WBC Hero Vinnie Pasquantino, Bill Raftery Talking March Madness, Conf Tourney Week, Bam’s 83, NFL Free Agency And Fyre Fest

13:43PFT Commenter:Shout out to the crown. We lost to CBI today. I know that's crazy. That's fucking nuts. I love the CBI. The CBI was the moment that I realized that like regular life wasn't for me. I was I had dreams of going to business school when I was like 25 and couldn't figure out what I want to do in life. And I paid for a business. What is it called? The what's the test? GMAT. Yeah. GRE. No, I think it's a GMAT. OK. I paid for a class. It was like two grand. It was a lot of money to pay for a class to get good at the GMAT, and I was just sitting in the back of the GMAT updating scores because I had Oregon State and the CBI.

14:25PFT Commenter:Yeah. And I was like, this is – What am I doing? Business school is not for me. They're trying to teach me shit, and I'm just gambling on games in the back on a made-up tournament.

14:34Big Cat:So I love the CBI. Yeah, the CBI. It's sad to see the tournaments go away. They should have just –

14:38PFT Commenter:That was my favorite tournament.

14:39Big Cat:Yeah, it was. That was. What was the trophy for that? The iconic trophy. Mm-hmm. I'm trying to remember. I felt like they did have an iconic trophy one time. Probably like a long stick with a basketball on top, if I have a guess.

14:53PFT Commenter:Yeah, a long stick with a basketball on top. Maybe like a triangle stick. A triangle stick? Like three sticks. Oh, three sticks together. Like a teepee type. Like you're talking about a bundle of sticks? Yeah. What do you call that? I just called it a teepee or triangle.

15:08Big Cat:Is there a different word for it?

15:12You tell me.

15:13Big Cat:I think there is, but I don't. Triangle?

15:16PFT Commenter:Just search it Search bundle of sticks

15:19Big Cat:I'm searching for the trophy

15:21PFT Commenter:No, search bundle of sticks It's just a basketball Read us other words for it Crystal basketball It's a crystal basketball And that's the CBI That was our CBI talk

15:33Big Cat:It does look like a trophy that you could smoke out of This is just a bong

15:38PFT Commenter:What else did you find for us? Bavin Sheaf Yeah Kindling Yeah Any other words? Trust Okay

15:50Big Cat:You got safe search on Yeah Yeah Did I say bunch? I think so That's all I'm seeing Oh really?

15:59PFT Commenter:You got a little smile on your face Okay Faggio Is that what that is? Yeah yeah That's exactly That's French

16:05Big Cat:Oh no that's the linebacker from Navy Yeah yeah yeah

16:08PFT Commenter:We're gonna bleep out everything that was said

16:12Big Cat:Why? That's mean

16:14PFT Commenter:Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh. I'm editing. Not going to bleep it. Yeah. Hank got in my hole with Villanova, and they were the worst team ever tonight. You know what that is? That's you being a good partner. Yeah. All right. All right. So Duke almost lost. That was the other big one. FSU taking a three there at the end was crazy.

16:36Big Cat:So Duke, obviously, pretty dominant at times. They can't shoot free throws. No. That's going to be a problem for them.

16:43PFT Commenter:Let's see what their free throw rate. I mean, listen, they're the best team in the country, so I'm not very worried about it. Right, but Florida State, they weren't scared. They weren't scared. Yeah, they're 214 in free throw percentage. Yeah. Their free throw defense is pretty good, though. That's a very important stat, yeah. Very, very important.

17:02Big Cat:I like those stats. The free throw defense, the field goal defense in football.

17:07PFT Commenter:They're great. They're great. Very important stats. Okay, any other college basketball? I'm just excited. Friday's going to be great. Friday actually is one of the best days because it's like the Wednesday conference tournament week, you get a lot of shit teams. Thursday, you kind of get into gear. Friday, you have all the good teams playing. Every good team that had to buy, everyone has now entered the tournament, and it feels like, holy shit, this is the day.

17:31Big Cat:The stat that we were talking about earlier was how it's been, what, like, how many dozens of years since a team that has lost the first game that they played in the conference tournament went on to win the national championship. So you have to win at least like one game. Yes. In your conference tournament. Then after that, it doesn't really matter. And then you get to the NCAA tournament and everything happened and you're able to win. But if you lose that first game, I guess it's just more about limping in to the big dance. So Duke avoided that one barely today.

18:01PFT Commenter:But we have like, I mean, some banger games tomorrow. And it's like I said, all the all the buys are now in play and you have, you know, Ohio State, Michigan starts off today. I know that Michigan should probably kill him. But like Kentucky, Florida is playing. My Badgers are playing Illinois, Tennessee, Vanderbilt rivalry game pug going up against St. John's. That's a good root for St. Root for Seton Hall, Max. Yeah, I would like Seton Hall to win. That's how you get back in it. Sneak their way into the into the the tournament. Yeah. okay um let's talk some other stuff before we do that uh quick word from our friends at twisted tea twisted tea we love twisted tea twisted tea is a refreshing hard ice tea made with real brewed tea and five percent alcohol twisted tea is the perfect drink to keep the good times going all day and all season long whether you're hanging out at a friend's house catching a game at the stadium or at the bar or day drinking with friends twisted tea is there to turn your day up a notch and make a good time a great time grab a refreshing twisted tea today we love twisted tea the half and half delicious the original delicious the peach incredible weather's getting a little warmer twisted tea season we're also brought to you by our friends at draft kings the tournament is coming 64 teams buzzer beaters bracket busters upsets nobody saw coming and this year draft kings is giving you a free shot at 1 million dollars draft kings has you covered all tournament long with a 1 million dollar free to play survivor pool pick one team each day of the tournament If they win, you move on.

19:32PFT Commenter:If they lose, you're out. Keep surviving, and if you're the last one standing, you win$1 million in cash. If multiple players make it to the end, the million gets split. It's simple, it's intense, and it's completely free to play. Enter now at DraftKings and see how long you can survive. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Use code TAKE. That's code TAKE to enter the free survivor pool for your shot at$1 million in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Okay, boys, where do we want to start? We have a lot. Let's do NFL free agency. Love it. Trey Hendrickson's a Raven. This is where we alluded to it, but this is where the spidey senses go up that the Max Crosby deal falls apart Tuesday.

20:14PFT Commenter:The Ravens deny his physical, and then Wednesday morning we wake up and Trey Hendrickson is signed for exactly the same contract that Max Crosby has. Yeah. Yeah, it's almost like they had it ready to go. It's almost like they're like, oh, we can get Trey Hendrickson, who, by the way, Max Crosby is better than Trey Hendrickson. Yeah, completely different players. Completely different players. Trey Hendrickson is, you know, a pass rusher who doesn't hold up in the run like Max Crosby, who just does everything incredible and never gets off the field. But the Ravens were like, hey, we could get Trey Hendrickson.

20:48PFT Commenter:So let's say it's 80 % of Max Crosby for the same price, and we don't have to give up our two first round picks. And we could pivot if we get run. Like, that's the thing about making these trades where you give up picks. It leaves it so that if you are wrong on the trade, you're really kind of screwed yourself. Whereas in free agency, teams screw up free agents all the time. You just eat the cash.

21:09Big Cat:Yeah, and with this one, they send Max back, and they send him back to Vegas. I don't know what Vegas is going to do about the salary cap situation. Like we said on Wednesday's show, if any team is built to absorb that. They have enough money. It's probably the Raiders, and they'll probably be okay. But then I started to wonder if the Raiders were going to, like, what would the market be for Max Crosby? And I guess not that many teams have reached back out. Maybe they got scared off by the alleged failing of the physical, which, by the way, yes, Max Crosby failed a physical, but everybody knew he was going to fail the physical.

21:43Big Cat:That's the thing. It's like you knew this guy had surgery. I don't necessarily think that there was anything that was crazy when they looked up the imaging and they thought to themselves, like, this guy's knee is not going to get better. I think it was just because they found out that they had a good option in Trey Hendrickson, and they wouldn't have to give up the draft picks. And they had, by the letter of the law, they had the ability to fail him for the physical because he's not ready to play. So technically, the Ravens didn't break any rules.

22:11PFT Commenter:Yeah, so Albert Brewer did a really good article breaking down how the process works. And essentially what he said was that when you agree to a deal, the Raiders doctors and trainers and the Ravens doctors and trainers get on a call together and they share all the information and that's just how it works so before the physical even happened the Ravens had all his medicals so they they had a pretty good idea of what they were doing yeah and then the physical happens and yeah it's kind of shocking that they failed the physical because like it listen they could pretend that they were and I know that Eric Dacosta then said that they were in on trey hendrickson and max crosby together whatever they could say whatever they want the timing is a little coincidental and it feels like this was like hey we got cold feet because the ravens too like that's the thing where i think we all were a little shocked when the first when the deal was first announced because the ravens that's not what the ravens do they don't trade picks like this and take these type of shots so it's kind of out of their norm as a franchise I think they were out of their norm as a franchise and then we're like oh shit we're out of our norm we're getting cold feet let's not do this.

23:25Big Cat:Well let's go back and do the thing that we really love to do which is fail guys for some shady physicals so that we can sign somebody else.

23:32PFT Commenter:Right.

23:32Big Cat:That's better than just came available.

23:33PFT Commenter:And just draft really well which again they haven't you know been hitting home runs but they have over their history been a really good team that's drafted really well.

23:42Big Cat:I was kind of on the fence on whether or not to believe the Ravens and all this and then Eric Dacosta spoke about it and his quote was, nobody's more upset about this than me. That is definitely the thing that you say when you're not upset. He's basically walking around being like, God damn it. Yeah. I can't believe this happened. We say that all the time about our friends that are going through bad losses in sports. Listen, Max, nobody's more upset than I am about Villanova tonight.

24:11PFT Commenter:Yeah. Eric Dacosta's just walking around sighing in people's ears. Oh. Yeah.

24:16Big Cat:damn it damn that stinks i really wish you know i wanted max crosby what's wrong eric i was just thinking about max crosby again you got to get over that eric oh fuck so so max goes back to the raiders and then i was like what are teams gonna give like the same deal that he got for the for the ravens no and it seems like they're not but then i i started uh reading some quotes for Max Crosby and he put out this tweet everything happens for a reason believe nothing you hear in half of what you see I'm a raider I'm back run that shit yep and he tweeted out an undertaker gif the perfect undertaker yeah and got me fired up and so now now I'm actually thinking that like maybe the price just went up on Max Crosby he's because you got you got a pissed off Max Crosby now that just got shamed for having a fucked up knee he's ready to go like if I'm the Raiders I'm like okay you know what make it three first round picks yeah and then we'll talk because i think max is gonna be better than he was when he was just going out to baltimore it pumped me the fuck up when i yeah me too i feel like awesome i feel like watch out for the raiders yeah watch out for the

25:24PFT Commenter:raiders so other free agency news kyler murray is a viking we all kind of expected it it happened yeah so he's now gonna be awesome again well yeah i mean they lost they lost nailer their speedy

25:36Big Cat:slot guy went out to Vegas, so they needed a new wide receiver. So they went out and got Kyler. This is still nine's team. Don't get it twisted.

25:47PFT Commenter:But Kyler's going to be really good in like two years. He's going to be the next Sam Darnold. Maybe. The NFC North now has three number one picks at quarterback with Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams, Jared Goff. Kind of cool.

26:00Big Cat:That is cool. He's going to look smaller in the purple. Yeah. Oh, tiny. I did a little Photoshop work today with the Instagram draw feature. He looks very, very small. Yeah. Purple, it shrinks him up quite a bit. Yeah, it's going to be an open competition. And you know what? Iron sharpens iron. So I think that we're going to see a very sharp nine at the end of August. The sharpest possible nine. The sharpest nine you've ever seen.

26:26PFT Commenter:Yeah. We also had Daniel Jones signed his two-year deal,$88 million base value, $50 million guaranteed. I don't know

26:36Big Cat:there was a time Big Cat not too long ago when people wouldn't pay 80 million dollars to a guy that just tours Achilles yeah and I feel like that's changed in the last three years or so I don't know Achilles used to be something that they'd they'd pretty much shoot you for it's like okay you're done you won't play sports anymore enjoy retirement

26:56PFT Commenter:yeah listen Daniel Jones had a good half of a year the Colts at what point are we like hey the Colts are you ever going to get over the Andrew Luck thing it's been like 10 years now I don't think they'll ever get over it

27:14Big Cat:this is their attempt at it

27:16PFT Commenter:but they've made a million attempts

27:18Big Cat:Matt Ryan

27:20PFT Commenter:Phil Rivers who else was it Carson Wentz

27:27PFT Commenter:there's someone I'm missing too let's see Anthony Richardson. Anthony Richardson. Gardner Minshew. Let's see. Curtis Painter. No, I'm thinking of like they did that one. They did the. All right. Since. Yeah, Gardner Minshew. All right. Since Andrew Luck. Jacoby Brissett for a year. Phil Rivers for a year. Carson Wentz for a year. Matt Ryan for a year. Gardner Minshew for a year. Anthony Richardson for a year. Daniel Jones for a year.

27:57Big Cat:I think Daniel Jones is different. because I do think that he played good enough last year to get an extension to be the quarterback that they want to stick with. It just sucks that he tore his Achilles. He was a really good player. He was. The Colts offense was very good last year. He was. I know you think back to the games where he had the broken fibula for a couple games too. I think Daniel Jones is a good quarterback. I would have given him the extension, but then the Achilles, it's like, you know what I'm saying? Like four years ago, if you had Achilles, it's like that might be the end of your career.

28:31Big Cat:I mean, look at Jason Tatum. Jason Tatum's back in like nine months now. Yeah. What's going on in this Celtics game, Hank? You're locked in. Down to one second left.

