarts. Gary Hu, one of. the best football players I've ever been. around. Nonfrosted strawberry popart. I. like nonfrosted Pop-Tarts. I like nonfrosted Poptarts. Now, I at one point this year was the. mayor of Cocktown. You were the mayor? Mayor of Cocktown. Yeah. They voted me. in there. And this How do you become the.

mayor of Cocktown? He's going to go. around and say, "Listen, I hard [ __ ]. hard cops. I'm sorry, numerous. Whenever. we found out that there was going to be. a college football playoff game in. Columbus, Ohio, we were all jacked up to. see this Ohio State faithful be. showcased to the entire world about how. much they love football. Then we walked. out here to this game day set this. morning and it was like. Rocky, you always.

Well, in that song they say it's home. Home for me is the north and the cold is. going to be the hard. Give me the Ohio. State. Buckeyes representing. for the big 10. [Applause]. How cool was Sean Perkins, the Ohio. State football team for allowing us to. hang out in their facility pretty much.

all day Saturday. They had five TV. setups, a bunch of recliners, Roosters. Supply. Jon Henderson in the open. field scoring another time for the Ohio.

State. [ __ ] Story of the game thus far. is Chad Kelly is going mad dummy bro. All of Ohio is excited. They were. singing. last second third on the ground. Check. out would hate to be a Tennessee fan or. a chair near Morgan Wall cuz they have. no hope right now.

Jeremas. By and large, these games have. absolutely. stering in absolute hell. A couple. people up here with that smoky orange. face paint on that are feeling real. asphalt right now. As we look to the. exits and the Volunteers fans are. saying, "Get my ass back to the south. This one's over." Bounces it. Ps it. Let's go Ohio State. Boys, that was wide.

ass 500 drones. Ones that we know about. This game's over. But uh we're still. working. Okay. Oh yeah. hilarious.

Hey, let's go. This show stinks. And the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful. McAfee on the line with a gorgeous. assist. The alltime leading tackler for. the Green Bay Packers. You. can't stop. Stop. Damn it. Your friend, tell a friend something nice could. change their life. [Music].

Hello beautiful people and welcome back. to our humble abode the thunderdome on. this rest easy gym Thursday May 22nd. 2025 hour three of the program starts. now sports we just watched Howie exit. the building as uh Lord Steinley Cup. made a visit for the first two hours of. the program and now it's on its road to. wherever forever as we celebrate the. Stanley Cup playoffs still happening.

Eastern Conference Finals, Western. Conference Finals last night, and the uh. Edmonton Oilers had a 3-1 lead over the. Dallas Stars going into the third. period. Then the Dallas Stars got. incredibly hot. They scored three goals. within the first six minutes of the. third period. Took the lead, inevitably. won six to three after an empty net. It. was slaughtered at the end. 10 Dallas. over Edmonton in the West. 10 Florida. over Carolina in the East and uh tonight. the Hurricanes and the Panthers. Um.

there could be some fireworks to start. this entire thing. Now I've done some. more investigating, some. journalism with the hockey people. That's AJ Hawk talks to tables here at. Boss Conor at Schmid. One half of the. hammer cowboys tone digs. I I've done. some investigating because in my eyes I. didn't remember like an Eastern. Conference final war, right? Full like a. full line brawl. Has it ever happened? I. don't think so. It but that's because at. this stage it would be very dumb to do. that because of penalties and power play. and everything. But with the way the. Panthers were acting after the last game.

with what old buddy did to Marshy, which. was I think deemed scumbag behavior by. league, all bush league stuff by all. hockey people. I was like, wait a. minute. There's a chance that we get the. uh we get a sticks glove shirt as soon. as the puckers drop to start this entire. thing. The Florida Panthers are going to. have to stick up for their guy cuz that. happening right there was a clear and. obvious. This guy is trying to he's. trying to weaponize a puck right now. Now granted, guys will dive into pucks. Like that is certainly what people will. do. Guys get hit with pucks. That's why.

you see busted grills all over the. league, but dudes just blasting pucks. into guys is like a Bush League teenager. high school move. Soft. Yeah. So Marshy. was like, "Excuse me?" and he fights the. guy immediately, which I think any. hockey guy would. I think that was a. direct happening. Pavlov's dogs, you do. that thing, uh, there's going to be an. immediate fight afterwards in the NHL, especially with Marian. So, like I think.

so Marian getting kicked out after the. he was mad at the refs like you guys. don't know Puck. And then way they. reacted afterwards talking about like. uh, you know, we have no comments. It's. like I wanted to know is this going to. be a five-on-ive fight as soon as the. puck drops tonight? And uh I guess a lot. of people aren't expecting that. What. the hell? Big bombs though, big hits. They're thinking though that old buddy. his first is going to be a Yeah, there's. going to be a going to be a nail double. run. Yeah, there's going to be some.

