The Pat McAfee Show Live | Wednesday May 21st 2025

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[Music]. [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 Cubans is the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any. further. Hey, let's go. This show stinks and the fact that you. listen, we are very, very thankful. Mab.

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 to. our humble abode. The Thunderdome on. this Tom Cruz Wednesday May 21st 2025. This program starts now.

Sports are happening and decision was. made to wear jerseys uh on this. particular program about 4 minutes ago. So everybody has scrambled. Conor was. certainly the motivator and the driver. behind this. That is the talk to table. at Boston. Connor wearing the Will. Campbell jersey. Obviously, left tackle. And that is at Tai Schmidt wearing the. left tackle of Yeah, this is the uh 2024. Debbone Murphy Stag Bowl champion uh. official jersey. Wow. Stag Bull is the. D3 national champion for those that.

don't know. Game worn. What? So, he. didn't put We need to put that into that. uh. There's no scuffs on that. There's no. dirt. Obviously, he was uh he was the. alpha that entire game. Uh D3 football. player obviously committed to the game. That's right. D3 left tackle very. committed to the game. I think he had to. wash that jersey and he also had to wash. his own pads and I don't I don't know if. they had a locker room. He tells me they. did. I've never seen it. But I am. incredibly proud of you supporting. Debbone, especially after the things. that you guys have been saying about.

Debbone over the last couple weeks. I. know what you've been saying. Actually, Bruce got in on today. He took a picture. of him eating as if it was a zoo animal. and sent it into the group text today. That's cuz he was eating bacon and. that's cannibalism. You got you got to. kind of grab that when you can. I am. disgusted. I didn't say that. One half. of the hammer. Dad Cowboys AP10. Love. what you're doing with the jersey, brother. Yeah, it's it's not a lot of. people think it's a Pat Footh jersey. It's not. It's just a M.

Moth. Yeah, Fri Muth. Obviously, absolute dog for the Pittsburgh. Steelers. Who's going to be his. quarterback? Is it going to be Mason. Crosby or uh is it going to be Aaron. Rogers? Hopefully uh hopefully it's Mace. dog. I don't want Aaron anymore. Wow. What? Tony, we are live. No, Aaron. I. mean, Mason showed up a week early. He. was making note cards forever. All All. of his teammates writing down plays. He's he's quit. He's just a leader of. the team right now. And what's Aaron. doing? Squirting squirt guns. It's. concerts. What are you talking about? And where was you talking about? D Mike.

studs. You're talking about D. I believe. that's where I saw it. Okay. One of. them's focus on football. One of them's. at a concert squirting squirt guns. One. of them is in Mount Rushmore football. players. One of them I don't care. Sweet. goatee. Yeah. Great goatee. Great. goatee. Uh it'll get all sorted. Didn't. a biographer come out and say uh this. week. Yeah. That Aaron's going to make a. decision this week. That would make no. sense for everything that Aaron has. said. Aaron said uh I'm not committing. to OTAAS for anybody. I'm 41 years old. I got a lot going on in my life. Um and. I don't want it to become a big scene. like it was for the Jets. I was at 98%.

of their workouts and I had to go to. Egypt. That thing had been planned. uh. obviously June 12th, 2024, right? 6 12. 24 uh had to go over to Egypt and that. just so happened to be whenever this was. happening. Everybody said I was a. terrible teammate even though I was at. all of them before that. Uh so I wasn't. going to commit to any team and tell. them that I was going to play for them, make a big scene out of it and then miss. the entire OTAAS which was going to. happen because of things going on in his. personal life and then everybody has. said, "Well, this week he's going to. make a decision. This week he's going to. make a decision. Biographers say he's. going to make a decision." It's like. Aaron has said he's not making a.

decision till after OTAAS. That that is. what he said. Now, maybe he lied, which. is what a lot of people think. Or maybe. he just said exactly uh how this is. going to roll out and he doesn't know if. he's still playing. I think that is all. to be determined as well. To be honest, my real motivation for Mason to be a. quarterback is show I could shove that 0. and6 up Dan Wowsky's ass this week, this. uh season. You think so? So So they're. going 06. So Mason R. So no, Dan said. with Mason Rudolph, the Steelers are. going to start 0 and6. Oh, so you want. them to prove Emmy award-winning Dan.

Olowski wrong with Mason Rudolph. Yeah. So if Aaron signs I don't get to dunk on. Dan as hard. Congrats to Dan Rowski. Baby D. Oh yeah. Hard work always. always pays off. That's not true. This represents a lot tremendous. Can I. finish your NFL event bothering you? But. I love we love Yukon Marian as well. But. I love I love you. We will get into the. Marawn conversation because it feels as.

if there is a chance that the Kaniacs. just uh started something with the. Panthers that is going to make game two. electrifying from puck drop. I do. believe there's a chance a five on five. fight is about to happen in game two of. the Eastern Conference Finals in the. NHL, which is a beautiful thing. Uh it's. great for hockey. Hopefully uh nobody. gets hurt. Hopefully the boys are able. to survive. But Dan Olowski and NFL live. when uh the outstanding daily show Emmy. sports Emmy. Very happy for Dan. Dan put. out a a tweet in the morning and.

we hand up our fault. Had no idea those. Emmys were last. They did it. Did nobody. knew. No idea. Nobody said a thing. Big. big games. I don't think it was me. Yeah, exactly. The conference finals are. happening here. We It was not mentioned. one time in this entire Thunderdome. I. don't think. Nope. kind of bummed out. about that because I I was kind of. looking forward to because you know. coach Sabin uh was up for an award and I. was incredibly pumped for him. Congrats. Coach Sabach. Now uh outstanding emerging on air uh.

talent coach Shabin. I sent him a a text. way after he won cuz once again I had no. idea. So, it's hours later, which is why. he might have seen it cuz I couldn't. even imagine how many things. And I just. told him like, I don't think I've seen. anybody that has been portrayed as a. stiff. uh be able to transfer into a television. legend as quickly and as smoothly as he. was able to do it. And I told him like. the resume only gets you a few weeks. like, "Hey, this greatest of all time. Got to listen to what he says. This is. greatest of all time. Got to listen to.

what he says. This greatest of all. time." It's like when celebrities go and. do like a stand-up tour. Like their name. gets them like the first couple shows. People will bite. But at some point, you. got to be good. At some point, you got. to keep them there. It's not just your. resume. It's not just what you're able. to do as a coach. You got to be a TV. person. And you got to be able to be. good at giving your message. You got to. be good at having a message. And uh you. got to have moxy. And I'll tell you. what, the thing that set this man, old. Saint Nick, the greatest of all time in. college ball. His moxy was stupendous.

his amount of swagger, his confidence, his ability to just kind of let loose a. little bit more than people thought, while also being able to deliver. messages that I think all of college. football was wanting him to say and all. of college football was listening to him. say. He became one of the best people on. all of television very quickly and uh it. was an honor sitting next to him. Congrats, coach. He did it. He's very. passionate. Yeah. Loves college ball. Loves college ball. There's sometimes. where I think he wants to say something. He's like, I I don't know if I want to. burn it down, you know? Mhm. Like he he. like he's watching him like pick and.

choose what he wants to it's been it's. and so prepared. I mean like of course. overly ridiculously prepared cuz his. entire life he spent watching film. So. now he just watches film for you know. college game day and it's like we all. get to benefit from it. I don't know if. we need to do a 100 film sessions with. him, but I do love whenever he is. talking bull, you know, like I think in. letting him just kind of do his thing, he has certainly uh earned that, put a. lot of work in it, and I assume that's. the first of many that are coming to.

Coach Sabin's uh trophy case, which is. so awesome. You've seen it, right? His house. Yeah, he's he's got that wing. He's got a wing. of his house that they built for. recruiting. So, they would like host. basically. So, he's got this beautiful. home, beautiful home, and Miss Tara is a. phenomenal cook. And they have a they. have like the perfect setup to like. host. Like, it was very clear that this. house was set up to like host. And then. they added an entire wing basically for. like recruiting trips for families.

That's where you see him doing the. twostep [ __ ] and whenever he's uh doing. the entire electric slide. I saw. somebody on the internet doing electric. slide the other day. I thought for sure. they would know the electric slide. And. uh it wasn't bad. I'm not going to say. anything, but I watched the video and I. was like, I don't think I've ever seen. that style. But yeah, that's the room. They have all the jerseys of guys around. the room. Imagine with that room. It was. trophies everywhere. So cool, I bet. Yeah. And then they got a card table. over here. He's like, I place cards over.

here now, dude. You ever seen me. dancing? Spades player. Yeah, I think. he's a good player, too. I think he felt. like he obligated to be great, too. That. probably helped him. So, let me get it. straight. If I if I'm good at spades, this is good for recruiting. Yeah, sounds good. Somebody needs to teach me. how to play spades. And uh I assume that. this is the first of many for Coach. Sabin. And speaking of first of many, congrats College Game Day. Congrats. College Game Day. Um obviously that show. is an institution. That shows up at. campuses and every person there feels.

obligated to go show up for their school. and represent for their school. And what. College Game Day has done for so long is. in their eyes, I think the way uh. College Game Day says it is like just. showcase college football. Like that is. basically the goal is to showcase the. sport that they are obsessed with. And. I've talked about this numerous times. after getting a chance to meet the. people behind the scenes who've been. with Game Day a long time. So they. they've been with ESPN a long time and. they've been with college football a. long time. So those are two groups that. uh you know I don't think are the.

biggest fans of uh Mike. those people. have, you know, like if you just look at. the people been around ESPN a long time, probably not the biggest fan of ours, old school college football people. whenever I got in college, hated my. guts. So, both those people were the. people that are running college game day. behind the scenes. So, it was an. interesting dynamic them trying to. adjust to me being dropped into their. world cuz that hiring came above them. So, I'm just dropped in the middle of. the season uh into their world. So, the. way they have treated me and like kind.

of adjusted to me has been very cool. But watching them just be the wagon that. they have been for 30 years and how they. do things and their passion for college. football is just very real. And uh I. think that's why when people get all. pissed off at ESPN for things that. happen in the college football world, oh. ESPN's doing this, ESPN's doing this. It's like I know you love college. football and that's why you are. passionate about it, but the people that. are working in the college football. world at ESPN are obsessed with like the. people that are actually making. decisions. They like literally eat, sleep, and breathe college football. So,

it's nice to see them get uh. acknowledged by their peers for all. their hard work. And shout out to Daniel. and the Vans. Yeah, shout out to Daniel. and the Vans. What congrats to you. though, man. That's you got to obviously. you play a huge huge part. They've been. doing it for a long time. College. football's been around forever. Football. obviously has to evolve, but the. coverage and the [ __ ] that we watch has. to evolve. I know at least my age group, my friend group and down for sure like. huge grow. I don't know the numbers and. what they have been. Highest rated. seasons last three years. Yeah. So,

yeah. Yeah. Big big part of that. Not. only those moments, but what you guys. do. You and S been working together. I. think you had a big part of, you know, teammates. It's all dope, man. The whole. crew, Kirk, uh, every everybody that. does their thing. Desmond Dez Reese. professional, Steve Coughlin, Pete, Jen. Lada, Jess Sims. I mean, you start. rolling through the people that are on. camera for that. I think we Marty even. did some stuff for us. McGee did some. stuff, right, for the season. It's like. a really talented group of people. And. then the crew, the truck drivers, the.

camera people, uh, Rman, uh, Mike Johnny. Mike Johnny Violence. Mike R. Yeah. Johnny Broio obviously behind the. scenes. His entire crew. There's a lot. That's a whole That is a village of. people that kind of pick up and move all. football season. So, congrats to College. Game Day. Way to go. Congrats to Sabin. Congrats to NFL live winning. That's. where Dan Rowski won. The. people, I don't want to underell it. I'm. not going to do that. A friend of the. program, Peter Shreger. Yep. Came on the.

day after Good Morning Football won an. Emmy a few years back and it it was like. when Alexander Vetkin won Stanley Cup. first time. Best day of his life. Marriage, kids. I mean, yeah, for real. And uh I think it's just cuz I didn't. grow up in the TV world and I don't. think I went to any TV. I didn't never. really had the didn't know this was. going to be life. So I don't think I. fully understand and compare. People get. really pumped up about those. Oh yeah. It's like a career defining thing. Yeah. They get really really pumped up. So. congrats to everybody that won last. night. Shout out to Molly, remember from.

NBC? Oh yeah. The Olympics. Yeah. Legend. Absolute legend. We got a chance. to meet her. She came out here. She. wanted to come out here and talk to us. She really did. It was before we um. before I end up licensing my show. anywhere. Uh Molly came and pitched for. us to be a part of like the Olympic. coverage. And she was like, "We need you. in the Olympic coverage." And I'm like, I don't know if that's going to be. possible if we end up going anywhere. else. And she was like, well, let me. show you why we need to make it happen. Gave a full She had a full presentation. Yeah, she's a dog. Sold us. Yeah, she. definitely did. We're like, all right,

we're going to try to figure that out. So, assume that we will do something. with the Olympics at some point as Molly. continues to run it if we are still. welcome. But watching her give a speech, I was like thinking to myself like. that's a lady that is fully committed to. the Olympic coverage and she wins, it's. like congrats to all of them over there. That was a big night over there in New. York City, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Think of. the amount of humans over there that. despise us. Could you imagine we walk. into that place? Mhm. We walk into this. place, the suits would just everything. would just the ties would just get super. tighter over there. What an interesting.

world. Interesting world. Orlovski. though. Emmy award winner. Yeah. Love. it. Damn. Well deserved. Damn right. You. think it was for that uh virtual reality. [ __ ] they did? Uh no. They were up for. one two. I'm not sure if Hulk won. I. know he won. He's a part of NFL Live, too, but uh Hulk Andrew Hawkins. Oh, Hawk. Yeah. Uh, but I know they were. there as Emmys, brother. Yeah, because. of the stuff that Dan was doing with the. with the status pro on air. It was dope. All right, let's talk about the sports. that took place last night. Conference. finals started for the NHL uh Eastern. Conference, the Kiacs and the Florida.

Panthers. This one started out as a. physical fight, didn't it, Con Man? Yeah, they they were kind of going at it. right off the bat. I believe there was. one shot in the first eight minutes and. 17 hits, something along those lines. And it was incredible hockey. Last night. was a great reminder that this week and. next week hopefully, you know, God. willing, that these sports continue to. go and that we don't have a lot of what. was last night um continues on. But you. love the conference finals. The Cats. were just dominant. Uh they scored early. on the power play and their power play.

hadn't been good. I'm pretty sure the. Hurricanes had the number one penalty. kill in the playoffs and the and the. Cats I think were 10th. Uh but yeah, that backhand right off the top. Eggblad. top right piping in shortly thereafter. Filthy goal. Uh that's actually the. Kane's captain Jordan Stall turning it. over and then Egglad, how you doing? Right where mama hides the cookies. Uh. that was wonderful. Uh and it continued. Carolina got one at the end of the first. period, but that was basically all she. wrote. The Panthers continued to roll.

