Going Deep with Chad and JT - Ep 126 - Zoom Podcast w/ Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul

Episode Date: April 22, 2020

What up Stokers! Today we are joined by pro tennis players, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul, they talk carrying on the American tennis tradish, raging, and the ins and outs of pro life. Sponsored by Manscaped: Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code GODEEP20 at Manscaped.com. If you wanna trim your pubes during a contagion.

what's up stokers and stoke nation this is chad kroger coming in with the going deep and chad and jt podcast guys before we begin i want to remind you once again that we are brought to you by manscape manscape thank you so much for keeping our trims pubed, for looking after our hogs, for making sure that even when we're in the cue team, we have a fresh looking dong because we may be locked up inside, but that does not mean that you should let your pubes go stray. You know, keep them tight, keep them ready, keep them ready for the world when you want to unwail them eventually so use code go deep 20 at manscaped.com to get 20 off and that's what's up

guys we have our guests here guys do you have you manscaped recently um i would say about two weeks ago actually nice nice well like keeping up with it a little bit, but I don't know. I mean, I don't need to go every week or so. So you both are – we have Tommy Paul and Riley Opelka with us, guys, professional tennis players. And do you guys ever notice a correspondence between when you shave and how you play or like a positive correspondence that you play better if you're trimming or taking care of yourself?

Yeah, I would say it's a hundred percent success rate when you're, when you're taking care of yourself and it's, it's critical. I think it goes hand in hand. I disagree. Yeah. I think since, since like I was young, like I like to like not shave throughout the whole tournament. So, uh, I mean, I mean, it'll kind of just grow out a little bit as the week goes on. But, yeah, so no manscaping for me during the tournament. You like to get that tournament flow?

Is it like a transition? You don't need any clips during the week. That's sick. You guys are quarantined together right yeah how's that been going it's been going good yeah uh we're in uh boca raton south florida nice um we have like a private court not too far from us um that we've been training at so uh that kind of passes some time by but other than that we've been going crazy oh yeah yeah is that where you guys live full-time yeah nice nice so how are you going crazy what's what's

going on just going a little stir crazy being stuck yeah like the first it was funny like the first uh like after like two three weeks i jumped on the scale for the first time, like never really like tripped on my weight too much. And I saw 240, which puts me like I'm seven foot. So usually I'm playing around 225 and I was up 15 pounds. And then I told Tommy and he jumped on the scale and he was up like 15 pounds. That definitely started something. The fridge looks a lot different. There's more fruit in there now and less Lucky Charms in the pantry than there were before.

Dude, they should call it Carbotine instead of Corn. I've just been annihilating Hawaiian rolls. It's the bedrock of my diet right now dude those are so good they're so good dude gushers have been really big for me like the last gushers yeah i mean nice flavored gushers lucky charms big lucky charms dude i love lucky i think that's that and uh cinnamon toast crunch two favorite cereals by far that's a great call dude are you able to eat the lucky charms like are you able to savor every part or do you just go for the marshmallows

no i i pick around yeah like i i i eat the uh like the cheerio part first yeah and then i reward myself with uh it's a good move there's marshmallows. Nice. Tommy, how tall are you? 6'1". Not like 7 foot. How did you guys become buddies? Just tennis growing up. I actually met him when we were like 11 years old.

Something like that. Yeah. Tribals on the junior circuit? Big time. He beat me in the finals we had a 10 he beat me in the finals of this tournament called the gator bowl when i was like we were both like 10 years old um and we played been playing there for 12 years now so you guys do doubles together rarely i mean like we i mainly just play singles i don't play much doubles in general, but if I'm playing doubles in a certain tournament,

then good chance I'll be with him or one of our other homies. Did you guys have a healthy rivalry growing up? Like, did you guys push each other to be better? How was that dynamic? We had a big group, though. It wasn't just, like, me and Riley. There were a lot of other kids that were our age, too, that were all pretty close. So it was pretty healthy.

Yeah. I heard McEnroe on Alec Baldwin's podcast, of all places, and he was talking about – I think there's – we were actually just talking to another guy today. There's a – I don't know. Other American players have said, like, yeah, the brand of American tennis has kind of changed. Like, it's not as gritty as it used to be, but I disagree completely.

I mean, me and me, Tommy, Taylor Fritz, and this other kid, Francis TFO, we're all the same age. We grew up together and we weren't like, you know, we just, our parents definitely sacrificed a lot for us, but we just, we worked, you know, we were out, we outworked the rest of the other guys our age and and it kind of showed i mean i kind of disagree with like some of the speculation that we hear about it how the american american tennis has changed and kind of how do they say it's changed like for example we heard today uh i mean uh a foreign player was saying that it used to be like to face an american you

know the reputation was like man i'm in for i'm in for a match like this guy's gonna compete till the end and you know he's gonna fight as hard as he can and and um you know he's i don't think it's the same anymore where i completely disagree i mean i think with our generation and even the guys we the past generation we have now i mean i think i think we're all pretty tough and i think we should do a pretty good job of competing as hard as we can each each week yeah dude yeah i imagine it has to be i mean you're i was just thinking about how crazy it is to you're ranked 30th in the world right 29 and then tom you're 52nd yeah like 25 i think to be in the top 50 of your job of everyone in the world like i don't know that's it's pretty rare to to get to that level where of any job you know what i mean you feel like the top 50 chef or gardener or you know bowler it's

like it's a it's a lead-elite company. There just must be so little that differentiates everybody, right? There's got to be nothing. It's literally nothing. From each level, the gap is so small.

Right behind you, Riley, is Nick Kyrgios, that crazy that crazy guy yeah he's a legend do you know him yeah he's the best uh he's a cool guy yeah yeah he's such a g he's real cool um real genuine and um i think he's you know like critical for the sport for sure for people who don't know he's he's wild like he'll he he's kind of uh like what's the word like uh kind of mercurial like he goes up and down a lot mentally during the matches and sometimes he'll just like not he'll just get over it during a match and he'll just start like underhand lobbing the ball to the other guy for like smashes or he'll try like between the legs

like when it's not smart and just kind of he just he won't play to win sometimes which you just almost never see in high level professional sports and uh yeah it's pretty punk rock he he's a total rock and roll that's exactly how i describe him in a good way I mean that um he he's actually a really good guy one of our good friends and um yeah I think we're real lucky to have him in tennis I hope he uh I actually hope he doesn't change one bit because guy uh knows how to sell a ticket that's for sure yeah he adds a little fun and like just something different I mean there's I don't know anyone else who does that yeah and he he just tells it like it is. I mean,

he calls guys out. Like, there's some, tennis players are different. I mean, they really are compared to other athletes. And Nick's like a huge

basketball fan, so he's the first one to like, you know, if you see someone, you know, just doing something, he's the first one

to call him out. It's pretty hilarious. Like, what's he say? Um, just the other day, you know, his Instagram was – who was it? Wawrinka. He's always, like, just, like – Yeah.

Trolling people. Just trolling. He's like, yeah, like, some – Wawrinka posted, like, a shirtless, like, TikTok, I think. And he just, like – and he was kind of flexing, you know. And I'm curious. I'm sad. Like, yeah, I won't be posting any shirtless TikToks anytime soon.

But just a little jab in there. How's Stan's backhand? Is that tough to return? Yeah, it's one of the best in the sport for sure. Yeah, what do you say? Who's that? Stan. Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah, he really doesn't miss. I only cracked with him one time, but it was his backhand we i played him at wimbledon um played like a four-hour match he missed i think he missed like three backhands the whole match wow yeah how was it playing at wimbledon yeah i think that's the coolest place to play like yeah you just get on the grounds and it's like this different feeling. Like, you're just, like – it's hard to explain. Dude, I haven't – this year would have been my first year playing on, like, the main grounds at Wimbledon since juniors, but it got canceled. So, I don't really know too much because the qualifying is, like,

completely different than the main draw at Wimbledon. It's, like, the only slam that, like, the qualifying is, like, at a different site, and it's, like, it's treated, like, completely different. Yeah, that's true. The qualifying at Wimbledon is crazy. Like, if you saw where they played, like, qualifying for Wimbledon, where, like, 200 guys in the world are competing at for Wimbledon,

it's, like, shocking. Why? It's like a rec court, like, out behind, like, like a factory or something it's just like it's a cricket it's a cricket field it's crazy like the lot of moves there they like they they're crazy old and they don't even have hot water I mean I was 100 I was like because the cutoff for the main draw was like 100 in the world when I was like – one year I played, I was like 18, 19. I was like 19, I think. And, yeah, the shower at the water wasn't even working at all.

And I'm like, this is Wimbledon. Yeah. Crazy. You guys like – Yeah, bone up the facilities. Let's go. Who does that fall on? The queen?

Is that the queen's fault? Yeah, I think so. No, but the main ground, like the facility, like as soon as you walk kind of on there, it's something that you won't feel anywhere else in tennis, that's for sure. It's like a crazy type of feeling, different vibe than any other tournament, that's for sure. Does that make you play better when you're in front of a big crowd like that yeah i mean it's it's kind of like

for sure it's more fun you know um and and um it just depends like honestly my first round i played a guy that i was like supposed to beat um and uh he'd been injured for a while i was coming back and i was like super uptight kind of didn't i won didn't play my best but i won and the next time i played warinka who's you know a guy wasn't supposed to be and i played so much better um it kind of tends to that's like a common thing you know in all sports but especially in tennis like the top guys always have a target on their back you know guys like me get up a little bit more to play a guy like wereka does the crowd fire you up more is it improve your performance or is it kind of does it like how does it how does it affect your nerves well i'm in like in

all tournaments like every tournament for sure i mean if uh if every tournament had crowds like like the slams or like australian open then it'd be sick but like not all not all the tournaments are like that yeah states yeah but obviously like we we love it like if we could play like all the tournaments in the states for a whole calendar year and have all the stadiums packed it'd be sick you know like yeah we love playing in front of people. It's funny, like, the American tennis – because tennis isn't as big in the States as it is in Europe and Australia and Asia. Like, Japan is big and Italy. But, like, we get some of the – we get no support compared to these guys.

Like, we'll be – like, if we're playing a French guy at the French Open, the crowd is brutal. I mean, brutal. It doesn't matter who it is, what court you're on. They'll be crazy. They'll be like if we're playing a french guy at the french open the crowd i mean brutal doesn't matter who it is what court you're on they'll be crazy they'll be packed and and then like you know i played the miami open i played diego schwartzman from argentina you know miami's got a big you know south american population latin american and and I got booed when they called me out the court really yeah yeah like you wouldn't believe we were playing you know in my backyard does that does that fire you up even more like you want to prove them wrong yeah like when it's like that crazy like playing a French yeah French or like South American guy in Miami or – definitely.

Like, when it gets that rowdy, it's, like, for sure. For sure. Yeah. Have you ever won the crowd over, like, Rocky IV style? I'm waiting for that moment. How did it happen? Don't forget. He for sure did it against Grigor in Australia.

Yeah. There it is. What happened there? No, it was just like a match in Australia Open this year. I was playing a guy who's ranked pretty high. Grigor Dimitrov. He's been number three in the world. He's been a consistent top ten guy the last five, six years.

He's been number three in the world. He's been a consistent top ten guy the last five, six years. And, like, he's, like, a well-liked player, like a guy who a lot of fans like to support. So, like, when I started the match, it wasn't – not too many people were cheering for me, you know? And then as the match went on, we kind of switched over. Started getting a little bit more people on my side. Nice. When you guys are locked into, like, a long match with are you guys like making eye contact with them are you talking to them

like or is it i guess it's different for each player right what's your kind of approach you know like you know exactly what's going on with your opponent but you're not like talking to him you know have you ever had like a michael Like against Was it against like Ivan Lendl When he was like Yup He was like Intentionally messing with him To like get him off his game

I mean there's people that do that stuff Actually Nick Kyrgios does that stuff all the time Kyrgios the king of it What does he do? He'll just like mess with you In any way he can find Yeah in the refs

it's great and the fans even yeah and the fans he had a fan kicked out of Miami that was hilarious one of my favorites was there's a video

he's got a water bottle and he's arguing with the chair umpire and he just takes it and chucks it as hard as he can. It hits the chair where the guy's sitting on, and he gave him a penalty. He's like, mate, it slipped. I was taking a sip, and it just slipped out. And like full-on fastball at the chair with the water bottle.

