Almost Athletes with Dude Perfect - Dude Perfect Ranks Best Holidays & Best Months of the Year

Episode Date: December 24, 2025

Merry Christmas! The Dudes are celebrating with an action-packed episode with reactions to the College Football Playoffs, the NFL, the Women’s Volleyball Championship, and shocking holiday hot takes. Plus, the Dudes have gift-wrapped their official best month of the year rankings, and top 3 holidays. This episode also features wild Almost Sports moments, like an unbelievable wife-carrying contest and a marathon completed entirely by doing burpees. Garrett and Sparky are joined by Dude Perfect Community Manager Kelsey Morris and later, Coby to answer all of your burning holiday voicemails. If you have a question, hot take, or even your own Almost Athlete moment, go to AlmostAthletes.com or call in at [phone]. What to do now: 1. Smash that LIKE button  2. Hit SUBSCRIBE so you never miss a DP podcast moment  3. Drop a comment with who YOU want to see on Almost Athletes next! Subscribe for more!    https://www.youtube.com/@almostathletes⁠⁠    • • • • Almost Athletes with Dude Perfect is (almost) a sports podcast. Tune in weekly to hear the dudes’ hottest sports takes, great debates, interviews with your favorite athletes and entertainers, and hilarious BTS from all things Dude Perfect.  New episodes drop every Wednesday.  Follow along on all platforms.   Listen to the pod on your morning commute or wherever it finds you: Apple: - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/almost-athletes-with-dude-perfect/id1834502483 Spotify: - https://open.spotify.com/show/55gaQm31JIbp6td7QtYsPU?si=6423db3118ac497f Follow Almost Athletes to keep up with the Dudes!: https://www.instagram.com/almostathletes https://www.tiktok.com/@almostathletes ⁠https://x.com/almostathletes_ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We go Christmas light looking December 15th. That is the day that I proposed to my wife on a Christmas carriage. Wow. I didn't know that about you. Looking at lights. That was actually my wife's idea. I actually kind of forgot about all that. She proposed to you?

Welcome to almost athletes with Dude Perfect, a wave original. Merry Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas Eve. We're your host. I'm Garrett. Sparky. And special guest today. Kelsey.

Kelsey is on the podcast. This is our last pod for the year. We'll be back Wednesday, January 7th with the new episode. But we do have some fun content. Maybe have like a little combine with Jackson and Graham. Oh, yeah. Tune in for that on the socials. Coming up on today's app,

we're going to talk about the shocking and heartbreaking college football playoffs. We're going to preview NBA and NFL Christmas Day games. We're going to rank the month of the year. I'm looking forward to that. We're going to look at some insane almost sports moments. And later, Kobe, twin one is going to join us. I got to say for,

for Kelsey to get the nod over Kobe in Block A, that was, you should feel honored. I am very honored to be here. Yeah, he's been around since 2009. Yeah, that's true. And just, I know there's not a lot of people in the office today, so maybe that's why I was given the spot. But either way, honored. You're here.

Yep. That's all that matters. And you're bringing the Christmas cheer. That's right. With the shirt. But before we get into it, new squad games launching right after Christmas, 1227 versus the Savannah bananas. I'm still sore from that video.

Yeah, we filmed that a good two and a half months ago. Cody's right there with you. What a little Christmas present. Santa comes flying in with some Savannah banana action. Yeah, you can catch that Friday on the app, Saturday on the tube. Encourage you to continue to send in your almost athlete moment videos. Those have become a fan favorite inside this room and inside the office.

And then, of course, tour tickets. Those are great stocking stuffers tour right around the corner, about six months out. So you're going to jump on those. Happy to have you, Kelsey. Two. Second female, I believe, behind Bethany Tony. Yes. So what an honor?

I was like, who is the first? Yeah, Bethany. Okay, well, what do you do at? Dude, perfect. That's a great question. I think... Hopefully I'll know what I do, but... I know what you do.

I do think some employees might not know what you do. So it's good for the employees and for the listeners. Yeah. What do you do? So official title, community manager. But you can think of it as anything interacting with fans. I did get the chance to go on tour this past summer, which I'm already talking about next summer. next summer. Super exciting.

But yeah, fan experience, thinking of ways whether it's with the dudes or without the dudes, to get the fans involved in the brand. Community manager. That doesn't sound near as fun. We need to change that. I think she's kind of fan engagement. Sounds sick. I like it.

Dude, should we change her title on the show today? Now, comment below if we should change like Kelsey's job title. I kind of have the power to, but also don't have the power to. Yeah. But we can. Kind of a boss. Kind of not. We can. What do you want? Sure.

I'm open for it. Head of fan engagement. Head of sick. Head of. That sounds fancy. To the higher-ups that are listening, I think we put an official request. All right. Head of fan engagement.

Kelsey Morris. Let's go. Yeah. So how long you've been here, Kels? I celebrated my one year back in October. Started off part-time, but still consider it's like over a year that I've been hanging with you guys. So yeah, it's been a fun time, fun year. So like 14-ish month?

Yeah. Wow. All right. Still living to tell about it, too. Oh, yes. For the people on the outside, how crazy does it get around here? Yeah, never a dull moment. At this point, we finally added quite a bit more females.

But shout out to Shelby for being the first, followed at second. But if you have any boys in your house, then you know that it can get kind of crazy, kind of rowdy. All right. If we're going to talk college football playoff, we've got to start with the disappointment that was A&M hosting Miami. Everyone wants to hear my opinion on what happened in College Station. Saturday morning. Because you were there. Because I was there.

First off, I want to blame the committee. Yep, there we go. Here we go. This is what I'm talking about. For putting us at 11 a.m. With 80-mile winds. No, look, at the end of the day, the atmosphere was electric. I took my two boys.

They had a blast. I felt like both defenses played really good football. Sure. You just needed... Maybe live it felt that way, but... Watching on TV was like watching paint drive. Just real quick. We've skipped this on your bio.

Where did you go to school? The University of Florida Go Gators. Well, we do have to thank you in this office for beating Texas and keeping them out. You played really well that day too. I thought you were awesome in that win over Texas. Isn't that, you don't have a lot to stand on, except for your national championship in basketball last year. Yep.

Sure. You're not. Aege's ran their mouth. They said that they were going to win the trenches, and we got manhandled in both trenches. I was a little disappointed that you don't stick to the run game a little more. We couldn't. Dude, you could not run. Like, they were, their defensive line. No, they weren't really loading up the box. Just winning one of ones. They just won the match up, straight up. Got to give it to their entire D line. I'll say this too. That A&M offense is just vastly different when you don't have Leveon back there. Man, that Moss kid is so good. He was back there. Everybody got that high ankle. He re-agravated it.

It felt horrible for him walking up the tunnel. He probably didn't get to see that. You could tell he was battling. He was in a hundred percent. But I don't think that would have mattered. The conditions looked extremely tough. Now, I was indoors watching. But, I mean, when you couldn't even like, you couldn't even mark the ball down because

he would move and the refs had to respot it. 45 miles an hour. I was crazy. I don't know. Was that the reason why the kicks were so bad? Golly, man. She has. Oh, she's coming in hot.

Look, I've always said you'll get a taste of kicking in the Savannah Banana video. Yeah, you will. I think it was kind of irresponsible to miss that many kicks. You say at some point when the wind's that strong, you're in four down territory every single time. Even if the wind's that strong, you got to make good kicks. Got you. I think when you put 120,000. people in a venue and crank up the wind of 40, it changes a little thing, you know, some things.

There are two controversial plays in that game. I think I know which one, I was watching it live and it's like, yeah, Gary's going to talk about that one on the pod. Wouldn't have changed the game, I don't think, but the late hit out of bounds. Yeah. I could not believe they kept the flag in the pocket on that one. You can call it weak. You can call it whatever.

It was late. It was late. You can call it whatever you want. It was a yard out of bounds. He initiated contact within the field. And that's what the Miami Hurricane fans are saying. Was that where they picked him up? He did a dosi dough and he tossed him around.

And he threw him down. At the end of the day, both of those refs, they should be suspended for, you're right on top of it. Well, here's what shocks me is not only that. It was the A&M quarterback. It's Marcel Reed, who obviously you don't get as much of a leash. It was KC. It was Concepcion.

That's right. But it was on the Aggie sidelines right in front of Elko. And I was just waiting on the flag to get tossed. Never did. I truly don't understand it. Whistle, whistle. Yeah. That's beyond insane to me.

And do they call that, they would call that typically even on the field of just unnecessary. It doesn't matter. Like if you like body slam it. You add in the sidelines, it gets really egregious. And then I kind of think it, I hope the kid's okay.

I do hope the kid's okay. But if you knock yourself out. Oh, the helmet's helmet. Out cold? Out cold. Yeah. You think he led with his head? Yeah, he probably.