runs. There's going to be sir they think. the Florida Panthers are because just. like I assumed and then I changed my. mind completely because situation nobody. wants to give up a penalty. Nobody wants. to give up a power play. Look what the. power play did for the Dallas Stars last. night. Three of them straight in the. third period. Three straight goals. within six minutes. All of a sudden the. Dallas Stars now are in the lead. They. were down 3-1 literally 6 minutes ago. So the power play is a big deal. especially in the Eastern Conference. Finals. You're so close to the Stanley. Cup finals. It's like uh the fight, I.

guess, is not necessarily a thing we. should be thinking is going to happen. I. mean, damn. But it is gonna be But. they're gonna take some good run. The. boys are going to take some runs at him, I guess, legally when when they are. allowed, like within the parameters of. the rules. So then the Hurricanes are. going to have to defend, buddy. Even. though they didn't, do we know? I know. I know Florida, the Panthers, I know. Patty Maroon, like they're a they're a. heavy team. They're going to wear on. you. They're going to wear you out. physically. Like can Carolina can they. compete with that at all? Yeah. Is is. Carolina have any baldies that uh that. are there to protect maybe the rest of.

the boys? Because we've seen this in the. past where a team has felt obligated to. have to fight for a teammate and they. were by far the beta team on the ice. There was an alpha team waiting for them. on the other side and these guys just. basically sacrificed themselves for the. good of the team and to be a teammate. and that happened. You're asking if. that's a similar situation for the. Carolina Hurricanes right now with the. Florida Panthers. Let's go to the back. row back there. Uh former host of uh. Hockey Talk and also a man from Canada, one half of the Hammer, Don Cowboys.

Bubba Gino in the hat, Nikki Skates with. the hair. Uh is Carolina equipped to. battle the Florida Panthers or is this. going to be a bully fest here tonight. potentially? Uh to put it simply, no. in. the sense that they don't have like a. fighter who's going to go out there and. Chuck Knucks uh like a Tom Wilson would. They have guys though like a Jordan. Stall, Jordan Martinook, bigger guys. like Martin Nook's 61, 210 probably. Stalls is like 64. 210 215 220 probably. They'll battle.

They're not going to shrink from it, but. they're not going to go out there and. just, you know, throw bombs and and turn. it into a gong show. they'll stick up. for their guys, but I I do expect some. type of retaliation from Florida. You. know, whether it's taking runs at Gossip. Beer legally or, you know, maybe playing. on the edge a little bit, you know, giving them a little extra couple little. extra shots after the whistle, things. like that, some face washes, getting in. his grill and and giving him a hard time. all night. I do like that Canada sport. is known for, oh, is that right? We're.

going to fight. Gumpy, you were. befuddled by this entire situation. yesterday. You went so far as to lie. about the situation to try to make it. seem like a bigger deal to others so. that they would understand the way you. feel about the situation. Are you still. in that situation about this? Yeah, I. mean the way Marawn reacted tells you. everything you need to know. Like he. would rather be punched directly in the. face than get a slapper ripped at him. from the own blue line. You know, I did. see a certain section of the internet. going, "We're upset and mad and shocked.

that someone did this to Marawn. We're. now champion." Well, exactly. I think. that's why it's even more so. This guy. has licked people's faces. Game one, dude. Game one of this series. He's. already in your kitchen that bad. He is. all the way in there. He's cooking in. bacon. That's it. All right. Uh, good luck to the. Hurricanes tonight. I legitimately I. think this Florida Panthers team. probably get a little added motivation. going into tonight to be the tougher. team, which they already are. So, that'll be something. And then obviously. the West play tonight, Timberwolves and.

the Thunder. We will watch that big news. coming out of college football. Heather. Denich of ESPN joins us. Heather, Heather, sorry we got sidetracked there. with the hockey fighting and everything. Uh, massive breaking news from your. Twitter account that we just saw. The 12. team college football playoff will now. be a straight seating model this fall, rewarding the selection committee's top. four teams with the top four seeds in a. first round buy. Multiple sources have. told ESPN the 10 FBS commissioners and. Pete Bvakqua, who's the Notre Dame.

athletic director, uh, comprised the. CFP's management committee, they reached. the agreement this afternoon. Okay, so. we think everybody thinks this is smart. We knew that whenever they went to the. 12 team playoff, they were going to have. to evolve and adapt to make it better. for the second year. Uh, do we know. they're meeting today on this? And is. there any other changes coming? And. thank you, Heather, for making time for. us so on such short notice. Yeah, no, thanks for having me on. Um they are not. announcing any other changes today for. 2026 and beyond. The other reason that.

they came to this agreement, remember it. had to be unanimous in order to. implement the change for this fall. And. one of the reasons they were able to get. to the unonymity is because of the. financial component that was added to. it. sources told me that if you're one. of the four highest ranked conference. champions, even though you're not going. to get one of those top four seeds or. first round buys necessarily, you're. still going to get the $8 million that. Boise State and Arizona State got. 4. million for getting into the playoff and. then 4 million for advancing to the next.

round for a total of 8 million. So to be. able to keep them financially whole was. part of this deal. Okay. So I love that. Uh, and obviously that source is. probably calling you with more. information on how they got to it. I. think everybody kind of agreed that this. was the right move. I think everybody, didn't it seem like everybody in. football, both fans, coaches, and. obviously the committee felt like this. was the right move after year one? Yeah. And you know, last time we talked on the. show, I told you that everybody in that. room felt like this was the right thing.

to do for college football, but there. were some hang-ups in there because. there were some people in the room who. wanted to tie this conversation to try. to use it as some leverage for 2026 and. beyond because this is a very divisive. issue for the future of the college. football playoff in terms of automatic. qualifiers. The SEC and the Big 10 want. guaranteed spots. Well, how many do they. get? Do they get four? What does that. mean for the ACC and the Big 12? Those. are the conversations that are going on.