Watching him explain to the ref, like, yeah, I was sipping, and it just kind of slipped and hit your chair. They're like, sorry, mate. That's hilarious. watching him like explain to the ref like yeah i was like sipping and like just kind of like slipped and hit your chair like sorry man yeah is it hilarious is it a pretty tight-knit community the whole you know within tennis or because it's kind of like a solo sport so yeah do you guys have a bond i definitely wouldn't call it a tight-knit community like there's we were talking about it literally yesterday like out of the top 100 there's like 10 people yeah that we would like chill with chill with like that we would text with like i wouldn't like 90 of them i'm like not really hanging out with or like want to hang out with too much yeah there's a lot of, like, different vibes on the ATP tour. Yeah, it is different.

I mean, like, even comparing other sports, like, it's just – I mean, there's guys – More isolated. Yeah, there's guys I've seen every week for the last two years that only, like, still barely, like, say hi to me. It's like – Out of just competitive nature, or are they introverted, or what do you attribute it to?

Like, tennis is huge in europe especially in like south america as well and like given like their culture over there i kind of see how some of these guys came up through the juniors it's pretty much their whole life like the school since they've been super young like homeschool traveling europe playing playing money tournaments at a you know really young age we're in the states it's kind of like Playing money tournaments at a really young age. We're in the States. It's kind of like we were in public schools, Tommy and I,

and our other friend, Francis and Taylor, that are also in the top 50. We all kind of like – I feel like we had the most normal childhood experience for tennis players. Those four, they're like my best friends. Those are the guys that I hang out with all the time. And then, like Tommy said, outside of like, you know, our 10 guys that we know and cool with, like, you know, I don't like really keep in touch with any other players. Right.

What about the match fixing that was a big issue a couple years ago? Yeah. Did it even reach like Djokovic? Like he might have been like – I don't want to like get you guys in trouble talking about stuff. But like – No, like Djokovic, there's no way. The top players, there's –

at the top of the game, there's absolutely no chance. Where it has happened is like the lowest level level of like um guys on the challenger circuit mainly on the future circuit is kind of where where most of it but like at the atv level there's yeah these guys have enough money they're not throwing matches for like local crime lords absolutely not it's so crazy though yeah the atv level no but yeah there are there have been like incidents you know in the past where you hear about some guys that i mean i haven't really heard of any there hasn't really been any that i've that i've known at all right but it's usually like the lower level and the futures like these futures tournaments is where everyone kind of has to start you know we started

playing when we were like 16 but there's like like 30, 30 year old guys playing futures. And to give you an example, like the winner of that tournament makes 900 bucks and that's a, that's a seven day. So how do you, how do you survive? You don't, I don't know how some of these guys do. I mean, like my standpoint would be like, if I'm not, if I'm still playing futures by 1920, even like I'm out 21, like it's probably isn't for me. it's like costner and bull durham

or something just don't want to let the dream die yeah yeah and it's cool like it's cool to see like there's like i respect it so much to see some of these like some of these guys and they'll find ways to make money there's like club matches in europe they can play and and they'll teach they'll coach. Don't get me wrong. I respect it a ton. There's some 30-year-old guys that just love it, love what they're doing. It's their passion, and they work at it, and they coach up-and-coming players,

and at the end of the day, they help the sport out one way or the other. Nice. Yeah. Have you guys ever had a chance to play against one of your heroes? Like one of the guys you looked up to growing up and you got a chance to face him? Yeah, I mean, kind of guys like – I think we probably had the same idol growing up, like Roddick. I never really played against him.

No, I never – he retired kind of before us. But, like, John Isner, you know, you know for me the seven footer as well um he's been top top 10 in the world or top 20 in the world for 10 years in a row now um so i've been watching him since i was 11 12 years old um getting to play him is cool he's actually become one of our good friends he's a great guy how many aces do you guys like, cumulatively when you play each other? A lot. Like, we get too many. Like, me and John definitely don't get – just with our style of play, we get a lot of criticism, whatever, like, all the time just because they always say, oh, they just have a sir or whatever.

Is it a tiebreaker every set? Yeah, him and I have, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, actually almost every have, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, actually, almost every time. But he's become one of our good friends. He's, like, I already described it. I mean, he's world class.

He's such a cool guy. He's hilarious. Lovely guy. He's 30. Is he 34? Yeah, 34, 35. Yeah. But he, like, he chills with us, like, as if he's just one of the other, like, you know, 21s. He loves, like, all of our jokes.

Like, all of our jokes about girls and all, like, just our stupid stuff that we say. Like, he loves those jokes. Yeah. That's awesome. Dude, I remember his, like, six-hour match at Wimbledon. He's gritty as hell. It was, like, a two-day thing. Like, they had to split it up.

That's the one thing. I mean, obviously, he has the best the best serve like pretty much of all time but his uh his his like mentality is he's an unbelievable competitor fights like you wouldn't believe that's awesome yeah did you guys watch the mj doc last night we did sick dude it's so inspiring right i mean just even for what chad and i do i'm like i gotta go harder at this shit man like mj out here in the quarantine just murdering content. The thing is they're playing an MJ documentary and we like can't go on any basketball courts anywhere. It's true.

Right. All basketball courts closed. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. Brad, did you almost go into basketball? How'd you settle on – how'd you both settle on tennis? Or was it like just natural? Yeah, how'd you how'd you settle on how'd you got both settle on tennis or was it like just natural yeah how'd you get into tennis um for me it was just like um we

my stepdad owned like the athletic club and uh there was like a lot they were like had every sport there and me and my sister played a lot of tennis with like the old guys that were like playing doubles or just like mess, messed around with them. And that's kind of how we started. And then I grew up playing, like, all sports. Old guy doubles? Yeah. And then I grew up playing all sports, really.

And then, like, I was kind of just best at tennis and stuck with it. Mm-hmm. Similar. I mean, we moved to Florida for my dad's job when I was, like, five. And there's courts in my neighborhood. And just kind of fell in love with the game. Yeah. Do you guys have any idea what your schedule is looking like

for the rest of the year? I don't think we're competing again this year. Damn, really? They won't even do it without fans? I don't think so. Because our sport is so, like, international. All the players are coming from China and Italy and stuff. It's tough.

Yeah. And I think we're going to have some like small events. We're like the guys I've mentioned me, Tommy Taylor and France are going to have like a round Robin type of term, but that's not like ATP sanction. That's like a, you know, it's just like a, we'll stream it and make it accessible for people to watch, but it's not like, you know,

there's no ATP points on the line for it. What's that do to your guys's mindset? It's hard, man. Like it's definitely hard to stay motivated. Um, but we, we've been,

we've been hitting every day. And when you, like at first it was, it was tougher. And I think now it's like, we have nothing else to do with our, with our time. we might as well just make the most of it and go train yeah right are you guys dating it is tough what's that no keep going keep going it is tough to it is tough to like you know want to like i guess dig extra deep to try to get better not knowing when you're going to start but it is what it is

yeah i'm sorry yeah it's a bummer this whole fucking thing is just such a huge bummer yeah the more it goes on you're just like it's just you know like the first two weeks i was like oh you know it'll be a quick break back in it. And then just like a month later, you're like, fuck, dude. Like, I don't know what's going on. Yeah. You know, like tournament, like if everyone's getting thermometer checked on the way in and then everyone's like wearing a, you know, a mask and stuff like that, it's going to be a,

it's going to make for some great photographs that will age beautifully. Like in the later generations. A hundred percent. Yeah. You guys went to major and then like the whole crowd just stands up with masks and they they don't slap hands with each other and then yeah that's cool though yeah it's got to be crazy too because like i mean if this thing lasts a year or two some of these guys like these old dogs like fetter i mean he's 38 it's like if it lasts long enough it could take him and this is in all sports too it could take some of these guys like these old dogs like fetter i mean he's 38 it's like if it lasts long enough it could

take him and this is in all sports too it could take some of these guys into retirement you know like i don't know if lebron will get another crack at a finals if this drags on a year and a half or something it's uh you're saying you're right i was thinking about that today about lebron yeah yeah no it is crazy um even like the top guys, those guys, and like those guys I mentioned that are playing like future-level tennis that are like 28 years old that are already struggling. Let's say they're like 500 in the world. It's just going to get even tougher for them here.

So Djokovic actually kind of initiated like a player grant where he's trying to get 10 grand for every guy ranked between 150 and 500 um oh really that's awesome yeah yeah he he was like the main guy behind it and he uh he he's putting a lot of his own money he's got a lot of the grand slams giving a ton of ton of money and he's trying to take care of those guys even though it's small but yeah when when you guys like did you guys like drop your goals for like the year like as you continue to climb up the rankings you're both you're both 22 as well or yeah what do you I think every player takes a different approach what do you how do you do it like you're in a year like our off season starts in December that's usually like our season ends November

usually we have like like a meeting with our coaches and team and kind of go over that stuff. Did you guys set goals? I mean, my goals were kind of just, like – I don't know. I didn't want to play qualifiers at any more tournaments. Yeah. Like, going to Australia, I was ranked, like, 85 or something. And there's a lot of tournaments that you still got to play qualifiers for

even at that ranking, like 500. And that means you means you got to play like four matches just to get into the the the main tournament right but yeah you got to play two matches to get into the main tournament even even make it like 50 sometimes um but basically like the cutoff for that is around like 50 or something so that was my main goal starting the year. I just wanted to get inside the cut for all main draws of tournaments. It's tough. I don't really like to set numbers for myself. I just discuss with my coach some things I want to get better on.

I don't want to set ranking numbers at my return to service some we want to improve um and and i also physically need to just be able to last the whole year i've been lucky that i haven't been too badly injured but it's definitely cost me um a few matches that's for sure so i'm spending more time in the gym um now than ever yeah what do your workouts look like to train? For me, it's like tennis is a sport that you really need good cardio, your legs, lungs. You don't want to be too – you can't be too big, like too muscular, too heavy.

Yeah. Everything has to be like – there's like a – I don't know. There's a fine line between being too heavy and not strong enough and also making sure you need to be able to play for four hours straight. So most of my work is done, I'd say, to protect my back, my foot, my ankles, my joints, kind of like that my shoulder and then and then I'll vary like a few other cardio workouts in there low impact like I'll do the versaclimber or bike sprints or like a sand workout just because you know being seven foot 230 it's hard to go and like

run five miles like Tommy can. Do you like working out? What's up? My workouts are a lot more simple. It can just, it can really just be, uh, doing the workout. Obviously I got to do this stuff, take care of my body. Like, uh, all the places that I'm prone to injury, um, keep those strong. But my work, I mean, my workouts are a lot more just like running and then maybe, uh, lifting. And then that's, that's pretty much it.

What do you guys think – would you guys, like, work out so much if you weren't pro athletes? Like, do you like to work out, or is it more just, like – it's just what it is. It's what you have to do. Yeah, that's a good question. I always wondered, like, if I didn't play tennis, if I would. I personally dread it.

I hate it um but I also understand that that's my livelihood um is in the gym for me especially just like getting stronger and fitter and so it's something I'm I'm fully committed to but it's like some days it's like pulling teeth to get me in the gym yeah but I always find do you have someone to come like drag you out if you're not going to make it like pretty much yeah yeah how are you you like the gym right yeah i don't mind it i don't mind getting in there um once you get in there it's easier yeah but like but like norm normally i don't mind it right now like like we said earlier like it's very hard to find motivation for me. I can't get out of bed before like 3 o'clock. Tommy is a guy that kind of like – he's got like a VO2 max, something crazy. He'll take like a couple weeks off and he can still go run and not get tired

or crush the VersaClimber. Physically, his body is a lot different than mine. He's a specimen for sure. So that's why I feel like he can go practice for two and a half hours and then go hit the gym where, like, he just doesn't get tired. Like, for sure. I don't know. I think he's got a VO2 max.

I always say that. Do you guys get a lot of joy when you're on the court, though? Yeah. For me, yeah. What about you, Tommy? I mean, obviously a lot of ups and downs. But, like, during practice, I mean, I have fun. Like, I have fun because, like, we make it fun.

