The Bill Simmons Podcast - Nats Fever, Food Criticism 2.0, NBA Surprises, and Million Dollar Picks With Joe House and David Chang | The Bill Simmons Podcast

Episode Date: October 25, 2019

HBO and The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Joe House to discuss Nationals-Astros (2:50), NBA observations (23:45), and NFL million dollar picks (42:20). Then Bill sits down with David Chang to discuss his new show, “Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner,” archaic food criticism, sad Washington football fans, and Chang’s first Parent Corner (1:01:55). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the BS Podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Some teams face many challenges. If you're the Washington Redskins, you face an overwhelming amount of challenges. Boy, are you in trouble if you're the Washington Redskins. Well, Codable co-founder Gretchen Huebner faced her own challenge. She needed to hire a game artist, went to ZipRecruiter, posted her job, found the right person. In less than two weeks, not a surprise, four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter, posted her job, found the right person in less than two weeks. Not a surprise. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site within the first day. Right now, you can try ZipRecruiter for free at

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and The Ringer Podcast Network where if you thought we were done doing the rewatchables, you were wrong because we have The Shining coming next week

right before Halloween. I watched it last night. God, that is a weird movie. We have that. We have, I think, seven more after that

coming this month culminating in Godfather 2 near the end of 2019. So subscribe to the Rewatchables wherever you get your podcasts. Coming up, we're going to do million-dollar picks and talk about the Washington Nationals and a whole bunch of other things with my buddy Joe House. And then old friend Dave Chang, he's in to make his first appearance on this podcast I think in like 9 or 10 months

he has a new Netflix show coming and we're going to talk about that and food criticism and a variety of other topics it gets weird as it always does with me and Chang so that is all coming up first our friends from Pearl Jam. Alright, lots to talk about today.

We don't have Mallory Rubin this week. She's actually traveling. She's going back east because sometimes the East Coast needs to have Mallory Rubin. So she'll be back next week. We are going to call Joe House. Actually, let's call Joe House. Hey, Google, call Joe House. Calling Joe House on the line.

I don't think he's ever been happier as a sports fan, even though the Redskins are an abomination, but you don't care because you have the Nationals, they're up 2-0. What's it like in Washington right now with this Nats thing? On a scale of 1 to 10, how crazy is it? It feels like, to me, a 9. But that's reflective of the circles that I run in and probably reflective of me being an old guy.

I'm the demo for this baseball team. They arrived, you know, uh, 15 years ago when I was in my mid thirties and had some money to go ahead and buy beat season tickets. So I had season tickets. Like I, this, this team was my team from the moment they arrived. I think that's true of a lot of folks who fit my demo. You know, what DC sports fans, folks from this area who had been starved of baseball, you know, for decades, starved for baseball. And a lot of people disinclined to drive up to Baltimore and adopt that Baltimore team. So I everywhere that I look and see it's red, it's the curly W you know, it's, it's hats, it's jerseys, it's hoodies. And I, you know, the buses all say go Nats up and down the street. I don't know if I'm looking out for it or whether it is indeed as omnipresent as I'm

describing, but excitement is at a high level. Let me put it that way. Juan Soto is the most popular in that. I don't know. You know, this is funny. I asked my son who currently possesses a Bryce Harper jersey and he and I are lucky enough or fortunate enough. We're going to attend game three, the first world series that I, uh, game that I will

have ever attended in my whole life. He's going to join me. We were going to do that together. I asked him what Jersey he wanted and I, I suggested Soto and he said back to me, daddy, I want Scherzer. Well, I want Scherzer. Scherzer. Yeah.

Cause he wants a tough guy. He sees Scherzer with the ball in his hand and he's, he's, he's stomping on the mound and he's grunting and he's got that intense look that, that, that's what's resonated with my kid. Now, Juan Soto has other, you know, it certainly has a compelling story, grabbing your balls and looking at the pitcher in between every pitch that certainly resonates with me. I thought he might go for Soto on that basis alone, but he likes Scherzer, so I'm not going to get in the way of it. Well, I love Soto.

I wish more people were actually watching this World Series, although maybe this is just where baseball is now. But they said Game 1 was, what, the second lowest World Series game ever? I'm not a huge, like, oh, my God, can you believe the ratings guy? But it just seems like a reflection of where we are now, where the audience just gets older each year. I can't speak objectively about it. I'm so far down the Nats rabbit hole.

It's the only thing that I can really process. Like whatever we talk about football wise today, I'll just apologize now. This is the first time really in my, I don't know, maybe ever, that the onset of the NBA season, I feel disconnected from it. I've been watching pieces of games. I've been trying to get the rhythm and the feel for things. I am going to put in a bet today on a finals matchup

of the Clippers and the Sixers. I saw enough. That's still available. It's six and a half to one. I am going to allocate some capital on that. Yeah, it was eight to one, nine to one for a while. Yeah.

Well, they've played games. There's proof of concept now. Like, oh yeah, those two teams look effing great. And obviously there's hedges with Milwaukee and otherwise. But the larger point is I just am so you know I'm a

one trick pony at this stage of the game. It's totally fine. I can carry the football part. I mean, Tiger Woods shot 64 last night, by the way. Tiger effing Woods shot the best opening round in a PGA event in almost 10 years. And your zipper wasn't even working. My zipper was filled up with a Suzuki.

Can we talk about you taking your nine-year-old to the World Series game? I really want to walk through this with you. I'm all ears. I'm part of the conversation today. I need help. I need guidance to walk through this with you. I'm all ears. I'm part of the conversation today. I need help. I need guidance. Help me with this. Because we talked a little about this the other day and I've been thinking about it. I'm not on the podcast, just on the phone. And you were saying how you're going to bring him. You're just hoping he throws five innings. You're hoping for a five inning, 90 pitch start, get him out of there. Maybe watch the last two

at home. First of all, I think you're underselling your son. He's nine years old now. I think, I think he can, I think he can handle the workload. I don't think you have to worry about load management. I would, uh, I would definitely pick two spots during the game to load him up with sugar. So what I was thinking was, so the game starts at, it'll start what, at 8.15 your time? Yeah, right around 10 minutes after 8. That's exactly right. So I've been to a few World Series games. I don't know if you know this, but the Red Sox have won four World Series this century.

What's the Red Sox? Four times as many as the New York Yankees. I'm just not sure if you knew the numbers. Going to the World Series, two things. Everyone's instinct is to go super early, which makes no sense because ultimately it's just a baseball game. And you just want to be there when they start throwing baseballs and people start trying to hit baseballs. You don't need to be there an hour before. It's a madhouse anyway.

Second, the security. I do want. Let me tap the brakes there. I want to be there to like soak it all in. This is the first opportunity that the Washington Collective will be assembled for a World Series since 1933. I'm with you. There's a lot of pent up enthusiasm. There's a lot of like, you know, the coming in here as a 2- here with a 2-0 lead,

there's a big pent-up demand for excitement. I know, but I'm trying to protect your pitch count. I would rather you gave up the 25 minutes before the game and got another inning out of it. Because all you're thinking about is how many hours can you get out of your son? He's basically like Max Schertzer in a game seven where you're like, I need 130 pitches from Max tonight. How do I get there?

What are the moves I need to make? With your son, I think if you get there like 15, 16 minutes before, you know, like 750 range. I'm not doing that. I can tell you right now.'re gonna go at like 5 30 you're gonna shoot your wad i'm this is a mistake you are right about your huge wad you're gonna leave in the third inning it's a premature series a series jackulation it's you're right about that that is what's gonna happen now one of the things i will say that that in terms of i wonder if this

is gonna affect your judgment at all. I think I haven't got the tickets yet. I'm still coordinating on that. I believe they're going to be in a portion of the stadium where you are allowed to go inside into a conditioned space. So, like, if it's cold outside, there will be heat. Yeah. And it's quiet and it doesn't have the crowd noise and the games are on. The game is on on a whole ton of screens and there's food in this portion of the – it's like a kind of a club level thing.

It's a big open walking area. So I can grab him at various moments and take him in. If it feels like the, our exposure to the elements is too much, or if like the noise or something is getting to him, it's easy for us to go inside, um, and get like a little, a little, uh, recharge effort. Does that help any? No, I think, I think you have to have a heart to heart with your son on the way there and just be like, look at this, you little, you little nine-year-old shit. This is my first World Series game ever. You're not ruining this for me. For nine years, I've done everything you wanted.

I went on Disney cruises. I watched a hundred terrible different child shows over the years. This is the one thing. You're giving me five hours tonight. Be a man, be a man. That's what you gotta do. Maybe even stick a finger in his face i don't think that

um he's going to need that because he his excitement level is off the charts already like this week there was a couple of moments of misbehavior and the very first thing he said to me is does this get in the way of the World Series? I mean, is the World Series at stake with this? What are we talking from his behavior? Like a DUI? Like what was going on? I mean, he's nine years old.

He's in his own world. Well, listen, maybe he'll surprise you. I think, Kyle, I think we should do a Twitter poll. How long will House of Sun last at game three? I would say the over-under is the middle of the fifth. Right? Because World Series games, they go slower. They're longer.

It's cold. It's probably not starting until like 8-10. And now you're looking at it's 10-10 in the bottom of the fourth. And you have a whole time ahead. He starts to get a little sleepy, and you have a decision at that point. Do I want to buy this kid a 32-ounce Coke and also get some M&Ms to force feed him two innings later? My answer would be yes, that's what you want to do,

but you might handle it differently. I don't feel like I can have – all I can do is come up with a plan and then we'll let the baseball gods sort of dictate for us, drive us in whatever direction they want. We will go in with the plan. The plan will be to arrive early, to soak up all the excitement,

to get settled in, to go crazy, to root our guts out for the Nats and then see how the evening proceeds from there. Can I give you some more advice? We're just going to let the baseball gods decide. Buy the program. You'll never read it again after. You'll bring it home,

and it'll end up being under the coffee table leg in five years. But just buy it anyway. It feels good. It feels nice to buy the World Series. Put it in a little sleeve. It can go on the wall. Who's our frame? Is Frame bridge still sponsoring

we don't talk about frame bridge anymore they haven't cared no no frame bridge says they're always helpful to us um yeah i think you have to be on the lookout for the special world series stuff especially the hats because they have the hats with the world series logo thingies on them i love those are like great recommendation. Yeah. You want that? You want the special? You want to find the stuff that isn't available at all

the different merchandise places. You want to get like the special ones and the hat. Sometimes they have the World Series hats that has the two teams

on them. I always thought those were cool too because especially if you beat the other team it's kind of like a trophy head of the other team, right?

Well, it goes into you team, it's kind of like a trophy head of the other team, right? Well, it goes into, you know, it definitely becomes an item with a prominent place in my office. And let me just say this for the record. This is 100% true. It may not sound true. I believe that this Nats team has so far exceeded everything

that I could have hoped for. I honest to God wouldn't even indulge the possibility of dreaming that they would be arriving back in Washington up to, Oh, in this series, this it's such a likable team. It's such a rare phenomena in Washington. You have this combination of team.

