PMS 2.0 1548 - Tyrese Haliburton, Matthew Tkachuk, Jeff Passan, Peter Schrager, Ben Stiller

15:44Pat McAfee:Man, it is nice whenever he does get 30 points, I assume, for the Thunder, which seemingly is just all the time except for last game. They're saying a lot about him, no con.

15:51Jeff Passan:Yeah, it's nice to watch when he does it ethically. And I know we've already talked to QBs about this, but everyone holds this guy's water. Everyone holds this guy's water for flopping around. Tyrese, on your run to the NBA Finals, I don't remember you flopping around, flailing around like a little baby. Do you see it the same way? Now, I saw the cut up from Brick Center. And there's a few in there that I thought, well, okay, that's a foul. But there's also a lot in there that's, hey, what are we doing here? Okay, I'm trying to watch a competitive basketball game. There are children watching this guy.

16:27Jeff Passan:They're going to be copying him. Is this going to be the NBA for the next 15, 25 years? It's so overblown, bro. Stop it. It's so overblown. Overblown. It's a lot. Come on, guys. What do you mean? Selling is a part of the game. You guys flopping, selling. It's a part of basketball. He's not doing it. This isn't soccer. He's not doing it all the time. Like what, that video from Brick Center that you're talking about? Yeah. You're saying this isn't underblown. This is super-duper overblown. Or is it just blown down the middle? Wait a minute. We could stop with any type of blown. I think what Tyrese is trying to say, man, listen, if you look back, and I know Tyrese is a historian of the game, so he would know this.

17:12Go back to Magic. Go back to Bird. Go back to AI. Go back to Michael. Anybody who is the lead, he's one of the leading scorers in the league, he's going to be the MVP. Whenever you that guy, from Paul Pierce to Vince Carter to T-Mac, they get the calls. I don't care what you want to talk about. You go back and look up the statistics and see. Look at the leading scorers and the MVP guys and look at how many more fouls they get called than anybody else in the league. That's just the way it goes. Those guys are elite scorers. They've learned how to manipulate and force you to foul them and make it look like you're fouling them all the time.

17:47That's what they do from Kobe to whichever guy you want to name. Now, every guy may or may not over-exaggerate with some of the reactions when they get hit or not, but regardless of the fact, they were going to get those calls because they are elite at scoring the ball. And whenever you a top scorer, you're going to get fired. You got the ball all the time.

18:06Pat McAfee:I think it's the theatrics that people are sick of. That is kind of what I'm realizing because I'll watch it. I'll watch up close whenever you guys are playing him. He's so good at basketball. And I've said this numerous times into a microphone. I'd like to let everybody know. Jalen Brunson, I thought never missed a shot. I didn't know how Cat was able to run as much as he was able to run just up close. He's so big. That was kind of my takeaways from watching that particular series. He's like, this guy is so large. I don't know how he's going to keep up with you guys for just running his ass off the court, basically.

18:34Pat McAfee:It felt like. And that happened. And Jalen Brunson never missed. I was like, that's basically my takeaway for this team. Then we got to Oklahoma City, and this SGA guy is just like the smoothest dude of all time, and he never missed. The guy felt like he never missed. And then I get out of the game. You know, I get out of the game, I check my phone, and all you got is people attacking him for flopping and foul merchant and everything like that. I'm like, man, I feel like we watch live. I feel like I watch a different game than the people watch on TV because, like, he's getting fouled. It's just the theatrics, I think, that everybody kind of gets pissed off about.

19:04Pat McAfee:They call him a flopper because of it. But I think he's getting himself in positions to get fouled a lot, I think. I'm not 100 % sure. Tyrese, you would have to be able to explain that more as you're not that theatrical, though. And you could be because it's kind of in you, you know, because you do like that. What does that mean? You want to talk about that. Yeah, you know what I mean. What does that mean? You know what that means. What does that mean? I mean, like you'll throw a half-court pass and then spin. And then skip around. You're a WWE mark. You are – you get it. You do get it. So the fact that you don't immediately Shawn Michaels Hulk Hogan on every single – okay, that is something I think that you do have inside of you and you don't really do.

19:42Pat McAfee:He does seemingly accentuate every single contact, and he does get the calls, and it pisses everybody off because he's the MVP. Do you understand the conversation from the fans' perspective? I get it. I get it, but I agree with what you're saying. When I'm in the game and we're playing against him, I'm not thinking like, oh, my God, this guy's just falling around everywhere. A lot of times it's like you see a lot of these plays where people are mad. They're like, oh, he's flopping. But you see when the guy fouls him, he's like, damn. He knows he fouled him. He's not even arguing with him. He knows he fouled him.

20:10It's like the best players, I think to Q Rich's point, I think the best players, you don't get the touch. You don't get to be super physical. It's just not how it works. They're good enough to sell that. They're going to the free throw line. Those are easy points for them.

20:25Pat McAfee:That's like James Harden, who was back just a couple games ago. And then last game, everybody's saying he was back too. But I'm saying a couple games ago, I felt like I saw old James Harden. Somebody accidentally put their hand out at half court. He, boom, found it. Go ahead and shoot that thing. Gets to the foul line. Hits all three of them. It was like an immediate, that's James Harden basketball. Let's talk about that series. How do you feel about the Stones? Anybody call them that? Yeah, everyone. Yeah, everyone. Everyone's calling them the Stones. Yeah, Pistons. Tyrese, never heard of it either.

20:53Pat McAfee:So, Foxy from the Detroit area, Pistons fan. He's way out in the farm, but in the area there. Detroit fan of all their sports. He goes, oh, the Stones. And I was so confused. I thought Rolling Stones were fucking going to do something up there. And he goes, no, that's what Pistons just heard like last week. Do people really call them that? Yeah. People really call them that. So, I got on this microphone and I said it. There's a lot of people saying, what? Are we sure Foxy's not lying? I feel like he's lying. He would never. No, I was pretty nervous when I told you guys this. and then we put the tweet out and a lot of people said, yes, we do indeed call them the Stones.

21:24It's just a select few of us.

21:25Pat McAfee:Foxy's crew from his high school said that that's what they call them. So I think what we are doing is potentially taking Williamston, Michigan, to the world here about the Stones. And on that note, the Stones seemingly rolling and back in it with Cade kind of leading the charge. Had a bunch of turnovers in the first three games. Obviously, everybody thought they were going to fall to their demise. Has gotten hot since then. They move on. Are they the one seed that we've seen from the season if you were to follow them? And what are your thoughts on how they can continue throughout the rest of the playoffs?

21:56I just love Cade's resilience, man. You got to think about it. He was on that team when they had the longest losing streak in the history of the NBA. And, you know, the league to stay with it in a league where, you know, guys move on and say it's not working here. He kept his head down, kept working. He never made excuses. And then, you know, now they have number one seed. And you see the same thing. He doesn't have a lot to say. He's really even keeled. And I feel like he's the driving force. The man had went out with a long puncture, came back, stared down a 3-1 deficit in the magic in the first round.

22:30And he was the catalyst that led them back. He was the guy that when you watched him play, that said, I'm not allowing us to lose. So I got a big belief in Cade and everything he's doing. I feel like they are the best, the number one seed for a reason. And they're going to be a hard out in these playoffs, especially when you got a guy like Tobias stepping up every other night trying to go up for 20-plus and possibly 30. So I think they're rolling right now.

22:52Pat McAfee:I love watching it. I like them fighting back, and then I like the coach getting an immediate extension like, hey, yep, you are who we thought you were, thank God. It was getting a little shaky there. We were down 3-1, didn't know, and then you win a series. Thank you for doing that for the entire city of Detroit. And here's a brand-new deal. Let's continue to do that. Tyrese, they were coming after Cade a little bit. They were saying too young, weren't ready for the playoffs whenever they were playing bad against Orlando. Fernando, he's come back and just dominated, playing incredible basketball.

23:16Pat McAfee:Is there a part to playoff basketball where every game is prime time, where everybody knows if you're playing like ass and then having to come back on the other side of it? How do you kind of deal with that, actually? How do you kind of deal with it? Well, yeah, I think you're on TV more, right? Your game is going to get talked about more, good or positive or negative. You're going to get more tweets, more people are going to be talking about you, whatever. But I think the good thing about the Pistons is, Kate is their guy and they know he's their guy. So it doesn't matter what kind of performance he has, if it's positive or negative, He knows that his teammates are looking at him like, you're our guy.

23:47Let's figure it out. We're riding with you no matter what. And so I think he played well in those games. Turnover numbers were probably a little high, higher than he wanted them. But I feel like Detroit, being a physical team, I feel like that Orlando is physical as well. So that was a decent matchup for them to go against. I feel like that's why that series went so long, where I feel like they're more the physically dominating team in this series. I feel like that might be able to help them. I really feel like that will help a guy like Jalen Dern, too. He didn't play probably how he wanted to in round one, but I feel like I can expect him to have a better round two for sure.

24:19K. Rich, I had a question about the other side, the Cavs. A lot of people, Tyrese is talking about a lot more tweets, a lot more people talking about it. A lot of people talking about James Harden and Donovan Mitchell not being able to get over the hump in the playoffs. Do you think that's a real thing, or do they just keep running into teams that are better than them? Yeah, I think that's a real thing. When you look at the Pistons, they're the number one seed for a reason. and they dominated in the regular season for a reason. They're a really good team. And coming into these playoffs, we knew it would be a hard out for whoever had to face them.

24:47So for the Cavs to be running up against that now, I think you've seen James Harden has performed. I mean, maybe not like the Houston James Harden that we used to see him, but he's performed at a high level and been there for his team and been there in moments. And I got big faith in Donovan that he always is going to come out and ball out. Now, every game he may not shoot the greatest percentages and things like that, but the one thing that I believe about Donovan Mitchell, that he's always going to be game and ready to go and play his hardest and be there. Now, he may not make all the shots all the time, but he definitely is going to be ready for war.

25:21I believe that about Don. How tall is Donovan? How tall is Spider? What, he's like 6 '4"? Could you imagine him at D-tackle? Tyrese, what do you think? I think 6 '3", 6 '2". 6 '2 is what he's listed. Could you imagine him at D-tackle? Sure. He is. I mean, he is. Stout. He is a stout dude. 6 '2", 220 is the way you listen. He's powerful too, bro. His movements are powerful.

25:45Pat McAfee:Yeah, he's so smooth. He can just move so well. It's like, what was Aaron Donald? I'm not going to say Donovan Mitchell is Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald trained with knives.

25:52Jeff Passan:But I'm just saying, like, the build of Donovan Mitchell.

25:57Pat McAfee:I'm like, that guy had to be a football guy. Had to have been a football guy who just had ridiculous handles. He is fun to watch. Makes every play. And if James Harden – hey, come on, James. They're saying stuff about your playoff stuff. Let's go, James. I'm a James Harden fan. Put the beard on. Yes, sir. Whatever the hell you got to do. Let's start putting these up, James. Off the court's cool. Hilarious, actually. Yeah. Yeah, all of it. All of it. We're big fans. Okay, Puberts, will you make some picks for tonight quickly before, you know, we pivot into an NHL conversation? Tonight, we have the Cavaliers at the Pistons.

26:28Pat McAfee:Pistons favored by three and a half. And the Lakers at the Thunder. Thunder. Feel the Thunder. their favor of the Thunder. 15 and a half. Jesus Christ. Come on.

26:41Jeff Passan:That's another one for me. It was too little last time. Yeah, I'm still – I give it to the Pistons tonight. I say the Pistons win again at home, go up 2-0, and obviously I'm rolling with the Thunder in this one. It's going to be – it's going to be take an incredible feat for the Lakers to get a game against this team. This guy hates LeBron. Yeah, I was about to say, we'll see if the GOAT decides to take over, though. You're the best, ladies and gentlemen. That's Q Ray. Thank you, Ray. Did you let him get a word in after that?

27:10Pat McAfee:Yeah, no way. No way. He's a massive Jordan fan. I mean, from Chicago, obviously. You're from the Midwest. I heard you say in a press conference recently, he released something. He said every kid that plays in Wisconsin wants to go to Iowa State nowadays anyways or something like that because you guys just signed a new kid. You're a Michael Jordan fan growing up or because LeBron James in Ohio? You grew up into LeBron James? I was born in 2000, bro. Oh, my God.

27:35Jeff Passan:So not as much, but still, he's been alive for LeBron in the NBA at least the whole time. Yeah, it's unbelievable how young you are.

27:43Pat McAfee:I completely forgot about that. And you're old now, 26. I'm old? Yeah, you got to get your own insurance. You got to get off your parents' insurance. I have been on my own insurance for a while. Really? I know how the NBA works. That's awesome, dude. Do you insure all those outfits? No. You don't? No. Some watches and stuff, yeah. Oh, congratulations. Smart. That's smart. Must be a nice watch. Yeah, definitely was. Remember, we were buying his watches. Movado. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah. That's right. Very kind of you to do that. Puma, I see you rocking a Puma there. Shout out.

28:14Jeff Passan:Shout out Puma. Every single day, bro. You got the hibiscus. Comman's wearing them. He's a real one for that. He is. Especially those ones. Text me back, man. When did you text me? I don't know. I got a new number. Oh. Did you hear this guy? I did get a new number. Get a load of this guy. No, no. No, I got a new number. Get a load of this guy. I got to give you my new number. Well, you're also not a downtown boy anymore, so that's what you said. See you, Connor. Well, to be clear, though, Tyrese, whenever I saw him in Vegas

28:42Pat McAfee:after he celebrated me getting put through a table and potentially breaking my neck. I celebrated? You kind of didn't do anything. I know your dad. I was flipping off everybody. Okay, I come out. I love this story. I'm flipping off everybody. Bang, bang. Everybody's doing it. And even in the front, George Kittle's even like, you know, What are you doing, man? Jameer Gibbs was there giving me a little stuff. Like, everybody, basically. And then your dad holding his phone. Big thumbs up. Just huge thumbs up just in the middle of everybody. I look around. I'm, like, bead bugging everybody or whatever.

29:12I see your dad. I just look at him. And I go, fuck you, Michael Cole. Just because I didn't want to talk to your dad. I love your dad. Your dad is the man. I mean, just absolutely the man through and through. We need you guys to go on another title run. so your dad could go on the title run. That is no disrespect to you, but you understand what I'm saying. I get it. I get what you're saying. I didn't like how much you saw. Then he introduced us to 50 Cent. Tony Ayo. Yep. What? We had a little camera. I was in there. This guy was there until Monday. I saw him on Monday night raw. I was there until Tuesday.

29:48Actually, Tuesday. I had an appearance with Adobe on Tuesday. Oh, sure. That's why you stayed. What were you selling? Acrobatic reader. Photoshop? Yeah. What is an Adobe? I was at Adobe Tech Summit. Photoshop. What did you talk about? Did you talk about AI taking everybody's jobs? No, I did not talk about that. I spoke on fan loyalty in sports. And what does it kind of revolve around, you think, this fan loyalty, if you had to really start? Well, they were asking me questions. I just answered the question. That's a question. I want to hear your answer. Was it like a TED Talk? It was a, what's that called?

30:19There was multiple people up there.

30:20Pat McAfee:Oh, a panel. A panel. Yes, sir. You were on the panel. Yes, I was on a panel. How many people were on the panel? Four people with a host? Three people with a host. Three people with a host. Okay, you all had comfortable chairs? Yeah, chairs were comfy. Did we have the microphone on the face? We did. Oh, you guys really do? That's sick. Big LED board behind you? Big LED board. Oh, yeah. Nobody does it right. This guy's a corporate speaker all of a sudden. Yeah. Okay, so what were you talking about? You were talking about fan loyalty and how you can treat fans right. Engage with your fans through whatever.

30:45Mine was more, I was the youngest one up there, so it was more about social media and the world of sports. I love making vlog shoes. I do things like that. Yes, sir, there you go. I get out there and I play chess against people in New York. Wemby does that. I don't know how to play chess. Dude. I thought you'd go hang out with monks and stuff. Wemby, I've never hung out with a monk. Oh. You should. You need to do that. I thought your dad was a monk. You thought my dad was a monk. Your dad could be the best monk of all time. But anyways, thank you for speaking on fan loyalty to those people. You potentially bring them into sports, which we appreciate.

