Bussin' With The Boys - Best of the Bus: Tony Vitello: "In Between The Lines There Are No Rules"

Episode Date: March 28, 2026

Recorded: April 13, 2022 | With baseball being back we are running back Tony V when he joined the boys on their spring tour back in 2022. Coach Vitello was the former head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers and now the current head coach of the San Francisco Giants. He joined the bus for an absolute banger of an interview. Vitello was one of the biggest names in college baseball at the time and you'll find out exactly why in this interview.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast, And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome back to another episode of the Bustin Spring Football Tour.

I know we've been talking about football, spring ball, but coming to the University of Tennessee, we had to get on the juggernaut. We had to get on coach Vitello. Correct? Tony Vitello. I feel like this most Italian name ever. Yeah, young gun, I mean, look at him. He's handsome.

Before we get into, before we sit here and melting our couches, this thing is brought to you by the Chevy Silverado, the hardest working truck on the planet dependable durable just like the people who drive them you and coach v but we had to get the baseball guys on you guys are crushing it i hate that you guys just lost one last night because you guys run on an 11 game win streak you're 30 and 2 now is that 31 and 2 30 and 2nd you ever get that one and uh jack was jack is a huge Tennessee guy yeah and everybody's to school here yeah and everybody's been talking about a Tennessee baseball and i'm on my phone last night late at night scroll and seeing all your guys's highlights and everything else and coach eckler's giving me a background on you guys. You guys are kind of like the Detroit Pistons, the bad boys of

SEC baseball, college baseball. Would you agree with that? Is that fair to say? Is that a good assessment? I mean, I kind of like that now at this age. I grew up. My old man's from Chicago, so I grew up a Bulls fan, and I hated the Pistons. But I think if you're a competitor, that's kind of the way it should be. You should love the guy if he's on your team or you should love your team if they're yours. And then you want to be hated if, you know, if you walk into an opponent's building, you don't want them to like you because that means they're thinking easy victory. Yeah.

Yeah, but baseball in a lot of ways, like you don't see guys hitting grand slams and going halfway to first base. Talking shit, dude, throwing that shit in the air like it's fucking nothing. Like you, hey, did you walk into the team meeting room one day and go, hey, here's a deal. Fuck these guys. All of them. It's just us. It's our pirate ship.

No, I mean, I do think we've got a certain attitude about us, but you have to in order to survive in our league. But the SEC people, man. Sorry. Any Power 5 league. No, stop. But then we had a non-power-five team put it on us last night. So, no, again, at the end of the day, it's all about competition, and you got to be who you are. And that guy in particular, you're speaking of as one of our team leaders.

And he's just very unique. He's a gentleman off the field, and he's an assassin on the field. And sometimes I do my best to control them, but sometimes I can't. Yeah. What's the best kind of players? Yes. Drew Gilbert. He's a fan favorite. And again, anyone that's got to know him as a person would love them.

But immediately when we go into another place, we're in Oxford, Mississippi recently, and it took their fans about two outs in the first inning. And he was just on deck to understand that he's not the one to like. But, you know, our guys do got a little bit away about them that, you know, again, if you're cheering for us, I think you enjoy. And if not, you may question it. But I don't think anyone ever goes over the line to do something disrespectful to the opponent. It's just in baseball, you've got to be a personality.

If you look at like the most fun team since we've been alive, like the Phillies back in the John Crook era, Darren Dalton and those guys and the Red Sox when Millar was on their team. I mean, it's long days as a baseball player. You got to have some stuff going on in the locker room to bring you together and also keep you entertained during all those hours. So this is your fifth season with the volunteers. Is this like something that's kind of built over time or is it for whatever reason this year?

No. It's kind of just big you guys have become like the bad boys of the SEC. No, I think last year, without last year's team, this year's team is not having the success they are. And then if you go back to our first year, our pitching coach and I were joking about how we're just starving for any win possible. And that's how we were handling our pitching was just one day at a time. We just need as many wins.