28:39PFT Commenter:Okay. Max pointed to it when he was just like, look. Well, you kept talking about the Villanova loss, and I was like, look. You kept, and you were being mean to me, and I was like, be mean to Hank. This isn't a tournament. It's all one tournament when you think about it. Every night you go out there, you want to win, Hank. Any other free agency signings that were notable?

29:04Big Cat:The commanders signed an entire new defense, which I'm happy about. There you go. If you were a 27, 28-year-old defensive player, we signed you. So welcome to D.C.

29:13PFT Commenter:Bradley Chubb to the Bills feels like the most Bills move ever. Yeah. Okay, we're going to get him. We're going to get all we need is just a pass rusher who's maybe a little injured. Get us over the hump.

29:22Big Cat:Yeah, feels like a perfect move for them. Yeah. I think Kirk Cousins. Kevin Baird might be going to.

29:28PFT Commenter:Kevin Baird is on the Patriots now. C.J. Gardner Johnson is on the Bills.

29:32Big Cat:I think Kirk Cousins might be going to the Raiders. Yeah. Which would make a lot of sense. It's like him and Mendoza together out there in the desert. Would love to see that. Yep.

29:43PFT Commenter:That would be fun.

29:44Big Cat:Yeah.

29:45PFT Commenter:That would be very fun. Just paint the town red. Keaton Mitchell. Whoa. Memes. Oh, the over in the Kansas game. That was what that was. Huge. I love that.

29:55Big Cat:Thank you for that meme.

29:55PFT Commenter:Keith Mitchell Put his hands up This is March baby No I had that over This is March This is March Yeah this is March Keith Mitchell to the Chargers Right Evan Neal back on the Giants Boo him Yeah boo this guy You see him at the Will Brick Ball Boo him

30:15Big Cat:I do love the Never stop booing him I love the Chargers just continuing the bit It's like we're gonna We're just gonna get old Harbaugh players and we're going to send them to the new Harbaugh. They've just been player swapping. It's like if you're good enough to play for my brother, you're good enough to play for me.

30:31PFT Commenter:Yeah. Also, Titans new logo. What do we think? The new jerseys? Yeah, new logo and new jerseys. Yeah, I like the uniforms. I think the new logo is cool. I actually think the new logo is like, if you're a Titans fan, that's a pretty sick tattoo you can get. It's a very simple logo. Can you pull it up? It's pretty clean.

30:50Big Cat:It's very clean. On the uniforms, I like the block numbers. I like the T with the three stars. Yeah. The helmet is good. It's got the six-string stripe down the top of the helmet for a guitar. Good job, Titans. Yeah, Titans. Really well done.

31:07PFT Commenter:Oh, yeah. Those are sick. I just saw the logo. I hadn't seen the jersey.

31:10Big Cat:It's good uniforms. Yeah. Those are sick. Okay. Titans. You have my attention. You know what I like about it? It's like you know that we love the old Houston Oil or powder blue uniforms. And you did just enough to make us think about them without actually realizing that we're thinking about.

31:27PFT Commenter:Well, and also powder blue as a color is a cheat code. Yeah. It's a complete cheat code. You put powder blue on anything and it looks good. Yeah. It's just a fact. So good job. Titans kind of look like Ole Miss. Yeah, I can see that. But I like it. I can see those Ole Miss uniforms are awesome. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk. Let's talk World Baseball Classic real quick.

31:48Big Cat:It was one other NFL story. Yeah. The NFL is probably going to put a game on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Wednesday night, Blackout Wednesday, that's the next date that the NFL is targeting in its quest to have at least one game of football every day between, like, November 1st and December 31st. I love it. I like it a lot. I know that people are sick of the NFL expanding to days that they normally don't play games on, like a Wednesday night game might feel kind of weird. that Wednesday night is begging for a football game. I don't think I would like to get rid of the Black Friday game and instead have that game on that Wednesday night.

32:27PFT Commenter:So this is a take that we talked about this off air that as 41-year-olds, this game is great for us. If you're in your 20s, you're like, what the fuck? Because that's a big drinking night. I will say, though, the NFL is getting into a little bit of a dangerous spot where part of the reason why we love the NFL is the scarcity, is that it's one day a week. It's Sunday. It's a big deal. It's not every single night. So I'm in for this one, but they got to be a little careful here with like, do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. The scarcity does make the NFL great. Trying to grow the game. Hank, don't do this.

33:09I do.

33:09PFT Commenter:No, I like. Don't not listen to what I'm saying and then say the opposite.

33:14Big Cat:Big Cat's actually kind of agreeing with you.

33:16PFT Commenter:Yeah, I am. The NFL, if it was on every single night, would then become like the NBA. It would still be the NFL. But part of why the NFL's special is it's Sunday. It's a religious experience. With Sunday, we watch the NFL. That's what we do. And then also think about, and this happens where we have just shitty Sundays because they've spread games all throughout the week.

33:43Big Cat:Yeah.

33:43PFT Commenter:And it's like Sunday should be sacred. I don't want them to ruin Sunday. I'm cool with this one, but just be careful, NFL. You might take away the thing that makes you special, and that Sunday is a special thing, and you only get 18 of them.

33:59Big Cat:Yeah, and if you think the NFL is not going to take over a night that's very special to a lot of people because they like to drink a shitload of beer on that night, yeah, the entire league is based around church day on the Sabbath. So they don't give a fuck about interfering with somebody's bar night. And guess what? If you're going to be at a bar, you're probably going to be watching football, too. I don't have a problem with doing it on that Wednesday. But you get what I'm saying, though. But I'm saying, at this point, I do agree with what you're saying. At this point, it should be one in, one out.

34:28Big Cat:Yeah. So you've got to take away one of your other little Mickey Mouse games. Just be careful, NFL. Take away Black Friday. That Black Friday is for college football.

34:34PFT Commenter:Yeah. Just be careful. It's we're getting to this point where it's like I just I just want it to still be special. And if you start putting games because I always just assume whenever they do these like the one offs, it's just a trial balloon to just be like, we'll just do NFL every single night.

34:52Big Cat:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And guess what? It's we're a matter of years away, not decades from the NFL doing a spring game.

34:59PFT Commenter:And I you and everyone in this room, our job is to watch football. So if they do it every single night, I'm not going to complain in the fact that I'm going to watch every game. But then you have to kind of like we're 41. We have nothing to do on that Wednesday night. You have to step outside and be like, wait, there are people who probably can't watch NFL every single night. That's true. That's very true. So just be careful, NFL. Yeah, be careful.

35:26Big Cat:I love you to death, but just be careful. They're definitely going to do a spring game. Yeah, 100%. Which, now that I think, I might be kind of into that. Yeah, I mean, spring football. Just one spring game. It would be kind of sick. Max, no. How? Just think about it. Just throw it out there. I don't know. Just save one. Because it'll make them millions of dollars.

35:51PFT Commenter:It's like saving one for later. Just save one for later. When would you do the draft?

35:56Big Cat:The game wouldn't count. Yeah. Just save one for later.

35:59PFT Commenter:Oh, okay.

36:00Big Cat:College football programs do their spring game, and it's like a practice. I don't think anyone would care.

36:05PFT Commenter:No. No, people wouldn't care. I'd watch. But you would watch like you watch a Hall of Fame game. You would be like, oh, this is fun. And then it would be like actually.

36:15Big Cat:Like a way to see your new rookies. But yeah.

36:19PFT Commenter:Okay, so World Baseball Classic real quick. We're going to have Vinny on, and he is Italian-American hero, Vinny Pasquettino, for the three home runs against Mexico. But what happened is on Tuesday night, we lost to Mexico. And Mark DeRosa, the manager. No, we lost to Italy. Italy, sorry, Italy. We beat Mexico, then lost to Italy, then Italy played Mexico. Mark DeRosa, the manager of Team USA, 100 % did not know the rules and that if things had gone differently on Wednesday night, the Team USA could have been eliminated before the knockout stage. he went on an mlb network show and said before the game against italy we're gonna try to get some guys in who haven't played we're gonna get some guys off their feet because we've already punched our ticket he then afterwards said he misspoke but anyone with a brain when watching the game against italy when he was warming up clayton kershaw and then brought in mason miller you can know the moment that he was like hey dude we like actually want to win this it's important Run differential and all this shit actually matters.

37:26Big Cat:If you looked at the lineup he put out there too, there were a few guys that he wanted to play. It did appear like it was being treated like an exhibition. Yeah. Because he thought he was through to the next round. Yeah. And then, yeah, so after the game, everybody's seen this clip from Mark DeRosa, and then he did a press conference earlier today. Yeah. You see that? And he goes, there's some false narratives. I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios. They went in 2-0. We went in 2-0. Actually, not true, Mark DeRosa. You were 3-0. 3-0. Going into that game. 3-0.

38:00Big Cat:I don't really think... I would not trust Mark DeRosa to be the master strategist. We've got a problem. In fact, like a lot of people were talking about, the last name is Italian.

38:11PFT Commenter:Very Italian.

38:12Big Cat:And he seemed to throw this game to Italy. I'm just saying, connect the dots. It's a problem. Paisan.

38:19PFT Commenter:I will say this. We play Canada tonight. Tonight we play Canada, right? Yes, Friday night. I'm worried about this game. It is everything that we've been puffing our chest about for the last month can be taken away from us tonight. Yeah. I know we kind of skirt with the Four Nations. It was an exhibition. if Team Canada beats us they have just an insane amount of like right back in our face it's going to be brutal we are minus 800 on draft games if we lose as minus 800 favorites we can't we were talking about it earlier but when you have something like this a rivalry you can't lose the most recent one because there's not going to be another one for a while here maybe in the in the world cup, but like Olympics.

39:18What? Oh, Oh, I thought you meant in baseball.

39:20PFT Commenter:I'm saying if we lose this, we are, we're, they have bragging rights for the foreseeable future. We can be like, Oh yeah, we took hockey. They'd be like, yeah, we took your pastime that you are the only country that played for the longest time. I guess hockey is a little bit similar,

39:36Big Cat:but still, no, yeah, it's a good point. We, we dominated Canada and the most important thing in the world to them. Yes. Yeah. But, yeah, you're right. We don't want them to hit us. We can't have this. We can't. Not as, what, you said minus 800? Can't lose that game. Can't lose that game. Who do we got on the bump? Logan Webb. Very good. Okay. Who are they sitting out there? Michael Scirocco. All right. He's Italian. Italian-Canadian?

40:03PFT Commenter:Fuck. He has an A. Going up against another Italian. Can't get rid of these guys. Dude, Team Italy, by the way. We're going to, like we said, we're going to have Vinny on. But Team Italy, that's a crazy upset and a crazy ass. They beat the shit out of us. Can I just say that I feel like the Italian team is more American

40:22Big Cat:than the American team. A little bit. The way that they're acting. I'd like to see some of that same stuff from the Americans. The double kiss? Yeah, the double kiss. They seem like they're having a great time. They're loud. They're boisterous. They're arrogant. They're fun. That's what I want out of my American teams. I don't want Aaron Judge striking out in the ninth inning. No. Looking sad.

40:41PFT Commenter:Hank, are you pumped for a world baseball classic? Yeah. You can end. Yeah, yeah. It's fun. I've been having a great... I mean, we have to win. We have to win on Friday. We have to win. I like the Dominican team. I want... Whoa, whoa. What did you just say? What's the situation? What's the... If we win and the DR wins tomorrow, then we play them in the semis. That would be awesome. You said you like the Dominican team. I thought you said you like the Canadian team. No.

41:09Big Cat:The Dominican team is awesome. They are very fun. Yeah. But if it's U.S. versus the Dominican team, you're rooting for the U.S. Of course. I don't think he is. What was that smile? No, he's not. What was that smile? He's not rooting for it. What was that smile? Nope, he's not. I'm telling you right now, he doesn't need to talk anymore. Hank is 100 % going to root for Dominican Republic. 100%. No. Why don't you just leave? Why don't you just leave?

41:37PFT Commenter:Why don't you leave? I wouldn't even say that. Why don't you leave? Be like Ellen and go live in the Italian or English countryside. I would be rude. I'm rooting for America. She gets a lot of chicks. Why is it so hard for you to say?

41:49Big Cat:I didn't. I said it every time. I answered it correctly. What do you mean correctly? Not honestly. You said correctly. I'm rooting for the USA. You're telling us what we want to hear. Yeah, so that's not the honest answer. This isn't a right or wrong answer. This is your opinion. Yeah, we know. But it is also a right or wrong answer. The Dominican team is electric. They are. to be entertained when I'm watching sports. You always say that.

42:12PFT Commenter:This is crazy. I wouldn't even say that I was rooting for Italy. It's the world fucking baseball. It's not a real thing. It's also very much in line with you. It's a real thing. This might be the most perfect take out there. Grow the game. The Dominican team is, like, I would rat, like... Just say it. Just say it. You're being the bros. I want to watch more games with the Dominican Republic team. I want more bad games. How many games have you watched from the Dominican Republic? Two. You've watched... I came home drunk on Friday and watched the highlights. That does not count as fucking watched the game.

42:47I watched the game last night. You watched the full game? Yeah. No, I mean most of the game. No, you... Highlights.

42:51Big Cat:I had the game on. All right, listen. I just can't... I want every single person out there that said that Hank was so mad about the Patriots losing the Super Bowl that he got racist about the halftime show. I want all those people to listen to what Hank's saying right now and apologize to him and be like, you're right. Hank, you're not racist. I'm sorry. You're just a fucking moron, Hank.

43:16PFT Commenter:This is the best. This is pure, like straight from the fucking tippy top of the mountain, pure Hank. I want to bottle this Hank up and drink it because it's the best. You just always find a way. Why do you want people to fucking hate you, man? I don't. I don't give a fuck. That's why it's beautiful. I can't lie. He actually doesn't care. The Dominican team is electric. He does not care. He's giving his opinion. His opinion just always is the one that will piss off the most people. And I respect the hell out of it. If you're pissed off, these people also aren't watching the games. It's a fucking tournament for entertainment.