31:15Yes, sir. And I'll tell you what. Anytime you got one of them on, you know it's about to come out. With a board behind you. Oh, big board. Yeah. What did you do with your legs? Did you go cross legs? I never know what to do in those situations. Yeah, you know, you kind of just mix it up as you go. Yeah. Cross the leg. You look over and that guy's crossing his leg so you can't, I can't look like him right now. Yeah, I can't. Lean on shoulder, on arm. We do that with work. I don't know if lean on arm is the best choice. Well, it depends where you're at. If you're at the very end, you got to at least act like you're engaged.

31:39I was, uh. And what kind of chair it is. I was third. I was third. So you can go arms crossed, like hands folded in the middle. Arms crossed is what I went with for the most part.

31:47Pat McAfee:How about game day? They got my ass right in the middle of that thing. Fascinating how that one goes. Well, it's nice you got the table right there so you can hide a little bit. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah, but then whenever this is A and N, you know, we got to go over here. Turn your back. And I never know. And then sometimes the lower body's going one way and the chair goes another. I look like a fat ass up there a lot of times. It's a tough spot. I assume you handled it well for the good of sport. Thank you. Thank you, Tyrese. Thank you, Tyrese. You think you would have scored 50 in that game seven and we would have won the title?

32:14I think so. We would have had a parade. We would have been so cool. We'll do it again someday. Speaking of parades, a man who brought Lord Stanley Cup down to South Florida multiple times

32:23Pat McAfee:and also helped bring a gold medal to the United States, men's hockey, and is about to win another world championship here in about eight days. Ladies and gentlemen, Matthew Kachaw. Yay! How you doing, pal? What's up, boys? How are you guys? Good. You look fantastic. Thank you for joining us. Good jawline right now. Great jawline. Wow. Hey, you look like you're in great shape right now. How's the body? How's it? How is everything in Kachuk's world right now? It's it's body's good. I mean, obviously, Pat, we've talked a bunch last year. Crazy surgery at the end of the year and didn't feel anywhere close to myself until probably right before the Olympics.

33:02Best thing that happened to me was going over there, playing every every other day, skating every other day. I'm kind of keeping like my rhythm going, getting back in like that game shape, getting back in like the just the rhythm of getting hit and hitting people. and being in competitive games. And those games over there were so nuts, so competitive, that when I came back after the Olympics, just kind of gained all my confidence back.

33:23Pat McAfee:Okay, I love that. We're about to go play again, I just learned. I don't know how public everything is. If you've made an announcement or if you're supposed to make an announcement, if the Florida Panthers know this, I have no idea what is known by anybody. But the International Ice Hockey Federation has a world championship happening next weekend in Zurich, which is in what country? Switzerland, Tyrese. That is 100 % right. This is a world championship that happens every single year. Obviously, the Canadians have won a lot of these. Gumpy, how many of these types of world championships has Canada won?

33:52Around 88 or so. Oh, who won last year's IIHF World Championship? I don't think we did, unfortunately.

33:59Pat McAfee:Oh, the United States of America, Nick. Oh, yeah. Okay, so tell me a little bit about this world championship. And this is obviously an every-year event. You playing in this feels big to me. I know Sydney has played in this, Crosby has played in this in the past for Team Canada. How can you kind of quantify what's about to happen next week? And what are our chances? Are we winning this thing? Well, I sure as hell hope so. I'm not going over there for a vacation. Better give ourselves a chance to win. But, yeah, I think the best way to describe it is it's an every-year thing. This is actually my first time going because it's in mid to late May.

34:35The last few years I've been in playoffs. A couple years before that, I was up for a contract so I didn't go. So there's always a couple reasons why guys are banged up after their NHL season. Some might not go because of that. Guys having kids. I mean, there's so many reasons why. But I think it's just such an honor to wear the USA jersey. And kind of like playing for the Olympics and then going here a few months later, I still have that feeling that I had representing back in February in Milan. It's like, how could I not want to be a part of that again? So I'm really excited to go. I'm going a couple days into the tournament.

35:12I'm going to try to bring another championship back to the United States. We won for the first time last year. I wasn't on the team, but USA won. I think it was for like the first time in 100 years. So we're hoping to do it again this year. First time in 100 years? Are you serious? I could be very much over-exaggerating that, but I think it was a long time. Yeah, we haven't lost the tournament in a long time, it feels like. Yeah, it feels like just kind of hockey is ours.

35:36Jeff Passan:Yeah.

35:37Pat McAfee:Yeah. The only thing we've really lost, I guess, is the draft lottery. Toronto got that. Yeah, juniors.

35:42Jeff Passan:No, we won.

35:43Pat McAfee:We won. Which junior, though? Oh, yeah, let me guess. You guys won the WHL championship too up there? Is that what it is? Okay, anyway. Boys, we won the big one. We won the big one in February. That's all that matters. Both of them. Bingo. Yeah. That's a really good one. Hey, God bless America. Thank you, Chuck. Boom. Thank you, Chuckie. Hey, Tyrese, thank you, too. You want to go mad. Thank you, Tyrese. Go mad at us. A couple American sports heroes are out here. Okay, obviously the IIHF World Championship happening next weekend will be good for hockey. Hockey right now is seeing massive boosts.

36:20Pat McAfee:We had Gary Bettman on yesterday to talk about, you know, this is like the most viewed playoffs in nine years or new, whatever it is. Everybody's watching hockey right now. I think the U.S. Olympic team has a huge piece of that, both the men and the women for everybody falling in love with the sport or being reminded why the sport is so spectacular. You obviously have been in the Stanley Cup the last three years, winning the last two. Now you're kind of watching from a different perspective. How have you found yourself watching these games? Are you finding yourself rooting for the East? Are you rooting against people?

36:49Pat McAfee:How do you kind of view what's happening right now with these playoffs who the world is tuning into? It's weird. I obviously want to be playing. I think you just catch yourself rooting against a few teams that you just don't like. I'm not going to say that on here, but I'm just happy a couple of them aren't still playing. So that's nice. But I don't know. It's a weird, weird feeling. It's great to see that hockey. I mean, I saw those numbers the same time you guys saw those the other day. Like the numbers are through the roof right now. So that's so cool that hockey is such a big thing right now in the United States.

37:21Going back to the Olympics with our team and the women's team winning. It just seemed like coming back from Milan, like hockey was the cool thing here in the United States. So I'm happy to see that it's still trending in the right direction. Playoffs have been unreal so far. They've been crazy games, a lot of overtimes. I just think, I know I'm not allowed to pick anything, but I would say that the winner of Colorado and Mini has got a very, very good chance of winning it all. Like, that's a big boy battle with those two teams, and Colorado's playing as good as anybody right now. Yeah, I love you saying, I know I'm not allowed to pick anything, but I just want to let you know what I'm seeing over there in Colorado, Minnesota.

38:01Pat McAfee:I mean, at the end of that, what was 5-2, end of that, I mean, we're talking about they're laying bodies. It reminded me of your guys' coach whenever there was a Mike Dupst release that it was like, hey, this is a seven-game series, bodies on bodies here, down there. Like, that was the actual plan. I mean, absolute McKinnon. Two of them late. That was 5-2. That was after Quinn lost an edge, I believe, and then got buried in the ice as well. It's like very physical brand of hockey. A lot of big dogs playing against each other. It has been spectacular, but the Avalanche have obviously just looked outrageous.

38:35Pat McAfee:They're not the only ones, though, across the entire NHL. Go ahead, Conman.

38:38Jeff Passan:Yeah, Chuckie, the other one on the other side would be Carolina, both those teams being 6-0. Carolina's never – they don't have the experience, rather, that Colorado has with the Stanley Cup final and the win that Colorado has. But what have you seen from Carolina? Because it feels like this might be the year they get over the hump. With Florida, your team being out, that was the one team basically they'd run into and just get absolutely washed. But what do you think about the nail guns over there for Carolina Hurricanes? I was actually at one of the games in Carolina because I went and saw my brother play.

39:11It was game two. of course the one I go to goes in like at the end of the double overtime so that was great um but I think I think they're a uh I think they're a really good team they're always in this position every year so they're doing something right um they're really fast uh at home I noticed like they're they're a team when you go on the road like that first 10 minutes five 10 minutes they are all over you and they have continued that and that's kind of been their bread and butter for years. So home ice has been a big, big advantage for them. They're playing great. The only thing that, you know, you obviously don't want to lose ever.

39:48You want to lose a game ever, but you almost wonder like some of these teams that have just kind of coasted through the first round and starting to go through the second round, like you almost need to hit a little adversity to win it all. There's no team that's ever gone 16 and L. I don't think, I mean, I guess one of these two could this year, but it's at one point they're going to hit adversity. Colorado might it hit a little adversity at some point, but ultimately you're better from that. I just think they haven't hit it yet. So it's, it's hard to say which one of those teams might be the favorite right now.

40:17It's, it's really tough.

40:18Pat McAfee:Certainly a gift to get more days off. Obviously, if you sweep, you don't have to play as many games. Your legs might be fresher. You might have a team, but the curse there is you don't have the moment of everybody having to fix the shit that's wrong because you know, whenever you're winning, it's kind of a bandaid to cover everything up, you know, and then once you lose, it's like, wait, we got to fix some shit here. You can also bring the lads together, which I think you're a big part of Chucky. I think you and your brother proved you're big lads, guys. Big, big lads, guys. Can you tell by watching these teams who's tighter or who's not tighter as a group or as a unit?

40:46Pat McAfee:Or should we expect all these guys to be a pretty tight bunch at this stage of the NHL playoffs? Every team says they're tight. But you know not every team's exactly what they say. I think I look to Colorado and Minnesota. It just seems like two teams that have a ton of fun seem to really bond with each other. You can tell by like the camaraderie with each other, like during the games, talking on the bench, banging the sticks after a block shot or a big hit. I don't know those two teams. I also think one team that's like really, really been a surprise team to a lot of people, but not to us. Maybe I'll say both of them is Buffalo and Montreal.

41:24Like those two teams are really, really good. And what I think their advantage is this is their first time going through it and their first time really making a playoff run so far. So those two teams look like they're having a ton of fun. I watched the last three or four games of the Montreal-Tampa series. And Montreal is for real. Like, they're a really good team. And they could have won that series against Tampa in five games, four games. Like, they played really, really well. So I think that series could be really good and going to be a must-watch for me.

41:55Pat McAfee:I mean, an absolutely nasty goal here from Kirby Doc. I mean, just absolute filth there. They're talking goal of the playoffs right there. I mean, there's been a lot of good ones. There's been some insane skill on display, obviously, throughout the entire playoffs. And this is where hockey is in prime time and the best players are playing. Shit like that seemingly happens every night, even though it makes no sense how. You guys have so much incredible talent. The other side, you mentioned it there, is the grit and the toughness. You guys will actually fight each other. You guys will hit each other.

42:24Pat McAfee:And you guys will throw your faces in front of objects going like 100 miles an hour and kind of take pride in it. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Chucky, last night the Ducks were up 2-0 with about seven minutes left. Not you NBA players. No, no, no. No way. And Mikkel Granlin was in front of the net, and he threw his body in front of the puck to save a goal. And obviously you see that a ton in the playoffs. And then a couple nights back, Quinn Hughes was getting shit for getting out of the way of the puck. People were saying, you know, was he worried about, you know, screening the goalie and stuff like that or hitting off him and going the goal.

42:55How do you know when to lay yourself out in front of a rubber missile or get out of the way so the goalie can get in front of it? Wow. Well, first of all, Quinn's like one of the biggest dogs in the NHL right now. So I'm sure he was like tying up with the guy in front. Like he would not get out of the way of a puck. He's an animal. He's one of the best. And it doesn't have to be because he's so skilled and so good on the other end of the ice. Like he doesn't have to do it, but he does it because he's one of the best. I mean, that Granlin block definitely saved a goal. Throwing the foot out there.

43:27It's like kind of a, when you're in that moment and I am not a big block shot, I'm not. But that's like a desperation, like throw the foot out. Like that's your last resort right there. Like look at him, his body's to the right. That's, that's unreal. That saves a goal, ultimately wins them the game. But I think when you're in these games, like I just said, I'm not a huge block shot guy. I don't think many, many people are, but when you're in these games where every single play is momentum, you never know. Vegas gets that goal. I don't know how much time was left. they can get one again and win in overtime like that that's the little things that add up in these playoff games so um it doesn't matter who you are grandland's like one of the the best players on anaheim very offensive like he's a hell of a player he doesn't have to do that but you just you just do it because that's what it takes at this time of year it's the best time of year to play you put everything on the line um i don't know if anybody's throwing their face in front of a puck on purpose but i mean if that's what it takes that's what it takes all right good so i'll

44:21Pat McAfee:stop saying it's on purpose then i'll just start saying that it happens and the lads are okay with it hockey obviously electrifying and uh the numbers and the people that are tuning in in the barns okay you talked about like buffalo not knowing and having a good time the boys on the ice it's like their fans are having a great time the blades boys the blades boys welcomed in some montreal blades boys yeah the i don't know if you saw the pre-game festivities they almost had a a blade hockey game outside and i'll tell you i think the buffalo grit boys will potentially outlast the montreal lads but nobody wants anything to do with down there in carolina with the lads that oh jarvis's boys jarvis boys jarvis boys have you seen these boys from manitoba that have come down to carolina these lads right here they're just known as jarvis boys they were cranking the siren the other day cranking the siren out there my my favorite entourage group is the buffalo blade gang i would take i would put my money on them to beat up everybody beat up the montreal guys on rollerblades beat up those guys i would take the buffalo guys all day those guys look those guys are a real deal i like those guys the only american bunch out of the crew that you just mentioned and that's why next weekend at the international ice hockey federations world championship in zurich switzerland this man will be attempting to go for gold and also you didn't tell us this we had to do some research while we're on air here Matthew Kachuk if you were to win the IIHF World Championship next weekend you'd become one of 31 men in the history of hockey to win the triple gold which is Olympic gold Stanley Cup and World Championship okay there's only 30 people that have done it no Americans damn have ever done it okay so there's a chance that you become one of 31 men next weekend I like that you didn't tell us about that we had to look into that hey Let's fucking go.

46:12Come on, Chucky. Let's go, Chucky. Let's go over there and do the shit. We can't wait to watch you. Like I said, I'm not going over there for a free vacation. We're going there to do a job and win it and have another great celebration. Hey, for the good of America. Is Brady gone? Good question. Brady just had a kid. He is not. I would love if he were able to, but he's a crazy. Congrats on the kid. Congrats on being on Brady.

46:37Pat McAfee:Another Kachok coming in. Any names on the team that have been announced? Do you know who's going over there yet, or is it kind of the roster's fluid? I swear I know nothing really other than that I'm going at some point. I've been occupied on, one, if I was going, if I was able to. So kind of just committed a few days ago. And I'll find out here more shortly. I know a lot of the guys, the tournament starts on the 15th, and I'm going there a couple days after. So, yeah, I'm pumped. Like, there's nothing better than playing the best game in the world. and we're in the red, white, and blue. We've talked about it a million times.

47:12It's just nothing like it. So I can't wait. Come on. Good luck over there. We appreciate the hell out of you. Going for the triple gold. Matthew Kachon. Hey, Chuckie. Good research in the back, Nick. Hell yeah.

47:23Jeff Passan:Yeah, that's a big deal. That was always like an accolade. You know, a lot of those guys have the merits already to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but that is a surefire ticket punch to the Hall of Fame if you can complete that.

47:34Pat McAfee:I've been talking to him literally for the last couple days. He, Panthers owner, Vinny Viola, obviously owns Golden Temple. Sure. Saw us talking about it. Full conversation takes place. Helps connect us with Sherry DeVoe, which is very cool of Kachuk. But also talking to him. And then I'm like, hey, what do you got going on? You know? He's like, oh, I'm heading to Zurich. I'm like, love Zurich, man. Yeah, good golf. Yeah, you've always got to love it. Beautiful mountains. Zurich open. Oh, the views. The watches are unbelievable. Yeah, I think I've seen on the internet people do the mountains over there with, like, little cars.

48:07Pat McAfee:Yeah. You know, like, it looks like a really good time over there. Toboggins. Yeah. Turns out, no, he's going for a world championship. I'm not fucking riding the toboggans, is what he said. Maybe after. I'm going to play for you. I think Foxy went there last year. Tyrese, representing the United States of America, obviously you got an A, okay, on the group project. But did it feel as if, in that moment, it was, like, America versus everybody? And did the entire team get that sense? Does that make sense? because it felt like that with the hockey teams. Whenever we were playing Canada, it felt like, holy hell, it really is us versus these people up here.