He probably didn't know that he led with his head, but he did lead with his head. He was out cold. That was scary. I don't think it changes anything. It's not like it gives us the touchdown, where he would go first down on the two-yard line. Marcel Reed still probably throws an interception.

Like, I'm not saying it changes the game. It's just like, I don't understand the discrepancy. The refs also missed blatant, blatant holds on three of their long runs. And they missed calls on the Aggies, too. Like it's not just, it's, I just don't understand why Big 12 were after terrible. I think it was a Big 12 crew that was doing it. Which is weird in its own right.

Like the ACC crew was working the Oregon James Madison. I think it was. You can't have the, you can't have the, it's just like, I don't, why. If you can't call like the easy calls, like, and look, I don't think it should have been targeting because I think that's football. But again, the way it changed football. Yes. So it is targeting. I don't think it should be.

It was a great hard hit. Like, unfortunately, the dude knocked himself out and I hope he's doing it okay. Absolutely. Yeah, he was a defenseless receiver. Here's where I stood with that game, man. It was tough on the ice. You know, there's pre-snap penalties, muff, punts, not what you want to see in a playoff game.

Agree just miss throws both ways. Like Beck overshot that deep ball. That probably was a touchdown. Marcel was having a hard time connecting on a five and out, poor guy. But then the realization came late in the third quarter. I was like, man, it is three to three. I've had more slices of pizza than there's been points in this game, which was true. I had about, I was about nine pieces of the fourth quarter.

I'm just glad that Randy Bond hit a crazy man. I was, I was actually thinking, okay, cool. First college football playoff. I don't care if we lose. Honestly, you don't care. But if you get shut out, you're never getting invited back. Like, I'm literally sitting there like. I mean, we're like sitting there like, what?

Midway through the fourth and we have zeros. I couldn't believe it. And you're just like, oh boy. How would you break down the game though, Kelly? watching it from TV was tough. Just a little boring. I mean, it wasn't the Gators playing, so it wasn't super exciting for me. But that's okay.

But congrats, you guys made it. Yeah, so where do you stand on that, Gare? Where do you stand on that? Because I know people who went to TCU and you talk to them about the Georgia national title game. And it's like, we wish we didn't even beat Michigan to get there. How do you feel now that it's over? Are you happy that you check the box and making them play off? I told this to a bunch of Aggies.

and first of all, I hope every Texas fan listening to me hears me loud and clear. Y'all watch from home. Y'all didn't deserve the playoff. And I don't care what you say about it. Anything you say, you're relevant. You're playing in the Cheez-It Bowl on New Year's. Like, it doesn't matter to me.

Like, great, you beat us, whatever. Great, A&M finished with two losses. Still doesn't matter. We had a better season. You're in year five of Sark. You're on the decline. Arch isn't as good as people thought. I mean, I can go on and on and on.

It's amazing that Texas fans think Aggies are the problem. Y'all are obsessed with the Aggies. We don't care about y'all. Y'all have fun on your couches. Enjoy New Year. We'll see you next year. Well, actually, we'll probably beat you in basketball. We did just beat you.

We did just pinnacle of volleyball, which we'll get there. Well, yeah. And you have a crazy baseball coach that no one even likes anyway. So, hey, Texas fans, Merry Christmas. Love you guys. But no one cares about your opinions. I just had to get that off my chest because... Yeah, I can tell you've been holding that in since Saturday and about 2.30.

What would you think anybody in their mind, including Texas fans, would be like, no, I'd rather playing the Cheez-It Bowl versus Michigan or make the college football playoff and lose? You'd rather make the college football playoff and lose. Of course. And if you tell yourself otherwise, you're lying to yourself. My buddy's asked the same hypothetical. I was like, yeah, well, we would have gone and beaten Ole Miss is the problem.

I do think, I do think... We would have given a better game. we would have. What do you think about Tulane? Well, I will say it's really sad. Saturday's slate was tough. It's a sad story for the coach because he did lose his father two days before the game. And he's also your coach now.

He is. He is. So, yeah, pretty tough to watch between that game and the James Madison game, which sparks question for you. Sure. Are you still feeling confident in the G5 being in the college football playoffs? That's a great question. It wasn't a good showing.

Needless to say, both teams did exactly what you could. didn't do, and that's get off to slow starts. I mean, I think both teams kicked off and both teams gave up a touchdown within like four plays. It was a bad day for the G5. I don't know what we need to do. Something needs to be done. I don't get paid enough money or work for the NCAA to figure it out. Sure. But with that being said, I would love for the G5 to keep their spot. I think nowadays compared to six years ago, it's tougher than ever for G5s because your top players are pretty much being groomed for their next program. And, you know, due to legalities, there's no compensation back for you. It's an uphill climb for the G5s, no doubt about it. Should there have been two G5s in?

The way it was structured by the playoff committee, that's what ended up what happening. No, we can cap it at one. That's fine. What I would like to see is an expansion of the playoff to, say, 16, keep the G5 spot. But no automatic. And we can go on. Or do you want automatic? At this point, there really is no need for the automatic because if you win the SEC Big 10, Big 12, you're going to be in regardless. I'm saying for the G5, if you go an American and go what y'all did. I think it's got to be, I still think you should have the automatic spot for the G5, yes. Because my fear is somebody's going to go 12 and 0 and you're not going to get in the top 16.

They could somehow spin it, justify it the way they want to. So I'd love to keep one spot, expand it to 16. You get 15 of the rest of the top teams in the nation. I think that's at least a happy middle ground. But it wasn't a good showing for the G5s. It's a good question. You had to ask it. I was hoping they'd be a little more competitive.

Madison did play better in that second half. I actually think they beat him in the second half, but the deed was already done. So now we move on with the playoff. And yeah, I'm sure the committee and college football fans were wanting a little more from Saturday's slate. Friday was good. I thought the Bama comeback against Oklahoma and Norman was special. I wrote that thing. I was 17-0 and I was like, ooh.

Yeah. Well, we do have an Oklahoma fan in the office. And before leaving on Friday, he said he hoped that Oklahoma would give us something to talk about today. And I think they did. Yeah. It's not good when he hits, you know, the text when it's 17, nothing, like boomers and then nothing the rest of the day from Maddie Diamond. Tough. There was also an almost athlete moment with the OU punter.

I mean, completely just dropped the ball. Yeah. That was pretty crazy. Yeah, yeah, the over. Yeah, I think he might have that. I think he might have. I'm kidding. That's a crazy accusation for a kid.

I'm legit kidding. Who do you got? Like, let's just look at the playoff bracket. Yeah, we're down to eight. If I read it right, the two most expensive rosters in college football. Yeah, that sounds right. Oregon and Tech, you're saying? Tech and Oregon.

It's been a lot of money on that roster. Tech's not been here. And Oregon has. So I feel like just experience, more experienced coach in Laning over McGuire. Like, I just, I feel like all that's going to come into play. And I think Oregon wins a close one.

I think they win the quarterback battle significantly. Dante Moore compared to Morton. for Texas Tech. Texas Tech has the superior defense. To me, that's going to be a way of a ball game. I think, like, last team to have it may win a gauntlet of a game, like a 23-20.

Yeah. I like whoever comes out of that, though. Yeah. I think it may match up well with the Bama Indiana winner. I think Indiana legit beats Bama, like, 453. Really? You think so?

I think Signetti is going to... They've played angry all year. No, but I think it's going to be a more angry Signetti than you've ever seen. Well, I know college football fans everywhere will be salivating hopefully for a more competitive quarterfinal. I do agree. I actually think your game of the week is going to be Georgia, Ole Miss.

Could be. I got a little soft spot in my heart for Ole Miss just because how dirty they were did by Olayn. And that new coach, they were chanting his name, Pete, Pete. That was pretty cool. They got some like that magic potion going on, MJ Secret stuff. It wouldn't surprise me if Ole Miss parlayed this into a championship run. It's going to be a fun New Year's.

It's going to be a fun new year's. Yeah, comment below who you think will win it all. If you want to tune in, I think Texas also plays in the Cheesa Bowl that day. Hey, we play in the New Mexico Bowl. There you go. Saturday. They keep saying they're playing on New Year's and A&M's not. I'm like, I don't care.

Yeah. All right. That was healthy. That was good. All right, Kelsey. We're going to talk about it. You'll need to. Yeah.

I was definitely, I was definitely going to talk about it, even if Kelsey wasn't here. But women's college volleyball. Yeah. Just had the final four, Texas A&M are your national champions. Congratulations. Yeah, that's a big deal. We scaled the mountain and planted our flag for sure. I watched, that was some of the first volleyball I've ever watched.