I like playing more, though. I like playing tournaments more and, like, competing and traveling and going places better. Do you think you have to love it to be great at it? Yeah, I think so. Do you guys party at all? When you guys were coming up in high school and stuff, was it hard to stay focused?

Basically, the first three years that I turned pro were kind of a waste yeah yeah i can't i partied i partied a lot my first three years for sure yeah i can't imagine being like if i was like 18 19 yeah being able to get that focus i mean because i was just raging was my uh was my passion yeah 18 and 21 raging was kind of my passion as well yeah yeah it's just like when people are like justin bieber's like being a screw-up i'm like dude he's 18 and he's still dropping hits i was like i think he's pretty dialed in it's gonna be tough i mean i didn't get serious until my like late 20s and even then i'm still kind of flaky so yeah i don't i don't know how you do it if you're if you got that much testosterone and freedom and then opportunity it's got to be crazy yeah no it's tough i mean like

you took us we're um we lived in in our last like year or two 17 18 we live in like a dorm setup you know at the u.S. training base. And we were on lockdown. We couldn't leave. We had no freedom. So then you take three, four 17, 18-year-olds that had no freedom to give them whatever they want in Paris and London and New York. And that's kind of where some distractions are coming to play. And that's where it became fun, a little crazy,

but it definitely changed real quick. Is that motivating when you're like, oh, dude, if I get like this good, I'll have like this access to these parties or to like this? 100%. 100%. What is it that you think like the peak peak like if you hit that what what would what would be different the peak yeah remember that blue man state remember that the peak oh no i don't know like i mean it's just funny though like when you're when you're on the court and

you're like have a big match or something you're like about to win a big match or something, you're, like, about to win a big match. Like, you, like, can't wait to get off the court and check the DMs. Like, I just want to, like, see you. On court. On court? All my life. All my life. Wow. Wow.

Huh? Have you ever checked your DMs during a match? No, you can't. You can't. Would you do that? I don't know. I mean, it depends where. Depends who's watching.

Camera, ESPN camera does a big zoom in on your DM. That's hilarious. Yeah, that's cool. Expose a lot of people. Yeah, I get that sometimes. We'll go to a Hollywood party. I love to party. But then sometimes you go to these parties and it's like everyone's just trying to talk to like these four people who are at the party and then it's kind of motivating i'll just

sit there i'm like all right i'm like all right i know what i gotta do and it's not like a big dramatic thing it's not like grand envy but it's like it's just like a little voice in my head's like all right well you know, you know what it takes. You know what the deal is. Yeah. That happens a lot, especially in L.A. Yeah, dude. It's the worst.

No one's having fun in L.A. It's like you can't hit on people in L.A. No one's out at a bar to get hit on. It's just a scene. It's better in Orange County, I think. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Phil is definitely recruiting me hard. I'm an SC guy. in Orange County, I think. Yeah, for sure.

Phil's definitely recruited me hard. I'm an SC guy. That's 100% where I retire, I think. San Clemente? Yeah. We eagerly await your arrival. I'm a returning resident now. I've been with my mom for a month during this quarantine

and I'm like, it's the best. It's such a great place. They're protesting like crazy right now. Oh, yeah, San Clemente's going nutty. Wow. Yeah, they closed down the skate parks. People are flipping shit. They put sand in the bowls. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I think it's a real indicator of how good life is in San Clemente that that's what causes the the revolt but uh man it is a cool life I like waking up and you know walk like you can take two steps like the water's close all the time beautiful views I don't know it's not much traffic everyone knows everyone you're close enough to LA it seems like a perfect place for yeah how do you how do you deal that made me think like just being close to the water it Everyone knows everyone. You're close enough to LA. It seems like a perfect place for me.

Yeah. How do you deal? That made me think like just being close to the water, it helps me deal with like issues sometimes. I'll just look out at the water and it kind of puts things in perspective. If you guys take a big L, how do you process that? Or do you just let you just get worked? You just got to go out after a fair tough loss.

Yeah. Just put some beers in you. some steam yeah do you dwell on it at all or do you sort of like take the hit for like a day and then you just are back at it no 100 like you like i i kind of like after i'm actually i'm really really pissed and then like i'll be pissed for a while and then then I'll tell myself, all right, like, just, like, stop thinking about it. And then it's, like, kind of over with. But then, like, you think about it a little bit when you're, like, practicing or whatever. But it's not something that I'll think about for, like, days on days.

For me, as soon as I get off the court, like, 90% of the time, I'm good. Win or lose, like. Yeah. Completely chill. It hits me usually on the flight. So whenever I'm flying to the next spot is where, like, not necessarily in a bad way. That's where I, like, think about the match for the first time,

to be honest. And then that's kind of where I like to see where I went wrong or whatnot. Sometimes it's a little more frustrating than others. But usually as soon as I get off the court, I'm fine. Yeah. What do you think like, sorry, go ahead, Chad. No, go ahead. No, you go, you go. No, you start first. No, no, I've been talking too much. You go, you go. I don't even know what my question was. Yeah, I kind of, my question was a little bit bit vague I was shooting before I had it ready I guess um do you see it when when you see people not like fulfill their potential like who you've played with in the past or you play with currently would would you generally say it's like a

psychological thing and every time and is is there a common denominator and what that thing is or it's just everybody has their own kind of hang-ups and they just they don't handle it i yeah i think it's always different i think uh man like i think in tennis you can put 80 of the cases on the kids parents oh interesting i definitely can uh especially in the in at least in the u.s like in the in the states the cultures of tennis are so different in each continent like like i said like in in Europe, I mean, it's like their whole life. I mean, it really is. And then here you have like parents that will spend so much money on their kids' tennis, it's not even funny.

And then you have like in the junior days, like guys like me and Tommy where, you know, my parents spent 60 bucks a week on my tennis. And there's kids that their parents are spending six grand a week. Yeah. And it just doesn't like, I don't know, there's a lot of pressure I feel like put on those kids and none of our top Americans kind of came from that setup, I'll tell you that. But you definitely

see some really good players that had tons of resources from a young age that just didn't didn't put it together and it's all all mental yeah do you look at that like yeah so you think that they they had too much too early on and then they just didn't have that competitive drive to really pull through in the end yeah i think that and also like i mean just when you see i mean if i was a parent now spending six grand a week on my 10 year old son's tennis yeah and you know and he was losing all the time and i'm putting myself in that guy's shoes i mean i'd be like i'm sure I would put some pressure on him as a parent. That's where I feel like – Right. I don't know. I've seen some of the craziest – some of the craziest things I've ever seen.

Actually, you in tennis usually come from a kid's parents, a player's parents at a young age. Like my mom used to drop me off at tournaments. And like if she stayed on site at the junior tournaments like she'd be like four courts away reading a book and or you know she would just drop me off and she'd go do her thing like and i'm super grateful for that i think it i think it actually helped me a lot in the long run man me too i sucked at sports and my parents would like come support me but if i was playing bad enough they'd kind of just go do something else and and it it never felt harsh to me it felt like a relief

like my dad would just start making business calls and i was like yeah good go go go live your life i don't need your eyes on me when i'm fucking blowing ass out here just just you know take take a lap and i'll suffer anonymously and yeah well yeah i feel i feel the same way if we're doing stand-up or something. People you know are like, dude, I'm coming to watch. I'm bringing 10 of our friends. I'm like, fuck. Because if I'm going to bomb, I want to bomb when I'm anonymous. I don't want all my friends watching me, and then they're like,

oh, so this is what you're trying to do? And you're like, yeah, dude. Yeah, and they're pained faces afterwards when they come up to you, and they're like, yeah, dude. Yeah, and they're pained faces afterwards when they come up to you and they're like, hey, good effort, good job, good job. They don't want to be there. You don't want to be there. Like, yeah, it's the worst.

Thanks for coming, dude. I really appreciate it. Yeah, you got to still be nice. You can't just sit there and be like, look, I suck and I'm pissed you're here. You can't say that. That's what you want to say it's uh that's definitely happened happened with uh with us a few times i mean a lot of times actually um i mean i remember even even uh phil like what's crazy about phil is uh you know he he watched me and tommy play some of those

futures matches at the park. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. Like, you played in Costa Mesa? Tommy played at, like, the worst, literally the worst possible, I think, tournament you could play, especially on a tennis player. And, like, Phil and them pulled up, and they were like. Right next to Costa Mesa skate park.

Yeah, it's right next to the skate park. That's right. And Phil was like, man, this is crazy. We sure were at the right spot? And I'm like, yep, that's it. So, you know, we've definitely done the same thing. It's like, man, when we were at that level, we'd won – like he'd won the Junior French Open.

I'd won Junior Wimbledon. And then, like, it's a reality check because you go right from that where, like, you're treated like a player to having to put up at that futures level at the park in Costa Mesa. Yeah. And, like, man, this is what a professional tennis player's life is. Like, at first, I couldn't believe it. And it's like, man, I don't want to invite my friends to come watch me here. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Totally. I don't want to invite my friends to come watch me here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. I don't want my friends to come watch me at tournaments like that. Yeah, but Phil always pulled up. Phil definitely spent some time in the trenches with us. Yeah, Phil, the creator of that clothing company that Tommy's rocking the lid for, Mulch, guys, check it out.

It's like all organically made clothing. It's super high quality phil's a great guy he set this up he brought us together yeah lovely dude yeah phil's a legend he got me definitely on the uh san clemente train that's for sure nice that's good it's good he's an ambassador for that yeah i mean it literally just started i met i met him through uh just because i was buying the clothes i you know i didn't know, I didn't know Phil or me. I just knew most California as it is. And, you know, I just bought a ton of their clothes.

And then, you know, he emailed me, I think, when I was like – I was literally like 18. And our homie Taylor Fritz, our other friend, was getting married at the time. And, you know, we were in L.A. We were driving down from L.A. to San Diego. And he's like, yo, stop in SC. And then me and him stopped in San Clemente. And, you know, we've just been – stayed in touch for a while.

And Phil was coming to a bunch of our tournaments down there and come kicking with us and vice versa. And, yeah, he's kind of part of the fam for us now. Yeah. Is there anything you guys do to prepare yourselves mentally, like meditation or anything like that, just to strengthen your mental, you know, strength? I don't really do that much.

I mean, there's stuff on court that you do, I guess, going through routines. Yeah. That kind of stuff. I know you've talked to somebody, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I work with a guy named Jim Lehrer. And I usually, like, I get a scouting report, like, of my opponent. That's the number one.

You do that as well a lot. That's come huge. We got into that, like, a year ago report of my opponent. That's the number one. You do that as well a lot. That's come huge. We got into that a year ago, like stats. It's really become big. You learn a lot about a guy just from his stats. It's like 70% of the time he likes to serve here. When he's down low of 30 in a game, 70% of the time he hits his first serve here. Those things all help a lot.

So I usually go get the stats from my coach will get them. And then we'll, we'll kind of go over like a scouting report and a game plan. And then, and then I'll call my psychologist, sports psychologist, Jim Lair. And we kind of go over a separate plan of like, just how I want to be prepared to like face some adversity, you know, like, Oh, it's what,

what to expect. And that way nothing really like throws me off guard when I'm, when I'm actually playing. What's like the language with that? Like what's an example of like how you guys would phrase that? Yeah. I mean, you know, like for example, Yeah, I mean, you know, like, for example, I just started doing well in – for example, actually, Delray. I won a tournament recently in Delray Beach,

and then we were playing Davis Cup, which is country versus country. So we were playing Uzbekistan in Hawaii. It's the last match we actually played before the coronavirus um and and um when you kind of go into like a match like that like it's a stressful environment you know like i definitely had pressure i i needed to win you know it was a big match and i was kind of favored to win and that's usually when things can you know go go the wrong way and i was definitely doing the stress and I was coming off of a title um so basically it was just kind of like making sure that um you know I wasn't expecting things to go like how they just were in Delray which was like great you know I like cruised through a title

there and was just playing money and he's just like you weren't you know it's a different we're in Hawaii now a different part of the country, different court, different ball. Like, that's got to be in the past. You can't have those expectations of playing at that level with this stress. You know, like, you're a favorite to win. This guy's going to go out, play free, he's going to hit some good shots. Like, just kind of things like that.