That's like firing on all cylinders and very, very likable that I, I will be heartbroken if they don't win. But it's an enormous, enormous success. I'm so happy about this team. I'm in love with this team. And I'm praying that we win. But no matter the outcome, I mean, this is the thing.

I'm more nervous now than before the thing started. It feels like there's more pressure now. And the problem is Houston is so effing good at baseball. Every one of their guys is a mother effing killer. I'm sitting petrified every time they're at bat. It's too much. I can't handle it. Houston's terrifying. I thought they made a tactical mistake. I would have started Granke in game two and Verlander in game three for the exact scenario they're in now because I just don't trust Granke.

I think you can get to him. I think he's somebody, especially down to on the road that you can get to pretty quickly. Whereas if it's Verlander down to nothing. Now, I know, look, you beat Verlander in game two, but I just feel like this is such a strap-it-on kind of game, and I don't think he's a strap-it-on kind of guy.

I just don't. Well, and to your point, yes, the Nats did beat Verlander last night, but think about the sequence. He gave up a home run to the 36-year-old catcher who had had one hit in the entire postseason previously uh and and all that did was make the game three to two still super winnable by uh yeah your rally your rally was a total fluke i mean none of those hits were even that great you had a couple walks a lot of extraordinary things happened yeah for to to to seal that win i agree it was just one of those

games but that's the thing is it was one of those games you It was just one of those games. But that's the thing is It was one of those games. You've had a lot of those games and really if you do end up winning the World Series and I'm not going to jinx it for you

I just feel like Dave Roberts becomes your Dave Roberts. I have my Dave Roberts he has this special place in my heart and now Dave Roberts will have a special place

in your heart and we'll both love Dave Roberts isn't it great I'll send him I'll get a replica ring and send it to him absolutely I'd love to honor Dave Roberts for putting Clayton Kershaw out for another inning oh god bless you Dave Roberts unbelievable I still can't get over that he did that I think the Dodgers would have won if they brought him in, I think they'd win. They were... That's another team that scared the daylights out

of me. I mean, they're... It required a certain combination of clutch play by the Nats and buffoonery by the Dodgers to make that happen. Well, so with the Astros,

it's funny. So you're going against them now, and you know the feeling of going against that team. If I had to power rank the guys I'm the most afraid of, Springer is just absolutely petrifying. People would say Altuve should be first in this conversation. No way. I just assume Springer's going to hit a home run every time he's up.

And if you get him out, it feels exciting. Altuve and Springer are completely different. They're playing a different game as far as my level of concern about these guys. Springer is absolutely the Mount Rushmore. It's a Mount Rushmore of one. Although, well, go ahead. You do the list, and then I'll share some other thoughts. He's one of those guys in big games who just seems like he rises to the occasion.

I don't know what his basketball— And look, the nerds could throw all the numbers at me. I don't really care. I just know how I feel when I'm watching a baseball game, and that guy just seems like the most competitive locked-in dude of anybody. I don't know what his basketball equivalent would be. But, like, who is it? Like, Kawhi? Is he Ray Allen?

Or is he better than Ray Allen? I think he's better than Ray Allen. I almost think it's like Kawhi or somebody like that, even though he's not the best player in the league like Kawhi. But how Kawhi, in a playoff game, hits that point where you're just like, I'm just terrified of this guy. Springer's like that to me in his bench celebrations. He just seems like the greatest teammate. I'm so afraid of him. Altuve's 1B. He comes up. He's like Kevin Hart

size. It just seems like it would be so easy to get him out. You can't throw a strike because the strike zone is like five inches for him. And then you make a mistake and he just uncorks it. And he's like become superhuman. I've never seen anything like him either. And then you make a mistake and he just uncorks it. And he's like become superhuman. I've never seen anything like him either. And then I would put Bregman third. But distant. Distant third. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So Bregman is very concerning to me. I don't want to participate in this ranking because I feel like it's going to come back down. That's fair. Maybe used against me in a court of law. Very fair. Bregman makes

me nervous. Altuve also makes me nervous. A different kind of nervous. That's all I'll say. We're listing basically all the best Astros. They all scare me. Correa scares me. The first baseman, Yuri Gurriel scares me. Those guys don't scare me. Korea scares me. The first base in Yuri,

Greg, Guriel scares me. Uh, yeah, those guys don't scare me as much. Brantley, Brantley scares me. You can pitch to those guys.

Brantley looks like a murderer every time he's up there. You can pitch to Guriel. Guriel was on my fantasy team and was like smoking, smoking hot. Oh, I'm looking at their team. The other guy that scares me. And it's so weird.

Cause it, it's not backed up by anything. This type of player scares me is Josh Reddick because I just think in October those lefty outfielders slash

first base guys who could go one for 24 but then have the biggest hit of the game. I hate those guys. Brett Gardner is another one. He's one of the game. I hate those guys. Like Brett Gardner is another one. He's one of those guys. I hate those like lefties who you feel like you should be getting out,

but the pitcher kind of relaxes a little bit. And those are always the guys that kill teams in October. Well, House, who's pitching for you game three? Anibal Sanchez. Oh man. God, he was such a stiff in the American League how do these guys

turn it around in the National League like this National League spends more money than the American League it should be like a harder league to be in

well I don't know like it runs both ways Garrett Cole started off as a pirate and found his his true calling with the Astros then he became

Nolan Ryan well I mean you know there could be some comparisons right let's uh his true calling with the Astros. Then he became Nolan Ryan. Well, I mean, you know, there could be some comparisons, right? We'll talk basketball and football a little bit. Good luck, house. I'm going to put a Twitter poll. We'll see.

I have middle of the fifth for your kid. We'll see. We'll take one break though. And now it's time for the State Farm Safe Bet of the Week. We're going to go with a player you can count on, just like football life can be unpredictable. That's why State Farm agents are there to help with over 19,000 agents. A local State Farm agent could be just around the block. Whether you talk in person, by phone, or through the app, State Farm is there. So go with the one with coverage and agents you can count on.

I'm going off the grid. I'm going with a team that I did not like coming into this season that I thought would win less than six games. I think their over-under was six and a half. Josh Jacobs on the Raiders, I think is not only the offensive rookie of the year. And if he's not officially yet, I think it's going to happen,

but I've been really impressed with this guy. Not even he's not officially yet, I think it's going to happen, but I've been really impressed with this guy. Not even when they're playing well, like they lost to the Packers by double digits. They were out of the game in the third quarter this week. He was awesome. He was the one reason they were able to stay in the game. And I think if you look back at that game, uh, if there, if David Carr doesn't Derek Carr, if Derek Carr, David Carr was his brother. If Derek Carr doesn't reach out and touch the pylon and do that whole thing, and that was a 14-point swing, that screwed the game up for them.

But I thought Josh Jacobs was outstanding. And you look at his stats right now, he is on pace for something like 1,300, 1,400 yards. He's been 20-plus carries in over 110 yards last two games. And when you watch him, he's just one of those dudes that he's always falling forward. He's always getting five yards when it should have been three. He's always getting seven when it should have been four.

His ability to break plays. And I'm looking at them this week as they're going into Houston, a team that I am not especially impressed by. Houston right now, they're 14th in DVOA. They're 3-3. Oakland's 20th in DVOA. They're 3-3. And I think some of that probably got screwed up

by Green Bay just being awesome last week. Their pass rush isn't great, which that would be the part that worries me with playing in Houston because I think you got to sack Watson. On the other hand, Houston's offensive line isn't great, so maybe that's not going to be a huge problem, but I could see the Raiders staying in this game. And I could see them staying in this game because

of Jacobs, because I think they can control the ball and I think he can do his thing. So watch out for him. He is my player you can count on this week. Stay firm. Talk to an agent today. So did you see the LA versus LA game? I talked about it on the last podcast, but was curious for your take watching LeBron, AD, Danny Green, and a bunch of mediocre to worst guys. I caught the entire fourth quarter because that's how I decompressed from the high anxiety of game one of the World Series where the Nats were up 5-2 and then two of their relievers gave up runs in each of the successive innings.

So I needed at least an hour to calm the F down, which meant that I was up plenty late and had lots of energy for that Lakers-Clippers game. Now, when I came in, the Clippers were up by enough that the game was kind of already decided, but I was taken by a few things. One thing that I was taken by, and I know that you've already covered this,

and there's been the commentary that has chimed in, the Lakers have to get a traditional point guard to play point guard. They cannot do this experiment of LeBron playing point guard and setting the table for Anthony Davis. And the Lakers also gravely missed Kuzma, gravely and greatly. Both of those Gs. They missed Kuzma. I am reserving judgment on what I observed from the Lakers until they have that team fully

together. I swear to God they need to go out and get another point guard behind Rondo, another traditional point guard to play point guard. Can't be Avery Bradley either. I came home and did 20 minutes at the top of my pod the other night and I hadn't read all the Twitter stuff. I took

Twitter off my phone, which has been surprisingly refreshing, but I didn't realize, I knew they were posting up too much. And I even made a joke, I think when I did the pod about how Vogel is running his 2012 Pacers offense. I didn't realize how many times they posted up. It was kind of a number that was so far out of whack with what I ever would have expected them to do in a basketball game. I just have no idea why they weren't doing more high screens and all that stuff.

But the most glaring thing to me is if LeBron's going to play point, just the amount of work it takes, especially if the other team is pressing him up the court, it's just like wasted energy. It doesn't make sense. He can run the whole offense through him anyway without him having to feel like he's the point guard.

So I'm with you. I don't know who the acquisition is going to be. I don't want to really overreact to anything I saw over the first two days. I don't think it's an overreaction to say seven of those guys he was playing with are not good. That's not an overreaction. That's true. From what I saw last night, without overreacting,

because Ben Simmons has done this before where he's looked awesome, and then all of a sudden you catch him in the right game and he disappears and he's not shooting anymore. I was impressed with how committed they were to getting him going in that first Celtic game. Where they were basically like, this is not Embiid's team. This is both of your teams. We need both of you guys to go.

And they were like posting him up and doing all kinds of different things. I just thought, you, me, and Rossello all love Philly with the over heading into the season. Everything I saw last night confirmed it. I think they're really dangerous defensively. The Thibel and Richardson and Simmons, these guys they have on the wings, Embiid, Horford, they're just a bitch to play. Every time you looked out, they had four really good NBA players out there. And I didn't see anything yesterday

that didn't make me change my opinion that they're going to be really really good this year this is a terrific segue into um the point that I wanted to make I wanted to uh also keep some praise on the Clippers and what you just described in terms of what the eye test produced watching the Sixers. We had kind of a sense going in. We had a thesis about how the Sixers are going to work. To me, it was confirmed. They are a mature team.