So it's been, you know, without going into the whole long story, it's been a gradual deal. And I'll tell you what, when the fans got on board and you know how crazy our fans are, that's what kind of helped catapult this whole thing. I think what's cool, too, is like you guys, it's clear. about your gut you guys having fun and like you said if you're an outsider and you don't cheer for for tennessee you might question it or whatever but baseball for the most part is a very uniformed buttoned up sport and knowing that you have a team like you do having the fun and bringing out their personalities and having their unique style about them and then you have a young coach like yourself

who kind of embraces it the whole my concho story the whole my concho bit is hilarious um is that something you're conscious of you kind of just let it fly and tell the boys like hey we're going out here to have fun who gives a shit like the opinions that are out there about the sport of baseball it's Kind of like you guys are bringing a flavor to the game. Yeah, I think that's something you try and set the tone from day one and manage what you think your culture is kind of overused word, but what your style or brand name is going to be. And when we first got here, Tennessee's had great players for quite a while.

I mean, Nixon Zell was the second pick in the draft before we got here. I mean, they've had talent, but they hadn't had kind of a flavor that Arkansas, where I came from, you could stereotype their baseball team. And again, we talked about Mississippi or Vanderbilt. And now I think we've kind of created our own brand name, And along the way, I've kind of felt like we introduced some ideas to them. They've run with it. And now we just got to make sure that fire done burn too bright.

Sometimes those boys get a little out of control. And again, there is a line to walk. What's the right way to do it and what's not? My question is, why is there a line to walk? Why not just ride this thing in the sunset, you know what I'm saying? Grab the chariots. Be like Icarus, dude. Go to the sun.

Sure. Well, you know, we're televised here, and you fellows are popular. So you got to make sure you don't say the wrong thing too many times. But, no, it's in between the lines, to be fair, what you're saying, there are no rules. So I know in baseball, yeah, I mean, there's different versions in football and baseball. If somebody bunts when they're winning up by six runs or someone throws inside, I mean, where's the rules? You're between the lines and it's killer be killed. And then at the end of the day, kind of like UFC guys do when they dab each other up.

It's like, how the hell are they doing? They just try to kill each other. But it's a mutual respect for, you know, hey, what just went on here? there was something pure there and almost kind of primal that we are getting you know getting into it and now it's over with when you say like bunny when you're of six rounds like what are some of the like unspoken rules of baseball as you just don't do that maybe maybe you guys do yeah that's what's interesting you know you like said why is there a line that they're unwritten so there is no actual book so it's it's the gentleman's game part yeah it's kind of all up to perception and um you know i i don't think uh you know you want to be sending guys from second base on a borderline call to score if you're already up 10 12 runs i i think

it's just you know not put into the pedal of the metal too much if it's you know a big lead for your team but you know otherwise you know it's like batista hits that homer against the rangers and throws his bat's If you don't want him to throw his bat, then don't give up a home run. If you get a ball that far in that situation, to me, you can do whatever you want. And if you're the opponent and you don't like it, then do something about it. Well, they do do something about it. The next time he's up at bat, next time you guys play. A little chin music.

He catches a little chin music, worn on the ribs real quick. When is the time in baseball, is it like that in college baseball? Do you guys kind of give them the, hey, this dude's been talking? Give him one. No, it really doesn't go on at our level. I saw one of our Juko commits. I went down and watched him, and he actually hit a kid in the helmet

and the first base coach yelled, I think I can say whatever. Yeah, because what the fuck are you doing? And he basically stormed onto the field and, you know, the kid just had one get away. I mean, these guys, this is not a part of our game as much now. I think in the big leagues maybe a little bit. You saw Lindor get hit in the head,

but I really don't feel like there was intent there. There's too much money involved. Plus, nowadays, instead of like George Brett playing for the Royals his whole career, you might get traded the next day and be on that guy's team that you just threw at. Hey, that's wild like that. The trades are crazy.

Like in football, I don't know when the trades are, but when football is like week eight, by week eight you can't trade anybody anymore. How's it working in baseball? No, it's deeper into the year in baseball. And two, when you come up through the minor leagues, you might have played with all these guys because there's a bunch of trades that may go on

throughout a guy's career, just trying to make it up, you know, through the ranks. And then two, now all these guys, like Bryce Harper. First time I ever saw him was at the Area Code games. It's where all the best players go. Well, they all become buddies, especially on social media now, too. So as intense and competitive is, as much money as there is out there, I think at the end of the day, all these guys are kind of buddies. I mean, Drew Gilbert, again, maybe the most hated or the villain leader of our team. Love him? Yeah, trust me, you would. But he played on Team USA. So there's the best

player from Florida, the best player from Georgia, and they all get to know them, and they all like You know. The Mike Hancho bit. Is that something that was premeditated? Did you just watch Taldaiga Nights recently? No. Or was that just off the top and you're having fun? No, I need to watch Talladega Nights soon.

