Men in Blazers LIVE! from San Francisco, featuring Billie Joe Armstrong, Andrew Luck, Mina Kimes, and Paraag Marathe

31:40It's just like, I remember I was in high school in 94 when Brazil, I grew up in Saratoga and they stayed in Los Gatos, which is like the neighboring town. And I think they might have won it in 94 if I'm not mistaken. And I just remember, I didn't even know anything really about World Cup or I had played soccer, but I didn't follow much professionally and it captivated us all. like that World Cup in 94 with Brazil there. And I just remember that so well, like going out and seeing all those, you know, Brazilians partying. And we have a chance. We have a chance now this summer to bring it back. You know, Americans want to watch the best.

32:20They want to see, but they also want to see toughness and style and see like a flair. It's why I think Brendan Aronson needs to be a prominent member of the team because he has all of those things. But like they just need to see some success. Brendan Aronson plus 10. Last question for you, Parag. I'm going to ask everybody this. Two-parter, Super Bowl 60, February, Levi's Stadium. What do you want to happen, and what do you think will happen? I want to be fast asleep.

32:51With my eye mask and my earplugs on. I honestly... And to wake up and what? Yeah. To whoever wins, I wish them all the best. But I don't really care.

33:07I think you just articulated the general feeling in this room. I love to win, but I hate to lose more. So I'm like, call me bitter, but that's just what I am. God bless. By the way, Arsene Wenger once said that if you hate to lose, you are a defender. And if you love to win, you become a striker. May you be both of those things in every regard. May the 49ers rise again. May Leeds United, can I just say, The world is a better place when Leeds United are a true force of great joy up north in every regard. San Francisco, please be upstanding for one of your own. Kragmar Atai! Thank you.

33:52Who says you can't have it all? Oh my God. Talking about who says you can't have it all. Our next guest is one of my favourite human beings in the entire planet. He's enigmatic. He's fully authentic. He's a pathfinder, not really a trailblazer, because I don't think anybody else could follow the singular path that he's walked in life and that he's continuing to reinvent and forge. Degree from Stanford in architecture design. Former San Jose Earthquakes intern. First pick in the NFL's 2012 draft. a monstrously good quarterback, a leader, a Civil War meme, and the only single man in human history to wear a Men in Blazers tie before an NFL game.

34:39Please be upstanding for one of your own. It's Mr. Andrew Luck. Oh, Andrew, you're putting this to shame with the style and the wonder with which you are. You don't know how excited I was that I still had this tie. And I didn't know that I want my baseball walk-up song to be ZZ Top, Sharp Dressed Man, until that happens. So thank you, Raj. You're just giving gifts, man. I had to be Sharp Dressed Man, Andrew. I've got to tell you. I do want to say, we've had you on many times. God bless. You weren't that smart that time. You didn't really make much of an effort that time, did you, Andrew? but you become an all-time great guest you are proper soccer we'll talk about that but my top three NFL moments of the past 10 years are in no particular order number one Caleb Williams pass against the Rams number two Caleb Williams pass against the Packers and then October 21st 2018 Andrew Luck arriving for the game against the Bills wearing the Men in Blazers tie as his tunnel fit

35:58what do you see when you see that Andrew? say it again what do you see when you look at that? ooh that feels like a different lifetime ago oh yeah I look very serious before kids very serious You look like a more angelic version of Arthur from Peaky Blinders. But by the way, look at those eyes. You knew you were about to create havoc. You knew you were about to... Did we win that game? You know you won. Do you not remember scores of games? I don't remember which game this was before. Maybe the Bills? It was the Bills. Okay. Yeah, we won. That was a softball, so you could say it.

36:41By the way, that does feel like a long time ago to you. It was a long time ago. Time moves fast, man. It does. It really does move fast, which I think is really the theme of this conversation because since we last had you on, so much has changed. August 2019, after seven seasons in the NFL, age 29, you retired from the league. And I know you took time to focus on yourself, your growth. I watched you. You skied. You surfed. You fished. You camped. and you've said you realized about yourself in this period this is a beautiful quote you said you realized if my worth as a human was going to be tied into how i did the result of my performance in a football game then i was going to have to this is so andrew luck pardon my french a real crappy life what did you learn about yourself as a human being in that time andrew oh you know Walking away, quitting, retiring from football was difficult, incredibly difficult decision.

37:42It was the right one. And I don't look back, regret it at all. I feel very fortunate to have played the great game that I did. I love it. It's part of why I'm back in football now. I did learn to fish and fly fish and sail and do a whole lot of things and found it was quite life-affirming to be outside and learning new things. I've certainly learned. I learned that no one's cheering for you when you're changing diapers at like 4 a.m. No one's booing you either. You know, your little hassle, like, hurry up, come on, let's go. I learned that. I learned the challenges of parenthood. It's a very different kind of hurry-up offense.

38:22Yeah, you could say that. You could say that. But it was, life keeps moving on, and it doesn't stop. I mean, you did not stop. And when we spoke, you said to me that you learned that there's a beginning and an end to everything, which is beautiful. I mean, it's very biblical in a way. I don't know about biblical, but I'll take it. I don't like to be hyperbolic. It's either biblical or it sounds very like a bird song. But you went back to school. You got a master's in education from Stanford. You got yourself a new mission. This blew my mind when you did this. You became general manager of Stanford football.

39:05taking a historic program founded in 1892 and really trying to transform it for the NIL era. I look at your role, and I do think of it in the football realm. It's like a sporting director, the footballing director. When I meet footballing directors who were once elite footballers, like Ed Yu when he was at Arsenal, I'm always blown away. I'm always like, how can you score goals, tackle people, win leagues and all that crap? And also, no strategy, finance, deal-making. I mean, it's a totally different career, totally different mindset, totally different... I mean, spreadsheets, man. You changed at 35.

39:49How did you manage it? It's bonkers. Managed with a lot of help. There's an amazing team. We've got an amazing assistant general manager, amazing associate general manager. Google Sheets, Google Pages. What an amazing advancement in society. Incredible stuff. I'm still astounded by it. Negotiations are odd when you're a player on one side of the table. I've realized about my personality, especially as a people pleaser. If I fall in love with a recruit, what do you want? Five million dollars? I'll give it to you. What do you want? Six million? Seven? What do you want? I'll give it to you. I've got to be careful there.

40:28They're asking for four. And I'm just like, we'll give you seven. And it's fun. College football is going through what many in the tech industry in this part of the world would call disruption, right? And we're trying to figure out, and, you know, how do we wade through that? How do we hold on to our values? How do we hold on to who we are as Stanford football and pursue excellence and winning? Because winning matters, right? We're all in it to win. and doing a way that still resonates to who we believe we are. So learning has been fun. The gnarly problem has been fun. I'm proud of our team. We got the axe back from Berkeley across the pond.

41:09All right, here, let's go. Yeah, good. You can only ever win over half a room. You're doing very well. I would boo too if I was a Cal fan. I would boo too. What have you learned about yourself? I mean, it is kind of, it is incredible. Ultimately, when you said that there's this great thing, Google Spreadsheets, I thought you were going to say there's another great thing, ChatGPT. That's cool too. What have you learned about yourself? Because it's a completely, I mean, I would say it's a completely different muscle, but one is about muscles and the other is pure brain. It's awesome working with a team again.