43:56Everything's for entertainment, right? Yeah. And when I don't really have a dog, I guess whatever.

44:02Big Cat:You don't have a dog in the fight? Oh, my God. You are the worst. Hank, I don't want to do this. I love this, Hank. I don't want to do this to you, Hank, but I think I – How many players on the Dominican Republic can you name? More than probably USA. More than the Aces? More than the Aces. Okay. All right, so that'll be five. Let's hear it. Tatis, Vladimir Guerrero, Martel. Oh, this is weird.

44:33PFT Commenter:Hits with a Tom. Soto. Okay. The most electric guy that... The guy who's had the most electric celebrations. Name? No, I'm letting you get to it. Line? I don't got it.

44:50Big Cat:Austin Wells. That's another one? He is on the team. He's the most Dominican. Who? Junior Caymanero. I think I'm double. Yes. Hank, I love you. This is so good. Do they also have O 'Neal Cruz? Yeah.

45:12PFT Commenter:And O 'Neal Cruz, that is a fun-ass team. From the guy who wants Super Bowls played overseas for his next act. He's rooting for the Dominican over his home. Julio Rodriguez is another one. We're not there yet. We're not there yet either. Yeah, we play who we play. Yeah, you probably. You're actually probably. If we're really breaking down, you're probably rooting for Canada so you don't have to be split. No. So do you want to have – we got to have Dominican Republic on in the cave at 530 then, right? Sure, yeah. Oh, wait, you're not going to be here. I'll be watching. Max, there's fucking – Oh, he'll be watching.

45:45Oh, there's – Oh, wait, there's only TVs in the cave. I forgot. He'll be watching. I swear to God that wasn't a shot.

45:52PFT Commenter:No, I think he was not. That was not a shot. Not a shot. No, I forgot. I truly forgot.

45:58Big Cat:Not a shot. I'll make sure that Hank's watching Dominican. I'll make sure of it. Yeah. Hank, are you going to be rooting for the Dominican Republic against South Korea? Yes. Oh, yeah. So you're going to be rooting for the matchup of USA-Dominican Republic.

46:11PFT Commenter:I kind of need you to get, like, a full jersey. Whatever. It's not that serious. No, no, it's not. This has been, like, this is, it is what it is. People can hate. I didn't give that much thought into this until I realized they were matched up against each other, but it is what it is.

46:27Big Cat:You are going to have the Latin music fans' brains in a pretzel based on the last three weeks of your life.

46:33PFT Commenter:Dude. I like to be entertained. I want to hear from Dominican. Bad buddy, not entertaining. Dominican AWLs. He wasn't. Embrace the fuck out of Hank. I want you to be like Dominican Hank. Yeah, there might be. I want you in the parade. I want you in the parade in New York. There's probably a rivalry between Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, right? Yeah.

46:52Big Cat:So Dominican Republic probably loves you.

46:54PFT Commenter:Yeah. Let's embrace him. Hell yeah. D.R. Hank. Skeens also will be pitching that game if we get to it. Let's go. Paul Skeens is a really good game. I like Paul Skeens. Yeah. You love him? Absolute Skeens. Yeah. Okay, last thing. I hope it's an entertaining game. Bam, 83 points. Do we care?

47:19Big Cat:Yeah, I mean, it's a lot of points. It's a lot of points. My take is that it should... Sustain on near city. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the 83 should mostly be given credit to the Washington Wizards. It should be like the Wizards allowed one man to score 83 points against them on this day. It was such a weird game. And I was watching part of the game live in the first half, and Bam had, I think, 43 points at halftime. So it's not like the whole game was him getting fouled, going to the line, etc., etc. It got weird at the very end of the game when they were very clearly trying to get him the record. But Bam had a great game.

47:53Big Cat:He played really well. But the fact is, when you think of the top 100 basketball players of all time, you probably won't think of Bam Adebayo. So, yes. And what happened was, this was the Wizards' masterpiece. What we saw, it's not going to get any more Wizards than that. The Wizards showing up to cities and playing basketball games should not be tolerated by those cities. You should look at the Washington Wizards' presence showing up in your town like the way you would look at the Westboro Baptist Church and be like, no, no, you're not in my city, Washington Wizards. That's more offensive than Magic City Night is the Wizards coming into your city.

48:36PFT Commenter:It's a lot of points. I don't buy the whole like, oh, it's cheapened because the fouling and all that stuff. I mean, Kobe took every shot in the last seven minutes of his 81-point game. They were just feeding him the ball constantly. Like to get that many points, you have to do something like that. So I have no problem with that. I do find it funny because it was like one last stand for Kobe fans to just go nuclear online and be really upset about things. A lot of Kobe fan fiction out there. Yeah. I also think. Laker Dan. Think about making him come back. Laker Dan respects Bam. He's a true, true number one points all time.

49:17PFT Commenter:Because that was the funny thing. But it's also number two. Right. I know. But that's the funny thing to me. I thought the biggest winner of the night was Wilt, because when Kobe was number two, Kobe fans started doing the conspiracy theories that the Wilt thing never happened. I don't think they're going to do that for Bam. No. No, they don't care. Yeah, so Wilt, you're back to number one. There was a one with an asterisk for the whatever, 15 years that Kobe had it. Now you're back to one.

49:43Big Cat:Yeah, the Kobe fans, it did give them a good opportunity to talk about what Kobe would have done if he was in this situation, which is always a treat to see people do that.

49:55PFT Commenter:Bam also was, I mean, he was on fire. I know the ending was a little weird and there was a lot of free throws. Didn't he have like 50 at half? No, I just said, the first half he was really good.

50:04Big Cat:Like, he was dominant. He had 43 at half, I think.

50:09PFT Commenter:Yeah, so he had an insane game. And I just, I think it's more about society is large, and this is probably too deep of a conversation to have like a lengthy conversation but i do think we're all just whether it be social media uh the amount of like content we consume every single day i think we're all guilty of it it's really hard for like big moments to have lasting power you know what i mean where it's like to be wowed it doesn't feel like when we had a monoculture 20 years ago 30 years ago and like a big performance happened you're like i'll always remember that it just doesn't we just move on so fast well if you think about the guys on this list right

50:50Big Cat:will chamberlain was a superhero he was like the strongest guy ever he could bench press like 500 pounds he claimed that he banged like 40 000 women believe him he was that's as close to paul bunyan as you can get he scored 100 points in the game we look at him the same way we look at almost like a deity and then kobe same way like he's got a diehard group of fans and even people that don't don't consider themselves like diehard Kobe people. They recognize like Kobe was a, uh, incredible basketball player and a unique personality that like changed the game and continues to have an effect. And also it's very sad.

51:27Big Cat:Like obviously the way that he died. So suddenly I think that looking at that now it's, it almost elevated Kobe to now we think of him in that same, like rarefied air. Like don't nothing that anybody does is worthy of being compared to Kobe Bryant. Yes. And then to have Bam Adebayo go and score 83 points when he's a fine player. Yeah. But to have his name thrown into that, people are like, well, no, this can't be right. Right. Because he's not Kobe Bryant. Right. And he's not Wilt Chamberlain. Right. And so it's also just not a pure score.

52:04PFT Commenter:Like if it was Luka or Steph, I mean, Steph's different because Steph isn't that rare. But like there are pure scorers. Remember when Devin Booker had, what did he have, like 70 or something? where it's like a guy like that is such a pure. I think Klay had a big game too, didn't he? Yeah, like pure score that they can just get hot like that. Bam is not in that mold, so it's weird for people to contextualize and be like, oh, yeah, he had an insane game. I respect Bam. I respect the 83 points. I don't give a fuck about me. Every fan base is going to say something else is Mickey Mouse.

52:34Big Cat:So this was a great clip that was going around yesterday. It was an interview with Brian Shaw, And he said that Kobe had 62 points and his teammates were like, you got to go back in the game, Kobe, in the fourth quarter. And Kobe said, no, we're up 30. We don't need it right now. I'll do it another time. And so then now that kind of fed the Kobe fans being like, well, Kobe could have done it. But out of respect, he decided not to. And I also like the fan fiction about what Jason Tatum would have done.

53:04PFT Commenter:Oh, did you see that viral tweet? It was pretty funny. Yeah, it was very funny. Jason Tatum just gets strays everywhere, which is not right. It is what it is. So it was from Cordell L-L-E-D-Rook on Twitter. Jason Tatum would have subbed himself out at 81 and texted Kobe. Yeah, I mean, you guys would like. That's like kind of the joke that people have been running into the ground for four years. That's funny. That's. I thought it was funny. We didn't say it. I didn't even. No, I know. It's a funny tweet. I can see why. Cordell did it, not us. No, I understand. You don't find any little... It's like Jason Tatum, anything he does, it's like Tex Kobe.

53:43That's been a running joke that people have been doing for five years.

53:48Big Cat:This was funny, though, because Kobe was kind of in the news. Yeah. Because of the game. Right. I understand.

53:55PFT Commenter:And then there was a GIF of Stephen A. Smith when he's rolling his eyes, and it's like Vanessa when she sees another text from Jason Tatum. That's funny. That's funny. That's funny. Funny's funny.

54:06Big Cat:Although, I mean, I think the Celtics, don't you guys play the Wizards next couple days? I don't know. I feel like Tatum's going to try to go off against us. Like, Tatum might be out for blood. Oh, yeah, 314. He might be out for blood to avenge Kobe. Right? I don't think so, no. I think he might be. He might be. I think he's circled this, and he's like, Kobe, I got you. I'm not going to let Bam steal your shine. It's me. You know what Jason Tatum might do? He might go out there, break Bam's second-place scoring record, and then change his name to Kobe Bryant so that the record books will show Kobe Bryant has his rightful spot in number two.

54:48Yeah, Jason Tatum, first guy to idolize Kobe.

54:51Big Cat:That's what I would do if I was Jason Tatum.

54:55PFT Commenter:I can't believe you're rooting for Dominican Republic. It's fucking crazy. It's so good, Hank. Seriously, I don't think I've ever loved you more than in this moment. Sure. Let's go DR.

55:11PFT Commenter:Okay. Let's get to our interviews. We got Italian-American hero Vinnie Pasquantino and Bill Raftery talking some more March Madness. And then we will finish with Fyre Fest. Okay. Before we get to Vinnie Pasquantino, we're brought to you by Everyman Jack. Jack, you're a grown man making better decisions about what you put in your body and are you paying attention to what goes on it. Here's the thing. Using grooming products with harsh chemicals is like washing your car with dish soap. Sure, it gets the job done, but you're stripping away the protection and doing long-term damage. Most guys think they have to choose products that work or products that are better for you.

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57:06PFT Commenter:While other security companies lock you in, SimpliSafe comes with no long-term contract. They earn your trust every day by keeping you safe and satisfied. They're so confident in the protection they provide. They even back it with an anti-theft guarantee. Right now, listeners can get 50 % off. their new SimpliSafe system at SimpliSafe.com slash PMT. That's SimpliSafe.com slash PMT. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Okay, here he is, Italian-American hero, Vinny Pasquantino. Okay, we now welcome on recurring guest, friend of the program, very, very, very, very, very special guest because he saved our ass on Wednesday night in the World Baseball Classic.

57:53PFT Commenter:It is Vinny Pasquantino, and he is off of three home runs and American Hero. Vinny, you are an American Hero. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Okay, that's great. Yes. Grazie. Yeah, thank you. I said in the middle of the game, I think we should give you your American citizenship. That would be amazing. I would appreciate that a lot. Yeah, you sent me that after the game. I was dying laughing. and like that's what this tournament's all about, trying to grant citizenship for those Italian-Americans.

58:25Big Cat:Yes, yes. Are you still beamed up from last night? You had so much espresso after the home runs. I would imagine that. I got my coffee here. So, yeah, I'm freshly beamed up now for this morning. I went to sleep at like 2, 2.30. I did what any guy does after they have a nice night. I ordered some Taco Bell and insomnia cookies with my wife, and we had a good time. So it was good. It was a good night last night. I love that. And then I got to ask you, though, playing for Italy, have you been to Italy? Yes. In 2022, we took a week-long trip with the 2023 national team. So the team that played in the WBC then, we did go out there.

59:04So I know all the jokes are out there how we're not really Italian, but we have actually been there. So we've been there. So that's all that matters.

59:10Big Cat:Have you heard from anybody back in the old country, anybody celebrating how this team's playing? I'm hoping to hear from the Pope at some point. That's kind of the goal is hear from the Pope. So we know he's a White Sox fan, so hopefully he's a Team Italy fan too. But I did an interview yesterday for Italy TV, which was fun. And I know they had the game on television out there. I think it was at midnight last night. So it's pretty cool to get some baseball over there and try to help build some development culture. That would be great for the Pope to reach out. I bet you he has watched. I don't think that's crazy.

59:45Big Cat:Yeah, definitely. There's no way the Pope doesn't know what we're doing. There's no way.

59:49PFT Commenter:Yeah, absolutely. He's absolutely aware. Lock in. He actually probably was upset that Kyle Teal, because he's a White Sox fan, that Kyle Teal got hurt. Some of my favorite Twitter jokes are like, man, how upset do you think the Pope is that Kyle Teal got hurt the other night? It's very funny thinking of random things like that. What do you think the Pope is thinking about the White Sox catcher right now? Is there on Team Italy, is there like a haves and have-nots for guys that don't have a vowel at the end of their name? oh big time like that video that came out where the guy was talking about how the team was recruited that's exactly how it happened if you have a vowel at the end of your name um we we came after you so think about how italian you have to be if your name doesn't end in a vowel like that's we were going deep trying to trying to get guys to play so yeah i mean some of the names on this team are are absolutely incredible like the names in themselves make you eligible for Team Italy.