Hold on. You haven't seen Talladega Nights. No, I've seen a plan. I feel it's proper to visualize or see that every month or so, you know. Yeah. That's fair. It's one of those with my quota. You get your staples.

Yeah. But those in-game interviews, like I can't believe like a guy like Sabin, like the halftime interview or right before kickoff. I know they have to do it. But it's cool when you're watching on TV, but when you have to do it in the dugout and like your guys are hitting or pitching, it's pretty, it's distracting.

And so I had a lot of emotions boiling in my body, and that was just kind of what came out. I say a lot of dumb things sometimes because you got the Italian temper going. You got that? It's a bit of a cop-out. I'm Italian. Yeah, I'm Italian.

You know I got anger and issues. Yeah. It's a good alibi. Yeah. No, nothing premeditated. Just a question. And Chris Burke, who was a legendary player here, works for ESPN. He was the one conducting the interview and I just have a level of comfort with him. So it's kind of like us sitting here having a beverage talk. Yeah. Yeah, that's my first F word I think with me to kind of feels good. Let's go. You just start letting him fly now. You know what I'm saying? I'm Italian. I should be all that. Exactly. He has two. What are you guys doing? You know, all the stereotypical days. What is the touch me doing?

He's just disrespect thinking, he can't help, but he's Italian. Exactly. He got it. He got it. Anytime you have an interview, we'll pioneer that for. Hey, nobody get mad at him.

He's fucking Italian. We'll just redo your interview and just put fuck where you should have. I appreciate that. If you do a little history, you probably need to pass some things up between a fast food restaurant and myself. Yeah.

What is that? Like, you dive into that. Well, you know, it was after a game and my stomach was in knots, kind of like you, you know, would be if you ate it up you can pick whichever one you want I you know and I said that out loud and they happen to be one of our sponsors so that's oh oh so you don't want to say the name because it's still a sponsor no I've already written enough apology notes run with me no I want to

say it's raising Keynes no not at all hey canes is fantastic our guys love Keynes right up the road so are we able to say we can leave it at that from now yeah that is a smart move he already apologized so we already backpedal he's got to he's got to stay true to I got to find a way to make up with last night's umpire, so that's on my to-do list. We're gonna, I don't need any more. Do you see them pretty frequently,

the same ones? Yeah, you do. It's got to be tough. No, it is. And you'd like to think, like, hey, man, when you're in your, you know,

garb you're wearing or whatever, and I'm in uniform, were these characters. And then outside, like, I don't really care. I don't know how you guys were as teammates, but, you know, sometimes it's hard to differentiate.

Maybe you don't respect a teammate as much, but off the field, you know, he's a civilian or he's just a dude, you know. Yeah, I love that. Maybe he's a civilian. Yeah. I tell you what he's got the Italian in him, he reminds me like Coach Bo. He kind of blacks out as he's out there coaching. I don't know if you're familiar with Coach Bo Polini.

Very. Very. You guys probably running the same, you know, mob ties and stuff like that. I didn't know where I was going with that. I was kind of just making a comment. I do want to know a little bit something about you were bringing up Bontara, Missouri, where you went to school? Yeah.

Before this. I want to hear a little about that. He goes, you went to North County, and I'm like, how in the fuck do you know about North County? And then you're like, stop, save it. Well, I'm from St. Louis. And so the big thing there right or wrong is where did you go to high school? That's the first question everybody asks someone in high school. So I know where you guys went.

And because of recruiting rules, I can't speak too much about your high school. Oh. Oh, we got some studs out there. Very good relationship there with their best player. Okay, you can't speak too much about his school because of what kind of rules? I can see the school, right? If a kid commits, but he's not signed, you can't say anything. So there's a kid who's committed at the said school, but we can't say the school.

Can I say the school? No, you can't say the school. You can say your school for sure. I can say Sheparrelle High School. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Hey, that's a little baseball school too. We just can't say, hey, is he from Sheparall High School?

They have some studs out there. Well, he can't say Chevro High School. We can't even ask that. We're just saying what your school is. We love to ask, but you can't talk about it. But you went to Sheparrell. I went to Chaperell. I got you.