48:41Pat McAfee:It really felt like.

48:42Jeff Passan:France in the finals, too. You've taken on the home country, that entire arena. It was obviously them versus them.

48:49Pat McAfee:Was that a cool vibe? Honestly, I've never got a chance to experience it. How was it in there? And when you get the chance to do it, have you learned anything from experience that you've already gathered? Yeah, it's fire. There's nothing like it. It's so special because everybody wants to see you lose. Genuinely, everybody, not in this country, but everywhere else. Some. Some people do. Yeah. Some people do, really. Yeah. There's more to talk about the next day, and they can hate for sure. But, no, I think that's the beauty in it. That's what makes it more fun. How do we all feel? You're born in 2000.

49:17How do we all feel about tomorrow, the return of Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith?

49:23Pat McAfee:You said there are people that want to see you lose, so, you know, they can hate and talk about it the next day. But Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless getting back on it, I'm not saying they're hating, but they certainly talk about a lot of things. and in debate there is some hate that certainly comes out. You're talking about the two goats of this thing, I think, whenever you talk about debate television coming back tomorrow. I'm excited. Skip cut a promo into a cell phone. He's jacked. He said he's readier than ever. What did he get, like five likes on Twitter? 5 ,000 in a minute? Million. Can I be honest?

49:545 ,000K maybe. Can I be honest? What are you talking about? Hold on. Hold the phone. You don't want to see Stephen A. and Skip Bayless get back in there and go jab for jab with a hook or two coming in there tomorrow like the good old days of debate on television

50:09Pat McAfee:before everybody thought they had to become a debater. The master debaters are actually about to take each other on tomorrow. First time in 10 years on first take. Tyrese, is this good for sports? Whoa! Are you serious, dude? Whoa! Hello! Foxy!

50:27Jeff Passan:What was that, Tyrese? What was that? Are we being serious? It's like Oasis getting back together, bro. That's right. I'd rather watch someone pull my fingernails out. What? I think I'd rather watch anything. What? That style show almost ruins sports television.

50:43Pat McAfee:No, but. What the hell's going on? You cannot blame the pioneers for everybody that was trying to follow suit. Sure, maybe. Okay? Everybody was trying to do the same exact thing. And you have to be, you have to give credit where it's due. Those two are good debaters. Yeah, sure. The things that they believe, you can think, well, that's ass. That is not how actual people think. Which I think a lot of us think about a lot of things that get into these things, in these debate shows. But it's like Stephen A. dabbling in the political world. It's like if he gets in debates with people, I feel like sports debaters, we're pretty good.

51:18Pat McAfee:We're a pretty good debate. And I think it's because sports media has been debate society since these two have kind of gone after it. So I think two old bulls kind of tangling one more time. You know, Ric Flair had his final, man. Yeah, he did. You know? One final run here for the boys. You know what I'm talking about? Like, remember Stone Cold Steve Austin? One last stunner to Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 40. You know, that's what this is, potentially. This is one last go of the last. LeBron versus Jordan. Cowboy. Stop. T-Bone. Stop. Yeah. Is that what this is? How excited were you to see, how excited was the world to see Stone Cold stun Vince McMahon?

51:56Very. Not as excited as he's out for tomorrow. Very, right? How excited are people truly to watch this? Did you hear what I just said? That times 10. What are they going to talk about? We know. We know. Who plays tonight? Who plays tonight? Tonight we have, obviously, we have the Cavs and the Pistons. What's the second game? Lakers and the Thunder. So I wonder what the conversation tomorrow is going to be. Might be two hours of that. Yeah, you're right, because the Pistons coming back, number one overall seed. Oh, yeah. Is that what you're saying? I don't know. Cains are playing the Flyers. They might dive into a little bit of puck.

52:28And also, I don't know if you know this, May Madness is about to happen. Yeah, that's right. College lacrosse. There's a chance. Princeton, the Ivy League, back on top. Is that not right, Connor?

52:38Jeff Passan:No, you absolutely nailed it. Nate Kabiri, who is kind of their premier player up there for Princeton, he is a Twarton finalist, as we know. The Cavanaugh boys, the Cavanaugh lads, they kind of let us know last year and the year before about that entire situation. But it is kind of a throwback, a little bit of an old-school bracket. it we have three ivy league teams army is playing this is princeton right here i believe they are kind of the uh premier team this is the year that there should at least be an ivy league team in the final notre dame some of our boys of course iago jeffrey uh no more cavanaugh's they have a tour ton finalist uh i don't want to get his name wrong sean light lit uh he's a defenseman you never see this there's five players all up for the tour tom basically the heisman of lacrosse for people that don't know lacrosse and he's the only defenseman it's four attackmen and then one defenseman uh but it should be a fantastic tournament this is one i've been looking forward to for a while richmond great story they're actually the four c this will be the first time they ever host anybody in uh mayhem may may mayhem and uh no i'm i'm legitimately juiced for this UAlbany going to North Carolina.

53:51Jeff Passan:UAlbany, actually, if we remember, is the Thompson twins, the cousins, the Native American brothers. They kind of put them on the map a little bit. Cornell, Hopkins, Notre Dame, Jacksonville. Yes, Jacksonville has a lacrosse team. Yep, it's starting to grow. Sport of the future, don't look now. The future might be in about five years from now because I'm hearing people in Ohio, kids are starting to play lacrosse in Ohio. If you told me 20 years ago people in Ohio growing up would be playing lacrosse, I'd think you're freaking high.

54:17Pat McAfee:Yeah, I think lacrosse has obviously done an incredible job of having great highlights and also the Arena League that is professional.

54:23Jeff Passan:The NLL, yeah, unbelievable. So that might be in the B block right there. May Madness, Princeton's back on top. It's starting to look like the old days. You've got West Point in there. You've got obviously a bunch of Notre Dame prestige up on the line. That could potentially be what they're talking about. Well, I mean, pardon my ignorance. I have a question there. Why do some teams play like 11 games and some teams have played like 18? It's funny you say that because I actually, while looking at the bracket, was confused by that about a month ago. I think there's a couple teams that were, I don't know, they only played like six games and the season typically starts in February.

54:55Jeff Passan:I'm not sure if some programs in the conferences have kind of dwindled, whether or not that happens, or if some of the conference tournaments have been shrunk down. But yeah, I was also confused by that a little bit. I don't know why.

55:06Pat McAfee:So some teams might be fresher. Some teams might be more experienced. We'll see as May mayhem madness continues for college lacrosse. They could talk about that. I'm excited for that. May Mayhem is much more exciting. Than? Yeah. The reunion you're talking about. Oh, no. I think you're a superstar. I don't think there's any debate. And I don't think that's going to come up tomorrow at all. Tonight, Canes at Flyers for the NHL. Canes are currently on a six-game winning streak. Good luck to them. It's 8 o 'clock on TNT. Cavs at Pistons. Lakers at Thunder. It is a spectacular playoff evening. As hour one here wraps up on this glorious What the Hallie Thursday, in hour two we got Jet Pass enjoying.

55:50Love that.

55:51Pat McAfee:Baseball's doing it right now. Big time. Have you seen the baseball ratings? No. I don't know how everything in sports is so far up. It feels like maybe there's a newfound love or intoxication for America back into the sports universe because everything that's kind of happening outside in the world is a bit insane. Let's go ahead and dive into sports a little bit more. Plus 44 % over last year. And what was the NHL there? Plus 68 % or something like that over last year.

56:18Jeff Passan:In the playoffs, at least, they were up 100 % in some of the games.

56:22Pat McAfee:Yeah, it's just absolute insanity right now up into the writer sports. And we're so incredibly pumped and lucky that we're a tiny little piece of the sports universe. Can't wait until you're back on our TVs doing great things on the court, Tyrese. We appreciate your dedication to your recovery and for coming through here one and a half minutes before the show started.

56:40Jeff Passan:Yeah, that was cool. really want to hang out for a little bit. I was working out. I was working out. I made it here. How was the workout? 5-on-5? No, it wasn't. Just shots. Did you shower and get ready for an hour after two? Jeez. He's putting up shots, dude. Maybe. Look at him. Don't listen to him. He wants Boston to win. I want you to win. We'll see you on the other side. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life.

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58:16Pat McAfee:Sports are the greatest phenomenal work. NBA All-Star Olympic gold medalist, a man who would have scored 72 points in Game 7 of the NBA Finals one year ago if his Achilles didn't burst. He is now on the return, the recovery. And next year, he'll be doing the same exact thing. ladies and gentlemen, Pacers legend Tyrese Halliburton. Hey, Tyrese. I love that the number keeps going up. I love that. Well, we don't know. Yeah. I don't want to put a – hey, who am I to box you in? I'm not Halliboxing. You know what I mean? I'm going to go ahead and Halliboxing open that box. Hallibuffer. Yeah, you're damn right.

58:50No. What did you say? Buffer? Yeah.

58:53Pat McAfee:Hallibuffer? Yeah. Oh, I thought you called me a – I thought you said something like that.

58:57Jeff Passan:No, I did not say that. I said Hallibuffer. Like, there is no buffer to where he's going. No governor? No governor? No nothing? You could have scored 100. Someone scored 83 this year. It could have been 84. Bingo. Yeah. Especially game seven in the finals. Could you imagine if you would have been doing all that in the game? You're going to do it again. And that's what we appreciate about you.

59:15Pat McAfee:That's why I don't want to say 50 points. I mean. With the number one overall pick. Yeah. TJ's going to get the number one overall pick. Well, the lottery is on Sunday, so. How come you aren't going? How come TJ's going? I went before. It didn't really bring us the top luck. Oh, really? So this is like a coin toss type thing. You've gone out there and it's been ass. Let's send somebody else. Not ass. We didn't go up. We stayed at our pace. Oh, that's not bad.

59:34Jeff Passan:What happens if OKC gets the number one overall pick? That'd be rough. One year ago today, this is what we were celebrating. Ha! Ha! Hee!

59:46Pat McAfee:How quickie look. Ha! Just getting started. People had no idea what was about to come next round. And then the next round. I mean, it was an unbelievable. This is what we're working back towards. This is why we appreciate you showing up 35 seconds before the show started. Because you had a three and a half, four hour workout this morning to get back healthy. We appreciate you. Talk to the table at Boston Corner. And one half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys AP tone. Love everything about what you got going on. Ty Schmidt, we miss you. Live from Manatic in Ohio as a college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup winner, ladies and gentlemen, A.J.

1:00:16Pat McAfee:Hawk.

1:00:16Jeff Passan:Yeah, Hawk.

1:00:18Pat McAfee:This guy's a guy right here, Tyrese. A.J., have you been watching Tyrese kind of handle himself in the entire first hour? Didn't like his lack of pizzazz about Skip and Steven coming back tomorrow.

1:00:29Jeff Passan:Yeah, I don't know what his problem is with Skip and Steven, but Tyrese, I do have to take your side. I do not think you are a theatrical guy when you're on the court. Thank you. Maybe that's a compliment off the court, but I think on the court you are not theatrical. Thank you, AJ.

1:00:41Pat McAfee:Yeah, but he does have the theatrics inside of him, you're saying. Deep down inside. Yeah, which is good.

1:00:45Jeff Passan:That's a compliment. He's talented. You were trying to use theatrical in a negative way. No. What? No, we were talking about your celebrations. Like that one right there, you did the big ball there. Nobody said, no. Pizazz has never been negative. Then you switched it to showman. I like showman better. Theatrical, you're trying to make me sound a type of way. No, if I was saying dramatic, that would be different. That would be different. Theatric is like, this guy's got an eye for the theatrics. So you meant theatric in a positive way. No, I love shows. I go watch shows all the time. He saw the one with the Hamilton.

1:01:16There it is. Yeah, Alexander Hamilton. Yes, twice. Two different kings and two different. Yeah, two different everybody. Yeah, I've seen two different casts.

1:01:27Pat McAfee:I have depth. I'll go watch a lot. You saw that one with Sudeikis? Bingo. The one where Robin Williams. Yeah, Robin Williams. That Poet Society. Boom. Yeah, so I'll watch whatever. The South Park one. Yeah, so I'll do whatever. I saw Michael Malone eat 100 needles right here. Coach of the Denver Nuggets, yeah. No, he's the coach of North Carolina. He's a magician. There's a magician out of Ohio that ate 100 needles right here. 100? Yeah, I just like that. I like the theatrics. No, I never saw that. It was awesome. It was part of the draft spectacular years before we went to the actual draft. We had some absurd things.

1:01:59Pat McAfee:This guy came in here, dropped 100 needles in his throat. AJ punched him in the stomach. He walked away. That was the trick. How did they come out? Huh? We don't know. We still don't know. We said this could still be inside of him. He might be a man who just never poops, and he kind of took advantage of that by putting needles inside. That might really hurt. Yeah, I think so. I think he'd have a problem. But what I'm saying is I like the theatrics. It was a compliment. If I was to say you're a dramatic flopper, that's me trying to condescendingly tell you that I hate everything you're about. Theatrics, I like the show.

1:02:30Pat McAfee:SGA, it's theatrical. I don't think you are a theatrical ball player, but I think with inside of you, in your game, there are some theatrics. Okay. You agree? Yeah. You're a showman. I like to think so. Are there nights where you're kind of tired, kind of off? You're like, maybe I don't want to do a no-look pass tonight. No, no, that doesn't exist. Always want a no-looker. Always. Yeah. Always want to put one in between somebody's legs. Always want to be at the last second with an inbound pass with somebody standing right in front of you with 0.2 seconds left. And then just throwing it to the person.

1:03:01Pat McAfee:You love all that. Pass off of somebody's ass coming inbound. You love all that stuff every night. High IQ. Yeah. There's a video going around saying you're a super genius. Great montage. Did your people put that together probably? I have no idea what video you're talking about. Is that a Puma thing? What video are you talking about? They're talking about you being a super high IQ basketball player. You saw it.

1:03:20Jeff Passan:Yeah, just all great plays from, like, just one playoff run last year. Well, I think I'm a pretty smart basketball player. I think so, too. Have you heightened that from sitting out for a year at this level of your game? Like, what do you think you're going to take away this year having to watch the game? You know what I see more than anything is why coaches think the way that they do on certain things. You know, like when a guy is like, challenge that. And you're like, and, you know, as a player, it's hard not to, like, you have a foul. You don't think it's a foul. You're like, challenge it. Then you realize, like, it's the first quarter.

1:03:49Does it really matter? Stop being an idiot. You know, like, I think that's kind of helped a little bit. I see it from coach's perspective a little more. Okay, I like that. You're a little bit more of a – how about your leadership? Will that change your leadership style, you think? Not necessarily. I think this year was hard, though, because it's like when you're not playing, you're like, can I really say something? Like, what can I really say if I'm not playing? But, you know, you figure it out because guys, they know the work that you put in, so it's not that big of a deal.

1:04:14Jeff Passan:Well, how about Zubak? I mean, you had Miles Turner for a little while, and then that went how that went, especially with Milwaukee this year. But how about them still making moves for you, basically, for next year? Because this year, it went how it went. Even at the trade deadline, I feel like the Pacers going to get Zubak was kind of out of left field, but clearly they're still all the way behind you. How good did that feel amidst one of the worst seasons the Pacers have had that they're still kind of adding for you? Yeah, well, I think that's exciting. I think that he brings a different dynamic to our team than we've had in the past.

1:04:49I think you guys are going to like Big Zoo a lot. I like the name already.

1:04:53Pat McAfee:Big Zoo is certainly something I like. I like what the NBA is doing as a whole. I like what the NHL is doing as a whole. I like that the NFL is always cooking as well. I don't know if you've been keeping up with some of the NFL headlines. I hope. What would that be? Well, there's one that I kind of cooked up this morning because of things that I'm seeing. Drake. Drake May. Maybe. The next one. Yeah. Let's not talk about Drake May May, okay, just being a guy who took his team to the Super Bowl in the second year. Drake May may be the next one. He was at the Truist PGA event this weekend, which is in Quail Hollow, North Carolina.

1:05:31Pat McAfee:He's obviously a North Carolina boy. This is for Eagle. This is a quarterback that just took his team to the Super Bowl, and that's a big fucking burp. Wow. Yeah, go ahead and drop that thing. Yeah. Okay, obviously he's been working. And also, he is having to answer questions for some other stuff going on around the New England Patriots organization. Patriots quarterback Drake May said he doesn't believe Mike Vrabel's off-field issues will be a distraction for the defending AFC champions this upcoming season story. VAP also going to say that he loves him, and he's a great leader, and this might actually rally the boys.