1:00:41PFT Commenter:Yeah. Yeah. That's why when I saw Kyle Teal was on the team, I was like, this is bullshit. Like, how does he pass? But I guess he passed. How many – I would imagine like in terms of camaraderie, is it just a lot of dudes talking about the Jets free agent signings? Yeah, that's basically what I'm doing. That's all I'm doing, letting everybody know how much value we're getting. I did actually talk to the Jets general manager last night after the game, and I told him how much value I think we're getting. So I told him I think we're doing a great job and that I love not overspending for free agents.

1:01:17It's been fantastic.

1:01:18PFT Commenter:Okay, yeah, because I feel like whether directly related or one-off, everyone on the team has more of a connection to the state of New Jersey than Italy. Yeah, but the state of New Jersey has a ton of connection to Italy, so it works out. It has to just be the team New Jersey. It's like what? The Jersey Bulldog. Yeah, it's good. A lot of pork roll, egg and cheese happening in our clubhouse. We're getting back to our Jersey slash Italian roots. It's been good for the fellas. Do you guys debate that?

1:01:51Big Cat:Like is half the clubhouse Taylor Ham and half the clubhouse is pork roll? Andrew Fisher, this beautiful psychopath that he is, on his Evo Shield like shin guard, it says pork roll, egg and cheese on it. Instead of his name, it says pork roll, egg, and cheese. So we're a pork roll and clubhouse. Yeah, this is a New Jersey national baseball team.

1:02:14PFT Commenter:It's very funny. You guys are just probably that. It's like Jets and Giants is the biggest fight that goes on during this group. So Kyle Teal gets hurt. How close, let's be honest, how close were we to maybe calling up Max? How many guys away were we to getting Max? Because he did play catcher at Hofstra. so the downstairs of the no i played catcher for like one fall season of my ninth grade baseball career but i had a picture i had a picture of me playing catcher yeah hey zach um zach by the way vinny is trying to get your home runs from last night to go to last year's only team he just asked us absolutely count

1:02:57but yeah we were we were a few phone calls away at max i tried to get you a tryout last week but you know showed us so i know um i was ready to go i was ready to go we were it was like vinny was

1:03:08PFT Commenter:nice enough i was texting him and he was like hey if max because he listened to the show last week he's like max wants to come down and be the team meatball like we could do that it just scheduled didn't work but he was he was offered so you can be the espresso boy max you could uh you could pour the espressos for us that's an unbelievable honor that would be the highest honor you can get Yeah.

1:03:30Big Cat:That's incredible. Vinny, I got a weird question for you about how things were, they shook out before that game. Was there any conversation at all about, hey, if we lose to Mexico and Mexico scores like two runs, both of us can get in. It's like the Chargers-Raiders game from a couple years ago in the last week of the season. You guys both had the opportunity to advance. It would have left the U.S. out. But was that something that ever crossed your mind? So, not colluding with Mexico, the only question that we asked was, if we're losing 4-0 or 3-0, whatever it is, in the top of the ninth, what do you do?

1:04:13Because the only way you can guarantee yourself to make it to the next round is by not winning the game. Because if you go up 5-4 in the top of the ninth and then they score two runs and beat you, then you're out. So the only way to 100 % guarantee that you make it through in that specific situation is to not win the game. But the goal of the game was to win the game like we did. So we never, thank God we didn't get into that situation because that would have been really awkward of just trying to like, how do you finesse that? So I'm glad we didn't. And we never talked about what are we going to do?

1:04:44Because I think everybody kind of felt gross talking about it. But it was something that was talked about of what do you do in that situation? like it puts teams in a really unfair spot knowing knowing the way that it could have worked out but I'm really happy we didn't get into that situation yeah uh so speaking of New Jersey

1:05:03PFT Commenter:and Italians there is some conspiracy theorists out there Mark DeRosa is from New Jersey he is Italian was there any handshake back of the you know you know back of the bar type of deal that went down before the game where he was like hey I'm gonna pretend that I don't know the rules or was he just he just didn't know the rules yeah i think he just didn't know he's doing his best to not talk to any other team so um even though he talks about his job is quite literally to talk about every single player all year long and uh yeah but he's got the best 30 guys over there in this clubhouse he's made sure to let everybody know how good his guys are oh i like this so So, yeah, that's been a quite interesting dynamic of having the guy who talks about everybody all year managing the USA team and talking about how good they all are, which everybody knows how good they are.

1:05:55Right.

1:05:55Big Cat:They're very good. I like D-Row a lot. It's just been – that's a weird spot to be in for him. You're managing the team and trying to get your guys fired up, but then at the end, you do have to go back to your real job at some point. If he ever says anything nice about me on MLB Network, do I believe him? Or do I – I think a lot of players are wondering that right now, like what's going on with that whole situation.

1:06:16PFT Commenter:Yeah. And it was very weird. You could also see the moment. I think that's the thing is now you guys have the trump card if he ever trashes anyone. It's like, hey, remember when you didn't know the rules? That was crazy. Well, Kershaw was up, and the joke I keep seeing on Twitter is like Kershaw was up, and then all of a sudden Mason Miller was up, and it was like, wait, is this the moment that they found out? Yes, it had to have been. But the players knew. The players knew, by the way. Yeah. So I honestly do think it was just a misspeak because the players knew going into that game that they were not clinched.

1:06:46So I don't know what happened there, but they found a way to make it in. And they've got an opportunity to try to go win the thing, but there's eight teams left. Anybody can win it at this point.

1:06:56Big Cat:Yeah, no, it's been a great tournament. It feels like the atmosphere has been almost like a postseason atmosphere. Like, do you guys get, how amped up do you get before these games? dude i i last night and the night before i mean we were winning by eight in both of those games and i thought we were tied or up one the way the crowds were the crowds were phenomenal i've never had a uh i've never been more nervous standing at first base with nobody on base winning by eight runs in my life those did not feel like games where you were up by that much the crowds in houston the usa crowd on on whatever night was was fantastic in the team mexico crowd last night i mean it's the loudest building i've ever been in and you know been in some playoffs games been fortunate enough to play in some of those atmospheres but second to none these atmospheres we played in the last few nights it was incredible this tournament is is amazing getting 20 countries together to try to build the sport of baseball and bring people together through the sport

1:07:48PFT Commenter:uh couldn't better what did uh so we had the the the situation with cal raleigh who we love is a friend of ours and randy rosarena which i think has been settled now but were you like you have teammates you know i mean that you like bobby witt's playing like are you are you talking to the guys you chumming up with the guys are you I like that it's a little bit of tense moments going into these games where they're not everyone's not all buddy buddy yeah well I had like this weird moment the other day where I had a press conference and USA was right after us and I was still in the line still needed to go shower after practice and the entire USA team was just standing there waiting for me to get done that was the most awkward experience of my life I'm trying to like chop it up but also we kind of hate each other i guess in this tournament yeah bobby was being all weird because he wasn't sure if he was able to talk to me or not um but i don't care like whatever the rules are like i i'm just having a good time but that that situation from my understanding cal and randy talked to each other before the game and cal said please don't do this oh i don't know if I don't know if that's true or not, but I heard that they had discussed it prior, and Randy knew that he wasn't going to do it, which is why that that happened, and that they're fine, that this is a nothing story, and that it just became bigger because it happened in 2023 with Will Smith and Randy as well, trying to fist bump or whatever and didn't do it.

1:09:12But then you see in the Venezuela game, they're like full-on hugging before the game. So there's just a bunch of different opinions on it, but we're all just competing to try to win games. and some guys need to lock in more and don't like to talk as much. I'm the opposite. I'm sure Cal hates me because I'll just talk to him my entire at bat. But if that's what he needs, good for him.

1:09:32Big Cat:So who do you guys have next? We've got Puerto Rico on Saturday, and I believe I'm facing a teammate in Seth Lugo. I think he's pitching for Puerto Rico, so I'm excited for that. He's probably going to try to hit me. He loves throwing inside, so I'm excited to see. If he hits me, I'm going to charge the mound. So we'll get a little Royals on Royals fight. I like that. I like that, yeah. Yeah, is that an advantage for you or is that a disadvantage? Because you're around him all the time, but you also never go up against him. It could be a little bit of both. I think I faced him twice this season already in live at-bats.

1:10:03So I've got a little bit of an idea of what he's got, but that guy's got 25 pitches, so he just could pull anything out of the toolbox at any given time. So we'll see.

1:10:12Big Cat:Is there any amount of home runs that would be too many home runs for you to say, no, I've had enough espresso, thank you very much? No, no, never too many home runs. I don't hit enough of them, so any that I can hit. And honestly, I'm just doing it for Zach anyway. When you think about it, it's how many home runs can I put up for Zach? That's all I'm thinking about.

1:10:31PFT Commenter:Were you in the zone last night? I was somewhere last night. I don't know if in the zone was the correct answer, but I was somewhere. And it was just working out. Although I don't think I really hit any of those balls hard. Thank God we were in Houston. But it was just one of those nights. I mean, I was over 12 going in, and so it was more hope and pray than anything. I tried to bump my first at bat right before the first homer, so just praying that I could do something offensively to help the team and maybe not go 0-4 in the entire tournament.

1:11:00Big Cat:Yeah. It was a great game.

1:11:03PFT Commenter:Speaking of ballparks, talk us through – I want to hear about the moment that you found out that the Royals were moving in the fences 10 feet. Is that one of the greatest moments of your life? Like, who tells you? That's got to be up there with, like, holy shit, this is going to rock. yeah i think i found out in october maybe that it was you know 95 sure that it was going to happen uh general manager told me he was all fired up but i'm kind of a prick i don't know if you've noticed so my immediate reaction was like okay what is it i just said you know i just hit i just hit a bunch of homers i'll just do it again um but because when it first happened everybody was like oh my god what a hitters ballpark now it's going to be crazy and i'm like shit it moved from 389 to 379 it's not like it's making it fucking yankee stadium in right field right but uh yeah i mean that 10 feet's going to make a big difference i think and they did a lot of research like credit to the royals they did a ton of research on figuring out how it was going to affect this specific team pitchers and hitters because i you know i think they have a i think we have five more years on our lease in kauffman stadium so who knows what's going on with that so i think it's kind of a test run for if we are fortunate enough to get a new stadium what what that stadium's

1:12:17Big Cat:dimensions could look like so i'm looking at the uh somebody did do the math on it and they said that last year you would have had an increase of about 10 more home runs with the new fences that's millions of dollars many my arm number would have looked a lot better if it was 42 homers instead of 32 homers um but yeah maybe maybe but it's less it could be less hits though depending on where the outfielders are playing. So, you know, can't change what you're doing. Just try to stay out of that conversation. Yeah. Do you like the nickname Pasquatch? Yeah, Pasquatch is the one that I like. So I'm fortunate enough to have a mascot when I get on base, which is pretty cool.

1:12:55He comes out there and walks around. Yeah, I like Pasquatch. I've got my necklace on at all times. I don't know if you can see it. I've got the Sasquatch there. Oh, I love that.

1:13:04Big Cat:It sounds like there's a nickname that you don't like. uh italian breakfast which was given to me by a buddy named uh joel penfield he he uh he does some media with kansas city and billy butler was the country breakfast and i'm a big first baseman so they named me the italian breakfast and no offense to billy by any stretch but i don't want to be a dh um so i try i'm trying to stay away from i don't want to be known for eating food that's not the goal here so i feel like the italian stay away from all food Probably just like coffee and a cigarette, right? That's exactly what it is. Yes. I'm trying to be a bill of health here.

1:13:40So coffee and a cigarette doesn't do it for me.

1:13:43PFT Commenter:How pissed is your dad during this stretch that his name's Dennis? Like if he's hanging around with Team Italy and shit. It's got to. So I know we talked about it last time you were on. But like this is the time that you need. You need a Paul, a Christopher, a Vinny. Like this is brutal. Yeah, Dennis doesn't really fly. But he's busy with his high school team. so he's not even here. He's got games of his own to win, so he's trying to get away from Team Italy a little bit. He's focused on Spring Hill High School baseball right now, not Team Italy. So he's very happy being Dennis at this current moment.

1:14:16Okay, all right, good.

1:14:17PFT Commenter:So will he come down if you guys make it to the final? Probably not. He'll just watch on TV and rip my bats somehow. Yeah, because he's Dennis. I guarantee you— Yeah, he's Dennis. He's kind of not allowed. Yeah. If he was Paulie, he would be down there, and he'd be having the time of his life. He'd probably be on this interview in a white tank top right now with a few chains for everybody to see. There's one of the guy's family, Gordon Graceffo. His family is wearing green jumpsuits to all the games with the tank tops underneath and sunglasses. It's amazing. I think I'm about to order a few jumpsuits just to, if we do go to Miami, if we're fortunate enough to win on Saturday, make a nice impression down there.

1:14:57PFT Commenter:This is awesome. This is like, remember the summer when Jersey Shore, like the the show kicked off and everyone just started dressing you guys are basically doing a jersey shore uh like party mixed with a high level baseball yeah i'm trying to think of what the what is it gym tan laundry i'm trying to think of what it could be in baseball i don't know yeah but yeah we're having a good time we're passing out wine post game like it's uh it's been incredible this uh being able to lean into the italian stereotypes and it being okay is great for a few weeks yeah yeah uh this this tournament this tournament's awesome you're wearing suits all to every game like it's it's good you need to get if you guys get to the final you need to get everyone's grandmother everyone's known uh all together because that's really what's probably you know getting everyone everyone is just talking about their grandmother grandfather and being like yeah the gravy they made and and yeah they're all going to make their own they're all going to make their own gravy their own sauce and we're just going to have a pre-game and post-game in the clubhouse we make it to the final.