Isn't it so good? Electric. No, it's so weird watching a sport where, like, they're saying things that I have no idea what any of it means. Oh, the verbiage, the lingo, sure. You know, you're just like, you know, the announcers are saying things like, kills and Liberos. Like all stuff.

But anyways, you grew up playing volleyball. I did. Yes. That was your sport. It was. Which I'm glad that you got a taste of it because I truly believe it's one of the most underrated sports.

Oh, I think very underappreciated. Yeah. Especially to watch. It's truly electric. I mean, obviously, Final Four or Finals volleyball is even more electric because you genuinely have like the best teams out there.

You think A&M deserve the national championship? Absolutely. If you watch them in at least the pit game, I mean, well, first off, the Nebraska. Pretty crazy stat guys. Nebraska volleyball has more followers on Instagram than Texas A&M football does. They love the sport of volleyball. That actually is very surprising. So with all of that being said, you guys took them down.

And that led to going to your first ever final four, which then you swept that. team and then swept Kentucky for a title. I mean, that right there just proves. Oh, it was clean sleep. It was in three sets. I mean, we played three number one seeds and we lost two sets out of those. I would say that's the definition of earning it. It was like 20 to 12 in the last set.

And I was nervous watching it. And I can't even imagine these girls playing. Yeah. Knowing that they have five points. And then Kentucky fought hard. I mean, they didn't just give it to you. They went on a little bit of a run there. Yeah.

It got like two, two points back to back, which most of the time, like if you're serving, you're at a disadvantage, right? No, no, when you're serving, you're at, if you have a good serve. See, here's the thing, service errors, like that's... Kentucky had a lot of service errors.

That's basically like kicking yourself in the foot. You can't do those. No, and so when you serve, if you have a good serve, then you're at an advantage. But I see what you mean from an outsider looking in. If you get a good pass, good set, you kill it, then... Yeah.

But, I mean, the foot... The most fun thing to watch is the rallies, which that's like the back and forth. Looks like it's going to be a dead ball and then they like get it with one arm. Pretty crazy. So service errors are equivalent to Marcel Reed under throwing a wide open touchdown by five yards. You just can't do it. He just can't do it. Or throwing an interception.

I'll see this. I had three older sisters growing up watched so much volleyball, went to many of tournaments. By far in terms of my sister's sports, they played soccer, they played softball, was by far my favorite to watch. It is. We grew up in a household that watched many of volleyball games. There was a difference to me. I don't, again, I haven't watched a lot of college volleyball.

It is really fast pace, really fun. The girls can jump like 80 inch verticals. It's kind of crazy. And the balls are going 50 miles. I sympathize. There's one 60 mile an hour. Crazy. Those girls digging it out in the back, I sympathize for their arms.

I don't know how their arms don't snap in half. You get used to it. I felt like the Aggie team, when if I watched a couple of couple games. They feel like you, it's almost like the 2011 Texas Rangers, you just felt the team chemistry

was so much better on that Aggie squad versus any other squad. Like you could see it through the TV. I think the crazy and best part about it

is that most of those girls you have nine seniors, which that's tough because you're, they're all leaving. But, but those nine, most of them have been there

from the beginning. They only had 13 wins in their first. You're right? Dude, it's just okay, dude. I know. Nine seniors was a lot. I'm sorry?

No, I just went down the wrong pipe there. Nine seniors, dude. I know. Like I said, I woke up 47. You feel for those nine seniors, bro. Go ahead. Wow, it's emotional. Yeah, it is emotional.

Yeah. It's got his own on top. It's beautiful. Yeah. That was a latte down the wrong pipe. That's okay. He's got tears in his eyes. Whoa.

So you have nine seniors, but most of the seniors have been there from the first, like their freshman year. Which I feel like most people, when you're, you only get 13 wins in a season, especially with the NIL now, it's like,

where do I go to next? Yeah. Well, I'm just saying, like they stayed there from the very beginning and they built a championship program. And I feel like that's not seen nowadays with just how quick and easy it is to transfer.

I think you nailed it there. Kelsey, look, at the end of day, Texas A&M, we build championships. We don't buy them. Come to Texas. saying them. All right. Volleyball, basketball, football, baseball.

Whoa, whoa. Are you saying like champions? Yeah, champions. We're on our way to build basketball. We don't need to, we don't need it from you. All I know is that we build championship teams. Well, 49 championships for the Florida Gators. So if you're really looking for that, you can head on over to the University of Florida. Anyways, we can move on from that. I know it was a tough weekend, but at least there was like a little consolation prize in a volleyball guy. I look. That's awesome, ma'am. I was actually asked this question. No one's going to believe me when I say this, and that's fine.

There's one person that asked it. You can call him and ask. We had two games for Texan-NM. We had a big college football playoff. We had a national championship to play for. He asked if you could win one, which one you said? And I said, I would win the national championship. Is this pre-kickoff or after the loss?

This is Friday before the kick-off. Wow. Okay. And I said, give me a national championship. It means more. We will have our time in the college football playoff. But congrats for those girls. They earned it.

Sometimes it's the ladies that got to get it done. And it's the ladies that are going to put us on the championship roadmap. That's right. To just building every sport to be. Yeah, maybe volleyball is like the first stepping stone. And that's what I'm saying. And they did it. They knocked that monkey off their back.

Sure. Next up. Aggie baseball. Pressure on you. It is. Better go win it all. It is. All right. NFL.

Yeah. This is a good weekend, man. I watched a ton of football yesterday. I was feeling myself, man. But it's kind of emo. Kind of getting emotional. Day. I saving times, maybe a little emotional because it gets dark so early.

But on top of that, I was coming to the realization, I was like, golly, we have, what, two weeks of regular season football left? College is coming to an end. College is coming to an end. High school just ended. It's just crazy. The buildup to football is so long as you wait, the dog days of summer. Then it gets here, and before you know it, just like that, you're like, ah, it's Christmas and my football's gone. So a little emotional.

A little emotional with the Cowboys officially got knocked out, too. Looks like Philly's going to win the NFC East. but other than that, really good day across the league. Really bad time to be the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, though. Two weeks in a row torn their ACL. That's crazy. If I'm the third string, I'm like,

double knee racing? No, I'm going to get in the flu. John Purpose, a purpose flu, a Christmas flu gifted to me. What else happened to Jags with a huge win on the road mile high over Denver? And the Panthers. I think those were the two big games.

Yeah. What? Panthers beating Tampa. Oh, well, and, and lions basically getting eliminated by the Steelers. Eight and seven lions, that is the surprise of the season for me, man. I didn't see that coming. I really didn't.

And the Patriots cap, the night cap, with a nice little win over Baltimore. Yeah, a comeback, right? Yeah. So so much to play for still. The Drake May, LeBron look away was special. So good.

Yeah, he is really turned to corner. He basically threw that little TD pass to the corner of the end zone. And before it was caught, he looked away and ran. it's the Dwayne Wade Yeah when he threw the lob Yeah when he threw the lob

And he was looking away Before LeBron dunked it He's playing so well He's pre-celebrating Got it But he did it Unlike Cody Jones on tour When he did like the night night thing

And then he didn't actually win That's the one right there And so Drake May did that exact Pose Pose and it was pretty cool It's just man They think about their poses I believe the Pats are gonna end up

With the one seed possibly In the AFC To me it's This is Josh Allen's year Yeah. He's going to get it done, dude. He worried me. He did.

When he came up, Lamp there. Oh, in Cleveland. Big Josh Allen fan. Big Bill's fan. Which one? I am a Josh Allen fan, but because of that, the Bill's team is just fun to watch. I like their coach. I like their crazy fans.

It's just a fun. They could have built a brand new stadium and put a roof on it, and they're like, no, we love the crazy cold. minus 30 degree temps like Bill's Mafia all that And they have been right there for 30 years And just cannot They've run into cowboys They've run into patriots

They've run into the Chiefs And just can't Get it done And like now the Chiefs are gone This year's no one's really Jags that's the way they might have to go through And like I told you last week's episode If you would have told them

That's standing between them And the possibility of a Super Bowl Is Jacksonville They're signing up. Now, don't sleep on Jacksonville. They're scoring in bunches. In mile high to throw up 34 points, might as well be 50 at home.

That's very impressive to do on that defense. But I think I'm officially ready. I'm at that point in the season where it's like, let's get some playoff football going. First, I got to beat Ty in the fantasy football title, and then all focused. Speaking of that, that starts with the Christmas Day games.

I don't have anybody playing Christmas. You don't have anybody playing Christmas. No. My boys did find out that the Cowboys are playing on Christmas Day. And Owen was like, dude, I get to watch a, we get an open presence and then watch football. And I'm like, yeah, that's, it's going to be a good, it's going to be a good day for, for dad just to go get a nap. Yeah, when they made that game way many months ago, they were thinking about how Cowboys commanders possibly for the NFC.