1:06:02Now, there's a boat involved in the entire story. Okay. That's new. It's getting louder and louder by the day.

1:06:10Pat McAfee:But Drake may seemingly face a franchise quarterback. Always want the person to do that. Handling this well. This is a lot on a young quarterback right now with what's going on. Everything, literally every day, more things coming out. And it feels like not only is he burying Eagles, he's also burying narratives that are potentially happening behind the scenes. And that makes me say that Drake, Drake may be the next one when it's all said and done, AJ.

1:06:33Jeff Passan:Yeah, don't you think this is all part of being a franchise quarterback? You have to deal with stuff, I guess, that you never would have foreseen having to deal with. So, yeah, at a young age, to be able to kind of figure everything out like this and do everything somehow the right way off the field and say the right things, yeah, that's why you know that this guy is their franchise for the next 12 to 15 years probably. Just putting fires out. He's young. How old is he, 23? 23, yeah. 23 years old. There's no media training for stuff like this either. There's nothing like this. There's no textbook to go off of.

1:07:02Jeff Passan:Like getting asked questions about other stuff other than yourself. You just want to play ball. You're just trying to play football. Yeah, and if we're talking about boats, there's some more serious things. There's people stranded out there on a boat right outside of Camara House. So we're talking about boats. No, that's not the boat we're talking about. We're talking about a brand-new boat trip that we just learned about down there in Tennessee. And on that note, every time we hear about a new boat or a new this or a new that, Drake May, 23-year-old quarterback, has to somehow just go in there and be like, hey, this is all going to be okay.

1:07:34Pat McAfee:Like this is all going to be – that's what a quarterback actually has to do. that's crazy in my eyes that this is something that he's going to have to like literally prove because remember vrabel was the guy helping him be a leader not that he's going to stop doing that but vrabel was like teaching him hey gotta go talk to the wide receivers gotta go do this gotta do this and now he's in a position where anytime he's in front of a microphone which is going to be a lot anytime this year for the foreseeable future for his entire career there's always going to be a chance that a question is going to come that has a lot of people's interest but also families involved and kids and stuff and he's gonna have to give the right answer yeah and uh he's doing it seemingly very early and while doing it burying eagles he's so clear-minded pretty swing this guy

1:08:12Jeff Passan:might be a real one out here con man yeah he's unbelievable golf if we just go back through kind of the greats of the game they all seem to have a buttery swing which is exactly what drake may has i'm assuming hopefully once the season gets rolling a little bit you know granted primetime games there might be some national narratives but we've seen also what has happened with Vrabel around Gillette, around New England, standing O's, things of that nature. It will definitely continue to be a narrative, but I still am under the belief that Vrabel completely said everything to the team and that maybe that this is just stuff that is slowly coming up with the team as well aware and hearing stuff like that from Drake May from other players on the team.

1:08:51Jeff Passan:Christian Gonzalez also was asked about it at a charity softball game and he basically echoed the same sentiment like, hey, we're all behind our coach, which we are. And so hopefully we can just get to football once July's day.

1:09:01Pat McAfee:Okay, and Tyrese, on that note, you're a franchise player. Everything you say could potentially be used against you in the court of law and also in the locker room, okay? That is very real, especially as one of the most powerful people. Has there been an instance where you had to learn about like, ooh, the power of my words is really real? Or is that something that you're kind of naturally taught in basketball because it feels like you guys are all kind of deemed superstars in like high school, if that makes sense. Do you have like media training coming in high school? Like, hey, everything you say is going to potentially sway how people are talking about our team.

1:09:30Oh, yeah, I think that's just media training in general. But I think at the same time, everything that we say as athletes can get twisted and construed in a different way for a headline. So understanding that. But I think when you're a franchise guy in any sport, basketball, football, hockey, baseball, that's just what comes with the territory. It's kind of the price you pay to live your dreams a little bit.

1:09:50Pat McAfee:Yeah, kind of just part of the job. Yeah. Like, hey, here is a part of the job. there's some things that i've had to realize that are just a part of this particular job okay and i just have to accept that this is what it is whenever i fire off a thought about somebody okay that person's gonna hear it and there's potentially gonna be people that are friends with that person they're also gonna hear it so now i start mini war with you know 30 people it's like okay i i have to kind of realize that that is what comes with the territory you as leader for the Pacers. Great job, brother. Great job. Unbelievable job.

1:10:24Pat McAfee:With some theatrics, too. Big time. Is that why you're talking so positive about this debate tomorrow?

1:10:31Jeff Passan:What are you talking about? Why don't you want to see this? I thought everybody wants to see this debate tomorrow. Who is everybody? Everybody I talk to. To be honest, I've not talked to anybody about it.

1:10:43Pat McAfee:But, me personally, excited to watch those two go to work. I like public speakers. So I like watching people do their thing. They're going to play the hits. What do you think the topic is going to be? What do you think the first topic is going to be? Definitely Bron first because the Lakers played. Okay, so we've got to talk about it. Hey, where are we 10 years later? Where do we find ourselves? You know, in the entire LeBron conversation. Excited to see where it goes. A couple twists and turns. Shea Cornett's going to be in there guiding the entire ship. And then where do we go next? NFL? Straight to Cowboys?

1:11:12Nope. Where? Maybe they're the greatest quarterback of all time that's ever thrown a football.

1:11:18Pat McAfee:Aaron Rodgers. Yep. Oh, I don't know if Aaron Rodgers could be number two there. I love that right there. I love Aaron too. He's the GOAT. He is not the GOAT. What's going on? Aaron's the GOAT. Aaron's the GOAT and he's maybe back to lead a Super Bowl. Okay, well. For who?

1:11:37Jeff Passan:I like that. I like that. Have you heard what he's been like over the last, since the draft? I haven't. I haven't. Okay, since the draft, he has sat in that seat right there with that microphone right in front of you and said, Aaron Rodgers needs to get the hell out of Pittsburgh. That is what he said. Yes. It's not what I said. He has said numerous times. Is he a friend of the show? Yes. He's a good friend. Not anymore. Like you just said, the media is taking my words and construing the new media in a way. I just said that, you know, I love that he's sitting back and letting Will Howard get some reps to make him progress as a quarterback, maybe the future of the Steelers.

1:12:13I like that he wants to know if the refs are going to be real refs for the season because he doesn't want to come back and play with jabroni refs. You know, maybe I'd like that he was waiting for the next pandemic to come back, okay? And he needed to come back and do that. But, no, I mean, this guy deserved to take – he's 22 years, four-time MVP, Super Bowl winner. He deserved to take some time, okay? This is unbelievable hearing just come out of your mouth. This is crazy, isn't it, AJ?

1:12:39Jeff Passan:It's like it's a completely different person sitting over there now. Yeah, really change of tune, if you will. We go the other way. I don't understand what you guys are doing, trying to do. Sounds like you're backpedaling right now.

1:12:48Pat McAfee:Feels like you're playing a little defense here. You know that's not me. And why is that? Well, there's a lot of reports coming out of Pittsburgh. Okay, mixed reports. Mixed reports. Doran Dickerson, morning radio show, former Pitt football player, NFL football player, stud, legend, cool guy, Doran Dickerson, has stayed around Pittsburgh and does media. He reported this morning that Aaron Rodgers was going to be traveling to Pittsburgh to kind of get it all sorted out. Shout out to Doran doing that. Shout out to 93.7 The Fan. Used to be B94. Yeah, sick. B94. John, Dave, and Bubba Shelley. Dude, so good.

1:13:17I mean, just playing the hits. Just top hard. Hell yeah. Just top hard all the time.

1:13:22Pat McAfee:You know, so many good times with B94. Now it's 93.7 The Fan because sports are really the only thing that carry anything anymore. Shout out to Doran doing that. He reported, hey, his source says Tony Ameren was coming in and doing the entire deal. Then there was a Kyle report coming saying, well, if that's happening, Nobody told Steelers from Mark Caboli, who has been reporting for the Steelers for a long time. He is, by title, our Steelers correspondent. Yes, he is. By title. Lost in. We're in constant communication. We talk to him every morning. We love Mark. We love Mark doing this thing. I'm a pretty hands-off leader.

1:13:56Mark just kind of does his thing. I'm thankful he's still doing this thing. He's saying Steelers have no idea what you're talking about. So then there's a little bit of a, whoa, whoa, whoa, Aaron Rodgers stuff happening.

1:14:05Pat McAfee:Then Ian Rappaport comes out and goes, Actually, Aaron Rodgers, who is expected to visit the Steelers Friday this weekend, will likely play for them in 2026. A deal is not done, and there is always caution until things are signed, but Rodgers' plan is to play for Pittsburgh, and these are the steps towards that end. Okay, so that was after it was kind of rebutted, I guess, and then he comes out and says that. What it sounds like, especially if RapidPort's reporting this, is that Aaron's going over to Pittsburgh tomorrow. Sounds like he's probably doing what everybody in the Steelers organization seemingly has expected, which has come back in play.

1:14:37And now Tony Diggs, AJ, Yinser Steeler diehard fan, has to walk back everything he has said since the draft as he was just echoing the Yinser statement. Well said, Patrick. Okay, is what he was saying.

1:14:51Pat McAfee:But with that being the case, it's like Yinsers were getting sick and tired of waiting around and being held hostage, I think. That's kind of like, hey, we're the Pittsburgh Steelers here. If this guy doesn't want to play for us, what are we doing? Last year, he's never been in a building, never been with a guy. Cool. This year it's been in a building. He knows the head coach. He knows a lot of the people in there. He knows exactly what it's going to be like. We're Pittsburgh Steelers. Can you at least have a little bit of respect for who we are? That is how Yinzer started feeling, okay? We, I think multiple times have mentioned, this guy's committed his whole life to football.

1:15:18Pat McAfee:It's probably a pretty big-time decision on whether or not he wants to do it. Now it sounds like we're getting closer to a resolution. And I think Yinzer's fans, just like Tone, will do exactly what Tone did, which is like, he was the best option all along. We'll hardly get another year. I think that's how it'll go. You think Aaron understands that? and what do you think the validity of all this is, AJ?

1:15:36Jeff Passan:Yeah, I do wonder what the validity is. And it sounds like they, whether Aaron is in town, he's coming in town soon, they act like he's going to sign at some point here in the near future, whatever that means. Like near future, what is that? Three weeks, four weeks? I don't know. This weekend? Yeah, who knows? Yeah, I mean, maybe, yeah. There's no telling what can happen. I would hate if anyone took, you know, all of Tone's takes about this are on camera and recorded somewhere. I would hate if someone cut those together and, you know, made a little mashup of Tone flip-flopping on this whole situation.

1:16:03Jeff Passan:That would not do well for Tone, I feel like. But if Aaron comes back and he wins games and he takes him on a deep playoff run, no one cares and no one remembers this.

1:16:13Pat McAfee:Bingo. We do have to act accordingly, though. And what Tone was trying to tell you, Tyrese, about your words being taken out of context and misconstrued, the video that AJ is kind of encouraging somebody to put together to make, it would not be like that at all. No. I mean, he was rude to Aaron Rodgers. I mean, it was just – Bar for bar. Why did you do that? If AJ thinks that would be bad for my character, he's got another thing coming. That would be great for me. I went on the same merry-go-round last year. I did the same hokey, pokey, pokey dance. Oh, really? You're doing a polka over there?

1:16:43Pat McAfee:Is that what you're going to do? When Aaron was taking his time until July last year, I was doing the same thing. If you don't want to play for us, you don't want to play for us. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Once you put your name on that line, and you're wearing black and gold, we're family, brother. That's just how it works. Brothers can fight. Brothers can disagree. Once we're on the same team, once we're fighting that same war, okay, we're together. You, professional athlete, need to understand that this is how some humans, most humans probably operate actually. We're family, brother. Yeah. All right.

1:17:15Speaking of family, it feels like we have a friend of the program, okay,

1:17:19Pat McAfee:from the Chicago Cubs after yesterday's conversation. We were incredibly lucky that we got a chance to chat with him after he signed his mega deal, his first mega deal with the Chicago Cubs. And we are all so lucky that we got a chance to watch him work. We created a new segment about it actually called Life's Good. Pete Crow Armstrong is standing on top of the world. Let's just do a quick rundown of his last couple months, shall we? Okay. World Baseball Classic, he becomes hero, and everybody's bummed out that he's not playing in the finals. And if he was playing in the finals, we probably win, is our overall thought about this guy coming out of World Baseball Classic.

1:17:52Pat McAfee:Well, everybody else loses World Baseball Classic, and everybody's bummed out about it. Pete Crow Armstrong actually comes out in a lot of our minds going, hey, who knows what would happen if we would have Pete Crow Armstrong out there. So kind of an upbeat. Then signs a mega deal. Signs a monster deal. This kid's 23, 24 years old. Whatever it is, signs a huge deal. They go on a 10-game win streak at the beginning of the season. Now they're currently on an 8-game win streak because him last night, bottom of the ninth. Full count. No way. Don two. Man on first. Get out of here! Oppo! Pete Crow Armstrong.

1:18:29Couldn't fathom how that had to feel. Golfing one out in the bottom of the ninth, tied up in Chicago.

1:18:35Pat McAfee:He mentioned to us yesterday that there was an hour and a half delay and 34 ,000 people were still in the center. Look at that crowd on a Wednesday night in the bottom of the ninth in a game in which they are losing. Chicago's going crazy. PCA is deferring to everybody else's being a hero as opposed to himself. Feels like they got something special. It does feel like that lovable reunion. Yeah, it does. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a person who might be able to give us a little bit more insight in detail on all of it. The senior baseball insider in face for us in our generation, ladies and gentlemen, from ESPN, Jeff Passett.

1:19:07Jeff Passan:Yeah, Jeff!

1:19:09Pat McAfee:Love the shirt. Love the shirt. John Shambi and Project Main Street going toward Lou Gehrig's day. it's such a good cause and this is available by the way in every team color so you can find it online and I would encourage everyone to get a shirt like this in the meantime may I just say Tone why are you just so constantly full of shit like oh got a point NLS shirt incredible incredible now let's pivot to something else this guy in the cowboy hat never stops lying it's kind of in the water where uh we're from and then i'm just naturally a spineless chameleon um who will you know do and say whatever whatever is best for me he became a cowboy because he got covid which who knows what's next potentially right we know he went into a covid hole isolation uh he watched kevin costner be a cowboy in montana he came out on the other side and showed up at work in a cowboy hat and we've literally never seen him in anything else since then so when you talk about kind of going with the wind tone is that but he was a good indicator of how pittsburgh felt about aaron though i i think because we talked to a lot of people that are kind of sick of the waiting and uh allegedly that's going to end this weekend via mixed reports it better but but now he's now he's family now he's family so it's all good yeah what don't you understand just like rapoli at the kentucky derby hey i said a lot of bad things about you okay we're family family one today That's what Tone's doing, Aaron.

1:20:44Pat McAfee:Let's talk a little bit about what the Chicago Cubs have going on. Eight-game win streak now. I guess all of their pitchers are hurt. This Pete Crow Armstrong kid is so cool on our show. Sherman Oaks, California, brah, whenever he comes on. Very, very humble. Deferred to everybody else as being awesome. But they're also in the middle of a great win streak. And it feels like if the Cubs are good, that's good for baseball as a whole, Jet, or no? Oh, it's great when the Cubs are good. And it's great. Just the atmosphere at Wrigley Field right now. They won 14 straight games there. And, you know, Wrigley already is a fun place to go watch a baseball game.

1:21:18But getting to watch a team like this, what I love about the Cubs is that they are so good at everything. They are the best defensive team in baseball. And you go not just up the middle with Pico Armstrong in center field. Nico Horner, maybe the best defensive second baseman in baseball. Dansby Swanson's been incredible at shortstop. And the catchers they've got back there as well. but you go out to the corners they're fantastic there too they put the ball in play they hit for power their lineup is good one through nine and whether it's nico horner up at the top or a guy like moises ballesteros who's come up and really been huge at dh for them this year uh the cubs are i'm not gonna say they're a great team yet guys but they have potential to be great and if they can, whether at the trade deadline, go out and get an arm or get some of their guys healthy.

1:22:12They have a chance to be a real problem in October and a real thorn in the Dodgers side.