And there were people in the room who. said, "Hey, if you want to do what's. right for college football now, let's. tie it into the big picture and make. sure that we're doing the same thing for. 2026 and beyond." But they it's. divisive, Pat. We We don't know how out. uh college football seemingly divisive. Always has been, always will be. But. damn it, it is a beautiful thing in its. entirety. You just talked about. guaranteed slots uh for these. conferences cuz they want the. championship games not to be held. against basically their teams. If you.

fight hard enough to get to the. championship game, it better not be held. against you. They want if you make it. automatically in which leads to Tone's. question. Yeah, Heather obviously 12. teams now and then it was um 14 teams. was rumored to be the next one. But is. there any chance that we skip 14 and go. directly to 16 and when could that. happen? There is some consideration for 16 and. part of the reason for that is to allow. for more atlarge teams, allow for Notre. Dame obviously, which has some. protections in the future iterations of.

the next contract of the college. football playoff. Um, so I would think. it would be 14 or 16. It certainly seems. like there's some momentum for 16, but. I'm telling you, I'm not going to try to. predict the automatic qualifiers because. there's there's going to be some push. back. There already is push back, not. only from within the room, um, but there. could be some political push back as. well as as far as um, politicians,

people in Congress, all the way up to. the top. We'll see what happens with. that. I know the people of West Virginia. aren't going to be happy. You keep. slighting the Big 12 like that. But I. think the Big 12 potentially doesn't. have as good of a seat at the table. because West Virginia hasn't been in the. conversation for a couple years now. So. once Rich Rodriguez and the boys over. there put their big boy pads back on and. we're at the table, maybe the Big 12 get. a little bit more respect over there as. they should. Got Prime over there, too. I mean, we're Come on. Big 12's about to. be Don't look now. Okay. Don't look now.

ASU. Oh my god. Scataboo just came. What. What do you think he's about to do with. the future? Yeah. Yeah. The SEC needs. to, you know, cuz guess who's coming? That's the Big 12. Mountaineers. But it. be the Big 10 cuz they're the premier. conference in the uh Yeah, that's what. I'm saying. It's the Big 10, the SEC. And then the SEC is doing this one. Guess who's coming? Big 12, brother. Okay. Don't worry though. We got the Big. 10. We got enough good eyes to be. looking at the top of the mountain right. now, though. I'll let you know that Big.

10's going to Hey, when the Big 12. start, especially in West Virginia, especially in the middle of Big 10. country, should be in the Big 10, okay? Or the ACC. Very, very much should be in the. conversation. I guess our academia is. just not high enough for me. I've long. said I'd be okay with kicking Ruckers to. the curb and bringing in West Virginia. Okay, I like that. I think AJ Hawk feels. the same way. Heather, you need to get. behind that because I think your voice. means more than any of ours. Go ahead, AJ. Heather, you mentioned these top. four teams get $8 million. Does it can.

they do whatever they want with that. money or do they have to spread it. around to the other teams? Could you use. it for NIO? I wonder is it school by. school or does can they tell the teams. or the schools how they can use that? Well, just to be clear, it's not the top. four teams. It's the four the four. conference champions. The highest ranked. conference get that money and they can. use it as they will. I mean, think about. this. Notre Dame this past season. because they're an independent and don't. have to share it with the rest of a. conference. That $20 million that Notre.

Dame racked up for making it through the. playoff to the national championship. game, that's theirs. Um, so, you know, that's another question in terms of how. they share that with the conference. I'm. not entirely sure how they splice that. up for those other teams in those. leagues, but I know that Notre Dame was. able to keep every penny of that. And. what do they do with that? I think is. AJ's kind of followup. They put that. into the university, the athletic. department, the football team. Like, who. how does that do we know where that. money goes or is it just dropped into. Pete Pvakqua's bank account and they.

say, "Pe, you did a great job with the. golf channel. You did a great job with. uh NBC Universal. You're Damn, you're a. great great athletic director here at. Notre Dame. You can just do whatever you. want. Like, where does the money go?" I. think that's a good question, AJ. What. is it? Does it build up the university? Does it go back to the a What is Do we. know that answer? Yeah. No, my. understanding is that it goes back into. the athletic department funds. Um, whatever it is that they make, and they. could use it how they how they want to. use it in terms of the NIL and the.

settlement that's going down with a. $20.5 million cap to the student. athletes. Um, gosh, I mean, guys, there. are so many other expenses. Stadium. renovations and just all kinds of other. things. People hear about all these mega. million dollars and forget that there. are a lot of other expenses that the. athletic departments have to run to be. self-sufficient and sustain the other. non-REV sports that they have. Yeah, the. non-rev sports obviously a big deal. Got. to keep those. Have to keep those. Need. sports, need more sports, need as many. sports as we could possibly have. Uh.