Outstanding school. A lot of good players out of that place. A lot of good players in that area. Arizona baseball is solid. Oh, yeah, huge. It's a nice deal out there. So I coached the University of Missouri. Ian Kinsler was on the first team that I coached.

What years? At Missouri. Yeah, 9902 as a player. And then I was there until 11 as a coach. Were you there with a... That's why we were going to bring up a... You asked coach hype recruiting story. He doesn't know.

You said his name. I wasn't going to say his name. I was going to go fast food restaurant. You can bleep that out too. The reason we bleep it out, here's why. So his dad, I'm so excited to get this. I'm very familiar with that family. His dad was my football coach growing up. He was a stud player in high school, I'm sure, like obviously he went and pitched at Missou. But basically, I was like in fourth, fifth, sixth grade, just terrorizing the fields of Bontair, Missouri. I mean, I was a savage. And every Friday, or if it was a Saturday day game,

his dad would take me, he would drive a couple of us players to go watch them play North County play because North County was a good football team too. But I was like that dude in high school or bleep was that that dude in high school. There's a twist.

What you said in the zoo? When he said he was like, as a player or was he like slaying? What were we talking about here? As an athlete, he's a good football player, good baseball player. Probably slates him. Smaller two could sling it.

Like you wouldn't think he could sling it. I have a fastball and stuff because he's not tall and lanky and all that. But he was just a stud, a stud person. He had a story that we can share. You asked Coach Hype about a recruiting story. I was fortunate to be listening in. And I immediately thought, because you were the one asking the question,

well, I got a recruiting story for you. Because I'm really young. I begged the coach to let me be the volunteer coach, you know, just unpaid coach. And after a year, our recruiting coordinator leaves. And I eventually get the job at a really young age, don't know what I'm doing. and I take the baton from him from this kid we're recruiting. He's like, the first thing you need to do is kind of finish the task getting this guy committed.

So I don't want to say he's the first player I recruited because I don't want that label, but he went to that high school, North County. You're the one saying his name. So he was a part of... Just pointing out of what you're the one saying his name. He was a part of the first recruiting class we ever had along with Max Scher and some others. Stud. Yeah.

The Soto? Yeah. Max and B. Actually threw a combined no hitter against Tech. Texas Tech. The only problem is later in the year, stabbed a guy. Oh shit. Hey, that was a twist. I didn't see. And like no shit stabbed the guy.

Well, it was like a good slider and like, hey, I stabbed you. That's a baseball term. With a knife. He used a sword, a machete. And he stabbed a guy. Trying to take a life. Oh, for real. Like a house party, right?

Yes, out in a lawn. Fortunately, I wasn't there. I was still a young. That was a monster. That was a monster. That was a monster. deal because again I'm close to that family like this player that we're talking about I like his dad would say hey uh he would say hang with Will for a day take me along with him I'm a younger

cat looking up to this dude so when this all happened so when he's thinking holy shit when he stabbed the guy you're like maybe I got to stab a guy yeah I'm saying if I'm around him in high school I'm like I'm as a young kid I'm wanting to think oh he's like an older brother type guy to where I can fit in and hang around everybody else okay so he was at a house party and he's stab somebody. Yeah, there was an altercation. The person did not die. No, they did not. And the altercation was over a girl? I think so. You got to assume. I can't really like it's kind of getting away from me. And there's beverages. It was one of those deals where this is the main house party, but there's kind of some offset ones, you know, where you cross the street and so there's some sort of back and forth between

the house. But I'll tell you what, that's a tragic deal. Fortunately, the person didn't die. We're at University of Texas. And we get a big third out and our guys are hooting in and out of the dugout and it kind of gets quiet for a second and some some old fan for Texas goes which one of you boys down there stabbed that guy that poor kid no way and he's sitting on the bench he's there in the dugout he had been excused that this is later in the year and just think he was excused he just pulled out of there correct that one who got to stand that guy that poor that poor boy and it it was comedy in a weird way so yeah uh yeah like the joker comedy for sure That's wild.

That's fucking crazy. So did he get convicted? Is he in jail now? No, no, no, no. He's just walking among us. Yeah, charges were dropped. Chargers were dropped. Oh, so he really didn't stab somebody.

