Spittin Chiclets - Spittin' Chiclets Episode 163: Featuring Jon Hamm, Robert Bortuzzo & Larry Flowers
Episode Date: April 1, 2019On Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets we have a jam packed episode. First, we were joined by Roberto Bortuzzo of the St. Louis Blues, along with everyone's good pal Larry Flowers. The boys join to ...talk about the Blues crazy season, the goal song, and a ton more. The guys are then joined by Hollywood Man Rocket Jon Hamm. Hamm joins to talk about his love for the Blues, his acting career, meeting Rear Admiral on The Town set and some more. The guys wrap up with some NHL news including Quinn Hughes NHL Debut, Tyson Barrie, some LA Kings milestones and a few other stories. You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/schiclets
Transcript
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Hey, Spittin' Chicklets listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Hello, everybody.
Welcome to episode 163 of Spittin' Chicklets, presented by New Amsterdam Vodka.
Let's say hello to everybody today.
Let's go to Grinnelly first.
What's up there, pal?
What's up, guys?
Not doing too well. Lost a ton of money this
weekend. Worst gambling weekend of my life, but
I'm sure we'll get into that. Yeah, just ignoring
picks I send you and losing what else
is new. Next up, let's go to the
Whitthog. Ryan Whitney, are you home or on the road
right now? I'm home. How are you guys?
Mikey, so that seven grand you were up
and I kept telling you to take out
and put it aside. You never did and it's all
gone? Yep.
I put it next to Uncle Whitney.
Uncle Whitney?
I've been telling you since you started gambling.
He didn't even take out $2,500 for a month's rent or whatever.
He just got nothing out of it.
Ouch.
Tough, tough.
You lose most.
Yeah, that's true.
And finally, last up, our boy Biz N nasty paul bisonette out in the desert
what's up buddy oh boy it's tough loss on friday for the arizona coyotes fuck they they fell in a
shootout to the colorado avalanche nice third period comeback though my boy oliver eckman
larson with a couple tucks just kidding like six hours after i was saying he's not like a real true shut down defenseman also.
Well, that is on the offensive side of it.
But, yeah, unfortunate for them.
We are recording before their game today against Minnesota on Sunday.
That's a big one.
Must win for the Coyotes from here on out with their four games remaining.
But, hey, the weather here is incredible.
I actually went by the pool yesterday.
I met up with Trevor Gretzky, and we went to this Hotel Adeline.
It was a nice little pool, and there was some trim,
and I got a nice base tan, so look out, G.
Wow.
Uh-oh, get that flare up.
Get back to New York City.
You mentioned the playoffs, Biz, and we're in crunch time, man.
There's one week left in the season.
Things are still up in the air as far as the playoffs.
Tampa's the only official division winner,
though Calgary's clinched practically a formality at this stage.
Washington has a three-point lead over the Islanders
with three to play for both teams.
But Central, very much wide open.
Winnipeg and Nashville both have 94 points.
The Preds have played one more game.
And now the Blues nipping at their heels with 92 points.
And then out east, I mean, you basically have Carolina, Columbus,
and Montreal all clamoring for the last two wildcard spots in the east.
And then, you know, Pittsburgh, we kind of praised them last week.
They only get 95 points.
They can still be caught.
They need to win a couple more games to stay alive.
Biz, how do you see things shaking out here, brother,
and these things that change day to day?
Well, I was critical of Columbus and the moves they made at the deadline,
and now they're making a push.
They've been really good as of late.
Even with the Duchesne comments I had about not sharing if he's a big game player,
when they've needed him most, I think he's got five points
in his last three games with the Blue Jackets,
and they were against some pretty important opponents,
one being Montreal, who they're going at that wildcard spot with.
They're peaking right now, and that's a team I'd be scared to meet in the first round,
so I'm going to put my shoe in my mouth on that one.
Now, saying that, they do have a game in hand on Montreal, so it isn't signed, sealed,
and delivered.
They are tied in points with them, but it seems after that first period they had in Montreal,
I believe they were down 1-0, and torts came in the locker room,
and there's actually video of it.
And I wouldn't say a full-on tort snap show,
but you could tell what he said resonated with the players
because they ended up going out there scoring 3 in the second
and 3 in the third and ended up routing the Montreal Canadiens
who they're competing with that spot for 6-2 so
on the other side of that
holy shit I don't know if you guys have seen
Drouin's numbers
down this stretch where they needed him most
and I know he's faced a lot of criticism
with his play sometimes
and being lazy defensively
in his last 14 games
this was before
this was I think this was, I think,
after the Columbus game, excuse me.
He had one goal and one assist in his last 14 games.
He's registered points in just two games in his last 21.
One of those games he had four assists, and the other one he had a goal
and an assist.
So to me, that is fucking crazy.
That's a guy that they need producing offense.
And surprisingly, they're able to still be in the hunt
without him bringing his A game.
Yeah.
If you look at his numbers, though, career-wise,
I mean, he's probably going to finish with, like, the best year,
you know, points-wise he's ever had in his career.
I think that's kind of – he is what he is, 50-, 60-point guy.
Unfortunately, you know, when getting hot early in the year,
unfortunately it happened earlier in the year.
He would do anything to switch it and have him be going right now,
but I just think this is kind of who he is, 50, 60-point guy,
maybe 70 if he gets some line mates he really clicks with,
but it's just tough to go this cold when everyone needs you.
You mentioned Panera, and I was giving him heat.
I said I think he had won in 15 or 16 games, one goal since Duchesne came,
and he's been on fire.
Last night, it was a pretty – I don't know if any of you guys saw it.
I caught a little of it.
Columbus-Nashville was exciting, and the end of the first period was wild.
You know, Columbus is up 2-1.
Nashville gets an incredible chance, but Brovsky, awesome save. Like, just – like, a key moment of the first period was wild. Columbus is up 2-1. Nashville gets an incredible chance, but Brovsky, awesome save.
Just a key moment of the game, 20 seconds left in the period.
Panarin gets it.
You think the period's just going to end.
He dangles it up ice, crosses somebody over at the red line,
then finds Atkinson who buries it with five seconds, 3-1 at the end of the first.
They go on to win.
So Columbus is finding what they needed to,
and it just took them way too long.
I thought it was surprising, but I still think, I mean,
if they get in the first round, nobody wants to play them.
That's not a fun team that you're looking forward to.
Like if Tampa played them, trust me,
Tampa would much rather play Montreal than them, I think.
Absolutely.
I completely agree, and that's going to be a grind of a first round. We always talk about the bad luck that Tampa runs into in playoffs and just can't get over the hump. And to me, that's a team that I'd say they'd minimum take him to six.
Yeah, I could see that. I could see that. Definitely.
going around before the weekend, so it wasn't updated before the weekend, but it showed that Duchesne, Dezingo, and Stone had the exact same number
of points, 26, as Duclair, Lindbergh, and I think the third play was Brandstrom.
I'm not 100% sure, but basically they had the exact same number of points
like two, three weeks after the trade going into this weekend.
So it was just indicative because I said to Grinnelli the other day
when he asked about Betton, I said, these teams who are out of it,
they're still playing for pride.
They're still playing for jobs next year.
You know, I mean, like, it's young guys already, too.
Like, you're telling me Brady Kachuk isn't fired up for these games?
It's still his first year in the NHL.
I mean, it's like, if you get a team with a bunch of 32-year-olds,
it doesn't even exist anymore.
Maybe at this time of the year, they're shutting it down.
But all these teams with young guys, these dudes are getting their chances.
Like, first NHL game, you know, they're going to be going balls to the wall.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
These guys, they're playing their balls off.
I mean, Detroit's a team, you know, they've been out there for a while,
but they've actually been a pretty good bet lately.
They've been playing their asses off, man.
And, like, bringing up guys from the minors.
Actually, they brought up Jake Chelios.
I'm not sure if you caught that.
Son of you-know-who.
He made his NHL debut for the Red Wings Friday night.
28 years old, man.
You know, it's great to see.
It's a great story.
Playoffs are toast for the Red Wings.
So they said they wanted to reward some of their minor league guys.
And, you know, he's the latest example of a kid sticking with it.
He graduated college a few years ago, and now he's getting a shot in the show.
Well, it was pretty nice to see, eh, Witz?
It was great to see.
And it's a cool story because it's such a different –
it was so different for Jake growing up, right?
So any kid, if you ever make it to play a game in the NHL,
that's an insane amount of odds against you for that to ever happen.
So people don't really understand that because his dad's –
Chris Chellios, this kid his entire life has just had a different perspective.
And it's not his dad's fault for know, Chris Chelios, this kid his entire life has just had like a different perspective. And it's not, it's not his dad's fault for being an incredible hockey player,
but this kid sees his, you know,
his dad and probably does know how hard it is to be in the NHL.
And, you know, people tell him, but he still is like, Oh,
my dad did it for this long. I'm going to get there. I'm going to get there.
And so to, to finally get his first game, dude,
after grinding that long in the minors, 28 years old,
that's just such a special memory because I'm sure it is.
I shouldn't say that.
I know it is.
But I just think that he's always going to remember, you know,
I ended up getting to the league where my dad was a true legend,
and that's awesome.
I actually fought him when he was in the American Hockey League.
How'd it go?
With the Charlotte Checkers.
It was fine, yeah.
He was a gamer, you know.
They didn't have the best team that year, but, you know,
he was a good penalty kill guy, a stay-at-home defenseman and uh congratulations to him they actually had
chris chelios on the the tv broadcast they were joking around about how uh back in the day when
sean avery used to babysit him and how like he would never be in bed on time it would just be
like you know like ruckus going around the house shocker but uh cool story i love i love the you
know when those like
those guys finally get their shot at at least getting one game you know you get the frame the
jersey fucking uh probably probably didn't make a dollar though he had to put it all on the board
for his first game especially because his old man played there for a thousand years but uh very cool
yeah you got young guys uh well you know young 28 i guess but you know motivated guys that want
to play spoiler to other teams and unfortunately won't be able to spoil the Blues.
They did finally clinch their playoff spot.
In doing so, they became just the seventh team ever to make the playoffs after ranking
last in the league at any point after New Year's Day.
The last team to do it was the 97 Senators.
I mean, we basically pronounced them dead on this podcast probably a handful of times
back in November, December.
What they've done is incredible.
Also, too, we want to note we do have St. Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo
joining us shortly in addition to Blues superfan and Mad Men star John Hamm.
Got some good stuff coming forward.
But back to the Blues, man.
Like I said, they were dead.
They pulled the Undertaker gift.
They woke up.
They're in the playoffs, and they're another team, man.
I can't imagine teams want to play with them.
They're throwing out Jordan Bennington.
Eh, Biz?
No. I mean, right now they're still fighting for home ice.
I mean, Nashville has kind of tailed off in the second half of the season,
and St. Louis has slowly been gaining ground on them.
I know Winnipeg and Nashville are still fighting for that first place
in the Central, so things are definitely very interesting here.
Could you imagine St. Louis ends up getting first in the Central?
Like, what?
Those other teams kind of had the wagon title earlier in the season.
I don't know.
Can they get first?
They can get second, but I don't know if they can.
Yeah, absolutely.
You're right.
Looking at it.
Even if they could get home ice, even if they get second,
and they've dominated nashville too um that team has been really fun to watch and it's it's funny how how
much they look so much quicker so i'm watching them now and it used to kind of be a slow pace
and now it's like this team's flying so bertuzzo talks about that a little bit
i was just surprised at the beginning of the year about tarasenko's start
he just like you know you expect so much from knowing how good he is how great his shot is he I was just surprised at the beginning of the year about Tarasenko's start.
He just like, you know, you expect so much from knowing how good he is,
how great his shot is.
He wasn't doing that much.
His points were kind of there, but not making a huge effect.
And he got his 30th the other day.
So that's 30 in five straight years for him.
So that's just an incredible stat.
So you see, as he got going, I think the team really started going.
And O'Reilly, all year, has done it.
Yeah, it's an unbelievable turnaround they had.
It's going to be interesting, though, to see what they do in the playoffs because, you know, St. Louis, it's been 50-something years
since they've been in a final.
Dude, they're cool with connection.
Can we give them credit for a chicklet's bump by calling up Hughes,
Quinn Hughes?
Grinelli Hughes.
Dude, it's uncanny how much this kid looks exactly like Grinelli
when they trotted him out on the ice the other night. Case you're not familiar, Quinn Hughes, he was the seventh
overall pick on the last draft. He made his debut Thursday at home versus the Kings. And
I mean, the kid made a hell of a debut right away. He made that unreal pass to himself off the back
of the net and gave himself a great scoring opportunity and led to assist when Brock
Besser put the rebound home. 22 shifts in his first game, 15 minutes, 36 seconds, two shots on net.
But what stood out to me, Witts, and what I saw was the wheels on the kid, man.
He was unbelievable, whizzing around out there.
And I don't know if you caught any of the overtime.
They had Hughes, Pedersen, and Besser out there in overtime.
They didn't score, but it was some of the most impressive hockey we've seen
this year in the NHL.
Did you see any of it, Witt?
I did.
I also, you know, Grinnelli, I'm thinking in another life,
you could skate like the wind and were the seventh overall pick,
and your younger brothers were really nasty,
but instead you're losing $7,000 when that's probably like a month's rent
paycheck for you.
