Scott Van Pelt on Favorite ESPN Stories, Calling the Masters, Torpedo Bats and New Nieces | EP 132

32:54Like he's like, all right, it's your turn to talk idiot. Like get going here. I'm like, all right, I got you. So it's, I don't know. It's, it's really fun looking back and seeing how everything evolved over the course of the year, how much closer everything got and looking forward to this next year for sure. I think it's going to be awesome. Oh yeah. For sure. SVP, how did, how did you get into the Monday night countdown stuff? Was it always because you were originally just like, I think it was 2001, you started with ESPN doing SportsCenter. And how did you gravitate? Like you said, you're a hoops guy.

33:29How did they get to the NFL, biggest stage on the NFL? I think the one thing that has happened for me, Trav, throughout my career, and I'm grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful, is I've never been a guy that was playing chess. I was never planning three or four moves ahead. I didn't have my eye on anything as much as my eye on right now. I think I've been really good at that, being present in my present, appreciative of this moment, try to be as good as I can be at what I do, and trust that if you do that, then you'll get another shot at it tomorrow in some other role. I've told this story before, but it's true.

34:11I have a post-it note that's in a little window box frame that sits on my desk. And it says, I will never work at ESPN. And when I was at the Golf Channel, which is where I started way back in the day, I had a producer that's like, no, I mean, you're going to go to ESPN someday. I said, man, I'll never work at ESPN. He said, oh, really? He wrote it down. I signed it. And he said, I'll bet you$100. I said, fine. I saved it because it was a great reminder, even to this day to me. don't say the thing you won't do right because look at me it's damn near 30 years uh well now it's 25 years of me being at espn and i came there to be one thing and then i moved up there and then i started doing sports center and then i worked with some of the all-time greats you know the late great steward scott who you know we do the show and he'd say steward scott van pelt which was this really cool thing he did where he made us a team and he made me as his equal.

35:08And he was a star who was willing to share his shine with me because he wanted us, like you were just talking about, Jay, to be great together, right? So cool. And I did that. And then I started to do radio. And I was like, holy shit, this is so difficult to do radio. I thought it would be easy. And I learned how hard that was. And then I took a little bite of the apple with game day. I spent a year doing college game day. And I guess what I'm saying is that I just kept trying things that were put in front of me. And then around 10 years ago they said we want you to do your own version of sports center uh which no one had ever done before and that was obviously a lot of fun it was a huge challenge but it was fun but there's nothing at our place that's bigger than the nfl and so when when they asked me hey is this something you would consider doing i'm like absolutely it's the nfl there's nothing bigger we want you to go to the games i'm i'm in and so it wasn't anything that i i guess this is a long winded answer of saying I didn't pursue it.

36:05But the way the path goes, there's things that are sometimes pop up or the opportunity arises. And when it did, I was up for it. And I did it for one year. And then last year was when your brother joined. And so it's only been a couple of years. But I looked at it like there is nothing bigger than that night. And if there's something that has to do with college football down the road, I don't know what it would be. But I mean, I went to the national championship game this year and we did our show from there. I just think being at the biggest events covering the biggest events being in in the arena nothing substitutes the juice you feel when you're there and you feel a connectedness to the fans and the moment that's my favorite and and being face to face like you and i uh this year travel like what what game was it maybe it was the saints i can't recall but you came out and you uh it might have been a playoff game uh you came out and you were with me after afterwards might have been houston it's like it all but kind of becomes a blur but when you're face to face like with ryan day and will howard after they win the national championship the conversations you have the intimacy of that moment man coach tomlin said it the other day at the coaches meeting there's no substitute for intimacy that man has a great way of saying just one sentence better than i'm saying all of this i love that being face to face with the people that have just been in those moments so cool man Well, I met you on the biggest stage back in, I think, 2016, maybe.

37:26It was 14, 15, 16 at the national championship. I see the man himself, SVP, the guy that drove our – we talk about this all the time on here. Those ESPN SportsCenter days growing up with, you know, Stuart Scott, yourself, Rich Eisen, Steve Lee, the whole gang. It was just so much. You guys drove our love for sports. That's so cool to hear, you know. Dude, I'm telling you, I loved every single sport because, and it was the only channel that I went to. Jason, he would go to, he would watch Dragon Ball Z. I would go straight to ESPN. Cartoon Network sometimes. That's bad. Dad would have Law & Order on.

38:05Every once in a while, we'd have to beg him to turn it off. But no, I saw you at the National Championship, Ohio State versus Oregon, And I was in Dallas. I was kind of in that underground bar area. And it was when you had just started doing Bad Beats. And you came up and you were the nicest guy in the world. I'm shaking because I'm actually meeting the man himself. And you were just so cool, so calm. And we're talking about how I opened the Bad Beats. That's a legendary moment, by the way. Belk Bowl is all time. All time. That montage is some of the legendary moments in the gambling history where something went completely sideways.

38:49But the Belk Bowl against Duke, and you're right there in the middle of it because you take it to the house, and then it went sideways. But you're in there. That'll never change. We may change certain things in that montage. Belk Bowl will never not be in the bad future. Yeah, baby. I'm honored. I'm honored forever, man. You've done okay since then. You're going to have a gold jacket like your brother someday. It's going to be all right. You've elevated beyond being in the Bad Beats montage. If only I wouldn't have lost the helmet right after he scored that touchdown. Oh, yeah, that helmet that I scored with.

39:20Immediately after he scores that touchdown, Scott, I'm in the end zone stance. He runs over and gives me his helmet and tells me, don't give this to anybody. We're partying afterwards at the bar. I'm letting everybody wear it. I look back. It's gone. Wait, wait. Yeah. Wait, you go out and get wrecked after the belt bowl, lost your brother's helmet? Yeah, it's a bad story. It's not a great story. We can laugh about it now, but yeah, it was not. No, it's an incredible story. It's made its way back. Oh, okay. The university wasn't allowing me to. They told me if I didn't pay all my parking tickets on campus that I couldn't have the helmet.

39:59Because it was like the bowl game helmet. It was like the special helmet. The seniors got to keep their bowl game helmet. So wait, but it made its way back to you. It made its way. Did it? We found it. We do know where it's at. Somebody came out and said, We mentioned it on the pod like a year ago or two years ago. Yeah, it had like a sticker, like a circle sticker of 18 on it. Like, this has got to be his. That's incredible. I was just picturing like some guy in like Lima, Ohio in his living room and that helmet just watching games in the dark wearing a belt full helmet. It was Travis Kelsey's.

40:31He was doing it for a good decade. We just got it back last year. Oh, that's beautiful. The universe bends to the Kelsey brothers. All we needed was this show to tell the story. No, but I remember that day like it was yesterday meeting your big guy. It made me feel like, oh, man, I want to be that cool of a dude doing that to somebody that may have looked up to me at some point in football, man. You were just so down to earth and so welcoming and stuff, man. It was just awesome, man. I appreciate that. I appreciate that, dude. Well, likewise, I've said this quite a bit about like my dad had this line that I recite often.

41:09Oh, yeah. Treat normal people like superstars, treat superstars like normal people. And just a quick story about a guy that was a legend in broadcasting named Dick Enberg, who called everything back in the day. He called anything that's big in sports. Dick Enberg called national title hoops, Super Bowls, the whole bit. When I was a little kid, I went to a Maryland basketball game, shocker, and I met Dick Enberg, and he could not have been kinder and more present and just made me feel like, holy smokes, like this is a guy. But he was asking me questions, and he was interested, and he was present.