41:55That's what's fun. And it's fun having a role. I feel very purposeful. You know, Limey are getting Stanford to where we need to go, Stanford football. I love working with our coaches, our staff, the players. It's fun. It's fun to work with 18 to 21-year-olds, 22-year-olds, 23-year-olds. Like, they're amazing and do some really dumb s***, you know. And I love them. And they keep us on our toes. by the way I like both of the things you said there feeling purposeful ultimately it's what all of us are wanting in life and also to be 18 and 21 and do some really dumb s*** both of them double wins but we do sit here four days ahead of the Super Bowl I spoke to you during the playoffs I actually spoke to you while I was at the Bears-Rams game which I know you watched what do you miss most about playing?

42:49what itch is just not scratch in the same way that we civilians would just never understand? I don't miss much about playing. I miss football, right? It's part of why I'm back working in football. But, you know, you referenced there's a beginning and an end to things, and I knew when I retired that it was an end to playing, and I think overall I just feel stoked I got to play and do it. I'll answer a different question. What do I not miss? What do I really not, not miss? I do not miss getting the shit out of the game. Beat out of you and hit. And waking up the next day. You know, the elements that I missed, being on a team, having a role, working with amazing people, you know, that itch is scratched on work.

43:36And, look, all of our time ends eventually, and it's nice to give back into the next generation of the game, you know, through Stanford. It's part of why I volunteer coached at Palo Alto High School, you know, a few years ago. Go Vikes. for that. I think we all, once we're through the game, we have a bit of an obligation and a duty to help it in different ways. Can I just tell you, I want you to know this man laughed at me saying it's biblical. This is all very biblical. This is patriarchal shit, ladies and gentlemen. But I want to talk to you about your football fandom, because one of many things I love about you, and I am incredibly, incredibly fond of you, Andrew Luck, is that you grew up playing soccer.

44:22Take a look at this handsome fourth grader.

44:28By the way, that photo is incredible. You somehow managed to embody the entire cast of the Mighty Ducks all at once in one person. But you grew up in London, Germany. You followed your father, former quarterback Andrew Luck, who set up the World League of American Football. And I know that you talk about your football days actually giving you some of the footwork skills that you used in the NFL, but I am fascinated to hear, tell us, that monster, what kind of a soccer player was young Andrew like? I enjoyed scoring goals. I enjoyed passing. I think it's a great game, a great game. And oddly enough, now in recruiting in college football in a world, I think, when youth sports seem to be specializing earlier and earlier in children's lives.

45:23We love recruiting multi-sport athletes. We love recruiting football, soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestlers. We think it helps. We think it helps the athleticism of young men that we recruit. What was a young Andrew soccer player like? Just happy to be out there looking forward to the orange slices at halftime, baby. I've got to tell you, I look at that, I'm like, that is a young Yaya Torre. Am I right? I appreciate that. That makes me feel good. It's true, man. Love Yaya Torre. By the way, you do know, we've all met that kid. That kid dominated. You once came on our show and described your style.

46:04I love this. You told me, on the football field, you were a hustler with zero technical ability. Is that fair? Yeah, that's fair. The best footballer in our family is my little brother Addison, who actually lives across the pond in England right now. Married a woman from Bath. She's amazing. God bless. He was amazing. Yeah, good footballer. Good soccer player. By the way, the hustler with zero technical ability makes me believe that you, and I could still get you, a deal right next season for Everton Football Club. There you go. dreams can come true by the way bite your arm off um but i do know also from the early days of our friendship gridiron football was your job but soccer was the place where you did again i said this in the introduction it's where you let your fruit flag fly it was like you're real it was like a joy for you 2014 world cup you packed you told me this is your quote a pair of jeans some underwear I don't need to know how many pairs.

47:06Ten US kits. That is proper football. One pair of jeans. Let's give him the benefit of that. Three pairs of change of undies. Ten US kits. Traveled to Brazil. Supported the US. You went everywhere. And there is something phenomenal. We're about to be on the brink of a World Cup. You have lived one. The power of it. You've experienced it. You've seen it. You've drunken it up. Can you point to words, what is it like to travel with a team, to make memories with a fan base, really to save a hero's journey? It was an awesome experience. Went with David DiCastro, who was a great all-pro for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of my roommates at Stanford, and Sam Schwartstein, who's famous for inventing the new kickoff in the NFL.

47:49I'll throw a shout-out to Sam, another roommate. And we had a blast. Brazil is a massive country, a massive country. The flights were long. I think proud to be a U.S. fan, definitely proud of the fight, the grit they showed. I mean, like the tears after the Belgium loss, we were seeing Tim Howard. But it was, especially when, perhaps I think when playing football at the time, to just go be a fan was a nice release, a nice outlet. It rained so much in Recife before that Germany game, and we couldn't leave the hotel, so we were stuck there. Traffic was terrible. Traffic in the Bay Area has been terrible this week with the Super Bowl.

48:39But it was a fantastic experience and really a joy to follow the U.S. God, that's it. The leading memory of the World Cup for that person is that the traffic was terrible. You had to take the Metro. God bless. We'll talk to you about that scarring experience afterwards. Brazil, a multicultural, diverse, human and biological ecosystem. We had to take the metric. Thank you. We'll chat later. I'll read your book, My Struggle. I can't wait.

49:18Look, talking about books. By the way, that woman works for the Brazilian tourist world. She's doing a great job. She's off the clock. Really good infrastructure. I love America. I just wrote a book about the history of the World Cup. I learned in 1994 this is a true story. Before the World Cup, there was a study done of America's favorite sports. And soccer, always the sport of the future, came 70th. I found out tractor pulling was number 69. Nice. a study two weeks ago in The Economist found out soccer is now America's third most popular sport behind the NFL and the NBA ahead of baseball, which is amazing you've lived it, you were a pathfinder I mean, when you first came on and you talked about your love of soccer it was like John Oliver, by the way just before you came on John Oliver had a lot of the US players on his show on whatever show he was hosting then and he said to them And he said, it was his first question, he said to them, when did you come out to your parents as a football player?

50:32It was just amazing. But that's where football was when we started talking. It's now third most popular sport. How do you understand it? How have you experienced it? What has driven this audience and the audience across the nation who are watching this fall in love with soccer and making it America's sport of the future no more? certainly growing up in Europe, the exposure to the game. Watching my father run the Houston Dynamo when they moved from San Jose to Houston, win a couple MLS Cups early on. I know it's a sore subject for the Bay about the Quakes leaving back then, but being a Dynamo fan and watching them win MLS Cups with Brian Ching, Dwayne DiRosario, Wade Barrett, they were unbelievable.