also helps whenever you just got donors. that'll just give hundreds of millions. of dollars. That'll help as well. Yeah, that'll help as well. And uh we're all. trying to find that for our. universities. Heather, thank you so much. for joining us on such quick notice. Way. to break the news and way to be on top. of it. Hey man, find a find a. quarterback for my Steelers next time. I'm on. We talk about that. All right. Where are you from? I was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. And I appreciate the love that you. showed the Berg this year. I followed. along with that, man. I was hoping there. was a QB in the audience there for you,

though. Oh, yeah. Everybody did. Yeah. That was a little worrisome going in. there that everybody in this arena is. hoping that Aaron Rogers comes out here. and says he's going to be a quarterback. And I'm really the only one and the. people that are backstage that know that. that is not that is not even a thought. Has not even been a consideration. But I. think you're not the only one that's. worried. But Tone said yesterday, die. hard Steelers fans, Mason Rudolph's the. guy. Well, yeah, for the first few weeks. and then as Heather knows, we got a. national champion, Will Howard. He's the. future. He's so tall.

He's Listen, I I love Will Howard. I. think all these guys um that people are. talking about, Jaylen Milro included, a. lot of developmental quarterbacks in. this year's class. Will Howard is an. outstanding student. I've heard. everything great about him in terms of. his work at work work ethic and his. desire and him just him as a human. being. And you know what? I will be a. Mason Rudolph fan. Why? Because he's. there. Because he's won some football. games. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds exactly like everybody.

else over there. Ladies and gentlemen, uh, College Heather did a job. I will be. a Mason Rudolph fan. Okay. If Mason. Rudolph is the quarterback, I will be. forced to be to be the fan. Cuz he's. there. Cuz he's there. He's the guy. taking he's taking the snaps. That's. right. But well, for Tennessee, Aaron is. around. He did Joe Rogan yesterday. He. said a lot of stuff. Yo, a lot of He did. important stuff. He did. He did. I. didn't get to hear Listen. Yeah. Tone, did you listen to the whole thing? Yeah, they broke down a lot of stuff. A lot of.

stuff. I four or five hours. Yeah. What? What? I don't know. I'm just. guessing. He didn't listen. Sounds like. he lied. There is not a He lied. People. died. How long was that? It's a good. question. I bet it was three. Three and. a half. Man, Rogan long time. Roen goes. a long time. Three hours and four. minutes. 3 hours and 12 minutes. Oh, sorry. Oh. They covered a lot of stuff. Yes, they did. I saw some tweets. There. was a lot of stuff. Yeah. I can't wait.

to listen. Good work. Way to go, boys. 3. hours 12m minute conversation, you know. Oh, yeah. Just a lot of with. young Jamie. Yep. Mhm. Three hours. He's. He's at a five or sixer, I think, in. there a couple times. Couple pea breaks. That's unbelievable. Yeah. I'm fascinated by that. Yeah. Let's take a break. Come back. Mhm. Probably. We're 4 hours into this. Hey, just listen to it. Let us know. We're. listening. We're all listening. Oh, yeah. AJ AJ's a thousand% already.

listened to it. Definitely. I haven't. Yeah. No, that's I' actually I I want to. learn it. Yeah. I have a feeling of what. they're I I know what they're going to. cover. Probably similar to what happened. last time. But yeah, from the clips that. I've seen. Yeah. But I'll listen. Lot of lot of similar themes in there. I. think seems like he's happy though. Yeah. I think that's hitting water guns. Exactly. Feels like he's in a good spot. He also talked about, you know, what was. going on in his inner circle, which I. think he didn't want to say at one point. and then whenever he said I have a lot.

of stuff going on with my people and. people were just like, "Yeah, we all. do." And he's that he find I think he. felt obligated to be like couple people. in my circle like real real [ __ ] that. they are depending upon me. So, I'd like. to be able to focus on that and other. things that I have going on. So I I. think anytime he gets to clarify himself. on things, you know, there is a sense. from folks like, "Okay, that makes more. sense." And then there's also the people. who are like, "Don't care. Don't want to. hear it." They do that. And I think it's. Rogan, too. So I think that's uh I think.

that's why it's a really good sympotico. It is. I think so. Matt, that level, especially with Rogan, I've thought. about him a lot through this entire. thing. Uh followed and watched what he. did a lot, too. Great business, great talent, obviously. being able to do what he does. Could you. imagine having a show that sways world's. policies? I don't think that's what he started. out. I don't think when he started, I. don't think that's what he thought it. would grow into. But yeah, it's wild.