1:15:56It's going to be the most Italian celebration of all time.

1:16:00Big Cat:I love it. And then you should go to 11 afterwards. Sing an Italian national anthem. We'll tell you about 11 later. Yeah.

1:16:07PFT Commenter:You probably don't know about it, but we'll tell you about it. Zach, you got a question for Vinny? What's going on, Vinny? Good to see you again. All right, man. Great to see you, Zach. I was curious. I do want to say I appreciate you so much for the blood, sweat, tears you put into this Dinger's Only season than that was last year. And I was curious, if given the opportunity, what it would take to get you on an extension, maybe pick you up for next year. Anything you need, I'll get it covered. I want to finish my career on your dingers-only team. So I would love nothing more. I'd love nothing more than an extension with you.

1:16:41So you have your people contact my agent and just let me know. One jersey guy. I don't really got guys like that. I know you probably do, so I can reach out. Yeah, perfect. I got you. That's awesome. Thank you for your time.

1:16:53PFT Commenter:Good job, Zach. Yeah, good question. Max, you have a question?

1:16:58PFT Commenter:Max, are you getting swept up a little bit in Team Italy? I am. I love Team Italy. You guys wouldn't play U.S. again until the final, right? That's right. All right, so we're in a good spot of I can now root for Team Italy fully and Team USA fully. What are the chances? You already asked my question. My question was what are the chances that you guys saw that picture of me catching you're like we got to get this guy out yeah probably low probably low but like we had a conversation last night with the gm where we were looking for a guy because one of our guys went down and i said hey i don't know if you've heard about this guy his name's max he's on a podcast he's ready to go there we go that's all that's all i needed to hear he was at hofstra for half a season and he's ready to rock three dingers three dingers

1:17:46Big Cat:when you guys were going through the list of guys uh whose names ended in vowels in baseball did Anybody just throw out, like, Juan Soto. Yeah, I was saying Shohei. Just like as a heat chat. Shohei. Soto. You know who texted me the other day and said he'd love the opportunity to represent the Italians was Tommy Pham. So we're trying to find a way to get Tommy with the Italians. We'll trace back his lineage and see what we got. But if he's from Italy, he's eligible.

1:18:12PFT Commenter:Yeah. All right, Vinny, you're the best, man. I got one last question. Rowback question. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. Promo code TAKE. 20 % off your first purchase Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts Roback.com, promo code TAKE Are you guys as a team I know this might sound wrong but are you re-watching the Sopranos or anything in the clubhouse? That would be really cool No, we're not We do have some Italian music We do have I think we have six guys who are playing the Italian league and are purebred Italians is what I've been calling them finished the game last night. Gabriele Quattrini finished the game for us last night.

1:18:51They're providing the music for us and the atmosphere of letting us know how to really get back to our Italian roots. But no, no Sopranos. We've talked about it quite a bit, but a little bit of Godfather references, some good fellas in there. So we're really trying to get back to our roots with the Italian movies and conversations in there. I haven't watched anything yet, but we do if we, like I said, if we're fortunate enough to win on Saturday. We've got another flight. Maybe we'll lock in on Saturday with something.

1:19:20Big Cat:So if you guys do win, is there going to be a trip to Italy? Are you going to go back? Have to. Get a parade? Parade. I don't know why the Pope hasn't invited us yet, but we'll see. We're waiting on the Pope to make it happen. Okay. Yeah. You should never have to buy a cannoli for yourself ever in Italy if you guys win.

1:19:38PFT Commenter:Yeah, exactly. The Pope's an AWL for sure, so he'll hear this and he'll be like, oh shit, my bad. Somebody will get back to him. Yeah, absolutely. All right, Vinny, you're the best, man. Thanks for joining us, especially it's like seven hours ago. You hit three dingers in a huge game. You're an Italian-American hero, and we appreciate you, and we'll hopefully see you this summer when you come through Chicago. Yeah, sounds good. Thanks, guys.

1:20:03Big Cat:Vinny Pasquitino was brought to you by Chevy, our great friends over at Chevy. They know that football season's over, but you know how it goes. The minute the big game ends, we're already talking about what's next, free agency, the draft, who's getting paid, who's grinding, because for football guys, there's no offseason. That's exactly why they roll with a Chevy Silverado. Silverado is the truck that shows up every time, built to haul, tow, built to take a beating, never fails a physical, but smart where it counts with modern tech that makes life easier. Big screens, they've got available camera views that help with towing and parking, and a cabin that feels right, whether you're road tripping, heading to practice, or loading up for the weekend.

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1:21:39PFT Commenter:Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very, very, very special guest. Probably the most special guest we could have on in March. It is the legend, recurring guest, Bill Raftery. We're getting ready for the madness. He's in New York City, ready to call the Big East Tournament. First of all, thank you so much, Bill, for coming back on. We love having you on. How excited? What's going through your head right now as we're on the precipice of the best couple weeks of the year? Well, when I hear barstool, it resonates. It just has a nice ring to an Irish guy. But just the excitement. I think turning the page is the biggest thing for these kids and coaches.

1:22:23Like you've gone through the gauntlet of a regular season with the ups and downs, personalities, interference, people telling kids things that sort of distract from the success in some ways. But all of a sudden it goes away, you know, when you're good enough to obviously be a factor in your conference tournament. But also come NCAA time. I divide it into three schedules almost. Regular season, tournament, and then NCAA tournament. And I think each one brings a different personality. and I guess the one that wins sustains it the longest or brings it from one section to the rest. But in terms of the excitement, we're in New York and just walking around the streets.

1:23:15Another sellout for the Big East tournaments and even though people thought the league was down, it's still very competitive. And obviously, you're rooting for their own team, but a lot of these people stay. It's like a feast for them.

1:23:30Big Cat:Yeah, yeah. Which fan base at the Big East tournament is the rowdiest? Wow. Well, again, when St. John's is good, obviously, which they are, you know, you've got a lot of these guys can afford the price of tickets. Right. So for the hand-me-downs, you know, UConn's got to be another one when you think of it. and then Villanova probably would be the third in terms of particularly local interest where a lot of those fan bases, the kids are from the local high schools here. Yeah, Bill, I just reached out to Dan Hurley yesterday when his brother was let go by Arizona State. We're advocating for the Hurleys to team up as a duo again and maybe get Bobby back on the sidelines for the NCAA tournament as an assistant coach.

1:24:19Big Cat:If you see him, just put that bug in his ear. Tell him America would love to see the guys back together. I saw him this morning at their shoot-around, and we never broached the topic, but it's close to home, obviously, for him. But I think the referees' union would be in protest of those two together. Just a very interesting combination, as you know. Some people always say to me, well, what was the father like on the sideline? And I said, he won all the games. So he was fine. The most he do is put his arms over his head once a game and say to the refs, you're kidding me, but not quite that way.

1:25:00And then sit down. He used to win 35 games a year. Yeah. But, you know, I wouldn't say it's like father like son, But I think the intent and the aggression of how important every play is and how, you know, each game, you know, Danny's still thinking about the Marquette game the other night about some of the things that they did wrong. And I'm sure he didn't bring up him and his actions, but I'm sure he's had conversations with his family and himself and the league. so it is an interesting idea but I just don't think unless you had boxing gloves that it would work out

1:25:45Big Cat:the refs wouldn't know who to tee up they'd be confused they'd turn around and be like I got double Hurleys I guess I gotta pick one they were together at Wagner oh yeah and from what I heard that was interesting yeah you know yes really strong minded aggressive kind of guys

1:26:02PFT Commenter:yeah so you said you're obviously there You're talking to some of the coaches. Has Coach Pitino given you any inkling, the elder Coach Pitino, any inkling of when, if the white suit's going to come back out? Because we feel like that is the most unfair advantage a team could potentially have is when Rick Pitino says, hey, it's a white suit game. You basically might as well not show up or get off the bus. Well, I didn't see him. I'm not doing his games this afternoon. You know, I'm just on tonight, and I leave tomorrow for the Big Ten on the weekend. but I wouldn't put it past Rick to reach back and buy most of the tickets that are available if it gets to the end of this thing and he's got to play a couple of these heavyweights.

1:26:48Hey, listen, if it works, you know, I remember doing a game in Louisville and he was perspiring and his underwear leaked into the white suit. That happens with him, yeah. Somewhat you might call a havoc. It was very unusual. but I don't think I'll do the white suit here I doubt it.

1:27:06PFT Commenter:Yeah, by the way you're more than invited to come by the Barstool offices this weekend if you have any free time we're about an hour, sorry we're about a mile from the United Center so we'd love to have you come by and you can bring anyone you want. We have beer on tap for you. Well I would love it but I think it's pretty you know we get in Friday I stay in the room to look at the games. Yeah. You can't really go to the arena and watch, you know, you can't put your iPad on and see a game before kind of stuff. And then, you know, Saturday week up, we got a doubleheader and then Sunday, get up through the game and then get on a plane and try and figure out, well, they'll let us know either before we take off or a little later in the evening where we're going.

1:27:51PFT Commenter:Yeah. Yeah. That was the nicest way to say not a shot. Well, I appreciate that. You let me down very easily. Yeah. You know, just judging by the atmosphere there, I don't think it's what you'd call a fine dining spot. That's true. You're absolutely right. All right, let's talk about the Big Ten tournament, though. Big Ten is loaded this year. There's a lot of really, really strong teams. When you look at a season where Purdue is the seventh seed and they were one of the top teams going into this year, what team right now do you think outside of maybe Michigan, because that's obviously the answer to who's the best in the Big Ten, but what team are you most interested in playing really good ball right now that you're excited to watch?

1:28:29You know, I'm curious to watch Purdue, to be honest with you. Now you've got time off to reflect. Do you, you know, sort of look at the lineup and say, each opponent, should I play a little smaller? Should I play a little bigger? You've got experienced guys. I would think this is a great couple of days off for Purdue. You know how good they can be. Of course, preseason prognostications don't always follow through. I had them in the Iowa State game, and Iowa State really got after them. As you recall, it was a wipeout, basically. So I think they've had some games where they've learned lessons, I think, hope.

1:29:16They've learned some. You know, we're Indiana or Northwestern, like maybe falling asleep a little during the course of the game. So that intrigues me. The other one is without Kaysen, this is a little bit of a dilemma for Dusty.

1:29:33PFT Commenter:Yeah. By that, you don't have a guy that you could say is your backup point. I know he can shoot. He's a terrific defender. So Yaxel now, I think he'll be handling the ball more in that point forward kind of a concept now, you know, with Cadeau or without Cadeau. So, but McKinney is a kid we're going to see playing the NBA. So that's really not much of a come down when you think of it. Yeah. But that team in a sense too. So those two sort of intrigue me. And Michigan State, the bench plus Scott making shots have gotten to become a better team. You know, they're not the same team as they were three months ago.

1:30:21I know they lost to Michigan. She's at Michigan. But, you know, they're a team that's going to come and play the same way. Can your team do that? And I think that's the key when you play in Michigan State. But that's not slaying anybody else. You know, Nebraska's a dilemma with the five out and the way Mass plays, who can, you know, make shots outside and also load up in the lane. So I just think it's like a heavyweight. and I think that's part of the dilemma over the years. They beat the heck out of one another. You know, come tournament time, I think physically and mentally, they're somewhat whipped.

1:31:00Now, the teams that have won the championships have all been pretty good since 2000, so that's another point of reference. But I just find that league is strenuous mentally and physically, maybe more so than any of the others in the country.

1:31:17Big Cat:Yeah. What's one team from the conference that you think can play their way into the tournament, solidly play their way in. Not winning the conference tournament, but win enough games, play themselves off the bubble. Which – wow, that's interesting. Are you giving Miami a bid? I am. I would do that, yeah. Yeah.

1:31:39PFT Commenter:I think you go undefeated in regular season for the full season.

1:31:42Big Cat:It should mean you should get in. Yeah, it should mean something. I thought Indiana before you posed this question. Nope. But I think Ohio State is one that can really help themselves. You know, they've been close. They've been like Virginia Tech when Seth was down there. He was on the bubble every year, if you remember. But I think Ohio State has an opportunity to do some damage. Yeah. Seth was a great coach for Virginia Tech.

1:32:07PFT Commenter:Seth Greenberg, yeah. Indiana, I mean, they're such a disappointment. They lose to Northwestern on Wednesday night. Their season's over. the fact that we're even considering them still on the bubble kind of actually speaks to how soft the bubble is this year, where teams just are losing. Like, you have a Texas who is on the bubble. They lose to Ole Miss. All these teams that feel like they can make a move have all kind of faltered at the exact same time. So it's interesting to watch that happen. You guys, as a fan, look at it one way. And I say, going into that game, the way Chris Beard guards, to me, that's an even game.

1:32:44Yeah. Like, you know, we take for granted that you should win it because of certain reasons. And then you don't realize how demanding it is to compete. You know, he lost to Auburn, gave them a heck of a run in the Sweet 16, if I'm not mistaken, last year. But, you know, it's tough and you pay for your sins. I think you have to schedule strong in November and December and you've got to win those games or else you're going to be on the bubble within your conference come this time of year. So it pays to do well there. The one thing about Indiana I found, and again, I know everybody is, you know, threes and tough twos, you know, the clinic kind of conversation.

1:33:32You've got to still score in the low post area. It's like, you know, do you go four times in a row, take in a three and come up empty or maybe get a two here so it goes 10 to 4. Yes. Or 12 to 2. So I think that was part of, you know, some of the reasons they struggled a little bit because they weren't making shots. And they could key on their best players, which there were some. But I just think you've got to have a well-rounded approach where you can score with threes. and, you know, by the guards turning the corner, finding people and your bigs able to finish at the rim or offensive rebound kickout threes.