So it's not smart.
But still, I'm excited for this Hughes kid.
I think the skating is what separates him.
It's just the assist he got. He walked. I don't don't know who was behind the net he banked it off the net
tight turn and then he comes out and does this like c-cut gets all the speed off that gets a
great shot on that could have scored and the guy I don't remember who was buries the rebound but he
got a quick point and the overtime was fantastic they were snapping around like they played together
for five years yeah and and talk about an organization I know they've together for five years. Yeah, and talk about an organization.
I know they've had a few years of struggles,
but with the young core group they have and more than likely get a decent high-end draft pick this year,
they're going to be a team to look out for
in the next couple of years, boys.
By the way, NHL.com, you might want to update this kid's page
with the headshot right now.
It looks like a knockoff Chicklets logo that you'd see getting sold at pirated DVDs on downtown Manhattan.
The kid doesn't even have his picture up yet, so you might want to fix that.
Got to get on that NHL.com.
Keeping this theme of defensemen we're talking about right now, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barry
became the most prolific goal-scoring defenseman in franchise history.
He scored his 73rd career goal versus Vegas the other night.
He passed Sand, Ozil,
and Lynch for number one on the list.
Number three on the list
is the man rocking himself
in front of the show,
John Michael Lyles with 68.
Barry has spent his entire
480 game career in Denver.
He's also first in assists with 231
and points 304 in team history.
This is a note that jumped out to me, boys.
Ray Bork, he's 38th in games played in Colorado history,
but he's 12th in points.
He was only on the team for 94 regular season games,
but he's number one in points per game on the avalanche list.
I thought that was pretty interesting for a guy who played Bailey
over his season there.
And how old he was at the time.
Exactly, in his 40s.
But Tyson Barry, you know him pretty well, Biz.
He's a guy you talk a lot about, Chad.
What do you have to say about his season?
It's been great for him.
Unbelievable puck-moving defenseman.
Those do not grow on trees.
They are going to have to pay him this summer.
He'll have one year left on his contract after this season's up.
I would imagine on July 1st, if they were intelligent,
they would try to lock him up as long as possible.
As I mentioned, it's a classic case of like, if they were intelligent, they would try to lock him up as long as possible.
You know, as I mentioned, it's a classic case of like,
ah, you know, he's a bit of a riverboat gambler, though.
It's just like, you know what?
Every team needs an offensive defenseman,
and once you give them up, they're difficult to find.
So I would assume that he is minimum going to get paid $7.5 to $8 million a year.
I mean, Oliver Ekman-Larsen got $8.25,
and Tyson Berry's offensive numbers are a little bit better.
Mind you, he is playing with McKinnon, Lannis Gog, and Rantanen,
but he has unbelievable chemistry with those guys,
specifically McKinnon because, you know,
they're buddies off the ice and everything.
So I'd imagine Tyson Berry is going to be a Colorado Avalanche for a long time,
and then they're going to have to get that deal signed up this summer.
He was hilarious.
He came on NHL Now when I was at the network last week,
and it was the day after that crazy game between them and the Knights,
and they held on for a win.
And so he comes on, and I think EJ Raddick was asking him, like,
you know, what do you think as that game winds down and Vegas pulls the goalie?
And, you know, they have this massive comeback going.
He goes, I don't really know what I was thinking.
I was obviously sitting on the bench with a one-goal lead.
I'm not on the ice during that time.
He's well aware of what he is as a player.
Yeah, that he roasts to me.
He's like, I never heard the name Whitney used in a sentence with versatile
because that was mentioned.
He was all over me via a phone call.
But, yeah, dude, he buzzes around the ice.
He snaps the tape.
The tape's a lot different.
I'm telling you, when Rantanen's got the fifth defenseman snapping one in his skate blade and he's trying to kick it up to himself like Crosby, you know, he likes Barry just chucking sauces, snapping one right on the tape as he's going full speed through the middle.
That's how he's getting points.
So maybe defensively he's not your number one guy,
but you don't need him to be.
I don't know.
That's a lot, though.
What did you say, eight and a half, nine?
No, no.
I said I bet you get seven and a half.
Eight years, seven and a half to eight.
Is he UFA?
No, he's got one year left on his contract.
But I would imagine they lock him up because if he has another year like he had this year,
I mean, right now he's got 56 points.
I'd imagine he finishes the season with 60.
I mean, he's in top what?
I would say that's probably top 15 to top 12
in defensive scoring in the NHL
with the way other guys are getting paid.
I mean, he can ask for, I would say at the time,
probably eight and a half, nine in free agency.
Yeah, that's actually very true.
I didn't even realize he had that many points this year.
It doesn't surprise me, but yeah, he's going to get paid.
It's funny now.
We talked about this year.
The points are definitely up.
I mean, you look at guys with the chance to get 100 points this year.
I mean, you already got four.
There's four or five that could do it if they really get hot with four games left. I mean, you look at guys with the chance to get 100 points this year. I mean, you already got four.
There's, you know, like four or five that could do it if they really get hot with four games left.
But I know that's a little off topic from Barry.
But still, it's good for him.
And Colorado, we counted them out.
When Maniskog went down, we said they were done, or I did.
So I look like a fool.
Shocker on that one.
Yeah, I said it too, and I didn't like it.
And Rantanen went down as well.
So I'll put my foot in my mouth there now.
I know there's still some time left.
If Coyotes run the table and we get a little help from some other teams,
we could still slide in there.
So not out of the dark yet for the Colorado Avalanche.
Not over yet.
And if you have kids playing hockey nowadays, man,
make them puck-moving defensemen because these guys are fucking raking it in cash wise left and right.
Yeah, exactly. Especially if you're from the South shore.
And of course, call Colorado sitting on that lottery pick as well.
The Ottawa pick they got. So the future is bright for Colorado. No doubt.
We mentioned a few minutes ago, we have Robert Bortuzzo,
St. Louis blues defenseman.
You guys talked to him a little bit the other night.
I wasn't able to make that interview.
So I think we should send it over to him now.
Hey, boys?
You know?
You know how many times he says you know in this interview?
I think he says you know.
Memes will have a count, I'm sure.
He might say you know 700 times.
Yeah.
What a guy, though, you know?
Look forward to hearing it, you know?
I like Bobo.
I didn't know it was Bobo.
So I'm down with that.
I mean, I'll tell you, Roberto Bartuzzo,
I have to let him know that that was his name in my head for a long time.
So we're going to send it over to Robert Bartuzzo, you know.
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I want to welcome a first-time guest to the Spit and Chicklets podcast.
This fine young lad was drafted in the third round, 78th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And what do you know?
I was there at the time, and I knew this guy was a special kid, a special player, a true guy's guy.
And right now, he's got 331 NHL games played.
And I'd say he's more of a stay-at-home defenseman, but a great guy.
And we want to welcome to the podcast St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
What's going on, fellas?
Thanks for having me.
That was excellent.
Yeah, not bad.
I remember at training camp, Fiz, you gave me a ride home from the airport.
It was my first training camp.
We were sitting there, and it was pretty quiet.
You go, I think I'm going on waivers tomorrow, buddy.
You did, and you got scooped up, and the rest was history.
Wow.
I called my waiver shot.
You did.
I don't know who grabbed you, but I don't remember that.
What do you mean you don't remember who?
Fucking Arizona Coyotes, buddy. Well, Phoenix Coyotes at the time. I think I called't remember that. What do you mean you don't remember who? Fucking Arizona Coyotes, buddy.
Well, Phoenix Coyotes at the time.
I think I called it, too.
I thought I was going to either Minnesota.
He said many.
He said many.
Yeah.
Because Fletcher had gone there, and actually, it's funny,
three teams put a claim in for me.
Toronto put a claim in for me, Minnesota, and Arizona,
but because Arizona had finished with a worse record than those two other teams,
they got the crown jewel.
They sure did, buddy.
Hey, I can't imagine your
first pro camp
and you just got this weathered
old bum in the car. He's like,
I'm going all the way.
Is this what pro
he is?
I'm like 19 years old.
What do I say to this guy?
You'll get picked up, man.
I don't give a shit.
Just make sure I get my pretty impact
and put your seatbelt on.
Hey, I feel guilty
that I should tell you this
right off the bat. From the first time
I'd ever heard your name
mentioned as an NHL draft pick,
NHL player.
I've called you Roberto Bertuzzo to every single person.
It's on purpose.
I just think it sounds so perfect.
I just want you to know that leading in that you're Roberto Bertuzzo for me.
No, I appreciate it.
I mean, we got a couple of Italians on the team.
That's the most Italian name you got there is Roberto's a birth over to you though, I think.
Should we talk about this turnaround?
Cause you guys came into Arizona at the start of the year and you guys did not look good.
It was ugly.
Yeah.
I mean, we came into the year, you know,
there was some expectations put off and whatnot.
You know, it was just, we were just playing floppy hockey, you know.
You know, we had the players, you know,
so that kind of carried us through games.
And we knew we were kind of still in the mix, you know,
looking at the standings and whatnot.
So, you know, the players on the team carried us through a tough stretch,
but, you know, it was only until we started playing a team game where,
you know, things started turning
around.
I just had a brief
moment, I guess, with Doug Armstrong
two years in a row. He invited me to training camp.
Not a big deal. A little tryout. Thanks for
coming, PTO.
I really got along with him.
I'm saying this was very quick, but I sense
guys respect him and like him.
He's kind of no bullshit. I heard that he came in this year and actually I believe saying this was very quick, but I sense, like, guys respect him and like him. He's kind of no bullshit.
I heard that he came in this year and actually, you know, like,
I believe in this group.
I know this group can win.
I don't want to start trading guys.
I might have to. But I think he knew all along and let you guys know that he still believed
in you, right?
Yeah.
You know, there was points in the seasons where it was pretty bleak.
You know, people didn't know what was going to happen with the group.
We give him credit.
He stuck with us.
He doubled down, stuck to his guns.
We righted the ship.
Now we're in a pretty good position here.
We kind of punched our ticket into the dance here.
It's been an exciting time of the year.
We appreciate him sticking with us.
It was quite the turnaround.
Roberto, I want to ask you about the few guys you guys added
in the offseason.
O'Reilly, Bozak, another guy, Maroon.
It seems like great guys and were eventually obviously turned
into a great fit.
Oh, I mean, they're huge for our locker room.
You know, they're consummate pros.
I didn't know much about O'Reilly, but, like, boys,
this guy is an absolute player.
He's a son.
He's a new center for that stretch.
And he, you know, he does, you know, I played with, you know,
some high-end guys.
He does stuff that reminds me of Sid did.
You know, Bozak's been a huge does stuff that reminds me of what Sid did.
You know, Bozak's been a huge addition for our locker room,
and he's playing great hockey.
And, you know, Paddy's been a monster in the second half of the year.
So, you know, big-time players, and, you know, they've just been great for our room.
You know what it's like having guys that have been around the league,
and, you know, seven-, eight-year-, nine-, ten-year pros is big for our group.
And, you know, like I said, we're getting different contributions,
but those guys have definitely stepped up and been huge for us.
I feel like O'Reilly's just like a mesmerizing guy.
He's handsome.
He's got that beard.
Apparently he's sick of playing the guitar.
He can sing a little bit.
Smoke show wifer.
Yeah, apparently.
Can he play the guitar really well?
This guy's the man.
He brings his little baby guitar on the road.
You know, he's got a couple, you know couple ditties that he's written over the years. Like I said, just a cool guy, good dresser,
and a big leader for our group. He's been a huge addition for our group on and off the ice.
Like I said, I didn't know much about him, but this guy is an absolute player and what a guy.
Like I said, I didn't know much about him, but this guy is an absolute player,
and what a guy.
Man, that guy, usually you kind of think,
who's lucky enough to be the star, one of the best players in the league,
and then also be cool off the ice?
You think, hopefully that guy just dresses like a complete geek and has one pair of jeans.
He's got it both.
I mean, that's like just give me one of those please
i hear you buddy you know um you know there's certain guys over the years that you know carry
themselves like that they're just cool guys on and off the ice and you know they just happen to
be superstars at the same time um damn it all right i hear you brother Bortuzzo. Sorry, I just like saying that.
Let's talk about Fabs, man.
That guy's been through some shit, some injuries.
He's finally back in the lineup.
How has he been mentally after going through that full grind
of basically two years of being out?
He's been great.
To say he's a grind would be saying the least.
You know, he's done an incredible job to battle back.
You know, his game is right where it needs to be.
You know, like for someone to go through that at that age mentally
is such a grind.
You know, I give him credit.
He comes in, he works his ass off every day,
whether he's in and out of the lineup, comes in with a smile on his face.
He's just been a consummate pro.
For a young kid, like I said, to come back from double ACL surgery
is pretty impressive.
He's going to be a big part of our group moving forward here.