No, I've had some I've had some vitamins. sometimes, you know, and then I get on a. plane all by myself and then I'll see. something's blown up like something is. just gigantic and think to myself like. he just walks into that room, sits down, puts the [ __ ] thing on and that's. like all. right, who knows where we're headed. today. And then there's a chance that. like in countries are changing policies. because it's a w that is a that's a lot. of pressure that that is uh I couldn't. even f feels like he handles it very.

very well and obviously he's had massive. but it's been like that for a long time. now. He's just been like it's crazy that. is crazy thing. I don't even know what. goes on like when something happens. during a show in the back of his mind. just going like yeah I wonder he's like. oh yep that's gonna get some traction. Yeah. Exactly. It's a It's an. interesting thing. I That pressure is. not something I Plus the amount of. people I mean the amount of death. threats that I get and we just talk. sports. Mhm. You know, I couldn't even. imagine if you like opposed their.

political opinion. The support. Yeah. Or. provided evidence against somebody else. It's like those people get so mad. The. political people, they get so [ __ ]. mad. And it I understand because they're. saving the world in their eyes. Yeah. And I think what happens is they don't. understand that there's a complete other. side that thinks they're saving the. world too. Y So if you got two people. that are saving the world that view the. same exact thing from the complete. opposite way and you both exist forever,

I don't know if you're going to ever. Nope. So are you yelling at a wall. kind of a bit? Yeah. But we appreciate. people doing it. Somebody's got to do. it. Somebody's got to do it. Yeah, you're right. We appreciate people doing. it, but that seems like a very. unfulfilling. cuz not there's never you know, trying. to like constantly trying to win, but. like do you really ever win? Like I. don't think so. I don't know. I don't. know. Like it feels like every once in a. while there's a big win for somebody and. then you scroll a little bit and it's.

like no actually complete opposite. It's. like Jesus you guys are never going to. agree on anything over. It never like. for us good game happens like last night. Pacers Knicks. I think everybody in. sports world was like a good game. Yeah. Like Knicks fans were like that was a. good game. Like we all had a moment last. night. like all of us had a that was. awesome, you know, needed it here in. Indianapolis too with the loss of Jim. happening uh you know at the beginning. of that. So it was like magic I think it. was like a magical night sports provide. and I don't know if I didn't get a.

chance to cuz all the sports were. happening and literally the stars and. oil stars. Yeah. Coming back like that. was a great game. I didn't get a chance. to check out what was going on in. political world yesterday. They get. along they have they did actually. Did. they have a really Yeah. watershed. moment? I'm sure they did. They put. their sores down for a second. Yeah, I. like that. Yeah, about three. I don't know how many. parties. Everybody Everybody feels like. there is two distinct ones, you know, and I know that it's talked about um. feels like a majority of people here. though. Feels like majority of people.

here, but these ones real chirpy. Oh, yeah. The these ones are the most These. ones are the most chirpy. They lied. They're lied. You know, cuz they're the. ones that we're for the cause. We're for. the cause. This is what you need to do. And they're kind of feeling like they're. giving the marching orders almost. Oh. yeah. For the people that are on the the. the outer side periphery, the. periphery looking outside going, "What. am I how am I supposed to what am I. supposed to do? How am I supposed to. feel about this?" And then the ones on. the outside, we got you. [ __ ] them. No,

it's us. And then it's like, you know. what I mean? And it's and then these. ones are the loudest because I think. they're setting the tone for everybody. And then everybody just kind of filters. in here like, "Man, that's loud out. there." And then you just got it's and. you drift out. What's going on out? Oh, and you come back in and then what's. going on? Oh my god. You guys are never. going to You guys are never going to. agree on No. Feels like there's a. fundamental disagreement here. You. reminded me and thank you for reminding. me while Aaron was on Rogan talking. about change, Mason Rudolph was in the.

Oval Office actually instituting change. Okay. Mason Rudolph was there. That's. true. Mason, was he really? No. Last. week. Yeah. Mandatory goatees. Maybe it. was this week. Could you imagine Trump with a goatee? President Trump, especially a jet black. one like maybe Rudolph. [Music]. He should. Uh, good luck over there. Thank you guys for saving the world. Absolutely. Thank you. Appreciate it. Somebody's got to do it. Somebody has. to. A lot of people have to do it, I. guess. But I'm thankful I'm not in that.

world. How about whenever they were. talking about Stephen A running for. president and he was like, you know, I'm. thinking about it. You should. Yeah. I'm. like, really? Definitely. Good idea, boy. That's real life over there, brother. Like, this is real. Obviously, sports are awesome. And people get very. personal and people get very pissed off. over here. People call you terrible. things in the sports world. I'm. learning. It's more toxic than I thought. it was going to be. Sure. I'm learning. Yeah, it's a little bit more to talk. It. is unifying. Like sports are the most. unifying. Last night I saw a high five.

happen between two different cultures. Clearly did not. But also group was next. to and group was next to high five, celebration, hug, everybody coming. together. I think sports have that. But. in the sports media world, sports talk. world, boy, it gets a little toxic out. there because if you if you if you don't. like somebody's team, you you took a. shot directly at me. I mean, [ __ ] I had. Colts fans Yeah. saying terrible things. about me this year cuz I just didn't, you know, appreciate the way things were.