51:22Dom Kinnear was the coach. I mean, they were unbelievable. And the sport's so different than football, American football. It's, you know, it's just got a different flow. It's got a different rhythm. No TV timeouts. No TV timeouts. Got to get used to TV timeouts when you go to college after high school. And then really got to get used to them in the NFL. But it's a different sport. I can't speak to why anybody else fell in love with him. I do talk to my brother-in-law a lot about this. He was at that Brazil-US game at Stanford Stadium. He's a Stanford grad, and he's a Sacramento guy, is as into the US national team as I am.

52:03But it's a fantastic sport. I hope it's not just having a moment on the men's and women's side. I hope this is a real groundswell. God willing, from your mouth to God's ear, because the World Cup is coming to these shores. The audience is going to be enormous. we heard from our last guest Parag there was an audience who had turned on to the game by the 1994 tournament this is going to happen again by the way this is the first tournament in America where there's multi-generational memories of it happening being passed on which I think is deeply profound and I've only just begun to think about but the Bay Area is going to be the focus of the entire world what do you think the world can take away from the Bay Area experience that they they can't get anywhere else on the planet?

52:51Oh, it's... One, it's... My wife and I, we moved back to the Bay three or four years ago. We met at Stanford. You know, like many people who maybe weren't born here, you come out here, you stay for a reason. It's just an unbelievable place. It's... Yeah, it is. It's... Why, Angie? It's collaborative. I think people are pushing the envelope. You know, I'm certainly proud to be in a university that represents the Bay, you know, on the football field. I think when folks come for the World Cup, I hope they enjoy all of the bay. What I maybe enjoy most about the bay is hopping in the car and driving to Pacifica and getting in the ocean, you know, or going down to Montara and attempting to surf.

53:32You know, attempting. But it's a fantastic place. Happy to call it home. And what are you... You can clap that bay area. Clap that. I got it. May we all in life just attempt to surf. That would genuinely be, God, that's my life goal. May I one day attempt to surf. But the World Cup coming, I think there's 100 and whatever many teams who are coming. It's going to be an absolute, I mean, it's a football cacophony of human wonder. What are you most looking forward to? I'll have to make it to you a U.S. game, there's no doubt I'm glad they're on the West Coast do I understand it right? if we win our group, we're coming to Santa Clara yeah, so let's take care of business I'm happy to dream big with the U.S.

54:29team I'm full of joy to watch them I'm excited I dare think we can go farther than we've ever gone before

54:41I want to dig a bit deeper into this by the way if the US team do win the group and play the first knockout round game here genuinely can you imagine them pre-match meal at El Faralito it would be I mean by the way can anything stop them then after that burrito you are a massive US national fan we are living in an age when we're blessed with individual for individual, the most accomplished, talented generation of players we've ever had. They're playing for massive clubs week in, week out around the world. As a collective, let's just say they're like a police got a fine wine, but still very young, not to be drunken quite yet, to be laid down.

55:26They're yet to prove themselves. World Cup, crucible of pressure, crucible of expectation. You know about winning. You know about pressure and expectation too. So give us an honest sense of prediction. How far can this U.S. team go, Andrew? I do think they can go farther than we've ever gone before. Why not? Sports are wonderful. Gosh, it's fun being a fan. It's fun working in it. It's fun following different sports. But for us in the World Cup, why not? And I hope our team, I hope our young men, our staff, make a bunch of our fandom dreams a reality. By the way, we are, we are, we have been a, you know, America loves a dream team.

56:13We have been a dream on team. May we live some of those dreams in the months to come. By the way, I do need to ask you, how many pairs of underpants did you take to begin? Enough, enough. I don't mess around with underpants or socks. They've got to be clean. There you go. Young children in the audience, don't mess around with the socks and the underpants. They've got to be clean. Last question. Returning to the version of football that you live and breathe in the everyday Super Bowl, what do you want to happen? What do you think will happen? What do I want to happen at the Super Bowl? I want folks to stay healthy.

56:48I want everybody to watch, see a great game. Austin Hooper is a tight end on the New England Patriots, a proud alum of Leland Stanford Junior University. I hope he catches four touchdowns. Um, really hard for me to root for the Patriots, though, as a former Colt. Uh, hard for me to root for the Seahawks for whatever reason as well, although I love Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman. Uh, and seeing Jordan Morris, another proud Leland Stanford Junior University member. Uh, so I hope it's a great game. I hope everybody gets their money worth. I hope the halftime show is awesome.

57:38That's all I got. That's it. When you were Colts player and the Seahawks and the Patriots are playing Root for the Halftime Show, Andrew Luck, I've got to tell you, you are an inspiration. When we spoke last week, you did say that thing, that everything in life has a beginning and an end and I have not stopped thinking about it since. To you, to your family, to your team, to all of your teams and to your new beginning. Let's hear it. San Francisco for Mr. Andrew Luck. Thank you.

58:30It is time for a light in the darkness. someone who's rise and grind her unfathomable work ethic shattered the sense that you have to have a Super Bowl ring to talk knowledgeably about football of a surge from investigative business reporter to ESPN magazine to TV has no less an expert than Dominic Foxworth declaring she's fundamentally changed the way sports media works and I think it's actually an understatement it's a joy to welcome Etch-a-Sketch artist Steve Harvey's favourite NFL analyst one of my favourite people in the entire world please be upstanding for Mina Kimes applause

59:15applause applause applause applause applause applause applause applause applause

59:32The triplets. Photos, I know. Mina demanded in a rider that we have three Minas on at all time. Mina, it's so lovely to be with you. I want to say I admire you so bloody much. You're the first woman that ESPN has hired as a full-time NFL analyst. by the way i have a sense of how hard that has been for you but you have done it you've lived out that poster on your living room wall at the same time which says be kind it's so incredibly hard to pull it off how do you understand what has driven your ability to do what nobody's done i mean in america i don't like to be hyperbolic in american history no one's done what you've done, Mina Kimes.

1:00:18Have you pulled it off? Yeah. I don't know if I agree with your very grandiose characterization of my career. I'm not hyperbolic. It's the truth. Come on. Obviously, doing what I do, and for those who don't know, I'm an NFL analyst on ESPN, is pretty uncommon for someone who looks like me for a litany of reasons, not even just from identity perspective, but also just as a former, not a player, right? And any time that happens, usually it's because a lot of people took chances on you. And I would say I attribute a lot of my success to the relationships I've developed with the players who I make television with every day.

1:00:58They're like my brothers. They're the best. People always ask, oh, is it hard being a woman covering the NFL? I was like, no, not if you never look at the Internet. It's actually great, which is not totally true. But honestly, the people in the sport, the coaches, the players, and then the guys who I'm on TV with are incredible. And I owe so much to them. I want to start with your NFL fandom because you're a self-described lifelong, quote, psychotic NFL fan. Niners fans, if any of you are in the room tonight, just shut your ears for a second. We got some? You're a huge fan of the Seattle Seahawks.

1:01:37Wow. Wait. That sounded like 70 % booze, 30 % positive. I think that... No? Wow, okay, never mind, 90-10. Remember, never look at the internet. But it's an incredible fandom, and you wrote the most beautiful thing. It's well read on your Tumblr post. Launched your career. About how football is how you... Look at that. By the way... There I am. Yep. But a number of you, Mina's not the one in the middle. for those of you who are trying to work out. But football is how you're truly connected with that human being in the middle of your dad. You wrote, there are things I can never tell him. I know there are things he's never told me.