1:22:16Pat McAfee:I love everything about it. I love anytime great environments are happening for sports in the middle of the week. It feels like Wrigley 14 straight is going to continue to be that. And we love this P. Crow Armstrong guy. And I love anytime the Reds lose. Turns out I've had a great six time. They've lost six straight. Reds fan AJ has a question for you, Jet.

1:22:35Jeff Passan:Yeah, dude, the Reds are on a little bit of a slide, but that doesn't matter. We know it's May 7th. We've got plenty of time to make it up, but I wanted to pivot. What's the plan for Shohei going forward? What's the rest of this season look like for him? I know there's all this back and forth. Is he pitching, hitting? What am I doing both? I'm just going to be an individual pitcher. What's going on here? What does the rest of the season look like, you think, for the Dodgers and for Shohei? I think they want Shohei Otani to pitch a full season for the first time in almost half a decade now. And look, the last time Shohei Otani was a full-time pitcher and threw 160-plus innings, he had his worst offensive season in the last five, six years.

1:23:17And I'm not saying that pitching as much as he is is directly affecting him at the plate. I don't ever doubt anything with Shohei Otani anymore. I don't doubt that he can do both at a high level. But we've seen through the years that when he's pitching and when he's focusing as much on it as he is right now, the hitting does tend to suffer a little bit. And that's OK. Shohei Otani, it's May 7th, like you said. He's still got an ERA under one at this point. He's been absolutely brilliant this year. And the Dodgers have enough thump in their lineup where when Mookie Betts is back and, you know, a couple other guys get hitting, they're going to be just fine.

1:23:56You know, the Braves have a better record than them right now. The Yankees, the Rays, the Cubs, all better record than the Dodgers. The Dodgers are still the overwhelming favorite to win the World Series this year, just because they're not a fully formed team yet. They still don't have Blake Snell back. They're missing Mookie Betts. They're missing Edwin Diaz. Like, real stars who are going to make them that much better when they get back. Okay, so they got some thump in their giddy-up over there.

1:24:22Pat McAfee:Fair. You know, so Shell Hay gets a little cold for a little bit while he's pitching. Who cares? He just won two for four last night. And then also, there was this moment, especially with the team that is known for this. Allegedly, now the internet has a conspiracy that this sweeper that just broke AltaVay by an AltaVay in one swing of a bat. Somebody on the internet and AI probably helped did have AltaVay swing in AltaVay. And I think he's still short. So that's how far he missed the strikes out of him last week. Then there was people starting to cook up a conspiracy that Jose was told a fastball was coming, so he's going to swing it, whatever.

1:25:01Pat McAfee:And then that's why Shohei got on the down because he said, oh, you think you're smarter than me? Yeah, right. Is there any truth to all of that? How much is that happening? Because we all remember the garbage can exoskeleton rumor, like all the shit that got crazy with the sign stealing. How much of that is still happening? And is there a chance that this is what took place in this particular situation? there is a chance that that's what took place I don't know that definitively as for sign stealing it's extremely prevalent and you know you saw it a couple days ago right runner on second base for the Boston Red Sox and Frambois Valdez is tipping pitches from his glove like when you You have a guy on second base, he is trying so hard to look in.

1:25:50And when you're looking at the glove, right? Think about it. I'm going to turn around. Think about it from this perspective. When you're looking at the glove, what you're looking for is his grip on the pitch. And when you see what his grip on the pitch is, that's when you can signal it. It happens any number of ways. A little helmet tap, something on the leg. You can signal it to the player at the plate in any way that you want. You know, you thought that PitchCon was going to get rid of sign stealing. No, it's baseball, Pat. And in Major League Baseball, you are going to do everything you possibly can to get every little marginal advantage you can.

1:26:30And, you know, sometimes it's as simple as tipping a pitch. And you're holding it like this. And that's an interesting point. because if a player or if a pitcher is holding his glove like this for a fastball and tilts it that little for when he's throwing a breaking ball, teams will pick that out. Teams will find that. And they use markerless motion capture now, right? So you have these cameras that have guys, essentially their limbs on a screen, and the markerless motion capture can look and see what the difference is with the guy's glove position. And that right there is using technology where in the past it just had to be guys with their eyes figuring it out.

1:27:13Pat McAfee:You had no idea it was a curveball. Nobody knew that was a curveball. That was a curveball the whole time. From here, had my fingers on it, all the way through the leverage, the momentum spot. The point. All the way to the middle. I actually saw it because the tip of the ball was out there. And if you were throwing a fastball, your index finger would have been out there. No, I didn't see shit, Jet. You didn't see shit out there, Jet. Baseball's numbers. You suck and you tip and I will take you deep, McAfee. That's all I'm saying. Passive. You don't know that. You should see me getting to work on this mound right here, right here on this bump.

1:27:48Pat McAfee:I'm throwing wiffle balls at that strike zone over there every day. I found my slot. I'm a little bit down here. I'm a little bit down here. You know what? Good. Like, that's an impressive, that's a tough way to throw a wiffle ball. You got the slider action going on. You throwing a little splitty? Yeah, a little bit of one of those skis here. Yeah, a little bit of one of those skis. I don't know where it's going yet, but once I figure that out, it will be lethal. And I'm certainly going to work on that. Ratings for baseball up and to the right. Tell me about it, Jet. All the rules, changes, obviously huge.

1:28:19Pat McAfee:And we were just talking to Matthew Kachuk about the NHL. Obviously, hockey ratings are up as well. I think the Olympics helped hockey. I think the World Baseball Classic helped baseball. I also think sport is good right now. You agree with that? and what is kind of the talk behind the scenes amongst you, Big J journalists, about the boom that baseball is currently having? It's great to see because I think people are finally catching on that baseball's fun and baseball's interesting. And baseball's regular season, even though it's six months long and feels interminable at some point, there's so much parity in the game right now.

1:28:58This is a wild stat, Pat. We are, what is it, May 7th, May 8th? We're May 7th right now. There are 10 teams in all of baseball over 500. And five of them are from the National League Central. Half the teams over 500 in MLB right now reside in one division. And that one division, which for the longest time was looked at as almost a comedy show. The NL Central is ruling baseball this year. So I think every fan, except for a couple teams, actually feels like their team is in it. The Chicago White Sox right now are within striking distance of first place. And this was a team that was just, you know, two years ago, they lost more games than any team in baseball history.

1:29:43And here they are now. And it all informs to me the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement on December 1st, 2026. Don't do it. No, I want to bring it up because I think every time I come on here, I want to point out baseball is in a good place right now. And they could screw this thing up badly. And every indicator of the game at this point would seem to suggest that it is going in the right direction and that fans are responding to it. And that owners, I understand why owners want a salary cap. I get it completely. But if that's the thing that's going to take baseball off the field and potentially ruin this momentum that the game has right now, the ultimate in cutting off your nose to spite your face.

1:30:28Yeah, I like that. Just and then. Yep. And then maybe even the back of them, too. Oh, Achilles. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. Earmuffs. That had nothing to do with you.

1:30:48Jeff Passan:No, your audience. My God.

1:30:51Pat McAfee:He said he tried to say your must beforehand, though. We should have tried to get that. We apologize that you had to hear that word around you and just know that yours is going to be stronger than ever.

1:30:58Jeff Passan:Don't be scared of the word, man. I'm not scared of the word. Free to guess like that? That's rude. That felt like a dig. No. I genuinely, that had nothing to do with you. That's okay. It's just if you're shooting the back of your legs, that is where you would, that's where the goal would go. The back of their legs, you moron. The back of the foot would be what? Achilles. Yeah. Shoot through the heel you could have said. Which also would be What's that? You have to slice it with a machete or something. It's going to be tough to shoot it. No!

1:31:31Pat McAfee:Remember, there is a stat. What is it? All serial killers come from Midwestern or Caucasian. Indiana. AJ? No, AJ. You fit the bill, AJ. So do you, Jet. Let's not get too crazy here. AJ, though, things like that will certainly sound some alarms, AJ, if you're doing that.

1:31:52Jeff Passan:I think a machete. Yeah, check out his pets died. Disgusting. That was kind of crazy.

1:31:58Pat McAfee:Okay, last question for you, Jed, about the baseball. Go ahead, Tyrus. No, it wasn't. All right, let's say there's a hypothetical, Jeff. It's a hypothetical. It's not real. Who knows if it's real? Friend of yours. Yeah, a friend of mine. Friend of mine. Let's say he's a baseball-free agent. Doesn't have any team. He just likes the sport. He's trying to find a team. And he gets invited to throw the first pitch for Chicago Cubs, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers. Which one do you think would be the right choice? It's a friend of yours? A friend of mine, yeah, yeah. Does he have ties to it? It's a great question.

1:32:26And it depends on what your priorities are and what your level of being willing to take grief from other fan bases is. If all you care about is winning and you don't care that people look down on you for it, If you want to pull, let's say, the Kevin Durant move, then you go with the Dodgers. If, however, you want history and you want, you know, being a Cubs fan, being a Cubs fan can be hard. They spent a century without a World Series. It's almost like struggle and strife are built in to that organization and to being a fan. And here's the thing. The likelihood of the Cubs winning a World Series is a lot lower than the Dodgers, just because the resources that the Dodgers ownership puts in as compared to the Cubs.

1:33:21But both have great stadiums. Both have great histories. And it's just a matter of if you're a Dodgers fan, you kind of look like a bandwagon jumper. But that's OK because you're getting rings. If you are a Cubs fan, then you are in it for the struggle and for the time at the ballpark as much as anything. I appreciate that. I'll pass that along to my friend. It sounds like there was some bias. I hope your friend makes a sound decision. What about the Brewers?

1:33:47Pat McAfee:Well, it sounds like you were pretty biased in this entire thing, though, the way you were giving your advice to his friend that this is certainly for at this exact time. No, there's no bias at all. You can be just a punk if that's what you want to do, or you can be a part of a good fan base that's had to go through some stuff. No, the Dodgers fan base is fantastic. They just get worn out by everyone else in baseball. It's essentially like being a Yankees fan back in the 90s. You know, when you have the most resources, when you have the best player in the world, when you're excellent at everything you do, which that franchise is, you're going to wear it a little bit.

1:34:23I'll tell you what. Zito, obviously Chicago Cubs fan, also good with the graphics. He said, what do you think? well if this is for you and not for a friend obviously you put your friend in here as opposed to just you what do you think you know which one i mean look happier on the left yeah but look at the right though kind of super cool he knows he's gonna win it all on the right yeah super cool on

1:34:44Pat McAfee:the right side you're gonna have to have the uh i think you're gonna have to have the hat backwards there because you're gonna be doing a lot of jousting with people telling you that you guys are cheating and deferring payments for 14 years from now and able to pay everybody on earth and You just win all the time. On this side, you're like, eight straight.

1:35:00Jeff Passan:Good one, PCA.

1:35:03Pat McAfee:Go up to Wrigley. Wrigley, they say, is a great time. There's a bunch of bars right outside of Wrigley. So cool. They say it's a blast. What about the team where, let's hypothetically say, that friend lives in Indianapolis and the AAA team is for the Pirates? Why not throw a first pitch for the Pirates? What if he didn't get invited? Oh, boy.

1:35:22Jeff Passan:All right, let's stop. How did Garong get invited to all these different first pitches? It's crazy. That was good. All right, ladies and gentlemen, that's Inside Joke. You're the best, ladies and gentlemen. Jet Pass.

1:35:35Pat McAfee:Jet Pass. Is it Garong? Is he going to be out there with you? Why would the Dodgers invite you to? I wore the Dodgers jersey. Oh, so the Dodgers are like, hey, would you like to come out? And you said, actually, I don't have a baseball team. They're like, oh, do you want to throw a first pitch, actually? They'll probably have a full setup for you, too. Oh, my God. You're going to get so many Dodger dogs in the back that they're going to create a Hallaburger, I assume, for you out there in L.A.?

1:36:03Jeff Passan:Meet Shohei, have a full conversation in English with Justin. That could happen. Why did you immediately say in English? Do you speak Japanese as well or no? I do not. No, Clayton Kershaw said on the program that he knows English much better than he lets off to be.

1:36:20Pat McAfee:Why does that matter? Why does that matter?

1:36:22Jeff Passan:Because you would think, like, in your head, well, if I go to the Dodgers game and be the first pitch, then maybe I won't actually get to talk to Shohei, so it would be kind of a letdown. But in reality, just so we all know, he could have a full conversation with him, so he wouldn't be letdown.

1:36:36Pat McAfee:Okay. Well, hopefully I get a chance to have a full conversation with Shohei in Japanese and also in English. Domo. Domo. Domo regato. Ohio. Si. What was that? What did you say? Got it. The only language I know is Spanish. So I said C. Yeah, but C, that's why we have depth. How many different languages are being spoken? How many different languages will Stephen A. and Skip speak tomorrow? You know French and Japanese and un poquito Espanol. I'm fluent in Spanish. As you know, he's fluent in Spanish. He knows Irish. We got a fashion designer here.

1:37:08Jeff Passan:I know Irish. I know Latin. I know also a little bit of Mandarin. Yes. He's been to China. Xixi ni. Ni hao wa. Yeah. Wei. Your turn. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who knows all things about all things. Have you done the China tour for basketball? I heard they love the sport over there. No, I was supposed to, and then I tore my Achilles, so that didn't help. That keeps getting brought up, huh? Stop bringing it up. Next summer, though. Next summer, we're trying to make it happen. What was it? A sword? A machete. A machete.

1:37:37Pat McAfee:Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who knows all those languages and more. He is an Emmy Award winner. He is a guy who showcases sports in such a beautiful fashion, formerly of NFL Network and Fox, now ESPN. Ladies and gentlemen, friend of the program, Peter Schrager. Yeah, Schrager. I like that. Siegelman Stable. They got good ponies. Oh, yeah. That's it. That's the one. Yeah, I like that. I like what we're doing here, repping the Knicks. Hey, every time we talk about celebrities making appearances at Madison Square Garden, we always say, Peter Schrager's in the building as well. You know, he's got eyes on.

1:38:14Pat McAfee:Greeny was courtside. Greeny was courtside. Schrager doesn't get courtside. No, I am in a different spot. I'm usually with a pal, and we're sitting in the 200s, and we're just going, blue collar, grinding it out. Greeny, though, I'll give Greeny credit, though, and Halliburton, I love that he's here because he broke my heart in a million ways last year in that series. Greeny, there's a little sneaky thing here. At halftime, all the celebrities, they run off to this thing called the Delta Club, and then they come in the third quarter with like six minutes left, and it's obnoxious. You see these empty seats, and for all the celebrities, they're out there hobnobbing.

1:38:49Greeny was in his seat for the start of the second half, and I texted him. I said, you're legit. I'm here. Let's go.

1:38:54Pat McAfee:I love that Greeny did that on purpose too, by the way. He knew what the optics were. He's probably judged others for it in the past. Delta Club kind of sounds like a bop, though. Yeah. It kind of sounds like it's probably a great time. I couldn't imagine the food or the booze that are potentially available back there. Ty did tell us that he could feel your presence at those games, So even though you're up there in the 200s, Tyrese said he could feel the Schrager energy with the lads. Before we dive into all the NFL news, let's talk about your Knicks. Is this the year, Schrakes? Is this the year you guys are going to go on a run?

1:39:22Pat McAfee:Is this the year that Jalen Brunson maybe finishes it? And we got a pulled hamstring, I do believe. Yeah. OG, right? We actually, in the last six minutes, our mutual friend Shams Charania just came out with a vague sort of good news update that after me not breathing for the first eight hours I've been awake today, we got this one here that it seems to be day-to-day, which I think is a lot better than out for the playoffs. I think we'll take that. Day-to-day, I'd like to hear that he's completely fine. I would love to hear your thoughts, but if you've been watching these Knicks the last few weeks, there is no more valuable player than this man right here and no more beloved New York Knick.

1:40:02He does it all. He is so good on defense. He covers everyone. Paul George has been silenced this series because of how good OG has been on defense. And I just pray that he is healthy enough for this stretch run because he is one of one right now in the NBA.

1:40:16Pat McAfee:So from our sport, we could see a hamstring from a mile away. Everybody can. It did appear whenever he was coming around to pull and then even more pull later. Day to day. Tyrese, you were shaking your head. Why you were shaking your head? Just because the hamstring is so volatile? Oh, hamstring is the worst. And he did that in our series, what, two years ago, too. He had his hamstring in that series as well. So that's not a day-to-day with a hamstring strain is a little worrisome because it's a hamstring strain. So I would be worried. I'd be worried. I hope he's okay, though. Well, and then Joel Embiid, he goes out because of hip and ankle, I do believe.