Vikings, doesn't matter. Broncos chiefs kind of matters for the Broncos, but not for the chiefs. Do you find it a little icky that the NFL is kind of? invading on the NBA space because NBA has been rocketed on Christmas Day for what 20 years now that's kind of become their thing what do you think is more exciting to watch on Christmas Day NBA or NFL well typically I'm a football over basketball watching on TV person but these games I think Christmas Day NBA wins out here's my problem with NBA Christmas Day at the end of the day it's still one of 82 you know yeah whereas the NFL games is going to be

a little more post-season meaning to it. It's just more meaningful at this point in the season. But Cooper Flagg putting up a 50-buck nugget on the Warriors, it's going to be fun. Sure. It's going to be fun. Sure. Luckily, the Lord gave us multiple monitors and multiple eyeballs,

so I'll be having NFL on one screen. There you go. You know, I can adjust the eyes however I need to. Santa might even bring you more. I mean, you don't even know. Oh, yeah. True. Good point.

I got 85 inches worth at home right now, too. So, speaking of Christmas Day, what are the plans? Christmas Day will be very chill just because Connor and I are pretty much the only family that we have here, but we do have his aunt and uncle, so I think they want to do like Christmas Day dinner, which is new to me. Which, speaking of Christmas Day dinner, I was just talking to Graham. Graham's family is a dress-up for Christmas Day dinner, not like a PJ comfy outfit. You guys, do you guys dress up for? Absolutely not.

Christmas Day? Yeah, like sweaters and jeans and look nice around the... We don't go out on Christmas, so, I mean, there's a good chance. my shorts don't even get on. It's just undies in a tea. Got it. Yeah. No, I, I've, we actually don't.

Our Christmas Day tradition is we wake up. We don't all open presents immediately. But then we do a, we such a strong word. My wife cooks. Yeah. Breakfast casserole. A big cinnamon roll. Yeah.

Cinnamon rolls are a must. We do some orange juice. And it's kind of like a big brunch. And then that's kind of like, that's kind of it. Like, we don't do the whole, like, Thanksgiving meal on Christmas. But you open presents after the little brunch?

Uh, yep. We read the Christmas story. Fun. Uh, to the kids. And, um, and yeah,

we, we, we, it's not like get up. You're done with Christmas by 7.30, which that's how I grew up. Yes, same.

But we kind of drag it out. This year, I'm, I can't tell you what I got them, but I'm very excited because it'll listen to this podcast. Yeah. We will. But I'm,

I'm very excited because it's a part gift for me. And it's going to be 95 degrees on Christmas Day in Texas. Yes. It's going to be an outside day. And it's going to be a lot of fun. And I'm looking forward to it. That's good parenting right there. Make sure you get a Christmas gift for your kid that also you can enjoy it.

That's good, Gare. Yeah. That's what I look up to you for. When I'm a parent one day, I'm doing that same thing. Sparks, what do you want for Christmas? I don't know. Truth, truth be told. I've had it pretty well this year.

I'm content. I don't need much. You know, I wish I could have my cowboys in the postseason, but I don't think Santa can help me with that one. We need a cowboy loss, though. Yeah, we probably do. At this point, we need a cowboy loss. Why is that for the draft?

Because we need a better drop bait. There's no reason to beat a commander team that means nothing. I would like it to be a close game, but commanders win it on a last second field goal. I'm with Garrett. It's in the best interest for them to lose. Wait a minute. Would it be in the best interest for the commanders to lose too?

Yeah, it would. Sure would. So you're looking at like... Yeah. You're looking at it might be a three-zero game. Spirit of giving, both of you. Both teams are going to be trying to gift-wrapped each other a W. They're going to be playing their water boys.

Yeah, there's going to be kneels on first down, halfway through the first quarter. It's going to be crazy. Off the top of your head, do you have a best, worst Christmas gift that you've ever received? I can't remember a worst. Yeah, I am. I mean, I've had years where it's hefty amounts of socks and underwear, but as you get older, you realize you need hefty amounts of socks and underwear, so, I can't think of a worst one I've ever had. Yeah, Santa was always good to me.

I was never, good to him there. naughty list, man. I made my bed when I get up in the morning. I obeyed my parents. I did the necessary things to stay off the naughty list. Wow. Does Santa give you everything you wanted? No, there was definitely some years that, you know, Santa, I think, forgot some gifts. But, you know. But no, Cole.

We're not perfect, you know. No, even Santa. Even Santa makes mistakes. He does. Yeah, I did ask for a little brother for like five years running and Santa wasn't never delivered, dude. No, man, I was like, how many cookies and milk do I got to put out? I was changing the milk up. It was a 2% one year skim.

I'm trying to figure him out. No baby brother ever came. Ah, man, that's tough. What about you, Kelsey? I can't think of a worst Christmas gift or something that Santa never brought me, but I did have a Game Boy and DS. Those are probably... You're a gamer?

Well, I... Those were exciting. Yeah, it was. Was. That was in my past. Game Boy color? It was gray. I'm a very...

I'm a neutral girl. Sick. Growing up, I was on a... a 40-acre farm. So I do remember getting, this was like a family Santa gift of like a four-wheeler or something that we could all do together outside. But what kind of farm? We have cows that we send in the market and then we used to have fainting goats. No way. You all had fainting goats? Yeah. Fun fact, you can just like run at them and they, ah.

I know what I want for Christmas. Send me one of those. It, 2026 is almost upon us. New year, new sparky. Last week you told me you were going to use Shopify to help build the sparky brand. How's that going? Well, thanks to your suggestion, I went to Shopify and you were right. They're the perfect place to go if you want to start or grow a business.

So what kind of business is the sparky brand going to be? I'm thinking big G, sparky T-shirts, sparky music, sparky spark plugs. So you got no idea. None at all. But when I figure it out, I know Shopify will have everything I need to run my business in one place. No more saving notes on my phone to try and remember which passwords I used where. No more having to reset passwords as a whole. You have one login to everything that you need to run your business. And don't forget Shopify's AI tools. You literally get your AI assistant

helping you with everything. Editing images, writing content, generating reports, giving you ideas. Sounds like intern Graham, except I don't need to feed it. And unlike intern Graham, Shopify can even sell inside a chat GPT, not to mention TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube. everywhere your customers already are. Sounds like Shopify is my favorite intern in 2026. It's going to be the year of the sparky. It's time to build your brand. Head to Shopify.com slash almost to see how easy it is to start your business today.

All right. It's everyone's favorite segment, Almost Sports. First up, wife carrying. We picked this one because I do feel like Connor and you would be really good at this. Okay. Men carry their wives through a 278-yard obstacle course. It originated in Finland. Oh, look, that is a...

Is that the position you have to carry them in? All right. They're various carrying styles, but dropping the wife does result in a time penalty. So, but you always said, I mean, every time, you know, if it's basketball, whatever, you say Connor is very good. Yes, I'm very competitive, which is tough because he's very good at everything. Not a lot you can do in wife-carrying except just, you know. Yeah, it's moral support. It's just moral support for him.

Moral support, but my head is hanging by his butt the whole time. Yeah, true. Well, it depends. That's one carrying position. It looks like that might be... It looks like the only one. That is an odd sport. I think that would get you the best results.

Would be that kind of carry. Why not a piggyback? It's weight distribution. That's some of the front and back. Yeah, that's going to result in the lower back pain. I feel like you're a rucker. Yeah, I've rucked before, but that's just like with a backpack. You're used to that when you go to school and you got to run from the bus stop.

I know, but would you rather have, Rucking, would you rather have, I'm 115 pounds, half the weight in the front and back or all in the back? Yeah, that's true. But the way that you saw that, the, it still felt like most of the weight is in the back. Man, going through mud. Don't want to have to, you know,

it looks like you're holding your breath on that one, uh, going through underwater. Tough. I thought the guys had it bad in this. It really looks like the girls. Yeah, just you're getting drug through some nasty stuff. Not surprising that this originated in Finland.

This feels very Finnish. They don't have a lot in Finland. They don't have a lot going on. Yeah, they're just like, hey, what do you say? We do a wife carrying competition. This one's wild, and it's also extremely exclusive. You got to have a wife, which I don't like. That's so good.

I carry a woman. I mean, maybe this is a part of Spark in the Dark. You have to find your best wife for wife carrying. Probably not going to Finland to do the old wife carrying. comp. I feel like there's more, there's better sightseeing there in Finland. 278 yards worth of obstacle course. That's a long way to carry it. It's a bonding experience. I think if you're struggling with your marriage, your relationship, you know, you've thought about, you know, some, some therapy and this is a good way to do that. Head to Finland.