1:02:21But sometimes just having a thing to talk about, a meaningless, brutish, occasionally wonderful thing, is enough. I loved it. I think so many people loved it. You frame what so many of us feel about sports. For me, Everton, Chicago Bears, the NFL, World Cup, they're just connective tissue that sports creates between generations. That's what that photo really represents. I mean, it is for you. You embody the cross-generational memory making that's at heart, that's all that's good about sport. I think it's why so many of us fall in love with any team, any sport, whether it's OG football or our football.

1:03:05like it's because somebody else you care about in your life also really loves it and it gives and like I said in that essay it gives you a thing to talk about it gives you a thing that when you move I moved around a lot and then you know I did the essay I wrote was about how I really wasn't like in contact I was in contact with my dad but we wouldn't we didn't talk a lot you know you go to college you get a job but it gave us something to talk about every Sunday and to text about and I feel like those fibers, those connective fibers between family in our case but friends are a big part of reason why we watch and why we care so much.

1:03:41I want to turn back to that in a minute but you are an NFL analyst of some repute so I do need to ask you this is Patriot Seahawks 2 Electric Boogaloo I've asked everybody what do you think will happen and what do you want to happen? I give my official score prediction, ESPN, Seahawks 27, Patriots 24. It's weird. Do you really believe that professionally, objectively, or do you just wish that? No, because this is so... So I want the people in my life to be happy. And so part of me definitely wants Seattle to win for that reason. But more than anything, I just want to be right. It's really what drives me.

1:04:26So it's nice that those things would cohere. I do think top to bottom Seattle's a better team. They're favored for a reason. They did have an injury today. That gives me a little bit of concern. But, you know, New England's kind of an ahead of schedule, amazing young quarterback, played not the greatest offenses on the way here. So I think this is going to be a pretty significant test for them. God, you are so wild. You're the op-out. You like to be right. I always, I wouldn't see a therapist about this. I always predict my team will lose. So I'm actually... That's called an emotional hedge. I'm trying to speak out, apparently, my worst possible manifestation into the world so it can't hurt me.

1:05:07I'm trying to control it. You're doing the opposite. You're just putting your neck right out there saying, give me it. You know, I think doing what I do, I'm wrong a lot, first of all. But if I feel good about the process that got me there, then I'm not unhappy about it and I'll stand on my convictions. Be like Mina Kimes in life, young listeners. No lie, Rog. I do need to ask you this very quickly. You've got a Seahawks-related tattoo right by Seth. Was that a packed? No. I didn't know from that. It's a fact. Are we arguing about this? It's there, yes. It's packed in junior high. You're made with your beautiful brother.

1:05:47If the Seahawks ever won the Super Bowl in your lifetime, you get the matching ink. 2013, you did that. What would you do if the Seahawks win this? Face tattoo. Face tattoo, neck tattoo. There's a lot of real estate left. Does anyone here have a sports-related tattoo? So few. Is this not? It's an Everton fan. How many tattoos do you think he's going to have, for God's sake? I thought soccer fans were more tatted up than... Maybe that's just in Europe. I feel like I'm always insane. You've got to win to get the tattoo, unfortunately. By the way, when Everton win the league, I'm going full jelly roll.

1:06:29I want you to know that. I'm just putting it out there. Now I've said it publicly. It has to happen, but go on. So that tattoo, so I have a Super Bowl XLVIII tattoo on my bicep that my brother and I did make a pact to get. It has haunted me at moments in my life professionally. I had the... Because I got it before I was doing what I was doing. I remember I met Cam Chancellor, who was on that Super Bowl team, for those who follow the sport, one of the hardest-hitting safeties in NFL history. He noticed it on my arm, and I was like, yeah, so, you know, my brother and I grew up big fans, and we made a pact, my brother and I made a pact, that if we ever won the Super Bowl, and he's like, we?

1:07:17Were you out there? Did I miss that? He was giving me a hard time. He's lovely. That's how Camp Chancellor talks to the kicker and the punt-up. I don't think I'd get another tattoo to answer your question. But I will be live on TV right after, so if there's another Malcolm Butler-style moment and you want to watch someone's heart break in real time, tune in to ESPN, NFL Live. I want to talk quickly about your soccer fandom, because again, it's about your family. I know you used to play. Your dad was in the Air Force. played a lot of soccer to make friends what an incredible human being I know you made soccer to make friends as you moved around the United States this man would run down the sideline when Mina was in possession running alongside her, losing his mind which is very beautiful soccer, also how you bonded with your brother, went to the World Cup in 2002 in Korea he turned your mum into a Tottenham fanatic I'm very fond of you

1:08:17By the way, you can't boo that woman. She's an incredible human being. Genuinely, the world needs more of that kind of joy in life. I do think her Twitter feed is one of the most nourishing places on the planet. It's very wholesome. Is soccer, is Tottenham now how you bond with your mum and your brother? They, okay, so that's, it's definitely their thing. My mum is insane. They actually did the pilgrimage. They went to London together on a trip to see the team play. I've seen your brother cry on the internet. Yeah, I know. They share a lot online. He's kind of like my Marcus Vick. For those who, Michael Vick had a famously interesting brother.

1:09:01Yeah, they love it. My mom, it's funny because everybody assumes my mom's Korean and they're like, well, she was a tiger mom who cared about academics. I'm like, yeah, but like she was insane about our sports because both my brother and I grew up playing soccer and she was, I know I talked about my dad. My mom was terrifying, like hard on coaches, yelling from the sidelines, yelling at me, like very invested in our youth soccer and up until the end of high school. Can we get your mom to coach the U.S. men's national team? She's available. I'm on it, don't worry I mean, you live in LA AKA the city that Song Hong Min built Look at it Magnificent, isn't it magnificent?

1:09:48I mean, it is in so many different ways Incredibly poetic, beautiful The levels of that I mean, objectively, Sonny is the most wholesome human being on the planet I loved that your mum joked that when she came to LA she was more excited to see Sonny than she was to see one of your kids when she visited. The second the news broke that he was coming to LAFC, she texted me. She was like, tickets, when? I was like, I have a two-year-old son you haven't come seen in like a year. She's like, yeah, I got another son.

1:10:30I mean, by the way, probably not alone. Sony has, I mean, millions of mothers, millions of fathers, because L.A. has the largest population of Koreans outside of Korea. Can you point to words what it means? I mean, it is poetic. It's incredibly powerful to see a supreme athlete there representing your city. They're so pumped. Do we have any Koreans here? Maybe? Okay, for you? Okay, I see you. Yeah. So Koreans love nothing more than famous Koreans. It is, and especially like athletic success internationally. When I grew up, I actually grew up in LA for part of my childhood. Chanho Park, you guys remember the Dodgers picture.