41:44Fast forward a zillion years, and now we're working together. I believe it was the U.S. Open in Philly, in Marion, and we're out, and we're at dinner, and it's a small group. and I tell him the story about the way the reason I act to people the way I act is is because of how I'll never forget how kind and how present and and just you made me feel like a big deal even though you were the big deal so cool like I'm telling Dick this story and he gets like he's teary-eyed he's like thank you so much for for letting me know that something I did you know mattered to you I was like you kidding me like this is a legendary guy so I don't know I think All I'm trying to say is it's real easy to be decent to people.

42:25You know what I mean? And look, you guys operate in a different place. I mean, I've done this a long time. I'm 6 '6", bald-headed. People recognize me where I go. But you guys have to deal with a whole different level of what that is. And I just try to be a mirror. Reflect what you get. And so what I'd say to the people is give something good, and you probably get it back. You know what I'm saying? There you go. I don't know if that makes sense. I don't know. I remember that moment. We had a blast, and we keep on trucking in the lanes we're in, and I'm sure we'll keep trying best to stay happy and present in them as long as we can.

42:57I sure as hell am. I did want to ask you one question before we get out of this Monday night gig. Have you ever considered actually calling games? I mean, we do the Pro Bowl. We do the Pro Bowl, which in the flag space is among the most really prominent flag games, Trav. I don't know of a bigger one. uh there's foam pits people do flips in them it's it's quite a lot uh no i i never have and i watch people like the bucks and the taricos and the nances and the michaels and the whatever and i and i it's a skill set i i don't have i don't know i i don't want to do it i've never wanted to do it i get to do golf which yeah i was gonna say you do that live but yeah but that's like here let me let me call a golf shot real quick all right here we go oh this is awesome to 14.

43:52Oh, that was good. That's it. Like to 14. It's there's there's very little to say or do. I don't need to set up the down and distance. I don't need to know. Did he catch it? Is he inbounds? Is he out of bounds? I look like a face mask. Calling golf is stealing money. OK, stealing money. But I think you're really underestimating. You're underrating that to 14 call. Travis, give us your best to 14 right now. What is it? Let me get your to 14. All right. Now, here we go. Now, over to 14. I'm changing the channel if somebody gives me a 14 call like that immediately. That was poor. That was poor to bad is what that was.

44:33No, it's very, very, very understood. Think Jim Nance. Hello, friends. Think. Ooh, nice guy. To 14. Bam. See that? Yeah. See that? god that's a lecture well let's uh let's go let's keep going over to golf we got the masters coming up yeah baby yeah we got the masters coming up you uh and you're you're supposed to be doing the the first two days of it right yep thursday friday um it's by far and away my favorite week of the year professionally it's just so cool have you have you been yes yes i got lucky i went during the covid year where there was no stands wow there were no grandstands so i just got to see how beautiful that course was oh my gosh it's impossible to try to convey to people it's a and it's an impossible place to exist like every single blade of grass is thought about there there you go every plant every tree it's perfection it's amazing it is it's all these things and the week is as i say it's my favorite week it's it's i've done it for a long time which is hard to process first year i went was 1997 when tiger woods was you know a kid and he laid waste to every record there was lowest score youngest winner biggest margin of victory the whole bit and that was when i started and now it's all these years later and and i'm the guy in the butler cabin um on thursday and friday that brings this on the air and so you know believe me uh i i'm talking earlier about being present being grateful like all the stuff i get to do is is a blast i mean i'm i'll go in tonight and we'll you know have we'll do a show you know we followed the women's tournament you talk to gino rm after he goes to his 24th final four he's got confetti in his hair like that's an amazing thing to get to share with somebody i love what I get to do.

46:28It's it's all of it's insane. The masters is a completely different level of lunacy. Like when you know that it comes on the air and it's picture and it's whatever it is, it's the Hogan bridge or it's, it's the 13th. And it's that, that like the iconic shots that you can corner that corner, right? You can close your eyes and see a man corner. And you hear that, that, that sort of melodic piano and you're the voice that says whatever it is that you have to say and the masters begins and you're the one doing it there's no way i can explain the depth of appreciation for the fact that i'm the person sitting in that chair it's something i share with my pop my pop died when i was in college and um i'm gonna tell you a quick one about like so it'll be thursday at three eastern we'll come on the air yeah you know you start you rehearse a little bit all right we're going to show these highlights scheffler on six and rory on 10 okay we just make all right i know how we're going to come on the air here and at some point in the last minute all right i'm sitting there and i'm getting ready and then there'll be about a 30 second bit where i just sort of get into this zen sort of place where i'm just my mind is still my heart is grateful and i think of my father and i think pop i it's like i don't say it out loud i just think let me be calm let me do my job well let me speak slowly and clearly and let me do my job well and i think of him and i think man if my father were here they say a young man that loses his dad early in life spends the rest of his life trying to make him proud and i know damn sure sitting in that chair that my pop is is proud of his boy and then we come on the air oh yeah and That last little five seconds, it's like, I swear to God, it's like time stops for just a second.

48:21And I'm like, we good? Here we go. Here we go. And then off you go and you do your job. But I give myself like that very focused attention to that feeling, like what you feel in that moment. And it's just gratitude just exploding in your soul. And I don't mean for this to sound overwatched. I don't mean for it to sound too goofy or heavy, but it's sincere. It's sincere. And so I'm here and Jim Nance is there. And Jim, it's his show. I'm just there to sort of welcome people on. I don't do a hell of a lot of heavy lifting, but that's the gig for the week. That's the main focus of it. Wednesday is my favorite day.

49:04I'm doing the par three contest this year, which is a blast. It's like, you know, the kids are caddying for their dad, and it's just this beautiful day. And this par three course is sort of a miniature version of the big course. It's incredible. The whole thing's incredible. But there's a lot wrapped up into that week, as you can tell from what I'm sort of saying here. Heck yeah, man. That's awesome. Getting a lot of knowledge dropped on us right now. I love it. Yeah. And the Masters, all these majors are so, they're so much more, I feel like, ramped up because of the split. You get to see these guys coming from all over the world, all over the world, different leagues.

49:42If you're the top of the top, you're in these majors. Right. So we get to see the guys that were, you know, how, I mean, don't get me wrong. It's always been like that. But I feel like there's a little bit more excitement when you don't, because you don't get to see, you know, Bryson every single week on the PGA. Right. There's a lot of big time guys. I think, Travis, that I don't know. I don't know what the time frame is. I think that they'll sort that out. I think we'll get back to a little bit. They've been trying to figure it out for, what, two years now, basically? Well, I mean, the whole thing got real sideways where dudes took money and the PGA Tour is like, don't do that.

50:16Then the PGA Tour is like, well, maybe we'll do that, too. That's a funny game. Oh, well, we got to compete. Yeah. Yeah, that's an interesting trick. I mean, imagine being like Rory and you passed on God only knows how many hundred millions of dollars. The Tiger too, right? Didn't Tiger pass on? I heard numbers. I don't know what the truth is, but I'm certain that there were nine figures involved. That much I know. Gosh. But the point you make about just not seeing them compete that often, that does make the majors feel a little bit different. But honestly, we do the PGA Championship on ESPN. We'll be down at Quail Hollow in Charlotte in May.