Uh 3-1 here. Beautiful one-time on the. break. Another one on the power play in. the third. And that was basically it. And what you're not really seeing from. these highlights is that once the Cats. got up, they said, "Okay, the Cats who. are the Florida Panthers, the Florida. Panthers, they basically said, uh, yeah, time to hunt. We're we're not really. going for the puck. We're not really. going for the goal. Let's hit some. people." Marshy goes into Shane. Gosspear. Almost takes his head off, but. that's what they're trying to do. Gossiper fires a wrist shot at Marie. It.

was disgusting. That's a clapper if I've. ever seen one. That is not a clapper. lot stronger than a wrist. I'll tell you. that much. 120 ft away from his net on. blue game. I'm trying to go burn out. That's a textbook. That's how they teach. it. Yeah. A lot of people saying clap. bomb. A lot of people saying wrist, but. they they dropped the mitts immediately. And Marshy, I think he got the last. laugh to say the least. Well, not only. the last laugh, he ends up getting a. four-minute fight. He gets ends up. getting kicked out. Uh, but like a lot.

of people in the hockey world, including. the Panthers locker room, were asked. about old buddy clearly just firing a. puck at Marshon. Oh yeah, does this is. not happen in Hawk. Like this is not a. thing that just happens, especially that. far back in their own end or whatever. That guy was clearly trying to hit. Marshy with a puck and Marsh what? I. don't think so. This is not how this is. going to go. And decides to go fight it. He's like, I don't think that's how it. works. All the Panthers were talked. about or asked about this afterwards and. they all just basically said no comment. No comment. No comment. And the Florida. Panthers are a team that is very.

scrappy. This guy is not the guy for uh. the Hurricanes. He just, you know, he. just got a little bit in his feelings, I. guess, and thought he was going to do. something. And it's like, I think game. two is going to start with the Panthers. saying, "What was that?" And then Marshy. let the refs know that they don't know. ball either. He said, "You're going to. kick me out for what this guy did?" Guys. just disrespected the entire game. Darius, I know all of South Florida has. been following hockey a long time. A. long time. Uh obviously the team's only. been down there for 31 years, but uh. we've been pretty successful and been on. a good run here. We got some good. history down there and we love the the.

makeup of the team. They're physical. Uh. Conan talked about how physical the game. was. I mean, that plays right into our. wheelhouse. And then we're also skilled. enough to put the puck on. Now, they. outshot us, but that doesn't matter. Uh. Bob was on on on his thing as well, and. they took a little little dirty shot at. Bob, I thought, and he was very. unbothered as well when they talked to. him uh after the game. So, I can't wait. to see how game two starts off. And to. your point, when they were asked, I. believe it was Greer asked immediately. from the TNT broadcast, he said, uh, got.

no comment on it. Paul Maurice, and we. know how vocal he could be about some. things. He said, I definitely have. thoughts, but, you know, won't speak on. it. So, they'll handle this would be a. national anthem type thing out of Chuck. with the uh, Canada thing. You don't. normally see that because nobody wants. to take any penalties because it's this. far along in the playoffs and it's. Eastern Conference Finals. So, if you. fight, you're going to take a penalty. But if it's five on five, they're gonna. have to figure out who's all Yeah. who's. all going to get the penalty here is how. it's going to be. Uh who's the goalie. for the Caniacs, Nick, Freddy Anderson. I'll tell you what, gloveside high seems. to be the tape. I That is where.

everybody was going with the that was. clearly where they were headed. And we. talked to Patty Maroon and we talked to. some of the other hockey lads and they. talk about how during the playoffs in a. seven game series, how much film study. you're doing on your opponent, mostly on. the goalie. high glove side appears to. be where they think they need to pepper. and it was certainly working last night. If I'm What's the buddy's name for. Carolina? Goalie. Oh, the goalie Freddy. Anderson. Freddy Anderson needs to. figure out how to play catch. I think. that is going to be a pretty high. targeted area if I had to guess. Uh,

also NHL tonight. Uh, we have the. Panthers. Uh, yes, we have the u the. Oilers taking on the Stars. cannot wait. to watch Conor Mc Jesus continue his run. to hopefully his first ever Lord Stanley. Cup. And on the other side in the. net, American Otter has been standing on. his head. Uh can't wait for the NHL. Stanley Cup playoffs to continue. Last. night in the NBA, the Oklahoma City. Thunder demolished the Minnesota. Timberwolves. Although that's not how.

the game started out at all. Timberwolves had a lead. Looked like the. Timberwolves are going to win that game. in Oklahoma City. Set the tone. And I. was feeling like I was a genius cuz I. was starting to think to myself like who. is going to stop Ant-Man? He's going to. be able to He rolls his ankle pretty. bad. Goes to the back, comes back out. later. I don't know how these basketball. guys are able to roll their ankles and. then come back so quickly. Legitimately, I I don't I don't understand at all. That happens to me. I'm out three, four. days. My ankle is the size of a beach. ball. He's jogging back out with a smile. on his face going out there. But by that. point, Oklahoma City had turned that.

thing around. This guy SGA, uh, he's good. He is good. He's a good. player. No doubt. MVP. He is. He ain't better than Yoko. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, legend. in the basketball world. 20 years he was. in the NBA. Former eighth overall pick. He's now a head coach. Okay. He knows. ball. That's right. He's coastal elitist. as well. Don't forget it. Lives in. Seattle. Ladies and gentlemen, Jamal. Crawford. Jamal. How you doing, Crossover? What up, y'all? How you.

doing? Okay. I was about to say it. SGA I'm gonna say what you gonna say. you're kicking I see that flip movie. What you gonna say? Yeah. A lot of you. know and there was a couple and there. was a couple not even touching them were. falling on the ground getting the calls. because with how physical the NBA has. been not only this year but certainly. this this playoffs there's been a lot. more banging seemingly getting back. He's like a throwback to like 5 years. ago, four years ago when everybody was. flopping all over the place. Is that a.

skill? Is that like how should I be. viewing this? Should I not? I hate it. I. shouldn't hate it. You You shouldn't. hate it because look, if you took out. all his free throws, he would still lead. the league in scoring. Okay. Okay. Yeah, you can't hate it. And he's not It's not. like we're playing the summer and it's. 144. He's calling all these bad calls at. LA Fitness. Like the refs are actually. calling the calls and people It's a. narrative out there about it. Excuse me. That's my coaching voice. And people are. still calling it. So it's not his fault. He's just playing the game. Yeah. But he.

would still leave the league and. scoring. Okay. So, I appreciate that. stat and understanding that. So, I need. to appreciate everything that he does on. the court, not just this [ __ ] That is. tough to watch. Foul. Okay. Yeah, it is. tough to watch with this. I think the. world told the NBA that was tough to. watch whenever that was happening over. the last couple. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That. Hey, this is not what we're looking for. SGA's taking advantage of the rules. I. guess we shouldn't blame them. I guess. we shouldn't blame him. Congrats to. Oklahoma City. Get a big win. Now, with. that being said, they're down early to. the Minnesota Timberwolves and then they.

come back and demolish uh in game one. OKC, is this their year? Do is this is. this expected at this point with how. great their season was and how great. they've been throughout the playoffs? Well, think about it, Pat. He he they. lost 14 games the whole year. Like, they're something different. And they're. young. Most of the time, you shouldn't. be this good this young. And their. coach, like I said before, he's a star. on the sideline. He's so in tune with. how they're playing. But they're they're. like a really really good college team. and all their boys stuck together and. they just went on to the same team.

That's how they're playing. They have no. jealousy. You know how we used to clown? I'm like, "Why is there eight dudes in. the interview?" Like there eight dudes. in an interview because that's how tight. they are. And you see it now. They're my. pick to win the finals. Man, in Oklahoma. City too feels like the perfect place to. have that type of team. That like leads. to the conversation about tonight here. in Indiana. This Pacers team matches the. city perfectly. the way they play, the. way they operate, how they talk. Coach. Carlile, the way he operates. Tyrese. like perfect superstar for Indiana cuz.

he's, you know, he's kind of a nerd. He. talks about katan. Yeah. Yeah. He plays. katan katan. He's a WWE massive fan, but. when he gets on the court, he's a dog. and he's a showman and he he has the. ability and they run and they play. physical. They play great defense and. they're having great success. This. Pacers team fits our city perfectly and. it feels like the Knicks team fits New. York perfectly. How pumped are you for. this Eastern Conference Finals and what. are your expectations out of it all? I. think it's going to be great. Like you.

said, Indiana's playing fast. They're. playing physical and and like you said, Hallebertton's a magician. He sees. things on the court where he's no. looking. He looks locks eyes with this. defender, throws it over here, locks. eyes with both defenders, jump past. this, pass the last second, and they're. feeding off of that. and he has a. tenacity and a nature of hitting the big. shot. If it's a close game, we talked. about clutch Brunson and how good he is. in the clutch, which he is. Hallebertton, you know, he can do his. Sam Cassell big, you know what, walk as. well because he he has some heart and he.

Yeah, you know which walk I'm talking. about, Pete. He has that in him. Sorry. about these balls. They keep hitting off. my legs. That's what he said. I think. he's talking about basketballs. Yeah, basketball. He's talking about. basketballs there. I think that was. middle of Cleveland there. Uh but it's. not just him. And I think I hear every. NBA person on television uh that talks. about it. They're like the depth of the. Pacers, the depth of the Pacers. You. never know who it's going to be. It. might be Nemhard, might be knee Smith, might be Miles Turner, might be Pascal. Seak. I'm [ __ ] TJ McConnell might come.

in there and put up some points and. obviously it might be Tyrese as well. Is. that what you need for a deep playoff. run? Obviously, because injuries are. going to happen, guys are going to have. off nights. Do you think that's the most. important part of it? And do the Knicks. have the same thing? You definitely need. that for sure, but you also need the. guys who don't regularly play to be. engaged the whole time because you can. win two minutes and when you go in that. change the whole course of a game. So, it's not like you have to go in the. whole game and play well the whole game. If you can play well for two or three. minutes and that spurt to get your. starters back, to give them some life,

to give them some rest as well, give. your coach a little bit of confidence, that's when the games are won. When. those other guys step up, that's when. the magic happens. And and Indiana is. rolling. New York is rolling as well. they figured it out. New York is at his. best when five guys are in double. figures. Indiana kind of the same thing. and I think Carlile's doing unbelievable. job like he's been there before. He's. won a championship. He He's not afraid. to go zone. He'll do whatever it takes. to win. He's a genius on the sideline. So, and Tibs has done well with with New. York. So, I'm ready for this. Could go. seven games. Okay. I like that. Sounds.

like he likes what the Pacers are doing. Go ahead, D. I like what the Pacers. doing, too. So, yeah, we all do, don't. we? Damn right. Planning these uh I want. to ask you about the market. So kind of. the outside noise, especially at this. time of the year with the playoffs, you're playing you've played you played. a handful of years in New York, so you. know a lot about it. How different is. that playing in in a city with a fan. base like New York and that media market. compared to other places, especially on. this stage? It's been so long since New. York has hung a banner. It's it's. unbelievable. It's been 25 years since. they didn't meet the conference final.

game. I think five of the last series. when they're playing Boston when I think. was the game Tatum got hurt. myself, Vince Carter, Reggie Miller, Mike Taro, we're in New York handling business on. the NBC upfronts and we're watching the. game and when they're playing well, the. whole room is going crazy. And it wasn't. us. We're not biased, but you can tell. that the city is electric on all fronts. right now. So, it's going to be a great. series. I know Hallebert loves playing. there. Uh, obviously the Knicks feel. like they're on a mission. And both. these series right now could go seven. games and that's what we want as fans.

cuz the whole world is watching. You're. putting your best product out there. You're at the upfronts, huh? Yeah, I was. up I graduated. I graduated to the up. fronts. Wow. Big money in those upfront. rows. Oh yeah. Shake some hands in. there. Crossover. Shake some hands. Frost some people. They ask about the. handle. They ask about the handle at all. time. Yep. They don't make that face. when they do it, but they ask about the. handle. Mr. Crawford, how you doing? He. go, I still got it. I still got 40 fly. Still got it. Those 55year-old suits.

that control like a hundred million. dollars worth of advertising. Like I'll. tell you what, Juicy Crossover crossed. me up earlier today. I thought I had him. though. Yeah, you're making dreams come. true over there, Jamal. It's good. business. Smart idea. You know, ball. too. You're great at talking about it, which is why we're thankful you're here. Connor has a question for you. Yeah, Jamal, you played during kind of the. dynasty eras almost, you know, with the. Lakers and then the Spurs, then the. Heat. Yeah, Warriors, of course. Of course. Yeah, I'm trying to think of them all. There's been a few. But how do you feel. about the, you know, the difference, the.

parody now? I think this is the seventh. straight year with a new champion. It's. kind of a different NBA. That's kind of. a conversation people are having now. Is. is the dynasty better? I know during the. dynasty people don't like it and then. when there's not a dynasty people kind. of want it. Is it one of those. situations? And also I hope your pinky's. okay. It looks like you got crossed up, possibly fell on your hand and broke. your broke your pinky there. N Conor, I. finally played defense and I don't know. why and that's where it went bad. stay. offensive, doing my thing, putting on. the show, played some defense, and broke.

it. Don't worry about that. But I I. think I like it better like this. As a. kid growing up, I love the Celtics. dynasty. I love the Lakers cuz they had. Magic and and Kareem and Scott and. Worthy. I could identify the guys were. staying, you know, one team for eight, nine years. But I like it now having one. or two stars and guys around them. because you feel like everybody has a. chance. You feel like it's parody. You. feel like you don't know, you know, who's going to step up. And that's where. stars really write their greatness when. they have the least amount of help and. still find a way to get it done. So for.

me, I love having the parody right now. I think it's great for the NBA to see. more teams winning, more success, more. cities experiencing championships, more. cities experiencing parades. Okay, East. uh conference finals here. Who's going. to be who's going to continue? Who's. gonna continue? I know you're I know. you're going to end with this, but with. all that Indiana stuff you have on and. around you and just the aura you have. right now, the Pacers. I see it, but I. got to go with the Knicks in this. All. right. All right. Don't Don't do I need.

to blow the whistle on that? Is that Is. that a whistle? Yeah. All right. All. right, ladies and gentlemen. Jamal. Crawford, coastal elitist like I thought. going with the big city. How about in. the West? How about in the West? In the. West, I got OKC. All right. I I think. they've been the best team. I think if. if they just win their home games the. rest of the way they'll win the. championship because they have that. homec court advantage. So I got OKC. winning it. We appreciate the hell out. of you. Ladies and gentlemen, Jamal. Crawford. All right, ladies and gentlemen. Uh he's.

the best. Yeah. Yeah. He should be on TV. more. I don't know if he wants to be cuz. he's coaching and doing all that with. his kids and everything like that. He is. always so cool to us. So very thankful. to Jamal Crawford. With that being said, uh we had the opportunity yesterday, last night to be exact, uh to find some. time within the greatest actor's uh. schedule and what was supposed to be a. 10 to 15 minute conversation because I. believe he's doing he was in a different. country obviously he was in a different. country. Uh he was in New York I think. uh two nights ago then he flew he was.

filming I think again you we'll get into. it. He's in a different country. So, we're able to find it's supposed to be. 10 to 15 minutes. Uh, strap in, okay? Because not only is Mission Impossible. about to be insane tomorrow, Final. Reckoning, but also uh we just we got a. 35minute conversation with Tom Cruz here. and I think he uh I think he dives into. some stuff he's maybe never chatted. about. I think that's the case. We're. incredibly thankful and lucky for this. And uh let's get to it. Ladies and gentlemen, Mission.

Impossible: Final Reckoning is in. theaters tomorrow. And we have an. exclusive from Paramount. Jeez, with low-level. flying, there is absolutely zero margin. for error at altitudes between 5 and 20. ft above the water, above the rock. If. there is a downdraft, there is no room. for correction. The plane is going in.

Jeez. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who. is dangling from that wing, the man who. has been captivating audience for. decades and decades and decades, the man. who has 12 billion dollars in box. office, the greatest actor on the earth, the man who Spielberg said saved the. acting and movie industry. Ladies and. gentlemen, without further ado, Tom. Cruz. [Applause]. Thank you, Tom. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Oh, Tom. Oh, can we get a. shot of the boys here real quick? Just. the pure joy. Great to be here, man. Let's go. It's great to be here. Hey, guys. Tom, it is an honor. Great to be. here. It is an honor to have you here. It's an honor for me. You look amazing. Uh you look like you're glowing in for. good reason. Uh, we had a couple of the. boys check out Mission Impossible Final. Reckoning this morning. They've been. hovering above Earth. They'll ask you. about that in a moment. I want to dive. in to a conversation about you. And. every time we see you do a promo or a. video, you're jumping out of something,

you're flying something, and it's. always, uh, see you at the movies. See. you at the movies. In our world, the. sports world, all the goats talk about. their love of the game, their love of. the sport. It feels like you love the. movies. You love everything about the. industry. When did that start? Was that. Were you a kid? Did you know this was. going to be it? How did you kind of get. into this? I look honestly I hoped that. I would be able to make movies. My goal. I remember when I was four years old, I. wanted to make movies. I wanted to. travel the world. I wanted to fly jets.

and airplanes. I wanted to visit and. work in different cultures. Uh that was. just a lifelong dream of mine. I've. always been had an adventurous spirit. and you know just that kind of life I. wanted. So it's and it is it's something. that is not what I do. It's it is who I. am and my whole life is dedicated to it. How you know I look at a body as like. kind of a car and how do I train my car. so that I can do this for the rest of my. life. Had that opportunity and I didn't.

go to film school. I didn't go to acting. school, but I I studied movies. And when. I got onto a movie set for the first. time and, you know, I just studied every. single department and really started to. understand, you know, what the culture. is and how to create a culture of that. where people can really flourish and and. do their best work. And those are the. kind of things like as a kid, I learned. a work ethic. I always had jobs when I. was growing up. You know, we all in our. family, I just worked. I I was I was had.

paper routes and cutting grass. And it's. very interesting. I kind of reflected. upon this as as I was making movies and. kind of always always ran my own. business. And just knowing that the. better I was at what I did, it made it. that, you know, if I didn't cut the. grass right, I didn't get the job. So, I. better learn how to understand how to do. the best I can with cutting that grass. and and that would ensure you know that. I was able to do a great job for the. neighborhood for the person and they.

were happy you know and then they wanted. me back to do the job and so I you know. those kind of basics of discipline of. learning a craft of my interest in life. I'm not just you know it's movies. encompasses cultures encompasses. engineering and you know I fly jets. aerobatics and aircraft and I sing and. train and dancing and I'm constantly. studying engineering and mechanics and. history and architecture and of course. also studying to be what it is to be a.

leader, you know, and. and so all of these things. It's just. it's it's life and I love it. I love it. I absolutely love it. Well, I think you. found the right place. Uh I think you. found the right profession. Yeah, I think they all all those, you. know, beforehand when I started it was. like look, you get you know what it. takes, you know, and my door is always. open to everybody. Like I'm I'm always a. student. And I'm always studying. I'm. always learning. And my door is always. open everybody to go like look these are. the things that I did because knowledge. there's so much knowledge out there but.

what knowledge can you learn that's. going to improve your ability for your. goals so that I'm looking for knowledge. that I can apply that I can get the. result every single time and how to that. it's effective. So those things that I. evaluate for myself and you know I'm. very much looking at what what works for. me what what is storytelling for me but. it takes a kind of passion and real. discipline and relentless pursuit of of. this field and you know that from what.

you've done in your life. I mean we. talked about it earlier of what you've. accomplished in sports and then what you. did you know to get to where you are. with your show right now. it there's you. have that mental state and I tell people. it's like you want your goals you just. have to think about how what you need to. know to get there. Yeah. I think work. ethic is the most important thing that. you can have. I I have a daughter now. two years old and I just Yeah, you too. I think you were thinking the same. thing. It sounds like. Yeah, same thing. And it's character,

you know, with success, it does reveal. character and your discipline and and. also it's it's understanding, you know, my movies are not me, it's all of us. It's a it's how do I how do I help every. single person and when you're producing. films and I produce movies, it's. understanding every single department. You know, you have to be able to do. those jobs. You got to have understand. what everyone's going through and how to. help them and align everyone so that you. can create the best possible film for.

audiences. And my goal is I make movies. for audiences whatever however the wide. range of cinema that I make you know I. have a wide range of interests and so. I'm constantly studying that particular. genre whether it's a thriller action. comedy I'll go into it and go how can I. entertain the audience that's going to. love that and that is my goal. My goal. is is that global audiences and how do I. do that? Well, mission accomplished. Yeah. Amen. Some would say the mission. was impossible at the beginning. Uh. mission accomplish. I know it is.

impossible. Many times I've been told. that. Well, so I appreciate that. You. know, I'll do the lowhanging fruit right. there, especially on uh the eve here of. Final Reckoning. Uh so you talk about. the work ethic and wanting to know every. part of the business and obviously the. full team that goes into everything and. the team effort to make these massive. massive movies that obviously do numbers. and entertain the entire world and make. people escape from life which is a very. important part of our society. But I. feel like you that's what I want to do. Yeah. And you do that. I just want to.

let you know that as a person who has. been a fan of yours for a long time. You. certainly make us all forget about life. and also realize that there is an alien. walking among the amount of things that. you can do. You just talked about it. I'm learning engineering. I'm learning. how to be a helicopter pilot. I'm flying. jets. I'm hanging off the When did you. decide? Is that just your view of what. an actor is supposed to be when you do. all your own stunts and cuz there's not. a lot of that, right? I mean, that's not. a very normal thing. I've seen the clips. of you running breaking your leg and. continuing to do it. Like, when did you. decide you were going to do everything?