1:40:47Pat McAfee:Is that what it was?

1:40:48Jeff Passan:Yeah, and also OG from that series as well. It was day-to-day. And remember, he like basically taped one on. He had like a makeshift hamstring and he kept playing. Yeah, and you, I think you had some injuries throughout the playoffs last year. Is it because you guys are just running so much? It's like inevitable that somebody's going to get hurt in your guys' playoff series? Yeah, I mean, it's soft tissue. So, I mean, the argument that people would make would be that we play too many games or whatever. Oh, soft. This is that young child. I wouldn't make that argument. I would not make that argument.

1:41:16I like the games we play. I'm a fan. Two days rest. Two days rest seems so quick. Like the quick turnaround here that these guys have to play. And I tell you, I have so much respect for that guy in the studio right now because I know he played through pain. Appreciate it, Shreks. Both those series. But it's like, you know, all NBA season, it's load management. We rest. We wait. And then in NBA playoffs, it's like every night they have a game. So you got to figure it out, man. All right. I appreciate Shreg's fandom. I like that. He flew out here last year.

1:41:43Pat McAfee:He was willing to sit up in the last row. He said PG was silenced last night. I thought PG played pretty well last night. I like the energy, though. I like that. Keep it up, Shregs. I do like Paul George back in the playoffs. Yeah. I think he meant just before. Big shot. He airballed the big shot that he's looking at his teammate like, what happened? No, no, that was you. You missed that shot. That's a real Nick's fan right there. I mean, things will happen. Yeah, buddy. Let's go ahead and put that blame on yourself. A little accountability. Love Paul George. Love Tyrese Maxey. Joel Embiid, whenever he's playing great, it's good to see.

1:42:10Pat McAfee:The Sixers trusting the process for this long and finally getting a little shine. Great. Until the Knicks just kind of go ahead and destroy him in front of Shrags. Let's go to some NFL news here quickly. Aaron Rodgers makes reports. He's coming to Pittsburgh. What do you know? Have you known? And how do you feel about it all? This is the big story of the day. Don't feel obligated to give a full diatribe if you've already unloaded on this 10 times because it seemingly is an everyday situation. But now we get some news. He's going this weekend, allegedly. Allegedly. And 93.7, the local radio station, was the first to report that he was in town.

1:42:41It seems like Rappaport's confirming it. I'll tell you this. Speaking of Steelers sources, they're there for rookie minicamp today through the end of the weekend. And there's no sign of Aaron Rodgers yet. So I think we've learned that we don't start pegging Aaron Rodgers is going to do this, going to do that until Aaron Rodgers does this or does that. I have not been on the ground in Pittsburgh. I have not seen him flying in, but the local radio station in Rappaport has since confirmed it. It's like the Loch Ness Monster to me, though. I've learned too many times. Until I see that guy in uniform or on site, I'm not putting anything in ink yet.

1:43:14Pat McAfee:I love it because remember last year there was a disguise in a Toyota Camry or something.

1:43:19Jeff Passan:Yeah, the poopy rental car. I mean, this is sweet.

1:43:23Pat McAfee:He is a one-of-one type human. He is a one-of-one type quarterback. And what a situation it is over there in Pittsburgh. I don't know if you heard, Shregs. Tony Diggs has been burying Aaron Rodgers since the draft because he talked to a bunch of people that have kind of given him the green light to do as such, as the injuries feel. And then this morning he hears Doran Dickerson on B94, the fan, and he goes, I love Aaron. I'm so happy. I mean, completely flip-flop. Let's move to some other news around the NFL that's happening. The Eagles promote Adam Barry, brother of Andrew Barry, to assistant GM.

1:43:53Pat McAfee:Philadelphia Eagles always surrounded with some drama. Cleveland Browns also, is that what they said? Hey, you're the twin brother of the guy who had to deal with everything happening in Cleveland. You should be pretty good over here in Philly. How have we not known that Andrew Barry has a twin brother that looks exactly like him in all this? And why do you think Philadelphia did this? Well, Adam was actually, he's been there for a bit here. And he actually used to work at Goldman Sachs at a very high level. And they brought him over after Andrew was already established in the NFL. It's very funny, though, because I've gotten to know Adam a little bit.

1:44:24I know Andrew, and you'll be at the combine and they won't be wearing team issued gear. And the amount of times Adam Barry has to talk to a reporter or talk to someone who comes up to him and just assumes it's Andrew Barry because he has no idea that Andrew Barry has a twin brother is innumerable. Now I think he's getting a little more spotlight. Very well respected within that building. In the last two years, they've lost two important voices. Jake Rosenberg, who was there, and then Alec Halabi, who left this year. Two guys who were like Howie Roseman's right hand man. These guys are gone. Adam Barry gets promoted.

1:44:56Of course, you saw Joe Douglas is going to have a bigger title there. He's a former GM of the Jets and, of course, a longtime lieutenant in Chicago and in Baltimore and in Philly. And then I saw another one. Mike McCagnin is apparently joining that Eagles front office. He used to be GM of the Jets as well. So Howie is always looking for different voices and different guys, but Adam Barry has been a mainstay, and now he gets that assistant GM job, and his brother is the GM of the Cleveland Browns.

1:45:19Pat McAfee:And Big Dom gets a new deal, too, for all his jobs. That's right. Super security, super coaching stuff, assistant GM stuff. He's a big dom, got an extension as well. Good to see that he's still going to be around. Let's talk about some other NFL news taking place. A little bit more spicy, I would say. Go ahead, Conman.

1:45:37Jeff Passan:Speaking of Andrew Barry Schraggs, it was reported that allegedly the Browns are doing their homework on Soresby, the situation that's kind of unfolding down in Texas with the gambling. A lot of stuff still needs to get worked out. but him being kind of the first big name in the possible supplemental draft in a few years now. What are you kind of hearing on this situation? Do you expect him to be in the NFL next year if everything gets worked out legally and he doesn't have any more kind of right to play in college anymore? Do you think he could be one of those players that a team will give up a high pick for?

1:46:11And quick follow-up on some precedent in this entire process. Yeah, I was reminded today that when this happened, when Terrell Pryor was suspended by the NCAA and he decided to go supplemental draft, it was a five - or six-game suspension with the NCAA, and the NFL was like, you're not going to be a safe harbor. We're not going to be a safe harbor for players where you can just jump and we're not going to find you or whatever, suspend you. So then the NFL upheld the suspension for Terrell Pryor and also Jim Trestle, who was with the Colts at the time. So there's a situation here where the NFL could also suspend Sorsby.

1:46:40Pat McAfee:Go ahead, Shrek. Sorry, we just wanted to make sure we had all the intel out there. It's good. And I remember the Terrell Pryor deal. Remember, that was for getting tattoos at a shop. And he had to pay such a price for that. If you look back in hindsight now, how ridiculous that was for Terrell Pryor. You look at this one. This is an interesting deal because there will be interest in him in the supplemental draft. We don't see the supplemental draft utilized too often, especially for a quarterback. There will be interest. As far as the Browns go, I would take the meme of the dog with the laser.

1:47:09Just like looking at Browns fans. Anytime a quarterback can even throw a ball. That's how they act as far as that is. I'm told Browns right now, Soresby's name has not been in the conversation. Rather, they're focused on what they have in-house at the moment. And that is a Deshaun Watson revival. That is a Shador Sanders. Can you do it again? Can you get back on the field and can you win this job? And they are so ecstatic about their draft that they had this past last couple of weeks that the Browns, like, I don't know if Soresby being dropped into it is an actual legitimate thing right now. We'll see.

1:47:39Tone Diggs' point. The NFL is going to have a say in this as well. but a fascinating, unprecedented topic now in the NIL era, especially in this whole gambling, pro-gambling world that we live in. Tyrese, don't be gambling on shit. No, don't. I've never gambled on a sport in my life. I like that. Beast. Hey. A little bit of blackjack, though. Sure. Certainly got to play. Certainly have to play. Especially if somebody else is putting up all the money for it. Yeah. That was a really cool time. For sure. Very nice of that person. Yes, it was. A lot of money. Jelly Roll gave us a shit ton of money to gamble on.

1:48:13Pat McAfee:So much money. I sat down. I've never been a part of this. This is after he tried to break my neck. He was trying to apologize to me. Sure. He was trying to apologize to me. I think he was trying to be kind. Hey, why don't you come over? I sit down. There's just so much chips, so many chips in front of me. So many chips in front of me. What is this? Is it like show chips? No, those are your chips. Oh, there's a lot of pressure here. Got back to even with him. Shove those over it before we went and saw Tony fucking yayo in 50 cents. I mean, that was a great Vegas night. I mean, we did it. Yeah, we had a time.

1:48:40I think we did. Yeah. Too bad you were on the side of the wrong side of the fucking wrestling. Yeah, you were. Cody Crabby. Son of a bitch. Thank you, Connor. He won. And your dad was mad about it, and you were happy. And that's what I don't like about at all. You know what I mean? Because I was on your side. I was fighting for you against people that are megastars. People that have generated$6 billion at the box office. People that are notorious for being sports fans while also being super geniuses.

1:49:10Pat McAfee:not just in comedy how about we drop severance on your ass ladies and gentlemen joining us now a man who i fought for you with ben stiller yeah how you doing ben how are you guys good good nice to be here dude it's an honor to have you uh obviously i'm 39 years old so you understand with your demographic now out in the world you uh you supplied our lives with a lot of incredible shit so we we appreciate you so much now on that note i also respect the fact that you are sports fan you are diehard knicks fan they're in they're out when the met gala happens we got to talk about it ben okay we have to we didn't want to do it we didn't have to do it how was that decision for you and honestly what are you doing throughout the entirety are you watching game on phone like how do you kind of balance all that yeah it was a tough one it was a tough one for me and you know It's been a really interesting experience because I didn't even think anybody really would care that much about whether or not I was there or not, you know, in terms of like the reaction to it.

1:50:16Yeah, Ben, you're Ben Stiller, man. Ben, you're at every game, Ben. I know. You're synonymous with the team. But can I tell you what happened? Yeah. But it triggered something for it's been an interesting learning experience for me as a fan, because I've had to process this like the reaction and how people sort of react, you know, knowing what the circumstances are in the context of it all. Which, you know what I mean? Like, I can't explain the context to everybody in the world. So for me as a fan, I wanted to be at that Knicks game more than anything. Have to be. I had an – and I basically in my life, the last season or so, I've tried to work my professional work life around the Knicks all the way through to making sure that as this playoff run happens and this final run could possibly happen, that I'm making sure that I am going to be there.

1:51:08But this Met Gala thing was something I had – a friend of mine invited us three months ago. And as the dates were coming up, of course, You don't know what the playoff dates are going to be as they come up. And about a week before I started to see this, because I thought I'd thought of every other permutation in terms of clearing my schedule for playoff games. And this was there. And honestly, it was, it's a very good friend who got the table who I felt I would be as a friend. It would be lame to cancel on our friend who we don't see for this thing. Now nobody cares. Tough position, Ben. That's a tough spot for you.

1:51:45By the way, the world doesn't care and I get it. So all I tried to do was I'd say, OK, we're going to wear our next colors. I'm going to try. I'm going to have my phone. I'm going to be, you know, Anna Wintour doesn't like when people are watching their phones at the Met Gala. You know, she wants everybody's attention to be there, which I understand. I was watching the game, checking on it, but it was really, really tough. And I said to Christine the night before, I said, I think I'm going to get some shit for this. And, you know, it's a it's I don't know what to do. And she said, look, we have to do it's our friend.

1:52:14We're going to make that we made this commitment. There's nothing to do. We can't cancel. Thought about canceling, and I said I can't do it.

1:52:19Pat McAfee:Now, Ben, I would like to let you know, you're a good friend, great friend. You getting shit is a compliment because we think you're like a part of the sports. You know what I mean? That's a compliment more than anything. Again, I didn't think it would be such a hubba. But I also understand that people need stuff to talk about, right? The morning radio shows. Tomorrow. Yeah, all of us. Yeah, everybody needs stuff. You're Ben Stiller. That's why it's such a big deal. And also, you are synonymous with this team. Like, you coming out to Indiana, you flying to Indiana for these games. Come on. So much respect for it.

1:52:49Pat McAfee:It's like you have been synonymous with this Knicks team. You, Timmy, everybody. Literally, Tracy. Timmy didn't help go into the game game one. Yeah, Timmy, Timmy. Well, that was the thing. The fact that he decided to not go. And, by the way, I don't get invited to the Met Gala. Timothy gets invited to the Met Gala every year. The last time I was invited was 10 years ago by the same friend who bought the table. And we went with him 10 years ago. And then I went once before, like 20 years ago. I'm not that guy. So the irony was I said to Christine, I hope Timothy's also going to the Met gal. And of course he wasn't.

1:53:22And then I was like, all right. Well, Ben, we wanted to. And then the thing that it. Yeah. No, go ahead. I just wanted to say the thing that it triggered then became this competition, the competition thing of like who is the more diehard Knicks fan, right? And that for me, that was interesting because I realized that I had to be okay with the fact that you're not a fan to be in competition with other fans or to prove to people you're a fan. You're a fan because you love the team. So I had to live with the fact that I know. I think I even tweeted, like, I know who I am. I know who my fans are. We have respect for that.

1:53:59We know that, too. You need to know that. My ego, like, I'm the best Knicks fan. It's like, it's not a competition. We all love the Knicks. You know, people love the Knicks. So I couldn't, I had to let my ego get out of the way for that.

1:54:09Pat McAfee:Okay. Well, I appreciate you doing that. I appreciate you having to have that conversation. I also appreciate the fact that like, this is sports, man. You're like so in sports. Like you are a sports person. And you know, so we like that. So the fact that, you know, people shit talking you, you becoming synonymous with a team, whenever there's a celebration happening, guess whose ass is going to be in a parade. Oh yeah. Your ass won it as well. I think it's a, it's a great thing. And it's because we all have so much respect for everything you've accomplished. You know, it's fucking everywhere. Can we dive into that?

1:54:35Pat McAfee:We're still live on YouTube. You go comedy, comedy, comedy, comedy, comedy, comedy. Okay? Sports always your whole life, and comedy kind of helped that. And then you go super serious with severance. This is like a whole different vein, and then your marketing is like super shit deep. Yeah. Like super, super, super. Always been sports person? Pick up sports later in life? How does it tie into how you've kind of shaped your professional career, you think? I'll give you my my you know my honest history with sports is I grew up in New York City you know I was born in 65 right so you know 75 I was one of those guys running on the field Yankee Stadium you know I take the D train with my friends you know I was there when Reggie hit the three home runs I had a piece of right field in my bedroom that I ripped up you know from I think the 78 series the championship series so Yankees were my thing when I was a kid then I kind of and the Knicks I was a big, as a teenager, big Bernard King fan.

1:55:36There was a guy named Mike Glenn on the Knicks. I don't know if you know Stinger, Mike Glenn, an incredible three-point shooter, played for the Hawks. He was my favorite player back in the day. Then I moved to L.A. from, I'd say, like 92 to like 2010. And my fandom was there, but not as intense. And I never became a Lakers fan or an L.A. fan. Always a Knicks fan, but just from afar during the 94-99 run. Then I moved back to New York in 2010, and that's when I was like, oh, my God, I'm back in New York. I can take my son to Knicks games like my dad because my dad took me to Knicks games in 73, 74.

1:56:11I mean, I literally saw those teams.

1:56:13Pat McAfee:A lot of stories about that, like Michael Cole, our friend from over there, who's WWE, he talks about his dad had him in the arena watching the Knicks, and it feels like with so many people, the Knicks are who everybody likes. I know the Nets kind of did their thing for a little bit there, but the Knicks seemingly, and the Yankees, even though the Mets are spending a lot of money, but the Knicks are like the entire city's kind of team. You getting a chance to showcase that, I think, is good. Can you tell me about your brain, though, that other part of the question? I guess sports doesn't really help it out much.