Like, the language is more like keeping the expectations low they're not not getting stressed not getting irritated if things aren't going my way because they just went so well in delray like all the things that like kind of were on the back of my mind that like i used to not talk about because like i knew they were there like he talks about like he he bring it and we uh we kind of like tackle it right there right that's really interesting so it's almost like is it easier than when you're like the hunter and not the hunted like psychologically it is 100 and and like for me it's always playing like that like we i like me and my coach always say i play you don't give a shit right playing like it's hard it's really hard to do that like if you're playing a match

third round Wimbledon whatever for you know 250k on the line it's not easy to like go out there and play like you don't give a shit but um that's like essentially understanding like playing like that is what got me to that point and then most of the time once you get to that point that's where it's hard to like continue to still play that way and that's what kyrgios does better than anyone i mean he really played like he could like he doesn't give a shit i mean it helps him out and a lot of times and hurts him a lot of times but you'll see like big moments he uh he usually delivers yeah it seems like that the don't give a fuck attitude is sort of the winning attitude in a lot of areas of life i mean that like and with what we do and stuff it's like when you when you when you break down those mental barriers and you just you know

play like you would play if you didn't have any worries i mean that's usually the best 100 it's a formula for success yeah it's just hard to get there it's so hard yeah it's easy to say but then like to actually apply that is like yeah with anything it's so difficult i think it takes i think i think you gotta train your mind to get to that stage even though when you're like younger and stuff it's pretty natural and then you know we build in these fears or whatever or the pressure and then it's you gotta work to get back to that place for sure yeah it's also like it's so much with that mentality it's not really about your opponent at all either right it's about you playing like you and as best you can play. Yeah. So much about your side of the court. Yeah.

Yeah, you can't get too fixed up about what the other guy is thinking or what he's doing or what he's like. Yeah. But you guys do want to crush him, right? Yeah. Like Tommy said, you definitely got to be aware of what he's thinking, but you can't let it change what you're trying to do. Right.

Like you can't let it – you you're trying to do right like you can't let it you know you have to be aware of certain things maybe you change some details but it can't change the entire like in tennis it can't change like the entire course or the entire identity of like who you are as a tennis player yeah what are you guys going to do when the other one wins a major i mean i mean if he wins a major wherever he is I'm flying right back there and we're partying for sure that's what we got to do I mean and then and then fly back home and and definitely send it some more I'm a New York guy like if I could go out anywhere like if I want a title like that overseas or something, I would definitely stop.

You go to New York? Yeah. What about Miami? I love Miami. You guys Miami guys? I would 100% if I won a slam, I'd go to New York. New York? New York.

It does feel like when you drink there, it does feel like very proper. Like this is where it should be done. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is where it should be done. When you guys party. It's like a world tour if I want to sign.

I'll go like New York, LA, Miami. Yeah. Just do a tour. Yeah. Can I go? A hundred go 100 i'll be there what do you guys play mario tennis i don't no i don't oh dude we were playing it a bunch it's the best game it's a lot of fun which what's up no we were playing out our buddy had a nintendo 64 oh and it's like all of our buddies it was it's it never gets old that's very simplistic version of tennis though yeah

yeah no i mean i remember playing like on my game boy uh sp yeah man 64 was before our time oh right yeah yeah yeah dude it's a it's a battle of inches too like you're just you're much like what you guys do you know you're hitting that forehand you're just trying to get the guy farther out wide so that you can set him up for when you go cross court and just make it too much space for him to make up yeah i got it yeah no i remember the the game boy days but i don't think we could play online on 64. I don't think the – Yeah, yeah.

No, I don't think it has that capacity, yeah. Yeah, we'll have to play – we'll have to figure it out if we can get it on the Switch and we'll play you guys. Yeah, yeah. Do you guys like – so a lot of your friends you grew up with, they must just be like college juniors going to be seniors or something like that. Yeah.

All people our age – that's what I was was saying like my first three years of turning pro like all my friends were like first three years of college so like i just wanted to do what all my friends were doing and party you know right now all my friends are pretty much like all people my age are pretty much out of school they're all sitting there so like it makes it makes uh my decision feel like pretty nice you know yeah right and now it's like in new york like if we're in the city you know then they'll like they'll definitely find time to come out with us one night or something like that but they're they're the ones that are like i know it's crazy they're growing up fast enough like yeah oh that's nice yeah i was kind of perceiving it the other way because you guys that are like, I don't know, it's crazy. They're growing up fast enough. Yeah.

Oh, that's nice. Yeah. I was kind of perceiving it the other way because you guys are like, you guys had a job for a while. Yeah. Not at all. No, it's the other, like, our good friends, Danny and Luca, like, man, they're like four years in a relationship each.

Now they're both working in in new york and uh and uh on wall street and and it's like man we go and like we joke with them like we do when we were like 13 14 doesn't seem like that long ago and they're like you know different different states i got girlfriends coming over we'll see you guys tomorrow we're like yeah it is funny once you get into the the later in your 20s and stuff how the uh sort of disparity between who's maturing fast and who's like yeah he's gonna stay 22 forever yeah no it is it's crazy just like you said also like just see where everyone ends up like it's kind of cool it's a little sad sometimes like even when you see people end up in a great place like some of one of our friends we were talking about we had this kid that was crazy he was hilarious

yeah yeah he's in med school at duke now and like we hadn't seen him in forever and we're like we're still like cracking the same jokes we were like cracking we were like 16 and he was like yeah like a med school student like not not having it you know did they like brainwash you here like that used to make you laugh and yeah but uh it's it's fun it seems like some people they they either they get the partying out of the way in high school, college, and then they're just full adult after that. Or they sort of maintain a level of maturity. And then when they get out of college, they just start raging. I had some friends that just started raging nonstop.

And you're like, dude, wrong time. I think I did a good job of like i didn't go crazy i didn't go as crazy as tommy that's for sure yeah but like picking the moment picking the right time to do it like yeah definitely not not burnt out from it and like yeah but i've also had my have my fair share of nights so i think i did a good job out i'm gonna i'm gonna flex on that one or nights so i think i did a good job now i'm gonna i'm gonna flex on that one partying too hard who would be the one to like that chill or self like it's all personal accountability sorry you cut out there what's that you were raging too hard let's say like you just went on a bender or something like that

who would be the person to like check you on it? Or is it all personal accountability? For me, it's personal. Yeah. For me, it's like, I mean, I've had some benders, like some weeks where I've been in the city in New York and had like, you know, 10 days off, no 10. And by like the fifth, day i'm like all right like i'm over this like like i feel like i'm losing i'm going backwards right now like yeah i want to get home and get back to work like luckily i've always had that feeling like

sometimes it's after two days one night two nights sometimes five like new york it definitely can stretch out a lot longer right um but like i i really i mean i've never like let it get in the way of of my tennis that's for sure and and like i have a good relationship with my coach now like where he gets that type of stuff you know he was a player he was my age so like not saying he helps me like playing it but like you know he kind of knows like all right if you're gonna do it here your – this is the week you can type of thing. Who's your coach? My coach is this guy, Jay Berger.

He was former top ten in the world. He's coached me, been part of, like, that U.S. tennis development program since we were 12, 13. He's been working private with me now for two years. Just a really – the guy's been in my corner forever. A guy I trust. And Tommy just started working with this guy Brad Stein who coached Jim Currier back in his prime when he was one in the world.

Tommy went from like 150 in the world to 50 in less than a year with his coach. So they've had a lot of success already. What does the coach do? How does he make that kind of leap possible? Or what does he facilitate that makes it happen? You just went through it, you know. Like, Tommy's, like, just kind of made the jump, like.

I don't know. I mean, for him it was kind of more just like um keeping me on the right track you know because like when he when he started working with me i was already playing better but i i wasn't i still wasn't doing like uh a lot of things right so he kind of just gave me a few pointers and still let me like do my thing and have fun. So kind of just giving me bits and pieces of information at a time, not really overflowing me with information and keeping it easy. Yeah. And so the tips that he's giving you, are they just personal stuff?

Or is he like, hey, I think if you open up your forehand more or something, or is it game-related like that? It's all real game related i mean he'll tell me to take time between points more but mostly most of his stuff is like um kind of like strategic or um like game related like stay down on my forehand more or something like that right yeah similar similar for me i mean i like what he said about like making making right like stay down on my forehand more or something like that. Right. Yeah, similar. Similar for me. I mean, like what he said about like making the right decisions is something that I think both of our coaches have in common. I've spent a lot of time with his coach as well and vice versa.

It's just kind of like not letting anything really get in the way of what you're trying to do off the court, picking the right tournaments to play, scheduling like, you know, oh, Tommy plays really well on clay. Let's schedule him these three weeks. Let's have him home for a week to train and go. So, like, they do a lot of, like, scheduling kind of based off of, like, conditions of the courts where you play well, things like that.

Coaches have a lot more say than I think the spectator realizes. And is grass your favorite surface? I like hard court. I like a bouncy – like I like the ball to bounce real high so it can be in my strike zone. And then are you more of a topspin guy, Tommy, on clay? Or what's your – are you baseline of a top spin guy tommy on clay or what's your baseline like i like i like uh hardcourt the best so i mean not not really i mean he's definitely our best

american clay quarter like we have right now i'd say um most of like the the one thing you can say about like like american tennis is we don't play well on clay. Some that like some guys have accepted. I don't really want to, I really want to try to get better on it. But Tommy got a lot of big servers and we don't like those prolonged baseline games or something. Yeah. And also like if you go to Europe,

every court is that red slow play. Like that's their court, like next to the skate park in costa mesa that's their like red clay court oh weird yeah so i mean there's a reason why like we don't play as well on it because we just don't have as many but uh terrible for their white shoes yeah let's just be destroying kicks left and right out there in your socks it like gets in your shoes it's like but tommy's definitely our best uh our best clay quarter yeah yeah when he first walked on a clay court where you just like you step on you're like oh fuck it's clay yeah like you're like i can't believe how soft this is

yeah or is it soft yeah yeah for sure what does it feel like where i'm playing like a south american and he's like just – he was chopping me up on clay, and I'm just like, man, I really hope I get this guy on the indoor hardcore season. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, payback. Yeah. Yeah, we need to demolish him.

Do you guys want to answer some questions from our listeners? Yes, sir. Sure. All right, cool. Guys, thank you so much for doing this too. It's really been a joy. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We're stoked. Yeah, sir. Sure. All right, cool. Guys, thank you so much for doing this, too. It's really been a joy. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We were stoked. Yeah, we saw the video

of you guys live. Was it on Fox News? Or, no, we were on Fox. Where were you guys? It was hilarious. On Fox? Yeah, that was classic. On Fox? Yeah. That was classic.

Small dong? Small dong, bro. How were the pieces on tour? Tennis players, you guys packing howitzers? You don't have to say your own thing, but just on median, on average. Big dongs on tour. Yeah.

I don't know. Got some hammers. It's got to be tough when you're seven feet tall. The expectation's got to be... People are, you know... I'm 5'8". All right, here we go. Yo, what up, Chad, JT? I'd like to take you on a little journey this past

winter me and the squad joined a rec league we were pretty good we were pretty good squad made it to the finals we were one of the only teams that played good basketball moved the ball got everyone involved we had two top players in the league with me as a point guard and my boy george down low running the five at six six uh i'm kind of losers in our school due to being awkward and having a little bit of anxiety. We were matched up against some quote-unquote popular kids in the finals. They had a solid all-around team with two kids that scored most of their points, James Harden style. We ended up losing the game in double OT.

A teammate of mine crossed us the game with a backcourt violation. Damn. I obviously can't put the whole game on my OCAP because of all the events leading to that point. After the loss, I was pretty bummed. But at this point, more people were coming to the weekly rec games than to the actual b-ball games because they were in a bit of a rebuilding stage i ask you guys particularly jt on how to guard an offensive threat that relies on his athleticism his game is a bit like westbrook slashes the fouls really elevates on his pull-up j ps there's a chick that's a chick that I'm into, but not sure she's into me. Is it worth it to risk to try to slide in with some Spears lyrics?

Wishing thick-slapping barrels for on the pod. Love, Baxter. Man, Baxter sounds like a great guy. I love Baxter. Yeah. What a comment. Imagine taking that whole thing out in a comment section. I love that.