They are a super athletic team. They are a team that is going to win a huge number of games by way of defense like you we last year we we did this thing about you know bet the over um relentlessly pound the over in at the beginning of the season because the over-unders are still getting sorted out every i'm going to pound the under on sixers games until you you know, further notice because they are so like the Celtics could not do anything. Now, Kemba had a bad night shooting. Tatum had a bad night shooting.

Yeah, but here's the thing with Kemba, though. The reason he had a bad night shooting was because the Sixers are just really long. He is crazy long. He was four for 18. He didn't shoot well. He missed some open shots. The Celtics missed a ton of free throws. It was not, the Celtics did not play well in that game.

But I thought it was, I was really dubious of their ability to stop other teams' point guards. And, you know, especially a team with size like that, you'd figure out, well, the one problem is going to be this. But the length is a problem. Kemba was open, and now you have a 6'8 guy closing out on him. It confirmed what we thought. I still feel like they're a guy short. I think they have a trade to make. I'd like to see them get some sort of borderline heat check guy off the bench so Thibel could play more and stuff like that.

Same thing with the Clippers though. Where we talked about the eye test. Man, when Paul George comes back with the guys that we saw in that game and you just give Paul George, you give Patterson's minutes and some other people's minutes to Paul George, that team's going to be a

bitch. I want to ask your opinion of this. I immediately, upon the end of that game, went online to see if I could get odds for Kawhi as MVP. And I know all the arguments against Kawhi winning the MVP. Load management, it doesn't really make sense for the Clippers to go balls to the wall and win 65 games this season. And, you know, a lot of stuff, uh, they're built for the, for the playoffs.

They're built for success in the post season. But what if, and probably based on what I saw, there's no reason this can't be the case. They are so deep. What if they just go kick everybody's ass because they have so many interchangeable parts. Speaking of a mature team, an athletic team, a team that with a defensive concept that is going to be, you know, relentless,

they just might go win 60 some games without even trying. And if Kawhi with the, with Paul George's addition is able to like play in most of the games. I, i i mean if he's still uh he was in double digits as an mvp candidate uh before the season started if he's still in there i might put a little sprinkle on kawaii what do you think about this i agree i thought i thought it during the game actually because i was thinking about the stuff that is in play for him potentially this season. And it's not just being the first guy to be the best guy on three different finals teams,

right? Although he arguably, he wasn't the best guy in 2014, but whatever. The, a signature guy on three different finals teams is pretty rare. But the one thing he hasn't done is win the MVP yet. He came close in the,

the Harden Westbrook season, but it didn't happen. And then last year he didn't done is win the MVP yet. He came close in the Harden-Westbrook season, but it didn't happen. And then last year he didn't play enough games. It seemed like they were very committed to a substitution schedule with him where he came out at specific points and it was prearranged and then he went back at specific points.

And, you know, it seems like they probably want him playing, I forget how many he ended up with, but 34 to 35 against the good teams. Maybe that lessens a little bit. The Moe Harkless thing is a big thing for them. If he plays like he did opening night, that'll be able to, you know, he'll be able to take some defensive load off him too, I think, in some of these lesser games.

So I'm with you. The guy that jumped out to me last night and his odds were suspiciously a little bit low anyway, but not low enough to still jump on, but Luka made a jump. He just looks like he's in better shape. There was some of it in the preseason,

but it was confirmed last night. Just looks like he's at another level. And if that team wins 48, it's in play. I didn't have the heart to do it because it's the first game of the season. I'm all the way committed to the local baseball team. But before we start getting super excited about Luka

and his performance against the Washington Wizards, let's just tap the brakes. and his performance against the Washington Wizards. Yeah. Let's just tap the brakes. The Wizards have one and a half legitimate NBA players. I'm with you. One and a half. I just like that he's in shape. I'm not ready to crown his ass. I like that he's in shape from what I could tell.

And I think his team is a lot better and fits him better, more importantly. Like he's surrounded by shooters now. So the other thing is he's just kind of a sneaky rebounder. Like he had nine in the first game. But if you look back last year, I think he averaged seven a game. And he does have the possibility. Let me just lay out the Luka campaign for you. If he's like 28-7-7 on a

Dallas team that wins 48, it's in play. I don't think he'll win it, but I think for what his odds are, he seems to be the only value. The only other one I would say is Simmons, but I wouldn't advise that one. If you're just looking at long shot guys.

I have one question for you. I want to stir up some shit. Yeah. The Celtics aren't going to make the playoffs? As you sat there. No, no, no, no. This isn't directed at you. People are going to get mad because we're already notorious Laker haters.

You sitting there, you're watching that game. Did it cross your mind at all in any way, shape, or form that Anthony Davis might not stay in LA next year? Is there any possibility? No. Is there any sequence of events under which AD playing with this team sees the load, sees the direction? That Lakers team, how much better are they going to be?

How much better can they be from this season to next season? Is this, are we going to see anything along the way here where it seems like AD might be taking his time on the extension? I did not cross my mind. Cause it really seemed like, okay, okay.

I'm just starting off some shit. No, I like it. Believe me. You're making me happy. Watching it in my seats and trying to watch all the body language chemistry stuff that, you know, I love to look at when I'm at games. I felt like him and AD were really aligned. And we're actually aligned to the point that it felt like it was those two and then everybody else on the team, which I don't think is necessarily a great.

It's not a great. LeBron does this. LeBron can either be the super inclusive LeBron or he can be the, we're over here and I wish we could do better with the other guys here. He kind of was in both worlds during that game. But I also think the Clippers are really good and there's a chance that's the worst the Lakers are going to look because the Clippers just have a lot of people to throw at their best two guys.

So that's a, that's a fair point. Actually, I'm rooting. I would just for Laker nation. I bet on the Lakers with my money, uh, podcasting and otherwise, uh, on the Lakers over 50 and a half games. So, so don't at me. I like the Lakers. I'm rooting on the Lakers over 50 and a half games. So don't at me. I like the Lakers. I'm rooting for the Lakers. You don't like the Lakers. You like the financial incentive of liking the Lakers. Correct. Correct. Correct.

The other thing I noticed last night, and you know, it's game one, whatever, but OKC, I think we undervalued when we did the over-under pod. At least two of us did. Maybe one of us went over. I don't remember.

I know I went under. I took the over. Yeah. I'm pretty sure I took the over. I think if we did that over-under again, it should be in the 38, 39 range. They have a lot of really good basketball players. They're professional. That's a professional basketball team.

Shajel just Alexander looked awesome last night. And my biggest hesitation with them was that him and Chris Paul just made no sense together and wouldn't be able to play together. And actually they made a lot of sense together because they're both really smart. Shea played off the ball way more than I thought. Chris Paul's used to playing off the ball from being with Harden for two years.

And I liked the vibe between the two of them. Defensively, they were better than I expected. They still have Adams. They had Gallinari, but it just seemed like a professional basketball team to me. They went to Utah. They almost beat them. They were in that game basically the whole way. And Mitchell made a couple of shots and they won, but they held Conley. I think he was one for 16. He was terrible. And I just think we're going to hear from them. I had in my head the Kings as a fringe playoff team. And now if I had to do that over again, not just because the Kings lost last night,

it just, I didn't love what I just saw in general from the roster stuff and the stuff Luke Walton was doing last night. I would switch those two if I could do it again. I will say to our credit, we all took the over on Oklahoma city at 32. Oh, we all went over.

Oh, good. I forgot. We all went over. Okay. I pulled it up. You, you have a pretty firmly held conviction that Chris Paul is going to stay

with OKC this year. And if that happens, then, then it's a, it's a great, there's a lot of value there. Yeah, you're right.

That's why I went over because I didn't think they're going to be able to trade him. Now it's interesting great, there's a lot of value there. Yeah, you're right. That's why I went over, because I didn't think they were going to be able to trade him. Now, it's interesting watching him last night, because he looked good last night. Maybe they will be able to trade him. Well, how about this? There's no way this can happen, but the team that, just for the richness of the narrative

and what I like about how open the season feels. I'd love to see him on the Lakers. I'd love to see him playing with LeBron and AD. It can't happen. The money can't happen. It's not possible. The money can't happen. Milwaukee can happen.

Yeah. Oh, well, that's a game changer for Milwaukee. The funny thing about OKC, they're a guy short. And the reason they're a guy short is because they traded Jeremy Grant for salary cap relief. Ferguson played 24 minutes and went 0 for 0 from field goals. Minus 9. And Schroeder had to play 31 minutes. He was 1 for 8.

Ouch. So if you just gave Grant like 30 of those minutes, I think they actually probably would have beaten Utah. But the thing is, they have 100 picks. So actually, I was thinking

watching them last night, like they actually might be a playoff team if they made a trade. I don't know if they would give away one of those dumb firsts they have. Not the good ones,

but like the lesser ones. So I noticed that. The other thing I noticed, I don't want to overreact from it because Sacramento was terrible, but it was just interesting watching Rubio on Phoenix. I didn't like the signing. I thought they overpaid him, but a lot of those guys have never played with a point guard before.

Like, I'm not sure Devin Booker's ever played with a real point guard. And that's true. Deandre definitely hasn't. And you go down the line and right. It was just somebody who knew how to run an offense. He would drive to the basket. Somebody would cut. He would actually give them the ball for a layup.

It was all stuff that wasn't happening with them last year. So I'm monitoring that one because I think we might have been off on, I think we all went under on Phoenix. It was like 27, something like that. That's incorrect. You're wrong. I went over and Rosillo went over. You were the only one all went under on Phoenix. It was like 27. That's incorrect. You're wrong. I went over and Rosillo went over. You were the only one who went under.

The problem is they have to win. The over-under is 29 and a half. They have to win 30. And that feels like, you know, that might not happen. A tall order. 29 is pretty high. But they have a bunch of professional guys. Oubre looked pretty damn good.

All of the things that, that, that, uh, uh, you know, are, are, are his attributes. They were out there in full force. He's dunking with the left hand. He's running the floor. Great. He's playing great defense. No, I mean, Phoenix at least is like interesting. There'll be kind of fun to watch occasionally.

Rubio. Hey, I love Rubio. If you go back to my 2009 draft diary, when I'm just having a heart attack that David Kahn passed Rubio and Curry with those two picks. I was actually more upset about Rubio. I loved Rubio and Curry.

I was mad that everybody was passing on those guys. I thought Rubio was really going to be special. And Kobe went into his knee and he tore his knee and ended up on a couple of weird teams. And it never just totally happened. So who knows with him? Um, all right, we gotta do, we had to do some football. Sure. Even though, even though you've already admitted you don't care.

Well, I mean, I, I care cause I I've been on a horrendous. This is what happens in life. If you don't really dedicate yourself to your betting craft. Yeah, it goes bad. I've had two disastrous weekends, and I didn't even bet money money. I think I only bet a little bit two weeks ago, but I've been traveling and trying to do stuff on the fly. You can't research the NFL on the fly. You have to sit down for hours and think it through. My book tour in 09, I think I was doing well.