1:34:18I mean, that's how you see the best shot in the game right now.

1:34:21PFT Commenter:Yeah, Darren DeVries actually said, I saw a quote where he was like, you know, first year in the Big Ten, one of the things that he's learned is like the 4-5 position, you need big bodies. There's just guys that are, you know, if you look across the league, Purdue's always got a monster. Michigan with Mara there's guys just massive massive guys the freshmen in Washington there's guys that are just monsters and you need to have that to compete in the Big Ten which speaks to what you're saying about beating each other up you gotta hire armed guards to help you underneath the physicality is one thing obviously the ability of the foreman to play out on the floor is a major issue if you do play bigger and that that's like a really important thing you know yeah and then getting back to purdue that's what i find interesting too cluff and wren are very tough to defend against uh does matt fool around for minutes playing wren where he's a monster in that low post with the floater and uh he's you know he's got a counter as well so that you know bringing them back into the conversation.

1:35:36Their physical play is impressive and Jacobson, another big kid who can pick and pop. Size is important and points inside are important. Not to be overlooked.

1:35:47Big Cat:What about an interesting team in the Big Ten Nebraska? They've had a great season. Still haven't won an NCAA tournament game, but everyone's expectation this year is obviously this should be the year where they find some success in March. What should the expectation be for Nebraska, if we just thought of them as a team that did not have this past that's just kind of hanging over their heads, what should the real expectation for this Cornhuskers team be? You know, digressing for a moment, I think it was Rick Cobb, Al McGuire. I'm making it up, but Al McGuire, Rick Cobb told Al, I think I should be starting.

1:36:27And he said, ahead of whom? He said, your son, Allie. and Al McGuire said, I think it was Rick, could have been another player. Rick, I like you, but I love my son. And you look at this Nebraska team, when your son plays, he's got to be the best player or the worst player. And that kid exemplifies what college sports is all about. He is fantastic. And, you know, there's better players on the team. There's guys who can shoot better. but I think he just drives the spirit of the unit. I don't think his dad has to do much of that, the emotional end of things, but they can score, which is really, you know, in the tournament, it's hard to score sometimes.

1:37:16Kids think a little more, is this a good shot? They don't have the rhythm or the comfort zone of a home crowd. But I think, to your point, I think this team can do some damage, to be honest with you. You know, I mentioned Mass before. He's a very unusual guy to have to guard. Bukenthal, I'm not saying his name right, but the kid from UCLA, you know, he gives them some size and some strength. They've got outside shooters. Jacobs can make shots. Fragrance can make shots. So, you know, they're a really solid basketball team. I don't know how deep they can go, but I do think there's promise of winning the game, obviously.

1:37:57Big Cat:I saw an interview with you the other day, and they brought up the double onions call that you made. Is there any chance that we're going to get a double onions this March? Do you know who that was against? No. No. Who was that? Well, it was Siena against Ohio State. And Ronald Moore was the kid who makes it. It was at Dayton. he makes a shot at the buzzer to tie it so that was the onions and then you know he makes the winning three and that was the double onions that's right yeah and friend mccaffrey was at his wedding and they got they called me at home from the wedding years later you know they say it, say it again, you know, kind of a thing which was pretty funny.

1:38:46Anyhow, you know, these conference tournaments to answer you, yes. I hope we do get them in the tournament as well. But I do think there's an evenness around the country that, you know, the first weekend there's going to be great games that maybe the first day we didn't have other years. I just think there's a lot of talented teams that are going to be hanging around and trying to steal it late. So I think this might be one of those years.

1:39:14PFT Commenter:What's the most impressive team you've watched or maybe impressive performance that you've called this year? I was impressed with Arizona on the road to Connecticut early on. And a lot of the better teams I've had beat the opponent easily. But from a distance, I had Duke, Florida State. Unfortunately, with these injuries now at Duke, Duke, Gumba, I believe, and I don't know factually, will be back. Foster, I don't think. It sounds like he's out. But the twin, Caden, has really shown strides where it's not, you know, the most, well, you never want to lose a kid of that talent. But defensively, it's maybe a drop off just a little bit.

1:40:02But I'm impressed with Duke able to take on everybody. and what the big kid, you know, Cameron, the bigger of the two, I should say, of the twins, the positions he can play that he is a nightmare to defend. Who do you put on him? The unselfish play. I like to compare him to Cooper Flagg because he never forces the game to come to him. He's a different player than Flagg, obviously, but he's just one of those, what do you need right now kind of kids? and it doesn't come from John suggesting it. He just has that innate ability to read. It's time to post up. It's time to cut. It's time to make a three.

1:40:44It's time to screen and slip. He guards, and they certainly have to protect him on the defensive end because without him, they're not quite as good.

1:40:53PFT Commenter:Yeah, yeah. We've got a guy here, our good friend Rico Bosco. He's actually a Staten Island guy, huge Hoops fan. When I told him you were coming on, he was like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe you got Raftery again. He's the best. So he had a couple questions for you. We have him in the booth. Rico, go ahead. Fire away. Yeah, Bill, we actually met in Houston. You gave me a couple minutes of your time, so thank you for that at the Final Four. Hey, Rico, what high school? Zavarian. Okay. Yeah, we had a lot of kids. St. Peter's. Yep. We actually won the city in 05. You called some of LeVance's games.

1:41:32PFT Commenter:Oh, okay. Yeah.

1:41:34Big Cat:You guys are basically your family. And then he gave you some of his time in Houston. Yeah, he's a great guy. One of my favorite things on the broadcast is when Jay or Jim, they talk about you holding court after the games, putting away a couple of beverages, hanging out. Who are some of your favorite coaches to hang out with? Most of them are deceased, unfortunately, at this point. I had nothing to do with their demise. Maybe I contributed a little. You know, Jay Wright was great, win or lose. Let's see. Louis at Dante's used to hold court, win or lose. A lot of guys can't handle the lost night, you know.

1:42:19But let's see who else. Tom Young at Rutgers years ago.

1:42:31I'd love to say John Wooden, but certainly I don't think he was much of a hang guy. He just kept winning championships. Let's see who he's around the league.

1:42:46Is Boeheim if he won?

1:42:48PFT Commenter:Yeah, I was going to say. The worst loser in the world. Okay. That was my question going to be, is there a guy that there was absolutely 0 % chance that you would ever text or call after a loss? He beat P.J., and I could be wrong, either 24 or 26 straight times. They went out to dinner every night. P.J. finally won in like the middle, just a couple of years before he made the finals. Boeheim wouldn't go out. He refused to go out. It's like, talk about a sore loser, obviously. Yeah. Dave Gavitt would have been one because it was both Coach and D.D. and then Big East, only because of his grasp of the climate of college sports.

1:43:41You know?

1:43:43PFT Commenter:Yeah. Because he was always – Donald D. Rowe, God bless him, was another guy. He didn't drink, but he made you drink, kind of. You know, he had lasting power and a great sense of humor. But I'm sure when I get off, I'll think of some of the other. Ed Dunahoo was the Kings coach, but he was at Niagara. He recruited Calvin Murphy. We had an agreement. Either way, he would go out some nights regrettably because he, you know, wasn't worried about a curfew.

1:44:16Big Cat:Good question, Rico. Good question, Rico. Great question. You ever go out with Coach K? Would he hit the bar? Yes. Yeah. Coach K liked his wine, you know. But, you know, at Army generally, they would go back, you know, in the ECAC tournament. We had a very good friendship. All my friendships were good with coaches because they usually beat me. Right. So we got along well. So, but Mike would be in the Dave Gavitt category where it would always be interesting, his take on the current climate. Yeah. And I have not said this to him, but I'd love him to step in the middle of this thing and, you know, maybe get some respect from Congress and sort of square it away a little bit.

1:45:05You know, what's going on. But that's for another discussion.

1:45:10PFT Commenter:Listen, I'd love it too, but I don't think Coach K doesn't seem like a guy who's going to come in and make the thing about himself. So he's not going to get involved. No, but he would make it about the game. Right. Which I think that's foremost in his thinking.

1:45:28Big Cat:Yeah, I think he cares about Duke basketball. I don't think he would do things that would impact other teams' kids. Yeah, right. He's focused on what happens in that building. Do you think, has Coach K reached out? Has he been active at all this year with Duke? Because I know he had the office in the building. He goes to the game. Regrettably, I have not talked to him, which I do on my call. I usually call and say hello when I see him on air, which I did recently. But I have not talked to him. But I know he's enjoying what John's done, you know, like sticking with high school kids and being able to get the best players and, you know, just fantastic beginning.

1:46:09of this kid's career as a coach. He's very grounded, John. He's got great insights. He really talks to a lot of coaches, particularly NBA guys. He's got a great relationship, one with Joe Mazzulla. So I think the better coaches keep growing. They keep, you know, they investigate or they try and pick people's brains. because I don't think he can stand still anymore.

1:46:43PFT Commenter:Yeah, yeah. Rico, you have another question? Yeah. I don't know if he's much of a drinker, but the other stories I love hearing my favorite coach of all time, Rick Majerus, you ever share a meal with him? Famous eater. He was very friendly with our kids. Yes. Casa Dante in Jersey City. We were at the ABC camp, and it's now closed. was really one of the great restaurants and we sat down and he said to the waiter give me all of the appetizers that we started and he would eat some of each dish and if he really liked it he would finish those dishes i love that i love that we were we were we were in el paso texas uh utep and the bear was a coach, Haskins.

1:47:36And we said, where should we go? It was a late game. He said, well, the only place open is the truck stop. So we went to the truck stop and I ordered a beverage. He used to like umbrella drinks. He wasn't much of a drinker. It was sort of embarrassing, this big, strong guy, you know, having an umbrella in his drink. But the waitress came over and he pulled the table next to us in and did the same thing. So he ordered the appetizers and then he ordered a few meals. And I had a white egg omelet. I felt like I was a little altar boy sitting next to him. But having said that, brilliant, incredible understanding of the game.

1:48:27his people skills were beyond the norm and such a quality human being uh just enjoyed eating and partaking of conversation uh very sad to lose him at such a young age he was uh you know he had a

1:48:45PFT Commenter:lot to do with al's success he and hank raymond yeah you know they were sobering influence and i don't mean alcohol just the way they looked at things and you know could get in al's ear

1:48:55Big Cat:Yeah, it's honestly a joy to talk to you because I can tell you still love the game. You still love basketball. Is there something like this time of year that gets you especially fired up? Yeah, well, you know, being with Jim when he started, Jim Nance years ago, I did his first two games, I think, with him, one in Arkansas, one in Miami, and I did his first studio show. So then we did games. And then, of course, you know, he became the prime number one. And then to get back with him late in my career was was sort of, you know, just a thrill in a lot of ways. So I went from him being a young guy coming from Utah, where he did the study.

1:49:42He wasn't from Utah, but he did the pro team there. And then to have Ian Eagle, who I spent eight years with, sort of at the end of my career, who's one of the up-and-coming, while he's there, superstars, and having been a friend of his doing net games. Because, you know, anybody who wants to announce should do pro teams that struggle. And you're trying to figure out how to get through four quarters of a 15-win season. And Bird was magical. It brought the same energy. And, you know, obviously for me watching him, it certainly rubbed off. So so those bookends and in the middle have Vern. You know, Vern was a problem because we come back from dinner and a very festive night with everybody.

1:50:36And the bar at the hotel would be open and he'd look at me and he'd say, should we have one more? And of course, I would say, why not? and then we'd go over and then all the young people, all the young guys on the crew and gals would come. So I've been very fortunate to be here. I'm leaving a lot of names out, but that's made my life really enjoyable to be in partnership with so many talented guys.

1:51:05PFT Commenter:Yeah, absolutely. Well, Bill, we'd love having you on. I had one last question, the Roback question, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE, 20 % off your first purchase, Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts, It's Roback.com, promo code TAKE. And it's actually, I'm going to give it to Rico because I know Rico's got. He's probably got like 10 other questions. Rico, why don't you hit him with two more? Because Rico is just a college basketball guy through and through, and he loves you, and so we thought it would be cool for him to be part of this. So, Rico, go ahead. If you've got a couple more. Just one.

1:51:34I'll give him one last one. You'll be in Indy, obviously. We'll be in Indy. I'd love to buy you a drink at the pump party, if that could be my honor. Bad last question.

1:51:45Big Cat:that's a deal that's a deal alright awesome I'll have to get your number and add you to the Rolodex if you're okay with that you don't want that coach we'll organize it you don't want that but yeah I appreciate that Bill that would be a lifelong honor so first one's on me

1:52:03okay I lost I lost the okay perfect

1:52:07Big Cat:Rico has agreed to pay for one drink yeah first one's on me one drink

1:52:11PFT Commenter:yeah you can ask one more question Yeah, give him a real basketball question, Rico. Come on. All right, who's the pick to win the title? I mean, it's obviously top-heavy, but, you know, a lot of people sometimes can go outside the box. Is it just going to be chalky like it is last year, or who's the team you think is cutting them down? I know they've had a couple of bumps on the road. I'm not giving up on Houston. Oh, smart man. Their two freshmen are, Senac and Fleming's, are the real deal. the guy on the sideline is just amazing what he gets to do on the defensive end and I think in the tournament we talked a little bit about offense you really got to be a good offensive team to score against Houston now there's other teams that are really good and talented you know Arizona Florida I like a lot they're coming on but you know just something about this Houston team they're being overlooked and nobody mentions so much but I just so I know they bring toughness every day they're on the floor much less during games yeah okay well bill thank you so much we appreciate it and uh you know have a great march and we'll see you in indy but look forward to it guys thanks for having me

1:53:24Big Cat:part of my take is brought to you by our great friends at mcdonald's and the new big arch it's here it's the most mcdonald's mcdonald's burger yet it's got two quarter pound patties three slices of cheese tangy big arch sauce lettuce pickles crispy and slivered onions and a poppy and sesame seed bun it's everything you love about mcdonald's burgers between two buns the new big arch sauce is tangy it's creamy it's a perfect pair to the big arch burger what's your favorite big arch ingredient mine i kind of like the big arch sauce and i like pickles love the pickles on everything how many bites you think it would take to finish a big arch i got it at like, depends whose mouth.