being handled over there by the locker. room, which I still have hope for. though. they're going to turn it around. I So I I didn't expect how toxic it gets. and how mean people can be because they. get take it very personally, which I. respect, which is why sports are as. great as it is. But in the politics. world, it's like everything is personal. Like Oh, yeah. Everything. Yeah. I guess Stephen A is built for it. I. guess he'd be built for it. No doubt. Yeah. But has anybody told him.

like, "Bro, I don't. know. This doesn't sound like a fun. time." Has anybody said like, "Hey, I. don't know if it's a fun time." Has. anybody said that? I would assume I. would assume that. I hope so. Yeah. But he, you know, some. people like it living out there. Yeah. Some people that's they thrive in that. that energy. I think you're right. We. And we need people that do love that. Like you can tell President Trump loves. it. Like, all right, I can take it on. the shins. Uh, whatever. Whatever you do. to me. I am. And you need people that. are like that. Obviously, I think. Barack, President Barack Obama was.

similar, was able to just continue to do. his things. And you look at the people. that get to the top just kind of move. and move and you just get battering. rammed in the shin on everything. You. just got to have no personal feelings. Basically, you like anything anybody. says to me is not not personal. Even. though it is very personal, everything's. I don't I don't have that ability. I. don't have that ability. Even like. Outkick will dance with politics heavily. and I'm like, "Oh, man. People got to be so mad at you all. the time." I think it's because they do. both sides.

All right. That was good delivery. Good delivery. Yes, it was. That was really good, actually. They say they're they say. they're adding a balance to the way. things are going, which I mean, that is. how it is, though. It's just like. everybody does their and it's just so. I'm happy sports can hopefully provide. moments of unity, you know. I do feel. that the whole world's going to feel. like that someday. I got Yeah. Yeah. In. my lifetime, I think it's going to. happen. Everybody's going to be rowing.

in the same direction. That's right. Everybody's going to Something's going. to Something's going to cause that. Something has to cause something has to. bring us all together. What can bring us. all together? Mass. Everybody's going to. go shake everybody's hands. World Cup. and mass destruction. World Cup. No. Yeah, a ma mass mass destruction. A huge. No, we're talking World Cup, brother. Geographical event, like. [Music]. concentr win. Yeah, that'll do it. Big.

TST win. That'll do it. Potentially. bring some people together. We'll be. there. I can't wait. Yes, we Yes. Yes. Bicycle kick for a goal. I want to see a. bicycle kick. We will have boots on the. ground. Bingo. At TST. All of them. Yeah. All the boots that'll be there. will be on the grind. Yep. 10 toes down. That's right. You've been working on. your uh. um dismantling of referees mindsets. I. got some new boots that uh I'm.

definitely not going to use them at the. tournament, but they are phenomenal. Are. they red? Yeah. But do you have any new. sayings for these refs? Oh, I'm always. [ __ ] ready. The rest are going to see. the new boots and be like, "Oh shit.". Might go boots. Might wear boots to. coach. Do you have red boots? The boys. have to go. They do have a nice uh red. tongue on them. Yes. Love that red. boots. They're the Jude Bellinghams. They're brand new. They're unbelievable. By the way, the Binghams out there, especially if they got a sweet hint of. red. Mhm. Him and uh the coaches of KNA are going.

to be great at what they do. Oh yeah. Stack lineup in our uh in our group this. year. Yeah. You're You're going to kill. it though. You in the group of death. Rexom's you. I mean, Athletico, we got a good group. Who we playing. first? We got Rexom and Bournemouth in. our group. Yeah, Bournemouth's really. good. They're playing. They had a. professional player on their team. Yeah, the Bourne boys. Matt Richie. I don't. think he'll be out there. They have. Richie playing. Richie signed. They. still under contract with Portsmith till. next season. So, we'll see about that.

So, I don't know if TSD is in a million. dollar tournament or just going to let a. pro. You're signing pros now. Is that. okay? We want we want Lou Messi. Boom. Yeah. Hong Kong kaya. Heard he has. interest. I mean heard he'll be out of. contract pretty soon by the sounds of. things. No, he's going to sign back with. Inter Miami. Is he not buddy? Inner. Miami has lost six of seven and they've. let up 20 goals in the last six. He's. coming to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Pittsburgh Riverhounds got knocked out. last night at the US. Messy playing. Lou. Yeah, he's been playing every game.

They're losing. He's playing. They lost. six. That's not some Mickey Mouse. league. This is the MLS. Yeah, you're. right. It's bad. It's bad news right now. in Miami. It's not going well. This. ain't Barcelona, pal. Yeah, this ain't. just some farm league, pal. This is the [ __ ] MLS. Well, you know. what? Actually, it ties directly to. correlates with his his uh personal. security guard not being on the field. Agreed. And and I don't want to dive. into that anymore, but if the MLS. tricked this whole thing off because. they wouldn't [ __ ] let a security. guard on the sideline, they deserve.

everything. It's coming to them. Now, with that being said, MLS go league. Yeah, it is league. It's tough league. Lou needs to go to the Timbers. I was. gonna say it's just a matter of time. before he kicks down Beckham's door and. says like [ __ ] treat me to Portland. right now. I want to be a timber. You. think Lou Bessie is moving to Portland? He wants He's certainly interested. You. think he wants He wants an MLS title. Yeah, he wants to Lou Bessie leaves in. Miami. He's packing his [ __ ] and going. where? To Portland. Packing his [ __ ] out of America. Oh, the. Columbus Crew maybe. I could see him.

with Austin. Oh, yeah. Boston FC with McConn. What about Cincinnati FC? Don't they. have a brand new stadium already? Good. young lad. He could maybe want to go to. Cincinnati. I I think he'll eventually. stay. He just seems very pissed off. right now. Well, that's cuz the team. stinks and his security guard's not a. lot bigger. I could see him leading the. revolution. The. Revs died for the Revs. I don't know. which country an actual revolution. A. revolution of peace in hope. That's a.