Like literally everything. Always. Yeah. always you know always I just my. interest in life and things that I want. to know about and how how can I. accumulate the derivation of art is. skill and I've always just kind of. wanted to live my life like that and. develop skills in many different areas. I have a wide range of interest in life. So whether I'm parachuting, skydiving, flying aerobatic helicopters or. airplanes or I like to dance and sing.

and you know I love music uh so I take. time to study these things. It's always. been my whole life. But if you look at. the history of movies, movies they used. to take an actor and they would say here. here are these abilities. And if you. look my films are when I'm working with. people not just actors but people in all. different aspects of film making. What. I'm looking for is that ability and to. utilize those abilities, increase those. abilities. And when you look at cinema, they used to take actors and train them.

in singing and dancing and elecution and. different languages and and they taught. them about acting and lighting and and. and lenses. So all of these things that. I was just doing naturally, I didn't I. didn't quite realize what I was doing. I. just my natural curiosity to know. things, you know, to and not just look, I'm not someone who just reads things. and does it. I want to experience it. I'm looking at it and I'm I'm kind of.

viewing what's true for me. What are. what is storytelling for me personally, not just what someone says it is. So. those things that are just natural to me. and I so what I've also done is as I'm. learning these things and I studied film. in every department then I studied the. studio system then I studied. distribution and my ultimate goal was. really understanding culture and life. and how I can make my movies to engage. in those different cultures celebrate.

them and also to understand them and go. to see their movies in different. cultures and and how can I communicate. in that way. So if you look at way. Hollywood was and that's how I structure. it like I get actors and crew and I'm. training them. I'm teaching them and I. encourage artists to go out and not wait. to get a job but you got to train like. what kind of movies do you want to make. and if you want to do musicals like go. train on musicals and tap and I'm I I. look at an actor and I'm I'm not just. having a script that's there's the.

character and let's find the actor that. can play this character. I'm looking at. I'm looking at the actor and going, "Boy, look at the light that this actor. has. Look at the ability that this actor. has." And I'm looking to take a light. and shine it on that and then let it. grow. So, if you look at movies like. when I'm hiring, you know, Renee. Zelwigger for Jerry Maguire or any cast. member that I'm doing, I spend more time. on their performances with the camera on. them and then I we're as we're exploring.

the story and developing it. It's very. much, you know, like the I think the. great coaches, there is the relevance of. someone looking at the ability of of the. talent you have and how do we how do we. structure the defense or offense for. that? But I'm looking at here's the. story, emotional story I want to tell. Here's the enormously talented artist. that I have in every area and how do I. maximize that talent with this story and. what is that story? So, so that it's a. it's that kind of engagement for.

everyone and that I'm I'm celebrating. these artists. I have a thing where I. want people to do better after working. with me. I want I want them to go out. and be able to, you know, have a broader. sense of of the craft, have have. greater, you know, opportunities. So, that's always been kind of a quiet quiet. goal of mine. Well, listening to your. passion, not just in obviously this. conversation, anytime you speak. I mean. your promo tour right now going around. to these different movie theaters. talking about your passion for the. popcorn in the movie theaters and.

certainly something that'll be brought. and that's going to be brought up. There. is quite a discussion uh happening on. our show about that. I love popcorn. Oh, we've heard and we've seen too we. that'll get that that'll definitely get. brought up. But your passion is. obviously very evident and it radiates. through the screen whenever we watch. you. No matter what you're doing, whether you are Jerry Magcguire or. you're a pilot in American maid or. you're collateral bad guy or you're a. fatso in Tropic or any of these like you. are, it radiates okay through the. screen. So whenever like Spielberg comes.

out and says like hey this guy saved the. industry and that's obviously something. that I assume you want to deflect to the. entire team and obviously you talk about. your team in a way that any great leader. would, any great coach would. You're. talking about wanting to draw the best. out of people and what is the talent we. have and then let's make the movie. around that. That's a football coach, that is a sport coach. I love to hear. your leadership. But whenever that is. bestowed upon you during co when they. thought the movies were going to be dead. like everybody was going to stream, did. you take that upon yourself? Did you.

feel a little bit of weight of the. industry and how have you kind of. navigated that? Well, what I did was is basically Yeah, I did. Because look, my friends, it's. not just about the films I'm making. The. difference in movies, I guess, and other. sports is I've never felt competitive. with other people. I'm like, I want. everyone to do well. And. um so yeah, I did. I just made sure that. that mission got made that when. everything shut down, I really worked.

and had to take it on. And you know, I. talked to McHugh, who writes and directs. and produces these films, I was like, "We're going to have to we're going to. have to really do this and I'm going to. stay in. Are you in?" And uh so what I. did was I just worked with the. governments. I had. to I called one studio. and I this is what I really did. I. called a studio. I was like, "Yeah, you. guys shooting?" He's like, "No, no, we. can't. We're all shut down for that." I. said, "Oh, wow." I said, "You know, we're shooting our movies." And uh they. were like, "What?" I said, "Yeah, yeah,

we're making our movies." And then uh so. I called back a week later and I was. like, "How's it going?" They said, "Oh, yeah. We're shooting our films." And I. said, "Cuz we're coming out next summer, you know." And I said, "So, you know, we're on this date. I hope you're not on. this date." They're like, "Well, you. know, we're making our movie. We're. coming out next summer." And then I. called the studio that I was working. with. I said, "Look, all these guys are. making movies. We got to make. movies." So, and I just kept everyone. working throughout. So, they were like, "Okay, we got to make movies." So, then. I was like, you know, we had to finish.

Top Gun Maverick in post during COVID. And I was basically, everyone was kind. of like, "No, you can't do this. No, you. can't do that. I was like always going, h I don't take no for an answer really, Pat. I'm like, okay, well, there's got. to be a solution. So, I was calling. like, we have to set up the rules. Let's. make agreements so that we can get back. to work. And then I was calling. governments and getting agreements with. them. And then I was telling sharing it. with the other studios and my friends. saying this is how we're doing it. And. then just kind of saying my crew is.

going to get paid during this time. I. just kept everybody working. And then. slowly and not so slowly before you know. it, we're able to just make sure that. we're creating even our orchestra for. Top Gun Maverick, we were able to get. mics to people's apartments all over the. world where they're recording their. instruments and then combining those. instruments to create a live. orchestra and just showing people, look, we can do this. We can do it safely. Let's create whatever rules so that we. can move forward. And that's what I did.

And I ensured the Top Gun Maverick did. not go to streaming, that it was held. for distribution. And I was calling all. the theater owners globally that are my. friends for decades and the studio heads. and all of us kind of said, "Look, this. movie is coming out. Period. It's coming. out in theaters." And and just kind of. worked with everyone and said, "Look, we're all going to get through this. We're going to get through it. It's. going to be okay. It's going to be. okay." and just working with friends and. how to do it, how to navigate these. channels and just keep people moving and.

the most efficient creative way possible. and you know just kind of night and day. It was it was seven days a week, night. and day and creating these things and. you look at the film today we made it. through COVID and two strikes and you. know just be relentless about it and uh. just make sure that people had jobs and. that we were moving forward and that's. that's what happened and it was very. nice what Steven said. I I've known. Steven since I was a kid, you know, and. uh very grateful and grateful to. everyone that everyone kind of picked it.

up and everybody got back to work. But. but I was definitely uh kicking some. doors through and kind of helping people. to understand that that this can be done. and we can we can move forward and that. the theatrical experience is very. special. Yeah. And we needed it too as a. society. Top Gun Maverick. I I want to. let you know that Top Gun Maverick is. one of the moments I look back. I think. there was an Old Miss baseball home run. that I remember. It was the first time. there was a crowd and uh Miss hit a a. home run and the crowd went crazy in the.

outfield. I remember going to see Top. Gun Maverick. That's like one of my. rollouts of co here like changing my and. I'm sure there's nowhere I'm not the. only one. This is a lot of people. So, we are incredibly grateful for what you. did and I assume the movie industry. echoes what Spielberg says in that. entire thing. Now, speaking of the movie. industry, we have somebody on No, you're. very nice, Tom. You're very nice, Tom. You're you're a spark plug, brother, for. everything. You make everything better. You're an igniter, a trailblazer, a dog. in every sense of the word. Cannot wait. to watch Mission Impossible: Final.

Reckoning tomorrow. Uh the world is. going to watch alongside of us, and I. can't wait to see what you put on next. But we have a guy on our show, film. major at Iowa, uh graduated, has studied. your basic entire life. One of your. biggest fans. Ty has a question for you, Tom. Yeah, Tom. First and foremost, I. know you, Ty. Thanks, man. Hey, Ty. I. love Wow, Ty. Good for you, Ty. And. well, I just I wanted to start by saying. I think you just gave a quote that said. like, "Hey, listen. I'm still going to.

be doing this when I'm 100 years old. I'm not going to stop making movies. anytime soon." And I think 110. Exactly. I just personally want to say thank you. cuz I don't want to live in a world. where you're not making movies anymore. So, you know, when you're done, I'm. going to be done. I may I may never go. see one again. But I do I do want to ask. you when it comes to the Mission. Impossible franchise as a whole and then. this film. specifically, how how difficult has it. been kind of raising the bar with these.

set pieces that just get more massive. and more massive like that, you know, it. becomes the a big part of the promotion. of the movie. How have you kind of. continued to push the envelope with each. of these while also making it make sense. within like the story of the film? Listen, that is really the collaboration. with Christopher McCory. Uh his. storytelling ability and I, you know, he. and I have been working together for. almost 20 years. The guy's genius. And. it's. also, look, it's I'm always setting.

goals for myself. My whole life, even as. a kid, I had goals. And you know what. it's like? Like sometimes you don't. share your dreams, your goals with. people because sometimes it's so. outrageous that they they it's okay. Like you don't want to hear their. comments. that I always have many goals. So when I accomplish something, I. already have a list of goals lined up. there. Like I have so many other. sequences and things that I can create. for various films. I've already finished. a film with Alejandra and Yori too. Um.

constantly pushing the bar. It's always. something that I. know that's it's it's just I take one. sequence and I look at and I go, how do. I improve it? How can I do it better? you can always do things better. And I. remember as a kid when I was making this. movie Taps, I was laying there and I was. like, man, I I realized there I was. working with these great. cinematographer, great filmmakers, great. actors. They knew so much more about. everything than I did. And I I was.

trying to absorb everything. And I. thought I was so tense because I was. trying to just remember everything and. remember it and remember it. And I just. laid there. I was it was like literally. in the middle of the night and I wasn't. sleeping. And I just started laughing. I. was laughing till tears came I said, "Man, you know what? I can only do the. best I can and and I don't know what I. don't know, and that's okay. And I. there's always like I can always learn.". And I remember I thought I'm going to. dedicate everything and that's it. Like. good or bad, whatever people think, I. know that I did everything I could and.

that's how what I've dedicated my life. to. So when you look at mission for me, there's always another mountain or. cinema, there's always another mountain. There's always a a new story. There's. always something that I can do better, bigger in different ways. Shift into. diff different genres. I never think, you know, that I can't. And that doesn't. mean I'm not there's things that I don't. know. I just don't mind not knowing. I. don't mind feeling that fear or that. anxiety of I don't know. And I use that.

to pursue knowledge. I use that to. pursue pushing myself to create. something special. and all of us uh you. know and it's not just me it's the whole. team. So it's this it's just that. interest in the next goal. It's and it's. we're just pursuing it pursuing it. pursuing it and when you're working with. such talented people that are you know. that are there kind of throwing it all. in it's we're we're going for you know I. want to entertain that audience and. that's the goal. So it's just.

uh it's an interest I you know it's like. people go why it is a passion and an. interest in life a pursuit of excellence. a pursuit of knowledge a pursuit of and. not just excellence for excellence it's. like I'm defining it by my by for the. audience I'm doing this for the audience. and I don't know I get real passionate. about it's it's obsession at this point. I think for you to entertain people and. that's giving mindset. It is it is a.

passion. It's just it's literally like. it's just as a kid I used to write. stories and characters just to make my. family laugh and I'd create characters. and I was jumping off buildings when I. was four years old. You know, I was that. kid who climbed the tallest trees. You. know, I was like I think I was like 2. and a half years old where I climbed out. of a window onto a roof, you know, to. look at the stars. And the neighbors. would call my mom and she'd be like, "Where is he?" you know, he's on the. roof. I think there's a child on a roof.

at 2:00 a.m. in the morning to look at. the stars, you know what I mean? And I. just had that natural sense of. adventure. Uh that I guess carries over. into my passion for people in life and. cinema. Well, we're appreciative of. those things combining because uh when. you just decide, you know, I'm going to. jump uh I'm going to jump a motorcycle. off a cliff here and I'm going to do it. 20 times and see how it goes. I'm gonna. climb what the. bird with no and just sit on top of that. thing. I'm gonna do I'm gonna fly on the. wing of a plane that is five to 15 feet.

above the ground over a creek and it's. like uh we appreciate the fact that you. do that. I get nervous for you. I have. no I get scared for you now. We know. you're a very busy person. I get nervous. too. Do you? Okay. So, you get feelings. or no? Do you have like fear? Oh, yeah. It's it's I just don't mind. it. Look, here's also the thing that. when you're looking at that plane flying. 5t over, we're doing things. I'm not. just hanging off that plane. I'm also. the amount of time that it took to.

develop the understanding the aircraft. and how it flies. Understanding the. airplane when it gets into a place where. it's no longer going to fly. Me training. the pilot to do it. We're developing. knowledge and we're developing. technology. So, also when I'm there on. the wheel, I'm worried about these. downdrafts that are coming in. I'm I'm. perceiving I'm perceiving the bumps. I. know what that pilot is going through. because also when I'm flying in between. the two wings and I'm zero G in there, I.

also have to know my body position. because I'm creating drag and reducing. the air flow over that wing. And I have. to know what that pilot is doing. What. is he going through? Are we in the. middle of a stall? When when that. airplane's going and doing a loop and. we're right on the top, I have to know. where I need to be in position wise so. that this airplane doesn't start falling. out of the sky and we get into a spin. Yeah. So, he has to and I'm training him. and I have to know where the camera is.

and I have to also know where the. helicopter is and where and I'm acting. as I'm moving through it. So there's. kind of different spatial orientations. and perceptions that I have to have so. that as the airplane and that air flow. is going over and we're traveling. anywhere from, you know, 95 to 145 m an. hour hitting Gez. So I don't know if you. ever taken your hand and stuck it out of. a window at that speed. Oh yeah, dolphin. So how do I train my body? How. do I train my mind? How do I train. myself spiritually? And Mchugh and I are.

working on oursel on the story and what. does that lens say? So there's there's. layers upon layers. You know, it's like. when you see a quarterback come up to. the line and they're quick perceiving. everything, you know, where they have to. know where everyone's moving. You have. to have that spatial orientation of the. guys coming around you. I have to That's. what you have to have. And I have to. know how close is that airplane to the. side of the mountain. Where's the. downdraft? What's happening? It's split. second precision. And if I make a. mistake and I'm in the wrong place at.