1:54:02Big Cat:Hank's kind of a big mouth guy. I would say probably like five for him, maybe six, seven if you've got a normal size mouth. The Big Arch burger is beefy, saucy, cheesy. Did we mention it's big? Order the new Big Arch, the most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet for a limited time. I participate in McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. And Fire Fest of the Week is going to be brought to you by Morgan & Morgan. You wouldn't hire your backup quarterback to close out the Super Bowl, would you? Well, hiring the wrong people can be disastrous. That's where Morgan & Morgan comes in. If you're ever injured by the negligence of another, Morgan & Morgan is America's largest injury law firm for a reason.

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1:55:21PFT Commenter:Okay, Fyre Fest of the Week. Henry, get us going. I, my fire first of the week is that I got a flat tire while driving to work. In your sick car? In my sick car. I wanted to just trade it in. Yeah, I've had, I feel like I might be getting banged by the dealership just because I brought it in, got everything fixed. Felt like I got banged a little bit there, but it was just like, oh, you need to get this fixed and we recommend you do this, this, and this. And I was like, fuck it, just do it all. Then I won't have to come back anymore. I've since had to go back three times. This one, I think there was just a puncture.

1:55:55Big Cat:in my tire so why'd you drive over a nail i think they said it was a pothole potentially you shouldn't have driven yeah you gotta be on the lookout for those by the way this just popped

1:56:03PFT Commenter:in my head like why there should be a service just guy for hire that he's not a mechanic so he doesn't have a mechanic shop but he knows everything about cars he takes your car into the mechanic shop and just make sure you don't get banged yeah yeah he knows everything you just He comes, picks it up. As a man, no, that's tough. That's tough. I would do it. Fuck it.

1:56:24Big Cat:A lot of times guys are too embarrassed to admit that sometimes we need husbands too. Yeah. That's an awesome idea. I think this is a great idea. I would spend a lot of money for that service. A hundred bucks.

1:56:34PFT Commenter:Pick you up. Pick up your car. Take it to the auto shop and be like, hey, man, whatever happens, I trust you. You're going to get me the best deal. I'm willing more than a hundred because him just picking it up and getting it there is also a service within its own.

1:56:47Big Cat:Yeah. Well, what about talking on the phone? I feel like if the mechanic calls you, you can at least look it up online. No, you need face-to-face. I've gotten banged by a few mechanics in my day. Trust me. But mechanics - The last year and a half.

1:56:59PFT Commenter:But mechanics can smell guys who know cars. So they'll immediately just be right in line like, oh, this guy knows cars. I'm not fucking with this guy.

1:57:08Big Cat:I think my current mechanic and I have a good understanding. The first question he asked me was like, you carry? When I brought my car in. He's like, you carry? And I go, absolutely, I do. And so he respects me as a gun owner. Yeah. But, yeah, no, you have to just, like, kind of go along with what they say with confidence.

1:57:21PFT Commenter:Yeah. So we need to get this service. And we could call it Husbands for Guys. Yeah.

1:57:27Big Cat:Like, it's actually not just for cars. Yeah. Go on Craigslist and say, I'm looking for a husband. Looking for a husband. It could be for a lot of stuff, like a guy coming over to, like, look at your roof. Yeah. Clean your gutters. Yeah. Help with a tree in the backyard. I saw a kid on the street doing the, like, those videos. I think we've talked about on the show where they clear the gutters. like they're all blocked by leaves and they the guy like goes and finds them and clears them out i saw someone just doing that the other day yeah respect like there's a lot of talk these days

1:57:53PFT Commenter:about you know like the masculinity crisis in america i don't think we have a masculinity crisis i think we have uh being open about our masculinity crisis like it's okay to say hey guys

1:58:03Big Cat:i'm kind of a bitch when it comes to this not all of us can hammer in a nail like dave right so you could you could get on the phone be like hey can you come over i need you to take my car into the shop can you cook this steak for me yeah bang my wife like all this stuff like stuff that guys

1:58:18PFT Commenter:should not be afraid to ask the masculinity crisis is really that we are scared to be called bitches when really we should just be open about it and be like hey i need a husband for this yeah so he's gonna take my car in he's gonna get it fixed he's gonna bring it back and i'm gonna keep my pride as a human being and as a man intact but also you shouldn't have driven over that nail Yeah, that was your fault. Well, it was two things. It was kind of thrilling because I got in the car and it's like my low tire pressure thing went off. And I'm like, surely that's just an error because I just got it fixed two months ago.

1:58:53And then I started driving. I'm like, this doesn't feel good. And I got out. My tire was basically completely flat. And so the drive.

1:58:59PFT Commenter:It's not a sick car. On a flat tire to the dealership is like, this is kind of exciting, but a little bit scary. and then the second thing is like despite everyone besides you know everyone is like there's no need for you to get a new car but it's like i kind of want to get a sick car well yeah

1:59:14Big Cat:you've been sick car cucked yeah by both of us hanks up now he's next we we both got sicker cars than you our cars are way sicker than yours and now you're a little bitch with a flat tire you got well no i'm good now you got no it's a good family car yeah like maybe you could fit like one one baby in a dog well yeah i don't have baby or dog right i know but that's what i'm I'm saying, you're going to soccer practice, that sort of thing. It's a very functional car. It's good for a righty set of golf clubs and a lefty set of golf clubs. Mm-hmm. And shoes. Both your kids in there.

1:59:44PFT Commenter:Do you think the day when you're on your deathbed, many, many years from now, and I want you to live a long, long life, do you think your golf clubs will show up to comfort you?

1:59:56Big Cat:Yeah.

1:59:56PFT Commenter:Okay.

1:59:57Big Cat:Are you going to leave stuff to your golf clubs?

2:00:00PFT Commenter:Yeah. Do you think your golf clubs will hold your hand as you go into the great unknown? Probably. Okay, good. I'll hopefully take him with you. He's got his bitching wedge in his hand as he's slowly slipping into death.

2:00:13Big Cat:Yeah, bring your sand wedge for when they lower you down into the ground. I think that there's definitely been some doctors that have gone into a room, somebody's passing away, and the guy's like, can you bring me my driver? Just go out holding the plugs.

2:00:25PFT Commenter:Let me get one more practice swing. I think I fixed something here. I figured something out. I got my grip dialed in. Let me just make sure I go to heaven with my grip ready to go. All right, so sick car no longer and flat tire should have driven over a nail and you're a bitch for getting banged at the auto mechanic shop. Yeah. Okay. That's good. Fire fest. Possibly future sick car. Possibly future sick car. I need to.

2:00:51Big Cat:By the way. Wait, wait, wait, wait. What are we thinking there, Hank? What are you about to say?

2:00:59I need to get in an accident that totals his car so that I have no choice but to get a new car. I wasn't going to say that. I didn't say that. I think I was thinking it gets in an accident.

2:01:11PFT Commenter:He's like, oh, my golf clubs. Okay. He just runs out. He's like, oh, no, they're bent.

2:01:16Big Cat:Hank, I think he's just loan your car to Menzi for a little bit. Like Jesus, take the wheel. Let him go to Brandon. You could sell it to Zach for$3. Oh, exactly. Is Zach in the market for a car?

2:01:29PFT Commenter:Zach's not a driver. We've learned that. He's been in seven accidents. Everybody who crashes gets back behind the wheel. True. No, that's not true. That's true. No, there are fatal crashes all the time. What do you mean? Those are really unfortunate. People who die. What about the guy from... That's worst case. Hope everybody's okay. No, everyone's not okay. Someone died. When people are okay, you got to get back behind the wheel. Who's the F1 guy that got his face burned off? I don't know. I've read a movie about it.

2:01:55Big Cat:I don't know. Not sure. Ford Versailles.

2:01:57PFT Commenter:You're talking about F1? Brad Pitt. No, it was Chris Hemsworth. Schumacher? Maybe. No, Schumacher got in a ski accident, and he basically did the most dangerous sport his entire life, retired, and then got a ski accident and hasn't been seen since. It's actually a really sad story. The movie's Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. Okay, good fire fest.

2:02:21Big Cat:I only care about Connor Daly when it comes to race car drivers. He's racing, by the way. He's back. He's racing at the Indy 500. Nice. Going hard on Connor. You got this, Connor. You got it in like two months. Yeah. But they just announced it like yesterday. Nicky Lauda. Got it. Got his face burned off and then got back behind the wheel.

2:02:41PFT Commenter:Remember our F1 face? That was funny. Yeah. I never was able to. I was into it. I tried. I gave it a good try. The first two seasons of Drive to Survive were really good. then I was like I'm going to try to watch a race and that's when it kind of fell off a cliff I was like oh it's perfect it's like early in the morning I can watch it before the day gets started and I turn it on and I was like nah I still generally like following from a distance I like to know no actually no I don't even know like a few weeks can go by but I'm like oh who's in the lead but yeah I haven't the new Drive to Survive came out I don't really have much of an interest in watching I would say it's now F1 is I watched them.

2:03:25I cried. I cried. I watched the. Do you know you cry on planes because of the altitude?

2:03:30PFT Commenter:Is that what they told you? I did not know that. I was like, I watched the F1 movie on a plane. I wasn't even that into it. And then at the end, I was like tearing up. Yes, the altitude. And I was like, I wasn't even. I didn't even like the movie that much. But like the end got me. And they're like, oh, it's because you're on a plane. That's a thing. Yes. I actually shouldn't be judging because I got a little teary eyed today seeing a mashup video of dudes surprising dudes after not seeing each other for like 20 years it was like my dad's 70th birthday he hasn't seen his best friend in like 10 years and he just shows up and i got a

2:04:05Big Cat:little teary-eyed yeah no i i do think there's something to what hank's saying though i watched this i watched the smashing machine on a plane and i started to cry i was like this movie's not even sad yeah that's one movie i was just like it was on and i was like it was fine but then the very end i was like i you know whatever spoiler he like wins a race or whatever and i started

2:04:25PFT Commenter:tearing up i was like why am i crying but f1 is is in the camp now where i'm never gonna seek it out if someone tells me i'll be like oh that's interesting yeah push push yeah push push push

2:04:37Big Cat:okay pft yeah for me i i feel like that movie is no no different than ford versus ferrari same movie ford versus ferrari way better movie way better same movie way better f1 is a fun is a fun movie It's a good plane movie. Yeah. It's very fun. But I had no emotional connection yet still teared up. So good ending. I mean, Top Gun 2 is the best plane movie. My Firefest of the week, actually pretty good week. Not a lot to complain about except what? What? It's a block. Whatever. That's technicality. What? I'm talking about movies to watch on a plane.

2:05:07PFT Commenter:Yeah. He's saying he likes to watch plane movies on planes. Yeah.

2:05:10Big Cat:I feel like you're in - That's like a blockbuster.

2:05:12PFT Commenter:Best environment. F1 is also a huge blockbuster.

2:05:16Big Cat:I think I might just cry on planes because I love aviation, and it's beautiful. Yeah. This is great. Having a wonderful time. But yeah, I had a pretty good week. I had a good, clean week overall. The one thing, just a quick one. We got some medicine delivered to the office this week. You guys got some medicine. I haven't got mine yet either. Have you gotten a confirmation yet? I got... It'll arrive. Okay. It'll arrive. Mine got to the office on Tuesday, and it involves injecting myself. And so I opened up this big box filled with these hypodermic needles. I felt like a junkie when I was taking it.

2:05:53Big Cat:I was like, we got to store these needles in the office. And then I've never been a needle guy. When I go to the doctor, if I'm getting a shot, I'm always like a look away guy. Same. I can't watch that. I'm okay. I can deal with the shots. I just don't like to watch them go in. So now I have to inject myself, and I'm not good at it. is my fire fest. I'm not good at shooting up. So I got to do it in two places. One is the back of my leg, which I'm good at. I can inject it into my calf to try to get that healed. The second one is my ass. And I always thought that people - My ass. My asshole.

2:06:27PFT Commenter:My ass.

2:06:28Big Cat:Shout out to Dan Dacic. Yeah. I always thought that I would be - Like the whole point of injecting stuff in your ass is that it's easy to inject it into your ass. I can't shoot into my own ass. A lot of guys struggle with that. First time I tried it. You need someone else to shoot it into your ass. I need somebody to just load up my ass. Zach will do it. Can you shoot it into PFU's ass? Finding cheek, I got you. Okay. Perfect. Max and I had talked about it. Well, no, he needs it in the ass. No, he needs it in the ass. I thought it was on cheek. Yeah, yeah, the cheek of my ass. Yeah. In my ass, cheek.

2:07:01Yeah, we'll shoot it straight in your ass.

2:07:03Big Cat:Cheek, yeah. Cheek. Exactly. So Max and I were talking about we should just, because we're all going to have this medicine. It's probably good for the dudes, higher dudes. Yeah. We might have to shoot in your ass. We might have to just do like a circle of us injecting stuff into each other's asses. Yeah. Because first time I did it. I will be letting you guys guinea pig this, by the way. I'm not. I don't. Well, first. None of this sounds appealing. First time I did it. Or necessary. It was technically when Billy did it to my arm. Speak for yourself. And it worked. But my leg does feel better since I've been shooting up my calf.

2:07:32Big Cat:But. It's been like two days. My ass. It's like. Placebo.

2:07:36PFT Commenter:I think he actually said it 10 seconds after he put it in. He's like, wow, I feel good.