I'm wondering, with the difference with Craig Berube coming in
and Mike Yo being gone, what has kind of changed? because it's obvious to everyone watching that it seems like you guys are
playing quicker I don't know if that that was something you're you're talking about right when
the coaching change happens but what has it been uh what has changed with those two guys
um you know um you know it's hard to say you know chief's been huge for us he kind of changed the
culture a bit um he made us harder offensively and defensively he made us play faster with
with a higher intensity um you know he's very demanding yet detailed at the same time you know
anytime we slip you know he's going to let us know i think our whole staff as a whole has done
a great job of you know not letting things get too far away from us and you know i just think he you know he's not
he's a man of few words but he's instilled this quiet confidence in our group that um you know
if we just go about our business and you know there's so many good teams in the league but you
know it's like he says you know we're a good team so like i said it's that quiet confidence he's
instilled our group that you know if we play play our game, we got a chance every night.
Bertuzzo, I got to ask you about Bennington, man.
The Ben nasty.
29 games played, fucking 21 wins, five losses, and one –
it says one T.
I don't know what the fuck that means.
Maybe it's overtime loss.
But this is probably the second biggest factor in the turnaround
for this season for you guys.
Yeah, he's been huge.
You know, he's played – you know, he's been like a rock.
Just steady, Eddie.
You can just see the confidence he has when he goes outside the net
with the puck.
You know, he's great with the puck.
I think that's a true sign of confidence in the goaltenders
when they're back there snapping it around, making it easy on the D-man.
You know, Whit knows what that's like when they'll break it out for you.
Oh, please.
Love it.
Please, just don't give it to me.
I hear you.
Snap it right up to the center man if you can.
But, yeah, you know, like I said, that quiet confidence I was talking about,
he's definitely a guy who has it.
He's got a swagger to him. But, like I said, that quiet confidence I was talking about, he's definitely a guy who has it. He's got a swagger to him.
But like I said, very humble, goes about his business,
and he's been huge for our group.
Should we talk about the fact that you say you know about 600 times already
in this interview?
It's my fault.
It's my go-to.
Is that your glitch?
That's my go-to.
You've got to have one. It's like hey you have stumbling over my words you gotta have something and if you and
if you're doing an interview at the beginning you know that when you had to drop biz off at
the airport to go to arizona you're just like i gotta feel something talking to these guys you
know exactly exactly no you'll get picked up you'll get picked up well the biggest turnaround for
you guys was of course when uh when larry flowers brought you guys to that bar in philadelphia and
you guys ended up getting your winning song and it seems like the ball started rolling after that
yeah um yeah it was pretty cool experience um oh there was a lot of little turning points where
you could have said things you know jumped off for us but that was a cool of little turning points where he could have said things, you know, jumped off for us.
But that was a cool little thing for us where,
you know, a wind song kind of came organically.
It was a pretty cool night.
Pulled out a wind there in Philly and,
you know, it's been the wind song ever since.
So it's nice when the wind song kind of picks itself like that.
Is Pareko like the Russian in Rocky IV?
Is like, that's what I kind of picture.
I've never met him. He is the Russian in Rocky IV, that's what I kind of picture. I've never met him.
He is the Russian in Rocky IV.
This guy's an absolute beast.
Just the absolute nicest person you've ever met in your life.
Is he ripped also or just big?
He's like 3.6% body fat, 6'5", square jaw.
This guy's the man.
He just stands there at the bar
and he's like a bug zapper.
They're all just standing around.
Oh, is he single?
Yeah, I believe so.
We don't need to throw him under the bus here.
We should have Larry call in
right now and tell the story about how he single-handedly
turned your guys' season around.
He would state it as such. Are you're gonna give him a call here i'll i'll send him
the the number let's see if he can call in oh first appearance here i'll send him the number
let's like he's going there's been like four four non-hockey players on the pod and larry flowers
is going to be one of them yeah Speaking of non-hockey players,
we had Jon Hamm come on
and we were wondering when he was
there for that game in St. Louis, did he end up
coming down to the locker room afterward?
Oh yeah, I came down to the
locker room.
We were able to have a drink at the lobby
after the game. This guy knows
his stuff. He is a fan of the Blues
and like I said, anytime you know, you know,
a sixth defenseman like Roberto Bortuzzo, you know, you're a true fan.
So, great guy, you know.
You know, he's pretty close with Steiner and Kelly Chase.
And, like I said, a couple years ago when we had our deep playoff run,
he was always texting Steiner and getting the load on,
seeing how the boys were doing.
So, you know, he's a true fan, man.
He's a great guy.
Okay, so Larry just texted me.
He's going to be calling in right now.
But before that, so we found out that obviously we've seen pictures of Ham
and how he has a huge wrench.
I don't think the guy wears underwear.
Before we got him on the pod, I think R.A. was the one who mentioned it,
that he doesn't like being asked about it because he's like,
they're private parts for a reason.
So thank God we didn't ask him about his weapon.
But did he come in the locker room?
Was his bat just flying around?
I mean, I wasn't keeping an eye on it.
I think, like I said, it's kind of like this unspoken myth in Hollywood
or whatnot.
It wasn't going to be the first thing i brought up to him but uh let's see uh let me see your dick nice to meet you man i read something i read something he's like yeah i mean do they call
it private parts for a reason and then later on i think he said i hope he i've read um yeah it's
not the worst rumor to have started
about you. It's not like somebody's talking about
you got like warts on your hog. They're just
saying you have an absolute hammer in your pants.
I was going to lead off with it. He would have just
got a click on the other line and we would have lost
our John Hamm interview.
What am I stepping into, buddy?
I just called in. You guys are talking about Cox.
It's a 50-50.
There's a good chance it's going to be about wrenches on this podcast.
Hey, well, for people, that other voice is Larry Flowers.
And Larry's a longtime friend.
I'm so, so happy I got to meet this guy back in the day.
And I will say right now he's the number one jeweler, NHL, Major League Baseball.
We're going to talk more about that.
Believe it or not, he actually helped me find my ring. My wife has
Jesus Christ, you saved me a little money,
but I'm still hitting that one.
I'm going to hit on that one.
Thanks for joining us.
It's a pleasure to have
you on, boys. I really appreciate it.
Where should we start?
Should we talk about you single-handedly
changing the season around for the St. Louis Blues
and how it happened?
I mean, I'll take the credit.
I don't know if it's really on me.
But, yeah, look, the boys are playing in Philly.
And, you know, we have a private members-only social club down in South Philly
right in the middle of the neighborhood.
And the Eagles just happen to have been playing the Chicago Bears in the playoffs.
And, you know, I talked to Bobo. I saido i said babo you got to get all the boys together let's uh you guys should come over it's a great time we have a great group um so he puts
together the group you know our our closest buddies on the team steiner uh fabs schwartzy
and and babo and uh and you know these guys guys getting an Uber and all of a sudden I give him the address and I get,
I get a text message from Bobbo. He says, Hey flowers,
are we the right place here? I mean, boys are a little nervous. Like, I mean,
this looks a little sketchy and, uh, I'm like, boys, you guys are safe.
I mean, full disclosure,
there may or may not be a couple of members of this, uh, of this club of ours
that may, uh, may or may not be connected to members of this uh of this club of ours that may
uh may or may not be connected to you know to the mob but uh that's another story but uh so they're
pulling up and they're you know they're a little nervous and anyway i'm like listen you guys are
good angels that day and they walked in and the boys went nuts and we had a full on just good
time good party and uh so so so the gloria the the boys in in the in the club are part of a new year's
brigade it's like a new year's thing the floats and um it there's a competition in the city for
obviously it's a major event and the this our crew our club the jacks club uh happened of one
the entire new year's brigade it's a major, major honor. And their victory song became Gloria.
So naturally, the Eagles were playing, and it was an unreal game.
And one of the boys yells out, you know, play Gloria, play Gloria for the Eagles.
And the boys on the Blues, you know, Bobo and the boys,
the boys were like, Gloria, this is hilarious.
And they just kept playing the song over and over and over.
And they kind of adopted it and kind of made it a fun thing for themselves.
And it makes me real happy and proud.
I love – the Blues are unreal.
They've got a great, great group.
I'm real close to the whole squad.
And it's nice to see them doing well.
Bert, you guys are part of a Cobble crew that you guys usually go down there
during All-Star break as well, correct?
Uppy's the organizer.
You know, he sets us up in this giant pad of a friend of his.
Billy Quinn is his name.
It's a house that definitely we have no business staying in.
It's a beautiful place up in Calgary.
O'Reilly, but not you.
Literally, no.
Thunder Bay, Ontario.
I'm staying in a $20 million pad with Kwame.
The first time I went was with larry
was uh oh we kind of didn't we knew each other we'd met but this was kind of our first trip together
and uh you know this was my first experience with him we're all getting ready to go out
we're getting ready for dinner and going out and uh you know me and schwartz you were ready already
so like let's go check on flowers and clearly Flowers is Philly to the core.
And so we start walking closer to his bedroom and the door's cracked and he starts hearing like music.
And we walk in there and the Rocky soundtrack is playing on his little Bose dock.
And he's in his underwear doing some sort of like pump up, going out shadowboxing routine in the mirror so he's working the combos
in the mirror as he gets ready gelatinous here so me and Schwartz we pop our head in and we just
start dying laughing so it was good stuff that was the first encounter with Larry Fowler's really
yeah yeah we've been putting this three years we've done this trip and it's a great group
we just have so much fun and obviously up, Uppy Spears has the whole thing,
like he does everything in his life.
It's just, we have so much fun.
It's a lot of fun, and it's crazy.
How did you become good buddies with Loops and Uppy Farrs?
Yeah, so I've known Loops for about 10 years.
You know, we had a mutual friend, and when he was playing in Philly,
we met in L.A., and a couple years later um actually it's when i met you biz we uh he had a he had one of his
legendary little july 4th shakers that it's had in newport beach california and um he's like hey
flowers once you come down man i'm having a six shaker so i i get there and i walk in and
i i gotta tell you i i was like wow yeah. You're talking about the ladies that were present?
I'm talking about the ladies.
I had to stand up 69 upstairs in one of the bedrooms that afternoon.
That was one of the best days of my life.
That was probably top 15 days of my life.
Listen, I'm telling you, I walked in there.
I'm looking around, and I'm like, this is a shaker.
And I'm watching Uppy, Loops, and O'Brien just kind of mingling
within each other and doing their thing. And I'm like, look at these
fucking guys. They are hilarious. I mean, they've got it figured out.
They've truly got it figured out. And I'm like, I got to get in this crew.
This is what I've been missing in my life. And sure as shit, we just all get real
tight. And so many years later, they're my best boys.
And I'm the luckiest fucking guy in the world.
They're great.
So you weaseled your way in.
Bertuzzo, I don't know if you've heard this story.
Hey, tell that volleyball story.
This one's like, this one's all time.
Fuck.
So this is actually last year.
We go to an unbelievable party down in LA at the beach.
The private party.
It's like Leo DiCaprio's crew.
And they have their private party.
I mean, you can't even get within like 500 yards of this place
unless you're on like a special list.
I bet your RA can see me again.
Oh, even he may not be able to get in.
But anyway, we get to this party.
It's me, O'Brien, Lou Paul.
We get there.
Lou Cheech is there.
I mean, you want to talk about a party.
I mean, there were broads everywhere.
And I'm not talking like really hot sevens.
I'm talking like nines, tens everywhere.
The setting's on the beach.
There's a big volleyball court.
And Leo and his crew are on the volleyball.
They take this seriously.
Every year they want to just play volleyball.
They're winning.
They're winning.
They're like three, four games deep just beating everybody's ass.
It's Leo, Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Kevin Connolly.
And all of a sudden, you know, we call winners.
Finally, it's like, hey, let's get on here and kick these guys' asses.
So finally we call winners. Finally, it's like, hey, let's get on here and kick these guys' asses. So finally we get on.
Like I said, it's me, Lucic, Shane O'Brien, Joppy Leupold,
and some other random.
And I'm looking around like, let's kick these guys' ass.
I can't wait to come home and tell my friends in Philly,
well, we just kicked the shit out of Leo DiCaprio in volleyball.
This is going to be great.
And the game starts, and these guys get out on a little bit of a lead on this.
And I'm like, what the hell is going on here?
And I hate to throw my boy Lupo under the bus here.
For the record, obviously he's a tremendous athlete,
but he's a sick volleyball player as well.
But he just wasn't really on his game.
I don't know if he was a little starstruck.
I mean, I was starstruck too, but I'm like,
fuck him. I want to beat him.
This was Leo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx.
These are celebs. I want to kick their ass.
Maybe
we each had a couple too many cocktails.
I don't know. But anyway, he
was just not playing that well. He was missing a couple
shots. And finally, I'm like, I walk
over to grab myself. What the fuck's wrong
with you, man? Wake up.
Everyone's watching. Everyone Look, everyone's watching.
Everyone.
Your girl's watching.
Let's go.
And he's kind of looking at me with a silly grin like, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Flowers, yeah, yeah.
And sure as shit, the next serve goes right to him, right through his hands.
Boom, right off his forehead.
And I'm like, fuck, we're done.
They whooped our ass.
I walked off the court.
That was your one chance.
That was my chance.
And then Leo fucks all your girls.
If you think your girl wanted Leo before that,
then you're a loser coming back with your tail between your legs.
No shit.
That was one shot.
One shot at it, we just choked.
That was a great party.