Yeah. What's up with a backcourt violation is unacceptable. I got a backcourt violation at the end of the game. I would kill the ref. Yeah. I would murder him. And that's crazy that the ref called that. In a rec league called backcourt violation.

I mean, it's over. To end the game. Yeah. That's brutal. Yeah. That is tough. Yeah. Yeah. it's over. To end the game? Yeah, that's brutal. Yeah, that is tough. Yeah, that's tough.

Dude, I think the key to defending a quick guy with the ball is you just got to slide your feet. Just slide your feet. Just move laterally and you'll actually surprise yourself with who you can stay in front of. Just try to stop him. If he gets the ball and he gets a full head of speed,

full head of motion like Westbrook does, you're done done so you guys need to not let him get the ball in motion and then when he does have the ball just move your feet bro and keep your hands up don't don't don't go for the ball don't try to block a shot just stay in front of him slide those feet i'm terrible at basketball i never played any organized basketball but that is what i have gleaned from years of playing pickup against my far more athletic friends. Dude, you have an aggressive defense, though. When he gets in there, I mean, he turns it on, dude. You're like, oh, fuck, dude.

I thought there was a pickup game, and he's just getting all the rebounds. That's what it is, too. Intensity goes a long way. Yeah, learning from JT,t i was like fire up the intensity i mean just really bring it and act like you're going to war well that's what when you're five seven it's all intensity and i have no left hand i have no real athletic skill so for me it's just slapping the court getting fired up and and trying to be of use to my team and so typically how i do that is by funneling all my short man rage into my defense i gotta do it i got nothing else did everyone always expect like oh

seven foot basketball i'm like no sorry and then yeah they asked me like oh you play a tenant or which word you play like tennis i mean usually i don't say that, but if I do, that's like, especially in the States, they'll be like, oh, what a waste. I'm like, yeah. Really? Yeah. Hannibal Buress has a good joke where he's like, whenever I see a tall dude doing a regular job, I just go, man, why didn't you practice?

What do you guys think? What about sliding into this girl's DMs with a Britney Spears lyrics? I mean, I wouldn't go with the Britney Spears lyric, but I would definitely slide. I like the subtle face emoji. It's a good one. Success rates go up, I've noticed, with more emoji use in there. Dude, it's crazy.

Chad taught me that. Chad taught me just to throw a high in a shaka or a wave. A shaka. Game wave. Shaka. Game changer. Dude, it's huge. Casual, but don't give a fuck attitude back at it. Yep, 100%. He should definitely slide, though.

If he were to send some lyrics, who would you go with? Ooh. What do you think? Yeah, you definitely got to keep it. You got to grow. Yeah, Mariah's not a bad play. Oh, yeah. Do, do, do, do.

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. It would be hilarious if you sent the Christmas song. Yeah. Oh, yeah. All I want for quarantine is you. Yeah, totally throw her off. Yeah, I hope she hits them back. Yeah. Oh, yeah. All I want for quarantine is you. Yeah, totally throw her off. Yeah, I hope she hits him back.

Yeah, I hope he gets some good validation there. If she doesn't respond to the emoji, then fire a follow-up, which always works. I'm kidding. And then just be like, what I meant to say is, you're beautiful. I'm in love with you. Let's call a duty together. you. Let's play Call of Duty together. No.

Let's do it. What I meant to say was hi, Shaka. Yeah. That's good. Dial it back. That's smart. Yeah. Yeah, you can always audible. All right.

Similar question on the second one. This is from Nathaniel. What up, dudes? I found myself in a dilemma. I'm on the basketball team at my school, and this past season, the team was, in Britney Spears' words, toxic. This really drained my stoke levels. I'm deciding whether or not I should play next season,

as some of the kids are tools and kill the vibe. What's your guys' take? What should I do? Hmm. I mean, you got to – I didn't hear any of that. You can't let a couple group of tools, like, change how you're going to live your life.

Yeah. I totally agree, dude. I mean, it's going to suck to suffer through their lameness, but you love basketball. You love putting that ball in the hoop. You can't let anyone get between you and that. You know, not even a bunch of dudes who are clogging the paint in terms of being chill.

Yeah. Not chill. Watch the MJ documentary and focus on the game. Yeah, dude. Yeah, would MJ ever quit a team because all the guys were knobs? No way, dude. He would just call them knobs relentlessly. Yeah.

Dude, he's so funny bullying the gm yeah short and fat all the time that was crazy i gotta see this documentary it was great it was great i i got stuck watching too hot to handle on netflix i heard that's great you were saying it's as good if not better than um what was the big one we all like love is blind yes dude yeah I don't know that's that's it's a tough call it's good though you guys go on the bachelor it's it's hilarious haven't seen the bachelor too hot to handle it's pretty I mean the p it's like it can be tough listening to the words that they're saying, you know, but if you look past all of it, it's hilarious.

Like some of these people are ridiculous. I love it. All right, Christian. What up, Chad and JT in the pod? My name is Christian, but the boys call me Chitch. Chitch, I write to you from the land up north where we surf the slopes instead of waves. Since we've been in Q-Teen for a number of of weeks now i haven't been able to visit my barber as a result my hair is getting quite long it looks like we'll be social distancing for a while still

so i've had the idea to embrace the situation grow it out fully i guess my opinion is directed more so chad what do you do to take care of that beautiful mane keeping it healthy and looking fresh what's your routine and do you use any product i'll do a good question uh right now i've been going with crew uh crew shampoo and conditioner uh it's good stuff you know it's it's quality i like i like the feel like uh and i go with garnier fructis pomade wow dude my mom was like, my mom sent me, she's like, you need to start being proactive about looking after your hair and stuff and give me these pills.

They're all natural or whatever vitamins. Let me see what they are. What it's going to do is, are you guys rocking under? Are you guys hat guys? I'm a hat guy. Tommy's keeping it short. Riley? Keeping it pretty short.

We actually had some haircuts in quarantine. Oh, nice. Yeah. Who came over? Just a barber? Yeah. Yeah. She came and chopped us up.

My hair was getting bad. I couldn't take it anymore. Yeah, mine's about the longest it's ever been. You can't tell right now because it just kind of condenses in on itself. But the puff is deep, and you lose your hand. Dude, Strider has some flow going right now too. Yeah, he's got some wily hair going. My mom gave me these pills, Nutrafol, N-t-r-a-f-o-l

and they're just like vitamins so yeah all right we got this is from a micah what up boys just wanted to say first of all keep killing it and keeping the stokers stoked during these dark times secondly my problem is with my ex we broke up a couple months ago when we both went back to our colleges and realized that the distance was just too much ex. We broke up a couple months ago when we both went back to our colleges and realized that the distance was just too much for us. We broke up on really good terms and had been dating on and off for two years. So I expected things to be pretty smooth in the days after. I thought it would be a good idea to stop texting and maybe take some time away from

each other. But only two days later, she was posting about all the Tinder matches she had and how a bunch of guys were hitting her up. This really brought my stoke level down because I thought she would take more time to move on. I obviously can't be like Joan, pull out my massive dong for the girls to flock to so that was tough she soon blocked me on snapchat even though we hadn't even been talking and would dm some weird sad things during the late night hours i soon realized that i just need to

keep living my life and do my own thing i guess my question would be what have you guys done in these situations after a breakup to keep your stoke levels in the rafters sorry for the long question you guys are keeping me fired up and you guys are always the legends of the week boom clap dude i would say also um the race is long and in the end only with yourself like uh typically when i come out of breakups i'm the one who's more excited to get back into dating but that's no real reflection of the other person that's just how I deal with being alone and and with feeling like I don't know like untethered to anyone but then years later I'll break down and cry and reach out to that person and be like hey like it was the biggest mistake of my life so

I think whatever she's doing now it's not about you it's just how she's dealing with not having you in her life anymore so I wouldn't put more on it or be competitive about who's doing more work. It really doesn't matter. You have to just realize that that's just how she's dealing with being hurt too, which she is. You just got to realize that you got to focus on your own hurt and deal with it however you can. The girls will come. I'm going in for a relationship device from now on yeah that was smooth uh yeah i think the guy said in his uh question too he's focusing on

self-work on it working on his own life i mean you know just keep focused on yourself trying to kind of trying to get better improving in all areas. And that always is what fires me up whenever I'm in that situation. You know, if I just, if I know that I'm actually like progressing in my own life then that sort of takes my mind away from whatever the other person's doing. So yeah. And posting about how you're like doing so well with uh opposite sex or whoever you're into i mean that's there's a lot of layers to that you know what i mean it's obviously

it's not something people normally do so she's obviously trying to affect you a little bit i would guess yeah and there's a performative aspect to it so i would i would almost laugh at it and be like that's your move like you're trying to get to me by showing me guys are interested in you? Of course they're interested in you. You're beautiful. But that's not why we broke up. And that's not what's going to make either of us happy. So like, you know, I don't know.

I'd be like, I guess I'd kind of, the competitive part of me would be like, I guess I got to you, babe. You're posting about me. Like we bleached our hair after I went to a breakup. And ex was like if you're and i didn't even know about this someone told me my ex was like if your boyfriend if your ex changes their hair after a breakup you won and i was like nah dog if you post about my hair differences i won you change your hair for the coral yeah exactly it was a good cause, too. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think, too, yeah, like what you said, if they're posting about that,

it's usually because they're hurt. So it's, yeah, I mean, it's usually a bad sign for them, honestly, I think. Yeah. Breakup advice. More breakup stuff. What's up, my dogs? My girlfriend recently just broke up with me. When it came down to it,

she said she was just a very independent person and not used to having someone like a boyfriend who cares so much. She was not sure she could give the same 100% that I give to her, and I basically understood that she broke up with me because I cared too much and overwhelmed her. I tried to work on easing off the gas pedal a little over the term of our relationship, and she knew I was working on it. Please keep anonymous.

My dogs all listen. Any advice on what to do going forward? I mean, yeah, that's like at the beginning a hitch, right? He's like too into that girl. But then he kind of takes the wrong lessons from it and starts to treat relationships too much like a game after that. So I would stay being your sincere, caring self. I think that's a really good baseline.

And then maybe just not be so intense with it, and just meet it out a little bit more carefully. Like really ask yourself, do I need to call her for like the third time today? And is that something that she's enjoying or is that just something that I need to do? And think about the other person as having their own set of wants and needs

and not just being a vessel to validate your need to express yourself and stuff like that. I don't know. It's tough. Do you guys agree? I think the discipline of keeping somewhat of a distance, not like too distant, but maintaining your independent selves, it just makes the chemistry stronger. It just makes the relationship stronger it just makes the relationship

stronger there's just like a there's something counterintuitive about that if you're you know calling them all the time it just pushes them away typically so yeah you gotta you gotta maintain your own sense of self i mean sometimes it's fun i've had relationships where we're calling each other non-stop and it was really exciting and great and it was like we were like so just connected but you got to read the room if if they're not feeling it you got to be like all right well obviously this person needs a little bit of uh space yeah but are you guys uh are you guys uh dating are you guys single yeah we're both single single nice have you guys had? Are you guys single? Yeah, we're both single. Single. Nice.

Have you guys had long-term relationships? Yeah. I just got out of one in December. I was dating for like a year and a half. Nice. Is that tough when you're traveling all the time? Yeah. I mean, it's nice when they can come to the tournament with you,

but my girlfriend at the time was in school still, so she couldn't travel too much, so it kind of sucked. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't really had a serious girlfriend just because, yeah, I mean, the distance and whatnot is tough. And, yeah, it's just a hard thing to balance. Do you guys ever get shy when you, like, hit on people, or are you pretty comfortable?

Yeah, I mean. I don't think we're too shy. Yeah, pretty comfortable, guys. Especially not this guy. That's not true. I get shy. What – are you meeting people at, like, bars, or is it, like, are you guys, is it like Instagram stuff? A lot of Instagram stuff, but we have like people that we know in different cities that we've already been to,

friends that we've already made in different places that we'll hit up when we're there. But there's never like a lack of talent on Instagram. Yeah, certainly. certainly doesn't like talent it's not my my favorite place to go though um but uh but yeah i i like i like meeting someone out like if i'm gonna meet you know like not but uh but yeah instagram's definitely got a lot of talent all the time yeah yeah it's almost too Yeah. Yeah, it's almost too much. It's way too much. It is, yeah.