I went on that book tour. I think I went like six for 40 the next three weeks. It completely fell apart. It's hard. I've had two straight weeks to four and 11. Yeah. I know. Oh, I I've had people get injured. You don't know. Four and 11. Yeah. It's tough. Oh,

I forgot to mention one NBA thing. Whiteside had a big game last night and I actually think that's a bad thing for Portland. I think the worst thing that could happen for him is his, is for them is him getting good stats because that will make them think, Oh, well maybe Whiteside and that, and you're just not, it's not happening with that guy.

So the worst thing is, is him thinking, forget about them. It's him. You're where you need him. Whiteside's hungry and him with his head on right. Whiteside's like, forget about the big two. It's a big three. No, it's actually not. It's still a big two. You're over here. Just grab some rebounds for us. All right. Football. So we have, we have a, I lost 80,000 last week. I did something dumb. I love the Colts.

You weren't on last week. I was on last week. Oh, you were? We did it during the basketball. We mailed it in at the end. You were barely involved. No, by the way, why do you think they were down? You bet a half million on the Colts. I know, but then I took the other half million

and I put it with Niners and Pats and I teased them with five teams. Two of the five teams won, but then as the caveat, it was like whatever I win, I'm trying to middle with the Jets plus 10. So I lost all that money. So I ended up losing $80,000. Why'd you do that? Because I'm a moron. You said you were going to do it.

What are you talking about? I'm done. You said you were going to do it and then we made fun of you and I thought that was sufficient to talk you out of it. Did I do it or not? No, I did it. I ended up doing it. You're a dummy. Why did you do that?

I think I'm down 80K. Well, here's what we're doing for this week. Joe Haas, I don't know if you've heard of a team named the Indianapolis Colts. You heard of them? I just recently was introduced to them. Kobe Brissett. I think we've had them every week, and they've come through every week but one when they were banged up.

And I think they're going to come through again this week, but we have to put them in a tease. They're favored by six points against Joseph Flacco in the Denver Broncos. I don't know if you're familiar with Joe's work, but I'm not a huge fan. I really like this Colts team. I think they have a chance to not only solidify their standing in the AFC South

because of another thing that I think is going to happen this weekend, which I'll talk to you about in a second. But more importantly, I think the Colts have proven now that they can win close games, whereas Denver has proven the opposite. If it's a field goal game, they'll do something dumb in the last minute, the last five minutes. Maybe it's not that close. I'm putting them in a tease. All right, so who are we teasing them with? Teasing them from minus 60 even. The Detroit Lions. I'm always hesitant to trust Matt Patricia. I think with reason, right?

Well, he really, really effed us hard in a soft spot last week. I mean, Detroit had 10 million ways to cover that tease up to 11 and a half. Yeah, they just were insistent on not covering that. Even like missing a two point, like the whole thing. I actually still think they're pretty good. I don't think they're great, but I think they're pretty good. The advanced metrics, they're 13th in DVOA right now. They're playing the Giants.

The Giants are 27th in DVOA. The Giants are awful defensively. They're playing the Giants. The Giants are 27th in DVOA. The Giants are awful defensively. They're awful. They stink. They're fucking terrible. They suck. And they won that one game a few weeks ago, and everybody got excited about Danny Dimes.

He's been horseshit ever since. And I actually feel like this line right now is Detroit minus six and a half. And Detroit's two, three, and one. It's actually weirdly a must win for them. But the Lions have hung with every team they've played. Even last week, they were in that game. It was a three-point game if they made it two-point. It should have been a one-score game.

It should have been a one-score game at the end. That felt like a close game. So I love teasing them with the Colts. It should have been a one score game. That was a, that felt like a close game. So, um, I love teasing them with the Colts. All the giants have to do is lose. All the Colts have to do is beat Joe Flacco by one point. And I win my teas. How much would you put on this out of the available 1 million?

Wow. The teas is, is the available 1 million. Wow. The tease is the Colts and the Lions and it's in Detroit. And in Indianapolis. I have two home teams. Yeah, I like that a lot. That feels like a third of our pot.

That feels like a $333,000 wager to me. We're going higher. We're going half a million. Wow! Blow it out! The second one I really like is the Carolina Panthers who I've been enjoying for a while now

who have been kind of under the radar because of this Kyle Allen thing. All of the numbers of them are pretty good. I think their defense is actually really good. And I'll tell you, this Niners team, I'm not against this Niners team. And I know they're undefeated and I know we've said nice things on the pod.

They've been a pleasant surprise as a contender. There's some things I'm not crazy about with them. I don't really like their receivers. I'm not positive they can block for Jimmy G for that long. If you go look at the NFL's next-gen stats, the numbers for how much time he has to throw compared to the best quarterbacks, it's like a half-second lower. And I noticed that yesterday with your beloved Washington Deadskins, they were actually pressuring him in that game. I know the weather was bad, but

no, no, you're this is a great point. I agree with this and I will say that game was in doubt for all the way up until the end. Seriously, five minutes left in the game four minutes left in the game. Washington's defense played great.

I mean, I know that it was a footing and the weather and everything like that, but they did put pressure on Jimmy G. And the other thing about that San Francisco offense, I'm not blown away by their skill players. Not at all. There isn't anybody out there that scares me. There's speed on the edge.

Nope. I mean, there's a running back that's going to get loose. I didn't see any of that out of them. Well, Devo Samuel was hurt. Now, he's 21 years old. I'm not sure how much that's going to get loose. I didn't see any of that out of them. Well, Devo Samuel was hurt. He's 21 years old. I'm not sure how much that's going to impact them. They did trade for Emmanuel Sanders, but I think it's tough to work a receiver in. It does seem like

you can just double team Kittle and that's it. And they're also a team that when they have the lead, I think they're up 10. They can start running the ball and doing play action, that stuff. When it's a closer game and Jimmy has to make some plays, I didn't feel like he had the protection. And I'm sorry, I don't think Washington's that good.

So they're number two in DVOA. Carolina's number nine. I just like how they've played. I think their defense is good. As long as Keekly's healthy, it's always, you know, they're always a notch above than when he's not in the lineup, which, you know, we're right around notch above than when he's not in the lineup, which, you know, we're right around the time when that's going to happen again.

But they have receivers that can make plays. And McCaffrey's fucking awesome. And I was really surprised by this line. The more I thought about it and looked at it, the Niners are favored by five and a half. And I think the line should be four. I don't think there's much separation between those two teams. So what do you think? I was thinking 250 on the Panthers plus five and a half. The Panthers plus five and a half.

Wait, the Panthers. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, just you're not going to. There's no tease to this. No, this is just the Panthers. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. I support that.

That's a fine way to play it. Yeah. This feels like a field goal game. I wouldn't be surprised if the Niners win again. Shanahan's smart. They're good. You know, if Garoppolo doesn't commit mistakes. Carolina's been on, speaking of committing mistakes,

they're so impressive in terms of like not beating themselves. That's the thing with this run where they, they made poor cam irrelevant, but they don't beat themselves. This, this Panthers team. Yeah. I'm looking at right now. The Panthers are foreign to in a,

in a conference where 10 wins is going to have to make the playoffs, unfortunately, but they, they lost our first two. They beat the Cardinals by 18, which is slightly more impressive now because the Cardinals have been hanging around. Beat the Texans by six. Beat the Jags by seven. And beat the Bucks by 11.

This would be their best win. I don't know if they're going to win, but I think they hang around. So that's my second one. Yeah, that's right. That's a good bet. All right, so with 250K left to play with, I'm giving you two games and I can either split it. We'll walk through it. The Raiders are plus seven. They are playing at Houston. I keep watching Houston and I'm not totally seeing it. I think it's Hopkins and that's it.

Will Fuller always gets hurt. I don't think the running backs are very good. Watson's running for his life half the time. Oakland doesn't have a great pass rush, but I'm not sure that matters in this game. And then, you know, as I said in the State Farm thing before, I just really like Josh Jacobs. I think he allows them to hang around.

They can control the ball. It's always second and six or second and five with them. And I think they can hang around. I thought they were in that Green Bay game last week. Weirdly, they kind of gave it to them for that first half. They made a couple of mistakes and then the game got away. But I think Houston is not nearly as good as Green Bay. I don't think they're as good defensively either.

And that line is plus seven. So I have two things that make me slightly disinclined to mess with Oakland this week. The first thing is, this is their fifth consecutive game on the road. They got, you know, they treat that London game as a home game. The first thing is this is their fifth consecutive game on the road. Jesus. They got, you know, they treat that London game as a home game. They were the home team for that.

Yeah. But that's not a home game, obviously. That's in effing London. So I just don't, it feels unprecedented to me, honestly. Five games in a row on the road. It's incredible. Yeah. The other thing I don't love, they just traded their cornerback, Gary and Conley, on Monday to the Houston Texans. Oh.

Why did this game was on the schedule? You feel like Oakland knew that they were going to be playing Houston. Why would you trade this guy to the team that they were going to be playing Houston. Why would you trade this guy to the team that you're about to face? Do you think that Conley has some things to say about game plan? Let me give you the other team I was looking at. The Bills are minus two against Philly. The Bills are home. The Bills didn't look great last week against Miami. That was basically a three-point game. They get an onside kick touchdown.

And now I think people are a little bit off the Bills. They're like, eh, well, Fitzpatrick was moving the ball on them. How good could that defense can be? I'm going to make the case for them just quickly. If there's ever a letdown game ever in the history of mankind, isn't it going against a Dolphins team that's openly tanking? When you're favored by 17, you're a young team that hasn't really done that much yet. And you just feel like you can show up and win. And they obviously felt that way. They thought they could show up, do their thing and whatever. They're 21st in DVOA, which is not encouraging.

Their defense is 12th. I watched them. I watched every play of that Pats game I think their defense is actually really good and I think they have a good performance in them that we haven't seen yet and then I see that Philly game which I watched every play of that Philly-Dallas game on Sunday night with Kyle I didn't think they could protect Wentz I think they have trouble

I don't think Alshon Jeffries is the same guy anymore they don't have Deshaun Jackson I don't think they have trouble. I don't think Alshon Jeffrey is the same guy anymore. They don't have Deshaun Jackson. I don't think they have good receivers. You can kind of at least try to take out their tight ends. Their running backs aren't great. And then defensively, you can throw on them. The line feels like it should be minus three and it's minus two. And I feel like I'm getting a free point. Talk me out of this one. No, so I kind of share your view on this. I mean, this is an absolute positive must-win game for the Eagles. They cannot lose this game. So that would be the reason you would just sort of tip your hat to Doug Peterson

and what he's created in Philly, and they have in the past been up to the moment. That should have been part of the prevailing dynamic last week though against division rival Dallas Cowboys where a win in that game would have you know solidified their standing and really stabilize their situation they didn't just lose that game they got their ass kicked they weren't in that game against against Dallas they can't that there there's something going on with their secondary. There's too much pressure on their secondary. They're not getting any pressure at all up front.