Are the boys thankful in that locker room that Larry Flowers brought you guys
to that shady bar where you guys didn't die and turn your season around,
Bertuzzo?
Oh, yeah.
That was big.
Like I said, it was a big turnaround for us.
Larry always said, he said, you got to get me a mug.
That's what he always said.
He used that quote multiple times.
I need a mug.
I need a mug.
Get me my mug.
We appreciate the support.
Larry's kind of adopted the Blues as his team.
Like I said, we've got a lot of good guys in the group
and a lot of good buddies with Larry.
I got to tell you, I mean, look,
it's one thing to have some good buddies on the Blues.
They've got an unbelievable group of guys.
But, you know, a couple years ago, about a year and a half ago,
Oppie and Schenner, Brad braden shen did something for me i'll never ever forget um the eagles played
in the super bowl and anyone i know is larry flowers knows i'm a diehard diehard eagles fan
and i'm talking diehard and uh they shenner obviously they both played in philly and shenner
real close to the owner of the eagles and they went out of their way to do something special
for me they got me some tickets uh to the owner of the Eagles. And they went out of their way to do something special for me.
They got me some tickets to the Super Bowl, which I ended up going to with some friends from Philly and watching them win their first Super Bowl against the Pats.
And one of the best moments of my life.
I'll never, ever forget it.
That's a hockey guy's goal.
Listen, if there's one thing I could tell you,
I'm truly, truly so privileged to have the friends that I have.
And I've been around so many guys in the NHL.
I've done so much business with so many guys in the league.
And truly, the guys in the league are special,
especially the people I hang out with.
And there's a lot of generous guys out there,
which I've taken advantage of as far as generosity is concerned.
But, no, listen, great, great guys,
and I'm just very, very fortunate to be friends with some of the boys
and some of the things they've done for me.
Awesome, Larry.
We love you, buddy, and we'll definitely have you on again
if you've got any more crazy stories.
Maybe next time we'll tell a story about how you went to high school
with Kevin Hart.
We could tell that story.
I mean, listen, if you really want to hear the good stories,
you're going to have to pay me a lot more than you're doing this.
Okay.
All right.
Fair enough.
Thanks for joining us.
We're going to finish off with Bert,
and maybe we'll see some St. Louis Blues fans with a Flowers jersey on
if they really love the team that much.
Bert, what else do you want to talk about, buddy?
Very goddamn Flowers.
What do you got for me, buddy?
That's the perfect answer.
Very goddamn flowers.
Very goddamn flowers.
No, he's a great guy.
And like I said, he's a loyal friend. And a lot of that carries over into his business.
So, you know, we can talk about the up dog.
You know, up dog.
The up dog's feeling good.
You know, don't count the up dog out boys you know the league's
better with the up dog in it he's feeling better um you think the blues will sign up this offseason
i don't know he's trying to set the record for most teams made on pto i think he's got three now
so um you know two on the blues for sure so um, like I said, the dream ain't dead for the up dog.
He's going to make a push now.
He said he got the clear bill of health.
And like I said, he'd be a great addition to any locker room, in my opinion.
Love it.
Well, Bert, we appreciate you coming on, especially so close to playoffs.
We wish you big-time luck.
I know we don't know who you're going to be playing yet, right?
That hasn't been decided.
Yeah, no.
I mean, she's tight.
Like I said, we're pushing every night to set us up
with the best chance for success and whatnot.
Like I said, it's a log jam right now.
So happy we punched our ticket,
and we'll just kind of be ready to go here.
All right, love you, buddy.
Good luck to all the boys.
All right, boys.
See you, bubbo.
Thanks for having me. Love you, buddy. Good luck to all the boys. See you, Bubba. Thanks for having me.
Yeah.
That interview was also brought to you by the boys from the James Baca band.
You can hear them right now.
Grinnell, I'll tell you, that's the type of music that makes me want to crack a cold one and just kick my heels back.
Yeah, you're a pretty big fan of these boys.
Phil, in the audience, what's the James Barker band all about?
Yeah, man. Country music's, they're one of country music's rising stars right now.
Their current single, Keep It Simple, that you just heard is out now and it's taking over the airwaves.
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James Barker band will be kicking ass and taking names for the rest of
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So stream James Barker band right now on Apple music.
And I have to bust out my cowboy boots from Nashville again,
huh?
Big.
Thank you to Robert Pertuzzo.
And of course,
uh,
our boy,
Larry flowers who helped turn that season around for the St. Louis Blues.
Great having them on, some great stories.
And what else do we got, R.A.?
The Professional Hockey Writers Association tweeted out
the Masterson Trophy nominees on Friday.
The Masterson Trophy is awarded to the, quote,
player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship,
and dedication to the sport, end quote.
We talk about this award not at length on the podcast.
We kind of emphasize the other awards a lot.
So that's what we want to talk about a little bit today.
A lot of times it's old guys who just stuck around a lot.
And I see a lot of guys on the list this year, which I think is good biz,
because usually it's a guy who had a real bad injury or might have had some personal difficulties.
My pick is probably Robin Lehner.
He's a guy who battled back not only from, you know,
addiction issues and mental health issues, but he had an unreal fucking year.
I mean, 22-12-5, 2.17 goals against and a 9-8 save percentage.
After battling what he went through, he wrote that piece,
I believe it was in The Athletic.
Unreal, he really bared his soul.
That's not an easy thing to do, and I got to think he's probably the favorite to win it.
Is there anyone you were looking at in particular, Biz?
No, I think that would be a great pick.
I believe Grabner was mentioned from the Coyotes as well.
He almost lost his eye this year in a game.
He ended up missing 40 games.
But, yeah, anytime anyone can overcome addiction
and get back on their feet
and then, of course, play up to world-class standards.
You know me, boys.
I'm a sucker for a comeback story.
So I think that would be a great pick.
All right.
I looked around and I looked at the list,
and it's cool to see all the names.
But one that popped out to me is Taylor Ferdun.
And I don't know if you guys know what happened to him,
but he was in camp with Edmonton when I was there.
It was his first year out of school.
He played at Princeton, I think.
Either way, he played four years, goes to Edmonton training camp,
and was lighting it up.
I couldn't believe it.
Every guy was like, who is this kid?
Great gap, playing awesome, great breakout passes, gets in a game,
plays awesome, gets in the power play.
Dude, this kid's like an – he could play in the NHL.
And nobody knew a thing about him.
And we're in Minnesota, like two games left in training camp.
So, you know, you got about six extra guys.
Maybe there was three or four extra games,
so you still have six to eight extra guys.
But he goes back and gets stuck.
Actually, it was with eric
nystrom i believe totally fluke play and broke his femur and i was sitting in the balcony with
horkoff taylor hall and he and and fedzi was screaming dude you could hear him screaming and
i was like sick so sick to my stomach forget about what he was doing playing wise just like what was
happening to him.
You're like, oh, my God, like somebody I know is in this much pain.
It was still, oh, it gives me the chills thinking about it.
And then, you know, you start thinking, dude, this fucking kid out of school,
like was dominating.
Talk about just unfair.
Fuck such is life.
But I'm so happy now that he's come back from that.
And that year he did such intense rehab in Edmonton.
He did a great job getting in the pool and all the guys in Edmonton did
awesome.
The entire training staff,
but still,
you don't know,
dude.
I mean,
you break it.
How do you do it?
Just like going into the wall.
It was like,
I think Nye went to,
he was like for checking.
And I don't remember exactly.
I'm pretty sure like his stick,
kind of an escape,
whether it tripped him or whatever happened,
and just went in just at the wrong angle.
It just gives me the willies.
Oh, man.
To come back, and he was a great skater, too.
So then you're like, oh, fuck, that's the kid.
And it happened to Curtis Foster, too.
I played with him.
He never was the same player.
I mean, it's like you have a fucking rod in your femur, dude.
And so for Taylor Ferdinand to make an impact I think with Dallas and play some good hockey, the fact
that he's gone through that and done this is a testament to him. So it's cool to see his name on
that list. Well, that's a great call. I remember he broke his leg, man. That was a terrible video
and a couple other names on the list to, you know, Corey Crawford's been battling from concussions
and nice to see him come back. And, you know, even Curtis McElhinney, he's a guy I've talked about
quite a bit this year, kind of a journeyman backup,
and now he's having a career season.
So a nice story.
But like I said, my money's on Lena.
We have a few more milestones.
We seem to be having a ton of these lately,
and we like to recognize these guys in the NHLPA.
And Thursday night in Vancouver, Dustin Brown became the L.A. Kings
all-time leader in games played when he took the ice for his 1,112th game wearing the crown. Now in his 15th season, Brown passed forward Dave Taylor,
who spent his entire career with the Kings and was also the guy that drafted Brown, 13th overall
at the 03 draft. Dustin Brown, of course, captained the LA Kings Cup winners in 12 and 14. At 23, he
was the youngest captain in team history
and also the first American to do so for LA.
He was the captain from October of 08
till the end of the 16th season
before giving way to Andrzej Kopitar.
Pretty cool thing they did with the jerseys.
I don't know if you caught it, Biz.
They made a unique label on the collar
to mark the occasion.
It was pretty cool.
I'm not sure if you saw it.
We can tweet it off in the account.
But you played with and against them.
Biz, what do you have to say about Dustin Brown?
Well, I was on the ice with him in training camp.
I didn't get to play any NHL games with him.
But I appreciate you trying to kind of dress it up a little bit for me, all right?
Respect, buddy.
But talk about a gamer.
I mean, I know people rip on him about his contract.
But last year, he had a very good year statistically.
This year, he's kind of kept that pace as well.
But, buddy, just a piece of shit to play against,
the type of guy you want on your team.
And when you use the word gamer, you kind of reference
when the games matter most, and especially in that first cup run.
I mean, he was a point-of-game guy.
We won't talk about the knee-on-knee with Roosevelt
at the blue line in the defensive zone
against the Phoenix Coyotes
at the time, which pretty much cost us
our chance at the cup.
No grudges here.
He's had an unbelievable career
and he's a honey badger.
I just can't stop
thinking back to the World Juniors. He came
second one in Halifax.
He was a magician.
He was doing fucking magic tricks on everyone.
I was like, come on, Brownie, tell me how to do it.
He's like, no, get out of here, Witt.
I was like, oh, my God, who is this kid?
He was trucking people then.
So he's always been someone I think that looks like he could play in the NHL.
He was a stud when he was younger.
I'm just happy to see the career he's had.
He's a really nice guy, and I think that he'll go down as a great leader for all those teams in LA that that were hard to
play against they kind of embodied how he played and his only non-NHL games were during lockouts
he played for Manch Vegas back in 05 and then in Zurich for the Swiss League back in the 13 lockout
also congrats to Kings goalie Jonathan Quick he played in the 600th NHL game that same night.
Just the 51st goalie all-time. They hit that
number, so congrats to the American Quick.
Saturday night, boys. We got a nice little
dust-up, a little playoff preview, perhaps,
between Vegas and San Jose.
Very physical game, so a lot of chippiness, a lot of
after-the-whistle stuff. Looks like each time,
each team was trying to send a message for next week
when the series starts. The only difference, I'd say,
San Jose, they won an OT,
but they did face Malcolm Shulbin and not Marc-Andre Fleury.
That'll change come playoff time.
But, Biz, what did you think of that game?
That was setting the table for the playoffs or what?
I love the way Vegas plays.
They come at you in waves.
And, you know, with the struggles that San Jose have had lately,
I think that was the perfect game for them to get back into playoff mode
where all of a sudden, you know, you got to keep up.
And we know the type of pace of play that Vegas plays with, you know.
And, yeah, I think it should be interesting moving forward.
And maybe this is kind of the kick in the ass San Jose needed.
So a big win for them.
And a lot of times in playoffs, it may take a period or two for the nastiness to start,
for the hatred to get going, but they just got it going earlier.
They're going to play each other.
And I think that they're probably thinking, all right, well, going into this game,
like Biz says, San Jose is saying, we've had our struggles.
This has been embarrassing.
But now we're facing this team in two weeks when it really matters.
So let's fucking go.
And then after that, it was an effort.
I mean, the whole game was exciting to watch, and then the chippiness really did make it
feel like a playoff game.
Yeah, it was good stuff if you hadn't caught it.
I can't wait for the playoffs.
I know Vegas isn't in California, but it's interesting that the California rivalry, it's
sort of like the New York City rivalry.
There's three teams instead of a two-way rivalry.
You know, you got San Jose, Anaheim, LA.
They all hate each other, it seems like, equally.
And then, you know, you got the Islanders, Rangers, and Devils.
It's not like a one way rivalry.
It's kind of a three way thing.
Yeah.
But I feel like like Rangers Devils to me is the big rivalry and LA Anaheim.
Like I feel like the Islanders and the Sharks are a little bit on their own.
Like I don't think like it's an equal rivalry between all three of them.
Right.
No, no.
There's definitely a bigger rivalry of them. But it seems like each team has fucking hate for the other teams.
One other career note before we send it off to the Hollywood man rocket,
John Hamm.
Devin Dubnik, we reached the 30-win mark for the fifth consecutive season.
Only one other goalie has an active streak of five or more consecutive
30-win campaigns.
That's Braden Holpe at Washington.