50:55and that's a great field too. But to me, the star of the Masters Week is not even the players. It's the stage. It's the venue and the feelings associated with the venue. It's going back there every spring. It's the friendships that get rekindled among patrons and people that work there. It's just the whole week is so, so special. So you're right that those events have added significance, But the Masters is just feels like what it feels like because of the place more than than who's competing in it. Thousand percent. I think golf in general, it's such a sport that's rooted in history. And when you go to a lot of these older venues that have so much history to them, that is there in the back of your mind in itself.

51:43It almost takes you back in time. What the Masters has at the same time is not only does it have that history, but it's every little meticulous thing is just done in a way that, I don't know, makes it feel just ridiculously special. Sure. To every single person. And even like the person serving you beer to the person you walk by in the clubhouse or whatever, they all just make every single person feel so special that they're at an unbelievable place and we're all taking this in together. And it's just such an awesome place because of that feeling, I feel like. Agreed. And I've been so lucky going there through the years that the people that you walk past, well, you know, I talk about my friend, Miss Nadine.

52:28She's a security. And years ago, I walked past her in her station by the par three course. And I hear this voice say, you look nice. And I stop and I look, and that's Miss Nadine. And so I walk over to Miss Nadine and she said, let me see that tie. And I looked at it. I'm like, okay. and she said i'm nadine i'm scott i walked by the next day she said come over here okay she's like i don't like that tie like who asked you and she's like okay so like it became that week every day i go by and by the end of that week me and miss nadine were like this yes i get christmas cards from her she gets christmas cards from me we see each other and we hug like every single day i give her a hug that's my girl miss nadine like we've been friends for 20 years and this is a place where there's the there's this grill where we're allowed to eat this room that you know it's the greatest sandwich and fries on a china plate you've ever had in your life okay and years ago is it pimento cheese or what well yes that that is part of the lore of the place for sure but one year I ordered a grilled cheese and bacon with tomato wasn't on the they just made it and if I walk in there now my guy Tony will just give me a nod and they'll just bring it to me they know I'm not a member at Augusta National I'm just some bozo that's been coming for a few years but these are my friends and so that's so awesome man they know what to bring me and you know what I'm saying Like, yes, that's a level of attention to detail and the friendships that you that you revisit every year.

54:07And my wife may come down this year. And I said, I don't care if you see the golf course. I just want you to get to hug Miss Nadine. I just know because she knows my family, like, like Christmas cards with each other every year. So like those are the people that are part of it. And then, as you say, that the history of the actual golf, every hole, right? Like 13, you remember when Phil hit it off the pine straw past a tree. And, you know, 16, you remember Tiger hits it up and it rolls down the hill. And Vern, have you ever in your life? And 17, again, Vern, Jack Nicklaus, maybe. Yes, sir. I mean, every hole has a picture in a moment in time.

54:47I mean, I could keep going. The 10th hole, Bubba in a playoff. Bubba Watson, dude, that is still the most iconic shot I've ever seen in my life. There you go. I have no idea how that lefty hooked that thing that much. Well, Bubba can't see a straight shot in his mind. That's right. He prefers to have an angle on it. Exactly. It's actually better for him to be in there in a tree and go, all right, if I hook this some bitch 90 yards around a tree, you know what I mean? So everybody has their shots and their moments, and that to me is what makes it what it is. That's awesome. So you've been working the event for a long time.

55:20The first time you were at the Masters, were you a patron or were you working it? Oh, no, I went 97. I was covering it for I worked for the Golf Channel at the time. And, you know, you'd never see and it's amazing. It's amazing, Trav, how much it's changed. I mean, and yet it has this incredible ability to evolve and that and yet stay timeless. It's impossible. It's a trick you can't pull off. And yet they do where everything about it every year feels like it's been this way forever. And yet so much of it has changed in terms of the golf course, how they stretched it out, made holes longer, tougher, changed this undulation, that undulation, whatever.

56:01So, I mean, like the snapshot of 97 in my mind, it feels like the same place. And yet it's so very different. But they get everything exactly right. Every detail is just perfect. And I haven't been to every one since 97, but I mean, there's similarities for you guys, maybe with with with seasons with football. Right. When you're in a sport and you do something every year and then like you there's a there's a pace to the season and then there's your offseason. And then the next thing you know, it's like, all right, we're back at OTAs and then we're in camp and then the season starts again. And it's like it feels like time's not passing in some ways.

56:38And so like I was just at Augusta in my mind. Only I wasn't. I mean, it was a year ago and I'll be back there and it'll be master's week. And you think to yourself, oh, it's probably been three or four years since that. And then you go, oh shit, that was 15 years ago. You know what I'm saying? Like I, it can't possibly be almost 30 years since I was there with Tiger in 97, but we're damn near there. And that's where I, that's where I just look at myself and go, good Lord. Like how, how lucky are you to be able to keep doing this and so it's uh it's crazy how again how time passes and yet when you're there it feels like time hasn't moved we're all freaking excited for this year's um and i know you'll kick it off right big guy uh jason man i know you got a newborn but i might slide down there for a sunday finish i don't know i might just i want to go so bad just all right now come on now come on now I know some people that know some people.

57:33There you go. If you left your boy at home, he would not be pleased with that, would he? Jason, just bring the baby. Come on. Travis, that baby is surviving off of mom. I cannot offer anything to that baby. How's that go? How's that? Let's just workshop this. Let's workshop this conversation, boys. We're three semi-smart people. How do we play that? How do we say, hey, listen, we're just going to leave you alone. Just going to mosey down there. I've tried and I've failed. Mosey. I think mosey's the key. I think it's not, I'm not going. I'm just going to mosey. No, it's just going to be a day. And then I'll zip right back.

58:12Mosey and zip. It's a mosey and zip scenario. Just go down, right back. Right back. Yeah. I mean, a few Camenos. Yeah. A few Eagle Ness. The beers, are they Eagle Ness? I forget what's one. Well, let's get a little Azalea. People enjoying Azalea. There you go, an Azalea. I already tried floating it. And I was like, you know, a lot of dads, they got jobs. They got to work. And they can't. I just feel like I'm just going to be one day. And then I'm right back. And then I don't have anything else. Scott needs help for the par three. Scott's doing the par three. He can't do it by himself. That's right.

58:42That's right. You've seen him on TV. He can barely form a sentence. He can barely speak coherently. We need him. Come on. It has not gone well. It has not gone well so far. I'm sweating just thinking about this conversation again. Yeah. Sometimes you got to just know what you can and can't pull off. Hey, by the way, he mentioned just in passing we play golf. Your brother, his practice swing, like the divot pattern, are you familiar with the flank steak-sized divots this man takes out of the earth? Ridiculous. Why are you doing that on the tee box on a par five, Jason? And we played on a day where it rained really heavily, And so the ground was super sort of, it was not firm.

59:32And so those practice swings, you'd look up and be like, there's like a full yard of sod in the air. And that's just the practice swing. I'm like, well, you're going to have to hit the ball here. We're going to have a trench here where we can bury a squirrel, man. He's got a nice swing, though. Obviously, a lot of power involved. Big dude, big dude. The lineman, I'll tell you what, he has a better swing for a lot of the old linemen that I've come across. The shoulders and the neck and the torso area, they're meant to be right here. They're not meant to turn as much. Well, that's getting that left shoulder behind the ball.