1:56:40Pat McAfee:Can you tell me about your fucking brain? Do you have thoughts going all the time? Is it tough to sleep? How do you get into these such radically different spaces? Legit, you smoking weed, you doing ayahuasca, you doing what is your shit? You on DMT? All of you. You know, I'm like, I'm basically, it's a great, sports is a great outlet, right? And what I don't like, which I'm sure you feel as a fan too, is when you care about a team that much, when they get to the point where they're not going to get to the next step, when they lose finally, it's really painful and not fun. And that thing of like, it's fun, fun, fun, but then it always has to end.

1:57:18So for me, it's a great outlet and a diversion. it's become much more since the Knicks have become you know better in the last four or five years to watch that and then to have that history of all the years of them not being good because you know like I'll watch every game every you know every season I watch every game because you know I'm into it but when you start to see them actually doing well it becomes so much more exciting because you have you know like 50 years of history there yeah absolutely can you tell me about your

1:57:43Pat McAfee:brain not getting let's go let's talk about the brain let's talk about the brain let's talk about creative process let's talk about getting my brain is i do go i do go yeah pat i do go i you know i for me i love to to be working on whatever project i'm working on or we have you know a few different projects so creatively i'm always yeah i enjoy that that's my my relaxation is you know doing something that i feel is creative for me okay on that note connor has a question for you yeah ben

1:58:11Jeff Passan:severance i mean pat mentioned it i think it's like the greatest show on tv right now and it It feels like if you land the plane here, it could be just one of the greatest shows of all time with Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, those types of shows. Where did it come from? Where was that idea originated when you first thought of it? Was it something where you kind of had like a five season arc? Was it something where you knew, hey, it's starting here. It'll be in the middle here and end here. No, I mean, this was a script that came into us by a writer named Dan Erickson, who had sent it as a spec script.

1:58:42The spec script is a script that a writer will send as a sample so you can have a meeting to maybe do something else. And I read the spec script and I was like, this is amazing. And we had the meeting and I said, is anybody making this? So this was like eight years ago or nine years ago. And he had never had anything produced. And so we connected and we started working together on building it. And it's been an amazing experience. It became my full time job for like the last, you know, five years or so doing it. And I was never, never been happier working on something. so you know i can't take credit for it but the building out of the world and the collaboration of all the different departments and our you know our cinematographer production designer costume designer everybody kind of came together on it and uh you know and we're lucky enough to

1:59:25Pat McAfee:have the freedom to make it too yeah home run that's because you're ben fucking stiller go ahead aj you can make whatever you want by the way yeah you can't everything you make it is gold but

1:59:34Jeff Passan:can we get back to the met guy we we see you guys walk up the stairs we see the the costumes the outfits everybody's wearing what the hell actually goes on once you're inside yeah that's a good question yeah yeah that's a good question um you know basically you go in and once you know they take your phone and they cover up your phone so you can't take pictures yeah and then or like a little sticker and then you kind of do this tour for the costume institute they raise money to support the costume institute so it's designers who have done these different exhibits and designs fashion designs related to the art at the Met so and it's pretty amazing and you sort of mingle around and then it's weird because you see people that you would never see in real life like Mark Zuckerberg or people and you're like okay you know and you just kind of have and then all of a sudden there's like a faceless nun with a metal plate on her face and it turns out and you know 20 minutes later oh that was Katy Perry I just didn't know because she didn't you know it's so weird it's It's just weird.

2:00:34And you just like try to find somebody you know and then get through it. And then so basically there's like mingling and then mingling in another room. And then you go and have dinner in the Temple of Dendur room where that temple is. And that, you know, like the Egyptian temple where they built out of, you know, it's like this giant wing of the museum that's been there for like 30 years. And then after dinner, there's a show. A show, like a fashion show?

2:01:03Pat McAfee:and are you walking your ass up there? No, no, no, no. Musical, musical, musical performance. And Sabrina Carpenter played and then BD Nix got up, I guess, and played also. But honestly, we left a little bit early before that. Yeah, but you would say, had a great time mingling, looking, seeing, enjoying. You had a blast. Left early to finish the Nix game. Honestly, the best time was being with our friend Johnny who invited us and being sitting and seeing him because I don't see him that often. That was the reason we went. That was like to be there and, you know, connect with him. Hey, can the Knicks win it this year or no?

2:01:35Pat McAfee:You said you watch every single game. Is it different than last year? You know, whenever you ran into the big, bad wolf, the Indiana Pacers, you know, Tyrese Alliburton's now sitting on this show. He's not in a playoffs, which I admit. Hi, Tyrese. How are you? What's up, man? How you doing? I mean, I was there, as you know, like, you know, last year when Tyrese hit the shot. Yeah. That changed everything. And I had the bad luck of being, you know, sitting under the celebration, you know, under this. And then like making like eye contact with Miles Turner. Like just it was so weird. It was just so scary and weird.

2:02:11I was like, I don't this is the one time I don't want these seats. It was just your glory moment there. So, yeah, the Knicks, I think this year, you know, up until about three or four weeks ago, I was a little I was or three weeks ago. I was questioning it a little because I don't think we've ever, like, really found the rhythm. Last year, you know, there was, like, a team cohesion. But then there was also the fact that the rotation was so tight. I think, you know, that finally something clicked at Game 3 of the Atlanta series, after Game 3 of the Atlanta series, where I think the teams started playing for each other.

2:02:44And obviously McHale, you know, started producing. And, you know, OG has been incredible. So, like, everybody is stepping up. I feel like there's a good vibe. you know, OKC is really, really tough. You know, knock on wood, if we can, you know, OG now, this is a huge, he's a huge part of our, you know, our success. Day-to-day, Sean's just saying it's day-to-day, Ben.

2:03:06Pat McAfee:Day-to-day with that hamstring. I think that's good news as opposed to just... Yeah, and we did that, like Harvey was saying a couple years ago. I mean, I remember, you know, when Julius Randle was on the team and OG went out and there was this incredible run and then he went out and it changed everything too. So we really need him. But I also feel like the role players have had more time to play as they didn't have last year, you know, in terms of, you know, the rotation. So, you know, if Deuce can step up, if Landry Shaman, who's great, can step up, Mo Diawara, you know, we have some good pieces, so we'll see.

2:03:38All right, well, good luck to you. Can't wait to see you at the games. Yeah, get the job done. Yeah, good luck. Good luck. Are you ever going to be coming to MSG, Pat?

2:03:47Pat McAfee:So you did hear, right, last year I tried to come and I was told no. That's awesome. I thought that was incredible, by the way. I thought that was like... Who told you no? I think... Oh, yeah, yeah. You know who? Yeah, you know who? Mr. Dolan? I think there was a no. And I love that, by the way. I was like a massive fan of that move. Just because... Just like I like us talking shit to you immediately upon you missed the game, because that's like sports. But I didn't think about you actually having to kind of internalize all that. Like, fuck, I got Johnny waiting. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

2:04:16Thank you. Yeah, sorry. Thank you for letting me air that out. Honestly, I appreciate it. Yeah, no problem. That's a tough spot for you.

2:04:21Pat McAfee:but we were definitely going to talk shit to you because you're in the sports world. That's how we view it. You should know that. And you are very welcome to be very much appreciative of you. And good luck on whatever other shit you create for us to enjoy. Tropic Thunder 2. Thank you, guys. Ooh, Tropic Thunder 2. Will there ever be? I don't know. We'll see. I want to leave that one alone because I think it kind of lives in its own world. Have you thought about some of the olds bringing back maybe another? well I did we just did another meet the parents called Fokker in law that's coming out thanks game Fokker can't wait for that I like that have you found something maybe with this though that you enjoyed maybe go back in time a little bit maybe we go back to fucking fat camp you know what I love that I heavyweights one of my favorite experiences ever I would love you know yes I'll be open to that look I think getting people back in the theaters for comedies would be a great thing original um or you know whatever sequels but like let's get people back laughing together in the theaters because that was so much fun back in the day and hopefully we can see that happen again.

2:05:21Pat McAfee:Good community experience. It feels like people are buying stuff to go do stuff. Hopefully we can continue that. We just need you to keep making it. You've got to go to Severance to this way. Let me fuck up your brains. Let me go ahead and fuck up your brains here with Severance.

2:05:35Jeff Passan:No pressure at all. Could be the greatest show ever if you don't fuck it up. There's a lot of...

2:05:41Pat McAfee:I got faith. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Ben Stiller. Thank you, buddy. Thank you, Doug.

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2:07:05Pat McAfee:Back to me. Holy shit. Did not expect that. We apologize, Shrags there. Are you kidding? I mean gosh Heavyweights 2 Give me something about Mary 2 Dodgeball 2 Definitely I'll take Reality Bites 2 I don't care just give me more of those Something about I mean there's just so many How many great moments did we have in movie theaters With Ben Stiller's films So we talked about this yesterday Ben Stiller and Sandman Adam Sandler And Ferrell Will Ferrell's up there Rest in peace obviously but we're talking about Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler have both made so many things. Like, so, sorry, not Will Ferrell.

2:07:46Pat McAfee:Who died? Sorry, sorry. What was that? Not Will Ferrell. Was there news since OG's? Chris Farley, rest in peace. I was like, I know Will hasn't put out that many bangers lately. No, Will. I thought Holmes was a boy. Will Ferrell, hero, legend, icon. You're right. Will Ferrell, definitely. I apologize. I forgot about him. Oh, my God. I'm happy he's, that's 100 % on me, Will. Thank you for bringing me to life for a long time. Yeah, I love everything you're about. But you're right. Like, those three from that generation have created so many things. like so, so many things. Where did you laugh harder in the theater at?

2:08:14Something about Mary or the original Borat film? Or Jackass. When I saw Jackass in the theater, it was revolutionary. We were young for something about Mary. Not young, but like...

2:08:26Pat McAfee:I would say semi-pro. I went to the theater three times. What a film. Me and you went to see Wedding Crashers at the theaters many times. Multiple times as well. Yes, because it was a heater. An absolute heater. I think that was a good one. Super bad in the theater? Super bad. Tropic Thunder was my favorite comedy. It's my favorite comedy of all time. I mean, Adam Sandler. And there will be never. I know. Adam Sandler just has so many bangers.

2:08:52Jeff Passan:And he has some that are underrated. Like, That's My Boy, I think, is one of the funniest movies. Great one.

2:08:57Pat McAfee:But he had such a big streaming deal. I think a lot of people know him for streaming. Yes. As opposed to, like, going to movie theater. Which I do. Oh, I saw in year to year, I went Billy Madison to Happy Gilmore to then, like, he got, like, soft with the wedding singer. Then Big Daddy was great. And then Mr. Deeds was just crazy and off the wall. What was the devil? Little Nicky? Little Nicky. Yeah, the video game maker. So you're saying Sandler and Stiller, they're both what, New York Knicks fans? Is that right? Are they both New Yorkers? Sandler's a New York guy. I assume he's in it. I think Sandler just likes the sport.

2:09:29Great hooper. Yeah, Sandler. Have you ever been diced up by him before? I've watched him play in our practice facility. You and him have kind of similar playing style. Yeah. Me and the Sandman? fashion too. I think kind of similar people. He's got much better fashion than Tyrese's. I like Sandman. Big Sandman fans. We love Sandman. Probably the coolest celebrity I've ever met in my life. Sandman? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Clean Dap, Handshake? What'd we do? Yeah, Clean Dap. Great conversation. Did a great job of introducing himself to Jade. It was pretty cool.

2:09:56Jeff Passan:His comedy show was one of the best shows I've ever seen. Yeah, we went to watch it live.

2:10:00Pat McAfee:Did you see it live? On like a Tuesday. It was like a Tuesday or Wednesday here in Indianapolis down in the arena. I was there. Sold out the fucking arena and it was just him just an absurd Adam Sandler show for 90 minutes. I don't even know how to describe it. We're singing songs at one point. We're fucking telling jokes at one point. We're putting glasses on at one point. Did you meet him? No. No, I got a text. One of my all-time favorites. I grew up with the records, the music albums. Oh, they were so weird. They're all going to laugh at you. Hey, Crazy Nights. Cold Booth Willie, Medium Face, Hello.

2:10:32These are hilarious, hilarious moments of my life. So have you seen the live show? I didn't see it. I saw it on Netflix. I thought it was amazing.

2:10:39Pat McAfee:He writes new songs for these shows, and it's just outrageous because he's like actually down.

2:10:43Jeff Passan:What was the donkey song? That was the best. Click-a-dee-clank. He-haw, he-haw.

2:10:46Pat McAfee:Yeah, what a stud. Okay, let's talk NFL stuff, shall we? Because we have an NBA guy here, so let's tell him about, you know. By the way. What? What are you about to do? We were talking toughness with other leagues, and your league never got brought up. Yeah, that's ridiculous. Stop it. I don't like it.

2:11:03Jeff Passan:When you were talking about watching the games last year, I did want to throw that in. Like, you also, with the SGA flopping stuff, like, you forget how physical the game is itself. Because of the flailing, you don't realize, like, it is actually so physical.

2:11:17Pat McAfee:And how hard they're trying. Yes. The narrative is like, can't try, too many points, not trying. It's like everybody is dying out there. You're right. I need to talk about that more. I need to talk about that more. Because what you guys have to go through with the amount of running, amount of reps, amount of games, amount of travel, lack of sleep, I think there is a toughness to that. We need to represent that a little bit more. And the skill of the game, too. You're part of the new media. Do a better job. Well, Stephen A. and Skip are going to take you back. Oh, my God. Nobody. 10 a.m. Eastern.

2:11:45Not true. ESPN. You guys excited? Right here. Tony, you excited? Can't say nobody because I'm right here. Hey, sue me. I'm pumped to watch a master debate tomorrow. I cannot wait. There'll be one topic the whole show. Yeah. About one person. Ten years of shit he's got to say. Ten years about one person. two people but shrags i know you're excited you love television shrags loves television shrags

2:12:10Pat McAfee:loves the intricacies of television shrags knows more about the intricacies of television than anybody i've talked about shrags cares about the little things on television more than anybody i've ever had a chance to talk to you got to be super pumped up about tomorrow because what tomorrow is is a representative of what the era that had been for a long time of sports media has been don't you think is that kind of the bigger picture for tomorrow kind of a full circle moment right It started with those guys, and now every single person's got a podcast. Every single person has a screaming, talking head show.

2:12:39And now it's like we finished the full circle, and they're back. And I'll tune in. I'll check it out on Friday.

2:12:44Pat McAfee:Oh, I like that. I think that's tomorrow, right? Yeah, it's tomorrow. It's almost here tomorrow, 10 a.m. Eastern, ESPN. Just he and I. Well, also Shea Cornette. Showtime. Showdown. Pray for him. Make you score? Pray for him. Pray for him. What's that, Shregs? Pray for him. Shrags, okay. Let's talk NFL with Shrags, shall we? Because he doesn't know what Skip's capable of.

2:13:10Jeff Passan:What happens if he does actually just pull out a freaking gun? I don't know. I think there's a security camera. I think they got... That's not what the prayers are. That's not what he's saying. Who to go to answer right. Let's talk a little bit about it. What happens if Johnny invites him to the Met Gala tonight? Oh, there's a chance. Listen, Skip might have to take a trip.

2:13:32Pat McAfee:I appreciate Ben Stiller being like, It's nice of Johnny Depp to invite him.

2:13:36Jeff Passan:Is that who that was? Was that the only Johnny that I think of? Johnny who? Johnny Depp ain't going to that. We know what Johnny's doing. How about Ben Stiller following up with, I was not invited to the Mecca. I was invited by somebody who was invited, not me. I'm not that guy. Timmy goes every year. Timmy actually gets invited by these people, not me. I didn't think anybody would know that.

2:13:57Pat McAfee:I mean, who cares that I'm a, it's like, Ben, you're Ben Stiller? Sounds like he is all the way back in. All right, let's do some NFL talk, shall we, Shrags? And I think I don't want to break any news. We're not going to break any news. We don't know what news is news. What do you got? Especially right now. What do you got? Going to see a lot of Shrags. Shrags, we love you, Shrags. I love you, Shrags. I love you, Shrags. Oh, yeah, Shrags. Okay, let's move. Let's talk. Steven Jones on Micah trade a year later. The decision we made was one that one player is not worth four or five good players. When you look at what the Dallas Cowboys have cooked and what the Green Bay Packers have cooked, Should we look back in a positive light for this trade for both parties, or how do you kind of view this entire thing, Shrakes?