So shout out to Dubny for another great achievement,
having a great year.
But, boys, John Hamm, man, this is a career thrill for me,
talking to the guy who played Don Draper on Mad Men.
Wits, I know you had a couple questions about Roger Sterling
toward the end there.
You're a big fan of Mad Men.
I love Mad Men.
I forget when I started watching it.
But I remember being like, this is slow.
But all of a sudden, I was into it and watching them all.
So, yeah, I had to ask about that legend, Sterling. R.A., I'm surprised you didn't say this is an interview but all of a sudden I was into it and watching them all. I had to ask about that legend Sterling.
R.A., I'm surprised you didn't say
this is an interview with your co-star.
I figured I'd let one of you guys say it
instead.
With that, we'll go to Hollywood superstar
Jon Hamm. This interview was brought to you
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80 and then enter chiplets 80 for $80 off your first month of hello fresh you know our next guest for his sublime emmy winning work as the brooding boozy don draper
or dick whitman on tv's mad men his frustrated fed adam frawley and the ahmed kahaistrola the town
and his hilarious turn as cult leader richard wayne Wayne, and Netflix's unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Welcome to the show, Jon Hamm.
Well, the reason that you're on and the main reason that I think that we know you as hockey
fans is your diehard passion for the St. Louis Blues. This year, I was blown away by your call.
I think it was Barbashev's goal in L.A., one of the calls of the year,
as you saw that go down.
I'm just interested in your beginning as a Blues fan.
I know you grew up in Missouri, but tell me how you got into hockey
and the game overall.
Growing up in St. Louis, it's a Cardinals town.
It's a baseball town, right?
That's just – it is what it is.
But in the 70s, there was – the Blues played in what was called the old barn,
because it was an old stockyard where all the cattle used to come up.
In the old days, they converted it into an arena in the 50s, 60s.
So the Blues came around in 1967.
I was born in 1971.
I'm almost as old as the team.
But tickets were cheap.
And my dad would drive by.
The arena was right off the highway.
My dad would drive by and say,
you want to go to a game?
And I'd go, yeah, let's go.
We would pull into the parking lot,
grab a couple tickets, and go watch the game.
And it was really exciting and fun. And I didn just, we would pull into the parking lot, grab a couple of tickets and go watch the game. And it was,
it was really exciting and fun.
And I didn't know how to play hockey.
I didn't grow up playing hockey.
I couldn't really skate.
We didn't have access to ice that much,
but I just loved watching it.
It was so different and fun and exciting.
And then throughout the eighties and nineties,
when we started getting good and we had,
you know,
we had marquee players like Holly and Shani shanny and and chris pronger and guys like that and that's around the time uh
just after college i started waiting tables and so all the boys would come in after
after the games and come into the bar that i worked at and eat and drink and so i got to know
a couple of those guys and i still do and it's uh it's just it's it's a really nice kind of community of
of you know friendship that's that's uh bonded by this love the game they're like uh I'm in the NHL
why is my wife game facing the bus boy over here right now what is going on so it's funny you
mentioned that how your father was the one hey you want to go in because I think most kids who play
like you know,
Paul and I, our dad's got us into the game.
But I'm guessing your dad knew nothing about the game either.
It was just, hey, cheap ticket, let's go in and support the local team.
Yeah, he was a business guy.
Like, he ran a trucking company.
And I think he just knew that it was a fun event.
It was very social back in the 70s in St. Louis. Like, it was a you know it was a fun event it was it was very social back in the 70s in in
in St. Louis like all it was a very social event like just a bunch of uh people you know uh and
and and kind of celebrated it was always a boozy night like it was always people would would would
get their drink on and there was a bowling alley right next to the arena and people would go bowl
after the games it was just like it was it was a very fun kind of to the arena and people would go bowl after the games. It was just like, it was,
it was a very fun kind of Midwestern night. That was, it was always,
I remember it being very, very fun.
John, when you were busting tables, were there any players personalities that stuck out to you from the guys who
would come in? Like, would you buddy buddy with any of them or,
or any of them assholes?
No, they were all nice.
Being a dick in St. Louis doesn't get you very far.
So it's like everybody was pretty nice.
I do remember when Pronger first came in because we traded Brendan Shanahan for Chris Pronger.
He was like 19 years old.
And I just remember him sitting at the corner of the bar.
Of course, he's not old enough to drink, but that didn't really matter.
But he just seemed like such a sad dude.
And I remember going over to him, because I think I was barking at the time,
and I just remember going over to him and saying, like,
hey, man, just give it some time.
It's going to take a little bit for everybody to forget about Shanahan.
He was a pretty beloved figure around here, but they'll come around on you.
And it took a little time,
but everybody eventually did, and he became
one of St. Louis' favorite players.
Which Blues era and particular group of players
had the biggest impact on you becoming a fan?
Was it the 70s, the 80s?
It was definitely
the Hall & Oates era.
So it was Hulley and
Chaser,
Shanahan, Adam Oates.
Oh, God, we had so many crazy players back.
Garth Butcher, Ujo and Manette.
John, I had a question for you.
Do you think it's ironic that all of a sudden you have that awesome goal call
for the St. Louis Blues, and then Ron Burgundy comes back out of nowhere,
and all of a sudden he's back in the NFL buildings?
I did notice that.
I mean, I got to say, like, you know, kind of biting my style a little bit there.
It was fun, though, man.
I love going to hockey games anywhere.
I'll go anywhere.
I've been to several arenas around the country and in Canada,
and I just love going.
So I like going to the Kings games,
but I especially like going when the Blues play.
It was a blast.
They kindly enough asked me
to come up to the booth.
I just saw it.
First of all, it's a great place to
watch the game because you can see the whole ice
and it's a great
angle. I'd never really been up in the
booth before for a hockey
game and um i just saw the play develop and it was like oh this is this is this is looking good
and and that sammy blake kid is he's really good he's getting for for a tough guy he's got pretty
soft hands and it was a beautiful passing into barbershop and barbershop just buried
well it's funny you mentioned being up top i think it's just cool because you can see the entire play develop whereas you know you're
down near the near the ice it's tough to see how things are kind of happening but you you mentioned
you you've been to a bunch of arenas is there one that sticks out as your favorite and you know you
can't just say saint the scott trade center whatever it's called now in st louis you've
been to i don't even know what it's called anymore i I think it's the Enterprise Center now. But I've literally lived through about 10 different names of Blues buildings.
I will say that I haven't been to see hockey in Montreal or Toronto,
but when I was in Vancouver, I shoot up in Vancouver quite a lot.
Their fans are pretty lusty and loud,
and that was a pretty great place to go watch a lot. Their fans are pretty lusty and loud and that was a pretty great place to go
watch a game. I watched the Blues
play there once
and decked out
entirely all my Blues gear
and everybody was not thrilled
but it was really fun
and everybody gets into it. It was the
first time I had mini donuts so it was pretty good
too. A lot of funny smells in the air
at that Vancouver Arena too.
You're always burning it during the game.
It's pretty funny.
How many games a year do you get to between L.A. and St. Louis?
Not as many as I'd like, and I try to go.
If there's a special event, like a couple years ago,
the Winter Classic was in St. Louis,
and me and about six or seven friends of mine from, from going back in St. Louis,
we all made it a point to get tickets and go. And then, and I'll go, if I'm, if I'm around,
I'll go to during the playoffs. That's, that's generally when I, when I'm able to go,
cause I'm usually out here and the way the schedule works, you know, the, the, the teams
don't play the West coast that often. So the blues never get out here, and I'm rarely back home.
Do you still have that anytime pass?
I know you had that card a couple years ago.
You can just show that and get into any game anytime you want to.
Do you still have that?
I do, but I think that was a different ownership group.
I don't think it works anymore.
It's still sitting in my desk.
So shift that over to the Blues.
I mean, it's been almost 50 years since their last cup final appearance, 1970.
You know, where do you attribute the biggest obstacle to them
getting to a cup final? Has it
been ownership? Has it been management? Has it been
bad luck, a combination of the three? What do you
think the reason is they just haven't been able to get over the hump
as a franchise? Well, I
think it's obviously it's a combination.
I think, you know, we've had the right pieces
and it's just for whatever reason
they haven't. Playoff hockey is like a game of Tetris, you know, we've had the right pieces, and it's just for whatever reason they haven't.
Playoff hockey is like a game of Tetris, you know.
It's like fitting everything into the right form to make it into a straight line.
Sometimes you don't get the right pieces, and sometimes you get bad luck.
And so, I mean, we've had some amazing teams.
I'm thinking specifically the year we won the President's Trophy.
I think it was 91, 92 maybe, but that was Holly scores 50 in 50 games.
And I mean, we've had elite players
at every position on our team
and it's just not worked out.
And I think some of that is just
the way the playoffs go, you know?
I mean, a couple of years ago,
we were two wins from Nashville
over going to the final
and we just couldn't get it done.
You know, Pecorine stands on his head, and he can't solve the guy,
and that's going to happen too.
You know, you run into a hot goalie, or the other half of it is you're
the beneficiary of a hot goalie.
You know, you see guys flurry the other year.
You know, these guys, all of a sudden, they just go on these runs,
and, you know, we've been fortunate enough to have in a guy like Bennington,
a guy that's been doing that and hopefully can carry it over through the playoffs.
I think this team's got the skill and the youth and hopefully the health
to make a pretty deep run.
How confident are you in this year's team?
You think they have everything that it takes to win a cup or what?
You know, what I think is great about this team in particular is that they've experienced getting close
and they've also experienced not getting in, so they're hungry.
And I think they've got guys like Alex Steen in the clubhouse that are leaders.
And they've got young guys that really want it. And I think, I think that's a really,
that's a pretty deadly combination. And if you guys,
if you guys between the pipes are, are solid and they're scoring goals,
the way that these guys have been scoring,
when they put three in against Tampa Bay in a minute and 15, you know,
it's obviously things like this happen in streaks but it's it's been pretty
it's been pretty fun to watch john if there's uh if you had one opportunity to go back and put the
gear on and fight one of your your nemesises from other teams that st louis have played against
who's the one guy you like to beat the wheels off uh well you know the during the 80s and 90s the big rivalries for st louis were always detroit
and chicago and we had some pretty epic uh hate for bob probert and you know it's obviously never
speak ill of the dead and god bless him but he was he was uh he was particularly hated in st louis
uh and i remember talking with with Kelly Chase a little bit.
He's like, oh, man, whenever we get on the ice,
he's like, I knew I'd have to go out there.
He's just such a tough son of a bitch.
I look at Chaser now, and I'm like, he's such a little old man.
He's such a sweet guy.
And I just remember back in the day,
he'd just go out there and mix it up.
He's a sweet guy.
We had Chaser on on and he's he's
an animal he likes to tell some stories too the best he's the best and his uh his wife his family
he's just such a nice guy he's uh that's the kind of thing again that's that's that's what i remember
about that particular era of the st. louis blues is it's just guys like that. Him and Shani and Hulley, just nice as the day is long
and great players.
We actually had Adam Oton too and we were begging him for Brad Hull stories because there's just so many legendary
Hull stories of him just basically not, it seems like he doesn't care
but he goes out and he just snipes. Did you spend some time hanging with him or have you gotten to know him
in the past? Oh yeah, I've
hung out with Hulley. He's a
great guy. He's
an icon at St. Louis, obviously.
And yeah,
Hulley had that ability.
He's the kind of guy, like you said,
it doesn't seem like he's trying.
Except you know that
that guy shot three million
pucks in the nets. It's not a mistake that he's that good.
He's blessed with an incredible talent and an incredible ability to, you know,
lean on that talent and make it happen.
So watching him, I remember I was in a game, the Blues were playing,
this must have been 2001, in San Jose in the playoffs.
And I was shooting up in Central California.
And I mean, this was in the early days of the internet.
I bought tickets off eBay.
I was like, whoa, I can do this.
And arranged to like meet the guy at the thing by the statue.
I've never been to San Jose, so I don't know where it is.
I meet the guy and I give him a couple hundred bucks.
And I say, hey, I'm here by myself.
If your buddies want to go, I'll just sell you back the other three tickets if you
it was on the way of course that'd be great so me and his friends all sat with me and I never met
these people and I bought them all beers and we watched and first period how we were right time
on the glass and he scored a goal it was I was. I just saw the puck go right off the stick, right into the net.
It was so cool.
He was so good.
Such a snipe.
No, he's so incredible.
And we talk a lot with guys who, you know,
formerly played the game or currently, and people who, you know,
cover the game.
But for someone like you who's, I mean, a big Blues fan,
but you don't get to see a ton of hockey,
I'm curious on your thoughts to where the game is now,
to where it was in the 80s when you're talking about Bob Probert
and Chaser and those amazing fights.
I mean, do you miss that part of it,
or do you actually enjoy the skill level and how it's changed
as the game's gotten younger, basically?
It's gotten younger.
I think everything's gotten younger.
You look at baseball, you look at basketball,
you look at even football, and every sport has trended toward the young.
And hockey is no exception.
It used to be in the old days you would get these guys on the ice
that were 20, 21 years old, and they couldn't hang.
They'd go up against Grimson or whoever, and they'd just get destroyed.