Head to Finland. Carry your wife 278 yards through obstacles and y'all either meant for each other or you'll know it's time to go ahead and separate. That's the way I look at it. Oh boy. Any female over? Over 17 must weigh at least 108 pounds. Oh, so there is a, there's, there has to be a minimum way. The wife has to wear a helmet. I saw plenty of no helmets out there. If needed.

Okay. Any carrying method is allowed. Would you be more impressed if it was the wife carrying the husband? Yes, that's, that's, that would be pretty crazy. But see, I would worry that the wife is going to drop the husband on purpose. Oh.

That's, well, see, is there some anger going on? I don't know. It's just, you know. I feel bad for the husbands who get double-dipped worth of punishments. When you drop the wife, there's a time penalty. Well, then she's going to let you know about it. The whole car ride home, too. So that's a lose-lose situation.

I want a video. Come up here. Y'all, Connor comes up here all the time anyways. Just a down and back on the basketball court. Of wife care. Of Connor. And if y'all can beat like a call it a 30-second, I think I'm going to enter you guys into this competition next year.

It's a business expense. fly you over. But a trophy's a trophy, man. And we want to stack them up here at Dude Perfect. I'm good with a trophy, maybe change up the prize a bit. But I'm down for a free. You can take free, you can take your weight and ghost energy drinks, which is what you love. Yes. But you got to practice. I want to see a proper Estonian carry. You got it. And we'll play it on the pod for the people next week. Yeah. All right. Or January 7th when we launch. Sounds good. I will get to practicing. I'm not really sure if I practice or if it's just Connor. But you got it.

Another sport. Burpee Marathon. Oh, this sounds horrible. There are some, okay, first off, to do a marathon takes a certain kind of person. Yeah, a weird one. Well, sure, but mentally tough. To do a burpee marathon, that's a bit psychotic. Yeah, that's like toe in the lines of like special forces.

I know I'm not a Navy SEAL. I don't need to act like one. 42,000 burpees. Wow. Also equivalent to 26. 0.2 miles. I mean, how long do you believe that this takes? This guy went at least 24 hours.

Yeah, a day, at the very least. I'm tired watching it. That's horrible. That's excruciating. That's punishment. That's not real life. That's make-believe. And it's not actually an almost sport.

That is very... That's more sport than anything I've ever seen in this room. Yeah, that's very athletic. And to do it around a track? Um... Okay. A hundred and 97 hours. Yeah, that's, uh...

Wait, wait, wait, so is he not sleeping for eight to nine days? No chance, you die. He has to sleep. But he can sleep on the track for a couple hours. Yeah, that's one I'm not challenging. You know, Ty, you know. With the Taco Bell. You know, y'all got him off sides with the Taco Bell.

You ain't drawing me off sides with the Burpee Marathon. He's not going to do good in Taco Bell. I'm just. Well, I wouldn't do well in that, so he did not sleep through the night. No, he took short strategic naps. Yeah. Okay, okay. If you give yourself 40-minute naps on the track, you can, you can do that.

I still think that takes mental fortitude for nine straight days. That takes all fortitude, mental, physical, can you imagine waking up at 6 a.m. going all the, all day and then. Quick 40 minute nap. But like, and then doing it for eight to nine days, yeah, no way. Yeah. That is a feat of endurance. Congrats.

I forget who was. That is so sport. We can't even relate. Man charma. That dude is. You were a man, charma. I was just going to say the most impressive part in terms of the Taco Bell thing. You're still getting to eat.

Is this guy eating? I mean, you can't hold something down for... He's eating life. He's eating. What sort of things are you eating when you're going nine straight days of extreme energy? A lot of... A lot of salt. Surely gels for nine days is like immediately making your tummy hurt.

I think everything in his body hurts. Taco Bell Marathon also making your tummy hurt immediately. Yeah, that's true too. Chicken, rice, pasta, salad. Yeah, but that's... Hey man Charma if you're listening Congrats I want to see how you do in the wife carrying I think you would win it

There's no guy doing a burpee marathon that's wiped up Hey honey I'm gonna be gone for nine days Doing a burpee marathon Maybe she's there cheering him on That's funny Wow that wasn't an almost sport By the sixth day the excess water caused Excruciating pain in his liver

Yeah I'm sure his whole body felt pain Yeah that means his liver had to be hurt Really bad for him to point that out, you know, with the rest of his body hurting. And he's pointing out, that's my liver. Recently married, so he settled down. He's just doing like half marathon burpees now. That would still be. That was after his

burpee challenge. So you're right. He wasn't married. Sparks. Maybe someone was so impressed by his burpee marathon that he got wiped up. Should we enter you? I drop 30 something on 2K last night. That can give me some. She has asked you some really good questions on the pod today.

Yeah. She has. What sort of physical achievement? that's pretty crazy, would you be willing to do if it took someone notice you? 50 in a basketball game. Every girl loves when you drop 50. Okay. I'm going to find my wife.

I need 50. That's your quest. That's so good shooting night that turns into a wife. Do we need like you to play against Jackson and Graham or do you feel confident like a real 50? Okay. A real 50. Got it.

Not a fabricated 50. They can see through that. Yeah. They can see right through that. All right. That was good. Before we let you go. Kelsey, we're going to rank the months of the year.

I like this. This might be the most controversial ranking. I was about to say that. We've done on this show. Highly opinionated. So we're basically finding top 12. Not all months are equal. And I have a specific, and this goes against everything that I've ever said on this pod,

which I'm realizing that I'm just a hypocrite. Well, we'll get to it. All right. I have a clear number one. in terms of best? In terms of best, but it's... Do you want to work up backwards? I feel like working up backwards

is probably better here. That's fine. Let's go backwards. Yeah. There's a clear 12 here. Are we allowed to have the same? Hopefully we do have the same. But we can say it all in one time.

The clear 12 is one, two, three, February. Oh, I was going to say February. Sorry, I didn't realize we were going. Yes, February. Do you think February? Look at that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree.

June. June is the summer month, the sunshine. But it's dog days of summer. You only have baseball going. No, no, no, no. You got NBA playoffs. We're going. NHG.

Yeah, at the beginning in June. That's good point. Whoa, yeah. February, you got nothing, bro. Nothing. And it's shorter days. It's only 28 or 29 days. It's cold.

And there's Valentine's Day, which that might sound crazy coming from a female, but I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day. Yeah, you convince me, February 12. Yeah. I love that. No, you're right. Yeah. That's, you'll make good points.

there. Yeah. February is just not a good, a good month, except for February 6th. Your birthday? No, I'm Owen. Owen's birthday. Yeah. Love, uh.

Love Owen. Your birthday's in May. My mom's birthday is also in February, so I feel like I got a shout at mom. Groundhog Day underrated my sister's birthday. Middle Sister Kara's birthday. And I'm going on the overall, just in general. Yeah. There's obviously personal days for everyone in probably every single one of these months.

This is generalization months. Take the personal out of it. Take the birthdays. Yeah. Take the anniversaries. What if we consider our birthday as a holiday? Yeah, I can go into your personal preference, for sure. I'm just saying.

So you want a title change? You want a day off on your birthday. What else you want? I didn't say a day off. I came to work on my birthday. I like being celebrated. I know. Holiday as in celebration.

I mean, up here we do a cake per birthday. I know. I appreciate it. I'll also say this regarding February usually I'm not a cold month guy at all And that's where Texas is harshest part of the winter usually early fab.

That's what and yeah it's tough And when you're months built off a groundhog And look I got I got respect for punctuanie Phil Or whatever his name is he's a good dude A mutual respect for him But it is the 12th spot good call Next month to me is August August, okay

I'm gonna hear why Yeah Well, school starting back up was never fun. Yeah, I... It is the worst part of summer here. It could be January. Yeah, you could put January there. But yeah, heat.

It's like 118. And plus at that point, we've been two and a half months deep of 100 degree weather. You're still great. You're not in baseball playoffs. You do got preseason football happening, which is great. But preseason football can also be pulling teeth. Yeah. So I get that.

Let's do it. August 11. I don't know. What would you put January? No, no, no. January is great. It's like your opportunity to fresh start hopping into the new year. Who would you put at 11?

August. Maybe September. It's such a random. It's the start of college football. Okay. Yeah. I get it for a Florida Gating. You're not excited.

You're waiting for basketball. Large madness is up there, though. August. It's August. It's August. We'll agree with August. It's, it has to be 10. This is where I,

I plug and play April. It's rainy. It's still a little windy. But why not May? Because May it dries up a little bit. You don't have as many rain days. Hey, and listen, we're in the southern tip of Tornado Alley. That is true.