1:00:08That's important. And it's hard when you have like that. It's all fused together. Your tempo, though, your tempo is, I mean, you can really swing at it, Trav. Trav's talented. He's got a great swing. I can get it going a little bit. I'm trying to get a little bit more because I get out of whack. So I'm trying to talk about eliminating variables. Agreed. And the key for the big guy is to recognize that if you drew a line from the ball back to the top, back to the bottom, for a tall guy, it's a mile long. So I always think Jon Rahm, and it doesn't need to be as abbreviated as Jon Rahm, but you also don't need to wrap that son of a gun around your neck because the chance to get back in the square is really difficult.

1:00:50But if you just turn to the point, if your shoulder's behind it, all you got to do is get back to the bottom, and you're going to knock it a long way. Your swing's really good, though. I appreciate that. What's your handicap? Come on, Trev. I shoot in the probably low to mid-80s. If you got it cooking, you're thinking I might could shoot something that started with a 7, right? Yeah. All right. That's what I thought. You're good. If you're shooting something that starts with a 7, you're a good golfer. No, you're 99th percentile. right seriously yeah i always get a kick out of people that like like the reverse sandbaggers like people that sandbag that say i'm probably like a 12 and then they shoot 75 you're like that's bullshit yeah but people that say oh no i'm like a nine and then they go shoot a hundred you're like a nine what what would you rather have would you rather have the guy sandbagging it or the undershooting it that's a good question that's actually a really good question but i the The guy that says he's at 14 that goes to some member guest and shoots 75, that's very, very poorly looked upon.

1:01:52So I think the person that says that they're a 12 that shoots 108, you could live with that. Like, you know, I just had a bad day. Well, no, you actually have a bullshit 12 is what you're talking about. There are a lot of those. But don't be the sandbagger. Don't be a sandbagger. That's bad luck. Bad luck, man. Let's go back to when you started ESPN. How about that? I'm happy to do it. Joined in 2001. How old were you when you first joined at ESPN? Well, let's do the math. I'm 58. So what did that put me at 2001? I was, I'm not good at math. That was 20, 35-ish. Yeah, 35-ish, mid-30s. Yeah. Nice.

1:02:35And you were with Golf Channel up until that? I was, I was. I mean, I told you the story about like having the note. I wouldn't work at ESPN, but it was kind of a lot of life is this right. Sort of serendipitous, like a guy named Jimmy Roberts, who actually is a Maryland guy and was at ESPN covering golf left to go to NBC. And that was in the middle of Tiger Woods just laying waste to all humanity in the game. I mean, he was breaking records, you know, winning every major. And ESPN really kind of needed a guy that had an in with Tiger. Sure. I was that guy. There we go. Yeah. I mean, literally, my entire career exists because of Tiger Woods.

1:03:16That is a fact. And maybe I could have found some of this without him, but almost certainly not. And so I went in 2001 because ESPN really kind of needed a golf guy. And I lived down in Orlando at the time. And I stayed in Orlando and I was covering golf and a little bit of this, that, and the other thing. So that was when it started. That's so cool. What was your first day at ESPN like? Do you remember? Oh, yeah. I remember it vividly because we were in Australia to cover a golf tournament. It was the world match play, and we're in Australia. This is actually cool. I can picture it as clear as day.

1:03:53We were going to follow a Syracuse basketball game, and we're just waiting for it to end. and i'm sitting in like this it's like a tent when you cover when you're doing a golf event um you know they build these little you've seen them if you go to like a major or whatever like a TV compound you know you're like a tent it's like a tent it's like a tent it's like a tent it's like a tenting you know you know This is a presentation of ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports. And that's like I told you about the Masters moment where I'm waiting to talk. This is 2001 and I've never done it. And I'm like, oh, shit, I have to talk.

1:04:44And it's me and I'm on ESPN. You know what I'm saying? It got as real as it could get. And I'm just like, don't talk fast. Don't freak out. This is what you do. You can do it. Only I got news for your boys. I kind of couldn't do it like that at that point and yeah so I'm in a tent in Australia with Andy North at the at the world match play and that's the first event I did and then the next it was a two-week thing because we went from there to Kapalua to do what used to be the Mercedes and I'm doing a two-week junket in Australia and Hawaii and I'm like bro your boys on ESPN and i am living right you know what i'm saying yeah no this is a good introduction it's australia it's maui and it's like life is good i am wavy bro and this is real real good look at your boy um then that's how that's how it started and then it was actually a really unfortunately sobering moment because i it's i come home and i'm sitting at my house one day it's february and it was the Daytona 500 and I get a phone call from ESPN that says, Hey Scott, we were, uh, we're getting word that Dale Earnhardt might've died in this crash.

1:06:00And I'm like, Oh, that's awful. And then they said, I'm, I'm not processing this. Right. And there's, we need you to go there. And I'm thinking, wow. I mean, I had only done golf, right. And so I had just done these golf events, which was a very familiar space for me. And now all of a sudden I'm hopping in the car, driving up to Daytona to cover as big a story as there could be in the sports world. And that's where it was a real reality check of the, like you're in the deep end of the pool, man. And, and, and, and I, I remember vividly sports center started that night with a report from me at Daytona, given the news that Dale Earnhardt had died.

1:06:42And it was, it went from like everything's whatever to the reality of what the stage you were on and, um, and the fact that you were covering everything. And then, you know, obviously from there, there's, there's far less serious stories, but you added more to the plate. Um, as, as time went on. Yeah. Holy cow. I mean, that's a heck of a switch up. Yeah. Australia, Maui. And now, um, Dale Earnhardt is gone. But from my perspective as all right, can I do this? It was, you're not going to be asked to cover something more significant than that. And I was able to do it. And it was just the recognition of, all right, you're in a different place now than at the Golf Channel where you just go on to the next tour stop.

1:07:24And that was all that we were going to do. And then, as I say, it was more, you used to do some NBA things like Tracy McGrady and Shaq and people like that were the magic at the time. You'd do some of that. And it was just around that summer was when they said, hey, we want you to come up and maybe do some sports center. And I was like, all right, I can do that. And then I went in. Then the next thing you know, it's like, hey, we want you to move up here and do it. And I mean, leaving Orlando where it was 75 and sunny every day for Bristol, that was a different kind of reality check. Like, what am I doing?

1:07:57Sure, sure. That was a rough adjustment initially. Speaking of an adjustment, like going from the golf channel where you're obviously just doing golf, then all of a sudden you're doing all this stuff. Was there anybody at ESPN that kind of showed you the ropes and taught you, I don't know, how to now cover everything? I mean, I don't think I had as much of a sort of a guide as much as I just – there's a person, and you would know this name because you know him, and he's the guy that's now in charge of all things at ESPN, a guy named Mike McQuaid. He's a behind-the-scenes guy who's been as instrumental in helping me get where I am as anyone.

1:08:36What he did, Jason, was he basically just said, you know what to do. Just go do it. And was great with feedback. You told me something when we played golf that day. You said, I like being coached. And I thought, that's great news. Because not everybody does. Everyone says they want feedback. You know what feedback they want? They want grab ass, you're awesome, attaboy. They don't want, hey, that's bullshit. You can't do this. That was bad. Here's why this sucked. But that's what you need. And having a guy like that, that was really helpful and just trusting, trusted that I would do the work and put in the work and wherever the bumpy spots where I'd figure them out.