Lou Messi does with that left foot. Maybe you should play goalie if he's so. good. That's not a bad idea. He's not. playing for America in the World Cup, right? Even though he lives in Miami. Uh. that has not been decided. Pissic also. isn't playing at the Gold Cup. So yeah. What happened there? So none of our good. players are playing. What? What? What. happened? Raina's not there. Pic not. there. Raina was a decision by the. gaffer. He doesn't want our gaffer is a. [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] this. Actually, it. turns out.

turns out Gio might not be good. Yeah, he is not good. He showed up to the last. tournament very out of shape. I mean, that's fine. You know, he doesn't play. We've been We've been acting like this. guy's the savior for the long time and. he's just not. But when you give a guy. the moniker Captain America and then. he's not [ __ ] playing in one of your. marquee tournaments, I'm I'm looking at. the gaffer and saying, "Do you know what. the [ __ ] you're doing, pal?" What's his. name? [ __ ] Ponch Pon Ponchettinho. I. don't think that's [ __ ] Pete. Ponchettinho. I'm out on this son of a.

[ __ ] I want him out. Why is the police playing though? He's. banged up from a long season at AC. Milan. He's trying to rest up and be. ready for the World Cup. Okay. He's. getting ready for a World Cup. It's like. [ __ ] four years hosting it. Next. year, boys. Is it next year? Yeah. 2026. It's close. But also, I don't he's got. he's got a strained hat to take 18. months off. They got to build this team. together. Like, I don't love it. I mean, when's the when's the World Cup start?

Next summer. Next summer. Next June. Okay. So, I'll see you there. [ __ ]. soccer. I don't care about this year's world. Now, what are we going to do? You know. what we are right now to the rest of the. world? We are Qatar. That's who we are. We're the team that gets a hand out. Welcome in. You get to play in the World. Cup. And then we get [ __ ] cuz we have. Pete Punch or whatever the hell his name. is. And a Captain America who's got a. hurt toe or something. You can't even. play tired. All right. My Captain.

America, you know, you know what my. Captain America did? Lando Donovan. He. [ __ ] buried Algeria in the ground. He. did and sent us to the knockout stages. I didn't seem [ __ ] Pithic do any of. that [ __ ] Yeah. Or Clint Dempsey. I. mean Jeff Cameron Bingo. [ __ ] the. bald guy. Tony Mola. Germaine Jones. Michael Bradley Jones. Lexi Lawless. Absolutely. Bingo. Taylorman. It's not his name. Twer man. They got. great new tarps. So I don't think that's.

his name either. I think I think it's. just Taylor. Okay. Well, that's what I'm. saying. Names that we remember. Christian Pissic. I guess I'll just. remember him as being tired. The guy. that's tired. Okay, captain. I don't. like that. Me neither. Is that what it. is, Gumps? He's tired. Yeah, he's rested. up from a long season in Italy. The cool. guy with tattoos. But this is this I'm. not the f He should be playing. I get. it. But this is the first season he's. gone without getting hurt and played a. full season. Okay. So, he's not hurt, so.

he should play. Yeah, that's what I'm. saying. like it is a good thing that he. hasn't gotten hurt, but also I get he. should be playing. He came on the show. I appreciate him coming on show, taking. time with us uh when I was at West. Virginia for the. I forgot about that. Yeah. Okay. This. guy is acting like he's Captain America. Meanwhile, I think we have given him the. moniker Captain America. I think he is. super quiet. I don't know if I think a. lot of people did. He's masking raiding. around as Captain America when in.

reality this guy's [ __ ] Hawkeye. I. think it was he is a sea level [ __ ]. Avenger buddy. He was unbelievable at AC. Milan all year, dude. Sea level best. season of his career here. That was. disrespectful to Hawkeye. You're right. Okay. Yeah. [ __ ] I'm just saying we. need our guys. He's our guy. We need him. [ __ ] We're one year out from the. World Cup. We got a new gaffer. And. don't don't we need to go That's what. I'm saying. Like the team should learn. how to play with together as well. Yes,

cuz we're we're going to do the same. thing. Suck. We're going to show up. We're going to go out there and talk and. we're going to be playing [ __ ] Guam. in pool play and we're going to tie them. and these guys are just going to be. bitching the whole time and then it's. going to be and then we're not going to. make it out of the the [ __ ] knockout. I mean, it just I'm done. I'm done. So, the problem I think the biggest problem. for us is we talk every time as if we. are going to win a World Cup. That's my. expectation. So, we kind of over. America. Exactly. We got a big country, lot of people, a lot of opportunity, a.

lot of money invested in soccer. No. matter how shitty US Soccer has been. over the years, which it certainly is. and has been, and has been new. leadership multiple times throughout my. livelihood, uh my life, like we have. enough, well, our best athletes don't. get to play. It's like, okay, cool. We. still have we still have our other. athletes. Like, there's a lot of we have. a lot of [ __ ] We're a massive. country. How come we haven't been able. to figure it out? Well, we're so far. behind. Okay. How many hundreds of years. into soccer do we have to be before we. This was sold as the golden generation. as well. That that is the biggest issue.