1:11:11Like if you walked into a Korean restaurant in LA, they would all have altars to Chanho Park. Like you'd be like, he came to this restaurant once till like 3 a.m., you know. And so the Korean community there, which is, as you said, huge, has been starving for like a local celebrity. and the news was like people were just dazzled. And I haven't gone to, I go to LSE games sometimes. I haven't been since he came, but I have heard that there's a pretty large Korean contingent now at the games, which I imagine is quite fun. That is a small fraction of what we're about to experience. The World Cup's coming.

1:11:46Last time we hosted 1994. The thing we forget, because it was the most watched World Cup of all time in the stadia, but it was a slow burn at the beginning. mostly because bloody OJ did his Bronco drive on the very first night. By the way, that photo, my God, that was a very different America. But what that did, it meant Americans didn't even know the thing was happening until Ireland faced Italy at the Meadowlands in the group stages. And I think everyone, pretty well everyone from the state of New Jersey just showed up and represented. The game, I was actually at it, felt like Angela's Ashes was playing the Sopranos.

1:12:32It was so mad. I've never been in a football game where less people knew what the hell was going on. But my God, it mattered to the death. And Ireland bloody won. And that moment made America fall in love with football and the World Cup because it allowed you to cheer for your hyphenated identity, and it was utterly, utterly magnificent. 2026, do you think about this, about how Americans can embrace, celebrate this tournament as a way to revel in their differences in the most joyous fashion? It's a complicated time for nationalism here. No, I'm not going to go down that road. Yeah, I think so.

1:13:20I do. I mean, I actually think going down that road a little bit, there's the potential to feel inspired and to feel a level of togetherness that has been quite absent.

1:13:34I do love in World Cups in America and Olympics as well, that feeling of like, it really is one of those few times in American public life where people do celebrate what we're supposed to stand for. and I think yeah right and

1:13:55I'm excited for that potential it's always interesting for me by the way because I'm always torn between the US and Korea they're not always in tension obviously different groups and all of that but I never know who I'm rooting for harder until the games start and then you just know you know what I mean like you don't really know what do I care about and then you're like I am all in on Korea this year so I'm not sure how all feel God bless. I've got to say, when England play the United States in the World Cup, which they have twice in my modern lifetime, I just started podcasting in 1950 when they played the first time in the World Cup.

1:14:31And by the way, we won that one too, 1-0. We've never lost to England in a World Cup, which is, I don't know where it ranks in terms of putting a man on the moon and inventing the cronut, but for me, it's bloody well up there. also I want the world to know the last World Cup I watched the USA play England live on Twitch with Matthew McConaughey and I will tell you I cheered for the US even more than McConaughey I was like Kenny bloody Powers man the American flag cake one of my favourite moments doesn't involve the US and it doesn't even involve a significant Korean win it's when Korea beat Germany and when the Mexican fans all went to the Korean embassy and carried the Korean ambassador on their shoulders.

1:15:24That is what the World Cup is about to me. Like those alliances, because they sent Mexico to the knockout round for those who have forgotten. Those alliances between fan bases and countries, that to me is almost a stronger memory than some of the games from that year. It is, let's carry the world's ambassadors on our shoulders, America. He was like, whoa, like crowd surfing. By the way, the US play career, 2002. I don't know if you remember that game. I remember that. Yeah, they beat us. And the guy who scored the winning goal, this is amazing to me. He did a speed skating celebration in the American's face because he was still pissed that Apollo Ono cheated to get a gold medal after fouling a Korean speed skater.

1:16:10And I was just like, I love that. Spiked as the greatest human motivator. I love it too when two countries' fan bases unite over a common enemy. That is how real bonds are formed, I feel like, in sport. Let hate rule, America. Sorry, joking. Let love rule, which ultimately is the World Cup thing. And by the way, if anyone knows about that Italy-Ireland game, It was the most joyful, shared, incredible human experience. And I wish that on all of us for 39 straight days, that that eclipse which is about to hit this planet and the Bay Area is one that really brings a level of love that I think we all want, need, crave and really yearn for.

1:16:55Which brings us back to you, Mina Kimes. Your article, which I love. I think you know I do. Every time I was back in Liverpool, when I moved to America, I'd go to Everton games to watch with my dad and my kids. Three generations of fanatics reveling in our connection. By the way, when we were together, my dad acting like the biggest kid of all, which was wonderful, and, I mean, it's the joy of sports. He passed away in 2024, but when I go back now, even though he's not there, I feel like he's there with me in the deepest, richest way. Your dad, thank God, is still alive. But as you settle into your seat on Sunday to watch your Seahawks in this Super Bowl, professionally, very accomplished, doing your job, doing your role, trying not to think about that tattoo that could be forthcoming.

1:17:53Do you feel his presence? Do you feel the act of watching all of this, everything you do on his role in your life? It makes me happy thinking how happy he is in those. So I watched the NFC Championship and yeah, because of my job, I don't get to watch the way I use it. I'm taking notes the whole time. I'm on like different monitors. It's very boring. So I don't get that. Those just like having a beer at a bar, losing your mind when something cool happens. But I remember when Seattle was playing the Rams in the NFC Championship and they were in the four minute drive and they were converting down after down.

1:18:26I was just thinking like, God, he's got to be so happy right now. And, you know, I think the older you get. You just want your parents, your family to find those moments of joy. And for me, that's almost, I get more joy out of thinking about him and my family enjoying it and being excited than personally because it's a bit more of a job for me now. But I still really like that. The job's just killing passion. I love my job, to be clear, but it's just, it's very different now. Do you think about the parts of him you're passing down to your own son through the Seahawks? The craziest thing is looking at my two-year-old son and thinking he lives in a world where the Mariners are good.

1:19:08So that's my other fandom, is I'm a Mariners fan. And I'm just like, you won't have 20 years of character building. I'm so beaten down. And he's just like, they almost made it to the World Series. That's crazy. And now the Seahawks and the Super Bowl. My son only knows sports joy. The hard times are coming to build the character. They're coming. but yeah I do think it's something we can enjoy together and I hope he gets I worked on the Christmas games on Netflix last year and it was the first time he had actually watched me on TV because of the timing of it and we got footage of him just pointing at the screen and saying like mama you know talking about football sitting at a desk and that was cool but I was also thinking wow, this is so self-aggressive.

1:20:01I'm almost embarrassed to say what I was about to say, but I saw that video of my son, and I was thinking, like, it's pretty cool that millions of other sons are turning on the TV and just think it's normal for a woman to be talking about football on a desk. So that was cool too. Self-aggressive is the word I was searching for. An incredible note to end on. Mina Kimes, to you, your family, especially your beautiful, beautiful mum. You really are a light in the darkness. San Francisco, please be upstanding. Tamina Kimes!

1:20:40Mina Kimes, genuinely, legitimately, one of the most joyous human beings in the whole world. It is time for a man that I revere. A singular character. a gent forged in the punk scene of the East Bay and a man that I admire because the older he gets the more he's become so purely himself more authentic by the day and experienced wild success because of it six Grammys 75 million records sold worldwide he said humbly my job description is that I'm a rock star but the truth is he's an inspiration, a Bay Area original, a working class hero he's found a new passion in football from Green Day please be upstanding for Billy Joe Armstrong Billy Joe it is a joy to be with you, I've got to say I've admired you ever since I saw that mudfire Woodstock, that singular Maverick spirit does that feel like a long time ago or does it feel like it was yesterday night?