It's like you're like, it's hard to know if, it's hard to feel content with what you have when there's all these people that you can look at and you're like, well, what would it take for me to be with that person? You know what I mean? Yeah, unfortunately, yeah. You're spot on.

It's crazy to even think about like that's it's so true but it's just like it's just always knowing that like knowing what your reality is and knowing that instagram is not it you know yeah like in terms of that case like yeah there's there's times where like like instagram is huge you know like every that's like just the modern world like we need it. But knowing where to pick the positives and negatives out of it, definitely one of them. If you are in a relationship with someone, that's a perfect example. People are like, oh, you can always see what's out there, which works against you sometimes.

Do you guys have to let your phone use? Not in quarantine, that's for sure. I think my hours are at an all-time high. I've never really been like, all right, I need to limit my phone use. Yeah. I've been on it a lot. Not necessarily Instagram, just everything in general.

The FaceTime log is getting... We FaceTime a lot, all the time, staying in touch I'm FaceTiming someone 22 hours out of the day if I'm not FaceTiming someone I don't even know what I'm doing yeah even I'll be working out I'll just FaceTime someone to work out while I FaceTime you know yeah not for sure I'll FaceTime um we're the same we and our friends are like our we're in our friends think Florida's like great I think it's open right now and, like, everything's fine.

They're like, yo, how's it going up there? Like, you guys been, like, hanging? Like, you know, what's the latest? Any girls? Like, bro, nothing. Like, we've literally been inside for, like, two months. Like, for 30 days now. Like, we haven't seen anyone.

Yeah, are you going to the beaches? Are you able to go now? No, not really. We've gone on the – we've been on the boat, like, once a week. Just going to, like are you able to go now no not really we've gone on the boat we've been on the boat like once a week um just going like key biscayne yeah like around and jumping in the water and floating but yeah the beaches are all are all closed oh they're so okay besides like the ones in north florida those are still open we're down oh gotcha gotcha gotcha all right last question what's up stokers chad j Chad, JT, Aaron, Strider, Joan, special guests.

I hope y'all are good. Setting happy hour vibes your way from South Dakota. Love the pod, y'all. So here's my prob. Basically, my boyfriend and I broke up before I went to college. I'm a history PhD student, and he's big into the drug game in our hometown. I moved five hours away, and we split up. Now this cutene is going on, and I'm back home.

I wanted to get out of my house, and so did he. So we decided to get an apartment with two bedrooms, one for each of us. Oof, bad idea. Yeah. It's a terrible idea. Terrible idea. Now his two friends are moving in as well and we share a bedroom. Oh my gosh. I still have feelings for him and he, but we can't be in a relationship. But now we are going to be sharing a bed and living in the same room. It's a three month lease. It won't be too long, but stokers. How do I manage manage these next three months like we're going to bang again that's obvious but how do i guard my heart and make the situation work help me stokers i love the pot and all the advice you give well autumn you really haven't put yourself in a position to protect your heart or to succeed

i mean this is true yeah i mean how are you gonna protect your heart banging your ex-boyfriend while you live in the same bedroom during a fucking global pandemic i'm sorry i don't mean to be harsh but like it's like you gotta i think you gotta bail i think you gotta bail i don't know if that's financially possible but that's what i was thinking go go find a friend to chill with and keep you occupied as well and just get out of there. Turn a negative into a positive. Find a replacement. Find someone to take your spot from you. Yeah, I concur.

Bail. Yeah, she's not going to bail though, huh? Bail and find a tool replacement. Yeah, I don't know. Find a replacement. It makes me think on some level she won't position where she can feel like it wasn't her choice to fall for him again, that it was like greater forces that made it happen.

But you are making these choices. You know, I live with my mom. All right, dudes. I think, I think that's it. Thank you guys so much for hopping on.

Yeah, dude. Thank you for coming on. Of course, man. Yo, next time we're on the west coast we got it we gotta send it for sure yeah absolutely yeah you guys were a delight man it was really nice talking

to you guys i appreciate you cool best guys stay safe all right yeah stay safe guys see you later bummer okay chad do you want to go about your yeah yeah uh dude i was freaking out during that whole episode i like 10 minutes in i started feeling feverish and i was like i have corona there's no way you're the healthiest guy alive uh Yeah, I think I just had a lot of anxiety today, and it's, like, manifesting in a weird way. But, yeah, sometimes I just feel off, though. I'm, like, alone, you know, and it's, like, you'll be sitting on your couch, and you're, like, you're, like, I don't know if I feel all there.

I'm mentally fine fine but but yeah i don't know sometimes sometimes i'll be yawning at three o'clock in the afternoon i'm like why the fuck am i tired it's three in the afternoon well tired all the time yeah yeah i i went through i went through like a panic at first i was like like, I'm fucked. And then within like 20 minutes, like I will fight this. Like Chris Cuomo. Yeah. Dude,

Cuomo is a beast, man. Every night he's almost dying. He's got 130 degree fever. And then he pops up on TV, pristine delivering eloquent sentences. Yeah. Dude,

if I do have it, I will do Instagram lives with you to give you an update. I had 105 fever. I'm hallucinating, but I'm here to report the news. I'm going deep or going live with JT. Yeah. I appreciate that, dude. That'll be good content.

The way I'm thinking about my weeks now, especially after watching that Jordan thing, it's like every week's a best of seven series. And if I have four days, if I have four good days, if I have four good days, and then, like, two days where I'm losing my mind, or three days where I'm losing my mind, I won that week. It's like, it's, in the conditions, and, you know, I have,

I'm very comfortable, but, like, it's very hard to feel good all right now. Yeah. I can't point what's fucking me up, but I'm definitely, things are throwing me constantly. Yeah. I've been pull what's fucking me up, but I'm definitely, things are throwing me constantly. Yeah. I've been, I've been,

it's been a, you know, like we've been filming these Fast and Furious scenes and I've been getting Coronas, you know, to film with them. It's hard not to booze, but I've been trying to,

you know, put a lid on it. But I mean, yeah, you're drinking some Pina. Yeah, I mean, I got a little bit of a hangover just from two glasses last night. I'm such a lightweight. But yes, I got to watch it too. And I just don't want to get like fat, you know? Yeah.

Because if you look at my Fast and furious clips that i sent you last night my belly is sticking out of my shirt and so yeah i need i may need you to send them differently because i'm having trouble downloading yeah i'm sorry i sent him on the iCloud which is like not helpful yeah um no that's yeah the belly was super disconcerting but at the same time i had four cookies today and i'm like yeah i just have to go easy on myself and be like i just got to get through this fucking thing yeah i'm not trying to beat myself up for eating cookies or getting a little smashed once in a while yeah i'm drinking every beverage out of wine glasses are you why yeah treat yourself fuck it right yeah i like that nice mentality like that yeah that's awesome

yeah aaron how are you feeling i'm good 100 yeah nice nice i was i was i was talking about it before we went on like von miller got it not that i was feeling really good for like a week and then i saw von miller got he said he only left the house four times never got out of his car and then he had a guy come by to fix his fish tank and a plumber come by and it really fucked me up like saturday i was like i had a fight with a friend and then um and then uh and then the von miller thing happened and kind of was making me spin a little bit and then i i just started to ask myself do i believe von miller and i don't want to question von miller i like von miller a lot but do you think maybe he was doing some other stuff and that's how he got? Is this rude to speculate on?

I mean, you know, you're asking a fair question. I love you, Von. Your bend off the edge is the best I've ever seen, but I think you were in an orgy. To put it simply, I think Von Miller was in an orgy, and he can't say that to the nation at large. Yeah. Dude, I was was thinking i was like because earlier i was like i was like i went to the grocery store on wednesday last wednesday and then from there i've just gotten postmates but I'm like... What's going on with Postmates? Yeah. Who's touching your food in Postmates? Yeah. I got sugar fish last night.

I was eating with... I don't know, dude. What's going on? It could be bad. I don't know. I mean, you know when you're putting together sushi, you fucking... A lot of hands. A lot of touching. The other thing, too too before we get into babes and legends is uh look i'm like the most you know this about me i'm not into conspiracy

theories i'm like the least conspiratorial person in the world i think most things are i take everything at face value i'm like no that's probably what happened and i just don't think that there's like a cabal of people who are smart enough to control what happens in the world. I think most things are accidents and then governments are just playing catch up. But obviously they've done some fucked up shit. But I'm 50-50 now on where this virus originated, whether it was the Wuhan market or whether it was accidentally came out of a lab. And I just, you know, I don't want to be xenophobic.

I'm rooting for the Chinese to have a good, healthy life and to be happy. But I'm, I don't think they'd tell us the truth if it did come out of a lab. Dude, not to, not to fan the flames, but I watched it, watched a conspiracy doc on YouTube about it over the weekend. Which one? It's like the origin of the coronavirus. What did it say? It just said it came out of a lab.

That's all. Aaron, what do you think? Sorry, go check. Go, go, go. I couldn't be happier. Sorry to interrupt, but I could not be happier to not be working on tinfoil hat during this time. I love Sam Tripoli.

I miss him to death, but I can't, I could not, I blow a gasket. Yeah. But I mean, but JT, you make a good point. I mean,

you know, not to, not to, yeah. I mean, you know, they say they don't sell bats at that wet market. You know,

that they're working on all that kind of stuff at the lab right there i mean the i mean the the idea that somehow got leaked accidentally is not that far off well and then and then they kicked out all the reporters from the new york times and wall street journal like they yeah all of our journalists so yeah and they're telling their people i think i've heard this i don't know how their propaganda channels work over there. I don't know if there's like one centralized channel. I guess they all are. They're all propaganda channels.

Thank you. Yeah. So, but I don't know what it looks like. I have no real information on it. But aren't they telling everybody that it's an American virus, that we brought it over there? That's what I hear, yeah. And then, dude, and then dude and then jack signer the guy who edits our clips and does

so much great work for us and runs the going deep channel he sent me something today about uh out of the shadows which is about oh you know he sent that to me too i watched it how is it? I just can't buy into it because we, you know, work in Hollywood and it's like, it makes all these claims about Hollywood and you're like, I can't see that, dude. Like from, from what we've seen, this whole conspiratorial thing that it's like a bunch of evil people. I mean, it's just like, I'm like, there's no way. Yeah. I just don't think they're that organized. I just don't think people are that smart and that capable. I mean, it's just like, I'm like, there's no way. Yeah. I just don't think they're that organized. I just don't think that's smart and that capable. I mean, yeah. Bill Maher had a great joke about nine 11 where he's like, you know,

I know George Bush didn't plan it. And they were like, how he's like, cause it worked. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, yeah, that's like, I think that's the right way to look at it. Yeah. They make claims. They're like, look, you can get, you can become successful in Hollywood, but if you want to get to the top level, you have to swear your allegiance to the devil and kill babies. And you're like, what, dude?

They're like, that's what Katy Perry did. I mean, look it up. Just look it up. And you're like, no, dude. My brain instantly pictures Tom Hanks not being able to do any of that stuff you know what i mean so ridiculous no way tom hanks did that yeah so katie perry a girl who can sing and is super sexy had to kill a baby to be famous no yeah no she had those two things already yeah do. And do you think, is Tripoli a true believer or do you think he's having fun? I don't know.

I never knew where it began and ended with Sam. I never really like buy into the. When it like, doesn't it help you like go to sleep? Isn't it like peaceful for you? I made that as a joke, but I did take a nap. I did take a nap to the wuhan virus doc oh i thought you were being serious i thought that was like the funniest thing i ever heard yeah well learning the truth helps me sleep you know that now that you say i

have napped to a fair number of uh conspiracy theory docs so maybe there's something there yeah well you know someone's in control it's like someone's in charge of all this stuff and then everyone just like being like bill gates planned all this i'm like i don't know he just seems like a smart guy who yeah was kind of ahead of the curve on something yeah um yeah it's crazy it's crazy i i guess maybe i'm maybe my brain i just don't want to be naive to anything i don't want to be anti-conspiratorial and have that be its own dogma. So I want to be open to any and all possibility. I find myself like, it's hard for me to hear conspiracies.