No. Allegedly. Just for the story. Just like OJ. OJ never stabbed anybody. Yeah, he's having a good old time right now. Yeah. And I'll tell you, he's a stud.

I'm talking engineer, very smart. I mean, he's a good kid. He recruited him. He's very smart. Almost, yeah, for sure. He did. Allegedly. I mean, he didn't murder anybody.

What a fucking story, man. Did you recruit Aaron Blunt? Yeah. He was a stud too. That's just another sidebar. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. But he was established in his career so far.

He was a left. He was one of those cats. He was a lefty, lanky, was a stud. But just didn't, he was one of those dudes that's like he had a huge opportunity. And he was like, a, he was like a too cool of a guy, like went too hard, partied way too hard, way too much. You know those guys. He shouldn't get me that information ahead of time.

I would have you would have recruited me to play baseball at Mizzou. Apologies. Do you play baseball? No, I mean, I played baseball growing up. but I wasn't at this level that they're, I mean, I wasn't a G1 baseball player. It worked out pretty well for you. Yeah, yeah. We went.

We played at the old Nebraska baseball stadium. The last year was there. It was a piece of crap. Yeah. I mean, it was right next to the football stadium. Yeah. And we pulled into the parking lot and we were able to sneak in. We were waiting for the coaches to meet.

Coach Dave Van Horn is a legend. He was there at the time. I worked for him at Arkansas. And we're waiting on the coaches to decide if we're going to play or not in the rain. And we snuck into the football stadium and played. We had an empty soda bottle, and we played like a kind of, I mean, we wanted to play in that place. The history was insane, especially for guys at our age. One of the most story programs.

Dude, what a small world. Yeah. What a small world? Talking just, I'm just hair. But yeah, Bontar, Missouri. The place. I mean, I wish Aaron would have been a, he was a stud. Now I'm just right.

Yeah, he was awesome. I just feel like, in my opinion, he probably partied too hard. You might know more once he got to college. But he was just a stud. He was like an All-American in high school. He could sling it, bro. He could hit. He could do all the stuff.

Lefty. Yeah. So you know he had movement on the ball. You know all the language. I don't know all the language, but. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. A lot of guys, you know, maybe follow the Tom Brady method and never eat a carb or any of that thing. But I got to believe.

Is this how it works on us with the moment? Yeah, when Tom Brady comes on, we have to take a light off. Yeah, we take a moment of silence. Tom Brady, he's got to be able to manage that deal. I mean, you got to be able to have fun, but you also got to be able to handle business. Yeah. It's been interesting coaching some guys that maybe can't do both. And other guys, you know, are good at keeping everything organized.

Handling it? Yeah. Now, can you usually tell, when you're in a recruiting process and you hear things about kids, like, oh, hey, this kid likes to get after it a little bit, does that worry you? Or are you kind of like, I just got to make sure I keep an eye on this kid once he gets here? Yeah, no, I don't mind using the kid's name. Nick Schmidt was a kid in high school from St. Louis. And every time I called him, he was at a part, like, maybe it was just a basement with 12,

but there was always girls and guys in the background. And he was kind of that personality. It was my first year coach and I was young and he walked by me at the field and I'm supposed to be the coach, Coach Fitello and he's the recruit. And he smacked me on the ass. It's like, what's up, Coach V? Oh, no shit. Yeah, so. Hey, imagine having that kind of confidence with the coach.

I know, dude. So we passed on Nick Schmidt because of that or I did. He was the first. Because that's your butt? Well, just the whole party. He was a what? He was a first rounder. Oh.

See you then. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news? We created our own. podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy,

Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. The morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

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Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Swam! But I was accurate in my read. He went to Arkansas, and a guy named Dave Jordan was a pitching coach, and he had a kind of heart to heart with him and basically kind of saved the kid's soul. Like, I don't think he became, you know, where he never had another beer or anything, but really kind of got him more. So I was kind of accurate in my read, and he went to the right place.

A lot of times with recruiting, it's about in and up with the spot that was meant for you to be at, not necessarily the best place in the world. Whatever helps you sleep for missing out on that first round. He ain't the only one. Yeah. No doubt. That's a wild deal. As far as atmosphere goes, I've been, I've only been to one college baseball game.

That was an LSU. Yeah. Phenomenal time. I think I'm a big LSU fan because of that. What's the atmosphere like here? If stands packed? It's bananas. It's bananas.