And they'd miss two weeks with a lower body or whatever
because they're just not big enough.
Well, now the way they're conditioning kids
and the way their youth programs are run,
these kids are coming out of college, you know, yoked.
And they're just in amazing shape.
So they're ready to play at the professional level.
And you watch, and it's amazing to watch.
Is it better? Is it worse?
I think it's probably better on the whole.
It's certainly more entertaining than watching a 1-0 Devils team
play a neutral zone trap for 60 minutes.
It's allowing for the two-line passes
and moving through the neutral zone a lot faster.
It's more exciting hockey.
When you watch these guys that can skate
90 miles an hour sideways,
that's pretty
impressive. Put
a tape-to-tape pass
from two zones away,
it's impressive. It's fun to watch.
That's why I think the Blues have done
a lot of that.
John, there are other
fan bases. They have shorter droughts than the Blues have had, but they're real pissy about it. How come Blues are other fan bases. They have, you know,
shorter droughts
than the Blues have had,
but they're real pissy about it.
How come Blues fans,
like, on his anger,
they don't come across as angry.
Do you guys just hide it well?
Because it seems like
you should be pissed off
as much as, like,
say, Flyers fans.
Why aren't we angry?
I don't know.
I think, you know,
to go back to your hometown,
I think it's like the Red Sox.
Once they won it in 2004 against, you guessed it, the Cardinals,
the fan base then started expecting it a little more.
Before that, it was just they were kind of the lovable losers, right?
It's the Cubs the same way.
And I think we have a little bit of that mentality of just like, oh, well,
you know, it wasn't our year.
Next year, we'll go get them.
I think if we ever get close again, if we ever threaten the finals again,
I think the fan base will get a little more rowdy.
John, hypothetically.
I don't know if you've ever been to a game at St. Louis.
It is loud.
We support our team. It's a great place to watch hockey. I thought't know if you've ever been to a game at St. Louis. It is loud. We support our team.
It's a great place to watch hockey.
I thought you said you were a fan.
You didn't know me and Ryan went to training camp one year on a PTO game?
I went two years in a row.
They brought me back to be a jester.
Well, there you go.
John, I have a hypothetical.
If you could trade in your acting career for a 20-year NHL career
playing for your
hometown team would you do it right now would I do it honestly no it takes too much out of you
like I've seen what it does to your body I watched after the game here in LA I went downstairs and
some of the boys and you know just watching everybody get taped up and put back together
after games I'm just like, oh, man.
Like, for me, when I'm done acting, I get to go take a shower
and, you know, have a cup of coffee.
Like, this is a lot easier.
I'm like, this is what it is.
Are you married, John?
No, no.
I was with the same girl for about 16 years
when we broke up a couple years ago.
Oh, geez, way to kill the buzz, Des, Jesus Christ.
I was in St. Louis when the Red Sox did win the series,
and it's the only time I ever had a fan base actually congratulate me on winning.
Like, the Sox won, and Cardinals know, Cardinals fans would come up and say,
hey, congratulations, and shook my hand.
It was pretty acid.
I've had a lot of friends that were from Boston that mentioned that that was the case.
Do you have a hard time finding fellow hockey fans when you're on set,
you know, just to shoot the shit about the game with?
They are not as plentiful as baseball and football.
I will say that.
Um, obviously it's way more fun when you're, when you're shooting in Canada because everybody
on the crew talks hockey and half of them are in more than half are in fantasy hockey
teams and, and they all know a lot about the game.
So it's, it's a lot more fun up there, especially during the season when you can, when you can
bullshit with people.
Um, but yeah, no, it's, with people. But yeah, no, it's
not hard. Plus having
the app, the NHL app
and the NHL network now,
that's been huge.
I can watch it on the fly
all the time.
John, R.A. often pumps his own tires
about his acting skills. I've been starting
to push some content out,
and you're pretty okay yourself.
Would you ever be down to maybe do a collab
where we maybe have an act-off for some content?
Because I don't know.
I've been pretty good.
Yeah, sure.
Anytime.
Yeah, sure.
As he changes his number after this interview.
Well, and we don't have a big budget.
I just wanted to save that for last.
All right.
I got, you know, I got, I've worked at all budget levels.
I'm working on Top Gun 2 right now, and I've worked on, you know,
any movie.
R.A. just creamed his pants.
Let's go.
Let's wait a minute.
Top Gun 2.
I missed that casting call.
No shit, Doc.
Congratulations.
They didn't call you, huh?
No, man. Oh, I'm sorry. They didn't call you, huh?
No, man.
They need a fat Baldwin guy to fly a jet.
I'm your man, brother.
Yeah.
John, do you remember R.A.? No.
Are you kidding me?
Of course I do.
Yeah, fuck off.
And I totally remember Joe Lawler.
I mean, we're talking about 10 years ago now yeah 2009 but uh but it was uh i have a lot
of fond memories about about working on the town and most of them was um meeting because there were
so many folks like you that were locals that were cast in it and it was it was really fun kind of talking
everybody and meeting everybody and the first time i'd spent any any time longer than like a
day or two in boston so i really got to got to know the city too i'm guessing you had a fun time
working there then blast absolute blast well it was funny we mentioned joe he was originally
selected he was supposed to be the fourth bank robber um you know uh in that crew there but Blast. Absolute blast. Well, it was funny. We mentioned Joe. He was originally selected.
He was supposed to be the fourth bank robber in that crew there.
But because of his colorful background, shall we say,
his insurance, he was going to need more insurance because he was going to be handling weapons.
So they're like, sorry, Joe.
And Ben Affleck was crestfallen.
He's like, oh, my God, Joe, I wanted you so bad.
He goes, but I promise I'll put you somewhere else in the movie.
So what's he end up playing? A Fed.
They wouldn't let him play the bank robber because of his records,
but they let him play a Fed, which I thought was absolutely hilarious.
So good.
I remember going back for the premiere.
They had the premiere of the film at Fenway Park,
and they put a screen up, and everybody sat down at the first baseline,
and they showed it there.
It was really great.
And one of the guys that was one of the federal FBI guys
that was our technical advisor on the show,
I was sitting next to him
and he was sitting next to one of the guys
who was one of the advisors on the bank robber side of it
who he had arrested like 25 years ago.
And they're bullshitting back and forth
about how I remember I put you in jail,
you son of a bitch.
He goes, ah.
And these two guys are going back and forth.
It's like,
what's going on here?
This is too weird.
Like life imitating art.
Um,
well,
we talked to a lot of former players and we kind of asked them if there was a
moment that really helped them make it to the NHL.
If there was a certain person,
was there a gig you got a job you got where you job you got where you look back now and you're like,
dude, that kind of got everything rolling here?
You know, like I think part of it was literally just moving out to L.A.
Everybody, and I have a lot of friends back in St. Louis,
and they're all kind of mystified
with even now I've been out here for 20 some odd years oh my gosh how did you move to LA it's such
a big city and it's that kind of like well you know there's there's the time to do it is when
you're young obviously and then it's you know it's a risk but it's it's one you think well I
might as well try it now I remember being 25 I just taught school for a year and I thought if I'm, if I'm going to do it,
it's now or never basically. And, and I figured there's, there's, you know, what's the worst that
can happen? I'll come out here and I'll suck and I'll not work. And then I'll turn my car around
and go home. And I came out here and I sucked. It took me a while to get a job and then I'll turn my car around and go home. And I came out here and I sucked.
It took me a while to get a job.
And then slowly but steadily, I started booking gigs.
I don't think there's one I can point to.
I think it was more about the process, you know?
John, I know it wasn't overnight success to you
because you were humping for a long time,
but to fans and TV viewers, it seemed like overnight success.
What was that like going from a relatively unknown actor to now you're playing fucking Don Draper slash Dick Whitman?
Spoiler alert.
Now you have this huge role and tabloids are all over your ass and you're a star now.
What was that adjustment like?
That must have been a troublesome thing.
Was it hard to deal with?
Well, it's not easy, but it's also because there's no rule book right there's no handbook you
don't you don't no one says all right here now you're famous now here's what you're going to do
and you're going to talk to them this is what's going to happen and these people are going to
start following you and this is what you're supposed to do uh you just kind of have to, uh, go through it. And it's not the worst. I mean, you know,
it's obviously, uh, it's great to be, uh, recognized for the work you're doing. So that
part of it was fantastic. Like, you know, being in a show that became a cultural phenomenon and
became a hit, uh, is a, is a phenomenal experience phenomenal experience and you know going to the award shows
and going to all the photo shoots and this is and that's that was all really fun um you just have to
kind of remember that it's it's kind of all bullshit too at the same time like it's you can't
you can't put too much credit give it too much credit or else you go crazy john i always wondered i don't i'm not
saying necessarily you got uncomfortable but making out with an actress and then like maybe
like after the show having to meet their like significant other like how fucking awkward is that
it is pretty weird i will say that it's like hey are we gonna take it what's up, bud? Her breath's awesome. Yeah. You have to be very kind of, you know, honest and forthright and polite.
And, you know, obviously you don't want to come off as some kind of weirdo creeper.
So generally, it's an awkward situation.
It just is. It's, you know, 90% of making movies and television is, is,
is awkward because there's just so much that can be misconstrued and what
has. So it's, uh, it's just important to be, uh, you know,
polite. That's, you know, I think my mom taught me that at least be polite.
John, your dramatic bonafide is obviously well-known with Mad Men and The Town,
but you've shown you're pretty adept at comedy as well.
Bridesmaids, Kimmy Schmidt, the cameo in the outstanding show Barry on HBO.
Do you have a preference comedy over drama,
and is it true that comedy is harder to do than drama?
I don't have a preference necessarily. necessarily um i'm very fortunate to to uh have some kind of credibility in in both sides of the
of the of the world in that respect which is really kind of great you know and i get to work
with people who i consider you know incredibly talented and funny whether it's Peter or, you know, Kristen Wiig or Tina Fey or what have you.
Part of that was being asked to host SNL by Lauren back in 2009.
I mean, I just, he, for whatever reason, wanted me to be a part of the show,
and I was able to do it, and I had a great time doing it, and people liked it. So I got to do it three times,
which is really fun. Um, is one harder than the other? You know, they're, they're both tricky.
Uh, but they're, they're both the kind of thing where if you surround yourself with the right
people, they become a lot easier. And when you're working with a guy like Bill Hader on Barry,
people they become a lot easier and when you're working with a guy like bill hater on barry for example it's easy to be funny because he's just funny when you're working with kristen wigg on
bridesmaids it's i mean it's not that hard to be goofy because she's just so good um tina is the
same way you know polar maya all those guys they're're just great. And so, again, I'm lucky.
A lot of people don't get asked to go play on that side of the pond.
You're only asked to or you're made to kind of stay in your lane.
And I got lucky.
John, was the pizza review at Dave Portnoy one of your hardest acting gigs?
Was the pizza review at Dave Portnoy one of your hardest acting gigs? Was the pizza review?
That's the funny thing.
I'd never even heard of that thing.
And then the kid that came by was like, oh, my God, you're the pizza review guy.
And we were like, yeah, he also was nominated for an Academy Award.
was nominated for an Academy Award.
It reminds you of where you exist in the cosmology of kids.
Are there any directors you want to work with in particular?
There's so many great ones working today.
Any one or two that you're dying to work with?
Oh, yeah.
The list is long.
I mean, you know, you at the the Gignari 2's
and
and
Alfonso Cuarón's
and
Scorsese's
still making great stuff
Chris Nolan
but I've had the
very good
fortune
to work with
some
great directors
you know
Edgar Wright
I mean Ben Affleck
Ben was a
fantastic director
and the proof's in the pudding you know he's I mean Ben Affleck Ben is a fantastic director and the proof's
in the pudding you know
he's made three great movies
but Edgar Wright
I got to work with he's also very good
yeah it's an
impressive skill it's something that
I'm really impressed
especially with Ben because I know
I know how good an actor he is but
also like you just think oh I'm just going to go ahead
and be really good at this, too.
Good for you, dude.
What about for the Blues?
Back to them a little bit.
You're busy, Top Gun, too, but are we going to see you
at a Blues playoff game when the second season gets going?
I hope so.
You know, I haven't really been paying attention to the standings too much.
I know we're two points out, two points behind, I think, Nashville,
the second spot.
But I don't know what seedings would be like.
I don't necessarily know who I'd want to play in the first round.
But I don't know.
I haven't gotten down that rabbit hole yet and freaked myself out with that whole matchup stuff.
But I hope eventually they get out to the West Coast
because it'll make it a lot easier for me to come see them.
Well, don't forget about the content and movies we're going to create together.
Maybe we can compete with Goon 1 and 2.
I don't know what you got on your plate after this Top Gun thing,
but let's get down to business, John.
Don, stop laughing.
I'm dead serious, buddy.
I love it.
This is a verbal contract that we're going to get some stuff done.
And, R.A., what do you got to say to your buddy here?
Hey, it's been a treat, man.
It's funny how life can take you funny places.
I mean, we were on a movie set 10 years ago,
and now I'm interviewing you on a hockey podcast.
It's pretty wild.
Now, your buddies are at Ruddd too, right, Paul Rudd?
Yeah, Paul and I go way back.