1:09:18He was great from a behind the scenes standpoint. But then, you know, as I mentioned, you know, Stuart Scott was awesome. And we had this we had this kind of admiration from afar because he he and Tiger were boys and I was as well. And so we had kind of seen each other from across the aisle. And then when I came, I had kind of the the endorsement from Tiger with Stuart. And then I was an ACC guy from Maryland. He was a Carolina guy. We had that kind of common thing. And then he and I just found this rhythm with one another that was really helpful from a sports center standpoint. But I mean, I've been so lucky with people that I worked with from like, and if I start naming people, I'll leave them off.

1:09:55But like Stuart was big. Neil Everett was a partner of mine that I worked with a ton. And he's just like, that's my brother forever. So I've just been so lucky that the people that I've sort of shared the set with and, you know, traveled with and worked with were all great teammates that helped elevate me that hopefully I helped make them the best version of them. And you kind of ham and egg it. But, you know, it wasn't like we had to, you know, sit down and here's this and here's that and here's the other. They just kind of trust you to figure stuff out. And what you don't, you know, they're going to help nudge you back towards the center.

1:10:27Well, I'll tell you what, man, the ESPN commercials alone. Come on now. Made that place seem like the coolest workplace of all time. Outside of the cameos of the superstars that were, you know, in the NFL, the NBA and all that. The cast of SportsCenter, men and women. I mean, we talked about them already. Rich Eisen, Dan Patrick, the Swami, Chris Berman, Linda Cohn, Steve Levy, Stuart Scott. Like you said, we're leaving off way too many. But how fun was that to go into work? Like, did you guys actually have cubicles? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So this was actually like you guys were just hanging out with each other and just talking sports, I would assume.

1:11:11Yeah. And creating the show before. Right. And, I mean, I, you know, Dan and Keith made SportsCenter something different. They took it to a different place, I think. like Berman's the godfather, Bob Lee as well, obviously. But then Dan and Keith took it to a thing where it was different. And then Stuart and Rich were a big time team. And, you know, they had a lot of us that kind of worked together. And you team up with different people at different times. But then the idea was if you could create, you know, people that work together quite a bit, then you create chemistry, which makes a ton of sense, right?

1:11:48Like you become like an O-line. There's this energy. And hey, I could slide out the tackle if I need to. But if we can get some reps together, we can make this a thing. And so honestly, I mean, and it's still like that. And it's different. I'm down in D.C. and I'm not in a cubicle and, you know, sitting next to, you know, Rich or Stewart or whomever back in the day. But it's the same idea. Like, I'm going to go in and watch games and then I do a show. It's a joke. My dad worked for a plumbing company. I always say this. He wore boots to work. You know, I wear Ferragamos and a little light dusting of powder on the head.

1:12:25I mean, that's what I wear to work. And I just watch games all night. It's absurd. And so I think what the genius of those ads kind of captured was that. Like, people are like, this is what it's like? Like, well, yeah, I'm not actually sitting in LeBron's chair in a throne, but it's like that. And, you know, the cool thing about, like, that spot is it's – and he was on me recently. It's, like, still a joke that we go back to. Yeah. Like I saw when he was on with you about, you know, the, the, he's about when he, this, this fuckery won't continue. And then now he's 40 and he's like, when I'm, when I'm 50, like, I mean, I saw him reference that, like the idea that Holy smokes, like he's still doing this at that age.

1:13:04He was a baby when he did that ad with me. And so now we can kind of still reference it. And, you know, I got a note from his folks, like, you know, clutch folks, like I was texted back and forth with, with Rich Paul about, I said, you know, what's cool is like, we've both been doing this for 20 some odd years and can still kind of do it i'm not comparing myself as an anchor to lebron james but but but we're still in we're still in that respective place and we can still you know play at a certain level the biggest spots and that's kind of that's kind of cool going back to who he was as a 21 two-year-old maybe at the time when we did i mean it might have been he might have just been 20 when we did that spot because i joked to them i said I think when you and I did that ad, I might have been around 40.

1:13:50That was right around the age when I realized there was stuff physically I couldn't do. You're 40, and there's nothing. What is it you're doing? How are you still this guy? He's not human. He's a freak of nature. My favorite one, other than the LeBron one, was me and Stuart were with Arnold Palmer. The ad is 15 seconds, and it's Arnold in the cafeteria. Arnold Palmer makes an Arnold Palmer. a little iced tea, a little splash of lemonade. No words are said. Then he walks off, and it's me and Stuart Scott. And all we say is, that was awesome. And Stuart's like, I know. And it's a 15-second spot, and that's it.

1:14:30And so it's like, is this what ESPN was like? I'm like, yeah, kind of. We just kind of sit in our cubes, go to the cafeteria. Again, Arnold's not there making an Arnold Palmer, but that ad was just what I thought was just genius. Yeah, that's probably my favorite one. So simple. Yep. So you just talked about LeBron has obviously changed or still in the same space with you. You've been in the sports world for a long time. How have you seen athletes change? Has interviewing athletes gotten better or worse? That's interesting. You guys doing this and, you know, you were straddling the back end of your career, Jason Trav, thankfully.

1:15:08Run it back. I like that. That's great news. Still in it? Let's do it. there's a clear understanding among athletes that you own your voice and you are in charge of your voice and you have agency over yourselves to share that voice the way you want to. And I think it's been great for people to learn about athletes in a different way, share your lives as much as you're willing to share, share your lives with the public. And that's tricky, right? You got to pick how much of it, how much, how much of them do you want to know about your new baby? By the way, I didn't say congrats and I didn't thank you god bless you that's awesome but that that's a tricky thing and it's it's up to you to decide how much you want to share it with people because athletes have a space that that they control the not the narrative but what it is the narrative it's their narrative it's it's very different and um you guys joked about it a couple years ago jason you're still playing for philly and we'd I thought we're going to talk to you and then you had cramps and they sent somebody else out and i think i said on sports center i thought we were talking to kelsey but i guess he wants to save the content for the podcast and i i was just joking but then you guys you know you guys covered it yeah i've had my backs like how you gonna work svp like that which you didn't you don't ever do that which you didn't but i think what i'm saying is i think that it is interesting that if you have something impactful and important that you want to say, you want to say it on your platform the way you want to say it.

1:16:39But I do think what I have with athletes is a trust. I think people respect that I respect them and know that I'm not trying to, you know, you're not going to get got, like it's not what that's about. I'm trying to have a genuine conversation and I'm interested in the things that are related to the competition. And I think I'm good at having conversations that can pull out the emotions and the answers that are related to that that are interesting to me in the audience. I still think we can have those conversations, even if you have a lane that you want to be the driver of that content. I get it.

1:17:20So it's different. But I also think it's made guys and men and women more comfortable in talking about themselves in a way that it's maybe less guarded when you do have the conversations that make sense for sure there's just there's a tonnage of voices and content out there these days and so i've done it long enough that i don't i don't meet strangers if that makes sense even if we haven't talked i've done it long enough that i'm not saying this to be an ass but i mean you probably have some idea who i am and i know who you are so we're not even if we've never talked we're familiar with each other and hopefully you're familiar with the way I approach things absolutely always a pro's pro how many I gotta ask you though of the four major sports that you typically cover even though it goes far beyond that um which athletes give you the best post game answers I think hockey guys there's a there's a sincerity to hockey guys and I they They fascinate me because I can't skate.