Did Fletcher Cox finally get a quarterback? Did he touch a quarterback finally? I don't think he did. They can't put any pressure, and it's just too much pressure on the secondary. Also, the Eagles' offense has not hit 300 yards twice in the last three games. They haven't generated 300 yards of offense in two of their last three. I don't like the idea of them generating 300 yards against Buffalo in Buffalo. I'm kind of liking this Buffalo game. Okay, so we'll put 200 on that. Buffalo in Buffalo. I'm kind of liking this Buffalo game. Okay.

So we'll put 200 on that. And then for the last one, I want to do a crazy parlay. I love crazy parlays. As a winner of a six-way parlay this year. Colts and Lions just to win. Raiders plus 250. Panthers plus 210.

19 to 1 odds. I don't like the Raiders. You don't like the Raiders? I don't think they're going to beat Houston. So you lose that parlay. So you're saying Lions, Colts, Panthers to win plus 210 plus 477. Is that parlay? I kind of like that.

That one I like better. Okay. Because the Panthers, this is kind of a statement game for them. Like we're going to see what class they belong to. You know, San Francisco has demonstrated their, you know, know their kind of class they're in that upper tier we still for the reason you went through all of their wins some good wins in there but no like real statement game this is a statement game win for them that's worth the juice that's worth you know nearly five to one return because we feel pretty comfortable about the other two which means one of those two

is going to fuck us but i think both of those are well-founded. Last one, Panthers, Raiders, and Dolphins, all to win 77 to 1. I mean, that's worth 50 bucks. I'm going to put 10K on that. Yeah, because the Dolphins are in Pittsburgh, and I actually think they could beat Pittsburgh. They're 14-point underdogs.

They are 6-1 to win. It's not inconceivable, right? Would you be blown away if Mason Rudolph lost to Miami? I wouldn't. No, and they played, you know, they rounded into form. They started to look like an NFL team. They could have beat the Redskins, the Deadskins, at home two weeks ago. They were competitive with the Bills for virtually that whole game.

I mean, the only way the Bills covered the tease for everybody was the onside kick return. I know. That was beautiful. It was a miracleside kick return. I know. That was beautiful. It was a miracle-teased preservation move. So, no, the Dolphins are finally a legitimate professional football team. Them winning a game at some point is not out of the question.

What are the Nats odds to win the World Series right now? I can't look at it because I feel like anything that I do at this stage, the real regret I have, I'm going to give a shout out to my boy, Big Al McMorty. We've been talking about this. He gave out on his service on September the 18th.

No, September the 9th. The Nats at 18 to 1 odds to win the World Series, 18 to 1. Now that is a juicy tidbit. BigAlMcMorty.com. I wish I'd gotten on that. Now I can't touch it. I'm sure that they can't be even odds, right? They're minus 250.

Right. I mean, the number of times that it's like 88% that a team that goes up 2-0 falls all the way through. I just am deathly afraid of that 12%. It scares the living daylights out of me. Should I emotional hedge? Let me ask you this. Should I emotionally hedge and put a

touchdown on Houston? Don't do it. No, not on your own team. What are you talking about? Okay, good. Alright, here's what we're doing. Million dollar picks. Week 8. Lions, Colts, Tees. Basically just both have to win. That's it. 500,000. All right. Here's what we're doing. Million dollar picks. Week eight. Lions, Colts, Tees. Basically just both have to win. That's it. 500,000.

Panthers, plus five and a half in San Francisco. 250,000 on that. 200,000 on the Bills, minus two at home against Philly. A $40,000 Tees. Lions, Colts, Panthers. All of them have to win plus 477. And then a little 10, a little 10,000 throwaway tees, 77 to one odds, Panthers, Raiders, Dolphins, all of them have to win.

That'll be fun to root for. I don't mind throwing away 10K on that. If you want to see something happen to my zipper, let's let, let's let the first half of those games get going and get get you know something working positive for us it could be jump right into the zipper zone oh and then i'm gonna put a hundred thousand on you leaving the nats game before the sixth inning the fifth inning no i'll be there no sixth inning sixth inning six yeah i think you want to get your son to get a quality start, five innings, and then you get him out of there. Sixth inning.

That could be the one. House, D.C., Nationals fans, good luck. Thanks for coming on. Let's fucking go now! All right, bringing in Dave Chang in one second. First, on October 27th, all four major sports, football, basketball, hockey, and baseball, will be in action on the same day. This rare sports phenomenon is called the Sports Equinox.

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to make your free picks today. Age and residency restrictions apply. No purchase or wager necessary. Voidware prohibitive. Payout paid in non-withdrawable site credit. Site credit expires after seven days. Terms apply. All right. We're going to bring in Dave Chang. We forgot to mention during this whole conversation that we had that he has Major Domo opening up in Vegas in mid-December. And I look forward to overeating there and then going to a blackjack table and losing money. I guarantee this happens and I'm going to be pissed the next day, but the food will be awesome. Anyway, here's Dave Chang. All right. We're taping this on a Thursday morning, LA time.

Dave Chang is here. He hosts a podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. He owns a bunch of restaurants that he runs and cooks at. He has a bunch of television shows. He's a very busy man. It's a pleasure just to have you sitting down on a couch again. I know. I know. It's been a while. It's been a while. Always excited to be here. And last time I was here, I was trying to buy a house and get situated before my wife gave birth. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. And we're in New York, but we are in the process of moving back. You have a new show.

What's the name of the show? The new show is called Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. And it premiered October 23rd on Netflix. How is that for you? How many episodes? It's four episodes. We go to Vancouver with Seth Rogen, Cambodia with Kate McKinnon, Marrakesh with Chrissy Teigen, and we stay in your hometown of Los Angeles, our adopted hometown, with Lena Waithe. And you've done 135 interviews about this show already. I can see the wear and tear in your body and your voice.

Well, you know, it's interesting. I actually thought about this yesterday at dinner when like my two favorite coaches are Popovich and Belichick. And you talk about this in the podcast too. What are the kinds of questions that, and it's the kind of question they get asked the most that they give a one word answer. Can I guess the questions that people are asking the most? Yes.

What made you want to do this show? Yes. How did you pick who the guests were going to be? Yes. What, what place did you want to go to that you didn't go to? No. That wasn't asked? No, no.

That was too interesting? It's too interesting. And then it was like- How is this different than other food shows that have happened? Yes. Which leads to ultimately the question that gets asked the most. How is this not like Anthony Bourdain's show? Bingo.

It's like in every way that's been asked was asked. So people know you were friends with them, right? I don't even know if they know that, but do they know you were super close with them? I don't even know. Cause like, I don't feel like I want to bring that up, but that has like nothing to do with it i guess so i just was envisioning all day in this press junket giving popovich responses and belichick responses

but i wasn't able to do just one word answers like just get really angry like really it's a terrible question next i wanted to do that but i didn't have the ball. So I need to develop a better response. Well, I don't feel like that should be the last show where anybody goes on location and eats. I mean, there's a huge audience for these shows, right? It's like a big appetite for human beings to watch content where people are on location at restaurants they haven't seen. Well, the show's fun. We did it with Morgan Neville and the team that did Ugly Delicious. And I view both of those shows sort of on the same spectrum. Ugly Delicious usually uses food as a Trojan horse to talk about things in culture. This is more like, I would say,

like a talk show over food. We just happen to be in another country. Yeah. And it's discovering things about that city or the guest or sometimes myself. And it's a lot lighter in material, I think, even though Cambodia got super heavy. And I don't know. It's a weird time to do something that's public. Cause if you take, if it's not perfect, it doesn't make everyone happy. I think it's hard to,

I don't know. I actually don't know how you do something that makes people happy anymore. It's just like, fuck, we try, you know, people love it it but it's also like these are these uh the questions seem to be very irritating to me so i want to give the one word response but i can't so you think we're just entering this post-happiness world where no idea is ever going to make anyone happy i mean we talk about this right it's like how do you do something that is certain you're certainly aware of other perspectives but because of the time and place you're only able to explore a couple of perspectives how can you do a like 360 degree perspective approach on something you know you

can't get every perspective down so um i i don't know i think you and i are wired very similar that we'll just try something and figure out if it works later but we want to keep moving and trying stuff but i think i'm working on something right now that i haven't announced it that i'm like really excited about and the rush of like yeah this is going to be cool potentially. I still, I care about that more than what people think. But what do you say? I'm also old and I've been around a while and I've learned now to just care about what makes me happy versus what would make somebody else happy.

This is getting deep. Whatever project that you do when it comes out and what if it's, no matter how good it is what if people are like well it's not the entire perspective you're missing this this and this and you're like wait like yeah but i i laugh at that stuff i think everybody tries to everybody thinks that creativity is some sort of checklist that you have to check mark the 27 things that need to be in there or else it's not not worthy or you missed out or you failed in some way. And I don't think anybody's – you're never going to make everybody happy.

It's never happened. Even Seinfeld, which was the biggest comedy of the last 30 years, people were unhappy with that show all the time. Nobody remembers that now. Do you think this makes making creative endeavors more difficult because people become gun-shy? Yeah. Well, I think it's worse with writing. I talked about this with Klosterman a couple weeks ago. difficult because people become gun shy it's yeah well i think it's worse with writing hey i talked about this with closterman a couple weeks ago i think in general that i think twitter has changed

people's um aggressiveness to try ideas um with essays with takes whatever because they're always worried about what the feedback is going to be or how it's going to be spun in a 280 character tweet against them. So they're going to gravitate toward safer plays and styles that are resemble everybody else's style. And I, and unfortunately, you know, we talk about this with restaurants and stuff with chefs and when like you judge this stuff by, if you see some chef, some young chef who barely knows what he's doing and probably has this one restaurant and some crummy part of some downtown. But he's trying all this stuff and he's super creative and you almost like want to protect this person and help them and hold them and have them blossom and keep the thing that jumped out at you. I think that's getting harder and harder. And that's why I actually feel like it's worth exploring and even talk to you about, because if people will say it's a comparison to Bourdain,

I don't see what, if you're going to do any food television, how is it not influenced by his DNA in some way or fashion? And the other thing is like, I really just started to do TV and media, right? We've done a year plus of the podcast. I think I've gotten a lot better. You guys have no idea how tough it was. And Bill would give me shit when we just started this. But he's a great coach. He's the podfather for good reason. And I want on the hundredth episode, I want to run all the outtakes of the first, the first three times you tried to do ads at the beginning of the pre-rolls this is Dave Chang

I want to tell you about a place that's really good Zip Recruiter but I you know like you're right like we need to be it's funny because like