1:21:51No, it feels like a long time ago. I think Mike broke some of his teeth out right in the melee that was going on. They thought everybody was covered in mud, including half of the crowd was on stage that night. When I'm feeling dark and there's no hope, I watch that clip of you over and over again, just flinging mud at the whole crowd with just a fierce ferocity. a guy who grew up right here in the east bay armstrong family moved here i think in the 1800s which is mind-blowing you were born raised in rodeo by the refinery i mean what what is it about this unique place that in your own words just breeds a different kind of person about living in the bay area yeah growing up where you grew up man um well i mean my the town that i'm from is unincorporated like there's no police there's no it's a big refinery town and also you know there's it's like you got Berkeley which is like you know the free speech movement of the United States and then you get rodeo which is It's not.

1:23:13It's like, it's very working class. And then, you know, everybody went to school. Everybody knew each other in the whole town. It wasn't that many. I think there was 70 kids in my graduating class. And, yeah, very tiny. So it's tight-rooted. And it's a very, very close community. And I know sports was so incredibly important for you. It played a massive role in your youth. Can you talk about your early sporting passions? I know you go with your dad and your brother. You'd sit in the bleachers at all the Oakland. You'd watch all the Oakland sports teams. Take us to those memories. Sorry, say that again?

1:23:51The Oakland sports memories. Going to watch the Raiders in the bleachers. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, we grew up Raider fans, and we grew up Oakland A's fans. And, you know, it's been pretty depressing seeing, like, those teams go away. Like, you're like, I mean, if you can imagine, like, Liverpool becoming, like, Dubai.

1:24:27So it's...

1:24:38Oh, yeah, those are the good days. But, you know, I grew up, we would go to Oakland A's games. Like, I lived in Rodeo. We went to, we would drive to Del Norte Bart in El Cerrito, take the Bart station, all the train, and go to the Coliseum. You know, get to see, like, Ricky Henderson play. and, you know, just probably one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and, you know, he just passed away a couple years ago, but he was the best. I mean, he was an icon. We were too much... He had that stance where he was getting really low, and he was, like, the best lead hitter, I think. You know, he was the greatest stolen base leader of all time, so...

1:25:23I mean, he was so good that no one minded when he referred to himself in the third person. Yeah, yeah. Like, in interviews, he'd be like, Ricky don't like it when Ricky's limousine is late. And by the way, he'd just be like, Ricky, you can do whatever you want because you're that man and we love you. But all of it moved away, which is a theme of this conversation. All of it. The Raiders left. The Warriors left. The A's have left. Spoiler alert. It does get more positive. I want you to know. But this is essentially, for you, it was a community shattering. Yeah. I mean, the A's just, they embodied the East Bay, you know, from Oakland all the way to Walnut Creek.

1:26:05You know, they were, their colors were weird. They were, you know, there was like handlebar mustaches and afros. And like, they were, they embodied like the culture so much. And I think that that was, like the Raiders leaving and going to Vegas, they had already been to Los Angeles once. But like, so them leaving to Vegas was like, they're kind of on brand. They're a bunch of pirates, you know. So I'm still, I love the Raiders. They're the worst team right now, but it's getting interesting, though. Yeah, you know, Fernando Mendoza is, you know, we got our fingers crossed. Hopefully Mr. Davis doesn't screw that up, so.

1:26:50So we've established you're a hyper-local man, which we'll get back to. but you're also a global human being. You're a huge Anglophile. England loves this man. I can't believe... By the way, this man, if you did a rank of the most popular people in Britain, you would genuinely... Churchill is like number 100. I mean, Billy Joe Armstrong is probably... I think he's probably the most popular non-football figure. You are massive there. And I also know you love history. you love your documentaries when I think about it England in a way is just like life lived at the pace of a Ken Burns documentary but what is it that you like about life over in England Billy Joe I don't know it just seems like a more functioning society you know it's like if you're walking around at night it's like there's that cold chills that you get like when someone walks by like, do they have a gun?

1:27:58And I'm like, oh my God, they don't. So, but yeah, I just, you know, we record our last album there and, you know, Rack Studios and it was great. It's like a walk through Regent's Park to go to the studio every day and I loved it. So I've been kind of in and out going there for like the last three and a half years. I love your quote. You said, I, Billy Joe Armstrong, sound like an Englishman impersonating an American impersonating an Englishman.

1:28:37No, I mean, when we first got, like, we were on a small label a long time ago, and we were just sort of in the punk scenes that we would go and go on tour with. So everybody, you know, we were like another East Bay punk band, being from Gilman Street. And then when we got popular, it was like, well, I would say mainstream, we'd go, are you guys from England? And they're like, no. Why would you think that? It's like, oh, you have an English accent when you're saying, and I was like, I've never heard that before. But no, I love England. I hella love England.

1:29:19So we're getting to this. While you were in England recording, being a sports nut, which we've already evidenced, you started to go to football games, to soccer games. And what I love about this, you didn't go into the boardroom, the expensive suites. No, you, Billy Joe Armstrong, decided to go to Leighton Orient, Stockport County, Millwall. and you realized you love to sit with the home fans and just be amongst it. Can you take us there? What you saw, what you experienced, what you felt? Well, we were in, like, where we were staying at, we were walking distance from Arsenal. So we would, I went to, I started going to see matches there and then there wouldn't be a match the next week, so I'd go, man, that felt so good to be there.

1:30:18It's like when someone scores a goal, they're playing the hit song or something. That ecstasy of everybody is just like, yeah! And it's like, I don't know. It's not like scoring, unless it's like a home run or something like that. It's the only thing I can really compare it to. But like, and then I just started looking up other teams that were as close as possible. And so I looked up Millwall, never heard of him. I looked up Leighton Orient, never heard of him. And so I just started, whoever was playing, I would just start, it was like a half hour away. And like, I got a cab one day from going from our place to Millwall.

1:31:00And the guy was like, going to Millwall, huh? I was like, yeah, yeah. He goes, he's like, oh no, that's my team. He's a cabbie. So he was like, so he's like, yeah, he's like, have you never, he's like, you've ever been to the den? And I'm like, no, no, I've never been to the den. And he's like, oh, oh, yeah, yeah. So I went and yeah, it was just like sitting with the fans and every, you know, it was just felt like their motto is, no one likes us, we don't care. And I was like, now I feel like I'm at home. It's like, that was the best.

1:31:50So, yeah, and then we went to Leighton Orient, and I remember there was like a dad that was sitting in front of me with his kid, and he's like, but I didn't see your fucking buttons. He said, don't ever say that. I'm sorry. Don't tell your mother I said that, all right? So I was like, I mean, epic people watching. I think you might have just met my dad. Yeah.