the wrong time, you know, and I have to. be able to perceive if I do that, I'm. gonna put the pilot and the airplane. into a bad position. So, and if I'm. thrown into a bad position, I have to. know as a team like where where we need. to go. So, all of these things are. happening with all the stunts we're. doing. And that kind of training and. it's it's not just years that it took to. develop these sequences. It's decades of. knowledge that I've accumulated even on. how to hire the people around me to do.

this. And so that's and that's what. Mchugh and I like even I'm talking on. the wing to him. We have hand signals at. times where he's in the helicopter and. he's opening the helicopter and he's. talking to me but we're we have hand. signals so that we can move very. quickly. And on that wing you have to. understand it is the toughest weight. work you've ever had. So, you know, when. you have a brutal weight workout and you. literally cannot move. Yes. You just. can't you can't even get up. That's what. this being on the wing for a couple of.

minutes is from a hard arabatic workout. traveling the forces and I have to just. rest on the wing to the times where I'm. almost like in a different state of. exhaustion where and I have to rest to. let my my body my muscles refuel so that. I can get just from the wing to the. cockpit because also we're limited in. fuel. So, and the guy, you know, my. pilots cannot land with me on the wing. And the way I start is I go from the. cockpit out onto the wing. Then we start.

our maneuvers and I'm also hand signals. with the pilot. So, all of these things. and the amount of training and drilling. and safety procedures and step by step. moving up to these procedures because. also when the airplane goes inverted, of. course, the engine stops. it does stop. because it's not fuel. injected. So, while I'm hanging and. you'll see stuff of me hanging upside. down in that airplane and and how do I.

hold it and how do we do it and. understanding the maneuver and how that. plane moves around and putting myself. into a position because I'm being flung. and also understanding what happens so. that I'm putting myself in a position on. the wing or the fuselage. You'll see me. take hard hits. Very, very hard hits on. that wing and it's just like, oh, you. can't take many of those, you know. Yeah. It's like going across the middle, you know, a receiver going across the. middle. I'm going to catch the ball and. I know it is going to hurt. Yeah. You. said, hold on. He said it's like a.

quarterback having to check an audible. Yeah. There's a chance you get. blindsided. Yeah. Chance you get sacked. I guess in your world, there's a chance. you're uh falling off of a plane uh into. into Earth. So, yeah, I guess it is like. a quarterback. Yeah, I guess so. Physics, brother. Physics, listening to. you talk is uh both inspiring and also. like with an understanding that you're. one of one, brother. There's never going. to be another. Never going to be. another. Now, speaking of never going to. be another, Boston Connor got a chance. to watch Final Reckoning this morning.

Yeah, after that promo, TC, I wore my. goat shirt today cuz you are the goat, and it's very nice to be able to show. that right after you said all that. But. yes, I was able to see Final Reckoning. this morning at 7:30 a.m. Thank you to. your team for setting it up. I did in. fact get popcorn for you. And just so. you know, coffee and popcorn are a. fantastic combination by the end of the. movie. Is that right? 7:30 a.m. show. I. got to try that. Yes, you do. I got to. try that. I got to say I got to say the.

other day when I was in New York, I woke. up and I did eat some more popcorn. I. didn't try it with coffee, but chocolate. popcorn's good, you know. Oh yeah, I'm. going to try coffee now. Thank you. I. learn something new every day. Boom. I. can't It's evolving. I can't wait to see. what a coffee popcorn scene's going to. look like. Yeah, it's energetic. I want. to know what that's like. Yeah, it's a. lot of juice. You You'll eat even more. popcorn probably because of it. But, you. know, with it being the final reckoning, and all of us have been a massive fan of.

this entire franchise, did you become. nostalgic, you know, during certain. scenes, after filming certain things, uh, because of it being the final. reckoning? And when everything was. wrapped in filming was done, did it get. emotional for you once, you know, Ethan. Hunt was finished with this Mission. Impossible? I'm very much, you know, we. didn't finish the film until the day. before we released it in Japan. You know, we we were in Japan and we had.

three days. Yeah. The day before the. subtitles got done, literally the day. before we premiered it. So, um, really. great. We haven't had a chance to take a. breath. And I'm already I'm working on. so many other films and I've I have like. there's it's never you know we're just. constantly on the next I did a movie. with Alejandra and Yari too and Mchugh. and I are we haven't had a chance. It's. like we're just we're on a bullet train. and we're we're prepping you know so.

many other films right now. It's just. been a bullet train. Yeah. You're. standing on I'm just enjoying right now. Oh, I'm enjoying every moment right now. of sharing it with people and I'm going. to try that coffee and popcorn and we're. here to see. Okay, last question here, Tom. I know you're very busy. Darius. Butler has a question for you. Speaking. of sharing moments with people, I saw. this is fun. How are you, man? Let's go, man. This is fun. This has been an. awesome conversation and I saw you with. the people in the theater eating some. popcorn. Now, this is a big journalism. show, so I got to get to the bottom of. it because there are questions. And now.

you're Tom Cruz. You do everything a. little different. I've never seen. anybody eat popcorn like this. Are you. actually eating popcorn or are you full. of [ __ ] right here, TC? I gotta know. Gotta know, man. I'm eating popcorn. But I they know. when I'm going to these movies that I'm. watching, I'm eating popcorn. Okay. So, is that is that is your love of popcorn. because it is like a movie theater. thing. Is you think that is why? Yeah. Movies. I love I love going to a movie. and getting popcorn. I love for me it's. just like comfort, you know? I love the.

comfort of a movie theater and I I love. like, you know, setting it up and I'll. see several movies, you know, on the. weekend. I'll kind of chart my weekends. for the movies and, you know, I look. forward to it, you know, like what these. guys are throwing down and it's. inspiring to me seeing these movies, you. know, like you see Sinners, I'm like I. seeing what those guys did, I'm like I'm. pumped to see that. You got Brad Pitt, you know, with Formula 1 coming and, you. know, all the guys like Jerry. Brookheimimer. I can't wait to see those.

guys what they're creating. You got. Keanu, you know, with the Wick series. that I love with Anad Darmmis and these. guys are laying it down this summer and. I'm just, you know, and I I I get really. uh excited and inspired by what these. guys are doing, you know, they're. they're they're going after it and uh so. and I love getting popcorn. Everyone. knows the theater owners. I get there, they got my popcorn ready for me, you. know, I sit I get with my friends and we. get in the back. I've got the seats, you. know, I show up, I see the trailers, you.

know, packed cinema and I'm watching the. movie and I like watching other people, you know, as we're doing it and that's. what I love. I love seeing people's. response to it and seeing what people. are doing. I love it. God, you're the. perfect representative of the movie. industry. We can't thank you enough for. joining us. Quick tip if somebody's to. make an acting debut in a couple months, maybe me. Yeah. What's What's up? What's What do. you want? Like what what should I think? What should I think? What should my. mindset be? What should my mindset be? Uh, what should your mindset be? Well,

it depends on the kind of movies. War. movie. War movie. War movie. Oh, good. Well, first of all, just try. to understand what the tone of the film. is. You know what's happening on set. Show up early so that you know and you. feel comfortable, you know, with the. surroundings. I'm always early and I. always leave late and I'm constantly. kind of working on it. I work on things. seven days a week and usually working on. several films at the same time. But I. think the most important thing is to. just be there and present like be. present and perceive what's going on,

you know, what's happening right in. front of you and reacting to it. Um, and. just understanding what the tone of what. the directors are going for and just. responding just just being in the. moment. You know, I'll I'll I'll prepare. prepare prepare prepare sometimes for. years. Some of the films that I've made, you know, Rainman, it took two years. was born in the 4th of July over two. years, you know, mission movies or. samurai spent two years preparing for. them and sometimes like less grossman or. whatever. It's months and months and you.

know so uh these things just be present. and just find things that that interest. you with that character and all you got. to do is listen and respond to the. people there and just kind of feel you. know when you're a kid. and children are they're great actors. They're just so free. you know, you're. playing with your your toys and you're. that truck and you're doing all this and. it's, you know, you are that character. with those toys or, you know, whatever.

you want. You want that uh cookie, you. know, that you're that but it's not, you. know, it's dessert after dinner, you. know, and you could always see the kids. and they're like, well, you know, you. can't have the cookie till later and. we're going to do it. No, I want it now. I want this cookie now or the toy. And. you could see that they could just. generate the tears, you know, and you. just start looking at them and they're. looking over that eye like, "Are you. paying attention? I really got the tears. going now." They're creating that. They're making it happen right now. And.

that's acting where, you know, you kind. of create a character. You understand. the world and then you're just present. and creating those things. And it's just. use your imagination and have fun. I. appreciate the hell out of, man. It is. going to be fun. And uh I can't wait to. get to the movies tomorrow to watch your. latest work in Mission Impossible Final. Reckoning. Thank you for the time. You're the greatest of all time, brother. Hey, thank you for the time. You guys are awesome. Have a great. summer, you know. Enjoy. Hell yeah. You. too. Enjoy your life, Tom. You're making. all of ours better. Thank you. Ladies.

and gentlemen, Tom Cruz. Huh? Unbelievable. How about that? Huh? Tom Cruz. I'm real. 35 minutes. 35. minutes we had some I don't know how. everybody um in his uh team Sure. felt about the 35 minutes. Probably. didn't love it. I mean, what were we. supposed to do? Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't. plan, but that was not the plan. It was. not the plan at all. And then he gives. that first answer and it's like, oh,

Tom's giving us answers right now. Feels. like Feels like Tom is giving us answers. right now. And then just one thing leads. to another yada yada yada. I don't I. look up and I'm like we are 25 minutes. into this thing right now. No end in. sight in my eyes and my there was no I. love talking film. There was no smooth. exit at all. So we go another 10. minutes. And that last question there. about the tip for acting and uh you know. maybe for me but also maybe for those. who want to get into acting like how. often do you get to hear Tom Cruz give a. you know exactly full breakdown of what.

you need you need to be you need to be. is what he was saying basically in a. roundabout way. Uh after the. conversation ends, he wanted to stick. around and say thank you to us. Y Okay. And uh there was another 10 minutes. Yeah. 10 minutes of like uh diving into. is it you that is acting and then like. true passion in telling me how I need to. think, what I need to think, the. questions I'm allowed to ask, what I'm. not allowed to what I shouldn't think. about, what I should like everything.

like broken down. I am nothing short of. Yeah. truly impressed. Yeah. I mean, I. am nothing short of impressed with that. man. And he's one of one. And I don't. like. you. Amen. I feel and Bubba Bubba. Watson, you son of a [ __ ] So loud. Even at the WNBA game, he was like, "Ah, he's being showed you how to eat. popcorn." Yeah. Mhm. It's not hard. Is. that how you're going to eat? No, you're. not eating. We know you're not eating. We know you're not eating. Clearly faked.

by you. You don't have popcorn. You. don't. Oh yeah. Yeah. See, this is my. mission impossible. Popcorn like this. for the rest of my life. I haven't been. acting for 40 years. Hey, thank you, Tom. Thank you, TC. Love you. Love you, TC. That was awesome, though. That was. It was incredible. We did not expect. that. We had no idea what to expect. 10. to 15 minutes, they said, going in. And. uh I don't know whe that's on us for. being unprofessional. Hopefully Tom is. okay with it. Hopefully everybody else. is as well. Uh there was a couple cuz. he's in a different country. Foxy added.

some pictures uh to kind of spice some. things up because we didn't know where. the conversation was going to go. Foxy, great work on that, bro. Thank you. They. said it was awesome B-roll to use in. there. It was sweet. Yeah, they were a. cool team to work with, too. To be. clear, they had it all. Hey, here's some. B-roll if you want to make it for any of. the clips. Here's a teaser you can use. Nobody else has. It's like, thank you. And uh it all makes sense whenever you. hear him talk. He's a leader. Like I I. think he views himself as like the coach. obviously. He says when I'm producing a. movie or I'm doing this, I'm trying to. There's a lot of like leadership lessons. in there. There's a lot of like work.

ethic lessons in there. Obviously, we're. talking about acting. He's talking about. acting. But if you apply a lot of the. [ __ ] he's saying about how he goes about. his business to your particular life and. whatever you do, I think that is a uh I. mean that was a quote machine. That was. like a quote board machine right there. with Tom Cruz. What an honor. Ty, you've. been a big fan, massive fan. You've been. banging the drum obviously since the. beginning. He was superb, I think. And I. don't know the uh I don't know I don't. watch enough of his interviews and. everything like that during his press.

junkets, but he was so kind to us. He. blessed us, man. Oh, yeah. He really. did. For sure. I mean, uh I I wouldn't. say I watch those press junkets a whole. lot because typically for those movies, it's just the same thing over and over. again. You know, like they get asked the. same questions by these outlets and by. the end of it, it's like you can tell. they're done. But they need to promote. the movie. But you mentioned it like. he's he is one of one. We will never see. there will never be another actor. There's never been another actor and. there will never be another actor who's. doing these kind of stunts. And then for.

this kind of stuff like you talk about. being a leader like for a movie like. this like and you're doing these type of. stunts like they need to make sure that. this stuff goes off without a hitch cuz. if it doesn't like a movie like this. like the more days you tack on that. production budget goes higher and higher. and higher. And you hear that about. movies getting made all the time. It's. like, well, the the production process. was hell because they went 45 days over. what they were supposed to and that. added another 75 to $100 million to the.

budget, licensing, renting, shooting, working, all that, all that kind of. stuff. Yeah. Getting the, you know, I. mean, these are massive set pieces that. they're doing. And obviously like the. the production budget of this movie. alone was like $400 million. This is one. of the most expensive movies ever made. So, you don't really have the luxury of. like, oh, we need to go another month. I. mean, it's just TC is the goat, you. know? I've been saying it and I'll. continue to say it until I'm blew in the. face. Yeah. And it's sweet, too, like. learning how he knows all those aspects. of the film. Like him understand like.

he's always studying. He's always. learning. And to your point about the. people that work for him, the person who. showed us the movie yesterday morning, super nice. I assume it's someone from. his camp or Paramount or, you know, from. Mission as Tom says it, but it it is the. greatest film. I I'm not joking. If. you're a Mission Impossible fan, it's. the best one. You are going to love it. At the end of it, I thought there was. going to be another half hour hour. I. was hoping for more time after just. because you don't really want it to end. at any point. And especially if you're.

into the entire like, you know, nostalgic throwback, you know, some uh. kind of callbacks, if you will, to the. earlier movies cuz I'm a sucker for. those when it comes to any, you know, big franchise. It feels smart, right? It. feels like Big Brain. It feels like. you're bringing your people in that and. it's like you know what it was worth. watching like it's not like I was just. watching those movies cuz they were. trying to make another like they are. there is a legitimate long-term. storytelling in these films and the. final reckoning it it truly was one of.

my favorite ones. The movies they called. back to in it were some of my favorite. movies in the entire series too. and the. cast, the cameos. He mentioned on during. the interview, you know, the commander. for the submarine and uh there's another. commander in the film as well who is. just magnificent. I mean, that's not how. he eats popcorn. No, he No. Yeah, he's. he's actually he's actually eating the. popcorn. That's Don't do this, man. I'll. rip that [ __ ] jersey off your back. I. don't care. Yeah, then Marshall will.

come beat your ass, too, first Campbell. You just missed bad. That was a bad. miss. You can't be doing that. Tom. didn't do that. It's going to happen. some. Yeah. And uh how about whenever he. said in 2020 he calls the other uh. production companies. You guys making. movies over there? No, we can't. Oh, we're we're doing it. Oh, all right. We'll see you and then call back next. week. How's it going over there? Oh, we're making movies over here. Okay. When are you guys launching? We got a. date next summer. This is when we're. going. Are you guys going the same date? Uh yeah, we'll do it this summer or.

whatever. Okay, cool. Then he calls. Paramount. Hey, other people are making. movies. Okay. Other people are making. movies. What a work. What a work in that. thing. And he, the way he explains this, cuz he don't want his people to lose. jobs. Yeah. He's like, "Hey, if there's. going to be other people that are doing. it, and in my eyes, there is an ability. to do it." I don't take no for an. option. Uh, many times past He is. obsessed. Have you ever been around like. you know I I you know played with Tom. you know and you played with Payton and. like you know I'm sure like Jordan and.