I'm just like, no, no, come on. But I don't know. I don't know what's really happening. I find myself able to sort of, I think I'm really gullible, but whenever I hear something that's like an alternative to what we're being told in the media, a part of me is just like, I don't know. I think there's something in human beings where it's like

when they hear something that's like, people are like, no, this is what the truth really is. It switches something in their mind. They're like, yeah, that is the truth.

Of course. Like, you know, why doesn't everyone else know this? You know what I mean? Yeah. And you're like, and you're like,

yeah, of course everyone who watches the news is a moron. Right. Like, uh, I think there's something in like our, our like psyche or something where it's like when we hear something that that uh we think no one else knows i may just be way off here no i think i think you're super on i think you're on it yeah when we hear something that we think no one else knows and it's like

and then that source is saying that that everything that everyone else has been telling you, it's all, they've all been deceived. It's all a big lie. And you're like, oh, yeah, of course, like the curtain's lifted. I'm awake now. But then it's just easy to fall in a rabbit hole one way or the other. But then like, you know yeah so no i think that's exactly it i think yeah um i think there's a lot of power in feeling like of like it makes you feel empowered to be like oh no i know the truth right no one else has seen it

i see the matrix i can see it you know right yeah and it almost it. I see the matrix. I can see it. Right. Yeah. And it almost doesn't matter what the matrix is. There just has to be a matrix that you're seeing. Yeah. It helps if it's a molester matrix. That's the most powerful. Yeah. Especially if it's like a person who hasn't gotten to where they want to in life.

I think it's like, oh, I can blame it on you know right the rockefellers who control everything they don't want me to succeed oh i you know it's oh it's hollywood i have to become a pedophile to be a movie star right i had too much integrity i wouldn't molest kids and that's why i didn't get tom cruise yeah right yeah yeah, well, yeah, it's that simple. Well, then the crazy part is enough people get caught being molesters where they keep fueling the fire. Right. Oh, right. Yeah. Chad.

Oh, should we do an ad? Do we have a second? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We got some new Tiger King copy. Really? Yeah. Guys, I'm interrupting this podcast to say hey all you cool

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sure at that golden zone, it looks trimmed like a fresh baseball field, ready to go post-corona. So if you're a true Tiger King fan and you want to shave your nuts well you can now safely make tiger stripes in your pubes by going to manscaped.com using code go deep 20 to get 20 off plus free shipping manscaped.com use code go deep 20 legend chad who is your beef of the week uh so spoiler alert stokers if you haven't seen too hot to handle do you mind if i do are you do you plan on watching this yeah but you can spoil it it's all good baby i don't think i'm really spoiling it um

all right my beef of the week is with frances and Haley for Cost and the Crew Some Cash. You know, they felt alienated from the entire squad, all the hot people, you know, trying to resist boning. Guys, this is on Too Hot to Handle on Netflix, and, you know, I just think they went about it all wrong. You know, they tried to do a sort of devious conniving thing by making out with each other and costing the crew you know 3 000 bones and i thought it was really uncool and you know uh hayley doesn't know where australia is and it's like yeah that makes sense because she was trying to screw everyone else out of some cash.

So, yeah, just my beef is with them for, you know, disrespecting the sanctity of the squad. Legend. Aaron, what's your beef of the week? is with these people protesting that they want to go back to work and outside and run around in the daisies or whatever the hell they're protesting. It's unsafe. I understand we're all getting tired of being at home and a lot of people are out of work.

Certainly, that sucks. But being out of work is better than being dead and getting your grandma dead and getting your aunt dead and getting my mom dead. So stay home. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. If you want to protest anything,

protest the government for not giving us more than one $1,200 check to get through two, three, four months of whatever this is going to be. Yeah. It's not your governor's fault. It's the guy you elected. Yeah.

Go ahead. You go, baby. If you're going to protest, at least be safe. Wear a mask. At least do that. You can still social distance somewhat. So at least be smart, you know. Yeah.

I was on the fence about what my beef was going to be. And then Aaron, you just fired me up because that's my beef of the week too. And I just, you know, I feel bad telling other people what to do, especially, you know, if they're living on harder times. But it's just unsafe. We don't know enough about how we're going to get out of this yet. We don't have comprehensive enough testing. And for me, a lot of these people in Encinitas and San Clemente, they're affluent and they're protesting because they think it's like this huge government overreach. And I don't know, it makes me feel like these people are just spoiled. You know

what I mean? I'm like, I've never seen anyone in San Clemente protest anything this vigorously of all the fucked up shit that's happened in our country. And it's just like, and then you hear some of these people like who are like what they can't do. And they're like, I can't even get my hair done. You're like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like, what the fuck are you talking about? Just stay the fuck home. And I don't know. Yeah, I'm with you. And then like you said, Chad,

if you're going to do it, do it safely. And then some guy messaged me because I made a joke about how saying, and it was true. All these people, many people got fired up because they closed down the skate park. And this dude was like, bro, how can you say that, man? Here's the thing. Love will always be more powerful than danger.

And like life is always bigger than than fear and i'm like dude i have no idea what the hell those words mean and how you're using them you're just using these big general terms i'm like you know love might be bigger than danger but i don't know like the people at chernobyl probably love their families but we don't know because they're all dead so it's like what what are you talking like you want to be able to do all those things you need to be be alive to do those things. So I don't know. Yeah. I was fired up on that too. And I don't know if I'm right. Like maybe herd immunity is, is going to be the right path out of this, but I, we just don't know anything at this point. And it's, it's just a, having people with no

education, tell me how statistical modeling works is another thing that i'm like all right dude so you're like good at crossfit i don't know yeah i thought that post made was hilarious yeah yeah they're protesting the skate park closing escape closing like no dude last straw dude last straw i'm like just i don't know chad what's your babe of the week uh my babe of the week it's uh chiron and ronda um you know this is again on too hot to handle on netflix chiron really just stepped up to the plate and opened up to Rhonda. And he got vulnerable, you know, which was a tough thing for him to do because he has a lot of walls up. But he really got vulnerable,

spoke his truth, spoke his fears. And it looks like he and Rhonda are creating a really deep connection. And I'm really proud of them. So not done with the season yet, but I'm rooting for them. What up, Sharon and Rhonda? I think you're a great couple.

You're leading the charge for the whole squad on Too Hot to Handle. Aaron, who's your Babe of the Week? I had it and I lost it. Let me think. I had it and I lost it. Let me think. Damn. Well, my babe of the week for a lot of weeks of this quarantine is the comics who are doing absolutely fire work,

creating memes, doing videos. Former guest of the pod, Rod Jewell, is just insanely funny during all of this just the different um kids um crafts activities he's coming up with uh how to steal from your neighbors like all this stuff it It's just so funny. Yeah. Dude, Tim Dillon. Tim Dillon has elevated for me into the top tier of alive performers. He's a good voice in all this chaos. Yeah. His Joe Rogan episode was hilarious.

Was it good? Yeah, there's something about him where he's really cynical, but it's comforting. Yeah, exactly. It's like his him where he's really cynical, but it's comforting. Yeah, exactly. It's like his don't give a fuck attitude. And you just know his confidence is so... There's something about it where you're just like, I can listen to this guy forever.

My babe of the week is Michael Jordan. If you need to get more motivated or you need help being motivated, which I think a lot of us need a lot of the week is michael jordan just if you need to get more motivated or you need help being motivated which i think a lot of us need a lot of the time watch the mj doc on espn and it will just make you want to be better at whatever it is you do whatever it is you care about because he just like uh you know i'm stealing this from ryan rossillo i heard him talk about where he's like everyone says that they want to win and be the best but and you're always like but do you really with Michael Jordan like you really believe it you're like no he really really wants to be the best and and it's it's a it's inspiring he just he cares so much is it is it just one is it like a bunch of episodes or is

it one just complete talk two it was two hours on Sunday and it's going to be 10 hours. Wow. Yeah. That's how fucking rich MJ's career and life are. Just that one season. Yeah. You can squeeze 10 hours out of it. And I would lap it up.

They could say we're beefing it up to 50 and I would drop to my knees and thank God for all that time. I might watch that tonight dude it's good man and mj's just beautiful dude you see him get out of his corvette and he's got this slick outfit on yeah the way he moves and you see him grow into that too because i mean he was an incredible uh young man too but you watch they frame it so you get to see his confidence build and watch him grow into you know this dominating icon and it's like uh it's just awesome he's just awesome he walks

into a room and you're just like he's he's a special human being yeah i remember watching him at the kobe memorial giving a speech and just his voice and just everything about him you're like that's michael fucking jordan like yes dude like like you know i i haven't seen him on tv or whatever in like you know like 10 years or something but when he when he got up on that podium he just he dominated yeah yeah he just dominated the room and these young a lot of people think LeBron, because they just didn't watch Jordan, is on that level with Jordan. It's like, it's not the same thing. When you watch Jordan, you never thought he would lose. With LeBron, he doesn't instill that level of like, just a fait accompli where you're like, it's over. It's

already, it's already done. Yeah. And I think that's why Jordan said yes to this doc is because he probably feels that the conversation is getting out of hand. And he's like, we need to remind people of what the hierarchy is. Yeah. And I don't even think it's an argument. I just don't.

I think it's just Jordan. Well, I mean, just as... I think charisma is so much a part of the equation. And his is just – to me, he just has so much – he's so much more magnetic. Yeah. I mean, I never really – I thought Kobe had much better charisma than LeBron too. I agree. It's like – I don't know.

There's something – for me, there's something for me there's something i mean i'm not a huge basketball fan but there's just it's the the whole equation isn't complete with lebron yeah we'll see i don't think lebron might be a better actor yes oh right yeah he is he was good at train wreck yeah he was really good train wreck yeah lebron lebron's probably a little bit more polished they're both pretty cagey and smart i mean you have to be to be at the level that they're at but yeah lebron is the better actor but space jam's a fireman well we'll see with space jam too we'll see if it's as good as jordan space jam people forget people make fun of jordan as a baseball player like that he only hit like 200

210 whatever but you try doing that not playing since high school and uh and playing with pros and then you forget i mean i keep forgetting until i see these stats he stole like 30 bases yeah at six foot six uh in like 100 games like that's hard to do and humbled himself humbled himself played in the minors and took took a bunch of l's yeah and yeah he's just all he cares about is he's the best yeah to a maniacal degree. Chad, who's your legend of the week? My legend of the week is Joaquin Phoenix. Nice, dude. When he made that Oscars speech, what seems like a lifetime ago,

which was only like two months ago or something, I was like, what the fuck is he saying? This is whack. And then I saw an article on Var something i was like what the fuck is he saying this is whack and i saw an article on variety that was like suddenly joaquin spade joaquin phoenix's speech doesn't seem so crazy i'm like dude that is absolutely right you know like he went a little astray with the udders and milk you know it's like we milk cat i'm like dude wrong you know you took the wrong direction there but but i think the essence of what he's saying is we're falling out of sync with like nature you know we're we're we're we're uh losing our sense of our place in this world

and and so and now you know nature's responding accordingly because it dominates us all. So I still eat meat, but I respect what he's trying to say, and I think he's a legend. Nice, dude. Aaron, who's your legend of the week? So my legend of the week is Stephen King. Oh, nice. I'm reading, I'm actually reading lock and key,

which is written by his son. And there's a, there's a Netflix TV show based on it. I don't know how they're going to do this team, how they've done this TV show. I haven't watched it yet. I'm waiting to finish the books, but it's an amazing graphic novel that's so hardcore it's like how did they get child actors to be in this thing because it's like about like three

kids in this family um and then the supernatural and ghosts and weird stuff and that's stephen king's son like to put out as many amazing uh horror and sci-fi novels as he has and you know we and he's admitted he had a little help uh on that with the yeah with the old blusky um but to put that out his wife's a writer an amazing writer his son's an amazing uh writer an amazing writer his son's an amazing uh writer it's just like and then he's like a he's like kind of a down-to-earth dude who's who's super lefty which is cool for me um he got hit by a van and he survived he did when did he get hit by a van? It was in the early 2000s. He eventually bought it and destroyed it with a sledgehammer. That's awesome.