He grew up in Kansas City. I grew up in St. Louis.
We met each other back when I was 17
years old. That's funny
because I actually interviewed him when he was doing
the junket for I Love You Man like eight years ago.
I interviewed him at Fenway.
It's kind of crazy how life turns out, but
it's been a pleasure talking to you, John. We really appreciate
you coming on. Hey, last question I have.
The guy, I feel bad not knowing his name, the guy who played Roger Sterling,
is he as cool of a cat as he comes off?
Is he as cool of a cat to have a beer with, like, in real life as he just looks on screen?
Absolutely.
He is a very, very dear friend of mine, and he's a great guy.
He's got a great kid. His son
Harry is
I want to say he's got
a sophomore in college now.
I've known that kid since he was six.
And then, yeah, he's a great
guy. Newton
Mass. He's
dialed to Boston, so he
is a proud Red Sox
and Pats fan, and other than that, he's a good kid.
Well, we appreciate you coming on.
And that kind of makes up for you for getting to send R.A.
his Oscar invite in the mail.
You know, people make mistakes.
Extras matter too, John.
Thank you so much.
And I'll run into each other one time and enjoy a beer at a game
i hope so fellas thanks again i really do appreciate uh you having me on that interview
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slash chicklets big thanks once again to john hammock like i said man it was such a thrill
to talk to him it's
pretty funny 10 years after being on a movie set with him I get to interview him for a hockey
podcast so I loved it loved it great stuff biz you got something to share with the audience I
understand story I just current events I you know I go through all these situations and uh
and I figured I should share this one some of you might learn something from it some of you might
think hey you're an idiot how did you not already? Well, so I don't know much about cars, right? So I usually
buy new vehicles and I'll make them last about five or six years. But I, you know, whenever I
go to the dealership to get oil changes, they're going to say, Hey man, you know, you need a new
air filter. And I kind of roll my eyes and if I don't really need it, I wouldn't know,
but I don't want to fuck around with my car. So I say, all right, just put the new fucking air filter in there then.
And how much is that going to cost me?
Oh, this plus this plus this.
And it's like, oh, fuck, here's my credit card.
Just take it.
Well, we're the marks for them, basically.
Yeah, exactly.
They see a sucker from a mile away.
And I'm a principal guy.
So as long as like you're being reasonable and i'm
like hey at least throw me a car wash in the detail and then i can go away happy so i pull up
and i just hit 30 000 miles on my jeep and uh the guy's like oh are you gonna get your your your 30
60 90 done like like throws out some term like that and i'm like i'm like what the fuck does
that mean and he's like well typically every 30 90,000 miles, people get like a little like package where they, they,
they revamp everything. And I'm like, okay, well, what's in the package. So he, he starts listing
everything off. And I said, I said, well, I remember coming here a couple of times ago and,
and, and you sold me a couple of those things you just mentioned. Like, I got a memory,
like an elephant like that. So I said, pull up my, my, my list. So he goes into it and sure enough, it shows like a couple of things
that he's already sold me in that. I said, okay, we'll take that off the list. And considering you
tried to charge me, whatever it was, 599 plus tax for it, dock that off of it and I'll get the rest
of it. So he's like, oh, okay. Like I can do this. What I can do for you. I said, buddy, I said,
get it under 500 bucks, wash my car, detail it and vacuum it inside. And I'll, and I'll get this package. Cause I know I'm
getting bent over a little bit, but I let's meet halfway here. So he kind of rolls his eyes and,
you know, cause he wasn't able to sucker me into as much money as he thought he could.
So I, you know, I, I go away for two and a half hours. I come back. I said, all right,
where's my bill
and he goes oh yeah it's just over 500 and I'm kind of like well no I said get it to under 500
and we're doing this so I look at I said show me the itemized list shows me the itemized list
the air filters on there I said bud you fucking sold this to me last time I came here we had this
conversation before I left are you fucking kidding me and like I'm in there and like the lady's like oh Oh, I'm sorry. I'm saying it's not your fault. I said, it's that guy's
fault right there. He's trying to rip me off. I know how this goes. I know he's going to see
commission from that. So it's a principal thing. So I fuck, I tell you what, if I go back to this
dealership one more time and I get, I try to get fleeced, I'm going to fucking put the number on
this goddamn podcast. I'm going to have all our cult leader, our cult following,
just dummy their reception.
I'm not fucking standing for the bullshit.
Dude, I've been into it.
I swear to God, I went.
The third time I went to get my car serviced,
like over a couple-month period, the guy's like,
hey, you need new brakes first time.
Yeah, okay, put new brakes on.
Hey, the other brake pads are worn out. The front's now screwed. All right, put them on. Third time, he's like, you just want need new brakes first time. Yeah, okay, put new brakes on. Hey, the other brake pads are worn out.
The front's not as true.
All right, put them on.
Third time, he's like, you just want to buy a backup brake pad.
I'm like, really?
Like, I would have done it.
And finally, I text him.
I'm like, do I need to buy backup brake pads?
They're like, what are you talking about?
So I'm like, I can't even go in there now without someone that knows cars
because I'll be like asking, what else can I get?
What else can I get?
I feel so lost in those places. It drives me insane. and I'm sure a lot of people are getting fleece and once
again like do I know I'm getting ripped off yeah but it's just like okay we'll lower the number
to a number where I'm okay with paying it and and I get the peace of mind that my car is not
going to fall apart which it won't but hey if I need a new air filter and he's telling me I need
a new air filter I guess I need a new air filter and he's telling me I need a new air filter, I guess
I need a new air filter. I'm not going to sit
there and argue with the guy because I don't know that I don't need a new
air filter.
How many times can I say air filter? As many times as
Bortuzzo said, you know.
I do like the feeling of driving away
like after just getting a car, just like
detailed and serviced or whatever.
You just feel like a new man.
And the guy's kind of like rolling his eyes like I'm the bad guy here. I'm like, bud, I just put money in your pocket. I really, you just feel like a new man. And the guy's kind of like rolling his eyes. Like I'm the bad guy here.
I'm like, but I just put money in your pocket.
I know you've got a sales commission on that.
I told you that I got the air filter last time you showed me.
Cause you pulled it up on the iPad. I said, see, I knew you.
So you sold me a couple of these things that are on this list.
And he's like, Oh yeah, no problem.
And then tries to put it back on the fucking list.
Give me a goddamn
break nobody fucks you like the dealership though they have like the last resort i brought my car
for a brake light and they're like uh we'll do an estimate 58 fucking hundred dollars they wanted
to fix every little thing on the car that's where i go the dealership oh they always fuck you there
you gotta find like a local guy who fucking does it on the side i know but if the garage looks dirty and disgusting i'm not going there
no those are the those are usually the best ones fuck that make your place look nice
all right that's my little rant for the day so i'll keep you guys but i'll keep you guys in the
loop and if they try to fleece me again uh we're gonna have some fun with them we're gonna be
calling in we're gonna be be doing like, what's her
name? Like, Laura, love me long time
type shit. People are listening
like, no, please, no.
Please don't fuck over Biz again.
Hey, on this show,
we dump on social media
and humanity quite a lot, but this
story is one that might restore
your faith in both a little bit.
Penguins fan Kelly Sawatsky, she held the sign at a recent penguins game and said hey genzel i'd love a hockey stick
but what i really need is a kidney uh the penguins eagle-eyed social media director saw a bright sign
from up high she sent down one of her dispatches to go take a picture of it and then the penguins
tweeted it out on social media the girl like, like I said, basically kind of half joking, but dead serious.
I need a kidney.
Well, lo and behold, another Penguins fan, a teacher in Delaware named Jeff Lind.
He saw it.
He got tested.
He was a match and he gave his kidney to a total fucking stranger.
It's just such an unselfish act that, again, on social media, this dude decides,
I'm going to give a kidney to a total stranger.
Again, this world is fucking cold, hard, mean.
We talk about it a lot.
So it's nice to have a story like this from the hockey world that literally warms your heart.
It's such a nice story.
A stranger would do this for somebody that he doesn't even know, never met before.
You saw the Instagram.
Who posted it to their Instagram channel?
I started on the ESPN Instagram.
That's the one you sent to me.
They put it on IGHTV
or whatever, like Instagram TV
because it's a long clip. I believe it was about six
minutes. If you guys get a chance, go watch it.
It's a little emotional. I sent it
over to R.A. today.
What do you think, R.A.?
How much later did it take?
When she was at the game with this sign, when did
he give her his liver?
They didn't say actually how much in the clip,
but it seemed like it was pretty fast moving.
I mean, I would say it probably happened over the course of maybe several weeks
to a couple months, you know, because obviously it's, you know,
time is of the essence when you need to give somebody a transplant.
But what was pretty funny and pretty cool, she was in recovery room number 87.
So naturally she named it Sydney the kidney.
I love it.
I love it.
So, yeah.
So it's, again, a nice story.
We don't get too many.
A good social media story.
That's good.
Exactly.
Like that.
Oh, boys.
And I got some clarity on the mustard pack situation.
Oh, I've been waiting with bated breath.
Yeah.
Apparently, mustard is
like an allergen no that's what people tweet me it's like it's something that a lot of people are
allergic to so because of lawsuits and stuff they don't want to be liable so they have you put it on
yourself because they don't want any cross contamination now saying that oh like what
like so what is so why does subway not do it then I don't know what's gone on in, like, the last, say, 25 years,
but I didn't know one person growing up with allergies.
No one was allergic to anything.
Why the fuck is everyone allergic to everything now?
I mean, like, you can't tell me something weird isn't happening
with either the food we eat or, God knows, the water we drink.
Because why now do all these kids have peanut allergies and shit?
The only kid with allergies actually was Tom Pote.
He couldn't be around anything.
He could actually eat McDonald's.
He crushed McDonald's.
It was one of the only things he could eat.
One time somebody left a little,
might have had a peanut butter bagel or something,
and there was peanut butter on the phone.
He picked it up, and it was like it could kill him almost.
So I know it's obviously been around forever but i feel like now everyone is a lot more commonly allergic to stuff
than before absolutely the modification oh the modification of food has definitely i don't even
know what that means but as in like like like they create like wheat in labs so they can make it way cheaper it's like it's i mean
that's a that's a i mean i'm probably not the first guy to ask about the science side of it
but just a modification of natural foods and and preservatives and all this bullshit that they put
in it now keep in mind it's it's one of those things where in order to feed north america
think about how much food that we have to produce. And the population keeps growing and growing and growing.
So, you know, in order to feed everyone, you got to do it cheap.
Yeah.
I mean, only certain people can afford to eat and go shop at Whole Foods
where it's all natural food and the cost to produce the natural.
Maybe this is why people are eating.
You said people are eating the TV dinners, Biz.
Yeah.
I mean, well, that's another reason.
Back to your other point.
Yeah, I mean, you go get a nice steak from Whole Foods.
I mean, for a pound steak, you got to pay like 20, 25 bucks
for like a grass-fed organic steak.
Grass-fed.
I think it's just indicative of other medical issues.
I think diagnoses are way up, but not actual cases.
I saw that ADD documentary on Netflix.
Oh, fuck.
Everyone had ADD back in the day.
Just because they're diagnosing it doesn't mean somebody actually has it.
Because once you diagnose somebody with something, then what happens?
Then you get a script.
Now you're on the prescription train for fucking life.
And fucking who likes that?
Insurance companies, big pharma.
Everybody makes money off it when you get diagnosed with something.
By the way, I misspoke there.
It wasn't back in the day.
Back in the day, it was like, this kid's dumb.
This kid, why can't he pay attention?
That was me.
That was me in high school.
Yeah, that kid probably has learning disabilities or ADD.
But yeah, I mean, those Ritalin pills and all that shit,
I mean, people are making banks selling that stuff,
so I guess you're right.
But I still think allergies is different.
I mean, that's like, well, you could die if you have peanut butter.
I mean, that's like a little different.
You think that people are still like almost getting diagnosed with allergies,
but they're so minor that it doesn't even matter, you mean?
No, not so much with allergies.
Obviously, you don't want someone allergic to
something eat something but i think just like in medical world yeah in in general right diagnoses
for a lot of things are up because again once you're fucking once you're on that script train
then and then they fucking love you then they can cha-ching you got insurance can i just thank you
ra for bringing up the fact that if we would have talked to john ham about his wrench that he
probably would have hung up the phone so we would have wasted a full 30 minute
interview with a movie star because I thought it was
pretty funny how all these pictures were on
Google of this guy going commando
and his we're talking
about like a
horse cock right
like a soft
baby's arm just hanging down in these
pictures walking around the street I don't he definitely
doesn't wear underwear. Either way,
was it RA?
Did you see the thing that was like he was
he got like rattled about it
one time in an article? Yeah,
they mentioned to him. It could have been TMZ
asking him to like, you know, they're already
fucking fed up with those idiots. But yeah, he mentioned
their private parts, their private
for a reason. And yeah, we don't want to torpedo
our interview just for a laugh, but it was funny when we tweeted out we were having them on
i think 75 of the replies were the fucking wrench emoji yeah and a big reason why a lot of people
hate our podcast because we talk about dicks too much yeah i don't know i think people kind of like
it you know i'm in a i'm in a group chat uh with like like my wife's family and her her sister's
husband's in it and he's he sent me the whole group chat a video of his with like, like my wife's family and her sister's husband's in it. And he's he sent
me the whole group chat a video of his son like using like putting a screw in with a tool.