March and April, boom, boom. You're getting hit with front-loaded T-storms that could blow you to a. You have March Madness. Oh, I'm not putting March in there. I just said April. I know, but April is mostly March Madness. But you're also coming off a spectacular month in March, and the fall off is considerable.

it is. In April Fool's Day, can't stand it. And that's my mom's birthday, which I shouldn't say. Love my mom's birthday, can't stand April fools. I don't know if you're April Fool's in me right now to put April 10? Yeah, I would put April 10. That's just me. I do think 10 through 5 is a bit of a toss-up. It is. It kind of just all... Let's just blow through... How about you go 10 through 5?

Oh gosh. 10 through 6, and then we'll do the top 5. All right. I'm putting April at 10 solely because Sparks pointed out tornadoes. I'm from Florida, which is hurricanes. Those are less scary to me than tornadoes. April Fool's overrated. Really? Yes. You would pick a hurricane over a tornado.

You can 100% predict in many days ahead if there is going to be a hurricane. Tornado, it's like suddenly the little Elm fire things are going off and I'm hiding in my guest bathroom. I don't know. I feel like that's picking between Ohio State and Bama when you're talking natural disasters. It is tough. We won't be ranking natural disasters on the show. Earthquakes, though, very underrated. Yeah.

I'm putting September at number nine. Honestly, not a lot great going on there. I know you said that's when everything kind of gets started, but kind of just feels like I'm coming off of a great summer, and it's kind of like... Well, fine, you can work on Labor Day. Okay. We'll see you September 5th.

A ninth month. Sounds good. Going in at number nine, September. Yep. January at number eight. Not a big fan of the time change, and it still hasn't changed at that point. Getting dark way too early.

Usually when the ice storms come here in Texas. Texas, November at number seven. Turkey, not a huge fan. I actually did not eat turkey this Thanksgiving. You're a no Thanksgiving fan either. Yeah. I celebrate December. We have a lot of similarities.

In November. Yep, see, in between October and December, November, that's its biggest fall. Yeah. June, we'll put that at number six. Good pick. Good pick. Dog days of summer. Yeah, I love summer, but June is just kind of,

and then I'll let you guys take over top five. Yeah. Those are, I can't argue with any of those. Not bad. You could maybe move one or two, either which way, but not bad, Cal's. I would put November at 10, but other than that. Now for the real, the real months, the top five, your national championship contenders. At number five, May.

Yeah, my birthday month deserves the top five. Yeah, and it's good. You're coming off that spring, you're entering summer. You can see the end of the school year on the calendar. It's quickly approaching. Mother's Day in May. Oh, well, Cinco de Mayo. Oh, yes.

Love tacos. Then my birthday right after Mother's Day. Then Memorial Day. Wow. That's pretty special. For a month, that only has three letters. It packs a punch. This is where I would put another controversial pick,

but I would put December in the fourth spot. Good, Garrett. I should have known. You aren't a holiday cheermeister. I see, this is where I don't base it on holiday. I love Christmas. Yeah. But again, it's, that's all it is.

December's old. No, if you're basing it off of sports, there's your college football playoffs in December. Yeah, I think solely for the reason you just said, sports reasonings, it's four and not eight, to be quite honest with you. Well. So that leaves July, October. In March. And March. I mean, that's how you designed it.

I would go July number three. No. July number three. If you put December at four. I'd put October three personally. Whoa, that's my number one. No. That's my number one.

And that's why I said I'm the biggest hypocrite. because I cannot stand Halloween, but the sports in October are, they're to die for, man. I mean, you got... The largest crossover. Yeah, you got the largest crossover. You got right in the college football.

You got NFL kicking. You got NBA starting NHL, and you got the World Series. It's a tough month to be sports-wise. Yeah. So I would put in October as my number one month of the year, even though there's a disgraceful, way over celebrated holiday at the end of it.

That is true. Unless you dress up as Mrs. Claus on Halloween, then you can just bring Christmas in. July, March, October, all deserving. I agree. July 4th, probably, again, I'm going to start celebrating July 4th. And two weeks, January 1. We're going July 4th on this pod for six months. It's a World Cup here.

I want banners flying. That's a really good list, Gare. I actually feel like we did. They did a good job. You could be a car dealer. You're a good ranker of months. Thanks. Appreciate it.

Not bad. Not as good as Gare, but not bad, Cal's. I mean, this guy could have sold me a Subaru with 100,000 miles the way he backed up October. That was really good. Yeah. I don't disagree either. I'm cool with the list. Yeah.

Other than December. Leave us your list in the comments below or call in. There's somebody out there. And tell us why you would put a specific month, 805, 880. 666. Don't forget to 972 or almostathletes.com. And leave us a voicemail. Tell us your best gift you got for Christmas or why you would rank February last with us. There's somebody out there. George from Pensacola, Florida, who thinks February is the goat month. That's sad.

Well, I want to hear why because so call in. It was a pleasure having you, Kelsey. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for coming on the pot. On your day off. On your day off. I appreciate it. And before I go, I do have a gift. is Christmas Eve. And one of the joys of my job is that I get to meet a lot of fans and interact with them. And on Friday, when you guys were out of the office, had a fan stop by and drop off a gift for you guys.

I think you're going to like it. Really? Leave it. I mean, give it up for the head of fan engagement. That's right. She's doing her job. She's doing her job. All right.

It's technically from both of you. It is from Kaysen. Shout out Kaysen and Zach. Okay. Kaysen and Zach. All right, do you know where they were from? Well, I don't want to give it away. Well, I don't think you should read this yet if you just open it.

I mean, well, should we read it? Sure, go for it. Sparky and Garrett, a few weeks back on the podcast, you mentioned wanting some Amarillo high gear. Oh! My 8-year-old son, Kaysen heard it, and immediately you asked if we could send you some. We're from Amarillo, but moved to Frisco three years ago. So this was a fun way for him to feel connected to home. Funny enough, you mentioned it this week when ranking your favorite mascots.

Yeah, the Sandy's, baby. Wow. Yeah, Merry Christmas. That is Kaysen. This is from Zach and Kaysen. Come on, baby. Some sandy gear, some sandy swag. We have Amarillo.

Oh, baby. Amarillo Hi. It was always a Permian guy for the longest time, but not anymore. Forget you, Midland Lee. Incredible. Forget you, Odessa Permian. Kaysen actually left us a note in here. I'm a Sandy.

Cason, to Sparky and Garrett, dear dudes, thank you for your office. videos me my brother and my dad watch almost athlete every week from your biggest fan Kason let's go see the Gp logo at the bottom my guy uh special man there is this bad boy oh yeah oh that sandy logo that is I can honestly this is this is the best gift I've received so far this year casein yep uh man what a way to start the holidays that's right a little pounded Noggin. Well done. Merry Christmas to Zach, Kaysen, and the other brother. I don't know what I know of the name.

And Barrett. Merry Christmas to us. Barrett. Merry Christmas, guys. Pretty genius there by Kelsey. Also, to refurbish Kaysen and Zach's gift as one of her own kind of. But that is why she is the head of fan engagement. That's right. Give it up for Kelsey again. Thanks, Kelsey. We got Kobe and some holiday voicemails coming up next.

More Sandy Gear, please. Welcome to the set. None other than Twin One. Kobe Cotton. Hey guys, it's an honor. How are we doing? I feel like the only thing we were missed in there was like the Jordan Bulls theme music. That would have been so nice. That's still the best of all time.

Dude, you're here for good reason. And it's because it's my favorite segment. It's your favorite segment. It's time to listen to some voicemails. We asked for holiday-related questions, and we already got a few good ones. But we want you to send more. Send a voicemail with questions. Hot takes or anything else holiday-related.

972-805-8-86. You can also find that number at almostathletes. So, without further ado, let's check some of these out. Play it. Yo, this is my hot take that Christmas is not the best holiday. Because it's cold all the time. Depends where you live. And my opinion, Fourth of July is the best because you get to be around your friends the whole time.

Might have saved that at the end. Summer, get more freedom. Christmas, you just know. So you either fail your midterms And you have to go back to school So yeah After it's just sad So this guy makes a couple

Decent Points Is this your long-lost brother? Yeah he's seeing He's picking up what I've been putting down for a while I feel like just like in Dude Perfect Overall universe How kids, Dude Perfect fan You enter into a phase where you

You know not really cool anymore then you maybe reenter that phase because you're a dad again. I feel like that's how Christmas is. When you stop getting Santa's gifts, which will come at time, kids. Santa just doesn't deliver everyone only to kids. Christmas takes a significant hit for people. Yeah, listen, here's the thing.