1:18:21These guys will play through like a severed limb. What they're willing to go through is beyond my comprehension. Like I get, you know, dude's got to take a shot to be available and your availability is your best ability. I appreciate what you guys put through, yourselves through rather. But hockey guys just totally fascinate me. Like there's guys whose mouths, their teeth, it looks like they ate a fucking grenade and they're still playing. like to write a passage they brag about it right how do what are you doing if that happened to me i'd be incapacitated for a week and they're like out there for the next shift so there's a a curiosity i have about them and i i'm not talking about that i'm like they're zoo animals like what are you but it's a little no they are they are they're zoo animals for sure they're zoo animals they just i i played golf once with uh with uh oshi and carlson a couple of capitals here oh she had literally he had literally just had surgery on like a sports hernia a week before and him and carlson are talking about that moment when you're passing out from the from the anesthesia about like that that last couple of seconds and they were talking about it with joy in their eyes before they go under for surgery and i i couldn't get over just how those dudes are wired man so i hockey guys fascinate me those are the guys I enjoy the most because I have the least understanding of them there's a whole way they talk to that's like mesmerized like the verbiage they use and there's like half of them aren't even Americans right they're Canadians or they're from overseas and Russia or whatnot and there's like there's slang to it and everybody's got a Nick you know everybody's it's no one's just Jason or Travis it's you know it's J-Bo and you know everyone's you gotta I'm doing a shitty job of what they call Wayne.

1:20:16Oh, Wayne. Oh, that's what me and Steve. Every time we bring up Wayne. Oh, like this is the greatest player that's ever played. And the Canadian guys talk about skating down the ice side by each, like side by each. Okay. I get it. You're, you're next to each other. And there's, it is, there's a different language and the boys and the room, the way they talk about the room. That's my favorite thing. Uh, the, the, it's the locker room, but the room, the way they talk about it, it's like a sacred place. Oh yeah. And you guys know it because you live it. But the hockey guy's room is a whole other level.

1:20:47And, you know, last year I talked to Paul Maurice after they won, the Florida Panthers won, and he gave the greatest answer. I ask, you know, you've spent your life in pursuit of this thing, and now you've done it. And in what way does that change your life? He took this really deep pause, and then he gave this sincere thing. He said, I hope it doesn't. I hope I've lived my life in a way where it won't change me. And then he says, but next year when we go to camp, I'm going to skate the hell out of the boys because I got carte blanche. You know, it was like it was this surreal, sincere moment.

1:21:19But then right back to the way that he's going to give the boys a hard time. I don't know. Hockey guys, again, I'm being redundant, but they're mind boggling. Different breed, man. No, I'm right with you. And I think anybody who's been in an ice rink or, you know, a hockey locker room, you know, the culture of hockey, especially in the good spots, is, you know, nobody's put on a pedestal. Everybody is like the moment you think you're going to be like a pretentious or like prima donna, you can't survive in that sport. Right. Like it's all about doing stuff for your team. We had the Kachuk brothers on their dad.

1:21:55I saw that in the league for a number of years. and his one rule, his two rules were be a good teammate and work hard, right? And that like sums up who these guys are. Yeah, right. But that's life. Whoever's listening, the 92 percenters, that's it. Be a good teammate and work hard. But then I'm just trying to imagine what it is to be a guy and to understand that there's going to come a time when you got to go out there on the ice and you skate up to that dude next to you and you just look at the guy and you go, you want to go? Yeah. And you got to say, yeah. And then down go the gloves. And like, you want to go.

1:22:35I mean, it's like an invitation. It's like, hey, you want to go get some lunch? And they're like, no. Do you want me to punch you in the head? But there's an invite. And then you got to. And if you don't accept that invite, you know. And then even if you can't fight, even if you get mopped, the boys are going to give you a stick tap because, you know, it was your turn to go. So again, that's not a space I'm familiar with. It's so happy. Steve Levy never once came up to me and asked me to fight. That never, never happened. There's a weird thing in a lot of hockey players' eyes where I feel like if you punch most people in the face, they get pissed.

1:23:11They're going to look at you and there's going to be a look of anger. I feel like if you punch a hockey guy in the face, they would smile. It's almost like this weird mentality with some of these sports like hockey. I think rugby players are similar there. And there's certainly some football players like this where it's like it's almost like you want to get punched in the face. It's weird. But I've seen like when DBs and wide receivers get at it and you grab the face mask and dudes are swinging. And then it's more like lunchroom, like let's separate me and then let's get mad. Yeah. But like you punch John Carlson in the head and he would be like, come on.

1:23:50Yes. You know what I mean? Like all you did was light that fuse, buddy, and you're not ready. This is what I wanted. You're not ready for what's coming. You're not ready. Nobody's pulling us back. Yeah. You guys are getting me fired up for some playoff hockey here. Hell yeah. I love it. That time of year is great. Like post-masters, and then it gets back into a great flow of you got, you know, one night you follow the Stanley Cup, the next night you follow, you know, NBA playoffs, and it's just there's a great cadence to this time of the year as we get to the spring. You ain't lying. Well, let's keep this cadence and the show going.

1:24:22We got one last segment for you, big guy. We call this one, We Gotta Ask. We close every convo out with a little, We Gotta Ask and you don't have to answer. And you can basically either answer the question or tell me and Jason to go fuck off. First one off the board, what is your greatest personal athletic achievement? I play a par three tournament every summer at the beach. It's a little course called - Bethany? Well, this, yes. That's where our family's been for years. Sorry, I don't know if we want to disclose this. Everybody in town knows where we're at. Come by and say hi. Look forward to seeing you.

1:24:59It's north of there. There's Dewey Beach, and then there's a little town called Lewis, Delaware. And Lewis, Delaware has a par-3 course called the Midway Par-3. Me and my boys have been playing a tournament there every year forever. I'm proud to tell you, last year, your boy won it. in a playoff over a guy that actually, thank you. Thank you. Over a guy who actually played golf at the University of Maryland, beat him in a playoff with a birdie. And then I sent a, I'm not trying to name drop or whatever. This is just actually me making fun of what an idiot I am. I sent a picture to Scotty Scheffler, who has won some tournaments.

1:25:36I'm like, you know what, buddy? You never won this. And it's a picture of me holding up the trophy. Oh my gosh. Our buddy runs a bar down there called the Starbird. It's our guy, Monty. And every year, the winner of this tournament gets put up on the video board outside the starboard. And so seeing my smiling face holding that trophy, that's as good as it's going to get, boys. It's pretty much downhill from there. But I did win in Midway last summer, defending champ. Actually, you know what? Not defending because no one can take it away from me. I'm the reigning champ. Reigning champ. Yeah, baby.