I mean, it's a hornet's nest over there. I think a lot of it has. to do with our field. You see where we're at. We're kind of landlocked. So everything's real close and quaint, if you want to call it that. And then our fan base, you can stereotype LSU's fan base is going to tailgate and they're going to do this and that and they're going to have crawfish. Yeah, Cajuns do it a little different. Yeah, the open container law, they're allowed to do whatever they want. Yeah, for sure. And I think each team in our league has phenomenal fans, but they're all, again, you could kind of describe them in four or five words and be fairly accurate. And our fans are

just rambunctious, maybe more than anybody in the league. I mean, you guys were talking about the game against Mississippi. Did you love that? You're not a football coach, so you can kind of. He's got to tow the line of a little bit more. Are you watching? You're like, oh, this is fucking. You're free to say whatever you want.

Okay, I'm going to. Go ahead. Let it rip. The most deadly words in these, right. We won't tell nobody. Don't worry. He'll just be canceled in the morning.

Yeah. Okay. A couple days. A couple days. Here's what I was thinking when you guys talked about it with Coach I, is I don't think anyone in the world wants objects thrown at another individual because you never know what crazy thing could happen. But you could see where the fans' frustration came from if you were watching.

So they acted, you know, a little bit out of line or they acted out of line, bottom line. Here's what I'll say about Vol fans. If the referees at any point, and again, I don't coach football, I don't know who those guys were, so you can't sue me. That's right. This is clean. This isn't the sponsor. Yeah.

All they had to say was the next thing that's, thrown on this field, we're penalizing Tennessee 15 yards, and no one would have moved an inch. That's how our fans are. Yeah, but what about Mississippi fans that might be there? I'd be like, oh, easy. That's... That is. That's a good point. That's true, but I think they're going to get a haymaker thrown to the jaw

if they throw something and they're next to the Tennessee. Volunteer fans really like that. Hey, that's that Italian in them. Yeah. It's going to get a haymaker to the fucking jaw. Baseball bat to the knees. A horsehead in their bed mentality, you know what I'm saying? That was my take on. I mean, there's always a counter argument, but that would have been my perfect solution to calming down our fans because they're rowdy

but they don't they they don't want to hurt our team I can tell you that yeah volunteer fans roll deep they were a we're a part of this thing with barstool with it's like if your seed makes it into the sweet 16 in basketball that we we get a certain amount of money and I we were playing Michigan was playing Tennessee and Michigan beat Tennessee to go into the sweet 16 and I tweeted something like the haters are sick right now with Joan Howard slapping the tea I caught I caught fucking hands via Twitter I was catching hands left in right now.

I was biting the hand that fed me because obviously a lot of volunteer fans are Tennessee Titan fans. But they go hard in the paint where I almost had to issue like an apology. Like, hey, listen, you guys roll deep like that. It's impressive. A formal apology.

Formal. Like his with the sponsor. Yeah. I think better than the apology is just wearing that hat. That's a classic hat. Isn't it big time? Oh, was that? What was it, Pete's?

Yeah. We were at Pete's diet. No free shout out of Pete's. Yeah, also great food at Pete's. Yeah, also great food at Pete's. And this kid, he asked for a photo. And I was like, I love your hat.

He's like, thanks. And I said, I'll give you $100 for that hat. And he said, yep. And it was maybe the best purchase of her made. Done deal. Like that. He took it off his head. I readjusted the hat because the boys got a bit of a dome.

Smack that thing on top. And it's been smooth sailing with this hat ever since. Other than hijacking a couple of your questions. As far as when stadiums go, what's in the SEC, take the volunteers out of it. What's the most hype place to play? Well, Arkansas is where I worked before I came here. Their fans are like Cardinal fans.

They know the game well. They're really into it. St. Louis is really getting lots of shoutouts right now. Yeah. It's a massive, massive stadium. But really, I mean, there's other towns that could throw out arguments. Starkville probably has the second or the first, you know, nicest stadium. And then Oxford, where we just played, I mean, it's not normal to go in there and win.

And Lane Kiffin comes and throws out the golf ball and they're going crazy. That's hilarious, by the way. It's a solid shirt. Yeah, I think he took some heat for that, but I think it was all in good fun. It seems like he's always catching hands via social media. Because he's not scared. Which, you got to respect. I respect that.