2:07:40Big Cat:yeah no my cat feels great my cat feels really good but my ass it's like the first time i did it i didn't get low enough because i'm shooting from above so i think i like you basically did in your lower back and i don't know how you did i hit the muscle the first time which meant that i didn't get the needle in all the way and then i injected it and then i had like a bump so i'm just and then i injected in my stomach yesterday instead and then i had a little bump filled with So I'm just taking bumps all day, like a bump every day. But the calf feels wonderful. Do it like Christopher. Put it in your toe.

2:08:13Big Cat:In between my toes? They'll never tell. Behind my eyeballs. Cosette? They crawled under there for warmth. Yeah, I don't want to sit on Blake and kill him like Christopher did to Cosette. But yeah, so just like injecting myself with peptides is not.

2:08:29PFT Commenter:No.

2:08:30Big Cat:I'm not a drug guy.

2:08:31PFT Commenter:No. Okay, I have two real quick. First is I went to my son's friend's birthday party, seven-year-old birthday party, and it was at Sluggers, which people who maybe don't know Wrigleyville, Sluggers is a famous bar where they have batting cages upstairs. And I've spent a lot of time at Sluggers in my 20s, blackout drunk. So being there for a seven-year-old birthday party was quite an experience and shock to the system, stone-cold sober. What's it like when you're sober there? Weird. It was like 11 a.m. on a Saturday. And it was literally my son's friend's birthday party. And then right next to it was a bachelor party.

2:09:10PFT Commenter:So it was open to the public. Yeah. Shout out to those guys, though. The bachelor's name was Paul. And they all had Chris Paul jerseys. Different teams. That's great. Awesome.

2:09:19Big Cat:We got to think of something with Max.

2:09:21PFT Commenter:Yeah. Yeah, we got to think of something. What do you think, Max?

2:09:26Big Cat:Beads. I got nothing. Beads.

2:09:28PFT Commenter:But yeah, it was just... I don't know if you guys have had this experience. Thanks for stepping suits. Yeah, I like that. Racing suits. Going somewhere that you have done debaucherous stupid shit, but as a sober adult in charge of a young little kid is very bizarre feeling. I mean, a little bit embarrassed. Slugger's is bizarre. It was crazy. There's like four video games at work. We found one video game that just spit out. All you do is press a button and spit out tickets. That's all we did. We just sat there and got tickets.

2:10:00Big Cat:In terms of a seven-year-old birthday party, I feel like the floor has way too much beer that's been spilled on it. Oh, yeah. For a seven-year-old's birthday party.

2:10:08PFT Commenter:I mean, people were drinking at 11 a.m. at the party. Again, the bar was open, so it was quite an experience. And then the other one was on Monday, Max and I went. So I can't talk too much about it because I'm in a movie. I got a part in a movie that's coming out hopefully sometime in the next year. But what I can talk about is Max and I learned something on Monday that changed our lives forever. Are you guys familiar with French hours? Do you know what French hours are? I'm interested. It sounds like something I might be interested in. You guys are interested. So Max and I showed up. The call time was 6 a.m.

2:10:44PFT Commenter:And they're like, hey, we're doing French hours. And Max and I are like, what is that? And they explained it to us. And then Max and I both did a fist pump and high five. So that might give you an inkling to what French hours might be. You just eat the whole time? The whole time There's French hours They just have crepes No lunch break No lunch break But rolling food all day Every two hours Brand new spread I was When we say rolling food Yeah It was 6am omelets 8.30 sandwiches 10 o 'clock chicken tenders and Indian food 1 o 'clock pasta 3 o 'clock tacos

2:11:22Big Cat:This doesn't make a lot of Like in France you go to lunch for you take off work for three hours and then a lot of times you just don't go back to work so that's the whole i think they do this to keep the french yeah to keep them happy yeah so it's like okay we're not doing we're not doing lunch breaks and we're gonna end two hours early yeah that stinks we're not doing lunch break but you just get an insane amount of food all day

2:11:45PFT Commenter:and max and i look like the biggest losers because it's like a actual movie set and everyone there is working and they've worked in this industry and we're just walking around like i was there was a point where i was just walking around with chicken tenders in my hands just going french hours gotta love them and everyone's like dude what what are you talking about french hours though we also realize that we do french hours every sunday in this office yeah french hours is how we live life

2:12:07Big Cat:that's it's like french super bowl you just can never take a break you just have to keep keep eating like in between yeah every halftime you get up you have another snack and we took it

2:12:18PFT Commenter:as a challenge we ate every single course that came out every single i at least had tried every course tacos we didn't we didn't try the tacos french hours away life you got to get on french hours all right zach finish off uh my fire fest this week is uh so we live here in chicago there's a big uh body of water we've got a lake and we've got a river i made it to the river for the first time this week in i took a route from the apartment on foot my fire fest just said i may have wasted an entire year inside because you guys were right the river's sick the river is awesome zach lives a 20 minute walk from the river i thought you guys were kind of just like hyping it up a little like it may be a little bit overrated completely well rated i may have wasted several months inside of my apartment so you like the river what about the lake haven't seen the lake yet but like i'm getting to that next let me tell you if you like the river you're gonna love the lake it's way more water sick dude yeah so i i come to you guys with open arms and an apology you were right i told you outside pretty cool no this is me i would tell him this at once a week i would be like zach you live so close to the river just get outside 20 minute walk to the river you'll you'll feel good this every week every week i would say this is me acknowledging that you guys were right okay but also you are equipped better than anyone i've ever seen for Chicago winters because you do not leave your apartment.

2:13:39That was a skill I didn't know I had, but yes.

2:13:41PFT Commenter:Yeah, you have that. It's a survival skill. You're a survivalist. And we did go. I did go. Just recently installed third monitor. So if we need to stay inside again, I'm ready. Oh, okay. So you're not going to go see the lake. I will see the lake in due time.

2:13:55Big Cat:You got to see the lake. You guys are right. You're a Florida guy, right? That's true. In Florida, would you go outside? No. Yeah, I would be outside. It's a different outside, though. Don't lie, Zach. You wouldn't go outside. Exactly, let me rephrase this. It's a different outside. You were here this summer. He's not an outside guy. He was still inside. He would go to Target. In Florida, how many hours a day would you spend outside? A day? Like per week. You was about to say three per week. A day, so we're going to go less than an hour a day. Do we count driving with the windows down? No. Three hours.

2:14:27Kind of, actually. A week?

2:14:28Big Cat:Like I could be talking about it. No, a day. Three hours a day? I'd be outside. Well, we got like at the house, it's like indoor, outdoor living. You pop the sliding glass door, so then you're like kind of outside, kind of in, hit a lap. Right. So that sounds pretty nice. Yeah, pool. So the pool, like accessible pool.

2:14:45PFT Commenter:How often would you be hitting laps? I like the pool a lot. The pool's nice. The pool in my apartment is just not as accessible because it's like you got to be hot. I think it has to be hot. No, attractiveness. You got to be. Oh. Only adults who are tens are at that point. Is it indoor or outdoor? No, it's just outdoor, outdoor. Outdoor, outdoor. You're hot enough to go to the pool. You should see this pool, big hat. You should see you. You should see you at the pool. No, you should see you at the pool. What if you're a hot body? Bod's out for the summer?

2:15:16Big Cat:Yeah. I should go to a little pool day. We'll do a pool day at Zach's place. I think we got to do baby steps here. We got to say pool day. And then I put the over under at one and a half times that you go to the lake this summer. I'm making it once for sure. If the lake's anything like the river.

2:15:32PFT Commenter:Zach, maybe we add to the husband app. It's like you can hire just a really fat dude to stand next to you at the pool. That's not a bad move. Mm-hmm. And it's like, oh, that guy's not so bad. It would be such a good app. Yeah. That would be a great add to it. Are you a swim shirt guy? No, no. You can't. No. No shirts belong everywhere but in the water. The swim shirts, if you wear a swim shirt as an adult, you look like a child. I think the shirt's worse than no shirt. Unless you're - It's suctioned. It turns into a sausage casing. You see every crevice. But the swim shirts are built to deal with the water, not actual shirt.

2:16:11I think they have built-in SPF as well, which is sunscreen. If you're a fisherman, that also plays.

2:16:16PFT Commenter:That's fine, but I'm saying - No, but I feel like if you're a fisherman, then you can be swim shirt guy because it just is all-encompassing. Right. But not from the shore, from boat. Yeah. Yeah, but you can jump in the water from the boat if you're a fisherman guy wearing the swim shirt. Right. Yes. My kids wear swim shirts because it's like, all right, we're going to be out in the sun for five hours. We don't want the sun to absolutely crush them. So if you're an adult doing that, you look like a child. They shouldn't sell adult swim shirts. No, I agree. There's always the one ginger guy that was like, I need this.

2:16:51PFT Commenter:That might be a special kid. They're very fast. That is true. I need it. That is true. Yeah, I'm the ginger guy. Yeah, but that's also something that, like, listen, Darwinism, like, should exist for a reason. Survival of the fittest. Like, if you can't handle the sun, sorry, buddy.

2:17:03Big Cat:Well, then you can stay inside.

2:17:04PFT Commenter:Yeah, right. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You shouldn't be able to use technology to fight Darwinism.

2:17:09Big Cat:In, like, a big picture sense, what Zach's doing, Zach is the smartest one by far out of all of us. If you had gone back in time, like, a thousand years and said, hey, you can live in this apartment and you have air conditioning and a toilet and people deliver food to your door, they would never leave they'll be like yeah you'd be crazy to go back like my my entire life is spent trying to find shelter and avoid everything that's outside so like yeah if we're gonna talk darwinism zach might be the smartest guy that we got some days are meant to be inside all days that's true that's true also i feel like we're pretty much done with winter i you keep doing this and

2:17:46PFT Commenter:it's bothering me hank ran this playbook two years ago and it bothered me then i did feel like i did And it snowed yesterday.

2:17:53Big Cat:I did feel like I was right about this year. Oh, yeah. Tornadoes, too. And it snowed. And it snowed. And like an insane hail storm. The hail was bad. We already dealt with this with Hank. Please don't do this. The hail was bad. It's going to be fine this weekend, right? Yeah. Monday is going to be cold. No. It's going to be cold. It's going to snow again. Not where me and Hank are. Well, no. You're going to be back on Monday. It's going to snow. We'll be back on Sunday. Yeah.

2:18:18PFT Commenter:Yeah. You guys will be back. You guys are golfing all weekend?

2:18:21Big Cat:No. No, we're going to watch golf on Saturday after we golf.

2:18:26PFT Commenter:Damn. College basketball means nothing. I thought both of you were going to be big college basketball guys. Well, when did I say that? Yeah, actually, you didn't. PFT said it.

2:18:33Big Cat:Well, no, I said what my schedule is. My schedule every year remains the same, and I'm pretty sure that they're going to have the games on at the golf tournament. Monday is a high of 23.

2:18:42PFT Commenter:I don't know if they'll have the games on at the golf. So are you going to watch golf or the games?

2:18:47Big Cat:Both. While you're standing out there? I'm not going to have to watch golf on TV. because I'm going to be at the golf, and then at the golf, there's going to be TV. Got it. Do you have, like, a suite? I think so. Okay. Okay. What about Friday? Hanging out with Bortles, so whatever happens with that. This sounds like a sick week. It does, but it's also college.

2:19:10PFT Commenter:I mean, this is Thursday, Friday, Saturday, conference championship week. My favorite weekend of the year. Me and Hank, one of the same. Just got to go where a boss man says.

2:19:20Big Cat:It's the same thing, yeah.

2:19:21PFT Commenter:Did you know that it was conference championship weekend when you made this trip?

2:19:25Big Cat:Yeah. I initially tried to get it for a different weekend, but then the only weekend that we could do it was going to be when the actual tournament down there was. Got it. Based on a lot of different travels. It was not my first choice of weekends, but going to the tournament, hanging with Blake, it's going to be a fun weekend. All right. Numbers.

2:19:44PFT Commenter:23. 56. 9. 44. 69. 49, 86, 77.

2:19:54Big Cat:11.

2:20:05PFT Commenter:81. 81. What's your guess, Shane? One more. One more. Niner.

2:20:14Big Cat:48.

2:20:32PFT Commenter:67. Oh, 67. 67.

2:20:35Big Cat:Hank. That was excellent, Hank. Love you guys. Also, happy birthday to TJ Tampa.

2:20:45PFT Commenter:Did you miss a big birthday? And JLX Hunt. Did you miss a big birthday Wednesday?

2:20:48Big Cat:There's a good chance that I did. Who are you thinking? Paul Bissonnette? I did miss Bissonnette. Brutal, dude. You say DJ Tampa? DJ Tampa. This is one of our favorite guys in the world. I know, but who is TJ Tampa? You got to lock in on our guys. Is that a strip club announcer? I absolutely. You don't know who TJ Tampa is. TJ Tampa? He's an NFL football player, dummy.

2:21:11PFT Commenter:You got to lock in on our guys, though, first and foremost. TJ Tampa? Because now that you're a birthday guy, PFT, when you don't wish a birthday to our guys,

2:21:19Big Cat:they're like, what the fuck? It kind of sucks that - Oh, he is a football player. That is the - Yeah, I know.

2:21:24PFT Commenter:Did you think he was lying?

2:21:25Big Cat:Yeah. No, okay. I wish Whitney - Well, his name's - I got Whitney on his birthday. I wish him a happy birthday. Yeah. I screwed up. But Biz's birthday was a show day. Biz, I'm so sorry that I missed your birthday. Whatever I can do to make it up to you, I feel like shit. You're the best, Biz. Love you, Biz. Forgive me.

2:21:52Thank you.

2:22:22Thank you.

2:22:51Thank you.

2:23:27Thank you.