1:26:08Come get it. Yeah. See you in July. Reigning Midway Dingle champion. Bad. That's it. thrown this man all right you tweeted this at the new heights account please elaborate how close did you or mark schlareth come to shitting your pants on air okay so all right let's just say mark schlareth shout to stink my guy yes i taught him how to to tie his tie and and like it should have been a sports commercial i taught him how to get that great dimple in the middle of his tie and he to this day we we love laughing about that but this was a this was a story show me a man who says yes shit his pants i'll show you a liar uh has it happened on air i explained mark schlareth is familiar with it so there was a day where i was having a rough day had a little had a little bubble a little gurgle in the belly a little bad tummy yeah and i'm said to stink buddy um there's a decent chance that while we're sitting out here i might shit my pants and stink says to me oh it's fine it's fine you just need to put some leaves in the gutter i'm like excuse me you don't know leaves in the gutter i'm like what's leaves in the gutter it's like you just take a big giant ball of toilet paper and you ball it up and you put it in your ass crack and then while you're and then while you're sitting there you know in your boxers you just you got it's basically like a like a diaper of sorts because making a Because I wasn't going to full on shit my pants.

1:27:39It was going to be just a short kind of a moment. Just that. Is this a fart? Oh, it's hot. No, that wasn't a fart. And so I had leaves in the gutter. And then that night, this gets better. It's a promo. We're doing, he's there to do analysis on, say, the Thursday night game. For argument's sake, it's the Steelers and the Bengals. I don't remember. But I said, because a lot of what we do are inside jokes. I said, you know, Stank tonight, the Steelers defense, man, Man, they bottled up that run for the Bengals like leaves in the gutter. And Stink barely can get through the segment because I'm talking about the balled up toilet paper in my butt crack that he's sharing me.

1:28:20And I'm happy to say I did not need the leaves in the gutter. But fellas, maybe ladies, when in doubt, if you need to go leaves in the gutter, there's a pro tip from Mark Schlereth to me, to you. that's the story of how scott van pelt almost shit his pants on tv wow i didn't know that's great i didn't know that we're gonna get into that but that's that's a true story there you go i'm stealing that too i'm telling everybody that leaves in the gutter hey shout out to stink it happens and if you're if you got a little girly belly you want to make sure that would be a real bad problem if you if it happened without the leaves in the gutter Yeah, for sure.

1:29:01What do you watch outside of sports, Scott? This is a bone of contention with Stanford Steve. Nothing. I have so many shows I know I'm supposed to watch. He's like, you got to watch. And Steve is a consumer of content. He's up on all the great shows. And then he says, he's like, bro, White Lotus. And then he shows me the White Lotus scene where Goggins characters talking to the dude about ladyboys. And I'm like, it's so great. I'm like, this is the show I'm supposed to watch? Like, my man's going through it. Oh, yeah. And that's a tough on-ramp for a show. If like, what's this? He's like, oh, it's a resort.

1:29:43Like, what kind of resort is it? So I really, I have three young kids. Maybe this is sad, but it's true. I just really love sports. And if I have free time and there's a game on, I find myself watching it, A, because I like it, and B, because it's my job to kind of be aware of what's going on. And so I largely, I don't think I've watched anything like immersed in it since Breaking Bad, and that hasn't been on the air in years. Yeah, it's been a while. That's a good one, though. I'm really, really bad at this because I know what I'm supposed to know, and I can kind of passively bullshit my way through a White Lotus or a Severance conversation.

1:30:21like i saw you talking to to um to ban about waffles and all this stuff and i know what it's about but only vaguely and that's always bad it's like if you only speak like a little bit of spanish and people are talking spanish and you're just nodding and you're like biblioteca yeah sabatos that shoes right i i'm that guy that knows like eight words in spanish that's what i that's what i'm able to do when it comes to tv shows and i always say i'm going to do it but I'm not going to lie to anybody anymore. I'm probably not going to watch any of this. And that's my own fault, but that's where I'm at.

1:30:56What about TV shows about sports? What about like Ted Lasso? I was in that. No big deal. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. Now that was actually really cool. And you had Jason on and he broke the news about that, which was cool. I was told, hey, Jason Sudeikis wants to talk to you. I said, what about? Well, they're going to do this show and he wants to talk to you about it. I said, well, just tell him i'll just i'll just do it whatever it is it's fine it's a cameo no big deal no he really wants to talk to you okay so i end up on the phone with sudeikis and we end up talking for like an hour about life and how we had we held a lot of similar views about gratitude and all the stuff i was kind of talking about and what a cool man what a great dude what a fun guy to talk to and he just wanted me it was really important to him that i understood what this guy was about and then how much they wanted me to be sort of the guy that set the tone in that very first episode with the SportsCenter thing about this coach that's going to go over.

1:31:56And I'm like, sure, of course. But what I got out of it was this really, really meaningful conversation with this guy right before this thing became this phenomenon. And so it was really neat because, Jason, you mentioned when you brought me on, it was nice. Like I've been nominated a lot. I've been nominated like eight times for an Emmy. I have never won one. well when they won everything i'm like hey man i was in an episode do i get a do i get a trophy like how's this work you told me how important it was for me to be part of it like i was in one like how far down the line of credits do we go i was kidding i didn't i didn't really want one i'm not that thirsty but uh anyway it was it was it was it was cool that he asked me to be uh part of that and that he had this sincere want for me to understand what it was about.

1:32:43So anyway, no, I did watch Ted Lasso. The wife and I watched that. I think that's the sweet spot for me. I need something that's about that long that you can kind of watch on demand when you're not refereeing WWE between the boys in the basement. I love it. Do you have a favorite sport to watch? Whatever's on. Well, I wouldn't say that. I love college basketball. I love the tournament. when the stanley cup is on i'm i'm mesmerized by that like playoff hockey overtime is the most tense thing there is because at any moment the game just ends and then when i'm watching that i'm like there's nothing that's cooler than this um but then like look college football you turn it on if it's a big big 10 game a big sec game whatever whatever league i don't care uh but then like when we're at monday night football and it's you know a couple years ago when you know When Philly came to Arrowhead, you knew the stakes were high for a regular season night.

1:33:42There was juice that was real that's hard to manufacture. So I guess what I'm saying is I'm real whichever way the wind blows. The place that I'm at right now, I love that. And I love baseball. It's just that it gets by August and we're dragging. You're just waiting for football to kick at that point. But then when we get to the playoffs, man, playoff baseball is incredibly intense too. So I'm like you all, man. I grew up with it. I love it. And whatever we got tonight, I'm excited because something will happen that I don't know is going to happen. Yes. Well, one last question for you, big guy.

1:34:15What are your Mount Rushmore of SportsCenter top 10 plays? The all-time greatest plays ever? Of yours. Not to put you on the spot. For me? Yeah. Yes. Things that happened to me or things I did on SportsCenter? or things I saw, things I called. There you go. Bro, your boy's done. That's a tough shot. Just tell us to fuck off. Just tell us to fuck off. This is where you just tell us to fuck off. Fuck off. Thank you. Fuck off. Fuck off. Ladies and gentlemen. I'm old and feeble. This brain is mush, and I've done a lot of shows, man. I don't know. I don't know. You've told us already so many fucking golden stories, man.