It's one of the reasons he's a good coach. I mean, you know, he's on the edge at all times. And I guess if you're not, you're taking up too much space. Should we do the Dukannon question of the day? Sure. Home run code. Okay, so what is the home run code? Fan question from Jack McPherson.

Shout out, Jack. No free shoutouts. Coach Eclor. What's the question, Jack? It's coming from Jack. It's coming from Jack. Sorry, Coach. Home run Cove.

Yeah. Coat. Coat. Well, last year, last year, the guys, you know, it all started with the Rangers. I think with Josh Hamilton's on their team, if they hit a double, they would kind of do a sign. And now all of a sudden.

Gang sign? I don't think it was a gang sign. It was more of just a gesture. Gotcha. And ever since then, if you hit a double, you got to do something. And then it turned into Batista's, you know, bat flip. Everyone's got to do something when they had a home run, it seems like.

So our guys came up with a hat they would wear, which became really popular. The fans wanted to see it stay. This team wanted to be kind of their own team, have their own identity. So they carried over the hat team, but added on to it by having this fur or mink. I've never even touched it. It's got to be nasty by now. Yeah. But it's a coat.

There could be a woman's or a man's coat. You know, they would wear in a 70s gangster party. Yeah. Yeah. And they throw it on the guy who hit the home run when he does. so he kind of looks, you know, pimped out or whatever you say. And they love it. I think the fans like it.

You see little kids wearing these, you know, mocked up coats now. So it's something that's awesome. Yeah, it's something that's unique to their team and the fans have caught on. And again, if opponents got things they do when they celebrate nowadays, if you're wasting energy on that, you're wasting energy. What's the, what's the hat say? Daddy hat. Daddy hat.

You got a daddy hat. I got a daddy hat. Oh, it's not one right. There you go. Right there. But this is of a guy for $100, too, actually. You're going to be out of money. It's so hard soon.

Well, they print more every day. Coach, they print more every single day. That's true. We're out here hunting. I'd like to know what that kid's going to do with his hundred bones you gave him this morning. I think Jack, it'll be going to ask him. No question. Blown tonight.

He literally, he was so stoked to meet. And he's like, Terry, I was like, hey, dude, I love that hat. Can I buy it off you? And he was like, sure, he's, I'll give you $100. He's like, okay. Yeah, that was it. There was no bargaining at all. Transaction made, zero bargaining, nothing.

I really feel like I could have got away with 50, but. You've got asked for change. And he didn't got it. It becomes a whole deal. Okay, big flex. Ask for change. Well, yeah, if it's 50, I've got hundreds on me. Yeah, I mean, that's the flex.

You know what I mean? You know what I mean? He's like, what do you mean? Yeah. Last question of the day brought to us by Duke Cannon. I actually have a question too, but go ahead. Last segment of the day. Last segment of the day brought to us by Duke Cannon, not for clowns.

We have an insane Nile deal for you. We're gonna bust with the boys of sponsoring you with Duke Cannon. Deodorant, you're looking at it right now, the dry ice, and I'm not shitting you. You put that on your pits. It's like your cool little breeze mist throughout the entire day. If you're wondering how this smells, it smells how you look. Fantastic. There you go.

That's exactly what this still smells like. Going off of your recruiting stories, obviously it's hard to top the stabbing one. But what else? You were telling us about a kid getting mugged when you're on a recruiting trip. Do you have something in the bank that you like to tell outside of what we've already discussed? Yeah, that was a coach one where we sent him to get a gatorade and he never came back. Poor fella. Oh, my God.

Where were you? Preface. Where were we at? We were at the same place Coach Ible said he was at. I think Coach I've said University of Houston, we won't ask him fails at the University of Houston. He was in a bad area of Houston. I got buddies who worked there. Actually, that gas station's no longer there in the area has been renovated.

It's gentrified. Yeah, yeah. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, big news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We were the first people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, a pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast,

where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. and then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and Headwere writer Street or Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending,

opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen should win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is a while back. It happens. But no, no, recruiting in general is wild. I wish I had one that really, really stuck out. I know, you know, for me, it's always interesting when you get the kids on campus and they're

walking around and then, you know, they go off with the guys. And then the next morning you see who may be hung out with the guys a little too late at night. Yeah. And I've been a part of some morning meetings where guys can't stay awake. But nothing sticks out too crazy or where I'd want to throw anyone under the bus. Mr. Scherzer, I was not a full-time coach when I took him around on his official visit. So you were having a little, it was half fun, half coach.