It's just amazing. I think he writes people really well, too. With Christine, I was shocked at how well he wrote teenagers. Not necessarily modern. It was still in the past to me anyway, but like, it's crazy. And he wrote stand by me. Right. He wrote the short story that inspired the movie. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that's really good characterization of, of teenage kids. I mean, I only know the film, but I mean, that's one of the best, you know, distillations of what it feels like to be that age. But that's also like, it's more when he grew up, you know, it's like the 50s. So it makes sense to be that age but that's also like it's more when he grew up you know it's like the 50s so it makes sense to be able to write kids your own age but like i want to say christine takes place in the 70s and he's not a kid anymore but um but yeah it's super cool i mean obviously he did what became the Shawshank Redemption as well. Yeah, he's so prolific.

Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, when he talks about his writing process, it's really motivational because he's like, I think he's the guy who says he's like, maybe it's him or another author, but he tries to write every day day but i think it's maybe a certain amount of pages or something like he's he has that mentality where it's like you know a lot of people sort of wait for that creative spark to hit so they can like get in flow or whatever and write and he's just like no you just got to put in the work keep writing keep writing and uh the good work will come so yeah, yeah, I like that.

Yeah, that's the way it's got to be. I also think underrated, well, overrated as a drug, cocaine, just because it's bad for you. You have fun with it and then it has fun with you. I like that Paul Schrader quote. But a lot of good art came from cocaine, like the 80s, underrated decade of art. And you think about some of these movies and

you're like that was definitely cocaine because it just takes crazy swings into different directions yeah and i think about mel gibson like apocalypto apocalypto is like one of the weirdest coolest movies i've ever seen is he on blow for that i think he was for sure on blow for that he's an alcoholic yeah i think he i heard he had a place secluded in costa rica it was just banging lines and then just i mean how else do you come up with a story about an ancient aztec tribe that turns into like an adventure escape story it's like you got to be on blow did he create that language or is that the real uh language i think he probably used like a translator for that language but i

mean he was writing in that voice and like to even be like i'm gonna do a foreign language film in an extinct language where the protagonist is just trying to escape and not get his heart ripped out yeah and i'm on coke i'm fired up he calls his agent like that i'm on coke it's like just do whatever you're doing these pages are great yeah my legend of the week is jeff carisalis he's a really old friend of ours yeah so i have like a complicated relationship with jeff he's a stand-up comedian he's a former marine he served in iraq he was in the uh hbo series generation kill and i like jeff but he's very combative like jeff when he sees me he he's like, what's up, rich boy, you fucking pussy. You think you can make art and be a comedian. You don't know

fucking shit. You fucking pussy. And, uh, and it's, it's charming to an extent, but he does it every time I see him. And this is almost six years of knowing each other. And then he'll text me the next day, but Hey man, you want to go get some food or like hang out? And then I'm like, Jeff, no, dude, you're annoying the fuck out of me man but i think uh i think for a little bit there i had been judging him too much i was kind of like you know what he's too big of a pain in the ass to deal with and i think i lost sight of that he's actually a really good guy you know what i mean and then when something like this happens and uh he's doing so much stuff to help people and he's posting about on instagram it's kind of annoying that he's posting about it

but every day he's like doing stuff to help other people. And I think sometimes I can judge people for being uncouth. And then I forget that really what makes us people, or good people, is how we respond to stuff like this. And that shows a lot about where our hearts lie.

That was what was making me think about the politically incorrect thing. I think it is right to be sensitive to how people feel and to use language that, uh, makes other people, you know, not feel hurt and stuff like that.

But there's, there's also stuff that like when stuff like this happens, it's like, there's, there's other ways to define what makes someone good or bad. You know what I mean? And, and there's like,

and a lot of those people who run Kooth sometimes can have a lot of courage and and be the people we need in times like this yeah and i guess yeah i just love jeff but even though he just annoys the fucking shit well what's he been doing he just like will drive over to people's houses and like if they got a busted car and they don't want to take it into the shop, he'll fix the car. And he can weld tools and put stuff together or help someone move. And I've always heard he did stuff like that. I always thought he was just doing it for hot chicks. Yeah.

I would always bust his chops about that. Because he'd be picking on everybody else for being beta, or he's always calling people networkers. He's obsessed with people networking. Yeah. being beta or or he's always calling people networkers he's obsessed with people networking to the point where i'm like you're you're so obsessed with this you're you're more obsessed with it than it is a problem but he's but he is a good guy and he's and he's a brave dude and i think that uh you know there's there's always going to be a soft spot in my heart for guys like that because i don't know i i just i i trust him in situations like this and you know he'll be the first guy to tell you about it go talk to him i've been in 17 firefights in iran i got more respect for the people i shot and killed than you fucking

pussies i got to do comedy with and then my thing's always like but you've been doing comedy for longer than you were in the marines dude yeah like where are your family now bro unfortunately and then he'll quote nichi and stuff and i'll be like you know nichi was probably a rich kid he's like that's the fucking thing of it isn't it rich kids make all the art we're the fucking people who live the art bro that's what we do what's going on in there what's going on in here your heart bro i took a mass i took a masner class fucking tore me to shreds bro yeah he loves art he loves it in a very pure way and if it's not like raw to him it's not real you know oh do you

see my set in there i went up there and i ripped their fucking hands off they weren't ready for my real raw shit they weren't ready for what the fuck i'm talking about i'm like you're giving yourself a little too much credit but i like where you're coming from I respect that he's like it's all about what's truly in your heart but I think he just thinks that it's all anger and if that's not what he's saying on the stage and he's like that's not truth that's not real

you're not being truthful and you're like yeah yeah he's a character I'm like I don't have to be angry dude and he's like that's not the truth you are like no i'm not they wouldn't be ready for me though huh like it was like like guys like how to go i'm like pretty good he's like they wouldn't be ready for me though right i came all right to shit i'm like dude everybody's ready for everybody you're not that

like you're not blowing minds to that level but it's like but even through all that it's just like you know he's lived an incredible life he was a marine comic now he's helping people he's a good dude and uh yeah i uh i'm i'm happy to know him yeah they couldn't handle me could they all these club mics they can't handle the truth it's all a bunch of spoiled white people i know and then he's he's uh it's funny too because you know he was the artsy fartsy guy in his marine crew yeah he was the one that everybody was like shut up stop talking about art and stuff he's like it's important art's important i'm like you're you're the artsy fartsy guy you're just the most hardcore of the artsy fartsy people.

He is. He is so entertaining though. When he like approaches you and he's so proud. Cause he's like, he ripped so into shreds. He's like, dude, I tore them to shreds,

bro. Yeah. Rip them up. I always found it very entertaining. It is. It is. Sometimes I'm just like, all right,

Jeff, I got it. I've heard it before. Like, let's move on. But, but he is, he is. Sometimes I'm just like, all right, Jeff, I got it. I've heard it before. Like let's move on. But, but he is, he is a Jeff,

you're my legend of the week. Um, and he inspires me. He inspires me to want to help people more. Cause I see him putting himself out there. Yeah. Chad, what's your quote of the week?

Um, so I, I caught the, uh, I caught the beginning of Pearl Harbor with, uh, Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. It was too late to finish it.

I was like, I got to hit the sack. But I did catch this one quote from Ben Affleck where he's like, okay, so he's going to fly with the British Air Force and, you know, take on the Germans. And this is before Pearl Harbor, so before America got into the war. And then, you know, his superior officers, like, said, it's hard to do an accent with these headphones on because I can't hear myself. Like, so all you – fuck i'm doing jeff carousel i'll just do it with that so all you see like so all you yanks all you yanks uh all you yanks

come here you just anxious to die he's like not anxious to die sir just anxious to matter oh that's good dude Dude, Pearl Harbor. There's another good quote from that movie where the two bros are fighting Hartnett and Ben Affleck. And Hartnett stole his lady because he thought Affleck was dead fighting the war. And Josh Hartnett looks at Ben Affleck all drunk and goes, you're a bad drunk and you always have been. And then Affleck looks at him and goes, you're a bad friend and that's a new development. Dude, fire quips. Yeah, they're firing him off. Aaronaron what's your quote of the week uh my quote i just found it's from my boy who i'm wearing right now

yoda nice one of the best it says in a dark place we find ourselves and a little more knowledge lights our way all right dude crushing it dude my quote of the week is from a the book i've been reading gia to latinos trick mirror it's about female identity in the social media era and you know the capitalization of uh political movements i don't know why i'm reading this thing but i'm gonna she's a really good writer i've been enjoying it but this i like this section a lot he writes about about a scene in the Odyssey where Ulysses sits incognito in the court of the Thucysians, listening to a blind man sing about the Trojan War. Having never heard his own life articulated by another person, Ulysses starts to weep. Hannah Arendt called this moment, poetically speaking, the beginning of

history. Ulysses has never wept before, and certainly not when what he is now hearing actually happened. Only when he hears the story does he become fully aware of his significance, Caveraro writes. The story told by an other finally revealed his own identity, and he, dressed in his magnificent purple tunic, breaks down and cries. Caveraro then expands the Ulysses story into a third dimension, in which the hero suddenly becomes aware, not just of his own story,

but also of his own need to be narrated between identity and narration. There's a tenacious relation of desire. That blew my mind, dude. That was fire. Yeah. There's a lot going on there. The need to be like hearing your own story told,

and that reveals the significance of your story and then needing other people to tell your story that's I don't know that that told me a lot about how I think about things I think it's literally you becoming a legend yeah yeah exactly and the Ulysses even isn't even aware of it and then when he hears it it becomes conscious the fact that he's becoming a legend. It like breaks him down and cries, but then it changes the way he thinks about things going forward. Like he can never go back to before that moment, you know?

Yeah, that was cool. The book's good. I've been reading. Shred Sweetgreen. I've been rereading. Oh yeah, she's the one that talked about Sweetgreen. Yeah, she shreds it to bits, dude. I think she goes a little too hard on it.

Yeah. Customize sounds for the shit. I think she goes a little too hard on it. Yeah. Customize sounds are the shit. I remember rereading Huck Finn. Yeah. Dude, there's something about reading good literature. It just tunes up your brain. Yes. It's incredible.

You read 20 minutes in the morning, and then for the rest of the day, you're like, my diction's better. I'm just thinking clearer. There's something dude i went to lubes the pathways yes i went to stay with my brother in new york he was living there interning and he read like doskayevsky's like crime and punishment and i remember i was living with him and i was like dude your fucking sentences are dialed right now yeah i was like you're seeing the whole chessboard i mean if you read a big fucking book like that that's full of smart ideas yeah it's gonna do something to your dome yeah what's your phrase of the week for getting after it shed um i will fight

it's chris cuomo quote dude Cuomo's a beast on the TV do you have one? yeah Sanjay I'm I'm hallucinating right now I can't even see the camera but I will report the news dude sorry about that Aaron sorry to interrupt you Aaron no no no I don't have one i i can't i can't top i

will fight yeah i think i can't top that either i will fight fight everything fight myself fight my fucking huge feelings that cloud my judgment and make me think things that aren't real i will fight dude we'll fight the coward inside me to redeem my personhood during this quarantine let's go dude let's fight the fights that need fighting cocaine too Aaron Sorkin big cocaine guy I'm not espousing doing cocaine though don't do cocaine but think like you're on cocaine all right boom clap yeah all right dudes this was fun this was great those tennis guys were great they're great it's always cool talking to athletes they're just like you know

they have a different sort of feel than most people they're very at peace with the universe it feels like yeah they're not like bitchy little artists. Take that, Art. Yeah, suck it. You want to know the truth? You want to know the truth about Art? It's a coward's way to live. Dude, I went to Bakersfield, ripped him to shreds.

I know, that's his thing. Ripped him to shreds, bro. I was at a biker bar in Albuquerque. Bunch of ex-cons I fucking murdered. You think you could crush in that room? I think I'd do fine. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. Aaron, be well, my friend. Chad, too. Good day today, dude. Love you guys. We're on Zoom a lot today. Oh, yeah. Chad and I Zoomed for like four hours today.

Dude. It's nice. I'm going to play some Call of Duty now, man, if you want to fuck some domes up. Yeah, I might hop on. Yeah. All right. Let's do it, bro. Aaron, be well, man.

Yeah. See you guys. Bye. If you need advice. Yeah. These guys are really nice. You want to know What to do Where to go

When you need someone to guide you To have the truth beside you Go in deep Go in deep Let's go deep Go in deep Get in deep See you next time.