1:32:17Don't do as I say. Don't do as I do. I think we'll just watch it. But I mean, by the way, Millwall, for those who do not know, Millwall is second tier football, southeast London. I'd say it's a fearsome tradition defiance, passion old school football ways by the way a real punk connection which is really fascinating to me you've said the motto no one likes us and we don't care when I think about that it is almost like a refraction of punk music it's gritty, pissed off, underdog when you've been asked to describe the essence of punk and you said it's about individual expression creative freedom non-conformity do you see a connection?

1:33:02is that what you were vibing to? if you've got that many tattoos on your face then yes

1:33:13no it's yeah I think it has a lot in common I think Sham 69 even has a Millwall song and then I was talking to Lars Fredrickson from Rancid and I was telling him He's like, he loves Millwall. He's a big Millwall fan, too. So he's like, ah, you picked a proper team. And I was like, all right. So I go in. Every time I go in, it's like I go in, I buy a scarf and a coffee mug. And like before you get in, I'll, every single game I ever go to. I went to a Charlton game when they played against Wrexham. And bought a scarf and a mug from there. And then it's like, so I've got all of these different mugs from all the different, you know, went to Fulham.

1:33:55What a beautiful stadium. that was so it was uh i mean you go by the way this man goes he's been to stockport county which is just so like mind-bogglingly incredible to me it would be like elvis presley like wandering into like the the the manchester nether regions and just loving every single second and you were asked in an english newspaper what do you love about it like it's registered there that you're not just like sitting in the boardroom doing the photo op you are like in with the home fans oh yeah And you said, if you really want to experience British culture, it's what you should do. You said football is like an effing religion.

1:34:35Yeah. What are you experiencing in there amongst the fans, the chaos, the sense of connection? You've likened it to being at a rock concert, like a mosh pit. Is there an overlap between a football game and a great concert?

1:34:53I just think it's just sort of the mania of a fan, like how much they just love going, you know, it's something that they're, gosh, I guess just feel dedicated to, you know, like you're dedicated to your favorite rock band or artists or something like that. But like I said, it's like when they score, it's just like... Mosh pit. Yeah, it's like, I think just even seeing, like, even watching clips when I was a kid, like, seeing, like, when somebody would score, and then it just become, like, this, and the sing-alongs, I don't know what the hell everybody's singing, but it's like, I'm kind of going,

1:35:40I'm feeling what in that moment. I mean, feeling it is like, it's a deeply communal experience, right? Yeah, yeah, and it's traded down from, you know, grandfathers to fathers to sons, and it's just like it's such a generational, and I think that that's what I, you know, just my dad was like in sport. My dad was like, he played like semi-pro baseball, and then like he had gotten me and my brother into baseball and football and stuff like that. So, yeah, it's like family. multi-generational memory making um you talk about wrexham i know you were there in north wales with our mutual friend ryan reynolds god bless him get out of these guys i mean this was this was the moment they signed the deal for you to have your song over the end credits of deadpool and wolverine um i know you i know you love the television show I know that you relate to the sense of community the working class town expressing itself through sports can you talk about that experience and what you bonded with Ryan over and then I mean you sat with the home fans again in the time yeah I well I love the the show welcome to Wrexham I thought I mean that's such a it's like I know they're kind of known as being kind of like the Hollywood team now and stuff like that but like the essence of like the town reminded me of sort of the like where I grew up in a lot of ways and the people that were there.

1:37:14So the yeah he invited me to come to a game and I went and it was funny because like we're kind of sitting in the owner's box and I was like I don't feel comfortable here. Like I need my coffee mug and my my scar. So I was sitting down there was a bunch of like more like Ryan's friends and stuff like that and they were kind of like chatting and talking and I was like please shut up I'm trying to see what's going on here yeah and then they ended up tying and they go hey Billy do you want to meet the team I was like no I don't not after it's like and then they were like yeah they don't want to meet Billy right now they're a little bit pissed off I'm like, no problem.

1:38:03I'm not going in that locker room. Because? Because they were leading and then they ended up with a draw. And so they were pretty angry. It's when Ryan sends Rob Mack in for those occasions. Another club you mentioned I do want to come back to, Arsenal Football Club. I know you do. Have a soft spot for Spike Lee's boys. come close so many years in a row. Don't tell Steve Jones. They've come close so many bloody times. They're so close now to making so many dreams come true. I do think there's an important life lesson in their journey about perseverance, tenacity. When you watch them, Arsenal, what do you see?

1:38:55What do I see? I mean, I've been watching them for like four years now to see how, I mean, they're in first place.

1:39:07I love it. These guys over here are like, someone is not an, who's not an Arsenal fan over here?

1:39:23See, this is it right here. I might get my ass kicked after this.

1:39:31So it's just been fun watching them just get, you know, you know, better and better. And like, they're just a great team. Not the best team in the Premier League. God willing. Don't, by the way, wouldn't that be ironic if this man survived a Millwall game and then had the crap kicked out of him at a Men in Blazers gig in the Bay Area? I'm not sure I'd be able to overcome that sense of guilt which means I'm going to move on to a beautiful, beautiful topic that I think we all agree on Everton Football Club you've got a fantastic history of dropping Everton video messages which I just love if you've not seen it here's one, let's take a look Hello, Everton, what's up?

1:40:18This is Willa Jones for the day I just want to say congratulations to everybody and kick Liverpool's ass. That's fantastic.

1:40:33Don't worry, I'll get my coffee mug from Liverpool too.

1:40:39You can't boo that. That is, to me, genuinely one of the greatest victories the club have had since we won a trophy in 1995. Give us the origins of that, because it's to do with our ex-manager, Sean Dyche. He went to a Green Bay show and he said, you can't not like it, I'm telling you, everybody needs to go. He said it's two hours of high-octane, non-stop, smashing life out of song after song. That's his thing. That made you connect to the club. I mean, ultimately, you learn about a club and then connect it to the underdog nature. Yeah, well, when Everton beat Liverpool, I didn't realize he came to see us play before, so I was just giving him a shout-out and stuff like that, which is pretty controversial when it comes to both teams being there.

1:41:39But I do have to say something about Liverpool. I actually went to Liverpool for the first time in the fall. So I went and did like the full on Beatles tour. Like I was just a tourist. I went to John's house and Paul's and George. And then I went to the cavern. And they had like Everton jerseys up there. And it said Lennon on the back. And I was like, there was this guy that was playing. And I put up my camera and I was like. So I just went, just did this. You know, I sat by, I was right there on the Mercy. And it was beautiful. I was just like, man, this is what I've always wanted to do. So I was just like geeking out because the Beatles are the best.

1:42:29It is one of the, I mean, I'm from there and I'm still objective. It is one of the greatest cities in the world. As to me, the Bay Area is in every regard. But hearing you talk about Everton, I want you to know, gives so many of us such joy. It's really the only victory we've had in about 36 years. But all of this, you're taking this back. I know you record the fan chants at these games and you listen to them at home on voice notes, which is beautiful and mind-blowing. You've come back to your locality and it's all come full circle. 2023, you invested in the Oakland roots and the Oakland salt.