I'm talking about myself here but how do we find a way to be a little bit like more nurturing? As you said, you want to try to do something and like, just keep on moving it forward. And maybe we have this problem with the younger generation because they're so gun shy of trying something because they get beaten down so badly about something. So immediately. Yeah. And I look at Tony, for instance, if you look at his first book kitchen confidential as as awesome

as it is it's pretty raw um and he changed a lot if you look at his cook's tour his first show we did on the food network i mean all you have to do is go to his first season of cambodia and you're basically seeing a kitchen bro someone that's never traveled the world. And, you know, he's basically like a, a unsophisticated cultural person that knows a lot about America, but not outside it. And then you go to parts unknown or some no reservation stuff that he did before parts unknown, and you could see the growth. And now we're celebrating Tony as this finished product, rest in peace. But he went through like a 20 year journey of getting there. I think that's what we need to be supporting is like trusting the process and not like saying this isn't perfect right now. That's the problem. And I

think this is like a millennial thing too, you know? Well, cause, cause I mean, sports is like this too now. I'm sure i'm guilty of it when i talk about different teams or players or something where everything is about what's your reaction right now you just saw something what does this mean what does it happen let's talk about it and i think when you put a show in the world i'm not even talking about your show just any show um it's i always look at the marathon, not a sprint thing. I always assume the first episode of a show is probably going to be one of the worst episodes. Even a show like Succession, which we stuck with at The Ringer, the first three episodes, a lot of people didn't like,

but there was enough there. It was like, hey, I got to stay with this. I don't know where this is going. And then as they got going and it got better and better, the actors got better. I do think people forget sometimes that things take time. And again, not talking about your show, but you're right. Bourdain had a 20-year arc. And I think people remember the last four or five years the most. Like the statesman almost, right? And I hope to grow as a person.

I hope to get better. And that's all I can do, but I'm proud of what we've done. I think it's a great show. I know it's getting great feedback and people are watching it, but, you know, at the end of the day, I'm super critical of myself and I want to please everyone and everything,

which is an impossibility, so. There's another piece to this though. I think people just really miss Bourdain. Yeah. And I think it just really miss Bourdain. Yeah. And I think there, it reminds me a little bit of anybody trying to do a food show or a food, anything coming off the heels of him going away. It reminds me,

you know, this is a totally different scenario and Michael Jordan did not die, but when he left the league again in 1998, there was a real void. And it took years and years for the league to kind of recover from him not being there. And they had all these guys and it was like, who's the next MJ? Is it going to be Kobe? Is it going to be Harold Miner? Yeah, Harold Miner is there.

But it was like, Iverson, T-Mac, could it be Shaq? Could it be Shaq and Kobe together? And the reality is there was never going to be a Michael Jordan. I think once everybody kind of accepted that we were able to enjoy basketball more, but it was the shadow that hung over those years. Then he came back. I just don't, Bourdain is over here. That doesn't mean that we can't have a whole bunch of different people who were influenced by him. And I think we're seeing that now already. All these Netflix, you have a deal with Hulu now too. There's, I'm sure Amazon is probably coming up with some food thing. I'm sure HBO Max, I'm sure all of them are trying to figure out different ways to tackle food because people don't get tired of it. And you've been on the forefront of this. Food is the cultural currency of a younger

generation. Yeah, I agree. And it's so strange how that's happened. People care more about food than ever before. I mean, Kyle, how old are you? 25. I think your age group and younger, in the history of the world, no one's known more about food, at least from America, than your generation.

Like your kids, Bill, the fact that they know how to eat sushi in different ways and different kinds of fish, that's crazy to me. And I don't know how or why, but food's more important than ever before. And I'm lucky that I'm in this business, but I think that food shows are just beginning. So if people are sick of them now, they have no fucking idea what's about to happen. Well, the food shows and also the awareness of new restaurants, because I think one of the most important things that's happened in the last 10 years has been even just Googling. You can Google right now. Google best new restaurants, Los Angeles. And there'll be a brand new list from Eater and three other places. And it'll

have all these restaurants. And you look and you go, oh, that's near my house. I'm going to try that. Or, oh, a friend of mine went there, I heard about this. I think the discoverability has gone 19 higher levels. Think about 25 years ago. How would you have known about a restaurant? Only if one of your friends told you you saw in a newspaper. Well, that goes back to this conversation I've been having a lot with people in the food industry and just chefs in general is, have we reached a point where food criticism and i think that's different than criticism in general because literature music film art that stuff that everyone can sort of consume or like simultaneously but yeah food is still something that's ephemeral and it's separate

is food criticism still necessary i of course yes but it's not directing you to things that you didn't know about anymore so ultimately it's judging does someone have a better palate and is more like more knowledgeable about something than me but when i think about you it's like i want to hear your take on sports i want to hear your take about going to the Clippers game and going there for 15 plus years and the 1984 second, all these things, because you're bringing nuance and experience to something that makes me see different perspectives. And it's not just about the game anymore. It's about, you know, different sides of culture. And it's like, I love that. I love that so much when you do that or anyone else that's an expert in their field.

It's not just telling me like, I think the Clippers are better for these reasons yes you talk about that and my gut is telling me that food criticism is still stuck in a paradigm of the past and it doesn't know how to get out of its own way because someone's got to figure out how to basically do what you're doing for food it's like to be a champion to still be critical because you're doing for food. It's like to be a champion, to still be critical. Cause you're critical of players. Like I think about Kevin Durant, you're critical as fuck, but you're also like, he's one of the top 10 players of all time type of thing. Yeah.

And I think. Do you think Jonathan Gold, seemed like he was the guy who was able to do that the most, where he was able to weave in the history of all these experiences he had with the restaurants that he was going to. And I think there's some really good food writing right now. There are really good. But for some reason,

he was the one that seemed to have the most weight. And I really just think it was because he had the reps in the years. He was like the first of his kind. i think that for instance in los angeles you have tejo real who is the new york times critic for california yeah i think she's fucking amazing she's great and you know we'll see how i feel about that if she ever gives us a bad review but uh she's given me a bad review before but the thing is for her or whoever is one of the best people, you have to give bad reviews every once in a while, because if you're,

if the thing is, you just have to be honest. I try to do that when I talk about sports, if you're not honest, then people don't know whether they can trust what you're saying. So it's like part of honesty is you got to call it like it is. I think Katie shouldn't have left Golden State. I still don't understand it. I've said that to him. I don't get it.

Like I thought he was in the best basketball situation anyone's ever been in. And he was like, this isn't good enough. I'm going to go here instead. Because everyone wants to hoop with DeAndre Jordan. That's why. You know, he wanted to watch him miss free throws. Yeah, I think what we've seen now with food,

the best pieces are still a little more celebratory, which I like. You know, like Danny Chow wrote about the McRib last week for The Ringer. I was like, I enjoyed it. I think what we've seen less and less of is the scathing takedown. And I remember like that Guy Fieri one from a few years ago

was such a legendary piece, mainly because nobody wrote takedown pieces about restaurants like that. Nobody wants it kind of on their resume because you write the right takedown piece, get circulated online on Twitter for a couple of days, and you can actually shut down a restaurant now. Still, you can still, like a New York Times critic could make or break you for sure, and less so now. And I wonder how relevant that is. But again, going back to Tejal, I'm not trying to blow smoke up her ass, but she did a review and it's tough because she reviewed the three, three mission star restaurants in Napa Valley. You have, um, um, oh my God, French laundry, single thread in and, um, metalwood all from people that are

close with my friends. And she says they're flawless, perfect restaurants if you're looking for that kind of food. But ultimately it's like not meant for her. I thought it was incredibly, incredibly bold for her to write that because it was an honest take. She's not saying it wasn't amazing. She's just saying like, it doesn't move me anymore.

Maybe it used to, but not anymore. And I'm conflicted because I'm like, those are my friends. I want to support them. But I'm also like, yeah, she's telling the truth. And I can't remember the last time I read something and I felt that like mix of emotion. I was like, that's what I want. And I think you're beginning to see a new generation and we're just at the beginning of it. And I hope that we're encouraging that kind of criticism that is constructive. Right. And I just don't know if we're actually going to like get over that hump. I think we will because I've, we've seen this happen with documentaries. When we were doing 30 for 30, 12 years ago, we couldn't even find 30 filmmakers. There just weren't enough people that knew how to make a good documentary

back then. It was still this art form that was developing. And now 10 years later, 12 years later, there's so many people who are good at this. Why is that? Because it's all people that learned from the previous generations. And there's been enough documentaries now that they can watch and pick from the things that they like and don't like. And then the equipment's cheaper. 25, 30 years ago, Steve James is doing hoop dreams and they're lugging around these cameras and it's so much harder to edit. Now it's like, you know, anybody can make a documentary with, with equipment that's less than $4,000, you know? And, and the experimentation, I see it with my kids. My kids like make,

they have friends that know how to like make and edit movies now, and they're 12. And it's like, these kids have the experience of somebody who 20 years ago would have been 23. I'm not saying they're good or not, but they actually know the basics of how to cut stuff. So I think with food writing, there's been so much education out of what to do and not to do, and how to be creative, and how to learn from the better people that I feel like it's on the way up. Maybe you feel differently though. No, it depends on the day for sure. Because you said it's still trapped in the past. I actually feel like we might be headed toward a new era. I think that they could be propelled and be in a

new era faster if they weren't held back by the sort of systems that they're in right now. And that would be my criticism, not of the food writers per se, but how and what they're allowed to do and say. It just needs to move faster. It's not nearly at the pace that food's moving or evolving at. And that leads me to something else. You give your takes on sports and i think it's informed but if you criticize a player i don't think that anyone's ever going to be concerned like maybe that player is going to hurt themselves it's always my concern in food

that if a critic gives a bad review to a chef like let's just's just say Guy Fieri. What if he wound up harming himself because of that bad review? That would be a terrible way. And again, to tie your vanity and, and like lit like life to a review seems incredibly stupid, but I just about every chef I know does, you know? And,

and like, I talked about that on your pod, the first couple pods we did. The pre-opening diary is about a couple reviews that still stuck with you all those years later. Oh, still does. Yeah. And I know there's a chef that I know that got a bad review and he did everything the right way. And he wound up having to close his business, even though he spent like 12 years. He did everything right, checked off all the boxes.

And it wasn't his fault. The restaurant wasn't misunderstood. It was just too far ahead of what critics understood then. And he was not in a good place. And he certainly thought about doing some bad things. And I'm always like, when I talk to a critic and I do talk to them, they're like, that's not our fault. Because they almost have to act like a ruthless sociopath to be emotionless. Yeah.