Yeah, and so you guys went to Pete's diner. We went to the diner in Columbia, Missouri, which is just the diner. Yeah. And that is the spot to be. And that's the place that sealed a deal for arguably the best pitcher in the world. Wow. That's outstanding. Seal the deal because of the night you guys had?

Yeah, we did have a good one. You got after it a little bit? Yeah. Strippers and cocaine type of a vibe? Oh, my shit. No. Was that inappropriate? I don't know.

Not, no. It would have been inappropriate. Taylor's kind of nights, but sure. I hate strippers. It would have been inappropriate. It made me so uncomfortable. I've ever been in a strip club. It's like, do you want to dance?

And it's like, not really. You're raping me for a dollar. What are we actually doing? Oh, you're so cute. It's like, okay, maybe. But like, leave me a lot. It's just, I feel like, I feel like it's when a man comes on too strong to a woman.

at a bar. It's the same thing. It's like, please, let me breathe. Let me work for it a little bit type of deal. Anyway, strippers, am I right? My question, very glittery. For a college world series, what would you do to bring that to the Tennessee volunteers? What lengths would you go to? I don't know if I do what Coach Vrabel did, although I'm a, I've really liked watching him as a player. He's a little too intense, so I don't want to cut off any appendages that I'd like to maybe use one day. Is Rable? Italian? He's got dark hair. I mean, Vrabel's kind of a, I mean, he would know he's got the dark hair, the tan skin, the big nose. Yeah, he's got that, you know, he does that. I thought it's an Italian thing to do. But it's also a very Ohio thing to do too. Yeah, very smug. He, he, he, he, uh, and I feel he to use your appendage much more than Vrabble does. I'm saying. He just absolutely put this guy in box as a play and he's just game after it. He, uh, yeah, he's got a son that's a really good baseball player. Yeah, Carter. Yeah, yeah. You think he'd come here and play? Uh, I don't know, you know, sometimes it's about. It's about. about a count we in recruiting we had we do things so in advance like chaparral that's way that's young

so he's at the school i would not go variable i'd go ronnie lot i would i would let a finger be taken off yeah to go to home and a certain finger like would you go middle would you go any of them would you go for pinky i don't want to lose the middle because would you go the i think the pinky cuts off too much it makes your hand look away smaller i'd probably go a ring finger that you'd keep the whole width yeah i don't know that pinky you could really just do it out really yeah i don't know i kind of like this little guy if you're avid science like we're in the ring put your toes on your thumbs if you use a thumb. Would you take your thumb off?

I don't think I'd go toe thumb. That takes you down the evolutionary chart. You can't do that. No offense to them with people. Yeah, people, it's a big thing. It's a big crazier right now. Would you donate your entire salary to bustling with the boys if you guys

if you guys won a World Series? Hypothetically speaking, just to win the World Series for the volunteers. For a national championship, I would do that. All right, then. Well, what do you make before taxes? Yeah. You guys got to set up another one of these,

the AD. I don't even know. I don't even care. You don't know what you make. Oh, he knows. Come on. He does. Come on. We all know what we make. We all know what you make. We don't know what you make. Yeah. I love it though. You have been outstanding. Yeah, this is big. Great. Man. Thank you so much. Well, you guys make it easy. You're my morning coffee after a loss last night. So hopefully we got good karma going into the weekend.

Awesome. Bigger bat flips. We're going to love this. We need bigger bad flips. We need more fans talking shit. Yes. Bring baseball back to what it needs to be. And all the little kids and be buying the oversized coach, dude. Oh, yes. We got embrace the home run. We got to embrace the home run. to make a bus in baseball shirt for the boys uh balls we gotta do something we got to do something for football we got to do something for baseball i'm a fan now i appreciate i am too i'm gonna start watching i more closely i got the ducanan coming my way so we'll get you guys set up yeah all right

all right you should give us something coach shakes a lot thank you appreciate you hey guys it's us the jonas brothers i'm joe i'm kevin and i'm nick and guess what we created our own podcast called hey jonas we invented a podcast Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it, but, you know, tired and sick.

Tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you. You funnier.

This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance.

I've ever reported on a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multimillion dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.