You nailed it when you said it yourself. It's a hot take. It's a hot take. And here's the thing, you're wrong. You're wrong. Christmas is the best holiday. In my opinion, it's not close. I think you have to line up all the reasons why that's the case.

number one nostalgia. It's unbelievable how just like calming it feels like this set is the best one we've had. Yeah. It just feels. Christmas lights. It just feels better. Anytime you see Christmas lights anywhere you are, you just know this is about to be one to two months of just greatness. I agree. Obviously, I'm a Christian, so there's that extra layer of like, this is, we're celebrating Jesus birth. That's exciting. So there's real meaning and value behind it. But then, dude, presents? Are you kidding me? How many presents are there rolling out at July 4th? No, they fall from the sky in a firework for about 18 seconds. I mean, it's a great holiday, but it's not touching Christmas.

This kid's getting paid by Christmas. Yeah. No, you make a good point about the lights. There is not a better, just relaxing, like... Fibre Christmas tree lights, no other lights on, like, the tree light in the house. A cup of cocoa. Yes. Fire going.

Yes. Yes. Yeah. They probably lives somewhere with a blizzard, too. And listen, I'll admit, I've never gone through that, okay? We have very moderate temperature here in the old Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Though the farmer's almanac is calling for some snow this year on the 25th. Well, that white Christmas, by all means, full send it.

I know what he's saying. I know what he's saying. I'm not a cold month guy myself. That is why starting January 1, I am full on July 4th. I'm wearing red, white, and blue for six months, dude. Especially in a World Cup year, too. You guys are going to be so sick of me celebrating July 4th. You'll have to do it for seven months.

Well, I know. It's four days into the seven months. Sure. But sure. You actually make a really good point there. It's basically just six months. Yeah, it's six months. And I'm doing it. I'm committed to the... I'm talking just obnoxious overalls of red, white, and blue. And you're going to... What do you sell them? July 4th? It's February 2nd. None matter.

One of the greatest holidays because I'm an American. Is it the second best holiday? It's in my top three. Can we lock it in? It's in my top three. You made a good point, Kobe, in the sense that the meaning behind it is definitely like what brings me Christmas joy. Yes, it's like legitimate. It's my third. St. Patrick's Day.

July 4th is my third favorite holiday. It goes Christmas, Easter July 4th. Wow. I like it. I mean, I'm totally cool with it. And that is, again, that is based on my beliefs, but I do stop. Here's where I'm gut checking myself because I should agree with you, but I think

there's not a lot of Easter vibe. You know, like, you don't see it's the Christmas lights. Dude, I think I'm realizing how much of a role that plays in my appreciation for Christmas. I think Easter could learn a little something from Christmas. You already have the bedrock of Jesus in both. And Easter's just,

it's just lamer. I mean, we got to pick it up. Easter people. You make a valid point here of you said it's just lacking substance, just like Thanksgiving, dude. No, holidays. Thanksgiving has vibe. What do you mean?

It does, dude. Think about it. Easter could learn something from Thanksgiving. They got turkeys everywhere. You're right, Easter. Let's throw a terrible meal. Let's throw a terrible meal into it, and it's going to make it a good holiday.

You also come off, Kobe, as a guy who didn't get many Easter eggs growing up. You didn't excel at that. The Easter egg hunt is so fun, dude. It's great. It's great. But it lasts just this little short. It's like the fireworks show.

It's quick. It's not enough. What does Thanksgiving provide? Maybe they should be doing Easter egg hunts for a month. It's like the light show. And I don't even like to hunt. I like it when you go to those things and they just drop a bajillion out of the helicopter

right in front of you. Wow. I have never done a helicopter Easter egg drop and maybe that's my problem. That's your problem. You're missing out, man. I'm going to start brainstorming on how Easter could be closer to Christmas.

Yeah. I know what he's trying to say and it's a very hard thing to say because you come off wrong. An American. Yeah. But if you take the meaning out of it, I know what he's saying

as a country kid growing up praying for no burn ban to pop off $400 worth of fireworks. Roman candles galore. That gross character, man. You get a sparkler to the neck and a little burn, I still have one.

You know? July 4, those are you. Or you wake up. Or you wake up the next day and your entire yard's black, like that happened to me. Oh, I've almost burned down two pastures. Both of them, not mine. Wow. That's crazy.

But I get it. I'm more of a summer than winter guy. But I'll say this. We like the hot takes. Send in more of those. I do too. You like hot weather too. I do.

Bring it. Hey, do perfect. I'm a huge fan. My question for you guys today is do you prefer giving vacations or experiences to your kids for Christmas instead of gifts or what do you think about it. My name is Ryland. Thank you. This kid is so mature for his age.

He is. That's an adult question from a young man. I mean, for him to already realize that gifts are actually like a materialistic gift is not going to last as long. It's almost meaningless if you look at how long it lasts to what an experience lasts a lifetime. This kid's going places. Yeah, Rylan.

Hey, golf clap. Add a kid. You're looking at the next CEO of the last. of a major company this kid. Sure. Y'all are the parents. You speak on this. Do you live vicariously?

I got to really think about this. I have an opinion. My oldest is a girl four and a half. I think she's too young to appreciate the experiences. So where my brain goes is there's an age where Rylans on to this. Right? Experiences Trump, a physical gift,

absolutely. I don't think my kids are there yet because I think if I showed up on her birthday, for example, and instead of a gift, she gets... A visit to a national park? A national park trip is such a great example, Gare. I think she would look at me and think, Daddy, do you still love me?

So are you willing to admit that the Disney venture y'all just went on was a little too much? Let's talk about that, guys. Let's talk about that. My family just had truly an experience of a lifetime. Yeah. I don't think I need to convince you guys of how great the parks are at Disney.

You two traveled the world, and you truly saw every single one in a short span of time. I would say that I kind of did the opposite of y'all. Y'all went to every park in the shortest amount of time. I spent 15 days at Disney in a row. It felt like you out kicked your coverage on the Disney front. It was, I'll admit it was long. I will leave the viewers with one question myself,

and you can comment in the comments. This is for the older kids. Yep. Okay. Tell me every gift that you got growing up. Uh-huh. and then verse and experience. I can guarantee you're going to have to think back to the gifts that you got

and the experience is going to pop up like, I mean, instantaneously in your head. That to me proves that gifts are fleeting. Like they're fun for, man, they can even be fun for a year. But then when you're like three years down,

you're not going to remember that one gift. But if it was like a Disney, Carter's going to remember that Disney trip of like, my dad tried to kill me at Disney. Sure. You know? He tried to over Disney. me. But she's going to remember it. She's going to remember

it for sure. She's going to remember Rapunzel and everything that came like to. Absolutely. It was truly magical for her. Absolutely. I do. And for me getting to watch that through her eyes, it was unbelievable. Yeah. So, man, I'm also like, as you saying, I'm also thinking back on some specific gifts. There are, there are like, there are some. Like for me, getting Billy Madison, great gift, man.

You don't know what I think of first? We're in North Carolina or grandparents' house. We both get this unbelievable remote control car. Grandparents always do it. Five minutes later. It breaks. Corey drives his into the pond, done. So that just sticks out to me because we were both really, really excited in his lasted for five minutes.

No, two separate ones. Sorry, it should have been more clear. Two cars, Corey, straight into the pond. He would tell you that was the saddest Christmas gift moment that he's gonna remember. There's obviously meaningful gifts out there. It's just the overall sentiment of an experience does trump a gift.

What can you think of though? Like for you, are there experiences that you remember that were given to you as a gift? Because I'm not sure we did this. We didn't actually do this. I always got gifts. My point was just like,

it's hard for me to remember like, totally gift I ever got. Very few you actually remember from a lifetime of gifts. Yes, that's all I'm saying. Where like, do you remember your family vacations? 100% way more. Yeah, that's all I'm really saying. That's a great question.

Ahead of your time. Shout out Carla McGee, my grandmother, who gave the best gift I ever had, my first console, in 64. 1998. But see, that was an experience for you because, yeah,

you were hired on to be the head, yeah, the head gamer at DP, still doing it. That's also, to be totally honest, that's a gift that lasts a lot longer than,

because you play that for a long time. Yeah, it's not like a ticket that lasts for, maybe too many hours in. Shout out of grandma, though. Sure. Good question.

Great question. Yeah, Ryan, I'm big fan of you too. Good luck with that, being the Chase Bank CEO in about 2030. Yeah, I want to buy a future.

Yes. Hey, almost dad. I'm Jonah and I am from New Prague, Minnesota. I love the pod and listen every Wednesday. My question is, what are your top three favorite Christmas treats or snacks? Thank you. Ooh. First of all, thanks for listening. Appreciate that a lot. It means a lot. Yeah.

I feel like this is a question for Sparky. Top three Christmas treats or snacks. One up there has to be the Little Debbie's Christmas treats. I was literally going to say the Debbie Christmas treat game, dude. But for some reason, we have like a hundred boxes of Little Debs for a short. They're running out quickly. Well, they were on. On my downstairs, I have two desks in the office, I know.