1:43:12Which, by the way, is the first thing you've all clapped all night, which I love. It really shows a job that the titty's doing. I joined an ownership group, Marshawn Lynch, GEZ. It's an incredible project. It's football by the community, for the community, emphasis on social justice, diversity, grassroots involvement. And I am fascinated. When you look at this, does it fuse your, I mean, it is, your layers of story, the Oakland sports of your childhood and the football adventures of the present coming together in a very DIY way? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think that there was a big void that was in the Bay Area or in the East Bay that, you know, with the A's and the warriors and the raiders all leaving at the same time.

1:44:04And I think it was just like the roots. I went to go see him play and there's something about the culture. It was like they got it right. Like it's like native land, anything from that to, you know, just equal rights and, you know, the diversity of it. The uniforms was just like the mosaic and everything like that. I just thought, and it's so fun. You just go and there's like all of these food trucks out and there's like, you know, people just out like dancing and that like it's great. And so they asked me if I want to invest after the first time I was there. Of course they saw me and they were like, do you want to invest?

1:44:42And I was like, okay.

1:44:47So, yeah, I mean, Roots, that's my main coffee mug, you know. So that's that, Oakla Roots. The main coffee mug. That, may we all be in somebody's life, their main coffee mug. Their motto is Oakland first always, which I just love. Could be your motto, to be honest. I mean, so much of what you do is hyper-local. Your sports investments, your coffee brand, Punk Bunny Coffee, which grew out of Oakland Coffee Works, more coffee mug conversation. That's rooted in sustainability. It's rooted in fair trade. When I hear about your story and I think about you, Billy Joe, there is a through line in so much of what you do, which is bringing the Bay Area and the community that you grew up with out into the world, which is going to go into overdrive when the World Cup comes here, millions of fans coming to the Bay Area.

1:45:47What do you want them to see, the world coming here? What do you want them to learn? What do you want them to feel about this place, your hometown? What's your message to them? The first thing I think of is Mirror Woods. To see the redwood trees is amazing. I think, you know, come to Oakland for sure. You know, check out the Fox Theater. Go to, you know, I would go to like El Cerrito, you know. Get deep, you know. Go out to, you know, don't just like stop at like San Francisco, you know. You got to like get, go as far as like Port Costa, you know. that's, you know, go see the Karkinas Bridge, you know.

1:46:36So, I'll give you a map of everywhere I smoke pot at, and then you can just... The World Cup committee are here. Get on this afterwards. We'll do a deal. By the way, that is the greatest star map that Oakland could put out into the world. It's going to need more than 39 days, I do think, to complete that. before that there's one small thing we've got to address Green Day is performing at the Super Bowl opening ceremony on Sunday

1:47:10I'm so happy for you this kid who grew up next to the refinery in Rodeo sat in the nosebleeds with your dad played the legendary but tiny punk venue Gilman Street and now you're going to go back and you're going to play in front of 200 million eyes globally. I mean, it's stunning to think about. Yeah. Yeah, it's a big gig.

1:47:42It's the most watched sports event. I mean, I know in the United States. Do people watch the Super Bowl in England? In England, they weren't going to, but then they heard Green Day are playing. Yeah. Holy crap, man. I remember one time. This is a completely different. The Green Day Packers. Yeah. Sorry. Cheesehead. Sorry, I'm okay. I remember we were touring with the Kaiser Chiefs in the States, and we went to a baseball game. And we were kind of, everybody, we were watching, and then they were sort of looking like, and then Ricky comes to me and goes, what the f*** is going on? And I'm like, okay, how do I explain this?

1:48:29I was like, so the pitcher throws the ball. He's got, the catcher throws signs between his legs. That's the catcher, the guy with all the padding on. And then he was just like, as they were going on, he still was like, this is too complicated. I need a ball and two goals. I was like, let's go that way. Just tell him it's chess with chewing tobacco. What's that? Just tell him, baseball is chess. Yeah. With chewing tobacco. Yeah, yeah. And I think then English people will be like, I'm in. Yeah. If we went back in time and found pre-teen Billy Joe picking up that Strat guitar that you named Blue, that one, and told that kid, one day, with that guitar's descendant, you'd be playing the Super Bowl, would he believe it?

1:49:25No, no, no. I mean, especially at that time, I think it was like they would have, it would be like, you know, Charlie Brown and, you know, the Peanuts gang and stuff like that. I don't know, I can't remember, like the first time I ever saw like music, I guess it was like Whitney Houston or something, singing the national anthem, you know? I don't know, so I never thought of myself as doing what Whitney Houston does, you know? so singing you know let alone singing the national anthem so and i'm not singing the national anthem you know it's uh brandy carlisle's doing that i forgot the question man i'm like um it's uh i'm loving it look one last question for you what would you say to that kid billy jake you know about what has taken you from there with the blue guitar in rodeo to the iconic local barbecue during Rod's Hickory Pit.

1:50:26That's West Oakland. That is West Oakland. Yeah, yeah. That is West Oakland. World, when you come here for the games, get to West Oakland. What is the spirit? What is the energy? How do you understand what got you from there to where you're going to be on Sunday? Because it is an incredible journey, man. You know, when I was a kid, when I was playing guitar, I wanted to kind of wanted to be I mean I wanted to be a rock star and you know I would practice my Pete Townsend windmills in my room and things like that and you know and rock out like nobody was watching and then I don't know just and then just like with punk rock come into my life I mean I never we were certainly it wasn't like a mainstream thing so I didn't really think like it would go further than the biggest bands at the time.

1:51:19I'm trying to figure out what the hell I would say to myself. I'd just like, write good songs. Yeah. That's what you would say to yourself? I would just be great at what you do. You know, be good. You know, be a, I don't know. I think just, I don't know. You'd say exactly what the dad at Millwall would say to his son. follow your dreams kid follow your effing dreams follow your fucking dreams kid I will say the world is a better place because you've followed your effing dreams in every way I want to finish with you by making a memory for everyone in the theatre tonight join me Billy Joe on the front of the stage on your feet San Francisco we're going to have our photographer back Billy Joe, come here, let's make a memory Thank you.

1:52:48San Francisco, what a human being, what a night. I just want to say to you, you are an enchanted other world. I want to give a genuine, genuine thank you. Well, I'm going to get back to you all in one moment. I do want to thank our friends at Bank of America for making this show possible. Not just this show, they're also the official bank of US soccer and the FIFA World Cup 2026. I think the motif of tonight is we're all so excited for so many reasons about what is to come thankful to Bank of America for powering what is good about the game in the United States it is an honour to ride with them what would you like the power to do I will say to see Brendan Aronson just let one go from 40 yards in the World Cup final and deliver, deliver.

1:53:41Oh, welcome to your glory in my lifetime. But most of all, I don't ask for much, right? I want to thank you all in the Bay Area. We are so grateful for every single moment we've had in your company filming this television show tonight to convene, to commune, to share these moments together, to listen to these human beings. The world is coming to your shores to bring their ecstasy to your streets. I want to revel in it with you to make great memories together, multi-generational memories for life. That's all that matters. This is Rog saying, let's not take a second of watching football together for granted.

1:54:24Big love. Courage.