Like it was different when you had dogs. going out there and doing well and. overachieving. This group was sold as. the golden generation and they haven't. produced. Turns out they're the patent. generation. We don't we don't have any. junkyard dogs. And that and that's just. the bottom line. We're the wuss. generation. That's the soccer we're. watching. We're watching this. That's. your actually is Is this your. generation? Did you say my generation. then? This is Bones generation. It's the. Woo generation. It's It's the It's the. era of punch. And there's another word I.

could use there with a P, but I don't. want to use it. Well, we we haven't seen. Ponch coach yet either. We've heard him. try to speak English. It's not good. I. don't know how that goes. And we've seen. how his boys react to him. They don't. want to play. I'm tired, coach. And you. know what he says? Ponch says, "Why. don't you grab some pine?" That's okay. You go ahead, be tired. He's not even. going to be there, right? I'm traveling. Who? Pissic. Yeah. No, he's he's out. Not even with the lads. That's what I. say. It's not It's not right. It's not. good. Wait, Gump though, is Prolific is.

he going to sit out for the next 12. months and rest up for the World Cup? I. would assume there's 15 more tournaments. to play in that he's going to Yeah, he's. just he's just taking the summer off. I'm okay with it. I think he was trying. to take the summer off. If he's done. till the World Cup, I'm okay with it. I'm okay. We need training videos, though. Yeah, we we need training. videos. We need to know he's working. That's what they should do. All of them. should take off all the time from now. till the World Cup and just Hey, no. money. Let's get together. Exactly. You. know how much money they'll make if they.

if they make it to the I don't. know finals. The semis. If they make it to the semis, all of a sudden these guys are [ __ ]. heroes, man. They could tour around like. the Savannah bananas just kicking the. ball and like, "Hey, come see [ __ ]. Captain America and the Avengers," you. know? and they would actually get a. crowd and then if they instead if they. lose to Guam if they lose to some is. Guam in the World Cup just so I know. there's no way they might be Jeff might.

be striker actually. they have called up some dogs who from. the MLS though that I think I think are. excited to play we ain't winning I don't. give a [ __ ] yeah but I think that's kind. of what's been missing dude like if you. talk about like Jeff Cameron and Bre. Shay, they like were fired up every time. they put on that tarp. I think they. added a lot more guys that are going to. play at the Gold Cup that are fired up. to play for USA. And they're going to. play in an American style. Not going to.

be flopping around. But are they any. good? Yeah. Yeah. Diego would be fired. up to go get in between the pipes and. play for team. Where's the Where's the. little Where's the boy? Where's the real. chosen one? The the little package from. Philadelphia. The 14-year-old. Where's. he at? He better be in this. Is he in. this? No. No. All right. What are we. doing once again? Put his ass in there. We got Y. Yeah. So, he's [ __ ] 16. The. rest of the world better be talking like. this when it comes to flag football in. the Olympics. I hope they understand.

that they got no shot. This better be. the vibe because that's how I feel. I. feel like we are Sweden trying to put. together a flag football team to compete. with the United States when it comes to. soccer. Well, on that note, let's get. out of here. We're supposed to be a. positive uh group, but it's hard to be. positive about this soccer team. We. haven't seen this dude's team though. We. need to Yeah, we need Paul when you see. Paul just I can see it in my head. And. guess what? They're all [ __ ] tired. Just see. Let's see how the gold cup. goes. Just Just wait and see how the. gold cup goes. If the gold cup is [ __ ].

then you can say ponch you've had. enough. Are you eating? But either way, he's getting the world cup player. I. don't want to [ __ ] play. You're. eating popcorn from yesterday. Is that. so. much? Here's something funny. Yeah. Uh. Guam was actually the first country in. the entire world to be eliminated from. this World Cup of course. They were. eliminated. They were eliminated in. 2023. That's what we're saying. Yeah. JC. Matteo is a [ __ ] Backlash. That's why. he wasn't wasn't on the pitch. All. right, let's have a great afternoon. We'll see you tomorrow. Watch the. conference finals tonight. We'll be.

talking a lot about it. And tomorrow, uh. we'll have a nice feelood Friday to go. into a great weekend. Be a friend. Tell. a friend something nice. It might change. your life. Rest in peace, Jim. You. [ __ ] did good, brother. Uh, let's. enjoy. tonight. Team on me, team on three. 1, two, three. Team, goodbye.