But I'm also like, is that necessary? Are there other ways to construct that criticism? Or are you just trying to get clicks? And I take Guy Fieri as example because he's at the far end of the extreme. People do like Guy Fieri. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't like his food either. And he's a cartoon character sometimes. But I think it would be bad if something bad happened because of that review. That sucks to me. And I don't think you would see that in any other industry. But in food, it has happened. It has definitely happened in Europe. And I think recently, Marc Verrat, a guy you may not know, but he's a titan in French cuisine. I can't remember the town he's in. And he's had at 1.6 Michelin stars, which is like insane. And he had a new restaurant

and in the first year got through Michelin stars. And michelin guide which is if you don't know we've talked about it before in the past it's like a literally the tire company's guide of creating restaurants and it's very important to some and completely stupid and absurdly stupid to uh to many others um he got demoted to two stars and in the review it said uh he put cheddar in one of his dishes. And most people in the media laughed. I think the tone was to scoff at how silly it was that this guy is suing the Michelin guy. But his whole life is literally dedicated to getting three stars. Again, as stupid and trivial as that sounds.

But in the region that he's in, you know, it's hard because if you're not from France, you wouldn't understand how food is woven into the fabric of your terroir and your place. It wasn't cheddar. I can't remember the name of the town and the cheese that's specific to that town. And to publicly accuse this guy of using cheddar cheese, again, on paper, it's like an onion article. It seems so stupid. But isn't it the journalist's perspective to empathize and to

really put themselves in the position of what that might be in that town as well, he's considered a laughingstock. He takes it as a personal affront that people would accuse him of using orange juice instead of milk in a dish. It's something so incredibly stupid. Again, I can see both sides. But at the end of the day, this is a guy in his career who's like taking it so seriously that to diminish him or to mock him or to make fun of him, that's not going to put him in a good place. And I have a question as to how valid this criticism is now when it's not getting it right either, you know, and they're getting one perspective, right. But we live in a world where there's multiple perspectives now. And I just don't know how you get to that point of view. I know that's way deeper than I wanted to go.

I'll tell you what, it made Kyle hungry because he loves cheddar. Let's take a quick break. Let's take a break to talk about NBA TV. NBA opening week continues tomorrow with a primetime triple header on NBA TV. First, Jimmy Butler and the Heat battle Giannis and the Bucks in Milwaukee.

You get Tyler Harrow in that one as a bonus. Second, Kemba and the Celtics head to New York to face RJ Barrett and the Knicks. I really hope Kemba doesn't go four for 18 again. My heart can't handle it. Then finally, Kawhi and the Clippers going to Phoenix to play the Red Hot Phoenix Suns. They've won one straight game.

It's triple the action, triple the excitement. It all begins tomorrow at 5 p.m. Eastern on NBA TV and in the NBA app. Pre-game coverage presented by AutoTrader begins at 4.30 p.m. Eastern. By the way, if you have NBA League Pass, they have finals games from the last 20 years buried in there like a little Easter egg. Go. Go find it. You can watch some finals games as well.

All right. Back to Dave Chang. I am super jacked on this fucking Starbucks coffee. Yeah. I'm like shaking. We had Starbucks double shot or triple shot. Triple shot. You just chowed it.

Yeah. I would need to get some caffeine. You were like Leo in Wolf of Wall Street. Holy shit. Soon I'll be on the payphone outside need to get some caffeine. You're like Leo in Wolf of Wall Street. Holy shit. Soon I'll be on the payphone outside trying to get into my car. Can we talk quickly about the Washington Redskins? Do we have to? So they're playing tonight.

We don't even know what's going to happen. We just know they're going to lose to Minnesota. The only question is how badly it was. And you have these. If the Redskins actually beat Minnesota. We'll leave it in. I'll laugh. I'll be like, wow.

Would that be considered one of the great upsets? Yeah, they're 17-point underdogs. So all these empty seats, the Nats in the World Series up to nothing. The Mystics just won the WNBA title. The Capitals won a couple of years ago. Washington is shedding its loser malaise label, and yet they're the awful Redskins. Did you ever think of a flip like this? I mean, you obviously did because you hate Dan Snyder, but...

Yeah. And I do believe once we get rid of John Wall, we'll be in a better place. For the Wiz? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that's going to take the worst contract ever signed in NBA history to take several years off. But I think that the Washington Redskins, and I said this time and time again, and I have to commiserate with Joe House, that Daniel Snyder is the worst owner in the history of the NFL. Worse than the Browns family, the Cincinnati Bengals family, and maybe the Donald Sterling of the NFL.

I wrote a piece that you helped me with like five years ago where Sterling had vacated the worst American professional sports owner belt, which I called the WAPSO. And I gave the WAPSO belt to Snyder. James Dolan's been trying to grab it from him, but I feel like Snyder has it. He's a good NHL owner. He is. And he's successful.

The cable vision still seems like it's successful. Snyder's just really bad at owning the Redskins. They're in the worst position probably of any team. Even Miami has first round picks and stuff like that. Atlanta has the ability to rebuild over the next year or so, and they have some good players. It's really strange to me that people in Washington have kind of, they're like widows now. It's like their team is dead. because it's been dead since he's bought the team yeah it's like it's so fucking frustrating i mean he we had vinnie serrato as a general manager yeah like come on we actually had john schneider as our g GM for like a year, who is the Seattle Seahawks GM.

We got rid of him with Marty Schottenheimer. Like there's so many things that you could have seen, like happen positively. We had Mike Shanahan. We had Kyle Shanahan. We also had, um, uh,

God, Sean McVay. We've had some amazing coaches come through the ranks. Nobody wants to come back to Washington. And leave, leave tread marks getting out of there. And I felt this way when I decided to do that, like mock a Kickstarter campaign to buy the Redskins

and to give it back to the town, like the Green Bay Packers. And I still maintain when I talk to people that root for the Washington football team, that if you are a true fan, you will root against them. Well, what's in it for Snyder at this point? To just be completely loathe? He makes a lot of money on it. But just sell it, though.

He can have even more money. The problem is he's a hardcore fan. Yeah. He feels bad, though? I don't know. I think you need to put together a conglomerate of rich Asians and try to put together the first Asian sports ownership block and then make that part of the play. He's never going to sell.

He's only like 51. People forget he bought the team when he was like 34. And you brought up the question, does he feel bad? Can someone that doesn't feel guilt feel bad? I don't think so. Well, remember when I wrote the column, I did all the math because he was like 46 when I wrote it. It's like he could be 79.

That's 33 years from now. He might still on the team. That's the year 2049 or whatever it was. How bad, man? Here's the problem. What happens if he turns it around? What happens if he sees the light and he becomes a great owner?

I don't think it's going to happen. I think when you failed for this long, it's not an accident after a while. He just doesn't seem to understand anything about what it would take. And he seems to have a really, really bad hiring picker, which matters in my opinion. This is the problem with James Dolan. He might be a good businessman. He just doesn't know how to hire people. Bruce Allen is

a horrible GM. And he's still there. I hate the fact that you have Bill Belichick. I love it. I love him, but God, my life would be so much better, maybe 20% better if the Redskins were a

tenth as solid as the New England Patriots. There was this clip online this week because Belichick had casually mentioned that Odell Beckham was going to be pretty bored on Sunday in the Cleveland game. Because what he does is if the other team's best receiver, he just double teams them. He takes them out and then he puts his best cornerback on the team's second best receiver. He uses two guys to shut out the other one. So this clip circulated of Chad Ochocinco Johnson when he was good. And it's before the game and Belichick goes up to him and they have this handshake. And he's like, you're going to be

pretty bored today, Chad. And he's like, what do you mean? He's like, I'm doubling you. You're not getting the ball. And he's like, what do you mean? Really? He's like, yeah, you're going to have a bad day. I'm sorry. And he's like, what do you mean? Really? He's like, yeah, you're going to have a bad day. I'm sorry. And he's like, are you messing with me right now? I was like, no, we're doubling you. You're not going to catch the ball today. And he walked away. And Chad was like, what the hell just happened?

He was like, he got hit by a car. And guess what? He probably didn't catch the ball that game. That's what they're going to do to Odell. He's just smarter than everybody else. I think he wants Brady to leave. At this point. What happens if Brady leaves?

What do you feel? Well, there's all this Brady stuff now about how he sold his house. Alex Guerrero, the witch doctor, sold his house. The Schefter moved markets by talking about that on TV? People in Massachusetts knew about this already. Because he put his house for sale a while ago. Once he did that, that raised the red flags. But he's going to be 43 next year.

What team would sign him? He's going to be 43. What team would sign him? Let's just say he loses the Pats. Who would he go to? I think he would retire over. What teammate needs a QB that is pretty good? Well, it would have to be a big enough city for him, right?

He can't go to Tennessee. He would have to go to Los Angeles or Chicago be a big enough city for him, right? Like he can't go to Tennessee. He would have to go to like Los Angeles or Chicago or, you know, a big metropolitan city to get lost there. We should start that right now. Chicago Bears? Chicago Bears going to sign Tom Brady next year. Michigan guy. Michigan guy.

Well, that's the other thing. Maybe he's going to be the new Michigan. Coming home. You can play that song. Stu Gatz. I did Stu Gatz's podcast. He threw this one out. Michigan coach.

Ooh. Player coach. Michigan college football coach. Yeah. He's a six year of eligibility. Yeah. It does feel like the Brady Belichick thing's coming around. And what's crazy is it's been 20 years of my life.

It's like I had the opposite with Dan Snyder. It's been 20 terrible years of your life. When we got Brady and Belichick together, I was still living in Boston. I wasn't even married yet. Kyle was like five. Oh, come on. We've had the worst.

Do you want to hear the greatest Kyle story when he was a kid? I would love all Kyle stories. We went, I just started dating my wife and we went to her house for Thanksgiving. And Kyle was like, he had to have been like seven or eight. And it was one of those million family members around.

Kyle did something that made his dad mad. And we walked by it and Kyle was sitting on the stairs. His dad was kind of talking to him, yelling at him, reasoning with him. And he's like, you're going to stay here until you have an answer for what you did. And Kyle goes, but what if I don't have an answer?

What if there's no answer? And the dad goes, you're just going to think about the answer. And he walked away. And Kyle was just on the stairs like, I don't have an answer. We joked about this for like five years after me and my wife. We'd be like, I don't have an answer.

And now he's producing this podcast. If that's not a heartwarming story, I don't know what it is. Kyle, maybe he found the answer. Maybe Kyle can buy the Washington Redskins. Maybe he could. Maybe one day. There's hope for Kyle. Who's the worst owner in sports, in your opinion?

Dan Snyder. Who's the worst owner in the NBA? The dude that owns the Suns, right? Robert Sarver. Dolan's probably second. At least Dolan spends money and, you know, I think Sarver's worse. Why? What makes him so bad?

Let's see. You've talked about it a lot. Well, what makes an NBA owner bad is usually changing your plan quickly. So you hire a coach, then you fire that coach a year later, which they did last year, having a GM. And then all of a sudden you have another GM going in on these plans. Like that year when the Suns had three point guards, they were like, this is going to work. And then it was a disaster. When they take a chance, like they drafted Josh Jackson fourth and he lasted two years. You know, not seeming to understand red flags with rookies,

overpaying guys. How did everyone miss on Josh Jackson? Well, there were red flags. I think people look at the talent versus the red flags and they cross their fingers. You know, the question is, if you're bringing a red flag guy in, you have to have the organization that can kind of help him those first couple of years. And obviously they didn't. If the Celtics drafted him over Jalen Brown, do you think they would have turned him into a good player?