Kobe and like you see like these guys. Tiger like you get obsessed with that. [ __ ] and you tell like talking to him. you could tell sometime he just caught. himself like oh [ __ ] like me I'm doing I. could I could talk about this one. question for 35 more minutes but it's. great to see somebody especially who's. been at the top of the game for so long. to still have that drive and obsession. about their craft. And how awesome is. it? You you said playing with Tom, I. obviously got a chance to watch Payton. do his thing. It's like and he mentioned. it. He was like, I want everybody to be. better after they work with me and with.

us. It's like me watching Payton made me. better. Yeah. At this job, at every job, at life, at punting, at, you know, I. assume you the same thing with Tom. Brady. Yeah. And it's like he's There's. not many of those ever going to exist. again. Nope. No. One. 110 years old. though, Ty. You said once you're done, I'm [ __ ] out of here too, bub. Yeah. And I stand by that. All right, start. rewind. That was one of the most. ridiculous thing as you were kind of. unraveling. I was hearing you talk. I'm. like, "Okay, I'm excited to hear what. Tai says to Tom here. I'm excited for. the opportunity." And then you say,

"Hey, Tom, when you're done, I'm dying, too." Okay. Uh, he said he's going to. live to 110. I believe him. I believe. I. believe him. He's got another 48 years, he says. I think if we're doing the math. right, he is absolutely jacked. Looks. young. He was glowing. Oh, yeah. You saw. how cool his hair was. He looked. incredible. He did look incredible. He. looked so good. And shout out to um. Aiden. Shout out to Kevin. looks really good. Shout out to Eric. Eric figured it out. Had to Eric was. under pressure a little bit there. Uh. about two minutes before everything went. live, before Tom got there because it. was obvious that he was coming from one.

thing into cuz we watched it all unfold. So we were we were waiting eagerly. waiting. Yeah. Oh yeah. We were so. juiced up. We were 10 minutes early for. what it was supposed to be sitting in. the Zoom call. Okay. That is very rare. for us. Pre-recording very rare for us. But whenever it's Tom Cruz, he said I. guess so many other films right now I. haven't even really thought about. Mission Impossible being over like that. that was basically his thing because he. was in the middle of like so many. different jobs. So us getting a chance. to squeeze into the is a big deal. Oh. yeah. First of all, so we're very. thankful especially as a sports student. show. So we're just waiting because.

first of all just like the LeBron. situation, just like the Tom Brady when. he was on and just like this I thought. it was all rip. I thought there's no way. Tom Cruz is coming on our show. There's. no there's no chance he's doing this. So, as we're watching his team kind of. piece it together and they're like. setting up the mic and the lights and. the seed and the connection because it's. a different country obviously, so you. got a lot of stuff going on. We we meet. them as they're sitting down and we just. take that as an opportunity to kind of. learn what's going on there. Kevin had. good lettuce. Great. He was guy sitting. in for Tom Cruz. He did have good moxy.

He had no idea we could see him for. about the first 90 seconds I think as he. was sitting there and hear him which we. certainly could. So, is this stage. staring down a guy who's in a different. country who doesn't know? So obviously. our reactions were awesome to that. He. had great that guy. Great Moxy trouble. He was a great troubleshooter. Troubleshooting was his thing. Yeah. He. said uh he said we're troubleshooting. the issue right now. Eric's going to. figure it out right over here. And then. Aiden pops his handsome ass in. Aiden. was the driver behind this entire thing. And shout out to Mike Foss. Yeah. Fo got the email found the email.

and uh Foso, you're the man. And uh so. are you, Tom Cruz. All right, let's take. a break. We have Kyle Larson joining us. in studio here. in uh I'm about to eat. too much of this popcorn. What do you mean? What do you mean? Too. much popcorn. 10 15 minutes. Obviously. 500 a week. Indie 500 week. Kyle. Larson's looking to do the double yet. again. Run the Indy500 into the. Coca-Cola 600 diner. I don't know how. many drivers have done it. I know. nobody's really been successful. And uh. last year he was trying to do it and the.

IND500 got delayed because of weather. Tough. So really I mean it really he. flew down to Charlotte after the IND500. ended much later than it ever has. probably and then he hopped in a car. that because the race was already. started so it was it wasn't smooth at. all. No, but during the IN500 Kyle. Larson was learning how to drive an. Indie car and it was cool to watch and. he was doing well. It was like, "Oh, this guy, like 75 laps in, you hear him. in the radio basically say like, oh, I. didn't know I could do that." And. they're like, "Yes, you could do that.". And he's in the biggest race in any car.

And he just kept getting better. Kept. getting better. They're saying this guy. might go down as the greatest driver of. all time. He can race anything, whether. it's go-karts, dirt cars, sprint cars, uh you name it. Nath cars, uh what's. that? F1. I think he would be a guy that. I think uh race community in America. would be like, "Yeah, we would like to. see Kyle Larson go over there." He's a. driver though. Like those sprint cars, you know, those things are like rubbing. They're they're dangerous. They're. they're rubbing. They're spinning. The.

back end's just they're literally. drifting around in this thing and then. going around the track. They're. flipping. People are dying. I mean, that's that's where he that's style. racing he comes from. Yeah. Just ask him. about F1. He He done come from He don't. come from Rolex, you know, sponsorship. his whole life. He's a driver. That's. right. We'll talk to him in about 15. minutes or so. This Indy500 weekend here. in Indianapolis is going to be alive. Obviously, Knicks and Pacers tonight. Good luck to all parties in all. conference finals. But boy, it'd be.

sweet if Indiana Pacers went on a run to. the finals. Oh, yes, it would. For the. city, for our show, and for a friend of. the program, Tyrese Hallebert. Mhm. I. love that Knicks team though. Yeah, I. enjoy the way they play. Fun to watch. Don't love them, but No, I I actually. kind of do love the Knicks. I like. You're right. Love that they exist in. the sports world cuz we talk about. sports. So, I like that the Knicks are. very good because just all the [ __ ] that. comes alongside of it. When it doesn't. get too much, the scenes outside MSG are. really cool. Awesome. Yeah. Like there's.

so many good things that come from their. team being good. Their fans with Hans. not. Exactly. When it becomes too much, that's when it's with Wendy. Yeah. It's. a huge and with Wendy. I didn't even see. that video until later. Yeah, he's really going through it. Yeah, he's. really going through it. Damn. All. right, let's get to a break. We'll be. back on the other side. We hope Deb. Butcher is okay. Yeah, that looked like. a tie jaw. I know. I've been there. That. looked like a Yep. And we saw him eating. the BK flapjacks. Yeah. During the Mhm. All right. Be a friend. Tell a friend. something nice. Say a prayer for old.

debut. Yeah. We'll be back in about three. Thank you, Tom Cruz. Thank you. Impossible Final. Reckoning. tomorrow in theaters. Only in theaters, obviously. Yeah, Tom might be in your. theater tomorrow. Could be. Wherever you. may be. That's right. Eyes peeled. Have. a good one. We'll see you in three. Thank you, Tom. [Music].

It's impossible to be at the top at both. of those essentially. Like it's it's. Dan. Another farting Dan Orloski. situation just took place. Danny dumps. What do you mean? It's unbelievable. Your butt is talking. I did not fart. Okay, this is two times now. Dan, this. is the Orski thing. Are you guys being. serious right now or you messing with. me? Listen to this clip. This is you. just moments ago. It's impossible to be. at the top at both of those essentially.

like it's. I mean, undeniable. You guys. definitely just freaking idiots. Swear. We swear. You guys, thousands. No, we swear. We swear. No way. No one. did that. What did you eat? I haven't even ate.

Hey, if I were you right now, I'd go. grab some food. My wife texted me. She. said, "Oh my gosh, McAfee show, I'm. dead." I go, "Babe, I promise you on. everything I did not fart." Who runs. your Twitter account, baby? I do. What's. this all about? I would like to know in. that situation where your butthole. started talking, what did I do? I can't. even be serious with you, man. What are. you chucking a glass of milk? Eating. some fruit over there? Get you some. coffee? Get that butthole a little bit. more active. I haven't ate. I'm eating. yogurt. I have a thousand text messages.

right now of people going, "Oh my gosh.". And I'm like, I just wanted to have like. a quiet Tuesday. I don't even know why. we're going to have another hour. Maybe. run that clip. Just Yeah. Yeah. On. We. have the video. Sean, let's let you. judge here. It's impossible to be at the. top at both of those essentially like. it's. I need to hear the content. I want to. give Sean, shut up. Sound like What did. AJ vote? It's a fart all day long, Kirk. You know that. Has anybody voted no? Dan, I'll be the captain of team no.

today. We need you to do a tiebreaking. vote. Is that okay? Sounds good to me. It's impossible to be at the top at both. of those essentially like it's there's. no doubt. I mean, I like how he just. kept on going right there. When he was. talking, he didn't even break stride as. that thing came out. He went and got the. buggy, went to the store, grabbed some. dude wipes to wipe those ass cheeks, just like I assume you do as welcome. You have to go dry, wet, dry. toilet. paper, white toilet paper. If not, you're really risking the rest of the.

day having the swamp ass. You know, Dan. Orloski, man, he got to accept that, man. He got to wear that with a pride. One thing that really bothers me when. people do not take credit for it. You. know, if somebody says, "Oh, that was. you that farted. I get upset when it. wasn't me." I'm like, "No, when am I. ever not claimed it when it was mine?". You claim it. But all those airports. people are traveling today looking up at. the Dowski farts. What's wrong with this. guy? The closed captioning person, whoever it is, they got it. I believe it. said an audible muffled muffled. 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 Cubans is the real. world talk. If you are a young, please. seek permission before watching any. further. Hey, let's.

go. This show stinks and the fact that. you listen, we are very, very thankful. for you. Mabe on the line with a. gorgeous assist. The alltime leading. tackler for the Green Bay Packers. You. can. stop. 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 thunder at home.

on this Tom Cruz Wednesday May 21st 2025. hour two of the program starts now. sports debut is [ __ ] his pants it's. bad tables here at Boston corner at Tai. Schmidt one half of the hammer cowboys. AP Tony is here and joining us live from. an attic in. Ohio in an attic in Ohio is a man who. maybe manifested that Tom Cruz interview. back in 2022 on our program. We were. chit chatting. We were just a small. little tiny little show. Had a pretty.

good studio though. And because our. studio was so big, we were actually able. to continue through the co times, you. know, because we were able to uh get the. spatial distancing. Yep. And uh because. we were on radio at the time, Westwood. won while us would be on the internet. We were deemed like a necessary. something just in case news had to be in. there. We had a certificate. Yep. It was. a big deal. Uh we had uh Indianapolis. Health Department coming in and checking. to make sure we had signs in enough.

places, enough hand sanitizer around the. building. Oh yeah. Uh enough space. amongst all of us. They could randomly. pop in whenever they wanted to. What's. that, Tone? Goggles cuz the eyes were at. one At one point there was a don't look. at each other thing. That was at the. very beginning. Yep. Also the cardboard. boxes from the delivery. Don't touch. them for two, three weeks. Correct. Eat. those things outside. What's that? The. apoch burgers. They we ate a lot of. burgers because they came in a massive. box. Once again, they sat outside for. two, three days, which not good because. they were frozen burgers, but somehow.

the Apoch burgers were able to survive. We had new handshakes. We did it in. Anyways, we did it through all of co. So. AJ started joining us during it cuz AJ's. at his house, four kids. I certainly. think he probably just wanted to escape. or whatever. Yeah. You know, probably. just wanted to escape. He started. joining us. And that's really where this. whole thing kind of really started. going. And AJ said in 2022, he said, "Uh, we need Tom Cruz on the show." And. I go, "Tom Cruz is not coming on our. show. Let you, yeah, let's just Yeah,

we'll have Tom Cruz on the show." And I. go, "How's that gonna work? You gonna. call him?" and he goes, "This is my plea. right now." And then Boston Connor. immediately afterwards goes, "Yeah, and. we'll just get LeBron James on the show, too. Yeah, let's just start." So, now. that LeBron James has had the LeBron. conversation here and we've got a chance. to talk to Tom Cruz, we can solidify the. fact that we are living the dumbest. lives of all time. We're so incredibly. thankful. And the fact that this man. with a massive face, massive head, and. he's the all-time leading tackle for the.

Green Bay Packers, potentially put that. in the universe. And Iverse responded, "Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hawk, we. appreciate. Got jersey on. I like you. Got your jersey on." Yeah. I thought it. was jersey day, so I ran down my my. 12-year-old's closet, got my Devonte. Jets jersey on. So, yeah. I know he's. not there anymore, but it's a little bit. tight, but yeah, Tom was amazing, man. Dude, what an inspirational whole. situation that was. Yeah. And uh that is. a little tight. Is that game worn? Little tight. Little tight. Not game. worn. This is a youth uh large or youth.

XO, I believe. I appreciate you doing. that. Uh, love it, Hawker. I was This is. Big Conor. Connor's been pushing this. one hard this morning. Uh, wanting it to. be Wednesday. Um, I was kind of torn cuz. I haven't worn this ever. And the Pacers. are on quite a run. Yeah. But I wanted. to support the team and do jersey day. and I put it on and it was literally a. full time. I hate wearing these these in. my head. Then also, did I just ruin it.

because I put this thing on? So, I. decided post TomTom Cruz interview, don't have the jersey on. Before Tom. Cruz interview, had it on. Feel like I. am celebrating with you guys, but also. uh potentially not ruining it for the. Indiana Pacers tonight. Yeah, exactly. Now we know, you know, we we'll judge it. off tonight. If they win, guess what? See you for jurors day on Friday. And. then if they lose, that's not. where it feels like that should happen. if they win. No, no, no, no. That is not. You and Cole have a good bet. Yeah,

Michael Cole and I have a good bet on. the Knicks and Pacers series, which is. um if the Knicks win, I have to wear a. full suit, which would suck. I could. wear one with a tie tie and everything. Tie. He wears the full clown suit every. every day. All day. Every day. I feel. like that dude wears it for 18 hours. straight. He does. He shows up at the. arena or the stadium dressed in full. suit of tie. has the tie all the way up. to not going to be out of place at all. at any moment. So, I'll wear his little. clown suit uh full thing, which I don't.

I would have to buy. I don't know. Suit. pants. What are those are just. sweatpants that people say are nice, right? That's basically what people say. I'll do that whole thing. And then if. the Pacers win, when the Pacers win, Michael Cole will wear a tank top for uh. additional Monday Night Raw. out. I. don't think either of us got that. cleared by anybody. So, I'm excited to. see Michael Cole in a tank top on Raw. and how quickly that is like we did it. right. We did the whole We did the. little gimmick. We did the little game. here. Uh but nonetheless, Pacers Knicks.

this evening. AJ, did you see uh hockey. game last night? Did you see Florida. pounds? Firework's coming. Firework's. coming, huh? You're reading it the same. way we are, right? You're reading it the. same way we are. Oh my goodness. Yeah. I. mean, how many people are going to tune. in to the start of this next game? Like. I I will. or the fact that the Panthers. are even like kind of alluding to like, hey, yeah, by not answering and not. saying anything, they are basically. saying, yeah, noted. This is all very. dully noted. Guy wants to take a cheap. shot at our new guy. Okay. Okay. Our our.

guy who has become one of us so quickly, a guy that was meant to be on the. Florida Panthers, you're gonna take a. shot at him because I feel like they're. going to have to showcase to Marshy that. they got his back, too. Like there's so. many things that kind of go into this in. the hockey culture world that indicate. that very rarely in an Eastern. Conference Finals and I might be. speaking out of pocket here but I just. from watching it my entire life. basically. I don't know the ins and. outs. Okay, I can dump the pocket there. I can't skate so I never, you know, not. my thing. But very rarely in the Eastern.

Conference Finals is anybody trying to. fight. Okay, fighting has been a part of. hockey for a long time. It kind of. disappeared for a little bit. uh now. it's kind of making a comeback a little. bit and uh Commissioner Bman said we. just don't want the staged fighting. We. don't want the stage fighting. We don't. want the [ __ ] fights. Like if. somebody wants to get somebody back sick. or a teammate wants to fight somebody, that's okay. But we can't just have like. a stage fight happening anymore. Is what. the commissioner of the NHL said because. they were kind of trying to get rid of. fighting is what everybody thought. In. East Conference finals, you fight, you. get uh go to the penalty box. That is.

quite an advantage for the other person. Feels like this is going to be a massive. brawl to start it. And very rarely does. that ever happen in an Eastern. Conference Finals game. The NHL, I know. they're not going to say publicly that. they're happy about it, but to your. point, all eyes are on that opening puck. drop. I mean, just like whenever United. States took on Canada in four nations up. in Canada and they booed our national. I'm getting choked up thinking about it. right now. They booed our national. anthem. It was like you knew that the. United States team didn't even have to. say anything to each other. It was just. like, "Oh, is that okay, now we go.