1:35:01Thank you for your time, brother. we appreciate you hey listen continued success in all things boys you guys uh you know it yeah be grateful for for what we get to do i know you guys are and and do but i think it's important that people hear that you know that enberg story i told i just i'm sincere about it you know the going to the masters being present being grateful i just think that's a great sort of place to stay i try my best that's i love i love what you guys have uh i love the bond uh i love you guys sharing your lives with people because they're interested and you know uh it's fun to stop in and say hello so uh keep doing what you guys are doing you're the best brother complete honor to have you on scott thank you so much thank you dude you're the best all right fuck fuck off scott van pelt everyone that's so good gold man how awesome was that dude told you man guy's the best it just felt like we were in the living room and he was just speaking the gospel to us like telling us like the stuff that his father said um the how he's still dude just an all-time great dude just an all-timer man can tell a story like nobody else man um and yeah i mean leaves in the gutter forever let's keep it moving let's get to some no dumb questions brought to you by perplexity That's right.

1:36:26We've spent so much time on this show looking up answers. We are now sponsored by a search engine. How about that? Shout out to Perplexity. Discover fast and reliable search with Perplexity today. From M. Notem questions. If you could make one of your body parts detachable, which would it be and why? Detachable? It's a very weird question, M. I'll wait for you to answer first. What would I want to be detachable? I don't know. Maybe my ears so I wouldn't have to hear people. That's what I was thinking, too. You can right away just like... Nose? Nose? Because I think smells can be... You're going senses.

1:37:06Yeah. I think smells can be a little more like... There's some mayonnaise in the area. You don't want to have to smell that. I'm not trying to smell that shit. I'm going senses, though. I'm going ears or nose. Ears or nose. Ears would be nice. You're trying to get some shut-eye? Trying to go to sleep? Just take your ears off? Yeah. Sleep tight. That's real nice. Then you're never waking up. You have to get something that shakes the room or something. All right. I'm just going to throw it out there. I mean, if we're being honest, it usually just gets in the way. Jason. I mean, it's an inconvenient appendage at times.

1:37:44I mean, listen, I'm very happy I have one. The ball's in chain? I feel like it's a one. I think it's a one. No, there's two different. It's a one-stop shop. I think it's all the same appendage. I don't think that's how it works. If you could just take it all off, I mean, it would just eradicate. I mean, it just gets in the way sometimes. You know what I mean? Like if you're running, you got to think there'd be less friction without that in between your legs trying to play sports, right? No. I don't think about it. It doesn't bother me at all. And then if like you could take, I mean, let's just be honest.

1:38:17if you can detach it that means you could probably attach an upgraded you know i mean you could go bigger assuming it's like a universal connection point i could attach another one

1:38:35you're a fucking psychopath man uh i was waiting for you to make it make sense and you'll you never disappoint no there you go like is it like the iphone charger where they went to all just usbc like we're going to one standard connection uh whatever thingy those are called they're hilarious i thought one of the things is we're asking perplexity these questions what question would you like me to ask the machine real quick i'll do it i'll do it for you jason what is what is what is what is the best body part to make detachable okay we'll see where discuss what is the best body part to make appendix boring tonsils boring gallbladder oh oh arm hand legs head head you can make that's like uh what is that futurama where the heads are detachable get a new body just get a whole new body not a bad yeah i wouldn't mind that okay That's a great answer, perplexity.

1:39:39You already mentioned you wanted to. Why would I make my dick detachable? I can't just make my head detachable and put it on somebody with a bigger dick.

1:39:54Brandon, why did you even vote for perplexity? Because he asked me to. My job is to do what you guys asked me to do. I don't. This is hilarious. All right. All right, perplexity wins. Every time. Can you imagine coat checking your dick?

1:40:18Hilarious. Coat checking your dick is fucking funny. I'm not going to need this tonight. Can you hold on to this? What did dad used to say? Fanny pack. You'd lose your dick if it wasn't attached. I think it's what dad used to tell us. He used to tell me that all the fucking time. Maybe that's where I thought of this immediately. You're right, dad. I don't want it to be detachable because I would definitely I would lose that motherfucker. Jason, you of all people, your dick would be like in the car in a sock. That's funny as fuck. My fucking dog would eat it. I'd find it. Baloo's got it in his mouth.

1:40:51Jason, Kelsey. His dick is lost in a vat of chili. Yeah, you're right. We don't want that to be detached. You need to keep that. Yeah, I'm not responsible enough to have a detachable dick.

1:41:08Jake, Jake, you're always like, what do I make quote cards? What do I make quote cards? There's your quote card for the week, Jake. Make that a graphic. Put it out immediately. Jesus Christ. Let's hit the brackets. Let's get out of here. God damn it. All right. That does it for No Dumb Questions brought to you by Perplexity. Discover fast and reliable search with Perplexity today. Let's move on to some March Madness Challenge updates. That's right. We're all the way to the final four. Oh, where are we sitting? Where are we sitting? First time in a long time. The men's final four is all one seeds.

1:41:44It's only happened one time before from our data analysis. Thanks a lot, NIL. Thanks a lot. You got to love it. Nice. Auburn, Houston, Duke, and Florida for the men's bracket. Let's take a quick look at the leaderboard for the New Heights March Madness Challenge and a quest for the Golden Cup. Demetrius Asrat is on top of the leaderboard with Jeremy Wendt. It's going to come down to the Houston and Duke matchup. Yeah, that's a good point. I guess that is it. They play this round, right? I think there's a few other things that could go into it too, but yes. Oh. Like who else? I mean, if it's 181, whoever wins that game is probably going to – I guess it depends on who their other Final Four team is and then who – Yeah, that.

1:42:28I don't know how these points work. I think it matters also who wins the other game too and who those two picked. But Demetrius Jeremy, congratulations on getting it to this point. That's pretty damn good. Yeah. Somebody's going to win it. Amy Waldrip is up there. So is Amanda Frias. Casey Qualls. Nicole Winkle. This is still anybody's game. I mean, these points are close. Everybody's kind of right there. Everybody's kind of right there. So shout out to all of them for making it this far. Yeah, the tie for first and a little five-way tie for second. The women's final four is UConn, UCLA, South Carolina, and the University of Texas.

1:43:11That's Brandon writing that and me just reading it. 92 percenters, the standings are just two points separate first place and a three-way tie for second. Shout out to Nick Sterling, Adam Aoun, and Cody. I'm just going to say Cody because that's a crazy last name. And Katie Plummer, shout out to Katie. Going into the final weekend, here are our New Heights team standings. The men's bracket, Brandon is winning by one point. Surprise, surprise, Jason is dead last. Yeah, I'm out. I'm out. And in the women's bracket, though, Jason, you got me by a point right now. My average height of roster is paying off.

1:43:57You got me by one point. although i yep i had uconn and south carolina well we'll see i'll tell you what it's uh it's gonna be a fun final four i'm pumped i got uh obviously all the one seeds in the men's bracket um the women's bracket is getting real real uh real exciting here going into the final four i'm just um i'm pumped man there's there's just something about march madness that's just it keeps me glued to the tv it's the best it really is you gotta love it it's it's you know Great TV happening, live sports happening all day. We're in the tail end of it where it's only at night now, which kind of sucks.

1:44:32But these are the best games too. You know it. Going to be a great week of basketball, baby. That wraps up another episode of New Heights. Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube to the New Heights channel and follow New Heights on the Wondery app or wherever you get to podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of New Heights early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Once again, New Heights, a Wondery Show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by HBO's The Last of Us, premiering soon here in April. Follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with one S for fun clips throughout the week.

1:45:07Thanks to the production and crew for always editing out what we shouldn't say, Jason. There's things we're not supposed to say. Into the 92 percenters. Love you guys. We'll see you next week.

1:45:24Bye.