Who was the Tatum? It was the Tatum draft. I think he would add a better chance. I don't know. Ultimately, if there's something like deeply flawed in a human being who plays basketball, it's going to come out anyway,

but. I'm so jealous of the whole New England sports area. Well, here's the thing. the thing with belichick he's the only one who's actually figured out how the league works where you don't want to just go all in like the rams are doing on like six guys with huge contracts like that's like the he does the opposite he wants to like have a whole bunch of guys making five to eight million a year. And he wants to have a lot of draft picks. And he just wants depth and the ability to be able to move and take risks that are really like even the Antonio Brown thing. It was like a one-year risk.

And if it didn't work, it didn't work. But he never wants – like to him, like the worst-case scenario would be Todd Gurley paying him 40 million or whatever Todd Gurley makes. And then he has arthritis right after. I love him. Todd Gurley? No, I love Belichick. And even that story, I was listening to Russillo's podcast and what's his name?

Howie Longson talking about how- Chris Long. Chris Long said that Belichick sits in coach. God damn, that was inspirational shit. Yeah. I was like, fuck. That is why he's the goat what kind of celebs are coming into major domo in la i don't know there was you getting there is there a celeb scene there is uh and i don't there was someone last night he's the the the

the the evil ceo on uh silicon valley he was there last night. Oh. Yeah, Gavin. That kind of celebrity. So you don't get like Aaron Donald, Jared Goff, and Todd Gurley? I wish. Here's a good story. I heard that before Sam Donald had mono, he was eating by himself at Peter Luger's. Really? Just crushing a porterhouse steak.

I support that. Yeah. I support that. Yeah. I thought, wow. He had no assistant, no friends, solo porterhouse for two by himself. Have you thought about the Peter Luger business plan of it's either cash or you have to buy a Dave Chang Majordomo Media credit card?

It's gangster. I love it. I love it so much. It's really great um i know multiple people have peter luger credit cards it's like a fuck you paywall it really is yeah kyle that it's this restaurant it's cash right it's so cash only or cash only or by the peter luger credit card you can pay with that and that's it they don't want your american express mastercard and people do it and it's packed every night.

I'll tell you a food trend. We've jumped all over the place, but this is what I hope is a food trend. I've talked about it on our podcast or my podcast, and I'm trying to figure out how to do it. So we talked about the sushi bro, but I feel that one of the things that you see happening in Japan and a lot of the top, top restaurants, because so many foreigners, particularly Americans are such bad customers. They're allowed obnoxious and rude. These restaurants that people want to want to eat at because like the best in whatever sushi or ramen, not ramen, but like sushi, they're just

not offering reservations anymore. They're just not offering reservations anymore they're just they're done you can't get a table you have to be invited oh that's like that one place in la where the guy yeah he he has to call you and then you're allowed to eat that has always existed but you're beginning to see i think a slow movement that's oh that should be your next restaurant i know i'm trying to figure out how to do it without coming across three tables because like i'll invite you to my three table restaurant you're not like you're only getting an invite if you're a good eater it has nothing to do with income or status are you a good eater and then that's the only way you get to eat at that restaurant eater drinker or just eater i think eater. You just appreciate how to dine out and you're good.

It's like you're a good basketball fan or something, right? So if you said no soy sauce, please, on this dish, and then you saw them sneaking the soy sauce on it, they're out. They're never invited back. Not only are you out. Everyone you know is out. If you were my guest. Yeah.

You'd be thrown out. I would lose my ability there. I'm serious. Yeah. It's like, it's pretty amazing. It's almost like, you know, I've heard you talk about it, and I went to the Masters too. It's almost Masters like when you get to Augusta National,

and it's like, you better behave or you're out. Well, golf country clubs are like that, right? I don't, yeah, but I think more so on Augusta National. Like, if you're at the Masters and you whip out your cell phone, you're banned. Yeah. Forever. You should be. You should actually be murdered.

Right. That's amazing. It's so peaceful there. Keep your cell phone somewhere else. And like, you just have to sort of follow protocol. And I think there's something really wonderful about going to a restaurant and you're just going there to dine and there's no bullshit. And imagine being in a room

of people where it's incredibly diverse, it's inclusive, but the only way to get there is you're a good person. That would be sick. Well, you know, when I take my kids out to dinner, they have to leave their phones at the house. That's one of my rules for going out to dinner. We all have to talk to each other and you have to think about the food and talk about it wow it's pretty good right

it's a good parent role I'm not saying I'm the best parent by the way oh by the way this is we're wrapping up so we gotta do

parent corner you have emperor hugo as your son the best instagram model on the planet right now you're a parent you wanna do one about poop yeah we can talk about poop

does he have solid poops yet? I think they come out as solid, but there's so much poop that gets pushed in the diaper, it turns immediately into soft poop. How old is he? He's almost eight months.

Oh, so when they hit like pretty close to a year and they start having more human food? No, he's eating human food. Oh, that's when the poop starts to become actual poops. Yeah, but it's, they're're big big poos really big we were calculating his calories in the morning yeah so right now he eats four ounces of yogurt and some like

fruit fruit puree uh egg yolk a hard-boiled egg yolk, and some egg white, and then essentially half an avocado for breakfast. It's crazy. So he's on the same diets that people eat when they're about to film a superhero movie and they have to put on 35 pounds of muscle. Yeah, we calculated the calories. We're like, he ate more food than us calorie-wise breakfast. Like we have like a bowl of oatmeal or something and he's just going to town. And then he has like eight ounces of milk an hour later to go to bed. So the poos in the morning are just crazy. And I'm terrified if there's not a poo in the morning, because that means there's going to be something.

A double poo later. Like, you know, you hear about it, you see it on comedy shows or just these dad jokes. And now there's so to be something a double poo later man like you know you hear about it you see it on comedy shows or just these dad jokes and now there's so much funnier it's like when i watched when harry met sally when i was like 12 and i was like i don't know why people find this funny and then yeah now throughout you know as i get older like oh this is so good and now i get every stupid dad joke possible and all the poop jokes because um it's. It's funny. It was so far away from me when we went through that. And I think you block a lot of it out. Like it's traumatic.

But like my son especially would just blow through diapers. And, you know, he's walking around and he's got poop, but like poop dripping down the side of his leg. And you're just, it's like you're in a war you're just trying to clean up there's clean up the soldier it's really poo it's disgusting i don't even it's really hard to describe again i'm late to this game being a dad i cannot believe how much poo gets all up his backside down is that yeah at the back that's another one oh Oh, man. I don't miss any of this.

And I'm now careful not to hold him just in case there is poo in the morning. You got to get him at the right angle so it doesn't fall out of the diaper. The other weird thing is the sound of a baby crying, which you eventually just, for some reason, you just get used to. But then when they get older and they stop crying and you'll be in an airplane and you hear a baby crying, you get nostalgic for the pain of when your kids were like a nightmare. I can't explain it. It's very strange.

I had my first travel like a night meltdown with, with you go on a plane. That's, that's really, you became, you become that guy. It's the worst. Yeah.

The worst. Everyone hates you. It's the worst. You want to literally, if you, I was thinking if there was a parachute on my back, I would jump out of the fucking plane. Like James Bond. I just would get out.

That was all I was thinking. I was like, how does this end? What happens? We had this when Zoe was like 15, 16 months. We were on a plane and it stopped on the runway. It didn't take off. And she was overtired and she wanted the plane to take off and it didn't. And she just lost it. And they hit a point when you look in their eyes and there's just nothing there.

You're just, you're staring into a black hole and their eyes are like, they're so tired from crying. And they're just, they're looking through you. Everyone on the plane is just, it's the fucking worst. It's the worst. It was the worst, probably 40 minutes of my life that weren't sports related. And yeah,

I, I, I'm, we're going to try to figure out how not to travel at all with, with Hugo. Like, trust me, like my wife has been an angel,

but she just, my wife has some hottest takes on this. About travel? Yeah, she's a big children's Benadryl. Oh, wow. Yeah, you kind of knock them out a little bit. That's smart. Which, I don't know if it's smart.

It's probably, there's probably somebody in the internet like, that's terrible. You know, if you have to think about this, if this is like a moral dilemma, I think to knock out your kid with Benadryl is the morally right choice for everyone else around you. Yeah. You're making the right decision. If anyone thinks otherwise, they're wrong. I forget which one it was, but it was whatever made them a little,

they made them a little sleepy. They're prone. And you also have to time the nap cycle to when you're actually about to take off is the other thing I remember. Wow. All I know is, and I'm learning this quickly, whatever my wife tells me to do in regards to Hugo,

I have to do it. We used to give, we used to give Ben fentanyl. Is that bad? Explain so much. I joke. All right. So Netflix show breakfast,

lunch and dinner. Check it out. Enjoy. Have fun. A lot of laughs. A lot of good food. Ugly Delicious is coming back early next year. Yep.

I don't know if people know this. I'm going to be on one of the episodes. Oh, yeah. Uncle Bill's in it. Me and Greater Cho. Greater Cho and Uncle Bill, they're eating something that is- Don't say it. Don't spoil it.

I'll just say it's got some age to it. Mm. that is... Don't say it. Don't spoil it. I'll just say it's got some age to it. When are you going to have Cho on your podcast to do Parent Corner Special Edition? Because Cho reproduced as well, successfully. And legally, somehow. Cho is retired from everything.

I told you that was going to happen. I said he was going to have a kid and nobody would ever hear from him again. I mean, literally, it's impossible to know Everything. I told you that was going to happen. I said he was going to have a kid and nobody would ever hear from him again. I mean, literally, it's impossible to know anything about him. Just to get him to do anything now is an impossibility. He's literally like Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's just disappeared. He's probably just painting weird pictures of his kid.

Actually, I think he is painting again. Yeah. I bet it inspired him. This is great. Good luck with your show. Don't forget to listen to the Dave Chang show on the ringer podcast network. And, uh,

and that's it. All right. Thanks to Joe house and Dave Chang. Thanks to zip recruiter. Don't forget to go to zip crew.com slash BS. Thanks to NBA TV, NBA opening week continues tomorrow. The triple header on NBA TV,

heat bucks that tips off the night in Milwaukee. Celtics-Knicks at Madison Square Garden. And then Clippers-Suns capping the night off in Phoenix. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. Eastern on NBA TV and in the NBA app. I will be trying to watch as much of that as I possibly can. Enjoy the weekend back Sunday night with the Cuzz. Until then. I don't have

a few years with them on the wayside on the front side never on the side On the wayside