It's extra flex. But they were on my downstairs desk, and I thought they were for me. And then I was told not to touch them. They were for a video. Outdoor. Outdoor video, actually. How many low debbies does it take to stop an arrow? Yeah.

I mean, how many little debbies does it take to stop sparking? Yeah. I was about to say, I think I can go, Will Chamberlain, hold up the 100 next to me. That's 100. What other one's like Christmas? I love eggnog. It's kind of weird, but I love, like, a good eggnog. Canes. Are you a candy cane? No, no. Out on candy canes. I actually like candy cans.

I just bought eggnog flavored ice cream. I dooredashed it the other night. It hit the spot. Did it? Yes. I've never tried in an eggnog ice cream. Got my attention. So you got you a Debbie cake? Do you go eggnog with the Debbie cake? No, not necessarily. Two separate entities, but I love both of them. What else? What else we got? And then over like a candy cane, I'd say like a gingerbread house. Oh, I think. You eat your gingerbread out? Yeah, of course. A fresh gingerbread cookie really is good. Yes, correct. And I feel like that feels. That feels. That feels like that feels. I feel like that very Christmas. So you eat the entire gingerbread house. That's crazy. That's different.

No, yeah, that's different. I don't want to separate myself from that. It's not the same thing. Correct. No, the other day we were at my grandparents, my parents' house, our kids' grandparents' house, they were letting them build gingerbread houses. You have the hardened stuff that makes up the house. My kids were eating it. That is not what I'm talking about. Yeah. Do you have a sitting there gnawing on the foundation of my gingerbread house? Do you guys have a family or just a Christmas tradition

that's like that's what you look forward to? We have a couple. What is it? Every year we do a carriage ride and we look at Christmas lights. On a specific day? Just like a week. Like you got to make sure everybody has their lights up and like it's looking pristine. Like it's the time to go.

We all get hot chocolate. Yeah. And we go. We go Christmas light looking December 15th every year because that is the day that I proposed to my wife on a Christmas carriage. Wow. I didn't know that about you. Looking at lights.

Wow. Yeah, so we go on December 15th. But the day of the week changes every year. Don't think I'm, you know, this romantic. That was actually my wife's idea. I actually, you know, kind of forgot about all that. Just happened to have that. Did you have the ring in your pocket and you just ended up on a romantic date?

Yeah, it was a, it was a coup of the ages. You know, I actually, you know, I planned it all, but I made it actually seem like she planned it. Wow. So that's, we look at lights too. What else? What about Christmas morning traditions? Anything? This is not Christmas morning.

We have another one. when we get the tree out for the first time, which I'll be honest, growing up, we did real tree, currently fake trees, kind of amazing. Pre-lit, dude. Pre-lit, I don't hate it. Childhood me would be so disappointed.

But that's a thing for another day. We get the tree out, we get it set up. The first night that that's the case, we turn off every light in the house at the tree button. That moment. Glorious moment. I remember it as a kid.

We just did it for the first time. now that my kids are old enough to remember it, I hope that for them it was just as memorable. Yeah. Great moment. Well said. Ours was going to watch Christmas Lights was always fun. We'd do that, like, a week leading up to it.

And then that was about it. You didn't go visit Santa every year? Yeah, no, not really. On Santa's lap. Tell them what you wanted. We do like g-togethers, things like that, and Santa may or may not show up. But, yeah, Christmas Lights was always fun to watch.

Maybe a movie here. We make a cinnamon, like a, we make the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Roll. The giant one. The giant one. We strong again. I keep saying we. It's not we. It's, you know, my wife teaches our kids at home school.

My wife makes the cinnamon roll. Yeah. I eat it. Good to be specific. She's good at cooking it. You're good at eating it. We also do the giant cinnamon roll, and I'm pretty sure we buy it at the grocery store.

Well, that's probably good too, but man, cinnamon roll Christmas morning. It's good. We do like a brunch. We get up, do some gifts, read the Christmas story, then eat. I have an important Christmas question for you. all.

Sure. First answer when you were kids, and then you can talk about how your kids do it. How quickly our presence opened? Is this like a take your time moment, or are you ripping into them? Because my mom and my dad did this very differently as a kid, and we're still having a process this as parents. I'll let you answer first. I love one at a time.

We're really drawing out the moment. Every gift needs to be appreciated. The best way to do that is go one at a time. That's how we grew up. Yep, that's all I grew up. I grew up different. You had Santa's gifts that weren't right. and then you had the parents' gifts

and it was like just, I mean, Christmas was over and two minutes, 58 seconds. You know, like it was dumb. Like, it was just like, you need some TV time. And then you're just like, that's it. And then now that we do like Christmas with our kids, it's like one thing you want, one thing you need, one thing you read, like there's only a certain number of gifts.

And so we actually do like, all right, you're turning to open a gift, Owen. Now you're turning it. And it still only takes, about nine minutes and eight seconds because, you know, but drew it out another five minutes. Yeah, you need to turn that thing into Yankees Red Sox, four hours. You know, that's the way I do it. One more hidden, really cool thing. So you're still trying to figure it out? No. Well, kids are just so young. I feel like I'm not even a great person to ask, but we, I'm sure we will go

slow. That's how I grew up. And you'll find out that you have your own traditions come about that are specific to your family that naturally happened. But one that was kind of slept on that I didn't bring up is on the 24th. Our parents would let us select one gift under the tree as like a pregame type thing at random. So you would shake, smell that thing, whatever you needed to do. But opening that one present on the 24th really set the tone for the 25th. And isn't it amazing how quickly kids can get up on the 25th? If at school, we're sleeping in until 745, but that on the 25th, 3am's in play. 3am is most definitely in play. My mom would always select the gift that we would open on Christmas Eve. This is actually a good one for us. And every year it would

be some type of board game. We would play a game together as a family on Christmas Eve that we would unwrap. wear them on the next day. That's good. The PJs. That's good. See, guys, listen,

I'm telling you right now, Easter could learn a thing or two. I mean, we're ripping off memories. Yeah. It's harder to think about it. It's a great time to challenge our listeners, watchers,

to comment below what their unique Christmas Day celebrations are because we could all incorporate something new, something fun. For sure. Ooh. That, my friends, is our two-minute warning whistle. Kobe,

you got anything today? I actually do. Wow. The other day, I forgot what my rant was. I realized it the day. I wrote it down in like six places so I couldn't miss it. I came prepared. Here's my rant. Are you guys familiar with Remember the Titans? Yes, absolutely. Of course, it's one of the best movies ever made. I just saw the other day. ESPN released. It was the number one

sports movie of our generation. I agree with this. How many Oscars do you think Remember the Titans won? Just based off the way you stated the question, I'm going to guess zero. How many nominations do you think Remember the Titans have for an Oscar? Zero. Zero for both. I learned this the other day and I almost lost it. It's a good rant. I was hot. I mean, the emotions are bubbling up now. I watched it.

My wife actually credit to her. It was on TV. She called me into the other room. She said, Kobe, remember the Titans on. We watched the whole movie on TV sitting through commercials. It's so good. And I looked up in the middle of it and I said, how many this? I bet Denzel won five awards for this.

Nothing. Didn't even get considered. What kind of world are we living in? That's insane. Can you not go back? give an Oscar retroactively? It goes both ways, Kobe, because I got an Emmy Award sitting up in my office, which I do not deserve.

If Denzel will reach out, I will give him my Emmy from our Thursday night football for Remember the Titans. His performance is Herman Boone. It was truly unbelievable. Yeah. I would also be willing to give it to my childhood crush Hayden Panetteer if she would like to reach out. Wow.

She can coach some mean football as a young lady. It's an unbelievable movie. Yeah. Herman Boone was, he taught a lot of things that kids need to know nowadays. I'd have played for them, for sure. T.C. Williams, good football team. I'll tell you what, you got Reb under center, and then you had sunshine to move in. You laugh.

You cry. But then you got Gary Burtier running the intersection. I know. Oh, man, that thing is everywhere. So quotable. So quotable. Well, that is a good. That's good, Kobe.

That's good. You know, again, educational. I had no idea. It's never too late to make a change. Okay, Oscars, call them. With the backside George Reverse. I love it. It was with the backside George Reverse.

That was the play call. Wow. Well, sunshine. Well, sunshine. It looks like our time is up. We'll be off next Wednesday, but we will be back on Wednesday, January 7th, with a brand new episode.

Follow the show on all social media at Almost Athletes. Like and subscribe to us on YouTube or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Give us a five-star rating. Share your favorite episode with a friend, Almost Athletes with Dude Perfect is a wave original. Thanks for tuning in. Pound it. Noggin.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, everybody. and a happy new year.