Obviously, there's women on this text like, Hey, Ryan, what's this tool? I'm like, you motherfucker.
That's a wrench. It's fucking hilarious. Why is this that type of talk getting brought to the
family group chat? Boys, what else do we got?
You know what, Biz?
It's been a couple weeks since I had some wages for the crowd,
but I'm going to bring the game back a little bit.
I need some picks, RA.
Give me the good stuff here.
You're going to use them this time?
Grinnelli texted me Saturday.
Who do you like?
And I give him fucking Ottawa.
Who says bet fucking Ottawa on the puck line, and he doesn't do it?
Plus, whatever, they were at 380 or something.
He lets it go by the buy side.
The problem was you gave me two picks.
You gave me Dallas and Ottawa, and I picked Dallas,
and I hammered Dallas, and it was like a save me Saturday night pick.
And that's just like – my bookie texted me this morning and was like,
are you okay, man?
Like, you need some help.
You don't look okay.
He's tired from his fucking NHL debut the other night.
But anyways, I did mention the last couple weeks of the season,
it's tough gambling, man.
It's like you got teams looking to upset,
teams you think are going to suck, they don't.
Having said all that, I do like a couple teams in the next couple days.
Monday, April 1st, Colorado is at St. Louis.
The Avs need this game a lot more.
St. Louis is in the playoffs. They're jockeying for position, Colorado is at St. Louis. The Avs need this game a lot more. St. Louis is in the playoffs.
They're jockeying for position, but Colorado needs W.
So on that game, I'm going to go with the IRA special,
which is a money line for a unit, puck line for a half a unit.
My second and final pick on this week's, this episode's corner,
Tuesday, April 2nd, Carolina is at Toronto.
Again, another situation.
Carolina needs this game.
They need to get in the playoffs
Toronto is basically locked in on that third spot
right now in the Atlantic
or whatever the hell the division is
Northeast whatever they call it
same thing there
Carolina for a money line for a unit
puck line for a half unit
those are the two picks
we'll see what happens
but if you are gambling again
careful out there
tread lightly
a lot of weird shit happens the last week of the year
I love R.A. picking against the Blues
during our Blues-centric episode
with Jon Hammond and Roberto Bertuzzo.
Roberto.
Because that's a ballsy pick.
You're picking against St. Louis.
Toronto's got a good team.
I'm impressed by that.
But obviously Grinnellian impressed enough to listen to you last night.
Maybe I'll smarten up in the meantime.
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Biz, you had an interesting note for us.
Alexander Bakov, who a lot of people think he's Russian because of his name,
but he's actually Finnish,
became the fourth Finnish player in NHL history to reach 90 points in a season.
Yari Curry did it eight times.
Taimou Salani did it a half a dozen times.
Ole Jokinen did it.
And Alexander Bakov, he may well be the first Finn to lead the NHL
in scoring someday, eh, Biz?
He's a stud.
And he kind of went from the most underrated player in the National Hockey League
to where now everybody knows who he is.
And he's solidified himself as an NHL superstar, and rightfully so.
And moving forward, boys, I think that Florida Panthers team
is just going to keep getting better and better.
They have a great core group.
I would imagine that they dive into free agency a little bit this summer,
especially with the rumors that we've heard about Bobrovsky
and Panarin potentially heading there.
Could you imagine that team with a star goalie
and then adding another superstar forward to that mix?
I tell you what, they've done a good job.
A bit of an unfortunate year for them.
I know a lot of people are talking about the fact that they've blown
so many third-period leads.
So, you know, hopefully they can figure that out because that's a market
that could use a couple playoff winning seasons in order to get going.
Yeah, Biz, unfortunately they didn't get the goal 10 that I think
they needed this year.
You know, they're spending almost $8 million between Luongo and Reimer.
Both those guys are on the hook for two more years after this year.
So they're going to have to make some really hard decisions as,
as,
as it pertains to their goaltending situation.
Obviously,
if you're going to throw money at Bobrovsky,
you're going to have to get rid of one of those other guys.
And if they had,
you know,
even I would say slightly above average goaltending,
they're probably competing for a playoff spot right now.
So we'll be interesting to see what happens
because they certainly have a great forward core down in Florida.
Yeah, they need to add something because I'm surprised.
I thought this year they were going to get in.
I really did.
So goaltending is an issue.
Whitney, one thing that people have been asking for the last few weeks,
we teased it a while back, but we haven't actually talked about it.
Oh, Free Solo.
Free Solo, the documentary.
Go ahead.
Biz, do you know what it is? I have no idea what this is oh is this the the
hiking one yeah if you want to call it hiking hiking on steroids and hgh and crack this this
guy is a he's a like he just climbs mountains with no rope it's like he's just i've heard
reclimber so i got into this movie that my buddy said he watched he's like dude it's unreal it's He just climbs mountains with no rope. He's just a free climber.
So I got into this movie that my buddy said he watched.
He's like, dude, it's unreal.
It's like you're actually sitting on the edge of your seat.
So they're following him around.
First of all, the guy's very a little different, a little weird.
Oh, yeah.
You got to be right to be doing this.
But there's something.
There's some screws missing up top.
Speaking of diagnoses, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Diagnosis says this guy's a nut dude he's he was so flexible he would be doing pull-ups by the tip of his fingers because when you're climbing on these mountains you got you got one fingertip
holding you if you slip you're done and the craziest part about the entire thing is he's got
this girlfriend so he meets this girl, the girl came to his book
signing. She was a
She was a soupy.
She was a straight up soupy.
He starts dating this girl
but she's on the entire
movie. Dude, he couldn't stand her.
He couldn't even stay. I feel like he was like
get out of here to this girl.
Because she's trying to talk
about it. He doesn't want to talk about anything. I understand
why. I don't even know why he would have a girlfriend.
The guy can pretty much die any day he gets
up, but it was the most insane
footage. I mean, the guys that filmed
it, dude, they were fucking climbing this mountain.
I think it's El Capitan in
Yosemite National Park or whatever.
I'm just looking at this mountain.
The fact that he climbed up it with
no rope and he's doing the
tryouts with the rope is he's doing the tryouts and he's getting to this one place and he keeps
falling keeps falling keeps falling I'm like bro what are you like how and he gets up there and
he crushed it obviously he's alive wait so he so so he eventually passed that part with the ropes
to know which which course to take through the hiking of the mountain.
It's funny.
I don't remember them showing him get past that.
They must have.
They must have because I don't think he would have done the entire climb
until he had done the entire route with a rope.
Well, because he has to know which way to go, right?
So that's the whole purpose of him taking the ropes up.
And he would go up and like shave down some areas.
Like, I mean, he's getting like the tip of his sneaker and his fingers are like holding him.
I don't even, I still don't understand how it's possible.
At some, some of the points he's hanging pretty much.
How is that fucking possible?
But it was like edge of your seat thriller watching it.
And I was kind of pissed.
I knew he was still alive because it took a little bit of, not the fun,
I'm not going to say fun,
but it took a little bit of watching it, the excitement,
because I knew he made it.
But still, even watching just blew me away.
But, I mean, I don't know.
What's the name of it?
It's called Free Solo.
And here's the issue.
I don't want to be, I'm not a bad guy,
but he's going to die doing this.
Yeah, it's just a matter of time, right?
Because if you keep doing it.
They talked about other climbers that did it.
They listed like 28 guys or 30 guys who died.
And they're just like showing them their pictures, names.
I'm like – so obviously something is wrong with them, I guess I could say.
But either way –
Well, they're adrenaline junkies where like they only feel
alive when they're putting their lives on the line climbing a mountain just and and it's really just
for the respect of the community i don't even think it's a community i think it was it's just
him he he's wired away where yeah so is he the only one that's alive right now that does it the
way he does it uh no there are other no there are other other client there are other climbers you're right i mean i guess that is mad respect you know what
and i said i said he's gonna die he was talking to a guy like training leading up to it who's still
alive and he's been fucking doing it for 30 years so at some point they get to a certain age where
they just probably can't do it or do they not think like that who knows who knows i just it was
the most interesting movie like this this dude and his life and every day.
And, like, he was going to do it one day.
He started biz, and then he, like, stopped.
He's like, no, I don't have it today.
And it's just a wild watch.
I mean, I recommend it to anyone.
Recommend it to anyone.
But I'm interested to see what other people think about it.
If, like, if he's still with this girl, I'm shocked.
I've never seen somebody hate their girlfriend on camera more than this guy.
How was she?
How was she?
Did you see it already?
Yeah, I did.
Excuse me.
I did see it.
What did I miss out?
What did I leave out?
You know what?
You pretty much summed it up.
Just listeners who want to watch it, I believe it's still on Netflix.
It's also been airing on the Nat Geo channel.
But you did mention that montage.
It was basically like a faces a death rail.
Like, let's look at some of the legends of free solo sport.
And then every guy fucking died.
Like, everybody who's good at this sport eventually dies doing it.
But I thought it was honestly one of the most impressive athletic
accomplishments I've ever seen.
Just the fact that this guy, like you said, no ropes, no gadgets, nothing.
He just fucking scales the mountain with his hands and feet.
It's like watching sci-fi. And there was a couple of similar documentaries. Maru, I don't know if you saw that.
It's very similar, free climbing a mountain. I think that one's over in the Himalayas. And then
there's one called The Dawn Wall as well. That's also on Netflix. And these guys, it's absolutely
crazy. I think one of the nuttier things they do, which is when they like sleep overnight and they,
I think it called bivouacs they just
literally it's like a little pod and they sleep on the side of the fucking mountain just hanging
there they're literally just dangling off the side of the mountain what oh it's so yeah i've never
even seen that yeah i've seen the dude to do like the bat suits and jump off the mountains and they
like kind of fly down the side it's like getting a bat suit yeah yeah base jumping but no this is
people when they're climbing the mountain they'll take a break and they'll it's in that maroon they literally sleep
in this like a sleeping bag but it's a cocoon a cocoon biz right but they're on the side of a
mountain like 20 000 feet those people are tapped yeah it's definitely crazy it's not something
fucking you ever catch me doing but i think you wrapped it up pretty pretty well have you caught
anything else lately you don't think that he hated that girl?
I think, honestly, I think he has – I hate diagnosing people.
I think he might be on the spectrum, as they say.
Yeah, yeah.
He doesn't like looking at people when they talk to him.
He's socially awkward sometimes.
And, yeah, you wonder why a girl is even with this guy who's –
every day he goes to work, he might die.
But, you know, women –
Is somebody going to answer my question?
How was she?
She was not bad.
Really?
All right. All right. I'll watch it.
I mean, put it this way. If you're doing a book
signing and, like, she plops your book down
in front of you, you're like, whoa.
Okay. Okay. I mean, it's not something like
Troll.
Did you catch Green Book, Whitney, at all? I know you liked the movie. Yeah, I did. I liked it a lot. I mean, it's not something like Troll. Did you catch Green Book,
Whitney, at all? I know you liked the movie. Yeah, I did.
I liked it a lot. I liked it a lot.
Yeah, did we? I don't know.
I don't know how the hell that became
an issue. I thought it was a great movie
with a great storyline.
I'm not getting into that shit,
but I liked it a lot. Did you see
it, Biz? No. No, I kind of started
watching it on the flight, but I cried enough on the other two movies I watched,
so I figured I'd put that one on hold.
What movies made you cry?
We've got to hear this.
I told you about it last podcast.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, I forgot.
I didn't realize it was the same thing.
I mean, Bohemian Rhapsody made me cry a little bit.
Like, give me a break, Biz.
Stop being a pussy.
Oh, you know what made me cry in the bad way was the dirt.
I watched it on Netflix, the movie about the Motley Crue.
That's what I wanted to ask.
You didn't like it?
I don't know.
I wasn't the biggest fan of it.
It felt like cheaply made to me.
That's exactly what I've heard from everybody else about it.
It felt like a cheesy.
I don't know.
I was expecting more.
Sorry, Biz.
Oh, no.
That's fine.
That's exactly the consensus I've gotten on it.
It was just like the stories and stuff were cool,
but it was like amateur done.
Amateurly?
Amateurly?
Yeah, I don't know.
It's really hard to describe.
Somebody help me.
We'll call it amateur hour, Biz.
How's that?
Amateurly done?
We're creating new words on the pod.
Amateurly.
Yeah, I thought it was kind of cheesy, kind of trashy.
I mean, basically similar to Motley Crue itself.
It kind of captured the elements of the band in the movie.
I thought it was a fun movie.
It wasn't an outstanding, but fucking worse ways to kill an hour and a half.
But, yeah, that's going to wrap up this episode unless anybody has anything else.
No, no.
We're getting down to the nitty-gritty and doing our playoff picks.
I'm petrified of doing it, but that will be coming up soon,
and there's some really great hockey on Monday night, Tuesday night,
some big games.
So we will see you again or talk to you again.
I'm a loser today.
I can't talk.
I've had a tough episode.
We'll see you guys on Thursday, okay?
Have a great week, everybody. Thank you.