2:14:30With any trade, it's going to be, let's see how it all works out. But they had a strategy in this to, hey, we're going to pick up defensive players in this draft. They took defensive players in four of the first five picks, and over the course of the last 12 months, they added Kenny Clark, Quinn Williams, and Rashad Gary. Their defense is significantly better than it was when they took the field week one without Micah Parsons. The one thing I took away from that great doc that you guys talked about on Monday, the pick is in, was the Stephen Jones, Will McClay, Jerry Jones, Brian Schottenheimer of it all.

2:15:01Like, they all seem like they're on the same page. And then you add in this new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, who, by the way, is 34, comes from the Eagles, and was a defensive backs guru, and is kind of the voice, like, hey, let's get Caleb Downs, let's get Malachi Lawrence. Like, I know it sounds hyperbolic, and it's easy to move the needle in May to say the Cowboys got significantly better and could be contenders, But I can't see that roster today versus what we saw opening week last year with that defense and not think this team has gotten so much better on that side of the ball.

2:15:34And if Downs and Quinnen and Rashawn Gary all play what we think they can do, you can start to justify that Micah trade knowing that they've spent the money on so many different places as opposed to just one player. Shregs, I want to ask you about Christian Parker, who you brought up there, the new DC. I saw you calling the most interesting man in the NFL. And then I swear to God, I have heard his name on like six to seven other shows. People talking about like him being a genius. Like he sees the game like like the way that all the great coaches have seen the game. Like, is that where is where is that coming from?

2:16:05Is that just people talking about how good he was in Philly and stuff like that? But people are talking about Christian Parker like he's the next great coach. I've gotten to know Christian a little bit. Not not well enough. He's 34. He was with the Broncos. And then, of course, he's with the Eagles. And he was their defensive backs coach the last few years. And is one of the guys responsible, obviously, for what we see out of Quinion Mitchell and Cooper Dejean. But he's a firebrand. He is up. He is up. It's energy. It is wake up out of bed, 11 out of 10, let's go. And the players seem to really respond to him in a real way.

2:16:36But what I heard was in this draft process, he was very vocal as to what they wanted. And Caleb Downs was the number one guy that they wanted for his above the neck, for the high IQ. So he's a guy who is a player at, I believe, Richmond. He was a Richmond Spider. And he's earned his way. And at 34, I think there's no more interesting new hire as far as coordinators go than the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys, whose team was awesome on offense and awful on defense a year ago.

2:17:02Pat McAfee:Yeah, and Shadi seemingly is very comfortable with the head coaching role. You know, maybe this guy's the next head coach. But as a 34-year-old getting an opportunity to lead the Dallas Cowboys, a lot of opportunity. And the pick is in. Did you know they were shooting that when they were shooting that? They got a lot of access. There was a camera around, and I know they got a lot of Schefter. there was not a lot of Schrager, and I loved watching it. I thought it was fantastic. They weren't in the Bunker Boys Tavern for much of that draft. They didn't make it there, no. The Bunker Boys Tavern, did we know he was mic'd up, though?

2:17:31Pat McAfee:I had no idea. We had no idea that he was mic'd up. And we'd like to let Schefter know, Schefter, you've been around the league long enough. Come on. Okay? When you're wired, you need to be letting people know. Now, I would like to see him backstage running into that puddle and wall. whenever he had to tweet out that George Pickens was potentially signing his franchise. I don't know if that's how it was phrased, but that's what he told us after. He was signing it. It was great. That Pick Is In show was fantastic. I think this is the new Hard Knocks for NFL Films because we very rarely get to see any of this and would never get to see any of this.

2:18:05Pat McAfee:I think this is a good one, Shregs. Back to your point. I kind of liked it more than Hard Knocks. Definitely. And I liked the immediacy of it, that it came out just a week after the draft so he could watch it. One thing I, you know, obviously Adam here with, I got a trade in my Wi-Fi sucks. and the whole thing. That was fun. But one thing I loved was seeing the Cleveland war room and how they had three different offensive guys that they liked. Jordan Tyson, CeCe Maunoa, Spencer Fano. They're sitting at six. They know the Giants want to go offensive tackle, so they can't trade behind them. So Andrew Barry really craftily moving just to nine with the Chiefs who get their guy, and then they still get Fano.

2:18:40Like, that stuff is so cool to me. It's a chessboard, and there's so much more to the draft than just best player available.

2:18:45Pat McAfee:I love the draft. I had so much fun. We appreciate you joining us out there in Pittsburgh. And we can't wait to continue to celebrate you, brother. Have a good one. Thank you for joining us. I love it. And I'll tell you, Pittsburgh was an amazing city, and you guys were great to me. Halliburton, how cool to meet you again. Pat, thanks for letting me in your world as always. No, you're the best, Shranks. We're all in your world, brother. And you know what? Real Nick fan right here. Let's roll, baby. Let's go. That's right. The hat off got me excited. Made me want to run through a wall. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Shranks.

2:19:14Yeah, Shranks! You ain't never met anybody like Schreger. He would lock you the fuck up. He bops wood. He take you to the blocks. He actually does have a nice jumper, too. That's awesome. Don't. Yeah, and he's like 6 '9". Yeah, you can tell from that.

2:19:32Pat McAfee:All right, as we wrap up today, what would be your big takeaway? Tomorrow, 10 a.m. Eastern, you got your fucking alarm clock set. Master debaters, master debating all over your face. Is that your big takeaway? Yeah, move that workout. I won't tune in at all. Not even the clips? The clips are going to hit your algo like fucking, let's see. Napalm. Yeah, there we go. That's what it's like. Like the Hantavirus. Everything that is hit, that's what I did want to say. Because that has kind of hit my algo right now in a heavy way. And I don't like the percentages that I'm seeing. I don't like any of it.

2:20:06I actually like. I don't like the dates that I'm seeing. I was in a bit of a worry in the middle of the night. And then the algo actually fed me some comforting juice. So I like that the Algo's kind of bringing me back down to earth.

2:20:15Pat McAfee:Okay, well, if the Algo could do that for – Ah! Hey! I'm in a holding pattern. I'll send you the positive ones. Okay, thank you. It's actually too deadly to spread. Okay, so since we brought it – Okay. That doesn't – That doesn't kill everybody. That was crazy. With that being said, since we did just talk to your Algo, you will be forced to see clips tomorrow of two master debaters doing their thing on the stage. And I will scroll right past it. Is that your big takeaway, though, for today? Is that tomorrow is a big one for all of us? And I'm hearing sports are in a great place. Sports are in a great place.

2:20:45Pat McAfee:That's true. I love that. Ratings up for everything. Ratings up for everything. Tone's excited about Aaron Rodgers. Yeah. I got a lot of feedback. Would have done it the same exact way, Tone. You did us proud. Oh, you're saying everybody's saying, hey, listen, you did what you had to do. I'm getting a lot of these. Really? A lot of hat tips to that. Really? Yeah. The question is, though, you said he's family. Yeah. Right? But when a player who is family, everybody on the Steelers is family? Yeah. When you guys trade that person, you can't trade a family member. Well, you certainly can is what they've done in the past.

2:21:16Pat McAfee:And they've cut them too. They still hold a special place in my heart. I just don't think about them as much. Yeah, and if they won a title. I think about them all the time. They're certainly welcome back whenever they're done. I'll put pictures of them on my wall in my basement. Shout out you, Seven. Troy. That's Ben Roethlisberger. That is Ben Roethlisberger. I get it. And we'll do that here in Indiana to you. whenever you win a title for the Indiana Pacers. Hard road. Hard road. They're saying rumors, rumblings. The East is about to have a freak transfer over to maybe the city of Boston. What?

2:21:49Those are rumors that are kind of brewing.

2:21:51Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. Kind of brewing right now.

2:21:52Jeff Passan:Yeah, especially with everything that came out after the whole Jalen Brown stream thing. Don't do streams after you lose the game. He's just building up his SmackDown on raw rosters. Don't you worry about it. I just play the game. Yeah, he's playing. Don't you worry about any of that other stuff. So we ain't with the theatrics with that whole stuff. We appreciate that. You do have it inside of you, though. But you choose to use it in the right times, which is why you are a great leading man for the city of Indianapolis. Now, back to your point, though, going down. Yeah, the Brad Stevens press conference.

2:22:21Jeff Passan:A lot of people are like the Jalen Brown thing is, you know, one thing. But Brad Stevens, I don't know if I or anyone has ever seen him that, like, openly pissed off talking to the media at the end of the season. He also basically mentioned how, like, hey, there were 8 to 12 teams this year actively trying to lose. The league is going to be much, much better next year because all those teams, Tyrese will come back. The Pacers have their top pick. They're going to be better. The Clippers, who knows what's going to happen. But there are a few teams up in that top tier that we're trying to lose that are going to get a good player and then immediately be a contender again.

2:22:55Jeff Passan:So, like, there are some moves that will be made in Milwaukee. Might be calling Boston. And maybe Boston just thinks about, you know, making an offer. For who? Or receiving an offer. Maybe a Jalen for Giannis and a one. You know, we just kind of, we do that. You know, we do something. We'll even take Tenassus. Okay? Maybe we bring Tenassus in. I think that's part of it.

2:23:18Pat McAfee:And, by the way, vibes are immaculate with Tenassus, from my understanding.

2:23:21Jeff Passan:Bingo. And he's going to love some of the Greek food we got in New England. I'll tell you what. So much Greek yogurt. I know you guys got Greek yogurt. I'm talking real Greek food. I'm talking about the Bingo. Thank you for saying it because I forgot. Lamb kebabs? Sure. Sheesh. All the kebabs. Okay. Sheesh kebabs. Sheesh kebabs. All the kebabs. Uh-huh. That's very nice. I love sheesh.

2:23:46Pat McAfee:All right. Before we get out of here, Tyrese, great job guest hosting today. Thank you for having me. Thank you for stepping up. If you'd like to do it again tomorrow, please let me know. If not, I completely understand. You should come back, man. Before you get out of here, though, we need you to make your picks for Backlash. Okay. Okay. WrestleMania. Backlash. Backlash. Who's Dan Heisen going to team up with to take on? That's a great question. Who is it going to be? Why is Braun so tan? I don't know. Who's The Miz teaming up with? Kit Wilson. Kit Wilson. Who? Toxic. Is that Tarzan? That's Tarzan?

2:24:19Kit Wilson. No, it's Kit Wilson. He's a beast. Show some respect.

2:24:22Pat McAfee:Kit Wilson saved the Miz from punching a wall, actually, the other week. Well, it looks like Kit Wilson's muted, so I don't want to tell you. Dan feels like this is probably a video that we screenshot. It's from IG. Yeah, it feels like we stole this from somebody. But on that note, Dan Housen, who's his teammate going to be? And are they going to win over the Miz? The Miz has this phenomenal losing streak. I'm not sure he's ever really caught a dub in a decade or so.

2:24:45Jeff Passan:Like 2 ,000 straight matches.

2:24:46Pat McAfee:Yeah, so is the housing going over, or how are we starting off? How can he not? I'm a big Dan Housen guy. I like Dan Housen a lot. Okay, and we whooping that trick, the champion of the United States. Of course, we are whooping that trick. Is that Sammy Zane these days? That is Sammy Zane. He looks the exact same. He looks mean, doesn't he? He looks mean. Did AI make this? Because I know that's a thing going on right now. No, I don't think they used AI. Listen, let's not judge people using AI to make stuff. Well, it's a big topic around this city. Well, do you remember Pete Crow Armstrong on top of the world?

2:25:13Yeah. Okay, we don't need to be judging too much. Drake May, maybe. Sammy versus Braun. Now, that's a match. That's going to be a good match. What's that? Sammy – I mean, sorry, Seth versus Braun. Holy shit, they're not all the same. No, that was on me. Sammy Zane and Seth freaking Rollins? That was on me. Seth was on GMFB this morning, so I don't know if that matters to your picks or not.

2:25:31Pat McAfee:Yeah, is he focused? He's not focused because he's very good at a lot of other things. Football conversation, he is good at. He's been doing a lot of it. Obviously, Braun Breaker just came back more jacked than he's ever been. How do you feel it's going to go? I got Braun winning. Maybe some vision antics. Vision. Who's on what team here at this point? Who's part of the vision? Logan Paul. Love him. Austin Theory. Love him. Paul Heyman and Bron Breaker. Love him. That's the vision right now? That's the vision. Are they seeing 2020 or are they still kind of fractured? They have the tag team championships and Bron is after Seth.

2:26:04So I feel like they're seeing well.

2:26:06Pat McAfee:Okay, Asuka and EO Sky. I know this is one that is near and dear to your heart. Yeah. Who do you like? How do you like it? You know who I like, EO Sky. Yeah. Yeah, we're always picking Eos. Goat. Yeah, we do. Eos Sky, obviously phenomenal at flying around. Yes. Asuka, potential goat. Were they together at one point? Oh, yeah. Were they the Kabuki Warriors? Oh, yeah. Were they? Thought so. Kyrie Sane as well. Kyrie Sane. Okay. That was a big name on the internet, obviously, with a lot of things happening with WWE. Evolving, changing, developing, moving forward. Decisions get made. People get mad.

2:26:41Pat McAfee:Fans get mad. Sure. Kyrie Sane, I believe, no longer a part here. And now Eosky and Oscar are about to do battle. That's the business. And then let's go to Jacob. Fuck, dude. You know what I mean? All gas, no brakes. Taking on our Tribal Chief. I know you're kind of torn on Tribal Chief because he just bullies all your favorite guys all the time. Why would I be torn on Tribal Chief? You acknowledge him at WrestleMania, which we appreciate. I mean, it was probably, arguably, you guys are going to be mad at what I'm about to say, so I'm just going to say it, okay? Arguably, the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time.

2:27:11Really? You love what Roman was doing. I'm sorry read on Philly

2:27:18Yeah, I wasn't Philly okay, okay, so great match not shenanigans going on in Philly Oh, okay. Oh, boy. Oh, take her. Take her as a shenanigans It's historical Story was finished and you're a cry baby. So you got straight grabs no shenanigans 1v1 model a model punk and Roman punk and Roman that they said Roman was done for the summer. What's he doing? backlash no he's i'm talking about the iwc saying he's tyrese yeah iw time i didn't say he's i didn't say he was done for the summer are you acknowledging your tribal chief at backlash on saturday yeah amen i am acknowledging our tribal chief on on sunday saturday saturday sorry may not you thought seth was sammy six eastern is good for the 40 and slip or what a good That is how good Sammy looks, I think.

2:28:106 Eastern is a good start time. Who do you like in Fatou Roman, AJ?

2:28:14Jeff Passan:Come on now. You know I'm Roman all the time. Okay, how about Seth and Braun? Oh, this is a tough one for me, but you know what? Give me Braun. How about EO? EO Sky all day. We know that. Do you trick in Sammy? I like trick. I really do. Okay, how about Hausen in Surprise? Has the Miz really lost every match he's ever competed in?

2:28:35Pat McAfee:Yeah, yes.

2:28:35Jeff Passan:He's been champion before, but since then, yeah. He's on quite a run. Okay, he is due. Give me the minute. Like that. Like that. All right, let's get on out of here. Thank you, Tyrese. Good luck with the shingles. Thank you, Tyrese. Appreciate it, guys. Is it over? Yes, good luck with that. No, it's not over. Shingles is not over? It's not over. Holy fuck. How long does this thing go? We're at three months now. You look good. You do. You look good. Appreciate it. You look like it's over. Yeah, it's getting there. Congratulations. Lessened? Yeah, maybe. I itch my eye less, much less. light at the end of the tunnel is he near yeah i'm just hoping it's like fully gone by wedding every day you can wake up and it could be over is that what you've been told what do you mean over oh the shingles could be yeah yeah uh yeah what did you mean my eyes itching should i be concerned no you shouldn't be concerned okay he did hold up a napkin earlier yeah that was a little disrespectful that's what we do all right be a friend tell a friend something nice we appreciate you we'll see you tomorrow back here with another incredible sports program that somehow you choose to watch we wouldn't be able to do this without you you're starting to get it yeah starting to get it this is new yeah well maybe to you that was good that was good and we're so grateful for you we'll see you tomorrow

2:30:02Pat McAfee:be a friend tell a friend something nice might change your life. We're interested in together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.

2:30:08Jeff Passan:You can't reason with the sun. Trust us. We've tried. This summer, it's time to put that angry ball of fire on mute. Columbia's OmniShade technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that can burn and damage your skin. The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your summer at Columbia.com to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion. You're welcome. Columbia. Engineered for whatever.

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