That's how this is going to go." And. hockeyy's one of the only sports where. that's possible. Hockey is literally the. only sport where that is still a thing. in 2025. And I have so much respect for. it. And that is why hockey is awesome. And I absolutely love it. Well, and. there's no need to like give the. Panthers more fuel. Like if anything, the the Kiacs are probably looking for. some sort of, you know, some momentum to. carry in to the next game, whether that. be someone on their team, you know, having a huge hit and then fighting. someone for the Panthers. But it was.

completely flipped. This gives the. Panthers all the momentum. I don't love. how you said Marian was born to play for. the Panthers, too. That's not truth, but. I I understand what you see. He fits. their culture perfectly. He fits exactly. everything that they are about. He was. born to be a Bruin. He's a Bruin for. life. But again, he wasn't brewing for. life cuz you guys said don't be a Bruin. He'll he'll move back to Boston with. Marian being the guy too. Like it's he. of course he's the new guy, but he's. like the elder statesman too. like sure. he doesn't have the assistant captain or. the captain uh you know marking on his.

chest but he is the vet the guy that. kind of sets the tone for this team. So. it's one of those things where it's not. even like a Shane Gosser where he's not. you know the tone setter on their team. We were talking before the show he's a. finesse offensive defenseman. Not. really. Just got his feels a little bit. there. Exactly. I love what he did. He's. got a little he's got a little soft. Yeah. Don't I don't know. I don't know. how how many hockey people love what he. did, but I do appreciate that some. people a football game. Well, it's. dangerous. Yeah. Pretty dangerous there.

be doing that. And there is like lines. in this entire thing. I think there is. like a code that people would say and. it's very rare that you see somebody. from their own blue line shooting it. directly into somebody, hitting him in. the arm, too. Not a lot of pads there. No. And it's, you know, a lot of people. that I know from Canada were saying this. guy takes a slapshot from his own blue. line right into a guy. Disrespect the. game. Not a slapshot. People from Canada. said that. People can't People from I've. been watching hockey my whole life. I've. never seen somebody do something like.

this. And I'm not being egregious. I. haven't. You find somebody who does this. in game one of an Eastern Conference. Finals when your team's down 3-1. The. Canes have no hope the rest of the. series. You've and you've already shown. your like you're down 3-1. You're losing. your mind already taking slappers at. guys on the other team. Well, I wasn't a. slapper. Whatever you guys say it was. It's Bush League. Shouldn't have done. it. And you're done. It's over. Cats are. going to sweep him really because of. that. But you're already you're down 3-1.

and you're doing that to Marshy already. and then Marshy ragdolls the guy. There's no answer from your team. Yeah. No one coming to his aid is is tough. I. I do believe and I might need to be fact. checked. I know for a fact that they. have lost eight straight Eastern. Conference Finals games or nine straight. now. Yeah. So So it was three they. they've been swept in three straight. conference finals. You know why that is. from what I've been told? Nikki Skates. told me that they run a system.

Basically the Hurricanes run a system. They don't care who they're playing. This is how they're going to play. So. when you get to the Eastern Conference. Finals, you're playing a team that can. probably adjust and do different things. So they figure out a way to beat your. system and then it's over, right, Nick? Isn't that kind of the Yeah. And and. this has kind of been Brenda Moore's MO, the coach there. He was a great player. for Carolina, won a Stanley Cup with. them. Uh played multiple years in the. league, 20 plus years, I think, close to. it, and uh now he's the coach there, and. this has kind of been his MO is they can. make it to the second round, maybe they. make it to the conference final like. you've seen here a few times, but they.

can't get over that hump. And they're. lots are playing great teams at that. you're playing like great teams at that. point. So, they can like maneuver around. what you're trying to do. You need. adjustments, I think, is what people are. saying, and they just play the way they. play and they keep it moving. It's like. the Panthers now. They're at a point. last night, AJ, I don't know if you. heard this, uh, where they're miked up. and they say, "All right, let's go beat. the hell out of these guys." Basically, we're up 3-1. Basically, what Pat Maroon. said, they let's get some hits on these. guys. Let's run these guys a little bit. now that we're up in this thing. That's. an actual plan by the Panthers. Yeah.

Paul Maurice, a clip was going around of. him and I think it was from last year's. playoffs where they were winning 3-1 and. they were trying to get a little fancy. and he basically just said, "Hey, pound. their D, man." Uh, which I'm sure Q Rich. would love to hear that as well next. time we have him on. But they were just. yelling, "I don't know why you're, you. know, getting all fancy out there. Go. pound their D. They got nothing left for. game seven." And that's exactly what. started to happen. Like that's why. Marian was going after Goss Bear later. on. I think it was a fourth liner for. Florida. He got a roughing penalty.

because he hit uh one of the I think it. was actually Gossip Spear's linemate, one of the defenseman for the Panthers. and he gave him a couple extra shots, just something to feel. Wear them down. Yeah. Wear them down and and it's legit. Like that's that's a great style and. that's why the Panthers have won and. it's great to watch. You talked about. being fact checked earlier on the 13. straight losses in the Eastern. Conference Finals for uh the Carolina. Hurricanes. A lot of people on the. internet I read while we had our. three-minute break there were saying. that I should have fact checked Jamal.

Crawford a little bit. Jamal Crawford. said that if you took away all of SGA's. free throws he'd still lead the league. in scoring. I don't know if anybody was. factecking but I saw 30 responses that. were like that's that's cap. That's I. guess I believed him. I believed him. when he said it. He's he sold it to me. Me too. I as I was listening I was like. okay yeah respect that. Yeah respect. general you know. I mean, it was Hey. man, big time respect J. I understand I. understand what you're saying, but I. guess a lot of people on the internet.

are saying that's not true. I assume. that'll get figured out by somebody. crossover. Yeah. Jamal Crawford. So, internet or Jamal? Oh, I don't know. Well, also, yeah, would Jamal just say. that with no reason at all. Yeah, I. believe he is six, unfortunately. Okay. Yeah, I. was I did I did fix that. This is This. is No, no, it's not on you. It's what he. it's it's on all like cuz it's. believable cuz the guy is getting to the. bucket all the time. Like he is. electrifying to watch and then the flop. and stuff it's like man it's kind of.

weird and yeah cuz I guess it'd be. really tough as the ref because it does. when you're watching it as fast as it is. you're like okay that could be a foul. and then you watch it back like no the. dude like they just fall down a lot all. the time. Yeah. But the reason why you. fall down a lot is because there's a lot. of feet in a very confined space. Like. it's a it's an offbalance sport I think. especially whenever you're around I. would do it too. I would do it too. though. I wouldn't blame him. These refs. are calling. Like I guess what Jamal. said like, "Hey, these refs are calling. This isn't a rec center game where. Debb's getting his lips split open or. you know Gary Vee is fouling dudes from. behind. Like these are professional. referees making the call." Yeah. It's.

not his fault that he's getting the. calls. And it's just like when Patrick. Mahomes was on the sideline, he was. doing the [ __ ] and he was getting the. calls. It was like I guess you can't. blame Patrick Mahomes. We don't want it. to look like that. We don't want that to. be what it is. But in Patrick Mahomes. eyes like I can get 15 yards right now. Uh I'm going to take 15 yards right now. Yeah. and they probably view it as like. outsmarting the game and uh this is a. part of the game and I LeBron said that. LeBron said I'm the least called fouls. in the league or whatever. Not somebody. told me to fact check that. I guess.

there is people with less fouls than. LeBron James, but whenever he was. flopping it was like they're call this. is giving me two shots right now for my. team. Like I don't know what you want. Tell them to change the rule then if. that is the case. If you don't want me. doing it tell them to change the rule or. stop calling it. And it feels like the. NBA has gotten to a tougher brand of. basketball, which I think is why. whenever you watch SGA, it's like he's. like an outlier right now when that used. to be what all of basketball was. I did. look it up. Points per game minus free. throws made. He is still number one in. the league. And yeah,

so I assume he meant like when everyone. gets had the most points per game, free. throws per game this season. Oh, you're. saying most points per game? No, that's. that's points per game minus free throws. made. So the dash is not an explanatory. That is an actual minus. Think they. should have spelled that one out, but I. appreciate uh what they're doing at the. top of this. Who's this from? This is. from Stat Muse. Stat Muse. Great. Great. Love them. All sports. Yeah, we we. appreciate the [ __ ] out of Stat Muse. I. don't know how many of them are back. there behind there. Uh either posting or.

doing the research. But Stat Muse, you're a good group over there. Yeah. Yeah. We are very grateful for you. Um. so he's right. So what Terence Crawford. said was right. Yeah. Jamal. Jamal. Crawford. I think that's sweet. It might be total. points, not points per game. I could be. wrong. Anyways, the. um what's going on with that Crawford. Canelo flight? I have no idea. So, it's. it's very interesting. Yeah. What is. going on over there? That's sweet. science, baby. Dude, that business we. learned we got a chance to really be.

dropped in get a PhD for like a weekend. and it's like the business, man. It's. like this is a wild world over here. It. is the wild wild west. Yeah, it. genuinely is. Which is why I think they. view it as a great opportunity for that. entire thing. And if Canelo Crawford's. the first one, I mean, that's Is that. what's happening? I don't know. Good. luck. I hope so. Crawford was cool to. us. Yeah. Mhm. Both. Yeah. I'm sure. there's other Crawfords that have been. cool to us as well. You bet. Joining us. now, ladies. Um SGA is so good. Oklahoma City looks.

unbelievable. Jamal brought up another. stat. Uh he said, um they've only lost. 14 games all year. Yeah. You know how. many games NBA play uh teams play? All. of them. They play hund and some games. Yeah. Whatever it is whenever you get to. the end of this thing. Yeah. And it's. like they've lost 14 of them. So you. start thinking about this team, it's. like they have it figured out. And he. talked about the coach a lot. Everybody. talks about the coach a lot. They're. like, "This guy's the guy." And I think. it's just viewed as like a college team, college atmosphere. But if you have a. great coach, with that college. atmosphere, it feels like the NBA is a.

league you can take over, especially a. superstar. Yeah. And he's worked his way. up from the G-League. The thing with SGA. is like he is so good. One of those. highlights we just ran, he beats a guy. and then he does a spin move through the. lane and they lace it in. It's like you. don't need to do all that extra [ __ ]. And because of the fact that they. haven't been calling it for everybody. when you're calling it for just one guy, I think that's why people get so. frustrated by it. Like last night he had. 14 free throw attempts. Ant had the next. most was seven. And and I'm not saying. like Ant was getting fouled a ton and.

they weren't calling it. It's just the. small small things that it felt like the. NBA was getting away from when it came. to fouls is like still happening with. SGA. Tonight we have Oilers stars, Pacers, Knicks, massive conference final. Wednesday night here on this Tom Cruz. Wednesday. Um, still crazy to even think. that that guy was on our show. Oilers. with Mc Jesus taking on Otter in the. Stars. Uh, Gumpy was walking around. earlier with an Otter mask on. Awesome. And then he was saying you can't take a.

clap bomb at a guy in your own. Yeah, there he is. That was Gumpy this. morning. Yep. Good luck to Texas Hockey. Gump boys are ready. It's our time. It's. our time. It's aar time. There it is. He. wants to represent for United States of. America. I heard. Absolutely. I like. that. Should be number one of the. Olympics. No doubt at Bio. Win the cup. Start for USA. Those are his dreams. Good luck, honor. Got me Jesus coming. right down the pipe. Yeah. I mean, Jesus. has gone right down the pipe. I can't. wait to watch. And then obviously Pacers.

Knicks Knicks favored by four and a half. in the Garden. That doesn't that doesn't. matter. We know that. I agree. But I. would like to. say this game goes however it goes. Yeah. Okay. This game goes however it. goes. Yeah. Yes, it will be what it'll. be. It'll be the situation will. certainly be the situation. Mhm. I'm not. worried about nothing. No matter how. this game goes, we win one, steal one, the first one in Madison Square Garden, possible. This Pacers team has done that.

before. Cool. We'll be pumped tomorrow. Certainly. We'll see how we did a little. gardening, didn't we? Just like we did. last year in the playoffs against the. Knicks. If the Knicks win, which hey, favored by four and a half in Madison. Square Garden, they've been locked in. This is the run. Everybody on. ESPN Knicks, Nicks, Knicks, Knicks, Knicks, everybody standing. If they win, there'll be no panic because coach. Carlile will have the boys ready for. game two without a doubt. And then game. three on Indy500 Sunday here in.

Indianapolis. Are you kidding me? I. That's going to be This is going to be a. fun series to be a part of and uh can't. wait to watch it get started tonight. Now, speaking of Indy500 Sunday, there. is a man. Okay, we got some stats here. Got some stats here. I don't know who. wrote the stats. Okay, could be Bruce. Sure. I think it is Bruce. Okay. I think. they sent stats to Bruce. Bruce put a. little pizzazz on it. Okay. Bruce didn't. write him. He said Bruce said no pizzazz. from Bruce. That's what he's saying.

Does he not care? No pizzazz. This first. one you did not put any pizzazz on it. No. No. As as given. He's all business. with that Knicks jersey. Hey, good luck. to your Knicks team, bub. Thank you. Do you love or hate that. everybody on TV is picking the Knicks? Uh there are a lot of Knicks fans on the. morning lineup at ESPN for sure, but I I. think uh due respect has been given to. the Pacers. I don't think anyone's just. chalking it up like we already won. That. is a former Knicks player, a Jets.

player, and then two Knicks fans on that. graphic. Yeah, that's exactly all on TV. allowed to do whatever they want to do. Yeah, I mean allowed to say whatever. they want. Greeny. They are in the. epicenter of Western civilization, New. York, filming their show. Greeny, born and raised in New York. City. Yep. Massive Knicks fan. I. appreciate him multiple days now doing. things like, "Hey, I don't know if he's. trying to do it to reverse." He is. That's exactly without a doubt. I think. so, too. I think he really wants the. Knicks to win this. So, he's doing like.

a uh a kind of a let's not take the. Please, let's not take nervous. I think. Yeah. Just like Bruce probably a little. bit nervous that everybody's picking. him, but he's been doing his real He's. been doing real journalism [ __ ] on the. Pacers. He's been doing his uh Mikey. monologues, you know, right at the uh. Range camera. Here's the one from today. Say it again. Underestimate the Pacers. at your own risk. Let me count the ways. First, Indiana has won 21 of their last.

26 games. That dates back to March 17th. That is the best record in the NBA over. that span. During the same time, the. Knicks are just 17 and 11. The Pacers. are a 4 and a half point underdog. tonight. They are plus 125 in the. series. As an underdog in these. playoffs, the Pacers are 5-2. They. eliminated Cleveland as an underdog in. their last round. They eliminated the. Knicks as an underdog last year. And. finally, while the Knicks have Jaylen. Brunson in clutch time, Tyrese.

Hallebertton has been equally. spectacular. In fact, even more so. He's. 10 of 11 in the final 90 seconds of the. fourth quarter in overtime on shots to. tie or take the lead, which is the. highest percentage in a season since at. least 1997. And we say it that way. because that's when we started keeping. track of these things with that level of. specific. I love that. Thank you, Greeny, for the journalism. Right, AJ? Thank you for that. Yeah. When Greenie. has his glasses in one hand and his his. papers in the other, you know, like he.

means business. Like this is something. you need to listen to. Yeah, absolutely. And it's just him. And then we even got. a big LED board right next to him that's. going to amplify. Hembo is going to get. a little showcase in there with some. things. And I like the Mr. Clutch. question mark at the top. That was a. good graph. That was a good graph there. Debbone over there, you know, did his. thing or her thing. Uh, for sure. Okay, ladies and gentlemen joining us now. He's a man who on May 11th just won a. race in Kansas. Wow. Super duper cup out. there in Kansas. Boom. This guy, if he's.

driving it, he's probably winning. He's. raced on uh parking lots. What? And. go-karts. What? He's raced on dirt in. sprint cars. What? You put him on maybe. one of those little kid cars. He's going. to win. Ladies and gentlemen, NASCAR. Superstar, rookie of the year in Indie. Car last year, ladies and gentlemen, Kyle Larson.

It's supposed to be a very awkward walk. Y'all ready for this? Good to see you. How you doing, brother? That was good. You already Hey, it's supposed to be a. really back door bid. I like that. I. like what you did. Hey, that's driving. inside. Exactly. Taking the inside. Everybody goes this way. You said balls. I didn't know where to go. You made the. right play. You made the right play. there. You got the corner there. I went. right for once. So, Respect. I I like. that. Good driving joke. Um, okay. Let's. talk about it, Kyle. So, last year when. you were doing the IN500, the double.

Mhm. How many people have done it in the. past? Uh, five have attempted it. Only. Tony Stewart's the only guy to finish. all 1100 miles. Okay. 1100 miles in a. car one day. Obviously, the Indianapolis. 500, the biggest race on earth every. single year, the greatest spectacle on. earth every single year. and with so. much history, tradition, this city and. state, like it's the biggest thing that. happens uh in the world basically. So, you attempting that as a NASCAR driver. and then going and doing a 600 mile. race, which is long, right? Isn't that a. long race for you guys? It could be four.

to 5 hours probably depending on. cautions. Yeah, it's long. Okay. So, and. you're a thin lad. I don't know where. all the sweat's coming from uh however. you're doing this and everything like. that. But when you were doing it last. year, there's been uh some F1 guys that. have come in and tried the Indy500. Obviously, there's been some rookie. as. a rookie this year on the poll that. everybody's excited about. But whenever. you came in to do this last year, there. was people that were flocking from all. over the country to come here. People. were showing up at our at our out here. And they were like, "Hey, we're coming. to Indianapolis. First time we're here.

We're from North Carolina. Hey, we're. first time we're here. We're from. Virginia. Hey, we're from Illinois." And. they they're saying, "We just want to. come take a picture of Thunderdome." And. we asked them, we're like, "What are you. here for?" They're like, "Kyle Larson. We're here to watch Kyle Larson do his. thing." they call you a man who's the. best driver of cars uh maybe in the last. two three generations or whatever. How. how does that make you feel whenever. people say that? And have you just. committed your entire life to racing? When did you start like with uh the. dominating of folks in a car? Well, starting off with your first question,

it it does make me feel really good, you. know, when people compare me to like. Tony or Mario, AJ Foy, guys like that, but I try not to pay much attention to. it just cuz I'm still only 32 and I feel. like I I got a lot of racing left in my. career before I should be allowed to be. in that category. But, um, no, I started. when I was really young. I grew up in. California racing go-karts and dirt. track stuff, all really dirt track until. I got to NASCAR. And, um, always wanted. to do the Indy500, too. So, um it's. pretty neat to get the chance to do it. and uh get to do multiple races in the.

same day is pretty awesome. What do you. have? You have a no fear thing obviously. and I think uh there's a couple. different speeds. I guess over 200 mph I. guess now you guys are 235 so over 220. probably. I think there's a separator. between drivers is what I've heard from. living here in Indianapolis. It's like. hey there's difference. Uh people that. can go over 220. It's like people in. baseball. People that can hit the. curveball and people that can't hit the. curveball. It's like whoever can control. themselves at a higher speed, there's. like a certain group of people and. everybody else is below that. For the. Indy500, for Indie car, much faster than. NASCAR. Yeah. And it felt like last year.

as I was watching, you were learning. what you were doing basically throughout. the race. I actually put a tweet out. about it was like it feels like Kyle was. literally learning his car in the middle. of the Indy500. Is that true? And how. much more prepared are you for this. year's? I would say so last year you get. so much practice time during these two. weeks at Indie. like you learn your car, you know, pretty well, but it's like. I've never raced in an indie car race. So, like the race procedure is a lot. different. The restarts, just the. drivers, the the pit stops, like all the. little details that are different from.

NASCAR. Um, but I did have some mistakes. on one of the early restarts and fell. back and then had to overcome that. So, that was that was cool. I found a. shifting thing, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. I. like you I restarted I think in like. first gear and I hit the rev limiter. right when I shifted. So then I like. maybe overreacted and grabbed another. gear and uh fell into third and then I. was just bogging and yeah it was bad. deal but learned from it. So hopefully. this year is a little bit different. Yeah. So with the driving the racing. have you raced against these guys or. everybody in their own little worlds? Just only in the Indy500 last year. A.

lot of these guys you know have a. totally different background than than. me you know racing in Europe and stuff. So um you know me coming from dirt. tracks and stock cars like yeah the only. time I race these guys is on Sunday. Okay. So, um, what's the difference? Robin's Racing's National. That's right. Robin's racing here. Here there's not a. lot of There's a lot of racing, but. there's not next to no rubbing, right? Cuz the cars open wheel. Yeah. Yeah. You've already we've already seen a lot. of cars or a few cars turn over upside. down. Colton her macklin. Yeah. Yeah. I. spun out on fast Friday thankfully.

didn't flip, but um No, we don't want to. do PTSD here, but I believe this is you. Yeah. Yeah, that's me. Yeah, I got. lucky. That was that was pretty generous. uh wreck for the speedway. But honestly. too, like going back to the the stock. car versus Indie Car stuff, like I think. there's more similarities than there are. differences. Like the I know they look. different and you're going way faster in. at Indie than you do a NASCAR. You know, we probably go 195 at Indie there, but. the overall feel of the car, the. downforce, the our new NASCAR cars are.

much similar like independent. suspension, the underbody arrow effects. So what I feel behind the wheel is. pretty similar. So, I feel like it makes. the learning curve not as not as steep. as maybe it would for others. How much. you weigh? 135. Is that that's an. advantage, right? Like horse jockeyies, uh, the lighter they are, obviously, the. better for the horse to run. Model. racers that I've met, uh, smaller body. Connor Daly is built like a middle. linebacker. I always thought that was. potentially working together. Looks like. he's thinned out though. I I seen him.

this week. He's. he's lean. No. Uh, I would say it's an. advantage, but it's not like an extreme. advantage because we all have like our. cars weigh the same. So, like even. though I'm light and Connor or and he's. not even the biggest guy there, um, say. there's a guy that weighs 200 lb, like I. just have to add more weight to my car. to make it equal. So, you can kind of. position that weight, you know, balance. where you'd want it. So, that's where I. think the advantage comes from. Got it. Ty has a question for you. Yeah. Just. curious, uh, like because you're not.

full-time and I think like the race. community as as a whole, you know, I. mean, I'm not like a huge race fan, but. when you come here, like what is your. relationship like with the other. drivers? Like, do they kind of scoff? I. mean, everyone knows what you've done in. NASCAR, but I assume none of these guys. want to see you come in and win the. Indy500, your second running. Yeah. Do. Indianapolis people want to see I think. fans want to see you. Yeah, I think. indie Indianapolis fans and stuff do. And And honestly, I don't know. Like I I. I haven't really personally asked them, but I would feel like at least for me. coming from NASCAR when guys have come.

in like Shane Van Gizburg and he came. and ran a cup race at Chicago a couple. years ago and won and although it's like. not the coolest thing, you know, cuz it. not that it makes you look bad or. anything, but you have immense amount of. respect for all competitors. So when. they come into a new form and do a good. job, I think it's really cool. So, I. would imagine, you know, maybe not all. the guys want to see me do great, but um. I think there's a respect level there. that that yes, you know, you you'd be. you you'd be happy to see somebody do. good that doesn't do it all. You do any. dirt racing in Indie? Uh I raced at.

Cooko uh last Monday cuz but growing up, but yeah. Yeah. So, I grew up in. California and then my path kind of. followed Jeff Gordon. So, I moved to. Indiana in 2011, ran USA. So, I ran. around a lot of these tracks here. 2012. up in Anderson up here. Uh I that's. pavement tracks. I didn't do much. pavement racing. Yeah. So I've never. raced there, but Gas City, Cookamo, Putnhamville, Lawrenceburg. I'll be at. Lawrenburg next Friday. So I do a lot of. dirt racing around Indiana. So I feel. like the fans love me here. Yes. I think.

so, too. Like I I think it was a very. welcome thing. Like you mentioned him. coming in uh the Indy500. I think that's. the only reason why they would be okay. with it is because they feel like he's. cut his teeth. He's cut his teeth here. in the racing state. You know, because. that's how people in Indiana genuinely. view it. Is it different the Indy500. that energy? It's huge. Yeah. Like not. only just the race, but like all the. days of practice that you have, you. know, I'll go practice like we'll have a. practice day in NASCAR and there might. be 5,000 people there. At Indie, there's. like 75,000 people, you know, every day.

So, it's kind of crazy that the event is. that big spread out over two weeks and. there's fans there all the time. So, yeah, the amount of pictures, autographs, and all that you sign is is. crazy, but it's fun. It's cool. It makes. you just feel like the event is just. unlike any other, which it is. So, it's. cool to be a part of. Well, you're. immortalized forever till you win an. Indy500, right? I mean, that's like the. racing world. Yeah. I mean, you get a. you get your face on the trophy. So, yeah. Uh Connor has a question for you. Yeah. So, when did you like know, hey, I'm going to be a racer? Like, obviously.

moving was a big deal, but before you. even moved, was it something where you. were in California knowing just beating. the [ __ ] out of a bunch of surfers like, "Oh, I'm going to be really good.". surfing fast. I was Northern California, so I didn't do any surfing, but Oh, the. wine. Yeah. Yeah. For me, for me, obviously, I'm not built to play other. sports. So, uh thankfully, I think, you. know, my family had a big passion for. racing. I did too. And, uh it was just. something I was good at and and you. know, made a lot of friends and memories.

and all that. And then just wanted to. chase, you know, heroes of mine like. Jeff and Tony and you know, guys like. that. So, just fortunate to to have a. passion for something like Do you have. So you said you started uh go-karts. Yeah. Yeah. Out in California on on dirt. trucks. Dirt ovals. Yep. How fast were. you going? How old were you? So the. carts that I grew up racing, they were. they have like a two-stroke 500cc engine. on them. They weigh back then like 400. lb. So the power to weight ratio is. crazy. Like they're, you know, popping. wheelies and spinning the tires. So no.

power steering, no suspension. So they. be How old were you? How old were you? Oh, I was probably 11 then, you know, when I got to that class. So I started. in like you know boxtocks which would be. like a Briggs and Stratton engine like a. lawnmower style engine uh from like. seven to to nine but then you go like a. big step to the next you know division. which is crazy. And then you go from. that and I went from that to sprint cars. which is another huge step. Yeah. Like. those are super dangerous right? Yeah. Oh yeah. 950 horsepower, 1400 lb. Like. they're crazy. Yeah. Drifting around.

sprint cars and midgets and Yeah. dirt. track and then then got into stock cars. You ever do uh like Smoke right now is. doing the drag racing? I haven't done. that. Yeah. Yeah. He's in He's in a. funny car. He's top fuel. He's top fuel. He's kicking butt. He's born again this. weekend. But I feel like he's getting. the hang of it. He's I mean, he's the. goat. He's the best. So, he can figure. anything out. When you were a kid, you. were just seeing better lines, better uh. reaction time. I don't I don't know what. goes into it, but just uh like what you. did right here. I think when you're. Yeah. Yeah. You can just see Yeah. I.

think when you're young, you just kind. of have a natural talent. But then when. you get older and your racing gets all. good, you know, adults and kids and or. whatever, not kids, but adults, that's. when you kind of have to work at it. more. So, um, but yeah, I would say in. the beginning and probably still now, a. lot of it's natural, you know. Yeah, I. would say. Yeah. There's a reason why. people are here. It's probably most. athletes, you know, everybody works hard. at it, but you got to have some sort of. natural ability. Yes, definitely. Yeah. But you have to work hard, though. Yeah. Oh, like TC. Yeah. Tom Cruz has natural. ability. Yeah. He works his ass off. And.

then he says, "You know what? I think I. can stand out on this wing right here.". Yeah. And then I can flip it upside down. and then I can fly a plane with my foot. He's got a great NASCAR movie, too. Yes, he does. And Brad Pitt's got an F1. coming out, which we will continue this. conversation with Kyle Larson on digital. YouTube, ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, and. more. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye. All right, we're off ESPN. We're still. on digital. We're still live. Okay. Very. live. Yep. F1. Debbut literally is. pooping his pants because uh Yeah, we.

had some Yeah, I don't know if we should. have done We We found some popcorn that. had been in our office for uh maybe a. couple years. Extra salt, extra butter. Yeah, it's not bad. But he's massive F1. fan. Yeah, you guys probably um have. seen especially in the NASCAR world cuz. NASCAR used to be, you know, the thing. I think still is obviously still sells. out uh. tracks. Yeah. Still sells out. everything. Like NASCAR is still a big. deal. F1 had that reality show and just. became like blew up. Yeah, it did blow.

up. I living in Indianapolis, Indiana, did not grow up in the race community, but I did watch the Indy500. Got to meet. a lot of the drivers, like kind of. started learning about it and uh I watch. the Indie racing and they're racing. Yeah. Okay. It's a lot of racing. I. watch NASCAR and it's a lot of, hey, we're trying to win. Mhm. I watch these. F1 races and boy, I'm pretty bored. Sucks. They're big cars. They got a lot. of money around it, a lot of superstars. around it. The reality show was. obviously awesome, but as somebody that. was like kind of just dropped into.

Indianapolis and then given like full. like, hey, you can go down to the pits, you can I can literally like learn about. this however much I want to or however. little I want to. How do you guys feel. about F1 driving? And have you ever been. asked to go drive in F1? Uh, never been. asked to drive in F1. think it's tough. coming from my background of dirt tracks. and ovals, but um I've been I went to. Abu Dhabi in 2021. It was sick. Like the. event was awesome. I mean like it was it. was incredible. But yeah, the racing the.

racing is not what we are accustomed to. in America. Like I think you there it's. it's crazy how big it is because Yeah, you're right. Like it's not super. exciting, but I think it's the stuff. outside of it. the celebrities that are. there, the engineering, the money, just. everything about that. Um, you know, the. big brands, you know, on the cars and. stuff, but you know, I feel like NASCAR. and Indie Car here in America, like you. can't find much more exciting racing. than what we have here. So, I'm I'm. fortunate to get to run both of them,

but I would definitely never turn down. the opportunity to go. And I think you. are a guy, if I'm getting the. temperature of the race community right, uh, just because you've been here the. last two years, I think you would be a. guy that America Racing would be like, "Yep, we would like to see Kyle go ahead. and represent for us over there." So. hopefully one day that's able to happen. Didn't they shut down an American team. and then they Yeah, I think they're like. European soccer. Cadillac's coming. Yeah, Hos is out there and then. Cadillac's coming next year. Yeah, they're based out of here. Yeah, they. have a nice really nice facility uh.

right by our race shop in Charlotte. Um, it's it's it's big. It's cool. So, Charlotte calls itself Charlotte's like. the Indianapolis of NASCAR. NASCAR. Yeah, I know. Because I'll go down to. Charlotte and they'll be like, "It's the. home of racing." I didn't know that. Nope. It is. It is Indianapolis. Yeah, Charlotte is that is the home. Hendricks. Motorsports has a whole campus. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, I was there. That's where you went to do. Yeah, that. was where I went. You got like They have. ex- college football players running the. pits. Oh, yeah. They have like weight. room. They have gym in the morning. They. have.

film. They're making a huge facility now. for like a new fitness center. It's. going to be it's going to be legit. Like. it's college like level campus, you. know, like they I think they went and. toured Alabama. So, it' be pretty. similar to that. Yeah, it was a college. campus. We literally we went over to. practice with the pit crew. Then we went. over to the gym to lift some uh another. team's pit crew. Then we went and had. some food. There was a big obviously a. diner and it's like it's kind of. all-encompassing down there. And uh what. a sport NASCAR has been. Moonshiners, right? Isn't that how it all started? Yeah, I guess. Yeah. running running.

some moonshine back in the day. Do you. can build engines and [ __ ] I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm not a car guy at all. I. just hold the steering wheel, press the. gas pedal. I don't know much about. building a car. Yeah, I like to hear. Stick me in the seat and go and I'll try. and make it go as fast as I can. A lot. of drivers, A lot of drivers when it. doesn't go their way, what I've learned. from an extended period of time here in. Indianapolis is it's the car's fault. Okay. A lot of the car getting blamed. Yeah. Yeah. You've heard that in race. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, that is Yeah. I. gave it all I could today. the car. The.

boys we tried. That's all we had. That's. all we had. All the car had. Is that. real? Is that a real excuse being uh It. it is it is a legit, you know, excuse a. little bit, but I I try hard not to, you. know, do that too often because I do. feel like, you know, the driver. obviously means a ton. So, but yes, there's always only, you know, so much. you can do with your car. Like, if you. got a 20th place car, it's really hard. to win with it. It's hard to crack the. top 10 sometimes. But you know, if you. get a car that you know is 10th, you can. you can do some things and execute out.

execute your competitors and win. What a. So, can you explain to people who maybe. don't know the race world as much? If. you have a 20th car or a 10th car, what. you're talking about is literally the. fastest that this car can go is probably. about the 10th fastest in this. particular race because of some bolt. being tightened a little bit more on. some other car or what? No, no. just. like the setup of it, you know, the. shocks, the springs, the all the all the. mechanics and the engineering that goes. on with making the most grip and speed. and aerodynamics out of the car. Um, not. necessarily just a bolt being tighter. than than anothers, but um, but that is.

like potentially something though. Oh, yeah. I mean, if you have something fall. off for sure. Yeah, you can. But like I. what I've heard is you all get similar. chassis or something like that and then. there's like changes to like one little. thing like we're going to drop the front. fender just like this a little bit and. then like not even a quarter of an inch. You're talking like less. Yeah. And that. that can add like 3 mph for downforce. whatever. Yeah. It's it's finicky like. all the cars now even indie car indie. car is probably more so that pretty. similar though. But yeah just with spec. racing like yeah our cars are pretty.

similar. So like any little advantage. that you find could be worth, you know, a decent amount. And that's why these. engineers are getting paid so much. Yeah. And and that's why you have, you. know, hundreds of engineers. The guys on. the computers and girls on the computers. during the races, they're like reading. how every part of the car is reacting. pictures of other teams cars and. looking, you know, at at little features. they might have on there tweaked from. what you would have or like trying to. judge their tire pressures. And it's. it's Yeah. It's like it's a very.

scientific thing that's going on. Super. I I think back in the day it used to be. a little bit more run and gun, right? Like have a pit crew, we're going to. build the engine. It I don't think they. had regulations on how much like if you. could get more power, you can get more. power. So, it's a little bit out of. control. Now, there's regulations on it. It's like being able to win within it is. a massive part of it. It's going on with. the Penske team right now. And they're. saying it's not just the Pensky team. It's been happening through out the. entirety. It's like that is racing as a. whole, I think. Always trying to You're. always trying to Yeah. You're always. trying to push the limits on everything, you know. So any any small advantage and.

I'm sure it's the same in, you know, stick and ball sports. You're trying to, you know, find the edge of the rules and. and get your advantage within that. So. it's it's no different in racing. Yeah. Just super super super smart people. Yeah. With like these guys in uh. professional sports. Uh yeah, he's lead. engineer for a car that blah blah blah. It's like what does he do every day? Uh. he tries to make the greatest. most um what's that called? Aerodynamic. Yeah. Boom. Aerodynamic.

vehicle of all time while having more. power than any car has ever had. How. fast will you go during the race? Indie. Yeah. Uh I would say in the draft, yeah, we're probably still in the 230s, 235, like top speed. You need Tom Cruz in. there. Yeah, they need to drop Tom Cruz. in there. Going fast enough for TC. Yeah. 4005. When that gets to 300 miles. hour, let Tom Cruz know. Go ahead. So, the situation happened last year with uh. Dugarten, I believe. All right. So, say. it's the last lap any 500. Would you. rather be in first or second? Uh, that's. a good man. Like looking at where Pau.

was last year, I don't see how you do. anything different really. You know, like New Guard in his car was so. extremely good and it was hard for. others to build those runs on the. backstretch. So, I think, you know, he. had his run on the front stretch and he. took his, you know, opportunity and then. you're just hoping that you have just. enough, which he almost, you know, had. just enough, you know, speed and. distance before he got to turn three. So, man, I I don't know. I'd be curious. what PO would think, but if you got the. opportunity to take the lead on the last.

lap, you have to take it. Like, you. can't I feel like you can't wait until. turn two and like hope that you're going. to have this run or not. No, you guys. are setting up the move, aren't you? Shot. Yeah, I think Yeah, I think you. got to get to the lead, you know, is. when you can. The weather made last year. uh chaotic for you. Tough. It It. literally Yeah, the Midwest. It. literally pissed on your entire plane. Like that that was actually what. happened. Uh weather the same storm the. literally the same storm that delayed.

the Indy500 got to Charlotte in time for. me to get there. Literally right right. when I got there it was such a sick plan. too. Plane, helicopter we're in. McGee. was following you. So anytime you got. McGee on the trail obviously that's. great. But weather is a big deal for. these cars right? Like this weekend I. think it's supposed to be 60s. Yeah it. be colder. So that is that good or bad? Um, I mean drivers would prefer like. hotter conditions probably, although. it'd be tougher in the car because it'd. be hot in the car. Like the tires don't.

stick to the surface as good, so it. would be sliding around more and more. mistakes, which allows for more passing. Um, when it's cooler, the tracks got. more grip, drivers are making less. mistakes, the speeds just kind of stay. faster. Um, so yeah, typically I prefer. warmer conditions. Okay. So when it's. colder, you said more grip. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, more grip. I don't know why you. want less grip for more mistakes so you. could take advantage of Yeah. Yeah. That's an awesome theory. I did not know. that was I assumed because they always. said the weather and I always assumed.

hotter was faster and that would be more. grippy cuz it would be sticky. I just. think cuz the surface gets hot, your. tires get hotter, then it just becomes. like slimy, you know, on top of the. surface. Yeah. And you're looking for. all you're looking for is somebody to. accidentally slime a little bit to the. right. Just a little bit. Miss a little. bit. What's the move? Hey, do people. watch film on each other? Like what is. your move? Uh, I mean it probably. depends on like track and and type of. car I might be in, but yeah, I mean. you're always studying like your. competitors or previous races to see. what moves worked like restarts.

especially. What's a standard move you. think? Like a setup and then like a. duck. What is a I mean at Indie it's. pretty simple like you have to get this. big run off of say turn two or turn four. and then catch the draft and then yeah, you just make your move. It's pretty. simple but restarts is where it gets. crazy. You know the the field's bunched. up. It's hard to pass. So, you're trying. to make the most of the restarts. Um, and yeah, I mean, it'll fan out three, four wide. The draft, the draft is like. crazy big in the indie car, which is. weird to feel, you know, compared to.

stock car we have drafting, but like any. car, it's like you get in that pocket of. air and it's like a full boost. You can. feel it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It gets quiet. cuz the the wind is now like, you know, you're inside of this pocket of air. So, it gets like kind of silent. It's it's. like out of a movie. That's a kind of. You're feeling it for the first time. Oh. [ __ ] I'm in here right now. Yeah. Well, then you pull out and then you have all. the wind back on top your car and it. gets like loud and you like your car. starts moving around a little bit. It's. It's different. Did it rattle you a. little bit the first time you felt it in. the race? No. No. You're a dog. Yeah.

All right. Yeah. You understood what was. going to happen there. You guys in. NASCAR there for a little bit. Remember. when you guys were doing uh the F1 style. of racing where you guys were literally. just nose on tail? Oh, yeah. The tandem. style. That was that was before my time. Thank god. That was terrible. I I turned. that on and I'm like, "How do they think. this is what? How do they think?" And. and I was being told I didn't understand. draft and all this [ __ ] And it's like, I just know that that looks stupid. You. guys look like literally caterpillars. rolling around the entire race. Do you. like what the changes that NASCAR has. made? Um, what is it? The three thing.

now? Yeah. What's that? Stages. Oh, the. stages. Um, I don't uh I could take it. or leave it. I think for me, I would I. would like I would like to not have. stages because I think it makes the. strategy of the race way better because. you don't know when the caution's. coming. When you know that the caution's. coming, it's so easy to plan your race. and like, all right, you know, we're. going to pit midway through this stage. and that's going to get us and then you. never get to really like pushing the. length of your tires to where they're.

like completely wearing out. So, um I. think if we didn't have stages, we would. you would see more drivers like pushing. early in the run and falling back later. in the run and and things like that. So, but also I think stages is good because. where life is and like the attention. span of of younger adults these days. like the timed caution is probably. better for them and and TV too getting. their commercials in and all that. So, there's more that goes into it. Yeah, but the play through, brother. You can. have the Oh, yeah. Yeah. by the way. Yeah. I I wish they would do more of.

that, but yeah. Okay. I'm happy you said. that and I think you saying that will. have a lot of say because all of us, not. we're outsiders in this entire thing, but you'll turn on a NASCAR race or. whatever. And it'll be like we're in. stage one. We got this many laps left. and it's like I don't care. Stage one. I. want Does that mean you win a race? No, you don't win a race. Okay. So, they're. having a quarter. They're having a. period. I'm sorry. And then I So, I need. to get to the I want to be here in the. third period. That's where I want to be. So, for me that it's done that. Especially when you grew up when it was. just like, oh, you start on lap one, on.

lap 225, the race is over. And they have. to go. Yeah. And they like, to your. point about strategy, gas is a big deal, right? Yeah. Tires is a big deal. Tires. more so than gas at a lot of the tracks. But yeah, somebody won the 500 uh two. years ago. They ran out of gas as they. finished. Uh that was there's a gas. strategy. You know the gas strategy at. any 500? Have you and the boys talked. about the gas? We have you've got like. different fuel mappings to like lean. your engine out which cuts power but. saves fuel and then you're Yeah. Yeah. And you can steal some first Yeah. laps.

which obviously ups the check. You can. steal some. Just stay out longer than. everybody else. Steal some first like. people don't want to be leading the race. cuz then you're burning the most fuel. You want to be in that draft so you can. like be off the throttle saving fuel. It. just extends your runs and stuff like. that. So Okay. So that's a big piece for. us to know. Yeah. Way there's there's so. much strategy that goes into every race. But yes, especially Indie with the fuel. Fuel's I feel like from what I've. learned most important there. Good. AJ. AJ's wearing a youth large Devonte Adams. New York uh Jets jersey. Yes, I am.

Kyle, you talked about you're 135. pounds. I wonder like your what you have. to do physically to get ready for, you. know, a big race season. I imagine. there's not a whole lot of time when. you're actually out of the car for an. extended period. But what also like what. is the most grueling racing that you you. think that you do on your body. physically? Yeah. So, I'm I'm unique. because I do get to race a lot of. different types of of racing. Um, and. I'm racing all the time, so I'm not. really home at the gym all the time. But. when I am home, I like to get in there. and do, you know, gym. I really enjoy. riding my bike. I feel like my, you.

know, cycling for the endurance of it is. good for like NASCAR, but then when you. when I do my dirt track stuff, you know, those are 30 lap races and and the. intensity like my heart rate will spike, you know, right away where like in. NASCAR, I I I wear this Garmin watch and. I track my heart rate at all my races. Like in NASCAR, I'll be, you know, average of, you know, 140, 150. throughout the race. You might have your. moments where it gets up there and. whatnot, but sprint car racing the 950. horsepower, 1400 lb, you know, it might. be a 7minute race, but my heart will be.

my heart rate will be like 195 the whole. time. Just gassed. So, uh I like I like. the intensity of that. So, I think with. the training that that part of it's. weird for me probably because, you know, I should do more like endurance, but. then I also have to like be ready for. intense moments, too. So, um don't you. guys do a lot of this [ __ ] I've been to. a couple indie car uh like the rolling. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A little bit of that. That's part of it. Yeah. The forearms. Yeah. And then shoulders. Yep. I've. tapped out of one of those. The reflex.

thing, too. Oh, I have a question. Yeah. We do a lot of that. Yeah. Hand eye kind. of, you know, cognitive stuff. That's. good for your brain. Anybody smoke weed. over there? No, we're not allowed to. No. You talking about the the shoulders. and stuff in both the uh crashes this. weekend where they flipped over, their. hands immediately went here. you guys is. that taught in just indie or NASCAR? I. would say mostly indie is where so like. we never did that really in NASCAR and. until Danica came and uh I think it's. because when you hit like when you spin. or hit the wall in Indie car like the. wheels just you know spinning so fast so.

like a lot of people break their wrists. if you oh keep your hand on the wheel. too long. So yeah like you've kind of. just naturally got trained now like. whenever you get ready to hit the wall I. just brace and mostly just so I don't. break a wrist or anything like that. the hand then the sparks flying. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know they both did that. on purpose. Didn't always have that top. What's that? Halo. I guess the top halo. that Indie Car didn't used to have that. That's crazy. Yeah. Think about the. That's why it's called open wheel, right? Uh open wheel just for cuz the. tires are out there like there's no.

fenders, you know, around the tires. Yeah. Okay. Open ass wheel. They will. take a trip out of the speedway. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Seen it. Yeah. Seen just what. last year the uh run out of gas. Alexander Rossi. Oh, yeah. That was. Yeah. 2016. Uh he won the race by. running out of gas just before crossing. the finish line. He stretched his final. tank of fuel over 90 miles and with the. help of a toe finished the final lap at. a slow speed allowing him to take the. checkered flag with an empty fuel tank. cuz everybody else is going in. So he. they're going in and he's just stealing.

laps while they're going in and then you. get so far ahead you're just cuz the. entire commentator is like is he gonna. sur is he gonna make it and then he. finally finished and he uh he won. Congrats to Rossy. Absolute dog. So, I'm. saying that's a strategy. Yeah. And. there's also, you know, smaller race. teams uh that I potentially uh sponsored. a car in that you talk about being in. first. Not great for if you're going to. win, but if you're one of the smaller. race teams, good for exposure when. everybody else is pitting. Yeah, we're. still go out here. We're top five right.

now. Top five right now. And that was. me. So, last year I I ended up speeding. on pit road, you know, at the end of it. So, we got our strategy kind of off and. like my crew guy or the the strategist, he kept me out so I could lead some. laps. I was like, man, that's kind of. embarrassing. That's not really the way. I wanted to lead laps with the Indy500. But no, but only only people that really. know what's happening. Like the majority. of fans that are watching are just like, oh [ __ ]. I know. Like I read would read, oh, he. led laps in his first E500. It's so. great. I'm like, man, I kind of like on.

pit road and like had to lead some laps. while everybody else pitted. So, uh, you. said you're doing dirt track racing with. next week? Yeah. Lawrenceburg. Yep. So, you just stay out here? No, I'll I'll. go. So, I'll race 600. Yeah. And then. then, uh, I'll go I'll get to hang out. at home for a little bit. Okay. So, night before we're doing pasta, we're. doing water. Uh, yeah, a little. I I. don't know. Probably some pasta be good. I like some pasta, but what type of. pasta? Whatever pasta we doing. You like. rugata. Spaghetti meat sauce. Oh, spaghette. I.

would say before like before the race. though I'm I'm pretty standard like. chicken veggies rice. Got it. What then. after I think before like when I'm on. the plane going to Charlotte I'll. probably do like a you know Mexican. style bowl you know protein bowl and. then uh last year I got an IV and was. ready to rock. Those are amazing. The. IVs. I'm happy we've gotten to a point. in society where nurses just show up. with hey you don't feel good? No. All. right give us 15 minutes and they just. plug us in. Fix me. That's a big deal.

AJ, I think for the humans as a whole. that that is possible. I think Vegas is. credited with probably starting it, right? For the hangover cures. Yeah, that's the biggest thing. I think Vegas. used to drive around and you could get. picked up on the street and get them. legitimately. I think Vegas kind of. started like, "Hey, uh, you're going to. be dead tomorrow. We got the answer. We. got four nurses that quit their jobs. Now they show up with IVs." Right. Your. hotel room, right? Boom. We're going to. go do Yes. Okay. So, you boy likes to. get that. All right. We like that a lot. And then like now everywhere has it. Like now everywhere has a I think Gumpy.

was getting an IV drip every single. Sunday basically. Grave spot downtown. That's what I'm It's just like. unbelievable. We're just at a period of. time now where it's just normal like. yeah just go get an IV get kind of get. figured out. Locker rooms of football. teams used to do it at halftime and it. would all be all the doctors trying to. prick them. Remember they wouldn't. travel with nurses. It would be surgeons. who are like 60 years old who haven't. set up an IV in 30 40 years. 40 years. they got to do ex damn near. Well that. was a shot shot but yeah. Yeah. similar. thing. All right, I'm happy you're.

getting plugged in. Good luck for the 6. uh 600 and the 500. 1100 miles of. racing. I think everybody's excited to. hopefully watch it go off without a. hitch, without mother nature getting. involved. It looks like early. indications that a Doppler is. It's. going to be a beautiful Sunday for you. to go racing. Mhm. Yeah. Thanks. I uh. keep my fingers crossed that the rain. stays away this year. Okay. So, who all. do we got to give credit to? I know you. racers have to [ __ ] Oh, hendendrickcars.com. Yep. Chevrolet. Air. McLaren Prime. I got Amazon Prime. following me around for the last couple. years. We're doing backos.

Yeah. Yeah. No. So, uh that's how you. got that car out there. Hey, owner. Okay. Still, I can't believe you're. driving that in Indiana. Yeah. The. light. So, I realized there's no license. plate on it right now either. So, I'm. like, what do I do if I get cops? You. just beat them. Drive fast. Yeah. You. don't get pulled over. No, the cops. understand. There there's an old story. here in Indianapolis where somebody was. driving on a highway uh like some like a. car like you were driving they get. pulled over and a cop like as the cops. walking up goes who do you think you are.

Mario and then peaks at it is Mario. Andredy like that is uh this city is. ready for you to do whatever the hell. you want in a car out there. Uh, but the. potholes, I guess you, Dude. Yeah, you. got a good eye. Bad hair. Bad. So bad. Good reflexes. Just so everybody knows. what we're talking about. He showed up. in a McLaren, I think. Is that what that. was? Yeah. This high off the ground. Nasty. Absolutely nasty. And our first. thought, everybody's first thought when. it pulled in was, "How did he make it. here?" Yeah. From it. Yeah. It's like there's crazy. Yeah.

Even out here. Yeah. We have not helped. these situations. Beautiful car as are. the Indie Car and NASCARs. And uh we. appreciate you taking the time and we. appreciate you committing to. Indianapolis like this, not only as a. child, you know, racing. I love Indie. I. love Indie. I lived here for a couple. years, so it's always like a another. home. Well, good. We love the fact that. you're doing the IN500. Maybe do it. every year. You going to do it every. year? Uh we'll see. I don't know. Right. now, this is it, but. um it's so fun that I feel like I'll. have FOMO if I miss it. So, I think. everybody wants you to do it, too. Yeah.

Need to see it happen. Yeah. You need to. win both. Need to win both of them. Yeah. Yeah. just just do it. I got a lot. of friends that are in that I got a lot. of friends that are in that win, dude. We got a lot of friends in that Indy500. Uh, okay. And I'm big fan of all of. them, especially with the mindset that. New Gardens going in to this race after. what happened with the Qualies, you. know, with he wasn't able uh to run his. car because of something that was. happening. I don't think he knew about. or Pensky knew about it. Clearly fired. Fired everybody. Fired everybody today. just a few days before the biggest event. of the year in the season. Uh, but to.

those boys, I say you guys had your. shot. You need to go win these things. That'd be great for racing. I mean, that'd be great for racing as a whole. And, uh, everybody thinks you really got. to do it. So, good luck out there. Thank. you guys. Stay safe. Stay safe. All. right. Shout out to Tom Cruz. Shout outs. to Kyle Larson. TE's and PE's to Dutch. And, uh, we're going to get the hell out. of here. AJ, you really crushed it on. this jersey Wednesday, brother. Yep. Thank you. Yeah, this is uh my last. jersey day, I think. So, yeah. I'll send. you a new one. We'll figure it out. Thank you. Connor loves the jersey. It.

was literally four minutes before we. went live. He goes, "We're all wearing. jerseys. Aren't we all wearing jerseys?". Thought we were. He said, "You have a. jersey right over your should right. there. Here's your jersey. Put the. jersey on." And then I thought I [ __ ]. ruined it for the Bers. So, I'm kind of. in a bad spot right now. Shout to Tom. Shout to Kyle. Shout out to you, AJ. We'll be back tomorrow. Conference. finals tonight. Here we go. Enjoy the. hell out of that. Good luck in that car, brother. Be a friend. Tell a friend. something nice. It might change your. life. We're in this thing together. Team. on me. Dang it. Not yet. Hold on. Great. Guy's a racer. Yeah, he's ready to go.

Ready to go. Good reflex. Team on three. One, two, three. Goodbye.